The sky was illuminated red from the countless flaming projectiles hovering around the fiery heart.

  Master and pet gulped as they felt the boss lock right unto them. How?! They didn't fucking know! But, they could sense impending doom approaching as it resumed beating.

  — THUMP! THUMP! —


  Following their master's command, a dozen projectiles flew their ways in arcs. But this time, it was different, and not just a small difference either. These things were freaking homing!

  "Oh crap, follow my lead!" Jack shouted as he fled as fast as he could.

  "Woo!" (Heroic!)

  But was it possible to outrun these projectiles? Nope. Could they be dodged? Not really either. The only solution was to block them.

  Jack ran for the nearest stone pillar.

  He stood in front of one as he waited, checking its surface. He had the time to notice the chicken engravings and even how there seemed to be some writing. He even had the time to evaluate the weight of the thing.

  He sensed the attacks approaching, and he could already feel the scorching heat on his back. But even then, he waited. He waited until it was almost too late. That's when he finally acted.

  As he threw himself behind the pillar, Moon Moon followed, and so did the projectiles. But, the latter exploded on the damn rock.

  They had survived, but the rock hadn't. It had been broken into pieces and melted: this could have been them.

  "Woo?!" (Shocked!)

  Moon Moon stared at the scene of destruction while shaking. This had been so close. Also, what was wrong with this red thing in the sky?! Fire was for cooking! This wasn't freaking cooking! Was it mad?!

  "C'mon, we have to run." Jack hurriedly reminded.

  — THUMP! THUMP! —


  As the heart thumped again, more projectiles were thrown their way. The creature was intent on annihilating them.

  They ran, they hid, and they witnessed rocks turn into lava. All until the same as earlier happened, with the heart becoming listless.

  "Let's hit it some more!"

  "Woo!" (Angry)

  After being used as shooting targets, they were hella pissed. Every blow barely impacted the thing, but it felt really fucking good. But, all good things had an end, and so did this one. The heart regained its bearings.

  — Thump! —


  — Thump! Thump! —


  — THUMP! THUMP! —


  It was once more in the sky, akin to a god looking down on mortals. Yet, this wouldn't discourage them in the least.

  "So what if you're thumping?! Beat while you still can, cause it's gonna be a cardiac arrest soon!" Jack shouted to the thing.

  "Woo!"

  Flaming birds flew their way.

  Rocks pillars were rising all over the place.

  Homing flaming birds joined the fray, mixing with the others.

  But then something new happened. The entire floor below their feet began glowing red. No, it wasn't just glowing, but thumping too.

  "Woo?!"

  "I don't like this either." Jack spat out.

  Moon Moon valiantly growled at the ground, expecting danger to show up any second. But that's when Jack gestured it to follow him as he…scaled a big rock? What for?!

  "C'mon, hurry up! The sooner we have the high ground, the better." He mumbled.

  Human and wolf huddle on top of a rock pillar, a very thin one. But a second later, they were fucking glad that they did!

  The floor turned red, fiery, and finally, it became a literal sea of fire. That's when the cry of a flaming chicken resounded as the fire slowly began rising. It seemed that it was time to play the floor is lava.

  Luckily they were safe in their current position— or were they?

  Just as they were chilling into what seemed like a hellish oven, Moon Moon howled as a warning. Lowering his eyes, Jack saw the danger his pet was warning him about. A protrusion on the rock was turning into a chicken.

  Jack quickly slapped it as it regained its initial form. But he already felt a headache coming as more began to appear.

  It was time to play Wack-A-Chicken again. But, this time, a single failure would spell their doom. It would just take one push to send them tumbling into the lava below. Needless to say, they weren't lava-proof at all!

  — Wack!—


  — Wack! Wack! —


  — Wack! Wack! Wack! —


  "Let it end! I'm already tired of whacking chickens!" Jack complained aloud.

  — Wack! Wack! Wack! —


  — Wack! Wack! Wack! —


  — Wack! Wack! Wack! —


  He kept going, his hand as true and steady as a man shaving his balls. Moon Moon was even helping on the side, slapping its paw on the rock the best it could.

  Then calm finally returned.

  The lava receded, the heart fell down again, and they could finally take a breather. But would they? Hell no! They had a beating to dispense!

  "Tch— It's boring when the opponent isn't bleeding or crying out for mercy," Jack commented as he slashed the heart nonstop.

  "Woo!" (Annoyed!)

  What was wrong with this thing! Hearts were supposed to be juicy, tasty, and bloody! This one tasted like smoke. How horrible!

  "Don't worry. I think it's almost over." Jack reassured his pet as much as himself.

  — Thump! —


  — Thump! Thump! —


  — THUMP! THUMP! —


  The flaming heart regained its place amongst the stars, but it felt different. It was as if it was finally getting serious. Were the mortals still alive? This time it would thoroughly crush them!

  Even then, this round began like all the previous ones:

  Flaming birds flew their way.

  Rocks pillars were rising all over the place.

  Homing flaming birds joined the fray, mixing with the others.

  A sea of fire rose once more, covering the entire ground and some more.

  What could be worse than the above? All of the above at fucking once! The rock pillars began to float all over the place, some stationary and some in movement.

  Geysers of fire began gushing from below at regular intervals, with them having to evade them.

  Projectiles were sent their way continuously. Some were normal regular ones, while some were homing ones.

  They had to hop from floating pillar to floating pillar while avoiding all of it. It was Hell. Literal and metaphorical freaking Hell!

  "This is such a fucking pain!"

  "Woo!" (Angry!)

  At this moment, the wolf and the human seriously considered just diving into the lava and being done with it. Heck, they could even do a flip for bonus points! This whole thing was freaking torture!

  The heart was toying with them. This freaking goddammit heart was having the time of its life! It just floated there, happily sending a rain of fire their way. Talk about an asshole!

  But that's when Jack suddenly noticed something. All along, the rocks had been slowly moving as they hovered.

  It almost seemed like….it was forming a path toward their enemy?!

  "Holy shit, Moon Moon, look at that!"

  "Woo?!" (Puzzled)

  "We're fighting back, right now! Hurry!" Jack shouted as he began jumping from rock to rock, heading for the boss.

  "Woo!" (Vengeful!)

  The closer they came and the more projectiles they were facing. But, every other second, they could progress as the heart took a 1-second break.

  Then they finally reached the last stretch. There was a relatively large pillar that made a runway straight to the boss. This was almost over!— or so they thought.

  There was one last obstacle awaiting them, one that already had the little wolf whimpering….