The cool breeze of winter sent chills down my spine as I walked in a rush down the empty streets, then turned to a darkened alleyway on my immediate right in a damp coat.
I didn't intend to be as late coming home today as I always was, I didn't want mother to worry.
Tightening the cheap, red scarf covering my face a little, I then pushed it up to cover more of my face as the chilling winds nipped and bit at my skin through the small little segments of it left bare between the sleeves of my coat and the hood's opening for my head, leaving my cheeks burning and red. My coat did little to stop the cold- I'd have actually preferred removing it if I could since it was only making the effects of the weather on me worse because of how soaking wet it had gotten from the slight shower that had happened minutes prior.
'I hate winter, no let me rephrase that; I fucking HATE winter' came my thoughts, mused to myself without any physical voice.
My shivering form stomped through the currently frigid alleyways that led to my home.
'I'm not even bothered about the cold, it's just that it always fucking rains in the cold when I'm out here' came another round of pointless thoughts from my own mind.
Inside the confines of my head, there was no one to deny my claims- no one to brighten the lights of faint anger filling my mental haven.
My 'point' would remain uncontested- but at least I'd soon be free of the cold.
As well as my old life and family, even if I didn't know it yet.
Another few steps in shoes soaked through, squelching with each heavy and almost sluggish step, had me walking out of the alley and into the abandoned street on the other side.
Not bothering to look up or down the road because of how silent the afternoon was, almost eerily so. I crossed the empty, soundless street without any problems.
There was an air to everything that my spite at the weather's 'sins' against me had blinded me to- an almost dangerous aura in the street that was empty of people and cars- there wasn't even the distant sounds of machinery chugging along the tarmac, just silence and the crashing of waves a bit far off.
I paid that emptiness no heed, my attitude removing my suspicion in a situation that I otherwise would have likely detected almost immediately.
"I wish I could just be home right now." I mumbled into the slightly damp scarf wrapped lightly around my mouth and nose- only adding to it's dampness with every heavy breath.
I would have had no way of knowing how cruel the world was until it happened.
As I continued my slow walk through town, towards home, I grumbled halfheartedly, my breathing picking up in the unforgiving, chilling winter winds.
My scarf grew damper, and all I could do was sigh with frustration.
I was only a few minutes from home, something I was very grateful for.
The light 'pitter patter' of rain filled my ears as droplets from the heavens began pounding against my back like the bodies of a hundred fireflies against the glassy exterior of a lamp.
My eye, in response to this, twitched, and my anger got the better of me.
As it always does when it really shouldn't.
"For fucks sake!" came my voice, sharp and growled out at the apathetic streets around me as my coat, which had started to warm up a little, began to grow even more damp against my skin, clinging to it like a limpet.
Heat lost, I shook, though from anger or the cold I'm still not sure.
'Hello fall, when you next see winter, could you punch the little shit in the face for me?' snarked my thoughts, sarcastic and spiteful.
More angry thoughts that amounted to nothing, stupid, stupid thoughts that no one apart from me could hear.
A white flash filled my vision, followed swiftly by the loud 'crack' of thunder. My world became a blur of many whites, reds and blues from the visual overload- screaming angrily all the way.
I tripped over into what I could only assume was a puddle, my eyes were burned with the image of a white lance from the sky- which I was quick to realise was fucking lightning.
The first time I'd seen lightning so close to anyone, and it was close enough to leave me feeling tingles of electricity everywhere, across my back, arms and legs- almost a burning sensation.
I doubt, now that I know what was in store for me, that this was something you'd normally feel from a strike of thunder if it had hit you from that close without touching you. I also doubt that it was a natural occurrence, it makes too much sense for it to be as a result of the coming 'jumps'
"That's just fucking beautiful" I murmured to myself as my vision continued to dance, blue one moment, red and sort-of-white the next.
I blinked rapidly as I tried to stand back up, only to fall back onto the floor and splash good old H2o everywhere.
'I hate my life'
It wasn't true- I loved the family I still had, my life wasn't that bad.
It was about to get worse, though. Bad enough to the point that these words might actually become valid, would be valid, in some cases.
When I managed to arise and get going, I was struck by a slight sensation of tiredness as I walked, I could only do my best to ignore it.
It promptly got worse.
It started as a slow droning sound in my head- one that was easy to ignore since I'd heard the occasional ringing in my ears and assumed it was just that, but it quickly spiralled out of control until I was grasping my head in my hands as a chronic headache hit me. I fell to my knees soundlessly as the pain dulled my senses- it was unforgiving in its relentlessness as it smashed into my head, my mind felt like it was being hit by a psychic war hammer wielded by Godzilla or the Hulk.
I could only groan as my mind started to go blank from the pain, and my body numb from the same as I sunk to the floor in a heap.
Not long after, I was claimed by the blissful grip of unconscious.
In my state, I was unable to watch as a soft, lime green glow pulsed around me, lifting itself and me into the air for a few moments- before it vanished with a quiet "pop".
Along with me, leaving the street I had been walking barren in it's entirety.
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My vision was filled with a few blurs of various light greens and equally light blue- my body was awoken by a loud, pained roar of rage, in my panic from the rapid reawakening, I managed to kick myself onto my feet for a moment but quickly slipped off of whatever I had been dropped on- in the end I ended up hitting the floor, a 'yelp' being pulled from me as I hit the earth.
As a small measure of silence cropped up around me, I found myself massaging my back and looking around, adrenaline flowing and quickly fading-
Everything was familiar, but so alien. A forest but off in a way I wouldn't have been able to describe in that very moment.
My only response was simple, simple said, and managed to convey all of my feelings in three, simple words.
"What the fuck...?"
I was confused and more than a little scared as I looked around me.
Everything was green and blue- some trees and the sky peeking out from above- but everything was different to how it should have been.
Denial. I think that's what I felt- at this point I should have known something was up and wrong, that I wasn't 'in Kansas anymore'.
I got to my feet, and approached one of the trees, cautious and more than a little scared.
"What is this?" came a question no one would answer.
I felt the bark of the (partially) metal covered tree, not believing what I was seeing. Observing the machinery that covered it's surface.
Touching it allowed me to feel the metal blended with the bark- to know that it gave off a sort of feel that made the machine and tree fade into each other like the colors on a color wheel. Long metallic pipes - or, at least I think they where? - spiralled around the tree's trunk and almost seemed to support it like an exoskeleton, even if it clearly didn't need it.
A small patch of wires lay in the mess of metal and wire, in a strange formation that stood out proudly on the tree's surface, pulsing with an electronic red every so often.
Familiar, but I denied knowing what it was. I knew what was up with this shit, but didn't believe.
I refused to, even going as far as to ignore the slight rumble of the ground beneath my feet- the oncoming sounds of something hitting the forest floor, approaching, and fast.
Instead of acknowledging what would have obviously been a threat to someone of sound mind, I looked around at my surroundings, ignoring the sound of burrowing.
Further observation of the flora around me lead to a single conclusion- all the trees were covered in metal and pipes.
"What the fuck is this?!" I yelled- I could feel any sense of calm I had slipping away, i took a deep breath and tried to calm my rapidly beating heart with little success.
The tree continued to pulse, apathetic to my troubles, damn bastard plant.
I nearly had myself calm, then that was thrown out the window when the ground started shaking like an earthquake.
"Shit, shit, shit shitshitshi-" I called- but the trees burst as something barrelled past, a large blur of a purple and yellow. It was a worm-like thing crashing through the tree line, slithering across the ground and shaking the earth as it moved. I caught a bit of blue as it passed me by, literally meters away from me as it left a massive groove through the green earth and went on past with speed I'd not expect something so titanic to have.
I fell on my ass in shock, just sitting there, unable to comprehend what I had just seen, unable to acknowledge the trails in the dirt that had made it displaced, made the greens become browns of earth and dirt, upturned as if by a scythe that was making way for the ground to be given seeds by some large hand from above.
After a while of just sitting and gawking at nothing like an idiot, I managed to gather enough mental sensibility, slowly stood up and did what must have been the stupidest idea ever.
I decided to follow the... snakes? yeah, that fits, snakes trail.
I knew what it was, but denied I did. Purple and yellow snake in a forest of cyborg trees was the obvious cue, but I continued to pretend ignorance instead of taking it in- not wanting to believe.
After a while of stepping through the thing's trail, I started to listen to my surroundings, there were birds calling in the distance in a way that seemed really familiar to me, but I just couldn't place it no matter how hard I tried to remember.
Of course, I did. I just refused to believe that this was happening, it couldn't be after all. This wasn't possible.
After even more walking I came upon a rather interesting sight.
There were some grass-covered platforms with metal almost haphazardly dug into them, hanging from a wall. Two things seemed out-of-place in it, the first was that there were purple shards of some presumably metallic substance scattered all over, I even saw what looked like a welding mask or two around there, though I wasn't sure what they belonged to.
The second... was the metal thing that just leaded into a corridor. It might have been a wall, but it now looked like it had been burned through and abused with by a baseball bat with lasers added on to it.
Above the door was a small ceiling of dirt and metal, one so ridiculously tall that I couldn't even see the top... or I just didn't have a good point of view, but that's besides the point, it was just floating there without any support. If it was just packed dirt I could believe it.
That idea was scrapped when I was able to throw a stone at the ceiling- it being too high up for me to do anything with otherwise, and it left a visible mark.
After that, I heard something in the distance- it sounding like an explosion, but accompanied by what I believe might have been a yell.
I was too far away to get anything much out of what I heard, but it was enough to grab my curiosity and pull me towards it.
Today was full of 'great ideas', it seemed.
When I looked around, it all seemed so familiar, yet I couldn't place it. I could swear I had never seen a place like this but... it all gave me a weird sense of deja vu.
When I was already most of the way to the busted open wall, I knew I couldn't stop where I was. I had to know. I had to know what I'd heard, I had to know if I was going crazy.
I hoped I was if I'm honest. I still hope now- that this is all just a coma dream.
I managed to get myself through the busted open wall- and it was at that point I realised something.
My coat and scarf were missing. This wasn't exactly the weirdest thing that had happened to me today, but it was still worth noting.
After a few steps I found more metallic shards everywhere and some small helicopter blade-like thing that was broken in half and melted at points- looking almost like it had been dipped in molten metal that had been scraped off before it had fully cooled.
"This, is strange" I spoke quietly, scared that if I said anything in even a slightly louder voice, something would come and strike me down for breaking the otherwise atmospheric noises of the forest- the tweeting of birds in the distance, the rustle of branches...
After a while, I got moving again, and was met with a curious, square-shaped hill. I scaled it with a small amount of challenge, but it took maybe a bit over a quarter of a minute to scale.
I walked a few steps forward, only to see that the small hill stopped here, dropping down a little over my own height.
"Well that was a waste of my time" I sighed quietly, sitting on the edge of the drop before letting myself carefully down, bracing my short fall with nothing but my legs.
I found myself face to face with one of the welder masks when I took a short observation of my surroundings. The thing was hiding in some grass with scattered bits of purple around it.
I was unnerved when I looked at it for some reason, one I couldn't describe. The best comparison I can give is it was like looking at a human skull, but somewhat less creepy.
That line of thought brought a slight smile to my face. An idea formed, one that would hopefully relieve my somewhat stressed self.
I picked up the mask in my right hand, raising it on an outstretched limb and looking it directly in the visor, pretending it was a human skull.
After a moment of likely looking incredibly stupid, I asked the welding mask; "To be, or not to be?"
It said nothing, fucking bastard.
Feeling thankfully a bit less stressed, I threw the greyish-white mask over my shoulder, continuing my walk further into the woods. Further towards what had caused the explosion sound.
It was after I moved around a large tree stump that I came face to face with something that I had silently been expecting, but had been denying and hoping I wouldn't see for the entire time I'd been here, but did anyway.
There, scattered amongst the forest clearing, lay the snake that had passed me earlier. It looked like the love child of Optimus Prime and some a Steelix- a multi-sectioned beast colored purple and yellow with a few blue and grey objects around it.
The metallic, titanic beast was formed from a bunch of circular, metallic objects. Each of the orbs that made up it's being had been scattered all over and were each double my height at the very least.
Each segment had a blue orb or crystal in the middle on both sides, that was surrounded by some yellow metal that was encased in purple and grey plating that was completely scratch free. The plates of purple metal, much like the same metal I'd seen scattered around on my way here, would have been far less durable than the yellow or grey- the justification for this being it's scratched surface where the grey and yellow was without any.
A purple spike ball lay resting on the remains of a battered tree, having been disconnected like each and every other segment of the machine, likely from the combat I'd missed.
The last, most imposing and damning of all, however, was the head.
It was incredibly big- larger than a pickup truck, with one, angular and evil, piercing red eye that glinted in the sunlight like a ruby- dead and dark like a turned off computer screen as it stared into nothing, without a pupil or light that could be considered such.
The other side of the beings head was a caved-in a mess of the occasional burst of electricity, wires and melted material. I could see the inner workings of the being that would be so much more technologically advanced than anything my home had to offer, I'd doubt that any modern military could be dispensed against the thing and actually win in conventional warfare, disregarding missiles and the like.
The especially damning part?
I knew this thing. I had beaten it with charged up shots to the face repeatedly- despite being big, menacing and large, I hadn't considered it a serious threat after beating it a second time, it's attack patterns leaving much to be desired as it just spat easy to dodge projectiles and slammed the ground with a tail- one I could see scattered across everything in this very moment.
It was a video game boss, one I had beaten so many times before- and now I was seeing it 'in the flesh'.
"Fuck."
My shoulders slumped, my mind numbed and I panicked.
My sweet, sweet blanket of ignorance had just been incinerated, battered and eviscerated before my very eyes.
My mouth opened wordlessly, my words failing me for a moment as my eyes widened, the implications actually started to get through to me full force now I was no longer feigning ignorance.
"Shit."