Twenty-One

“There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”

-Mark Twain

# # #

Excerpt from “The Colton Family, Reexamined” by Tanner Quest:

“When did PRIME stop believing in Nate Colton?”

“By the end of 2024, Colton finished an impressive run that should have cemented his place as a top star. His first pay-per-view headline match, his first Universal Title match, and a stretch of victories over some of PRIME’s greatest villains–Stanislav, Snow, and Ray. With all that behind him, Nate Colton entered 2025 finally ready to fulfill the promise he showed in his rookie year.”

“He was already an afterthought by Culture Shock, barely mentioned in the buildup to Manhunt. From there, he was an unnecessary addition to the already white-hot feud between Jason Snow and Hayes Hanlon, then embarrassed himself in the Almasy Invitational with another first-round exit. He lost his second Universal Title shot–a chance as undeserved as his first was overdue–and finally, suffered the first PPV loss on his record at Colossus. He had been surpassed by several wrestlers he’d defeated earlier in his career, and featured in only one single main event match all year–the same number as Harley Walker, Rose, and Don Winters.”

“A far cry from 2022, when he ended the year as Five Star Champion–still the only title reign on his record.”

# # #

New life starts small and fragile…

“Coltons in the HOOOOOOUUUUUUUUSE!”

But it doesn’t stay that way.

The last year saw a lot of growth for Second City Wrestling, and Nate felt every bit of it as he walked through the halls of Cicero Stadium. A world of difference from his last visit, and not just because they were in a larger building.

He’d been a part of the promotion’s rebirth; their flagship show was built on the fight between Nate and his father’s old rival, Colt Smith. That kickstarted the company’s momentum, and now 2CW was a solid player in the Midwest. More advertisements, more seats, more fans…and more Coltons.

Nate led the regiment, with the Lads in lockstep behind him–Dennis his usual stoic self, while Benjamin sprung off the floor with every step, joyously announcing the family’s presence.

The hall was mostly empty; they only passed a few arena staff and the Guest Services Coordinator, whose angered shouts carried their volume through her closed office door. None of them paid any mind to the Coltons.

Suits me fine; don’t feel like dealing with outsiders

It wasn’t until they made a few more turns that they met someone else from their circles–a scrawny kid, all rangy limbs and scraggly hair. “Heyyyyyy bros!” he said, his face lighting up. “You made it!”

Colton smiled, but muttered out of the corner of his mouth, “Do we know this guy?”

“He looks like he gets paid in weed,” Denny said.

“More like, he pays the promoter weed so he can be part of the show,” Benny added.

Nate quickly put on his most polite face and shook the newcomer’s hand like they were old friends. “Hey, buddy! Good to see you too!”

“We’ve never met, bro,” the stranger said. “Not for real. But yeah, big boss wanted me to help you set up. I’m Nix.”

“Lead the way, then,” Nate said. Nix turned around and walked until he reached an intersection, where he took a few halting steps forward, then to the left, and finally to the right.

“Sorry, I’m not used to these buildings yet. Dante only just started bringing me on the road. You know him, right? Dante Knox?”

“Yeah, I was on that show with him last year. So you’d be…”

“Nix Knox. He always tells me to change it, but I think it slings.”

‘Slings?’ Fuck is that? Is that good? Don’t make up new shit; I only just figured out what mogging is

Fuck me, I’m old now aren’t I

This time next week I’ll be yelling at kids to get off my damn lawn and talking about how things were back in my day

Halfway through Nate’s existential crisis, the group reached a T-intersection, with the familiar noise of people coming from the left. “Thanks for your help, Nix. I think we can take it from here.”

Nix’s face froze for a second. “Oh–nah, you guys are down this way. Got you your own spot.”

“Didn’t have to do that,” Nate said, but his tour guide brushed it off.

“Gotta treat the big stars right, am I right?”

“Hell yeah, you are,” Benny said, nudging his older brother a little nudge toward the right corridor.

“Fine,” Nate said; a short walk led them to a separate room with a hand-written sign with the family name, spelled right after a few tries. He opened the door, revealing a modest room with most of the clutter pushed to one corner. The limited comforts included a few good chairs, a privacy curtain to divide the room, and a small folding table with a familiar white box.

“Are you fucking with me right now?” Nate said. He didn’t even have to look inside.

“Is that the rutabaga–” Benny started.

“Yes, it’s the rutabaga cheesecake.”

“I thought you left that in Detroit.”

“I DID! It keeps following me! Goddamn Anna Daniels and their fuckin’ alien wizard magic.”

The Lads claimed their spots by throwing their bags; Nate turned back to Nix and shook his hand again. “Thanks, bud. I’ll catch up with the boys before the show.”

“Yeah…cool, cool,” Nix replied, looking nervous again. “I mean, don’t feel like you have to or nothin’. You need anything, just ask me. Cool?”

Nix Knox left the Coltons to their preparation, closing the door behind him. Nate waited a few seconds before he spoke.

“So that was weird, right?”

“Yep,” Dennis said, poring over a sheet taped to the inside of the door.

“That dude was real slow on the uptake,” Benny followed, but Nate should his head. Their guide, obtuse though he was, wasn’t the problem.

“They know damn well I don’t like this ‘star treatment’ crap. Whole point of doing these shows is to stay connected to the local scenes.”

“Ah, live a little,” Benny said as he opened his bag. “Ain’t gonna kill us to let people treat us like a big deal every once in a while, y’know?”

“This ain’t exactly five-star accommodations,” Nate fired back. “I just don’t get it. They clearly didn’t try real hard with this. I even told ‘em I’d rather be in with the others. Why shove us out of the way like this?”

“Think I’ve got an answer,” Dennis said, tapping the sheet with his finger. Nate followed the digit to the list of names that made tonight’s lineup. Three in particular explained why they’d been shoved into this side room.

Trece Vickers. Jennifer’s ex-boyfriend.

Jezebel Jinx. Jennifer’s ex-best friend.

Khalil Jeffries, the prize student who got left out of the Belmont in favor of Blake Colton.

Only a small percentage of the lineup…but an enclosed space can only handle so much heat. With those three being full-time roster; the easiest way to keep the peace was to keep the Coltons out.

“For fuck’s sake,” he muttered. “See if we ever come here again, if this is how they treat us.”

“I don’t get it,” Benny said. “Jenny ain’t even here. Now, if they were my exes, I’d understand.”

“Didn’t you hook up with one of Hell or High Water a couple years back?”

“Shit, Neveah Flood’s here? Please tell me we’re not booked against them.”

Shaking his head, Nate pulled up his phone and checked the family chat.

@NCColton: made it to Cicero; vibes are off but we’ll make it work @kmori: I am so sorry to hear that! 😭 Fight hard and be safe tonight! @BWColton: Tear it up, big bro. @NCColton: @JVColton @BWColton Shame you guys couldn’t make it. We still haven’t all been on the same show @BWColton: I wish we could, but I have film study.

Blake’s answer brought some light to Nate’s heart; he was glad to see the kid still trying to improve, even after all his setbacks.

Jennifer’s answer…never came.

No surprise either; she hadn’t spoken a word to him in months. About him? Of course. Around him? Sure. But never directly to him. In person or chat, the only way she’d respond to Nate was if someone else repeated him. An impressive degree of pettiness; one that would go down in Colton lore alongside the Pre-Detergent Saga of 2013, or the Exact Change Incident of 2022.

Nate smiled, as he always did when he thought of the FLAMBOrghini, and put the phone down. “Kinda bullshit, but we’ll make do, I guess.”

“Wanna go down there and start shit?” Benny asked. “Not with Neveah; she’ll kill me–and not in the fun way, like Bex does.”

“No, but you can bet this is gonna come up the next time I talk with the promoter. Let’s just focus on giving the crowd a good show. And–God dammit, Benny, that doesn’t mean taking off your pants.”

“What?” Benny said, the picture of innocence (other than the lack of pants.) “I gotta put on my tights somehow.”

“Fine. Just don’t go dangling in the hallway.”

“That was one time! And only ‘cause his girlfriend showed up!”

A knock came from the door, interrupting the argument.

“Probably Nix again. Put your pants back on, Benny.”

“Why?”

Nate opened the door to a familiar face, but not the one they expected. This one was mostly expressionless, framed by short red hair and sitting atop a thin frame in a brown three-piece suit. They held a recording device in one hand and a notepad in the other, with a pencil tucked neatly behind one ear.

2CW treated the Coltons cold today, but that was nothing next to the icy reception they gave to Tanner Quest.

# # #

“I mentioned that fact to our site statistician, Peter Rahal. It sent him down a rabbit hole, and he came back with some very curious information.”

“Three months prior to that title match, Colton defeated FLAMBERGE at UltraViolence–yet it was his rival who fought for–and won–the Five Star at ReVival 18, two weeks after Colton announced his intention to contend for it. This would mark the first instance of someone losing to Colton and getting a title match first.”

“The current count is fifteen.”

“There are extenuating circumstances, of course. Determining a contender is far more complex than simply looking at records. Most of those title opportunities came in divisions that Colton is not part of. Others were secured through special events like the Almasy Invitational, or prolonged success at the top of the card.”

“Still, it shows a curious pattern that has changed my perspective even as I write. I’ve been trying to find the answer for ‘When did PRIME stop believing in Nate Colton?’”

“After taking a longer view of his career so far, I finally understand the real question.”

“Did they ever?”

# # #

“Good afternoon,” Tanner said, taking no notice of the sudden sour expressions. “Do you have time for–”

SLAM!

Nate closed the door with force, while Dennis joined his younger cousin on the far side of the room’s perimeter.

“No,” Nate hissed, desperately trying to hold his own temper. “We’re not starting fights with journalists today.”

“They should have thought of that before they showed up here,” Benny snapped. “Talk shit, get hit. That’s Rule 40.”

It wasn’t, but Nate was more concerned about the repeated knocking. Tanner’s dogged pursuit of a story was rivaled only by their staggering lack of social awareness.

“I don’t think they’re going away. Anyone want to take this?”

The situation was mildly serious; enough to disqualify Benny from consideration. Denny merely shook his head. “Got nothin’ I want to say to them.”

Guess I gotta be the adult; go figure

Nate opened the door again, slipping through the narrow opening and closing it behind him. If he offended Tanner by slamming the door in their face, they certainly weren’t showing it.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he asked, more pointedly than he maybe intended.

Tanner answered as if they hadn’t dragged the entire Colton family through the mud. “Research. I am writing a story about Second City Wrestling’s successful return. Do you have time for a brief interview?”

Suddenly, Nate’s mind was full of things to say; he almost had to slip into his box breathing exercises to keep them in.

Yeah we can start with what I think about your stupid shitty article for your stupid shitty website and then we can move on to your stupid shitty face

He rode that wave of anger in silence, until it broke and his sense of reason came back online.

We’re not doing that today; Tanner’s doing their job and sometimes that sucks for us, just fucking deal with it

“Make it quick.”

You got maybe three minutes before I bite your fucking head off

Quest pressed the ‘record’ button and held the device closer to Colton’s face.

“What are your thoughts on Second City Wrestling’s resurgence?”

I think it's horse shit that they can use my name to sell tickets then shove me in a corner until bell time

“No comment.”

“Khalil Jeffries has been turning heads since his debut last year. How badly does your father regret not backing his Belmont application?”

We did him dirty but the old man's been making himself sick over it ever since

“Your brother Blake has been struggling since the Belmont Classic, often seeming lost in the ring, even in victory. Do you think he can still have a successful career?”

Fuck you and the horse you rode in on

“No comment.”

“How do you feel about your upcoming match against Math Johnson?”

Fuck him and the protractor he rode in on

“No comment.”

Tanner friends; the first expression to cross their face since the “interview” began. Their one-track mind finally derailed in the face of Nate Colton’s stonewalling.

“What is your favorite color?”

IT’S A TIE BETWEEN BLUE AND GO FUCK YOURSELF

“It’s a–No comment.”

CALM THE FUCK DOWN NATHAN DO YOU WANT ANOTHER ARTICLE ABOUT YOU BULLYING A REPORTER

STOP YELLING AT ME, ME

“I see,” Tanner said, turning off their recorder and stashing it in a pocket. “In the future, please let me know if you have nothing to say. It will save us both time and effort.”

Oh, I got a LOT to say to you

“Oh, I got a LOT to say to you.”

SHIT SHIT SHIT

Tanner’s face sprouted a quizzical look as they reached for their recorder again. Nate held up a hand. “Off the record, I mean.”

“I see.” They clasped their empty hands together, staring at a point just to the side of Nate’s eye.

“I still don’t understand why you wrote that article.”

Anyone else might have blanched at that; even the most heartless of muckrakers would be taken aback when confronted by a man of Nate Colton’s stature. Tanner kept staring, totally unfazed by the sudden turn.

“I seem to remember us carrying a lot of water for you and your website. Back when nobody else would give you the time of day, we agreed to interviews. We got you in the door with the Belmont. With PRIME. But I guess that doesn’t mean anything if you can get paid by stabbing us in the back.”

There

I fuckin’ said it, and I fuckin’ meant it

Now what

As Tanner stared at him, it dawned on Nate just how much the reporter had changed in recent years. He remembered them as a little nervous, skittish in certain situations. He didn’t know if it was from experience, RingDispatch’s recent growth, or some other unknown factor, but Tanner Quest showed much less fear than he before.

“Nathan. You seem to be under the impression that I enjoyed writing that story, or that I only wrote it for the views. That is not the case. I took no pleasure in it, and would prefer to gain success from any of my other work…or not at all.”

“So why’d you do it, then?”

“Because the truth matters, Mister Colton. It is my driving force. My raison d’etre. When I find a piece of it, I cannot let go until I have found the whole thing. I found that piece when the Belmont selections were announced, and your father chose–”

“I know what happened.”

“That incident cast things in a new light. I started digging. Patterns emerged. New information supported those patterns. You might not like my conclusions, but the facts are, as they say, the facts. I did not write that story out of some grudge; I did it because the truth must be told.”

“I wish you did have a grudge! We coulda wrote it off as a hit piece and stopped thinking about it, like all Savannah Scandal’s bullshit or anything the Red Army says about us. But you meant that shit. And I could give a good goddamn what you say about me, but coming after my little brother like that? Or my dad? A guy who’d give the shirt off his back for damn near anyone in the business?”

“I am sorry you feel that way, Mister Colton. As stated, that was not my intention. But I believe, as Carl Sagan said: if it can be destroyed by the truth, it deserves to be destroyed by the truth.”

“BUT IT AIN’T THE FUCKIN’ TRUTH!”

A flinch. Minor, certainly not the panic attacks they used to suffer. But it was there…and it shifted the power balance. Not something Nate would normally revel in…

But you fucked with us

You fucked with our name

For years that was the only thing the old man had in this world, and I’ll be damned if I let this slide

“It’s not the truth, Tanner. It’s…it’s just numbers, and numbers ain’t people. We’re a lot more complicated than lookin’ at a stat sheet or a record book. It don’t matter how many matches you watch or people you talk to; if you think you can just boil people down to points on a goddamn chart, then you’ll never understand.”

The words hung in the air, but Nate couldn’t tell if they accomplished anything. Tanner stared back at him with that same face, the one that never smiled, rarely frowned, and probably only raised an eyebrow in the dark when nobody else was around.

At long last, they released their hands. One went into a pocket, fishing out a notepad. The other went behind their ear, grabbing the pencil. Once the lead touched paper, they quickly went to work scribbling shorthand notes.

“Hmmph,” Nate scoffed. “I suppose this is gonna show up on your website now, too.”

Tanner didn’t look up from their work. “No. Not directly. I am taking your complaints under advisement.”

“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means exactly that. I understand my flaws as a journalist, and have tried to work on them. Clearly, I have more work to do.”

They made a few more notes, then tapped the pencil tip to the edge of the paper as a sort of punctuation. “Thank you for your time, Mister Colton. I look forward to your match tonight.”

They stashed the notepad again, then turned down the hall toward the main locker room. A few people were gathered outside, no doubt drawn by Nate’s earlier shouting.

What the fuck just happened

Dumbfounded, Colton returned to his semi-private quarters. He was greeted by the Lads, who were in much better spirits.

“Well said, cousin,” Denny told him. Things had been tense between the two for some time; this seemed to be the first sign of softening.

“Family chat’s already heard,” Benny said, holding up the screen to Nate’s face.

@BTColton: nate just tore tanner quest a shiny new asshole it was glorious @BWColton: Hell yeah! What did you say? @JVColton: @NCColton 💜

Nate smiled. Maybe things were finally turning around. For him, for the family.

He knew they would eventually. All it took was a common enemy; even if they weren’t really one.

But that’s the key to success, isn’t it?

Finding the right formula.

# # #

You can feel it already, can't you Nathan? 

Your last shreds of relevance, slipping through your fingers

Fitting that it's against someone named after the subject you never would have passed without a tutor

This is all you're good for now; a good hand who won't outshine their new toy

Face facts, Nate

Math, your worst subject, is about to turn you into your best

History.