The scene opens as Michael Sommers walks with a purpose towards the entrance way out to the arena and the screaming and cheering fans… his intentions to scout out Chance during his match with Sirus Moran.  Before he can reach the curtains, Keldman appears and holds up a hand.

 

“Whoah, you’re not going out there!”

 

Sommers stares down the smaller man.

 

“And why the hell not, Keldman?   I am going to see just who this Chance person is.. and what to expect Monday.”

 

Shaking his head, Keldman speaks.

 

“No.. I don’t want you getting involved out there, and you inedibility will knowing you!  Besides, with all this business with XIII or whatever, I don’t need another confrontation happening!”

 

“My business with XIII is my own!”

 

“It’s not… not when it happens during my shows!!”

 

“Dalton’s shows…”

 

“What was that?”

 

“Never mind.. I have no intentions of interfering in the match out there… but you’re not going to prevent me from seeing for myself.”

 

The sudden screams and boos from the arena side catch both men’s attention.  Keldman races to where he can see, with Sommers close behind.  They witness Sirus Moran being attacked by the Dragon.. Keldman swears under his breath and goes in search of help.. we think.. Michael moves to go help his friend when he sees something out his eye. He turns swiftly and catches a glimpse of a red cloak down the hallway.

 

Torn between his friend’s plight and the suspicious cloak, Michael’s personal fear inspires him to chase down the figure.  He races down the hallway and around the corner…. Moving down the hallway, he tests all the doors, but they are locked….and comes to a door at the end of the hallway.  He rips it open, and finds himself outside… and no one in sight.

 

Cursing, he races back inside, but by the time he reaches the arena.. Sirus and Dragon are gone… and the next match is beginning.  Pissed off, Michael stalks out of the arena and gets into his car.  Driving back to the motel.. Sommers enters and throws his keys against the wall.. his anger over flowing.  Grabbing the remote, he flicks on the TV and goes and splashes water on his face.  And like last time, he’s able to catch Chance’s words on screen. 

 

Something happens tho, during Chance’s words… the tension drains from Michael’s shoulders and by the end.. he’s let out a short laugh and falls flat on his back on the bed.  He stares up at the ceiling for a few moments, as he catches his breath.  Lifting back up, he turns the TV off and shakes his head, letting one last small laugh escape him.  He turns towards us.

 

“I’ll say this Chance.. you have managed to do something that no one has been able to do for me in a very long time…”

 

“You made me laugh.”

 

The smile leaves his face then.

 

“The sheer absurdity of your comments amazes me.  You dare suggest you know anything of what’s going on with me?  You say you can tell me who he is? What he wants, and every answer to every question that haunts me?”

 

“There is only one answer you can give me, Chance… but it’s to a question that hasn’t yet been asked… “

 

He pauses.

 

“What happens when Michael Sommers gets his hands around Chance’s neck during their match tonight?”

 

“I suspect the answer you want to give me is that you’ll turn the tables and put Michael Sommers out of his misery…”

 

“But allow me to enlighten you, by giving you the answer that will be more widely accepted… Whether I’m Michael Sommers or Raizzor… I ‘WILL’ bury you.”

 

“Not in the ground, covered by dirt.. but under the foot of my rage… not any rage that targets you, per say, Chance… but the rage filling my heart and soul for a man who has seemingly found my weaknesses and means to exploit them to my downfall.”

 

“All this time, and all you can do is grasp at straws and try to dig into my insecurities.. but instead you’ve cleared my head and made me see that everything up to now has been a game of cat and mouse… and this supposed mouse is tired of running.”

 

“Try to tempt me to the dark side, a place I know too well, and you risk setting free something uncontrollable.. unthinkable.  It is none of your concern, Chance, why I turned my back to the dark forces… and you are in no position to criticize my choices.”

 

“And you have opened the door to see the biggest flaw in your entire speech…. It has not been years… as you mentioned.. that I left the darkness for the life I lead now.  My father showed me the light, when he lay in that hospital bed.. so near death.. and I saw that his soul was close to leaving him.. and I knew then, thanks to him.. that I didn’t want to be involved in the collection of any more souls….of being a merciless destroyer.”

 

“If you think, however, that this makes me less of a man then I once was… I say you’re wrong.. for I am stronger, more powerful then I ever was.. because only the strong can turn their back on the easy road.. and walk the hard path to survive.  I choose to enter the ring with the knowledge and skill I have as a wrestler… not any other way.”

 

His eyes narrow… the veins in his forehead seem more pronounced.. yet otherwise he appears calm.

 

“Lastly, you are in no position to make any request of me, Chance.  Like any student not ready, you beg my test of you to be insane… but on the academic end, we must find out just how capable you really are!  Mock the Final Exam… I do not care.. for when it comes time… “

 

He pauses, a small smile plays across his lips.       

 

“..which you demonstrated so eloquently in your last promo….you will take the Final Exam.. and your final grade will be just like all the others….

 

“Failure….remember well, that power flows to the one who knows how; Desire alone, is not enough!”

 

Getting to his feet, Sommers walks off to the bathroom… and shuts the door.

 

End.