The camera focuses upon a wall of black. It's not a total black, but a shifting cascade of dark grey and inky midnight. As the camera adjusts to this darkened setting we can see that there is a rythmn to the way the scene lightens up then darkens quickly off and on... a clock like swing of shading.
We do not have much time to fathom this scenario however, as the camera smoothly shifts over to the right and we can see a bit of light in the distance... calling to the camera as it starts to trek to it's source. Though the room is still dark we can start to make out what looks to be a weight room of some kind around us, the black shapes in the distance resembling nautilus machines and free weight racks.
And after a moment of midnight travel we have turned a corner and are now confronted with a small room where a single lamp is illuminating the area. The cubby hole is bare but for a blue training mat, and a small cooler sitting in the corner. Those, and a shadowy figure parallel to the rear wall. He is moving up and down in the military push up form, his hands facing down so that the pressure is on his knuckles.
"HUFF HUFF 1
HUFF HUFF 2
HUFF HUFF 3
HUFF HUFF 4"
As the gruff words hit the camera's microphone we can recognize the man as "The Judge" Joseph Justice. Justice does not stop his movements nor does he address the camera... instead, he just keeps his rythmnic pace...
"HUFF HUFF 1
HUFF HUFF 2
HUFF HUFF 3
HUFF HUFF 4"
The camera has zoomed in now to where Justice is performing his work out and we can see that his body is drenched in sweat, his face flushed as he bobs up and down... his eyes staring off unfocused...
"HUFF HUFF 1
HUFF HUFF 2
HUFF HUFF 3
HUFF HUFF 4"
"OK.... I see you guys. Give me a second."
And with that Justice stops his work out and rolls over and into a squat, grabbing a towel nearby to wipe the sweat from his face. A water bottle is removed from the cooler and opened up, pouring the chilled contents over the back of his neck. Though not looking at the camera we can sense the Judge's attention being focused on us as he turns to the camera's light...
"Let me get a seat and we'll get this over with."
With a grimace Justice pulls himself up on the cooler itself and waits as the camera crew gets everything set up. After a moment of light adjustment the red light is on and he starts the interview...
Joseph: Well, what can I really say... first I get back into this business to make my mark in an up and coming promotion, and now I'm going to have to prove my mettle once again when the place closes down and we move... Yeah, this is gonna be tons of fun. Most of my opponents have been about what I expected... full of hot air, but not much in the way of backing it up. Enough to handle a prelim bum like Rob Franklin but not anywhere near the class I'm used to running with. A good work out but nothing more. Now this Pietske fella... I don't know nothing about him.
Justice pauses to grab the water bottle and guzzle down some of the leftover spring water. His thirst settled for the moment, he continues...
Joseph: But guess what? It's not like I'm gonna lose a whole lotta sleep over it either. I'm sure the guy has some sort of experience, and he plans on making me look like a fool and a nobody once we step into that ring... but let's face facts... it ain't gonna happen.
He's just not good enough.
Joseph: Because for the last few days I have been pushing myself, testing myself to see if maybe there wasn't a kernel of truth to all the bull**** people have been whispering to each other backstage. If maybe I was really not the same dirty rotten bastard that could make a blind man piss his pants with a look... the Judge of the nightmare aura. And even though physically I'm probably in the best shape of my life, I must concede that perhaps a little of that edge has got blunt from lack of use... if maybe a little of the monster has been pushed back by my long forgotten humanity.
We pause again as Justice takes a swig of the water, and then pours a little more down the back of his neck again. After which he continues...
Joseph: Heh, it would be funny if I felt like laughing. The same thing I used to pray that I would never lose down in those dark pits where I waited to cripple another man for sport, is the very thing I fear the most.
I am not a good man.
Joseph: No Pietske, what you are going to learn very soon is that there are men who do bad things for all the wrong reasons... and that you do not have the strength to stop them. I wish I could say that it was someone else's fault that I have done the things that I have... that there is a serpent in my garden to point the finger at. But the truth is that I have broken good men, crippled the innocent and have ended more than one life. And there is a part of me... damn my soul... that has enjoyed it. And to keep living, to survive this year, Pietske, this monster inside me cannot be ignored... but embraced. It cannot be suppressed, but in fact encouraged. And I'm afraid I must resharpen the edge with your screams.
It's nothing personal.
The dialogue stops as Justice finishes off the rest of the spring water. Then after tossing the bottle over his back Joseph finishes the interview.
Joseph: You see I can do push ups, pull ups, and sit ups til I have abs of freaking titanium. I can run the treadmill til my feet bleed, pump the weights til my veins are a checkerboard across my arms, and hammer the practice bag til my skin decorates the surface. But that is not what has made me one of the most dangerous men in this sport Pietske... nor one of the most feared and sought after. I'm a big man, but not the biggest. I'm strong, but not the strongest. And hell I'm pretty damn sure I'm not the most pure in wrestling form...
Joseph: .... but what I AM is the nastiest bastard you will ever have the misfortune of facing in the ring. I am six foot six of walking misery aimed at destroying anything and everything in my path. I'm a sadist and an artist in the field of bone breaking... and God forgive me if I'm not really ****ing good at it. The same dark voice in your head that enjoys causing pain is the very monster inside me, yearning to come out. And I feed my monster very, VERY well.
You might as well bring an apple to put in your mouth.
Joseph: I don't know much about you, and to be frank besides what you can do in the ring I don't care. But I do know what I can do, and what I WILL do when we get into that ring. Bring everything you have to this match, because you are walking straight into the lion's den.
I don't know you.
If I did... maybe I would pity you.
And with that the spot is over and the camera fades away.
