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Thaddeus Duke · (11-21-2016)

Saturday, November 19, 2016 | 8:02 AM Local Time | The Sistine Chapel | Vatican City

It’s safe to say, and rather easy to see, that the heir to the Illuminatus throne is not exactly on the friendliest of terms with his own father. There’s a deep seeded resentment that Thaddeus Duke has. Where or what exactly it stems from is anyone’s guess. Regardless of whether or not the two are getting along or not, the Illuminatus King and former XWF star Sebastian Duke absolutely wants to see his son succeed in the wrestling business.

SLAMMM! The sound of a rattling wrestling ring is evident as the camera continues to pan the Sistine Chapel.

A result of that desire, is the fact that the King, after Asmodeus’ demise, had a gymnasium and sparring ring built for his son in the Sistine Chapel. No matter how good Thaddeus is in the squared circle of the XWF, he is unarguably a neophyte. He’s young. He’s new to it. No one respects him.

SLAMMMM! There goes the ring again.

The walls of the Sistine Chapel are a shrine to Sebastian Duke’s ego. His XWF championship belts and enlarged photos of some of his memorable moments grace the walls and pillars of the ancient room once dedicated to electing new Holy Father’s over the centuries, now the training ground for the future King.

SLAMMM! Finally the camera settles on the squared circle and begins to zoom in. Thaddeus Duke is trapped in a tight facelock, by his father, of all people.

”Why do you train, boy?” the King asks his son will wrenching the move tighter.

”To get better!” shouts the Prince through baited breath.

”Why do you train!?” the King asks again.

”Because they don’t respect me!” the young man shouts.

”Why don’t they respect you!?”

”Because I’m your son!”

”Why don’t they respect you!?” he asks again, then drives a fist into the side of his sons head.

”You dick!”

”Why don’t they respect you!?”

”Because I haven’t proven myself yet!”

”Good.

“WHY DON’T THEY RESPECT YOU!?” shouts the King as he wrenches harder, almost choking his kid.

”Because I’m 17!”

”You don’t deserve anything, boy! You’ve earned nothing!”

Suddenly, young Duke pops out of the hold and pops to his feet, defending himself with reckless abandon. He lays the boots to his unsuspecting father, causing Big Duke to fall to the mat and begin retreating toward the corner. Thaddeus’ body guard and friend, James Edwards acts as the referee and steps out of the way as Sebastian nears the corner and gets to his feet.

Thaddeus charges into the corner but takes a big boot to the face from his father, sending the young man staggering back and falling to a knee.

”They want it just as bad as you kid! You’re far too reckless! You don’t anticipate!”

This lights a fire under Thaddeus Duke as he charges toward his father again. The six feet nine King of Darkness, a full head taller than his son, charges out of the corner with a lariat. Thaddeus ducks the lariat and spins around. Immediately after, Sebastian spins too, and now they face each other. The younger Duke throws lefts and rights into his fathers midsection backing him slowly to another corner. Sebastian throws a right hook, but its blocked. Thaddeus retaliates with a spin and a haymaker to the side of his fathers head, dazing him in the corner.

Thaddeus drives a shin kick to his fathers chest. Then a second. Then a third. The young Duke springboards off the second rope and delivers a spinning back kick to his fathers jaw. Sebastian Duke stumbles out of the corner as Thaddeus quickly thinks of what to do next. He runs toward the ropes and leaps for the top rope, springboarding into a moonsault, and driving his father to the mat with a thundering DDT.

Thaddeus spins his father over and hooks the leg and James goes for the count.

1….. 2….. Old man Duke kicks out just as the buzzer sounds, ending the session.

As he lies on the mat, ”Why don’t they respect you!?”

Out of breath, the young man responds, ”because they fucking hate you. They hate you and don’t think I belong there. Because I’m young. Because they don’t think I have the heart for it.”

Sebastian Duke gets to his feet, still nursing his jaw from the spin kick. ”You have the heart of a warrior. The agility of a cat. But you have the reckless mind of a child.”

Thaddeus rolls his eyes.

”Look around you. What do you see?”

”Your shrine. Your celebration of yourself. Your ego turned to 100.”

”Is that what you think?”

Thaddeus shrugs as he leans against the ropes.

”Thaddeus, I’m proud of my wrestling career. I’m just as proud of my losses as I am my victories. I’m proud that I was able to prove everybody wrong. I am humbled to be considered one of the top 10 stars in the history of the Xtreme Wrestling Federation.

“I’ve heard the things you’ve said about me, and I’m not mad. But you have a lot to learn yet, kid. Those losses that you condemn me for not giving a shit about, those losses I had turned me into what I was. They molded me into the champion I became. Son, you’ll never taste what it is to be victorious, until you’ve been stung by defeat.

“You’re out there demanding title matches...”

”Christ! I never demanded...”

”Yeah, I know. But it’s how it looks. Perception is reality, kid. Until you figure that out, you’re never going to evolve. I didn’t receive my first title match until two months into my career.”

”I’m almost two months into mine,” he argues.

”Yeah but you want to know the difference? Back then, the XWF had three shows per week. You’d be hard pressed not to find my name on at least two of those cards. A lot of times, all three. I busted my ass to become a major hit and a major draw.

“You’re two fucking matches into a very young career and you’re going off about title matches and Vinnie god damn Lane who doesn’t know you from any other rookie walking in the door!”

”Yeah and you also condemned management when you first started.”

”I had reason. See, Lane has stayed out of your business, but you definitely have his attention now. And not in a good way. When I was starting out, I was legitimately screwed out of victories by the likes of Randall fucking Cross, Wallace Witasick, Shane

. I had a legitimate gripe!”

”Well Nixon’s only had two matches and..”

”Good for him! Get the hell over it! Forget about Thomas Nixon and worry about Thaddeus Duke. He’s in a title match because he won a match that was stipulated that way.”

”Look! Jake Davis, who I’ve already beat is in that match on pay per view. I’m going to beat Nixon on Wednesday. When that happens, I’ve defeated two of Lane’s top contenders for the Television title! Why should I not be considered a legitimate contender right along with them!?”

”Maybe you should, but are you ready to be champion?” he asks his son. ”My first title was the Xtreme title. And I was not quite ready yet. You know how long my run lasted?

“Two days.

“I lost it to Angelus during a tournament on Warfare. But I picked myself up, and I worked that much harder to earn a shot at another title. It took a couple months. But I worked my way up and knocked on the door of the United States championship. And at Gauntlet City, I took down the great Mark Flynn.

“I fucking owned Flynn for weeks leading up to that match.

“Then I took his pride and joy, leaving him a defeated, broken man who would never again capture the spark that made him a star.”

”You think I’m wrong? You think that logic doesn’t play a role here? Defeated Davis, and now I’ll defeat Nixon. And you don’t think I belong in that title match?”

”I’m not saying that. What I am saying, is that if Lane chooses not to include you, you use that to your advantage going forward. You take that feeling of being overlooked, and you start kicking more ass. You start earning more victories. You prove Vincent Lane wrong, and he’ll have no choice but to start putting you in title matches, or at least in a position to get a title match.”

”They’re discriminating against me because of my age.”

Sebastian Duke looks at his son like he’s an idiot. ”Dolly Water is 13 years old, dip shit. She’s won a lot of titles.”

”It’s accidental. She’s proving Lane wrong, but I know Lane is just continuing to set her up for failure, and hoping he’ll succeed and that she’ll fail.”

”You don’t know it. You think it. There’s a difference.

“Get your head out of your ass and do you. Opportunities will come as long as you keep working for it.

“But you gotta stay patient. Two matches kid, you haven’t proved anything yet.”

With that, the Illuminatus King exits the ring and makes his way to the exit doors. Thaddeus Duke exits the ring and grabs a Gatorade from a nearby table and nearly swallows the entire contents. ”Do you think he’s right, Jim?” he asks, knowing his friend will be honest with him.

”I don’t know.

“I mean, I can definitely see it both ways. You’re thinking isn’t incorrect. Assuming you do win against Nixon and Graves, you then have two victories over the two known participants in the title match at Wild Card. To me it’s kind of a no-brainer. Your logic is correct, but sometimes life just doesn’t work that way.

“That’s where I see the point His Highness was making.”

Thaddeus makes his way to his fathers Universal Championship trophy case. After opening the case, he retrieves the title belt at stares at his reflection in its big gold surface. [gold]”I look good in gold,” he states quietly before making his way to a full body mirror nearby. He hoists the title over his shoulder.

”I am championship material, Jimmy.”

”Are you?”

Thaddeus looks at his friend, grins, then looks back to the mirror.

”Abso-fuckin-lutely.”

"Be patient, Thad. Your day will come."

"Patience is not a trait I have."

"I know.

"Just keep working hard. You'll get there."

"I dream of championship gold."

"You will be champion."

"I aspire to be the best."

"You will be the best."

"My father is just like the rest of them, Jim. He doesn't respect me either."

"What are you going to do about that?"

"I've already started. Ghost Taint. Jake Davis. Luca. This week, Graves and Nixon. I'm going to beat it into them. I'm going to prove to the world, to Nixon, to Lane, to my father, that I am the future of the Xtreme Wrestling Federation.

"They don't have to like it, but I'm not giving them a choice. They'll have to accept it."

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