The fall didn’t feel like falling.

  It felt like being pulled.

  Danny barely had time to shout before the ground vanished beneath his feet. One second he was standing near the portal in the cave, the next his stomach dropped as reality twisted in on itself. Light fractured. Sound stretched. Gravity stopped making sense.

  Shawny screamed as she fell beside him, grabbing for his arm. Big B shouted something behind them, but his voice was swallowed by the portal’s roar.

  Then—

  Impact.

  Danny slammed into hard ground and rolled, breath knocked clean out of him. The surface beneath him was hot, rough, and uneven, like stone that had never known peace. Shawny hit nearby, groaning, while Big B landed more carefully, already scrambling to his feet.

  Danny pushed himself up, coughing. “Okay… okay… that sucked.”

  The sky above them wasn’t a sky.

  It churned in deep reds and purples, clouds folding in on themselves like bruises in motion. Massive silhouettes drifted behind them—too slow, too large to identify. The air itself felt heavy, pressing against Danny’s chest with every breath.

  Shawny looked around, eyes wide. “Where are we?”

  Big B’s expression was grim. “Based on environmental readings… nowhere good.”

  Danny let out a dry laugh. “That’s comforting.”

  They stood on a vast expanse of cracked black stone, stretching farther than Danny could see. Jagged spires rose in the distance, and rivers of glowing magma cut through the landscape like veins.

  Then they saw them.

  Figures moved across the terrain—demons. Not euphoric. Not the kind Danny was used to seeing in the city. These were demonic demons. Thick red skin like armor, massive builds, horns twisted into brutal shapes. Their eyes burned with hunger.

  Shawny tensed. “They see us.”

  One of the demons snarled.

  Danny cracked his knuckles. “Alright. Guess we’re doing this.”

  The first demon charged.

  Danny met it head-on, slamming his fist into its jaw. The impact echoed across the plain. Shawny moved like a blur, sweeping another demon off its feet. Big B fired controlled bursts of energy, dropping enemies before they could get close.

  More came.

  Red demons roared and swarmed them, claws scraping stone, teeth snapping inches from Danny’s face. He ducked, struck, countered—instinct taking over. Shawny fought back-to-back with him, precise and relentless. Big B stayed just behind them, calculating every move.

  It was chaos.

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  And then—

  Everything stopped.

  A single presence cut through the noise.

  The demons hesitated.

  Danny felt it before he saw it—a pressure, calm but absolute. Like the world itself had paused to pay attention.

  Ahead of them, standing atop a raised platform of stone, was a purple demon.

  Tall. Lean. Still.

  It didn’t snarl. Didn’t charge. It simply watched.

  Danny didn’t hesitate.

  He broke from formation and rushed it, fist pulled back—

  “There’s no need to fight.”

  The voice was calm. Clear.

  Danny skidded to a stop inches away, shocked more by the tone than the words.

  The purple demon didn’t move.

  “My name is Zane,” it said. “And I’m not your enemy.”

  Shawny blinked. “You’re… demonic.”

  “Yes.”

  “And you’re purple,” Danny added. “Which usually means bad news.”

  Zane tilted his head. “I am what you would call an innocent demon.”

  Danny scoffed. “There’s no innocent demons. You kill. That’s what demons do.”

  “I don’t,” Zane replied evenly. “I watch. I observe. I do not take lives.”

  Big B stepped forward slightly. “Interesting.”

  Zane turned his attention to them. “Who are you?”

  Danny gestured between them. “Danny. Shawny. Big B.”

  “And how,” Zane asked, “did you enter the Underworld?”

  Shawny answered. “We fell through a portal. In a cave.”

  Zane froze.

  “…Oh no.”

  Danny frowned. “What?”

  “That can only mean one thing,” Zane said slowly. “Rezok has awoken.”

  The ground trembled.

  Danny’s stomach tightened. “Who is Rezok?”

  Zane looked at him, disbelief flashing across his face.

  “You really haven’t done your homework, have you?”

  Danny blinked. “Huh?”

  A roar thundered across the landscape.

  Not a sound—a force. The sky rippled. The ground cracked.

  Zane’s eyes widened. “Run!”

  They didn’t question it.

  Danny grabbed Shawny’s arm and bolted. Big B followed close behind as the world shook around them. Stone collapsed. Demons scattered, fleeing in blind terror.

  The roar came again—closer.

  They ran until the portal came into view, swirling violently ahead of them.

  “Go!” Danny shouted.

  They leapt through.

  The cave slammed back into existence around them. Cool air rushed in. Silence followed.

  For a moment, none of them moved.

  Danny laughed shakily. “Okay. That was insane. But I think we’re—”

  A shadow fell over them.

  Slowly, Danny turned around.

  Standing behind them—twenty feet tall, radiating death itself—was Rezok.

  The god of death had followed them through.

  And he was smiling.