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Thaddeus Duke · (03-24-2017)

Saturday, March 4, 2017 | 6:49 PM | St. Peter’s Basilica | Vatican City

To think that Thaddeus Duke is somehow excited or even the least bit happy of what’s transpired over the last several hours, would be wrong. The young man is devastated. While it is certainly true that the relationship between Thaddeus and his father has been on life support for quite some time, Thaddeus never wanted to see it broken. Now, that’s precisely what it is. What’s done is done and there is no going back. Sebastian Duke is no longer the King of the Illuminatus. Moreover, there is no King. The young man did exactly what he vowed to do. Once the chopper piloted by his uncle Theo Pryce lifted off, the crowns were destroyed. The decrees from the Vatican Archives establishing the monarchy were destroyed, effectively abolishing it. Now, and forevermore.

One must respect the fact that this was not easy for him. His grandfather’s life’s work brought the Illuminatus here, to the seat of the Catholic Church. The Illuminatus banners hang from Vatican City because of Thaddeus Duke. It was the only gift he could have given to his grandfather. Asmodeus passed in his sleep Christmas night in 2015. Coincidentally, it was the very first night of the Illuminatus occupation of Vatican City. Even more coincidentally, it was Thaddeus Duke’s birthday.

For him to consider doing what he’s about to do despite all of that, hurts him on a level he can not explain. It troubles his mind but yet at the same time, he knows it is a must. This must be done in order to preserve the future of the Illuminatus. Preservation, above all else, is paramount to anything and everything. Nothing has ever been more important.

”The Holy Father has arrived,” James says as he enters the Basilica. Thaddeus sits upon St. Peter’s throne, but he is no Prince. He’s leaned forward with his head in his hands.

”Good,” Thaddeus responds, lifting his head from his hands. He quickly straightens up his disheveled hair as he stands up and makes his way down the steps and begins to advance toward the doors to greet the Pope.

”What do you intend to talk about?” he asks his friend. Thaddeus hasn’t said much over the last few hours since his father departed the Vatican. His sadness is evident on his face.

”It sounds odd to say it and sounds weird when I say it in my head,” he begins to explain. ”In order to save what was built, first I have to destroy it.” Thaddeus ends it there as he forces a smile to meet the Holy Father as he walks through the doors in the Basilica. ”I have to hurt him right where it hurts.”

”The redundancy of that statement is epic.”

”Prince Thaddeus,” the Pope says with a smile as he reaches to shake Thaddeus’ hand. ”You look troubled, my son. What brings us here today?”

”Father, please, no longer refer to me as the Prince,” Thaddeus says, causing the Pope to crinkle his eyes a little, unsure of what or why. ”It’s truly nice to see you again and I’m glad you could make it on such short notice.”

”Likewise, son. Might the King be about?” the Pope inquires.

”There is no King, Father. I’ve taken control of the Illuminatus and I’ve abolished the crown, sir. My father won’t be joining us.”

”So the rumors were true.”

The duo stands side by side, strolling slowly toward St. Peter’s throne. ”There were rumors?”

”We have spies, Thaddeus. We’ve had them here since the occupation began. I was informed of some sort of altercation within the Basilica and not long after, your father boarded a black helicopter and left the Vatican.

“I saw a black helicopter over Rome about that time. Forgive me, Thaddeus. It was mostly curiosity that brought me here. With what happened with your forces in Iraq, obviously the Church must distance itself from you,” the pope concludes as they reach the steps beneath the throne.

Now standing face to face, Thaddeus points toward the throne. ”Please sit Father, we have something that needs discussed.” The Holy Father looks up at the throne and hesitates, but then decides to humor the young lad and ascends the steps, then sits comfortably in the throne.

”What happened in Iraq is exactly why all of this went down.”

”I see.”

”He was briefed that the building may contain Islamic State operatives and he acted on impulse rather than hard intelligence. Our intelligence urged him to wait until they could determine if that building was a legitimate target or something else entirely,” Thaddeus explains.

”We were looking into it as well, Thaddeus. In fact, we had offered our intelligence services, or at least attempted to. Our calls were neither answered, nor returned.”

”387 children, Father,” Thaddeus says, looking up at the Pope with a tear in his eye.

”I know the numbers. It’s truly tragic.”

”He had to be deposed. I didn’t have a choice, Father!”

”Son, you need not justify your actions to me. If you lay the choice before me to have your father lead your group and your military, or you, I’d choose you.

“You’re kindhearted. You’re tough, but fair.

“It is precisely why I always preferred talking with you over both your father and your grandfather.

“Son, did you ask me here to talk about why you did what you did?”

Thaddeus shakes his head. ”I’ll be blunt. In the biggest gesture of goodwill I can think of, and in an effort to limit my fathers options as he regroups with his supporters, I’m handing Vatican City back to the Church.”

The Pope’s eyes grow wide as Thaddeus drops the figurative bomb. This certainly isn’t what the Pope expected to hear during this meeting. ”I must say I’m taken by surprise here. What is it you want in return for this rather generous gift?”

”The Vatican is yours. Keep it either way. The truth is, when my father vacated the premises, Matthew Long, our Intelligence expert went with him.

“He was an Illuminatus original. It wasn’t unexpected, but it certainly is a game changer.”

”I’d say that’s a fair statement. I’ve never spoken with him directly but I have been privy to briefings with him in conference calls. He’s a very intelligent young man.”

”It leaves me without an intelligence division. I can’t fly blind and expect to compete against my father.”

”You expect an uprising of sorts from your father and his forces?”

”You’ve met the man, so you tell me. Does he seem like one to just willingly give up power without a struggle?”

”I suspect not.”

”I need the full use of your intelligence services. Sooner or later my father will learn that the Church is back in the throne of Saint Peter. Sooner or later, he’ll lay siege upon your gates.

“Even with his diminished numbers, you’d never stop him.

“In return for the use of your intelligence services, I’ll leave my bases in Europe on high alert. They’ll be ready from the word ‘go’ and they’ll be prepared to fight off my father for you.”

”You’re offering your forces as protection from your fathers imminent invasion attempt in exchange for the use Catholic Intelligence? Do I have that correct?” the Pope asks.

”Exactly.”

The Pope sighs deeply. ”Consider it done.” The Holy Father rises and extends his hand. Thaddeus extends his, but stops as he notices the papal ring. The Pope too, notices the ring on Thaddeus’ hand. Both men seem to have the same thought, the same feelings. Rather than the traditional handshake of an agreement between men, they both choose, without saying a word, to signal the unification of two great powers. Thaddeus kisses the ring of the Holy Father. The Pope kisses the ring of the brand new Illuminatus leader.

”I suspect, young Thaddeus, that this new friendship between our entities will be a strong one. Deceased Pope’s are rolling in their crypts right now. As I suspect your grandfather and Illuminatus leaders before him are doing the same,” he says with a smile.

”It’s time, Father.

“Our sides have been at war for 1500 years and all it took was, despite our disagreements, an understanding of the others point of view. A mutual respect for one another.”

”You still look troubled.”

”Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn a man against his father,” Thaddeus recites a portion of a bible verse.

The Pope laughs lightly and claps his hands together. ”So you have read it.”

”Father, isn’t there some commandment that condemns what I’m about to do? Even more, what I have done?”

”Son, do you worry more for the laws of man? Or the laws of God?”

”Does it matter? The vast majority of mans laws are based on the laws of God.”

”Have you ever made a confession?”

Thaddeus does not answer. Instead he just stares at the Pope. The Holy Father stands up, ”sit, face the right side wall,” the Pope states. Thaddeus does so and the Pope follows suit, facing the other wall with their backs to each other. They sit in initial silence on the steps leading to St. Peter’s throne.

”Forgive me father, for I have sinned.”

The Pope says nothing in return, but notes in his mind that Thaddeus knew what to say. Thaddeus Duke’s confession lasts several minutes. He tells it all. How he may have to kill his father in order to end the coming war. He tells a story from the war against the Church, about an interment camp in Stuttgart, Germany. He tells the story of how he had a church constructed for those in detention there. He tells, with tears, how he designed a cross that he could use to torture and kill. ‘Stand as Jesus stood,’ he’d say. They’d be impaled to the cross, then the flames began. Slowly, burning them alive. He tells the tale of his vaguest memory- through the wormhole that allowed an infant Thaddeus to somehow become a 16 year old boy. He told the Pope of his relationship with a girl there. How he fell easily and quickly for her. How he bed her. How he learned of her murder. It was the first time he’d ever talked about it. And it broke him down. Just the same, to him, it seemed the weight of the world was lifted from his shoulders.

...Present Day...

"Welcome to Dox News. Fair and balanced. He reports, you decide.

"Doc's spin zone is in full gear and we can all see that. I have the blood of champions within me but the good Doctor insists that I've tried to distance myself from my lineage... my heritage. Make no mistake, I'm not as fan of my father as a human being but let's be real. I have never denied where I came from. I was always proud of the championship pedigree that resides within my makeup... And no I don't mean makeup like my fathers guyliner.

"Doc is a legend and there's no doubt about that. My father's a legend too. For comparisons sake, my father has more WINS than Doc has had matches. See, I am trying to be my own person. I am trying to be more than just the son of Sebastian fucking Duke. It's extremely difficult to do so. One sees 'Duke' and the reality is that they think of my father, not of Thaddeus. I get that. I understand that. I'm fully aware that I've not even had ten matches yet. I'm fully aware that distancing myself from my father takes time. I'm convinced though, that slowly and surely, Thaddeus Duke will rise from the ashes of his fathers career and become a legend in his own right.

"Deny it. Agree with it. I don't particularly care much because its far too early to know for sure. My confidence though, has never been higher.

"Doc continues to bring up my verbal assaults on the management of this company. I'm fairly certain I explained that on Savage, but maybe its time to turn up your TV ears Doc, so you can hear a little better. I was ready to let it go and in fact I had. I was no longer attacking the lack of intelligence exhibited by the collective XWF authority. Then it happened. Everything I used to think and everything I used to say was no longer theory. Just conspiracy. Lane was going to strip me of the title had Tank not rolled me up. For that, he deserved tasting the sole of my boot.

"And I'd do it again.

"Spin the way I dropped the title however you like. I own my mistakes. Do you own yours? Do you see your mistakes and admit to them? Do you learn from them? The way I see it Doc, you've underestimated me. My youth and lack of experience is obvious, but you refuse to believe that there's any truth to my claims that I could have beaten you. Deep down inside, Doc, you know that what I say is the truth. The truth scares you. It scares you Doc, because while legends never die, they do become... less significant. When I right the wrong of my loss to you, and in my view, it is a wrong, the light of your legendary career dims ever so slightly, while the inferno of my star shines ever brighter.

"Why is it that I view my loss to you as a wrong? You won. I lost. There's no two ways about it. Doctor D'Ville defeated Thaddeus Duke within the parameters set forth by the management of the Xtreme Wrestling Federation. I view it as a wrong, simply because I know I had what it took to win that night. No, I did not get the job done at Wild Card Weekend. It's an irrefutable fact. But we both know that I could have had I played my hand correctly. I didn't. I lost. You won. But I'm not likely to make the same mistakes a second time. That's what I mean by righting a wrong.

"Doc gets hung up on technicalities. Technicalities have freed the guilty, and incarcerated the innocent. I've only been here a couple of months. 'Nooo, you've been here five months.'

"What the fuck ever bro. It's been less than half a year. Does it make a whole lot of difference? Does it really fucking matter to you? If that's what matters to you Doc, then you should probably find a new line of work.

"The spotlight is always on me Doc. Whether I'm on first, the middle of the card, the main event. The light shines bright for me, Doc, because I'm Thaddeus fucking Duke."

Thaddeus winks at the camera with a smile.

"I'm the star of this show, my friend. Spin that however you want, too. I make my mistakes. I'll never deny it. But you, continuing to underestimate me based on one match three months ago, is your mistake Doc. The sooner you own it, the better off you'll be.

"I'm no longer interested in the Xtreme title, but you can be damn sure that since it IS part of the equation, I will stop at nothing to bring it home again. Unlike last time, I won't be giving it up so easily. I no longer give a flying fuck if I have to pin you, or pin Oswald in order to do it.

"Since victory is one sided, should I choose to pin Oswald, I'll be expecting you to admit I'm better than you. Or will you spin that too? 'Well yeah, he won, but I didn't lose, Oswald did.'

"I've never been more fuckin' ready for anything. I'm ready for ya Doc. I'm ready for Oswald. I'm ready for Heymans Whorehouse or whatever it is. I'm ready for the bright lights of pay per view. I'm ready for my screaming fans. I'm ready for the Xtreme title. I'm ready to be...

"Better than you."

You know the drill. Smug smile. Cocky wink at the camera. Fade to an xtreme shade of black!

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