I'm falling, from hundreds of feet above the air.

This wasn't part of the plan.

——————————————————————————

Underneath Hell High was a large Arena for fights like these. After all, you had a ton of monsters striving to become strong. Of course there will be challenges between them!

And this time, I was one of the fighters.

I won't lie. I'm nervous. I'm afraid. I want to run away.

But I've run too much.

It's time to stop running.

There's no running from this.

I'll fight. Even if it means I lose and have to dance in the middle of the school while on fire.

Because I'm tired of having to have others protect me.

I'm tired of being afraid.

I've been protected by others for my whole life.

Now I'll protect myself.

I have no experience fighting.

But I have a plan.

Here we go.

I stood behind one gate, while Sapphire stood behind the other gate at the opposite end of the arena.

The arena itself was simple. It was like those gladiator arenas, where it's just a flat, even surface.

"Everybody! It is time for the fight!" The announcer's voice reached my ears.

"Here is Sapphire Caer, the school's one and only Dragon, and the second strongest fighter in the whole school!" The announcer introduced.

The crowd went wild.

The gates on the other side opened, allowing Sapphire to walk into the arena.

"Next we have the only human of Hell High, Jackson Walker!" He announced.

The crowd didn't go wild.

The gates in front of me opened, allowing me to enter the arena.

I gulped.

It's now or never.

I walked through the gates, heading towards Sapphire. We both walked towards each other, stopping a short distance away in the middle of the arena.

"You're actually doing this." Sapphire stated, slightly surprised.

"I said I would." I replied.

She looked at me. Eyes filled with hate.

"Why do you hate me?" I accidentally asked.

Oops. I didn't mean to blurt that out.

"Why do I hate you? I hate all of you. You and your people." Sapphire snarled.

"You greedy humans and your lies. I hate all of it." Sapphire stated. "And that's why I won't stand for you being here at this school."

"Sorry." Was all I said. It's true. We humans are greedy.

"Sorry doesn't help. What will help is you leaving. So, are you going to go? Or are you going to be a fool and try and fight me?" Sapphire arrogantly asked.

"I'll be a fool." I shortly replied.

"Fine then." Sapphire growled. "Have it your way."

"In three seconds the match will begin!" The announcer yelled.

"Three!"

...

"Two!"

...

"One!"

...

"Go!"

In an instant Sapphire was already in front of me, light blue scaled Dragon wings now protruding out of her back.

Ah. She could do the same trick that the spider twins and Angela could do.

And in an instant I was on the floor, my cheek throbbing.

"Is that it?" Sapphire asked. "All of that, for this?"

I shakily stood up to my feet. Okay, I didn't expect that. Facing Sapphire, I put my hands up, in some sort of boxing stance.

Sapphire lunged towards me, ready to punch me. This time I was prepared, and guarded. The fist impacted my body, sending me about me feet backwards.

But this time I stayed on my feet.

Another punch, and I slid back again.

"Hey, aren't you going to fight?" She asked.

Another punch, and I slid back again.

Keep blocking. Just keep blocking.

"Fight!" She yelled.

I blocked another punch, and slid backwards again. My arms yelled in agonizing pain. She was a lot stronger than she looked.

"Fight, damnit!" She yelled.

I saw her fist approach me. It was sloppier than her first. I let her guard down.

I twisted my body, moving out of my blocking stance. My fist moved forwards, striking Sapphire in the face.

She stumbled back in surprise, holding her cheek. I shook my hand. Geez, how hard was her skin?

"So you can fight." She muttered.

I can't afford to take another more of her punches. My arms are aching. And now, that same trick wouldn't work again.

So I dodged.

She threw a punch, and I dodged.

[Eagle Eye] helped me see more clearly, and combined with [Freerunner], I was able to anticipate the general direction of where her fists would go.

It wasn't full proof, of course.

I twisted my body to the right, her fist flying past. Quickly backing up, her fist went straight through where I just was.

[Chains of Holy Fire].

The chains appeared around my wrist. I threw the chain forwards, letting it wrap around a surprised Sapphire's waist.

Using all my strength, I slightly yanked her off her feet, allowing me to punch her straight in the face.

I'm sorry! But you started this fight!

She faced me again, now irritated, her hands morphing into light blue scaled Dragon claws.

She swiped at me, and I barely dodged in time. I remember this from the book! They can every parts of their body to their Original form. Using her claws, she continued to swipe at me, while I continued to only barely dodge her attacks. They were real close to hitting.

Sapphire glared at me, growling. "You just won't go down, will you?"

"Fine. I'll use my Original Form and end this quickly". She stated.

And that's when her body started to grow bigger. She was showing her Dragon form. She grew and grew, into a giant dragon.

It's scales were a pretty light blue. She was a western dragon, except for one difference. She had three heads with long necks.

She was a Dragon that was supposed to be extinct.

A Hydra Dragon.

They're not actually a Hydra, but rather a subspecies of Dragon which evolved to have two extra heads it could control. They can't regrow their heads, but they have healing properties which allow them to recover from any injury in twenty four hours. Well, except for decapitation. Due to its similarities with the Hydra, it was named the Hydra Dragon.

Now my plan can come into full effect.

The three heads looked down at me, glaring with their crimson red eyes. They slowly opened their mouth, fire gathering within.

A crimson flame burst from their mouths, spiraling towards me. I quickly ran out of the way, dodging the stream of fire.

I threw my chain, letting it wrap around one of Sapphire's heads. Running around her as fast as I could, I started to wrap the chain around her three necks.

"Hey! Stop that!" She angrily yelled.

I ignored her, continuing to wrap the chain tighter. Her heads struggled, trying to find a way to angle their heads at me. I jumped onto her back, tugging on the chains, making it tighter. I lit the chains with Holy Fire, causing her to scream in agony.

I'm sorry!

You see, Hydra Dragons have extreme regenerative abilities, so any wounds I make could be healed quickly, unless it was a major one. But I don't have the power to make a major injury. So, it's a game of submission. Use her arrogance and underestimation to quickly make her submit. That was the only way.

I feel bad for subjecting her to the pain of the Holy Fire, but I need to win this. Sapphire started to flap her wings, flying up into the air while roaring in pain.

Wait, I didn't account for this-

I was quickly flung off of her by her sudden quick ascension. I wasn't expecting her to suddenly fly. A major miscalculation. One that might cost me my life.

This wasn't part of the plan.

I'm falling.

I'm falling.

Time seemed to slow down as my life flashed before my eyes. Here I was, falling to death during a duel with a Dragon. If you told me I would end up doing this a year ago, I would have never believed you.

But here I am.

Falling.

Is this the end?

No, I can't give up yet.

I quickly brought my [Deathbane Bow] out of my [Inventory]. Putting my chain onto the string, I pulled it back, aiming at Sapphire.

On fire. And, release.

The flaming chain rocketed towards Sapphire at blinding speeds, piercing her wing. Using the chain, I propelled myself towards the flying Dragon.

If I could extend my chain, I could retract it as well. This allowed me to be launched forwards.

Appearing in front of Sapphire, I put it all into one punch.

My Strength.

My Power.

My Belief.

My Hope.

My Dream.

It was cringy, but this one punch represented if everything I had done in my life had made an impact.

And an impact it did.

I punched Sapphire's middle head with flaming chains wrapped around my fist, knocking her completely out cold.

In the book about Dragons, there was a section all about Hydra Dragons. And in it I found out that the Dragon's brain was in the middle head.

Now we were both falling.

Sapphire reverted back to her humanized form, still knocked out.

Falling.

I'm falling once more.

And so is Sapphire.

Am I now dragging her down with me? To six feet under?

No.

Now two lives rest on this. I can't fail.

I reached out to the falling Sapphire, grabbing a hold of her and pulling her into me. Holding onto her tight, I prepared for what was to come.

We rocketed downwards, quickly approaching the ground, but just before we hit a purple portal appeared in front of us.

We landed down in the Hollow, sharply colliding with the ground. That was risky, but it somehow worked.

Using [Hollow Wanderer], I created another portal to lead us back to the middle of the arena. Picking up Sapphire, I walked back through the portal.

We emerged out of the portal, right back in the middle of the arena. Now everybody could see me holding the knocked out Sapphire.

And the crowd went wild.