Nye Begynnelse.

It was early, but the sunlight had already begun to illuminate the bedroom overlooking the Las Vegas Strip. The light had landed on Rori, causing her to stir but she wouldn’t open her eyes just yet… she stretched her arm out where Ulf had laid, but to her surprise, his spot was vacant. She patted the bed several times under the impression her mind was playing tricks on her before she finally stood up, pulling the bedsheet up and searching for a clue as to where Ulf was… It dawned on her from the artificial light coming from the hallway. She could hear the murmurs coming from the next room, in an almost hush in hopes that they would not wake up the rest of the household. Despite their best efforts, it was to no avail; the coffee aroma did not help, and she moved toward the edge of the bed and pulled her hair back while grabbing her black robe, and wrapping it around herself, fastening it, before finally opening the door to help herself to some coffee.

The sound of Rori’s foot stepping onto the hardwood flooring caused the two to turn their attention toward her… she glanced back and forth at Ulf, and Marquis, who stood near the bar with a paper between them. “Good morning, Marquis,” Rori greeted the guest, and then stopped near Ulf and put a hand against his abdomen and leaned in to give him a morning kiss. Ulf mouthed the words “good morning” to her, but then began looking over the document -- she continued striding past them and opened the cupboard, “To what do we owe the pleasure, so early?”

Marquis chuckled, “Good morning, madam. I’m sorry--”

“You can call me Rori,” she interrupted.

“--Rori, of course. I’m sorry to have interrupted your morning, Rori, but I had an urgent document to bring to Ulf’s attention.” Marquis continued.

“What about?” Rori continued. With the cup in hand, she filled it to the rim and blew gently on it and walked over to Ulf. She leaned over his shoulder to see what it was about.

“En kontrakt,” Ulf said with his heavy accent. “Det er--”

“A good deal. Project: Honor is willing to sign you--”

“Jeg do not wish to leave de--” Ulf began, but was cut off by Marquis.

“You won’t have to! Ulf -- I only have your best interest. They are willing to work with you so that you do not have to leave, but at the same time you have a chance to have some new competition. You have challenged everybody, you have beaten everybody that they had to offer! I know you want to put their name on the map, and you’ve done a damn good job. But… you also have your own ambition, and this is the right step. This is how you ensure that this industry knows your name, and they sing your praises for a long time,” Marquis said. His voice was beaming with pride for his client, but Ulf seemed unconvinced. He was reading over the contract, as if to check all of the fine print which Marquis had gone over several times to ensure it had Ulf’s best interest in signing.

Before Ulf could mutter a word, Rori interjected, “I think you should do it,” her eyes met with Marquis’s and the two nodded in agreement with each other. “I know you. You hunger for more competition, and the opportunity to prove yourself - Project: Honor is going to take you places you never dreamed of,” she smirked, “Plus, Robi is there. She’ll see to it that you get settled.”

“How soon do de need an answer?” Ulf asked.

“They want to file it by tonight, and announce your signing in a couple days,” Marquis answered. The anticipation grew for Ulf to sign, and Marquis tucked his hands into his pockets while waiting; he could see Ulf’s hand inch toward the pen but his gaze lingered for a couple more seconds. “Listen to the lady,” Marquis said in an attempt to persuade Ulf to sign.

Ulf took up the pen, and pressed the tip against the paper; he signed.

Marquis smiled and took the contract from the bar before putting it into an envelope, “This is the right step, Ulf. No one is trying to drag you away - we are just trying to get your name out there… You are good! We want the world to see that!” he said while sealing the envelope. “I am going to let… the two of you celebrate before Thea wakes up--”

Just as he had made that statement, another door could be heard creaking open and there stood Ulf’s three-year-old daughter. Thea. She rubs her eyes with the back of one of her hands while a Grogu doll is clutched against her with her other. After getting a little less groggy, she noticed the company, and the pitter-patter of her feet hitting the floor, she ran to her father and hugged tight to his leg.

“God morgen elskling,” Ulf began.

“God morgen pappa,” Thea said, shyly, peeking her head out from behind Ulf’s leg to look at Marquis.

“Du husker Marquis,” Ulf said.

“Good morning, Thea.” Marquis said with a friendly smile, as he leaned toward her. Thea, although remembering him, turned her head with a smile, “No hiding next time. Okay?” Marquis suggested to Thea, and she turned her head back toward him. She nodded in agreement, and Marquis gave a nod before straightening back up, “Alright, Ulf-- Rori-- I should get this contract over to them for filing. I want to personally hand it to them,” Marquis continued, while walking toward the door. Ulf followed as a courtesy to the guest.

Thea reached to follow, but Rori knelt down and caught her attention, “Do you want to make waffles?” Rori asked her, and Thea nodded excitedly, “Perfect! Are you going to help me make them?” Thea nodded again just as excited, “Perfect!”

“I can get you on my jet as soon as possible. When would you want to meet up with them? You’re booked up on Sunday, so… Monday? Tuesday?” Marquis had asked Ulf as they reached the door.

“Onsdag-- Wednesday,” Ulf replied, “Vi vil be there Wednesday.”

“Wednesday sounds good. Colombia-- beautiful country. Absolutely beautiful! It’s always good to see you, Ulf,” Marquis said, and extended his hand for a fist bump, “New beginnings?”

Ulf bumped fists with Marquis, and smiled, “Nye begynnelser.”

---

“Jeg…” Ulf began. The scene began zoomed in on the narrowed eyes of Ulf Hednir, a newcomer to Project: Honor, shifting their focus from the ground to the camera in front of him. He sat backwards on a chair with his arms propped on the backrest. “Søke-- seek-- de best competition det de industry has to offer. Jeg do not look for de easy path, nei matter hvor (where) jeg gå. It was not long ago det jeg held a belt of min very own, de first of many championships det vil komme, og de joy-- de happiness-- det jeg felt. De pride. De honor--” he said, and pounded an arm against his chest a couple of times, “--det jeg felt! Jeg took de championship det people did not care about… og jeg made it de most desirable championship det de had to offer.”

The scene shifted momentarily to an image of Ulf holding a championship over his head, and the echoed crowd of cheers chanting his name several times until the image returned to normal. Ulf nodded his head several times, his head held high with pride for his accomplishment.

“Jeg received de attention from de verden! JC Keeton og min selv turned all of de attention onto vår matches… onto vår battles. Onto vår war. But over vår latest encounter, JC Keeton did hva ingen (nobody) else has been able to do… since jeg returned to de ringe, since jeg dominated de MMA, ingen else! Han-- defeated meg.” He takes a deep breath, but seems content, “But none of det has slowed me down! Min loss-- hans victory over min selv did not deter me! It did not slow me down! It fueled me! It made min tørst (thirst), min hunger-- for competition only grow. It made me realize en ting (thing): jeg needed to step ute into de verden og show everybody… just hva it is det jeg can do in de ringe, og det is why jeg søte… jeg looked… at all of de prospects, jeg looked at all of de places og de people det de had in der rosters, og der was none det stood ute to me like Project: Honor.” There was some emphasis put on the word “honor”, a trait that Ulf took to heart.

“Jeg wanted to utfordring-- jeg wanted to challenge-- min selv, og det is why… jeg stå in front of all of dere. As a superstar for Project: Honor. As a member of de Proving Ground roster. Because jeg WANTED to challenge min selv, because jeg WANTED more competition, because jeg KNEW det jeg could stå in de ringe with de best og stand ute! Jeg could stå with anybody og der ville be no doubt in der mind det jeg-- BELONG.”

He stood from his seat, and turned the chair around before returning to his seat. This time, he put his elbows to his knees and leaned forward. A few more seconds of silence passed while he rubbed his hands together.

“Let me give all of dere to proper introduction… let me share min story,” he said with a nod, “Jeg er still relatively young… relatively fresh… to de industry. Jeg started min career in 2017 og jeg-- jeg allowed min selv to be influenced. Jeg thought det de veterans could teach meg en ting or two. But immediately--” he snapped his fingers together, “--de company saw de potential in meg. De company saw det jeg was going to be en (one) of de biggest superstars det de ville ha to offer! But because of min own mistake, jeg got… burnt ute… quickly… it was tragic, og jeg… lost… min fire. But jeg do not regret, jeg do not think of hva kunne ha been.” He let out a low chuckle.

“Jeg-- advance. Jeg move forward. Jeg took de time-- de time det jeg needed to recuperate. Recover. Og come back -- og det is hva jeg did! Jeg came back with de fires of Surtr fueling me, with de fires of Surtr enabling me, with de fires of Surtr inspiring me! Og it was de dag (day) det jeg returned det de knew it was back! Jeg marched into de ringe with everybody det de set ute in front of me, og en etter en (one by one), jeg defeated dem! Jeg earned min place quickly to do something det jeg ha not done yet in min career, og det was vinne (win) a championship!

Now… disse championship was held by some talented folk, but de story was de same for all of dem. Vinne de championship, hold it for en month, drop it. Vinne championship. Hold for EN MONTH. Drop it. En defense. En successful defense. Det was something det jeg was not going to allow for min selv, so de dag came det jeg took de championship… og jeg marched straight to management, og told dem det jeg wanted to DEFEND min title! Der er people ute der who vinne a title og try to hold it for as long as possible with de least amount of defenses as possible to… prolong… der reign…” he wags his finger at the camera, “But not meg. Not meg. As jeg say, jeg marched to management de same night det jeg won de championship, og jeg told dem hva jeg wanted-- a battle royal… to determine de nummer en contender,” he holds up one finger, “Nummer two contender,” a second finger added, “Tre (three),” a third, “Fire (four),” a fourth, “Fem (five),” he stopped counting with his fingers, and just listed the rest off, “Seks (six), syv (seven), åtte (eight), ni (nine), ti (ten)--” he finally stopped counting, “As many people det wanted to sign up for de battle royal was velkomme! Og min plan was simple… jeg ville defend de championship against de vinner (winner), og da (then) jeg ville fight de next person, og de next, og de next, until der was nobody left. Der. Was. Nobody. Left. Jeg defended de championship each og every week! Nei days off! Og at de end, de decided det… let’s finish it off. Jeg defeated fire (four) people in en night.”

Ulf sat back in his chair and shrugged his shoulders. He smiled and let out another chuckle, “Der was ingen else. Der were people-- scheduled-- det abandoned ship before getting in de ringe with me, der was en hvem even rejected his shot at de belt until after jeg lost it. But de time came det jeg finally lost it, og det is hvor jeg say: it did not deter me! Rather…”

He hesitated with the next word, but licked his lips before allowing the words to escape, “Nye begynnelser. New. Beginnings.” He stood up and kicked the chair back, the excitement finally getting the best of him. The thought of being somewhere where people only knew him by name, but have not yet seen him in the ring; they have not seen what he is capable of with their own eyes.

“Nei matter hvor vi go, vi hear people talk about de past-- talk about hva de ha done, og it is no different with me. De past is hva brought me here! Hva jeg ha done is hva brought me here! But it is de future det jeg er shaping… it is de future det jeg er building toward, og det is why jeg do not wish for people to look back at meg og see my past accomplishments: jeg want management, Indy Darling-- everybody-- in de back to see det jeg er not just ‘hype’. All of de words det people ha said about meg: de are true. De hype is real.

Og min journey starts…

With Serrano Poblano.

Now… jeg ha to ask, hva is it det du hope to accomplish by stepping into de ringe? Hva is it det du want? A little birdy told meg det du er looking to use disse--” he gestured back as if the ring were behind him, “--to catapult your own success. To create a name for deg selv (yourself). For hva? Det is de question. For hva?” He smiled, “Jeg-- jeg do not use disse to catapult me to anything else. Jeg do disse to conquer, to be recognized as en of de best, to make a name for min selv-- HERE-- in disse industry! Din passion is der…” he begins to shake his head, “But not for disse industry. Not for stepping into de ringe. Nå (now)--” he spread his arms out as if to put himself on display, “Se på meg (look at me). Du know det jeg sweat for disse industry, jeg bleed for disse industry, mitt hjerte--” he pounds his fist against his heart, “--is for disse business. Jeg can do many-- many tingene (things), but at de end of de dag… disse is hva jeg want. Disse is hvor jeg er supposed to be. Det ringe is hvor Project: Honor vil witness hva jeg can do! Det ringe is hvor de crowd-- de entire Ulfpack crowding de arena, de entire Ulfpack sitting at home watching from de edge of der seats… witness de age of Ulf come to Project: Honor!

Hell on Earth marks en ny begynnelse.
Hell on Earth marks begynnelsen of de Alder Av Ulf!

SKÅL!”

---

There was commotion coming from the terminal while Ulf walked down the jetway with his bag on one shoulder and his hand lowered holding Thea’s hand. She was wearing an Olaf backpack, and a Grogu doll clutched to her chest with her other arm, and she had a slight hop to her walk. Ulf scanned the crowded terminal as he walked out from the jetway, but it was Thea who spotted her first… Robi, Valkyrie, waved frantically; Thea tugged on her father’s arm, and Ulf did let go and saw Thea scampering across the floor as Robi knelt down and Thea ran into her arms.

“Tante Robi!” Thea said, clinging to her.

“Min kjære!” Robi said. The fellow Project: Honor, and Proving Ground star, lifted Thea into her arms as she stood up and hugged her close. Thea had Grogu held between them, “And how is Grogu?” Ulf had approached them during their introductory embrace.

“Grogu is-- he’s-- Grogu is good!” Thea seemed to stammer to find the words, “Pappa says-- vi ha-- vi ha to protect him!”

“And so we shall!” Robi insisted.

“God dag,” Ulf interrupted, and he and Robi gave a quick hug.

“Hvordan var flyturen?” Robi asked while turning from Ulf, and both of them walked toward the exit of the terminal.

“Lang.” Ulf replied with some exhaustion in his voice.

“Da trenger du hvile.” Robi replied.

“Thea er full av energi.” Ulf countered.

“Jeg vil se på henne.” Robi said with a smile, “Debuten din kommer. Du må være klar.”

“Hva med tittelkampen din?”

“Ikke bekymre deg for meg. Jeg er klar.” she said, as they reached the exit. Upon exiting the terminal, there was a marked rental car which Robi had unlocked with a button on the key she held. She let Thea down, but insisted that Thea hold her hand because of traffic, “Det er godt å ha et vennlig ansikt her.”

“Jeg er glad for å være her.” Ulf said as they all reached the car. Ulf opened the back door for Thea, and she instinctively hopped into the child seat where Ulf tried to get her settled in.

Until Robi approached, “La meg gjøre det. Legg vesken bak.”

The two swapped places. Ulf followed the simple direction and popped the trunk to put his bag while Robi buckled Thea into the carseat. As soon as all were settled into the vehicle, Robi drove them back to the hotel where they were all booked to stay. The ride was rather uneventful; just chitter-chatter between Robi, Ulf, and Thea, and discussing some of the stuff in the area where Robi had thought Thea may enjoy. The drive took just under twenty minutes before they arrived.

“Vi er her!” Robi called out while pulling into a parking space. “De har et stort svømmebasseng. Og en foss.” Robi suggested to Thea, who lit up from ear to ear, she even clapped her hands together several times in excitement.

“Jeg vil svømme! Pappa, kan jeg?” Thea asked, almost begging Ulf to agree.

Ulf and Robi glanced at each other momentarily, and Robi could tell by the glint in his eye what his answer was, “Ja det kan du,” she said to Thea before directing her attention back to Ulf, “Og du ... ring Rori. Hun vil vite at du kom trygt. Og så hvile deg! Hvis du taper, forkaster jeg deg og tar vare på Thea.”

Thea giggled over the comment, and Ulf had a mocking laugh in exchange.

“Jaja. Hun vil være problemet ditt.”

Robi and Ulf were the first out of the cars, and Robi assisted Thea while Ulf got his bag. The two went in their separate directions at this point with Robi agreeing to watch Thea while Ulf went for a nap.