001 | The Hangmans Noose

[The scene opens up to the sound of screams heard echoing. We fade in from darkness where we can see a dirty grungy underground tunnel. The screaming continues to echo through the hallway as we see a man trudge by with a large set of keys in his hand. He turns to the camera and we can see half of his face covered in a bandana.]

MAN: Follow me and keep close.

[The man continues walking down the hallway before coming across some jail cells. A few are empty, but most have prisoners captive inside. The man laughs as he continues past the cells, arms reaching out to try and grab them. One prisoner manages to grab hold of the man, but he quickly snaps the mans arm in the bars breaking it with a sickening crunch. The man continues walking before stopping suddenly at a smaller cell. He picks through the keys before finally coming to the right one and opening up the cell. A prisoner is seated against a brick wall with his arms bound behind his back. The man rushes in and slams a boot right into the seated prisoners face. He throws a few hard punches to the mans midsection before grabbing him by the short brown hair and bringing him to his feet. The man nails a knee to the prisoners gut and then begins to lead the man out of the cell by his hair. The two come to a large door as the man unlocks it and leads the prisoner upstairs into the daylight.

The sun is blinding compared to the darkened hole in the ground. So bright in fact that it causes the camera to go out of focus for a few moments. When the camera fixes itself we can see an old time hangman's stage set up with six people in bodybags standing with nooses tied around their necks. A seventh noose is hanging above a trap door, waiting for its victim. The man leads the prisoner up the stairs and to the noose where he places the rope around his neck and tightens it up. The man begins laughing as he backs up to see the seven prisoners tied and ready to be hanged. The man grabs his bandana and pulls it down before letting out a sinister chuckle. We can now see the mans face revealing Dick Devereaux.]

DICK DEVEREAUX: WELCOME... to your final resting place! I have brought each of you here for a reason. But the only one that truly matters right now is you.

[Dick walks to the original prisoner and gives him a smack to the face. The prisoner is barely awake and has a strong resemblance to Noah McKnight. He is dressed in a ULV wrestling team jacket and a pair of ripped up khakis. Dick smiles as he grabs a bucket of water from the wooden floor and splashes it into "Noah McKnights" face giving him a wake up call. Dick tosses aside the bucket before grabbing his signature metal baseball bat leaning against the wooden post.]

DICK DEVEREAUX: See, I brought you here to show how weak you really are Noah. You've accomplished so much in your life. NCAA division three football star, NCAA division three heavyweight wrestling champion. You were even the first ULV student to represent the university. You've even got yourself a bachelors degree in psychology. Here's a brain teaser for you mister psychologist....

[Dick nails "Noah" in the stomach with the baseball bat, knocking the air out of him. He laughs maniacally as he backs up again and spins with his head held high in the sky. Dick is wearing his signature custom made jacket. It is designed with "human faces and skin". He is also wearing a old pair of black jean shorts and some old tattered black Converse. Hanging out of his back right pocket is a large bandana.]

DICK DEVEREAUX: I'm not some college boy who still holds onto his past accomplishments. I've won titles too, but none of that matters now. This is a new place and I am a new face. And this is the first time we have ever met. Good to meet you, I'm DICK! Now that we've got that out of the way, let's move right to the point of all of this. See, we've been put against one another in this... tournament. In order to move onto the main event and win that Redemption Heavyweight Championship I have to beat you. And the way I see it, I'm looking at a victory. See, you've got me on height and weight, but what I've got on you is experience. I'm not talking about how many years I've been in this business, I'm talking about experience with being on top. The last Championship I held I was the ONLY Champion in that company. I went undefeated with that belt until the last day of its existence. I'm hungry now, hungry to prove that I can do it again. And this NCAA division three wrestling psychologist is standing in my way. You are a big old door Noah... locked and standing ready to block my path. But me? I'm a goddamn battering ram. And I'm gonna' break you down and walk right through you!

[Dick pulls the bandana from his back pocket and whips the sweat from his bald head. We are in the middle of the desert it seems, and it is hot.]

DICK DEVEREAUX: You might've been this incredible college athlete, but in this business that don't mean shit. I do what I have to do to win. The question is... will you? Are you willing to kick me in between the legs? Are you willing to put the referee in harms way just to get the advantage? Looking at you I'd say no. I'll kick you right between the legs, I'll knock the ref out to get an advantage, I'll bring a gun to a knife fight. I don't give a fuck! I came to win and I'll take the win any way I can. If that means a disqualification, so be it. If that means breaking an arm, so be it. If that means I have to be a fuckin' sneak and cheat to win, so be it! It's just another day at war for me.

[Dick dabs some sweat again before returning the bandana to his pocket. He begins walking down the line of bodybags while speaking and eyeing each one.]

DICK DEVEREAUX: But you see Noah, we're not alone here. Whichever one of us walks away the winner moves on to the main event along with four other competitors. Four matches, four number one contenders, one winner. Not only do you have to prepare for me Noah, but you've got to ready yourself for six others because we don't know who will step into the ring in the main event across from us. But allow me to save you the trouble here man, put all of your focus right on me because frankly, you won't make it to the main event. I've come to win as I've said before, and I don't plan on letting some jock walk in and take it away from me. So take your NCAA trophy and all of that training you've done and shove it right up your ass because I'm prepared to annihilate you in order to move to the main event. That strap is mine... and I don't plan on losing at Zero Hour.

[Dick walks over and grabs a bodybag from the floor. He places it over "Noah" and zips it up before returning the noose to his neck. Dick walks to a lever attached to the ground and grabs a hold of it with a sick smile.]

DICK DEVEREAUX: You welcomed me to your Knightmare Noah... I've lived with nightmares from my past my entire life. Come Zero Hour, you'll find out what a true nightmare is when I welcome you to HELL!

[And with that Dick pulls the lever and the trap doors open up, letting the bodybags fall through. The seven bodies begin to struggle as we hear them gasping for air underneath. Finally after a few minutes the feet step twitching and all we see is the seven swinging gently on the hangmans noose. Dick smiles sadistically as he reaches into his pocket and pulls out his signature container of "War Paint". He opens it up and wets his hand before printing his signature red handprint over his eye and face. Dick then begins to chuckle menacingly before covering the camera with his hand, smearing red paint over the lens and cutting the feed to black.]