Madison Dyson was missing.

For most it would be cause for celebration. But not for one particular Universal Champion. For her, Madison was a work in progress, but more than just that. She was a staunch ally, a partner, and most surprisingly, a friend. Dolly had been trying to reach out to her consistently since she went missing, but to no avail. Leaving behind the remains of a memory of a story of atonement and redemption that ended too soon… .

You’ve reached Maddy. You know what to do. Unless you’re Mark Flynn, in which case you can suck a big fat one.

This Verizon user’s mail box is full. Please try again later.

A voice recording of a friend who had vanished into the ether.

I don’t know why you’re still trying, dude- and yet one of her oldest -and probably least problematic- friends sits squarely next to her in this train car. Their ride rumbling along the Roadalies train network in Barcelona Spain. Dolly pulls her cellphone away from her ear and looks at Corey forlornly. -that woman could not care less about you, Dolly. 

Corey, I hear you. And I know given your experiences with her you have every right to believe that. But you just don’t know her like I did. There was….humanity….

It was probably just gas.

Dolly sighs and slumps back in her seat, eyeing her phone and resisting the urge to call Madison for the one millionth time. Casting a glance out the window, she nods at what’s coming up and says, Our stop is here.

Thank God. Now we can get on with rescuing the woman I hate.

Corey, can you please just…

Corey gets to his feet as the train slowly hisses to a stop.

Look, you know Madison, right? Has it occurred to you that she’s just doing what Madison does and wallowing in self pity? I mean, she just lost two championships in a row. No offense. She’s probably just off on a bender somewhere.

For two months?!

Coke FIEND. Corey mouths the words as the duo shuffle out of their cabin and head out to debark the train.

AN HOUR AND THE ACQUISITION OF ONE RENTAL CAR LATER…

Ya know I’m kinda disappointed. I thought I would get to drive on the left side of the road like the rest of Europe.

Focus, Corey. Dolly spoke from the passenger seat in the cramped European car. According to Lux’s intel these people could be dangerous. I mean, they kinda have to be if they’re affiliated with Samael Dyson.

Yeah, he seems like a real peach.

Now this gallery is open to the public, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be on our toes.

So we just waltz in there like a couple of tourists and ask for Samael’s wayward mother?

No, we waltz in there like a couple tourists until we see an opening to get behind the scenes and see what we can dig up.

Ooooh, a stealth mission!

Dolly points ahead. I think this is it.

Corey pulls the rental car into the lot beside the gallery. The building itself is mostly blackened glass and sharp angles, giving it an appropriately sinister mien given who these avant garde artists were rumored to associate with. The lot was mostly empty, a fact which Dolly also seemed to note with some trepidation.

Was hoping we’d have a bigger crowd to work with.

No such luck. Corey puts his hand on the door handle. You ready?

As ever.

The doors to the gallery open in an artsy, folding kind of way. After only a few steps inside, Corey and Dolly are unable to see much of anything, but they can hear:

*THLUMP* the bow of a cello slapping against the strings *THLUMP*

*SCREECH* a blow into a recorder with a cleaning rod still in one end *SCREECH*

*POP* a needle striking a  balloon (Dolly and Corey jump) *THLUMP* again
*SKREETT* a scratching strum with the bow on the cello now *THLUMP* again *SKREET* again

*CRACK* a foot stomping on a piece of uneven tin *THLUMP* *CRACK*

Why are we still walking in here?

Corey whispers to Dolly,

Uhhh, yeah. I don’t know.

And then an almost inhumane shriek. Bloodcurdling and guttural.

A spotlight flashes on in the corner of the room, there’s a seated bald man in a hospital gown, an iv in his arm. A cello, and a music stand, and a host of other experimental instruments seated before him. He’s swaying and playing bastardized, artsy attempts at music.

And as soon as he's illuminated, it’s that awful shriek again. Clearly coming from the shadows of the room now.

A full-bodied human in black spandex ziplines through the dark room above them, cawing like a giant bird attacking an animal.

Oh- -!

THE FU-

CK-KA-KA-AW-KA-KA!!!!!!!

He flies right at the man “playing” the cello. Flinging liquid from his fingertips. Some of it splatters back on Dolly and Corey’s faces.

Aw gross!

it’s in my mouth!

But the rest of it flings at the man with the cello, and a large painting that's hanging behind him.

More spotlights flick on now as the man on the zipline lands to his feet. His black spandex smeared in the same oily substance he’d just thrown. He’s breathing heavily, but it's the way he’s staring at the unfazed cello player that feels dangerous; but not of hatred, or rivalry– of pure reverence.

El heraldo de la Madre está perdido en la wilderness! 

The zipline guy shouts while the cello guy continues playing. On the painting behind him, splatters of red liquid run like veins down the canvas.

Ok. I think we need to just bail… head to the arena. We’re wrestlers, not exhibitionisits.

I think yer’ right.

The zipline man raises his arms and his tone performatively,

Oh, hola y bienvenido! Te hemos estado esperando.

Yo soy el cuervo…

He waltzes toward them, every step slow and exaggerated,

Oh… sorry Dolly chuckles nervously No hablo.

The zipline man’s head twists pretentiously, as he stops and drops his arms,

Of course not. he sighs with a snobbish tone, rolling his eyes How rude of me. I suppose I should’ve known that people like you could never really appreciate our art.

C’mon, c’mon. Let’s go!

Corey turns away pulling on Dolly’s arm. But as he turns, more spotlights shine behind them, back on the entrance where an “audience” of bizarrely clothed freaks has been watching.

The Madre will be found. And when she returns, the Son ascends.

This statement causes Dolly to cant her head, and she seemingly loses much of the trepidation she felt before as she speaks. Wait, you DO know something about what happened to Madison, don’t you? [dolly] She takes a step towards the greased up weirdo, shrugging Corey off in the process. [dolly]Does Samael have her?! Where are they?!

Hey Dolly…

Hold on a sec, Corey. Dolly glowers at the avant garde artisan, who returns her glower with a demure looking smirk. Answer me, or I’m fixin’ to get… Dolly takes another step forward, or tries to, but to her dismay she stumbles a bit. Wh-what?

Corey, shoulders sagging, casts a bleary eyed look at the back of Dolly’s head. I don’t….I don’t feel so good. Corey slumps down onto his hands and knees. This finally draws Dolly’s attention, and she tries to go to him, but stumbles again.

....the fuck….did you do….?

Of course we knew exactly who you are the moment you stepped through those doors! Samael told us to expect you, of course!

You….you bastards…. Dolly slumps down next to Corey, rolling onto her back as the entire scene starts to descend into a wavering kaleidoscope of colors.

Please do broaden your minds! This one’s on us! Until we decide what to do with you….

Dolly’s eyes close slowly, irising out the battery of colors, but when they reopen, she’s met with an even stranger sight. A sandy mesa opens up before her, terminating in the distance in a horizon line of pure blue, and just above that a swathe of auburn, which itself gives way into a pure black night sky. It would be almost beautiful, if it weren’t for the present circumstances.

Dolly!

Dolly whirls around, and sees Corey in the near distance. Kicking up sand in her wake, she runs to him. When she finally reaches him, she grips him by the shoulders to ensure he’s real. But her hands just past through his body, leaving rivulets of motion like a stone dropped in water in their wake. So is this some kind of shared delusion or are you part of it?

I….I don’t know….oh, wow, look!

Corey points above them, and though they most definitely weren’t there before, the sky above them is now studded with round melting clocks.

It’s just like…uh, just like…

A Dali painting. Oh God damn it, those art freaks drugged us!

How do we get out of here? [yellow]

I don’t know…sleep it off?. Just then, Dolly spots something out of the corner of her eye. How about that thing?

She points at a massive round artifact emerging out of the sands.

[yellow]A stargate!

A what?

A…nevermind. Just some nerd shit. But we need to snap outta this fast. Who knows what they’re doing to us while we’re here tripping balls!

Dolly shudders. Yeah….right. She points at the huge artifact again. Might as well give it a shot. Maybe it’ll wake us up faster.

With that, Dolly and Corey set out trudging towards the gate. But they scarcely get halfway there when the sand beneath their feet starts to shift and stir. With a surprised cry, both Dolly and Corey take a tumble as a huge white dias rises up out of the sands, carrying them up into the sky with it. It rises about 20 feet out of the ground, before stopping. And then, from out of the center of the dias, a milky white shape starts to form, slowly shaping into what looks like a human torso. The details meticulously start to fill in, forming arms, a head, and then blond hair. Before long it looks just like….

Madison!



Or some drugged up facsimile of her anyway.

Dolly and Corey slowly approach the figure protruding from the dias. They both stop short as Madison opens her mouth, seemingly to speak, but all that pops out are cerulean bubbles.

That’s helpful.

Come on, Maddy. Give me some hint…some clue. Where did Samael take you?

It’s not real, Dolly… Corey intones, trying to sound supportive but realistic.

But Dolly ignores him, drawing closer to Madison. Suddenly, Madison’s features warp into a terrified expression! Dolly stops again in surprise. No, no, no! It’s okay, I’m a friend!

eM pleH

What?

!eM pleH!

I don’t…

I think she’s saying “help me”.

Dolly starts to look frustrated. Okay, but help you how? Where are you?

The Son rises with the Harvest Moon.

Dolly scrunches her face up. What does that mean?!

Just then, a wind starts to blow, growing stronger and stronger until Dolly and Corey have to bring their hands to their faces to shield themselves from the whipping sand.

What’s going on?!

I don’t know!

Dolly turns to look at Madison again, and to her shock Madison has been reduced to a sculpture of sand that is now being broken apart and carried away by the winds towards the ringed artifact in the distance.

NO!

[yellow}Dolly! DOLLY! [/yellow]

The sandstorm only continues to progress in intensity until Dolly is completely cut off from Corey as he calls out her name in fear. Hurrican force winds start to pummel Dolly and she looks down to find that she too is now made out of sand and being chipped away by the violent storm.

Oh shhhhiiiiiiiiiii-!!!

Dolly is scooped up fully now and carried into the wind, a formless mass of sand that has still somehow retained consciousness. She’s battered towards the massive ring, which is now giving off an unearthly glow. And, just as she passes into it, she…..


….sees a door open, and a shadowy figure haloed in bright light steps through the threshold and towards her. Dolly tries to skitter back on her launches, but a familiar voice calls out to her in a calming voice.

It’s ok! It’s Lux.

Lux? Dolly’s eyes flutter open fully now, and she takes stock of her surroundings. She and Corey are in a plain cement room. Corey appears to be rousing too, clutching his forehead.

It feels like somebody stepped on my brain.

Lux takes a knee between them giving them some time to rouse. You were both drugged with a powerful hallucinogen.

Tell me about it. A pause. Wait, those freaky artists! Where are they?!

I took care of them. Lux speaks the words as though nothing more needs to be said of the matter. Madison’s not here, Dolly. I’m sorry. And I don’t think these freakshows know where she is either.

It was worth the shot.

Lux extends a hand out to Dolly and pulls her to her feet. She then does the same for Corey.

So what now?

What else. A match against the best PWV has to offer.

Light work. Even hungover.

And then…. A far off look settles in Dolly’s eyes. Revenge, hopefully.

---

---

Matt Knox…

I hear yer’ *pretty good*.

I wouldn’t know. L-o-l.

Heck, people tell me my “goodness” is a liability–  That I stretch myself too thin by being empathetic.

Afterall, here I am, tracking down a former tag-partner, a colleague and friend who’s *widely loathed* in this industry. Risking my life to wrest her back from whatever cringe avant-garde cult that’s swallowed her whole. I could’ve moved on…especially after what I’ve just accomplished:

Winning the Universal Championship in the most talent-rich, competitive company in all of wrestling…

With my *career* on the line...

And using that moment to form pro wrestling’s first-ever labor union.

I’ve gotta ask… would you have done it, Knox?

Are you *that* kind of good?

Would you have staked yer’ entire career in one moment for the good of someone other than yer’self? Would you have rerouted the entire trajectory of professional wrestling… forever?

Or would you have just packed up yer’ gear, took yer’ ball and vanished into some indie wrestling company where people like me could walk in and utterly dominate tomorrow. A place where you can play big-fish in an evaporating pond.

Because that’s what you did last time.

One beating from Bobby Bourbon, and you were gone– scurrying out of the XWF, tail tucked between yer’ blistered asscheeks, leaving nothing but a shit-stained white-flag in yer’ wake.

Where’d ya go? Action Wrestling? OCW?

Cute.

That place damn near renamed an entire tag team tournament after me.

Allow me to explain how far out of yer’ element you are in *this* matchup:

Me and Corey?

We’re 1-0 as tag partners… sounds harmless huh?

Until you come to find that our lone win came via THROTTLING Centurion and James Raven so hard that Raven– the real Raven, not yer’ knockoff nickname– didn’t show his face in XWF again for nearly 5 years.

Some people say he’s pretty good.
Again… I wouldn’t know.

Between me and Corey? We have four Tag Team Championship reigns under our belts. We’re actually *good* at this…

Still unconvinced? Here’s just a partial list of names I’ve beaten in XWF team matches:

Everette-Bryce.
Bourbon.
Knuckles.
Kaye.
Caedus.
Lacklan.
D’Ville.
Game Girl.
 
That’s a combined ELEVEN Universal Championship reigns.

A combined SEVEN #1 ELO rankings..

And trust me – Corey’s resume is even deeper.

So when I hear “Matt *Raven* Knox is pretty good”...
I have to wonder if people mean “good” like me…
Or “good” like the last Raven we sent packing for half a decade. I have a feeling it’s the latter.

But make no mistake, Matt. I don’t want you to leave this time. The cowardly, little paste-faced crybaby that you are. I want nothing more than you, any, and all of the Pro Wrestling Valor talent to find a home here in XWF after you inevitably lose this war. I want you to see that pro wrestling can be more than developing a noxious ego, and mouth-blisters from being Johnny Bacchus’ ‘free-use’ whipping boy. I want you to see-for the first time in yer’ life- that pro wrestling can actually be *good*

I mean, ask yer’ partner.

He should know full-well by now.

Granted, JC Keeton is “here”, perse, but is he *really* here, in the XWF?

Buddy…

You grew up miles from where I did in Kentucky, and you had the opportunity of a lifetime. To compete in one of professional wrestling’s biggest spectacles at Leap of Faith, in yer’ own hometown.

On top of Commonwealth Stadium!

I’m not talking about an opportunity at some middling PWV under-card championship. I’m talking about an opportunity to punch yer’ guaranteed ticket as a future Universal Champion. And you folded harder than Knox’s cleft asshole every time someone bullies him on Twitter.

…and that’s the thing, JC. You could’ve been the next one up, not playing proud second fiddle to Knox. You could’ve been the pride of Kentucky. The kid who was going to take what I bled for and finally prove that we weren’t punchlines anymore. But again, you folded. In our own backyard. You failed in the very place I turned into a mountain.

Believe what you want… but that fact alone doesn’t bode well fer’ you.

So now it’s me and Corey walking into Barcelona to show you both what it looks like when GOOD wrestlers actually rise to the occasion.

Because when that bell rings, don't mistake this for a simple tag match. Corey Smith and Dolly Waters ain’t some run-of-the-mill headliners. Yer’ walking into the full weight of history — the Universal Champion, the Union, and the legacy you both let rot when you tucked tail and left.

This ain’t about being *pretty good*

It’s about being undeniable.

And yer’ both about to find out the hard way…

…that we’re the only *good* left in this business that’s worth a damn.

Well put dear friend, well put. Loved that fire.

I’m gonna turn down the heat for a bit though.

Dolly makes a very exaggerated sad face.

Now, you all know me. You know I grant respect where it’s due. So I would be remiss in not raising the metaphorical glass to JC Keeton. Jonathan, I don’t know you. But I’ve read a thing or two about you that necessitates my good humor.

My man, you have beaten cancer TWICE?

Corey looks at the camera in disbelief.

I mean….I can’t even….Jesus, dude. The temerity it must have taken to pull through that. The sheer fortitude! Look, you can rest easy knowing that no matter what dick heads like Corey Smith say about you, nobody can take that from you. Nobody. And I have to give you an obscene amount of props for that alone.

I’ve obviously never been in your shoes for that one. But there is one more thing about you that hits closer to home for me, and that’s what happened to your mother. Now, forgive me for getting personal, but I’ve gotta go here and it’s from a position of respect and understanding. You see, I was on the other end of the coin. I was the addict. I was the destroyer, the one who hurt the people that I love. It was only later in life that I finally was able to put my selfishness and ego aside to see what I had done….the destruction I had wrought. And while I can never FULLY grasp the hurt that I caused, I feel the shadow of it. I catch a glimpse of it: my memory of my mother’s tears, my father’s disappointment, my sibling’s fear. I understand what I caused from the periphery. And JC, I understand YOU from the periphery. Sure, you were just a toddler when you lost her. But even in that absence, that longing, I’m sure the hurt is there. So for her. For me. I’m sorry you got hurt.

And I’m sorry I have to turn the page now.

Because this is WRESTLING is it not? And if we’re not pointing out our opponent’s foibles and ineptitudes well, it just ain’t the genuine article, is it?

JC I’m CONVINCED that your life experiences have made you a strong young man. I’m not sure they’ve made you a strong WRESTLER. Why? History, my man, history.

And when I say history, I’m talking of course about the XWF. The promotion that has over 25 years of history. The promotion that has stood the test of time when so, so, so many other promotions have emptied the tills and closed up shop. The promotion that is a showcase of the very best in wrestling today. That has drawn competitors from all corners of the industry and the globe just to test their mettle and see how they measure up.

In short, like it or hate it, the XWF is a showcase of the immortals.

And there is no other promotion that can make that claim quite as effectively as the XWF can. To have lasted so long, and seen so many greats come through those doors well by golly it must be something special.

And it is.

And to succeed here, you have to BE some kind of special. You have to be the very best. La creme de la creme, as it were! And KC…Knoxy (don’t think I forgot about you).....

Corey gestures to himself and Dolly.

You’re looking at some of the creamiest creme this industry has ever seen. Don’t laugh. Corey puts up a finger. I’m dead serious.

Boyos, between Dolly and I we have accumulated 18 XWF championshipships, a War Games victory, a Leap of Faith victory and oh yeah, this young lady right here is the CURRENT and REIGNING Universal Champion. To say we have this XWF shizz on lockdown is an understatement.

And yeah, I’ve seen the titles you guys have accumulated. But the cold hard fact is that none of them have been HERE. At the pinnacle. And for that reason, everything you guys are, everything you’ve accomplished, will forever be SECOND BEST. And second best is just not good enough when you’re across the ring from the Smith-Waters wrecking machine.

But I know what you’re thinking. That everybody and their mother says that their promotion is the best of the best. But when it comes to the XWF, the proof is in the pudding. People who stakes their claim to fame in lands far and wide have come here and STRUGGLED. Even Sebastian Everrett-Bryce, one of the legit best in the world right now, has had his share of losses with his multitude of wins. The Black Rainbow? Don’t even get me started. Those people have all the consistency of a drunk playing darts. And as my partner so adroitly pointed out, even the two of you have had and continue to have your fair share of struggles breaking through on the roster. I mean, JC I can give him some props for continuing to TRY, but you Knox? You stayed for a cup of coffee before quickly realizing the heat was just too hot here for you.

Let’s call a spade a spade.. You two are facing the absolute apex of wrestling. And no amount of high school gym world championships can prepare you for this.

JC…Knoxy…we’re gonna pound you two like we’re trying to get a square peg into a round hole. Corey blanches a little. Not sexual. Okay, maybe when it comes to JC it’s a little sexual.Corey purrs.

Dolly playfully smacks Corey. Yer’ such a slut.

What? I LIKE submissive men!

Lucky us… we’re gettin’ two *goodn’s* for the price of one.