Post by Joseph Blaze on Apr 10, 2022 20:10:37 GMT -5
“I'm not even scared of the devil. If the devil confronted me, I'd confront him as well.” - Tyson Fury
OFF-CAMERA
Alone in a room of The Compound, “The Messenger” Joseph Blaze stands in front of a mirror. He doesn’t have the usual cheesy ass grin you want to smack off his face but instead looks emotionless but focused. Joseph takes his shirt off and turns around with his back to the mirror. You can now see all marks where he has been whipped and punished with a cane. As Joseph turns his head, he looks at the marks before releasing a deep sigh.
“I’m sorry for letting you down.”
There was no one in the room but himself so he was talking to his reflection in the mirror.
“I know what is about to happen and I’m no longer scared of facing the punishment that I deserve. Failure isn’t an option, you’re going to confront the Devil and send him a message.”
It’s just then that there is a knock on the door.
“The door is unlocked.”
The door opens and “The Punisher” De Vil walks in. He has a bamboo cane in his hand as he pushes the door closed with his other hand. De Vil wasn’t a particularly big guy but he still had an intimidating presence. You couldn’t see what he looked like because he had a black hooded robe on and a red Anonymous mask on.
“You know what to do, Joseph.”
The man’s voice was so deep and scary sounding. Without a word, Joseph turns around to face the mirror again and gets down on his knees. Staring into the mirror with his eyes wide open he can see “The Punisher” taking his position behind him. The bamboo can is swung at Joseph connecting with his back. De Vil does this five times as blood starts to trickle down his back.
“You scared, Joseph?”
“No. I’m no longer scared of you. Do what you have to do and leave. I’m here accepting the punishment that I deserve. Don’t fail your duties De Vil or I’ll be having to send you a message.”
There is no reply from De Vil, he just brings the bamboo can back hitting Joseph repeatedly on the back. With every strike, Joseph stares into the mirror looking at “The Punisher” and all he can see are his eyes. Joseph stares straight into the eyes of De Vil when suddenly a smile appears on the face of Joseph.
“Hit me with your best shot.”
It’s as if Joseph is now toying with De Vil who starts to get angry and the lashes from the cane starts to get more aggressive. No matter the amount of aggression that “The Punisher” De Vil used, Joseph, kept that smile firmly on his face. Still looking into the mirror, Joseph was still focused on the eyes of De Vil.
“My work here is done.”
That’s all “The Punisher” says before leaving and closing the door behind him. Joseph put his hands together in prayer and closed his eyes.
“Thank you for the strength you reward me with for the faith I have in you, my Lord. I’m here to do your work as a messenger. As The Savior is there to be the vessel for you to tell us what we need to do. I took my punishment just like I deserved and now I must go but thank you again, my Lord.”
Now opening his eyes, Joseph gets up to his feet and just stands there looking into the mirror.
“I better go shower, I have work to do.”
The smile is still on his face. If it wasn’t for the lashes on his back, Joseph didn’t look like a man who’d just received punishment. With the smile still on his face, Joseph heads off to go have a shower.
“A brave man is a man who dares to look the Devil in the face and tell him he is a Devil.” - James A. Garfield
ON-CAMERA
“Mark Hunter.”
The calm and collected voice was that of “The Messenger” Joseph Blaze. As he walks into view, he has his hands together as if he was ready to pray. In his calm and collected manner, Joseph Blaze stands in front of The Savior’s followers. It’s an abandoned barn that they’re in that has been converted into a place of worship. This wasn’t any fancy Church or Cathedral down in New Mexico somewhere. It was a barn on a compound that was run by The Savior, a man in charge of a religious cult. The type of cult that is a cult but will deny they’re such. After Joseph has looked out at the followers, he lowers his head in prayer as do the followers too.
“Let’s all say a prayer for Mark Hunter. This is a man who’ll try and make you believe he is a good guy. A man who’ll try and blame everyone but himself for his actions. This is the type of man who is now in charge of Project Underground. All he is going to do is use the power for his good and not for the good of Project Underground. I don’t care whether Mark Hunter trusts me or not but I can tell you now, I don’t trust him. Of course, I’d like Project Underground to be built around me. It’d be quite nice, to be honest, but I’m not willing to be a corporate goon or brown-nose my way into that happening. I don’t need Mark Hunter as much as he needs me. Forgive me Lord because I am about to sin.”
After Joseph Blaze and the other followers of The Savior say “Amen.” The followers all end up leaving so now Joseph is all alone.
“A prayer was said about you, Mark. You’re the living proof that the Devil does exist and is able to brainwash the stupid. Look at Indy Darling, a man who is your friend even though you don’t care about anything or anyone other than Mark Hunter. Yet here you are. Now you have power here in Project Underground, you’re going to make it all about you. Someone who is likely to buy into all your falsities is a man like Virgil Barrick. A man who, even though he has a win over me, isn’t better than me. There is no way I’m going to allow Project Underground to be about Mark Hunter, Virgil Barrick, or even that rainbow color-haired freak Gin Kuromiya. Just like Gin has what's coming to him, so do Virgil Barrick and Mark Hunter. I don’t stand alongside Mark Hunter, I don’t stand alongside anyone here in Project Underground. What is going to happen though, is that I’m going to send a message to each and every one of you. A message that although I don’t stand by any of you, I will lead you and Project Underground to heights it’s never been before. With Faith on my side, I can and I will accomplish whatever I set my mind to.”
As Joseph Blaze pauses, he steps down the steps and starts his walk towards the barn door of the place of Worship.
“Virgil, I’m sure you’ll have your best lipstick on when you get down on your knees and kiss the ass of Mark Hunter. It’s how you’ve got to where you’re in life so far. By kissing ass and doing what they want you to do. You’re a man who isn’t capable of going against the likes of Mark Hunter so you’ll just step in line as everyone else will. When that’s not me but saying that, it’ll still be smart for Mark Hunter to awaken from being the Devil just long enough to see that I truly am the future of Project Underground. Virgil may have won last time around but lightning isn’t going to strike twice for him. I know you’re going to try and tell me how much of a fool I am for having faith in beating you having failed last time around. I can already predict that you’ll spout off about how I think I’m stronger than last time around too. None of these things are going to happen. What is going to happen though, I’m going to go out to that ring and I’m going to show you what having faith helps you to accomplish. I don’t need to fall in line and I sure as hell don’t need to have my tongue firmly slid inside Mark Hunter’s ass cheeks like the rest of you. You’re all going to go on about how great he is, how he has accomplished this and that but none of it matters to me. Mark Hunter is a wolf in sheep's clothing, much like yourself Virgil. You’re both proof that the Devil does exist. That evil is among us even if it’s trying to disguise itself as otherwise. When I am done with you Virgil you’re going to be asking for forgiveness. Only unlike going to confession, your sins will never be forgiven but you will get the punishment that you deserve.”
Finally, at the door of the barn, Joseph swings it open. The biggest of grins now upon his face as he looks out at The Compound in front of him. The Savior had set fire to the big figures which resembled Mark Hunter and Virgil Barrick but were made out of burnable material.
“Feast your eyes upon such beauty, guys and girls.”
The excitement and happiness are hard to hide from the tone of Joseph’s voice. After walking out of the barn, he closed the door behind him and started his walk toward the fire.
“They will burn for their sins. That’s just what Mark Hunter and Virgil Barrick deserve. The Devil will not succeed in stopping my message from being sent and spread worldwide. If that means I have to unleash The Blaze and burn everything in my way to do so, I will. The sacrifices shall not be in vain. They’ll be sacrifices that need to be made and they will be made. I will not stand by and watch as Project Underground becomes Project Hunter. You’re stepping into my terrority, the very territory that I actually enjoy being in. I may well be surrounded by incompetent idiots but they’re my incompetent idiots. Each and every one of them is in Project Underground for a reason and that reason isn’t because of Mark Hunter or Virgil Barrick. It isn’t even because of Gin Kuromiya, Christopher Graves, or even Meatball. They’re all here because The Savior allows them to be here. From the beginning, The Savior was all set on just burning Project Underground to the ground. Only I convinced The Savior that it’d be more fun to play with prey rather than cook them.”
The Compound’s only source of light is the fires with the six-foot-tall figures burning away. Joseph Blaze is finally standing in front of the fires.
“Virgil, you better be ready for A Whole New World because not only is that the name of the show, it’s a fitting one too. It’s fitting because it is going to be a whole new world after our match. For the last three shows, I have been in the main event. My star quality has already been recognized. That defeat to you didn’t hurt me one bit but I can guarantee that your defeat to me will hurt you severely. I am of more importance to Project Underground than you are. I’ll be seeing you soon, maybe after the show, you’ll realize that having faith is stronger than licking ass. Just like The Savior wanted to burn Project Underground to the ground, he also wanted to burn Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to the ground too because nothing good has come from it.”
You can hear the laughter from Joseph Blaze as he stands there admiring the fire burn.
{1998 WORDS}
