Post by thewhiterose on Jul 27, 2021 20:10:32 GMT -5
"Mmm I see what you're doing, darkness, and I won't allow it to be done." The thunderous thud of metal burying itself in hard dirt echoes through the empty room as the scene comes to life. Light reflects off the ivory and gold trim of a large, sharp-edged shield that is directly in the view of the camera. Beautiful vines, doves and roses weave its way through the gold trim of the shield, and we can see more and more of the design as the camera pans out. Sitting in a white oak chair with a brightly colored three piece suit is Lesley Adora, his kind yet determined eyes nearly hidden behind circular rose-tinted sunglasses. Behind him a small waterfall trickles down the stone wall, roots of trees penetrating through the rocks and crawling their way to the dirt floor like flora snakes. Lesley smiles behind his shield, his finger softly caressing the finely created edges.
"I don't know which part of this is hard to understand, and I say that not to be pompous nor patronizing. I truly can't fathom why after I've come and stated my claim over and over again - you're all still refusing to acknowledge the words I put forth. I've said since day one that Fallout is a dangerous, unstable, uncaring entity that has blown into full fledged anarchy - and if there is a single soul watching today that doesn't believe that to be true than the sickness has spread too deep in your head. That's all it is, it's a sickness. You've been brainwashed to believe that these people are just, that they're just trying to run an entertaining television show. All the while they plead ignorance... and you? You all still have the gal to call me a cult leader while there's literal masked men kidnapping humans, taking shows hostage and breeding hate. Yet..." Like a snake after consuming a meal, Lesley's tongue gently runs the length of his top lip as aggravation takes over.
"Mmm yet I'm the bad guy? I'm the over-the-top snake oil salesman selling you falsehoods right? It's fine, really. I knew coming into this that I was fighting an uphill battle. But don't be blinded by the artificial light that Fallout attempts to fool you with. They do things like allow people to be set on fire, stab each other with scalpels and drive fellow souls through glass - then they run a show like Dead by Daylight and promote it as 'In honor of national outdoor, national park, recreation and UV safety month. It's a blatant half-hearted attempt to manifest fraudulent sympathy and trust. It's the blueish-green glow of an angler fish's dorsal spine lure. John Wayne Gacy holding a balloon animal. Amazon hiring 'banistas' to hand out free bananas to pretend they care about anything other than money. It's real, look it up. It's all evil trickery built to lure in prey so they can hide their dastardly intentions before they inevitably sink their teeth into you. It's disgusting, and the fact that Fallout continues to lure in unsuspecting prey just proves that my cause is noble. And my cause? Is finally starting to gain momentum. Brothers and sisters of The Light - we are getting closer."
With a sly smile Lesley raises the shield from in front of him, revealing the Fallout Ascension Championship folded proudly on his lap. The lights reflect off the displayed gold as Lesley makes longing eye contact with the championship. "Yes... yes we are finally getting somewhere. At Guts Gold and Glory I did what needed to be done, and I finally put away my brother of The Light Mason Destruction. I don't want to dwell on you Mason, for I have for the last few months and I suspect our paths will cross again sooner rather than later, but I must give credit where credit is due. I knew you'd be a tough opponent. I had no preconceived notions that I wouldn't be walking out of that match with more than one reminder of the battle we engaged in. But I couldn't allow you to keep yourself in the position you put yourself in. Especially not in front of sweet, innocent Kaidence. I understand you think my conversations with Kaidence are unwarranted and cross a line - but I implore you to do what any good father would do, and talk to your son. He's a brilliant mind, Mason, and he's going to make a tremendous ally to The Light when he gets older. He will grow up seeing The Light conquer the darkness, and I want you to be able to put your bias aside and realize that your life of pain and agony dusk til dawn doesn't have to be his. I hope you're at least willing to listen, even if you're not willing to admit defeat just yet.
But the most important part is not taking a championship from Mason Destruction - but taking a pawn away from these manipulative monster's chess game. The Ascension Championship has finally come home to The Light, and may now begin to gain the prestige and respect it should have always been afforded. They say it's not the title who makes the man, it's the man who makes the title - and I promise you this championship is finally in good hands. I will drag it from the bowels that it was left in, extinguish all preconceived notions of the hierarchy when it comes to the Project Honor championships, and elevate this title to the top of sought-after gold list.
I will make the Ascension Championship the most popular, most anticipated, and most longed for championship in all of Fallout, and all of Project Honor." Lesley let's his hand caress the gold with long, soft strokes. The smile never leaves his face until he looks from the championship, to the shield sitting next to him. "There's an old adage to the effect of 'To make an omlet you have to break a few eggs', and while as a moral code I disagree with this, it does ring true in certain situations. IE, Dead by Daylight. I've been very vocal about how I didn't want to partake in these barbaric and chaotic publicly stunts. These games that DeMarco loves ever so much, I want no part of. Yet I see the end game here, I see the tactic for I am always two moves ahead of you heathens. You think that by forcing my hand into these gimmick matches and archaic practices will break me down and force me to quit. You believe that you can win a war if mind games when you're fighting with rudimentary weapons. I have fought so hard to get where I am, to shed The Light as much as I've been able to already... you will never force me to back down. So if I'm going to be forced to play these games, you better believe I'm going to take the fun out of them as much as I can. Hence why we have this shield. I was instructed to pick a weapon, and when I rejected I was informed that would be considered a forfeit. Therefore I did the only thing my morals would allow, and I chose the most dangerous weapon on them all - an impenetrable defense. I don't need to beat people down with sticks and clubs like a cave man. I'm not interested in cutting and stabbing human skin like a serial killer. I have no aspirations to set people ablaze like a pyro-maniac. All I need is The Light, myself, and if I am going to being something into this contest, I'd rather it be something to help ward off the other competitors as they succumb to temptation and use every vile object in the book to get one over on me. And I wouldn't put it past anyone in this contest.
At Dead by Daylight, I step into a match, and I use the word 'match' incredibly lightly, against four other competitors. Levi Kirstein, Bianca McBride, Thorberg Aaronsson and Kagome Akaibara will all have an opportunity to play spoiler and take away this championship that I fought tooth and nail for. But for those of you keeping track at home, this isn't just a regular championship defense. This isn't even a regular handicap, four on one situation, which would be incredibly distasteful on its own. In this contest, I can lose my coveted title to ANY of the other four competitors, and by a simple one count. A ONE COUNT. I don't even need to be pinned for the same duration as a standard wrestling match, but simply... a one count. I knew that Fallout would do whatever it could to nullify me and strip me of my rightfully deserved accomplishments... but never in a nightmare would I have fathomed they'd stoop to this level. But, here we are, myself defending against four stellar and deserving competitor's.
Thorberg Aaronsson. 'The Murder Viking', if you will. If there was a single person I'd pick to sum up the Fallout Roster as a whole, Thorberg would have to be a contender. A large, rough and gruff 'monster' who seems only interested in chaos and destruction. Pretty run of the mill for Fallout, though I'll be the first to admit that Aaronsson has shown incredible agility for his size, as well as more intellectual ring prowess than I'd have first expected. He didn't have much luck in his debut, and his second match will be much of the same, but I am by no means underestimating the monster from the Finland. Nor I will be underestimating the debuting Bianca McBride. The intimidating traditionalist from New York has a lot to prove, and if there's one thing I understand the importance of its making an impactful debut. I have no doubt that Bianca is going to come out swinging and try to shock the world by capturing the Ascension Championship in their very first appearance. Whilst it'll take pinning me during the first fall of the trial, I do believe Bianca has just as much chance as any to do just that.
From rookie to the most tenured in the match we move to Kagome Akaibara. A former champion in their own right Kagome has struggled to re-emerge as of late, through no fault of their own. I don't think there's a single person who would underestimate Kagome, and I believe it's just a matter of time before they rise from the ashes. As I said, they have the experience, now it's just capitalizing on it. If she doesn't, I know someone who gladly will. 'The Absolute' looks to take the throne as the God of the New World, so they say. A man who has held titles all over, especially through out the United Kingdom, who looked to make an impact in the SUPERNOVA brand before it's untimely cancellation. Now, Mr. Kirstein finds themself on Fallout, and taking this championship would be just the boon he's been looking for to launch his career. I've heard the rumblings, and despite his limited Project Honor contests, many think that if anyone is going to take this from me, it'd be him. And who knows, maybe they're not wrong.
But one thing they are wrong about, is the fact that I'm going to roll over and die. I will defend my championship valiantly and successfully. I will win 'Trial 2'. And I will not only win a special advantage going into The Purge, but a mystery briefcase as well. Winning prizes doesn't interest me, especially considering it comes from the mind of somebody like DeMarco. But again, the best offense is a great defense, so I'm happy to keep a potential weapon out of an unsteady and untrustworthy hand. I appreciate the talent that enters this contest, I think that Thorberg, Kagome, Bianca and Levi would all make incredible brothers and sisters for The Light and I gleefully look forward to opening their eyes to the truth. However, my respect for them as competitors will not deter me from doing what needs to be done, keeping the upper hand against the darkness, and retaining my Ascension Championship." Lesley carefully lifts the championship, presenting it to the camera.
"Dead by Daylight is a hideous name for a show, a name from a time before I emerged on the scene. Fallout no longer has to be about death - for under the guidance of The Light we shall all prosper. No more Dead by Daylight. Take my hand, and we shall live...
Live by The Light." With the tenderness of a mother caring for an injured offspring, Adora brings the Ascension Championship to his lips with a soft, lingering kiss. The scene fades on a final side-eyed glance from Adora. A look of determination. A look of arrogance. A look, of a champion.
End.
CONT. FROM GGG RP - "INTO THE DARKNESS"
It was the first time in years I allowed myself to be in the darkness for this long. As the rocks surrounded me, and the darkness consumed my vision, you'd think I'd have been too scared to think about anything other than being entombed in stone. However that wasn't the case. I wasn't thinking about my fear of running out of oxygen, or being attacked by a wild animal, or failing to find food, water or warmth. All I could think of was that day years ago.
I couldn't have been older than ten or eleven. I hated being left alone, but what kid didn't? My mother would usually allow me to sleep with her when I was having a difficult time getting to bed, for her and father slept in separate rooms. However, on this fateful night my mother was away visiting my grandmother, her mother, who was incredibly ill. I remember thinking about my grandmother, about a woman that I loved and who truly loved me, and even at such a young age I remember trying to internalize the fact that I'd never see her again. I'd never hear her voice again, or taste one of her cookies, or smell the overwhelming scent of her cheap perfume.
I think that's why the dreams that night were especially bad.
I suffered from, undiagnosed of course, night terrors and sleep paralysis. I would wake up in the middle of the night unable to move, feeling like people - not monsters - evil human beings were hovering in the shadows, watching me sleep and studying me while I couldn't move. I'd struggle to cry, shout or run away, but I'd just watch helpless as their cold dead eyes glared at me from the darkest corners of my room, or peering through a crack in my closet. When I awoke for real, I'd be sore and breathless, sweating, genuinely terrified. I despised it... but my mother would allow me to sleep with a night light. When I awoke, my light was nowhere to be seen. Panic quickly filled my body as I struggled to look around and see, see anything, but to my terror the only thing I could see from the sliver of illumination provided by the moon shining under my curtain... was the closet door propped open. I don't know if it was stress, the shadows playing tricks on my eyes, or just my immature brain trying to process everything too quickly...
but I swear I saw the closet door slowly begin to creep open. I bolted from my bed, sobbing and nearly took the door off the hinges of my dad's room. With a start he jolted upright, being awoke from a dead sleep. My incoherent babbling is a blur now, but it was a far less informative version of 'I had a bad dream, my nightlight is gone and I think I saw my closet open.' My father thought for a very, very long time before looking at me with a very specific look. Not of understanding or concern... but a look of pity.
"C'mon kid... back to your room." I was admittedly shocked there were no repercussions from waking him up, none that I knew of at the time, but was too afraid to think much into it. I followed my dad back to my room, begging him not to leave me alone. "You'll be fine Jonathan, we'll find your nightlight, okay?" I reluctantly agreed, not wanting to push my luck. Little did I know, anything I would have said would have resulted a better outcome than what happened next.
As we entered my room, my dad slammed the door behind me. "You didn't lose your fucking nightlight, Jonathan, I took it because you're too old to be acting like such an infant. Now you're going to lay in that bed, and go to sleep like a normal fucking kid, and not barge into my room ever again. You got it?" I was shaking. I was terrified to talk back, but my brain wouldn't allow me to hold back my other fears.
"But... but father" I choked out barely through tears. "My closet..." Before I could even finish my father was in his feet, and slung open the closet door.
"Your closet what?! Is a closet? Holds clothes? It's a fucking closet Jonathan, look." Brandishing a flashlight he shined it into the closet, and I made what would be the worst mistake of my life. I listened, and I did look. I peered into the dark abyss, the flashlight's beam doing next to nothing, when the next thing I know I feel a hand on my back shove me full force into the closet. Before I could even turn, the closet door slammed shut behind me and the scrapping of my dresser being pushed in front of it almost drowned out my shouts for him to open the door. I don't know how I heard it through my frantic sobs and racing heart, but the last thing I remember hearing was the far away voice of my father saying in a matter of fact, emotionless tone. "You'll thank me for this. See you in the morning."
I swore to never be trapped in the darkness like that again. Yet here I was...
The cycle of darkness coming full circle.
End.
