"Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome...Metallica!"
Soft strumming began to resonate from the speakers adorning Madison Square Garden as a great deal of the near 20,000 people stood to catch a glimpse of one of the most famous Thrash Metal bands in the history of music. The lights about the World's Most Famous Arena had since dimmed to be nearly shut off with multiple spotlights illuminating the awesome stage WWF:G had built for it's set. To the left of the entrance way, enough to the side to not be in the way of anyone coming out, was Metallica with front man James Hetfield doing the strumming on his guitar that the crowd was hearing over the PA. The drumming picked up a bit slowly and was integrated into the sound. Hetfield began to sing.
"Where do I take this pain of mine?
I run, but it stays right by my side...
So tear me open, pour me out
There’s things INSIDEEE that scream and shout
And the pain still HATES me
So hold me, until it sleeps..."
The titantron lit up as James sang with scenes from an old and decrepit hospital flashing by within seconds of each other. Drops of blood spilled out on to the floor, mixing with the dirt and grime of this seemingly abandoned hospital. It continued to spill out, and as the camera panned back, it was revealed to have been the final letter of a word being spelled out in blood: Hate.
"Just like the curse, just like the stray...
You feed it once and now it staaaayeayysss...
Now it stays
So tear me, open but beware
There’s things inside without a care
And the dirt still stains me
So wash me, until I’m clean
It GRIPS you, so hold me...
It STAINS you, so hold me...
It HATES you, so hold me...
It HOLDS you, so hold me...
Until it sleeps."
The hard rock of the band was met with open arms as the cheering from the crowd grew louder with many a man, woman, and child headbanging along to the mid-90s classic. The video on the titantron began to display x-rays and MRIs, with broken hands, legs, torn muscles, a fractured skull, dozens of different x-rays of what appeared to be the same nose, broken over and over. An MRI of a brain that showed decay and destruction that even brain cancer couldn't have caused.
"So tell me, why you’ve chosen me?
Don’t want your grip,
Don’t want your greeeeeeed,
Don’t want it!
I’ll tear me open, make you GONE
No more can you hurt ANYYYOOOONEE
And the fear still shakes me
So hold me, until it sleeeeeps
It GRIPS you, so hold me...
It STAINS you, so hold me...
It HATES you, so hold me...
It holds you,
holds you,
HOLDS YOU
Until it sleeps...
I don’t want it!"
A heartbeat monitor on the titantron began to speed up and beeps mixed in with the beat of Metallica playing, the crowd going anxious as to what would appear once the heart monitor has inevitably flat lined. Hetfield muttered "Until it sleeps..." once more and then came the dreaded long beep, the flat line of whomever it was that this monitor was hooked up to. Again, the titantron went to black.
"SO TEAR ME OPEN, BUT BEWARE!
THERE'S THINGS INSIDE WITHOUT A CARE!
AND THE DIRT STILL STAINS ME!
SO WASH ME...'TILL CLEAN!
I'LL TEAR ME OPEN, MAKE YOU GONE!
NO LONGER WILL YOU HURT ANYONE!
AND THE HATE STILL SHAPES ME!
SO HOLD ME, UNTIL IT SLEEPS!"
The titantron lit up. So Tear Me Open, But Beware. Scenes of Hiro being destroyed by Freakshow. There's Things Inside Without a Care. Hiro making Cartwright tap with the Lotus Lock. The Dirt Still Stains Me. Hiro covered in his own blood, head to toe, after his first battle with Freakshow. So Wash Me. Hiro washing away the blood from his body, leaving it covered in only scars.
The titantron flickered once more, off and on. I'll Tear Me Open, Make You Gone. Hiro drew closer to the camera, covered in blood with a frame of Freakshow laying in a pool of his own bodily fluid popping in and out. No Longer Will You Hurt Anyone. Hiro drew in closely as that same frame of Freakshow was shown for even longer, flashing to show El Hijo Del Crusher in the same position as Frea. The Hate Still Shapes Me. Hiro's eyes were the only things on the titantron, switching between his normal eyes and the same pair that had been burned into Freakshow's mind, bloodied and vengeful. So Hold Me Until It Sleeps. The titantron shut off.
Pyro began to shoot out from around the stage, with fireworks going off around MSG on the streets of New York, catching a few fans who were outside off guard. A sea of roars that registered on the richter scale shook the arena to its very core as it was finally time. It was time for the return of their hero. It was time for the return of Hiro Shin-Mozas.
On a long and lonesome highway, east of Omaha
You can listen to the engines moanin' out it's one note song
You can think about the woman or the girl you knew the night beforeeee...
Metallica began again to play again, this time, "Turn the Page". With more power than a sonic boom the earth quaked and fans in Canada could hear the reaction. This was it. This was the main event of Wrestlemania, a triple threat match for the WWF:G Legacy Championship...and this was the final man to make his entrance. Lights flashed back on and the titantron lit up as James Hetfield picked back up singing.
"BUT your thoughts will soon be wandering. the way they always dooo....
When you riding sixteen hours with nothing much to doooo...
And you don't feel much like ridin', you just wish the trip was through...
HERE I AM, on the road again...
THERE I AM, up on the stage...
HERE I GO, playin' star again...
THERE I GO, TURN THE PAGE!"
On cue with "HERE I AM" out from the back in an overcoat he hadn't worn in over seven years, with black and orange long-legged tights that still had dust on them, came a bearded Cuban-Japanese man. He looked around at the giant mass of humanity that had all culminated, all had came to the busiest city in the USA, one of the busiest in the world, just to see him return and wrestle. There is no true way to express exactly how loud the crowd had gotten. It was loud enough of a reaction that Hiro could almost hear it through his deafened ear, deafened by the hands of Freakshow. The titantron shone words on it on as the band continued and Hiro stood, trying to get as good of a look as could at everyone in the arena. The words read: "
Here I am."
"You walk into a restaurant, strung out from the road
And you feel the eyes upon you, as you're shaking off the cold
You pretend it doesn't bother you, but you just want to explode
And most times you can't hear 'em talk, other times you can
All the same old cliches, "Is it woman? Is it man?"
And you always seem outnumbered, you don't dare make a stand...
MAKE YOUR STAND!
HERE I AM, on the road again...
THERE I AM, up on the stage...
HERE I GO, playin' star again...
THERE I GO, TURN THE PAGE!"
Hiro began his decent down the long entrance way, his overcoat flowing in the wind created by the clapping and hollering of the sea of humanity before him. The Cuban-Jap's steps were in stride with the flow of the music, it leaving as much of a lasting impact on him as it did with the crowd, it symbolizing everything he'd ever worked for, how many times he fought and came back, the times everything was against him. The titantron changed to show new dialogue: "
I have mastered something." The words didn't last long before giving way to more: "
I have taken control of the one thing on this planet that gives life to all, and takes lives the most." Hiro reached the end of the walk way. More words: "
There is no longer just hate within me. I am one with everything." Hiro climbed the steel steps and entered the ring, ignoring El Hijo Del Crusher and Bad Boy. A final set of words appeared on the titantron: "
I have transcended these feelings. I have transcended life. I have become..."
"HERE I AM, on the road again...
THERE I AM, up on the stage...
HERE I GO, playin' star again...
THERE I GO, TURN THE PAGE!"
As Hetfield muttered that last lyric, and the music abruptly stopped for a moment, Hiro reaching center ring and stopping to turn to the hardcam which zoomed in on him slightly. He looked to the titantron and dipped his head back, closing his eyes. The lights that lit the arena were again turned off and only spotlights shone on Hiro in the ring. The fans cheering were the only thing that could be heard, but after a few moments of the words disappearing from the titantron and no continuation of the music, the crowd drew nearly silent. Finally, Hiro shot his head back up and opened his eyes, mouthing the words...
"...a god."
The words "
A GOD" flashed upon the titantron and the crowd turned into Mount Saint Helens in 1980. The lights had returned to their normal state, illuminating all as Metallica finished up. Hiro tore away his overcoat and pulled upon his elbow pads, shaking his body free of kinks and showing that he had, for as much as he possibly could over the past few months, healed his wounds from his last encounter with Freakshow when he lost the WWF:G Legacy Championship.
THERE I GO, TURN THAT PAGE!
THERE I GO, YEAH YEAH
THERE I GOOOO, YEAAAH
THERE I GO, YEAH YEAH YEAH
HERE I GOOOOO, YEAAAH
THERE I GOOOOO!
THERE I GOOOOOOOOO!
And I'm gone...
THANK YOU WRESTLEMANIA!"
Hetfield and Metallica's music finally concluded and the band made their way backstage but not before a standing ovation from the International crowd. Hiro saluted up to the men from the ring before finally acknowledging the two men he shared the ring with. Bad Boy was a rival of Hiro's dating back to long before he cashed in the Money in the Bank briefcase on Cartwright. The challenger than turned to the champion. The mask that once filled him with rage. The mask that wanted Hiro Shin-Mozas dead. The mask that hid a broken man. Hiro mouthed the words "I will save you." to El Hijo Del Crusher.
"Finally, from Tokyo, Japan by way of Havana, Cuba, weighing in at 239 pounds, please welcome back...THE GOOOOOD OF WILL, HIRO...SHIN...MOZAS!"
Hiro stepped up the turnbuckle and posed for the crowd that responded with the most open of arms in form of chants and cheers. In that moment of being showered in positivity, Hiro took a moment to think back. Think back at the past 13 years, the driving force that lead him to this exact moment. He'd faced racists, monsters, witches, airplanes, demons, dragons, David, Goliath, champions, veterans, retirees...and gods. On this day, after the experiences he'd been through, the amount of work and training he put in, all that he had learned after years of being in this industry, and even more years of being alive...He'd known what he truly was. What he was working towards all this time. His purpose for living. To be the God of Will. To master yin and yang. To empower others to do the same, to healthily control themselves. Tonight, he faced his biggest challenge. To change Freakshow. He wasn't blinded by hate as he was in so many former matches and experiences with this man. No, this time, his mission wasn't just to win the match and become Legacy Champion again: his mission was to save Freakshow. Remove that mask and send him off into the sunset with volition that guided him in the right direction. Hiro stepped down from the turnbuckle and turned to face Freakshow and Bad Boy. He stood before them no longer the same man he was that they had thought they'd gotten ridden of forever. It was no longer a hero, an embodiment of hate, or just some flash in the pan average wrestler.
It was a God.