Only Human

A sketchy diner at the dead of night was sure to attract some strange visitors but certainly no one as strange as a pair seated by a large window. The hulk Luke Harper covered himself in a black hoodie and those frightening eyes held the look of an unstable man. Sitting across from him was a smaller, wiry figure, also in a black hoodie. But his hood was pulled over much tighter to conceal his heavily painted face. Stardust leaned back in his booth and sighed before lamenting on his most recent in-ring encounter.

| Stardust | It's absolutely a SHAME that you can lose a title without even being pinned for it. Don't you agree, Luke?  

Harper didn't utter a word and instead just gazed forward. It was often times very difficult to determine if there was anything going on within that head of his. But Stardust didn't seem to be too terribly bothered by it. He folded his glove covered hands underneath of his chin and batted his eyes.

| Stardust | That's why we work so well together. You are such an amazing conversationalist.

The large, hairy man was devoid of any thing even remotely resembling a sense of humor and he didn't react to even an over the top figure like Stardust.

| Stardust | Although we may not be the Tag Team Champions anymore, an absolutely amazing opportunity has presented itself. I have an encounter with Sami Zayn. The World. Champion.

Giddily, Stardust began to rub his palms together while the corners of his mouth began to curl up into a wild grin. Although, only momentarily, as he slipped into a look of deep thought.

| Stardust | Don't you find it completely and utterly fascinating that someone who is so MUNDANE and BORING can state as a fact that they have defeated both Brock Lesnar and Dolph Ziggler? Sure, he's good in the ring and all of that but who cares when he's so slim on personality? 

This question finally drove Harper to speak up. Stardust froze and listened up, it seemed as though he whenever his partner did talk, it carried some meaning behind it. 

| Luke Harper | Why don't you just worry about beating him? If you're so worried about his personality..we can tear his head clean off and replace it with a new one. 

Despite the gruesome and impossible nature of the comment, it struck Stardust as very exciting. 


| Stardust | Ooh! Ooh! A new one with a little more pzazz? A little more SPUNK? The possibilities are endless, aren't they? You've got a keen mind underneath all of that fur.

The Cosmic Entity placed a pair of fingers on either side of his head and moved them in a slow circle, like a drill, as if he were trying to burrow into his own brain.

| Stardust | Sami Zayn may be a specimen to behold but he's only human. Just a man. I am not bound by such limitations. Because, as you understand, I am completely inhuman. In thought, and action, and in drive. Every thought, every single solitary thought..could not possibly be comprehended by someone like Sami Zayn. It is beyond every inch of his being to fully grasp just what I am.

His scarlet tinted pools shifted down towards the very rare steak that was resting on a plate in front of him. He lifted his fork high into the air and began to stab away at it, causing the pristine white plate to become flooded with blood. It was even splattering along the table.

| Stardust | Just like any other human..he will bleed. Gallons of the stuff! 

The fork was flicked aside and he licked some of the dripping blood and juices from his fingers.

| Stardust | Brock Lesnar and Dolph Ziggler are not the Prince of Dark Matter. They are not..Stardust. They are not blessed with eyes that can see beyond infinity. 

Cody Rhodes was so far gone into this otherworldly persona that he truly believed the things that he was saying. Even if those things only made sense in his own screwed up head. 

| Stardust | And I suppose that Sami Zayn is blessed with..eh..something. Very pale skin? Very red hair? Oooh! Hey! Catchy theme song! He does have that! Just makes you want to have a grand ol' time! 

Gloved hands shook about, 'jazz hands', to mock Zayn's upbeat and catchy little number that brought him to the ring. But any frivolity was over. His shrouded face was covered in a disgusted looking smile.  

| Stardust | He'll have plenty of time to worry about his lacking personality and his dull lifestyle after I put my cosmic boots to his face. He does have that AWFUL gift of getting back up after someone beats him down but it won't be for nothing! No, no, no! Because when I defeat Sami Zayn that will mean that I will be in line for a title opportunity. ..The most precious..amazing..prize..in all of the galaxy..will be firmly around my waist. And poor Sami Zayn will just..beeee..splattered.

The plate was snatched firmly between his fingers and as Stardust slid out of his booth he raised it high above his head. He slammed the plate, steak and all, causing it to shatter and the rare meat to send of the blood dripping off it upwards. The feverish motion had caused his hood to go flipping off, revealing his silver and black painted face. Now with splashes of red mixed in. A passing waitress gasped at this as she passed. Even on the graveyard shift, it wasn't something you saw every day. Stardust directed a smile towards her.

| Stardust | Check please.


---

Standing amongst a pool of darkness stood one half of the participants in this week's main event. Stardust and Sami Zayn were very opposite for a variety of different reasons. One being their extremely different visual appearances. Stardust stood in long, dark colored, leathery cape with bits of black fur around the shoulders. He spoke, but it wasn't in his outrageous spaceman tone. It sounded more like his real self, Cody Rhodes. 

| Stardust | Sami Zayn. I heard you talk about pressure. "Oh, I know what it's like to have my back against the wall! Oh, I know all about this!" Don't. Make. Me. Laugh. You may have been a champion in some run-down, back alley promotion in your day..but now..you're on top of the grandest stage of them all. You are shining so brightly that the whole universe can see you! The target on your back is so enormous that it will consume you! You don't know..anything..about..pressure..

Overwhelming pressure it what led to the transition from Cody Rhodes to Stardust so he was something of a scholar on the subject. 

Stardust | Forget one second about me. Forget about The Vertex. Every single person on the roster wants what you have. All of them. And not just this promotion! There are people that haven't even made it onto television yet that want what you have! People that don't even work here yet! All willing to do whatever it takes for a chance at you! They would dismember themselves for a title opportunity!

His shoulders slumped. It looked as though a certain weight of sadness was wearing them down. His head also sunk in a solemn manner.

| Stardust | Poor Cody Rhodes knew so much about pressure. He was a World Champion too. He never even lost it. It was stolen from him by some blind, arrogant millionaire! By that point he had completely lost his mind. He was walking around in a mask, carrying around paper bags full of insects and..

A deep sigh that seemed to be the only thing preventing him from elaborating on such a dark time any further.

| Stardust | ..Oh, it was not a pretty site. Not at all. But even when he left the company, that pressure never went away. Oh no. It followed him everywhere that he went. Even when he wasn't in the professional wrestling business! It just..kept..following him. He tried to get away but..

There was a degree of humanity in his voice that hadn't been heard in a very, very long time.

| Stardust | ..he just couldn't. He had a fiance that didn't want him to come back. She didn't want to see him in the ring anymore. But the temptation was too great. It broke him. It broke his life. His soon to be marriage. Every last trace of him was gone. On that day..Cody Rhodes..was murdered. 

The maniacal look, extreme gestures and all around manic behavior returned.

| Stardust | And I took his place! Someone who is stronger, more prepared, who can't POSSIBLY crack under the pressure holding the World Title brings! When you get that taste, it does something to you. It corrupts you. It turns you into a super villain. No one wants to see good, pure, Sami Zayn go down that route. So what I'm suggesting..

He smirked as he was getting to the best part of his proposal. 


| Stardust | ..is that you just hand the title over to me, Sami. Give it to me and spare yourself the torment that's going to follow. The paranoia. Your simple little mind simply won't be able to handle it. I'm not kidding. It does..things.. to you..

He reached up and was now holding..something. It looked like a mannequin. A mannequin made to look like his ex-fiance Brandi. Some skin complexion and hair. It was nude and both realistic and made to resemble a freakish caricature at the same time. It was made to look like the eyes and mouth were sewn shut. Stardust's red eyes gazed deeply towards it's face while he stroked it's hair backwards. He spoke in a soft tone.    

| Stardust | Oh, how beautiful she was. What a wonderful bride she would have been. What an amazing mother she could have become. But that baby is gone and whatever remained of this woman is locked up in a mental home somewhere because she simply couldn't stand to witness the birth of..Stardust.

The doll was violently tossed aside, with a crash, and all the creepy sentiment had faded. He turned his full focus back to camera in front of him and held out a palm. 

| Stardust | So, Zayn, I implore you! Reach out! Let my hand touch yours! Drop your title at my feet! Spare yourself the agony that's sure to come! You said that you wanted to rid this place of psychopaths but if you don't stop you're going to become one! Don't allow the world to watch a hero go bad! 

Stardust's open hand slowly fell to his side. He shrugged his shoulders while his black painted lips curled into a sneer.

| Stardust | Or hold on. Hold onto your title with everything you've got. Because I don't mind ripping it out of your grasp. Even if I have to pull a few fingers off with it.      

That familiar, threatening feral hiss was given and brought the segment to an end.