(( The scene faded into the backstage area of the arena in Tallahasse, Florida. The ring crew were passing back and forth, each carrying a disassembled part of the ring, or other components of the HEW production assembly, back to the large 18-wheeler's parked just outside the back doors. The men were hurrying, trying to get their job done quickly, effiecently, so they can get home sooner . . . a place that they would rather be at this time.
(( As the men walked through the desinated parking areas where the wrestlers had had their vehicles parked on hours ago, they notice one vehicle still left in the area. They pay it no great amount of attention, but still, wonder as to why it would still be there when everyone was supposed to have left hours ago.
(( No one was certain, so they kept on with their job. A man carrying a ring post walked by, just passing a guy who had loaded a sheet of plywood into the truck. The men kept at their work . . . .
(( But inside of the vehicle, a '91 Chevy Blazier, painted solid black, with dark tinted windows, and chipping paint off to the lower right side, sat a man. Inside of the Blazier sat Zero. His shirt was still tinged with sweat. His hair, crumpled from the normal spiked way he wore it. No, he had not even attempted to change. No drying off. What was the need? He would be going home. But, going home with new weights bearing down on his already stressed thought patterns.
(( Earlier in the night, at the very opening of Mayhem, Johnny Treacherous had called Zero out. The time had finally came. Treacherous' hand was extended towards Zero. Zero had looked into Treacherou' eyes. And, with the soft glaze of his eyes, Zero had turned his back on Treacherous. Turning his back on Murder Inc. Showing he would not be associated with them. And, at the same time, turning the hatred ON inside of Treacherous, as he struck from behind on Zero.
(( The two had brawled briefly, but the security was quick to break it up. Not, though, before Treacherous issued his warnings out to Zero.
(( Hours had passed. And Zero was still at the arena. Sitting, sleeping, no one was really sure. Then, suddenly, but with the casualness as to not cause a great deal of attention, the door to the Blazier opened. A cigarette butt was flicked out onto the concrete of the parking area.
(( The view flashed from a distant shot, up to the door of the Blazier, where you seen Zero sitting in the driver's seat. One hand was on the wheel, but his forhead rested against the wheel as well. Resting, as if in an act of sleep. But it was more than that . . . .
(( And slowly, his head raised up. A swelling under his right eye was evident, but Zero had a focused demeaner to himself. He casually glanced off as the workers continued their job. And then, his glare came back down into straightaway view, as he slowly began to talk . . . ))
" The murderous acts have already started. Maybe not the final step towards the ultimate sin, but the groundwork has been laid. And Murder Inc. is the architect.
Zero:
" Treacherous thinks that I turned my back on him. He can be mad that I wouldn't accept his handshake. But, the thing is, I never asked for his acceptance. I never asked for a handshake. And, I never asked to be apart of his gang of followers. I am not one to be lead, and I am not one to take orders. And therefore, I am not one of Murder Inc. It is just, that he doesn't see that.
" Tonight, at the beginning of Mayhem, he called me out. He wanted my answer. He wanted it eye to eye, in anticipation that he would win me over instead of having to take the chance of one day having to fight me. But, even disregarding the fact that I would never want to be apart of Murder Inc, he went at it wrong.
" He decided to bring up my past. He wanted to know the truth, in hopes that maybe I was truly a killer . . . something that they say that have never been, but their name shows that they want to be one. And by doing so, he shown his whole intentions. He wanted someone to add credibility to his gang.
" The thing is now, what will he do? He has barged in, and practically demanded that I join him. He never considered the fact that I wouldn't. He took it for granted that everyone is awed by his undefeated streak, and will instantly answer to his every wish and demand. But, if he had studied more about what I am than who I was, he would know that I don't work that way. "
(( Zero took his glare from straight forward, and turned around in his seat, looking back into the back seat of his Blazier. He stared at something for a moment, and then, slowly, brought his head back around forward. His gaze had somewhat dropped slightly as he brought his face back around. ))
" When I was framed, I had to escape. I had to evade the police because I had been framed. For over two months, as I waited . . . as I waited, and as I traveled, I had a lot of time to think to myself. As I waited for the police's next move, I had a lot of priorities that I needed to straighten out in my life. Things that would never allow me to get in the kind of situation that I was in back then.
Zero:
" And, the number one priority I had to come to a conclusion to, was that I couldn't trust anyone. From my childhood, to then, and even to know, I have been stabbed in the back by everyone I come in contact with. Some people disguise their intentions better than others. But Treacherous . . . his intentions were cruelly displayed. His hand was on the table before the cards were even delt. And I could see right through him.
" And now, he has to live with his choices that he has decided to pit himself with. "
(( Zero again turned in his seat, looking toward his backseat. Only, this time, he reached back in it. He grabbed something, and then pulled himself back up to a sitting position. Then, turning in his seat to a forward view, he held up what he had reached for. A videotape. One that looked a lot like . . . ))
" When Matt gave me this tape back, I forced myself to watch it again. And then, I watched it again. Only after viewing it three times, did I truly understand the magnitude of what had happened. I was being framed . . . for murder! It was something that I could not escape from.
Zero:
" But now, using hindsight as the ultimate judgement, I will never be put in that place again. And, if I have to beat Treacherous, destroy his manufactured record, in order to eliminate the murder cloud that always comes back over me . . . then I will.
" Treacherous set the ground work. I just doubt that he will have the tools neccesary to finish the project that went out of control. "
(( Zero flipped the tape onto the passenger seat, and closed his Blazier door shut. As the idle standing workers watched on, Zero turned on his engine. Muted sounds of punk rock playing in his Blazier could be heard as Zero backed out of the parking area, and drove off into the night life of Florida. ))
midi: "Infected" by Bad Religion
