Never A Dull Moment

[Niobe 'Nightmare' Martin]

"I'm down but not out. I want to get back to work and whatever I decide to do, it'll be big." - Chris Evans

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The scene slowly opens, foggy at first as though you are looking at the approaching room through a foggy window or mirror. Slowly your vision of what's within begins to clear as we see the view of where you are for the first time. It's a rather large room, designed to be a rather sophisticated office space with bookshelves on either side and various other trinkets and such that you would find within. The walls are cream colored, giving it a rather comforting feel instead of the rather stale lifeless office spaces that you see around certain places these days. Niobe prefers to work in a place that she can feel at peace and where there won't be that many distractions from the outside world to deal with. And it's this quiet place that she returns to once again. The comforts of home suits her more than a work out room like some people.

That was the last thing she needed at the moment was to be distracted. She was going to have her hands full at the next Meltdown with the man known as Jimmy Ice. A man who in all accordance should be dead, having survived a near fatal plane crash. Miracle as it was, he was just another person to her, another face in the way of her goal. So what. As the pen raced across the paper she was writing on, her head started to bob to the tune of the music, glossy black hair tumbling over her shoulders and moving with the movements of her head. If you were so curious to know what it was that our beloved Niobe was listening to, it was the following...[/color]

Crowded streets are cleared away
One by One
Hollow heroes separate
As they run

You're so cold
Keep your hand in mine
Wise men wonder while strong men die...

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The drum beats and heavy guitar riffs continued to play out on the stereo, the rest of the lyrics fading away into the next song, something by Lacuna Coil called 'Kill the Light'. Niobe crossed her legs underneath her in the plush leather chair she was sitting in, tapping the pen against her lips as she continued to glance over the calendar in front of her, transferring everything to the calendar so she could actually remember. No she wasn't a dumb blond thank you very much, she just needed something to remind her of anything upcoming that was of great importance to her. There were a few things, APW related, plus a stop down to see some old friends in Los Angeles for a spell when she got the free moment to do so. She had been there days ago for Thanksgiving festivities and to stop in at her old wrestling school to train and talk with some of the new class that was there, teach these kids a thing or two about what it really means to be in this sport. Doing this for as long as she felt she had been doing it taught her a thing or two. How to be tough, to stand tall, and to not listen to the ramblings of an old man who knew nothing about who she was.

She'd been gone from the APW circuit for so long it felt like her first day there all over again. She could remember that first day. The stares, the looks she got as she walked in, blond hair tied back behind her head as she made her way to the lockerrooms. Thank god it had been empty of people. She didn't think she could handle anymore stares. She felt like she was a human experiment at that point. She had sat down on the bench and buried her face in her hands, letting the music she had been listening to drown out the noisy thoughts that were racing around through her head at the moment. She should have been getting ready for her first match that day but she spent a part of it just sitting there, collecting herself for a while before slowly getting up and undressed, each move slow and methodical as she slipped on her gear making sure it was all in place as she glanced down and examined herself before pulling out the earbuds and tossing the mp3 player to her duffle bag and walking to the door, glancing back at the empty place one more time before exiting, going out to the hallway, to the crowds to make a name for herself once and for all. That had been the first night, so long ago.

Then as quickly as it had been, she had vanished, pretty much without a trace and so much as a word as to why she had gone anyway. She doubted anyone would really care. She was a newbie, what did she know? A lot more than they really thought. Now she was coming back to the APW with a fresh look on things and a fresh set of eyes and needless to say she shocked at the new faces she saw and the attitudes that were flying around. Everyone striving to be the best, be better than the last person here. That last part wasn't so shocking because she felt the same way. She wanted to be the best, to be better than the last person here. Even poor Jimmy Ice. That was her opponent, her target...

And then noticed the light blinking on her phone and she decided to get the rest of this off of her chest. There was an interview to be done. Some reporter from the APW was calling to talk to her about her return to the ring.[/color]

"Hey, I'm sorry for taking so long to pick up the phone. I got a bit distracted with my own thoughts, you can understand that yeah?"[/font]

The voice on the other end of the phone chuckled a little bit, and you could hear the sound of papers being shuffled.[/color]

"Of course, Niobe. It happens to the best of us. So let's get this started as quickly as possible. I'm sure you have things to do, a flight to catch, all that jazz. So are you excited about going back to the APW finally after all these months? People have been wondering where you've been all this time. You pulled a Houdini so to speak"[/font]

Niobe chuckled a little bit. [/color] "Yeah, most definately I'm excited to be back after all this time. I did pull a bit of a Houdini and disappeared after a couple of months of being here. I didn't quit and I wasn't 'shit canned' as my opponent Jimmy Ice so blatantly put it."[/font]

"What was the reason you left in the first place? I think that's the question that's most prevailant on the fans minds right now. They want to know where the Nightmare has been."[/font]

"Like I said before, I wasn't fired or 'shit canned' like the Ice man put it. It was more a combination of personal issues, and the fact that I felt I wasn't performing up to the par of some of the stars around here. I was loosing matches that I should of won pretty fairly easily and it was a sad sad thing to see from my point of view and I'm sure my teachers from my old wrestling school as well. What I can tell the fans with a proud heart is that the Nightmare is well and able, and is returning at the next Meltdown card to face Jimmy Ice. I can't wait to fly out to New York. Anticipation is killing me."[/font]

"I'm sure, you've gotta be chomping at the bit to get in that ring but it's a thousand miles away and we've got a couple more things to talk about. What are your plans for being here this time? Anything in specific you want to accomplish?"

"My plans for being here, one is to finish off Jimmy Ice at Meltdown and the others are to face the brightest stars that are out there to climb to the top and one day down the line hold gold. I think that's really anyone's goal while being here isn't it? I mean look at the champs walking around. I'm sure that was their first thought upon arriving here, and it holds the same for me as well."

"Last question, any words for Jimmy Ice if he's out there?"[/font]

"Yeah, the Nightmare is coming for him. His worst fears shall come to life and he really wish he would of died in that plane crash. What I'm going to do to him won't compare to what's waiting for him when he's dead."[/font]

"Thanks for the interview Niobe. I'll let you go, good luck in Albany. Bye."[/font]

The phone call suddenly went dead as she steepled her hands together and glanced at the camera staring back at her, tilting her head at it with a rather serious look on her face.

"It's been too long since I've been around the APW. Almost feels like my first day back, you know? I remember that day, I really do. I pushed the door open and walked down that long hallway and I could feel people watching me. Staff, makeup, even the random star that was hanging around in the hallway. They all were watching me. I was the blond haired girl, the newbie come from the independent circuit to make a name for herself here in the APW. Recruited by the talent management to add to the growing list of people coming here. I rose and then I fell, stumbled, and then disappeared after a couple of months. I wasn't 'shit canned' like you said I was. It was personal reasons and the fact that I felt I wasn't performing up to par with what was around her that led me to left. Jeff agreed with my decision and let me leave with the condition that I return in the future at some point when I was ready.

It was a few weeks ago that I finally decided that I was ready to return, so long story short I made the call here and asked to be signed back on. So here I am, the Nightmare is back and ready to cause trouble. The first person to feel my touch is going to be you Jimmy Ice. You who has skirted death in a near fatal plane crash, only to come out of it and strive to make yourself better. Family, championships, all of that. Good for you. You've done something that most of us already have or are going to do.

I'm not sure what beyond you think you're looking for, but it certainly isn't with my defeat Ice man. And I'm not waiting for you beyond those pearly gates up in heaven. My waiting place is standing in the middle of that ring, waiting in the dark recesses of it and your mind for you to realize that your own demise is just a three count away. When I'm done with you dear Jimmy Ice, you're going to wish you'd died in that plane crash because the Nightmare I visit upon you will be ten times worse than it."

Niobe shut the small black calendar book she had and stood up out of the chair she was in, turning from the camera and wandering to the radio to shut it off as she exited the office she had holed herself up in for the past god knows how long. She made her way to her bedroom and picked up the bags waiting for her, hauling them downstairs by the front door as she pulled her cell out and dialed a number, telling the man on the other end of the line that she wanted a cab out here at her house to take her to the airport. Her flight was due to leave in a couple of hours or so, and she didn't want to miss it. She hated to miss things.

A while later her phone rang, just as the cab pulled up and she swung open the door to haul out her stuff, all the while on the phone.

"Yeah yeah, I'll be in Albany shortly. I know everyone else is there and I'm sorry for being the last one but I wanted to take care of stuff at home first." There was a pause, and Niobe laughed as she hoisted the last of her things into the trunk and shut it, climbing into the back and shutting the door as the car sped away. "Oh don't worry, I will be taking care of that poor, unaware Jimmy very very soon. Time to put the dead man on ice and send him on a plane to his own destruction."