Jane recoiled.

“Nope,” said Matt, immediately scrambling backwards, “Nope, nope, nope, nope, screw that!”

The field, the desaturated patchwork, whatever you wanted to call it, advanced in a sudden surge towards them, claiming another five feet in every direction like the mouth of some gigantic toothless mollusc intent on swallowing the earth. Everything that had been alive or dead inside it now began changing, twisting and mutating in the same surreal horror as that which it had already claimed. Jane watched as a bird collapsed to bones while a rat remerged from blank pavement, its mouth open in a voiceless squeal as it reassembled from a bloody stain. The colours twitched, the grey shapes shifting, and those that had been unborn grew to life again, the dead unfurling back through decades, the living crumbling to death. It was chaos. Pure, horrifying chaos. And through it all raced flashes of a thousand powers, and the air rang with a ceaseless whirlwind of screams.

Jane had absolutely no idea what was going on. But it was very, very bad.

Beside her, in the Legion’s colours, Giselle’s face was as pale as porcelain. “Get clear!” she yelled at the police, and in a rush of air she vanished, the blur of her racing back and around the streets, sweeping over stragglers, survivors. Will swore something frenzied and disappeared in a pop, only to re‑emerge a few moments later further away from the grey zone transporting more Acolytes. All around them figures in crimson and gold flashed into existence, the Academy’s teleporters deploying the Legion en masse. Jane swung her eyes around, her heart hammering, as a vision from another world returned to her.

A twisting pit, darker than the stars, swallowing all life in existence.

“Stay here!” she roared, and she shot straight up into the air as Matt took cover behind a police car, a comet of blazing gold burning in defiance of the seething grey. Jane climbed above the city skyline, beneath the clouds, until she was hundreds of feet clear of the monochrome field, until she could clearly see-

Mother of God. It was a dome, an enormous shimmering bubble wobbling precariously atop the Earth, all colour within it warped or drained. As she watched, looking down upon this aberration spanning a radius of ten blocks, another humming peal rang out, and Jane stared in horror as the bubble seemed to suck in, almost drawing breath, before again it expanded, its borders pushing infinitesimally out. Even up here, she could hear the people and the monsters screaming. There must be thousands of them – tens of thousands. Writhing, teeming. Surging through lifetimes in seconds, dying from old age then suffering it in reverse, all while beside them hellish abominations continued to mutate, growing further heads or hair or teeth or limbs, mutating beyond insanity.

Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap.

Jane dropped back down to where they’d landed, slamming so hard into the ground she sent cracks fracturing through the asphalt. A moment later Giselle sped back into existence beside her, Will racing to join them from behind the police lines mere moments after appearing with more Legion and some of their black crate‑like weapons kits.

“That’s the last of them!” he shouted. Giselle nodded, her eyes wide and frantic.

“Police are fanning out around the city,” she reported. “Army’s mobilising. I’ve spread our teams as best we can around the perimeter. Azleena, order everyone to stand by and prepare to move back. Clear the buildings, pick up stragglers and strays. Nobody touches that barrier. I repeat nobody, touches that goddamn barrier.”

“Copy.”

“There’s something in there,” Jane reported, wind racing through her hair, her eyes wild. The three of them turned to face her, Matt pale, Will shaking, Giselle’s jaw set. “In the middle. I think I see it.”

“What is it?” demanded Giselle.

“I don’t know. But the energy’s spreading out evenly from the centre.”

“What the hell is going on?” Matt cried. Around them, law enforcement and now soldiers were streaming in all directions, shouting their own orders, though their eyes returned always to the Legion, edging nervously towards the pockets of crimson and gold as though drawn by gravity. The police officers near the four of them in particular moved progressively closer, straining their ears over the screams and shouting to hear what the Legion’s leader and Lady Dawn were saying. Jane ignored them – now was not the time.

Suddenly, a gale buffeted into them – the wind surging as the bubble beyond shivered, sucking in then expelling out in the same second a surge of foul-smelling air. The gust carried a swathe of leaves and loose newspaper past them, only to shoot back a second later, into the field, where they too rotted and blossomed and disintegrated. The debris landed at the feet of the nearest abominations, which as Jane watched shuddered with twisting new limbs, bones pushing through skin, tumours erupting from its torso.

“What is this?!” Matt repeated, eyes bulging with terror.

“I don’t know,” swore Jane, “But I’m stopping it.”

She turned towards the bubble.

“CLEAR!” she shouted, and to a man everyone rushed to obey her, the soldiers and police officers falling back behind jeeps and squad cars as Jane faced the encroaching nightmare head on. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Giselle and Will drag Matt clear, the human not really resisting, merely standing with his mouth open and staring flabbergasted at everything going on. Jane locked her knees, bared her teeth and cupped her hands behind her, and suddenly the air crackled with waves of golden light. With a wordless cry she spun, firing a torrential blast of energy, the air swirling wild as a searing beam erupted from her palms and slammed into the grey‑stained field. She poured through more and more power, and to her utter relief Jane watched as the bubble slowly began to buckle and then fold, pushed inwards like a pillow punched in by a fist. Yet the retreat was sluggish – every inch the light surged forward the field resisted, and when, after a moment, Jane lowered her hands and let the golden beam fade, the surreal energy inside began immediately creeping back out, slithering towards the ground it had previously claimed.

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She glanced over her shoulder, cupped hands still wafting wisps of energy, breathing hard as Matt, Will and Giselle re-joined her.

“Okay!” said Will, his face drenched in relief though his voice was still unnaturally high, “Positive! We have movement!”

Giselle levelled her gaze at Jane.

“Can you maintain fire?” the speedster asked.

“Until the sun dies out,” Jane promised. Her breath was coming hard, but the heat inside her veins did not waver. Matt squeezed her shoulder in wordless support. “I’ve got to get close though. I’ve got to go in.”

Matt’s face fell. “Into the death bubble?” he asked, sounding worried.

“It’s not a bubble,” Jane told him, “Something’s releasing energy, I can feel it, it’s everywhere inside, coming out non‑stop. But Dawn’s stronger. I can push through. Give me time and I can reach whatever’s in the middle, find a way to-”

But whatever Jane was going to say was suddenly and irretrievably cut short, as from behind them came a horrific, blood‑curdling scream. The four teammates spun to find one of the police officers, a bald, hooked‑nosed man, pointing towards the grey zone. They followed his finger.

To where, on the very edge of the barrier, one of the abominations had emerged.

“Kill it!” someone cried, their voice rising fever pitch, and beside her Giselle cursed and Will involuntarily stumbled back.

At the outer ring of the bubble, where the untainted world met the field of shifting grey and colours, a monster pulled itself towards them, its body a jumble of crooked limbs protruding from a torso the size of a car. As Jane watched, the creature’s locks of rust coloured hair, which extended some twenty feet in tendrils from its shoulders, stabbed into the street, throwing up chunks of asphalt as it dragged itself along, crawling its back half out from the bubble. The second its body was free, the creature reared on its hind limbs like some kind of horrific bulbous centipede, roaring from three misshapen heads as searing liquid metal belched from openings across its belly. The ground around it shivered, shimmering into mud, and all around the creature giant icicles erupted, frozen spikes the size of a person.

She had only pushed the bubble back a few inches – but the creature had been mere inches from the border. Now free, its myriad eyes spun round in delirious fury, and it abruptly surged forward.

“JESUS TAPDANCING CHRIST!” she heard Matt shout, but Jane did not hesitate – she raised her hand, took split‑second aim at the abomination and unleashed a stream of golden death. There was a deafening boom and the creature’s screams abruptly fell silent. Jane lowered her arm, the monster reduced to ash.

“Okay,” she said, turning back to Giselle, the remains of the monstrosity blowing away behind her, “Complication.”

“The field’s keeping them in place,” the speedster said, running her hands through her hair, “If we push it back those things are exposed.”

“And they are pissed,” Matt added.

“If I’m blasting it, I can’t be blasting them,” said Jane. Giselle swore. She glanced back at the police and soldiers behind her, as well as the spread-out pockets of the Legion.

“Right,” she stated. She rolled her shoulders back and cracked her knuckles, “Looks like today we kill monsters.”

“Is it always this wild being outside?” asked Matt incredulously. Everyone ignored him.

Giselle put her finger to her ear. “Az,” she said, “You following?”

“Always.”

“Spread the word, defensive lines. I want armed flyers and anyone that can hit long range on a rooftop. Meteormancers cleared for Category Five contained to the top of that dome. Some of those things can fly.”

“Copy.”

“You!” Giselle shouted, rounding on the nearby police and military members who had been edging towards them, faces pale and weapons clenched, “Get on your comms! You’re under Legion jurisdiction now, you listen to what we say, when we say it. You reinforce our lines. Got it?!” The cops and soldiers wilted under her gaze and started quickly nodding. Jane watched as several reached trembling for their radios or gave frantic hand signals to distant comrades. Giselle continued undeterred.

“You are doing one of three things!” she barked, “You are clearing civilians! You are falling back when we tell you! And you are taking aim at anything that comes through that barrier, and you are killing it dead!” She paused, allowing the message to be relayed. “This is as simple as it gets people! if it makes you crap your pants, annihilate it! Make your powers useful! Make yourself known!”

In the city beyond, the bubble pulsed.

“Jane?” Giselle called.

“On it.” She began striding forward, palms glowing gold. Matt hung back, staying near Giselle.

“Az,” the speedster called, hand once more flicking to her ear, “See if you can bring a satellite over and link military comms, I’d prefer-”

Suddenly, Jane’s ear filled with static. She came to a halt in the middle of the street, glancing back over her shoulder. Giselle had stopped midway through giving instructions, furiously poking at her own earpiece.

“Az?” she repeated, “Azleena? Come in. Morningstar, do you copy? Morningstar. Hello.”

“That’s not good,” Jane heard Matt murmur. Beside him, over at the police barricades, the speedster had taken out her comm-link and was swearing furiously and prodding at it. Her eyes met Jane’s and their gazes swept together over to the shimmering bubble. Giselle aggressively waved her on with one hand while simultaneously beckoning Will over with the other.

“Jump back to the Academy,” she heard Giselle tell him. Jane turned with some hesitancy back towards the undulating grey field. She continued to advance, her palms aglow. “Something’s wrong with comms, see if it’s on our end or what the-”

“Got it,” said Will. Jane glanced unconsciously once more over her shoulder in time to see the teleporter screw up his eyes.

Nothing happened.

Jane’s heart dropped.

Will opened his eyes. “I’m disrupted,” he said. His brow furrowed and he rapidly blinked. “I’m disrupted, why am I disrupted?”

“Morningstar, come in Morningstar, I- you, yes you, in the vest, is your radio- give it here, I- hello? Hello come in, anyone, hello-”

Jane stood frozen in place. In front of her, another haunting peal from the field rang out.

“JANE!” Giselle shouted, rounding on the empath and stabbing viciously with her finger, “THE BUBBLE!”

“Right.” Jane turned reluctantly back to face the grey zone, continuing with slow steps forward. The unnatural barrier rose a hundred feet in front of her, shimmering in swirling colours. Focus. Delegate and prioritise, one problem at a time. Jane advanced until she was only about a foot away from the edge of the bubble, the horrors beyond it shifting in unnerving, desaturated colour. She took a deep breath, golden energy swirling around her, and tensed her hands.

With a final moment’s hesitation, she glanced back over to where Matt, Giselle and Will were still standing. Giselle’s hands were raised and Jane could see her shouting as beyond her teams from the Legion broke into a run. Will was pointing in the opposite direction to the bubble, before turning and vaulting over a police barrier, running frantically away from the battle site. Matt was just standing there, his mouth closed, watching everything. His eyes met Jane’s. Despite the worry plastered all over his face, he forced a small smile and gave Jane a thumbs up. She took a deep breath.

Matt’s head exploded.