Post by The Fury on Feb 14, 2020 19:50:55 GMT -8
An inverted cross glitches across the Battleground Network feed. Hi-jacked by a trusted employee? Yeah. The cross slowly fades into a Fury Studios logo. Darkness consumes the screen. A full moon comes into focus on a cold winter’s night. The shot pans down and away from the large moon to show an apartment complex. The high tech Fury Studios drone films every detail even on the darkest of nights.
This night it hovers to a window near the top floor of the apartment building that draws closer and closer. The camera continues to film to show a young man sitting right by the window.
The camera angle shifts suddenly inside the room. The young man is in terrible shape. He sits at a computer desk with wonder in his eyes. A name tag from the local Dollar Tree store on his chest reads, “Gus”.
Cheetos dust covers all four finger tips on his right hand. The neon color contrasts his skin tone. The keyboard in front of him has a crack and looks as if Chester The Cheetah dusted for prints. Gus stares at twitter with his mouth hung agape. Gus has not had pussy since it had him, but he forges ahead.
The small apartment has wrestling paraphernalia everywhere. Inverted crosses are on any wall within the camera shot along with title belts. Replica belts. The inverted cross on his shirt alerts any watching, who Gus roots for. A villian. The best one.
Every replica belt that Tommy Crimson ever won hangs on these walls. Posters from Valor of Aoki and Crimson along with any other company The Detroit Devil has worked for.
Gus, however, continues to stare at the computer screen. He clicks a link that leads to his profile. It’s not a picture of Gus though, but Tommy. See, Gus uses Crimson’s picture without his permission to play a game online. A game that has been in existence since the early 90s in some form or another called e-wrestling. Gus rushed home to read text based results on his latest match. This day meant everything to him. Everything.
“Closed?!” Gus stutters out loud.
The blood rushes away from his face. This out of shape thirty year old loses everything in a single moment. He was supposed to be world champion like his hero. Gus talked a big game back at The Dollar Tree and now Donna will never blow him like she did his boss in the broom closet.
“FUCK!” Gus screams in complete and utter frustration.
The camera pans across to show this breakdown in all its glory. Tears well up in both eyes that have yet to leave the webpage.
Gus puts his feet down then pushes back on both heels to make way for his gut and the keyboard. Molested by life and now left with nothing, he reaches beneath the desk to pull out a Kimber .45 pistol. The wood grip gleams even in the dim cheap light. The camera pans close as Gus puts the barrel in his mouth. Tears rush down either side of his face as does snot that mixes with the cheeto mess.
The bitter taste of oil races across his tongue as the end is nigh. Gus breathes heavy in a fear he’s never felt before. He just wanted to be popular online and now it's come to this. Gus closes his eyes while sweat rolls off his forehead, bead after bead.
A ding on his computer causes him to instinctively open both eyes simultaneously. The camera pans around from his right side slowly while coming a bit closer. A cross glitches to reflect off both of Gus’s brown eyes. Tommy has signed with a company and will wrestle again. He peers closer with the pistol still in his mouth to see a coded message…
“MURDER_ PROTAGONIST.EXE.”
This causes Gus to drop the gun and it fires! Gus pays it little attention besides a slight jerk. He focuses on the message while the camera pans around behind him slowly to encompass the entire scene. The camera continues this journey as Gus slightly turns his head. The camera swings around to reveal Gus now has solid white eyes. Lost to the influence of his own hero. The gunshot came up through the desk to go through the tower of the computer. Built by this nerd to play EverQuest in the late nineties. Now it begins to smoke but still works somehow. Gus desperately orders merchandise from IPW to further The Fury’s cause.
Joy has returned to this soul and he empties his bank account with gratitude just before his beloved computer dies. Tragic. The smoke begins to fill the room as Gus slowly turns to the camera in a creepy glance to utter two words,
“He Lives.” Gus whispers into the fading scene.
An inverted cross glitches across the screen as the Network feed returns to regularly scheduled programming.
