There is a small group of them walking down the large hallway that curved slightly to the right as they want. The walls were far enough apart and the ceiling high enough that a fair sized vehicle, say a dump truck, could squeeze its way through if it needed to. While you could just detect the smell of grease in the air, the breeze brought a mostly fresh, new smell...more an absence of other smells that would come later. The brick walls were painted bright white, with various signs on the wall pointing to the different parts of the place. The concrete floor had absolutely no dirt, no smudges, no cracks, or anything else that spoke of age and use. It was like a car fresh off the lot, pristine but waiting for the first tiny little thing, a dent or scratch, that would make it second-hand, damaged, of lesser value. This was their new home. The EWA Colosseum. “Your door is just up ahead,” the guide states, “I’ll show you the rest of the place, but we can give you a while to look around your locker room and get to know where everything is. One less thing for you to worry about on the day of the show.”
The guide walks up to a normal sized doorway and steps aside, with the janitorial staff member moving in with the key.
Guide: “Of course we’ll give you all keys to the room, though we do not have them ready yet.”
“That will be fine, “ Big Al Tubbs responds, looking on the door’s name-plate that read ‘Violent Retribution Locker Room’. He smiled as the door opened and they walked in.
His charges, Skyscraper and Hindenburg, looked around and whistled.
Skyscraper: “Look at this place! Whoooo, we’re really going somewhere now, brother!”
Hindenburg: “Sucks that the others couldn’t be here for the preview.”
Tubbs: “Don’t worry about that, Burg. Tim, Josh, and Carnage will see this soon enough. We’re moving into the area, so it was more convenient for us to check it out first, that is all.”
The three men began to look around in earnest. Part of the room to one side was a seating area, with microwave, coffee maker, 42” wide screen tv, two couches, two recliners, a largish coffee table, and some folding chairs for extra guests. The middle of the room included a ceiling-suspended punching bag and an adjustable weight machine. To the left of the door along the far wall were ten lockers with a bench running in front of them, a wall mirror, and a large sink that two or three people could use at once. On the far left wall was a door leading to the restroom and shower.
Hindenburg: “Well, its not high end, but having our own locker room at this stage is pretty big. I think I’m gonna like this.”
Tubbs: “You can thank Timmons for this. We really haven’t earned any of this, but he insisted we have space to meet, strategize, watch the show, and whatever else. He’s a bigger star than we are, so they built to suit him.”
Skyscraper: “Tim’s been around the block a few times. I’d think he would deserve something more than this, though.”
Tubbs: “All in due time, Sky. You could argue the point, but you can’t argue the budget. EWA is still pretty new and has grown faster than anyone thought it would. They have more money, but they don’t just have money to blow. The have to be careful. If they spend to much on nonessentials, they could find themselves suddenly at a deficit and have to close. No, this is pretty good for now, and definitely more than we would have earned otherwise.”
Skyscraper: “We’ve done some amazing things, Al! Why are you saying we haven’t earned the good stuff yet?”
Tubbs: “EWA has been open for just a few months, Sky. Yes, we’ve done well to be sure, but if we stepped away right now, no one would remember us six months from now. They like us. We’ve made some headlines and turned some heads, but we need to be around a while before anyone here see us as irreplaceable. That is why I keep telling you to wrestle with everything you have, like you have something to prove. Because we have EVERYTHING to prove to EVERYONE!”
Skyscraper: “All right, all right, I hear you. And you are right. Who cares about Mantaur? Or Markis Cor Von? Or Mr. JL?”
Tubbs: “Actually, Mr. JL was Jerry Lynn. He went onto a good independent career.”
Skyscraper: “But it proves my point! Mr. JL was such a flash in the pan, I didn’t even know his real identity!”
Tubbs, sighs: “Fine. Anyway, I have a call to make. Take a good look around, guys. The guide will be back in ten minutes or so to show us the rest of the place.”
**********
(as the scene begins we hear a verse from a classic Beach Boys song)
'Once at night Catillian squared the fight
And she was right in the rain of the bullets that eventually brought her down
But she's still dancing in the night
Unafraid of what a dude'll do in a town full of heroes and villains.'
We open on a large bridge on a cloudy evening, the New York cityscape in the immediate background. A slight breeze carries that mixed smell of auto fumes, salty sea air, and chinese food cooking at a diner not far away. There is the sound of traffic but it is in the distance, just noticeable but not loud. A few human beings mull around in the background: a couple sharing an intimate moment; a man hurriedly trying to get to a bus stop before the threatening rain begins if the sky does decide to open up, a woman so bored with her apartment that standing here gazing upon the city is a better way to pass her time. It is a pleasant scene, but then a figure steps in front of the camera. It stands so close that we can only see a t-shirt and an armpit, but the camera person zooms back and a bit upwards, until the screen is filled with the muscular frame of Skyscraper from the waist up. He looks back at the New York skyline, then directly into the camera. He cracks a big grin, and very excitedly begins to speak while motioning with his hands.
(With hands in front and outwards as if surprised) “Faster than a speeding bullet!”
(Then flexing like a bodybuilder)“More powerful than a locomotive!”
(Hunches down as if he is about to jump up) “Able to leap tall buildings...heh heh heh!”
Skyscraper straightens up and shakes his head.
“You know, I don’t really know much about the comic book heroes except what’s been shown in some of the movies and a few cartoons. I mean, in my life, when have I ever wanted to read picture books about a bunch of white men dressed in skin-tight underwear? I could be out playing basketball, harassing all the hot young ladies, or just hanging out with my friends. Oh, yeah, I know that Bruce Wayne is Batman, Doc Ock is Spider Man’s enemy, and I know how long it took for the comic book companies to have a serious African-American hero that didn’t have ‘Black’ as the first part of his hero name. But I don’t even remember all the X-Men in the movies that I watched. I remember Halle Berry. Oh, yeah, I’d like to hit that! “Jace Champion, I appreciate that you don’t look up to the characters themselves but the ideals that they represent. That’s very noble. And I even appreciate that you, yourself, have obviously put a lot of effort in keeping yourself in tip-top shape and have reached great heights in our business, much unlike your average comic book nerd. And I even know that, in your little genre, I’m the black hat villain. Heh, at my size I damn near am super powered! I’m not here to act like you have no chance against me, that you are just one of those ComicCon geeks.
“What I will do, though, is give you a bit of an education.”
Skyscraper looks again at the view of New York behind him.
“Look at that. One of the greatest cities in the world, no doubt. Look at it. Think about how many people are awake right now. They might be drinking alcohol, they might be sight seeing, they might be watching a show, they might be screwing their brains out! Most of them have their lights blazing, their TV’s going, their computers on even if they aren’t currently using them. If you don’t know, Jace, New York city is, per capita, one of the biggest consumers of energy in the world! People waste enough energy here to power whole states in our great nation! Can you believe that? And did you know that, while in other countries with large cities there are more bicycles, motorcycles, and scooters than there are automobiles, but your average American has at least one car and many have two autos even if they don’t really need them? Here it is a convenience item! Even here in New York, the street are clogged with large vehicles when a bike or scooter would do just fine. But we’re AMERICAN, Dammit! We deserve to have our four wheeler! It’s a matter of pride! “One of your heroes stands for Truth, Justice, and the American Way! (Getting excited) YES! Those are the things that this country is built upon! No one can touch that! But let’s think about that for a moment. What is truth, exactly? Two people could say statements that seem to contradict each other and both be accurate. Which would be the truth? And justice? What is justice nowadays? We got Osama Bin Laden! Patriotism rules, YEAH! AMERICA, FUCK YEAH!!! But what about all the collateral damage along the way in Afganistan that our government is loathe to admit to? A lot of Afgani citizens having nothing to do with anything have died in our fight with the terrorists. Is it justice that the corporations pay a very small percentage on their earnings in taxes and use loopholes and gift-wrapped credits to get back most of the rest? Yeah, I know, I know. I’m looking at some really bad stuff, and you will say that these are the far extreme.”
Behind Skyscraper, we see a youngish man, probably in high school or just out of it, catching sight of the camera. He comes up behind Skyscraper mugging for the camera. The big man notices, and grabs the young man by his jacket. Sky probably stands a foot and a half taller than the interloper.
“WHAT ARE YOU GETTING IN MY BUSINESS FOR? YOU WANT ON TV? I’LL DUMP YOU OFF THIS BRIDGE AND YOU’LL BE ON THE ELEVEN O’CLOCK NEWS AS NEW YORK’S NEWEST UNEXPLAINED SUICIDE! GET OUT OF HERE!”
Skyscraper drops the man, who runs off screen at top speed.
“Where was I? Oh yeah. Jace Champion, let’s think about the American Way for a minute. Just what do the super heroes fight for? While they take down Braniac, the banks issue thousands upon thousands of bad mortgages, knowing damn well that many families won’t be able to pay in a few years. When the economy tanks because of those bad loans, the government give THEM loans to get by. Brilliant! Wall Street played their part by actually setting up investments based on those self-same bad mortgages so that, when the loans began to fail, some investors made a TON of money! Their punishment? When Congress said no to the bailouts, A group of Wall Streeters and Bank Execs were invited to a private meeting with certain politicos...and a new bill is signed! A bill with no real checks and balances! Corporations have had input on their own taxes, business practices, and even pollution and environmental issues, often leading to rules that benefit the companies themselves far more than the average citizen. And lord knows that the HMO’s and pharmaceutical companies have been making billions for years upon years with almost no reaction from Washington whatsoever! “By now you are asking, ‘What is the point, Skyscraper?’ It’s simple, Jace. You have this ideal of fighting for the American Dream. Well, hate to break it to you, but the American Way these days is to get what you can when you can and screw everyone else! In your comic books, the hero always defeats the villain and everything is okey-dokey! Even death gets turned around on a regular basis. But you know, this isn’t a comic book, man. In real life, not only do the bad guys win, they win all the time, and our entire government runs on that simple fact! They aren’t working for us, they are working for them!
“I’m going to be something in this business, and I’ll go on to bigger and better things. Maybe Hollywood, I don’t know, but its going to be big. My TRUTH is that its all about making what you can! My JUSTICE is that I can do whatever I want, step over or on whoever I want, and make as much as I want, and as long as I don’t actually break any law, I’m golden! And my American Way is to use up whatever I can, consume whatever I want to, and feel a little bad for all the poor kids out there while I eat sushi and drink expensive champagne. You represent a fantasy, Jace, while I accept reality. You worry about your image and how people view you, I only care about my future. You want to be the hero and depict me as the villain...but I’m just going to do what the people who run this country do to succeed. You can go ahead and activate your Wonder Twin powers and try to leap this Skyscraper in a single bound, but remember this, SuperJace...when you are dealing with a building this tall and you hit the wall, it is a long, long way down! This villain is going to win this round.”
As Skyscraper turns and walks away from the camera across the bridge we hear another segment from the Beach Boys song, this time sung slow and hauntingly by an unknown artist.
'Stand or fall I know there
Shall be peace in the valley
And it's all an affair
Of my life with the heroes and villains'
END
