I rub my eyes, attempting to clean the warm liquid relentlessly attacking my eyesight. The hand retreats from my face stained a solid crimson red.

Blood. But who's? Strange, I didn't feel hurt.

Still reeling, maybe falling. The surrounding area is black as night, no light escape the extreme darkness. Disoriented, but still slightly aware of my surroundings.

A flash of light, followed by another, and another. Camera flashes capturing the moment for all time, engulfing my body in an luminious glow.

Slowly the scene fades in; ropes, a turnbuckle, the wide-eyed referee staring at me in disbelief, and even more troubling; the lifeless body lieing at my feet.

Richard Cranium.

His body is the same, but his face is horribly disfigured. Cuts, gashes, and welts protrude his face like freckles. A sudden outburst of laughter is emitted from my system as I see the brass knuckles gleaming, dancing on my fingers. I raise my fist, prepared to land the last needed blow to wreck Richard's cranium...

BEEP!

BEEP!

BEEP!

Without fair warning, we are ripped back to reality. The clock radio's alarm function had been activated the previous night, which struck me as a ignorant move now. Reaching out towards the overbearing beeping, I survived my hands. No blood, no knucks. Richard Cranium's bloody corpse was not currently inhabiting my floor. Good news.

Vanessa Diggs emerges from her slumber with the elegance of a princess. "Turn that f***ing thing off! Jesus, it's seven-thirty in the morning!"

I pressed the button on the radio, and sent my princess back to the depths of sleep within the king size mattress. Sleep was no longer an option for me anyway, the dream was so vivid, so real that it had sent my adrenaline soaring. I threw on a pair of gray sweatpants and a cut off University of Villanova t-shirt and slipped out of the spacious master bedroom.

Strangely, the savage dream had arisen my appetite.

In the kitchen I prepared two scrambled eggs and a few pieces of bacon. Just as I slid out a chair and attempted to plant down in it, the damn phone rang. I checked the digital clock on the mircowave, just as I thought. Still damn early. Not intending to ruin my breakfast, I hit the speakerphone button.

"This is Diggs."

"Hey Jamal. Enjoying breakfast?" The voice was eerily familiar, but at this point in time it seemed to be a million miles away. "It's been a long time, I hope you haven't forgot about our little deal."

I closed my eyes, placed my hand on the top of my head. Was he watching me again? Two deep breathes before I continued. "Yeah, I remember. Number one fell last week-"

"The last one was weak, weak as hell and you know that!" He cut me off. "This time I want to see utter destruction. Complete, total destruction of another human being."

Another sigh, deeper this time. "I don't know if I still have it in me."

"List here you little p****k, I'll send your dumbass back to that cell if you don't do what's asked of you." The mystery man was irate, you won't like him when he's mad. "No one gave a s**t about you then, and guess what, no one gives a s**t about you know! I call the shots, you do exactly as you are told. You f*****g here me, tough guy?!"

My blood was on fire, if I had still been sitting on my chair it would be a blazing inferno by now.

"Consider it done." I seemed to spit the words at him, as opposed to saying them. "Richard Cranium won't leave that ring walking."

"Don't let me down again."

Then he was gone, as was the phone. I didn't even realize I had thrown the evil device across the room.

"Babe, what's wrong?" Vanessa was staring, wide eyed, at the white phone shattered along the floor.

Could I tell her? No, of course not. I would die if anything happened to her. "Just...this match I guess."

"You'll do fine," She prepared those big brown eyes, I couldn't resist those and she knew it. "I know it."

She kissed my forehead and left me pondering my future in the kitchen. Could I do it? The more realistic question was, could I do it again?

Positive that she had left the room, I lay my face into my hands.

"Cranium, it's really not your fault. I'm sure you've heard of wrong place, wrong time? That's you. You're that guy."

I feel bad for you, actually. Almost.

"You see, if I don't destroy you within that so called inch of your life, it's my ass," I swung my head, looking at the beautiful girl watching television. "And i just can't have that."

I was still seething, but the only thing I could do was store it for Richard. I pushed the chair back into the table, and headed for that young goddess on my couch. Before I made it to the door, I turned back once more. The broken phone, the barely eaten breakfast, even the Richard Cranium dream, it was all so surreal. Was this really happening? What the hell did I get myself into?

"I'm sorry, Richard Cranium. It's out of my control now. You'll be added to the list, of course, but what you are about to endure has nothing to do with me anymore. I'm just the messanger of a tyrant about to run rampant on the WWA. And you are the message. Prepare yourself. The best thing you could do, is not show up. Run away, move to a new city, become a farmer, I don't care. Just don't show up on Fiesta this week."

You'll regret it. I promise.