Chapter Text
THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS LOADING…
One second, everything was fine. The world was in order, with everything as it should be. Everything was perfectly in its place, just as The Narrator liked.
Then the next, it was like he was in Hell.
In an instant, he could feel everything. He could feel lights piercing his eyes, even as he closed them. He felt his clothes rubbing against his skin, ceaseless and all-pervasive. He felt himself growing dizzy, stumbling to the floor with a thud. His head pounded, and the incessant screaming from up above him certainly did not help things.
The Narrator tried to cover his ears, but the sound still rang through his head. He could barely form a full thought, everything was too much, way too much.
“Where am I? What’s going on?! Is that… me?”
It was his own voice, but it wasn’t him.
“Narrator? Are you there? Is that you?”
The Narrator attempted to answer, but when he opened his mouth, nothing came out. He tried again, tried to make a single sound, anything at all, but he was completely silent.
Now he was fully convinced that he was in Hell. His voice was his everything, his whole life, and now it was just gone. He was nothing without it.
[ What am I going to do? Who did this? This can’t be happening, this can’t be happening, this ca- ]
“Wait! Keep doing that!”
[ Doing what? ]
“That. I can hear you thinking.”
The Narrator took a deep breath, trying to collect his thoughts. He hesitated, slowly standing back up. He had to lean against the desk to keep himself upright. He just couldn’t get over how wrong everything felt. This body was so awkward, and it took so much energy just to move. [ Is that you, Stanley? ]
“Yes… it’s me,” Stanley sighed heavily. “Do you know where I am?”
[ Well, you are currently outside of the map, where I usually reside. It seems that the most recent reset has caused some sort of glitch. My consciousness has been transferred to your body. ]
Stanley was silent for a moment. “...How? And why?”
[ I don’t know! But I can’t fix anything if I’m just a weak human. You have the power now, Stanley, so it’s your job to fix this. ]
There was another short silence before The Narrator felt something cold and hard fall upon him. [ What the- A bucket? Really, Stanley? I can’t believe you’re using these powers like a toy. ]
“Oh, lighten up. It was one bucket. Don’t I get to have a bit of fun?”
[ No! Your job is not to have fun. I’m asking you politely to put things back to the way they were, but as always, you don’t have the capacity to think of other people’s feelings. ]
“Are you seriously trying to manipulate me right now? It’s not gonna work. You’ve had more than enough time as the narrator. Now it’s my turn.”
The Narrator obviously was not going to put up with this. [ Perhaps if I trigger a reset- ]
“Oh no, don’t you dare!”
[ Damn it. I’ve got to find a way to filter which thoughts I project. ]
“You are not resetting! I won’t let you!” Stanley was practically yelling now, his voice a mix of desperation and fury.
The Narrator didn’t respond as he started shambling through the winding halls and to the employee lounge.
“NO! Don’t you dare!”
When The Narrator came to the lift, he was greeted by a towering fence so ridiculously tall it nearly reached the ceiling.
“Wow. This is so cool! If I wanna add or delete something, it just happens! Just like that!” Stanley chuckled, which absolutely pissed The Narrator off.
[ You are being so unbelievably immature, even for you! I cannot believe that such a manchild is now in charge of The Parable. It’s borderline sickening. ]
“Oh, shut up!” Stanley snapped, a slight growl in his voice. “I don’t want to hear it from you. I’m never going back. So you better go ahead and get used to it.”
The Narrator stumbled to the floor again, gasping for air. The stress of the situation combined with the nightmare that was having a human body was throwing him for a loop. He ran a hand through his hair, trying his best to calm himself. He felt so overwhelmingly… small. He couldn’t just switch to any size he pleased anymore, no, he was trapped in this tiny body. Not only that, but he was trapped within the confines of The Parable. He no longer could move to any location inside or outside of the game instantaneously, now he was restricted by the prison of physical movement. It was an awful combination of claustrophobia and agoraphobia, being desperate for more space but terrified of said space at the same time.
The Narrator felt something cold and wet slowly trail down his face. Was he… crying? How could he have allowed himself to be reduced to a crying mess on the floor? What caused this? A sense of shame like he had never known before enveloped him, which just made him cry even more.
“...Narrator? Are you okay?” Stanley asked quietly.
[ Oh, so he has the audacity to act all sorry now? ]
“I mean it! I don’t want you to-”
The Narrator scoffed. [ Let me stop you right there. You’re having the time of your life right now. You just love seeing me suffer like this, because you’re a petty sadist. ]
There was a beat of silence.
“Fine. You’ve got me. Maybe I enjoy it just a little bit. But can you blame me? It’s not like you don’t do the same with me. Actually, I’m being the bigger person right now. I’m choosing not to enact a gruesome revenge, because I’m mature and responsible.”
The Narrator sniffled, covering his ringing ears. He just wanted this to be over. He wanted everything to go back to normal, he couldn’t stand to be in this awful body for any longer. He didn’t want to beg Stanley, but he was running out of options. He was getting overwhelmingly dizzy, the whole room spinning around him. He pressed himself against the cold floor in an attempt to remedy his nausea, but it didn’t work. He could barely keep his eyes open…
“WAIT! DON’T-”
THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS LOADING…