The arena is bathed in black.

The sorrowful strains of Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun” begins to play as a single spotlight shines down on the entrance.  Standing there, somber and resolute, is the vile villain known as Void.  Beside him, hiding in his shadow, is his beloved Fade.  

In my eyes, indisposed

In disguises no one knows

Hides the face, lies the snake

In the sun in my disgrace

The boos cascade down upon him as he says nothing and makes no movement to acknowledge the fans as the two of them walk down to the ring.

Boiling heat, summer stench

‘Neath the black, the sky looks dead

Call my name through the cream

And I’ll hear you scream again

He motions for Fade to walk up the ring steps while he climbs the ring apron and ropes before stepping over the top.  He smiles at the fans as he is handed a microphone from the shadows.

Black hole sun, won’t you come

And wash away the rain?

Black hole sun, won’t you come?

Won’t you come? Won’t you come?

Void stands in the center of the ring, Fade by his side. “Black Hole Sun” dies down.  He has the microphone in his hand.  Fade is masked but otherwise dressed in her street clothes of an unzipped hoodie lazily hanging from one shoulder, blue jeans with torn knees, and faded Timberland boots, scuffed to holy hell.  Void, meanwhile, wears his father’s old and torn brown trench coat, his black tights and boots, and he is bare chested underneath the coat.  He lets the booing die down before he finally begins to speak.

Void:  By my very nature, I am shadow and mystique.  I live in darkness, I dwell there, it’s my home.  Intrigue, subterfuge, fear and doubt, a little bit off, bleak and oblique terrain of both mental and physical, I reside within those walls.  So when I am told people want answers to what has become of me, what I am doing, and my affairs with one Lindsay Troy, well…

He grins as the fans cheer for the mention of her name.

Void:  …part of me doesn’t want to answer.  Let everyone linger on the idea that I am doing what I want and to hell with their thoughts.  But another part?  My ego?  I couldn’t pass it up.  So here I am, SHOOT Project Faithful, here to tell you a story.  A story about a girl who never watched professional wrestling.  A story about a girl that learned about this great sport of ours only through osmosis and through brutality.  A story about a girl who became a fan.

He puts his arm around Fade and pulls her in tighter.

Void:  This is a story about Lucia, better and more importantly known…as Fade.

His grin remains, though his eyes are filled with fire.

Void:  Fade became a part of me ages ago now.  She has been on Spitter, she has been my voice at times, and she has led my denizens of the deep when I could not.  She held me at night, healed me when I ached, and showed far more care than I could ever anticipate.  You see, ladies and gentlemen, Fade is as much Void as I am Fade.  We are one, now and forever.  One being.  One entity.

He pauses to let it all sink in.

Void:  I am a kind and merciful king down below.  I let my people be free to do as they wish.  When you become a part of me, though, things may change.  I might find myself…expecting more.  Such is the case for my Fade.  You see, ladies and gentlemen, I gave her all of me and she the same.  But when she came to the shows, she would leave talking to me about one thing and one thing only.

He turns to her.

Void:  What was that one thing, Fade?

She says nothing as Void brings the microphone to her lips.  She is obviously very worried about what she might say.

Void:  Relax, my darling girl, this is an open and honest forum.  Tell the good people what you kept wanting to talk to me about.

She closes her eyes and speaks rather meekly.

Fade:  Lindsay Troy.

Void:  LINDSAY TROY!

He repeats it with a booming bass in his voice and a collective OOOH is heard from the audience.  Void grimaces as if he were wincing in pain before he continues.

Void:  This woman, this part of me, the rib to my Adam…could not talk of my war with Buck Dresden, my allegiance with Joshua Breedlove oh no.  It was all about Lindsay’s war with Breedlove or her award winning run with Ayumi Seppuku in Lux Aeterna or just how she’d see her carry herself backstage.

The fans cheer at each of these mentions of Lindsay’s storied 2022.  Void, however, can only roll his eyes.

Void:  Oh, we all love that woman, don’t we?  Podcasts call her award winning.  They call her a queen.  They declare she is not only number one on the charts but number one in our hearts, am I right?

The fans cheer in agreement.  Void, however, shakes his head.

Void:  No no no.  You all, like my Fade, are short sighted.  Foolish.  

They boo.

Void:  Lindsay Troy is a cancer in this profession of ours.  She threw herself at Joshua Breedlove and weakened him until he was unable to withstand the onslaught given to him by Nate Robideau.  She got close to people like Ria Lockhart or Courtney Hatchett or Ayumi Seppuku and what happened to them?  Poof.

He blows the “smoke” in the air and watches it dissipate above his head in a faux childlike wonder.

Void:  They mean nothing now.  They were all important to this company until Lindsay Troy’s wretched claws got into them.  Now they are nothing.  So when I see my dear, sweet, naive Fade watching this vile human being…well, my inner mother bear took over.  You all understand, right?

The fans boo his twisted logic.

Void:  Fade wanted a professional wrestling career.  She wanted to BE a Soldier one day.  We’ve been training.  So when I see her idolizing a false idol, I realize this woman calls herself a Queen, she calls herself a draw, she calls herself a business owner and maybe even a role model to young, impressionable youths around the world.  All I see is a charlatan selling snake oil to starving children and telling them to ignore all the sycophants that suck up to her, all the people she’s ruined the careers of, and choke down this sad elixir that she poisons the masses with time and again.

He pulls Fade in closer, tighter.

Void:  You are done, Lindsay.  Done taking from people.  Done taking and taking and taking and giving nothing back to this business.  You have danced in the light long enough.  You do not deserve your place here or in this business.  So I…am going to take it…from you.

The fans boo his declaration.

Void:  When it was Dan Stein, it was family.  When it was Obsidian, it was family.  And now, with you, Lindsay?  With you, it is your fame.  Your power.  You wield it all so carelessly.  So I am going to make it mine.  I am going to take it all from you and you will do nothing…at all…about it.

He ponders for a moment.

Void:  In but a few moments I will find myself again face to face with the snake charmer, Lexi Gold.  So enamored with the idea of a boy on social media she is clouded to what this is.  To her I want her to hear these words.  Hear me as clearly as I want Lindsay Troy to hear me.

He glares at the camera.

Void:  You will not win, little girl.  You will fall.  You will all…fall.  You have fed at the teat of an unearned success and have held an unjust influence for long enough.  Tonight, I tear you down and when you limp back to your boyfriend, let him know he can easily be next.  Maybe, while you’re at it, limp over to Lindsay’s private locker room she has like the vain little villain she is and tell her what you’ve felt is but a fraction of what I will give to her.

He throws the microphone down and turns to the entrance, prepared for his opponent.