Robert LoMonaco, aka "The Veteran"

Within seconds of the announcement being made by Serenity, an outburst of protests swiftly follows suit.

“What?! No! No, no, no, no no! Not him. Absolutely not him!” Christian gets out of his chair, stepping towards Serenity, arms outstretched.

“What’s wrong there, Christian? Something the matter?” Serenity asks, still smiling.

“Something the matter-, YEAH, something’s the matter!" He exclaims. "You’re trying to invite him onto this show!” Christian gestures out to the literal smoke show on stage right now. “You know what he did to me, Serenity!”

“Yeah, I know.” Serenity’s smirk widens, leaving Christian in dismay.

“W-What happened to our agreement?” Christian asks, giving Serenity pause.

Abruptly, the billowing smoke stops. Rather, it pauses. The contestants freeze in place, as does the warm breeze. Serenity eyes up Christian, seeming irritated at having to take a commercial break so suddenly.

“Our agreement?” She questions, before laughing it off completely. “You think that this is going against our agreement? This?!”

“Y-You said no harm would be done to me!”

“I said I wouldn’t use **** against you, nor would I threaten you, as long as you decided to play along.” Serenity reminds him. “And last I checked, this is neither violent or threatening to you.”

Unable to find an angle to continue arguing, Christian backs down. Time returns to normal, as the various aspects of the world around them resume. Christian remains standing, watching as Serenity smirks.

"So, no issues then?" Serenity asks, taunting Christian.

“Well... It's still pretty fucking weird.” Gail comments, catching Serenity's attention. “I don’t even know the guy, but… Isn’t there an issue with him being in the harem?”

“Issue? What issue?” Serenity asks, playing unaware.

“That guy, Serenity! He’s… Well, a guy!” Kehlani pipes up, finally calling attention to the elephant in the smoke.

“Yeah! I know my rival - or at least, I thought I did.” Yukari glares at Christian, before turning back to Serenity. “And I’m fairly certain that he doesn’t exactly swing that way, you know?” Yukari then glances back over to Christian. “Uh, you don’t swing that way… Do you, Chrissy?”

“No!” Christian adamantly responds, a slight sigh of relief coming from… Somewhere.

“Relax, relax! All of you, just calm down!” Serenity implores. “All will be explained in due time, okay? Trust me, I have a plan in mind for this. It will all make sense in just a couple of minutes. Got it?”

Finding no reason to continue arguing, Christian slumps back down in his chair, turning his head away completely from the entrance ramp. The others that stood up follow Christian’s lead, leaving Serenity to resume her introduction.

“Anyways, as I was saying… Please welcome to the cast, Mister Robert J. LoMonaco!”

Robert LoMonaco's theme song

As the smoke finally clears, out from the back walks someone who… Can best be described as a definite pro wrestler. A rather unsuccessful one, at that, given his physique. While still visibly seeming strong, his lightly tanned skin showing some visible muscle on his arms and legs, the years have clearly not been kind to Robert. He's clearly packed on a couple extra pounds over the past couple of years, mostly in the form of a notable gut. With his head already shaved bald, the only other signs of aging are found in his well-trimmed beard. Specks of gray intermix with the usual black coloration of his hairs. His brown eyes are stern, and as he is compelled to continue walking down the ramp, they dart from person to person, taking in those that he recognizes as he gets closer to the ring.

Using the ring steps for assistance, Rob steps up onto the apron. Upon entering the ring, he first locks eyes with Kehlani, then Willow, and then Nikkita. Each glance lasts for barely a couple seconds, before he turns to more important targets. Changing his focus to Yukari, Robert shakes his head, before turning away. And finally, he shifts his gaze to Christian. Without paying any mind to his former trainer’s arrival, Christian positions himself to further turn his back onto LoMonaco, not wanting to pay attention

“Welcome, Mister LoMonaco! Welcome to-”

“Yeah, yeah. Save it, toots.” Robert cuts Serenity off, making a beeline towards Christian.

With Christian remaining seated in his chair, back facing the newcomer, Robert steps up to the Master, his face locked into an expression of stern disappointment. After a couple seconds, Christian briefly turns his head around, and their eyes finally meet, leading to a stare down between the two men. As it continues, Kehlani looks to step in between them, only for Serenity to shoot her a look, telling her non-verbally to not intervene in the ongoing drama. Despite struggling against Serenity's magical hold on her, Kehlani eventually relents, letting the two men have their moment, while the cameras watch on.

“So then. Look at you now, Christian.” Robert’s eyes scan over the form of his former student. “I guess you figured out a way to make it into the business, after all.”

Christian gives no response to Robert’s words, turning his head away from his former trainer once more. In spite of the attempted positivity held within his ‘compliment’, the expression on Robert’s face only adds on to its backhanded nature. With Robert also refusing to sit down across from Christian, the ex-trainer’s looming presence only further adds onto Christian’s outright refusal to engage him any further.

“You know, at the very least you could try to make some eye contact while I’m talking to you, kid." He states, his tone that of a disappointed parent. "You might not be one of my students anymore, but don’t you dare forget that I was the one that trained you." Robert calls out, yet still receives nothing from his former student. "I tried to make you into something, but it just wouldn’t work out.” Robert shakes his head, awaiting Christian’s response; when it doesn’t come, he raises his voice. “What? You think that just because you’re on some fancy television set now, that makes you too good to even speak with me anymore? Huh?”

Christian’s hands twitch, yet he still remains silent, further enraging his former trainer.

“Well fine then, Christian! Go ahead. Act like you’re better than me, kid. After all, this is all about you, isn’t it? Whatever the hell this is, it’s almost certainly all about you. You, and all the rest of these talentless failures.”

As Robert turns towards the other contestants, his scowl only deepens. His eyes scan the ring, looking through the other contestants. Upon catching sight of her, though, Robert hones in on Kehlani.

“I mean, look at this one. Do you really think she has what it takes to actually make it in professional wrestling?” His gaze sharpens, causing Kehlani to scoot backwards in her chair. “I said it before, and I’ll say it again: In the world of professional wrestling, it doesn’t matter how skilled you are, size does matter. Someone of her stature just wouldn’t be able to cut it in the modern landscape of pro wrestling. That’s just the way it is, nothing I can say or do about it.”

He then glances over at Gail, who gives a scowl of her own. However, unlike with Kehlani or Christian, he passes over her entirely, and instead turns towards Willow.

“And you. You think you’re so tough, taking god-knows-what to the head and getting yourself cut wide open for the fans’ attention.” LoMonaco huffs, folding his arms. “Tell me, do you ever stop and think about - oh, I don’t know, putting on an actually halfway decent wrestling match? Or are you too banged up mentally to realize the path you’re putting yourself on is a rather short one? And one that has plenty of bumps on it, in more ways than one.”

Almost instantly, Willow tries to jump up out of her seat to launch into some sort of defense, only for Serenity to stop her before she can even make a singular attempt. ‘The Hardcore’ glances at the host, but rather than sporting the slight grin that she wore during the initial argument between Robert and Christian, her expression is now dampened into that of indecisiveness. Regardless, once Serenity looks towards Willow, she doesn’t even opt to give her a nod, instead deciding to approach the wrestling trainer as he goes to launch into another round of critiques.

“Ahem, excuse me, sir?” Serenity cuts in, catching Robert’s attention. “I think that we might have gotten off on the wrong foot here.”

Robert eyes the host warily, visibly trying to figure out what angle she’s coming from. A few seconds later, that angle is revealed, as Serenity pulls out a microphone from thin air, holding it in her hands and positioning herself to stand next to Robert, giving him the spotlight as the cameras zoom in.

“See, my name is Serenity, and this is supposed to be your introductory piece, to serve as an intro to you being a part of the cast on a reality TV show that we are filming. And rather than dive into your personal life via dubious methods, the producers decided they want to get a proper full-length interview with you, so that way the fans at home can understand who you are. Both in your background, and in your knowledge of the wrestling business.”

Robert takes a moment to contemplate his decision, before giving a small huff, nodding his head in annoyance. “Fine, I’ll do your interview. After all, no need to be anything short of purely professional.”

Upon hearing that comment, both Kehlani and Willow try to get out of their seats - Kehlani stops herself before she’s able to do anything, but Willow, however, requires both a hand on her shoulder from Gail and a discreet look from Serenity to calm her down enough to let the comment slide. Although, she does continue to silently huff about what he said, regardless of being stopped in her retaliation.

“Awesome. We’ll start things off simple, then. Just look into the camera, and speak into the microphone. Got it?”

“Yeah, I know how an interview works. You don’t need to patronize me.”

Serenity’s eye momentarily twitches, but the moment fades just as soon as it appears.

“...Right. Well then, for the sake of the people tuned in at home - what is your name, and what is your age?”

Without even needing to think, Robert responds. “My name is Robert LoMonaco, and I am 51 years old.”

Serenity nods. “Right, and where is your current place of employment?”

Another easy one, which Robert answers immediately. “I work at, and own, the LoMonaco Wrestling Academy, and have done so for the past sixteen or so years.”

Once more, Serenity nods. “And tell us, what is your history with one Christian Wheeler?”

“Christian was a former student of mine at the wrestling academy, where I taught him for roughly the course of a year, before I told him that he wasn’t good enough to cut it in the wrestling industry.” Robert blinks upon answering, looking down at his hands for a moment, before turning his gaze back to the camera.

“Alright, and was there any particular reason for why you said that to Christian at the time?”

As Robert goes to answer, a slight smirk crosses the face of Serenity. Rob catches the smirk by Serenity, as do the others, but before he can comment on it, he finds himself answering the next question automatically. “I told him that because I was afraid of his potential. I was scared that if he got into the wrestling business full-time, he’d either completely outshine me and move on from my promotion far too quickly for me to truly be able to capitalize on it, or he’d stick around for too long and make it so I’d have **** but to push him, meaning that I wouldn’t be able to put myself in the main event, since it’s the only chance I’d ever get to do so in my whole career.”

Within a millisecond after answering, Robert’s face turns completely pale, his eyes widening considerably as the ramifications of what he just said crash into him like a runaway freight train.

“WHAT?!”

Kehlani, Nikkita, Willow, and Yukari all jump out of their seats, the four of them sharing a brief glance with one another, before Kehlani goes to speak up first between them.

“You dismissed him because you didn’t want to give up the main event?! Are you really that petty?” Kehlani asks Robert, who chooses to keep his answer to himself; Kehlani, in response, gives a somber head shake towards his lack of response.

"You're telling me you seriously did all that, just to protect your ego?" Nikkita asks next, still receiving no response, but refusing to back down like Kehlani.

"...You're a fucking prick, you know that?" Willow spits out. "What? Were you afraid of me getting over by myself, as well? Is that why you always told me to stay away from the deathmatch scene?"

Unlike the prior two, Robert actually has a response for this inquiry. "I told you to stay away because it wasn't any of your goddamn business." He spits back at her. "Girls like you shouldn't be doing deathmatch wrestling, anyways."

The moment he says that, both Penelope and Gail are up out of their seats as well, with only Linda remaining silent. However, before either of them can speak, Yukari steps forward.

“You... You actually dismissed him?" She asks, her entire body quivering with anger. "YOU ACTUALLY DISMISSED HIM?!” Yukari screeches out, far more furious than even she had anticipated. “I thought you told us he quit! Not that you basically told him to get the hell out of your company!" She steps closer to him, continuing to shudder. "You… You lied to me! You lied to all of us!” Yukari trembles, her entire body brimming with rage. "You... You don't deserve to be part of this. You don't even deserve to be my competition!"

"Well, deserving's got nothing to do with it, sweetheart." Robert dismisses her offhandedly, causing Yukari's temper to boil hotter.

Before she, or anybody else is able to continue on, however, that is when Christian finally gets up out of his chair, and walks toward Robert, leaving even Serenity to step aside for the second stare down between these two.

“Serenity, is what Robert said true?” Christian asks, causing the host to balk momentarily.

“Oh! Y-Yeah! Yeah, definitely!” Serenity responds. “The microphone was charmed so that you couldn’t lie when someone was speaking into it. I was going to use it for everyone, but figured it’d be more special to just use it on your old coach here, and let him find out the hard way why he shouldn't have ruined your childhood ambition.”

At that, Christian nods, before he refocuses on Robert. To the old man’s credit, he doesn’t even try to back down from his ex-student, already preparing for something physical to be thrown his way.

"So what, then? You going to hit me? Spit on me? Act like you're some fucking wonderkid who got his wings clipped too early?" Robert asks, his voice gruff and full of bitterness. "Because you aren't fucking special, kid. You think you are, but you're not. I've seen plenty of people come into this business, thinking that all of this passion will actually get them somewhere. But you know what ends up happening? Injuries. Burnout. Drama. Court cases. Things you and your friends here would all cry about on the internet, because it doesn't fit in line with your little 'sunshine and rainbows' lifestyle that you kids lead." Refusing to back down, Robert gestures to those behind Christian. "I don't care how good you think you are, or what problems you have with me, or whatever else. There's a reason that none of you were ever truly accepted into this business. Why, outside of the blonde with the fake tits over there, not a single one of you actually succeeded in the ring."

Penelope silently launches into a string of obscenities, her voice muted by Serenity to let the scene play out as is. Gail, meanwhile, needs no words to tell Robert what she thinks about catching these strays. All it takes is a finger - and then a second one, on the other hand.

"Too small." Robert looks to Kehlani. "Too clumsy." Then at Nikkita. "Too reckless." Then Willow. "Too arrogant." To Yukari. "Too much of a goddamn mark." Robert jabs his finger into Christian's chest. "You're all a bunch of fucking failures. And the sad thing is, not a single one of you could really go out and try to prove me wrong, so what the hell do you do? You go to that fucking whore of a host here and sign up for a reality show! Why? Because you're all a bunch of pussies who could never be good enough to even lace up my boots, let alone actually make it in the ring, or in this entire business." Robert backs off from Christian, outstretching his arms wide. "So go ahead, Christian. Hit me. Do it. Knock me the fuck out. Have some balls for once in your life and fucking clock me!" Robert demands, tilting his chin up, just for Christian to swing into.

The ring goes silent. Not a single person dares to make a sound. All eyes are on Christian, as he clenches his hands together. The camera zooms in, Christian steeling himself for what's to come. Robert closes his eyes, preparing for impact.

...

.....

.......

“...No."

Christian steps back, his eyes sharp as a blade. Yet still, he doesn't swing, leaving Robert to look confused.

“Eh?” Robert vocalizes his perplexity, allowing Christian to continue speaking.

“At first, I was definitely going to punch you. And I do mean that, Rob, I was going to punch you, and not just one or two times, either." Christian's hands clench once more. "I was going to fucking pummel you, and leave you lying on the mat, begging for a hospital." Christian sighs, turning his back onto his own former trainer. "But then, I thought to myself: Is it even worth it? Are you even worth it?" Christian keeps his head up high, looking out past the other contestants. "After all, I spent six years of my life trying to avoid one of the few things I truly loved in my life. And now, I find out that it was all because you were simply too selfish to put aside your own bloated ego?” Despite keeping his distance, Christian’s hands begin to shake. “I know that, when Serenity here accepted it? I would have beaten you to a bloody pulp, and nobody would have stopped me. But I simply don't want to.”

Christian's gaze turns towards the others, as if seeking confirmation of this. In exchange, both Kehlani and Yukari almost immediately smile and nod, with Willow soon joining them. Both Gail and Penelope give a slight grin his way, although Gail's is notably more sardonic, and on the cusp of a comment. The only ones who remain neutral are Nikkita and Linda, with Nikkita moreso taking in what's being said, while Linda simply fears speaking up for her own good.

“I mean, it's an honest feeling here, people. I don't really want to beat the fuck out of this guy. And it isn't because he doesn't deserve it, but simply put... I just don't think he's worth it?” Christian shrugs. "I mean, who uses a training school to teach people how to be awful wrestlers on purpose, and then drive away the ones who turn out to be good workers? Who uses a training school to put themselves in the main event of the show, and use it to live out some sort of sad, lonely power fantasy, where the only people that cheer you are the ones too stupid to see you for who you really are?"

At this, Christian turns back towards Robert, who seems unaffected by everything it is that Christian says... Save for his hands being balled up in anger, with the trainer visibly straining himself, in order to keep himself under control.

"You say that I'm not special, LoMonaco? Well, I think you're completely wrong. The only one that isn't special around here is you. And the fact that you knew that, and were aware of it while training me, makes it all the easier for me to just write you off as a waste of my life, and completely move forward with my life, leaving you the one that's now stuck in past, unable to move on. But please, when this show is all over, and I'm running my own company? How about you go teach some more students, and actually teach them for once, rather than just using them to bottle up all your empty feelings inside?"

As Christian asks that question aloud, Serenity takes center stage, standing in-between Christian and Robert, so as to return the camera’s attention onto herself.

“Wow… Some really profound stuff there, Master." Serenity applauds him, leaving the canned response out of it. "You really know how to cut a promo, especially when the subject is someone that you completely hate." After a few seconds, the host grins evilly. "Unfortunately for you, Robert here isn’t quite being sent home to stew in his own failings.”

Christian gives Serenity a look of confusion, before a horrid realization crashes into his mind, causing him to step backwards.

“Wait, no, Serenity-”

“No, no, Christian. I gave you your time to get through that bit of drama. And believe me, I am sooo happy to see you work through some of your past traumas. But, we still have a show to get to, and whether you like it or not, Robert here is still a contestant.”

After a couple of seconds, a smug look crosses the expression of Mr. LoMonaco, the others looking on in disbelief, ready to speak their minds in response. However, before anyone can say a word, Serenity turns to face Robert, still sporting that smile.

“However… I do agree that there needs to be something done about this man being part of this show.” Serenity draws closer, causing Robert’s expression to drop considerably lower. “After all, this is Harem Hotel, and as you’ve already made rather clear, poor old Robert here just isn’t exactly your type, now is he?”

As a gleam starts to form in Serenity’s eyes, and her amethyst pendant reacts in a similar way, Christian tries to step forward, reaching out towards the host. Before he can make it, though, Serenity’s eyes flash towards Robert’s, and his body is enveloped in a cocoon of pure light. The sudden appearance of this light sphere causes not only Christian to look away, but everyone else in the ring as well. With the lot of them caught shielding away from the overwhelming display of light, the cocoon floats upwards into the air, growing brighter with each passing second. After nearly a full minute of this, the light finally begins to die down. The cocoon lowers back down to the canvas, and the light begins to crack open. Numerous pieces fall to the mat, the light disintegrating on contact, leaving a shadow of a figure standing in the center of the sphere. Whether it be out of concern or curiosity, one by one, the rest of the contestants turn to look towards the end result… And are immediately met with a sight none of them were truly ever prepared to see in their entire lives.

“Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the real eighth contestant on this season of Harem Hotel, the former head trainer of the LoMonaco Wrestling Academy, Miss Renee LoMonaco!”