I glance at the glowing red light cutting through the thick, grey smoke. I wish I could just die… That thought lingers, fed by the searing heat and the smoke filling my lungs. Clutching two laptops tightly in my hands, I crouch low and start moving slowly.
A sharp Spfft! breaks through the chaos. The floor near the desk I'm hiding behind explodes, leaving behind a black, steaming, acorn-shaped ball.
"Damnit!" I mutter, moving faster. I scramble to a corner desk, but I trip and fall hard. Thinking fast, I hurl one of the laptops to the opposite side of the room. It crashes against the floor, drawing attention as the red glow shifts in its direction.
Without hesitation, I yank open a drawer, grab another laptop, and throw it directly at the glowing light. The glow flickers, and I hear a guttural roar of pain:
"GIUH!"
Seizing the moment, I stand and make a full sprint, grabbing a wheeled chair along the way. I shove it forward with all my strength. The chair smashes into the desk where the glowing thing was perched, knocking it over. It tumbles headfirst to the ground.
I bolt past it, sprinting toward the wall behind the creature. Its agonized scream pierces through the smoke-filled air as I reach a slightly clearer area. Breathing faintly, I glance back, my chest heaving.
"So, you moved over here where the oxygen feeds your flames! Clever… but I'm smarter!" I shout, climbing the wall in desperation. My only hope is to find an air duct—McClane style.
But then I hear it: the sound of claws scratching and flames crackling. I glance down and see it.
Its body is a grotesque contradiction—giant, yet compact. A pointed snout and a nose as black and dry as coal. Flames wreath its triangular, rounded skull, licking up toward its bushy, skeletal tail. The charred remains of flesh expose the tail bone beneath.
The most unnerving feature? Its skin, wherever not entirely scorched, is covered with deep, oval-shaped indentations—like pods embedded in its body. Its throat bears a deflated, flapping sack, eerily reminiscent of a frog's croaking pouch. It looks like a vision torn straight from hell—a demon squirrel given life.
And it's climbing the wall.
Am I a top-tier climber who's won multiple medals (all probably melted now)? Sure. Can I outclimb this monstrous squirrel born to scale?
"Hell no!" I roar, pushing off the wall and leaping as it spews flaming bullets, setting the metal ceiling ablaze above us.
I land on my feet but absorb the impact hard. "Shoot… forgot to roll." My legs buckle, and I collapse face-first, struggling to turn over. My eyelids grow heavy, vision narrowing to a tunnel of black. All I can see is the glowing beast and the scorched ceiling above.
Its throat sack glows ominously as it steps closer.
"I messed up…" My thoughts trail as regret fills me. Didn't follow a single fire safety protocol. Guess I've earned myself a Darwin Award… Later, Dad. You'll join me one day. Mom… see you soon.
The red glow intensifies, flames spilling from the creature's mouth. Its throat expands grotesquely, acorn-shaped and pulsating. No hope…
The flaming projectile launches toward me, blazing red with a strange flicker of purple. My sluggish eyes catch a spark of blue. Then a chirp.
A brilliant blue dome envelops me, shielding me from the fiery blast. The flames dissipate, leaving the acorn-shaped ball to clatter harmlessly away. I watch in awe as the dome shrinks into a small, glowing blue orb.
"Sup :)"
It's Spera—brighter and more radiant than ever. Tears well in my eyes, but my frozen body refuses to let them fall.
Even so, my resolve returns. Spera… let's finish this!
Spera grows happily and with a compact and fierce tone and lets out a roar.
"AYE!!!"
Both Spera and the flaming beast charge at each other.
Live or die—this ends now!