As the sun rises in New York City, it strikes the hood of a black Corvette, and slowly inches its way up to the windshield, its golden fingers piercing the glass and jabbing the sole occupant, seated in the driver's seat asleep, in the eye.  The driver stirs and frantically begins swatting the beams of light away from his face before sitting up and shaking his masked head back and forth rapidly.  It Sunday, January 27th, the day of HCW Unleashed, and the HWA World Champion is still in New York City, and has a busy day ahead of him.  He must first visit Dr. Resnik to conclude their session from the previous night, and then he must fly to Toronto, where he will participate in perhaps the biggest match of his career, the Iron Man Match for both the HCW and HWA World Championships.  An Undisputed World Champion will be crowned, and Creature would rather die than lose this match.

As Creature struggles to sort everything out and prepare for the day, his Corvette sits across the street from the mammoth building in which Dr. Resnik's office lies.  He opted to sleep outside the office last night, so he could get the session over with first thing in the morning, and be on the plane to Toronto by noon.

The driver's side door to the Corvette pops open, and then is sent flying out in a wide arc as Creature crawls out of the car and onto his feet.  He shuts the door to his expensive sports car, stretches, and then sets out across the street.  He is still adorn in the grey coat from the previous night, and the same mask.  In fact, he has not changed his apparel at all.

Into the building he goes, and just as he did the prior evening, he checks in with the middle aged Asian woman, who serves as a secretary, behind the counter and then begins the trek up the staircase, followed by the almost endless hallway which carries him straight to Resnik's elaborate door.

Creature: Alright doc...let's see what bullshit you've got waiting for me today.

Creature raises a hand, which is mising the glove from last night, and knocks upon the door.  He listens for Resnik to answer, and he does.

Resnik: Yes...come in.

Creature snorts and opens the door.  Inside, the light shines through a large window, hitting Resnik's corner desk and bathing it in its warmth.  Resnik himself is seated behind the desk, with a pen in hand, hurriedly writing something down.  There is a steaming cup of coffee on the desktop by the papers he is working on.  After last night's session, Creature views Resnik less as the devil and more as a nuissance.  It is almost funny- at first he found Inphino a mere nuissance that was necessary for his reign as HCW Tag Team Champion to continue, and then Blitz evolved into the devil.  Resnik's role in Creature's mind has been the exact opposite.

Resnik: Go ahead and sit down.

Creature smirks and nods, and then turns towads the couch.  Before he can even take a step towards the ellegant piece of furniture, he halts.  He is not alone with Dr. Resnik.  Oh no, there, sitting on the couch, is none other than HCW lead reporter, MATT MADISON!  Creature errupts with anger.

Creature: What the FUCK is this imbecile doing here!?

Matt looks up at Creature with a look of fear, and Resnik furrows his brow.

Resnik: I can see you two know each other.  Creature, Mr. Madison will be joining us for today's session.  He would like to take some notes.

Creature grits his teeth and clenches his jaw.  His head shakes up and down and his hands are curled into tight fists of rage.  He moves his focus from Madison to Resnik, then back again.

Creature: Oh.  Joining us for today's God damn session.  He's fucking joining us for today's damn session.  This asshole is joining us for the motherfucking session that will be taking place today.  Uh...NO.  This is not going to fucking work.  I'm liable to kill the bastard within the first five minute.

Matt sighs and frowns.  He stands up and places a small hand held tape recorder inside his coat, and begins to head towards the door.

Matt: Well, I tried.  Thank you Dr. Resn-

Resnik: (interrupting) No, no.  Please.  Take a seat Mr. Madison.

Matt shrugs and takes his seat once more, then retrieves his tape recorder.  Creature glares at him with hatred, and Dr. Resnik rises from his desk and walks around towards Creature.

Resnik: Creature...Mr. Madison stays.  Now go sit down.

Creature moves his glare from Madison to Resnik.

Creature: Fine.  It'll be his funeral.

Creature slowly saunters over to the couch, and plops down rebelliously.  He doesn't even removes his coat, and instead stretches out on the couch, forcing Madison to find room at the very end.

Creature: Alright, Doctor.  I'm ready.  Let's begin.

Resnik nods, and Matt presses the "Record" button on his tape recorder.  Resnik walks back around behind his desk, takes his chair by the back with both hands, and pushes it around the desk in front of the couch via rollers on the bottoms of each of the chair's four legs.  Resnik lowers himself down into the chair, crosses his legs in front of him, and begins.

Resnik: Creature, last night, I talked to you about Complicated, Michael Mercer, your medication, the Cross Face Chickenwing, and your losing streak.  And it all came back to one thing- to one man.  Inphino Blitz.  The HCW Champion.  You've never cared for Inphino, correct?

Creature shrugs.

Creature: I more or less hated him from the moment I laid eyes on him.  But I tolerated him, for a while.  I tolerated him until December 2nd, 2001.

Madison sits up in the couch and cuts in.

Matt: HCW Born Again.  The night you lost to Inphino Blitz in the Hell in a Cell Ladder Match to crown a new HCW Champion.

Creature shoots Matt an evil glare.

Creature: I am aware of what happened that night, Matthew.

Madison shrinks down in his seat.

Matt: Sorry, Creac-Creature.  Sorry.

Creature nods and turns back to Resnik, though he peers at Madison out of the corners of his eyes.  Today, Madison is wearing a brown suit with a white shirt and a brown tie.  He was already in Toronto, but when he received word that Creature was returning to the psychiatrist, he flew in over night for this once in a lifetime opportunity to hear Creature tell all, if in fact he does.

Resnik: The point is that you have never cared for Blitz.  Why?  Why, before December 2nd, didn't you like him?  Why did he bother you so much?

Creature: Why?  How about because I faced him, and another total loser, the first show back in HCW.  It was a cage match, and he cut me open from ear to ear.  I bled buckets.  But I still escaped the cage.  My hand was still the one that was raised that night.  I won the first HCW main event back, just as I had won the last HCW main event in the "Old Era."  I was the man in HCW, and in fact, I still have the HCW Title belt with me, until they took it from me.  I didn't even really care about Blitz until after the match.  Sure, he busted me open.  That pissed me off, but I knew I'd return the favor sooner or later, and I let him know that.  The thing that really showed me what a total bastard he is was when he claimed that he "let me win."  He said he let me, the greatest HCW Champion of all time, WIN.  No one let's me win.  If anything, everyone goes out of their way to screw me over.  But there this new blood was, this HWA reject, this man who had just LOST to me, claiming that if he had really wanted to win, he would have.  I hate his ass so much...I MUST win at Unleashed!

Madison rubs his ears, as Creature yelled awfully load in close proximity.  Creature looks over at him and shakes his head in disgust.

Resnik: So it was his denial that you defeated him fairly that first made you dislike him?

Matt: Sounds like it to me, but we'll never know for sure if Blitz let Creature win.

Creature raises a clenched fist to Madison.

Creature: You are to keep your mouth shut.

Resnik intervenes before the loose cannon that is the HWA Champion causes a violent scene.

Resnik: Why don't you tell us about what happened next?  How did you feel when you won the HCW Tag Team Titles with Blitz?

Creature leans his head back and sighs.

Creature: It was hell on earth, but I was blinded by the gleam of the championship gold.  The HCW Tag Team Titles have always been a sensitive topic with me.  Way back in May, at HCW Lord of the Ring, my old Pimp Industries companion Jack Duncan and I were to get a shot at the Tag Team Championship, inside a steel cage, against the Psychos, Jeo and Inferno.  It would have been an easy victory.  But at the last moment, the match was taken from us, because our lovely CEO Jon Savage didn't want me working twice- I had to choose between the title match with Jack, or a chance to once and for all settle my differences with Fate.  I chose the latter, and Jack soon departed.  I always have regretted not winning the Tag Team Titles.  No- because I enjoyed destroying Fate in the Two out of Three Falls match.  I have always RESENTED Savage for his decision to make me choose.  But Savage is an asshole to begin with.  Ah...then months later, I would team up with Fate.  We received a shot at the HCW Tag Team Championship, against Chris Mercer and Michael Ryba.  We had their number weeks before the match was to take place.  We would have become the HCW Tag Team Champions.  But the day of the show, we all received the fateful call- the HCW had hit the rocks, and then CEO Andrews had called it quits.  We never received our shot.

Resnik: I see.

Matt: I remember that.

Creature glares at Matt, who quickly looks down at the floor.

Creature: So when I was informed that I would be paired up with my good friend and former Pimp Industries member Complicated to take on Inphino Blitz and Mickey Vegas of all people to become the first HCW Tag Team Champions of the "New Era," I jumped at the chance.  Of course, Gill had his way, and by the end of the night, I had one Tag belt, and Blitz had the other.  How did I feel about it?  Like I said earlier- I was simply happy to have championship gold again, WORLD gold again.  But Doctor- I thought about what you said last night.  What you asked me.  Would I truly retain a title if it meant that I would have to continue teamming with Blitz?  The answer is no.  And as the weeks dragged on, I soon realized that Blitz was not the right partner for me- I wanted to rip his heart out and eat it for a midnight snack.

Madison cringes at that thought, and is mercifully spared any verbal or physical berratement by Creature for it.  Resnik smiles as he realizes he may have made some sort of breakthroght with Creature, though how much he could not tell.
 

Resnik: Tell us Creature, about December 2nd.  The night all of your problems began.  Tell us how you felt after the match?

Creature gazes up at the ceiling for a moment, then looks down at Dr. Resnik.

Creature: I can tell you exactly how I felt.  I sat in the arena for hours...

                All is still.  All is silent.  It is dark, desolate, and solemn.  Almost every soul has come and gone.  The seats rest empty.  The ring sits, stained with the blood of the triumphant, the blood of the fallen, the blood of the conquerors, and the blood of the conquered.  Every few seconds, the sound of the arena maintenance crew, cleaning the arena, can be heard, but nothing more.  At the center of the ring, with ropes already taken down, with the cell and ladder already removed, sits a steel chair, all but vacant.  Occupying this chair is a man whose entire world changed in one moment which took only a second, but lasted an eternity.  He leans forward in the chair, with his head burried in his hands.  He breathes deeply, in and out.  His mask is tattered and torn, and his own crimson juice is dried and caked on his unseen face.  His attire is the same as it was hours ago- when he competed in this very ring.  Laying on the battle-worn mat beside the chair is his half of the HCW World Tag Team Title belts.  In his lap rests his new acquisition, constructed of gold and leather, a prize he did not defeat anyone for, a prize that he has never aspired to attain.  It is virgin to human possession, it has never been defended in combat before, it has never been strapped around a warrior's waist.  It is the Hardcore Wrestling Alliance Championship, a title comparable to the HCW Championship, the very championship this individual lives for.

                Creature: Oh what irony...I worked so hard, strived for so long, to reclaim what I never lost, the HCW Championship.  And look at me now.  The night of my destiny has come and gone, and I am left with a title whose existence I never bothered to recognize.  For that matter, a title no one ever bothered to recognize.  I am the HWA Champion.  The first ever.  The only ever.  I possess something Inphino Blitz strived for, but never claimed, and he holds something that I fought to regain, something I need to sustain life.  Hmph.  And it would all be different if it wasn't for one man.  One very "complicated" man...

Creature: ....those were my words.  The moment Blitz's hand was raised, I bagan hating him.  I could not stand to breath the same air as he did.  I could not stand to walk to same earth that he did.  But I tucked it all away.  I took it all out on Complicated.  I built myself up with the claim that Blitz had never held the HWA Title, which is indeed a true fact.  I told myself that Blitz wasn't at fault, that he was my tag team partner, and he was my friend.  I blamed everything on Complicated from that moment on...sort of.  It wasn't long until it all caught up to me.

Resnik: Do tell, Creature.  I'm interested to know what lead to you arriving here in the first place.

Matt: Oh, I was there.  You don't-

Creature: (interrupting) Shut up.  Doctor, I could not think straight.  I remember one morning...

                SWOOSH!  The sheet's on the king sized bed are thrown into the air and gently drift back down to the bed.  A figure writhes underneath the sheets, and sighs heavily.  He wears a mask, but it simply rests over his face, and is not tied on.  Other than that, the figure is nude.  The strong, muscular man turns his head and glances at a black digital clock positioned on a night stand.  It is 7:00 A.M., Wednesday morning.

                Creature: No sleep...argh!  Maniac, Jeo, Wolverine...they all haunt me, but none more than Complicated!  How has he managed to crawl deep down inside my mind!?  Damn him!  Damn him and his mocking words!

                Creature knocks the sheets away from his naked body once again, and climbs out of the bed.  He stomps towards the bathroom of his penthouse in New York, and angrily throws the wooden door open.  His bare feet slap the hard, cold marble floor as he plods directly toward the shower stall, and climbs in.  The grumpy HWA Champion slowly reaches down and viciously twists the knob to summon forth the heated water.  He doesn't bother with the cold.  He stands their, with searing hot water pouring over his tense physique, unmoving.  He cannot focus.  The match this Thursday is preying on his mind, but more importantly, Complicated is preying on his mind.  Creature continues to mutter to himself in the early morning as the stall, with frosted glass door still wide open, begins to steam up.  Before long, the entire bathroom is filled with steam, and Creature's skin is burning red with heat.  Creature reaches back down and half-way turns off the water, then exits the stall.  He pays no attention to the still dripping faucet, and barely focuses on drying himself off with a soft, green towel.  He lightly rubs himself down, more concentrated with talking about his opponents than anything else, and exits the bathroom.

                Creature: HWA Champion...first ever.  And I still get no fucking respect.  Blitz gets respect.  What has he done?  He's no goo...ah, he is my partner.  He's a good man, and a good champion.

Creature: ....that was the day I first met you.  Later on, I was locked up because I hit a cop.  And then I told some jack off to go to hell at the station, and they sent me to you.  You drugged me up real nice and good, and things seemed okay, for a while.

Matt: I never heard the full story about that first meeting.  I never heard what you said about Inphino Blitz.

Resnik sighs and caresses his forehead, while Creature glares at Matt.

Resnik: I remember vividly what Creature said....

                Resnik: You know, you mentioned the HCW Title a while ago, as if you'd rather have it.  But I thought you were on good terms with your partner Inphino Blitz.  Shouldn't you be happy for him?  Let's discuss Blitz for a while.

                Creature: Blitz...

Creature: Stop it right there Doctor!  What I told you that day was never to leave that session.  It is not for Madison's ears, it is not for the world's ears.

Resnik raises an open palm to Creature, and motions for him to cool down.

Resnik: Fine.  We'll move on.  After that, you two lost the HCW Tag Team Titles, correct?

Creature nods, and Madison raises a hand to his mouth, and begins gnawing on his fingernails.  Creature's presence makes him nervous.

Creature: The pills, and the championship gold kept me and my temper in check for the most part.  But the MOMENT the referee counted to three the night we lost the Tag Team Titles, and I realized Blitz had been pinned, had been beaten, had lost MY Tag Team Title, I felt something slip inside. I basically just let all my pent up emotions free, and the truth about Blitz came out...

               Creature: The simple truth is that I hate Inphino Blitz, and I am proud of it.  And now, the burden has been lifted.  I no longer am forced to team with him to remain a champion.  Sure, no one likes to lose, except maybe Jeo.  But now that the dust has settled and the smoke has cleared, I can take my title "loss" for what it was- liberation.  Blitz never understood me.  Blitz never knew me.  But in coming weeks, I promise you this- he will find out more about me than he ever dreamt of knowing.  He will feel my pain.  He will feel my torment.  He will feel my insanity.  And at HCW Unleashed, oh yes, hell yes, my rage will be unleashed upon that dirty son of a bitch, a rage that has built since Born Again!  I will beat him from pillar to post and back again for an hour straight, and when that dreadful sixty minutes is over, he will bow down before me and know me as his god.

Creature: ....that is what I said during the first interview I conducted after losing the titles.  And while then I said I accepted the title loss, it would come back to haunt me as soon as my losing streak began to grow.

Matt: Creature- you've only lost two straight matches!

Creature turns and snaps at Madison.

Creature: For me, that is enough!  For me, that dwarf's Pain's 0 and 6 record.  For me, that makes Aussie Joe's ten match losing streak from months past seem appealing.

Matt: That doesn't make any sense at all!  You would rather lose 10 matches in a row than 2-

Creature (interrupting) Just shut the fuck up little man, before I break you in half and feed you to the pigs!

Resnik reaches forward and grabs at Creature, trying to comfort him.  Creature jerks away, and leaps up from his seat.

Resnik: Creature, take your seat.

Creature: No damn it.  You are not helping me.  All you are doing is having me tell a story.  If I wanted to tell a story, I'd write a fucking book.  Now excuse me- I have a God damn plane to catch in about-

Creature glances up at the clock on the wall.

Creature: Two hours.  Thanks for nothing.

Creature turns and storms out of the room, slamming the door behind him.  Matt Madison and Dr. Resnik gaze at each other in amazement.

Matt: Has something like this ever happening to you be-

Suddenly, the door flies open once more, and Creature returns to the room.  He storms right towards Madison, reaches downward, snatches the tape recorder, and hoists it into the air.

Creature: This travesty will never be heard!

Creature heaves the device to the ground, and finishes it off with a mighty stomp, shattering it and sending black plastic everywhere.

Creature: You can't help me.  Tonight, when I demolish Inphino Blitz live in front of the entire world for to become the Undisputed World Champion, the HCW Champion, I will help myself!

Creature once again exits, and this time, he does not return.  Matt Madison rises from the couch and shakes Dr. Resnik's hand.

Matt: Well, Doc, thank you for at least trying.

Resnik rises and nods.

Resnik: I don't expect to be seeing him ever again.  Not in here anyway.

Matt: So...do you have any idea what is wrong with him?

Resnik: Ask him.  He's pretty much right.

Matt: What do you mean?

Dr. Resnik clears his throat before spewing forth his diagnosis.

Resnik: From what I can tell...he has an inferiority complex.

Matt: You mean HE believes he is inferior to everyone else?

Resnik: That what I get out of it.

Matt: But he has to be the absolute most conceited bastard I know!

Resnik: That's where it gets difficult.  His arrogance is not a front.  He is not low on self-confidence by any means.  He believes he is worse than everyone deep down, but because of his ego, he can never accept that fact.  Two conflicting personalities almost, but he does not have a multiple personality disorder.  Instead, these two conflicting qualities have manifested into mild paranoa.  The bottom line here is this- unless Creature is the champion, he will constantly think he is the worst wrestler in HCW.  But his ego will not allow him to truly accept that fact, so he is driven to do whatever he can to prove his dominance- be it through winning a match, or tormenting someone in the Cross Face Chickenwing.  As confussing as it is, just imagine being him.

Matt: Is there anyway we can help him?

Resnik: He'll never accept anyone's help.

Matt: Right, the ego.

Resnik: He was right when he said he'd help himself by winning the title.

Matt: And if he doesn't?

Resnik: Let's hope that doesn't happen.

Matt: He won't commit suicide or anything will he?

Resnik: Heavens no.  He'll probably just kill someone.  There will be hell to pay, that's all I can say.

Matt: So Doc...how did you figure all of this out?

Resnik: In our first meeting, what Creature told me about Blitz was simple. He said...

                Creature: Blitz...I envy him.

Resnik: ....That was it.  I gave him the prescription, and he left.

Matt: What?

Resnik: Creature was always egotistical.  But when Blitz, who is seemingly his exact opposite came along, and received high praise and respect...he developed the inferiority complex.

Matt: I'm finding this all very hard to believe, but I'll take your word for it, Dr. Resnik.  Nice meeting with you.

The two shakes hands once again, and Matt Madison departs.  As he heads down the long hallway, he can't help but wonder if Dr. Resnik is REALLY correct.  Could Creature's problems be more complex then what Resnik hypothesizes?