“Bang Your Head” rings out loudly around the arena, as David Michaels prepares to make his way to the ring. Upon hearing just the first few bars of the song, the crowd go in to an absolute frenzy, as the former XWA World Champion makes an unexpected appearance in the arena. A few moments pass, and finally we see The Showstealer emerge on to the stage with a microphone. He gets a warm reception from the audience, which goes some way to soften his stony demeanour somewhat. Instead of a cocky grin, he's grateful for the reception, but far from happy.

He walks down the ramp with a quickened pace than normal, only focused on getting to the centre of that squared circle and get some answers about who claimed he was involved in an accident earlier. He determinedly paces down the ramp and to the ring steps, then just hops to the top of them and steps through the ropes. As he enters the ring, a sea of camera flashes drown everything in the arena in a bright, dazzling white light for milliseconds at a time. Michaels takes his place in the centre of the ring and demands that his music is stopped.

The theme dies out slowly, leaving only a gentle buzz of cheers from the crowd in attendance, all of them excited for this unexpected treat of seeing the former XWA World Heavyweight Champion. Michaels carefully studies the rippling tides of fans with happy faces and waving hands, and it brings a little smile to his face for a brief moment. He quickly remembers why exactly he grabbed that microphone upon hearing that his D-Volution running mates were not here. He taps the microphone with two fingers, then clears his throat. The fans simmer down to a hushed murmur, as they sit and anticipate what he has to say.

|Michaels| “I was told, when I got here, that the members of D-Volution were no longer here. When I asked the young guy who informed me, he looked at me, confused. He said to me “...well...they heard you'd been in an accident, Mr. Michaels...”

The crowd boo slightly, they themselves curious as to what is going on.

|Michaels| “...well, as you can see...I'm here, sexy as ever...”

The crowd's boos are suddenly drowned out by roaring, appreciative cheers.

|Michaels| “...and now it's time for some answers. Someone back there is responsible for this rumour, and I want that man or woman to bring their asses down to the ring and explain just what in the hell they think they're doing by spreading something like that. I know we're at the end of the show here, but I'm in just the right kind of mood to shatter some teeth, so I'm not moving my ass from this ring until I get to do that.”

The XWA faithful erupt in a wild chorus of cheers, then begin a “H-B-K!” chant, showing their firm support for The Showstealer. David Michaels stands in the ring with the microphone hanging from one hand and the other hand in his pocket. He looks towards the ramp, then out to the crowd expectantly. Ultimately, he goes unanswered.

|Michaels| [laughing slightly] “You know, it's not enough for whoever the hell this was to pull off this hoax, but now they want to hide in the back. Well I'll tell you what, let me make this really easy for you. I'm going to go out-

Michaels is suddenly cut off by some music.


The crowd lets out a loud and prolonged boo, the very sound of the beginning of Hope's theme like nails down a chalk board to them. They've more than had enough of Hope tonight, and to find out that he was behind this attack just puts the icing on the cake for a lot of them. Hope saunters out, alone, with a beaten up old jacket and a pair of scuffed up jeans on. Suspicious in his absence is Cerberus, Hope's companion, who helped him defeat Riley Williamson earlier in the night. Hope's hair is dripping with water, and he holds a microphone in his hand. Michaels walks to the ropes and rests his forearms on them, looking at The Prophet with a deep irritation, to the point that he wants to get up that ramp and tear his face off. Hope's theme music dies down slowly, and Hope takes a moment to revel in the outpouring of negativity from the fans. He stands at the stage and smiles a twisted smile, hovering the microphone towards his mouth a little bit. He hushes the crowd down a little bit, and looks as though he is about to explain himself. He cracks his neck gently, then begins:

|Hope| “...now...”

Just one word. One word seals Michaels' fate as the monstrous Cerberus emerges from under the ring and slides in to meet the confused Michaels. Just as he turns around to stop the blindside, he himself is stopped by a vicious big boot to the face, knocking him down to the mat. Cerberus follows his falling body and begins to stomp the life out of Michaels violently.

|Hope| “...David...it's time that we had a little talk. I feel that this is overdue now, and while we're alone, I can't think of a better setting...”

Cerberus begins to throttle Michaels on the mat, physically shaking him in an almost cartoonish manner, and it would be almost comical if it wasn't so real and disturbing...

|Hope| “For a while now, I've been watching things here in the XWA. I've been watching a few people, you being one of them. See, I feel like there needs to be a change around here...”

Cerberus tears Michaels' shirt off his body while trying to pull him up. With the shirt gone, Cerberus instead grabs his long hair and pulls him up to his feet. Cerberus throws Michaels one handed in to the corner of the ring and begins to punish him with big, brutal shots to the face. Michaels is defenceless as Cerberus tags him again and again, causing his head to snap back in a vicious angle. Hope slowly walks down the ramp and continues:

|Hope| “I've been watching you, because as you know fine well, we have some unresolved issues that need...ending. That is to say that...I need to end you. In front of all your people. Once and for all.”

The monster finishes attacking Michaels with fists and instead begins to kick away at his midsection, the tip of his boot going right in to the sternum and ribs of his victim. The enraged beast, under Hope's direction, pulls Michaels out in to the centre of the ring and grabs his throat with his gloved bear paw of a hand. Cerberus effortlessly hoists Michaels up one handed so that the battered former champion only has Cerberus supporting him. Before Michaels can even attempt to break free, he is hoisted up and slammed in to the mat viciously with a wicked Hell Fire chokeslam. Hope is now at the apron, using it to rest on.

|Hope| “I won't bore people with the details just yet. I mean, I'd hate them to miss the example we're about to make of you. In many ways, in as many words, you will be our trophy tonight. You will be doing a service to all your brothers in the back there by leading by example.”

Cerberus picks Michaels up yet again and clamps around his throat once more, throttling him with the massive hand again. Michaels feebly tries to push away from Cerberus, overwhelmed by the pain and suddenness of the attack. Cerberus simply swats Michaels' hands away and slams him down with another Hell Fire, putting Michaels through unbelievable pain. Michaels contorts his body in all manner of angles, before resting on his stomach. Cerberus reaches down to grab him yet again, before Hope interjects.

|Hope| “OK Cerberus, that'll do for the chokeslams. Pick him up for me, will you?”

Cerberus obediently obliges, violently pulling Michaels up to unsteady legs and holding him by his hair and the back of his jeans. Michaels stands there, dazed and racked with pain, while Hope reaches under the ring to grab something. He emerges a short time later with a bat wrapped in barbed wire. Michaels sees the bat and attempts to push himself free of Cerberus, but is simply tossed to the mat and stomped for his efforts. Cerberus repeatedly kicks Michaels in the ribs, each time looking at Hope for the word to stop. Hope watches Michaels' body fold up with every strike, patiently watching the pain spreading across his face, until he finally waves Cerberus off. Hope pushes the bat in to the ring, and then rolls himself in while Cerberus lifts Michaels again. Hope sits in front of Michaels crossed legged and demands that Cerberus throws Michaels down to the mat again, and hold him there with his elbow in the back of his head. Hope almost whispers to Michaels:

|Hope| “David, it's time for you to go, now. It's time for you to be put out to pasture. Your usefulness in XWA is at it's end, and more importantly, your usefulness to me is at it's end. I can finally show everyone what happens to those who think they can cross The Hopeful and survive. Who think that we actually play by their rules. Everyone is going to see tonight that we play by our rules. Most of all, Michaels, we get to show the world what we knew all along. There's just no hope left for you.”

With that, Hope gets to his feet and tells Cerberus to lift Michaels to his knees. Hope brings the bat over his head and cracks Michaels right in the forehead with it, tacking in to his skin with the sharp barbs. Michaels screams out in agony as Hope presses the grotesque weapon into the flesh of David Michaels, with a disgusting smile on his face. The Prophet then pulls the bat away from The Showstealer's head and measures up a different angle. This time, he swings it in to the gut of Michaels, causing it to get stuck on his skin a little bit. Michaels already has a stream of blood running down his face, and now a wound on his gut. Though it is done with barbed wire, Hope does not swing it hard enough to do fatal damage. The Prophet takes the bat away again and studies it, as Cerberus lets Michaels fall to the mat in tremendous pain. Hope looks back over to Michaels, who is huddled over in the centre of the ring. The disgusting Robert Hope looks at Cerberus with a smile, which prompts Cerberus to pick Michaels up yet again and lift him in to a tombstone position. Just as Cerberus is about to drop Michaels, Hope instructs him to stop. Then, while Michaels is hanging upside down, Hope delivers a last, sickening shot to the shoulders of Michaels with the barbed wire bat, undoubtedly causing another wound for The Showstealer. He then simply gives the thumbs down to Cerberus, who drops Michaels with the Damned Driver. Michaels' bloodied head is driven in to the mat with force, and he just spills out on to the mat. One bloodied, wounded carcass of a man. The Prophet revels in the deafening boos that are currently raining in on him from those who can will themselves to boo such a heinous assault. Hope takes off his jacket and then sits crossed legged behind the head of Michaels, cradling it in his arms slightly. He sits looking down at the bloodied mess that is The Showstealer and picks the red, matted hair out of his face. He smiles as he looks up above him to a hanging chain being lowered from the ceiling of the arena.

As the chain gets closer and closer to the mat, the arena lights dim so just a spotlight remains on Hope and Michaels. The crowd are simply silent at this point, some of them shouting Michaels' name out every now and then. Just outside of the spotlight, Cerberus can be seen wrapping the chain around Michaels' ankles. When he is done, he kneels down just behind Robert Hope, as if they are about to start some kind of ritual. Hope gently caresses Michaels' face, but that gentleness quickly turns to a rough, vile violence, as Hope smears the blood all over Michaels' face. Hope then stops, his hands bloodied, and raises his arms to the sky. He tilts his head back, and slowly, Michaels begins to ascend to the rafters. His body is slowly lifted from the mat – from Hope's lap – and becomes suspended above them. The Prophet drops his arms and clearly says: “Look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair. I am become death, the destroyer of worlds!”

Michaels gently sways in a grotesquely gentle way. His arms dangle below him, and blood runs from his wounded body down on to the mat...

...down on to Hope...

Hope looks out towards the audience, with blood dripping around him every now and then, and in a sickeningly content voice. In a disgusting, cold tone...he sings...

“...I'm siiiiiinging in the rain...just...siiiiiiinging in the rain....what a...gloooooorious feeeeeeling. I'm...I'm....happy again!”

The arena falls to silence. This makes it very easy to hear the screams and cries of a young lady getting closer to the ring. Hope looks to his side to see Sugar, David Michaels' wife, standing in absolute horror. She looks at Hope and Cerberus and tries her best to maintain her composure at the grizzly site in front of her. Hope slowly rises to his feet, holding out a bloody hand to her. It becomes too much for her and she collapses in to the arms of Cerberus. Cerberus scoops her up and stands in the spotlight with Hope. They both look at her with cold eyes, then at each other.

Suddenly, the lights die, and the show ends.