I took a deep breath in, trying to calm my nerves. We were so close to the button, which meant we were so close to returning to the safe, stable ground. The only problem was the massive gap between us and the next platform, and I mean a massive gap. It could have probably fit four platforms in the space of the gap.

"What the hell are we supposed to do now?" I said, pausing for a moment just to make sure 'hell' didn't count as a swear word. It didn't.

As if on cue, the ground began to shake once again. I quickly stepped back so that I was in the middle of the platform, safe from accidentally falling off the edge.

A massive platform rose up from the ground, filling the gap. But as it locked into place, my eyes widened and my jaw dropped at the sight. It was another robotic cat!

This one wasn't a robotic tiger though, on no! This was a colossal robotic saber-tooth tiger. Its massive metal frame gleamed under the harsh fluorescent and flashing lights. Its razor-sharp teeth stuck out over its bottom jaw, like giant swords attached to its face. It towered over us, twice our height, and we would have easily been about seven feet tall now.

"Holy shit!" That was all I could manage to say.

"Naughty word," said the girl as '-$1' appeared in my vision.

Leo and Milo stood their ground but I could see the tension in their bodies. The tiger remained motionless, but I knew there was no way that was going to last long.

"What's the plan?" Asked Milo, not taking his eyes off the beast.

"I mean, it's just a bigger tiger right?" I said. "And those tigers were easy pickings."

"Stay spread out," said Leo. "Use the surrounding platforms, it can't watch all three of us at once."

I nodded.

"And Newt, this is a team effort. We work together," Leo said.

"Of course," I said as I walked over to the edge of the platform. "I always do."

I took a deep breath in, avoiding looking down, and jumped over to the platform with the beast.

As I landed, the saber-tooth roared to life, literally. The roar shook the platform. I crouched down, keeping my weight low so that I didn't fall off the edge. I looked over at the beast as it looked back at me, its eyes glowed a neon red.

The instant the monstrosity twitched to life, Leo and Milo bolted apart in different directions, their heavy bodies rumbled the metal beneath their feet as they went to either side of the platform.

The tiger crouched low as its eyes remained locked to mine. Its hydraulic muscles coiled like a spring, ready to pounce. It sprang forward towards me. I dove out of the way to the edge of the platform. Sliding way too close to the edge for comfort.

"Newt," Leo yelled. "Keep it distracted!"

"Oh sure, no problem!" I yelled back. "I'll just keep the giant death-cat entertained while you two fluff about."

The saber-tooth let out another roar that rumbled through to my core as it reared back its massive paw. Razor-sharp claws, each as long as my hand glinted under the lights. It made me feel tiny standing next to it. Which was a dumb thought to have for my last ever thought as its paw came down at me like a wrecking ball.

I had no choice. I slid off the edge of the platform.

"Newt," Milo yelled as I fell off the edge.

I managed to grab hold of the platform as I fell. I felt the whoosh of the saber-tooth's paw pass me as its claws barely missed my head.

The saber-tooth roared above me, its hot, metallic breath washed over me.

"Hang on Newt!" Milo shouted as he leaped onto the back of the beast, and began punching it in the back of the head.

I tried to pull myself up, but every time I tried, my grip would slip a little bit more. I felt a surge of panic rise.

Suddenly, a hand gripped my wrist. I looked up to see Leo, as he heaved me back up onto the platform.

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"You good?" Asked Leo.

"I fucking hate heights," I replied.

'-$1' appeared in my vision but the girl said nothing, she must have understood now wasn't the time.

"This isn't doing anything," yelled Milo as he continued punching the beast.

"We need to push it off the platform!" Said Leo.

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Yelled Milo.

I looked at Leo, watching the hamster wheel spinning in his head. He still made that dumb thinking face, even if it was now on the face of a robotic cat. It was one of those faces you would see a character make on one of those old cheesy sitcoms from the eighties and nineties, the face they would make right before it would cut to a flashback.

"We need to level up," Leo yelled as he dodged a swipe from the saber-tooth's paw.

"That's your plan?" I said.

"If we can trigger the drones with the lasers. Fighting enough of them should get the level up," Leo replied.

"And so we level up, is that really going to help?" Milo yelled down at us.

"It's all we have," Leo said.

Milo jumped off the back of the saber-tooth, landing beside us on the platform with a resounding, CLANG!

"One of us will need to keep this thing distracted," said Milo.

"I got it, you two go," said Leo.

"You sure?" I asked.

"Go," Leo commanded.

Milo and I nodded as we ran in different directions. I looked behind me as I ran, seeing the saber-tooth turn to follow Milo but Leo grabbed it by the tail.

"Come get me you ugly pussy," Leo taunted it. For anybody else, it wasn't the best line you could have said. But for Leo, it was pretty damn good.

The robotic beast roared as it turned towards Leo, thrashing its tail, trying to shake him off.

I looked across the platforms, trying to find the closest laser that I could trip. Eventually, I saw one only a couple of platforms away.

Speed was the key, as long as I didn't think about what I was doing and just did it fast the fear faded, a little at least. Enough to get me where I need to go. I landed on the platform, sliding my foot across the laser. I waited for a moment before the familiar buzz of drones filled the air, coming in my direction.

"Alright, let's do this!" I yelled at the drones as I stood in the middle of the platform.

The drones buzzed around me like angry metal wasps, their blades a blur as they whizzed past. Three of them again because apparently, you must buy them in three packs. They circled overhead like birds stalking their prey.

One of them eventually grew a pair and dive-bombed me. As it got close to me, I dodged out of the way, and as it went past I spotted an opening and threw what I thought was going to be a Muhammad Ali level right hook.

It wasn't.

Instead of connecting with the body of the drone, as I'd planned, my fist connected with one of its whizzing blades instead. A jolt of pain shot through my hand as the drone's blades sparked against my metal. My health dropped to 280hp.

The drone wobbled for a moment after it hit my hand but quickly stabilized as it flew back up into the air to join its friends. I waited for another chance as they circled, watching their movements, trying to time it just right.

Two of them zipped towards me at the same time. This time though, I successfully connected my fist with the first drone, as I dodged the second. The first drone, spiraled out of control, connecting with its friend as they both erupted in a shower of sparks and metal.

"That's 250xp," the girl screamed. "Just 499xp to go!"

I quickly did the math. "So, about four more drones should get me the level."

THUD!

The sound scared the crap out of me! I spun around to see Milo crouched on the platform with me, his landing straight out of a superhero movie.

"You good bro?" Said Milo sounding super smug.

"You leveled up already?" I asked.

"Yeah, killed a few drones, leveled up a skill. Easy!"

"Skill?"

The girl chimed in. "You are two points away from your athletics and dexterity skill level up."

A bunch of text appeared in my vision, displaying a series of skills like strength, hand combat, stealth, and a heap more. Next to each skill it listed my current skill points and the amount I of points I would need to get the level up.

"What do I have to do to level up my athletics?" I asked the girl, assuming that would be the easier one to level.

"You can earn athletic points by running, or jumping, or climbing, or swimming," she said.

"Wait, why didn't you tell me about these skills earlier?"

"You told me not to."

"What? When?"

"You said, 'can we give it a rest on the skills!'" She said, mimicking my voice perfectly.

The last drone buzzed towards my legs. Milo stood back as it approached, letting me take care of it.

"Watch this," I said to Milo with my own smug tone. "Two birds, one stone."

The drone approached quickly, its blades whirring towards me. I crouched down, coiling my limbs like the saber-tooth had earlier. I launched myself into the air, tucking my knees into my chest as I spun backward.

See, the plan was to do a back flip over the drone, earn an athletics skill point for the flip, and then smash the drone to bits when I landed. That was the plan. What had happened instead was mid-backflip, I remembered I now had a tail. Which meant instead of soaring over the drone my tail had thrown me off balance and I had awkwardly flailed through the air. I caught Milo's smug face as I tumbled ass-over-tit, narrowly missing the drone's blades.

CLANG! I face-planted into the platform in a not so athletic heap of metal as my health dropped to 240hp.

"Nailed it!" I muttered, my face mushed up against the platform.

"That didn't look like you nailed it," said the girl.

"You're lucky these bodies are durable," Milo said as the drone hovered above me.

Mocking me.

I hopped to my feet, glaring at the drone. Seeing red! "Oh, it's on now you flying blender!"

I lunged at the drone, this time my punch connected squarely with its center, sending metal bits flying. The drone sparked and careened wildly before smashing into the platform in a glory of flames.

"Only 324xp to go," said the girl as 125xp appeared in my vision as the bar filled up, nearly all the way.

"Not a word of this to Leo," I warned Milo, pointing a metal finger at him. "Or he might find out about that time you..."

"Okay. Okay," said Milo, cutting me off. "I think I might have an idea though."

"And that would be?" I asked, acting like I didn't care that much.