"Are they coming?"

"I don't know."

"Well, did you send them out?"

"Yeah, I sent them."

"Any response?"

"Not yet."

"How can you be so calm?"

"Well, I don't see what the hurry is."

Two gigantic indusustrial fans churned slowly overhead, very slowly, cutting into the already diluted sunlight that came in from above; the stray beams cut through the dusty, stale air and shown down upon the cement floor. Many of the windows that ran along the upper wall had been barricaded, sealed shut, and all of the crates and heavy equipment had been moved to clear way for, well, to make space for the "main attraction", a wrestling ring...of sorts. It was more of a cage of sorts, as pieces of chainlink fence had been welded together to form not a square, not even a hexagon, but rather a circle, a circle of death that had razor wire running along the top. The was no proper matting or protection from the concrete floor - a few pieces of padding placed in the middle but that was it.

Noish stood with his arms crossed, looking out across the empty warehouse, empty that is except for the 'ring', rather "the Gauntlet" as Ele had coined it. She pointed out that it was extremely dangerous, designed to prevent escape, and this is the contraption that every single match would be contested in. Noish pointed out that it was the best they could do with what they had. Their personal quarters had been moved to the back, an office was designated, the training equipment was placed together in what is now the unofficial gym, and the dozens of empty storage rooms could be used as locker rooms, or homes, if need be. One thing was for sure - this place was open to everyone.

"Is this really going to happen?" asked Ele, who was on a break from her training.

"I hope so..." Noish responsed, a dazed look in his eye.

"Did you post the sign-up sheet?"

"Yes...(pause)...wait...no, no I didn't. It's...it's right here in my hand!" Noish shook his head several times before he turned to face Ele. His smile contained a hint of guilt.

"Day-dreaming?" she asked, tapping her foot menacingly.

"Yeah, sorry. I've just had a lot on my mind. Here, go post this for me, would you?" Noish handed Ele the sign-up sheet. She took it submissively.

"Okay, okay, whatever. Well, the reason I came up here was to ask you...is the sound system working yet?"

"Yeah, Icarus is playing with it right now. Hey, Icarus! Icarus!" Noish turned to yell at a booth on the opposite wall. After a few seconds, a man with short hair poked his head out.

"What, what? Always with the questions!"

"Let's hear that baby roar!" Noish smiled and turned back to Ele, who was nowhere to be found. She must have taken off. Noish sunk back into his thoughts as music blared over the PA...

I remember the days when we talked for hours

And we were young; we thought we had superpowers.

Noish saw several images - all of himself, all in the ring, giving it his all, all day, every day. Every move he connected, every stunt he landed, he felt more alive. It felt as if he could do anything he wanted to. And he did.

We kissed the sky, expanded our minds, thought we could fly,

We were dreamers, and we'd never die. No matter what happened, no matter how many times you were knocked down or how many times you came this close, nothing, nothing kept you down. Through all the turmoil and constant struggle and hell that this road has been for all of us, no one ever gave up.

We were young punks but we showed potential,

Us against the world, we weren't sentimental. No, we were ruthless. Unforgiving. We were fierce and we were savage. Noish felt a chill through his body and he took a security step back, as he saw himself in the old GTWF arena.

We weren't our problems, our age or our paychecks

And we weren't taking anybody's shit.

We owned the world. We did whatever we wanted. We beat the living hell out of people in the ring, backstage, at their homes, wherever we felt like it, that's what we did. No one told us what to do. Except Guy Fierce. He told us what to do.

If I knew now what I knew then, I'd

Back up do it all again, I'd

Noish saw himself walking down the ramp, walking to the ring, tens of thousands of people shouting his name not because they liked him or approved of what he did, they were shouting his name because simply, they knew; they knew that he was the very best. However, the shouting stopped as did the world around him; time itself came to a pause for one brief second, and then it started to rewind, everything started to go backwards, Noish walked back up the entrance ramp slowly at first, they fast, very fast, until the whole scene disappeared in a blur.

Take a bow, take it real slow

Take a ride down the yellow brick road

The Promised One snapped out of his stupor and looked up at a speaker just a few feet above him. He thought about it - people would sign-up, names would be put into a hat and randomly drawn, and before too long they'd have their first wrestling card...there won't be many people to start off with but that is sure to change...people will hear about us and come to see us...they will learn to respect what we do and fall in love with us...maybe then things will be back to the way they used to be...maybe then.