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Justin Sane · **11-14-2014, 04:09 AM**

[ FORWARD ]

It's been a disappointing couple of weeks for Justin Sane, to say the least. After riding the high of perhaps one of the greatest debuts in XWF history at War Games, he was brought crashing back down to earth with back to back failures in the King of the Ring tournament and also missing his opportunity to become the XWF Television Champion. Failure though, is a peculiar beast. It affects us all differently. For some, failure can become an unwanted addiction, for whilst you are wallowing in your own self pity you set yourself up for further failure.. why? Because to aspire to succeed and then fail is far more damaging to oneself, so many find safety in preparing for the worst. There are those, however, that are affected far differently. Failure is purely unacceptable, it leaves a vile taste in the individuals mouth and lights a fire in their stomach that nothing but success can extinguish. It drives them. It motivates them. Rest assured, Justin Sane is by far one of the latter. Failure is not merely accepted and pushed to the side. It is lifted up, thrown over his shoulder and is carried around as a constant reminder that he must be better. He must become more focused. He must win at all costs. At Monday Madness, Justin gets his shot at redemption when he faces one of the men he bested at War Games, Avery Martin Alden and the leader of the Asylum, Hysteria. It's time to put up or shut up, for the game he promised to bring at War Games has been absent these past two weeks. As everyone knows though, the cream always rises to the top.

[ END FORWARD ]

// It's 10am on Thursday morning. The card for Monday Madness has just been released and I see that I am competing against Avery Martin Alden and Hysteria in the main event. Perfect. I'm laying on the lush green grass in my back yard, staring up at the sky and soaking up what weak sunlight is brave enough to pierce through the clouds overhead. With Hollywood Undead invading my ears via my headphones and my iPhone resting on my bare chest, I take a bit of time to reflect on my short time in the XWF. It's been a terrible couple of weeks for yours truly. I let myself down. I let my partner, Evertrust, down. I'm not really sure where it all went wrong, where exactly I lost control of the situation, but I did. I've gone back over the tapes, the matches in my head a thousand times. I've picked them apart, minute by minute, move by move. I guess it was just focus, or maybe a bit of a hangover from such a glorious debut, I don't know. It doesn't matter now anyway, it's done. I've never been one to take defeat lightly. I know I'll bounce back and be better than ever before, I always do. In some weird way, I almost feel sorry for Alden and Hysteria.. almost. This is about me. My dream. My destiny. Not theirs. Suddenly, the music from my ears begins to fade. My mind instantly goes to the voices.. I haven't heard them in a while; I was almost beginning to think those matches had knocked some sanity into me. Maybe they did, because barely a second after the music fades, my phone begins to vibrate on my chest. I lift the handset into my vision and see who is interrupting my reflection. The screen simply reads, “Mom”. I can't help it, a smile breaks across my face. I haven't heard from Mrs. Sane in a couple of weeks, or rather, I haven't answered or returned any of her calls. I haven't been in the mood, but for some reason, I feel like I could use a friendly voice today. I tap the green “Answer” button with my right thumb and draw in a breath before speaking. //

“Heyyy Mom, how's it going?”

“Oh Justin, you answered! Do you know how many times I've tried calling you in the last week?”

// I did know.. 83 to be exact. That's not counting the incoherent text messages. The old girl isn't very good with technology. //

“Oh yeah, sorry about that.. I've just been really busy.”

“Are you okay? Your father and I have been so worried! You know, I was going to fly up to Philadelphia and check up on you, it was all your father could do to stop me from jumping on that plane!”

“Haha, I'm fine, really. It's been a difficult couple of weeks, sure, but you know me. It's going to take a lot more than what has transpired over the past couple of weeks to keep me down.”

“Oh I know sweetie, but you know how I get. Just as long as you are okay. I still think you are taking on too much.. I don't know what you were thinking competing in that tournament and then fighting four other men two days later! It was just horrible to watch, you clearly weren't yourself!”

// I smile to myself, purely at the ignorance of my mother who still refers to my career choice as “fighting” and not “wrestling”. She did have a point though, perhaps I did take on too much, too soon. My thirst for success is unquenchable at times and the thought of being crowned King of the XWF and Television Champion in the space of three days was obviously far too tempting to pass up and perhaps brought about my downfall in both. //

“Yeah, you know, you may be right. It was a tough ask, but I felt like I was up to it. I just had an off-week, that's all. I'll bounce back this week, I've got a match with Avery Martin Alden and Hysteria this week an..”

“Hysteria?! Oh, Justin, no! That man is pure evil, I don't like him one bit. He's too dangerous.”

“Mom, please, I got this. Hysteria is nothing to worry about, trust me. Neither is Avery, I've already beaten him once and I'll do it again. Anyway, I don't want to talk about work. How's dad doin'?”

// I hear mom sigh on the other end of the line, though she doesn't press the issue.. she knows that to argue with me is pointless. //

“Oh, he's doing fine. He's gone away fishing with your uncle and...”

// Her voice begins to trail away as static begins to rape my eardrums. //

“Mom? … mom, you there?”

“You failed me.”

// That wasn't her voice. I notice the air around me grow considerably colder. I sit up and look down at the bare skin on my arms which has broken out in a thousand goosebumps. I have a sinking feeling in my chest and my breathing becomes shallow. I look to my phone screen, which has gone pitch black. I try to ignore the voice and hit the home key but nothing happens. //

“Justin..”

// It's hard to explain how I feel. There's a mixture of disappointment, because I had failed the voice inside my head. There was also anger, because though I know myself that I failed, hearing it come from someone else really pisses me off. With a quivery tone I respond. //

“I know.”

“What happened, Justin? You showed so much promise. You assured me that you could do this by yourself.”

“I can, I just.. I don't know what happened.”

“You know that failure will not be tolerated, we can ill-afford these kinds of.. set-backs.”

“It won't happen again, I promise.”

// There is a pause, where silence consumes me as my eyes dart around the darkened back-yard, searching for something which clearly is not there. //

“You promise? Tell me, Justin, why should I believe you?”

“Why? Because I don't fail. Sure, I might have lost in the King of the Ring tournament. I even lost my shot at the Television title. Honestly, who cares. I've never been one to call myself royalty and I sure as hell have bigger things on my horizon than the Television title.”

// Another pause, though this time I can sense the voice considering my words. //

“Indeed.”

“Indeed? That's it? That's all you have to say?”

“Were you expecting some sort of reaffirmation? Let us see, Justin. Show us.. show me.. that you are taking this seriously. Show me that I'm not just wasting my time with you, prove to me that you are worth all this effort. You promise me that it won't happen again? Prove it. I expect that by the next time we communicate, Avery Alden and Hysteria will be nothing more than statistics. I'm counting on you, Justin.”

“You have my word.”

// Statics begins to fill my ears once more, louder this time. I go to reach for my headphones but can't move my arms. Weak sunlight begins to beam down upon my face once more as the chill leaves the air. //

“Justin? Justin.. are you there sweetie?”

// I glance back down at my phone screen and see that I'm still on the phone to mom. Finding my bearings and gathering myself as quickly as I can, I force a response. //

“Yeah, yeah I'm here. I, uh, just dropped my phone. So you were telling me about dads fishing trip?”

// Mom begins telling me more about dads trip, though I'm only vaguely interested now. My mind is consumed with what just happened and the voices words continue to resonate with me. Now more than ever, I must succeed.. by any means necessary I just have to find a way. For whatever reason, though I needed no extra motivation, I feel as though not only is failure not an option.. it is impossible. //

// Darkness surrounds me as my face is illuminated only by the light of the computer screen in front of me. I lend a steely gaze into the camera lens in front of me as I stroke the stubble along my jaw-line before beginning. //

“Welcome.. to InSane TV.”

// I offer up a soft chuckle before leaning back in my chair and continuing. //

“Let me start off by saying that it's been far from an ideal couple of weeks for yours truly. Don't worry, I've heard the whispers.. heard all the laughter. I've had to sit back and listen to every single fucking person offer up their opinion of what a disappointment Justin Sane is. I've had to listen to everybody talk about how I came into the XWF and on the coattails of Evertrust, made a name for myself that I couldn't live up to. Let me make one thing perfectly clear to all of you.. what happened at the King of the Ring tournament and in the fatal five-way was a minor hiccup. Nothing more, nothing less. It's funny how when you don't come out on top, the finer details don't matter. They become irrelevant. I made light work of Wrestler82 and Venomous, just like I said I would. I destroyed Joey Hawkins, even with some fat piece of shit referee trying to get him across the line, just like I said I would. You know what else? If it hadn't been for Frodo cheap shotting me with that buttersock, you would no doubt be looking at me in a far different light.

But that? That's fine. Because you're right, all of you. If you're not first, you're last.. it's that simple. I'm not here to make excuses for myself or to tell the world that I was hard done by, because the truth is, I fucked up. I allowed my confidence to become arrogance and it cost me, big time.. but it won't happen again. Now we kick this shit into overdrive and you will see exactly what I am capable of, starting this Monday night on Madness when I step into that ring for a triple threat match against Avery Alden and Hysteria. It matters not who my opponents should be, for this match is simply about me. My redemption. Alden and Hysteria are merely the stunned, doe-eyed creatures that are staring into my headlights and after Madness, they will both be nothing more than road kill.

Alden knows this, he's been there before. He witnessed first hand at War Games exactly what Justin Sane is capable of. But that was nothing.. nothing.. compared to what I will be bringing to Madness this Monday night. You see Avery, the game has changed for me. I have put myself into a position where not only will I not lose... I have put myself into a position where I can't lose. It's not an option for me, take it off the table – bam, it's non-factor. You are just one of the unfortunate souls who has to that long walk down to ringside, climb between those ropes and accept your fate. It's nothing personal.. merely business.”

// I interlock my fingers and press my palms outwards towards the camera, cracking my knuckles viciously. I then lean forward, a smirk on my face, and begin scratching my product-filled black hair with my right hand. //

“And then, there's Hysteria..”

// I begin to laugh, softly.. menacingly, to myself. //

“'the Prophet', isn't it? You know, I find that really cute. Maybe when you're done playing dress-ups and torturing little boys you'll come out and offer us all a prophecy as to how I am going to annihilate you at Madness. Or perhaps you'll come out and inform me as to how I'm not really insane, how I couldn't possibly understand what it means to be truly insane like yourself.. but you have no idea. I'm here to tell you that it is you who couldn't possibly understand. You could never imagine the things that go on in the darkest corners of my mind. It doesn't involve little boys or cheap, plastic, worthless belts.. or that you can rest assured.

That little “faction” of yours? The Asylum? Nothing but a bunch of misfits claiming that they are monsters and freaks, much like yourself. That's the difference between you and I, Hysteria.. I don't claim to be anything. I'll show you exactly what I am, and when I'm done with you at Madness, that little whipping boy of yours Manson is going to get a lesson in extreme he will never forget. You think I'm intimidated by mind games? Try me. Go ahead, tell me how out of this world you are, enlighten me as to just how sick and twisted that mind of yours is. Hell, tell me all about this “higher power” you keep slinging your jaw about. It's nothing to me.. you, are nothing to me Hysteria.

At Madness, I will show the world that I'm not just a flash in the pan. I will prove to the world that what happened at War Games was no fluke, and I will show everybody that TrustInsanity is far more than just “Evertrust and his pawn”. You can laugh, you can go over-the-top with everything that you do and say it's all in the name of the higher power, but at the end of the day, you are no prophet. You're a gimp-suit wearing action figure and at Madness? I'm putting you back on the shelf where you belong. You like prophecies, Hysteria? Here's one for you. 'As the screw loosens, red runs black ink and into the shadows shall laughter disappear.. thus, insanity shall be pledged'.”

:::S t A t I c:::

Threaded Mode \| Linear Mode 'Here's a prophecy for you.' \|\| Madness #1
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