The camera rolls at an undisclosed location, the dim light not doing a whole lot other than providing a glimpse of Mankind as he sits in the corner of a white walled room. He slowly rocks back and forth, head hung, long hair covering his face to hide it from view as he continues to speak.
“It's been none stop since King of the Ring for me. I've been hitting the road, hitting the ring, hitting, hitting, hitting everything I can hit. Still... still I have yet to gain a victory here in the EBWF but none of that matters. Nothing matters because in the long run it is not the victories that people will remember, it is the road we take through this life, the milestones we leave behind for others to follow in our footsteps. The anchoring points that we create in order to give others a point to jump off of and try to reach for their own stars. But stars are fickle things, and I'm not talking about Howard...”
He chuckles to himself, enjoying his own brand of nonsense.
“This week I have Stardust in the ring with me. A man who has accomplished much more in his time here than I could really hope to accomplish. But Accomplishments and fleeting, fleeting, fleeting. And the sheep they are a bleating, bleating, bleating. The voices they are screaming, the walls they wont stop bleeding, I'm afraid that time is leaving, so it's you I must be beating. Stardust...”
Mankind pauses, rocking back and forth again, mumbling to himself.
“The dust of stars are sprinkled throughout the galaxy, twinkling embers of false hopes and empty promises. What has is gotten me? Nothing.”
He hums a soft random tune for a moment before shaking his head as if to clear it.
“For most of my life I have been surrounded by walls, placed behind locked doors, left to rot! Not physically, but mentally rotting away. They've taken such a sweet boy and turned him into this monster. A monster with nothing, nothing, nothing in this life or the next. Can you face this monster, Stardust? We can claim to be kings, we can claim to be royals, we can wear the crowns and carry the scepters but in the end what is the truth? Who holds the jewels?”
He lets out a squeal suddenly, pounding the side of his own head with his fist rapidly. Suddenly he sits up, throwing his head back as he shouts out.
“Stardust! Ya pikey nutter! Don't be a complete plonker you manky wally!”
Mankind takes in a sharp breath, lowering his head again as he uses both hands to grab and rip at his hair, once again muttering to himself.
“The dust of the stars are sprinkled throughout the galaxy, twinkling embers of false hopes and empty promises...”
He seems to get control of himself once more, taking a shuttering breath.
“These walls have been my home, it's time to rip them down. It's time to break free. I need to be the man I am supposed to be. I need to be me, I need to be free, I need them all to see that I can be the one they want me to be so that I can become what I need to be in order to truly be free... in order to truly be... me. You understand, Stardust. I know you understand because I understand the standing in which you are placed. I understand the lowest rung on which I am placed. And yet here I am ready to fight for my right to... be.”
A low chuckle comes from him for a moment before fading once more.
“The dust of the stars... have given me... NOTHING!”
He shouts out, lunging forward as the feed turns to crackling snow.