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JACK · **04-13-2015, 11:11 PM**

The camcorder starts recording to showcase a variety of pinball machines lined up against a plain looking wall some of them appear to be rather simple with no theme or gimmick. Others have a certain look to them, like a South Park pinball machine lined up along with a Twilight Zone cabinet. The different themes aren't stockpiled in any certain order, but one thing is for sure; they are pinball machines. The camera is set down in front of a simple carnival themed machine, with the lens facing towards the LCD monitor. A sound of a coin being inserted into the slot is heard, instantly it stops displaying the high scores of days past and shows a score of five zeroes and three balls.

"I'm not much of a video game player, as you already know. the most complex of a game I've played is this pinball machine here, and as you're about to see, I'm no slouch when it comes to this."

The lever is pulled and the ball is shot up into the playing field. The ball is heard bouncing off of multiple bumpers as the point count rises to one thousand, to five thousand, to seven thousand and so on. He hits the button for a flipper, making the ball hit another bumper. He keeps on playing as he proceeds to continue with his thoughts.

"As a kid, this was all I really needed. Smacking the ball around with the paddles and trying to rack up as many points as we possibly can was one of the many ways to pass the time after school. We always tried to brag about it in the school halls before the bell rang before the teachers became curious and say that their scores were always better, on the machine and at school."

The LCD monitor displays the word 'MULTIBALL' as various pinballs roll across the screen. The paddles are being used a lot more often than they were before. Bumpers are bouncing balls back as the monitor displays the current points multiplied by two. However, many of the points being earned with the multiplier aren't being counted, meaning that he'll earn them once the ball falls out of bounds.

"Of course, as time passed, pinball machines were becoming more and more obsolete as video arcade machines grew more popular with the class. While they were playing along with games like Pac Man, Time Crisis, Tekken, what have you, I was still playing on cabinets like these. Sure, I was mocked for it, but I didn't care. I wasn't into violence and pizza shaped protagonists; I was more into pinball. Of course, the local arcades removed the pinball machines from their game zones, so I ended up sticking with skee ball and those basketball games they have huddled against the wall. However, every once in a while, I'd play one of those video games that aren't really my style. I never played anything more complicated than games like Virtua Tennis and Crazy Taxi, but I mostly stick to the non-electronic areas of the arcade."

The ball falls into the hole and the points are tallied and multiplied. He manages to receive two free balls out of that play. He pulls the lever and plays again with another ball.

"As technology evolves, people have to as well. I'm a novice when it comes to games like the one my opponent's in, but I'm sure I can handle my own in this digital century. A game like Smash Bros. seems simple enough, but from what I heard, it's complicated enough to keep things interesting no matter how many times you play it."

Jack gains a bonus five hundred thousand points for shooting a ball into a ferris wheel, according to the monitor.

"Many of you haven't come to hear me reminisce about the past, as much as I appear to like doing that. No, you've come to hear me talk about my opponents in this upcoming triple threat. If that's what you'd like, then I'll do so. Just to satisfy your undying need of shit talk. It only feels fair to start out with the only one that chose to speak out for the match."

The ball rolls out once again, this time due to the ball hitting the bumper at a bad angle. Once again, the points are tallied and added to the total. No multiplier this time. The points aren't in the camera's view, only its reflection. The lever is pulled again and the ball is shot back into the playing field.

"Within the first few moments of his...cut-scene, I guess I could call it, he says that he doesn't care about deaths that happened in the past. He feels apologetic, of course, but he just simply doesn't care. For a teenager, even if programmed to stay that way for all eternity, it's to be expected. They don't know how severe the consequences will be when they say things like that. Then again, he did sign up in a wrestling federation instead of saving his home world from the Corruption. What exactly that is, I don't know. Mostly because I haven't seen all of his...cut-scenes...yet."

The circus tent has opened up. Jack, not wasting time, shoots the ball into the tent, triggering a challenge mode to begin where he has to hit the clowns that just popped up on the sides of the board. The ball is spat back out, allowing Jack to go after the clowns with the ball in play.

"I wonder if that's how he'll react when he sees hundreds, if not thousands of other characters die due to the upcoming danger that befalls on his land. Will he see the carnage and death, turn to his friends and say 'I never cared about any of them in the first place?' Maybe that's the twist the endgame was building up to all this time. Of course, it depends if that was the creator's true intentions, to have the villain of the story be the one you were playing as all this time. It's a wild accusation I'm throwing into the wind, I know, but is it really that far fetched?"

All of the clowns have been removed from the field and the mummy gains a whopping one hundred thousand points as a bonus.

"I'm not restating what I said about you earlier. Your life really does not matter. You see, from what little I understand about your kind, you always come with three lives, unless it's a role playing game. I understand that your kind have potions to bring you back from the dead as well. I know that it isn't pleasant, but you always end up resurrecting in one form or another. They can hit continue or go back to their last saved game, preventing you from experiencing what happened when you fell. I envy you for that ability. I wish I had the ability to 'save' my life and start again at a certain point of time. But of course, we don't have this ability on Earth. One shot and that's it."

The ball rolls out of play again. Only this time he received another additional ball for his efforts. Once again, the lever is pulled and another spherical ball rolls back into play.

"I know your life's story out of your game world. You were created by the XWF, as showcased on the box of your game, to entertain people through showing them your world as you and to fight us through what you call 'side-quests.' Of course, you don't always win, but you do take home a bit of knowledge once you return home. Your story in the game world, however, I do not know. Maybe you can enlighten me with your background when we're not in a skirmish. Unlike all the others that will mock you for the sake of advancing their career, I'd be more than happy to listen. I shared you mine, so it's only polite to share yours."

MULTIBALL!

"It would only seem logical to go after Shane himself just by marching down through his front door and dealing with him there, but the man has security that can protect him when faced with any sort of danger. That, and he almost never comes down to the arenas that his lackeys and I just so happen to be in. So in order to draw the monster out of the cave, I have to lure it out slowly. What you think is simple is actually much harder than you think. Even his house, which I haven't pinpointed the exact location of, is more than likely guarded with men that have clearly more muscle mass than I do, which means more combat experience and, quite possibly, more advanced weaponry than my knives. I'd keep the friendly facade if it weren't for your next sentence."

He stops playing purposefully and lets the ball drop down to the bottom. The points are tallied and added to the score.

"Do you honestly think I find hurting people for very little reason fun? Do you actually believe that being led astray by the company head to fight under his name for some fucking ridiculous gimmick is entertaining to you? What kind of sick minded being would think shit like that would be worthy enough to put smiles on faces? I'll tell you who. Your creator. Your developers. Your writers. All of the sick minded people in the XWF that decided to create you and hide you away from the rest of the world until now. I find it amazing Nintendo even licensed you with a mentality like that. I have a goal, vengeance and murder, and I plan on sticking with it.

"I'm not doing this for anyone's pity. I wasn't crying because a script told me to, unlike yours. You're not doing this because you want to; you're doing this because you were made to. You are nothing more than the hero of a story that you have to act out because you're coded to. I'm not pixels on a screen, I'm a polygonal being that lives in a different dimension that lives my life from beginning to end without anyone putting in controls for me to do."

Beat.

"I find my self thinking now that I mentioned endings. What exactly would happen to you once your game ends? Do you live happily ever after, just like the stories children and adults alike are told? Or do you have to relive all of your horrors from the very beginning? Every tragedy, every triumph, every fucking sacrifice people have made in your name...will you have to repeat that until the circuts in the game burn out? To you, my life might be nothing more than what the cameras choose to show you, but outside of the film, I have to live with the fact that a corrupt business man destroyed everything that I held near and dear to me, forever knowing that I could have prevented this from happening and didn't. But with you, they choose to believe what's being displayed on their television. They know that the character they're controlling is nothing more than code and see no consequence in killing them for fun and resetting their game when they run out of lives."

He picks up the camcorder after the game has been unplugged, possibly forever.

"Not everything is for fun and games, kid. For some of us, it's deeper than that. Think about it after our match."

He gets ready to turn the camera off.

As for you, Maverick; at this point of time, it's better to keep your mouth shut than to pipe up and say something with no value. Just do us ll a favor and don't speak."

With that, the scene fades to white.

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