"Infected," by the legendary punk band, Bad Religion, was blaring throughout the arena. Zero traced his thoughts through his head one last time before he knew he had to step out from behind the curtain and walk down to the ring. His opponent was some "Love" character. Zero questioned if it would be more of the same, such as how Kaid Mann had been. As the lyrics began to fade in, Zero took it as his cue. With a snap, he pulled the curtain back and walked out onto the entranceway. It was his third week back into the wrestling environment. It still felt odd, but Zero could feel himself returning to whatever stage it was that he had been in before he had left wrestling. It was a journey that he knew he didn't want to commit to all of the way, though.
As he walked down the aisle, he kept his attention and focus on the ring ahead of him. From out of the corner of his eyes, though, he could see a few fans slowly reaching out to grab him. They were cheering him. Granted, there was a lot of indifference in the crowd toward him, but why was he suddenly noticing a few more cheers each time he came out to wrestle? He quickly threw the thoughts out of his mind, though, as he climbed into the ring to await the arrival of his opponent for that night.
As Zero stood in the ring and awaited the sound of Lovemuscle's theme -whatever that was-, the surprise of the familiar theme took him aback. The mystic opening to "Climbing the Walls" was what he instead heard. He knew the theme. He had heard it many times before. And he knew what man used it.
Havoc stepped through the curtain with his eyes locked on the man standing in the ring. All thoughts about his knee instantly fluttered away with his first step down the aisle. His eyes never left Zero. Not once. Havoc imagined the confusion running through Zero's mind... and he relished it. It was just like old times.
Havoc stepped through the ropes, half-expecting Zero to get a cheap shot on him... half-disappointed when he didn't.
The bell sounded, but neither man moved towards each other. Zero stood, staring in question of what, exactly, it was that Havoc was attempting to do. He knew that the man had already had one match earlier in the day. But above that, he also knew that the man was in a place that Zero did not want to be put in once again.
Havoc stood in front of Zero, staring deep into him. It had been his decision to return to the place that had been aborted and left to die years before. Was it a feeling of revenge of what had happened the last time? Havoc didn't know. He could feel the pain in his knee throb as his mind dashed back and forth to the thoughts that had led up to him telling Nodar that he would take Lovemuscle's place.
Zero stepped forward to Havoc, ensuing Havoc to progress forward, as well. Zero couldn't hear anyone in the crowd at that moment. The arena was complete silence. In Zero's mind, it was just he and Havoc inside of a setting where the two had been long before. In a low tone, Zero asked Havoc, "Why are you here? Why now?"
Havoc nudged in closer to Zero, his voice no louder than the other's. It was low enough to where fans could only see the movement of lips, but strong enough to put his thoughts across. "Because it's only right. You and I, years stretch between us. Are we just going to go this whole time without something happening. And was everything completely over the last time?"
Zero's face did not move at all. "It was… it still is."
As Zero said that, Havoc threw his fist into the air and connected a punch into Zero's jaw. He watched as Zero went down to one knee. "Everything can't be how we would always like it to be, though," he added to the kneed Zero.
Zero felt his lip and looked to his finger for any spots of blood. Looking back up to Havoc, he moved his jaw around for a moment. "And now…" was all he grunted as he lunged, shoulder first, into Havoc's sternum, throwing Havoc back down onto the mat. He toppled Havoc, a man who had a good 6 to 7 inches on him. "…Here's how it goes again," he added, as he threw a kick into Havoc's waist.
Havoc was quick to his feet. He punched Zero in the stomach. Seeing him slightly dazed, Havoc clutched onto Zero's chest and slung him across the ring with an overhead release suplex. "Just like old times…" he said under his breath, as he grabbed hold of Zero's hair and pulled him back to his feet. With a right forearm, Havoc slammed Zero in the chest, toppling Zero over the top rope and down to the floor below.
Zero crashed onto the mat and shook his head. He didn't want to be back in what was another Zero/Havoc match. This wasn't the area that he wanted to travel to once he had arrived in CWL. But as he got to his feet and looked up at the man slingshotting over the top rope, Zero decided that it was do or die… and no matter what he had wanted in the CWL, Havoc was what he was dealt. And whom else did he know better in the ring than Havoc? With a balled fist, he slammed his face into the approaching, cross body blocking Havoc. The recoil from the incoming body jarred his fist, but Havoc took the blow as they toppled down onto the mat.
As Havoc went over the ropes, he saw Zero's fist ball up. There was no turning back once he had committed to the move, though. The punch was a glancing blow off his skull. It jarred his head, but the crash into the guardrails was what really hit hard. But he had landed on Zero, breaking the long drop that he had done. Once on the mat, Havoc knew that everything had to be quick. He could feel his knee throbbing. He could feel shots of pain go throughout his body. But he got back up as fast as he could, pulling Zero up with him.
Zero felt his body scream in sharp snaps of pain. Havoc pulled him back up to his feet, but Zero wasn't going to be led into any move. With a swift elbow, Zero connected with Havoc's stomach. A backhand strike connected with Havoc's face. Reaching for the chair beside him, he clutched it into a downward strike onto Havoc's skull, but Havoc had seen that move too many times before.
Havoc saw the chair being grabbed. Instantly, he plotted in with a waist lock, pushing Zero back and making his control over the chair very limited. He didn't realize when the chair had been tossed ahead of his forward movement, though.
Zero felt his momentum being pushed backwards. Without a good foundation with the chair, Zero threw his behind his back. He heard it crash. He took a look back over his shoulder, seeing that it was just feet away. As Havoc pushed him further, Zero took Havoc's own momentum and dropped to his back, clutching Havoc's head as he went down.
Havoc pushed onwards, knowing that the guardrails were no further than five feet away. But just as he was near to them, he suddenly felt his whole body being slammed downwards. His head connected with the steel chairs' legs, bouncing him onto his back to finish out the roll.
As Zero fell with the DDT, he instantly looked up to see his surroundings. All that he saw was the ring apron. It'll work, he told himself. He had a move he hadn't done in a long time, but was something that could possibly be used productively in this neo-encounter. He leaped onto the apron, and instantly sprung backwards in the air, attempting a moonsault onto the fallen Havoc.
But Havoc opened his eyes in time to see it coming. As he saw Zero jump, Havoc had just enough time to grab the chair and lay it atop his chest. As Zero landed, he crashed atop the steel chair, taking his breath and giving Havoc a moment to capitalize on it. He grabbed Zero by the chair and hoisted him into the air, dropping him throat first on the guardrails. Then, picking up the chair… he finished off the ordeal with a solid chair shot.
Zero was up against the guardrail, breathing hard but eyeing Havoc for what he had just done. Inside of his body, he could feel something begin to stir. The emotions that he had long stored away -the hate that he had had for the man- were tugging at his body. As he watched Havoc climb onto the ropes, Zero pushed himself off of the guardrail. His body felt like a wreck after that last chair shot, but he was blocking it out. He was blocking that out… as well as the anger that he could feel boiling deep inside of him. Reaching under the ring, he pulled a table out and slid it into the ring. Eyeing Havoc, he slowly got back into the ring.
Havoc watched him closely as he entered the ring. As soon as he had, Havoc stormed Zero. He kicked the table down the canvas and threw an uppercut at Zero. Zero fought back, but Havoc overpowered him. With sheer size, he grabbed hold of Zero's torso and lifted him into the air, slamming him down atop the flat table with an eurangi suplex. But the table did not break.
Getting back to his feet, Havoc suddenly felt a punch into his stomach. Zero was fighting back up, too. Havoc punched him in the face, but Zero kicked Havoc in the front of his leg… right beside his bad knee. He saw as Havoc buckled ever so slightly from the danger spot around which Zero was working. Zero threw another kick into the back of Havoc's leg, causing Havoc to bend just so slightly. It was all the height that Zero needed, as he grabbed Havoc with all of his strength from a fireman's carry, into a quick snapped DVD atop the folded table. Again, the table did not break.
Havoc rolled off, but instinctually felt his hand go to his knee in order to shake out some of the shock that it had just had. He had to go all out in the match, but knew that he was working the match under direct rebellion from what the doctor had originally told him. His knee was a ticking time bomb, and he didn't know what the timer was set for. Getting to his knees and feet, he saw Zero setting the table up.
Zero had one leg propped on it. It was unusual if he would ever have both legs propped on it. But as he finished, he looked up to see Havoc coming straight at him. He felt the stiff forearm shot as Havoc barreled over him, knocking him flat to his ass on the mat. And again… he could feel the rage inside of his body. It was with all of his strength that he fought to maintain the collectiveness that he would have to have in order to finish the match.
Havoc didn't issue a follow up to the clothesline. Instead, he went back to the table. What a half-assed job of setting up a table. Havoc grabbed the other side, setting the table up completely and square. He then turned his attention back to Zero. It was time to finish the match.
As Zero got back to his feet, all he saw was Havoc holding the steel, dented chair. Before he could react, Havoc had brought down a solid chair shot that rocked Zero's head back. His head would have fallen back to the mat, except…
Havoc grabbed Zero by the head, setting him up for the power bomb… Havoc's power bomb known as the "Havoc-bomb." Just as he began to hoist Zero up into the position, though, he felt a small twitch in his knee. Knowing that he couldn't lose the maneuver, he decided to follow up with the move and get the match over.
As Zero's eyes opened up and saw that he was about to go up in the power bomb move, probably to take it through a table, the memories and past of what Havoc had done to him hit him head on. It had been strong with him the entire match, but it finally burned through the shell that he had built up. And at that moment, he suddenly felt the wrestler come out… the man, the person who once was but had been locked away, deep inside of Zero's memory, broke free from it's captivity…
As Havoc pulled Zero around, he was met with a man full of anger in his eyes… but more so… the man he had once known better than anyone. But before Zero could do anything, Havoc suddenly felt his knee twitch, harder than it had just moments before. And with that, he felt his knee give out on him in a knife of pain. "God damn it, my knee…" was all that Havoc could get out through the pain that tore through his body…
As he felt Havoc beginning to fall back down to the mat, it was that split second that gave him the advantage. Zero stared into Havoc's face… "Fuck you," he snarled as he threw a hard right hand across Havoc's face. Instantly, he rolled from the power bomb position, clutching Havoc's head under his armpit, and pulled the two's momentum back into the direction of the mounted table.
Zero's chest hit the table first. Havoc's face his second, followed by the weight of both of their bodies. It was the "Level Zero," Zero's wrestling finisher… the first time he had attempted it in the CWL wrestling ring. But it was also the first time that he had even been a CWL wrestler.
With Havoc clutching his knee, trying to conceal the pain that was going through the reactivation of the injury, Zero got atop Havoc for the cover. The referee counter to three, but it wasn't even a concern in Havoc's mind at that moment.
The ref went to raise Zero's hand, but Zero's didn't even look at him. His eyes were focused more on Havoc, down in the ring. He stood beside the man for just a moment, before turning his back to him and walking out of the ring. Zero hadn't been the one to make the match what it turned out to be… but he was also not the one who wanted his thoughts to blast him like they had in the ring.
As medical personnel entered the ring, Havoc managed to get up to a sitting position. The only thing he saw was Zero walking slowly away. Only then did he see the medical people around him. And at that moment, there was no way he would let it be known what had happened to him. As long as he could see Zero walking towards the curtain, Havoc refused medical attention. As Zero disappeared behind the curtain, Havoc managed to get to his feet, brushing off the medical personnel. There would be no limp in his walk… his knee was fine, for there were other things that took far greater precedence over such small injuries.
"What do you mean, 'He's not here'?!?"
