"Relentless."


"I couldn't have asked to participate in a more suiting pay-per-view. I mean, what better way to describe me during battle, than relentless? Unyielding. Utterly focused as I ready myself, get into position and strike with absolute aggression. Without remorse or mercy, I go on the immediate offensive attack, until my adversary is motionless and barely breathing. Nothing more than a broken heap of flesh, ruptured organs and shattered bones, bleeding in the center of the squared circle. This is merely the way that I have learned to become and wielding the aforementioned mindset, has served me quite well in the past. During my many contests of combat. However, this way is not without fault, especially when you become outnumbered and the fight transitions into an outright sabotage. An ambush that sees you facing off against a group of enemies, that are dead set, determined to commit an act of foul play, for that is the only way to turn the tides in their favor."


"To the victor belong the spoils, no matter the cost, right?"


"Even if the price is their integrity and honor. In the end, what do those things matter, when winning weighs heavier on the scale, enough to tip things in favor of compromising one's character and governs over all. Justice is served, correct? Everything is in balance and levels out, according to that logic. Yet, to those that have this mentality I pose these inquiries... is it really, truly success, if the sole reason it was derived, came about from cheating? Wouldn't that taint the achievement and sully its worth? Ultimately proving weakness and insufficiency? Supplying satisfactory verification of failure, while simultaneously offering an argument for further debate, regarding one's abilities? Considering that victory could never be acquired, without 'help' from others, who else could ever find necessity in such a service, aside from a coward and an outright, fraud masquerading as a wrestler?"


"Hmmm? Something to think about and ponder, isn't it? Predominately a topic to reflect on for the simpletons and dullards of society because they would be the exclusive, select group, that had to have all that brought to their attention and couldn't take note of it, all on their very own. And ironically, a predicament that I found myself in rather recently, when I took on Pasha. When; despite his gargantuan size, he needed aid from others, in order to defeat me. It was an utmost priority. He required it. The giant, freak of nature, mutated into a massive abnormality as a direct result of traipsing across the bitter cold, irradiated wastelands of Russia. Fighting bears with his bare hands, in midst of this horrendous transfiguration into a monstrous sasquatch. Towerimg over me by a foot, four inches and outweighing me by two hundred and twenty five pounds. The man had hands that should've been able to crack my skull like a walnut, for Christ's sake. Yet, instead of even attempting such a feat, he wrestled so awkwardly and clumsy, he needed his buddies to interfere in our match, where they were then obligated to lend their aid and sway things in his favor. So Pasha could claim the Hart title."


"Hahaha! What???"


"Honestly. In any other scenario, I'd be livid and fueled with rage but in this specific situation, I can't stop from laughing cause it is that hilarious. I wonder... did his pals come to this conclusion all on their own or did Pasha bumble over to them and ask for their assistance? Oh but wait, Pasha would have to have a fully functioning brain to complete such a task and if his previous promotional video from our first encounter, allows even the slightest glimpse of his mental capacity, it shows that he isn't capable of such things. Which means his friends assumed that he'd perform poorly in advance. They knew his deficiency of talent would be infinitely tremendous. He was going to be so god awful in the ring, that they would have to intervene, lest he fall flat on his face, a complete failure. Ergo further disgracing their company into total oblivion."


"Beeindruckend. I really don't know what would be more demeaning? The fact that a group of fearful individuals gathered together; in secret, to discuss a shared foreseen future, where they then would brainstorm and come together in agreement and formulate a preventative plan. Or the fact that there's a federation out there, operating so piss poorly, a single loss to someone from another company would send them careening over the edge to their death. Expressly due to the fact that both issues pertained to someone that's praised for being a brute force. The fierce, King Kong of Rev1. All heil, the great and powerful Pasha. Pride of the company. And yet, everyone knows he is nothing but a joke and actually went out of their way, to prepare for the worst because he's the federation's biggest lie and it was expected. Sure, he's supposed to seem scary and appear to be that unbeatable force to be reckoned with... but in reality, he's Sloth from the Goonies."


"Enjoy your time in the sun, while you can Pasha because your time is nearly up and soon the truth, will be revealed. You will be exposed as a charlatan and everyone will see you for the stumbling, heavy footed, inept goon that you are. An oaf that isn't cut out for wrestling or doing anything beyond being an attraction in a side show at the circus. A freak at best. Nothing more, nothing less. Oh and I do hope your 'friends' attempt to disrupt our match cause measures have been taken to ensure that we won't be disturbed. Not this time. No, this time it's going to remain a one on one match, from start to finish and I am going to destroy you. Systematically break you. Then I'll throw you through the ceiling of a glass cell, claim the win and bring the Hart title back to the XWF. Where it will reside around the waist of someone genuinely, deserving of its presence. My own. "


"The clock is ticking, can you hear it? Tick, tock, Pasha. Tick. Tock."


"Best ready yourself for the inevitable because there's nothing you can do to stop it. Your fate is sealed and the end is nigh."


"The end ... your end is... nigh."


"And victory shall be mine."

---

Sasha awoke abruptly, when the sound of a text notification, sliced through the silence of Nathaniel's bedroom like a knife. Still half asleep, she opened her eyes and observed as he reached over and checked his cell. Immediately replying to the message that he received, much to her dismay, he laid the phone down and didn't pay it any further mind, till it summoned his attention again. Once more, he repeated the exact same chain of actions but this time, the anger level within Sasha, rose higher. High enough to fully awaken Sasha and when the mysterious, random texting occurred for yet, a third time, she finally had enough. Even though they hadn't been together that long and started their relationship in one of the most unconventional ways possible. She was not going to put up with this shit. Whatever was going on. It ended now.


"Who was that?"


"Pardon?"


Nathaniel directed his focus at Sasha, only to be greeted with a scowl.


"The texts. Who were they from?"


Her stern tone, practically punched him in the face like a fist and finally being on the receiving end of such harshness, well it made Nathaniel smile. In fact, he had to stifle a laugh from seeping out and making things worse, way deep on the inside though, he was positively cracking up. Taking a deep breath, Nathaniel replied nonchalantly.


"Lila."


"Lila?"


"Yes."


"Your ex?"


"Well, I wouldn't necessarily define her in that sense, while she and I did have sex, it was more like a one night stand that eventually tethered us together, when I learned that we share a son. There's no romantic association with our correspondence or any variations of our shared communication. We talk about Grey and that's basically it. For instance, she was texting to inform me that he found out about my upcoming match and being and she told him he couldn't watch the fight. Which caused him to become upset. Aggression tends to be an issue with werewolves. Anyhow, I agreed with her decision and said that I'd spend time with him next weekend, maybe explain some things about the effects of being part wolf and advise how to control his temper when he becomes upset."


"Next weekend? But they live in New York and you live in Chicago. How are you going to be able to do that and also remain on call for surgery, should the hospital need you? You know you are the 'go to' surgeon for everything."


"Simple. It's not a long run to New York from Chicago. I'll shift into wolf form late, Friday night and I have an apartment in New York, so I'll have a place to stay. As for work, I'll tell Dr. Bently that I have a family situation to attend to and I will be busy all next weekend and can't be bothered. He'll comprehend the circumstances and I'm certain it will be fine."


"Really? You can do that? Change your schedule, just like that."


Fingers snapped quickly, Sasha's tone was no longer laced with rage.


"Just like that."


A snap repeated in the same fashion as the one Sasha had done.


"Yeah, well I'm glad you have that all worked out but some of us, aren't blessed with your good fortune. Primarily the surgeons that have found their way, onto Cobalt's shit list. Which honestly might have consisted of everyone besides you. At some point or another. We've all discovered ourselves on it. Silly me. Sorry if I assumed that it would be a problem for you to drop everything, abandon your duties and spend the weekend in New York. It's early and I briefly forgot your rank in the hospital and the pull you have. there."


Sounding defeated, Sasha sat up.


"Wait. What are you talking about? Shit list? Bently doesn't have one of those and if he did..."


A short burst of laughter.


"I would most assuredly be on it. Don't forget I up and left the hospital, without even the slightest hint of notice and vanished for several months. I wasn't given a spot on any sort of shit list though, instead he welcomed me back and gave me a raise. The guy is a total push over. A virtual doormat. Barely worth worrying about."


"Correction. He's like that when he is dealing with you. Cause you're the golden boy. The surgeon with a zero kill ratio and the ability to perform any operation, with supreme accuracy. You make the hospital look good. Real good. Therefore, you can do no wrong in his eyes and his lips, will be forever attached to your ass because of it. On the flip-side, when it comes to everyone else, he's an asshole. He takes everything out on us, with strict prosecution and will even go as far as placing blame on other surgical staff members, simply to save his own hide. Anyone except you that is... you're not expendable like us. "


Sigh.


"Whatever. It is what it is."


Downcast expression of sorrow, Sasha swung her legs out of the bed, got up and began dressing. This prompted Nathaniel to hop from bed and hurry over to her.


"Are you saying he's overly picking on you?"


"Yeah. It's a known fact that Cobalt picks on everyone eventually, almost everyday he singles someone out. Lately he's been aggressively targeting me the most though."


"For what?"


"Oh anything and everything. I told you, he won't admit to his mistakes, for fear of looking inept and awful at his profession... he is the Chief Surgical Resident after all and can't have that going around. In spite of it being the truth. So he condemns whoever joined him in the operating room that day. Most recently, he's repeatedly assigned me the task but I suspect that's because he heard me complaining about him in the break room, to fellow surgeons. I had zero clue that he was standing behind me and kept running my mouth freely and now for that, I'm fucked. Indefinitely. Pretty sure he's trying to make me quit. Sadly, I need this job and can't afford to do that, so we're stuck with each other until he fires me or I go to jail for his murder. Whichever comes first. Personally, my bet is on the manslaughter but hey... on the plus side, I won't need to worry about paying bills in prison. Yay!"


Brief pause and slightly nodding to show he understood, Nathaniel considered Sasha's words carefully.


"Do me a favor. Don't do anything too drastic or rash, let me figure some things out and find a more finite solution to the problem. Okay?"


"I wasn't seriously going to kill the man."


"Wow. That was almost in the vicinity of sounding authentic, if I was anyone else, I might have taken you seriously; however, I'm... me and feigned sincerity never works on me. Look. I get how easy it would be to take him out of the equation of life, truthfully I do but I need you to hold that urge off... at the very least, for just a little while longer. Alright? Can you do that for me?"


"Fine. Dr. Cobalt Bently will remain alive, for now. I won't act on instinct and rip out his throat, even if he deserves it. Happy?"


"Positively ecstatic. I don't care for prisons and wouldn't appreciate entering one, ever again. Even if it is done as a visitor."


"Prison? When were you in prison?"


"That my darling... is a story for another day."

Current Hart Champion
1x X-Treme Champion
1x Television Champion
1x SOTM November 2013