Liam carried a large, bulging bag of snacks to the counter.
The shopkeeper glanced up from his small, flickering television and studied the oversized bag of chocolate balls and lollipops. Then he laughed.
"I heard you've had a kid at your place the past two days?"
Boss Wang, a neighbor who ran a small convenience store, and Liam were familiar with each other.
"A friend's daughter," Liam said with a smile.
Boss Wang nodded and picked up the barcode scanner, arranging the snacks on the counter.
"From out of town?"
"Yes. Due to some matters, her daughter needs to stay here for a while."
"I see. Well, you'll have to look after her—and teach her to be careful, to protect herself," Boss Wang said. "After all, this is Gotham. Girls especially need to learn to protect themselves… hmm, though it's important for boys too."
"I will teach her," Liam replied, but privately, he thought: with a Kryptonian girl, it would be more crucial to teach her how to protect others from herself. Few could harm her, even in a city like Gotham.
Boss Wang, ignoring Liam's thoughts, continued, "I just saw the news. They said there was a prison break at Blackgate yesterday."
"Oh?" Liam's brow furrowed. Blackgate Prison… often jokingly called one of Gotham's two public restrooms, along with Arkham Asylum. Their security designs seemed to assume that people might as well come and go freely. Murderers, lunatics, even occasional two-day holiday breaks—it was almost comedic. Sometimes Liam wondered if the philosophy was inspired by the Land of Light, though even their buses required tickets.
"Actually," Boss Wang continued with a sly smile, "no one broke out. Some idiot tried to sneak in and got caught by the night guard."
Liam blinked. "Someone tried to break into Blackgate and got caught?"
"Yes. His friend was inside, and he was bored alone. Thought he'd join the party. Blackgate checked his records—turns out he was already a wanted criminal. The warden shrugged and said, 'Since you're here, why not stay?' And he stayed."
Liam stared, unamused.
"That's not even the best part," Boss Wang cackled. "Do you know why his buddy was inside?"
"Why?"
"Because he… kidnapped over twenty people, detained them, and forced them to listen to his songs for over thirty hours straight. Drove them insane. Hahaha…"
Liam said nothing.
Boss Wang finished scanning the snacks, sealed the bag, and handed it to Liam. "See? I always say—this is Gotham. Magical, yet realistic. You'll never guess what will happen next."
"You have a point," Liam said, exiting the store, carrying the heavy bag.
As soon as he stepped outside, a chill ran down his neck—a cold, predatory sensation, as if he were being hunted.
Aliha.
A criminal from the Phantom Zone. His species, called the "Parasitic Wasp People" by the Kryptonians, was terrifying not for brute strength but for stealth, infiltration, and parasitic occupation. Aliha could leap from host to host, usurping identities, consuming lives, leaving nothing behind.
He had been elite among his kind, once infiltrating Krypton's highest echelons to assassinate a key target. His confidence had been unshakable—until the Kryptons imprisoned him in the Phantom Zone.
Now, Aliha had another chance. The Phantom Alliance, made up of criminals who had escaped the Zone, served a godlike entity—powerful enough to withstand interstellar bombardments and annihilate warships with bare hands. The only task given: find the last daughter of the El family, Kara Zor-El.
Reports came from another member, Li-Bagu, an ugly Atrons with scythe-like forelimbs. He had tracked the Kryptonian girl but vanished before reporting back. Aliha was sent to continue the hunt.
Earth excited him. New species. Fresh bodies to consume, memories to devour, lives to take.
After changing hosts twice over the past days, Aliha finally locked onto a scent—the Kryptonian trail clinging to someone nearby. The man leaving the convenience store, carrying a bag of snacks, was his next target.
The parasitic creature detached from its host. The host collapsed like a marionette with cut strings. Aliha, a shadowy afterimage, lunged toward Liam. Mine. All mine.
Then… the heat hit.
Hot. Scorching. Blinding.
A wave of unimaginable light and heat surged from Liam's body, burning, threatening to evaporate Aliha in an instant. He tried to scream, but no sound emerged. Every cell screamed: This is not yours to touch. You will die.
It was too late.
The moment of contact brought a powerful suction, like a magnet buried in a sun. Aliha's body lost control. Gravitational pull, burning, searing pain—it was as if his soul were melting.
Reality twisted. The street vanished. Liam and the surrounding world dissolved, replaced by a deep blue, infinite ethereal realm.
"Let there be light."
Golden specks swirled, growing into a colossal radiance, forming a massive silver silhouette bathed in divine golden light. Godlike eyes blazed. Pressure filled the sacred space, threatening to crush, reminding Aliha of his place in the cosmos.
His existence faded. Pain vanished. Only awe remained—the trembling of a soul facing something incomprehensibly higher.
God.
Aliha's final thought: How dare I provoke him?
All at once, he felt as though he had been engulfed by light, like a moth drawn to a flame—consumed utterly, leaving nothing behind.
Meanwhile, Liam felt… a touch. Not an attack, not really—more like a fly brushing against his neck, faint and fleeting. Almost a phantom.
He turned instinctively.
Behind him, a homeless man collapsed, lying motionless.
Liam's pupils contracted.
Staged accident?
He reconsidered. No. Five meters away. Way too sloppy. How unprofessional can a staged accident be these days?
Atleast add some fake blood or something!!