All Things End Volume II: Part 66

Chapter 66: Falling Apart

“Compute...” Courage murmured, eying up the lump under a mess of covers that was his friend.

“Mmmph.” Was the single grunt of a reply that he got from the lump.

“I know you aren't feeling so great, and to make up for how I treated you at the mall, I got you this.”

He held out the cup of coffee he'd gone across the street to obtain, but the lump still did not stir.

He blinked, completely taken aback with surprise. Computer not instantly jumping at a chance to drink coffee was practically a universal impossibility.

“Who are you and what did you do with the real Computer?” He asked the lump, only half joking.

...He did not receive a reply.

“Well, I'll, uh-” He trailed off for a moment. “I'll just leave this here for you then.”

He set the coffee down on the nightstand between their two beds. Without thinking, he placed a paw on top of the lump for a few seconds before finally letting out a weak sigh and sliding off the bed so that he could return to his own.

Computer had been like this ever since they had gotten back from the mall. First, he had kept his head under his pillow, as though he were trying to block out all sound, and after that he had simply shuffled around restlessly under the covers for awhile until he was all but completely wrapped up in them. He'd not left that position since.

Upon climbing up into his own bed, Courage turned his attention back onto George. The phone never ceased to amaze him with all the many things he could do on it. There was no way he'd be getting bored anytime soon.

“Who needs a mall when you can do all of your shopping online?” Courage murmured to himself, letting his head hit the pillow.

The afternoon wore on with little of note happening. Computer remained the oddly shaped lump under the covers, and Courage kept himself entertained with George. The sun was just beginning to set when Courage's stomach started to growl.

“I wonder where we should eat tonight.” He murmured, bringing up a list of nearby restaurants on George.

“Hey, Compute.” He called out. “Since I got to pick the mall this morning, do you want to pick where we'll eat tonight?”

The lump that was Computer did not answer.

“Are you even awake?” He asked.

“Mmmph...” The lump halfheartedly replied.

“Do you even want dinner right now?”

No answer.

“Well, if you don't want to go out, we could just order pizza again.”

Still no answer.

Courage let out a weak sigh. “Seriously, Compute? Are you mad at me or something?”

No response from the lump.

“Ugghh, fine. I'll go eat by myself then. Even if you aren't feeling good, you could at least answer me.”

He received nothing but silence, and, thoroughly annoyed, he grabbed some money out of their bag and left the motel room in a huff.

…...

Computer could hear the door shut from under his blanket, and with the click of the lock, darkness that had already been surrounding him began closing in like a predator that had been waiting for the perfect chance to strike.

“Alone again.” That ubiquitous, inescapable voice whispered gleefully.

“Go away!” Computer all but pleaded, pulling the blankets closer around himself. Nothing seemed capable of blocking His voice out. Not even the pillow had helped.

“You're doing an awfully terrible job of trying to pretend like everything's normal. That dog is going to start questioning your behavior.”

“Just shut up!” Computer snarled, struggling to free himself from the cocoon he had built up for himself.

Upon unraveling himself, his first action was to scan the room for Him, but there was no sign of the phantom. Regardless, Computer could still feel his presence, both as a shadowy figure seemingly looming right behind him, in a spot where no matter how many times he turned around, he could never catch sight of Him, but also as a black presence in the back of his mind, always watching and growing stronger with every moment that went by.

Perhaps the darkness that was Him would soon smother his mind entirely. There was no halting the growth of his own insanity after all. This was nothing more than a tumor that had been growing in the back of his mind for years now, always pushed out of the way and ignored, but still present. He'd been stupid to think that he had cured it. His demons were far greater than just a few talks with Courage could fix. Not even a trip through his own mind could possibly have been enough to save it. Something far worse than the tar creature had been lurking around in that world of junk and dust. Now something vital inside of himself had finally given out, and his hard fought battle to keep some grasp on reality after the months of torture he'd endured at His hands was slowly falling apart. He did not know how to repair this failing part of his system. Whatever defense he might have had against this festering tumor deep inside his mind was completely gone. He could not save himself, and he was not sure he'd be able to hold on for Courage's sake.

What did it matter if the phantom of Him was real or not? He was as good as real to Computer. Reality meant nothing if his own perception of it was warped. As far as he was concerned, the phantom haunting his every waking moment was a real as if His spirit had returned from the dead. His own insanity had given Him new life by taking on His shape. It only made sense that it would take the form of that smug, smiling face.

Letting out a sigh, Computer could not help but admit to one thing, “...I should have gone with Courage.”

The darkness proceeded to close in.

“Yes, you should have.” He giggled gleefully.

Certain that he was about to be swallowed completely, Computer jumped down from his bed and raced out the door. He stopped only at the sidewalk where he looked up and down the street, hoping to catch a glimpse of Courage in spite of his inability to actually see anything. Unfortunately, he had waited too long. The dog was as good as gone and he'd never be able to find him with his vision in such a poor state.

“He'll be back soon enough.” He reminded himself, clutching a paw to his chest.

“...But what does it matter if he's here or not?” That smug voice hissed into his ear. It seemed that he could not outrun his own shadow.

“Are you finally going to admit to him that you've gone insane? I can't wait to see his reaction!”

Computer shook his head in an attempt to will the ever growing shadow away. He was desperately in need of a distraction, something to keep his mind off His constant presence. He would not be able to ignore Him forever, but for now he could at least hopefully push Him away for a little bit.

“Why didn't I go with Courage?” He murmured out under his breath, overcome with a horrible feeling of helplessness.

Sure, he'd still be stuck seeing Him everywhere, but it would be better than this...so much better than this. There was simply no denying it, he always felt...safer with Courage. Even if the dog didn't have the slightest clue about what was going on, it was still a comfort to have him around. This was nothing like the early days just after he had been freed from His torture, where he had been all alone while fighting his way back to something resembling sanity. As long as he had Courage, nothing would ever be as bad as those days.

“We'll just have to see about that, now won't we?” He proceeded to threaten, still as cheerful as ever.

The pressure inside Computer's head was almost unbearable. The need for a distraction was only growing stronger. If he did not find something, he'd surely be swallowed up long before Courage could get back.

“I have to fight this.” He whispered, placing a paw to his head as though it could somehow quell the pressure. “Courage still needs me. I can't give up yet.”

He turned around, still expecting to find Him standing behind him, but as always, he could never catch Him in time.

“I have to keep going. He'll die if I give up now. I have to finish this...”

Almost as if on cue, a sudden pang of hunger pulled him out of his lethargy and the pressure inside his mind began to lift. Much to his relief, he could feel His presence backing off somewhat.

The distraction had arrived, and it was his favorite kind of distraction too, although he hardly had much of an apatite right now. He was not even sure if he could stomach any food right now, but it was the one chance he had of surviving with Courage gone for the time being.

Barely even thinking about it, he reached for his power and began looking for the one thing that would insure he wouldn't have to go walking into any restaurants to find food. He did not want his dream from last night to become a reality.

He quickly found exactly what he was searching for. A vending machine inside the main building of the motel. He had every intention of emptying the thing as fast as possible and making a very long, very distracting meal out of it. There was enough junk food in it to keep him occupied for hours.

“How cute...” His voice whispered, now much quieter than it had been before. There was no means to get rid of him completely, of course, but this was an improvement.

…...........

Courage returned to the motel full and happy. He'd dealt with even more people who acted like it was so strange to serve a dog, but he had gotten his dinner none the less. It'd been a little lonely without Computer there, but he was still a bit annoyed with him anyway.

“Hope he's happy that he missed out on a great meal.” Courage muttered out a bit indignantly. He still could hardly believe that Computer had skipped out in the first place.

Making his way past the pool and toward their door, he couldn't help but wonder if Computer had moved at all since he had left a little over an hour ago. The thought of being ignored like that still made him angry. Would it kill Computer to at least acknowledge the fact that he was being talked to? Sick or not, it didn't give him the right to be such a jerk!

Well, he was more than ready to find out how things were going for his friend. Unlocking the door, he pulled it open, and the sight that met him was, well...

There sat Computer at the edge of the bed with his feet hanging over. On one side of him was a massive pile of junk food, and on the other side Courage could just barely see an identical mountain of empty wrappers. His friend was staring dully up at the TV, eyes half lidded. He looked more like a zombie than anything else, munching down on sugar infested treats instead of brains.

...And just like that something inside Courage seemed to snap and his anger spilled over.

“Computer!” He yelled at the top of his lungs. “What the heck are you doing? You decided to buy a huge pile of junk food instead of getting dinner with me when you had the chance? I thought you were sick but here you are stuffing your face with garbage! You've been ignoring me for no reason at all!”

Computer did not make even the slightest acknowledgment that he was being scolded. He continued to eat his junk food and stare up at the TV screen that he didn't actually seem to be watching.

Courage's fury over still being ignored was like nothing else. There was a heavy pressure clouding his mind and an unbearable buzzing in his ears. He seemed to lose himself completely in his anger. Stomping into the room, he stopped at the foot of Computer's bed.

“Quit ignoring me!” He yelled. “I'm so tired of this! I'm so tired of the way you act! I keep telling you to stop eating so much and all you do is ignore me! I'm stuck putting up with all of your attitude and bad behavior and yet you never listen to me! You're so frustrating to put up with! You know, you wouldn't have gotten poisoned, or nearly cooked up and eaten, or lost your vision if you had just used some self control for a change! We're only in this mess right now because you had to go and get the SCC's attention again! I mean, they wouldn't have found out about us in the first place if you hadn't gotten so angry and tried to kill those people back at that restaurant!”

The room slowly fell into silence upon Courage running out of breath, and yet...Computer went right on eating without acknowledging a single word.  

“AUGH!” Courage cried out, the horrible buzzing in his ears growing louder along with his ever rising anger. He was certain that he had not felt this angry with Computer since...since the forest.

….The thought of that was almost enough to snap him out of it, and yet the pressure in his mind only seemed to urge him onward, almost gleefully stoking the fires of his anger.

“COMPUTER!” He yelled as loudly as he could. Teeth grit, he was seconds away from jumping up onto the bed and tackling Computer, knowing perfectly well that doing such a thing would more than simply get his attention. He could all but hear a voice in his head urging him to do it, to make Computer pay for ignoring him, for being such a jerk.

Just in time, Computer blinked and seemed to come out of his stupor. More than a little confused, he looked down at Courage, but did not catch on to his friend's anger in time. “Uh, what? Did you say something?”

That was too much for Courage. He let out a cry of frustration and threw his paws into the air. “I'm done! I'm completely done with you! I can't stand this! I can't stand the way you act! If you want to sit there and eat junk food until it kills you, go ahead, but I don't want anything to do with it! If you're just going to ignore me like the jerk that you are then there's no reason for us to be friends anymore!”

He whipped around as fast as he could and stomped towards the door. He'd sleep outside if he had to, but he was not going to spend another moment in the same room as Computer. Absolutely fuming, he forced the door open and stepped outside. Without thinking, he turned around one last time, even though that voice in his head was telling him it wasn't worth it to see Computer's reaction. As the door slowly swung shut in front him, he could see Computer, eyes wide and utterly confused, seemingly questioning if this was real or not. Just like that, the door clicked shut, blocking Courage's dearest and most beloved friend from view.

In his mind, he could see it all again. The Dreamworld, where he had abandoned Computer in his anger, just like this. It was happening all over again, the door swinging shut as he looked back upon his friend. Computer's expression was so much like it had been back in that place, utterly wracked with disbelief. And what had followed after that? Dust, darkness, a world of discarded junk... and the knife.

The heavy pressure over Courage's mind lifted like a cool breeze quelling a raging inferno. The realization that history was repeating itself was enough to bring him back to his senses. Only now did he realize how quiet it was with the buzzing in his ears having gone away. He could feel a strange sort of 'foreign' panic inside of himself. Things were not turning out the way they were supposed to. He was not supposed to remember the Dreamworld or allow himself to calm down....

Almost instantly that strange feeling of panic that did not seem to be his own was replaced with several feelings that very much belonged to him, panic only being one of them. How could he have been so stupid? How could he have let himself get so angry over something so trivial?

...What had he done?

“Computer!” He cried out, desperately grabbing the doorknob...only to realize that he had not taken a key with him.

“Compute, let me in, please!” He yelled, pounding both of his fists against the door. Several apologizes spilled out of his mouth, but he was not sure how an apology could fix anything right now.

However, much to his surprise, there was the click of the lock and then the door opened just a crack. He suddenly found himself staring into a single glowing, blue eye.

“I thought we weren't friends anymore?” Computer asked, his voice completely devoid of any particular emotion.

Courage's mouth fell open. This...wasn't what he had been expecting. He'd figured that Computer would at least be a little more upset. With this strange turn of events, he was suddenly finding it very hard to use his voice.

Computer opened the door the rest of the way, his expression just as unreadable as his voice had been. “I must admit,” He uttered out, placing a paw onto his hip while the other remained on the door. “You changed your mind about five minutes faster than I was expecting you to. I can't say that I was expecting you to start banging on the door like your life depended upon it that quickly either.”

Courage's mouth somehow managed to drop even farther. There was no way he'd be able to find his voice now.

“Come on, dog.” His friend lightly joked. “How many times have we been through this now? It certainly wasn't going to stick this time. We are, after all, practically glued together at this point.”

The fact that he was smiling only managed to floor Courage even more.

“But...I do understand. We don't always get along the greatest, and we do tend to get on each others nerves at times. For the sake of our friendship, perhaps it would be best if we spent some time apart for the time being. It'll give you a chance to cool off. After all, it's not good for me to be annoying you 'all' the time.” He joked.

All Courage could do was watch as Computer stepped past him. In that instant, his voice suddenly returned to him and he reached out to grab his friend by the arm, stopping him from going any further.

“Wait,” He whimpered. “I don't want you to go. This is my fault. I shouldn't have lost my temper.”

“Relax, I'm just going to spend the night out here. I will still be here in the morning.”

“No, you're still recovering from the poison and it's not good for you to be out in the cold like this.”

“I've got my stupid sweater, I'll be fine.”

“If anyone is sleeping outside, it's me, okay? This is my fault so I should be the one who-”

“You're a lot sicker than I am, and I don't want to deal with it if you get the flu again or something.”

“But, Compute...”

Computer let out an exasperated sigh. “Look, if you want to apologize to me then do so by letting me have some time alone, okay?”

Feeling hopelessly defeated, Courage removed his paw and let it fall to his side. Computer was right about this. If he really wanted to apologize, the least he could do was let him have what he wanted.

The glowing dog turned around to face him one last time with a surprisingly tired smile on his face. “I'm sorry for ignoring you. I've been pretty out of it lately, as I'm sure you've noticed. I was a bit zoned out back there and I must not have heard you until you started yelling.”

And here Courage thought that his guilt could not run any deeper.

“Well, goodnight then, dog.” His friend concluded with a nod, effectively ending their mostly one-sided conversation.

If one thing was certain, Courage was not going to have anything close to a good night.

End Of Chapter