Chapter 4

"Diego, Sid, get off away from the cliff." Manny spoke calmly.

Diego and Sid obeyed, and they moved away and onto a sidewalk near the road. But as soon as they did that, a large crack appeared in the road.

"What was that?" Ellie asked, looking down at the large crack in the street.

"I don't know." Manny replied, looking at the crack himself. He then looked up at Ellie and said, "Stay there. I'll come over to you."

Manny moved forward with a crawling pace, not wanting to upset the balance of the road. But as he was about to step over the crack and get to Ellie and Peaches, the ground suddenly cracked and broke off, sending the road into the sea!

Sid, with a yell, grabbed onto Diego in fright. Manny and Ellie locked arms with each other (the same thing they did when they were on the rocks in 'The Meltdown') and tried to keep the roads from breaking apart.

"Ellie!" Manny yelled, his voice somewhat strained.

"Manny!" Ellie yelled back, her voice equally strained.

Their grip slipped, and the road was starting to break away and slide down the cliff. Peaches, with a look of shock on her face, ran to where her mother stood.

"Dad!" Peaches yelled out in fright.

"Peaches! Get back!" Manny shouted as the ground started breaking up.

Manny then took a running start was about to leap off the road and onto the cliff, when Diego suddenly ran forward and rammed into him.

"Diego!" Manny screamed in anger. "What did you do that for?!"

"I'm saving your life!" Diego replied. "You never would have made it!"

Manny looked down at the shattering remains of the cliff, which were now being filled with water. Right before the road and the cliff were about to fall in the water, Manny locked eyes with his wife for one last time.

Then the cliff fell into the sea, with Manny, Diego, and Sid with it. Suddenly, large, grey colored cliffs pushed up behind the city, moving with the intent to crush it.

"What's happening?!" Peaches asked, her voice filled with fear.

Manny, Sid, and Diego climbed onto a piece of the road, all coughing and sputtering. Manny then stood up and looked around, looking for a haven for his family. He then saw a large bridge that connected their city to another.

"Head for the Bridge!" he yelled. "You'll be safe in the other city!"

"Manny, No!" Ellie shouted to her husband.

"I will find you! I promise!"

Suddenly, a large wave crashed into them, sending Diego and Sid flying. Diego skidded across the road while Sid flew into a lamp post. Manny, however, held on with a vengeance.

"You have to get out of here!" Manny yelled as a large wave was coming forth. "Go now!"

The large wave crashed, and Manny, Sid, and Diego were sent underwater. They came out, coughing and sputtering, and saw the cliffs beginning to break and fall into the sea.

Suddenly, two large beams of stone fell into the sea, causing a wave that sent the chunk of road out to sea. The chunk started moving away from the mainland, and Manny yelled out to Ellie and Peaches, "Stay alive! No matter what it takes, I will come back to you!"

…

Up on the cliff, Peaches began sobbing. "Mom, this is all my fault!" she cried as she watched the piece of road move away. "If I just listened to him-"

"Peaches!" said Ellie, hugging her daughter. "This is not your fault."

"What if I never see him again?" Peaches sobbed in her mother's embrace. "The last thing we did was fight!"

"Hey, your father is the toughest, most stubborn giant that ever lived!" Ellie replied, looking out at the sea. "He'll come back for us, I know it."

Peaches stopped sobbing, but then somebody came to her mind. "Wait, where's Louis?" she asked worriedly, getting out of her mother's embrace.

"Where was the last place you saw him?" asked Ellie.

"At the falls!" Peaches replied.

"That's where we'll go!"

And with that, Ellie and Peaches made their way to the falls, with the intention of saving Louis.

…

Meanwhile, Manny, Diego, and Sid were floating away from the mainland. They were trying to row back, but to little avail. Manny was rowing with a STOP sign that was on the sidewalk, Diego was using his hands, and Sid was using a stick that had been broken off from a tree in all the confusion.

"We have to get back!" said Manny. "Keep rowing!"

"Manny, forget it." Diego replied, out of breath. "The current's too strong and this piece of road is too heavy!"

"You know, my mother once told me that bad news was actually good news in disguise!" said Sid, sitting on the ground.

"What this before she abandoned you?" asked Diego, sitting beside him.

"Yes, it was." Sid replied somewhat sourly, but his attitude was still bright. "But the point is, even when things look bad, there's always a rainbow around every corner! And nothing but smooth sailing ahead!"

Then the thunder and lightning broke. The trio looked in the direction they were going and saw several large storm clouds approaching them.

"Smoothing sailing, Sid?" Manny asked sarcastically.

"I think we better hold on to something!" said Diego, as they headed into the storm clouds.

They all agreed on that; Diego got up and took a hold of the lamp post. Sid got up and took a hold of a trash can that was frozen to the sidewalk, and Manny held onto another lamp post.

And with that, they sailed into the storm, prepared for the worst.