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Thaddeus Duke · (05-30-2017)

February 2, 2016 | 7:36 AM | Sistine Chapel | Vatican City

In less than 24 hours, Thaddeus Duke, the heir apparent to his fathers ever-growing Illuminatus empire, has gone from completely oblivious to professional wrestling, to a hardcore fan of the genre. Yesterday he had a rather heart breaking conversation with his father…

SLAM!!!

...where Sebastian Duke felt that wrestling was just too big for his only child. It’s almost a given, that if you are born to someone in this business, you are bound to end up in it yourself. Thaddeus Duke though, and his upbringing, is a completely different type of animal. It kind of goes without saying that he was not raised in any traditional manner.

GRUNNNNT!!!

SLAM!!!!

For the entirety of his very short life, Thaddeus Duke has been a man of ever-growing importance. To be a young man of his age and still lead a military to victory twice is nothing short of an awe inspiring turn of events. He has showed a great deal of leadership and respectability, but now that his wars are concluded and the rebuilding efforts are under way, he has very little to do that keeps his mind occupied.

Enter Jim Edwards, and his wrestling fandom.

The camera pans from the exterior wall of the Sistine Chapel, toward the center where the full size wrestling ring lies. It passes by the chapel’s support pillars and finally settles on the ring and begins to zoom. Thaddeus Duke, wearing Wrangler jeans and his fathers knee pads spars terribly with his friend. With neither of them being trained professionals, one can imagine this match looks more like some haphazard, poorly worked backyard wrestling match than anything even resembling professional.

Unbeknownst to Thaddeus and probably even Jim, the legendary XWF competitor named Duke stands in the dark recesses of the chapel, leaning against a pillar with his arms folded in front of him. He looks on, very much unamused.

In the ring, Thaddeus whips Jim toward the ropes, which looks decent enough. On the rebound, Thaddeus hip tosses Jim to the mat. The toss itself is fairly flawless but the landing is where it ends badly as Jim falls shoulder first into the mat rather than back first.

”Ahhh fuck!” Jim cries out. ”Something just popped!”

[duke]”Shit! You alright?”[/duke]

”No I don’t think so,” Jim says, wincing in pain and clutching his right shoulder. ”Oh god this hurts!”

”Thaddeus,” Sebastian says as he emerges from the shadows, stepping into the light.

Not realizing his father was there, Thaddeus is startled initially, but like any good soldier when a commanding officer calls your name, you’re at attention. He exits the ring quickly and meets his father several feet away.

[duke]”We were just...”[/duke] Thaddeus begins, before being cut off.

”Injuring your friend.

“Neither of you are trained to do this. What on Earth would possess you two to do this?” asks his father, extremely agitated that his son is still attempting to go through with this whole wrestling thing despite his earlier rejection.

[duke]”Dad… I love it. I can’t explain it,”[/duke] Thaddeus replies.

”Until yesterday, you never even saw a match. Today you’re some mega star in the making?”

[duke]”Train me!”[/duke] Thaddeus shouts.

Sebastian shakes his head in disgust and walks past his son and up the ring steps. He steps through the ropes and into the squared circle. ”Get the hell out of my ring, boy,” Sebastian says, looking down at the injured and very much in pain Jim Edwards. ”Go see the doctor. You broke your clavicle, you idiots.”

Jim slides out of the ring gingerly, trying not to jar his shoulder.

”You think you can learn this shit?” Sebastian asks, turning toward his son who now stands on the floor with his palms resting on the apron.

[duke]”You know me. I can learn anything. I learned how to lead by watching my grandfather. I learned to fly a fighter jet in two days. I learned to not let feelings and emotions interfere with my tactical decision making by watching you.

“I know I can learn this, dad.”[/duke]

”If anyone is going to train you, it’s going to be me, kid. By trying to train yourself, you’re only going to get hurt and I can’t have my fucking son hobbling around delivering military orders while on crutches.”

Thaddeus smiles.

”Stop smiling and get your ass in here,” the Illuminatus King orders.

[duke]”Now? I mean I just...”[/duke]

”Yes. Now. I’m going to stomp your ass into the mat and walk it dry, boy. When its over, if you still think you want to do it, I’ll train you.

“You’re gonna find out though kid, this ain’t your life. This ain’t what you know. You’re a great leader and you have a great military mind, I’d never deny that. But in this wrestling business, you’re leading no one but yourself. This ain’t learning to fly an aircraft.

“Wrestling is an art.

“And believe me when I tell you, I had to learn that the hard way. Jim showed you my successes. But did he ever show you my debut? Did he show you how I was taken to school by a man a third my size? Unknown Soldier kicked my big dumb ass all over the ring and pinned me in under five minutes.

“If you’re not aware its an art, and you go to war with someone like Unknown Soldier, you’re up against god damn Rembrandt and all you’re armed with, is a fuckin’ finger painting.”

Thaddeus soaks in his fathers speech, but remains on the floor, looking in at his father.

”Second thoughts yet?”

The boy responds without words, instead opting to roll himself into the ring.

”You waiting for a bell? C’mon kid. Show me what you got!”

Thaddeus rushes his father, hitting him with a barrage of punches, causing Sebastian to cover up and let himself get backed into the corner. Suddenly Sebastian palms his sons face and shoves him backward onto his ass.

[duke]”What the fuck, man?”[/duke]

”Oh I’m sorry. Were you under the impression that this shit is fake and choreographed like in places not known as the Xtreme Wrestling Federation?”

Thaddeus jumps back to his feet and charges toward his cornered father. The elder Duke pops up a back elbow at the last second sending Thaddeus back to the mat and clutching his face.

”Too easy.” Sebastian runs out of the corner and leaps in the air with a leg drop onto his boy wonder. Elder Duke gets back to his feet. ”Had enough?”

[duke]”Fuck no. I’m just beginning to have fun,”[/duke] Thaddeus replies as he rubs the welt on his face from his fathers elbow.

The XWF’s former King of Darkness grabs Thaddeus by his hair and rips him to his feet with relative ease and shoves him toward a corner. After the impact, Thaddeus muses aloud, [duke]”How the fuck are you this god damn strong?”[/duke]

Elder Duke grabs his boy by the wrist and whips him to the opposite corner. He follows him in with a crushing avalanche before tossing him back to the from whence they came and follows with another avalanche. After the collision, Sebastian steps aside, letting his son stagger out. Just as Thaddeus passes by, Sebastian grabs him by the wrist and spins him around, only to grab him by the throat and lifts him high off the mat, then choke slams him to the canvas.

[duke]”Oh em gee! My fuckin’ back!”[/duke]

”You quit?”

[duke]”Hell no. Gimme more old man!”[/duke]

Sebastian obliges and once again rips Thaddeus to his feet by his hair, then tosses him to the ropes. On the rebound, Thaddeus runs face first into his fathers big ass boot, dropping him instantly.

[duke]”Oh my god my face!”[/duke]

”Try putting your hands up next time! You won’t stop it, but at least it’ll absorb some of the impact!”

Sebastian retreats toward the ropes and starts to loosen his right arm in slow circles a few times as Thaddeus struggles to get back to his feet. One he does so, Sebastian bounces off the ropes and rocks Thaddeus with his Soul Shot lariat. (Clothesline from hell.) Thaddeus does a full 360 in mid air and crashes to the mat. He lies sprawled out and stares up at the lights, his eyes completely glazed over.

”Now you’ve had enough.

“Hit the shower, then see me in my office.”

Elder Duke exits the ring and leaves the Sistine Chapel. Thaddeus lies on the mat, still dazed from the thunderous lariat.

...Present Day...

Thaddeus sits in his office at the Compound in Old Saybrook, Connecticut browsing the XWF website from his laptop computer. Jim sits on the other side of the desk with his feet propped up while playing a game on his cell.

[duke]”Aww shit yo.”[/duke]

”What?”

[duke]”Chris’s cum dumpster finally released a promo for our match.”[/duke]

”Who’s Chris?”

[duke]”Chaos. Duh.”[/duke]

”God. Is there anyone more undeservedly arrogant in that whole damn company?” Jim asks, but completely oblivious to the fact that Thaddeus put on a set of Beats headphones in order to listen to the promo.

”Thad?” Jim peels his eyes from his game and looks at Thaddeus.

”THAD!” he screams.

Thaddeus lowers the earphones.

[duke]”What?”[/duke]

”I asked if there was anyone more undeservedly more arrogant in that entire company.”

[duke]”Ohh,”[/duke] he replies initially. He looks up, pondering the question momentarily then looks back at Jim. [duke]”No, not really. But Jenny here is taking lessons from him obviously. Cunt ain’t done shit but thinks she’s gods greatest gift to man.”[/duke]

Thaddeus resumes the promo with his headphones on… then laughs uncontrollably. He hands the headphones to Jim and replays the promo as Thaddeus regains his composure. After its conclusion, Jim just casually takes off the headphones and withdraws unto himself.

”I’m not seeing the humor here, Thad. I mean, this is killer stuff here.”

The smile fades from Thaddeus’ face.

[duke]”Seriously?”[/duke]

”…….

“…….

“…….no, not really.”

Thaddeus turns to the XWF camera.

[duke]You want to talk about me talking about Chris when it was supposed to be about you? That’s your angle? Did you not hear me say in that first promo that I knew it was supposed to be about you but to bear with me this one time?

Is that fact lost on you?

Jenny, you really need to ask yourself if you’re truly ready for this. You talk about my inflated ego while assuming you’re going to win. Let’s talk credentials, Jenny. Let’s talk about the laundry list of big time, big name stars you’ve faced so far in your rather short tenure as an in-ring talent.[/duke]

Silence.

More silence.

And just a little more silence, followed by a sigh.

[duke]...And done.

That’s a hell of a list of fucking nobodies you’ve beaten. Ravenwolf. The Mario

. A god damn battle royal that takes literally zero talent to win. You go ahead and you have your curtain jerking opening bout caliber matches that pad your win totals. That’s not at all like your bitch ass boyfriend though is it?

The management in this company schedules these easy fuckin’ matches for newcomers in order to build their confidence. Theoretically its a great idea, but then they run into someone they can’t handle and honey, that’s where you’re at this week. While you were following Chaos around like genital herpes, I was notching my first win against XWF legends like Luca Arzegotti and Micheal Graves. While you were just getting your nipples wet in in-ring competition facing the likes of Isabella Ravenwolf, the brothers Mario and Josh “Don’t Call Me Gabe” Reno, I was defeating Doctor D’Ville to become the number one contender. I was defeating your idiot boyfriend on Savage.

Cleanly.

No excuses.

So call me, ya cunt, when you prove you have what it takes to back up your weightless words.

You insist I should talk about Jenny Myst and you’re not wrong. You insist I shouldn’t talk about Chris Chaos and again, you’re not wrong. Where you went wrong, is using almost the same fucking promo, verbatim, we’ll call it paraphrasing, that he used in his loss to me. He talked about what I did to Dolly Waters, so you talk about what I did to Dolly Waters. He talked about why I did what I did, or at least, why he thinks I did what I did. So again, you say what you think.

The question becomes then, Myst, if I’m supposed to talk about you and not him, and you’re basically rehashing an old promo of his that failed in the first place, can you see where people might get the two of you mixed up? Does it matter then, if I talk about him or you? Because by paraphrasing and echoing what he’s already done and said, then it really makes no difference whether I talk about you or I talk about him.

You talk about my loose association with AX3. Yes its loose. Very loose. So loose it’d give your fucking pussy a run for its money. It’s probably a safe bet that you’d win that contest though. At least you got that, right? You think I associated myself to get close to the Universal title and challenge Caedus before Chaos could? You said it yourself ya dumb twat, I earned what I have. I don’t need to be associated with AX3 to get what I want. I already earned what I want and that’s a shot at the title.

If the rest of AX3 put Chaos on a pedestal and made him a leader, then he is no leader. Power isn’t something you give, Jenny. Power is something you take. I know a little something about seizing power, too.

You can look down on me and what I did. You can look down on my past as a military leader. It makes no difference to me what you think of me. What matters to me is putting on a hell of a show and I do it every time I step into the ring.

I’m not Ravenwolf.

I’m not Josh Reno.

I’m not Obsidian Air or Mario.

I’m born to greatness. It’s something that pulses through my veins with every single beat of my fucking heart. You can lie to yourself to your hearts content about my prowess and abilities within the ring, but it doesn’t change the fact that I’m a fucking thoroughbred talent.

See, when its all said and done Myst, and our respective careers are completed and we’re in our retirement, I’ll be looked at and remembered among the best this industry has ever seen. I’ll be remembered for my contributions to this industry that are yet to come.

You?

The only contribution to this industry that you’re gonna be remembered for, is the lifetime prescription Chris Chaos now has for Valtrex.

I am better than you Myst. The thing is, for once, I don’t even have to prove it.[/duke]

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