act one: back to basics
"Tell me the truth, bud... I want to know why."
I remember the day well. After-all, it wasn't all that long ago, and while the cameras didn't seem to pick up on the event nearly as much as perhaps the fans may have wished they did, the fact of the matter was that I didn't need any film to remind me of the little things, the details of that day that closed a chapter in my life I honestly wasn't ready to close yet. I had only gotten out of the hospital a day prior, about the same time as Chris, actually... and it was still a few days left before our next, and last, Avulsion appearance.
It was the place that Chris, who had already formally announced his retirement, would say goodbye to the fans who helped shape him into the man he'd become.
For me, I had made my decision while laying in my hospital bed, staring out the window beside me in the building during one of my rare times spent alone in the place. Suki rarely left my side, and I'd be hard-pressed to find a moment where Champion wasn't sending some nurse over to harass me about something, yet somehow I was able to find a moment, just a few minutes to spend on my own and think.
Those few minutes helped me make my decision, a decision that to this day I do not regret making.
"Listen, Chris... I don't want you to feel like I'm doing this only because you are. The fact of the matter is, this is it for me."
I remember a twinge of pain in my body, as if it were trying to agree with me. On May 27th, Champion and I had put each other through more hell then anyone in either of our careers could have possibly put us through. We were a unique pair, he and I... and in many ways, we had no right to be as close as we were. In our line of work, we should have been enemies. In our line of work, we should have hated each other.
Yet he and I... we redefined our line of work, I'd like to think.
We were brothers. For the both of us there was a type-of sibling rivalry, the kind that makes you want to surpass the person in something yet support them in their own efforts all the same. The kind that, though you might not admit it, makes you secretly want to see them surpass you, if only because you know that it would be because of you in some way that they were able to.
"I've been doing some thinking... well, a lot of thinking, actually. I just... if there were any note to end this career of mine on, this would be it."
I remember pausing. I remember seeing a mixture of emotions cross Champion's face as I turned away from him to look out at the crowd that was forming outside of the small corridor we stood in. The podium I was preparing to stand before was being taken up by Dade Midvalley, who stood to address the small crowd and entertain them, so that I might have some time to prepare myself for what I was about to do.
"I..."
Champion had tried to say something, but his voice had choked. I stopped in my tracks and turned to see him, standing back where he had before with that trademark smirk of his plastered on his face. In any moment of weakness that Champion ever would show, regardless of whether he'd admit it himself or not... that smirk was his shield. That smirk was what kept others from knowing what was actually going on inside of his head; well, at least... unless they knew him well enough, that is.
I knew him well enough.
"Champion, Suki and I are getting married in the next few months. We'll probably be starting a family not long after that, don't you understand? It's the perfect time for me."
That smirk never faltered. I remember initially being confused, was it really the same smirk he'd always use to shield himself... or had he finally realized what I was trying to convey to him? I didn't know what to think, I just stood there staring at him in confusion as he first shook his head, and then brought his arms up to cross them over his chest.
"If I wasn't sensitive to just how much this means to you right now, Percolator... I'd come over there and punch you right in your damn jaw."
"... wh--"
"Listen, Dominic. I asked for the truth, and you told it to me. That's all I wanted. I didn't want you to keep beating around the bush, I didn't want for you to try and sugar-coat it..."
He paushed, uncrossing his arms and letting his eyes trail over to the crowd standing in front of the podium, Midvalley stalling as best as he could. As for Champion, the pause only lasted a few moments before he looked back at me, and finished what he was saying.
"... I just wanted to hear the truth. If this is what you want, that's fine, but... I do want to know, why so small?"
I sighed. For me, there were too many reasons to count... a small announcement meant less questions to answer, which meant less time to dwell over whether or not I was making the right decision. A small announcement meant taking questions for a short period of time, graciously thank the people who came, and quietly leave so that I could get back with the people I cared about, the people I needed to be with for support right now. Above all else, in many ways, a small announcement would be able to give me peace, and would allow me to step back out of the spotlight so that Champ might be able to stand in it alone for awhile, enjoying the victory he'd rightfully earned.
It was a back-and-forth game between the two of us throughout our careers... and I felt it only fitting that the winner be given the first chance to say goodbye. It was my decision that when I said goodbye to those people, the fans of the NLCW that I called my family... I would do it beside the man who made it all possible for me.
Champion would get his farewell, and at the end, I would share it with him. It was something I felt that the both of us deserved most of all.
And, so, I told him. I don't know how long it took for me to spill out all of it, but when I was done he simply stood there staring at me with that stupid smirk of his still plastered on his face, and yet at the time I could finally recognize it. That wasn't the smirk he used as a shield, that was just... well, to put it bluntly, that was just Champion's smirk. The same smirk he gave you when he was ahead of the game in the match, or when he was feeling confident about whatever was ahead of him, or when he just felt like messing with your head.
"Sounds good, Percolator... I think I can handle that."
He took a step forward and I felt a grin of my own spread across my face, the two of us holding out our fists and touching them in respect. He nodded his head to me and made a motion over my shoulder, which was his way of pointing out the floundering Dade Midvalley behind the podium outside to me.
"Looks like you're up, man... but, just so you know, you're gonna make a whole lot of people disappointed out there."
For once I think I was able to feel what Champion felt when he had that smirk of his on his face, that same sense of confidence and understanding of things to come in the face of everyone else being oblivious. He raised his eyebrow as my grin seemed to spread, a laugh escaping my lips as I turned to look out at Midvalley.
He didn't know, I hadn't told him yet. Primarily for the fact that nothing was finalized... but things around the NLCW were coming quickly to a change.
The man who was stalling for me in front of the podium would one day go on to be my successor, and I knew that long before I'd even made my announcement to the people a week before my match with Chris-- the announcement that revealed my newfound ownership of the NLCW, and JLR's demotion to a janitor for his misdeeds.
As for Dade Midvalley, he was still relatively new to the game, but he was smart and he was quick on his feet, and he had a sense for what was right and wrong. Watching him in action before I came around to take over made me realize what exactly he was made of as a businessman, and made me certain he would be the perfect choice for the NLCW's future.
The same night I made that announcement, I told the world I wouldn't retire-- not yet anyway--. but, for a time, I at least needed to take a long step back from things to figure it all out. I would take the time to teach Midvalley, and when the time came... I would sell my stock to him, make a profit that Suki, myself and our future family could potentially live off alone from the sale, and prepare myself for my next step forward in life.
I had it all figured out back then... I knew exactly what would need to be done.
And so as Midvalley graciously welcomed me on the stage, glad that he would not have to stall any longer... I remember thinking back on what Champion had told me. It was true, sure... people would be disappointed to hear of my retirement, temporary though it may have been.
Yet in the grande scheme of things, I knew that the actions I made from that day forward would dictate the life my family would be able to live in the future, and for me... that was most important of all.