Thump.

Donovan fell onto the slanted ceiling of the atrium at Jupiter's Casino and began to slide uncontrollably down the side of the building.

Crash.

The demon that landed after him wasn't so lucky. It fell right through the toughened glass and rained chaos below.

A spider web of cracks raced Donovan down the glass and won. He felt a sickening jolt in his stomach as his body met open air. As he fell backwards, his spine was the first to find the support beam under the glass, and before gravity could pull him to his death, his desperate, sweaty hands closed around the cold, hard metal. Joints protested and sockets groaned as he clung on for dear life.

Inside the casino, destruction rampaged. The demon tossed a man's body across the room where it collided with the roulette table, sending chips everywhere. The exit was jammed with patrons while a handful of guards discovered that handguns weren't going to do the job.

"Run!" Donovan shouted. His grip was slipping. It was only a matter of time before he fell to his death, but perhaps he could still take the demon with him.

One of the guards noticed him.

"I'll deal with the demon, you get everyone out!" The grenades were in his jacket pocket. If he could just spare one of his hands-

The guard aimed his gun up.

"Oh, for goodness sake!" Donovan's body twitched involuntarily as bullets whizzed past. Thoughts of selfless sacrifice evaporated.

Someone above him returned fire, sending the idiot diving for cover. Donovan looked up to see Dawn, who was always a sight for sore eyes, balancing on a crossbeam. Today she was even more beautiful for the coil of rope she carried.

She slung her rifle onto her back and lowered herself to crawl out to Donovan.

"How many times have I saved your big, unlucky butt?" She offered Donovan her hand.

"Are you calling me fat?" Grasping her hand, he found the leverage to swing himself up on the beam.

"What's your plan?"

Donovan grinned. When he first saw the rope, he had glimpsed the future as clear as day. The hardest part of the plan was mustering the will to cut his own hand.

The demon's head snapped around to see a dangling treat dripping with blood. With a roar of raging delight, it lunged with its teeth.

The rope and the pin came free with a sharp tug, leaving the grenade in the demon's maw.

Boom.

Donovan and Dawn flinched as hot bits of demon made it all the way up to their perch, but they were the lucky ones; those below were coated in a fine spray of guts.

As the sound of sirens grew louder, Donovan sighed. "Do you think they'll let us walk?"

Dawn returned his question with a flat stare. Then, her face broke into a grin. "Don't bet on it."

A/N - My attempt at flash fiction using characters from Shadechaser.