Neo Chronicles
Episode 27: Cuz I got AntiGravs
Table of Contents
I'm havin' the time of my life right now. Really? It's cold. It's dark. Everything around you is broken and dying. This city—the entire dang city—has been torn to pieces. The buildings are unstable. There are demons—actual demons—on virtually every corner, in every crevice. You can't tell the ground apart from the horde. And have you noticed that the whole sun's been blocked out? What time is it? What're those clouds overhead? It's not raining? You think it's like that for no reason?
You mean demons can change the weather, too? That's so dope! What's wrong with you? Look around! Your friends are barely standing. They're exhausted, they're battered. This is a war zone. You, Kai, Lynn, and Noah—a group of no-name, high school freshmen—are fighting a war! Do you understand that?
Absolutely! Why are you smiling? This isn't a joke. This isn't a game. If you die—WHEN you die—there's no coming back. We'll be fine. How could you possibly know that?
Cuz I got AntiGravs.
“When'd you get AntiGravs?” Kai asks, looking up from down below, staring in awe. He starin' cuz he know. He's staring cuz he's baffled. Can't you tell the difference between enthusiasm and bewilderment? What's he got to be confused about?
I scoff at Kai's question and look down at him. And while grinning cheek to cheek, I respond, “Man negro, I been done had these shoes!”
These shoes is tight. I know Kai's jealous. Know he wishes he had some right now. You think I'm crazy, but I know. I know you're crazy, but – Shut up! Hiro's tryna talk. And the demons don't care. I ain't blind!
Nah, you don't think I see that long armed, monkey lookin' somethin' leapin' overhead? I got it! I grip my sword, grit my teeth, and position myself right at it. In the next second I'll – Looks like Hiro's got it. That blast of red light, focused like a beam, shining just a couple inches from you, pierces straight through the “monkey's” chest.. I coulda got it. Yeah, if you could shoot energy blasts at people from you hands with the precision of a highly skilled marksman, sure, you “coulda got it.”
“Demons have a way of getting into people's heads.” An Asian man stands over Kai and offers a hand. I float down next to the two of them. Kai looks up at the Asian dude. Not one to turn down an offer for help, he takes it. Kai looks exhausted, like he just woke up an' got through runnin' for five days straight. All sweatin' an' pantin'.
“Demon telepathy is nothing like anything you've encountered before. Everything they force you to see, hear, or feel is real,” the Asian dude, Hiro, continues.
“But if it's just TP, that means it's not real, right?” Kai asks.
“Reality is what our minds perceive it to be.”
And if you were paying attention, you'd notice just how true that statement is right now. If that's your way of sayin' that everything around us has been changing every few minutes, then yeah, I hear you. Before it was all dark, cloudy, an' dank. Now, the clouds, the sky, and the ground are all shades of red. I get that. These demons can get in our heads. They've been gettin' in our heads, an' that ain't no joke. You think I'm crazy, but I know. This is serious.
“And on that note,” I butt in, “Kai, Hiro. Hiro, Kai.” Introductions are important.
“He's a hero?” Kai asks.
“A super hero.” I respond.
“Actually,” Hiro says, “my name is Hirohito, but if super hero suits you – ”
“I'll stick with Hiro.” Kai says. “Chris, stop being an idiot.”
The demons don't even give us a chance to have a proper conversation. The landscape's changed colors again. Green? Yeah, and we're surrounded. Can't even make out what's a demon anymore. Probably the big, moving things with arms trying to engulf all of you.
“You're the idiot!” I call out. Was that to me or Kai? Both of you!
“I'm the idiot?” Kai asks as he sets the ground beneath the demons' feet aflame. “How does that make sense?”
“You let 'em get to you!” I respond, leaping upward as I impale my sword in the eye of some flying hawk thing tryna swoop down on us.
“Let who?”
“The demons!” I say, landing in front of him. Yeah I step to him. Yeah I look him in his eye. It's the truth, an' he need ta hear it. “How you gon' let 'em get in yo' head like that?”
“Are you serious?” He throws a fireball at a demon behind me. I'm pretty sure that fireball was made for you. Either way, I don't even flinch.
“Better up your TP defense,” I say.
“Up my – What? Like your head's all boarded up! They probably haven't gotten in there cuz there's nothin' to see!”
“Keep tellin' yourself that, dawg.”
“Actually, any demon is powerful enough to alter our perception of anything around us. The fact that Kai lasted as long as he did is a testament to his strength of will.” Hiro says.
“Then why ain't they got to me yet, huh?” Unless this color thing is them getting to me. Now it's grey all around.
“A number of reasons. For starters, you ran into me as soon as you fell from the sky. Since then, I've been doing everything I can to shield you, and now Kai, from the worst of it.”
“My name's Jamal, by the way.” Kai says.
“Secondly, and this is likely the main reason of it all, they're simply not interested.”
“Because there's nothin' to see!” Kai says again.
“Negro, shut up!”
“Boy if you don't – ” And right there, you can see Kai's fists clench up as fire ignites all over his arms. Think I even see a lil' somethin' light up around his glasses, like there's fire in his eyes or somethin'. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was about to pick a fight with me. With me. And of course, I'm all ready for it. If he wanna throw down, we can throw down. It don't matter!
“Why are you both so quick to anger?” Hiro asks.
“Do you see what I gotta put up with? It's been like this, nonstop! If Chris ain't actin' stupid, it's Lynn actin' crazy! It never ends! And I didn't want anything to do with it! But here I am! Forced to deal with this crap like there's no end!”
“Anger clouds the mind.”
“How the heck am I not supposed to be mad at this?” And just then, those flames seem to get bigger an' shine a lil' brighter.
“Ah, I see. Your powers are linked to your emotions. In that case, by all means, stay mad. Just be sure to direct it at the enemy.”
“What do you think I've been doing?”
I'm ready to go now. Go home? Really? Now? After all that's happened, you're finally ready to – Chill out, fam. I mean, go away from here. Kai's alive, Hiro's takin' care of things, and in case you forgot, I got AntiGravs. Why would in the world would I stay in one place—on the ground—when I could be flyin' all over the city?
So without anything more than a passing glance at the two, you abandon them, because you can? I said they got it! Besides, it's not like I'm abandoning them. It's more like me, checkin' up on the otha homies. I dash out in a blur, slicin' through one, two, three—uhp—jus' lost count. It's like they all lined up jus' waitin' to get got.
Come to a stop, see that they already regenerated. That's cool, they can still get it. I leap up, like what, 20 feet in the air to avoid them dog pilin' me. Then skate the skies as I make my way back down on the ground. These lames think they all that. Ain't worried bout nothin'.
I dash my way towards Noah's, slicing through the two demons he just froze. He thanks me, cuz he's cool. And in a flash, I'm gone again.
On my run, I see that ol' Duke dude takin' on some giant demon. All of a sudden, it's like I'm yanked toward him. More like the sword I'm holdin' is. The sword, an uprooted lightpost, a car, an' pretty much every other metal thing in the area around him is.
Not a problem, though. It's all headed straight for the demon, so I shift my body weight around, and just ride it out. Gotta be quick to make adjustments on the fly, and seein' how I'm literally flyin' now, might as well make myself a bullet and pierce through the beast. It was cool, an' it was fun. 10 outta 10. Would definitely ride again.
“Sorry about that.” I hear Duke say. Don't e'en worry about it.
I'm already on the run again. This time, I head back to a place I jus' came from. Up this building, gravity ain't no bother, cuz I got – We get it. You got AntiGravs. You're havin' the time of your life. That's all I'm sayin'. Yes, that's ALL you're sayin'
On top of this six, seven-odd story buildin, I see the homegirl, Lynn, still doin' her thing. Crazy lights all around her. Face full a' worry, fear, anxiety. Stress? No, anger. It's been hard to tell with her lately. There's like three, four, five? Those demons is multiplyin'. That's interesting. Lynn's holdin' her own, though. She blasts three of them back at once and they seem to disappear. But then, like, four more show up, an' she's back where she started.
“You ain't done, yet?” I ask.
“I would be if you guys didn't abandon me!” she snaps back. She seems mad. Just a little bit.
“Why'd everybody leave?”
“You were the first!”
“Why's everyone followin' my lead?”
“Could you help me out here?”
Before she even finishes the sentence, I've already slashed through the three she was tusslin' with. When she realizes it, she blasts the other five behind us.
“Thank you!” she says. Don't think she meant that as an actual thank you.
She gets back to working on that Hellgate thing. She puts her hands on the ground, looks up at the big ol' hole in the sky, and the both of them—her and that hole—start to glow the same pink, purple, and blue color. The whole background changes colors again. This time we're dealin' with shades of blue. Is this the demons mind thing, or something else?
I put that thought on hold and watch as she stands up. The hole in the sky is gone. Like, gone gone. If you didn't know it, you'd say there wasn't no hole there to begin with. Lynn sits back on her butt.
“So that's that?” I ask.
“That's that,” she responds.
“And the demons still down there?”
“Are still down there.”
“Cool.”
“You know that we can't actually stop them, right?”
“Yeah.”
“So it's probably best to leave it to the Mystics. Y'know, since they actually can stop them.”
“Probably.”
“But you're going to fight them anyway.”
“You know me too well.” Is that a smirk? Of course I'm smiling!
I mean Lynn. Why is she smiling? Because she's havin' fun, too. And that's not weird to you? Oh, it's insanely weird. I think she been done cracked. Embraced all the crazy, and there's no turnin' back. That could be a problem. Maybe. In the mean time, I'm gonna go jump off this rooftop an' fight some demons.
Episode 27: Cuz I got AntiGravs
Table of Contents
I'm havin' the time of my life right now. Really? It's cold. It's dark. Everything around you is broken and dying. This city—the entire dang city—has been torn to pieces. The buildings are unstable. There are demons—actual demons—on virtually every corner, in every crevice. You can't tell the ground apart from the horde. And have you noticed that the whole sun's been blocked out? What time is it? What're those clouds overhead? It's not raining? You think it's like that for no reason?
You mean demons can change the weather, too? That's so dope! What's wrong with you? Look around! Your friends are barely standing. They're exhausted, they're battered. This is a war zone. You, Kai, Lynn, and Noah—a group of no-name, high school freshmen—are fighting a war! Do you understand that?
Absolutely! Why are you smiling? This isn't a joke. This isn't a game. If you die—WHEN you die—there's no coming back. We'll be fine. How could you possibly know that?
Cuz I got AntiGravs.
“When'd you get AntiGravs?” Kai asks, looking up from down below, staring in awe. He starin' cuz he know. He's staring cuz he's baffled. Can't you tell the difference between enthusiasm and bewilderment? What's he got to be confused about?
I scoff at Kai's question and look down at him. And while grinning cheek to cheek, I respond, “Man negro, I been done had these shoes!”
These shoes is tight. I know Kai's jealous. Know he wishes he had some right now. You think I'm crazy, but I know. I know you're crazy, but – Shut up! Hiro's tryna talk. And the demons don't care. I ain't blind!
Nah, you don't think I see that long armed, monkey lookin' somethin' leapin' overhead? I got it! I grip my sword, grit my teeth, and position myself right at it. In the next second I'll – Looks like Hiro's got it. That blast of red light, focused like a beam, shining just a couple inches from you, pierces straight through the “monkey's” chest.. I coulda got it. Yeah, if you could shoot energy blasts at people from you hands with the precision of a highly skilled marksman, sure, you “coulda got it.”
“Demons have a way of getting into people's heads.” An Asian man stands over Kai and offers a hand. I float down next to the two of them. Kai looks up at the Asian dude. Not one to turn down an offer for help, he takes it. Kai looks exhausted, like he just woke up an' got through runnin' for five days straight. All sweatin' an' pantin'.
“Demon telepathy is nothing like anything you've encountered before. Everything they force you to see, hear, or feel is real,” the Asian dude, Hiro, continues.
“But if it's just TP, that means it's not real, right?” Kai asks.
“Reality is what our minds perceive it to be.”
And if you were paying attention, you'd notice just how true that statement is right now. If that's your way of sayin' that everything around us has been changing every few minutes, then yeah, I hear you. Before it was all dark, cloudy, an' dank. Now, the clouds, the sky, and the ground are all shades of red. I get that. These demons can get in our heads. They've been gettin' in our heads, an' that ain't no joke. You think I'm crazy, but I know. This is serious.
“And on that note,” I butt in, “Kai, Hiro. Hiro, Kai.” Introductions are important.
“He's a hero?” Kai asks.
“A super hero.” I respond.
“Actually,” Hiro says, “my name is Hirohito, but if super hero suits you – ”
“I'll stick with Hiro.” Kai says. “Chris, stop being an idiot.”
The demons don't even give us a chance to have a proper conversation. The landscape's changed colors again. Green? Yeah, and we're surrounded. Can't even make out what's a demon anymore. Probably the big, moving things with arms trying to engulf all of you.
“You're the idiot!” I call out. Was that to me or Kai? Both of you!
“I'm the idiot?” Kai asks as he sets the ground beneath the demons' feet aflame. “How does that make sense?”
“You let 'em get to you!” I respond, leaping upward as I impale my sword in the eye of some flying hawk thing tryna swoop down on us.
“Let who?”
“The demons!” I say, landing in front of him. Yeah I step to him. Yeah I look him in his eye. It's the truth, an' he need ta hear it. “How you gon' let 'em get in yo' head like that?”
“Are you serious?” He throws a fireball at a demon behind me. I'm pretty sure that fireball was made for you. Either way, I don't even flinch.
“Better up your TP defense,” I say.
“Up my – What? Like your head's all boarded up! They probably haven't gotten in there cuz there's nothin' to see!”
“Keep tellin' yourself that, dawg.”
“Actually, any demon is powerful enough to alter our perception of anything around us. The fact that Kai lasted as long as he did is a testament to his strength of will.” Hiro says.
“Then why ain't they got to me yet, huh?” Unless this color thing is them getting to me. Now it's grey all around.
“A number of reasons. For starters, you ran into me as soon as you fell from the sky. Since then, I've been doing everything I can to shield you, and now Kai, from the worst of it.”
“My name's Jamal, by the way.” Kai says.
“Secondly, and this is likely the main reason of it all, they're simply not interested.”
“Because there's nothin' to see!” Kai says again.
“Negro, shut up!”
“Boy if you don't – ” And right there, you can see Kai's fists clench up as fire ignites all over his arms. Think I even see a lil' somethin' light up around his glasses, like there's fire in his eyes or somethin'. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was about to pick a fight with me. With me. And of course, I'm all ready for it. If he wanna throw down, we can throw down. It don't matter!
“Why are you both so quick to anger?” Hiro asks.
“Do you see what I gotta put up with? It's been like this, nonstop! If Chris ain't actin' stupid, it's Lynn actin' crazy! It never ends! And I didn't want anything to do with it! But here I am! Forced to deal with this crap like there's no end!”
“Anger clouds the mind.”
“How the heck am I not supposed to be mad at this?” And just then, those flames seem to get bigger an' shine a lil' brighter.
“Ah, I see. Your powers are linked to your emotions. In that case, by all means, stay mad. Just be sure to direct it at the enemy.”
“What do you think I've been doing?”
I'm ready to go now. Go home? Really? Now? After all that's happened, you're finally ready to – Chill out, fam. I mean, go away from here. Kai's alive, Hiro's takin' care of things, and in case you forgot, I got AntiGravs. Why would in the world would I stay in one place—on the ground—when I could be flyin' all over the city?
So without anything more than a passing glance at the two, you abandon them, because you can? I said they got it! Besides, it's not like I'm abandoning them. It's more like me, checkin' up on the otha homies. I dash out in a blur, slicin' through one, two, three—uhp—jus' lost count. It's like they all lined up jus' waitin' to get got.
Come to a stop, see that they already regenerated. That's cool, they can still get it. I leap up, like what, 20 feet in the air to avoid them dog pilin' me. Then skate the skies as I make my way back down on the ground. These lames think they all that. Ain't worried bout nothin'.
I dash my way towards Noah's, slicing through the two demons he just froze. He thanks me, cuz he's cool. And in a flash, I'm gone again.
On my run, I see that ol' Duke dude takin' on some giant demon. All of a sudden, it's like I'm yanked toward him. More like the sword I'm holdin' is. The sword, an uprooted lightpost, a car, an' pretty much every other metal thing in the area around him is.
Not a problem, though. It's all headed straight for the demon, so I shift my body weight around, and just ride it out. Gotta be quick to make adjustments on the fly, and seein' how I'm literally flyin' now, might as well make myself a bullet and pierce through the beast. It was cool, an' it was fun. 10 outta 10. Would definitely ride again.
“Sorry about that.” I hear Duke say. Don't e'en worry about it.
I'm already on the run again. This time, I head back to a place I jus' came from. Up this building, gravity ain't no bother, cuz I got – We get it. You got AntiGravs. You're havin' the time of your life. That's all I'm sayin'. Yes, that's ALL you're sayin'
On top of this six, seven-odd story buildin, I see the homegirl, Lynn, still doin' her thing. Crazy lights all around her. Face full a' worry, fear, anxiety. Stress? No, anger. It's been hard to tell with her lately. There's like three, four, five? Those demons is multiplyin'. That's interesting. Lynn's holdin' her own, though. She blasts three of them back at once and they seem to disappear. But then, like, four more show up, an' she's back where she started.
“You ain't done, yet?” I ask.
“I would be if you guys didn't abandon me!” she snaps back. She seems mad. Just a little bit.
“Why'd everybody leave?”
“You were the first!”
“Why's everyone followin' my lead?”
“Could you help me out here?”
Before she even finishes the sentence, I've already slashed through the three she was tusslin' with. When she realizes it, she blasts the other five behind us.
“Thank you!” she says. Don't think she meant that as an actual thank you.
She gets back to working on that Hellgate thing. She puts her hands on the ground, looks up at the big ol' hole in the sky, and the both of them—her and that hole—start to glow the same pink, purple, and blue color. The whole background changes colors again. This time we're dealin' with shades of blue. Is this the demons mind thing, or something else?
I put that thought on hold and watch as she stands up. The hole in the sky is gone. Like, gone gone. If you didn't know it, you'd say there wasn't no hole there to begin with. Lynn sits back on her butt.
“So that's that?” I ask.
“That's that,” she responds.
“And the demons still down there?”
“Are still down there.”
“Cool.”
“You know that we can't actually stop them, right?”
“Yeah.”
“So it's probably best to leave it to the Mystics. Y'know, since they actually can stop them.”
“Probably.”
“But you're going to fight them anyway.”
“You know me too well.” Is that a smirk? Of course I'm smiling!
I mean Lynn. Why is she smiling? Because she's havin' fun, too. And that's not weird to you? Oh, it's insanely weird. I think she been done cracked. Embraced all the crazy, and there's no turnin' back. That could be a problem. Maybe. In the mean time, I'm gonna go jump off this rooftop an' fight some demons.
