PLANET AGAFRA - TOLLINDO CITY

Panic. Undiluted, absolute panic. 

That was the only thing Dion could feel when Atty’s eyes closed and he collapsed into Dion on the stairs. A torrent of people began pushing and shoving to get into the stairwell. Hyejin was nowhere to be seen, swept away in the crowd.

BOOM!

An impact of some kind shook the building so hard that Dion wasn’t surprised when he saw a piece of the stairwell ceiling fall away. The people on the stairs screamed as they desperately tried to get past each other before the whole building came down.

Using his own body as a shield, Dion struggled to get Atticus up off the floor without getting crushed underfoot. A few accidental hits landed hard in his ribs. He might have ‘accidentally’ elbowed a few people himself. Sticking close to the outside edge of the wall, Dion took his time to descend. There was so much happening in such a small space, it was hard to keep an eye on everyone else in such a tiny space.

The next landing was for the thirteenth floor; thankfully, the doorway was clear. Dion took the opportunity to exit the stairwell with Atticus to avoid the crush of the crowd. 

A large function room stretched out for most of the floor, complete with three different bars and small tables of drinks. It was completely devoid of people. It was likely reserved as an afterparty venue.

Despite being barely conscious, Atticus seemed to be unharmed. Dion could see as he gently laid him down on his side and scanned the room for any potential hazards. As if on cue, muscles tensed and jerked as Atty transitioned through his seizure.

“I’m so glad you didn’t do this on the stairs,” Dion whispered to himself, pulling his jacket off to cushion Atty’s head.

His heart was racing a million miles an hour. It was hard to think straight with so much screaming echoing through the huge room. One thing at a time. Atticus, first. Always Atticus first.

Dion rummaged through his pockets. He found the cloudy liquid fast enough, but he couldn’t seem to find the syringe kit he normally kept with it. Did it fall out? No, no, no, no. Not now!

A loud crumbling reverberated through the building from above; the building trembled so hard that cracks started to form in the walls and the ceiling. Dust fell, coating Dion’s back as he sheltered Atticus from any falling debris. Dion held his breath and closed his eyes tight, waiting for impact.

Thump. Thump.

Dion looked up to see something swinging from the awning and hitting the window pane nearby. It sounded like the window was cracking under the force, but it was hard to see through the dust.

CRASH!

Something big smashed through, tumbling as it hit the ground. It was the short weirdo from earlier; Dion recognised the whirring motor in the painted mask working to filter the air. Echo, was it? Echo either didn’t seem to notice Dion, or more likely, didn’t care that Dion was there while he dusted himself off casually. His arm sling was missing and now he appeared to be kitted with multiple firearms and coated head-to-toe in various shades of dirt.

A deafening siren played in the street, drowning out all but the screeching of the monsters and the sound of heavy impacts on the street below.

Crab-like legs wrapped around the window frame. The thing screeched loudly, trying to crawl through the window that was only half its size. Dion had never seen anything like it before; part crab, part arachnid, part teeth. The chill that travelled down Dion’s spine rested in his stomach.

Echo took one look at the monster and muttered, “It almost looks like a giant mite from this angle. Do you think they’re related?”

Dion wasn’t sure if Echo was actually talking to him, or just talking out loud. He still hadn’t acknowledged Dion’s presence once since he arrived. Atty first.

“You said something about a doctor before, right?” Dion asked, hopefully. “Is there one nearby?” 

BOOM! SKREEEE!

The whole building shifted again. A crack large enough to see through formed in the walls as if the side of the building threatened to slip away.

“No time for that,” Echo said, shooting at the monster in the window.

Laser shot after laser shot landed in the soft flesh of the crab monster’s underbelly. The smell of seared seafood filled the air as the creature tumbled from the side of the building.

WHUMP!

“This building is coming down. We need to leave,” Echo continued, turning back to Dion and Atticus. He seemed to frown when he noticed Atty’s convulsions but didn’t comment.

“I know, but I need to find a syringe.”

Echo’s eyes squinted at Dion over the mask. “Ugh. I hate those things. What do you want one of those for?”

“My brother needs medicine. I can’t move him right now.”

“How do you plan to find a doctor without moving?”

“That’s… a fair point,” Dion conceded, suddenly questioning himself as well. Atticus’ spasms had started to slow down, but they weren’t over yet. Maybe they could wait this one out? He’d been so frantic, Dion hadn’t really taken the time to analyse the situation as a whole.

“Oh!” a familiar voice cried as the tall stranger emerged from the stairwell. He was also covered in multi-coloured dust with the exception of a wet bloody gash on one of his well-defined biceps. “You’re still here? Your lady-friend is already halfway to the starport. I thought you went with her.” He waved a hand in front of his face as though it would somehow move the dust out of the air, instead kicking up more.

Echo chimed in before Dion could respond. “He wants to find a doctor, but he doesn’t want to move.”

“That’s a bad idea. This building is going to collapse.”

“He said he knows.” Echo leaned out the window and began shooting at something again.

WHUMP! WHUMP! SKREE!

The tall man gave Dion a look like he was a fool, and Dion found he couldn’t quite disagree. Interdimensional monsters were crawling the streets, his employer had abandoned them and he was thirteen stories high in an unstable building with two reckless idiots. The best way to keep themselves safe was to leave, immediately.

“Wait, why are you here?” Dion asked, watching Echo lean so far out of the window it looked like he was going to fall out. Come to think of it, Dion didn’t see either of them go down the stairs. They had disappeared once they entered the stairwell.

“We were on the roof, but it collapsed,” the tall one answered; that explained the dust and the injury. “The stairs are blocked, though. We need another way out.”

Dion ran his hand through his dusty hair and sat back on the floor. The building was crumbling, but it seemed like the wall Echo was leaning out of would separate from the main body first.

“How do we get out of this?” he muttered more to himself than anyone else, finally taking in the details of the room.

“We? Are you coming too?” Echo asked.

“Didn’t you say you wanted to stay?” the other one added.

Dion’s brain wanted to explode and leak out of his ears. It was like talking to two Krauses with different accents while also trying to think with a pudding instead of a brain. 

“Being crushed to death in a falling building is not on my to-do list for the day,” Dion explained, checking on Atty again. His jerking movements had subsided, but he still wasn’t conscious. It seemed he might not need that doctor after all. One thing at a time. Atticus was okay. Next, leaving.

“Ember…” the man at the window called in an uncertain waver.

Cracks worked their way through the building walls like lightning.

Fear filled Echo’s eyes as he stared at his own feet, arms stretched out on either side as if to stay balanced. Several words in a language Dion didn’t understand spilled from his mask as he suddenly started running toward them. The exterior wall peeled away first, as expected. Then the floor began crumbling underneath Echo as he sprinted.

Dion leapt up immediately and started dragging Atticus further away from the crumbling floor. It was a wild guess, for all he knew the entire floor could collapse under them anyway, but it definitely would if they stayed put.

Ember swayed and held onto the doorframe of the stairwell, a hand outstretched for Echo– but Echo wasn't fast enough; the floor caved under his feet.

He fell.

WHOMP! 

Dust erupted from the gaping hole. It was a tense few seconds before the sound of crumbling concrete finally subsided. The collapse had stopped only a few steps away from Dion and Atticus. Ember was still hanging onto the frame, but his feet were dangling over thin air. The rest of the wall and floor had vanished, leaving only the skeletal structure of the supports.

“Hold on!” Dion called to Ember across the gap. He looked around what was left of the room for anything that might still be useful. There were still a fair number of tables in the room and the bars themselves seemed to be solid structures. Good.

“Dion?”

“Are you kidding me? You’re awake now?” Dion shouted angrily and turned to his brother to see a shamed look on his brother’s face, much like the recent night he came home late. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean that.”

Atticus didn’t respond, but he also wouldn’t meet Dion’s eyes.

Earth, give me strength. He didn’t have time to fix this right now. Dion took a drink that hadn’t fallen from a nearby table. He downed it, dust or no dust, in one gulp. Just needed something to relax a little, he convinced himself. Dion downed a second one immediately afterwards.

He ripped the tablecloth off and started tying them together. “I need your help, Atty. Gather as many tablecloths as you can. If the floor feels unsteady, don’t risk it,” he instructed, trying not to let the guilt swell too high in his gut.

“Echo?” Ember called into the void below him, hopefully. There was no response. Despite his predicament, he was still adamantly searching the hole for any signs of Echo. 

At the base of the bars were metal rails designed to be footrests. Dion tied one end of the makeshift rope to the closest one. The open end was also tied into a knot to give it enough weight. Dion took a deep breath before tossing the knotted end to Ember, who caught it easily.

Dion still held the middle of the rope, not entirely trusting the rail to hold the man’s full weight. Ember was both muscular and tall, Dion expected he weighed more than the average person. 

When Ember finally let go of the beam, Dion’s suspicions were proven right when the man swung wildly under the floor and nearly pulled Dion over the edge as well.  Dion prayed to Earth that the tablecloth rope would hold on just a bit longer. The drop must have been at least 10 metres or so. He didn’t want to say anything, but Dion didn’t have high hopes for the man who fell.

“Safe!” Ember called from out of view. He must have landed on another floor somewhere below.

“Do you think you can climb down?” Dion asked Atticus. It wasn’t a foolproof method, but if they could keep moving, there might be another exit they could use.

Atty nodded quietly and shimmied down the rope easier and faster than Dion expected, almost like he was built for this kind of thing.

Dion followed after he was sure Atticus got to the end safely, however he only got about halfway down before there was a much louder tearing noise. He held his breath and didn’t move. What could he do to fix it? The rope started slowly getting longer as the tablecloth tore. Profanities echoed in the empty chasm as the makeshift rope ripped, dropping him.

An arm reached out and grabbed the frayed end, which sent Dion swinging. He smacked hard against a wall. Pain ached through his whole left side as he dangled there trying to catch his breath again.

Both Ember and Atticus dragged Dion onto the ledge. He lay there panting for a moment. There were too many near-misses for one day. He wasn’t as young as he used to be; that was abundantly clear.

The blaring sirens outside suddenly stopped. That would make it easier to think.

“Ember?” The voice was quiet, even with the distortion of the mask.

Dion found himself sighing with relief. One rescue down, one to go.