Begin.
Total blackness greets us as we fade in. Fleeting moments past before a spark
illuminates the scene as a match flares to life. As we pan slightly back, we find a man
lighting a cigarette with that very match, before extinguishing it with a quick
flick of his wrist. Inhaling deeply, the
man blows smoke into the air, before falling into an uncontrollable coughing
fit.
“Smoking. A disgusting habit, for sure.”
Chamelion’s voice precedes his arrival
onscreen, where he watches the man in pity as he drops the cigarette and
continues to cough painfully.
Sympathetic to the man’s cause, he hands the man a glass of cold
water. The man gratefully takes it and
subdues his violent heaving’s. Turning
to us, Chamelion continues.
“Did you
know there are more then 4,000 different chemical compounds found in Tobacco
smoke? Each one cancerous and toxic, the most common cancer to come from
smoking is lung cancer. But if a person
can give up the habit, work towards a better lifestyle…”
He pauses, and helps the man through a door that reads
“Stop Smoking Today”, he then turns back to address us.
“..he
has a chance to be healthy again, if he quits early enough. I’ve watched friends who smoked themselves
into this predicament, it’s terrible for sure.
But it’s just one terrible habit that has toxic effects… follow me.”
Walking to the left, we pan with Chamelion as
he steps into a new room, this time there’s a young woman sitting at a
table. On the table is three bottles of
Jack Daniels and an empty glass in her hand.
She looks dishelved, her hair is tangled, her eyes are glazed and she
wobbles with a drunken stooper that would impress the likes of Cody Clark. Chamelion shakes his head.
“Alcoholism
is another dangerous habit. Abuse of
alcohol can lead to many health problems, chief among them the damage to your
liver, when you can not control what you drink and when. It can affect not only yourself, but your
friends, family, co-workers… you may think it’s an escape, but in truth, it’s a
cell, one which you can not escape.”
The woman has poured herself another drink,
but Chamelion puts his hand over the glass and she looks up sadly.
“It
takes strength to admit your problem, to seek out help, but there is help, if
you ask for it, look for it.”
He helps the woman to stand, who has trouble
at first but finds her footing. Guiding
her to another door, this one reads AA on it, he helps her through where
someone takes over. He nods and the door
is shut.
“Perhaps
she will be alright, but the toxic effects of Alcohol can be long lasting. Now, the first two are dangerous, even
deadly, yet are considered legal… the next?”
Again, we follow Chamelion to another room,
here we see a teenager, no more then 17, cutting cocaine on a glass table, as
he snickers gleefully. Shaking his head,
Chamelion, along with us, watch the kid sniff up a line, and Chamelion narrates
again.
“If you
think damaging your lungs or your liver is bad, try to imagine the damage this
kid is doing to his brain? Drugs of all
kinds may make you feel good for the moment, but each time this kid uses, he
needs more just to achieve the same high he got the first time. Chances are, in his desperation to score his
next hit, he could go out there and commit a crime, get himself or someone else
killed. There are worse toxins out there
then what you put in your body, but none so worse then to destroy your brain;
your future.”
Suddenly, Chamelion violently upends the
table and the drugs, blade, everything go scattering over the floor. Before the kid can react, Chamelion grabs him
by the arm and forcefully guides him through a third door labeled ‘Rehab”. He sighs.
“Sorry,
but I have little to no tolerance for kids who feel they need to destroy their
future before they have a chance to live it.”
Dusting himself off, he turns and we follow
him through yet another door. This time,
we come to a small white room, void of any furniture or decoration save one; a
giant poster on the wall of the BWF World Champion, Toxic as he holds high in
the air the BWF World Title.. The poster
however, seems very dirty, as both Toxic and the belt are covered in grime,
filth and grease. He looks at the poster
then to us.
“What
I’ve demonstrated her today, about drugs, alcohol and smoking, is that there
are many toxins out there that will destroy you if you keep at them long
enough. However, if you try to fight
them, walk away and never use or abuse them again, you can get healthy, live a
long wonderful life. But it takes guts,
determination and a desire to want to live.”
Walking right up to the poster, Chamelion
smirks softly.
“While
it’s absolutely true that those destructive elements are far more serious in
nature then a man with a piece of gold around his waist, it does allow me the
moment to compare in detail exactly what I’m getting at. You see, there is a toxin here as well, and
damage is being done, almost irreversible damage, to an otherwise healthy
individual. While you can send a person to
rehab, AA, or sessions to stop smoking, to save this, a fight must occur. A
battle waged within the confines of the squared circle, where two warriors will
face off for the ultimate prize.”
He turns his full attention to us.
“Toxic. The reason I did this, is to point out
something you said against Captain Marticus.
You swore you would bring prestige back to the BWF title, that this was
to be the beginning of the Era of Greatness, that you would be the greatest
champion ever. What happened to those
promises, kiddo? You allowed me to get
into your head and cost you a match against Sirus Moran. Even with the help of Rob Torborg, you could
not get the best of me, and last week, on Havok; you’re absence just screams
failure. I expected something, ANYTHING,
to show me that you had every intention of living up to your own promises, but
you came tumbling down hill faster then Jack and Jill.”
“So
you’re not as relentless as you said you’d be, and frankly you’re no where near
the champion you claimed. At Havok, I
told you, the BWF keeps me on the cards, in the thick of things because they
know to expect the best out of me each and every time. Yet you are made to sit at home, twiddle your
thumbs and stare at the BWF title as you know very soon it will be leaving
you.”
“Let’s
not forget another important factor in all of this. Our match happens in my home town, the place
I was born;
Turning, he grabs the top edge of the poster
and pulls hard. The top layer of the poster
comes tearing away, taking Toxic and the grease with it and all that’s left is
a second poster, clean and pristine, with Chamelion now holding the BWF World
title in the exact same pose. He turns
his head around to face us.
“Understand
this, Toxic, I’m not playing any games and I’m not taking any chances… I’m
sober, clean and smoke free, in essence, I’m Toxic free, and come Sunday at
Hearts on Fire, I will be BWF World Champion.
GOT IT?!?”
With those words, Chamelion walks off screen
and the camera focuses in on the new poster; Chamelion as BWF World Champion.
End.