Reginald Dampshaw’s Estate

Ryde, Isle of Wight, England

2:30 am

It is a rainy night in Ryde, like most nights in this seaside town. The air is becoming humid, anticipating the coming summer. In the bowels of one of the oldest estates in the parish, where once it was used for corporate meetings, presentations and soirees, now is in disarray. Hundreds of books from the basement library are scattered on the ground, pages torn out from some, others with their spines cracked open. An ominous aura emanates from the room, as black candles are alight and littered around the floor. And just then…a voice.

Reginald Dampshaw III: Madness. What causes a man to go mad? Is it heartbreak? Is it broken dreams? Is it something that a person is born with or something that is done to a person over and over again, causing them to snap? Is madness real, or is it a label lesser men slap onto others they deem too dangerous?

Reginald picks up an old cassette tape. He places a tape inside and presses play. The voice of a doctor from Broadmoor Hospital, one of the top mental institutions in England comes on the tape.

Doctor: The date is September 6th, 2018. The time is 4:35 PM. This is the final private assessment of patient Reginald Dampshaw III. Patient was brought in to us involuntarily on May 15th of this year by a family friend. We are aware of the Dampshaw’s wealth and status in this country, but we have an oath to be impartial and unbiased. In our short time so far with Mr. Dampshaw, we have diagnosed him with Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Dissociative Identity Disorder and Sociopathy. We also have reason to believe that he also suffers from Schizoaffective Disorder, but we haven’t yet had time to properly evaluate that and come to a confirmed diagnosis. I will say this. Mr. Dampshaw experiences paranoid and grandiose hallucinations. He has had multiple violent outbursts, verbally and physically assaulting both other patients and staff. I personally see no signs of rehabilitation from the patient and see absolutely no reason, under any circumstances, that he should be released back into the public. Furthermore I-

The tape stops abruptly. Reginald removes the cassette from the player and twirls it in his fingers.

Reginald Dampshaw III: Do you know why the tape stops so suddenly? I was listening to him from outside of the room. The things he was saying about me…Vile, disgusting fallacies. They think I’m dangerous? Well, I would show him just how dangerous I could be. I marched into his room and grabbed him. I even got a little souvenir.

Reginald holds up a human nose. He begins to laugh as he puts it up to his face, covering his own nose.

Reginald Dampshaw III: Everyone says I’m mad. They’ve been saying I’m mad for centuries. So why not show them just how mad I can be? They tried to take the one thing away from me where I could express myself in beautiful, glorious violence, and that is professional wrestling, but I soon left that horrid place. And now I decided to continue my beautiful, glorious violence in the XWF. How much time have I wasted not being here? How much time could I have spent spreading the glory of The New Dawn onto XWF? It matters not. Time, time is malleable. It’s mutable. I’ve been here in the XWF for thousands of years before your ancestors even drew breath. I am Reginald Dampshaw III and I am The Time Lizard. The madness…The madness has only just begun.

Reginald blows out the candles as he is shrouded in darkness.