Sharkleberry Fin Portents {{RHF PHX 02}}}
Oct 29, 2021 22:56:51 GMT -5
Mongo the Destroyer likes this
Post by terras on Oct 29, 2021 22:56:51 GMT -5
“How did you get out of that fire?”
Redmond Fury closes his eyes.
The last thing that the Buckeye Bruiser remembers was the sauna door slamming behind him, and by the time he had recovered his footing, Adkins had wedged the door shut. The temperature of the sauna had risen dramatically, but it wasn’t a noticeable difference from the inferno raging on the other side of the wall. A thick steam filled the air, but it soon mixed with black dust, as smog seeped in through melting fixtures – the two combining for a sickly grey vapour. While the larger than life figure had been known to bench-press 700 pounds, at that point he was having a hard time staying on his feet. With a violent cough, the wall of muscle collapsed. Landing on his knees, Fury bent further down to suck up any oxygen that had still been loitering around the ground. Painful wretches saw him exhale more air than his massive lungs were able to suck up, and it wasn’t long before he was quivering on the floor almost unconscious. By all accounts, that ought to have been the end of the story.
Redmond Fury should be dead.
“So what happened?”
The Buckeye Bruisers’ breathing got shallow. His massive chest moved at a slower pace, each repetition rising a little bit lower. The smoke competing with the blood in his eyes to see which could obscure his vision more. The grey vapour compromise finally gave way to more black, with clouds swirling around the ceiling.
Then darkness moved in.
As his eyelids got heavier, Fury could have sworn that the vapours formed a face. That an animal stared down at him, with a mad rage in its eyes.
Had it been a growl from the depths of hell or just a water heater exploding?
The beast stared into the bruiser’s soul, and then bared its fangs. The smoky monster rushed towards the downed champion, embracing him as the ceiling started to collapse. Fury tried to fight it, flailed against a sense of dread that was as oppressive as any imploding building – as though failing to struggle would have meant damnation. The smoke rushed in faster.
For all of Fury’s celebrated strength, he could not fight the waves of darkness. The Buckeye Bruiser was overwhelmed.
Outside the sun shines, and the fire seems less catastrophic. Down the street from the Blackpool Fitness Centre two children view the five-alarm fire with great interest. The children came to Cruiserfest to see a Bloodied Fox, but would also brag to their classmates if they witnessed a charred corpse.
There is a rumbling sound.
Another explosion?
The boys look at the brick wall behind them. It looks connected. Is that part of the same building that is on fire?
The children take a few steps back as the rumbling continues.
Bricks burst apart as Fury jumps through the wall with his arms raised high.
Redmond Fury: OH YEAH!!!
Kids: Wow!
This momentary burst of possibly soul selling energy quickly leaves the half-dead superstar, who slumps backwards onto his pile of bricks. Fresh air. The champion gasps. Coughing rough enough that its hard to communicate, but aware of the conversation a few feet away.
Boy: Did you see him punch through that wall? I’m going to drink Kool-Aid so I can grow up to have muscles like Red Hot Fury!
RF: What, no-
Girl: I’ve been meaning to go on a diet, and if Mister Redmond endorses Kool-Aid it has to be healthy!
Coughing up grit, Fury forces himself to join them.
RF: Kids- that is not the take away from this.
Kids: KOOL-AID YAY!
RF: The amount of sugar is incredibly bad for-
The Kool-Aid Man sneaks up next to Redmond Fury and takes a selfie with him. As the flash goes off, Fury roars like a beast before wincing at the sugar water mascot.
Kool-Aid Man: OH YEAAAAAH!
RF: Damn it, Kool-Aid Man, you’re not helping!
Finding the bodybuilder’s growling to be a little disconcerting, the Kool-Aid Man escapes through a nearby wall.
RF: Now kids, I’d like to tell you about the negative health affects that consuming-
Boy: Wanna play People’s Temple?
Girl: Do I ever!
RF: Now hang on-
The children run off to play People’s Temple, leaving a dejected Redmond Fury to wonder if his successfully escaping from the gym has led to the loss of two young lives. Even if Fury’s body hadn’t been broken down by his cruiserfest pre-show match, the thought of the children guzzling that garbage is depressing enough that Fury has a hard time moving. Smoke continues to pour out of the man-sized hole in the wall behind him.
RF: Damn it.
Defeated, Fury leans back in the pile of bricks waiting for some paramedics to spot him. The things he saw in the fire. That animal. Did he dream it? Physically and emotionally exhausted, Fury is at the point of tears when he notices the camera. Closing his eyes in pain, The Buckeye Bruiser waves it over.
RF: Consequences.
With a deep sigh, Redmond Fury pushes himself up. He gets about halfway upright, before a violent coughing fit takes him. With one knee on the sidewalk to support his massive frame, Fury looks up at the camera with tired eyes.
RF: I knew there were going to be consequences.
Picking up a loose brick, Fury staggers over to the wall, and places it at the base.
RF: The minute I won that title shot... I knew. I waited backstage with baited breathe, glued to the monitor during your title defence, Greg. I praying that you would lose the championship before I could collect on my shot. Nothing personal, Greg, I just knew what challenging you would entail. But you were too good. Our meeting at Night of Champions was set. The cost of a Phoenix title match? Wrestling you. You’re a good wrestler, Greg. Only instead of wrestling, I knew there would be all sorts of other indignities. Grinding. Humping. Wildly inappropriate touching. Questionable bodily fluids. Fingers probing so many places you’d think we were a Japanese cartoon. Anything to get the audience riled up, well, anything but wrestling.
Your reputation precedes you, Greg.
Groaning as he bends down to pick up another brick, Fury stacks it on top of the last.
RF: Those were the consequence of challenging your championship reign. Defeating you for the strap? Well that meant a whole other set of consequences.
The Buckeye Bruiser sways in place, barely able to stand, but still places another brick.
RF: Defeating you meant earning your spite.
As the former champion you felt compelled to follow the title to GUNS. Good. I see your value, Greg, and welcome you to MY new home. Only its not as much about helping GUNS for you, since you’re only there as a freelancer. No its more about you already being in the title race, so getting a quick turnaround on a shot, and also wanting a pound of my flesh for your inconvenience. That’s fair. You’re only human, Greg. ...Even if you don’t always act like it.
Every muscle in his body seizing up, Redmond Fury sweeps an arm to drag the loose bricks closer to his hole. Falling down to his knees, Fury continues to stack bricks, grabbing one to emphasis each point he’s making.
RF: The consequence of victory. A second match. That I can live with. That is reasonable. You couldn’t just leave it at that though. You needed to make an example out of me, needed to hurt me, to make people think twice before they EVER thought of challenge you again.
Consequences.
You insult me. That is fair. It comes with the territory.
You suggested I used steroids. Deeply offensive slander that could hurt me professionally, fortunately anyone who knows my character would see through your lies.
You took a friend of mine, L.A. Wombat, and beat him like a dog in front of me. That crossed a line.
You bite into my forehead, and consumed my flesh.
You have had your friends assault me.
Repeatedly attempted to maim me.
Today you made my abilities as a personal trainer look bad. Cheated in my favour which ended up costing me my honour. As if those slights weren't enough, you then locked me in a burning building. You get that this is real, right? I know you’ll do anything for cheap heat, but that was white heat, Greg. Someone could have gotten seriously injured thanks to your little stunt. I could have died. Do you understand that? I know you realize me dying is your best shot at victory, but that isn’t what we do. We wrestle.
Do you understand that just as there are consequences for my actions, they also exist for yours?
Or did you think you could treat me like garbage for all this time and you would still get a happy ending?
You can try to destroy me out of the ring or inside of it. Only if you spend months tormenting me, realize that you have already had all the compensation you’re going to get for your championship run coming to an end.
Lightly tapping the last brick into place, Fury staggers backwards trying to create enough space to admire his craftsmanship.
Some of the bricks are cracked, not all the edges line up perfectly, but the hole has been filled.
RF: The Phoenix is going to hatch soon. This is clear. There will be a reckoning. The only question is, which side of the flames are you going to be on?
Because Greg... you have some very real consequences in your immediate future.
With that, Fury nods to himself, then lowers his head. Having made his point, The Buckeye Bruiser staggers off to find medical attention. Then stops dead in his tracks as he comes across the little girl from earlier, who is lying prone in the street.
Girl: You... betrayed me.
She dies.
Redmond Fury almost trips over himself. This is an illusion. Adkins no doubt spiked his water bottle with LSD. Feeling like he’s on the verge of a nervous breakdown, The Buckeye Bruiser limps off towards the paramedics.
After a few seconds, the girl sits up.
Girl: Now I wanna be Jim Jones.
The child gets up, brushes the dirt from her dress, then slowly approaches the recently patched wall. Did it make a sound? She moves in closer to inspect it when the rumbling starts again. Startled, the girl runs away. The minutes she leaves the frame, the hole that Fury had carefully filled starts to crumble. Dozens of bricks spill out onto the sidewalk. Smoke continues to stream out of the hole.
Somewhere The Bear Devil licks its lips in anticipation of the feast to come.
“How did you get out of that fire?”
“I’m not sure I did.”
Consequences.
Redmond Fury closes his eyes.
The last thing that the Buckeye Bruiser remembers was the sauna door slamming behind him, and by the time he had recovered his footing, Adkins had wedged the door shut. The temperature of the sauna had risen dramatically, but it wasn’t a noticeable difference from the inferno raging on the other side of the wall. A thick steam filled the air, but it soon mixed with black dust, as smog seeped in through melting fixtures – the two combining for a sickly grey vapour. While the larger than life figure had been known to bench-press 700 pounds, at that point he was having a hard time staying on his feet. With a violent cough, the wall of muscle collapsed. Landing on his knees, Fury bent further down to suck up any oxygen that had still been loitering around the ground. Painful wretches saw him exhale more air than his massive lungs were able to suck up, and it wasn’t long before he was quivering on the floor almost unconscious. By all accounts, that ought to have been the end of the story.
Redmond Fury should be dead.
“So what happened?”
The Buckeye Bruisers’ breathing got shallow. His massive chest moved at a slower pace, each repetition rising a little bit lower. The smoke competing with the blood in his eyes to see which could obscure his vision more. The grey vapour compromise finally gave way to more black, with clouds swirling around the ceiling.
Then darkness moved in.
As his eyelids got heavier, Fury could have sworn that the vapours formed a face. That an animal stared down at him, with a mad rage in its eyes.
The Bear Devil.
Had it been a growl from the depths of hell or just a water heater exploding?
The beast stared into the bruiser’s soul, and then bared its fangs. The smoky monster rushed towards the downed champion, embracing him as the ceiling started to collapse. Fury tried to fight it, flailed against a sense of dread that was as oppressive as any imploding building – as though failing to struggle would have meant damnation. The smoke rushed in faster.
For all of Fury’s celebrated strength, he could not fight the waves of darkness. The Buckeye Bruiser was overwhelmed.
ASHEN KINGDOM
Outside the sun shines, and the fire seems less catastrophic. Down the street from the Blackpool Fitness Centre two children view the five-alarm fire with great interest. The children came to Cruiserfest to see a Bloodied Fox, but would also brag to their classmates if they witnessed a charred corpse.
There is a rumbling sound.
Another explosion?
The boys look at the brick wall behind them. It looks connected. Is that part of the same building that is on fire?
The children take a few steps back as the rumbling continues.
Bricks burst apart as Fury jumps through the wall with his arms raised high.
Redmond Fury: OH YEAH!!!
Kids: Wow!
This momentary burst of possibly soul selling energy quickly leaves the half-dead superstar, who slumps backwards onto his pile of bricks. Fresh air. The champion gasps. Coughing rough enough that its hard to communicate, but aware of the conversation a few feet away.
Boy: Did you see him punch through that wall? I’m going to drink Kool-Aid so I can grow up to have muscles like Red Hot Fury!
RF: What, no-
Girl: I’ve been meaning to go on a diet, and if Mister Redmond endorses Kool-Aid it has to be healthy!
Coughing up grit, Fury forces himself to join them.
RF: Kids- that is not the take away from this.
Kids: KOOL-AID YAY!
RF: The amount of sugar is incredibly bad for-
The Kool-Aid Man sneaks up next to Redmond Fury and takes a selfie with him. As the flash goes off, Fury roars like a beast before wincing at the sugar water mascot.
Kool-Aid Man: OH YEAAAAAH!
RF: Damn it, Kool-Aid Man, you’re not helping!
Finding the bodybuilder’s growling to be a little disconcerting, the Kool-Aid Man escapes through a nearby wall.
RF: Now kids, I’d like to tell you about the negative health affects that consuming-
Boy: Wanna play People’s Temple?
Girl: Do I ever!
RF: Now hang on-
The children run off to play People’s Temple, leaving a dejected Redmond Fury to wonder if his successfully escaping from the gym has led to the loss of two young lives. Even if Fury’s body hadn’t been broken down by his cruiserfest pre-show match, the thought of the children guzzling that garbage is depressing enough that Fury has a hard time moving. Smoke continues to pour out of the man-sized hole in the wall behind him.
RF: Damn it.
Defeated, Fury leans back in the pile of bricks waiting for some paramedics to spot him. The things he saw in the fire. That animal. Did he dream it? Physically and emotionally exhausted, Fury is at the point of tears when he notices the camera. Closing his eyes in pain, The Buckeye Bruiser waves it over.
RF: Consequences.
With a deep sigh, Redmond Fury pushes himself up. He gets about halfway upright, before a violent coughing fit takes him. With one knee on the sidewalk to support his massive frame, Fury looks up at the camera with tired eyes.
RF: I knew there were going to be consequences.
Picking up a loose brick, Fury staggers over to the wall, and places it at the base.
RF: The minute I won that title shot... I knew. I waited backstage with baited breathe, glued to the monitor during your title defence, Greg. I praying that you would lose the championship before I could collect on my shot. Nothing personal, Greg, I just knew what challenging you would entail. But you were too good. Our meeting at Night of Champions was set. The cost of a Phoenix title match? Wrestling you. You’re a good wrestler, Greg. Only instead of wrestling, I knew there would be all sorts of other indignities. Grinding. Humping. Wildly inappropriate touching. Questionable bodily fluids. Fingers probing so many places you’d think we were a Japanese cartoon. Anything to get the audience riled up, well, anything but wrestling.
Your reputation precedes you, Greg.
Groaning as he bends down to pick up another brick, Fury stacks it on top of the last.
RF: Those were the consequence of challenging your championship reign. Defeating you for the strap? Well that meant a whole other set of consequences.
The Buckeye Bruiser sways in place, barely able to stand, but still places another brick.
RF: Defeating you meant earning your spite.
As the former champion you felt compelled to follow the title to GUNS. Good. I see your value, Greg, and welcome you to MY new home. Only its not as much about helping GUNS for you, since you’re only there as a freelancer. No its more about you already being in the title race, so getting a quick turnaround on a shot, and also wanting a pound of my flesh for your inconvenience. That’s fair. You’re only human, Greg. ...Even if you don’t always act like it.
Every muscle in his body seizing up, Redmond Fury sweeps an arm to drag the loose bricks closer to his hole. Falling down to his knees, Fury continues to stack bricks, grabbing one to emphasis each point he’s making.
RF: The consequence of victory. A second match. That I can live with. That is reasonable. You couldn’t just leave it at that though. You needed to make an example out of me, needed to hurt me, to make people think twice before they EVER thought of challenge you again.
Consequences.
You insult me. That is fair. It comes with the territory.
You suggested I used steroids. Deeply offensive slander that could hurt me professionally, fortunately anyone who knows my character would see through your lies.
You took a friend of mine, L.A. Wombat, and beat him like a dog in front of me. That crossed a line.
You bite into my forehead, and consumed my flesh.
You have had your friends assault me.
Repeatedly attempted to maim me.
Today you made my abilities as a personal trainer look bad. Cheated in my favour which ended up costing me my honour. As if those slights weren't enough, you then locked me in a burning building. You get that this is real, right? I know you’ll do anything for cheap heat, but that was white heat, Greg. Someone could have gotten seriously injured thanks to your little stunt. I could have died. Do you understand that? I know you realize me dying is your best shot at victory, but that isn’t what we do. We wrestle.
Do you understand that just as there are consequences for my actions, they also exist for yours?
Or did you think you could treat me like garbage for all this time and you would still get a happy ending?
You can try to destroy me out of the ring or inside of it. Only if you spend months tormenting me, realize that you have already had all the compensation you’re going to get for your championship run coming to an end.
Lightly tapping the last brick into place, Fury staggers backwards trying to create enough space to admire his craftsmanship.
Some of the bricks are cracked, not all the edges line up perfectly, but the hole has been filled.
RF: The Phoenix is going to hatch soon. This is clear. There will be a reckoning. The only question is, which side of the flames are you going to be on?
Because Greg... you have some very real consequences in your immediate future.
With that, Fury nods to himself, then lowers his head. Having made his point, The Buckeye Bruiser staggers off to find medical attention. Then stops dead in his tracks as he comes across the little girl from earlier, who is lying prone in the street.
Girl: You... betrayed me.
She dies.
Redmond Fury almost trips over himself. This is an illusion. Adkins no doubt spiked his water bottle with LSD. Feeling like he’s on the verge of a nervous breakdown, The Buckeye Bruiser limps off towards the paramedics.
After a few seconds, the girl sits up.
Girl: Now I wanna be Jim Jones.
The child gets up, brushes the dirt from her dress, then slowly approaches the recently patched wall. Did it make a sound? She moves in closer to inspect it when the rumbling starts again. Startled, the girl runs away. The minutes she leaves the frame, the hole that Fury had carefully filled starts to crumble. Dozens of bricks spill out onto the sidewalk. Smoke continues to stream out of the hole.
Somewhere The Bear Devil licks its lips in anticipation of the feast to come.
“How did you get out of that fire?”
“I’m not sure I did.”
Consequences.