Post by buck on Jul 24, 2023 9:51:09 GMT -5
We, the viewers are transported once again to the Hotel California. Eli Buchanan, along with Charlotte and a group of green-faced creatures, among others are sitting together holding books and chatting with one another. Eli notices us watching. He puts his book down and rises to his feet to greet us.
"Why, hello there. I’m so glad you decided to join us once again at the hotel. You’re just in time!"
He waves around them and smiles.
"The gang and I have gotten together here in the rec center for our weekly meeting of our book club."
He points over at one of the green-faced beings, who is holding her book upside down. Charlotee takes the book from her and turns it right side up and whispers something in her ear. The creature looks confused and turns the book back upside down. One of the other green-facer grabs the book from her hands and tears it in half. The two begin grunting and hissing at one another until Charlotte sliences them both with a meaningful glare.
Eli laughs.
"Some of us are still getting used to how things are done around here, but that’s why it’s so great that you could make it here to join us!"
Eli waves the viewers closer and goes back to his seat and picks up his book.
"Now where were we?"
“We were discussing how the drunk wizard got captured by the Duke and what that says about the social structure in our society,” Charlotte replied, before before turning back to the two creatures beside her and smacking them both across teh back of the head with her copy of the book.
“This is stupid,” someone off screen complained, “These stories of post apocalyptic worlds are overdone and this one is absolute garbage. And who the hell is this Ed Ow…”
Eli reaches out his hand and shoots a fireball in the direction of the voice. A few people murmur in fear as the man starts screaming in pain. The two green-faced creatures turn to Charlotte, who nods at them with approval. They nudge the others of their kind and rush off screen towards the injured man. Meanwhile, Eli puts his book down and lets out an exaggerated sigh.
"Some people just don’t appreciate good literature."
Charlotte lies a hand on his shoulder.
"I told you we should have discussed the book by John Vaillant instead, my love."
Eli nods and pats Charlotte’s hand.
"Perhaps you’re right, but I won’t rest until the world knows about the adventures of that wonderful wizard."
The screams can still be heard off screen, now mixed with the sickening sound of the creatures laughing. There’s a sudden crunch sound and everything goes quiet. Eli and Charlotte look at one another and it’s Charlotte’s turn to sigh once more.
"I’ll go tell the janitor we need a mop," Charlotte says before taking another look off screen, "and a body bag."
She dances away and everyone else in the room can be seen departing as well, leaving Eli all by himself. When everyone is gone, except Leytrix, who can be heard munching on something, he turns to the viewers, his face now grim.
"I know that some of you don’t care for what I’m doing here. You think I'm just retreading old material and wonder why I can't come up with something new instead or, better yet, go back to being "normal old Eli" again. It was thinking like that which nearly put me down for good when car crashes and drug overdoses couldn’t. The desire to be taken seriously just so people would forget about what happened at the carnival in Mexico slowly sucked out all the passion I had for this business! For nearly three years I slowly rotted from the inside out, wanting to scream because this cursed need to conform, just so I would be allowed to move forward without facing persecution!"
There’s rage in his eyes now. A loud thumping comes from off screen and Eli's eyes begin to glow bright red. A dark shadow rises up behind him.
"And then I found this place, seemingly by chance, and suddenly all my doubts washed away. For the first time in my life, surrounded by individuals just like me, I realized what I needed to do, and it was so simple, I can’t believe it took this long for me to realize it. Do you think I'm going to abandon it now just because some closed-minded individuals don't share in my vision, or because I was stabbed in the back by someone who I considered a close ally, or because another abandoned me when I needed her the most?
The thumping noise began to grow louder. The dark shadow behind Eli grew larger.
"No. The plan stays the same, the vision doesn't change. It just evolves and becomes even bigger.
The thumping gets even louder. The shadow reaches out to grab Eli, but he reaches back and swats it away as if it was a bug. The shadow quickly fades away the thumping sound dissipates. The red glow leaves Eli's eyes and he seems to calm done.
"I evolve. I am the master of my own destiny even more so than ever before, and I chose to stay the course. If you don't understand, I suggest you search for the last couple books in the series. I know Erik Holland skimmed through a few, they were a doozy."
He stopped and winked at the camera. Is this supposed to be a character development, or is it secretly a wrestling promo? Even Eli doesn't know. So just sit back and enjoy the ride.
"By the way, Erik, welcome to Uprising. I'll make sure to send you gift basket. I know you've been looking forward to this match as much as I have. You're finally part of the narrative and I guarantee, if you thought what happened in the book in Seattle was something, just wait. This one is going to blow your mind."
Eli picks up his copy of the book the group had been reading and turns it over in his hands.
"This really is a good book though. I really hope people get to read it some day."
Eli walks away, humming to himself. As soon as he disappears, the thumping sound returns. The shadow rises up again and seems to turn and stare after Eli for a moment before turning back to the camera. The shadow lets out a loud scream and leaps at the camera, and we fade to black.
"Why, hello there. I’m so glad you decided to join us once again at the hotel. You’re just in time!"
He waves around them and smiles.
"The gang and I have gotten together here in the rec center for our weekly meeting of our book club."
He points over at one of the green-faced beings, who is holding her book upside down. Charlotee takes the book from her and turns it right side up and whispers something in her ear. The creature looks confused and turns the book back upside down. One of the other green-facer grabs the book from her hands and tears it in half. The two begin grunting and hissing at one another until Charlotte sliences them both with a meaningful glare.
Eli laughs.
"Some of us are still getting used to how things are done around here, but that’s why it’s so great that you could make it here to join us!"
Eli waves the viewers closer and goes back to his seat and picks up his book.
"Now where were we?"
“We were discussing how the drunk wizard got captured by the Duke and what that says about the social structure in our society,” Charlotte replied, before before turning back to the two creatures beside her and smacking them both across teh back of the head with her copy of the book.
“This is stupid,” someone off screen complained, “These stories of post apocalyptic worlds are overdone and this one is absolute garbage. And who the hell is this Ed Ow…”
Eli reaches out his hand and shoots a fireball in the direction of the voice. A few people murmur in fear as the man starts screaming in pain. The two green-faced creatures turn to Charlotte, who nods at them with approval. They nudge the others of their kind and rush off screen towards the injured man. Meanwhile, Eli puts his book down and lets out an exaggerated sigh.
"Some people just don’t appreciate good literature."
Charlotte lies a hand on his shoulder.
"I told you we should have discussed the book by John Vaillant instead, my love."
Eli nods and pats Charlotte’s hand.
"Perhaps you’re right, but I won’t rest until the world knows about the adventures of that wonderful wizard."
The screams can still be heard off screen, now mixed with the sickening sound of the creatures laughing. There’s a sudden crunch sound and everything goes quiet. Eli and Charlotte look at one another and it’s Charlotte’s turn to sigh once more.
"I’ll go tell the janitor we need a mop," Charlotte says before taking another look off screen, "and a body bag."
She dances away and everyone else in the room can be seen departing as well, leaving Eli all by himself. When everyone is gone, except Leytrix, who can be heard munching on something, he turns to the viewers, his face now grim.
"I know that some of you don’t care for what I’m doing here. You think I'm just retreading old material and wonder why I can't come up with something new instead or, better yet, go back to being "normal old Eli" again. It was thinking like that which nearly put me down for good when car crashes and drug overdoses couldn’t. The desire to be taken seriously just so people would forget about what happened at the carnival in Mexico slowly sucked out all the passion I had for this business! For nearly three years I slowly rotted from the inside out, wanting to scream because this cursed need to conform, just so I would be allowed to move forward without facing persecution!"
There’s rage in his eyes now. A loud thumping comes from off screen and Eli's eyes begin to glow bright red. A dark shadow rises up behind him.
"And then I found this place, seemingly by chance, and suddenly all my doubts washed away. For the first time in my life, surrounded by individuals just like me, I realized what I needed to do, and it was so simple, I can’t believe it took this long for me to realize it. Do you think I'm going to abandon it now just because some closed-minded individuals don't share in my vision, or because I was stabbed in the back by someone who I considered a close ally, or because another abandoned me when I needed her the most?
The thumping noise began to grow louder. The dark shadow behind Eli grew larger.
"No. The plan stays the same, the vision doesn't change. It just evolves and becomes even bigger.
The thumping gets even louder. The shadow reaches out to grab Eli, but he reaches back and swats it away as if it was a bug. The shadow quickly fades away the thumping sound dissipates. The red glow leaves Eli's eyes and he seems to calm done.
"I evolve. I am the master of my own destiny even more so than ever before, and I chose to stay the course. If you don't understand, I suggest you search for the last couple books in the series. I know Erik Holland skimmed through a few, they were a doozy."
He stopped and winked at the camera. Is this supposed to be a character development, or is it secretly a wrestling promo? Even Eli doesn't know. So just sit back and enjoy the ride.
"By the way, Erik, welcome to Uprising. I'll make sure to send you gift basket. I know you've been looking forward to this match as much as I have. You're finally part of the narrative and I guarantee, if you thought what happened in the book in Seattle was something, just wait. This one is going to blow your mind."
Eli picks up his copy of the book the group had been reading and turns it over in his hands.
"This really is a good book though. I really hope people get to read it some day."
Eli walks away, humming to himself. As soon as he disappears, the thumping sound returns. The shadow rises up again and seems to turn and stare after Eli for a moment before turning back to the camera. The shadow lets out a loud scream and leaps at the camera, and we fade to black.