Crunch

I felt myself flatten into mush, only to revert into my former form the next second.

Crunch

I felt it again as the giant teeth ground me down to paste, only to revert for the next second.

Crunch

I felt the inevitability sink in.

The Beast was chewing me down.

With every crunch, I felt the teeth grow bigger.

With the despair in my mind, I felt and knew what came next.

Gulp

Entering a narrow and slippery cavern, I emerged into a wider one.

Deep in my mind, I knew I had just entered its stomach, and my fate was to dissolve with acid.

The despair of the situation reminded me more and more that the Dream was Ending.

Soon, I would wake up. Soon, I would return to the real world and continue my worthless life.

The beauty and wonder I have enjoyed so far would be replaced by a stone jungle.

Its shiny surface would consume and change me into something I did not want to be.

It would transform me into a cog stuck in the cog of something much bigger that wanted to grind me down to nothing, just to keep running longer for that short bit of that extra time.

NO

I do not want to return to that just yet.

I want to experience more Wonders. The Wonders that will ignite the fires in my spirit for the next day of living a bleak life.

I want to experience more Strangeness to feel the flames of Passion just long enough to return to my Dreams again.

But most of all, there is a thing that I am the most curious about right now.

Will I emerge from the butt if I am able to overcome this obstacle?

After all, is that not the usual way? Staff that gets eaten and digested feeds the body. But that which does not will find its way to the butt hole.

Sooo, will I turn into Shit?

I don't want to turn into Shit. Won't I stink for the rest of the Dream? I feel like that is what will happen.

No, I am not becoming Shit in any foreseeable future, much less a Dream. That being the case, since this is a Dream, I can do the opposite of becoming Poop, right?.

Despair retreated as the world made more sense to me. I tried to stretch my Dream senses to understand more of my situation.

Immediately I realized one simple fact. The Gods of the Dreamworld have changed the rules of this Dream. Instinctively I knew that there was no way I would be able to penetrate the walls that were its stomach, at least not the way I had done before with that invisible wall.

Sensing the curious change in the Dream, I stretched out my right arm and touched the wall.

When I did, the Wall felt far more solid than that invisible wall. Thinking for a second on it, it kind of made sense to me.

One was invisible, so naturally, I could pass through it, but this one was of fleshy things, so naturally, I could not pass through somebody's flesh.

That would be weird and disgusting. Imagine going through town and passing through everybody, only to see into everybody's fleshy interiors all the time.

Ugh, just imagining the scenario gave me goosebumps. Still… since this is a Dream, that makes it ok, I think. Either way, how do I beat this trial? There has to be a way out? There always is, right?

Tilting my head left and right, up and down, I tried my best to remember how fleshy bodies work.

How did it go again? I eat tasty stuff. I digest the delicious stuff. Then the good nutrients enter the bloodstream in the guts to be transported to where they are needed.

Nodding, I stretched my Dream sense and found the thing I needed, the entrance to the guts of the Beast. Only there was a problem. The teeth may have crunched me down in size, but I was still too big to enter.

Or was I? I am in a Dream, no doubt about that. Soooo… I can do everything in a Dream?

Closing my eyes, I visualize myself shrinking and shrinking until I was of the proper size, then I passed through the entrance.

Once I entered the guts, I stretched my Dream senses more and observed how everything worked.

In the next second, I understood more. I shrunk myself even more in order to pass through the inner walls of the guts and enter a watery place.

Right after entering the bloodstream, I sense something whooshing past by. It was red, round, and slightly caved in the center.

Wow, that is so cool. Still, I wonder what to do now? Do I continue until I find the exit, or should I explore more? Pff, as if there was ever a chance of me passing on this adventure.

Entering the bloodstream, I immediately felt the pull of the blood in one direction.

Not bothered by it, I let it guide me. It sent me here and there until it became an adventure of its own.

Sadly, soon after it, I got bored just doing that, so I stretched my Dream sense.

Unlike before, this time the Dream senses stretched far, far beyond anything earlier, at least, anything I experienced inside the body of this Beast that ate me.

It was by floating like this and sensing stuff that an Anomaly came to my awareness.

The Anomaly was thoroughly different from anything else I had sensed so far. Before it, everything kind of felt alive. It was evident since I was inside a fleshly body, but this feeling was still different, somehow.

The Anomaly gave me a feeling of being alive too, but at the same time, it was something more.

I will go and see what it is. I only wish I would remember all this once I wake up, for once.

Shaking my head at the undeniable Law that governs Dreams, at least as far as I knew, I made my way to that Anomaly.

Multiple times I switched lanes until I figured out which would take me where I wanted it to take me.

One adventure later, I got closer and closer to it. Yet, the closer I got to it, the easier it was to notice something else. It became louder and louder as I got closer and closer, but I sensed my destination was a bit beyond the thing that made the rhythmic sounds.

No idea why it took me so long to realize it, but that was the sound of a heartbeat.

It contained a certain weight to itself every time it beat alongside the rush of the blood that I was swimming inside. The jet of blood got so fast that I almost missed switching lanes.

Goodness, now that would have been a bummer if I had to repeat this whole level.

Eventually, I realized where I was going. Soon I reached my destination, the Brain of the Beast that ate me.

Jumping away from a blood cell, I reached for the wall of the transportation system. Because I found it funny in my mind, I waved goodbye to my taxi and passed through the wall.

What awaited me on the other side was something I did not think I ever had dreamed of earlier or would ever dream of in the future.

That very thought made me think of something else.

What was I doing to be dreaming of flying? Of griffons and giant spiders riding said griffon? Only to end up inside of a Beast and now in its brain? Did I watch a Nature Documentary?

Hmm, what's a Nature Documentary?

Not receiving any answer, I shrugged my shoulders and looked around the strange root-like maze. Luckily for me, the occasional lightning strike did illuminate everything.

Touching one root structure, I climb on it and imagine myself of a perfect size to walk on it.

Walking on it, I stretched my Dream sense again to find the Anomaly that had expertly guided me so far in this adventure. Once I had it, I made my way to it on the roots.

Still, it did not take much time for me to feel the hazards of the environment.

ZAP

The second I passed from one root structure to another, I saw a flash before me. The next moment I felt my inside freeze as the lighting touched me and passed through my body.

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It did not hurt me, but neither was it a pleasant experience.

Once it passed me over, I regained my mobility. Shaking my body from its shocking freeze, I shrugged off everything as something expected inside Dreams. I was in a Dream, after all.

Soon after, I walked, jumped, scaled, and swung like a monkey traversing the forest canopy.

After a few zaps, I figured out the signs of their appearance and immediately stood still before it would freeze me in mid-air, and I had to start from the beginning of this level again.

Root after root, I made my way towards that Anomaly that was drawing me closer and closer. With every step, I felt the Anomaly clearer and more apparent as it interfaced with the root structure around me.

The Anomaly had no physical connection to the root structure at all. But every root had its place, and every other root interfaced with any other root it was close by in order to define something in such a form that when studying each root it made no damn sense whatsoever.

Only when the roots were massed into one group did they gain meaning. It was that meaning that the Anomaly touched, interpreted, and pondered upon, and only then did it respond with roots it wanted with a touch in return.

Seeing and experiencing all this made my Dream more and more joyful and meaningful.

There is no way I am letting this Dream end before I reach its end if there is an end.

Chuckling at myself, I closed in on the Anomaly. Not long after, I found myself in front of it. When I looked upon it, I came upon a simple realization.

The Anomaly was there and was not there. It made no sense, but then again, when did Dreams make sense?

Now, what should I do? Do I touch it? If so, where do I connect with it? In the center where it is the biggest? Or the tentacles that have it connected to everything else?

Tentacles? Wait, how did I only now realize they even existed?

Observing them for a moment, I noticed that the tentacles felt as if they were there but not there, at the same moment?

I must have been reading something weird for my Dream to become like this. Anyway, let's touch the tentacles first.

Making my way to the closest one, I stretch out my hand to touch it, only to realize that this might be a bad idea.

I pondered again but shrugged my shoulders in a way that displayed ‘Fuck it. It is a Dream. What is the worst that could happen?’.

Placing my hand upon it, I… felt nothing happen. Releasing my hand and touching it again, the same happened, nothing. Repeating it a few more times again made nothing happen.

Frustrated that nothing was happening, I slapped the tentacle instead of being gentle.

Oh, boy, was that a mistake. The tentacle shivered for a moment, going still only for weight to press itself upon me. I felt it coming from one specific direction, so when I turned my head, it was easy to realize that the center of the Anomaly somehow was looking at me.

It stared at me though it had no eyes, and I stared at its blob-like center.

The next second, I felt a tentacle come from nowhere and wrap itself around me. It started to squeeze me. When I showed no response it squeezed my upper body harder and harder.

And when I finally felt it overwhelm me slightly, I began resisting it. That only infuriated it more as more and more tentacles came and wrapped themselves around me, adding strength to the others to make a paste out of me.

That was the instant when the dreaded dread returned to inform me that my time was running out.

It told me the Dream was coming to an end.

With its reminder, it dawned on me that I had encountered the Boss fight. It was either I survived this encounter, or the Dream was coming to an end.

Using all my strength, I began to struggle.

Freeing my right hand, I used it to free my left hand, only for a few more tentacles to arrive and wrap me up like a bundle of messy rope.

With the dread coming ever more imminent I made a realization.

“I don't care if you're the Boss of this level. I will beat you and reach the end.” With newfound strength, I began to use my nails as claws, my teeth as a press to bite my way out.

Immediately a change appeared as soon as I bit one tentacle off.

A shiver went through all of them as I felt them losing strength instantly in shock. With urgency, I clawed and bit more and more. Halfway through the shivering shock, the tentacles regained their strength.

But by that time that happened, I was mostly free.

When I finally freed myself, I zipped along the structure of the roots on which I came in the first place. The tentacles immediately began to chase after me.

In the middle of the chase, the whole root structure somehow shook. I lost my footing and began to fall down and down. In a hurry, I grabbed at the nearest roots and caught myself before I fell to the bottom of this level.

Then another shake happened, and sudden vertigo exerted on me proved too much. I lost grip of the root and began to flail as roots after roots hit me all over the body, and I bounced my way down.

When the world finally stopped shaking, I sensed I was back at the beginning of this level.

Tch. I almost received a Game Over in a Boss fight. You're getting sloppy Mir, are you not?

Ok, I need a new approach. Apparently, I can't beat the Boss in a straight fight. It has too many tentacles. Umm… this should mean that it must have a hidden mechanic. They always do if the straightforward approach does not work. Wonder what this one is?

One adventure later, I found myself back before the Anomaly, but being smarter in my approach, I chose the stealthy approach and stayed away from the tentacles.

With the intent to find its hidden weakness, I began to study the Anomaly.

First, I began to observe it from all its angles. When that brought me no results, I started studying its behavioral pattern.

Sometimes I even aggroed it on purpose to study its reactions. I wanted to analyze the speed of its responses. Better said, I wanted to compare the first initial reaction it showed me to the subsequent ones.

All my findings only confirmed my theory. There is no way I could win in a straight fight. The many narrow escapes that I experienced hammered that into me.

Still, all Boss fights had a hidden weakness that could and will be exploited, in some way. So I studied the Anomaly, and after enough adventures with it, I found it.

The Anomaly was always active, no matter how much time passed. Still, while that meant that it did not rest, it did not mean that it did not enter a low-powered stage.

In that low-powered stage, it took far more of my probing to make it react at all. More tests showed that the more I did it, the lesser its response time became, so I kept at it until enough adventures passed by that now it simply did not react to me, even when I was biting its tentacle to almost bite through it.

Seeing that, I made my way toward the center of the Anomaly. Once by its side, I began to study it thoroughly and came to a startling conclusion.

I simply had no idea what to do now. I could attack it, but attacking its tentacles is one thing and attacking its main body was another.

If it wakes up while I am near it, there is no way I will be able to escape it.

So the answer was to avoid a physical fight, as it was before reaching the center of the Anomaly. Once I deduced that I placed my hand on its center blob-like body. I tried to use my Dream sense to sense the inside of the Anomaly.

Instantly I felt what I needed to do. Concentrating on it, I gently nudged my right hand to enter the Anomaly.

It took some concentration, but soon it passed its outer defense, and I gained access. Moments later, I was inside the Anomaly.

These actions brought unconditional dizziness, as my brain worked to figure out what it was interpreting.

Wait, how do I have a brain when I am inside a brain? Eh, why am I even asking such a stupid question? It's Dream logic, duh.

Nodding to that, I felt the surroundings clear as shapes began to appear, one by one.

It took me a while to figure out what they represented, but once I did everything clicked into place.

The insides of the Anomaly became a Savannah, just like I had seen before the Beast ate me.

Seeing it all, I shook my head at the obvious.

Making my way around, I searched for the critical weakness of the Anomaly.

I searched and searched and searched until finally, I noticed a wiggle among a mound of dirt.

I only saw its back, and on its backside, I saw a stubby tail.

The Beast had somehow wiggled itself into the dirt mound and was looking for something.

Walking closer to it, I heard its clawing/digging sounds.

Alongside that came grunts from inside of the hole it had wiggled in.

Closer still, I saw and heard a buzzing sound around the Beast, and the mound of dirt.

Still closer I went. Somehow its diminutive size brought me no fear.

Once I was close enough, the Beast stopped digging. It wiggled free of the mound and turned around to stare at me.

Its stocky build and stubby legs gave it a goofy look, but the white fur on its head and back told me of its identity for the simple reason that there was no way I would not recognize this beast.

Grrrrrr.

I hear it emit in my direction. Its behavior displayed that I was intruding upon its feeding ground.

I unconsciously gulped when I heard it. “Haha, there is no need for such suspicion, is there? I. I just came to say hi.”

So I said Hi with an accompanying wave to ease my nerves.

Grrrrr.

Gulping again, I slowly made my way backward while raising my hands. “Ha, ha. Indeed, I am not welcome. Don't worry I will scurry my way out. There is no need to… ”

Something in its beady eyes told me that I had overstayed since yesterday.

Turning around, I began my run, yet, not even having passed a few meters, its growl pushed all my buttons to sprint even harder.

GRRRRR

The Honey Badger growled behind like a grim reaper being notified a due Soul had somehow escaped its debt of death.

I, on the other hand, run for my life.

With every step, I heard and felt this incredible Beast, which was angry as Hell, inch closer and closer to me. Scuttling around the few trees that were there, I found my way back to the starting point where I appeared in this Savanna.

Ditching any distinct behavior, like carefulness, in favor of running, I ran to the nebulous white that was the outer barrier. Once there, I jumped into it like a diver diving into a lake.

Once on the outside, I realized my angle of jumping was off. I missed the root that was in front of me and Face planted in the one below it.

Shaking away my nonexistent dizziness, I sensed the Anomaly and its desire.

Standing up, I turned my head and looked at it for a good long while.

Then from somewhere deep inside me, something arose.

Something that I felt I knew deeply, and that it was appropriate for this situation.

“ I Will be back, Honey Badger! Because I want to be the very best. Like no one ever was. ”

Scuttling away from the Anomaly, I continued singing and waving my arms above my head.

“ To catch them is my real Test. To train them is my Cause. ”

While running away, A grin formed on my face.

“ I will travel across the Land. Searching far and wide. ”

Twirling once just cause I felt, and obviously could do it, I continued running away from the waking Anomaly.

“ Each Pokemon to understand, the power that's inside. ”

“ Pokemon. ”

“ Gotta catch 'em all. “

“ It's you and me. “

“ I know it's my destiny. “

“ Pokemon! “

“ You're my best friend. “

“ In a world, we must defend. “

“ Pokemon! “