"Bro… BRO… look at this." Josh gasped, voice cracking like he'd just discovered religion. He shoved his phone under Ellison's nose. "EL, I swear on my left kidney, if this woman asked me to bark, I'd do it. No questions asked."
Ellison tried his hardest not to look at the half naked lady on the screen. "Please keep it down, man. You're embarrassing us."
"Nah, you don't get it. Terra posted a new cosplay. Maid outfit." He clutched his chest dramatically. "Oh god. She looks divine."
Ellison could feel secondhand embarrassment creeping up his spine. He turned his head away from Josh, desperate for mental escape, and accidentally glanced at the seat in front.
"Stop staring at me, you freak." A girl, with long straight blonde hair scowled, she was gorgeous with a plump chest, rosy cheeks and red lips, a presence so strong, even the teachers seemed timid, she was Seraphine, the queen of the class.
Ellison ducked his head into his hoodie, he wasn't even staring at her, the class's queen bee just happened to be seated in front of him on the airplane.
"Hey, don't let them get to you". Josh gently elbowed him.
"Yeah, I know". Ellison murmured, he glanced at this chubby best friend of his, being treated like an outcast was their whole signature trait.
It was December 11th, the date for the school trip of a lifetime. They were going to see the grand canyons. Ellison wasn't really interested, but Josh convinced him otherwise.
"Yo, El. Check this out". Josh said, pushing his phone into Ellison's hand. "It happened again, to a military base this time".
Ellison held up the phone, and like Josh just said, it really did happen, another collide. And this time, it was big enough to swallow an entire military base.
"It's been happening for over five years now, scientists say earth is colliding with another world, and that's why those massive rifts in space open up at random places…
Ellison passed the phone back to Josh, his mind still unfocused and detached from his surroundings.
"I wonder what's on the other side?". Ellison flipped the comic book in his hand, a keepsake of his perfect world he has been re-reading for years now.
"Probably monsters that feed on human flesh". Josh said, taking his phone back. "Or sexy aliens, Errr. Fifty-fifty".
Tremble.
Ellison raised his head as he felt the tremor of the plane, this wasn't his first time on a plane, the tremor just felt unusually heavy.
"Is there something up there?". A girl seated across from him suddenly asked, she was from his class, tanned skinned and had long coffee bean coloured curly hair, large green eyes magnified by a pair of glasses, she was pretty. Although to Ellison, all women seemed pretty.
"Uh… I, why are you talking to me?". Ellison responded in panic, he never had a girl his age speak to him, especially not from his class.
The girl was taken aback by Ellison's response, it took her a moment, but she chuckled nonetheless and asked. "Who the hell answers a question like that, no one said you were this funny… by the way, I'm Noelle".
Ellison hurriedly glanced at Josh, but he was already pretending to be asleep.
"Traitor".
He coughed softly. "I'm Ellison, but my friends call me El".
"Yeah I know" she said wide eyed. "You're kinda famous".
Ellison felt his heart sink, yeah he was famous. But for being an outcast, not only in school, even at home. He never understood why he just didn't get people and couldn't seem to relate with them, well except for Josh.
"I'm sorry. Bathroom ". Ellison almost yelled, ignoring the scattered chuckles of his fellow classmates, he stood up and bolted to the back of the plane.
He closed the bathroom door behind him, his eyes shut tight, he pressed his forehead against the cool plastic, he suppressed the urge to scream. "Damn it, I thought I was gonna die, Damn it Josh, why did you abandon me, I thought we were brothers".
He took deep breaths to calm himself. "I need to go back, I can't live the rest of my life like this".
The image of Noelle flashed in his mind, but this time, she was buck naked and kneeling in front of him with rosy cheeks. "Please give me more master El".
"Stop," he hissed at himself, shaking his head hard. "Not now."
If he didn't control his own brain, it would be another final day at summer camp all over again.
Just as Ellison was about to open the door, the plane suddenly shook intensely, this was no tremor, the plane felt like it was literally shaking.
It was so intense, that Ellison instantly collapsed to the ground. "What the hell is going on?".
Boom.
The explosion wasn't big enough to shatter the plane, but it was definitely large enough to destroy a large chunk of the left wing.
Suddenly, the pressure pressing down on his body vanished, his body rose into the air and smashed into the top of the plane and then back down. The light in the toilet of the plane shattered as a result of the impact.
If Ellison could see outside of the plane right now, he would see a massive sphere, twisting and contorting space, and the air plane was being sucked into the space time rift.
"Are we bloody crashing?". Ellison screamed, but the next moment.
Silence.
The tremors, the shaking, even the screams of his classmates and other passengers on board the plane seem to have just stopped.
Ellison briskly opened the toilet door and stepped out, the empty top of the plane instantly drew his attention, he could see the blue sky up above and the birds souring freely.
The cabin of the plane was a tapestry of blood, body parts and broken luggage, Ellison even spotted the head of one of his classmates rolling down.
"what the hell. Josh… Josh?". Ellison felt his body go cold, it was like all the heat in his body was absorbed by the fear in his head, but at the same time, his mind was clear, and rational. The contrast was threatening to drive him insane.
Ellison staggered forward, legs shaking as he forced himself through the torn cabin. The smell of blood and burning metal stung his nose. His heart felt hammered.
"Josh… Josh, where are you…?"
A weak groan answered him from under a row of collapsed seats.
Ellison rushed over and froze, there was an arm sticking out. "Josh!"
He dropped to one knee and shoved the seat frame upward with everything he had. Josh's chubby face appeared underneath, pale and drenched in sweat.
"Bro, El. You're alive," Josh croaked.
Ellison felt something in his chest unclench. "Shut up, idiot. Of course I'm alive. Help me get this off you."
Together, they pushed the broken seat aside. Josh hissed but managed to crawl out, clutching his ribs. Before Ellison could even check him properly, another voice stirred nearby.
"H-Hey… is anyone alive?"
A male student, someone from their class was sprawled near the aisle, blood smeared across his forehead but conscious. He dragged himself upright, gasping as he took in the ruined cabin.
Ellison didn't answer, his eyes were drifting, a few meters from them, a young naked girl stood at the centre of the cabin.
Her hair was long, golden, and spilled to the ground like a glowing waterfall, covering her body almost completely. Her skin looked soft, pale, untouched by blood or dust.
Her hair may be long, but Ellison could still spot her long otherworldly ears, her nails that looked like sharpened knives.
The girl stood calmly amid the wreckage, her bare feet brushing against burnt metal and scattered body parts as if none of it existed. Her expression was unreadable as she looked at them.
Three terrified, blood-covered humans. Staring back at something straight out of a dream. The chaos behind Ellison, felt unreal compared to her presence.
The girl blinked once, her head tilting ever slightly. Then, in a voice softer than the wind.
"Humans…?"