PROMO - A Fire Burns

[The Amazing Rando 0]

“Wait…if everything’s going great…”

 

There comes a time in every man’s life when he realizes that not everything revolves around him. There comes a time for every man where he looks out into the world and realizes that he is alone in his endeavors, and though he may have all the friends, all the family, and all the idolization that he could ever ask for…he is still alone. An emptiness exists in every single person until they find their true place in the world. An emptiness that does not just disappear over time when there is nothing there to replace it. Sometimes it is this empty place that the man must go to…

 

 

~ Emptiness ~

 

 

~ Pure Never-ending Emptiness ~

 

Tahoe National Forest. Alan Clark’s bus has stopped for the night, before reaching it’s Oakland destination the next day. In the distance, small bits of light can be seen coursing through the windows of the bus, but in the foreground, it is all darkness. The camera seems to be placed in a clearing, but as it pans to the left slowly, it is shown to be in the midst of the beginnings of a dense forest. A quiet, empty forest. The camera begins to move forward, moving gently between trees, over stumps, and passing over earthy ditches. Even with the bus reasonably close by, everything seems millions of miles from the world. As the camera finally is able to stumble upon a small beaten path, a voice guides it along…

 

“So close to commercialization…so close to what we all call the real world…so close to money, fame, fortune…and what we call culture.”

 

The camera pans down, almost as though it is watching where it is going on the somewhat tricky trail.

 

“But look around you now. There is culture everywhere here. There is fame and fortune. The ants have their queen. The wolves have their leader. The bears growl summons others to pause and stay alert. There may be no money here…but when it’s life and death – money is meaningless.”

 

The camera pans back up, all the way to the tops of the trees and the stars…still moving forward.

 

“Look at that. A never-ending galaxy of stars brighter than anything Hollywood has to offer. Brighter than any jewelry you can buy. We see them as nothing but small dots on a large blue canvas…but they are bigger than we can ever imagine. Entire galaxies are hidden in the tiniest specks of our reality. We take them for granted. Many times…we take ourselves for granted. We walk along the beaten path of life, crossing over civilizations, destroying the fortunes of those we never even stopped to pay attention to in the first place, and barely stop to stare at those things that dwarf our entire existence.”

 

Back to earth now, and the camera seems to have found another small clearing. A fire burns in the center, legal or not, and a man sits beside it, back arched as he looks to the heavens. Closer inspection reveals the man to be none other than Alan Clark, on a stroll from his bus in the wee hours of the morn, taking a break from reality. The voice…his voice…continues…

 

“Sometimes it pays to step out of your world and place yourself in a place where you are completely unfamiliar with your surroundings. I am surrounded by hundreds of creatures…insects, birds, and dozens of assortments of animals that normal people wouldn’t see without having an electric fence in front of them. And yet I feel at peace. I feel alone. Surrounded by a civilization that would never accept me. They do not know Alan Clark. They do not know of the championships I’ve held. They know not of the legends whose steps I walk in every time I enter and exit the ring. They have never even fathomed the idea that one little drop of blood can be all it takes to end someone’s career…someone’s life. They have no idea that it only takes one drop of water to quench a thirst, but the floods that pour forth to us are looked at as petty or too simple…or even as disasters. Water ruins our homes, causes hydroplaning, and drowns us. But on the other side of the coin water can save your life, water can cleanse, water can even be fun.”

 

Alan chuckles a bit as memories of childhood water guns head into his mind, but he soon continues.

 

“Blood…water…it all seems so meaningless doesn’t it? Every thing is so petty to us that we forget and let it take us over. They all say that the only thing that is forever constant – is the time and the tide. There’s that water again…always there. Almost alone…but time is by it’s side…guiding it. Time guides us all from birth to death, and we can not avoid it. In the vast spectrum of time, you and your friends, family, and all those you have ever known…they are to time what the stars are to you. They simply pass by, barely noticed as time continues to click away, working it’s way on a course where it has no direction except to keep ticking away the seconds until one day…”

 

Clark turns his head toward the camera…

 

“…emptiness…”

 

Alan’s face is cold, nearly lifeless…as he turns his head back to face the stars and he lays down, his back hitting the cold grass. He takes another deep breath.

 

“Landon Maddix. When I look into these stars I see you. You exist up there. You are the star that cries for attention, exploding in a supernova just so others will look and see what is going on. But before they can even take it all in…the explosion, the light, the energy…it is gone. You are gone. Nothing to them but a simple memory…Nothing more than a cry for attention. People have said that about me as well. They say that I am looking to the fans for attention. Crying out to them about my problems and about my life in the hopes that someone cares. Maybe, just maybe they are right. Maybe I am alone in this world…alone in my bus and in my head. Traveling from city to city to do nothing more than go out and look for more attention and hang my head when it does not come my way. But when I look into your eyes, Landon…when I look deep into those eyes…I see myself. I see someone that is starved for attention. I see someone that has that doubt as to whether or not they can be the best. I see someone that has to hide in another man’s shadow and follow his rules because he is too afraid to use his own! I hide, Landon! Just like you, I hide. I hide behind all those voices that tell me I’ll never be a big star. I hide behind all those that see me walking through the hallways and chuckle because I’ll always be second best. But you…you chose to be second best. You chose to hide behind Todd Royal and say I’m fine sucking up to someone that thinks he is God. You chose to hide behind a false idol and worship him as though he created the Earth that you walk on. You chose to kiss the ass of a man that calls himself your Savior…and you really think in his mind that he gives a damn what you think? You really think he cares that you hate me? He knows that I can beat him. I’ve done it twice. But you, you tried to break out of that shadow. You took two titles from me! You did something he couldn’t do! But still you read from the Book of Todd! You read from a book that says that one man is better than you even though he can not accomplish half of what you have!”

 

Alan pauses, taking a moment to regain his breathe as he sits up and gets to his feet. He leans down to the fire and stands over it, the heat and light illuminating his face.

 

“I might have had respect for you, Landon. When I beat you last year for the European Championship, I saw something special in you. I had it in my head that if you kept at it, you would be bigger than any MacPhisto or Flesher. I knew that one day I would be proud to look at you and say ‘that’s a champion!’ … But things change, and within weeks you were standing behind a man that you had beat time and time before, calling yourself then the same thing you call yourself now. A Disciple. And it was on that night that all of my respect for you was destroyed. In the blink of an eye – you went from being the next big thing to a lackey.”

 

Alan turns his face to the camera, the fire light glimmering ominously, giving Clark an eerie orange glow.

 

“Sure, you beat me. You took my championships. You left me a loser. But at the end of the day I am still better than you. You can beat me time and time again…but I’ll never kiss the feet of another man. I’ll never look in the mirror and see a Disciple of Todd looking back at me. I will never lose respect for myself. No matter how many times I lose in the ring, my respect for myself will never die. Even if my body…my soul…were empty and barren – I would still have a flame inside me. An undying message to those that look into my eyes that they can beat me within an inch of my life…and still that flame will burn on.”

 

Alan stands back up, his figure towering over the fire.

 

“You see, Landon…your flame is gone…but I can reignite it…”

 

Alan pulls his foot up over the flames…

 

“But the thing is…unlike the fire that burns in me…”

 

Alan’s foot comes down, destroying the fire and placing everything into darkness.

 

“…Yours can be extinguished…”

 

 

 

 

 

 

“…May Todd have mercy on your soul…”

[Toxxic 0]

Some good imagery in there, although it's a little muddled. I did like the attempt to sow discord between Landon and Todd.

 

Oh, and while we're talking about beating people - remind me to give you a pasting when you've finished with Landon, cos that one pinfall loss of mine is starting to rankle and needs avenging...

[The Amazing Rando 0]

You would eat me alive at this point, man. I'm pretty sure of that. (although that's a feud just waiting to happen if things went that route...too bad i'm below you at this point)

 

 

Now...

The whole idea of this promo is to convey a sense of emptiness (for reasons that will be explained in further once the show goes up tonight)

 

the whole idea behind the Todd/Landon stuff just came to me off the top of my head, because Clark was feuding with Royal at the time Landon joined him, and the points i made above (in the promo) seem to fit with what most fans would have been thinking at the time ("didn't you just kick his ass a few weeks ago?")

 

Trying to sow discord? I wasn't aiming at that. It was more to get into Landon's head than anything.

[King Cucaracha 0]

Bu...tee...ful.

 

Kudos Alan. Kudos.