Fighting For Life

Part I: 'The Ending' Begins

Damien Doherty looks around the graveyard that he last saw while unconscious, the reality of what he is seeing now hitting him straight in the face. Wondering just how he ended up here, he picks himself off the soaking wet grass and stares into the night sky, no stars or a moon present. Just darkness. Gravestones shine with a white colour, almost as if there is light being shone on each of them. Damien slicks back his long black hair and begins to walk on the gravel path. This is similar to the graveyard where the entire Williams brothers are buried so we know that this graveyard must be somewhere in Parksburg, West Virginia. He begins mumbling to himself on the way towards the distant nowhere.

"Where the absolute fuck am I this time? This is worse than Detroit. Somehow, I remember this."

As Damien walks, a roar of an engine followed by a pair of bright headlights. Damien lifts his right hand and rests it on his forehead, trying to see past the bright lights and where they are coming from. An old, rusted truck pulls up and a person steps out of the car while Damien stands in confusion. The farmer is wearing a straw hat and a pair of black sunglasses, very strange because of the darkness surrounding him and an obvious contrast to when sunglasses should be worn. He has a long head of white hair which sticks out from under the hat and his wrinkles stand out. Damien thinks of a dangerous joke for this old man but he doesn't think it would go down well so he doesn't comment. Instead, he enquires.

"Scuse me, boss, but where the fuck am I? I'm totally lost here."

"Wow, your a newcomer too?"

"Naw, I got lost here on my way to Alabama. You see, my dealer had some pot for me but he's all the way in Racist Country, the home of that crappy wrassler Hardcore Holly."

"Who?"

"It don't matter. Listen, can you tell me how to get out of here? I have to be there in six hours."

The farmer merely stares at Damien with confusion painted all across his face. The lost person finally picks up his facial expression and comments on it.

"Look, man. I'm stoned out of my mind. I'm totally lost here."

"I know."

"You know? What the hell? How can you KNOW? It's not as if I'm supposed to be here, is it? I don't even live here."

"Well, this ain't 'Alabama' or whatever the hell you said. This is The Ending."

Damien reads the farmer's face as serious and begins to break into laughter, almost falling onto the ground. The farmer remains cold and emotionless. Eventually, Damien is un-nerved by the farmer and speaks up.

"That's the worst name I've ever heard. Seriously buddy, where am I?"

"I'm not kidding, bud. You're in the parody world, my young friend. Lots of guys come through here just like you. Say, what's the last thing you remember?"

"Uh... I think I got fired from McDonalds for getting meat off with a dangerous looking sharp thing that got the meat off the stove easier. Then the bitch was in a bad mood and so she fired me. In response, I anal raped her on the stove while shoving her head into the hot boiling oil until her eyes popped out and she choked to death on the oil. You?"

"And I know that's a lie. You hate your boss but your not a rapist. You came to see your dealer who had some stash for you and you didn't need to pay for that because you once helped your friend in a tough spot."

"Yeah...? He once had to deal with a bunch of internet geeks who wanted him dead because of a bad deal. So I had to go and smoke them all out. Seriously, they didn't last a minute with my stash."

"And now your wondering just how I knew."

"Nope, I'm wondering how you get around in that truck. Even my car is a Jag compared to that motherfucker."

"Kid, Your in a really tough spot. See, your nowhere. Not in America and not heading towards Alabama. Your in a world of absolute nothing. I call it the parody world, though."

"If any of that even made a damn bit of sense, who in the George Bush are you?"

"Me? Well, I'm your friend and your enemy at the same time. But call me Bill."

"Okay, William. Just how do I get out of here?"

"You don't."

Damien just blankly stares at Bill, who is now sitting on the hood of his truck with a pipe sticking out of his mouth. A cold piercing wind then crashes towards Damien and blows away several leaves and stones.

"I probably got stoned again and this is some screwed up dream I'm having. Right?"

"Nope. Tupac thought that and he ended up dead."

"What about Jimi Hendrix?"

"He kept choking on his own vomit. I got sick of him and sent him to Hell. Next question?"

"So, wait a second. Is this some sort of dream world, like, where I can do whatever I want? Smoke a doobie, beat up a hippie or pretend I'm Oprah Winfrey and have my pussy threaten people with a gun."

 "Eh?"

"Nothing. Funny South Park episode. Guess you farmers don't have cable, no?"

"Kid, your in a world where none of what you say exists. This is Parody World."

"P...parody world? What in the hell is that?"

"Okay, basically, you may not believe this, but your fighting for existence. There are several trials you must complete, all of which feature parody. Parody, my friend, is a piece of art which ridicules another. It imitates another work of art, see?"

"But that doesn't make any sense. First it was 'The Ending'. Now it's Parody World? Are you high, man?"

The old farmer laughs at the comment and lifting himself off his truck hood, walks towards the confused man who looks around the graveyard some more to try get sense of where he is or what he is doing here.

"Every trial will be a parody. Some of it will make sense, others wont. It doesn't matter. No matter what the task, you must succeed. If you fail to accomplish one, you will die. Your life will end and you will spend the rest of your life in limbo. This is not a game, my young friend. This is life and death, fate and reality are in your hands. If your life means much to you, then you will accept the Parody. If not... it's over."

"Do you know why I'm here then?"

"Yes. But you musn't know now. If you are successful, the very last Parody will tell you why."

Is he breathing? We need to get him into ICU NOW!

He's lost a lot of blood.

"The fuck is that? Another one of your jokes?"

"No, my young friend. This is where it--"

Nicky Mills awakes from his dream and begins almost having a seizure on the trolley where he is being wheeled into the emergency room. He looks down at his stab wound, which is flowing heavily with blood even though it has tried to be patched up to some extent. The doctors and nurses attempt to restrain him back onto the stretcher but he uses a free arm to push some of them away. Jeremy Cundiff and Rilo are at his side, looking on with deep concern. Even though he was knocked out from the drugs that he has been given, Nicky manages to speak to Jeremy, his voice weakened as he begins having breathing difficulties.

Nicky Mills: Where... where... where am I? Who.. am I?

Jeremy Cundiff: Mills! Your in the hospital, man. You're gonna be alright, bro.

I...

Mills collapses back onto the stretcher, the doctors and nurses rush him even faster to the emergency room. Jeremy and Rilo are held back by several doctors and express some anger at this. One of the doctors is nearly pushed to the floor by an aggravated Ril while another steps towards them, a man with large spectacles and literally no hair, completely bald.

Rilo: Is he going to be alright? GODDAMN IT, I WANT SOME ANSWERS!!

Doctor #1: Calm down, sir.

YOU CALM DOWN, YOU SON OF A BITCH! WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING TO HIM?!?!

Okay, but we have to talk elsewhere. Your creating a scene.

The doctor, Jeremy and Rilo begin walking away from the entrance to the ICU. Both sit down on the waiting room chairs while the doctor lets a cough escape him before he begins speaking.

 First of all, I have to ask you some questions. Is there any immediate family we can contact?

I've talked to his wife. She's on her way here with his kids.

Parents?

Dead. So are his brothers.

I see. What about his sister? It says she's an emergency contact on his insurance sheet.

Jeremy and Rilo both stare at each other when they hear this in confusion. Obviously, this fact was not known to them.

We didn't know he had a sister. He never told us about her. But contact her anyway.

Okay. Now, as both of you obviously know, this stab wound is pretty serious. He suffered a deep cut to his chest which was then twisted. We think that when he was stabbed, the person didn't mean to do it so he pulled it out. But he accidentally twisted it before pulling it out, creating an even worse cut. However, that isn't the worst part.

What is?

The knife he was stabbed with was infected with something, we don't know what it was but it's reacting with his body. His blood is completely contaminated and we have to perform a blood transfusion. Even that might make things worse as if there's any major organs infected, it will make the new blood contaminated too. Right now, we don't know whether he'll make it or not. When he fell to the ground upon being stabbed, he also suffered a deep gash to his head which we think has caused some brain trauma.

Shit...

Listen, this is a very serious situation. The drugs we've put him on will most likely put him deeper in this coma of his. We've got to protect his brain. Even if he survives this, he may very well suffer permanently from this. But his chances of surviving right now aren't good. We're doing all we can.

But if there's a chance he lives, what could happen to him?

We don't know. But usually, he could either die or come out of the coma. However, with this infection, he may suffer some brain trauma. He might not be the same person. I have to go now. I'll be back soon.

The doctor turns his back and begins walking away from the two wrestlers. However, the arrival of Spitfly and Carly, the girlfriend of Jason Sparks, make the wrestlers look over.

Spitfly: Jesus, you guys. What's going on?

We don't know yet, man. He's pretty hurt though. Where's Jason, Carly?

Carly: I don't know, Rilo. He's gone.

You lying bitch...

Jeremy lunges forward and grabs Carly by the throat but is soon pulled back by Ariel, who has suddenly appeared. Rilo attends to Jeremy while Spitfly helps Carly, who is coughing loudly.

Ariel: Jeremy, take it easy.

When I get my hands on that asshole, Carly, he's a fuckin dead man. YOU HEAR ME?

RELAX! We don't need this right now. Everyone has to chill.

This coming from a man who nearly kicked his ass earlier?

Have you even noticed the man's dying? Fuck all that shit. It don't matter now.

I swear to you, I have no idea where he's gone. The police are looking for him though.

If he's not careful, he'll be dead earlier. We have to find him before one of Mills' guys finds him and kill him.

Oh man, I forgot about those damn goons of his. That's all we need.

But what exactly is wrong with Mills? They're saying this stab wound could kill him because of some infection. Carly, what the hell is wrong with Jason?

It was meant for me.

Something was on that knife, Carly. Do you know what it was?

For all we know, it was anthrax. But I wouldn't venture a guess. The problem is finding Sparks before he goes and does anything drastic. We all have to keep our eyes open before he's nabbed by the cops.

Why did Mills dive in for me? Me and him were never close.

Because unlike you, he's not a total prick who cares about himself. He's loyal to all of us. And this is what he gets for it. Being stabbed by one of our own.

"This is tard, man. Seriously. I want out."

"It's either a yes or a no. Either your life ends now or you can have a chance to save it."

"Can I take Option C?"

"There is no Option C, Damien. How about it, kid?"

Damien looks around the graveyard, a slight yellow rising in the sky as if morning was just about to dawn. His life begins to flash before his eyes but this is a rare occasion as this is 'supposed' to take place just before death. However, his memories are not his. He looks through the eyes of a professional wrestler and see's a face he doesn't recognize. A man with long black hair staring back at him in horror with a large hunting knife in his hand. The memory quickly fades away while Damien looks at a spare joint in his front jeans pocket. It's either smoke the joint and go into 'The Ending' or die.

"Aight, but let me smoke this doobie."

"There's no time. You must first enter the parody world of Resident Evil."

"What?! That dumb zombie game? I used to play that years ago."

"But it's for real. Remember, if you mess up, you die. You'll be given everything you need and all the people you want. Okay?"

"Ach. Damn this stupid ass parody thing..."

Harborview Medical Centre is the current location where Nicky Mills is fighting for his life as a result of a stabbing incident during a UxW show. It is two o'clock in the morning and the sky is silent, the wind echoing no sound except for a piercing sound of itself. The parking lot of the hospital is nearly empty apart from several cars from overnight doctors and nurses and some people waiting on loved ones who are undergoing operations. Not a single person is in sight. However, a figure appears from a large row of large green bushes and tree's, staring at the entrance of the hospital ahead with a look of confusion. He is contemplating whether to risk it and go into the hospital or continue to stay hidden. His mind is playing tricks on him at the same time; giving him hope and saying to him at the same time that he doesn't stand a chance.

The man walks out of the bushes and wipes off the leaves and bits of twig off his jacket, then staring down at his large duffel bag with his wrestling gear inside it. He finally steps into the light of the lone lamppost, lighting a cigarette. Jason Sparks wonders whether his presence will spark a fight of sorts but at this point, he doesn't care. All he knows is to try and make things right. And finally, with all the courage in the world and a look of determination, the man who stabbed Nicky Mills walks through the doors of the hospital with a smile painted across his face.