Sean had picked Michelle up about half an hour after they’d hung up with each other following Jeremy’s tear-laden call to Michelle just prior.

Both of them had been alarmed to hear only the sound of his quiet sobs on the other end of the line before he abruptly hung up. Concerned, she immediately shared the situation with Sean, and together they had decided to check on Jeremy.

(Sean): Did he say anything to you at all? He still won’t pick up. That’s five times I’ve tried and straight to voicemail.

Worry etched her face, and a sense of anxious helplessness as she navigated the unknown.

(Michelle): No, he didn't say anything, he just hung up. Matt won't respond at all either, Sean what if something bad happened? What do we do?

She was glad Sean was with her, he knew Jeremy and Matt much better and for longer than she did. Whatever it was they'd face it together. As they pulled into his driveway and saw his car parked outside. Worry etched her face, and a sense of anxious helplessness as she navigated the unknown.

(Michelle): No, he didn't say anything, he just hung up. Matt won't respond at all either, Sean what if something bad’s happened, what do we do?

She was glad Sean was with her, he knew Jeremy and Matt much better and for longer than she did. Whatever it was they'd face it together.

(Sean): Look, I’m sure there’s a rational explanation. Let’s not press the panic button just yet.

Sean knocked on the front door, stooping down and peering through the letterbox.

(Sean): Jer, come on, man, we know your home; your car is in the driveway!

His footsteps shuffled across the floor, the door latch jiggled and he unlocked the door. He should have expected them to show up, calling and hanging up as he did. He opened the door, eyes bloodshot and looked at them both. He stepped aside for them to enter. He plopped back down on the sofa. He knew what they were wondering, what they'd ask and there was no way of saying it that didn't hurt like hell.

(Jeremy): Matt's gone! He left.

Over the next 15 minutes he gave them a full account of he and Matt's conversation, every inflection of emotion. Michelle wiped tears from her face the entire time holding Sean's hand tighter but neither interrupted him. When he was done, he cried again and Michelle sat beside him, wrapping her arm around him then looked at Sean.

(Sean): Look, I know you won’t want to hear this but maybe this is good for both of you right now. I know it hurts like hell and you probably feel like the world is collapsing around you but he’s not gone, Jer. He needs space. Think about how he’s been feeling since that last match with Maniac, knowing he can’t do what we’re still doing and seeing you all blood and thunder.

Sean wondered to himself if he was saying the right things. He remembered how lost he felt after Ring Master. He knew it wasn’t quite the same thing but he knew what it felt like to be lost, all emotion, rage, sadness, confusion and everything else in between all bubble to surface and manifest itself in an ugly cry.

(Sean): You know what Matt’s like as well, he doesn’t do things on a whim - even all the crazy stuff we’ve seen him do in the last eighteen months. He wouldn’t have done something like this if he hadn’t given it thought. And you know he still loves you, you said so yourself. But you can’t be the same guy you were when we were selling out community halls in front of three hundred-odd people if you’re tunnel-visioned, cussing out fans, all at Matt’s expense.

Anger was setting in on him, not at Sean or Michelle but the situation.

(Jeremy): I'm not like you Sean, I don't know how to turn it off. Even if I did I'm not sure I'd want to. Why should he just get to walk away from this? He shouldn't. You tore Fallen a new asshole for what he did to Michelle, you got him rehired just so you could get your hands on him...why can't I have the same justice? Why do fans look at me like I'm the one with the problem?

He shoved shit in Matt's mouth, Sean. Reached into the goddamn toilet and shoved some dude's shit in his mouth. He goaded him into that match just so he could crank up the violence meter around here. He cost him his career and I'm supposed to just what? Turn my cheek to it all?

And I'm sorry, I know they're your family but Butch and Wisdom haven't done shit about it. All that pure wrestling bullshit went right out the window when they signed him. They don't even talk about it anymore!

Michelle was just in the hospital seriously injured because that lunatic bitch Erica gets to run amuck, I guess we're all supposed to forget about that and move on too, huh? Matt thinks I can refocus and put this aside but...

Jeremy shook his head.

(Jeremy): …I don't know, who fights for those who can't for themselves? That's us...we do! I want him gone, he's the one who should be sitting at home, he’s the one who should be crippled, I'd f*cking kill him if I could.

(Michelle): Jeremy!

(Jeremy): I mean it! He deserves every bit of what's coming to him. He ruined our lives and his deserves to be ruined too.

Sean and Michelle exchanged looks. Michelle looked aghast at the vitriol spewing out of Jeremy’s mouth and the venom in which it came forth. Sean meanwhile was finding it hard to pick holes in Jeremy’s argument. Everything he had said was true. Sean had thrown every conceivable caution to the wind in his quest for vengeance for what Fallen had done to Michelle. Vengeance… it was like a lightbulb in Sean’s head had just gone off.

(Sean): Jer… what you’re looking for, what you want? It’s not vengeance, it’s not justice, it’s revenge. Justice is about harmony, about restoring balance, it’s not an eye for an eye. Revenge is just about making you feel better… it’s selfish and I know that better than anyone. What I did after what Fallen…

Even after months of putting the trauma behind her, Sean could feel Michelle flinch at the mention of his name.

(Sean): … I wanted to kill him, mate, I really did. I mean really wanted to…

Sean clenched his fists, gritting his teeth as spoke, temporarily reliving the rage he’d felt all those months ago when Fallen had committed that unspeakable act. He caught Michelle’s worried expression in the corner of his eye and unfurled his fists, breathing out through his nose.

(Sean): … What he did was a crime, Jer. Was what Maniac did to Matt, what he put him through, was it horrible? Was it brutal? Of course it was. But Matt’s a big boy, like it or not, he knew the fight he was getting into with him, he chose to fight fire with fire. He wasn’t some defenseless rookie in over his head. And remember, as much as I don’t like Maniac either, do you still think he intended to end Matt’s career? Do you think that was part of his masterplan? The guy barely knows what’s happening hour-to-hour. What happened with Fallen was so much different, Jer. I know it doesn’t seem like that, I know it must seem like apples and oranges but it’s much more complicated than that.

Sean thought to himself, pleasantly surprised at the coherence of what he was saying. Wow, these spirit guide meditation rituals Sensei had been teaching him were really starting to pay off. Even Michelle looked at him with a proud twinkle in her beautiful eyes. Jeremy didn’t exactly share the sentiment though. He was just getting angrier. He was tired of hearing that this is wrestling and these things happen and Matt made his own choices.

(Jeremy): You know what, Sean? Call it whatever the f*ck you want! Justice, revenge, vengeance, whatever. I'm not gonna sit here and argue over words. I thought you of all people would understand. You had your career taken from you at one point and Butch damn near killed Legion for it. How long did you sit in that goddamn wheelchair thinking about revenge? Just last year at the reunion you bashed the back of AC James' head in because, after all these years, you finally had the chance to get even. What happened with Matt isn't any different in the fact that it's something that shouldn't have happened.

(Michelle): No, maybe it isn't all that different, but Matt loves you Jeremy, we love you. We don't want you consumed with this hatred and rage over a man who doesn't even deserve it; he's not worth it.

(Jeremy): I don't enjoy this, Michelle. You think I wake up wanting to feel like this? If he quit tomorrow maybe I'd be happy, maybe I'd move on but he's not. Sean said it himself in his interview he only cares about himself, his apologies are bullshit and he's just waiting to cause more chaos. He needs to be stopped and I'm going to be the one to step up and do it because nobody else is.

(Sean): I do understand, Jer. Believe me, I really do. But look what happened to me after everything you said. Do you know that I thought about… about killing myself when I was in that wheelchair? I felt so lost and empty, angry, hateful, wanting nothing but revenge on something that was nothing more than the wrong place, wrong time. I was so bitter, resentful of Legion, of Butch, even Sensei. Everyone else was allowed to move on with their lives and I was stuck in the past, literally.

Do you think Butch felt any better after he beat Legion within an inch of his life? All he saw was red, all he saw was me hurt and what did it bring him? Nothing. And look what happened after the reunion. I missed out on the first-ever Havoc, I punched Sensei, dropped you on your head, shouted at Michelle. And for what? Just to have a split-second moment of self-satisfaction? It’s not worth it, mate. If you really want justice, I mean proper justice, I’ll help you but we have to do it right - in the ring, where it matters, where we know we’re better. If we do things the way they want us to, we’re no better than them.

Matt got hurt because he tried to fight fire with fire, he went to Maniac’s level and he’s going to have to live with the consequences of his choices for the rest of his life. That’s why he left, Jer, because he can’t be here to watch you potentially do the same to yourself. And to be honest? If that’s a road you’re determined to go down, I won’t walk down with you. I’ve been there before and I barely came back from it. I can’t do that again.

Jeremy burst into tears again; his head in his hands and Michelle comforted him again with a hug.

(Jeremy): I promised him, ya know! He begged me to end it and I promised him I would. I don't know how, Sean. I just… don't know how.

He was overwhelmed with misery. As much as he trusted Sean, he just didn't see the path forward that didn't involve him running over Maniac in every conceivable way. For the first time, Sean stood up from the sofa he was sitting on. He walked to Jeremy, lowering himself down into a squatted position in front of him.

(Sean): You know… for a while, I didn’t know how to switch off either. All I wanted to do was hurt Fallen, punish him in every conceivable way imaginable for what he did to Michelle; not just physically but mentally as well. But finally having the chance to square with the house again, in the right way, feeling the vindication afterwards now…

He reached over and took Michelle’s hand, squeezing it.

(Sean): …seeing how much it meant to Michelle? All that anger, that rage, that fire… it was like a tsunami had washed over and quelled it all. But the more you give in to what you think feels right, the more you’ll push people away. It’s already started with the fans. Who cares who they cheer for? So a couple of marks cheer for Maniac, who gives a shit? Remember when I got booed back when we had that ladder match in Kansas City? I suplexed you off it through the table? Did it bother me? No! You need to do the same, mate. Don’t let it bother you.

A long moment of silence transpired but Jeremy didn’t respond. Sean stood up from his squatted position, a look of frustration on his face. He had tried to help Jeremy see some semblance of what he was trying to get through his head. But some horses will only drink from the water when they’re ready to.

(Sean): You know what? Do what you want, Jer. Attack Maniac with a steel chair, run him down in the parking lot, shove shit in his mouth. Maybe you need to do that to see that none of it will make it any better. Call me a hypocrite, I don’t care. But in the long run, you’ll know I’m right.

Sean turned around and walked towards the front door.

(Michelle): Where are you going?

(Sean): To get some fresh air.

Sean gave Michelle a subtle wink to let her know in his own way that he was ok before stepping outside the front door. He leaned the back of his head against the door, exhaling deeply through his nose, mopping the lower part of his face with his hand. He closed his eyes and a moment later he felt it again. The phantom hand on his own shoulder. Only this time, when he opened his eyes, he could see it. The ethereal apparition next to him, a white fire-esque mirror of himself.

(Sean): I’m trying, man, I’m really trying. If you’ve got any suggestions on how to handle this one, I’m all ears.

The guide just looked at him, silently looking into his eyes.

(Sean): I know, I know. Patience, perspective and all that jazz. I have a feeling this one’s running short on both though…

Sean turned his head to the side window where he could just about make out Jeremy’s and Michelle’s outlines, still sitting on the sofa. By the time he turned back, the guide’s form was gone and Sean couldn’t help but emit a chuckled snort from his nose.

(Sean): Figures.

He opened the door and went back inside as the scene faded to black.