All Things End: Part 32

Chapter 32: A Growing Divide

Computer pushed himself up out of the mud with about as much dignity as he could muster. He had to stand there for a moment, half dazed and ready to topple back over again. His eyes were unfocused and he was absolutely caked in the mud he had landed in. Either he was still trembling out of fear or from the cold, but it was impossible to tell now.  

“Computer?” Courage asked, reaching a paw out to him. The machine flinched and he withdrew the paw immediately. “Are you alright?” He asked again.

Computer slowly turned his head towards him. He stared at the dog in a haze. Struggling for a moment, he reached over and leaned up against the tree trunk that he had almost been killed upon not five minutes go. Finally, he looked up again, his determiner becoming furious.

“Don't look at me like that” He snapped. His voice was strained from both all the yelling he had been doing and from the fact that he was trying to keep it in control now.

Courage blinked. He didn't really know what say. This situation was awkward enough already. Computer wasn't supposed to be the one who needed help, not ever. He was meant to be unbreakable. A force that could not be knocked down, and yet, here they were.

“Computer, listen. I'm sorry for-”

“Don't give me any of that sympathetic tripe!” He yelled. “If I want your pity, I'll ask for it!”

“Computer...” Courage whimpered.

“Back off!” He growled, and Courage did just that. If he wanted his space, he'd give it to him.

“I just-”

“Shut up!” He yelled. “I don't want to hear it!” He turned away and placed a paw to his throat. The anger in his face melted away and he shivered.

“Let me help you.” Courage begged.

“I don't need your help!” He snapped back in reply. He tried to regain his composure but failed and stood there shivering, his eyes wide.

“You might be hurt.” Courage tried to reason with him. “Don't be so stubborn and let me-”

“I can take care of myself! Now leave me alone!”

Courage grit his teeth. His frustration was beginning to boil over. “And what then?” He asked sharply. “Do you expect me to just walk off or something? I can't leave you out here all alone!”

Computer flinched and said nothing.

“It's your fault that we're out here in the first place!” He said, stomping forward. “You've got nobody to blame for this but yourself! I told you something bad would happen and it did!”

Computer tensed up and backed into the tree trunk again. Terror fell across his face and he squeezed his eyes shut, seemingly expecting to be punched again....or strangled.

Courage's anger melted away at the sight of it.

'He's afraid of me!' He exclaimed within his own mind. Surely Computer understood that it hadn't really been him suffocating him back there?

“I, er, didn't actually attack you back there, you know.” He said sheepishly, trying to backpedal a little bit. Given Computer's current state, letting himself get furious probably wasn't the best way to go about helping him.

“But I-” Computer began, opening his eyes again. Fear still painted his expression.

“I swear I didn't do anything to you.” Courage pleaded. “There was some kind of monster that I think takes on the appearance of whatever we fear the most.”

Computer closed his eyes again and slid down the tree trunk. “Please, dog. Just...let me be.” He said in a quiet voice. “I-I don't care if it was you or anybody else. It doesn't matter. It's all the same to me.”

Courage sighed and got down onto his knees beside the frightened machine. “Look, I'm sorry about before.” He said that with about as much sincerity as he had within himself. “I-I didn't mean to blow up at you like that and I didn't mean to say any of that awful stuff either. It's been eating me up ever since I did it and I just couldn't figure out how to apologize to you for it.”

Computer's eyes fell upon him again. “Dog, you don't have to pretend that you feel bad. I understand. I'd rather you say what you mean than act otherwise.”

He recoiled at the machine's reply. “But I do mean it!” He yelped. “I don't hate you. I've never, ever hated you.”

He gently bit his lip. All of this had only helped to make him feel even more guilty about what he had done. His blowup had certainly given that monster more fuel to use against Computer. He could hardly believe that he had actually managed to frighten him to a point where it could be used like that.

“That's a laugh!” Computer replied with a cynical snort. “You all hate me. You've always hated me. No matter what I did, for good or for ill, you all hated me for it in the end.”

“Computer, I'm not like your other owners. I-I don't know what they did to you or why, but I'm sure it was awful and I promise that I'll never do the same.”

“As if you haven't already done the same things they have!” He spat. His fearfulness was slowly being replaced by the usual amount of jaded hatred he normally harbored for everyone and everything. “And stop talking about them!” He went on. “They are not worth wasting any memory on!”

Silence fell between them again. Computer continued to scowl before finally adding, “Stop looking at me like that! I told you that I don't want any of your sympathy! I know what you're thinking and you're wrong! Don't you dare just sit there and stare at me like I need your pity!” He stuck his noise up into the air in an attempt to regain his superiority. “This was all just one big mistake, you know! None of it would have happened if I hadn't got caught off guard. Don't you dare think for even a second that I actually-” He stopped himself halfway through that last sentence, seemingly reconsidering it.

“Who was that 'he' guy you were talking about before?” Courage asked.  

Computer's eyes widened and he let out a gasp. A shutter ran through his body and he tried to press himself even further up against the tree trunk, almost as if he were hoping that he'd sink into it and vanish from view.

“I can't-” He choked out, his voice becoming weak with fear. “I-I cant. I don't-”

Courage stared. “Don't you think you owe me an explanation?” He asked.

The glowing dog snapped out of his fright almost on a whim. He straightened himself back up again and glared at Courage. “I don't owe you anything, you twit.” He venomously replied.

Courage grit his teeth, getting annoyed with the machine's attitude again. How could he jump between being, well, himself, and being so paralyzed by fear that he could barely speak?

“You're a bigger coward than I am!” He argued, throwing his paws up into the air. “Y-you're afraid of me for crying out loud! Don't you know how pathetic that is? You act all big and tough and yet here you are cowering every time I raise my voice!”  

Computer glanced away, not even acknowledging the challenge that he had just been given. Instead, he slowly rose to his feet and, limping rather painfully, walked right past the seething dog. His makeshift bandaging had been lost during his flight from the invisible creature and he now looked even more disheveled with his various injuries on display.

“Computer,” Courage tried to say. He couldn't stay mad at him. He just couldn't.

“Please be quiet, dog.” The machine softly replied. “I'm tired. Really, really tired. I just...I need to rest. Your insistent babbling is giving me a headache.”

“Well, we should try to-” He began before being interrupted by a sharp, stabbing pain in his chest.

“Oh, no.” He gasped as all the air in his lungs seemed to vacate itself.

Computer turned to him, a mixture of weariness and confusion on his face. It took him a moment to realize what was happening and his eyes widened.

“H-help!” Courage croaked, clutching at both his neck and chest. It was hopeless though. He knew there was no escaping an attack. Computer could do nothing to help him.

His mind was already becoming hazy and the worst of the pain hadn't even begun yet. He fought with his own body, desperately trying to avert this disaster. He couldn't pass out here, not in the middle of the forest like this. What if that invisible creature returned? What if some other monster came walking by? Computer couldn't fend anything off on his own, at least not in his current state.  

He cried out as another stab of shooting pain ran up chest. He was being ripped apart. He was falling to pieces! Red began to color his vision as it always did when he was in the throes of an attack. Half gasping, half choking he fell to ground, oblivious to the cold wet earth that normally would have made him shiver.

He began to violently convulse and lost control over his limbs. The pain was so strong that he could think of nothing else. He was going to die. This was it. His heart was about to stop or his torso was about to split open. He was going to die and there was nothing he could do about it. He almost wished that it would happened. Anything to give him reprieve from his agony.          

He could hear himself screaming incoherently. It was an involuntary action, he was no longer connected to the functions of his body. He was nothing more than a flicker of pain-wracked consciousness slowly being snuffed out by the all consuming agony. He could do nothing, not even scream along with his disconnected body.

This was the end. It had to be. He'd never had an attack this long before, this intense. He just wanted it to end, to stop, to finally be over. He'd take even death if it meant that he wouldn't have to feel this all consuming pain anymore.

He felt something grab his flailing arms. It didn't stop the pain, but it helped. He wasn't beating mindlessly at the air anymore and he felt the muscles in his arms begin to relax. He tried to open his eyes and find out what was happening, but he couldn't

“Keep it together, dog.” He heard Computer say from somewhere far away. It had to be him trying to stop his convulsions.

The pressure in his chest started to ease up and his entire body began to relax in response. The pain was going away, dulling into a deep throb. The attack was almost over and it couldn't have been anymore of a relief.

He wanted to say something to Computer but his body still wasn't listening to him. He could feel the dark reaching up around him and he knew he wasn't going to last much longer. That was okay though. Anything to escape the pain and the exhaustion for even a little while was a welcomed relief. How Computer would get them both to safety was not a concern anymore.

Yes, he was tired, so sleepy. It was time to rest. Time to be free from his illness for a little while longer. He felt the forest fell away from him and then there was only black...  

End Of Chapter