Author Topic: Journey of a Mad Guitar Player  (Read 16859 times)

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guitarhero01234

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Re: Journey of a Mad Guitar Player
« Reply #30 on: November 07, 2016, 02:42:26 AM »
To be fair, the scene that the chapter was based on very well might have been inspired by the scene from Dumbo.

And drugs. Lots and lots of drugs.

New chapter



Chapter 11

After standing up and making sure that his – er, little Logans – were alright, gh took a look around. The sky was still dark, but the sun was just starting to peek over horizon, providing just enough light for gh to reorient himself. He was right at the edge of the woods – behind him was a steep incline dotted with trees, and ahead was . . . a public storage unit?

gh rubbed his eyes in bewilderment. Yes, this place seemed familiar. In fact, it was where he had kept his personal belongings that he didn't bring with him to RAF. After leaving home, he had sneaked back on a few occasions to grab the things that he couldn't take with him in one trip, even including his old, broken guitar amplifier. Some things, he just couldn't bring himself to leave behind. . . .

“gh!” he heard a voice call from behind him. He turned around quickly in surprise. Was that . . .

“Abby?”

“Not just Abby,” he heard another voice say. He saw a gryphon and an anthropomorphic wolf emerge into view from the darkness of the forest. Clearly, Hunter and Xeno didn't feel the need to wear their ID masks under the cover of night.

“Oh my god!” gh said, his eyes wide. “Where have you guys been!?”

“Where have WE been!?” Abby shouted furiously. “You're the one who decided to run off!”

“Um . . . mind refreshing my memory as to what happened?” gh inquired in his still sleepy tone of voice. “I may or may not have blacked out.”

It was Xeno's turn to speak up. “You yanked a parking meter out of the ground and chased an old lady around screaming about how all you wanted was a Pepsi,” he said in a nonchalant, matter-of-fact way of speaking.

“How the hell did I manage to do that?”

“We had to keep our distance for fear of getting whacked with the parking meter,” Xeno continued. “The only reason we were able to find you at all was because Abby morphed a bird and followed you around.”

“Seriously, there's no way I'm strong enough to rip a parking meter out of the ground,” gh mumbled to himself.

“And then you ran around the forest singing – or rather, screeching – about how Sasquatch is your daddy!” Abby said, picking up where Xeno left off.

“So, did I rip the parking meter out of the concrete, or did I break the pole at the bottom . . .”

“gh!” Abby yelled, clearly not amused. “Are you even listening to me!?”

“Look,” gh started, “this has been a long, weird day. I've had to put up with a lot . . .”

“What, not even going to introduce me to your friends?” Anderson, who had been silent through this whole ordeal, said.

“Shut up!” gh said. To the other RAFians, it looked as if he was telling the wind to be quiet. He certainly wasn't doing himself any favors in regards to how the others viewed him at the moment. “Anyway, today has been really weird. Can we talk about this when we get back to RAF?”

“gh,” Hunter said, speaking up for the first time since being reunited with gh. “You're not helping matters any. You may be a crazy bastard, but I've never known you to chase around old ladies with parking meters. What's going on?” Even through Hunter's exasperated tone, gh noticed a hint of concern on his canine face.

gh sighed. “Hunter, it's like I said. I've been going on no sleep here for days on end, not to mention the astronomical levels of stress I'm going through right now.” He looked at the other RAFians one by one. “Look, I know you guys are concerned. And honestly? With what's going on, I'm scared half to death, myself.” He closed his eyes for a brief moment, steeling himself for what he was about to say. “I've been blacking out lately. Happened at work, and it happened before the, er, parking meter incident earlier. Hell, it's been happening since my first night of no sleep.” He looked away in embarrassment of admitting what exactly was happening. God damn it, he didn't want sympathy! He didn't want the others to worry! But here he was, airing all of his concerns for them to mull over.

Nobody said anything for a moment of eternity. Not sensing any objection, gh continued. “Like I said, it's been a long, weird, ****ed-up day. I know I need to get some sleep. But I also know that if I don't find my guitars, I'm going to lose my goddamn mind, even more than I . . .” gh trailed off, noticing something from the corner of his eye. Particularly, Anderson fidgeting uncomfortably. “Hold on a sec,” gh said, obviously distracted. “I just got a really crazy idea. . . .”

Abby looked as if she was about to strangle gh. In fact, she very well might have if Xeno and Hunter weren't holding her back. “gh, I swear, if you do anything stupid, I'm going to kick your-”

“Two seconds, Abby!” gh called behind him. Already, he was walking toward the storage unit and fishing around in his pocket. After a moment, he retrieved a keyring. He rifled through the keys a bit before coming to one with “23” written across it in red marker. He walked down the row of storage units until he found the one that matched the key. He knelt down and inserted the key into the handle of the large garage door while the others watched in silence. Slowly, gh turned the key and lifted the door up. . . .
« Last Edit: November 08, 2016, 03:52:33 AM by gh »

Offline Quaf

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Re: Journey of a Mad Guitar Player
« Reply #31 on: November 07, 2016, 05:22:30 PM »
omg the mushrooms

this is gud
I like this
Well, I'm the boss... Head Honcho. El Numero Uno. Mr. Big. The Godfather. Lord of the Rings. The Bourne... Identity. Er... Taxi Driver. Jaws. I forgot the question quite a while back. Who are you, again?

Offline theyoungphoenix

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Re: Journey of a Mad Guitar Player
« Reply #32 on: November 07, 2016, 07:07:35 PM »
gh why

why did you cliffhang us.
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guitarhero01234

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Re: Journey of a Mad Guitar Player
« Reply #33 on: November 08, 2016, 03:51:56 AM »
For the evulz, of course!

New chapter. Apologies for the length and more liberal use of profanity this time, but I felt they were both somewhat necessary to get across the point



Chapter 12

“Wait,” Anderson said, still holding his cross-armed stance. gh, however didn't stop pulling up on the door. “I mean it,” Anderson affirmed, sounding significantly more frantic than usual. “How do you know it's not a trap or something?”

“Bull****,” gh muttered under his breath. In truth, he was almost tempted to believe Anderson. However, when he pulled the door above his head, he was certainly glad he didn't.

Sitting in the storage unit were, indeed, all of the things that gh couldn't take to RAF. An old television, a box full of clothes, a baseball bat, his old guitar amp, and a few other things. This would have served as a pleasant nostalgia trip if gh wasn't distracted by the sight of all of the guitars that he owned. “You gotta be kidding me,” gh muttered, his eyes wide in disbelief. He turned his head to the other RAFians to ask if he was seeing things, but they seemed just as stunned as him. “Lemme just check . . .” gh went to inspect the guitars one by one, spending a considerable amount of time on each.

“Yeah,” he said, shaking his head. “They were here the whole time?”

“gh . . .” Abby said. She looked about as confused as gh was. “You haven't been stringing us along this whole time, have you?”

“What? No, of course not! What could I possibly have to gain by . . .” gh trailed off, noticing Anderson seething out of his peripheral vision. “Excuse me for a sec. I need to talk to the psychotic armadillo that lives inside my head.”

Hunter looked perplexed. “What?”

“It's a really long story,” gh said with a dismissive wave. “I'm not going crazy, I promise.”

“That's debatable,” Xeno mumbled.

“Two seconds.” Either having not noticed Xeno's comment or choosing to ignore it, gh closed the garage door on himself and Anderson. He turned to his alter-ego. “So. Mind telling me what this is all about?”

Anderson glared daggers at gh. Were the circumstances different, gh would have found the role reversal fairly amusing. “You seriously haven't figured it out yet?” gh stared dumbly at the spot where Anderson would have stood, were he material. “I did it, you idiot!”

“. . . You're gonna have to run that one by me again.”

“Seriously, how thick are you!?”

gh held his vacant expression. “We are literally the same-”

“Shut up!” Anderson stepped closer to gh in a fit of rage. “Tell me. What do you think was happening when you blacked out?”

“Something about parking meters and Pepsi?”

“That was me, you idiot! When you black out, I take over!”

“So, you're telling me that you, a talking armadillo that represents my innermost demons, takes over at random times?”

“Yes!” Anderson seemed to get some sort of satisfaction out of gh finally fitting some of the pieces together.

“. . . That's ****ing stupid.”

“It's your screwed-up psyche, genius!”

“There's just one thing that I don't understand, though.” gh took a second to think. “Okay, a lot of things, but one that's really nagging at me. Why is this happening just now? Why hasn't it happened before?”

Anderson slapped his face. “Think about it. What have you been constantly complaining about these past three or four days?”

“. . . Pepsi?”

“SLEEP! IT'S SLEEP DEPRIVATION, GOD DAMN IT!” Anderson let out a guttural sigh. “It weakened your mind - not that there was much there to weaken in the first place, but I wasn't going to waste my opportunity. You stay up for days on end. I come out of dormancy while you're out on a walk and hide your guitars to keep you busy for as long as possible. I come out as much as I can until you're totally consumed by me. That was the plan, at least, until you decide to eat mushrooms that you find in the wild like a complete moron and come by this place in a drug-induced haze. Starting to understand!?”

gh said, moving to take a seat on a box. “That's . . . ****ing devious.” At this point, the reality of the situation was starting to set in. “Oh my god, I really am crazy, aren't I?”

“Bingo!” Anderson moved closer to gh's face. “And you know what the really crazy thing is?”

gh leaned back until his head was almost touching the wall behind him. He could definitely feel a stress headache coming on, along with the constant dull throb that he'd already been dealing with. “Do I want to?”

“Oh, I'm sure you'll love this.” Anderson showed a toothy grin. “It's already too late.”

“What the **** are you talking about!?” At this point, gh was done trying to keep his voice low to avoid making the other RAFians worried. He was scared, and more so, he was angry at himself for allowing this abomination to exist within his mind.

“I'm already a part of you. And I'm gonna keep eating away at your mind like a parasite, until you have no choice but to succumb to me.”

“**** you!” gh yelled. “You're not a part of me, god damn it! I'm stronger than you! I'm not a ****ing puppet to my own anger!”

Anderson backed off, still smiling his trademark grin. “We'll see about that, my friend. . . .”

Anderson faded from gh's view, leaving gh alone in the storage unit. He leaned forward and lifted up his hand to stand himself up, when he noticed he was shaking in fear. Wait . . . was it just fear? gh's eyes widened. “Oh, ****. . . .”

gh's hand hit the cardboard box hard as his body began to shake uncontrollably. These were easily the worst convulsions he's had yet, even more so than when he was at work. They were so bad, in fact, that he didn't even notice the sound of the door opening.

Just as he was about to slip out of consciousness, gh felt something touch his shoulder. Something firm, yet gentle. Slowly, very slowly, gh's convulsions subsided into a small tremble as he was tethered to the real world by this unexpected contact.

gh looked up and saw the face of a gray wolf sitting next to him with his hand on gh's shoulder. “gh,” Hunter said, his voice almost as shaky as gh's hands. “Logan! Say something to me man. Are you okay?”

“Hunter?” For a moment, gh could do little but look at his friend. Soon, what had happened became obvious to gh. Hunter must have heard gh yelling and came in to make sure he was alright. It was a little sweet, when gh really thought about it. And of course, gh would have been lying if he said he didn't find Hunter a little cute. . . .

When he could finally move again, gh threw his arms around Hunter and buried his face in Hunter's chest. Hunter, in turn, rubbed the back of gh's head, comforting him. And for what felt like forever, gh trembled in Hunter's embrace.

Offline Quaf

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Re: Journey of a Mad Guitar Player
« Reply #34 on: November 08, 2016, 04:28:08 AM »
:) that's so cute
Well, I'm the boss... Head Honcho. El Numero Uno. Mr. Big. The Godfather. Lord of the Rings. The Bourne... Identity. Er... Taxi Driver. Jaws. I forgot the question quite a while back. Who are you, again?

Offline Cloak

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Re: Journey of a Mad Guitar Player
« Reply #35 on: November 08, 2016, 07:14:28 AM »
Touching.


Book 189: "Shenecron's Pets"
Chapter 4: "First Attempt"
(January 7, 2020)

RAFians Referenced Specifically: Demos.

guitarhero01234

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Re: Journey of a Mad Guitar Player
« Reply #36 on: November 09, 2016, 03:25:08 AM »
:D

New chapter. Only one more after this. I didn't originally expect this to be so short, but hey, I guess that's how it turned out :P



Chapter 13

It didn't take long for the four RAFians to transport gh's guitars back to his thread. While that was happening, gh gave the others the short version of what exactly was going on. About Anderson, about the guitars . . . it wasn't easy for him to bare his soul like this, but he felt it was necessary. That, and the fact that he was afraid that Abby or Xeno would eat his face off if he didn't.

To his surprise, they understood for the most part. Perhaps they were simply used to his insanity at this point? Whatever the case, there was still some anger over not revealing what was happening sooner, but gh expected this.

It didn't take gh long to get to sleep when he got back to his thread. By the time he got there, it was already midday, and Leatherhead was wide awake. Saffa agreed to take him somewhere else so gh could get his much-needed rest, to his gratitude. As much as they seemed to pick on each other, gh and Saffa never hesitated to help the other in any way necessary.

When gh finally awoke, he realized that he'd been sleeping for almost a full sixteen hours. Granted, he knew he needed the sleep, but he was still surprised. He left the forum while it was still dark to attend to one last matter.

The sun was up by the time he arrived at his destination. Already, gh felt more clearheaded than he had for the past few days. The headaches, and more importantly, Anderson, thankfully did not make a return. Still, he felt a fair amount of anxiety as he lifted his hand and knocked on the door of a small suburban house.

A middle-aged man answered the door. Almost immediately, his eyes widened at the sight of the lanky young adult with short hair and heavily-pierced ears at his door. “. . . Logan?”

“Hey, dad,” gh said. “Mind if I come in for a minute?”

* * *

“So, you went and became a superhero after leaving home?” gh's father summarized. The two sat at the kitchen table, each with a coffee in hand. The house was roughly the same as when gh left. He was a little curious as to whether his bedroom had been touched at all, but he thought it might be a little rude to snoop around a house he hasn't seen for over a year.

gh nodded.“More or less, yeah.”

With a heavy sigh, gh's dad set his mug down. “Logan. I've heard of these RAFians. Haven't you managed to catch on that they're bad business?”

“It's all propaganda, dad. For whatever reason, there are a lot of people out there who don't like what we do. So, they lie, or at least stretch the truth by a country mile.” gh paused to take a sip of his coffee. “I really hope you haven't been listening to Bern Bridges,” he muttered under his breath into his mug.

“Even if it's all lies, why would you want to risk your life like that anyway?”

gh shook his head. “Y'know, I'm still trying to figure it out myself. A lot of the time, I wonder if it's worth it. But I'll tell you this – the RAFians are my people now. They've saved my hide quite a few times, and I'd do the same for them in a heartbeat.”

“So you'd risk your life on a bunch of murderers?”

gh rubbed his forehead. “Look, they're not murderers, alright!? I think that if anyone's qualified to speak on that, it'd be me.” It took gh a moment to reflect on the irony of that statement.

It was his dad's turn to shake his head this time. “Logan, do you know how long you've been gone?” He gave gh a few moments to answer. “Two years,” he said when gh offered no answer. “Don't you think it's time to quit playing games with your life? You can come back, you know. You're still my son.”

“I can't.” gh's father didn't look disappointed, as gh was expecting. Instead, his eyes narrowed at this declaration and his mouth twisted into a scowl. “A part of me wants to. Honestly. I miss my old life sometimes.” gh hung his arm over the back of his chair. “But I've made a commitment, damn it, and I'm not going back. It's like I said, the RAFians are my people now.”

For a while gh's father said nothing, instead opting to stare at the table. “Why did you even come here?” he finally whispered.

gh shrugged in response. “Hey, I'm not allowed to check in on my old man once in a while? Look, some stuff has happened recently, and I just wanted to stop in and see you.”

gh's father stood up. “Right. I think about time you left.”

gh nodded and slid a piece of paper across the table. “Alright. If you ever decide you want to talk again, here's my new number.”

His father pocketed the paper. “Thanks. I'll consider it.”

In turn, gh stood up and headed for the front door. “Just remember, you'll always be my old man.” gh turned the doorknob slowly. “I love you, dad.”

“I love you too, Logan.”

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Re: Journey of a Mad Guitar Player
« Reply #37 on: November 09, 2016, 04:30:03 AM »
Whoa. Nice twist.


Book 189: "Shenecron's Pets"
Chapter 4: "First Attempt"
(January 7, 2020)

RAFians Referenced Specifically: Demos.

guitarhero01234

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Re: Journey of a Mad Guitar Player
« Reply #38 on: November 10, 2016, 03:23:19 AM »
Thank you kindly :D

Last chapter. Ended up being about 5 chapters less than I originally planned, but hey, brevity is the Voice of the Soul, which is also an instrumental song off the Death album The Sound of Perseverance. Or something like that.



Chapter 14

“Daddy?” Leatherhead called out.

“Mmrgh.”

“Daddy?” he said once again.

“Five more minutes,” gh mumbled. This seemed a little familiar. . . .

“gh, if you don't get your sorry butt out of bed right now, you're really going to regret it.” This was a different voice from before. . . .

gh's eyes snapped open. “Huh?”

Smiling down at gh was the form of Hunter, while Leatherhead stood behind him. “Hunter's here. . . .”

Hunter smiled at gh. “Who else would it be, Sleeping Beauty?”

gh sat up in his bed. “Could you not call me that, you big fuzzball?” he said, lightheartedly shoving Hunter. “What time is it?”

“It's ten o'clock. C'mon, man, we're gonna be late!”

gh raised an eyebrow at Hunter. “Late for what?”

“Late for the, uh, the . . .” Hunter stuttered while his eyes shifted around the room. “The thing! Yeah, you remember the thing, right? LH, I told you about the thing!”

“What?” Leatherhead asked. Quickly, his eyes lit up. “Oh, yeah, the thing!”

“. . . Okay, is this some sort of a joke?”

Hunter gave an exaggerated sigh. “You got me. I promised LH that we'd all spend the day together and that can't really happen if you're still in bed.”

“Why didn't you just say something?” gh lazily slid out of bed. It was a few days after the debacle with gh's guitars, and already, he was making a concerted effort to get more sleep. And ever since embarrassing Saffa, he also made an effort to wear clothes while sleeping. “What were you guys planning?”

This was met with blank stares from both Hunter and Leatherhead. “Uh. . . .” Hunter seemed rather unsure of how to answer this. “Y'know, we maybe should have planned that out.”

gh shook his head, grinning from ear to ear the whole time. “You big doof,” he said with a chuckle. “Alright, I'm sure we can figure something out.” gh checked the cell phone that was sitting on his desk. Nothing. Granted, he wasn't expecting anything, but it would have been nice. . . .

“So. Any ideas?” Hunter inquired, breaking gh's train of thought.

“Tell you what, how about we figure it out over breakfast?” gh offered. Leatherhead seemed to perk up quite a bit at this suggestion.

Hunter pulled gh into a hug. “Sounds like a plan.”

gh wore a smile on his face. True, he had all but abandoned his old life after leaving his father's house. And he knew Anderson was still somewhere inside his head, screaming to be let out. But at the moment, none of that mattered. He had his guitars, but more importantly, he had Leatherhead. He had Hunter and the other RAFians. And at the end of the day, he couldn't think of anything else he'd rather have.

At the moment, gh was happy. And that's all he could ask for.

Offline theyoungphoenix

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Re: Journey of a Mad Guitar Player
« Reply #39 on: November 10, 2016, 06:14:04 AM »
that's really friggen cute. dang man.
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Re: Journey of a Mad Guitar Player
« Reply #40 on: November 11, 2016, 08:26:39 PM »
That was so good, especially the end
Well, I'm the boss... Head Honcho. El Numero Uno. Mr. Big. The Godfather. Lord of the Rings. The Bourne... Identity. Er... Taxi Driver. Jaws. I forgot the question quite a while back. Who are you, again?

Offline NickDaGriff

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Re: Journey of a Mad Guitar Player
« Reply #41 on: December 02, 2016, 12:03:03 PM »
That is adorable.  :D
[spoiler=A writer at heart:]
My sequel fic, Animorphs #55: The Following
My first Memoirs fic, A Geeky Gryphon's Origins

redtailedsaffa

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Re: Journey of a Mad Guitar Player
« Reply #42 on: February 08, 2017, 06:35:29 AM »
I (finally!) read this whole thing to an endless loop of Fleetwood Mac and it was a very good decision. This was so well done. :D Right from the mental breakdowns, to the fluff, to the, well, shrooms. :P You wrote me well for my little cameo, too, appreciate it. ;)

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Re: Journey of a Mad Guitar Player
« Reply #43 on: February 08, 2017, 06:34:51 PM »
Having recently re-read this, I just want to say it's amazing how well you captured my speech patterns.  Like, I was reading and thinking about what I would say, and then suddenly reading myself saying it.  Just awesome.  XD
[spoiler=A writer at heart:]
My sequel fic, Animorphs #55: The Following
My first Memoirs fic, A Geeky Gryphon's Origins

guitarhero01234

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Re: Journey of a Mad Guitar Player
« Reply #44 on: February 10, 2017, 10:18:33 PM »
Thanks, guys :D I guess all those dumb chat sessions paid off, Xeno :P