In the dream, I was exactly where I left off... at least I think I was anyways. The school was in pieces with large platforms now broken apart in the sky. Only fragments like the part I was on remained grounded. In my hand was the knife I had when I left, and the gem nestled nicely in my jacket pocket. I guess it was my luck that the school was torn apart, as I could see that the monster was nowhere in the school, hiding somewhere and waiting for me to unknowingly walk by. I still couldn't see it though, was it underground?
There's really no way for me to know before remembering that the gem's glow seemed to fade in and out faster the closer it became. Taking it out, I could see that it was beating once every two seconds. So...It was nearby but not close to me. Carefully, I lowered the gem to the ground only to see it, very slightly, beat slower. But if it's beating slower the closer I get to the ground, then... Looking up, I could see that there were some sections with large platforms where something like that could be standing on, but I couldn't see anything from this view.
I'm not that comfortable with heights, so is this how it was supposed to play out since the beginning? Well, I might as well end it as soon as possible, making my way toward some floating pieces of the school that seemed climbable. Now that I think about it, this is essentially a leap of faith here, grabbing onto a large chunk of what I could only guess was once part of the wall and pulling myself up. It still remained to float... though seemed almost bouncy, bobbing up and down before settling. Only one step at a time, in which was about twenty-seven steps I had to go through.
What's the word? Tedious? Every step was like wall climbing, having to find a good hold while scaling up the smaller platforms. Lockers, desks, pieces of the wall, you name it as I had to climb to the top. Finally, I could see the creature, its large body only covering half of the platform it was on. Not only that but it seemed to be exhausted, or sick. I couldn't tell as it loomed in a dreary scary way, watching my progress.
I don't know if it was faking the whole ordeal but even without preparing for a sudden attack, it had the advantage. While climbing, I could see that jumping to the large platform was my only option, so it could easily just swat me away while I was in the air. I needed to jump from a higher angle and dive toward it with speed, rather than just jumping to the platform and trying to pull myself up from there. As luck would have it, the broken debris and rubble created a stubbed staircase that I precariously climbed up, yet the creature still didn't do anything as I inched toward making the leap.
I don't think it understands, I'm not scared anymore, and I'm ready to finish this with the knife in my mouth as I hiked up. Landing on top of the beast was impossible, so that won't work... I guess I just have to jump and pray that it doesn't attack. With no other way popping up in my slow brain, I leaped off the nine-foot drop as my legs were ready to roll. If I wasn't cautious and careful, I might just roll into the creature though, I didn't really think about that.
Feet landing and slipping on the platform, my body tucked and rolled across as I inadvertently swiveled around at some point while rolling. Facing the wrong direction as I rose from the ground confused, I quickly turned around with the knife out of my mouth and into my clenched hand. Still, the monster didn't attack or take advantage of my weird roll, which I don't know how I messed up like that. Instead, the creature cowered and inched back toward the edge.
Confrontation is its weakness; I don't believe it...or was it? If it was a trick, then it was playing the role perfectly. I'm impatient though, running up with the knife and slashing at the main body, only to feel my knife cutting nothing. Stupidly, I closed my eyes while slashing and opened them to see that it was gone, the light of the gem in my pocket almost blinding me. The sound of feet stampeding sounded all around me before fading away, turning around to see all of them there. The gang that keeps terrorizing me whenever they see fit.
Five vs one, it really doesn't seem fair, but I might as well try my best, running forward with the knife in my hand and lunging at Jose. His black eye was still there, maybe even darker now, catching my attention as he weaved to the side. My eyes followed him before realizing that Cadell, the enforcer, had his leg high in the air, above me. Suddenly plunging his leg down, I narrowly dodged with my right palm against the ground and pushing myself to the side. I was off balance though, not having enough time to attack again as Jackson ran at me with a balled-up fist.
I've never really seen him fight, but I assumed he wasn't good at it since Jose and Cadell were the only two who punished the students at school. The same goes with Taylor and especially Jessica, who just didn't seem like the fighting type. With this in mind, I purposely fell to the ground only for Jackson to get close enough for my leg to kick at his shin. The abruptness caught him off guard, his upper body reeling forward in pain as I used my other leg to whip up onto his chest and donkey kick him back with my hands pressured against the ground.
Taylor was closing the distance in front of me as I kicked Jackson back, not allowing me some time to get up. Instead, already halfway up, I bull charged him with my collarbone hitting his stomach as both of us landed next to each other. With no time to waste, I raised my hand to stab this fake Taylor but something held back my hand, gripping my wrist with some power behind it. Looking back, I could see Cadell smiling before his other hand grabbed my hair and thrust me forward away from Taylor.
The biggest threat here was him, but at least he gave me some time to finally get up. Did I really have a chance, maybe I need to play it more defensively? Well, it doesn't work to try after going offensive really didn't work, I did almost get Taylor though. This time cautiously, I held the knife close to my face, holding my arms in a tight cross as Jose and Cadell charged at me. Something occurred to me though as they were running at me... I was pretty close to the edge.
It probably wouldn't kill these dream versions, but it should at least give me some time and since Jose is the leader, it might cause the other ones to hesitate a little once he's nowhere around here. The first swing Jose threw out was obviously a little high, my eyes catching Cadell taking a lower approach and slightly crouched next to me, his fist flying toward my ribs. Quickly, I forced my body back as both fists swung around me, Jose continuing his assault.
They were a power duo too, with Jose constantly trying to fake me out, allowing Cadell to get the surprise after I was put into a compromising position. He was slower than Jose though, maybe because he had the sheer power to back him up but it was easy to see where he was trying to hit. Then the idea popped into my head, a very dangerous idea...
Slowly with each punch directed at me, I moved closer to the edge until the back of my heel touched the empty air. Their smile told me that as well, thinking I was in their clutches with them doing the same thing over and over again. This time though as Cadell threw his lower swing, I grabbed his arm and thrust him toward the edge using the front of my left leg as leverage, twisting my entire body with all the strength I had in my body.
It worked as Cadell tottered toward the edge, Jose coming it to save him. Right before grabbing him though, I jumped off the edge at an angle where Cadell's arm that I held onto was at its length's limit. This might've been the stupidest idea I've ever had, feeling my grip against his arm almost immediately give away but I had to follow through. Swinging my legs, I noticed that I was swinging to the other side of Cadell with Jose barely managing to stop him from falling. As my feet caught the edge of the platform, I could feel Cadell and Jose losing their balance... they were going to bring me down as well, ironic.
Trying to do my best to get back up, my legs inched back onto safety as small pieces of the school from the ground flew upward. They felt like being shot by large slingshots as the pain traveled across my shoulders, but the pure force launched me up onto my feet. Unluckily, it did the same for Jose, though I couldn't see Cadell anywhere, I guess it didn't happen to him. Jose wasn't balanced yet as I balled up my fist and slammed it into his chest, feeling the ache in my knuckles as his eyes widened in surprise. Just like that, he was gone for now, leaving only three more.
Talking about them, their moves were crazed or disorganized as Taylor and Jackson tried attacking. Jessica though held back and only attacked me when she saw an opening where I barely dodged the other two. I couldn't find a time to attack, with the three only attacking when the previous one threw a punch. It was like a rhythm game, Beep-bop-bo. I just had to find the right time where the rhythm messed up for a split second and don't let them recover, as having a set rhythm like these three, it'll almost always repeat.
Second by second, I saw my opening coming as Jackson and Taylor began to slowly group up while punching with Jessica trying to outflank me. Normally, that would be smart but not when your teammates are constantly pushing back the enemy, so the amount of time it took for her to line up her punch was slower than the rest. Taylor, who punched before her, was quick though, leaving a gap in between when they attacked. Noticing this, I immediately lunged forward into the two after Taylor threw his punch, going after Jackson. Exactly how I guessed, Jessica was expecting me to be farther back, missing me completely as the knife in my left hand slashed Jackson's thigh.
As it barely hit his skin, his body exploded into empty air, with only a very small insect taking his spot. So only one slash from this knife is enough to destroy them. That makes everything easier. Taylor attempted to recoil with Jessica, who was behind me, trying to take the precious shot to the back of my head. My body was still lunging forward without Jackson's body to stop me, grabbing Taylor on the way down and pushing myself behind him.
Jessica stopped her punch as the knife was already in position to stab Taylor. Since she stopped her attack, I had no reason to protect myself, making him disappear as well. Now two useless insects were on the ground, leaving only one larger insect. Her punches were still slow as I simply rolled on the ground like a day-old burrito before getting up and launching myself toward her.
The only thing running through my head was the pitiful hatred I felt toward her, the only reason she's popular in school is because of her beautiful looks. I might not ever be over it; her making me a target, but though I'll never forget or forgive, I'll let it go. Swinging the knife and seeing her disappear as well, the insects wandering around on the ground.
Finally, Cadell managed to climb up, looking worse for wear and obviously pissed off. I always imagined the times he's angry to look like hell itself, it certainly looked like it here. I dealt with three and came to terms with how I felt about them. Cadell though, was always the one who kicked me down or made sure I was 'taught a lesson'. He was the first to jump forward as I stood still, waiting for him to try to hit me first. Then as he got close, he balled up his right fist and kept his head raised a little bit instead of lowering his body.
Being alone this time, Cadell was going for a different approach, but his body was still speeding toward me. I saw his fist fly forward as I began swinging, hoping to beat him to the punch as he was slower than me. I failed to see though that his fist was unnaturally slow before realizing that he was baiting me. It was already too late as his other hand simply pressed against my back as my swing left me almost vertical.
I hoped to finish him in one punch, putting everything into that hit... but it worked against me. I had to take the hit from his fist, but he didn't punch. He simply put his palms flat against my back, and then I felt the pain of his knee going into my stomach. I wasn't kidding about the strength, feeling my body being raised in the air by the hit itself. All I had to do was scratch him with the knife though, but I couldn't move my body.
As I hit the ground, the oxygen in my lungs was gone as the knife was now in his hands somehow. Did I accidentally let go of it, I don't remember? I couldn't beat him in fighting, I needed to be smart. I'm not though, what am I supposed to do, hanging my head low? What weaknesses does Cadell have, what have I seen him do time and time again?
Then the thought occurred to me, he always likes to be better than others and how do you show that physically, it's pretty obvious now. Walking over to me, Cadell put his boot against my head, smiling while also remaining silent. Normally, he would say something like how strong he was but here, it was just pure silence. Not like I cared as waited for him to relax a little bit after thinking he beat me, before grabbing his foot and barely pulling his leg toward me.
His reflexes were slow as well, skidding toward me and falling as I simply moved his hand where he held the knife. The slightest scratch from the knife as it barely clipped his pants and Cadell was gone. The insect was too small to describe, though I feel like I should be able to identify or figure out what it was from the size of it. It was just unrecognizable with not one thing looking familiar of an insect. A weird detail from this dream, I guess.
I thought to myself that there was only one more, seeing Jose climbing up the same path I took before, except he didn't continue to hike up a little higher. The move I was scared to do because of the beast from before, Jose was going attempt it as I swirled around while getting up and walked over to the edge. It was as easy as that, Jose jumping as I swung my body around and kicking out my leg with as much power as I could force out.
It definitely hurt as my foot pushed back his entire weight but it still worked and as I final goodbye to my fearful self, I dropped the knife to where he was falling once more. I don't think it matters if I watched to make sure he was hurt, instead, sitting down and staring at the sky. It was beautiful and open, not worrying about holding back at all. Slowly, the platform I was on and the others began to slowly glide down to the ground. In the distance, everything slowly disappeared or faded into a thick white fog. I didn't feel afraid of it though, closing my eyes and laying down.