:: I'm laying on the bed in my hotel room, headphones in, Hollywood Undead's “Hear Me Now” invading my ears. Lost deep in thought about what transpired last night, and my upcoming match with Vinnie Lane, I stare at the ceiling. Michelle lays beside me, doing something on her phone. We've barely spoken a word to each other since last night.. I don't know what to say to her. I'm embarrassed, ashamed even. I don't even know why she is here after what she saw, I wouldn't blame her for one second if she had just up and left. For whatever reason though, she didn't. I know she doesn't understand.. nobody does. The confines of my mind are a strange place, even I don't have a full grasp on what is happening sometimes. My train of thought keeps drifting back to what the voice said. He was right, I was nothing before he and Evertrust came along. A nobody. All they did though, was give me an avenue. I was the one who took out Eli James and Azrael Erebus in the same night.. that was me, not them. I don't need them.. I don't need anyone. The song stops and there is silence as the end of the playlist has been reached. I can hear Michelle's steady breathing coming from beside me. I find it soothing, therapeutic even. I need to talk to her about last night, I need to apologise. I try a couple of times, in my head at least, but my body makes no effort to carry out the request I have made. I roll my head to the side and look at her. She looks back and smiles at me, softly. I can tell that she wants to talk, but is too afraid of saying the wrong thing. I don't blame her after last nights outburst. Why am I like this? What the fuck is wrong with me? I smile back, before pushing myself up into a seated position. Wrestling with my emotions, I slowly pull the headphones out of my ears and force myself to make an effort. ::

“Michelle..”

:: Michelle puts her phone down and rolls onto her side to face me. She rests her head on the palm of her hand, her elbow propping her up slightly. ::

“Mmmm?”

“About yesterday.. last night. I just wanted to say, I'm..”

:: I don't know why I find it so hard to say those words, but I do. She looks at me, not expectantly, but perhaps hopeful. I draw in a deep breath and allow myself to stare into those steely, blue eyes. ::

“I'm sorry.”

:: She smiles, her pearly white teeth gleaming under the light being showered over the bed from the lamp on the bedside table. ::

“It's okay, baby. I'm sorry too.”

“For what? You didn't do anything wrong.”

“I should never have gotten you that costume. You were right, you did make it quite clear how important this match with Vinnie was to you, I should have been more thoughtful.”

:: She had a point, and the truth is, I was still annoyed with that stupid rock star get-up. The fact is though, I am done with arguing, I had enough of that last night. At this moment, I am in a much better head space. I look at her for a moment, considering my response. ::

“It's fine, I know you didn't mean anything by it. It just sort of triggered something in me, you know? It wasn't you, it was me. This is what I have been telling you about. I have these moments, where I just go into a completely different head space.”

:: There is a pause. For a few seconds, there is silence as Michelle drops her gaze to the bed beneath us. I can almost hear the cogs in her brain working as she fights with herself. ::

“Is that.. you know.. what happened last night? After I left?”

:: I knew that any conversation would lead us to this point, and yet I still wasn't prepared with an answer. She looks back up at me, trepidation etched all over her face. ::

“I.. yeah, kind of. I'm not even sure what that was. I wish you didn't see it, I know that much. I have these moments, and I can never tell if it's real or if I'm just imagining things.. but I hear voices. As crazy as that sounds, it's been happening for a while. It's the whole reason I ended up in the XWF in the first place. You must think I am some kind of freak.”

:: I look away from Michelle, disgusted in myself. I feel the mattress beneath me move as Michelle pulls herself up beside me. I feel her hand softly caress my jawline as she pulls my head back around to face her. ::

“Baby, I don't think you're a freak. I'll admit, I was scared.. but I know that's not you.”

“How? You've known me for two weeks, Michelle, how can you possibly know that I'm not some kind of monster?”

:: Another pause as Michelle mulls over my question in her head. She stares deep into my eyes, as if staring straight through them and into my head. ::

“I don't know. You're right, it's only been two weeks, but it's weird.. I feel like I've known you for so much longer. I see the person you are inside, Justin, and he is no monster. Last night, when I went to leave, I was furious. Not with you, as I first thought, but with myself. I realised then, that there is something different about you.. something special. I'm not sure what it is, but I just feel a connection to you that I can't really put into words.”

:: Taking in those words sent my mind racing once more. I wasn't sure how to react. It would be a lie to say that I didn't feel some form of connection to Michelle, but after two weeks? I'd been telling myself that was impossible, that I was just being stupid. Hearing her say the same thing now though, it threw me for a loop. I couldn't find any words, on that front my mind was drawing blank. I think Michelle could tell what I was thinking anyway, for she smiled softly at me once more. She leant in and planted a long kiss upon my lips, before withdrawing. I sat there for what felt like an eternity before responding. ::

“I.. you're crazy.”

“Well, then I guess that makes two of us.”

:: She laughed. I did too, as I wrapped my arms around her and rolled over to her side of the bed, so that she was now laying on top of me. As our eyes met, the laughter slowly died out. She began to kiss me once more, and for the first time, my thoughts were nowhere else but with her. ::






:: I can feel the coarse fibres of the white tape sliding through my fingers, and across the cut on the palm of my right hand as I strap up my left wrist. I rip the tape and it makes that satisfying sound. Clenching my left wrist with my right hand, I ensure that the tape is firmly secured. I look up and see the camera that is filming me. I knew it was there, of course, because I had requested it. I draw myself up to a full stance and look straight into the lens, a huge smile across my face. ::

“Hey there, Vinnie... I caught your promo earlier. Good stuff, man.”

:: I scratch my head and offer up a soft chuckle. ::

“I really took a lot out of it. I am so appreciative of the fact that you were able to be the bigger man and take back all those horrible things you said earlier in the week. As I'm sure you could tell, a lot of it really got to me. You're right man, it was a real shame that we weren't on the same team at War Games. It's just like you said, the two of us would have been unstoppable. What, with your charismatic good looks and my.. how did you put it? 'Raw, uncivilised power'? I'm not even sure uncivilised power is a real term, man, but I got the gist of what you were saying. Yeah, how amazing we could be. I can only imagine what it would do for my career to stand in the same spotlight as Vincent Lane.

I must apologise too, Vinnie. I shouldn't have allowed myself to become 'fixated' with you. I guess I just felt bad for costing you $6000 X-Bux, you know? It's like you said, you're the main event. You're the mega star. The man everyone wants to be, right? Maybe I thought this was my chance to make it right. My chance to show you that I do deserve your respect.”

:: A hollow laughter escapes my mouth. The smile fades from my face. ::

“Like hell. I couldn't give a fuck about your insincere apologies, or your back handed comments. Have you ever just sat back and watched one of your own promos? Because if you had, you would realise that you sound every bit as stupid as you fucking look. Everyone else might buy into the whole “Loverboy” gimmick, but I sure as hell don't.

You got jokes, lots of them, that's great. Really. Why don't you share some with me in the ring later? I'm sure they would sound even better through split lips and chipped teeth. You'll soon come to realise that the only joke around here, is you. The mere fact that you are looking straight past me to the likes of Theo Pryce is laughable in itself. Are you seriously that blinded by your ego that you don't see what is right before you? Do you not have any grasp whatsoever on the situation you now find yourself in? You didn't just stoke the fire, Vinnie, you threw a can of gasoline on it with reckless abandon. You were stupid.. foolish, even.. though I guess you know no other way.

You were right about one thing, however. That whole “typical macho wrestler yells at other wrestler bullshit that we always do every week” line you used was spot on. I really didn't think it would deteriorate into that for us this week, but you fired the first shot and so I loaded my gun. We are different, Vinnie, you and I. We don't need to talk about each others past and future endeavours, or again, so I had hoped. It was stupid of me to think that for once I could have a week where some moron didn't re-hash the same old shit they come out and say every single week. I really expected better from you.

Oh, and you name-dropped too.. how original. Like I could give two fucks about anyone you have or haven't beaten in the past. Who the fuck is Griffin MacAlister to me? Nobody. This isn't about them, Lane. It's about you and me.. one on one.

You wanna talk about how without Vincent Lane, there would have been no TrustInSanity? News flash you ignorant fuck, there was ALWAYS going to be a TrustInSanity. Are you really that annoyed with how your own career here has turned out, that you are off trying to take credit for other people's work? And you say my career has stalled? Fuck, man, look in your own back yard. You lost those Trios Titles and once you get done playing contender to Pryce and the Universal Championship, you're going to be straight to the back of the line, grinding to collect your pay check like everyone else.”

:: I pause for a moment and run my fingers through my wet, black hair. I smirk into the camera, eyes slightly narrowed. ::

“I hope Roxy sucked your dick when you got to the arena tonight, because I would hate for you to have any excuse when I embarrass you out there. I mean, let's be honest with each other for a moment, Vinnie. This would be an embarrassment to you, right? Losing to some “rough around the edges rookie” who you've been talking smack about all week? I can only imagine what such a loss would do to that over-inflated ego of yours. Not only that, but I mean, just imagine what a negative impact it could have on this company! Those pay-per-view buy rates you mentioned for a Pryce vs Lane match would surely plummet, should 'Loverboy' be exposed by a – as you put it - “wannabe” like Justin Sane.

Perhaps you should start concerning yourself with what comes next for you, Lane. Perhaps you were right to look right past me, because there really is nothing you can do about this outcome anyway. Don't get it twisted, I'm not taking you lightly. On the contrary, Vinnie, I have spent countless hours ensuring I am more prepared for you than anyone I have ever faced. I told you earlier in the week, that this match was it for me. My chance to finally show the world that Justin Sane is more than just hype. That I don't need Evertrust. That I am the one man on this roster who can flip this script and turn the current landscape on it's head. You haven't seen the best of Justin Sane.. you haven't even caught a glimpse. You say I let you down with the TV Title match? That I broke your heart? Vinnie, you had better pray that after tonight, that is the only thing I leave broken.”

:: My demeanour at this point just oozes intensity. I can feel the adrenaline begin to pump through my veins as I stare down the camera lens. ::

“Tonight, everything changes. Tonight, I become the main event! I become the mega star! Vinnie Lane, tonight, it is you who will finally see the light. You will finally understand what I have known all along, what I have been telling everybody since day fucking one. The reign of inSane is upon the XWF, and there's not a man alive who can stop me. You will try.. but you will be found wanting.

Tonight, Loverboy, I will find absolution at your expense. When it is all said and done, mark my words, you will take the pledge.. of insanity!”

:: I sneer into the camera as the scene fades to black ::