The Legend of Naayéé’neizghání

[JoJo Rush]

The midnight blue sky shines brightly with sparkling stars, the full moon provides us enough light to see a fire-pit made of wooden logs and dry sticks and an elderly man with a long braided ponytail sits alone in front of this fire-pit.

“Once long ago, foul monsters, and gods not only walked among us, but they preyed upon humanity as nothing more than prey. But then came the Hero Twins of legend.”

The fire pit roars alive, casting a dark orange hue over the old man wearing traditional Navajo clothes and bright blue earrings.

“They are Ye’i, the sons of the first gods my people encountered– but they are gods made Earthly beings. Tóbájízhchíní; Born of Water, and his brother, Nayé̆nĕzganĭ; the Monster Slayer.”

The fire crackles at the mere mention of the Monster Slayer’s name in the old man’s native tongue.

“The Hero Twins were once hidden away from the world by their mother, the Changing Woman. But destiny pulled the Twins away from home. They traveled the world, training their skills and acquiring the weapons they needed to slay the monsters that nearly drove humanity to extinction. You see, we consider both brothers symbols for war and for how warriors conduct themselves.”

The fire begins to dim, to which spurred the old man to tend to the fire, but he still continues his story.

“Born of Water is a patient being. He is someone that values prudence, and thoughtful preparation. Of the two brothers, Born of Water is the one that most values peace, and diplomacy before violence. But his brother? The Monster Slayer?

The fire comes back with a mighty roar.

“He is impulsive, brash, and even sometimes, overconfident. The Monster Slayer values quick and decisive action and never hesitates to take on any fight. Despite their two different philosophies, they work together in harmony. Born of Water and Monster Slayer do not resent each other for their differences, but embrace each other because of them. Within that balance in war, you can find peace.”

[TO BE CONTINUED]

[JoJo Rush]

"What we've forgotten is that sometimes, a storm is needed to clear out the dead brush and to fertilize the soil."

An elderly woman in traditional Navajo continues the story her husband started by the fire place. She is carefully laying out various colored sand into symbols. In the center of that sand is JoJo Rush, on his knees and laid completely bear save for one modest loin-cloth. He's on his knees, his head down and his eyes closed. He appeared deathly still, like a statue. It wasn't sure if the the Texan is even in his own body at this moment. 

"There cannot be life without death. Just as the Earth sustains us, our bodies sustain the Earth. " 

The old woman pauses and looks over to the large man sorrowfully, but continues with a stoic, unfeeling expression. 

"For a warrior to heal the world and bring harmony, they need to find harmony within themselves."

The Grandmother bites back a sigh and continues finishing her duty of arranging symbols into the dirt around JoJo. 

"We are not the gods, but people of the Earth. Just as the day requires the night, the Earth required its people. The more blood the Alien gods spilled, the more it polluted our Earth. Harmony wasn't found through peace, but by the tip of arrows made of lightning."

The old woman slowly shambles to the workstation prepared with all the various tools and instruments needed for rituals. Taking hold of finger paint, the elderly woman approaches the kneeling man and holds his face, examining the features of the grandchild she once helped bring into this world. 

"The world has been so unkind to you, Yazh. I am sorry that we must put you through more pain." 

Rush didn't react, or appear to have heard the woman speak at all, but that's what the woman expected. She began to paint Rush's face, starting with jet black around his eyelids. 

"But we will bring you balance, and allow you to unload the evil in your soul." 

"Is he ready?"

The old man enters inside of the large tent containing JoJo and the old woman. His face cold, and straight to business. 

"We've never done this ceremony before. What if he doesn't survive?"

"His soul is on fire- if we don't act now, the flame inside will destroy him" 

"And what if he fails?" 

To our surprise, behind JoJo is a grave buried six feet deep. The darkness shrouds the bottom, but it is not filled with what you'd typical find in a grave. It smells of coal, dry leaves, and sweetgrass. The Old man presents a burning stick from outside and tosses it into that grave. A violent fire erupts behind JoJo in that grave, but the man is in a trance, and can't even feel the heat burning the hairs on the back of his neck. 

"Then we have still brought balance back to this world."

The old man slowly walks toward the much larger man and even the dry and serious Medicine Man found himself hesitating from his duty, but much like his grandson, the old man knew what needed to be done and pushes his son into the roaring flame. Where he didn't make a single sound. 

[JoJo Rush]

It burns.

Says a man falling through a river of fire. The Light of Monday Nights burned and all he could do is allow the river to wash over him.

Ah need to get to the bottom.

Rush reminds himself, but he can't move. He deserved this. Or at least, it was easy to convince yourself of such torment when every nerve burns with the heat of the sun itself.

Don't forget to breathe

A familiar voice from the bottom reminds JoJo of his task, of what is required of him to heal. Moving against the river of flames felt like wading through a swamp. Except the swamp was on fire, and there was significantly more wailing souls of the damned- But JoJo persisted. He dove into the fire and began swimming, his body somehow still burning while in a river that was also on fire. It can't be stressed enough the extraordinary amount of physical pain JoJo is in at the moment.

Just as JoJo begins to lose air and lose energy to continue kicking deeper into the river, the sight of a bottom appears before him. The only way to describe it is like it is the top of a still lake. It even glares a beam of light into JoJo's eye, but the Warrior of legend finds his second-wind and reaches the bottom, which he promptly touching, sends him into a free fall from the river of fire. Thankfully, the fall was only about nine feet into the warm and kind embrace of sand. The sand explodes out around JoJo like he was a hand grenade, but at least the crash puts out the fire engulfing JoJo's body. To our surprise, there is not a hair out of place, or an inch of flesh scarred with burns. The Two-Belt champion is somehow spiritually concussed. A first for the man, but almost certainly not the last. He shakes the cobwebs out with a literal shake of his head before rocking it side to side to make sure the trauma is evenly stirred.

"Tanga."

That one word took the color out of JoJo completely. His heart sank so far into his chest you could see it press against his spine. In a blink, Darna Dare herself appears in front of him, offering a hand, and the hand is attached to her body. Even after everything JoJo’s seen, after everything he’s done, this woman can still chill JoJo’s heart.

“You shouldn’t be here. You still have your duty up above.”

Darna’s tone sounds more frustrated than angry. As if this was nothing more than a professional disagreement among colleagues. JoJo focuses on calming his nerves just enough to reach out and take Darna’s hand and she helps pull JoJo to his feet.

“Ah need– more power. Ah can’t fix this unless Ah get stronger.”

For a moment, JoJo sees his hands covered in scales. He panics and withdrawals it from Darna’s before seeing it as normal. Darna looks amused, almost as if she could also see what JoJo saw and thought it was funny, like a bee landing on your allergic friend.

“And what makes you certain that I’m not the weapon you seek?”

The strange woman nods her head toward the plains and in another blink, Darna seemingly teleports 25 meters ahead. Yet when she spoke, it sounded like Darna was speaking right beside us.

“We are not the warriors, Tanga. We are the weapons. You are not some descendent of the Monster Slayer of your people– you’re nothing more than one of his holy weapons. An arrow of lightning.”

[JoJo Rush]

Darna’s tone sounded so matter-of-factly. The sun in the desert quickly sets in seconds and replaced with a dim moon obscured behind clouds. Providing only just enough light to make out Darna and JoJo as they walked through the now freezing desert. Rush’s body shivered, and each step of his bare feet against the freezing sand felt like stepping on a bed of nails. Yet he continues to walk undeterred.

“No.”

Finally, the weakened, broken man falls to his knees. He falls to his hands and hangs his head in shame. His eyes are shut tight to stop himself from crying like a child. The shaking at this point is a mix of the freezing air brushing against JoJo’s bare body and an emotional catharsis begging for release through a dramatic display of tears and sobbing. Something Rush always denied himself. JoJo speaks through gritted teeth.

“Ah refuse to be the weapon for the gods!”

Rush pounds the sand with a hammer fist in frustration. Darna flashes back to JoJo and stands over him and places a comforting hand on JoJo’s scarred shoulder.

“Ah refuse to allow Monsters that others can’t see to continue destroying the Earth that Ah love so much– Ah refuse to be nothing more than a tool of fate!”

Darna walks from JoJo’s side to kneel in front of the man that is now slowly sinking into the sand.

“Says the hammer to the nail.”

Rush tries to shake himself free, but the more he struggles, the more the sand takes him in. Darna cups JoJo by the cheek. She looks at him curiously, tilting his head to the right so she can better see the scars and fresh stitching on his face.

“You can’t control these forces, Stormbringer. Even if you think you’re in control– ”

The tone sounds spiteful, and hateful. Then again, bisection via lariat on live television is one of the worst ways to leave the world of the living. The sand takes JoJo’s arms and his chest, he leans his head back in a desperate bid to keep his head above the freezing sand.

“You’re not.”

Darna then drives JoJo’s head into the sand with a swift and vicious stomp to the top of his head. Completely burying the insane man into the sand.

[JoJo Rush]

The sand pulls JoJo in and smothers him in it’s cold crushing embrace– but then it keeps pulling JoJo through– No, JoJo is falling through the sand! Once more, JoJo falls through the dark nothingness of this hellscape that was the spirit world. Rush crashes with a violent thud into the center of a rodeo. While it felt like JoJo broke every bone in his body on the fall, Rush himself is physically fine. He got up to his feet and observed the world around him. Suddenly *CRASH* a loud, thunderous storm overtakes the rodeo. Violent gales of wind blow down and blow away anything in the rodeo not bolted down to the ground. JoJo stood his ground, digging his literal heels into the sand to survive. The ground itself violently shakes and trembles from the impact of the lightning

In a flash, a bolt of lightning strikes the ground in front of JoJo. The shockwave of the strike knocks JoJo promptly onto his award-winning ass.

“̸̡͚̈R̸̠̽Ḛ̷͍̅L̴͉̙̮̑̈͂A̸̬̙͎͌̀S̴͚͂E̷̦̻̚ ̴̟̖̾͘M̵̞̤͑É̸̖ ̷̯̹̔̒F̶̫̈R̴̘̮̒͑̏O̷̮͆̅̑M̵͙͂̿ ̵̼̑͝T̷͔̱̩̆Ḣ̶̗̘͌̎I̴̹̎̚S̶͎͕͍͝ ̶̟̕V̷͖͝E̵͍͔̿̆̊Ș̸̫̾S̷͓̎Ȩ̶̇̓L̶̹̃!̷̞͓̞͗”̶͍̿̈

Standing on all fours, the source of the discord and the chaos in JoJo’s soul– the fire that’s burned since the Texas Death Match against El Pablo– The light Rush believed he could see. What was this destructive force of lightning? It was the spirit of a horned toad, and it presented itself but standing far bigger, and far larger than any animal JoJo’s ever seen in person, let alone a lizard. It was more dinosaur than horned toad in size. Looking closer, the animalistic embodiment of lightning, storms, and protection from evil appears to be in pain– even as it postures aggressively at JoJo, it appears to do so more to use their pride to hide the pain it was going through. It’s scales look burned, singed from an intense heat. What was it attempting to do.

“No.”

JoJo says plainly. The horned toad billows smoke and replies, stunned.

“W̸̗͔̠̏̋H̷̘̊̌Â̴̩̻̳͊͛T̴̨͙͑͘?̴̪̅̔́͜ͅ”

“Ah said no.”

The Beast appears confused, somehow arching a brow. JoJo’s face is deadly serious. He wasn’t afraid of this monster– not anymore.

B̶̟͋̑ͅu̶̜͗̈́t̵̛̯͗͛-̵̱̄-̸̠̟̐̑͘ ̷͇̐I̸͕͌̊'̸͕̪̈̽m̸̰͕̅̾̌ ̴̻̐a̸͙̋̓̃ ̶̳͕̾f̴̞̓ȏ̵̜̫͍́̊r̷̡͜͝c̸̰̈́͌e̸͖͔͑̒̀ ̸͔̖͝o̵͉̪͌̌̈ͅf̸̛̳̖̘̌͆ ̶̱̦̓͜͠ň̷̲̬ä̸͍͒t̵͈̥̞̄u̵͇̰̙̿̆̈́r̶͕̗̎̑é̷͔̘̒͝ ̵̡̩̿̈́̄b̴̬͑ȅ̵̤̠y̶̛̤͌ǫ̷̲̭̇n̶̫̣̥̒̿d̷͓̎͊͜ͅ ̷̰͋͊̽y̷̢̘͙̍͠o̷̲̐ụ̵̾̿̆r̵͚͖̲̔̌̑ ̴͉̊̑u̵̱̪͎̽͂͋ņ̵̛́͌d̴͕̩͇͂̐̆è̵̠̋͝r̵̻͕̼̈́̍s̴̘̫̯̿̇͘t̴͎̰̂a̴͇̣̺͌͆͝n̷̡̛̠̊̚d̶̨͊̆̕i̶̬͚̎̃ͅn̴̛̼̱̍g̸̼̽͊̆.̸̨̓͠

“Ah don’t care.”

The Beast roared in outrage. The first time JoJo ever saw a horned toad roar– but then again this creature behaved more like a bull than a toad. It even charges horns first at JoJo in an admittedly awkward fast waddle or slither due to the Horned-Toad’s belly scraping against the ground.

[JoJo Rush]

Nevertheless, JoJo stands his ground and waited for the Horned Toad to attempt to gore the mortal man.

Don’t forget to breathe.

And so, JoJo did. He closed his eyes, inhaled. Paused, then let out a long exhale and opened his eyes, and when he did, it surprised him just how much closer the Horned Toad got. Rush had to back step and caught the charging Beast by the horns and attempted to stop the massive creature.

Y̸̢̤̒͐O̷̟̦̓U̸̯̜͆̉ ̴̜͒̊A̵̢̘͂R̴̯̲̂E̷̹̍ ̴̫̫̎́M̷̯̊̒E̷̾̑ͅA̴̩͉͠N̴̰͆͝Ṭ̴͚̐ ̸̞̮̃̔Ṯ̴̝͛O̸̝̿͠ ̴̧̫̓Ḓ̷͆Ī̵̜̼E̸̹̓͝ ̵̘͕͐S̷̡̧̄Ț̵̻̚Ọ̸̙͒R̴͈͋̀ͅM̵̢̹͝B̶͍͈̿͝R̴̟̰̃I̶̝̱̒́Ṉ̴́Ġ̷̲͍Ẽ̴̛̞R̶͖̂

The force of the Horned Toad drives JoJo through the dirt like he was a plow. The skin on the back of his heat burned with a friction heat that could only be described as agonizing. But Rush stood strong and kept his hold on the Horned Toad’s horns. He couldn’t speak. Every cell in his brain focused solely on the task at hand, for even a moment to try and be witty could cause this spirit to trample JoJo to death.

But as the kids say, this isn’t JoJo’s first rodeo. The Horned Toad, frustrated with being unable to topple JoJo over, stops a moment to kick and try and whip JoJo off of his horns. But that is exactly what JoJo wanted. He steps into bucking horned toad, allowing JoJo to leverage The Horned Toad’s body and momentum against itself and begins to flip it up and over JoJo! Somehow, defying all reason, Rush catches the Horned Toad onto his shoulders! The Horned Toad shakes, panics and swings on JoJo’s shoulders, but Rush keeps the creature in control.

“Ah am not the weapon!"

With all of his strength, all of his might, everything he could force from the fire in his soul and throws the spirit of the horned toad up into the air and catches it in a cutter!

"AH! AM! THE! LIGHT!"

G90! The Spirit world is in utter shambles!

[JoJo Rush]

Rush staggers around, he finds a way to climb atop of the horned toad and does so he. He climbs atop to pin the creature’s shoulders to the mat.

*CRASH*

One strike of lightning crashes around them.

“YOU WILL BE MY WEAPON. YOU WILL TAKE ALL OF MY PAIN! ALL OF MY HATE! YOU WILL BE MY ARROW OF LIGHTNING, AND AH WILL BE THE SLAYER OF MONSTERS!”

*CRASH*

The creature is stunned silent. It can’t even move and only watch in fear as the human glares back at the powerful spirit. It tried to fight free, but somehow, JoJo is using all of his will to control this beast as he always had all his life.

“AH WILL CONTROL MY OWN DESTINY!”

Rush sits himself up and throws his arms out wide, the third strike of lightning struck both him and the Spirit of the Horned Toad.

*CRASH*

JoJo throws his arms out wide and holds his head up high. He smiles and embraces the third and final bolt of lightning. It strikes not only him, but the Beast pinned underneath him. The bolt of lightning blinds us, in fact it leaves in a world completely blinding in a white so white, it practically reflects light from every corner into your eye. It was impossible to look at.

[JoJo Rush]

Back among the living world, The elders watched upon the grave they buried for their own grandson. Man, it’d really suck if they botched a ritual and ended up roasting and burying their own grandson.

*CRASH*

A bolt of lightning strikes the grave, causing the freshly unsettled dirt to explode right out of the grave. A violent pillar of fire bursts from the grave, followed by smoke– but out from the smoke, JoJo quite literally rides the smoke up to the ground. With the sun rising behind JoJo, it gave the impression that the man is literally glowing bright with light, those that can see the magic can see the actual glowing light radiating from the man, but they could also feel the heat of the Beast resting just beneath the surface.

“What is the date?”

A weird first sentence after weeks in the spirit world, but Rush wasn’t one to kick around the bush. Decide, this side-stories gone on long enough.

“March 28th. You’ve been buried for almost three weeks.”

“That’s going to make things–”

Rush’s voice trails off, the large Texan drags himself back to his feet. Despite the literal hell the Light of Monday Night had gone through of his own creation. JoJo’s grandmother holds out a set of black clothes hand-made by her. However, sitting on top of the clothes is a black mask made by JoJo’s grandfather, the old man. It appears exactly like the horned toad in the Spirit World. Sitting with it is also a shoulder pauldron fitted with long sharp barbs.

“Difficult– what is this?”

“It is to protect you, Jonathan. It is armor to protect you from the dark spirits you wish to fight.”

The old man looked away, his face riddled with reservation and doubt.

“But if this path can finally bring your spirit peace, then I will do what I can to help.”

Rush looks at the mask, and the mask looks back at him. He can feel the heat from the mask and it burned to the touch.

“Ah need to leave– Ah have a House Ah need to sort out.”