Aperiophobia is over, the show that was supposed to show that Infinity was dominant that event that was going to put Infinity on the map ended the same way that the show's have been ending, the NHFC on top with the world title still in their grasps. Highone stood in the entranceway watching as that smug son of a bitch Dante and his band of merry men celebrated in the ring, at Infinity's event. The NHFC walked past him still celebrating with the shit eating grins on their faces. He stood in the aisle alone, hearing the fans give their various reactions to him some were kind, some were vicious. As he stood there, he looked straight ahead and watched as his stablemates came out. One by one all 5 men walked down the aisle and met Highone, Hardy started clapping and like dominoes they all followed him, each man showing their support for their teammate. There's a saying that defeat never comes to any man until he admits it and well none of them were going to admit defeat. As Infinity clapped, the fans in attendance began to follow, showing Highone respect for his match, showing the entire stable their respect. The 6 of them all walked back up the aisle heads held high, as a unit.....

...........................................

They're all on the airplane right now finally flying back to North America. Head down, crouched over, DeSean sat in his seat with his headphones on. The flight was silent; no words were spoken from anyone on board, besides the sound of music that was playing in DeSean's ear. He had the volume on low but it was so quiet that it could be heard from everyone. Sensing this DeSean switched songs and played something mellow more chilled out.

This party is old and uninviting
Participants all in black and white
You enter in full-blown technicolor
Nothing is the same after tonight

If the world would fall apart
In a fiction worthy wind
I wouldn't change a thing
Now that you're here

Yeah, love is a verb here in my room
Here in my room, here in my room

There was no way he would be able to look himself in the mirror, he lost to his own move the shame of it all. He didn't understand what went wrong, it was his match, his night, his specialty and he still couldn't get the job done. He tried his hardest, he put the effort in. Or did he? He was second guessing himself again, it was stupid but it was something he always did after a lost. He studied the tapes, he scouted every move Strikmore did, so where in the hell did he go wrong what was distracting him? More importantly what the hell was going on with his teammates? It seemed like they were getting complacent to comfortable with the way things were and because of that their success had dropped. He wondered to himself if he was the only one who cared, if the others had just given up or did they care as well. Are they as competitive as he is? Are his youthfulness and his relative inexperience getting ahead of him? Should he have any reason to worry at all? All he knew was that he was tired, the jet lag combined with his match against Strikmore were starting to get to him, so he closed his eyes and went to sleep.

.......................................

Baby Girl
What's Your Name
Let Me Talk To You
Let Me Buy You A Drink
Im T-Pain, You Know Me
Konvict Music Have Every Boy Like Ohh Wee
I Know The Club Close At 3
What's The Chance A You Rollin Wit Me
Back To The Crib
Show You How I Live
Lets Get Drunk Forget What We Did

T-Pain played in the background as DeSean entered the club, he slowly walked up the steps and into the VIP area where the rest of Infinity was located. He went around the room and acknowledged everyone giving them high fives and "what ups." He was handed a glass of wine as he sat down. Taking a sip, he sat back in his seat looking up at the ceiling. He didn't honestly feel like being there, not after the way he was feeling.

Highone: DeSean what's wrong?

DeSean: Nothing I'm tired, so what's up?

Highone: Nothin, we're just chillin out

Hardy: Yea man, we're celebrating

DeSean: What is it that we're exactly celebrating?

Hardy: What do you mean? For a damn good show.

DeSean: To a damn good show? With the exception of you, the rest of us got our asses kicked. Highone lost his title match, Hammer you and TI lost your match.

Hammer: Don't remind me

Highone: Well we did gain a new member

DeSean: Yea and we're also down one, where's TI?

Shadow: I haven't seen him.

DeSean threw his arms up in frustration, rolling his eyes; he rubbed his head and then his eyes.

DeSean: So great he's gone now

Hardy: Calm down man, what the hell is wrong with you? Just relax some.

Hammer: You do need to calm down some before you have a heart attack.

DeSean: No, I won't calm down, I won't relax. That's the problem we're all relaxed!

DeSean stood up from his chair, his heart pumping faster, the adrenaline started to kick in.

No one realizes that at our own fucking event, we got our asses kicked!

Highone: DeSean I know how you feel believe me but I have my own...

DeSean: No the hell with that, those fucking assholes, fucking celebrating in our ring! In OUR goddamn ring! We could hear their voices, celebrating....Right next door! We should have just pulled our pants, put our asses in the air, and let them fuck us in the ass because that's what they did!

DeSean threw his glass on the wall it shattered and red zinfandel spilled everywhere.

Hammer: It sucked, trust me but we all tried our best

DeSean: Well you know what we have to be better than our best, that's the problem we've gotten complacent! Just going along with the bullshit they put us through. I don't know about you guys but I'm tired, I'm sick and tired of the losing, I put my heart and my soul in that match against Strikmore and I still lost. All the hard work, all the time shitted on in one fatal swoop but you know what it's easy for me to say "hey I did my best, I did everything I could so it's ok that I lost" I can't do that. We're all too damn talented to sit here and just say fuck it and act like nothing happened.

We can sit here and make it seem like we don't care but I know that's a lie. Because all of our egos won't allow that to happen, we're too damn competitive. We have too much pride or at least we had pride, what the hell happened to it? Shadow where the fuck were you for the past couple of weeks? What the hell were you doing? Were you training, were you doing anything of note! And you know what? I should have been there for you, we all should have been at your aid just like that *DeSean snaps his fingers* There shouldn't have been an attack but we're so damn busy in our own little world that we were to late.

DeSean stops talking for a second, he starts to pace back and forth, head down and his heart rate still going fast, DeSean continued.

DeSean: I'm not going to give the NHFC the satisfaction of thinking that they won, that they're safe, and that they can just roll over us. I can see in their eyes, I can see the smugness in their faces, in their eyes. I can see it all and I want it erase from their faces, I want it out of their minds! From now on to Endgame, Road to Glory will be known as Road through Infinity. Every member of that roster, every fan in attendance, everyone will know that we mean business, that we don't give a fuck anymore. We are going to right every wrong that's been done to us. All we have to do is act as a unit! I'm willing to do that; I just need to know if you guys are. Or is it over right here, right now? Is this the best that we can do? Or are we going to have the word Aperiophobia mean something?

DeSean shook his head, he swiftly turned and kicked the chair that he was sitting in, he was waiting for a response but no one said anything. He didn't know where those words came from but apparently he's been feeling that way for a long time. Since those words did come out of his mouth, he had to start leading by example. Without saying goodbye, he walked out of the room and left the club going back to his hotel room. He was going to outwork Freya. If she studied film for 2 hours, he would study for four, if she trained for 3 hours; he was going to train for 6. She does 100 push ups, he would do 101. There was no way in hell she was going to outwork him.

....................................

DeSean sat in front of the TV screen looking at Freya's past matches including their Iron Man match. He took notes of every move she did and wrote down possible counters for those moves. He heard the door unlock but didn't move a muscle, he and Eddie decided to share a room together a decision that DeSean was starting to regret already.

Eddie: What's up?

DeSean: Nothing, I'm trying to review tapes of Freya.

Eddie: Oh where is Freya? Have you seen her?

DeSean: Why are you fucking her?

Eddie: No just wondering.

DeSean put on his headphones and fast forwarded through a match.

Eddie: What are you about to listen to?

DeSean: Nobody you know

Eddie: Come on try me

Annoyed DeSean decided to humor Eddie and name the band

DeSean: Mars Volta "The Widow"

Eddie: Oh I know them, hell why listen to them when you have me. He's got fast and black lungssss

DeSean: Eddie, I swear to God don't you sing at all, I swear I will jab you in the throat with my pen.

Eddie: Ok fine! I won't sing. So how do you plan on beating her? The same way you did before?

DeSean: No, not exactly, a man by the name of Walter Benjamin said that These are days when no one should rely unduly on his competence. Strength lies in improvisation. All the decisive blows are struck left-handed.

Eddie: You're going to fight her left handed?

DeSean: No, it means I'm going to go out there and do something different. If I go in there doing the same thing I did in our last match she'll be expecting it. I'm going to switch it up some. I'm just not sure how I'm going to do that.

DeSean pressed play on the remote and went back to watching Freya's matches, he wondered to himself if he was doing enough and what she was doing to prepare.

Freya filed into the NHFC locker room behind the others. Dante seated himself on one of the benches, one arm around Selenia who was straightening the recently applied bandage on his head.

"So what are we doing now?" Misfit asked, unwrapping the athletic tape from his wrists.

"Well I don't know about you guys, but I'm worn out." Dante squeezed Selenia, "I think we'll head back and get some rest."

"Freya?" Misfit looked over in her direction as he started on the other wrist.

"I thought we'd be heading out, so I'm with you." Misfit and Freya looked over at Acolyte.

"Sure," the big man shrugged.

"We're missing people," Freya said suddenly, looking around with a frown.

"Darkness went for a walk. I don't know where your friend went to," Misfit replied disinterestedly.

"Play nice, will you?" she said, giving him a stern look and Misfit shrugged a reply. "Well," she continued, "I'm gonna let you guys sort yourselves out, I'll try and find Stephen."

She left the locker room after arranging when and where to meet her stable mates. She wandered the corridors looking for her tag partner. She didn't really feel like she should be celebrating, the euphoria she'd felt before was starting to wear off, causing the guilt to resurface. She'd been wrong when she thought it would just be a regular match; she hadn't wanted to set her partner on fire, but Hawthorne was too much of a gentleman to do it to her.

She rounded a corner and stopped in her tracks. Stephen was further down the hall talking to Matt Strikmore, his heavily bandaged arm visible from where she stood. She hesitated. She didn't know if she should talk to Stephen, or if he'd even want to talk to her. The two men soon made her decision for her as they turned and walked away from Freya, not noticing her at all.

She almost sighed in relief, and headed to her own locker room to change. She still had her own room, and always thought of the NHFC's group locker room as belonging to the boys.

**

Misfit, Acolyte and Freya sat in one of the small pubs enjoying a few last Guinnesses. Being an odd number, which ruled out playing pool, Freya had attempted to teach them some dart games, but they were cut short when a stray dart landed in someone's drink.

"Seen the fixtures yet?" Acolyte pulled out a sheet of paper from his pocket. Misfit and Freya pored over it.

"Infinity, Infinity, Infinity - anyone else bored with these guys yet?" Freya said with a look of disdain on her freckled face.

"Hmmm..." Misfit was still looking over the list, "DeadZone seems to have dodged the bullet though."

"Stephen. His name is Stephen," she corrected absently. "Either of you guys know anything about Strikmore?"

They both shook their heads.

"Notice anything else weird?" Acolyte asked.

Freya and Misfit bent their heads over the paper again.

"No TI," Freya suggested.

"No Dante," Misfit added.

"He hasn't said anything though," Freya said, handing the fixtures back to Aco.

"I wonder what Stern is planning," Aco pondered, folding the paper and returning it to his pocket.

"Who knows?" Misfit commented, sipping from his pint.

The trio drank in silence. It hadn't been as joyous a celebration as Freya had planned, either it was just the odd combination of the three of them, or, Freya thought, her guilt was holding her back from enjoying herself. How could she celebrate after what she had done?

"I'm done, I think." She drained her glass. "Early flight..."

"Aren't you on the same one as us?" Misfit asked.

"No," she shook her head, "I switched flights. I guess Montreal was calling to me."

"Fair enough. You going to be okay?" Acolyte sounded slightly concerned. "Another Infinity match...you never know what'll happen."

"I'll be fine, Blondie. Don't worry about me; I'll even check in with the boss before I leave."

"Dante?" Aco grinned.

"No," she rolled her eyes, "I meant Darkness. Don't you guys ever pay attention to who really calls the shots?"

They both laughed at that, and she gave them a small wave before leaving the bar.

**

Freya hit the call button on the elevator. The flight to Montreal had been fine, and Acolyte's worries unfounded. She hit the button again, doubting it would have much effect, but it made her feel better. She had knocked for Darkness when she'd gotten in from the pub, and again before she left for the airport. He hadn't been in either time. She'd figured he'd still been out walking, and up early training or something. He seemed like the type who'd be an early riser.

The elevator doors finally opened and Freya stepped in without looking and pressed the button for the ground floor. She'd have normally taken the stairs, but she'd ended up with a room on the tenth floor and she didn't feel like the walk this morning.

The doors slid closed and there was a moment of silence before somebody shuffled behind her.

"Hello, Freya."

She turned around and found DeSean standing there. "Hello, DeSean," she replied icily.

"How's the freak show?"

"We're all fine," she glanced up above the door and saw the ‘seven' light up. "How's Tiffany?" There was a silence from DeSean and Freya was secretly glad she'd killed the conversation.

The ‘six' lit up.

"Have you seen the fixtures yet?" he suddenly said.

"Yes. Why, are you planning to bottle me again? I wouldn't suggest you try it now; if you get out of the lift with an unconscious girl it's going to look suspicious."

"I wasn't going to do that." There was an edge to his voice.

"Good, cos I'd get in trouble for ripping out your throat," Freya replied under her breath.

"I thought you and DeadZone did well in the tourney thing," he continued either not hearing or ignoring her, "you never know, Stern might give you a shot at the tag belts at some point."

Freya turned to him slowly. "Hawthorne and I are the number one contenders; that's what the tourney was for. If you'd been any good you might have known that."

"I'm the next in line for the belts," DeSean angrily assured her, pushing her up against the wall of the elevator.

"You and who?" Freya grinned, not intimidated by his show of force, "It takes two to go for the tag titles you know. Isn't Shadow in a wheelchair?" She pushed DeSean back off her.

"Stern's letting me pick whoever I want to be my partner."

"Any idea who that would be then?"

"Like I would tell you..."

They stepped apart, each staring daggers at the other. After a few moments, Freya looked up above the doors and saw both the ‘four' and ‘five' numbers lit.

"We're not moving," she observed.

"Huh?"

"We're not moving." Freya hit the ground floor button, but nothing happened.

"What do we do?" He stood behind her and started hitting buttons.

"I'm not sure. I've never been stuck in a lift before."

In his random button-bashing, DeSean hit the alarm button. A voice came over the intercom.

"'Allo?" It had the strange French-Canadian accent.

"We're stuck," Freya told the disembodied voice.

"Sort this thing out, man," DeSean said, "we have places to be."

"‘Old on please, I will see what the problem is." There was a click as the intercom was turned off from the other end.

DeSean backed off to his side of the lift. He checked his watch and sighed. He was due to meet Eddie and he was going to be late.

The pair waited in silence for the voice to come back.

"‘Allo, are you still there?"

"Of course we're still here, you retard! The lift's broken!" DeSean angrily stalked over to the intercom again.

"Well you are going to be there a while longer - the motor has become stuck."

DeSean huffed and moved away again.

"How long will it take to fix?" Freya asked, looking over at the highly-strung DeSean.

"A few hours we think. We need a technician to come out."

Freya glanced at DeSean and decided not to make a joke. "Right, thanks." She sat on the floor and looked up at her frustrated opponent. "Got any cards? It looks like we're going to be here for a while..."

DeSean exhaled and sat back on the wall, he knew he should have taken the stairs, now he was stuck on the elevator with a person who was the member of the geek squad and freak show, he may have been stuck with Freya but he sure as hell didn't have to communicate with her. He took out his IPod and stuck the ear pieces in his head and pressed play.

DeSean: If you're having girl problems I feel bad for you son, I got 99 problems but a bitch ain't one. I got...dammit.

The IPod went off, the batteries died; Freya looked over at him and could see the frustration on his face.

Freya: It's not pleasant for me either

DeSean: Shut up

DeSean took the back piece off of his IPod and took the batteries out; he rolled the batteries in his hand and then rolled them across the elevator floor. They rolled back towards him, so he rolled them again making it some sort of a game.

Freya: DO you have to keep doing that?

DeSean: What else is there to do?

Freya: How about talking?

DeSean: As what?

Freya: As colleagues

DeSean: we're not colleagues

Freya: Fine as friends

DeSean: We're not that either

Freya: Then what are we?

DeSean: Opponents, enemies, rivals anything but friends or colleagues.

Freya: Ok whatever. What's the best match you've been in or been apart of?

DeSean rolled his and rubbed his head, he didn't feel like carrying on a conversation with Freya but if they were going to be stuck together for four hours, he might as well make the best of it.

DeSean: Here in TCW?

Freya: Yea

DeSean paused and thought long and hard, he thought the answer would come out easily but it didn't. He couldn't think of one match in TCW that he truly loved, he's been in some good to great ones but none were blow away.

DeSean: When I beat you and moved on to the Majestic tournament and when I single handedly kicked the MVC's ass and ran them out. You?

Freya: When I won the Bleeder title, man that felt great.

There was an awkward silence that came over the elevator, neither one of them knew what to say next. From an outsider it looked like they never met before just two strangers who happened to hop on the same elevator as it stopped. DeSean leaned his head back against the wall and looked up at the ceiling, hoping that the light would come on signaling that the elevator was working again but nothing happened. The elevator remained dark and still. It seemed like his career was just like that, dark and still not moving forward or backward. He would win some big matches and seemingly lose matches he was supposed to win. He was frustrated with the lack of progression so far in his TCW stay.

DeSean: So what else?

Freya: What's your favorite color?

DeSean: Green

Freya: Me too

DeSean: Carolina or Duke?

Freya: Duke

DeSean: I hate you

Freya: Favorite type of food

DeSean: Chinese

An hour had passed and still nothing, they continued to go back and forth with the questions simple shit like, nothing to insightful or personal. Neither one of them wanted to know that much about the other what would be the point of that? They weren't going to communicate after they got off the elevator and they sure as hell won't be friends after the match.

Freya: Favorite game?

DeSean: Don't wake Daddy, same question.

Freya: Operation, favorite toy

DeSean: You just ask that 4 questions ago, this is pointless.

DeSean stood and hit the speaker again, the thick French Canadian voice on the other end responded.

Man: Another hour

DeSean: You're killing us!

DeSean hit the speaker in and sat back down, he slowly and lightly banged his head against the wall.

DeSean: God just get me out of here and I'll go to the church every Sunday

Freya: You shouldn't make promises you can't keep especially to the lord

DeSean: What do you know about God? I'll answer that for you, not shit, you or friends no shit about God.

Freya: There are a lot of things you don't know about us.

DeSean: I know enough

Freya: Like what

DeSean: I know the New Hellfire Club is full of shit

Freya: I hear that coming from your mouth all the time, why are we full of shit?

DeSean: Because all of you make it seem like you're group is just this perfect fucking stable that's going to rid the world of big bad Infinity.

Freya: And we are

DeSean: Why is that? What has Infinity done, that's so evil. Tell me? Because if I'm not mistaken you're two leaders and don't get me on them. Started this feud, if I'm not mistaken we destroyed the Slaughterhouse 5 and if I'm not mistaken they were heels. We did the fed a favor, Blitzkrieg...heels, drove them out. Yet we're the bad guys.

DeSean stood up and loosened up the buttons on his shirt, he was getting hot and the more hot he got, the more irritated he became.

Freya: You guys wanted total control of the fed, ambition can take over a person and ultimately it can consume them.

DeSean: And you guys aren't ambitious? You guys don't care about wins or losses? Road to Glory is coming up, is Darkness going to let you eliminate him? Is Dante going to let you, Hawthorne, or Acolyte climb up the ladder and pass him? Is Misfit going to fall on his back and let you pin him?

Freya: Of course not

DeSean: Right and you want to know why, it's because of ambition. We all have it; it's inside every single person walking the Earth. I know every person in the back wants a piece of that gold that Dante wears, including you.

Freya nodded her in agreement; she did want to become a world champion.

Freya: What's your point?

DeSean: My point is that Infinity and the NHFC are no different. Sure the two stables have different philosophies but we have the same goal and that goal is to be best and most dominant stable in TCW. Unless ya'lls goal is to actually eliminate Infinity and nothing else, I hope not because that would be really lame.

Freya: Are you done yet?

DeSean: No

Freya: You go on these rants and they're so long winded and pointless, you never just shut up. I have a question for you? You guys keep calling us freaks but Shadow runs around wearing a mask, with face paint under it, he never takes that mask off mind you and he has two Asian twins around him all the time. TI wears make up, black and gold and he wears that everywhere. I'm not even going to talk about Genocide and what he is.

DeSean smirked, she had a point

DeSean: You're right but none of them claim to have powers beyond any human's control. They don't erase your girlfriends' memory or put you in some fucking weird situations fucking weird situation giving any normal human a bill from their psychologist.

Freya: Well my friends never done anything like hit a woman in the head with a beer bottle.

DeSean: I'm pretty sure Darkness did that shit to his wife.


Freya: Why am I arguing with you?

DeSean: I don't know, you should stop because you can't win, just like you won't win our match.

Freya rolled her eyes, he was doing this on purpose and she was playing right into his hands but she decided to humor him.

Freya: And why is that DeSean?

DeSean: Because you don't have IT

Freya: What the hell are you talking about?

DeSean: I'm talking about IT, you don't have IT.

Freya: I was Bleeder champ.

DeSean: I'm not talking about that, I'm talking about having IT, just an extra X factor that stars like me have. You don't have that.

Freya stared at DeSean blankly and then she dismissed him with her hand, wiping herself cleanly from their conversation.

The elevator gave a ding and the lights turned on, they both gave a sigh of relief. The elevator moved down. Freya walked to the intercom and thanked the French Canadian accent guy whose name we'll never know. Never the less they were both grateful that they could go about their day. Once the elevator hit the ground floor, the doors opened like they were supposed to and they both stepped off. Going their opposite ways, just like that it was over but Freya couldn't help but wonder how smoothly all of that happened. DeSean was up to something but she didn't know what. All she knew was that a DeSean was never without any drama.

Freya wandered the streets of Montreal. The snow was piled up on the edges of the sidewalk. She wouldn't normally worry about what people said about her, but what DeSean said was bothering her. She wasn't the best wrestler, she knew that, but she certainly wasn't bad. It had never occurred to her that she was actually missing something. Shouldn't she know if she wasn't the total package?

Lost in her thoughts, Freya didn't see the patch of ice in her path. Her feet disappeared from under her and she found herself staring up at the clouds, snow gently falling and sticking to her eyelashes.

Movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention, and as she pulled herself up, she found herself staring at the window display of electrical store. The TV in the window was showing a commercial for Friction. Various faces of the roster were shown; Kermit, Hardy, Dante, Matt Strikmore...luckily not her own - it was always weird seeing her own face on the television like that. Then Highone appeared on the screen talking about something. Freya rolled her eyes and was about to walk away when she suddenly realised what he was doing.

She stared at the tiny image on Highone. She'd had to do bits for TV and stuff before; that was a contractual obligation, but she'd never even thought of doing an actual promo before. She stood transfixed, watching as the crowd followed his words, seeing the way they booed and jeered in all the right places, observed how he controlled them and, for just a few short minutes, held them in the palm of his hand in a way that she never had in the ring.

She'd just found what she was missing.

The commercial finished and Freya moved on. She'd never thought about promos or the showmanship involved in pro. wrestling, but that's what DeSean must have meant. There were two sides to wrestling - the actual wrestling and the ability to win (and she knew she had that bit down, thank you very much), and being able to interact with the crowd.

She headed straight to the arena to organise a promo segment at the next house show with a spring in her step.

**

"Where the hell have you been?"

DeSean sat down heavily into the seat opposite his friend. "Got stuck in an elevator." After the hours he'd been trapped he needed someone he could actually talk to, as well as get some food.

"With anyone interesting?" Eddie smirked.

"Yeah, Freya, as it happens." The waitress came over and filled a mug with hot coffee.

"The Brit chick?"

DeSean nodded as he sipped his drink.

"Nice..." there was an unspoken suggestion in his voice. "I ordered for us already, by the way - you don't mind?"

"Whatever." DeSean put down his mug, "And no, nothing like that. She's too much like the freaks she hangs out with."

The waitress brought them their food. A salad for DeSean and a greasy burger for Eddie.

"What's with the rabbit food?" DeSean asked, poking the flaccid lettuce with his fork.

"I thought you could do with something healthy."

"Oh, I guess you were listening when I was talking before then, huh?" DeSean grinned as he popped a cherry tomato into his mouth.

"What is this ‘outwork Freya thing' anyway?" Eddie asked, "You haven't explained..."

"I want to win."

"You don't do this sort of shit for anyone else though? You worried or something?"

"No," DeSean flashed him an angry look, "she's not like the rest of us, she doesn't deserve to win."

Eddie raised an eyebrow. "That doesn't sound like you, man."

"Something TI once said. She doesn't deserve the fans support, she hasn't done anything to earn it. She just comes to fight."

"Oh okay." Eddie wasn't entirely convinced, but his friend seemed to know what he meant. "What are you doing later?" he asked.

"Was gonna work out, check on Highone maybe." He scooped some leaves onto his fork, "he's been kinda...off...lately."

"Off?"

"Yeah...as in ‘pissed'..."

**

Freya stood backstage watching the house show go on. She'd asked for her spot and, to her embarrassment, the director had quickly capitulated and hadn't hesitated to bump a match from the card to accommodate her. Something about an NHFC presence being a big boost or something.

She felt nervous, butterflies in her stomach, light headed. She never felt like this before a match, and this crowd wasn't as big as some of the ones she'd fought in front of. She hopped from foot to foot to giver her body something to do, but stopped when she received a funny look from a ring hand.

The match going on in the ring came to a close, the wrestlers quickly left to the same lukewarm reaction their entire performance had received and then her music started to play.

The reaction from the fans stunned her with its sheer scale. She went out onto the ramp, mic in hand, waving to the crowd. The cheers gave her an adrenaline rush but the butterflies were getting worse. She felt sick, but carried on smiling and waited for the cheers to die down after she climbed into the ring.

"Hello, Montreal!" She shouted into the microphone. The crowd responded, but there were some confused faces. "This is a great city, I'm loving the snow. We never get snow like this back home. Your snow makes ours look like a bad case of dandruff!" There was some nervous laughter. "Anyway," she forged on, "I'm probably meant to start talking about how I'm going to beat DeSean. I might...uh...probably...but you never know...he beat me last time we...um...locked horns. But I guess he's not been doing so well recently."

She paused, trying to survey the crowd but the bright lights on her were blinding. "But I guess that's the case with the rest of Infinity though too, isn't it?" She grinned at the silent crowd, not really sure what reaction she was getting. "I think some of their members are starting to get the message too; first PD, now TI...rats leaving a drowning...uh...drowned rats...oh...ship, yeah. Rats leaving a sinking ship. That...uh...that springs to mind. Not that I really think they're rats or anything," she added hastily. She opened her mouth to carry on, but she didn't really know what else to say. What did people usually do up here? Her mind went blank and she froze. She should have prepared more; she'd run in, half-cocked, and now she was stuck in the ring with nothing to say.

She glanced over at Sammy Eubanks. He uncovered his eyes and made a quick cutting-throat motion to indicate she should get the hell out of there.

"Well...um...thanks everyone...and I...I hope to see you all at Friction!" She managed to wave and smile at the deafening silence that accompanied her music and swung herself down with a pale look on her face.

"Hey, relax," Sammy smiled as he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, "it's just a house show - no one who's gonna be in the audience at Friction or watching on TV saw that..."

"Right," she nodded. She didn't have the heart to tell Sammy that she hadn't been up there for the benefit of the fans.

Keeping her head down and ignoring the confused, bewildered and even downright disappointed fans, she went backstage and returned to her hotel room as quickly as she could without breaking into a sprint.

16....

DeSean pushed the bar off his chest as he counted, his head facing the dim lights inside the gym. He said he was going to outwork Freya and he meant it, with his speech he couldn't lose, he had to prove himself...again. He was always told that he was his own worst enemy.

17.....

18....

Even with this match coming up, his thoughts always came back to his match against Strikmore, how the hell did he lose to his own hold?

Fuck 19....

It was hard to get his mind off of it, off of everything.

20....

He finished, he sat the weights back down and stood up, crouching over he remembers when his parents would tell him that he always put unnecessary pressure on himself, he would get stressed out over little things that were beyond his control but he couldn't help it, he didn't understand why he was like that back then. Whether it was school, sports, his job he would get upset and stressed out over little shit that were beyond his control but as he's gotten over he understands why now or at least he thinks he knows. He always felt that he was destined for great things, that he would break free and be more successful than his parents were. He had goals and dreams

Goal #1: Lose his virginity

It was to Erica Eubanks his sophomore year, oh put a check in the yes column.

Goal # 2: Graduate from High School

He did it with honors, check that bitch

Goal #3: Become a Professional wrestler

Put another check in the yes column

Goal #4: Get the hell out of North Carolina

Check

Goal #4: Be successful at his career

That's where the problem lies was he successful? Most would say yes but how many major singles titles as he held? How many chances did he have until he blew it? Until he eventually choke? He stood up from his spot and walked back into the locker area, after getting undressed he walked into the shower area and turned on the water.

He stood still in the showed and allowed the water to run down his head and through his hair. The warmth of the water sliding down his skin, reminded him of the warmth of the blood that would cover his face in some of his bloodier matches. He turned the water off and stepped out of the bathroom, after drying himself off, he reached into the bag and put on some pants. Out of instinct he pats himself down, feeling something in his pocket he reaches in and pulls out the wad of cash that Highone handed to him. The amount was 500 bucks, unbeknownst to Hardy DeSean kept some of the money for himself but why the hell would Highone want to get rid of it? There was something off about him, that DeSean couldn't put his finger on but whatever it was, it was happening at the wrong time. Everyone needed to be focus if they wanted to be successful at Friction including him. Looking at the wad of bills, DeSean stuffed them back in his pocket and left the room.
.....................

If you disrespect anybody that you run in to
How in the world do you think anybody's s'posed to respect you?
If you don't give a heck 'bout the man with the bible in his hand
Just get out the way, and let the gentleman do his thing
You the kind of gentleman that wants everything your way
Take the sheet off your face, boy, it's a brand new day

Respect yourself, Respect yourself
If you don't respect yourself
ain't nobody gonna give a good cahoot, na na na

Knock! Knock!

Eddie turned down the radio and opened the door, DeSean walked in not saying a word.

Eddie: Where you been man?

DeSean: working out

Eddie: Really? This late?

DeSean: Yea

Eddie: Why?

DeSean: Why not?
DeSean walked over to the DVD player and put in a disc that Eddie noticed was a TCW DVD. DeSean pressed play on the DVD player and sat on the floor laying his back on the foot of the bed. Eddie noticed how much of a somber mood DeSean was in, which was unlike the Technician. Eddie picked up the DVD case and looked at the title, "The Best of Freya"

Eddie: What's this?

DeSean: it's a best of Freya DVD

Eddie: I know but why do you have it?

DeSean: What the hell do you mean?

Eddie: Well you just don't seem like the type of person who scouts their opponents

DeSean: I always scout my opponents

With a pen in hand, DeSean marked down more notes

Eddie yea but didn't you already watch these?

DeSean: Yea I did

Eddie: But I thought you said...

DeSean: Eddie let me watch the fucking DVDs if I want to.

Eddie: Ok fine

DeSean: I mean besides who knows what Freya could be doing right now? She could be watching film right now.

Eddie's lips curled into a half smile, chuckling to himself.

Eddie: I doubt that especially after what she did tonight

DeSean: What are you talking about?

Eddie: I was at the arena for the house show and Freya tried to cut a promo.

DeSean: What? Freya never cuts promos

Eddie: Well she tried tonight and she crashed and burned.


DeSean: Really?

Eddie: dude she was terrible, telling corny jokes, stumbling over her words. I'm surprised the fans didn't turn on her.

DeSean: Why is she trying to be more vocal?

Eddie: Who knows? Hopefully she doesn't try it again.

DeSean didn't understand why Freya would try and cut a promo against him when promos were clearly not her thing. He didn't get it and he wasn't going to try and understand why right now, he was going to do exactly what he said was going to do and that was outwork her. He was going to be focus, no more thoughts about losing, he had to stay focus.

DeSean: She can play around if she wants to, let her crash and burn, I have a match to win.

After that last sentence instead continuing to scout Freya's matches, DeSean stood up from his spot and headed towards the door.

Eddie: Hey where you going?

DeSean: to get some fresh air

Eddie: But you just got...

DeSean shut the door before Eddie could finish the sentence, he had to get away and relax, away from it all on top of that he needed someone to talk to that's all he needed was advice but from who?

..........................

We go to a place that's quiet and open 24/7, the only place where DeSean knows he won't be bombarded by a lot of noise and distractions. Looking at his watch, he picked up a magazine sitting near by and read it. Not particularly interesting to him, he skimmed through the pages mostly looking at the pictures. He sat that back down and picked up another magazine again the subject was boring but he had nothing else to do. He began to skim through the articles but stopped when he heard that familiar voice.

DeSean!

He laid the magazine down and looked up, it was him all right, he motioned for him to come over and put a finger over his mouth, signaling him to lower his voice. After all they were in a library.

DeSean: Matt

Strikmore: DeSean...what do you want?

DeSean: I need to talk

Strikmore: Ok? Why me though?

DeSean: Why not? It's because of you I'm in this predicament.

Strikmore: Ok, fine but why are we in a library?

DeSean: Because this place is peaceful and quiet, I knew no one would suspect me here the same with you, just hear me out and you'll be on your way, I promise.

A little annoyed but curious at the same time, Matt decided to stay.

Matt: Ok what is it?

DeSean: Ok, ever since Aperiophobia the morale of Infinity has been pretty damn low to say the least or at least I think it is. We went on this long rant at them telling them to step it up. Since then though I feel like I'm not keeping up my end of the bargain, I want to lead by example but I don't feel like a leader. I mean I tapped out to my own hold, I feel trapped.

Strikmore: it sounds like to me you're just in a funk

DeSean: That's what I thought but tonight I find out that Freya tried to cut a promo

Strikmore: Don't remind me

DeSean: Freya never cuts promos, I think she did it because I told her she was missing something and she's trying to find that missing piece.

DeSean: I feel like I'm doing the same thing with this stable, I don't know what to do. How can I lead by example when I don't even know how?

Strikmore: That's easy, you lead by example by doing what you feel is right.

DeSean: Ok I think I understand

Without saying goodbye or thanks, DeSean left the library and headed back to his hotel room, leaving Strikmore puzzled. As DeSean entered the lobby he was walking so fast that he bumped into his opponent at Friction. They both spun around and looked at each other, DeSean was going to mock her for having a shit promo but he realized that she was doing something that he was trying to do and for that he sympathized with her.

DeSean: Nice try tonight, you'll get it one day. See you at Friction.

Confused Freya could only say thanks before DeSean turned around and headed towards his hotel room, tonight he was going to rest but tomorrow he was going to lead by example.