"When all my dreams finally come true... a nightmare rears it's head before me."

The sound of raindrops falling on the rootop of the lavish hotel echoed throughout the massive room, as a hand, strong in appearance, gently touched the curtains obscuring the view of the window and pushed them aside.

The sights and wonders of Japan unveiled themselves to the man behind the looking glass, sights he'd always dreamed of seeing... somehow ruined by the oncoming nightmare that could very well dash all his dreams before his eyes.

"I want to have a family... I want to have a career... I don't want to wind up in a wheelchair for the rest of my life."

A silent teardrop, created through the burning embers of fear beneath his eyes, dripped down his face and fell to the carpet below, a small, circular stain appearing at the impact.

His head lifted up to look out at the world before him, a world that only days ago he was enjoying the beauty of... a world that now he sees all the horrors of.

A world that had came back to greet him again, to taunt him again, and to send shivvers down his spine one more time.

When all your dreams come true... there is but one last obstacle to overcome-- your past. Something Dominic thought he did long ago... only to be forced into remembering the one night he spent in hell's chamber.

"There's a reason it's called the Final Solution..."

Hell's chamber was one which drew men in and never let them go. It was a place that had ended the careers of some of the bravest warriors the world has ever known. It was a place that, at one time, nearly ended a man's life.

And now, it was back to claim another victim-- and among them was one who failed to win within it, yet somehow escaped with his life.

"I never wanted to go back to that place, never wanted to have to experience the things I experienced that night..."

He was in hiding, hiding from the world so he could prepare for the inevitable coming his way. Sunday was the day of reckoning-- if he was to truly be a champion to the world, he would have to step back into that hell.

He was hiding from the opposition so they couldn't try and elevate themselves over them, so that he'd have time to train in peace.

He was hiding from the opposition so they might think he wasn't going to make it to Rising Sun, that he was just going to run away.

He was hiding from the opposition... because he was afraid.

"I... I don't want to lose her..."

Suki Minamoto was lying on the hotel bed, eyes closed peacefully and chest rising and falling with each gentle breath that escaped her slightly parted lips, her hair splayed out beneath her head like strands of angel's hair, her beauty almost breathtaking to Dominic as he felt another tear form in his eye.

Wrestling may be his life... but Suki was his reason for living.

To lose her by losing himself... it had happened once before.

That thought frightened the hell out of him.

Brought him to his knees, made him beg to God to save him from having to step back into the chamber and risk his career-- neigh, his LIFE again.

There was no escape, however... there never was. Once the match is booked, you can't change it.

"Perry... Bucky... they're so determined for this thing, they've got no idea what they're entering..."

The man called Dominic Pericolo was trapped in his heaven, waiting to enter a hell he never wanted to see again for the rest of his life. There was, undoubtedly, no escaping the inevitable strides he'd take down the rampway, into the ring, and inside of that horrendous structure.

And when he entered that hell... two other men would put their lives on the line beside him for a leather strap with gold plates adorned upon it.

A belt, for God's sake! Yet look at what it symbolizes!

The highest acheivement of his life in wrestling... the greatest title in all of wrestling in general. NLCW World Champion, it means that you truly are on top of the world, that you truly do have no limits. To Dominic, it meant that all the peices which would ensure the realization of his ultimate dream were finally fitting together.

"A nightmare... a nightmare reared it's head before me."

The thunderclap in the sky only personified the words of Dominic Pericolo. With a sigh, he made his way to his bedside, lying down on the comfortable mattress with calm, soothing colors adorning the sheets and blankets. Lying down beside Suki, he curled up close to her, seeking a way to escape this nightmare he was being forced into.

Praying to escape it by sleeping peacefully, with dreams of a better, brighter future.

Slowly, he closed his eyes.

Darkness.