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THERE ARE SEVERAL MOMENTS IN AUTUMN ALITA'S LIFE WHERE SHE'S KNOWN FEAR. When Hal has been in an impossible situation, about to die; when Sinestro arrives on Earth with the only destruction of their lives in mind; when she came close, so very close, to her former best friend; when she was held captive by the Spider Guild; when rubble collapsed around her and seven million souls perished before her.
She's acutely acclimated to its presence and when she steps into the halls of Doom Manor, she doesn't feel so much as a flicker. The lights blink in and out and the air holds a sense of foreboding, but she's dealt with so much worse, been responsible for things far deadlier than a building at the end of Danny Street.
And still, Dick Grayson insists she stay behind him. He and Kory, with their abilities, take the lead and Grace Gardner is supposed to follow along dutifully, never being part of the direct action.
It's a little amusing if she's being honest.
"Hello?" Dick calls. "Is anybody here?"
Autumn sticks behind them as they turn the corner, a strange feeling of dread welling up in her chest. It wasn't there when they first stepped in and it's familiar in how artificial it is.
It reminds her of Sinestro using his yellow light to manipulate her emotions, dragging fear out of nowhere. It's real and it's genuine and it's forced, a lie told to alter her capability.
Her eyes bounce from wall to wall, looking for any crystals that could be causing it, but there's nothing. There's just her and the wrong feeling inside that keeps on growing and growing.
Screams fill the air as they continue further into the house but she can't figure out what direction they're coming from. All she knows for sure is that they're not Rachel ━━ and that whoever lives here should be very grateful for that fact.
The lights dull completely for a couple of seconds, plunging them into total darkness, and Autumn grabs onto Kory's fur coat.
"Get out!" A voice yells from behind them and she swirls around, unfazed at the melting face of the woman before her.
Heavy stomps sound from behind and, never letting go of Kory's arm, Autumn turns to face a robot with glowing red eyes staring Dick down, never dropping his focus for a second.
The screams from beyond come to a sudden and sickening stop, the sound of stone cracking heard throughout the entire house, and Autumn lets go of Kory. Her body falls into a familiar stance and she gets ready to fight, already thinking of ways to incapacitate the robot. The melting woman and the mummy (?) can be left to the other two.
(Kory could probably light the mummy's bandages on fire, right?)
But it doesn't come to that. A new scream reaches them and this time, it's feminine and familiar. There's no doubt in her mind who it belongs to, who is calling out for them ━━ the only thing up for debate is how quickly they can get there.
