"Come on, man...these tickets cost more than our college tuition combined. Can't we at least just see what it's all about?"

Roman Reigns glanced up from the screen of his phone to find his best friend, Seth Rollins, staring back at him pointedly. He was expecting an answer but it wasn't going to be one that he wanted to hear.

"I've never even heard of this Molossian thing, Seth." Roman's eyes flickered back down to his phone, typing away at the e-mail he had been attempting to finish for the last thirty minutes, since Seth showed up in his office raving about these tickets. "What did you say it was like? Boxing? How have we never heard of it if it's a legitimate sport?"

"My uncle said it was something only few would ever be able to afford," Seth was getting annoyed, Roman could hear the shift in his tone, "what does it matter? He said it's an experience we'd never forget. He went to his first Molossian when he was eighteen and he said he hasn't missed one since. Until now, he's going overseas and he passed the tickets down to me."

"Then why haven't we heard him talk about it before?" Roman asked, dropping his phone onto his desk with a perk of an eyebrow. He had known Seth since they were very young, the two families having agreed on a merger long ago on a chain of high end hotels. They were raised as close friends, Roman only having a year on Seth in age, and in all those years he hadn't heard the Molossian brought up once.

Seth fixed Roman with an exasperated look and he pushed himself up from the chair he had been lounging in, soothing his hands down over his button up shirt- a shirt that probably cost more than a normal car payment for most people. Roman wore fancy suits and expensive clothing when it was handed to him but fashion never quite sat well with him. Seth, on the other hand, had his own clothing line.

"Will you at least just consider it?" Seth asked, his tone admitting partial defeat but a look of concern sparked in his dark eyes, "When's the last time we went out and did anything fun, huh? Not since before the Bella fiasco."

Roman's gray eyes narrowed slightly, not wanting to have this whole conversation again. Nikki Bella, or as Seth referred to her- 'the Bella', was one part of the infamous socialites called the Bella Twins. They weren't really so bad, not really, but Nikki had basically put Roman's heart through the ringer during their two year relationship. Seth had never been her biggest fan and now took pleasure in dragging her name through the mud, while attempting to lure Roman into double dates at least a couple times a week. What else were best friends for?

Honestly, Seth was a good guy and had Roman's best interest at heart. He could tell Seth was worried about him and he needed to do a better job of being a good friend himself, in return.

"I'll think about it." Roman was done with that conversation before it began and Seth took the answer as a small victory, gave his best friend a salute and left him with his thoughts.

Ten minutes later Roman found himself scouring the internet on his phone for anything that mentioned The Molossian. He found some old articles about dog fighting in Ancient Greece, apparently Mollosus was a now extinct breed of dog created for battle, but nothing much more than that. Any other lead he thought he had found just led him to a dead end. Anything that had once existed on the internet about The Molossian had been deleted and disposed of.

Furrowing his brow at how odd this whole thing was, he decided to put it out of his head for now and concentrate on work. In about an hour his father was going to be bringing him in on a video conference call that he wasn't looking forward to so he needed to be on his game.

"Roman, as the sole heir of everything this family has worked so hard for." The booming voice of Sika Reigns on the other end of the line had Roman rolling his eyes. The conference call had gone alright but Roman couldn't concentrate to save his life and his father had noticed. "You have to take this seriously. This isn't a joke, this merger could determine your future, the future of your children and their children after them."

The Reigns family fortune had began years before his grandfather was even thought of, and yeah it was true that a lot of hard work went into building on that fortune but where did it end? They already owned three of the most successful hotel lines in the world- did they really need to be partners in an airline as well? Roman didn't think so. After spending nearly seven years in college becoming more savvy in the world of business in preparation of taking over someday, he wasn't even sure this is what he wanted at all. Everything had been handed to him on a golden platter since he was old enough to walk, he hadn't really had to work for anything his whole life. Friends were made through other rich families, parties were planned down to the very last detail. He had no control over anything it seemed. There was no adventure, everything was predetermined. Hell, they had even tried to marry him off to a girl from a wealthy European family. Getting with Nikki had sort of been his rebellion, much to the dismay of his parents, but even that had ended up out of his hands.

"You're not getting any younger either," the voice of Roman's father continued on the other end, "you're going to need to find a strong woman to settle down and start a family with. You know, your mother and I ran into Sasha the other day and she's turned into such a beautiful young woman."

"You told me already," Roman's tone was flat and uninterested, "listen, I have some things to finish up here so I should probably go."

"You need to start taking this seriously, Roman," there was a warning in that tone now and it made Roman shift uncomfortably in his leather desk chair, "I've made the mistake of not being very hard on you all these years."

"Yes sir," Roman wanted to wrap this up, "I'll speak with you tomorrow."

"Goodnight, son."

Ending the call with a deep sigh, Roman rubbed a hand over his face. He felt exhausted, emotionally and mentally drained, and like he needed a hot shower and stiff drink.

The home Roman lived in was beach front property off the Northern coast of California, on the outskirts of San Francisco. It was a beautiful place but not exactly the type of beach one would sunbathe on. It was more scenic, the jutting rocks and picturesque cliffs overlooking an often turbulent sea, with a backdrop of rich forest. It was the middle of summer and the fog would still roll in over the hills and settle across the valley. This was one of many properties the Regins family owned but it was Roman's favorite. He had ended up in San Francisco for college and never left, so he was allowed to live there, at least for now. His office allowed him to do whatever work his father gave to him, which wasn't much at the moment, but Roman knew this wasn't going to last long. Not with the way his father had been speaking to him lately. Who knew how this would be allowed before the rug was pulled out from under his feet. It was time to sink or swim and Roman honestly didn't know what he wanted. Many people thought he was crazy for being twenty eight and not fully committed to taking over the family business. Maybe he was crazy.

Wandering through the quiet halls of the large house, he flipped on lights as he went. It was lonely, cold, when the sun went down. A hot shower was exactly what he needed.

Have u thought about it? It's tomorrow night, I need to RSVP by noon.

Roman stared at the text message from Seth, freshly showered and sprawled out in a bed that could easily fit two more people in it. He was ready to pass out at any given second but he knew Seth wasn't going to give this a rest until he had an answer. In fact, Roman was sure if he waited ten more minutes without answering the text, he would start getting phone calls.

Maybe Seth was right, maybe he needed to get out more. Lately his stress levels had been raised significantly and after that conference call, after his dad basically told him that he was losing faith in him, maybe this random outing would do him some good. Clear his head a little.

If I do this will you stop trying to make me go on double dates with you for the rest of the summer?

Tying his long, black hair back away from his face with a loosely placed band, he smirked to himself when he received an answer within seconds of sending his own text.

U got it. I'll pick u up at 8, be ready.

Stretching out to drop his phone onto the nightstand, Roman was out like a light only seconds after his head hit his pillow.

"Are you sure they're not taking us somewhere to murder us?" Roman asked Seth dryly, trying to peer out the heavily tinted windows of the car that had been sent to pick them up. "I mean it's weird enough they send cars to pick up ticket holders but we've been driving for a while now and we have no idea where we're going."

Seth seemed a little put off by it as well but he was doing a decent job at covering it up, waving a hand of dismissal at his friend as if that comment was too stupid to even respond to. They were both dressed in their finest, as the invitation had requested, and they had both come alone. There were a very strict set of rules listed on the invitation.

Rule One: A driver will arrive to pick ticket holders and bring them to the Molossian. Ticket Holders are not allowed to use their own source of transportation, or to know the exact location of the Molossian.

Rule Two: Only people holding tickets issued by the Molossian will be allowed onto the premises. No extra guests allowed.

Rule Three: This is a highly distinguished event that requires a strict dress code. Please wear your finest of you will be turned away at the door without refund.

Rule Four: No phones, cameras, recording devices or similar technology will be allowed into the event. No exceptions. If you are caught with such a device it will be removed from your person and you will be banned from the Molossian for life.

Rule Five: You will sign a contract upon entrance to the event. You will not break said contract or you will face legal action and be banned from the Molossian for life.

There was more fine print but Roman had already been unsettled enough by these rules. What kind of crazy shit were they about to get into? Seth's uncle seemed like a decent guy who wouldn't be into anything too extreme. But the fact that Roman wasn't able to find anything about this place on the internet still rubbed him the wrong way.

Before he could further voice any of these concerns to Seth, the car pulled onto a paved road that opened up into a huge clearing. Identical cars were parked in several long rows and up ahead were bright lights surrounding what looked to be an old warehouse. From what Roman could tell, it really didn't look like anything special.

"What the hell did you get us into?" he looked at Seth, who wore an equally perplexed expression now.

"Let's just see what it's all about and if it's weird we can bail, okay? I couldn't just let my uncle's tickets go to waste, they cost a small fortune." And yet Seth seemed less enthused.

The car came to a stop and the door was pulled open. The driver gestured for them to get out, bowing in respect as the two young men climbed to their feet outside of the vehicle and straightened their suit jackets.

"Enjoy your Molossian," the driver smiled politely at them and left them to pull the car around and park it among the others.

"Holy shit," Seth said under his breath as both men took in the sight of the huge building in front of them. It was only impressive in size. Paint was peeling from the walls, blocks of concrete and brick were eroding in places, overall it looked to be an abandoned old warehouse.

But every person who was filing into the building through two large wooden doors was dressed to the nines. There were older men and women, some looked to be royalty, some just very wealthy. There were younger couples excitedly whispering to each other, there were even a few families with children. Everyone seemed to be in high spirits and in a hurry to get inside the building. Roman looked down at the watch on his wrist. 9:30pm. They were supposed to be in their seats by 10.

"We better get in there," Roman nudged Seth and followed behind, ignoring every instinct telling him to back out of this now. Surely there was some kind of explanation?

Whatever doubts Roman and Seth had about the building were suddenly washed away the moment they entered. The inside was a polar opposite of what they had seen on the outside- it was lavish and elegant. The walls were covered in deep reds an golds, curtains made of silk were drawn back to reveal windows that overlooked the heart of the building. Now they could see that it was more like an arena. There were places to purchase extravagant treats and alcoholic beverages lining the walls but the center of the building was blocked from view, aside from the doorways and windows which led further into the arena. The build and decorations reminded Roman of the photos of some of the first hotels his family owned in New York. Very bold and beautiful and the feel of the place was almost ancient.

"Tickets, please," a woman's voice snapped both men out of their surprised stupor and Seth fumbled with the tickets, pulling them from his pockets to present them to the woman.

She scanned each ticket to assure their authenticity before pulling out two pieces of thick paper and ink pens.

"Please read and sign here," she motioned to the contracts, handing each man a pen, before gesturing to two large men in suits to search them for devices.

It felt like a whirlwind to Roman, trying to make sense of the printed words while the security men patted them down from behind. Wands were waved over their frames to assure they weren't hiding anything.

The contracts basically stated that no one would speak of the happenings inside of the Molossian. It almost made Roman laugh because it reminded him of the rules of Fight Club. That was a great movie but it was just that, a movie. And Roman felt like what they were about to experience might blow Fight Club out of the water.

"Just sign it, Ro," Seth whispered sharply, "they're all staring at us."

Against his better judgement, Roman scribbled his signature down on the dotted line and both contracts were taken from them immediately. The mood of the woman and the guards changed and they were all smiles now.

"Thank you for your cooperation! Please enjoy this month's Molossian!" she chimed and Roman and Seth were ushered along into the walkways of the building.

None of the other patrons around them seemed even the slightest put off. In fact, everyone still seemed as excited and happy to be there as the people outside. Gentlemen tipped their fancy hats at each other as they passed by, women stood together and gossiped, Roman could even overhear some old bags bragging about their riches to other old bags who were probably even more rich.

"What the hell is this place?" Roman asked Seth but didn't expect an answer. He didn't get one either.

Instead Seth just grabbed his arm and hauled him past another large booth where men and women swarmed, talking over each other in their hurry to place last minute bets. Pushing past the mob, they headed to one of the doors that led to the center of the building. And just as Roman thought, it was an arena. Rows of plush seats stacked on top of each other with balconies of seating on top of that. At the bottom was what he could only describe as an open cage. There was a large circle of dirt, the cage was built around it with tall steel beams. Chain link fencing connected each beam to complete the cage and while the top was open, it was heavily wrapped with razor wire.

So maybe it was some kind of makeshift boxing ring? It seemed out of place among the rest of the building. Even the seats around them were covered in soft navy blue cloth with ornate designs sewn into the cushions. The contrast between the coldness of the cage and the warmth of everything outside of it caught Roman off guard. But everything was catching him off guard tonight.

"Should have grabbed a bottle of booze from the bar," Seth muttered next to him and Roman stepped aside to let a family push past them to get to their seats.

"Of course Mox is going to win! He always wins!" a little boy, who looked no older than six, was insisting to his older brother. "He has to win."

"He better win or you know what happens," the older brother taunted in a sing-song tone and the younger boy shoved him in the side.

"Now boys, settle down of we'll leave before the finale," the mother tutted at her children and then they were out of earshot, leaving Roman as confused as ever.

"Let's just sit down and get this over with," Seth huffed, officially annoyed with this whole thing, which was sort of his default attitude when he didn't know what else to think. So it was time for Roman to be a level headed one.

"Just like you said, if it's too weird we can bail," Roman patted Seth on the shoulder and they made their way to their seats.

They were close to the cage, only a few rows back, and Roman tried not to notice too much more about this place. Every new detail he discovered only seemed to make him less comfortable. Maybe it was something like a play? It certainly looked like a theater with balconies and box offices, with the exception of the cage instead of a stage.

But why would they not be allowed to talk about a play?

More and more people poured into the arena and took their seats. Soon the place was packed and an older couple showed up to sit next to them. The older man decided to strike up a conversation with Seth about his uncle's absence.

"Yeah, he couldn't make it so he gave me tickets," Seth explained, "I brought my friend here."

"Is this your first Molossian?" the man asked with a twinkle in his eye.

"It is, we don't even know what's going to happen, my uncle wasn't allowed to tell us I guess..."

"Oh, you're going to love it," the tone of the man's voice felt like what a cat would use to a canary and both young men forced a smile.

Luckily, before that conversation could continue, the lights dimmed drastically. A hush felt over the crowd but Roman could feel the tension and excitement grow, the air was thick with it. Moments later a spotlight hit a balcony raised on the only section of the arena that didn't have seats beneath it. Instead there was a shadowed walkway that lead out into the pit, by the opening to the cage, which is where the performers must come from.

On the balcony were a small group of men and women, two of which were standing front and center. The crowd cheered at their appearance and both raised their hands in appreciation of the affection they were receiving.

"Thank you, thank you...ladies and gentlemen, welcome to your monthly Molossian!" the man bellowed into a microphone that was passed to him, "I'm Hunter, this is my wife Stephanie, and we would like to thank you for coming."

"And to show our thanks, we have put together a show you won't soon forget tonight!" Stephanie hyped the crowd to was seemed like deafening cheers and she laughed into the microphone softly, "You'll need to reserve your energy because we have a finale that will leave you breathless."

"That we do, Stephanie," Hunter grinned and the sight of it made Roman's skin crawl for some reason. Everything felt wrong. He spared a glance over at Seth, who seemed more interested now than previously. Roman decided to just take a deep breath, lean back, and try to enjoy the show.

"I know what you've all come to see," Hunter continued, "so I won't sit here and bore you with words. Without further ado, let the Molossian for the month of July, two thousand sixteen begin!"

The lights went low again, the crowd went wild, and the whole area surrounding the cage was bathed in bright lights. The walkway opened up and two men, dressed only in what seemed to be shorts held together by mere stitches, were led into the cage by several other men. They were on leashes, they were dirty, and they looked wild in the eyes. One was bigger than the other, had ink on his skin and his head was shaven. His body was in excellent shape and he walked like he had done this hundreds of times before. Roman could see the scars that littered his skin as he struck a pose near the side of the cage for the crowd, who seemed to eat it up.

The other near naked man was plenty muscled but was much smaller. He looked far less confident, like a nervous field mouse served up on a plate to a hungry tiger. Roman immediately felt sorry for the guy because whatever was about to happen, the odds were definitely in the bigger man's favor. A voice came through the speakers:

"Orton versus Neville begins in five, four," and the whole crowd joined in the countdown, "three, two, one!"

The place erupted into cheers and Roman was witness to one of the most disturbing things he had ever fathomed to witness. It took approximately two minutes and forty seven seconds for the bigger man to brutally end the life of the smaller man, within the confines of the steel cage- while every man, woman and child around them loved every second of it.