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Thaddeus Duke · (06-05-2017)

[duke]Present Day | 2:44 PM | Illuminatus ‘Red’ Headquarters | Paris, France [/duke]

[duke]”Could you be my father for a minute?”[/duke] Thaddeus asks as he chokes back his emotional state. Not particularly well, but the attempt is made nevertheless.

Sebastian Duke is not an emotional man. At least not outwardly. At this moment, seeing his son growing with emotion that he’s struggling to contain, it tugs hard at the strings of his heart. It obliterates his natural instinct to view his son as his enemy after what transpired a couple months ago. Make no mistake, Sebastian struggles with the fact that his own kid, his only kid, despises him. He’d have made a move on the Compound or on Vatican City or on any of Thaddeus’ military installations already had Thaddeus not been his son.

Perhaps its a weakness. Perhaps its hesitation in order to maybe preserve that relationship and possibly better it. Perhaps its just being ill equipped to organize a military, a splintered one at that, in order to engage his sons forces.

”Please,” Sebastian says with a shaky voice. ”Sit down.”

Thaddeus hesitates. He’s never sure of his father. Never sure what’s a genuine gesture and what’s a facade. He relents though, and sits across from his father.

”What’s on your mind?”

[duke]”I’ve been having dreams,”[/duke] he begins to explain through bated breath, for the first time doubting whether or not he should even have come here. [duke]”Dreams too vivid to be...”[/duke]

”Just dreams,” Sebastian interjects, completing Thaddeus’ thought.

[duke]”Yeah exactly.”[/duke]

”Are they of a different time?”

[duke]”Yeah. You know.”[/duke]

”The girl?” he asks in a more suggestive tone than a questioning one.

Thaddeus nods but says nothing.

”Something is triggering it," Sebastian says, leaning back in his chair. "That Waters girl?”

[duke]”What?”[/duke] Thaddeus asks, kind of confused as to why his dad would go straight to Dolly Waters. [duke]”No I don’t think so.”[/duke]

”So doing something completely out of character for you, like betraying your only real friend in the business has absolutely zero to do with why you’re dreaming of a dead girl from some other time frame? Gimme a break Thaddeus.”

[duke]”She’s dead?”[/duke] he asks, somewhat shocked.

Sebastian swallows hard, regretting the fact that he let the cat out of the bag in regards to the girl in Thaddeus’ dreams.

”Yeah,” he replies sheepishly. ”Look, there’s a lot you don’t know about. There’s things you can’t possibly understand.”

[duke]”THEN HELP ME UNDERSTAND!”[/duke] he shouts. [duke]”I have the biggest match of my fucking career in a little over a week and I can’t get a fucking decent night of sleep. I lost to Mystica, I barely escaped with a win over Chaos. Myst is good, but not great so she was pretty easy. I just kind of let her beat me up for awhile.

“But dad… this...”[/duke]

”Is for the Universal title and you can’t fucking concentrate,” again, the father is in the head of the son.

[duke]”Exactly and...”[/duke]

”I’m the only one still alive that knows what happened. I’m the only one that knows what you’re dreaming about and can help you sort it out.”

[duke]”Yes.”[/duke]

”Look… I can give you the meat and potatoes. I can’t put it together for you. You gotta do that on your own.”

[duke]”What was her name? The girl in my dreams.”[/duke]

Sebastian sighs deeply and hesitates.

”Lillian,” he finally answers. ”We all called her Lilly.”

Thaddeus sits silently, letting his father do the talking and the thinking.

”The little community we stayed in, Lilly was the daughter of the leader, Zacharia. He was a bit of a buffoon but a nice man. An older man of around 60 or so. She was your age. She helped you out during a sickness and you got close.

“Too close.

“You laid with her and that’s about the end of that.”

[duke]”You know more than you’re telling,”[/duke] Thaddeus says in a bit of a standoffish tone of voice.

”How can you be sure?”

[duke]”Because I know there’s more to it than that, dad. You just told me she’s dead. I know I died. What the fuck man? Why is it so damn hard for you to tell me what you know!?”[/duke]

”Because I don’t like talking about it! I don’t like remembering the worst day of my fucking life!”

[duke]”It’s not about you anymore, dad. This is about me.”[/duke]

”Fuck you for this,” he replies quickly. ”The ruler of the kingdom had Lilly kidnapped in order to force Zacharia to hand us over to him. The King only saw us as fugitives. Zacharia saw us as human god damn beings. I planned to attack the castle using Zacharia’s men. While I was away doing the XWF thing, SOMEBODY got too impatient and went off without me.

“What this SOMEBODY got, was a gift in return for his trouble. A box containing Lilly’s head. You flipped shit, you went back to the community, gathered some weapons and stormed off just when I returned. I chased after you, you made it to the castle before I did, you cornered the King and he shot you in the head.

“You died in my fucking arms, you asshole. Fuck you so much for this!”

Realizing his father is having trouble controlling his emotions, Thaddeus has a moment before digging any deeper. They are at odds and that much is for sure. Sebastian even telling him anything at all should be a telling sign to Thaddeus that perhaps the wall of ice between them is beginning to melt. But he’s young and he doesn’t really recognize the opportunity before him.

[duke]”So what does this all mean to you?”[/duke] asks Thaddeus as he swallows his emotions.

”What does what mean?” Sebastian asks after careful deliberation.

[duke]”The dreams. I am having them and I’m not really any closer to WHY.”[/duke]

”We’re not on the best of terms but you are my son. I’ve watched you in the ring and I watch your promos. I see what every one else has been telling you all along.”

Thaddeus looks puzzled.

”The key is Dolly god damn Waters. If your subconscious is replacing Lilly’s face with hers, then yeah, it obviously has nothing to do with the fact that you love that poor girl and you refuse to admit it to yourself.

“Jesus kid. Get your head in the game here and do what you know how to do. Get that little girl the hell out of your head and focus on what you got in front of you. Bring home that fucking title!”

Thaddeus sits quietly, pondering his fathers words.

[duke]”You’re right,”[/duke] he admits. [duke]”At least partially. I do need to focus on this match,”[/duke] he says as he stands, preparing to leave.

”Do you plan on fighting me?” Sebastian asks out of left field.

Initially, Thaddeus ignores the question and heads for the door. [duke]”Only if I have to, dad.”[/duke]

”Do you have any idea what you’re in for if it comes to that?”

[duke]”I’m not scared, dad. My Air Force would destroy you.”[/duke]

”Yeah it sure as shit would,” Sebastian says before dropping the other shoe. ”How do you plan on using your Air Force in American air space?”

Thaddeus doesn’t answer. Instead he gives his father a half hearted salute and exits the room.

With Thaddeus gone, Sebastian picks up his cell phone and dials. ”Yeah its me….

...

“Thaddeus is distracted. I think they call it puppy love.

...

“We move now. His head isn’t with the Illuminatus.

…

“That’s right.

…

“That’s right. The Vatican.

…

“We move out tonight.”

"Ladies and gentlemen," Jim Ross begins, speaking to his podcast listeners. "It is with great pleasure that I introduce, one of the most complete packages I've ever had the privilege of watching, Mr. Thaddeus Duke.

"Thaddeus, thank you for doing this."

[duke]"Really, the pleasure is mine."[/duke]

"I guess, let me start by asking, where are you right now, as you prepare for this grueling sixty minute Iron Man Match coming up at High Stakes, and to the best of my knowledge, Thaddeus, its the first time ever that this type of match has been contested in a triple threat variety."

[duke]"Right now I'm on my plane. I'm forty thousand feet above France. I'm headed to Naples to blow off some steam, Jim.

"I'm not sure if its the first time for this variety of iron man, but it promises to be the best."[/duke]

"Forgive me, Thaddeus, but shouldn't you be focusing on your match? And not, say, flying around Europe?"

[duke]"To each their own I guess. I stay informed, Jim. I have a gym with a ring in my plane so, if I need to practice a new move, or a counter to something someone else does, then I can do that wherever I am."[/duke]

"This past Warfare, you were taken to town, so to speak, by Jenny Myst. Would you care to discuss that match?"

[duke]"I mean, if you really want me to, but I don't see the need.

"Jenny Myst is a competitor that is growing into herself still. And did she take me to town? Or was I just giving back and allowing her to show her stuff?

"The reality is, that by now everyone knows just how good I really am, and I don't need to show off in the ring. When I grew bored, I ended the match."[/duke]

"With Pandora's Box?"

[duke]"With Pandora's Box."[/duke]

"A move your... estranged, for lack of a better word... father made famous."

[duke]"That would be appropriate, I think. Jim, I'm a student of the game. I'm constantly learning new things, I'm trying new things. I'm always, always evolving. Most of the time they work, sometimes maybe not so much. Regardless of who made that hold famous, its still a great hold and I'll likely use it again."[/duke]

"So you're saying facing Jenny Myst was... a night off for you."

[duke]"You're putting two and two together Jim, and getting seven. That's not at all what I said and not at all what I meant. Jenny Myst is a competitor that is just beginning to bud. A different kind of man, would stomp those buds into the ground and snuff out her stardom before it began.

"I'm not that way. What is it you always say to those that don't get a lot of television time? Maximize your minutes? That's the opportunity I gave her. To maximize her minutes."[/duke]

"Week in and week out, you show us this fantastical story about growing up, about your broken relationship with your father. Your friendship with Jim Edwards. One of your opponents calls you delusional. He calls it a fantasy world.

"What are your thoughts on his remarks?"

[duke]"Chris Chaos is in his own world, Jim. I think at times he confuses what we do here in the XWF with things they do in WWE or in TNA or those other places where the stories are made up and the results don't matter.

"You know, and I know, and everybody knows that what you see when you tune into Savage, or tune into Warfare or watch the stars of the Xtreme Wrestling Federation go at it on pay per view, what you're seeing is real. It isn't made up and as a competitor here, the absolute worst thing you can ever do, is try to put yourself over by calling someone else fake. It was a big time misstep by Chaos in a month or two full of missteps.

"His star is fading and he knows it. He's underestimated me because he beat me once. To him, if you beat a guy once means you beat him every time. I've proved and so has he, that isn't the case. If it was, I'd have lost to Doctor D'Ville at Lethal Lottery. I'd have lost to Chaos a month ago or whenever it was on Savage.

"He can continue to reach and grasp at straws all he wants, but the fact is, all his straws are coming up short. And as long as he continues to deny the talent around him is at the very least equal to him, he'll continue to struggle going forward.

"In order to be the best, you have to continue evolving. I'm 18 years old and even I know that, Jim. I evolve. Jim Caedus evolves. Cadryn Tiberius evolves. Even Jenny Myst has evolved in the short time we've seen her in the ring. Chris Chaos? He's still the same self-absorbed jackass that tries living off what he did two or three months ago.

"The game changes, Jim. Either change with it, or get lost in the shuffle."[/duke]

"Fans watch you in the ring. Your performances and your style reminds many of Bret Hart. Of Shawn Michaels. Of Randy Savage. That's elite company in my view. Was it always a goal to viewed as one of the best in-ring performers to lace up the boots?"

[duke]"I have very little desire to be one of the best. I have every desire to be THE best in-ring performer this industry has ever seen. The outcome of my matches is secondary to me. I want to be the star. I want to be the guy that the fans see and on their way home from our events says "yeah but man can that Thaddeus Duke do it all in the ring" or "Wow, that Chaos match was good, but damn that Duke match, off the charts."

"I want to be the yeah, but. And I think I've done that from the beginning."[/duke]

"Let's talk about Dolly Waters and the kick heard 'round the world."

[duke]"I knew that was coming."[/duke]

"Why'd you do it?"

[duke]"Jim, I've already explained this on Savage, right after it happened. I did what I did and I'd do it again. You don't know me. Chaos doesn't know me. You all just think you do because I show a lot of my life on TV. Forget what you think you know. There's a larger picture here, that everyone is missing.

"Let's leave it at that."[/duke]

"Even Chris Chaos says its out of character for you. I happen to agree and I know most others agree. Your reasons and all of that, it just doesn't fit. I don't buy it. There's something else going on here."

Silence.

[duke]"And if there was something else going on Jim, why would I tell you?"[/duke]

Silence.

"You've talked about Chris Chaos and your feelings toward him. Is there any respect you have for him?"

[duke]"I'd so in the beginning I respected him. He was Universal Champion and winning all these matches one and two times a week. He was headlining the shows and pay per views. Since then, I've got to know him a little, at least as far as AX3 goes, but no. I have zero respect for him."[/duke]

"Why is that?"

[duke]"First of all, because he thought it was a great idea to try and tell the world that everything they see from me is a lie when it isn't. Second, because not only does he refuse to admit that there's talent around here that's equal or better than him, he also can't even admit it to himself. That's probably worse."[/duke]

"What about Jim Caedus? He's red hot and on a hell of a roll."

[duke]"Oh he certainly is, Jim. I'd never deny it. And yeah, I do respect Jim. He's a bit off and a bit strange, but yeah, he's a pretty good guy. I respect him from a competition standpoint certainly. He's a great competitor and leaves it all in the ring, just like I do.

"It's a contest I'm 100 percent looking forward to. I'm excited about it and I'm sure he is too.

"We'll see what happens at High Stakes, because if I have my way, and I usually get my way, everything is about to change. I'm going to High Stakes with the intention of coming out on top. I'm going to High Stakes with Universal expectations.

"Duke Nation is rising, JR, and I'm going to become Universal Champion. I'm planting my flag in the center of the ring. The XWF is going to become Duke Nation.

"One Nation...

"Under Duke."[/duke]

Click.

OOC: Francis Underwood, FTW

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