Moving away from the helicopter that had just dropped The Congregation off from their eventful evening at Warfare, David walked with a sort of defeated, face-down saunter, moving eerily from side to side in the evening air, as though marching in a dream. The tall grass impeded his march, grasping at his ankles like thousands of tiny hands, dragging him further down into his own depression. Before long, David could hear a second pair of footsteps alongside his own, matching his every step as he walked along toward his shack at the edge of The Promise Land. For a moment, David and his darker clothed doppelganger marched in silence -- a painful, awkward silence. David finally buried his hands in his pockets and turned to face Mystica, indignant.

"Well done," David grumbled sarcastically. "Really."

"What do you mean, "well done?"" returned Mystica, a scowl simmering across his face.

"Close, but no cigar," David sighed, glaring at his counterpart. "A tired cliche of a phrase, but really. What a waste."

"Inches away," Mystica implored, holding up his thumb and index finger to illustrate the miniscule distance that had been between him and the XTreme title.

"And now we're booked in what, the fourth match on the card?" David shot back, his voice tinged in something dire. "We go from main event to a singles match against some bloke who just showed up? Really, just...well done."

"What's this we thing you keep saying?" Mystica fired back, marching up in front of David and returning the man's glare. "I do all the work! And you ride the coattails?"

"I mean we as a collective," David explained annoyedly, illustrating the word collective with a circular hand gesture.

"Collective?" Mystica chuckled. "There's two of us. You and me."

David's face was suddenly drained of all colour.

"I have something to show you," he sighed, turning on his heel and continuing his walk toward the shack, a deep, furrowed hatred burning in his temples.

"So you can't blame me," came Mystica's deeper voice from behind David as he tried to keep up with David's hurried pace. "I was right there!"

"And now we're rookie fodder!" David shouted over his shoulder.

"Everyone starts somewhere," replied Mystica in a softer tone. "Besides, since when were you concerned with what we accomplished in the ring?"

David turned his head back toward his destination and remained quiet. The silence could have been cut with a sewing needle. It was a thin, flimsy sort of silence, barely palpable to the two, but as David marched along, Mystica began to realize exactly why David was so very upset. A smile spread across the dark version's face, followed by a harsh frown and a furrowed brow.

"Oh, I see!" Mystica laughed harshly. "You're afraid your little girlfriend will see you lose! How embarrassing!"

David stopped on a dime, turning to face Mystica, his face alight in anger. Even in the darkness of the night, Mystica could see David's burning ire of the moment. It was a fire that needed no light.

"You...don't ever talk about that," David ordered, poking his counterpart in the chest as a means of intimidation. "You handle the wrestling, I handle the real world! You are to win, and I am to socialize! You kick that damn newbie upside his head, and I will do the talking! Understood?"

Mystica could only give a shit-eating grin in response, knowing he had pushed his lighter side's buttons in all the right ways. He had won this debate without even trying. David's night-bourne spectre of self-frustration had beaten him in this moment, and Mystica only had to mention it. That was the pain. Everlasting.

Without a word more, the two moved again toward the shack. As they approached, David noted the figure of Toby still seated on his porch. Glancing at his wristwatch, David sighed sympathetically. 2 AM. Toby had tried to wait up for them. As the two ascended the stairs up onto the porch, it became apparent Toby was fast asleep, his head drooped down onto his chest, which was rising and falling slowly in rhythm. With another sigh, David quickly undid the buttons on his white jacket and draped it over Toby's shoulders to protect the boy from the cool night air. Shrugging to his counterpart, David opened the door to the shack.

Inside, the same gray-clad version of himself sat at the desk chair, facing toward the door. With a smile, the slick-haired doppelganger opened his arms in welcome of the two other versions, clearly pleased.

"Welcome home, boys. We have much to discuss."

Achievements

• 1x Tag Team Champion
  
• August 2013 Superstar of the Month (Thank you all so much!)
  
• 1x US Champion
  
• 1x X-treme Champion