Freelance Saga: The Legendary Hero
Episode I: Doorway to Reality
Chapter I -- Part 2
His steps echoed eerily in the dark and
lonely corridor. Scott felt that he had walked for a long time when he reached
an impasse. He had come to a wall. The obstruction was plain save for a single
adornment, the stylized symbol of a hand. Scott lifted his hand and looked at
his palm. “I wonder…”
Scott shrugged his shoulders then placed
his palm against the hand symbol. A strangely familiar noise greeted him then.
It reminded him of the sound that many old school 8-bit videogames had used to
simulate the opening of a door. The wall split in half down the center then each
half slid in opposite directions.
The other side of the wall housed a circular
room. It was empty. After all of that the room was empty? He refused to believe
it!
Scott walked inside to have a look around
at all the nothing that had awaited his arrival for a solid month. He was more
confused now than he had been before. What was the point of a door that led to
an empty room? His questions multiplied, however, once he reached the center of
the room. The wall slid sleekly back into place. A loud clicking noise followed
suit.
“What the hell?” Scott looked around
expectantly. He would not have to wait long to find out what was happening. The
lighting in the room dimmed to a dangerous dark red color and music began to
play. It was a dramatic tone, the type of tone that was often used to signify
impending danger. Just like the sound that the wall made, this sound was
familiar too. “What is this? Why is old school videogame battle music playing?”
He felt a strange popping sensation from
his left and turned quickly to see a bizarre series of lights drift together.
When the will-o-wisps drew together they formed into a large rat-like creature.
Scott’s eyes widened. That was the biggest rat that he had ever seen. It would
easily outweigh a Rottweiler, and he was sure that rats did not have horns.
The creature roared at him then lunged
forward. There was no time for him to move out of the way. The rat-thing
slammed into Scott with a hard tackle that took him back several feet and
knocked him to the floor. The rat-creature clawed at Scott’s chest while trying
to force its way to his throat. It was stronger than it looked, and the man
struggled with everything he could muster to hold it back. The slathering jaws
of the beast rained spittle down upon his chest. Flecks of its viscous saliva
splashed against his face unleashing a noxious scent that threatened to make
him gag.
Never in his life had Scott physically fought
with a wild animal. He had dealt with the occasional dog, or snake, but this
was different. Whatever this thing was it did not just want to chase him off,
or show dominance. It clearly wanted to eat him!
The fact that the rat-thing had to weigh at
least as much as a Rottweiler did not help the situation either. He could not
hold it much longer. He would have to try and get it off of him somehow.
Desperate, he attempted the only move he
knew for a situation where an opponent was on top while pinning him to the
ground. He suddenly shifted his position, slammed his elbow upward to smack the
creature’s jaw, then moved his hands quickly to grip and twist the creature’s
front leg like it was a lever. In one smooth continuing motion he rolled as
hard as he could. The move was not flawless; the creature had not been designed
the same way as a human after all. However, the end result was close enough for
his needs.
They wrestled now, but this time Scott had
the weight advantage in his favor. Soon he had one hand holding the creature’s jaw
shut while he slammed his free hand down repeatedly against the side of its
head. The rat chittered in agony and clawed feebly at him. It was now desperate
to get away, but it could not.
Scott’s blood poured from dozens of wounds,
his body was drenched in sweat. Dream or not, this had been far too real. The
rat-monster screeched one last time and then grew still. Scott did not care. He
kept punching. The popping sound from before returned and the body of the
rat-monster dissolved beneath him. The red lighting brightened to normal
levels. The rapid fire rhythm of the background music became a victorious tune
reminiscent of an important boss battle.
Soaked in blood, Scott could do nothing but
pant and wheeze. He had never gone through something like that in his life.
What kind of dream was this?
“What. The. Fuck.” Scott swore out his
frustrations and fear. That fight had been all too real. No dream that he’d
ever experienced had felt that realistic. Movement in the far side of the room
caught his attention. The wall melted away to reveal a new corridor. If
previous events were any indication it was obvious that he was meant to travel
in that direction now.
The embattled man rose to his feet. He
wanted to see where the door led to, and now he had. Hopefully he would find
out everything he wanted to know before he woke up. His body ached all over. He
had never experienced such pain and exhaustion in a dream before. It was like
he really had been fighting for his life with a giant rat!
The new corridor led to another circular
room. Scott looked around expectantly but saw no rodents of unusual size to
fight. What he did see was a pedestal. Above the pedestal a brightly shining
cube floated in mid-air.
~*~
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