There was a strange sense of dread hanging in the air, where the fans once cheered and the warriors once battled. An empty, darkened arena, lit up only by a few spotlights throughout the rafters. The silence was almost intolerable, enough to drive a man to madness within the massive void of the arena.

Every breath taken echoed, every thought in my mind seemed to project itself like a loudspeaker for my ears, the silence was so intense. No creatures stirred beneath the seats, the foundation held strong and did not creak, no life dared make a sound at any moment.

Yet finally a footstep broke the barrier and sent forth a shockwave of noise through that barren arena. It echoed off the roofing and the walls, the single footstep's sound carrying on for many moments before finally fading away.

A sigh then escaped unseen lips, the footsteps now sounding off more abundantly, as though someone were walking forward in the arena towards the very center of it all-- the ring.

The same ring I found myself standing in with such a confused air about me, the same ring as all the others in which I'd fought in all throughout these many years of my life.

"You doing alright?" sounded a voice from the darkness, as the footsteps continued after the voice had dissipated into nothingness. My head turned to the source of the sound to find the figure of a man walking towards the light of the ring, his features slowly revealing themselves to me as light touched him softly, lighting up the air around him.

Chris Champion stared me calmly in the eye.

"Why are you in here, man?" he asked, an almost dissapointed look on his face, "Why are you letting yourself sink so low? The Dominic I remember never allowed things to stop him from fighting on. The Dominic I befriended after realizing his sorry ass wasn't so sorry after all wouldn't just sit and sulk about the things that have happened... he fought back."

A twitch in my eyebrow annoyed me as I tried to ignore it, to focus on the words of my friend who stood so calmly on the outside of the vacated ring and looked me in the eye.

"Violent A doesn't regret, Dominic... he doesn't sulk about his past mistakes, he focuses on his future successes. Right now? He's focused on beating you, Dominic... and you're just focused on the fact that he took your title. You're just focused on the fact that he and his boys beat you down. You're looking for revenge when you should be out there proving yourself the better man." Chris spoke, now taking yet another step towards the ring, a look of anger now raising in his eyes.

"Aw c'mon Chris... cut the ol'champ some slack. After all, not many people can handle it when I get inside their heads." sounded another voice in the darkness, bringing me to turn my head as now yet another figure began to walk through the shadows.

I briefly wondered why I could not hear his footsteps approaching before, but then realized that I'd been so engrossed in what Chris was saying that I could scarcely hear a word, much less a footstep, outside of that.

"What do you want?" asked Chris with an annoyed voice, looking towards the approaching figure in the shadows, whose snow white face with blackened markings appeared first from the shadows.

"Why... a talk with my opponent on Sunday." grinned Violent A, who turned his attention within the ring and towards myself, his eyes piercing into mine, "After all... I'd love to hear how he plans to explain why he'll be losing that belt of his to me."

A sudden weight added to my person, bringing me to look down and catch sight of the NLCW world title strapped to my waist. Not sure how it got there, or why if I'd been wearing it all along the weight would only become apparent to me now, I simply gazed back up at Violent A with a slight annoyance in my eyes.

"You've done enough damage already... save it for Wednesday." Chris spoke up for me, a frown on his features, "Don't make me go over there and knock your goofy ass out... you know I hate clowns."

"That's just because they steal your titles, Chrissy boy!" Violent A laughed, that grin of his still on his face as he then turned towards me, "So tell me, champ... what will you say?"

"He won't have to say anything to you," came an angelic voice from behind me, "You'll be too out of it when he beats you to hear it anyway."

I turned around and I saw you standing behind me, Suki... saw you standing there with a look of defiance in your eyes towards the same man who took me down that Thursday night...

"Awww, I don't think ya' girlfriend likes me, champ! Ain't that a shame? And here I was thinkin' we could be buds!" came the mocking voice of Violent A, as Suki stepped beside me to hold my hand, giving me a comforting smile as Chris frowned towards A, his fists clenching.

"You like that grin of yours, A? Because I'll be happy to punch your teeth in and stop you from doing it again." he said darkly, ready to protect the both of us if need be.

Yet I wasn't in an injured state like Thursday... I felt perfectly fine-- hell, I looked perfectly fine from my perspective, too. No headaches... I wasn't shaking as I stood...

"It's okay, Chris... just leave the stupid little bastard be." I spoke up suddenly, surprising even myself by doing so. One of the lights in the arena flickered for a moment, temporarily leaving a section of the empty seats in complete darkness before coming back on again, dimly lighting it back up. My eyes bore into Violent A's, who looked at me now with a glare rather than his usual nonchalant glance, a frown on his own face replacing that sick grin of his.

"Yeah, chump..." came the annoyed voice of A's, turning his attention for a moment towards Chris, "Ease off."

He then looked towards me with a glare, lifting his index finger towards me, "I'll see you Wednesday, champ... do not disappoint."

With that... the light overhead of him flickered and faded, drenching him in darkness. The light flickered back on and he was gone, leaving me standing within the ring confused and startled as to where he could have gone. By now, Chris was already making his way back towards the shadows, turning to face me before giving a nod.

"Listen, Dom... I know you've been in a slump. I know you've let things get in the way of your concentration in the ring... of all the people in the NLCW who would notice that, it'd be me. You can't let these things block you from your dreams, man... you've been doing great so far. Beat Violent A and you're on the home stretch, lose to him and you'll be right back to square one. You can't afford to lose this, Dom... there's still so much left for you to do."

He takes a step into the shadows, stops, and then turns his head once more, a slight smirk of his own on his face.

"Like, for example... I've yet to get the chance to kick your ass again."

I laughed at this as Chris waved goodbye, turning completely towards the shadows and walking back into them. Left then with only you beside me, I turned my attention to you and saw you giggling happily, looking up into my eyes. It was... strange, because it really did seem like it all was real to me. Like it wasn't a dream...

I started to think about what Chris said, about how Violent A was acting... and I realized something about myself because of it. I was running again, because for the second time in my career I'd allowed someone else to penetrate my mind. Violent A had gotten inside of my head simply by taking my title from me, when for so long I saw him as someone more honorable then that. Then, he took his brothers in Absolution and beat me down worse then anyone in NLCW had ever been able to before.

That haunting smirk of his... that look in his eye that shatters dreams and implants nightmares into the brain... after taking so much damage from him and his buds, I had to somehow overcome all he'd thrown at me. Yet when I looked into his eyes... I could only smirk right back at him. No strength to lift my arm, no energy to spit in his face... I could only smirk back at him and show him I was unafraid, show him I was ready for it all.

I realized that the only fair fight I'd have would be on Sunday... because he wasn't through playing games to weaken me before the match. I realized that I was actually fine with that, that somehow I'd still be able to overcome all the odds...

"Hey Suki?" I found myself speak up suddenly, breaking from my thoughts as I saw you jump a little from the sudden intrusion of sound. You giggled lightly at the fright I'd given you, looking into my eyes again as I chuckled and continued, "Do you remember... after Crystal died, those few times I actually tried wrestling again?"

"Yeah..." you said to me, "You were so ashamed of even trying to that you covered your face with a mask for awhile. When the mask broke... you had one of the guys paint your face so you wouldn't be revealed during the match..."

I lifted my eyes to the rafters, squinting into the spotlight as I remembered those few fleeting months of effort I put in to get back into things before inevitably damning it all and throwing in the towel for the time being. So many years ago, that was... almost a decade, now.

"What if I started doing that again? Hiding my face, I mean..." I asked in wonder, looking back down at you to see a look of confusion cross your face.

"Why would you?" you asked, tilting your head to the side.

Some more spotlights flickered in the arena, the silence outside of our voices returning as I simply stood in thought for awhile, wondering that same thing myself. Wondering why the very thought would come into my mind for seemingly no apparent reason...

Yet soon the reason was very apparent to me, and I knew exactly what to say.

"When Violent A looks at me... he sees Dominic Pericolo. He knows what to expect from me because he's studied so much of my career to gain an edge over me. Yet what if he sees me and my face isn't as he remembers? What if that Dominic Pericolo he's studied so many tapes on suddenly changes days before the match, evolves to overcome the odds he's thrown at him... what if I do a complete 180 on his ass and he only has that short amount of time left to prepare for what I have in store?"

You nodded towards me in thought, seemingly pondering over everything that I'd said. I myself wondered if it would even work-- if it would even matter...

"It seems kinda silly," you interrupted my thoughts, "such a small change to mess someone's plans up... but I think it might work."

"Then I'll do it." I said, for with those words you spoke to me... I had all the conformation I needed.

We gazed into each other's eyes again, that silence filling the arena yet no longer as dreadful as it once was. The spotlights began to flicker and fade around us, and as we were slowly being covered by the darkness, I saw you close your eyes softly in prayer.

Closing my own eyes softly, I began to pray as well... and everything around me began to change.