Chapter 2: Summoned to Another World? How Original.
Every good wrongdoer knows the importance of a reliable escape route. It's because of intensive planning that Crush and Sprite were able to evade August for as long as they did. That day, after they fled the stadium, they jumped on the ladder of the nearest apartment and climbed to the top. Both adept in climbing and general parkour, they jumped from building to building with the guard clear on their track.
"Just three more rooftops!" Announced Crush. He trailed behind Sprite by a dozen yards in case the guard caught up. It would be easier for him to defend them than Sprite, that carried their items in the duffle bag.
"Two!" Updated Sprite as they accelerated toward another building ledge. There was a gap the length of a full-sized truck with a slight decline, and the bag weighed him down, so he flung it across first.
He sped up and lunged over the space, landing on his feet for a millisecond before rolling forward to shift momentum. He recovered from the jump, stood tall, and glanced back at the past building. "Look at him go," he giggled.
Sprite raised his finger to his mouth, whistled loudly, then gave a round of applause. "Com'on, August, almost there!"
Addled, Crush snapped his head backward to see the guard spriting with a fiery gaze fixed on his back, nearly arms reach away. Crush didn't fret but narrowed his eyes at the man and clapped. "Farmer's been working out, huh."
"I'm already thinking about how I'm going to dig a hole and plant your face in the ground!" Snarked August, body arched far forward in steadfast but improper running form.
"Witty," returned Crush. "As it happens, I'm also good at planting. Half an hour ago, I planted a paid actor in the audience to help us sell counterfeit merchandise."
"Huh?! You what?" Yelled the guard, suspiciously shifting his hand into his back pocket.
"I SAID," roared Crush, elevating his tone several notches. "PLEASE LEAVE ME ALONE, SIR; IM STILL A MINOR!"
August snatched his hands from his waist along with the walkie-talkie he'd enabled. "I-It's not what it sounds like; he's lying." There was static, then a voice boomed over the device, demanding the guard return to his post at the stadium. A directive he couldn't adhere to, not empty-handed.
With Crush and August catching up, Sprite collected the bag and continued his stride. He advanced four steps before an unfavorable tearing sounded from the luggage. All too fast, a pit opened at the bottom, and all their items poured onto the ground. He immediately dropped to reload the torn sack; meanwhile, Crush had begun screaming for the boy to leave it and run. Within half a minute, he cleared the jump, grabbed Sprite's arm, and hauled him along. Disappointment soaked their faces as it became less of a game but a massive flop.
Sprite repeatedly apologized on their final spurt, but Crush remained vigilant, only urging them to run faster. At the end of the next building, they'd jump and land on the three stacked mattresses he'd placed before the operation. Once out, they'd discuss their losses.
(("We can recover from this,")) he thought. Unfortunately, that wasn't true.
Ten seconds away from the final ledge, they prepared to jump. Before that, the oddest things happened. The sky, flickered? It flashed like during a storm when a sudden power surge immediately cuts off your home lights.
The atmosphere flashed a reddish, diabolical glow that swept away what few clouds were overhead. It returned to normal immediately after, but Crush and Sprite became jaw-dropped. Their heads detonated upward toward the anomaly, so they couldn't catch the exact moment a mossy stone door with golden engravings materialized and opened in line with their path.
It was almost intentional, sentient, predicting their momentum and trajectory. Any average pair would have had a half-assed, one foot in front of the other brake to slow down, but Crush and Sprite were proficient. They performed a mini-bunny hop and heavily bombed both feet into the cement rooftop before stalling to a halt in front of the door.
There was no other side to it; there was just the stone frame filled with a dense red light that looked like it should have been strawberry scented. There was no fragrance, but there was a feeling of presence. An unexplainable sensation that no human could accurately describe; they just knew that... That energy somehow beseeched them to enter.
No man, sane or not, would be so absurd as to willingly enter-
"I got you!" August roared, spreading his wide wingspan and thrusting his entire weight into the duo stunlocked in front of an otherworldly entity. Sprite and Crush's bodies unreluctantly jolted forward upon the clash, swept into the light by the man who picked up the wrong career. He should have been an NFL linebacker.
***
Crush came down first onto a rough, stone-like surface. August's arm was wrapped around him even after they'd touched down in the new location. Despite being 17, he was a bitter butter ball that burst whenever things went against his agenda. Crush had closed his eyes for a moment because of the uncertainty of the door. But, once he confirmed he was alive, he wanted to unalive the person who ruined things.
"Get off me dickhead!" He boomed, too outraged to note the extent of the change to their surroundings. August was equally single-tracked, celebrating his subduing of the terrorist with a bear hug. "Hell no! I've finally caught you after all these years!"
It had been less than two, but needless to say, he was committed to the grapple without a follow-up plan.
Somewhere on the way down, Sprite had wiggled free and stood over the two. "I hate to interrupt your cuddle session, but I think being swallowed by a magic door warrants a cease-fire."
His remark was released loudly and clearly, but the two wrestling on the floor couldn't hear. There was a screen of sound dampening their communication. There were voices, a lot of them. They came from every which direction in various pitches, distances, and urgencies. It wasn't until an untimely nut-shot that August finally released Crush long enough to escape.
"And another for pissing me off!" Crush exclaimed, raising his size twelve shoe to stomp the man's private jewels. In this action, he leaned back and bumped into another person, a stranger who turned and shoved Crush. "I'm right here; watch out!"
Fighting words. Crush pressed pause on August and first gave a potent stank eye to the stocky man that pushed him. He bumped his chest into the strangers in challenge, rearing to unleash some of his malevolence. Luckily, Sprite pulled him by the ears and yanked his heated head back so he would face the ceiling.
"Where the hell are w-" He started. It was his initial question, instinctual to ask when you're lost, but the sheer degree of his stupor silenced him. He only gawked at the revealed setting.
It was a low-ceiling cave formation of sorts. There were only rocks, short, deathly trees, and vast darkness beside the moss-like vegetation that lit the whole area with a dim, silvery green tint. Only a rock wall stood behind them, leaving a single path ahead like a corridor.
Crush had suppressed enough for Sprite to release him, so he glanced around independently. He started by looking his brother in the eye, then grabbed his face and bobbed it around to ensure he wasn't hurt. That lasted until Sprite began doing the same to him, during which he became too dizzy to continue. All in all, he confirmed they were both unharmed.
"Alright," he said with an exhale. He began to fidget with his necklace while processing and planning what to do next. Sprite was familiar with his drawn-out thinking method, so he slowly motioned away to better understand where they'd ended up. Without moving too much, the boy could access that more than a thousand people were collected in that murky cave.
Sprite figured he had plenty of time before Crush realized he was gone, but soon after, a new presence made itself known.
The stony formation trembled, dislodging dust and rocks from the roof. Then, within an impossibly swift instant, another flash appeared, then a second, much larger door emerged. It was stone like the last but sealed tightly, perfectly unscathed, and blanketed with glowing text in a language unknown to humans. Its top was mashed against the cave's ceiling, which was only as high as a single-story house.
Voices were cut, and anticipation ran high as humans recoiled back into one another, fearing the object would open and release ungodly harm upon them.
"Humans of Earth," it articulated. Surprisingly, it spoke in clear English, not the mumbo jumbo written on its body. Its voice was... Stock, as if it google searched how a human sounded and went with the first option.
"Your planet and all other universes are in danger," it said frankly. With every word, the writings on its form lit up gold.
"In what you refer to as 1620 AD, my creation, this dimension's core, visited your world and created a hidden dungeon that you later named the Bermuda Triangle. Since its creation, countless humans have unknowingly entered this dimension and perished."
"If left alone, in six years, the entire planet will merge with the dungeon, and your world will be lost. To stop that from happening-"
"Bullshit," interrupted Crush. His voice cut the thousands of people from their role of spectator, and he hurled a baseball-sized rock that imploded against the door. "Cut the shit; we're not leaving everything we've earned to go on some fantasy journey. I've printed all kinds of Manga, so I know exactly where you're going with this. Fuck You; Uber us home."
It was assumed that the majority at least believed they were actually inside a dungeon and not dreaming because more hollers erupted.
"Kinda Zelda BS is this?! Let us go!"
"I won't stand for this! Unless there are hot Elves, then I'll think about it."
"Please, I have a family to take care of!"
"Yea! Are there hot elves?!"
Protests flew in rapid succession, some more reasonable than others. It was intrinsically accepted that abduction was immoral, even if for a genuine cause; people had the right to choose if they wanted to work to save the Earth. Whatever that implied.
Outburst persisted for some time before the door lit up, and in a tyrannical and powerful tone, it commanded, "silence." Most shut up, fearing it could somehow smite them, but few tested the limits, including Crush, who slapped Sprite's chest before blurting back, "no, YOU, silence."
Sprite's face contorted into pure baffle and dread. The two emotions were half and half, like a perfect blend of tea and sugar. He had a sudden chill, then, without explanation, he outreached toward Crush. To save him from, well, he didn't know. He just didn't want anything bad to occur.
DOOOOM, a loud bassy bang sounded as a door materialized below Crush and swung open. The ground below him became replaced with strawberry light, and without support, he fell down. His heart rose from his chest to his throat as he plunged, and the last thing he saw was Sprite's aghast face before vanishing.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone