Chapter Text
Act 0 - Prolouge
Day 0
I woke up to birds singing their stupid little morning song outside my window and my phone alarm blasting my ears like it wanted me dead.
The clock displayed the time.
6:40 a.m.
Uhhh.
Why did I have to get up this early for nothing?
I slammed my hand onto my alarm, hoping it would never make another peep again. My back cracked as I sat up, which was definitely my shitty bed’s fault.
My feet brushed against the carpet of my room.
I didn’t have much stuff. Just a cabinet holding my clothes, a small desk with my games, my console, and my TV all ready to play whenever I wanted. Two plastic chairs sat in front of it too. One for me, and one for whoever came over.
Most of the time, that chair belonged to my nephew while he watched cartoons on his tablet.
Before that, it used to belong to Daniel, my shitty older brother.
Everything in here was mine. I bought it with my own money, even though money was hard to come by when I was still under the legal age for a full-time job.
The console was the only thing I didn’t fully buy myself. My mom helped me get it when I came up short after helping pay for some bills.
She called it an "investment" to keep me out of trouble.
Worst of all, Daniel would steal my controller every time he came into my room.
I started getting dressed, throwing on a dark red shirt, a black flannel with the sleeves rolled up, flexible blue jeans, and my favorite brown boots. They were scuffed and damaged from months of labor, but they were comfortable, and that was all that mattered.
As I was getting ready, I used the bathroom and happened to look into the mirror.
A guy with dark brown hair, brown eyes, and lightish brown skin stared back at me.
I was a 5'6” Hispanic boy.
I also had a gray bandana in my left pocket, half tucked in and half exposed. I used it for work, but also because it made my mom smile whenever she saw it.
It was a birthday gift from her.
This was me.
Andres Mondragon.
I had a body bigger than most people. I had an athletic build, but there was a lot of fat covering it. My family and cousins said I looked like a younger, chubbier Nathan Drake from the Uncharted series.
My friends said I looked like Nathan Drake if he jumped a bakery and ate it.
Fuck them, I'm not that flabby. Then I grabbed a handful of blueber…
Nevermind.
But I could say for a fact that I looked normal. Not cute, not hot, not handsome. Just normal.
I had no crazy hair color, no special talent I knew of, and nothing that would make someone look twice at me.
I was a normal kid you’d walk by without ever noticing.
Well, someone noticed.
My mommy
Lucia Mondragon
Don’t judge me. She forced me to call her that.
She stood in the hallway holding a baby in her arms. Not one of my family members, just one of the kids she took care of. She owned a daycare, which meant our house was usually half home and half tiny human zoo.
Kids crawling into my room, just lifelessly staring at me like I was some monster hidden in the back.
“Andres, are you gonna keep staring at yourself, or am I gonna have to get the spray?” she asked.
She sounded tired, but there was a faint happiness on her face.
I ripped myself away from the mirror, hugged her, and kissed her forehead.
“Mommy, good morning. What’s there to eat?” I asked, hoping for my favorite.
On instinct, I started playing with the baby. He grabbed my fingers and tugged them closer to his mouth, trying to bite me.
Awww.
Babies were adorable little monsters.
Mom lightly slapped my arm, annoyed that I was still blocking the bathroom.
“Pancakes. Now hurry. I have to change the kids.”
Fuck yeah.
My favorite.
I freed myself from the baby tyrant’s grip and walked through our little house, passing the living room on my way to the kitchen.
My eyes glanced at the setup.
Two couches faced the TV. Toys were scattered near the rug because the daycare kids treated our living room like a battlefield.
A few backpacks leaned against the wall; most belonged to the kids. One of them was mine.
Then my eyes landed on the old reclining chair in the corner.
Beer stains still coated the fabric, slightly covered by a blanket, like my mother could hide the past if she threw something soft over it.
He hasn’t come back…
Good.
Breakfast was fast.
I scarfed that shit down with syrup and milk.
The living room TV, which was usually on the cartoon channel to entertain the tater tots, was on a Mexican morning news channel instead.
I only caught pieces of what they were saying, but apparently satellites had spotted multiple unknown flying objects all over Earth. Most experts thought they were new satellites from foreign nations.
War was coming.
Or that was what everyone said but didn’t really believe.
It was the usual global tension. World leaders puffing up their chests, telling everyone not to mess with them until one idiot said too much and actually started a war.
Or worse.
World War III.
Taking another bite, I noticed the booster seat next to me was empty.
It was reserved for my nephew.
His chubby cheeks and happy little smile weren’t here.
I swallowed and called out, “Mommy, where’s Ezekiel?”
I normally ate with him every morning. He had been attached to me ever since he was born. So much so that he acted just like me, copying my mannerisms and only eating what I ate.
He even looked like me.
Well, kind of.
He was blindingly white instead of brown, but he had my face.
My mom took care of him while my sister worked or did whatever she did.
From a couple rooms away, my mommy yelled back, “Your sister wanted to take him to the clinic. He wasn’t feeling well.”
Oh…
I was hoping to see him one last time.
Not that I was going anywhere important. Just school. But still.
Morning felt wrong without him trying to steal my pancakes.
At least my sister was taking her duty as his mother seriously.
Before I left, I kissed my mom goodbye. She was already rushing around, trying to get the daycare kids into the SUV so she could drive them to primary school.
“Andres,” she called out before I reached the door.
I turned back.
She waved at me and said. “Have fun at school.”
Hell no I won't.
I waved back and promised to behave.
Then I stepped outside.
Me? I had to get to school, so I started my twenty-minute trek.
I left behind our small middle-class house, the one my mommy and father had put fifteen years of work and money into.
The morning air was cool. The sky was bright. Everything looked normal, just a school rally that was out of the norm, nothing special.
Cars passed by, some much faster than others, joggers, the occasional gangster that kept his head low and out of trouble.
It turns out when you walk for 20 minutes, you pass a lot of places, so much of the world you would miss if you always traveled by car.
Bakeries I loved to get my favorite chocolate chip cookies from. Thrift shops my mommy loved for their prices, shitty clothes though.
And massive grocery markets people swarmed like flies for their deals.
Walking on the sidewalk heading to school, I felt a big, heavy weight hit my back. I almost fell over, but caught myself.
Since I was younger, I've always been good on my feet, but that still hurt. I turned around to see the douche who hit me.
It turns out the douche who hit me was my best friend, Noah. He was a big 6'3" tall dude, muscles bulging like he was on steroids, but he was just naturally gifted in the physical department.
He was known as the star of the football team.
He doesn't act like a typical stereotypical jock. He was kind, funny, and often reached out to help people when they needed it.
Overall, he's a really good guy.
A real hero in my eyes.
"Sup, man," Noah said, smiling at me, hand ready for a handshake.
"Sup, asshole," I said, as we bumped fists.
Smiling at my best friend, yeah, we have a weird friendship.
"Aww, why you gotta call me that? I thought we were buds," he said, grinning even more.
"We are, but you're still an asshole. Come on, we're going to be late to the rally," I said, with my smile getting bigger and him barely holding in a laugh.
"Like it even matters," he said, speaking his mind. Huh, blunt motherfucker.
"Yeah, well, I just don't like taking the chance that it does," I said. I don't know about you,
But I am always paranoid no matter what, except around people I trust.
The rest of the time, we discussed yesterday's time playing Black Ops 3.
It was so annoying to be the shittier player but be more tactically aware than him. He could nearly win the match himself, but when he leaves the team behind, we still lose, but when he follows my plan, we win in a landslide.
Finishing chastising him for going solo again last night, losing us the match, we got to the school campus.
It was four buildings surrounding a small park in the middle, and the indoor gym that would hold the rally was there, so we headed that way.
We got to the indoor gym early, like I wanted to, because I wanted to get a good seat and not sit on the floor of the gym, 'cuz that shit's nasty.
Near the entrance of the gym where the rally would take place, we saw a crowd of annoyed teenagers and teachers that didn't care about it waiting to go in, so we fell in line.
"I don't know why you wanted to get here so early. It's kind of pointless," Noah said, waving back to a girl waving at him across the sea of people.
"You're right, but still, being early is a good habit, and having a good seat is worth it," I said with good reason.
Some seats are so squished you literally feel someone else's breath on you, unless you like to get really comfortable with strangers, which I'm totally judging if you do.
"Nah, the reason you wanted us to come early was to see your crush." He said, poking fun at me. Damn, I knew I shouldn't have told him.
He just had to see me blush talking to her, or maybe it was my voice cracking at the worst time.
My fucking body betraying me.
"Shut up, don't say that so loud," I elbowed him in the rib, embarrassed.
Rubbing his wound, he said, "Seriously, man, you should just ask her out. What's the worst she'll say, no?”
She could say, Eww.
Oh, that already hurt my heart imagining it.
“Anyway, you better do it soon. You don't know when you won't have the chance anymore. AKA, there are other guys with their eyes on her." He said wisely, and I knew he was right.
She was pretty popular, kind as they come, talked to everyone, and was one of the star cheerleaders.
I should just ask her out. Going deep into thought, I weighed the pros and the cons and thought, fuck it. You know what?
After this rally, I will ask her out.
"You know what? I will ask her out today after the rally. Thanks, man, I guess I needed to get kicked in the ass," I said with gratitude.
Friends that have your back are always worth having around.
"Hey man, I'll always have your back, and I know you'll have mine just the same, man." He said with a smile.
Yeah, he and I have been through a lot. Really, I'm surprised he and I aren't dead with what we've done.
Noah saw some of our other friends across the horde of hormonal teenagers, waving them over, but they didn't budge.
The school's bell rang, alerting all of us. The teachers opened the doors to the indoor gym and let the kids in.
"Hey man, I'm gonna go with the other boys. Wanna come?" he said.
Over there was Kevin licking his finger of the leftover chips he was eating.
Manuel hugging his girlfriend Berta like they were on date live TV.
Mike and his little brother Taylor playing on their DS.
Chelsy waving to us, or more Noah; she was his recent friend with benefits—it's his life, but I don't agree.
I did want to go over and just relax with the guys, but… "Nah, I'm going to go over there and hype myself up or go to sleep," I said, pointing at a bleacher across the way.
"Later, man. See you after this annoying thing and after you ask her out," he said, saying we'd meet after everything.
"Yeah man, see you later," I said, saying my goodbye.
I walked away from him. Little did I know I wouldn't see him for nearly a year.
Quickly, I got to mid-left of the bleachers and sat down and thought, should I go to sleep or stay awake and see this?
Well, Selina, the girl I had a crush on, is in the cheerleader segment, so might as well stay awake.
We talked a lot, mostly after Jessica, a girl me and Noah helped out before, became best friends with her.
And we did know each other pretty well. She often came to our group of friends to talk and just hang out.
Today that was about to change… hopefully for the better.
The rally was about to start. The crowd looked tired and hated it, you know, a normal teenager reaction.
After 10 minutes, it started; the bleachers filled up, and a teenager in a worker outfit that was too big for him came onstage and grabbed a mic and said with what I'm certain was fake cheerfulness,
'Cuz no one is that happy.
"Hey, y'all, good to see you. Hope you had a good morning, but before we go on and have this awesome rally, I just want you all to know that all of us are equal and nothing can change that and you can do anything you put your mind to."
I listened until that point.
Uh, I hate these types of motivational speeches.
The ones that try to speak to your heart but only with fantasy, that good vibes will triumph over reality.
It was simply illogical.
People are very different. We may have, realistically, like other animals, the same body and shape, but some people have skills and talents that not everyone can do, like sports.
Not everyone can dribble a fútbol like Lionel Messi or throw a football like Tom Brady.
You can try to do it even if they put all their will and knowledge into it, but a few can and will be better.
You won't reach them.
Take, for example, Selina, I might try to be the perfect man for her, but in reality it's up in the air.
Some people are just special in that way, I learned while on this Earth.
Reality is grim and harsh.
Unfair
Segment after segment of little events to include the crowd, from kids playing a dumb variation of basketball to pie-eating contests, finally came the cheerleader segment.
I couldn't wait to see Selina dance and do her cheers.
Wow, kinda sound like a creep now.
The music played, the lights dimmed, and all of the cheerleaders ran onto the stage with fluorescent cheer outfits.
They flipped in unison, creating a human rainbow before some split off, doing some other acrobatics.
The prettiest of them danced at the front as those in the back created a human trampoline to throw the smallest of them into the air, performing an elite-level move.
Selina, I saw her with those who danced, her pom-pom striking at the air.
As she did, she looked in my direction by accident. We locked eyes, and I swear I saw her face light up.
My stomach filled with butterflies. I mean that right there just gave me the biggest green flag. Operation Ask Her Out is going to work.
One thing for sure was they cheered with everything they had.
And me, I was on cloud nine, smiling to myself, trying to hide it with my hand.
Roooar.
A loud screech came from outside. I swear I felt the ground shake and the gym rattle.
All of us heard it, a roar of something that put every cell in my body on high alert, but most thought it was just the music, but a few were not convinced and kept looking around.
Noah, across the gym, surrounded by our friend group. Chelsy held his arm, all of them blissfully unaware.
He looked at me in fear before looking back up.
We both knew something was up there.
Me, being one of the most paranoid, looked around, hoping it was just some speaker that exploded, making that horrendous sound.
Just to be on the safe side, I reached into my backpack and discreetly put on my scrap metal right-hand brass knuckles/gauntlet.
You might be wondering why I have a gauntlet in my bag. The reason why is because of the very frequent school shootings that are happening all over the United States.
Someone with a demon on their shoulder or some insane fuck wanting to see people scream in terror.
I won't be a helpless victim, so…
Why not have a weapon to defend yourself? I wished I had my shield or the sword that I made with me, but I left it at home because it was incredibly heavy, and the other one was considered a weapon, which it was.
After two minutes, nothing happened. All of the people looking around ignored it and kept watching the cheer squad.
But I heard something else from above. A low growl, the moving of muscle almost like they were made of tape sticking and unsticking.
Sounds you wouldn't ever hear in the concrete jungles known as cities.
I stood up, feeling my heart beat in my chest nearly bursting forth. A group of girls behind me started making a ruckus because I was in their way of seeing the rally.
I had a horrible feeling something bad was going to happen.
So I kept looking around.
That sound was getting closer, stronger, and clearer from above.
It was the sound of death.
I saw it, the roof of the gym crack, the planks and steel reinforcement bend before it gave in to whatever was on the other side.
The center roof of the gym collapsed on top of the rally, and there would have been dozens dead, crushed under thousands of pounds of rubble.
Thankfully, it missed the cheerleaders, Selina by a few feet. They got lucky because they all went to one side of the gym for a cheer routine.
Dust kicked up so much that you could barely see anything.
All of us screamed; hysteria and paralysis set in, shaking in fear of what this could be. They prayed for the best.
Not as startled as the rest, I got ready to fight what was probably terrorists wanting to kill us or use us as hostages.
That's the only logical conclusion I came to; after all, this is reality, not some anime or fantasy novel.
I couldn't see inside the cloud of dust until the sun came in at the right angle.
A silhouette so massive my heart ran cold, my instincts fired up screaming to me to run.
It was of a massive creature, not a couple of humans with some puny guns.
Then I heard a roar so loud it felt like my heart was gonna collapse because of the vibrations.
Our ears bled as the dust was pushed away, letting us finally see what it was.
It was a monster.
It was on all fours, crawling around. My body would be the same height as its head.
Its body was covered with green scales that looked like nothing could penetrate them, its claws were so sharp they cut straight through the concrete floor underneath it like it was a hot knife to butter.
A razor-sharp tail that looked like a whip designed to eviscerate anyone, vertically sliced neon green eyes that looked like they stared into your very soul.
It scared me to my core.
I knew what I was looking at.
I read so many stories not to know what monster I was looking at.
It was a Dragon.
The creature that people say is the Bringer of Destruction.
The dragon wasn't looking in my general direction. It looked like it was thinking, and then it snorted.
It took a deep breath. Its whole body shined a deep lime green from in between the scales. In that second, I knew what it was doing.
I screamed, "Get out of the way!" The Dragon was looking towards a group of teenagers on the opposite side of the cheerleaders.
Some people got out of their shock and came to their senses and ran out of the way. It released its green inferno on the people who didn't move.
A hellish green so hot it felt like acid even from dozens of feet away.
The smell of sulfur and turned flesh spread.
When its breath settled, all I saw were burnt skeletons with charred flesh of the people who didn't move out of the way.
Their final moments screaming, frozen, melted in place.
One of them looked me straight in the eyes as if blaming me.
It thrust me to move.
I yelled the one thing going through my mind, "Run, get the fuck out of here!!!"
People actually listened and ran for the exits. Chaos erupted; everyone was screaming, everyone running.
And I was right behind them, running with the crowd. I couldn't see Noah or my friends, only Taylor being pulled into the crowd at the exits, squeezing their way through, probably Mike trying to get his little brother to safety.
Until I saw the dragon turn, looking at the cheerleaders in their colorful outfits and glowing fluorescent strips and bracelets. It huffed one more time, about to use its fire breath again, but a teacher who was brave or stupid enough tried to distract it.
I know if I tried to fight it, I would die, but the people would have enough time to get away and get safe.
They would go to the police or the military. They have tanks and jets that could kill the dragon easily… right?
The beast growled, whipped its tail, bisecting the teacher that stood in its way in half, some of the people behind him got caught in the crossfire, getting their heads cut off, wounds so deep organs started falling out.
And the dragon stomped over them, crushing bone and flesh as it headed towards the fluorescent cheerleaders mixed in the crowd by the exit.
Again it headed for the girl I loved.
To where Selina held Jessica's hand, crying in fear as they had to slowly wait for the crowd to pour out of the gym.
I didn't need to hesitate anymore, and God, I fucking hate my moral compass sometimes.
I made my choice to buy everyone enough time to escape, to buy Selina time.
I really don’t expect to live, but God help me if I do, I want to live.
With a scrap gauntlet in hand, my knees shaking, I turned around, detaching myself from the crowd, and weaved through oncoming people to sprint to face the dragon.
I knew that the scales would make hurting its body almost impossible, but the parts that aren't covered—the back of the knees or joints, eyes, nose, and ears—all of those are vulnerable points of its body.
I decided to go for the eyes first; most likely it would be stunned long enough for the cheerleaders and Selina to get away.
I ran up yelling my battle cry as loud as possible to get its attention. It turns out a dragon's hearing is better than humans' because it heard my warrior cry out of all of the screaming.
I got close enough; I twisted my body as it was turning in my direction; it was enough to make a simple punch land harder than expected.
To my surprise, it landed on the mushy, slimy eye that I was aiming for.
My gauntlet wasn't silky and smooth but jagged with sharp edges. It grabbed and tore flesh off the weak tissue, leaving behind a cut on its eyeball.
Before it could snap its teeth at me, I threw myself back.
The beast screeched in pain and started to flail around, rolling onto its back and landing on some unknown people behind it.
I saw blood and crushed body parts under it. The people who didn't move were crushed under the beast. I knew I was responsible for their deaths because of my actions.
But I had to keep going; I needed the cheerleaders to get out of here, especially Selina.
"Selina, get your friends and run now!" I yelled. My voice actually piercing the noise of the chaos.
She looked at me, absolute fear still lingering. Our eyes met, and she didn't even think twice. She clung to Jessica tighter and ran to the other exit, the one I was heading to.
I was finally clear of the people, most now outside running to get help.
The beast started to get back up, fury so etched on its scaly face it sent my body into a shivering mess.
It stared me down before roaring, it took a deep breath, creating a vacuum, sucking in all the oxygen.
Its chest bulged, getting ready for another fire breath aimed straight for me.
To forever memorialize me as a melted skeleton.
No… no…
I have to fight…
I have to win.
Gathering all the bravado I could, I said, "Let's go, fugly, your ass can't beat me!" I yelled, or more screamed.
Snorting a puff of smoke from its nose at me, it snorted.
It looked angry; frustrated, its scaly face twitched.
Good, I think.
The more frustrated it is, the sloppier it is, but the more unpredictable it is… well, I hope so.
Running away from all of the exits down the bleachers for the least amount of crossfire, the beast let loose an inferno that melted the concrete on the floor and incinerated the wood bleachers.
The gym walls behind me blasted apart and burned, shaking the gym.
Running for my life, faster than I had ever gone before, barely evading a fiery death, the beast stopped and took a breath, recharging for another go.
My back burned badly, probably already blistering from being so close to the flame even though I was a good 20 feet away from it.
I saw that it was charging up again, but this time I counted how long it took for it to recharge again to be able to predict its next move… hopefully.
All of my assumptions are in the air loose because I have never done this before.
It released again and again; I ran and ran. I thought of how this was possible, but it seemed this fuck was toying with me.
Thank goodness for that because I had its countdown down. It took 7 seconds to charge up.
I evaded another storm of green fire. Now my back felt worse, but now was my moment. I could charge it while it was charging its next blast.
Running towards it, the beast had a confused look on its face.
Probably thinking why an insect is even trying to fight and win against a god, but I know it will bleed when hit enough… hopefully.
I ran towards it, ready to send a punch to its nose, but I saw that its mouth was opening sooner than expected, and in a split-second decision, I slid under it, dodging the blast completely.
Not what I planned, but whatever. Now I had an opening to deal a good blow to its vulnerable parts. With this moment, I went to town on the back of one of its knees with both hands. It hurt doing it.
Even though it wasn't armored, it still was tough. After enough punching, the scrap metal gauntlet made a small deep scratch on the leather skin; it bled.
I nearly jumped with joy at the smallest of accomplishments.
It bleeds; it fucking bleeds. Now I really know I can kill it.
Fuck distracting it.
I'm going to kill it!
The bad gut feeling was back, a primal instinct that told me to run because death was coming. I needed to get away from it.
I ran out from under it just before its body slammed where I just was.
I was running as fast as I could, a stupid mistake losing the mobility that kept me alive, I didn't see the beast latch onto me. Instead of using its fire breath, it used its razor-sharp tail.
While I was running, hoping to put some distance between us, I saw and heard the air split, torn apart as if a person swung a stick at mach speed.
Looking behind me at the last second, I saw an incredibly fast line as if it were a whip coming towards me.
My instincts screamed, tugged me to get down… and I did, I felt it whip by me, grazing my cheek, narrowly avoiding a brutal decapitation from the razor-sharp tail.
Turning around, I saw something, a way to win. A real way, not just punching it or biting it until it's dead.
Turning around, I had to do nearly the impossible; I had to start dodging the razor-sharp tail where one mistake was my life.
I mean, I dodged it once, I could dodge it again.
And it was far faster than I thought; I swear it whipped its tail faster than the speed of sound constantly; the sound barrier broke multiple times, nearly deafening me.
Barely sidestepping being bisected down the middle, it came from the side. Jumping over it, I hit the ground ungracefully.
Regaining my footing, I kept dodging, barely surviving.
Behind me, the dragon's tail crashed into the walls of the indoor gym multiple times.
Burst through, destroying the structural integrity of the building.
Again and again, it missed and started to get frustrated and did both attacks at the same time. Sending an inferno of green flames and sending its tail to cut me down.
Finally, I felt completely sure I could dodge the tail even if it's fast. All I had to do was predict where it came from by its trajectory and believe in my instincts.
I waited until it almost released its breath to move. Dodging at the last moment, the tail aimed for my head. Slamming my hand on the ground, I stopped myself and changed directions. The tail slammed through the ground, sending concrete shards.
Most bounced off me, but others penetrated my skin, stomach, chest, and arms, stabbing into me like small throwing knives.
Just a little bit more.
I turned around to see how my plan was going, looking up at the gym roof, but it wasn't enough.
Dammit, dammit, just fall down, you fuck.
It needed a little more, just a bit more, but as I thought to taunt it for more of a reaction, I felt tremors; the entire building creaked and shook.
The massive beast was charging at me. Scared shitless, instincts kicked in again, and I felt I needed to wait until it was close enough for me to roll in between its legs to get away and finish the plan.
But it would crush me if it knew I'd just slide under it again.
Grabbing one of the shards embedded in my stomach, I pulled. A single touch nearly made me cry in pain, but I had to live, I want to live.
This fuck killed so many; I won't let him live!
Pulling the shard out, a string of thick blood came with it.
I waited and waited, scared shitless, until the last moment I ran at it.
It sent its tail like a javelin straight towards my chest.
Faster than I thought I could, I tilted my body; the tail only sliced through my left shoulder, exposing meat and bone.
Tears welled up, and I kept pushing, like a football. I spiraled the shard of concrete.
I thought I was doomed because I have never been good at sports; that was always Noah's thing.
But it landed; it did not penetrate, but it did slam the fuck out of the dragon's right eye.
It screamed, getting its eye poked again, stunning it for the single moment I needed.
I did it.
Rolling in between its legs, I made it. It nearly missed me completely; one of its claws caught my arm, cutting me deep, making me tumble to the ground.
A large gash on my right bicep down to the middle of the forearm; thankfully, it didn't take my arm.
I could have thought about how much it hurt or run like hell before getting crushed.
The sound of the roof of the gym finally giving in, snapping from its supports, collapsing behind me.
Feeling the heat of fear on my back, I stumbled to my feet, running for my life until I felt the ground shake.
When the ground shook, I turned around to see, but only saw a cloud of dust.
The dragon gone under the piece of the building that fell.
Maybe it was dead or just trapped under the tons of weight.
Breathing in hard, trying to steady my heart, it pounded in my chest, ready to give out.
I have never been this close to death, toeing the line like a maniac, nearly flicking death's skeletal face in a mocking manner.
Oh my God, did I do it?
I waited until it cleared a little more and started to walk towards it, hoping for the dragon to be dead.
But as I was walking towards it, the beast's tail came at me, coming to diagonally slice me in half. My nerves flared, sending millions of commands to move to survive, but I was slow; I let my guard down.
Muscles already filled with lactic acid, with relaxation, slowing my reaction time by the smallest of time measurements.
I moved, seeing the Grim Reaper, death coming for retribution for mocking him. His scythe came down.
I still moved, but I was too slow.
It still hit.
There was no loud sound, just the sound of flesh, fat, and bone being cut through without any resistance.
Ripping straight through my arm.
Severing my left arm at the elbow.
Before my eyes, my left arm was sent sailing, fingers twitching before going lax, in the air, blood violet spraying everywhere, coating the charred ground.
Reality finally caught up to me as I brought my bleeding stump to my face.
!!!
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH" I screamed, in horror.
My arm was gone, the severed half hitting the floor with a sickening wet slap.
My stump squirting out streams of blood. I fell to the floor screaming and cursing in pain, almost passing out, but I couldn't.
I had to live.
I can't die here.
For my friends and family.
I slowly got back up, blood soaking my shirt and blue jeans, taking the pain. The pain was almost unbearable; thank God for adrenaline.
I saw my arm on the ground in a puddle of blood, lifeless. I wanted so badly to grab it and reattach it, but I knew that wouldn't happen.
Next to me was a big piece of rebar, and without thought grabbed it for my revenge with my only hand. I quickly dragged it to the fucking beast to have my fucking revenge.
I want its life.
My eyes looked like those of a monster acting purely on the instinct to kill.
As I was getting closer, I saw the beast was trapped. Its whole body was covered in rubble, unable to move.
From above, the final piece of the wall that the beast destroyed for me toppled, falling on it, crushing its tail, keeping it in place hopefully long enough for me to kill it.
Growling like an animal, I felt it all.
Now it's your turn to die like what you did to all of us.
My shitty plan was for the dragon to keep hitting the wall that was connected to the remaining ceiling behind me to collapse it on itself.
I didn't have to really do much, this was all the dragon's own doing.
As I was getting closer, the rebar clanging on the ground, it looked at me with no fear, but with so much anger that it would overshadow my own by a mile.
Just as I expected, it started to charge up a fire blast one last time. Nearly spitting in its face, I ran up, jumping on its snout, barely dodging the fire breath it spammed like an idiot.
I had an idea: putting the rebar in front of the green inferno. The fire was so hot it made the rebar almost melt, but I pulled it away at the last second, leaving me with a glowing red rod of metal.
The beast tried to throw me off, but he was too trapped, and I just stared back at the beast.
Wanting it to know at the end of its life I was the one to kill it, not some hero or the best of the military but some teenager.
Without a second more to lose, I put everything my body had into a thrust. Stabbing straight into the dragon's eye. It tried to close its eyelid, stopping the fatal wound, but I had already penetrated the flesh.
It bounced, moving its head in pain, making it harder to push the rebar in.
It glared at me from its left eye, the one I wounded slightly. It cursed me in its unknown language, but I didn't care for a second.
Halfway through, it got stuck, cauterizing the dragon's eye, but I kept pushing, plunging the 8 ft long rebar into its eye further and further, hoping to stab into its brain, killing it.
Just a small glimpse around: melted in place skeletons, the destroyed and charred gym, blood and soot everywhere.
It destroyed everything.
It killed whatever it wanted.
My thoughts came to one conclusion to my pain.
Fuck this bastard.
With a final push, the light in the dragon's other eye faded.
…
Nearly falling off the dragon's head at the now limp monster.
I paused.
…
I did it.
I killed the dragon and saved my school.
I'll be known as a hero who slayed a dragon, a literal fucking dragon, and the best part.
I'm alive.
Yesssssss.
I won.
But even the realization I won didn't make this a happy ending.
"That's what you get, you murdering, fugly bastard!" I said with all of the emotions colliding inside of me.
Sadness, happiness, anger, and worry.
I looked around and saw all the chaos this asshole caused: the destroyed gym, the burning corpses of the people I called friends, acquaintances, or even just people I walked by every day to get to my next class.
A lot of those kids I knew from kindergarten died because this dragon existed.This… this was a dark day.
I would cry later; no time for that now, time to get to an ambulance. My stump and the loss of blood were catching up to me; a sensation that I was going to pass out was settling in.
But before I moved to the exit, a green scale dropped at my feet. It was as big as my palm.
Without a second thought, I grabbed it.
Scaled and cool to the touch, light as a feather, and at the end that was attached to the inside of the dragon were bits of pink muscle and tissue.
This is mine now.
I'll mount it to never forget what was lost today. I put it into my big pockets. The scrap gauntlet that I wore really turned into just scraps; it barely worked unless I used it to throw at someone.
I'll keep it for now.
Maybe I'll give it to a museum after to… you know, keep history alive.
I got up and took my spoils of war. I walked toward the exit while wrapping my stump where my arm used to be.
Using my flannel as a tourniquet so I don't just die from blood loss.
In my haze I made it halfway to the exit. There I saw a person digging into the rubble, probably looking for someone they knew. Then I saw her face.
It was Jessica, the one that Selina grabbed before booking it out of here.
!!!
I had a cold feeling come over me. Something bad was happening.
I needed to help.
"Jessica, what's happening?" I said worried.
“Andres!? You’re alive!”
Jessica was already crying, but the second she saw me, whatever was holding her together snapped.
Her mascara ran down her face in black streaks. Her eyes were red, wide, desperate.
“Good! Help me! Selina’s trapped in here!” she screamed, clawing at the pile of broken wood and concrete. “Help me, please!”
Selina.
For a second, I didn’t move.
I couldn’t.
The woman I loved was under that pile.
My breath died in my throat. My vision blurred worse than before, not from smoke, not from blood loss, but from pure fear.
Real fear.
The kind that froze my bones.
Jessica looked back at me, saw me standing there like an idiot, and screamed, “For God’s sake, help me!”
That snapped something loose in my head.
I stumbled forward and dropped to my knees, digging into the wreckage with my one good hand.
Wood. Concrete. Twisted metal. Splintered beams.
I threw anything I could grab.
I didn’t care about my severed arm or the blood still dripping from me.
I didn’t care that every movement sent pain ripping through my body.
I just kept digging.
My fingers scraped against rough concrete until my nails cracked. Splinters stabbed under my skin. Sharp pieces of metal sliced my palm open, but I didn’t stop.
She couldn’t be dead.
She couldn’t.
I distracted the dragon for her.
I fought that monster so she and her friends could escape.
So how did she end up here?
How did she get trapped?
Was it my fault?
Maybe if I had moved faster. Maybe if I had gotten away from the exits sooner. Maybe if I had killed the dragon quicker.
No.
It was my fault.
But it was mostly that dragon’s fault.
If that thing had never existed, none of this would have happened.
All these people would still be alive.
Selina wouldn’t be buried under a mountain of rubble.
“Help me move this!” I shouted.
Jessica rushed beside me, and together we grabbed a huge piece of wood pinning down part of the pile. I only had one hand, so I could barely grip it right, but I pulled anyway.
Jessica sobbed beside me, but she pulled too.
Together, we forced it off and threw it to the side.
Then I saw something.
A hand.
A bracelet glowed faintly around the wrist, colorful and fluorescent, somehow still shining through the dust and ash.
And on one finger was a cheap little ring.
A ring I had won for her at the arcade a couple months back.
My heart jumped.
It was her.
“Thank God,” I whispered.
I grabbed her hand.
I pulled.
And that moment burned itself into my soul forever.
Because her hand gave way.
It crunched... then detached.
I fell back, still holding it.
... I didn’t understand what I was looking at.
Her arm was black at the end.
Charred.
No blood, No white bone.
Just burned flesh, cracked and ruined.
Jessica froze.
Then she turned to the side and threw up.
I didn’t move.
I didn’t scream.
I just stared at Selina’s severed arm in my hand.
My eyes watered, but even that felt wrong. Memories flooded my head all at once.
Seeing her every day.
Her laughing with our group, her sitting beside me when everyone else got loud.
My friends purposely leaving us alone because they thought it was funny.
The way she smiled when I got embarrassed; the way I always thought maybe one day I’d finally be brave enough to tell her.
So why?
Why?
Why did this happen to her?
She didn’t deserve this.
Then something stupid came into my head.
A false hope.
I survived losing my hand.
Maybe she could survive too.
I knew it was insane; it was delirium speaking, whispering to me hope.
But I wanted to believe.
I needed to believe.
So I kept digging.
Nails tore into my skin. Wood edges cut my wrist. Metal scraped deep lines into my arm. Every breath tasted like smoke, blood, and burned meat, but I kept going until I uncovered more of her.
Then her body.
She was lying on her stomach.
“She’s just knocked out,” I whispered.
I don’t know who I was lying to.
I grabbed Selina as carefully as I could and pushed her onto her back.
And my world collapsed.
She was dead.
Her brown eyes stared at nothing.
Her brown hair was half burned away.
Her light-brown skin was gone in places, buried under awful third-degree burns.
Her face…
Her face didn’t look like the Selina I knew anymore.
But it was still her.
That was the cruelest part.
It was still her.
“Selina…” Jessica whispered behind me.
Then her voice broke.
“Why?”
She sobbed harder, covering her mouth, shaking like she was about to fall apart completely.
I wanted to say something.
Anything.
But no words came out.
Jessica backed away from the body. Then she turned and ran toward the exit, crying so hard she could barely breathe.
Everyone else had escaped already.
Or died.
It was just me in the destroyed gym.
Me and Selina.
The woman I loved.
I dropped to the floor beside her and just stared.
Her dead eyes stared back.
Every second I looked at them, it felt like they were blaming me.
Like she was asking me why I didn’t save her.
Why I saved myself.
Why I killed the dragon but still let her die.
Something fundamental inside me broke.
Not cracked.
Broke.
…
I don’t know how long I stayed there.
The gym groaned around me. Fires crackled in the distance. Dust drifted through the air like gray snow.
Eventually, I forced myself to stand.
For one stupid second, I thought about carrying her body out.
I wanted to.
God, I wanted to.
But my arm was gone. My body was barely standing. Every step made me feel like I was going to collapse.
I could kill a fucking dragon.
But I couldn’t do this one thing.
I couldn’t even carry her.
My throat tightened.
So I left her.
But not before closing her eyes.
I didn’t know why people did that. I didn’t know if it meant anything. I only knew that I couldn’t leave her staring like that.
Not at me.
Not at the world that killed her.
With shaking fingers, I reached down and lowered her eyelids.
Her burned skin crunched beneath my touch.
I almost threw up. Her eyes would never open again.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
It wasn’t enough.
Shame crawled through my chest, hot and disgusting.
I was weak.
So fucking weak.
Selina was one of the best people I had ever met, and this was what the world gave her.
This was what I gave her.
I couldn’t think about it.
If I thought about it, I’d never move again.
I needed to leave.
I fucking failed.
I didn’t save her.
My hand twitched toward my face. For a second, I almost clawed at myself just to make the pain go somewhere else.
But I stopped.
Barely.
I forced myself to walk.
Slowly, I passed the charred corpses scattered across the gym. Some were near the bleachers. Others were behind them, curled up like they had tried to hide when the dragon blasted fire across the room.
They must have thought the bleachers would save them.
They must have been terrified.
More deaths.
More people are gone because I wanted to be a hero.
Because I thought I could stand in front of a monster and somehow make everything okay.
I kept walking.
Past the bodies, ash, blood.
Past the place where Selina died.
The gym was already collapsing behind me. Metal groaned overhead. Pieces of ceiling fell and smashed against the floor.
When I reached the exit, I looked outside.
For one second, I hoped the world would change.
That maybe this was a prank.
A simulation.
A nightmare I could wake up from.
But outside was worse.
Smoke covered the sky.
People were screaming.
Fire crawled across the school.
And the nightmare kept going.
Blood.
Fire.
Death.
Death to my world.
I didn’t even notice the national emergency alarm blaring from the campus speakers at first. The sound should have been deafening, should have rattled my skull, and forced me to react, but my mind was still trapped in the gym.
It wasn’t until I stumbled outside and looked up that I understood just how bad it was.
The morning sky should have been blue, cloudy, peaceful.
Instead, it glowed orange.
The light of the rising sun had been drowned beneath the fire below. Thick black smoke rolled upward in massive columns, staining the heavens, turning the whole world into a furnace. Ash drifted through the air like filthy snow and landed on my skin, mixing with the sweat and blood already covering me.
Dragons.
They were everywhere.
Of every color and size, they ruled the sky like it belonged to them.
Some were small, about the same size as the green dragon I had just killed, but now that I saw dozens of them, even they didn’t feel small anymore.
They swooped low over streets and parking lots, snatching screaming people off the ground in their claws. Some carried them high into the air only to tear into them mid-flight. Others simply dropped them.
Like it was a game.
Like human lives were nothing.
Far off in the distance, a massive purple dragon towered over the nearby skyscrapers. It opened its jaws and unleashed a stream of glowing violet breath.
Wherever it touched, buildings sagged and melted like wax under a torch, steel and concrete turning into bubbling sludge that slid down into the streets.
Everywhere I looked, civilization was dying.
Buildings burned.
Cars crashed.
Glass rained from shattered windows.
People ran in every direction, screaming names, begging God, crying for help that wasn’t coming.
And through all of it, I felt that same awful numbness.
That same fog.
I ignored everything happening around me as best I could.
The screaming, the blood, the death.
I just kept limping forward.
I had to get home.
To my family.
Even if we weren’t the closest family in the world, we still loved each other.
That was enough.
I had to get back to them.
My legs shook with every step. Blood from my severed arm had dried in places and was still wet in others, trailing behind me in a red smear. My head pounded. My vision kept blurring in and out. Every breath scraped through my lungs with the taste of smoke and dust.
Then a shadow passed over me.
I flinched and looked up just in time to see not one dragon, but hundreds.
A whole flock of them swept overhead, their wings blotting out what little morning light remained. The force of their passing stirred the smoke and ash into a storm around me.
Unlike the green dragon I had fought, these dragons were… different.
Adorned.
Some wore gold plates fastened over their chests and necks like armor. Others had gemstones embedded into their scales, glowing faintly as they moved.
A few had painted patterns streaked across their bodies in red, white, or black, like war paint.
Some had horns capped in metal. Others wore chains, banners, or strange ornaments hanging from their bodies.
They looked stronger.
Older.
More important.
Bigger than the one I had killed.
As if dragons had their own army.
Their own ranks.
Their own civilization.
One by one, they began to descend onto the school buildings around me. They landed on rooftops, walls, and wreckage with enough weight to make the ground tremble.
The cafeteria roof caved in first.
Then the student store collapsed under another dragon’s weight, the walls folding in with a roar of snapping beams and spraying dust.
The dragons didn’t even react.
If they noticed the destruction at all, it meant as much to them as stepping on a twig.
Then, all at once, they stopped attacking.
No fire.
No hunting.
No random slaughter.
Every dragon around me went still.
They perched upright on broken buildings and heaps of rubble, rigid and silent, like soldiers standing at attention for their commander.
A chill worse than the blood loss crawled through me.
What could make monsters like these stop?
Down the road, near the center of the school, I saw movement.
A crowd.
The park at the heart of campus was in chaos.
My vision was so blurry from blood loss that I had to squint and stumble closer before I understood what I was seeing.
And when I did, my heart sank.
Almost everyone I had saved…
The students.
The teachers.
The faculty.
Kids, teenagers, adults.
Nearly all of them had been rounded up and forced into one massive crowd. Hundreds of people packed together, some on their knees, some sobbing, some clutching each other so tightly it looked like they were trying to stop themselves from falling apart.
And standing in front of them—
I froze.
A dragon.
But not just a dragon.
This one was three times the size of the green dragon I had killed.
Maybe more.
It stood near one of the three-story buildings by the park, and it was almost as tall as the structure itself. It stood on its hind legs with terrifying balance, its body built not just like an animal, but like a warrior.
Its frame was thicker, heavier, more deliberate. It looked powerful in a way that made the others seem like pets.
Its scales were blackish-red, but not in a normal way. Deep crimson glowed from the cracks between them, as if molten fire pulsed beneath its hide. Like there was an eternal furnace trapped inside its body, and its scales were all that kept it contained.
Its tail was long and bladed, sharper-looking than any sword I’d ever seen, dragging through the ground and carving grooves into the dirt behind it.
Its horns curved back like a crown.
Its eyes…
Its eyes were deep crimson.
Cold, Ancient, Merciless.
The green dragon I had fought looked pathetic compared to this thing.
A wild beast.
This was something else.
Even the other dragons bowed their heads toward it.
My knees gave out, and I hit the ground hard.
I was too scared to stand.
Before, with the green dragon, I could still move. I could run. Dodge. Fight. Panic. Survive.
But this?
This was different.
I wasn’t looking at an enemy.
I was looking at death itself.
It felt like the Grim Reaper had already placed his hand around my throat and was just waiting for me to twitch the wrong way so he could take my soul.
The people in front of the black dragon looked worse than me.
Not just terrified.
Confused.
Their faces were twisted with grief, horror, disbelief… but also confusion, like none of them could understand why they were still alive.
Why they had been gathered instead of slaughtered.
I forced myself up, swaying on my feet, and staggered closer.
Then the black dragon opened its mouth.
The crowd recoiled as one.
Some screamed and covered their heads.
Some grabbed the person next to them like they could somehow shield each other from dragonfire.
I thought that was it.
I thought in the next second it would burn them all alive and turn the park into a graveyard.
But the flames never came.
Instead—
The black dragon spoke.
"Where is the one that killed my comrade? Bring him to me," the beast spoke.
!!!
The fucking thing can speak. Not just speak, but in perfect English.
It also wanted the one that killed a dragon.
That was me.
It was looking for me.
I needed to get out of here before it found me.
I was about to run away just as it spoke again.
"Bring them to me, or I will incinerate all of you to the nothingness you all really are. You have 10 seconds." The massive beast spoke again, but with a threat.
A threat so aggressive that it could only be called a monster.
"10...9...8...7...6..." I needed to out myself before he killed them all, but my body wouldn't move. It wouldn't listen.
I didn't want to die.
Before, I thought I was a hero, but I want to live.
Are their lives worth more than mine…
No.
"5...4...3...2..." The beast counted down.
My life is worth more.
I can't save them.
I turned around, guilty, but what could I do?
It'll just kill me, then them.
I'm not a hero.
I just want to go home.
To my mommy.
To my nephew.
…
"Stop, I did it. I killed your friend. Let them live and just kill me!"
The words came out, ringing through the park.
Words of someone willing to take the ultimate price for others.
A real hero.
…
…
…
It wasn't me who spoke those words.
It was someone else taking the blame for me.
Someone with a voice I recognized.
Then I saw my friend Noah getting through the crowd, showing himself to the black dragon.
He was sacrificing himself to save them all!
With a scoff that shot smoke out of its nostrils, it said, "Do you really expect me to believe you? You show no signs of battle or hardship, but you do have bravery. I commend you on that, but I will still kill you and start the count again after you are dead. You are welcome."
In a second, the beast grabbed my best friend and got ready to incinerate him.
The amount of heat the dragon was making made the air around him above 130 Fahrenheit.
Noah was being cooked alive by the dragon, still charging its blast, but the beast was about to unleash its black flames until…
It was hit by a broken scrap metal gauntlet. It didn't hurt him, but it did get his attention, and the power of his attack vanished as he looked at who threw it.
His demonic crimson eyes landed on the broken body of a young man who looked like he had had the battle of a lifetime.
Me.
The beast knew I was the one he was looking for. Releasing the second-degree and third-degree burned Noah from about 30 feet in the air, all I heard was the brutal crack of Noah's legs breaking from the fall.
This piece of shit!
The black dragon came closer. With each step, the ground gave, not from weight, but from the energy it gave off. Grass died on contact, and concrete turned to dust, unable to maintain contact.
Death.
That's what this dragon was.
Then it spoke.
"I've been looking for you. You've killed my comrade. Very few have ever done that. That is impressive, even though he was the weakest of all of the dragons." The beast said, getting closer.
"You're a special one. Any regular human would have run, but you fought. Even when you could have saved yourself and ran, you didn't. You came back to be a hero, and right now, I can use that." The dragon said mockingly with a grin.
My mind was overloading with reasons why it wanted me and what it wanted from me.
Special me.
This fucker's insane.
"I'll make you a deal. I will stop this siege on your planet."
Planet.
The planet was being attacked.
Oh God, the situation is way worse than I thought.
"If you will go into another world and attack a witch that plans destruction worse than what we are doing, will you do it? If you don't, I will destroy your world and everything that lives on it. Make your decision now!" Its voice boomed, and my ears started to bleed again. I nearly fell to my knees from fear, but one thing stayed in my mind every time I blinked.
Noah looking my way, his face burnt almost like Selina’s.
I… I can't have it happen again.
Whatever it wants, if it'll let my people live, I'll do it.
Without even going over what it just told me, I yelled my resolve.
“I'll take your deal and kill this woman as long as you stop your attack on Earth!"
The black dragon looked like it started to smile. Its voice boomed as if it were trying to be heard over the whole world.
"Then I, Paarthurnax, the King of the Dragons, will stop my siege on your planet, letting you all live on as pathetically as you did before as long as you attack this witch, but know this: you have a time limit. I'll give you 2 years before I have to start the siege again. That is all the time I can give you."
…
What the fuck!
King of the dragons?!
"You made a wise decision, hopefully for both of us." Paarthurnax looked up into the sky and roared a roar that felt like it could be felt by everyone around the world.
I covered my ears, trying to stop the ringing from getting worse. That supposedly stopped the dragons' attack.
Before I could get a handle on myself, Paarthurnax grabbed me, nearly crushing me in its hands.
I looked up and saw a rip appear in the air.
The fabric of space tore and slowly got bigger.
A literal portal to another land. Somewhere with a courtyard with a white and green castle-like structure behind it.
The sight of a tower with green shining from it as if magical was what I saw. My attention was so focused on the portal in front of me that I was surprised as Paarthurnax threw me through it.
"AAAAHHHHHH!" Gone from my world and thrown into another.
Gravity taking its hold on me pulled me down. I hit the ground, bouncing slightly, feeling bones crack, skin pull, and tear from the friction.
I tried to roll with the throw to not be injured too much, but I failed.
As I came to a full stop, I felt something didn't feel right. I couldn't feel my right leg.
I looked at my feet. My right leg was going the opposite way it was supposed to. I didn't feel it because of the adrenaline going through my veins, but I still screamed, freaking out.
My other leg just had road burn. My jeans had holes and burns everywhere. My shirt was mostly okay and just had burns on it. The flannel on my stump fell off.
Fuck, it's going to get infected.
I checked on my bandana; miraculously, it had only one burn on it in the middle. After checking myself, I let my head rest on the ground, looking at the sky.
What is happening?
What surprised me was up above, a blue sky just like Earth's, clouds and birds flew around, but beyond that, in space, was a celestial body that was the opposite of the sun.
A pale moon, shattered, half of it whole, the other half in a million pieces. As if a ceramic plate had been shot on its right half.
I really am in another world.
"Where am I?" I said, shocked by the fucking moon that was destroyed.
"This planet is called Remnant, a world filled with darkness. This is where you will find your target," Paarthurnax said, answering my question while coming out of the massive portal.
It looked around with a huff, shooting a small black cloud out of its snout.
Target…
The deal.
I have to kill the target, but…
"How can I be a threat to anyone when I can't even stand?" I barely coughed out, pointing out my broken body.
I may have killed that green dragon, but I lost an arm. I can't even walk with a broken leg, and I'm sure I'll be dead in a few hours from all the internal injuries you gave me.
A deal? No, you're just mocking me.
Dangling what I want in front of my face while you snicker and kill what I love.
Fuck you!!!
"Yes, I forgot about that. Let me fix you," Paarthurnax said as he charged up a fiery blast pointed at me, but instead of deep red, it was an almost holy yellow shining out of its body.
He was about to kill me… and I didn't accept it.
I would live. I would not die by his hand. Never.
Grabbing the floor with my single arm, I pulled myself up, my knees crunching, my bones protesting. But I stood up on my injured feet, not giving up.
I glared at Paarthurnax, hoping for him to die the most horrific death possible.
As Paarthurnax let loose his yellow fire, instead of being burned to a crisp or turned to ash, I was feeling better, my burns fading.
I looked through the bright yellow to look at my body and saw my burns fade, my torn skin and dozens of wounds closing up.
My horrifically broken leg was now fixed. I thought this was impossible, then a thought crossed my mind.
I looked at my stump, but instead of seeing just air, I saw my right hand completely healthy.
I moved it, and it worked. Even the scars I should have had weren't there. It was as if nothing happened.
I cried, feeling the sensation of touch and movement again. I wouldn't be disabled for the rest of my life.
I felt Paarthurnax's stare weigh on me, waiting for me to pay attention again, and I did.
"You're now healed. You have no excuse not to hold your end of the deal," he said, but he did something weird.
He grabbed a scale from his chest, an area where it seemed to have a scale bald spot. He pulled it out and held it in his hand.
"As you are right now, you are no threat to this witch. You'll need this." He tossed the blackish-red scale at my feet.
"This will make you stronger, but before it can, you'll need to forge it into a weapon you desire. Then you will actually have a chance to fulfill the deal and survive this harsh world. Only one specific place can forge one of my scales. Mount Helios's volcanic fires can shape my scale." He said.
But then he snarled and looked at me with eyes full of hatred. My body felt heavy. My mind, once again today, was screaming to run away, as he said, "It can also forge the scale from my dead comrade that's in your pocket. You killed my friend and took a piece of his corpse. I would kill you for that, but right now, I need you more than I want to kill you!" I took a deep breath because I had just stared at the end of a loaded gun.
"I must go, but a word of advice, there is someone close by whom you should not trust. This is goodbye for now," Paarthurnax said before walking back through the portal he made a few minutes ago. As he walked through it to my world, Earth, it started closing up.
The burning buildings, my school and life turned to blood, Noah on the floor looking my way as it finally shut, trapping me in this unknown world.
Day 1 of 730 Before Earth's Death
He was gone.
All of it was gone.
I felt weak, and I dropped to the ground limp.
This has to be a dream, some nightmare, right?
Me… he called me a hero. I'm not a hero. That was Noah. He sacrificed himself for others. I didn't.
I fought because I wanted to protect what I loved… I wanted to protect Selina…
And I failed.
As all of these events flashed before my eyes, I felt my focus intensify now.
I'm in a different world.
I stood there for minutes, letting my mind catch up, looking for any way to confirm this was reality, but this was real. All of it.
I wanted to bash my head into the ground, but I couldn't. I looked around, and people started gathering around me, dozens of them looking at me and where the dragon once stood with looks of amazement and fright at me.
What the fuck are you looking at!
I didn't care who was looking at me.
I was too angry right now, my world literally burning, the woman I loved dead because I wasn't fast enough, and I was just thrown literally into another world to kill a witch to save my world.
I would be feeling every other emotion I had, but overwhelming anger was suppressing them all.
A rage that nearly consumed me, and it was all I felt.
I grabbed the scale Paarthurnax left me and put it in my other pocket, and just started walking.
I didn't know where, but I did.
I had two years.
I needed to do it.
Nothing would stand in my way.
Nothing.
Every second counted.
I heard a commotion happening to my side, girls squealing and another calming them down. I looked over and saw a girl with red hair in a black and red outfit, a blonde girl wearing a slutty-looking brown getup, and two other girls I couldn't see clearly.
I thought of asking them for directions, but decided against it. They looked like I wouldn't get any information out of them.
Not that I could even form coherent words while this rage started boiling my blood.
I want to kill Paarthurnax.
I kept walking until something got in my way, a black cane. I followed the cane to the person who wielded it to get them out of my way.
The person was a man with light gray hair, with a green scarf and black outfit. He looked like a modern gentleman.
My instincts kicked in, and I felt that I didn't like him for some reason, or my rage was more in control than I thought.
I looked at him with barely restrained anger and told him, "Get the fuck out of my way, you fuck!" His only reaction was him squinting his eyes as if he was disappointed with me.
After five seconds of our silent staring contest, he said, "I need to talk to you about your situation immediately."
As he was saying this, a woman almost as tall as me walked up right next to him. She was a blonde with glasses and wore a professional outfit so tight that it looked like she came straight from a porno, and she had a riding crop.
Yup, she came from a porno.
"I won't tell you again, get out of my way!" I yelled again. He didn't move an inch, so with my anger-fueled logic.
I found the best approach was to knock this asshole out and find this stupid mountain.
As I threw a punch, the cane, in an instant, came to my face with a crash, knocking me out without me even being able to react.
My final thoughts were…
It should have been Noah here.
He was the real hero.
"That was a bit much. Why did you do that, Ozpin?" the blonde woman said, being angry at her headmaster.
"Sorry, I felt that he was a danger. I will apologize when he wakes up." He said but couldn't shake what he felt when the boy tried to fight.
He didn't know, so he'll ignore it for now. There were more pressing matters, like a dragon just showing up on campus with a kid.
How was he going to spin this for the council?
"This is a problem. How will we approach it, Glynda?" Ozpin asked his right hand.
"I do not know, Ozpin, but we will need quite a lie to spin this," Glynda looked around. They both stayed quiet and brought the child to the medical bay. Hopefully, when he woke up, he would answer their questions.