The Setting Sun

[JLevinson]

(FADEIN to the quiet locker rooms long after the last Riptide has ended. Almost everyone, including the wrestlers and technicians, has gone home. The camera travels down a long hallway and veers left, into another hallway. Halfway down the corridor, we find a door that's barely ajar. The camera pushes open the door and bathes the room in soft, fluorescent light. Anarky sits, his back to the camera, facing the mirror. His face is covered in his own blood, presumably from fighting with Maelstrom after the Battle Royal. He holds a clean towel in his hand, yet makes no effort to wipe the blood from his face. An open cut continues to drop blood over him.)

ANARKY: "How long has it been... ? How long since the world was able to witness the dawn of something and the slow death of another... ? The beauty of life cycles... the beauty of decay and rebirth. And the real beauty of it... is that nobody sees it for what it is. Today... today was just a day. A day like any other. Yet for the thousands in attendance, and for those who watch at home, they witnessed something tonight. They witnessed something that they will be able to look back upon as the turning moment in a great war. And they don't even know it yet. They see all the pieces, but they'll never put it together. And by the time they do, they'll be so shocked and appalled... so unable to understand or cope... that they'll turn away. Like a horrible accident where someone's been decapitated... they want to know... yet they can't seem to look without gagging."

(He stops speaking and spits some blood on the floor, where a small puddle seems to be forming.)

ANARKY: "I have said... from the very moment which I arrived... what was going to happen. Warnings were given. Challenges accepted. Battles fought. Dreams shattered. With every step I take, I come closer to everything I have planned with such excruciating detail... with meticulous desire. And my motivation never ceases... the hate always fueling my fire... always pushing me to the next level.

"Maelstrom... despite your broken English... and your enormous girth... and even your absurd poses... you are not a fool. You play one admirably, but I have no interest in buying what you're selling. Instead, Mael... all I want from you... is to remember. Remember this moment. Remember this evening as the night it all began to fall apart. The night that your stupid little conquest and your stupid little dreams began to die. For now, you cannot escape the inevitable. Tried as they might, there is no escape for you now. The only thing that separates us is weeks... and weeks turn to days... and days to minutes... and minutes to seconds... until finally, we find ourselves in the very place which we need. The very place which we are nothing without.

"And then... I will show the entire world... the things that I have known all along. That you are a fraud. An illusion. You are... nothing. Just a disgusting, pathetic, lying, eating, pissing, <BLEEP>ing, fighting ANIMAL... just like me. And when I've taken it all... and all you've got left is the knowledge that you are nothing... I will end your facade once and for all...

"... and whole world will see what happens to those who stand against me. And CHAOS... WILL... REIGN... DOWN...

"... and so it begins."

(FADEOUT.)

 

[JLebron]

Prelude

(FADE IN:.... to a black screen where we hear the faint sounds of barely discernable laughter... there's no mocking flavor to it, it hints only of slight amusement. That soon fades however just as we find ourselves face to face with the stoic, impassive glare of the man known simply as......)

MAELSTROM: I've gotta admit 'Narky, I've been called many things in my time, but "animal", well, that's an original one to say the least. At least more original than yer claims that I'm frontin'. I've heard it all before 'Narky..... from guys like Morgan.... guys like Manson..... hell come to think of it, nearly everyone I face jumps on that bandwagon.

(smiles faintly)

MAELSTROM: But it still didn't change the outcome though. They all eventually succumbed to my will.... a will I might add, that's as real as yer own, maybe even moreso. (shrugs his shoulders) Who knows, but it really doesn't matter though cuz I know that yer not yer regular run-of-the-mill phoney like Manson, all caught up in his own delusions of grandeur. No 'Narky, that's not you at all. Yer game has MORE depth to it..... I know that just as you do. Could you be the one who'll finally slay the GLCW beast?

(smirks as he narrows his eyes)

MAELSTROM: Anythin' is possible, as I'm sure you'll agree after that lil' WWL stint of yers. In my eyes..... my heart..... my mind..... it's been replayed over an' over..... always a different scenario with the same end-result.

(grins maliciously as he nods knowingly)

MAELSTROM: Don't fool yerself for a second into believin' that our similarities will give ya any special insight..... an edge or even an advantage. Actually, it's really rather ironic cuz our similarities, well, they may just be the prelude to yer own demise....

(with a furtive grin, Maelstrom narrows his eyes an' nods knowingly just as we begin to...... FADE OUT.....)

 

[JLevinson]

Use Your Illusion

(FADEIN to a simple room, where a single light fixture sways above. Anarky sits on a wooden stool in the center of the room as the light alternatively bathes him in light and darkness. Each time the light comes, the paint on his face depicting a skull comes harshly into view before fading to black again.)

ANARKY: "Illusion... is such a strange thing. Many people go their entire lives without ever knowing the difference between what is real and what is illusory. Indeed, then I find it as no surprise that you misinterpret my words. After all, your entire career is based on misinterpretations and false assumptions.

"I did not say that you were FRONTING. I simply called you an illusion. A facade. Your reputation... your image... your presence... they make you something you are not. A monster. A wrecking machine. The very face of fear and intimidation. But you are not these things.

"You are a man. Nothing more. Nothing less. And THAT... is why you are an animal, as am I. For humans are nothing more than animals who have grown enough to question the very things which make them animals. Morality. Justice. Empathy.

"You will be disappointed, then, Mael... that I do not fear you. I fear nothing. All I had ever dreamed has come true... my ambitions came to life before my very eyes. And still it never filled this hollow. Still it left me lacking... seeking... destroying.

"Your WILL, Maelstrom... means nothing to me. Greater men than you have failed to enforce their will upon more pathetic creatures than me. And though anything IS possible, that need not be your concern. To consider every possibility is to be foolish. Yet to be prepared for the likely is the very essence of reason, is it not?"

(He laughs to himself, and then clears his throat.)

ANARKY: "What amuses me the most, Maelstrom... are your little parlor tricks. I'm sure they work on your run of the mill villains. I'm sure they work even against the vaunted Manson himself. Yet to me... they fall, like pebbles upon a mountain, without effect. You claim that I am DIFFERENT, somehow, yet you resort to bringing up my WWL days, as if they mean anything here. As if they meant anything then.

"How... petty.

"I would have expected more from you, Mael. But perhaps my expectations were high. You are, indeed, a human, and that makes you a flawed creature at best... a maleable hunk of flesh at worst.

"But your biggest failure, Maelstrom... is that you think you understand. You think you know the difference between illusion and reality. Had it never occurred to you that illusion can be used just as powerfully? Look at Manson. A man whose in-ring skills would put no one to shame. Yet his name is spoken with fear and reverence by almost all of those who dwell here. And do you know why? Because his illusion is more powerful than his reality. His reputation precedes him... and he uses it. And he does so beautifully.

"Yet I can't expect you to understand this. You are nothing. An animal. A wrecking machine. Something to be used for sheer brutality and nothing else."

(He stops, and as he does, strangely, so does the light. Anarky finds himself directly in the middle of the light, covered in it, yet somehow still half darkened. His face barely has any light to it, and his dark eyes stare out with nothing less than hatred.)

"Will I... the Harbinger of Chaos... finally be the one to fell the GLCW beast? Such a question has no answer, Maelstrom. For I will not kill you. I will not end you. I will simply cease your illusion. I will show the world... what you and I have known all along... that you are a man. A man who has weaknesses and strengths, like all others.

"A man... who can be broken.

"And that... is EXACTLY... what I intend to do."

(FADEOUT.)