NO.

This time, when Jane stepped back, there was no feeling inside her – only horror, only grey. She floated in sudden silence, in endless darkness amidst infinite colour, seeing through an eye the size of a postage stamp as a wave of undeath flowed out and smothered the entire world. It was not her desire to go back this time that drove her – it was her only choice. Hardly any fractals screamed, for her thoughts were empty, momentarily devoid of emotion. Her hands were transparent crystal, her mind a mound of coloured salt dissolving beneath black and endless waves. Shock, despair held her together. And an understanding of where to go. A used path re-trodden. Or cold fingers digging into an old wound.

She opened her eyes.

*

““Yo,” said Will to Jane’s left, his voice uncharacteristically shaky and high, “Could Ana Bloodbane do that?”

Jane’s eyes snapped open. Almost instantly she doubled over, hurling a stream of vomit onto the windswept pavement. Shouts of concern rose up all around her, plus cries of surprise some way back from amongst the police. Jane staggered forward, falling to one knee, her head spinning, ears pounding with straining heartbeats.

“Jane!” she heard Matt shouting, “Jane!”

Back in New York. The same street, the same moment, the same- she forced her eyes up, her head swaying, the edges of her vision so blurry they bordered on black. She struggled to stay upright.

“It’s okay,” she tried to murmur, “I’m okay.”

Once more the doom loomed ahead of her. The wall of patchwork grey, swirling life and sucking undeath, the hideous screams of the damned. Divine energy. Divine. There was a person at the centre of this. Another being almost as powerful as her.

Jane curled her lip and spat out a thick wad of blood. Almost.

She pushed to her feet, surging golden power through every fibre of her being, fighting to hold her shoulders straight. “I’m fine,” she told them, “Something I ate. Sorry. Just getting it back up. I’m fine.” Ahead of her, the bubble pulsed and inched forward. Jane felt, more than saw, the others take an involuntary step back, all save for Matt, who’d bent down to help her.

Beside her, in the Legion’s colours, Giselle’s face had turned pale as porcelain. “You okay?” she asked in evident concern. Jane nodded and reluctantly Giselle moved away from her, gaze lingering on Jane as she turned to face the people nearby. “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. Will swore something nervous 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 Legion deploying en masse. Jane swung her gaze around, her heart hammering, consumed by visions of futures past.

“Hey,” Matt whispered, sounding worried. His face pressed gently against her cheek, “You okay?”

He reached for her hand. Jane took it, feeling the nothingness within.

“No,” she whispered, too soft for anyone else to hear. “I can’t, we keep… you’re in danger.”

“What? How do you-” Matt’s face grew white, and Jane saw him quickly take in her sickened state, the terror swimming in her eyes. “Time travel.”

“Yes.”

“What happened?”

“This is round three.”

“Jesus.”

“I can’t do another,” Jane mumbled. The golden light flowing through her felt like air trying to inflate a fluttering tube man riddled with holes. “I’m sorry. I just can’t.”

“Jane, no. Don’t-”

“We have to… we have to…”

Suddenly, Giselle sped back into existence beside her. A moment later, Will also appeared behind the police lines with more crimson‑clad fighters and the Legion’s black crate‑like weapons kits in tow. He dropped hands and raced to join them, vaulting a barricade.

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

“Police are fanned out around the city,” Giselle reported, “Army’s mobilising into parts. I’ve spread our teams as best we can around the perimeter; Azleena, order everyone to-”

“Wait.” Jane’s pained voice crawled out, cutting the speedster off. Giselle turned to her, face worried.

“Jane?” she asked, “What? Are you still not feeling good?”

“No I- that’s not important.” Jane shrugged out from underneath Matt’s arm, trying to stand on her own. Her swaying eyes fixed onto Will and Giselle, and she stared at them, pleading. “Please. I need you to listen. We don’t have much time. Just listen, please. Don’t say anything.”

Giselle fell silent. She and Will exchanged glances then looked at Matt, who quietly nodded. Giselle touched her ear, turning off her comms.

“Go.”

“We’re under attack,” Jane told them, and to their credit though Giselle and Will both blanched neither interrupted, “They’re getting in place, they’ve got guns, they could be aiming at us right now.” As she said it Jane grit her teeth and groggily pushed out her barrier, flaring the energy to protect against incoming projectiles. “I don’t know how, I don’t know who but they’re trying to kill Matt.” She paused, surveying their faces. “In a few minutes, that field is going to expand,” she said, pointing at the grey and shifting barrier, “I can stop it. But it’ll take everything I have. While I’m doing it, I can’t protect-”

“Fine,” said Giselle, quickly catching on, “Will, jump them back to Morningstar, you can get Azleena’s take on all this and-”

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“No.” Again, Jane interrupted, shaking her head, her chest heaving. “The second I leave here or walk away from him you lose comms. A Disruptance field goes up.”

“Over the entire-?”

“Over the entire city, yes!” Jane almost screamed. “Shut up, just shut up and listen, if I go back, this spreads! Everywhere!” She gestured wildly at the grey shimmering wall. “Everybody loses. Everything dies!”

“Ok,” replied Giselle, thinking fast, “So just Matt goes back, alone.”

“No!” Jane wrung her hands together. “Last time they-” she shook her head, “They’re tracking him, okay, if he goes anywhere away from me they’re just going to follow and they’ll-”

“They’re tracking him?” gaped Will, “How?”

“I don’t know!” Jane shouted, throwing up her hands, almost tearing her hair out, “I don’t know! Maybe through your jump scars, maybe- it doesn’t matter, okay, this is a trap! This is a trap!”

For a moment the four fell silent. Fifty feet away, the screams of the deathless intensified as the barrier let out another spine‑tingling peal.

“Okay,” said Giselle, “Alright. So you handle the bubble, Matt stays here. We protect Matt.”

“Except the second I start pushing it in, those things will be released,” replied Jane, gesturing towards the monsters, “You can’t fight them and keep him safe.” She paused, gazing up at Giselle, her mouth metallic with the taste of blood. “Sound a retreat.”

“What?” Giselle yelped.

“Have the Legion retreat!” Jane was almost shouting. “Protect Matt, stay around him, I can do this, if any of those things come near me they’ll get incinerated and-”

“And leave the rest of the city to die?” Giselle’s voice rang high in disbelief. “Jane there are thousands of people here!”

“I don’t care!”

“I do!” The speedster’s eyes flicked to Matt before returning to focus unyielding on Jane. “I am not abandoning thousands of people!”

“Matt will-”

“One life cannot outweigh thousands!” Giselle shouted, “Tens of thousands!” Her voice lowered and she turned Matt, flushed but unashamed. “Matt I’m sorry, I love you but-”

And to Jane’s utter horror Matt shook his head. “You’re right,” he said, “There’s no choice.”

“No!”

“Jane.” Matt’s voice was firm. He turned to her, his face stony. “There isn’t time. It’s simple math.”

“But you-”

“Every person out there,” he said, “Is someone’s son or daughter. Some’s friend or girlfriend or dad or mom. I can’t let them die for me, they shouldn’t die for me, they wouldn’t-” He abruptly stopped. “Giselle’s right. The Legion’s supposed to save everyone.”

Silence – horrible, trembling silence – swept through the group. Jane’s chest heaved with shaking breaths, her arms quivering, despair clawing at her throat.

“Then what do we do?” she whispered. For a moment no one said anything.

And to her utter amazement it was not Giselle that answered, but Matt.

“You said it yourself,” her boyfriend murmured. Jane looked up at him to see an odd expression creeping over his face. “It’s a trap.”

Suddenly, in the middle of the windswept streets, facing down death and abominations, Matt Callaghan laughed and straightened his shoulders. “This is a trap,” he repeated, and he shook his head, “It’s the only thing that makes sense. Whoever-” his lips twitched, “‑is out to get me, this is their play. How, who the heck knows, but we’re boxed in.” He paused, glancing between the three of them. “Way I see it,” he said, “We’ve got three options.” Matt held up his hand and began counting on his fingers. “Option one-” he said, “-I stay and they kill me. Option two, I leave and they kill me-”

“We don’t-” Giselle began, but Matt cut her off.

“They will. It’s the only logical outcome. Because I’m either here or there, here or at Morningstar, hiding amongst the skeleton crew. Which means they’re ready for it, which means they’re waiting. Ninety‑nine percent of the Legion is here, and my family is there, and I’d bet dollars to donuts I know their play. Maybe they’ve got a team standing by. Maybe it’s the same one they’ve got here. It doesn’t matter, this is too well planned, wherever I go, they’re coming for me.”

“That’s two choices,” murmured Will.

Matt counted off a third finger. “Well option three is Jane and I both go back and the world dies, so let’s maybe leave that one in the reject pile.” He turned to Jane. “The communications blackout, the Disruptances. How long will it take them to go off?”

Jane saw the truth behind his question. “It varies. Different times.”

Matt nodded. “They’re controlling it,” he said, “Waiting to spring the trap. Which means this party doesn’t start until we want it to. Well,” he corrected himself, looking over as the grey bubble ominously lurched forward, “Within reason.”

Jane swung an arm out and blasted the field with a beam of golden energy, causing it to flinch back. “So what do we-”

“We’ve got one shot,” Matt continued, glancing from Will to Giselle and finally her, “They’ve accounted for you, and they’ve accounted for the Legion. But there’s one thing they haven’t accounted for.”

“What?” asked Giselle.

And at that Matt’s chest swelled, and he fixed them all with a wild, defiant grin. “Me.”

There was a moment’s silence. The three of them stared at Matt like he was crazy. Matt’s gaze never wavered.

“You need to save the world,” he said to Jane, then to Will and Giselle, “You need to save humanity. Let me save me.”

“Matt,” Giselle said, shifting agitated foot to foot, “I love the positivity, but didn’t Jane say they have guns?”

“And superpowers,” Will added.

“Yeah, mainly superpowers,” the speedster agreed. But Matt shook his head.

“We’ve got surprise. They don’t know we know about them. Plus I’ve got this bag with-” he held up Azleena’s backpack, “-a whole bunch of goodies and- and I only have to hide. That’s the whole thing. Time’s not with them, it’s with me, and all I have to do is run and hide and survive just a little, and I can wait for you to come save me.”

He glanced between the three of them. “Giselle, go give orders while comms are still up. Will, help get people into position while you can. I’m good here. I can do this.” He met their eyes, and for the barest moment the two Legionnaires hesitated. They exchanged glances.

“I-” Will began – but he stopped before the word went anywhere. Sweeping his gaze over the chaos around him the teleporter blew out his lips, then shook his head and gave Matt a shaky salute before disappearing into the ether. Beside him Giselle pinched the bridge of her nose, then opened her eyes and fixed Matt with a sad, proud smile.

“Your vest’s the wrong colour,” she told him. Then she drew a deep breath, leaned forward and wrapped Matt in a suffocating hug. A moment later she pulled back, kissed him on the cheek and vanished, leaving only a gust of wind. Jane felt her shoulders shaking. Matt turned to her.

“I’ll be fine,” he murmured. It sounded honest, but Jane knew he was lying.

“I can’t,” she whispered, “I can’t.”

He squeezed her hand. “Do you trust me?”

“No,” Jane sniffed.

“Smart.” He leaned in close, trying hold her gaze, trying to smile. “This’ll work.”

“Are you sure?”

“Not even slightly.” His mouth twitched into a trembling smile. “But what’s life without a little risk.”

“Everything’s out of control.”

“That’s life isn’t it?” Matt said sadly, “Sometimes you’ve got to let go.” His hands clenched soft around hers.

Behind them, the bubble groaned. They both turned to look at it.

“We’re out of time,” said Matt. He turned back to her. “On the count of three, burn white, bright as you can.” Matt tightened the strings on his backpack, drawing it tight against his shoulders. “Blind them if they’re watching.”

“Don’t do this,” Jane whispered.

“It’s my choice,” Matt replied. He forced a smile. “And I gotta say, it’s a goddamn good one. After this I want one of those bird badge thingies.”

Then he kissed her, hard on the lips, and Jane’s shoulders slumped.

They let go.

“Count of three.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too. One. Save the world.”

“Run. Run like hell.”

“You goddamn better believe it. Two. Bright now. Bright as you can.”

“I’ll come back for you.”

“I know you will.” And for the briefest, flash of an instant, Matt’s eyes gleamed with something resembling defiance. “Three.”

Jane threw up her hands as Matt squeezed shut his eyes, and the air around them exploded in white light, burning, blinding, a supernova in the middle of the street. From behind them, in the police line there came shouts, cries of shock and sudden pain, and in an instant Jane felt Matt push away-

And run.