Post by Zack Fantana on Feb 25, 2017 2:55:51 GMT -5
"They say the finest trick of the devil is to persuade you that he does not exist. Akragth's trick began with that same concept in mind. So how did he pull it off?
Well, that's the question everybody wants answered, isn't it?"
An electrical hum replaces the familiar voice of Zack Fantana. First taking in a standing-room only crowd in what appears to be a small theater, the camera then focuses in on the spotlight shining on a "BFW" banner labeled hanging up as a backdrop behind the stage. The audience speaks in hushed tones as two men walk front and center, one carrying a cup of coffee and the other wearing a T-shirt labeled "The Destroyer".
Once the two obvious caricatures for Tommy Stone and Akragth hit their marks on the stage, the BFW banner slowly drifts to the ground. The cup of coffee splats on the stage as the Tommy Stone stand-in falls to his knees dramatically, bemoaning the loss of his job.
"Oh no! Who could have seen this coming?!"
To this, Akragth's stand-in simply shrugs and walks off the stage. Zack's voiceover returns.
"The audience didn't quite grasp this part, but I, being the fastidious student of the arts that I am, picked up on it almost immediately. For the uncultured amongst us, it's been explained in the talkies as well. You remember your fifth favorite Christopher Nolan film, no? A magic trick can be dissected into three separate parts, just like a three-act play. These three parts are called the Pledge, the Turn, and the Prestige."
With "Tommy" slumped over at the corner of the stage, two women and an old man carrying a jug of maple syrup walk on stage with an AWE sign and plant it in the center of the stage. Soon enough, a man with impeccable hair enters stage right and shakes each of their hands. "Tommy" instantly smiles and runs over to meet the others.
"This section is called the Pledge. It's where the magician presents to you something ordinary - a deck of playing cards or a top hat, for instance. The set pieces in this were a bit heavy-handed, so I'm sure everyone got the point. BFW has fallen and Akragth has taken his ball and gone home. Soon after, the AWE is born, which Zack Fantana joins, followed by one Tommy Stone."
The audience clamors as the curtains are pulled to clear the debris from the stage. When they are redrawn, the crowd gasps as three spotlights shine on the stage, revealing the three incapacitated AWE shareholders on the floor. With the grace of an acrobat, a man wearing a white mask dances across the stage, evading each spotlight as he nimbly makes his way around the bodies before happening upon a fight between "Zack" and "Tommy". All of the stage lights switch on now, revealing a dozen more masked men. After tussling with the men in a very dramatic theatre kind of way, "Zack" and "Tommy" fall down and the original masked man finally speaks.
"I am Akragth."
"The second act is called the Turn, in which the magician takes that something ordinary and makes it extraordinary. In this case, it was the shocking return of Akragth."
"I am the destroyer."
The audience murmurs.
"But he hasn't actually destroyed anything."
"Quiet, Rebecca. It's art."
The magician spreads his arms out wide, as if intending to elicit a response from the audience, but they only sit quietly in regret over the cost of admission. He gulps audibly before reiterating himself to save face.
"I said I AM The Destroyer!"
This time the magician gives it a little pizzazz with jazz hands. A banner with "Akragth the Destroyer and the Sensational Destroyettes" written in bold lettering unfurls behind him before a dance company runs out on stage and forms a kick line.
"Is that it?"
Rebecca's concerns are soon confirmed when the house lights flicker on. People begin to file out of the theater one-by-one and the other actors rush off stage.
"So here we are at the final act. The Prestige!
This is supposed to be your big moment, huh, Akragth? You seem awfully proud of the attention you've garnered over this long con. It tickled you, did it? Well, I've got to admit, you really had the people in the palm of your hand for a minute, but only for a minute. See, all that precious attention you were vying for was amassed through the lens of mystery and once you pulled back that mask, you lost your audience. And try as you might to stuff that rabbit back into that hat, it's not going to help you when you step into the ring with me. I know your act and I won't be falling for it again, so I sincerely hope you've got another trick up your sleeve, because you'll never have me beaten on the mat ever again.
In all your hubris, you've given up the one thing that gave you a glimmer of hope against me, and that's the element of surprise. At Massacre #9, you won't have your opening act and you won't have the Destroyettes. It's just me, you, and Tommy Stone this time around.
Well, Tommy may have come to the AWE to earn his reputation off my name, but at least he can say he'll earn it in the ring, man-to-man. You? I don't even know if you're capable of it anymore and I don't think you know either. That's why it behooved you to set up this misdirection, because you don't even believe you can hang with your old rivals anymore without help. Funny that: the trick you thought you played on the world, you've really played it on yourself, because you did such a bang-up job convincing everybody that you were cooked as a competitor that you actually became irrelevant in the process. Life imitates art in that way.
But here we are anyway. You got what you wanted. You've been granted the world stage you desperately craved, but I've got a feeling that soon enough the world will see what I saw when you peeled off that mask, a desperate man making a desperate play, and they're gonna realize that your relevance was the illusion all along."
Well, that's the question everybody wants answered, isn't it?"
An electrical hum replaces the familiar voice of Zack Fantana. First taking in a standing-room only crowd in what appears to be a small theater, the camera then focuses in on the spotlight shining on a "BFW" banner labeled hanging up as a backdrop behind the stage. The audience speaks in hushed tones as two men walk front and center, one carrying a cup of coffee and the other wearing a T-shirt labeled "The Destroyer".
Once the two obvious caricatures for Tommy Stone and Akragth hit their marks on the stage, the BFW banner slowly drifts to the ground. The cup of coffee splats on the stage as the Tommy Stone stand-in falls to his knees dramatically, bemoaning the loss of his job.
"Oh no! Who could have seen this coming?!"
To this, Akragth's stand-in simply shrugs and walks off the stage. Zack's voiceover returns.
"The audience didn't quite grasp this part, but I, being the fastidious student of the arts that I am, picked up on it almost immediately. For the uncultured amongst us, it's been explained in the talkies as well. You remember your fifth favorite Christopher Nolan film, no? A magic trick can be dissected into three separate parts, just like a three-act play. These three parts are called the Pledge, the Turn, and the Prestige."
With "Tommy" slumped over at the corner of the stage, two women and an old man carrying a jug of maple syrup walk on stage with an AWE sign and plant it in the center of the stage. Soon enough, a man with impeccable hair enters stage right and shakes each of their hands. "Tommy" instantly smiles and runs over to meet the others.
"This section is called the Pledge. It's where the magician presents to you something ordinary - a deck of playing cards or a top hat, for instance. The set pieces in this were a bit heavy-handed, so I'm sure everyone got the point. BFW has fallen and Akragth has taken his ball and gone home. Soon after, the AWE is born, which Zack Fantana joins, followed by one Tommy Stone."
The audience clamors as the curtains are pulled to clear the debris from the stage. When they are redrawn, the crowd gasps as three spotlights shine on the stage, revealing the three incapacitated AWE shareholders on the floor. With the grace of an acrobat, a man wearing a white mask dances across the stage, evading each spotlight as he nimbly makes his way around the bodies before happening upon a fight between "Zack" and "Tommy". All of the stage lights switch on now, revealing a dozen more masked men. After tussling with the men in a very dramatic theatre kind of way, "Zack" and "Tommy" fall down and the original masked man finally speaks.
"I am Akragth."
"The second act is called the Turn, in which the magician takes that something ordinary and makes it extraordinary. In this case, it was the shocking return of Akragth."
"I am the destroyer."
The audience murmurs.
"But he hasn't actually destroyed anything."
"Quiet, Rebecca. It's art."
The magician spreads his arms out wide, as if intending to elicit a response from the audience, but they only sit quietly in regret over the cost of admission. He gulps audibly before reiterating himself to save face.
"I said I AM The Destroyer!"
This time the magician gives it a little pizzazz with jazz hands. A banner with "Akragth the Destroyer and the Sensational Destroyettes" written in bold lettering unfurls behind him before a dance company runs out on stage and forms a kick line.
"Is that it?"
Rebecca's concerns are soon confirmed when the house lights flicker on. People begin to file out of the theater one-by-one and the other actors rush off stage.
"So here we are at the final act. The Prestige!
This is supposed to be your big moment, huh, Akragth? You seem awfully proud of the attention you've garnered over this long con. It tickled you, did it? Well, I've got to admit, you really had the people in the palm of your hand for a minute, but only for a minute. See, all that precious attention you were vying for was amassed through the lens of mystery and once you pulled back that mask, you lost your audience. And try as you might to stuff that rabbit back into that hat, it's not going to help you when you step into the ring with me. I know your act and I won't be falling for it again, so I sincerely hope you've got another trick up your sleeve, because you'll never have me beaten on the mat ever again.
In all your hubris, you've given up the one thing that gave you a glimmer of hope against me, and that's the element of surprise. At Massacre #9, you won't have your opening act and you won't have the Destroyettes. It's just me, you, and Tommy Stone this time around.
Well, Tommy may have come to the AWE to earn his reputation off my name, but at least he can say he'll earn it in the ring, man-to-man. You? I don't even know if you're capable of it anymore and I don't think you know either. That's why it behooved you to set up this misdirection, because you don't even believe you can hang with your old rivals anymore without help. Funny that: the trick you thought you played on the world, you've really played it on yourself, because you did such a bang-up job convincing everybody that you were cooked as a competitor that you actually became irrelevant in the process. Life imitates art in that way.
But here we are anyway. You got what you wanted. You've been granted the world stage you desperately craved, but I've got a feeling that soon enough the world will see what I saw when you peeled off that mask, a desperate man making a desperate play, and they're gonna realize that your relevance was the illusion all along."