Glorious 2022

As Wes’s shattered heart continues to bleed from his recent breakup with Brenda, he finds himself at a roadside rest stop, attempting to numb the pain. The darkness consumes him, leading to a night of unbridled excess, where he reduces his possessions to ashes, including cherished mementos and his own pants. The following day, Wes’s hangover is matched only by his sense of despair as he stumbles into an abandoned restroom, seeking solace in the porcelain throne. It’s there that he encounters Ghatanothoa, a being whose very existence seems to defy human comprehension.

As their conversation becomes increasingly uncomfortable, Wes realizes that he is trapped, sealed away from the outside world by the unyielding door. Ghatanothoa reveals its true nature as a demigod born of a primordial godfather who unwittingly created the universe and all its inhabitants. With an air of incredulity, Wes tries to peer beyond the stall’s glory hole and over the door, ignoring Ghatanothoa’s warnings that gazing upon its true form would spell disaster for humanity. Exerting its divine power, Ghatanothoa exacts a cruel revenge by subjecting Wes to haunting visions of Brenda.

As the restroom becomes his prison, Ghatanothoa shares its troubled history with Wes. It reveals that it was created as a tool to destroy humanity but has since developed an affection for the mortal coil. Its father, having been freed from his ancient slumber, now seeks to reclaim the universe, and Ghatanothoa fears being used to bring about its destruction. The demigod implores Wes to help it transcend into the ethereal plane, a feat that can only be achieved by satisfying its physical form through the glory hole. However, this would also expose its location to its father, weakening its powers and making it vulnerable.

With the weight of Ghatanothoa’s words settling upon him, Wes is forced to confront his own demons. He shares with the demigod his experiences of paternal abuse and the emotional void left by Brenda’s departure. The bathroom door remains sealed, trapping both men in a desperate struggle for survival. A maintenance worker arrives, only to be brutally silenced by Ghatanothoa’s wrath. Wes is left to face the horrors alone, his screams falling on deaf ears as he vainly attempts to escape through the air vent.

As the restroom descends into chaos and carnage, Wes is driven to desperation. He inserts himself into the glory hole, only to be met with Ghatanothoa’s shock and disdain. The demigod clarifies that “satisfaction” requires a far more profound offering – a piece of his own liver. As Wes recoils in horror, he is left to confront the abyss that separates him from redemption.

As the weight of desperation bears down on Wes, his cry for help echoes through the crumbling rest stop, a desperate attempt to summon Ghatanothoa’s father from the depths of reality. The very fabric of existence begins to unravel as the god tears through the veil, leaving in its wake a trail of devastation. With time running out and hope dwindling, Ghatanothoa resorts to drastic measures, erasing Wes’s memories of Brenda in a stark reminder of the universal annihilation that awaits. Cornered and defeated, Wes is forced to make a Faustian bargain: in exchange for a glimpse of his lost love again, he agrees to facilitate Ghatanothoa’s dark ritual.

As the god’s power courses through him, Wes’s thoughts are consumed by a torrent of agony, revealing a shocking truth: he is a serial killer who brutally murdered Brenda after she uncovered the gruesome evidence of his crimes. The weight of this revelation crushes Wes, yet he finds the strength to complete Ghatanothoa’s twisted ritual. In a moment of macabre triumph, Ghatanothoa transcends its father’s grasp, foiling its own destruction and cementing its place in the ether.

As Wes lies dying just outside the restroom, clutching the teddy bear Brenda had given him as a symbol of their fleeting connection, he weakly queries whether his actions make him a hero. Ghatanothoa’s response is a bitter pill to swallow: both he and the god are nothing more than entities of destruction, destined to be forgotten and die. With his final breath, Wes succumbs to the cruel hand of fate, a tragic figure consumed by the darkness he had unleashed upon himself and those around him.