The board room at the Berget Vineyard was still one I was getting used to.

When you have looked around the room at people who pretty closely resemble you, then you can explain to me how that is not weird in the slightest.

Our flight had been delayed due to severe weather and we ended up flying home from the XWF corporate office later than anticipated. Thankfully, William, who has the patience of a saint, made arrangements to get rooms ready at the closest available hotel, then pick us up the next day for the drive back to the vineyard. It seems that despite Scapelli's strong-arming, the construction was progressing without too much issue. The rain, of course, kept them from doing a lot of their work the past few days, and I had provided clear instruction to not have them conduct any work under extreme heat conditions unless the labor was menial. The five of us, William included, sat in the board room; I sat at the head of the table, looking through some paperwork that had come in while I was away. Daniel had his feet kicked up on the table off to the side, whistling cheerfully as he did so. Devin was admiring the view from the board room, not yet having taken a seat. William and Wide Dio came into the room with a sandwich tray and some extra glasses; the water cooler was bound to get some use today.

William took his seat, taking a now careful examination of each of us in order. "Since this is the first time I have seen all of you for longer than a few minutes...I have to admit, the resemblance is...uncanny," he said, taking another glance at Wide Dio, who had dribbled some mustard on his shirt. "...With some exception."

I could hear a slight twinge of content on his voice, but more distracting was a sound from what seemed like far away. It sounded like...laughter? I shook my head, glancing over at William. "Well, exception or no," I chastised, "these men are very much a part of me, and I would hope that you treat them with the same respect and friendship you have shown me all these years."

"Heh, Will got in trouble with dad," Daniel remarked snidely.

"You are too; get your feet off the table," I ordered Daniel, who shrugged and set them down.

"Now that we're actually looking at it, this place is pretty nice," Devin said, placing a hand on his forehead to block out the sun from coming in. "How long until the construction is done?"

"It'll be a few months still," I replied. "There was a contractor who wanted-"

"Scapelli, right?" Wide Dio interrupted, mouth half-full of delicious deli meat.

"...Yes, Scapelli," I said, though a question did cross my mind in that moment. "So wait a minute; how much of my memories do you all have?"

Devin shrugged. "Bits and pieces. Some recent events since you told us a few things, and the details were kind of just...filled in, I guess? I can't really explain it any other way."

"There are more vivid memories from your past that we all have, though," Daniel stated. "Stuff about our parents, our uncle being arrested for-"

"Okay, I get the picture," I interrupted, holding a hand up to get Daniel to be quiet. Fuck me for being curious, I guess. "For now, lets table that and talk about what the plan is going to be. I received confirmation from Theo on the ride home; your contracts with XWF are now pending a background check. With hope, they'll find some more information on you guys and we can get IDs and the rest squared away in a few days. For now, though, you guys are technically working under me," I stopped to place heavy airquotes when I said "under," just to avoid any hurt feelings. "Once the background checks clear, then you will be under your own contracts with me as your manager, so to speak." I stood out of my chair, turning to face the window and view the wonderful scenery of the bluffs. "The only people who really know about us are in this room, along with Dr. Elbrook, Theo Pryce, and the team that was with me when we traveled to Cairo. Even then, most everyone in XWF think you guys are just extras that I hired to make it seem like I'm in different places at once. We keep this secret as best we can; we cannot afford to let anyone else know the truth behind our wish."

"Lets talk about that for a second," Devin interrupted, jovial as always. "When we were talking with Theo, you and Wide Dio seemed to switch places. What was that about? It didn't look like anything happened; just suddenly Dio was there!"

"I think it ties into the wish I made," I thought aloud. "I said I wanted to be able to go anywhere I needed to be, and you guys came about from that. When we met with Theo and needed to prove the wish actually happened, I thought about being in the hallway where Wide Dio was standing, and we just...switched places. One second I was in the office, and the next I was in the hall."

"Did it hurt?" Daniel asking the important question.

"Nah," Wide Dio replied nonchalantly. "I've had farts hurt more than that."

There was that noise again. That laughter. I could tell this time. "There might be more to it than just being able to swap places with each other...but for now I think that's the likely scenario."

"So where exactly does this leave us?" William inquired. "You still have the vineyard here, your other wrestling contracts, not to mention your personal life. Are you suggesting that these gentlemen be in your stand-ins while you live your best life?"

I turned to face the rest of them. "We talked about this before, and I think the situation has evolved beyond that. We are a team, and I don't really want to take advantage of everyone just for my benefit. But in order to keep up appearances, we are going to need to coordinate this carefully. I have been in touch with a number of airlines to arrange for a private jet."

William began to sweat. "B-but we don't have the budget for-"

"Relax, William," I calmly interrupted. "A private jet is a bit extravagant for the vineyard. I have some money saved over from my World Series of Wrestling winnings that I am willing to put toward this."

"Probably the only thing of value to come from that competition," Daniel said sarcastically.

There was another sound now. Not laughter, but...it sounded like "ooooooo." Like Daniel had laid down some kind of sick diss to...well, just us, right? "The fewer questions we get, the better, hence the private jet. To the rest of the world, we are running an evening sitcom-styled group in Warfare called 'The Many Faces.' You guys aren't part of the roster, just part of my entourage. When we are not at live events, we'll be here at the vineyard. Most of my life is in this state anyway, so there shouldn't be too much of an issue for needing to swap all the time...though if the situation needs my attention, send me a message and I will be there...well, immediately. Since I don't really know how this all works, leave written instruction. William, I need you to show these three how the vineyard is going to operate. That should solve more of the immediate problems."

"And your appointments with Dr. Elbrook? And the time you want to spend with Elli?" William asked.

"Wait, who is Elli?!" The trio exclaimed at the same time.

"I will take care of that myself," I quickly answered without acknowledging the other question. "If we can pull this off without a hitch, then I think we'll be in for some fun. Now, I have another flight to catch. Paris is calling my name."

"Aww, I wanna go..." Wide Dio said, looking down sadly at his half-eaten sandwich.

I patted Dio on the shoulder. "Next time, pal. Heck, we'll find a time to all go together, as a family. But I have business out there I need to take care of," I assured him.

"What kind of business?" William asked.

I looked at him, smiling sinisterly and said...

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1x XWF Xtreme Champion (November 2023)

2x XWF Television Champion (May/August 2023)

2x RP of the Month (March/October 2023)

2023 Rookie of the Year