You're fading in to reclining in a leather sofa. Wearing all black, but this is as close to standard as you can expect.

He takes a decent drag from a cigarette, and no, this is nothing new for him. Just not something you're used to seeing. Must be something about the weather, but he lightly taps it into the tray at his side. Its ice outside. No snow falling recently, but the wind has been bitter and unforgiving.

"'Don't pretend you have any idea... you don't. Not one of you even comes close. Tell me about your tragedies. No one here is innocent of selling the drama of their lives... that's what we do here. It's called "sports entertainment" for a reason. We constantly remind ourselves of the athleticism, of how hard we work for it. We put in the time and effort as any athlete does, but we give something more. Our passion and our lives. These words matter. Our lives matter. The drama matters."

Another drag, this time softer. His icy stoicism fills the air as if it were a cloud of smoke. You want to get that read he's been teasing you with, but you don't. You can't.

"Drama is when I interfere in Tommy Riley's match to liven things up a bit on an otherwise shallow card. Drama is when he threatens me with retaliation - and I'm fine with that. We roll with the punches and we make people smile. If I have to take a chair shot in three weeks, so fucking be it. He's not above me, and we already see him and November coming in the distance."

"Their approaching silhouettes are the acceptable price to pay in this league. This community has been built on guns and brutality, and the innocent have always been the ones to suffer. That's why I chose to train with a well-known manipulator of men. That's why I choose to fight the current in this sea of self-indulgence, in this community of corruption. But I've done everything right, Frost. Every god damn thing I could. My life has been my life since I returned in September."

"I've given glimpses and shadows - to keep the people guessing and to remind myself that I had... that I have a real life to go back to. I was grounded, despite any words or pretense on this camera. I gave you all Vicious, and I broke your arms. But she meant..."

He pauses, and closes his eyes. You want to feel him choking up inside, but again he doesn't let you.

"Fuck you, Angelica Lee. You came into this sport looking to antagonize. Your father, your step-father... you married into the sport that caused you so much pain and you made that choice. The cameras that followed you and you sister in PWA came at your behest, at your signature. Don't think for a second that I come close... I did everything right. I kept her off the camera, I kept her name from the record books. No one in this community ever laid a hand on her, and they never would have. You want to belittle that now? Fuck you... I didn't sell tickets to her funeral. Two days ago I buried the most important thing in my life because I had to. Because that's reality. You live and you die. So do the people you love."

"But I never once sold her out to get over. I live my life in the spotlight, and so my tragedy becomes entertainment for the masses. Fine. But there will never come a fucking day under the sun that you see a camera follow me to place a flower by her side... because not you, not anyone has the right to know that part of me. All you get is a broken arm."

"I never wailed at my misfortune... you did. I'm living my life. Any amount of bereavement won't make things right for me. I'll fight and I'll destroy you in the ring, because its what I've always done. Read into it any part of my life you want. Right now I'm determined to put you down, to shatter you and your partners in that ring. Try not to over-dramatize your fractures by bringing a camera into the hospital. That's a fucking cliché."

"And if you don't want the drama - fucking leave. Your presence invites it. Don't play "holier than thou" and pretend you're here just to be, because there's no such thing in this community. Whether its your husband, your Father, your sister... the conflict is only a step away. If you don't want it, fucking leave. Stop dwelling on my life and get on with yours."

He hits hard, in more ways than one. He puts out the butt in the tray and leans forward, repositioning himself and getting deadly close with an ice cold stare of green.

"That's the constant. I see what no one else wants to, or what no one else will admit to. We make things complicated to sell tickets and merchandise. The politics keep it interesting, so we sell the drama. But I am a fucking athlete, and I am here to win."

"Don't wait until summer, Aarya. Tell me about your priorities. The thing about you, as opposed to almost anyone else in this community, is its easy to see where you stand. Everyone sees through you, no matter how violently you stir that pot, we all know. Even Joe Boxer has you dead to rights, and I'll let him. I've said more words than I need to say to you in a lifetime, but for your sincerity, and for what its worth, I owe you a title shot. I won't forget it."

"What else to say? The Seldons are busy brain-storming all the irony they can think of, and I have some teammates... But this is elimination-style wrestling. I've already said what no one else here is willing to own up to, what it takes to win in this match. The benefit of cooperation, but the integrity necessary to look your partner in the eye and tell them you'll fuck them over in a second to make the fall count. While everyone else is blind-sided by misery and self-righteousness and vendettas, I remain."

"I remain more than the sum of these words... more than any of you will ever know."

He gets up and moves away. You stay for a few brief moment, just enough to reflect, but soon you too fade away.