Asap glanced upward again. A deep hum stirred within his chest - same force as before, quietly buzzing whenever danger neared. Not just noise anymore - the streets were falling to pieces. All around chaos cracked open… yet he stayed grounded, the one clear piece in a world gone loose.
He tugged the green hoodie up again, blocking out the harsh flickers. Shade meant nothing now. A bug in the code - him - and everything around him started to skip too.
He moved on, not heading into the fear, yet aiming for the closest big rift - straight into the mess, seeing no other path ahead.
Asap spots green portals flickering nearby while the world shifts oddly
It began with a single one.
A lone green gateway popped up over the city line - quiet, turning slow, about as big as a basketball. Folks froze on sidewalks, snapping videos with their phones, wondering if it was just some odd light trick. After that, one more showed up. Following close behind, yet another lit up the sky.
In seconds, heaps appeared mid-air - jagged green cuts hovering, flickering slightly like the world froze up. Each one stuttered, pulsing unevenly, as though the sky couldn't keep up.
Asap Ashton shoved past people, hood high, eyes scanning. Neon rings flared, buzzing soft, shaking the space like underground music. Wind hit his skin - off somehow, eerie, as if born where nothing should live.
A gateway in the air stretched wide - grew twice as big, then doubled once more - spilling green glow onto rooftops. Wind flung scraps of paper. Horns blared nonstop. Folks shouted in panic.
A blast hit the road, making Asap stagger backward.
"Yo—what is happening—"
Just as his mind started to form the idea, the biggest gateway crashed down like a broken vortex. Because of its gravity, it yanked floating boards and old papers - soon after, it grabbed him too.
Asap pressed his heels hard against the sidewalk, clutching a metal post with both palms. Wind blasted nearby, tugging harder each second till his shoes left the concrete completely.
The pole buckled. Meanwhile, metal screeched.
"No—no—no—"
The world lit up in a bright green glow.
His hood flew back when something pulled him up fast, turning. Right away the opening took him in, pulling through a whirl of broken pixels and bright green flashes.
The last sound he caught before vanishing? The city screaming in chaos -
Then silence fell all around.
Asap's form twisted, stretching out weirdly - as if the world was glitching while trying to figure him out. Colors split apart in front of his eyes, jagged and wild. A whoosh of electric air roared loud, like data screaming past.
Then—
A last flash of green.
He was gone.
At first, Asap Ashton figured nothing beat that never-ending float. Yet soon, something else came along - sharper, heavier, harder to shake.
He was wrong.
It started quietly.
A small thought.
A small slip.
A small second of doubt he attempted to shake away.
He drifted into yet another glowing haze, limbs flailing slightly, then grabbed onto a thought - something known, something real - to keep from spinning.
Mom's voice?
His old apartment?
His friend—
Yet ideas showed up unclear.
Out of focus.
Like peering through a foggy window.
He blinked hard.
Focus.
His green eyes squinted at the void. Then he gave it another shot:
What was I doing earlier today?
Where was I standing?
Who was I talking to?
His breath hitched.
Nothing came.
Not the details.
Not the context.
Just not that sense from remembering.
A slight shake ran down his fingertips, quiet and icy. But he pushed palms against his forehead, shutting his eyelids tight.
"No… no, no, no—don't do that to me," he whispered, voice hoarse.
The portals started moving.
Now they started grabbing bits from him.
He floated once more - light, unattached, fabric flapping near his arms. Each time the portal lit up, it ripped off a piece of what he knew, swapping it with hollow space.
He grabbed whatever came close - just so he'd remember what it felt like to be real.
A name.
His name.
He wanted to say it. But his voice didn't come out right.
"A… As—"
The next part never showed up.
His throat clenched hard, fear stitching into each beat of his heart.
"Who... what'my name," he mumbled, like maybe something out there would reply. 'What's... I'm... I'm Asap.' Said it twice - like that made it true.'
His chest burned.
His tongue was heavy.
His thoughts were fuzzy, like a broken radio signal.
The next doorway burst open suddenly, pulling him into a flash of sharp green light. Not that he tried to resist - nope, not at all. Didn't raise his hands once.
He kept dwelling on the past.
He said it again, almost whispering - like he was hoping it would come true
"I'm Asap. I'm Asap. I'm—"
The word slipped.
Not forgotten.
Just… loose.
As if it had loosened its grip on him somehow.
He started gasping, like he couldn't get enough air.
A thought pulled at his thoughts - some old moment pushing its way out. Yet he reached for it inside his head, much like grabbing something slipping through your fingers.
It stuck in her mind - him chuckling like that.
He sensed its overall warmth.
He sensed a trace of that grin.
Yet the situation… why things happened… who was around him then…
Gone.
He made a quick, tight noise - almost a cry, yet not quite.
"No, please… please don't take that," he whispered.
The silence just stayed quiet.
It never did.
His hands shook harder.
His jaw clenched.
He shouldn't have started losing memories.
He shouldn't have messed up like that.
This wasn't only confusion or terror - also something deeper, harder to name.
This was erasure.
A different gateway yanked him suddenly, tossing him sideways like debris from a broken thought. The fabric of his hoodie tore open mid-air due to surging force, while electric prickles shot up his back once more - sharper now, jerking his limbs in harsh stutters.
He twitched head to toe without meaning to.
"Stop—" he gasped.
He spoke like something was off.
As if it were another person speaking.
A version of a version.
Something in his chest broke open.
He clutched his chest, fingers sinking into the hoodie's material, fighting to hold on to anything solid.
"I'm Asap," he repeated, tears forming against his will. "I'm— I'm Asap Ashton. I think. I think—"
He started to breathe faster.
Too fast.
Unsteady.
"What if I'm not?" he whispered.
The moment he heard it, something inside just collapsed.
What if he wasn't Asap anymore?
What if the portals just took chunks bit by bit till there was no piece left behind?
What if the guy floating around here - this spot - wasn't quite the same one who entered that initial gateway? Maybe a twist happened somewhere along the way instead of everything staying identical. Each step might've shifted something subtle but real. Not exactly clear when it changed, just that it did. Like swapping pieces without noticing mid-game.
His throat closed.
"I don't want to forget," he said through clenched teeth. "Please—please don't make me forget."
Another portal opened.
He didn't resist.
He didn't brace.
He just stood there, calm - no reaction at all.
The green took him in completely.
While he floated along, thoughts kept sliding away - just like grains escaping a loose grip.
His debut bout here - already finished.
His place was slowly vanishing.
Faces — blending.
His laughter felt far off.
He saw himself - kinda blurry.
His voice sounded strange - like it wasn't his.
His own name—
"I'm… I'm…"
The message never showed up.
A chill of fear struck - sudden, sharp - knocking air from his lungs.
"No—NO—hold on— Asap, you're Asap, you're—"
He just couldn't wrap his head around it.
He could sense it - his grip fading, who he was starting to unravel bit by bit.
The sense of "me" fading away.
His grip on who he was starting to slip.
He hadn't completely disappeared.
Not yet.
Yet he didn't feel totally present, though.
He drifted, shaking, struggling to stay awake.
"I don't want to disappear," he whispered.
It was tiny - yet the truest words he'd ever spoken.
In that never-ending green haze, moving between gateways without rest, Asap Ashton held onto his core bit like a person clutching the rim of a drop -
Fear.
Fear showed he hadn't left yet.
Fear showed he hadn't faded away. Yet.
Fear showed he was still around.