It was a bright and sunny day when a suspiciously Dimensionator-esque portal opened up smack dab in the middle of Polaris Square.
Said brightness and sunniness continued relentlessly as the screaming began. Parents picked up their children, workers dropped their briefcases, and every Lombax in sight learned the true range of their vocal cords as they shrieked and ran about in random directions.
Traffic was disrupted, hovercars smashing into each other as they attempted to get away. In a desperate bid for survival one swerved violently into a building sporting a neon sign that stated it belonged to Lombaxtron Explosive Ordnance Holdings, LLC. The resulting explosion set off a chain reaction that looped all the way around the densely constructed city center in a manner not unlike the annual Farewell Polaris fireworks display (albeit much more fiery).
The masses of panicked Lombaxes stampeded through the streets without any clear direction. They incited more of their kin in their mad rush, snowballing into a furry large-eared swarm of havoc and fear that tore through the advanced city like a Dimensionator through dimensions, leaving nothing but terror and destruction in their wake.
The chaos quickly spread to the outer limits of the city. Cries of "the Cragmites are coming!" and "what do we do?" echoed between the once-shining now-crumbling towers. A hoverbus crashed into the Museum of Pre-Dimensionator History, sending preserved relics of the Great War - including a rather impressive collection of ancient Cragmite Weaponry and Armored Vehicles - flying into the crowd, causing the screaming to return anew.
As the buildings continued to fall like dominoes one in particular - labeled Happy Times Juicebox Manufacturing Ltd - landed on top of the local spaceport compound and main hangar. An incoming starship, unable to abort its flight path in time, veered into it and sent a proton-fuelled shockwave throughout the spaceport, igniting the other ships and erupting into an explosion that swallowed half the city, leaving behind a juice-flooded crater.
The Lombax Praetorian Guard rolled in. Closing ranks they descended upon Polaris Square and surrounded the portal, weapons drawn. A general stepped forward and raised a hand. With a shout the general jerked it down, and hundreds of cubits of pure artillery launched at the glimmering portal, which then proceeded to blink innocently out of existence at the last possible second, like it had never been there in the first place.
The city continued to explode.
A/N
Rift Apart's coming out on PC! Really happy because I've been avoiding spoilers (i.e. the entire fandom) since it first released due to no PS5 lol. So now I'm replaying the rest of the series to prep for it, and when I got to ToD I got inspired to write some chaos.
And yes, I timed how long the portal was open :D