A Missile to Worry About

"Goodness," Nikki exclaimed, her voice laced with tension as she pointed towards a group of individuals on the upper floors.

"Well, since we didn't hear them descending the stairs, we ought to come up with a plan," Malachi suggested calmly, his mind already ticking with strategies. Nikki couldn't help but chuckle. "Planning doesn't exactly seem like your strong suit."

"Then perhaps, shortie," Malachi retorted with boldness, "you should take the lead, or better yet, let Connor handle it for you. You do seem to thrive in high-pressure situations."

I knew I was far from deserving such a title, but I saw no harm in letting them maintain the illusion.

My attention shifted to the side, and I spotted a door leading to the 50th floor. It could serve as a hiding place or, if the need arose, an advantageous vantage point for a surprise attack.

"In here," I suggested, leading the way.

We swiftly shut the door and took cover behind a corner, our hearts pounding in anticipation. The footsteps drew nearer, descending relentlessly down the stairs. The intruders conversed amongst themselves, but their words remained indistinct, shrouded in the veil of our uncertainty.

Then, as if guided by a sudden revelation, one of them halted, prompting the others to follow suit.

"Hey, Billy, check out these doors," one of them remarked rather rudely, a comment that elicited a bemused response from me. In such dire circumstances, a lack of imagination in names struck me as almost comical.

"He's coming this way," Nikki whispered urgently, her eyes fixed on the intruder as he approached the door. Malachi appeared to grow increasingly tense, a palpable sense of impending action thickening the air. I sensed he was about to do something impulsive.

He sprang out from his concealed position and delivered a forceful blow to the intruder's head. For a moment, their comrades appeared stunned, their expressions etched with shock. However, that moment of hesitation was short-lived, and they surged forward towards Malachi, leaving us no choice but to join the fray.

It wasn't a situation I relished, but circumstances left me little choice.

Two of the adversaries set their sights on me, and I cried out as one of them lunged, wand in hand. I instinctively dodged and tumbled down the stairs, leaving them momentarily disoriented by my unexpected maneuver.

They gave chase, dashing down the stairs in pursuit. I quickly retrieved my wand, attempting to fend them off, but their agility proved formidable.

I narrowly evaded a lethal blow and retaliated with a desperate kick.

My limbs felt disjointed, and I moved with none of the finesse that my attackers displayed. I felt like a novice, utterly outmatched.

But then, as I swung—and missed—the adversary behind me inadvertently struck his comrade, and a surge of unexpected relief coursed through me. In an instant, Nikki descended from the railing above, launching herself at the disoriented foe.

She seized him by the hair, pummeling him mercilessly with her fists until one of the steps began to give way.

Both combatants tumbled to the floor below, leaving me with a pressing need to descend the metal stairs rapidly.

I gripped my wand tightly and hastened down the stairs, determined to finish the fight. But before I could engage, the adversary crumpled to the ground, a blaster weapon in Malachi's hand.

"Took you long enough," Nikki grumbled, and Malachi couldn't help but laugh. "Well, it's not every day you take years to bring someone down," he quipped.

I found his comment rather irksome. Nikki and I had managed to hold our own, and for a moment, she was incapacitated, forced to rest due to an injury. So, there I stood, facing off against the remaining foe, despite my limited experience in such matters.

"Come on, maybe we can find something useful up here," Malachi suggested, taking the lead. He leaned against the wall, and to our surprise, it slid open, revealing what appeared to be a vent-like passageway. The utility of this discovery, however, remained uncertain.

"Well, that's convenient," Malachi remarked with a wry grin, while Nikki let out an exasperated sigh.

We entered the corridor, where a metallic scent hung in the air, hardly resembling the characteristics of a typical vent. Venturing through narrow ducts was not exactly in my wheelhouse.

Nikki closed the sliding door behind us, and we proceeded down the corridor. As we reached its end, we encountered a locked door.

"There's a code, and no one bothered to inform us?" Nikki grumbled. "Not even Master Tiphe."

"Well, I suppose it's related to her, the school, or something else," I reasoned, though the pointlessness of it all weighed heavily on my mind.

"Wait, let's try this," Malachi suggested, his gaze fixed on the code as if sheer concentration could reveal the answer. He reached behind the codebox, and with a sudden click, the door swung open. "How did you do that?" Nikki asked, clearly impressed.

"Just cut the wire behind it," he explained casually. We ventured inside, finding ourselves in a vast room dominated by a colossal rocket that dwarfed us, its size comparable to that of three school buses stacked end to end.

"I thought they said this was a bomb," I mused. "I have no idea what kind of bomb this is, but it must be incredibly destructive."

"Well, I didn't know that, genius," Malachi quipped. "Let's just hurry up and disarm this bomb." We began to scour the room, searching for any sign of the bomb amidst a sea of scientific equipment—screens, computers, analyzers, and even a vending machine.

"See anything?" I asked Nikki, but she shook her head, equally perplexed. I wandered through the maze of machines and gadgets, feeling overwhelmed by the sheer complexity of it all. However, an unexpected turn of events sent a shiver down my spine.

The adversaries were entering the room.

"Oh no—Malachi!" I cried out, but Nikki quickly covered my mouth. "Do you think we should just give up?"

"We don't have blasters like he does!" I argued in a hushed tone. I stumbled upon a bank of buttons and, in a panic, began pressing them at random. Sweat trickled down my forehead, and my trembling hands betrayed my fear. My actions were frantic, my thoughts a jumbled mess.

But then, I noticed a lever that seemed to be tilted forward, as if my earlier actions had triggered it. I attempted to pull it back, but it resisted, stubbornly stuck in place.

Then, my gaze fell upon a button, and I pressed it. The force of my action caused me to be thrown off my feet.

The rocket came to life, suspended by a system of cables and pulleys. Panic surged through me as I realized the implications of my actions.

What had I done?

What had I unleashed?

"Hey, yo!" Malachi shouted as the rocket began its ascent. "Turn it off!"

Then, a realization struck me, a belated thought that had eluded us all. The rocket was the bomb, and I had inadvertently activated it.

Nikki and I exchanged panicked glances, frantically searching for a way to halt the rocket's ascent. But there were no obvious clues, no clear leads. I surveyed the glowing buttons and desperately pressed a sequence of them, my face contorted in fear. My hands shook uncontrollably, and I felt beads of sweat forming on my brow.

Then, I spotted a switch that appeared to be leaning forward, as if beckoning me to take action. I tugged at it, trying to pull it back, but it remained stubbornly immobile, as if fused in place.

Then, I noticed a button and pressed it. The force of my attempt sent me sprawling to the ground.

The rocket shuddered and abruptly halted, suspended in midair by a system of cables and pulleys. Relief washed over me as I realized I had succeeded in stopping it.

I let out a sigh of relief, my trembling body finally finding a moment of respite. The room was silent, save for the hum of machinery and the distant sound of our heavy breathing.

Then, as suddenly as it had all begun, the world around us began to disintegrate into darkness, the ground beneath us dissolving into nothingness. I had no idea where I was going, how I would return, but one word filled my vision:

Victory.

I let out a small, relieved cry as the virtual headset was torn away from me, and I found myself back in the real world. The abrupt shift startled me momentarily, but the overwhelming feeling of triumph drowned out any lingering fear or uncertainty.

I had done it. We had done it.