As the tornado tag-team match of the night ended and left the fans waiting for more, the sounds of a light breeze began to echo through the speakers. The sound was followed by light-tubes overhead flashing off, one by one, plunging the arena into eternal darkness. The titantron that played the events of the night began to flash to static; it was rather familiar for those that had seen the event the previous week. After a long moment of constant static, the scene of a man standing in a ruined, Roman-inspired temple became barely visible. Thunder boomed through the speakers as the static faded, making the scene clear to the viewer. Lightning streaked against the sky to illuminate the man, revealing him to be wearing the same trenchcoat and fedora, his back to the camera. In his right hand, the baseball bat from last week was tightly gripped.
The camera switched to be viewed through the eyes of the figure. His eyes danced over area at the pillars; tattered banners hung from each one, with torches beside them now making them more visible. Just like last week, the banners each read the initials of EWA, WWFG, WWE:E, ICW, and others... Companies of past and present, it seemed.
"It's almost heartwrenching to see... The ruins of the past. Entire civilizations, wiped out... Populations so scattered that they almost seem savage in nature... Yet, we marvel at the sight. We wonder... How? How can such a thing happen? How can it all fall away? We all know how they start... But we never know how they fell," A deep, almost melodic voice rang through the speaker-system, clearly the words of the man's eyes the fans were looking through.
"... Much like civilizations, companies also fall to ruin. Many of them die off, leaving on ruins and memories for the future to look at. To marvel at... 'How bizarre, how unique... I wish things were like that today...', they'll say. They think that things were better in the times of old, but they would be wrong... It's always been a rough existence...
... And then, you have the companies that refuse to be held down... They fall into ruin, and they attempt to ruin on top of the pieces. The past is the past after all, right? We can just build on top of it... We can just pretend that the base is insignificant... That -we- are better than the past... For those that think like this, you are wrong..."
The man's voice drew the a pause as he looked around the temple once more. His eyes land on a pillar with a rolled up banner, of which seemed to drop down and unroll at his gaze. The new, finely woven banner had the initials "CWA" scrawled onto it, with it's nearby torches much brighter than the others.
"... Then, there are the new civilizations that aim to prosper on their own grounds. Companies that refuse to be held back by the past of others. A new race, if you will... A new hope. A new light in the darkness. I could go on and on, but..." He paused again, his thoughts trailing off as his eyes traced to stare out into the open darkness outside of the temple. His footsteps echoed loudly against the stone when he walks, taking the view to the edge of the temple's area. Outside, his eyes stare into the darkness below, down at the ruins of the village at the base of the mountain. The ruins he had walked through. The ruins of the past.
"... But, even a fledging company cannot succeed while the past remains a memory. To fully move forward, they must let go of the petty titles they once bestowed upon themselves. They must drop the facades of greatness and recognize the faults that they have... And make the faults into strengths. The past must be microscopic in the grand scheme. Achievements, history, feats of strength... It all must be shed away to make room... For when we start anew, we do not build upon old foundations. We do not aim to put the pieces back together..."
The man paused once more to lift the baseball bat upward and stare at it instead. His eyes focused on the cracked wood, until a loud booming sound shook the entire area. A falling star broke through the cloud's shroud once the sound echoed through the air, flames surrounding the large mass of rock. It hurtled towards the ground as the man lowered the baseball bat once more to point at the ruined village below, which seemed almost like a town in size from this point of view. As if the wooden weapon were commanding it, the star smashed into the area with a mighty explosion; the massive meteor slid across the ground, leaving a path of flames in it's wake. The remains of the village were set ablaze and knocked over from the sheer impact, falling onto one another to set the remaining ruins ablaze, or knock them over as well.
The man stared down at the town's remains as it burned, the flames rising higher from the star's impact. With a satisfied sigh, the man finally spoke again, his words short.
"... We burn. We rebuild."
[End]
The camera switched to be viewed through the eyes of the figure. His eyes danced over area at the pillars; tattered banners hung from each one, with torches beside them now making them more visible. Just like last week, the banners each read the initials of EWA, WWFG, WWE:E, ICW, and others... Companies of past and present, it seemed.
"It's almost heartwrenching to see... The ruins of the past. Entire civilizations, wiped out... Populations so scattered that they almost seem savage in nature... Yet, we marvel at the sight. We wonder... How? How can such a thing happen? How can it all fall away? We all know how they start... But we never know how they fell," A deep, almost melodic voice rang through the speaker-system, clearly the words of the man's eyes the fans were looking through.
"... Much like civilizations, companies also fall to ruin. Many of them die off, leaving on ruins and memories for the future to look at. To marvel at... 'How bizarre, how unique... I wish things were like that today...', they'll say. They think that things were better in the times of old, but they would be wrong... It's always been a rough existence...
... And then, you have the companies that refuse to be held down... They fall into ruin, and they attempt to ruin on top of the pieces. The past is the past after all, right? We can just build on top of it... We can just pretend that the base is insignificant... That -we- are better than the past... For those that think like this, you are wrong..."
The man's voice drew the a pause as he looked around the temple once more. His eyes land on a pillar with a rolled up banner, of which seemed to drop down and unroll at his gaze. The new, finely woven banner had the initials "CWA" scrawled onto it, with it's nearby torches much brighter than the others.
"... Then, there are the new civilizations that aim to prosper on their own grounds. Companies that refuse to be held back by the past of others. A new race, if you will... A new hope. A new light in the darkness. I could go on and on, but..." He paused again, his thoughts trailing off as his eyes traced to stare out into the open darkness outside of the temple. His footsteps echoed loudly against the stone when he walks, taking the view to the edge of the temple's area. Outside, his eyes stare into the darkness below, down at the ruins of the village at the base of the mountain. The ruins he had walked through. The ruins of the past.
"... But, even a fledging company cannot succeed while the past remains a memory. To fully move forward, they must let go of the petty titles they once bestowed upon themselves. They must drop the facades of greatness and recognize the faults that they have... And make the faults into strengths. The past must be microscopic in the grand scheme. Achievements, history, feats of strength... It all must be shed away to make room... For when we start anew, we do not build upon old foundations. We do not aim to put the pieces back together..."
The man paused once more to lift the baseball bat upward and stare at it instead. His eyes focused on the cracked wood, until a loud booming sound shook the entire area. A falling star broke through the cloud's shroud once the sound echoed through the air, flames surrounding the large mass of rock. It hurtled towards the ground as the man lowered the baseball bat once more to point at the ruined village below, which seemed almost like a town in size from this point of view. As if the wooden weapon were commanding it, the star smashed into the area with a mighty explosion; the massive meteor slid across the ground, leaving a path of flames in it's wake. The remains of the village were set ablaze and knocked over from the sheer impact, falling onto one another to set the remaining ruins ablaze, or knock them over as well.
The man stared down at the town's remains as it burned, the flames rising higher from the star's impact. With a satisfied sigh, the man finally spoke again, his words short.
"... We burn. We rebuild."
[End]
