“I can’t believe I’m about to die over some stupid ball!” I yell out as I sprint through the trees. “You can have it back!” I tried to offer the sphere to the horde of thugs chasing after me.

“Hahaha!” “Kill!” “Fresh meat!” “It’s mine!” A chorus of drugged fueled cries was gaining on me. “I need a new pet!” The lead thug’s eyes glowed with an eerie red haze. “Pounce!” One of them shouted, signaling to another.

“Y'all insane!” I slipped on a shiny rock, which thankfully helped me dodge a thug lunging from the bushes at my side. “Shit!” I was so lucky the downwards slope became steeper, for my sliding picked up some much needed speed. “Stop! No!” My slide ended abruptly as a hand grabbed my collar from behind, holding me just shy of the edge of a very tall cliff. “Thank y- oh no.” My savior turned out to be my worst nightmare.

“Well, well, what do we have here?” The thug’s leader held me up from my shirt, and was looking at me like a weird piece of fruit he just plucked from a tree. He sniffed around my head with a dangerous gleam in his eyes. “We got a wrecker, boys!” He held me out over the edge, probably keeping me from trying to run away. “Get the cage!” The group of thugs at the top of the slope stopped their descent and started to sprint back up it. “Now, as for y-”

“Ha!” With the sphere still in my hand, I swing with all the force I can muster, and smack him in the face with it. The outcome was not what I had hoped for, I caught him unaware on the right side of his face, but he did not budge one bit. “I’m dead.” I can feel his murderous rage as his eyes begin to glow a deeper red.

“You aren’t that lucky, boy.” His voice echoes with an eerie feeling to it, an inhuman sound. “You will suffer-” He stops mid sentence, his eyes narrow as they glance down.

“Worth a shot, ow.” I had tried to kick him where it hurts most, I only ended up hurting my foot. “What are you?” His eyes were no longer human when he raised his head.

“Your doom.” He lets go of the back of my shirt, only to very quickly grab the front of my collar. “Just hang in there, the fun will start later.” He said with an evil tone. His demonic face shifted from anger to enjoyment as I struggled to keep my toes on the ledge while I desperately clung to his arm for support. “Hurry it up you fools!” His demonic glow simmered down as he turned to yell back at the thugs struggling with the cage on the steep slope.

“Screw it!” I hurled the sphere in my hand at the back of his head. I know it wouldn’t damage him, but a moment of surprise could let me escape. I reached for my shirt collar and was about to pull and rip it, in hopes I could slip out of it. I would rather take my chances with the cliff, than with these evil things. “Huh?” A chime sound and bright light burst out upon contact of the sphere.

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“Wh-” The leader was washed in bright white light, before turning into a small mote of light that the sphere clapped down on.

“Shit!” My only support that was holding me up, was now inside a hovering magical sphere. Which left me falling to the distant ground below. “Are you serious!?” I shout at the world as I plummet to my death. “Could be worse.” I accept my fate as I hear a shattering sound, followed by the roar of the leader.

“FIND HIM!!!” A demonic roar orders his thug minions, sending shivers down my spine. “NOW!!” A wave of red and black burst out from the top of the cliff.

“Grab on!” A new voice shouts out from my side. “Hurry!” I turn and see a man hanging from a large bloated stingray just like a glider.

“Sure!” Thankfully I have witnessed enough strangeness recently to not question this, until I’m not falling to my death. “Great timing!”

“I can’t believe you tried to catch that bastard, are you insane?!” The man started to yell at me, while I clung onto his waist and legs for dear life. “Didn’t they teach you not to use Pal Spheres on humans?!” We glide over another cliff, with water way down below us. “Why didn’t you stay with your group?!” The random flying ray man continued his lecture as the thugs tried to shoot us from their cliff top perch, the leader roaring in anger as we escaped his reach.

“Where are we going to land?!” I shout over the whistling winds, the sight of open water below us with the shore getting further away starts to frighten me. My muscles are burning from holding on, but I will not let go.

“In the water! Then we will swim to the shore!” The guy nods his head in the direction we are heading. I turn to look forwards for the first time, and I tighten my grip. In the distance was a beautiful looking beach, I could see some of those weird pal creatures wondering about it. “It’s only half a klick to land!”

“We won't make it!” I scream, forcing my grip tighter on the man. “It’s too far!”

“I said we are gonna be swimming, hold on!” The ray lets out a cry of relief as the man lets go, the creature seemed to be struggling the whole way down. It disappeared back into a sphere, before returning to the guy’s hand. “Stop screaming! We’ll be fine!” He tries to pry himself out of my grip as we plummet to the water below.

“I can’t swim!!” I cling onto the guy, hoping to use him as a floatation.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?!” Now the guy started to panic.

“You never asked!” We hit the water hard, my muscles couldn’t hold on anymore. I feel myself sinking, my limbs too tired to move, I just stare up at the fading light of the surface while sinking to the depths below. “Blubugh.” The last of my air escapes me, as I fade into the familiar darkness.