From the view in my true form, I watch as my… my friends, sleep off their night of partying. A huge majority of the humanoid village, along with my demon generals, are passed out on the sands of Lake Luck, the name Bella gave the newest addition to the dungeon. While heavily intoxicated of course. I smile as a familiar golden stequilian walks around the beach, shaking awake the drowsy partygoers.

Trusting the pangolin to take care of my drunken friends, I shift my perspective back to the mostly empty town at my entrance. It’s unusually quiet, the only people moving around being the few children that live inside me being accompanied by their parents. It’s so… odd, that people have made a life for themselves here, a place built to kill. They even have families…

Something… Unsettling happens. A ripple of force, not of energy or magic, but of pure physical might, shudders through my body. And for once it’s not my erratic emotions causing earthquakes, the ripple instead coming from a central point. I follow the sensation back to its source, like one would use pain to find a splinter.

Standing in the entryway of the dungeon, of me, is a mountain of a man. His huge frame is covered by a three piece modern suit, barely. The poor outfit is strained horribly, almost exploding off him every time he shifts. His face is… unremarkable, a flat expression, no facial hair, black sunglasses. His hair is similar, a short cut that is swept against his scalp. The only thing that stands out besides his musculature is his pointed ears.

My gut tells me this man is dangerous, horrifically so. He slowly walks into the town, the kids fleeing before he gets anywhere near them. His path is direct, headed straight for the town center. And soon he stops in front of the purple crystal that supposedly protects the growing city.

Another physical wave pulses through my body, this time accompanied by a voice. “Whoever is in charge here, show yourself!” the large man demands. Well, I suppose that’s my cue then. I honestly just don’t want anyone to interact with this guy if I can prevent it.

Without thinking about it any further, my mind fades out.

When I come to in my physical body, I’m standing a ways behind the man. He’s much larger in person, towering over my jerboa-person form by several feet. He doesn’t seem to notice my appearance, so I call out to him.

“Hey! Big guy!”

His huge head snaps to focus on me. I feel his eyes lock onto me behind the stupid sunglasses. Who wears sunglasses inside anyways?

“You?” He snorts, a cruel smirk on his face. “You’re in charge here?”

I shrug, ignoring his aggravating attitude. “Sorta, I’m the dungeon.”

At that the muscles of his face show some surprise. “You’re the dungeon?” He reaches up and pulls off the sunglasses, revealing two glowing red eyes. “Dungeons can’t talk, little lady.” He pockets his stupid eye coverings, slowly walking up to me.

Whatever, I don’t want to talk to this guy any more than I have to. I wave my hand in front of me, and a dusty bursts into existence. Its small LED eyes dart around in a panic before looking up at me. Just as it begins to calm down, the man’s shoe falls onto its body, crushing it. The small creature explodes into a cloud of smoke.

I glare up at the man, who’s now smiling wickedly. “I believe you now, girl.” He pauses. “Well, you aren’t really a girl, are you? Since you’re not really a person at all.”

Anger starts to kick up in my chest. “I am, in fact, a person, Mister…?” I stare at him, meeting his redhot gaze.

Sharp teeth make up his grin. “Mr. Brist.”

My eyes go wide at the name, as a small shard of memory flickers in the back of my mind. I’ve heard that name before. On Earth. The first day I was in the facility, before they even took the sack off my head.

“Y-you’re… you’re the guard!” I squeak out before I can stop myself.

I’m suddenly lifted off my feet, held up by the neck. Literal flames pour from the man’s eyes. “What do you mean?” he snarls.

I grab at the hands wringing my neck, pulling them apart enough to keep from passing out. “You’re… from Earth,” I croak out.

He closes the fingers encircling my neck, cutting my head off and sending me into darkness.

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My anxiety spikes as Brist crashes through another tunnel wall. He is slowly working his way deeper inside the dungeon, apparently intent on reaching my core. Panicked, I throw up more walls of stone in his way, but he just pushes through them like they’re made of children’s blocks.

What do I do? I’m on my own, since everyone is passed out still, and this guy isn’t phased by anything I can throw at him. I guess I could summon Blue to him, but I’m honestly worried that this asshole would just tear apart the poor elemental. Something about him just makes my gut scream danger. More than even the ant queen did.

The only person that made me as nervous was… Wem!

I hurriedly move my ‘camera’, panning up to the lakeside. I scan the wrecked beach, searching for either a bright orange poncho or a naked pile of black goo. My heart drops as I finish scanning the beach, and find nothing. Where is she? …She didn’t… didn’t leave, right?

Just as I’m about to have a total meltdown, I feel something brush against me. Someone is touching my core. My stomach fills with dread, did Brist already make it?

My point of view skids into the core room — which could easily be considered a city of its own — and quickly closes in on my physical self. Standing on top of the kobold’s carefully made architecture is a girl in a bright orange poncho. Thank god!

…Wait… W-what is she doing? I move myself closer to the crystal, and see that… Is she… k-kissing me?! Checking again, just to be sure, I can confirm that the slime girl is kissing the side of my orange crystal. I feel heat rush to my nonexistent face. Isn’t… this kinda indecent?

Focus! Now’s not the time! I make a hasty connection to Wem… I mean I open communications with the girl. “Wem!”

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She jumps before quickly looking around for me. “Where are you?” Her words come out slurred, is she still drunk? “I can’t seeeee yoooou!~” the slime whines.

Shit, this might be an issue. “Wem, what are you doing?”

She tilts her head cutely, clearly confused. “I’m kissin you, dummy!” She grins, showing off her massive teeth.

A second round of blushing colors my thankfully non-corporeal face. “I-I see that, Wem… I need your help!”

The girl perks up, seemingly excited. “What do I need to do?”she says with a slur.

…Maybe this is a bad idea.

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Another cave wall collapses under Brist’s fist. The man has made his way worryingly close to my physical self in the time it took me to get Wem. Why is he even after me? Is it because I know about Earth?

Honestly, the fact that there are others from Earth here is worth thinking about, but I don’t have the time to at the moment.

I make power cables rise out of the floor and wrap around the man’s ankles. He keeps walking, snapping the metallic vines like they aren’t even there. With another punch from the suited man, the entire dungeon shakes.

Stepping through the newly created hole, Brist pauses. In front of him stands Wem, who is looking him over. The girl seems bored, like Brist is some kind of chore.

The huge man reacts strangely to the poncho’d slime. He takes a hesitant step back, putting his back against the cave wall. His posture becomes more defensive, and his eyes shimmer with crimson worry. Why is he so spooked?

Wem tilts her head, like she’s just realized something. With a huge grin and a small hop she yells out, “You’re a dragon, aren’t you!?” Brist flinches at her words, but doesn’t respond. The oblivious slime continues, “Oh, it's been so long since I’ve played with a dragon!” She does an excited twirl.

I can’t tell if she really doesn’t know they aren’t about to play, or if she just considers the imminent battle play. Probably the latter, honestly.

Brist doesn’t look nearly as excited as the dark-skinned demon. “W-what the hell are you, girlie?” His voice shakes as he inches around the edge of the cave.

Wem laughs. “I’m a demon, obviously. Shouldn’t a dragon be able to recognize a demon?” She talks like she’s scolding a lazy coworker.

Again Brist flinches. “D-demon huh? They have those here?” He grunts in frustration. “I guess that tracks.”

Wem at this point just looks completely lost, not comprehending what the man is saying. She seems to become frustrated and changes topics. “So, are we gonna fight or just stare at each other?”

Brist kicks off the cave floor, creating a small crater with his foot. He flies through the air, reaching Wem in a second. He throws out a closed fist, nailing the girl in the center of the face. With a horrible squelching sound, her head rips clean off at the neck and crashes into the wall behind her. Brist’s face twists into a smug grin.

Which Wem immediately wipes off the bastard’s face, as her own fist crashes into the man’s stomach with enough force to shake the room. The muscled man shoots straight up, crashing into the dull green ceiling. He hits the stone with enough force to stick fast in the rockface. Black tendrils pop out of the girl’s neck, quickly wrapping around each other to form a new head. Wem smiles at the new ceiling ornament.

Boulders fall from above as Brist dislodges himself from the roof. He drops towards the demon like a meteor. Wem doesn’t even attempt to dodge, instead taking the blow to her chest. A perfect circle of ooze is blown away, turning her into a donut. The hole quickly fills back in, like the damage never even happened.

Brist’s face is beet red at this point. “Why doesn’t the damned blessing work on you?” He snarls.

Wem tilts her head cutely. “Oh, that's easy!” She smiles widely at her opponent. “Blessings don’t work too good on demons.”

Something in Brist snaps, and fire starts to pour from his eyes. Smoke rapidly falls from his body, twisting around him protectively. The man is quickly covered in a cocoon of smog. The billowing smoke expands, growing in size violently, shuddering each time more layers wrap around the murky shape. In a few seconds a good portion of the cave is filled with the black gas. Just as the smoke ‘egg’ runs out of space, it ruptures violently, sending smog down the connected tunnels.

Standing in Brist’s place is a massive, jet black dragon.

────────────

The dark creature roars, his rage shaking my body. His tail whips behind him erratically, turning everything it touches into smoke. His scales are smooth and interlocking, with smog leaking from between him. A thick cloud hangs around him, making it hard to see him in detail.

The tunnel shudders as he takes a step forward, his huge claw crushing the floorboards. His red eyes, unchanged from his human form, lock onto the demon before him. His monstrous face twists into a huge grin.

“Still so confident, demon?” he taunts.

Which falls flat in the face of his opponent. Wem hops around in place excitedly, ecstatic about something.

“What kind of dragon are you? I’ve never seen your kind before. Are you a new aspect?” Her grin widens. “Oh, this is so exciting!”

Brist’s eye twitches. Without another word he swings his tail in front of him, aiming for Wem’s skull. Just as the limb is about to strike home, Wem hops in place. As his tail slams into the demon, she grabs on.

Now one girl heavier, Brist’s tail continues to whip around. The dragon tries to get her off by slamming her into the walls or floor. Nothing is effective, and the slime just slowly inches her way up her opponent’s tail during his attempts. As she gets closer and closer to his main body, Brist begins to panic.

Just as she makes it to the base of his tail, the dragon tries something new. His jet black scales start to burn with a dark energy, black light pouring out from within. The smoke that until now had just been hanging in the air around the monster starts to churn.

Sharp spears of condensed smog form in the air around the battling creatures. Acting like homing missiles, the vaporous weapons shoot towards Wem. She ignores this new assault until she’s managed to climb onto the dragon’s back. Making sure to not lose her grip on the smooth scales, she keeps moving forward.

The sharp smoke slams into her dark body, riddling her with holes. Her smile falters for a split second, but she just keeps inching forward.

Brist really starts panicking now, for what reason I’m not exactly sure. I know Wem’s on his back, but she’s not been able to hurt his dragon form so far, either.

Just as I think that, the slime reaches the spot between his wings. Her head inflates several times her normal size, her bear trap jaws opening wide. In a swift movement she closes her mouth around her opponent’s wing with a loud snap.

Brist roars a horrifying wail, a combination of rage and pain. As the dragon writhes around in agony, Wem cuts his wing clean off his body. Her head returns to a normal size, a smug grin on her face.

The look in Brist’s eyes changes, the rage gone, replaced by only an animalistic fear. He whips his long neck around to face the demon on his back. He opens his own set of vicious jaws, like he’s about to eat her. But then a light flickers in the depths of his throat, quickly followed by a thick stream of black flames. The fire washes over Wem, as well as the dragon’s own body.

Brist’s jaws snap shut, cutting off the flames. Smoke pours from his nostrils as he stares down at where Wem had been.

She’s gone, there’s nothing where Wem had been. The fire must’ve been potent, as the dragon’s own scales are horrifically damaged, scored by the path of the flames.

She’s… She’s gone? Wem’s gone? Something inside me dissolves, falling apart as reality sets in.

The dragon looks around, searching for any other possible dangers. Intelligence is still lacking in the creature’s eyes, like his instincts are in complete control. Not that I care. The wretched lizard killed her, killed Wem. I just want it gone.

Something inside me wells up, an unfamiliar warmth that comes from deep within. It hangs in my chest for a moment, as a separate feeling of loss comes from elsewhere, and then both feelings vanish.

As does the dragon. In the blink of an eye, the massive creature of smoke and hate disappears. I’m not sure what happened, but I don’t really care. All I care about is the small scrap of orange cloth I just spotted.

After shifting into my humanoid form, I kneel down next to the fragment of clothing. I gently lift the burned piece of poncho, surprised at how heavy it is. As I get it closer to myself, the scrap wiggles violently.

Raising an eyebrow, I turn the cloth over in my hands. Attached to the backside is a fistsized clump of black ooze. Three small eyes float in the ooze, accompanied by a proportionally large mouth. The eyes look up at me with a sheepish grin of large, sharp teeth.

With a comically high pitched voice, Wem says, “Oops…”