"Jesse!" Lukas's call rattles as I pull myself away from the blissful emptiness and back to the pounding resonating from every freshly squeezed organ and splattered muscle. "Jesse, are you okay?"

A whine leaks through at the question, most of my organs- heck, most of my body- whimpering in newfound bruises and tenderness. I give an attempt to move, but my bones throb from the crash into the ground. Even with the monster strengthened limbs, I think I broke a rib or two. I can't really tell with everything pulsing in the same tune of agony.

Claws scrap against my leathery skin, clutching at my very sore shoulder and tugging at it. I grit my teeth, flashes of pain and anger burning through the tiredness. But I did my job, that beast has a few nasty slashes in it. It'll go down soon, I doubt-

"C'mon Jesse." Lukas tugs at me again, my fury glaring at him, only to whittle away at his groggy words that are still so desperate. "We need you, that thing is too much for us. We need you. We can't lose. Please, Jesse, don't let them win."

For a spilt second I saw my friends in the grasp of that nightmare, struggling but helpless. My heart roars and a snarl blasts out of my mouth, fury burning away all the pain as I push myself back to my feet. How dare these demons try to pull us back into hell! They are nothing! They don't get to do that! I'm not letting them!

I raise my head, stopping to curse my eyes when I only see the fuzzy image of that winged brute. I claw down into the depths of my mind, grabbing at every part of the monster I've kept buried, screaming at it to wake up. I wasn't strong enough when I didn't use all the monster, I'm not making the same mistake.

I blink, strength and fury radiating from the once throbbing limbs. My eyes lock onto that devil, burning into my mind, and a roar rips from my mouth. All my rage poured into it, bellowing my hatred to the demon. Wailing out a death match with it, sealing it in the sky and earth. Booming out defiance to its strength, that I am the stronger one and I will beat it to a pulp.

The beast shrieks, tossing a body aside and snapping up in the air. I bare my teeth and sprint at it, gravity lessening and skin thickening. It screeches and flys to me, scaly arms outstretched to slash at me. But play time's over, it's time to kill a devil.

I force gravity to surrender its control, leaping way above the demon. A cry of confusion pops from it, wings quickly pushing down for upward lift. I face it head on, straining my talons out, and let gravity rip me down. One wing folds up as the beast tries to dodge. I screech in triumph when my talons tear into the unfurled wing, clawing to get past the thick scales to rip through the membrane.

The beast roars and spasms, flinging me off. I quickly force gravity off me again, stopping a mere foot above the air before letting myself drop. Enraged pain shrieks blare through the air, above the screams of the battle, furiously flapping its wings to properly land on the ground. I growl and smirk when I see blood drip from my talons. I couldn't tear all the way through the wings, but Mr. Dragon won't be very graceful in the air anymore.

We stand facing each other, every second I glare into his twisted purple eyes I get that more furious, enraged that he could think to even-

Wait. . . his face, there's something familiar about it. It mostly scales, but-

The beast roars at me, charging on all fours. I snarl at myself and sprint to him, rearing back my arm to slash him. Heat thumping with my sight sharpened and locked in on that wretched demon.

I jump to the side, my talons only slightly tearing at the scales before the wing thrusts out. I flop to the ground, springing up and bury my talons past the scales and into his soft organs.

Roaring, its claws embeds into my shoulder and rips me off. Some of its flesh comes with me as my talons are driven back. I land on my feet this time too, although the sharp blasts of pain coming from each hole those claws disorientate me a little before I shake the pain off. Blood spurting out of the hole closest to my armpit, the other holes pouring out blood too. Not a problem though, I'll have that thing beat before-

He barrels into me, his claws raking across my face before I tumble back on the ground. A screech tears itself out as I blindly scramble to my feet, shoving off gravity and jumping as my other eye desperately tries to see-

Something wraps around my leg, yanking me to the ground. I throw my arms back right before I smash into the hard earth, distinct cracks rippling through each of my arms. The rest of my body throbbing and burning with the impact but I have to move. Right now!

I throw up my shattered arms, attempting to pry the tail off, when a fist of claws clamps down on each forearm. A strangled cry bursts out when my arms are slammed into the ground again and replaced under the really heavy and concentrated weight of the wings. The bones crunching and moving under them, a pathetic gasp coming from my squished lungs.

"YoU'Re TiER 4!" A growl, vaguely resembling human speech, blares in my ear. The beast's maw inches away from biting a chunk out of my face, its drool dripping into the blood pouring from my eye. "BUt yOU'rE SO weAk, sO eAsILy DefEAtEd."

I screech at it, kicking with my free leg at it. The beast growls, but in a moment has that leg pinned with his. Only a dim pounding sensation comes from one eye as the other stares at his vile purple ones, completely under his power.

Snarling as viciously as I can, I try to thrash my arms and legs. Yet even when I shove gravity off of me, I don't nearly have enough strength to do anything against the demon. Now I've just burned all my energy, and all the sharp pain is blurring out.

The wrenched dragon snorts, its fuzzy purple eyes glaring at me. "PiTiFUl. POtEnTiAL wASteD. GoOd tHAt I aM A sUCcEsS."

Somewhere in the agony stewing in my body and the dizziness swamping my skull, a snarky remark tries to come out. Too tired though, everything slowly receding into darkness.

The beast rears its head back, releasing a triumphant roar dimming out even more feeling, numbing them. I close the eye that I can, the other one blind anyway. At least this demon can't fly well anymore and has nasty holes in its side. Should be enough, maybe I'll even be remembered for dying as a hero despite everything.

A sharp cry and a metal roar gets me to peel my eye open. Night vision takes a second to focus, my ears picking up enraged ocelot yowls. Wasn't there something wrong with Lu-

"Ivor!" Olivia's sharp bark and sudden very close appearance jolts me out it. "Got anymore healing potions? Jesse is thrashed right now."

"Yes. . . undead. . . him more." I strain my ears to pick up more what Ivor's saying, but it's not like my friends sudden show up made things better. Everything's numbing out. I'm not afraid if I'm dying, but is this just me blacking out?

"We have. . . something! What about. . . harming?" My mind swirls at the shouts, trying to keep up. Yet my eye closes again and I can't even feel how bad the other one is.

". . . this could-"

Liquid pours over my bad eye then a splash down on my shoulder. I bolt upright, sight scrambling to refocus. I first see the massive group of citizens battling the other demons, outnumbering them well, then Lukas and Axel try to keep the beast busy.

"Jesse! You okay?" I turn my head to Olivia, strength funneling through me with no clear purpose. Everything's jolted up still and I am very aware of how absolutely broken my arms are right now. I can't even feel any muscles or anything, just pure shattered agony. I need more energy, another pick me up. More more more. Then I can finally kill that beast! Yes! I must still kill that demon!

"Take that as a no." She whips around to Ivor, the bad eye still pulsing and straining to see those two. The other eye mostly defining their thin shapes. "Give me another one of those potions and I'll think he'll be good." 

He throws up his arms, but I go back to scanning the battle. "That was it! My potion supply has been practically depleted by now! If Jesse can't fight still then there's nothing I can do for him. I'll give the healing-"

"No, a lot of citizens are getting hurt." I shuffle my legs beneath me, trying not to use my arms as I keep my eyes locked on the battle. "Every able body is fighting right now, Beacontown is going to need those potions."

"Well there'll be no Beacontown if that dragon hybrid isn't taken down! That's where our focus needs to be!"

I shamble up to my feet, stumbling only a bit as I head to a young looking fighter who's backed off from the battle. I leave the argument behind me, it doesn't matter. I need energy, I have to defeat that blasted dragon once and for all this time. I will kill it. I will tear out its heart. Just a bit more strength and this time I won't let it beat me. A prideful roar rings out, rubbing salt in the wound. I will not let that wrenched creature live to take anymore victories!

The young man, maybe even a teenager, never even notices me slowly getting closer. He doesn't hear the slight wheeze my lungs make or smell the blood that still oozes from my partially healed shoulder.

Blind desire burns out the pain as I grab the man, an eager wail bursting from my stomach. He gasps, eyes bulging out of his head. My tongue quickly glides over my teeth, that beast better soon watch out because I'm about to-

"No!" Someone from behind grabs my arms, yanking me off the fear struck fool. "Jesse listen to me! Don't-"

Shrieking, I throw the female off me. A golden sword flying out of her hands as I jump the man again. I tackle him, my arms pulsing their pain, but once I get all this strength I'll be able to regenerate. I don't even need to fully regenerate, just enough to kill that beast!

My talons swipe down at his neck and-

"Jesse! You're not a monster!"

-freeze midair.

I blink, staring down at the ghostly person, who can't be older than seventeen. Hyperventilating with eyes wide and pleading mercy under me. I can feel the tremors from his body shaking my legs, stinky fearful sweat radiating off of him.

I jerk off him, scrambling away from him in a desperate hurry. Inhuman whimpers blather out, from the burning pain in my arms or the horror streaking through me I really don't care. I was about to kill him. That poor boy, who's only fault would be to try to take a breather from an army that didn't even come for Beacontown. It's one thing to kill demons that tortured me, but this would be straight up murder. I would be a murderer. A- oh my god, I'd be a- that would make me-

A slap jerks me out of my head, a scowling Petra sharpening up in my sight. "Who the hell is this Jesse? Look, you listened to me and you stopped. Let that go now. Don't you dare wallow in pity when we still have a job to do."

Petra thrusts her hand to where Lukas and Axel, now with Ivor and Olivia's help, but suffering a lot from that beast. "That thing is the monster. He was the one who kidnapped and tortured us. He's the one killing us now. Are you going to do something about that monster or what?"

Another burst of rage explodes, that devil man's face is the same structure as the beast's! I should've realized! I should've known! I'm going to rip that rotten heart if it's the last ting I do!

A hand grips my good shoulder, shaking it. "If you fight fire with fire then everything will be left burned. That's not how you fight Jesse."

I whip my head over to her, a frown etched on my face. Petra opens her mouth-

A scream, deep and full of pain, shakes the air. My legs burst into action, eyes snapping over to them. Axel unmoving on the ground and Ivor running over with a potion in his hands, the devil with its attention locked on them. I'm not going to make it in time to-

An ocelot cry rings out, Lukas furiously attacking. I shake off gravity, trying to get there faster, but the devil's tail snatched Lukas. Even with its injured wing, the devil launches up in the sky. Lukas in its mercy. Everyone else on the ground.

****

Prolonged battle scenes! Yay!

I swear, next one's the last action one. Then we can get onto the really amazing post battle trauma stuff that has all the issues! Issues, and the end of the book to wrap them up.

Hmm, that seems misleading. Finishing this story won't be as simple or elegant as the words 'wrap up' are. Whelp, I guess you guys are about to find out soon though!

Although hey, before I go, I just gotta say how much I, uh, strongly disliked, writing the devil's words. I'm not changing it, but it's hard to look at and autocorrect kept trying to fix it. Ugh. This is why the devil had very few lines.

Okay, well now I'm done with things to say. I hope you all enjoyed and I'll be back again in five days! Bye!