The picture fades in, revealing a small farmer's market, bustling as many people walk by the camera, peering over the many options available to them. The camera pans to reveal two men on a bench, one of them being none other than "Notorious" Ned Kaye. As he sits back, a grin on his face while he chuckles, the considerably older and more worn looking man on his left places a hand on his bare scalp, laughing deeply.

"Did she really tell ya that?"

"Are you kidding me? Mom was claiming all sorts of nonsense back when you were working! She kept trying to convince me that Moon Pie was made out of actual moon!"

The older man chortles, adjusting his glasses, pushing them further back on the ridge of his nose.

"God, I wished I had seen it."

He leans forward, wearing a solemn smile as he stares at the pavement.

"Well, you know, you did what you had to. You and Mom, both."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..."

The older man shakes away his melancholy and looks over to Ned, watching his face carefully.

"So, how's your big team coming together?"

Ned's ears perk up, his expression shifting slightly as his eyes, opening a tad wider, point themselves at the old man's face.

"Well, we-uh, we haven't gotten the first meeting done yet, but it's scheduled for later today."

"That's pretty unlike you, Ned. Why so late?"

"We're still making good time if we start toda-"

"That's still not how my son does things. You've been around the house lately and you ain't hung around for a week in years. What's wrong, Ned?"

The Notorious One stops himself from replying immediately, moving his gaze elsewhere. With a heavy breath, words escape his lips.

"Dad, you don't have much time left... I absolutely will be the leader my team needs, but I think it's more imperative to cherish each moment of your presence before..."

Ned's hand tightens into a grip.

"Before I can't."

"You know, it really began to solidify for me that three months from now the man who taught me what it means to be a good person is going to go away. And no amount of money or success or anything is going to change that. I have to sit by while cancer eats away at the man whom I respect more than words can describe. It's a hellish sensation."

As he speaks further, Ned's voice cracks slightly as his emotions weigh further on him.

"I guess I just..."

"I don't want you to die."

The sounds of the farmer's market encompass them in their momentary quiet. A passing wind causes Ned's hair to lift, dancing onto his shoulder. The older, more frail man brings his hands to his knees.

"You know, I've seen you go through a lot. And I've been alongside you for many of them, doin' my best to make sure I raised a good man who would leave this world a better place than he entered it. And when I see you place match earnings into charities and still go help out in soup kitchens, well..."

Ned turns to his father, tears welling in his eyes.

"I know I succeeded."

"Life ain't been easy for ya' and it hasn't done me too many graces, but it gave me you. And I am the luckiest man in the world to be apart of your life."

Placing a hand over his face, Ned wipes the tears traveling down his cheeks away, weakly chuckling.

"Jesus, Dad, I'm just hoping I could finally make you proud."

"You've always made me proud."

"So, can I count on seeing my son's team stand tall out there next Sunday?"

Rubbing the last of the tears off, The Notorious One nods, emotion still plainly visible on him.

"That's what I thought. So, why exactly did ya want me to bring this old thing?"

His father picks up a small, well-worn book with a dirty felt cover offering it to Ned. Now fully collected, Kaye carefully takes the book, opening it to reveal ragged pages. Thumbing through it, Ned responds.

"Well, I thought I owed my team a meal for our introduction and, whilst I'll need to get a good few recipes from the internet, the family cookbook has some gems stored in its pages."

"Ya think so? If you want, I'll drop by the gym and-"

"I'll be fine. I'd just like to grab some of the ingredients with you and walk you home. But thanks, Dad."

"Don't sweat it. Hell, maybe I can help ya find moon for those pies?"

His father chortles, patting Ned on the back firmly, causing him to grimace in pain.

"Careful, Dad. Still a little sore from Thursday..."

Rolling his shoulders, Ned Kaye stands, following his father as they go to purchase ingredients.


The scene fades out, fading back in to show Ned Kaye stood in front of a table, cutting board placed squarely in front of him. With a swift movement of his hands to out of frame, he pulls in a whole uncooked chicken. Delicately, two plastic gloves over his hands, he pulls the wishbone from out of the bird. With focus and elegance, he pulls a knife from off screen and scores the legs of the chicken, the knife's edge seperating the soft meat of the bird cleanly. Once he finishes, he pulls out a pan, placing it on a stove behind him.

The camera cuts to show Ned's eyes, scanning over his movements moments before he makes them, his concentration nearly palpable through the screen. With the flat side of the knife, he crushes several cloves of garlic, tossing them into the chicken. Picking up a lemon and a sprig of some herb, he tosses them into the chicken after a speedy swipe across the cutting board. Time passes noticeably.



"Patience..."

Ned stabs the knife into the cutting board.

"...is a virtue, Daniel."

He tilts his head slightly, gazing into the camera.

"That's your name, correct? I mean, we all know your juvenile moniker, but you don't often embrace who you really are: Daniel. Hell, you go out of your way to cover up your last name because you insist on being known only as a walking dick joke. But that's not the reason no one respects you, Daniel. It's not because you turned yourself into a punchline and then ran yourself into the ground. No, no. It's because you're a coward and every action that you've taken has confirmed everyone's suspicions. Or did you not assault me at Anarchy? Was it not you, Daniel, who thought you could negatively effect my team by attacking me during my match with Vita Valenteen, a wrestler who is a hundred times the person you are? Did you think that'd make you look tough and formidable? Because, Dan, all it did was show how little confidence you have in your team's ability to even beat little ol' me in a fair fight. Perhaps you thought you'd finally gain the respect of your peers by getting one up on me. Well, unfortunately, you couldn't even slow me down that night. Your little stunt did nothing but give me a chance to see your face bleed and take a look into your eyes."

"And as the blood seeped from you, dripping down your face, I looked into your very soul and witnessed the fear plain on your face. But I never doubted that you feared me, just that maybe you could wait until War Games. That just maybe you had enough faith in the abilities of yourself and your teammates to wait a week longer."

"My mistake, Dan. I won't give you that much credit again."

"But what of the team you gathered? What strategy did you employ to overpower the people I selected to stand beside? Well, in another moment that surprised no one, you didn't look for strategy, but pure accomplishment, hoping that Gilmour and Lacklan could make up for the fact that you don't think yourself capable of leading yourself to victory, let alone leading your team."

"And without another thought, you sat by, proud of your team of incompatible egos. Proud of yourself for looking at win-loss ratios and choosing the ones you liked the most. I have a truth you may find unbearable, Dan. And it's that you can't quantify the content of someone's character with ratios and probability."

"I mean, look at the difference between us. You do everything you can to ignore who you are and wear the mask that is Big D. You glued yourself to a bygone era, opting to attempt reliving your past instead of embracing what you've grown into. There is no mask for me. No persona. I am Ned Kaye. I live as Ned Kaye and I will die as Ned Kaye. And if you ask Robert Main and Drew Archyle they'll tell you the same thing: I have a bright future. That's the respect I carry here from people who know a little more about wrestling than you do, pal. So, if I'm not even at my prime yet and you know that you have to ambush me to give your team any chance of victory, what does that say about you?"

"That said, your team doesn't respect you in the slightest. We all know Peter Gilmour, for the accomplished wrestler he is, doesn't think much of you. Gilmour doesn't bow to lesser men and his ego knows few bounds. But do you really think this former Universal Champion, this XWF legend believes in your ability to lead? Will he trust your judgements in the heat of battle or is he seasoned enough to see straight past your facade and has yet to act on it due to his continuing attempt to remain professional."

"The truth is, Dan, Peter is the only person I'm really concerned about on your team. He's a good athlete and although I find his comments to be several flavors of unsavory from time to time, he will try and work alongside others. Rain and BWP? Do you really think they'll have your back there? Do you even trust them enough to show up for practice; to even attempt learning how to work as a team? To say it's doubtful is an understatement."

"But that brings us to your greatest failure, Daniel. Your decision to trust Sarah Lacklan, someone with such sixkening vanity that she believes herself above your orders. Is she a team player? Is she going to take a hit for someone else? You already know the answer. This woman believes she is the most important person in the world. I have never seen someone more self-absorbed than Sarah Lacklan. You'd swear she could do no wrong, that she made miracles from her fingertips, that she spent millions to help those in need!"

"But she doesn't. Sarah loves herself and her clique. Anyone who doesn't fall in those borders are disposable to her. I trusted my supporters to inspire me on my road towards Robert Main and they didn't disappoint. My supporters and I inspire each other because I know they help make me Notorious. But Sarah? She wishes death on anyone who slightly irks her. If you don't giver her a donut with the right amount of sprinkles, she thinks the world is better off without you! She doesn't care about her supporters beyond a hashtag abd magazine sales! You know why? Because she was born in a position to never struggle! What does "Undefeated" Sarah Lacklan worry about? What fancy coat will match her million dollar hats! Has she ever worried about not being able to pay for hospital bills for her loved ones? Has she ever had to sell something important to her to pay rent? I don't think so! Sarah Lacklan has been handed opportunity all the time and she continues to get her ass kissed tenfold in the XWF by being friends with the owner's wife! She doesn't know what it means to define yourself because there's nothing beneath her makeup to define! I have worked my entire life to achieve this dream and I still give back to my community and to those less fortunate than me. Why? Because all of Lacklan's dollars can't buy her virtue. And when she tears your team apart to promote her own shallowness, perhaps you'll see your mistakes, Daniel."

A timer goes off in the background, causing Ned to smirk.

"Time's up, Daniel. Team Notorious is marching forward. With professionalism. With power. With wit. And with something you will never earn in the XWF."

"Respect."

"You can't run from yourself."