Cheery fanfare! Kazoos, xylophones, and other instruments that give off an “educational programming” vibe!

”It’s time foooooooooooooooooooor…”

Las Aventuras de La Murielaga Atomica!!!!!!!!

Young children in theatre seats excitedly recite the program’s title!

On cue, a whimsical woman in a bat costume forward-rolls center-stage!

”Hola, niños! Soy La Murciélaga Atómica!”

LMA strikes a heroic pose!

A furry bat fellow attempts to duplicate the daring-do with a somersault… and ends up landing on his face!

”Oooof… And I’m Ahoolie!”

”We have a mucho especial guest today to talk to you about…”

FEAR

”Show of hands, niños! Do you get scared sometimes?”

A handful of hands shoot skyward!

”I’m scared of loud noises!”

”The dark!”

”Monsters under my bed!”

”A-a-ahhhhh! M-m-monsters?!?” Ahoolie shivers just hearing these things!

”Jajajaja! Those things can be scary! Can I tell you a secret?”

LMA looks both ways, before leaning toward the children…

”I’m a superhero. And *I* get scared sometimes.”

”But! Even when I’m scared, I never give up ESPERANZA!”

Ahoolie scratches his big mascot head. ”Esperanza? Is that… like… a spear lasagna?”

”No, silly! It’s HOPE! Never give up HOPE! Right, niños?”

NEVER GIVE UP HOPE

GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH

A furious bellow echoes throughout the theater.

LMA’s performer looks around uncertainly..

”...Um… ” Her eyes dart toward the camera. ”Is that… our special guest? Señor Dom Dur-”

RIIIIIIIIIIIP. Dom emerges, RIPPING down the theatre curtain.

”FEAR. WHAT DO YOU CHILDREN KNOW OF FEAR?”

Dom’s dressed in all black… His eyes look sunken, strained, like he hasn’t slept in weeks…

”Uhhhh… maybe we need a cinco-minuto break? Someone might need to review today’s script…”

The cameraman moves to stop th-

WHAM! He’s bowled over by a Mascot Dom, who seamlessly secures the camera.

”YOU PATHETIC WHINING BRATS.” Dom steps toward the stage’s edge, spittle flying down his chin. “TERRIFIED TO SLEEP WITHOUT A NIGHTLIGHT.”

“BEGGING MOMMY TO PEEK UNDER YOUR BED.”

”PISSING YOUR PANTS OVER SHADOWS IN YOUR CLOSET.”

Every fiber in Dom’s body emanates pure rage.

…Suddenly, Durango smiles eerily.

”You kids wanna see something…. **reeeeeeeeally** scary?”

Half the children shake their heads frantically.

The rest are too frightened to move.

”Uh… Señor Durango… Maybe we sh-”

”BRING IT OUT.”

A half-dozen Mascot Doms wrangle a giant wooden crate, wrapped in chains, ten-feet tall…

The crate rattles… The chains creak… The boards bend…

…LMA slowly backs away.

”What… IS that?”

”Something that wants out.” Dom leans into his earpiece. ”Let him meet the kiddies.”

His earpiece chirps. ”Sir, I would strongly advise against th-”

”DO IT.”

A snap.

FWOOSH! KERACK! Broken boards go flying!

A blur of fur and flapping wings ascends to the rafters…

Its massive, powerful lungs fill the theatre like an engine’s roar.

LMA gasps. ”Dios mio…”

”There is no God, you dumb bitch.” Dom glares upward…  ”But there’s a devil.” Dom reaches for a long rod strapped to his back.

”...How would you know that?”

”I ate his grits.” Dom twists the rod. A spearhead emerges!

FWOOOOOOSH! The creature swoops downward!

IT PLOWS THROUGH DOM’S CHEST, LIFTING HIM INTO THE AIR!

”AHHHHHHHHHHH! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!”

LMA shoves over multiple children, racing them to the theatre’s exit!

LMA desperately twists the knob…

But, it won’t budge!

---

FWWWWSSSSSSSSSSH.

”There.” Dom’s Advisor finishes welding the exit shut with a blowtorch.

Two Mascot Doms point machine guns at the door.

”If… IT… gets out. Do we shoot it?”

”If that thing gets out? Shoot ME.”

…

”Then yourselves, I guess.”

---

Dom circles cautiously… Long bleeding clawmarks across his chest…

The creature stalks in the shadows above...

”Atomic Bat.”

“Children’s entertainer. So-called superhero.”

“...I despise you.”

“With every atom in my being, I LOATHE you.”

“Why?”

“Because you give people HOPE.”

”You LIE that these children can overcome their fears.”

“When most of them will age into unhappy adults…”

“PUSSIES too scared to answer calls from unknown numbers.”

“WEAK.”

“PATHETIC.”

The creature swoops before Dom…. Emerging into the light.



The creature lets out an inhuman wail…

The children shriek in fear!

“You’re a liar, Bat.”

“Telling these children they can be brave.”

”That there’s nothing to fear.”

“But there is.”

The creature CHARGES Dom.

He steels his stance, driving his spear forward.

SWIP!



The creature emits a blood-curdling deathwail…

Then collapses into a heap of leathery skin and viscera…

”...Is it… dead?”

“There’s nothing to be scared of, now?”

Dom shakes his head.

“I’m the thing to be scared of.”

”Stu was wrong last Anarchy. I’m no sideshow clown…”

“I’m the stuff of your nightmares.”

“I will beat you to DEATH in that ring, AB.”

“Because the best way I can destroy your perverse lie?”

Dom plants his foot in the creature’s back…

“Your Hope?”

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!

The animal’s shoulder blades crack like wishbones…

“Is breaking you before your devoted fans.”

“I learned something last Anarchy.”

“I’ve said I despise wrestling. Proudly declared myself a NON-wrestler.”

“But I must learn this sport.”

“Master it.”

“To snuff out all hope….”

“To make the world succumb to all-consuming, mind-numbing FEAR.”

“I must BREAK the world’s heroes.”

“DESTROY the XWF’s paragons of HOPE.”

“Starting with you, Bat.”

“With your plucky, can-do attitude.”

The creature thrashes weakly on the ground… the stumps that used to be its wings flap uselessly…


Dom slinks behind it, wrapping his massive hands around its throat…

“That warm open-hearted smile… You claim you see good in everyone...”

KERACK.

…The creature slumps lifelessly to the stage.

Its neck twisted, facing the wrong way...

”Do you see good in me?”

“There’s none.”

“Only hunger.”

“I will break you…”

“Tear your muscles… Rend your flesh…”

“And rip your beating heart from your chest and presenting it to your child fans like it’s show-and-fucking-tell.”

…

”I’m the HOPE KILLER, Bat.”

“And on Thursday…”

“When your body’s broken and your mind’s shattered.”

“Like a terrified, wounded animal.”

“I will wrap my hands around your throat.”

“And snuff out that hope.”

“In you.”

“And everyone that ever believed the lie…”

“Called hope.”