FREDDY WOKE UP FEELING FANTASTIC!
HIS DICK WAS ROCK HARD, AND THE AIR SMELLED LIKE EVERY SINGLE GODDAMNED THING IN HIS ENTIRE APARTMENT. “HOLY FUCKING SHITBALLS!” HE SHOUTED, PUMPING HIS FISTS INTO THE AIR. “I FEEL GREAT THIS MORNING!”
HE SHIFTED WITHIN HIS BLANKETS, FEELING EVERY INCH OF HIS SKIN EXPLODE IN RESPONSE TO THE SENSATION OF ITS SOFT TOUCH. LEAPING OUT OF BED, HE—
“Something is wrong,” he whispered, his breath speeding up. Before long, he burst into a fit of uncontrollable laughter, and then, just as he attempted to reign it in, it flipped into tragic sobs. “Something is SERIOUSLY WRONG!” he shouted in rage, nearly completely incapable of controlling the volume of his voice.
He spotted his reflection in the mirror, flinching at his expression. He looked utterly disturbed, a violent grin splitting his face apart as his eyes glared something intense. In response to his reflection, his face twisted into a horrified scowl, a sight he couldn’t help but break into laughter at. “I NEED HELP!” he screamed urgently at the empty room.
While he wasn’t exactly sure what was happening to him, he had a sneaking suspicion it had something to do with his soul. In a blur of uncontrollable laughter and sobbing, he managed to book an emergency appointment. He barely recalled how he made it to the therapist’s office.
There, he was wrapped up in a heavy blanket, his body shivering for some bizarre reason.
“Drink this,” the therapist offered a small vial.
“DRUGS!?” Freddy shouted, slapping the medicine out of the man’s hand. “I WILL NEVER DO DRUGS!” He growled at the doctor. Then, as he realized what he just did, he started crying. “I’m so sorry, doc… I don’t know what’s wrong with me…”
“I guessed that would happen,” the doctor said. “That was water. This is the actual medicine,” he offered an identical vial.
This time, Freddy managed to reign in his overwhelming repulsion long enough to drink. He frowned. “Is this also water?”
“Yes.” The doctor offered a third vial. “I just wanted to make sure.”
Freddy scowled at the third vial. “That’s water, too.”
The doctor nodded and handed Freddy the fourth vial.
“I can’t believe you’d trick me like that…” he said, tears striking down his face. “And I trust you so much, doc…”
“Easy there, buddy, just drink and calm down, okay?”
Freddy nodded as he down the vial. He winced at the disgusting liquid. “Ew. What the hell is this?”
“Enough sedatives to put an elephant to sleep. Well, for you, it might just about calm you down enough to hold a straight conversation.”
“Are you calling me fat?” Freddy asked, genuine hurt in his voice. Then he burst into another fit of laughter. “Hah! God, I’m so funny.”
For some reason, the doctor wasn’t at all impressed.
They waited for a few minutes. Freddy’s emotions finally ebbed, and as they did, a more sober kind of horror flooded him. “Jesus… What the hell was that?”
“That, my dear patient, is hopefully a good sign,” the soul therapist declared. “Let’s get a scan in, first.”
Freddy imbued his essence into the orb, and then watched for a few minutes as the doctor stared a hole into the mess of soul noise projected on the wall. “Wow. Freddy Stern, you are without a doubt, the most bizarre patient I’ve ever had the pleasure of working on.” The man wryly shook his head. “Soul healing has a habit of coming in leaps and chunks. And you have just undergone a sudden recovery of your soul’s connection to your emotional circuit. You are experiencing emotions normally again.”
“Yeah… Okay…” Freddy nodded. “This does not feel normal, doc.”
“That’s because you’ve been living with muted emotions for so long. I must say, you’ve accomplished something rather impressive here. You’ve managed to bring your emotions a lot closer to the forefront, something most men tend to struggle with. But now, since your experience of your own emotions is no longer so muted, your baseline affect is effectively equivalent to severe mania.”
“That’s just lovely.”
“It, in fact, is. Quite so. Emotions are critical for one’s perception of significance. I no longer have any real guesses for how long it will take you to heal, but I promise you, it won’t take much longer.”
That made Freddy perk up a bit.
He had gotten so accustomed to a certain degree of ennui that he had nearly forgotten what it felt like to just be normal. His emotions had amplified to offset his lack of sensitivity, but it hadn’t been the same thing.
Even as he looked around the office, he couldn’t help but note how much more vibrant the colors looked. Despite the room being a cold, clinical shade of white, there was a welcoming veneer to it. He chuckled. Then, he cried. He cried, just as he once had, when he had been healthy and free of the shackles of soul damage. Of the neverending, bottomless pit of being half alive.
“Thank you…” He grabbed his chest as a sudden ache overwhelmed him. “Thank you so much…”
The doctor smiled, putting a hand on his shoulder. “You did good. It takes an unfathomable amount of willpower to fight through that much soul damage. Don’t get complacent, though. You’re not fully healed yet. Patience is more crucial than ever at this stage. You will no doubt be tempted to down an elixir and be finally done with it, but I assure you, if you take it before you’re ready, you will regret it.”
Freddy nodded. “I understand.”
“Good.”
The doctor prescribed him sedatives to help him slowly adjust, and then, he was sent home, where he took another day off. He was going to fall behind on classes quite a bit, but that was the last thing he was worried about at that moment.
He was filled with an unspeakable urge to call Vlad up and go out, but he held himself back. Given his compromised emotional state, he would undoubtedly do something stupid.
Throughout that whole day, he simply tried his best to stay still. Failing that, he paced around the room. Even with the sedatives, he was far too excited to rest.
Now that he was more in touch with his emotions, he started feeling… quite strongly about many things.
“God, I hate this city,” he declared. “It’s full of insufferable assholes! And that stupid bi—mmmm, don’t say that, Freddy! That is not nice! But Kaiya… who do you think you are?” He laughed. “You think you can bully me just because you’re the empress? Daddy is gonna have to teach you a lesson.” He recoiled at his own words, feeling a sudden urge to vomit. “Oh my god I can’t believe those words just left my mouth… Oh god.”
Burying his face in shame, he curled up on the couch. That lasted for all of three minutes before he was up and pacing around the room again. “Why do I hang out with Vladimir, again? Isn’t he kind of a massive piece of shit? Dude made money off the organ trade in Repentawa. I think I should kill him.” He paused. “Let’s not go that far. But I should at the very least ask why he did that. My morals have grown too lax. God I’m thirsty.”
He moved to the kitchen, where he opened the faucet and downed an ungodly amount of water. “That’s better.” He returned to pacing. “Man, I’m so horny.” Aggressively scratching his head in frustration, he growled. “Why the hell do I keep rejecting women? Even Madame offered to have sex with me! Lady Narcisse Morleppe!
“Oh my god, I rejected her. One of the most beautiful women on the entire planet, and I just stood there, muttering to myself!? Am I stupid!?” He halted. “No, I’m just hopelessly in love with a girl who will probably stab me if I ever tell her how I feel.”
Tearing up, he sat back down on the couch, sinking into a sudden, overwhelming depression. “Emily…” He groaned. “God, I want her to step on me.”
This continued for the entire day, an outpour of unprocessed emotions flooding his mind. Usually, like any normal human being, he would have filters in place to prevent such thoughts from floating up to the surface, but they weren’t floating up—they were shooting up like a boiling hot geyser.
There was no amount of shame in this world that could stop it.
“Man, I’m so freakin’ badass.” He skipped around the room, shadow-boxing imaginary opponents. “I can’t believe I actually beat a four-star. How cool is that!? When I reach the third star, I’m gonna kick Kaiya’s ass. Yeah, she’ll be real sorry for messing with me then.” He released a frustrated sigh, his left ring finger feeling terribly itchy. “I really want to ascend. I’ve been stuck at the second star for sooooooo long; I mean, it’s been a century, for fuck’s sake! How much longer do I have to wait?”
Scratching himself like an addict undergoing severe withdrawal, he muttered, “Should I just get an elixir and be done with it?” He seriously considered it. “So what if I change a bit? That’s fine, right? People change. It’s no big deal.”
He caught himself. “No. Don’t think like that, Freddy. I’m not letting all this work go to waste.” Taking a deep breath to calm down, he nodded. “I should go to class. I’m falling behind.” Just as he turned towards the room to get dressed, he halted. “In this state? I’m going to murder someone if I leave the house like this.” Biting his thumbnail, he pondered what to do. “I gotta do something to let some of this energy out, or I’m gonna explode.”
Suddenly, he snapped his fingers. “The arena! Why did I never fight in the arena? That sounds so freakin’ awesome!” He deflated a bit. “Right… I don’t want to reveal my powers to the world, or whatever… I’m so lame.” A thought suddenly crossed his mind. “But… I could… No, that would be too obvious.” He cocked an eyebrow. “Unless…?” Slowly nodding to himself, a devious grin crept up on his face. Reaching for his pocket, he pulled out his phone. “I have some shopping to do, first.”
***
Madame was having a busy day, and the last thing she needed was a distraction.
But as was usually the case, the world loved slapping her across the face.
“Madame!” Her assistant ran into the room, a look of panic on her face. She approached the table and offered her a paper. “He just registered!”
Narcisse revealed a tight smile. “Of course he did. Why would he call me first to ask for advice? No, that would be so unlike him.” Snatching the paper out of the woman’s hand, Madame gave it a look and then put it away. “Thank you for letting me know. Now go on your way, dear.”
“Thank you, Madame,” she said with a bow, turning and making her way towards the hall.
Madame moved to a communication crystal, picking it up. “Emergency announcement for all pod personnel. A man by the name Freddy Stern will be trying to book a slot in a few minutes. Alert me the moment he arrives, and do not let him enter a pod without my presence.”
Putting the crystal down, she waited for it to ring. It didn’t take long.
***
“What do you mean I can’t enter!?” Freddy asked as politely as he could manage. “I just spent ten million dollars on tokens and you’re telling me I can’t even use them?”
Deep below the Starhold Arena, an aggravated Freddy stood beside an employee. They were located inside one of the many circular hallways spanning the entire arena, with countless doors on both sides, and a fast treadmill taking people back and forth right in the middle.
Barring the few elevator doors, every single entrance took to a so-called “pod,” which held the means of connecting to the simulated spaces inside the arena. Just as he had been about to pay for access to one, he was stopped by a suspicious worker who had walked over in a rush.
“Please just wait for a few minutes, Sir,” the nervous man said professionally.
“This has to be some kind of conspiracy!” Freddy accused. “Don’t think for a second you’re fooling me, you agent of evil!” Pointing a finger at the man threateningly, he narrowed his eyes. “I haven’t seen a single person get stopped by anyone, so I know for a fact that something suspicious is going on here. Tell me the truth!”
Taking a step back, the man raised his hands. “I have in fact received instructions to stop you, but I assure you, you will find out everything you need to know if you just wait here for a few minutes.”
Tapping his foot on the ground, Freddy took a calming breath. The man did seem to be honest. And at the end of the day, he was just an employee here, and Freddy was being an awful pain in the ass. His mood souring rapidly, he teared up. “Oh, god, what am I doing? I am so sorry, man. I used to work as a cashier, you know, so I know how annoying it is to deal with a nasty customer. God, I am so sorry.”
“It’s fine, Sir…”
“No, I have been a huge hypocrite. I will never forgive myself if I don’t make things right.” Pulling out an absurdly thick stack of cash, he handed it to the man. “Here you go. Buy yourself something nice.”
“Sir, I…” Eyes bulging as the man realized just how much money he was being offered, he slowly accepted it, gulping and then quickly putting it away. “It’s absolutely no problem, sir.”
“A hug?” Freddy asked as he spread his arms out.
Taking several steps back, the man raised his hands again. “I appreciate the offer, Sir.”
“I knew it… You still hate me…” He was about to reach for another stack of cash, but then—
“What on New Earth is happening right now?” A woman’s voice sounded from behind Freddy.
He whirred, only to spot Madame standing there. “Madame!” he greeted enthusiastically. “How wonderful to see you!” Halting, he smiled and nodded as he had a realization. “Oh, so it was you! I get it now… I mean, duh!” He facepalmed. “You practically run the entire place!”
A deeply concerned look on her face, she carefully took a step forward. “Freddy, darling, don’t take this the wrong way, but are you… on something?”
“Sedatives, actually.” He snickered. “Trust me, I’d be way worse without them.”
The look on her face grew even more worried. “How about we take this somewhere private so you can explain what’s happening?”
“Sure thing, Mademoiselle! Lead the way.” He pointed finger guns at her.
They made their way up to her office, where Freddy explained what happened to him.
A deeply exasperated look on her face, Madame sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “You should not be going outside in this state, Freddy.”
“Relax… I’m just here to relieve some of this pent-up energy, that’s all.”
“By some miracle, the sheer absurdity of the truth about you is just barely managing to hold the rumors back. You should be capitalising on this chance, not risking revealing the truth by fighting in the most public setting imaginable!” She sighed. “Every single fight gets streamed, even if it doesn’t get featured. And knowing you, you will absolutely be attracting too much attention.”
“I know… I know… Gosh, I know, Madame. But I’m not the naive little boy I had once been.”
“Please stop talking like that.”
“Right.” He coughed. “I’m sorry. What I meant to say is that I was planning to keep my identity a secret.”
“And how exactly do you plan on doing that?”
“I won’t be using any of my signature abilities. And, also, I bought myself an armor that covers my entire body, including a helmet for my face.”
Madame sighed. “And what if you lose the helmet in a fight? It happens a lot more often than you might think.”
He shrugged. “I’ll just wear a mask underneath.”
“Masks come off quite easily.”
Smirking, he raised his hand. “Not this one.” An iron mask appeared in his hand. It depicted a rather uncanny face. And then, with a dramatic flick of his wrist, he spun it around, showing the inside.
Madame paled slightly. “You are insane.”
He laughed like a maniac. “I know!”
The inside of the mask was covered with barbed spikes. Once he put it on… well, it wouldn’t be coming off easily, that much was certain.
“Well…” Madame smiled a bit as she leaned back. “I can hardly believe it. Crazy as you might be, you do have your bases covered. I appear to have underestimated you.”
He gave her an exaggerated bow. “Thank you, thank you!”
“That being said…” She looked over her table, a torn look on her face. “Oh, what the hell.” Getting up to her feet, she headed for the exit. “Follow me.”
“Where are we going?”
“We’re going to rehearse something.”
Cocking an eyebrow, he got up to come after her. “Rehearse what?”
“A persona.” She smiled. “There is nothing the crowd loves more than a big reveal.”