"I swear to God, I'm going to drop out!"

A young man stomped his way through the vacant halls of a college university with an intense glare etched onto his face. Cheers and booming music rang out through the doors of the auditorium that lined the walls of the hall.

"Hey, kid!" shouted the security guard standing in front of the doors. "I'm going to call the police if you don't show me an ID!"

"I told you that I left it back at my dorm!" The young man turned to face the guard, "You already won't let me get into the pep rally, and now you're trying to arrest me?"

"Of course I am! I'm starting to question if you're even a student in this university." said the guard.

"I am!"

"If so, then what's your major?" the guard clutched his gun as he waited for an answer.

A grin formed on the young man's face, "Strapped up, eh?"

"I'm not joking!"

With the guard drawing his weapon, the young man was forced to raise his hands into the air, "I'm a major in Biological Sciences! This is a hate crime against smart people!"

"Smart people? You just came up with that major on the spot! There's no I'm going to believe a rascal like you is smart! Just look at your hair!" He lowered his gun and chuckled, "Look, kid. I had a bad day, and bullying you made me feel better. Have a good one."

"You know what?"

The young man bit his tongue and groaned, turning away to head back to his dorm. A random day in the tail end of the summer, ruined by a series of unfortunate events.

Missing the bus to his first period class left him thirty minutes late. That forced him to stay after class to take notes on the material, which snowballed into him being late for each following class. Throw in a couple of failed exams and a stolen laptop, and you have the ingredients which composed one of the worst days of the young man's life.

To make matters worse, the student ID required to enter the pep rally was resting somewhere in his dorm room....And of course, it was on the other side of campus.

He made it no secret that he detested college life, just searching for the perfect excuse to drop out. Admittedly, choosing a major in Biological Sciences was not the best move he could have made either; However, it fell in line with what his dream was.

That dream was to find a way to revive the dead. A truly childish dream, one that nearly every human on Earth knew was impossible. This worldwide doubt never stopped him though. He put his head down and continued to drive forward to his desired future. That's the advice almost every inspirational speaker gives, right?

Well...things weren't as simple as they seemed. It could be a result of bad planning, or horrible luck. Either way, the young man was slowly coming to the realization that he should have listened to those "naysayers". He currently found himself as an 18 year old who struggled to even earn subpar grades, who struggled to land a job anywhere, who struggled to even form proper relationships.

As time progressed, he grew to despise this dream that he once held in high regard. Chasing it sent him crashing into a wall at full speed, leaving him unable to see what was ahead.

"Kid!" The guard ran over to him and grabbed his shoulder, "Hey, I was just joking! What's your name? I should be able to let you in if I see your name in the ID system."

"It's Colt. Colt West."

The guard covered his mouth and took a step back, "Colt...West?"

"Yeah! What's so funny?"

"You idiot!" He erupted into laughter as he made his way back to the auditorium, "You honestly thought you were getting in? Piss off."

"Dick..."

After a considerable amount of time, Colt eventually reached the male's dormitory.

As he turned the corner to reach his room, a flash of fuchsia pink light shot past him. Time froze, granting him the view of what appeared to be a woman's face. The details were hazy due to how fleeting it was, but her skin appeared to be a captivating shade of terra-cotta brown. Through all of that, he had no chance to get a view of her eyes.

Before he could get a second look, the woman had vanished into thin air, leading him to dismiss the strange occurrence as a hallucination. Women weren't allowed to enter the males' dormitory anyway.

"Man...this might be my sign to drop out. I don't have anything keeping me in this dump." He stepped into his room and flopped down onto his broken mattress. The dim lights flickered in tune with his fading consciousness as he looked over to see the symbol of his most recent altercation, his ID. One look at the photo reminded him that he wore a fake smile while taking the picture. His mother had him dress up "proper", forcing him to wear a tuxedo and slick back his hair with thick hair gel. It took him hours to wash it out, reverting his black hair back to its spiky glory.

The static of his battered tv snapped him out of his trance.

"-and it makes me sad. Just knowing that I have to move on without my daughter...she was only 15...15!" cried the old lady who was currently being interviewed on some news channel.

He rushed to turn off the tv as her cries brought back horrific memories. While her distraught voice was saddening for sure, it was her words that truly struck chords within him.

-

It was now late noon, meaning that the pep rally was nearly over. At this point, there was no real reason for him to go. He would be able to make it if he ran, so that's what he decided to do. Even if it was for a minute, he didn't want to give up and collapse in his room just yet. With the horrible luck he had been experiencing so far, the luck balance of the universe was bound to shift in his favor soon enough. Just like the pilot episode to an anime, where some reject goes from living in the slums to a life of luxury with one fateful meeting. That meeting may be what was awaiting him in the auditorium.

After making sure to grab his ID, he rushed to the auditorium.

"It's time to turn this shitty life around!"

The halls leading to the auditorium were as empty as before, with cracked floors and burn marks lining the walls. Thick black smoke leaked out from the doors of the auditorium, with the body of the guard from before splattered onto a wall.

That cheeky grin he wore when mocking him had been reduced to a subtle frown, with his wide eyes narrowing in exhaustion. The complexion faded from his skin, further highlighting the trail of fresh blood that leaked from the depression in his forehead.

"Wait-What the fuck?" He came to a screeching halt as he came to reality. "What happened?"

The booming cheers from before had been replaced with ear piercing screams and wails, overpowering the techno music that played from the speaker in the auditorium.

If this were some sort of fantasy movie, he would have dug into exactly what was happening, letting curiosity take control; However, this was no movie, prompting him to choose flight.

As he scurried through what used to be the pristine halls of the university, a group of security guards rushed past him in the direction of the auditorium.

Are they serious? Oh well. Better them than me-

Before the thought could even finish, a thick warmth splashed onto his back, staining his white hoodie. Losing all of the agency within his body to the rising levels of dread, he turned around to see some sort of cryptid standing over the corpses of the guards who were just alive.

The grotesque being let out shaky gasps from its three mouths, standing on its hind legs to size Colt down.

Without a second thought, Colt shot towards the exit at the back of the hall, with the beast's ferocious growls growing closer with each frantic second. Sirens blared out, with red lights beaming throughout the entire building. Even as the thick smoke obstructed his view, he kept his gaze locked onto the door.

This door served as the light at the end of the ever constricting tunnel. The soul crushing fear and confusion he felt converted into pure adrenaline, letting him reach the door, just narrowly avoiding the beast's attack.

The light of hope fizzed out as more beasts resembling the one that chased him out here showed themselves. Hanging from trees, frolicking in the fields, bursting through gates, they were everywhere.

With no time to even let the fear sink in, he was blasted into the ground from behind. The roaring pain of his skull bouncing off of the rigid concrete reverberated through his body, eliciting a groan from him.

He wiped the blood from the gash on his forehead and forced himself to stand up.

Is this it? Am I gonna get killed by some ugly ass monsters like this?

One of the beasts taunted him by spitting out the eyeball of one of its victims, giggling like a child.

Freak accidents are surprisingly common occurrences in this life, sort of going against the nature of the phrase itself. Someone dying from a fall from a Ferris wheel, eaten alive by a wild dog, suffocating in a manhole, a near infinite number of nightmarish scenarios. But that's all they were, nightmares.

Compared to the more common methods of death, such as gun violence, and disease, these were the wild cards. Most people would hear a case or two about them in the news, feeling a subtle sense of uncertainty line their spines; However, they'd usually hide behind the curtains of...

"That'd never happen."

"What are the chances of that?"

"I guess they were just unlucky."

A commonality found between all victims of these "freak accidents" lied in the fact that none of them believed it could ever happen to them.

"Oh my God, you actually survived that?" asked a honeyed, disembodied voice.

The horde of beasts cleared a path as the woman with the fuchsia-colored hair moved closer to him. She wore a black and white yukata with black sandals. Now that he had a second chance to get a better look at her, he found out why he didn't catch her eyes before: the top half of her face was wrapped in white bandages.

Despite this fact, he could still feel her omnipotent gaze weighing him down.

He drew a deep breath and planted his hands firmly in the soil beneath him, raking through the dirt as he pushed himself onto his knees.

"Y-You're that girl..." muttered Colt.

She squatted down in front of him and rested her hand on his head, "And you can still talk. You're tougher than the other humans here. Just what I was looking for..."

"W-What?"

She reached into the opening in her yukata and retrieved a small pink diamond, "Eat this..."

Everything was moving far too fast. He tried to pull himself together, but that task was impossible.

He lowered his head and let out a gasp of pain.

"Maybe I was wrong." She grabbed his chin and lifted his head up, "If an attack from one of these weaklings did that much damage to you, you won't do."

He slowly dragged his hands up her body, resting them on her shoulders. The flashing pain in his nearly broken back overpowered the sensation of his fingers moving across her smooth skin.

"Who...in the fuck...are you?" He tightened his grip on her shoulders and smashed his skull straight into her face with all of the strength he could muster up.

He was unaware of how much damage he dealt her, but it definitely hurt him. His vision darkened as they both fell over, with him landing on top of the woman.

As his vision came back, he pinned her down by her wrists.

"Who in the hell are you"

Her white bandages were now stained with the blood that leaked from her forehead. Instead of wincing in pain, she still wore that delicate smile from before.

"I stand corrected...That was pretty forceful." She licked the blood that ran down her face and giggled, "You actually put a scratch on me."

"Shut up!" He released her wrists and latched both of his hands onto her neck, squeezing for dear life. "I'm gonna kill you!"

While he was frustrated beyond belief, eyes reddened from anger and pain, she continued to maintain her gentle smile.

The endless veil of madness fogging his vision wavered as the woman shot up and planted a firm kiss onto his lips.

With his pain growing worse by the second, and his grasp on the situation as loose as ever, he couldn't put up a fight anymore. His grip on her neck loosened as she leaned up to deepen the kiss.

While none of the life-threatening attacks from the beasts moved his resolve to live, the simple gesture was enough to bring him down. Her lips were soft and supple, soothing his anxious soul to its core. She even managed to slip her tongue into his mouth, exploring every corner she could reach.

His...enjoyment of this passionate kiss was cut short as a fierce heat shot through his tongue. As if something had stung him, the sharp object released a pool of metallic blood into his mouth, drowning out any traces of their abrupt kiss.

He jumped back and grabbed onto his neck as the pain travelled down into his throat.

Soon, he lost the ability to breathe, with the pooling blood leaking from the corners of his mouth in a warm cascade of scarlet.

The woman stood in front of him with her tongue playfully hanging out of her mouth, "I gave you a treat. I hope you'll survive."

She swiftly turned her back and walked away, leaving him on his knees to choke to death.

What the fuck? She slipped something sharp in my mouth! Was it one of those diamonds?

He fell onto his back as the pain began to recede. Confused on whether this was a result of the pain actually fading, or his life. The clear skies above him began to spin in a violent vortex, ridding him of the ability to make out any of his surroundings.

Come on...It's really ending like this?

The crowd of monsters surrounding him began to close in. Their predatory gazes were visible through his heavy eyelids.

Like this? So lame...wait-I guess this makes sense...I did all I could in this world. I want to find a cure for death...but I'm nowhere near smart enough to make it happen. I'm failing in college, and in life...

One of the monsters bit down on his right arm, while his left leg was chomped on by another monster.

No...I can't die yet...I failed in this world...but these guys are proof that there's another world out there. I need to see it...I might be able to make a living there!

More monsters began to bite down on him, tugging at his body like a pack of wolves would do to a deer carcass.

There was no clear sense of anything, just pain all over. Through his reddened vision, the wild creatures seemed to mock him as they tore through his flesh.

That diamond...She fed it to me...I wonder what it does...

Heat began to swell within his stomach, reimbursing all of his lost senses.

He was covered in blood, but it didn't belong to him. A quick look around him proved that the blood came from the shattered teeth of the monsters that attempted to bite him.

I can move again? I thought they ate me!

The fuchsia haired woman stood on the other side of the courtyard, simply observing.

I need to know...where these guys came from. I need to see this other world...

"Get off of me!"

He ripped through the face of the monster that held his arm, and stomped his foot through the skull of the monster at his leg.

She knows of another world! Fuck this place...

"Pinkie! Take me back with you!"

He jumped up and blitzed through the other monsters surrounding him. Shrouded in a mist of the grotesque creatures, he sought after the woman at the end of the yard.

He soon found himself drowning within a thick cloud of dark aura, but he continued to crash into the beasts with every ounce of his being.

That crystal did something to me...I feel different!

"Tell me!" He started rushing towards her as she continued to smile at him, "Tell me where you came from! I know that I just died! How am I alive?"

She turned her back to him, letting the next swarm of monsters approach.

I see...from what she said earlier...It seems like she was looking for someone that can fight these guys!

"Hey! I already killed a ton of these bastards!" He proceeded to tear through the next swarm of monsters, "Why did you come here?"

She stopped at the entrance gate of the school, slowly turning back to him.

"My, you possess an unnatural amount of strength. How are you still here?" she asked.

The one person who should be feeding him answers appeared to be just as lost as he was.

"What? Don't tell me that you were just screwing around!" He asked, "What was supposed to happen with that crystal?"

She tilted her head and paused for a moment, "He really fought against it?"

This chick's ignoring me!

He clenched his right fist and channeled every ounce of strength into his arm. As he planted his foot firmly on the ground to swing, a dark purple aura spiraled around his fist.

The woman's smile faded before she grabbed onto his wrist, bringing him to an abrupt stop. The spirals of aura faded within seconds.

"Core energy huh?' She licked her lips with a scoff, "I guess you've awakened your core as soon as I slid the diamond inside."

The bedazzling speed and strength at which she managed to grab his fist and bring him to a complete stop shook him to the core. Just from the way she easily dealt with his headbutt from earlier, he knew that she was built different; However, this was on another scale.

"Lucky...Really lucky. I've never really seen anyone fend off my power before, you're a rarity." she said.

"Wh-What?"

She caved his stomach in with an earth-shattering palm strike, sending blood shooting from his mouth.

As she released his wrist, Colt crashed down to his knees, gasping for air. While his surging adrenaline masked most of the actual pain, the sensation of his ribcage caving inward would embed itself into the cavities of his mind until the end of time.

"My name is Fuchsia." She playfully whispered, "I'm gonna keep in contact with you, kay?"

"Wait...T-Take me..."

She's leaving...

Get up!

Get up...

G-Get up...

...