17 The Hammer
18 Indigo
19 Myra Tripp
20 KID

OOC: The first part of this post is a reply to Hammer's, and the second part is a reply to Freya's, which takes the day after Hammer's.

K.I.D: "Rehab uh? What was for? Painkillers, alcohol, drugs?" asked KID.

Hammer : "A close friend of mine died and I took it real hard. I started drinking heavily thinking it would ease some of the pain, but it made it worse. I checked into rehab and here I am, clean."

"Cool." Said KID in his typical laid back attitude.

"So, what's you're story?"

"Story?"

"Yeah, there's got to be a reason why you don't drink, or are you just afraid."

"I'm not afraid, it's just personal."

"What, you're brother was a drunk?"

"No, not my brother, my father was the drunk. He wasn't a violent or anything, it was just seeing him in that state made me, I don't know, angry I suppose. I found my own vice, competition." KID stopped to drink some of his Red Bull. "I love it, there's hardly anything like going out there and competing in front of all those people. It's just such a rush, the only thing that comes close is, well you know."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Said Hammer with a smile on his face.

"Sorry if I'm boring you man."

"No, it's ok." Hammer took a sip from his drink. "In fact, it's quite refreshing to hear someone who has so much passion for the sport. Most of the stories you hear from our business is real negative, and when someone like you says stuff like that, then it's a good feeling."

"I know all the shit that goes on in the back, plus the backstage politics, but it doesn't bother me, I just try to keep my head down and keep focused on my own issues."

"Good to hear." Said Hammer, before taking another sip from his drink.

Hammer as liking this kid more and more, with his own views of the all the shit that happens in TCW, and his own laid back attitude at life.

"I hear rumors that you may be leaving TCW? What's up with that?" asked KID after taking a sip from his Red Bull.

"You're the second person that's asked me that tonight kid." Replied Hammer with a pretty stern look at KID.

"Sorry, I didn't mean anything bad by it."

"No, it's ok. It's just that I've been working for a long time and I've been through a lot and it's probably time to step down. Plus, I don't think relationship between me and TCW management isn't at an all time high. So, unless things change soon, I may be gone by the end of Endgame."

"Well, that sucks."

Hammer had to laugh at the way that KID replied to his news. "Yeah, I guess it does."

"Hey Hammer," said a voice coming from behind both men, "what are you doing over here the parties' over there." David Hardy pointed across the dance floor where Highone and DeSean where being "entertained" by a group of beautiful women. "How come you're way over here?"

"I'm just having a drink here with K.I.D" said Hammer as he introduced KID to Hardy.

"K.I.D? Hey, I know you." A wry smile came across KID's face. "Yeah, I beat you're brother for this." The smile disappeared from KID's face as Hardy held up the Infinity style Aftershock Championship.

"Really, I'm not really that bothered by that. That's my brother's business, not mine."

"Hey, are you disrespecting me?" said Hardy, clearly offended by KID's lack of interest in his title.

"Hey, leave the kid alone Hardy." Said Hammer, trying to calm down Hardy before things got ugly. "Where just having some drinks."

"Why don't you calm down Hardy, and both get the hell away from KID." Said a voice coming from the right of the three men.

Mr. Acceptable was making his way towards the three with a pissed of look on his face, while sporting his usual leather jeans, black T-shirt and matching cowboy boots and hat.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Mr. Acceptable. You worried were gonna do to you're new friend what we did to you're last friends?" said Hardy, knowingly all to well that Infinity and Acceptable have had their fare share of run ins in the past.

"Yeah, I am. So why don't you just leave him alone before trouble starts."

"You mean trouble for you right?" said Highone as he and DeSean made there way to the already escalating situation. "'Cos from where I'm standing, you're at numbers disadvantage."

"Guys, calm down." Said Hammer.

A large group of people where now gathering around the six men, much to the displeasure of Hammer and the bar some of the security guards who where keeping a close eye on the situation from a far.

"Guy's, lets just get back to the girls and..."

"Listen," said KID, cutting Hammer off, "we don't have to get into a fight just because of little old me. Plus," said KID as he got up from his stool and got face to face with Hardy, "if you want to pick a fight with someone, forget Chuck, and go for me."

Hardy began too laugh and look around over to his fellow Infinity members like he was saying "Look at this guy", when suddenly Hardy connected with a right swing at KID, sending him crashing down. Mr. Acceptable then landed a punch on Hardy, taking him back a few steps, which was then replied by Highone and DeSean double teaming on Mr. Acceptable and going to work on him on the floor, as Hammer was trying to pull them off Acceptable. As Hardy was telling his fellow Infinity members, he was turned around and met with a hard right hand punch by KID, this time busting his lip open.

"You son of a bitch!" screamed Hardy. This only fuelled KID's anger, as he lunged after Hardy, but was blocked by the body of a security guard. It took another two bouncers to get Highone and DeSean off of Acceptable, who was bleeding from his forehead. Another bouncer picked Acceptable up and drag Acceptable out of the club, while the bouncer that was holding KID back also pulling KID to the exit. As he was being held back he could hear Hardy shouting something along the lines of "This is my town you son of..." but KID couldn't hear the rest, or he didn't want to hear the rest, as KID was thrown to the cold, literally. Out there Mr. Acceptable was holding one hand to his face and the other around his ribs.

"Damn, I think they broke a rib. What the hell were you thinking of getting into a fight with them? Do you know what they could have done to you?" roared Mr. Acceptable.

"They started it." replied KID.

"Who cares? Listen, I've tried to help you out these past couple of months, but what you pulled with Shi and tonight, I don't think I'm doing anything good. So you know what, from now on, your on you're own."

And with that, Acceptable picked up his hat and left the scene, searching for somewhere to check out his injuries, as KID stood there, wondering how things got this bad.

***

K.I.D was quite taken back by this rather stunning red headed woman. Her smile was just something that KID needed after last nights alteration, leaving him with a bruised eye.

"Who calls them self K.I.D?" asked Indigo.

"Who calls them self Indigo?" replied KID.

Both of them laughed a bit, with gave KID another chance to be captivated by her smile.

"Just call me KID."

"Ok, KID it is. How did you get that bruise?"

"This thing? It's nothing, forget about it."

"Ok. What are you doing here by yourself?"

"Just getting some food to go. You?"

"I'm here having dinner with some people, why don't you join us?"

KID looked around to where Indigo was signaling to a table where a large man keeping a close eye on the two.

"Who's that?" asked KID.

"My boyfriend, Mike." That gave a sinking feeling in KID's stomach.

"I thought you said there were more of you?"

"There is."

KID turned around to be given a fright by the blank expression on Myra Tripp's face.

"KID, this is Myra; she's also a wrestler in TCW."

"Nice to meet you." Said KID as he extended his hand to Myra, still taken back by Myra's sudden appearance.

"Myra is happy to meet you two." Said Myra. She didn't shake KID's hand; she just turned around and sat at the table where Mike was still keeping a close eye on KID and Indigo.

"I think I should go back." Said Indigo as she saw the look on her boyfriend's face.

"Ok. Hey, it was real nice meeting you." Said KID as he extended his arm.

"Yeah, me too. See you later." Said Indigo as she shook KID's hand.

As he was leaving the restaurant with his food, KID took one more look at Mike and saw that he was still keeping a close eye on KID. But little to KID's knowledge, so was Indigo.

"Myra has to go..."

"You do?" Indigo asked.

"Yes, Myra has to leave..."

Mike grumbled, the strange girl hadn't even finished her meal. Indigo pushed her elbow in to the large man's side, Myra had paid for her own food, something about leaving food on the table just seemed wrong to Mike.

"Well, if you want to..."

"No, Myra doesn't want to...Myra has to."

"Oh ok...well, will I see you later then?" Indigo asked trying to keep this half-starting friendship alive.

"Maybe..."

"Maybe?" Mike asked. "Maybe what?"

Myra didn't reply, she simply left. She zipped up her jacket and buried her hands in her pockets as she left. She opened the door to the diner and stepped out of it. She paused for a few seconds and let the spring air fill her lungs.

There had been a time when that kind of air would have made her smile and feel good...that was a time before the horror, before the...She shook her head to clear away the tears. It was getting worse, before she could at least think about it without crying.

She started to walk and followed the blonde hair of the man who had called himself K.I.D as he made his way through the crowd carrying his food. She had felt she needed to speak to him, she needed to stop this before it went too far.

K.I.D stopped at a store window and looked at some goods, Myra started running to catch up with him.

In fact...she managed to run in to him.

"Hey, what the hell?"

Myra groaned.

"Sorry...Myra is sorry..."

K.I.D looked at her and after a few seconds his eyes opened up as he recognised her.

"Hey, your the Myra girl who was with Indigo at the restaurant."

"No...not Myra Girl, Myra Tripp."

K.I.D looked confused but shrugged it off.

"Myra needs to talk to you...."

K.I.D shrugged again.

"Sure things, mind if we do it as we walk, I don't want this to get cold."

Myra had no problems with that and they started walking. At first Myra had nothing to say as she couldn't put her thoughts into words, then words started to leave her mouth in her typical staccato way of speaking.

"Myra...Myra doesn't like what you do."

"Huh?" K.I.D looked surprised.

"Y...ou..."It sounded as if she had a hard time calling K.I.D by anything but his name. "...like Indigo?"

K.I.D laughed, trying to sound more comfortable then he was at this point.

"I don't know."

Myra smiled, in actuality it was more of a grin.

"Myra thinks you, lie Kay-eye-dee."

K.I.D felt his ire raise.

"Look...Myra...I don't give..."

"Myra knows you lie, because Myra knows you like Indigo...you like her in ways you shouldn't like her."

"What?" K.I.D failed at sounding casual and sounded both surprised and offended.

"Myra saw how you looked at Indigo, Kay-eye-dee...Mike is her boyfriend...you shouldn't like her that way Kay-eye-dee."

"I...eh...I don't...like...eh what...how the hell do you know?" K.I.D gave up.

"Myra doesn't know, Myra just does...Myra thinks she has seen this happen before, Myra doesn't want bad things to happen to Indigo or Mike." She gave K.I.D a friendly smile (by her standards at least) "...or to you Kay-eye-dee."

K.I.D Looked at her and felt the ground in some strange way sway beneath him.



Hammer was decidedly unhappy, he was at least in his own mind doing his last run as a TCW wrestler and he didn't want this, it was a night out and he had met a friendly (for once) colleague and one who was human (again for once). He sighed and pushed the door to the diner open.
He needed something to eat, something that was compatible with his religious philosophy. He walked up to the counter and asked for anything that wasn't pork or Tofu.

"You don't like Pork?" The chef asked.

"No, and neither does Allah..."

"Ah I see. Does Allah have anything against Tofu?"

"Not that I know of..."

"Ok, then why..."

"Because I have something against it...." Hammer said cutting the chef off from a bad joke.

"Who doesn't?" a voice that held a hint of a Canadian accent in it said.

Hammer turned to look at the man and came face to face with the largest man he had seen in a long time. The guy was built like a tank.

"True words my friend."

"That's a bit too fast a way from stranger to friend for me..." the huge man said.

"Let's just say that me a hostility have resulted in a fair share of...hell" Hammer cursed the tone he gave the word hell.

"Fine I just don..."

"Mike!"

Hammer turned to the female and saw an attractive redhead who looked at the big man with a loving almost affectionate gaze. Hammer didn't know the big guy, but he knew who the girl was, she was Indigo or something like that, he had seen the last FWRfed show and knew he would be facing her at RtG.

Hammer looked at them and wondered why he always had this rotten luck.

"Insha'Allah,"he thought to himself, the phrase seemed to fit the situation for some reason..

Mutaaz Tareef can not escape it.

No matter where he goes, no matter what he does, there's always some sort of business for him to attend to. If it isn't TCW Management asking him to do another interview with some clueless local reporter that got their journalism degree in a box of Lucky Charms, or Shadow asking him to do an appearance at yet another S-Mart grand opening, or any other number of things that somebody needs to do for the sake of business, it's yet another opponent that wants to pick a fight with the Hammer.

Granted, Indigo doesn't look like the type to start a fight, but Mike...well, Hammer hasn't seen a guy this big since he met that Cage fellow awhile back. And Cage had a hot little redhead with him too. What's up with all these gigantic guys landing these hot chicks anyway? That might be the least realistic thing going on in all of e-fedding these days, including the whole War in Hell saga.

But I digress.

Tareef isn't in much of a fighting mood these days. Granted, he will when he has to, but he would prefer it to be in a wrestling ring, with something of importance on the line. If only he'd figured that out sooner in his life, his back probably wouldn't need surgery and he probably would have avoided a whole lot of innocent misunderstandings. Regardless, he's still got a Road of Glory to win and a World title to take. So he needs some more allies...and what better ally than one that most of the other competitors won't be familiar with?

Hammer: You must be Indigo...I'm Mutaaz Tareef, and I'll be one of your opponents at Road to Glory.

Indigo: Cool.

Hammer: You must not have seen most of my matches.

Indigo: Actually, I have seen a couple, that's why I'm looking forward to it! I love facing tough competition and you seem to be pretty good.

Hammer: Oh, I am. Tell ya what guys, if y'all don't mind a third wheel, maybe we can sit down while I eat and discuss business a little bit?

Mike: I dunno...

Indigo: Why not?

Hammer: Don't worry, Mike. I won't bite your ear off.

Indigo giggles at the decade past relevance Mike Tyson joke as Mike shrugs his shoulders and leads the two to a table.

----------

Meanwhile, the notorious K.I.D. has been fending off allegations from Myra Tripp for a good few minutes now. I mean, just because the guy's straight edge doesn't mean he's constantly trying to get into girls' pants, right? Sure, that's the stereotype of straight edge wrestlers in this day and age...but come on man! They can't all be manwhores, right?

Right?

Oh who the hell knows. In any event, Myra continues to pester the K.I.D. about this, and he's kinda getting sick of it...

Myra: Kay-eye-dee, Myra knows how you feel about Indigo.

K.I.D. Listen Myra...you don't know what you're talking about.

Myra: Myra disagrees.

K.I.D.: You want proof? Fine, we'll go back to that restaurant...hopefully she'll still be there and I can tell her that I don't feel anything for her. There!

Myra: Myra thinks this is a very bad idea.

----------

As K.I.D. & Myra head back towards said diner, Hammer has been making conversation with Mike & Indigo about their wrestling careers. Hammer's actually pretty interested in what they have to say...it's nice for him to talk to people that actually seem somewhat normal for once. Usually he's hanging out with demons and alleged Anti-Christs and things of that nature...it's tough to have a simple discussion with people like that.

Hammer: You know, I've met plenty of women in this business, but I've never really understood what draws them to it.

Indigo: Well, when I was in high school I started watching Puroresu. I really enjoyed the action and the exciting moves the wrestlers used on each other. I knew that's what I wanted to do with my life, you know?

Hammer: I thought I saw some Japanese influences in your style. I watched your match at the last FWR Fed show the other night...I always like to know who I'm going to be up against.

Indigo: You won't get a good idea from that match, it was kind of a big mess.

Hammer: This match we've got coming up is gonna be a big mess too. As a newcomer you're probably going to need some help, know what I mean?

Mike: Hammer, you mind if we go talk by the bathroom?

Hammer: Well, I usually don't go to the bathroom with dudes, but whatever.

Indigo laughs as Mike raises his eyebrows. He takes a big bite out of the second hamburger he's ordered today and walks with Hammer over towards the bathroom. Once they are out of Indigo's earshot, Mike begins the discussion...

Mike: Listen man, let me tell you something right now. If you try anything on my girl...

Hammer: Woah, hold up. First of all, I don't wanna go out with her. Y'all are together, it's cool. I don't mess with things like that.

Mike: That's not what I mean. I know your story, man. You're the kind of guy that'll do anything to win, even if it means crippling somebody. You won't hesitate to do the same to her if you get the chance...

Hammer: OK, OK, OK. Mike, let's calm down here. You gotta understand something...when I attack somebody, it's because they deserve it. Yeah, I crippled Acolyte. Do you know why I crippled Acolyte?

Mike shakes his head.

Hammer: Because he decided he was too good to hang out with some friends of mine, and too good for another friend of mine. He powerbombed her on a bus, man. That ain't right, y'know? So I got some revenge on her behalf. Of course, none of the media advertises that because, well, I'm the bad guy. Bad guys sell tickets, and besides, who else wants to be a bad guy these days?

Mike: I dunno.

Hammer: Exactly! See, I don't wish you or Indigo any harm. Y'all have done nothing to me, and as long as that continues, Indigo will be safe. Now, I can't speak for that gentleman that just sat down at our table...

Mike turns around and sees a blond haired gentleman with several tattoos sitting in his chair and saying "Hellooooo Indigoooooo". OK, he's not actually saying that, but wouldn't it be funny if he did?

Hammer: Wow, right in your chair too.

Mike leaves Hammer behind and walks back towards the table. Something tells me that business is about to pick up...Hammer thinks so too and reaches into his pocket, but when he looks up, he sees a black haired little gothic girl standing next to him.

One that looks somewhat familiar.

Hammer: You look familiar.

Myra: You eliminated Myra from the battle royal.

Hammer: Oh sweet Allah.

He can't escape it...

Hammer smirked to himself; who needed Oprah when he could watch this? KID looked like he was trying to back away from Mike, unfortunately his chair was in the way and wasn't getting very far.

"Mike, come on, clam down." Indigo was embarrassed at what was happening. She tugged at Mike's arm, but he shrugged her off.

"I'm going for a walk," he said in a low voice.

"Mike! Wait." Indigo looked at KID and Myra before chasing after the disappearing hulk of Mohawk.

KID put his head on the table and sighed.

"Nice move there, KID." Hammer sat down in the seat opposite. "Real smooth."

KID lifted his head and rounded on Myra. "This is all your fault," he accused her.

"Myra didn't make Kay Eye Dee say anything."

"No, but you...you just kept on." He buried his head again.

"Well, look on the bright side," Hammer said, "you didn't get pummelled, not yet anyway, and it's not like this happened with someone you actually work with, this time next week she'll be gone."

"It's not like you like Myra, who you have to work with" the goth girl added.

"No, no that wouldn't be likely," KID said under his breath, but not quietly enough.

"What does Kay Eye Dee mean by that? What is wrong with Myra?"

KID and Hammer looked at each other and tried to think of an answer that wouldn't cause them more problems.

**

"Mike, wait up will you." Indigo had to jog to keep up with the larger mans strides.

"What do you want?"

"Will you stop a second, I've got a stitch."

Mike stopped and waited for the small redhead to catch up, one hand clutching her side.

"Shouldn't you be back in there with loverboy?"

"Don't be so stupid, he doesn't like me."

"Now who's being stupid."

"Ok, so he might like me," Indigo said with a shrug, "but that doesn't mean I like him."

"So you were just being nice in the diner earlier, and the blonde weedy midgets aren't your type?"

"I was just being nice, he was all bruised, and not knowing anyone I thought it would be good to get to know people."

"And the weedy blondes...."

"Aren't my type. Come on, do you really think I'd be attracted to a guy like that?"

Mohawk shuffled his feet and looked at the ground. "Well, I... most girls..."

"I'm not ‘most girls' though, am I?" Indigo took hold of his large hand.

"No, I guess not." In one quick move, he picked up Indigo so she was a little higher than him. Her long red hair fell around their heads cutting them off from the outside world.

"Are you happy now?" Indigo asked, giggling.

"Very," Mike replied.

**

"Well, what is wrong with Myra?"

Hammer and KID still sat there in silence, not really sure how to answer the odd girl.

"You're just...a little..." KID's voice trailed off as Myra's black-lined eyes bore into him. "You have nice eyes," he finally managed.

Myra beamed at the compliment and went back to drinking her cola and looking out of the window. KID and Hammer caught each other's eyes, both glad they'd dodged that particular bullet.