Slowly, the Blazer came to a halt as it found a parking spot in the far reaching corner, back and away from the rest of what seemed to be the surrounding rentals of the wrestlers. As the engine cooled down, the driver's side door opened. Slowly, a pair of black, half-laced combat boots etched their way from the inside of the vehicle. With a large final step, the driver stepped out. He took a deep drag from his cigarette and looked around.

His name was Zero. Originally, he hadn't signed on with the CWL, a wrestling company that he had originally opted to just let be and stay away from. Stay away from the ring itself; that was his original plan. But, things can change without a previous notice. And under circumstances such as that, he found himself looking around at the size of the Richmond Coliseum.

He had came to the arena as how he always had done before, when wrestling was something he hadn't tried to separate himself from. The piercings that adorned his face glistened under the sunlight. His black anarchy T-shirt absorbed the heat rays coming down. He raised his face up to the sky, mentally questioning his decision, even moments before he would step back into the arena of the wrestling world. He wanted to just get back into his rental and drive to the airport. But his mind remembered why he had came. And with that, he had to push onward.

Reaching back into the Blazer for his bag, he grabbed it and closed the door to the vehicle. He took a look at the new model of Blazers that were being made now. Ugly design, he thought. If only… he flicked his cigarette away and took a step towards the rear entrance of the arena. The time of remembering what all had happened was not to be at that moment. He had to block the thoughts out. It was time for the wrestling world, no matter how much he had wanted to avoid it. Regardless of his desire to stay away from it's aspects and the personal knot that it kept tightened on everything away from it, he had to come back. A new setting, but the same thing once one looks at the core of it.

He made the long walk through the parking lot, finally coming up to the door. Taking a deep breath, he looked back around him before grabbing the handle. Slowly, he exhaled. With that, he released, to the best of his ability, anything that would block out the goal that he had to accomplish once he walked inside.

He sighed and tried to block out the reason for why he was there. Taking another glance at the crowd, he knew that was not the reason why he was there. He looked back to the workers backstage, each trying to get ready for their own match, segment, or run-in planned for them. He was not there for the same reasons as them. In fact, he knew he had no internal reason to even want to be there. The fact of the matter was, he had to be there. And being alone for those few moments caused the recent past to flood his mind.

There was Matt, God rest his soul. There was Erica and her pregnancy. There was no longer a vehicle that he could call his. Zero closed his eyes as his mind drifted back to them. For just that moment where he was alone; standing just inside of the backstage area, he tried to calm himself. His music was set to play any minute. He had to be ready, whether he wanted to or not.

Suddenly, he heard the Bad Religion song, a theme that he had used for almost his entire career, as it started to play throughout the arena. He looked out into the crowd. There was hardly even a mild response to the theme. It was new territory for him.

Zero closed his eyes and took one step forward toward the curtain. He had to block out the Zero of who he was. He had to find Zero, the wrestler, the maniac in the ring. He was somewhere, deep inside of him, stored away in hopes that he would never be retrieved again.

Zero took another step and pulled the curtain back. As he stepped out onto the entrance, his head tilted. His body stood silent. There he was. He had found the wrestler's hiding spot. Now, if only he could get the rest of him to come out by the time the bell rang.

As he walked down the aisle, he could hear the mixed reaction. Some remembered him from the East Coast. Some liked him, some didn't. Some could care less. He got into the ring, resting on the near ropes. Whoever this Kaid Mann character was, Zero was about to officially meet him in the ring.

Zero's music died down, as it was his opponent's turn to make his way down to the ring. The speakers placed around the stadium began to blaze with Kaid's music. Backstage, Kaid approached the back of the curtain. One of the officials stopped him along the way "Geez son, are you ok to wrestle?" he said. But Kaid was in no mood for idle chatter. He simply snarled at the official, who was quick to back away.

He reached the curtain and slapped it out of the way. The crowd response was mostly shock as Kaid stomped out onto the entranceway. His knuckles were already pouring out blood. His forehead was split open, blood dripping down one side of his face. This wasn't the usual way for a match to begin, but then from Kaid's point of view, this wasn't a match. It was his way of dealing with the pain inside.

From inside the ring, Zero realized who his opponent was. It was the same man who he had seen just moments ago, pummeling his own body into the locker doors. So... that was whom he had for the night. Inside the ring, he sighed in contempt of what he was once again in. Wrestling.

Kaid slowly walked down the entrance ramp, breathing heavily through this nose. His mind couldn't keep a thought going. All he wanted was to release the pain, to hurt everyone, to hurt himself.

A fan leant far over the barrier and tried to hand Kaid a beer. However, the fan didn't realize the frame of mind Kaid was in. Kaid slapped the beer from the fan's hand and grabbed the drunken guy around the neck, attempting to choke the life out of him.

From behind Kaid, someone grabbed him lose from the fan. Kaid turned to face Zero. Instantly, the anger inside of Kaid exploded onto Zero. Kaid lunged at Zero, toppling him in the walkway. Right hands flew down onto Zero, as the blood from the knuckles started a mist of red. Zero rolled from the onslaught and knocked Kaid off of him. But Kaid was determined, full of the anger. He speared Zero, knocking them both closer and closer to the ring apron.

Zero fell back with the spear. His mind wasn't set. What was happening with him? Kaid threw another punch at him. It connected with Zero's shoulder as he rolled up to block it. With one shove, Kaid fell back into the safety rails. Zero climbed to the apron and inside of the ring. Thinking Kaid would be dazed for at least a short moment, Zero went to the furthermost corner and buried his head in the safety pad, mentally trying to find the man inside of him that was supposed to be in that ring. He wouldn't have time, though, as Kaid lunged in with a high knee to his back.

Kaid turned Zero around and Irish whipped him into another high knee. Zero folded over at the midsection. Kaid latched onto Zero's head and slammed him down into the canvas with a quick, stiff DDT. He didn't let up there, though. He leaped to the middle turnbuckle and rebounded with a back elbow drop into Zero's chest. With the blood pouring into his mouth, Kaid got on all fours, looking at Zero for just a moment. Kaid's eyes were wild, sadistic with anger.

Zero began to crawl to his feet. He was taking a beating on the first night out. He looked up to see a blood coated man looking into his eyes. Then suddenly, Kaid sprung at him with a shoved clothesline. Zero saw it coming just in time, ducking down to the mat and rolling out onto the floor.

Kaid rolled through the move and looked up, only to see Zero standing on the outside below. Springing to his feet, Kaid ran to the ropes and leaped over them with a suicide plancha to the outside. He connected with Zero, sending both of them backwards into the steel safety rail. Zero crashed into the monitors at the base of the rail, where as Kaid bounced from the rails and onto the concrete below. Neither man moved for a moment after that.

Zero was the first to get up, as he clutched at his rib cage from where the corner of the monitor had drilled him. He saw Kaid lying beside him. He didn't know if he was conscious or not. One thing was certain, though. The man was crazy. Zero went to grab him and pull him into the ring when suddenly, something caught his eye. Zero looked off to the side to see a steel chair propped against the guardrail. He reached for it and grabbed it. Suddenly, things were becoming more relevant to the surroundings. He clutched it high into the air, bringing it down in a forceful swing onto the fallen Kaid.

Kaid's eyes opened up. The chair was coming down onto him. With one sudden kick, he kicked the chair back into the face of Zero. It caused the chair to fall from Zero's hands. Kaid grabbed it and threw it into the ring. He went to grab Zero and throw him back into the ring, but Zero grabbed his arm in resistance. Kaid's crazy eyes looked into Zero's, but saw something new there.

Zero found the wrestler. There had been the resistance. Zero didn't want to ever let that part of him back out. But as the match settled in, Zero couldn't stop it. He couldn't restrain it. As Kaid grabbed him to throw him back into the ring, Zero locked his eyes onto Kaid. Kaid was insane. He was a maniac. But Zero didn't care. With one quick move, he grabbed the arm of Kaid and slung him into the far guardrail. Kaid hit with a sickening thud, his body becoming a rag doll with all of the abuse it had obviously been through before the match had even started. Zero paid it little to no attention as he went for his destination: he looked under the ring to find the tables nestled under there.

Kaid hit the rail with a thud. His eyes cracked open to see Zero pulling out a table from under the ring. With one quick slide, Zero had the table in the ring and was coming towards Kaid. Kaid caught Zero by surprise, though, as he slung himself up to grab Zero's head. With one giant thrust off the guardrail, Kaid threw his and Zero's body across the mats with a pounding Bulldog.

Reaching into the ring, Kaid pulled that metal chair back out. He mounted onto the back of Zero's back and began laying in the right hands while holding the chair in his left. With each punch, it felt like the emotions inside of him exploded. Kaid was out of it.

Zero couldn't open his eyes. The shots to his head were numbing, blending together with each repeated blow. He could feel the blood start to slip down his ears, splattering against his cheek and nose. He swung his hand behind him, but Kaid was too far up his back for him to be able to reach. His only desperation move was his elbow. With all of his might, he swung a dead elbow into the middle of his back. He felt the thud as he connected solidly with Kaid's flesh. He repeated the move, slamming Kaid with one elbow after another. The punches to his face kept rocking in, but Zero was slamming the elbows in with them.

The back and forth punches were becoming too much. Kaid crawled from atop of Zero and rolled him over. His face was bloodied. Both of their faces were bloodied. Kaid took the chair in his hand and raised it high into the air. He swung down, but Zero rolled out of the way. Kaid felt the shock of pain slip through him as Zero punched Kaid right into the shin. Kaid stumbled on one foot as Zero got to his feet in front of him.

The blood was sipping into Zero's eyes. He had been lucky to see that chair shot coming. He wasn't as fortunate as Kaid slung the chair across his skull for a connecting chair shot. He could only see the blood imprints on the chair as Kaid raised it for a repeated blow. Again, Kaid slammed the chair against Zero's skull. Zero fell to his knees. The wrestler, the fighter, was inside of him. But he was having a hard time coming out. As the third chair shot setup for the blow, Zero lunged forward, connecting with a low blow on Kaid.

Kaid dropped the chair as he fell to his knees. He felt as if his whole stomach was rushing over. He grabbed for his crotch, only to soon after realize he wasn't going to be allowed the luxury. A chair shot swung down into the back of Kaid's head. He shook his head, trying to free the pain that lingered after. But suddenly, he felt the body of Zero push him over. His heads were wedged in-between the knees of Zero. And suddenly, there was a chair shot into his forehead. And another. Kaid fell to the mat, one hand clutching his crotch, the other soaking up the blood around his head.

Zero stood over the fallen Kaid, the chair in one hand and the other dangling by his side. Zero felt his left knee shake. It took great strength to keep from collapsing. He fell to his knee, clutching the chair to keep him upright. Slowly, in front of him, he saw Kaid stagger up from the mat.

Kaid got to his knees, he and Zero looking straight at each other. With an open hand, he threw a slap right into Zero's face. Grabbing hold of Zero's shirt, he shoved him into the ring apron. Zero grabbed hold of the bottom rope, pulling himself into the ring as he collided with the apron. Kaid tossed the chair high and into the ring, then pulled himself up into the ring.

As Zero rolled into the ring, he stopped atop the table. Looking up, off, he saw into the crowd around him. They were screaming. He concluded that Kaid must be behind him. He struggled to his knees, grabbing hold of one side of the table. It was something he used to always do. The table would be in the ring. It was an approach he used. Slowly, he unfolded one leg of the table. In his mind, he could feel himself returning to his previous shape. He got up to his feet, fully adjusting the table up on one leg, the other still lying on the canvas, creating a 45-degree slope. But then, from behind, he felt Kaid crash into him.

Kaid shoved a kick into Zero's lower back, sending him over the table and crashing down on the other side. He leaped over the table, landing on Zero's body. Instantly, he started in with the right hand assault. He could feel Zero's retaliating punches, but Kaid continued on with the punches. He hit him in the face, in the shoulder, in the chest... he was punching blindly, wildly. He paused for a minute, snorting a mist of blood out of his nose, but it was his mistake.

Zero waited for the opportunity. Suddenly, he found it. With one quick motion, he lunged up with a head butt, connecting squarely with Kaid. It rocked Kaid back on his knees, allowing Zero the chance to get to his feet, albeit slowly and with great pain. Kaid got to his feet and charged Zero. Zero tried to maintain his ground. He threw an under-hook punch into Kaid's face. Kaid's face popped up for a brief moment. It was all the time Zero had. He grabbed hold of Kaid's head, tucking it under his shoulder. With one fluid move, he swung his feet out, his back crashing into the half-propped table. Kaid's head went with it in the DDT. Table particles flew everywhere.

They both lay there for a moment, each feeling the blood as it trickled down their faces. Zero felt as if he couldn't move. That DDT might have been his last bit of resources. Kaid tried to move, but couldn't even feel his body as he tried to roll over. They could both hear the fans in the crowd, cheering them on for someone to get up. Someone to make the pin in the brutal match.

Slowly, they began to stir. Zero threw an arm out. Kaid raised his head. Zero pushed off the table pieces. Kaid cleared the blood as he rolled to his side. Getting to his knees, Zero pushed himself up. His back was to Kaid.

Kaid saw Zero getting up. He pushed himself. He got to his own knees, struggling to get to his feet before Zero could turn around. As he did, Kaid used all the energy that he could still muster to get to his feet. He grabbed Zero's neck, setting the chin against his shoulder. Then, with all of his body, he slammed his back against the table particles. Zero's face crashed down into them, splintering wood and cutting skin.

Zero could only feel being pulled back down into the wood. As his face crashed into the particles, his eyes closed.