OnAHiatus

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE - RILEY (PART TWO)

Riley’s hand trembled over the activation console as Superman took another step closer. She hated how steady he always looked, like no threat in the world—not even her bombs—could break his composure. It threatened to undo the fragile mask she wore, her defiance faltering, though only for a...

CHAPTER ELEVEN - THE DEMON CONFIRMED

Taylor sat on a bench beneath a skeletal tree, its bare branches rattling softly in the cold breeze. The park, a rare pocket of calm in the chaos of Gotham, was nearly empty—just an older man walking his dog in the distance and a few joggers passing through. For once, it felt like the city had ...

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR - RILEY (PART ONE)

Riley’s fingers tightened around her scalpel, the metal digging into her skin. Jack’s confidence might have been unwavering, but she couldn’t shake the images burned into her mind: the Siberian falling apart, William Manton brought low, and Superman standing there as if nothing could touch ...

INTERLUDE

Taylor sat cross-legged in her rented apartment, the dim light from a single lamp casting deep shadows across the walls. The space was sparse—barely enough room to spread her legs between her bed and couch—but it was enough. The room smelled faintly of coffee and ink, the byproducts of hours ...

NO MAN’S HIVE

I’m stuck on whether to make the weapons supplier a Tinker from Earth Bet or Ra’s Al Ghul

FRAGMENTS OF THE PAST

The forest stretched endlessly in every direction, its canopy filtering sunlight into dappled patches on the ground. Her swarm scouted ahead, a vanguard of buzzing eyes and wings, while she slid silently across the terrain. But despite her newly-found purpose and growing comfort in this wild envi...

PREDATOR AND PREY

Taylor moved carefully, her gelatinous form sliding over the uneven ground as she explored. Her experiment with the hive earlier had left her mind buzzing with possibilities, but it also highlighted her limits.

She was adaptable, sure, but was she truly strong?

The question lingered a...

SWARM SOVEREIGN

Taylor had been moving through the forest for what felt like hours, though without a clock or the ability to feel fatigue, she couldn’t be certain. Instead, she could feel the life teeming in the forest around her in a way that was both alien and exhilarating.

Her gelatinous body slid ef...

THE FIRST STEP

The forest hummed with life around her: birds chirped overhead, insects buzzed in the undergrowth, and the faint rustle of leaves betrayed the movement of unseen animals. It was so alive, at least, compared to the ruins of Brockton Bay.

Taylor stared—or at least, she thought she stared—...

CHAPTER TEN - THE LONG-AWAITED CONFRONTATION

The rooftop was cold and silent, save for the distant wail of sirens and the hum of Gotham below, a patchwork of flickering lights and shadow. Taylor stood on the edge, her hood drawn tight against the biting wind, and clenched her fists, her thoughts going back to the warehouse raid with Robin. ...

CHAPTER NINE: WAREHOUSE ESCAPADES

The plan was simple enough, at least in theory. Infiltrate one of Black Mask’s primary warehouses, gather intel, and sabotage the operation from the inside. For Taylor, the simplicity was deceptive. Robin wasn’t exactly a team player, and neither was she. Their uneasy alliance, forged out of ...

CHAPTER EIGHT - UNLIKELY ALLIES

Taylor had always known Gotham was a powder keg waiting for a spark, but the explosion that came with the gang war between the Penguin and Black Mask was unlike anything she had imagined. The news was littered with reports of shootouts in the Narrows, arson in the Diamond District, and bodies pil...

CHAPTER SEVEN - STEP BY STEP

The alley was quieter than most in Gotham, though Taylor could still hear the distant hum of the city’s ever-present ambient noise. She stepped into the small community space, her eyes sweeping over the group of residents gathered there. It wasn’t much—a collection of mismatched chairs arou...

CHAPTER SIX - THE WEIGHT OF RESPONSIBILITY

Taylor felt the weight of what she had come to realise was a gang war—between Penguin and a villain she found out was the Black Mask; few of the runners she had taken out had been his men—pressing down on her shoulders. She had saved a few lives in the past two months, but it wasn't enough. I...

INTERLUDE

Taylor’s routine began to shift during the following weeks. She started small. A warning here, a whispered suggestion there. A woman being followed home one night found her would-be stalker chased off by a swarm of biting flies. A corner store that had been dealing with nightly thefts discovere...

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE - COLIN

Colin Wallis had finally tracked down Shatterbird.

The faint hum of his visor alerted him to her presence before his eyes did. Glass dust hung heavy in the air, shimmering faintly in the slanted sunlight filtering through the ruined high-rise. His halberd was steady in his grip, its faint e...

CHAPTER FIVE - INCREASING POPULARITY

The warehouse incident had rippled far beyond what Taylor anticipated. She heard it in snippets of conversation at work, caught in the murmurs of passersby on the street—even the hushed tones of the news hinted at the fallout. The Penguin was livid. The weapons shipment had been crucial to soli...

MERRY CHRISTMAS

A bit late, but Merry Christmas (or Happy Holidays, if that's more your vibe). And thank you to everyone who supported me; you have made this Christmas a lot more special

CHAPTER FOUR - SCOUTING THE ABYSS

Taylor adjusted the strap of her bag as she stepped off the bus, her eyes scanning the street. Gotham’s early morning haze hung low, giving the buildings a muted, washed-out quality. The Narrows had a distinct atmosphere; she had learned quickly that Gotham was a city of contrasts, a place wher...

CHAPTER THREE - UNNEEDED ATTENTION

Taylor moved quickly through the narrow alleyways, her hood pulled low over her face. Her heart still raced from the mugging she stopped, though she tried to suppress the flicker of satisfaction. The man she’d helped had run off without a word of thanks, leaving her alone with the unconscious w...

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO - JACK AND RILEY

Inside the battlefield’s smoky haze, Bonesaw perched atop a crumbling wall, her ever-present grin faltering as she watched the events unfold. For the first time in what felt like forever, unease squirmed in her chest, and her fingers, usually so steady, twitched incessantly against her scalpel....

CHAPTER TWO - BENEATH THE SURFACE

Taylor walked briskly along the cracked sidewalks of Gotham, her notebook pressed against the side of her bag. The fire she’d read about at the library gnawed at her thoughts. The location, the timing, the faint connections to other incidents—it all felt like pieces of a larger puzzle she was...

CHECK OUT CHAPTER ONE - A FRESH START

I’ve added new content to the chapter, so go read it.

CHAPTER ONE - A FRESH START

Taylor adjusted the strap of her messenger bag as she pushed open the door to the small print shop on Gotham’s east side. The bell above the door jingled, announcing her arrival to an otherwise empty space. Inside, the smell of ink and paper lingered heavily, familiar and strangely comforting.<...

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE - WILLIAM

William Manton flinched as Superman tore the van door away like paper. Light flooded the dim, grimy interior, illuminating the sweat dripping from Manton’s brow and the terror etched into every line of his face. His breathing hitched as Superman stepped closer, towering over him like some inevi...

INTERLUDE

Cherie Vasil didn’t waste time packing. The duffel bag slung over her shoulder held the essentials: cash, burner phones, clothes, and the tools she needed to stay under the radar. She’d survived too much—her monstrous family, the hellish trials of the Slaughterhouse Nine, and now the chaos ...

PROLOGUE - FRACTURED CONNECTION

Taylor Hebert sat on the edge of the rooftop, knees pulled up to her chest as the chill of Gotham’s night crept through her jacket. The city stretched out like a living organism: flashing neon lights, distant sirens, the low hum of voices and echoing engines blending into a constant buzz. It wa...

GOLD MORNING REWRITE

I’ve been receiving admittedly truthful complaints about the direction I was taking the story and Taylor being OC in Gold Morning, so I am going to rewrite it. The first chapter will be posted soon.

INTERLUDE

Ranvesh Kapoor leaned over his workstation, the faint hum of machinery and soft beeping of instruments filling the seismic lab. The monitors displayed jagged lines, a frantic dance of activity that sent a chill down his spine. The tremor had been sharp, sudden, and deep—a signature that no natu...

CHAPTER FOUR - THE DOUBLE LIFE

Taylor adjusted the strap of her messenger bag as she pushed open the door to the small print shop on Gotham’s east side. The bell above the door jingled, announcing her arrival to an otherwise empty space. Inside, the smell of ink and paper lingered heavily, familiar and strangely comforting.<...