"You're the guy from my video game!"


Not Bradley's finest hour. Though to his defense he was staring up at Azrael Erebus, the spaceman he's repeatedly played as in his favorite version of XWF the video game. So he's a little starstruck and stuff has been a tad crazy today. With that being the case, just this once, he should be cut some slack. Just. This. Once. Wow. Wouldn't that be such an asshole thing to say about a kid if it were actually meant?


"Come again?"


Azrael looked to be going through a mixture of confusion and an epic, internal battle of trying his best not to laugh. A battle he wouldn't have even attempted, if he weren't staring down at a small person.


"I mean you're Azrael Erebus, from the planet Ozuul. Warrior of your home world. Savior of the universe..."


"I'm going to stop you right there. See, I know who I am. I was asking who you were and where exactly we are. Understand now? Should I be speaking slower?"


Bradley did his best impression of a deer caught in the headlights as he realized just exactly what happened and for a moment, he knew precisely what that gold rock felt like crashing through two stories of his home and embedding itself within his basement floor. From there came, mortification. Panic. Overbearing dread. Embarrassment. Then recovery. All in the matter of a few seconds too. Imagine that. Meh. Teenagers.


"Eh... sorry, it's been a long day. I'm Bradley, Bradley Thomas and this is my home. Well, the basement of my home. You kinda hatched out of a rock down here."


"Okay, I can understand... wait, what? I hatched out of a rock? No. You've lost me again kid. Sorry."


Bradley sighed and shook his head in exasperation. Yeah, it's been a full spectrum journey with young Bradley. Now he's the exasperated one.


"Just look up."


Azrael complied. Which resulted in an immediate head tilt of perplexity as he gazed up at an opening that allowed him to see two stories up. This was followed by him looking down to the floor and stepping aside, only to reveal the crater that the shimmering golden rock had left behind. Upon sight of this crater in the floor, he suddenly sort of wished his life could simply be like everyone else's. A life where he could just wake up, go to work, come home, have a good hot meal and go to bed. Nice and boring. Mundane even. The life version of steamed, plain, white rice. Not find himself standing in a strange boy's basement as he tells you that you hatched out of a rock and realizing that he's not insane and that really did happen. Sigh. Spaceman problems. They are very real. Azrael turned his attention back to Bradley.


"So I hatched... out of a rock."


It took a lot to pull those words out.


"Yes. A shiny gold rock. Well, the rock got a bunch of cracks all over it and then it sorta exploded into this bright flash of light. I had to cover my eyes, it was so bright! Then when I uncovered them, you were where the rock was. So I guess, you actually exploded out of a shiny gold rock."


"Yeah, that makes it sooooo much better."


Azrael snapped his fingers and both holes and the small crater within the floor were instantly repaired. In fact, it was like they were never even there.


"Well... it's been real fun, but I think I should figure all this stuff out and find out why I was trapped inside a shiny gold rock."


Azrael, was about to snap again and do his trademark exit when Bradley, mustered up the entire five percent of courage that life deals him per year and grabbed Azrael's hand. He stopped the snap!


"Wait! I know you want to snap your fingers and get out of this basement and as far away as you can from the weirdo kid that's standing in front of you, but there's some things that you need to know. I swear they're important and relevant to you and may even help you. I promise, I'm not wasting your time. So if you snap your fingers, just take us straight up two stories, to my room and I'll explain everything. I would do it down here but the basement is full of spiders and I think I just felt one land on my head."


Bradley let go of Azrael's hand and started flailing his hands at his own head, brushing them about his hair, squealing and basically freaking out. Thus concludes the end of Bradley's bravery. It had a goo... it had a decen... it had a run.


"There's no spider in your hair."


Azrael couldn't even attempt the internal fight, he had once successfully won before to hold the laughter back, he straight up laughed as he snapped his fingers and brought both himself and Bradley, to Bradley's bedroom. When they appeared the laughter only increased.


"You're a fan!"


The laughter continued.


"Oh... this makes so much sense! Why did I go along with what you said? Shit! I'm an idiot!"


Azrael couldn't stop laughing as he covered his face and tried desperately to compose himself. After a few seconds it worked; however, when he removed his hand and his eyes fell upon the very first action figure that the XWF created of him. Classic Mr. Satellite. With only one arm. Dressed in a full, long, black cloak and a burlap sack over the head, with only one, single, solitary eye hole. He lost it again. The thing even came with the robot that he used to have to use in order to verbally communicate with others.


"No. I know what it looks like but this isn't that. I mean yes, I'm a fan but no, this has nothing to do with that. Or maybe... maybe, it can help. Stop focusing on my collection of stuff dedicated to you. Yes, I know the collection is large..."


"Large?"


Azrael plucked an actual burlap sack off one of Bradley's shelves and yes, it only had one, single, solitary eye hole.


"Seriously?"


Bradley reached over, took the burlap sack from Azrael and tossed it to the side.


"I was eight when I made that. Yeah, okay this looks bad but you were my most favorite wrestler. I mean you still are one of my favorites but..."


Azrael pulled himself together. Finally.


"What do you mean... 'were'?"


"I have a large collection of XWF stuff, right? Well, look around. Beyond the vast collection of your stuff."


Azrael took a quick pan around the room and that's when he noticed it. Along with the faces that he recognized, there were so many that he did not know. Then it hit him. Like a sack of so many potatoes. He might have been trapped inside a fucking rock for a long time. With that understanding, came a brutal blend of anger and fear, that completely overwhelmed him for a minute. So much so, that his fist found a home, within the wall next to him. The gasp of the child in the room brought him back from the brink though and with that return, he felt immediately humbled and completely minuscule. Azrael released a deep breath, removed his fist from the wall and turned his focus to Bradley. Then in the softest, most broken sounding tone he asked.


"What year is it?"


"2018."


"Three years. I lost three fucking years."


"Yeah. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..."


"No. There's no need to finish that sentence. I appreciate you showing me the truth. Thank you for that. Truly. It's just a lot to take in. I might be from another world and can do things that others cannot but that doesn't mean that I can't feel the impact of something. Especially, something so drastically, world shattering as losing three years. I'm sorry if I frightened you and for the wall."


Azrael snapped his fingers and the wall was instantly mended.


"There's more."


"Of course there is."


A short bitter laughed escaped Azrael's lips.


"What is it? What more could there be?"


"Everything that you encountered during your time within the XWF is gone. All that you were, everything that you experienced and lived through while you wrestled there. The footage is gone. It's like you were never there, save for the footage of your matches and the records of your past accolades."


"Then I know who I need to talk to next."


"Who?"


Azrael snapped his fingers and instantaneously, he was standing in front of a door. Nothing special. Just a brown door with a glass window and a name written neatly on a laminated plaque. The name being...


"Shane !"


Azrael had been so out of sorts, he accidentally brought Bradley with him. Jerking his head quickly towards Bradley, he grimaced in annoyance. Never had he made such an incredible error in teleportation before. Whatever. He'd deal with this matter, in due time.


"Wait here."


"How do you know he's in there?"


"Oh... he's in there. I wouldn't be in front of this door, if he weren't."


And with that, Azrael walked forward, opened the door and passed through it. Promptly shutting it behind himself right after. Bradley tried to see through the window but the glass was tinted brown for some reason. Why would someone want brown tinted glass on their door? Then Bradley tried listening, by putting his ear to the door but as far as he heard, it sounded like the teacher from the Peanuts cartoon talking. This yanked a frustrated sigh from Bradley as he plopped into a sitting position on the floor. Several minutes passed but to Bradley, it felt like years. What was going on behind that door? Were they getting along? Fighting? What? Before Bradley could fathom a third option, the door swung open and Azrael, strolled out with a smirk on his face.


"I've been rehired to wrestle for the XWF. My first match is this Saturday and it's against someone named, Erik Black. I'm supposed to face him in a Black Death Match. I get to wrestle again and see the Grim Reaper. I haven't seen ol' Grimmy since The Black Plague. I wonder if he still has the friendship bracelet I gave him?"

2x Universal Champion (First reign was less than a day though, lol. Due to Sebastian Duke cashing in his briefcase.)
2x Tag Team Champion
3x Triple Tag Team Champion
1x Television Champion
2x US Champion (Title retired during my second reign as champ.)
2x X-Treme Champion
1x Bombshell Champion
2x HMW Champion
2x SOTM