It had been two weeks since 9/11. Mark still hadn't forgotten, of course—nor had he forgotten to milk the joke for everything it was worth.
Even as he died, he still couldn't help but make ridiculous jokes to himself.
Himself. All by himself. Alone.
At least when he died the first time, the universe had the courtesy to give him a warm—but still deathly—embrace.
He had quite the journey the past few weeks. Traversing a mysterious land with wacky characters and occurrences was fun in hindsight.
But in the end, he failed at the finish line. Pathetically so.
It soured the happiness he had gained from his prior mistakes.
Now he drowned in his bounty—the ultimate goal for his current journey.
It was supposed to be the light at the end of the dark tunnel. Now he was consumed in darkness.
Everything was pitch black. And where he came from was where the light was, so the 'tunnel' analogy didn't really stick. It was honestly quite confusing, imagery be damned.
This second death was cold and depressing; it was quite possibly the most 'alone' someone could possibly be.
He only had himself.
'Wait, I'm dying? Or I'm dead? Am I dead or dying?'
Yes.
In Mark's final moments, he found himself in an endless Abyss. An infinite sea of gently bobbing black waves. This sea was shallow, only being a few inches in depth.
He lay flat on his back, the black viscous waters weighing down his weak and ruptured body.
Everything was broken, internally and externally. Bones, organs, his mind, the whole shebang.
Each bob of the black sea covered his face, obnoxiously drowning him in dark waters.
Crimson blood trailed down his mouth and cheek only to be consumed by the Abyss. Like a tendril, it snaked its way up and into his mouth—as if it had a mind of its own.
But Mark was too badly damaged to care. All he did was stare at the faint and distant light of the surface directly above him. It was incredibly small—so far away.
It dimmed with each passing moment.
'This life… it was an enjoyable few months. At least I was given the chance… to try again.'
He could feel his vision glaze over, his eyes squinting as they threatened to shut for the last time—death pulled and pulled.
Darkness flooded in—but not from the closing of his eyelids. Something irked his vision. A figure.
A being made of drooping Abyss. A humanoid; it's only feature was empty white eyes like cue balls.
It lorded over him—condescendingly so. As it did, he got a better look at the Abyss' manifestation.
It was him.
"'No one really knows why they're alive until they know what they'd die for,'" the Abyss cited, the voice being identical to Mark's. "You know who said that?"
"…" Mark's lips barely parted, but nothing came out.
"Martin Luther King Jr. You racist piece of shit, didn't you learn anything?"
"Wh—what…?" he croaked out, throbbing pain erupting within his depths.
"Look at you, you're fucking pathetic. Listen to the quote, dipshit!"
Mark could hardly think. Now that he had something to focus on, his mind slowly cleared.
'What did I… die for?'
"Exactly!" the Abyss exclaimed. "What happened to 'doing things differently,' huh? You fell for the same traps over, and over, and over again. That's the definition of insanity!"
'End happened. And I'm not insane, I'm just real.'
"Keep making excuses. It doesn't matter. All it did was lead you to your demise—to me. You haven't changed one bit."
'It isn't excuses, it's simply the reality. End could kill me at any time.'
"Is that so? Really? Did you ever, at any point, even try to test the waters of his powers?" the Abyss' head tilted, leaning forward as he barraged the dying boy. "You were too afraid to even try. You never wanted a choice."
'Ideals are guides. Fiction. Sometimes situations demand concessions.'
"You can't fool me. I know what you really wanted," the Abyss opened its jaws further as it leaned in, a disgusting white smile leaking goo which was promptly sucked back in. "You liked being told what to do. You liked the easy road."
'Who wouldn't? Choices are hard. You sound stupid.'
"Jesus. You're so sad, so pitiful, so weak. Just floating along the lazy river. Whoever pushes you wins the key to your heart, huh?"
'Just let me die. I get it, I messed up! Reincarnation would've been better—I couldn't simply force myself to change in just a month.'
"But you could've tried. You could've ignored the Luikots girl. But like the horny dog you are, you let her put you on a leash. You betrayed yourself."
'But if I worked for the Underground, I would've died in the Union's crackdown operation.'
"Not true at all. You would've found a way to live, one way or another," the Abyss shook its head. "The path would've been harder—and it would be yours. You didn't like that, so you betrayed yourself."
'By the time I got back on my feet from your so-called hard path, William would grow too powerful for me to shake End free.'
"Why the fuck do you trust every whim of an evil God? You even knew it was possible that End was bluffing about killing you for disobedience. Why didn't you even try?"
'For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry…'
"Hah! Good one. You know damn well you don't give a shit about Gods or reverence. I don't even know how you pulled that quote out of your ass and I'm literally you!" the Abyss twirled, idiotically waltzing around Mark's dying body.
'Oh… oh! I think I can see the light.'
"That's just the entrance of where we are. You're going down to hell buddy."
'Can't hear you. Heaven is here. I accept Jesus Christ as my lord and savior—like that one Family Guy cutaway gag of Osama Bin Laden. Really hope it works, fingers crossed.'
"You're a fucking idiot, you know that?"
'Yeah… I know. But hey, maybe if I get a third chance, I might actually change this time.'
"'It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.'" the Abyss quoted. "According to Darwin, you don't deserve life. Why the hell would you get a third opportunity."
'I think that's a gross misinterpretation…'
"So what? Fuck you gonna do about it?"
'Nothing. Too busy dying over here.'
"Then just fucking die already."
'Just give me a second. It's a bit hard with you rattling my ears.'
"…" the Abyss motioned its arms, telling Mark to 'go ahead.'
Finally, Mark had the peace to die. He closed his eyes, giving into death's tug of war.
The bobbing waves were so serene. The Abyss wasn't actually such a bad place to die after all. And he wasn't so alone. He had himself.
'Ah….'
…
'It isn't working.'
"That sucks. Here, since you wanna play the quote game, I have some more for you. You know… so you can get in the mood to die. Seems like you're having some trouble. Wanna hear it?"
'Sure, might as well.'
"'Death is the ultimate failure.' Since you're doing a pretty good job at dying, this quote must mean you're doing a pretty good job at failing. You're a failure. Just die already and complete your magnum opus of failure."
'Well, 'Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.' Combined with 'Death is nature's way of telling you to slow down,' I guess I was just living, changing, and adventuring too much, huh?'
"That first one… a Helen Keller quote? Damn, you're good."
'Too bad the world will never be blessed with my genius again. A real shame.'
"Trying to goad me into saving you?"
'Perhaps.'
"Look… maybe… just maybe… I was being too harsh," the Abyss stammered in concession. "Change takes time. Change also needs mistakes. I suppose not changing would eventually lead to change… I think."
'But then it would be too late…'
"Ah, that's simply the nature of mistakes. The only difference between a regrettable mistake and actualizing change is how quickly you make the original mistake."
'I made the mistake quite early, didn't I? Should be straight on the path for change then.'
Everything hurt. Thinking thoughts hurt. It was a miracle he was even forming thoughts. His current state was like a crushed fly caught in a sticky substance.
But at least he went out with a smile—and a thought-provoking conversation with himself.
"Alright. You've convinced me. I'll save you now."
'Bleh…'
Mark di Abbott died.
"What…?"
…
…
…
"That's not how this is supposed to go!"
'Yeah… I don't think that's how it went. I'm still alive.'
Death was really quite confusing. And a recounting of death was equally confusing—for all parties involved.
Perhaps it would be best to start from a more logical beginning to this whole charade—this great adventure.
***
As all great adventures go, Mark's path to death started with a book, a rope, a few friends, camping supplies, and a visa.