Post by Angel Blake on Mar 18, 2014 2:04:02 GMT
I could see his reflection in the mirror across from me, Amber had let him in and now he stood behind me, his grey hair a stark contrast to his black on black suit, the red power tie was a nice touch. He wore a fake smile below weary eyes, this man had brought much death from a distance in his life, I do not think he’d ever waged such a personal war before…
”Hello Angel.”
”Simon.”
He stood in front of me now, towering over me, I offered him the seat beside me knowing that he would not take it as he is purposely choosing to position himself above me, posturing.
”So this is it, everything we have been working toward is finally coming to fruition.”
I knew why he was here and it wasn’t to gloat about “our” impending victory over Roberto Verona, no he was here to assure himself of the power he thought he held over me. He’d paid me a small fortune to assure his opponents destruction; fed me personal information on his loved ones and the locations of their safe houses all rid himself of Verona’s presence in IWF.
”So it would seem.”
”Tell me Angel are you prepared to do what must be done to eliminate Mr. Verona from our lives forever?”
I simply smiled in response, my eyes telling a thousand tales of a thousand lives that had come to an abrupt end to me inside the ring…
”Good, I’ve put a lot of faith in you my boy, a lot more than I ever could my own sons, it is my wish that when this over we can stand together as a family and run IWF the way we see fit. Together you and I could revolutionize the wrestling industry.
”You are like a father to me.”
Overjoyed by my seeming obedience and infatuation with the father figure he provided he finally took the seat beside me. With one hand upon my shoulder he grinned proudly from ear to ear at what he felt was his creation beside him…
”I’m glad you feel that way my boy, you’re the kind of man I wish my sons could be.”
”Did I ever tell you what happened to my father?”
I caught him off guard, he was sure he knew but it was clear as he looked down at his feet that he had honestly no idea what became of the man who made me. His eyes turned back up and he nodded his head gesturing me to tell him…
”After my mother took her life I moved out…”
I could see the funeral home again, his booming voice drunkenly blaming my brother for her death, I stood up for Nero, defended him as I always had as a child and my father struck me…
”I didn’t speak to him for years, I set out to make my own life…”
The room about us was suddenly replaced with high school gyms and decrepit arenas where I honed my craft of brutality, screams echoed inside the walls of my mind as Simon still sat quietly listening to my every word…
”Five years ago I received a message from him it was riddled with apologies and excuses, he begged me to come to make things right.
I was there once again, standing outside the old white house in the rain on that cold October night, the moon was hidden behind the clouds and if it hadn’t been for the porch light in front of the old house I wouldn’t of been able to see. It was darker still when I let myself in, empty bottles of liquid courage blocked my path…
”Against my better judgment I went to him, to my father…”
I can seem him as clearly as I see Simon now, his prone body sprawled out on the filthy couch, a dirty white t-shirt over his misshapen form, stained jeans unbuttoned but thankfully pulled up, an empty bottle of jack by his side…
”He’d passed out waiting…”
My cold black eyes lock onto Simon’ as they once locked onto my Father, he started to convulse as I watched, the bottle shattering when it hit the floor...
”As he had done some many times before in my youth, he’d drunk himself into a coma, once more robbing me of my chance to finally stand up for myself and put him in his place. As I stood there watching over him in his sleep I almost felt bad for him, seeing him now for the weak and frail being that he was… I almost felt sorry, after all it was this man who had provided me with direction in my life, it was his example I used to become everything I am in spite of everything he was…”
Slowly I stood up, looking down upon my house guest as he listened to my every word.
”So when he started to convulse with the vomit stuck in his throat I didn’t hesitate…”
I reached out for Simon as I had reached out for him, only now my hand gripped Simon tightly by the shoulder. Beside him the form of my father choked and writhed as he struggled to clear his esophagus of the vile putrid contents that now blocked it. I still made me smile.
”To let him die.”
I sneered; there wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t think about how easy it was to watch him struggle to take his last breath, how much I enjoyed it when he didn’t.
Simon watched me for several moments, contemplating my words and the meaning behind them.
”In the end I came to realize that he used my brother and I to hide his own weakness, through the beatings and torture he created a false image of being something more, so you can imagine the delight I felt when I held his life in my hands.”
He rose to face me like my father had when I was child, only now I was something else and I did not back down to the man who stood before me.
”In that moment I didn’t play god like he had from behind a belt or a fist, I was GOD.”
The gurgling was like music to my ears as Simon looked me in my cold, dead eyes and dared me to blink. My heart beating to the drums as I imagined what it would be like to watch Simon bleed out before me on the hard floor beneath us, who would miss him?
”It was then that I realized I was so much more than my father could ever hope to be, he was simply a bully lashing out at those around him, too blinded by his own perceived strength to ever see how truly weak and vulnerable he was, he couldn’t even save himself.”
The distance between us was painfully close, so close that our chests just touched, our breath intermingled, we could each feel the warmth of the others breath upon our faces, the only difference was I now held Simon by the shoulder, he was in my grasp..
”You are like a father to me, Simon.”
My words were not veiled, the threat was clear and for the first time since we had been dealing with each other it became to me never had this man considered what he may be unleashing when he put me in power and now that we’d come this far together there was no backing down. After all, who else was capable of doing what needed to be done?
Eventually he took a few steps back, my demeanor making him slightly uncomfortable, unnerving him even, this man who like a bully lashed out at the world though his weapons manufacturing, responsible for the deaths of countless hundreds of thousands had never taken a moment to even consider that Verona was the lesser of two evils. He was blinded by his own selfish desires and offered me exactly the opening I required and now here we stood on the verge of war and I was the only general he could “trust.”
How sad.
”Just get the job done.”
I smiled.
”As you wish.
And bowed.
”Father.”
He took his leave rather quickly and abruptly, I could only laugh. Even though he was gone I could still see the withered cold body of my father on the couch before me, the vomit trickling down the side of his face, his eyes opened and locked on me screaming for me to help him…
Each gurgle came with the beat of my heart, the beat of the drum until eventually he stopped making noise all together and lay there dead before me…
Simon de Montfort laid dead before me with a single thought playing over and over in my mind…
All in due time…
Father.
”Hello Angel.”
”Simon.”
He stood in front of me now, towering over me, I offered him the seat beside me knowing that he would not take it as he is purposely choosing to position himself above me, posturing.
”So this is it, everything we have been working toward is finally coming to fruition.”
I knew why he was here and it wasn’t to gloat about “our” impending victory over Roberto Verona, no he was here to assure himself of the power he thought he held over me. He’d paid me a small fortune to assure his opponents destruction; fed me personal information on his loved ones and the locations of their safe houses all rid himself of Verona’s presence in IWF.
”So it would seem.”
”Tell me Angel are you prepared to do what must be done to eliminate Mr. Verona from our lives forever?”
I simply smiled in response, my eyes telling a thousand tales of a thousand lives that had come to an abrupt end to me inside the ring…
”Good, I’ve put a lot of faith in you my boy, a lot more than I ever could my own sons, it is my wish that when this over we can stand together as a family and run IWF the way we see fit. Together you and I could revolutionize the wrestling industry.
”You are like a father to me.”
Overjoyed by my seeming obedience and infatuation with the father figure he provided he finally took the seat beside me. With one hand upon my shoulder he grinned proudly from ear to ear at what he felt was his creation beside him…
”I’m glad you feel that way my boy, you’re the kind of man I wish my sons could be.”
”Did I ever tell you what happened to my father?”
I caught him off guard, he was sure he knew but it was clear as he looked down at his feet that he had honestly no idea what became of the man who made me. His eyes turned back up and he nodded his head gesturing me to tell him…
”After my mother took her life I moved out…”
I could see the funeral home again, his booming voice drunkenly blaming my brother for her death, I stood up for Nero, defended him as I always had as a child and my father struck me…
”I didn’t speak to him for years, I set out to make my own life…”
The room about us was suddenly replaced with high school gyms and decrepit arenas where I honed my craft of brutality, screams echoed inside the walls of my mind as Simon still sat quietly listening to my every word…
”Five years ago I received a message from him it was riddled with apologies and excuses, he begged me to come to make things right.
I was there once again, standing outside the old white house in the rain on that cold October night, the moon was hidden behind the clouds and if it hadn’t been for the porch light in front of the old house I wouldn’t of been able to see. It was darker still when I let myself in, empty bottles of liquid courage blocked my path…
”Against my better judgment I went to him, to my father…”
I can seem him as clearly as I see Simon now, his prone body sprawled out on the filthy couch, a dirty white t-shirt over his misshapen form, stained jeans unbuttoned but thankfully pulled up, an empty bottle of jack by his side…
”He’d passed out waiting…”
My cold black eyes lock onto Simon’ as they once locked onto my Father, he started to convulse as I watched, the bottle shattering when it hit the floor...
”As he had done some many times before in my youth, he’d drunk himself into a coma, once more robbing me of my chance to finally stand up for myself and put him in his place. As I stood there watching over him in his sleep I almost felt bad for him, seeing him now for the weak and frail being that he was… I almost felt sorry, after all it was this man who had provided me with direction in my life, it was his example I used to become everything I am in spite of everything he was…”
Slowly I stood up, looking down upon my house guest as he listened to my every word.
”So when he started to convulse with the vomit stuck in his throat I didn’t hesitate…”
I reached out for Simon as I had reached out for him, only now my hand gripped Simon tightly by the shoulder. Beside him the form of my father choked and writhed as he struggled to clear his esophagus of the vile putrid contents that now blocked it. I still made me smile.
”To let him die.”
I sneered; there wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t think about how easy it was to watch him struggle to take his last breath, how much I enjoyed it when he didn’t.
Simon watched me for several moments, contemplating my words and the meaning behind them.
”In the end I came to realize that he used my brother and I to hide his own weakness, through the beatings and torture he created a false image of being something more, so you can imagine the delight I felt when I held his life in my hands.”
He rose to face me like my father had when I was child, only now I was something else and I did not back down to the man who stood before me.
”In that moment I didn’t play god like he had from behind a belt or a fist, I was GOD.”
The gurgling was like music to my ears as Simon looked me in my cold, dead eyes and dared me to blink. My heart beating to the drums as I imagined what it would be like to watch Simon bleed out before me on the hard floor beneath us, who would miss him?
”It was then that I realized I was so much more than my father could ever hope to be, he was simply a bully lashing out at those around him, too blinded by his own perceived strength to ever see how truly weak and vulnerable he was, he couldn’t even save himself.”
The distance between us was painfully close, so close that our chests just touched, our breath intermingled, we could each feel the warmth of the others breath upon our faces, the only difference was I now held Simon by the shoulder, he was in my grasp..
”You are like a father to me, Simon.”
My words were not veiled, the threat was clear and for the first time since we had been dealing with each other it became to me never had this man considered what he may be unleashing when he put me in power and now that we’d come this far together there was no backing down. After all, who else was capable of doing what needed to be done?
Eventually he took a few steps back, my demeanor making him slightly uncomfortable, unnerving him even, this man who like a bully lashed out at the world though his weapons manufacturing, responsible for the deaths of countless hundreds of thousands had never taken a moment to even consider that Verona was the lesser of two evils. He was blinded by his own selfish desires and offered me exactly the opening I required and now here we stood on the verge of war and I was the only general he could “trust.”
How sad.
”Just get the job done.”
I smiled.
”As you wish.
And bowed.
”Father.”
He took his leave rather quickly and abruptly, I could only laugh. Even though he was gone I could still see the withered cold body of my father on the couch before me, the vomit trickling down the side of his face, his eyes opened and locked on me screaming for me to help him…
Each gurgle came with the beat of my heart, the beat of the drum until eventually he stopped making noise all together and lay there dead before me…
Simon de Montfort laid dead before me with a single thought playing over and over in my mind…
All in due time…
Father.
“Are our ideologies really so different?”
“You do what needs to be done to accomplish your goals…”
“Yet fault me for doing the same...”
“So what if my goals are to see you beaten bloody to the point of permanent retirement, it doesn’t make me any less righteous.”
“You’ve done monstrous things…”
“Things you’d sooner forget than be reminded of…”
“Yet you chastise me?”
“I am not the monster here, Verona, I am the liberator, the hero, I am the one who has shown you the error of your self righteous ways and brought you back to the light.”
“It wasn’t until I took notice of you…”
“Put your family in my cross hairs…”
“That the IWF roster truly mattered to you…”
“You sat back content to collect a pay check as Spike Kane drove star after star into early retirement, never even thinking to lift a finger because the money was so good. I understand the allure of watching your creation as it tears itself apart like an absentee landlord, it just isn’t for me.”
“So I stood up and brought you back…”
“I gave you something to fight for…”
“I am the only reason you’re here…”
“Don’t pretend you’re here to defend the honor of IWF, I’m not a fool Roberto and I don’t like being lied to, IWF’s honor did not matter as Xavier Cross was nailed to a cross, IWF’s honor did not matter as Alex Jones’ knee was ravaged, IWF’s honor did not matter as Rob Diamond was pile drove straight to hell. The only time this company’s honor meant anything to you is when I threatened your sweet little Jessica Reed.”
“For you, this is all about your ego…”
“How I challenged your ego…”
“Your legacy…”
“So you rose up to the challenge ready to fight it, you proclaim yourself the Dark Knight of this company, sworn to protect it from my evil advances but the truth is Verona, the dark little secret you keep hidden beneath that cold devilish smile is I only want what is best for IWF where as you only want what is best for YOU.”
“Deny it…”
“I beg you…”
“But the facts are staring you straight in the face…”
“I have been here since day one doing all I can to give the wonderful people at home a show worth paying for and where were you? Where was Roberto Verona when his fledgling company needed a guiding hand? Embarrassing our first Imperial Champion, holding down potential new stars, doing everything in YOUR power to protect YOUR brand while the company as a whole suffered.”
“IWF is weak…”
“Infected with a sickness that is killing it…”
“Named Roberto Verona…”
“The only cure is to shed the dead weight of the last year and forge ahead into the next decade as the leading force in professional wrestling, cast aside all that has held us back and recreate IWF into something WORTH watching.”
“That is what Ragnarok is doing…”
“Assuring that your dream does not become a nightmare…”
“We aim to save IWF…”
“By killing that which ails it.”
“What you are witnessing, the collection of men who stand before you, is Hyper Evolution...”
“Survival of the fittest.”
“And there is no one more fit than me.”
“To date you have lead by example, screwing and backstabbing countless people to get to where you are today, looking down your nose from atop your mountain all the while questioning why IWF is ripping itself apart at the seams, oh dear leader. So you see, for me, there is only one course of action, remove the infection at the source so that the whole of IWF may survive and grow and EVOLVE.”
“Do not blame me for your weakness…”
“You made it obvious…”
“You made it easy…”
“Truth be told you should be thankful it was at least someone who respects your legacy enough to come at you head on, someone who actually looks forward to the challenge you represent. You are more than a mere name in the record books for me, you are a symbol of mankind. It would have been easy for me to cripple you from the start but then that would ruin all the good fun we’ve had and I do love watching you struggle.”
“You see…”
“You could have stopped me…”
“You could have united this roster against us…”
“You chose the path of least resistance, watching until it suited you best to present yourself as a target, standing up only when someone you deem worthy presented himself for you.”
“We are united in our cause…”
“Can you say the same about the men who stand with you?”
“Can you even trust them?”
“Men you’ve double crossed, betrayed and talked down to are now the only ones willing to stand by your side and fight but each of them is surely laced with the doubt that comes with the idea of calling Roberto Verona their ally.”
“You’re friends call me evil for what I have done…”
“I tell you now…”
“With each breath I atone for my sins…
“Knowing full well that the ends will justify the means but tell me Roberto Verona how will you repent for all your pride has wrought?”
“As the walls crumble around you…”
“As your enemies grow in number every day…”
“Do you feel the futility of your agony and effort yet?”
“High Stakes is your chance to stand toe to toe, eye to eye with the Apocalypse of your dream and answer the question of what are you will to sacrifice to stop evolution? What are you willing to lose to save IWF from me? I promise you, when it is done you will be able to say that you gave it your all, you will be able to rest soundly knowing there was simply nothing else that could be done. You will recognize me as God.”
“You wiped away the corruption of ncw…”
“Gave all of us the chance we desired…”
“Now it is time for evolution to take over…”
“There is a single moment in the evolution of all life where they can either ban together for the survival of their species or allow their pointless rage to consume them. High Stakes is that moment, Roberto Verona, the tipping point when the next stage in the evolution of professional wrestling will pick up where you left off and carry IWF into a new dawn.”
“I thank you for all you have done…”
“But now it is time to step humbly aside…”
“And bow to the new order…”
“Worry not it wasn’t your fault, whether it was Simon, Spike or me, Ragnarok was unavoidable. You were merely the key that unlocked this destiny, this future. In the end the only one you have to blame is the men around you.”
“They chose Ragnarok…”
“Through their inaction…”
“And complacence…”
“I am simply delivering on their request for total annihilation.”
“In the wake a new world will be born…”
“A world without weakness…”
“A world where cowards are not harbored or tolerated…”
“A world where the strong shall reign supreme and the weak will be nothing more than a bed time story. Professional wrestling has been begging for this culling, demanding it with their blood thirsty cries. For too many years now we have sat back idle as show men pandered to children in the crowd forgetting that this sport was born in Gladiatorial Arenas! Men once gave their very lives for the chance to be called champion and so it shall be again.”
“Your pathetic dream of fairness will die…”
“There is no equality…”
“In MY IWF you will keep what you kill…”
“I’m starting with you.”
Well howdy there pardner.