“Thanks,” I just finished setting things up with my mate who’s a technician. It might seem pretty dark but he’s managed to reanimate my entirely dead family, smiling around a dinner table enjoying a Sunday roast dinner, with grins on their faces but blood oozing down their neck. I look up at the camera and begin to talk to the audience.

“Oh take no notice of these people, they’re merely enjoying dinner in standard Davids tradition. I mean I look at them all now and it doesn’t even make me that sad. I am just happy that most of these evil bastards aren’t here to spoil this lovely dinner party. They’re all dead, all of them, except Morgan. Morgan’s been missing for some time, for all I know, he could be dead as well.”

I beckon to Morgan, and look at his long blonde locks and his cheeky grin.

“This is Morgan. He was always the kindest out of the four of us. Kindest or weakest? I’ll let you decide. People walked all over him but he never seemed to mind. He was focused on his business career, and because he was a similar age to me, he never blamed me for what happened to my mother. How could he? How could anyone, really? A child being born should be grand, but no, my mother was torn in half and she left this world as I entered it. Would I change that? No. For I have done better things than she could even imagine.”

I looked at her, but I could not bring myself to talk about her for too long. Every time I thought of her I felt regret and I felt hurt. Then I turned to my two other brothers, their names were just a memory that echoed in the distance, they meant nothing to me, although it probably wasn’t their fault.

“These two morons followed my father. Out of fear? Probably. Out of loyalty? Maybe. All I knew was that they were trying to kill me, and in doing so, they put a target on their own backs. Really, it was this man that led to their downfall.”

I pointed to my Father. Looked down at him. Turned. Smiled.

“What he did, he did with choice. He went after me because he could not forgive me. First he left me to burn amongst my mother’s remains and then when he realised I was still alive he came after me. He was the poison throughout this family, not me. But now perhaps, I had grown toxic too. All those that I have ever loved seem nothing but a memory now. A beautiful, distant memory.”

My family vanished at the click of my fingers, but the table remained.

“You see, Chris Chaos, and I assume you’re watching this. This was the family I never wanted. You don’t get to choose the family you’re born with. However, you do get to choose your family in life.”

I clicked my fingers and the entire XWF roster appeared behind me, before flickering and vanishing.

“I can’t let you ruin my return Chris. I am home now. And of course, families fight, no one knows that better than I do. But this homecoming party of mine… it needs to be perfect. You’re a former Universal Champion and all that means is that it’s time for another king to be slain, for all men must fall, and after all, whether you like it or not, that’s all you are another man who can bleed, who can cry and who can be broken. See you on Saturday.”

I grinned at the camera once more, my family appeared behind me for a split second and vanished again before the camera faded to black.

---

---

---

Five days earlier

“Wh…where am I?” I woke amongst a wood, a gleaming light shone through the green leaves.

“Where do you think you are?” An old familiar man looked down at me, wearing a long white gown.

It looked like Blaine, my dead uncle who saved me from the flames that my father lit, which would’ve certainly burned me to death. All because, well, I was born. During that birth, I murdered my mother you see. Well she died, but my father always blamed me. Not that it matters now, they’re all dead. All three of them.

“Uncle?” I struggled to breath. I coughed up blood onto the dirt.

“Ha. Yes, I guess it is me. But you know this isn’t real Steve, right? You’ve always been, uh, how do I put this? Mentally insane? But you know this isn’t really me. I died, a long time ago, more peacefully than I perhaps should have."

“Yes, I know. But…”

“But nothing. I’m merely a fragment of your imagination, I guess I am the part of you that wants things back to how they once were.”

“Ha. You mean the part of me that wants to be the Universal Champion again? The part of me that wants to bask amongst the fans and their chants and their craziness? Of course I want those things…”

“But you will not have them. At least, not in your current state. You tried returning last year, far before you were ready and how did that go for you? Scully battered you around the ring like a rag doll. A former Universal Champion, humiliated by Scully, who, to be fair, is now a former Universal Champion as well.”

“I guess that title really got dragged through the dirt.”

“Yes it did, and that started with you embarrassing yourself in that gauntlet match. You’re just not ready Steve. You’re not fit. You’re not healthy. And when you wake up you’ll realise so much more.”

“I know but those people. That belt. They’re all I’ve got left. Everyone else is dead.”

“It’s true, you do have very little to live for. But you can get yourself back to where you once were, I know you can. But you need to get yourself into a position of dominance again. You’re a fragment of what you once were, the demon inside of you… his flame is but an ember amongst ashes compared to what it once was… And those people you love so much? Well they won’t care about you anymore Steve. You’re a has been. A washed up loser who couldn’t be bothered to show up anymore.”

“Washed up!? Loser!? Couldn’t be bothered?! You know that I gave everything to the XWF. Everything I god damn had I gave to that company. That place, those people, the madness, the chaos, the death, the fire, the memories. THAT PLACE IS HOME TO ME. And if you think that me leaving made me happy then you’re dumber than I thought, because it made me sick.”

“Then why did you leave!?”

“I had to.”

“Since when did Steve Davids bend the knee? When did he become so weak that he didn’t do what he wanted? Is this what you are now Steve, a servant of the world?”

“I don’t know what I am but I sure as hell am not this. I can’t do this anymore Blaine. I can’t keep waking up, each and every day, pretending that everything is okay, waiting for night to turn to day and day to turn to night, and the world keeps spinning, and the clock keeps ticking, but I’m not fucking happy because I am achieving nothing here.”

“Then why are you doing, whatever the fuck it is you do?”

"Because I need to find Morgan, my one remaining family member, but then... I have to go back Blaine. I have to go back. I can’t keep working for Ricky Desmond as some kind of demonic hit man. I’m not like this. Maybe I once was, but not anymore. Besides, putting my life on the line for Desmond may pay more but it doesn’t give me the same feeling that the XWF does. That feeling of passion. I know I can make it. I know I can put myself back in that ring. When Scully beat me the way in which he did, it was because, for the briefest of moments, I no longer cared. That was the one moment in my time in the XWF that I stopped caring. The reality is I belong there. I need it, and it needs me.”

“Believe what you want Steve. The fact of the matter is, this is nothing more than a dream. Another internal struggle with yourself, what would KnightMask say?”

“Ha KnightMask.”

---

---

---

“Heavy night last night huh?”

I slowly open my eyes and gaze around the room, puzzled. I look down, and thankfully I am fully clothed.

“Don’t worry nothing happened. I just managed to get you back here with the help of a friend. We found you knocked out in an alleyway a few blocks down, are you okay?”

I rubbed my eyes, stretched out and yawned. Turning to see the bleach blonde locks and incredible body of a girl I’d never seen before wasn’t the worst thing to wake up to, even if I was completely puzzled.

“Uh. I don’t drink that often or much. I’m not sure what happened.”

“Well one way or another, you were definitely out of it. Maybe you got spiked? I couldn’t tell you though.”

“Thanks for bringing me back here, I hope I didn’t cause too much of a problem.”

“Not at all. You owe me though.”

“Oh really?”

“Yeah, get up, you can cook me some breakfast while we try to peace this night out together?”

“And why are you helping me?”

“Why does anyone help anyone? It just felt like the right thing to do, and there’s no way I went through all that without you at least cooking me breakfast.”

Little did she know I was a retired professional wrestler who murdered most of his own family. It’s probably too soon to tell her that though, I honestly didn’t even know her name. I got up and headed into the kitchen-diner. The room was huge, I went into the fridge and grabbed some bacon and eggs and began cooking.

“Thanks, the name’s Steve by the way.”

“Yeah I know, wrestler right?”

“Well sort of. I’ve been out of the game for a while, trying to uh… sort myself out I guess?”

“Yeah, and how’s that going for you?”

“I said trying, I didn’t say it was going well.”

She smiled, and held out a hand.

“My name’s Cindy. Which I realise is completely cliché for someone who looks like I do, but what can you do aye?”

I smiled. She seemed nice enough. Something didn’t quite feel right though.

“So who’s the friend? I owe him or her a thank you I guess.”

“Oh you mean Daz? He’ll be round at some point I think. He seemed to know an awful lot about you. Big fan I guess.”

“I just wish he knew what happened to me. One moment I was having a whisky, the next minute I wake up here about 15 hours later. You can see my concern.”

She just stares blankly at me, refusing to show her perfect white pearly teeth, and shrugs her shoulders, tilting her neck slightly.

“It’s just, odd, I guess. I have my wallet, I have my keys and I have my phone.”

“Why don’t you check to see if you rang or text anyone before you passed out?”

She was smart as well as hot. I started to fumble through my phone and suddenly the post-night out anxiety hit me like a tonne of bricks while the bacon sizzled.

“Oh god.”

“What?”

"Vinnie Lane."

“XWF owner, Vinnie Lane?”

“Yep.”

And every single girl on my contact book that I knew was in the area. Drunk Davids was obviously looking for a hook-up. Cindy didn’t need to know that though. My phone suddenly started to vibrate, it was an unknown number. I looked at Cindy who urged me to answer it. So I did.

“Hello?”

“Steve Davids. I hope you had a good night last night. Perhaps it’s about time that you return home?”

“And…” Before I could speak, I was interrupted.

“It doesn’t matter who this is. The XWF needs you, and you need it. Meet me at Oklahoma on April 8th for Savage. A contract will be waiting for you, and it’s tasty.”

“WHO ARE YOU?”

The phone hung up immediately.

“Fucking hell. The XWF and its fucking mysteries. They don’t take a day off.”

So I whipped over to my house, had a shower, and got changed. Not before I exchanged numbers with Cindy of course, she seemed nice. And those bazongas needed a good titty fuckin'. Anyway, before I digress like Peter Gilmour during a trash talk segment, I stuck on my black slim jeans, and my KingSlayer tee shirt, prepared an overnight bag and headed for Oklahoma. There was little time to waste after all. Who knows, maybe they'll let me wrestle on the show? Fat chance of that though I guess.

Anyway. I arrived at the Chesapeake arena and the place was bouncing. Some of the roster recognised me, others paid me no intention. For the most part, they stayed out of my way. The jerks didn't move, but I had no time for confrontation so I walked straight through, looking for any official. Suddenly there was a P.A announcement.

New competitors please head directly to the office next to catering. The contract official will meet you there.

Well, this is some fucking shady shit. But I did what the announcement said. The office was dead. No one around at all, I walked in and the room was empty other than a single desk with a contract and a pen on it. Seemingly, it had already been signed by Vinnie Lane. Something wasn't right here. I could hear the ring announcer in the background.

And... Here are your winners: Chris Chaos and Gabe Reno!!!!

I decided the best thing to do was to sign the contract. Sign the contract and be done with it. As soon as I finished reading the deal and signing the contract, I felt someone grab me by the head and shove something across my mouth, I passed out immediately.

This was where things got hazy. I woke up and I was staring at the ceiling. Someone had stolen my tee shirt, I looked up at a masked figure...

In the back Colton is shaking hands with some of the event staff, thanking them for the work that went into such a "tremendous occasion". He turns and spots Michael Graves. Kato walks over to say something, then is cut off by the falling body of a person after several loud gunshots ring out across the lockers and catering area's. The person falls into Kato's arms limp and bleeding... the weight of both collapsing them to the ground. The perpetrator in the distance can barely be seen except for a "KINGSLAYER" t-shirt. Colton squirms behind a trash bin for cover, then finally looks down, realizing he has just witnessed the murder... OF...

The perpetrator ripped off MY KingSlayer tee-shirt and quickly threw it towards me. He disappeared into the night. Suddenly my heart was beating ridiculously fast. I was being fucking framed on my first night back.

"Fuck me, what did I say about fucking mysteries?" I said looking at the camera.

I got up to run but before I could I was dragged away by two henchmen seemingly immediately. What the fuck was going on? I passed back out.

When I woke up I was in an almost-empty room. I was tied to a small wooden chair in a dark room, I looked down and my hair was all over the floor.

Who? What? Where? Why? Game over.

3x Xtreme Champion
1x Briefcase Holder
1x Television Champion
1x Universal Champion