I looked up at the grimacing maw of the creature above me, dripping hot strings of saliva onto the ground. I looked on in a dazed, apathetic state, not seeming to process or care what was about to happen to me. The creature slowly bent over and sniffed at me, then arched up to the blazing red-hued sky and roared.

It bent over and swiped it's paw at me; as it neared, I seemed to break out of the spell. I stumbled back and fell to the ground awkwardly. The creature finished it's slow sweep and twisted it's upper body back to the foreward position. It's head twitched to each side, and it bent over, putting it's giant paws on the ground to either side of me. I closed my eyes and twisted my head away as it brought it's face close to me, and took a deep breath through two deep slits in the top of it's lumpy head. It swung it's head foreward and nudged me back. I opened my eyes as it pushed itself up with it's arms and brought it's arm back up for another swipe.

I scrambled to my feet and jumped out of the way. When the creature missed this time, it shook it's head and snorted, then made a kind of deep chirping sound. It twisted it's head to the side and brought it close to me, bringing it's black, beady, baseball-sized eyes right in front of me. It looked at me without emotion, without mercy, without intelligence. I looked into those eyes fearfully, and felt my strength leave. I started to back up, but I ran into something. I glanced back, and saw that the creature was using it's arms to create a barrier around me, trying to keep me from leaving. I could see the little kid through the small gaps in the creature's claws, seeing him struggling to detach the unconscious person on the other post.

For him. For the prisoners. I had been given gifts by the doctor for a reason. It was time to use them. I jabbed my hand into the eye of the beast, grabbing a handful of slimy, black mush. Fluid gushed out around my hand, staining the ragged t-shirt I was wearing. I twisted my hand and was yanked toward the beast as it quickly jerked it's head away. I was lifted by the quick motion, and when I fell out of the eye, I flipped and landed on my back. I was dazed for a moment as I tried to regain my breath, but creature was incapacitated too, falling onto the ground with an earth shaking boom, clutching it's wounded eye. It roared in pain and shuddered on the ground for a moment, and I quickly got up and ran, trying to put some distance between me and the shaking beast.

The doctor had told me that he gave me certain powers. What were they? I just couldn't seem to remember.

Suddenly something that was me, but not me seemed to speak to me, but without words. Just pictures and feelings. I felt a rush of confidence and calm as the beast stood up. It was no longer holding it's eye, but it was hunched over as if straining. I looked at the slowly leaking hole it it's head and saw it twitch. Then it started to move, compressing as the folds of skin moved up the creature's face. I watched in a fascinated horror as the beast revealed two larger, red, orbs in a mass of sunken, puffy flesh.

As I peered into the dark orb, I felt myself being pulled in, a fascination forming with the angry orb. The dark red center, nearly black, webbed with lighter veins, became lighter as it got closer to the edge, then seemed to merge with the puffy folds of skin under the shiny sphere.

I felt another nudge of consciousness that wasn't me. It told me to look away, but I couldn't. I watched as the creature raised a paw to swing at me. I knew I wouldn't live if I didn't move, but I couldn't. My body wouldn't look away from that red death trap. I felt resigned to my fate as the raised claws started to approach, but the me that wasn't me wasn't. I felt a strange sensation as I suddenly broke out in a massive sweat. The great paw was about to smash my face into the ground, but I felt the liquid I just released harden, encasing me in a hard shell.

The paw struck me, and I went flying through the air. I smashed into the ground in a bone-shattering collision, but the shell that I was encased in took the force as it shattered. I suddenly remembered the doctor telling me about the skin-armor fluid he was going to inject into my skin. Well, there it was.

I shook my head and grinned savagely as I remembered the rest of the conversation. If the alien had given me all the things he promised, then maybe, just maybe, this could be possible.

"Alright," I said, slowly getting to my feet, "Let's dance."

I ran at the creature at full sprint, my mind seeming to pulsate, but not painfully. It was like there were two beings in me, corresponding and acting through each other. I neared the creature and it swung it's long arms, trying to strike me down, but I reacted of instinct and jumped onto it's hand, crouching down and grabbing a handful of the thick leathery skin. It's arm finished the swing, carrying me along behind it's shoulder. I jumped onto the creatures back and grabbed the skin of it's neck, pulling hard to the left. The creature screeched deafeningly, and reached it's long stringy arms back and grabbed at me. I felt and reacted, thinking less and less as my body took control, reacting to the slightest touch of the creature and shifted out of it's grasp.

The beast growled in frustration, a deep low, reverberating sound, deep below me. It suddenly spun and fell backwards, catching me by surprise as it smashed my body against the thick wooden post behind me. I was shaken off as the post split and I fell to the ground, landing painfully on the cracked, trunk-like post. I rolled over, feeling my sore ribs tenderly. They came back wet and sticky with blood. I looked up at the creature looming over me, bearing it's teeth in a savage grin. I knew I didn't have any more time. I grabbed the split half of the post I landed on.

I tried to shuffle to my feet, but the creature pinned me down with it's raptor-like feet, punching it's claws into the flesh of my shoulders. I felt my shirt slowly soaking up the warm liquid as the creature reached it's arm down and grabbed my body from under it's foot. It raised me to it's mouth and started to put me in, but I brought the post up and jabbed it into the creature's mouth, trying to drive it into the brain, but I slipped, and all I did was jab the roof. The creature roared, splattering me with hot saliva.

It pulled me out of it's mouth and slammed me to the ground with it's paw. My vision swam in black as my head cracked against the ground, and bright spots flitted around as I felt a dull cracking of one of my bones. The darkness receded as the monster grabbed my legs once more. It shook me violently up and down using it's whole arm, roaring. My body flopped around painfully and I saw the darkness creeping back into my vision. I felt the wooden stick still in my hand and raised it as I was flung toward the ground, then jammed it down as my path reversed.

My spear sunk deep into the flesh of the wrist of the creature, and as I was raised, it let go, leaving me to fly streight up into the air with nothing but my spear. The flight seemed to take forever, but never seemed to take long enough. I could see globs of blood seeming to float beside me, but I couldn't tell if it was mine or the beast's. I felt myself stop raising and my body slowly turned in the air, leaving me to face the dusty, dry, hard ground. I looked and saw the spear in my hand as if from somewhere else, and looked back down at the monster clutching at it's bloody wrist in agony. I felt gravity retake me and suddenly, all my worry, all my pain, all my caring, was just gone. I slowly started descending toward the creature, but then I heard a scream. I turned my head, I saw the little kid that was looking up at me, wide eyed and open mouthed in terror. He knew as well as I that he would be next.

But he deserved better. He didn't deserve to die. Not like this. Not because I gave up.

I felt the wind whistling in my ears as I descended toward the monster. It had also heard the scream and was starting to shuffle in that direction. I tightened my grip on the spear and raised it above my head, letting out a bloodcurdling battle cry that cracking my throat and shaking my vocal cords. The monster looked up in surprise just as I plunged the spear to the hilt just above it's bloody eye.

My body bounced off the skull and smacked to the ground painfully. I stood painfully and looked the creature right in it's eye. It looked back with fear as the lights faded, and it collapsed to the ground, shaking the arena. I felt the darkness grip me once more, and my body buckled beneath me as I fell to the ground.

I stared at the sky, marveling at the calm surrounding me as my consciousness faded. I watched as a bird flew in from the clouds, getting closer and closer, wondering why it was so big and why it didn't flap it's wings. I saw it spit green fire and heard a roaring as it got nearer, like an engine...

Then darkness embraced me.

Sorry for the wait on the last one and the shortness of this one. I figured that I should hurry this one along as compensation, but for fair warning, finals are coming up, and all the teachers decided that they are the only one giving homework, and so they all gave big-ass projects. I won't be able to write for a while because of this, so don't expect much in the near future. I'm sorry that there are such gaps between my posts, but it's out of my control now.

Hopefully you enjoyed this. I tried to write it to the song Dance With the Devil by Breaking Benjamin, but about half way through, I got tired of listening to the song over and over, so I just went on with it.

Thank you for reading,

DisturbedFire