Post by Night Crawler on Jun 29, 2012 15:02:29 GMT -6
It all started twelve years ago. A storm raged over the gothic Clarks’ estate. The graves of Richard Clarks and Lisa Hughes rested beneath a withered tree against a charcoal sky. Winds tore at the branches and rain saturated the ground around its roots. Soon, a single bolt of lightning strikes the tree and ignites it. Flames swallow the oak and dance in defiance of the storm. It was the backdrop for the very first appearance of the man known as Night Crawler. Little did anyone know that the spectacle they’d witnessed was, in fact, the life story of two brothers, captured in a single instant.
Night Crawler, the lightning bolt, was born the lanky and awkward child Tommy Hughes. When his own mother tried to take his life so she could claim his life insurance policy, something snapped in the young man. A monster took over the young boy and butchered his mother in a blind rage. The Crawler had emerged. This new entity, a being of pure rage, emanated from the scar that Thomas Hughes bore forevermore on his chest, a reminder of his own mother’s attempt on his life.
Years later, Hughes had become a man more akin to a force of nature. He toured all over the world as he trained in the craft of professional wrestling. His uncontrollable rage had earned him the title of Tormenta in Mexico, Thunderstorm. When he returned to the United States, he had learned to harness the hatred within himself and turn it into his greatest weapon. And so the Night Crawler was born.
From then on Night Crawler’s activities took him in many different directions. For a time, his own personality fought against his hatred and gave him a form of selective amnesia. For a time, Thomas Hughes emerged again, unaware of the darkness inside. He went on to lead a semblance of a normal life. He married a woman named Angela, connected with his long lost younger half-brother, Sean Clarks, and sold his company. Eventually, he’d even discovered he had a son.
But his happiness was short lived. Soon he was tracked down by his own Uncle. A man who trapped him and sought to release the monster once more. He succeeded, but paid the ultimate price for his arrogance. The Crawler was loose again, this time, it had a new target.
Sean Clarks was once something of a normal man. He had a loving mother who always took care of him, despite his wealthy father being uninterested. He even had a girl he was crazy about, and who was crazy about him. Despite not being very close, Sean always looked up to his brother, Thomas. When they reconnected six years ago, it was the happiest day in Sean’s life. For a while, it seemed like life was perfect.
Then Thomas vanished…
Sean searched high and low for his older brother. He joined the federations that his brother had wrestled in, and retraced his footsteps through the circles in which he’d travelled. His investigations led Sean to the dilapidated Clark’s manor, where he found himself assailed by the mad Night Crawler. When he recovered, he’d found himself locked in the basement and held prisoner. Night Crawler goaded Clarks with sadistic threats and physical violence, but Sean refused to fight his brother. After exhausting all other methods, Night Crawler played his trump card. Sean Clark’s girlfriend had been kidnapped by his psychotic brother. She stood on the top of a twenty foot ladder with a noose tied around her neck.
“Now, brother. What will you do?” gloated the twisted Night Crawler as a smirk crept onto his face.
“No. Why would you? This doesn’t make any sense?” Sean manages to whimper through a swollen face.
“Life doesn’t make sense, Sean! It’s a series of tortures meant to test our limits. It is simply time for your test, brother. So how will you fare? Will you pass, or fail?” With a crooked smile Night Crawler jostles the ladder, provoking a panicked whimper from the girl on top.
Sean’s heart beat so hard that it threatened to escape his chest cavity. He could fill the adrenaline pump through his veins, and the blood rush to his face. He didn’t even notice that his hands shook with rage. Without even thinking about it, he finds himself set upon his brother. The big men tore the cellar apart. They shattered tables and punched holes through walls.
Sean lost himself for a while. He came out of it when a dull pop caught his ears. Light a bolt of lightning in the distance, it snapped him out of his blind rage. He looked to see his big brother on the ground before him, dazed and with a ladder crushed beneath him. Sean turned his attention up to see the body of his girlfriend dangle from the rafters. Her head had titled to the side at an awkward angle, and her face was frozen in fear.
His mind stuttered, unable to fully process what had occurred. It couldn’t be real. It must be some kind of twisted nightmare. Any second he’ll wake up. He’ll find her in bed with him, sleeping peacefully, and laugh about this.
But sometimes the reality is worse than a nightmare.
Sean clawed at her legs, until he managed to yank her down. Her head wobbled like it hung by a ball bearing. He cradled her body and called out her name in vain, a name he can no longer recall.
“This is your reality, brother,” Night Crawler growled as he peeled himself off the floor. “In a fit of your own rage, you killed her. By your own hands has the one thing you loved more than any other, been destroyed. That is the reality of Sean Clarks.”
“No,” Sean objects as the tears stream down his face. “It wasn’t me…It was YOU! You did this to me! Tricked me!”
“How did I trick you, Sean?” Night Crawler retorts as he rubs the back of his head to lift the fog in his mind. “All I did was put her up there. You are the one who attacked me. You are the one who tore this entire place apart to destroy me.”
“No, I was trying to save her.”
“Save her? Is that what you were thinking when you speared me onto that ladder, the one that kept her safe?”
“I…I thought…”
“You didn’t think, Sean. You acted. For the first time in your pathetic existence, you were yourself. This is what you are, a monster. Once a man who murdered an innocent girl, a girl he loved, in a blind rage to destroy his own flesh and blood. You are every bit as twisted and vile as I am, Sean.”
“No…I, it can’t be…it can’t…”
“It is, brother. This is who you really are, the demon that you’ve fought for all these years. Like Thomas Hughes, Sean Clarks is no more…”
The words echoed in the man’s head for the many years since. At the time he didn’t understand the weight they carried, but he would be made to learn.
“Did you really have to do that?” Williams whined as he climbs out of the tractor trailer’s cab. “I mean tossing a few security guards around is bad enough, but you had to attack all the orderly’s as well? The nurses? The doctors? The equipment?! Do you know how hard it’s going to be to settle this out of court? Do you know how much it’s going to cost us?!”
“Williams,” Night Crawler growls as he emerges from the passenger side and heads for the rear of the trailer. “Shut the Hell up! We can afford a little mayhem here and there. I’m paid at least that much. And we don’t really use the cash for anything else.”
“Yeah, maybe,” Williams concedes as he walks to the rear to meet the big man. “We’re just lucky we don’t have to worry about pissing Trevor off again. He made sure to put that clause in your contract that SCW will be immune to prosecution for your actions outside of the ring. He’d put me through a wall for that mess.”
“It would be an improvement.” The two of them meet at the end of the trailer and look up at the doors.
“So, what’s he going to do now? You guys plan to scrap another parking lot full of cars?”
“Subduing him will be easy, now. I trained my brother years ago to react to certain stimuli. That’s why I had to bring the mask.” Night Crawler clarifies as he produces the bone white hockey mask from his coat. “It’s his trigger. Normally my brother is totally out of control. His mind broke to a point from which it will never recover. A raging fire that I ignited years ago. This will suppress him. He will follow my instructions, and his hatred will be at our disposal.”
Night Crawler releases the lock and opens the doors. He climbs into the trailer and faces the darkness that conceals the presence of his younger brother.
“It is time, brother. The Painkiller shall come, and The Eradicators will return…”
Night Crawler, the lightning bolt, was born the lanky and awkward child Tommy Hughes. When his own mother tried to take his life so she could claim his life insurance policy, something snapped in the young man. A monster took over the young boy and butchered his mother in a blind rage. The Crawler had emerged. This new entity, a being of pure rage, emanated from the scar that Thomas Hughes bore forevermore on his chest, a reminder of his own mother’s attempt on his life.
Years later, Hughes had become a man more akin to a force of nature. He toured all over the world as he trained in the craft of professional wrestling. His uncontrollable rage had earned him the title of Tormenta in Mexico, Thunderstorm. When he returned to the United States, he had learned to harness the hatred within himself and turn it into his greatest weapon. And so the Night Crawler was born.
From then on Night Crawler’s activities took him in many different directions. For a time, his own personality fought against his hatred and gave him a form of selective amnesia. For a time, Thomas Hughes emerged again, unaware of the darkness inside. He went on to lead a semblance of a normal life. He married a woman named Angela, connected with his long lost younger half-brother, Sean Clarks, and sold his company. Eventually, he’d even discovered he had a son.
But his happiness was short lived. Soon he was tracked down by his own Uncle. A man who trapped him and sought to release the monster once more. He succeeded, but paid the ultimate price for his arrogance. The Crawler was loose again, this time, it had a new target.
Sean Clarks was once something of a normal man. He had a loving mother who always took care of him, despite his wealthy father being uninterested. He even had a girl he was crazy about, and who was crazy about him. Despite not being very close, Sean always looked up to his brother, Thomas. When they reconnected six years ago, it was the happiest day in Sean’s life. For a while, it seemed like life was perfect.
Then Thomas vanished…
Sean searched high and low for his older brother. He joined the federations that his brother had wrestled in, and retraced his footsteps through the circles in which he’d travelled. His investigations led Sean to the dilapidated Clark’s manor, where he found himself assailed by the mad Night Crawler. When he recovered, he’d found himself locked in the basement and held prisoner. Night Crawler goaded Clarks with sadistic threats and physical violence, but Sean refused to fight his brother. After exhausting all other methods, Night Crawler played his trump card. Sean Clark’s girlfriend had been kidnapped by his psychotic brother. She stood on the top of a twenty foot ladder with a noose tied around her neck.
“Now, brother. What will you do?” gloated the twisted Night Crawler as a smirk crept onto his face.
“No. Why would you? This doesn’t make any sense?” Sean manages to whimper through a swollen face.
“Life doesn’t make sense, Sean! It’s a series of tortures meant to test our limits. It is simply time for your test, brother. So how will you fare? Will you pass, or fail?” With a crooked smile Night Crawler jostles the ladder, provoking a panicked whimper from the girl on top.
Sean’s heart beat so hard that it threatened to escape his chest cavity. He could fill the adrenaline pump through his veins, and the blood rush to his face. He didn’t even notice that his hands shook with rage. Without even thinking about it, he finds himself set upon his brother. The big men tore the cellar apart. They shattered tables and punched holes through walls.
Sean lost himself for a while. He came out of it when a dull pop caught his ears. Light a bolt of lightning in the distance, it snapped him out of his blind rage. He looked to see his big brother on the ground before him, dazed and with a ladder crushed beneath him. Sean turned his attention up to see the body of his girlfriend dangle from the rafters. Her head had titled to the side at an awkward angle, and her face was frozen in fear.
His mind stuttered, unable to fully process what had occurred. It couldn’t be real. It must be some kind of twisted nightmare. Any second he’ll wake up. He’ll find her in bed with him, sleeping peacefully, and laugh about this.
But sometimes the reality is worse than a nightmare.
Sean clawed at her legs, until he managed to yank her down. Her head wobbled like it hung by a ball bearing. He cradled her body and called out her name in vain, a name he can no longer recall.
“This is your reality, brother,” Night Crawler growled as he peeled himself off the floor. “In a fit of your own rage, you killed her. By your own hands has the one thing you loved more than any other, been destroyed. That is the reality of Sean Clarks.”
“No,” Sean objects as the tears stream down his face. “It wasn’t me…It was YOU! You did this to me! Tricked me!”
“How did I trick you, Sean?” Night Crawler retorts as he rubs the back of his head to lift the fog in his mind. “All I did was put her up there. You are the one who attacked me. You are the one who tore this entire place apart to destroy me.”
“No, I was trying to save her.”
“Save her? Is that what you were thinking when you speared me onto that ladder, the one that kept her safe?”
“I…I thought…”
“You didn’t think, Sean. You acted. For the first time in your pathetic existence, you were yourself. This is what you are, a monster. Once a man who murdered an innocent girl, a girl he loved, in a blind rage to destroy his own flesh and blood. You are every bit as twisted and vile as I am, Sean.”
“No…I, it can’t be…it can’t…”
“It is, brother. This is who you really are, the demon that you’ve fought for all these years. Like Thomas Hughes, Sean Clarks is no more…”
The words echoed in the man’s head for the many years since. At the time he didn’t understand the weight they carried, but he would be made to learn.
“Did you really have to do that?” Williams whined as he climbs out of the tractor trailer’s cab. “I mean tossing a few security guards around is bad enough, but you had to attack all the orderly’s as well? The nurses? The doctors? The equipment?! Do you know how hard it’s going to be to settle this out of court? Do you know how much it’s going to cost us?!”
“Williams,” Night Crawler growls as he emerges from the passenger side and heads for the rear of the trailer. “Shut the Hell up! We can afford a little mayhem here and there. I’m paid at least that much. And we don’t really use the cash for anything else.”
“Yeah, maybe,” Williams concedes as he walks to the rear to meet the big man. “We’re just lucky we don’t have to worry about pissing Trevor off again. He made sure to put that clause in your contract that SCW will be immune to prosecution for your actions outside of the ring. He’d put me through a wall for that mess.”
“It would be an improvement.” The two of them meet at the end of the trailer and look up at the doors.
“So, what’s he going to do now? You guys plan to scrap another parking lot full of cars?”
“Subduing him will be easy, now. I trained my brother years ago to react to certain stimuli. That’s why I had to bring the mask.” Night Crawler clarifies as he produces the bone white hockey mask from his coat. “It’s his trigger. Normally my brother is totally out of control. His mind broke to a point from which it will never recover. A raging fire that I ignited years ago. This will suppress him. He will follow my instructions, and his hatred will be at our disposal.”
Night Crawler releases the lock and opens the doors. He climbs into the trailer and faces the darkness that conceals the presence of his younger brother.
“It is time, brother. The Painkiller shall come, and The Eradicators will return…”
