A pool of crimson liquid begins to slowly spread out around the still corpse.  The thick blood oozes until it pools around the solid black boots of the HWA Champion, Creature.  The dark, opaque substance doesn't phase Creature, but the brutal killing moments ago barely touched his cold, black heart.  He raises his hands, which previously hung limp at his sides, up to mid-chest level and stares down at his gloved palms.  From behind his tight mask, his eyes move jerkily about, taking in every detail of his muderous hands.  As he glares downward, his head begins to spin.  He blinks a few times, and then finds himself lost in a flashback, a flashback of the violent scene which took place moments ago...

                As he walked through the grass on the side of the highway, his bent mind raced with thoughts of Thursday night's coming match.  His pace was unstable, as sometimes he stumbled forth briskly, and other times he slowly stomped along, smashing blades of green grass and weeds.  He hadn't taken his medication, and like his pace, his mental state was quite unstable.

Creature: Cobra Hawke and Maniac...the Lost Soulz.  Hmph.  Talkin' about all they've done...I can't stand those two!  That son of bitch Maniac...he tortured me for so long!  He wouldn't let me relax and have any fucking fun with my friends, hell no.  He wanted a God damned war.  The Soulz had to be the best, they had to, bleh.  Pimp Industries showed their fucking asses.  Pimp Industries...argh.  I'm all that's left of the once great dynasty.  And now those contemptible Soulz are back.  Fuck!  They are gonna make me go to war again!  They are gonna make me KILL THEM this time!

The disturbed champion staggerd dangerously close to the road, and consequently was almost hit by an oncoming vehicle.  He quickly bounded to the side, away from the road, and raised an angry fist at the car, spewing obscenities as he did.

Creature: Motherfucking asshole!  Shit!

Creature heaved his arms into the air, above his head.

Creature: Is this entire universe against me!?

He sighed and fell to the earth under his feet, laying flat on his back in the grass, under the bright sun.

Creature: Oh God...I can do this.  Damn it.  I beat four people in a row!  There's nothing I can't do.  So I'm not going to worry about Cobra and Maniac, or Manny as that little fruit calls him.  Besides, if I'm not up to the challenge Thursday, Blitz will be.  Inphino Bliz is the HCW Duo Champion, so of course he'll always win.  Hmm...I'm not quite sure what that is supposed to mean, however.  He probably means Double Champion, like I am.  Like I always seem to be.  Heh.  Then again, I don't know.  If he is talking about his titles, it doesn't make much sense.  A duo is two people, I guess...the Dynamic Duo.  Haha!  I don't think they were talking about their utility belts!

Creature giggled to himself and continued to babble almost incoherently, allowing himself to become oblivious to the world around him.

Creature: Yeah, I can beat the Soulz.  It'll be fun.  Let's see...I hold something like forty-five victories over Maniac, so I'm not too concerned about him anyway.  I beat him in two moves last week!  And then there is Cobra Hawke.  I don't think we've ever fought, but he isn't much of a challenge.  He isn't much of a man!  He had to work with Fate to win the Hardcore Title once, and I did that by myself three times!  Those silly Soulz.  All they ever talk about is what they have done, but when you think about it, I've done a whole hell of a lot more than both of them combined.  You know...I'm really great.  Yeah.  Dr. Resnik was right.  I am really great.

Suddenly, it happened.  Creature's creepily jolly thoughts were interrupted by a quick, light, wet jab to the side of Creature's head.  He quickly sat up in the grass and turned his head to find his assailant.  Once located, Creature hopped to his feet and motioned for the attacked to strike again.  As far as he was concerned, it was Maniac with a sneak attack!

Creature: C'mon ya son of a bitch!  Can't wait till Loaded?  Huh?  HUH?  I said c'mon!

"Maniac" cocked his head to the side, and then lowered it to the ground submissively.  Creature snorted.

Creature: What the hell is wrong with you?  You want a fight, don't you!?  I'm waitin', fucking moron!

"Maniac,"  with head still lowered, slowly began to make his way apprehensively towards Creature.  The HWA Champion stood his ground, and glared down at his assaulter.

Creature: I've had all I can take of you and your bullshit!

Creature lashed out with both hands, and caught "Manaic" around the throat!  With surpising ease, Creature hoisted "Maniac," a man much larger than he, into the air high above his head.  "Maniac" emmited a high pitched squeal, but Creature heard none of it.  He was lost in a blind rage, with his vision blurred and his ears hearing, but not listening.  With one sadistic twist, Creature cracked the neck of "Maniac," and thrust his now limp body to the ground.  Creature looked down at "Maniac," who was surprisingly still alive but clearly paralyzed and most probably brain dead.  He shook his head as salivia began to ooze out of the side of the once proud champion's open mouth, and his eyes rolled into the back of his head.  One of Creature's opponents for Loaded lay before him, twitching and taking in deep, long, heavy breaths.  "Maniac" was dying.

Creature: Do you understand now?  Do you understand that you will never be better than me now that I have broken your neck!?

"Maniac" responded with only an awkward gurggle, drawing a snort from Creature.

Creature: Such disrespect!  Now I finish the job!

Creature lifted his great right boot and brought it down with furious force on the side of "Maniac's" skull.  Once again, the inferno burning inside the psychotic champion conquered him, and he did not stop with one blow to the head.  He instead raised his foot again, and again, and again, each time delivering vicious, heinous blows to the temple, forehead, and jaw.  Ten times, twenty times, thirty times, he attacked, until finally the anger subsided.  He stood over his victim, panting and blinking rapidly, as his normal vision returned.  Moments passed, and he was slowly returned to reality.  And that is when he realized what he had done.

              A heavy sigh brings Creature back to the present, where he still stands over the body of the being he has just killed.  He allows his arms to once again fall to his sides, and looks down at his victim.  It is not the two time HCW Champion.  It is not the Hall of Famer.  It is not one half of his challengers at Loaded.  It is just a plain, brown, stray dog.  The left side of its skull has been completely bashed in, and its dark fur is stained even darker in its own life juices.  It lays in a puddle of its own blood, with its broken head arched backwards against its back, the way it landed after Creature so brutally snapped its neck and slammed it to the ground.

Creature: Ah...it was just a dog.  Just a stupid dog that I killed.  Inphino Blitz wouldn't kill a stupid dog.  Hmph.  I think it is time for some pills now.  That'll make me feel better.  Yes.  I will take some pills now.

Creature groggily reaches into the right pocket of his pants and produces a small, cylindrical bottle.  He pulls the white lid off while staring straight ahead.

Creature: This will make me feel much better.

Creature empties several of the spherical, white pills into his right hand, and dumps them into his open mouth, one of the few areas of his face the mask he wears does not conceal.  He crunches down mercilessly on the pills for several seconds, then swallows the entire bunch with one mighty gulp.  He lowers his head and shakes it quickly from side to side, and then nods to himself.

Creature: Yeah...that should do the trick.

He closes the bottle and slides it back into his pocket, and then steps away from the corpse.  He resumes his walk down the road, the memory of the recent killing already fading fast from his mind.
 

                A few hours after the incident on the side of the road, Creature finds himself back in his current hotel room, watching a video tape on a VCR that, by previous renters of this room, has been used to view pornography for the most part.  The room itself is small and dimmly lit.  The sheet from Creature's bed has been pinned up in front of the single window, blocking the outside light from entering.  The bed itself, which rests directly in front of a small stand supporting a television set and the VCR, has been practically stripped bare by Creature.  Aside from the sheet he used on the window, the pillows have been thrown to the ground, and the bed spread itself is only half on.  The ceiling of the room is high, and an old, dusty fan whirls about, creating a creeking noise with every revolution.  The door is splintered and the door knob is tarnished; it is locked tight.  In the corner, resting by a tipped over chair, sit the HCW World Tag Team and HWA World Title belts.

On the bed, Creature sits, wearing a mask and some stained white shorts.  His body is tense, and he is hunched over, staring at the TV where the tape is played.

Creature: Look at this.  The Abyss.  Through the "glass ceiling."  Through two tables.  And there it is.  The one, two, three.  Hmph.  Maniac.  Oh yeah, I earned bragging rights last Thursday.  And yeah, I earned bragging rights when I beat him for the HCW World Title, as clean as could be.  So what the hell makes him think Loaded will be any different?  It is time he accepts the fucking fact that he, and Cobra, were not, are not, and will never be better than me...and Inphino Blitz.

Creature lurches forward and presses the Power button on the VCR, turning the device off without even stopping the tape.  When not playing a tape, the TV displays only static, but Creature doesn't care.  He leans back on his bed and folds his arms behind his head.

Creature: The Lost Soulz are jokes at this point.  I know Maniac thinks he inflicted a hefty blow when he talked his trash about my HWA Title win and reign, but he didn't help his case much.  Maniac...you fucking moron.  You asked me straight up if I wanted to be remembered as a man who a has been saw as the best.  Hell...it would be better than being rememebered as the man who lost to the man who a has been saw as the best.  And you don't respect me.  Good!  I don't want YOUR damn respect, it's not worth shit to me.  Nothing you say or do is worth shit to me Maniac.  And as for Cobra Hawke...please.  You and Maniac both talk about how you are back and ready to dominate, and you both like to mention the Pimp Industries period in HCW time.  Let me tell you guys- the last thing you want people to remember is Pimp Industries and your battles with them, because the Soulz were our bitches.  And even though Pimp Industries has ceased to exist, and even though I am the last remaining member of the great group employed by HCW, you can rest assured that the great tradition of the Soulz being Creature's bitches will be perpetuated.  Oh!  And not only did you idiots promise to be the hell out of me and my good friend Inphino Blitz, but you Maniac promised to make me bleed.  That makes me smile.

Creature rises from his bed and stretches.  His head becomes light as he does, and he loses his train of thought for a moment.  The medication is wearing off, and it is time for another dose.

Creature:  Oh...damn.  What was saying?  Yeah...that's right.

Creature's exposed lips curl up into a sinister grin.

Creature: Go ahead, Maniac.  Make me bleed.  It won't stop me.  It won't hurt me.  It won't humiliate me.  It will be just more blood that I give to HCW, and in case you haven't realized it, I give a whole fucking lot of blood to HCW!  You can talk about the HWA Title, and how I'm not a good champion, you can talk about the HCW Title, and how you know what it is all about.  You can even claim to have them both before long.  But you know what Maniac?  You don't know a God damn thing about being a champion!  You never have.  To you, shit, it is just more "glory."  To you it is just something to strut out to the ring with, and to brag about for MONTHS after it is gone.  For you, it just more ego masturbation.  Hmph.  But I guess masturbation is something you are familiar with, now that your old whore is banging the boss!

Creature snorts and storms over to the corner of his room where his belts are.  He swoops down and grabs them off of the hard wood floor of the room, and raises them high.

Creature: Maniac, you stupid son of a bitch!  You bitch and complain about being all alone in life, and all of that other shit.  But you don't know the meaning of being alone.  Look at me!  LOOK AT ME MANIAC!  LOOK AT ME!

Creature charges into the pathetic, filthy bathroom of his hotel room and glares into the cracked mirror above the scummy sink.  He stares into his own reflection.  He searches for a shred of sanity, a shred of goodness.  But only evil looks back.  Pure evil.

He shudders and turns away.  He lowers his head and glances at his two title belts.

Creature: Maniac...Cobra Hawke.  You have no idea about being alone.  These belts...these championships...they give me a reason to live.  And I will be fucking damned before I let two cocky-ass Lost Soul pieces of crap take my reason to live away from me.  You'll have to kill me.

Creature sighs and drops the belts to the floor of the bathroom.  He staggers out and falls onto his bed, with a tropical storm bombarding his brain.

Creature: It is time for more pills.  Definitely time for more pills.

Creature pulls himself into a seated position on the bed, and digs down deep to find the strength to stand up and get to his medication.  But as he climbs back to his feet, he blackouts for a brief instant, and finds himself momentarily recalling the murder of the dog.  He shakes his head and stares down at his hands once again.

Creature: That dog...dogs.  Dogs.  That is what Cobra Hawke and Maniac are.  Two stupid dogs.  Two stupid dogs whose necks I will break on Loaded.  Two stupid dogs whose heads I will stomp in on Loaded.  Two stupid dogs whose blood will soak the bottom of my boots when I am finished with them.  Two stupid dogs who don't know who they're fucking with.  Now then...

Creature walks towards the pants he was wearing earlier in the day, made of leather and resting on the floor in a wad.  As he walks, he begins to stumble about as he did earlier in the day when he encountered the dog.  He kneels down when he reaches the pants and withdraws the bottle of pills.  He forces the lid open and empties several pills into his mouth straight from the container before closing it.  He rises and rubs his masked face.

Creature: Inphino Blitz.  Yeah...he's a stupid dog, too.