While still down, Gurk swiped his tail against Mag’s legs. The hunter fell on his back, crashing onto the metal surface with a thud and a grunt. Despite the blunt impact, Mag held tight onto his Ion Blade. The crocodile struggled to his feet as the swaying of the warped platform made his movement sway. Mag shot up to his feet with sword still in hand. He dashed forward with the weapon in both hands and lowered to his side. The hunter attack with an upwards slash,

Gurk sidestepped and grabbed Mag’s wrist, cutting the attack short. The glowing blade grazed the side of his jacket, cutting through the fabric and singing his scales as he stopped Mag getting the weapon any closer.

“Stop,” Gurk shouted, his icy breath covering Mag’s face. The hunter was undeterred and stayed focused on trying to bring the Ion Blade to Gurk’s throat.

“You’re three times his size, big guy!” Itzel shouted as she fled from her cover. “Headbutt him! Freeze him! Just do something!” She ran past a wounded Enidri and began her climb towards the topple platform only for the ground to shake again. The other side of the beam started to sink down into the pit, making the entire structure shift up at an angle. 

The edge of the beam shot up too high for Itzel to latch onto. It then sloped at a sharp angle before getting caught on the other side of the chasm. Both Janus and Itzel ran as close as they could get to the edge of the chasm and stared at the two combatants stuck on the slope.

Mag held onto one rung with one hand, his other still clutching the Ion Blade tight. Gurk dangled a few rungs higher, his tail swaying back and forth as the shaky foundation slowly sank further towards the abyss. 

“Just a bit more climbing, Gurk!” Janus called out. “You can make it!”

The crocodile turned his head and saw Mag struggling to reach the next rung. “Let go!” he called out to Mag.

“What?” the hunter said with a snarl. The beam dropped forward as the gap between the two separate sections increased. It landed with a slam, making both Gurk and Mag bounce from the recoil.

“The sword!” Gurk shouted. “Drop it!”

“I’m not letting go!” Mag pulled himself up with his hand that held onto the rung. His entire body trembled as he struggled to get up to the next section. 

“Gurk! I know you can make it up here!” Itzel called out. “Just forget about Mag and get back on solid ground before it’s too late!”

Gurk glanced at Itzel before turning back to look at the struggling hunter. The ground continued to vibrate while the structuring above continued to crumble apart. Another chunk of the Eco-Dome’s ceiling broke loose from its support and fell down. 

“Grab hold!” Gurk pleaded with the hunter as he stretched his tail out towards Mag. The hunter looked at Gurk’s tail with confusion. His sword hand shook, on the verge of either slashing away or letting the weapon go altogether. 

“What are you doing, big guy?” Itzel shouted. “You know he’s been trying to kill you this entire time, right?”

The crocodile paid Itzel’s words no mind. He lowered his hold, closing in the distance between his tail and Mag’s hand. The hunter looked at the dark chasm below and then back at Gurk’s eyes. “Sheila!” the crocodile yelled over the constant sound of destruction. “Needs you!”

The anger in Mag’s eyes gave way to fear. He dropped the Ion Blade, not bothering to watch it plummet into the abyss. With both hands now free, he grabbed the end of Gurk’s tail with one hand. Once he had a firm hold, he clutched it with both hands.

“He’s going to get all of us killed,” Itzel moaned as she watched Gurk slowly climb the sinking pillar with Mag holding tight onto his tail. The metal sank again, turning completely vertical as it scrapped the edge of the shifting landing. It disappeared beneath the ground, making Janus and Itzel dart to the edge.

“Big guy!” Itzel shouted as she peered over the cliff. The contorted beam fell into the pit with a deafening crash while Gurk hung tight on a solid rock that jutted out from the torn terrain. “Grab a hold of my hand.”

“No!” Gurk moaned as his claws dug into the rock that he held onto. “Too heavy!”

“Janus!” Itzel said as she reached over the crumbling dirt and extended one hand towards the dangling crocodile. “Help me get Gurk back up here!”

The physicist obeyed and ran to Itzel’s side. He extended one hand forward as well, touching one of Gurk’s scaly fingers. As he leaned over, dirt and stone crumbled from the loose mass he leaned over. “I... I can almost reach him...” he said. “But if I lean any further I’m going to fall off!”

“I-I got you Janus,” Enidri said as she winced while holding onto the spot where she was shot. She put her hands on Janus’ ankles and kept him propped up. “Go ahead and try to grab hold of Gurk’s hand! I won’t let you fall!”

Janus leaned forward as Enidri kept him propped up. With careful maneuvering, he grabbed onto Gurk’s hand. “I got you!” he shouted.

“Good work!” Itzel said as she leaned over the edge. Janus pulled with all his might couldn’t pull the crocodile and Mag up. “Here! I’ll help you out!” The fighter reached over for Gurk’s other hand. The crocodile let go of the stone he held onto in order to grab Itzel’s hand. Together, they all heaved back to bring Gurk and Mag back up to the surface.

“I-I don’t know if I can pull him up!” Janus said with a groan. “They’re too heavy!”

“W-We have to!” Itzel grunted. She held onto Gurk with both hands and pulled hard enough that veins were visible on her arms. “We just need to try a bit... harder...” She closed her eyes and grit her teeth as she tugged with all her strength. Despite the collaborative effort, Gurk’s position remained the same. 

“They’re too heavy! There’s no way we can bring both of them up!”

Enidri took hold of Itzel’s waist and started to pull back. Together, they lifted the crocodile an inch up from his dangling position. Mag still held onto Gurk’s tail as the group tried to drag them. As the ground shook, his grip loosened, making him slip down.

“Gah! Help!” Mag shouted, his confident tone gone and replaced with one of utter fear. His upper hand slipped, leaving the hunter dangling by one hand. 

“Mag!” Gurk called out as he turned his head to the falling man beneath him. Mag’s other hand scrambled to grab back onto the tail, but the more he moved, the further he slipped before only holding onto the crocodile’s tip.

“We can’t pull both of you up!” Itzel said with her eyes shut as she put all her strength into her arms. Tears slipped through her shut lids. “Come on, Gurk. We either save just you... or neither of you!”

“I-I’m afraid she’s right, Gurk,” Janus panted. “You’re heavy enough as it is!”

“But Mag!”

“He wanted to kill you! Should have given this hunt a second thought!” Itzel replied. 

Gurk looked down at Mag one more time. The hunter looked back up with nothing but fear. His right arm hung limply at his side while his other hand pinched the tail as tight as he could. “Make sure... Sheila’s all right...” Mag said softly.

“Mag!” the crocodile shot back. 

The hunter’s fingers slipped. He fell facing up and frantically grabbed at thin air. Gurk stared as Mag vanished into the black void of the chasm just as quickly as he had let go. With his head still facing down, the others lifted Gurk higher until his upper body reached the edge of the cliff. The crocodile dug his claws into the ground, giving him a firm hold on the terrain as he placed his feet against the rocky side of the separated mass. 

“Don’t give up now! You’re almost home free!” Itzel said with a worried laugh. She paused a bit to pant a few times before grabbing Gurk by the wrist and easing him back onto the solid ground. Once upright, Gurk turned back down at the crevasse with sadness.

“Come on. This place is still falling apart,” Enidri said as she put a hand on Gurk’s shoulder. “You can mope around later. After we’re out of here.”