October 24th, 1992 - Inside the Mind of Quartz

[Quartz]

A young child and a taller man are seen from the back walking down a street. The boy is skipping down the suburban street joyfully as the adult man follows close behind.

 

The young boy is humming to the beat of an unfamiliar song, pausing and beat boxing every few moments to the rhythm. The man is sporting a large black leather jacket, white camouflage pants and a shaved head.

 

Boy: aaand now! From Philadelphia, Pencil-mania! The one! The only!...

 

The boy begins continues to skip as he mimics a ringside announcer, adorably butchering the word 'Pennsylvania'.

 

The boy comes to a sudden stop as he notices an elderly man at a diner looking at him puzzled, before flicking a newspaper open, a front page headline reading: 'FANS' GAME IS OFTEN ONE OF CHANCE', with a photo of Randall Cunningham in the bottom right.

 

Seeming embarrassed and disappointed, the kid stops his mimic, stalls the hopping and puts his head down, as he walks quickly past the small diner.

 

The taller man walking behind the boy places his hand on his shoulder reassuringly and it seems to pass through the boys shoulder unnoticed. As it does we see a similar disappointed look come across his face.

 

His right eye completely red, with a streak of red darting through his hair, above his right ear, the man sports a long brown beard. He continues to follow behind the child. He speaks in a clear, deep voice.

 

Man: Hmph. I sometimes wonder how you must have felt during these moments.

 

As the couple continue another voice is heard and suddenly, standing beside the man in red is a similar looking man, without a beard and with a spiked haircut. His hair sports a blue streak and he's shown with a pair of sunglasses on.

 

He speaks in a much faster, raspier voice.

 

Man 2: Back here again huh, big guy?

 

Somehow undisturbed by the sudden appearance, he responds.

 

Man: I only wish to gain a better understanding of who he was.

 

Man 2: Hahaha... You only wasting your time, ya' know that?

 

Man: ...

 

Man 2: No matter how many times you revisit all this, there ain't a thing you can do about it.

 

Both of the men continue to walk with the boy, who seems to have not noticed their presence. He has regained his joyful skipping and mimicking. The men both smile at his obvious jubilant behavior.

 

Man: Well then... Maybe I only seek a chance to go back to see how happy he was.

 

Man 2: It should frustrate you, dummy.

 

Man: Perhaps it does. Channeling that frustration is important. We have to protect him.

 

Boy: ...From Philadelphia, Pencil-mania! The one! The only!...

 

Boy: Blaaaaaaaack... Phoeniiiiix!

 

Man 2: That's where you're wrong. This optimism doesn't cut it in the real world, bub. Protection only works if there's somethin' to protect.

 

Man: We watched you throw the opportunity away by using that rationale.

 

Man 2: That... That wasn't my fault.

 

Boy: *mimicking crowd applause* Rahhhh! Rahhhh!

 

Man: ...But that is not why you are here, is it? You're here to escape. You're here for him.

 

Man 2: I'm here for motivation. YOU'RE here for the sappy crap. He needs me to maintain focus... You ain't gonna be in control forever.

 

Man: ...

 

Man 2: But you already know that, huh? Haha!

 

Both men pause momentarily in their discussion before looking back at the young boy, who is now shadow boxing as he approaches a staircase. They smile simultaneously.

 

The young boy runs up the stair case and pounds on the door, it flies open and he shouts inside while walking in.

 

Boy: Daddy!

 

The door closes behind him as the words echo throughout the streets, wind gusts and a time lapse show the building become older and run down. Rain pours for only milliseconds at a time as both of the men stand staring at the building.

 

Light fixtures, buildings and road signs are replaced and seem to upgrade as time continues to flash forward.

 

Residence and pedestrians, seemingly sped up and fast forwarding throughout.

 

Eventually, the time lapse slows back down to real time. It is now night and the man in the camouflage pants is now standing alone. He looks to his left where his conversation partner once stood, now vanished.

 

A sudden flash of the past shows the Quartz from Summercide standing in the ring, but immediately flashes back to the long bearded man on the sidewalk, showing that the two men are one in the same.

 

Inness Quartz stands on the side of the road, an empty look on his face, before slowly throwing his collar up and continuing to walk down the suburb sidewalk.

[H20_]

Awesome....Just awesome...