Marvel: Emotion Farming System

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...

And now, the Narrator’s words and the voice in his head started to coincide.

"We are the same person."

Norman stood up in the next moment; the chair flew back and rattled on the floor as he walked out of his room, panting heavily. Ignoring everyone else, he stepped into the bathroom and locked the door from inside.

Resting his head against the door for a moment, he turned around after gathering himself.

At last, he faced the reflection in the mirror. That uncanny grin hadn’t changed, but the eyes had this knowing look. Like it had expected his visit.

"I knew you would come to me. We are the same person after all." The mirror said.

"No, we aren’t. You just appeared recently; don’t even think you can control me." His hands slammed on the sink, glaring at the mirror. Deep down, he was scared. But he couldn’t show it.

"Recently? That hurts, Norman. Do you really think I just appeared yesterday?" The Mirror Norman leaned forward, calmly placing his hands on the sink. "Shall we take a trip down memory lane?"

Norman frowned; he wanted to say no. But more than that, he wanted to prove this voice wrong. He would not allow himself to be manipulated.

’I have to end this ego before it becomes too strong.’ He feared that it might take over him like what happened at the end of Chapter 10.

"Ready? First exhibit, the day that traitorous board ousted you. What was your first thought? Calling your lawyers or smashing their heads with a golf club?" The mirror Norman smiled, already knowing the answer. "You cannot lie to me, Norman, because I’ll know."

"I wanted to... beat them to death for stabbing me in the back." Norman covered his face with a sigh; it wasn’t his proudest moment, but he was just that angry then.

Even now, whenever he closed his eyes, he was taken back to the board meeting. And this thought never changed; even now, in the corner of his heart, he wanted to waltz in that place and tear them apart.

"See? It becomes so much easier once you stop lying to yourself." The Mirror Norman gave a giddy chuckle, before a deathly calm took over his face.

"The day Emily passed away, what did you think when a company partner invited you to his marriage’s 15th anniversary on the day of the funeral? And you had to go, leaving poor Harry alone as he watched his mother getting buried, because the partner insisted that the deal between the companies depended on your presence."

"..." Norman stood in silence for a moment before closing his eyes. "I wondered what he would look like if I split his wife’s belly open during the party."

"I do wonder what he would say holding his dying wife. He’d understand your pain then, won’t he?"

Norman stayed silent. And as if irritated, the Mirror Norman brought out more incidents where Norman had felt that violent urge. Till now, he had always controlled himself, and he thought that was good enough; that restraint made him a moral person.

But his unease started to grow as the time started to roll back, and now the last exhibit arrived.

"Whenever your father beat you up, what did you think, Norman?" When Norman tried to look down, he found the Mirror Norman in running water. "What did you feel after every hit? That feeling that was strong enough to make you forget the pain you were in."

"I want to stab him with a screwdriver, as many times as he had hit me. For each punch, for each kick, I wanted to stab him till he was full of holes." This time, Norman didn’t pause.

"And why did you feel that way?"

"I thought he would stop after understanding how much it hurt me."

He still carried that hatred inside him. That hatred was the very reason he had worked on Oscorp. It was the very moment he had decided to become something in life.

"You hate your father so much." The mirror Norman leaned forward, his fist striking the mirror as the smirk vanished. "Then why did you become just like him?"

"No, I didn’t... I nev..." The words died in his mouth.

Maybe he had never struck Harry with his hands. But he had caused enough hurt with his actions, with his words.

But more than that, this version of him- was he with him for that long?

"Now you understand, don’t you? I’ve been with you since you were a child. I’ve been calling out to you since that deadbeat fucker started to hit you. But you never listened to me, you never looked my way... until you did." The smirk reappeared on Mirror Norman. "Now, you should listen to me, because I only want the best for you."

"It isn’t that I don’t want to listen to you; it’s not the correct way." Norman shook his head.

This would be believing Tyler’s extreme answer. Norman didn’t need to lose everything; he didn’t have to let go.

"What is the correct way and which is the incorrect way? Who exactly decides that?" The Mirror Norman shook his head in disappointment. "They took Oscorp from you because you believed the correct way would protect you; how did that end up?"

"Even then, I cannot kill them," Norman stated.

"Killing them? Whenever did I say you have to do that, Norman?" The mirror Norman chuckled, the grin on his lips twisting into something inhuman. "They took Oscorp from you, in cold blood at that. Wouldn’t it be interesting to see them understand what it’s like to have something precious to them ripped away?"

"Do you think they sat around in a circle and asked What would happen to poor little Norman after they do that? Do you think they worried how this would affect you and your health? About the pain and suffering it would cause you?" The Mirror Norman shook his head, stepping back, seething in anger. "They didn’t care one bit before stabbing you in the back. So, it is only correct you return the favor."

’A method like that is too risky, plus it would not improve my chances of getting Oscorp back.’ Norman looked at the Mirror Norman, now whistling on the shower glass. The gears in his brain started to turn, until he arrived at a simple conclusion.

’That book, how does it answer this question?’ He exited the bathroom and returned to his room. By the time he had turned on the computer, Chapter 11 had come.

And thankfully, Mirror Norman had fallen silent too. It was like he wanted to give him time to consider the earlier proposal.

’I won’t take that proposal.’ With a deep frown, Norman clicked on Chapter 11.

The Narrator, after waking up, remembered that Tyler wanted to kill Marla because she knew too much. He slowly figured out the real objective of Project Mayhem and warned Marla to get out of town.

"Just get to the point already." Norman was half annoyed, but he knew that simply reaching the answer wouldn’t help.

If he wanted to understand a story and the message it carried, he had to sit through the entirety of it and read each word the writer decided to include. Rushing would only make things feel meaningless, as if something was missing. Even if it felt like a slog to him in this moment, he read every word and every line because they held importance and it was only a natural way to respect the story.

But he still felt a deep sense of urgency because of that clawing fear in the back of his head.

The Narrator brought the Project Mayhem information to the police, but the members of Project Mayhem had already infiltrated the police.

’Blowing up credit card companies to erase the debt record? That’s your answer?’ He took a deep breath; this was heading into the worst possible direction.

"But if he and Tyler are the same person, he should know how to deactivate the bomb too." Just as Norman completed that line, the novel shifted back to the first Chapter.

"I know this because Tyler knows this"

The Narrator deactivated the bomb, but was knocked unconscious. How does one get beaten up by their own alter ego?

’So, he is now captured, and they already have Marla.’ Norman sighed; he had expected to find an answer, but this was just giving in to violence.

Yes, violence had its place in this world, but it couldn’t solve everything. That’s why laws were made to contain it.

"Your way can’t solve everything either." The voice resurfaced.

"But it is better than brute force." Norman reasoned.

"Is it really? Can you get Oscorp back with your way then?"

...

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