(( Quietly, the screen faded in, to the back of a storage and supply room. Various crates loaded with bailed cardboard rested against one wall. The supplies of soft drinks adorned the center and another wall of the room. Large boxes, filled with various supplies awaiting their turn to be stocked on the shelves, lined another wall. And, set into the fourth wall, was a cooler, filled with ice cream and milk and various other cold products that couldn't be set out in the open due to fear of them melting.
Beside the door to the cooler, a bailer/crusher rested. It's mechanical press was in the up position. Tips of cardboard boxes that had already been partially crushed could be seen tipping over into the view of people. And, beside the bottom right corner of the crusher, nestled against a crate filled with multiple cases of Little Debbie products, sat Zero.
He sat in the room, his back against the crusher, his elbow propped against a case overflowing it's stacking above it. His hair was fairly short and spiked, and colored a dark shade of green. His facial piercings were in, shining dimly off of the low lights of the cold room. His shirt represented his recent trials and struggles, as it was a shirt by AFI, showing a man pointing a gun at anyone who dared to come closer to him.
As Zero sat there, raising his tattoo'ed right arm to his face, taking a deep drag from his cigarette which rested in his hand, he sighed. Not a convenient smile, but one out of stress. And yet, one of relief. He had many reasons to feel relief, but yet, even more struggles that wouldn't release themselves from his past snagged onto him.
As Zero slowly let a thin, steady stream of smoke escape from his lungs, he brought his face down. Staring, into the dirt that adorned the dull floors that he sat on. And then, slowly, he raised his face. Raising, in what appeared to be a slight grin that was slowly cracking across his lips. Slowly, he let the grin break away as he started to speak. ))
" Funny, how life repeats itself. Funny, how the old proverbs always have a way of coming true. Funny, how, once again, nothing can be certain . . . yet once again.
Zero:
Sunday night, the old proverb came true. " Do unto others as you would have them do unto you " And, it happened. HaVoC, it happened to truly, right down to the exacts. And, you can even feel the results. Just as I had felt your carnage for three weeks. Three weeks, as I was forced to sit it out, hoping for a chance to return, and serve the retribution to the one who had put me where I was. "
(( Zero raised his cigarette to his mouth again, taking a short, quick drag. ))
" But Havoc, I couldn't just attack you. No, everything is done for a cause. I did not attack you just so you wouldn't win the HEW Hardcore title again. The title wasn't an issue. Unholy Father, I could care less for him, but his victory was not a goal in my attacking you.
Zero:
If you remember, the way you had put me out . . . it was by neck injury. And hence, that is exactly what happened to you. The Level Zero, a move that is so stressful on the neck. When I jumped from the ladder and grabbed your head as I went by you, I knew exactly what I was doing. Your head went driving straight down into that table. Your neck, the first spot of your body to receive damage. Your legs and torso didn't have the time to catch up with the momentum that your head had as it went crashing through the table.
Karen can complain, and be as mad as she wants. It was her decision to get messed up with people who put their lives on the line like we do. She has now witnessed first hand what it is like to have TWO people that she has loved, yes Karen, I know you loved me at one point, leave her life because of what happens in the ring. Karen, she said Havoc was there for her. But, I was there for her before anyone else. And, only I was able to discover what was inside of her. What truly was. But, she has lost all of that now from me now. And, she is only left with what remains of Havoc.
I seen the Ringmaster's comments. I know that it is indetermined when you will be able to return to the ring. Just . . . as . . . it . . . was for me. See how it feels, Havoc, knowing that the man you thought you had put out for good, came back stronger, more on fire, and more determined, so serve payback. Consider it, retribution served. "
(( Zero took a final drag from his cigarette, and then, flipped it to the ground, smashing it out. He then raised up from his sitting position, and began a small walk thoughtout the back of the storage room. Putting his hands in his pockets, kicking pieces of trash on the floor, Zero made his way around the room. He walked slowly towards the cokes in the cases, set in the middle of the room. He stepped up to them, leaning forward, resting his arms across them. ))
" But, just as I thought I put out the biggest nemesis of my past here in the HEW, an even greater annoyance once again raises his face in the HEW. The man known as Iceman.
Zero:
You said that you haven't beaten me enough yet to retire? I beg to differ, but, you have never beaten me. Search through the record books. You will always see, in every match that Zero has faced Iceman, that Iceman went down, 1 . . . 2 . . . 3. Everytime. Iceman has never beaten me, despite what he would like to believe. Hardly anyone ever has, and only one man has beaten me twice, and now his future in uncertain.
What I would like to know is how Iceman won the vacated Hardcore belt after the match where I put with through a double stack of tables? Considering, that I supposedly put him out after that match. If my memory serves correctly, he continued to wrestle in matches, even capturing the HEW Hardcore title after I had had to vacate it. Now, I learn that I put him out after that match? One match of many in where I beat him everytime.
I'm led to believe that Iceman has simply been afraid to return to the ring. After he was humiliated so many times, he simply gave up, and left. Now, he's returning, claiming that I was the man who put him out, a handful of matches BEFORE he eventually left. I sense a lie from Iceman. A man, who once again, has a confused identity and memory. "
(( Zero slowly leaned off of the cokes, and began walking again throughout the storage room. He reached into one pocket, and retrieved a cigarette. He lit it, and made his way to the bailed stacks that rested on top of a crate. He arrived at them, and slowly sat down, taking a deep drag from his cigarette.
He raised his head, appearing to be thinking hard of something. He tighten his eyes slightly, and lowered his head a little. Then, spoke of what he had just thought of. ))
" Iceman, you can come back. It doesn't matter. You'll only step right back into the same routine as how it was when I had to evade the police, and you had to run off thinking of excuses for why you couldn't beat me. You see, you couldn't do it then, so what makes you think that having a three month break will give you the power to beat me now?
Zero:
You can be all you can be. In fact, you can even be "Hardcore" Iceman. Remember that? Remember how you were constantly trying to find a way for yourself? Trying to make your own mark by ripping on everyone else, and getting a self-chosen, and self-given, nickname for yourself. I never thought much of you then for your pathetic attempts for attention. And, no matter what persona you want to be now, I still do not think much of you.
You want to sneak attack me? You want to run in and beat me up with a chair? Behind the back . . . never even showing your face? It's typical of you, Iceman. You haven't changed.
But I say, show your face. I only know it was you who hit me by watching a replay in the back. It showed your cowardice. And it showed that the more things change, the more they stay the same. "
(( Zero got up from where he was sitting, and slowly made his way to the cooler. He rested against the wall that held the power box on it. ))
" Just like what happened to Havoc, Iceman, the same can happen to you . . . again. And, the proverb comes around to you, as well. Just remember that. . . .
Zero:
. . . Because, you never know, when I, Zero, will MELT the Iceman . . . "
(( And, suddenly, Zero grabbed the power switch controlling the freezer. With a snap, he pulled it down, breaking the handle off of the box. And, with that, the cooler, the "Ice House" of the storage room, suddenly went out, leaving all of the dairy products vulnerable to being melted . . . . and ruined.
With that, the screen faded to black . . . . . . ))
midi: "Infected" by Bad Religion
