Short Circuit Part 1 (Esmur Supremacy 1/2)

[The Nihilists]

"What is a God?"

"Depends on who you ask."

~We open up on Esmur standing in the airport lobby in Anchorage, Alaska awaiting the arrival of his teammate. His teammate who has just approached from behind him, having flown in from Canada.~

"Hmm … you appear with the exact answer I was thinking."

"What can I say, maybe it’s a God-given talent."

"Don’t go thanking my opponent yet. Or for that matter your previous Fireside opponent, and our next team opponents."

"So where was this thought going?"

~Esmur smirks beneath his COVID mask, a bland brown affair, much different than the LED embossed mask his partner has been wearing since his first singles outing in NPW for the Cruiserweight Cup.~

"Ask the average Joe Schmo on the street, ‘what is a God?’ and your mileage will vary based on what religion they are … or for that matter HOW religious they are. There are those in the XHF who will tell you God is the Creator. The One above all who is responsible for creating everything you see around you. All in His image. There are others who believe he is a blond Viking who enjoys fiddling with his hammer in public."

"Scandalous."

"And there are others who will tell you any number of religious explanations and iconographies. All one hundred percent assured of the truth of what they tell you. But then there are those select few who will answer … ‘Me.’"

~The two men begin walking from the airport to catch the shuttle to their hotel. Esmur is revealed to be holding his luchador mask in his hand while Gebin seems not to have brought his on the trip. They walk to baggage claim first to pick up Gebin’s small duffel.~

"And those are the most problematic."

"Those in the know, know we are referring to another person we hope NOT to meet at Supremacy. Hyperion. The Mad Titan. We are intimately familiar with his modus operandi and we do not approve. Or maybe you can look to WWX’s Syndicate for another Wrestling God! Another proselytizer who spews his self-aggrandizing rhetoric at the masses hoping to obtain unearned adulation and applause."

"Fittingly the one person who seems to have the most accurate, yet still flawed, ideas of deification may just be your opponent this Sunday. The Self-Made God."

"Yes, with the name honoring another great warrior king who thought himself divine. We all know how THAT turned out for him. Last I checked his city is no longer named for him."

"Shouldn’t we shy away from that reference? After all the people we anger might be giants …"

~Gebin chuckles at his own joke. Esmur’s eyes show him also feeling some mirth. They grab Gebin’s luggage and hit the hand sanitizer dispenser on the way out. They approach the parking garage and approach the humble Honda Civic that Esmur has rented.~

"To get back to the point … a God … when you get RIGHT DOWN to it. Is a human creation. Religion was created as way to unify the hunter-gatherers and promote unity as they moved to farming and needing to share resources with the new village set ups. It helped that they would use it to explain the unexplainable. The fact is … God is man-made. Manufactured by our need to know and the fact that we did not know. And in this way, perhaps Misha Constantine has the right attitude about deities. But that’s where the praise ends. Because it’s all just words. Self-promoting, arrogant, bullshit."

~They hop in the car and Gebin waves the camera guy Esmur had with him into the back seat … cramped and annoyed … hey Civics get you from A to B and are reliable … not spacious.~

"You, Misha, are indeed a self-made star. You came onto the scene and took down some of the most dramatic, dangerous, and talented opponents that the XHF Network can put before you. But you are deluding yourself if you think you are a God … in the classical definition anyway. See it’s all a matter of perspective, and unfortunately yours is undeniably clouded and overly rosy."

~The car begins to drive out of the parking garage and heading towards Glenn Highway.~

"You are undeniably talented, but also undeniably overly arrogant and narcissistic. Clearly you have a bit of a need to inflate your own self-image. And in this need to over-compensate for … whatever it is you feel the need to overcompensate for … you promote yourself to ranks you are not privy to claiming. You lie to yourself. You are not a God. Nobody is. They don’t actually exist."

"Now Esmur, what’s in a name after all? As he is quick to point out, our name isn’t exactly the truth now is it? We must admit a secret to you all … we may have chosen our name in haste. We had been through the ringer by every organized religion, both real and very much imagined … and were coming to the realization that religion is just a human construct that once served a purpose and now hinders our growth as a species. We chose the name based on a faulty understanding of philosophy. Mea culpa on that one."

"To be fair, most people thought we were a reference to Big Lebowski …"

"Yes. And our attitudes did nothing to clarify that. We were misinformed, undereducated on the matter. But the name became synonymous with us and our own sermons on the subject. Our nihilism relates only to the religious aspect. The idea of an afterlife, a big man in the sky, a pantheon of obviously human stereotypes, etc … is all a sham. Religion was a tool the human species used to make great advancements … and now it is used as a barricade to shunt us further back in time. I’m sure you can relate, so I’ll forego the obvious speech on human rights and the like, there is no need to preach to the choir."

"We however have overcome that barricade. And we understand that names are just as such. We like the name, we still use it. People recognize it, and that gives us a platform to enact positive change. Whereas you use your platform to belittle others and put yourself on a pedestal. A world champion who is only out to be a champion for himself. A waste of great natural talent on a man with the attitude of a petulant child."

"We think you’ll find our ambitions are much more grandiose than being messengers. The message is worth sending, and we dedicate ourselves to it. But the method we have chosen is clearly one that also gives us personal glory. Fame. A legacy, as you put it. One which you are trying to also build for yourself. Defeating the faewild fighter, overcoming the fastest rising star in the XHF … achievements to shout about to be sure. But this is the point where that legacy hits a bit of a … short circuit."

*Gebin turns to look at the camera man in the back seat and winks at the camera*

"I can assure you that Gebin is not out there to get involved. After all you are no dinosaur. But if having your buddy … uh …"

"Johnny."

"Who’s Johnny?"

"Johnny Five, I believe he’s the brother of the girlfriend. High as a kite. Smart as a rock."

"A live one I see, well if Johnny Five is alive and wants to watch this clinic in how to bring a God to Earth, then by all means. I can promise Gebin will only get involved if your little saint of a friend gets involved."

~They get on the highway and the feed starts to get unreliable~

"Misha. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, goes against the very idea of my message … but you are looking at a true workhorse. An Iron Man match is right up my alley. So many ways to bend your body and break your spirit. I can assure you, you are in for something astonishing. Is Misha the God he claims to be? I guess we’ll see. Yes, we will see. Misha I look forward to being your learning experience. But hey, at least as a ‘God’ you have all eternity to learn your lesson. Embrace it."

~The feed shorts out as the car enters an area with no signal~