Post by Bryan Williams on Feb 28, 2021 20:16:52 GMT -5
A loud shrill. The kind that sounds like a whistle at first, but it’s too far away. It’s taking too long, and it’s only getting louder.
For a brief moment, the darkened sky is flush with light. It shines over everything, revealing to us the scene that lies ahead.
A desolate battlefield, full of barbed wire traps and trenches. Dead trees and nothingness in between.
It is a wasteland, it is hell.
The concussive blast that follows forces the camera backward, as it swings and lowers itself into the trench below. We see activity, soldiers, and the like all preparing for something. Preparing for nothing.
The camera pushes through the chaos, through the muck, and shows us the conditions for these men. Wounded men lay in the mud, shivering without any help to come their way. It seems so coordinated, the chaos bringing everyone together so they can go their own way.
Our path leads us to a dark corner, flush with ammo crates and sandbags.
A silhouette sits there in the shadow, through the outline we can see his mask.
“I bet you’re sitting there wondering, “why me?”. “Why us?”. “Why right now?”.”
We hear his voice, as he leans forward to reveal himself.
Bryan Williams.
He’s dressed like everyone else, except a few added bandages along with his head and face. The cherry glow of a cigarette can be seen in the darkness as Bryan leans back into the shadows.
He is at war.
“What did you do to deserve all of this attention and negativity from someone such as myself. The newly crowned War Horse champion, surely I could have used my attention on somebody else. You’re right to think that way, I should have made my first defense for somebody more prominent in this promotion. Somebody that actually deserves a chance at bigger opportunities.”
Bryan chuckles, already leaning heavily into his message for his upcoming opponent. He takes a drag from the cigarette and throws it away.
Bryan steps out from the shadows, we see the War Horse championship on his shoulder. Soldiers with weapons on their shoulders pass him by without much of a glance.
“Hell, I’m holding a championship that unlocks something much more meaningful once you get the inclination to do so. A chance at the Union champion.”
Bryan taps a finger to his championship.
“The real test, the real glory.”
“Instead I’m flapping my gums on social media at somebody who didn’t last very long in her only attempt to impress here in Union. Somebody I already took care of in that match, handled swiftly and without much effort. What is really in it for me?”
Bryan begins to walk through the trench, the camera keeping pace as he follows it. Around him, the chaos continues.
“Pepper, we both know that you don’t belong here.”
“You’ve spent your miserable time masquerading around this business as somebody who’s worth any kind of thought. You’ve put your time into these promotions that don’t really register on the radar, desperately trying to claim any success from these dying husks.”
A loud boom is heard in the background, earth flies into the frame as it covers Bryan for a moment.
He doesn’t react.
“Of course when you do, they immediately die and fade away.”
“It’s quite pathetic, and normally I wouldn’t punch down again like this but I just can’t seem to take my eyes off of you. There’s something about you that just makes me want to crush you with my heel. Something about the way you carry yourself, and how you handle your business just puts me in a really bad place.”
He smiles.
“You stick to your little ponds, the places that can overinflate your ego and make you feel like a true superstar. Stuck in your own little world, away from the harsh reality that’s been waiting for you. This battlefield is only for a select few, and we both know that you’re not worthy enough to step foot on it.”
“Foolish.”
“I’ve seen your type plenty of times before, and I guess I could never really do anything about it. Maybe it was apathy, or I was just too busy doing something else. I could throw my usual quips over social media, maybe catch a block from it, and that would be it. Out of sight and out of mind.”
Bryan continues to walk throughout the trench, heading to his destination as he keeps his distance from everyone else.
“I guess you wanted to be different, and I guess that’s the reason that makes this even more maddening for me. You had the audacity to come to my promotion and put yourself in a match you had no intention of winning. A match you had no chance of winning, and you still showed your stupid little face here.”
Another boom, the ground shakes violently beneath Bryan as it causes him to trip and fall into the wall next to him.
He sighs, reaching out to steady himself for a moment. Panic can be heard all around him.
“Finally, somebody did something to warrant this reaction. I was challenged, you took your glove and slapped me right across the cheek. And Pepper, you left it mighty red.”
Bryan pauses, to listen around him.
The shelling has stopped.
He smiles again.
“So, what do we do about this now? We both know what I am capable of, and we both know that your time spent in the ring with me was short the last time we met. A duel between us is inevitable now, but the moment won’t last long.”
“So, what do we do?”
Bryan lets the question hang in the air. Around him more soldiers seem to pour out of nothingness, all congregating by Bryan’s position. They bring ladders, placing them up against the walls in a staggered formation.
Bryan moves close to the one in front of him.
“I say relax, and enjoy the moment that’s to come. We stand here, on the precipice, looking at each other from a distance. There’s no need to dwell on what’s to come, what we both know is going to happen next. It’s been decided already, your fate was sealed a long time ago.”
More men appear, getting ready as they pull out their bayonets. Somebody in the distance yells loudly for the men to “fix bayonets”, the soldiers follow the order as they attach the knife to their rifle.
“I take no pleasure in rubbing that fact into your stupid face, it’s salt in an already gaping wound. Hemorrhaging profusely, with no chance at survival. No, that would be careless of me to do something like that.”
“So, for now, I will wait.”
“I’ll stand on my side here, watching.”
It’s quiet, eerily quiet.
There isn’t a peep from anyone other than Bryan, the men huddle around and watch him as he speaks.
For now, he turns to them.
“I look out in the distance, and I see you. I can see the fear in your eyes, the knowledge of knowing what’s inevitable. There is no escape, there is no exit waiting for you.”
“Maybe a few years ago I would have felt some guilt, some kind of shame for this whole thing. Maybe I would have taken it easy on you, backed off somewhat, and given you a chance to turn this whole thing around.”
Bryan shakes his head, turning back to look at the camera.
“Unfortunately for you, that Bryan is dead.”
The camera quickly cuts, an overhead view of the battlefield that surrounds Bryan. We see the carnage and the mess down below.
True to his word, Bryan lays there lifeless right in the middle.
“I see him out there, in the no man’s land we’re about to cross. Another casualty from this business, and a constant reminder for me. A landmark for what I need to continue to do, what I must do if I’m going to keep my spot here.”
“I don’t need to suffer that same fate again.”
Bryan turns his attention back towards the men.
“So, you must.”
In the distance a whistle pierces through the silence, the men all stand and gather by the ladders. They prepare themselves as they ready to head over the wall.
Bryan turns back towards the camera, as he prepares to do the same.
“I can hear the whistle, they’re calling us soon. We’ll both go over these walls, and soon we will meet in the middle. Soon you’ll look into my eyes and realize you’re in over your head. You’ll understand that you always were, and there was nothing you could have done to change this moment.”
He smiles, one last time.
“We meet on the battlefield, in no man’s land. Only one of us gets to live forever.”
Another whistle.
The men all race forward, spilling out over the top as they race up the ladders to get their boots on the ground.
Bryan looks at the camera.
“I’m sure you figured out which one by now.”
Cut to black.