Post by Deathtrain on Jul 14, 2013 20:17:02 GMT
The scene opens up in small waiting room. The secretary is sitting at her desk, clicking away at her computer, answering phone calls, filling the air with the usual waiting room chatter. There is a line of chairs resting against the white washed walls, all of them empty except for the farthest on the end. In it sits a man who looks like he has not slept in weeks. His eyes are puffy, bloodshot and glossed over, with deep, drooping bags sitting underneath them. His cheeks are covered by a thick stubble, as if the man has given up completely on caring about his personal appearance. His breathing is spaced, but heavy, each breath seemingly taking every ounce of effort he can muster just to force the air in and out of his lungs. A light sweat has begun to drip down his pale face, cooling off his increasingly rising temperature. The man's head rocks back and forth in a slow rhythm as he teeters between passing out and waking up. Each time his eyes flash open, it is as if he has escaped from years of suffering and is just now finally enjoying a good life once again, only to fall back into the dark slumber that seeks to pull him out of his paradise. He has been waiting patiently for almost an hour now, trying so very hard to fight back the terrors that manifest behind the closed skin of his eyelids, but he can only hold on for so long. If the doctor did not see him soon, he would surely be consumed by the pain and horror that had begun to take control of his life. Finally, a door across the room opens up and a man dressed in khakis and sweater vest comes out, motioning towards the sickly man.
"Mr. Kennedy...Please, please come in."
Slowly, he rises to his feet to make the short walk across the room. What should have taken only a matter of a few seconds seems like an eternity as every muscle in the man's body strains under his massive weight. After what seems like days, the man sits down inside of the doctor's office as the door is closed behind him. The doctor makes his way to his desk and sits across from his patient. A horrifying look falls upon the doctor's face.
"Wow...I had no idea that it had gotten so bad. The last time we had one of these sessions..what was it?...6 years ago?...Back then, you seemed to have everything under control, but I can clearly see that you are falling apart. Tell me....is it the nightmares again?"
The man sitting across from the doctor nods his head. Yes, the nightmares had started again, but they were so much more different this time. When he was a bit younger, stronger, he could work through them, channel their energy into his being and absorb their strength, but these new dreams were vastly different.
"From the incoherent nature of your voicemail, I guessed as much. That's why I scheduled this meeting so quickly. Now, tell me Brandon, when did the nightmares start happening again?"
Brandon looks around the room for a moment, taking in his surroundings as he tries to form the words in his mouth.
"It was probably about a month or so ago, right about the time I started wrestling again."
The doctor nods his head as he writes down Brandon's response in his notes.
"Ahh...I'd heard you started up again. If I remember correctly, these dreams, these nightmares, they were part of why you stopped wrestling in the first place. You were getting to the point where you weren't able to separate the "character" you portray on television from your real life. Why get back into that? Why put yourself back in that position?"
Brandon nods his head, waking himself up from the momentary slumber he had fallen into.
"Honestly...I have no idea. One day, I woke up and...I just fell this huge pull...this magnetic energy dragging me back towards the ring, almost as if something was calling me to return. I ignored it at first. I put it off for about a year, but I just couldn't stand it anymore. The pressure...the desire...it just all became too much."
"Interesting....It makes sense, though, if you really think about it. Wrestling is what you love. It was your livelihood. It is natural that you would want to return to doing something that you enjoy, maybe as a means to escape the problems in your marriage. I see that you listed your marriage status as single now. Tell me some about that."
Brandon sighs, putting his face between his hands.
"Erica didn't want me to wrestle again. She saw the emotional and psychological pain it caused me and thought that it wouldn't be good for the family, that it wouldn't be good for us to go down that road again. I tried to assure her that I was stronger this time, that I wouldn't make the same mistakes as before, that I could separate my real life from my wrestling life, but she wouldn't take the chance. She told me that it was either my career or my family....and...that calling....I couldn't resist...."
"I'm sorry to hear that, and I'm sorry that she wasn't willing to take the risk. Trust me, Brandon. If she wasn't willing to give you the chance, then you are better off in the long run."
"Yeah, but.."
"No...no buts. You did what you had to do. Let's move on and focus on something else. It seems you've returned to the "Deathtrain" character. Now, this was the character you had trouble with. You were starting to become this character in real life and you were letting it destroy you, both physically and mentally. Tell me why you decided to return to this character of yours."
"It just seemed like a natural choice, almost organic really. This was a character I knew, one that I portrayed very well during my time elsewhere. To be honest, it almost felt like I didn't have a choice. Just like with coming back to wrestling, this character called out to me, and I couldn't stay away from it."
"Knowing that you could very well fall into your old ways, fall back into those traps from before."
Brandon nods his head, trying to keep his eyes open.
"I'm starting to wonder if this character, this "Deathtrain," isn't even a character anymore. You've spent so much time playing him in the past and invested so much into who he is that you've lost yourself, and I'm starting to think that he may actually be trying to manifest himself in the real world."
Brandon chuckles to himself as a look of disbelief comes over his face.
"You're joking, right? I mean...Deathtrain isn't real. It's like you said. He's just a character I play on television. I'm not really that person. I'm just a normal guy with a knack for wrestling who plays a dark character."
"That's where you're wrong though, Brandon."
"What do you mean I'm wrong?"
The doctor sets down his notepad and sits back, staring coldly at the patient in front of him.
"What I mean is exactly what I said. Deathtrain is far more than just some character you play on television. Throughout the past six years, the entire time that you have resigned from your "character," the beast has been lying in wait, waiting ever so patiently for the right moment to return, the right moment to manifest and become whole and unleash another long hour of torment and despair upon any who crossed his path. While you spent the last six years building a life outside of the ring, HE has sat quietly in the darkness, slowly building and regaining his former power. Deathtrain knew that his day would come, but he needed you, Brandon, his vessel, to make the jump back in. It could only ever be you, his one true vessel, to bring him back into a new land, one where he could wreak devastation as much as he saw fit. He wants you to know that you've done a fine job so far, but the time has come for what is his to be returned unto him."
Brandon's face breaks out into confusion.
"Doc? What the hell are you talking about?"
"I think you know exactly what I mean. You're just too afraid to admit it, too scared to accept that you have failed at keeping the monster at bay. No matter what you do, Brandon, he will always exist. There is no escape from the darkness inside you, the eclipse that will always follow you no matter where you choose to go. It is in your blood, pulsing through your veins, infecting every inch or heart, mind, body and spirit. There can be no escape....from Deathtrain.....I.....am eternal!"
As Brandon begins to grow even more confused, the doctors face suddenly begins to melt. His short hair bursts into flames as the doctor rares his head back and lets out a deafening cackle. Brandon covers his ears as he watches a face behind the old skin begin to appear. He gasps when he realizes that the doctor now looks exactly like him. An evil grin is set upon the doctor's countenance as he stands up and makes his way quickly towards the patient, grabbing him by the throat and slamming him up against the wall.
"So....you think that you can get rid of me? You think that by just disappearing that I, too, would disappear? Brandon, you will never be rid of me. I am always going to be here, no matter what you decide to do with your pathetic life. You and I are linked, forever bound together by the cold black soul you carry."
Brandon tries to break free, but it is no use. The doctor, now Deathtrain, squeezes his hand even tighter around Brandon's throat.
"No, Brandon. You cannot escape me this time. For far too long, I have sat on the sidelines and let you ruin the name that I have built, the legacy that I started so many years ago. I WILL NOT sit idly by anymore and let you continue to destroy the work that I started. I'm here to take over, to take control away from someone who isn't worthy of the title, Walking Nightmare, and there is nothing at all you can do to stop me."
Deathtrain lifts a kicking a screaming Brandon by the throat and hurls him across the room, sending him crashing through the desk. With a laugh and a flick of his wrist, the whole room is consumed in flames. Brandon begins to pass out with Deathtrain's laughter ringing in his ears as everything goes white........ring.....ring.......ring........
TO BE CONTINUED IN A FUTURE RP...
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"Here we are again, on the eve of another episode of IWF Sacrifice. Slowly but surely, we are coming closer to the end of this tournament of ours. Everything comes to a head next week at Lineage. All the battles, the blood, the sweat, the brutality....everything is finally going to be finished. Tomorrow night, I make my final stand, my last push to prove once and for all that I am worthy of being the Imperial Champion, thus solidifying my place among the immortal gods of our business. I know that I am more than worthy, as I've proven countless times between the ropes. I have the drive, the intensity and a fire that burns far brighter than anyone could ever hope to outshine. All I have ever sought to do in this business is hurt people, to cause them as much misery as I could, to leave them all in pile of their own blood and tears. By capturing the Imperial Championship, the world will finally see that I am what I have always claimed to be...a Walking Nightmare. Imperial Wrestling Federation....Me as your Imperial Champion will be exactly that...a nightmare. I will welcome all challengers, and I will leave them broken and bloodied inside the ring. I will be entering this match at Lineage for the Imperial Championship, and I will emerge victorious."
"But, let's not get ahead of things. There is so much left to do before that match can take place. Tomorrow night, at Sacrifice, I will be entering the ring with three individuals that I have begun to know so well in recent weeks, Ryan Shane, Mike/Miguel Machado/Muchado, and, my old nemesis, the eternal underdog, Joe Everyman. All three of us have been in and out of each other's professional lives quite a few times as of late, so it stands to reason that this match will be far more brutal than any of our previous encounters. You see, I know all of your styles, your moves, your counters. Each and every little nuance of your in ring ability is now ingrained in my system. There is nothing that the three of you could do in this match to surprise, nothing you can do that is going to catch me off guard. This match isn't just about gaining that coveted fourth spot for the Imperial Championship match. For me, it's a lot more personal than that. It is my chance for vengeance, my chance to put the three of you behind me and finally move on from this never ending battle we seem to have found ourselves in. I have failed thus far to pin either of you inside the ring, but that will change tomorrow night at Sacrifice. I will rectify the wrongs that have been placed against me, and I will go on to Lineage as the fourth and final person of the Heir to the Throne tournament."
"These are facts that the three of you are going to have to learn to accept. As much as you all think you have what it takes to get past me, there is so much more to show that you won't. Joe, our battles in the past have proven that, time and time again, you don't have what it takes to win the big one. Every single time opportunity comes knocking, you fail to rise to the challenge. You always fail, Joe, and that will remain true even now, six years after we first began wrestling each other, because some things in life just don't change. You are one of those, Joe, and that's just all there is to it. It is the fate that you were born to carry, the outcome of life that will always be there no matter how hard you try. Honestly, I don't understand why you keep coming back for more. You are a determined little bastard. I'll give you that much. But, at the end of the day, your destiny will always be there tapping on your shoulder to remind you that you will never be THAT guy. You will never be the big time superstar you've always dreamed of being, and I will be more than happy to prove that to you once again."
"Miguel...You know, I've always heard the expression that the third time's the charm. I think I'm starting to completely understand that. And, no, I don't mean it took me three matches to finally beat you. Hell, if I really wanted to win, I could have easily done so. It's never been about that with you, Miguel. No, for you, it's always been about beating the holy hell out of you, from my point of view anyways. All I can see in you is this little fighter who thinks he knows what he's doing, but honestly kid, all you're doing is putting yourself on a path towards self annihilation. How you've made it this far in the tournament is beyond me. You can call it luck or fortune all you want, but don't you dare try to claim talent on this one. Everybody watching at home knows that you don't have the kind of skill to stand against me, and if you think for even one second that you're going to walk out of this match and head to Lineage, then maybe all of your brains are inside that little piece of flesh between your legs because you have clearly lost your mind."
"Ryan....so quiet this week. I don't know whether to laugh or boast. What are you scared of? I'll tell you what's got you spooked, why nobody's seen you all week and why we haven't heard a single word from you. You're scared that your win over me in our last encounter was a fluke and that you can't pull it off again. You're terrified that the world is going to find out that you're just some kind of phony, a flash in the pan, one hit wonder who will never amount to anything in the IWF. That's exactly what your win over me a few weeks ago was, Ryan. It was all just a stroke of luck, and I'm going to prove that to you tomorrow night when I pin you in the middle of that ring as the whole world watches. I promise you that your worst fears will be brought to light, and the whole world is going to see you for what you really are. You are nothing than a fake, a sham who tries to disguise himself behind this assumed reality he has invented for himself."
"So, the three of you can say and believe whatever you want, but it is not going to change the facts. After Sacrifice, I will be heading towards Lineage as the fourth contestant, and I will do everything within my power to make that happen, even if I have to sacrifice myself to do so. No matter what happens to the three of you, I will continue on, for I am the heart that beats in the darkness, the flow of blood that shall not cease. At Sacrifice, I will scorch the land before me, and all of its inhabitants, leaving them burned and scarred as an eternal reminder of the plague that is the King of Nightmares, Deathtrain."
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"Mr. Kennedy...Please, please come in."
Slowly, he rises to his feet to make the short walk across the room. What should have taken only a matter of a few seconds seems like an eternity as every muscle in the man's body strains under his massive weight. After what seems like days, the man sits down inside of the doctor's office as the door is closed behind him. The doctor makes his way to his desk and sits across from his patient. A horrifying look falls upon the doctor's face.
"Wow...I had no idea that it had gotten so bad. The last time we had one of these sessions..what was it?...6 years ago?...Back then, you seemed to have everything under control, but I can clearly see that you are falling apart. Tell me....is it the nightmares again?"
The man sitting across from the doctor nods his head. Yes, the nightmares had started again, but they were so much more different this time. When he was a bit younger, stronger, he could work through them, channel their energy into his being and absorb their strength, but these new dreams were vastly different.
"From the incoherent nature of your voicemail, I guessed as much. That's why I scheduled this meeting so quickly. Now, tell me Brandon, when did the nightmares start happening again?"
Brandon looks around the room for a moment, taking in his surroundings as he tries to form the words in his mouth.
"It was probably about a month or so ago, right about the time I started wrestling again."
The doctor nods his head as he writes down Brandon's response in his notes.
"Ahh...I'd heard you started up again. If I remember correctly, these dreams, these nightmares, they were part of why you stopped wrestling in the first place. You were getting to the point where you weren't able to separate the "character" you portray on television from your real life. Why get back into that? Why put yourself back in that position?"
Brandon nods his head, waking himself up from the momentary slumber he had fallen into.
"Honestly...I have no idea. One day, I woke up and...I just fell this huge pull...this magnetic energy dragging me back towards the ring, almost as if something was calling me to return. I ignored it at first. I put it off for about a year, but I just couldn't stand it anymore. The pressure...the desire...it just all became too much."
"Interesting....It makes sense, though, if you really think about it. Wrestling is what you love. It was your livelihood. It is natural that you would want to return to doing something that you enjoy, maybe as a means to escape the problems in your marriage. I see that you listed your marriage status as single now. Tell me some about that."
Brandon sighs, putting his face between his hands.
"Erica didn't want me to wrestle again. She saw the emotional and psychological pain it caused me and thought that it wouldn't be good for the family, that it wouldn't be good for us to go down that road again. I tried to assure her that I was stronger this time, that I wouldn't make the same mistakes as before, that I could separate my real life from my wrestling life, but she wouldn't take the chance. She told me that it was either my career or my family....and...that calling....I couldn't resist...."
"I'm sorry to hear that, and I'm sorry that she wasn't willing to take the risk. Trust me, Brandon. If she wasn't willing to give you the chance, then you are better off in the long run."
"Yeah, but.."
"No...no buts. You did what you had to do. Let's move on and focus on something else. It seems you've returned to the "Deathtrain" character. Now, this was the character you had trouble with. You were starting to become this character in real life and you were letting it destroy you, both physically and mentally. Tell me why you decided to return to this character of yours."
"It just seemed like a natural choice, almost organic really. This was a character I knew, one that I portrayed very well during my time elsewhere. To be honest, it almost felt like I didn't have a choice. Just like with coming back to wrestling, this character called out to me, and I couldn't stay away from it."
"Knowing that you could very well fall into your old ways, fall back into those traps from before."
Brandon nods his head, trying to keep his eyes open.
"I'm starting to wonder if this character, this "Deathtrain," isn't even a character anymore. You've spent so much time playing him in the past and invested so much into who he is that you've lost yourself, and I'm starting to think that he may actually be trying to manifest himself in the real world."
Brandon chuckles to himself as a look of disbelief comes over his face.
"You're joking, right? I mean...Deathtrain isn't real. It's like you said. He's just a character I play on television. I'm not really that person. I'm just a normal guy with a knack for wrestling who plays a dark character."
"That's where you're wrong though, Brandon."
"What do you mean I'm wrong?"
The doctor sets down his notepad and sits back, staring coldly at the patient in front of him.
"What I mean is exactly what I said. Deathtrain is far more than just some character you play on television. Throughout the past six years, the entire time that you have resigned from your "character," the beast has been lying in wait, waiting ever so patiently for the right moment to return, the right moment to manifest and become whole and unleash another long hour of torment and despair upon any who crossed his path. While you spent the last six years building a life outside of the ring, HE has sat quietly in the darkness, slowly building and regaining his former power. Deathtrain knew that his day would come, but he needed you, Brandon, his vessel, to make the jump back in. It could only ever be you, his one true vessel, to bring him back into a new land, one where he could wreak devastation as much as he saw fit. He wants you to know that you've done a fine job so far, but the time has come for what is his to be returned unto him."
Brandon's face breaks out into confusion.
"Doc? What the hell are you talking about?"
"I think you know exactly what I mean. You're just too afraid to admit it, too scared to accept that you have failed at keeping the monster at bay. No matter what you do, Brandon, he will always exist. There is no escape from the darkness inside you, the eclipse that will always follow you no matter where you choose to go. It is in your blood, pulsing through your veins, infecting every inch or heart, mind, body and spirit. There can be no escape....from Deathtrain.....I.....am eternal!"
As Brandon begins to grow even more confused, the doctors face suddenly begins to melt. His short hair bursts into flames as the doctor rares his head back and lets out a deafening cackle. Brandon covers his ears as he watches a face behind the old skin begin to appear. He gasps when he realizes that the doctor now looks exactly like him. An evil grin is set upon the doctor's countenance as he stands up and makes his way quickly towards the patient, grabbing him by the throat and slamming him up against the wall.
"So....you think that you can get rid of me? You think that by just disappearing that I, too, would disappear? Brandon, you will never be rid of me. I am always going to be here, no matter what you decide to do with your pathetic life. You and I are linked, forever bound together by the cold black soul you carry."
Brandon tries to break free, but it is no use. The doctor, now Deathtrain, squeezes his hand even tighter around Brandon's throat.
"No, Brandon. You cannot escape me this time. For far too long, I have sat on the sidelines and let you ruin the name that I have built, the legacy that I started so many years ago. I WILL NOT sit idly by anymore and let you continue to destroy the work that I started. I'm here to take over, to take control away from someone who isn't worthy of the title, Walking Nightmare, and there is nothing at all you can do to stop me."
Deathtrain lifts a kicking a screaming Brandon by the throat and hurls him across the room, sending him crashing through the desk. With a laugh and a flick of his wrist, the whole room is consumed in flames. Brandon begins to pass out with Deathtrain's laughter ringing in his ears as everything goes white........ring.....ring.......ring........
TO BE CONTINUED IN A FUTURE RP...
"Here we are again, on the eve of another episode of IWF Sacrifice. Slowly but surely, we are coming closer to the end of this tournament of ours. Everything comes to a head next week at Lineage. All the battles, the blood, the sweat, the brutality....everything is finally going to be finished. Tomorrow night, I make my final stand, my last push to prove once and for all that I am worthy of being the Imperial Champion, thus solidifying my place among the immortal gods of our business. I know that I am more than worthy, as I've proven countless times between the ropes. I have the drive, the intensity and a fire that burns far brighter than anyone could ever hope to outshine. All I have ever sought to do in this business is hurt people, to cause them as much misery as I could, to leave them all in pile of their own blood and tears. By capturing the Imperial Championship, the world will finally see that I am what I have always claimed to be...a Walking Nightmare. Imperial Wrestling Federation....Me as your Imperial Champion will be exactly that...a nightmare. I will welcome all challengers, and I will leave them broken and bloodied inside the ring. I will be entering this match at Lineage for the Imperial Championship, and I will emerge victorious."
"But, let's not get ahead of things. There is so much left to do before that match can take place. Tomorrow night, at Sacrifice, I will be entering the ring with three individuals that I have begun to know so well in recent weeks, Ryan Shane, Mike/Miguel Machado/Muchado, and, my old nemesis, the eternal underdog, Joe Everyman. All three of us have been in and out of each other's professional lives quite a few times as of late, so it stands to reason that this match will be far more brutal than any of our previous encounters. You see, I know all of your styles, your moves, your counters. Each and every little nuance of your in ring ability is now ingrained in my system. There is nothing that the three of you could do in this match to surprise, nothing you can do that is going to catch me off guard. This match isn't just about gaining that coveted fourth spot for the Imperial Championship match. For me, it's a lot more personal than that. It is my chance for vengeance, my chance to put the three of you behind me and finally move on from this never ending battle we seem to have found ourselves in. I have failed thus far to pin either of you inside the ring, but that will change tomorrow night at Sacrifice. I will rectify the wrongs that have been placed against me, and I will go on to Lineage as the fourth and final person of the Heir to the Throne tournament."
"These are facts that the three of you are going to have to learn to accept. As much as you all think you have what it takes to get past me, there is so much more to show that you won't. Joe, our battles in the past have proven that, time and time again, you don't have what it takes to win the big one. Every single time opportunity comes knocking, you fail to rise to the challenge. You always fail, Joe, and that will remain true even now, six years after we first began wrestling each other, because some things in life just don't change. You are one of those, Joe, and that's just all there is to it. It is the fate that you were born to carry, the outcome of life that will always be there no matter how hard you try. Honestly, I don't understand why you keep coming back for more. You are a determined little bastard. I'll give you that much. But, at the end of the day, your destiny will always be there tapping on your shoulder to remind you that you will never be THAT guy. You will never be the big time superstar you've always dreamed of being, and I will be more than happy to prove that to you once again."
"Miguel...You know, I've always heard the expression that the third time's the charm. I think I'm starting to completely understand that. And, no, I don't mean it took me three matches to finally beat you. Hell, if I really wanted to win, I could have easily done so. It's never been about that with you, Miguel. No, for you, it's always been about beating the holy hell out of you, from my point of view anyways. All I can see in you is this little fighter who thinks he knows what he's doing, but honestly kid, all you're doing is putting yourself on a path towards self annihilation. How you've made it this far in the tournament is beyond me. You can call it luck or fortune all you want, but don't you dare try to claim talent on this one. Everybody watching at home knows that you don't have the kind of skill to stand against me, and if you think for even one second that you're going to walk out of this match and head to Lineage, then maybe all of your brains are inside that little piece of flesh between your legs because you have clearly lost your mind."
"Ryan....so quiet this week. I don't know whether to laugh or boast. What are you scared of? I'll tell you what's got you spooked, why nobody's seen you all week and why we haven't heard a single word from you. You're scared that your win over me in our last encounter was a fluke and that you can't pull it off again. You're terrified that the world is going to find out that you're just some kind of phony, a flash in the pan, one hit wonder who will never amount to anything in the IWF. That's exactly what your win over me a few weeks ago was, Ryan. It was all just a stroke of luck, and I'm going to prove that to you tomorrow night when I pin you in the middle of that ring as the whole world watches. I promise you that your worst fears will be brought to light, and the whole world is going to see you for what you really are. You are nothing than a fake, a sham who tries to disguise himself behind this assumed reality he has invented for himself."
"So, the three of you can say and believe whatever you want, but it is not going to change the facts. After Sacrifice, I will be heading towards Lineage as the fourth contestant, and I will do everything within my power to make that happen, even if I have to sacrifice myself to do so. No matter what happens to the three of you, I will continue on, for I am the heart that beats in the darkness, the flow of blood that shall not cease. At Sacrifice, I will scorch the land before me, and all of its inhabitants, leaving them burned and scarred as an eternal reminder of the plague that is the King of Nightmares, Deathtrain."
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Well howdy there pardner.