Everyone without a mile of the house is affected by the explosion.
Neighbors are jolted away, flying out of their beds and through front doors, stunned to see a massive fireball reaching for the stars.
Lottie, Kuzco, and Wiggins, break away from the gate, their ears ringing, sight swimming with burning lights.
Mason collapses onto his back, the force throwing him across the yard. He finds himself frozen to the ground, dismay rooting him down as he gazes at the immense fire.
Windows in the Westergaard mansion shatter upon impact. An entire wall caves in. Tendrils of flames attach themselves to trees. The night is lit up, the sounds of peoples screams and cries flooding the streets as neighbors gather outside the property.
Not a single neighbor recognizes the severity of the situation, none of them aware of the nightmare that started long before the sudden explosion.
º~º~º
They land in the pool, unharmed.
But even underwater, they can feel the blazing heat of the fire, can see debris engulfing in a fiery rain.
If they had waited a second longer, they would have been incinerated. Just like the Hyenas. Just like Scar's home.
Kristoff is the first to surface, gasping and sputtering as he gazes into the inferno. Those last moments play repeatedly in his mind, the words that were exchanged, the fight, the desperate moment Jim pushed them out the window. Just the three of them. One was left behind.
"HANS!" He cries, throat scratchy and aching. Hans actually saved his life. He claimed he wanted to be better, that he wanted to make up what he did to the Erindale sisters. and he did... If not for him, Kristoff would be dead. He staggers backwards in the pool, tripping over a step leading to the pool's exit.
Mulan cowers next to him, her face already streaked with tears, although they are lost in the water dousing her. It's like witnessing a scene from an action movie, watching the walls shrivel up and blacken under the blazing flames.
Jim lowers himself onto one of the steps, unable to make a sound. The anger he felt for the entirety of the night has washed away, the terror finally sinking into his system. The haunting scene before him makes it impossible to look away, leaving him frozen in fear.
º~º~º
The haunted house is blown to pieces.
The spooky noises were bad. The stalker doll was scary. The fighting was setting Ariel over the edge, driving her towards insanity. She wanted nothing more than to escape the game, prepared for anything if it meant being free.
Be careful what you wish for, they say.
Whoever they are, they're right.
The boom comes first, a little sound echoing through the trees and sneaking through the crevices of the run-down house.
Next comes the explosion.
The far right wall of the house suddenly blows in, knocking Ariel into Kayley, Hiro into Aladdin, and Eli onto the base of the staircase. Hardly a second passes before the trees outside wink out of existence. Flashes of light and blinding sparks pour down from the sky. Hidden wires are heard snapping, electric currents cut short. Wood paneling and debris rains down from above, as the setting of the haunted house vanishes.
Ariel squeezes her eyes shut, pulling her legs up to her chest and circling her arms around Kayley. Crashes and booms are heard all around her, dust clogging up her lungs. Pain erupts in her back and legs as pieces of wall shatter around her, thankfully none of it too serious.
