August 14th, 2019



7:29pm

Outside of The Notorious Gym, Ned Kaye waves goodbye towards some of the people leaving, sharing kind statements. Behind him, one of his staff members walks up, placing two small dishes down as he makes clicking sounds. Ned gazes back at him perplexingly.

"Hey-uh, Dean..? What're you doing?"

The employee looks up, a little surprised at his questioning first, but his expression quickly lightens.

"Oh, we just have had a little visitor while you've been dealing with work, the funeral, nearly being incarcerated, y'know? We just noticed a little stray coming by now and we've grown a liking to 'im."

"Huh."

Ned smiles a bit, amused by the situation at hand.

"Oh, speak of the devil!"

Suddenly, from the darkness, a small tabby cat with vibrant, orange eyes waltzes out of the darkness, shyly strutting towards the two before taking cautious laps out of one of the dishes.

"Yeah, we-uh, we've calling him Deepthroat. After the FBI informant to the Watergate scandal."

Kaye gives him a suspicious look.

"I swear! It's 'cause of how he steps out of the shadows!"

"Sure, sure," Ned chuckles as he kneels down, beckoning the cat closer.

"I'm not so sure about that. None of us have gotten him to come ne-"

As Dean speaks, the cat carefully steps towards Ned, allowing his ears to be scratched gently by The Notorious One.

"I didn't know you were so popular with pussies, Ned."

"Hey, I'm surrounded by you fellas all day."

The two laugh somewhat.

"Got me there! I'm gonna finish up for the night, okay?"

"Sure. I'll see about getting our friend here a more permanent living situation."

Ned pets the cat softly, looking pretty happy after a mournful few days.

"Let's see if we can't get you inside, little buddy."

10:21pm

After hours, Ned sits in his empty establishment, joined only by the cat, orange eyes peering over the interior of the building as Kaye pours over a few notes he has on his next opponent. To his side is a tall glass of water, perspiration coating it. The cat flicks it's tail as each page is turned, attention firmly on the waving edges of the pages. In a swift moment, Deepthroat pounces toward the notebook, clumsily running into Kaye's lap and plummeting to the floor, not before colliding with Ned's glass and pushing it to the floor. The glass shatters, causing Deepthroat to cowardly run to cover, looking nervously from behind with a timid meow.

"What the hell?"

Ned looks on in shock at the scene in front of him, not entirely sure how exactly this all transpired so quickly. With a sigh, he gets up, going to retrieve a broom. As he finally finishes sweeping up the glass, the cat trots up to him again. Deepthroat meows at Ned before nudging his head into Ned's side, seemingly affectionately.

"You're certainly gonna be a pain to take care of, aren't ya?

Deepthroat replies with a meow, seemingly confirming Ned's assessment.

"Oh well. We'll just have to be pains together, I suppose."


Ned is seen in the early hours of the morning, Deepthroat asleep by his side, curled up snugly. Ned stares at his notes and looks up, staring into the camera with a smile.

"Y'know, Zane, I didn't know what quite to expect for this week. It's been eventful, to say the least and I'm still trying to get everything back together in a completely workable form. But I know I'm made of tough enough stuff to do it. I've had my missteps. I've walked that path and now I walk a different one."

"I understand that you've been through similar things. One defined by choosing to walk a seperate path. Outcast by your kind in a truly unique way. I have to admit, Zane, I've never wrestled the living dead before. This is all very new to me, but what isn't is the method I'm coming at you with. Because I'm not going to lay down for you any more than I would lay down for Centurion. When you fight Ned Kaye, you get guts, will, and brains. And not the kind you snack on, but the ones that have carried me to this point."

"I've never been the strongest guy. I got to be reminded of that time and again by punks who wanted nothing than for me to "know my place." Well, I know it Zane. I've known it since I was getting back up every time someone knocked me down. I've known it since I was driving 10 hours to wrestle a couple matches over a weekend for a few hundred dollars. I've known it since I started using my head when my body just couldn't meet the challenge. I know exactly what it means like to be told that you aren't what you're supposed to be. So, I don't dislike you, Zane, I don't think less of you one bit, but that doesn't mean I've forgotten where I want to be."

Deepthroat begins to stir, but Ned quickly gives him a few pats to calm him down.

"I know my place, Zane. I think about it every day. I've been watching the XWF since I was a kid and even back then my dreams pointed towards being respected here. Towards being one of the greats. I know I'm capable of that, Zane. Now, what are you going to do about it?"

The picture fades out as Ned pets the cat carefully.

"You can't run from yourself."