012 - Thunder Grizzly

In the wrestling world, there was no one who didn't know the name of Thunder Grizzly. Even though many agreed that this was a dumb name, including the wrestler himself, after years it held a strong connotation of respect, and even slight nobility.

Being a huge wrestling fan, there was hardly any moment in Nathan's life where he didn't want to grow and become a wrestler himself. He spent days, nights, weekends watching his idols, sometimes from new events, sometimes from old classics. Knowing that he managed to carry his dream from childhood to adulthood was already a huge accomplishment in itself, in fact probably better than his actual career.

When Nathan made his debut as Thunder Grizzly, he wasn't exactly popular, at least for his first year in the business. More often than not, he was quite heavily criticized for having an uninteresting fighting style and character. Assuming that they did care enough about him to write a piece, some journalists went quick on ruling Thunder Grizzly off as "pathetic wannabe superstar". His fans today like to think that he made himself into a better wrestler as a response to the critics, but in fact, he never once cared about them. His guideline wasn't "how can I get better reviews and access to bigger events ?", it was more in the lines of "how can I evolve and become an inspiration ?".

Thunder Grizzly was a major star during the past 9 years. An inspiration to many, and even a known figure to the uninitiated. At some point, he barely needed an ad campaign anymore to make himself noticed. Though he liked the stage and looked forward to it every time, the unexpected meetings with fans were always the best moments of his life. Honestly, life couldn't be any better for him.

"I am sorry to inform you that we have diagnosed you with pancreatic cancer."

…However, life could always become worse. Nathan learned that the hard way.

3 months before the diagnosis, Thunder Grizzly was feeling a bit weaker than usual. Some said it's just stress. But he never really felt stress. Some said it was due to his nutrition. But he always kept a healthy diet. Some ran out of ideas and said it was just a bad day. He agreed, because he didn't know what else it could be. But then, the bad day transformed into a bad week, then a bad month. Eventually, he started losing appetite, and felt pain across his body more than usual. The last straw was when 5 minutes before entering stage, Thunder Grizzly felt an intense nausea. After throwing up but trying to stay strong, he eventually collapsed and the show had to be cancelled.

After hearing the terrifying news, Nathan wasn't very sure how to react. He thought of his career. He thought of his fans. He thought of his wife and kids. But he didn't think about his own sake. So immediately, he asked the doctor if he could ever live his life again, just like nothing happened. As Nathan feared, the doctor slowly shook his head in response. "Surgery is not possible in your case."

Nathan eventually left the room with a million thoughts. How did this happen ? What will happen next ? Why him ? Why now ? He had to think about considering chemotherapy, that it could improve his quality of life for what remained of his life. Remained of his life ? That thought alone made him even more sad.

The next day, Nathan had to contact his agent, Diana. Though there had been some conflicts between them in the early years, they grew to be very close friends, so he knew he could trust her. He called her in the morning.

"Hey Nathan. Are you feeling okay ?"

"Uhh, for now I am."

"So what did the doc said ? When can you get back to the stage ?"

"Oh, well, he said… I may have… you know…"

"What is it ?"

"…Cancer."

There was a weird silence. For a handful of seconds, it was like both of them didn't believe in what Nathan just said.

"Are you serious ?"

"You know I wouldn't joke about that."

"Okay, I need to see you this afternoon. I'll tell you later when I'm available."

In the following afternoon, after realizing the amplitude of the condition, Diana basically told him to prepare for his retirement. For Nathan, this word was a lot more painful than cancer. But after denying it for a while, he had to come to terms with the idea. Together, they worked on a new campaign that would mark the end of his career.

After confirming all details with his agency, Nathan moved on to what could be called the beginning of the end. First of all, he made a press conference explaining his condition, which drew a lot of fan support. Like every time, Nathan was moved by all the positive reactions he got with this announcement. But this time, it was even more intense. Before making it, he felt like he was betraying his fans, and thought he would disappoint them. But even though a small minority were furious and/or disappointed, the vast majority saluted his courage, and willingness to tell it straight to his fans.

Thunder Grizzly had a lifelong rival, named Peter, who was mostly known as 'Ironskull'. Though not as popular as Thunder Grizzly, Ironskull was a solid contender and famous for his very strong head, hence the name. He was notorious for his Ironskull Dive, a simple though very efficient move in which he simply lunged headfirst at his opponent, dealing a hit strong enough to incapacitate most enemies.

This wasn't really a secret among the community, but despite the heated fights between the two rivals, Nathan and Peter were best friends. They met when they were first starting, and trying to make it big. Eventually, due to a more conventional style, Ironskull got accepted into bigger events faster than Thunder Grizzly. As Ironskull was getting more and more popular and basically asked for stronger opponents, someone finally rose to the challenge. The organizers kept it a secret from Peter until the last moment. It was a no-name, Thunder Grizzly, willing to take the rising star Ironskull to a duel. Due to the excitement of the two fighters, the match was an amazing spectacle, and it is still referred today as one of the most exciting matches of their respective careers. It was also the match that sent them straight to stardom, and sealed their friendship for eternity.

But that day, Nathan didn't ask to meet his rival Ironskull. He wanted to see his best friend, Peter. For the first time, their reunion started off way too solemn, diverging from the usual banter they engage in. Peter knew what the reunion was about without needing to ask.

"So, you are getting out of the game ?"

"You know what happened to me last week. It's not reasonable for me to continue."

"You sure you can't fight anymore ?"

"The doc told me it's a bad idea, and it will only complicate things."

Peter soon ran out of things to say. Throughout the conversation, he tried to avoid the subject. But he did go back to it sometimes, reminding Nathan about how much his fans loved Thunder Grizzly, how everyone around him was supportive, and so on. But this didn't cheer up Nathan enough, who was most of the time staring at the floor. Then, Peter had an idea.

"One last fight."

Nathan finally raised his head up.

"What ?"

"We have to do one last fight before you retire. Thunder Grizzly versus Ironskull."

"You know I can't do that anymore, I already told you."

"But is that what you really want ? Will you not have any regrets on your deathbed ? You are still good enough to stand. You can still fight and do things. You have to seize the opportunity, man."

As Peter went on, Nathan realized that his friend was absolutely right. He knew that no matter what, death was inevitable. So what if he had to risk a bit of his lifetime ? The reward was way too high to pass on the offer. And so, Nathan agreed to the proposition, and immediately called Diana to arrange a match.

The news of that upcoming match caused a massive reaction from his fans and even a major part of the wrestling community. The last match between the two lifelong rivals, Ironskull and Thunder Grizzly. For that moment, Nathan had to be ready. Even though he was doing something he wasn't supposed to, he decided to go see his doctor about it. The doctor wasn't really fond of the idea, but nonetheless agreed to it, but only if it was only for this one time, and some precautions were taken.

The day of the match, Nathan felt incredibly anxious. More than his first match. More than any of his matches. He couldn't disappoint anyone. All those people were here to see the last match of his career. Eventually, he made his entrance, and the audience cheered with an intensity strong enough to pierce the skies. Ironskull was already on stage, and even though he liked to keep an angry persona for his character, he could not avoid making a genuine smile as his rival entered the ring.

The match itself was nothing special, but every single move brought out so much reaction from the audience, that it seemed like it was the most interesting match ever disputed. None of the previous matches ended up like this between the two, but this time both agreed to a draw, after an intense encounter. For the duration of the match, Nathan managed to forget about all his problems. He didn't care if he was going to die soon. He was doing what he loved, and his fans enjoyed seeing him doing what he loved. It was at this moment, at the end of the match, under the thunderous applause of all the audience, that he understood where he could find happiness. One last time, he pulled out his mask, revealing his huge smile, followed by him screaming "THANK YOU EVERYONE !", which made the audience cheer even louder.

After that, Nathan lived a peaceful life. He first thought was that he wasn't going to like it, but he managed to appreciate it, thanks to his goodbye match. Some days were better, some days were worse - mostly those spent in a hospital. He spent time with his family, friends, and of course his best friend Peter, who eventually quit wrestling a couple years after their last match, mostly due to a lack of character definition now that his rival was gone.

Four years later. Peter entered Nathan's hospital room with a DVD in his hand. Nathan didn't even need to ask what was on it, in fact he didn't say anything. Peter loaded the DVD to play on the room's TV, and both watched something that they came to know by heart by now : the first match that defined their rivalry. Nobody said a word. When it was over, Peter asked :

"I have our last match as well. You want to see it ?"

Nathan simply nodded. During the viewing of those two videos, Peter had trouble keeping tears away from his cheeks, but he tried anyway.

"I was in pretty good shape then… I should get back to the gym soon." Nathan joked.

This took Peter by surprise, but they both laughed. Peter was happy to see that until the end, his best friend kept his joy intact. And truth to be told, Nathan had merely a week ahead of him. Right now, Nathan could barely move anymore, and was under almost constant administration of morphine. Talking was an effort to him. For the past month, Peter was visiting him every other day, and they talked about whatever Nathan felt like talking about.

On Nathan's last day, not only Peter was present. His wife, his children, and even Diana were also there. The room was filled with sadness, but Nathan kept on trying to bring light to it.

"You're making weird faces… did somebody die or something… ?"

Peter and Diana had a bittersweet laugh, but his family wasn't exactly feeling like doing so. There was basically no conversation, just depressing talk back and forth, sometimes broken by a joke, often from Nathan and occasionally from Peter. Eventually, after saying goodbye, everyone left the room except for Diana.

"Nathan, do you miss it ? The stage ?"

"Oh, you know… It's in the past now… I've done my time there."

"Well, you might be the only one here who thinks so."

"What do you mean… Diana ?"

She didn't answer. Instead, she put a DVD she brought into the DVD player, and launched the movie that was on it. Before leaving the room, she told Nathan one last thing.

"It will be hard, but we will try to not miss you too much. However, we will never forget about you."

Nathan was alone now. Just him and the DVD. At first, he thought that it was going to be another replay of some of his matches. Actually, a teenage boy was on camera, and started speaking. The kid spoke a lot about Thunder Grizzly. He told the camera about how much he was a great wrestler, and how sad he was that it was over, after so many years of making his fans dream. After he finished speaking, another person came up and did the same. Then another. It went on for about an hour, but Nathan never got tired of it. During the viewing of that movie, all the tears he held back with his silly jokes flowed out of his body. He felt relieved to be alone in the room, so that he didn't have to think about another funny bit to keep his cover intact.

That night, Nathan died. But Thunder Grizzly was still there. On video. On television. But most of all, in the heart of all his fans.