The streets felt endless. Cory was ahead of the group again, trying to keep some space between himself and everyone else. The fog was thicker now, and the whole city felt like it was closing in on them. Nothing made sense. Every corner they turned, every path they walked, only seemed to bring them to the same place—stuck.

“Cory,” Amj’s voice broke through his thoughts. “You okay?”

“Yeah, sure,” Cory muttered, brushing him off. “Let’s just keep moving.”

They walked in silence, the only sound being their footsteps echoing in the damp air. There was no sign of anyone else, no sound of anything living, just the weird hum of the city, like it was breathing. Cory hated how it felt—unnatural, like they were being watched.

Suddenly, a loud crash echoed behind them. Cory turned just in time to see a figure trip and fall. It was Daniel, stumbling over some loose debris. He hit the ground face-first with a thud.

“Not again,” Amj muttered, with anger in his voice.
Cory glanced back, noticing how Daniel was already on his feet, brushing off his clothes like it was no big deal. He didn’t even seem fazed by the fact that he had just wiped out in the middle of the street.

“Can you be more careful?” Jinx asked, not stopping as he walked ahead.

Daniel just grinned and gave a thumbs-up. He didn’t even look at them. He was always there, always getting hurt but never acknowledging them.

Cory kept walking, pretending not to care about the ridiculousness of it all. “Let’s just go already,” he muttered under his breath. “This place is weird enough without adding him to the mix.”

Amj didn’t argue.

The city around them felt like it was shifting again. Cory didn’t know how to describe it—just that it felt wrong. The streets felt more twisted now, like they were moving in strange patterns that didn’t make sense. He could barely make out the buildings around them as the fog thickened, creating dark shadows that seemed to move on their own.

“There’s something wrong with this place,” Tia said quietly, her voice full of unease. “It’s like it’s... changing.”

Jinx, who had been walking ahead, slowed. “We’re getting close,” he said in a flat tone. “The closer we get to The Core, the stranger it gets. The city reacts to us. To our fears, our doubts... it’ll test us.”

Cory didn’t like the sound of that. “Test us? How?”

Jinx just shrugged, his face unreadable. “You’ll see.”

The ground underfoot trembled, a low rumble running through the street. Cory tensed, glancing nervously around, but nothing seemed to change.

“You sure about this?” Kash asked, his voice laced with suspicion. “I mean, this whole city’s going crazy, and we’re just supposed to keep walking toward whatever’s at the end of it?”

“Nothing we can do about it now,” Jinx said, not breaking his stride. “We have to get to The Core.”

But Cory wasn’t sure about any of it. The deeper they went, the worse it got. It felt like the city was closing in on them, like the walls were getting narrower, the air getting thicker.

And then it happened.

The ground split open beneath their feet.

Cory didn’t have time to react. One second, they were standing on solid ground, and the next, the city dropped out from under them. The world tilted sideways, and they all fell—falling through what seemed like endless space. Cory's stomach lurched as they tumbled, the sky and ground spinning around him. He heard the others shouting, but it felt distant, like they were trapped in another world.

He landed hard on the ground, scraping his hands and knees. His breath came in short bursts, and he quickly pushed himself up, looking around.

The city had changed. They were no longer in the streets they’d been walking down. Instead, they had landed in some kind of upside-down place—a surreal landscape where buildings floated above them, suspended by nothing but the fog. Gravity didn’t make sense here. The air was thick, and the hum from earlier had turned into a low, constant roar.

“What the hell is this place?” Tia gasped.

“This is... bad,” Amj said, looking around with wide eyes. “This isn’t just the city anymore. It’s something else.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” Cory muttered, standing up and dusting himself off. “We’re stuck in a nightmare.”

Jinx looked unbothered, like he had seen this before. “It’s The Core. We’re getting close.”

Suddenly, Daniel appeared again. He had somehow managed to avoid falling like the rest of them and was casually picking himself up from a pile of rubble in the corner of the new landscape. As always, he didn’t seem to understand the danger.

“Seriously?” Amj said, staring at him. “Can you be more careful?”

Daniel, completely oblivious, gave a cheerful thumbs-up and started walking away, tripping over his own feet and falling into a pile of floating debris. It didn’t make any sense, but somehow, as usual, Daniel was unharmed, as if the world had a soft spot for him.

The city trembled again, and Cory felt a cold sweat on his neck. The whole landscape shifted, and the ground under them cracked and split. Above them, the floating buildings began to shake. They could hear them creaking as if something was alive inside them.

“We need to move,” Jinx said, sounding more serious now.

But before they could take another step, the figure in the fog appeared again. This time, it wasn’t a shadow. It was... something more. The fog around it shifted into shapes—faces, broken memories, all twisted into something unrecognizable.

Cory froze. It was the same figure that had been watching them from the edges of the city. But now, it was closer. And it wasn’t just watching.

It was waiting.

Amj, who had been standing a little too close to Cory, finally snapped. “Are you just going to stand there or do something?” he yelled at Cory. “You’ve been dragging us down since we started, and I’m done with it!”

Before Cory could react, Amj’s fist connected with his face, sending him stumbling back. The punch was hard, shocking, and it knocked the wind out of him. For a second, Cory couldn’t even think—just felt the sting of his split lip and the overwhelming rush of anger and disbelief.

The others stood there, silent, shocked at what just happened. Cory wiped blood from his mouth, staring at Amj, his eyes burning with a mix of anger and confusion.

“Enough,” Tia said, stepping between them. “We don’t have time for this.”

Amj stepped back, his chest heaving, but he said nothing. Cory, still recovering from the punch, took a deep breath. The hurt wasn’t just physical—it was deeper. He didn’t know why Amj did it, but he didn’t want to think about it. Not now.

The ground rumbled beneath them again. The city wasn’t waiting anymore.

Jinx stepped forward, his face grim. “We don’t have time to fight each other. We need to keep moving. The Core’s ahead.”

The figure in the fog lurched toward them, its shape flickering, as if it was made from their own fears.

And with that, they ran.