"W-what's happening?!"

The entire building shook.

It was almost as if a giant were trying to take the building down by slowly tapping its fingers on it. And with the building as unkempt and as unmaintained as it was, dust began covering the floors everywhere.

Even cracks began to form on the walls.

On the ground floor, the remaining druggies who were too late to scramble for Adam's scattered cash felt the tremors ripple through their bones. One man who looked more like a skeleton pressed his ear to the wall, his pupils dilating.

"Uh… g-guys…" he scratched his neck. "I think this is real."

"Real…?" A woman with track marks decorating her arms giggled. "Nothing's real."

"Nah, man…" The man's eyes dilated further. And then, another violent shake caused the lights above them come crashing down.

"It's real!"

"F-fuck!"

They all stumbled toward the exit, pushing each other to the point that the skeletal man rolled several feet out into the pavement. He was about to run again, but froze when something green caught his eye.

A crisp hundred-dollar bill.

"O-oh, shit!" His fingers trembled as they closed around the money. "S-score!"

And as soon as he grabbed it, he saw a body crash right beside him. The young man's jaw hung from his head and neck, flinging around as he stood up.

And then, the skeletal man watched as the man's jaw slowly pulled itself together.

"W-wah…"

And before the man could utter a loud scream, Adam's jaw completely snapped back into place. He rolled to his feet, shook his head once, then launched himself at the side of the building, latching onto the walls. His fingers found gaps between bricks, and he scaled the surface like a cat.

The druggie watched this with his eyes wide open; they almost popped out from their sockets. He watched as Adam dove through a shattered window, and then another tremor shook the building.

"H-Heroes…" he stuttered. And then, his voice clawed out from his throat. "Heroes are fighting! Someone c-call the IBAA!"

But alas, everyone within earshot was either high, even higher, or just unconscious. Unfortunately, he, too, was too high for this.

Right there and then, the druggie promised himself he would stop taking drugs… right after he buys his last one with his new crisp $100 bill.

***

Thousands of miles away, Sylvie was in a meeting with several people. She was, however, not listening to anyone at all—or rather, she couldn't.

Her hand flew to her mouth and nose, her face contorting as if she'd been struck. Even she was confused as to why this was happening… but then it hit her.

The scent. It almost climbed into her stomach, causing her to hunch. Metallic, warm… and unmistakably his.

And all of a sudden, her breathing became heavy, but extremely shallow.

"Excuse me." She pushed back from the conference table with enough strength that she caused it to scrape against the floor.

The board members exchanged glances. One of the men cleared his throat. "Madam Rousseau, where are you going? We need to talk about your stunt back in—"

"I said excuse me." Sylvie glared at the man, causing him to shut his mouth and look away quickly. For one second there, he might have forgotten who he was talking to.

Sylvie… didn't really have any obligation to attend this meeting at all. She was one of the strongest people on the entire planet—they could just kill all of them here, and the country would more than likely forgive her for it.

But of course, the reason they had all forgotten that was because Sylvie was courteous and gentle enough to make them forget.

Clementine, who was also part of the meeting, watched her sister retreat from the room, as confused as everyone there.

"Gentlemen, I'm afraid we'll need to adjourn." Clementine stood, smoothing her skirt. "Family emergency."

"But the conference—"

"Will wait."

And with those words, everyone just completely lowered their heads. Because unlike Sylvie… Clementine would actually have no qualms in hurting them if she wanted to.

And so, they just sat there as the two sisters disappeared.

"Sylvie?" Clementine called for her sister, but there was no sign of her in the hallway. She was about to walk, but a muffled sound drew her attention to the other side of the hallway—the restroom.

She quickly made her way there, only to hear a strangled gasp from the last stall.

"Sylv…?"

And as she opened the stall, Clementine found her sister hunched over, face flushed red, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Clementine immediately spun around and rushed to lock the restroom before returning to her sister.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

"Adam."

"Adam? What do you mean Adam? He—"

"I can smell him." Sylvie whispered.

"You... what?" Clementine blinked. "Soeur, that's impossible. Adam is in America—"

"His blood." Sylvie looked up, her golden eyes wild with panic. "I can smell his blood. So… so much of it."

"O…kay…?" A chill ran down Clementine's spine. She knew that Sylvie felt something for Adam. But this…? This was getting borderline… creepy. "Sylvie, you're scaring me. How could you possibly—"

"I don't know how!" Sylvie gripped the walls. "But I can. It's everywhere. He's bleeding, Tine. He's bleeding so much."

"W-what?!" Clementine's mind raced. Her sister's abilities had always been tied to blood, but can she actually do something like this? Of course, Clementine only questioned it for a second before she nodded and backed away.

"I'll have Alfred analyze all the American news feeds. If something happened to Adam, we'll—"

"No!" Sylvie's hand shot out, gripping Clementine's wrist. "No. Satellite."

"Sate…what?"

"Satellite. I need access to our satellite."

Clementine's eyes widened. "Sylvie, that would be difficult even for us. You're already in trouble with the government. If you spy on another country—"

"I don't care." Sylvie struggled to her feet, still trembling. "I know exactly where he is. I can feel it. I need to see what's happening to him."

The desperation in her sister's voice made Clementine's chest tighten. She'd never seen Sylvie like this—so vulnerable, so completely undone. Whatever was happening to Adam, it was tearing her sister apart from the inside.

"Alright." She nodded slowly. "I'll make the calls."

Of course, she would. She also wanted to know what was happening to Adam.

Unknown to them, however… Adam was currently fighting on a pool of his own blood.

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