?

Ellen might not be the gentlest woman in the world, but she’s respectful and apologizes clearly that she hadn’t read the name on the letter before she read it when she introduces herself to the new neighbor down the hall.

Edward Nygma doesn’t return the favor, shoving her bills and solitary free magazine into her chest and slamming the door in her face with a snarl.

She can’t find herself to be overly angry; after all, nobody celebrates receiving rejection letters, and the man was scrawny enough that it seemed getting a paycheck for food was a bit of an issue.


The people tell stories of a monster that lies terrible curses on them and their gleaming city, but Ellen knows they aren’t true—the people aren’t vanishing or hurting or dying, just the more troublesome seem to have rough luck if they dare to venture out after dark.

She ignores the cowards hiding in the shadows that tell her to keep away in the darker alleys; she’s faced worse, she assures herself as she trudges into the pits beneath the city.

She’s right that there’s no monster, she’s wrong about how well she’d handle it, but there’s no man in any land who can evade her forever, especially in the land she’s come to call home.