Page 80 of Demons Dig Donuts

There!

Reginald!

Sort of.

One of his eyes was lower than the other, his ears were crooked, but he otherwise looked as he did before.

“Hey, big guy.” Indy waved.

Reginald slowly blinked his copper eyes.

“So, you see me and my new friend here? He’s a bunny like you! Isn’t that great?” Indy pointed outside. “There’s a bunch of monsters outside who hate bunnies and we need you to distract them. So, attack them, piss ’em off, and take everyone for a run around the block, okay?”

Reginald immediately walked through the door, shattering it to splinters as he charged forward to complete his mission.

“A golem?” Debbie frowned. “They’re not exactly… bright.”

“Didn’t see you coming up with any ideas!” Indy hugged the wall, peeking out from the broken doorframe to watch. “Okay… I think this is working. Christ, oh, he ate someone. That’s fine. Uh, they’re… they’re going! They’re following him.”

“Not all of them,” Debbie griped.

“Dill. Babe.” Indy grinned up at him. “You ready to grow and kick some ass? We need to make it to those doors in one piece, pretty please.”

“Grow!” Dill cackled, skipping ahead and growing. He was bigger, wider, and long tendrils came coiling out from his body like snakes. They cracked like whips, grabbing the lingering monsters and then flinging them up into the air as Dill turned into Dillzilla. The very ground beneath his feet cracked and ruptured as gnarled roots rippled through the soil like his very own monster plant version of Tremors.

Indy sprinted after him, but he saw Debbie falling behind. He groaned, stomped his foot, but went back to grab Debbie. “Come on, slut! We have a portal to open, right?”

“Why am I a slut?” Debbie fussed. “That seems unnecessary!”

“Shut up, ho! Let’s go!”

Dill cleared a path to the doors and once he arrived, his roots and vines curled together to build a wall around them. He laughed as he continued to hurl monsters up into the air, a vision reminiscent of a child playing Godzilla and tossing their toys around.

Debbie collapsed in front of the doors, panting from exertion as he examined them. “I think I can… No… Please? Fuck! No… Yes!” He settled on the door farthest to the right and quickly said, “This one! I can break the seals, but I need time!”

“Courtesy of my fantastic friend, Dillzilla, you’ve got it.”

Indy took a deep breath, his fingers trembling from the adrenaline coursing through him. He thought he might throw up, but he had to stay strong. He was not going to die here. No, fuck no, he was not going to—oh!

Pain stabbed into his chest like it had in the elevator, and his knees went weak.

No, no, no.

Not again.

Indy choked on air, clawing at his chest as the agony grew. The pain was so great that he was on the verge of passing out, dying, or maybe both. It sure as hell felt like dying, and terror racked him from head to toe. He quickly thought back to Mr. Heiss, his touch and his voice, bringing Indy down from the edge of panic.

Breathe.

Indy breathed. Each breath was less ragged than the first, and he was able to focus now on the memory of Mr. Heiss dancing with him, how he’d smiled and laughed, the gentle touch of his claws on Indy’s body.

“Hey! Hey, what’s wrong with you?” Debbie grimaced, his eyes narrowed in concentration. “I’ve almost got it!”

“Shut up,” Indy wheezed. “I’m fine.”

“Grow?” Dill nudged Indy.

“Grow, yes, lots of growing.” Indy swatted up at him, still holding his chest as he tried to catch his breath. “Easy! Not right now.”