Post by Craig on Jul 20, 2013 16:36:03 GMT
New York City. Why am I here right now along side my son one day before Lineage. Its not too long of a trek to get this far so its not bad. I know that Alastair used to live here in one of the grandest cities in the world. Pretty sure it was somewhere in the Manhattan area. I tried looking through a phonebook for Alastair before I remembered his last name to the "world" is something completely different. Right now I stand outside of a phone booth on a hot day while Chris is getting us something to drink. A few people pass me by and look confused to see me in a hoodie on a day such as this. One of them stops.
Man: Ain't you hot, mister?
I shrug my shoulders in response. I don't feel all that heat as much as most right now.
Brad: Suppose not.
Man: Well, you're a crazy one for wearing it today.
There goes that goddamn word again, crazy. People keep using this word about me and it's beginning to get on my nerves a little bit. The man gets back to his life walking away. Chris finally exits the corner store with a couple of Red Bulls.
Brad: Red Bull? Really?
Chris: Figure we could use the energy if we're looking for Alastair's fortress or somethin' like that. Its better then what I nearly got you.
Brad: Which was?
Chris: Mello Yello Zero.
I chuckle. That is an awful soda. Tried a bottle of it once and threw it out after one drink. Most sodas sucks anyways. We resume our walk through Manhattan to the last known apartment of David Alastair. There's no door man or at least not for the moment while the two of us slip into the building. It's upscale, more upscale then I thought it'd be.
Chris: You know what floor we need?
Before reaching into my pocket to pull out the information I have I think about what this might me. Either I find everything I need, I find more questions or he's here and tells me I've been on a wild goose chase. The third option I loathe. Going home like that to tell Nina she was right the entire time would be the death of pride. I quickly shake myself back to reality and look at the paper.
Brad: Uh, floor six.
Chris presses the up button on an elevator while a few moments pass. Ding goes the door before we both enter. I press the six button and up we go. Ding again the two of us stepping out.
Brad: Apartment 6F.
We look for the apartment before Chris waves me over to the door with 6F right on it. I knock on the door and no response. So I knock louder this time with still no response. Now I put my hand on the knob and turn. Unlocked. I look back at Chris who just shrugs his shoulders. Slowly I open the door to see the apartment ransacked. Everything is thrown about like Alastair had to leave in a hurry.
Brad: Shit...
Chris: Hey, don't give up hope. There might be a clue in here, dad.
Kid is right. The two of us begin to look around the large apartment in hopes of an answer. The bookshelves are destroyed completely right now while Christopher looks in the bedroom. Our search goes on for a while a until I hear a gun click behind me. Probably the cops...
Brad: I know, I know, hands on my head...
I slowly turn around to see not a cop but instead David Alastair. Alastair lowers the pistol before sighing with relief. I chuckle a bit nervously knowing how close he was to having his brains scattered.
David: You know you're not supposed to be out right now.
Huh?
Brad: I'm not?
David: No. You're supposed to be in the basement like we had agreed upon, Kane. Don't tell me you forgot already...
Chris sees me and stops in his tracks seeing Alastair with a gun in hand yet. I have no idea what he's talking about.
David: Right, you have. Remember two months ago when you came to me saying how much your neck hurt and that something from the future might help so I said I could take your DNA to the same lab where I was created and they'd make a perfected version of you so your family wouldn't have to put up with the real you being so broken down?
MOTHERFUCKER! If Chris only had some sort of recording device on him right now. I nod my head giving Chris the signal to get the hell out of here silently.
Brad: Oh right. You know my memory, what was I thinking?
David: Yeah. So let's get you back down there. I'm sure you miss your family.
I nod my head. Pretty sure Chris is going to the basement to free the other Brad Kane. Wow that feels weird thinking that. I smile for Alastair who pokes the gun at my back to force me to walk.
Brad: What's with the gun though?
David: I can't have this getting out there. I mean if the world knew of this they'd be coming to me to fix all sorts of problems. In fac...
His voice trails off before slamming his free hand against a wall.
David: I thought I told you to leave this alone...
Brad: You know me, David.
David: Well, since you both know there's only one way this can be solved.
My mind races to figure which one of us he'll shoot. We head up on the elevator to the basement now. I glance back at David who smirks.
David: The two of you are going to fight to the death. You, the perfected Brad Kane against the feeble one. I should've done this long ago, actually. Then you wouldn't have had to come looking around for this.
Brad: So I have to fight an inferior version of myself to death?
David: Correct.
Shit, this should be easy then. The door dings open to my eyes seeing Chris holding the broken down Brad Kane. His beard is long, his hair growing out a little bit. The two of us stare at one another and already know what we have to do.
(Author's note: focus shifts to the broken down Brad Kane.)
There he is, the perfect me alongside who I thought was my best friend. He's kept me locked in here for the past two or three months while the fake one took my place.
David: So noble of you, young Christopher, to try to free your father from this place. Of course now you realize that only one of them can go with you.
Chris: Huh?
David: Dumb boy. They're going to battle one another. One Brad kills the other and none of this is ever spoken about again. This entire experiment to see if a perfected version of someone who is in a constant state of pain can be fixed through my time's medical advancements.
Brad: Let me go, son.
Chris: But he's going to kill you, dad.
BK: Damn right I am.
The fake Brad lunges at me and knocks me down with a hard right hand. I push myself back up and try to tackle him but I get kneed right in the face. I feel the blood trickle out of my nose. BK looks at me and smiles knowing he's better. Christ, that really hurt. BK kicks me in the ribs before headbutting me in the face, sending me into a pile of boxes. Ow. I fight my way up again only to get kicked right in the temple.
BK: Accept the fate. I'm the one that needs to walk away from this. I am you in every single way. We're the same. I can put on a fake sad face telling Nina she was right and I was just having a midlife crisis. Everything you know, I know. Though the memory thing lead us to this point didn't it? You just had to create one for it. I was nothing more then an empty vessel before the memories came.
Now he kicks my ribs. Fuck that hurts.
BK: I'm faster, stronger then you are, feeble man.
Another kick to my ribs. I think one of them just broke. Now BK kicks me in the face again.
BK: I am everything you are and then some. I gave us title shots. I got you past Alex Jones for good. I've done everything for you. Then by some stroke of luck the one thing you weren't meant to remember you did and it fucked you over.
He pulls me up and rams my head into a wall. I think I might fall back down now.
BK: Nothing you can do will stop me.
Time to reach into the bag of tricks. I give it everything I have to raise up my arm and punch BK right in the dick. He falls over clutching his groin. Slowly I make my way to my feet and stand over him. For once having a large dick pays off other then in the bedroom. I grab his head and wrap my arms around his throat, squeezing every single last bit of air I can from his throat.
Brad: You forgot one thing. If you're perfect you can't be willing to bend the rules of a fight.
I keep choking him until the body goes limp. He's out. I look back at Alastair who smirks at me before nodding his head.
David: Well done. Now kill him.
I look down at the "perfect" Brad Kane before shaking my head.
Brad: No...
David: You have to kill him! Nothing about this can escape from this basement. Nothing!
Brad: Then you pull the trigger. I'm going home.
I fall back down as Chris helps me to my feet. We both turn away before the loud crack of a gun shot echos through the room.
David: Goodbye, old friend.
I turn around for a moment to nod my head at Alastair. It'll be the last time I ever see him. Chris and I get into the elevator leaving Alastair to tend to his own fate.
Chris: Why'd you do that, dad?
Brad: I needed to, Chris. You know what kind of shape I'm in. I wanted to keep wrestling and get back to the top. Alastair provided me with that. I just didn't expect it to go this way. You couldn't tell anything different about that perfect one by looking at him. He was me, Chris. That man was me.
Chris: No he wasn't. He was a clone. Nothing more.
Brad: Still he gave you, Nina and all of your siblings someone they could look up to. He could've been what I wasn't. That clone, as you called him, was the way for you guys to live out your days in the best way I could give you.
Chris: So you would've lived in that basement for the rest of your life?
I nod my head.
Chris: You don't have to prove anything to anyone anymore, dad. You've done it all. Just... just come home.
Brad: No. We got one more thing left to do, son.
Chris: What?
Brad: I do what that one set out to do. Bring everything full circle in my career. I started over nine years ago as WCF Crusierweight Champion. I'll end it as IWF Cruiserweight Champion.
Chris smirks as me before chuckling. He helps me out of the main lobby and back to the outside world.
Chris: You sure you want to do that?
Brad: Yes, I'm sure of it.
I hear him chuckle again while he helps me to the rental car. I sit in the passenger seat and rest, closing my eyes knowing that this is finally the end I've been looking for. I've been the hero, the villain and everything else in between these last nine years. Time to do it one more night...
-----
Man: Ain't you hot, mister?
I shrug my shoulders in response. I don't feel all that heat as much as most right now.
Brad: Suppose not.
Man: Well, you're a crazy one for wearing it today.
There goes that goddamn word again, crazy. People keep using this word about me and it's beginning to get on my nerves a little bit. The man gets back to his life walking away. Chris finally exits the corner store with a couple of Red Bulls.
Brad: Red Bull? Really?
Chris: Figure we could use the energy if we're looking for Alastair's fortress or somethin' like that. Its better then what I nearly got you.
Brad: Which was?
Chris: Mello Yello Zero.
I chuckle. That is an awful soda. Tried a bottle of it once and threw it out after one drink. Most sodas sucks anyways. We resume our walk through Manhattan to the last known apartment of David Alastair. There's no door man or at least not for the moment while the two of us slip into the building. It's upscale, more upscale then I thought it'd be.
Chris: You know what floor we need?
Before reaching into my pocket to pull out the information I have I think about what this might me. Either I find everything I need, I find more questions or he's here and tells me I've been on a wild goose chase. The third option I loathe. Going home like that to tell Nina she was right the entire time would be the death of pride. I quickly shake myself back to reality and look at the paper.
Brad: Uh, floor six.
Chris presses the up button on an elevator while a few moments pass. Ding goes the door before we both enter. I press the six button and up we go. Ding again the two of us stepping out.
Brad: Apartment 6F.
We look for the apartment before Chris waves me over to the door with 6F right on it. I knock on the door and no response. So I knock louder this time with still no response. Now I put my hand on the knob and turn. Unlocked. I look back at Chris who just shrugs his shoulders. Slowly I open the door to see the apartment ransacked. Everything is thrown about like Alastair had to leave in a hurry.
Brad: Shit...
Chris: Hey, don't give up hope. There might be a clue in here, dad.
Kid is right. The two of us begin to look around the large apartment in hopes of an answer. The bookshelves are destroyed completely right now while Christopher looks in the bedroom. Our search goes on for a while a until I hear a gun click behind me. Probably the cops...
Brad: I know, I know, hands on my head...
I slowly turn around to see not a cop but instead David Alastair. Alastair lowers the pistol before sighing with relief. I chuckle a bit nervously knowing how close he was to having his brains scattered.
David: You know you're not supposed to be out right now.
Huh?
Brad: I'm not?
David: No. You're supposed to be in the basement like we had agreed upon, Kane. Don't tell me you forgot already...
Chris sees me and stops in his tracks seeing Alastair with a gun in hand yet. I have no idea what he's talking about.
David: Right, you have. Remember two months ago when you came to me saying how much your neck hurt and that something from the future might help so I said I could take your DNA to the same lab where I was created and they'd make a perfected version of you so your family wouldn't have to put up with the real you being so broken down?
MOTHERFUCKER! If Chris only had some sort of recording device on him right now. I nod my head giving Chris the signal to get the hell out of here silently.
Brad: Oh right. You know my memory, what was I thinking?
David: Yeah. So let's get you back down there. I'm sure you miss your family.
I nod my head. Pretty sure Chris is going to the basement to free the other Brad Kane. Wow that feels weird thinking that. I smile for Alastair who pokes the gun at my back to force me to walk.
Brad: What's with the gun though?
David: I can't have this getting out there. I mean if the world knew of this they'd be coming to me to fix all sorts of problems. In fac...
His voice trails off before slamming his free hand against a wall.
David: I thought I told you to leave this alone...
Brad: You know me, David.
David: Well, since you both know there's only one way this can be solved.
My mind races to figure which one of us he'll shoot. We head up on the elevator to the basement now. I glance back at David who smirks.
David: The two of you are going to fight to the death. You, the perfected Brad Kane against the feeble one. I should've done this long ago, actually. Then you wouldn't have had to come looking around for this.
Brad: So I have to fight an inferior version of myself to death?
David: Correct.
Shit, this should be easy then. The door dings open to my eyes seeing Chris holding the broken down Brad Kane. His beard is long, his hair growing out a little bit. The two of us stare at one another and already know what we have to do.
(Author's note: focus shifts to the broken down Brad Kane.)
There he is, the perfect me alongside who I thought was my best friend. He's kept me locked in here for the past two or three months while the fake one took my place.
David: So noble of you, young Christopher, to try to free your father from this place. Of course now you realize that only one of them can go with you.
Chris: Huh?
David: Dumb boy. They're going to battle one another. One Brad kills the other and none of this is ever spoken about again. This entire experiment to see if a perfected version of someone who is in a constant state of pain can be fixed through my time's medical advancements.
Brad: Let me go, son.
Chris: But he's going to kill you, dad.
BK: Damn right I am.
The fake Brad lunges at me and knocks me down with a hard right hand. I push myself back up and try to tackle him but I get kneed right in the face. I feel the blood trickle out of my nose. BK looks at me and smiles knowing he's better. Christ, that really hurt. BK kicks me in the ribs before headbutting me in the face, sending me into a pile of boxes. Ow. I fight my way up again only to get kicked right in the temple.
BK: Accept the fate. I'm the one that needs to walk away from this. I am you in every single way. We're the same. I can put on a fake sad face telling Nina she was right and I was just having a midlife crisis. Everything you know, I know. Though the memory thing lead us to this point didn't it? You just had to create one for it. I was nothing more then an empty vessel before the memories came.
Now he kicks my ribs. Fuck that hurts.
BK: I'm faster, stronger then you are, feeble man.
Another kick to my ribs. I think one of them just broke. Now BK kicks me in the face again.
BK: I am everything you are and then some. I gave us title shots. I got you past Alex Jones for good. I've done everything for you. Then by some stroke of luck the one thing you weren't meant to remember you did and it fucked you over.
He pulls me up and rams my head into a wall. I think I might fall back down now.
BK: Nothing you can do will stop me.
Time to reach into the bag of tricks. I give it everything I have to raise up my arm and punch BK right in the dick. He falls over clutching his groin. Slowly I make my way to my feet and stand over him. For once having a large dick pays off other then in the bedroom. I grab his head and wrap my arms around his throat, squeezing every single last bit of air I can from his throat.
Brad: You forgot one thing. If you're perfect you can't be willing to bend the rules of a fight.
I keep choking him until the body goes limp. He's out. I look back at Alastair who smirks at me before nodding his head.
David: Well done. Now kill him.
I look down at the "perfect" Brad Kane before shaking my head.
Brad: No...
David: You have to kill him! Nothing about this can escape from this basement. Nothing!
Brad: Then you pull the trigger. I'm going home.
I fall back down as Chris helps me to my feet. We both turn away before the loud crack of a gun shot echos through the room.
David: Goodbye, old friend.
I turn around for a moment to nod my head at Alastair. It'll be the last time I ever see him. Chris and I get into the elevator leaving Alastair to tend to his own fate.
Chris: Why'd you do that, dad?
Brad: I needed to, Chris. You know what kind of shape I'm in. I wanted to keep wrestling and get back to the top. Alastair provided me with that. I just didn't expect it to go this way. You couldn't tell anything different about that perfect one by looking at him. He was me, Chris. That man was me.
Chris: No he wasn't. He was a clone. Nothing more.
Brad: Still he gave you, Nina and all of your siblings someone they could look up to. He could've been what I wasn't. That clone, as you called him, was the way for you guys to live out your days in the best way I could give you.
Chris: So you would've lived in that basement for the rest of your life?
I nod my head.
Chris: You don't have to prove anything to anyone anymore, dad. You've done it all. Just... just come home.
Brad: No. We got one more thing left to do, son.
Chris: What?
Brad: I do what that one set out to do. Bring everything full circle in my career. I started over nine years ago as WCF Crusierweight Champion. I'll end it as IWF Cruiserweight Champion.
Chris smirks as me before chuckling. He helps me out of the main lobby and back to the outside world.
Chris: You sure you want to do that?
Brad: Yes, I'm sure of it.
I hear him chuckle again while he helps me to the rental car. I sit in the passenger seat and rest, closing my eyes knowing that this is finally the end I've been looking for. I've been the hero, the villain and everything else in between these last nine years. Time to do it one more night...
-----
"Bushido. I really have nothing to say to you right now. Sunday night is tomorrow night and I feel normal again. I don't feel like I'm from the future or a different timeline anymore. Everything just feels completed in my life now.
Tomorrow night the two of us step into that ring for a championship. One that I'd love to hold just for a little while. If I don't then I don't. There's nothing more to it then that. I have no huge bravado for you. I don't have a huge speech about how awesome I am.
No...
I'd rather just enjoy these last few moments of being in a wrestling ring before I die in it. Well not die but go peacefully to the retired wrestler farm. Yes, that word. A word that has been brought up about me numerous times but yet I never really claimed it as my own. You see it was always placed on me when I took a break.
This time its real. That word is something I plan to do after my match tomorrow night against you Bushido. The truth of the matter is that my neck is awful. Even wrestling in this match is a huge danger to myself and my body but you know something?
I want to hold that title you have. I want to become champion one more time in my career before I stop for good. I know people will joke and that's fine. Everything just feels final now.
I'll see you in that ring tomorrow night Bushido.
Peace."
Well howdy there pardner.