He moved again. Faster than before. My Rubber Body dodged by instinct, stretching backward to avoid a punch that would have taken my head off. His fist went through the wall where my skull had been.
I wrapped an arm around his waist and slingshot us both through the gap. We crashed into the street outside. Cars burned around us from earlier in the match. Smoke filled the air.
"You can't beat me," Nolan said, his voice steady despite the chaos. "Not like this."
"Watch me try."
I opened a gate beneath my feet and dropped through. The In-Between swallowed me—that dark space between portals that felt like drowning in warm static. I emerged behind him through another gate and kicked his spine.
He staggered. Turned. Caught my second kick with his hand and twisted my ankle until something popped. I screamed, the sound ripping out raw and involuntary.
He let go and I collapsed.
"Stay down," he said. "Please."
