Everyone is your best friend when you are successful. Make sure that the people that you surround yourself with are also the people that you are not afraid of failing with.

Paula Abdul

A single flame burns in the darkness. One drip can be heard for a few moments. Then I blew out the candle and the drip stopped.

Nothing.

I emerge from the shadows and a single light comes on in front of my face, a haunting sight for those who are not used to my deep blue eyes and my messy beard. I look up at the light and then begin to project my husky voice, it echoes around the room.

“Perhaps Drew Archyle has been right this entire time after all. The new management team of the XWF is a fucking joke. Where’s Paul Heyman when you need someone who actually knows what they’re doing? Two tag team matches in a row? Teaming with people who are yet to prove themselves. Wow management, congratulations. You somehow managed to find some power. Use that power to make decisions rather than making random tag team matches like Teddy Long on dope. Honestly. I mean Isles seems like a decent enough guy, but we have so little in common. I’m not sure what it is with management? Is it laziness? Incompetence? Stupidity? Someone feel free to explain why the fuck they continue to put me in the most pointless tag team matches ever. I have never been all that good at working with people. Put me one on one with the best and I will tear them apart from limb to limb. As soon as you starting teaming me up with people who do not know me, do not know my strengths and do not know my weaknesses. Well what hope is there? I am going to have to carry this team just as I carried LJ Havok at Relentless. A match that I, yes I, would have won single handily if Glisten did not feel the need to get involved once I had taken him out. Archyle was on the back foot, but there he stood with his hand raised up in the air as the victor. It’s a good thing that management really know how to book matches… Honestly. Who would have thought that Heyman would have been missed this much? The grey cunt.”

I am visibly angry and dismayed at why I have been put in these matches. I stand up and stride from one side of the room to the other before ripping out a part of my hair.

“You people… You don’t understand. Pain is something I enjoy. I love the feel of steel against my skin. However, I would much rather be the one inflicting that pain. If my tag partner and I have got nothing in common then it’s going to be us who is on the receiving end of the majority of the pain. That’s okay though. To pin me they may well have to kill me because Steve Davids never loses two matches in a row.”

I look down at a two by four wrapped in barbed wire. Grasping it by the bottom I smirk and laugh.

“Pain is chilling. Agonizing. Cold. Tortuous and thrilling. Why do I enjoy pain? It’s that feeling of knowing that your body can withstand materials it was not meant to withstand. It can be put into places it should not be put and fall from heights that it should not fall. Knowing that you are strong enough to withstand those things makes me realise just how strong I really am.”

I spin the barbed wire two by four around and then crack myself on the head with it. Blood begins to ooze from my forehead. I cackle as a river of red streams down my face.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Who the fuck could that be? They know I am cutting a promo.

Ambrose Helios came storming in to find me with blood oozing down my face.

“What are you… Oh it does not even matter. This promo is going to have to wait, we have urgent business to sort out.”

I wipe away some of the blood from my face and stop laughing.

“Fine, but make it quick. This match isn’t going to hype itself.”

Ambrose grabbed me by the arm and dragged me out of the room. We rushed upstairs, Clive looked at me puzzled for a moment but then just shook it off and pointed to the chairs. Ambrose and I sat down and looked up at Clive.

“Now you both know I don’t normally enjoy doing things this way. George Bolton owes me a lot of money and he’s been refusing to pay for a couple of months now. I need you two to go over then and have a little chat with George. In fact, scrap that. The three of us will go over there. Lawrence is outside now in the limo. George doesn’t know we are coming so be prepared for some resistance. Oh and Steve, please go and get yourself cleaned up, suited up and maybe… I don’t know… not covered in fucking blood?!”

“I was just….”

“I don’t give a fuck what you were trying to do, it’s time for you to earn your keep, now go.”

At least he had the decency not to ask me to shave or cut my hair.

So I showered, got cleaned up and suited up in a blue pinstripe suit.

We got into the limousine. Ambrose had a sip of champagne but Clive and I mainly stared into space.

“How much money are we talking?”

“More than six digits, put it that way. This Bolton guy is sly. Do not be fooled if he tries to make you pity him. That’s his game. He looks for sympathy so that he can avoid paying these things for as long as possible, the guy is scum.”

Ambrose and I nodded. We arrived at Bolton limited. An organisation that specialised in DIY materials. The building was extremely large, about half the size of Desmond tower. From the distance I noticed that there was a man staring out of the top window looking down at us. I expected that was George Bolton.

We pushed straight past security who barely put up a fight.

Something doesn’t feel right.

We pressed the top button on the elevator and a suited man with shades on joined us in the lift. He was behind us but I stared him down in the mirror of the small box elevator.

As we arrived at the top floor the man stepped out with us. The whole floor was a giant office space but no one was using it. There was a receptionist who we ignored and then we walked straight through another door into the corner office where George Bolton stood, still staring out of the top window.

“I knew it was only a matter of time.” The strange man stood. His auburn hair glistened slightly. He must have been in his mid-thirties and stood at almost six foot tall. His hair was sleek and he wore a grey suit.

“If you knew I was coming, why didn’t you pay up the money you owe?” Clive said without introducing himself.

“I have nothing left Clive. We are going under.”

“Don’t give me that bullshit George. You’re not going to get pity out of me. I want my god damn money. You asked for a loan, I did right by you and said yes. You promised me you would have the money back to me within the year. Well your year is up. I didn’t ask for interest, I did you a favour.”

“Yes sure you did me a favour. But only so that I could rival Christian industries. We both know you do not like me. You just hate Christian even more.”

Clive smiled at that. George was not as stupid he thought.

“Maybe so. That does not change anything though. I have seen how your company is doing and you’re doing just fine, so riddle me this... Why did you lie?”

“I don’t have a choice Clive. Honestly I don’t. I lied because if I don’t. he’s going to kill me.” A tear trickled down the man's face. He was visibly frightened as he turned to look at us.

“Who!? Who’s going to kill you?”

That’s when I noticed the man with shades going down to his waist. I turned and cracked him in the side of the head with a closed fist, but the large man did not fall down. He staggered back, he grabbed the gun and attempted to fire it at me but I ducked and the bullet flew through the window.

SMASH!

I tackled him down and then twisted his arm in such a way as to almost break it. He dropped the gun and I stomped on his head to knock him out before kicking the gun across the room.

I looked up, red with anger.

“You’re going to tell us what’s going on right now George, because if you don’t then it won’t be this mystery man you have to worry about. It’ll be us.”

“I think we all know who it is.”

Ambrose shifted his neck to stare at me. He knew. I knew. Clive knew. Ambrose nodded with a worried look on his face.

“Desmond.” Helios said.

“Desmond.” Clive and I said in unison.

“This room is bugged. You need to go now. I’ll get you the money on one condition… You protect me from Ricky Desmond.”

“The police…”

“Don’t make such awful suggestions Ambrose. This has gone way too far to get the police involved. We will all go down if they get involved.”

Clive was right. This all had gone too far. What way was there to end it though?

I grabbed George and threw him into the elevator. We all went down and rushed back to Lawrence and his limo.

“George why didn’t you tell me about this? You know I could have protected you!”

“We’ve never seen eye to eye. I didn’t think you would see reason.”

“I am yet to completely see reason George. You won’t be staying with me. You’ll be staying in a safe house where you will be guarded. I don’t trust you and I certainly don’t trust Desmond. This nonsense needs to end and if that means me having to confront that lump of dog shit then so be it.”

“I would feel much safer with you…”

“I don’t give a fuck. I will not risk Steve and Ambrose’s life so that you feel a little extra safe. You could quite easily still be working for him and I won’t fucking have it…. Do you understand?”

George nodded as we kicked him out of the limo. Clive showed him in and handed him a laptop with a Wi-Fi code.

We arrived back at the house. Business was done.

I headed straight down for the basement to continue my promo.

“Sorry about that. It seems as though I may have lost my point. I am cleaned up. Suited up. Business you see. Although I have been out on business, it’ll be just as straight forward as this tag team match will be. Peter Gilmour, the tag team killer. The guy couldn’t team up with his right hand to jerk himself off let alone with another person to win a tag team match. The guy has absolutely no social skills whatsoever. Besides, Peter haven’t I already beaten you twice? One of those times you had two partners while I had none. You’ll forget your history or claim that it was luck, I have no doubt about it. Excuses? I mean that’s basically what you do for a living isn’t it? This Dominic Chambers though… well so far he has impressed me. I can’t help but wonder what it would have been like if we were a tag team instead. That’s merely a side thought though. Isles and I will win this match. Whether I have to drag him to the end of the match myself or if he carries his own weight. We are going to win. Chambers, Gilmour. I’m afraid there’s nothing you can do about that. I need this win. And I always get what I need.”

The light flickers as the shot fades.

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