April 3, 2002

When does it all stop. A life full of sorrow and disappointment keeps haunting me. When do I drop this mask and enter into the real world. Where do the lies end? When does reality begin? I guess there are no answers...just questions. And thats all that I seem to be doing lately. Questioning my existence and everything around me. What is the reason that everything is falling apart? Am I casting myself into obscurity? The questions continue.

Ever since that fateful day I have been torturing myself. That day was where I began codemning myself to a life a guilt. A guilt that should not exist. He made me do it. It wasnt my fault. I was just doing what he taught me. Why is this hanging over my head like an anvil? I have to snap out of it before its too late. I have to leave the past behind me before it comes back and destroys me. But how?

It all rushed back to me the other day. As I stood beside the casket of my fallen friend the memories came rushing back to the day I took another mans life. That day when my teacher.....Jack Kage ceased to exist. And looking down upon my friend I cannot get that image out of my mind. The image of his wife crying over his beaten and blugened body. His children sitting in their seats as I took that steel chair across Kage's throat. It all came rushing back to me. I stood there for hours before I came to my senses. Left alone with Bob's body already lowered into that six foot chasm. Picturing myself being lowered next. Shivering at the thought.

I sit at home watching television. As I flipped through the channels I accidentally hit the play button on my VCR. The image of the losing the match to Mike Storm was flashed across the screen. As I watched him pin Soldier X while I lay beaten...all I can feel is numbness. As I watched myself being beaten all I could wonder is what has happened to me. At one time this would have never have happened. I would have never been caught in this situation. I let these two men beat me. But why? Have I lost that sixth sense? In the past I would have taken them all out one by one before they got that chance. But yet I was lying there in a pool of my own blood. I dont understand it anymore. It seems that I have let myself become their victim. That I have just given up.

Who knows...I guess that is just my fate.

This brings us to the present....

The Dallas eXperience...a nightclub in downtown Dallas, Texas. One of the many owned by Jack Hendrix. A business venture that grew from one to many...and has made Hendrix a rich man. But something has been missing through all of this. With his mother gone...Hendrix has been left with very little family. He has no siblings and very few other relatives. The only person left in his life is himself. But that all may change in the near future. A ghost from the past is about to enter back into the life of the madman. A ghost that Hendrix thought he would never see again.

Hendrix walks into the nightclub and walks up the the bar. He takes a seat and orders up a Miller Lite. The bartender hurriedly gets it for his employer and gives him an ashtray. Hendrix just sits there and looks at himself in the mirror behind the bar. He sees the bruises on his face from the recent houseshow match. He then looks away. The evidence of the failure angers him everytime he sees it. He turns around on the stool with his beer in his hand and looks out over his investment and that brings a smile back to his face. As he begins to light up a cigarette the manager of the club walks up to him.

"Mr. Hendrix...there is a man in your office waiting for you. He said that he is your father?" the manager tells Hendrix reluctantly.

Hendrix looks at the man in disbelief. He then pushes him aside as he rushes into his office. He comes in to see a man holding Hendrix's newly acquired FATE Network Title in his hand. The man turns around and looks at Hendrix with a smirk on his face. Hendrix immediately recognizes him as the man he knows as his father.

"You kept me waiting Jacky boy." the man exclaims to a confused Hendrix.

"You have 10 seconds to save your sorry ass and leave my site old man!" Hendrix exclaims.

The man seems shocked at Hendrix's request.

"Is that any way to talk to your father?", the man responds with a smirk on his face.

Hendrix walks up to the man and grabs him by the throat and puts him agains the wall.

"My father died 23 years ago. My father died the day he stepped out that door and left me and my mother in a one room shack to starve. When he made my mother work herself to death in a trashy bar for next to nothing. That man is gone from my life. You...you are nothing but a piece of shit that makes me sick from the smell of booze on your breath!"

The bouncers rush in after hearing the commotion. Hendrix throws the man to the ground and instructs his security to escort him out the door. The man reaches in his coat and pulls out a gun. His security guards step back as the man gets to his feet and waves the gun around. He pulls a flask from his pocket with the other hand and takes a drink...not taking his eyes off of anyone. Hendrix just stands there staring his father down.

"I aint leaving here till I get what is rightfully mine boy! I am your father and I deserve some credit for having the guts to fuck your mother and creating you. I want a piece of the pie...NOW!!!"

Hendrix begins walking towards the rambling drunk. His father starts to wave the gun towards Hendrix. Hendrix continues walking towards him..unthwarted by the gun that is inches from his face.

"I will shoot you boy. I have nothing to lose!" the man threatens the still approaching Hendrix.

"Go ahead you idiot....shoot. What are you waiting for? Dont you have the balls? I know thats one thing that I didnt get from your intoxicated loins. I know I would have the guts to pull the trigger if it was the other way around. COME ON!! SHOOT!!" Hendrix responds to the man.

The man shakes as Hendrix puts his chest up to the barrel.

"Dont make me do it!!" the man yells.

Hendrix gets an evil smile across his face.

"You know...you are dumber than I thought. Lemme guess...you got that out of my desk drawer...didnt you imbecile." Hendrix scoffs.

"Yeah...so. I am not afraid to use it." The man continues.

Hendrix smiles as he walks away from the man and over to his desk. He reaches under it and pulls out a sawed off .12 gauge shotgun. The man's jaw drops.

"You see pops...that gun youre holding in your hand was the gun that killed Branden Lee in the filming of "The Crow". Its a prop gun. There is nothing in it. I picked it up at an auction. Because I have an interest in guns. But you wouldnt know that." Hendrix says in a cocky manner.

"Quit lying to me boy." the man says as he curiously looks at the gun. He then puts it in the air and pulls the trigger. It just clicks. He pulls the magazine out and notices that it is empty. He then begins to panic as Hendrix walks toward him with the shotgun. Hendrix walks up to the man and shoves the barrel in the man's mouth...knocking the man's teeth out. The man stand there in fear as Hendrix pulls back the pump and puts a shell in the chamber.

"Now...this on the other hand is a fully functioning gun and when I pull this trigger the back of your head is going to be on that wall over there. And then..you will be truly dead."

The man falls to his knees and begins to beg for his life. Hendrix takes the butt of the gun and knocks his father out. He then stuffs a hundred dollar bill in the mans mouth and instructs the security to drag the man out back of the bar and throw him in the dumpster. The two guard pick the mans limp body up and drag him out the door. As they drag him out the door another man walks in. He looks down at Hendrix's fallen father and sort of smiles at the site. He walks in and greets Hendrix with a handshake. It seems that they know each other. But this man isnt in the DRWF or FATE. But they act like old friends. Hendrix invites the man to take a seat. He then orders a couple of drinks. Hendrix takes a seat at the desk and lights up a much deserved Marlboro.

"Holy shit...where the hell you been Kurt? I thought you were in the Bahamas somewhere drinking and getting laid by some cheap hookers." Hendrix says.

"Yeah...well I was for a while but I missed the states. And besides I had to get back in the ring. I got bored with the good life. I hated waking up without the aches and pains." Kurt says as the waitress brings in the drinks.

"I knew you couldnt stay away. You have it in your blood son."

"Yeah...well I see you are still at it. I watched you a couple of weeks ago in the IOA. You got your ass kicked." Kurt says as he lights one of the cigars in Hendrix's humador.

"Yeah...well...dont expect it to happen again. Im looking for redemption this week and all I can say is you better feel sorry for Jimmy Blast because I am in the mood for a bloodletting."

"Calm down kid...I know this isnt an everyday thing. You dont have to prove nothing to me. I know you wont have a problem disposing of this Blast guy. Just dont make it into another Kage. Jack was my friend too ya know. I never expected you to go that far." "Dont worry...its not going to be that bad but I guarantee that he wont be leaving that ring with his head held high. Jimmy Blast has to find out what I am really all about. Kurt you know me...I only go to extremes when it is necessary. And maybe ridding the world of Kage wasnt the right thing to do but I feel I am a much better man for it. Jimmy Blast may not be Kage but he is still an obstacle. An obstacle that I need to overcome to get back down to business the way I should be doing." Hendrix says as he lights up another cigarette and takes a long drag.

"Im proud of ya son. You have come a long way since our first days in the old wWw." "Thanks bro. That means a helluva lot coming from an old battle ax like you. You know I have to take out this bitch T-Money too. Noone tells me that I dont deserve the name "The Headliner". Ive earned it and I wont get it taken from me by that little bitch." "Calm down Jack. Its just a name" "Not to me. And he is going to find out someday who the true Headliner really is." Kurt takes a drink of the "Fatal Mistake", a drink originated in the eXperience, and immediately spits it out. Hendrix just laughs out loud at his friend.

"What is this shit? It tastes like ass and feet!"

"Its an acquired taste." Hendrix scoffs.

As the men continue to reminisce about old times...Hendrix still has thoughts of his future going through his head. Nuclear Warfare...Sean Corbin...The Cold Blooded Killers...his retribution. But can he handle it? Does he still have what it takes? I guess we will see...