Celeste staggered forward, boots skidding slightly on dust and broken concrete.
“O-okay,” she muttered to herself, shaking out her paws. “That’s—fine. Falling through reality is—apparently—normal now.”
The lights overhead flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then—
CLICK.
A corridor light snapped on ahead of her.
Footsteps echoed.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Polished shoes on metal flooring.
Celeste froze.
Her ears flattened.
“Oh no,” she whispered. “No no no—please don’t be him—”
A familiar voice drifted down the hall, smooth as silk soaked in poison.
“Well,” Gideon drawled, clapping his hands once in lazy applause, “this is far more entertaining than the security feed.”
Another step.
Another light flared on.
Celeste bolted.
She immediately tripped over a loose cable and went down with an undignified eep, skidding on her side before scrambling back up.
“I’m up! I’m up!” she called, like the floor might be offended. “Sorry—sorry—!”
Gideon chuckled.
“Oh, don’t rush on my account,” he said mildly. “I do so enjoy a chase. It makes the end feel… earned.”
The lights cut out.
Darkness.
Celeste ran anyway, arms out, slamming shoulder-first into a wall.
“Ow—! Stars—okay—wrong way—!”
FWOOMP.
A burst of glitter exploded somewhere to her left.
“MISS!” Topsy shouted cheerfully. “BUT A VERY PRETTY MISS!”
Another BOOM echoed, confetti ricocheting off the ceiling and raining down uselessly.
“I’m helping!” Topsy insisted. “Emotionally AND spiritually!”
“Topsy, STOP FIRING BLIND—!” Arcade’s voice crackled over comms, already half-feral. “YOU ARE NOT A RICOCHET-BASED LIFEFORM—!”
“NEITHER IS THE HALLWAY!” Topsy replied.
Celeste skidded around a corner—and nearly collided with Mezzo, who came barreling past her in the opposite direction.
“FOUND ‘EM—!” he yelled—then paused mid-stride.
“…Wait. No. That’s a broom closet.”
He pivoted hard, slammed into the opposite wall.
“WHY ARE THERE SO MANY WALLS?!”
“MEZZO YOU OVERSHOT AGAIN,” Arcade snapped. “THE KIDS ARE TEN METERS TO YOUR LEFT—NO—YOUR OTHER LEFT—!”
Mezzo spun, wings clipping a light fixture.
“THIS LEFT?!”
“NO—!”
Too late.
He vanished down the corridor at full sprint.
“…He’s gone,” Arcade said hollowly. “He’s just—he’s just gone again.”
The lights flickered back on.
Gideon stood at the far end of the hall, hands clasped behind his back, immaculate as ever.
Between him and Celeste—
A cracked observation window.
Lumina’s silhouette.
Celeste’s heart lurched.
“LUMINA—!” she cried, sprinting again, feet barely keeping up with her thoughts.
Gideon took one casual step closer to the glass.
“Oh do stop shouting,” he said pleasantly. “You’ll frighten her.”
Celeste skidded to a halt, nearly faceplanting again.
“Please don’t hurt her!” she blurted, words tumbling out. “She’s—she’s really small and she cries when she’s stressed and she hums when she’s scared and I promise she doesn’t know anything—!”
Gideon glanced back at her, eyebrow raised.
“…How touching.”
He tapped the glass lightly with one finger.
Lumina flinched.
Celeste made a sound somewhere between a squeak and a sob.
“Please,” she pleaded, hands clenched in front of her chest. “I’ll—I'll do anything. I’ll leave. I’ll stop asking questions. I’ll even stop breaking your floors—!”
The lights cut out again.
In the dark, Gideon’s voice purred.
“Oh, my dear,” he said, amused, “you already broke far more than my floors.”
A CRASH echoed as Mezzo slammed into something unseen.
“FOUND THEM—! I THINK—! HOLD ON—!”
“Topsy fired again, this time launching a rainbow smoke bomb that detonated directly into the ceiling.
“MISS NUMBER THREE!” she cheered. “BUT THIS ONE FEELS CLOSE!”
“STOP FEELING AND START AIMING!” Arcade screamed. “MEZZO, STOP RUNNING LIKE A DRUNK COMET—!”
Celeste stumbled forward again, tripping as the lights stuttered.
She caught herself on the wall, panting.
Gideon’s silhouette loomed closer.
“So earnest,” he said softly. “So desperately sincere. It almost makes me nostalgic.”
He leaned toward the glass again.
Celeste lunged, slipping, scrambling, barely keeping her feet.
“PLEASE—!” she cried, voice cracking. “She’s my sister—she needs me—!”
Gideon paused.
Just long enough to turn his head.
Smile sharp.
“Oh,” he said lightly. “Then do try to keep up.”
The lights snapped off.
Footsteps moved again.
Toward Lumina.
Celeste screamed her name and ran—
tripping—
sliding—
scrambling—
desperate, clumsy, unstoppable.
The lights flickered again.
Dark.
Celeste skidded to a stop, chest heaving—
and instinct finally snapped into place.
She reached inward.
Pulled.
SHING.
Twin blades flared into existence in her hands, light humming along their edges—solid, real, there.
Gideon stopped.
For the first time, genuinely irritated.
“…Oh,” he said flatly. “Now you can do that.”
Celeste blinked at the swords, startled herself.
“Oh—this?” she said, lifting one uncertainly. “Um. Yes. I—ah—I figured it out recently. It sort of just… happens if I panic enough.”
Gideon’s smile vanished.
He raised his pistol—not at her chest.
At her knees.
“I’m afraid I’ll need you intact,” he said pleasantly.
The lights cut—
—and a GNOME exploded out of Skye’s card launcher.
A tiny, bearded, pointy-hatted menace hit the floor screaming something incomprehensible and immediately shoved Gideon hard in the shin.
“WHAT—?!” Gideon barked as he staggered.
The gnome followed up by biting his ankle.
Skye didn’t wait.
“NOW—!” he shouted.
Celeste lunged forward, slashing the stasis lock on the observation window.
Glass shattered.
She grabbed Lumina and Skye, hauling them free just as—
BANG.
A shot cracked past her ear.
Darkness swallowed the hall.
Click.
A faint green glow bloomed ahead.
Gideon’s voice floated out, amused.
“Oh this is delightful,” he said. “You really should try running in the dark more often.”
Night vision.
Celeste bolted, dragging Lumina behind her, blades flashing uselessly through shadow.
Shots rang out—
BANG—BANG—
She yelped as one grazed her side, burning hot.
“EEP—! Ow—! Okay—okay—that’s cheating—!”
“Predation,” Gideon corrected lazily. “I recommend it.”
Elsewhere—
Mezzo came screaming around a corner at full speed.
“FOUND—THE—”
He overshot.
Badly.
“—WAY—!”
He flew straight through a side door, out a window, and vanished—
CRASH.
Glass lab.
He hit the floor in a shower of shards, blinking up at pristine white counters and humming machinery.
“…Huh,” he said. “Science.”
Gideon’s voice crackled faintly over the comms.
“Oh splendid,” he purred. “Thank you for finding that for me.”
“MEZZO SEND ME THE DATA—!” Arcade screamed. “NOW—!”
Mezzo scrambled up.
“RIGHT—DATA—GOT IT—!”
He promptly poured a bottle of water onto the nearest console.
Sparks flew.
“DATA IS VERY FRAGILE—!”
“STOP DESTROYING IT—!” Arcade shrieked. “WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS—?!”
Mezzo scooped handfuls of glowing USB sticks and stuffed them into his pockets.
“I’M POCKETING THE SCIENCE—!”
Arcade pinched the bridge of his nose so hard he nearly folded in half.
“MEZZO—GRAB—THE—SERVER—!”
Mezzo turned.
Nodded.
Lifted—
The air conditioning unit.
“…This feels important?”
Arcade broke.
Just—fully broke.
“No. No. I’m done. I’m actually done. I’m having a breakdown. This is it. This is where I die.”
Mezzo stared at him.
“…Oh. Oh no. You’re crying.”
He dropped the AC unit.
“I CAN’T HANDLE THIS—!” Mezzo wailed. “WHY IS EVERYTHING SO LOUD—?!”
Meanwhile—
Topsy fired wildly down the corridor.
Confetti explosions. Glitter smoke. Party horns.
A zombie and a council soldier paused.
Looked at each other.
Shrugged.
They both quietly turned around and walked out.
“Nope,” the zombie muttered.
Gideon stalked after Celeste, shots echoing.
She ducked, tripped, rolled, scrambled up again.
He laughed softly.
“The dog chasing the cat,” he mused. “A very hybrid cat. A fascinating one.”
Another shot skimmed her shoulder.
She hissed, clutching the wound.
“And summoning swords,” Gideon continued. “I do wonder how you learned that.”
A pause.
“…Though I think I have a guess.”
The lights flickered—
—and suddenly Mezzo burst out of a side corridor at full tilt.
This time—
Perfect angle.
He slammed into Gideon like a freight train.
“GOT YOU—!”
They hit the wall—
—and Topsy, eyes shining, lined up her shot.
“ART TIME.”
BOOM.
The Party Crasher fired perfectly.
Gideon flew backward—
out the window—
arms flailing—
coat billowing—
gone.
Silence.
Then distant crashing.
Topsy lowered the launcher, blinking.
“…Nailed it.”
Celeste collapsed to her knees, shaking.
Arcade’s voice crackled back in, faint but triumphant.
“…I got the data. CHIP’s downloading. We—somehow—won.”
Mezzo lay on his back, staring at the ceiling.
“I’m never touching science again.”
The corridor finally stayed lit.
Not bright—just steady. Enough.
Celeste dropped to her knees and pulled Lumina into her arms so fast it nearly knocked the breath out of her.
“Oh—oh—stars—come here—” she babbled, burying her face in Lumina’s hair, hands shaking as she hugged her tight. “You’re okay—you’re here—you’re alive—”
She peppered Lumina’s forehead and cheeks with frantic kisses, tail flicking wildly.
Lumina stiffened at first out of habit—
Then didn’t pull away.
She wrapped her arms around Celeste’s middle instead, small fingers clutching tight.
“…Sorry,” Lumina murmured. “We didn’t mean to get stuck. We just—everything went wrong.”
Celeste pulled back just enough to look at her, eyes bright and wet.
“I don’t care,” she said immediately. “You could’ve gotten stuck in a volcano and I’d still just be happy you’re breathing.”
She hugged her again, tighter.
Skye, meanwhile, had very quietly begun edging backward.
Just a little.
Just enough.
Celeste’s ears twitched.
She looked up.
“Oh no you don’t.”
Skye froze.
Celeste reached out with one arm and yanked him into the hug pile too.
“HEY—!” Skye yelped, immediately squashed between sisters. “I’m fine! I was totally fine! Barely scared at all—!”
“I heard you scream,” Celeste said sweetly.
“That was tactical screaming.”
Arcade was already kneeling beside them, scanner out, hands brisk but gentle as he checked Skye over.
“No fractures… heart rate elevated… adrenaline spike…” He shot Skye a look. “What the hell were you thinking?”
Skye shrank a bit. “I—uh—thinking fast?”
Arcade pinched the bridge of his nose. “You summoned a gnome.”
“It worked.”
“…I hate that it worked.”
A few steps away, Mezzo sat down hard on the floor, armor clanking.
Arcade stood, turned—
—and immediately deflated.
They stared at each other for a second.
Then both spoke at once.
“I’m sorry—”
“I messed up—”
They stopped.
Restarted.
“I should’ve listened—”
“I shouldn’t have touched the water—”
They both groaned and slid down the wall until they were sitting side by side, heads thunking back against the metal.
“I panicked,” Arcade admitted, voice tight. “I hate panicking.”
“I panic professionally,” Mezzo said miserably. “But you’re supposed to be the brain. I broke the brain.”
Arcade snorted despite himself. “…You picked up the air conditioner.”
“I thought it was the server.”
“It was bolted to the wall.”
“I was under a lot of pressure!”
They both laughed—short, cracked, exhausted laughs that faded into shared silence.
“…You good?” Mezzo asked quietly.
Arcade nodded. “…Yeah. You?”
“Ask me again in six to eight business days.”
Nearby, Topsy had wandered over to a stack of boxes and was happily poking at them with the barrel of her launcher.
“HEY GUYS,” she announced, cheerful as ever. “MY LAUNCHER IS STILL REALLY COOL.”
No one argued.
“And also—look!” She kicked one open. “CANDY.”
Celeste’s head snapped up.
She frowned, stepping closer, picking up one of the wrapped sweets.
Her stomach tightened.
“…This is the same candy,” she said slowly. “From the convention.”
Arcade looked over her shoulder. “…Zygurr’s batch.”
He checked the label, then the shipping stamp.
Address: Clawdiff University.
“…Why,” Arcade said flatly, “is apocalypse candy being shipped to a university lab?”
No one liked that.
Mezzo quietly stuffed a handful of sweets into his pocket anyway. “Evidence.”
Topsy nodded and did the same. “Snacks for later thinking.”
Celeste tucked Lumina under her arm, hand resting protectively on her back.
“…We’ll figure it out,” she said, tired but steady. “Later.”
Arcade nodded, already pulling up the data buffer. “Yeah. Data can wait.”
He looked around at them all.
“…Ray and the others will need help.”
Celeste straightened, swords fading as she stood.
“Then let’s go help them,” she said softly. “Together.”
They moved out as one—bruised, glitter-dusted, alive—
Leaving the dark corridors behind.
