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Thaddeus Duke · (04-20-2019)

[duke]11:21 PM | The Compound | Illuminatus Nation | Old Saybrook, Connecticut[/duke]

I’ve missed my first day of school today. A result of which saw numerous text messages from Curtis and Garrett. Both fans and at least in the former’s case, friends. They both called and sent me text messages to check up on me after my match with Scully.

Garrett… I’m still not sure of. It was a shitty thing he did to be sure, but he’s young. He’s not immune to making mistakes. As such, I’m willing to give him a chance. The boy needs a friend. I suppose I can be that provided he stops doing shitty things and treating people as if they’re somehow beneath him just because maybe their parents earn less money than his do. Besides, it’s not like the parents of the kids in my school really give a shit about them and that is an unfortunate, recurring theme. Also one I most certainly can identify with. Until recently, I always thought my own dad would rather I hadn’t been born at all. Now, I know that isn’t true.

Long story short, both Curtis and Garrett are coming for Easter dinner. Further, they’ll be my guests backstage in Biloxi this week at Savage. Maybe by showing these kids some love, I can make a difference in their lives.

Those two are just some of the things I think about as I lay here drifting in and out of consciousness when there’s a knock at my bedroom door.

[duke]”Ugggghhhhh. What!?”[/duke] I snap. Seriously, I just want some fucking sleep. I have school tomorrow and I’m stressed to the fucking max with everything going on.

Jim enters my room a manila envelope in hand.

[duke]”Jim, if that’s not an Oscar winning envelope, get the fuck out of here so I can get to sleep.,”[/duke] I scold him. [duke]”Whatever it is can wait until morning.”[/duke]

”Not this,” he says emphatically.

Wearily, I raise my head off my pillows and the lions jump down, curling into a ball beside each other. Frustrated that I can’t sleep right now, I whip a pillow at Jim. It catches him off guard and stumbles backward, losing his balance as he braces himself against the wall.

[duke]”You deserve that,”[/duke] I joke. I think.

”Well Thad,” he begins, steadying himself. ”It’s as we suspected.”

[duke]”What is?”[/duke] I ask absentmindedly. [duke]”Ohhhh.”[/duke]

He tosses the envelope onto my bed and I open it to check out the contents. Staring me in the face is a photo of Matthew taken from the security cameras here at the Compound. In the photo, he’s using an old style flip phone to conduct his phone call. Something widely considered a burner. By itself though, the picture proves nothing. It only strengthens our suspicion.

[duke]”Jim, this doesn’t mean anything. I’m not going to act solely on suspicion. I’m not my father.”[/duke]

”It was taken at the exact moment a call was received by Michael,” he pauses for some reason. ”Michael is still in Paris, Thad.”

Honestly, I’m not that convinced. Out of sheer exasperation, I throw myself back down on the bed in a huff.

”Thaddeus I know you do things differently than your father,” he begins pleading. ”If it were him, Matthew would already be dead. You? You’re dragging your feet because you don’t want to be him. You don’t want to face the situation. You don’t want to face the prospect of anyone usurping your authority in order to lead us into a war we don’t want.

“That’s what’s at stake here Thaddeus. You continue to do nothing, Matthew will think he’s gotten away with it and more shit will go down. More devastating stuff and he will absolutely push us to the brink.”

This is what I pay him for. Actually, I don’t pay him at all, but still. He’s an awesome adviser and an even better friend.

[duke]”Can I just be the god king lord of everything in the morning?”[/duke] I ask in jest, fake crying.

Jim pulls his cell phone from his pocket where it had been vibrating. ”Get up, His Holiness is on the phone downstairs.” If it were me, I’d probably have let that phone vibrate a few more times… for obvious reason. Also, he says holiness like HOE. Wankaaa.

[duke]”You two have entirely ruined my night.”[/duke]

”Sorry mate, the Illuminatus doesn’t stop just because you have school in the morning.”

[duke]”I’mma fuckin’ retire, you know that? I’mma name you my heir and let you deal with every god damn thing.”[/duke]

”No please.”

Downstairs in my office, I’m highly irritable and extremely tired. Jim sets a YooHoo in front of me like that’s going to calm my nerves or something.

Anyway I take a drink after shaking the bitch and popping the top. Apparently Jim is right. Also it occurs to me that I have an addiction to YooHoo. Further, I find it strange that someone would have an addiction to such a drink.

Sit.

Speaker button.

You know the drill.

[duke]”Your Holiness, allow me to extend my dee...”[/duke]

”I trust you’ve seen the messages, Thaddeus,” he interrupts. That catches me off guard a bit but I guess I can sort of understand his demeanor.

[duke]”I have sir, yes,”[/duke] I answer truthfully.

”Are you trying to fan the flames?”

[duke]”No sir. Absolutely not.”[/duke]

”Your father then...”

[duke]”Listen!”[/duke] this time I interrupt him. [duke]”I’m fully aware of how this looks, your Holiness, but believe me when I tell you...”[/duke]

”Your father at least had the fortitude to own up to his misdeeds, my son. I thought better of you. I truly did. Yet here we are, two years later after we’ve made peace and broke bread and I have one of the most historic cathedrals gutted by flames.

“Worse, we have the intercepted message which states...”

[duke]”I know what it states. I’ve seen it, I’ve read it.”[/duke]

”You authorized it.”

My frustration is in overdrive. Jim keeps giving me hand motions, signaling me to stay calm but honestly, I’ve had enough of people pushing me.

[duke]”Sir, if you want to go to war we can go to war, but I promise you, not only will I gut the Catholic Church, I will raze Vatican City to the ground. You can celebrate your next Christmas Mass in its fuckin’ rubble.”[/duke]

Jim face palms. I shrug. Fuck it. Fuck him. I’ve had it.

[duke]”We’re already on top of this, so take your stupid little pointy hat and shove it up your holy ass.”[/duke]

”I’ve never felt so...”

[duke]”Just stop! We do believe this was carried out by rogue elements in my Illuminatus and yes we are investigating. I can assure you this, and I’ll only say it once. Whomever is responsible will meet a swift, and final end.

“This was neither authorized, nor endorsed by either me or my father.”[/duke]

”How will I know?” he asks, much more humbly and far less arrogant than he started out.

[duke]”I’ll make sure you know. I’ll send you photos, call you, text you, whatever you want. We don’t want another war. You can’t handle another war.”[/duke]

I end the call. Leaning back in my chair I emit a deep sigh.

”You went all King of Darkness on him,” he says with a smile.

[duke]”My father would be proud,”[/duke] I kid him.

”I think it’s time to act, Thad.”

It is.

[duke]”Are the cells still operable?”[/duke] I ask, referring to the row of three prison cells that are tucked away in the corner of the cellar.

”I had them checked earlier. They’re in good shape.”

[duke]”Let's go wake up Matt."[/duke]

I honestly don't know what I'm going to do. I know I'm going to confront him. As leader, it's my duty to do such a thing. If I allowed him to get away with it, that'd call into question my effectiveness as the leader. Maybe worse, he subverted my authority. He made plans and had them carried out in my name.

Really, It's entirely unacceptable.

Jim's right though. If it was my father in my shoes, Matthew wouldn't even have a chance to speak. No chance at all to defend himself or explain his rationale in why he did what he did. Instead, my father would just have him executed. No questions asked.

I'm not my father.

In SO many ways I am not him.

That isn't always a good thing. For what it's worth, he isn't a bad man. He just has a particular style of authority that I find to be counterproductive. He's cold and intimidating. Sebastian Duke ruled the Illuminatus with fear. That's not me. I'm less angry. I'm a generally happy person that gets along with most anyone. My style of rendering my authority is cooler, more lowkey. That comes with its own disadvantages. Some, I would assume, may perceive me as a bit of a pushover. I can certainly see how they might think it. The Illuminatus originals, they've been with us for two generations now. Under my grandfather first, he was cold, but loved his people a great deal, though he rarely, if ever, actually showed it. My father, the XWF folks are already familiar with him. Its a challenge, and one I welcome, to be as effective as they were while also being warm and open.

The originals, they don't respect that. They expect cold ruthlessness and I'm not giving it to them.

Matthew is awakened and escorted to the airfield by armed guards. The originals are brought in too. There's not a lot of them here though. Most are abroad. He's got to know the jig is up. If not, he's not as smart as we thought he was. I have to make this a public display. I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet but I have several options. Hanging, my grandfathers preferred choice. Stake burning, like my father would have done. There's prison, of course.

This is treason.

It's unfortunate, but it's a fact. I'm a military man and my preferred method is a bullet to the head. It's an honorable death. It's a clean death. It's a quick death with no suffering. Of course, I don't even know yet if he's guilty. I mean, he is, but there's no hard evidence that points definitely to him.

[duke]"You know why you're here?"[/duke] I ask him as I sit at the table across from him inside the hangar. Behind me are armed guards along with the originals lined up in a row, standing at ease. Behind Matthew, stand two guards.

"Paris," he replies quickly.

[duke]"Why would you be here because of Paris?"[/duke]

Matt scoffs and chuckles at my question.

[duke]"Is my question funny to you?"[/duke]

No answer.

[duke]"Are you guilty of the Paris fiasco?"[/duke] I asked calmly. I want him to feel at ease, like he can answer without much fear of any sort of retaliation.

"You know I am, Your Grace," he replies defiantly, yet with some respect. "I did it for the Illuminatus. I did it for you."

[duke]"Why?"[/duke]

"I've been faithful to the Illuminatus my entire adult life. I served your father and your grandfather and I have even served you faithfully, until recently. The fact is, we worked for decades, even before my time and certainly before yours, to accomplish what we did by your command, sir. We took the seat of Catholic power from them and you turned around and gave it back to them.

"You gave them the power back and it flies in the face of everything we stand for as a nation."

[duke]"I'll remind you that we ARE a nation BECAUSE of me."[/duke]

"Look, I'd never deny your accomplishments. You've done a great many things to further our cause. A great many things to make the Illuminatus a legitimate nation.

"But you're weak."

[duke]"Weak,"[/duke] I questioningly repeat his word aloud.

"You have a sift heart Thaddeus. It'll get us all murdered because you're too good natured to run this nation. You're too trusting. Someone somewhere is going to decide that they don't like our existence and that will be all she wrote for us."

[duke]"In case you forgot, I was the Commanders on the ground for three wars in which my men were victorious."[/duke]

"Who said anything about another war? You're a great military commander, no doubt. How I don't exactly know, but you are. You better start taking this domestic threat a little more serious. We're on American soil now. You can't use our biggest asset this time. The U.S. government will never allow you to conduct military raids with the air force.

"Never."

[duke]"So you wanted to reignite the war with the Church because this domestic threat isn't being taken seriously?"[/duke]

"No, I did it because I need you... WE need you, to grow up and be a man. I needed to test your resolve. The nation needs to know whether their leader can do what is necessary when his back is against the wall.'

[duke]"What's necessary?"[/duke] I ask rhetorically as I stand from the table, resting my right hand on the grip of my Desert Eagle.

"The originals don't respect you. They don't fear you.

"I just usurped your authority and you want to sit and talk about it. You can rest your hand on that revolver all you want, we both know that no matter how much you should use it, I'll be sitting in a cell beneath the Compound by sunrise."

Pacing a little, but saying nothing, I turn my attention toward the originals behind me. No one fears me, that much is true. I'd prefer being loved and admired to being feared any day. Is it the best? Maybe not. He's right though.

[duke]"The penalty for treason is death,"[/duke] I say aloud, mostly just completing a thought within my own head. I nod to my facility Commander and with no hesitation, fires a volley of shots into the standing originals. Myself, I draw my weapon and fire one round into Matt's skull. This might have felt great to some, but not me. I'm just sick to my stomach.

[duke]"Listen, I'mma be real here for a minute.

"See, I really can't imagine what it's like to lose a wife, or the mother of my children. I do know what it is though, to lose someone you love. It's a pain that no one can really describe because there is in fact, no word for it. People throw out the word grief or mourning, things like that but none of it means a god damn thing. No word or words can be said to aid those going through that process.

"Donovan, here's the thing though... No one gives a fuck what you're going through."[/duke]

"I thought you said you were gonna be real?"

[duke]"This is me being real, Jim. I don't care about Blackwater, his gay brothers, his alien father, his kid or his dead wife. I don't care. No one cares. Blackwater has never been anything but a piece of shit human being and he's out here trying to garner sympathy from anyone that will give him the time of day. NO ONE CARES. Not now, not ever. You can't be a piece of shit and expect others to care when you're sad. If I could wipe that whole family off this planet, I would.

"I'm a different type of person though, I don't kill anyone just to kill them. No matter how much we all would like to, we don't do it because there is a such thing as law and order. There's a such thing as right and wrong.

"I don't matter and this match doesn't matter. Maybe in your opinion, Donnie boy. Thing is, I know my worth. I know my value as a person. I know that my existence in the lives of my friends and my family makes their lives better. Can you say the same Don? Is the world a better place because of your existence in it?

"I don't see it.

"I'm a lot of things. I'm cocky, maybe a little arrogant at times. I know that, and I've never shied away or denied those facts to be true. But I'm a good person that does a lot of good outside of the views of the XWF cameras. I put my life on display for our viewers, but I don't show everything. Some things are better left between a man and his God.

"Donovan, I don't think you'll be on your A game at Savage. Maybe you never had an A game, I don't know."[/duke]

"If he never had an A game then what does that say about you?"

[duke]"Jim, I've stated all along that I haven't been my best. I'm getting there. Soon enough I will be. His best self versus my best self, I'd bet on me every time. That's a confidence that can't be bought and can't be taught.

"Anyway I know how these things go. I've watched enough television and I've seen in reality when people lose their spouse that the wheel comes off of their lives and the survivors sort of spiral out of control. Spiral, Don. Might a suggest a needle or 5? Maybe drown your sorrows in a bottle of Jameson's."[/duke]

"Jesus."

[duke]"You're done commenting Jim.

"Grab that bottle of Jameson's, Don. It's for people like you with zero class and no self respect. Drink yourself into an even bigger stupor than regular you and head to your nearest corner, Donnie, get you a score. Inject that poison in your veins and succumb to those demons that cry your name.

"Just do us all a favor and take your brothers with you.

"I do not give a shit that your wife is dead. I do not give a shit that you don't care about this match. I do not give a shit what you think of me. Your opinion of me does not effect my opinion of me. It does not effect Duke Nation's opinion of me.

"I know what I am Blackwater, and in ever imaginable way, I am better than you. That's not a catchphrase. It's not a million dollar phrase printed on XWF t-shirts with my face on the front. It's just the truth."[/duke]

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