It took about an hour for Spike to get over his little mental breakdown as he reassured himself that he could beat this, that he had to beat this. He swore that this world would not get to him. He had to make it out okay. He had to survive and make it home. The world was trying to break him, and he wouldn't fall for its tricks!

"You hear me world!" he shouted with a raised fist in an act of defiance, mainly to bolster his self-esteem. "I ain't giving up on getting home! Nothing you can throw at me can bring me down! I'm Spike the Dragon! My friends believe in me, and where I come from friendship can change the world!"

His brief tirade finished, he began to make preparations to make this cave his home. It seemed safe enough, and the portal would be right here for him when it was time to return in one year. He began by digging out as many gems as he could. It was fairly easy to find them, to his surprise. Not only did it seem there were a good quantity in the area, he found that when he focused on it, he could literally sniff them out. Soon enough he had a decent sized stockpile of them to eat for later.

Next, he decided to test something out before he left the apparent safety of his cave. He took a deep breath, concentrating hard on building up a reserve of magic within his body. He built up the air and fueled it with is inner, natural magic. Then, once he felt the perfect balance within his stomach, he let it loose, ejecting a fearsome stream of green fire at a nearby wall. It was an impressive size, the kind he'd always dreamed of having in his fantasies of growing up, and as he stopped the stream, he found the stones of the wall glowing bright from the heat. Following a hunch, he reached up and touched it, and while he felt the heat, it had no effect on him, bringing a confident grin to his face.

"Still fire-proof, baby..."

After checking to make sure his claws were the proper sharpness and his magic was still at a decent level and rising within him, he felt prepared to journey outwards in search of things to make this cave more comfortable. After all, he couldn't live solely off of gems. He needed more to his meals. With his goals set in mind, he made his way towards the exit of the small cave.

After a short period of walking through a small tunnel, Spike found himself at a crossroads. One way led upwards, and he could hear the sounds of wind rustling up above, telling him it led to the surface. While the other way led down deeper, and while he could see in the dark, he couldn't see much down that path just yet. He felt that exploring the deeper path should come later. Right now, he needed to see the surface.

However, the moment he took a step, a droplet of something wet dripped onto his head. He looked up, to see... something... hanging from the ceiling. It looked like a giant bat, curled up in its wings in a deep sleep. A giant bat, only slightly smaller than him. Carefully, he attempted to sneak past, but a loose stone caught his foot, causing him to trip down with a loud thud. Immediately, the creature twitched to life, wings extending as it leaped down from its hanging spot to soar around him. He couldn't make out its features as he pulled himself up, until suddenly it landed before him.

Standing before Spike was a short humanoid creature, with pale brownish gray skin. While it had many bat features, it was clearly something more. For starters, it had both wings and arms, though the fingers on its arms were almost twice as long as his. It had a short cut of dark brown hair on its head, looking very... fluffy, for lack of a better word. It wasn't completely covered by fur like a bat, instead it had it in patches of bushy fluff, such as its shoulders, at the tip of its oddly long, whip-like tail, and in the center of its chest.

Speaking of its chest... well, after a second look, he realized 'it' was more of a 'she,' judging from the small, perky breasts on her chest. And she didn't look happy. Her arms crossed as she gave him an annoyed look. Her eyes were yellow with black slit pupils and black rings around them. Her ears were big and pointed, and her nose was small yet turned up in a somewhat cute way. And peeking out of her scowl were two short fangs. All in all, the only word Spike could use to describe this strange bat creature was... adorable.

"Hey! What's the big idea waking a lady like that?! Why I oughtta..." Before she finished that thought, she seemed to get a good look at Spike, her eyes going wide. Spike had hopes this meant she'd be too afraid to fight seeing as how he was clearly bigger than her, but instead, her scowl turned to a smirk. "Well helloooo stud~! Looks like today is this girl's lucky day~... make this easy on yourself and give up to me now, you lizard stud~!"

"Uh... how about no." Spike stood firm, trying to show strength without being aggressive. He... wasn't entirely sure what she was getting at with him, but he did know that he didn't want to fight. But he also didn't want to give into her demands and risk losing himself somehow. His response brought a strange reaction in the bat-thing. Instead of getting angry or scared, she licked her lips.

"I was hoping you'd say that... I like it when they play hard to get~!"

Suddenly, she lunged for him, swiping at him with her claws with as she flew forward. Thankfully for him, he'd been bracing himself and quickly side stepped her. She swerved and began to hover in the hair, flapping her wings while glaring down at him hungrily. Spike, not having any other choice, took an aggressive stance, ready to fight. He was ready for her to charge again. What he wasn't ready for was for her to let out a high pitched shriek that shook him to his very soul. He stumbled back, ears ringing in pain. He felt disoriented, and as she flew by for another attack, he found himself missing his own swipe at her, giving her an open opportunity to kick him in the back.

Spike pulled himself up as the ringing cleared. It was obvious that he couldn't underestimate her. He heard the swish of her wings, and quickly braced himself as her fist connected with his head. He stumbled back, then brought up his fists to prepare to fight back once again. She hovered in the air before him, letting out a brief, malicious chuckle.

"Oh come on! I was expecting more from a rugged stud like you! Ah well, that just makes you easier to break in!" she taunted. Her words got to Spike... especially the last bit.

In a rush of adrenaline, Spike charged forward, leaping to try and grab her. She flew out of the way in the nick of time, laughing all the while, as Spike landed roughly on the floor with a growl. He needed a plan, he needed a better way to attack her. As much as he hated the thought of it... only one option seemed to come to mind. And he didn't want to kill her by breathing fire. He didn't want to stoop to that level... he felt that's what this world wanted him to do...

Then, as she rushed at him again, an idea came. Spike dove down into a roll, and as he came up he quickly dug up some stone from the floor and crushed it into a fine powder. He could see her inhaling to let out another screech, and as soon as she began to open her mouth, he rushed forward and flung the dust into her face. Her eyes bulged as she began to cough and hack, losing altitude as she tried to clear her throat. That's when Spike had his opening, letting out a strong punch to her stomach. She was flung backwards and struck the stone wall hard, causing her to fall to the ground with a slight, weak shriek of pain. He stood over her limp, frail form, arms crossed.

She shook herself and looked up at him in fear. "D-do whatever you want to me, just please don't kill me. I offer myself to you!" She sat with her legs spread, showing Spike her pussy. He tried to fight back the blush at her... behavior, and shook his head.

"I don't want anything like that. I just want to be left alone. And next time, if you try anything on me..." With that, he let out a short breath of fire. This... seemed to astound her more than intimidate her.

"Holy shit... that was... are you a... dragon? B-but, dragons have been extinct for years! Oh wow! Oh wow wow wow wow wow! I really underestimated you! A real live dragon! But you don't have wings, dragons had wings... oh whatever! This is still awesome!"

Spike felt reassured by her admiration. "So you'll leave me alone?"

"Ha, fuck that nonsense! The colony's gotta hear about this! I mean, if we could get you as a breeding stud, then think of how strong the next generation of bat gremlins will be! We'll be able to build up an even stronger army! Heck, they might even turn out stronger than the upper caste! We could get a lot more done against those damn demons! We have got to have you in our nest!"

Spike let out a groan. His show of force had backfired spectacularly. He'd only made her more willing. And apparently she had friends. Lots, and lots, of friends... Still, if there was anything good that came out of this, he got a name for what they were. Bat gremlins. Whatever that meant.

"Alright, fine then. I'll let you go. I don't want to hurt anybody... but I'll fight anyone you send my way. But first... I want you to tell me whatever you can about what you are, and where I am. I'm... new here, you see?"

"Oh! Wait a minute..." The gremlin trailed off as she looked down the way he'd come from. "You came out of that old thing? Right? Oh wow! A real Champion! Ha, and I thought only humans got tricked into coming here! This just keeps getting better!"

Spike let out another groan, and she seemed to get the hint. "Alright," she conceded quickly, "you deserve to know since you beat me fair and square, stud muffin~. You are in Mareth. It was a nice place before a bunch of dumb magic users twisted themselves into the demons who run this place. They made it all sexy and perverted and stuff, and while it's a lot of fun, we want them gone. They hurt a lot of us that just want to live in peace. So, a lot of different groups of us have been trying to build our own armies to fight them with.

"As for us, we're bat gremlins. We're, well, what we sound like. We're part gremlin, part bat. I guess we used to be cousins to those goblin chicks that hang out on the surface, only we're different from them. They like to make potions, and they're obsessed with fucking and getting pregnant because... well, just because. We gremlins don't like to fight each other like they do though. We all get together in the colony, where we all can work together to try and build our strength. We fly out at night to hunt for strong males to bring back as breeders. Most of us look like me, but the higher caste members from more corrupt breeders come out bigger, stronger, and way sexier. You don't wanna mess with them!

"Any who, that's all I gotta say! I'm gonna go tell the Queen about you now! Better get that package ready... er, wherever it is... because we're gonna make you fuck us senseless~! Bye bye, my sexy stud muffin~!" With that, she flew off down into the depths in a blur before Spike could say anything. He let out a weary sigh.

"Well, at least I know more about what I'm dealing with... I'm going to need to train harder if I'm going to survive another fight..."

As he turned to leave, something caught his attention. A few coins of some kind and a bag, that when inspected closely was shown to have a logo of a pair of bat wings and felt as though it were full of some kind of dust or powder. Not really having anyplace to keep them, he quickly brought them back into his camp to put in the stockpile before heading back out for the surface.

Apparently, outside of the cave was just a barren, misty wasteland. Wandering about, trying to find something of use somehow led him back to the cave, despite the fact he'd been sure he had been walking in a straight line. After another try, he somehow found a forest parting through the mist. He shook his head as he entered to search for food, bedding, whatever he might need.

After some scavenging, he felt he'd gathered enough plants to make the cavern more comfortable. As he made his way back though, he was stopped by something leaping out of a bush: a small, red creature with wings and horns.

"Submit to me or suffer my wrath, fucker! You're gonna be sucking me off real soon!" Judging from the thing's appearance and attitude, Spike had a good idea about what he was up against here.

"Are you a demon?" he asked, dropping his supplies to prepare for the fight he was obviously about to get into.

"Uh, yeah? Ain't it obvious? Too busy sucking your own dick to know an imp when you see one? Come on, bring it on already ya pussy!"

That was all Spike needed to hear. These things were obviously evil. From what he'd heard, they didn't have any chance for redemption, and thus, he had no qualms with what he was about to do. With a quick breath, he blew out a controlled ball of fire at the thing. It screeched in pain as the green fire quickly engulfed it, but strangely enough, when the flames ended, the creature was unconscious, maybe a little singed, but not dead. This... surprised him. Were demons, or at least imps, fire-proof? Or could it be his fire wasn't lethal somehow? All these questions were left unanswered as he looked down to the groaning imp and... the surprisingly big cock that was dangling out of its loin cloth now. Spike had never been interested in stallions. He'd always had a thing for mares. Yet... something about that cock looked... appealing...

He shook himself out of it and quickly punted the little runt away, not wanting any more of those confusing thoughts. As he gathered up his stuff, though, he found himself coming across more coins, as well as a... bottle of some kind of milk? It seemed to have a pink label on it, though he couldn't read it. He let out a sigh; he couldn't carry all of this in one go...

Suddenly, something caught his eye in a nearby bush. A discarded set of roughly made, somewhat torn clothes. With pockets! As much as Spike preferred going in the nude, he had to admit that it would be helpful to be able to take things with him. And so, he slipped into the thread-bare outfit. It seemed with its pocket space, he could carry about three things, though it seemed to have a built in coin pouch, which gave more room he supposed. After sticking the bottle into one pocket and the coins into the pouch, he took up his other supplies and went on his way, feeling accomplished.

The trip back home was quick and easy, surprisingly. He encountered no resistance or interruptions as he made his way back to the cave, despite the fact he had no idea where he was going in that fog. In any case, he soon had made himself a mildly comfortable sleeping spot out of the plantlife he'd collected.

He picked up the bag he'd gotten off of the gremlin and brought out the strange milk the imp had dropped. He couldn't possibly fathom why they had dropped them. Still, it would be better to have something to spice up his meals other than just gems. With a shrug, he decided to pop the top off of the milk bottle and gulp it down. It was sweet and creamy, probably the best milk he'd ever had. And yet, as he drank it, he felt a warm rush go through his body. It felt... pleasant, yet somehow disturbing. Spike turned to look at himself in the mirror, and found that he looked... slightly different. His muscles seemed less defined, though he didn't feel any less strong. And his face looked... smoother. Rounder. More... feminine. He looked to the empty bottle in his hand and dropped it, watching as it vanished away into nothingness, its purpose served.

He'd let the place trick him again. He couldn't even trust the food, it seemed! He quickly snapped himself out of it, knowing that panicking would get him nowhere. He had to stay calm. At the very least, it didn't do any harm to him, so there wasn't any trouble in it. He'd just have to be more careful in the future. With that out of the way, Spike sat down to a meal of gems, eying the bag the gremlin dropped suspiciously. He'd save it for now, but there was no way he'd try whatever was inside...

Satisfied and with no further plans, Spike stretched out. He'd survived the first day of his year long stay. He had no idea how he'd fair the rest, but he'd let that come when it came. For now, he deserved some rest. As he laid down onto his bed for rest, he felt a warm sensation in his crotch again. He was tempted to reach for it to relieve the tension and feel that same pleasure as before... but he fought it off. He wouldn't let this place get to him. No matter how much he wanted it, he would not play with himself in such a lewd way. He'd just wait it off. It was bound to leave eventually...

With this reassurance in mind, Spike laid his head to rest, and soon fell to sleep, images of bat gremlins and imps flooding his dreams.

Author's Note

If you're wondering why there were clothes in a bush... Well, let's just say a certain human had to make room for a piece of chitin after he'd gotten some new equipment to wear.

Also, next chapter, Spike's Lust meter reaches 100.

Yay, game logic!