“Oh my gosh, she’s bleeding! Like, a lot!” Kali mutters, shaking as she looks down at me. “Hey, uh, I’m here to help,” she says, coming closer. As she reaches for my mask, I swat her hand away. “Your head is bleeding,” she says, reaching for it again, “lemme help.”

I try to move away from her, but my strength is ebbing. I settle for smacking her hand away from me. 

“Come on!” she exclaims, “I’m trying to help you out!” 

“You… you can’t… mask… you can’t…” my words come out as barely more than a whisper, hardly even forming full thoughts. Something in my mask broke and I can’t get enough air, but I can’t let her see me. 

“Dude, that guy hit you pretty hard,” she says, angry, “and I’m not going to just let you walk it off.” She reaches for the mask again and sees that I’m struggling to breathe.

I grab her wrist, holding her hand away from my face. 

“What is your problem?!” she exclaims in frustration, but even in my weakened state, I can hold her off. 

“Fine,” I gasp, my head pounding. “Fine.” As she starts reaching to take my mask off, I gently move her hand. “Please. Let me.”

Confused, she sits back. 

I take a deep breath. I don’t want to do this, but it’s either this or die and leave her alone. 

I lift my gloved hand towards my face and take a deep breath, setting it on the switch behind my ear. Ready or not, it’s time. I press the button, finding it more difficult than it usually is, and feel the mask retract back into place as I finally get a full breath of air.

Kali gasps. 

“Penny?” she whispers, her face an expression of shock. 

“Surprise,” I say, waving my hands in a sad attempt at jazz hands. 

“Y-you’re Amethyst Star?” she asks, “Penny, why didn’t you tell me?” she asks with tears in her eyes. 

“I couldn’t put you in danger,” I say with a cough. 

She rolls her eyes, then registers the blood on my face. “Shoot, we have to get you to a hospital,” she says, panic setting in. “Let’s get you out of that outfit first,” she adds as an afterthought. 

A few minutes later, she’s helping me limp through the alley in a sweat-soaked tank top and leggings. 

“I called an ambulance, they should be here any minute now,” she says, shouldering the bag with my uniform. “We’ll talk once we’re home, deal?” she asks, her eyes watering. 

“Deal,” I say before my lungs are racked with another coughing fit and my vision starts to blur. 

“Penny?” Kali says, panicking as the black covers her up in my vision. “Penny, hold on…”