I entered the gas station with one thing in mind. Must get peach White Owls. For those of you who don't enjoy smoking pot, those are thin cigars, that one slices open; lengthwise, in order to remove the tobacco, only to then refill them with sweet, sweet reefer, before resealing and later smoking. Oh and enjoying, of course. There are other brands of this type of cigar but my favorite are White Owls. I enjoy their product's overall durability, though I always tend to grab peach or white grape. As those are my favorite flavors, on a personal level, I feel they accent the weed just right without covering up the actual tastiness of the marijuana. Anyway, I enter the gas station, that's located right across the street from my apartment, with purchasing a package of these fine cigars as my primary objective.


Equipped with a baby monitor in tow, because Arkin is currently fast asleep and obviously, I'm a terrible father. Ha! No. Not really. I would never leave him alone to go anywhere further than across the street. Come on now. I'm not a fucking asshole. Sure. It can be argued that making the choice to leave him alone in my apartment, even for a short while is bad, especially to go and do something frivolous and selfish, like buy a package of peach White Owls, in order to roll a blunt. That's simply craziness to think such a thing though and I consider it to be a tad too overprotective and cautious, in my book. There is such a thing as that, you know... and a person can make themselves nuts, traversing on that path. Taking child care to that level is far too extreme and isn't healthy, for anyone. He's asleep and I'm literally walking across the street. He'll be fine.


Although, this is something I will never, ever admit to doing to Abigail because she would kill me. Not kidding, in even the slightest, most remote sense. She would probably use her, Water Elemental powers, to drown me in my sleep. She's not home right now as she is currently at the gym, training for her match with John Lewis, which is due to take place on the next edition of Saturday Night Savage. So I don't need to worry about that. There's no way she'd ever in a million years find out. Seriously, what are the odds of that happening? Like one to a fucking million. Yeah. Suffice to say, I'll be fine and by fine... I mean I won't be getting drowned in my sleep, any time soon.


Anyway, I enter the gas station, walk to the counter and tell the clerk, precisely what I'm interested in purchasing. He in turn, retrieves my desired product and I fetch my credit card, in order to pay the man for his goods and services. Besides myself and the clerk, there is only one other person inside the gas station. An orange haired girl, towards the back, near the coolers. Can't really tell much about her cause her back is facing the front of the store. Nothing beyond the fact that she has vivid, orange hair and is wearing a black dress. That's just what I can notice from the overhead mirror; situated above the counter, I'm not exactly scoping this chick out. I'm with Abigail after all, I don't need to be checking out random females in gas stations.


So I take my credit card out and insert it into the machine, it processes and then I remove it. Right when this occurs, I hear the bell jingle above the door, indicating that another patron has entered the shop. Before I can turn around though, I feel the snub nose of a double barrel shotgun, pressed directly into my back. A quick glance upwards; to the mirror above, shows me that there is indeed a man, wearing a black ski mask, holding a gun to my back. For fuck's sake. I just wanted a package of peach White Owls and now, I'm in the middle of a robbery. What the actual fuck?!?! The clerk in front of me is freaking out, while unloading the register and me... well, I'm weighing the options over in my mind.


On one hand, I could stop this and reveal that I have powers. The clerk is grateful. I'm a hero. Free White Owls for life. Woo hoo! Cue happy dance. Then on the other hand, the security camera catches all this. The police see the footage. I have to be questioned. The video somehow leaks. My abilities are made public. I know during matches in the XWF I've used them and it's been proven in the ring that I have certain gifts but that can all be played off as fake. It's not fake but sometimes, you need to divert attention away from that sort of thing. Otherwise, there would be all kinds of freaks hounding me, whilst asking all sorts of asinine questions. Fuck. The government might even get involved. I don't need that kinda shit in my life. Not to mention the fact that I've got a kid, who knows what would get brought down upon his tiny, super adorable head, if all of that happened.


Still, it's the right thing to do, saving people, acts of kindness, helping the innocents and all that jazz. What would Azrael do, right? WWAD? My father would never let this sort of thing fly. He'd say something catchy and humorous, snap his fingers and save the fucking day. End of story. That was what he did and what he was all about. Protecting people. Being a savior. Sure. He might have had his flaws and could be a major asshole, when he wanted to be but the bottom line was that he put others before himself. At all times. No matter what. With zero exceptions to this rule. However, with him currently "missing" it was now up to his children and other beings with unbelievable abilities, to rise to the occasion. So that's what I'm going to do. I shall rise to the occasion and be the hero. No shit. Obviously, that's what I'm going to do. Sebastian Duke probably wouldn't do this sorta thing but he's a fucking shitbag that insults infants. Who really gives a flying fuck what that asshole does? I sure don't. I honestly think he should just kill himself already and get it over with. Save the world a ton of misery that's brought on from enduring his painfully awful existence.


While these thoughts pass through my head, the goon in the mask that's wielding a snub nose, double barrel shotgun, grabs up the money. The clerk had it all stuffed in a plastic bag, laying on the counter and the robber reaches past me, in order to grab it. As he does this, I swiftly turn around and with a small, slight movement of my hand, the guy jerks backwards and flies to the other side of the store. Smashing directly into the coolers, his body breaks the glass and he slumps forward. The girl that's back there seems bewildered but other than that, she's fine. Behind me, there's a whole different story going on though and I hear the man behind the counter cursing, right before a very audible click, emits from the door. This is a noise that tells me that the door to the gas station is now locked. Hmmm... interesting.


Pivoting around to face the clerk, I see that he now holds a gun of his own. Fantastic. Do one good deed and I find myself in the middle of a robbery, that turns out to be an inside job. That's just perfect. Spit you in the face and punch your balls off amazing. This is about the time that I also notice that the single security camera, over the door, isn't recording. Huh? How about that? Well, that is both a plus and a minus to the situation, I suppose. On the plus side. I can send this jackass flying through the window and not worry about any sort of video footage, coming back to haunt me. On the minus side. I need to find a new spot to buy my White Owls. Awww... but this location was so convenient. Right across the street from my apartment and everything. Things are definitely not coming up Donovan tonight. Perhaps, I should view this as some sort of lesson, but I won't. To say such a thing would only be lying to myself.


Remember the girl from the back of the shop? Yeah. She takes this moment to wander up to the front of the store. Making this situation slightly more complicated cause now, I have to surround her with a force field to stop her from getting shot. Along with doing the same thing for myself. I have a regeneration ability but it takes awhile to work, it isn't instant. On top of that, I'd also have to explain, why I got shot to Abbie. Not to mention the fact that, getting hit with a bullet is fucking painful. Having a healing factor is great but it doesn't take away the reality that it sucks to get a bullet put in you and I'd rather avoid all that mess. One hundred percent, all of it. Thankfully, being Force-Wave... I can. So that's what I do.


Curious enough, the clerk isn't looking at me anymore. He's looking at the girl. This causes me to direct my focus towards her as well. When I do this, I see that not only are her eyes burning with the blaze of an actual fire but her entire body is glowing. Encased in a bright, orange radiance. Lit up like a living light bulb. She raises her hand and the entire fucking gas station explodes. The whole place blows up. Everything erupts and combusts like someone dropped a bomb on the place. The act takes no more than a few seconds to occur but from my perspective, it seems like a millennium, with everything moving in slow motion. Even with this being the case, I am powerless to stop it. Since in reality, it all happens much quicker. Much. Much. Quicker.


After which, time seems to snap back to its normal pace and I am greeted by the nightmare, that's been unleashed. In the wake of the terror, I find myself in a proverbial pit of hell. Fiery and unyielding. Around me, there is an inferno. Everywhere, flames surround me and all I can see... is fire. The girl, the dude in the mask and the clerk, are nowhere to be seen. The store is no more, no part of it exists. All I can perceive is literal walls of fucking fire. The heat is immense and the sight is both maddening and extremely overwhelming. Lifting my hand, I use my force powers and push myself back, with all my might, while keeping a force field firmly in place. Resulting in me soaring backwards, through the fiery inferno that once was a gas station, straight into the street and oncoming traffic. Cars swerve, there's several accidents and I hear the sound of people screaming. It is truly a horrifying spectacle and to make it even worse. I smash directly into a minivan. Yay!


This is not a tiny collision either. The entire side of the automobile, is smashed inward, like a wrecking ball crashed right into it. If I didn't have a force field in place. My body would have been one with the metal that makes up the side of the minivan. Fortunately, I had a force field up during the impact, so all that really happens is that I topple to the ground, when I release it. With a groan, I rise to my feet. I can hear the man in the minivan yelling at me, confirming that he isn't dead but in truth, my attention isn't really placed on him. No. My gaze, along with all of my focus is directed towards the inferno that once was a gas station or rather, what's emerging from it. A woman. Made entirely of fire, walking straight towards me. Slowly, as she nears my current placement on the street, her skin begins to return and with it clothes also materialize. By the time she reaches me, the woman looks completely normal and utterly unfazed, by what just happened. Brightly affixed with a smile even. While this might cause panic in some, I'm kind of used to this sort of insanity by now. Besides, now that we're facing each other and there's no weapons being directed at me, I can fully recognize her.





"Rocket. Nice to finally meet you. I think we need to talk."

---

"Duke! You changed your look!"


"Nice."


"Stopped shopping for your clothes in the magic shop, I see. Good for you. Don't get me wrong, you still look fucking ridiculous but it's a definite, step up from wearing a cape. It shows that you're at least attempting to look halfway, like a normal member of society. Instead of a dude that's trying to audition for Shakespeare in the park or a gig at some kid's birthday party. It's really about the baby steps. You'll get there one day, big guy. Or you won't. I don't really fucking care."


"Anyway, I watched your promo, listened to everything that you had to say and I'm now convinced that not only are you broken in the head but it has also been clearly confirmed, you obviously smoke an abundant amount of crack. Yeah. Just straight up free base that shit, all day, everyday. Duke and his little glass pipe. Chilling inside a castle. At a miniature golf course. Hole number 10. The thing looks like it's constructed from stone but it's really made out of plastic. There's even a draw bridge and a tiny moat. Kids have to play through cause you're stuffed inside that thing, blazing up your crack pipe. Balls get stuck cause you're blocking the path that's meant for them to be able to roll on through. Being the asshole that you are, you don't even toss them out. Which means, the ones that make the unfortunate mistake of trying to take the shot into your little crack kingdom, are now forced to get a new ball. That's really a dickhead thing to do, man. How do you live with yourself? Oh I know, by existing in constant and consistent, denial. Excellent. At least you have a plan."


"Moving on..."


"So you bring up all your accomplishments as a defense tactic, obviously because your fragile little girl feelings were hurt when I pointed out how pathetic it is to mention a title, that you held for three seconds. Stomping, while you huff and puff about, calling me, Azrael's mouthpiece. He can't mention this stuff, he's gone and not in the match. You have this credit listed in your personal records, it's a shitty, nothing piece of information, that is only there to fluff out your achievements. I brought it up because I can clearly see it for being that. If you were so great and powerful, one of the best, you wouldn't need to do that. But you aren't, you're mediocre, boring, average at best and deep down, you know this. So you have to include everything that you possibly can count as a type of accolade, in a sad, pathetic attempt, to make people think that you're special. It's really quite depressing actually."


"You bring up how I mention your former Black Circle brethren, Nathaniel, like he has no impact on anything but he's connected to you, albeit not recently but it's not like I'm talking about someone you don't have ties with and didn't team alongside. More than once. Your father made him a bunny army. Naturally, I'm going to lump him into the equation, when I talk shit at you. This is your past, it is relevant because it happened. I'm not going to pretend it didn't occur because you tell me that it's unimportant and irrelevant. "


"Speaking on the terms of being irrelevant though, you say that Griffin wouldn't be pertinent in this industry, without you and yeah, I suppose that would make sense. If you merely took into account the fact that you two, were the longest reigning tag team champions and that was the only thing he ever accomplished but we both know, that's not exactly true. Since unlike you, he did wield the NK title, for more than three seconds and on top of that, he beat you for both of the tag titles. He became the sole holder of the tag titles, after he defeated you. Oh no. Shocked face. I guess I'm being Griffin's mouthpiece now, right?"


"Wow. Is there any sort of achievement that you acquired, that doesn't have something utterly fucking hilarious, attached to it? Trio titles? Azrael was part of the team that beat you and then, to make it even funnier, you held the titles with him after that, so that isn't one of them. We already went over the US title. Hmmm... I guess there's the Universal title, since you cashed in your briefcase in order to take that from him but then, he took it back. Oh my god and you're telling me that you're a legend. Right. As far as being the biggest joke in the history of this company, you're a legend. There I go again, being my dad's mouthpiece."


"Listen, if I had history with you, I would use it and trust me, after I beat the shit out of you... and I will, beat the shit out of you. The next time we face off, I'll only mention that but until then, I'm not going to avoid your past. Especially when it includes people that I'm actually aware of in this company. You throwing a temper tantrum and crying about it, isn't going to stop me. If anything, it'll only provoke me to do it even more."


"Thanks for quoting my words back at me, by the way."


"Now without further ado..."


"Allow me to point out why my statements don't mean what you believe they do. Get ready. Wait for it... wait for it. Because they're comparisons. It would be one thing if I were to flat out state something but I didn't do that. Now did I? No, I did not. Not once did that occur. Anyone with a working mind, can and will understand that too. Which really are the only people that I care about taking my words into account. You see, one can compare things, without firmly defining something as fact. People do it all the time, you big dummy. For instance, when someone says that a person is cold, like ice. That doesn't mean the person is actually ice. Or when someone says, it's almost like you're following me. Doesn't mean they really think that you're following them, it probably means they seen you a lot that day or you tend turn up wherever they are."


"The key word is - LIKE, get it. 'Why does everything have to play out LIKE we're all characters in some science fiction, fantasy based television drama? Or players in a fictional, role playing game, on the internet?' or 'It's almost LIKE the two things are connected.'. See? Never was there a definitive or positive, set in stone statement."


"On top of that, I didn't stop speaking at the end of that quote. My promo didn't cut off after that. I kept talking and went on to say that making those connections, that I pointed out was just crazy and that I sounded like some sort of a conspiracy nut."


"See? Your point is bunk and only proves that you have poor listening skills. It's weird. You managed to pay attention to the fact that I mentioned I was smoking a cigarette and my coffee was frozen. Brought up how I said my son took a massive shit. Yet you didn't pick up on any of that. The important parts that completely override your accusations. Good job Sebastian. Gold star. Thank you for helping me, to further make you look like an idiot. The King of Darkness, everyone. Bravo."

Donovan Blackwater
Former 1x...