Ven awoke with a pounding headache, his eyes glaring at the morning sky. The dream, rather the nightmare, he had seemed too surreal to not be reality. The fatigue radiating through him was unlike anything he had ever felt before. He felt like he was baking in an oven overnight, what happened exactly? He checked his perimeter to discover that absolutely nobody else was in the stadium anymore... he was alone.

  Did nobody even bother waking me up? Did the emergence even happen? Ven thought as he tried to stand to his feet. He pondered about the peculiar dream again.

  With a shaky breath, he made a decision—screw the walker. If he had powers now, he shouldn’t need it, right?

  He stood up, or at least tried to. A second later, he crashed straight to the floor, face-first.

  Nope. Definitely no powers. At least this fall didn’t hurt as much as the last one.

  Guess It was a fluke, thought Ven as he struggled to rise to his rigid feet. He was absolutely devastated. He grabbed his walker and made his way towards the exit. He strangely felt far more physically ill at that moment than he had when he first arrived to the stadium. Not just ill, but super ill. He felt it was almost like he was drifting in and out of consciousness. He wondered if it was all worth it or not. Perhaps he would fall over and die at any minute, but by some miracle he managed to get to the front of the convention center and order a ride back to the hospital.

  As he sat in the car sweating with disappointed fear, he let his psyche succumb to dreadful hopelessness, as his dream was crushed right in front of his eager face. He eerily pondered about death. Was death really that bad if you were in absolute misery? He was tired of feeling ill—the Emergence was his only chance to become healthy and it led to nowhere. If there were really no chance of becoming a healthy man, or a superhero, than he wanted to die. He sure felt like he was about to, why call an ambulance when death seemed to be calling your name?

  He shut his eyes, hoping maybe he could just drift away. He was so tired—tired of the pain, of his body failing him over and over again. If the Emergence hadn’t worked… if he wasn’t an emergee with a healthy body, then what was left? Part of him still feared death, he definitely wasn’t numb to it, but the idea of living like this? That fear didn’t stand a chance against how badly he wanted the pain to stop. If he somehow made it back to his hospital room, he figured he’d end it there. Just take a bunch of pills and be done with it all. At least then maybe—just maybe—he’d wake up somewhere better. Somewhere his broken heart didn’t have to keep dragging him through absolute misery.

  When the ride share driver finally got to the hospital, the majority of Ven's body was sickly numb. When he thanked the driver he slurred his words. Usually, anxiety would have begged him to call an ambulance, but that was over with. His only goal now was to go to his room to die. He entered the hospital with an extremely slow paced limp. The lights from the windowed hallway danced light on him, however he failed to process it. Or perhaps the bright light was a result of him finally accepting death's peaceful embrace. He smiled as he rode the elevator back to his room. There was nothing to be afraid of anymore, death was now his only friend. There was nothing else in the world he desired more than it's soothing speech, and compassionate company. He felt like a fool for being afraid of it for so long. Perhaps there would be a new protagonist for the story. A protagonist that was a brave superhero who was esteemed by all citizens of the world, as Ven had given up entirely. Superheroes were so lucky, if he couldn't have their life then it was time to forfeit his.

  When the elevator finally opened, he walked out of it laughing cheerfully as the sunlight beamed on his defeated face.

  "You look happy today Vendel!" a nurse said as she walked past him.

  He completely ignored her as he continued grinning, for the chilling voice of death was far more lovely.

  He returned to his hospital room only about an hour before his scheduled echocardiogram. He placed his numb body on the sad bed, now a bed of joy, and stared at the window as the sunlight gently covered him. He may not have gotten to ever become a superhero, however he was satisfied with any outcome that carried no pain. If death was his ticket to escape his failure of a body, then so be it. He closed his eyes as he listened to his rapid and painful heartbeat pounce. He grinned as the numbness restricted his muscles from smiling properly. As his vision blurred, he attempted to smile while looking at the light. He was no longer afraid... it was time.

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  ****

  "Are you really done?" A mysterious voice called out in the midst of darkness.

  "Yes, I'm done. It's time for me to go. I don't want to feel pain anymore. This is for the best," Ven answered. Since he couldn't see or move anything, he assumed he was now dead.

  "Why do you say it's for the best? How do you know that?"

  "Uh... Isn't it obvious? I've been sick almost my entire life! It's only natural for someone like me to feel the way I do!" He didn't care who he was speaking to, he just wanted it all to be over.

  "It's not natural at all. Some people have actually gone through worst than you and still have a desire to live. Have you really forfeit your desire to live simply because you couldn't become a superhero?"

  "Why do you keep asking these questions anyway!? Of course it's not just because of the superhero thing, it's because I've been sick most of my life! I've already told you this!"

  "You can still find purpose and meaning in the midst of suffering."

  "Well I don't want to find purpose! I wanted to be a superhero."

  "You just said that it wasn't because of not becoming a superhero, and now you're saying that you refuse to find purpose in a difficult life simply because you can't become a superhero?"

  "You're really confusing me... Can I just go already."

  "Many people have found purpose in the midst of great turmoil. Your suffering is not brand new to humanity. Every suffering imaginable has already occurred."

  "Good for those people who found purpose! I don't want to be them! Would you just leave me alone already!"

  "You really wish to go? Your mother really cares about you."

  "So you're saying I should stay because only one person cares about me? Sounds bogus. If she really cared about me, she'd be happy that I died."

  "Do you really believe that?"

  Ven ignored the voice as rage clouded over him. "I'm done. I don't know who you are. God, the Grim Reaper, or some kind of angel, but please let me go."

  "What if I told you that you're actually not dying. Even if you wanted to die today, you wouldn't. All of humanity's future has already been foretold, and your book is far from over, Vendel Nguvu."

  "No! I don't want to go back into that pitiful body!" wailed Ven.

  "Things will be different this time around, however your suffering is far from over, if anything it will only get worse. Your brand new suffering will be connected to a fallen angel that once bathed in rivers of light. There is no greater monster than this man... or has ever been."

  ***

  Ven awoke again, almost screaming from the vivid dream. Just who was he chatting with anyway? The dream was fresh on his mind, however the more minutes that passed, the more he seemed to forget about all of the events in it. He could still remember the dream he had at the stadium though. The monster on the mountain... just who was he?

  He realized his body strangely wasn't numb anymore, however his desire for death was still greater than his desire for food. He blankly stared at a bottle of medication for a few brief seconds before rushing towards the pill bottle and quickly removing the cap. There were still several pills in the container, it'd definitely be enough to kill an elephant. He reached for a water bottle but froze before inserting the pills into his mouth. He just couldn't do it, his fear of death returned for some reason. Where was that fear before his nap? What could have made it return? He placed the pill bottle back on the table in disappointment.

  Suddenly, Doctor Tiba entered the hospital room. "Time for your echocardiogram Ven! Why aren't you hooked up to the equipment?"

  "I uh... forgot to plug everything back in," answered Ven.

  The doctor called a nurse into the room as she hooked up Ven to an IV, heart rate monitor, and an EKG. Perhaps the nurses already knew he left the other night, as the equipment would have let them know. So far, it seemed like the doctor was oblivious to that fact.

  He followed Doctor Tiba as cool air floated around him. He mysteriously felt light on his feet and energized.

  "Ven! Aren't you forgetting your walker?"

  "Oh... right. Thanks," answered Ven with deep confusion. He realized he didn't really need the walker. He also realized he wasn't short of breath like he usually was. The heart rate monitor read 70 BPM, he never saw his heart rate that healthy before. Nonetheless, he picked up the walker and followed the doctor to another room.

  Don't tell me the Emergence sight worked, thought Ven as he nervously followed the doctor. I already accepted death, why is this happening to me!? He felt like he was dying only an hour ago, why on earth would he feel so much better now? It made no logical sense. He wondered if he had superpowers now, if so, what were they? Regardless, his mind was already ready to die not long ago so it was difficult to get excited.

  When they arrived to the echocardiogram room, Doctor Tiba performed an echocardiogram on Ven, he placed a laser tube over Ven's chest to record the function of Ven's heart. It wasn't painful at all compared to other times he had the procedure done.

  Later on, Ven exited the room and sat on a bench outside of the room to wait for the professionals to review the results.

  “I can’t have super powers,” he was saying to himself softly. “The Emergence couldn’t have worked. I’m tired. I want to die, I want to die, I want to die.”

  Doctor Tiba soon exited the room with a shocked face.

  "Ven! your heart is completely cured!" the doctor stuttered. "I don't know what happened, but it doesn't even look like you've ever received a heart transplant at all! I've never seen anything like this before. I'm absolutely lost for words."

  Dammit.

  Afterwards, Ven placed both of his hands over his face and began to weep bitterly, not because he was cured, but because he regretted ever accepting death.

  And so, the Emergence site seemed to make Ven healthy. Though one of his lifelong dreams came to pass, his plight was only beginning.