There was silence all throughout the dull-gray land, where what little color there was seemed faded and worn away over time, the air still and the temperature simply moderate. There were no lively trees-- only those whose bark had faded and whose leaves hung from the branches, seemingly symbolizing the shame of a failed ascension to the heavens and the relief of a successful diversion from hell.

Purgatory was a land split between escape from damnation and failure for salvation. All who walked within it still stood a chance of walking through heaven's gates, but would have to endure many hardships to earn the right.

Dominic Pericolo recognized this path for one sole reason alone... he'd walked it many times before.

Yet this time was different.

This time he wouldn't just be living his everyday life.

This time he'd be finding out what would happen to him if he continued down Purgatory as he was doing now.

Under a tree in the seemingly endless dull green fields sat a man beneath it's shadow, staring up at the skies as the gray clouds passed by overhead. Dominic knew this would be the man to speak to in Purgatory, to learn of his destiny should this become his reality.

And so he approached the man, not sure what to expect, and was greeted with something he couldn't quite believe was before him.

Dominic Pericolo stared himself in the eye, the two completely identical men not saying a word. Dominic simply stared in shock at his counterpart, who returned his stare with one of disinterest before turning his head back to the skies.

"So you made it," he said dully to Dominic, a sigh escaping his lips, "I was hoping you would... I'm tired of living like this."

A flash before their eyes, the land around them engulfed in the light as Dominic tried in vain to shield his eyes from it, wondering just why everything had to flash out at him to show him what he needed to see.

I mean really, a television screen would work much better then this.

Dominic watched the world before him come back to view from the light, and noticed that his counterpart was no longer there... but standing in the scene.

And what he saw was what at first appeared to be a pleasent sight to him.

He and Suki stood in the doorframe of a rather large house, three kids who were likely their children playing tag in the front yard. The family dog watched on with it's tounge flapped out from it's doghouse, as the cat lay lazily atop the roof of the doghouse. Dominic smiled to himself, wondering what could possibly be bad with this future. It looked so peaceful... and they had a family...

"It isn't the same," came a voice from behind him, bringing him to turn his head and watch as the Son of God approached from behind, a sad smile on his face, "Can't you see it in their faces?"

Dominic looked to the children playing, looking so happy as they ran together in the front lawn. Dominic couldn't help but look at Jesus in a confused manner, simply stating "But they look so happy... what are you talking about?"

Jesus shook his head, pointing over to Dominic's counterpart and Suki. Dominic turned his attention to them, seeing tired smiles on their faces and at first thinking it understandable due to having three kids...

But then he saw Suki's eyes.

Dominic wasn't familiar with his own looks given unto others, but he would forever recognize that look of silent pain in Suki's eyes. The pain she endured when Dominic brought himself down, the pain she showed in her angelic brown eyes when he would hurt himself for his failures.

It was then that Dominic understood what Jesus Christ was about to say.

"When you went into Rising Sun... you lost, and it almost cost you your career again. Rather then try for a rematch, you simply threw in the towel and retired from wrestling, leaving on good terms with the NLCW. Yet the fans never wanted to see you go-- everyone agreed you had an amazing career ahead... yet you let fear override what might have been. You spent the next several years with Suki, making a family together and using your money made from wrestling to buy a nice house in the country. At first, everything seemed perfect... but over time you allowed that fear you let stop you from continuing devour your mind. You always regretted deciding to retire... yet with your new family, you couldn't return."

Jesus placed a hand on Dominic's shoulder, as Dominic lowered his head and realized that out of all the options he would see... this was the most likely to happen.

"About a year later things between you and Suki began to get rough, and that special 'magic' you two shared was fading quickly. All Suki wanted was to repair the broken relationship... but you insisted everything was fine. You refused to admit that your world around you was anything less then perfect now. Your parents died in the same year, sending you in a farther downward spiral as you lost contact with your friends and began neglecting your children's attention, obsessing over your 'glory days' as Suki was left to do so much of the work for the family in order for it to survive. You, in a sense, simply gave up in the end, Dominic... because even when you had first overcame fear, you let it return after you failed to acheive victory."

There were no words for DOminic to utter as there were last time-- because last time was so horrible for Dominic that he knew it couldn't be true.

Yet this... this was worse in that it was just bad enough to actually happen to him.

It was worse in that even when he knew it might happen, he couldn't stop it even if he wanted to. There was no stopping an inevitability unless by will of God, and Dominic wasn't quite sure what God's will for him was yet.

He only hoped and prayed it wasn't this.

"Take me out of here, Jesus..." Dominic whispered, his eyes watering as he cast the Savior a saddened glance, "I can't stand to see this any longer."

With a nod, the Messiah took Dominic by his hand and led him back down the pathway to the crossroads, all the while Dominic stared at the ground his walked over in utter grief and depression.

"It's... hard, isn't it?" Jesus asked, looking to him, "To think that after all your efforts to get things perfect... you lost that perfection due to mistakes made in the past."

"Yeah..." whispered Dominic simply in return, looking over to the third road and then back to Jesus, biting his lower lip.

"Question..." he mumbled, taking a deep breath and trying to contain himself from the grief he was battling through, "What are the chances of these past two things happening in comparison to what I'll see when I walk down heaven's road?"

"That..." Christ said as he stared into Dominic's eyes, "Is not something I can tell you, Dominic. And the reason is because it's up to you to dictate the chances... to make the decisions based on the outcome. If you lose, you can still walk heaven's path... yet if you win, the first two paths will fade into obscurity before your very eyes. It all comes down on you, Dominic... I'm just here to help guide you to a decision."

"Well," Dominic said, looking back to the pathway of heaven, "I... I think I'm ready to see my final path to follow."

"Not quite..." Jesus smiled, shaking his head, "You've still got a few more experiences to endure in your human world before you return to the spiritual realm and walk the pathway of heaven. Keep patient, Dominic... and don't worry yourself. Just believe in the best and surely it will come-- win or lose come Sunday."

Dominic nodded his head in understanding, as Jesus offered him a parting smile and faded before his eyes, in doing so causing the land around Dominic to fade as well. Darkness flooded his world again, but only for a few brief moments... and then two glaring lights appeared before him, growing ever-larger as Dominic squinted, lifting his hand to shield the light.

These weren't quite as bright as what he'd endured before... what was it that these lights signified?

It was then that Dominic remembered where he'd left himself before his journey back.

The lights came to a halt, and Dominic realized it was time to go.

The journey wasn't quite over just yet.