We open in a grand exhibition hall of an art gallery. The place is filled to brim with the upper echelon of the art world, and this fundraising event is sure to make quite a bundle. All are dressed in clean, delightfully expensive clothing. We find ourselves focused on one painting in particular, with one man staring directly at this piece of art; Steven Holmes. This all seems rather familiar, almost as if weve been through this before. With a creeping sense of déjà vu, a female enters the scene. She is young, attractive and has two glasses in her hand. She utters a word.
Woman: Steven...
With his name spoken, Holmes turns his head and body in general his face is initially glum, but soon picks up. He is in better condition than the last time we saw him address an opponent, though there remains something different, something unique within the depths of his eyes. His grin, as ever, is dominantly sinister.
Holmes: Ah, my dear Felicity, a pleasure.
He swiftly steals one of the glasses from her, filled with what can only assume is a fine wine or, more likely champagne. He takes a quick shot of it, dampening his mouth and throat with the bubbly liquid. The woman now identified as Felicity looks rather bemused.
Felicity: Thirsty were we Steven?
Holmes: Indeed. Its far too hot in here, and Id rather not go outside as its bloody cold. The suit may be fantastic to look at, but its a tad short on the thermal side.
Felicity snickers a little at Holmes joke. Proud that he made her laugh, Holmes smarmy grin crosses his face.
Holmes: I do hope that this drink wasnt for anyone else.
Felicity: But of course not Steven, always for you. It was such a lovely surprise to hear you were coming this evening; you seemed to have dropped off the radar for awhile. Become embroiled in a blood feud of sorts doing that primal pastime of yours?
Though she may giggle away at this, Holmes grin drops into a non-existent pit. Instead it is replaced by a stone-wall of dead-pan. Holmes expression is near blank though the eyes burn with a passion, a hatred.
Holmes: As a matter of fact Felicity, I have recently gotten tangled up with an individual named Big Dave who, suffice to say doesnt get along with me. Nor I with him. I suppose it didnt help that I attempted to snap his neck like a twig and put an end to his livelihood.
Taking a step or two back, Felicity is horrified by this sudden turn of darkness by Holmes. She gasps out of surprise in fact. The most disturbing thing of it all though is how casually, calm and composed Holmes said it, before following up with another dash of alcohol.
Felicity: Why on earth would try and do that Steven?
Holmes: Why its really quite simple I--
CRASH!
Before Holmes can begin to detail his reasons, a loud crash is heard from the left of our two main characters. Sharply, Holmes turns his head, with his body following to observe what is going on. His eyes narrow as a gentleman clearly not dressed for occasion has stumbled his way into the private occasion. Some sort of nightclub goer has had far too much to drink and wants to party his way into the art exhibition for no real reason other than to cause some fuss. Security is swift to apprehend the party animal.
Party Animal: DUDE! LET ME GO!
Security attempts to bring him to his knees and then to his front, lying him down on the cold, marble floor. Holmes begins to move towards the incident, casually handing his glass back to Felicity as he does.
Felicity: Steven, what are you--?
Party Animal: Come on maaaaan. This is so not fair.
Security is prepared to use excessive force in order to deal with trouble maker, but just as one guard gets his baton out to strike, Holmes calls out.
Holmes: LETS NOT!
The guard looks at Holmes with disgust at first; this is before recognising just who this man is. The guard is quick to nod in agreement. Holmes shoots him a smirk, before returning his attention to the Party Animal.
Holmes: Now then, release the poor gentleman into my hands.
The security surrounding the animal look at one another with a sense of fear and quickly release the animal. Holmes grin is comprised of, in essence, pure evil.
Party Animal: Oh hey, thanks man, I appreciate i--
Before he can conclude his statement, our Party Animal is flung hard into the wall by Holmes. His hands grasped tightly around his shoddy t-shirt. Holmes moves in quickly, his face a mere few inches from the poor drunken fools.
Holmes: Now then, lets talk, shall we?
Party Animal: Huh? T--talk about what?
Holmes: Oh you know just anything like say, fear?
The Party Animals eyes widen as he realises that hes not been freed from punishment, merely dropped into the proverbial pit of eternal damnation. Holmess shadow casts a dark, atmospheric feel over our animalistic friend. Then, he begins to notice something.
Party Animal: Say, arent you in WZCW? Yeah, youre that Steven Holmes dude.
Holmes is surprised that he is recognised, but chortles a little, a pleasant smile now on his face. The Party Animal joins in with the laughter. Then, Holmes stops. The Party Animal soon follows suit, though embarrassingly only after a few second delay. The once pleasant smile is morphed into a creepy, slithery one.
Holmes: Now that I know youre a fan of my workplace, lets put fear to one side for the moment. Lets discuss what Im going to do this week on Ascension when I face a man much similar to yourself; Armando Paradyse.
Again, the Party Animals fear is apparent as he gulps audibly.
Holmes: You see Mr. Paradyse is a notorious party loving gentleman. Hes a big fan of the culture. He enjoys it like no other. Many find that to be an endearing quality. I find it to be a disgusting lack of professionalism. His work is sloppy, his talent is null and his presence is severely lacking. He is however, a suitable opponent for a man on the edge such as myself. You see, Armando Paradyses talents may well be nonexistent, but he makes for a fine test for my plans to unleash hell upon Big Dave.
At this point, Holmes removes his hands from the party goers clothing and instead moves his right arm up towards the neck whilst the left blocks a potential escape route.
Holmes: Paradyse seeks validation, but it will not come at my expense. I will annihilate him, testing, trying and contorting him in ways never before seen. He will be like a puppet on strings being manipulated to my every whim as I prepare for the glorious true battle against Big Dave. And this is where fear comes back into it my dear boy. You see, when I looked across from Big Dave on Ascension last week, all I saw was determination, grit if you will. Hes a hardnosed bastard. I seek to break that nose.
Simple assaults and sneak attacks will not suffice though. In order to strike fear in the soul of Dave I need to accomplish something truly, utterly evil. This will cause Dave to breakdown into a wretched, terrified shell of himself as we stand face-to-face on the grandest stage. Dave will know fear come Kingdom Come, regardless of how it is done, he will acknowledge it.
Holmess emphasising has gotten him closer and closer to the face of the Party Animal, so much so that he is nose-to-nose with him, staring deep into his petrified eyes. Almost salivating, Holmes moves backwards as his elite friends watch in a state of shock and awe. He grins wildly and snickers dastardly.
Holmes: Big Daves time shall come. Armando Paradyses time is near. Your time my dear boy...IS UP!
Holmes relinquishes his position as the poor party dwellers state of shock prevents him from running. Suddenly we hear a slight running water sound. Holmes grin is swallowed by a scowl at first, before he realises what has just happened.
Holmes: Youve just defecated yourself havent you?
The Party Animal is too afraid to answer and tears slowly begin to well up in his face. Holmes cackles dramatically and his dark laugh fills the halls of the art exhibition. Holmes signals for security to escort the man off the premises as he continues to laugh heartedly. We close with the sound of a twisted mans howls filling our ears.
