“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” - H.P. Lovecraft

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The vast deserts that Doc once travelled have been taken over by a winter storm that blows hard against his every step. At his feet, the highway is covered and untouched with no tracks left by any other traveler. The relentless storm has made visibility pretty low, yet, far in the distance a mountain shows through the mist and fog. Even through all of this distortion, the path is clear now.

As we have recently seen, Doc has a few demons of his own aside from the drinking and smoking. It is still unclear as to what exactly is going on with him and his shadows, but for the first time ever we see a powerless look in his eyes. Taking on no true form from what we could see, a look of submission crosses his face when she (or it?) is nearby. The visits have become more and more frequent as of late, as well, which makes things even more unsettling for the Doc.


As Doc pushes through the storm towards the mountain, his own thoughts wander out a bit and keep him company….



The path is clear as day now.

After tomorrow night, after the slaughter, all roads lead to one place, my friend. You will once again find yourself on the mountaintop. You will once again find yourself KING of the XWF. KING of KINGS!

Surely THIS will please them… I thought the trip with the boy would be enough… Perhaps it would have been if we could have held it longer than a month, but oh well. While my time may be running thin, we’ve been in this situation before, haven’t we?

Doc remembers back to Relentless 2015…. Doc defending the UNIVERSAL Championship against Gator and Vinnie Lane. You’d call that a dream match today, as it was back then, and they lived up to that. After, literally, bringing the house down Vinnie Lane saved the world and walked away with the UNIVERSAL Championship. While things were bright and sunny in the XWF after that, they weren’t so much for the good doctor.

He’s fond of the void.

A prison cell can be home if you make it your home. This prison cell was different. A silent torture. A breathless, speechless, sleepless, peerless, nothingness. A fate worse than death. A place he grew to love, but never wanted to return. He’d rather be here, after all, with all of his friends.

The UNIVERSAL Title may have slipped from our grasp, for now, but much bigger and better opportunities have now presented themselves! We’ve never taken part in a March Madness tournament… It sounds like the perfect way to steal this UNIVERSE back from under their noses and take our place atop the mountain again where we belong! Call it what you will, but once you’re a KING you’re always a KING. Squashing through this roster-sized tournament will be nothing. We will reclaim the crown and remind everyone even more just exactly who we are. Do you see the mountain ahead?

Doc peers through the snow and as he does a ray of sunshine peers through above the mountain and melts the entire icy tundra in front of him.



The mountain is there waiting for us. Along the way, we roast a pig. It is a shame that just before the tournament and right after this fellow’s return we have to dispose of him the way we do. It’s not going to be pretty, but we have an impression to make, after all. We can’t just let some returning, forgotten piece of Robbie Bourbon scurry away unscathed. It’s not about making an example. Not at all. Everyone but probably Robbie Bourbon already knows exactly what’s going to happen. And to throw us in a boiler room? Buddy… Who’s coffee order did THAT guy screw up? Smokin’ Bob’s? Surely Loverboy isn’t this heartless…. Who knows? Who cares? More fuel for the fire, my friend.

Doc gains a bounce to his step as he strongly appreciates his new environment. The temperature slowly rises and a bead of sweat slowly trickles down his brow. He sheds his large, wolf-skinned coat and continues on, never taking his eyes from the mountain.

It’s just so hard to get out of our head… It’s right THERE. A week from tomorrow night, we start our journey. Our journey to take back this fine federation and bring the fear back that made it so very strong once before. Some will embrace it, others will surely reject it, but that’s just how the cookie crumbles, am I right? There will always be those who oppose our will, but we handle them accordingly, don’t we? Every single time, we do! Pig will recognize the fear when he sees it and he has a choice just like everyone else always has. Just taking a guess though? We think he’s gonna crumble, just like the cookie. Fear is a man’s worst enemy… Makes him turn on his friends. Makes him look like a fool. Makes him look weak. Makes him give up everything. Fear is the most controlling force of power in the UNIVERSE and when you’re the one pulling my strings again, my friend, they will all fall to their knees by force and plead. They will break eye contact and stab you in the back. They will hate you again and all the power will be back in our hands.

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