No rest for the wicked.
Warmth.
Pain.
Regret.
That's all Alex could comprehend at the moment. His eyes felt as if they were sewn shut; no matter how hard he tried his eyelids would not budge. His other senses were failing him as well; he couldn't hear, he couldn't smell, he could hardly even feel.
I must be dead, he thought.
That was the only logical explanation for everything. The meteorite that hit the bay window of the command center must've sucked everyone outside into the cold void of space, where they all perished when the life was sucked out of them.
A swirling black was all that Alex 'saw', a black very similar to the occasional night of a dreamless sleep. It never ended, never faded, and never went anywhere. It was almost comforting...and terrifying.
Everyone else must be dead too, Alex continued to ponder.
He couldn't imagine that this was the fate one saw after death. Religion, prophecy, beliefs... all null in this afterlife. People had wasted years upon years debating, preaching, even killing in the name of something they believed in. The irony was overwhelming, if this is what death really contained.
More black swirled in front of Alex's 'eyes'. He couldn't believe it. This... was his eternity. As was everybody else's. A pang of remorse began to swell in his ethereal gut.
The warmth that Alex 'felt' began to incline. This surprised the young avian. What should have been the entire front of his body was slowly beginning to get warmer and warmer. A dull ringing also began to expand in his eardrums, and the black was slowly starting to fade...
"Hrg...agh...Uhhn..?"
The black vanished, and in its place a small slit of light began to vertically rise from Alex's sight. The brightness quickly eroded, and the cruel, cruel, hands of fate gripped the white avian's shoulders once more.
He wasn't dead.
Alex was face down on a very hot surface of gritty dirt, very confused and very injured. His flight suit was torn in all sorts of places; a few patches of his feathers were charred away and scorch marks littered his body.
He couldn't move at all. When he tried, his body erupted into pain, with no specific origin. His left cheek was embedded into the ground, both of his arms sprawled out in front of him. His beak wouldn't function, either. All he could do was lounge in the horrors that laid before him.
There was destruction everywhere Alex's eyesight would allow. Twisted, destroyed hunks of metal were lodged into the earth, almost all on fire. The ground was a sickly looking black, the very soil plagued with death and decay. The sky was illuminated by a very familiar yellowish-green, and the stench of the lot was overwhelming.
Ahead of Alex were the last remnants of his crew and ship. There were bodies -most missing some sort of limb, or several- scattered around, some mounted into the ground along with the remains of the mothership. Also, some 150 feet ahead, the ground rose into a slightly steeper upward shape; a cliff of some sorts. That's was where most of the disgusting bile light was emanating from.
Sounds were starting to fade into Alex's brain. The steady sound of a roaring fire came first, along with an occasional crash of metal to the ground.
Then came the moans.
Some of the bodies, Alex noticed, were still alive. Horror's coil twisted the avian's stomach as he watched those without legs, arms, or half of their entire heads slowly convulse and descend into death. Alex was rendered helpless and terrified...he would soon be next.
Ashes to ashes.
Where are we? What's going on?
His mind was his only companion. He believed he may have been paralyzed by the collision. His limbs failed him.
Failure.
That very word sprung into Alex's mind repeatedly, reminding him over and over the awful mistake that did this to him and his crew. He twisted his face into a moan and let out a cry of agony.
"Why...why-hy-hy..." he sputtered.
Pain kept swirling through his veins. The death moans around him only made it worse.
Somehow, Alex managed to shift his weight to the right and budge himself onto his back, looking upwards to the void that had claimed so many lives.
There were no stars. Just black.
The thick green light shone ominously into his peripheral vision. The color was haunting, disgusting, putrid...its very existence emanated impending doom.
Suddenly, Alex broke out into a fit of coughs. They were ragged and painful, and his abdomen practically exploded from the pain. With a groan, Alex rested his head on the side of the ground, and caught a new glimpse of the horror that had befallen his unit.
This scene was even worse then the previous one. Bodies...bodies everywhere. Alex couldn't bear to look. The yellowish-green glow reflected the essence of death and multiplied it tenfold.
A dull noise, much like a weary boot-step, began to make its way towards the fallen avian. Alex grimaced in pain. If there were other survivors, it wouldn't be pretty.
"He-Hello? Ale-lex?"
The voice came from somewhere above Alex's ahead, the sentence flubbed by tears and coughs. The steps were closer now.
"W-Who..." was all Alex managed to say.
There were a few strenuous grunts, as if the voice was pulling itself along by the teeth. Soon, a figure rose over the top of the avian. Alex's blurry sight clouded the face of the survivor.
The figure crouched down over Alex. "It's Dennis, man. Are you...?"
Alex coughed and sputtered again. "...No. H-Help me up."
The fox reached down and wrapped his arms underneath the avian's, lifting Alex up and propping him to a seated position. His head wearily drifted to the side.
"What...Who's...Ugh."
Alex's voice box was paralyzed along with everyone else, it seemed. Dennis seemed to know though, and took a look around him.
"It...it was awful, Alex. Katrina was just...blown to smithereens. A meteorite hit the window, and..."
Dennis stopped for a moment and shielded his eyes with his hand, trying to keep back sobs.
With a sniff, he continued. "Everyone at the terminals just vanished. Hell, everything in the front-most part of the ship did. Just...sucked straight out into nothing. Everyone was trying to hang on to something, but...it was just too much. They would be there one second, and gone the next."
Alex winced. His mind couldn't take it.
"How...how did you an-and I..."
"I've got no idea. I saw you get tossed somewhere, and then I..." Dennis stopped again. "Me and Jenny from 3rd Squad were trapped underneath a big stack of debris...Neither of us could move, and I thought we were going to be okay for a moment." Dennis paused to take a breath. "She tried to say something to me, but all I could do was grab her hand. A second later, she...she was gone.."
Alex's half-closed eyes lit up a bit, and a weak smile appeared on his beak. "You...you dug her, I re-remember...Heh heh..." Alex lifted up a finger and pointed it at Dennis, who was streaming tears but started to beam a sad smile.
"Y-yeah man, you remember the time wh-when her and Luna were going to come over, and..."
Alex laughed feebly. "You we-were gonna ask her o-out when she got over, but..."
"Johnny beat me to it!" Dennis chortled a bit, sending tears everywhere. He and Alex were both laughing.
Alex coughed, and became limp again. Dennis caught him before he fell, and propped him into his previous position. Alex wasn't laughing anymore. His face drooped and his gaze was low.
"W-why, Den..." he moaned, his voice slurred by the rasping of his throat.
"Why what?"
"Why d-did...those bastards h-have to take Johnny..." His eyes closed in agony.
All Dennis could do was pucker his snout together and sob.
"B-because man," he sobbed, "they're bastards."
There were no 'bastards' actually involved in anything. Alex was trying to blame the death of his friends on something else.
You can't hide from the truth.
Dennis took a moment and reached into his pocket, producing small items Alex couldn't see. "Here sir, open up."
Alex feebly opened his beak a bit and let Dennis drop two pills down his throat. Alex couldn't even taste the bitterness that should've been there.
"That'll help ya get on your feet," the vulpine said, readying something in his hand. Alex felt a tiny prick in his right arm. "And so will this."
Warmth traveled through Alex's veins as Dennis removed the syringe. Newfound energy pumped through his blood. The fog that clouded his vision was swept away.
Alex rose to his feet, with the help of his friend. He was wobbly and light-headed. "Where'd you find that?" Alex asked quietly, looking at his surroundings.
The fox tossed the needle to the ground. "The other survivors and I managed to salvage the rest of the main hull before it burst into flames."
"Survivors? Others made it?"
"Yeah," Dennis said with a nod. "Well, about 7 of us anyway. We have one in critical condition. C'mon."
Lending a supporting arm to Alex, the two trudged their way through the scattered debris and carnage that littered the surface of this awful place. As Alex looked around, he was filled with fright and awe.
The horizon was completely pitch black. There were millions of temporal cracks in the ground, where yellow magma traveled freely underneath. The light came from these and the big fissure only; anything past that was utter darkness.
Just ahead of the two was the remnants of the ship's front hull, which was tossed on its side and gutted with holes. The inside of it was on fire, and smoke jetted out from the top of it. Crowded around near the front of the wreckage was a small group of people, who had lain out useful junk they found from the surrounding area. There was a white figure on the ground, its head covered in bandages. Alex didn't recognize too many of them.
"Found one more," Dennis announced as they approached the haggard pilots. They looked up at Alex, who could only grimace back. He found a seat on a stack of partially ruined crates next to a reptilian woman, who was treating the figure on the ground.
It was Brent.
The snow leopard was still kicking, it seemed, but only barely. His breathing was shallow, and his head was still wrapped in blood-soaked bandages.
"How's he doing?" Alex asked quietly.
The woman didn't say anything for a moment, and spoke only with a frown. "...Not too well. He's suffered more then extreme head trauma...he should be dead, just like the rest of them..."
She shook her head, and continued to overlook the feline.
To Alex's left were the remaining survivors. Dennis, two canines, a badger, and another feline. All were morose and defeated.
"You doin' awright?" The badger asked Alex. He nodded, and then shook his head.
"I don't know. I can hardly feel my legs..." Alex replied, giving his right knee a flick.
The badger chortled slightly, and looked a different way. "I heah ya. This pwace isn't reawwy too easy on da senses." He scratched his chin. "Hey Hans, any idea wheah we at?"
One of the canines looked up from a bag he was rummaging through. Alex recognized him as Corporal Hans Oster. "What, you didn't see the planet we were trying to maneuver around? Welcome to hell buddy." He continued what he was doing.
The badger shrugged. "Eh...joikoff."
Alex wasn't particularly amused. "What? We...we landed here?"
"Need I repeat myself?" Hans stated without looking up.
Alex shoved his face in his hands. We're all as good as dead.
"Whoa!" A cry flew out from behind the survivors. Dennis came trudging up with a small piece of machinery in his arms. "I think I found the radio!"
"Hey, we can call for help now!" The other canine said, her voice in high spirits. Alex didn't know her name.
There were agreements all around. "Yeah I know," Dennis said, "but we gotta see if it works first."
"Here." The orange-striped tabby crouched by the smoking device, seizing it in his paws. "I'm...I was second-in-command at the command terminals. Lemme take a look."
Dennis scooted over a foot or two, and let the cat do his work. He pulled a screwdriver out of his utility belt and tried to undo the screws, but the whole front plate of the radio was dented inwards, so he used it to pry it open. Throwing the plate off to the side, he peeked inside and began tinkering with the guts of the radio.
"Well?" the badger asked after a few minutes.
"Eh..." the cat pulled a few loose components from the inside. "It's pretty shot, I don't know if it can be salvaged..." Another minute or two passed by, and suddenly the feline's ears perked up.
"What is it?" Alex asked.
"I...I think it's working!"
There was a small rally of cheers. "What are you waiting for?" Hans shouted, smiling. "Get us the hell out of here, Raz!"
Raz scrambled to pick up the receiver. He put the phone next to his ear and began to type in digits on the radio's control board. "H-Hello? Command? This is Rasputin Faulkner of Mothership 117. We've crash-landed on an uncharted planet and have suffered heavy casualties. I repeat, heavy casualties. There are eight survivors left, one in critical condition. We are in desperate need of evacuation. Command, do you copy? Over."
Silence.
"Don't stop, try again!"
The feline sighed. "Command! This is Mothership 117 inbound, do you copy? Over!"
More silence.
"Hello? Anyone! This is Mothership 117, we've suffered heavy casualties and need evac ASAP! Does anyone read me? Over!"
Alex's heart sank. They were all doomed.
Hans suddenly reached out and grasped the radio out of Raz's hands. He shoved the receiver next to his snout and screamed. "Listen you assholes, we have a MOTHERSHIP DOWN! Mothership 117 has CRASHED! Everyone, and I mean everyone, is DEAD! We are on some god-forsaken planet in the middle of Sector eight dash twelve, and we need evac, STAT! Does anyone read me? Over!"
There was a burst of static, and then the radio sparked and died completely.
"SHIT!" The angered canine tossed the radio to the ground, where Raz quickly snatched it up.
"You idiot!" the feline cried. "This is our only damn hope out of here! Control yourself!"
"I don't give a damn!" Hans shouted, raising his arms to the air. "We're all fucking toast anyways!"
"Fool," Raz muttered, again looking inside the radio.
Hans stopped, and gave a Raz a sneer. "What'd you call me?"
"I didn't call you anything, you retarded butt-sniffer!"
"THAT'S IT!"
The canine leaped towards Raz, who hissed as they collided and rolled backwards. There was a sudden commotion between the survivors as the two brawled along the surface for control of the radio, banging each other's heads into the protruding metal columns sticking 15 feet out of the ground.
"Stop it!" Dennis was shouting. "Cut it out, you freakin' morons!"
Hans and Raz weren't hearing any of Dennis's pleas. They continued to roll about, finally stopping as they rammed into a big hunk of metal, the radio still grasped between them. Punches continued to fly.
"Euuur...grah!" Hans' fist zoomed past Raz's head, making a bang against the debris behind it. He stopped and wiggled his hand in pain. There was a moan of metal from above.
"God damn," Dennis sighed, out of breath. "How the hell are we supposed to find a way out of this place if you two keep fucking bickering like 4 year olds?"
"I'll tell ya how, we'll-"
A sharp crack of static from the radio next to the feuding two stopped them both. Very faintly, a voice erupted from the speakers.
"He...Mot...ne seven, this i...Trucker in you are...our status? Over."
Hans and Raz both looked at each, and simultaneously scrambled for the radio. They toppled over each other, and another fight broke out moments later.
"I fucking swear..." Dennis murmured as he started to hobble their way. "When I get my paws on..."
A low, horrible wrenching of metal split the air from above the two on the ground. Alex's eyes caught the situation all too soon.
"LOOK OUT!"
GRUNTCH.
A massive hunk of ship came rumbling down on top of Hans and Raz, silencing the fight, and their voices, for good.
"NOO!"
Quickly, the remaining survivors clambered over to the accident and began heaving off the chunks of metal and fuselage. After minutes of desperately clawing away at steel, they managed to reach the bodies.
It was far too late for help now. Both men were dead, their bones crushed by the wreckage. The survivors couldn't do anything but look away and cover their eyes as they mourned. Alex, who was still standing above the scene, reflected on the newest casualty.
Polar opposites of life, the cat and the dog. Locked together here in mortal combat, all in primal instinct to survive. Clutched between the both of them, were the demolished remains of the radio.
All hope, was now gone.
An impending feeling of doom sank into Alex's gut, his face wide with shock. Salvation was so close, and yet, now, so far away.
He looked back towards his remaining teammates, who were all in tears. The two women were huddled next to each other for comfort, whereas Dennis and the badger were just flat out sobbing. Silently, tears began to stream down Alex's cheeks.
Very suddenly, a low rumble reverberated through the ground. Alex thought he was imagining it at first, until a roar that could've broken the sound barrier screamed through the air along with a jolt of the earth that sent him on his back convinced him otherwise. He yelled in terror, but couldn't even hear himself.
Along with the roaring came the sound of liquid splashing and an unfathomable wave of heat. Alex, quite frankly, couldn't see shit; the earthquake that rendered the ground was throwing him all over the place. He managed to catch a gargantuan burst of yellow light before his body started to roll too violently to see anything.
With every roll, he felt some part of his body practically break. He didn't know what was going on, or where anyone else was.
Then, just as quickly as it began, it was over. Alex found himself flat on his face once more, severely bruised, his hearing shot. He brought himself to his feet, only to stumble from disorientation and fall down again.
"Hello? HELLO!" He cried, hoping somebody would hear him and come to his rescue.
Can't breathe. Can't see. Going to die.
Alex couldn't help it. His stomach churned and he vomited, awakening newfound pain in his belly. He groaned in agony as his body convulsed.
Somebody help me.
He vomited again, eventually collapsing onto the ground and letting sobs shake him. He twisted his body into the fetal position and waited for his death to take him.
The ringing in his ears dulled as the time passed, ever so slowly to let all the awful feelings course through his veins. As the old sound faded out, a new one welcomed itself in.
Screams.
Screams of torture, pain, twisting coils of brutal agony. Screams like someone was getting murdered. It was frightening, and Alex could only imagine the worst.
His agonized conscience gave him a second wind. Desperately trying to ignore his own pain, the avian brought himself to his feet. He was dizzy, sick to his stomach, and the heat on this planet was roasting his skin. He was covered in dirt and vomit, and an aura of defeat smothered him. He tried to find the origin of the screams. He saw no one around him.
"Hello? Dennis? Brent? Anyone? HELLO?"
Yelling did him no good. The planet's thick and disgusting atmosphere choked him and brought his words to a stop.
There were pools of yellow and black scattered across the ground. The yellowish stuff bubbled with extreme heat, slithered through the dirt and eventually finding its way back to the temporal cracks in the ground and disappearing from sight. Smoldering black piles replaced a lot the yellow where it couldn't escape, where it cooled.
It was magma.
Alex's fears only worsened. Not only were they trapped on a planet, they were trapped next to hundreds, maybe thousands, of exposed magma chambers.
Alex broke out into a run. Fear fastened around him and turned his legs to jelly. The screams were getting louder and closer.
And then, before the avian, lay fate's newest victim.
Alex fell to his knees and cursed the skies.
On the ground in front of him was the twisting figure of Corporal Dennis Perry, whose entire front half was melted off and burned away. His fleshless face continued to scream guttural cries of death.
Alex was screaming at the top of his lungs, not only in terror but in midst of his dying friend before him. He could do literally nothing but sit there and watch as Dennis's eyes fell from his skull and his organs leak from his body as he continued to scream. Burnt, boiling blood was pooled around him, splashing everywhere as he twisted and convulsed. Alex finally gave in.
Still screaming and sputtering tears, Alex twisted around and found a sizable black rock and gripped it in his hands. Taking his last look at his beloved friend, he raised the rock and brought it down on Dennis's skull.
The screams stopped.
Alex rested there, on his knees, and the let the smoldering hot rock fall from his hands. His hands were charred and burned, but he didn't care. Everything he had in this world had been taken from him. His friends, his life, his family. Anything and everything he cared about was gone, null, void. There was nothing for him now, on this desolace of a planet, the place which was going to take his very life. His friends, crew members...everyone was dead.
And it was all his fault.
His head sank low, and his eyes slammed shut.
"Why...Why me...WHY, DAMN YOU!"
He threw himself backwards onto the ground, reeling in another fit of sobs.
Bad things happen when you fall asleep at the wheel.
The avian pilot slammed his fists on the ground until they bled. Looking up between sobs and shouts of anger, he saw the rise of the cliff face.
Alex pulled himself to his feet, leaving his fallen friend's side. He trudged towards the rise in the ground. There was nothing left for him now. Everyone else was surely dead. Hope left him.
As he reached the rise, a blast of scorching air rose up and ascended towards the dark heavens. Alex kept stern, and gazed over the edge.
Below, was Alex's destiny. A churning, bubbling ocean of yellow magma. The avian's face twisted into an angry scowl.
He positioned himself at the tip of the cliff, still looking downwards.
I'll be with you all soon.
Alex took a large breath, and let his weight fall from under him.
But something odd and extraordinary stopped his fall.
"Whoa there," a voice came from behind, a pair of hands hoisting Alex back onto his feet. "Don't wanna do that just yet, do ya?"
Alex's eyes went wide. The voice was very familiar, but also very distant. Ghostly sounding, even.
Quickly, Alex turned around to face his savior. A warm, smiling face greeted him, transparent and ethereal.
"You're-" Alex gasped.
The vulpine figure nodded. "Yeah, I know who I am," it laughed. "But do you know who you are?"
The avian was at a loss for words. "I-I...how..."
"Out with it."
Alex gulped. "I'm Alexander Sheridan, Private First Class of Mothership 117 of the Cornerian Space Fleet."
The vulpine laughed again, his bright green eyes piercing Alex's gaze. "Well, I know that. But do you know who you are as a person?"
"I..."
"I didn't think so." The fox in the green and white flight suit turned and began walking away. "Come with me."
Alex turned back towards the magma cauldron, and then followed the ghostly hero.
"Pardon me," Alex said as he strode up next to the figure. "But I'm pretty sure I'm hallucinating. You're just part of my imagination."
The fox shook his head. "Bah, denial. It's always the first stage."
"Wha- Of what?"
"Well..." the vulpine paused for a moment. "I'm going to be dead honest with you here, kid. Denial is the first stage of a lot of things. But in this situation, it's death." He looked at Alex, who was wide-eyed in disbelief.
"You did know you were going to die, didn't you?" The ghostly hero asked. "I mean, people don't just stand at the edges of cliff faces with feelings like yours for just fun and games. You were going to commit suicide, weren't you?"
Alex's gut twisted as the last of his pride left him. Very slowly, he nodded his head yes.
"Ah!" the fox suddenly cried, clapping his ghostly hands and smiling. "Then you've made it past the first stage. Well, the second and third as well. But you did that earlier. Now we just need the last one, and you're good to go."
Alex shook his head, not believing what he was hearing. "Now what a minute pal, how do you know me? Who are you? WHAT are you? What are you doing here? Where are my friends?"
All the fox did was chortle. "You sound just like an old friend of mine. Your friends, Alex, are right here."
The fox stepped to the side, revealing figures of all of Alex's friends, all cheerful and smiling. Their ethereal forms waved at the stunned avian. Luna, Johnny, Dennis, even Raz and Hans.
Alex was silent. "They're...waiting for me...aren't they, Mr. McCloud?"
Fox nodded with a bright smile. "I understand you want to be with them, Alex. There is no escaping the inevitable. But you have a task to complete."
Alex stared at the past savior of Lylat in question.
"You can't be selfish at a time like this, young man. If you were to have jumped off that ledge, you probably wouldn't have ascended. Your soul would've remained here, forever."
"You've committed a great sin, Alex," the figure continued. "You were indeed responsible for the deaths of your teammates. Do you know why?"
Alex shook his head. "I don't remember much."
"Well, this may sound a bit disturbing to you then, son..." the vulpine trailed off. "You weren't doing your job. Your great resentment towards those who outranked you corrupted you. You were so vengeful from being stripped of your ranks that you let your anger consume you. You let these thoughts drive your mind so easily that when it was time to do your duty, you were careless and resentful. You didn't care to do your job correctly because to you, it was no longer your job. You were still sky-high in rank, at least in your head. Your feelings got the better of you, so when you plotted a slightly longer course to make your vessel late, and I quote..."
The ghostly figured cleared his throat and raised a finger.
"'Make that black-feathered bastard feel like an incompetent pile of Anglar shit,' you rearranged the coordinates and your ship veered into an uncharted asteroid field."
The avian's jaw fell agape, and his stomach churned once more in agony.
"It...it was me..."
Fox nodded. "And now, you must repent for what evil you have committed."
His eyes still wide from shock, Alex nodded his head slowly.
"Anyhoo, I learned, in all of my times as Lylat's hero, death is something you cannot escape. Like I said before, it is inevitable and it will happen someday. But you'll never find peace with yourself unless you can accept it."
"And that's the final stage?"
Fox nodded again. "You got it. Your friend here has already learned and accepted what is to happen to him, and knows he's going to Heaven. You must take him with you, and not leave his poor soul here without a companion. He is your savior, as you are his."
Alex was beyond flabbergasted. "Who?"
Fox took another step to the right, and behind him was the snow leopard, Brent. His face was bright and cheerful, as if nothing have ever happened.
"Hi Awex," he said with a wave. Instantly, Alex was overcome with tears. It was more then obvious Brent's head injuries had given him severe brain trauma. He had the conscience of a 4-year old, at the very least.
"H-Hi, buddy. How...How're ya doin'?"
"I'm fine," Brent said, his voice even affected by his mental damage. "We gotta go soon. Mr. McWoud said so."
Alex scrunched up his beak and nodded. "We sure do. We're g-going to a w-way better place." Visible tears dropped to the ground.
Fox was standing to the side with his arms crossed. "Alex, are you ready?"
The avian turned towards his childhood hero, and with a solemn gaze, he nodded.
After a moment, Fox smiled and gripped his shoulder with a faint hand. "We'll see you soon."
And just like that, he was gone. A roar filled Alex's ear drums, bringing reality back into play. Brent was still standing in front of him, a light smile on his face. Alex returned it, his eyes and face drenched with destiny's tears.
He put an arm around the snow leopard as if he was a good friend and started making his way towards the cliff's edge. Alex wasn't afraid anymore.
"I can't wait to see evwybawdy," Brent said. "Iss gonna be fun when we all hang out."
Alex nodded, the tears still streaming. "It sure is buddy. It sure is."
The cliff edge was now in front of the two, the great sea of magma churning below. Together, the two looked over the edge.
"Iss hot down there," Brent mused.
Alex's beak slowly turned solemn. "Yeah, but not for long. That's uh...just the pool we have to dive in if we...want to see everyone again."
Brent gasped in delight. "Reawwy? But...I can't swim..."
The avian put a hand on his shoulder. You don't need to know how. It's...magic water. We're going to jump in and pop out the other side. Like magic. See?" Alex kicked a nearby rock off the edge and the two watched as it disappeared into the magma.
Brent nodded and laughed. "Sounds fun!"
Alex's body started to shake lightly. "Okay buddy, this is it. We're gonna jump in together, on the c-count of three. Are y-you ready?"
"Uh huh."
Alex took Brent's arm, and looked towards the sky. "Alright, on three, we close our eyes and jump."
"One..."
"T-two..." Alex closed his eyes.
"Awex?"
"Yeah?"
There was a short pause.
"Lead me to Heaven when we die."
The avian took a large breath, and looked towards the sky. Far into the black void that had claimed so many lives, a small star shone through. As acceptance swirled into Alex's soul, a small smile appeared on his beak.
"Three."
And then, they were gone.
~The End~