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Thaddeus Duke · (07-06-2017)

[duke]Tuesday, July 4, 2017 | 1:00 PM | Yankee Stadium | The Bronx [/duke]

”For today’s ceremonial first pitch,” says the Yankees public address announcer. ”Please welcome, the Xtreme Champion, from the Xtreme Wrestling Federation, Thaddeus DUKE!”

Thaddeus emerges from the dugout wearing a full New York Yankees uniform and sporting red, white and blue face paint reminiscent of wrestling legend Sting in his bleach blond surfer days. The crowd cheers wildly for the emerging wrestling superstar as he approaches the mound. He waves to the crowd momentarily before toeing the rubber. He stares down the catchers glove for a few seconds as he zeroes in on his target. After winding up, he deals, sending the baseball to the catchers mitt with a “thwap.” The Yankee faithful cheer the successful pitch and Thaddeus waves again before making his way back toward the dugout where he’s greeted warmly by Aaron Judge and the rest of the active roster.

”89 miles,” Jim says while standing inside the dugout, his right arm still in a sling as he recovers from the gunshot wounds he suffered in Berlin. He suffered damage to his liver and his right lung but the doctors expect a full recovery.

[duke]”What?”[/duke] Thaddeus responds, not really sure what Jim is referring to.

”The pitch speed. 89 miles per hour,” Jim answers, clarifying his earlier remarks.

[duke]”Damn,”[/duke] Thaddeus responds. [duke]”I was hoping for north of 90.”[/duke] Thaddeus pulls out his phone and dials as Jim continues on.

”Well, it’s pretty good for what it is. The throw was tight. Hit the mitt dead center. You’ve never played the game before so, 89 is sort of impressive.”

Thaddeus pulls his phone away from his ear and looks at it with a confused expression before returning his attention to Jim. [duke]”Why don’t we play?”[/duke] he asks. [duke]”I have all that property. I have bating cages and the golf course is being constructed. I could very easily add a baseball diamond.

“We have the men, too.”[/duke]

”That’s a nice idea Thad, but not everyone enjoys baseball like you do.”

[duke]”Well, they probably should. I mean, is there a more exciting moment in sports than coming to the plate, down by three runs in the bottom of the ninth with bases loaded and two outs?”[/duke]

”It’s pretty subjective, really.”

Thaddeus retrieves his phone again and dials. Once more, he looks at his phone with a confused expression.

[duke]”Where’s Lincoln?”[/duke]

”Up in the luxury box,” Jim says, pointing out over the first base line.

[duke]”Come with me.”[/duke]

...9:00 AM...

Thaddeus retrieves his cell phone from his pocket and dials as he climbs the steps leading to Illuminatus One. Not receiving an answer, he elects to leave a voice mail for the intended recipient. [duke]”Dolly its Thad. I’m throwing out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium today. I figured if you wanted to get out of Kentucky for a day or so, I could have my plane sent for you.

“Join me here, watch the game. Pig out on terrible ballpark food.

“Call me back if you want to come out. Actually, just call me back regardless.”[/duke] He replaces his phone in his jeans pocket and enters the plane.

”She didn’t answer?”

[duke]”Nah,”[/duke] he replies, trying to conceal his growing concern.

”What do you make of that? It’s not typical.”

[duke]”I think I need a smaller plane for these short trips,”[/duke] Thaddeus replies, ignoring Jim’s questions. [duke]”It seems a bit much to fly a 777 from Coastal Connecticut to New York City.”[/duke]

”It is,” Jim responds while adjusting his arm sling a little tighter.

[duke]”How’s the pain?”[/duke] he asks, noticing the wince from Jim as he adjusts.

The duo enters Thaddeus’ private quarters inside the jumbo jet.

”Tolerable mostly,” Jim responds. ”It’s not normal for her not to answer your call.”

Thaddeus sighs. [duke]”No. It isn’t. But I’m not gonna get all worried about it. Maybe she’s napping. Maybe she’s taking a shit. Who knows?”[/duke]

”Who takes a shit without their cell phone? I mean, there’s only so much information to read on a shampoo bottle,” Jim jokes as he sits in his seat. He reaches for his seat belt with his left hand and winces in pain again. Noticing this, Thaddeus reaches across Jim and buckles his safety belt. ”Thanks.”

[duke]”Don’t mention it.”[/duke] Thaddeus retreats within himself, wondering why Dolly Waters hasn’t answered or at least returned his call. Realizing she must be busy with something, he let’s it go. He’d try again in a few minutes and surely she’d answer.

...11:00 AM...

Thaddeus stands within the batters box beside home plate. He’s in full Yankee uniform and he looks out over the stadium, imagining what it would have been like in the old Yankee Stadium for the greats like Mantle and Gehrig, Maris and the Babe. The true glory days of Yankee baseball and baseball in general.

”Spread your legs,” Aaron Judge says to Thaddeus who hadn’t realized he was there. ”Put some ass into it. Use a firm grip.” Judge adjusts Thaddeus’ hands on the ball bat and steps behind the netting.

The pitcher tosses an underhanded pitch and Thaddeus immediately steps out of the batters box. [duke]”What the fuck man?”[/duke]

Aaron laughs and Thaddeus smiles. ”He’s just fuckin’ with you.”

[duke]”He does it again, Imma hit him with this bat!”[/duke] Thaddeus resets himself and delivers a couple practice swings and waits.

The pitch.

An awkward swing.

And a miss.

”No, no, no. You gotta step into it as you swing,” Judge instructs. ”Otherwise, I’ll start posting this on twitter so the world can laugh at you right along with me.”

Thaddeus smiles, but resets.

The pitch.

The step and swing.

And another miss.

[duke]”Fuck!”[/duke]

”Oh relax. This isn’t a batting cage bro. That’s a real pitcher and you’re a real boy.”

[duke]”Tell that to Chris Chaos,”[/duke] Thad jokes. He resets.

The pitch.

The step and swing.

CRAACCCKKK!

[duke]”Holy shit!”[/duke]

”Holy shit!”

It’s a deep fly ball to left field. It clears the wall with ease.

[duke]”I just hit a homer at Yankee Stadium.”[/duke]

”I do it all the time bro. How’s it feel?”

[duke]”I’m awestruck.”[/duke]

”I didn’t think those skinny arms would pack that much power.”

[duke]”Me neither to be honest.”[/duke] Just then, Thaddeus drops the bat and reaches for his phone in his back pocket. [duke]”I gotta take this call,”[/duke] he says before abandoning the batters box and heading toward the dugout. He accepts the call but a moment too late. [duke]”Damn.”[/duke]

”Dolly?” Jim asks.

Thaddeus nods, [duke]”Yeah and I missed the call.”[/duke] He tries calling back. [duke]”Fuck. Right to voice mail.”[/duke]

”Maybe she’s leaving you a voice mail.”

[duke]”I dunno. Hope so.”[/duke]

...1:08 PM...

Thaddeus and James enter the luxury box where Lincoln Tritter sits mashing away on his phone while only barely paying attention to the Blue Jays and Yankees. [duke]”Lincoln,”[/duke] Thaddeus says, grabbing his attention.

”Good pitch,” Tritter says as he returns his attention to his phone.

[duke]”Never mind that, what are you working on?”[/duke]

”It seems one of the defectors has outed himself and turned himself over to Commander Brunson.”

[duke]”Put him in custody and begin interrogations immediately. Treat him fairly,”[/duke] Thaddeus orders.

”I’ll relay that to the team.”

Thaddeus hands Tritter his cell.

”What am I supposed to do with this?”

[duke]”Go into my contacts and select Dolly Waters. Put it on speaker.”[/duke]

Tritter does as requested and lays Thad’s cell on the table.

”I’m sorry, but the number you are trying to reach is no longer in service.”

Tritter raises his eyes to Thaddeus, gives Jim a once over and then back to Thaddeus.

”That’s strange.”

[duke]”This takes precedent for now.

“Lincoln, I need you to drop whatever it is you’re doing, and FIND Dolly Waters.”[/duke]

”How fast?”

[duke]”Yesterday.”[/duke]

”I’m on it.”

To Be Continued...

[duke]In before James Raven because everyone is always in before James Raven. Right James? I mean that is your M.O. right? Wait it out. See what your opponent does, hear what they say before you open your mouth? I’m an impatient man, and waiting is not something I do particularly well. I prefer to stay on offense.

Not only is it a shitty move to use, its also a pussies way out. Knowing the limitations placed upon the Savage brand it comes to your benefit to wait it out, let them strike first. Let them open their mouths and make mistakes so that when the legend finally does speak, that opponent has less of an opportunity to counterpoint.

He’s a legend in this business and there is no doubts and no two ways about it. James Raven IS a legend.

Now, I guess this is the part where I restate the obvious and tell the world that I’m a fan of James Raven. This is the part where I fanboy and ask for autographs and pictures. This is the part where I look at the accolades achieved by James Raven and I stand back and say “wow am I in trouble.” This is the part where I kiss James Raven’s ass.

Except I’m going to do none of those things. I’m not here for autographs and pictures. I’m not here to boost Raven’s already enormous ego. I’m not here to kiss his, or anyone’s ass. James is a once in a generation talent and there isn’t any doubt about it.

But so am I.

I see you, James. I see you perfectly clear and if your current run in the XWF is any indication of just how your original run went, I can see why you have so many wins and so few losses. You come back here and you set your sights on the Peter Gilmour’s and the Barney Green’s of the world. Sure you won that battle royal, eliminating me to do it, and you beat Doc D’Ville, but has it occurred to you, that if John Madison wasn’t such an uncontrollable

, that maybe, just maybe Doc would be that number one contender and your not so triumphant return would have been even less so?

What comes after me, James? You gonna reel it back in and start challenging guys like Chasm and Drezdin, guys that are about two IQ points above mentally challenged level? Maybe challenge Jenny Myst. She has a thing for guys that are huge fans of themselves for all the wrong reasons.

Gotta boost that win total!

Now look, I’m not saying Raven hasn’t earned his status. I’m sure he has. I’m sure mixed in with all those stat booster types of matches and opponents, he’s also beaten some pretty big names. Or at the very least, names that were big at the time. I’m not going to stand here and belittle those names of the past because for one thing, they’re not here to prove me right or wrong and they don’t need to. They’re just not relevant to today’s XWF. The game is different now than it was back then.

Is it better now? I guess that depends on ones definition of what makes a great wrestling product. Newer fans might say “hell yes this is way better.” The old school variety? They probably still think they’re better than everyone ever because just like you proved in your promo’s for High Stakes, the old school was filled with guys figuratively sucking each other off.

Slurp, “you’re the best.” More slurp.

“I am the best, you’re right. Okay now switch.”

It’s old school versus new school. It’s one of the best to ever step foot in the ring, versus… one of the best to ever step foot in the ring. It’s five star gold and a pay per view main event worthy match given away on free television.

Come ready for a fight, Raven. I’ve never backed down from anyone regardless of their standing within the company or the minds of the fans. When the bell rings, your legend means fuck all. I’d stand here and say that I’m going to put you out to pasture with the others, but that ain’t my style. You’re up to the challenge and I know you are. The thing is though…

So am I.

I hope you’re as good as you think you are James, because I know that I am.

You’re next on the lineup, James Raven. Batter up.[/duke]

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