(( On a local television channel in Topeka, Kansas, where the fans are eagerly awaiting for the HEW to come, their local programming goes to a commercial. After one commercial promoting Gateway computers, the screen goes black. Then, the HEW logo comes across the screen. After that, action scenes of HEW superstars come across the screen. Havok, Kevin Powers, Kevin Riggs, Daredevil, Eli Flair....in the background of these images, you hear a voice...
" July 9th, the HEW graces Topeka, Kansas. Tickets are still availible. Fans, get them while they are. The matches planned are going to make this Mayhem a spectacle for the ages. You'll get to see Apocalypse challenge the HEW champion, Havok...the tag titles will be on the line, as well...I could go on and on, but that would be time that you could use to go get a ticket....... "
Suddenly, static fills the commercial, cutting the man's voice off. Then, the screen returns to black. Suddenly, "Infected" by Bad Religion starts playing, and Zero's logo comes on the screen. This image holds for a second, and then the screen and music fades..........
Those images are replaced by a sky shot of Bremerton, Washington. A dark night, with street traffic at a minimum. It then zooms in on an abandoned warehouse set on the outskirts of the city. Inside of the warehouse, old, dust covered, rust infested, wrestling items sit idle. Guard rails, stained and moldy, are stacked up one on the other, against a far wall. Tables, long broken from violent falls from balconies above, no doubt, sat in a pile below the lone window to the warehouse. Garbage dumpsters, still full of items used in violent matches for only the brave, are rowed up against the generators in the back. And in the center of the warehouse, completely setup, but showing signs of wear, abuse, and complete lack of interest for many years, is a wrestling ring.
The ring is missing one section of turnbuckle pads. The other three are ripped and torn, from rats in the warehouse chewing on them, no doubt. The ring aprons surrounding the lower half are old, with so much dust on them that a single bump could cause lack of vision for a few minutes. On the ring canvas, dried blood rests untouched by anyone who had set this ring up in the warehouse. And, in the corner of the ring, sitting against a row of ripped turnbuckles, is Zero.
The view zooms in on Zero. He sits in the corner, focused on what immediately surrounds him. His hair is spiked, and dyed a dark color of blue, with the front side dyed a deep, dark black. His shirt is black, with the Misfits' skull logo blaring from the fronts of it. One of his knees is propped up, with his hand and arm resting on it. A double stud row bracelet is on that arm's wrist.
Zero looks off at the ceiling's corner, with cigarette smoke rising from his free hand on the canvas. He raises the cigarette, and finishes it off before it burns down to the filter. He then leans over, and finishes putting out the cigerette on the stained old canvas. He then focuses his attention forward, and begins to speak... ))
Zero: " Questions. Answers. Not a hard theory to accept in the current state of living that is known as the human existence. But, what happens when conventional methods proove wrong? What happens when the way something is supposed to happen doesn't work out as planned? What happens when the theory is prooved false?
Danny Bryson, you may wonder what the purpose is that I have for challenging you to a match. You may wonder why I would challenge you to a match when I could challenge any other superstar here in the HEW. But you see, why would I challenge anyone else? No one here other than an elite select few fits into the whole grand scheme of things. And you, Bryson, are a pawn that is in this scheme. You didn't know that, I'm sure. And you will probably never fully understand your part, either. But that's ok. You wouldn't understand if J-Smooth himself told you. And that is the way that I like it.
The questions going through your mind right now are no doubt logical and reasonable. Why me? What does he refer to? Where do I fit in? What's my call on Zero? Is this all business? Well, those are very valid questions that you might have. Unfortunately, for your part, those are questions that will be merely stowed away inside of your head for a while. Even after I beat you.
But, one question you may wonder...."What exactly are Zero type matches?" I can give you a hint towards this. You see, in a fed entitles "HARDCORE EXTREME Wrestling", gimmick matches are the norm. It would be easy to call for a Hardcore match, and your request would be granted. Up for a steel cage match? Sure. Do you see? Everything and everyone can be hardcore. But, I take it one step further. As my matches have prooven, I never stick to the confines of a certain type of match. I always take it one step further. I invent, and reinvent, new titles every time I go out. So, then, how could I wrestle a certain match if I will always change the rules to my specifications? I don't. That's why this match is under my rules, my type of match. It goes how I say it will go. Things that I want to invent during this match, I am free to do as I wish. Because it is my rules, that leaves you at the disadvantage of having no idea what to expect. What will I do? How could you know if I won't even know until the moment comes? "
(( Zero pauses for a moment. He stands up, and looks around him. He reaches into his pocket, and retrieves another cigarette. Lighting it, he climbs down from the ring. Echoes from his steps bounce off the walls as he walks over to the broken stack of tables in the corner. He grabs one piece, and then throws it back to the ground. Looking around, he notices a whole table folded up off to the side. He walks over to it, and sets it up. He then precedes to climb up on it, and sit down. Taking a drag from his cigarette, he begins to speak again. ))
Zero: " Is it making sense to you, yet, Bryson? Do you understand what the importance is? Can you comprehend where you play in this whole thing? Are you quite certain that you're ready to face me? Is anything certain? Nothing can be clear unless it is written in blood. And it will come to that. And only then will everything be clear to you on what your part was, and how you played the part of pawn excellently! Then, and only then, can everything be for certain. "
(( Zero stands up on the table, and takes a drag from his cigarette. He then flicks the cigarette off, and raises his face to the sky. Blowing the smoke out, he takes one step forward, and then falls straight back. The impact of him falling smashes the table in two, sending splinters flying through the air, and Zero crashing down onto the concrete below. A cloud of dust erupts from the impact, making vision all but impossible. From inside the dust, though, a smirk laugh is heard. Pieces of a table come flying out into the open. And then, Zero comes walking out of the dust, cigarette in his mouth, and a cut pouring blood from his forehead. His expression is serious. He looks straight ahead..... ))
Zero: " But Bryson, when can ANYTHING be for certain! When will NOTHING mean a whole lot for your survival! "
(( He stares straight ahead, and then turns, and walks towards the door. He opens the door, and disappears into the nighttime of Washington.
Suddenly, in Kansas, on the TV channel, the screen comes back to an old rerun of "Friends". ))
