A branch smacked the outside of the window with enough force to echo in the room. I looked up startled at the noise.
Walking to the window I peered at the storm outside. There were tree branches scattered all over the lawn and the trash can was halfway down the street.
I shook my head as I tried to get focused on the game on my TV. A small alien with a grenade in its hand appeared to be running toward the screen. Moving as fast as I could I grabbed the Xbox controller on my gaming chair and held the right bumper. My character in the game began firing rounds of ammo at the alien. When it got to within ten feet of my character it suddenly exploded with blue light. A warning sound let me know my shields were down so l quickly took cover. My ammo count was at 10 when I saw a larger shielded alien come around the corner holding a glowing blue sword.
"Oh Shit! An Elite with an energy sword." I quickly throw a grenade at the Elite. It backs off but its shield glows with the damage. Out of nowhere another Elite pops out on my left. I tried to backtrack but the original Elite came charging in and lunged at me with his energy sword.
"Damn it! Stupid Elite!"
"Did an Elite make you his bitch?" A voice over my headset asked.
I pulled my microphone down to my mouth.
"Hell no! Stupid Elite was hiding behind a rock. You already know I'm playing on Legendary, so Covenant be hiding everywhere."
"Well maybe Halo isn't your game Jay."
"Uhh haven't I beat you one on one like 30 straight in Halo?"
There was a brief pause. "Its only been 11 times stop over hyping yourself. Anyway are you coming to my party tonight?"
"Yeah l'm about to get dressed right now and then I'll head out."
"Aight sounds good. Just hurry up. There's people here already and one of them is Alice. She keeps asking me when you're getting here and its starting to annoy me." I chuckled to myself as I walked over to my Xbox and turned it off.
Walking over to my closet I opened it to be greeted with an organized room filled to the brim with clothes and shoes. Shirts were hung up on hooks and pants on a shelf over them. The whole left side was dedicated to shoes. There was 40 pairs in different shoe containers. I grabbed my pair of solid black air force one's. I pulled a pair of fitted black jeans, a purple T-shirt and my black Lebron Lakers jersey. I took them in the bathroom and quickly brushed my teeth and took a shower. Finally I put the new clothes on and put on a Cuban link chain to complete the look. I looked in the mirror and saw a 6 foot 2, 180 pound black man with corn rows staring back at me. Nodding to my reflection I turned around and headed down the stairs.
As I got to the kitchen I saw a my Mom reading some mail. She heard me approaching and looked up. My mother wasn't a very tall woman, but you could sense strength in her bearing. She was wearing a business suit and looked very tired.
"Where are you heading so dressed up?"
"Drew is having a party tonight so imma go over and spend the night at his crib and go straight to school tomorrow."
"Well the storm is getting crazy out there so please drive safely and do not speed."
"Yeah, I know. I'll be okay and I'll text you when I get there."
My mother nodded. She walked over to kissed me on the cheek and headed upstairs to her bedroom.
I grabbed a Monster Energy out of the fridae and walked into the darade The first thing to greet me in the garage was a Black Acura SUV. It was still dripping wet from my mom driving in the storm. What really caught my eye was the beautiful machine parked next to the Acura.
Sitting there in all her glory was a Black Mazda Rx-7. The whole car was blacked out from the rims to the headlights and brake lights. This car was my baby and I had been working on her since I was 8 when I bought her. I worked odd jobs to pay for all the parts and it was the most precious thing I owned. I walked over to the car and used my key to open the door.
Sliding into the Rx-7 I put my key in the ignition and started it. The roar of the engine was music to my ears. I pressed the button on the garage clicker. There was a quick screech and the garage door opened up. I looked down at my phone I quickly synced it will my speaker system. Scrolling down my playlist I clicked on the song
"Switches and Dracs" by Moneybagg Yo feat Lil Durk and EST Gee. The whole car started to shake with the addition of the bass of the song.
I pulled the car out of the garage and immediately the car was assaulted with rain. I shifted the car into first and stomped on the accelerator. The drive out of my neighborhood and to the main road was uneventful.
As I got onto the main road the music paused for a second as a loud bing from a text message that came through. I looked down, grabbed my phone and read the message on the screen.
Alice: Have you left yet??
I shook my head amused at her interest. I quickly shot off a text in response.
Jay: Yeah I just left I'll be there in about 10 minutes.
Not twenty seconds after I sent it, my car binged again. I checked the road quickly nothing on it for miles so I decided it was safe to read the text.
Alice: Jay its a 30 minute drive and there is a huge storm out so don't speed.
I scoffed at her text and in response I slammed my foot down on the accelerator.
The needle quickly climbed past 80 heading toward triple digits. My favorite sound in the world was the sound of boost from the turbo chargers. It was immediately ruined by the song change. "Calling my phone" by Lil Tjay and 6lack started playing.
I quickly changed the song to "Finesse Out the Gang Way" by Lil Durk feat Lil Baby.
Suddenly the sky lit up like the fourth of July from what could only be lighting. It cascaded across the sky so brightly that I had to squint. A single bolt hit the road a few hundred yards ahead of me.
Immediately, I crushed the brake with both feet not even worrying I might stall my car out. The screech of tires was loud enough to drown out the music.
Finally the car came to a halt and I looked up at the road. Where the bolt of lightning had hit there was a man standing there. This was no ordinary man, however. From the illumination of my head lights I could see that this man was wearing what looked like black armor. His face was hidden behind his helmet but two glowing red eyes could be seen.
"Please let this be Batman in new armor." The man's arm lifted and he motioned for me to come closer. I opened the center console and took my switchblade out and put it in my back pocket.
Once I got out of the car, it felt like the air itself was charged with electricity. Walking towards the man I was struck with a sudden urge to attack him. The closer I got the worse it got. So I started taking deep breaths and managed to calm myself down.
"Who the hell are you and why are you standing in the middle of the road? You know I could have killed you right?" A deep chuckle emanated from the man.
"Anger fits you son, but know I mean you no harm. So you won't need that knife in your back pocket."
Shock hit me like a sucker punch. How did this man know I was armed? Was he spying on me or was he a super hero or villain and could read minds or something.
"I'll ask this just once more. Who in the hell are you?"
The man was silent for a few moments. He then said the one word that would change my life forever. "Ares"
This response was so outlandish that I laughed out loud. "Ares, as in the Greek god of war?"
The man nodded.
"Didn't Wonder Woman kill you like 100 years ago or something?"
At these words the mans hands balled into fists and his face turned into one of anger.
"Yes Diana killed my physical body but as long as there is war I can never truly be killed." He then walked around me surveying me like a prized stallion Though I noticed
that his feet and armor never made a single sound. "It is your time to carry on my legacy child."
"I'm not your damn child, so don't call me that."
"You are still of my bloodline and you are my next incarnation. So, accept what you know is the truth."
I quickly backed away from him and drew the switchblade. "I'm nobody's slave and if you try to enslave me, you're in for the fight of your life."
Ares looked directly at me and for the first time I could see his face. Funny enough he just looked like a regular everyday guy, but at that moment he smiled at me and chills went down my spine. It wasn't just that the smile looked evil. It was that in that moment, I knew I was in real danger and that he could kill me easily. Sweat dripped down my face and unto the floor. Somehow, I also knew if 1 didn't fight he would slaughter me out of anger. I put my left foot forward and bent my knees slightly in my best approximation of a fighting stance. Pressing the button on the handle, a blade shot out.
"Very well" Ares whispered. He pulled out an all black blade and took up a fighting stance of his own.
That made me snap. I sprinted at Ares as fast as I could. As soon as I got within five feet, I tried to hit him with a spartan kick. He side stepped it, but I expected that, so as soon as my foot touched the ground I spun into a spinning roundhouse kick aimed at his head. Ares ducked it and tried for an uppercut slash with his blade that I dodged with a quick spin, using my momentum from my earlier kick. I threw a left hand punch at his face and faster then I thought was possible, his hand flashed out and caught mine. Not even slightly deterred, I brought my knee up to his groin and was rewarded with a sharp grunt of pain from Ares. I then slashed my knife across his arm forcing him to release my hand. I disengaged from his to gather myself.
"Have you had enough yet, you piece of shit?"
Ares straightened up and smiled at me."Not even close."
There was a blur of movement and Ares was gone. I glanced around and there was nothing in sight. As if he teleported he was right in front of me. Before I could gasp in shock the first blow hit me in the stomach.
Blood came shooting out of my mouth.
Never before had I experienced pain of this magnitude. I knew this was the day I was gonna die.
A barrage of blows hit me like lightning strikes. The strange thing was that time slowed down like a movie. I could see lightning passing through the sky in a beautiful spider web. Wind was knocking branches around to the point of breaking. I could even hear my phone ringing in my car.
None of those things stood out more then the knife in Ares hand speeding towards my heart like a bullet.
As the blade made contact with my heart, somehow, my battered body didn't register any pain. It just felt like my chest was being heated.
Ares leaned in and whispered "Good luck my child. You will succeed where I have failed."
Ares then exploded into light, but that light seemed to enter my body through the knife.
The warmth in my chest turned into searing heat that felt like every cell in my body was being cooked from the inside out.
I scream with every ounce of energy I had left. The light finally disappeared into my body and I slump into unconsciousness.