Toka-Ace #1: The Re-Emergence
Chapter 28

Superbeast charged at me.

I ran to meet the monster with the last of my strength. My whole body was in pain, straining as I pushed it for energy that it didn’t have. The flesh on my shoulder had been ripped away. Over my other shoulder was the backpack containing the bomb, my only chance.

Superbeast and I ran straight at each other seconds away from colliding!

At the last moment I jumped aside. I was hoping that it would try to eat me so that I could shove this bomb in its mouth and ignite it.

Superbeast swung its tail around whipping up an enormous amount of sand. All I had to do was stay out of range and wait for my chance. I didn’t even have to expend any energy. It should have been easy.

I saw the tail coming from overhead to slam down on me. I jumped to the side. More sand was thrown up around me. I saw the monster turn and swing a massive paw at me. The tail swung at me again, and I jumped to the side. Then I dodged another slash.

The tail came down at me once more. I jumped out of the way and was on guard against another slash but it suddenly darted at me with a burst of speed that caught me off guard.

I felt the cage of teeth close around my body and I was lifted off the ground. I screamed. I felt teeth tearing into my abdomen, back, legs and shoulder. The left half of my body was in Superbeast’s mouth. The right half was outside.

“Troy!” Katherine shrieked. She was wide-eyed and powerless to do anything to help me.

Oh, God, I was really going to die.

I looked and saw the teeth sinking further into my abdomen. My blood pooled around the tooth and stained the tooth. My consciousness faded in and out. I faintly noticed that I was bouncing up and down.

Superbeast was on the move. I looked to my right. Blackness closed in. Then my eyes opened and I saw the water.

Somewhere in my mind I realized what was happening. Superbeast wasn’t going to eat me; it was going to drown me.

I needed to get away. But I could feel the strength leaving my body. It was weird; I could feel my life leaving my body through where the teeth went through my body. I couldn’t feel anything on the left side anymore.

I tried to move my right arm.

“Troy! The backpack, Troy! Use it!” Katherine screamed.

Her voice penetrated to fog. It took a moment for me to process. Oh yeah, the backpack. A bomb. I was going to win. Or that’s how it was supposed to go.

The water got closer.

I was supposed to use the bomb. That’s what was supposed to happen. But there was no time for that now.

I was beginning to fade again.

“Troy!”

I was faintly aware of the backpack on my shoulder. It had started to slide off. I tried to tighten my grip on it.

Superbeast had plunged into the water. It was a jarring cold that rushed over me.

By some miracle I had been able to hold on to the backpack.

I had started to feel…peace. Suddenly, I was seeing the smiling face of my foster mother. She might as well have been my real mother. She was so wise. Deep down, all I wanted to do was make her proud.

Andrew, he was always joking. Everyone liked him. He was the rock star. He might as well have been my real brother.

What happened? We had such a promising life ahead of us. Everything was taken away.

Superbeast lifted its head. I was thrown into the air. I remembered the pain in my body; I remembered the pain in my heart, all thanks to Tovlin. I snapped back to consciousness.

I was falling into the waiting jaws of a monster.

I swung the backpack into Superbeast’s mouth. I ignited it with a bolt of electricity. That was it, all I had. My arms and legs went limp. All I could do was fall. I can’t really remember what happened next.

Ka-boom! Bright orange flames filled my vision and then my world became a wild spinning frenzy. I felt myself floating and then I can remember laying on sand, water lapping over my legs.

I was completely exhausted. My body felt like a slab of steel had been dropped over my arms legs and torso.

White flames washed over me and I was plain Troy Haden again. My eyelids felt so heavy. I tried to force myself to keep my eyes open.

Katherine filled my vision. “Hold on, Troy,” she said frantically. “Stay with me.” I gave into my exhaustion. After all, Katherine was with me, and she would know what to do.

The next thing I knew I was in complete blackness. In the distance there was a light.

I felt compelled to reach for it. I never had such a feeling of calm. It was as if my heart had been dipped in light.

Yes this is where I need to go. I was sure of it. The light was getting brighter. The darkness had been chased away. I was engulfed in this light.

“I’m sorry, Troy,” I heard as I was about to reach my hand out. “But it’s not time for you to join me yet.”

Then the darkness returned.