“Take a piece of nylon thread.”
“Stretch it out in front of you until it lays in a straight line.”
“Now comes the fun part. Reach in your pocket, pull out your lighter and set both ends of that thread on fire.”
“Sit back and let that fire that you created burn.”
“Each flame will dance closer and closer together.”
“And little by little that thread of nylon begins to disappear. Inch by slow burning inch until there is nothing remaining but a pile of ashes.”
“Here in OSW, I like to think of The Burned Man as that piece of nylon thread.”
“TBM once lived what some would call a normal life. He had a loving wife and two children that he adored very much so. They owned their own home. The Burned Man used to do the normalities of a casual lifestyle, in the sense that he woke up every morning, kissed his family goodbye and headed off for work only to return to a happy home and a warm dinner on the table.”
“What was once a nice and peaceful life soon turned for the worst.”
“Amongst a sea of fire he sat tied down, watching as his loving family melted before his eyes. He watched on his horror as everything he loved in this life turned to a crisp before his very eyes.”
“But it would not take his life, and instead merely lit one side of his nylon thread.”
“That fire rages and burns white hot! The emotions that overwhelmed him on that day fuels that flame and it dances ever so much closer to the middle of the thread.”
“His failure to save his wife and children kindle that flame, causing it to burn at a rapid pace.”
“Now a broken man, TBM finds himself amongst the wolves of Arcadia, fighting for his life atop Mount Olympus.”
“Week in and week out, he throws his body to those wolves. He puts his blood, sweat and tears into fighting a battle that he knows he will never truly win.”
“He fights with his heart on his sleeve because he has nothing else to live for. He fights because he wishes it was him that died that day instead of his beloved family.”
“Every week he puts himself at risk. He tries to protect Destructo Boy as a way to try to mend those past tragedies. As a way to give himself a meaning in life. A reason to fight.”
“But all that fighting has been for nothing.”
“That frail, burned body that lies under those wraps cannot go on much longer.”
“Consider me the flame that has just sparked the other end of your thread.”
“This week at Clash, I will eat away at that nylon of yours until my flame rendezvous with the flame burning at the other end.”
“When I’m done with you, there will be nothing more than a pile of ashes for me to paint the picture of a man who stumbled through life after losing everything he ever cared about.”
“With those ashes and the stroke of my brush, I will create my next masterpiece.”