THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH
SOMEWHERE ELSE
“Long has the Scarecrow hunted. Long has he killed the innocent and guilty alike. Long has he endured the long night.”
[The words of Hawk seem to die in the flames, as if stopped by a listening ear. He slowly reaches down to pick up some type of dust or sand out of a bowl.]“Spirits of the fallen, rise from your slumber. Surround me. Guide me. Direct me. I will not allow the Scarecrow to continue his feast of death.”
[His eyes seem to reflect the fire itself, becoming as if they were flame themselves, as he continues his gaze into the inferno. He throws the dust upon the fire as he speaks once more.]“What is this beast?” [He asks.] “I call upon the wisdom of those whom he has slain to show me how to stop him.”
[The smoldering cinders at the bottom of the fire seem to burn even brighter. The flames slowly begin to change their color from the red-orange of a normal flame to something else entirely. They shift between blue and red, the intensity growing as each grain of the mystical sand adds to the flame.]“Send my eyes where they will not go.”
[Hawk seems to enter a trance as the flames seem to dance to and fro all around him. Yet they will not burn him.] [The spirits are speaking.]VIKTOR NORTH VS. MAKENA JAKANDE
SINGLES MATCH
IN THE STARS
BACKSTAGE
“He’s in here?” [She asks the machine.]
“His genetic signature has strongest within this room.”
[She places her hand down to her side, and unclips a weapon from her holster. To say it looks like an unusual Fazer is an understatement. Starchild carefully pushes the door open and steps inside, only he isn’t there; Tonatiuh is.]“This isn’t him,” [Lyra bemoans.] “He’s not here.”
“Excuse me?” [Tonatiuh questions, standing up in all his glory.] “If it is a God you seek, you have found him. I am the Sun-God, Tonatiuh.”
[Starchild frowns.]“If you are a God, you can guide me to whom I seek. Where is he hiding?”
“I don’t think so, mortal. The sun can guide you, but only if its God is appeased with an offering. Do they not offer God’s sacrifice on your planet?”
[Lyra turns her nose up slightly.] “You are the God of a star that looms over a planet. You hold their lives within your grasp. I won’t offer a sacrifice to you, but I will offer you combat.” [Tonatiuh’s hands spread to his hips in disappointment.]“Then at Bad Moon Rising, you will offer said sacrifice,” [he quips.] “With your life.”
[She nods with a flippant grin, putting her weapon away and exiting the room. Once outside, with the door closed, she returns to her device.]“Do you think it is wise to challenge a God?” [The machine says abruptly.] [Lyra nods.] “The tyrannical grip upon a planet must be diminished if we are to succeed in finding him. We’ve been here before, have we not? I won’t let Earth succumb to the same fate as our world.”
[With that, they head off in a different direction.]DOUBT VS. VOODOO
SINGLES MATCH
BURNING BUSH
BACKSTAGE
“You don’t want’a be here, man.” [Cross says aloud in the direction of the new entrant to the room.] “You might find yourself runnin’ away soon.”
“On the contrary,” [The silk-smooth voice of the intruder returns.] “this is precisely where I have chosen to be.”
[Cross turns around to face the new man, who is clothed in a thick brown robe that he slowly reaches up and pulls back the hood on to reveal his face.] [Pedro El Salvador. Father of Lux Bellator.]“What’s a dead priest want with me?” [Cross queries.] “Here to finish the job your boy started?”
[El Salvador smiles a thin smile in response before shaking his head in the negative.]“No, I have come to give you information, Desmond Cross.” [Pedro begins.] “Information that may show you how my son became the man he has become.”
[Cross snorts and stands up to tower before El Salvador.]“Oh, I know how it happened, man. He heard the voice’a God in his ear. Told him to turn water to blood and bring wrath on everyone. Trust me, man, I done heard it before. The burnin’ bush only leads to ruin. Look at me.”
[Desmond raises an eyebrow as El Salvador doesn’t back down. The former priest only patiently waits for Cross to conclude.]“Lux Bellator had been reduced to a mere caretaker of a broken shell of a man when you unleashed the plagues of God. He sat at my bedside as I failed to heal from injuries brought from a broken soul. But we watched, Desmond. We watched as those plagues rained down and the power of God grew. My son threw himself into his studies, and my own body began to heal at a rapid pace.”
[Cross attempts to interject, but El Salvador holds up his hand calmly to ask for more time.]“It was then, and only then, that the warrior rose in the light once again. He had lost his way, but seeing the power of God so fully gave him his faith once again. You, Desmond Cross, created the man we see before us now. He has been enriched with whatever power he wields. The same power that you wielded. That broke you. That is why he comes for you.”
[The bigger man seems confused by this.]“I don’t get it.”
[El Salvador pulls his hood back over his face and steps back.]“Recall the life of Moses, Desmond Cross, and you will understand.”
[Stepping out of the room into the darkness, El Salvador takes his leave. Desmond Cross is left alone, but he does not linger. Instead, he angrily staggers out of the room.] [But to what end?]LYRA STARCHILD VS. SMILEY
SINGLES MATCH
PROMISED LAND
BACKSTAGE
“Lux Bellator!”
[The voice of Desmond Cross rings throughout the narrow hallways inside the backstage area. Cross has a match next, but as he heads towards the entrance area he seems to have a mission.]“Stop runnin’ from me, man.” [Cross pants as he stops and looks around.] “It’ll be easier if you just show up.”
“Desmond Cross.”
[Almost as if on cue, Lux Bellator seems to materialize behind Cross.]“Have you come to have justice served upon you?”
[Cross cocks his head and grins.]“I talked to your daddy.” [Desmond says to the surprised Lux.] “He don’t agree with you, right now, does he?”
[Bellator sneers back at Cross.]“I’ll take that as a no. No justice is to be served tonight, however. Instead, I wish to tell you of what you have done.”
[Bellator waits a moment before speaking.]“You began this, Desmond, whether you knew it or not. You began the liberation of the Children of God. You led them out of the squalor they lived in, and brought them on the path to the Promised Land. Yet, you broke from God’s mission, Desmond.”
[Cross spits venom at Bellator.]“He broke from me!”
[The light warrior waits.]“The Children will reach the Promised Land, Desmond. But I will lead them there. The judgement of God is that you will never step foot there. You will only be able to stand and watch as God does His good works. You have failed, and are a broken and failed man.”
[Cross seems to come to an understanding.]“Just like Moses, man. That’s what your daddy said, too.”
[Bellator chuckles this time.]“Pedro El Salvador will pay for his own crimes. He will not see the Promised Land, either. But there is a choice here, Desmond.”
[Cross raises an eyebrow.]“Join me, and you will stand at my side in the war to come. Will you stand as a Child of God again, or will you shun the promised land that you once desired?”
[Desmond opens his mouth to answer, but Lux Bellator is gone. He rapidly blinks and seems to look around. He looks more confused that ever.]“What the hell, man?” [He asks the voices in his head.] [But they do not answer. This time.] [Was Lux Bellator really there? Or did Cross imagine it?] [And if he was, will Cross join him?]
MOTHER VS. DESMOND CROSS
SINGLES MATCH
MOTHER KNOWS BEST
RINGSIDE
“You’re a monster.”
[His lip curls in anger.]“These are not your children. These were children who belonged to families, real parents who loved them. And you took them away from that.”
[The children look at Jacob in fear, their eyes wide, tears forming as they back away from the violent man who assaulted their mother. Mother slowly rises from the steps, words unable to describe the hatred in her eyes. Her words drip from her mouth like poison.]“You know nothing of me and my children. They belong to their mother, and they have ONLY ever belonged to their mother.”
[Phoenix puts himself between Mother and her children, the children however quickly run past him, clinging to Mother.] [All except one.] [A single little girl stands behind Jacob, frozen in place. Mother stares her down, a look of angry disbelief on her face. She looks up to Phoenix who takes a defensive stance as the girl cowers in fear.]“Mother knows best… Why do you disobey your MOTHER!?”
[The Mother of all leaps towards Phoenix! Jacob tries to fight her off but the flurry of claws forces him back! RAKE TO THE EYES! CLAW TO THE THROAT! Phoenix holds his neck, blood dripping as Mother forcibly grabs the little girl by her arm, doing so hard enough that a bruise visibly forms. Phoenix tries to leap back at her but the lights flicker.] [And Mother, with the children, are gone. Phoenix hits the floor in frustration at his failure to react in time. He quickly takes off backstage, hoping to find them.]JACOB PHOENIX VS. THE SCARECROW
SINGLES MATCH
LOST AND FOUND
BACKSTAGE
“YOU!”
[A gloved hand reaches from beyond the view, gripping at the skin of North’s shoulder and spinning him to a stop.] [The Skull Splitter turns into a defensive position, ready for a fight when he comes face to face with the white mask of Doubt.]“What is this meaning of this intrusion you paranormal cretin?”
[North spits in anger, but Doubt does not budge.]“Why were you in my quarters last week?” [Doubt merely stands content in the face of the threatening behemoth.] “What did you do with my glove?”
[North’s face becomes distorted as he seems to ponder a hidden thought before brushing off Doubt’s inquiry.]“I know nothing about it!” [The Skull Splitter submits as he turns to walk away.] “Move on without me!”
“You seem…” [Doubt turns his head sideways in a peculiar manner.] “Uncertain!”
[Viktor pauses, first glancing over his shoulder and then turning and walking towards Doubt.]“You were not the only one who had visitors in their lodging last week” [Viktor snarls.] “my privacy too was invaded.”
[Doubt drops his head, his mannerisms displaying frustration.]“These games must…”
[BAM!] [Doubt is jolted forward by the sudden force of a steel chair.] [It’s Voodoo!] [And as the horned assailant wails away on a fallen Doubt with the weapon, North barges forward in aid.] [CRACK!] [North is absolutely leveled by another blow from a steel chair, but this time it is not by the hands of Voodoo.] [The shot brings North to his knees at the feet of his attacker… Makena Jakande.] [BAM! BAM! BAM!] [Voodoo and Jakande continue the assault, driving North and Doubt to the concrete floor and rending them unconscious.] [With a pause, Black Magic catches their breath and then…] [Voodoo begins to dig into a satchel that is wrapped over his shoulder retrieving two items and tossing them at the fallen foes.] [Doubt’s glove and North’s roll of tape fall to the concrete between them.]“It has begun” [Voodoo almost whispers.] “This week they have found what they had lost. Next week, we call for their blood!”
“Why next week?” [A confused Jakande questions.] “Why not right now?”
[Voodoo quietly responds.]“They must answer the call!”
[And with that we fade to black as Black Magic stands over their prey.]LUX BELLATOR VS. HYSTERIA
BURIED ALIVE MATCH
GRIM
RINGSIDE
“You belong here,” [he hisses.] “In the dirt, in the mud, like the animal that you are.”
[There’s a sickening crunch as Smiley thunderously brings down the shovel atop the head of Hysteria, sending a splatter of blood towards the camera. The Mad Mastermind hits the dirt face down, and begins crawling away, trying to escape what could be the final blow.] [Just then, a figure appears from behind Smiley in a hooded jacket! What the hell? He spins him around, jabs his finger into his eyes and starts pushing! What the fuck is going on?] [Hysteria slowly crawls away, escaping as Smiley squeals in absolute agony. The hooded assailant quickly takes off, running the way he came, leaving Smiley crawling on the ground with his hands over his eyes.] [The camera closes in, watching as both of these felled giants lay hurting in the dirt, perhaps where they both belong; perhaps where they both feel most comfortable. We switch to a shot of the tombstone, where oddly, the words read differently than before.]‘Here lies the Asylum.’
[Cut.]TRUTH
SOMEWHERE ELSE
“Tahehix.” [Hawk whispers with an otherworldly voice as the fire seem to intensify before him.] [The blue almost turns white as the fire continues to burn brighter than it ever has. Hawk’s body seems to slump as he is being overwhelmed by the information he is being given.] [Then the winds cease blowing.] [Stillness takes the night as the fire begins to dwindle. Hawk seems to shrink as the fire turns completely white. It may have shrunk, but it is at its hottest. The embers pop and cackle with a stunning rhythm, almost as if the crying pleas of those within them.] [And then Tommy Hawk is awake.] [Weakened by the ritual, the World Champion seems to take a moment to gather his wits before barely standing to his feet. He turns towards the fire with anger etched on his weary face.]
“Tahehix.” [He says again, this time stronger than the last.] [In response, the entire flame seems to shudder and at first dimly, but then much stronger, a laugh emerges. And this laugh seems to drone on and one, surrounding Tommy Hawk like the flame had before. Yet as the laugh continues to persist, the flames slowly die down to just a sliver of fire.] [Yet in their place stands the Scarecrow.]
“Did you believe that those spirits were free?” [The Hayman asks.] “Did you believe they held some mystical answer to my origins?”
[Hawk is unafraid.]“No, but they told me who you are. Tahehix, spirit of death.”
[Scarecrow laughs once again.]“I’ve been known by many names, Spirit Walker. Perhaps that was even one of them, but do not believe the voices of the dead. They lie with the conviction needed to want an end to my existence. They wish for me to be some spirit that you can fight away and destroy. Such wishes are frivolous, and have led to the ruin of more men than I could even begin to count.”
[Smoke rises all around, yet the two combatants are unaffected. Their war exists in this place between wrath and tears.]“There is no truth in me, Hawk.” [Crow mocks.] “I am no spirit. I am no beast. I am no man. I just am.”
[Hawk shakes his head in the negative.]“I come to destroy you. For all those who you have slain. They empower me.”
[Scarecrow seems to consider this.]“Then you will walk with them forever.”
[Abruptly, Scarecrow reaches out and grabs Tommy Hawk! He pulls the World Champion into the fire just as a large flame seems to rise up, creating an impressive flume straight towards the risen moon.] [When it settles, they have vanished.]