I thought about the name. Was “Dr Disrespect” the moniker, the identity, I wanted to embrace for the rest of my life? I mean, yeah, the gnarly old hermit dude seemed cool enough—definitely a BO issue, and that big mole was like a car wreck, but everything he’d said had been spot-on. Yet this was a huge decision. One that would impact my future, shape my destiny. It would have implications not just for me, but for every enemy I obliterated, every civilization I crushed, every world I dominated.

Took me about a second to make up my mind.

“The name-ame-ame is Doctor-octor-octor Disrespect-ect-ect-ect.”

Saying my new name felt right. It felt good. It felt… “me.”

The hermit guy said, “You know I can see your lips moving when you make that reverb sound, right?”

“DAMN IT!” I said. “HOW DID YOU MAKE THAT COOL SOUND?”

“You’ll figure it out,” he chuckled. “Someday.”

“ ‘Someday’? Well, that’s super annoying—thanks for nothing, hermit guy.”

And, completely justified in my anger, I turned to go.

“Wait!” he shouted.

“Look, dude,” I said. “Maybe you could, like, tell me what to do before. But things have changed now that I’m the Doc. The Doc don’t take orders from no man.”

“There’s one more thing,” he said. “A message I have to give you before you leave.”

“Chop-chop,” I said. “I still gotta get down this mountain, and if I know my mom I got a bowl of Mr. T cereal waiting there for me right now.”

He looked into my eyes. He was graver, more solemn, than I’d ever seen him. And seriously, it took every ounce of my will not to grab that damn mole and try to twist it off.

“Even with all your powers,” he said. “Even with all your strength and cunning. Even with your domination of every arena known to man, you will have one weakness, Dr Disrespect.”

“Lies!”

“And that weakness is your unquenchable thirst for challenge. Your unstoppable need for competition. Because no matter how successful you are, no matter how dominant, no matter how high you climb, it will never be enough. You will always want more.”

“NO!” I shouted. “IT’S IMPOSSIBLE! I’M THE DOC! I HAVE NO WEAKNESSES!”

“Really?” He smiled. “Where are you now?”

“I’m at the top,” I said. “I’m at the tippity-top of the mountain!”

“Then what, my friend, is that?”

He pointed above us. I looked, and I couldn’t believe my eyes.

I was at the top of the mountain. And I was still only halfway up.

FUCK.

Man, I’m so sorry, you guys. I mean, I know we pretty much reached a natural ending point to that incredible moment in Doc lore, but still—I wanted a few beats to savor it, you know? To really bask in the powerful emotional impact.