(continued from backstory in "Aw, Shut the Fuck Up", "Fuckin' the Past" & "Killin' Chaos")


-Late 2002-


Dusty opens his eyes and blinks weirdly. I knee-jerk toss my knife into a patch of calla lilies without thinking then immediately kick myself for doing it.

I definitely don't get it when I walk over and grab Dusty by the arm, pulling him to his feet. He wobbles, falls back but I pull him forward again. He follows with the momentum and nearly drops forward this time onto his face before I catch him with my left arm and steady him.

I can't do this. This is crazy. I'll get caught. What the fuck am I thinking doing this here!?

"I have to go home," he slurs.

I'm not prepared for that. He takes a step back and his legs noodle, dropping him to his ass split-legged with his palms on the grass. I actually feel kinda sorry for 'im.

I knocked this motherfucker out. He's gonna call the cops for sure. I'm fucked.

"What happened?"

What? No way. What the fuck?

"Jimmy? When'd you got here?"

I'm fucked when he remembers. I have to do something.

"Dude, we're at my house. Remember? You took a big ass hit o' shit and you held it in and passed the fuck out," I lie. "Fuckin' numbskull," I add for effect.

"What? Help me, man."

I help him up.

"I don't feel good, I have to go home."

Get 'im the fuck outta here.

I lead him like an elderly man back out to the street. It takes a good 5 minutes or so of stop and go walking to get Dusty back to his '93 Honda Civic. It takes him too long to unlock the door and get in.

Then he sits there, staring out the windshield. I start losing my cool.

"Dusty you gotta go. Drive safe."

He frowns. Looks down at his lap. Looks to me...silently. Finally after several seconds:

"Hit me up later."

"Yeah ok."

I close his door and he slides his key into the ignition, starting the engine. I walk away. By the time I've reached my house he's still sitting there with the engine running. I move to walk back, stop, then take two steps before he reverses, turns left, and rolls away.

I take a look up and down the street before retreating into the house. I scamper-limp to the back door and out into the backyard. I snatch up first the pookie and bandanna then the knife.

I spot the dub baggy, still mostly full. I snatch that too.

Leave. You have to leave. You need an alibi.

As fast as I can, I'm back dash-hobbling through the house to the front room, barely pulling the bay window curtain aside to peek out in paranoia. No parents yet. Out the front doors I go, locking up in haste behind myself, nearly tripping as I cross the lawn, whipping open the door to the car and hopping back in.

"What took so long," Nicole asks, opening the front door as I limp up? "Trevor's gonna be home in an hour!"

She glances down at my swollen right hand.

"What _happened_!?"

Nicole turns and strides on those long Italian legs of hers into the kitchen. I hear the freezer open, the muted roar of the icebox, the rustling of cubes, the ripping of paper towel... The freezer slams closed and she returns, offering me the makeshift ice pack. She kisses my hand.

Before I take the pack, I pull the dub baggy from my left pocket and hold it out.

"Did you rob Dusty? Is that what happened?"

I hadn't _robbed_ him obviously, so the scoff and look of incredulity I react with is genuine.

"What? No." A laugh. I force it. I accept the ice pack as soon as she takes the dub. "I fuckin' laid 'im out though."

"Shut up," she blurts, "really??"

"He deserved it, Waffles. He stabbed me in the back over Heather. He deserves worse and he's fuckin' lucky I didn't do it. If anyone asks...I've been here with you the whole time. K?"

Nicole nods. She may not have ever accepted me as a serious relationship but she'd never betray me. Ever.

"Now all I need to do is pay back Sean Bankston."

"Sean _Bankston_!? You didn't hear?? He died last year, dude. Car accident."

My initial shock is almost immediately replaced by amusement. So Sean's already dead, eh? And I've knocked Dusty into amnesia. This feels...like a victory.

I don't need to actually kill for all situations, or any, of betrayal...all I have to do...is knock 'em out and everything else falls into place...

The two of us retire to the bedroom. And I...I am at ease.

END
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Lacerating a Liar"







-The Venetian, Las Vegas, Nevada-

-Sunday June 11 2017-


Having already prepped my phone for promo and running severely short on time the scene opens recording, still holed up in my hotel room following my less than ideal dealings pertaining to my medical marijuana grow and silent partnership with a mafia don demanding 100% of the profits for the next 12 harvests.

"Thaddeus Duke...I forgot how tiring it gets when the opponents you debate with find it in any way credible to argue for argument's sake. That is, in a nutshell, what's been happenin' since I uploaded my first furious flayin' and has continued with not only yourself but the fruitbasket you try so very hard to differentiate yourself from: Kristin Chaos. However, where Chaos will either ignore a nailin' out of recognition of futility or simply offer up a truly pathetic parry in response, you'll take my apt accusations and respond to them in a way they weren't presented. Now unless you're incapable of comprehension, and I don't believe that to be the case, that tells me, since this is now the second time you've done it, you truly do believe you're smarter than I am. Hell, you may actually believe you're smarter than ALL of us, otherwise it makes zero sense why you attempt to squirm your maggot ass under the radar with such obvious inaccuracies and deceit. At this point it becomes prudent to present what I specifically refer to. But first...

In your 8th symphony of semi-decent, after that very flattering introductory rundown o' moi, which, I must admit made me blush...you plowed forward into the territory o' treachery I've had you twerkin' to like the puppet master I am, startin' with "Aw, Shut the Fuck Up". You stated in no uncertain terms you believe everyone should be out for themselves in this business...and here we are right back where we started...when I accused you of joining Ax3 just to get close to the Uni title and you denied it. Lemme tell ya, the concept behind a stable is team, Thaddeus. Team. The fact you've shown you've no loyalty whatsoever to any team GIFTING you with membership, whether it be you fuckin' over Dolly or you aiding in makin' things difficult for myself and Ax3, the point remains. Do you see The Kings at each other's throats? What about Vinny, Jimmy and Johnny? I dare say, and I motherfuckin' guaranTEE it...even if the Universal Title were held by one member o' one o' those groups, they still wouldn't be experiencin' the amateur ass backstabbery and sophomoric slimy shenanigans displayed by you and Chrissy Chaos. It's all my fault for inviting either of you, as well. I take full responsibility in believin' a brotherhood could exist between children and men. Shit...with the exception of my bro Bobby, I truly DON'T know who to trust anymore among us. I don't know why I overlooked Graves and his blatant support of Cadryn in the halls at HQ that day when Main came under fire by The Essence o' Temporary Excellence Tiberius. That aside, revise your statement, Thaddeus. When it comes to those who can't crush, those who hate for no reason other than jealousy...THOSE people will always be out for themselves. That isn't me. I AM great at what I do, I don't NEED to play dirty. You can consider me a better person than you, Duke. I knowingly allowed you and Chaos into Ax3 with no motivation other than friendship. It wasn't because I thought I couldn't just come at you from the position of an enemy, it wasn't because I didn't think I couldn't defeat you, I can definitely beat the shit outta both o' you. The only thing that occurred here is a man mightier than the two o' you gave you both a shot at bein' better than you are and you failed. It's a credit to ME, not either of you, that it takes scheming to get to Jim Caedus. It proves just how dangerous I am...and it reveals how foolish you are thinkin' you could play mind games in your promo.

Here we arrive at what I was speakin' of prior. Jim Caedus never said you protest the Dolly incident too much. Jim Caedus said you protest the relation to Theo Pryce too much. And I know why you attempted so weakly to divert attention away from the points I made: I killed you when I made them. I shut you down. You ain't gonna erase or deflate what I did, it's there for all to see and all I need do is backhand your hack magician worthy words, as I've just done, to counter it. There's enough evidence against you and Pryce workin' together to make this "All Ax3 Main Event" happen, were this an unlimited civil suit I'd be walkin' away with the judgment...just like I'll be walkin' outta High Stakes II with the Universal Title. You can't outsmart me, you can't trick me...all you can do is try and fail, fuckstick. Did I expect you to decline stackin' the deck against me when all can see I've been struggling with my new schedule and responsibilities? Yes, if you had joined Ax3 for the right reasons. But you didn't. That doesn't make me stupid, it makes you a scumbag. Period.

"And if you really expected me to, than you might be dumber Chris Chaos..."

Keep stumblin' over your words, you shakin', hairless lil chihuahua. And by the way, save YOUR assumptions on what I'd do if you won the title. I've lost enough loved ones in my life that I place value on others I care for and nothing trumps that. The Universal Title is the most important part of my life, but it doesn't mean I'd hate a friend for beating me out for it. At least...before it became apparent you were tryin' to trick and therefore humiliate me that would've been the case. You can't tell me what I would or wouldn't do. I'm not known for lying, I'm known for bein' genuine and unashamed of who I am, whether or not disloyal dildos like you refuse to live that way and don't understand the concept doesn't change it. It only makes you look worse. YOU would clearly not allow a friend to remain so were he to defeat you. It's plain as day. I'm glad you challenged me though, now I can drop Main's name as well. Best of friends since he added that first L to my tally. Who's got the flawed logic now, nimrod? Thaddeus...don't you ever get tired of bein' fulla shit?

Why does your relation to Theo matter? Yeah, that's what I thought, Thaddeus. Despite you tryin' to steal the thunder away from my concrete conclusions you STILL realize you have to address them. Flacidly I might add. It matters because it exhibits your character, your cowardice and your untrustworthy nature. It matters because if it didnt, it would've been you, the number one contender, I faced in my first defense, not BWP. It matters because Theo made the match for a royal reaming on a grand stage and "just for the helluvit" added you to the mix. It matters because The Kings are my enemies, they possess a much crueler outlook on extinguishing opponents and by "destroying me" with my own stable around me, against two traitorous twats, it goes a long way towards an attempt at assassinating my ambition and heart outright. It matters because Theo knows he could whip your ass a lot easier than my own for the Uni Title. Unfortunately, death itself couldn't keep me down, Duke. Losing all my loved ones couldn't do it. You, Chaos and The Kings...you can't do it either. If ANY of you had ever suffered as I'VE suffered and survived...you'd know better. It'll be a pleasure, as always, to prove my opposition wrong. NOW the matter is closed.

Hey Thaddeus, just because you're incapable of makin' spicy and creative threats and insults doesn't mean you acting tough despite them with laws and rules protecting you makes you sound tough. It makes you sound like a bitch who earns an asskicking then threatens to call the police if having to face it. And for the record, if I were to stab you around 50 times to the face or actually bite off your fingers I'd be doin' it in private where you'd discover you aren't as strong or capable as you thought. Any time you're willin' to test that theory you just go right ahead. I'll educate you on the last lesson of your life. What will really means.

Your whole argument about building up popularity for Duke Nation? Garbage. You don't entertain anyone, Thaddeus. You bore them. You mixed in with me is what gained you some modicum of attention...but only when you started competing with me. Get the point? I own you now. Like I own Chaos.

"Jim Caedus thinks one unarmed man is more dangerous than staring down loaded gun barrels, or having to use your jet as a fucking missile and ejecting, or your location being fired at with tanks and just war in general."

Lyin' sack o' shit. Again, trying to convince everyone of what YOU WANTED me to say, but didn't, so you could retort with that. Fucking pathetic. You're such a pussy, Duke. I said bein' in a war doesn't compare to bein' in the ring with me and it doesn't. Tell us all how war in all its horrific glory defines hand to hand combat in a ring with rules? Exactly, it doesn't, it didn't for BWP as it won't for you. You tried to claim my very clear response to your sayin' surviving a war means you can't be intimidated wasn't my own response disagreeing with you. And I'm correct. All anyone has to do is view your vignettes and they can see your normal studious and anal quality has been altered to a man who speaks and stutters, leavin' words outta statements because he's too nervous to catch it. Thaddeus, denial doesn't define truth. It's simply denial. And when you deny that which is apparent, it makes you a liar.

You claiming your spineless strategy of overwhelming Christine and I with watered down D plus material ISN'T compensating for the fact that YOU. CAN'T. TALK. TRASH. is sickening. Pathetic is as pathetic does, dickhead, and you're as desperately pathetic as they come. It's not apt for you to claim I've shown disinterest, it's more desperation. People know exactly what's been goin' on with me, including you...the fact you'd try to paint it this way in promo is the penultimate betrayal. If I didn't care, I wouldn't promo at all. I'd toss the title in the trash and walk away. I'm breakin' my ass to balance what I must now and I'm STILL fuckin' you up left and right with my words. The fuck is your excuse for havin' the time to phone it in as often as you have and STILL not bein' able to sound as good as I do? The answer:

Y
O
U

D
O
N
T

H
A
V
E

I
T

End of story.

It doesn't matter what you say. It doesn't matter what you believe. You don't have the accolades under your belt that I do because YOU are the one who doesn't put his best foot forward. In a match your uncle set up for you, with me UNABLE to promo as much I did for the Lottery, OF COURSE YOU'LL try harder. Stop acting as if everyone doesn't already know how you work, Thaddeus, it's embarrassing. Don't lecture me on my work ethic. The fact I have to deal with what I have to deal with and still reserve my time to hit you back so fuckin' hard is what makes a champion. Adapting. Persevering. That's not you. Thaddeus Duke is "Oh NOW you're gonna go full tilt". It only matters when you're consistent, cocksucker. You ain't.

Fuck Thaddeus Duke. Fuck his transparent lies and hype. I'm Jim Caedus. What I've been able to dish out may not be enough to utterly wipe you off the map, Thadly, but it's enough to accomplish what I've been accomplishing from the very beginning...victory. Doubt me? Check the motherfuckin' record books, bitch. I thrive on struggle. You cow to it."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX