"Why didn't you accept?"
Looking at his hand. He didn't know why he swatted the hand away. He was planning to accept, but his hand chose for him. Actually, when he heard the deal, he remembered something his mom told him.
The memory was a story told to little children in both the outskirts and center of nearly every city. It was like a fairy tale. The legend of the stars. The memory was convoluted because it has been thirteen years since he heard it.
The memory was likely the most vivid memory he had from back then, and the most traumatizing. The last memory of his mother.
Aban was spacing out when he looked at the doppelganger. With a look of inquiry he wondered why he did that.
"I don't know."
"A deal like this comes once in a lifetime, that's how it is for the majority of people. I am a generous man though."
The doppelganger said that with a hand covering his mouth. Aban changed his look at him with a look of intrigue.
"What do you mean? Generous, why are you saying this now?"
The doppelganger took his hand off his mouth. He was looking ecstatic, and beyond happy. His eyes were inhuman despite being Aban's eyes.
"I'll give you the rare second chance. Though just giving you that second chance is not going to change your mind. I'll do a special challenge just for you."
Aban was looking into the eyes of the doppelganger as he was speaking, every word making him sound and look more and more inhuman. What was he? A monster, probably since he was able to take the form of Aban with ease.
The doppelganger brought both his hands together.
"This challenge showing you the past will make you realize just how much you need power."
He clapped twice, each sound shaking the office. That's when Aban realized his arm was getting ripped off again. He felt it, and unlike last time it was sawed off, this time it was ripped off. Each second it was ripped felt like entire minutes of pain.
Aban tried to yell only to realize he was mute again. It was only after a few seconds when he started to get used to the pain, he noticed his blood flowing into his eyes. His blood was making everything blurry. He kicked his chair back, probably trying to resist the pain. He was laying down staring at the desk. Then to counteract gravity it looked like the chair was falling on top of him, it was hard to tell because his vision was getting worse.
He tried covering his eyes with his other arm. Nothing hit him. He heard a sound that sounded like something crashing down. He opened his eyes, and he was in a cave. He looked to the side with his lost arm. The cave's edge aligned perfectly with how his arm was crushed. He was laying down.
He looked at the other side.
"Raiden, are you alright?"
A man with a relatively large build was holding up the roof with two other people. The man with the large build seemed to have been talking to Aban.
Aban noticed blood seemed to have splashed when the cave collapsed on him, probably from the arm that was gone. He noticed his face felt itchy, though the itch was in the shape of a mustache. He also felt taller.
"I think I might have hit my head."
That's how Aban planned to explain to him not knowing anything about what happened or the past of the man he was in.
"Good, if you can get up, start running to the exit to our left. I will hold the cave up while you three escape."
Aban got up and ran, he didn't think twice he ran to the exit thinking one thing.
'Hell of a start to this challenge.'