How it all ends

"..."

"...!?"

I darted up and scanned my surroundings. I was in the hospital room, meaning I had woken up.

"Sir, SIR!? Ah, you're awake! I'll call for the doctor!" a nearby nurse cried.

"Just get me back home. I need to write."

"But, you could die at any minute-"

"I DON'T CARE, NOR AM I DYING UNTIL I FINISH MY WORK!"

That being said, my legs just wouldn't muster the strength to move.

"He wants to leave? I'll take him," a voice growled.

Hearing the clacking of heeled boots, there strutting into the room was Sharla.

"Ma'am, we can't just-"

Clack!

"Want me to send you to the morgue?" Sharla snarled as she pulled a gun on the nurse.

The nurse went silent with terror and slowly retreated to the corner of the room and crouched down, just as Sharla ordered her to. After knocking her unconscious with a karate chop, Sharla approached me and dumped me into a wheelchair.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Call it an act of respect. If you can finish your shit, I won't contest it. So keep true to your fucking word and don't drop dead until you've submitted that shit."

Once we were in the car and on the road, I decided to ask her the question I couldn't ask back then. "Why'd you go as far as pulling your gun-"

"I have a license."

"You're still on the force?"

"Why wouldn't I be? Gives me great content ideas." 

"And you get permission? Aren't some things classified-"

"Stop wasting your energy asking me stupid shit. You still gotta write your shit out."

She was right. I had to conserve my energy. I needed it all to finish my story... Finish it... Just how will I do that?

I never thought of an ending even when I first pitched the idea, but I don't want to leave any room for Silas or anyone else to try and bastardize my world. In that case, the ending I should go with...

***

Arriving at my home, I stiffened as I saw a trespasser leaning smugly against the side of my house. 

"Well, are you going to finish it?" Silas sneered. 

"Don't try anything! I'm recording everything, so-"

"Sharla, whatever do you mean? I said it before on social media and countless times in interviews; I simply followed Jeter's original vision. You know I got my start in politics for defending the belief that the author should have their true vision out there, untainted from editors, publishers, whoever else seeks to warp it." 

Worrying that Sharla might get caught up in a heated argument, I attempted to rise and walk in by myself, but Sharla ended up having more self-restraint than I anticipated and began dragging me into my house. Silas didn't even bother trying to stop us, but that didn't mean this was over. The moment Sharla began taking me home, I foresaw a scenario like this. Whether Silas was here or not changed nothing, the mission remained the same; I had to finish and upload my chapter as well as log out of my artist's account to avoid Silas or anyone else from gaining control of it.

Once I was seated at my computer, Sharla removed the cartridge from her gun before slamming it down on the desk. "Just in case you were feeling uneasy about me being loaded, now get to work. I am recording, so the world will know what the last official thing you do for this series is."

I nodded and turned on the computer. There was no time to probe her to gauge how truthful she was being, but her seemingly disarming herself did calm me down somewhat. My vision began to get fuzzy, but I'm assuming it's more a side effect from me being out for so long and seeing a computer screen for the first time in ages. Once I was logged in to my account, it was off to the races. I couldn't draw like I used to, but I had to muster the strength for this.

The ending I had decided upon was this; after living a full life, Momo passes away peacefully. Then in Heaven, she reunites with all her friends, including Ivy. It doesn't matter if people hate it, this is the solace I need. Ivy was my favorite character, so she deserves to at least have a good time in the afterlife. It's the least I can do to make up for caving to the backlash and refusing to try and find away to get out of the pit Silas dug.

The product I was producing was sloppy. The proportions were off, I didn't fully draw scenes at times, and it was short. But what I spent the rest of my lifeforce on was the final double spread panel of everyone happily reuniting in Heaven. That would be my final act.

I lost track of time, but once the panel was finished, my senses began to fade. 

NO! 

I still have to upload it! If I don't, it won't be out there! So don't give out yet! Keep yourself alive!

"Done yet? Are you gonna submit it, or... re... u..."

I couldn't hear what Sharla was saying, but I could guess what it was. If I died now, not only would me work remain unfinished, but Silas would have free reign over my account, allowing him to say and do whatever he so pleased. I can't die yet. I'm so close to finishing. Please, I pray to God, don't let my end be something out of Silas' manuscripts!

"The hell are you doing, you fucking weirdo!?" 

That voice... It was Momo's...

"OI! STOP TRYING TO RETREAT TO YOUR HEAD! I want to go to Heaven instead of Hell, so finish your fucking shit!"

"...!"

One final burst of life was injected into my system as my senses returned.

"You still alive?" Sharla snarled.

I could hear her again. I turned my attention back towards my work and did a final check to make sure nothing had been tampered with, and once that was cleared, I hit the upload button. My eyes stayed glued to the screen until it was confirmed the chapter had been uploaded successfully. I quickly logged out, and upon confirmation the log-out was successful, I smiled and turned around.

Silas was nowhere in sight, but Sharla was still here, lounging on the sofa. "So you finish?"

Thump!

I could feel my senses weakening once more. Seems my time is up, but I'll pray to God for just enough time to leave the world with one final message.

"I am Jeter Jenkins, the author of Cherry World. Just now, I have just uploaded the final official chapter! Anything else that comes out after this is not written by me, and not official! Thank you to all that supported Cherry World!" 

Sharla closed her eyes and nodded, confirming my words had been heard. And then, everything began to get blurry and go silent as I began to slump out of my chair. This time, I really was about to die.

***

Momo sighed as we stared out at my dying physical body. "At least you finished it."

"Yes, it could have been better, but at the very least, it gives me enough solace not to roll around in my grave," I replied with a dejected sigh.

"And now?"

"I know not. My ending is officially published, so at the very least, die-hard fans have a canonical ending to point to if the worst case scenario were to occur."

"You really think they'd continue the series, even though you just ended it and died?"

I could only reply to that with pessimism, for I knew of how powerful corporate greed could be. That wasn't to say there weren't cases when the author's will was respected, but that wasn't going to happen with me. Oakley wanted this series to print money, and was willing to pass it off to whoever could achieve that no matter how much they'd bastardize it. Josie would turn it into a sloppy shoujo, Sharla would turn it into an isekai without Momo, and Silas would turn it into a misery flick, all to laugh at both my character's suffering, and the fact that he'd defaced my life's work.

I had little hope for my series' future, but at the least, I had given it an ending and published it. That was the best case scenario. ...!?

"You're starting to fade. Guess this means you're really about to die. Weirdo... Jeter, thanks for writing me into existence, even though I'm just a perfect vision of your ex-girlfriend," Momo meekly smiled, struggling to hold back her tears as she embraced me in a hug.

"And Momo, thank you for helping to ease my soul, and help me navigate my final moments in life. I will miss you," I smiled as I wrapped my arms around her tightly, tears streaking down my face.

[End]