Two to three minutes before Jody Johansson did something utterly insane—something no one on Earth would dare attempt…
Syd Barrett was waiting below, engine already running.
He'd been listening to the small talk between the parties above. He couldn't sit still—his knee bounced anxiously against the brake pedal, heart pounding with worry for his team.
And suddenly—
He felt it.
A strange shift in the air.
He couldn't explain it.
Syd's ears twitched. He lifted his head from the dashboard and looked up at the night sky outside.
Something was wrong.
He couldn't put his finger on it—just a sense of unease rising in his chest.
And then—
Ting!
A message popped up on his phone.
Syd opened it—and froze in shock. It was a voice message from Jody Johansson, and it said:
[East Tower! I'm jumping!]
Her voice was calm—not screaming or panicked—but she sent her location.
"What do you mean jumping?!"
No way… No no no—
She's on one of the top floors, isn't she!?
Is she seriously going to sky dive off a skyscraper!?
It had to be a joke.
But his instincts screamed otherwise.
Jody wasn't joking.
She was dead serious.
The Mercedes-Benz tires screeched against the concrete—rubber burning, engine roaring like a wild animal—echoing through the parking structure.
Syd hit the gas, tearing past fire crews and the chaos outside, racing toward the location she'd sent with everything he had.
"Jody!!"
Roxxy was still frozen in disbelief at the insane decision Jody Johansson had just made.
Back then, when Jody looked her way—it was a message:
"Get back up. Now. Before Trigon shuts the portal."
That snapped Roxxy into action. She climbed back into the tower just in time—right as the portal slammed shut.
Thud!
Roxxy punched the window in frustration, looking down—
At the two figures plummeting through the night sky at 9.81 meters per second squared—
From a skyscraper.
Trigon was the most shocked of all.
Wind screamed past her ears, whipping her hair around—
She couldn't believe it. Was this really happening?
Was she really falling from a building?
No. No no no! This isn't real!!
"You CRAZY BITCH!!! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?!?!"
Trigon screamed, cursing Jody—
But Jody's expression didn't flinch.
She had accepted it.
The rushing wind drowned everything out. The two women tangled mid-air, spinning violently as they fell…
And with just meters to go before impact—
WHAM!
Jody took a punch to the face, her head snapping back. But the impact reverberated back to Trigon—thanks to the properties of her metalized skin.
But who cared?
At this point, it was live or die. This was the only shot either of them had.
Trigon twisted her wrist, aiming down.
If she could just shoot a blue portal onto the ground at the right moment—
She'd pop out sideways from the existing portal on the server room floor, cancel her vertical momentum—
And survive.
Jody? Not so lucky.
"GAAAHHHHHHH!!!!"
Trigon struggled to turn her wrist toward the ground—
Shouting at Jody:
"You're falling! The air around you is unstable—you CAN'T make an air bullet like this!!!"
"You're right," Jody replied. "I can't make one here."
"!!!!!!"
What?
Cut to the ground.
A black Benz drifted around the east tower, tires screeching.
Syd Barrett scanned upward—and saw it.
A vortex.
A small whirlwind of air spinning near the ground.
It was unnatural—no way that could happen on a calm night like this.
"…That's Jody's wind. That foreigner—she's marking the spot for me!?"
He looked up—and spotted them.
Jody. Trigon. Falling.
He had seconds.
If he didn't act now—Jody was as good as dead.
Metal body or not—hit the ground at that speed, and you're done.
Trigon realized it too.
Jody didn't need to make an air bullet around her hand.
She could make it anywhere.
And falling straight down like this—
She could have made a bullet on the ground below them…
And fire it up into Trigon.
Trigon's eyes widened in horror.
"You crazy lunatic!! The bullet only travels a few meters—it'll dissipate before it hits me!!"
"Then let's see who's faster—your portal, or my bullet."
She wouldn't fire right away.
She waited.
Just a couple of meters from the ground—same as Trigon.
It was a quick draw.
A gunfight at terminal velocity.
And the moment came.
"I'LL KILL YOUUUU!!!!"
Time seemed to slow—
3 meters.
2.5 meters.
2.1 meters.
1.8 meters—
And then—
The command was given.
The air bullet—fired.
"BRING IT!!!"
And right before impact—Jody whispered in Trigon's ear:
"…But I never said I'd only fire one."
"…Huh?"
Pupupupupupupupupupupu—
"?!?!?!?!"
A hailstorm of air bullets blasted up from the ground—
Slamming into Trigon mid-fall.
She never had a chance to fire her portal.
When two objects with immense velocity collide—
Only devastation follows.
The bullets shredded through Trigon's armor.
Through her clothes.
Through her flesh.
Through her bones.
Ripping through lungs.
Spine.
Vital organs.
Exiting through her back.
Trigon—killed in the line of duty.
Dead in mid-air.
Her body hit the ground like a burst water balloon—
Bones shattered, blood everywhere.
And Jody?
She'd thrown herself free right before.
She was still falling fast.
But her landing point—
Was right on top of Syd Barrett's Mercedes-Benz.
She knew even with a metalized body, a fall like this would kill her.
She closed her eyes.
At least she had done something for Syd's team.
That was enough.
She had nothing left to lose anyway.
But as she hit the roof of the car—
Something happened.
It compressed.
Not like metal denting.
Like jelly.
Like a sponge.
BOING.
It absorbed the impact—
And bounced her back up.
She was fine.
Just a little dizzy.
And then—Syd caught her in his arms.
Safe.
From a 20+ story fall.
Syd was speechless—then exploded:
"JODY!!! DID YOU ACTUALLY F*ING DO THAT!?!?**"
He stared up at the tower, then back at her.
He couldn't believe it.
She looked around.
And saw what Syd was holding—
A sponge.
A basic car sponge.
Every car had one in the trunk.
Syd dropped it—
CLANG.
It hit the pavement like a metal brick.
Didn't compress at all.
"…Hah."
Jody chuckled, looking up at him as Syd helped her down to the curb.
"You're insane, Jody!! What the hell were you thinking!? If I hadn't shown up, you'd be dead!!!"
"…I knew… you'd make it… ☺"
She had sent him a voice message and location just before the fall.
No confirmation. No checking.
Just trust.
Syd knew that.
She'd bet her life on him.
And he'd caught her.
"If I'd been one second late—ONE SECOND—you'd be gone!! What is WRONG with you!?"
He checked her over, fussing at her while shouting.
Jody just smiled.
"…Because I knew you'd find a way.
I knew you'd make it."
Then she gave him that cheeky "hee~" grin.
Deep down, her heart had been pounding—
Praying she was right.
And she was.
She was glad she trusted him.
"…You're wrecked. Totally wrecked."
He slung her arm over his shoulder and helped her into the back seat.
"…Where's Roxxy?"
"She's safe…"
Jody mumbled as she laid her head down, breathing hard.
They both looked up at the tower.
Firefighters, police swarmed the entrance now.
Syd and Jody couldn't get back in.
All they could do now—
Was trust the ones still inside.