Post by Michael on Jun 19, 2016 12:33:23 GMT -6
(OOC: In a rush right now to post so I will finish coloring later)
Pause now to ask yourself the following question: "Am I dreaming or awake, right now?" Be serious, really try to answer the question to the best of your ability and be ready to justify your answer. ~Stephen LaBerge
The scene opens in darkness. Not pure darkness as the room is just every faintly lit up, breaking out in different places off to the side. As the scene focuses, becoming more clear, a pair of shapes can be seen on what appears to be a mattress on the floor. A worn down mattress that probably has quite a few years of age on it. Nearby is what appears to be another smaller mattress with a shape laying on it as well. Despite the darkness, turning around to look about the room shows a dresser and what appears to be a lamp, some tin cans, and some other objects that are not really important at the moment. Further scanning of the room shows a small kitchen and a couple of doors across the room. The room appears to be a small apartment or hotel room.
The only sounds in the room are the deep, soft breathing of the shapes in the room and the light sounds of snoring. Suddenly another sound can be heard right outside from where the faint light is coming from when a bell rings outside. One of the two shapes on the bigger mattress stirs and sits up fairly quickly. The other two shapes stir slightly but eventually go back to their deep breathing once more. The shape that is sitting up reveals itself to be masculine as the deep sound of a throat being cleared gives it away.
The man gets up and slowly walks across the room towards the light. The sound of a door handle being pushed down can be heard and the room starts flooding with light. Even though the man quickly slips through the doorway and closes the door behind him, we get a glimpse of the two figures still asleep: a feminine figure and that of a smaller person, likely a child.
Outside we see the man from inside the room stretching on a balcony. The balcony isn’t made of rails but instead is made of some kind of stone or something of the like and due to the angle, we are not able to see past the balcony itself, which the man is leaning on. He has dark hair and his face is grizzled looking. Like that of someone who hasn’t shaved in a few days but not someone who shies away from the razor. He has the look of a man who has seen his fair share of things, things he does not wish to share with your average person. His clothes are somewhat dirty, but not to the point of being filthy.
He draws in a deep breath, taking in the smell of the air. He scrunches his nose and coughs into his elbow. He turns and reaches up to a roped line on what appears to be a pulley system. The bell that made the sound earlier can be seen hanging beside a bucket. Spilling over the sides of the bucket are what appear to be fish. The man grabs the bucket and unhooks it from the pulley system. He turns and plops the bucket down next to what appears to be a small, worn-looking metal firepit. The man takes a set of tools that sit wrapped up in old newspaper nearby and proceeds to clean the grill area of it. He puts a couple of logs and with the help of some matches, he eventually gets the fire going in the fire pit. He rubs his hands together for a minute, warming them up.
The man then proceeds to clean one of the fish with some more tools nearby. The door to the room opens up and out steps the feminine figure. She is a long-haired brunette with a slender, well-built figure. She’s more of a lean toughness rather than a muscular build. The man and woman smile at each other when they lock eyes, his never leaving her face as she sits beside him, grabs a fish and a knife, and proceeds to help him in cleaning the fish.
A few minutes later the door opens up and the smaller figure from the room steps out. It’s a little boy who appears to be about the age of maybe 7 or 8 and looking at both his features as well as the parents, it’s obvious he belongs to them. He rubs one of his eyes sleepily.
“I’m hungry.”
The man and woman smile at him and the woman hands him a plate as they have been cooking the fish. The boy greedily eats on the bluefish placed on his towel in front of him, using his fingers due to the lack of eating utensils available. The woman smiles lovingly at him. The air is suddenly pierced by a shrill scream from out beyond the balcony. The man and woman’s heads snap towards the sound, but the boy ignores it, concentrating on the tasty fish he is currently devouring.
The man stands up and walks over to the edge of the balcony, looking out beyond it. The view moves around behind him, looking out over his shoulder. The balcony appears to be on a really high building but the location is not really possible to determine at first glance as we’re looking down at the ruins of a large city in the distance and an equally ruined harbor not that far away. Some buildings look destroyed as if from some attack, others look decayed, while others appear to be barely standing and on the verge of collapsing at any moment. The top of one building is even leaning against the one beside it. Fires dot the early morning sky, scattered among the buildings. Some are possibly campfires, others could just be burning buildings.
The pulley system next to the man extends all the way down to the harbor area along with other pulley systems that come from other balconies on the same building. In the harbor area, people can be seen milling about. Fishing nets are being pulled from the ocean while others stand on the side of a giant pier, their fishing rods hanging over the sides. The harbor area itself is walled off on one side as if to keep something out. Guards stand near it with guns and other weapons. Due to the scream, most of the fishermen and even the guards are looking in the direction of the screams which continue.
The man looks down towards the screams and sees a woman running down the street towards the harbor. The woman is being chased by several figures, but it’s too far away to make out what they are. The man’s eyes light up in recognition. He turns to see another man on the next balcony over. He is blonde with chiseled features. They both lock eyes and a curt nod is shared between them. The blonde-haired man disappears from his balcony. The man turns back and looks at the woman.
“Go.”
The woman says a single word and many more are shared between them through their expressions. The man reaches down and pats the boy on the head as the woman stands up. The man and woman share a passionate kiss and hug before he opens the balcony door and disappears into the room. The woman steps over to the balcony, looking out at the ruined city. Words appear on the screen:
2920 PA (post apocalyptic)
Ruins of New York City
=======================
“Wake up, buddy. We’re here!”
The scene opens up on a Greyhound bus. A man in a neon green tank top is standing in front of another man, leaning over the seats, lightly shaking him awake.
“The driver yelled several times and we thought you were never going to wake up. Are you ok?”
The man in the tank top steps back to reveal the man from the balcony. Only he doesn’t look the same. The man from the balcony is clean shaven, his hair neatly trimmed and his clothes are clean. He is wearing a black shirt and some black gym shorts. He looks around confused as he sees other people getting off of the bus. A couple of the people look back confused in the direction of the man from the balcony. The man looks outside the bus in surprise to see a giant warehouse. He keeps looking around frantically as if lost.
“Bro, are you ok?”
The man from the balcony looks up at the man in the green tank top, who has a concerned look on his face. The man from the balcony gives him a confused look, continuing to look around. The guy in the tank top scoffs, but holds his hand out for a handshake.
“Bro, my name is David. What’s your name?”
The man from the balcony has a confused look on his face still as he ponders the question asked to him by David. Eventually, David puts his hand down, realizing he’s not going to get that handshake. He rubs his chin, still looking concerned at the man from the balcony.
“Dude, you may want to go see the doctor. You look like you don’t even know where you are.”
The man from the balcony looks up at David.
“Where am I?”
David laughs.
“Jeez dude, you really are out of it. We’re in Chi Town.”
“Chi Town?” asks the man from the balcony.
David gives him a weird look.
“Yeah, bro, Chi Town. Chicago.” David responds. He continues sarcastically.
“As in. Illinois.” David says with no response from the man from the balcony.
“In the United States” No response.
“Earth.” No response.
“Whatever. Look, go see the doctor, man. You took some bad meds or something.”
David claps him on the shoulder, grinning and then turns and heads off the bus. The man from the balcony looks over and sees a duffle bag on the seat beside him. He unzips it and looks inside. He sees black wrestling tights, extra pair of boxer shorts, a couple of black t-shirts and a medicine bottle. The man from the balcony quickly grabs them and looks on the label for the name. It has been scratched out, leaving the man confused.
“Son, I’ve got a schedule to meet and you staying on this bus isn’t helping, unless you’re not getting off here.”
The man from the balcony looks towards the front of the bus to see the bus driver impatiently waiting for him to exit the bus. The man puts the things back in the duffel bag, zips it shut and takes it with him as he walks to the front and jogs down the steps into the parking lot of the huge warehouse. He looks up to see the letters UCI on it with the words United Championship Infinite underneath. He mouths the words with a confused look on his face, not recognizing the combination of letters, the name, or why he’s even here. On the bottom of the screen the following words pop up:
May 10, 2016
UCI Warehouse
Chicago, Illinois
The man from the balcony jumps as the doors to the bus hiss behind him, surprising him. The bus pulls away, heading towards the exit. Aside from a few cars and a big sprawling, unfamiliar city behind him, it looks like there’s only one place to go: inside the warehouse with the letters UCI on it.
The scene switches to inside the warehouse to show a waiting room. The man from the balcony walks inside, looks around curiously at the florescent lights and closes his eyes as the cool air from the central air system blows on him. The other men and women in the waiting room look at him like he’s a weirdo. David, the guy in the tanktop from the bus, waves in his direction.
“Hey bro, come sit over here with me, man! We gotta wait for them to call us back.”
The man from the balcony looks towards the door opposite the one he came in and sees a reception window beside it. A petite raven-haired woman sits behind it, glancing nervously at the man, hoping he won’t come over to the window. The man from the balcony turns and walks over to David, taking a seat beside him, plopping his duffle bag in the seat next to him. David turns to him.
“Dude, I am so psyched about this. I’m ready to make a name for myself in this business.”
The man from the balcony turns to David with a curious look. David gives him a “are you serious?” look.
“Come on, you don’t know what we’re doing in here?”
The man from the balcony shakes his head no. Other people in the waiting room give him a weird look.
“Dude, this is United Championship Infinite. This is one of the newest feds to pop up. We’re getting in at ground level and going to make a name for ourselves in this upcoming world title tournament. They got huge names in this tournament. Jay Omega, THE Polar Phantasm, Wade Moor, Crow McMorris. They got these new guys from the indies like Chase Jackson, Taylor Wright, and this awesome chick I’ve seen videos of on Youtube, Erin Fausse.”
David looks at the man from the balcony as if expecting him to be psyched by that news. The man just shrugs. David scoffs and looks shocked.
“Bro, how are you signing up to be a professional wrestler and don’t even know those names? Have you ever even wrestled before?”
The man from the balcony shakes his head no. David mimics his mind being blown.
“Dude, you must be enhancement talent. They must be bringing you in to feed to people like Crow or Wade or maybe even me.”
The door beside the reception opens and everyone looks up as a skinny guy in a green tracksuit walks into the room, holding the door with one hand. He looks down at the list in front of him. He looks up.
“Michael. Ok that’s weird, no last name on this sheet.”
The man in the tracksuit looks around anyway at the people in the room. Everyone looks around at each other, no one responding to the name.
“Is there a Michael in the room?”
Still no answer. The man lets out an exasperated sigh and flips open some folders for a few seconds until he spots one that says Michael. He opens the folder and looks inside to see no last name there either. He has a confused look on his face but sees something else.
“Michael from New York City?”
The man from the balcony looks up at the mention of New York City, but still doesn’t respond. The man in the tracksuit notices this and looks back at the folder. He points to the man from the balcony.
“I see a picture of a man who looks just like you. Michael, come with me, sir.”
David looks at Michael confused.
“Bro, why didn’t you say your name was Michael?”
Michael shrugs and grabs his duffel bag, then walks across the room, and follows the man in the track suit down a white hallway. The man in the tracksuit turns and holds out his hand for a handshake.
“So my name is Jayson Stasiak and I am helping here part-time to streamline talent relations, especially with getting some of you lesser well-known wrestlers ready for the first show this week. You’ll probably recognize me as the manager of the legend known as Gravedigger or if you’ve been in the Pennsylvania area, you’d recognize me from Penn State Wrestling Federation where I am the current owner.”
Michael looks confused and shakes his head when Jayson glances at him. Jayson returns the confused look.
“Ok that’s not a look I was expecting. Even those who know little to nothing about wrestling have at least heard of Gravedigger. Then again you’re from New York City, so maybe you’re more accustomed to the wrestling scene around there. Here we are.”
Jayson stops at a door, opening it and walks inside. Michael stops for a moment as he notices the room number: 2920. He stares at it with a confused look and then walks into the room. Jayson walks around to a desk and takes a seat at the chair and then gestures to a couple of chairs across from the desk. Michael takes a seat at one of them. Jayson opens the folder and spreads out the contents of the folder. He reaches into one of the drawers, pulls out a pen and looks over one of the sheets.
“Ok so we need to finish filling out a few things. First thing is your last name. What’s your last name again? I can’t believe the horrible attempts at paperwork here. Anyway, hit me with your last name first.”
Jayson notices Michael looking at some pictures from the folder. Jayson has a curious look on his face, reaches over, and slides the pictures towards Michael.
“We’ve been watching you for a while, Michael. You’ve got the makings for someone great in this business.”
Michael looks up with alarm at the comment about watching him, but looks back down at the pictures and picks them up, slowly going through them, total confusion on his face. He sees pictures of him in the ring, pictures of him backstage with interviewers, pictures at restaurants posing with people that look like friends, and finally a family photo. All of a sudden he is flooded with memories and pictures of unfamiliar events and people. He grunts as he squeezes the bridge of his nose.
“Whoa, are you ok, Michael?”
Michael nods.
“Ok so what’s your last name? Let’s knock this out, I have things to do.”
Michael slowly looks up and speaks.
“I don’t have one.”
The scene fades.
==================
PRESENT DAY
The scene opens up again in the gorilla position backstage of the UCI Warehouse. Michael is standing there in black wrestling tights and a black shirt, looking on as two men wrestle in the ring with Jayson Stasiak looking on. Michael looks over at the camera as he speaks.
“So, my name is Michael. I’m not really sure how I got that name or if that’s even my real name. I was shown those pictures in the office with Mr. Stasiak a few weeks back, but I don’t remember any of those events. Even after being flooded with memories dating all the way back to my childhood, those seem like the memories of someone else. My wife and my child are not in those memories. I don’t remember getting on that bus. I don’t remember wanting to be a wrestler. What I know of wrestling died years back before all the chaos. I have never even heard of UCI.
Is UCI a dream? Is this all a dream? Am I laying somewhere in the ruins of New York City asleep right now dreaming of all of this happening? If my wife and son were here right now with me, this would be the absolute perfect dream. Water and food are plentiful, electricity works, everything is somewhat normal, but until I figure out what is going on here, there’s only one thing I can do: play along. Go with the flow and that’s exactly what I’ve been doing these past few weeks since getting off that bus. I was in some world title tournament match against Kyle Cameron and Asher Bradley. I didn’t fare well and lost and tonight is my first match back.
UCI gave me a couple of weeks off where I saw a doctor to try and figure out what is going on with me, but returned with a clean bill of health. I’ve been saving up the money to get a bus ticket to New York City. I’m hoping that maybe I’ll find my wife and child there. In the meantime though, I have to face off against some guy named David Sanchez. The mayor of Chicago?”
I’m not really sure what to make of that as the Chicago I’m familiar with doesn’t have a mayor. Actually, from the stories I’ve heard, Chicago doesn’t even exist anymore. Yet here I am somehow in Chicago itself right now as a professional wrestler. A profession I haven’t heard of in nearly 10 years. A profession I didn’t know I was even skilled in until I saw those pictures. According to these foreign memories in my mind, I have been wrestling for over 5 years and I was pretty good at it according to Mr. Stasiak.
So here we are on what the calendar claims is June 19, 2016 and I will face off against David Sanchez. A dangerous, evil individual that apparently has no regard for the well being of others. A man who seeks to destroy the things put in front of him to accomplish his goals and will use any means necessary.
I can understand that. I can almost even relate to that. This is an evil cruel world itself and you have to do what it takes to survive. Where I’m from, what was once known as New York City, it is a place where chaos and evil reigns. You have to watch your back at every moment as your untimely end could come at any moment. You can’t get complacent. You can’t get comfortable. If you’re comfortable, you’re dead. It’s as simple as that. Now, in comparison to wrestling, it’s not quite that deadly of an outcome. If you get complacent or comfortable here, you get pinned to a mat and the match is over, you’ve lost. Your stock starts to grow stagnant or starts to drop I’m told. I’m told I don’t want that to happen.
See, where I am right now, in this UCI Warehouse in Chicago Illinois on June 19th, 2016, I don’t know if this is reality or a dream. At first I thought nah, this is the dream, my place with my wife and son on that balcony overlooking the harbor is my reality, but what if it’s not? Or if this is a dream, what if my remaining complacent here in the hopes of waking up, is delayed? What if my winning brings me back to reality? I’m just so confused right now, but the one thing I’m not confused about is what I will be doing tonight on Overload.
Tonight on Overload, I will defeat the Mayor David Sanchez in the ring. David Sanchez is a well-known name not only here in Chicago but in the world of professional wrestling. I’ve been able to watch video after video of him in match after match. I’ve listened to his promos and I’ve learned as much about him as possible. I cannot say the same for Mr. Sanchez. I am an enigma. I am an unknown. No matter if this is reality or a dream, in THIS reality I am real and I am unknown. In THIS reality, I am a professional wrestler and if these memories are correct, I have done pretty well so far and it was why I was picked to join UCI when it opened last month.
The confusion over my memories and who I am worried the powers that be here in UCI. Losing in my very first match had to be another blow to my status here in this company, so tonight that has to be rectified. Tonight, I need to defeat David Sanchez so that I can move on. No matter if that’s moving onto another match next week or moving on towards returning to my wife and son. Tonight, I will do whatever it takes to come out on top.
Two thousand nine hundred and twenty. That’s the number of days since chaos and evil won. That’s the number of days that I have survived. I am a survivor and that will not change. Tonight, I will survive once more…”
Michael stares intently at the camera as the scene fades to black.
Pause now to ask yourself the following question: "Am I dreaming or awake, right now?" Be serious, really try to answer the question to the best of your ability and be ready to justify your answer. ~Stephen LaBerge
The scene opens in darkness. Not pure darkness as the room is just every faintly lit up, breaking out in different places off to the side. As the scene focuses, becoming more clear, a pair of shapes can be seen on what appears to be a mattress on the floor. A worn down mattress that probably has quite a few years of age on it. Nearby is what appears to be another smaller mattress with a shape laying on it as well. Despite the darkness, turning around to look about the room shows a dresser and what appears to be a lamp, some tin cans, and some other objects that are not really important at the moment. Further scanning of the room shows a small kitchen and a couple of doors across the room. The room appears to be a small apartment or hotel room.
The only sounds in the room are the deep, soft breathing of the shapes in the room and the light sounds of snoring. Suddenly another sound can be heard right outside from where the faint light is coming from when a bell rings outside. One of the two shapes on the bigger mattress stirs and sits up fairly quickly. The other two shapes stir slightly but eventually go back to their deep breathing once more. The shape that is sitting up reveals itself to be masculine as the deep sound of a throat being cleared gives it away.
The man gets up and slowly walks across the room towards the light. The sound of a door handle being pushed down can be heard and the room starts flooding with light. Even though the man quickly slips through the doorway and closes the door behind him, we get a glimpse of the two figures still asleep: a feminine figure and that of a smaller person, likely a child.
Outside we see the man from inside the room stretching on a balcony. The balcony isn’t made of rails but instead is made of some kind of stone or something of the like and due to the angle, we are not able to see past the balcony itself, which the man is leaning on. He has dark hair and his face is grizzled looking. Like that of someone who hasn’t shaved in a few days but not someone who shies away from the razor. He has the look of a man who has seen his fair share of things, things he does not wish to share with your average person. His clothes are somewhat dirty, but not to the point of being filthy.
He draws in a deep breath, taking in the smell of the air. He scrunches his nose and coughs into his elbow. He turns and reaches up to a roped line on what appears to be a pulley system. The bell that made the sound earlier can be seen hanging beside a bucket. Spilling over the sides of the bucket are what appear to be fish. The man grabs the bucket and unhooks it from the pulley system. He turns and plops the bucket down next to what appears to be a small, worn-looking metal firepit. The man takes a set of tools that sit wrapped up in old newspaper nearby and proceeds to clean the grill area of it. He puts a couple of logs and with the help of some matches, he eventually gets the fire going in the fire pit. He rubs his hands together for a minute, warming them up.
The man then proceeds to clean one of the fish with some more tools nearby. The door to the room opens up and out steps the feminine figure. She is a long-haired brunette with a slender, well-built figure. She’s more of a lean toughness rather than a muscular build. The man and woman smile at each other when they lock eyes, his never leaving her face as she sits beside him, grabs a fish and a knife, and proceeds to help him in cleaning the fish.
A few minutes later the door opens up and the smaller figure from the room steps out. It’s a little boy who appears to be about the age of maybe 7 or 8 and looking at both his features as well as the parents, it’s obvious he belongs to them. He rubs one of his eyes sleepily.
“I’m hungry.”
The man and woman smile at him and the woman hands him a plate as they have been cooking the fish. The boy greedily eats on the bluefish placed on his towel in front of him, using his fingers due to the lack of eating utensils available. The woman smiles lovingly at him. The air is suddenly pierced by a shrill scream from out beyond the balcony. The man and woman’s heads snap towards the sound, but the boy ignores it, concentrating on the tasty fish he is currently devouring.
The man stands up and walks over to the edge of the balcony, looking out beyond it. The view moves around behind him, looking out over his shoulder. The balcony appears to be on a really high building but the location is not really possible to determine at first glance as we’re looking down at the ruins of a large city in the distance and an equally ruined harbor not that far away. Some buildings look destroyed as if from some attack, others look decayed, while others appear to be barely standing and on the verge of collapsing at any moment. The top of one building is even leaning against the one beside it. Fires dot the early morning sky, scattered among the buildings. Some are possibly campfires, others could just be burning buildings.
The pulley system next to the man extends all the way down to the harbor area along with other pulley systems that come from other balconies on the same building. In the harbor area, people can be seen milling about. Fishing nets are being pulled from the ocean while others stand on the side of a giant pier, their fishing rods hanging over the sides. The harbor area itself is walled off on one side as if to keep something out. Guards stand near it with guns and other weapons. Due to the scream, most of the fishermen and even the guards are looking in the direction of the screams which continue.
The man looks down towards the screams and sees a woman running down the street towards the harbor. The woman is being chased by several figures, but it’s too far away to make out what they are. The man’s eyes light up in recognition. He turns to see another man on the next balcony over. He is blonde with chiseled features. They both lock eyes and a curt nod is shared between them. The blonde-haired man disappears from his balcony. The man turns back and looks at the woman.
“Go.”
The woman says a single word and many more are shared between them through their expressions. The man reaches down and pats the boy on the head as the woman stands up. The man and woman share a passionate kiss and hug before he opens the balcony door and disappears into the room. The woman steps over to the balcony, looking out at the ruined city. Words appear on the screen:
2920 PA (post apocalyptic)
Ruins of New York City
=======================
“Wake up, buddy. We’re here!”
The scene opens up on a Greyhound bus. A man in a neon green tank top is standing in front of another man, leaning over the seats, lightly shaking him awake.
“The driver yelled several times and we thought you were never going to wake up. Are you ok?”
The man in the tank top steps back to reveal the man from the balcony. Only he doesn’t look the same. The man from the balcony is clean shaven, his hair neatly trimmed and his clothes are clean. He is wearing a black shirt and some black gym shorts. He looks around confused as he sees other people getting off of the bus. A couple of the people look back confused in the direction of the man from the balcony. The man looks outside the bus in surprise to see a giant warehouse. He keeps looking around frantically as if lost.
“Bro, are you ok?”
The man from the balcony looks up at the man in the green tank top, who has a concerned look on his face. The man from the balcony gives him a confused look, continuing to look around. The guy in the tank top scoffs, but holds his hand out for a handshake.
“Bro, my name is David. What’s your name?”
The man from the balcony has a confused look on his face still as he ponders the question asked to him by David. Eventually, David puts his hand down, realizing he’s not going to get that handshake. He rubs his chin, still looking concerned at the man from the balcony.
“Dude, you may want to go see the doctor. You look like you don’t even know where you are.”
The man from the balcony looks up at David.
“Where am I?”
David laughs.
“Jeez dude, you really are out of it. We’re in Chi Town.”
“Chi Town?” asks the man from the balcony.
David gives him a weird look.
“Yeah, bro, Chi Town. Chicago.” David responds. He continues sarcastically.
“As in. Illinois.” David says with no response from the man from the balcony.
“In the United States” No response.
“Earth.” No response.
“Whatever. Look, go see the doctor, man. You took some bad meds or something.”
David claps him on the shoulder, grinning and then turns and heads off the bus. The man from the balcony looks over and sees a duffle bag on the seat beside him. He unzips it and looks inside. He sees black wrestling tights, extra pair of boxer shorts, a couple of black t-shirts and a medicine bottle. The man from the balcony quickly grabs them and looks on the label for the name. It has been scratched out, leaving the man confused.
“Son, I’ve got a schedule to meet and you staying on this bus isn’t helping, unless you’re not getting off here.”
The man from the balcony looks towards the front of the bus to see the bus driver impatiently waiting for him to exit the bus. The man puts the things back in the duffel bag, zips it shut and takes it with him as he walks to the front and jogs down the steps into the parking lot of the huge warehouse. He looks up to see the letters UCI on it with the words United Championship Infinite underneath. He mouths the words with a confused look on his face, not recognizing the combination of letters, the name, or why he’s even here. On the bottom of the screen the following words pop up:
May 10, 2016
UCI Warehouse
Chicago, Illinois
The man from the balcony jumps as the doors to the bus hiss behind him, surprising him. The bus pulls away, heading towards the exit. Aside from a few cars and a big sprawling, unfamiliar city behind him, it looks like there’s only one place to go: inside the warehouse with the letters UCI on it.
The scene switches to inside the warehouse to show a waiting room. The man from the balcony walks inside, looks around curiously at the florescent lights and closes his eyes as the cool air from the central air system blows on him. The other men and women in the waiting room look at him like he’s a weirdo. David, the guy in the tanktop from the bus, waves in his direction.
“Hey bro, come sit over here with me, man! We gotta wait for them to call us back.”
The man from the balcony looks towards the door opposite the one he came in and sees a reception window beside it. A petite raven-haired woman sits behind it, glancing nervously at the man, hoping he won’t come over to the window. The man from the balcony turns and walks over to David, taking a seat beside him, plopping his duffle bag in the seat next to him. David turns to him.
“Dude, I am so psyched about this. I’m ready to make a name for myself in this business.”
The man from the balcony turns to David with a curious look. David gives him a “are you serious?” look.
“Come on, you don’t know what we’re doing in here?”
The man from the balcony shakes his head no. Other people in the waiting room give him a weird look.
“Dude, this is United Championship Infinite. This is one of the newest feds to pop up. We’re getting in at ground level and going to make a name for ourselves in this upcoming world title tournament. They got huge names in this tournament. Jay Omega, THE Polar Phantasm, Wade Moor, Crow McMorris. They got these new guys from the indies like Chase Jackson, Taylor Wright, and this awesome chick I’ve seen videos of on Youtube, Erin Fausse.”
David looks at the man from the balcony as if expecting him to be psyched by that news. The man just shrugs. David scoffs and looks shocked.
“Bro, how are you signing up to be a professional wrestler and don’t even know those names? Have you ever even wrestled before?”
The man from the balcony shakes his head no. David mimics his mind being blown.
“Dude, you must be enhancement talent. They must be bringing you in to feed to people like Crow or Wade or maybe even me.”
The door beside the reception opens and everyone looks up as a skinny guy in a green tracksuit walks into the room, holding the door with one hand. He looks down at the list in front of him. He looks up.
“Michael. Ok that’s weird, no last name on this sheet.”
The man in the tracksuit looks around anyway at the people in the room. Everyone looks around at each other, no one responding to the name.
“Is there a Michael in the room?”
Still no answer. The man lets out an exasperated sigh and flips open some folders for a few seconds until he spots one that says Michael. He opens the folder and looks inside to see no last name there either. He has a confused look on his face but sees something else.
“Michael from New York City?”
The man from the balcony looks up at the mention of New York City, but still doesn’t respond. The man in the tracksuit notices this and looks back at the folder. He points to the man from the balcony.
“I see a picture of a man who looks just like you. Michael, come with me, sir.”
David looks at Michael confused.
“Bro, why didn’t you say your name was Michael?”
Michael shrugs and grabs his duffel bag, then walks across the room, and follows the man in the track suit down a white hallway. The man in the tracksuit turns and holds out his hand for a handshake.
“So my name is Jayson Stasiak and I am helping here part-time to streamline talent relations, especially with getting some of you lesser well-known wrestlers ready for the first show this week. You’ll probably recognize me as the manager of the legend known as Gravedigger or if you’ve been in the Pennsylvania area, you’d recognize me from Penn State Wrestling Federation where I am the current owner.”
Michael looks confused and shakes his head when Jayson glances at him. Jayson returns the confused look.
“Ok that’s not a look I was expecting. Even those who know little to nothing about wrestling have at least heard of Gravedigger. Then again you’re from New York City, so maybe you’re more accustomed to the wrestling scene around there. Here we are.”
Jayson stops at a door, opening it and walks inside. Michael stops for a moment as he notices the room number: 2920. He stares at it with a confused look and then walks into the room. Jayson walks around to a desk and takes a seat at the chair and then gestures to a couple of chairs across from the desk. Michael takes a seat at one of them. Jayson opens the folder and spreads out the contents of the folder. He reaches into one of the drawers, pulls out a pen and looks over one of the sheets.
“Ok so we need to finish filling out a few things. First thing is your last name. What’s your last name again? I can’t believe the horrible attempts at paperwork here. Anyway, hit me with your last name first.”
Jayson notices Michael looking at some pictures from the folder. Jayson has a curious look on his face, reaches over, and slides the pictures towards Michael.
“We’ve been watching you for a while, Michael. You’ve got the makings for someone great in this business.”
Michael looks up with alarm at the comment about watching him, but looks back down at the pictures and picks them up, slowly going through them, total confusion on his face. He sees pictures of him in the ring, pictures of him backstage with interviewers, pictures at restaurants posing with people that look like friends, and finally a family photo. All of a sudden he is flooded with memories and pictures of unfamiliar events and people. He grunts as he squeezes the bridge of his nose.
“Whoa, are you ok, Michael?”
Michael nods.
“Ok so what’s your last name? Let’s knock this out, I have things to do.”
Michael slowly looks up and speaks.
“I don’t have one.”
The scene fades.
==================
PRESENT DAY
The scene opens up again in the gorilla position backstage of the UCI Warehouse. Michael is standing there in black wrestling tights and a black shirt, looking on as two men wrestle in the ring with Jayson Stasiak looking on. Michael looks over at the camera as he speaks.
“So, my name is Michael. I’m not really sure how I got that name or if that’s even my real name. I was shown those pictures in the office with Mr. Stasiak a few weeks back, but I don’t remember any of those events. Even after being flooded with memories dating all the way back to my childhood, those seem like the memories of someone else. My wife and my child are not in those memories. I don’t remember getting on that bus. I don’t remember wanting to be a wrestler. What I know of wrestling died years back before all the chaos. I have never even heard of UCI.
Is UCI a dream? Is this all a dream? Am I laying somewhere in the ruins of New York City asleep right now dreaming of all of this happening? If my wife and son were here right now with me, this would be the absolute perfect dream. Water and food are plentiful, electricity works, everything is somewhat normal, but until I figure out what is going on here, there’s only one thing I can do: play along. Go with the flow and that’s exactly what I’ve been doing these past few weeks since getting off that bus. I was in some world title tournament match against Kyle Cameron and Asher Bradley. I didn’t fare well and lost and tonight is my first match back.
UCI gave me a couple of weeks off where I saw a doctor to try and figure out what is going on with me, but returned with a clean bill of health. I’ve been saving up the money to get a bus ticket to New York City. I’m hoping that maybe I’ll find my wife and child there. In the meantime though, I have to face off against some guy named David Sanchez. The mayor of Chicago?”
I’m not really sure what to make of that as the Chicago I’m familiar with doesn’t have a mayor. Actually, from the stories I’ve heard, Chicago doesn’t even exist anymore. Yet here I am somehow in Chicago itself right now as a professional wrestler. A profession I haven’t heard of in nearly 10 years. A profession I didn’t know I was even skilled in until I saw those pictures. According to these foreign memories in my mind, I have been wrestling for over 5 years and I was pretty good at it according to Mr. Stasiak.
So here we are on what the calendar claims is June 19, 2016 and I will face off against David Sanchez. A dangerous, evil individual that apparently has no regard for the well being of others. A man who seeks to destroy the things put in front of him to accomplish his goals and will use any means necessary.
I can understand that. I can almost even relate to that. This is an evil cruel world itself and you have to do what it takes to survive. Where I’m from, what was once known as New York City, it is a place where chaos and evil reigns. You have to watch your back at every moment as your untimely end could come at any moment. You can’t get complacent. You can’t get comfortable. If you’re comfortable, you’re dead. It’s as simple as that. Now, in comparison to wrestling, it’s not quite that deadly of an outcome. If you get complacent or comfortable here, you get pinned to a mat and the match is over, you’ve lost. Your stock starts to grow stagnant or starts to drop I’m told. I’m told I don’t want that to happen.
See, where I am right now, in this UCI Warehouse in Chicago Illinois on June 19th, 2016, I don’t know if this is reality or a dream. At first I thought nah, this is the dream, my place with my wife and son on that balcony overlooking the harbor is my reality, but what if it’s not? Or if this is a dream, what if my remaining complacent here in the hopes of waking up, is delayed? What if my winning brings me back to reality? I’m just so confused right now, but the one thing I’m not confused about is what I will be doing tonight on Overload.
Tonight on Overload, I will defeat the Mayor David Sanchez in the ring. David Sanchez is a well-known name not only here in Chicago but in the world of professional wrestling. I’ve been able to watch video after video of him in match after match. I’ve listened to his promos and I’ve learned as much about him as possible. I cannot say the same for Mr. Sanchez. I am an enigma. I am an unknown. No matter if this is reality or a dream, in THIS reality I am real and I am unknown. In THIS reality, I am a professional wrestler and if these memories are correct, I have done pretty well so far and it was why I was picked to join UCI when it opened last month.
The confusion over my memories and who I am worried the powers that be here in UCI. Losing in my very first match had to be another blow to my status here in this company, so tonight that has to be rectified. Tonight, I need to defeat David Sanchez so that I can move on. No matter if that’s moving onto another match next week or moving on towards returning to my wife and son. Tonight, I will do whatever it takes to come out on top.
Two thousand nine hundred and twenty. That’s the number of days since chaos and evil won. That’s the number of days that I have survived. I am a survivor and that will not change. Tonight, I will survive once more…”
Michael stares intently at the camera as the scene fades to black.
