Threaded Mode | Linear Mode

AerialKnight · **11-23-2014, 06:30 PM**

We fade in on a dream of Johnathan's, where he is seen sword fighting with Napoleon Bonaparte and prime minister Stephen Harper at the same time. Napoleon and Stephen have rapiers while the knight is wielding a short-sword while trying to fight off both of the men at the same time. He is visibly struggling, since he isn't sure exactly who's going to attack him and where they'll aim their blades. He seems to be holding his own though, as he throws in a couple wild swings to get the two of them to back off when they get a little too close. From the looks of the many scratches that the three of them have earned from the fight, it appears that it's been going on for quite a while, maybe for about an hour at least. The Cambot zooms out, revealing the platform that they're fighting on. All that was shown previously was a nondescript light green platform that was oddly rounded. Now that the little bot has zoomed out to show us exactly where the fight is taking place, we see that it's the head of the Statue of Liberty floating on a large body of lava.

Hey, it's the Knight's dream, it doesn't have to make sense.

Napoleon and Harper both thrust at Johnathan's chest, which he blocks and shoves both swords away. With a wide opening, Johnathan hits a dropkick on both of them, knocking them off balance even more so than they already were. They comically wave their hands in circles and balance on one foot while looking like they could fall off at any second now. Napoleon managed to make it back to both feet. Harper, however, isn't quite so lucky, as he topples over and burns down into nothing in seconds flat. Seeing this, Napoleon looks over to the knight with intense worry spread all over his face. The knight just smirks cockily and points his sword at the French general, who has no backup at this point. Panicking, he drops the rapier, throws both hands into the air, and breaks down in sobs.

"Je ne veux pas mourir! J'abandonne !

While Napoleon is in this panicked frenzy, he leaps off the head of the statue into the lava below, where he burns into nothing much faster than Harper ever did. Johnathan's smirk changes to a full blown smile as he seethes the sword and the entire setting slowly breaks away into nothingness.

"If I was able to beat one of the greatest generals of all time alongside the current Canadian prime minister that easily, I'm sure I'll have no problems taking on the French Canadian."

"The more you speak, the more powerful I become."

Hearing his voice once again, the knight looks around to see if he's possibly hiding somewhere within the knight's peripheral vision. Once again, the person who spoke to him cannot be found anywhere in the white void. Annoyed, the knight rolls his eyes. The voice has been taunting him every time he falls asleep, and he's been getting sick of it saying that he cannot win anything.

"Alright, where the fuck are you, and why aren't you showing your face to me like a man?"

Laughter can be heard from somewhere. The cambot whirs around in a circle, puzzled as to where the voice is coming from.

"I told you, I am inside the darkest reaches of your mind, just waiting for a good time to pop out and take life. But if you want to specifically where I am, I'm behind you."

The knight turns around to come into contact with a rather strange cloaked being. It's dressed in a red trenchcoat with red gloves stitched onto it. The being also appears to be wearing some sort of hood showl mix, as there are bits of dark red fabric hanging down to it's abdomen and shoulders. On it's face is a metal mask that's strapped around the hood and clapsed so tightly, that it looks like it's head would just burst at any second now. The being is also wearing a belt to keep it's shirt still so it doesn't sway off of it. It's also wearing brown pants and shoes.

Johnathan looks in the open holes of the mask to look for the being's face, only to discover that the creature has no face. It's just a shadow being that chooses to wear clothes, even though it has nothing to hide. It laughs at Johnathan's need to look at someone in the eyes in a conversation.

"As for facing you? Well I'm already doing that, am I not?"

He rolls his eyes at the being before speaking to it again.

"I have to ask, why do you always have to talk me down with every dream that I have? Does it bother you that you never manage to get on camera or something?"

The shadow creature laughs once again. It "looks" over at the little filming bot before speaking to it again.

"As much as I love that floating camera of yours, it's not because I need more screen time. You're giving me all the attention I need, regardless if you're filming me or not. You see, I'm just here to feed off of your uncertainty until I can enter the waking world and feed off of everyone else's. I talk to you like this because it's fun to mock you until you can't rely on the words you tell the bot and yourself."

Beat.

"Out of all the people in the world that doubt their own chances at success, you chose me? Why not some intern trying to get a promotion or a starving actor looking for a part?"

"Many of those people give up on their dreams or quit their jobs for new ones, eliminating my food supply from them. You, however, stay with this wrestling federation and keep telling yourself that you can do this, when in the back of your mind, you keep telling yourself that you just can't do it. There was so much food back there, so I had to latch on to you just to feed on every single thought that lurks in the back of your mind."

"Wait, I thought you said that I created you?!"

"Did I?"

Another mocking laugh can be heard from the creature.

"Everyone can create me. It's just up to them if I can continue to grow, or if I have to leave and infect someone else."

"So you're saying that you were transmitted into my mind? How?

There is a slight pause. It looks over at the knight and tilts it's head to the side, as if asking him if he really wants to know where it came from. The knight nods in approval, making the shadow raise it's head back to a more natural position.

"Flies."

"Flies? Really?"

"Why else do you think there's a ton of them around? Because they have crazy breeding habits? It's because every single human being on Earth doubts themselves in one form or another. To compensate for that, there are twice as much flies as there are human beings."

"Is that why Gilmour carries around that 'I've Been Infected' sign?"

"Perhaps. Perhaps not. Even if I did know the answer to that question, I wouldn't give it to you. It would be more fun to guess."

Before the knight could ask any more questions, he finds the shadow being fading away as a very loud alarm can be herd echoing throughout the entire dreamscape.

"There's always the next time you sleep if you need any more questions answered. Although, I doubt you have anything worth while. I should know, because I am every single doubt that you have in your head."

The creature laughs as it fades away into nothingness. The scene cuts to black not too long afterwards.

Threaded Mode \| Linear Mode Inner Voices
Author	Message