A Needed Debut

As the crowd readies for the first show of the season, the lights dim down and an image appears on the Titantron. A dusty, abandoned lot appears containing a lone streetlight, flickering on and off. The fence surrounding it is rusted and bent in places while the lone brick wall has been chipped away at countless times. Then the view switches to a hand being wrapped in beige tape before cracking the knuckles. A voice begins speaking, belonging to a man with a deep voice.

COLIN:“In real life, you have to fight your way to the top. You have to claw for every last bit of respect and earn your rewards, they aren’t handed to you. Amongst all the lights and smoke and mirrors, that view is lost. In my past, there was only one rule for victory, for survival. You fight or you die. If you stopped fighting, you would soon stop breathing. Those fights would keep a fire burning, they would keep you rugged. Survive long enough and you could finally escape to a paradise....but was it truly a paradise? You’d weaken, be made soft. That fire that gave you life would eventually burn out and leave you a shell of what you used to be. The paradise, illuminated by bright lights and stars, is only full of lies and fantasies. Life was easy and civilized in those worlds. That is not how the truth is. Life was painful, full of fury and anger.”

The voice pauses as we now switch to a view of a multitude of unknown men, all being struck. A strong right hand to the jaw. A kick to the gut of a man just recovering. Another one’s head being thrown to the ground. Then, the man continues speaking.

COLIN: oThis is real life. This is the agony you have to endure, the pain you have to be willing to put yourself through. It isn’t an illusion, these aren’t magic tricks. You have to take extreme amounts of pain and in return deal even more insane amounts. Your body will know nothing of kindness once you are fully immersed in the abyss. I climbed out of the abyss after existing in it for years, first making it my home, then turning it into my domain. Once I had a grip on the edge and had pulled myself out, I thought the world I had entered was perfect. I thought it was what I really wanted in life. But we never really know what we want in life, do we? As time passed and I proved myself to be great in the world or lies, I wondered what was beyond this. What happens when I finally get to the top? And among those thoughts, I realized what had happened. My fire had died, my survival had been my undoing and my demise. I was no longer one who had ruled in the abyss, I was now one of those who would be stepped on. And so I went back in.”

The video changes again. We see the shadows of two figures, reflecting on the crumbling brick wall, illuminated by the streetlight. They fight, back and forth, one constantly having the edge over the other. Before the final fist is thrown and one of the shadows falls to the ground, its owner not getting back up.

COLIN: “I was weak. I wasn’t the master of destruction I had been. I was a bottom-feeder. Incapable of even trying to fight with those who I had easily bested prior. Those who I had never even considered a threat, those who I thought were nothing more than pebbles beneath my feet now saw me as the pebble. Amongst that abyss, I fought once again. I fought for survival and it was harder than before. I had made myself weak, I had adjusted to a softer life. Though it wasn’t just survival I was fighting for. I was fighting to revive myself, bring back to life who I really was. Not a civilized man who had no interest in petty fights. No, instead I fought to bring myself back to the man who knew what he had to do to survive. A man who could end anyone who tried to place themselves above him. It took time and effort, it took all the blood I could afford to give and then I had to take twice that. After all was said and done, I was done being a bottom-feeder. I had brought myself back to the top, looking down on the pebbles beneath my feet. It was amongst the top, conquering everyone who tried to take me down, that I realized what had happened to me. I had evolved. No longer was I the man who fought purely for survival, nor was I the civilized man who was a shell of my former self. I was beyond both of those. I was not a savage, but I had the instinct of one. I was not a gentleman, though I held the same class. I was the perfect combination of two opposites.”

The video cuts back to the two hands, now wrapped in beige tape on both fists and enclosed in fists. The view falls backwards, giving us full view of the man from New York City, Colin O He raises his fists to his face and cracks his knuckles once more before glaring forward. Dust seems to sweep away this image and we see his name printed on screen, cursive lettering, yet tattered and worn. As the screen remains still on that image, Colin`s voice is heard once more.

COLIN: My name is Colin O and my barrage, my change, and my legacy...has only just begun.”