OOC: Formatting in the morn.

Urias Pheelanruff looked up at the clock. Ned Kaye would be arriving in a few minutes and their last session was… less than enjoyable. Of course, Urias’s job wasn’t to have fun, but there was certainly a brightness to Ned that made his job that much easier. However last time was anything but the fun kinds of sessions he was used to having with Ned. Far from it. Kaye had been completely overwhelmed by paranoia and anger and distrust towards everything. It was a hurtful and destructive outburst that carved through all of Urias’s feelings of adequacy and replaced them with a malaise of uselessness. He stared at the clock some more, his pen tapping nervously, a bead of sweat dripping down the side of his face. The light on the door played tricks on him, making it seem like the door was about to burst open in front of Dr. Pheelanruff in a mere instant, but as each moment passed, the door remained shut. Urias had watched a bit of XWF programming to check up on Ned after everything had happened and what he saw was… concerning, in a word. Ned had assumed an entirely different identity and a fittingly brutal demeanor to recapture that belt that meant so much to him, hurting anyone and everyone along the way. Worse, he had surrounded himself with a group as willing to enable and this identity as Ned himself was. All in all, it seemed like everything Ned had said about him was true. That all of his prowess as a doctor was just run of the mill quackery and that all he really ever provided Ned was a short distraction from the problems that truly plagued him. Urias looked down, a deep shame and sense of failure overcoming him, a deep rumble that resonated through his soul.

The door opened, cutting off Urias’s thoughts. There stood Ned Kaye, though so much of what defined him was different or slightly off. All of it was just so surreal, an unsettling stare into a dark mirror of everything Ned represented. The true eeriness of it all was his smile, though. There was a vacantness to it. A supreme lack of humanity despite the smile that was wide on his face. Ned walked up to the patient’s chair, seeming to have no concern for the actions of his last session. He opened his mouth, cracking his knuckles and leaning into his chair, more comfortably than Pheelanruff had ever seen from him.

“What’s new, Doc?”

Even the way he spoke was different. Gone was the calculated nature of every word. Left behind was the careful intent of every syllable. In its place was a deliberate, but effortless confidence that permeated throughout the room. Urias was hoping to be big and booming, to reaffirm the normality of today’s session, but all that left him was a few uncertain, stumbling whispers.

“Uh-... we’re-uh going to pick up from last session, hopefully, Ned.”

The man’s ears twitched, along with an eye. He leaned forward and stared at Urias, his face calm and relaxing, which made the entire sight even more unsettling.

“Urias, I am pleased to inform you that you’re not going to have to deal with Ned anymore. He’s gone. Unfortunately, he had signed a contract forcing himself to get treatment and as the rightful owner and inheritor of this body, I am forced to attend, but I promise you that I am nothing like him.”

Urias gulped. He had seen some bad cases of disassociation, but this was something else, if it was that at all.

“You’re… not Ned? Then, I mean, who are ya?”

The man smiled like one might at a frightened child or a small dog. His words were smooth and precise.

“I am The Nefarious One, although that’s more of a nickname. I just go by Ned because that’s what everyone is used to calling the old owner. But I watched what he did to you, Mr. Pheelanruff. Saw the way Ned really treated you. Like a dunce and a half-wit.”

Urias defensively replied, “He only said that because of the stress he was feeling at the time. He didn’t really think that low of me.”

“Ha! Please, Urias. Sure, he vocalized it the one time, but who do you think got to see and hear all of his thoughts from within. I know precisely what he thought of you more than anyone else ever could have.”

“But… but Ned was my friend. If anything made him say those awful things, it’d be whatever you are!”

“Me? Sure, I supplied the stress with my take over, but I didn’t compel Ned to say a single word, nor the dozen or so he spewed at you.”

“So… are you just tryin’ to butter me up to get past this examination easily. We both know this isn’t normal, Ned, and I can tell them not to clear you for action if I have to.”

The Nefarious One smirked, shrugging his shoulders as he sat up more, looking straight into Urias’s eyes.

“If that were my plan, why tell you I’m not Ned? Awfully crazy thing to just unleash upon a psychiatrist. The truth is, Urias, that I like you. You get it, in your own unique way.”

“I… get it? Get what?”

“How boring and useless so much of this is. How important it is to spice these things up and add a little bit of life to it! I owe so much to you, Doctor. Without you, Ned never goes on a date and meets the girl, goes to the church, shakes my hand-”

“He…” Urias looks to the side, a sadness piercing his heart, “he shook your hand and didn’t tell me?”

“As I said: it didn’t go vocalized. But you no longer have him questioning your validity or your methods. You have someone who sees you as the asset you are. The man you truly are, despite your oddities. And I am more than ready to talk about my day with one of your hand puppets.”

Urias shot up, a feeling of optimism being restored. Sure, this was all very odd, but maybe there was a chance to have a little fun and grow Ned this way? Maybe this was a better method of progress than before. He had already regained the title, maybe his self-confidence was only a few sessions a way?

“You… you really want to do that?”

The man stood up, a machiavellian cadence to his walk as he stepped forward.

“Please, Urias, I’ve been waiting all day for the occasion.”

The good doctor began to scour through his box of activities, overjoyed at the chance to reclaim anything resembling the status quo as Ned smiled, knowing that the chance of any actual mental readiness test was now long behind him. And there were many ineffective sessions awaiting him as he stared towards Urias and the future.

---

“Oh, Morbid…. Is this truly how we’re going to do things? You talk a big game and then you leave me to my own devices so I can embarrass you in front of the world? Is that all you are, Angel? A presence as unlikely to appear as your own God?”

“The truth is, I don’t really blame you for being scared of me. I dissected you so easily last time that I really shouldn’t have a lot to add, but the truth is that you are a gold mine of examining just how much one man can lie to himself before cracking. You’ve done everything you can to try and play the nice role of priest, but I showed the world what you are, not that you were particularly good at hiding it. Then again, I imagine you must’ve thought your disguise impregnable! You never were very good at seeing your own flaws, maybe that’s why the new era of athlete passed you by so quickly? Maybe it was simply because you never much good to begin with. The truth is that my sloppy seconds himself said it best when he asked whether of not Chris Page losing to Thunder Knuckles and TK losing to the weaker version of me made me better than Page. I am better than Chris Page, I’m better than his worthless opponent, I’m better than his worthless friends, and I’m better than your Morbid. No amount of prayer will ever change that. Jesus, I really shouldn’t waste any more breath on you as is, but oh hell, I’m feeling a little wasteful today!”

“You aren’t a real adversary. You aren’t a threat. You are barely even a priest and you aren’t anything more than the second rate son of the greatest vacuum of talent in this company’s history. And everyone is about to watch me prove it Wednesday night. Everyone will watch your weak body crumble to the ground as the greatest champion in this federation shows just how quickly you can beat a talentless old man to death. Remember this Angel: you never earned this shot at me and your performance tonight will lack that very same merit. I brought you in there to devour and I am hungry for your flesh. The meal bell’s ringing, Morbid? Be a dear and place yourself on the platter before you get cold.”

"You can't run from yourself."