Escalation

[Prince]

Chapter 4

Escalation

    Matthew had grown accustomed to the sound of a cell phone ringing in the middle of the night. Springing up directly straight within his bed, he snatched the phone up from the adjacent nightstand in the blink of an eye.

    “Sokaris reporting” Matthew spoke into the phone. This particular device had been produced as a secure means of communication for the former Operator. No civilian was going to contact him on this phone. No actually names were to be used during conversations – only codenames.

    “Sokaris, this is Razgriz, I was able to dig up some of that information you were interested in regarding Leroy…” the man on the other end of the line spoke through the secure connection. Drawing his left hand across his face, the man had been fortunate to get around three hours of sleep before the phone had rang.

    “I’d offer my thanks, but I have to ask, why the hell couldn’t you just call me in the morning?” Prince asked as he moved to stand from the bed and stretch out his entire body.

    “I didn’t mean to call you at the hour of the Wolf, but I received an anonymous tip that Leroy is going to make a move on your Uncle’s Gunshop” the Operator Razgriz replied as Matthew suddenly snapped to complete attention. Adrenaline already began to flood through his body at the thought of his Aunt and Uncle becoming victims of his blood and body-riddle past.

    “How soon?” Matthew asked as he spun on the heels of his feet and moved over to a large closet that had been built into the spacious Master Bedroom. Pressing a hidden button built into the closet door, the entire wall slid up and back into the sheetrock, revealing a wall of weaponry and gear that any Operator would kill to have. Quickly the man grabbed several pistols and submachine guns, placing them into custom-tailored holsters. Sidestepping to another closet, Prince quickly dresses and slides on his holsters.

    “According to my source, he’s sending two initiates looking to make names for themselves within the next half-hour. I’m not certain if they simply want to rob the place, or if there is a more sinister motive working here” Razgriz replies over the phone.
   
    “Gotta go” the secure line suddenly goes dead. Flipping the phone shut, Prince gathers all of his gear and quickly moves out of the house into the adjacent garage that houses the piece of shit car he had sunk twenty grand into to rebuild the engine and reinforce the frame with bullet-proof composite material. Jumping into the driver’s seat to fire the engine up, the garage door opens and Matthew launches out like a bullet with Leroy’s name on it.

    “Shit…” Prince speaks under his breath as he quickly reaches into his jacket to find his civilian cell phone. Hitting the speed dial for his Uncle’s Phone, Matthew tears down New Falls Road, running red lights as there is hardly any traffic this time of night. If the police sought to cause him any chase, he would lead them directly to his Uncle’s gun shop in hopes of preventing any harm to his family. Leroy was attempting to move in on Levittown from Northeast Philadelphia, and Matthew surmised that this was his first move to test the waters.

    “Fuck!” Prince exclaims as the call goes directly to his Uncle’s Voicemail. Most likely he was sleeping and his Aunt Beth had told her husband to shut off his phone. Hanging a hard left from New Falls onto the Levittown Parkway, the Yokihama Racing Tires gripping like glue to the asphalt below him. Looking for his Aunt’s phone, he quickly hits the call button while ascending the hills of the parking adjacent to Holly and Magnolia Hill. Coming down the hill into a fierce right curve, Matthew almost wipes out into the guardrail narrowly gaining control of the vehicle once more.

    “Dammit!” the man exclaims as he ends up with the same result after trying to contact his Aunt Beth. His Aunt and Uncle were of a different generation and didn’t leave their various electronic devices on at all hours of the night. Prince knew that his Uncle had always been paranoid, and the man always had a good reason to be.

    “This is Lieutenant Dipolito with Bristol Township. Hearing reports of a break-in at Mike’s Gun Shop down by the Levittown Shopping Center. Let Tullytown know about this, over” comes a voice from the Police Scanner Matthew had installed to the dashboard of the renovated Audi. Slamming the pedal into the floorboard, Prince barely manages to avoid hitting a Waste Management Dump Truck as he crosses Mill Creek Road and continues towards the shopping center where his Uncle’s shop could be found.

    Passing parallel to Pinewood, Matthew’s eyes become inundated with the bright flashes of red and blue that are synonymous with law enforcement. The wail of the siren soon follows, cutting through the peaceful quiet of two in the morning. Quickly Prince turns the Audi off road to a stretch of land where towers for power and communication lines cut through the businesses and developments of Levittown. Noticing the driver behind the wheel of the police cruiser, Prince decides not to push his luck and just see what happens.

    "You dumb fuck, you almost got yourself splattered into the side of a dump truck!” comes the voice of Keith Dipolito, the same Bristol Township cop who had made the initial report about the break-in over at the gunshop. The officer just so happened to be one of Matthew’s childhood friend. Opening the passenger door of the Audi, Keith slips in and looks over to Matthew. “I thought you were dead, Matt. Then, I heard rumors that you had suddenly resurfaced after years and moved back into your family home. When I heard a tip about the alarm going off at your Uncle’s store, I had a sneaking suspicion I could find you here. So….what’s the plan?” Keith looks over to Prince.

    “Plan?” Prince looks over to Keith, as he of all people should know that Prince always worked on his own.

    “Yes, plan, you dumb fuck. Listen, backup is going to be here in ten minutes or less. Are you sure that your Aunt and Uncle left the store for the night?” Keith asks, turning down the volume on his radio so that they could speak but also monitor activity at the same time.

    “I was trying to call the two of them, neither one answered their cell phones. It’s probably safe to assume they are both home asleep, but you know what happens when I assume…” Prince replies.

    “Yeah, I end up with a ton of paperwork and at least two bodies to dispose of without being noticed by my superiors” Keith replies, letting his attention move across the Parkway to the strip mall where his Uncle’s store was located. “Get in there and figure out what the hell is going on before backup arrives, Matt. I’ll try my best to keep them stalled until you give a signal that this is nothing more than a couple of down-and-outs looking to make a quick buck.”

    “I’ll try my best not to make too much of a mess…” Prince counters as he quickly clamors out of the Audi. Keith jumps into the driver’s seat and moves the vehicle into the adjacent woods next to Dogwood. Returning to his own police cruiser as quickly as possible, he can’t even notice where Matthew had moved off to.

    “I’m not sure who we should be more afraid of in regards to being back in Levittown…” Keith mutters to himself as he slides back into his vehicle and brings up the volume of his police scanner. Backup was coming faster than anticipated, he just hoped that Prince would be able to find the answers he was seeking before this situation turned into a complete clusterfuck.

//\\ The Power of our Revolution Won’t ever be Denied //\\

    Victory.

    Victory at all costs.

    Victory is spite of all terror.

    Victory however long and hard the road may be.

    For without victory, there is no survival.

    These are words that I have always lived by, and when I find myself suffering in the clutches of defeat, it feels as if my entire existence is begin questioned. My first month within the Imperial Wrestling Federation has certainly been both a challenging and interesting one.

    I find myself at the bottom clutching at the rocks as I attempt to climb out of a fathomless hole. No longer capable of resting on my laurels and past achievements, I knew that it was going to be a struggle in regards to proving myself within the company.

    There is nothing better than adversity. Every defeat, every loss, every heartbreak contains within its own seed, its own lessons on how to better ourselves and achieve victory. It’s easy for someone to soar through life when all of the challenges are being fulfilled with minimal to no effort. It’s tremendously difficult to move through life when one is bouncing from one defeat to another.

    I’ve always been too stubborn for my own good – the type of person that enjoys being kicked when they are down. Sure, that doesn’t make much sense to most people, but I never was like most people.

    Most men, hell, most people don’t actively go out looking to both cause and receive pain and punishment. I suppose this has always been a strange quirk of mine, but it has served in both my lines of employment up to this very day.

    Alas, I have never been one to bask in the glory of victory, for there is always another hill, another valley, another island to be taken from the hands of the enemy. I continue to climb up the ladder and pull myself out of the abyss this upcoming week at yet another edition of Training Grounds. While I’m humble for having the opportunity to work for such an illustrious company, I am nowhere near the goals I set for myself upon signing a contract with the IWF.

    Ryan Shane, you are fortunate in that we have been booked to face each other in a One on One Contest. I was beginning to think that I had been regulated to Jobber Status as I was drowning within the doldrums of Three Way Dances and Fatal Four Ways. It’s easy for someone to feel entitled, especially in this day and age. I myself couldn’t believe that I had been moved to the Training Grounds. I’ve been breaking my body and bones while filling buckets with both sweat and blood for close to the last fifteen years of my life, and I thought that I was entitled to something special.

    We’re not promised anything in this life, and we are especially not entitled to anything. The Imperial Wrestling Federation is like no other company I have worked for up to this point in my career. This is an established company that isn’t going away anytime soon. Their roster is sizable to three other companies combined, and they have a talent pool like no other. It’s hard to reach the surface when your swimming in an ocean full of sharks, but perseverance and hard work can certainly pay off in the long run.

    I walked into the company with the same mentality I walked into and out of the last three companies I worked for. I have found that mentality was holding me back and hindering my development as a professional wrestler and brand within this business. Ryan, you are going to be the next step that continues to propel me up towards the top of this company. Take that time to rest your body and certainly enjoy the fact that you are not facing me at Sacrifice.

    To have faith is to trust yourself in the water. When you swim, you don’t grab hold of the water, for if you do, you will sink and drown. Instead you relax and float. For too long I have found myself trying to swim against the stream, and I am so desperately tired of going against the grain. Ryan Shane, there are no faces or heels here, this is simply two men looking to prove themselves to the upper echelon of the IWF. By the end of the night at Training Grounds, only one of us will be declared the victor.

    You’re angry? That’s good, you should be, Ryan. There are far too many people walking through this life as listless hulks of humanity that do nothing but consume, fornicate, procreate and then die. They are nothing more than a cancer upon this planet and never aspire to be something more. Walking through life without goals is no way to live one’s life, and I too have always found solace in anger. It is an emotion that can provide us with all the motivation we may ever need.

    At the same time, anger can be a poison that does the most harm to the vessel it is being held within. Be wise to make sure your own anger doesn’t end up destroying you and all that you love, Ryan Shane. Right now you need to open your eyes and take notice to the fact that we are all looking for an opportunity to move onto the main roster. We both need to walk into this week’s Training Grounds with the intentions of blowing everyone away.

    The time is now to step forward and ascend to the next playing field. Hiding in the shadows of mediocrity has never been satisfying to me. I want to see my name on the IWF Headlines as a competitor looking to reach the highest levels in this company, not just another jobber looking for a steady paycheck and humble aspirations. Look forward to the future without becoming too hung up on the past, and live for the present, for before you know it, life passes by.

    Will you look back knowing that you reached every goal that you set?

    Will you be humble and happy, or full of spite and regret?

    Seize the day, Ryan Shane.

Chapter 5
 
A Bleak Situation Just Got Bleaker

    Keith wasn’t providing him with a large enough window to dick around in regards to infiltrating the Gun Shop in an attempt to circumvent possible members of Leroy’s gang looking for mechanic or a way to send a message to Matthew Prince. A pair of high-resolution Nikon binoculars gave him a view of the building’s rooftop. The greenish tint to the night-vision setting wasn’t exactly perfect, but it shown him two shadows breaking into a stairwell that served as roof access to the large gun shop.
   
    Fortunately for Prince, he knew the building like the back of his hand. While the two thugs had been struggling to pry open the door, they both never paid mind to disable the building’s early warning alarms. That system had notified local authorities, but also a former comrade of Uncle Mike’s. Razgriz was a legend in their community, but that story was going to have to be told on another occasion.

    Matthew was able to bypass the motion sensors as he used the loading dock his Uncle had built in the mid-nineties for distribution of his line of tactical clothing and arms which had been marketed by Red Storm, Razgriz’z civilian defense company. Entering through the loading dock brought Matthew into a large storage area where his Uncle houses surplus supplies and orders for UPS and Fed Ex. Since the alarm was silence, Prince’s senses were on high alert. Gripped within his hands was a customized MP – 10 Submachine gun loaded with Subsonic 9mm Hydra Shok rounds. While not his load of choice, the compact weapon seemed perfect for this situation.

    “God dammit, Jontell, I thought the old man was supposed to be here!” came a voice from off in the distance of the building. Already break operational silence told Matthew that these weren’t professionals that he needed to fear.

    “No, but the old man’s old lady is coming here in a few hours to do paperwork, and she’ll serve perfectly as Leroy’s example…” came another voice. Hearing mention of his Aunt and possible harm being brought to her, Prince sprung to action and tore across the supply room towards the storefront. Leaning with his left shoulder, he slams the door wide open while rolling forward to come kneeling with his MP – 10 raised eye level.

    “Aw shit!” exclaimed Jontell as he pulled up on his sagging jeans and fumbled with his semi-automatic. A single round spits out from the barrel of Matthew’s submachine gun and catches Jontell in his ass, causing the man to double over and scream in pain while his partner ducks behind a display case full of various knives.

    “Who the hell is that!?” exclaims Jontell’s partner as he’s already lost sight of Prince.

    “I don’t know, Amadeus, but he shot me in my ass!” Jontell screams in pain as the sounds of sirens can be heard in the distance. Amadeus timidly begins to stand up behind the display case as a cold chill immediately takes over his entire body. Hesitantly he turns around and takes notice of the former Operator. Amadeus isn’t even able to scream in alarm as a half-length machete slams into his jugular vein. With one twist and pull Matthew decapitates Amadeus and turns towards Jontell.

    “Wait, please!” Jontell screams as the same machete is thrown with spiraling force, causing the tip of the weapon to slam directly between his eyes and sink all the way up to its hilt. Exhaling, Matthew turns to exit the building through the back door in the loading dock just as cops from the surrounding Townships move to enter the building. One of the Captains takes notice of the two intruders and almost throws up.

    “Shit, who the fuck did this?” the Captain asks while holding a handkerchief over his mouth.

    “His name is Sokaris, sir, and he doesn’t exist” Keith replies, knowing now that the war had finally come to Levittown.

    “Well, get this cleaned up, we’re going to need to think of a story to tell the public. We can’t have information about gangs spilling into the suburbs right now, not with someone like that on the loose” the Captain replies.

    “Sir, Sokaris is the least of our worries” Keith replies as EMTs and Philadelphia SWAT come rushing into the building. Matthew is already miles away from the scene by the time any scene of the carnage at the Gun Shop can be made. Matthew is seen behind the wheel of his car driving south on Interstate 95 towards Northeast Philadelphia as the scene fades into darkness.