King of Monsters 1

I look at the information being displayed on the ATM screen as I wait for the machine to dispense the money I have withdrawn. I let out a sigh, as what I see does little to lift my spirits, and I proceed to take my money and leave.

As I walk on the streets, I gaze at the busy sea of people walking the streets. Their noises ring through my ears, much like a pleasing tune. I look to the evening sky and let out a sigh while clenching my fist at my chest.

As I walk, I notice that I am closing onto a mall that I haven’t been to in a long time. Deciding that I might as well take a walk, I walk into the mall.

Just like the streets, bustling lights and sounds, combined with a huge crowd fill the mall. I find myself attracted to the catchy tune of the song, causing me to start drifting off into my own wonderland.

As I walk, I notice that the lights are starting to dim off and the music start crackling, stinging my ear. A chill emanates throughout the air, sending a tingling cold down my spine.

Confused, I start looking around. The crowd start looking around, clamoring as they do so. I can barely make out the sounds of little children asking their parents as to what is happening.

"ARGH!"

In the split of a second, I find myself distracted by a shout coming among the crowd. I look towards it, finding everybody remaining frozen and staring at the source of the shout. As this happens, I put my legs apart and my hands stretch out to my side, with a mild tension spreading across my body.

I try to move myself towards the source. However, I find myself completely frozen as I try to move. I struggle to move my legs, driven by curiosity.

While my sights are still locked on, I see people falling over and blood splattering all over. The crowd scream, many start running while others stand there frozen.

I see that there are some figures ripping the frozen crowd apart. As people run away, some of the figures jump on those who either aren’t fast enough or too frozen to move.

I forcefully wield my fist, staring as a figure somehow slice apart a person in front of me, with the victim's blood splattering all over.

It, a she, reaches her hand into the corpse, pulling out something red and wet, the squishy sounds filling my ears as she does. She puts the thing into her mouth while I stare at her as she does so. As this happens, my heart starts to burn in my chest.

As I do so, I turn my gaze to what is happening behind her.

I turn around and run away as fast as I can.

In the brief moment I looked behind, I could somehow tell I am very heavily outclassed by whatever those figures are.

While I saw many who acted like the figure who was chewing up a corpse in front of me, the others shocked me completely. I could see some of them levitating up in the air, flying down and grabbing people and lifting them up, killing them in the air. I also swear I saw a giant, who ripped a grown man in half with its bare hands.

I run and run, ignoring others around me. Even as my heart beats fast and my chest aching, I still run. I feel frustrated, sad to let this chance go, yet my fear has fully gotten the better of me.

Soon, I find that there was no longer anyone around me, be it people or whatever those things are.

Breathing out a sigh of relief, I go into one of the stores and hide inside there. There, I decide to think out my next move.

I think back to the figures I have seen, their likeness resembling something, something I have not seen for a long time..

...Ghosts?

Deciding that there was no way I can determine what they are with but a short glance, I choose to focus on what to do next.

With one of the exits closed off by the “ghosts”, I decide to try running away from the other exit. I stand up, ready to move. As I start moving, I stop. I am hesitating, I do not want to let such a good chance get out of my grasp.

As much as I am afraid, my blood, my heart, my being is boiling with excitement and eagerness. I can feel it, something within me burns. It wants to go out there and fight those ghost, I want to go out there and fight those ghosts.

I sit down and begin thinking of what to do. After a while, I make up my mind. I stand up and start moving.

As soon as I get out of the shop, I get stung by a strong and intense smell. It smells like blood, a lot of blood. I then remember what I saw just now, causing me to have thoughts about what the smell is.

Yet, determined to go through with my decision I start making my way back to where I came from.

As I walk, I put my left hand on my face, straining myself to stay focused and keep on walking. I soon come to a stop, staring at what lies ahead of me.

People torn to pieces, with their corpses having been chewed up or ripped apart. Even within the dim lighted mall, I see things I cannot identify splattered all over the mall.

I start vomiting, unable to hold in my disgust.

Strangely though, I could feel a form of pleasure, of joy, within me, the feeling that something heavy within me is getting consumed by a intense heat.

I slowly walk towards the wall, putting my left hand on the wall and slowly standing against it. I take heavy deep breaths, clenching a fist with my right hand and pushing it atop my chest. I continue to stare at the gore as I breath.

I soon hear footsteps approaching. As I feel tension spread through my body, I force myself to balance myself. I look around me, looking for something that can help me.

I quickly make my way into an empty shop, and spring towards the counter and hide behind it. I hear people running past me. As they do so, sounds of something follow after them.

I peer around the counter, trying to get a view of what is passing through.

Three figures seem to fly through. I observe them as they pass, trying to tell if they are human or ghosts. As they start getting away, I clasp my hands and relax myself.

I bring myself back behind the counter, putting my hand over my mouth as I do.

I sneak another view from behind the counter. Ensuring the surrounding is clear, I crawl out of my hiding place, slowly placing my limb in front of another as I do.

I take quiet steps while following and observing the figures from afar,taking the chance to study them, to determine what they really are.

In the darkness of the mall, I can make out that they have long hair, and wear blood-stained white robes. No wonder I decided to call them ghosts. From behind, they truly remind me of the ghosts from the horror games I used to watch my cousin played when I was young.

I feel something crawling on my face. For some reason, I can tell it's not something disturbing. I feel happy, not just because of childhood nostalgia, but also the chance to live out the fantasies I dreamt of to help me cope with my depressing life.

I make my way through the mall, taking the trail I assume the three ghosts took. On the way, I pass through sights of gore of people who have been torn apart. I cover my face and force myself to continue.

Eventually, I find myself approaching the other exit. There, I see the remainders of the crowd staring at fear at the three ghosts closing in.

I quickly bring myself behind cover, clasping my fist on my chest as I do so. I take deep breaths, and slowly peek out into the corner.

"AHHH!" A man got struck down as I do so. And another, and another.

I hold on tightly to the ground. I try to move, but feel my hands glued to the ground.

As the ghosts go through the crowd in front of me, my heart beats. It starts beating faster as I struggle to move. I feel a burden being lifted from my shoulder, and I stand up.

Deciding that I need to save them, I quickly run towards the three ghosts. Luckily, they seem to be focused on the crowd, ignoring my presence.

I try to move behind one of them, thinking to put him or her in a choke.

A stinging pain through my stomach seems to have appeared out of nowhere. I look to the ghost, unable to tell what he looks like as his face is covered by the darkness surrounding the mall. I look down, seeing that he has conjured a dark matter out of his hands and stabbed me with it.

The ghost hisses, and he proceeds to take his “hand” out of my stomach. I refuse to let myself fall, and struggle to stand and face the three ghosts.

“Argh!” I shout in pain as I lift my hand to punch him.

Next thing I knew, I was already stabbed another time. With his "hand" still stabbed into me, the ghost lifts me up into the air.

It let out a disturbing scream and throw me away. I land hard, feeling the impact crashing upon my injured body.

As blood flow out of my body, I actually feel relief. I am glad, glad that my life is over. I thought of how worthless my life have been, how much of a burden I have been to people, how little I have achieved even with so much…

“I am doing good, how are you?”

A memory I had wake me from slumber.

No, not yet. I think to myself. As much as I hate my life, I have a reason to keep on living, a reason besides fear.

I will not die here like this!

As these thoughts flood my being, I feel myself getting set on fire. Something within me is coming out, something powerful, something terrifying, something amazing…

Both pain and power course through me. I feel the pain and power in every fiber of my being. The power burns within me like a fierce flame, and it forces my body, muscles, organs, nerves, bones to expand forcefully. The pain is excruciating, and with it an amazing and unbelievable power flow through me.

As I stand up, I find myself standing high, my surroundings growing smaller.

I feel it, great power, great joy.

WWOOOOOO

Overcome with elation, I howl at the top of my lungs.

I look towards the crowd, feeling disappointment seeing that the ghosts have finished them off.

Even within the darkness, I see the surprised expressions on the ghosts’ deformed faces.

I howl with anger, and the ghosts start moving towards me. I move towards the ghost on my left, preventing the other two ghosts from surrounding me.

He conjures something out of his hand, something much like what I got stabbed with. As he tries to stab me with it, I slap it away with a backhand blow, receiving what feels like a minor cut on my left torso.

With my free hand, I grab him, sinking my claws into his chest. I do the same with my other hand, and with all my might, I pull him in for a heavy knee strike. As something, presumably blood, come out of his mouth and wounds, I dig my claws into his head, sensing the presence of a ball of energy there, and rip through it.

His blood splatter all over me as he dissolves into a gas like substance and fade away.

A finger jab into another ghost’s face as he is rushing towards me put a hole through his face. As I retrieve my hand, I swing my other hand like a blade at his head. The blow stuns him, providing me with an opening as I pierced deep through skull with my other hand.

His blood drip out of his wounds as he dissolves and dissipates like the previous one.

The last one tries to take my flank as I am occupied with the second one. I spin around and try to hit him with a spinning slash.

He gets stunned by my strike, and as he does, I grab him with my left hand, and elbow him with my other. I then bite down on his face, and start ripping his flesh out. He struggles, clawing at me while shouting madly.

I continue to bite on him and rip his flesh out. His blood splatter all over me as I continue to rip his flesh out. Eventually his screams die out and he dissipates as well.

As he dissipates, I feel something, like a scent, travelling towards the center of the mall. It feels like it is the ghost's essence. There are other essences, what feels like it might belong to to other ghosts I killed.

I look back to the group of people I have failed to save. Their severe wounds can be seen even in the dark.

Uuu

I whimper, letting out an inaudible noise.

I turn towards where I sense the ghosts’ essences travelling to, the location where I last saw the other ghosts.

I sens something there, something big, something important. Whatever it is, I get the feeling that I need to stop it.

I howl, and got on all fours and began moving.

I feel amazing as I move through the mall with speed way above what I can imagine. Not only that, I notice that the dimly lit mall is now as clear as day.

Fuck ya! I think to myself with glee. This power is something I enjoy having. Overcome with excitement, I howl once more.

The smell and sight of death that was unimaginably disgusting and terrifying before now energizes me as I pass through them.

It was then I sense a group of presence closing in on me. They smell like blood, with another grotesque smell coming out of them.

I am very sure that whatever I picked up is more ghosts, who are closing on me.

Soon, I find myself face to face with five ghosts. One of them resembles the giant I saw just now, while another two are levitating, with the remaining two resembling the three I defeated.

The giant one move first, closing in on me and swinging his giant arm at me. With all my might, I redirect his arm away with both hands, and jump at him and throw my hand into his face with an overhand strike.

My hand get stuck, and the giant smile at me.

Fuck.

The giant crush me with both hands. As I feel heavy impact crashing onto my sides, two ghosts appear from the side and stab me.

With them holding me in place, the giant raises his hand and slam me into the ground. As I lay on the floor, the three of them start attacking me, beating on me as I am down.

I force myself to get up, but would just get forced onto the floor as I did.

“How does it feel?” I can hear a masculine voice talking to me. “This pain? This suffering?” A brief pause. “We all had suffered, suffered so much! And which is why we have come to deliver our suffering onto you fools who know nothing!”

Maniacal laughter fill the air. While drowning in laughter and pressed down by the ghosts, I slowly lose consciousness.