SLAUGHTERHOUSE #187 – GOODNIGHT, SWEETHEART

“RUN”
Click.

The Slaughterhouse logo flickers in glowing neon.

Screams.

Static.

Black & White.

The sound of an exacerbated pant echoes as Stephen rushes through the front door of his home, leaving it open behind him. He yells for Darby at the top of his lungs, searching his desk in the next room frantically.

Scooping up papers and sweating profusely, he’s almost breathless as Sorrow wanders in from the other room in confusion.

“What’s going on?” Darby asks, his eyes widened with surprise.

“Pack your things. We must leave at once,” Stephen says, barely audible in his panic. “Hurry, hurry will you!”

He rushes to the window, looking outside frantically.

“You need to tell me what’s going on,” Sorrow demands. “I’ve never seen you like this.”

With his eyes twitching left and right, Stephen doesn’t even look back at him as he speaks.

“I did it,” he musters the ability to say. “I’ve found a way to fix you.”

Darby doesn’t know what to say. He rushes upstairs and grabs some clothes, slamming them into a sack as fast as he can. By the time he gets back down, Stephen is waiting for him at the door.

They share a passionate kiss, their eyes meeting properly for the first time.

“I told you I’d save you, didn’t I?” He proudly says. “But first, we have to run. I made a deal with some very bad people, my love. I had to. I can’t explain now but if we don’t leave, they’ll kill us.”

Without hesitation, they exit the house as quickly as they can, only stood at their top of their gate are two men in black robes.

They stop immediately.

“Please, no,” Stephen begs.

There’s a blinding white light.

Then nothing.

STRAIGHT & FREEMAN VS. SCRIMSHAW & THE JUDGE
TAG TEAM MATCH

It’s a clash of styles and an even bigger clash of personalities here tonight, as Monty Straight teams with the returning Kenny Freeman to take on Scrimshaw and The Judge!

The bell rings as Freeman and Scrimshaw start things off, the plucky Keyboard Warrior having fun at the expense of the Old Seadog with some flashy offense…only for Scrimshaw to lay into the young competitor with some hard lefts and rights that sends Kenny reeling into the absolute worst scenario.

Freeman finds himself in a tough spot as Scrimshaw makes the tag to The Judge, who levels Kenny with a clothesline. He picks the young man up, sending Freeman against the ropes with an Irish whip…but Kenny ducks the second clothesline, nailing the larger Judge with a flying leg kick!

With the imposing figure down, Kenny gets the chance to make the hot tag to Monty Straight, who takes advantage of the opening by keeping Judge down with some kicks and a sleeper hold, tightening the grip…but Judge is back on his feet, driving the Deal Maker into the corner!

Monty is down hard as Judge lifts the Straight Shooter up on his shoulders—RESTORATION! JUDGE DRIVING MONTY DOWN HARD ONTO THE CANVAS…BUT SCRIMSHAW GETS A BLIND TAG! Rather than get angry, Judge blocks the approaching Freeman as Scrimshaw LOCKS IN THE CAPTAIN’S HOOK ON MONTY STRAIGHT! MONTY’S OUT COLD!

The ref calls for the bell, allowing Scrimshaw to celebrate the victory despite his issues with The Judge, who simply glares at the man he finds guilty.

“TRUTH AND CONSEQUENCES”
A chair is smashed to pieces. A table is split in half. The week old blood stains of a certain internet personality litters the floor.

But Veritas himself is nowhere to be found.

And Redwing?

Well, the hero has completely lost his mind.

“How did he get away!?!” Redwing screams, taking the red baseball bat he beat Veritas halfway to death with last week and slamming it against the wall.

The bat splinters to pieces.

Suddenly, the lights cut on.

And Redwing sees that he is not alone.

Twenty or so young men, ages 18-30 stare him in the face.

“And you say you’re a hero,” the youngest of the group says to Redwing. “Boys, if someone says they’re a hero, but they attack a true hero, what does that make them?”

“A villain,” replies one of the other men.

“A fucking villain,” the youngest agrees.

Redwing huffs the air as he begins to calm down. “What’s your name kid?”

The young man rolls his eyes, “Know what? Given that you’ve been chasing answers with all the wrong questions, call me Chase.”

“Chase,” Redwing nods. “And you boys freed him?”

“Yeah,” Chase says. “Yeah, we did.”

Redwing charges at the group of young men!!

And he’s met right in the chest with a taser!!!

Redwing falls to his knees, and then to his back, jerking as volts of electricity pump through his body.

Chase commands, “Keep the volts coming boys, until I’ve said our piece.”

Another gentleman presses the taser against Redwings body and Redwing once again begins convulsing.

Chase leans down and speaks directly to Redwing, as the Red Knight groans and fights through the continued electric shock.

“There are hundreds of thousands of us out here, Redwing. Regular men, who work regular jobs and have regular lives. Many of us have lost our loved ones to tragic situations, situations to which we have no answers.”

Chase grins at Redwing as Redwing stares up at him hatefully through convulsions. “And none of us go beating the living hell out of a man who speaks truth to the masses for it. You are not special, Redwing. You aren’t unique or otherwise privileged to attack a great man like Veritas simply because you are living through a tragedy.”

Chase mock slashes his own throat at the man who holds the taser. The tasing stops.

“This? This is just the consequence of that truth.”

All of the men leave the room, except for Chase.

Chase leans down and spits on Redwing’s face.

“Fuck you, you fake ass hero.”

Chase leaves the room as well. He cuts the light, leaving Redwing to his own darkness.

VERITAS VS. DARBY SORROW VS. SIGIL
TRIPLE THREAT MATCH

Once again, Darby Sorrow does not find his way to the ring tonight, reducing this quarterfinal match up from a triple threat to a singles match! It’s Veritas versus Sigil!

The bell rings, and neither Sigil nor Veritas waste any time! Veritas charges Sigil but Sigil meets him halfway! They exchange rapid fire blows with one another, neither gentleman connecting as they block each others every attack! Suddenly, Sigil disrupts it with a BIG HEADBUTT with that metal mask of his, causing Veritas to stumble back!

Veritas hits the ropes and Sigil charges with a lariat, taking Veritas over the top and tumbling to the outside! Sigil climbs up the turnbuckles to the top rope and waits for Veritas to stumble to his feet! Just as Veritas reaches his feet, Sigil leaps!! CROSSBODY– NO! UPPERCUT TO THE CHIN FROM VERITAS!!!

Sigil literally flops to the ground, lights out! Veritas moves quickly, lifting Sigil to his feet and rolling him into the ring! Veritas follows behind and makes the cover! ONE! TWO! KICKOUT BY SIGIL! Veritas angrily lifts Sigil to his feet, and drops him with a DDT!

But Sigil’s helmet takes most of the damage, and he’s up to his feet at the same time as Veritas! FOR THE COLLECTION! Sigil hits Veritas in every major nerve area with claw strikes! Veritas staggers backwards, shocked! PLANESWALKER FROM SIGIL!!! HE RUSHES FORWARD AND MAKES THE COVER!!! ONE!!! TWO!!! THREEEEEE!!!

The Collector collects another victory here tonight, sending him into the semi-finals of Ring King!

“A TRAITOR TO THE CAUSE”
SOMEWHERE ELSE

Emily Carroll, the former Telegon CFO, holds a twisted knife in her trembling hand.

A man she used to work with kneels in front of her.

Blackveil’s voice whispers in her ear.

“Spill his blood.”

Emily hesitates.

“To bring ruin to a man like Gouldern,” Blackveil calls out so the crowd of Sisters can hear, “we will need faith. From every sister. Prove yourself, Emily! You, who were so close to him! With the damning documents released, it is only a matter of time until he abdicates his throne. But we must remain strong. Show us your resolve! Show us you believe in the cause!”

Emily’s breath is hot against her veiled face.

Her heart beats wildly.

She tears the mask from her face.

She sees her surroundings with newfound clarity. A filthy basement, caked with blood.

“Do not return to him,” Blackveil whispers.

Emily takes off running through the army of Sisters. One goes to lunge at her, but Blackveil raises a hand.

“Halt! If we turn to violence against our ourselves,” Blackveil says, calming the angry crowd, “we’ll become just as evil as them. She shall see the error of her ways.”

Emily rushes down a dark corridor, then up a decaying staircase.

She emerges to a rundown city neighborhood.

A black SUV sits across the street.

The window rolls down.

Mark Gouldern.

“Over here, Emily” he says.

“Mark…” she says. “They’ve got Travis. They’re going to kill him.”

“They already have,” says Mark. “I was watching.”

He shows her his phone: a live feed from a stealth drone, hidden down below.

“It wasn’t supposed to go this far,” Emily says. Mark opens the door.

“Do you remember what I told you before your first big acquisition, Emily? Wait. Watch. And opportunity will inevitably present itself. We can still stop this, Emily. Together. Get in.”

Cut.

“MONKEY AROUND”
SOMEWHERE ELSE

Ding.

The scene opens up on the image of a phone, a twitter notification lighting up the screen. As the camera zooms out we find ourselves looking over the shoulder of Kenny Freeman, the Social Media Sensation himself! He appears to be walking through the streets of New York, having long left the Slaughterhouse after his match.

“Huh, I thought I turned DMs off. That’s weird…”

He slid the notification across his screen, his eyes lighting up as he sees what looks like a message from an account without a profile picture. It’s username? @SeeSawPlayGround. His face goes from confused to ever so slightly concerned as he reads the message allowed.

“Do you like toys?”

Then, rapid fire, multiple messages pop up on his screen, a tiny little notification with each one.

‘I like toys’

‘and just adore monkeying around!’

‘What do you think about monkeying around, Kenny?’

Freeman goes to respond to the message, typing onto his phone quickly, obviously confused by the situation.

‘What do you mean monke’

The message is never finished as the Keyboard Warrior is yanked into an alleyway! He finds himself gripping his ankle in pain, looking down to see it wrapped in monkeys. The ‘in-a-barrel’ kind. Blood seeps from a wound, the toys crudely modified with razor blades all across their arms as they link together. Kenny gets to his feet only to yelp out in pain!

Thwip

As fast as he stood up multiple lines of monkeys shoot up around him like a laser grid of razor blades, cutting him across the chest and arms, keeping him trapped in the alleyway, unable to move, barely able to breathe. He flinches as he feels the blades dig into his skin.

“But I’m not here to simply monkey around right now, Kenny. No, I came to kindly ask you to help me.”

The voice, a sickeningly playful yet somehow innocent voice. SeeSaw. Freeman stares down the former internet star as he looms in, playfully tapping Kenny’s nose.

“I want you to… help me spread my show across the internet. Like a little chain of monkeys. You give a handshake to one person, he handshakes the next. A line of people all hearing about my show once you shake my hand.”

Kenny sputters a bit, not wanting to show any fear as he looks up at SeeSaw, the man more than a foot taller than him.

“Y-you want me to give you a s-shoutout?”

SeeSaw chuckles.

“Yes! I want you to tell your followers about me. I want all the children to be able to enjoy my toys as much as I do! Could you do it for me? Please?”

Kenny measures his limited options before merely nodding his head.

“Okay.”

“Oh thank you, Kenny. I hope you had fun with my toys, but I want them back now.”

SeeSaw slinks away, smiling wide as he takes the chains of monkeys away with him, leaving us behind with a terrified and bloody Kenny.

MEZ VS. LUKE MARSHALL
STEEL CELL MATCH

The cage lowers around a Madman and a Holy Father as Mez and Luke Marshall face off inside a steel cage.

DING! DING! The bell rings and Mez charges across, crushing the smaller Father into the wall of the cage. Mez gets down and begins throwing lefts and rights down onto the preacher before standing to his feet and backs up. Mez runs towards Marshall connecting with the SKULL CRACKER!

Luke slumps into the corner as the onslaught was quick and vicious. A follower comes near the cage and opens the Bible and begins speaking words of encouragement that raises Marshall up as Mez tries to climb the cage. Marshall gets up and slams a forearm into the back of Mez before pulling him off the cage wall.

The Father connects with a quick senton bomb to the back of a rising Mez before stomping down on his chest. Luke stands to his feet and looks to the heavens, looking for divine inspiration when Mez gets to his feet and runs at the Father, lowering his head for GUT CHECK!

Mez drills his head deep into the abdomen of Father Luke Marshall, making sure he feels every bit of that mask. Mez grabs onto the head of Luke, before driving his own into it, repeatedly with multiple HEAD CHECKS! The body of the Father goes limp as he falls unconscious. Mez makes his way to the cage and climbs up with as much haste as a 300 lbs body allows. DING! DING!

Unlike the insane asylum, Mez has successfully escaped the cage!

“GET THE BAG”
BACKSTAGE

In his locker room, Sigil has a cloak over his form, gearing up to leave.

When suddenly, Junkrat kicks the door open.

“Hi, Sigil!”

Normally, Sigil would greet Junkrat warmly enough, even after his door kicking theatrics.

But not this time.

This time he lifts his arms in the air.

Because Junkrat has a flare gun pointed at Sigil’s face.

And so do the 13 other Junkrats who swarmed into the locker room.

“So,” Junkrat begins. “You thought you could just shoot us into outerspace to die like arseholes. But little did you know, we didn’t die in outerspace like arseholes, you dipshit! Well, we did. Technically. But then we were RESCUED and shot back down to Earth.”

Sigil tilts his head, confused.

“Ask us by who.”

Sigil replies, “What do you mean?”

“Ask us who we were rescued by.”

Sigil waits for a moment. With his hands still in the air, he sighs. “I’ll bite. By who?”

“BY OUR OWN SPERMS!”

Sigil is taken aback. “…What are you talking about?”

“SPERMRATS, SIGIL!” They all scream joyfully. “SPERMRATS, FROM OUTER SPACE!”

Sigil takes a moment to put two and two together. “Wait… You mean the Spacerats. They… They know?”

It’s a shame that none of the Junkrats were listening to Sigil.

“Alright,” says Junkrat. “When I count to three, you drop the bag at your side or we light you up with so many flares, you’ll be shitting sparks right out of your arse for a week!”

Sigil tilts his head, confused. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

Junkrat grins and makes several fart sounds with his lips. “That’s you, shitting sparks out of your arse! Junkrats, get the bag! ONE! TWO!”

“WAIT!” screams another Junkrat. “I thought I was the one supposed to count to three?”

“And I thought it was me!” Cries another.

“Junkrats, calm down. Okay?” Says the original Junkrat. “We already agreed that whoever kicks the door down, gets to do the countdown. Remember the proverb: He who kicketh down, counteth down.”

“Right,” says the other Junkrat. “But I’m the one who kicked it down.”

“THAT’S A LIE AND YOU KNOW IT, MATE!”

“Nope.”

The bickering continues ad infinitum.

None of them realize that Sigil has already cosmic leaped out of the locker room.

BEG VS. BLACKVEIL
SINGLES MATCH

Back at ringside, the militant feminist, Blackveil, looks to bankrupt one of the wealthiest men on the planet, BEG!

The Brides stare down Mickey McGuiness. In the ring, Blackveil dares BEG to hit her first. The old-money grappler would never square up to his male peers but fancies his chances and swings at her – only to be pulled into an arm drag! He races to his feet and swings again, but Blackveil wrenches his arm over her shoulder, then elbows it. She takes him in the corner and uses the top rope for leverage to bend his arm to breaking point, until the referee intervenes.

The Abominable Bride whips BEG, but he counters, sending her head-first into the turnbuckle. She stumbles out and he plants her with a DDT! Pulling her up by the hair—earning a scolding—he spikes her with an inverted Russian leg sweep. ONE… TWO… BEG breaks the pin himself. He nurses his injured arm… he wants to punish her further!

He kicks out her leg and backs up for the running bulldog – CHIP OFF THE OL’… NOW YOU SEE ME! Blackveil teleports with a click of her fingers, sending BEG over the ropes! Blackveil distracts the referee and the Brides give BEG THE REDRESS! McGuiness pulls them off his boss, and they instead maul him! BEG escapes back into the ring.

Blackveil grips him around the throat for the PRICE OF LIBERTY – but with the referee breaking up the melee outside, BEG hits a LOW BLOW! Blackveil falls to her knees. BEG knows he can’t lock in the crossface – CHIP OFF THE OL’ BLOCK! The bulldog knocks Bridezilla out cold as the referee slides back in. ONE… TWO… THREE!

BEG quashes the feminist revolution – for now!

“SANCTUARY I”
SOMEWHERE ELSE

Lights. Camera. Action.

“Welcome back to the show that never ends! We have a special showcase for you tonight as our audience is filled with members from the father’s temple! Our contestant is the man who leads them, the father himself, Luke Marshall!”

Luke Marshall walks out to uproarious applause but he is not his confident self, no he is more downtrodden than anything else.

“Still taking it hard, friend? I understand and of course, those in attendance understand but if it’s not too hard, can you explain to those watching at home?”

Luke nods choked up.

“Yes, well, you see, last week while our heads were bowed in prayer and our eyes were shut, there was a thief in our midst who ran off with our offering plates. As bad as that is, it wasn’t the worst of it, as our treasurer, dear Sister Pat, was shot in the robbery. Worse still was that even though she was a sister to all of us, she’s my actual sister Monty, close as siblings could be, I run the front of our church, she ran the back and now I’m here trying to keep my family, my congregation safe in this studio because it’s what Pat would’ve wanted, let’s do this for Pat!”

A single tear runs down Luke’s face as he holds up a fist. The crowd claps and cheers.

“For Pat!”

“For Pat indeed, now are you ready to hear about our prizes today?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be, Monty.”

“Behind door one, I offer you not only sanctuary today but a sanctuary for eternity, your church and all its followers will be safe even after you leave this earth.”

“Behind door two, I offer you a dream for every preacher out there, an ever-growing church, for every member who leaves the church or walks that rainbow bridge, ten more will take their place. Your family will always be growing until all seats are filled. A guarantee that more people will come to the lord.”

“What door do you choose?”

Luke asks the crowd what door he should choose and there are shouts of one and two, the twos win out as some of the more devout focus on what they deem as a human’s highest purpose, salvation for all they can reach.

“Ok, I’m going to go with the elders on this one, door number two.”

“Walk through Mr. Marshall”

Luke opens the door.

Cut.

“SLANDER”
BACKSTAGE

Backstage

Alton Whitlock stands, smiling his Candidate’s smile in front of a backdrop of his campaign poster.

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your valuable time.”

His face solemns, a serious expression in his eyes.

“I speak to you tonight in an effort to expose a truth. A truth that could and should have dire consequences. I speak to you today as a man who cannot sit idly by and watch as good men are kept down while despicable actions are rewarded.

I seek change, and that change only comes through words that are hard for some to hear.”

Close up. Whitlock’s face, the sincerity in his eyes.

“I speak of Luke Storm. Everybody’s favourite poster boy. Or so is the Luke Storm that we see. But the Luke Storm behind closed doors is very different. I have it on good authority that he is fuelled by a cocktail of illicit drugs, leading to erratic and unpredictable behaviour. In truth, Luke Storm is unstable. Definitely not the man worth multi million dollar movie deals.”

He holds up a stack of papers as if to symbolise the movie contract offered to Storm.

“He and his agent sit with a contract that could make box office records. But I ask of you, is this man really the man you want rewarded with such a deal? The abuser, the drug user? The people do not need another rolemodel who will only let them down.”

Whitlock tears the papers up, his expression turning from solemn to determined and angered.

“I will prove my claims, I will expose Luke Storm for who he truly is. This movie deal… It cannot go ahead.”

He straightens up, his face returning to his Candidate’s smile for a photo opportunity in front of his backdrop.

“Vote Whitlock.”

The camera zooms out as the live stream finishes. Whitlock holds his expression until a voice cuts through.

“Aaaaand, We’re clear.”

The words see an instant loosening up in Whitlock’s posture. In the back of the room, as Whitlock goes about shaking hands and kissing babies, a figure cloaked in a black hood nods and slinks away unnoticed.

Surely, there will be a Storm coming Whitlock’s way after this.

X VS. SEESAW
RING KING QUARTER FINALS

Up next in the Ring King Quarter-Finals, Mr. Make Believe tangles with a man more broken than any of his toys – X!

SeeSaw races over to X and slaps a wristlock on the soldier’s bionic arm. He clubs the shoulder joint and wrenches it in its socket – it looks like he’s trying to tear it off! He whips X into the ropes and hits a hip toss, then drops a leg across the arm. What the… he’s choking X with his own metallic hand! The referee orders him to stop the illegal move.

The clown picks X up, but The Lethal Weapon doubles him over with a whirlwind of boxing blows to the body – then lifts him off his feet with a bionic uppercut! ONE… TWO… SHOULDER UP! SeeSaw got rocked there. X mounts him for some ground and pound, but SeeSaw rakes his one good eye and rolls under the ropes to escape. X pursues him outside – only to eat a Samoan drop on the concrete!

The referee begins a count-out. SeeSaw rolls back in early, but X takes until 7 to follow suit – double-handed chokeslam! ONE… TWO… SHOULDER UP! The mercenary lives to fight another day. SeeSaw puts his boot in X’s back and pulls his arms back into THE STRETCH ARMSTRONG submission! Again he tries to rip that arm off! X refuses to give up, however, and rolls onto his back – then uses the bionic arm to throw SeeSaw off!

SeeSaw charges back towards him, but X tackles him. He traps him in a waistlock then deadlifts him into a german suplex! X signals for the end and heads up top. SeeSaw slowly comes to and gets on his feet – BUT HIS EXECUTION IS POSTPONED! X misses the bionic-powered double axe handle. SeeSaw grabs the arm and wraps it round X’s neck, then snaps his head into the mat – WOODY’S ROUNDUP! ONE… TWO… THREE!

Playtime is over for X, as SeeSaw advances to the Ring King Semi-Finals!

“THE MAYOR OF GARY”
BACKSTAGE

“For the last time Junkrat, I’m telling you, I’m the one who kicked the door in!”

“No, it was me!”

“Fuck you Junkrat it was me!”

Suddenly, a door is quickly placed in the door frame. It hastily sits there, about to fall over anyway, when another Junkrat kicks it in.

“Boom boom, motherfuckers!”

The Mayor of Gary himself, Junkrat. His mayoral sash and top hat commanding the respect of the other Junkrats.

“It’s the mayor!” They all shout in unison, kneeling before him.

“Do not kneel to me, Junkrats, for I may be the mayor, but also, I’m a Junkrat of the people!”

“But then how can we show you our respect as the mayor of our fair city?”

Mayor Junkrat shrugs. “We’ll work out a salute later on. Anyway, check this out.”

Junkrat steps out of the room, and drags a knocked out Sigil in by his feet.

“Hi, Sigil!” They all say.

One in particular asks, “How did you knock him out? He disappeared like we asked him for child support earlier.”

“It’s simple,” Junkrat replies. “Remember yesterday when Dr. Junkrat tried to make a vaccine for our crabs infestations, but it actually just gave us all immense diarrhea poisoning and knocked us out for twelve hours?”

“How could we forget?” They all ask.

“I gave him some of that. Funny though, he didn’t have the diarrhea poisoning.”

“That may have been the fish dinner Chef Junkrat prepared for us.” Says another Junkrat.

“I’m going to leave him a bad Yelp! review.”

“Anyway,” The Mayor says. “Take the magic bag of whatever the fuck is in there and head back to the fort.”

“Why?”

“Because,” Mayor Junkrat explains. “When Sigil wakes up, there’s going to be a war. Prepare the cannons. And the Replicator.”

One of the Junkrats grabs the bag from Sigil’s hip, and they all exit the room.

The Mayor of Gary shakes his head and looks down at the knocked out Collector. “Hope you understand, Sigil. It’s not you. It’s me.”

Cut.

“SANCTUARY II”
SOMEWHERE ELSE

Luke has his hand still on the doorknob, he’s still unsure he should walk in, he takes a deep breath and looks up.

“For you, Pat.”

Luke walks through the door but behind him all he can hear is the rapid firing of AK-47s, he looks behind him and his whole congregation is dead! Men wearing the same mask as Pat’s killer stand over their corpses! The elders sealed the fate of the whole church. Luke tries to run back to his followers but the door slams in his face. He is stunned and shaking.

“What have I done? First Pat, now this?!”

Luke Marshall collapses to his knees completely breaking down from what he just saw. Monty Straight walks up behind him and puts his hand on Luke’s shoulder!

“I thought they were going to be safe in that studio Monty, you broke your promise!”

“I didn’t break anything, I said the audience would be safe, once you walked through your door, your time on the show was over and your congregation was no longer my audience. What’s the saying, the lord works in mysterious ways?”

Luke Marshall gets in Monty’s face.

“Are you kidding me right now?! You better say something sincere through those straight teeth before I make them crooked.”

“I’m sorry, Luke, I know they’re your friends and family but I was being honest, more are with the lord now.”

”At least they’re in a better place.”

“Indeed, Mr. Marshall. Oh, one more thing, you’re going to need a bigger church, one that can fit ten times those victims.”

Luke is about to swing but thinks better of it and storms off as Monty waves goodbye and puts on a mask.

Cut.

ALTON WHITLOCK VS. JUNKRAT
RING KING QUARTER FINALS

It’s politician vs. politician as Alton Whitlock faces off against the newly crowned Major of Gary, Indiana Junkrat.

Before the bell even rings Junkrat charges across the ring and throws himself at Whitlock who just barely catches him before planting the Anarchist into the turnbuckle and backing away. Junkrat wastes little time and runs back at Whitlock, who gets him onto his shoulder before Junkrat spins around for THE CONCUSSION MINE!

The Politician gets planted head first onto the mat with the DDT. Alton rolls out of the ring to gather his thoughts when once again Junkrat throws himself over the ropes, but Whitlock smartened up and took a step to the side allowing the crazed Aussie to splat on the floor.

Whitlock throws Junkrat back into the ring before lifting the Anarchist up on his shoulders, gripping his head looking for SNAP ELECTION! The Joker Driver drills Junkrat into the mat, quickly hooking the leg. Whether it was intentional or by accident, Junkrat kicks out before the ref gets into position.

Junkrat sneakily hands Alton Whitlock one of his grenades, which causes Whitlock to panic. It bursts into confetti allowing Junkrat enough time to gather himself and hit a neckbreaker. Junkrat quickly gets to the top rope and flings himself forward. THE RIP-TIRE connects as Junkrat crashes down with the bowling ball 450 splash. Junkrat throws the confetti around. ONE! TWO! THREE!

The Mayor of Gary, Indiana advances towards Ring King with an explosive win over Alton Whitlock.

“WHO YOU WERE”
SOMEWHERE ELSE

Later Tonight.

The clouds are stormy and gray, wind whipping through the air and rain pelting the wooden deck of Scrimshaw’s ship. The vessel is rocking with the waves and seems ready to capsize! And then…

The rain stops.

The sound of a howl in the night clears the skies and leaves the night silent for a few moments. The camera pans around to reveal, standing at the bow of the ship, shirt off, is Scrimshaw. The runic tattoo on his chest is glowing red, and in front of him, in the side of a mountain, is a cave.

Shaped like a wolf’s maw.

The Captain’s ship sails into the fanged jaw of the rock formation, entering an inner sanctum and docking his at a large stone dock. He makes his way off of the vessel, moving further inside before coming to a large door, engraved with the same runes and symbols as both his chest and his flintlock. He runs his hand across it before the sound of steel on stone begs his attention.

“So, you followed me.”

“I do not follow, I merely go where judgment is needed.”

The Judge. The iron clad warrior picks up his axe from the ground, slinging it across his shoulder as Scrimshaw turns to him, pulling the revolver out of his holster and leveling it at The Judge.

“You are being tried, Scrimshaw. Not as the Salty Sea Dog you have become known as. But as the Blood Fang of the high seas. How do you plead, captain? It matters not, for I have already made my decision.”

Scrimshaw snarls, his teeth seemingly sharpened as he cocks back the hammer.

“I fear no man, and I will not admit guilt for my past. I don’t suppose yer here to parlay?”

The Judge slowly walks towards Scrimshaw, holding his axe in hand.

“Let us talk then, Blood Fang. Let us talk about who you were.”

The camera zooms out past the mouth of the cave, another howl erupting from the entrance as we fade to black.

“…AND TAKE”
SOMEWHERE ELSE