House Shopping
The Ice Man stared at the lake as the SUV made its way up
the dirt road. He wasn't quite sure where he was going but
he had the feeling that he needed to be there. Of course,
part of that feeling came from the fact that he had been
living in The Phoenix's shack for weeks and needed a place
of his own to live.
Upon arriving at their destination the real estate dealer
led Ice into the house and began showing off the living room
before moving on to the kitchen. Ice tried to pay attention,
but the dealer's voice trailed off as he studied the living
room. He heard talk of the stove as he carefully looked over
the texture of the logs making up the walls. The Ice Man was
mesmerized by the grain of the wood, getting lost in its
patterns. Ice shook it off as he moved to catch up to the
agent. Something had overtaken the Ice Man; normally he
wouldn't care about a place like this. He would view it as
lakeside property. However something about this particular
house had struck a chord with him.
As they continued their way around the house the real estate
agent talked about when the house had been built, and when
renovations had been made. The dealer talked about the solar
panels on the roof and the garden that still seemed to be
growing in the backyard. He moved from room to room with a
strange grace perfectly portraying the beauty of the house
until he reached the attic. From the north end of the attic
Ice caught a view of the lake and it hit him again.
Something about this house seemed familiar, but he couldn't
remember ever being there before. Ice studied the attic; he
paced back and forth, desperately trying to figure it out.
Ice turned to the agent to ask him about the previous owners
and noticed that the door had been shut; something was
wrong. Ice had bought houses before, and he had dealt with
agents, but this one was different, the entire situation was
different. He could see it in the man's face. This man
wasn't here to sell him this house. This man was here to
show him the house, to take his time. He wasn't interested
in signing the deal, only keeping him there. The Ice Man
made a move for the door but the agent didn't budge. Ice
tried to go around the man but he quickly side-stepped to
once again put himself between Ice and the door. Growing
frustrated Ice grabbed the man by the shoulders and threw
him to the side before stepping to the door which he now
noticed had a padlock on it. The Ice Man turned back to the
man and asked for the key, but the man refused. As Ice
stepped toward him he quickly opened the window and tossed
the key outside. Ice pushed him aside again and looked out
the window, trying to judge how dangerous it would be to
jump. After a few moments Ice decided that he couldn't
afford the risk of jumping and turned toward the man, ready
to beat him but he hesitated. Ice needed to get out of the
house, and beating the man in front of him, no matter how
good it would feel, wouldn't help him.
Ice: Fuck it.
The Ice Man turned away from the man and back to the door.
He studied the lock and the door frame for a moment and then
took a step back. Moments later the door burst open as Ice's
foot made contact next to the lock. As he began to step
through the open doorway Ice felt a hand on his shoulder. It
took him a few seconds to brush off the weak right hook that
landed as he turned around and his attacker immediately
regretted his decision. Ice took a step forward as the real
estate agent backed away. Unfortunately for the other man
Ice was faster and caught him with a kick to the stomach. As
the man fell to the floor Ice turned and made his way down
the stairs. He didn't have time for this shit, somebody
wanted him in the house, and he didn't want to stick around
and find out. As he reached the front door Ice heard the
distant rumbling of several cars coming up the long dirt
road towards the house. After quickly assessing his options
The Ice Man knew he only had one chance of getting away from
the impending confrontation.
As he made his way into the woods Ice cursed himself for
insisting on a noon showing of the house. Under the cover of
night, or at least dusk, he could have easily found a spot
to hide and waited them out, but in the bright light of day
he would have to be fast. He was in unknown territory, with
an unknown number of people coming after him, his only
advantage was his head start and who knew how long that
would hold out.
After running for what seemed like forever The Ice Man
stopped and sat behind a tree. He knew he had heard car
doors, but he couldn't tell how many, and on several
occasions he had thought he had heard voices over the
pounding of his heart, but he had no idea how far behind him
they were. After resting for a few minutes Ice stood up and
began moving again, weaving between the trees as he
attempted to create more distance between himself and his
pursuers. He had only made it about twenty yards when he
heard the sound behind him. Ice stopped and slowly turned to
find several men with guns drawn. The tired look on their
breathless faces said he could run and probably get away,
the guns they held said something else entirely. Slowly, The
Ice man raised his hands into the air, praying that they
didn't pull their triggers. That's when he noticed the
badges and realized that once again the FBI wished to
'speak' with him.
What do you do when you have accomplished everything you
ever dreamt of? That is the question I have asked myself
many times. I've done it all. I held the NLW Anarchy X title
three times, and nobody ever took it away from me. I was the
first man in five years to successfully defend the NLW
championship which I held not once, but twice. I have gone
from nobody to legend in this business. And I thought I was
done. But then I realized something, when you accomplish
every one of your goals you don't stop. No, you don't walk
away, you create new goals. There always has to be something
to strive for. Fortunately for me that goal has been set for
me. I have returned to the NLW to help a friend, to watch
his back. And yet a challenge has been laid before me. A one
night tournament that will give me the chance to not only
win the only singles title I have never held in the NLW, but
another chance at the NLW Championship. Unfortunately these
two goals, helping The Phoenix and once again wearing the
NLW Championship around my waste, are already at odds with
one another as my first opponent in the tournament will be
against my counterpart, JC.
JC was the first one that The Phoenix enlisted for help, and
as such it would seem that we are on the same side of the
court so to speak. But there are bigger things up for grabs
here, and I know that JC feels the same way. The thing is
that JC has even more reason to want this win. For far too
long I was the underdog, I was the guy with something to
prove, trying my best to take down the legends that I met in
the ring. But now the shoe is on the other foot and I am no
longer the underdog. I am the legend in the equation and
JC's chance to make a name for himself. Even if it's all he
does that night. If JC steps into that ring and puts it all
out there and picks up the win, it doesn't matter if he goes
on to win the Championship or not. But none of that really
matters. I may have been away from the ring for a while, but
I still have what it takes to win. It doesn't matter if JC
wants this win more, it doesn't matter that we both have The
Phoenix's back, and it sure as hell doesn't matter that he
is going to give our match everything he's got, because I am
going to do the same. Just like every other match, I will
step into that ring and give it my all until I am either
beaten and bloody on the ground, or my hand is raised high.
The key to winning in this business is to treat every match
like it's your last, and to leave every bit of yourself in
the ring and that is exactly what I am going to do.