As she jumped into the air along with everyone else, Jackie was prepared to give the Shattered below a chance, opening her mouth to scream at them to move, to run from what was barreling toward them.

She didn’t have time to even worry about that.

The Jaw-Chest man screamed as part of the house was tumbling towards them, and with his shrieks, two lances emerged from his mouth. Hitting with such force that the last of the structure broke into pieces instantly, scattering around the courtyard.

“Okay, we have to watch out for lance-mouth-man,” Tracy’s voice cracked as she said it.

They all landed relatively near each other, with Jackie leaning and walking back to catch Billie. As the girl staggered out of her arms, Jackie caught a hint of blush on her cheek. Blinking, she left that alone and looked at these wayward souls.

Jackie quickly stepped forward, holding her hands up as she tried desperately to keep balance on the moving ground.

“We’re here to help you--!” Jackie had outstretched hands. “Please, I know you’re afraid!”

She read each of their twisted, degraded faces. The same expression, regardless of that fact.

It sent a chill down her spine. It felt familiar, yet completely foreign. Deep in her mind, she knew that her and the girls had the same expression when they were lost not that long ago.

Jackie sighed.

“Then we have to use drastic measures, I’m afraid.”

She looked toward the others, “GO!”

The girls spread out, forming a moving circle, keeping in step with one another, trapping the Shattered.

The Lance-Man staggered forward, shooting out another round of his unnatural tusks. They nearly hit Jackie and River, causing both to slide on the moving ground left and right, respectively. They quickly tried to scramble back up, still struggling against the loose foundations.

“That’s right, guys! Just keep moving and you’ll be fine!” Billie cupped her hands around her mouth, stood away from the action, standing on the largest piece of debris that she could find. “…Kinda realized that I’m giving strats to the other side, but hey! You’re sorta used to it now, doesn’t that count for something--?”

It did count, she thought, as Jackie got back up and led the team to keep going. There’s also the advantage of knowing how the Shattered worked, due to Leslie’s lecture from what felt like weeks ago. Not only that, but they could also have brief relief due to the scattered debris everywhere, using them as if they were rocks in the rushing river. But there was still danger here, along with the complications. S

haring a power source aside, they don’t need to get into a fight right now—both for their sake and the victims, yet one was clearly beginning to brew.

“Alright!” Jackie quickly scooped up a large piece of debris. “Aim for their weak spots!”

Easier said than done, due to the Sagging-Side-Man going forth now.

It took effort, him leaning and groaning painfully as he did it, but he fling what was once his destroyed arm—changing size before their very eyes, becoming a large squish mace as it slammed into the ground.

There was no way around it, they all had to use siVis to dodge quickly enough to avoid it, and the rippling effect that it caused.

Jackie rolled, and got on her feet again. But once she tried to stand again, she instantly felt weakness.

Scanning the environment, there were at least some good factors that came out of it.

All the Shattered were down, due to that area-of-effect move. They were struggling to get up, not used to the environment like the girls. This provided a chance, and Maddie was clearly taking it as she raised her hand to take aim.

But she was struggling to lift what was in her hand, using the other to grab at her wrist.

Someone was using too much of their siVis—but who?

Then Jackie felt it stab deeply into her chest. Fear.

She looked to Tracy, who was quickly getting back up, before realizing she lost her item, trying to fetch it as if someone dropped their phone into a puddle of mud—desperately trying to keep both it and themselves clean in vain.

But Jackie was able to look in deeper, feeling the girl pull in more energy due to her latent siVis use. It was still on, despite being more safe than the others at the moment.

It clicked in for Jackie.

“Tracy, it’s okay!” Jackie instructed. “You can let go—you don’t have to be in defense mode all the time, just when it counts!”

“You say that when we’re not constantly in danger!” Tracy batted back, which took Jackie by surprise. The venom in that statement makes it confusing to her if she means now or just in general anymore.

“Well, right now you’re draining us! So do this after we’re fixed and we can go home!”

Tracy whimpered audibly. She took a number of rapid-fire breathes before taking a large one, as she notably untightened her body.

A surge of power returning to Jackie in the process.

Maddie grunted, chucking the rock at the Jaw-Chest-Man’s collapsed back, hitting it dead-on. He fell down, and his pieces clung together. Twitching, but immobilized.

It was a sight that made Jackie look away by instinct. But this was the only way. She believed that these people deserved rehabilitation, despite how bleak that future looked. But it was still possible.

Jackie’s head quickly snapped towards the Saggy-Side-Man, as he was beginning to raise his arm up again, her in his sights.

Jackie gripped the debris in her hand as if it were a baseball, scanning his body before realizing that under his armpit, the lesion was there.

It wasn’t before Aiko’s shot nailed him directly there, taking him out as he fell into his normal side.

Jackie tensed, the lack of power returning again. She looked to Aiko.

“N-nice shot, but—” Jackie struggled to huff out her observation. “You didn’t measure anything out at all there, you put everything in—”

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

“You measure your stuff out--?” Aiko legitimately asked. Causing Jackie to sigh a bit.

“I know it’s not your style but, you have to mind what you’re putting out. Strike with all you have, but don’t forget or lose things in the process…”

“Alrighty, I’ll try to remember that~!” Aiko saluted.

Before getting cut off, the Bulbous-Neck-Woman rushed forward in a burst, the neck was glowing unhealthily.

And before she could regain any bearings, the Long-Armed-Man whipped at Jackie with both of his former hands, forcing her onto a pile of trash.

Jackie watched as the arms recoiled back like a worm curling onto itself, his “hands” collecting smaller debris as it stuck to them like a worm with dirt.

As soon as she looked up, she saw the Bulbous-Neck-Woman charge in both senses of the world. The light built up slowly again, and she scraped at the ground with her foot like a bull.

Jackie’s eyes darted all over the place until she saw River behind the Bulbous-Neck-Woman. Good, she could hit her and save her.

But she was frozen in place. Perched on a broken frame, and she wasn’t wobbling because it was slowly being eaten.

Jackie panicked, especially so when she saw the Long-Armed-Man revving up behind the woman.

“RIVER, PLEASE--!” Jackie shouted out. Hoping what she thought in a split second will work.

Startled, the Bulbous-Neck-Woman turned on her heel, needing to use her entire body to see River ways away behind her.

Jackie darted, quickly, angling herself on the left side of the woman, and continued to hope that the plan will work.

It did.

The Long-Armed-Man was already spring-loaded, he thrust his arms forward, whipping at the Bulbous-Neck-Woman so hard, she was flung a long ways away. It was clear that he was distraught at that.

A perfect time for Maddie to nail him in the back, dropping him out of the fight.

Jackie walked over to River, eyeing her down as she stood there shaking.

“What the hell?! You could’ve had her! Why did you calm up? You’re smart River, you had--!”

A wave of pressure hit her all at once.

She felt River’s thoughts. Many thoughts. She couldn’t experience them second-hand like Darrius, but she felt them accumulate into the pressure that caused Jackie to stop mid-rant, let alone move.

Jackie pulled out, shaking her head lightly, before looking at River.

“…You had a lot of choices that it crushed you,” Jackie changed her opinion on River. She put a hand on her shoulder.

“You are smart. I get there’s a lot to mess up, but… You can think on your feet. You’re reliable. I know it doesn’t feel that way, but we take for granted how much you help silently. You got this.”

“Where’s the fucker--?” Maddie asked.

Jackie turned to her, Aiko, and Tracy walked toward them, hopping on the last of the trash. “Come again?”

“There was a fifth one—” Maddie looked around. “Where is--?”

A blur answered their questions.

The Straggle-Girl was moving at lightning speeds, circling the girls that were barely catching her with their enlightened eyes.

“Circle up, quick!” Jackie moved into position. The girls found themselves with their backs to each other, trying to track the blur that was closing in.

“What do we do?!” Tracy screamed. “We can’t even see her, let alone hit her!”

Jackie perked up in that desperate moment.

“We don’t have to—” she searched at her feet, quickly picking up rock in both hands.

She started to chuck things, anything she could get her hands on, around where the blur was creating the circle. The others looked to her, and then began to do the same thing. Everyone having a spot and throwing rocks, debris, waste at the Straggly-Girl.

It was enough, and soon the girls jumped as she slid back into existence, one of them managing to trip her up in that pivotal moment. So lacking in structure, the fall alone caused her to tense and thus, become defeated.

Leaving the girls panting, already tired.

“So uh…” Billie peered over a different pile of trash. “It’s all over—you guys done?”

“Yeah,” Jackie nodded, stumbling. “Yeah, we did it.”

“Sweeeeet!” Billie hopped up. “See, you guys aren’t losers!”

Maddie sighed, gripping her knees weakly, hunched over. “Doesn’t change the fact that we’re mega bitches, though…”

“We need to keep… Pushing through…” Jackie looked up at the abandoned facility before them. “And we’re not at the worst of it yet.”

She looked to the ground, seeing the Shattered across it. Laying on just enough wreckages to keep them afloat.

“You’ll get help…” she said under her breath. “I promise you, people’ll come. You can have your lives again…”

There was supposed to be more, but the rumbling cut her off.

They faced the lunging layers, embedded with formerly high-tech mining equipment.

There was no way to face this. Their plan wasn’t to figure out or remotely try to find a weakness in them. Jackie gripped Billie’s hand, as the others got into position. They straightened up and took a deep breath, everyone synchronized sans Billie.

And they ran.

They kept running, and while they couldn’t exactly predict them, they diverted all siVis use into darting to the side at the very last moments, feeling earth and rock graze them ever so slightly. Their trajectory changing every odd moment, but getting closer to the building.

It was getting harder as it went on. While they were still dodging, it became closer calls. Not only that, each miss was adding more to the growing walls, making their path narrow.

Billie was lagging behind, even as Jackie was holding her.

There was clear anxiety in the action. Jackie felt every bead of sweat on her palm, she squeezed at Billie’s wrist to feel the pulse. She was even tempted to keep looking back, slowing down so she could do so.

But she knew she had to face this, she had to keep going. For all of their sakes.

While the layers are no longer lashing out, but the tunnel slowly became more and more closed in. They were all forced to go in into a line at this point.

But the door—the crusted-over and rusted entranceway, it was right there.

The walls were getting tighter, so close together they could feel the energy crackling.

“JUUUUMP!”

Spring forth, and using siVis to twist at an angle, each of the girls made it out of the maze.

But Billie got stuck.

It was panic, it was desperation, Jackie placed her foot on the stone structure and pulled with all of her might.

Tugging, tugging, Jackie’s eyes getting glossy as Billie struggles to crawl out against moving walls.

But she made it.

Jackie fell backward, letting Billie land on her.

As she was panting, Billie hugged the tall girl tight, shaking as they did.

“You—you’re a fucking superhero, man—a fucking superhero—” Billie sputtered out.

Jackie patted the wild girl’s back, biting her lips. Fighting against the surge of emotion over finally doing it, with no asterisks aside.

She finally saved someone.

The others helped the two up, all of them looking at the entry.

“We’re at the endgame now…” River whispered out. “Hopefully, he’s in here.”

They walked into the darkness, and the lights flickered on in response. Fully unable to come on, it was just blinking lights.

It was enough to see the state of things. Subsumed by the layers, natural rust, combing into a broken caked-in frost that covered everything. From floor to machines.

Each step crunched, as everyone scrunched together as they scanned the room. Just walking forward. It was a technological wasteland, to counter the contemporary ruin they slept in.

“Oh god—”

Jackie looked to Maddie, to see what she was reacting to.

She wished she and the others didn’t look.

It was a control panel of sorts. A body, a fossil, merged within the console. The only thing that wasn’t brown and rust was the white and orange mining uniform. “EXTANT” written on the arm.

“So much for finding something here to use…” Aiko sounded soft.

“And there—” Billie pointed out.

A fossil buried on the floor, another clawing their way out of the room they’ve entered. All wearing the same suits that have yet decayed.

“That could be us, if we’re not careful,” Maddie had her hands in her pockets. “C’mon. We’ve seen enough.”

Jackie looked at the girl. She felt small trances of pain, throbbing every so often. She was tempted to tell her to take it easy, to let herself be hurt.

“Hey, Maddie.”

She turned her head at her. “Jackson?”

“I’ll take watch,” Jackie gestured to Billie. “You did enough. You keep Billie safe.”

Maddie studied her. Jackie hoped that she didn’t use their connection to see through her at that moment.

She smirked. “Hey, if we lose, then it’s your fault. I’ve been pulling the weight this entire time~”

Before Jackie walked forward, Aiko grabbed at her wrist.

“Jackie… I know you think you have to keep going and stuff but… We can feel how tense and scared you are. You don’t have to act like nothing’s wrong, either.”

Jackie looked at the others in surprise. Seeing that they were sharing the same sentiment.

“This is a team effort…” Tracy chimed in. “We’re not the most effective bunch, but… You don’t have to shoulder it alone.”

“We came together because we couldn’t handle it all, right?” River pointed out. “Take a breath. You don’t have to protect us all the time. We’ll deal, and you just help.”

Billie was surprised, crossing her arms.

“And you say you guys aren’t friends.”

Jackie smiled and moved forward, closing her eyes briefly to take in this moment.

It took a long time, but they see something of use. An open elevator shaft, darkness pouring out.

“Alright…” Billie begun. “This thing tried to burrow a long way down from here. He might somehow be down there, in the bowels of literally Hell. Let’s scoop him out of there.”

There was a fast thud, causing them all to jump. And then another. And then a final one.

Causing the girls to fall into the elevator, screaming into the darkness.