And so we made our way right into the lion’s den, the looming, otherworldly ziggurat in front of us.

The moment we entered, my head began spinning. This construction made no sense. There was an insane beauty to it, a disorienting, hellish beauty. The more I looked, the more things didn’t make sense. It was almost as if the surfaces and edges weren’t possible in a geometrical sense. It made my head hurt. I had to close my eyes and take a deep breath.

“Fucking hell,” I cursed as I rubbed my temples.

“Don’t look too closely, Dylan. This place’s under the creature’s influence and has been altered. It’s not entirely part of our reality anymore. What this thing’s done here, or rather, what it’s trying to do, is overlap different planes of reality. You could say a different reality is invading our own.”

“How in the hell’s something like that even possible?”

Sandra shook her head.

“It’s not truly. Right now we’re in a place in-between ours and this creature’s reality. It’s a shifting place that’s been meticulously constructed. A transitional plane, so to speak.”

As we continued down the long-winding tunnel, I noticed something ahead of us. A creature pushed itself from a tear in the wall. Its head jerked in our direction and a scream escaped its gorging maw. It took a single explosive round to take care of it, whatever it had been. As I stepped forward, I realized the creature hadn’t come from the wall. What I saw in front of me was an opening. A portal that was now slowly closing. For a moment, I saw a place shrouded in deep darkness.

The further we went, the more portals we saw. I caught Theodor stepping up closer to one of them. Standing nearby, I could make out blazing white light and a giant, glassy plane. Theodor stood unmoving and stared deeply into it with wide, fascinated eyes. A moment later, Sandra pushed him away.

“Don’t. Those are dangerous. You might get lost. The longer you stare into it, the higher the chance of falling in.”

Theodor stared back once more, and I saw him shudder before he went on. He never said a single word about what he’d seen.

We saw more creatures ahead of us. I lifted my gun, but the moment they noticed us, they hurried away.

“They aren’t attacking,” I blurted out in a perplexed voice.

“It’s because it wants us to reach it,” Sandra said.

“So, it’s arrogant?”

Sandra gave a short laugh. There was no humor in it.

“It’s got a reason to be, doesn’t it? This entire place here, Dylan, it created it. It has no reason to fear us.”

“So why are we even-?”

“Motherfucker,” I heard Theodor curse, and found him staring at the wall to our right.

“What’s going-?” I started, but I saw it right away.

The wall didn’t just comprise debris. Parts of human beings were stuck in-between. They’d been used as plaster, I realized. For a moment, as I stared at the organic-inorganic mixture of the wall, I thought I saw the flesh twitch. I averted my eyes and took a deep breath. Fucking hell.

The tunnels we walked through stretched on further and further, became longer, winded and almost labyrinthine. The whole place was much, much larger than anyone would’ve expected. It had to be because of what Sandra had said. Reality was distorted here.

At one point, I saw a disgusting idol in front of us. It depicted a tentacled mess. The moment I set eyes on the alien thing, my vision became blurry and its forms seemed to shift as if alive. I couldn’t help but stare at it with a mixture of fear and wonder. Then Sandra swatted it aside with a wave of her hand. Right away, laughter filled my head, laughter and a vision that showed similar idols in other tunnels all around us.

I don’t know how long we continued walking. All the while, the surrounding tunnels were changing. We saw more flesh, more blood. It warped the tunnels into a grown together mess of flesh, blood and debris. By now, I was suffering from a terrible headache. The patterns and forms all around us were too confusing and abstract. I had to pop a mind blocker to keep my brain functioning normally. Suddenly, Sandra’s face grew angry and frustrated.

“Why are you playing this game? You want us to come to you, so get us there already!” she screamed.

This time, the laughter wasn’t just in our heads. This time, it reverberated from all around us. Then the tunnel we were in grew smaller.

“What the hell’s-?”

“Quiet!” Sandra cut me off.

It was over before I knew it and a grand hall opened up in front of us. I couldn’t tell how big it was. The geometry was impossible. The shapes were too complex, too constricted. This hall should collapse any moment, and yet, it didn’t. It could only exist here, in this impossibility of a place.

As I followed Sandra inside, I tried my hardest not to be distracted by the alien physics. A group of strange creatures were gathered in front of us. They were lumbering, twisted things. Their bodies, too, like the physics of the room, made no sense. They were all wrong and too many appendages sprouted from their bodies. It made them look like freakish amalgamations of flesh. I pointed the gun at them, but they didn’t attack us. They screeched in shock and fled to the back of the hall.

At that moment, I could make out what they’d been working on.

“What the fuck?” Theodor cursed, and I saw his eyes grow wide.

His hands opened and closed, but not in horror. No, in sheer and utter rage. Sandra, next to me, cringed. Her face was riddled with terror.

In the center of the hall stood another one of the ghastly idols. It was different, however, and much, much larger. This time, the twitching movements weren’t an illusion. My mouth opened, but no words escaped it as I realized what it was made of.

People.

Dozens of people had been twisted and fused together to create this thing. I saw bodies and limbs, saw wide-open eyes, and mouths twisted into perpetual, toneless screams. Blood was still gushing from the bodies and organs dangled from them like ghastly decorations. The floor of the hall, too, was littered with people. Theodor next to me was shaking from anger.

“You damn fuckers,” he cursed.

A second later, he rushed forward and was about to throw himself upon the creatures which had created the disgusting idol. He’d only taken a few steps when the entire hall erupted from a shockwave. Theodor was thrown back and crashed right into me. Sandra used her powers to shield us from the blunt of the attack, but I could see her struggle. She could barely keep up with the powers that assaulted us.

Then I noticed a tiny, glowing thing which hovered above the idol. Another burst of energy followed. This time, it wasn’t directed at us. A vortex formed around the tiny, glowing light, and I watched in horror as the people closest to the idol were shredded and their flesh and bone formed into a body. I watched in horror as bones formed and flesh grew. Mouths opened, organs developed before they were incorporated into the rest. I raised my gun, wanted to shoot, but my arm and hand were shaking so badly from the creature’s presence alone I wasn’t able to aim.

At that moment, laughter reverberated through the entire hall, shaking me to the core. Sandra next to me gasped and when I turned to look at her, all the color had drained from her face.

“I... I got it wrong. What we saw the other day wasn’t its body. I’d got it all wrong. This thing, it’s got no real physical body like we do. It’s nothing but concentrated energy. What it’s forming is just another extension, another proxy.”

My eyes went back to the ever-growing mess of flesh and bone in front of us. Sandra staggered, took a step back, and then fell to her knees. I was about to call out to her, but right at that moment, I was hit as well. Images flooded my mind, invaded it, and scratched away at my sanity. For a moment, I wasn’t sure where I was and my consciousness was plunged into a dark, twisted abyss. I pushed against it with all the strength I had and screamed at myself to stay calm. Then my hand closed around the small distortion device in my pocket. I didn’t know if it would work, but I prayed it would. A stinging pain cut through my head when the small device sent out a sharp, tingling sound. The images vanished.

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I raised the gun and shot at the thing. The explosive bullets hit. Flesh was torn, but it did nothing. The damage was repaired in mere instants. Then the creature retaliated. This time, it didn’t bother with my mind. This time it used hard brute force. When the shockwave hit me, I was thrown backwards. I screamed in pain when I hit the floor and the gun clattered away. I ripped out a grenade, was about to activate and throw it when Sandra raised her hands.

“What do you want?” she called out, panting and shaking.

The thing laughed from the dozens of mouths all over its newly formed body.

“This is not your realm! You don’t belong here! This invasion of yours won’t succeed! More of us are on the way and they will destroy you! It’s futile!”

The distortion device in my hand disintegrated, and before I could even curse, a new flood of power hit me. I saw images of destruction, of people torn apart, and of a sky in flames.

Sandra grimaced.

“No, that won’t happen. You won’t be able to do any of this!” she screamed.

In an instant, she had two more vials in her hand and swallowed their contents. Right away, I could feel the pressure, the power, emanating from her. I stared at her as her eyes grew wider and wider and her hair stood up.

“Dammit, Sandra, what are you doing!?” I called out to her, but she didn’t even listen to me.

Instead, her hand shot forward, spread out, and a wave of power descended upon the creature in front of us. Flesh exploded and was ripped apart before the creature pushed Sandra’s powers aside. A second later, the creatures behind it were hit and evaporated. Once more, the creature in the hall’s center laughed and I could see how the remains of its underlings were incorporated into its body. A new emotion appeared in my mind. Astonishment, acknowledgment, and then... anger.

Before I could even react, the creature attacked again. Flesh poured from its body, transformed into appendages, no tentacles which shot out in our direction. I could do nothing but throw myself back, trying to avoid the attack, but I was too slow. A tentacle closed around my arm, jerked it up and twisted it. I screamed in pain, but a moment later, Theodor cut it apart. In an instant, more tentacles shot forward and got a hold of him. He used his combat knife, tried to do his best to get free, but there were too many of them. They closed around his body, constricted him, and began tearing at his limbs. The combat knife dropped from his hands and he screamed in pain. Blood ran from his mouth, but he was still trying, still fighting, to get free.

Then gun, where’s the fucking gun? I found it, aimed, but at that moment, Sandra threw out another surge of energy. The tentacles holding Theodor were torn apart. Yet, I could already see how the remains were pulled back and reabsorbed by the main body.

“Fuck,” I heard Theodor curse as he fought himself to his feet.

“Fuck, why didn’t you-“ he screamed at Sandra, but was cut off when the creature in front of us began moving again.

This time, there were no tentacles. No, its entire shapeless body washed over the floor in our direction. I saw a face push from the mess of flesh, a skull, a head. When its glowing eyes focused on me, all the strength left my body. I crashed to the floor and felt blood in my mouth. Jesus Christ, all this from a mere glance. I had nothing to do here, nothing at all!

Then Sandra screamed again. Waves of energy spread out from her body and the thing’s advance was halted. When I looked over at her, I saw how contorted her face was from the effort of holding the creature back.

“What the hell do we do?” I screamed at her.

“There’s nothing we can do! We gave it too much time! It’s too powerful! We won’t win this, not on our own! Get out, leave! I’ll hold it off and-“

“Fuck that,” Theodor spat.

His eyes focused on Sandra, then on me, and then on the people on the ground.

“I won’t abandon them, and I won’t abandon you!”

With that, he ripped out one of the mind blockers I’d handed him and swallowed it.

“There’s no way I’m leaving you here to die! Even if we can’t destroy it, we might push it back again!”

Loud, giggling laughter reverberated through the hall and a second later, more of the people on the ground were torn apart. Theodor’s eyes widened. I saw the rage on his face, the conviction, and I picked up my gun again as he rushed forward. More tentacles shot out, but Theodor was out of it, and cut apart any that got a hold of him. In the meantime, I plastered the thing with explosive ammunition. Sandra was still pushing back the creature’s advance, but her powers were waning and a moment later, we were assaulted again. Another shockwave that sent me to the ground and almost made me vomit. Theodor, however, seemed unaffected and able to continue to push on. At least for a moment. Then even he was driven to his knees under the creature’s raw power. Sandra, too, was on the ground, panting. Her powers were entirely spent.

I stared at the thing in front of us and waited for another assault. No, I waited for it to end it, but it did nothing. Then I heard stone grinding and flesh twitching behind us. When I turned, my eyes grew wide. The opening of the hall was closing.

“I told you to get out. I told you, but now…” I heard Sandra curse.

She mumbled something else, but it was indistinguishable. For a second her hands were shaking before she quieted them and I saw her down another vial, then another.

“Fucking hell,” I cursed.

Theodor was still on the ground, but a moment later, I saw him get to his feet. No, he was being lifted by the thing’s powers. A limb grew and a bony hand formed that got a hold of him. For a moment, it was almost caressing him before the creature’s glowing eyes focused on Theodor. He screamed up as it brought a surge of power down on him. His body started shaking and convulsing. I unloaded on the thing, threw a grenade against it, but my attack was thwarted and deflected effortlessly. Nothing. There was nothing I could do!

Then I felt something. Pressure. Power. Unbridled, unrestrained power. My eyes turned to Sandra. Her body was contorted, but she lifted herself into the air. The ground in front of her was littered with empty vials. A moment later, the hand holding Theodor was evaporated. Yet, he didn’t fall to the ground. He was held up and protected by Sandra’s powers.

When I looked at her, no hint of the person she’d once been remained. She was a blood-covered banshee. Blood was running from her nose, her mouth, even her eyes as she pushed on relentlessly. What would it do, though? Hadn’t she said the thing was nothing but energy and had no real body? Then what could we, no, what could she even do?

Right then, I caught something out of the corner of my eye. The barrier behind us was stretching and a moment later, some sort of creature slipped through and was about to throw itself at Sandra. Before it reached her, I threw myself in its path, pushed it to the ground and shot it.

When I looked up, I saw Theodor. He was upon the thing’s massive, fleshy body. I watched as he plunged his hands into it and saw him tearing at it. Yet, there was only giggling laughter. And for the first time, words appeared in my mind, words spoken in a distorted version of my own voice.

“So much effort for nothing.”

Sandra’s body was shaking. For a moment, it looked like she’d crash to the floor, but then she let out a bloodcurdling scream as she sent out the full force of her powers. One of her hands went forward. It opened wide and slowly pushed down. Her eyes grew wide, and I watched in horror as more blood gushed from them. Then she closed her hand. Anger erupted from the thing in front of us, boundless anger, but in mere moments, it was all pushed aside by Sandra’s will. I saw her bloodied mouth turn into a satisfied grin as she ripped her hands upward.

“Got you,” she spat with a mouthful of blood.

I stood there, not understanding, but I didn’t have time to think. More creatures slithered in from behind us, desperate to protect their master. As I fired the few remaining rounds of explosive ammunition, I readied two flamers. They flew in a wide arc before they drenched the barrier’s opening and the creatures in hot, burning flames.

When I stared back at Sandra, her arms were contorted and twisted. Her fingers were torn apart, burst open from sheer power, power she wasn’t able to contain. She ripped both of her arms upward and I heard the bones in them snap.

“Now,” she screamed and sent out a last surge of power before she crashed to the floor, vomiting blood.

In front of Theodor, something was torn from the creature’s body. It was nothing but a tiny, glowing thing, no bigger than a fetus. Another shockwave exploded outward. I was thrown to the ground, the air was pushed from my lungs and I felt blood in my throat. Yet Theodor could somehow endure it and held onto the small thing in his hands. And then, from the corner of my eye, I saw how he plunged his hands into it and tore it apart.

An explosion of blazing light and an ear shattering scream filled the hall before all was quiet again. Yet, for a moment, I felt something else, a different emotion I couldn’t read.

As I lay there, I was close to passing out from the pain. I ground my teeth and screamed at myself to stay conscious. Sandra was on the ground near me. She was a battered mess. I could see the weird angle of her broken arms and her torn fingers. Her eyes were wide open, but unseeing. Her face was still contorted and covered in blood, her own blood. I saw her body twitch and for a second, her eyes became clear. Her mouth opened, but she didn’t speak. Instead, another surge of blood erupted from it before she lay still again.

“Sandra,” I called out as I fought myself to my feet and stumbled towards her.

When I touched her body, it felt cold, so cold. Her pulse was there, but it was weak, almost nonexistent. I poured some healing contraptions over her body, but I wasn’t sure if it would even do anything. Her eyes fluttered open before they fell shut again. I turned to Theodor.

“Why didn’t you run? Why the fuck? We might have been able to get out, all three of us, but you, you-“

“It wasn’t me. Sandra was the one who destroyed it,” he mumbled. “If she hadn’t torn it apart, then-“

“I don’t give a shit! Look at her! Look at her body, her arms, her hands! She’s fucking dying!”

Slowly, ever so slowly, he turned towards me. His face was ghastly white. Something about his expression was different. At first I didn’t know what it was, but then I realized it was shock. No, it was terror, sheer and utter terror.

“Do you know what Nietzsche once said, Dylan?” he asked in a low voice.

“I don’t give a shit about Nietzsche! Because of you, Sandra’s... fuck!”

Theodor didn’t even react, didn’t even listen to me. Instead, he babbled on.

“And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”

I stared at him, not sure if I should punch him or shoot him here and now.

“I saw it, Dylan. The place this thing came from and I know what’s coming for us. There’s no hope. There’s no freaking hope!”

With that, he clutched onto his body and shook uncontrollably.

Around us, the entire area reverted to normal as the creature’s influence waned. The grand hall and its strange proportions changed back to nothing but stacked stone and debris. The barrier behind us vanished and the contorted hallways grew smaller. Gone were the strange, impossible constructions, the edges and portals. None of it remained.

And I, I just stood there, holding Sandra in my arms, praying she’d survive. All I could think about as I stared down at Theodor was one thing.

Fuck monsters and fuck Nietzsche.