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Thaddeus Duke · (02-16-2022)

The Tate Residence || Roanoke Ridge, North Carolina || 12:04 PM

Slowing the Jeep Wagoneer to a stop in the driveway, I kill the engine with a deep sigh. I’ve been amped to see my kids but at the same time, I’m sort of afraid of how this might play out. Elizabeth is a great mom and even today she still loves me. There’s another woman now. One that, in a lot of ways, is not equipped for motherhood. Not emotionally, not mentally… and unfortunately not physically.

I know Lauren loves me.

What happens when you put two women who idle with their claws out, in the same room together for the very first time? Probably nothing good.

With my hand on the small of her back, we stand on the front stoop.

”Can you do me a favor and not embarrass me?” I ask. Hindsight being what it is, that was probably the wrongest thing to ask.

”What?” she asks, darting her gaze toward me.

”I just mean, I really want this to go well...”

”And you don’t think I’m capable?” she asks, taking obvious offense to my thought process.

”I just mean, you have this way of saying the exact wrong thing at the exact wrong...” just then the door swings open and Frankie looks at me from the inside. He looks at Lauren, then slams the door shut. ”...time.”

”You’re in for it now,” Lauren says with a smile. ”What’d you do to him!?”

”Nothing!” I protest. ”Except get married without him.”

The door opens again, this time Ginny stands in the doorway with a smile.

”Thaaaad,” she greets me warmly while coming in for a hug. ”Hope you’re wearing a cup,” she whispers in my ear.

”What?” I ask as she takes a step back.

”Now Thaddeus, don’t be rude. Introduce me to your lovely wife.”

”Oh right,” I stammer. ”This is um… shit...”

”Lauren!” she blurts out with a backhand of my shoulder.

”Yeah Lauren, this is Virginia Tate.”

”Pleaase darlin’, just call me Ginny,” she says, forcing Lauren to hug her before taking a step back. ”C’mon inside, make yerselves at home.”

Stepping inside, Frankie sits on the sofa playing with his Switch, pretending not to notice me.

”Lauren, that’s the incomparable Francis Robert Duke,” I say, pointing to the lad.

”I thought you said his name was Frankie?”

”Only my mom called me Francis,” Frankie chimes in with sadness in his voice.

”What’s she call you now?” she asks, immediately kicking herself. Frankie stares at her. ”What I meant was… what game are you playing?”

”This one’s not all there, is she?” he asks in my direction.

”Meh, some days are worse than others.”

”I’m literally right here,” she says as she plops down on the sofa next to the boy wonder.

”Thad!” Liz calls out from upstairs.

”Yeah!?”

”I need you for a minute!”

”I’ll be right back,” I say aloud as I start up the steps. ”Frankie, be nice to Lauren or I’ll whip your little ass.”

As I make my way up the steps I can’t help but smile a little as I can hear Frankie telling Lauren about his game. It’s no secret just how rough he’s had it over the last two years. He’s come such a long way in such a short amount of time. If all of this had transpired six months ago, he’d be hiding under a blanket in a corner somewhere.

Likely crying quiet tears.

Likely wanting to hurt himself or someone else.

That’s not the real Frankie. The real Frankie is the one sitting next to his new stepmother that he never met trying to get to know her. That’s my man! I think to myself with a bit of a smile.

”You rang?” I say, stepping into the nursery where Liz is just finishing packing things up. She looks at me with a cold stare. She starts to make her way across the room, then hooks left…

SLAP!

Ouch.

Taking a step back, she looks at me with her arms folded in front of her.

”What the hell was that for!?” I ask angrily.

”You got married Thad!” she shouts out. ”I can’t even have a regular fuck buddy without your people grilling them and giving them a hard time to the point that it’s hardly even worth it… but you… You know this woman all of two weeks and you put a ring on her finger.

“I’m sure your people didn’t even vet her properly.”

”She was vetted well enough by me,” I say without thinking. Dammit Thad.

”That’s how you wanna play me?”

”No, I don’t think so,” I say sheepishly. ”Liz, can I ask you something?”

She doesn’t answer. Instead, she only stares.

”Is this really about me marrying Lauren?” I ask and again she says nothing. ”Or is this more because I didn’t marry you?”

SLAP!

”SON OF A… I shoulda seen that one coming.”

”Don’t flatter yourself Thad, I know that ship sailed the minute you got with Adi Gold,” she says with an unconvincing look. ”Since no one was invited to your wedding, not even your own son, do we all get invites to your divorce in… what? Six months?”

”That’s not fair,” I protest.

”Isn’t it though?” she asks with snarky sarcasm. ”Six months with me, you tried to destroy it by screwing around with Garrett.

“We get back together and in another six months you wanted out because you wanted to screw Dolly Waters.”

”I wasn’t trying to screw Dolly...”

”That didn’t quite work out the way you wanted it to so you moved on to Adi Gold. Six months and done...”

”In my defense, she got mad at me once and decided to create a twitter poll to see if she should break up with me… never quite got over that one.”

”It’s the revolving door that never quite stops spinning, does it?”

”I don’t know,” I say quietly. ”Frankly, I find it offensive that you’re totally ignoring all the six hour relationships I had after Adi and before Lauren.”

She rears back, ready to hit me again, but contains herself.

”It’s about to get worse...” I say, peering over my shoulder toward the playpen. Instantly, she knows my motivation for the look and tries to bolt for the baby prison containing the twins. In an effort to knock her off course and get there first, I drive my hip into hers. She stumbles to her right and I win the race, lifting the first available baby out of the pen.

Caty.

Daddy’s little girl… and also savior, at the moment.

What can I say? I hate getting slapped and she never hits me when I’m holding one of the kids.

”Damn,” she mutters under her breath. ”Alright, hit me with it,” she says with a sigh.

”Remember how I said that once your dad passed I was gonna make you move back north?”

She nods.

”Remember how I reneged a few months ago and said I wasn’t gonna make you do that?”

”Yes Thad, I remember,” she says with waning patience. ”What’s your point?”

”Well… I’m reneging on my reneg,” I inform her. Yes, in a way I regret it, but it’s one her and I will both have to live with.

”You unbelievable prick,” she says with obvious disgust. Listen, if believe-ability was a factor, I’d have never been this damn popular. ”Put the baby down,” she insists.

Backing up a couple steps, I turn toward the playpen. Leaning down, I pretend to set Caty down inside, but instead come up with both Caty and Talon while shooting Liz a grin.

”I fucking hate you sometimes,” she says before backing out of the room and heading downstairs.

Downstairs, Liz and Ginny have retreated to the kitchen while Frankie continues to show Lauren his game.

”...but I can never get up that wall! It’s so frustrating!”

”Seems like you two are getting along,” I say while putting Caty down on the floor and plopping Talon into Lauren’s lap.

”I might like him better than you,” she says, causing Frankie to chuckle and crack a smile. With Talon in her lap, she looks down at him with eyes wide. As if she has no idea what to do. That’s probably because she doesn’t. ”Thad I uhhh...”

”Just look at him, talk baby talk… also tell me he isn’t mine.”

”You kidding?” Liz says, rejoining us from the kitchen. ”T.J. looks so much like you that sometimes I hate him because sometimes I hate you,” she says jokingly.

”Yeah anyway, Lauren, Liz, Liz, Lauren.”

”Why’s your face red?” Lauren asks, peering over Talon’s little baby head.

”Not important.”

”Because I slapped the shit out of him,” Liz answers. ”Before you think you gotta stand up and defend your boyfriend, just know that I know him a lot better than you do and you’ll be wanting to slap the shit out of him sooner rather than later.”

Surprisingly, Lauren bites her tongue for the moment.

”Thad?” Lauren calls out while inspecting T.J.’s face. ”He even has your stupid eyebrow.”

With pleasantries exchanged and everyone meeting everyone else, it was time to get this show on the road. It was time to head to Aspen where Lauren wanted to spend our honeymoon. I know, taking your kids on your honeymoon? Are you nuts? Yeah, I took ‘em. I’d been away from them for a month and I didn’t want to wait another minute.

In the Jeep on the way back to my plane, I attempt to smooth things over with Frankie. Adjusting the rearview mirror so that I could see his face, I break the awkward silence.

”Frankie buddy, I know you’re mad at me...” I begin, but he promptly cuts me off.

”I’m not mad,” he says with sadness. ”Actually I don’t know what I am, but it’s not mad.”

”So you’re not hurt that I got married but you weren’t there?”

He’s a lot more different than I am. Even as I’ve grown older and wiser, I still spout off at the mouth without doing much thinking behind it. Frankie is considerate. More often than not, he takes others feelings into account before speaking.

”No judgment Frankie, you know that. Safe zone, always.”

”I was mad at first,” he admits. ”But if you’re happy I’m happy.”

”Awww.”

”I wish I was there though.”

”Yeah,” I say shamefully. ”I wish you were too.”

”Frankie, I know I’m new here but…”

”It’s okay Lauren,” he interrupts. ”It’s not your fault.”

”Well, we’re gonna have a big ass party to celebrate sometime when the weather gets warm again. You’ll damn sure be at that.”

He smiles sweetly. ”Okay.”

You can sit and stew in your own bullshit, Raion. You can sit and stew over the fact that I lead a busy life that absolutely does take my attention away from you, from wrestling, from everything. The fact is, I am not just a wrestler. I am a man with a life outside of those ropes. I am a man with a family, with obligations, with things that need to be done before… and after… I get to play wrestler on television.

I wish my life was as one dimensional as most others that grace not just our ring here in the XWF but practically every ring that ever existed in every company. It’d make my life a hell of a lot simpler. Clock in, cut a promo, clock out, go home.

That’s not me.

If you think it’s easy to juggle my outside world with the XWF world, you think wrong. Imagine being as successful as I am while leading such a hectic fucking life bro. Most would wilt beneath the pressure.

Why is it you find it hard to believe that in a promo I might talk about current events? That I might talk about something other than you for a few minutes? For all this talk you’re wanting to do concerning my self absorption, concerning my ‘everything is about me’ mentality, you sure as hell get real damn offended when I speak and I’m not speaking about you. Is it really a promo crime to talk about the ordeal I’d been through? Is it really a promo crime to talk about the rekindling bromance between Corey and myself? While it doesn’t concern you directly, my promo’s are… get this… about me.

I know, I know. We’re all shocked. We’re all in awe over your chess mastery. We’re totally stunned that you could figure out a promo by me is about me.

What’s in a Raion Kido promo?

Is your promo about Vinnie Lane?

What about Pryce?

Maybe it’s about Doc D’Ville.

Noooo.

They’re about you.

Just as they should be.

So Raion, let me ask you something. Is Thaddeus Duke growing complacent? Or is he begging you to step to the fucking plate and take a gigantic hack at him? Maybe… just maybe… you’re mistaking complacency… with a guy that really… he’s just looking for the next him.

I mean, we’re entirely different people so don’t take it out of context. I’m not trying to find someone rich, pretty and arrogant. What I’m looking for, is someone with similar talents. Similar charisma… which, I mean, you’re a bit on the dry side. You can work on the charisma factor though. And you should really take that advice because if you were a loaf of bread you’d be like… stale pumpernickel… or something.

Why is it that you wanted me to take time away from my honeymoon to talk about you? Can I not just enjoy some rare downtime with my wife and my children? Are you really upset that I didn’t drop a second promo before deadline day?

I’m sorry Raion, sometimes, I have too much going on and I can’t just focus every waking second of every single day focusing entirely on you. It’s nice that you can but you gotta ask yourself, is that enough to beat me? Is it enough for you to pull the miracle upset and put me down?

If I didn’t think you had what it took to take me to my very limit, then I wouldn’t have asked for you.

Fact is Raion, I want you to beat me.

But I’m not just gonna roll over and let you do it. If you’re gonna beat me, you’re gonna do it the same way 19 others did: by earning it every step of the way.

By the way, you keep saying ‘newly anointed Lionheart’ and if you think me being the Lionheart is something new, then you really haven’t done as much homework as you think you have. I’ve been the Lionheart since the second I was born.

This dude legit sits and theorizes, insinuates and infers that I think I’m invincible. That I think I’m immortal...

Thad pulls his shirt off and the camera zooms in on the fading scar in the center of his chest, rubbing it with the tip of his index finger.

If anyone knows more about mortality, I’d like to meet them. This scar… it used to be more noticeable. It used to be a lot uglier. Dozens of laser surgeries later, this is what you get. What you’re seeing, Raion is a scar from a bullet wound that took my life. I was born to live again and I’ll be damned if I’m gonna squander it.

I live my life my way, Raion. The women, the men, the cars, the planes, the money, the parties, the vacations… I live my life my way because no one knows better than I do, just how quickly a young life can be snuffed out. Fact is, I’ve been living on borrowed time since I was 15 years old.

I live fast and loose and that’s not changing anytime soon. Making a left instead of a right can be the difference for someone like me between life and death.

It could all be over… just like...

Thad snaps his fingers.

James Edwards Air Force Base – Berlin, Germany

Immediately after the honeymoon in Aspen, Colorado, it was time to get back to business. Today’s top to do, was going to Berlin in preparation for my fathers trial. To be honest, I don’t want to see him. I don’t want to look him in the eye. I don’t want to be the one that passes his sentence whenever he’s inevitably convicted of his crimes.

It isn’t the job I ever wanted, but the moment I lifted the crown from his head and put it on mine, it’s the job I chose. There was no one else, there is no one else.

After disembarking from the plane, I’m met as I’m walking across the tarmac by Dick and Brandon Small. My chief of staff and my assistant, respectively.

”What do we got?” I ask of Dick as we walk.

”Nothing good,” he answers. ”We’ve been going through the files. All files. Everything we recovered from the wreckage of the Compound, everything relevant we could find in New York… and everything from Asmodeus’s farm house.”

”Well?” I ask as we reach the prison barracks containing our prisoners of war, as well as my father. Inside, we quickly retreat into a makeshift office that Richard has been using in order to compile his case against Sebastian Duke.

Brandon closes the door behind us.

”It’s bigger than we thought it was,” Richard says as he looks at a bulletin board with different files attached and string together with different colored strings. Despite also being an actor… sorry Raion, that’s just one more aspect of my life that takes my attention away from you.

Needy little bitch.

Anyway.

Despite being an actor, I don’t watch much television. But everyone knows that different colors means different lines of investigation. Yet, all of them seem to lead to the same place: A picture of the Vatican in the center of it all.

”Dick, what the hell am I looking at?” I ask, while dead staring the picture.

”All roads lead to the Church,” he says quietly.

”Brandon,” I say, turning my head toward him. ”We’re gonna need the room.”

Brandon takes his leave after a quick nod.

”We found a recording among your grandfathers things,” he begins.

”That’s impossible,” I interrupt him. ”Once I found out what he did to my mother, I had his place searched. No one found anything.”

”No one found...” Lincoln Tritter begins. I hadn’t known he was even here so his emergence startles me. My Intelligence Minister made himself real small and quiet like in the corner and now I’ve never been less comfortable in his presence. ”...the hidden compartment in his roll top desk.”

He tosses me a small cassette tape.

”On that tape Thaddeus, is a recorded phone call from your grandfather at the Compound to the Pope. In their conversation, they discussed a mutual desire to have your mother eliminated from the equation.”

”They’re playin’ with fire,” my demeanor changes suddenly. Anger, rage, fury, insert adjective.

”When you’ve had time to process what you’re learning today, I urge you to listen to that tape,” Dick advises me. ”What’s on it… is incontrovertible proof that Asmodeus conspired with his enemies in the Church to eliminate the queen.

“As such, it convicts your father of negligence. Negligence that lead to your father killing your mother. The two previous kings, Thaddeus, conspired against their own Crown.”

Not really wanting to hear any more, I take my leave from the office and head toward the prison cells. Most are empty, save three. Two Ares Project prisoners, and in the very last one, my father. Stopping outside his cell, I stare through the bars at him. He lays on a cot far too small for him.

It takes him several moments to realize I’m there.

”You came all this way, just to see me?” he asks but for the moment, I don’t say anything at all. ”Say something Thad. You flew thousands of miles to be here. You’re standing right there so obviously you have something to say.

“So just say it.”

Holding the cassette between my fingers I hold it up in front of my face.

”You heard what’s on this tape?”

He shakes his head, but sits up on his cot.

”Me neither,” I admit to him. ”But I will hear it. If what Richard told me is true…”

”What’s he saying is on it?”

”Proof of your father conspiring with the Church to eliminate my mother...” he starts to speak, but I shut him down. ”Shut the fuck up Sebastian. I just don’t want to hear it. Stupidity does not equal innocence.

“If what he’s telling me is true…

“If what I hear is a conspiracy to murder my mother…

“Then when this is all over...” I stop myself from saying it and begin to walk away.

”Then what?” he asks, stopping me in my tracks.

Turning my head toward him, I give him what he seeks. ”I’ll have your fucking head,” I say quietly before walking again toward the exit.

The flight home was an odd one. We didn’t stay in Germany more than a few hours and to be honest, I’ve been really looking forward to spending some time at home. I spent nearly 80 million dollars on that penthouse and lately, I feel like I’m never even there.

Just as we’re descending toward the runway at JFK, I decide to check out my LoJack app. While we were in Aspen, one of my live-in house guests, Jennie Fenix, took it upon herself to steal my quarter million dollar Audi RS8 Spyder. Now mostly, I don’t really care about the money or the different things I own.

That car is the one exception.

I fucking love that car. Don’t get me wrong, I love Jennie too but that car is mine. That’s the one thing I have that I don’t share with anyone.

And she took it.

And now she’s holed up in my estate in Rhode Island. You know the one. The former Astor Mansion. The one that’s being renovated and to be used in the warmer months. It’s this moment, seeing my LoJack at that location, that I decide to pay her… and it… a visit.

Man, I gotta admit, I like this Raion Kido. He’s got spunk, he’s got fire, he’s got passion. I mean, that’s really hard not to like. All this time he’s… yet again… chastising me for making my promos all about me, while simultaneously making everything he does and says all about him… it’s almost as if he just disagrees with me because he thinks that’s what he’s supposed to do.

See, you keep making this same mistake. You keep trying to compare me to Xavier Lux and now Centurion. You try to point out that Cent and I both said that we’re both a cut above or whatever the fuck we said. Thing is, Centurion might be in the Hall of Legends, but on his best day, he couldn’t carry my jock and there isn’t a man or woman on this planet that believes any different. Listen, I know that sounds like a shot at Cent, but it isn’t. It’s just cold hard truth.

And I know a LOT of people during the course of their promos say similar things but listen… they are what they are and ain’t a single one of them anything like me. I’m a one in seven billion kind of guy. I march to the beat of my own drum and just because I show you things that have absolutely nothing to do with pro wrestling, doesn’t mean jack shit at bell time. What I choose to air as part of my promos garners me a TON of fucking interest so maybe take that as a lesson all on its own so you can learn how to spice up your life just a lil bit.

When the bell rings, it really doesn’t matter how much I love my children. It doesn’t matter how much I love my wife or how much it scares the absolute piss out of me that she wields power over my military…

Oh God…

Gonna vomit…

Anyway…

The only thing that matters that when Warfare rolls around Raion, as much as you sit and pout, as much as you bitch and moan that I’m not focusing 100% of my attention on you for two full weeks… when that bell rings… I am singularly focused. I have the fifty victories, wins over more than a dozen marquee top shelf names, and ten professional shoot wrestling championships that prove exactly that.

I do like you Raion. I like you a lot. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the reason I wanted you in this match, the reason I sought you out and wanted this showcase, is to make you better at what you do. Maybe you take that as a shot, maybe you don’t. It’s a little hard to tell from my perspective, but it isn’t a shot. Like you said, it’s helping prepare you for what’s to come and I want you around for a long time to come.

When you lose on Warfare, I want you to take some time and study the match tape. I want you to study these promo tapes. I want you to learn something about yourself because as I have stated and I still firmly believe, losing teaches you more than a win ever will.

You call it arrogance.

Some call it cockiness.

Some call it overconfidence.

I tell you exactly what it is… Simply Thaddeus.

What that means is that no one breaks my confidence. Since the day I stepped back into this business, I have been utterly unbreakable. No amount of shit talking, no amount of losses, not a single attack on me, on my way of life, or on my career has shaken me and I’m not about to start now.

Many have tried to beat me Raion, but very few have done it. I am every bit as good as I claim to be and tomorrow night on the Thaddeus Duke Show, if you plan on doin’ it… I’m warning you it’s a looong hard ride.

Safe Haven – Newport, Rhode Island

After sending Brandon, Lauren and all three kids home in the Jeep, I’d boarded one of my helicopters and set course for Safe Haven. Bringing the chopper down in the front yard, I can’t help but stare at my beautiful ride that’s also really freakin’ fast.

Letting the blades slow to a crawl before I exit, I briefly thought about just flying back to New York and forgetting all about this. Something changed in her. Or maybe it’s something that has been dormant. She may or may not have attacked her sister Tara recently. I don’t know for sure, and I won’t look at the LoJack pings to find out one way or the other.

Standing near the Audi, I open the door and pop the hood. Opening it up, I pull a little chip from its place near the battery and close it again before turning toward the house. Walking toward the dark house, I can see some slight movement on the terrace above the driveway. Knowing it’s her, I just keep walking.

Nearing the house, she breaks her silence.

”Not another step!” she shouts, stopping me in my tracks. ”You’ll spring my trap!”

Scratching my head for a moment, I grab a hold of the lattice work attached to the side of the house and start to climb up toward the terrace.

”Wait,” she calls out but I choose to ignore her and keep climbing. ”I wasn’t expecting you to do that.”

”Well,” I say as I climb over the railing. ”I really am a gifted athlete. Strong arms and such.”

Noticing her sitting against the far side railing with her arms resting on her knees, I choose to give her every inch of the distance.

”Jennie, listen,” I begin.

”Jinxie!” she barks to me.

”...what?”

”Jennie? She’s gone,” she says, causing me some confusion. ”It was a terrible fall. She couldn’t put the pieces back. Tsk, tsk!”

”Riiiight… well… Jennie or Jinxie… I just came here to check up on you, see how you are.”

”You’ve seen me, now go.”

”I’m not gonna tell anyone where you are, if that’s what you think...”

Just then, my phone starts ringing. Pulling it from my pocket, the light lights us both up.

”It’s Ricky,” I inform her.

”Ricky,” she repeats and for a moment, I could almost swear her eyes lit up.

”Hey what’s up bud?”

”Nothin’, family got home, you weren’t with them.”

”Yeah,” I say, not taking my eyes from Jennie and hers not leaving mine. ”Had a couple things I needed to take care of.”

”Frankie hit me in the balls as soon as he walked in. Hurt alottabit.”

”Fuckin’ narc. What’d he do that for?”

”Told him Minecraft sucks.”

”Well, you had that one comin’ didn’t you?”

”Prolly. Hey have you heard from Jennie? I still haven’t heard from her.”

As he’s talking, I’m twirling the LoJack chip around in my pocket.

”I haven’t heard a word from Jennie,” I lie. Technically. According to her, she’s Jinxie, not Jennie.

”Well, she has your car. Doesn’t it have that hijack thing?”

”LoJack,” I correct him, while retrieving that chip and flipping it to Jennie. ”It’s been disabled. I can’t track her.” While not a full truth, it’s not a lie either.

”Trust me, if I hear from Jennie, you’ll be the first one I tell. Anyway man, I gotta go so I can get this done. See you in awhile.”

”Alright see you in a lilbit.”

Ending the call, I place the phone back in my pocket.

”What is this?” she asks, twirling the chip in her fingers.

”The LoJack chip,” I answer her. ”You can use my car. You can stay here as long as you need to...”

”You’re not gonna track me?”

”No.”

”Ricky,” she says with some sadness in her voice.

”You just made me lie to him,” I tell her. ”He loves you. I love you. And we’re both worried about you.”

”Jinxie is fine.”

”Well, I’ll leave you to whatever this is… but… I just wanted you to know, that the house you call home… my home, our home… its judgment free. It’s a safe space. We all want you to come home and we look forward to the day you do.

“Me… Ricky… we have always believed in you.

“But in the meantime… if you need anything at all, do NOT hesitate to call me. I’m a thirty minute chopper ride away and no one needs to know anything okay?”

She looks at me and nods.

”I’mma leave through the house though, so tell me about your traps.”

”Dominoes,” she states quickly.

”What?”

”The trap is dominoes. And its very deadly.”

Pulling my phone back out, I activate the flashlight and make my exit, being very cautious not to disturb her home defenses.

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