Humidity slogged throughout the arena; they were all the same. The same stank of dried beer on a sticky floor mixed with the sickly savory smells of the concessions booths was a constant throughout the country. She didn't go into the locker room anymore. She took her seat ring-side and ordered her fourth cocktail while finishing her third. These were the consequences of a choice made years ago.
She watched the refs getting the octagon ready. Randy was there, she realized his wife Laura had given birth a few months back and she needed to send a present. She recognized the opponent's medic—the gal trained on her husband's medic team years right out of school. She had a lot of experience now.
He was coming out now, the announcer was readying the crowd. The fourth drink turned in to the fifth. Their tradition never changed—he would walk by her seat at the front, she would kiss him, they would press their heads together, and she'd whisper good luck. Her mind ran with the hours of interviews she'd given about this ritual; about how she could stand it every time, knowing what the outcome would be. Barbara Walters was the first to get her to cry about it. He said it was good for publicity. She eventually cried on a local radio show called Crazy Ira and the Douche in Indiana. Eventually even the local access shows stopped caring. So, he bought all the networks. Now there are entire channels dedicated to him and his quest.
Her bones clacked inside her head, her skeleton was restless. That one moment, years ago, she could have been free, lived a regular life. She could have walked away. He told her what he was going to do. She agreed to go along for the ride. She never thought it would go this far.
Pete Becker wanted to conquer the physical world. Eventually, he did. Then he created a lab to develop enhanced humans he could fight in order to continue conquering. Every time he conquered, he then created a new challenge. Entire cities were gray with the factories and waste of his experiments.
And there by his side, his wife. She made a promise once. She promised to stick with him until he conquered the physical world. That promise destroyed her. Her name was Monica Gellar.
