Neo Chronicles: Black Void
Episode 12: Low Down Dirty Snakes
Table of Contents
Somethin' huge just shot at me, an' I'm guessin' that same thing shot at Ri'lar a few moments ago. Why couldn't I see it? What do those snake people gotta do with it? Why do they got beef with Ri'lar? Was this a trap?
Of course this was a trap. They probably did interpret me bein' a friend of his an' led me right to him to kill us both.
“I feel like if I were to ask what you're doing here, you'd give me some staakin' excuse,” Ri'lar says. “But since you are here, change your scanner settings to pick up on ultraviolet and pray to your God that your suit doesn't let you get radiation poison from their blasts.”
He looks annoyed as he stands to his feet. I can tell he's tryna ignore me. He knows I'm here, but he's tryna block me out as best he can. It's not like I'm offended or anything. He's just keepin' his head on the big problem. I can dig it. Maybe if I do what he does, I'll look like I got an idea of what's goin' on.
Man, I don't got the slightest bit of insight in this. No clue on how to do anything he just said—except pray thing. I know how to do that real good. The snake people jump in the place an' surround us. I press the button on my helmet to change the settings until I it looks right. Got no idea if it did what Ri'lar said though. The screen looks darker, so I guess I'm in the right mode. Maybe. Hopefully. Oh, God. Either way, I'mma rely more on the heat sensors than my eyes from here on out. Now I just hope I didn't turn 'em off. No? We good. Yeah, we good.
I pull out my sword an' get ready to fight. The snakes ain't gonna be an issue, so I'm focused in on that thing that shot us. I can feel it getting closer—whatever it is. The footsteps it takes makes the whole sewer tremble, so I'm guessing the thing is big. When it finally makes its way out into the open, I can see why.
It's probably like ten feet tall, bulky as I'll get out. It looks like it's got some resemblance to the snakes, but overall, it's entirely mechanical. Heavy metal to the extreme. Its arms are guns—no—cannons, an' they're aimed right at us.
Ri'lar tells me to move, but honestly, I'm already gone. The laser beam just barely misses me. Out of the woodworks, I see more snakes join the fray. Like a lot more. No time to count them all, but I'd say we're at least at twenty, an' they're all moving really, really fast. This is the kinda speed I'd expect from Chris back home, which is sayin' somethin'.
The sewer is pretty narrow to move around in, but with robo-dragon-man blastin' down walls like he's doin', it won't be for long.
I see two snakes to my right run up on me. I pull my sword back to swing, but before I know it, they're already outta the way, an' another snake is behind me, coilin' its limbs around my arms. The other two make their way in my face an' try t'punch me or somethin'. Not really thinkin' about it, I toss the dude behind me at the two and fire that weird aura wave at them with a swing of the sword.
The blast looked like it was big and like it hurt. I pause for a moment to see the damage. I don't think I hit them hard enough to kill them. If I did, I think I'd be super tired or somethin', but judging by the line shaped crater I made, it had to've been hard enough to knock 'em out. They're not movin'. I hope they're not dead, but I don't want 'em to move either.
I see Ri'lar out there takin' on the robot. He's shootin' his guns at the thing, inflicting damage little by little, doin' his best to avoid the snakes crawlin' in at him. I'm about to go up an' help him out some, but some more snakes get the jump on me.
Way too fast to react to. I end up taking a solid, clean hit to my back. I feel a sharp sting, like they cut at me with something. I think one of 'em scratched me. Don't make much of it, though. He's in range now, an' there's no way I'mma let him get by without taggin' back. Can't get much in the way of a sword swipe, but I make darn sure I land a solid punch 'cross the dude's face.
It's safe to say he is out, but the other three—so fast, they're like a blur—surround me. Before I even take a step, two of them lunge for my arm. Ow! Did they just bite me? I try to fling 'em off an' retaliate, but they're already backin' off.
One step, two steps, I try to start after them, but there's no way I'm catchin' up with 'em. But it's not like they're tryna run away. Nah, they're goading me. Tryna get me all riled up an' chase 'em. I see 'em talk to each other real quick an' then go invisible.
They still don't realize that I can see 'em when they're not seen. So glad I didn't accidentally turn it off. I would chuckle about, maybe give a faint smirk or somethin', but I'm too focused on makin' sure I get this right. Keep 'em in sight. Pull back the sword. And swing, like it's a baseball bat.
This time, the blast wave is a lil' bit bigger. I can't tell you whether or not I did that on purpose, but it happened, and the snakes definitely get hit by it. I see their cloaking wear off just as they hit the ground, and not to brag or nothin', but they hit the ground hard.
From there, I get ready for the next buncha snake people to try an' take me on, but to my surprise, they all done ignored me an' are busy gangin' up on Ri'lar with that robot. Some wack mess, on the real.
Ol' whale-face is really goin' beast mode on 'em. Even with everyone practically dog pilin' on him, he's handlin' things like a boss. Smackin' snakes left an' right, dodgin' beams, lightin' the robot up. I don't mean t'get all third person on ya, but—dang.
Everyone—and I mean everyone—wants a piece of this dude. They come at him from the side. Scratching and clawing all over him. You can see them get more fierce with each strike.
Now, Ri'lar is a pretty big an' tough guy. I haven't seen the dude get hurt much at all, an' if he does, there's no way he'll show it. The same holds true here. They can scratch an' claw on his arm, bite his leg, poke at his chest, but he will take it like a tank. I'm not gonna go outta the way an' say he can tank things as well as I can. Maybe he can, but I'm pretty tough too. But I will say he can probably take more abuse than me.
Like if it was me, instead of swattin' off the peons to the side and focus on gettin' some more shots in on the robot like he does, I woulda got fed up an' started beatin' down every last one of 'em. Not the smartest thing to do in that situation, but it woulda made me feel better. But this guy—this guy right here—he always keeps his sights on the prize. He identifies the problem, and addresses it directly. I can't do that.
The snake guys try pullin' that disappearin' act on him to distract him some more. He ain't bitin'. Sho, it divides his attention for a bit, but he handles it—an' handles it with care.
I don't know how he does it. I don't see a visor on his head or nothin', but as soon as they go invisible, he aims his gun right at 'em an' fires the laser blast. Maybe he's got a great memory, so he just remembered where they were. That I can get, but then he aims the gun in a different spot, an' the shot still lands. Dead on. Direct hit. Bullseye. Is he psychic? No, that's not it. Does he smell 'em? I can't smell 'em, but maybe his nose is better. Maybe he's just that smart. Like, he calculates exactly where and when they'd be just goin' off of what they were doin' before they faded out. That would be so crazy.
In any case, he makes quick work of what looks to be the last of the snake people in seconds. Like, I know they can disappear, but I don't see any of 'em left. It's just Ri'lar an' the big bot now. And they bring down the house.
The bot fires that UV beam of his from a distance. Ri'lar dives to the right avoiding the hit. The beam cuts through the stone walls. Hot knife through butter style, you know how it is. It stops firing to get ready for somethin' else, but Ri'lar is already on the move.
I never knew whale-face could move that fast. You'd think someone as big as him would be all slow an' junk, but he's gettin' along just fine. He grabs the bot by the arm and puts it in like a lock an' just starts tuggin'. This is like some high caliber, martial arts grapplin' mess goin' on here.
The fact that he's doin' all this on a robot and the robot is struggling to break free really says somethin' to me about Ri'lar's strength. Or maybe that's just how the arm lock works. He sweeps him in the legs, caggin' him up, an' from there, brings the bot to the ground. It is stuck. The bot literally can't move. Completely under Ri'lar's control. Can it feel pain? Maybe it's not all mechanical. If it does, then I know that it's hurtin'. I'm hurtin' from just lookin' at it.
Ri'lar keeps tuggin until I hear somethin'—a lot of somethin's actually—snap. Some mechanical wiring, circuits cracklin', an' bone—yeah that sounds like a bone, an' it just broke. Weird thing about it, the bot is still movin'. After Ri'lar let's go, the bot starts to get back on its feet like it ain't even phased. Ri'lar don't even give it the time of day. He picks up his pistol, changes a setting or two on it—whatever he's doin' makes it get really loud. I think it starts glowin' too, like it's runnin' in overload or somethin'.
Then he casually, nonchalantly, an' coldheartedly aims the barrel at the big bot's head an' pulls the trigger. BLAM with a side of ZZT an' BZZ, blows it off clean. The headless mechination falls motionless to the ground.
Now I know what you're thinkin'. I came all the way down here to help the dude take on whatever he was takin' on. I took out a coupla snakes, sho, but when the heat really came on, I was sittin' back watchin' Ri'lar do all the work. I get that. It looks kinda like I didn't wanna get into it fo real. An' with how I am, you could kinda get that impression. Overall, I don't like fights. I don't like confrontation. It's not fo me, but today—really a lil' bit since before Miraivus, that all changed.
I'm ready to go home, an' if that means I gotta knock over a coupla heads, I'mma do it. I'mma feel bad about doin' it, but I'mma do it, cuz when it gets down to it, if it's a choice between you or me, or them an' me? I'mma pick me every time. Self preservation, self interest. You could go out on a limb an' call it selfish, but hey that's just how it is.
So what am I doin' sittin' back on my tail, relaxin'? Honestly, I couldn't tell you. See the thing is—well—I, uh—I can't move my legs. They just stopped workin'. I try not to show it in front of Ri'lar, but I'm scared outta my mind. How the crud did I get paralyzed?
Ri'lar comes over talkin' sum'm, sum'm, but I ain't hearin' a single word. He extends out his hand tryna help me up, an' naturally I take it, but I just can't bring myself to stand up. He asks me if any of those snake things bit me while we were goin' at it.
“Dude, how the crud am I 'spose t'member every single thing that went down!?”
“I'm not asking for every single thing! Did they bite you?”
“I guess! They bit, they scratched, they poked! What does it mat—”
Then all of a sudden, it's like reason, enlightenment, whatever you wanna call it, just smacks me up the side a' my head. They done straight up poisoned me. Those low down dirty snakes done poisoned me. I ain't nevah been poisoned before. Every time I see a bee or a wasp or a spider or whatever, I do everything in my power to avoid getting bit or stung, and it's always worked. Nevah had to go through that. I don't know if I'm allergic, but I don't need to find out, an' now. Here I am, hangin' out with this foo, an' it happens like it's a part of the job, all outta the blue.
Man, I'm not ready for this. I don't need this. Not right now. Not ever, but especially not right now. God, what am I gonna do?
“Calm down,” he says. “We'll handle this. Mosst. But we gotta be quick before it spreads.”
“What happens if it spreads?”
“Come on.” He picks me up an' tosses me over his back like I'm some typa luggage. The big stupid head.
He's got me all worried about this poison thing. Me havin' no control over my legs makes me really scared, an' I know he purposely ignored that question of mine. This junk ain't funny at all.
“What happens when it spreads!?”
Episode 12: Low Down Dirty Snakes
Table of Contents
Somethin' huge just shot at me, an' I'm guessin' that same thing shot at Ri'lar a few moments ago. Why couldn't I see it? What do those snake people gotta do with it? Why do they got beef with Ri'lar? Was this a trap?
Of course this was a trap. They probably did interpret me bein' a friend of his an' led me right to him to kill us both.
“I feel like if I were to ask what you're doing here, you'd give me some staakin' excuse,” Ri'lar says. “But since you are here, change your scanner settings to pick up on ultraviolet and pray to your God that your suit doesn't let you get radiation poison from their blasts.”
He looks annoyed as he stands to his feet. I can tell he's tryna ignore me. He knows I'm here, but he's tryna block me out as best he can. It's not like I'm offended or anything. He's just keepin' his head on the big problem. I can dig it. Maybe if I do what he does, I'll look like I got an idea of what's goin' on.
Man, I don't got the slightest bit of insight in this. No clue on how to do anything he just said—except pray thing. I know how to do that real good. The snake people jump in the place an' surround us. I press the button on my helmet to change the settings until I it looks right. Got no idea if it did what Ri'lar said though. The screen looks darker, so I guess I'm in the right mode. Maybe. Hopefully. Oh, God. Either way, I'mma rely more on the heat sensors than my eyes from here on out. Now I just hope I didn't turn 'em off. No? We good. Yeah, we good.
I pull out my sword an' get ready to fight. The snakes ain't gonna be an issue, so I'm focused in on that thing that shot us. I can feel it getting closer—whatever it is. The footsteps it takes makes the whole sewer tremble, so I'm guessing the thing is big. When it finally makes its way out into the open, I can see why.
It's probably like ten feet tall, bulky as I'll get out. It looks like it's got some resemblance to the snakes, but overall, it's entirely mechanical. Heavy metal to the extreme. Its arms are guns—no—cannons, an' they're aimed right at us.
Ri'lar tells me to move, but honestly, I'm already gone. The laser beam just barely misses me. Out of the woodworks, I see more snakes join the fray. Like a lot more. No time to count them all, but I'd say we're at least at twenty, an' they're all moving really, really fast. This is the kinda speed I'd expect from Chris back home, which is sayin' somethin'.
The sewer is pretty narrow to move around in, but with robo-dragon-man blastin' down walls like he's doin', it won't be for long.
I see two snakes to my right run up on me. I pull my sword back to swing, but before I know it, they're already outta the way, an' another snake is behind me, coilin' its limbs around my arms. The other two make their way in my face an' try t'punch me or somethin'. Not really thinkin' about it, I toss the dude behind me at the two and fire that weird aura wave at them with a swing of the sword.
The blast looked like it was big and like it hurt. I pause for a moment to see the damage. I don't think I hit them hard enough to kill them. If I did, I think I'd be super tired or somethin', but judging by the line shaped crater I made, it had to've been hard enough to knock 'em out. They're not movin'. I hope they're not dead, but I don't want 'em to move either.
I see Ri'lar out there takin' on the robot. He's shootin' his guns at the thing, inflicting damage little by little, doin' his best to avoid the snakes crawlin' in at him. I'm about to go up an' help him out some, but some more snakes get the jump on me.
Way too fast to react to. I end up taking a solid, clean hit to my back. I feel a sharp sting, like they cut at me with something. I think one of 'em scratched me. Don't make much of it, though. He's in range now, an' there's no way I'mma let him get by without taggin' back. Can't get much in the way of a sword swipe, but I make darn sure I land a solid punch 'cross the dude's face.
It's safe to say he is out, but the other three—so fast, they're like a blur—surround me. Before I even take a step, two of them lunge for my arm. Ow! Did they just bite me? I try to fling 'em off an' retaliate, but they're already backin' off.
One step, two steps, I try to start after them, but there's no way I'm catchin' up with 'em. But it's not like they're tryna run away. Nah, they're goading me. Tryna get me all riled up an' chase 'em. I see 'em talk to each other real quick an' then go invisible.
They still don't realize that I can see 'em when they're not seen. So glad I didn't accidentally turn it off. I would chuckle about, maybe give a faint smirk or somethin', but I'm too focused on makin' sure I get this right. Keep 'em in sight. Pull back the sword. And swing, like it's a baseball bat.
This time, the blast wave is a lil' bit bigger. I can't tell you whether or not I did that on purpose, but it happened, and the snakes definitely get hit by it. I see their cloaking wear off just as they hit the ground, and not to brag or nothin', but they hit the ground hard.
From there, I get ready for the next buncha snake people to try an' take me on, but to my surprise, they all done ignored me an' are busy gangin' up on Ri'lar with that robot. Some wack mess, on the real.
Ol' whale-face is really goin' beast mode on 'em. Even with everyone practically dog pilin' on him, he's handlin' things like a boss. Smackin' snakes left an' right, dodgin' beams, lightin' the robot up. I don't mean t'get all third person on ya, but—dang.
Everyone—and I mean everyone—wants a piece of this dude. They come at him from the side. Scratching and clawing all over him. You can see them get more fierce with each strike.
Now, Ri'lar is a pretty big an' tough guy. I haven't seen the dude get hurt much at all, an' if he does, there's no way he'll show it. The same holds true here. They can scratch an' claw on his arm, bite his leg, poke at his chest, but he will take it like a tank. I'm not gonna go outta the way an' say he can tank things as well as I can. Maybe he can, but I'm pretty tough too. But I will say he can probably take more abuse than me.
Like if it was me, instead of swattin' off the peons to the side and focus on gettin' some more shots in on the robot like he does, I woulda got fed up an' started beatin' down every last one of 'em. Not the smartest thing to do in that situation, but it woulda made me feel better. But this guy—this guy right here—he always keeps his sights on the prize. He identifies the problem, and addresses it directly. I can't do that.
The snake guys try pullin' that disappearin' act on him to distract him some more. He ain't bitin'. Sho, it divides his attention for a bit, but he handles it—an' handles it with care.
I don't know how he does it. I don't see a visor on his head or nothin', but as soon as they go invisible, he aims his gun right at 'em an' fires the laser blast. Maybe he's got a great memory, so he just remembered where they were. That I can get, but then he aims the gun in a different spot, an' the shot still lands. Dead on. Direct hit. Bullseye. Is he psychic? No, that's not it. Does he smell 'em? I can't smell 'em, but maybe his nose is better. Maybe he's just that smart. Like, he calculates exactly where and when they'd be just goin' off of what they were doin' before they faded out. That would be so crazy.
In any case, he makes quick work of what looks to be the last of the snake people in seconds. Like, I know they can disappear, but I don't see any of 'em left. It's just Ri'lar an' the big bot now. And they bring down the house.
The bot fires that UV beam of his from a distance. Ri'lar dives to the right avoiding the hit. The beam cuts through the stone walls. Hot knife through butter style, you know how it is. It stops firing to get ready for somethin' else, but Ri'lar is already on the move.
I never knew whale-face could move that fast. You'd think someone as big as him would be all slow an' junk, but he's gettin' along just fine. He grabs the bot by the arm and puts it in like a lock an' just starts tuggin'. This is like some high caliber, martial arts grapplin' mess goin' on here.
The fact that he's doin' all this on a robot and the robot is struggling to break free really says somethin' to me about Ri'lar's strength. Or maybe that's just how the arm lock works. He sweeps him in the legs, caggin' him up, an' from there, brings the bot to the ground. It is stuck. The bot literally can't move. Completely under Ri'lar's control. Can it feel pain? Maybe it's not all mechanical. If it does, then I know that it's hurtin'. I'm hurtin' from just lookin' at it.
Ri'lar keeps tuggin until I hear somethin'—a lot of somethin's actually—snap. Some mechanical wiring, circuits cracklin', an' bone—yeah that sounds like a bone, an' it just broke. Weird thing about it, the bot is still movin'. After Ri'lar let's go, the bot starts to get back on its feet like it ain't even phased. Ri'lar don't even give it the time of day. He picks up his pistol, changes a setting or two on it—whatever he's doin' makes it get really loud. I think it starts glowin' too, like it's runnin' in overload or somethin'.
Then he casually, nonchalantly, an' coldheartedly aims the barrel at the big bot's head an' pulls the trigger. BLAM with a side of ZZT an' BZZ, blows it off clean. The headless mechination falls motionless to the ground.
Now I know what you're thinkin'. I came all the way down here to help the dude take on whatever he was takin' on. I took out a coupla snakes, sho, but when the heat really came on, I was sittin' back watchin' Ri'lar do all the work. I get that. It looks kinda like I didn't wanna get into it fo real. An' with how I am, you could kinda get that impression. Overall, I don't like fights. I don't like confrontation. It's not fo me, but today—really a lil' bit since before Miraivus, that all changed.
I'm ready to go home, an' if that means I gotta knock over a coupla heads, I'mma do it. I'mma feel bad about doin' it, but I'mma do it, cuz when it gets down to it, if it's a choice between you or me, or them an' me? I'mma pick me every time. Self preservation, self interest. You could go out on a limb an' call it selfish, but hey that's just how it is.
So what am I doin' sittin' back on my tail, relaxin'? Honestly, I couldn't tell you. See the thing is—well—I, uh—I can't move my legs. They just stopped workin'. I try not to show it in front of Ri'lar, but I'm scared outta my mind. How the crud did I get paralyzed?
Ri'lar comes over talkin' sum'm, sum'm, but I ain't hearin' a single word. He extends out his hand tryna help me up, an' naturally I take it, but I just can't bring myself to stand up. He asks me if any of those snake things bit me while we were goin' at it.
“Dude, how the crud am I 'spose t'member every single thing that went down!?”
“I'm not asking for every single thing! Did they bite you?”
“I guess! They bit, they scratched, they poked! What does it mat—”
Then all of a sudden, it's like reason, enlightenment, whatever you wanna call it, just smacks me up the side a' my head. They done straight up poisoned me. Those low down dirty snakes done poisoned me. I ain't nevah been poisoned before. Every time I see a bee or a wasp or a spider or whatever, I do everything in my power to avoid getting bit or stung, and it's always worked. Nevah had to go through that. I don't know if I'm allergic, but I don't need to find out, an' now. Here I am, hangin' out with this foo, an' it happens like it's a part of the job, all outta the blue.
Man, I'm not ready for this. I don't need this. Not right now. Not ever, but especially not right now. God, what am I gonna do?
“Calm down,” he says. “We'll handle this. Mosst. But we gotta be quick before it spreads.”
“What happens if it spreads?”
“Come on.” He picks me up an' tosses me over his back like I'm some typa luggage. The big stupid head.
He's got me all worried about this poison thing. Me havin' no control over my legs makes me really scared, an' I know he purposely ignored that question of mine. This junk ain't funny at all.
“What happens when it spreads!?”
