Love Is a Dog from Hell
Oct 23, 2024 21:22:52 GMT -6
Cosmo Goldworthy, Amis FN Shelton, and 1 more like this
Post by JoJo Rush on Oct 23, 2024 21:22:52 GMT -6
Bronx Zoo, New York City
The Night Before the Rumble | 0300
You gaze into the ominous abyss that is the shallow pit within the literal lion’s den. Instead of the abyss staring back, what appeared to be two ruby-red lights glinted from within the darkness. They slowly raise upward, and through the blanket of darkness, a large, monstrous figure slowly raises from its crouched position. The Beast looked more man than monster, but monstrous all the same. Smoke billows out from around the Beast like a smokestack.
The Beast bores into your eyes with a fiery red stare that almost melts through the steel cage standing between you and the Beast. Like a man to a slug, the Beast looks you off and instead turns to observe his surroundings. Looking with the Beast, you can see a handful of lions lounging around, docile, almost as if a 6’3” 288lb monster didn’t emerge from the ground beneath their feet in a cloud of smoke and brimstone.
“Look at you all.”
In place of JoJo’s southern twang is this heavy, and the large cat initially roared at the Beast, warning it to stay away, but the Beast approaches regardless of the threat. They stay still, completely paralyzed by fear of the abomination approaching the lion.
“You were the kings of your domain…”
The Beast itself appeared unamused and stoic. They walk slowly, it appears stoic and calm, completely unafraid of the creature it’s locking eyes with. Thunder rumbles in the air, and rattles the ground underneath your feet.
“But you’ve never known that power, haven’t you, little one?”
The Beast gets in arm’s reach, the lion growls lowly and postures up to defend itself, but it trembles before the man once known as JoJo Rush. Before the lion could react, the Beast takes an immediate step forward and grips the Lion by its neck. It struggles and writhes, but the lion can’t break itself free from the Beast’s gaze, let alone their hand on the lion’s neck.
“This cage has dulled your instincts…“
The Beast slowly leans closer into the face of the Lion. The light glinting off the Beast’s blood-red eyes dimly reflects off the lion’s eyes. The other lions in the exhibit turn sideways and cower away underneath shelter. The Beast begins to huff, boiling with anger from the lion’s weak soul. The Beast’s rage bubbled into their voice as it spoke. It felt like at any minute it would lose all sense of composure and break out into a bloodrage.
“You have no sense for the end, for your life has yet to truly begin. All thanks to these cages man placed you in…”
The Beast forcefully shoves the Lion toward its fellow lions and succumbs to its base instincts. They throw their arms out, their backs straight and roar up into the night sky itself. Roar rattles and shakes the Earth itself. The black storm clouds overhead shift and twist unnaturally in the air above the man-turned-monster. It pants before collecting itself.
“Tonight, I will free all of my kin. Then I’ll free myself at the Rumble by running right through Lad Morales and be burdened with the weight of Undisputed Champion!”
The Beast declares assertively. The man-made-monster couldn’t keep its composure long. It stomps the ground with enough force to shake the Earth itself around the lion enclosure. The other lions jump to their feet and hunch into a defensive position and roar. Everything in the enclosure gave off a dim ember glow in their chest, and it burned brighter the madder they became.
“I am the fire but Morales is ice. The other wing to my bird, and like his opposite, I am not inspiration but despair.”
The Beast looks the leader of the pack in the eyes and with nothing but a nod, commands the pack toward the exit of the enclosure. The Beast breathes out a cloud of smoke and soot. The sharp claws of the lions begin tearing not directly at the door, but the hinges.
“But I will make Morales beg for death all the same when I rend the flesh from his bone from within the Fight Pit.”
The Lions work strategically at the door, The Beast steps are slow and swing heavy and wide. Everything about his posture made The Beast look even bigger than JoJo himself. They looked like two completely different entities, but it is very much the same man.
“Morales is a fighter that has conquered every battlefield the EWC’s provided him. The cage at Brand Warfare, or even an army of warriors from the Path at Youngblood. All testament to Morales’ ability to dig into his heart to find the warrior spirit he needs to escape the cages forced onto him.”
The Beast turns its head and hits you with an intense stare. It wants you to know that it can see you. The Lions tore apart the hinges, causing the door to chaotically fall to the floor. The Lions pool through the open door like water bursting from a pool. You go to hide in a bush while Beast and their new posse of pissed off lions roam the Bronx Zoo to inspire more of the once sleeping animals to free themselves from their respective exhibits. Security Guards that notice the lions do the reasonable thing and also run. They’re not paid enough to suplex large cats. Yet despite the anarchy, you can hear the Beast speak, almost as if they were in arm’s reach. It’s unnerving.
“No living thing is meant to be confined inside a cage, and Gray knows that. That’s why he booked the match to be in an inescapable cage. No ropes, no interruptions. Just man and Beast, and the fire within both of our hearts. The end may not come by tricky pins or through submission. Two warriors meet in the middle of that pit– then they take inventory of everything that they are, take what’s best, for the only way out of the Pit is through your opponent by knockout.”
The Beast stops in the middle of the Zoo and looks up to the black storm clouds drenching the Zoo in rain. Defying reason, the clouds swirl and form a large circle around the Zoo. The crack of lightning nearby flashes alarmingly close to you. It appears to have struck a power conduit, as all the electricity in the zoo and everywhere shut off completely. Red emergency lights replace the main lights, leaving The Beast to appear in another source of dark red.
“And there’s nobody better in the EWC at knockouts than the hometown hero himself, Lad Morales. The Undisputed Champion. My next enemy. He isn’t just powerful, but tough. He’s the face of resiliency. Of getting up and keep fighting. He always seems to find the reason to get up. All while having ice running through his veins. Unflappable, unrelenting but what brought Morales success will be his undoing!”
The lightning continues to strike down across the zoo. It only becomes apparent later that the lightning itself was striking the doors to bust them open for the future invasive species. The Beast rocks slightly backward to look up to the pitch-black darkness. The rain soaks completely through the Beast’s leather attire.
“The Fight Pit is no place for mortals with something to lose, and Morales has everything to lose the moment the Pit seals around us. I don’t care for Rush’s foolish pride, I only care to sow anger. I want power! I want blood! I want him to die defending his honor rather than fading away! I want to hit him high and low. He can either protect his chest and neck from a barrage of bone-breaking slams, or he can defend his legs from getting torn apart by the Abalone Shell! HE CAN COUNTER THESE HANDS BUT HE CAN’T PARRY! THE FIRE!
The Beast slowly raises a closed fist to the air, seemingly halting the storm entirely. Even the rain stops immediately, as if someone simply turned a faucet.
“But I can’t get to his heart until I rend the flesh from his bones! The Pit will be my instrument of war. The unforgiving fences that Morales spent his entire life trying to escape will be his literal undoing! Morales wants his opponent to be aggressive, then he will get aggressive! and there ain’t much room in that pit. No ropes for leverage, no hope of anything. I WANT BLOOD! I WANT HIS HATE! I WANT THAT MORE THAN I WANT THE TITLE! I ONLY WANT THE TITLE OUT OF SPITE!”
The Beast lowers its arm and the storm immediately resumes, complete with the rain pouring down, and the thunder shaking the Earth itself. Emergency sirens blare in the distance, surprisingly not to the Bronx zoo but everywhere else.
“I’m going to bludgeon Morales to the point that it becomes unbearable to even block or protect himself. It’ll force Morales to take a risk he shouldn’t. Expose his neck, and then I make him pay for it. But I can’t counter unless I take the risk… and I will always take that risk. I’ll beat Morales to death with the amount of risks I’ll take to go for that knockout Lariat! For I fear no one!”
The Earth shakes, but you do not hear thunder, instead looking up you see in shock as an elephant slowly stomps past you, it seems unaware or disinterested in you, instead moves to approach the Beast. As are the other animals. They are now freed from their cages. The Beast pays it no mind, still entranced by the storm overhead. The animals form an audience around the Beast that shifted and meshed awkwardly together, seemingly to listen to the Beast.
“Nobody else has been able to get underneath the Lad’s skin, but nobody else tried to do it with a Fight Pit cage. Morales has fought hurt, he’s fought scared, but he’s never fought angry. He’s never truly felt the rage that burns in my blood. That rage that wants you to break. Free.”
The animals howl and roar, or make whatever noise. Did they just pop for their Primal Chief? A lone honey-badger emerges from the pack. It’s the only animal that appears to show no submission to the Beast. The Beast turns its body to face the small but mighty animal and to look it in the eyes.
“I want you to feel the impotent rage that comes with an unstoppable force tearing apart every part of your arsenal that makes you feel like you can fight against fate. There is no room for cowards in that Fight Pit. Only the warrior strong enough to put their competition down can leave. That’s what it means to be the Undisputed Champion. You know how to survive, but you don’t know how to kill. You’ve spent too long in that cage and lost that sense, lost that edge.”
After a moment of staring, complete with a head tilt, the Beast spoke up, it spoke to the badger as if it was the Champion himself.
“I want to throw you into the Pit the moment you latch onto my back for the Fatebringer. I don’t need a rope break. I just need to rip & tear you down to make you too weak to defend yourself from a Midnight Driver. Let alone defend yourself long enough without snapping your arms like branches.”
The Beast lowers itself down onto all fours, it leans in close to the badger’s face, showing no fear and even an odd curiosity to their face.
“You can’t kill me, Morales.”
Their voice drops and dips with malice.
“I’m subhuman now.”
The Beast’s head tilted the opposite direction, red eye’s glinting when they narrowed.
“There’s no light anymore”
The storm intensifies, smothering the light entirely.
“This is the storm you’ve wrought, Morales. I am the fire that burned down your church. I am the ember that burns in the deepest, darkest parts of your heart. I am the monster that is going to gauge your eyes out for no other reason because I can. I want the last thing you can see is me tossing the Undisputed title at Gray. A trophy for my hunt, the light to draw in warriors that can only dream of providing me a fight.”
The Beast backs off, but the Badger falls in line and joins the pack of animals. The Beast roars, then faces the pack. Signaling the pack to roar back, which they do. The wind shifts and cyclones so violently, it whips through the air and snaps against your flesh like stingers.
“Your life’s work, everything you’ve sacrificed for in this fight pit, tossed around like a carcass instead of revered as the greatest prize in sports. All with the same grace as I tossed you around that Fight PIt, grating the fight out of you with jagged steel! This is not a fight won by cowardly waiting for your opportunity to escape! This is a fight that is won by violence! It is won by bringing the end to the enemy! And in the end!? When you think of the end of your title reign– you won’t think of the roaring high it must’ve been when that doddering old fool knocked you into achieving your life’s purpose.”
The Lightning lights The Beast up in an angelic glow, they raise a single index finger, a command for the pack of animals affected by the Subhumans berserker state.
“I WILL FREE YOU FROM YOUR CAGE BY TAKING YOUR TITLE!”
The light fades, and the booming thunder commands the animals of the Zoo to scatter out to the city in a mad dash to escape the Zoo and become ecological disasters. The scene fades to black as the thunder cracks through the city night like the grumbling of a demonic heartbeat.
Gray’s Office, New York City
Morning of 2024 Rumble | 0900
“Incredible– all of the zoo animals are gone.” Says Alastor in disbelief. Alastor watches the news report on the morning news from Alastor Gray’s corporate office. The media released a photo of the suspect, which is rather clearly, the Beast.
“Well the good news, no face no case but, Alastor, if I may…” Justin sighs and tries to find a delicate way to phrase his next question.
“Alastor. We need to talk. Now.” Tori Taylor, scorned, angry blows right past Alastor’s secretary and glares down the old man. Justin takes his leave and closes the door behind him.
“What did you do to my husband? He wouldn’t have become–” Tori glances and sees the morning news showcasing a video of The Beast running through New York City with a pack of lions, but has no choice but to shrug it off. “I’ve been looking for him for weeks and you just allow him to be out of his mind! What is going on!?” Tori is a woman, scorned. Her black hair is a mess, and several days-old clothes from her non-stop hunt of her missing husband.
“I–”
“The Truth.” Tori says, cutting through the bullshit.
Alastor pauses, and within just a breath, Alastor finds the right face to put on. He sounds concerned and indignant. “Mrs. Taylor, I don’t want this for Mr. Rush anymore than you do…” Alastor pauses mid-thought, as if to think of how to phrase his words, or to think of a lie. Tori stands across Gray’s desk, her arms crossed and her scowl tight.
“I have control of the situation, but sometimes, Rush needs to be– well–” Alastor manages a chuckle and a friendly nod to allude to common knowledge. “He’s an eclectic young man, but I promise, we’re taking close care of him.
An uneasy silence fills the office. Tori steps back and places her hands on her hips.
“Fine. Then let me see him.”
Alastor relents at first, but finds himself unable to dissuade the scorned woman. Alastor offers to retrieve JoJo well before the Rumble. Tori leaves the office and shoves Justin with a stiff shoulder as she leaves.
“Isn’t she a pistol but say...” cracks Justin, clearly trying to use comedy to ease into a difficult question.
“What is going on with the Beast? I thought that was just sorta, smoke and mirrors to get ole’ JoJo in the game.”
Alastor sighs and steps away to look out his office mirror. If only to cover the dread that seeped into Gray’s normally stoic features.
“It’s very real, Mr. Paige.. And truth be told…”
Alastor shifts his attention to a decorative decanter of scotch and quietly pours two glasses.
“There’s some things in this world you can’t undo.You can either make peace with that and be ready to face the future, or you can live in fear.” Alastor waxed reflectively before extending the second glass to his trusted lawyer.
“Scotch?” He asks nonchalantly, as if Alastor didn’t just end the scene alluding to him unleashing and eldritch horror. The scene fades to black as the two old men drink scotch. Both ignoring the terror that is about to come.
