Eyes opening to a world of light flooding the senses, as a hand reaches to shield the eyes and the legs move to lift the body from it's resting point. A casual walk-- not rushed by the fear of missing the desired destination-- brings the body to the bus which sits before the bus stop, collecting passengers for a trip around the city to wherever their destination might be.

Other eyes, focusing on the newcomer to the bus as he walks down the isleway to find a comfortable spot to sit at in the packed bus, filled with party goers and business men and homeless alike. Though similar to America in some aspects, Japanese bus transportation really is it's own unique experience.

Though many generally choose the subway-- much easier to get around without dealing with traffic.

There was no hurry, however... all the time in the world could be taken for this.

Hours ahead of schedule-- the time only being 9:00PM at this point. Dominic Pericolo sat down carefully on the cushioned bus seat and looked out at the world around him through the window, watching as several groups of people walked by, seemingly without a care in the world.

It was not something customary for the NLCW to do-- a night call to arrive for an interview at such a late hour, but with Dominic's recent no-shows at Avulsion, he completely understood why they were calling.

He only hoped they understood why he wasn't staying hidden.

Why he'd came out of the proverbial shell.

Why he was riding a bus in heavy nighttime traffic in Japan, to be dropped off at the hotel management was staying at, for a midnight interview when it was several hours before the scheduled time to be there.

Yet knowing the traffic of Japan via word-of-mouth, Dominic figured it best to come early anyway. Besides, should he get hungry, he could always find a place to eat before entering the hotel and going to Michelle Davis' room, where undoubtedly camera crews were setting up equipment and she was busy prissing herself up for the interview with the champion, when he would finally shed light to not just Shane Perry and Bucky Skyler, but to the world as well for his recent hidings.

He wasn't afraid to admit that he was scared.

He wasn't afraid to admit that he'd ran away, even when he carried that strap proudly over his shoulder.

He wasn't afraid to own up to the fact that, for the past two weeks, he'd let the company who'd given him so much in his career... down.

There was nothing that was going to stop him from shedding truth to the world, because if he didn't allow himself to do so... he knew what would happen: he'd never forgive himself for the mistakes he'd made, and neither would the people.

People who trusted him so much as their champion, who cheered for him even when the chips were stacked against him.

Who believed in him when no professional wrestling analyst believed he stood a snowball's chance in hell.

These fans had never forsaken him, had never let him down. Even during the times back when he believed that they had, he knew all along that he'd only been lying to himself. It was now, however, after some of the strangest dreams Dominic had ever had, that he was ready to show the world who he well and truly was.

He was ready to bring about a change not only in himself, but in the NLCW.

In the past, the champions of the NLCW have made themselves to be larger then life. They've played up to the fans as heroes or tortured their heroes as villains to them. Chris Champion, known to the world as the Golden Boy of NLCW, had made himself something larger then life in his stay as champion.

Dominic couldn't do that.

Dominic could never do the things Chris did-- and not because of the vast differences in skill, either... it was because of who they were.

Dominic and Chris came to terms on that a long time ago, and that's what helped them become the close friends they are today.

That's what made Dominic decide to make Chris his best man.

And that would be why Chris would inevitably be the godfather of whatever children Dominic and Suki had together, and Georgina the godmother.

When around each other, Chris and Dominic are as true to themselves as they possibly can be.

Yet before the fans, Chris does all he can to give the people an icon, a wrestling legend and God in himself.

Dominic... well, Dominic just goes out there and acts as he always has, no matter who he's confronted with-- and that is something that Dominic has learned over time is one of the most difficult things to do in wrestling. It's hard to confront tens of thousands of people screaming your name as though it were only one fan standing in front of you, excitedly shouting your name for all to hear.

Yet he does it, and he does it as often as he possibly can.

He lost sight of that these past two weeks, but he was going to make up for that with one of the greatest performances he'll ever put on this coming Sunday.

A man taps Dominic's shoulder, bringing Dominic to turn and look at him as the man speaks Japanese to Dominic in an unsure voice. Dominic offers the man a warm smile and simply responds to the man the only way he can think of.

"I'm sorry... I don't understand what you're saying."

The man looks at Dominic for a few moments, as Dominic is left contemplating if the man is simply asking for an autograph or asking if he was who he was. He gave the man the time to think his words over, before the reply that came from the man came in a rather unexpected manner.

"Do... you... have... napkin?"

Dominic blinked, looking at the man in confusion for a moment before simply chuckling to himself and reaching into his jacket pocket, fumbling around to see if he'd had any napkins left over from the day before when they stopped by one of the McDonalds' along the way to the hotel. He pulled out one from his jacket pocket, handing it to the man and nodding to him with a smile.

'Here I was thinking it was a fan... this guy doesn't even know who I am.' Dominic thought to himself in amusement.

Not everyone is a wrestling fan, after all.

The man took the napkin and smiled back at Dominic, nodding in return and letting Dominic go back to looking out the window.

It was interesting to Dominic, how some of the lesser-knowns of the NLCW have the good fortune of running into fans on the street that actually recognize who they are, and here he was the NLCW champion and this man didn't know. He probably didn't even watch wrestling-- no one on the bus likely did either, for that matter.

Another tap to the shoulder, bringing Dominic's attention back away from the window and his thoughts and to the man who'd asked for the napkin. He was holding it out to Dominic, Japanese characters of some sort written on the napkin as the man stood, the bus easing to it's first stop since Dominic entered.

"Here... my... signature." the man said, smiling at him, "You... sign... many... napkins. Thought to... return... favor. Good... luck... Sunday."

His English extremily broken, but well enough for Dominic to realize exactly what just happened as the man then walked down the isle of the bus to leave for his stop, as though he hadn't even just interacted with a man that so many people look up to in wrestling for one reason or another.

'He... he gave me his autograph? So he did know who I am... wow, this is an interesting first for me.' Dominic thought to himself, as he really never had a fan sign their own name for him before... it really was a nice change of pace.

Simple surprises like that lightened Dominic's mood-- something that had become increasingly clear to him ever since he realized that dreams of a divine revelation in his mind were bringing his spirit up and making him more confident to take on Bucky Skyler, Shane Perry, and the Final Solution match itself on Sunday.

The bus rumbled as it pulled away, Dominic looking out the window to wave to the man who left him his signature. A smile played across Dominic's lips as he turned around to sit up straight in his seat, tilting his head to look at the ceiling of the bus.

Things were finally beginning to get easier for him, all in preperation for the trials he'd endure on Sunday to test not only his faith, but his will to continue on in life and wrestling.

"I think I'm finally ready..." whispered Dominic, that smile growing ever larger on his features, "Perry and Skyler really don't know what they're going into."

This time, however, it wasn't the match itself that Dominic believed was to be feared by his two opponents...

... it was himself.