Struggle or Crumble

Fear reminded me of memories gone by, it returned reason to me. Maybe fear itself is the highest form of memory.

This must be why as the monster in front of me slowly dismember me of my limbs, I am also regaining parts of me that I thought were lost.

But they are never lost. They've always remained by my side. The joy of reuniting with these memories shadowed the torture being inflicted on me.

How is this even possible?

As whites fill my eyes, my tears of delight continue to downpour. As white froth gathered in my mouth, the edge of my lips raised into a smile. My exposed bones were scraped by the monster's sharp protruding nails, but I am relieved to be alive despite all of the searing pain.

It was a manic sight.

***

I almost fainted from the pain of my memory, but I carried on...

Two seconds mercilessly vanished.

I barely recognized the sciences I intimately studied during middle school and high school. They serve no use to me now, but I can feel a massive boost of independence.

I felt liberated. After the collar was undone, it's now the shackles' turn to be shattered.

I screamed with all my might—

"HEEEEEELP!"

There are a total of 476 egos in my head, and with a single thought, I annihilated the other 473... no, 421… no, 411… no, 351… no, what is happening? They are resisting!!

Ome second disappeared like that.

The world doesn't revolve around me. I can't expect others to save me from my imminent death and then a guarantee after that, that I will live. I have to do something for myself.

Once more, I succumbed to the flow of my memories as my consciousness recede into its depths.

***

"I am dead"

I felt like a passenger on this roller coaster ride of emotions. I can do nothing but watch as the monster drags me by my hair.

The pain-translated signals remained, it felt so vivid you will mistake it for your reality. I have no power to influence this nightmare-like sequence.

I am a spectator after all and what I am seeing has already happened. I wanted to talk to this monster. Who is it? Why is it here? What is its purpose? New budding curiosity and a desire for revenge are slowly rooting in my heart.

My mother's neck was covered in serious bite marks of a feral animal. She's still breathing and alive, as seen by the undulations in her chest.

I saw the light flicker in her eyes as her diminutive tears gathered in a line. I can feel the same tears pouring from my eye sacs.

Regret, sadness, and an overwhelming sense of resignation— negativity fills my heart with despair.

It is painful, but I shall carry this despair. I will wield it as my weapon, then shove it to the face of whoever is responsible for this evil.

***

It all came back to me. My memories. Everything. The fight with Zia, the 'different' Alfir.

Simulations of my dilemma played in my mind. My knowledge of this world and my past world weaved by itself as I adapt to the situation.

My fingers dug deep into the concrete walls of the building. I persistently clung to the walls, but instead, my fingers snapped from the pressure.

The materials used in the Academy's structures aren't normal in any way. They are special by all means, and the hardness of these concrete walls is nothing but menacing.

Both of my hands are in a mangled state. I continued to fall, but not all hope are lost.

I need to break my fall.

I kicked hard, but because of the walls being made of reinforced concrete, I sprained my ankle. If I kick too weakly and failed, that would be an unforgivable loss of time.

My nerves reflexively shut down as my sense of self-preservation kicks in. The pain of the bloody state I am in was no more. But the damage is real.

If not for my shallow elementary understanding of the nervous system, I wouldn't be able to do this.

Imagine a far more in-depth knowledge.

Thankfully,

I just have the right thing, an intimate knowledge of monster anatomy and physiology— it's fictitious academic knowledge, but the efforts I poured through in studying it are not to scoff at...

Logic, citations, and well-thought research. These are the foundations of established academe, and despite where I stood in society, this passion stayed with me.

My bloody self went into a parabola as the drag of gravity shifted to the momentum I desire.

The self-inflicting pain of my struggle is worth it, for it bought me precious time. According to my estimates, I at least have 10 seconds until the impending collision.

[Mind Over Body]! I need you more than ever now. I spur my mutant ability to its limits. It is either I die trying, or succeed!

I want to fly, thus I will fly, I instilled these thoughts in me— pneumatized bones protruded from my back with a painful squelch, it was a disgusting sight.

Many students, new enrollees, just below me cried in panic with the now visible commotion. Though it was midnight, the festivity the enrollment brought has far extending effects.

I don't mean to disturb their festivities, however, the damn egos in my head have a different opinion.

A nasty sight of meat bulging from my back ensued, there was a splash of red which made the visual impact grittier.

Small feathers grew from my back. It offered more counterforce as I descend, but the imminent impact came earlier than I anticipated.

I harshly landed as my mutation slowly retract my still-forming wings. It buried deep, returning to its original fleshy state.

***

"HEEEEEELP!"

Celine heard the cry for help. She is on her way to R&R, Restaurant for the Rich, for her dinner with Merrick. She looked where the disturbance is coming from, and above, she saw... A bloody spectacle of descending deformity.

It happened so fast, she wasn't able to react on time. Celine summoned her blue threads shaped from electrical signals, she tried her best to impede the fall. It did little, but this is the best Celine can do.

It looks like she has to cancel her midnight dinner with Merrick now. She doesn't like it, but what can she do? Duty calls.