War Games part 2



"In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.” - Sun Tzu

It had been a shitty couple of weeks, sure I won back my world title from Knox. My wife was recovering from her injuries. I was in probably the best shape of my career, but the fucking world was crashing down around my head. Me no likey.

{The Bane Home - Las Vegas NV - “The Intro”

I looked down at my blue and silver swatch, the time was two a.m. on a Monday morning. What? Don’t hate, swatches are cool. Amber was lost in peaceful dreams, or as peaceful as they can be for her right now. I stood in front of the microphone, double-checking the pop filter and making final adjustments to the equalizer. My hair hung loosely, cascading down my shoulders. I had gotten tired of it falling in my eyes and brushed it back out of my face and tied it in a ponytail. I finally feel like I’m ready to begin, so I start the recording.

There’s a lot of talk about CCPE right now. Rightly so, there are many members of the enterprise present in this thing. Why is that important? It’s important because we represent more than just ourselves, despite what Elijah thinks. We represent our families, our home fed, if that’s not already XWF, and maybe most importantly, our legacies. Some of you are still trying to build one, maybe you haven’t had much luck, or maybe, just maybe you dropped the ball when it was given to you.

I raise my hand and smirk.

Most of the people in this thing won’t recognize what I did there, it’s called taking ownership of your failures. I had a shot at the Supercontinental title in a ladder match against Peter Vaughn not long ago, but I failed. It’s just as simple as that. I make no excuses and I hold no grudges against him. Elijah, your attitude is well documented. What was it you said….oh right, “All of Notorious Alliance can go to hell.

I shoot him the middle finger in response to his nonsense.

It’s just business though, right? Nothing personal in that at all. He does have some quality people to back him, not as good as Ned has but still a good group. Ned leads this team, Jason, myself, and Ring Master make up the rest. The singular person that earned my respect a while back from the opposing team is Kido. That one is a very honorable sort and should be respected. To add to that, it gives The Trilogy the current Universal Championship to boot.

I give Kido a slight bow to show that I meant what I said.

Others within CCPE, like myself are on a stacked team. The thing about All-Star teams though is you never know if they can get along long enough to get it done. We’ll see how that all works out shortly, won’t we?

I wink at the camera as it fades to black.

---

{Unnamed Hotel - Milwaukee WI - “Open the Door!”}

I love this town, but what I didn’t love was surprises. I had gotten a call from Cy Riddle only moments before. He had explained to me that Kat was hurting and she was hiding from everyone, instead of letting them know, so we could at least be supportive of her and her decision. This leads to me losing my temper a little and storming up to her hotel room door. I banged on it, probably harder than I had intended, “Open the fucking door, Katarina!” She opened the door with a coy smile as I stepped through the open door. Kat, “Hi Mac! Come on in.” She had to sidestep me to keep her from getting run over. She could see my anger, I was seething mad right now. She knew why and even tried to give me the “pout of doom”. That in itself worked out great for her because it made me laugh.

“You’re killin me smalls,” I said to her as she stood there smiling at me. “Wanna tell me why you didn’t care to mention that you were retiring?” She points around in a vague motion, “I think this speaks for itself, don’t you?” I shook my head in disbelief, “No, no it does not. If you had told me earlier and I didn’t get phone calls about it, that’s what led to this.” Her eyes began to well ever so slightly. Before she could speak, I interject, “Look Kat, I love you, you’re my baby sister in heart and arms. I only want what is best for you.” I wrapped her up in a hug. She beat on my arms, “Can’t breathe you big bastard.” I quickly release her and we both laugh for a second. I held both of her hands, “If this is what you want or need, I’ll back you to the end of the earth. You should know this by now.”

She nodded, sniffling a bit, “I know, you just had so much on your plate already, I didn’t want you to find out at all. Who told you?” I laughed, shaking my head, “snitches get stitches,” I said with a smirk and wink. “Fucking Cy,” was her response as she shook her own head. I gave her no indication, either way, she would have to stew on that for a while and try to figure it out on her own. She could tell I wasn’t budging on it so we moved on to small talk for a short time. That was when I felt the black tendrils trying to creep into my brain again. “Fucking Jasper”, I muttered to myself. Kat’s eyebrows shot upward and she seemed to grow a little paler. “He’s attacking you right now?” I nodded in response, I could feel the power surge against my defenses. My own defenses weren’t very strong but I seemed to have a gift for the counterattack.

I could feel him starting to back off a bit, that meant he would attack again with more power than before. This was the perfect time to spring the trap I had worked with Whisper on. So, I waited and he did as expected, coming at me with full force. I held him at bay for a few moments and then I let him in. I could feel my body stiffen at first, and then I clamped down on him. It was like allowing a predator into your home and they don’t know it’s a trap until the door is shut behind them and the spikes come into play.

That’s exactly what I did, and thanks to reinforcement from Whisper, we damaged him. I couldn’t hear him scream but I could feel the trembling in his connection to him. let him go, Mac I allowed him to retreat back into his own mind and out of mine. I shook my head in an attempt to clear it. “Are you okay?” I nodded and took a deep breath, “I am now, fuck he’s brutal.” She laid a hand on my shoulder, “That’s the reason that Whisper didn’t want you to put yourself in harm’s way.” I nodded, “I know, she told me, but by then it was too late. He and I had already met and he had me targetted as a way to get back at her.” She patted me on the shoulder, “You look like shit, you should go get some sleep.” I nodded, “I love you sis, but you’re a brat for not telling me sooner.” I heard her huff as I stepped out of her room and back into the hallway. I let the door swing shut and once the latch caught and I could hear her turn the deadbolt, I muttered to myself. “If I hadn’t been so fucking busy with other things, I might have been able to help you. I should have fucking seen this.”

---

{The Bane Ranch - Port Arthur TX - “Kinda Cool”}

It was just another one of those marvelous summer days in southeast Texas. If by marvelous you meant like a convection oven that is. A fifteen-mile-an-hour breeze to go with triple-digit temps was not my idea of a good time. But, it was Texas and as I said, it was summer. I had started on this fence line at five this morning and now it was approaching late afternoon. The occasional mooing from the cows was amusing as if they were judging my work. I was soaked to the bone in sweat and had gone through the last of my water an hour ago. I clipped the last piece of barbed wire, wrapping it tightly, “Don’t judge me,” I said to one of the heifers nearby. She mooed at me in return. “Someone is in a sassy mood.” I laughed, thinking I must be losing my mind, talking to a cow. “Eh, talking to them is about like watching an Angela Vaughn or Jenny Myst promo,” said my wife who had just rolled up in the jeep. Not as the driver but as a passenger. She tossed me a water bottle, which I juggled and almost dropped. “How so?” I started to ask and then it hit me. “Rude Cow’s” She crinkled her nose and I chuckled softly.

“Red, I don’t even know what hashtag cool means.” She pondered that for a moment, “considering who it came from, I don’t think it’s a compliment.” I nodded in acceptance of that, “I didn’t really think it was, but I had to ask.” She laughed at me as I slugged more water down. My phone began to ring, Amber picked it up for me, “Ned?” “yeah, toss it to me, please.” She did so and this time I caught it with sure hands. I answered the call from Ned, “Yeah, I’m down. I’ll see you then.” She eyed me, “What was that about?” I smiled in return and I responded with a smile, “Strategy discussion before our match.” I knew I would need to head out soon, I honestly didn’t want to. I was getting too old for this shit. I knew it and I think that my beautiful bride did as well.

“Hey Josh, is the old man still around?” Josh shook his head, “Donny, you know you’re older than Mac, right” Josh looked at me with pleading eyes and I laughed. I took the radio from him and responded, “What’s up Donny?” Only a short pause before responding, “Mac we got a mare in trouble, the colt she’s carrying is trying to come out but he’s not in position for this.” This just gets better and better I thought to myself. “On my way,” I said as I handed the radio back to Joshua. We were at the barn in a matter of minutes. I rushed through the barn door, Donny was trying to urge the mare to stand up. They typically stand up and then get back down several times in early labor. “Atta boy, Donny, that’s the right thing to do.” He smiled sheepishly as the mare got back down and seemed to ease her panic. “You call Doc,” I asked. He nodded, “he’s on his way.” One of our local veterinarians, Doc Sampson walked in the barn door at that time. “Well?” I laughed, “Pat would you check her?” He harumphed and approached the mare, she gave him a slight whinny and nudged Pat. I smiled at him, “Thank you sir.” He shrugged, “Not like I got other things to do Mac.”

He was quite the sour old man, that one was. He checked her and smiled, “She’s good to go, only a matter of time before that foal will arrive.” I nodded and the foal decided now was a good time. It struggled at first to clear the canal, but then he was there. So fragile, so beautiful, it never ceased to amaze me when one was born. Doc looked over at me, “you gonna name this one?” I shook my head, “No sir, that is always a mistake. I learned that from you, early on.” He smiled, “Well I’ll be damned, you are capable of learning.” Amber snorted a laugh, “Him? Not a chance.”

---

Still standing in front of the microphone, I continue from earlier.

Yes, we’ll see if the All-Star team can handle what’s coming for them. I’m not quite ready for the trash heap quite yet, so you can expect me at my best. Now, me, and these guys are not best buddies, but at the same time, we are depending on each other. Can you imagine what four people who are committed to a singular task can accomplish? If you’d ever been in the military, you’d understand. I was anointed “The Archangel of Violence” by a dear dear friend and mentor. It’s one of the things I do really, really well. I was fighting in extreme and hardcore matches before most of these folks even thought about wrestling school.

I pause for a moment, looking down for a second and raising my head back up to the camera. The beginnings of a smile are starting to tug at the corners of my mouth.

And they’re going to put them inside a cage with us? This is how pretty girls become ugly girls. This is how men who think they are badass, realize how much a man they are not.

The smile now fully formed, it’s not a friendly, “how you doin” smile, instead, a smile like you might see on a wolf.

I don’t care who I have to go through in order to help this team advance to the final match of the night. The main event is where we belong. You don’t have to like it. Not at all, good luck on stopping it from happening. Meat Clowns? Well, it’s half right.

I light a cigarette and move closer to the camera. Look into the lens directly, to make sure that my intentions are clear.

Make no mistakes about it, when I say no one, I mean no one. There are men and women in this thing that I like and respect. That doesn’t matter one bit to me, my respect and love for them will not change the fact that the pay window at the end of the show is what matters. Main eventing this show is what matters. If you are a member of “Chronic Chris Page Enterprises” and you’re standing across the ring from me, there will be no quarter accepted or given. The stakes have changed for me personally, especially with people who don’t think I matter in XWF.

Backing away from the camera lens, I take another drag of my cigarette and blow it into the lens.

It’s time to either shut them up or prove them right.

I punch the camera lens, knocking it off its base and causing it to crash to the floor. I kneel down so my face is still seen.

See ya soon, bitches!