Struggler

Cat's Eye had a dream.

She dreamed that she was crawling across a vast net woven from interlacing metal chains. The net stretched endlessly into the depths of the void, with no edge in sight.

She did not know which way she was crawling. She only knew that at the center of the net was a blazing sun, constantly radiating astonishing light and heat.

The terrifying heat traveled through the metal chains, burning her hands and feet. As if that were not enough, it seeped through her flesh and bones, fusing half-molten metal droplets with her bodily fluids and turning her into part of that endless net.

She struggled in fear, yet could not resist the force of the fusion.

At the same time, surging waves of power crashed into her, driving her thoughts and consciousness to expand outward without end, bringing an unprecedented sense of fullness and control.

Then, in her daze, Cat's Eye remembered where that energy forcing its way into her had come from. Such coercive giving, such helpless weakness in the face of it, inevitably stirred certain subtle associations.

It was like a fuse. After the sizzling sparks, the compressed gunpowder exploded with a bang. Unlike those forces squeezing in from outside, this was an impulse born within Cat's Eye herself. What erupted was not a destructive shockwave, but toxic fire spreading like wildfire, scorching every corner of her inside and out.

Cat's Eye let out a shriek and jolted awake, only to find herself soaked through inside and out with bodily fluids. The toxic fire that had burned over her body had become a sticky sensation, neither warm nor cool. It was awful.

She checked the time. It was three in the morning, and she had been asleep for barely two hours.

Cat's Eye sighed