Alright. I'm going to take a page from the book of MacAlister, vintage 2012 edition. Microphone in hand, with the cord wrapped around it; Henry Rollins style, the camera pops to life and I begin to speak. My voice lowering and raising in volume as my enthusiasm increases and decreases.


"Oi! Oi! Oi! Griffin MacAlister here, recording a promo directed towards Lux and Corey! Since you both share the same body, I figured it's only right that I speak my words to the both of you. Now ordinarily in the past, I'd step in front of a camera and talk some shit, maybe make a joke or two. I am not going to do that in this scenario. The way I see it, you already have enough bullshit to deal with... what with being two people trapped in a single entity, you don't need anymore grief from me. So instead, I'm going to shoot straight with ya and open the lines for a conversation. Also you both are like unofficial members of The Elite and I claim an allegiance with them. That training simulator that you like to use, I did all the mechanical engineering work on it. Which basically means the robots, weapons and other machines involved in the functions of it, I designed and built. There are a few contributing parties that were involved in the internal operations of things and I was one of them. I'm a fuckin' mechanic, of course I was brought in to work on that shit."


"On top of that there's..."


Pausing, I take a deep breath and run a hand back through my hair, lately I've been keeping it cut pretty short but old habits still cause me to do this.


"Leap of Faith and my fight with Vita Valenteen. I'm willin' to bet that made for some beef between us, Corey but I want you to know, I didn't relish in beating Vita down. I didn't enjoy the fact that I had to hit a tiny girl and I said as much, when I cut a promo against her. All I did was go to the ring and do my job, what I was tasked with doing. Plain and simple. I don't book the matches here and I sure as fuck didn't request that fight. Much like I didn't ask to face you. But here I am, assigned to fight another kid."


"Real question, when did the XWF start employing all these children? All these teenagers. There's Vita, Thaddeus, Dolly Waters and you. It's like Vinnie Lane went to the local high school and started passing out contracts. None of you have parents that take an active interest in your lives either. Not that I have room to talk cause when I was y'all's age, I was a delinquent running the streets, with a deadbeat drunk for a dad and a brother that encouraged me to get involved in illegal activities. My mom left when I was super young and hooked up with a 'blood god'... yep, that's right, I said 'blood god'. That's how I acquired Dillinger D'Marco as a half brother. His very first kill was when he was an infant and he literally ripped out of her. Burst out, Aliens style. Still this is like an episode of Runaways, only in real life. With the exception of Thad but lets face it, Sebastian isn't being a real parent. He lives in some high rise building while his son runs amok in the Compound. Wasn't there to raise Thad and he's still not playing an active role. He still can't get parenting right. Fuckin' Sebastian Duke, I seriously don't know what that man is thinking sometimes."


"Meanwhile, I'm helping to raise my girlfriend's son because Nathaniel Idenhaus is a ghost these days. Raising him like he was my own because that's the right thing to do in this situation. I might be an asshole but I'm not so much of an asshole that I wouldn't take on the responsibility... oh well, he's not mine, let the kid fend for himself, that's not my outlook on stuff. I had a fairly shitty upbringing but in the end, it taught me what not to do, I would never sentence Grey to such a life. I know, you probably don't give a shit about all that and honestly, you don't have to. It isn't really your place to make it a concern of yours. Still, maybe it might shine a different light on me, in some small way. Make you see that I'm not a total piece of shit or whatever. Not lately anyway. Not since I severed ties with The Order. In spite of the recent events that went down at Leap of Faith. I've been aiming for redemption these days. Trying to do the right thing and follow the straight and narrow."


"Now that doesn't mean that I anticipate you to forgive and forget or some hippie garbage like that, I understand that I beat the shit outta Vita and there are repercussions for my actions, I fully expect you to step up and defend her honor. You do what you gotta do man. You have every right to be pissed. I know if someone hurt Lila, I'd want to put the fear of god in the motherfucker that caused her pain. I would come at them with intent to destroy, to put 'em down and make them stay fuckin' down. So I get it, come at me with all you've got and do your best to take me down, I'll be counting on nothing less. Of course, that doesn't mean I'm going to roll over and play dead for ya. Nah. I'm going to go out there and throw down the same as always. What I've done since day one. You might not know about my past and think I don't have anything to show for myself but there was a time when I carried titles."


"For instance that title that you and Lux wield, before it was called the Television title, it was the North Korean championship. And it was created to test the person that wielded it. Every match was a triple threat and I was the first person to hold that title. I was also the X-Treme Champ and Sebastian Duke and I were the Tag Champs, if I'm not mistaken we were the longest reigning champs too. Until Sebastian challenged me for sole ownership of both titles and failed to achieve victory. Then I held both tag titles for a spell. This is all the past though, we're in the present and I haven't achieved anything lately, I also haven't wrestled all that much. I intend to change that and make myself more readily available though. Go on and scoff all you want and tell me I'm destined for a fall, that Isn't going to stop me or throw a metaphorical monkey wrench in the machine. I don't need you to believe my words or take 'em as reality, what you understand as truth changes nothing about my intentions."


"So Saturday Night, I'm going to march to that ring and throw down. Give it my all and put on one helluva show. Throwing boot parties and stompin' skulls, that's what I live for. Why I shine up my shit kickers real nice, lace them up tight and go to the ring. The thrill of the fight keeps bringin' me back. And as long as I can get back up... as long as I'm still breathing, that won't change. I've been through a lot of bullshit in this company and nothing has put an end to my career. Nothing stopped me from showin' up to wrassle. Nothing except... the period of time, when I left for a while of my own accord... for reasons unconnected with the XWF. Aside from that, nothing could keep me away... nothing will keep me away, when I wanna wrestle, I fuckin' wrestle. At the end of the day, I don't give a shit what folks think of my career here, I said it before and I'll say it again, I fight for one person and one person alone - myself. If you think you're somehow going to be the one to come along and change that. If you believe that you can send me packing. You're only lying to yourself."





"So this is my unofficial, official nephew?"


My brother Reese inquires from behind the counter, located within the diner that he works at, as he nods and looks down at Grey. Grey is currently devouring a grilled cheese sandwich, while he sits on a stool, his legs dangling over the edge, unable to reach the floor due to being all of three years old. Although, that wasn't enough to stop him from getting to the floor, after all he's part werewolf and has zero problems with leaping off of things. Heights weren't an issue for him.


"He's Lila's son and I live with her."


"Right, I know that but you watch him and provide for him, correct?"


"Yeah."


"So that sorta makes him like my unofficial, official nephew. In spite of... y'know, being the offspring of a well known Nazi."


"Yes, in spite of that, I still take care of him. It's not like he had a choice in the matter. I'm not going to ostracize my girlfriend's son, on account of who his father happens to be."


"Isn't it a little confusing for the kid though?"


"Pretty sure he thinks I'm his father."


"How do you know that?"


"He calls me daddy."


"Wow. That's kinda messed up. So are you going to set him straight? Explain that his father is a well known Nazi and enemy of the state. Even worse still, the entire world."


"Sure. I'll get right on havin' that in depth talk with a three year old."


"Not now. I mean when he's older and can string together full sentences."


"Possibly. I figure by then I would have... I don't know, adopted him."


"Whoa. Hold the phone. Adopt him. To do that you and Lila would have to get hitched. Are you seriously thinking about marrying this broad?"


"It's not like I have it planned out but yeah, that's the natural progression of a relationship. Things are going good. I imagine, down the line sometime, we'd get married."


"That's huge. Does she know you think that?"


"No, we didn't discuss anything, not yet anyway."


"Good. Don't. Then that gives her power over you. You don't want that to happen. Right now you hold all the cards cause you took her back after she cheated on you with a fuckin' Nazi."


"Reese. Language. There's a small child present."


"Jesus. You already sound like a parent. You're going to marry this woman, aren't you? Probably have three kids, in addition to the preexisting one and move into a house in the suburbs. You're going to become domesticated. Like a house cat. Then it's all downhill after that happens. It's a damn shame, if you ask me. A damn shame."


"I didn't ask you."


"No, you didn't but you brought the boy in here and got food for him, now he's sitting in front of me, the painful reality of what's to come. So what will you do if this Nazi returns and wants a relationship with the little guy. This Nathaniel Adolph Zachary Idenhaus. Then what?"


"I suppose I cross that bridge when I come to it."


"What exactly happened to this Nazi? Where is he now?"


"No one knows. He's just gone."


"Good riddance. We don't need Nazis running around, heiling all over the place. This isn't Germany during World War 2. There's no room for goosestepping in today's society. Hey can I ask you something..."


Reese leans over the counter and whispers.


"Why does the boy have grey hair and eyes?"


"Why are you whispering?"


Returning his voice to a regular speaking tone, Reese shrugs


"I didn't want to make him self conscious, I know I'd be upset if I were his age and I looked in the mirror and seen a full head of grey hair. And the eyes don't help matters, they only make it creepier. The day I witnessed that as my reflection, I'd be scarred for life and never look into a mirror again."


"I think it's due to the fact that he's part wolf... maybe?"


"Oh, this again. The fantasy that you conjured up that he's part wolf, alien and human."


"It's not a fantasy, it's a reality. My reality. As in... I live with Lila and Grey and know it to be the truth."


"He just looks like a normal kid though. It's weird that he has grey hair and eyes but that's about it. Doesn't make him some sort of supernatural creature."


"Nathaniel was a werewolf on top of being a Nazi and Lila is half alien."


"You sure these people didn't just do a lot of dope?"


"I'm sure."


"I don't know. This sounds like the words of someone that's on massive amounts of drugs. So this kid is part werewolf, does that mean he can do anything... y'know, supernatural like?"


"He likes to climb up to random high places, like the refrigerator or tall bookshelves, he'll scale up to the top and do leap attacks at me. Just the other day I found him hangin' off of the ceiling fan."


"Bullshit."


Reese laughs and shakes his head. Then stops suddenly and asks with some worry.


"Hey where'd the kid go?"


I turn my gaze to where Grey had been previously sitting and sure enough, he was gone. We got wrapped up in our talk, I didn't notice him drop down off of the stool. Perfect. Grey was somewhere in the diner. Now the search begins...