The Hartbreak Associates

Goodbye Spotlight

Months turned into years and the Associates were on a roll. Aiken became confident on the mic. Freddy learned not to hide in a fight. Shawn became proud of the children that he watched over. The children that he made confident. However, Shawn ended up suffering a bad injury and wouldn't be on TV for a while. The boys had to make a difficult decision: whether or not to continue the Associate gimmick.

"With Shawn injured, I don't know how much longer we can keep this up," Aiken told Freddy.

"Are we going to split?" Freddy asked. Aiken nodded and sighed.

"I think so, Fred." Freddy nodded but was also heartbroken. This has been normal for years. He wasn't really ready to take on a solo career. Aiken was but preferred tag teaming with people. Now, they had to figure out how to tell the people. Shawn wasn't going to be there. He needed surgery. In the end, the boys came up with a simple goodbye. They would hide it from Vince because he loved them. They knew he did. The only thing Vince had planned for them was to address Shawn's injury, which would make it all the more shocking.

When it was time, the boys went to the ring. Both came out in their old gear, which shocked the crowd. What was happening? Aiken picked up the microphone and started speaking.

"Now, I know you all are aware of our boss's injury. It's gotten pretty bad and he needs surgery. What does that mean for us?" Freddy was handed the mic.

"Unfortunately, because of Shawn's injury, it means that we need to go our own separate ways." The audience was torn. They were over with the fans. Why are they splitting on their big break?"

"We've had so much fun entertaining all of you," Freddy continued. "You all are the reason we're here today and for that, we have two words for you." The audience got excited, thinking maybe they were kidding. Freddy handed the mic to Aiken.

"Thank you." The audience broke into 'thank you Freddy' and 'thank you Aiken' chants as the two got out of the ring and walked backstage. Vince was there waiting for them when they got back there.

"Are you two insane?!" he yelled. "Now, we'll lose money!"

"At least we'll give Shawn time to recover!" Aiken yelled before walking away with Freddy. Everyone stared as they walked away. Standing up to Vince was a bold move for anyone. Aiken had the most guts of the majority of people in the locker room. As much as he hated to admit it, it never got him killed. On top of that, Freddy was starting to follow his lead, having argued with Vince on multiple occasions.

Aiken and Freddy walked into the locker room and sat down on a chair. They were deep in thought for a moment. Time was racing against them. Now what were they going to do? Shawn was on the shelf. There was only so much they could do. Inevitably, one of them had to become a jobber at some point. When they sat down in the locker room, Freddy had made up his mind.

"I think I'm going to wait until I'm older to get in the ring again," he announced to Aiken.

"Well, aren't you going to train?" the older boy asked as Freddy shrugged.

"I mean, I can. It's just with your mom and everything, I don't know if your dad wants me in the ring for safety purposes." Aiken realized that the Hartbreak Associates breaking up didn't mean there weren't anymore opportunities. He walked out of the room and found the locker room of the man who started his fire in the first place: Bret Hart. He took a deep breath as he knocked on the Hitman's door with sweaty knuckles.

"Bret? Can I come in?" The door cracked open and there was Bret shirtless. It seemed like he was changing into his shirt and jeans. He motioned for the boy to come in. Once the door was shut, Aiken sighed.