Fight, no Flight

     I slowly back up, my eyes widening in fear as the shaking of my body intensifies. The creature continues to walk towards me, still quite some distance away, but close enough for me to see the overwhelming height, the demon-like appearance. Its head was in the shape of a bull, its top half that of a muscular man with red skin, the lower half covered in black fur. Its feet were shaped like hooves, leaving dents in the ground with each step. I look around frantically, searching for an escape route or at least somewhere to hide, but there's nothing for as far as the eye can see. My only option is to run, hoping that I'm faster than the creature. 

     I start backing up faster, turning my body around as I gradually pick up the pace. I keep my eyes on it until I reach a decent speed, and begin sprinting as I fully turn away from it. What do I do?! What should I do?! I continue running as fast as I can, not daring to look back at the creature out of fear that it would be right behind me. After a few moments of running, a strong gust of wind pushes me to the ground, causing me to scrape my hands and knees. I thought this was a dream?! Why does it hurt?! 

     After being pushed down, the only thing I can do is look back, to see what caused the gust of wind. I clench my hands against the ground, pulling on chunks of grass and dirt. I slowly turn my head, my eyes widening in shock and terror. It was the demon-like creature. The gust of wind was caused by its wings as it began to fly in my direction at a terrifying speed. I opened my mouth to scream, but the weight of it landing right in front of me created a small crater, and another powerful gust of wind that sent me flying a few meters back. 

     I cough up blood as I try to push myself off the ground, my entire body in pain. I managed to push myself onto my knees, trying to control my breathing as every deep breath caused a sharp pain in my chest. I look up to see the creature standing over me, a sinister smile on its hideous face. At this point I'm in too much pain to feel fear, my knees about to give out. I push myself back, sitting on my legs as I stare up at the creature. It begins to bend over, using its claw-like hands to reach out to me. Wake up! Wake up! As its claw almost reaches my head, I close my eyes and yell, "Wake up!" 

     My ears fill with the sound of a small ding, everything around me freezing in place, including the creature. An image in my mind blocks my view, although it's still somewhat translucent. Multiple blue lines of light begin to zigzag around, it almost reminds me of a circuit board. As they finally stop moving, what seems to be a circular metal device forms, a bright blue light in the center. 

     "Portal created, choose your destination." the voice of an AI woman says. You'd think this would send me into a state of shock and confusion, but the fear and pain causes me not to even question it. 

     "Anywhere but here!" I shout, tears starting to fall down my cheeks. 

     The portal turns red, a loud buzzing sounds filling the air. "Anywhere but here not found, please choose your destination." The portal reverts back to blue as the AI woman voice finishes her sentence. 

    "Home!" I yell, my voice more desperate than before. 

     The portal turns red once again, the same buzzing sound repeating itself. "Home not found, please choose your destination." 

     I begin to cry harder, the entire situation sending me into a spiral of fear, desperation, and frustration. "I just wanna wake up!" I shout quieter than before due to the crying.  

     "Request to wake up has been acknowledged, beginning wake up procedure." 

     A faint smile as I cry forms on my lips, a weight on my heart lifting. I begin to think about my mother, the guy who caused me to be sent here in the first place. Relief and anger fills my mind as I wipe away my tears. Finally… now I'll be able to get him back for- 

     The portal turns red, that dreadful buzzing sound repeating itself once again. "Request to wake up denied, please defeat Belial before requesting the wake up procedure." 

     Defeat… Belial? Does it mean that… thing?! The portal slowly disappears, becoming the blue lines of a circuit board as it disperses, and finally vanishes. The world around me begins to slowly start back up, Belial's claw starting to approach me once again. How the hell am I supposed to beat this thing?!  I bend over, clutching my head as I begin to cry once more. "I'm going to die…" 

     As everything returns to its normal speed, I feel Belial's claw grasp my body. My eyes narrow as I cry harder, punching and slamming my fist into his claw to make him drop me, but it does nothing. He lifts me to be eye level with him, the same nasty smile on his face as he stares me down with his red eyes. Belial opens his mouth, his teeth long and sharp, his tongue split at the end like a snake. 

     I start hitting his claw more erratically, desperate to break free as I find myself being brought closer to his mouth. If only that stupid guy didn't put me here! If only…  My thoughts get cut off as I realize something, it's still just a dream. I take a few deep breaths as I try to calm myself. This won't work if I'm too worked up! 

     As I calm down, I open my eyes to see that I'm nearly in Belial's mouth. I concentrate, holding out my hand to the side. After a brief moment, a grenade appears in my hand out of nowhere. I pull the pin with the teeth, and toss the grenade down Belial's throat. "Eat shit, bitch." 

     Within seconds, the bomb explodes in his stomach, making him drop me to the ground. I manage to catch myself, landing on my hands and knees. I look up to see him staring down at his stomach, a large hollow circle in his torso. Despite this, he remains standing on his hind legs. 

Belial lets out a loud roar, his face contorting with anger as he rushes at me. I try to conjure something up before he reaches me but his claw comes down too fast. I manage to avoid any vital strikes by jumping to the side, but his claw digs into my arm. He lifts me into the air and throws me as hard as he can.

I grit my teeth hard in order to fight through the pain, blood running down my now mangled arm. Kicking my legs back, I manage to hold a stable position while in the air to keep my eyes on Belial. I look down to see Belial with his mouth wide open, a red orb of light sitting in his mouth as it grows larger.

What the hell do I do?! I desperately begin to think about any possible solution. An attack to counter, or something to defend myself? My eyes widen slightly as I find my answer. I can use his… Belial wastes no time with his attack, the red orb of light now turning into a large beam that's heading… Wait, is he going to miss?

I notice that the beam is aimed slightly below me, thinking I'm in the clear for this one. Just as my mind calms down a bit, I slowly begin my descent. Shit, he was planning for this! My heart begins to race, my mind feels like it's producing a thousand words per second, but non of it makes any sense. Wait, I just planned for this as well, calm the fuck down Yume!

I take a deep breath, closing my eyes as the red beam inches closer and closer. I pour all of my focus into this one thing, needing it to work no matter what. I hold my hands out in front of me, a round blue light circling just in front of them. At this point, Belial's attack is so close that I can see the light even despite my eyes being closed. The light in my hands solidifies right as Belial's red beam reaches me. It turns into a circular shield with red, white and blue lines that go towards the center, a white star in the middle.

The shield manages to completely block the attack, sending it back towards Belial. His eyes widen in shock as his own attack takes his arm clean off. The blood loss from his missing arm and the hole in his torso causes him to fall to his knees, his head down as he struggles to hold onto his consciousness.

I aim the shield down, bracing myself for impact as I rapidly fall to the ground. As they collide, the shield leaves a small crater in the ground, causing a could of dust to fill my vision. My arms and hands are in pain due to the impact, but it's better than dying. The shield disappears as the dust begins to settle, giving me a clear view of the nearly dead Belial.

"I think it's time you get put down, bitch." I reach behind my shoulder, pulling a rocket launcher out of thin air. I rest it on my shoulder as I aim it at his head, pulling the trigger. The recoil sends me onto my back, grunting in pain as the rocket launcher disappears. A loud explosion sets off, filling the air with black smoke, clouding my vision. I hold my arms in front of my eyes to protect them from debris, but I feel a warm liquid getting splattered all over my body. 

     I look up, watching as the smoke clears up, and see a headless Belial. His body falls to the ground, a loud thud sound echoing through the darkness of the black sky. A long, deep sigh escapes from my mouth as I sit up, wiping my arms along the grass to rub some of the blood off. "Finally… it's over." 

     After some time of catching my breath and calming all of my nerves, I stand up as I ball my hands into fists at my sides. "I think it's time I pay that idiot back for this." I say as the blue lines fill the air once again, forming that once frustrating portal. 

     "Portal created, please choose a destination." the AI woman said, the sound of her voice annoying me already. 

    I take a deep breath, a part of me is scared that it'll deny me access to wake up.  "Start the wake up procedure." 

     "Request to wake up has been acknowledged, beginning wake up procedure."

I let out a sigh of relief, my sporadic thoughts finally settling. After a few seconds, the blue light of the portal grows stronger, completely filling my vision.

"Request to wake up has been approved, please stand by."