Alex's butt was sore from riding the badger, so he was grateful when the lumbering brute slid to a halt and let him off in the middle of a grassy field. He slipped off the beast's side and stumbled to the ground, his legs shaking beneath him.

"I never want to do that again," he grumbled, vainly attempting to right himself. He fell to the ground twice before he was able to fully right himself. Dusting off his pants, he looked around for Archie and spotted the rabbit staring up at the sky. "What's up? Are we there yet?" He asked, jogging to the rabbit's side.

"I'm… Well, not entirely sure," Archie admitted. He tapped a foot curiously and pointed at the thing that had caught his eye.

Alex followed the gesture and his own eyes nearly bugged out of his head. There was a building floating in the air.

"What the…" Alex breathed. He rubbed his eyes, just to make sure he wasn't seeing things and… No, it was still there. A building hovering in the sky. "That's… new."

Archie nodded tapped his chin contemplatively. "I think that's Matt. We're about the right distance away from the aetherology campus, and that certainly looks like his building…"

"What?"

Archie narrowed his eyes at the floating building and waved for the others to follow him. "Come on. If I'm right and that is Matt, this is much worse than I feared."

"Hold on, what makes you think that's the dungeon we're looking for?" Alex demanded as the rabbit started walking at a brisk pace.

"Just a hunch. The aetherology lab was Matt's dungeon, and his core was massive. He certainly was posessed of enough mana to make a building fly."

Alex looked from Archie, to the building in the sky, and back again. "There's no way…"

Despite his misgivings, Alex had no choice but to keep up with the others. The badger and medibold jogged alongside Archie, keeping pace with the rabbit despite his inherent speed. Alex could tell that Archie was holding back so that the two kobolds could keep up. He was about to ask why they didn't resume riding the badger when the highway leading into town came into view over the next hill.

Cars were practically jammed onto the street, bumper to bumper. People were fleeing, leaving their vehicles behind.

"Something tells me this is a new development," Archie noted, pausing to observe the chaos. "Alex, do you have any adventurer contacts we can message in the area?"

"No. Waterloo has its own guild independent from Toronto," Alex said, pulling out his phone and confirming he had reception. "Though I can check the bulletin and see if there's any news there."

"Do it."

Alex quickly swiped through apps on his phone and tapped on an icon that looked like a message pinned to a wooden board. The Adventurer Bulletin was a message board used by the guilds to keep track of updates in the area. Just because the guilds operated on a local scale didn't mean they could ignore larger issues outside their jurisdiction. The bulletin helped them keep appraised of neighboring districts and any issues they might be experiencing.

He found what he was looking for in short order. There was an urgent notice at the top of the app, issued by the Waterloo guild about a sudden aetheric disturbance and a flying building.

"The bulletin was posted two hours ago," Alex said. "This is a really new development."

Archie chewed his thumb in thought and nodded. "Not good. We have to get to that building before the adventurers do."

Alex nodded his agreement and pocketed his phone again. "How do you propose we do that? We can't exactly fly, you know?"

The rabbit nodded, his eyes narrowing as he peered at the flying building. "It looks like there are smaller rocks floating beneath it. I might be able to leap between them to get up there."

"You can't be serious."

"Do you have any better ideas?"

Alex said nothing. Archie waited a few seconds, giving the kobold time to think, before ultimately nodding. They walked at a brisk pace down the street, keeping as close to the side as possible to avoid the fleeing people. A few people in adventurer gear looked ready to intercept them, but backed off when Alex flashed them his own card. They nodded to him in silent understanding, and returned to their work evacuating the people.

"We'll probably find the guild reps close to campus," Alex noted. "Higher ranked adventurers, probably silver and golds."

"Is that good?" Archie asked, checking over his shoulder to make sure the badger and medibold were keeping pace with them.

"Adventurer ranks correspond to field experience. I'm new to all this so I'm still iron rank, and will be until I'm fully trained and ready for independent field work. At that point, I'll become bronze rank and ready for team missions. Silvers and up are skilled enough to work without teams backing them up. Golds are basically field commanders," Alex explained in between panting breaths. Despite his physical training, he was still depressingly out of shape. His body rejected this much exertion almost on principle.

"Seems a standard enough system," Archie noted. He stopped running as a massive pile up of cars in the street caught their attention. They were close enough to town now that buildings were appearing on either side of the road, highway giving way to smaller streets.

Cops and adventurers alike swarmed the roads, directing people to evacuate without their vehicles. A buzz from his phone alerted Alex to an update on the bulletin, and he frowned as he read it.

"Monster sightings," he warned, tugging Archie's jacket to get the rabbit's attention. "Numerous sightings around the floating building."

Both of them panned their gaze upward. Sure enough, Alex could make out faint shapes flying beneath the suspended structure. He couldn't quite make them out, but it was clear they had wings.

"Hey! You there!" A voice rang out over the background noise and made Alex jump. He peeled his gaze away from the creatures and back down to the street level.

A goblin wearing the telltale loose clothes of a caster was jogging up to them. Like Alex, he had a wand dangling from his hip. Where they differed, though, was in a strange brass contraption strapped to his left arm.

"You should turn around and evacuate with the others," the goblin explained, pointing back the way Alex's party had come. "It's not safe out here."

"I'm with the Toronto guild," Alex assured him, tugging on his lanyard to show off his license. "Alex Hale, iron rank."

"Iron!? They really sent us an iron?" The goblin palmed his face in frustration. "What about the rest of you? Please tell me they're at least silver."

"I'm the only adventurer present," Alex said, apologetically. "The guild didn't send us at all. These three are actually representatives of the dungeon. We were on our way to check in on something when—"

"God dammit," the goblin swore. "If you're not here to help, you need to evacuate with the others!"

As he turned to jog away, Archie stepped in front of the goblin and blocked his path. "Our goals align with yours. You need that floating building dealt with, and we need access to it."

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The goblin blinked in surprise and looked to Alex for confirmation. At a nod, the goblin turned back to Archie. "Why do you need to get up there?"

Alex was momentarily worried that Archie might tell a lie, or avoid the question all together. The answer instead made him breathe a sigh of relief.

"We believe there to be a dungeon spirit inhabiting that building, not unlike the one that birthed me and my companions," Archie explained, gesturing to the badger and medibold in turn. "Our spirit also believes that the one inhabiting that building to be out of control. He wants us to help bring him back into line."

From the way the goblin's ears perked, Alex got the impression this was exacty what he wanted to hear. "And you're sure you can get that thing to calm down?"

Archie didn't even hesitate. "Absolutely. I specialize in taming temperamental spirits."

The goblin stood silently for a moment, before nodding and turning back to Alex. "Sorry for the lack of introductions. I'm Keller, bronze rank."

Alex shook Keller's offered hand and nodded in appreciation. "Can you get us closer to the structure?"

Keller shook his head. "My team is on evacuation duty. We can probably have some cops give you transport, but I don't think they can actually get you up into the building. You'll need to find your own way up there."

Archie stroked his chin pensively. "I believe I can manage that, but it might be a challenge to bring more than just one of my companions along with me."

"If you can get up there, power to you," Keller said. He unhooked a walkie-talkie from his belt and held it up to his mouth. The device crackled loudly before he started speaking into it. He quickly explained everything Alex and Archie told him, and finished by informing his superiors that they were heading towards campus. "They know to be on the lookout for you, now," he said. "Do you have a walkie? We're on channel thirteen-point-seven."

Alex nodded and fished around in his satchel for his own device. It was a different make and model from Keller's, but it was easy enough to tune to the requisite channel. Keller informed his superiors that Alex was on their line, and could communicate with them if the situation changed.

Satisfied, Keller led the group over to where a blue-and-white police pick-up truck was blocking a road. Two officers were standing beside it, directing taffic away from the pile up and encouraging people to abandon their vehicles to evacuate. When the goblin explained the situation to them, one of them nodded solemnly.

"Hop into the truck bed," she said, unclipping a keyring from her belt. "I can get them to campus."

Her partner nodded and agreed to remain behind to direct traffic. They had enough police vehicles to take care of blocking off the road, especially now that they had a backup of cars. The truck visibly sagged under the badger's impressive weight, before it turned to help Alex and the medibold aboard. Archie jumped into the passenger seat beside the cop.

The tires squeeled as they peeled off down the road, the sudden burst of speed causing Alex to fall onto the badger. The big brute put a protective arm in front of him just in time to keep him from flying to the side as they took a turn way too fast. From the truck bed, the police siren was so loud as to render Alex deafened, but he couldn't afford to clap his hands over his ears. He needed them to keep his balance and keep from flying out from under the badger's arm. The medibold was held much closer to the badger's chest, practically hugged to keep steady.

As promised, the cop's manic driving got them to campus within minutes. The last time Alex had been there, he'd only seen it from a distance. From this angle, though, he could clearly see that something was very wrong. In addition to the entire aetherology lab being torn up from its foundations, much of the manicured grass was torn up, too. What had once been a beautiful mixture of green space and laboraties was now suspended at various strange altitudes, creating a spiral of earthen clumps that ascended into the air.

Flitting between the earthen chunks were those strange flying creatures that he remembered seeing before. Now that he was closer, though, it was a lot easier for him to make out their shapes. They didn't look like birds, but had shapes more akin to angels. Their bodies gleamed silver-blue as they darted in and out of shadows, their brass wings flashing as they caught and reflected light. They didn't fly with any specific formation, and made a sound like jet engines as they passed overhead.

"Guild big wigs are over there," the cop called, shouting to be heard over the roaring monsters. She waved a finger toward where several people were gathered together beneath a shimmering blue bubble.

Alex thanked her for the helped and leapt off the truck, followed closely by the badger and medibold. Archie was already bolting down the shattered pavement towards the bubble, and was halfway there before the others even started running.

The adventurers inside the bubble didn't seem particularly bothered by the sight of, essentially, four monsters running up to greet them. Keller had described them in detail, so they knew what to expect. The first one to greet them was a woman in caster robes but with the thick build and dark skin of an orc. Her black hair was braided down her spine, and instead of a wand or staff she carried a large axe.

"You Alex?" she asked, frowning down at Alex as he slid to a halt beside Archie.

"Yes ma'am," Alex confirmed, once more flashing his license.

"I'm Reyna, gold rank," she said, nodding in approval. "One of my boys tells me you have a plan to deal with this thing. Mind giving us the details about what it is? None of us have encountered something of its kind before."

It was Archie that spoke up, drawing Reyna's attention. "It's a dungeon spirit."

The rabbit very quickly gave Reyna details about what dungeons could do, but left out key details such as the existence of their core as a weak point. There was no sense giving them a tool they could potentially level at Matt, let alone at Zack. As Reyna listened, her frown deepened, and her lips stretched into a scowl.

"So your plan is to try and talk the damn thing down?" She growled, crossing her arms. "Forgive me if I seem skeptical."

"I understand your hesitance, but please understand that these spirits are quite sapient. I've spoken to this one before. It's not hostile, but it also doesn't understand the limits of its powers. More than likely, it is simply lashing out in fear," Archie explained. "I'm confidant that I could talk it down if I could just get inside its walls."

"And the armed monsters following you?" Reyna asked.

"Mobs, actually," Archie corrected. "Magically originated beings. They're here to assist Alex and I with our incursion. Just because we don't want to harm the spirit doesn't mean it'll show us the same courtesy."

Reyna rubbed her eyes in frustration. "I hate that this is the best option I've heard all day. It's better than blowing the thing out of the sky. The only problem is getting you up there."

"I can most likely leap from platform to platform," Archie explained to her. "They don't look too far apart. I don't think I can do so carrying more than one other person, though. I don't want to leave my mobs behind, since we're not entirely sure how they'll behave without my direct intervention."

"Not to mention the gargoyles would eat you for lunch," Reyna noted, as the sound of jet engines roared overhead again. "The damn things keep taking out any fliers we send up there. Nothing can get close to the building."

At the mention of gargoyles, Alex frowned curiously. He craned his neck to peer up and, sure enough, caught sight of one of the metal beasts flying overhead. What he had originally taken to be angelic in structure was actually a lot more monstrous the longer he looked at them. Though their main bodies were composed of a light blue metal, their brass wings were far more bat-like in shape than he'd originally assumed. They even had horns and talons made of the same metal.

"Do you know somebody with teleportation, or portal magic?" Alex asked, remembering something Zack had discussed with them before departure.

Reyna raised an eyebrow at the question. "Potentially. Why do you ask?"

"Could they not simply open a portal to the building?"

"Not without a direct line of sight, or some kind of portal anchor," Reyna explained.

At the mention of portal anchors, Archie's ears perked up. "Alex, are you thinking…?"

"That Glitch's broken shards might still be up there? Yeah." Alex nodded. "Reyna, who is your portal mage?"

"Me, obviously," she snorted and crossed her arms.

"Oh. Could you please try to open a portal to the inside of the building? We have reason to believe there might be working portals within the structure." Alex explained.

"What reason could you possibly have to believe that?" Reyna demanded.

"I broke in and stole some of their portal magic a few weeks ago," Archie said casually.

Reyna did a double take, looking from Archie to Alex in confusion. She hooked a thumb at the rabbit, as though to ask if he was being serious. Alex could only offer a shrug. While Archie was telling the truth, the rabbit's demeanor was so casual and flippant, it would be difficult for someone unfamiliar with his idiosyncracies to tell whether or not he was being serious.

Shaking her head, Reyna turned her gaze skyward. She focused her attention on the building, blue and pink light glowing from her eyes. When she turned to face the two mobs again, her scowl was replaced with shock.

"I don't know whether to arrest you or thank you," she said to Archie, crossing her arms. "There is, in fact, faint traces of a portal anchor up there. Enough that I can open a portal and send some people up, at the very least."

"Good. Let's go on with this, then," Archie said, clapping his hands.

"Now hold on a second. I can't just send an iron ranker up there without a full team to back him up!" Reyna protested.

"I have a full team," Alex assured her. "I'm a caster, the big guy's our guardian, my fellow kobold is a healer, and Archie's a scout."

In demonstration of his powers, Archie abruptly turned invisible. Reyna peered at the space Archie was occupying, only for the rabbit to appear on the other side of Alex.

The orc let out a sigh and shook her head. "I'll give you one hour. If you can't calm this thing down in that time, I'm sending a strike force of silvers up there to bail you out and take the whole thing down. Understood?"

"That's all the time we need," Archie assured her.