Post by Maxwell Mason Stone on Mar 31, 2023 23:00:19 GMT -5
Wake up, pal....
It's time for you to get going....
A hooded man lying down on the bench of a train platform on a rainy day is jolted awake by a police officer standing above him. The man's hood obscures any facial details.
Police Officer: You okay, pal?
No response.
Police Officer: Do you have a ticket to board a train, sir?
Ticket? There are bigger things to worry about right now.
Hooded man: Um I'm not sure.
Police Officer: If you don't have a ticket to board a train then I have to ask you to exit the platform, sir.
Why a train station? Why today? Why now? The hooded man stands up and walks away without acknowledging the officer. He goes inside the train station and stops to collect himself. What's the last thing he remembers? He thinks long and hard and ultimately arrives at the conclusion that memory will not serve him at this particular moment but, damnit, he's gonna keep trying anyway.
"Think man..." he says to himself as he searches for something... for anything that he can cling on to in order to provide some clarity to the situation he finds himself in. The man closes his eyes and the image of a lightning bolt flashes somewhere in the space between the front of his mind and the back of his eyelids. One bolt. And another. And another. Each time he closes his eyes he's greeted with a new bolt of lightning. Somewhere around bolt number 8 he hears some rumbling thunder. It is then he's once again approached by the police officer.
Police Officer: Sir, are you okay?
Hooded man: I'm fine.
Police Officer: You look like you could use a cup of coffee. If you would like, you can go over to the cafe and get yourself a cup of coffee. Tell them Officer Salerno sent you and I'll pay them when I come to pick up lunch.
The hooded man nods at the Officer and walks away. "Officer Salerno..." he says to himself, making the mental note of the first name that exists in his memory. The man notices a sign that says "Railblazer Cafe" and starts walking in that direction. As he's walking, he keeps closing his eyes and seeing the lighting as if it's some parlor trick he can break out to get a free drink or two. But this time as each bolt strikes, the emotion of anger starts to grow stronger and stronger. He tunes in on the music that's playing throughout the train station. How the hell could he know that this song is by Savage Garden yet he doesn't even know his own name? The confusion and the anger are starting to work hand in hand and he can feel himself start to fume. The man takes a seat up against the wall in a busy corridor and tries to slowly breathe in an attempt to regain himself and it is then he notices that there in an object in his pocket. "What the hell?"
The man pulls the object out of his pocket. It's a small key attached to a black plastic key chain. Inscribed in the plastic are three numbers... numbers that are about to become very important...
999
The hooded man stares at the three numbers for an extended moment. What a strange number to find in his pocket. He closes his eyes and another lightning bolt strikes and it provides him a sense of clarity and direction and in that moment he realizes where he must go. He jumps to his feet and briskly walks back through the corridor he came through and once again passes the sign that previously pointed him towards the cafe. He glances at the sign and starts walking in the direction of where it informs him that the can find a locker room.
He enters a room full of lockers that extend as far as the eye could see. The man takes a look at one of the lockers to see that he is in the 700s section. He continues his walk, looking at each locker, and he's now in the 900s.
Officer Salerno: Hey, did you get that coffee?
"No, I didn't get the damn coffee." he thinks to himself as he continues his search. The officer slowly approaches the man right as his eyes meet the object of his unknown desire: locker no. 999. Officer Salerno taps him on the shoulder and he turns around.
Officer Salerno: You know, there's no shame in asking for help. A lot of folks come to this station when they've fallen on hard times.
Hooded man: Can you please just leave me alone?
Officer Salerno: May I ask what you're doing here at this station?
Hooded man: I came here to retrieve something from my locker and then I'm on my way.
Officer Salerno: And what's in the locker?
"I would have found out already if it weren't for this buffoon!" The hooded man closes his eyes and sees another lightning bolt and that instantly triggers some commotion from across the train station. A thunderous rumble is heard and Officer Salerno immediately re-focuses his attention to the other side of the station. A woman screams and Salerno takes off on foot. "Did I do that?!"
The man places the key into locker 999 and opens it up. He reaches in and pulls out a regular looking black backpack. He unzips the main compartment to reveal a strange gray solid mask. It's worn out and has black marks all over it. The man stares into the eyes of the mask and suddenly feels compelled to put it on. Without revealing his face to anyone who could be watching, he slips the mask under his hood and puts it on.
"YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!"
"I MUST TAKE IT ALL."
"I AM THE DARKNESS THAT LIVES WITHIN ALL OF YOU!"
His own voice recites cryptic message after cryptic message all throughout his mind. It seems to be calming him down. He runs his fingers over the front of the mask on his face and reaches back into the backpack to pull out a small mirror. The mirror has those familiar three numbers scribbled in some kind of red ink. The man looks at his masked and hooded reflection behind the 999 and comes to a realization that this number is not just a locker in a train station...
"NOW YOU'VE GOT IT!"
"YOU'VE HAVE SOMEWHERE TO BE NOW, DON'T YOU?"
The man reaches once more into the backpack and reveals a stapled packet of paper. At the top of the paper is an image of what appears to be a wrestling ring with a lightning bolt over it.
"THUNDER PRO WRESTLING"
"TAKE IT ALL. SHOW THEM WHAT TRUE LOSS IS."
His mind continues to flood with cryptic messages all somehow tied to something called "THUNDER PRO WRESTLING." He looks once more at the paper he pulled from his backpack and sees that it is a talent contract for a wrestling organization and it's already filled out.
PERFORMER NAME: 999
He laughs to himself as he looks through the paper. 999 closes his eyes and another lightning bolt strikes.
And another
And another
And another
Time passes and the scene is now in a train in motion. Passengers sit as they do passenger things and a man is standing in the middle of the aisle way down at the other end. The camera moves closer to closer to him until he fills the frame.
999: To the shiny, happy people of Thunder Pro Wrestling... you have been chosen as my destination and here is my message to you. I will be riding into your town before you know it and your blissfully ignorant little lives will forever be turned upside down. All that you love, all that you desire, all your hopes and all your dreams will be lost and added to my collection. Make the best of every moment you have before my arrival because nothing will ever be the same again.
I am anger.
I am the void.
I am loss.
I AM 999