Jelani stepped out of his work van into a world teetering on the edge of chaos. The sky hung low and heavy, a deep gray that stretched for miles promising a storm. The air vibrated with the commotion of car horns and blaring trap music, a desperate attempt by the trapped masses to assert some semblance of control over their stagnant situation.
He leaned against the cool metal of his van, fishing a pre-rolled blunt from his pocket with practiced ease. Traffic was at a complete halt and based on what was going on in the city he'd be stuck here for a while. The familiar stress relieving ritual brought a fleeting moment of comfort amidst the surrounding madness. As he sparked his lighter, the small flame danced in the reflection of his eyes, a tiny beacon of warmth in a world growing colder by the day.
Jelani inhaled deeply, letting the smoke fill his lungs. He'd been doing so well today, for once. All his deliveries ahead of schedule, the promise of an early finish dangling tantalizingly before him. It would have looked good on his progress report, a rare bright spot in a string of recent failures. But the universe, it seemed, had other plans.
The traffic jam currently holding him hostage was just another symptom of a city – of a world – pushed beyond its breaking point. All throughout downtown Atlanta, protests raged, calling for the resignation of the mayor and other elected officials. The sentiment was clear: the government had failed to handle this crisis.
His gaze drifted upward, drawn to the space between two looming buildings directly ahead. There, suspended above a parking lot cordoned off with yellow tape and crackling electric fences, hung a crimson vortex. The swirling mass of scarlet clouds was the size of a small Ferris wheel, its spiral rhythm punctuated by a mesmerizing pulse of light at the end of each cycle.
Jelani couldn't help but marvel at the irony. These vortexes, with their undeniably enchanting appearance, had ushered in an era of unprecedented chaos and destruction. Beauty and devastation, intertwined in a cosmic dance that humanity was forced to be a part of.
He leaned over, catching his reflection in the side-view mirror. His eyes weren't red – he'd be fine going back to HQ later. As long as he didn't look visibly high, he'd dodge that particular bullet. The face staring back at him was one he couldn't help but appreciate, even in these dark times. Smooth chestnut skin, a nice jawline, and well-kept neck-length locs that were freshly braided back. It was a small comfort, this fleeting self-confidence, in a life that felt increasingly like a shit show.
Being a decently handsome young man with multiple jobs came with its perks, even as the world crumbled around them. He'd cultivated a network of girls who knew how to do hair, some of whom were almost forceful in offering their "loc retwisting services" free of charge. A glance over his right shoulder caught a couple of girls in a beat-down black Nissan Altima eyeing him and giggling. He did a casual head nod and turned back around. A couple of them were attractive, but Jelani knew better, that would just mean more headaches and bills over the short term. In another life, another time, he might have basked in that attention. Now, it felt like a reminder of all he couldn't have, all he couldn't be.
Chasing girls during the fall of society was crazy work. Jelani couldn't knock the guys chasing ass around the city, everyday could be their last alive, but he had too much on his plate to court anyone outside of the occasional hookup. He wanted more from his relationships with women over the long term but was caught up in trying to chase goals he knew would be unreachable if he got distracted.
Jelani knew what he wanted, and none of what life had thrown his way matched up to what he felt he deserved. The past five years had been a steady descent into misery, but he couldn't let that show. All he'd known was projecting strength, an armor he'd forged out of necessity. Atlanta had become a savage place since the vortexes first opened, and magically awakened black folks with a host of issues and perceived enemies didn't make life easy for each other.
He'd always be the first to shout "fuck 12," so he understood why many were against radiants joining the military and the police force. No system was perfect but when rifts in reality started spewing hellspawn bent on destruction, you couldn't help but hope that those gifted with magical powers might operate for the greater good of humanity. It was a hope that felt increasingly naive with each passing day.
Seeking a distraction from the uproar around him, Jelani pulled out his phone and opened social media. The algorithm, ever-attentive to his viewing habits, immediately served up a stream of vortex-related content.
The first video to pop up featured a blonde girl with running mascara, recording from inside a large cave. She flipped the camera between herself and a couple of other radiants in low-level gear, their bodies lifeless on the ground in a pool of blood.
"It's coming," she whimpered, her voice thick with terror. A crash echoed in the background, followed by a man's agonized yell. The girl switched the camera back to the view of the corpses and the dark passage ahead. "D-d-don't enter vortexes, no matter what!" she pleaded, her words tumbling out in a frantic whisper. "It's fucked! We're all fucked. We have to wait on his return and just ask him to protect us and—"
Her words were cut short as a man wielding an ornate, glowing sword came flying from the darkness as if thrown, smashing head-first into the cave wall with a sickening crunch. His body slid lifelessly down, the magical weapon fading from existence as it slipped from his grasp.
"Matthew, no!" the girl screamed, her camera focusing on the smear of blood left behind. A slow grinding sound, like something sharp being dragged against stone, emanated from the darkness. As she panned back to the passage, panic overtook her. "Please, no! Somebody, please!"
The video concluded with the partial emergence of what could only be described as a deformed, fleshy golem creature with two skeletal heads and glowing red eyes. The loop started again, trapping viewers in an endless cycle of terror and despair.
Jelani scrolled through the comments, a mix of callousness and existential dread.
@SMDSHIMMY:
"Dumb bitch screaming too much instead of helping out,"
@VICKI222
"I still can't believe this is our reality.. What is it all for?"
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
@NIETZSCHESDAUGHTER
"If I ever awaken, just know, that will be my last day on this planet. Nothing matters anymore."
He swiped up, depressing comments were not what he needed right now. The second video showed a group of teenagers standing at the edge of a shimmering yellow vortex at night, its swirling energy casting an eerie glow on their faces. One boy, trying to look tough for the camera, inched closer to the vortex.
"Yo, check this out!" he called to his friends. "I bet I can touch it and won’t shit happ-"
His words were cut short as a tentacle-like appendage shot out from the vortex, wrapping around his arm. The boy's scream of terror was the last thing heard before the video cut off.
Jelani grimaced, muttering under his breath, "Darwin Awards getting wilder every year."
He scrolled past, landing on a news clip. A harried-looking reporter, a young caramel skinned woman with a fresh blowout, stood in front of a decimated city block, smoke billowing in the background.
"This marks the fourth vortex break in Atlanta this week," the reporter was saying, her voice steady despite the chaos behind her. "A squad of local radiants managed to contain the threat, but not before significant damage was done to the Midtown area. City officials urge residents to remain vigilant and report any signs of vortex activity immediately."
He continued scrolling, each video painting a bleaker picture of the world.
A group of radiants outside of a high school in the midwest battling monstrous skeletal creatures. They were losing.
A proud radiant dictator in south east asia proclaiming his ambitions to conquer the subcontinent within 30 days.
Global leaders at a NATO summit making empty promises around a united effort to protect its citizens from interdimensional fascism.
It was all too familiar, all too depressing.
He'd seen hundreds of such videos by now of newly awakened individuals grappling with the nightmarish realities within the vortexes. Many people simply weren't built to fight for humanity against threats that were ripped straight from the darkest corners of imagination. Jelani had known people who lost close friends in the vortexes, and he'd personally lost his older brother to this crisis.
Unlike many, Jelani wasn't ready to give up. But unawakened, he had no choice but to survive alongside everyone else, trapped in a holding pattern of fear and frustration. If he had power – real power – he'd strive to become the strongest radiant the city had ever seen. And he wouldn't stop there.
He knew that being powerful while intending to uplift his people would put a target on his back. He’d have to become a force that others were afraid to threaten. Jelani didn't see himself as a radical, but from a pragmatic viewpoint, the world had always taken advantage of the weak. The diaspora had been at the bottom of the social hierarchy for too long, and the only thing that could change that was power. Real, undeniable power.
The kind wielded by the handful of sage rank radiants. As it stands now, this was just wishful thinking for him.
"Damn, I need to get these deliveries done," he muttered to himself. "And I'm not trying to be stuck out here. It would be just my luck if a vortex breaks while the streets are congested."
As if on cue, his phone buzzed with a notification. A text from his security job: "Hey, you still coming in tonight?"
"Shit," Jelani thought, a wave of stress washing over him. "Forgot I picked up that extra shift from Manny. That's all the way in Marietta, so I need to get out of here. And Ive been late getting to this job a few too many times.. If I can't at least finish this route they'll probably fire my ass."
His eyes scanned the area, landing on a nearby electric scooter. An idea began to form. He could leave his van here while things were at a standstill and go deliver packages another way. There was a large trash bag in the back of the van – not ideal, but it would do for carrying packages with addresses in the area.
It wasn't a perfect solution, but it was something. And in this new world, sometimes "something" was the best you could hope for. Jelani took one last drag from his blunt, steeling himself for whatever challenges lay ahead. The world might be falling apart around him, but he'd be damned if he'd let it drag him down without a fight.
Jelani opened the scooter rental app on his phone and located the one on the sidewalk near him. With it selected, he walked over to the scooter and scanned its QR code. For a moment he paused to think if he really wanted to do this? He could've just stayed in the van and used the situation downtown as an excuse to not get work done.
Many people would have. But he prided himself on being a young man that would work hard to completion. He knew the perspective people had on him when they first met. Asshole. So it was necessary that he balanced the plates by showing that he could be disciplined and hard working, when he wanted to.
Jelani's makeshift delivery system – a rented scooter and a heavy duty trash bag brimming with packages – earned him a mix of bemused laughter from bored kids and irritated stares from adults. But he paid them no mind. He was getting to the bag, both literally and figuratively.
While everyone else was trapped in gridlock for the foreseeable future, he'd complete his route and be ready to roll once things cleared up. And if they didn't? He'd walk out of the downtown area and catch an Uber to his next job. His boss would give him hell about abandoning the van, but that was a problem for tomorrow's Jelani.
As Jelani navigated downtown at a mild 5-6 miles per hour, the familiar rhythm of delivery work kept his mind focused. Check address, scan package, drop off, repeat. The protests had turned the main strip into a maze of angry crowds and makeshift barriers, forcing him to find creative routes between buildings and through usually empty alleyways.
But something didn't sit right. Outside one of the major office towers, where at least a hundred protesters had gathered, Jelani spotted only two patrol cars and a handful of officers keeping their distance. No tactical gear, no riot shields, and most notably – no radiant enforcers in their signature all black combat gear with silver armor attachments.
"That ain't right," Jelani muttered, slowing his scooter to study the scene. In the past year alone, he'd witnessed enough protest responses to know the drill. Any gathering this size usually brought out at least a small contingent of radiant enforcers, their alien armor attachments giving them almost medieval silhouettes. They were like modern-day knights as they stood ready to contain any powered individuals looking to capitalize on the chaos.
The pattern repeated at every major intersection. Crowds grew larger, police presence stayed minimal. Jelani's instincts, honed by years of navigating increasingly dangerous streets, screamed that something was wrong. The air felt charged, like the moment before a summer storm breaks.
He turned onto a quieter street, the weight of his delivery bag pressing against his back as he headed towards the west side of downtown. A group of teenagers huddled around their phones caught his attention, their voices carrying across the street.
"Yo, they saying all the radiant enforcers got called to some high level emergency vortex break in buckhead..."
"Nah, my cousin works security at the airport. Said they been moving mad weird all morning..."
Jelani felt his shoulders tense. The last time the streets had been this exposed, three blocks had been reduced to rubble by rogue radiants taking advantage of the security gap. But with half his deliveries still pending and rent coming due, he couldn't afford to—
The explosion hit like a physical wave, the sound ripping through the air and setting off car alarms along the entire street. Jelani nearly lost control of his scooter as he whipped around to see a massive plume of smoke rising about a mile back, right in the direction he'd come from.