NOC #5: Moonshot

[anthonycaffrey]

The relay from the moon has begun to broadcast its signal as the wrestlers from Champion's Destiny have already teleported back to Earth just hours after the event has finished. 

The true loneliness of space can be felt: there is no oxygen to carry the sounds of space, and no one seems to be around.

What’s left of the ring has been flipped upside down. The ropes helping keep the ring tied down to the floor look like they could snap at any moment.

The camera zooms in on the footage. Subject #42 is seen looking under the ring, where Jeffrey Viper was having relations with its mother. Its loss weighs heavily on whatever it has for a mind.

It sits, back against the overturned ring, looking mentally done with everything.

And so it sits, and sits, and sits. Time begins to pass.

Subject #42's spacesuit has a supply of oxygen tied to it. The Freak seems to use more of it than a normal human, but this thought doesn't seem to register to Subject. Or maybe it does, as it seems to be resigning itself to its fate. It has been weakened, both physically and emotionally, by its past few days in space.

DUMB

SUBJECT!

Subject lets out another ragh, almost annoyed at hearing the sounds of Dumb looking for it, content to wallow in its self pity. It seems to consider pulling what’s left of the ring back down on top of itself, but seems caught in its thoughts just long enough that Dumb Ref, who makes his way down to the ring with his newly won CW Extravagentzal Championship, is able to find him.

DUMB

There you are, buddy. Come on, it’s time to go home.

The word “home” doesn’t seem to have the same effect on the monster as it did in the past. Usually happy to see its handler, or at least interested in those kinds of words that give it a sense of belonging, it seems full of doubt.

DUMB

All of the scientists at the teleporter---

This draws a reaction out of Subject, but not one Dumb was expecting. It gets back to its feet and forcibly bangs against the side of the ring, leaving a dent in the mat.

SUBJECT #42

RAGH!

Dumb puts its hands up, not having realized that the teleporter would be a sensitive issue.

DUMB

Subject! It’s okay, buddy, it’s okay. Listen, I’m sorry, okay?

Realizing Subject may be more intelligent than he gave it credit for, Dumb realizes he should be honest. Subject doesn’t really appear to be listening.

DUMB

Everyone else, it only took fifteen minutes. But you broke the teleporter---

It bangs on the mat again, this time even harder, at being accused of breaking the teleporter.

SUBJECT #42

RAGH?!

DUMB

HEY! I’m just telling the truth here. You did break it, but I think YOU fixed it too!

Subject just stares at Ref. Its body language screams “go away”, but Dumb keeps talking, knowing he has to talk himself out of the hole he’s just dug himself into.

DUMB

The scientists kept talking about some kind of power failure associated with your voice. I was hounding them to get them to fix the damn thing all night long, but they kept blaming the errors on you, your size, and your voice. They thought at first you’d be an easy problem to solve, they thought they could just account for how big you were and move on. They thought they could just push right by you, right through you, to get to whatever challenges would be coming next.

Subject stops staring at the hole it left in the mat. It isn’t looking at Dumb, but one can tell that the monster is listening.

DUMB

But you proved your voice could be powerful in a lot of other ways.

Dumb cocks his head to the side.

DUMB

Your voice broke the teleporter, but hours later, long after I thought we might’ve accidentally stranded half the roster, there was suddenly this massive power spike. It was enough to get everything running again, and that’s when I found you on the floor. I reviewed the footage after we got you some medical attention, and that’s when it became clear: your voice saved everyone.

Subject looks up.

SUBJECT #42

Ragh?

Dumb points at his friend.

DUMB

Ragh.

Subject nods, seemingly beginning to break out of its funk again, until it looks back at the ring in front of it. Looking underneath the ring sends the trauma shooting back through its body of watching what happened with Jeffrey Viper. Its eyes go from happy back to being miserable in less than thirty seconds.

Dumb doesn’t seem to notice this, and tries to force the issue by catering to what he knows Subject likes.

DUMB

So now we’ve gotta get you home---

Subject begins to wildly shake its head “no”. It bangs on the mat.

SUBJECT #42

RAGH!

Dumb isn’t sure what to do with himself. This has worked before, and he’s suddenly left without an easy answer. This might, after all, be Subject’s home. He stares at the freak as Subject puts extra effort into communicating. It points at the stars above, the space out in the distance, and all around itself.

SUBJECT #42

RAGH.

DUMB

Home? Your home’s back on Earth, Subject. With all of the people who love you---

Subject knows the only thing that loves him isn’t back on Earth.

SUBJECT #42

RAGH! RAGH RAGH RAGH RAGH!

Dumb Ref loses his cool, shouting back at the beast.

DUMB

THIS ISN’T YOUR HOME!

Now Subject really knows the only thing that loves him isn’t back on Earth. Its anger courses through its body as it shoves Dumb Ref, knocking him down.

Subject looks down at his friend, immediately realizing the power of what it’s just done. It is worse for Ref than any 10 10 roll, as he looks up at Subject, unsure of what to say, almost unsure of what the hell just happened.

Subject stares at the Ref. It does not feel better, having finally pushed Dumb away. It resigns itself to its feeling, not knowing what to do with this immediate feeling of regret.

SUBJECT #42

Ragh.

Subject sits down and turns away from Ref, gesturing with its tree limb like arms for the Ref to go. It gestures for the Ref to leave him behind, to leave him on the moon, not thinking at all about the amount of oxygen left in its tank. 

Ref isn’t sure what to do. He tries to grab at his face, but for the first time, even while down, he can not check for blood, mostly because of the helmet he’s wearing. He lets Subject just sit there as he does. Both men are down and in pain as he quietly counts to himself.

DUMB

One...

Dumb looks up at the entrance ramp. He could just leave. He could just give up on Subject.

DUMB

...two...

After all this time, maybe Subject is just a beast, or a freak, or some kind of alien. Is Subject really even human? Why did he ever think he had a chance of communicating with Subject in the first place? Communicating for him was hard enough.

DUMB

...three...

SUBJECT #42

...ragh...

Dumb isn’t sure what he’s just heard out of Subject’s mouth. Subject repeats itself, this time a bit louder.

SUBJECT #42

...Ragh...

Dumb gets up, brushing himself off. He timidly walks towards the beast, arms up and ready to protect himself. He isn’t sure how he’s going to stop Subject if Subject goes off again, but he knows that the two have gone too far to just quit on him now. He knows that their friendship has crossed the line into brotherhood, and that brothers can fight, but the love they share for each other outweighs everything.

Still, he’s nervous.

DUMB

Subject?

He sits down in front of Subject, so that the two can make eye contact, but far enough away that he might have a shot at running for the exit if need be.

Subject looks up from the ground, making eye contact with the referee. The two stare at each other for a period, at least until Subject makes the same ragh again.

SUBJECT #42

...Ragh.

Its eyes are filled with remorse and pain as it looks at his friend. Ref looks down, lost in his thoughts for a few seconds, before commiting.

DUMB

Please don’t do that again.

SUBJECT #42

Ragh ragh.

Dumb nods.

DUMB

It’s alright.

It’s not fully alright, but it will have to do for now. It offers Subject a hand. Subject takes it and gets back to its own two feet, but its eyes immediately return back to the ring. Dumb finally has some kind of idea of what to say.

DUMB

That was a bad loss, there.

Subject nods, still coming to grips with its disappointment.

DUMB

I think people forget that even when it looks like it’s not, every match is a roll of the dice. Whenever I’m reffing, there’s so many things that can happen out there. Sometimes you’re alright and things are going your way, and some times, you can everything can keep breaking left when all you want is for something, anything really, to break right. It’s a lot like life.

DUMB

But for you, it’s never been about the losses. It’s never been about the losses, or the wins, for any of you guys. It’s about who you are, even in the face of adversity. Bulldog comes out with a giant ego even if he gets his ass kicked, Monroe keeps trying to get us to read his books even if he drops a match here and there, and Lio, well… he’s still Lio, unfortunately.

Dumb chuckles to himself.

DUMB

But the difference is when I console wrestlers who lose, usually they have a ceiling. Usually they lose because they don’t have that potential, or they don’t have that skill they needed to pick up the victory. There’s a reason you’re a former Heavyweight Champion, Subject. On a good day? On a good day you run wild up and down the entire roster. Even if you lose one week, your next opponent still knows you could rip them apart the next. Match after match builds the experience, and the experience in the ring is helpful, but the match itself is more important than anything.

DUMB

When we started tallying up Match of the Night, officials thought we were weird. Why do we keep a statistic for people and prop it up, even if they come up short? We do it because when you’re out there, you’re not just you. You’re not just Darren Wilson, Thomas Galloway, you’re not just Subject #42. You’re a part of the Destiny Wrestling team. No, you’re part of the Destiny Wrestling family. Or as you eloquently put it, the raghragh.

Subject #42 nods again. It bumps fists with Dumb.

SUBJECT #42

Raghragh.

DUMB

Hell yeah.

Dumb smiles, before realizing what has to be done. He puts up a hand.

DUMB

But we have one more task in front of us, brother: The Tower.

Subject sobers up. The Tower is a fancy way to say it: a greenhouse, a cell, some scaffolding, a cage, and a ladder to freedom… but basically, all cages. And it’s a touchy subject for Subject, as he does NOT like cages. It pounds into the mat again, dispersing its anger in the giant welts it keeps leaving in the mat.

DUMB

I know you well, buddy. I know you hate cages more than anyone else in the XHF. I know you know what it’s like to be locked in without knowing how to get out. It’s terrifying. And I know you would do almost anything to not be locked in a cage. I’ve seen you break more cages than anyone else.

Pandering to Subject’s raw strength doesn’t seem to help the situation. Dumb tries a different angle.

DUMB

But you won’t be alone on Sunday, Subject. You’re not going in by yourself.

Subject looks over at Dumb quizzically, as if Dumb was going into the Tower with him.

DUMB

Not me, buddy. My time is ending. I’ve done all I can as your hype man, we’ve got a long way. This Sunday is your time. No, this Sunday you’re locked in with four other competitors: Nausicaa Suzuki, Zolothatch, Tommy Holiday, and Seth Dillinger. But if there’s one thing I know… you’re not locked in with them, Subject.

Dumb gets Subject’s attention before pointing a finger as close to its face as possible.

DUMB

They’re locked in with you.

Something clicks for Subject.

SUBJECT #42

RAAGH!

DUMB

They’re trapped in a tower with a monster that wants few things more in its life than to be free. And if you have to batter, bruise, and beat four other competitors with an inch of their lives to scale up the Tower and get your freedom back, well we all know that’s just another Sunday for you!

Dumb bangs on Subject’s chest.

DUMB

They don’t know what’s fucking coming to them. They don’t watch us. For fucks’ sake, Seth Dillinger doesn’t even believe in you!

Subject is confused. How could someone not believe in him?

SUBJECT #42

Ragh?!

DUMB

Yeah, that self-obsessed blogger pothead of a champion from Philly who doesn’t even know who the President is, who somehow doesn’t get beaten and chased out of the somewhat homophobic Midwest and the even more homophobic profession of professional wrestling, even though he goes around parading his sexuality likes it make him better than anyone else… I mean for fucks’ sake that guy talks about things related to his dick almost as much as Jeffrey Viper---

Dumb Ref has to stop because we get something rare out of Subject #42: a laugh. It sounds like a combination of his regular raghs and the sound of an electric can opener being used, so it’s not exactly a pleasant laugh, but it’s a laugh nonetheless.

DUMB

That guy, who’s more afraid of commitment than you, he doesn’t believe in you! If he had a loss like you had, he couldn’t bounce back. You see, that self-obsessed jackass NEEDS that X*Crown or no one will watch him cockblock himself for the eighteenth time. That guy hasn’t studied for you, he hasn’t prepared for you like the way he should, because he’d rather spend his time on cutesy little dates rather than wrestling or even watching a show other than the AWF. That guy doesn’t believe in you. X*Crown or not, that AWF asshole thinks he can go into this match without a plan. That guy doesn’t understand that instinct alone won’t help when 325 pounds crash into his ribcage with a spear, or how it’s going to feel when he’s tossed into the walls of the greenhouse like a sack of potatoes. You’re going to make him believe!

Subject shakes his head affirmatively as Dumb fires him up.

DUMB

This Sunday, you’re going to make everyone believe. You’re no Santa Claus, and you’re damn sure not the Easter Bunny, you’re the real fucking deal. When those four are left lying, bodies scattered all over the Tower, they’ll believe alright. This Sunday, this Sunday is your moonshot, Subject. You’re going to show the world, you’re going to show everyone who ever counted you out, anyone who ever questioned you or tried to stop you, that you’re the Monster of the People… and good luck taking that X*Crown from you.

The CW Extravganzanental Champion grabs part of what’s left of the ring.

DUMB

Let’s give ‘em a little preview.

Subject stares for a second, before realizing what Dumb wants to do. The two bump fists. It grabs the ring as well.

DUMB

One...

Dumb tries to get leverage to pull the ring, but Subject already has it.

DUMB

...two...

Subject pulls the ring, tearing it away from the supports that were keeping it down. With only a little help from the moon’s gravity, the ring goes flying in the air, quickly beginning to move out of the shot. Dumb can only look on as he finishes his count, as he had no impact on the ring whatsoever.

DUMB

...three.

The gravity eventually brings the ring back down in a far-off crater. The loud crash is heard as Dumb looks at Subject. All he can do is smile as the Freak lets out one last ragh.

SUBJECT #42

RRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Dumb pats Subject on the back.

DUMB

Let’s go home, brother.

The camera fades to black.