Chris sat on the porch of his condo in Clearwater Beach, wincing as he took a sip of his drink. Swirling the ice again, he brought it to his lips. Clearwater was quiet this time of year. Most of the tourists who flood the beaches in March and April for the "spring break" phenomenon don't come anywhere near this place in the summer. It's just too hot. IF they go anywhere in FL, they hit Disney, which made no sense to him. Oh well, he was happy to be back in his hometown with just the locals and their bullshit to deal with. Local bullshit is better than foreign bullshit any day. And kids, the insufferable kids..........
He took another sip.
The college girls were fun to party with though, he wasn't going to lie. He had hit up Sheppards a few times since being home, and it was never a bad time. Today felt a little different, though. The birds were flying in irregular patterns. The inter coastal next to his condo was rippling, but the sky was bright blue. There were fish jumping. There was something in the air, and as he turned his head to the right he saw the beach. It looked different today, not as cocaine white as it usually looks. Looking out to the horizon, he felt a chill.
"A bad omen" he said to himself. It always fascinated him how nature seemed to know something was coming, even long before it came. The sky was ice blue to the naked eye, but the animals, the water, the sand, it was all preparing itself. He was jolted by the horn of the Super Queen deep sea fishing boat. He could hear it all the way from the harbor. They were going out for their afternoon trip. Apparently, humans didn't have the same senses that nature did.
He took another sip as he envisioned in his mind the boat pulling out of its mooring, something he had seen hundreds, if not thousands, of times before during his time as a deck hand. The Phillies flag blew softly on the diner across the street. The Phillies had their spring training in Clearwater, like the Yankees did Tampa. Hell, both of these teams had more fans down here than the Rays did.
When it comes to professional sports, that's a bad omen for a franchise.
Not to mention the Super Bowl was in town this week. Fuck the 'Bucs.
Taking another sip he let out a sigh. He wasn't even mad about the loss at the Pay Per View, about not being Tag Champs with his pal Gabe Reno. WWH had some top tier competitors, and Chris knew he was still a bit rusty from his time out of the ring. He wouldn't allow himself to harp on it. He wouldn't allow it to become an
omen for his continued career. Just as he was about to take the final swig of his stronger-than-usual drink, he heard a knock at his condo door. With another sigh, and an eye roll, he got up, setting his drink on the table with a clink.
Walking to the door he opened it, finding himself face to face with Gabe Reno.
"Gabe" he said, not particularly thrilled to see his old mentor, boxing coach, and best friend. Bruce was not strictly his manager, and overstepping that boundary could result in serious bodily injury for the old man.
"Chris, we need to get going. We have to train today, remember? You don't want another repeat of last time we faced these clowns."
"Skeletons."Gabe stared a hole through him.
He turned and walked back into the kitchen, grabbing the bottle off the counter and bringing it over near the fridge. Filling another glass with ice, he went to pour the clear liquid into it when he felt a hand on his wrist.
"Chris, I am serious here. You better start being serious, too. You didn't come back into this business to dick around."
Chris blew out hard.
"I am not 'dicking around', Gabe. I am.......medicating".
Reno still would not allow him to pour the liquid into the freshly filled glass of ice.
"You can't just get by on name alone, Chris. On legacy. On the past. What happened to you?"
Chris looked at him, staring a hole even bigger than before.
"What?"
"What happened to you? Have you really settled this much? Have you really accepted that this generation of wrestlers will fear you simply because of your name? Because of your accomplishments? Where is the Chris I know, the one who went out and PROVED his worth. The one who backed up all the smack he talked. The one who....." he paused for a moment before continuing....."kicked my ass on numerous occasions."
Chris ripped the bottle away from Gabe and set it rather forcefully on the table.
Chris grumbled something under his breath about still being him.
Punching the counter her turned to look at Gabe with a fire in his eyes.
"There is the Chris I know....so lets get moving, champ, we have something to prove today...."
But Chris stood still. He didn't move, it was like he was paralyzed.
"Gabe....this is the first time in my wrestling career that I feel like I haven't made the impression I wanted to. I haven't caused chaos, so to speak. I haven't ripped heads off shoulders and shit down necks. Maybe I've gone soft? I have a match this week with Hugh Merus, non-title, and I can't help but feel like its a demotion. I can't help but feel like he isn't on my level. Like I didn't show up the way I needed to at Shogun and they are throwing me a bone here. I don't want a bone, I want to do what you said, I want to prove to the world that Chris Chaos is still the best."
Gabe patted him on the shoulder.
"It is a demotion, Chris. I am not going to lie. You had your chance last week to get off on the right foot. You had a chance last week to have one of the most epic comebacks in sports entertainment history, and you fumbled on the goaline. I'm not going to kiss your ass, Chris, you won't get better that way."
"I never asked you to kiss my ass."
"You are looking for validation. You are looking for me to tell you its all okay and that you're still the best. I will be honest with you, right now, you're not the best. You're far from it."
Chris smacked the table again. This was striking a nerve with the hall-of-famer.
"........but you CAN be. That is up to you. I am not going to sit here and argue with you. I am going over to Caladesi Island. You can either come over and we can get back in shape, or you can sit here and wither away in this luxury condo, wondering what could have been."
Gabe turned swiftly and left, closing the door behind him and leaving Chris standing in his kitchen.
2 Hours Later
Gabe was putting all of his training equipment--resistance bands, ankle weights, dumbbells etc--back into his gym bag with a sigh when he looked up to the sound of tires crunching on the shell covered sand at the top of the inlet. The black Dodge Ram 2500 rolled into the inlet, fully tinted. The white Florida plates with
CHAOTIC in green writing could be seen as the truck rumbled to the edge of the sand. Getting out was Chris, wearing his grey WWHQ shirt and a pair of gym shorts and flip flops. Despite being away from the business for a while, he was still pretty cut.
"Fashionably late, as usual", Gabe said with a sarcastic smirk. He began to take the items back out of his bag as the waves began to pick up on the island.
Chris remained silent but looked out at the open Gulf in front of him. There was something churning out there. It was a bad omen. They could get stuck on this island if the weather got bad. Stuck out here with no shelter from the impending storm. He nodded at Gabe and picked up a resistance band.
3 hours laterThe sky was now cloudy, and there was thunder in the air. The wind had picked up substantially. Chris crossed the finish line that Gabe had made with two cones, and dropped the 80 pound dumbbells he had in each hand, panting. His shirt was a dark grey now, and the green letters were barely visible. Picking up a water, Evian, of course, he crunched the bottle as he poured the umpteenth bottle down his throat for the umpteenth time.
"Chris the weather is picking up.....we should probably pick this up tomorrow."
"God is in the rain." Chris stammered out in staggered breaths.
Gabe raised an eyebrow.
"Since when do YOU of all people believe in God?"
Chris took another crunching chug, and tossed the bottle.
"I saw this coming. I felt it. I felt the forces of nature preparing for this. It was an omen. Omen's can be good or bad......and despite the weather being bad, I felt this one was good. It was an awakening. It was an epiphany, Gabe. I am going to win at Santorium. I am the sun, rain, moon and stars. I am the rain. God is in the rain, Gabe, and when it comes to this wrestling shit, I am God."
Just then there was a flash of lightening and a roar of thunder. The rain began to pour down. A storm was coming. Little did anyone know, the storm was coming to WWHQ.
Reno headed for his car, while Chris picked up the weights again. Reno looked back and saw his friend and partner curling weights in the rain, thunder, and lightening. He smiled, a real smile, for the first time in years before lighting a cigarette.
FRIDAY, FEBRAURY 5th, 2021
You hugh-mer me. You really do. You must have been the funny guy at all the parties. I bet the ladies loved you! I can't say that with a straight expression. The only thing worse than stepping on a Lego with bare feet is looking at your fucking face....so, it must have been the confidence. I bet you told all the girls you could down the entire keg in one keg stand huh? I bet you told them all you could play Stairway to Heaven on the guitar without missing a key and could take an entire 8 ball to the face without flinching. I bet you told them any shit they wanted to hear to make yourself sound better, then dipped out of the party early without having to prove it and pointed fingers at them the next day when they called you, telling them it was their fault and they sucked.
No, Hugh, you suck.
You've always sucked. I am going to break you down to the molecular level tomorrow night, and we will see who can hack it when the chips are down.
All joking aside.....I am back and I am ready for blood. I smell it in the water, I can taste it on my tongue. I am feeling like my old self again, my old dominant self. I am feeling like the Chris Chaos of old. I am feeling like this is the good old days. I am feeling like I am about to dish out a good old ass kicking.
At the end of this match, Omen, the only thing you're going to feel is old.
Because you are.
With nothing to show for it other than a loss to a legend and title with an expiration date.
Prepare to be Equalized.