CRACK!

"What was that?" Narissa asked.

"Was that anything vital?" The old man queried.

Bro, if that was the rest of that ball, we're in bigger trouble than we thought. Death said as he ran.

"Seems my little distraction has finally decided to go into motion." The smiling man raised the side of his smile as he mumbled to himself.

Everyone within their splinter of reality could hear the cracking of the seal. It echoed through every nook and cranny, over every hill, and around every tree.

Deep within the ruins, at the top of a set of massive stairs was the massive archway. It stood strong, but the eye that once sat at the top was now gone, and across the clear surface was a massive crack.

Inside was a dark room with nothing in it but a swaying lightbulb that had long since burned out. Accompanying the light bulb was a single overturned chair covered in a thick layer of dust along the floor.

"The sound was inconsistent with what we heard earlier." Sid explained. "It is unlikely the second crack came from the same orb that unleashed those things that are chasing us."

Behind Sid, Ted, and Death, was a massive black swarm of winged creatures. They were hard to really see, as they kept flying around and over each other, like a particularly aggressive swarm.

"Well, let's hope it isn't an even bigger one of those things then. I don't want to think what it'd be like to have even bigger versions of those things chasing us." Ted added.

Wait, I've got an idea guys! Death said confidently as he slammed to a stop.

The skeleton turned towards the oncoming swarm and reached in between his ribcage. The handle of his scythe appeared in his hand, and he yanked downward and pulled out his full scythe. He slammed it into the ground as he held it with one hand.

With his other hand, he reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a pair of sunglasses. With a flick of his wrist, he snapped out the arms of the glasses, and set them on his forehead.

He spun the scythe around a couple times before he caught it with his other hand. With a nod of his head, the sunglasses fell into place over his eye sockets.

Heh. Despite not having any facial muscles, it was obvious he had a cocky grin on his face. Let's see how you punks feel about this.

The swarm quickly overcame Death and he was completely covered by their black forms as Ted and Sid continued to run ahead.

As Death's grunts and the sound of his blade singing through the air could be heard, Ted asked, "Do you think he's going to be alright?"

Sid looked back for a moment, and then turned his eyes ahead of them. He put a hand on Ted's shoulder as they made it to a corner and helped guide him around the turn.

"He has shown how resilient he is. Death will be fine." Sid stated firmly, "However, I am doubtful of how effective he can be against so many small opponents."

Hey! I heard that. Death was suddenly behind them, but he had a lot of tiny round marks covering his exposed bones, and his sunglasses were crooked.

A moment later, the swarm turned the corner as it continued to follow after them. Squeaking and flapping their leathery wings.

"It seems I was correct." Sid stated.

Well, I mean. I gave them a real show for their money. There's just so many of them, you know? Death explained.

SCHWING

There was the unmistakable sound of Death's scythe cutting through the air.

"Did you, uh, forget something back there, buddy?" Ted asked.

Forget, had it ripped from my hands, you know, they're so close to each other.

SCHWING

This time, they could also see the light reflecting off of the scythe as it moved to the front of the swarm.

Ted turned his head back and saw a group of the creatures grabbing onto each other and working together to hold the scythe like a sort of arm and hand. As they swung it around, he couldn't help but think of making rock candy in class as a kid. But, as a swing of the scythe cut through the wall like it was nothing, he snapped his head back around and pushed himself to run even faster.

"Got any bright ideas?" Ted asked.

Don't get bit? They really go crazy when you get close. Death suggested.

"Nice, real helpful."

"A door or some type of projectile that spreads out could be useful. Either to hide or attempt to fight back. But there are so many, it is inadvisable to face them head on as we are." Sid added.

Ted glanced back nervously. "Sounds like good advice all around. Too bad we don't have any of that with us, huh?"

"Death could leave and attempt to bring the others to us so they can assist us against these things." Sid suggested.

"I mean, that's better than nothing." Ted agreed.

Whoa! I can't just abandon two of my bros when they need me. Death scoffed incredulously.

"But we really could use someone's help here." Ted pleaded.

Ugh, fine I guess I could...huh...

"A problem?" Sid queried.

I'm not sure what happened, but...it seems we're all alone in here.

Sid raised an eyebrow as he glanced back at Death while Ted cried out, "What?!?"

Exactly what I said. Everyone else is...gone. Not here, like they never existed almost. Death shrugged. I don't know what to tell you.

"How long have you been unable to sense them?" Sid asked. "Could it be those creatures interfering with your abilities like the fog did?"

Death shook his head. This feels way different bro. I can sense all around, it's just empty.

What could have happened to them all? Ted's heart panged as he scrunched his face up. Trizel, Nugget, Sentenza, Narissa, Og'drimun, Lulu, where were there?