Yuri Ganiyeva watched his sister storm out of the cathedral, slamming the door behind her as she fled into the street. He looked over at his mother, not surprised to see that she carried the same expression of bemusement that he could feel on his face. That certainly had been… unexpected. Everything, from the chance meeting in the cemetery, to Wendy’s tantrum, to her completely deflating and fleeing the church, had certainly not been on his agenda for the day.
Although, he supposed, at some level, he really couldn’t blame her.
The sound of a throat clearing turned his attention away from the door, back towards the priest who looked just as dumbfounded as he felt.
“I’m… sorry about that…” the elderly man apologized, wiping his forehead. “Is there, ah, anything I can help you with?”
“Erm… no,” Yuri replied, at a loss for words. “We were, kind of with the crazy woman there…”
“Oh.” The priest said, blanching slightly. Yuri figured he probably didn’t want to get into the argument all over again, especially with someone his size. “Well, I hope you understand that-“
“Don’t worry about it,” Yuri interrupted, waving a hand dismissively. “She’s… a bit unbalanced at the moment, it seems. The arrangements are fine. We’ll be going now.”
He heard the priest mutter a benediction as a farewell as he and Ivana left the cathedral. Yuri squinted as he looked across the street, just in time to see his sister quickly boarding a bus, the large mass transit vehicle driving away.
“What a bitch,” his mother said from beside him.
Yuri chuckled, helping guide Ivana down the stairs of the cathedral. “Obviously she’s not coping very well with all of this. She seemed rather upset.”
“Oh, *she’s* the one who’s upset?” Ivana snapped angrily. “What about you? You’re the one who got shot! You’re the one who had to spend all that time in jail. You’re the one who had to mourn the death of your father.”
Yuri snorted, and he looked in the direction of Gus’ tombstone. “Believe me, mother. There was no mourning. Likely on either of our parts. That bastard can burn in hell for all I care.”
“He was still your father, Yuri,” Ivana admonished.
“By accident,” Yuri spat. “I’m not stupid, mother. The only time I was ever a son to that bastard was when he could use me for something. Other than that…” he trailed off. “And all he ever wanted me for was to hurt my sister, because he wasn’t able to do it himself.”
“Well, you can’t deny that she deserved it,”
“Did she?” Yuri asked, giving Ivana a pointed look as they left the cathedral grounds. “Sometimes I wonder if she was just a victim of circumstance. Just like me.”
“Yuri… she SHOT you…”
“I know that!” Yuri responded, more fierce than he normally would when talking to his mother. He forced his voice to mellow. “But she could have killed me. She could have pulled the trigger a second time. She didn’t. So… I don’t know…” his voice trailed off. “All I know is that with Father’s death, I’m free. Free to follow my own path, do my own will. It’s… an odd feeling.”
He began walking again, Ivana having to hurry to keep up. “So… what are you going to do?”
Yuri paused. “Vancouver.”
He looked over at his mother, but Ivana hadn’t moved. “You don’t have to…”
“What else is there for me?” Yuri asked. “What else is there for me to do in this world? I didn’t want to be this.. monster. But it’s what I am. I can’t change it. So I might as well just… do what I’m supposed to.”
Ivana walked up to him, and put her arm around his massive bulk. “If that’s what you want to do, my child, then do it. This world has hurt you so much, dear Yuri. It’s only right that you hurt it back, at least a little.”
Yuri laughed, but shook his head. “It’s not the world I’m worried about right now. It’s one man. After all, like you always told me, one foot in front of the other.”
Yuri grinned savagely, and continued walking, his mother keeping pace beside him.
Indeed, it all started with one man. Nathan Thunder.
He was about to discover just how enjoyable this freedom could be.
==========
Video opens with Chernobyl sitting on the couch, back in full haz-mat suit, sitting in front of an SVW Climax banner.
“So… did you forget about me?”
A deep chuckle from the Ukranian behemoth.
“I’ll confess, it’s been a while since you’ve seen me on SVW television. I was abroad, taking care of some… personal business. Some of you may have heard about it, some of you may not have. All you need to know that the rumors of my demise have been GREATLY exaggerated, and there is nothing stopping me from being in that ring tonight. I have a challenge to answer.”
“Nathan Thunder. Three months ago, you stood in that ring, and you called on me for a match. You wanted a challenge. You wanted to see how you stacked up against someone of my size. I don’t know if you lost a bet, or were dared, or are simply suicidal. But you asked for this match. And now you’ve gotten it.”
“Except you already had it. See, Nathan, you’ve already tried once, didn’t you? You came after me in that Battle Royale, with a chair. You left the ring barely two minutes later. Thrown over the top, by my hands. You already took your challenge, boy. That night, and you FAILED. MISERABLY! You really think the results will be any different this time?”
Chernobyl laughs a low rumble muffled by his mask.
“Maybe that’s why you’ve been scarce these last couple of months. You’ve sequestered yourself away to train for this. To work so hard. To prepare for the big match, so that you when that bell rings, and you step up against the One Man Wasteland, you’re as ready as you possibly can be.”
“It’s all such a waste, Nathan. You’re a bright young man. You seem to have a future in this business, and yet, you want to throw it away so very badly. I don’t need to prove anything to you, Nathan. My track record speaks for itself, in the broken bodies of Daniel Pollaski, Chase Dupree, and Supreme Machine. My power is proven, every time I’m near my sister, and you can see the fear in her eyes.”
Chernobyl spreads his arms wide, looking into the camera through his mask
“This is what you wanted, Nathan. This is what you’re getting. Now you can learn the true meaning of the phrase ‘be careful what you wish for’. Because you are about to enter the One Man Wasteland… and soon you will feel the meltdown burning you up inside.”
Chernobyl turns and walks away, and the scene fades.
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