Man of Black and White (encore part 1)

The cameramen, producer and announcers started packing up their gear to leave. They were union members and, as far as they were concerned their shift was finished and the match over. The MC pleaded with them to continue the broadcast, but they refused and headed for the locker rooms, soon to exit the building. 

Meanwhile, Kruil Li Khan, Bucksaw Jones and Killer Manjaro were uninterested in the TV broadcast, but instead were furious that Dick Hodges had survived their tortures, so they all three began stomping his body into the mat. Oblivious to this, the referee conferred with the MC to decide what should happen next. With the fans nearly in riot-mode, these two men were a bit nervous about what might take place if this match was left undecided, so with a fermenting and dangerous situation surrounding them, a decision was made and the referee signaled the timekeeper to ring the bell. 

With his public address microphone in hand, the MC made the announcement, "Ladies and gentlemen, this match will continue!"

A huge celebration erupted in the stands, while the brutes lifted the broken man by his arms and dragged him to one side of the ring. First, they stood him up on the mat outside the ropes, then, locking his limp arms between the top and second ropes, they kicked his legs off of the mat and left him suspended on the outside of the ring as though crucified. 

Now a chair was brought and placed in front of the victim, as the audience strained to see what was happening on that side of the ring. Killer Manjaro stepped up onto the chair and reached into his loin wrapping. The mysterious object was soon in his right hand and he began pounding on the man's forehead, while Bucksaw and Khan each held an ankle and pulled down to increase the agony of Hodges' stretching. 

The image truly did resemble that of a Roman crucifixion. After three blows from Manjaro, blood began to trickle from the forehead and corners of Hodges' mouth. Adding to the drama, the victim's trunks (still lowered to just above his genitals) resembled a black loin cloth from all the classic paintings depicting this torture, while Hodges' labored breath and horrendous stretching caused him to moan in agony, which completed the picture of this tragic spectacle. The crowd was in awe, as this powerfully masculine form was mercilessly crucified right before their very eyes. Bathed in sweat, his gloriously defined muscles flexed, stretched and highlighted, Dick Hodges was now subjected to the ultimate punishment and - just as the Romans would have done in preparation for this sentence - the victim had been beaten down and tormented for hours, rendering his body a useless rag before this final agony was perpetrated upon him. 

But he was not a useless rag - not yet. Although at their mercy, he continued to defy them. He strained against the ropes and clasping of his ankles, which only further enhanced his manly form. The chest heaved and expanded, while the belly caved in to highlight every masculine curve, ridge and muscle. Not even the brutal pounding of the loaded fist onto his forehead could sway him to concede defeat. Despite this relentless and agonizing torture, Dick Hodges refused to be broken, instead taking his punishment as though he were an indestructible force. 

Jimmy had now recovered and he slowly staggered towards the tortured wrestler to see the crazed African beating on his forehead. The channels of crimson now trickled down from the face, past the neck and onto Hodges' battered pectorals. Jimmy wrapped his arms around the maniacal beast's massive leg and tried to pull him down from the chair, but Manjaro easily kicked aside this annoying interruption. 

The sight of fresh blood whipped the crowd into a frenzy and they began taunting the stricken man, just as would have been done in days of old. The National Guard Armory Arena in Chicago had become the Colosseum of ancient Rome. 
As Manjaro tired of the beating and paused to rest, some of the other wrestlers came down the aisle from the locker room to a chorus of boos from the crowd. Finally, someone was going to end this pitiful man's suffering. They all stood before the crucified victim, while Hodges forced a smile of relief, his labored breath increasing as the crucifixion slowly began to suffocate him. Rescue had come at last. He flexed his mighty chest and scowled in defiance at Manjaro, who still stood on the chair in front of him, panting with exhaustion. 

Suddenly, the other wrestlers began to taunt and spit on the crucified man. 

"Well, well, look at the tough guy."

Some even threw punches into his gut, as the three brutes and the rest of the crowd watched in amazement. 

"Think you're mister wonderful, do ya? Slater ain't here to protect you now."

They released years of the pent-up frustration they had felt from having to play second fiddle to the owner's favorite. Seeing him helplessly displayed before them, they now unleashed their anger with cruel words and punches, as Bucksaw and Khan continued to torture him in their make-shift crucifixion. 

The fans roared their approval, while Jimmy forced his way through the wrestlers to stand between them and his tortured hero, but the brutes immediately pounced on him, tossing the young man into the ring and ripping off his shirt in the process. Soon he was pinned in the corner by one of the wrestlers, his frail body standing and crushed between the turnbuckle and massive backside of his captor. 

After the men had satisfied their appetite for revenge, preparations were made for returning him to the ring. Khan and Bucksaw released him from the ring rope torture and the others lifted him up and over the top rope. While they held him steady, Manjaro was coaxed to lay in the center of the ring face up and fold his arms across his chest, then four wrestlers grabbed four limbs and lifted Hodges into the air. They turned his body until it was parallel with Manjaro's and laid him on top of the 400 pound mountain. Pulling him in four directions, they stretched the man as tight as possible, then brought his wrists and ankles down, pinning them to the mat. 

Stretched spread-eagle and face up with four limbs held by four men, raised from underneath by the 400 pound slab of meat Manjaro, massive African forearms pressed against his back, Dick Hodges was again cruelly displayed for everyone in the arena to see. His majestic, but bloodied chest rose high into the air, while the muscular belly was dramatically caved in and gasping for air.

Still crunched into the corner turnbuckle, Jimmy looked at his idol's tormented body, as it was mercilessly pulled apart in four directions. He begged the wrestler securing him to show mercy for this beaten down man, but was greeted only with taunting laughter. There would be no end to his suffering until he conceded his defeat, something which Jimmy knew would never happen. These men, like the three who started this atrocity, wanted Dick Hodges gone forever and since the other three couldn't get the job done, they were ready to do it themselves. If torturing him with pain didn't work, perhaps something else might persuade him, so they waved Khan and Bucksaw aside, then prepared Dick Hodges for their plan of attack. 

The audience watched in stunned silence, as the other wrestlers began to unlace Hodges boots and remove them from his feet. Next came the socks. After his feet were brought close together, someone grabbed the helpless man's trunks to pull them past his ankles and the jock strap soon followed. Unwilling to surrender to the relentless beatings, Dick Hodges was now stripped, shamed and humiliated before the throngs gazing to the center of the ring. 

The remaining wrestlers strutted about the ring and solicited the crowd's approval. Some held their hands to their ears, asking the crowd to participate in this man's degradation, which they did with a crazed enthusiasm. These fans loved the spectacle being presented before them and a deafening roar reverberated throughout the arena, while many were signaling the thumbs-down as though they were Roman emperors, screaming for more blood, more punishment, more humiliation. 

Hodges turned his head from side to side, scrutinizing the bloodthirsty crowd and all those in the ring surrounding him. He had been betrayed by all of the wrestlers he thought were friends and abandoned by all of his fans save one. Thirteen men had descended upon him and all hope for rescue was lost. 

He raised his head to scan what he could see. Anger rose up in him as he saw the sweat, the blood, the ruthless fans, the stalking wrestlers and worst of all, his precious genitalia, exposed for all to ogle. He furiously strained every beaten down muscle to break free of his tormentors. With his powerful chest expanded and lower jaw jutting forward, he gallantly struggled with all his might to escape them in yet another display of manly strength and resolve. 

This caused the wrestlers and fans alike to mock and jeer at him, as the sight of this helpless man straining to break free filled them with a sadistic cruelty, as though he were some sort of captured enemy, no longer a threat, but kept alive merely for their entertainment. Taunting phrases could be heard, such as "Look at Dick's dick" and "He's just a weenie, now," but suddenly, all ridicule stopped. The left ankle escaped from the man holding it and Hodges immediately kicked that man in the face, sending him to tumble towards the ropes. Then he planted his bare foot onto the mat and tried to leverage his other limbs loose, twisting his body to the right with all his strength. 

The scene was heartbreaking. Despite the brutal beatings; despite the damaged organs inside that powerful, but hopelessly racked body; despite having been punched, crushed, kicked and relentlessly tortured for hours, somehow this amazing man was able to launch one final, desperate attempt to escape his tormentors - to thwart their plans for his ultimate degradation. It was useless. The other wrestlers immediately pounced on him. Two grabbed hold to re-pin his ankle and spread the legs wide apart, while the others ruthlessly attacked with not only stomps and kicks to his vulnerable chest, but also devastating punches to his stretched and flattened belly - until he struggled against them no more. 

Now all was lost. His futile attempt to escape had been a monumental effort, but again he lay exhausted and pinned in their torture rack. Gasping for air, trails of blood painted onto his face and chest, this broken man now awaited his fate. Dick Hodges had made his last stand. 

Encore part 2 in a week