The stench of stale beer and sweat impregnated everything as Gabe pushed through the heaving crowd towards the band - he knew this venue; the smell, the heat, but it was bigger, a lot bigger than he remembered. He blinked through the Strobe lighting, desperately trying to see beyond the wall of black t-shirts and wet hair. A disarming sensation of being out of his depth crept over him like a rising tide, every which way he looked he was surrounded by a faceless stranger a foot taller and a couple stone heavier than him - he felt like a kid, lost and alone. He pushed and strained against the natural flow of the crowd, he could hear the band at the far end of the venue and could see glimpses of the stage, but as hard as he tried, he couldn't get any further.
Then someone caught his eye, someone familiar - it was only for a fraction of a second, nothing more but every fibre of his being told him that's who he was looking for. He pushed his head down between the crowd and squeezed through, following the disappearing figure. As he neared, he caught glimpses of the back of a battered leather jacket. He knew that jacket, it was his jacket, it was Nate's jacket. Gabe became frantic, pushing harder through the crowd, only to hit an even denser pocket of bodies, until he burst through and hit the bar.
Only then did he realise where he was - what night this was. Gabe rested his head against the bar, fighting against the sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach.
'Hey man, what'll it be?'
Gabe looked up to see the unmistakable figure of Levi, the lead singer of The Voice of Reason staring back at him, illuminated in full seedy, music-video lighting with an accompanying smoke machine.
'Shouldn't you be on stage?'
Levi picked up a glass, wiped it clean with a cloth and poured himself a drink, as the noise of the bar grew louder. 'It's your dream, kid - you tell me.'
Then he stopped abruptly, as if digitally paused, before leaning forward with the sort of smile that comes before violence and beckoned Gabe closer. As he leaned in, Levi cupped his hand by Gabe's ear and whispered: 'you shouldn't be here. Not today, Kid - at least not this today, ' then he knocked his drink back in one go and winked knowingly.
Gabe felt the overwhelming urge to run but the bar was too crowded. He stepped back and put all his weight into pushing his way out, but there were just too many people behind him, so he twisted and pushed until he found a gap and squeezed - squeezed until the crowd split and he rushed head first into a group of skinheads, spilling their beer and plunging the bar into a deathly silence as the sound of glass smashed against the cold stone floor.
Gabe, staring up at their cold expressions, immediately apologised. Every single pair of eyes were now on him, every bitter accusation towered over him as they gradually moved closer in silent menace; gathering until there was no more room, no more light, no more air to breathe and still they gathered - squeezing the air out of his lungs.
The mounting pressure squeezed a broken cry from his mouth as the last remaining light disappeared into an ocean of darkness.
The last thing he heard were his ribs crack as the blood rushed to his face.
Gasping, he awoke bolt upright. His top drenched with sweat. Holding tightly to his knees in the dim neon light of his bunk, he filled his lungs with cold air until, gradually, his breathing returned to normal. This had to stop.
Shivering in cold sweat, he threw off his blanket and staggered to the shower cubicle, he rested his head against the tiles, allowing the warm water to cleanse him. Praying for any rest bite from the dumpster fire of his own mind.
He joined Jaibles and Monkey some time later in the bridge, with a large bourbon and a strong coffee. Neither of them looked like they had seen much sleep either.
Precious few words were spoken as they approached the vast forcefield that glowed menacingly ahead of them. Jaibles cut the lights bathing them in electric blue and loaded up a Voice of Reason album - the heavy bass line kicked in as static rippled across the glassy blue wall.
Gabe pushed it all to the back of his mind.
A sea of Champions gathered hesitantly behind them, their twinkling lights shining brightly in their thousands against the cold darkness of space, as God loomed heavily over them.
The plan, what there was of one, was simple: get in, destroy their demons and get out before the virtual world became too overcrowded and dangerous - but given nothing had gone to plan in all of Gabe's life, he wasn't holding out much hope.
Passing through the thin blue wall of static, all motion ceased and a harsh gridded white light tore through the bridge. Gabe shielded his eyes, feeling the light creep slowly over his brain. All he could taste were grilled onions as the bridge filled with the intense smell of burning rubber.
Then it began.
The shock of daylight took him by surprise, it had been so long since they saw anything resembling sunlight that Gabe had to slow for a moment to adjust. He blinked heavily as the landscape began to take form in front of him.
Scorched and arid mountains, jagged and colossal, dominated the landscape. The Archangel weaved through the narrow crevices and razor thin passes which appeared to be the only route through the maze of rocky outcrops.
Gabe did what he could to work out the parameters of the world he now found himself in, but it was too vast and bordered on all sides by a wall of rock that soared upwards and out of his sight. It looked like a termites nest of scorched rock housed in an immense circular mountainous pit.
There seemed an infinite number of crevices and passes to outrun anything that came for them, but once it became populated by all the other Champions and their demons, it would soon become treacherous.
Above them, a hazy purple atmosphere formed an impenetrable domed ceiling - they were trapped.
They saw white flashes of light as each new champion entered the arena. It could only be a matter of time before their demons found them, so they stayed as high as they could to see what was coming for them; to see what form their demon took to please this God.
Gabe didn't have to think very hard, he knew what was coming.
Then a wall cracked open and out they came, in their hundreds: monstrous, distorted demons, each a hundred-foot tall. The fevered, nightmarish representations of hurt, fear, anger and mistrust.
The Forcefield had spidered through their darkest thoughts and memories to find that one event, that one moment, that one face that had tethered itself to all their crippling shame and fear - then it pulled, dragging it laughing and screaming to the surface.
Loved ones, dead or abandoned, once trusted friends and family dominated the hundred-foot crowd, snarling and exaggerated, as if captured from a child's memory - because for most, that's exactly what they were.
Then Gabe saw it, his demon, it was unmistakable.
In fairness, it saw him first. As soon as it lurched out of the side of the wall, it came straight for him. All Gabe could do was sit there, frozen, his stomach in knots as a flood of hurt and anger welled up inside him - he knew it was coming but still, how do you prepare yourself for something like that.
It crawled, screaming over the rocky terrain, reaching out at him, clambering to get hold of him. His leather jacket was tattered and torn, his facial features were distorted and grotesque but it was unmistakably him.
'Sweet cherry pie,' muttered Jaibles. 'What the Hell is that coming for us? Monkey?'
'Don't look at me,' said Monkey sizing it up.
'Gabe?' Jaibles reached out and shook Gabe's arm.
'GABE!'
'Arm the cannons,' said Gabe absently.
'Cannons armed,' said Jaibles hammering at his monitor. 'Do you know who that is?'
'That's my brother Nate,' said Gabe, accelerating towards the hundred-foot demon.
He fired off both cannons hitting it directly in the chest. The demon Nate let out a scream but continued its staggering lurch towards them. Gabe navigated his way back around the mountainous peaks, as it launched itself at them, hitting it again with another barrage of cannon fire, but it made no difference.
Twice he narrowly avoided a head-on collision with two other shuttles, tearing between the rocky outcrops to escape his demon. He darted left, just as an explosion of light and metal illuminated the sky above them.
A lethal cocktail of fear, speed and a confined space were beginning to take its toll on the Champions.
'You want to talk about it?' Said Jaibles.
Gabe didn't, he couldn't take his eyes off the demon Nate as he circled around a distorted representation of someone's swimming instructor. He lined himself up to launch another barrage of cannon fire, when a howling demon launched itself from a mountain peak above them - he swerved in the nick of time as the demon's ball of knitting scraped across the top of the shuttle.
'What was that?' yelled Gabe, weaving the Archangel through a treacherous rocky pass and narrowly avoiding another oncoming shuttle, spinning wildly out of control.
'Oh God no, it can't be,' whispered Monkey. 'I haven't thought about Nana Doris in years.' He ran his hands nervously through his beard.
'She never liked me. She always blamed me for Dad leaving.'
The demon Doris launched itself at the Archangel, narrowly missing them as they dive bombed underneath it, seeking shelter and a chance to regroup, but there was none. The arena was total carnage - between the mountain ranges and the demons, the space for the Champions to escape and attack was getting smaller and smaller, exacerbated by sheer panic and confusion.
'She used to make me stand outside in the rain and tell me 'no one would ever love me' - that I was 'ugly' and 'dirty',' he said to no one in particular.
Gabe weaved and tore his way through the rocky terrain and away from the crowds; away from their demons. He hovered above the highest peak and looked down at the chaos below - as each Champion exploded, their demons would collapse into a cloud of dust that swirled through the arena - as far as Gabe could see, that was the only way the demons could be destroyed. So far not one Champion had battled their demon and won.
'They can't be killed,' said Gabe, 'this is just another insane point he's trying to make.'
The thud of another demon crash landed against the rocky slope, sending a cascade of boulders hurtling past them. It let out a blood-curdling scream as it's tattered eyebrows danced upon it's torn and scarred forehead.
'Ah, I was afraid this would happen,' said Jaibles.
'Is that you?' Said Gabe incredulously.
'That's the thing with depression,' he began, 'no one can hurt or hate you as much as yourself.'
'I had no idea,' said Gabe.
'Well, who'd notice another depressed person around here,' he smiled weakly as yet another Champion clipped the edge of a rocky outcrop and careened into the mountain.
'I'd see all my mates with these girls, and I just couldn't bring myself to talk to them,' Monkey muttered.
'What are you talking about, Monkey? Said Gabe, 'all I've seen since meeting you are women and men throwing themselves at you? Literally and figuratively - you're like sugar to them. I've genuinely considered rubbing myself against you in case it's a pheromone you give off.'
'He's right Monkey, said Jaibles. 'There is something about you that all living creatures find profoundly erotic. You really need to start paying more attention.'
Gabe accelerated away from their trio of demons and carefully negotiated his way over to the other side of the arena, watching as they turned and followed their every move, lurching and climbing towards them. Occasionally Jaibles took pot shots at them, but deep down he knew it wouldn't do any good.
'If we can't kill them, then what's the point of any of this?' Said Gabe confused.
'God only knows,' replied Jaibles, 'let's just keep going around in circles - what's the worst that can happen?'
Then, the worst that could happen, happened.
As a Champion swerved out the way of a torrent of oncoming shuttles, it was swiped out of the air by its demon, smashing it into the side of the Archangel and sending them cascading down towards the darkness and the shadows below. Gabe did all he could to land safely, using the sides of the mountain to slide and skate downwards as they crash landed in a cloud of dust and sand before finally coming to rest at the bottom of the rocky ravine.
Sirens rang out as the bridge filled with the acrid smoke of burning mechanical wires. Monkey immediately sprung into action, saving what he could as Gabe rubbed his whiplashed neck. Jaibles turned off the sirens and dropped back into his chair, bereft of hope, waiting for the inevitable.
'Just leave it,' he said as the screams of their demons echoed louder from out of the darkness.
They stared out towards the shadows and the overdue promise of death.
'It's time,' he thought as a tear fell down his face.
A large thud shook the shuttle as a demon landed in the darkness nearby - it's scream pierced through them as they sat helpless. Gabe felt Monkey reach for his arm. He gripped it tightly, grateful to not have to face this alone.
Then a golden light ripped through the darkness, illuminating the demon Doris, leaving it blinded and shielding its eyes as the intensity beat it back towards the shadows. The demons Nate and Jaibles crash landing around them in agony as God miraculously appeared.
A huge cheer roared through the arena as the domed ceiling disappeared, revealing the watching fleet in their viewing gallery, waving their flags and banners.
They sat a gast as God shrunk himself to the size of their demons and made a great show of using his power to vanquish each one, before turning his attention to the rest of the demons, much to the delight of the baying crowd. At one point, he even made it look like he was being overrun before overpowering them at the last, all the while the onlooking crowd played along with the theatre of it all - cheering at each exaggerated kill.
When it was finally over, the mountainous range faded away and he billowed back to his nebulous size.
'Behold your God!'
Alan's voice echoed far and wide as the noise of the crowd increased.
'Behold your brave Champions, who fought bravely, many losing their lives, and yet, not a single one of them were able to defeat their demon.'
Boos and hisses rained down on the Champions.
'So, your heroic God has defeated them for you.'
Cheer and applause billowed down from the baying crowd. '
'Heed this important lesson. YOUR. GOD. IS. COURAGEOUS.'
Cascades of unbridled joy and chanting exploded from the crowd: 'PARADISE AWAITS! PARADISE AWAITS!'
Gabe could only shake his head. Every task stripped away another little piece of him, and now, as he watched them cheer and applaud so much senseless loss, he realised there would soon come a point when there would be nothing left of him to give.
He rose from his seat and turned his back on God and the fleet. Pulling Jaibles and Monkey in for a hug that should have lasted an age, but for now, could only be a temporary sanctuary, a hiding place for them to recover from their deepest and darkest fears, exposed for all to see, as live televised entertainment.
If this is what humanity had become, then it was time to tear it down and start again.