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Thaddeus Duke · (03-22-2017)

Saturday, March 4, 2017 | 12:07 PM | The Vatican Gates | Rome, Italy

It is apparent that through the course of two years and two wars in which the Illuminatus emerged victorious, due in large part, to Thaddeus Duke’s leadership, that the men of the Illuminatus military, much like Thaddeus does with his grandfather, holds their former, and now again leader upon a pedestal. He may not show it outwardly, but he’s scared to death of the road he’s now traveling down. The young boy growing into a man before your very eyes, is reminded of the famous passage by Robert Frost. Indeed, there are two paths to travel here. The paved one. The easy one. The one that has Thaddeus following his fathers will. Then there is the one less traveled. Overgrown and littered with potholes. The bumpy road that lies ahead of him weighs on his mind. For as much as Thaddeus detests his father, he’s still his father nonetheless. He gave Thaddeus life not once, but twice. The first out of love for his mother. The second out of love for his son.

Thaddeus is not stupid, he knows what his father has gone through for him. Though, the sum of the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. The Illuminatus and its continued existence has been put in a precarious position by his father. The Illuminatus is bigger than the man that leads them. In Thaddeus’ mind, the Illuminatus must live on without his fathers leadership.

The men march right to the closed gates of Vatican City where guards are in position. To those that are aware, Vatican City is not entirely enclosed. Or at least it wasn’t. When the Illuminatus seized the city at the end of twenty-fifteen, the King ordered walls and gates be placed to effectively cut off the city from Rome that surrounds it almost entirely.

”Open the gates!” Commander Brunson instructs the guards.

”I’m sorry Commander. I can not.

“The King has not lifted the lock down,” the guard informs. The Knights of the Illuminatus Guard take orders only from the royal family. The King and the Prince. No one else.

”The Prince has been safe for more than a month and the lock down is still in effect?”

”It is, yes. No one in. No one out. At least not without consent from His Highness or the Prince.”

The crowd of Illuminatus forces begins to part as Thaddeus makes his way through toward the front where Commander Brunson is having his battles with the Knights guarding the gates.

”What’s the problem here?” Thaddeus asks, just before emerging from the crowd.

The Knights are stunned to see Thaddeus. They were under the impression that he was traveling abroad. ”My Prince!” the Knight says as the Knights all stand at attention.

”General, the Knights are just doing their jobs. His Highness has not lifted the lock down on the city.”

”I’m not overruling my fathers orders, but I am ordering you to open these gates and allow us in,” Thaddeus says to the Knight who seems to be in charge.

”OPEN THE GATES!” the Knight orders his men without any hesitation whatsoever.

”Thank you, sir. Keep doing a great job.

“Lock it back down after we’re through.”

”Yes sir.”

Thaddeus, Brunson, Jim and the other 500 men march through the gates and head directly toward the Basilica. After a few minutes, they reach the doors. The guards at the door open them up allowing the men to march right in. King Sebastian sits upon the throne several hundred feet ahead. He looks confused as Commander Brunson along with his son lead men through the Basilica.

”What’s the meaning of this?” Sebastian asks, but gets no response as his words are drowned out by the boots of 503 men collide with the marble floor beneath them. ”Why aren’t you in Scotland?” Sebastian asks Thaddeus, but gets no response.

The march comes to a halt. Thaddeus and Commander Brunson stop it just a couple of feet in front of the steps leading to St. Peter’s throne. The seat in which the King sits.

”I’m glad to see you Thaddeus, but I’m a little more than surprised that you’re not in Scotland.”

”I’m surprised you’re this big of an idiot,” Thaddeus replies.

”Excuse me,” Sebastian says, revealing a bit of confusion mixed with being slightly offended.

”Look in front of you. What do you see?”

”A shithead that’s still pissed at me for pulling him from my military.”

”Right.”

”So?”

”Think about that for a second.”

The King looks down at his son and raises his eyes a little, glimpsing the 500 military men standing behind him.

”This is concerning,” Sebastian states as he shifts positions on the throne.

”Ya think so?”

”King Sebastian, you are hereby relieved of the throne,” Commander Brunson chimes in, attempting to cut into the awkwardness.

The King laughs, then jumps to his feet and storms down the steps toward Thaddeus in an attempt to intimidate him. He stops directly in front of Thaddeus but only because 500 men just drew their weapons and pointed them at the Illuminatus King. Thaddeus holds up his hand and the men lower their weapons. His heart pounds from his chest, not out of fear of his father, but of the adrenaline that's driving him.

”There will be no bloodshed inside these sacred walls,” Thaddeus instructs. ”Sebastian, look around you. You are surrounded by MY military.”

”This your doing?” Sebastian asks of his son. "And I'm not too happy with you calling me Sebastian."

”More your own doing than mine, but yeah. Also I don't really give a damn what you're not happy about.”

”I could end you right now and these men couldn’t stop me.”

”True enough, but how far would you get? You kill me, they kill you. The Illuminatus is no more. The way I see it, you have one option and only one. Hand over that pathetic crown and walk away.

“At least then you’ll have a chance to regroup and gather whatever men you can find that still support you, which by the way there’s somewhere around 2,000 of them out at Asmodeus Air Base in Berlin. Give or take.

"You could probably start there.

“You’ll take that option because you’d rather fight and one of us survive to lead the Illuminatus.”

”Why not just kill me?”

”Because you’re Illuminatus. You and your men have the right to fight for what you think is right. That said dear father, this is taking place because I can not stand by and watch you destroy everything my grandfather built.”

”How exactly am I destroying what he built?” he asks.

”Because you ignored your intelligence adviser telling you to wait. You ignored solid advice and acted on impulse. You leveled a fucking school. You killed nearly 400 Iraqi children.”

”Maybe. But they’d just grow up to be radicalized extremists too.”

”THEY WERE INNOCENT CHILDREN YOU FUCKING IMBECILE!” Thaddeus shouts. His protectiveness over children is perhaps a defense mechanism for himself never having the opportunity to be a child and have the innocent life a child lives. ”The world spotlight is on us for what you did. Millions want retaliation from someone. What if its the west? Then what? You’re neither smart enough nor strong enough to tangle with them. They’d destroy us.

“And I can’t allow it.”

Sebastian doesn’t say another word. Instead he elects to head to the exit.

”The crown, sir,” Commander Brunson reminds the deposed King.

The former King stops and removes the crown. He initially attempts to hand it to the Commander but stops. He turns and hands it to his son. ”It doesn’t have to be this way,” he says as he hands Thaddeus the crown.

”I wish it didn’t have to be, but there was no other way,” he says to his father as he takes the crown.

"You do not have the slightest clue what you're doing, boy. Asmodeus built it, you're right about that. There's still things you don't know.

"For instance, it was me doing the dirty work. It was me murdering our enemies. It was me striking fear into the hearts of Catholics the world over.

"You're a natural leader, kid. But don't think for a second that I won't fight you. Don't think for a second that just because the men fear me means they'll fight less hard for me. They've feared me for nearly two decades and they still fight for me.

"We stand in this fucking building yes because you led us to victory in two wars, but you should probably check your facts before thinking I did nothing to get us into that position! It took a hell of a lot of work to get us there. You didn't need a shield, Thaddeus. By then, our existence was common knowledge. Try accomplishing what you did, the way I had to- by having to stay quiet."

Sebastian continues on toward the exit. Thaddeus hands the crown to Brunson. ”Destroy it. In fact, send someone to the papal apartment. Destroy mine too.”

The men venture outside. Thaddeus is somewhat saddened for having done what he has. At the end of the day, Sebastian Duke is still his father. The relationship between the two may now never heal. The former King stands silently near St. Peter’s Square. Matthew joins him and looks back toward the Basilica at Thaddeus and his men when suddenly a black helicopter roars in over the ocean-side wall and lands not far from Sebastian Duke.

”Uncle Theo. I haven’t seen him since...”

”Your grandfathers funeral,” Jim says, finishing Thaddeus’ thought.

The duo watches as Sebastian enters the helicopter. Matthew hesitates and backs up. He looks at the chopper, then at Thaddeus, then proceeds to enter the chopper.

”Well that’s a game changer.”

”Did you expect it?”

”I was on the fence. It was his advice that was ignored, but at the same time he’s an Illuminatus original. It could have gone either way.”

Without much hesitation, Theo Pryce’s chopper ascends and bolts from Vatican City with the former Illuminatus leader and his most trusted intelligence operative in toe.

...Present Day...

"FIIIIIIINALLYY... THE DOC HAS COME BACK.... FROM THE SHADOWWWS.

"No for real, he dropped a promo. It's pretty good, too. If I was just a fan of wrestling I'd probably recommend it to all my friend. Yes, friend. But I'm not just a fan.

"See, Doc wants to pretend he's offended that I consider my loss to him a mistake, yet I never said it was a mistake. What I did say, more than once, is that I've used that loss to Doc at Wild Card Weekend as a learning experience. Perhaps you're referring to me making reference to righting wrongs? I don't know. I'm not trying to guess what goes on in his psychopathic mind.

"However, if that is the case, it is indeed a wrong that I lost. I'm not a huge fan of matches where there is no clear winner. Falling from a scaffold is slightly different than getting pinned for a three count. You can spout off about your superiority over me if it makes you feel better about yourself. Until you pin me, which no one has done in a sanctioned XWF match, then you can't claim to be better than I am. You can take your legendary status, your title wins, your win loss record and shove them up your ass because they mean jack shit to anyone but you. And maybe some D'Ville fan boys.

"Thaddeus Duke is arrogant. Tell me something I don't know Doc. I am arrogant. I have an I'm better than you attitude and why? Because I have never lacked confidence in myself. I don't know a wrestling ring from my asshole, yet I pushed you to the fucking limit at WCW. A match that as easily as it favored you, could have just as easily favored me. How much of it is arrogance though Doc? How much of it is arrogance when I say I'm going to steal the fuckin' show and then I go out and do it every fucking week? I mean, I'm happy to have you as a dance partner for this little number but let's face it, they send out an APB after I leave the ring.

"I heard you equate Oswald and myself. Equating me with that fat sack of shit is insulting, but not in a creative way. Not in a funny way. He's something new, something different. And I've said something similar. That much is true. What you're failing to realize Doc is that when I say it, I mean I'm evolving as a competitor. When he says it, it means he changed his look and his name but is still the same fucking loser he's always been and always will be.

"'Ohhhh my power.... Ohhhh you dunno what I can do....'"

"Blah.

"Blah.

"Fucking.

"Blah.

"Seen it. Heard it. Still no fucks given.

"If either of us sounds like Oswald, its more you than me. I give no shits about what you've done. Go ahead and concentrate on your past, Doc. I'll continue to look at the future. I'll continue to reflect on mistakes I have made in order to make tomorrow a better day, with a better outcome.

"Oswald pinning me after our match? Really? No, that doesn't sting. It was my own mistake. I let my guard down and allowed myself to be distracted. I've owned that from... well almost the beginning.

"Doc you keep rehashing the past where you made me fall off a scaffold to claim your victory. By doing that you're doing something you shouldn't do. Not only does the outcome of that match three months ago not mean jack shit to the upcoming one, but you're also underestimating me. By comparing me to what you saw three months ago, you're preparing for someone that has moved past that. You're preparing for someone that has already grown and evolved from that.

"I didn't get the job done? No, Doc. Obviously I got the job done. I won the match. My hand was raised in victory. The Xtreme title was in my possession. You do know me well enough Doc, to realize that I don't make excuses. I use my failures as lessons. I don't use excuses to cover up my mistakes. I'm not above reproach Doc, and neither are you.

"Your spin game, though, its impressive. I'm sure you have a future in the Trump White House once Sean Spicer has his inevitable break down."

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