Chapter 4

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As I jump the chasm I hear, singing? Not singing... but I do hear an instrumental playing for some reason... I don't let that distract me though, as I lunge at fake Max, toppling him over. As I look down at him, his eyes roll back into his head. I pull back immediately, almost throwing up, before I hear a mechanical whirring. I look back down at him and see his arms rotate 360º and I hear ripping as his arms elongate a little. He takes advantage of my shock and punches me the side of my face. I wipe the blood that's started to flow from the wound. "You... you bastard, why are you doing this?," I shout at him. "Don't you see Max, I want to be you, I want everything you have. I want the fame, the money, the power... and most importantly, Nug," he says, his eyes relocating themselves in their sockets. "I won't lose him again, and I won't lose to you," I state, before running at him, passing before coming right back with a strong punch to the stomach. He doubles over, coughing smoke. "Give it up Max, I'm this close to being you... as soon as I have flesh, we will be indistinguishable. I'll usurp you, leaving you on the streets just as you've done to me. You will pay for your wrongdoings, Hell is waiting right below us, and the devil beckons you," he says, the smoking stopping. "Wha-what does that even mean?," I stutter, my confidence falling as the words grab hold of me. "Don't let him get to you!," Nug says, before he gets grabbed by fake Max. But it's too late, he's got me wrapped around his finger. I try to act, but all I can manage is a twiddle. As I face the inevitability of my fate, I see death staring me down. It's cold, everything is so cold. I suddenly feel a rush of warmth, as I remember Nug, and everything we've been through, the ups and downs. The rage I once held against Nug seems so insignificant, why hold a grudge when the grip of death always has your feet? We will all fade to dust eventually, what difference does it make putting energy into pain? I realize all of this as I slowly walk forward, approaching fake Max. He laughs at my approach, assuming I'm too pathetic to do more than trudge towards him. He revels in his perceived victory, too ignorant to see past my feeble visage. I stand right in front of him, as he continues to mock me, before I rip one of his eyes right out of the socket. He lets go of Nug and I shove him into the chasm behind him, "Hell is waiting," I say, as he falls. I stand there, paralyzed in my adrenaline, before Nug speaks up. "D-did you really do it? Is he really gone?," he says, a tear forming in his eyes. "I think so," I say, starting to cry, approaching Nug. His face suddenly morphs into a horrified expression. "What is it Nug? Because these wounds are really nothing-," I try to say, before I'm cut off by being tackled. I roll over and see fake Max standing above me. I crawl, back, before my arms, fall back into the Chasm behind me. "Hell is full," fake Max says, "but they've saved you a special spot." Before I can respond I'm pushed into the depths below. I keep falling, and falling and falling, never having the satisfaction of hitting the ground. Is this hell? Or is it merely the trip there, is there worse waiting for me below? For now all I can do is think, think upon everything I've ever done wrong, think of everything I didn't do that I should've. This must be it, because the human mind is the real hell on earth. My only solace is that Nug is ok, but is he truly ok? Fame Max is still there, his intentions unknown. I spiral into my own thoughts, my own words weaving a prison far stronger than fake Max could ever utter. I look down and realize I lack form, merely thoughts in the void, and I accept that this is it.

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