"Tell me, who are you?" Nathan Drake demanded, his heart racing as he faced a hooded figure in a dimly lit cave deep in the heart of Madagascar. The atmosphere was thick with tension, and Nathan was still sweating from the intense battle he had endured before entering the cave.
"What is this cosplay? Cut the crap and show yourself!" Nathan raised his gun, his finger on the trigger. "I'm warning you, if you don't show yourself, I'll shoot."
The hooded figure spoke, his voice low and menacing. "You're telling me you don't recognize your big bro?" With a flick of his wrist, he pulled back his hood, revealing himself to be a man.
Nathan lowered his gun, his face dropping in shock and disbelief. "S-Sam?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. "Who else, little bro?" Sam replied with a grin, and Nathan felt a rush of emotion as he realized that the figure in front of him was none other than his long-lost brother, whom he thought had died years ago.
"I thought you were dead?" Nathan dropped his gun and fell to his knees, tears streaming down his face. Even the hard cave floor could not take his attention away from the person he respected most in the world.
"Come on, you didn't think I'd leave my little bro hanging?" Sam offered a helping hand to Nathan, who took it and stood up shakily. "Let's do the family reunion another time; first, I think I have something that would interest you." With that, he pulled out a map from his sleeve and opened it, revealing a treasure map that was sure to lead them on a thrilling adventure.
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“Cut!!” shouted a man as the walls of the cave began folding down and the rocks were removed by a group of people. Sam walked off set, pulling out a cigarette and a lighter. But it wasn't Sam who lit up the cigarette, it was none other than talented actor Rudy Pankow, everyone's favorite D-list celebrity. "What's happening, brother? What's going on with the cave? Who are these people?" Nathan looked around, scared and confused as if his world was falling apart, as if reality was breaking.
"Oh god, can someone deal with Tom? He's bothering me," Rudy walked away to his trailer, frustrated with Nathan pestering him with questions. "Tom?" Nathan scratched his head in confusion. "Oh shit, don't worry guys, I got this." A man with long brown hair and a brown blank baseball cap, wearing a long brown coat, walked up to Nathan Drake. "Come to my trailer, uh, Nathan. I'll tell you everything." The man sighed in frustration, tired after seeming to have a long day. He whispered to himself, "This never gets easier, does it?"
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Nathan took his gun and followed the man into what seemed to be a trailer. The man hung up his coat and hat on a hanger near the entrance and walked towards a desk and sat on top of it. "Have a seat there, Tom. I don't want to be in the studio all day." Nathan raised his gun and faced it towards the man. "Listen, I don't know what game you're playing, but you better explain yourself." Nathan was filled with rage and anger directed towards the man. "Jesus, Tom, that gun's not real, you know." Nathan shouted, "The name's Nathan Drake, and we'll see about that." He pulled the trigger, but nothing seemed to happen. "What?" He kept pulling the trigger with no effect. "Is it jammed or something?"
The man groaned and took the gun away from Nathan. "Look, Tom, I'm gonna make this quick. You're not the treasure hunter Nathan Drake; you're the famous English actor Tom Holland." "Wh-what the bloody hell are you on about?" Tom dropped his soft American accent and started speaking in his original British accent. The man placed the gun on the desk. "Me and the crew gaslighted you into thinking you're Nathan Drake to help filming for the Uncharted sequel. You're not actually him." Tom looked at the man in confusion and felt the need to prove him wrong. "If I'm not Nathan Drake, then how come I can do this?" Tom moved his hand through his waist and unveiled his knife and started swinging it around. "Take this and that and-" he accidentally cut his leg with the knife. "Ouch, e Wawa. That's gonna leave a mark."
The man rubs his head in frustration. “Look, Tom, I'm famous Hollywood director Edward Corneas. We've worked together many times before, sort of. I'm the one who recommended you for Spider-Man and have worked with you ever since. We gaslighted you, just like all the other movies we made with you, to convince you that you're the character you're playing.” Tom freezes, and a flood of memories flash in his head, remembering everything prior to being gaslit into being Nathan Drake. All the experiences he had as Nathan Drake, all the friends he made as Nathan Drake, and all the suffering and hardships he had as Nathan Drake were nothing but a bunch of lies. All of his ‘friends’ were just paid actors for the movie they were filming with Tom Holland. Tom falls to his knees and starts screaming at the top of his lungs. “AHHHHHHHH!” The director gets uncomfortable. “Yikes, this always happens with you, huh? Well, I'll give you some alone time. I gotta start marketing this thing. I'll place your check on my desk. Here, be sure to pick it up after whatever you're going through. Remember Tom this is for your own good, remember that your like a son to me.” The director leaves the trailer.
This wasn't the first time Tom Holland had been subjected to such a mental breakdown - it was just one of many he had to endure. You see, Tom was part of an advanced method acting experiment, created by the infamous director Edward Corneas, in a quest to discover the perfect actor. Every time Tom was cast for a role, the director and his crew convinced him that he was the character, and after filming, they would reveal that he was gaslit all along to help him method act. This always led to a massive mental breakdown for Tom, but he always managed to recover not long after.
It was as if Tom was living in a never-ending nightmare, where his reality was constantly manipulated, and he was forced to relive his own fabricated memories. Tom called it… The Cycle.