It was the greatest moment of his life, the day XXXVI became a father. His partner, Annaliese, gave birth to a beautiful baby girl in 2015. After the tragic loss of his immediate family in the year before, it was something to celebrate. To be clear, the man behind the mask was a shell of himself, but he gave his all to this little girl. She was his light, his life. He got a solid job. Provided financially. He was going to therapy. Doing all the work. Life was good.
She was a happy baby and the parents were challenged more than they ever had been. They had very little support, as Annaliese's family lived far away. Despite the challenges, they persisted, even thrived at times. There were ups and downs, sure, but for once, XXVI felt something he hadn’t felt recently; peace.
But all good things must come to an end. At four years old, they received the terrible news that Celeste was sick. Not just sick. She had leukemia. They reckoned with it. Fought. Cried. Did chemo. Cried even more. Through it all, Celeste was a beacon of hope. She loved on and went out of her way to help the other kids in the ward. She made friends and got to see some of them achieve remission and go home. She was a light in the darkness. She made it to five. They got to celebrate her birthday. But ultimately, the cancer took her and with it, the last piece of humanity in XXXVI. He started to shut his partner out. Started to check out at work, which led to his firing. He was a man lost at sea, with no compass, rudderless, distraught.
It wasn’t easy on either of them, but Annaliese chose to fight. She fought for their relationship, tried to keep it together for the both of them, but it takes two to tango. The man who was once vibrant and full of life had become something else entirely. Darkness settled in. He still had a name. He still had an identity, but barely. He spent months in the depths of despair and finally agreed to go back to therapy, couples counseling. Things were improving, but every night, he was out at bars, drinking himself nearly to death and Annaliese had enough. The two never wed and no longer had their daughter, so one night, when he came home at three in morning, piss drunk, she was gone. She cleared out her things and left, never to return. He lost his family, then his daughter and now her. For the first time, XXXVI was truly alone and then COVID hit. He had become so acquainted with losing and now, due to his inability to cope, he had lost everyone he held dear. Already on an island, he now found himself marooned. For a time, he thought he’d never be whole again.
Behind the mask
“Congratulations, mister Keeton. You and I took each other to the limit and you won out. Now you will face my counterpart, Ozymandias for a chance to fight for the Revolution championship. I do hope it doesn’t consume you in the process. So here it is, my first foray into Pay-Per-View since my return to that sacred squared circle. Management could have capitalized on my debut at Rebellion and booked me against the mysterious figure called Inquisition. Allowed him a chance at revenge, but no, they saw fit to grant me a chance at the Anarchy tag team championships. Now, I am not one to join partnerships, at least not lightly. I am a one man army. I need no tribe. I don’t chase leprechauns’ gold somewhere over the rainbow and I don’t need others to raise a revolution. I make my own luck, but I do understand the contract I signed with the XWF. If I am placed in a situation, I will make the best of it.”
“Mr. Oz last Anarchy faced two competitors who are no good. I faced a bastard, but now we…or shall I say I alone, face Them No Good Bastards. This is a tall task for any team, even one well established, as many have fallen at the hands of TNGB. Their reputation precedes them. So, the brilliant minds behind such concepts of War Games and the Leap of Faith match itself couldn’t find me a partner a bit more willing to compete? Now Ozymandias, the epitome of ‘break a few eggs to make an omelet’ won’t even step into the kitchen? Fine. I’ll do it myself.”
“Thunder Knuckles and Bobby Bourbon are the reigning, defending tag team champions of the A show. Only the second ever in its short history. They are singlehandedly bringing prestige to the championships and they have to date proved to be formidable if not nigh unstoppable. If I am to fight them on my own, the odds are against me, but damn it, I will bring the fight. I rebuilt myself from the ground up after losing everything I ever cared about. I am fighting for tag team titles alongside a partner who is loyal to my opponents. I have nothing to lose, but TNGB have everything to lose here. If they lose to me, they not only lose those precious titles, but their credibility. The masked jester unseated you by himself? Not a good look.”
“But let us not pretend that Thunder Knuckles is focused on this defense. He thinks he has it in the bag, with little lap dog Ozzy unwilling to lay a finger on him, he thinks he can simply pin his friend and move on to win more gold against Justin York later that night, unseating the king himself from his throne. I would be careful, TK. You have shown that you can usually back up your trash talk, but if you look past me, I can make sure you don’t even make it to your Revolution title opportunity in one piece. Ask Mr. Marigold what happens when you do. And that leaves Bourbon, someone who has been all too comfortable riding the coattails of the knuckle dragger. You two may have an unfair advantage at Leap of Faith, but don’t get comfortable. I’m not going anywhere anytime soon. So how about it, loudmouths? Let’s put your money where your mouths are and on Sunday…let’s dance, boys!”
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