The First Fight

Ash looked at his beam ball. He took in a deep breath and stepped forward as the gates opened.

The fighting arena was a simulated dark, broken-down warehouse. He closed his eyes to sense the monster's location. No signs of movement. Jake and five others followed his lead. They kept on walking, but still, nothing happened. Suddenly, a shout pierced their ears. Ash ran towards the sound, while the others followed him. They reached the end of the warehouse. Blood covered the wooden planks.

"The body- It belongs to a Level 8 fighter! How the heck was she decapitated by a level 10 monster? Something's off about this!" Ash exclaimed.

"Look out, Ash!" Jake dashed towards him and pushed him down.

"What are you doing-" He trailed off as his eyes widened at the sight of the monster.

"This is the monster?" He giggled.

The monster looked like a puffball, cotton candy. It blushed as Ash spoke. Pink colored, will hair covering its round body.

"How dare you laugh at me, hooman!" The monster scoffed.

The hair turned into spikes as it spoke, its pinkish blush turned red, and its smile into an evil smirk.

"You asked for it!"

The spikes set off for their heads. They ducked as one of the spikes grazed Ash's ear.

"Are you alright?" One of them exclaimed.

"Yeah, we need to make a run for the exit! It might be somewhere. I can't teleport us out of here until I get a clear view of the gate! We need to find it as fast as possible!" Ash replied.

"Did you know? The red color of my body is some of the blood of my victims I like to keep as souvenir for every kill I make." The monster said evilly as it opened its mouth.

What they saw was horrifying. Large fangs enclosed its mouth. As it came for them, they scattered in different directions.

"Three of us will stay here, while the other three find the way to the gate. Jake, take two of us with you, while I and the other two distract this stupid monster!" Ash said.

"Roger that!"

Ash ran with the other two towards the monster. The two took out their power swords while he took his beam ball and nodded towards them. As the monster leaped at them, he teleported to the other side while the other two put out their swords to destroy it. The spikes hit their head and their heads fell off to the ground.

The others stared in horror.

"Quick, find the gate!" Jake panicked.

Ash ran frantically. He kept on teleporting while the monster followed him.

Jake's group ran through the warehouse. No sign of the gate. At the corner of the wall, he saw a sign 'N' in cursive.

As he turned round, he noticed something peculiar. The same sign was engraved in the body of the monster!

"Ash, you must not kill it! It is the way to the exit!"

"So you figured it out? Impressive." The monster widened its fangs as it laughed.

It lowered its body and ran for Jake. Ash dashed in front of Jake. What he saw next was unbelievable. He had taken a peek inside the monster's mouth. It showed a vision. The destroyed world lay in front of his eyes. And the gate outside the parallel cosmos.

He was taken aback and stumbled backward making all of them fall. As the monster's fangs touched his face, his beam ball glistened and they were taken back to the outside of the gate.

The last thing Ash could think of was the vision before his eyes closed.