March 3rd, 2020

Lol you thought I'd learn from my 13 year old self's mistakes

Well,,, jokes on me!! Because I've come full circle 😎🙏🏻

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The rough sand crunched and shifted beneath my laboured stride. The sun bore down on my disgustingly sweaty back. A tumble weed sat perfectly still next to the small, almost unrecognizable trail. I stopped and stared at it, hoping for just the slightest breeze.

It didn't move at all, which was admittedly a bit of a let down. What's the point of tirelessly traveling a desert planet if there was no tumble weed to roll past all dramatically?

I sighed softly and looked to my sadly beeping jumper nestled in my sweat-slicked grip.

It had one, maybe two more good jumps in it before it ran out of juice and needed a long, much needed charge. Sadly the last handful of Earths I'd been visiting had no kind of power source to draw from due to them all being a 'pre-tech' version.

I squinted up against the blazing heat to see no clouds in sight. I turned back the way I came and the small town I'd jumped into was long gone. Turns out they didn't like shifty looking outsiders with stuff more advanced than a horse-pulled plough, and ended with quite a few guns going off.

Luckily I'm well aquatinted with being shot at... Speaking of I should check if anything is damaged.

A satisfyingly large rock, I'd been eyeing for maybe half a kilometre, called to me. It sweetly urged my aching, sweaty old body to plop down and take a rest. I groaned in delight and put myself in the rocky divot as the unrelenting pressure left my tired feet.

Never has a rock felt more comfortable.

I flipped my hood back from my face as I haunched over, taking a moment to catch my breath. The quiet of this place was almost scary, I would've expected some sort of cricket or something out here, but it was barren of all life, even the type that usually thrived in a place like this.

After a few moments I peered down between my cloak flaps to the jumper-suit.

I didn't see anything at first until a tiny, circular beam of light shone through my cloak. I groaned and pulled my cloak out of the way to see what looked to be a hole  from a bullet.

I really have to stop dinging this suit up.

I touched the spot and I could feel that a bruise might be forming soon, but it wasn't anything to be concerned about.
Seeing no real damage to me or the suit I sat back and flapped my cloak around to create some type of merciful wind to cool my body down. The skintight suit was great for withstanding the jumps and bullets, but not so great against heat.

Wiping my brow clear of sweat I heaved deep, dusty breaths that were slightly calmer than before.

Glancing down at the thin jumper device in my hand sent a mixture of feelings. This mixture was one I only really felt when in worlds that weren't exactly welcoming of me, or really weren't all that pleasant in general.

It was a faded feeling of home and it could only ever be diluted by the anticipation for the next adventure I'd encounter. Fear, hurt and adrenaline spiked when I thought about who was chasing me to strip this device off my cold, dead body.

Places like this left me alone with my thoughts, which isn't exactly something I'm ever thrilled about. I didn't want be the type that reminisced, since I had good reason not to.

There was no point in it anyway, I made my choice and I can't go back. 

Thinking about my used-to-be home just slowed me down, and I promised myself that as long as I had the jumper, nothing would slow me down.

I huffed once more, finally evening out my breathing. I had to get out of here before I started overthinking my life even more.

A little snake suddenly slithered out from between my feet from under the rock.

"Holy-!" I fell back off the rock, landing flat on my aching back, cracking it several times in several different places.

A groan left me as the sun now blazed down on my squinting eyes.

"I need to get out of here." I spoke heavily before sluggishly rolling over to my stomach and climbing up to my feet.

I looked at the jumper in hand and the outlining square had turned a soft green, signifying it was done it's cool down.

Thank god. Now I can get outta this Satan-crotch.

I quickly tapped in a random destination and placed the jumper back onto it's plating on the upper chest of the suit and turned on the safety jump setting. This made the suit build up my neck to my face, effectively covering my entire head with the suits material as well. It bubbled over my eyes in a protective, hard shell-like material that would turn opaque when jumping.

The head safety was pretty comfortable aside from the breather built into the mouth and nose area... it did not smell good.

I wish I'd washed this thing, it's gonna kill me.

The suit was ready to go and I mentally prepared myself.

Jumping was never a pleasant experience, and even though I'd been doing this for such a long time it didn't really get any better.

Taking little to no time to psych myself out I hastily hit the newly appeared jump button on the chest-bound jumper screen.

Like every time before, what felt like a black hole sucked me down, erasing the dusty desert and replacing it with the familiar cold, black surrounding that always put a pit in my stomach. My body felt like it was bending and waving along invisible hands, trying to break and mould me into putty.

Without the suit, they would probably succeed in their deathly venture easily.

It was the type of thing I was glad the suit wouldn't let me see.

The sudden suction returned and roughly jerked my body back up, spinning quicker and quicker until I couldn't quite make out which way I was spinning anymore.

The feeling stopped abruptly, signifying my arrival. However, it always took a couple seconds for the temporary blindness to leave.

Realizing the state of the destination I'd met, I could tell my suit was going to get a wash much sooner than I'd thought. Wish granted I guess, because it was raining. Pouring actually and I could tell I'd already gotten drenched within five seconds. The cloak clasped around my shoulders started to get much heavier as water steadily weighed it down.

My vision began to clear and my protected eyes could finally try and take in where I was.

There were a multitude of towering spruce tree silhouettes against the dark sky, their branches frantically waved against the harsher winds above. The almost black, stormy clouds swirled and folded threateningly above.

I squinted then dragged two fingers up along the circular light built in the suits forehead, activating the bright light to try and get a better look at my surroundings. There was only forest, and no sign of any civilian life anywhere. And I was in the middle of a big ass electrical storm!

"Uhhheeiikes... This isn't good."

A sudden streak of lightning deftly and erratically laced itself across the turbulent sky, lighting up all of my surroundings as if it were day. Barely two seconds later a head crushing burst of thunder rolled down onto the earth, its power rumbled through the very ground underfoot.

I wasn't particularly scared of storms, but there was something about being outside wearing nothing but technology that was a bit concerning. So I'd been sprinting for my life while you were reading that last paragraph.

My quick strides sent my body forwards, nimbly jumping over foliage and raised roots, narrowly missing the low branches that all seemed to aim for my face and still somehow had both feet pushing straight through.

Heart rate rising and temperatures dropping set a nervous pit at the bottom of my stomach while my body shook ferociously.

This had to be one of the worst welcomes I'd ever received from an alternative Earth ever.

The wind whipped ferociously around and forced the rain drops to go in all sorts of directions, pelting me so aggressively I began to feel numb.

Nevertheless my legs tirelessly carried me at a fast, practiced pace through the storm.

A sudden flash of lightning once again lit my way, easing the darkness and giving a glimpse of what looked to be a trail. Thank the Seven Eleven God.

With no hesitation and a new burst of energy, I sped towards the weathered path and eagerly sprinted down its thin stretch, clear of any irritating little shrubs.

The storm drowned all my senses and left me to rely on only my less than stellar instincts. My feet carried me as fast as it could in a direction that I had no idea where it might lead, but apparently my one track mind was set on out running a literal storm.

Another crack of lightning split the sky, momentarily lighting my way. I didn't notice the raised root in time before it hooked on my foot, sending me tumbling into the muddy trail.

The faceplate was coated in a thick layer of mud that was sluggishly rolling down right as thunder clapped and burst.

I groaned in an unsteady tone and hurriedly tried to wipe the eye shells clear as I pushed my winded self to my knees.

I knew I couldn't outrun the storm, so a new plan emerged. Find shelter.

That seemed like an almost impossible task since, by the looks of it, I was in the middle of nature that was being torn apart by a vicious storm.

If I was lucky, I'd find a hole in the ground before the suit got any more damaged.

But there... a small sound... it's sounded like a door slamming. It was nestled right between a the thundering sky and a powerful gust of wind breaking high up tree branches.

Hope jumped into my throat as I scanned the surroundings desperately, yelling out towards the sound like a blind kitten.

The rain wasn't letting up, but neither was I.

"Hello?!" I yelled into the darkness, feeling more lost than before. I could've sworn I'd heard a door close, but I no longer knew which way was what.

I stepped with unsure feet a few paces forward before planting myself in place once more and spinning around frantically. "Anyone?!" I yelled again, voice scratchy with a climbing sense of desperation.

Another flash of lighting accompanied by an instant sizzling sound flew through me. Not a moment later was a heart starting pop soon followed by a thundering boom.

The electricity in the air was deadly.

The booming deafened and disorientated me, however I forced my body to keep moving.

There! A light! Between the trees!

On instinct, I darted towards it, slapping branches out of my line of sight as shrubbery dragged across my legs.

I tore through the plant life in my way until I was met with a clearing. There sitting front of me was some type of bungalow looking house with a big garage attached. The light pouring out from the house was a comforting and friendly as it honey coated everything it's soft, window shaped glow touched.

I felt my spirits lift again. However a sobering reality sunk in when a strange silhouette passed by the window.

I had no idea how these earthlings would react to my appearance, and just by what I'd seen from that shadow, I looked nothing like them.

If I learned anything from all the Earths I've encountered, it's that if you are different in some obvious way, you were sub-human.

However, this was the only sign of civilization I'd come across and I wasn't about to run back into the forest to die.

I turned to find a huge tree standing proudly behind me. It looked sturdy, and it's branches look thick enough to be able to hold a person safely without breaking. Plus there were plenty of leaves to cover me from wandering eyes.

Braving the pouring rain that pushed me down, I rebelled and climbed the trunk higher and higher. I stole a glance over my shoulder every once and a while, making sure nobody was watching me. I'm sure it would be amusing to watch though since I don't even remember the last time I climbed a tree.

I tried to keep my eyes on the next branch I wanted to climb to, but the rain beading and bouncing off my shell eyed mask made it near impossible. I wiped the rain away with one arm, the other struggling in an awkward position to keep me flush the bark. I lifted up my right foot on a high foothold

With the next branch in sight I pushed my weight towards it.

I almost made it, my hand had to be only three inches away.

But my neck was yanked back from my soaked cloak getting caught on a short, broken branch protruding from the tree. Eyes wide as a gasp left me, the branch started to get farther and farther away while I began my plummet to the muddy ground.

I desperately tried to grab something, anything, to slow my fall. But I slipped through the branches like a ball in a pinball machine, helplessly knocking against just about everything on the way down.

Ten feet later I'd landed on a protruding root, chest first with a definite crack resounding through my winded body.

I struggled to get my breath back, relying heavily on my breather to pull in even a gulp of air, but lungs refused to function properly.

The bullet welts pulsing under my suit didn't help at all with the deep, breath stealing pain.

I felt like I was suffocating.

I quickly retracted the suits safety mask in hopes of finally getting a breath of air. It didn't help so all I could do was wait it out.

With painful coughs, air rushed back into my lungs under horribly sore rib cage.

I slowly shifted my hands closer to my body, weakly pushing myself away from the wet mud underneath. However, I didn't feel like I'd broken any ribs.

Horrified, I stared directly down at the pieces of the jumper device layer beneath me, digging its pieces into the ground.

"No, no no no No No NoNo!" I scrambled to pile all the pieces of my survival back together. The green outline of the device was completely gone, faded to black. "Shit! Are you fucking with me?!?" I yelled in anger, tears starting to pour out, pounding my fist against the ground.

A dart suddenly sunk into my knee grabbing my attention away. I stared at the dart as it popped out of the suits skin harmlessly.

Enraged and frightened I snapped my fury filled eyes up to wards the home, only to see a tiny fox with two tails, holding a dart gun in his shaking hands. I snarled and grabbed the dart off the ground.

I wasn't about to let him have that chance again, whatever was in this was going straight back to him.

Fear flooded his tiny body as he fiddled to reload the gun again as I ran full tilt towards him.

"S-Sonic!" He cried helplessly as he fumbled the gun, stumbling back into the warm home. A sudden unnatural gust swirled around me as I felt a sharp pain in my exposed neck.

I stumbled as my feet instantly started to get sloppy and unbalanced. I looked at where I held the dart only to see my empty palm.

In a reaction as swift as I could manage I reached to the stabbing pain in my neck and yanked the very same dart out of me. The liquid in the van aster was almost completely gone.

Coming to a dazed stop, I stared at the dart before looking back at he worried fox, only to see a new figure standing next to him. Blue and angry. The haze clouding my brain seemed to leak into my eyes and I could no longer distinguish anything around me except the heaviness of my cloak.

I took a few more blind steps with the dart rolling out from my weak grasp. Finally I couldn't stand it anymore and toppled forward, my hand barely touching the threshold of the home.

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I hope to get this off the ground soon, but we all know what my 'soon's' end up being like  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Probably will depend on what y'all be thinking of it :3

Plz like it :'3