It is a long and winding road, seemingly stretching on forever like a river of asphalt. The brown grassy hills gently swell from the ground to either side of the highway as the dark velvet of night looks down from its heavenly station. Silence reigns supreme, unbroken save by the sussurus of a spring breeze lightly brushing along the ground. Then a distant rumbling is heard as in the distance a figure approaches from around the bend. As he nears his features resolve into those of Jonathon Wehali, the man called Nightmare.

Jon pulls over his motorcycle, a red SE American Ironhorse.. He is dressed in stonewashed jeans, a denim jacket, and black combat boots. He leans forward on his chopper as he glances over his shoulder at the highway as he speaks.

"Roads, they mean different things to different people. For some they lead away from what lays behind them, for others it leads to what waits ahead. Too few simply enjoy the ride, letting theroad take them where it will. For now, for me, my road brings me to Outlaw Pro Wrestling."

Nightmare pauses for a moment's reflection as he looks forward once more.

"OPW, new lands, new faces, new conquests. This should be an interesting trip indeed. I would like to say it will be a good place to stop for a while, but that would not completely be the truth. Why? It's something that Miyoko said at Holocaust, something that struck me as truth after viewing the performances of several of your so-called stars, both in and out of the ring. There is a plague of mediocrity here, but it extends far beyond the tag team ranks, and it extends beyond mediocrity into pure garbage."

A look of total disgust crosses Jon's face.

"Having watched the antics of people like Azrael Goeren, Cyrus O'Haire, Saurius, and Malvolio I felt compelled to rinse my eyes with visine to clear the utter crap from my vision. Unfortunately the memory of these curtain-jerkers still infest my mind. Goeren who dressed up like a god damned Nazi. Nazis were a world threat, but this man is only a threat to ratings. He is nothing but a parody. Charlie Chaplin also parodied Nazis with his film 'The Little Dictator.' The difference here is that your resident Aryan bastard is merely a little dick. As for his former tag partner O'Haire, he is simply a puppet and a nutjob. The problem with puppets, however, is once their strings are cut they are out of control until they collapse. Here's to hoping you do us all a favor and take each other out for good."

"Then you have truly pathetic specimens in this federation like Saurius and Malvolio. A wrestler with a teddy bear? Are you fucking kidding me? Get out of the big leagues, kid, until you grow up. And while you're gone do something about that name of yours. You sound like a villain reject from a bad 80s saturday morning cartoon. Malvolio, on the other hand, sounds like a Chef Boyardee snack for Goth emos. Tell me, dude, why the hell do you run around in a rubber bodysuit? Are you a gimp or just that in love with Jacques Cousteau? Stop buying your wrestling clothes at Wal-Mart's Halloween store for God's sake."

He shakes his head and his expression shifts to one of relief.

"Thank God this federation does have some real talent. Hantakira and Kenji Yamada, your reputations precede you. Duncan Aries and Deathsun, we've butted heads in the past, although I've only fought you in the ring, Michael. I haven't forgotten that you teamed with that son of a bitch that tried to destroy my family. Heh look who's standing. It sure as Hell isn't him. Get your nose in my business again, and I'll leave you a broken soulless husk just like I did him."

"Some of the guys here in OPW are card-carrying members of a little group we call The Final Chapter and Sex and Violence. Chris Chimaira, I knew you had the potential to go far, and you've proven it once again. Ledge, brother, I'm sorry to hear about your loss. You should have called me, man, but damn it's good to see you got revenge over that asswipe. Now you know how I felt after my final match in AWE. Soon the call will go out again. Be prepared, my friends."

Jonathon smiles then chuckles as he continues.

"Enough talking about other people. Time to get to business and talk about yours truly."

"The OPW management has booked me into my first match this week, pitting me against a young woman by the name of Storm. Now I'd like nothing better than to talk at length about my opponent, but there is little to say. Storm, I see you have wrestled in many different federations. How were your records there? What titles did you hold and how long did you hold them before being defeated? Doesn't look all too impressive from what I've seen. Seems you like to take it rough in the ring. Can't blame you. You must feel a need to vent all that frustration. I do have a question though, if you're so afraid of spoiling those good looks and you're so financially well off why participate in a field renowned for destroying bodies, minds, and lives?"

Nightmare raises an inquisitive eyebrow as he addresses his opponent.

"Now allow me to share some information with you so you can't go into our match complaining that you didn't know what you were getting into. I am a survivor of the gang wars of LA, but I was too smart to ever get caught by the cops. I was stationed in Afghanistan with the Army Rangers where I earned the medal of valor. I have participated in amateur boxing and martial arts competitions before spending a year in the UFC. After that year I entered the professional wrestling ranks, with some off-time spent in mixed martial arts competitions and as a karate trainer for our 2004 Olympic team."

"As for my achievements in pro wrestling, I became the AJWF Ring Master and was inducted into their Hall of Fame. I have held the world title belts in the AJWF, AJWF 2, WAI, and HiC. I was co-holder of the world tag team titles in AJWF and SPW. I was the Triple Crown Champion in the XCA, American Champion in the AJWF, and the Twister Champion in HiC. I held all of these titles without being defeated, retiring the belts to achieve higher-ranked championships or moving on to find new competition elsewhere after having defeated all comers. In my entire career there has only been one man I did not defeat, but then he didn't beat me either."

"You could say I have faced battle, even war, in many different ways and not only survived but fought my way to victory."

Jonathon shrugs deferentially.

"Although it may sound like bragging I am merely reciting the facts. I have defeated self-professed heroes, gods, icons, and legends, but I will never profess to being anything more than human. Although I am admittedly proud of my accomplishments they are in the past, and I am focused on proving myself here and now. Unfortunately that means that I must make an example of you during our match. First impressions mean everything, after all. How I go about doing this is up to you, however. We can have an outstanding spectacle of athletic prowess, or we can have an unearthly bloody battle that will shock the fans into hushed silence."

A competitive gleam comes to his eyes. Jon then crooks his head slightly to the side in curiosity.

"Speaking of those fans, how do you feel about them, Storm? Do you love the adulation and admiration they throw at wrestlers as if they were gods on earth? Or do you resent and hate them, feeling that the pain and danger you endure makes you nothing more than a media whore? Me, I respect the fact that they pay our checks, but the fans are fickle. They will hate you one minute and love you the next and often for seemingly no reason. They cannot help any of us fight the wars in and out of that cliche'd squared circle that we must do day in and day out, so their reactions mean nothing to me. All that matters is to get a reaction, because so long as I do they'll come to the matches, dish out their hard-earned money, and send the ratings through the roof."

Nightmare pauses for a moment as he leans forward conspiratorialy.

"The star power never hurts though, does it?"

Jon winks and leans back again.

"The fans drive this industry and.for that I thank them, but I will never change for them. I will always put everything I am and have into every one of my matches. This is why I will never be satisfied with mediocrity like so many in this profession. Give me your all and you will have my respect, whether I like or hate you. Earn my disdain and I will destroy you. I have the trail of broken bodies behind me to prove that. It is how I earned the name Nightmare. So what will it be, Storm? The battle of your life? A match to set the night on fire as we outshine every other person on the show? Or mediocrity, anonymity, and annihilation? I am willing and able to provide either fate for you, but there is one simple undeniable fact."

"It is a fate from which...there is no escape."

He kickstarts his bike, revving its engine, as he continues down the long lonely highway. The faint sound of Jonathon humming 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams' carries over the growl of the Ironhorse then Nightmare rapidly fades from view down the interstate. The road leads ever on, but to what destination?