Psylocke Vol 2 Ch 33: Puckering Lips, Closed Doors!

I couldn't feel my feet anymore.

It was like I had become pure momentum, a blur of motion tearing across fractured streets and splintered concrete. Everything around me was cracked and ruined, as if the very bones of the city had been shattered by some ancient god—and in a way, I guess that's exactly what had happened. The ground shook beneath each of Naomi's slow, thunderous movements. Debris from crumbling towers tumbled down like hail, but I didn't stop.

I couldn't stop.

That feeling again. That warmth, flickering like a candle somewhere ahead of me, calling out from the shadows of destruction. I didn't know what it was—only that it was the only clue I had to finishing the cruel training session.

My breath became ragged, even though my body didn't hurt like it should. I'd gotten used to that by now. In this world Naomi created, I died and woke up so many times, it was hard to remember what pain really felt like. But this—this weariness? This exhaustion that made my limbs feel like wet cement? That was real.

I reached what remained of the street ahead, stopping just short of a massive canyon where the ground had split wide open. Beyond it stood a skyscraper. Or what was left of it. The thing looked like it had lost a war. Glass shattered, support beams bent like paperclips, leaning just enough to give the impression that a good breeze would topple it for good.

And that's when I felt it.

Boom.

The rumble echoed in my chest first. Then the vibrations hit my legs. Then the sound. That slow, powerful boom that made my blood run cold.

I turned my head—and saw her.

Far in the distance, past the smoking ruins and fractured skyline, the horizon seemed to move. I saw her massive thick white legs give way to the shifting black fabric that formed waves in the very sky, impossibly vast. Her legs moved slowly, but each step crushed entire blocks of the city. The sky above dimmed, clouds scattering as her form filled the heavens. Her red eyes glowed from behind the fog, searching. Pinning me.

"Oh no..." I whispered.

Then she exhaled.

The breath didn't come like a breeze. It came like a hurricane.

A roar of wind tore through the city—windows shattered, chunks of buildings peeled away, the ground cracked even more violently. Cars, glass, and debris were ripped from the streets and tossed into the air like toys. My feet skidded backward.

I couldn't breathe.

The air left my lungs in an instant, and the next thing I knew, I was airborne, flailing through the chaos. I tried to focus, to stabilize myself, but everything blurred together—shapes, smoke, metal, motion.

That skyscraper. I had to get to it.

I saw a massive piece of pavement flying past—too wide to be a car, too smooth to be natural. My instincts took over.

I reached deep inside myself. That small ember of energy I'd been using burst to life —I grabbed hold of it and pulled. The world around me slowed, the chaos freezing like an explosion caught in a photo. The wind still howled, but my mind cut through it with clarity.

There. That slab of concrete. I shifted my body midair, twisting, legs bracing—

Thud! I landed hard on the makeshift platform and immediately kicked off again.

Another slab. A bent billboard. A falling truck. I was using them all—stepping, rebounding, leaping ever closer to the skyscraper like some kind of high-speed parkour ninja on fast-forward.

The top of the building was almost within reach.

One more jump.

I flew through a broken window in a rain of shattered glass, hitting the ground in a roll. My momentum carried me across the dusty floor before I slammed into a fallen desk.

I didn't move for a few seconds. Just lay there. Breathing hard. Arms shaking.

Then I laughed. Just a little.

"Made it..." I said, coughing. "By some freakin' miracle... I made it."

I ran.

My boots slammed against broken tile and splintered carpet, the flickering hallway lights barely hanging from the cracked ceiling as I sprinted forward. Every step brought me closer. I didn't know what it was exactly—that energy, that pull in the back of my mind—but it was getting stronger. Brighter. Sharper. Like a beacon burning just beyond the next corner.

My breath hitched. I wasn't sure if it was from exhaustion or anticipation. Maybe both. Probably both. I could barely feel my legs anymore, but that didn't matter. I just kept moving. I had to.

Then—

BOOOOOM!!

The entire building lurched. My shoulder slammed into the wall. Dust rained from the ceiling. A fire alarm started shrieking somewhere nearby, broken and glitchy, screaming like a dying bird.

I skidded to a stop and turned toward the nearest shattered window.

And there she was.

Naomi's hand—her actual hand—had come down like divine judgment from the heavens. It struck the streets beside the skyscraper, flattening entire blocks into a crater. Cars, lights, entire apartment complexes—gone. Her fingers were longer than the building I was in. Her pinky alone could've wiped this floor clean.

She knew.

She knew I was here.

"She's trying to box me in," I whispered, sweat sliding down my temple. "Or worse..."

A breeze from the impact blew into the hall, sending loose papers flying and tilting the broken blinds. I didn't wait around to see what came next.

I bolted.

My body moved on instinct now—dodging fallen beams, ducking through sagging doorways, leaping over cracks in the floor. The building creaked like it was begging to collapse, like it knew its time was up.

But I was almost there. I could feel it.

Like warm static crawling along my skin. A current in the air. A thread woven through my very bones. And just up ahead—

A door.

Massive. Intact. Unshattered. Out of place.

While everything else in this skyscraper looked like it had survived a bomb, this door stood pristine. Untouched. A tall, polished metal frame with faint blue light pulsing from its edges like it was breathing.

I stopped.

Panting.

Staring.

"This is it," I muttered, swallowing hard.

I stepped closer. My fingers hovered near the handle. The closer I got, the more I felt it—the core of Naomi's power. Her essence. The thing I'd been searching for through hell and death and broken bones.

I didn't know what was waiting behind that door.

But whatever it was... it had better be worth it.