* * *
From the Hidden Journal of Rick Malloy, recovered 04/17/2045 by nomadic tribe of unknown origin:
Date - 11/08/2012
This world is controlled by those who only want power and I cannot escape from their iron grip.
Yesterday things only got worse for society. The United Empire of America have declared the costumed vigilante known as Judge to be an enemy of the state, a terrorist bent on the destruction of America society and an enemy of the American way of life.
American way of life. That’s how they put it on the news last night. What is the American way of life, anyway? If what they mean is having freedoms and liberties not afforded to people in other countries, then that American way of life died a long time ago. It died the moment President Hillary Clinton took over command and turned this once grand country into a virtual police state after almost every other high ranking government official was killed in a terrorist attack.
Another interesting news tidbit I saw last night was that our superior forces had finally subdued the minimal resistance put up by the inferior forces of the Republic of Mexico. Mexico was now assimilated and now a part of our imperial nation. There are rumors on the foreign news stations about the United Empire pulling a surprise attack on the country of Greenland and taking it over in less than three hours.
Greenland is now officially a part of the United Empire of America. Our news has since stated that the new state in our union will be the staging point for our land invasion of the United Kingdom. Our warships and planes are already heading there and a full scale invasion of the British Isles is imminent. The other armed conflicts around the globe are escalating as well.
There is no happy ending in this story. The only ending at the end of this book will be one of pain, suffering, and death.
* * *
Afternoon.
The government office building I work in has been quiet all day long. Everyone there is afraid of the Judge and what he can do. All of the government news broadcasts in the city have centered on the activities of the Judge and the ‘domestic terrorism’ he has been perpetrating.
However I don’t believe too much of what they are saying. The government news has distorted every piece of news broadcast to the people for years now. It’s a covert type of propaganda and media control that they use.
In a span of a few hours paranoia and fear have griped the city thanks to the wonder that is mass media. News can be used to tell information or instill fear in the general populace. This government has chosen to do both.
Inside the lonely dungeon of despair that I call my ‘work cubicle,’ I’ve sat down all day long punching numbers into a computer. No social interaction of any kind, no discernable qualities of humanity, no nothing.
The only emotions present in this lonely place are dread and despair. Dread of what the Judge may do to anyone who he deems to be ‘judged’ and despair over the fact that they can’t do anything to escape from the Judge’s wrath or the imperial regime that controls us all.
In a place like this, there is no hope.
There is only the inevitable end result for us all and that end result is death.
* * *
Night.
I’m hanging out back at Murphy’s Bar & Grill, the dusky atmosphere of which is my usual hangout where I’m drinking a non-alcoholic drink and watching more propaganda on the news while sitting with my friends Ash and James.
Here lately I’ve noticed that the two of them haven’t been talking as much. They both seem more distant, like they know something the rest of us don’t know. They’ve been acting really weird.
In fact, most of my time here has been spent watching President Hillary Clinton on the news and tonight has been no exception. With the invasion of Greenland, the state news has been broadcasting non-stop coverage of our military supremacy over the former territory of Denmark.
Sitting on a barstool at the bar drinking my non-alcoholic garbage drink, many thoughts go through my head. This could be the end times, the last days before the apocalypse and the new beginning for mankind. I’ve had this theory for awhile and things are getting so bad, it may actually be happening.
“Hey Rick,” I hear a voice to my left at the bar say in a slurred tone.
Looking over, I see the glazed black eyes of my friend Ash looking at me. He seems a bit out of it tonight. Maybe he didn’t get enough sleep or something.
“Hey Ash,” I reply back after sitting my mug down and wiping the moisture off of my mouth. “What’s up? How’s your night been?”
He throws his arms up in disgust.
“BAH!” he snarls out. “Didn’t sleep too much last night?”
“Why not?” somebody asks behind him. He turns around to see our other friend James is the one asking. James seems a bit more sociable tonight that usual. Maybe it’s the non-alcoholic drink.
“Because I couldn’t sleep last night,” Ash replies.
“Procreating with the wife?” James asks with a grin.
Ash shoots him an angry look and shakes his head.
“No,” he growls out with a snarl. “I haven’t been sleeping well here lately.”
Just as I’m about to ask another question, the video flat screen television begins to show a female news anchor with a breaking news logo behind her.
“Tonight the Imperial Police force in Salt Lake City has discovered the bodies of two police officers shot to death by the terrorist known as Judge,” she says in a grim tone of voice.
The entire bar stops doing whatever they are doing and turns to watch the broadcast. I can almost feel the touch of death on my shoulder as I look on as the anchor continues with the story.
“Police just found the bodies of the missing officers mere moments ago in an alleyway. Judge left a note at the scene that stated ’Oppression will fail, true freedom shall return to the people.’ The government response was swift. Federal agents are being sent to the city and more people are being rounded up for questioning. Police presence will be heightened in the city until the criminal known as Judge is caught. A curfew will be under effect starting at an undisclosed date and time as well.”
I pick up my mug and take a sip from it before turning to Ash.
“Worst news ever,” I say in a sarcastic tone. “Now we won’t be able to hang out here every night like Cliff and Norm from Cheers.”
Ash however still has that same bah-humbug expression on his face.
“What? You mean this is supposed to be a fun place to be?” he snarls out before chugging down the rest of his drink and slamming it down onto the bar. “Bollocks!”
After waiting for a few moments for him to be arrested for ‘blasphemy,’ to my shock he is not. The police have bigger fish to fry on this evening.
* * *
02/04/2009
After the second Just Wrestling show of their third tour…
That bastard!
Awakening in the back medical area after the Just Wrestling show at the Quillen Arena in Harrington, Delaware, the light blasts my eyes upon opening them. To me it everything appears in one big light blur. After I rub my eyes and start to get my wits about me, the doctor informs me of what happened. Apparently Aaron Nothings had given me the beating of a lifetime.
“Fuck…”
My head is throbbing. Feels like an anvil smacked me across the side of my skull. The back of my neck feels like it’s being stabbed by pins and needles. Spasms in my lower back aren’t helping matters either.
This is what it must feel like to be hit by a car without wearing a seatbelt in a head on collision. The thought of a head on collision makes me think of Nothings again. Seems as though I’m on a head on collision with him sometime down the line.
The bastard doesn’t know how to take a loss so I’ll have to show him have to take a second one when we meet down the line. A crime like the one he committed will not go unpunished.
Inside the ring after the bell sounds to start to match is where I’ll do my talking. And I’ll do them with these.
Looking down, I clutch my fists in anger.
Only a coward would attack a wounded man. Nothings is a coward in my view. I shall use this to my advantage as I plot a strategy to gain some sort of revenge. However, my train of thought is interrupted as an official comes in holding a sheet of paper.
“Here!” he snarls out as he hands it to me. “Your booking for next week. The boss liked what you did and said you could come back.”
The official then power walks back out the door from which he came in from. What a jackass. Doesn’t even check on me or nothing. Where Shipley hires these people is beyond me. At least that miscreant Dr. Giggles is no longer employed here. People like him were giving this place a bad image.
Getting my mind back on reality, I look down at the sheet of paper and read the first match on it which is circled in yellow ink, mostly likely from a highlighter.
‘Lethal Lottery Re-Entry Moving Target match:
Ellis Nash, Antonio DeMarco, Captain Pollution, Rick Malloy, Brock Shepherd, Maynard Crane, Andrew Kooza and maybe some surprise entrants.’
Upon reading that, I then read further down to see the rules of said match so I know just what the hell I’m going to be doing in the ring at the show.
‘The Moving Target match rules: It is a Falls Count Anywhere cluster taking place throughout the arena. The Snapplevision(~!) will display the name of ONE entrant for a RANDOM period of time. For that time, this entrant is the TARGET. If you pin him/her in that time, you are Winner #1. Continue until we have Winners #1-3. Winner #1 gets first pick of the losers to be his/her partner to re-enter the tournament as Team X. Winner #2 picks a partner for Team Y, and Winner #3 for Team Z.’
Just then the doctor throws an icepack on my lap and simply walks out like nothing happened to me. He doesn’t even check on me again. The bastard just walks out like nothing happened.
“Bastard…”
This only adds fuel to my fire as I set the paper down and bring the icepack to my forehead. As my head continues to throb, there is only one thing on my mind and that one thing is revenge. And revenge is something that I will have.
Somehow, some way, I will have my revenge on Nothings. And no one can stop me.