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Thaddeus Duke · (07-24-2017)

[duke]Friday, July 21, 2017 | 1:41 PM | Elysee Palace | Paris, France [/duke]

Life has not been particularly kind to Thaddeus Duke as of late. Not in the Xtreme Wrestling Federation, and not in the Illuminatus world. For the last month or so, he’s been dealing with, almost daily, insurgents disguised as defectors from his fathers Army. It is impossible for him to be in more than one place at a time. Right now, the Illuminatus takes precedence. It takes his focus, away from the XWF, away from throwing out first pitches at his beloved Yankee games, away from Dolly Waters, away from being an 18 year old kid and doing 18 year old kid things.

Last month, Thaddeus made a plea in front of the French President to revoke his fathers asylum. It was a plea that fell on deaf ears and blind eyes, ultimately, his appeal to the French government was denied. Sebastian Duke still has a base of operations, which is central to his ability to organize his troops. With the French asylum in effect, Thaddeus Duke still has no way to attack his father or his forces directly which really hampers any ability to defeat him. This fact effectively ties his hands behind his back while being open to attacks from his father from within.

Two days ago, Thaddeus requested another meeting with the French President and while he faced some resistance, his request was ultimately accepted.

The motorcade rolls to a stop outside Elysee Palace in Paris and the Illuminatus entourage steps out of the numerous cars. One can not be too safe with his father only a few blocks away, and highly armed and trained military officers stand guard outside the palace.

[duke]”Anything comes up,”[/duke] Thaddeus begins as he speaks to an unnamed officer in full Illuminatus military gear. [duke]”Shoot first, ask questions later.”[/duke] The man nods and salutes his leader as Thaddeus, James, Lincoln Tritter and members of his intelligence team begin to proceed toward the palace entrance. As the entourage advances, Lincoln Tritter is hard at work, taping away on his cell phone. They’re greeted warmly at the front doors by the President himself.

”Your Highness,” the President greets Thaddeus.

Thaddeus cringes at the royal greeting, but puts on his best fake smile. [duke]”Mr. President,”[/duke] he says as the two shake hands. [duke]”You’ve met Jim, and Lincoln previously,”[/duke] he says, motioning toward his entourage.

”Yes, of course,” he says in response, but ultimately eyeballs them rather than speaking to them, or shaking their hands. ”Shall we go inside?” says the French President as he motions with his left hand toward the building.

The Illuminatus party enters the Palace and the President leads them down the long corridor. No one says a word, but periodically, Thaddeus gives Tritter a glance, still hard at work and tapping away at his phone. They enter the Council of Ministers chambers and Thaddeus is somewhat surprised to see no French Ministers present.

[duke]”Forgive me, Mr. President, but I thought this was an official meeting,”[/duke] he says.

”It is, Mr. Duke,” responds the French President as he offers seats at the council table to Thaddeus and his entourage. ”I am quite sure I know what this is about. You will bring up your concerns, and I will bring them to my Ministers. We’ll discuss, debate, and notify you of any decision we come to.” The French President takes a seat at the head of the table, leaving Thaddeus and his entourage seated along the one side. It’s typical in this type of meeting for the host, in this case the French President, to acknowledge his own power by positioning. If you’re at the head of the table, you have the power. In days of old, Kings and Queens would sit on thrones raised by several feet over the peasants all in an attempt to remind them of where the power truly lies.

Recognizing this tactic, Thaddeus stands to his feet and stares at the French President. [duke]”Your Council of Ministers should be here, Mr. President. That much is for sure. What I have to say, is very much time sensitive.”[/duke]

”If it’s so time sensitive,” says the President, looking up at Thaddeus. ”Then say what it is you need to say.”

[duke]”You’ll have until noon tomorrow,”[/duke] Thaddeus begins. His phone notification goes off, interrupting him. He then looks down the table at Lincoln Tritter who nods at him. [duke]”Excuse me, Mr. President, this is important.”[/duke] The President sits idly looking unamused, but stopping short of rolling his eyes.

Thaddeus whips out his phone and looks through a file just sent to him by Tritter. [duke]”All of them?”[/duke] Thad asks Tritter.

”Every last one.”

”Could I request we get on with this? I’ll be frank and tell you, Mr. Duke, that I’ve granted this meeting as a favor only.”

[duke]”Is that what this is all about?”[/duke] Thaddeus asks somewhat heatedly. [duke]”You don’t take me seriously and I know this. I’m 18 years old and I lead a nation with no borders. I lead a military. I’m the proud owner of the most elite air force in the world, Mr. President.

“I think its time you start putting my age aside and take me seriously, because every major nation in the world is looking at you as a President willingly harboring a known terrorist.”[/duke]

A look of confusion appears on the face of the French President.

[duke]”I wasn’t involved much in the beginning. I don’t know what my father or my grandfather had on you to get you to allow us to use your bases for refueling. To use your air space to enter Germany and stage the coup. Maybe it was the threat of violence, I don’t know.

“What I do know, Mr. President, is that you have less than 24 hours to revoke Sebastian Duke’s asylum. You have less than 24 hours to have your military escort him from France. Because if you don’t, I promise you there will be violence. There will be blood. French blood. Illuminatus blood. My military is readying as we speak, sir.”[/duke]

”Your threats do not go unnoticed, Mr. Duke,” the President replies.

Thaddeus shakes his head. [duke]”This is not a threat,”[/duke] he says as he plugs a USB cable into his phone. [duke]”It’s a guarantee.”[/duke]

On the wall behind the entourage, a document appears, signed by the British Prime Minister and the Queen of England.

[duke]”That’s a signed document, Mr. President. The British government acknowledges Sebastian Duke and his Illuminatus as a terrorist organization.”[/duke] He flicks his phone. [duke]”Italy too.”[/duke] He flicks, pauses, and flicks and pauses, and flicks some more. [duke]”The United States, Italy, Germany, Poland. All of them, and so many more, recognize my father and his military as a terrorist organization.

“The only one missing is France.”[/duke]

”This is quite disturbing,” the President replies as he takes a gulp of air.

[duke]”In less than 24 hours, my Illuminatus invades your country. If you insist on continuing to harbor terrorists, it will involve the spilling of blood, and lots of it, in the streets of your capital. What’s more, Mr. President, is I have the support of pretty much every free nation on the planet.

“Maybe it’s time you took me seriously you condescending prick.”[/duke]

The French President says nothing.

[duke]”See, after our last meeting, I considered a surgical air strike on the building my father occupies, Mr. President. I was advised against it because attacking a sovereign nation without cause is an act of war. I did not and do not want a war with France.

“If that’s what it takes to eliminate, capture, or otherwise neutralize my father and his forces, then I now have world support to do it. And I guarantee you, Mr. President, I will do it.

“And you will lose.”[/duke]

The President stands. ”Could you send me those documents?”

[duke]”Lincoln,”[/duke] he replies, turning toward his Intel expert. Turning back to the President now, [duke]”of course.”[/duke]

”I’ll have to verify the validity of those documents. I’ll bring this to the attention of my Council and if everything checks out, Mr. Duke, his asylum will be revoked and France too, will quantify Sebastian Duke and his Illuminatus as a terror organization.”

[duke]”That’s all I wanted, Mr. President.”[/duke]

”Can France depend on your support if and when the time comes?”

Thaddeus smiles, finally letting his victory in. [duke]”Mr. President, if you revoke his asylum, I can have elements of my military here in a couple hours. My Illuminatus will support you.”[/duke]

The President smiles.

”I’ll be honest and admit that no I did not take you seriously. You have to understand, that you are so young, yet somehow have all this power. It’s a stretch. It almost takes a suspension of disbelief to acknowledge your standing as a world leader.”

[duke]”It’s a battle. Daily. Most days, I just want to forget who I am and just be myself. Worry only about myself. But its a job I was born into.”[/duke]

”Leading a nation, borders or no borders, is no simple task. But, we just wouldn’t trust anyone else to do it, would we?”

[duke]”No. That’s why I’m in this mess to begin with.”[/duke] The entourage stands and prepares to leave.

”I’ll be in touch by morning.”

[duke]”If you don’t mind my asking, what is it my family has on you that causes you to be so cooperative with them?”[/duke]

”Let’s get through the next 24 hours. Then I’ll happily tell you all about it.”

The duo shakes hands and has a quick photo op with the French press. Thaddeus smiles from ear to ear. Soon after, the Illuminatus vacates Elysee Palace.

[duke]Professional wrestling is very much a ‘what have you done for me lately’ kind of business. So what has Thaddeus Duke done lately for the XWF? I’ve had some matches. I’ve been the star of the show competing regularly in main events. Sometimes I lose, mostly I just win. I’m a three time current reigning and defending Xtreme Champion. I show up big in big time matches. I’ve no doubt had some tough breaks of late and I have never and will never shy away from that or try and sugar coat it by saying “oh but I didn’t take the fall.” Not losing, is not the same as winning and my dear friend Trax, could stand to learn a lesson in humility.

The man is not short on confidence, that much is true. But what has Trax done for the XWF lately? Let me preface this by saying, once upon a time, Trax too was a big big star in the XWF. His star though, has faded and it has everything to do with people like me, people like Doc D’Ville, and people like Jim Caedus and people like my uncle and his Kings™ coming into, or back into the fold.

Trax thinks that because he defeated Jim Caedus a few months ago on Warfare, and that I failed to win at High Stakes against Jim Caedus, that means he’s going to beat me. Trax thinks that since I’ve failed to secure victories over the best of the best lately, that he’s going to defeat me. That math doesn’t add up and that logic is flawed at best. No one match is exactly the same and the circumstances are ALWAYS changing. I mean, if you want to compare win loss records against like opponents, we can do that.

At the beginning of the year, I defeated Gabe Reno to become the number one contender to the Xtreme title. Somehow, two weeks later, the runner up to the Xtreme title contenders match, is placed in a match with Trax where the winner went on to challenge the Universal champion. What happened? Reno took home the prize. Not Trax. At Lethal Lottery, he lost to a very much focused Jim Caedus while I defeated Doctor Louis D’Ville. Trax lost to D’Ville at High Stakes while I lost to Caedus. Well, Chaos lost, but again, not losing does not equal winning. Like opponents. I’m 2 and 1, he’s 1 and 2. So obviously Thaddeus Duke is the winner on the upcoming Warfare.

But that’s not how this works. Matches are won and lost in the ring. He beat Caedus, albeit a distracted Caedus with outside interference, and I did not defeat a focused Jim Caedus. Good for him. It means nothing in the grand scheme of things and I can’t wait for Jim to reclaim the Universal title so that Trax can get his promised match. That way, when Caedus soundly defeats him, we can all watch him belly up to the excuse table and start covering for his inability to beat anyone with a name.

Trax says I lose to all the top talent, yet since my arrival, I’ve defeated Luca Arzegotti, Gabe Reno- who I only count because he somehow carried the Universal title for a few weeks, Micheal Graves, Doc D’Ville, Chris Chaos and on Warfare, I’ll be adding Trax to that list. See, Trax, I consider you a top talent. Sorta.

He can sugarcoat things all he wants but it only serves one purpose and that’s to make him look like the bitch we all know him to be. Yes, call Chaos a shell of his former self. He is, and I greatly contributed to that fact by beating him on Savage. Trax is very much like Chris Chaos because he too, is a shell of his former self. Or, is this the true Trax? One that is pretty good in the ring, I’d never deny that, but just seems to fail to live up to the hype when booked against the top talent. I’ve beat more top names than I’ve lost to, that’s the truth of it and while I don’t claim to be perfect, I don’t come off like a giant pussy and say “well I didn’t get pinned so I didn’t REALLY lose, the other guy did.” That’s a bitch ass move and everybody sees right through it.

I mean, look at his history since the beginning of the year while he tries, and fails, to hammer me for defeating guys like Jack Cain and Chris Chaos, but let’s be real. Let’s be honest. Trax made some waves early on, going through Lethal Lottery but let me do a 180 on the Trax logic and use some of my own here. Trax benefited greatly from having three top talents as partners through that tournament. Dolly Waters, Robbie Bourbon, and Jim Caedus. Oh but when it came time to go it alone and walk out with the 24/7 briefcase? Trax failed, like he normally does. He’ll slam me for beating guys like Cain, but neglects to remember who the hell he beats and who he loses to. This is the same guy that beats nameless wonders like St. Diabolicus and loses, WITH Jim Caedus as his partner to a team like Scully and Guppy Parsh.

Let that sink in for a minute.

Beast? Pffft. Trax is not a beast, but a sheep being lead to slaughter on Warfare. He has come out and made the same mistakes most everyone has made and underestimated me. Graves did. D’Ville did. Chaos did. Reno did. What happened? I beat ‘em all.

For the record, my father was the King of Darkness, not Lord of Darkness. That’s someone else.

Trax thinks the powers that be have decided I need to be destroyed. Good luck darkie, you’ll need a hell of a lot more than what you’ve shown in order to destroy me. Better men have tried, yet I’m still standing. Still fighting. Still winning.

Trax is a man that thinks that because Raven did not kick out of my 24/7 pin that I’m not a rightful champion. See, more flawed logic. Pinning the champion in a title match, makes you champion. That’s not ego inflation. That’s not cockiness. That’s not flawed logic. It’s truth. It’s the life we lead. Pin the champion, become the champion. That’s how this works and for someone like Trax that has been a decorated star for the last few years to not know that, is both concerning and confusing.

More Trax logic to take a gander at, if you will. He claims I’ll never be on his level yet for months now, these rankings Paul Heyman does that he holds so dear, I’ve placed above him. And that’s not going to change. So, no Trax. I’m not on your level. I’m above it. And I have been for quite some time.

See Trax, I am in no way standing in your way as it pertains to the King of the Ring. I’m not standing in your way because I’m completely and totally absolutely blocking it. You have no path to the crown, because I’ve sealed all the tunnels. I’ve blown up all the bridges. You won’t get to the crown, because you’re not getting passed me.

Trax doesn’t need a repackage to beat me, whatever that is. Let me tell you something though, Trax. Ya gunna need somethin’, because whatever you got, just ain’t enough. Reborn, or not reborn, Trax. You’re still shit and that’s never gonna change.[/duke]

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