The start of the evolution of doomsday?

[Seifer Black]

I have my own demons and dark moods. It's weird.

Chris Rock

About 10 years ago

I find myself wandering a strange place, I don’t know where I am but it feels all so familiar, the concrete jungle I find around me is somewhere from a distant part of my past… But how can I be here, how can I be here… It’s impossible… This place was destroyed many years ago, I destroyed it many years ago… Is this my own conscience? Is this… Yes it has to be my own mind going back to places I haven’t thought of for years…I realise this has to be a dream when blood starts to rain from the skies and a familiar presence is felt nearby…

Adrian: Remember this place Seifer?

Seifer: I do, but why am I here?

Adrian: I don’t know, it’s your subconscious.

Seifer: But I haven’t thought of this place in years.

Adrian: What happened here Seifer?

Seifer: I saved a man’s life here.

Adrian: Doesn’t sound like you Seifer.

Seifer: I was young, it was during the days I was training in puroresu here in Tokyo, I was going to the bank to cash in my cheque and it blew out of my hands…

I walk down an alleyway as the memories flood back to me as I stare at an old red steel door…

Seifer: I remember it floated down this alley and went under this door…

As I walk in I see the ghosts of the past flash across my mind like it was happening all anew…

Seifer: I remember I opened this door and suddenly a pair of hands grabbed me and threw me into the room, I didn’t have a clue what was going on and there was so much shouting I was in a world of confusion and scared for my life…

I walk around the room and stare at the floor, the blood stains still visible on the stone flooring around the room…

Adrian: What happened next?

Seifer: This one person was in the middle of the room, he was tied to a chair and looked in a bad state, there was a group of other men wearing black suits around the room with different knives and a couple with katana swords… I didn’t realise it then but I had stumbled into the middle of a yakuza dispute…

Adrian: Seriously…

Seifer: Yeah, I was only in japan for a few months and I got caught up in something like that, just my luck right. The man in the centre of the room on the chair was a family head and the rest of them where thugs from another family…

I walk around looking at the old steel shelving and work benches, all covered in dust from the years of neglect…

Seifer: I thought I was going to die that day, but then one of them threw me into the corner and I found a lifeline… What I thought was a large studded baseball bat about five foot long…

I walk over to that corner and recreating it in my mind I see the weapon there once again just as covered in dust as it was that day.

Seifer: I grabbed it and smashed it off the head of the person closest to me.

I turn around and the scene appears before me, all forming in front of me as I relive the moment and swing the weapon at the man’s head smashing it open as the blood starts to fly as the rest of them stare at me clearly in shock about what just happened…

Seifer: I think I was as shocked as they were, it didn’t last long till another one of them had collected himself and charged at me.

As I say this another man charges at me, I step to the side and swing the weapon full force at him connecting with his back knocking him down before taking another swing at his head breaking his head open like a watermelon.

Seifer: A lot of the rest of this was a blur, the next thing I remember is…

I am suddenly standing in the centre of the room half covered in blood as there is only two of the men still on their feet and staring at me with a look of fear in their eyes.

Seifer: I remember one thing, a sense of dread, a sense that they had no idea what to do… They had their honour but also they didn’t want to die either so.

I take a step forward hearing a dripping noise from the weapon in my hand as they look like they are going to fight for a moment before turning around and running out the door… I stand there a moment dropping the weapon which fades away into memory again…

Seifer: Then my life changed in another way, as I hear a voice call me…

Man on chair: Hey can you get me out of this chair?

Seifer: I remember I barely heard him but I heard enough and as I turn around the images where flashing across my mind.

I walk around the chair picking up one of the knives that one of the men dropped and cut the ropes on the chair letting the man free, as I cut each rope I felt myself coming more and more back to reality.

Man on chair: Who are you…

Seifer: You speak English…

Man: Of course, now answer my question… Who are you…

Seifer: My name is Seifer Black, I am here learning wrestling at the local dojo.

Man: Really, interesting… Are you one of Mr Fujiwara’s students…

Seifer: There is no Fujiwara there, the head coach is Misawa Sensei…

Man: Very good, sorry about the lie I was testing you to make sure you were telling the truth…

Seifer: If you don’t mind me asking who are you?

Man: I am Akuma Takamichi, thank you for saving me young man…

Seifer: Youre welcome…

I get a flash in my head as a memory hits me.

Seifer: I remembered I stared around the room as a light bulb goes off in my head, the reason I was in this situation to begin with, the pay cheque…

I dashed to the door area and looked around the room as my eyes lay on my pay cheque, and to my dismay it is covered in blood, screaming in anger I crumple it up and throw it across the room…

Seifer: It was all the money I had at the time and I knew I wasn’t going to be able to get an advance on my next payment so I was stuck, another month of scraps and sleeping on the streets flashed across my mind until…

Takamichi walked across next to me and looked at me with a concerned look on his face.

Takamichi: What’s wrong Black san?

Seifer: That was my pay cheque, I can’t take it into the bank covered in blood… That’s all the money I had to my name and now it’s gone…

I remember a silent moment till he walked in front of me…

Takamichi: Do you know the big house near the hot springs near your dojo?

Seifer: Yeah I know of it, why?

Takamichi: Come there in three hours, make sure you clean yourself up before you do though…

Seifer: Its ok, they may let me sleep in the dojo tonight and I don’t want to be a bother…

Takamichi: Don’t be silly Black san, I insist… Just let the man at the door know I asked you to visit… And show him my card…

He hands me a card with a tiger on the front of it and I assumed at the time his name written in Japanese.

Takamichi: Please come to my home later Black san, I owe you my life and it would not be right till I amend that debt…

I take a deep breath and am about to respond but suddenly he wasn’t there…

Seifer: I remember before I could answer him he walked out the door…

Adrian: Do you know why you have come back to this place and time in your mind?

Seifer: I really don’t know, maybe it’s another example of the demon inside, maybe it’s something else… This story isn’t over yet, I can tell….

Laughing Adrian faded out of view as everything else did also as I felt like I was falling once again, falling until…

Bad things do happen; how I respond to them defines my character and the quality of my life. I can choose to sit in perpetual sadness, immobilized by the gravity of my loss, or I can choose to rise from the pain and treasure the most precious gift I have - life itself.

Walter Anderson

Present time

As I open my eyes everything is a blur, I raise my hands up to my face and rub my eyes to realise I was in hospital, as everything that happened came back to mind I feel a fresh wave of anger roll over me, how could I be so weak… How could I let this happen? I have let my family down… I dread having to look Chels in the face after everything that happened but as I raise my head to see her I see nothing but air, the rage still carries on to increase at the sight of this but before I could do anything I hear the door open and my head turns to see who had walked through…

Doctor: Ahh you’re awake Mr Black, you took a good bit of damage from your match and have been asleep for a couple of days…

Seifer: Has my wife been here?

Doctor: Not that I have seen, I'm sorry Mr Black shall we talk about your injuries now?

I just nod in reply as he starts to talk, none of what he is saying is going into my head… All I can think of is how she isn’t here… Then everything else that happened before the show came back to mind and it all became clear and another fresh wave of anger washed over me as I sit up and swing my legs over the side of the bed, all the wounds from Sunday coming back to bite me in pain as I do…

Doctor: Now come on Seifer you can’t be up now, you need to rest…

I barely hear those words, but they are enough to piss me off, the fire rises in an explosion as I turn around with a snarl…

Doctor: Seifer I'm only trying to help you…

Seifer: Do we look like we give a fuck…

Without saying another word ignoring the pain I leap over the bed kicking the doctor in the chest knocking him back onto a mirror near the sink smashing it into pieces, every piece of me consumed by rage I grab a piece of the mirror and kneel down next to the doctor who is shaking with fear…

Seifer: Nothing personal Doc, we haven’t killed in such a long time and we need it…

Without another word I thrust the broken mirror into the man’s neck ripping across his throat as his blood spills out across the both of us… Taking a deep breath I let out a small laugh and kick him aside so I can get to the mirror, it takes a moment but I clean all the blood off me and walk over to the draws to receive by clothes and get dressed picking up my wallet and other items before walking out the room closing it behind me… I have never liked hospitals, rarely has anything good came from a visit too it… I am glad no one tried to stop me as I walked to the main entrance, the sooner I can put Mexico behind me the better… Now I head too Belfast Ireland with a new purpose, I will start a war the likes of which no one has ever seen before….

It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.

Voltaire

The scene opens up to a dark and cold night, the mist swirls around my ankles as each breeze that brushes by makes my hairs stand up on end, each step I take I hear my boots against the cold hard stone of the floor as nothing else but silence is heard around me… The silent darkness of the area is pressing in around me now would make many flee for the light, but for me it is a source of comfort, here I can be myself, here I can be what I want and no one will care… Here with only a couple of torches for light on the highest point of this structure and I can see the stars on this clear night with my breath rising as mist…

Seifer: Here I am, Ireland… It’s about one am and I am walking along the tower of Belfast castle and I think about the war that once ravaged the land and in some ways still continues to do so but in a different way, each and every day on these streets the threat still looms over their head like a match hanging over a powder keg all it takes is one small knock and everything will explode… This can be said for the situation in Ireland and it can be the same for me also, after losing to Orbit I have been caught in a spiral, spinning more and more out of control as each second passed me by… But then it all stopped and I saw everything a new, I am meant for greater purposes than this, I am meant for war on a higher scale than this and I will fire the first shots soon enough.

I take a deep breath as the memories of Mexico still haunt me, each and every mistake pissing me off more and more inside as each scenario flashes across my mind’s eye and with each one of these images the demon starts to stir and stretch…

Seifer: I needed that match, after everything I had to go through to be able to get that shot I go and throw it away, I hate to dwell on this but I feel I let too much of my human side into it, I went too easy on him on the night and I lost because of it…

Suddenly I slap myself across the face to snap myself out of my stupor, I think to myself it’s not worth the pain, it’s not worth the time thinking about the past, nothing can change that…

Seifer: The past is where it should be, and the future is what I will change… Everything starts here, the start of something people will talk about for years to come will soon begin right here with three sacrifices to the altar of Doomsday, three shall fall to ensure the rise of the end… Three will be made example of this week at slam…

I stand up and walk around a corner as a dark figure sat on the wall can be seen with a bag over there head, from the build it is a man and from the attire it would only be one person…

Seifer: Here we have Johnny Reb, great another Johnny that’s what’s the fed needs… Listen I don’t know anything about you really and to be honest I care even less to learn… Hey credit to you to be able to rise out of your corn fed, sister shagging background and to make something of yourself… You may have done a lot out of the WCF and even in it I really do not know, but let me make this perfectly clear to you…

I take a few more paces forward getting closer to the man that is sat on the wall.

Seifer: You are not facing a normal man, you are not facing a normal team this week at Slam, you are facing demons… You are going up against one of the strongest teams to ever walk through the halls of the company… A former world champion, the current peoples champion and me this year’s winner of the Trilogy cup… You are going to be going in way over your head if you take us lightly, after everything that has happened I have nothing to lose and everything to gain and I will sacrifice my last breath to ensure the victory, are you willing to do the same Reb? I doubt it…

I walk forward and push the man off the tower as he plummets screaming a rope made of barbed wire wrapped around his neck attached to the tower becomes taught as a snapping noise is heard as the wire reaches its end and stops the fall with a violent stop and once again there is silence… I take a deep breath smiling as the demon starts to stir more and more and is starting to breath fire as I walk around the tower to the next figure in the dark sitting on the tower wall with the same barbed wire rope wrapped around their neck, this one has a slender build and is clearly a woman which only means…

Seifer: Ahhh Stacy, how often do you have to appear before me, it’s kind of sad really when you think about our past together but it can’t be helped, you where unfortunate enough to be drawn against me and Chelsea once again… Haven’t you had enough of being beaten and humiliated by my family, mind I have to give you credit you are nothing but driven, through everything that life has thrown at you… You are still here aren’t you Ms Jones…

I laugh for a moment, the sound carrying on the wind and echoing around the castle…

Seifer: So you dropped the dead weight from your life and now you fancy some of what’s on the same side of the street so to speak… I really do pity you in a way because you will probably go from this to something else in a month or two and leave that Barbie doll that you claim to love in the dust and you will mope for a month or two before going onto the next flavour of the month… You do not see the futility of your own existence, you do not see how all of it will one day come around and bite you one of these days… But that is your future and this is your present and for this all I can see for you is pain, pain and despair because you will be one of the unfortunate three that will serve as the example that needs to be made this week that I may be beaten but I am not broken… I will break you in every way conceivable and leave you a bloody former shell of yourself wondering where did it all go wrong? It all will go to darkness, everything does…

I laugh a louder more maniacal laugh this one echoing around the castle more menacingly than the last, a cold laugh with no joy or happiness in it…

Seifer: No amount of foul language, no amount of your childish rebellion against your former self will save you from my wrath Stacy… I don’t hate you Stacy but you are in the wrong place at the wrong time and you will pay for your mistakes, you forget I helped in your training and I know your weakness, each and every one I will exploit and I will take this match for my team…

I walk forwards and as the last I push the woman off the wall and she also screams till the wire pulls tight and that snapping noise is heard again before the deadly silence that follows… I walk around some more and one last person, a man is standing on the wall with his hands and feet bound in barbed wire and the same wire wrapped around his neck and attached to the wall…

Seifer: Jeff Purse… Last but not least… You are the biggest threat in this match, yes I am man enough to admit that… Your accomplishments speak for themselves you are a hardcore champion, a tag champion, a united states champion and of course a world champion, each one of these speak volumes about you and your past, but that is in the past and in my opinion Jeff… You shouldn’t have come back Jeff but you like all the others in pantheon can’t stand to be away from the lime light can you… You bunch of egotistical morons gallivanting around like you are the greatest thing to step into the company…

These words are the last that are needed; I feel the anger burn white hot and he takes over the wheel…

Seifer: We are sick of it, we are sick and tired of everyone thinking that you guys are the best… We know how good you are, we have taken both of your best to their limits to be able to beat us… One had to take a thirty feet plunge to beat us, what do you think you will have to do Purse…

I take a container of lighter fluid out of my pocket and I start to soak the bottom of the trouser legs of the suit the man was wearing…

Seifer: Purse, we want to get to you most of all… The reasons for which should be truly clear, you are guilty through association, all of the worst times we have experienced in this company has come from the hands of your friends and we are determined to hurt you all till you cannot stand anymore… We will start with you Purse, we have something planned for you do not worry about that… This will not be the only time you will see us, rest assured like Orbit we plan on turning everything you dread against you, we will reap on your insecurities and we will make you beg for mercy… But there shall be no mercy to be given, no humanity shall remain when we step into that ring, we shall make you bleed, we shall make you test your very mortality before the day is done Purse… Be ready, learn from others and be ready because there is nothing else like the purest of darkness, the end of days will plunge you into the black that will never let you escape…

Placing the lighter fluid back in my pocket I set the fluid alight setting the mans trousers on fire and just as the flames start to engulf him and the muffled screams of pain has amused me enough I push him off the ledge to meet the same fate as the others… I take a deep breath and take a cigarette out of my pocket lighting it on the residual flames that are flickering on the wall from the lighter fluid and take a deep draw breathing the smoke out into the nights air as the demon lets go of the wheel and I am back in charge…

Seifer: To all of you, this has turned into a path towards my own redemption, this is the start of a war that I crave, that I need to pursue because if not I will have nothing else in my life… Through me the way is to the city dolent; Through me the way is to eternal dole; Through me the way among the people lost. Justice incited my sublime Creator; Created me divine Omnipotence, The highest Wisdom and the primal Love. Before me there were no created things, Only eterne, and I eternal last. All hope abandon, ye who enter in this ring with me for May the devils have mercy on both of your souls for the angels will have none…. These are the words of the Doomsday Prophet Seifer Black Armstrong… Pay heed to my words or you shall all fade to Black…

I take a draw of my cigarette and walk back to the stairs of the tower thinking to myself about everything that has happened and everything that will happen… Things will change for me no doubt about it, but like death there is nothing to be scared of for me, I accept it all and I will face it with a smile on my face and blood on my hands ready for whatever hell will take me…

The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis.

Dante Alighieri