It all falls apart, the devil needs his due.

“Hedo… what the hell happened?” 

The former Triple A champ looked up from the bench he was on and shrugged. Ayami was leaning in the doorway, a look of disappointment on her face. 

“I mean…” she said, frowning, “You tapped out. Like, really easily.” 

“yeah.” 

“Um… that’s pretty inconsistent with like, everything you’ve ever done. Hell, you’ve never tapped out before. Not a day in your life. And you tap out to THIS guy? Not even DGS or Lost Soul or Sanders…” She shook her head, “And then afterwards you say you need to re-establish momentum so you pick a fight with Chaos. I’m really confused.” 

Hedo frowned, and shrugged, “I… I got nothing.” 

“Nothing. You have nothing to say about that bizarre, inconsistent travesty of decision making?” 

“Um. $#!+ happens?” He leaned back, thoughtful look on his face. “I think I’m just getting old.. could be ring rust, could be the fact that my body’s broken from years of clandestine dealings and shady operations. It could just be the forces of the universe aligning in such a way to make the impossible possible. I don’t know.” 

“Hedo, what are you looking at?” She asked, and stepped into the room so she could follow his gaze. Her mouth fell open, and her eyes bulged. 

Across from Hedo, on the carpeted floor of his dressing room… a dozen coins were standing on end, as if balanced there carefully. 

“Watch this.” He said, and flicked another coin against the wall. It fell to the carpet, rolled, and stood on end near the others. “No matter how many times I flip them… they end up that way. It’s like the laws of physics are standing on head… the world, or my pattern in it… is destabilizing somehow.” 

“That’s… impossible. Hedo, is this a trick?” 

He shook his head, “No. No trick. It’s Chaos. I went out there tonight to challenge him in mind… and just the simple act of wanting to do that has put me on a path where the probable is no longer probable, the impossible IS possible. The rules don’t mean anything anymore, it seems. I tapped out tonight, when I didn’t need to. I was winning. There was no sound justification, rhyme or reason for it. I simply… tapped out.” 

“and now.. this… and you’re sure it’s Chaos?” 

“It has to be. What else could explain it? Maybe it’s more than a name. Maybe it’s a reason. Maybe I’m on Jacob’s Ladder, and the world is falling apart around me…” He flipped another coin, and again it rolled to stand on end. “I have to see this thing through with him though. I suspect he’s the center of it. I don’t suspect I’ll live through it.” 

Her face was pensive, her voice weak: “Hedo?” 

“I think the devil has come for me, Ayami. I think he wants his due.”