Neo Chronicles
Episode 25: Stay Cool and Don't Die
Table of Contents
“I just wanna let you'll know, when we all die, I'm puttin' this all on you,” Kai says.
He said it to everyone up here, but deep down, I know he met it just for me.
It's kinda funny really. Funny is good, right? Yeah, of course it is. See, where there's funny there's humor—no wait. Where there's humor there's something—something, something—got it. Where there's humor, there's comfort—well, as much comfort as you can get in the midst of a situation like this. I'm rambling. I'm rambling in my own head. Darn it, Noah. Get it together.
How can I get it together, though? There's literally no hope here. This is the place where hope comes to die. We're in Nuove—Nuevy? New Italy? Screw it. We're in Hell! I've never seen something this horribad before? Not even the stuff on late night TV is as bad as this. Demons! Demons are literally flooding the streets. You can't even see past them! It's just black. Black like tar, black like smoke, black like oil. And they're all moving in and over each other. And then there're the ones flying in the sky! Bats, dragons, fat chicken-looking—chickens can't fly, but there they are! And are those pigs with wings, too? Good God, what the Hell are we gonna do?
Shoot, shoot, shoot! ARAARGG!
“Alright guys!” Maybe if I talk out loud, I can ignore everything else. That's it. Just act like you're okay, and you will be. Genius! “Same plan as before. We keep Lynn alive so she can do her thing. It'd probably be a good idea to stick together up here. Y'know, let the super heroes down there do their thing. And we'll—where in the world are you going!?”
Nexus is an idiot! No, really, he is an idiot! The guy just jumped off this three story building into all the madness going on down below. How do you—he didn't hear a word I said! Already, the plan's falling apart. We're gonna die. My God, we're gonna die for real this time.
“Does he know he's not fall proof?” No, Kai. I don't think he does.
“Let's just hope he'll be alright.” Really, Lynn? Just hope? “It's what I usually do.” Oh, well in that case, everything should be alright, because I'm doing a whole lotta hoping right now. I'm hoping you get over whatever teenage angst, hormonally driven, crazy white lady, insanity thing goin' on in your head right now so we can go home. I'm hoping that that happens before the next flying creature swoops in and rips us all to shreds, and I'm hoping that when everything's said and done, I wake up from this like a bad dream and never have to think about it— “Now like last time, it's going to take me some time. The magic I cast on you guys before should still be working. So everyone should still be able to hurt them without any trouble.”
“But not kill them.”
“Let's focus on the positive, Kai.” I know you hate it when I call you by that name, Kai, but I don't care right now. Sorry, but get over it.
“What positive, oh fearless leader?” he asks.
“I'm a leader now—well, if we make it out alive, you'll have a cool story to tell your girlfriend.” Ouch, that burns. This end of the world stuff seems to bring out the worst in me. Sorry again.
“Not funny.”
“I kinda thought it was,” Lynn says with a chuckle.
“Forget you two!” Kai tries to follow up with something that I'm sure would've been a lot more witty and such, but he's cut short by the RAPMAGING, FLYING BULL of a demon swooping in attacking him.
Me and Lynn shout out his name, hoping to get him to duck, but he's already been grabbed. Shoot, shoot, shoot! Think, Noah. No, don't think. Act. I see Lynn try to conjure up some mystic mumbo jumbo. Wait a minute,
“No! Stop right there! You stay right here! Put up a shield, a wall—whatever kinda crazy thing you need to keep yourself safe so you can work on stopping those freaks from crossing over! We'll handle it the rest. I don't care what happens. You stay out of it! You hear me!?”
She nods in agreement. Good. That's good. Now for Kai. Let's see. Don't think. Act! So I do.
I throw my hands to the ground and just do it! All of a sudden an ice spike shoots up from under me and launches me up in the air. I use it like a make shift jumping platform spring thing, leaping as high and as far and as fast as I can. I'm flying now, literally flying. Now what? Now what? Now what? I don't know what I'm doing! I pull back my fist and enclose it in ice! A large, solid, icy, spiked glove. An ice power fist? An ice power fist! I'm flying right at the bull.
I still don't know what I'm doing, but I swing with everything I've got. BOOM! Blow to the head. The ice literally shatters on impact. My hand hurts like crud, but it's okay, because the demon felt it. It's reeling in pain. Flying, falling, flying, falling, flailing. It doesn't know what it's doing, and that gives Kai the opportunity to break free, but not without a goodbye present.
His arms ignite. Both of them, like two pillars of flames. Wings of light. And he directs it all at the monster. The thing gets charbroiled. The flames almost hit me. They probably would have, but I had sense enough to shoot forth an ice beam at the demon's back making it fly away.
So now we're in free fall. Some six or seven stories from the ground. This is great. This is really, great. I always wanted to die from an eight story drop. Oh wait, there's more. If the fall doesn't kill us, the demons we'll land in sure will. Can this day get any better?
Don't think. Act. No. Screw that, think! What can you do? Ice powers? Shut up Kai! Stop screaming! I can—maybe? I think I saw this on TV. God, please let this work!
Snowstorm! I dive down like a super man. I stretch out my arms towards the ground and put all the energy I got into making everything as cold as possible. Come on, snow! I want as much snow as possible! It's coming. I see the flurries. They're building up quick. Come on, I need blankets! Let's go, go, go!
I see it. It's actually working! The ground is freezing. The wind is picking up. Precipitation. A little more! A little more! A little—wait, what? We stopped. I don't know how, but we just—in mid air, we just stopped. We're still moving. Just not nearly as fast. We're falling like feathers.
We gently and ungracefully land next to some Hispanic woman. “I thought we cleared out all the locals,” she says.
“Do we look local to you?” Kai snaps.
“Oh, did I say local? I meant loco. What the hell are you kids doing here? You're welcome by the way.”
“Telekinesis?” I ask.
“Density manipulation,” she answers.
That's kinda cool. It's also cool that she's literally punching holes through these demons like nothing. Super strength on another level. What else can you do with an ST like that?
“My name's Noah.”
“Iara. Thanks for the snow day.”
“Any time, any time.”
“You didn't detect my sarcasm?”
“Oh, I got it. Just, you know, rolling with it. It's what I do.”
“Well Noah, let's hope you roll out of this alive.”
“That's the plan.”
Yep, that's the plan. Whatever happens happens at this point. Just gotta roll with the punches, and keep on swingin'. Me and Kai stay close to this Iara woman. Seems like the smart thing to do with her being a professional and all. She tosses cars and rocks and other large objects at the demons, flattening them like pancakes. It's real cool too, because like with—what's her face—Ganya, they poof into a black smoke after she takes them out. Probably part of that demon banishment thing.
I stick to what I know. Spikes, wind blasts, ice beams, crystals—I see them in my mind and they appear. I'm tossing everything in the arsenal—three-sixty degrees all around at all these creeps. They get impaled, they get bombarded, they get frozen and shattered, but they don't really go down. Yeah, it kinda sucks, but that's not why I'm here.
We just gotta buy some time for Lynn. That's it. As soon as she's through, we're through. Leave these Mystics to handle the clean up. They should be good for that.
“Noah.”
All we gotta do is fight for our lives just a little longer. It'll all work out. Hopefully it will. I'm bringin' the rain, I'm bringin' the cold, I'm bringin' it all. Ice structures are forming all around me, slicing, pounding, and crushing all the demons in their wake.
“Noah.”
I'm creating these giant 8 foot tall crystals. They're rising from the ground. They're falling from the sky. Just runnin' in overdrive right now. If I was imaginative enough, I could probably make like something like a golemn or something to pound through everything, but these chunks of ice are doing just fine.
It's getting hard to see, though. Probably because of the high wind and snow I'm creating. Stuff gettin' in my eyes. It'll be all worth it though. I know the others might be getting cold right now, but that's a small price. Collateral damage. They'll deal.
“Calm down, stop shaking. It'll be alright.”
Iara says I'm shaking? No, that's not true. “Oh, that's a relief,” I say. “Are you going to take care of me?” I'm doing fine. See, I'm making small talk. I'm being sarcastic. I'm doin—why does Kai keep shouting out my name?
“Noah!”
Episode 25: Stay Cool and Don't Die
Table of Contents
“I just wanna let you'll know, when we all die, I'm puttin' this all on you,” Kai says.
He said it to everyone up here, but deep down, I know he met it just for me.
It's kinda funny really. Funny is good, right? Yeah, of course it is. See, where there's funny there's humor—no wait. Where there's humor there's something—something, something—got it. Where there's humor, there's comfort—well, as much comfort as you can get in the midst of a situation like this. I'm rambling. I'm rambling in my own head. Darn it, Noah. Get it together.
How can I get it together, though? There's literally no hope here. This is the place where hope comes to die. We're in Nuove—Nuevy? New Italy? Screw it. We're in Hell! I've never seen something this horribad before? Not even the stuff on late night TV is as bad as this. Demons! Demons are literally flooding the streets. You can't even see past them! It's just black. Black like tar, black like smoke, black like oil. And they're all moving in and over each other. And then there're the ones flying in the sky! Bats, dragons, fat chicken-looking—chickens can't fly, but there they are! And are those pigs with wings, too? Good God, what the Hell are we gonna do?
Shoot, shoot, shoot! ARAARGG!
“Alright guys!” Maybe if I talk out loud, I can ignore everything else. That's it. Just act like you're okay, and you will be. Genius! “Same plan as before. We keep Lynn alive so she can do her thing. It'd probably be a good idea to stick together up here. Y'know, let the super heroes down there do their thing. And we'll—where in the world are you going!?”
Nexus is an idiot! No, really, he is an idiot! The guy just jumped off this three story building into all the madness going on down below. How do you—he didn't hear a word I said! Already, the plan's falling apart. We're gonna die. My God, we're gonna die for real this time.
“Does he know he's not fall proof?” No, Kai. I don't think he does.
“Let's just hope he'll be alright.” Really, Lynn? Just hope? “It's what I usually do.” Oh, well in that case, everything should be alright, because I'm doing a whole lotta hoping right now. I'm hoping you get over whatever teenage angst, hormonally driven, crazy white lady, insanity thing goin' on in your head right now so we can go home. I'm hoping that that happens before the next flying creature swoops in and rips us all to shreds, and I'm hoping that when everything's said and done, I wake up from this like a bad dream and never have to think about it— “Now like last time, it's going to take me some time. The magic I cast on you guys before should still be working. So everyone should still be able to hurt them without any trouble.”
“But not kill them.”
“Let's focus on the positive, Kai.” I know you hate it when I call you by that name, Kai, but I don't care right now. Sorry, but get over it.
“What positive, oh fearless leader?” he asks.
“I'm a leader now—well, if we make it out alive, you'll have a cool story to tell your girlfriend.” Ouch, that burns. This end of the world stuff seems to bring out the worst in me. Sorry again.
“Not funny.”
“I kinda thought it was,” Lynn says with a chuckle.
“Forget you two!” Kai tries to follow up with something that I'm sure would've been a lot more witty and such, but he's cut short by the RAPMAGING, FLYING BULL of a demon swooping in attacking him.
Me and Lynn shout out his name, hoping to get him to duck, but he's already been grabbed. Shoot, shoot, shoot! Think, Noah. No, don't think. Act. I see Lynn try to conjure up some mystic mumbo jumbo. Wait a minute,
“No! Stop right there! You stay right here! Put up a shield, a wall—whatever kinda crazy thing you need to keep yourself safe so you can work on stopping those freaks from crossing over! We'll handle it the rest. I don't care what happens. You stay out of it! You hear me!?”
She nods in agreement. Good. That's good. Now for Kai. Let's see. Don't think. Act! So I do.
I throw my hands to the ground and just do it! All of a sudden an ice spike shoots up from under me and launches me up in the air. I use it like a make shift jumping platform spring thing, leaping as high and as far and as fast as I can. I'm flying now, literally flying. Now what? Now what? Now what? I don't know what I'm doing! I pull back my fist and enclose it in ice! A large, solid, icy, spiked glove. An ice power fist? An ice power fist! I'm flying right at the bull.
I still don't know what I'm doing, but I swing with everything I've got. BOOM! Blow to the head. The ice literally shatters on impact. My hand hurts like crud, but it's okay, because the demon felt it. It's reeling in pain. Flying, falling, flying, falling, flailing. It doesn't know what it's doing, and that gives Kai the opportunity to break free, but not without a goodbye present.
His arms ignite. Both of them, like two pillars of flames. Wings of light. And he directs it all at the monster. The thing gets charbroiled. The flames almost hit me. They probably would have, but I had sense enough to shoot forth an ice beam at the demon's back making it fly away.
So now we're in free fall. Some six or seven stories from the ground. This is great. This is really, great. I always wanted to die from an eight story drop. Oh wait, there's more. If the fall doesn't kill us, the demons we'll land in sure will. Can this day get any better?
Don't think. Act. No. Screw that, think! What can you do? Ice powers? Shut up Kai! Stop screaming! I can—maybe? I think I saw this on TV. God, please let this work!
Snowstorm! I dive down like a super man. I stretch out my arms towards the ground and put all the energy I got into making everything as cold as possible. Come on, snow! I want as much snow as possible! It's coming. I see the flurries. They're building up quick. Come on, I need blankets! Let's go, go, go!
I see it. It's actually working! The ground is freezing. The wind is picking up. Precipitation. A little more! A little more! A little—wait, what? We stopped. I don't know how, but we just—in mid air, we just stopped. We're still moving. Just not nearly as fast. We're falling like feathers.
We gently and ungracefully land next to some Hispanic woman. “I thought we cleared out all the locals,” she says.
“Do we look local to you?” Kai snaps.
“Oh, did I say local? I meant loco. What the hell are you kids doing here? You're welcome by the way.”
“Telekinesis?” I ask.
“Density manipulation,” she answers.
That's kinda cool. It's also cool that she's literally punching holes through these demons like nothing. Super strength on another level. What else can you do with an ST like that?
“My name's Noah.”
“Iara. Thanks for the snow day.”
“Any time, any time.”
“You didn't detect my sarcasm?”
“Oh, I got it. Just, you know, rolling with it. It's what I do.”
“Well Noah, let's hope you roll out of this alive.”
“That's the plan.”
Yep, that's the plan. Whatever happens happens at this point. Just gotta roll with the punches, and keep on swingin'. Me and Kai stay close to this Iara woman. Seems like the smart thing to do with her being a professional and all. She tosses cars and rocks and other large objects at the demons, flattening them like pancakes. It's real cool too, because like with—what's her face—Ganya, they poof into a black smoke after she takes them out. Probably part of that demon banishment thing.
I stick to what I know. Spikes, wind blasts, ice beams, crystals—I see them in my mind and they appear. I'm tossing everything in the arsenal—three-sixty degrees all around at all these creeps. They get impaled, they get bombarded, they get frozen and shattered, but they don't really go down. Yeah, it kinda sucks, but that's not why I'm here.
We just gotta buy some time for Lynn. That's it. As soon as she's through, we're through. Leave these Mystics to handle the clean up. They should be good for that.
“Noah.”
All we gotta do is fight for our lives just a little longer. It'll all work out. Hopefully it will. I'm bringin' the rain, I'm bringin' the cold, I'm bringin' it all. Ice structures are forming all around me, slicing, pounding, and crushing all the demons in their wake.
“Noah.”
I'm creating these giant 8 foot tall crystals. They're rising from the ground. They're falling from the sky. Just runnin' in overdrive right now. If I was imaginative enough, I could probably make like something like a golemn or something to pound through everything, but these chunks of ice are doing just fine.
It's getting hard to see, though. Probably because of the high wind and snow I'm creating. Stuff gettin' in my eyes. It'll be all worth it though. I know the others might be getting cold right now, but that's a small price. Collateral damage. They'll deal.
“Calm down, stop shaking. It'll be alright.”
Iara says I'm shaking? No, that's not true. “Oh, that's a relief,” I say. “Are you going to take care of me?” I'm doing fine. See, I'm making small talk. I'm being sarcastic. I'm doin—why does Kai keep shouting out my name?
“Noah!”
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