Pop quiz! What do you do when you are inside a building that’s about to collapse?

Option one, get to the ground floor and leave the building ASAP.

Option two, jump out of the window and hope someone catches you.

Option three, panic.

“Aaaaaaaaaah!” I gracefully exclaimed as I crawled along the floor away from the iron lion, who was getting back up to his feet.

No idea how the biology of such a creature worked, but apparently he heard me and locked his eyes on me. I froze.

Good, I wasn’t going to die being crushed by a collapsing building, I was going to die being eaten alive by an iron lion. I should be honored, not many people could say that.

I kept crawling back as the floor quaked and the intimidating creature closed in on me.

“Nonononono, stay away!”

The lion stopped as I requested and let out a growl that almost seemed like a sigh. It then turned to the side and motioned to its back with its head.

“Uh… hi?” Yes, the perfect response.

The freaking thing then rolled its eyes and jumped right next to me. I let out a squeak as its cold iron tail coiled around me and lifted me up into the air before placing me down on its back.

“Oh, uh… you’re letting me ride you? Are you trying to save me?”

Another sigh-like growl.

Okay, okay, I got it. You were Iron Pack’s and Iron Pack was a nice person. Of course, you wouldn’t try to just eat me. I was just being dumb. I tend to do that, you know? It was like my trademark.

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“Uwah!”

The lion dashed down the stairs while still holding me with its tail to make sure I wouldn’t fall off. And I had to admit, I’d been on rollercoaster rides a few times in my life, but none of them could even compare to this. Other than the bouncy ride, the building was also shaking. And to add to that, there were voices coming from below.

“I’m telling you there’s someone inside!” a familiar voice shouted.

If my heart hadn’t turned into a machine gun before, it definitely reached that point as I recognized the owner of that voice.

Strong and commanding yet gentlemanly… there was no way I would mistake it for someone. Iron Pack was here. Right, that’s what Rob had told me on the comms, not to mention I was currently riding on top of her construct.

But… But… Iron Pack was here! Oh my god! I was finally going to meet her again! W-what should I even say?! I couldn’t just spit out my confession out of nowhere! She would think I was a creep! I hadn’t thought this through at all!

Aaaaah! I knew this building was about to keel over, but could you maybe please slow down, Mr. Lion? I was not ready to meet her yet! Could you collapse a bit slower, hotel? J-just a few more minutes at least, please!

“Like hell I’m gonna get tricked by you again!” an angry voice boomed from down below before another explosion shook the building.

Second floor. We were getting very close... And I was still not ready whatsoever.

It certainly didn’t help that someone was shouting things in my ear. But in the current situation, there was no way I could pay any sort of attention to that. My heart was racing and my mind was about to implode from the anticipation of meeting Iron Pack again. I barely even paid attention to the walls crumbling around us.

Hello, I’m Aster! Remember me?

Ugh, no, she probably didn’t…

What’s up, how have you been?

Wow, overfamiliar much?

Hey, babe! Wanna ditch this place and hang out?

Whoa, where the heck had that come from? Nonono, that was way too gross.

Before I could settle on what to say, we finally reached the ground floor. And there they were, Nova floating around, shooting at Iron Pack’s wolves, Fissure grappling with an iron bear and Iron Pack--

My breath caught in my throat.

--turning to face me as the lion stopped at the bottom of the steps. I could see her stop in her tracks as her eyes widened behind her mask.

“... Aster…?”

“Uh… hi?” Two perfect responses in a day. I was certainly outdoing myself.

“What the hell?! Who are you?! What are you doing here?!” Nova shouted from above.

“Wait! Aren’t you--”

Before Fissure could finish the sentence, the ceiling gave away.