---

In a dimly lit, yet crowded bar. Stationed at a circular table, near the back of the establishment. Sat Abigail, Donovan, Ezra and Raphael. Various glasses of alcohol were placed about the table and an ash tray, resided in front of Donovan, that held three or four cigarette butts. Abigail appeared to be enjoying the evening as she scooted closer to Donovan.


"Okay, I have never seen a set of triplets, look less identical."


Abigail laughed as she sipped her cocktail through a vibrant pink straw.


"I told you we're fraternal triplets. That basically means that we don't look alike."


Donovan responded with a grin.


"Here's the thing, I've heard of twins coming out that way, never triplets."


"Well, all that means is that we were developed, from three separate ova. It's more common and distinct in twins, but we're living proof that it can happen with triplets. We're related... brothers, no less, we all have the same birthday, meaning that we're exactly the same age. Ergo, a good sign, that we're triplets. In other words, if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck."


Ezra explained with a slight smirk accenting his face.


"Or a mongoose. I heard they can quack sometimes."


"Ah... the infamous quacking mongoose."


"Quacking mongoose?"


"Here we go."


"Oh, come on Raph, it's a great story."


"Yeah. A great story. Suuuure."


"It's absolutely a great story. From our days at college. Come on man, memories need to be cherished, not shunned."


"Whatever."


"What's the story, cause now I kind of have to know."


Abigail insisted, completely getting caught up, in the display that truly was... the brothers Blackwater.


"I'm not sure if the tale should be told now, it might put Raph in a mood."


"Don't stop shit on my account. You already brought it up, you might as well tell the stupid story."


Shaking his head, Raphael took a swallow of his beer and leaned back in his chair.


"Okay. So the three of us attended and graduated the same college. Yale University."


"Yeah and there was this party, that we all wound up attending. Which usually wound up being the case."


"Cause you guys are that close."


Abigail teased.


"It's scary but it's true. We are that close."


"Sometimes it's like we have a hive mind."


"Haha! Hive mind! I like that."


"Thanks. I just came up with it."


Ezra said with a chuckle as he took a sip of his beverage.


"Alright, so we're at this party and everyone there, is pretty drunk."


"I know I was shit faced by the end of the night. Still passed my multivariable calculus final, the next day. Probably couldn't have done that, if I didn't wake and bake though."


"Yes, Donovan everyone knows, you spent most of college in a virtual haze of reefer smoke and still walked out a graduate, and top of your class."


"I'm a mathematical genius."


"Right. Can I finish the story?"


"I started it."


"Do you want to finish it?"


"No. Continue. I might jump in again at random though."


"I would expect, nothing less. Anyway, everyone is by definition, pretty fucking lit at this party and Raph, goes off with this girl. They both head outside. We don't see him for awhile but it's a party, this kind of stuff happens. Donovan is off doing who knows what? Literally. Anything could have been going down. Cause he had a virtual harem of lady followers in college, so he could have been doing anything, or anyone at that point."


"Thanks for sharing that part, with the girl I'm dating, Ezra."


"Don't mention it, brother. Should I skip all this and tell her precisely what you did, after you passed your multivariable calculus final?"


"Lets maintain the point at hand, shall we?"


"Fine. Okay. So Raph's off with this girl, Donovan's somewhere... hahahaha! Studying for his multivariable calculus final. And me, I'm stuck in the worst conversation in history, that I got myself into because I had a buzz going and I thought this dude was hot. Mid-conversation. At the exact moment, when I want to seriously, blow my fucking brains out. Raph comes running in. Naked."


"I wasn't naked."


"Oh you were naked."


"Yeah. I heard the commotion and ventured to see what it was... you were totally naked."


"Whatever. You're remembering it wrong."


"Alright, Raph runs in fully clothed, yet somehow everyone in the room sees him as being naked and he says; very dramatically, 'There's a wild mongoose out there.' Then he bolts and I mean bolts, out of the room. Runs out of the building and we don't see him till the next morning cause he ran all the way back to his dorm. I'm standing there at a loss for words, I look over at Donovan and he's just as confused but then the girl comes in the room."


"Naked."


"Yeah, she came in naked and waaaay more drunk than everyone in the room, put together. She looks around, says 'I think he got scared of the duck.' and then drops, like a sack of so many potatoes. Her friend comes over and scoops her up. This actually wasn't that uncommon to happen at parties. Collectively, we've probably witnessed over a hundred, random, naked, drunk people specifically, at these sort of gatherings. However, Donovan and I, we spot each other, exchange glances and then there's this moment when we both decide, to check things out and see what exactly is lurking about outside."


"Hive mind."


"Exactly. Hive mind. We literally walked for the door at the same time and when we get outside, we see a duck. Not even like an enraged flock of ducks. Just a single, solitary duck. Sitting in the grass. Chilling. It looks up at us and then it quacks. Cause it's a duck. That's what ducks do."


"Or occasionally, a quacking mongoose might."


"Wait. So why did you come up with the quacking mongoose?"


"Because of this... hey Raph, what did you see that night?"


"A mongoose and it was fucking vicious. I think it might have been rabid."


"Hence the birth of the quacking mongoose. Donovan actually coined that term because to this day..."


"Raph still won't admit the truth. He lives in denial. It's quite sad."


"I am telling the truth. I didn't see a duck. There was no duck. I did see a fierce, bloodthirsty mongoose though."


"A quacking one!"


"Well, that is a common trait of the quacking mongoose, being bloodthirsty and savage."


"You guys are too much. You make me wish that my friend was here. He'd adore you. And probably have even crazier stories to combat you with."


"Uh-oh Donovan, Abigail has a friend that's a guy, I smell trouble."


"It's not like that. He works with me in the XWF."


"Oh wow and he works with her too. Damn. You better get that shit on check and make sure, to attend every Christmas party the XWF throws."


"Guys leave her alone. I trust Abigail. Besides, she wouldn't casually bring this guy up, if anything was going on between them."


"That's right."


"We know."


"We just like messing with you and making you uncomfortable."


"Truth."


"Oh and by the way, I want to make it enormously clear... my previous statement was completely and totally, directed at Donovan. We're not trying to fuck with you, Abigail. We're only using you as our pawn, to indirectly get at him."


"We actually think you're pretty cool."


"It's been established already."


"So you better not fuck this up Donovan cause if you do..."


"We won't let you live it down."


"Gee... thanks for the boost of confidence there."


"Anytime."


"Do tell darling, who is this friend of yours? The man that you think that we'd meet and absolutely fall in love with."


"Oh, I don't know if you would fall in love with him, but you definitely would be entertained."


"That's a pretty big build up. I hope if this meeting ever takes place, he doesn't totally fail to meet our expectations."


"So who is this guy?"


"His name is Azrael Erebus."


A funny thing occurred between the brothers at that precise moment. All three of them, fell completely silent. Exchanging a unison of uneasy glances, it was very clear that something was definitely off. A chord had been struck. A nerve was hit and the reaction was overwhelmingly obvious. Something about the name Azrael Erebus, didn't sit well with the brothers Blackwater. Donovan cleared his throat and turned to Abigail as she gazed at him, with only curiosity and worry, in her eyes. Was it something she said? Before she could utter a word, Donovan quickly averted his eyes to his brothers and then darted his attention back to Abigail, in one swift, fluid motion. A smile, sliding into place upon his face, he brushed off the moment of strangeness, with a laugh.


"You know Azrael Erebus. That's cool. We would definitely like to meet him one day."


"Are you sure cause for a second there, it seemed like I mentioned a name that really, bothered you guys."


"I'm positively sure. We have nothing against the spaceman."


"Donovan's correct. If anything, we admire him for his sheer knack of self preservation."


"Plus he can vanish without a trace, how cool is that?"


"Très cool."


"So what was that odd moment about? You all seemed to experience it, as soon as I mentioned Azrael's name."


"That was an unrelated memory that we all happen to share, that is slightly connected to Azrael."


"It has to do with him... in a way. While it also has nothing to do with him per se. If that makes sense. I feel like I'm contradicting myself but at the same time... to me, it makes complete sense."


"Can I ask you about it or would that be me, stepping on toes?"


"Absolutely you can ask and you could never step on our toes. Donovan adores you, so by default, we kinda do too."


"It's true."


"So what's this memory that you all share?"


"It's actually really peculiar and sort of funny at the same time. You see the day that Azrael left the XWF and disappeared... POOF! Never to be seen again. Until now, cause he's back from who knows where?"


"He was trapped inside a gold rock."


"What?"


"Azrael. When he went away, I guess someone or something, trapped him inside of a golden rock. He's back cause he got released. I don't really understand how that could have happened but astonishingly enough, I believe that he's precisely as perplexed as I am. More so actually. I don't bring it up to him or mention it though, because I figure, it's something that he has to work out on his own."


"Interesting. Anyway, the day that Azrael vanished and apparently got trapped inside a gold rock... it's the same exact day that our father, left our mother. Pregnant. He was just gone and she couldn't ever find him. Anywhere. It was like he vanished into thin air."


"Or dropped off the planet."


"Or was trapped inside a gold rock. Say, maybe since your friend, knows a thing or two about being trapped inside of a gold rock, he might know the likelihood of that occurring and can shine a light on the subject. Give some insight on the matter."


"I think Azrael, is the only being that could have something abnormal like that happen to him and I also sort of feel like, there's still some kind of animosity coming off you guys that's geared towards him, specifically."


"He's merely connected to a subject that's a sore topic for us. I promise whatever vibe is in the air now, won't be present to make your friend uncomfortable, should we ever make his acquaintance. The only reason that it even exists at this current moment, is due to the fact that, we don't really bring up the subject that often. Or at all really. You simply caught us off guard. That's all babe. No worries."


Donovan gave a reassuring smile as he moved closer to Abigail and put his arm around her. Pulling her towards him, he kissed her and when their lips parted, he slightly rested his forehead against hers.


"Get a fucking room!"


And just like that, everything went back to normal. The weirdness melted away. In fact, it was like that odd momentary lapse in the evening, didn't even happen. Still, it made Abigail slightly wonder, if she was being told the whole story. Was what the brothers shared, the complete and total truth, or was there more to the tale that wasn't being revealed. However, this curiosity lasted but an instant and was soon chased away, by the rest of the night's activities. By morning, all she remembered was that the guy she was falling for, introduced her to his brothers and let her into his life. It was a good feeling to wake up to, especially whilst having it in his bed.

---

"Tomorrow, I'm facing Calypso for the Television Title. While I don't know too much about the man, I do know that he not only achieved the title by defeating Nathaniel Adolph Zachary Idenhaus but he's also successfully defended it against Random. Which might be a task some might scoff at and discredit. I wouldn't though. He went out to the ring and kicked Random's ass as expected. Everyone should recognize that fact. If anything, he was given an easy win, on purpose. In order to allow him some time to recover, while still letting him earn a paycheck. Because before that happened, he beat Nathaniel. Who I've been told is quite the brutal adversary in the ring. Ruthless in combat and truly a deadly force to be reckoned with. Frankly, the man scares the bejeezus out of me. So the fact that not only did Calypso, face him in a match but he also beat him in said match, is pretty impressive in my books. I'm not exactly sure how well I'll fare against Calypso but I'll certainly give it everything I've got. I know this fight will definitely be more worthwhile and challenging than my first time in the ring. Yeesh. That was just terrible. Facing Jackie Peppers was the worst. Watching all that pointless garbage he put out, only to face one of the worst competitors of all time. It was genuinely, an awful experience and it soured me towards making another attempt in the ring. After awhile though, I figured why not give it another shot? I am truly glad that I did cause I'm facing Calypso. A true credit to wrestling. I'm also getting a title shot, so that's really awesome. Since I decided to quit being a plumber and focus more on the wrestling. If I manage to win, that will most assuredly, shine a positive light on my decision. It'll tell me that I made the right choice. And it'll also ensure that I pay the rent this month."