Post by Thomas Snow on Oct 19, 2019 19:50:30 GMT -5
The room was dark. The only light came from the golden orange rays sneaking through the window blinds from the setting sun.
Sitting cross-legged on the floor of his room was Thomas Snow. His body was taped up after a hellacious match at Bad Moon Rising. In his hand was a Sharpie. He brought the tip of the marker up to his wrist, drawing a slash through four tally marks, signifying five... Five. Straight. Loses. He stared at the marks in the ever dimming light, allowing the image to be burned into his mind.
After a few minutes, Thomas capped the marker and covered up the marks with a rainbow wristband. As soon as he did, a knock was heard at his door.
"Yo, Tom. Sierra and I are going to the movies. You coming?"
Thomas thought it over for just a minute. All he needed to think of was an excuse to stay by himself.
"Sorry man, I'm... I'm not feeling great. I think I'm just going to call it an early night."
"All good! I'll bring you back some popcorn. Feel better, Tommy."
"Yeah... I'm gonna try."
Thomas waited for a few minutes until Sierra and Cooper left before laying down in his bed. It didn't take long for him to slip into a deep, stressful slumber...
----
Thomas came back to consciousness when he was blinded by a sudden wave of impossibly bright light. He groggily sat up as his eyes struggled and strained to adjust. Once they did, he discovered that he was in the middle of a Trinity wrestling ring.
He stood up and looked around. He was in the middle of a roaring crowd, all chanting his name in deafening unison. Looking down, he noticed he had the Trinity World title in his hands. A familiar feeling of pride inexplicably appeared in himself. Thomas raised the belt up high into the air, causing the crowd to somehow increase in volume. The crowd was so loud, it sounded like a riot...
Then suddenly it all stopped... Everything was quiet...
Thomas looked around, the crowd was all gone. He brought his arms back down, the championship had vanished as well...
Suddenly, the ground beneath him shifted. Looking down, Thomas was shocked to discover his feet disappearing into the mat. It was pulling him in like quicksand.
He struggled, flailed around in a hopeless attempt to pull himself free. He reached for anything to save himself but everything was just out of reach.
His waist, chest, shoulders vanished into the canvas. He called out for help. To Sierra, Cooper, anyone who would hear his pleas. But it was all for naught. He was all alone, helpless. Nothing he could do but sink into oblivion...
Tilting his head back, Thomas opened his mouth to call for help one more time... But all that escaped was a pitiful whimper as his mouth and nose were taken under. He fought to free himself once more but was quickly dragged under the surface.
Thomas slowly came to, this time more gradually. Instead of the blinding lights, he was awoken by a familiar scent. A sweet scent that he had not experienced in many years... Fresh, warm chocolate chip cookies.
He got up from his bed and walked out of his bedroom and into the kitchen to investigate. The sun was shining brightly through the windows as the peaceful tones of a woman whistling were heard. Her back was to him but Thomas knew exactly who it was...
"M-mom...?"
Thomas went to take a step towards his mother, but he found he couldn't In fact, he couldn't move any of his limbs anymore. They began to move on their own. He quickly noticed that his involuntary movements were due to thin, white strings attached to his hands and feet.
He followed the strings all the way up to a marionette control bar being operated by none other than a giant Alex Snow, Thomas' father. Alex laughed maniacally as he made his son stand completely still. He forced Thomas to watch his mother walk out the door into the morning son. As soon as the door closed, a piercing car horn followed by the smashing and crunching of metal on metal penetrates Thomas' ears...
"It's your fault, Tommy. You realize that, right?" Alex asked, continuing his sinister chuckling.
Alex spun Thomas around, bringing him face to face with his friends, Sierra and Cooper. He watched as they both slowly dissolved into nothing like dust in the wind...
"Let me go!" Thomas screamed. "You can't control me!"
Thomas struggled to regain control. He tugged on each string with all of his might until finally, he managed to pull one arm free. He quickly plucked each string free. Alex attempted to grab his son but was too slow, Thomas managed to evade him as he pushed through the door, sending him falling into darkness...
Falling...
Deeper...
Deeper...
And deeper into the black...
Until he landed flat on his back onto the hardwood paneling of a wrestling ring... He writhed around in pain, grasping at his back, trying to regain feeling. He slowly rose to his feet, leaning into the corner for support, desperately trying to catch his breath.
However he gets a little reprieve as a man without any facial features appears out of nowhere and charges at him, driving his knee into the face of Thomas and laying him out with a vicious bulldog.
Dazed and confused, Thomas barely registers as he is rolled over and put into a pinning position. He hears the count, but the voice is distant... as if miles away.
One
Two...
Three...
Everything went black again...
There was no sight, but the words.. the words could be heard loud and clear.
"You're nothing, you're all alone. The fans? They'll all turn against you. Your friends? They will leave you. Your time in the sun is over. You're worthless."
Thomas tried to push those words out of his mind. It's not true, it can't be. Then he remembered him. The one person who was friends with everyone. The friend Thomas knew would always be there...
His eyes opened wide, once again finding himself in a wrestling ring. He was lying on his stomach, his head raised and staring at the corner. Standing on the apron, desperately reaching out to him for a tag was an impossibly large man, again with no facial features. He heard the man speaking but couldn't make out what he was saying.
Thomas slowly began crawling towards the man, reaching his own arm out, attempting to tag his partner in. Just as he was about to slap his hand...
The man vanished into thin air.
Confused, Thomas struggled to pull himself up by the ring ropes. He doesn't have time to react before another faceless man grabs him, lifts him into a sort of powerbomb position, and drops him. Dropping Thomas directly onto his head.
Vision spinning, ears ringing, and all the feeling in his limbs going numb, Thomas couldn't do anything but lay there, waiting for his senses to come back. He just wanted it all to be over, he didn't have the strength to go on.
He blinked, the lights became very bright. Another blink, they dimmed to almost nothing. One more time, and suddenly he was back on his feet. His senses returned to him just in time to see a woman wearing a devil's mask running towards him and tackling him to the ground. Another incident in a long string of low points for him...
The masked opponent picked Thomas up. His latest demon drove a right hand directly into his gut, doubling him over. An ax handle directly to his back swiftly followed, sending a sharp jolt of pain throughout his previously injured back, sending him back down onto the mat.
Suddenly the crowd could be heard clear as day. Half was booing and laughing at the fallen Snow, the other was chanting, "You suck" at him.
She began to laugh at him. She watched as Thomas struggled to rise. As soon as he got to his knees, she pounced once again, driving her knee into the temple of Thomas' head, laughing all the way.
The demon crouched down into the opposite corner, observing Thomas as he laid motionless on the mat. Thomas' eyes lazily glanced around the crowd as they all angrily chanted at and berated him. He scanned one face to the next until he saw them...
Sierra and Cooper sitting in the front row. Thomas blinked and suddenly they're gone.
Suddenly Thomas felt a tugging on his arms. He rolled his head over to see Sierra and Cooper in the ring, each grabbing hold of one of his arms, helping him to his feet. He stared into both of their faces. Their confident smiles gave him some sort of hope.
Thomas' attention shifted to behind his friends, the demon charging towards them once again. He pushed past the two and dropped the demoness with a stiff clothesline.
He looked back to his friends, who were nodding in approval. When he looked towards his opponent, he saw the demon already back on her feet. She began marching towards him. Thomas went to retaliate but Sierra was quicker to the punch. She came flying from behind Thomas in order to hit the demon with a huge dropkick. She then turned to Thomas and gave him a thumbs up. A small, weak smile appeared on Thomas' face for the first time in what felt like forever...
Until the demon appeared behind him, locking him in a dangerous chokehold. He began to panic as his oxygen was suddenly cut off. He began to struggle but the demoness only locked it in tighter.
That was Cooper's cue. He came up behind the demon and hit her in the back with a stiff chair shot, forcing her to release Thomas from her grasp.
"Hell yeah! That felt awesome!" Cooper cheered as he helped Thomas up again.
The three regrouped as the demoness rose to her feet once again, albeit slower than before. Sierra and Cooper patted Thomas on the back in support. He stepped up to his opponent, all of the pain from the previous beatings he took subsided. His strength returned to him. Even the crowd around them began to get behind him again.
Thomas stepped up to his opponent, getting face to face with the demon. He smirked at her. He began laughing in her face. He was full of strength and courage he had been severely lacking for a long time.
The demon went to strike Thomas again, he ducked. She went to sweep his legs, he jumped over her with ease. However, on her way back up, the demoness caught him with an uppercut. Thomas staggered back but was caught and supported by his friends.
She began laughing, "You are such a stupid child!" She taunted. "You don't belong here! Get out of here before it's too late for you!"
She charged again. Thomas backed up into the corner, slinking between the ropes. He stepped up to hit her with a step-up enziguri, stunning her. He then gutted her with his slingshot spear through the ropes.
Now Thomas could hear his friends cheering him on at ringside. Their support kept him going against this challenging foe.
He climbed the ropes. He gazed down at his opponent, hesitating for just a moment. She was flat on her back, but she was staring wide-eyed back up at him. The devil's mask shifted, a sinister smile crossed its face. It was as if she was taunting him, daring him to do it.
Doubt crept in, just for a moment. But Thomas quickly shook that out of his head and leaped from the top rope, dropping onto the demon with his Nuclear Winter maneuver.
The demon held her abdomen, writhing in pain. She rolled out of the ring just as Cooper and Sierra rushed in to celebrate with their friend.
Thomas got to his feet, a proud smile on his face. Sierra and Cooper each took one of his wrists and raised his arms into the air. He had won. Thomas, along with his friends, had fought his demons and eventually came out victorious on the other side. And they had done it together.
But then the lights suddenly went out one again. The three looked around in the darkness, confusion washing over them.
"I know your secret..." Came a voice from an unknown origin in a sing-song voice. "I know your secret... I know your secret... I know your..."
Now the voice was right behind Thomas. "SECRET!" it screamed in his ear, causing Thomas to jerk forward in surprise.
Thomas turned around to face the source of the taunting... He was surprised to find his father standing behind him. But something was off about him. His voice was deeper, more menacing.
"I know your secret, kid. And soon, everyone will too. And when they do... you'll be finished. No friends, no supporters. Just you, sitting in front of the arena, begging for spare change just so you can get by. Because no one will want you after word gets out." Alex's mouth never moved. He was speaking but the words weren't coming from his lips.
Thomas's fists clenched tight on their own. He caught the fury rising in his chest faster than usual.
"Aw, what's wrong, Tom? Are you upset? Are you angry? I bet you just want to punch me, kick my ass, right? But you're not going to. You're just going to stand there and let everyone walk all over you, yeah? Because you're a weak little pussy, that's all you'll ever be. That's why you'll never-"
Thomas had heard enough. He decked his father with a stiff right hand, sending him sprawling backward on the ground. Alex looked up at Thomas in shock as the younger Snow stands over his father. Alex holds a hand up to Thomas, trying to block him. But Thomas drives his boot down onto the face of his father. Over and over and over again, one kick after another. Thomas didn't stop until Alex's face was bloody.
Thomas glared down at his father, assessing his work. Something in him demanded that he keep going, but he relented. He stepped away from his father, leaving him behind. He rejoined his friends, who each put an arm around him as the group turned and exited the ring. They made their way back up the ramp and walked behind the curtain...
----
Thomas began to stir just as he heard the front door open as well as Sierra and Cooper discussing the movie they had just seen. Thomas got up, stretched, and went out to join his friends
FIN
Sitting cross-legged on the floor of his room was Thomas Snow. His body was taped up after a hellacious match at Bad Moon Rising. In his hand was a Sharpie. He brought the tip of the marker up to his wrist, drawing a slash through four tally marks, signifying five... Five. Straight. Loses. He stared at the marks in the ever dimming light, allowing the image to be burned into his mind.
After a few minutes, Thomas capped the marker and covered up the marks with a rainbow wristband. As soon as he did, a knock was heard at his door.
"Yo, Tom. Sierra and I are going to the movies. You coming?"
Thomas thought it over for just a minute. All he needed to think of was an excuse to stay by himself.
"Sorry man, I'm... I'm not feeling great. I think I'm just going to call it an early night."
"All good! I'll bring you back some popcorn. Feel better, Tommy."
"Yeah... I'm gonna try."
Thomas waited for a few minutes until Sierra and Cooper left before laying down in his bed. It didn't take long for him to slip into a deep, stressful slumber...
----
Thomas came back to consciousness when he was blinded by a sudden wave of impossibly bright light. He groggily sat up as his eyes struggled and strained to adjust. Once they did, he discovered that he was in the middle of a Trinity wrestling ring.
He stood up and looked around. He was in the middle of a roaring crowd, all chanting his name in deafening unison. Looking down, he noticed he had the Trinity World title in his hands. A familiar feeling of pride inexplicably appeared in himself. Thomas raised the belt up high into the air, causing the crowd to somehow increase in volume. The crowd was so loud, it sounded like a riot...
Then suddenly it all stopped... Everything was quiet...
Thomas looked around, the crowd was all gone. He brought his arms back down, the championship had vanished as well...
Suddenly, the ground beneath him shifted. Looking down, Thomas was shocked to discover his feet disappearing into the mat. It was pulling him in like quicksand.
He struggled, flailed around in a hopeless attempt to pull himself free. He reached for anything to save himself but everything was just out of reach.
His waist, chest, shoulders vanished into the canvas. He called out for help. To Sierra, Cooper, anyone who would hear his pleas. But it was all for naught. He was all alone, helpless. Nothing he could do but sink into oblivion...
Tilting his head back, Thomas opened his mouth to call for help one more time... But all that escaped was a pitiful whimper as his mouth and nose were taken under. He fought to free himself once more but was quickly dragged under the surface.
Thomas slowly came to, this time more gradually. Instead of the blinding lights, he was awoken by a familiar scent. A sweet scent that he had not experienced in many years... Fresh, warm chocolate chip cookies.
He got up from his bed and walked out of his bedroom and into the kitchen to investigate. The sun was shining brightly through the windows as the peaceful tones of a woman whistling were heard. Her back was to him but Thomas knew exactly who it was...
"M-mom...?"
Thomas went to take a step towards his mother, but he found he couldn't In fact, he couldn't move any of his limbs anymore. They began to move on their own. He quickly noticed that his involuntary movements were due to thin, white strings attached to his hands and feet.
He followed the strings all the way up to a marionette control bar being operated by none other than a giant Alex Snow, Thomas' father. Alex laughed maniacally as he made his son stand completely still. He forced Thomas to watch his mother walk out the door into the morning son. As soon as the door closed, a piercing car horn followed by the smashing and crunching of metal on metal penetrates Thomas' ears...
"It's your fault, Tommy. You realize that, right?" Alex asked, continuing his sinister chuckling.
Alex spun Thomas around, bringing him face to face with his friends, Sierra and Cooper. He watched as they both slowly dissolved into nothing like dust in the wind...
"Let me go!" Thomas screamed. "You can't control me!"
Thomas struggled to regain control. He tugged on each string with all of his might until finally, he managed to pull one arm free. He quickly plucked each string free. Alex attempted to grab his son but was too slow, Thomas managed to evade him as he pushed through the door, sending him falling into darkness...
Falling...
Deeper...
Deeper...
And deeper into the black...
Until he landed flat on his back onto the hardwood paneling of a wrestling ring... He writhed around in pain, grasping at his back, trying to regain feeling. He slowly rose to his feet, leaning into the corner for support, desperately trying to catch his breath.
However he gets a little reprieve as a man without any facial features appears out of nowhere and charges at him, driving his knee into the face of Thomas and laying him out with a vicious bulldog.
Dazed and confused, Thomas barely registers as he is rolled over and put into a pinning position. He hears the count, but the voice is distant... as if miles away.
One
Two...
Three...
Everything went black again...
There was no sight, but the words.. the words could be heard loud and clear.
"You're nothing, you're all alone. The fans? They'll all turn against you. Your friends? They will leave you. Your time in the sun is over. You're worthless."
Thomas tried to push those words out of his mind. It's not true, it can't be. Then he remembered him. The one person who was friends with everyone. The friend Thomas knew would always be there...
His eyes opened wide, once again finding himself in a wrestling ring. He was lying on his stomach, his head raised and staring at the corner. Standing on the apron, desperately reaching out to him for a tag was an impossibly large man, again with no facial features. He heard the man speaking but couldn't make out what he was saying.
Thomas slowly began crawling towards the man, reaching his own arm out, attempting to tag his partner in. Just as he was about to slap his hand...
The man vanished into thin air.
Confused, Thomas struggled to pull himself up by the ring ropes. He doesn't have time to react before another faceless man grabs him, lifts him into a sort of powerbomb position, and drops him. Dropping Thomas directly onto his head.
Vision spinning, ears ringing, and all the feeling in his limbs going numb, Thomas couldn't do anything but lay there, waiting for his senses to come back. He just wanted it all to be over, he didn't have the strength to go on.
He blinked, the lights became very bright. Another blink, they dimmed to almost nothing. One more time, and suddenly he was back on his feet. His senses returned to him just in time to see a woman wearing a devil's mask running towards him and tackling him to the ground. Another incident in a long string of low points for him...
The masked opponent picked Thomas up. His latest demon drove a right hand directly into his gut, doubling him over. An ax handle directly to his back swiftly followed, sending a sharp jolt of pain throughout his previously injured back, sending him back down onto the mat.
Suddenly the crowd could be heard clear as day. Half was booing and laughing at the fallen Snow, the other was chanting, "You suck" at him.
She began to laugh at him. She watched as Thomas struggled to rise. As soon as he got to his knees, she pounced once again, driving her knee into the temple of Thomas' head, laughing all the way.
The demon crouched down into the opposite corner, observing Thomas as he laid motionless on the mat. Thomas' eyes lazily glanced around the crowd as they all angrily chanted at and berated him. He scanned one face to the next until he saw them...
Sierra and Cooper sitting in the front row. Thomas blinked and suddenly they're gone.
Suddenly Thomas felt a tugging on his arms. He rolled his head over to see Sierra and Cooper in the ring, each grabbing hold of one of his arms, helping him to his feet. He stared into both of their faces. Their confident smiles gave him some sort of hope.
Thomas' attention shifted to behind his friends, the demon charging towards them once again. He pushed past the two and dropped the demoness with a stiff clothesline.
He looked back to his friends, who were nodding in approval. When he looked towards his opponent, he saw the demon already back on her feet. She began marching towards him. Thomas went to retaliate but Sierra was quicker to the punch. She came flying from behind Thomas in order to hit the demon with a huge dropkick. She then turned to Thomas and gave him a thumbs up. A small, weak smile appeared on Thomas' face for the first time in what felt like forever...
Until the demon appeared behind him, locking him in a dangerous chokehold. He began to panic as his oxygen was suddenly cut off. He began to struggle but the demoness only locked it in tighter.
That was Cooper's cue. He came up behind the demon and hit her in the back with a stiff chair shot, forcing her to release Thomas from her grasp.
"Hell yeah! That felt awesome!" Cooper cheered as he helped Thomas up again.
The three regrouped as the demoness rose to her feet once again, albeit slower than before. Sierra and Cooper patted Thomas on the back in support. He stepped up to his opponent, all of the pain from the previous beatings he took subsided. His strength returned to him. Even the crowd around them began to get behind him again.
Thomas stepped up to his opponent, getting face to face with the demon. He smirked at her. He began laughing in her face. He was full of strength and courage he had been severely lacking for a long time.
The demon went to strike Thomas again, he ducked. She went to sweep his legs, he jumped over her with ease. However, on her way back up, the demoness caught him with an uppercut. Thomas staggered back but was caught and supported by his friends.
She began laughing, "You are such a stupid child!" She taunted. "You don't belong here! Get out of here before it's too late for you!"
She charged again. Thomas backed up into the corner, slinking between the ropes. He stepped up to hit her with a step-up enziguri, stunning her. He then gutted her with his slingshot spear through the ropes.
Now Thomas could hear his friends cheering him on at ringside. Their support kept him going against this challenging foe.
He climbed the ropes. He gazed down at his opponent, hesitating for just a moment. She was flat on her back, but she was staring wide-eyed back up at him. The devil's mask shifted, a sinister smile crossed its face. It was as if she was taunting him, daring him to do it.
Doubt crept in, just for a moment. But Thomas quickly shook that out of his head and leaped from the top rope, dropping onto the demon with his Nuclear Winter maneuver.
The demon held her abdomen, writhing in pain. She rolled out of the ring just as Cooper and Sierra rushed in to celebrate with their friend.
Thomas got to his feet, a proud smile on his face. Sierra and Cooper each took one of his wrists and raised his arms into the air. He had won. Thomas, along with his friends, had fought his demons and eventually came out victorious on the other side. And they had done it together.
But then the lights suddenly went out one again. The three looked around in the darkness, confusion washing over them.
"I know your secret..." Came a voice from an unknown origin in a sing-song voice. "I know your secret... I know your secret... I know your..."
Now the voice was right behind Thomas. "SECRET!" it screamed in his ear, causing Thomas to jerk forward in surprise.
Thomas turned around to face the source of the taunting... He was surprised to find his father standing behind him. But something was off about him. His voice was deeper, more menacing.
"I know your secret, kid. And soon, everyone will too. And when they do... you'll be finished. No friends, no supporters. Just you, sitting in front of the arena, begging for spare change just so you can get by. Because no one will want you after word gets out." Alex's mouth never moved. He was speaking but the words weren't coming from his lips.
Thomas's fists clenched tight on their own. He caught the fury rising in his chest faster than usual.
"Aw, what's wrong, Tom? Are you upset? Are you angry? I bet you just want to punch me, kick my ass, right? But you're not going to. You're just going to stand there and let everyone walk all over you, yeah? Because you're a weak little pussy, that's all you'll ever be. That's why you'll never-"
Thomas had heard enough. He decked his father with a stiff right hand, sending him sprawling backward on the ground. Alex looked up at Thomas in shock as the younger Snow stands over his father. Alex holds a hand up to Thomas, trying to block him. But Thomas drives his boot down onto the face of his father. Over and over and over again, one kick after another. Thomas didn't stop until Alex's face was bloody.
Thomas glared down at his father, assessing his work. Something in him demanded that he keep going, but he relented. He stepped away from his father, leaving him behind. He rejoined his friends, who each put an arm around him as the group turned and exited the ring. They made their way back up the ramp and walked behind the curtain...
----
Thomas began to stir just as he heard the front door open as well as Sierra and Cooper discussing the movie they had just seen. Thomas got up, stretched, and went out to join his friends
FIN