“You know, some may disagree, but I like to think of myself as a cancer survivor.”
“I was infected with this disease for half a year. Despite my best efforts to fight it on my own, I couldn’t pull it off. I needed treatment to eradicate it before it completely consumed me.”
“That’s when I received an injection that started a fire inside my cells. I won’t lie, the contents of that needle did a number on me. It felt like I was burning alive for a second time.”
“Think of that little shot like a dose of chemo. As much as it burned away at my cells, killing away bits and pieces of who I was, it did so for the greater good. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, I arose from that shot different.”
“Reborn anew.”
“I was given clarity as I pulled myself from the flames. It helped me to see that there was more than one patient suffering from this cancer.”
“You’re suffering from this sickness called DOOM for nearly a year now, Felix. You need my help. You might not like the diagnosis, but you need to let me be your hero.”
“He’s wormed his way into your very cells, he’s become a part of you that you simply can’t ignore. A cancer like him? It changes you at your core. Though you might not be able to see it, I know I can.”
“Just as DOOM turned me into Blaze, he turned you into his sickly best friend. Like a tumor in your brain he’s got a grasp on your psyche. If I removed him from you, snipped him from your life, you would be a different person.”
“And that’s okay.”
“Much like the injection was my chemotherapy, the removal of DOOM will be yours. You’ll feel a bit different after being treated. You’ll feel a bit sore and like your entire body is smoldering with ash.”
“For a little while, the treatment will make you sick to your stomach. However, you must remain strong. You have to realize that it’ll be a lot better than allowing that cancer to metastasize and become incurable.”
“Should that happen, then we’ll have no choice but to put you down.”
“Change can be scary, Felix. I don’t want to euthanize you because, as ingrained as DOOM is, I can see the man hidden beneath.”
“You don’t have to stay his friend, and I won’t let him metastasize. The first step of the cure is to let me and Sheriff Cade take those titles binding you together. Once you allow that to happen, what follows will be relatively painless in comparison.”
“All you have to do is take that first step. Once you do, you’ll come to realize that Stubbins is not really your friend, but a toxic influence that only wants to see you dead.”
“If you can’t, then it’ll be no different from staying in a burning building. Treat yourself to chemo, or get burned alongside your so called friend.”