Daniel brings himself up to a knee and clutches his left arm while trying to catch his breath. He is visibly disappointed with the outcome of the match, as he watches Messiah and Wallace triumphantly head up the aisle.

D.W.C.: *huff…*puff…Not strong enough yet. Well, I will be soon enough. Until then, I better get to some serious strategy rethinking.

(…presently…)

Daniel William Clark, back home in the Bronx, NY, goes through his mail. He fans through it and so far it’s the usual:

spam,
advertisements,
“join such and such to get this and that”,
Nintendo Power magazine, that’s cool,
fan mail: he’ll get to those later.

But the one envelope that grabs his attention is one with the return address being from Santa Monica, CA. He moves that one to the front of the pile.

D.W.C.: Dina!

He eagerly opens it up, pulls the letter out and reads it. It says:

~~~~~~
Hi Daniel!

I hope your first match back with Mercury went well.

~~~~~~

Daniel briefly looks up and sighs…

D.W.C.: Not as well as it could have, but thanks anyway.

…then goes back to reading.

~~~~~~

Things are going well over here. I’m still doing my part to prepare the wrestlers of tomorrow, and to be honest, it makes me miss being in the ring myself. Sometimes I just close my eyes and wish I were your age again. Hee hee hee! As for the living situation, the job is paying alright but could be better, so I’m rooming with my old tag team partner until I’m able to get my own place.

As for you, MY FAVORITE STUDENT OF ALL, I wanted to let you know how proud I am of you. In the time that I was guiding you, you overcame all kinds of challenges, pushed so hard to better yourself, and always looked like you were having a great time doing it. You’ve always been like a little brother to me, as I feel like I helped raise you in your career, and it warms my heart to see how strong you’ve become. Now, you’re all grown up and ready to take on the world, but know that you will never be alone in your quest, as I will always be with you in spirit.

I think it’s safe to say that at this point in time, Daniel William Clark is more than just “Bret Hart’s prodigy and torch bearer”. With Sting back in the ring himself, and Hart achieving Hall of Fame status, you may still admire them and give thanks to them for what they did for you, but you no longer have to worry about living up to THEIR legacies.

Now is the time for you to solidify YOUR OWN legacy and establish YOUR OWN self worth;

Now is the time that the BOY becomes a MAN;

Now is the time for you to prove to everyone else, especially yourself, that even though you may not be the tallest, even though you may not have the biggest physique, that you are definitely a true champion of the people, and a great influence on all of the fans around the world.

Because NOW IS THE TIME that the torch has been passed along from the teachers to their student.

Always remember to be strong, have courage, and fight the good fight with honor and discipline. You’ve already taken great steps toward all of these things and I couldn’t have asked for more from you. I know you will become World Champion soon enough, honey. At this point, it’s not a question of IF, but WHEN. I just hope I can be there when you win it.

To paraphrase one of your favorite movies: “No more training do you require, you already know what you need to”.

Bret Hart, Sting, Myself: our work is done. Now it’s your turn. Go get ‘em, Daniel!

Much love,
Dina

xoXOxoXO

~~~~~

D.W.C.: …thank you, Dina…thank you for everything. I love you too.

The words of Dina Michaels touch Daniel very deeply as he smiles and kisses the letter before setting it down on the table. A grown man with his entire future ahead of him is about to take his rightful place as a front man for the next generation of pro wrestling superstars.

Look out LCW Mercury, there’s gonna be a new sheriff in town real soon!