The floor didn't just collapse; it was like it was melting away. The tiles turned into little squares of light that floated, and the metal beams twisted in on themselves like paper burning into liquid. The gravity went sideways as the whole floor gave way under them. Riko didn't even get a chance to scream. One second he was waiting for the giant to hit him with his hammer, and the next he was falling into nothing. There was no air, no up or down, just a light that made a whirling void.
Kaze landed next to him, his arms trying to fight the air. Even as they tumbled through the digital emptiness, he looked calm. Luna was spinning below them, yelling something, but Riko couldn't hear her because of the sound of the world breaking.
Pieces of the gym like lights, metal seating, and broken metal were with them, all going down into a swirling hole of twisted colors. The crackling air throbbed like a giant's heartbeat. Each time it throbbed, it bent the space around them.
Riko held his arm that was burning as he fell. The Level Screen was going crazy, with symbols sliding off like melting writing. Error messages were flashing, but they were too fast for him to read.
Riko! Luna yelled, and her voice sounded far away, like she was shouting through a broken speaker.
I'm here! he shouted back, but he didn't know if the sound went anywhere.
Kaze twisted in the air, and he was suddenly upright, as if the void listened to him more than gravity. Keep aware, he warned. This crack isn't stable.
You don't need to tell me! Riko screamed.
A piece of the gym floor spun past his face, changing from wood to pixel blocks before turning into blue static. It felt like the whole world was re-writing itself as they fell, with all the rules of physics splitting open.
Then the falling felt even worse.
The crack in space was pulling harder—downward, sideways, inward—Riko couldn't tell. His stomach twisted as the colors around them smeared into bright lines, flickering like colorful flames. It felt like his whole body was stretching in ways they shouldn't. The pressure around him tightened, squeezing.
Kaze tried to reach him. Riko—don't pass out! The crack will erase you if your system shuts down.
I'm—trying—! Riko yelled through his teeth.
His burning arm was throbbing again, with bright bursts of light of burning, making Luna hold her hands in front of her eyes as she floats closer. Your screen is going crazy! Make it stop flickering!
I would if I could!
The crack twisted again, pulling them deeper. Riko's breath was pulled from his lungs. Luna almost hit him before grabbing his shoulder to steady herself, with her hair floating around them like they were underwater.
You alright? she asked, her voice shaking, echoing.
No, Riko answered.
Then everything stops...
Another pulse. The void shook.
Something new appeared below them.
It wasn't the giant—they had lost sight of him when the floor had broken. This was something else, something much worse. A huge shadow appeared in the whirlpool. It was tall and weirdly formed, and its arms kept flickering in and out like bad code. Its eyes appeared for a moment before blinking into two blocks of deep crimson.
Kaze saw it first. He stopped spinning, freezing. Entity approaching. Unknown.
Luna grabbed Riko's jacket. Please tell me that's just more broken junk.
Riko gulped. I… really don't think so.
The shadow became clearer as they got closer. Its body wasn't solid. It was made of squares, rotating patterns, and spirals of data that was all shifting. Parts of its chest opened up like sliding doors, showing an empty black inside.
It raised an arm.
The crack trembled hard, more than before. Gravity flipped for a split second, sending Riko upward. Luna was thrown sideways, spinning uncontrollably. Kaze launched towards her, grabbing her jacket.
Riko spun past them all, heading straight for the thing.
The burning in his arm was really bad, lighting his nerves up like fire. The Level Screen flashed white, then red, then all black.
Riko screamed. He couldn't help it, his arm felt like it was being ripped open.
Riko! Luna screamed.
Kaze stared at the approaching monster, then at Riko. His face became a mask. It wants him.
No way! Riko yelled.
The entity reached for him, with pixels falling off its body like dust around a black hole. Its fingers got longer, beyond the shape of a normal hand. They wrapped around him before they even touched him, as if the air was becoming solid.
Kaze went down slashing through the void. Shockwaves went around his strike, but the entity didn't even move. It didn't even seem to notice him.
It's ignoring me? Kaze wondered, looking grave. That's—I have no idea.
Luna grabbed Riko's ankle, trying to pull him back, but she wasn't stringer than the pull of this unknown force. Don't let it take you!
I'm trying not to! Riko shouted.
Then the void jerked.
The world twisted in like a curtain closing. The three of them spun around the entity, caught in a storm of broken blocks and pixel pieces. Riko's ears were ringing, and his heart sounded heavy. His arm felt like melted metal.
The entity pulled harder.
Its empty eye blocks widened.
Its mouth appeared, cutting across its face like a crack.
A voice—if it could even be called that—echoed in their minds, full of static:
USER… REQUIRED.
Riko couldn't breathe. No—no, no, no—!
The pressure around them became so intense that Riko thought his ribs would break. The darkness drew upon them like a dark sky. The world began to accelerate toward the center, toward the entity's open place.
Kaze reached again. Riko!
Luna held onto both of them, screaming his name.
The crack twisted one more time, and everything blacked out, with all drawing closer;
Riko's arm was on fire with light, the Level Screen flashing back to life, with bad text.
Symbols flashed.
Warnings appeared.
Then, a single, normal message flashed:
<< CRITICAL TRANSFER STARTED >>
The void spun.
The world closed.
Their bodies were pulled quickly downward, past the entity's reaching arms, into a new, dark whirlpool under it.
Riko felt himself losing consciousness.
Luna tried to yell something, but her voice twisted.
Kaze's face turned with focus, and a hint of fear.
The crack in the levels swallowed them whole.
And above the roar of the space breaking, the Level Screen yelled out what it's final warning was:
The system yells: ZONE TRANSFER: UNKNOWN DESTINATION