Post by Donzig on Jul 23, 2023 16:09:03 GMT -5
Donzig sat on the edge of the roof, the neon sigh behind him casting red shadows as he looked down on the city below. He took a drag from his cigar, shaking his head.
‘Look at you, pathetic.’
The voice was cold and hard. Mocking.
He knew the voice as well as he knew his own, and he lifted the cigar to take another drag. The burning end flaring before he moved it away in a cloud of smoke. He rose to his feet, not turning around yet. Scared of what he would see.
‘Go away.’
‘Oh, you would like that. So you could go back to training your little band of losers, and pretending this is over! But you know the truth, and that truth is: you and I are not finished yet.’
Donzig whirled, eyes narrowed on the darkness. And the red glow of the neon sign washed across a figure in the shadows, a gleam of metal where the face should have been.
‘You son of a bitch! You’ve ruined my life! Even now I have to deal with this mess you made! SKY Force? Spike? This shit with Armand?’
A cackle of laughter came from the darkness, a horrible rasping laugh that sounded like some demonic machine trying to sound human. He looked away, and the voice purred.
‘They are like you. They seek to deny the inevitable, the cold hard truth at the center of it all! They live in fear. Look at you? You were once great, but now? You are tired! Worn out! You deny what we are! Is it not exhausting! You are like a wild animal kept in a cage too long, you have lost your ferocity!’
Donzig frowned, and he jabbed the cigar as he spat.
‘What I am scared of is becoming you again!’
The laugh came again, and he shuddered.
‘Every day I grow stronger, while you think of what? Leaving this life? Walking away from our sport of kings? Finding Sinclair or Eli and settling down? Fagh!’
Donzig glared.
‘You turned Sinclair into a monster.’
‘The good Baroness is my gift to the world, long after I am gone Sinclair and her minions will spread havoc through this world. She will be the next Scourge, and she will be terrible to behold!’
Donzig turned away, looking down on the city as he flicked the cigar into the abyss.
‘You’re a cancer.’
‘I am what I am. The cold dead heart of a sport built on blood, I am its real face, and the cost of desire. They all walk around here and deny what is before them! But I will not let you or them forget!’
A grunt. Something rustled in the shadows, and the voice whispered again with a hiss.
‘I can take away your pain. I can make you forget. I will destroy them all! All of them! The God of Extreme? SKY Force! Even proud Armand! I just need you to step aside. It can all begin again!’
Donzig shook his head, eyes narrowed as he he turned again with a scowl. His hands balled into fists as he took a step forward befor he pointed.
‘No! You have done enough! You ran down Spike, you held the Murder Lizard in a cell for months, and I have no idea what you did to Fox!’
A snort of disdain.
‘What I did? What we did! What we did was set them free, we liberated them from these lies! We gave them their true selves! They should be on their knees thanking me! I showed Jesse they were making him weak, I reminded Spike what it means to be a God, and Fox? Fox sees what it costs to be great!’
Donzig stares and he swore he could see the gleam of metal on that expressionless mask, and he lifted a hand to wipe across his mouth.
‘No. What you did was make them like you!’
The thing in the darkness laughed, a hiss of amusement.
‘You can not deny me forever, everyone knows what you are under the skin. You are just a mask. I am your true self, I am inevitable! You throw these things in my face like they mean something? But you let Price’s little girl burn you! You are as sad as the rest of them!’
Donzig took a step closer, and the shadows loomed.
‘And every day you deny me? Their sins grow greater, their inequities grow greater, and they will claw each other to escape the pit they made! And it is on your head.’
Donzig glared. But in his mind he saw what the Scourge wanted. The world of wrestling as a grave, everyone struggling to survive the war he had made of the thing he loved. Ashes fell from a red angry sky, and he looked down on it all with cruel amusement. His mind recoiled, and he spat before shaking his head to clear it.
‘You can’t blame me!’
‘Can’t I? Then blame them! We are nothing but what they made us! And now we are their judgment, punishment, and salvation! They deny us, but in their hearts? They crave the purity of Oblivion!’
‘You’re insane!’
‘I am as God!’
Donzig swore, looking back to the city below as he raised a shaking hand. His head hurt, the hiss of that thing was like razors. He frowned, smoothing his beard before he looked back over his shoulder as a door opened.
The Young Lion stepped out, looking around confused before he turned to Donzig.
‘I thought I heard you talking to someone. Are you okay?’
Donzig stares at him for a long moment, his fingers clenched into a fist as a hazy red tore at the edges of his vision. Then he took a deep breath, and forced his hands to open before he shrugged.
‘Yeah, I’m fine. Let’s go get a drink.’
‘Look at you, pathetic.’
The voice was cold and hard. Mocking.
He knew the voice as well as he knew his own, and he lifted the cigar to take another drag. The burning end flaring before he moved it away in a cloud of smoke. He rose to his feet, not turning around yet. Scared of what he would see.
‘Go away.’
‘Oh, you would like that. So you could go back to training your little band of losers, and pretending this is over! But you know the truth, and that truth is: you and I are not finished yet.’
Donzig whirled, eyes narrowed on the darkness. And the red glow of the neon sign washed across a figure in the shadows, a gleam of metal where the face should have been.
‘You son of a bitch! You’ve ruined my life! Even now I have to deal with this mess you made! SKY Force? Spike? This shit with Armand?’
A cackle of laughter came from the darkness, a horrible rasping laugh that sounded like some demonic machine trying to sound human. He looked away, and the voice purred.
‘They are like you. They seek to deny the inevitable, the cold hard truth at the center of it all! They live in fear. Look at you? You were once great, but now? You are tired! Worn out! You deny what we are! Is it not exhausting! You are like a wild animal kept in a cage too long, you have lost your ferocity!’
Donzig frowned, and he jabbed the cigar as he spat.
‘What I am scared of is becoming you again!’
The laugh came again, and he shuddered.
‘Every day I grow stronger, while you think of what? Leaving this life? Walking away from our sport of kings? Finding Sinclair or Eli and settling down? Fagh!’
Donzig glared.
‘You turned Sinclair into a monster.’
‘The good Baroness is my gift to the world, long after I am gone Sinclair and her minions will spread havoc through this world. She will be the next Scourge, and she will be terrible to behold!’
Donzig turned away, looking down on the city as he flicked the cigar into the abyss.
‘You’re a cancer.’
‘I am what I am. The cold dead heart of a sport built on blood, I am its real face, and the cost of desire. They all walk around here and deny what is before them! But I will not let you or them forget!’
A grunt. Something rustled in the shadows, and the voice whispered again with a hiss.
‘I can take away your pain. I can make you forget. I will destroy them all! All of them! The God of Extreme? SKY Force! Even proud Armand! I just need you to step aside. It can all begin again!’
Donzig shook his head, eyes narrowed as he he turned again with a scowl. His hands balled into fists as he took a step forward befor he pointed.
‘No! You have done enough! You ran down Spike, you held the Murder Lizard in a cell for months, and I have no idea what you did to Fox!’
A snort of disdain.
‘What I did? What we did! What we did was set them free, we liberated them from these lies! We gave them their true selves! They should be on their knees thanking me! I showed Jesse they were making him weak, I reminded Spike what it means to be a God, and Fox? Fox sees what it costs to be great!’
Donzig stares and he swore he could see the gleam of metal on that expressionless mask, and he lifted a hand to wipe across his mouth.
‘No. What you did was make them like you!’
The thing in the darkness laughed, a hiss of amusement.
‘You can not deny me forever, everyone knows what you are under the skin. You are just a mask. I am your true self, I am inevitable! You throw these things in my face like they mean something? But you let Price’s little girl burn you! You are as sad as the rest of them!’
Donzig took a step closer, and the shadows loomed.
‘And every day you deny me? Their sins grow greater, their inequities grow greater, and they will claw each other to escape the pit they made! And it is on your head.’
Donzig glared. But in his mind he saw what the Scourge wanted. The world of wrestling as a grave, everyone struggling to survive the war he had made of the thing he loved. Ashes fell from a red angry sky, and he looked down on it all with cruel amusement. His mind recoiled, and he spat before shaking his head to clear it.
‘You can’t blame me!’
‘Can’t I? Then blame them! We are nothing but what they made us! And now we are their judgment, punishment, and salvation! They deny us, but in their hearts? They crave the purity of Oblivion!’
‘You’re insane!’
‘I am as God!’
Donzig swore, looking back to the city below as he raised a shaking hand. His head hurt, the hiss of that thing was like razors. He frowned, smoothing his beard before he looked back over his shoulder as a door opened.
The Young Lion stepped out, looking around confused before he turned to Donzig.
‘I thought I heard you talking to someone. Are you okay?’
Donzig stares at him for a long moment, his fingers clenched into a fist as a hazy red tore at the edges of his vision. Then he took a deep breath, and forced his hands to open before he shrugged.
‘Yeah, I’m fine. Let’s go get a drink.’