"Do you remember the time when you came to work with a few loose teeth, bruised left cheek, and bloody knuckles?"
Irwin shuddered, his back turned away from Doctor Giselle as she prattled on about his life. Unlike Ella, who disappeared after assuaging his shoulders as she placed the burden of saving this world on him, the good doctor haunted him until he got numbed to her presence.
Even from behind, Irwin could hear the smirk on her face.
"I ask, ,"What happened to you?" and do you know what your response was?"
He clenched his fist. "I got hit by a bus."
In truth, he was mugged that day, mere moments after handing out half his paycheck to a loan shark and finally finishing their deal that lasted for more than three years.
The Russian mobster didn't seem to like his attitude and sent a couple of his goons after him, planning on teaching him a lesson in manners and good conduct. A lesson that both Irwin and the Russian goons learned that Thursday morning.
"I swear, Irwin, your life could be a made-for-television movie." Doctor Giselle chuckled as if able to read his mind and learn of the events as it unfolded in his brain.
"What do you want?" He asked, forcing himself to look back at her. The memories tried to resurface on instinct, but he bit his lips, focusing on the pain, and looked her in the eyes. "Why are you still here?"
Doctor Giselle gave him a smile full of pity. "Because you're a danger to yourself and to others. Irwin, you barge into things without so much as a plan. You think that your little preparation will be all that you need. You don't think things through."
"I- I know-"
"You don't." She interrupted, shaking her head in disappointment. "You're never going to learn. Never going to change. You dissolve into reckless abandon, not caring if you hurt yourself and certainly not caring about what happens afterwards."
"Please-"
She scoffed, slapping away his pleading hands. "If you pity yourself, then why not kill yourself? You're wasting away that magik and system of yours to do what? To save yourself, again. Just like you did when you killed me!"
"I-I'm sorry-"
"Then what are you going to do?" She craned her neck, gazing intently at Irwin. "What can you do in this world? I'm already dead. How can you atone, Irwin?"
"I-I can…"
"'I can' what?" She laughed mockingly, massaging her temples. "I am you, Irwin. I am in you. I can hear your thoughts, see your mind. Even now, you're still thinking of killing yourself. You can still feel the echoes of agony. It's been whispering secrets, dark, menacing, secrets. You want nothing more than to feel nothing. Don't you lie to me. Tell me, Irwin, tell me how can you atone for the sins you have committed?"
Irwin knew she was right. He had no right to live a full life, carefree and happy. What he had done was a testament to his weakness, an answer to a question long posed by his conscience.
How far can he take it?
But it doesn't mean this would be the end of it. It did not need to be, nor should it be.
He could never escape his fate; to him and him alone, he was the man who slayed his savior. A man so horrible and disingenuous that the only place for him to be was Hell, a place of eternal torture and damnation.
He was placed into this world for a single purpose, to be entertainment for a bored God. It may not have been apparent, but from what he knew of the Entity Beyond Human Comprehension or, as he would like to be called upon this world, Chuck, then it was by this thought that he was temporarily plucked from his fate of blazing suffering to entertain it.
No matter what he does in this life, his soul would always belong in Hell, but it doesn't mean he can't do shit about it.
With the Great Hunter System and his veritably powerful magik, he had the ability to make a change, to strive for something greater while he was alive. He could even…
"... save people…"
His voice was shaky, the volume was barely a whisper, but Doctor Giselle heard it, nonetheless. Yet she smiled like a predator, hungry for more.
"Say it louder."
"C'mon! Just say it!"
"This is it, Irwin. If you say it, then I'm gone."
"Don't you want me to rest in peace?"
Having enough of her words, Irwin stood from his seat and looked her in the eyes. A gleam of hope and certainty, more brilliant than any emotion he could ever have, in his piercing blue eyes.
"I can save those people!" His roar caused the desolate landscape to quiver and shake with great intensity, widening the cracks on the barren ground.
"Fuck Chuck. If I'm going to Hell, then I'm going to take his bitches down with me." The faraway bronze mountains began to crumble under the reddening skies. "If he wants entertainment, then I'm going to give him the best damn show in the world. And this time, it won't go downhill after five fucking seasons!"
She gave a radiant smile, crossing her arms and gave him an approving look.
"How are you going to do that?"
He clenched his fist, a grim smile on his face. "I'm going to build an army powerful enough to take on the big players. Those sons of bitches will know who hit them and they wouldn't fucking do anything about it."
He realized now that this was his chance to change this world, suppress the casualties of the advent of the Apocalypse.
His mind replayed the memories of the past few months, the echoes of laughter and conversations he had had with the people in Richard's life. He had taken over this man's life and promised him that he'd do anything to protect his family.
"I will save all of them, as many as I can. Because that's my punishment, that's my duty, that's who I am."
His resolve strengthened at the memories of the people he saved. Their heart-felt gratitude, although few, was enough to bring forth a kind of courage he had never felt before.
He gazed back at the slowly disappearing Doctor Giselle.
"I know you aren't gonna forgive yourself for killing me, but…" She sighed as she began to disperse into a fine white mist. "At least… at the very least, don't act like I'm an idiot for believing you. Do me the courtesy of honoring my sacrifice and don't be an idiot."
He smiled, silently thanking her.
The world around him crumbled into dust, revealing a golden light that seemed to revitalize the very space it touched.
The bright golden light crawled steadily towards him and enveloped his whole body, refreshing the desolate aura surrounding his form. A smile appeared on Irwin's face, expecting the most ignoble agony to pervade his body once he returned to the real world.
After all, it had only been…
●●●24 Hours After The Banishment●●●