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Thaddeus Duke · (10-30-2016)

Thursday, December 24, 2015 | 11:58 PM Local Time | Rome, Italy

The Illuminatus military cautiously made their way through the streets of Rome. Thousands of both locals and foreigners alike were amassed in St. Peter’s Square for the traditional midnight mass at the Basilica. When the tanks and military vehicles sporting the iron cross insignia of the Illuminatus military came into view, many left the area, knowing full well the heart of their religion could be obliterated at any second. Still though, the faith is strong. Some remained behind in hopes that the conflict would end. Hoping that at least tonight, they could resume some sense of normalcy.

Thaddeus Duke stands at the front of the military with James, his Sanguis Consul, by his side as always. ”Bull horn,” Thaddeus says, which is immediately followed by James handing off said object to the Commander.

”Citizens,” Thaddeus begins as he steps through the gate. Many of those left, turn toward his voice. ”In a couple of minutes the bells will ring in the Basilica starting the Christmas holiday. As you well know, your church is in open conflict with my Illuminatus. I beg you to reconsider staying in the area,” Thaddeus explains before some bystanders begin hurtling insults aimed at him.

”I understand your contempt and I respect your difference in opinion, but I can not urge you enough to abandon the area immediately. After those bells ring, my planes are coming and my tanks are rolling in. There’s been enough bloodshed, people. There’s been enough casualties on both our sides. There’s been enough civilians caught in the crossfire.

“I beg you to reconsider and please leave before there’s anymore.”

Thaddeus hands the bull horn off. Some take his warnings seriously and run away from the mass. Still though, others remain steadfast in their faith. Steadfast in their idiocy.

High atop the small city-state, the bells begin to ring signaling Christmas Day. Thaddeus begins to grin. He grabs his radio, ”Gentlemen, this is your Commander. When the bells cease, our planes will begin the bombardment,” he states to the delight of his soldiers.

Thaddeus grabs a pair of night vision binoculars and takes a seat on the hood of a Jeep. The bells stop clanging and is soon followed by an air raid siren. The rumble of numerous planes and jets can be heard approaching from a distance as Thaddeus Duke continues to focus on the main entrance to St. Peter’s Basilica.

Soon, a door opens and several Swiss Guard exit the Basilica followed by what appears to be the Holy Father himself. The citizens hoping for Mass cheer their leader excitedly. Thaddeus drops the binoculars and grabs his radio, ”ABORT! ABORT! ABORT!” he orders and quickly the war planes peel off. Illuminatus fighter jets begin circling the city as Thaddeus crosses the barrier into Vatican City and stops as the Swiss Guards reveal their weapons. The Pope can be seen holding both of his hands up to the Guard.

”The Pope has called in. He requests your presence near the obelisk,” James whispers to the Commander.

”If the Pope wants an audience, who am I to turn him down?” he asks sarcastically as he starts to walk toward the Pope and the obelisk. James follows quickly, brandishing his pistol.

As Thaddeus approaches, the Pope delivers a pleasant smile and extends his hand. Thaddeus obliges and shakes. ”Are you trying to get all of these people killed, Father?”

”You are a true warrior, young Duke. But you’re not stupid.”

Thaddeus just stares blankly.

”And neither am I.

“We are defeated, Commander. It’s easy to see. How long we’ll be down, I don’t yet know. But we’ll be back, I can promise you that,” the Pope concludes.

”Seems unlikely. At least not here. This land is our home. It was stolen from us many centuries ago. The truth is on our side, Father,” Thaddeus replies coldly.

”Perhaps it is, child.

“The Church has decided, and very recently, to abandon the city rather than see it destroyed.”

”That’s probably the wisest thing you could have done. At least now we stand a chance of opening up some dialog in the coming months, to secure peace for our sides. We were never opposed to coexisting, Father. We did however, require our home back.

“And now we’ve got it.”

”Your father and grandfather are historians. They love and respect the ancient. Despite our differences, our side has always respected that about your side.

“So tell me, Thaddeus, may I call you that?” the Pope asks politely.

”It is my name, Father,” Thaddeus responds coldly.

”Tell me Thaddeus. Do you respect history? Do you hold the ancient in high regard like your ancestors have?”

”To be honest, I just don’t give a damn. I don’t care for the relics of ancient past. I don’t care about the bones of the dead. I could not care any less. I’d as soon destroy them as look at them.

“Why is that important?”

”As I stated, the decision to surrender the city was very recent.

“We’ve not protected anything.

“The remains of hundreds of Popes lie within those walls. The bones of Saint Peter himself lie beneath in the labyrinth. There are so many artifacts of days past, Thaddeus. I’d like to see them handled and treated with respect and care,” the Pope explains.

”Respect?”

”Uh-oh. Triggered.”

”Respect as in how your people slandered my people? Branding us as Satanists. Respect as in how a thousand years ago your people persecuted ours and burned them at the stake? Respect as in having my grandfather kidnapped? Respect as in how your people attempted to assassinate my father and grandfather multiple times? Respect as in how your people gunned down Jacob Anderson?

“A good man! My fathers best friend! A man loyal to our cause!”

The Pope grins slightly in contempt of Thaddeus Duke’s anger. ”Jacob Anderson was a mistake. He’s held in high regard. Even on our side. We respected his love and his devotion. We respected his loyalty to your side. We respected his selflessness in putting himself in harms way to protect you.

“With all due respect though, Young Duke, we weren’t trying to take Jacob out. We wanted the three of you,” the Pope pauses before continuing on. ”I realize we are not always correct. I realize the Church has made life at times, unbearable, impossible even, for your side. I ask you to rise above that. I’m not Pope Francis right now. I’m Jorge Bergoglio. I’m asking you man to man, do not destroy the artifacts. Do not destroy the history. As much as you can not see it now, our history is very much a part of yours. Destroying our history would be akin to destroying your own,” he concludes.

”Take leave now, and your history will remain safe,” Thaddeus states after much deliberation.

The Pope nods his approval. ”Very well then. We’ll be on our way momentarily,” he pauses as a smile crosses his face. ”You know what I love about Christmas?” asks the Pope, with no response from Thaddeus. ”It’s that it’s always full of surprises. You never know what you’re going to get,” he concludes before beginning to walk away.

”What are you talking about?” Thaddeus inquires suspiciously.

”It’s a fifty-fifty shot, Thaddeus. We had to take it,” the Pope replies before being whisked away by his Swiss Guard. ”Call it a Hail Mary!”

The mass exodus ensues as Cardinals, Bishops and regular civilians begin exiting Vatican City. Exiting the Basilica. Exiting the Apostolic Palace.

”James, reach the Chancellor,” Thaddeus instructs.

”They’re en route. Reaching them may be difficult,” James responds as he retrieves his cell phone.

”Keep trying. Something’s up and I don’t like it,” Thaddeus explains before reaching for his radio. ”Sweep the buildings. Clear the rodents,”[/gold] he commands as he heads toward the entrance to St. Peter’s Basilica. He climbs the steps as his guards follow close behind him. He reaches the door and two guards open the large doors for him as he steps inside. His combat boots thump the ornate flooring as he proceeds. James trails behind, still trying to reach either the Chancellor or the King.

Thaddeus Duke crosses the portico and passes through an opened door leading to the nave of the Basilica. He stops suddenly. [color=gold]”Have you reached them yet?” he asks, never taking his eyes off the throne of St. Peter several feet ahead of him on what was the papal altar.

”Not yet. I’ve called both of them several times. I’ve even sent text messages,” James concludes. A look of worry beginning to crease his face.

”Just keep trying. They’ve got to be near,” Thaddeus states as he finally continues the long walk to the altar. Once he reaches the altar he hears someone shout ‘Commander’ from a distance. It distracts him as he turns back to face the entrance. Loud footsteps, racing it seems, are evident as Thaddeus begins to step back toward the entrance.

”COMMANDER!” shouts a young soldier with a paunch stomach in a full sprint toward him. The young man trips over the leg of a pew and crashes to the floor and lands in the corner of another pew. ”Oh my God, I need a medic. That hurt like hell,” cries the young soldier.

”James don’t just stare at him, help the boy.”

James does as he’s ordered and helps the young man to his feet. He favors his knee as he hobbles toward Thaddeus.

”What is it?” asks Thaddeus. His patience is noticeably wearing thin.

”Commander… oh God this hurts… Commander I have some dire news from HQ in Berlin,” the soldier begins. ”Commander, we’ve lost Illuminatus Two.”

Thaddeus lurches forward toward the young Private and grabs him by his fatigues. ”What the hell do you mean we lost Illuminatus Two?”

”I...I...” the Private stutters. Thaddeus lets go of him and straightens up his shirt.

”Calm down, soldier. What’s going on?” Thaddeus asks, regaining his composure.

”It was struck by a missile in flight, Commander. Illuminatus Two has been destroyed.”

the color drains from the young Commanders face.

”A fifty-fifty shot. That’s what the Pope said and I didn’t understand.

“They took down the fucking plane.”

At once, Thaddeus turns to the former papal alter and crumbles onto St. Peter’s throne.

There is a serious lack of competence at the top of the Xtreme Wrestling Federation. Namely, Vinnie Lane. There are rules and stipulations in place regarding titles, champions and defenses. I see the Xtreme championship defended anytime the champion has a match. The title is vacant at the moment, but that will change next weekend.

The television champion defends nearly every week on Savage. The Hart championship is defended nearly as much as the Television title.

Yet something is missing.

The grandest prize in the game. The XWF Universal championship. On the third day of Leap of Faith on July 23, Scully… yes, Scully… somehow managed to be victorious over Vincent Lane for the Universal title. It is without a doubt the strangest occurrence in an XWF history that is full of strange happenings.

On this day, October 30, Scully has remained the Universal Champion for ninety-nine days. 99 Days without even a single title defense. This is a grand failure by XWF management. Yes let’s enforce the rules for everyone else… except Scully.

When the roster grew restless that not only were individuals not having Universal title matches against Scully, but in fact, no one was having Universal title matches, some of us started calling him out. Unknown Soldier, in Scully’s mind, didn’t deserve a shot yet the man has two 24/7 briefcases that says otherwise. In Scully’s mind, Trax, Mister Fuckin’ Dominance didn’t deserve it, because I guess maybe he’s a black man or something.

I didn’t deserve a non-title match, because in Scully’s mind you have to earn those as well. Here I thought to get a non-title match in the XWF all you had to do was show up. I even offered the man twelve grand to face me, again, in a non-title match.

Still though, Scully had his finger on the bitch switch and denied me.

Oh well.

Finally, Scully agreed to defend the title. Not against Soldier or Trax. Not against me. Not against Tommy Gunn. But against Peter god damn Gilmour.

Scully agrees to a title defense and finally Vince Lane pulls Roxy’s cock out of his mouth and chimes in saying Scully will have a title defense before the pay per view. Great job Lane. Gilmour was already getting a shot, but thanks for doing your fucking job, numb nuts. Too little too late though, since obviously the roster was doing it for you.

Scully knew he was in a no win situation.

Scully knew he had nowhere to run and nowhere to hide and agreed to give Unknown Soldier a title shot.

Let’s be real. As soon as Scully steps foot in an XWF arena, he can count the minutes he has left as champion. Either he’ll lose it to Pete, which I can see very clearly in my imaginary crystal ball, or Soldier will cash in one of those briefcases he has and Scully will still lose it.

This is your state of the Universal Championship brought to you by Vincent Lane.

I’d talk about Luca Arzegotti, but what’s the point? He likely saw the card and went into hiding. He was never man enough to face my father so why would he man up now?

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