First, there was Nothing.
Then, suddenly and sickeningly, the world flashed into existance, and spinning, twisting, and stretching, formed a bigger picture from broken shards, like a jigsaw puzzle. Except I have no idea what a jigsaw puzzle is. There was...stuff. Shiny stuff, hard stuff, stuff that felt funny and that I could step through, stuff that I couldn't step through. There were things in my brains...incoherent bits of something I couldn't decipher. Then, somehow, my brain clicked. Words. Language. Coherent thought.
There was water and walls and sand and a door and a tree...There was another man looking up at me from the water, mimicking my moves. I spoke to him, but he didn't speak back. So I kicked him, and he broke...but came back. I growled in frustration. He laughed at me...No, wait. That was the other man. The monster of a man with bright red hair and these golden eyes...He was laughing at me. And then he disappeared. I looked back down at the man in the water with the black face, clothes, hair...
I suddenly felt bad for kicking him. Maybe he didn't know how to speak? I sat down, and he did too. I turned to face him, and he politely returned the gesture.
"Hello," I said. He didn't answer. I went on.
"Hello," I said again. I wasn't very good at this conversation stuff either.
I struggled for something to say. "...Do you know where I am?" I finally inquired. "Oh, right. Um, nod yes or no?" He didn't. Perhaps he couldn't hear?
I looked around again. The world was so...small. And empty. I stood up and walked from wall to wall, counting steps. Dark Face followed silently. Somewhere, deep inside of me, was this heat I couldn't explain. I'm not sure I liked the feeling... The tiny world, the silence was frustrating. I felt the need to destroy something...I screamed and ripped leaves from the tree till the trunk was bare. I shredded the leaves with my hands and stomped the pieces into the water. I felt...better. Still hot, but better.
Time passed, and the water grew murky. Dark Face disappeared and I was saddened to see him go. His face was one I could understand...Nothing. Not like Laughing Man, with all that stuff on his face and the colours.
Then I wondered...Where did Dark Face go? Where did Laughing Man go? Where did they come from? Where did I come from?
Nothing, came the reply. I think I may have said it.
The heat got worse. The impulse to destroy became overwhelming and crowded my thoughts. I still wanted to know why the world was small, where it came from, who made it and me? Did Laughing Man make us? Did Laughing Man take Dark Face away?
I never slept, and only vaguely knew of the concept somehow. Somehow, I knew all these words and things without anyone ever telling me. Somehow, I knew that Laughing Man had created me...Why? Why create something and leave it all alone to rot? What was my purpose? I wanted a purpose. Besides, you know, tearing stuff up.
The heat was stifling.
I hated Laughing Man for creating me and leaving me to burn. I hated the world I would never see, the people who would never know I exist, the people who can talk and laugh and get responses. Heat...Heat...Hate...
The hate was stifling.
I had a sword. Why? To destroy things.
Bloody fucking wonderful. My purpose, then, was to destroy. What was I supposed to destroy?
The enemy, said my brain. 'Who's that?' I asked it back. The enemy, it repeated. Sometimes I hated myself so much.
And then he came. My size. Light Boy. Hair the color of Laughing Man's eyes, light skin, blue clothes, sword, blue eyes...His face confused me, like Laughing Man's. There was this ball of light with him. I think it was talking, but I couldn't understand it. It also wouldn't shut up.
Light Boy charged me with his sword drawn. I blocked, of course. Why was this thing trying to kill me? What had I done to him? Maybe he was like me...created to destroy? Did Laughing Man send him?
I hated me. I hated Laughing Man. I hated Light Boy. I hated the little glowy thing that buzzed around and screamed a lot. I wanted to pull its wings off and grind it beneath my boot and listen to it scream in pain, screams I could comprehend. This thought, I knew, was inherently evil; the thing probably didn't deserve that. I was evil? Yes. But how? Nothing is ever born evil.
Exactly, said my brain. And then I had no more time to think, because Light Boy was at it again. And suddenly, I knew. Enemy. Enemy. Kill. Hate.
He knew how to use his sword, but so did I. Skill-wise, we were even matches. And then he was pulling something out and throwing it. And there was light...fire? It burned. Not like the hate. This hurt. A lot.
Of course, Light Boy should've known what happens when you add fire to heat. I charged. He blocked and threw the fire at me again, and I burned. Then, he had a hammer and was beating me with it...I heard my bones crack. I heard my insides break and tear and I was bleeding but Nothing came out. I swung desperately with my sword and shield, but the hammer crushed me. I sank beneath the water.
I was still alive, but I wasn't sure if I was living. I saw Light Boy above me, looking around for me. Was this Dark Face's world? Is this how he saw things? Light Boy was screaming words I couldn't understand, and suddenly, the hate surged and I jumped back up to face him. Well, his back. There was a spray of blood as my sword sliced through fabric and skin, and I could taste it as it spattered on my face. It tasted like my sword smelled- metallic. It was both delicious and repulsive all at once. I tried to cut him again, but he was fast, and caught me with the fire. I dove beneath the water once more and tried to surprise him again. I got to taste his blood once more before he hit me with the hammer again, and I was forced to retreat.
This has got to end, I thought. I jumped back up for the last time and moved to strike. He was prepared this time, and I was not. His hammer caught me full in the chest and knocked me down. I felt dizzy, lightheaded...He struck me again the with hammer. I could feel my body breaking...I could feel the world breaking around me. It was dark again, getting quiet...I saw his eyes. I saw the heat in them. I saw myself in them. I saw the hammer and then...
And then finally, there was Nothing.
Then, suddenly and sickeningly, the world flashed into existance, and spinning, twisting, and stretching, formed a bigger picture from broken shards, like a jigsaw puzzle. Except I have no idea what a jigsaw puzzle is. There was...stuff. Shiny stuff, hard stuff, stuff that felt funny and that I could step through, stuff that I couldn't step through. There were things in my brains...incoherent bits of something I couldn't decipher. Then, somehow, my brain clicked. Words. Language. Coherent thought.
There was water and walls and sand and a door and a tree...There was another man looking up at me from the water, mimicking my moves. I spoke to him, but he didn't speak back. So I kicked him, and he broke...but came back. I growled in frustration. He laughed at me...No, wait. That was the other man. The monster of a man with bright red hair and these golden eyes...He was laughing at me. And then he disappeared. I looked back down at the man in the water with the black face, clothes, hair...
I suddenly felt bad for kicking him. Maybe he didn't know how to speak? I sat down, and he did too. I turned to face him, and he politely returned the gesture.
"Hello," I said. He didn't answer. I went on.
"Hello," I said again. I wasn't very good at this conversation stuff either.
I struggled for something to say. "...Do you know where I am?" I finally inquired. "Oh, right. Um, nod yes or no?" He didn't. Perhaps he couldn't hear?
I looked around again. The world was so...small. And empty. I stood up and walked from wall to wall, counting steps. Dark Face followed silently. Somewhere, deep inside of me, was this heat I couldn't explain. I'm not sure I liked the feeling... The tiny world, the silence was frustrating. I felt the need to destroy something...I screamed and ripped leaves from the tree till the trunk was bare. I shredded the leaves with my hands and stomped the pieces into the water. I felt...better. Still hot, but better.
Time passed, and the water grew murky. Dark Face disappeared and I was saddened to see him go. His face was one I could understand...Nothing. Not like Laughing Man, with all that stuff on his face and the colours.
Then I wondered...Where did Dark Face go? Where did Laughing Man go? Where did they come from? Where did I come from?
Nothing, came the reply. I think I may have said it.
The heat got worse. The impulse to destroy became overwhelming and crowded my thoughts. I still wanted to know why the world was small, where it came from, who made it and me? Did Laughing Man make us? Did Laughing Man take Dark Face away?
I never slept, and only vaguely knew of the concept somehow. Somehow, I knew all these words and things without anyone ever telling me. Somehow, I knew that Laughing Man had created me...Why? Why create something and leave it all alone to rot? What was my purpose? I wanted a purpose. Besides, you know, tearing stuff up.
The heat was stifling.
I hated Laughing Man for creating me and leaving me to burn. I hated the world I would never see, the people who would never know I exist, the people who can talk and laugh and get responses. Heat...Heat...Hate...
The hate was stifling.
I had a sword. Why? To destroy things.
Bloody fucking wonderful. My purpose, then, was to destroy. What was I supposed to destroy?
The enemy, said my brain. 'Who's that?' I asked it back. The enemy, it repeated. Sometimes I hated myself so much.
And then he came. My size. Light Boy. Hair the color of Laughing Man's eyes, light skin, blue clothes, sword, blue eyes...His face confused me, like Laughing Man's. There was this ball of light with him. I think it was talking, but I couldn't understand it. It also wouldn't shut up.
Light Boy charged me with his sword drawn. I blocked, of course. Why was this thing trying to kill me? What had I done to him? Maybe he was like me...created to destroy? Did Laughing Man send him?
I hated me. I hated Laughing Man. I hated Light Boy. I hated the little glowy thing that buzzed around and screamed a lot. I wanted to pull its wings off and grind it beneath my boot and listen to it scream in pain, screams I could comprehend. This thought, I knew, was inherently evil; the thing probably didn't deserve that. I was evil? Yes. But how? Nothing is ever born evil.
Exactly, said my brain. And then I had no more time to think, because Light Boy was at it again. And suddenly, I knew. Enemy. Enemy. Kill. Hate.
He knew how to use his sword, but so did I. Skill-wise, we were even matches. And then he was pulling something out and throwing it. And there was light...fire? It burned. Not like the hate. This hurt. A lot.
Of course, Light Boy should've known what happens when you add fire to heat. I charged. He blocked and threw the fire at me again, and I burned. Then, he had a hammer and was beating me with it...I heard my bones crack. I heard my insides break and tear and I was bleeding but Nothing came out. I swung desperately with my sword and shield, but the hammer crushed me. I sank beneath the water.
I was still alive, but I wasn't sure if I was living. I saw Light Boy above me, looking around for me. Was this Dark Face's world? Is this how he saw things? Light Boy was screaming words I couldn't understand, and suddenly, the hate surged and I jumped back up to face him. Well, his back. There was a spray of blood as my sword sliced through fabric and skin, and I could taste it as it spattered on my face. It tasted like my sword smelled- metallic. It was both delicious and repulsive all at once. I tried to cut him again, but he was fast, and caught me with the fire. I dove beneath the water once more and tried to surprise him again. I got to taste his blood once more before he hit me with the hammer again, and I was forced to retreat.
This has got to end, I thought. I jumped back up for the last time and moved to strike. He was prepared this time, and I was not. His hammer caught me full in the chest and knocked me down. I felt dizzy, lightheaded...He struck me again the with hammer. I could feel my body breaking...I could feel the world breaking around me. It was dark again, getting quiet...I saw his eyes. I saw the heat in them. I saw myself in them. I saw the hammer and then...
And then finally, there was Nothing.