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Supercard Archives / Re: FINN WHELAN (c) v ALEX JONES
« on: March 28, 2025, 10:31:47 PM »
PARADIGM SHIFT XXXIII // DETHRONE
DID YOU THINK YOU COULD DIG DEEP ENOUGH TO BURY ME? IT’S OVER WHEN I SAY AND YOU’RE NOT GETTING RID OF ME. SO WALK INTO MY FIRE OR STEP INTO MY LIGHT, EITHER WAY IT’S GONNA BURN IF YOU DON’T MAKE THIS RIGHT.
BAD OMENS .


••••••

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

The Dassault Falcon landed smoothly on the tarmac runways of Newark Airport in New Jersey, barely jostling anything upon landing. The plane had been purchased when Dickie and Finn both realized that they would still be travelling between New York and Colorado, and to both of them, the investment was critical. Dickie sat across from Finn at the table, leaning forward as he stared at his brother. Since their return from the most recent Climax Control, Finn hadn’t uttered many words.

Not that he spoke a lot anyway, but when he didn’t speak at all, that was when everyone knew something was seriously wrong with the Seattle Saint.

Finn hadn’t invited Kayla along this time, choosing to wake up his little brother earlier than the sunrise and drive to Denver International Airport with him in tow. He didn’t explain, he didn’t give any indication of any plans that had been drawn up in his mind. He just said “get the fuck out of bed” and now, three hours later, they were landing to visit New York.

It didn’t take long for Dickie to figure it out, but even now, Finn still didn’t answer.

They disembarked the airplane and headed into the private concourse. Finn had a determination in his steps that hadn’t been seen in him for quite some time, to be honest, and Dickie, despite being only a few inches shorter, was finding it difficult to keep up with the lanky Irishman’s pace. They exited the airport, hailed a taxi, and slid into the backseat of the vehicle.

“Where are we off to gentlemen?” The cabbie asked as the door slammed shut behind Dickie.

“Lower Manhattan. Wolfslair.” Finn uttered, and Dickie was surprised that his voice wasn’t filled with crackles and pops from not using it at all. Dickie side eyed his brother, furrowing his brow. Whatever Finn was thinking, Dickie couldn’t ascertain, and that was nerve wracking. For a man who was usually so calm and composed, the fact that there was a furious look in his eyes despite the level exterior was concerning. At least, to someone who’d known him since he was twelve.

The ride was uneventful, and that was okay. When they arrived, Finn stepped out of the vehicle and stopped, staring up at the nondescript location. The logo for the facility was on the doors, but otherwise, it wasn’t marked. Dickie paid the cabbie and stood behind him.

“I owe everything to Woflslair.” Finn muttered. He stood in the wind, which was chilling enough to the bone with the humidity in the air. He wasn’t phased. Dickie wrapped his arms around himself and looked up at the door too. “When I didn’t know if I wanted to continue in the business, Sonja offered me a position, despite the fact that her husband would have been furious about it. It was being here that reminded be that I was that fucking good, and that I was wasting my time doing nothing.”

“So what are you going to do? Just stomp in there and demand that your position is given back to you?”

“No.” Finn was firm in his response. “I’m going to stomp in there and destroy it.”

“You’re wha- Finn?!”

Dickie raced after Finn, who grabbed his keycard from his pocket and swiped it against the door. With a click, they were able to enter, and they wasted no time walking across the gym floor to his New York office. It was left untouched, his things still present. Finn opened the cabinet door, reaching in and pulling out a black, metal bat wrapped with barbed wire. Ellie, his sister had named it, used it frequently. It would be a nice touch, considering the fact that she’d fucked both Alex and Finn over time and time over.

Finn twirled it, turned around and found a slight roadblock. Dickie stood in the doorway, his feet planted hard into the center, his hands against the door jambs. “Mate, no one else in this gym did anything to you, and you know it.”

A moment was all that he gave his brother. A blink, a slight tilt of his head. Dickie thought for a second that perhaps the words he said were enough to get through his brother's stubborn skull, but he found out all too clearly the opposite when the tip of the baseball bat was pressed into his chest. Dickie took a step back as Finn advanced. He raised his hands upwards in surrender and backed all the way onto the small, metal walkway.

Finn’s eyes caught those of Alicia Lukas’, who was watching like a hawk from the crossfit area of the gym. Austin, too, was perched on the weights, his eyes also focused on the man through the mirror he stared through. Finn swung the bat in a circular, vertical motion, watching the others with intent in his eyes. He did not break that gaze, even as he walked to the front of the window of Alex’s office and swung the bat into it with as much force as he could muster.

The glass shattered everywhere, and Dickie took a step back. Alicia and Austin both reacted, but they stopped in their tracks just as quickly. Finn wasn’t specifically hurting anyone, though he looked like he wanted to destroy everything in sight. And really, what could they do? This wasn’t a wrestling match, and with the way he looked, he might be willing to destroy all of them.

So they stopped, they looked at each other, and they disappeared. No doubt, of course, to go and tell their commander-in-chief of Finn’s misdoings.

Finn smirked slightly, and turned. Alex’s office was open game now, and honestly, that’s all that mattered to him. He used the tip of the bat to clean off the remainder of the glass and then slid into the office through it.

Destruction was key. And by the time Finn was done with his office, it was unrecognizable. Championship belts strewn on the floor, shattered computer screens, overturned desks. The Seattle Saint didn’t really care either that his mark was left on the vandalism – at this point, in his mind, Alex deserved the destruction that came with the station – dating Aaron Asphyxia was allowing a tornado to glide right over this grave, and this?

Nothing more than a symbolic gesture of his future.

••••••

Are you mad?

You should be.

Sin City Wrestling, please stand up and tell me what the hell are you doing? In an ever fluctuating business, tell me…what are you doing to make change? What are you doing to push the envelope? The build this company to the brink of bursting out of the seams with talent that wants to join its ranks? I don’t see anyone trying to step in and try their luck like I have – and lucky have I been, certainly. Every so often, a new name graces the roster in some kind of convoluted attempt to be perceived important and they’re either gone in the span of a few days or they simply come back with a new name.

It’s allowed people like me, who are that good, to sit at the echelon of your company for more than four hundred days in a single reign. One reign. Not two, not multiple. One. I have ended your gods and felled your monsters for the opportunity to sit here and be that bastard who has done the unthinkable in not one, but two divisions. It’s allowed Kayla and I to go virtually unchallenged for months save for a small hiccup. And the most that you can do is compose a match of seven men in an Elimination Chamber – a brutal, bloody chamber…to face me.

Or Alex.

Look, I’m not discounting Alex. He’s hungry for championships…again, after he decided to fuck off and do nothing because of a supposed injury that was supposed to sideline him for the forseeable future. It’s the curse of being a wrestler, isn’t it? Injury after nagging injury eventually leads us to retire until we get that urge and we fight for it again. Or maybe we simply get bored and then like an addict, fall off our sober journey for a crack at gold.

After all, isn’t that what this roster is filled with? Isn’t that what the Chamber is filled with?

Helluva Bottom Carter, a man so improved and vicious with the desire to stand on the top of pyramid he’s never been able to get it. Attacked relentlessly by men who think they’re better than him, only to rise on top. Our previous Internet Champion, who was unable to retain against the Lesser Carter. Aspirations of greatness continue to bring him back, even when the going gets tough.

Miles Kasey, a man who traded his soul for a chance to fell the great monolith of Finn Whelan. The dictator, the supposed man who thinks he’s god. Miles Kasey, who is the worst of the worst for not being a man with balls to face the man who moved the world for him to come back into a fold of people who don’t want him. Miles Kasey, who shitposts and wins couple of the year simply because we’re meeting a quota and the only way to be interesting was to float both ways instead of being a vanilla bitch.

Bill Barnhart, who should have retired, somehow made his way into this match and will leave the rest of the competition feeling like they’ll need to take several showers.

Eddie Lyons, whose only injury is his own family that he keeps trying to climb out of the hole from and his own false confidence.

Senor Vinnie, a former World Champion of this company who has returned to try and dilly dally with a roster of unfamiliar faces. A man with a cactus and a cat, and is a caricature of a man that hasn’t quite remembered that this isn’t the SCW of old that found campy gimmicks classic and behavior unbecoming of an athlete appropraite.

Jayden Harris is the youngest and the newest re-addition to the company, but his words and work ethic ring true of a man who retired not long ago. Competence found, but only when it’s certain persons within the company. After all, isn’t that what happens when all of your programming runs with the same people time and time again? From what I hear, despite all the nasty words towards Alexander Raven, he is still more celebrated and more accomplished than this twerp who sounds, walks, and acts just like Daddy from 2007. I’m not impressed.

And that leaves us with J2H. James. I’m going to be pretty blunt and honest here – since you don’t know how to be – and call it out. I don’t like you. I don’t respect you. I know you think you’re a godsend and that you’re a damn good wrestler, but I looked at your records. I’m gonna be very blunt here:  your records show you lived a wonderful life in 2017 or 2018…whatever it was, I’ll look in the future, and that you’ve hopped in and out over the last seven years, coming in to win the championship and then fucking off a month or two later because you got bored. Complacent. Irritating. You’re exactly the kind of man that everyone hates, and it’s not because you’re good. It’s because you sit on pedestal that you don’t deserve. And now here I am, destroying everything you had of worth.

Look, I see it. I see the attempts, but they’re not good enough. How much of the Blast From the Past tournament is made up of wrestlers who already sit in these halls, when it’s supposed to be an opportunity to garner talent from outside this company alone? How many times are we going to try to reinvent the wheel and get someone else instead of changing the narrative that everyone matters in this company?

I know I don’t say that very often, but every soul matters in this company. But I look at the Elimination Chamber roster and I look at who I’ve defeated in this company, and they don’t completely align, but give it a few months and it will.

Over and over, the same people.

Something has to change, guys. Something has to be different for the masses to come forward. Is that me stepping away and letting the vultures take my championships? Is that letting someone like Alex Jones do better than me? Maybe.

But that’s not today and it’s certainly not now.

No matter what happens in the Elimination Chamber, I know that they’re going to bring their best, and they’re going to try and try again. That’s what we do as wrestlers, isn’t it? Keep going for the throat, keep pushing to do more and more? Even when our bodies give out and our minds begin to wane, we keep coming back to the ring because its a place of safety, security, and what we know. The ring has never failed a person, it has never reached out and lied to gain notoriety or clout. The ring is always there.

Wrestlers can be dirty cheats and they can be poor friends and even worse enemies. I’m not going to lie and say that I wasn’t fooled by Alex these last few weeks. You know, he sat there and time and time again told me that he wasn’t a part of this, that he hadn’t allied with the devil herself.

But he did.

He and Aaron masterfully pulled off a coup that left me humiliated in multiple turns. I shouldn’t be surprised – in fact, I’m not. Because that’s what Aaron does to people. She crawls into people and she finds their worst qualities, bringing them out into the light and into the open. I remember a conversation I had a long time ago with my cunt of a sister, when we were amicable, and I told her then that I thought Alex was a snake. I tried, over and over, to let that thought go. I honestly thought that we were at a point where we would be good business partners.

Jokes on me, right?

I should be angrier about it, but at the end of the day, I have every opportunity to do the same thing here as I did months ago with Miles. As much as everyone wants to say it, I have a piss poor attitude and I don’t like people – and there’s reasons for that. Too many times have I been goaded into alliances and friendships only to have them go up in flames when gold or whores come into play, and to be perfectly honest, I don’t have time for that anymore. So this betrayal? Honestly, all it has done is made me want this more. It has made me desire to lay waste to Alex Jones so he can’t have some optional, clinical trial research settled into his bones to repair him and let him come back to this business.

It has made me want to annihilate him from SCW’s radar.

I love Wolfslair. I’ve never turned my back on it. I gave my all to the company and I looked to expand it into Denver. This was the agreement. This is what we discussed and I made it a reality. I have opened my arms to expand what he created and instead, I’m greeted with betrayal of the worst kind. So I destroyed his solitude. I destroyed what was his, and I will continue to grow my little section of Wolfslair with or without his permission.

Get fucked, Alex. It’s only just begun.

••••••
Dickie had been weary of Finn since the Wolfslair incident, but there wasn’t must that he could do once they’d returned to Colorado. His eyes had been more observant, his cognizance more alert. He’d wanted to work with Finn still, but he liked being a part of Wolfslair with Aiden, and he was slightly in fear that Alex would kick them all.

Nevertheless, he hadn’t seen Finn get upset since that time. Hadn’t seen him lose control like he had the day or two after Climax Control. Instead he had seen Finn stoically silent, but nothing more than normal. Which was why he thought how was a good idea to give him information rather than later.

They sat in his coffee bar, Death Before Decaf – the new front for the Yakuza business that he’d brought to Colorado from New York. To be specific, they sat in his office, overlooking the mountain range while also looking over the patrons of the shop. Working in the open, so to speak. Finn sat on the window sill, his eyes reading over the note written in Serbian.

“I had Yoshiro reach out for a translation…looks like it’s from Romani group closer to Fort Collins. They said that the groups were warned we were here and that if they wanted to stay safe, they wouldn’t be trading or setting up any form of agreements with us.”

“Jace’s group?” Finn asked.

Dickie nodded, “I think so.”

“Did you get any deals regardless?”

A snort issued from Dickie’s mouth, “Of course. I basically said we were more dangerous anyway.”

Finn rolled his eyes and flicked he paper from him back towards Dickie. “Fine, but let’s make sure that we’re watching out for any movement from the New York group, okay? I don’t want to get caught unaware.” He glanced up at his younger brother, who fiddled for a second with his hands and then titled his head. “You want to lead that portion, be my guest. Just be careful. I don’t want anyone caught in the crosshairs meant for myself and Kayla.”

“Noted,” Dickie nodded again, and then smiled slightly to himself as he turned away. His head snapped up when he heard a knock at the door. Both of them froze. Very rarely did any of the employees of the coffee shop come up here, and they also had no clue about the Yakuza themselves. A blonde haired woman stood in the frosted glass, and they both instantly recognized her when she stepped in. It was Kallie.

They relaxed.

Kallie bit her lip as she looked at Finn directly, and glanced at Dickie briefly. “Can I talk to Finn, Dimitri?”

Dickie winced as he was called his birth name, and then nodded once more and left the room, muttering something about getting coffee.

Kallie bounced her son Dax in her arms, waiting for the door to close before she looked at Finn with earnest – and guilty – eyes. “I…wanted to apologize. I knew Aaron was up to something, but I didn’t know what it was. I’m sorry. If I’d known what she did, what she was going to do, i would have tried to stop her or I would have warned you. I already apologized to Kayla…but I just…it was harder talking to you than it was Kayla. You’re just…”

“Scary?” He supplied.

“Yeah,” she chuckled, her lip trembling. She looked down at the ground. “Aiden says he knows I would have done something, and I would have. I just wanted you to know that I should have and would have. You’ve always been super nice to me and Aiden, and you let us live with you even when you obviously didn’t want to.”

“Kallie.”

“Mhm?” A small tear dropped down and Kallie swiped at it.

“You don’t need to apologize. You’re not responsible for Aaron. No one is responsible for Aaron or for Alex, except for Aaron and Alex. They’ll get what’s coming to them eventually, I just would like you to be you and not to worry so much. Okay? You’re not getting kicked out. You’ve got a good heart, and you guys always do the best that you can. You’re basically family at this point and you know me.”

Finn stood and walked towards Kallie, pressing his hand to her shoulder.

“I don’t turn my back on family.”

••••••

We talk a lot about history between you and me. You, with your beliefs that I hated you from the get go because you were fucking my sister. Me, with the mere fact that I didn’t give a flying fuck what you were doing with Elena, I just didn’t like you. Elena had this ability back then to charm everyone, and to be perfectly honest, I didn’t know that she was my blood whatsoever. But she was my best friend, a person I had learned to be protective over, and I wasn’t about to stop doing that simply because she liked it when you twiddled her cooter cat.

That’s how you fucks from Texas talk, right? Or am I thinking more Georgia? I’ll reach out to Alicia at some point.

Nevertheless, you abandoned her, and shortly after that, I abandoned her too. We both had duties, we both had things that we needed to do. The difference, however, is that you went on to be a championship-wielding demon of a man, and I became nothing but a drain on society for a time. I knew you and Elena were both great. I knew both of you had done wonderful in that short timeframe. But I didn’t realize is that in one of my first promotions, I would run into the both of you.

Yes. Congrats. You became the Honor Wrestling Champion in a time where I had nothing to my name, nothing to my legacy, nothing to be known for and nothing to give. And still, you said last time that you walked me from post to post – I recall that I did the very same to you. For a nothing wrestler, the fact that I was able to then stand toe to toe with you should have led to your confusion. Instead, you brushed me off.

Then you saddled me with the Wildcard Championship at WWH, but I remember distinctly that you fought me tooth and nail at that point because we still hated one another. Props were given, of course, but you expected the same kind of result that happened in Honor. It’s not how it worked, and I stood with my hand raised and that belt in my hand. You went off to gain – and subsequently lose – the WWH World Championship and me? I did too…and I vacated it and walked away from that pisshole because I wasn’t going to be traded in for some new shiny toy Riley could play with.

Both times you equated me to nothing, and you were surprise by my work ethic and my candor. Both times, I fought like hell and I won. You cannot sit there and tell me that you didn’t break a sweat. You cannot sit there and tell me you dogwalked me across the ring. Because you didn’t and you’re incapable of doing that with me just letting it hang like nothing mattered.

At some point and time in the last couple of years, you must have realized that you would have never been able to face me alone. Your poor injured back wouldn’t let you and while I’ve got a semi-gimp ankle, back trumps every time. I suppose on some wintry little night, Aaron slid up to you in your office and made googly eyes and said she would back everything your little heart desired. It’s nice, isn’t it? Hearing that someone was willing to make sure you were happy and sated, while not even realizing what she’s taking from you? Your dignity. Your happiness. Soon, she’ll be the death of you and you won’t even realize it when she’s denying you hopes and dreams all because she’s not getting her way.

So you guys made a pact and you sat there and thought that between the two of you, you’d be able to fell the big bad Finny-foo who turned their back on Wolfslair. Except I didn’t, and you know it.

You just wanted to get a crack at my head while attempting glory once again.

I’m not always observant, but I’m not stupid, and now you have the burden of proof of showing that you can do this without a cunt at your side. I know Aaron is going to come into the fray and she’s going to do her best to help things go in you favor, but that’s not going to happen again. Not like that. You see, you’ve pissed off Kayla, and I know that while you don’t care for her, you whored about with her sister, and I’m fairly certain she’s willing to take your wildcard out of play as needed for me. She doesn’t particularly like Aaron, and honestly, I don’t blame her.

Neither do it.

So this time, Alex, what are you going to do? Are you going to go to back and find Miles and have him come help you after he’s lost in his own match? Are you going to try to reach out to Aiden, or hell, Dickie, to see who you can find to betray me in name of you next? Or are you going to sit there and tell me, like you’ve told everyone else under the sun for months that you were the only one that would be able to face me, be able to defeat me, be able to stand tall against someone like me?

Or are you going to turn around and slink away like the snake you are when I break your back for the second time and leave you with nothing left?

You think that you’re brave, stepping up to me like you have. And one point, I respected you for that. But now? Now, you’re just the same as every other combatant under the sun – someone who is going to come at me and I’m going to stop in their tracks like I have the six other persons who thought they could fell me. Who thought that just because they might have done it once means that they can do it again.

I’m a different breed of person that the one you met all those years ago, and I am more dangerous, more adept and stronger than I have ever been. You think you’ve got it all figured out Alex, that you have me all figured out, but jokes on you. No one, not one, has figured me out to begin with and it’s not going to start with you.

I would wish you luck, but you needed it last time to face me.

Now?

I wish you good health…because when I’m done with you, you won’t have it. That is the price you paid for glory, Alex.

Yourself.



2
Climax Control Archives / PARADIGM SHIFT XXXII // FAKE IT
« on: March 07, 2025, 11:46:04 PM »
PARADIGM SHIFT XXXII // FAKE IT
YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT THE LIES WON’T HIDE YOUR FLAWS / NO SENSE IN HIDING ALL OF YOURS / YOU GAVE UP ON YOUR DREAMS ALONG THE WAY / GOOD GOD YOU’RE COMING UP WITH REASONS / GOOD GOD YOU’RE DRAGGING IT OUT
SEETHER .


••••••

Perhaps the writing had been on the wall for some time now, and he hadn’t really recognized it. Perhaps he simply didn’t want to, or maybe simply refused to see it. For months now, he and Aaron hadn’t been on the same page – they’d fought over and over again, and all of it had centered around the choices he had made. Choices she’d been a part of, and once upon a time supported wholeheartedly.

First the fights came about the fact that he was travelling so much. To New York to see his sister? How dare. Travelling to Japan for training sessions with the man that she had set him up to work with just a few years prior? One of the worse moves he could have ever done. Beratement, after beratement, the topics started with viable arguments such as the companies he’d chosen to work for all the way down to the fact that he didn’t put a glass in the dishwasher. It ended up never being anything really particular, he discovered – it was just a new flavor every week she decided to go bonkers over nothing.

He kept his mouth shut.

Finn loved to argue, loved to fight. In his career. Even when he was the most angry with Aaron, he’d never treat her the same way she treated him. She was his heart and soul, even when she obliterated the both of them on a daily basis.

She’d been part of the reason he stopped speaking to his sister for a while. She foamed at the mouth any time that Elena was mentioned, and despite his insistence that it was only ever and would ever be a sibling relationship, she made it known that she hated it and that if anything happened, it was his fault. The one day that he got sick of it and went anyway was the day that broke the camel’s back.

Aaron had complained of a bug in her stomach, nausea, headaches – all the regular symptoms of a six month pregnancy that had been otherwise reported healthy. On the same day, Elena discovered her husband had passed and was inconsolable – or so he presumed. Looking back, he probably would have been able to tell fake tears from real ones. But nevertheless, they argued again. Aaron said she needed comforting, Finn felt like he had to help his sister, and she accused him of loving her more than he loved his wife.

The amount of manipulation hovering around his brain at the time probably was what made him snap. He left to help his sister through this trying time. Aaron cried and cried and cried and cried, but Finn held firm, steadfast.

When he returned from New York just two days later, Aaron had been admitted into the hospital. He never knew the reason why, but she told him that their fetus had no heartbeat, that it wasn’t even quite two pounds. She said they convinced her the best thing had been to deliver the baby via cesarean. She delivered. She didn’t let him know.

In the event of stillbirths, the midwives or doctors delivering often give the couple a chance to hold their cold, lifeless child. To name it. To cherish it. To imagine what could have been. A birth certificate, labeled deceased, would be given to the family so they could grieve, but there would be a name and face to remember. It would be the hardest thing that any couple could go through. But she never gave him the choice. She didn’t call him, she didn’t tell him what was going on. Aaron took matters into her own hands and didn’t provide him with the respect deserving of a husband, let alone the father of the child.

He kept his mouth shut.

Perhaps that was when they began to fully separate themselves from one another, hiding behind the guise of married happiness. Finn began working more, Aaron went back to training wrestlers. And perhaps he should have seen it. Maybe he wasn’t attentive enough, maybe he didn’t love her enough. Maybe it was simply the fault of both of them, unable to attend to their own success because there was no success to be had.

When he threw her things out into the rain and left her screaming on their front doorstep after he’d discovered her with another man – a trainee, of all things – in their shared bed, that adoration he’d felt for her succumbed to hate. He’d hate her forever. She took away everything that made him what he was, and she benefitted. And now? It was no longer an option.

They divorced shortly after that. She’d gotten some representation, but so had he. Their divorce was bitter, angry, and resentful all in one, and he purposefully went after everything that he could. Finn argued that infidelity meant that she should lose it all. She argued that he basically left her a widow. His argument was stronger, and he indeed received everything. A settlement came in a sum of some millions of dollars that she had sitting in a bank, and while it didn’t leave her destitute, he came out stronger.

The Colorado mountain house, the apartment in Seattle, the cars, the money – all his.

He signed those papers on the spot. And he didn’t leave until her signature was on them too, as she sobbed into the papers and left droplets everywhere.

Even then, in all his hatred, the tears made him want to comfort her, to tell her it was all right.

No.

He kept his mouth shut.
••••••


The home office that Finn had set up not two months ago was in complete disarray. Papers and files laid scattered upon the floor, haphazardly thrown and forgotten in the windstorm that was named Finn. He had gone through regular files, things that he’d kept – tearing through drawers and looking at everything that wasn’t labelled…which was virtually everything because he never labelled anything. What he was looking for wasn’t in the regular drawers because those were current records.

He hadn’t said a word since he’d gotten home. Not that there was anybody to talk to. Kayla decidedly wasn’t speaking to him, and Dickie hadn’t arrived until that morning from wherever the fuck he’d been. Nevertheless, as his little brother entered the room and looked at the shitstorm that was the Seattle Saint right now, he couldn’t help but chuckle.

Dickie hopped up onto the desk, crossing his arms over his chest and looking at Finn, who sat on the floor, tearing through a box labelled Bullshit from 2017. “So, when do we have a family dinner. You know, you, me…”

Finn looked up and stared at the wall in front of him.

“...Aaron?”

“Not family,” Finn snarled, going back to the files and thumbing through them. He pulled one out, glanced at it, groaned, and then chucked it at the ground just the same as everything else.

“You sure?” He quipped, chuckling back at his brother. “She was pretty emphatic about the whole you two still being married. How is Kayla taking it?”

Finn looked up again and then turned his head with the most calm, yet fuming, expression that he could muster. “Gee, I don’t know. She’s not speaking to me, and she probably won’t until I figure this shit out. I sat across from that little blue haired bitch and watched her sign the same pages I signed. She had a black ink pen, and I promise that this isn’t bullshit. Unless she just printed out a page without her signature on it. You know. Photoshop.”

“Either way, she made you look like an I-D-I-O-T out there. I know you’re quiet as fuck man, but she put all of your shit on blast for everyone to see.”

“Don’t remind me.”

“Was entertaining as fuck.”

Finn rolled his eyes and pulled out another file. He slipped the cover off and then his eyes lit up. “Buried, of course. Found it.” Dickie hopped off the desk and looked over Finn’s shoulder.

Summit County District Court Separation Agreement, divorce.” Dickie titled his head. “How is it that they all look similar, no matter what state or county it’s in? My shit with Hannah looks the same.”

Finn hopped to his feet and immediately headed out the door of the office, not bothering to check if his brother was following him or cleaning up after himself before he skedaddled. Nevertheless, he walked the open hallways of their home and down the steps, taking them almost at a rabbit pace, turning the corner and heading into the vaulted ceiling kitchen that they had. Kayla stood there, dressed in a pair of grey sweatpants and a crop top, with her slippers on and her hair pulled up into a ponytail. She dipped her tea bag into the mug while she stood at the kitchen counter, and glanced upwards only when Finn slammed the manila file right in front of her.

“Oh goodie, papers.” She quipped snarkily.

Finn stared at her, and then gestured to it. “Look at them.” He insisted.

Kayla stared at him and raised an eyebrow. He planted both hands on the marble counter and leaned into her. Dickie came into the kitchen behind him and headed to stand next to him, fully invested on being a part of this no matter if he was wanted or not. Dickie leaned on the counter with his elbows, staring at the papers.

Look at them.” Finn repeated when Kayla didn’t move.

“Ugh,” she sighed, and then reached for the manila file, opening it up with a complete look of distaste. She sneered. “This thing is thick.”

“That’s what she sai–” Dickie quipped, but got smacked in the stomach by Finn and couldn’t finish it.

Kayla looked up at him with just her eyes and then rolled them, flipping through the papers. “Assets, shared properties, etc…oh look, it’s a signature page. I know I’ll see one. Oh, yep!” She snickered and set the papers down, pointing at his name. “Callien O’Hanlon. There’s the one. And of course, I don’t see hers.”

“Turn the page.”

“No.”

“Turn the page!” He insisted again, slamming his hand down on the counter. Kayla startled, but just simply because it was so loud. She leaned forward and slammed her own hand down.

She didn’t sign them! Or did you not see that on Sunday? We all saw that paperwork, she didn’t have a signature on there, she waved it in your face and–”

“For the love of God, Kayla, stop being stubborn as fuck and turn the fucking page!”

FINE.” She snapped, and then looked back down as she flipped the page. They both stood there silently, then, as the previous page floated softly down to the rest of the stack and their eyes fell upon the space for a signature. Dickie leaned in to see while Kayla pressed a finger to it, feeling the very flourish of the hand stroke in the indentation on the page. “Aaron O’Hanlon.” She murmured.

“I knew she signed it,” Finn replied. “She’s a manipulative bitch, and she’s going to do everything that she can to get under my skin. But not just me, she wants to do this to you. That’s what this is. She’s trying to get under your skin by way of me, and it worked. You know me, Kayla. Do you really think I would have done any of this if I was still tied to her?”

Kayla looked up at him, grabbed her mug and turned away as she then dropped the tea bag from it in the trash. When she turned back, she sipped her tea and looked him directly in the eyes again.

“The fact that you doubted it for that time in the ring, and that she’s still involved in your life means that you let her get to us both.”

Finn inhaled. He let himself breathe as he looked at the ceiling. He could have done the same thing that he did with Aaron so long ago. He could have just kept his mouth shut. But he’d learned that if there was anything worth fighting about, it was the person that he loved. He exhaled slowly out of his mouth, walked around the counter and then stood in Kayla’s personal space as she sipped her tea, staring at him with narrowed eyes.

He didn’t keep his mouth shut.

“I do not have any form of control over Aaron, you, or anyone else.” He started. “If this were anywhere else, she would have been flattened, and you know that. I panicked for a second because even though I watched her sign every single little page, she could have been her usual manipulative self and she could have not signed. I needed proof. You needed proof.”

He set a hand on her elbow.

“I got that proof.”

He could tell she was watching him closely, waiting to say something else. But she only held her mug and stared at him. At least, until Dickie made a motion outside of her peripheral. She snapped her head in his direction and narrowed her eyes. Dickie held up his hands and walked away, leaving them alone. She stared at Finn then, curling her tongue behind her lips over her teeth and then nodding.

“If she tries anything else…” she warned him, shaking his head.

“You have my full blessing to kick her ass, Kayla.” He assured her. “I promise – there’s only you now, and I have no interest in that–”

“Flat-chested cunt?” Kayla supplied.

“Accurate as all hell. Look, whatever happens at the next show happens. But there is no Aaron. Not for me. I’m not in the mood to be manipulated and neither do you. She’s just trying to make it difficult for me to retain and for you to re-obtain. We have this. I promise.”



••••••

Around 1920 to 1940, a man by the name of Robert Tryon conducted an experiment in the name of psychology. The thought process was the opener to the whole nature versus nurture debate that continues to saturate the field even to this day, nearly ninety years later. The idea in that time was that most psychologists believed that it was environmental stimuli that produced different behaviors as opposed to the natural side of things, in that genetics played a huge part with production of behaviors.

Tyron believed and wanted to prove that it was nature that led the path, that genetics was primarily in play for choices made in the behavioral path for humans. And so they played with mice, and they did the whole experiment by having a set-up of smart rats…you know, the ones that made less errors in a maze…and dull rats – the ones that made poor choices all around.

He bred the smart rats, and he bred the dumb rats, and then he cross-fostered…the dumb rats took care of the ickle  baby smart rats and vice versa. He did this over and over again, with different generations and different combinations. Ultimately, he felt he discovered that nature outshone nurture, because even the smarter gray skittering blobs that were raised by poor parents were able to excel at a higher rate than the dumb ones.

Nature versus nurture.

In just a few weeks time, I get to see what comes my way after I face and defeat Alex Jones at Blaze of Glory. I’m not tooting my own horn, but at the same time, I am who I am.  I’ve been fighting for this company for months, I’ve been holding onto this championship for months and I’m supposed to question who I am when I face someone that was so unable to maintain their own composure in the ring to try and defeat me that he’d rather take the coward’s way out and hit me with a chair. I’ll take my chances and say that I get to look ahead at the future prospects.

That doesn’t mean I’m not watching, Alex. You had something to do with the events of the past few weeks…there’s something sitting between my ribs telling me this. I know you just as well as you think you know me, and that’s important to recognize. I suppose that I can let you marinate for a bit longer and then finally lay into you in a way more fitting for the way that you’re deserving of. After all, the chair in the back of the head really was damning for you.

But regardless, I get to watch as little rats follow each other about in a maze called an Elimination Chamber. It’s amusing to me, because what else did I expect to see? New faces? People rising to the challenge? Or am I just watching the same people over and over again that I’ve already defeated for this championship earn places that they don’t fucking deserve.

Miles Kasey has been spit-roasted at this point by the amount of times that I’ve taken him, beaten him, and thrown him to the wayside going up choke artist alley. And to watch his husband sit there and cry for the billionth time about how it was any different that he got attacked in defense of Miles when Austin was still around trying to be all big and bad. I don’t think that you get that no one condoned Austin’s actions, but at the same time…Carter…you’re not part of the fucking same gym and you didn’t attack your teammate, nor did he attack you. So back the fuck off on it before you get wrecked.

I’m supposed to be scared of J2H, but I’m not. Especially not after what I just watched last week with a shit decision that I saw coming a mile away. The lackadaisical effort that I saw was pedantic and pathetic. Neither he nor Jayden Harris actually earned their way into this match – they fought, no one could figure it out, so congrats, both got to join! If I were a leader of a company, I would have said fight it out until death or win, but you know, people like to flip their dick out and make decisions that only really benefit themselves in the long run.

Beyond that, Eddie Lyons has found himself in a situation again that gives him a shot at me. I would put my money on him if I bet, but I don’t, and I’m not interested. But I bet he’s going to show up and show out. And then who’s left? Bill Barnhart?

I don’t know how Bill Barnhart got into this match. I would have expected that we would be at least on par with a Colorado Facility School and not accept people into this business with an intelligence quotient below seventy, but I guess we all have miracles around us and God works in mysterious ways. And this week, I get to face him as well. I get to put to test a ruff-ruff geriatric poodle before he gets into a ring with a bunch of people that are leagues above him. I mean, let’s look at the material that we have.

Beyond the fact that I’m facing someone who looks like a billboard for diabetes, I also see someone that advocates for drinking and animal abuse in his entrance. Why in the fuck are you dragging out Iris to a wrestling ring where she could possible get tangled up and abused? Hm? I’ll call PETA, see if we can raise awareness for animals in this business except for when they actually choose to be here.

Continuing on, the man has the humor of a twelve year old middle school boy. And I reference this by his Toxic Tush “weapon”. Motherfucker, if you fart on me in this ring, I swear to all that is holy and kind that I will end your life. Not only is it the most disgusting thing that you can do, it’s probably also the stupidest thing you can do, because hehe, farts. Really? I guess someone who chose to live in backwards ass Georgia to choose poor decisions for their life. But you know.

Let’s be perfectly honest, shall we? This match is a waste of my time, and it is a waste of the company’s time. I should be getting opportunities to showcase my best against anyone but Bill Barnhart, but here I am – The World Heavyweight Champion facing a man who has no business being in this business at this point. Does that mean I’m not going to go out there and show out? Nah. It’s a match, this is my job, and I love what I do.

Let’s be clear, Billie. I’m going to kick your ass from one side of the ring, to the other side of the ring. Then, when I snap your fucking arm, you’re going to remember what it’s like to face someone that actually has talent. It’ll be a huge change to what you see in the mirror every week, I know, but you’ll live through it just like me. I’m already over this match, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not going to snip your fortitude in the process. It’ll be a good example to all of you as to why you fuck with me.

I took your Roulette Championship once, Bill. Now, you don’t have a lot of dignity left, but I’ll be sure to appropriately annihilate you in the middle of that ring.

I’m not a happy person as of late. I have reasons. So trust me when I say this: the only one getting destroyed and chewed on in the end by your cute little puppy is you. I don’t have time to play games, and I don’t have time to fuck around with anyone that shouldn’t be on my level to begin with. This your last time in a main event with me.

Good luck, Billy.

You’re gonna need it.


3
Supercard Archives / Re: FINN WHELAN (c) v ALEX JONES
« on: January 31, 2025, 10:53:46 PM »
PARADIGM SHIFT XXXII // DREAMS
ALL YOUR DREAMS ARE OVER NOW; AND ALL YOUR DREAMS HAVE FALLEN DOWN. AND MAYBE I’M THE FOOL BUT I THINK WE’D FIND THAT IF WE COULD ALL BE SO KIND IF YOU JUST LEAVE YOUR TREAD MILL POWERTRIP BEHIND. AND MAYBE IT’S BEST THAT YOU’RE SO BLIND BECAUSE YOUR HEART CAN’T GRIEVE WHAT YOUR EYES WON’T SEE.
TV ON THE RADIO .


••••••


Memories oftentimes turned into catalysts for broken glasses flung across rooms in angry outbursts. Some people were not equipped efficiently with the ability to process these thoughts, and there often came a time where they were dealt with or they were stuffed down into a thousand cavernous spaces called a brain, never to be dredged up again.

If anything, Finn Whelan did the latter of those two options, preferring to stuff everything down and never deal with it again. Especially the things that hurt him, the things that kept him up at night, those he pushed as far into the depths of his psyche that they were under lock and key, never to be seen again. Many of those items involved his blood relative, Elena DeDraca, his ex-wife, Aaron Asphyxia, and the death of his twins. The most hurtful, though, was the loss of his niece, Isabella.

While everything new was repairing his soul, he couldn’t help but feel like the shoe had finally dropped and there was nothing but animosity in his future.

As it snowed shimmering bits of ice across the mountain range and the land that he’d purchased, blanketing everything in a blinding white, Finn looked out the window from the kitchen window, a mug of steaming coffee within his hands.

Unca Finn. Isabella had been a precocious child, smarter than most her age. She loved her uncle, always searching him out when he wasn’t at another wrestling company. But she never could pronounce the “l” in calling him the right name. And she never called him by his real name. At the time, he hadn’t particularly cared, but as he thought about it down the line, it stemmed from Elena never quite accepting him for who he was. His sister and he had repaired their relationship time and time again just because they had always been the best of friends, but for a long while, he wondered if that was really what it was, or if it had all been just a need for control in her life.

Every person he grew close to, his sister hated. Every person that gave him the time of day, that praised him, that said that he was the next up-and-coming thing, she despised. She never trusted a damn soul, and her love was falsity that she used to prey upon the next unfortunate soul stupid enough to crawl into her cobwebs and think she cared. He should have known that from their relationship in the beginning: her, an orphaned misfit who thought her pride was a saving grace, and he, a kid who simply didn’t fit into the family in which he was born.

He hadn’t thought about Elena in years, but this match coming up was a reminder of his past. A reminder of what once was. He’d suspected a long time ago that Elena was in love with Alexander Jones. And to be perfectly honest, he didn’t give a shit. At least, not at first.

Alex was simply a wrestler at the time who trained with Elena. His sister talked and talked about him whenever he was able to sit down with her. They didn’t know they were siblings at the time, and they’d fallen apart from one another for nearly eight years due to their lives. But he didn’t care about Alex – as long as he made Elena happy, he was fine. He’d always protected her when she wasn’t doing well.

But then, the talking wasn’t just about him. It seemed like Elena wasn’t just talking about Alex to Finn like a gossipy, happy little girl who had a crush. No, it seemed Elena was talking to Alex about Finn, and he wasn’t quite sure it was complimentary. The few times that he’d seen Alex in the gym, the man simply glared and said nothing to him. He brushed it off, and then Alex was gone, and poor little Elena was heartbroken.

So Finn decided he didn’t like him. He didn’t like him when he faced him at Honor Wrestling, he didn’t like him when he saw him at World Wrestling Headquarters, and even when he stepped into the Wolfslair Domain, he still did not give a flying fuck what Alex Jones wanted or cared about. In fact, it was quite the little jab that Sonja had even reached out to Finn, and Finn said yes just to see him squirm.

To have to face him again…well, it was the name of the game. Finn was old enough and wise enough now to realize that Alex wasn’t the enemy. No. He may be the competition, but he was never the enemy – but still, that didn’t mean he liked him by any means. Alex was a pompous jackass, and that would never change. But they worked for the good of Wolfslair.

“How are you holding up?” The voice on the speaker of his phone finally said to him. It was Sonja, checking in for the third time this week. With Finn taking on the leadership of the Wolfslair: Denver gym and trying to get it off the ground for midwest wrestlers who wanted to be signed, Sonja called often.

“I’m fine.” Finn said cordially.

Fine. The Yakuza was held together by his leadership, the Romani were still on their backdoor, and now his whore of an ex-wife was showing her face. Sure. Fine was relative, right?

“Good, because there is another shipment coming in. Are you going to be able to be there? I believe it’s the leg press machine, but there’s so many different orders on this file that it could be anything.” Sonja babbled on, unaware of Finn’s sour mood. “Also, you’ve got a couple of contractors that want to work out of the gym if possible. One of them is for Kallie, specifically. Aaron requested it.”

Finn glanced down at his phone, only registering the end of it. He held his breath, and he attempted some form of calm before he tried to respond to Sonja professionally. “No.”

“I don’t really get to say yes or no here, Finn. It’s Alex that signs off on all of this.”

Finn looked up at the snow again with an annoyed flutter of his eyes. Of course. Just one more way to needle her in to his life. “I’ll have a conversation with him after Inception.”

“Your funeral.”

“You know, I don’t even know why we hired Aaron, to be perfectly honest. Can’t she just be fired at this point? Kallie isn’t wrestling, she’s mommy-ing, and to be fair, the next person she takes on in the gym she’s probably just going to be extremely inappropriate with.”

Extremely inappropriate.

That was a way of putting it.


••••••


We all have dreams. Aspirations. Impossible things you reach for with every inch of power that you have. You shoot high for the ceiling, and grow disappointed with failure. Again and again, round and round, until you just begin to grow complacent -- okay with the place you’ve been given in the world. You never aspire to do anything greater with your life, deciding to put yourself into a sealed box you can’t ever get out of . . . or maybe you don’t want to at all.

I opened one of these things with this statement eight years ago. Eight long, arduous years ago. As I sit here now, wisened up a bit in that span of time, I believe that I actually can probably change that statement. We truly do have dreams, and we have aspirations, but neither are they impossible, nor are they the same. I used to think that they were. I used to think they were the exact damn thing, but in reality, I was wrong. And it’s with wisdom now that I can tell the difference.

Dreams are certainly something that you desire. But they’re not only what you can aspire to be. You see, I always that you look at your aspirations as dreams, but really…dreams are the things you desire most in the world that are so unattainable. I didn’t dream that I would become a multi-time champion, that I would hold this championship for almost a year, and that people would hate me with everything in them because I keep continuing to prove them wrong every step of the way.

I aspired to greatness, and I attained it. The name Finn Whelan might be synonymous with some of you chucklefucks as the word morose, but it is also simply a record breaker that even your best monsters haven’t figured out how to topple. You look at the annals and see out of the thirty four people that have held this championship, there is only one that has a record longer than mine. One that has done more than me. One out of everyone who calls themselves the greatest.

Funny how all of you told me that I wouldn’t be worth shit the second I came back. And it’s funnier how half of you refuse to say my name, like it’s a disease.

I didn’t dream of this. I made it my reality.

Every single one of you that have faced me has turned me into the thing you hate. Not simply because I’m good at my job but because of jealousy. Friendships have been shattered, hopes destroyed, and each one of you who calls me a monster simply puts your own fear into the mix. I always wonder which one of you is going to sit there and proclaim that I believe I’m a false god, or who is going to come out of the woodwork like a snake that loves to sing? Betrayal hits, but I’m no longer a trusting individual. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice – you wouldn’t get the chance.

So when Alex Jones worked himself out of the trenches to come up and face me for this thing, I suppose I just simply wasn’t surprised. I knew this was coming the moment that he returned, and the moment that I stepped into SCW. Anyone can face anyone, and it doesn’t matter if you’re in the same faction – everyone ultimately wants golden blood.

The unfortunate piece is that I’m not willing to shed it. Not just yet, and not for him.

There is a significant history that is present when it comes to myself and Alex Jones. We’ve known each other for years, but in all that time, we’ve faced twice. As I said at Climax Control, we’re one-for-one. There was a time he faced me and beat me for a championship. And there was a time I took a championship from him. But where we’ve always disagreed wasn’t just in the ring. No. Our past is personal more than it is professional.

I can respect a person for the fighter that they are. As I will always say, I’m not going to sit there and put down a person just because I’m facing them, As much as I hate to admit it sometimes, I hold a modicum of respect for Jones in a way I respect those who have come before me, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t one of the people I want to prove I can contend, handle, and defeat. For nothing more than my own sanity.


There was once a time where we could have been called brothers, and been under the umbrella of “family”. Family is never particularly just who is related by blood, but the people you choose. Sometimes, they prove to be a better support in the end. You never turn your back on them. Never.

Unless they turn their back on you.

I guess we both know what’s that’s like, right?

I’m not one to let personal affect me. Miles Kasey made it personal, and I beat him professionally while removing him from my life personally. I can put up walls like you wouldn’t believe. And in that moment, Alex chose me over Miles. Because he knew what weight I carried for the whole of Wolfslair.

What weight I still carry for Wolfslair and SCW.

I would say that I’m sorry that people are afraid to face me. I would say that I’m sorry that people won’t come in and test the waters, but in all reality, that’s their own fucking fault. This company is one of the greatest across time, and while some people don’t like the whole lack of intergender thing, I could have more competition. Something that would bring me joy.

Instead, I get…Alex.

Two time SCW World Heavyweight Champion, one time Roulette Champion, one time mixed-tag titles champion. Hall of Famer.

I suppose I should be grateful. And believe me, I am – because eventually the seas will dry up and I’ll have to repeat the same contestants over and over again. But now? Now that I have this man in front of me as not a partner of our gym, but as my competitor?

I’m back to seeing the same things that I did years ago. A man who has learned slightly that I’m not to be trifled with, but you’re still trying to trifle over and over again with. I haven’t quite let go of the fact that you called me a washed-up emo kid all those years ago, but let’s look at you and question how hunters don’t confuse you with Bigfoot considering the amount of hair on your chest. I shouldn’t liken you to Cousin It, but you know.

Oh come on. This is all in good fun, right? Because now we respect each other, right? You stay out of my business and I stay out of yours and we live happily ever after.

Right?

In all seriousness, Alex, I’m looking forward to this match. I’m hoping that it will be the challenge that I’ve needed for a while. Oh, Eddie Lyons was a challenge and I appreciate his candor. I appreciate the fact that you didn’t come at me like a little bitch either. But let’s make this clear…

In that ring, we’re not partners. We’re not friends. We don’t exist with one another. We aren’t enemies either, but we are competitors. I’m not about to just let you have this championship, and you’re not about to just let me win. I get that. We have a job to do.

I want you to remember that I’m not just that kid that took the Wildcard Championship from you so you could move onto better things. I want you to remember that I have always ever done my best. Look up above us…see the sky, the stars, the moon and the ether of the galaxy? That’s my ceiling. That’s always been my ceiling. I don’t stop, I don’t quit, and I certainly don’t shy away from the challenge. You know who I am, and who I’ve become – you’ve seen it first hand. Every time that we’ve met, we’ve gone harder and harder, and it was packed with more fire than it was before.

I’m the fucking nightmare that you’ve hated since day one.

As an individual person, I respect you. I know who you are, what you’ve done, your accolades. I know who you are. But when we step into the ring on Sunday, it’s going to be a match of the night contender. Ever since I discovered it was you, I’ve calibrated and thought about how I want this to go.

You think that it’s time for a championship in your hands. A third time. A time for everything.

I disagree.

I don’t believe that this is an option for you at this time. And maybe one day, one day when I’ve lost this belt, you can try again and get what you want. But Sunday? Nah. That person is me.

It will always be me.

Don’t test me, Alex.

You won’t like the result.

4
Climax Control Archives / PARADIGM SHIFT XXXI // DSM-V
« on: January 10, 2025, 11:03:42 PM »
PARADIGM SHIFT XXXI // DSM-V
ALL MY SINS DRAGGING ME BACK AGAIN. ALL THE REGRETS, DRAGGIN ME DOWN. THERE’S NO ONE TO SAVE YOU AND EVERYONE SCARED. DO UNTO OTHERS WHAT THEY DID TO YOU.
HEALTH .


••••••

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, is the penultimate manual that psychologists and psychiatrists use to diagnose humans with personality or other mental deficits in order to put a name to the methods and manipulatives they use. You’ll see things like “Borderline Personality Disorder” or “Major Depressive” come from it, and somehow, that’s supposed to absolve people of the negative interactions they may have. In this moment, in this story, however, it’s not about depressive disorders or even having a personality issue. No. It’s narcissism.

People like to say the Wolves of Gheimhridh are narcissists. In a way, perhaps they are. After alL, the DSM-V states that narcissistic personality disorder is a pattern of grandiosity, lack of empathy, and a need for admiration. But really, isn’t that all wrestlers? Isn’t that every single one of them? Everyone thinks they’re better than another person, and if you’re sitting on the wrong side of  the crowd, it’s likely because you have a lack of empathy. There is a need for admiration, certainly. But everyone feels that at one point or another, and certainly, everyone acts like that eventually.

But that’s also not the point right here. The point is that there is always someone that’s going to be more of a narcissist than even Kayla Richards herself.

There was a burst of cold weather that infected the Colorado Front Range, sending people back into their homes and keeping them off the streets. Those that were stupid enough to drive ended up in ditches or stuck on the shoulders. Colorado was known for a variety of reasons, and one of them was the intense weather that could strike up in the next five minutes – and that’s exactly what happened with this storm. The forecast said a little bit of snow, but it was a damn blizzard.

Finn slammed the door to their backyard, pulling his gloves off and the beanie off his head. If he didn’t keep up with the snow, then it would turn to ice, and that would be a bigger problem. Inside, however, there was a roaring fire, a book to read, and a girlfriend to cuddle up with provided that she was in the mood.

He smirked. Kayla hadn’t liked the snow one bit, but that hadn’t stopped her from stomping down into the living room with a large fleece blanket, burying herself beneath it and resting her head on her best friend’s shoulder to watch movies during the worst bits of weather. Now, he had no idea where she was at, but eventually they would end up with one another at some point during the day.

He brushed a hand through his hair as he made it past the kitchen and into the homey, cabin-like interior of their living room with a continuous smirk on his face. But that smirk ended when he saw who was perched on their leather sectional, feet bare of her Louboutins and her hair pulled up into a high ponytail, looking perfectly pleasant in her spot.

“The fuck are you doing here?” He swore.

Aaron pulled at the strand of yarn that she had coming out of a bag on the floor next to her again. “Um. What does it look like?” She set her hazel-brown eyes on him as she looked up, furrowing her perfectly-arched brow slightly. “Crocheting, obvi.”

Finn inhaled slowly to himself, and had to count backwards from ten before he responded again. “Crocheting.”

“Yeah. This is square…uh…twelve I think. It kind of matches the decor, don’t you think?” She held her work up against the back of the couch. “And this sofa…it’s comfy. I’ll definitely get used to it soon.”

“Will you now?”

“Mmhm.” She nodded, setting the work down and sitting up, criss crossing her legs. She smiled up at him, patting the cushion in front of her and looking actually quite smug as she did so. “Don’t you miss it? The calm that you had in your life, knowing that I always had your back? Knowing that I could handle myself if something happened with your little Yakuza friends? Never had a problem, really. Kei liked me, knew I would always be your best resource if he wasn’t there.”

Finn didn’t bother sitting down. He didn’t bother moving. Somehow, he knew that this wasn’t going to be the knock-down, drag-out argument that he’d gotten used to having. Aaron braved the weather because she had a purpose today, and this wasn’t going to be a repeat of the Christmas party. How she even got into the house, he would never know.

If Dickie let her in…

“Hey,” she grinned widely, but he knew that expression. The grin wasn’t pleasure, it was sadism. “Do you remember that time that you and your shitty sister went and infiltrated that one dude’s house because they kidnapped Kei’s girlfriend? Remember when the two of you got rid of that man’s son?”” Aaron leaned forward, scrunching her nose up. “Remember when that man rammed my car off the road and killed our twins?”

Finn exhaled again through his nose. Yep. She was definitely here with a purpose.

“You know, we were never the same again after that.” She brought her knees up to her chest and feigned sadness. “After all, you started pulling away from me. You weren’t home, you never stayed around for very long when you were. You blamed your job, and then popped around to different companies for a time…I figured it would be okay with the fact that you were working, but then you just stopped working. I was keeping us afloat. And then you went off for one more job and I…”

“You hated it when I was home.”

“Mmm,” she shook her head, pressing her cheek to her knee. “No. I wanted you to be home.”

“All we did was fight, Aaron–”

“At least when we were fighting, you still cared.” Aaron swung her legs down to the ground and stood up. She was only four-foot-eleven, but she was feisty. “But you didn’t care, Finn. You stopped caring about everything. So, really, who was to blame for us falling apart? Because it certainly wasn’t me.”

She took a few steps forward, reaching up and clenching her manicured fingers into his shirt. “But we can fix it.”

“I don’t want to fix it.” Finn snarled. “I’m happy. I don’t want anything to do with you, and I don’t know how many times I’m going to have to say this to you, but I don’t need you. I haven’t needed you in years.”

“Hm, that may be.” She smiled, unphased by his anger. She’d gotten used to him in their years together, and was probably one of the only people in the world that wasn’t afraid of him when he was mad. “But something tells me that in the next few days, you’re going to find yourself scrambling because while I know you have all this bullshit with the Romani, and that you’re trying to protect your poor little woman who keeps trying to run off…yes, Finn, I know about it…this is going to affect you more than you think.”

“Aaron, there is nothing you could possibly do to–”

Aaron giggled, cutting him off, and placed her shoes on the ground and grabbed her bag as she stepped into them. How she wore them in the cold, she would never know. “You should really check your paperwork after you walk out of meetings.”

“The fuck does that mean?”

She smiled, turning her head. “Oh, you know…make sure there’s signatures on everything. Keep an eye on it, will you?”

And then she was gone, heading towards the front door with the definitive click-clicks of her heels on the floor. Finn frowned, watching her as she left, having no clue as to what she was talking about. 

••••••


Eddie Lyons was probably the one who was the closest to ending my streak. But…you know what? I’m not the type of person or Champion to sit there and put someone down for doing their best. I meant what I said on the social media machine: if you want training like you’ve never had before, come find me. Wolfslair would place you in their arms and push you more than you know. There’s a nice little new set up in Denver run by yours truly – all you have to do is ask.

You know, I’ve realized recently that I haven’t been hearing the snide comments about Wolfslair as frequently. Wolfslair, which held a Mixed Tag Team Record, who has had countless champions within the hallowed halls of SCW. Wolfslair, who holds three of the championships in this company, four by association. Hell, Alicia Lukas has held the Bombshells title for three hundred and eighty days, two hundred and eighty in one go. And you guys know how much I enjoy Alicia Lukas.

Wolfslair is no longer a running joke because we have become some of the most dominant champions in this company to the point where monoliths were crushed and refuse to rise again. I see it – hell, everyone sees it. And it’s pathetic, because we all sit here and say we want to face the best of the best…but in reality, those monoliths that talk behind a screen used to say it all the time…that they were the best of the best, but the second someone rose higher? Gone.

Poof.

Kind of disappointing.

A new year has come and still I stand as World Champion. I know most of you are disappointed that I’m standing here. Three hundred and twenty-four days. If I recall, there’s only one other person in that three hundred club.

Hm.

Just a point to put out there.

We’ve done this song and dance before, Aiden. The last time we fought was back in September. You fought hard, I remember that. I remember that you stated that I was one of the best, that I live in the lap of luxury…and that even through everything that I had, I was miserable. Basically, I wasn’t essentially grateful for the life that I had.

You know, you should still be grateful for the life that I have, because you still live in my house. And I don’t begrudge that. I expected it. Because of all the things in the world, I care about people – even when they look at me and stab me in the back. I care until they give me no reason to care. And yes, perhaps I am a little bit grumpy, but you know exactly what’s going on in my life. I think I have an absolute reason to do so. But here? In this ring?

This is the place I’m most happy. Because I get to kick in teeth. And I very much enjoy kicking in teeth.

Aiden, as much of a competitor as you are, you have a track record here that goes up and down. Right now, you’re the Roulette Champion. But what happens if you have an off day the next time it’s contended for? I don’t think you really have a lot to fear, but you’re going to need more than a few jokes and props given to your opponent to get you ahead of the game. I’ve told you time and time again you need to be more aggressive not only in the ring, but in your statements.

I’ve watched you go time and time again at opponents that might be a little bit higher than you on the totem pole – you always treat them with a level of respect that they don’t necessarily deserve. How is it in all your years in this business that you haven’t learned that you go for the throat, no matter who it is? Telling me I’m a miserable bastard isn’t necessarily going for the throat, but you know…what do I know?

It’s not like I haven’t held onto a championship for nearly a year or anything.

Look, Aiden. Like I said last time – we’re friends. But friendship only goes so far in the ring. I appreciate the lack of a stab in the back in order to get here, but at the same time, when that bell rings, I’m looking to win. I’m always going to want to win. I’m going to always do my best to win, and there is very little that you can do in order to stop me from succeeding.

This is twenty-twenty-five now, and it is yet another year in which I will push for the stars. Because that’s what I do. I push, constantly, no matter the person in front of me. No matter the consequence, no matter the ending. I’m looking to make this my year again. And again and again.

Congratulations on the Roulette Championship.

I hope you keep it for longer than the last time.

5
Climax Control Archives / PARADIGM SHIFT XXX // BLOOD FOR CHRISTMAS
« on: December 20, 2024, 11:48:21 PM »
PARADIGM SHIFT XXX // BLOOD FOR CHRISTMAS (HALLELUJAH)
ALL I’VE EVER LEARNED FROM LOVE WAS HOW TO SHOOT SOMEBODY WHO OUTDREW YA. AND IT’S NOT A CRY THAT YOU HEAR AT NIGHT, IT’S NOT SOMEBODY WHO’S SEEN THE LIGHT. IT’S A COLD AND IT’S A BROKEN HALLELUJAH. 
PENTATONIX .


••••••

The move had been easy – as it should have been, considering the sheer force of manpower in the amassed army that Dickie had beneath his hands. Based on their previous conversation, they decided that Colorado was the best option for both of them; and so, they chose a home on the outskirts of the Front Range, just as the hills rolled more fluidly and the mountains rose up beyond them.

The quiet of the mountains was different than the city, and it was a welcome insight for the both of them. Here, they could think about their careers. They could think about where they were going, what they were doing. There wasn’t the constant bustle of the world, they could reflect on their lives and their hopes and dreams and careers.

Finn could think about his upcoming match with Eddie Lyons. He could consider the cost that laid in front of him, consider the ways that the world worked around him, how he ended up in this moment. Eddie was a good wrestler, this was for certain, but he was confident enough in his own skills that he didn’t think he would end up on the losing side in this match. Not before Christmas. Not before this whole year was over. He’d earned this spot, and he wasn’t about to destroy it.

But Finn also had his own issues as well, continuing with his Yakuza versus Romani war. He was hopeful that the move would put a damper on the whole Kayla trying to find Jace thing, and that it would keep the Romani from seeking them out constantly. If there was just one way to mitigate the entire situation, he was hopeful that this was it. It wouldn’t behove Jace to come search for them in the middle of the country. He couldn’t just pick up his entire compound and move that quickly.

Or so he thought, anyway. If they showed up, at least Colorado had a more liberal use of guns and Make My Day laws. They could protect themselves easier. Especially now that they weren’t located in the middle of a city.

A spacious home, with spacious land. Trees laid across the land, interspersing the golden plains that a poet described in America, the Beautiful, and a large structure built at the top of the hill. The opulence, at least from the outside, was definitely Kayla’s choosing. The rest, though, was modern, what Finn enjoyed, updated with the nicest smart appliances to make the home especially technological. And most importantly to Finn…multiple places for people.

And now?

Now people were flooding it in a way neither were particularly pleased about.

Kallisto Reznikski-Reynolds was at fault for this particularly awful Saturday Christmas party that Finn and Kayla hadn’t had one iota of understanding about it. They were just told to dress nice and be downstairs at five o’clock on the dot. So they did, because it was very difficult to argue with Kallisto when she had her mind set.

I didn’t think she knew this many people,” he muttered to Kayla as they stood at the balcony overlooking the living area with the vaulted ceilings in the open floor plan that both of them appreciated. He recognized several Wolfslair members floating, discussing, laughing. Sierra Williams, her husband Lachlan Kane; Alex and Sonja Jones; even Austin James Mercer was brooding around the corner with Alicia Lukas nearby.

I hate it.” She murmured back. “Can we kick them all out?

Finn smirked, pressed his hand to the back of her elbow briefly as he walked behind her and leaned into whisper in her ear, “Make sure you smile.

I don’t smile!” Kayla snarled through gritted teeth as Finn walked down the steps. He simply smiled and shook his head, knowing she’d walk down in her dress eventually and then run twenty minutes back upstairs. He headed to the kitchen island and grabbed a glass of what he assumed with spiced cider. He winced at the burning taste of alcohol in his throat and shook his head lightly, attempting to stifle the initial taste.

Nice house,” Alex commented, raising a glass as Finn walked up, adjusting his sleeve tacks of his black shirt. Kallie was going to kill him for looking like he was in a funeral, but this was still his house. All with its wooden, rustic and modern glory.

Thanks,” Finn chuckled.

It’ll be a shame not to see you brooding about in the Wolfslair facility.

He nodded, rolling his eyes slightly. “You’ve been trying to get me out of there since I got in.

True.” Alex smirked a bit, looking around at the partygoers. “Although, I have thought about the proposal you gave me. It would be nice to have a facility here in the Midwest. Do you think there’s a market for it?

I’m sure there is.

And it’d be nice to have a high altitude gym for us to utilize.

Yeah, I agree, It was definitely a huge part of my training, working here with–

Little ol’ me.

Alex and Finn turned their heads, and both had to look down at the light-blue haired woman that stood next to them both. She held a glass of whiskey in her hand as she swirled it in front of her and batted her eyelashes softly, sweetly – manipulatively. Aaron Asphyxia was not someone Finn wanted to have a conversation with, but nevertheless, when Alex snickered and walked away, he was forced.

You didn’t return my phone call.

I would assume you knew that meant I didn’t want to have a conversation with you,” Finn replied.

Look,” Aaron turned, standing next to Finn and looking out on the crowd with him. “I know that I may have completely screwed up, but I realized I need to fix it. And I don’t know exactly how I’m going to do so, but I will. I figured I could do so by getting you information about Keevee’s little recruits.

I don’t need it.

You don’t?” Aaron snorted. “Is this your pride coming out? That little bit of you that just refuses to accept help from the woman who cheated on you? Come on, you wouldn’t be that petty.

Finn turned his head and narrowed his eyes, keeping his voice low as he didn’t want people looking over and wondering why two people were yelling at each other at a Christmas party. “Petty? This isn’t twenty-fifteen, and you’re not my little guiding light anymore on my shoulder giving me all the pep talks in the world. You don’t think I see what you’re doing here? Slinking in and giving me support in the guise trying to manipulate everything around me. I don’t need you.

You needed me when it came to getting that kid from the Romani.

No, I needed your father.” Finn corrected. “But you’ve just been a part of this world for longer that I figured you would–

Oh, so you used me.

You wanted to be,” he countered, his face contorting angrily. “You’ve been begging at my doorstep for months since Kei’s death to be a part of everything involved with the Yakuza. The second I called you to meet me so we could figure out the issue with Jace, you’ve been salivating at the bit like one of Pavlov’s dogs. You wanted this.

I wanted to be around you,” she hissed, crossing her arms.

Finn’s nose flared and he grabbed Aaron by the bicep, dragging her to the hallway behind the kitchen that was a quite a bit less crowded. “No. This is not happening again. I am with Kayla. I am happy with Kayla. I have zero interest in you, and you know this.

Callien–

Fuck no. I walked away. We had a divorce. And it’s been stable for years. You do not get to come in here and try to fuck it up because you’re feeling guilty about everything and you want to try again. I do not want to. I have no desire to, and you’re not going to come to my household and try to fix what you demolished that I don’t even want.

Aaron defiantly looked up at him and narrowed her eyes. “If I hadn’t tried to get into your mind, you wouldn’t be with Kayla either. I’m responsible for all of it. And if I hadn’t done that, she’d still be only a thought and she wouldn’t be standing out there with her big ol’ boobs and her shitty disposition that screams that she never had a good father growing up.

You have no right coming into our home–

She’s using you, you idiot.” She growled. “You can’t see that? She found out about all your connections and that’s the only reason she’s with you. If you look at her track record, she always ends up with people who are far better off than her and she leeches off–

Get out.” Finn snarled.

Finn!

GET OUT!” He screamed, probably loud enough for the rest of the party to hear. Aaron stared at him for a moment, before turning on her Louboutins stalking out of the hallway. Finn exhaled out of his nose and grit his teeth so hard he could feel them grinding beneath his lips.

He pressed a hand to the hallway wall, and exhaled slowly, looking down at the floor with annoyance in his features. When he looked up, a new person had joined him. Kayla. Standing there in her dress that showed off her cleavage but also her tattoos. She looked at him with a concerned expression.

He sighed. “Aaron.

“What’d she want?”

To cause drama. I’m sorry.

You don’t need to apologize to me,” she laughed, stepping forward and pressing her hand to his shoulder. “Might need to apologize to Kallie, but that’s a regular occurrence. Look…” she glanced around to see if there was anyone with them in the hallway, and when there wasn’t, she raised a hand to his jaw and held his cheek in her hand. “Forget what the little blue haired bitch said – look at what we have now. We’re happy, we have a new home far away from the Romani…we don’t have to worry about anything. Just our jobs. Just our championships.

He nodded, still trying to exhale slowly enough to calm his heart.

You’re going to kick Eddie Lyon’s ass and we’re going to go into the new year as dual champions. As we should be. I’m proud of us.” She pressed her hands to his shoulders. “I’m proud of you. Twenty-twenty-four was our year. So will twenty-twenty-five.

••••••


I’ve been here before. Every month or so, it’s the same thing. I have someone telling me that my time is done. That I’m ignorant, that I’m a failure at what I do and that it’s just a moment more until I’ve got nothing left. That someone is going to take from me what everyone has tried to take from me up until this point. Do you know how tiring that gets? Hearing the same thing over and over again and listening to the same bullshit repeated in a different way?

No one is new. No one says anything different. It’s always that I’m incapable of seeing myself as anything but an alpha, or that I believe myself to be something other than my own beliefs. I’ve told you all time and time again that my own belief in myself isn’t a misplaced, delusional thought, that it’s something I believe because I know in my own abilities. Yet, it’s still thrown in my face that I’m incapable of seeing anything other than my own meteoric rise, like I know there is only one option.

There are always options. Always days where someone could rise above me and take everything I have. Always opportunities that someone could utilize coming out of the gate, and I know that. So I have to adjust, I have to become something different every time that–that someone thinks they’ve gotten some bug up their ass thinking that they’ve finally figured me out, that they’ve solved the magic equation to taking me down, to removing me from the pedestal that I’ve seemingly placed myself on.

Except I didn’t place myself anywhere. I didn’t just walk in and take a spot, like some kind of thief in the night. I walked in and fought for every bit of life I have in this company. I was told that Kayla and I would never claim the Mixed Tag Team Championships, look what we did, even when we didn’t want to. I didn’t want the Heavyweight Championship, but when I was placed into that tournament for it, I did what I did because I don’t let opportunities slip away from me.

I look at every match, whether I want it or not, as an opportunity to continue a legacy that very, very few above me have the ability. In fact, you look at everyone who has ever held this championship and you will see one person who has done better than I. And that man is a fuckin’ dickhead, but a legend in this company.

One.

We can talk about multiple reigns holding that championship, but it’s been three hundred days for me in a single reign alone, and everyone thinks that they can topple me. That the monolith will crumble and fall just because they think it will happen.

But I am tired, Sin City. I am tired of sitting here and listening to every person that comes up against me that refuses to give me the respect that I’m due, that I’ve earned. No, I’ve had Peter Vaughn coming in from a left-angle, trying to catch me by surprise. I’ve had friendships burned because they thought they had to fell a god. I’ve defeated self-flagellating men who thought they were a god twice to maintain this. I’ve felled once prominent men in this very company, once golden men.

But I am just simply the asshole who thinks he’s a god, that thinks he’s better than he is, that doesn’t understand that he’s really nothing.

I’ve heard it all before. It’s boring, it’s ostentatious, it’s the same thing over and over. It’s ridiculous. People approach this like it’s felling some demon who doesn’t deserve their spot in this company.

I deserve every bit of it.

I’ve fought hard to maintain this, I’ve fought for this. And I am tired of getting up here and acting like I didn’t deserve it. I have been a World Heavyweight Champion in this company for over three hundred days in a single reign and all I get is a bunch of bullshit from everyone that comes up against me, thinking I’m worthless and nothing.

When does it end?

When do I get the flowers I deserve?




…..




But wait.

See, I could sit here and bitch about this. It’s what a lot of people end up doing, if you look at the rest of the industry. Cry about not being seen, make false claims about being favorites in this business so they stroke their own egos, whine about not getting whatever they think they should have. I could absolutely bitch about it constantly, but come on, when the hell did I ever simply do just that?

I don’t bitch.

I don’t whine.

I make things happen, I push for everything in my life, and I take what I’m given with a vehement desire to do more than I ever have. This is what separates me from everyone else, what separates me from even my own pack. I live for this fight, and I have never needed anyone to peptalk me to do something better than what I have done. I don’t need a coach telling me what I do to get ahead of the game, I don’t look to my training facility to give me pats on the back and help. I don’t seek Kayla’s approval either, because I don’t need it to do my damn job.

I am the World Heavyweight Champion of mine and my own volition. I am the man that this company throws miscreant beings who think they’ve godsent at to try and push them afar.

I’ve earned my flowers. And I will take every little bit of the respect I am owed.

Tell me, Eddie.

Do you understand what that’s like?

••••••


Snow coated the ground outside, which was common in the area more than the Denver proper. There were footsteps – quite a few of them – heading into the forests outside of the house. It was not a place that many of the party goers were likely to head to, so it was strange that anyone was down there to begin with.

Which meant the fact that Finn was walking down the hill after getting a phone call was a strange occurrence…and a strange occurrence wasn’t anything that anyone wanted since the move from New York City.

Standing down at the bottom of the hill stood his younger brother, arms crossed as he waited for Finn to arrive. He didn’t wear a jacket, which was fine with him, but the Australian that stood next to him was bouncing up and down in a pair of snow boots, shorts, and an enormous puffed jacket and was still trying to warm up regardless.

What is it that you couldn’t tell me on the phone?” Finn questioned.

It’s…well…” Dickie muttered, looking at Finn, and then back into the forest. “I don’t think the move has really stopped any part of this, to be honest.

What is it?” The repetition was sharp, and he seemed to be more alert.

It’s fuckin’ cold, mate, can we just get to the point.” Aiden muttered, hobbling down the hill while his teeth chattered.

Dickie rolled his eyes, turned, and began trekking back into the forest. Finn followed, placing his own feet into the footprints that dotted the snow. He was thankful for the fact that this area would be void of footprints by midday tomorrow – the snow never stuck around that long. And he was grateful….at least, until he saw darkened spots in the snow. Little pieces, like a trail of blood dripping from someone as they stumbled into the forest.

And that’s what it was. A body, face down, in the snow laid just feet from them in a small clearing of trees. Finn shoved his hands in his pockets and frowned. He couldn’t tell if it was one of their own men or someone else’s, but the thought remained the same regardless.

They hadn’t waited. The Romani.

The clothing was hand stitched, which indicated to Finn that it wasn’t one of Dickie’s men. He didn’t touch the body, didn’t say anything either – at least, not initially. Instead, he peered at the body as it lay on the ground, and then looked at Dickie.

How long?

Reported to me about half an hour ago. Someone searching the property, they shot him on sight. I don’t know if it’s the Romani or anything, but I mean…” Dickie shrugged, “we could probably figure that out quickly.

How’d they figure it out so quickly?” Aiden asked, bopping up and down to keep his heat up.

They must be tracking our movements…and if we’re getting this ballsy already, that means that we need to keep this from Kayla as much as we can. No mention of this in front of her, otherwise, she may do the same thing as before. My primary goal is keeping her–

And us!” Aiden interjected.

Everyone,” Finn emphasized, “safe. Figure out this one, get rid of it, and then let me know when it’s done. We can figure out everything else later. I can’t be doing this right now. I have a match coming up that’s pretty critical for the end of the year, and if I step back now and let this affect what’s going on in my career, the world may possibly end. I need you,” he looked at Dickie, “to handle this.

Well yeah,” Dickie said, slowly, looking at his brother with an eyebrow raised. “This is my job, after all. I’m the de facto leader.

Yes. You are.” Finn nodded. Aiden looked between the two of them, narrowing his own eyes and looking semi-confused. He didn’t say anything, but what he was absolutely thinking was that this whole Yakuza thing was heavily carried by Finn and Dickie appeared to simply be a figurehead.

Unless…

Unless that’s really just what both of them planned and they’d all been the fools. Finn clearly led everything, and Dickie often looked for support from him before he made any moves. And if that was the case…was this really Dickie versus Jace, or was it Finn?

And how far would Finn go if Jace invaded everything that he held dear to himself.

He was about to ask that when Finn turned on his heel and began heading back up to the house without a word. He looked at Dickie, who was texting quickly on a second cell phone. “Mate, do you think we should tell Kayla anyway? I’d want to know if some crazy, psycho ex-lover of mine was constantly trying to get into my pants and kept trespassing on my property.

Dickie looked at him, shook his head, and then shoved his cell in his pocket. “You really want to get in between the two of them? I’d rather die, thank you very much. In fact, I’m pretty sure we will if we do get ourselves involved. Let’s not and save our souls, bruh.

••••••


I know you like to push your own narrative, Eddie. I listened to a lot of your previous promotional videos and found this same common theme. You’re inferred that you’re a warrior, but the least of everyone to be thought of as one. Or perhaps, that’s what I’ve seen. In your fight for the battle royal, that you won, the one thing that I recognized in all of it was your own perceived ineptitude.

A lot of people think that by sitting and arguing that everyone else doesn’t see you for what you are, that you’ve gained an opportunity to prove that. And maybe you did, what with that battle royal. And what was your major argument in all of that?

That’s right. Your magnum opus.

You pinned me.

Congratulations. You pinned me in the one night that I didn’t show up like I always do. You pinned me on the night that I wasn’t at my best, the night that I wasn’t here in my head, that I wasn’t me. And that is something most people also understand. Your one saving grace is that you pinned me and you scream it from the heavens every night you’re in the league like that one little thing is the only piece in the equation that matters. Everything matters, Eddie. Just because you think it’s your time does not mean that it is. Just because you got to this point doesn’t mean that you’re foregone to become the champion just because you think it’s written in the stars.

I get it. I get the pressure to be something. I get the expectation. It sits on your chest and it pushes in and makes you feel like you’re fucking worthless, that you’re not carrying on a mantle the correct way. But you? You care about your mantle. You care about preserving some legacy that has been dead for twenty fucking years. Twenty years since IWF and no one has ever heard the goddamn name Lyons again until you and your little cousins all came into this field.

All this tells me is that you haven’t learned who the legacy is for.

You’re still wearing a mantle of people who could give zero fucks less about you. And maybe that’s my own negative persona sitting in the organ between my ears, Eddie, but I cannot even begin to tell you how much that I despise people who come in screaming family legacy. It’s a burden, and one you so willingly sit on and use as a crutch to push yourself. Tell me, if you weren’t a Lyons, then what the fuck would you be doing this for?

And that is the difference between you and me – or at the very least, one of the biggest differences between you and me. I fight for me, not some familial tie. I don’t fight to continue my trainer’s legacy – and if we’re being perfectly honest, Aaron Asphyxia can go fuck herself right off into oblivion like she fucked a trainee and ruined our relationship, and if I ever hear you mention her again when you’re facing me? You’ll earn the knee in the face that you’ll receive when you’re begging me for mercy upon your soul.

It’s funny to me that you also sat there and told me that you and your cousin don’t get along and that you didn’t see eye to eye, but then again…you’re part of her Queensguard…which sounds like some foos-ro-dah bullshit, and let me tell you how much video game allusions bore the fuck out of me.

But what was it else that you told me? That you wouldn’t take anything from us, and that you were my kryptonite?

Do you know how many people have proclaimed that over the years, and yet still I stand, rising above. Fighting above, doing what everyone else thinks I’m incapable of doing.

You’re just another cricket in the slough, Eddie. And that’s why I picked on you in PWE, because you were an easy fucking target. I should sit here and say that you’ve changed, that you’ve pushed yourself, that you’ve become a man and a hell of a champion, but you never defended your tag team championships and if I remember correctly…you lost your Roulette championship to Aiden.

Yes, the Aiden that lives in my home and sounds like he’s lost a few brain cells over the course of his lifetime. Yes, the one that is my teammate.

But let’s be honest in that one too, because you won it when it was just another vacation of a championship that led you to be the best of a field of men who weren’t anything to write home about. And you think that you, what, made history with that move? That it made you anything more than a rookie trying to pave his way in the world? Because that’s what you are, at the end of the day, kid. You’re still a rookie. You’re still fighting in wars that you don’t even know the cost of.

I told you it was a preview of what was to come. I put you out of your misery in that match and you couldn’t save your little cousin, so we won our championships back. And you couldn’t even sit there and face me like a man without having little ol’ Vicky come up from behind and attack me.

Is that all you people know how to do? Attack people? Come at people from behind and blindside them because you think that’s going to get you over? Without realizing how much that actually pisses people off? Because it was fine. It was dandy, until that moment. You signed your death sentence in that moment, I hope you know, and you can thank Vicky for forging your signature.

I do not give two shits about the legacy that you want to create. I do not give two shits about the Lyons name, and I don’t even give a singular shit about your motives. You and I are not the same, Eddie. The more I come to think about it, there are no pieces that tie us together except one little thread to IWF. And I don’t give a fuck about IWF, or anything involved in it. I don’t live in the past and I don’t care about it. I move forward in this world, this time.

You pinned me one night. And it will never be again. So take your shots. Come at me with everything you have, because in Arizona, at this Christmas show…the only gift you will receive from me is the cold, hard truth that you’re not prepared for this, and that gold will still be in my hands going into twenty-twenty-five. It’ll be hard to swallow. It’ll be hard to manage. But it will be hard fought, and you will be proud of your own loss. Because I know you can stand up to me, that’s for certain.

But you can’t beat me. I won’t let you beat me.

I’m holding J2H to his words from way back when – I plan to be champion into the next year so that he can face me and know that I’m just behind him in everything. And when I sit at the precipice of this company next year, everyone will know that Finn Whelan is a monster that may be defeated once, but never broken. You may think that I have everything to lose, Eddie.

But in reality, I still have everything to gain.

And if you win? If you’re so skilled in this that you have the ultimate ability to finally put me to rest? Know I’ll be right back in the world fo

I’ll see you soon, kid.

I hope this was worth it to you.

6
Climax Control Archives / PARADIGM SHIFT XXIX // STOLEN OMEN
« on: December 06, 2024, 11:52:10 PM »
PARADIGM SHIFT XXIX // STOLEN OMEN   
I SEE YOU LIVE DELUSIONS, PAINT YOUR LIFE WITH YOUR CONCLUSIONS. I DON’T KNOW HOW TO TELL YOU THIS PATH HAS LOST ITS VALUE. I CAN’T FEEL FALSE IDEALS, ANOTHER FOOL THAT’S BLIND TO WHAT’S REAL. I SING FOR THE HOPE THAT’S BROKEN – THEY LIVE FOR FOR A STOLEN OMEN. 
BLACK VEIL BRIDES .


••••••


Everything was the same after High Stakes. He was still champion. Kayla was still the champion. They moved forward through their lives as champions and they maintained stability that was reserved for normal people. Monotonous dinners at home, friends coming and going from their apartment. In and out of his work at the gym, in and out of the home. Cuddling late at night with Kayla while they watched movies and training when they could otherwise. Everything was obviously fine. Normal. Regular.

Except for the whole fact that there was Yakuza standing at their doors and the Romani literally lurking around every corner.

Kallie wanted to have a girl’s night in the apartment, as Dax was with his Australian grandparents. And while Kayla complained loudly about how she didn’t know how to sit around in her pajamas and watching stupid girly movies and paint each other’s nails, she still kissed him on the cheek and left to join Kallie and Amelia in the apartment upstairs. This left Finn by himself, and while he enjoyed that on a regular basis, something settled in his brain that he just didn’t want to be by himself.

The Wayward Home for Wrestlers had become regular…not a nuisance, but a regular occurrence that he’d grown used to. Hearing Dax, Aiden and Kallie’s muffled voices from the other apartment, seeing his little brother regularly, watching as Kallie’s brother showed a complete disinterest in everything else. Kayla’s family moving about had become regular too.

But the threat was real. The threat was escalating. The Romani were watching now, but what about when they decided to strike? They were sitting ducks. Part of him wanted to mount an attack on the compound and just get rid of the menace that had begun to settle in their lives, but he knew that could be just as dangerous as it was foolish. He could put himself in danger, but he wasn’t willing to deal with the cost, nor was he willing to place Kayla in that place either. Eventually, there would need to be a showdown, a final fight that ultimately ended this entirely. But until that moment, they were waiting…and the waiting was getting to him.

Now he sat in his little brother’s apartment in Queens, looking out upon the floor length windows while his brother and his best friend messed around on Call of Duty. Aiden was particularly smug, sitting on the floor in no shirt and a pair of basketball shorts, having had a higher kill/death rating than Dickie. Dickie sat above him on the couch, his blonde curls bouncing as he moved in sync with his little avatar on the game.

“You…little…” Dickie muttered, sticking his tongue out childishly and biting down on it as he navigated a particularly difficult spot.

“Oi mate, you gotta watch your six.”

“No, you’re behind me. You’ve got to watch my shit.”

“Oh yeah, yeah, nah, yeh!” Aiden nodded, shooting someone over Dickie’s shoulder. “Fuckin’ need lasik, hey.”

“Listen, I’m not blind…”

They continued arguing over and over again. Finn shook his head, shoving his hand into the popcorn and taking a large bite of it. He chuckled a bit to himself, enjoying the chaos that his friends brought into his life. It was good. It was natural. Just as natural as he and Kayla. He didn’t want to mess that up, didn’t want to screw with anything that existed in this time.

But still, the thought remained. Jace had told him exactly what he hadn’t wanted to hear, and since that night, he’d been continuously playing it in his head. Until he’d confronted Kayla about it, he hadn’t been quite sure what her full intentions were. But he could surmise. Oh, he knew that it had nothing to do with Jace’s proclamation that she still loved him — but he knew she thought she could change the world. She thought they could change their fate.

But there was no changing it. Not when the cogs continued to turn and turn and turn.

The only solution was to escape it. Not to run, but maybe…to misplace themselves. Just for a bit. To throw off the scent. To do something unexpected.

“Have you ever thought about leaving  New York?” He posed the question as the lobby screen came up for the next round.

Dickie and Aiden both turned their heads, looked at one another, and then snapped them back to Finn like sycophantic surprised elves.

“No…” Dickie muttered, furrowing his brow. And that made absolute sense to Finn, because at the end of the day, New York City was Dickie’s life. From FIGHT, to living here because of Wolfslair. It was astonishing that there could be any change to be thought of. Ever since the dissolution of Kei’s life, it was difficult to realize that he was also the leader of a Yakuza clan. Could he change their location? Yes. But would it be worth it?

“I mean, but to where? Wolfslair is here.”

Finn thought for a moment, and shook his head. “I can make that change. Wolfslair is a state of mind, it doesn’t have to necessarily be in our forefront all the time. And even so, I bet I can talk to Alex and get that changed to let me lead a gym. He’d be happier with my absence.”

Dickie looked at Aiden, and then he looked back at his brother with an eyebrow raised. “What are you thinking about?”

“This shit with the Romani…”

“That you started.” Dickie reminded him, tilting his head.

“Shush – I know.” Finn rose to his feet, pacing slightly. But it’s getting ridiculous. I think we could move. I think Kayla and I, at least, will leave and move somewhere else. Somewhere where we can start our own life…and I mean, it just makes more sense if you guys come with us. I haven’t exactly…” He moved from one side of the room to the other. “I haven’t thought of where, but I think we should go. And maybe we can stop this shit with…them. I’m worried about Kayla. I’m worried about us. All the time. Jace shows up constantly, and this might just be a way to put distance between us all.”

Aiden shrugged, “Nothin’ saying he can’t follow.”

“Prob will.” Dickie agreed, also shrugging. But he narrowed his eyes and peered at his brother as he moved back and forth across the room. “If you think it’s a good idea though…I mean…you’ve never steered me wrong.”

Finn looked at him. That was the agreement that he needed. Not that he needed it really, but it was what he wanted to hear. If they were willing to move, he could continue to protect them. And he could erase the problems that had been created with Wolfslair, with former friends, with the Yakuza, with the Romani. At least, he could do that for a time.

And even just a little bit of time was better than nothing.


••••••


This isn’t what you wanted. This isn’t what you expected.

A throne room. Or at least, what looked to be the remnants of one. The crumbling ruins of a castle sat upon a hill on the mountainous front range in Colorado, a tower and some remaining walls. No glory, no grandiose finery. Nothing but a ruin on a hill overlooking the sprawling Denver Metro area below. In the crumbling remains of throne-like chair sat the SCW World Heavyweight Champion, one leg draped over the armrest while the other was planted on the floor.

Whelan raised his hand nonchalantly, gesturing to the crumbling ruins, while the other laid against his mouth as he appeared to be contemplating. But what? The other hand clutched tightly upon the championship belt laid across his chest, and he tapped lightly against it as he spoke.

High Stakes was supposed to be the moment that David killed Goliath. The time in which the good little underdog was able to topple the monolith that everyone hated. Perhaps the very moment hope could be realized, that everything wasn’t for naught, that the world would be righted. Miles Kasey, finally reaching the zenith, so that he could topple the god that wreaked havoc upon the industry.

He dropped his hand from his lips, turning his head and looking away for a moment.

Except I never claimed to be a god.

Setting his eyes upon the camera, a smirk rose up upon his features. He propelled his body upwards, pressing his feet firmly into the floor as he righted himself.

David could not find a rock sharp enough to embed in my skull; and so, here Goliath continues to stand, tearing down the walls that are built every so often in an attempt to cage him. But I refuse to be caged, and I refuse to be hemmed in. While the thought was that finally a challenger had finally laid siege to the rule of Finn Whelan, the assault ended in a brutal realization that even those with the best intentions to meet expectations fall short. And that is a hard, calamitous reality that rarely do people want to recognize.

Instead of recognizing his own shortcomings, my former teammate tried to paint a picture of me as a domineering tyrant of the ilk of Kim Jong Il, believing myself to be a deity to the wrestling ring. It’s easier to project a devilish motive to someone that you end up stabbing in the back than facing the reality that you need to take accountability for your own actions, and that’s what happened. I have never claimed to be a god, and I certainly don’t need to claim that I am a king.

I am merely what I have always said: good at my job, and continue to be every time I step into the ring.

Finn rose to his feet then, gesturing around him to the ruins of the castle that once sat prominent upon the mountainside.

If anything, if I were a king, this would be the apt visualization of what that kingdom would look like. I don’t need frivolous finery and gold to be a domineering leader. I don’t need to raise myself higher than my peers. I don’t feel the need to fall to base and disastrous betrayal to maintain my record. I don’t need to delude myself that I am anything more than a fighter who does his utmost to succeed in every part of my life. I don’t need to be a king. I don’t need to be a monolith.

He paused and tilted his head to the side.

It’s all of you who make me that deity. Your projections, your jealousy, your words uttered to try and get under my skin. Time and time again, I post from random places with simply my voice because I don’t want to use visual metaphors to try and make a point. I don’t need to tie things in. I don’t need to do anything other than speak the truth as I see it. It is all of you who sit there and call me a tyrant, a dictator, a king, a god. You project that onto me and expect me to fall in line.

But I question you this: When the fuck have I ever fallen in line?

Finn took a few steps away from his original spot, stepping over the remnants of a wall and forward, away from the castle remnants entirely and out into the wilderness of the mountain range. Pine trees rose high over the towering and lanky figure of the World Heavyweight Championship. Following him into the trees, the view moved from deadened plains to darkened forest, dense brush and foliage covering surfaces of the ground. The Seattle Saint’s back was the only thing visible as he descended into the trees, except for the glint of gold draped across his shoulder.

For nearly a year, I’ve held this championship, coming up against every single person who has tried to tear me into nothing. Every time, I’ve come out swinging and strong. For nearly a year, the Wolves of Gheimhridh held the Mixed Tag Team Championships. Not only did we pass the record for most defenses, we also passed the longest reign. This comes as a testament that Finn Whelan and Kayla Richards – despite how monotonous and boring that may seem – are dominant champions. Until one shitty little night in October.

He paused in his movement.

Until the moment I failed to see the bigger picture. Until the moment that I was unable to capitalize on my own words.

He turned his head and looked behind him, his blue eyes settling on the camera..

I never said I wasn’t infallible. I never said I was unstoppable. In fact, I make a point of that frequently throughout the entirety of my reign. Anyone can be defeated at any time. So no, Eddie, and literally to anyone else watching, I don’t sit here and believe that I’m undefeatable. And I don’t kick myself in the teeth because I’ve failed once. I get up, and I come back harder. I think that would be evident in my two losses since September of last year, considering I was undefeated for a year.

But you know, perspective.

Now, I have a chance to right a wrong that I created. A moment where I get to take back the championships that Kayla and I worked so hard to attain in the first place, and retain. And while that may be so monotonous and mundane, it is still the fact of the matter of honor, integrity and a lot of hard work was put into those championships and since we’ve had to wait until everyone could be patted on the back and given their singles shots to rise above…we waited. We salivated in the corner like Pavlov’s dogs, waiting for the bell to be rung so we could get our meal.

He smirked, turning his head and whole body to face the camera. “Lions and wolves: you put that into the world of animals and nine times out of ten, the lions would win because of sheer size and advantage. But…small, itty bitty fact…” Finn raised a hand and gestured for everyone to get a closer look, until they were right in front of his face. “This isn’t the jungle, this isn’t animalis – this is life, and as much as you want to wimoweh your way through it, unfortunately, the Lyons will sleep tonight.

Retribution, Eddie. Victoria. That’s the goal. That’s the only goal in retrieving the championships that I failed to keep. Not revenge. Not anything more than retribution for myself. For Kayla, and our legacy we’ll forever leave in this company long after everyone is gone.


••••••

The room at the Denver Convention Center was one of their more quiet rooms at the end of the hall. Not that it would stay that way, but for now, it was calm. They’d arrived sometime in the afternoon and headed straight for the hotel from the airport, which proved to be a three hour ride in itself. They’d flown in with Kallie and Aiden, who went straight to Aurora to visit her family for the time that they decided they needed to be in the room.

Finn deposited his luggage in the room, walking across the room and opening the curtains to look out on the city. He paused as he stared out over the front range, looking at all of the mountains with snow coating all of their peaks. Every fourteener, every beautiful, statuesque mountain with its crowned glory. He’d missed this view, missed this place. Living in the mountains hadn’t been anything like what he’d known on the coasts, and being here made him wish that he was back in this environment, back in the world that he’d once been a part of.

“The shower is tiny,” Kayla complained, coming out of the bathroom and stretching her arms out as she walked over to Finn, joining him at the window and looking outside. “I don’t know how they advertised this as a resort hotel, I would have thought they would have had a bath at least.”

“No bathtub?” Finn questioned, though his eyes stayed glued upon the mountain range.

“No, but I suppose that’ll be fine if the bed is nice.” She glanced up at him, before stepping forward once more and slipping her arms around his waist. He raised an arm, wrapping it lightly around her waist from behind, and smiled as she pressed her cheek into his shoulder. “What are you thinking about?”

“There’s a lot of snow on the mountains…looks like little crowns sometimes when you look at it from a distance. A lot of people put a lot of stock in beaches, but there’s something different about actual mountains as opposed to miniscule little hills. I know it’s not like it’s Everest, but it’s still beautiful.”

Kayla looked up at him, tilting her head a little and listening not only to his words, but also his tone. He loved it here. She could see that. She saw it every time they were in Colorado. He seemed more at peace here than he did in the city, than he even did in the ring. She chuckled lightly to herself, imagining him in flannel shirts and jeans, boots up his ankle to keep the snow out as he went outside to chop logs. Not a vision she wanted to have, and one that she preferred wouldn’t come back to haunt her dreams. But one that made sense right now.

“You like it here.”

“Yeah.” Like he always was, he never quite responded with more than one word answers when it came to his own emotions. She knew his ex-wife had made him like this, and she accepted it wholeheartedly. She’d gotten used to it.

“What if we moved here?”

He turned his head finally to look at her, and raised his other hand to press it softly against her cheek. A smile rose up on his lips. “No.” He shook his head.

Kayla’s brow furrowed. “No? Why not? It’s obvious that you like it here, and honestly…” she didn’t know if she could finish that sentence just yet. She didn’t like the rain, or the snow, but if it made him happy, perhaps she could learn how to deal. That’s what relationships were supposed to be like, right? Sacrifices for one another?

“Kayla, I closed my chapter in my life that involved Colorado a long time ago. With a stupid blue haired bitch who nearly destroyed me. As much as I love it here, I don’t want to dredge up those stupid memories.”

Kayla pursed her lips slightly, and then leaned in. “Make new memories here. With me.” She offered, a small smile now slipping upon her lips. “I know that you were broken by all of this…but you have a chance to change that now. With me.”

Finn contemplated this, and then nodded slightly. “I’ll think about it. That’s all I can really give you.”

“I know,” she laughed slightly, standing then on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek. She pulled away from him then, heading back behind where they stood and grabbing her wallet out of her purse. “I’ll be back, okay? Going to go get some food from the little bistro I saw. Do you want anything?”

“Nah, we can go to that pizza place later if you don’t mind walking a couple of blocks.”

“Listen,” she said, opening the door and turning to look at him, “I fucking love that pizza place. It’s a date.”

He snickered as she shut the door, shaking his head as he did so. He sighed, turning away from the window and heading to sit on the bed, intending to turn on the television. But he was stopped by his phone ringing. He glanced at the screen as he pulled it out of his pocket, and then instantly rolled his eyes as he read the name of the person on the phone.

“What do you want?” He asked, quite snippily, setting it on speakerphone and then onto the desk.

“I thought you might be missing my voice, so I figured I’d call…” the sound of Aaron’s voice infected the room. She tried to sound cute, tried to sound alluring, but Finn was over her shit entirely.

“I haven’t missed it for five years, so I have no idea why you think I would now.”

“I had a dream, okay. You liked me there.” She snapped back, and he could hear her roll her eyes. “I saw the card. Facing the Lyons again, are ya?”

“Yep.”

“Long history I’ve got with them…” she giggled slightly. “I’d be willing to help you…you know, get some intel on them, on their trainer. We’re friends. I can do that for you. You know…for a cost.”

Finn stared at the phone. He dropped to the bed and shook his head.

“No deal. I’m not interested in your schemes, Aaron. Get fucked.”


••••••


Let’s talk about you, Eddie. I’m not discounting Victoria, but my focus kind of needs to be on you. I’ll get to your cousin in a bit, but for now…it’s all about you. Which is what you want, right? I know you want a shot at my championship. And yeah, you’ve earned it, Eddie. You’ve earned it in a far different manner than your predecessor did, and that I can respect. You know, I’ve talked about it since day one, how it’s important to earn the rights to the battles that you get. Goth earned it. Hell, as much as I didn’t like him, Sean Parker earned that shot. Even Vaughn earned it, though he fucked up when it came to utilizing it. Kris Ryans earned it. I continue day in and day out saying the same thing.

You have to earn it.

When you won that last little battle royal, it solidified you as a fighter, Eddie. The field was powerful, and there was a ton of talent in that match. You earned this spot.

But I feel like you have this false sense of solidarity within yourself. A boost of confidence that might be a little displaced. And that is why I wanted this match. That’s why I wanted the opportunity to show you that your win, though warranted against me, that when you pinned me, it was a completely different situation than the complexity you face now. I was distracted, I was struggling with a bottomfeeder, and that is absolutely my fault that I dropped the ball.

At Climax Control, you’re going to get the World Heavyweight Champion that you deserve to have face you. You’re going to get the man that should have been out there in October when we lost those championships.

But you need to understand some things about me that might be a little displaced and incorrect.

You expect me to know a ton of things about you because of what little you know about my relationships. I know that your coach is the same person who helped train my ex-wife and that there is a strong bond there. However, where you’re wrong is that my ex-wife is a fucking selfish cunt and doesn’t share shit if it doesn’t has anything to do with her. So the most I’ve heard? What I’ve given to you at the beginning of this statement. You’re a member of The Lyons Den, which was part of the Lyons Wrestling Academy started by…Vincent Lyons, but not your cousin.

The rest comes from PWE and PWS…and here.

While you never walked the halls of PWS, your life was discussed briefly. Wolfslair and The Lyons Den have been going back and forth for years at this point, and honestly…I mean, I don’t care. You guys bleed your gym, but for me, Wolfslair is just simply a mindset. We back one another up, but obviously, you can see that love can be completely lost. We’re a team, until someone steps out of line.

Eddie, you’ve fought hard for your place here in SCW. But that doesn’t mean you weren’t capable of doing great things. You were a Roulette Champion, winning it in a buried alive match. It was taken off of you almost four months later in the great Hot Potato of 2024 by Aiden Reynolds, then Alexander Raven…and then back to Aiden. You had gold, for a time, but you were never able to reclaim it. And then…you got my gold because I fucked up.

It’s not going to happen again, I hope you understand. I hope your confidence allows you to understand that this isn’t really going to be a time where you push buttons and make your way across the field. I hope you understand that some people just have really off nights and they come back swinging, because that is exactly what’s going to happen here.

Perhaps you can see this match as a minimal preview of what will happen at the Christmas Show when you and I face each other for my World Heavyweight Championship. I know you haven’t quite confirmed that as of now, but I already know it’s coming. And that is why I wanted this match. I wanted you to understand that your boost of confidence for yourself to come against me might be a little displaced because you think that you have the option to face me for the championship that you think you’ll be able to wrest from my hands because you did it once.

If you think that’s the case, you might want to look at the four times I knocked former friends into the ground for coming after my championships. I lost against him, and I refused to let it happen again. He came after my championship, and I ended his failed betrayal and attempt.

That doesn’t mean that you’re anything like him. Doesn’t mean that you’re anything like anyone else in this company, and I’m not a fool to believe any different. But the fact of the matter is that you’re getting a different person. And I will prove to you and your little cousin that this was simply a fluke. It’s okay.

She’s already Dululu.

Aren’t ya, Victoria?

You know, it was cute when you first came onto the field and seemed like a cult-goddess-leader slash I don’t know what else. Your brother followed you around a bit, and now, because you won Queen for a Day, you think you have royalty status.

Guess what? Just because you’re part of the Lyons family doesn’t mean that you’re recognized as royalty. But I’m sure you recognize that when you go home every night. Kayla fucking knocked you out, and you were unable to continue. That’s your own fault. You failed and as always, Kayla loves to lord that over anyone who makes that mistake. I have no worries in this match, Victoria, on your part in this match because I already know that Kayla is exactly like me and will refuse to let someone that got a win over her ever do it again.

We adapt and we change. We don’t live in delusional land. We don’t create characters out of the people in our lives or the inanimate objects that exist. But we do understand the glory that comes in holding those championships. Perhaps you don’t. Perhaps you think it’s a means to an end.

At the end of the day, those championships will come back to us. The Wolves of Gheimhridh do not play nice when we’ve been usurped, so you can absolutely expect that we’re going to be coming for blood. Please realize that your false confidence is misplaced because of a win that you got once…and to be fair, will never do again.

Kayla and I are fighters. We are passionate about our careers, about what we have done and will continue to do until the time we rest our heads. And don’t think that because there is a parallel between the two of us where SCW throws unlikely competitors together to make great teams that succeed…Kayla and I always have succeeded, both in singles competition as well as tag. We do read each other well, we know how the other functions, we know how we continue to move forward and do well.

You’re not going to be the first to learn this. All of the teams that we’ve faced have been the best of friends or almost lovers, family, whatever you want to call it, and even the best of them were unable to capitalize against us. Why? Because when we’re on…it’s on.

No ifs, ands, or buts.

We’re coming back for those championships, Eddie. Victoria. We’re coming back to reclaim them, and at the end of the day, there’s nothing that you can do other than attempt to keep us from getting them. And the keyword there is attempt…because we will have them in our possession once the bell rings after that next 1-2-3. And you best believe, Eddie, that I will pin you.

A preview of what’s to come.

Don’t act like you didn’t know this was coming. We’ve been salivating at the start to get back here. And now we are.

And in one of my favorite places as well.

Broomfield is going to love us when we stand tall, raising both championships to the heights of the 1stBank Center once more.

You can bet on that.



7
Supercard Archives / PARADIGM SHIFT XVIII // TRUE FRIENDS
« on: November 22, 2024, 11:46:36 PM »
PARADIGM SHIFT XXVIII // TRUE FRIENDS   
YOU’VE GOT A LOT OF NERVE, BUT NOT A LOT OF SPINE. YOU MADE YOUR BED WHEN YOU WORRIED ABOUT MINE. I WOULDN’T HOLD MY BREATH IF I WAS YOU, CAUSE I’LL FORGET, BUT I’LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU. DON’T YOU KNOW? TRUE FRIENDS STAB YOU IN THE FRONT.
BRING ME THE HORIZON .


••••••


It’s the moment you’ve been waiting for.

The moment that people expected more from, the moment that everyone wanted to see – me lose my temper, me make a mistake, me fail at the things I’m good at. Me sit in a moment where everyone in all of SCW can finally sit there and tell me that I’m the fuck up that they’ve all expected me to be.

This is it.

At the precipice of High Stakes, the grandest show in the entirety of the SCW Calendar, a match levied and set for at the last Supercard. The SCW World Heavyweight Championship on the line, in a match that puts two members of the same gym together in what’s supposed to be a bloodbath.

I don’t need to tell you the story, because we’ve lived it all. But let me capitulate over this for a bit and you’ll see why I’m starting here. Over a year ago now, Miles Kasey was embroiled in a war with fellow Wolfslair member Austin James Mercer, and it was Austin who attempted to use me as a lesson for Kasey. A rusty wrestler with a multitude of wins and championships under my belt both from my time here and my time away. A significant amount of people in this business know that when Finn Whelan is on, there’s very little in the world that can stand toe to toe and come out on top. But was I ready?

No. I’m not an idiot to throw that under the rug. I wasn’t as ready when I lost that championship, and every time in this company that I’ve lost has been because I got lackadaisical. I know that, I take accountability for that. Somewhere deep down, even though she won’t say anything about it, I am the one to blame for losing our Mixed Tag Championships. In that night, furthermore, it was Miles Kasey who walked out with a win without a lesson to be learned.

That’s when this started, did it not? Because until some godforsaken night in October, I was undefeated for the entirety of the year. People threw their shots at me, people expected me to fail, people expected me to do worse, But we were Mixed Tag Team Champions for months – nearly a whole year…until you. Fighting tooth and nail, despite the hatred from the rest of the world about my continual rise.

Until you.

You know, going over the tapes and the history and knowing all of this…I’m going to end up repeating myself a couple of times, but it’s inevitable at the end of the day. Because I’ve done this song and dance several times before, and like I said last time…it’s boring. I’m sure you thought I meant that facing you three times for the Mixed Tag Team Championships was really the boring part. If you think that, then sorry not sorry, Miles, you’re wrong.

It’s literally because you’re boring. The most exciting thing you did was stab me in the back and…I dunno, look around and tell me how important you think that’s made you. People clamoring at your door? People cheering you on? No? Oh, Carter, but that makes sense.

So let’s talk about that for a moment. Let’s talk about that exact moment and let’s see what I can deduce was going on in your little, tiny, boring ass brain. You thought that you’d make a racket by making a claim to my championship, you thought that it was the best idea to sit there and cause a stir. You thought it was the best option to finally getting back at me for all the times that I’ve sat there and said you had potential that you were wasting. All the times that I’ve stood there and had your back, all the times that I helped you get ahead.

A lot of that is because of me, or have you forgotten? When your crazy ass ex became psychotic, I opened my home  to you. Without pay, without anything, because I knew that it was something that you needed. I am nothing if not a shoulder to the people that I give a shit about, and once upon a time, you understood that. If you’re going to sit there and think that I was pissed about you jumping ship to find your “happy”, let me tell you that again, you’re fucking wrong.

I was pissed because you had the audacity to sit there and state your lack of communication was because you stuck your dick in something that patted your ego and made you think you were ever anything more than a goddamned midcarder with nothing but a vanilla ass attitude that can be equated to one of the first people to be kicked off RuPaul’s Drag Race. Because despite your “bratty” personality – which really just reminds me of a teenage girl who has no ability to take accountability for their little bullying antics – you’re simply living in a life behind a mask that tries to hide the fact that you’re a worthless piece of shit.

Did you think I was going to be nice? That I was going to give you respect?

Respect can be given to Peter Vaughn, who at least had the audacity to state upfront what he was doing. Respect can be given to Alex Jones, who wears his dislike on his sleeve and isn’t going around corners to get what he wants. Respect can be given to every single damn competitor in this locker room that steps forward with integrity and shows themselves for who they are. You?

You’re a little bitchboy queen that’s worse than Jeffree Star on a day reviewing a brand of makeup of someone who trashed him over the weekend for his toxic behavior. I was just doing this thing to distract you so you would be unfocused, hehe! I just wanted to shake your hand and stab you in the back! HEHE!

And let’s touch lightly on the fact that you think Wolfslair has any kind of use for you. Remind me again…who was it that got them to welcome you back with open arms? Who was it that peptalked you? I was there, I remember.

It was me.

It’s always me.

And the way you that you decided to repay me? Stabbing me in the back? Because you want some gold in your life and that was the way that you decided to go about it. And now?

Now, Miles, you’re getting your wish. I’m going to recognize you for exactly who the fuck you are.

If you thought you were getting off scott-free, I implore you to think again. Remember that you asked for this.

There’s a burial plot for you back in Manchester that’s ready for you to continue digging your own fucking grave.



••••••


There wasn’t always a lot to celebrate in their lives, but for once, the household members of Finn’s Wayward Home found an opportunity where they could finally just let go and be. Finn knew that his upcoming match would be a test of not only his patience, but of his skill. He didn’t want to think about it – the thought of Miles Kasey’s existence had been triggering his anger and frustration lately. Kayla knew it. Dickie knew it. Hell, even little Dax could tell that “Unca Finn” had resentment in his features.

The only way to combat anger was to live well.

So he did.

The booming bass of the Akumu in the Queens Boroughs of New York City was firstly a front for the illegal activities of the Yakuza, but was actually a fully functioning club that was frequented by a large variety of the denizens of the city. People had their drinks in hand, singing along with the DJ, bobbing along to the music. The whole of Wolfslair was there that night because Finn had decided it was a night to celebrate. A night to be out with his teammates…and he was paying for it. A way to be thankful for the week coming up and being a family again. Everyone was invited – and yes, even his new nemesis who hadn’t shown up.

Dickie and Aiden had taken over bartending duties – which actually meant that they were ingesting more alcohol than they were serving. He’d lost track of a lot of the others, but knew Alex was simply shaking his head while watching the members of his highly successful gym had fun. Kallie and Tasmin were dancing next to their VIP booth upstairs that looked over the rest of the dance floor, while Amber and Kayla were in the recess of the booth, sipping on their drinks and looking on at the festivities with a bit of disdain.

Finn stood at the opposite end of the club, his arms crossed, a smile curving up on his lips as he watched everyone. He knew his place in this world. He was giving Kayla space with her family, but kept catching her eye. She’d smile slyly at him, and then send him a text that was definitely not appropriate to share here. His eyes floated down to his little brother, his curly blonde hair bouncing around as he bopped to the music.

SOMEONE POUR ME UP A DOUBLE SHOT OF WHISKEY!” He screamed.

Aiden joined in, yelling at the top of his lungs with the song. “YA KNOW ME N’ JACK DANIELS GOTTA HISTORY!

Finn wasn’t quite sure how much alcohol Aiden had ingested by this point, but he did indeed climb up onto the bar itself to help lead the patrons in a sing-along.

OI YOU’RE NOT IN COYOTE UGLY.” Dickie yelled as he hit Aiden in the back of his legs. The Australian waved comically as he tried to maintain his balance and then lost his footing as he fell into the bar.

Shaking his head, Finn snorted and made a choice to move upstairs for a bit. He made his way to the same booth Kayla was at, only stopping as Kallie grabbed his hands and tried to engage him in some Colorado-bumpkin two-step dance. She giggled as he shook his head and then went back to dancing with Tasmin, and he dropped into the booth.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen you dance.” Kayla snickered at him, leaning in as he stretched out an arm to wrap it around her shoulders.

That would be because I’m like a buffalo.” He quipped back, pressing his lips to her forehead in a rare show of affection. Amber looked up from her phone and squinched her nose, wrinkling it heavily.

And you’re going to look like Mum if you keep that up.” Kayla pointed at her own forehead and nose. “I think she has more tattoos.

You saw her?” Amber questioned, tilting her head slightly. Going to the Richards’ mother’s house was not a readily done thing. She peered at Kayla, who pursed her lips slightly. “Oh my god, you finally brought someone home to meet Mum. Did she try to be all sweet and caring?

It was definitely not like her.

I’ll have you know the second I said I liked cranberry pudding and explained that I knew it was a cake, she liked me.” Finn replied, pointing a finger at Amber, who snorted and inhaled the rest of her mixed drink.

You break her heart and I’ll kill you.

The words echoed from his meeting with Kayla’s mother. His brain blocked out the sound of the world around him as he thought about that moment in Norwich. He’d been given a small glimpse into her life without him, and he wasn’t about to squander it. Kayla was hard to get to know for anyone, and the fact that she’d opened up to him even further had continued to build their relationship and trust in each other. He loved her dearly, despite the fact that she was as abrasive as a porcupine.

He couldn’t imagine being the one to break her. And he wasn’t quite sure that if he did, he would be able to handle it himself.

Are you worried about Miles?” Amber interjected again, and Kayla rolled her eyes in response.

Little cunty bitchboy…” she muttered. Finn smirked and shook his head.

I’m always apprehensive of matches. I’ve done my research. I’ve done the steps that I need to do. But I think he expects me to make a mistake because I’m angry…

Amber raised an eyebrow and leaned forward, pressing her chin on her hand. “I mean, like…that’s logical, but knowing you as minimally as I do…you don’t care.

I did,” Finn admitted. “I cared in the beginning. I cared up until the championship loss. And that was my fault. After that…the kid was dead to me. I just want to be over this so I don’t have to think about Miles Kasey and his childish antics ever again.

He picked a scab though, didn’t he?” Amber pressed.

A deeply seated one, yeah,” Finn shrugged, noting Kayla had stiffened as her sister had asked any of her probing questions. He rubbed her arm softly, trying to get her to loosen up. Again, Amber watched them closely, observing how close they were to one another, the fact that her sister even was willing to be affectionate with him in public, and the fact that they seemed to be comfortable in each other’s presence. He soothed her just like she soothed him.

Let it alone, Amber.” Kayla grumbled, taking her drink from the table and sipping at it, wincing slightly as the vodka in it burned her throat. “After High Stakes, it won’t even be a thought anymore. None if it will be. And I will finally get some alone time where he’s not running off to Wolfslair all week.

Look, that’s my other job,” he snorted, shaking his head. However, something downstairs caught his eye. He turned his head as Kayla said something to him, and then to Amber, and again, the world around him became muddled. Standing near the doorway with his hands in his pockets and a smirk on his shitty bearded face was Finn’s other current nemesis.

Jace Pleasant.

He locked eyes with The Seattle Saint, that smirk widening as he knew Finn wouldn’t stand for him being on his territory. Or rather, Dickie’s territory. He nodded to Finn, then started moving forward through the club. Likely, he was moving for the backdoor. Finn’s eyes darted to the surreptitiously hidden Yakuza guards who he was certain had their eyes trained and weapons readied to remove the threat if needed. He raised his hand with all five fingers raised, and then cut at the air with them.





He would handle this himself.

I’ll be back,” he kissed Kayla on the forehead once more, and then slid away from her. His eyes searched through the metallic grated floor to find Jace again, and found him doing exactly what he thought– back door. His feet carried him, boots thudding against metal, down the stairs and along the same path.

One warning was all that he had.


••••••


Are you prepared to dig into your own soul? To your own career?

I know you think you’re wrestling’s greatest gift, and you have an ego that is far larger than your brain allows. I kept thinking that eventually, you’d amount to something wonderful and great. I know you like to make decisions for yourself and act as if the world doesn’t affect you. That’s why you jumped ship to fuck around with Carter, wasn’t it? Finding yourself, being so concerned that everyone in your life would care that you jumped on the dick rather than caring that you were happy. And when no one said a damn thing against it – at least, that I care to know about – you had…what?

Your own preclusions about returning to the gym and all the people you abandoned when you just up and disappeared. I didn’t give a fuck that your time was temporary in my place, but you said nothing to every single individual in Wolfslair. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but as the resident heathen there, I will always point out that we have a weird way of being there for one another. Kind of hard to do that when you didn’t communicate to anyone.

But they still took you back. And you had the audacity to invite everyone to a wedding to a man who none of us had any inkling of knowing well…because you needed your Wolfslair mates. Those are your words, not mine.

I guess I can understand why you sat there and thought that attacking me wouldn’t really affect your place in the gym. I mean…after all, Austin had beef with you and you guys maintained civility. Except…Austin was also estranged from Wolfslair at the time and going through a significant crisis of self. I suppose you could also argue that you were able to attack me and nothing would happen because of my resident heathen status.

Except none of us believe in turning our backs on our teammates. Not for gold. Not for glory.

You were expecting to be kicked from the gym. And when that didn’t happen, you thought you would appeal to Alex. Except you had no fucking clue what was going on, because once again, Miles, you don’t ever realize that there are about eight different cogs in the machine moving at different times. The second that you stabbed me in the back, I went to Alex. I didn’t want to be the man that was suddenly becoming the target by my own teammates, but the resignation meeting turned into a planning session.

All of us were involved.

You didn’t get kicked. It’s like Alex said to Kayla – it’s more of a punishment to be at the gym now. You think anyone is going to work with you when you turned your back on the man that helped you return? I can tell you right now that every human being in that place is simply disappointed in your bullshit.

Had you come to me and said that you wanted to challenge me for my championship, we wouldn’t be in this predicament. Had you been a man, you wouldn’t have so many people against you. You wouldn’t have gotten your face blown in by Alex. You wouldn’t constantly be attacked on Twitter by Kayla–

Oh. Your use of “I don’t give a fuck” is a real edgelord tactic. So is making little quips about how often I get laid…how mature of you. How adorable. You think telling everyone how much you don’t care makes us think that you don’t? Because, clearly, you do. Otherwise you wouldn’t have commented. And also mentioning someone else’s sex life, ever, is very high school catty bitch – makes sense that you never got out of that phase.

Notice how I stopped commenting. Notice how I stopped responding. Notice how you’re removed from my social media? It’s because, unlike you, I don’t care about you, Miles. I’m not trying to gain your attention or giving you attention simply because I don’t have to, nor are you entitled to any of my time. The only reason that we’re even speaking at this point is because I simply want to tell you how much Carter won’t recognize you after I slam your face into the turnbuckle enough times to really rearrange the thoughts in your brain, since it doesn’t seem to function right anyway.

You act like you’re some great wrestler in this company, but if we’re being honest…statistics tell us everything else differently. You couldn’t hold onto the Roulette Championship for more than 60 days…and lost it to Bill Barnhart. More impressively, your 189 days lasted for your Internet Championship reign. Braddock, Eddie, Austin, Oz, Justin. People you beat over the course of two years – the only ones relevant being Eddie Lyons as he was getting his footing and Austin, who took a step back to reevaluate his life. Everyone else was a bucket of trash or gone. This year alone you’re something like three-eleven. You haven’t been booked since August, and every time we’ve been against each other since, you and your bratty bestie have been beaten. In fact, I pinned you last time. I know.

Hurts, don’t it?

I’m supposed to look at you and think that you’re such a goddamn underdog that you can defeat me? The man who repeats some cock and bull every week about being recognized as being most improved, that everyone should recognize you as the up-and-coming wrestler that has been up-and-coming since twenty-twenty with nothing to show for it. Over eighty matches with a fucking forty percent chance of you doing something decent.

No wonder you couldn’t stand up to me like a man to request this match, to earn this match. Instead, you acted like a fucking idiot and ended up with a whole gym hating you and the fans not quite sure which person to hate more. This is how Vaughn got into your head week in and week out – you don’t change, you don’t improve, you just think that because people love Carter then they’re going to love you.

You’re a fucking joke, Miles. The posts on twitter, becoming a shitposting memebase pirate without a single thought for yourself.

I want you to look at yourself in the mirror after this match and how badly you’re going to get knocked in the teeth and ask yourself if a piece of gold was worth destroying the rapport and relationships you’d regained. I want you to ask if betrayal was worth anything to you.

I’ll forget this one day. I’ll forget the anger and the frustration and the immense disappointment that I have that I ever accepted you as part of my life. I’ll forget that I wanted your head on a pike. And I’ll forget that you exist. But forgiveness? Acceptance?

I know your field of fucks is barren of thine fucks, but I hope you remember that when there’s no-one in your corner anymore because you’ve made yourself your own pariah. Pirate, my ass. You’re fucking Jack Sparrow searching for acceptance in this world and you’ve lost every minute scrap of respect that you had.

When we go out there in Tucson, I sincerely hope you understand what kind of demon you’ve awakened. I hope your little quips and snide remarks were worth every ounce of malignancy that is beaten out of you. I hope you understand that this isn’t just about remaining champion. It’s about teaching you a lesson that you never learned about consequences. You know, that thing you love to say all the time – fuck around, find out. You did that, Miles. You’ve fucked around, and now you’re about to find out what happens when not only do I not give a fuck about you, but what happens to people who betray me.

I will destroy you.

I will make sure you never want to cross paths with me again.

You’ve lost all my respect. You’ve lost the SCW Fans respect when you became an ignorant pissant.

I hope this was worth all of it in the end.


••••••


You have a lot of balls,” Finn quipped as he let the door to the club slam behind him in the alleyway. He headed for the middle of the street, looking at Jace with a smirk on his lips. A similar one, at least, to the shit-eating one that the Romani had on his just moments earlier. “Walking in like that to a Yakuza establishment without care.

Jace didn’t really look like he fit in the club attire with his denim, biker-esque attire. He stood there, his arms crossed as he waited patiently for Finn to make a move. “I knew you wouldn’t have anyone do anything, especially with all your friends in there.

I don’t have friends,” Finn replied, almost as soon as Jace had stopped speaking. He tilted his head. “You have your Romani family, I have my own.” He waited for a moment before Jace took a step closer to him, reaching into his pocket. “I would keep my hands where people could see them. You wouldn’t want to get shot, you know.

Oh, I could have done so, but…” Jace reached into his pocket and pulled out a picture of a redheaded girl. Finn’s face turned stoic as he looked at it, impassive as Jace just continued to smirk. “Addi is doing such a great job in Orlando. Working at Disney looks like it’s made her happy again.

Addi was Addisyn, Finn’s blood sibling. He didn’t often involve her in his business, especially because she was closer to his parents and basically the only person who was going to inherit the family business. He loved her dearly, but their relationship was better with him somewhere else. “What do you want?” Finn asked, calmly.

You know what I want.

Kayla’s not a piece of proper–

She’s my property!” Jace snapped at him, cutting him off. “I made a choice to save her life years ago, and now it’s time to collect. She’s been gone long enough, and I can keep her safe now. Far safer than you ever will. With me, she won’t need to work. Wrestling, pfft. You’ve already stolen pieces of this family, and for that we should have retaliated. Luca should never have been returned to that gorger, but returning him will cost too much. We know this. I could take someone of your family.

If you touch anyone in my family, I will put your head on a pike.” Finn replied, trying to keep himself from matching the same angry tone that Jace was using. The less he showed emotion, the more Jace would become emotional. Perhaps he would make a mistake. And that could be manipulated if he needed. “I know you have your little sycophants following our every move. That’s fine. We won’t do anything, as long as you don’t do anything.

You realize she keeps trying to come back to me, right?” Jace questioned, narrowing his eyes to watch Finn’s expression. When there was the briefest bit of change, Jace nodded and took a few more steps forward. “You didn’t know? She keeps trying to turn herself in because she knows the dangerous consequences of this little stand-off that we have. But I think you should also look at it this way…she keeps trying to come back to me. Why is that? Could it be–

You’re not going to make me doubt her.

-- that she’s still in love with me? Of course, she is.” Jace stopped, inches from Finn’s face. Finn was tall, but Jace stood over him a few inches. He laughed at the dark-haired man. “You don’t get rid of your feelings for the Romani that quickly.

Because you’re a brainwashing cult?

You know, I know you think I’m the enemy and that I’ve done something to hurt her. But Kayla and I had the best relationship built on–

All right, mate,” a gruff voice came from the doorway. Both of the men turned their head to find Aiden standing there, the usually happy-go-lucky joy erased from his face as he opened the door. “I think it’s time you skedaddle down Candy Land Lane and go back to your Carnival Compound, aye? Or do I need to alert me friends?

Jace sneered at the Australian. “And what, you’re gonna secret Koala code them out of the dark?

Sore o tesuto shite mimasu ka?” Aiden replied, asking him if he wanted to test that. He grinned awkwardly as well.

Jace looked between the two of them. Finn was one person that Jace didn’t completely want to contend with, but did. Two people who could bring more and he was on his lonesome here? No, he wasn’t an idiot. He took a couple of steps back.

She’ll come back to me.” Jace replied. “Be my guest to see it.

I’m betting differently.” Finn snapped back as Jace continued to walk backwards into the darkened shadows of the alleyway until he wasn’t visible anymore.

Finn turned to the door and sighed audibly, placing his hands on his hips and exhaling. He didn’t want to bring this up to Kayla whatsoever. He knew how headstrong she could be. She could easily step away, easily think that she could fix all of this if she just turned herself over. But he couldn’t allow that. Finn knew that. He knew he had to handle it himself if he was going to protect her like he wanted to. He grit his teeth and then continued to breathe, trying to calm down his reactive brain.

He’s a fuckin’ nuisance, mate.” Aiden said, shaking his head. He looked around and then looked at Finn again, leaning forward. “I’ma let Dickie know he got in and see if we need to retrain the sumo-bouncer at the front. And like, this is obviously why you need to give me a gun, aye? Coulda just pop-pop’d him all skibidi.

Finn snorted, and then looked at Aiden, shaking his head. “No, Aiden.


8
Climax Control Archives / PARADIGM SHIFT XXVII // RESENTMENT
« on: November 08, 2024, 11:52:50 PM »
PARADIGM SHIFT XXVII // RESENTMENT   
NO, I CAN’T STOP FEELING LIKE EVERY DAY’S EXACTLY THE SAME. WITH A ONE TRACK MIND, I DON’T THINK I CAN CHANGE. TRAPPED IN MEMORIES, STUCK ON REPLAY, REPLAY, REPLAY.
A DAY TO REMEMBER .


••••••


It could be said that since the loss of the Mixed Tag Team championships, Finn Whelan had been lost from the company. Little jabs on twitter, sure, but visibility on programming? Finn was virtually non-existent. Some might say that perhaps the championship loss signaled a coming of the end for Whelan and his flawless year. Some might say that Eddie Lyons pinning him and Miles Kasey making a mockery of him might have finally ended his desire to stand atop everyone else.

In reality, he could have given a fuck less about Miles Kasey and Eddie Lyons.

Oh, certainly, there would be a time in which Eddie and Victoria would become championshipless – well, at least one championship less. But that was eventually, and in the here and now, the little jabs on twitter simply served one purpose.

Finn wasn’t an idiot. He watched the tapes. He saw what was an attempt to subvert and remove accountability. But everything was already done, everything set in stone. Whatever he and Alex Jones had to say was irrelevant to him, because he was steps ahead. At the end of all of this, Miles Kasey would regret the day that he ever thought that his wrestling career was more important than the relationships he’d made.

But that was the crux, right? At the end of all of this charade, they would be bosom buddies again, right? Working hard as peers in the same gym, working to fight for the glory that they could bring. That’s what this was for. It was just all fun, a chance for someone to attempt to go for the championship. That was how it was all portrayed, that’s what was said, that’s what existed.

Fuck that.

Anyone who knew anyone knew that Callien O’Hanlon, known as Finn Whelan to the masses, didn’t take kindly to backhanded shots and bullshit from people. He may have been a complete and utter asshole, but he was upfront, and he respected the people who came to him or showed up in front of him that earned their shot. He might have verbally destroyed them in the past, but he didn’t begrudge Eddie Lyons at all. He fought for his win, he attained greatness at Finn’s hands.

He would just also attain failure in the future.

Until then, Finn would bide his time. He would work in the shadows. And besides, didn’t he have enough on his plate?

With the Romani watching their every move, it was difficult for Finn to make steps towards anything regarding his other position within the world. Meetings were held virtually, or Dickie came to visit him. It was slow going, but Dickie’s presence within the crime world was steadily becoming stronger and stronger. Mutliple times, he thought that they would come for him or for his brother, but that never really happened.

The Romani only wanted one thing: Kayla, and Finn wasn’t about to give her up for anything in the world.

He had her watched, monitored from afar. Sometimes her friends or family would arrive right when she was about to take a step forward, and of course, his people told him. But he never wanted her to feel uneasy, or that he could ever be someone like Jace, or the Romani in general. He didn’t come to her and demand her to be careful, to keep her hand in his, to cower under a shadow. He knew she would resent that in the future, and yet every part of him attempted to protect her without her knowledge.

She went to her gym to workout, she met with her family, she went for nights out on the town. And she came back to him in one piece every time.

It wasn’t anything different when she showed up from her latest gym excursion. He heard her murmuring an assenting goodbye to Kallie, who giggled and affirmed as she shut her own door. His phone activated as the camera filmed them exiting and entering their apartments. It didn’t take long for her to set her bag down on the counter in the kitchen and then saunter her way into the living room where Finn was seated with his feet planted firmly on the floor and papers scattered everywhere.

She wore a cute little number from Lululemon that did exactly what she wanted it do to Finn’s personal psyche, but he wasn’t an animal and only looked her up and down with a smirk sliding up onto his lips as she “nonchalantly” drank from her water bottle as she looked out upon the decaying landscape of winter in New York. He shook his head a little and flipped through a couple of pages. It was accounting paperwork, and stuff relating to Wolfslair and his career, but fuck, was it boring to look through. “Good sesh?” He questioned, his voice raspy from not talking for some time.

“Kallie went with me. I swear, it’s like she has an AirTag on me,” she turned around to look at him head on, adjusting her “twins” as she did so, setting down the bottle on the windowsill in the process. When Finn didn’t look at her, she pouted slightly. “So you know it wasn’t a quiet session…”

He listened as she walked up to him, sashaying slightly. Finn picked up a piece of paper and peered at it.

A regular couple would have then had Kayla sit next to him, wrap her arms around his shoulders and pull some form of giddy relationship shit. But neither of them were very touchy-feely, and to be perfectly honest, a porcupine might have a better option of being touched. She knew he’d been on edge, especially since the loss of their championships. Regardless, she looked down at the scattered papers. “Why aren’t you at Wolfslair?”

Finn was silent a moment, not bothering to look up. “It’s stifling there.” He replied, finally. “I just don’t want unnecessary drama and that seems to be what people want. I’m thirty-six. I don’t feel like being asked a million questions over something ridiculous.”

Kayla picked up one of the papers and read it slowly, before looking over the top of it to him. “Mr. Jones,” she read loudly, “it is with deep resentment that I provide you with a resignation lett– Finn.” She frowned and tossed the paper. “Really?!”

Finn looked upwards slightly at her, tilting his head. Her voice carried an anger that she rarely used with him anymore, and honestly, one that he hadn’t heard since the previous year. She slammed her arms across her chest and lifted her nose in twitching irritation. “Are you fucking kidding me? I know you haven’t been the same since the shit at the last pay-per-view, but this is ridiculous.” She waved a manicured hand upwards, trying to continue to show her displeasure. “You’re letting Miles in your head.”

“I’m not really.” Finn replied calmly. “I told you. I didn’t want unnecessary drama. So I did the easiest thing to not cause it.”

“You abandoned Wolfslair just because, what, they didn’t get rid of the trash?”

Finn tilted his head completely upwards toward her with a raised eyebrow. “No. Alex didn’t accept it anyway. But have you considered that I put that it’s him or me nonsense into the air for a reason? I wanted this conversation to arise. I wanted this to be everywhere. As if I had a say in who Alex accepts into his gym…pffffft.” Finn snorted and shook his head. “Stupidity…”

She stared at him for a second, narrowing her eyes. “So the bullshit I saw with Alex and Mi–”

Finn merely smiled. He took a second, and then rose to his feet, pressing a kiss to the side of her head. “Enough about work…go get a shower, get changed, we’re going to go out to eat.”

Kayla smiled a little bit, but was a little confused too. She had no idea what Finn was up to, and honestly, she wasn’t sure she wanted to know. Regardless, he was done talking and she knew there was nothing more that he was going to say. “Oh? Where are we going? Do I need to wear something nice?”

Finn’d walked past her and was headed towards his room. “Something nice, but not too revealing please.”

Kayla pouted for a second. “You said please…ugh. Why?”

He turned and looked at her for a moment, that smirking smile rising up once more. “Because…you’re meeting my mother.”

There was a brief moment of silence within the residence of Finn Whelan and Kayla Richards. But if a window was open, then the denizens of New York City would have heard the screaming WHAT as they went about their daily lives.


••••••


The cozy and expensive dining hall of the Tuscany Steakhouse in New York City was packed with people at the dinner hour. The vintage-painted white bricks of the arches shimmered in the low light the restauranteer assumed was romantic or alluring, and the white tablecloths were the brightest points of the entire area. Wait staff in their black and white attire moved from table to table, providing Italian dishes with flair and steak with finesse.

Mathair,” Finn greeted his mother, who was already seated at the table, with a brief kiss on the cheek. Meara O’Hanlon smiled warmly and rose to her feet to hug her son, who only gave her a one-handed hug. His other hand was firmly latched in Kayla’s and her nervousness was palpable. She hadn’t been able to find anything that wasn’t revealing, and had ultimately borrowed Kallie’s black dress that came to just to her midthigh, a pair of heels and thankfully covered her breasts just enough that it couldn’t be considered risque. And she cringed the whole time.

“Oh, look at you!” Meara murmured, looking at her son. Finn had chosen, for once, to dress up for the occasion. Which really just meant a black shirt with a black tie and pants that still fit him ridiculously closely. “You clean up so well, I just wish you wouldn’t look like a ruffian in public all the time.”

“Thanks mom,” Finn shook his head, snorting slightly. Before sitting down, he gestured to Kayla, pulling her forward slightly. “My girlfriend, Kayla.”

It was the first time he’d referred to her like that in public. Not that they weren’t in that kind of a relationship, but they were always just so not-normal in their affection for one another.

Not that Meara cared. She reached out and hugged Kayla too, without even waiting to hear whether she should or not. She also did not comment on the fact that Kayla froze up. “It’s so good to meet you in person. I kept telling Roinn that you’re such a beautiful woman and Callien was an idiot for not saying anything sooner.”

“Aye, she did,” Roinn muttered, poking his head out from behind the menu. “You’re late.”

“Sorry,” Finn stated, though Kayla could tell he didn’t mean it. “I sprung it on Kayla and it took us a while to figure out how to get dressed for this.” He pulled out a chair for Kayla and appropriately pushed it in after she sat down. Kayla was slightly bewildered. As he sat down, she leaned in.

“She hugged me.”

“She does that.” He replied.

“You pulled out my chair.”

“Do this kindly and later, just the way you like it, I’ll pull your hair.”

Kayla couldn’t help but bite her lip briefly.

“So Kayla,” Meara continued, leaning forward and smiling brightly at her. She spoke kindly in her Irish lilt. “Callien tells me that you’re from Norwich?” She didn’t really wait for Kayla to answer, just continued on. “It’s a lovely area, especially in the summer. So very green once you’re out of the main city proper. I think I went once on holiday with me sister…very lovely woman; had to move out of London when her house burned down.”

Kayla glanced at Finn, who looked at his menu pointedly. “Mathair, she doesn’t want to hear about Aunt Maisie and her drinking problem.”

“True, true, true.” Meara nodded. “How about…oh, your career! You and Callien held those championships for such a long time.” When the waitress showed up, she didn’t give Kayla a moment to respond, “We’ll have the zinfindel. White. A bottle. Thank you.”

“Kayla’s also the World Bombshell Champion.”

“Very admirable!” His mother continued, smiling brightly. His father looked up again and peered at Kayla.

“A woman with aspirations. Better than he’s chosen in the past,” he smiled briefly, watching his son as he rolled his eyes. “Oh please, don’t even think that I didn’t notice that heathen woman bring you down. Both of them. Your sister…”

Finn tightened his lips slightly, but didn’t seem to show any other affect to his emotion. He hated her just as much as his brother did, and the mention continued to bury that hate just a bit deeper every time. “Regardless…we’re doing fairly well in our careers, thanks.”

His father’s expression changed slightly and he looked a bit like he failed for a moment. “Callien–”

“It’s fine. What are you having? I think I’ll have the steak. As usual. Mom?”

As the dinner moved on, Kayla realized slowly that she’d never seen it before, but Finn was maintaining control of the conversation by giving his mother topics to talk about. His father didn’t try again, but Meara happily conversed with the both of them. She knew Finn liked to keep control of situations, especially when it came to his career, or the information with the Yakuza or the Romani, but she’d never seen it actually in play. Perhaps it was because he didn’t trust his parents, or perhaps it was the venue. Regardless, she was both impressed and confused by his choice in demeanor. And as they kissed Meara on the cheek on the way out, and Finn paid for the meal after arguing with his father about who was going to pay, she placed her hand in his and found it remarkably taut.

“Finn.” She stated, raising an eyebrow.

“They put me on edge. I’ll be fine when we get to the house.” He replied sharply. She pulled back and slammed in her heels into the sidewalk, which rocked the Irish-American. “What?”

“I met your parents.”

“Yes.”

“They were nice.”

“Yes.”

“So, I get that the relationship is strained.” She tugged on his hand again as he tried to start walking again. “I saw you not be you that entire dinner because of it. I at least am owed a fucking explanation for it so I can understand why you because Finn the demure diplomat instead of the aggressive asshole I fell for.”

Finn exhaled out of his nose, looked around, and then stepped closer, leaning in slightly and dropping his tone. “When we get home.”

When she nodded, Finn sighed briefly and then continued the walk home with her, wrapping his arm tightly around her shoulders. The entire time, he was watchful of their surroundings, and he kept his hand in his coat pocket. When they arrived at their home, Kayla threw off her shoes while Finn undid his tie and exhaled again. He sat down again on the couch and leaned over his hands, slowly calming himself.

Kayla didn’t think she’d ever seen him so stressed. She sat down next to him, and this time, pressed a hand to his leg. She waited for him to speak, trying to be the assuring and caring girlfriend that she wasn’t at all attuned to being at any point and time in her life. But she was trying to be a better human for him, and so was he for her.

“I don’t do well with people who neglect their children.” He muttered first, raising a hand to his face and placing it on his brow, covering his eyes. “I spent so much time as a child being treated as an afterthought once I didn’t want to follow the same career that he did. I was shipped off to someone else, I was left to fail because I didn’t want to take up becoming a brewer. I didn’t want to run his business,” he turned his head and looked at her then. “They abandoned me to the worst days of my life, and now they’re trying to repair it, and I get it. I’m trying to let them, but it is so difficult to me to trust those who turn their backs on people.”

And then it clicked.

It clicked in Kayla’s head. Why he wasn’t commenting on the Miles situation, why he wasn’t stating anything to her, or to anyone else in Wolfslair, about any of it.

He saw Miles as just another one of those people who he’d opened up to and burned him. Betrayal didn’t sit well with Callien. It wasn’t Finn just being an asshole, it was the man behind the mask he’d created as “Finn”. This was Callien. And it wasn’t often that even she got Callien. He hid that part of him so much so that he couldn’t be injured, and he created a moniker and self that wanted to make sure that everyone he created a relationship with never would feel like he did again.

She leaned her forehead in, pressing it to the side of his head and closed her eyes. “I get it.”

He relaxed and turned his head for a rare moment of affection, pressing his forehead to hers.

“Good.”



••••••


Hi Sin City Wrestling. Did you miss me?

I suppose I’m not as fun as returning retirees or you know, men who say they’re going to be out at least a year, but continue to show up because they like beating their own meat in front of everyone, but regardless…I am back from my short sabbatical which really wasn’t a sabbatical but a lack of actually placing me in matches weekly. Again, people can surmise or make up really whatever the fuck they want about the reasons for my absence, but the mere fact that my disappearance from the company really set my poor High Stakes opponent into such a tizzy because he wanted to cause a bit more petty bullshit for me and he couldn’t find me? That rose far above anything that I could come up with.

Regardless, before we get into the meat and potatoes of this whole thing, I want to say a brief congratulations to Eddie and Victoria Lyons. Had I been a little more discerning or focused, perhaps the Wolves of Gheimhridh would have been over a year with their Mixed Tag Team Championship, but the beginning of the year is not too far off and I got word that we do have a rematch. So you can count down the days in which you retain those championships. Or maybe you can lose them to Alexandra Callaway and Mi–

A large strangling sound happens.

I’m sorry, I couldn’t even finish that statement because it would be the biggest fucking lie in the existence of mankind.

Now, I suppose that I’m supposed to sit here and act angry and frustrated about losses and vow vengeance upon the poor soul that put me into this predicament. I mean, that would be the most archaic philosophy that penetrates this world. The story that I’m supposed to want revenge upon the person who cost me my championship – and I really don’t give a fuck how that’s potrayed by a sycophant British fuck whose only credibility comes from weeks and weeks of facing Barnharts to retain a championship. I think you all know at this point that I don’t do what’s expected. I mean, if we’re being perfectly honest, I wasn’t expected to figure out how to get into Kayla’s pants after we’d broken apart our friendship, but let me tell you, I do it on the daily.

Funny how you assumed that I wasn’t getting laid. As if that fucking matters in the long run.

Fucking travesty, but subtlety has never gotten past certain fuckhead’s brains, even when it needles its way through with a fucking ten gauge pick.

I don’t do what’s expected, do I?

You don’t see me backstage trying to find my High Stakes opponent and bash his head into the wall. You don’t see me vowing vengeance upon him. Because as much as it’s difficult for anyone to believe, when you’ve done something like he has done, you’re wiped from my memory. You’re wiped from the annals of my past, and I don’t give a fuck about you. Does that mean I’m going to have nothing to say at High Stakes? Nah, I have plenty to say. I’m just not going to give this any more credibility because choices were made, and this is where we stand.

And I suppose I should be angry and vowing to put Helluva Bottom Carter in the ground too. That would be the archaic thought. The ancient ideal that you fuck with me, I fuck with your family as a story to put him in his fucking place. That’s why this match was created. It has nothing to do with anything about there being a show, it’s simply an attempt for me to have to face the husband of the man I’m supposed to hate with everything in me. To force me to face the reality of the situation and give me the opportunity to destroy what little piece of relevance there is here to fix this.

I mean, don’t get me wrong, I do – but I’ve never bought into the whole hate the whole family for the sins of the father…or husband…or whomever the trifling cunt is.

But again…I don’t do what’s expected.

I never have, and I really never actually will.

This week – the go home show, two weeks before High Stakes – I’m facing Carter for no other reason except that there should be a story that goes into it to rev up my match with an ingrate. Except that there isn’t. Let’s look at the facts of this match, shall we? Buried in the idea that is a champion versus champion match-up, this is an opportunity to showcase the talents of the company while also forcing us together. Carter is expected to take up the mantle of his husband and proclaim that Miles will beat me one day, I’m expected to do threats, yadda, yadda…

I cannot tell you how much I am not interested in this match for the reasons pushed.

It’s not because Carter isn’t a great wrestler. I’ve always held that Helluva Bottom Carter has and will be a great wrestler. A generational talent, one that pushes people to their limit over and over again. But he hasn’t gotten there with this championship, and I said that the first time that we ever faced off. It had nothing to do with bygones, and maybe there was a foot on the rope, and maybe there was a lot of bitterness after that. It comes down to being given chance after chance and…not doing shit with it. 

The last time that we’ve faced one another, so far ago, was for the Mixed Tag Team titles in April or May. This was, of course, after the Elite Eight competition that eventually led me to my championship. In that moment, Carter was angry with me. He was angry that I didn’t deserve to be champion, simply because his foot was on the rope and the referee didn’t see it. Now, the tune may have changed – I don’t know. But one measly little slip up does not negate an entirety of battles since. Kayla and I were dominant with the Mixed Tag Titles, and I have been just as dominant as World Heavyweight Champion.

You told me that you would never recognize me as champion.

I didn’t care then, and I don’t care now. I didn’t get to this spot in my career by giving a shit about anyone else, and I wasn’t about to start now. I know my abilities. I know that if I really wanted to, I could completely fucking massacre you and leave you in a puddle of your own blood so your husband can gain all the sympathy in the world. And as much as part of me wishes I could do that very thing and leave you broken in the middle of the ring, I’m not going to.

Because regardless of your relationship and regardless of our past, I respect you. I never said I didn’t. I even said you had done great things. Look at you now, Internet Champion, reigning strong. Doing everything in your power to retain it. Growth happens whether people want to believe it or not, and you’ve grown. You continue to grow. But you’re limited in your approach because you care, Carter. When it comes to your husband, you care, and that’s your hindrance now.

It would be so easy to just drag you around to prove a point to Miles. It would be easy to turn it into this – at the basest of desires, it would be easy to turn this into the whole fiasco of Mercer and Kasey. Mercer, who attacked you simply because it was a way into Miles’ head. And it worked.

But if you haven’t noticed, I’m not Mercer. And I don’t think you understand how I operate. I don’t really think anyone understands how I operate, so let me spell it out for you. Wolfslair is a means to an end, and that’s simply it. If you asked anyone at the gym what their opinion of me would be, you would understand that I was pretty much a heretic, a hermit, someone who is simply there because of the prowess I provide. Austin James Mercer hates me. There is no tolerance there. I call Alicia Lukas a fucking Nazi regularly because we once fought in Germany and she looks the exact picture of the Aryan dynasty. Aiden Reynolds is the best friend of my little brother and if we’re being perfectly honest, the only reason he was provided an apartment at my behest is the same reason Miles Kasey was provided a place to live that he reneged on without a word: he needed it, and so did his pregnant girlfriend.

I’m not altruistic. I’m not a leader in this gym. I’m a means to an end. Alex Jones hates me, he hates my presence in his gym, but I’m still there because I am valuable. I’ve learned this long ago and I don’t begrudge it because at least it’s fucking honest. I don’t pledge loyalty. And I don’t pretend to help in a situation where I didn’t and don’t belong.

So this idea that I’m supposed to simply destroy you because of your relationship?

I could give a fuck less.

Instead, Carter, we’re going to have a match that proves why I’m the World Heavyweight Champion and why you’re the Internet Champion. We’re going to go back and forth, we’re going to face one another with brilliance and candor and it will be a great lead in towards our respective fights at High Stakes. You’re going to put me in my place, I’ll put you in your place, and we’ll have a grand time. But don’t think for a second that I’m going to sit there and do this because of your relationship.

That makes you smaller than you already are, and didn’t that happen with the state of America this week?

No. Don’t denigrate yourself and get into my business with your husband. Make this your fight is yours. You deserve better than being a pawn in the game. Because that’s what this is. A game. Simply put.

Be a rook, not a priest.

Be a knight, not a pawn.

Awaken and do this for yourself, Dreamer. Not for anyone else.

Just as this will be done for me. Nothing more.

Nothing less.

9
PARADIGM SHIFT XXVI // THE INBETWEEN   
MY MOTHER SAID THAT I WAS HOLY, MY FATHER SAID THAT I WOULD BURN. MY MOTHER SAID I WAS AN ANGEL, MY FATHER SAID THAT I WOULD TURN. SO I BELIEVED THESE WORDS AND I TURNED ON MYSELF. BECAUSE MAYBE HE’S RIGHT, MAYBE I’M WORTHLESS. OR MAYBE HE’S WRONG AND MY MOTHER WAS RIGHT — I GOT A KILLER IN ME TO GIVE ME PURPOSE.
IN THIS MOMENT .


••••••


Family.

The common theme in this business is that we all had some kind of fucked up childhood. That somehow, the rotten miscreants that we were as children, the nobodies, the underdogs, the unwanted…we all became something, turned into something just simply to spite our unloved ones and show them who was the best. The moment that we stand upon the precipice and the apex of the company, rising above everyone and showing our pride, glory and honor is the moment that we also have the opportunity to point a large middle finger in the eyes of our predecessors and our ancestors.

As much of a misfit as I am and have always been, the only story to be told is that of one who only fought their own success. I was an immigrant, although I certainly don’t remember it. My mother and father moved from Kilarney, Ireland, to Seattle, Washington after rightfully crossing the border and wanting to start a new life. My father was successful in creating his own pub in a derelict section of the city, before it became gentrified recently. Success is not unfamiliar to the O’Hanlon name, and perhaps part of me should be proud of it.

I was but a wee little lad, you know. A year old. Mo máthair carried me on her bosom as she served drinks to drunks and served Irish cuisine to the patrons who knew of nothing but McDonalds and bad hair days. As I got older, I became a little servant for them – you know, before laws went into place saying kids couldn’t be in the pub. I’d help her clean in the morning, peel potatoes, fix some hash, and then I’d skedaddle off to school with my books and do fairly well.

My father brewed the beer and the stout and helped us to make a killing on the funds. We didn’t start off wealthy, but we certainly were by the time I hit my teens. It was at that point that I started honestly making poor decisions for myself. I became sullen, bitter, angry at the world. And maybe it was particularly at my father because he kept putting expectations on me to do better than he ever did. Isn’t that lofty? A self-successful man, and visibly at that, putting upon the shoulders of a fourteen year old who barely wanted to go to school on a Monday…it didn’t make sense, and so I rebelled.

I didn’t have participation trophy parents. My mother would have given me the opportunity to express myself, but my father was a hard man, and so he sent me to live with my uncle and aunt repeatedly in England every summer so that I’d keep myself out of trouble. But I got into more trouble that what I was worth, and I ended up the friend of two orphanage escapees on the regular. One went to wrestling school, the other was placed, and by the time I was eighteen, the England trips stopped and my father had it with me and my alcohol drinking.

To further my idiocy, I turned to various street drugs that ruined my quality of life so significantly that by the time I was twenty-three, I had nothing to my name and no family to see.

A mess of myself, and not because I was a misfit who was unloved by the people around me. I did it to myself.

And maybe that’s why I’m the person I am today. You’ll see my Wolfslair mates talk about how I created a home for Wayward Wrestlers, joke about how I take in strays. Elena was the first, and then it was Dimitri…and then it was everyone else that currently finds a home in the complex I purchased. Perhaps it’s merely because I didn’t have a safe space and I want to create that for them, or maybe it’s simply because I care too much. Perceived thoughts placed upon me aside, I may be an absolute dickhead to a lot of people, but not to the people I’ve created bonafide relationships with in the ring and outside of it.

Family has become important to me.

But why the talk of family and a past? Is it simply because four years ago, that’s what was done to me by the very same person who I face at Violent Conduct? A treatise on my career and how little I had accomplished despite being a constant leader in spite of my standings? Trying to dismantle me and tell everyone who the fuck I was without actually knowing who the fuck I was? Dirt sheets and constant thoughts about who I might be while creating parallels in his own little world to drive some narrative that allowed him to use me as a stepping stone to the success I so readily sought?

An adorable relation to being a miracle, when the only miracle is that people didn’t blow their fucking brains out.

Maybe I should have. An injury kept me from the ring, and to be honest, I never was certain I was going to come back to Sin City. I wasn’t keen on the schedule, I wasn’t keen on the people, and I saw a tangent of ridiculousness rise afterwards that I just stopped giving a flying fuck. Anywhere where Griffin Hawkins was a success made me cringe and the mere fact that a fucking Russow was on this roster made me want to projectile vomit until I had nothing left of sustenance within my very bones.

But now?

I can’t say I’m the same person that I was in twenty-twenty, when I was two matches into a company that I wasn’t even fucking sure of. In fact, I can say that the Finn Whelan you all saw four years ago,  two years ago, even a year ago, is not the same person. I’ve absolved myself of the failures of the past. Because at the end of the day, the only person who gave a flying fuck about my success was me, and I have a clear history of not doing that.

I came back, with a renewed vigor not because I wanted some lousy story of redemption, or that I could show off that I could be this demon within the ring. Not even because I wanted to prove some fucking point.

I wanted a fight.

I became the World Heavyweight Champion when everyone expected me just to fuck off. I was a Roulette Champion, and I searched recently for the Internet Championship. I wanted the Grand Slam, I wanted to be one of the very few that could say they’ve held all the championships possible in their own division, and the additional Mixed Tag Titles. But I was denied the opportunity, thrown into a tournament that I didn’t want. Certainly, other power-hungry, vapid competitors did. The story is known – Carter, Vaughn…and ultimately, Goth, who lived for his own redemption. Who said he would retire the second time if he couldn’t defeat me.

The championship has been mine since February. I’ve not lost a match since October of last year.

Dual champion. Oh, say you’ve done it before and discount me, but it’s not the same and the company tag line is that it’s not the same either. No. I’m not the same Finn Whelan from years past. This time, I’m vicious, I’m diabolical and I simply do not give a fuck about who has it in for me. I’m merely here to say that I came for the fight, I am the fight required. I know it’s hard for those of you who didn’t have success outside these six-sided rings, but I became a competitor that was worth something over the time I was away. I didn’t need a singular company to make me feel…like I was special, like I was worth a damn.

I know that I’m worth a damn.

I don’t have to have other people tell me this, I don’t have to have my bosses inform me of this. I know it, because I have the gift of fucking reflection. I was overconfident last time, and I hadn’t earned my stripes. But now?

I’ve taken your Jet City children and removed their ownership of greatness.

For every slur towards Wolfslair, I instilled the success that you besmirched for years.

For every time you sat there and thought you knew who the fuck I was, I proved time and time again that I was no longer a stepping stone in your company. I’m not the 4 Corners, WWH kid you copped a whole bunch of a trivial shit about four years ago, and your little “it was a pleasure” bullshit was a kick in the fucking teeth. I’m not going to repeat what I was, or what I’ve done…that’s all been there, done that. 

This has become my company, Kris.

And that iron grip that I have?

I’m not inclined to let go.


••••••




The entire incident with bringing Luca back to his family and the response that had been provided forced Finn into a reflective state. To be perfectly honest, his own definition of family had morphed and changed over the years, from blood being thicker than water to choices being the ultimate reason for any kind of bond. His family had become the friends he enjoyed having around, a little brother that wasn’t even remotely related, and a girlfriend who had the emotional depth of a teaspoon sometimes.

But he loved them all. And they loved him back…in their own ways.

He hadn’t expected Kayla to be so viciously upset with him, but at the same time, he didn’t know why he hadn’t thought that she would be. Part of him expected tears and hugs, but he should have known better when it came to the Richards family. If there was any family that carried less emotions than he did on their sleeves, it was them. But for the anger that arose, and the choice to then try and meld him into their family?

Reflection.

He hadn’t been back to Seattle except for a few shows in the past six years. A Mother’s Day text, the ignoring of Father’s Day and birthday texts had been the most he’d been willing to do or say to the people who raised and rejected him upon adulthood. After his last encounter with his family, he didn’t want to involve himself with them because he felt he deserved far better than what he was offered. And besides, with the involvement of the Yakuza and the criminal underworld that he’d somehow become an official member of as of late, he would have been stupid to involve them. Right?

Well, no. Finn knew that the Romani was following him. Everywhere. He purchased a ridiculously expensive flight, they made sure to note he was being followed. He saw them, and honestly? He didn’t care. He purposefully waved at them, trying to strike their ire, trying to get them to make a hostile move so that he could instantly retaliate. There was something in his bones that made him want to prove Jace to be the little bitch that he actually was. Maybe it was because of his stupidity towards the Yakuza…or even more likely, his hold on Kayla.

He wasn’t about to let Kayla be property again.

And so, he was hostile whenever he had a chance. However…in all of the chaos, in all of the mayhem he’d (enjoyed to) caused, it was the moment in which Luca was returned and accepted by the family that thought thye lost them that stirred something within him.

Home.

He hadn’t told Kayla until she’d woken up and realized he’d taken a last minute red-eye back to his hometown. She hadn’t been happy about it, but he said he’d be back soon. And so, when he stepped into the pub at half-past two in the afternoon, the absolute feeling of fear and dread welled up in his combat boots. The familiarity of the walls, the accolades of the kids that were posted up behind the point of sale, the known steps he’d taken through all of his life forced guilt and shame to settle into his pores. His mother had loved him deeply, his father had rejected him entirely, and his sister…well, she had her own mind, but still kept a wide berth.

They didn’t really have a chance today, just like Amber and Kayla didn’t have a chance to say no.

“We’re not quite open yet, aye?” His mother, Meara’s lilt was still as strong as the day she’d left Ireland. Her softness wasn’t apparent in her son, with his angled cheekbones and clenched jaw. But their noses were the same, and she carried an air of kindness through the entirety of the pub. She stepped out from behind the counter, cleaning a glass with a rag. “Come back in an hour and ye can have a…” she trailed off, and the glass tumbled out of her hand to the floor with a dull clunk.

Máthair,” Finn raised a hand in greeting, his feet rooted to the floor. When her blue eyes glazed over as if she was a seeing a ghost, he was certain that he could have just turned around and walked away, and none would be the wiser.

“Callien?” She whispered, and he could see tears welling up from her tear ducts. “Mo bhuachaill, you haven’t called me in months.” She tried to laugh, dabbing at her eyes and shaking her head. “I’m stuck listening to your voice on television. Is that any way for a mother to hear her own child?”

Finn smiled slightly as she stepped from around the counter, noting that she was entirely trying to calm herself down. She was still just as thin as she’d been all his life, and as she walked up to him, she threw her slightly bony arms around his waist. “Sorry, Mom. It’s been busy…”

Ahhhh,” and then she stepped back, thawacking him with the tip of her towel on his arm. He yelped slightly and then looked at her incredulously. “What with your new little girlfriend that you haven’t even bothered to bring back to see me?”

“Kayla…doesn’t do well with questions from mothers.”

“Bring her next time. Or call. Would you like something to drink?”

If there was anything that Meara O’Hanlon was good at, it was stuffing everything under the rug. She wouldn’t call him out for not visiting anymore, she would simply move on as if time didn’t exist from the time that they saw one another last. It would, of course, not be the same with his father, but that was something he was dreading as well.

They spoke for a long while about their lives since not seeing one another. He talked about Kayla, and how happy she made him regardless of her attitude. He talked about Dickie and Aiden, and the family he’d created for himself. She never asked if they were replaced, because even as replaced as Finn had once felt, on his own, he could never do the same to them. Not, at least, to his mother. He distinctly left out key elements, but she didn’t ask. Eventually, patrons came to the bar to begin their libations. And so, he followed Meara into the backroom of the pub, where she’d been prior to his arrival. A slew of receipts and tallies were being added on the table. As a child, he hadn’t been allowed in this room.

It was his father’s workstation, to be perfectly honest, and that wasn’t something that was allowed.

He glanced around at the walls. He never knew his father to be sentimental about anything, but this room proved differently. Awards from both of his children hung on the walls, pictures of Finn and his sister earning awards as kids. The sullen behavior of a sixteen year old Finn was visible in a family photograph that he distinctly remember he didn’t want to be a part of. But as the wall behind the desk continued, he realized that his life at seventeen hadn’t ended for his father. Stills from wrestling events, shows that he’d clearly gone to and been close in the crowd, pictures of championship wins and pictures of interviews. Finn was still very much alive in his father’s mind.

It was just never verbalized.

Meara caught him looking at the wall as she took the recent slips and set them into a file. “You know, your father still follows your career.”

“Even after I pushed him down the steps?”

“Even after,” she confirmed, shaking her head slightly. “He is a prideful man…but he does love you. He just doesn’t know how to show it, and so he doesn’t. And I believe that there is something good there…eventually you’ll see it too.” She paused, and then she inhaled. “Are you staying out of trouble now?”

Finn’s ears perked up, and so did his stance. “Of course…”

“Callien.” She crossed her arms then and narrowed her eyes. “I don’t know what you’re involved in, but I know that if it has anything to do with that ratchet girl that you were married to, it isn’t anything good. I can see your tense shoulders, and you keep looking over your shoulder when you don’t think I’m looking. As if there’s someone watching you.”

“Mom, I don’t know what you’re thinking, but no. Nothing is wrong really.”

“Callien, don’t lie to me.”

“Mom.”

“Does anyone want to tell me exactly why there is a group of Romani in my pub?” Another deep voice cracked in, and Finn’s lackadaisical stance instantly went rigid. He turned his head to find the blue eyes of his father – his eyes as well – staring back at him, unfeeling, and unphased. His hair had turned white, and their build was different, but looking at Roinn was like looking at an older version of Finn himself. He glanced at his son, and then nodded. “I see. Hello Callien.”

Finn’s jaw clenched, and he took a couple of steps past his father. He ignored the scoff that he heard and stepped into the main hall once more, staring at the corner where a few patrons sat. Ones he recognized by their ridiculous get up and their sneers. And, of course, the alliance beads that he’d seen from the Romani that existed in the compound carnival weeks ago.

“Callien, disengage, it’s fine.” Roinn muttered, but Finn didn’t really give a shit. He walked up to the table and planted his hands into it. “What’s up?”

The Romani glanced between themselves, and the one, the oldest it seemed, spoke up. “You’ve taken what belongs to us. And eye for an eye.”

“If you’d like a tooth for a tooth, I can make sure they go down your throat if you’d like. Leave my family alone, and tell Jace to fuck off.” Finn snarled. When they didn’t move initially, he could still see the fear in their eyes. He bounced forward slightly, and they scampered.

He turned his head and looked back.

Family…was still family. No matter the chaos or not. He would protect them, just as he’d begun to do for everyone he loved.
••••••




You know, I sat there and I went back to the promos from four years ago. You had more history with Sin City, and me? I’d been in several different companies, doing what you were incapable of doing. You said it yourself that you followed my career because I was going to be something someday…and I was. I’m a multi-time world champion, tournament winner, and if I didn’t win, I was damn close to the top. When I finally hit my stride, I never had to fight to prove who I was.

But within all of these wins, and these places where I excelled, I kept one thing solid: me. I never became the company, and the company never became me. I exist on my own level, my own plane, and I’ve created an identity that is me. Kayla doesn’t define me. Christian and Mark don’t define me. A wrestling company in Vegas doesn’t define me, and neither does the racked up wins or losses. At the end of the day, I’m the fighter that I’ve always been. A deathmatch wrestler, a person who doesn’t give a rat’s ass if there’s injury to me. Even if the crowd hates me, I know that I will do everything in my power to entertain them. There is only Finn Whelan, nothing more, and certainly nothing less.

I’ve been across this wrestling world because I think it’s better to take the road well-travelled. You gain knowledge from every individual place you rest your head. You gain notoriety, you become someone to watch, someone to gather knowledge on, and sometimes, even someone to envy. Eventually, though, that consistent travel comes to and end, and you have to stop somewhere and become…well, settled.

When I was convinced to come back here, I wasn’t sure I wanted to. They threw me up in the Mixed Tag Division with a person who was neither my friend, nor my partner…and we took the division by storm whether anyone wants to or not. I stuck with it. I finally gained the success that I knew I was capable of. They threw me up against the best in the division…and they fell short against us. Time…and time again.

A loss in the drive for Jet City, wasn’t it? They were, after all, your creations.

I’ve said before that I didn’t want this championship, and maybe it’s for the same reasons you state that you weren’t sure you wanted this chance. I didn’t want it because I had more to do, more to say, and I didn’t think I deserved the shot. In fact, I was pissed that I even had it, but there was a fight within me that made me not interested in giving it up. I could have thrown it. I could have stopped it. But I fought hard and determined, and came out the top of the world here again. I’m a two time World Heavyweight Champion, just like you. And yet…just like you…I made a mockery of my own self when I dissolved into nothingness.

I’m not oblivious. Ultimately, after defeating me, I was your stepping stone to greatness once more. You not only became a Mixed Tag Team Champion, but you also became World Heavyweight Champion again. You’ve made accolades, you’ve done something for yourself and you’ve proven everyone wrong, right? That’s what you told me, and that’s what you’ve told everyone.

After all, you made parallels about our similar careers, right? Unwanted, accidental, unneeded. And now let’s add something that was defintiely not evident in any of your charismatic promos that you’re suddenly were in imposter syndrome and yet…excelling. Continuously.

If there’s something I know about this business, imposter syndrome doesn’t continually defeat and win. At some point, psychosis stops taking hold and you realize that you finally earned something that you never thought you could get again. A briefcase winner, you were forced to cash in, and you won. Wow. The very definition of success, am I wrong?

You keep talking about parallels, but this is where it ends. Sure, we’re both underdogs and fought the power coming up, but while you were wallowing in your non-apparent self-pity about being a champion, let me tell you exactly how I have felt the entire time that I’ve been the World Heavyweight Champion.

Like I fucking earned it.

I didn’t want it, but I still fought for it. Because that’s what we as wrestlers do. What is the point if there’s nothing to show your success, nothing to prove you’ve made it? And how can you be so disgruntled with your own self that you can’t see the positivity in your own success? Confidence is a trait that needs to be worn on the shoulder of whomever is the champion, and I do that successfully. I don’t feel like I didn’t earn it, because I did. I don’t think that I can’t handle something anymore because another trait of being a champion is having tenacity. Resilience. POWER.

I fight every match with conviction, and I bury my feet into the ground so I am unshakeable, immovable, and impossibly difficult to rise above. Like I said…I know my place. I’ve never been nervous about my career ending, or that I only have very little time left, or that there are only small chances that I have in order to make it above the rest of the world. Eventually, all those things will happen, and they will happen when they need to. I don’t let them sit above me, lord over me, and try to give me this fucking feel good narrative that requires the pity of the rest of the company on me.

I take my shots. I earn my shots. I devour and spar with my shots. And every moment that I’m given a step, I take it.

I’m not afraid.

But I can see why you are.

Your entire identity is buried within Sin City, Kris, because it’s almost the only place that you ever made something of yourself. Look at your accolades. I know you branched out, but they’re not even visible in what you’ve done. Sin City World Champion, Sin City Mixed Tag Champion, SCW Man of the Year, SCW, SCW, SCW…that’s all that exists, and all that will ever exist for you.

I can understand that fear that every so often you get. The fear that you’ve disappeared for some time, and you have to come back to make sure people remember you. The fear that if you’re gone too long, no one will give a flying fuck about you, your wife, and anything that Jet City has done. But just because I can understand it psychologically doesn’t mean that I accept it. Your fear is unfounded and quite honestly, absolutely ridiculous. You’re a fucking Hall of Famer, a man who has created a legacy in this company that can be, if you want to be honest, not rememberable. You started here ten years ago, and in that ten years, you’ve done nothing but win here.

But out there?

Out in big bad world of companies, your name doesn’t cross the lips of promoters. Your name doesn’t do anything but ring out…

…well…

…nothing.

That, right there, is the thing that you should be afraid of. Not that you’re going to be forgotten in the only company that you’ve ever amount to anything, but that you’re not going to be recognized for your worth outside of it. I could go to another company right now, and even if they didn’t know who I was, it wouldn’t take them long to figure it out. You followed my career. You knew who I was.

But I didn’t know, or to be perfectly honest, care who you were when we faced the first time. I said some drivel about how you’re coming back then to create the same legacy you’re so desperately needing to reestablish now. You’re the one that said it. You’re afraid of your spotlight going out, isn’t that what you said to Eddie? Did you not tell Felix to catch the “L” he deserved? And you showed your fear the second you said that you were bothered by the fact that Miles Kasey, of all people, told you weren’t undeniable anymore.

I don’t like psychological bullshit and I think that’s been pretty aptly said at this point. I don’t agree with the whole…I was the greatest thing and now I’m not and that hurts so I’m going to be the good guy and remind people of their abilities…while still sending them to hell with their losses.

You said you wanted to be the guy that was never supposed to come back, but came back better than anyone imagined…right? You’ve done that. Twice in my tenure in this company.

How many more times are you going to search for glory in a company that is all about you? That’s your identity?

I know who I am. I don’t need to reinvent myself every two years to make sure I’m all warm and cozy about the person I’ve become and will be. I’m not an insecure human being. And there is no place for insecurity at the top of the ring.

So this time, when we face…it’s not going to be some little upstart trying to make their name in Sin City. No. You’ve had that fun, and I’m not proving anything anymore. I am where I am whether people like it or not. We’ll main event this shit and we’re going to have a knockdown, drag out of a match. I’m not interested in failing again, and I’m not interested in you being the next successor to this championship when in all fucking actuality…you didn’t deserve to be here because you got the short straw in every match up to this point. I know my worth. I know who I am, whether people try to jump in from the side and take what’s mine, or whether people want to sit on fucking social media and be little vapid cunts because they know their time is up.

My time isn’t anywhere near done.

But yours?

You said it yourself…your spotlight is fading.

Tick.

Tock.

Oops.

Lights out.

10
Climax Control Archives / PARADIGM SHIFT XXV // MERCI (FVKT)
« on: September 06, 2024, 11:28:59 PM »
PARADIGM SHIFT XXV // MERCI (FVKT)   
OH MERCI….WE’RE NOT FINE, WE’RE FILTH. WE’RE NOT KIND, WE KILL. IT’S NOT AT ALL MERCY – NO MERCY BETWEEN YOU AND ME. IT’S LOUD AS SILENCE, WE VOW FOR VIOLENCE.
DEATH VALLEY HIGH .


••••••


The Hudson River had many chilling tales surrounding it, but as they stood outside its embankments in the cool, frigid air, its rippling tide left nothing but ice on their hearts. It was just barely Autumn, but coats were required already. The Catskill Mountains rose up in dark peaks over the city of Kingston. At the parking lot just a few hundred feet away, a black, Porsche 911 Speedster sat, overlooking the small port. Standing with his eyes on the road was Finn Whelan, his hands shoved in the pockets of his patagonia jacket and his boots rooted firmly into the ground.

His unlikely partner in today’s crime was his ex-wife, whose colorful hair was tied up in a loose bun on top of her head. She had a radio in her hands and was listening on the earpiece inside of her left ear intently, chewing on her lip. And in all honesty, he hadn’t spent as much time with her in the five years since their divorce as he had in the last few weeks. Not that he wanted to either, but she was a useful asset from time to time. At least, since he’d gotten back to being involved in…

…well, whatever he was involved in.

Part of him lately wished that he hadn’t agreed to any of it. Part of him felt like he was right back into square one, doing the same poor behavior that he tried to hard to desperately get away from. He had no choice in the matter, though – if he didn’t, then he may have lost another family member to the world and he’d already lost enough of them. His children. His sister. They were all gone, and he had nothing he could have done in those situations. With this one, it was a decision that he didn’t want, but nevertheless took. He had to protect Dimitri. Even if it was from himself.

Just like he felt like he had to protect everyone.

Everyone in his apartment complex had now been relegated to safety. Cameras. Alarms. Everyone had them, and he wasn’t going to let a single person be injured. He was a damned protector, even if he grit his teeth and did it without really wanting to. He’d been there for Aiden and Kallie, to help provide for them while they struggled to get on their feet. He gave Miles a place to be when he was struggling with his stalker ex-girlfriend. Dickie was an obvious, and even Aaron, who he hated with a passion, he provided support when needed. Kayla? He was actively doing so now, with his teeth grit, as he walked into fires for her just enough in order to ensure she was safe.

Maybe it was because he hadn’t really had a family for so long that he just searched for one and created it from the ashes of his friendships. Maybe it was because he felt alone for so long that having people nearby made life just a bit easier. Or maybe it was simply because he had nothing left and needed that for himself to live.

It could have been anything.

Nevertheless, he turned as Aaron shifted on the ground, the bright red soles of her Louboutin boots visible even in the dark, moonlight. She looked up at him and nodded. “They have him. They’re fifteen minutes out.

Good.” Finn replied, sighing slightly. “Fifteen minutes and he’s safe.

Aaron rose to her feet and then went to stand next to him, peering up at him from her short height. Finn was still abominably tall compared to her. She folded her hands and stared at the road. “I suppose my father really couldn’t say no.

No.” Finn shook his head. “Your dad likes to save the weak and powerless. It reminds him of his place in the world, filled with the kind of power only some men dream of. I’ll send him my regards once I’m back in the city.

Aaron teetered forwards, and then backwards on her heels, like she had always done since she was a kid when she was curious. “...can I ask you something?

You already did.

Why…this kid?” She tilted her head again and squinted her brown eyes at him. “I know you told my dad of his lineage, but…why does that particularly matter?

Finn didn’t initially reply. At first, he was questioning himself on the matter…why did this kid’s life matter to him? The Romani were possessive, controlling, and they wouldn’t be happy when one of their own disappeared from beneath their noses. It wasn’t like they wouldn’t have figured out who had taken him, and Finn honestly expected Jace to show up on his doorstep the following day. Of course, if he reached out, Finn wouldn’t have suggested to him to arrive because that could have been considered an attack at this point between the two clans, but honestly. Honestly, he just felt like the kid deserved more.

Is it because it’s Kayla’s family?

Again, not a response.

I mean, I know you have a weird perspective of family, but–

We could have once been a family, you know.” He cut across her. “You. Me. Zoey. Kieran. We had everything. A home. A life. Careers. We didn’t want for anything, and then…” He stared out at the street as he spoke, not bothering to look down at her. “And then he came along. And he took everything. The twins. Our happiness. In all that time, I fought for everything. Respect from my own father that never came, my livelihood. Kei had a twisted grip on me and I had to do everything he said because he promised that I would be happy again. I had to fight for us, because you weren’t doing it. You had a beef with my sister, and then we never were the same. And then you decided that I was no longer enough for you, and you slept with someone else, and it destroyed any chance of that ever happening again.

He turned his head then and looked down at Aaron, who had widened her eyes. It was the most he’d talked to her in years, all in one go.

So yes, Aaron, I have a very skewed perspective of family. I had to create one because the one that I had dissolved into absolute trash. Forgive me for trying to repair one when I can’t fix my own.

Aaron looked at the ground then, blowing out of her nose slowly and exhaling. She bit her lip and then turned her head. “It’s not that you weren’t enough, it’s just that I–

I don’t want to hear an excuse. We’re barely coworkers, and hardly acquaintances now. What’s gone is gone and I’ve very much moved on.

She paused again. Finn took his hand out of his pocket, looking at the phone he had clutched in it. It was a picture of Kayla on the front screen. She looked at it, and then up at him again, slowly.

Do you love her?

Finn rolled his eyes and exhaled out of his nose as well, shoving his hand back into his pocket. “Why wouldn’t I?

Because she’s kind of a cunt and I just-

You’re kind of a cunt.

“...touche.

Finn nodded and then inhaled slowly and exhaled as well. “Yes. I do love her, Aaron. She understands me, and it’s not about touchy-feely bullshit. I don’t feel like I have to be someone else like I do around virtually everyone that is near me. Aiden and Kallie don’t get my silence, Dickie doesn’t get my introversion. The fans and the company don’t understand what it takes from me to be who I am, and the one person that I don’t have to be a fucking fraud with is Kayla. She doesn’t ask for anything more from me than who I am and what I am.

Aaron peered at him again, and then slowly nodded. She still knew him, regardless of their separation, and most of the time, that annoyed Finn. It certainly did at this moment. “But you’re afraid she’s going to discover who you really are, and she’ll want to leave too.

Finn continued to stare at the road. Headlights were arriving from the distance, ones that appeared to be attached to an Army Jeep. He took a few steps forward, heading towards the stairs that would lead him not only back to his car, but to pick up the kid and escape from where he was now.

Yes.
••••••



I know. It gets super boring having to watch us time and time again do the same thing. In fact, I would even hazard to say that it’s not just simply boring – it’s deafening. If you’re one of those people who sits down at the end of the day and goes through it, trying to figure out how to best karma-fy your life based on the actions of the day and how to better yourself in the future as a competitor, you might actually sit there and hear nothing but silence. Or white noise. Because eventually, the more you try to sit and put us into a box, the more we push out, show out, and do what we’re supposed to do.

I’m well aware that Miles Kasey has no fucking clue what to do now. Four times we’ve faced, three of them with his friendo…and except for that one moment in time in which he was able to capitalize, I have been dominant in this company. And I know that’s frustrating. We all expect monoliths to crumble. We all expect empires to fall. We all expect that eventually, a person will stop being the pillar that they have been, holding fast to the reins of the company. I feel bad for Miles – I do, but me feeling bad for my Wolfslair packmate doesn’t mean that I’m not going to do everything in my power to persevere and thrive. We all have our own careers, our own desires, our own dreams…and I am unapologetic in my quest to create a legacy only seen by a few in this place.

So what’s next? Finn, they said, you’re going to be in singles action next week in Stockholm. Finn, you’re going to be facing another member of the roster that you know. What they didn’t say, and what I think they’re attempting to see, is that they’re placing me against members of my pack. Hell, even members of my own home. The dirt sheets ask, “What will Finn Whelan do in the wake of facing not only his team members, but his friends?”

When the job needs to be done, I don’t have friends.

I’ll speak on Aiden in a moment, but I want to bring it back to what’s been happening. You know, it’s not only The Conspiracy that has noted the favoritism in this company. The blatant continued shots for things that weren’t earned steadily, the opportunities handed again and again and again…claiming a challenge is through someone like Bill Barnhart when it should be the champions that rule this company. These Proving Ground series…for a chance at my championship.

I see through it.

I want you to know it. I see the opponents these people have been given, I see the set up, I see the punchline, I see what awaits in store for me. One is provided an opponent that can contest, and the other given a waste of space. One has to fight harder than the other. It’s disappointing. If this was a true proving ground, each contestant should have had to face our Roulette and Internet Champions respectively in non-title matches to prove that they’re ready to face me.

It’s just so sad that everyone has their own agendas that they’ve tried to create everything to be around. They’ve lost sight of what wrestling is meant to be about: the gold, and the story that arises within it. It should be about rising to the top, it should be about the things that matter in this business. But that’s not what we do, and maybe I should also be thankful for that.

Listen, we’re all selfish beings filled with an ego that is so high on the richter scale that we cause our own earthquakes. Every single one of us thinks that our steps are so clamorous and deafening that we have created some sort of wave of change and fear in the world, when the reality is simple: the fans have created their own heroes and villains, and the only thing that truly matters is gold.

So when you sit there and wonder why Sin City’s Heavyweight Championship isn’t main eventing? It’s because we’re constantly building tournaments around it instead of stabilizing into one true contender. We’re watching as it’s been relegated down to one-hit wonders and outside contenders. We’re watching as proved that I deserved it and it wasn’t a fluke when I defeated Goth, but then had Sausage Fest or whatever the fuck his name in a multi-person random ass match where no one deserved it…and then watched as the Blast From the Past winner QQ’d and didn’t give his all while a dipshit used a briefcase and thought it was going to work against me.

I get that too.

Nothing except that initial moment where Goth and I tore the building apart to win this championship has been breathtaking and aweinspiring, and so I can understand where I might be considered boring. But how am I supposed to, in good faith, create a clamor when contenders are so shoddily built for me?

There’s no drive behind it. No…passion. I’m simply doing my work and I’m doing it well. The most pre-match things I’ve done is back and forth with a woman who might actually have some rocks impeding some brain function. My own opponents and my own division? Can’t be assed to comment when they have a match.

It’s doing the legwork without any of the weight, and let me tell you…that doesn’t build gains in the gym, and it doesn’t build drama and hype.

It’s disappointing.

The state of things, you know? Someone might call this a bitter tirade, because you have the emotional depth of a teaspoon. But maybe it’s because I wish, on the wrestling gods, that I didn’t have to accept less than what I’m worth. And so…

I won’t.

No longer is this the Finn who won this championship with everything in me. No longer am I simply fighting. No longer am I doing this because of the love of the fight. I am done. No mercy.

And who better to start this off with than my own housemate turned opponent this week?

Sorry Aiden.

It’s gonna be a repeat of twenty-eighteen.


••••••


Getting the kid back into the city only took a couple of hours. Kingston wasn’t too far away, but it was primarily driving in the New York City proper. He’d made sure he wasn’t followed by anyone, and by the time they’d gotten into the city, Finn had learned quite a bit about the kid who he’d orchestrated not only a rescue, but what he supposed could also be kidnapping at the end of the day.

Not that the kid wasn’t a willing participant.

His name was Lucas, but most of the clan called him Luca. He was almost ten years of age, and he was slowly learning about the world outside of the compound. He was intelligent, and when he was allowed to go to the neighborhood schools, they’d tested him and he’d come out within the top ninety-fifth percentile. His mother had been stricken from the history of the Romani compound, and was only talked about with poor words. He spoke with a maturity that Finn didn’t see from most kids his age, and he thought that was probably because he was around only other Romani kids and the adults. And they were all extremely weird, in Finn’s opinion.

After he’d parked the car, Finn looked at the time and noted that he hadn’t eaten in over four hours. He checked his phone once more to check and see if Kayla had returned back. She hadn’t yet, stating that she was still with her sister Amber at her house. He texted quickly for them to start heading back to the house and he got a “Whatever” response followed by a heart.

A problem?” Luca asked as he stepped out of the vehicle, looking at it with the wide eyes he’d had before. He’d never seen such a vehicle, nor the opulence of the building in which Finn drove his car beneath into the underground garage.

Not really,” Finn replied, and looked at him. “Let’s get food, shall we?

“Food” turned out to be the McDonalds that was just a couple of blocks away because Finn didn’t feel like cooking food and having questions asked. Always observant of their surroundings, he swung into a seat with their back to the corner of the chain and his eyes searching the open floor plan, noting that Luca was at least blocked by a small wall. It was remarkably clean in here. Luckily, Luca looked similar to Finn in appearance – black hair, bright hazel eyes. No one would have suspected the kid wasn’t even remotely related to, nor that he’d been kidnapped.

The older of the two pulled up the app on his phone and selected a couple of items. “What do you want, kid?

Do they have saviako?

Finn’s eyes slowly lifted from the screen to the Romani kid in front of him, who despite looking like him, actually did look out of place in his jeans and buttoned shirt. “What the fuck is that?

Hey, we never said he was a great role model, okay?

Um…it has noodles and cottage cheese and it’s put in the oven…

Finn’s eyes narrowed as his insides turned with disdain for the food being described to him. “...how about a cheeseburger and some fries?

Okay!” He seemed happy to try something new. In fact, he didn’t seem plussed about having been taken from his home in the middle of the night. Luca seemed quite pleased to be sitting in this McDonalds at eleven o’clock at night with a man that he barely knew.

Now he understood why Dickie was so upset when this initially came up.

He ordered a cheeseburger meal and pushed the order through on the app. They would, of course, ultimately have to wait, but that didn’t seem a problem right now. Finn leaned back in his seat, peering at the kid who eagerly rested both his hands upon the table and looked at Finn. “You have questions, don’t you? I don’t mind you asking…but can I guess first what it is?

Sure.” Finn nodded.

You want to know how I knew who you were.” When Finn nodded slightly, he nodded too and folded his hands at the table. “So, I grew up knowing that my mother wasn’t part of the compound anymore, and that she was alive, but no one had been able to find her. It was like she was kind of the unspoken person, her and her sister. They were called tradare, and they had betrayed us. But I…I haven’t ever really felt like the rest of them, ya know? I’ve seen pictures of my mom and her sister. I knew what they looked like but never thought I’d see them, since they were you know…

Tradare.

Yeah! So I…well, I happened to be in the city near the compound and saw a rerun of the show that you’re on. We don’t really get a lot of television, we’re not really supposed to engage in the real world. We kind of figure out how to manipulate around it, but anyway…I saw her. The same girl in the photographs, and I saw you. I was certain of it. And then Jace started talking more about her, and I learned her name was Kayla. He’s been super jealous of her, I think.”

Their food arrived and Luca looked at the food in front of him with wide eyes. He’d clearly never seen a flat ass cheeseburger from McDonalds before. Finn momentarily plugged into his head to research if the Romani were like the Amish.

And when I saw you at the compound,” the kid continued, opening the wrapper and taking a bite. “I waz lahke, ish im!” He swallowed. “So I confronted you and you looked very confused when you saw me.

I…was. But then I saw a picture of you when you were a kid and your mom…and put together the pieces.”

I’ve been stuck there forever…” He looked a bit upset, but then shrugged. “But now I’m not. Am I going to see my mom soon?

Listen, kid…” Finn put down his own quarter pounder as he spoke. “Your mom doesn’t even know I have you. She’s going to be in a state of shock, and I don’t think she’s going to figure out who you are quickly. So…I still have to tell her. And I’m not sure quite how I’m going to do that yet.

But…” he looked upset now, and Finn supposed he had a right to be. “I thought…

This has been a quick rollercoaster ride, and now that I have you, you might be staying with me longer than you expect. I mean, I want you with your mom, but–

I don’t want to go back if she doesn’t want me around!” Luca nearly burst into tears, and Finn cringed slightly. “Please don’t send me back. I hate it there. It’s not the life I want to have, I don’t want to be like Jace!

Finn sighed…and then he shook his head. “Listen, you’re not going to go back…but I just need you to be pre–

And then…the worst possible thing happened. Or at least, he thought it might have been the worst possible thing. So focused he’d been on Luca that he hadn’t realized that two people had entered the restaurant. It wasn’t anyone particularly on the bad side of things, but everything that he was hoping to transpire at the house was now about to transpire here.

Kayla and Amber walked in the door.

Kayla saw Finn immediately, tilted her head, and didn’t notice the kid behind the wall. She walked towards him, followed by Amber. He didn’t notice until she was nearly on top of them. “You went to get food without me?” She chided goodnaturedly, and laughed slightly. “How dare you–” And then her eyes caught sight of Luca. Her brow furrowed.

But it was Amber’s gasp that opened up about ten different worlds.


••••••



This isn’t the first time Aiden and I have met in the ring. Once upon a time, in a long…redacted…far away company, we once had the opportunity to square off. I’m not quite sure if Aiden remembers that, because it’s been a long, long time and we all know that his cognitive faculties are not high in the short term memory processing area. Nevertheless, as I dug in the annals of my library, it brought to mind the man that I stood across then…versus the one I see now.

Come along with me down memory road, will you?

Twenty-eighteen was when you burst onto the American scene, disappearing from the ranks of Japan and coming here. Disillusioned, but nevertheless a fighter with who laughed about everything in the face of danger. Alex Jones brought you into Wolfslair, tried to rehabilitate you, and you stepped into the same company as I did, looking to not only make a name for yourself, but breakthrough your own troubles. We didn’t know your life story, we didn’t know who you were…but in one of your brightest moments in the world, you won. Again and again, your positive outlook and your jokes made you a sight for sore eyes and you capitalized. Again. And again.

You defeated the company’s former champion. And I celebrated you in the same time that I tore you into shreds.

As we all made an exodus from that company, you went into another…and another, searching for respect and longevity. None was provided – not until you created a camaraderie with my own little shithead of a brother. You and he created the strangest fucking friendship I have ever seen and since then, the two of you have been tied to each other like giggling school girls.

You won championships together, and when he excelled in the singles division, everyone just tended to call you his sidekick. But I knew better. I know better. You’re a vicious competitor of your own, and you proved it time and time again…but I know how it is. You’ve come back to wrestling and you have that goofy ass attitude because you just want to have a good time and get into some fights…

…except that’s complete bullshit and we both know it, right?

Dickie once told me that you were the type of man who hid behind a laughing face and a bunch of jokes, and really, reality was just something that made you nervous. You’ve felt the sting of the ultimate failure of your life – perhaps it was love, or maybe it was in your career – and that has made your initiative become a lackadaisical movement. You want to push for the heavens, but only just enough that you won’t feel like a complete and utter failure for your wife and son when you fail. You want greatness, but just enough that you’ll be praised for your minimal success.

You are a walking catch-twenty-two and you don’t even realize it.

I told you a long time ago that you’re going to want to exude more confidence than what you used to. A long time ago, you gave me some respectful song and dance, and I told you then that your respect wasn’t going to stop me from ripping out your throat. I told you six years ago that I was going to fight, snarl and bite until you were dead on the ground…and then would I only show mercy.

But that Finn is a different Finn. So very different than the Finn of today.

I am still the measuring stick, Aiden. I am still the one person that you have yet to conquer, and you are still not prepared to face me.

No mercy, Aiden.

None.

I know you live in my apartment, and I know I’ve given you and your wife a home and this and that and you’re semi-family and maybe I should be kinder. But you know what frustrates me in every single moment that I’ve seen you in this company?

You care more about getting cheap joking pops in than actually focusing and not second-fucking-guessing yourself. Take Eddie Lyons – you sold him as a possible World Champion, gave your props to me, and then literally sold him in a solid fight against you. Every match you say you’re doing your best and pushing yourself to the limit, but you don’t tell us why you’re going to absolutely annihilate everyone. You’re unsure, like you always have been. Mate, lemme talk to ya man to man…you can’t like everyone, and you can’t have good things to say constantly about anyone you meet.

You have success in the palm of your hand and you need to fucking snatch it from here on out if you’re ever going to make it in Sin City. Fight for it. I don’t want to see some unsure dickhead across from me, afraid to even remotely kick my ass – I want to see someone who has fire and adrenaline in them. I want someone that’s going to do the exact same thing and show no fucking mercy.

Can you do that?

Can you capitalize on that?

Can you erase our ties in that ring and fight me like a goddamned Australian rather than a half-neutered man who only does as much as he feels like in the day? Make a couple jokes, lay down on the ground and just let me pin you because who the fuck cares?

I can.

And I will.

We’re friends, Aiden. But that doesn’t mean I won’t destroy you. Believe me…you are going to need to muster up every part of being prepared for me like you’ve been prepared for everything else…because I am nothing like anyone else.

We will have a repeat of twenty-eighteen, Aiden…and at the end, I will shake your hand and we’ll continue on as we have. But you will have the startling reminder every so often that we’ve all figured you out. Listen to me…

Sometimes failure is what makes us grow.

And maybe…just maybe…you need to grow.

11
Climax Control Archives / PARADIGM SHIFT XXIV // COLORS
« on: August 30, 2024, 10:58:31 PM »
PARADIGM SHIFT XXIV // COLORS
CAN YOU FEEL IT CRUSH YOU? DOES IT SEEM TO BRING THE WORST IN YOU OUT? THERE’S NO RUNNING AWAY FROM THESE THINGS THAT HOLD YOU DOWN. DO THEY COMPLICATE YOU BECAUSE THEY MAKE YOU FEEL LIKE THIS? OF ALL THE COLORS THAT YOU SHINE, THIS IS SURELY NOT YOUR BEST.
CROSSFADE .


••••••


The Officer’s Quarters of West Point were refurbished and remodeled early nineteenth century homes that had been built after the Revolutionary War for the quartermaster and other important members of the Military Academy. The one that he was specifically going to, driving his Speedster up the winding roads leading to the housing complexes on base. The visitors pass on his windshield was something that he didn’t think he’d see again, but this time, he hadn’t really had a choice.

He pulled into the driveway of a colonial-tudor styled home that still looked like it had the original brick that had been restored. It had a large circular driveway, and he had no qualms with parking right in front of the sidewalk leading to the front door. He cut the engine and then stepped out of the vehicle, his full height rising a full three feet from the top of the car. He turned and looked at the house with a smidge of disdain. After his divorce, he never thought that he would be in front of it again.

Took you long enough,” with her long colorful hair wrapped around her face, Aaron stepped out on the front step. She crossed her arms as Finn rolled his eyes and reminded himself that he needed to play nice today. He would not take any anger out on Aaron in front of her family, especially when it was they who asked him to come here, sending a message through their daughter that they wanted to see him.

It took about thirty seconds for another woman to appear. A demure, white haired woman that had her hair tied up into a bun and looked just as lithe and fit as her daughter stepped out into the fray. She smiled brightly and wrapped her cardigan around herself, rushing up the sidewalk as she did so, wrapping her arms tightly around Finn and kissing him on both cheeks. “Callien!

He wasn’t going to yell at Aaron’s mother for her misdeed of calling him the wrong name. That’s the only name she would ever call him by, and he couldn’t get her to change it even before.

Hi,” he smiled and held both of her hands in his own. “How have you been?

Oh you know!” She cooed. She was just near seventy years of age, but that didn’t seem to slow her down. “I’m about to head for the train to go into the city and teach my master class! New York City Ballet can’t seem to get rid of me in my old age.

Well, if you’d stop showing off for the new recruits and break something, they might retire you.” Aaron replied, snarkily.

Aaron’s mother rolled her eyes, and then waved politely to Finn as she headed for the attached garage. Finn continued up the steps and stepped into the grandiose abode. Chandeliers, mahogany – it was certainly guessed up, regardless of the tight financial ship the family ran. They didn’t speak as they headed down the hallway. Aaron pressed her hand against a panel next to the doorway, and a variety of beeps issued from the area. It allowed her to open the door in front of her, and she ushered Finn inside.

They headed down a set of stairs into the cellar, where metal casing replaced the stone that had once been the foundation. It was bright down here, with fluorescent lights illuminating the room.

The Colonel was a formidable man, seventy years of age, who wore his station with pride. He was not dressed in his colonel’s attire, but was in a tucked in polo and tan slacks. He turned his head, his jawline cutting the space around him blockingly. He peered at Finn as he stepped down into the room after The Colonel’s daughter and huffed slightly.

He was the only man that Finn had ever called “sir” willingly. It was like his appearance and aptitude required it.

O’Hanlon,” the man said to Finn gruffly.

Sir.” Finn replied, nodding his head.

The Colonel took a seat at his desk and leveled his hands on the desk, folding them as he did so. He stared at Finn as the younger man sat down across from him, not necessarily even shaken, but still respectfully. Aaron stood next to the desk, refusing to stand behind her father or sit next to Finn.

Aaron tells me you’re back on your extracurriculars?

Finn smiled slightly. “With all due respect, sir, you didn’t need Aaron to tell you that.

The Colonel always had a little bit of respect for Finn and his smart mouth. He leaned forward, nodding slightly. “You’re right. I didn’t. I can’t say I wasn’t a little disappointed, but when it was explained to me why, I did understand. Your brother called Aaron, who called me…you have a task for my team to do, but she wouldn’t tell me what it was and why. And to be perfectly honest, I wasn’t quite sure why you would have us work in your illegal affairs…we are, after all, a legal operation.

Finn nodded, and also leaned forward, matching The Colonel’s stance. “It’s simple. I knew you couldn’t resist being a hero. And that you would get it done more effectively and quietly than my brother’s team.

Your brother’s team?” He questioned, as if he didn’t believe his words. As if Finn was truly the ringleader and Dickie was just the fall guy.

My brother’s team. It’s kind of precious cargo too…I wanted to make sure there wasn’t going to be a trace. You can infiltrate better than I can.” Finn continued, nodding slightly. “There’s a kid. In the carnival grounds just west of the city. I know Aaron has already passed you a picture, so you know who you’re looking for.

The Colonel’s eyes narrowed. “And why the kid? Isn’t that kidnapping? You’re asking us to kidnap a child?

Finn shook his head. “You know the Romani, Colonel. The only important set of humans in that entire encampment is the men, and the women and children are essentially property. That sect isn’t like the others…they truly believe in the old ways, and I’ve witnessed it myself. I want to make sure the kid is safe.”

And why this specific child? Why not all of them?

He hesitated, sighed slightly and then looked away. “The boy is the son of the former Romani leader, Renee. You know, the one that caused so many issues nearly eight years ago? There was a lot of infighting, and the boy’s uncle now runs the entire operation. I want to make sure the kid is safe, because he’s also family.

Your family?

Finn shook his head. “No…but my girlfriend’s family. And there is a lot of chaos going on right now surrounding this, and I’m just trying to put everything together for…safety…purposes.

The Colonel didn’t buy that response. He narrowed his eyes further, paused, and then scoffed slightly. “You’re trying to cause a problem, aren’t you?

Finn grinned slightly. He leaned closer into the older man, who he knew was going to say yes regardless, and said to him confidently. “Sir, the only problems that exist are the Romani, and I’m just trying to make it a better world to live in. Just like you.

Just like him, indeed.


••••••



The fourth of August, twenty-twenty-four…it’s a significant date, you know. It’s been nearly a month since I defeated two…men…who supposedly earned their shots and when they couldn’t rise above, disappeared. A month since I tasted a fight, a month since your World Heavyweight Champion graced the ring to do something other than address the entire company.

I know there are levels and that we have to watch and see which one of the heathens in the lower levels fights their way up through the rest of them to stand against the Champion. Someone hopefully who has earned it…someone who has fought with pride and a shade of lust to face off against me. I don’t make the bucket list, but I do watch and see what’s going on. I could sit here and put a list of people I know I would like to face and prove a point…

Alexander Raven has hit beautifully lately, and could give me a run for my money. I respect Raven and his desire to succeed…but also recognize he’s got a vendetta going.

I’d even face Kris Ryans as long as his vapid blonde doesn’t accompany with her progeny. I respect Ryans and his drive to tie up his own loose ends.

Eddie Lyons could ascend, and he could finally get his chance to face me for our brief, trolling history.

Hell, I’d even face Aiden Reynolds, and that would actually be a match filled with fast-paced fighting, flippy shit. I know, we’ve done it before, and he gave me a fuckin’ run for my money.

The Harris twerp would even be an option, if he wasn’t buried headfirst in with Kevin Carter, J2H and Raven himself.

So here I sit for the fourth week in a row wondering what my future is in this company, and what stands in front of me. Am I going to get someone like Jamie Dean or Sean Parker who are here for a good time, but clearly weren’t a long time? Maybe I’ll get someone like Peter Vaughn, who couldn’t even win on a surprise. Or am I going to actually face someone who can stand across from me and put on a show, something that dazzles the crowd.

It seems I’m always left to discover my own opponent on the last show heading into a Supercard and I have to scramble to figure out what to do. Que sera, sera…and all that jazz. And even in all of that…

I still do what I do, and I still win.

I know a lot of people seem to hate that – the fact that I can continue to push forward and succeed no matter what the situation is. Try to jump me, I succeed. Try to come at me as a legend in these hallowed halls? I succeed. I haven’t lost a match since September of last year, and here I am…still succeeding, still doing my job. Even when I’m flung bullshit on social media, I still succeed. And that literally makes some of you whine to the ends of the earth because I’ve done what I say I will.

I used to put up with it, but at this point, I’m going to call you out on your shit. You’re going to do some cute post of you pointing out how you think your ass looks nice on camera while you attempt to sell your match, and it’s against me? I’m going to call you out on your shit. You’re going to do some snide ass post because the world doesn’t give a fuck about you and you’re trying to stay relevant in this circle? I’m going to call you out on your shit.

I don’t give a fuck at this point because besides the few people I mentioned above and my Wolfslair comrades? You’re worth less than the gum I accidentally stepped on with my shoe, and that is pathetic.

I’m still the World Champion, I am still the World Mixed Tag Team Champion. Over three hundred days, I’ve been a champion in this company, and I have pushed records, I have eliminated competition, and I have done what none of you expected me to do. What some of you continue to not expect me to do, and sit in your feels when I do continue to step into the ring and dominate. The only time I’ve ever been a push over is when I don’t care, when I don’t have drive, and when I could give a shit less about the consequences.

I have eight losses. I won’t deny them, because they are a part of my record and a part of the legacy that I leave in this company. But I also won’t be so quick to sit there and apologize for them. I own that I made mistakes. I don’t sit in the shadows, not taking accountability for my failures. That’s the first step to greater realization, isn’t it? Accountability? Knowing that you can’t change the past, but you can create a better future from your own failures? I believe that I do this every day. That I push for this every day.

And likewise, my opponents have every right to do the very same thing. They can sit there and try to argue that the past doesn’t matter and that this is their time. But the past does matter. It cannot be changed, it cannot be tampered with, but it can set the tone for the future ahead. Especially when there are so many moving parts. I know my future, and what I need to do to get ahead…but do they?

Some people say that overused saying about how the third time something is attempted is the one that’s going to put them over. The idiom was created by the British some…god, who the fuck knows, basically because they failed miserably twice and put hope into thinking that the people around them were going to get lackadaisical and fuck themselves over. I’ve always disliked the thought that people assume that others are going to become complacent because something has stayed the same way for a designated amount of time.

Unsurprisingly, we’re right there right now. See, for some reason, Miles and Alexandra seem to think that the third time they get to face for this championship is going to be their lucky shot. That they’re going to turn the tide and change this for the better. That’s constantly what I see.

In fact, it’s what Alexandra seems to think. You see, prior to defeating Eiley last week – been there, done that – not only did she have some celebratory words to share, she quite literally also sat there and said she and her partner kicked ass. Of course, she didn’t clarify that it was the Barnharts, and that most sexually transmitted diseases also have kicked their ass, but you know…que sera sera.

Add the whole social media interactions and Calaway seems to think that they’re prepared to take on myself and Kayla. You know, forgetting the whole…failure to capture not once, but twice. In part, I think that may be simply because no one can figure out how Kay and I function. When this first started, we were very vocal about the fact that even if we didn’t like one another, we knew how to function on a professional level. We knew how the other worked, we were able to come together as tag partners.

Now? No, Alexandra, we’re not just thick as thieves, as you stated the last time you attempted to wrest these titles from our hands. We’re a seamless unit, a strong team that pushes forward together, that works efficiently to bring down our competitors. I don’t know how many times people have come at us saying all kinds of bullshit, trying to divide us, trying to separate our successes. Oh, Kayla’s done more, or Finn’s pushed harder. We’ve both heard it all. We’re selfish. We’re unable to communicate. We’re not as good as we say we are. This time is no longer our time and we shouldn’t be champions because the situation is boring. All of it. And yet, here we still stand. Nearly a year, the longest reign, the record-holding reign, and about to face our seventh defense. And that seventh one? The one filled with all the luck? Is wasted on you and Miles.

I don’t know how many times you’ve sat there and argued that the battle is in your mind and your will. Certainly, but that’s not the only thing that matters. Just because we speak and we belittle one another in this format doesn’t mean it’s left up to chance. It’s also the fact that when we’re in that ring, we need to know what the other person is thinking so that we can succeed. You and Miles might be great friends, but you’re certainly not as attuned as Kayla and I, and you’re definitely not invincible.

And you’re certainly not a better wrestler than Kayla. The World Bombshell Champion, not to mention a multi-time World champion in places that were looked at with respect, rather than a pile of vomit on someone’s shoes when it’s mentioned. And your reign at PWS: Apex means nothing because Cleo Phillips bested you, and here you are…contesting for these championships.

Wasn’t the last time we faced off when you were facing her as well? That was a rough week for you, wasn’t it? A large bit of swing and miss. Man, I hate to think you’re going to fail again.

I don’t know if you know about me, Calaway, but I don’t hold back punches. I will dig. And I will dig into your very heart and ribs because I don’t have respect for you.

But you’re a blip on the horizon, to be honest. My real focus, I guess, should be on Miles.

Oh Miles.

You’re damn correct that we’ve held these titles with pride. The last time you came at us, Miles, you told us to put up or shut up in the same breath that you said you had our backs against people who sat there and said we weren’t doing enough.



………………

………………………

…………………………….

………………………………………

I’m sorry, hold on, that’s a lot of silence. Seven times, now, Miles. Seven. Three times longer than the previous longest record of defenses, should this one go through. Meanwhile, it’s while we’re also defending the World Championships of this company. So if anyone is going to sit there and tell us that we’re not doing things enough, it’s not going to be your little shit ass. You, who defended your Internet Championship for one hundred and eighty-nine days against the likes of Bill Barnhart, a weakened Oliver Zahn who didn’t give a fuck about anything, Justin Smith, and then lost it to a fucking janitor.

Watching what you did to earn this championship shot against Bill was disgusting, and to be perfectly honest, less than what it should have been. I’m not going to sit here and tell anyone that they’re a weak link, because no one is. When you’re a team, you both have the caliber to do well and succeed as a team. There is no you or her. You’re a functional pair that can either do great things or annihilate one another’s chances at success. I’m not impressed, Miles.

I’m not interested in you.

I’m bored that we’re doing this again.

September 2023 was the one day that you defeated me on my return, but have you ever considered I threw it just to fuck with Austin? That result is never going to happen again, because you, my friend, get in your own head. You think you push yourself to the ultimate level but it’s never biting enough, it’s never proving enough, it’s never what it needs to be to get on my caliber. If you can’t defeat Peter Vaughn, you have no chance of getting through me, and I’m sorry to say that even with her, you don’t have a chance.

You are not a battle like any other. You’re not a fight that we’ve never had and that we’re going to have to push ourselves to greatness.

You’re a tried and done match that we’ve had before that is going to have the same result. Kayla and I are on another echelon – Calaway and you? Leftover chicken wings that don’t taste the same on the third warm up.

And you know how much I like chicken wings. Almost as much as Chipotle.

When the Wolves defeat you two once more, I would suggest maybe focusing on your own personal careers instead of trying to come after Kayla and I. Because whoever it was that said that doing the same thing over and over for the same result is insanity. I would hate to fifty-one-fifty you.

But I can find the straightjacket if you like.


••••••


It was a quiet night. Everyone had left, and honestly, Finn was okay with that. For the first time in what seemed like eons, he was left alone in his penthouse. There were no Australian-American couple with a baby in the second half of the apartment, and his little brother wasn’t sitting on his couch trying to figure out ways to get out of his newfound career. As much as he missed her, he was happy that Kayla had gotten out of the house and was participating whatever the fuck “girl’s night” meant. He knew she was a closet case if she wanted to be, and he didn’t want her to be dependent on him for friendship either.

He had season one of Modern Family on, simply because it was decent background noise as he laid on the leather sectional that he was certain he hadn’t bought but didn’t mind its presence. For once, he wasn’t clothed in the skinniest jeans known to man – instead, he had his plaid (yes, plaid) pajama pants on and, because it was fucking hot out still, no shirt. He scrolled on his phone to shitty little videos and scratched at his forehead as the demonic Frenchie that Kallie had bought because she needed a “therapy animal” sat nearly on top of his head. Clyde, she’d named it, and it loved Finn more than anyone in the entire household.

As long as it wasn’t the fucking wombat.

It was only ten-thirty when he heard the camera system alarm, and then the front door slam open. He stared at the phone for a moment perplexed, and then listened as three pairs of heels and a pair of converse smacked against the floor, including a clunking pair of skater shoes as well. Purses were thrown on the counter, and he got a glimpse of Kayla’s raven hair flowing as she b-lined for her own room.

He turned his head and looked curiously at the others. Amber sighed as she sat down at the counter and Tasmin appeared a little worried. Kallie did too, and she started heading for Kayla’s room.

I wouldn’t. She’s in a mood.” Amber told her.

That didn’t stop the blonde, who just decided to stand next to her door, pressing her hand up to it and setting her ear against it. “Kay?” Kallie asked, but there was no response.

Finn swung his legs off of the sofa and stood up, walking around the sofa and tossing his phone onto the couch. He shuffled, his legs stiff from being on the couch too long, into the kitchen where everyone had housed themselves – except Aiden, who’d disappeared into his own side of the apartment. Tasmin crossed her arms and looked at Amber. Amber seemed mildly stoic, but still concerned.

What happened?

Amber looked at him with a suspicious expression, as if she didn’t quite trust him yet. And maybe she didn’t, but Finn didn’t particularly care. It wasn’t like Amber was around often enough to help Kayla make decisions, and she was a big girl – she could make whatever the fuck decisions with her life that she wanted. Tasmin, though, was the one that answered.

I’m not really sure,” she piped in, “she was dancing and then like…she hightailed it out of the place.” She looked at Amber again. “Amber was first out, and Kallie and I went to grab Aiden and we weren’t out until after. But she was visibly like…upset.

Finn looked at Amber again and they simply stared at one another. There was something more. Something more that Tasmin didn’t know, and that Amber wasn’t about to divulge. He didn’t want to wait for her to decide to open her mouth, and honestly, he wasn’t sure she’d get the truth from her anyway. So instead, he nodded to Tasmin in thanks, and then left the kitchen, heading for the hallway to their rooms. He stood next to Kallie for a second, silently. When she realized he was there, she made an “eep” sound, and then scattered off to the kitchen with everyone else.

He set a hand on the doorknob, testing it. It wasn’t locked, but he wasn’t going to open it. “Kayla?” He asked quietly.

I’m fine,” she replied. But he heard it, the defensiveness in her tone. He looked up at the wall with a semi-annoyed expression, but let that fade as he quietly opened the door and stepped inside, shutting it after him with just as much quiet. “Really.

Kayla was seated on her bed, and she hadn’t bothered to change out of her clothes or anything. She seemingly had just been staring at the wall, her arms wrapped tightly around herself. He took steps towards her, and then sat down on the bed next to her. He didn’t say anything, and neither did she. He didn’t really have to. He planted his feet on the floor and then folded his hands in front of him.

I don’t want to talk about it.

That’s fine,” Finn replied, shrugging his shoulders. “You don’t need to talk about it. I’m just here.

Kayla turned her head quite slowly, her eyebrows furrowing a little in confusion. Like she wasn’t used to anyone just staying in space unless they wanted something from her. She nodded slightly, looking back at the wall. Slowly, but surely, she dropped her defensive stance and let her arms drop to rest on her legs.

They sat like this for some time. He knew Kallie was putting Amber and Tasmin in rooms, concerned about them getting home at a late hour, and he didn’t mind. It might be good for Kayla’s sisters to see her in the morning. He could hear them fighting Kallie a little bit, but the little blonde was tenacious and wouldn’t let that happen.

Eventually, Kayla leaned over into him, but didn’t look at him. Finn raised an arm and wrapped it around her shoulders. At that point, she melted slightly and wrapped her other arm around his waist. “You’re a furnace…” she muttered. He shrugged again, and then wrapped both his arms around her.

After some time like this, Finn leaned back and set his head on one of Kayla’s pillows, adjusting slightly so that he could lay comfortably on his back. Kayla kicked off her shoes and then laid down next to him, pressing her face to his shoulder and letting him comfort her. He grabbed at the throw that was sliding off the bed and threw it over her and his legs. She grumbled slightly, but nevertheless kept herself attached to him. Together, they laid in silence in the dark room, the only lights coming from the cars and business of the lively city outside. Central Park never slept, and neither did New York.

He let his eyes close for a moment. It was then that Kayla shifted slightly – uncomfortably – and then pressed her forehead into his neck, tucking herself into him more. “I saw Jace…” she said, trailing off.

Finn’s eyes snapped open. He didn’t move, he didn’t leap to attack. He didn’t say anything. His mind, however, went a million miles a minute. Jace hadn’t been full of shit then – he was stalking Kayla, and that wasn’t going to last long if he had anything to say about it. He’d told Jace to fuck off and leave her be, and now? Now, he was harassing her. Finn wasn’t about to have that, and he wasn’t about to have her feeling any kind of negative way. Not when he could fix it.

Fix it.

He knew what that meant. In an instant, he could snuff Jace Pleasant’s life out. He’d done it how many times before for Kei? It wasn’t something he was proud of, and he’d told himself he was done with that life. He told Dickie he was done with that life, and what if Kayla actually found out what he was like prior to the person he was now? Finn didn’t want to lose her because she was just as afraid of him as she was the dickhead. Oh, he didn’t know exactly why she feared Jace – but he could see it when she talked about him, when she mentioned his name. She didn’t shiver and shake, but it was moments like these that told him exactly what had happened prior to her wrestling rise.

Finn hugged her tighter, and pressed his lips to her forehead softly.

He didn’t want to show those colors again. He didn’t want to be bathed in red and black, a constant reminder that his hands were responsible for extinguishment. They were not his best colors…but perhaps they were the ones that would handle this the best.

Fixing it could be the only way anything would ever be fine again.




12
PARADIGM SHIFT XXIII // BLACK LUNGS
YOU WANT TO MAKE YOUR HELL A REALITY? BLACK LUNGS FOR THE YOUNG IF THEY DARE TO BREATHE…SURE SOUNDS LIKE HEAVEN TO ME. YOU’VE GOTTA CUT THE ROOTS TO KILL THE WEEDS, NO PLACE TO GO IF WE DON’T BELIEVE. GOOD LORD, IT’S ENOUGH TO PLAGUE A SAINT.
ARCHITECTS .


••••••




Motivation.

There comes a day where everything and everyone stops. Maybe it’s a cataclysmic event that shatters a rise, or it’s maybe a moment where the ground seems a good place to lay down and crash. You never know when it’s going to hit, you don’t have an indicator blinking in front of you. It just hits. And then you question yourself…what do I do now?

What do I do now?

I bring up the thought of motivation simply because I know what it’s like to have everything fall out from beneath you. I grew up in a checkered kind of home with a father that I’d rather not claim as my own and a mother who never did her best to try and shelter her own child. Too many times I was shipped off and shipped out just so I didn’t have to be their problem…or maybe it was just his, I don’t know. I spent summers with my British aunt who honestly didn’t give a fuck what I did and when I was home, I was a constant disappointment.

My father runs a pub up in Seattle, built essentially from the ground up. It has its Irish fare, and there’s a cute little band that plays on Fridays and Saturdays. I was supposed to inherit it, but I refused my kingdom. Why? When I was younger, it was in rebellion of my father, of everything he stood for and I thought it was the right thing to do. But now, when I look back on it, I recognized in myself the fear of success, the fear of doing something right that I inwardly fucked up and outwardly pushed everyone and everything that I should have loved and that loved me away.

My lack of motivation in my endeavors as a child landed me outside of a bar, outside of a gas station, outside of everything that had created me to be who I was. I fell into the wrong cycles, fighting with people because I was drunk, high or so blazed out of my mind that I couldn’t even tell what was the front or the back of my life. All I knew was the drugs, and that was all I was motivated for.

I found in a fucking gutter and raised to prominence. If it weren’t for the people around me, I don’t think I would have ever made it. But somewhere between nearly ten years ago and now…my life changed. I stopped relying on the people around me for my self-worth. I stopped relying on accolades and everything else to tell me how fucking good I was at my job. My motivation slipped from never there to completely invested in myself, in everything I did.

I don’t just want to be good at my job. I was to be the best fucking wrestler that this company has ever seen. I’ve built records to be held. The first dual champion to exist in this company where a wrestler can hold two championships at once, to everyone’s chagrin. My record as a Mixed Tag Team Champion has surpassed everyone else’s, and that…that is difficult. We’ve had six title defenses. Six opportunities for people to topple us, and it hasn’t happened. In fact, it wasn’t Kayla that got that last win…it was me.

Since January, this championship has been a focal point of my career as well. I don’t fuck off and join other companies as powerhungry dickbag like a lot of the wrestlers out here. I build a home, I settle in, and I make it so fucking difficult to get me out of that house of accolades that people just fuckoff to nowhere and try to get a little bit more latitude in somewhere…less prolific. Let’s face it, there are a thousand companies that are a dime a dozen who act like they’re the greatest thing in the whole face of wrestling, but anyone with a brain would never step foot into their ranks. They pass out championships like a raver with ecstasy in a goth club on Saturday night. People don’t have to fight for it.

Or they circle jerk each other in shitholes with the dredges of the underground wrestling scene. The rejects, the ones pushed away from the circuit. The ones that you’ll fuck around with, but you don’t want it known.

I didn’t come in hot to SCW. Twenty-twenty was a rough year, and I won the Roulette Championship…which I ultimately didn’t give a fuck about and lost it on this very same show. I hold the same sentiments as Kayla in that I hate that championship, I hate the rules, and I hate its existence, but I understand the legitimacy that it holds for this company. I’ve never held the Internet Championship, and that will eventually change.

But this?

This championship?

The one that elevates me above the rest, the one that puts me above everyone else? The one that was contested and I originally beat Peter Vaughn in the tournament for it – soundly, might I add? The one that I didn’t have to be a fuckin’ snake and try to slide in as a surprise like a bitch? Yeah. Been there. Fuckin’ done that. I beat Vaughn, Carter, and Goth to obtain this championship. I fought like hell against a man who had nothing left but his own legacy to lose and won, retaining my championship. I fought against an idiot to retain it, as all the legitimate caliber competitors were a little too busy fucking around in an archaic tournament to bring me to…this moment.

The moment where I question why in the fuck are we wasting my time?

Motivation.

What motivation should I have if my opponent for this has one foot out the door? You cannot tell me that I am meant to look at the dirt sheets, see that someone has decided they want to fuck off because of…what, they couldn’t handle a loss? That they turned in everything because they put their best out there and this time, it just wasn’t enough? And at first, I thought that. But…

Au contraire, Sky Assassin.

My main motivation in all of this is to remind every-fucking-individual who thinks they’re on my level that they’re not, that they never will be, and when push comes to shove, I will annihilate your very conviction to wrestle ever again.

This is my home. This is my championship. And neither you, nor anyone else, is going to have the opportunity to take it from me.

••••••



I don’t particularly like that they have weapons.” Christian Underwood crossed his arms as he stood at the end of the hallway of the higher level suites provided to the champions. At least, this year, he didn’t have to spend extra money on the Bombshells and the World Champion suites since they were combined. However, judging by the disdain on his face, he disliked this more.

Can’t really change anything about it, Christian.” Finn stood next to him, arms crossed, staring at the same set of men who stood in cruise-bellhop gear, a gun attached at their hip. Dickie insisted that they would be present for Finn and Kayla, especially after all of the events lately with the Romani. However, it wasn’t really discussed with upper staff.

You could jettison them off on a helicopter.

Look, we’ve got some stuff going on in our personal liv–

Personal lives, hm?” Christian tilted his head, indicating he knew some form of what was actually going on. He knew his bosses were probably tracking illegal activity that could affect the company, but they weren’t going to put words to it. “Just make sure none of this affects any of the other staff. Or put them inside the room.

They’re not going to want to be inside the room.” Finn scoffed.

Why not?

I mean, no one wants to view Kayla getting di–

And I’m out.” Christian threw up his hands and turned on his heel, immediately walking out of the scene. Finn smirked as he watched his boss walk away from him, and then headed down to the room. There was a reason for the high security, he just couldn’t admit it. After all, threatening the Romani never went without a price.

Of places that they could have made their compound, Finn hadn’t expected a carnival. But perhaps it was possibly the best disguise for a bunch of men and women who had a history of making their lives in circuses across Europe. The tent they stood in was a little off the beaten path, away from the carnival rides and carousels, away from the large tent in which shows played daily with lions and tigers and bears (Oh my!). But it fit in all as well, with a “do not enter – attraction closed” at the front of it.

Dickie’s hands shook slightly at the beginning of the engagement, and it was almost as if the Romani could smell it in the air. The man standing across from Dickie wasn’t the leader of the group, but honestly, they weren’t going to push it. Jace Pleasant stood off to the side, arms crossed, looking on with interest as he watched his man go through a list of the items that Kei used to help them peddle. High end drugs, cut with fentanyl in some bits. Finn remembered there being weapons at play, but he didn’t see any present.

But it wasn’t just the man that Jace looked at. Every so often, Finn could feel Jace’s eyes settle on him and a hint of mirth rise up on his features. In response, Finn did what he was known for doing best: ignoring him. He kept his arms crossed as he stood just behind Dickie, a hand slipped beneath his vest on the inside holster of his hidden gun. If anything went south, Jace’s face was getting blown off first. The peons never quite seemed to know how to deal with assailants when their bosses got shot.

How much?” Dickie requested a price, crossing his arms too. He was getting annoyed. The Romani were being cagey with their responses. They thought because Kei wasn’t present, they could likely fuck over Dickie and he wouldn’t know the difference. The difference was that Dickie wasn’t exactly an idiot. Well.

Mostly.

He’d made Aiden tag along, and the Australian was barely holding it together – though he was making a remarkable progress in this world. Like he’d been in it before…

Ten, per push.

Dickie scoffed. “Ерунда́ (Bullshit)! We get caught with it, it’s a bigger jail sentence than that. Not to mention, a push of this shit is at least worth forty.

Jace adjusted slightly, his eyes narrowing as he looked at Dickie. A surprise that he hadn’t seen coming. Dickie speaking Russian wasn’t on his bingo card. “Fifty-fifty?” He interjected.
At least.” Dickie confirmed. “I’d be willing for sixty-forty since you’ve all procured it. But nothing less.

The Romani man conducting the deal looked back at Jace, who paused for a moment, and then nodded. “Deal. We will get our…paperwork…to you. To finalize our deal.

Good.” Dickie narrowed his eyes. “We’ll be making sure that it’s accurate before there are any signatures. You understand.”

The man nodded, and then disappeared from the fray. Dickie paused for a second, unsure if he should ultimately walk away, but took a couple of steps back. He nodded to Aiden, Finn and the two others that he’d brought with him, and then began making an exit. Finn kept his arms crossed as he looked at Jace, eyes narrowed, before he took a step backwards and then turned on his heel.

He’s learned well.” Jace said, just as Finn almost made it to the door.

They were alone now, both sides out of the fray. It was just Jace and it was just Finn, and that made the Seattle Saint turn his head and look at him. This was what he’d come for. To size up Jace, to tell him he was a piece of shit, and to threaten him within an inch of his life for coming anywhere near Kayla. He dropped his arms and then took a few steps towards Jace, who merely smirked with his scruffy beard covering the sides of his lips. He was a big man, taller than Finn, but somehow stockier. Bulkier. Not that Finn really particularly cared. He’d dropped twice his size in the past.

Almost as if he’s had help.” Jace questioned. “Could that be your influence?

I didn’t guide him, if that’s what you’re insinuating.” Finn replied.

I didn’t say you did.” Jace dropped his arms and took a quarter step to the left, giving Finn a diagonal perspective. “It just seems that he's been learning fast since his dear old…what is it you call them? Oya-bun? Since Kei dropped off the face of the planet. Do tell – how did that happen?

Luck of the draw.” Finn replied dryly. “I’m curious…what is it that you want, particularly? I mean, you insisted that I show up here, and all I am is a…sidekick.

A sidekick, hm?” Jace chuckled. “I know that you’re a bit more than that, Callien O’Hanlon.

The skin on the back of Finn’s neck slid upwards, and he narrowed his eyes a bit more.

That’s right, you don’t like being called by your actual name. Easy to get under your skin,” Jace smirked again, “but I suppose anything is. What with everyone thinking you’re less of the man you are. The only reason that I wanted to see you…to size you up and see if everything everyone says about you is accurate. See what kind of man Kayla chose.

I assume everything less than what you wanted to see.

Pretty much,” Jace confirmed. “You know, if we’re being honest, I’m not sure what she sees in you. That’s fine…makes it easier to get her back eventually.

And there it was. What Finn had confirmed inside his head out in the open. This wasn’t about some crime lord war…it was about Kayla, and the ownership in which the Romani placed on the women they took for their own. Finn stood a bit taller then and smiled slightly, inhaling as he did so and looking Jace in the face. There were moments where Finn didn’t give anyone his full attention, and oftentimes, he looked like he didn’t give a shit, but in this moment? At this time? It was clear.

Let me make this clear, Jace.” Finn nodded slightly, crossing his arms as he leaned in. “If you ever come within a hundred yards of Kayla again–

What, you’ll kill me?” Jace snorted.

Finn smiled. “No. No, I won’t kill you. That would be too easy.” He slid his hand into the back pocket of his jeans, pulling out the picture Kayla had given him. He looked at it. “No. See, it’s funny…I remember being at your old compound a few years back…you know, when I worked for the Ol’ Oyabun. And a few years back, I remember distinctly that your brother’s girlfriend-wife, whatever you call them…you know, Kayla’s sister…she was very, very pregnant. So I know the little shit is around here, somewhere.

Jace’s face paled, but only by a bit. The smirk was gone.

He leaned in. “I will find him, and every single person that is blood relative to you, and one…by…one…they’ll go missing. There won’t be a pattern. There won’t be a sign. It’ll just happen, and when you’re crying for your family, you’ll know…that it was because of me. I wasn’t Kei’s right hand for just any reason. There will be no trail left. So if you love your…property…you’ll stay away from whom I care about. Do you understand?

Jace narrowed his eyes, his nostrils flaring as he took a step forward. In anger, the Romani man lost himself, and he went to swing at Finn, who was entirely prepared for it. Finn deflected the arm inwards, used his knee to bash upwards into Jace’s stomach, and then wrapped his arms around Jace’s neck, leaning him over and locking him into position, an arm wrapped beneath his other so that he couldn’t utilize it. “Do you understand?!” Finn yelled.

Fine!” Jace yelled back, and Finn released him instantly. Jace stumbled backwards, coughing, and then exited with his eyes narrowed, pissed that he’d lost this one. He’d be angry, and he would retaliate, but this time, Finn would be ready. The war started today in his mind, and he was prepared. He grit his teeth, walked backwards towards the entrance and turned only when he got to the door.

Fucking cac madra,” he muttered, stepping out of the door.

Slipping inside their suite, Finn slid off the vest he was wearing and headed towards the balcony. The rolling waves crashed against sides of the cruiseliner and Kayla was seated in her bikini, clearly getting ready to join Kallie out on the starboard deck where the the pool was. She was rubbing sunscreen on her arms, absolutely not about to get her tattoos destroyed by the sun.

There you are,” she cooed, looking at him. Her hair was pulled up off her neck into a bouncy ponytail and she had her sunglasses on already. “Could you?” She gestured to the sunscreen tube.

Sure,” he replied, heading for the doorway and sitting down next to her. The wind ruffled both of their hair, but neither seemed to mind. She turned her back to him and he grabbed the sunscreen, starting at the back of her neck and down to her shoulders. The bikini, as opposed to typical Kayla fashion, covered her fairly decently. But that was only because Kallie would have panicked if it did anything else.

What were you talking to Christian about?” She questioned.

The guards,” he replied, applying a bit more to her back. “He doesn’t really like their presence.

She scoffed slightly, and turned to look at him. “I don’t really either, I mean…” she leaned forward, “I can’t speak Japanese.

They’re not your slaves.

But who am I going to ask to go get food for me from the gallery?” She snorted and scoffed. Finn smiled and shook his head. Leaning forward, he wrapped his arms around her from behind. Instantly, she curled into him, leaning backwards and setting her head on his shoulder. He pressed his lips to her cheek.

I’m not going to take any chances,” he murmured.

She sighed, knowing there was no way for her to win this. “Do I have to bring them to the pool?

He laughed. “No. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.

And that, he truly meant.

••••••


Let’s talk about you, Sean. You came into SCW as one of those cute little Mixed Tag Teams for Blast From the Past that no one with a brain cell actually really, truly wants to participate in. You got paired with Luna Paslino, who you seem to have known from…oh, that’s right, the Triad deal that existed for a good, solid time with a mostly solid roster for their three major trials. Good for you, that you knew your partner a bit, because unlike every single one of those other unlucky sods, you didn’t have to learn how to fight with someone you didn’t really not know.

I think you and every other wrestler in this company can understand that I do pay attention. I watch, I glance through material, and while I don’t always give credit where credit might be due, I am nothing if not a researcher. I didn’t have to research, though, Sean. In trying to raise your worth to this company, you told us everything about yourself in your first promotional video. When you rattled off every single company that you’ve been a part of, the only thing that really stuck out in my mind is that you have no loyalty to any company.

You go where the wind takes you, where you can get another accolade, where you can sucker some people into believing that you’re worth a damn. The more you build yourself up with the people around you, the more you circle jerk and get people on your side, the better your existence becomes. Almost as if you believe that your ineptitude doesn’t exist and you truly are a strong competitor.

Luna won your first rounds. You won against Artie, who is a hack of a human being who got shoved into a place he didn’t belong, and when your round came to Alexander Raven and Alexandra Callway, you got the win over a man who put in very little because he clearly wanted his wife to come out as the champion and also screw over his partner in the process. Don’t think that the rest of us didn’t see that shit coming when the match was announced. The Broken Messiah chokes when it is critical, but that doesn’t make him any less of an effective wrestler. Except…well, except against you.

Raven should have dismantled you like he’s dismantled Aiden Reynolds, and will dismantle Eddie Lyons and every other person in front of him. But he spared you so that you could rise to greatness, and so that Luna could go on to face Kayla.

Except you took on too much, didn’t you?

XWF, Zion, SCW, and whatever two-bit company you were in to pad your record, you flounced around to gain notoriety that you thought you might find in defeating Sebastian Everett-Bryce. You and he would go toe to toe on Twitter, flowery about respect but rising above. Hell, you did that shit with me and you know what? It bored the fuck out of me because why in the fuck do I need to sell you as anything but my opponent? I suppose in my younger years, sitting and talking shit on social media was great – I got fourth in a tournament that was clearly shitting on other people via Twitter, only lost out to people who do nothing but – but…after a bit, it just becomes the same, empty words over and over again.

Over and over and over and…

You get the point, right?

Fighting for Zion, fighting for Fight! Championship Wrestling, fighting for Valor, fighting for XWF and SCW? It’s a wonder that you even made it for any of your fit-in matches here. We’re the last leg in your schedule and it’s been pretty evident. While I’ve been showing up for my bookings, continuing a trail of dominance in the Mixed Tag Division, you’ve been absent. And I get it.

A World Championship at a company that’s so much more deserving of your time because of…well, probably because it’s a bunch of people you know, but I digress…that’s absolutely where your time should have been spent. Chasing Sebastian for a championship with another person involved in the match…you pushed and you pulled and you…lost. But you lost in the worst kind of way right? You didn’t get pinned, but you didn’t get the pin. Triple Threats are shit for that reason, and I hate when they exist, but you know…it is what it is.

But you know the worst part of all of this, Parker? It isn’t a loss, and it isn’t the fact that you haven’t said shit…it’s because you gave up. You relinquished your championships because you failed in your endeavor, and after this match, you’re sailing off into the sunset for an undisclosed amount of time to, what, get your head straight? So tell me, what the hell would have happened if you happened to defeat me? If you won this championship, if you sat on the precipice of this company?

Would you have immediately relinquished it just as you have everything else? Or would you have relinquished your vacation and attempted to hang on for a show before disappearing? Either option would be a disaster for this company, and you would honestly be spitting in the face of the people that you won an opportunity from. You would be spitting in the face of Mark Ward and Christian Underwood, and you would be spitting on every fucking member of this roster.

Is that what you want to be known for? Is that the Sean Parker, the Sky Assassin you want to be?

I’m not going to powder your ass and make you feel good about your steps in this world. I’m not going to build you up to be some fantastic wrestler because I’m not sold on you, Parker. I don’t think anyone else on this roster is sold on you, and if you thought that you had an opportunity to capitalize on someone who lives and breathes this company…you’re out of your fucking mind.

This is my motivation, Parker. The motivation to slaughter you, the motivation to send you packing on your ass the way you chose to abandon this sport – abruptly, licking your wounds and trying to feel garner pity for yourself. I can have the hounds or mechanics or messiahs nipping at my heels, and I will still rise above and be the best competitor in this business because that is what I do. I didn’t get through ten years of this career just to end up being nothing in the end.

I was disgruntled in the last bout because I was pissed I didn’t have a viable contender. And now look at me…you’ve won a tournament, and you have zero interest in this business now. It’s the same thing over and over again.

I want an opponent. I want someone to fight. Not someone who is halfway out the door.

So Parker, I bid thee fucking farewell.

And a warning to anyone else – I’m motivated to take you out too. No one is getting this championship. I have a little date with J2H next year, and I believe me when I say this: I will face him as the Champion. And I will do what none of you fuck’s can do…beat him.

Get on my level.

Or die trying.


••••••



He could see them down at the pool as he leaned on the balcony. Kallie waved happily from their spot when she realized he was there. He waved slightly, his sunglasses on his face. But his eyes were Kayla, as they always were. As they always would be. He would do anything for her, that much was clear, and now…she realized that. They were a team, not only on the battlefield of the ring, but also in their personal lives. If they had one another, then they could accomplish anything.

It was a silly notion, love and the like. Fairy tales all had their true love endings, but they always seemed so trite and boring. He much preferred real life, and he much preferred the family that he was building. The family he’d been somewhat accepted into. Not only did Kayla love him, but he was slowly winning Tasmin and Amber over too.

Amber…

He needed to run slightly to catch up to Dickie and Aiden. He could see their figures up ahead, and while he knew they wouldn’t leave without him, the thought of being in the camp by himself right now was a little bit overbearing. He had, after all, threatened their leader – quite politely, he thought.

But something paused his step as he glanced around.

A boy, black hair, no older than eight, stood with his eyes peeking around the corner. As soon as he saw Finn, and their eyes met, he rushed towards him. He knew the eyes that stared up at him.

Please,” he muttered, grabbing onto Finn’s arm, “I know who you are. You have to get me out of here, I…I need to see my mom.

Kid…

Please!

Finn frowned as he looked out across the ocean, and then reached for his cell phone. He dialed a number, and then waited for a second. His younger brother’s voice echoed into his ear drums, annoyed because it was late in the day in New York. “The fuck you want?

Do something for me, will you?” Finn replied. “My dresser, there’s a picture and a note inside the drawer.

I’m not rooting around in your fucking underwear.

It’s in the sock drawer, you numbskull.” Finn rolled his eyes. “Regardless, you’ll see a picture of a kid. Call The Colonel, get details on the kid…

You think he’s a threat?

No,” Finn shook his head. He frowned as he spoke, and he would have never initially thought to do such a thing, but the way the kid pleaded, as if he had no other choice. “He’s a victim. We need to get him out of Romani hands. Whoever you use, get them to take him to The Colonel and get his buy in on this. Do you understand?

“Aye-fuckin-eye cap’in!” Dickie replied cheerfully, and then clicked off the phone.

Finn knew he was about to bring the ire of the entire Romani clan down on his  head, but at the end of the day…

Fuck em.

13
Climax Control Archives / PARADIGM SHIFT XXII // PAINT IT BLACK
« on: July 19, 2024, 06:24:26 PM »
PARADIGM SHIFT XXII // PAINT IT BLACK
I’VE BEEN WALKING TALL SINCE THE JUMP, HAD ENOUGH, NOW I’M UP. WHAT THE FUCK DO THEY WANT FROM ME? START IT FROM THE TOP, THAT’S A LOT. KILLED THE SENDER FOR THE MESSAGE THAT I GOT, HE WON’T TALK, NO HE WON’T. KNUCKLES TURN TO WHITE, GET A FUCKIN’ GRIP ON LIFE, THERE IS NOTHING BUT THE FIGHT, DO IT OUT OF SPITE.
ARANKAI .


••••••


They’d done it, just like they always did. The Conspiracy, no matter how much they had fought for the win, were unsuccessful in obtaining The Mixed Tag Team Titles – The Wolves of Gheimhridh kept them within their over two hundred and seventy mark. Just a couple of weeks, and they would be
three-hundred day holders.

This fact alone would probably piss a lot of people off, no matter if they mattered in the long run or not.

They shared a locker room now, he and Kayla. He’d showered first, removed the grime of wrestling in the ring off his body and prepared himself for their evening ride back to their hotel in Ontario, California. Loose clothing, though it never seemed like he wore them, felt better after such a strenuous event, and he was honestly ready to crash the second he hit that pillow. His championships were draped over his luggage next to him as he sat on the bench, arms crossed as he listened to the conversation going on in his eardrums.

Mate, I don’t know…” Aiden was muttering quietly, clearly having left the arena and headed back to the hotel himself. He spoke quietly, which meant that Kallie was asleep in the bed next to him. “What if it’s a trap?

We don’t have any reason to believe they’re against us. The group was loyal to Kei at one point,” Dickie replied. “Like Finn said, we just have to recreate that relationship all over again, get ‘em to trust us. And then we can start creating deals like we used to.

That wasn’t particularly what Finn had said, but the fact that Dickie was starting to get into the evil mastermind of a gang of criminals, perhaps there was hope for the child yet.

So when is it?” Finn questioned, his eyes flickering over to Kayla as she turned her back to him, pulling on a loose shirt over her torso and adjusting her own sweatpants. He decided a while ago that he liked her better this way – he knew Kayla’s outfront cunt attire was simply something she enjoyed to wear, but she’d toned it down after Finn assured her that anything looked good on her. Except white.

The Romani want to meet with us next week, after you guys ship out to Inglewood this time. Said it would probably be best on Thursday, but not to bring attention. I got the address…

That seems pretty short to meet with them…” and not enough time to get the information that Aaron’s father, The General, had procured further. But over the phone, he could hear the British-Russian shrug his shoulders as he spoke.

Said it was critical that you come too…

What about me?” Aiden tried to cut through pleasantly.

Dickie ignored him, “And if we’re being perf honest here, I don’t think I can do this one on my own anyway. It’d be my first actual meeting and I mean, I saw Kei do them, but I didn’t do one myself. I know you have…” he trailed off. It seemed the more that his little brother learned, the more he didn’t want to mention Finn’s previous exploits as kyodai to Kei’s shateigashira.

Fine. Send an address and a time, and we’ll get it done.” He paused as Kayla looked at him, an eyebrow raised. She knew what Finn’s role was with Dickie to an extent – advisor, leader, the one to get him out of the messes he created. But she didn’t know exactly what their deals were or why. And she wasn’t going to know. He pulled the airpods out of his ears and stored them in their case before chucking it in his bag. “Are you ready?” He questioned Kayla, who nodded and threw her championships over her shoulder before readying her luggage.

What did the little shit want?” She inquired as Finn did the same, opening the door and letting her step out in front of him before following her out into the hallway. They began walking the short distance to the garage, and then to their car.

Has a meeting he set up,” he replied, though he wasn’t specific. “Wanted to make sure I could be there.

What kind of meeting?” She pressed, turning her head and looking at him.

Just a…consultation…to see if we want to work with them.” Finn chose his words wisely, trying to not let on that he was still doing the exact thing that she didn’t want. Kayla wasn’t stupid, by any means, and she knew he was up to something. She narrowed her eyes slightly, clearly annoyed that he wasn’t upfront with her like he usually was.

Who is they?

Kay, I don’t know,” he replied, somewhat exasperated. “I think that bomb into the table fucked with my head, I can’t remember what kind of vehicle we have…” He tagged on, hoping to change the subject.

Kayla rolled her eyes and reached over, digging into Finn’s front pocket with her hand and pulling out the keys. “It’s a Hyundai.

A what?

Hy-un-dai,” Kayla repeated.

A Hyun-day?” He corrected, grinning when she threw him a sassy look and smacking him in the stomach. He grunted and then laughed as she pushed open the door then to the garage. They headed over in relative science for a moment to the Hyundai Elantra that Finn had rented upon their arrival to California. They would probably rent out the same one again next time, if they could. He liked the smaller cars – they zoomed around a bit faster than the Land Rover he had in his Colorado estate.

They deposited their luggage and then got into the vehicle quickly, pulling out of the arena quicker than he thought they would have. However, the car provided him the silence that inside hadn’t given him. There was no dull roar of the crowd, no sprinkling sound of the shower. Just the low hum of tires on a road as he got onto the interstate to head back to their hotel.

The silence allowed him to get lost in his own thoughts. Kayla closed her eyes in the passenger seat, dozing slightly. He frowned as he drove. Part of him wondered if this vendetta of an escapade was because he loved Kayla and wasn’t about to see her hurt…or if there was some part of him that held a savior complex, hidden beneath the exterior of an overt asshole that he carried with him every day of his life. He seemed to save poor, unfortunate souls. Once upon a time, even Miles Kasey had been part of his Home for Wayward Wrestlers, and now? Now he was housing his friends and family in the apartment complex he purchased while also providing a home for most of the members of the Yakuza that continued to be loyal to them.

Maybe it didn’t matter, in the long run. He knew he was in crosshairs regardless of what happened with Kayla and this thing with the Romani. He’d always been there anyway.

••••••

Five defenses. Five opportunities for you all to take what you think doesn’t belong to us. Five failed attempts. Five disappointing days when the Wolves continued our reign and despite all that you did, you couldn’t anesthetize us.

It wasn’t that The Conspiracy didn’t fight hard, and it wasn’t that Limitless didn’t try to push themselves to slay the huge dragon that gobbled up their drive and consistency. It wasn’t even that Carter and Angelos didn’t do their damndest to push forward just the same as Jordan and Marlowe. I’m not going to be a demon and discount the effort, the drive, and the desire to succeed that every human being has wanted in the past…what, two-hundred and seventy something days.

It’s just that on the night they stood against us, they were not strong enough to attain greatness.

As we approach Summer Exxxtreme XII, there’s been a distinct push for Kayla and I to constantly defend our championships. And maybe that’s because the peanut gallery never really stops talking, which…to me, seems counterintuitive and just meant to be a petty bitch fest because they’re feeling bad about their own life – ultimately, we’ll never know. But here we are. With the ability to say not only are we the longest reigning champions, but the ones with the most defenses. Doesn’t matter when at this point, we’ve done something that every mixed tag team failed to do, and that was defend it more than four times.

But it’s just a fluke, right? It was a lucky win in November, what with Kay and I not really a team. And then in December, we kind of figured it out…push it forward and we find ourselves in the relationship and team that we are. It’s all just luck, every time, isn’t it?

Let’s not talk about how I am one of the best in this business, that I have eons of data that shows me to be a vindictive fighter. I have a lopsided win loss column with far more in the wins than the losses. The number one thing people have used against me in the terms of this company in general is a streak of losses years ago that people salivate and center speeches lives around. That person?

Dead.

A poor, poor, excuse of a human being that doesn’t stand in front of you now. But even on my worst days, I produce greatness. On my worst days, I make every step in the direction of success that I can. Sometimes, we’re all tired, but that’s never an excuse. We can talk about how someone else is irrelevant, and how they don’t matter – we can dismiss others and act like they aren’t worth the time or the effort…but that’s dismissive of self. It dismisses you as an individual, and that is something that I could never do.

The Conspiracy have been the only team that could have even remotely beat us, in my opinion. A shared thought process because they’re similar to the structure that Kayla and I have, and they had everything to lose by losing to us. Luna Pasilino is set to face Kayla in just a few weeks, and it wasn’t me who obtained victory for The Wolves…it was Kayla standing tall over Luna. A prophetic vision? Perhaps. At least, I think so. I appreciate the candor, and I appreciate the fight from Alexander…I think we could have a great match in the future on our own, but for now?

The Wolves of Gheimhridh still stand tall.

So what happens next? What does the company do? They throw us another team, one that we have defeated, but another person that can claim their one measly little win over me. Miles Kasey and Alexandra Callaway.

Sounds like there’s a wedding ahead, and that’s cause for celebration.

But that will be the only reason for any celebration.

Last time we did this, Miles, you had a one up on me. You’d defeated me, one on one, on my return match to SCW. We can argue about how well you did versus how well I did, and come to whatever conclusion. However, the fact remains that the last time we walked into the ring to face one another….it was a defense of these belts. Kayla and I defeated you and Alexandra, who barely showed up, soundly.

In all this time, you have been an Internet Champion, and lost that championship. Alexandra has been a Roulette Champion…and lost that championship. It’s not that you guys don’t have accolades, because you do. You’ve been stars in this company for brief moments of time, but I hope you don’t think that just because you’ve had your little standoffs and glories that you can amount to the caliber that is required to knock me, or Kayla, off our pedestals. I don’t know if you have noticed, but Kay and I have been the first in a few things lately in a company that has ascended four hundred regular shows. That’s not counting the pay per views we all participate in.

First dual-championship holder. I think you would have heard us say in the past that it isn’t the same as holding a championship, winning a different championship, and needing to drop it because of the rules. No. Kayla and I ascended as Mixed Tag Team holders and then rose to the top of our singles division and clutched those championships too. We hold both, quite proudly, and we raise them in competence. I haven’t had the greatest of opponents for my World Title, but let’s be honest – we keep getting trash in, trash out.

I believe the last time I spoke with you in this kind of juncture, I saw someone who was far more capable of anything in their world than what we get. You still don’t dig. You still don’t come out of here screaming, fighting, proving. Miles, you struggle to even get a vicious bone in your body, bruv. Your promos lack bite, and they’ve been lacking bite for months. Look at your one offs with Peter Vaughn and tell me where the venom is, where the vitriol is for someone that beats you time and time again. He comes back swinging every time and we’re left…like we are.

Peter has made no secret that he wants to come for my title. Fine. Let him. I have enough vitriol to cover both of us because I don’t like him. Unlike you, I know how to hit people where it hurts– I’m that petty. And I don’t try to hide behind backhanded compliments. Everyone knows where I stand – I either like you, or I want you six feet underground.

When you disappeared from Wolfslair, and though you were welcomed back, I told you that you would be an outcast. You’re still on the fringe, just as I am. A heathen. Until you’ve run your paces, until you’ve proven that you still want to be a wolf, then you’ll always be on the fringe. It’s the same in wrestling. It took a very, very long time for me to get that into my own head. I can disassociate things from one another. Whatever chaos is in my life – far more than any of you will ever know – I can separate from my career.

You haven’t learned that yet.

When you clapped back at Kayla, you proved it. Kayla popped your for thotfie and instead of bashing her, you bashed what she’s interested in and went after our relationship. You’ve got your relationship, again, in your brain because your wedding is coming up, and clearly, these championships aren't at the forefront of your mind. I don’t give a fuck what you do inside your sheets and outside of this company, but clearly, you do. You’ve been rooting for us to get together for months, except when you fucked off and hid from all of us.

I get it, but it’s disappointing.

Your eyes should never leave the prize when something golden sits in front of you, and again, I’m not even sure you want this. Like last time, Miles, it is a lesson for you to learn. You need to go hard, you need to push, you need to do the best you can every time, You don’t do this. You just fly by the seat of your pants, congratulate the other person through your promo on their preemptive win, and then head back home to Vegas.

Where the fuck is your fight? Why do you do this? I’m sure you love wrestling, I’m sure you love your world around you when it’s not being fucked up by your brother. But what is your purpose? Why are you here? I want to help you find that drive, but I can’t do it if you don’t know your own purpose.

Fuck, let me help you. After all of this, let’s sit down and actually go over how you beef yourself up. Because it’s the same every time, it’s like you run out of things to say. Lord knows I love to talk.

I think your partner has a little bit more drive, but is going to end up floundering eventually. Robotic in her presentation, robotic in everything that she does, I don’t know how she got to the point of being a champion in this company. I look at the fact that you made your way through the Blast From the Past tournament, and I just get the feeling that it was on Alexander Raven’s laurels that you got there. And it was on your ass that you fell and lost him the opportunity to succeed.

But you should be used to falling on your ass, right? What, in the last two weeks, not only did you lose your shot at the PWS Legacy World Championship, you also lost your Roulette Championship. You have nearly more losses here on your own than wins, and all of your wins lately have been because of someone else. You failed in the last Blast From the Past, just like you did here. You’re not special. You’re not good. You lost. To two members of the Lyons Den.

Hi Eddie, I see you.

You’re going to be looking for redemption, to push past everything, to fight the power that is Kayla Richards…but I’ll say it again: You’re no Kayla Richards. As much as I love her, Kayla can be a vindictive, overzealous cunt in that ring, and whenever she gets the opportunity to win, she will take it. And it’s ten times worse when she doesn’t like you. Guess where you fit in her likeable categories – that’s right, the bottom.

I’m sure you’re going to sit there and flip your hair around as your talk and act like you’re some big billy badass, but I’m not interested. And I really hate that you’re bringing Miles down because he could have someone so much better than you for a partner. I don’t care what you’ve done, where you’ve done it – you’re not interesting, you sound like a promo from two-thousand, and you act like you’re the best thing since Cheetos Macaroni was introduced to the world.

I love that shit, let me tell you.

The fact that you didn’t banter tells me one thing, Alexandra: you’re scared of being painted differently than the bullshit you put out there. The problem? Everyone sees your bullshit already, and they find you to be a coward. Maybe you’ll continue to do well in other places, but eventually, everyone catches on. And they don’t want to work with cowards who are unwilling to do their job to create hype.

I don’t like you, and neither does Kayla, and neither one of us want you representing anything to do with this company. Kayla will put you out of misery, maybe and hopefully for-fucking-ever.

Miles, you deserve a better partner. You deserve someone who isn’t going to fail you time and time again, a person who doesn’t rely on others to get them where they are. I dislike people who slide up to the top of the mountain based on everyone else, and from what I’ve seen? That’s Alexandra Callaway for you. You can correct this mistake – you could get someone in there that works better with you than against you. Someone that doesn’t disappear, someone that’s willing to think about other people than herself.

Miles Kasey and anyone else could be a ticket I’d be interested in watching.

When it comes to Climax Control 400, it will be the Wolves versus whatever you two are…hopefully separated after this match. We’re main eventing, we’re pushing all of our stamina and drive out there. I expect it to be matched, unlike the last travesty of a match we had. I expect to see competitors…I expect to see you there, and when we’re done with all of this?

Don’t step up to us again until you actually earned it.


••••••


It’d been a long while since Finn was in his brother’s apartment. The floor length windows that overlooked the Hudson River were wide open, and the seating arrangement outside kept them all in the shade while still providing warmth. It was late at night. The fire pit was roaring. It wasn’t like Dickie to throw parties, but he was slowly learning his new place in the world, and that meant schmoozing with some of the higher ups of society. Inside, his girlfriend – Aiden’s sister, actually – was dressed tastefully in a dress talking to some of the big wigs of the city. If they played their cards right, they’d turn a blind eye to the Yakuza just as they had with Kei.


Finn stared into the flames of the firepit, looking at the stones at the bottom with limited interest, a glass of water in his hands. The Jameson he’d been saving for nearly a year laid tucked in his freezer, waiting for the day in which he’d indulge with Kayla. But that wasn’t today, and it wouldn’t be for a while. He chose water, and he would always choose water – especially when the stakes were so high.

Dimitri Watson liked to look like he was a moron from time to time – it made it easier for him to push ahead of the packs, to be better than everyone around him. But he wasn’t stupid, and he knew Finn well enough to know there was an agenda in everything Finn did. After all, Finn had purposefully rebuffed Kayla for months because he didn’t want to be her rebound, and he wanted her to recognize her feelings. The only thing he hadn’t banked on was Kayla being a stubborn cow at times about it. And now? The pressing of this particular meeting? He knew there was an ulterior motive.

Dickie took a shot of his whiskey (What, just because he’s russian doesn’t mean he always chooses vodka, okay?!) and leaned forward in his seat across from Finn. The flames danced and flickered, sending different lightning across both of their faces. They were both dressed up, but neither was engaging in the small talk.

Why this one?” He blurted, looking at his brother inquiringly.

Finn looked up at him without moving his head, giving him a slight Kubrick stare as he looked up from beneath his eyelashes and eyebrows. He frowned and looked away, leaning back slightly and looking upward. “For no real reason, I suppose. I just looked at the ledger and thought that this would probably be an easier one since the Romani are outcasts of society…and that’s what you and I have been for the longest time.

Dickie narrowed his eyes, while also not believing his bullshit. “Yes, and Elena really loved us both and we weren’t just tools for her to rise to the top.

Finn scoffed, snorting almost as he heard their sister’s name.

Give me the real answer, Callien.

I don’t get why all of you use my real name and think that it’s going to give you a heads up with me. You know I hate it.

Bruh.

Finn rolled his eyes and then glanced back inside at the milling of people inside the house. He could see Kayla purposefully not engaging with anyone, just watching, from the upstairs balcony bedroom that Dickie and (he assumed) Amelia slept in regularly. Kallie was with her, and both were watching Aiden closely to see how badly he might fuck everything up.

Dickie looked over, and then back at Finn, putting it together. “Kayla?

Finn nodded slightly. “He threatened her.

And so what, you’re dashing off into the sunset like a gilded knight to save his damsel in distress?

I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s distress. More like irritation, and gilded? Really?

Look, a Porsche is not a tank, remember that. You got that 911 Speedster, and I really hope you don’t think you can knock down a fucking gate with that thing.” Dickie scoffed. “Probably would do more damage to the car than the gate…

I’m not knocking down any gates, I’m not galloping off on a horse and killing the dragon that lives in my brain. I just want Kayla to not feel like she has eyes on her at any time, and I’m just…gonna go in there and…you know…

Threaten him back?

Politely.” Finn added, raising a hand. “I’m going to threaten him politely that if he tests the hypothesis of messing with Kayla, he’s going to have a reaction he doesn’t like.

Dickie narrowed his eyes again and raised an eyebrow. “That is the kindest way I’ve ever heard you say fuck around and find out. Dude, we’re going into their house when we get to this carnival. Do you really think it’s wise to just go in there and start making demands?

Finn paused and then leaned back in his chair, shaking his head. “Do you really think I’m that dumb? No. We’re going to barter, we’re going to act like I don’t know shit about anything that he had to do with Kayla, and we’re going to create a deal. At the end of it all, when we shake hands, I’m just going to pull him super close and tell him that he fucks up, he’s dead.

I don’t know, Finn…

It’s easy. I’ve done it before.” Finn shrugged. “Men are really only scared of two things: lack of power, and being threatened to lose their life. When he realizes that he doesn’t have the power to control everything, he’ll posture, and when he postures, he gets my threat. And I don’t know about you, but most of the people in this business know my threats will come to fruition if they fuck up. So most don’t. And this will be no different. My enemy is my enemy unless I make him my friend, and that…is how you gain power.

But what if he just wants to get under your skin.

It’s not my skin he’s getting under, Dickie. It’s Kayla’s and I won’t have it. She deserves to have a stress-free existence and if I can make that for her, then I will.

You’re whipped.

Finn raised his glass and nudged it in the direction of Amelia, who stared back at Dickie with a slight blush and then turned away. Dickie smiled slightly.

So are you.




14
Climax Control Archives / PARADIGM SHIFT XXI // BOTTOMFEEDER
« on: July 05, 2024, 11:02:01 PM »
PARADIGM SHIFT XXI // BOTTOMFEEDER
I’VE HEARD ENOUGH; YOU’VE HAD YOUR TIME IN THE SUN. KEEP YOUR HEAD DOWN KID, YOUR FIFTEEN SECONDS ARE DONE…LET’S GET THIS STRAIGHT, WHILE YOU’RE LISTENING. IN MY WORLD, YOU COUNT FOR NOTHING.
PARKWAY DRIVE .


••••••


Another surreptitious meeting. That was the life that they were involved in now – secret meetings, quiet mutterings. If anyone ever saw them together and knew nothing of their past, they might assume that there was something romantic going on between the two. Once upon a time, there had been, but now between the two, the other was the villain in their own story. There was a muted hatred between the two, though it was a bit more one-sided when it came to him. She would forever try to re-
win him, but if there was anything that Finn was, it was stubborn.

Like a damned mule.

But there was a friendship that would always remain between the two, no matter how strained, sarcastic, or serrated-knife like. But this wasn’t a meeting between friends – right now, it was critical to the mission that had become keeping dumbshits in Finn’s life safe. Because for whatever reason, he was the only one that had a brain in a head that wasn’t concussed to all hell between two rigid shoulders. His brother and his half-witted best friend certainly didn’t.

It was easier to meet in the open, and the open meant within the hallowed halls of Wolfslair. With an open door separating them from the office to the gym floor. Anyone could have probably heard them, but Finn’s office was usually avoided during the day unless someone needed him for something. Aaron perched herself up on his side of the desk, her red-bottoms dangling off the side as she crossed her legs. Her multi-coloured hair was pulled tightly up into a ponytail, and in line with the season, she wore a corseted tank top that enhanced her otherwise lack of bosom.

He had, of course, looked at her when she made herself at home on his desk. But only a split second until his eyes went back to the screen in front of him where he started playing with the google dinosaur.

You’re frowning again.” She pointed out, pressing the file folder in her hand to Finn’s mouth. When he swatted at her, she smacked him across the temporal bone with it.

For fuck’s sake–” He snarled, and swiped the file out of her hands.

It takes like three muscles to smile, can’t you do that?” She crossed her arms and leaned over her knees. “You used to, all the time.

He paused, turned his head and looked at her, tilting it slightly.

Okay, I mean…you know, before all the you know, stuff…

Horizontal mamboing in the sheets with a trainee?” Finn retorted, setting the file down and opening it. Inside were several images, rap sheets, and what looked to be a dossier on the person he’d seen at his apartment. Jace, Kayla had called him. The supposed head of a Romani clan that had made its home in New York. The idiot that had made himself known to Finn by threatening his girlfriend.

Or sort of girlfriend.

Finn didn’t do well with feelings anymore. He tried. But sometimes he didn’t know how to accurately respond to Kayla. They were perfectly fine within one another’s company, choosing a lot of the time they spent together watching television, falling asleep on the couch, purchasing favorite things without an occasion. Typical relationship things. But he never quite knew how to read her, and he wasn’t about to take another step where she might end up jumping out of his life again.

Look, I know it might be hard to deal with someone who has feelings the size of an ant, but she can’t be making you that–” She stopped when Finn’s blue eyes narrowed as he looked at her. “Okay, I’ll stop.

Finn let his eyes fall back to the paper in front of him. He knew Kayla didn’t want him getting involved in this, but he wasn’t about to leave it alone either. Information was king, and the more that he knew, the more he could deal with appropriately. The General had left no stone unturned, not this time. He gave his former-son-in-law everything that he had, including the smallest of details, such as his blood type and felonies committed as a child.

He’s Romani,” Aaron pointed out, pressing a manicured pink nail into the word on the page. “Gypsy.

That’s a slur,” he snorted.

You’re a slur,” she countered, rolling her eyes. “I don’t know the full history, but there’s a second dossier that The General is compiling about this guy’s older brother. Looks like he used to be the leader and now this guy is, and I think it’s kind of like…um…” she pursed her lips together, looking up at the ceiling as she thought. “I think it was like an inner revolt.

Little brother stood up to older brother?

No, I think it was more like older brother got popped and the family had a bunch of inner turmoil. I mean, like…his older brother was apparently a completely radicalized dickhead. I dunno how much you know about Romani culture, but–

Men treated women like garbage and beat them in order to keep things going,” Finn inserted. He knew that much. And he tried to not think about it just enough so that his blood wouldn’t boil as he thought about that happening to Kayla. As much as she was a hardened person, he could see through her little bitch exterior to the scared little girl that existed inside. He just never said it.

Mhm,” she nodded. “Why the interest?

He showed up at the apartment complex.” He picked up the picture and stared at it. “While I was gone,” he added, “and while Kayla was there.

I mean…it makes sense…” Aaron trailed off, and when Finn didn’t press, she added, “Well, I mean, because she was part of them.” She acted as if she were telling something profound and new to Finn, who just looked up at her again, raising an eyebrow slowly. “I’m just saying…doesn’t it seem a bit odd that she came back and accepted your little love proposal the second that Kei died?

An uneasy and awkward silence settled into the office as Finn slowly set down the picture and looked up at Aaron with that same eyebrow in danger of disappearing into his hairline. He leaned back in his chair, his expressionless face peering into hers. It was the one thing that she absolutely hated that he did. It made her feel like she’d absolutely done something wrong and needed to leave entirely. And perhaps she had: the suggestion was just something that was sitting in her mind and she blurted it like the idiot she was.

She had a savior a moment later in someone she didn’t expect whatsoever. Kayla herself, who rarely came to Wolfslair, stepped up to the office, Tasmin in tow. She stopped in the doorway and stared at the scene in front of her. Oh, there was no way that Kayla would ever feel threatened by Aaron – she knew exactly why Finn hated her.

Aaron hopped down off the desk and looked at Kayla, shrugging her shoulders. “Oh don’t worry. I tried showing him my tits and he didn’t care still.

Wasn’t really a concern,” Kayla replied dryly, looking Aaron up and down briefly before glancing at the file that was on the desk. She then looked up at Finn’s face. Aaron looked at her, tilted her head, and then nodded slightly to herself.

Let’s go find Kallie, Tas,” Aaron stated, stepping around Kayla and grabbing Tasmin around the shoulders, pushing her out of the office.. 

Um…but why do you think you can call me that?” Tasmin replied, confused.

Kayla stared at Finn, who breathed out of his nose before standing up and walking towards her. She pressed a hand to his chest. “I thought I asked you to let me deal with it.

I am,” Finn replied, almost adamantly. “I just wanted information. Enough information that I knew what was being dealt with here.

Kayla frowned deeper, crossing her arms then and looking over his shoulder. “You could have just asked.

Finn snorted, reaching out and gathering her in his arms again. She let him, keeping her arms solidly crossed. “You wouldn’t have told me anyway. And besides,” he pulled back, reaching for her chin and tilting it toward him so she had to look at him, “you would have told me something along the lines of I don’t know what I’m getting into, and I would have reminded you with the same thing: I have the Yakuza behind me. It’ll be fine.

She huffed. “No. It won’t, because you don’t listen. Please just let me handle it.

No,” he shook his head. “Again, that’s not how this works anymore. You don’t get to come in here and tell me to just fuck off while you do something dangerous. We’re a team.

Yes, a tag–

Not what I meant, and you fucking know it.


••••••

Time and time again, we go around and around…it’s the same diatribe uttered from the mouths of pedantic, petulant little children. It’s utterly astonishing how the world of professional wrestling creates bitchy little side quest non-playable characters that think they’re worth more than the ground that they walk on, and that their opinion is validated. I’ve made a career about breaking the chains that have surrounded me, and stepping on the heart and soul of the people who thought this business cared about them.

The last time I faced someone in this company, it was for one of my championships. You know, the things that make the weakest of minds struggle immensely and scream from the rafters that they did it too! Congrats, no one gives a fuck.

If we’re being perfectly honest…no one gives a fuck about anything. I’m speaking probably from a bitter, jaded standpoint here since, at one point, I was one of those people that gave props to everyone under the sun. I thought that guidance while pushing limits, making my opponents bring out the best in themselves to face me, was the best way to approach everything in this business. And what am I greeted with every time that I give myself to the fans?

Derision.

Shit attitudes.

Maliciousness.

Envy.

People thinking that they’re far better than they really are, and refusing to understand where they stand in the cycle.

At the end of the day, every single one of us is replaceable by a new, shinier version. One day, when our bones are broken and our bodies bloodied for the entertainment that our bosses push us to participate in, we’ll sit in our wrestler nursing homes at the age of forty-five and wonder if we had the same charisma as our shiny, one-cent replicas do. And we won’t be thought of again. The gold that we hold is only applicable as something great when it's held for longer than a cup of coffee or a one night stand.

I’ve held the World Heavyweight Championship for one hundred and thirty-eight days. Respectable, but nothing huge. It’ll continue as long as I hold it, and that is against Sean Parker…who I have a sneaking suspicion is one of those shiny new objects that claims they’re platinum, but merely appears to be silver-plated nickel.

Despite the statement that we’ve killed the division, the Wolves of Gheimhridh have held the World Mixed Tag Team Titles for the longest record. We’re sitting at two hundred and fifty-seven days, which is far longer than even some combined reigns.

At the end of the day, it’s not because we’re shiny and get special treatment. It’s not because we slide up to bosses and get them on our sides. It’s not because we fight the power. It’s the simple reason for this, and this alone: we do our job.

You can’t sit there and say that we’re going to be distracted eventually because we have been distracted. We’ve been distracted by each other for the past six months, trying to work together through a failed friendship to realize that we were better together in all senses of the word. We’ve been distracted by our lives, which if you knew the extent of, you’d wonder what the fuck we were doing. We’ve been distracted, but the second that music hits and we step out into the fray, the second we hit that mat and those ropes, we become vicious competitors. Together, we push each other to be better, to fight harder, to fight stronger.

And every time that we face someone, they give us our little congratulations and then tell us why we’re going to fall apart at the end of the day.

Haven’t you been listening? Haven’t you been watching?

There is nothing more that incenses either of us than being taken for granted, or being seen as weaker than we have proven to be time and time again. Perhaps that’s why we respond so venomously when our credibility is questioned: we’ve worked hard to be where we are, and there are so many people in this business, even more so this company who rest of the laurels of their predecessors, thinking that their associations are going to help place them in a higher rung than they deserve to be. From stablemates to nepotism, an air of superiority wafts from the arrogance and once again, not only do I have to remind you who the fuck I am, Kayla has to do it too.

We’re not your World Champions because of our predecessors. How many years did I argue that Wolfslair and I were a business arrangement, not a way of life? Alex Jones can suck my left testicle still, and you’ll never see me say a kind word about Alicia Lukas. We are not the same. Look at any of our prominent wrestlers and tell me I’m wrong. Our predecessors in this division alone thought they were given the grace of God because of their connections.

Furthermore, it’s hilarious to see when you people sit there and tell us that we’re only here because of each other for some reason. It’s a constant running theme: Finn, you’re not good enough because Kayla has gotten all your wins. Kayla, you’re carrying dead weight. It’s Kayla who has done better.

Wouldn’t you know that when we go home, we share the win together? Because, I don’t know…we’re a fucking team?
There’s such a sense of hyper-individuality when it comes to this business that you dumbfucks think that you can settle some seeds of doubt into our heads that we’re not worth it to the other, that we’re the weak link. Maybe fucking learn from us: when the team fails, we fail. When the team wins, we win. Together.

And judging by the fact alone that the Wolves of Gheimhridh are undefeated since October, and that on our own, we are undefeated this year entirely…I would say that neither of us is a weak link in the chain. That isn’t based on ego, that’s based on fact. Our records prove this, and as much as you all want to hate us because you ain’t us, it’s written in stone, in the annals of this company.

Can you say that about yourselves? Any of you? Or are you so desperately blind that you want to stick your heads in the sand and refuse to note that?

Sorry, I’m not going to go for the easy, low hanging fruit that all of you try to do against us. Maybe it’s because I have too much respect for myself. This isn’t a case of not having anything to say, because I certainly do when it comes to The Conspiracy. But what was it our former First Lady told us to do: “when they go low, we go high”, or some shit. 

Fuckin’ malarkey.


••••••


It was strange to sit in the library office of the former head of the Yakuza. In reality, this would be the last meeting in the area, but for now, they needed to search the office for any leads on any material.

Finn sat in one of the wingback chairs, watching with hawk eyes as his little brother and his best friend Aiden Reynolds searched through all of the books. About thirty minutes before, Aiden had made some quip about the fact that everything was in Japanese. As time wore on, however, that statement because more and more obvious and true. Luckily, the Australian could also read and speak Japanese, so there was some use to his presence.

Though he was never going to obtain a gun.

Dickie Watson sat behind the desk, staring at a ledger in front of him. It had been there since day one, but he hadn’t bothered looking at it for anything in particular. The new leader of the Yakuza clan, Dickie wasn’t sure at all that he even wanted to continue the business. Things had fallen by the wayside, and even that made the regularly anxious wrestler more frustrated. It wasn’t until Finn had agreed to help that he felt even remotely confident in his new role, and that was only because Finn simply knew more.

Anythin’ in the ledger yet?

Dickie, who had his head in his hands as he stared at the kanji in front of him, looked up at Aiden. “Oh, iunno. Maybe the fact that I’m R-U-S-S-I-A-N might hinder me from reading this.

Ah, nah, mate. Anyone can speak n’ read a different language. Just takes a bit of ya brain to do it.

Well, clearly it doesn’t take much, since you can read it.

Finn smiled to himself. Dickie and Aiden fought like siblings, and as he sat in the chair, he could see why they were a good team in the end. They trusted each other enough to insult one another, after all. And, after all the shit they’d put each other though, why wouldn’t they trust each other? They’d fallen apart as friends, and then became them once they realized the other wasn’t that much of an idiot. And Aiden had begun to take things seriously as well, which had helped tremendously.

Give it to me,” Finn stated as he rose to his feet, heading a few feet towards the desk and pressing his hands into it. Dickie turned it around and shrugged his shoulders, signalling that it was up to him now. Finn flipped through the pages, turning the left page back onto the right.

He was on the hunt.

Knowing Kei, it wouldn’t have been a word, and he wouldn’t have given a shit who the leader was. To him, it was about arms deals, about gaslighting, about manipulation to get the things that he wanted. And he wouldn’t have cared who he did business with if it brought him a healthy income. He flipped through the pages quickly, his eyes glancing thoroughly through the pages for a symbol.

A wheel with multiple spokes.

It took a few pages, but he found it. The details of the trade and information about where it went didn’t really interest him. The fact, however, that there was a trade that happened with a tick mark next to it told him that the deal was repeated, and the number “two” next to it told him it was every two months. Kei made trades with the Romani six months out of the year. With his death, and Dickie not following through on those trades, it was going to hurt business.

This one,” Finn pointed at it, and looked at Dickie, who stared at the page. “If you’re going to start filling in in Kei’s shoes and lead this team, this one is going to be the one that you’re going to want to start trading with it.

Oi, isn’t that some gypsy symbol?

It’s a rival, Aiden,” Finn said. “And the quicker that we get them on our side, the easier the rest of the shit will go. So set up a meet, and make terms.

Wouldn’t it be better if they came to us?

You want your head blown off? If you want to spread the word, pick a couple of different ones out of here to restart our deals with. If you need help with that, I’ll go to all the meets with you and speak for you. But this one you need to set up. Now.


••••••


The Conspiracy has teased for months wanting to face us, but it never quite happened the way that it needed to. Months ago, I think it was, it was Alexander Raven that sat there and said in a press conference that he wasn’t solid enough to face off against me — that the pretty little championships that Kayla and I held were the only way that Alexander Raven was going to step against me since my return to this company. The married couple that The Conspiracy is, together, was the only way that this was ever going to take place. Talk about setting the scene.

As the matches came in and the losses came out, we watched as Alexander Raven went completely batshit crazy and brought forth the idea that the entire company was against him. That Christian and Mark, who rarely speak to me as it is and I’m the face of their company, were setting the stage against him, and he went after Ben Jordan and J2H like a rabid fiend. And then we watched as both Alexander and Luna joined the Blast From the Past and both made it to the finals.

The feeling had to be great, right? Living their dreams with Alexandra Callaway on one side and Sean Parker on the other. It was good for either of The Conspiracy, wasn’t it? Either way, one would ultimately get the chance to face for the championship that they desired. And when Luna signed their fate, it was Alexander who was left one more time to explain his failures. In all honesty, I was disappointed in the showing of The Conspiracy as a unit. Honestly, I can’t imagine that if Kayla and I were set to face one another that we would just so…shoddily present ourselves so that it was really up to our partners.

Nah, we’d both be out for blood. Because that’s our nature.

The past is not always an arbiter of the future, and a lot of the time, I feel like people don’t understand that. People make their waves by the methods in which they change. I’ve always said that leopards can’t change their spots, but not everyone is a leopard now, are they? It’s a commonality in wrestling to equate yourself with some kind of animal as a symbolic representation, and I’m no different. But change can be difficult in this kind of business, because you’re typecast into a role no matter where you go. For instance, I am a wolf. A lone wolf. Whelan is an anglicized version of the word wolf, and that’s what I’ve been known as for eleven years of my life. But this wolf has changed so many times, from a failure, from a choke artist to the demon that you see before you each and every time I step into the ring. Except for a year in the past six, I have done nothing but rise to the top.

Next Level. Champion.

SCW, Champion. Over and over and over.

Fuck, if I’d gone at the Triad, I might have been a champion too. But I stepped back from that chaotic little element because it didn’t fit my needs at the time. And yet it was that very tournament that seemed to bring something else out in you, Alex.

Oh, you’ve certainly changed from the piss-ant that was trying to get anyone’s attention to something different. In some ways, at least. You rose to prominence in the Triad, recognized by your peers finally for a wrestler that moved heaven and earth to try and attain greatness. And yet, again, once more you couldn’t capitalize on the things that you wanted.

And here, you changed your tune, screaming about the conspiracies that surrounded you, and trying to push yourself as a competitor. I’ll admit, you did it on my back. Which honestly isn’t anything new because you repeat over and over and over again to anyone that listens. Alexander Raven beat Finn Whelan twice. It’s been a cornerstone of every promotional video since the press conference.

It’s a rare feat that very few in this company have, and I’m not going to sit here and say that it’s impossible to do so. It’s just extremely fucking rare. But congratulations to you, who beat me when I didn’t give a flying fuck about the Roulette Championship. You, who lost the Roulette Championship a week after winning it to the even lesser Harris. The child Harris.

Smooth.

Meanwhile, you’re correct that the man you faced nearly two years ago now for a championship that I still hold is actual garbage on steroids is no longer present. Finn Whelan, the face of SCW; Finn Whelan, the World Heavyweight Champion; Finn Whelan, the White Wolf, the Virulence, the Seattle Saint, is the man that stands in front of you today. I am no shadow, but the real deal, and the reason you’re going to be licking your wounds another week in a row. This person that stands in front of you knows their worth, knows the levity of the situation, and isn’t about to choke out and fail because it’s finally that time.

Let’s be real for a moment, Alex. You pride yourself on being the Workhorse of SCW. Week in, week out, it doesn’t matter what the match is, you’re a fighter. But in reality, we all do the bidding of your favorite people in the world whether we want to or not. I’ve stated this time and time again: you fight where you’re booked. I will give you the clamor that you deserve, the clapping, and the adulation that being the workhorse has given you.

But respect? Respect is earned, and if you were to beat myself and Kayla – which isn’t probable at any given time within the next six months – you would have earned my respect. I know Kayla brought up your choke artistry, but that’s not important to me. I believe that anyone has a chance if they play their cards right. If luck is in the air, if the stakes are only high enough to bring you to success. Despite all of the changes, all of the pushes, all of the things that you have said and insinuated over the last couple of years…you are still screaming at the heavens for someone to notice you.

You ask all of us to listen, you ask all of us to see, like a prophetic vision of the future in which a calamity falls upon us all. Apocalypse and all the terrors of the hounds of hell because we don’t see your vision of vita mors. But like the prophets of old, you are unclear and misspeak on a regular basis. Truth is only believed from those who speak it regularly.

When have I lied?

When have I told nothing more than the truth?

And that, Raven, is what separates us. I do not spew lies as truth, and no matter my belief system, I am an honest individual. Anyone that comes to me, I sit there and I will tell them the truth of the situation in which they are in. Just as I’ll tell your friend that he isn’t aware of what will cross his path when he faces me. But I don’t need prophecies, and I don’t need the apocalypse. I don’t need to shout at the heavens for you to listen to me.

Note the lack of change in my composure, the calmness contrasting the vitriol that hides behind me when I think of the roster and the fact that the one who won the Blast From the Past was not someone on this roster. We should all be very ashamed that a newcomer wiped the floor with the roster, and we should be better than we were before. It should have put us all on notice, and yet all I see…is the same garbage, week in…week out.

So, no, Raven. Believe me when I say this: I think you have changed, I think you have improved, but you still are not sufficient enough in your ability to come out of this the victor. As for Luna, I am sure Kayla is salivating at the bit to get a measure of her in ring skill – especially as her challenger. It was Luna who was more vicious than even you, it was Luna who pushed for the success of The Conspiracy. It was Luna who wanted her result more than you…and the end result left Luna facing a woman who has hit her stride again and been undefeated. Kayla’s record is stronger than mine, and it will be telling in this match if Kayla wipes the floor with her.

I hope that will put a bit of a step in Luna’s feet, because we all know you are out the door in October.

The Wolves of Gheimhridh are here, and despite the contiuous complaints from the Retirement Community…we’re not about to out of this reign any time soon.

Pay attention…are you listening?

15
PARADIGM SHIFT XX // LITTLE LIES
IF I COULD TURN THE PAGE, IN TIME THEN I’D REARRANGE JUST A DAY OR TWO. BUT I COULDN’T FIND A WAY, SO I’LL SETTLE FOR ONE DAY TO BELIEVE IN YOU.
TELL ME LIES, TELL ME SWEET LITTLE LIES. TELL ME, TELL ME LIES. OH NO, NO, YOU CAN’T DISGUISE.
FLEETWOOD MAC .


••••••


The water of the Hudson River didn’t ripple like the sea did. It didn’t flow calmly, nor did it lap at the shoreline with a soft, soothing rush of air. It wasn’t stagnant, but so many things happened within the confines of the river that it was like an undulating wave of chaos that never ended. It just continued to send everything away from it with a vengeance, taking hold of it and thrusting it across a neverending cascade.


Despite New York City being an unending sea of buildings, the riverfront often provided an opportunity for greenery and peace that wasn’t seen in the concrete jungle. It was sweltering in the summer sun, but people still tanned on the greenery, held their late lunch picnics and tried to get in that last few hours of warmth and sun before it set beneath the western horizon and the city became feral.

Finn sat on the edge of the water, his legs dangling some three or so feet over the water, ignoring the rush of people and activities going on behind him. Except for the sunglasses over his eyes, he didn’t look prepared for the summer sun – there was no such thing as shorts. And he wouldn’t be caught dead in sandals. It wasn’t his cup of tea…and to be honest, neither was the park. Neither was the riverfront. He enjoyed his mountains in Colorado, but he never wanted to really be a part of nature. It wasn’t…well, it just wasn’t him.

“Hey.” A voice said to him from behind him, but he didn’t bother to look. He knew who it was, and he wasn’t about to give her the satisfaction of looking upwards.

She slid down next to him, slowly allowing her legs to dangle over the side of the concrete barrier. Her Louboutins must have been so securely attached to her foot by sweat for her to be so lackadaisical about their current location. She didn’t speak for a few minutes, taking in the sounds of the air and the water. “So…what happened?”

“With?” He replied with a question of his own, glancing over at her with an eyebrow raised.

“You know…” she prodded a bit, looking away from him. “Kei.”

“Don’t act like you don’t know already.”

She leaned forward, folding her hands in her lap and looking down at the ocean. Eventually, she pulled her sunglasses off her face and set her brown eyes on Finn. “I suppose I do, yes. Bits and pieces.  The General already is up in arms around it.”

The General. The Commandant of West Point, a heavily decorated officer who pushed his agenda so far down everyone’s throats that they thought things were their own ideas. He also, secretly, ran a level of secret government intelligence that monitored all of the doings of the major crimes sectors of the United States. And Finn only knew this because he’d once been married to this man’s daughter.

To be honest, he hadn’t thought about The General in the years after the divorce. But since the death of Kei Hideshima, the change in the Yakuza, the fact that his little brother was now the Oyabun of an entire family, he was forced to be reminded of the gruff asshole of the man that used to belittle him for his choice of jeans.

“He’s already caught wind, has he?” He questioned, finally turning his head and looking at his ex-wife. Aaron, for once, didn’t appear gleeful in his presence, or even remotely pleased about it at all. “He should have done something to stop it months ago – fuck, years ago, to be perfectly honest.”

“You know he wasn’t going to.” Aaron shook her head. “If there’s anything that he’s done in his life, you know it’s waiting until the right moment to strike. The problem was that Kei had amassed so much power that there was never quite a good time.” She sighed heavily and then tilted her head to peer at him again. “But if it’s falling apart, then there’s a chance that he might order a secret op to get rid of the whole thing…”

“Wouldn’t that be grand?”

“Callien–”

“You still don’t get to call me that.”

“Does anyone at this point?” She scoffed and rolled her eyes, looking up at the sky briefly. “Look, all of the situation sucks and I get that, but…Finn, what happened? Kei had everyone’s balls in his hands within a fifty mile radius, and in four other major cities in America. It’s not like they could easily get to him, and you and I both know that. I know…I know Dickie was a part of it, but if you–”

Finn’s head snapped in her direction again and his eyes narrowed as he swiped his glasses off his face. “If I what? Regressed back to what I used to be? The monster you thought was best to turn me into?” He scoffed again. The fact that he was even involved with the damned Yakuza was because of her, because she thought Kei could train him to be a great fighter, warrior, wrestler, and he’d been stupid enough to believe that if he just gave a little bit of himself, he could be a champion. It was stupid. He should have never been involved.

She had the decency to look admonished. Aaron lived the chaos that Finn became when he was Kei’s right hand. “If I’d known what it would have become…”

“You would have still done it.” Finn shook his head. “Don’t even say anything different.”

With a nod, Aaron confirmed that. “I would have. Because even back then, I wanted you to be the best, and that…well, I didn’t expect him to go to the extent that he did. But…” She wanted to know everything. To know the chaos of the night that Kei died, who could have been powerful enough to destroy a crime overlord that caused so much strife and stress. She wanted to know if he became that figure that would do anything to kill another human being.

“No.”

Her neck creaked as she sharply looked at him. “It wasn’t you?”

“No.”

“Then who? I mean, with Dickie being a part of it, I figured you’d finally had enough, that you were going out to help him, to protect him. But, if it wasn’t you, then…” She quieted down as she realized the only person it could have been. Finn was silent as he looked at the water then, letting the crash of the minimal waves echo in his ears. Aaron’s shock was enough to silence her as she put all the puzzle pieces together.

In his pocket, Finn’s phone buzzed with the accompanied sound of his doorbell ringing. He pulled it out of his vest pocket and slid open the screen with a flick of his thumb. There was certainly someone at his door – someone he didn’t recognize. A man, blonde hair past his shoulders, beard, malicious glint in his eyes. Finn watched the clip play silently as he stated something to Kayla, who must have opened the door. He didn’t like what she had to say, and pushed his way in past her and out of the frame.

With a frown, he rewound the clip, listening to the words stated this time. Once. Twice.

“What is it?” Aaron raised an eyebrow. “Finn?”

He clicked a snapshot on his phone of the face he didn’t recognize on his phone. “Do me a favor.” He stated, quite clearly, finding her name in his text message app and sending her the picture. He rose to his feet and began heading back towards the city, back towards his home. “Tell pops to help me out and give me information on this fucker, would you?”



••••••

Let’s talk about the state of things.

The Blast From the Past has been the highlight of the wheelhouse and we’ve been watching shit teams face good teams. I can’t deny that watching Kallie and Artie wasn’t hilarious to see, but at the end of the day, we all know that it’s the survival of the fittest. Darwinism, wrapped in the guise of a wrestling ring with a reward. A reward to face whichever champion that the winner of the tournament chooses from whatever division. And at the end of the day, we have Alexander Raven and Alexandra Callaway taking on Luna Pasilino and Sean Parker.

On the opposite side of my division is a man who worked his ass off Sunday in and Sunday out and has finally made it to where he can stand without feeling like an utter failure. Alexander Raven bothered me immensely upon my arrival in Sin City, but at the end of the day, we are both extremely changed individuals who fight with every breadth of power and desire that we have within our bones. He deserves the world, and finally…a chance to maybe not choke at the end of the day, when the prize is just within his reach.

The other is a man who bought his way to a shot. I don’t mean literally, mind you, but I do mean that it’s slightly opportunistic the way that this whole company allows people from outside of it to come in and make a claim that everyone else who actually works for it day in and day out doesn’t have a right to.

See, I don’t have anything against Sean Parker. I just dislike the fact that he came in here waving his dick around and acting like he was better than the rest of the flock…and got paired with possibly the most driven female on the entire roster, save for Kayla and I suppose Julianna. The luck of the draw, right? And, happenstance, knowing each other from outside of the company in other promotions…but you know, it’s luck and not rigged.

Though I dislike the tournament completely, I suppose that it provides me with an opportunity to see my playing field. To watch and see who might try to lay claim to my throne. To watch and see who might make it ahead before everyone else. But instead of waiting for that moment, leaving it a chance encounter and letting us all take it in and build anticipation…I get a shotgun match that makes zero sense.

The booking decision, let me tell you.

I wasn’t quiet at the last Climax Control, and I’m not going to be quiet now. I think it’s utterly asinine that this match is happening. It’s a filler, and for fuck’s sake do I hate being filler. In fact, I spent an entire show at a previously REDACTED company uprooting it and literally making it mine because the fuckin’ booker decided to keep their champion off the show. This is filler. This is “Oh, Finn doesn’t have a match, so let’s put all of the rejects in a line and see where one of them can shine.”

Teddy Warren, LJ Kasey, Rodrigo Alfonso who has a shot at whatever he wants with that Golden Briefcase he fails to use every week, and a few other names that slip my mind…that all sat down there and threw each other out of a ring to win a shot at me.

Because it has to be done.

You tell me if any of those candidates in that match had the ability to hold a candle to the work and effort that I have put into this championship, to both championships. You tell me if any of those candidates could hold a candle to Parker or Raven at this point. Hell, Jamie Dean came in swinging with the Blast From the Past tournament this year and lost almost immediately.

And yet, out of all of them, it was Jamie Dean who was able to capitalize on the flaming garbage can of a match that set up this one.

I’ve always said that I push through the bullshit no matter what happens. I meet my obligations, and I do what I’m supposed to do. Should I do more? Absolutely. Every champion should. But when it comes to filler matches simply because the championship must be defended, how does it really look for the company itself? How does that look for this championship?

We’re just passing it around like Puff the Magic Dragon and puff-puff passing for no reason except it has to be done. It’s bullshit. And this is exactly what I’ve been talking about every time that I open my mouth. I defended this championship against Goth, I won this championship against Goth. Since then? Garbage bag matches bring so little candor to the sport that yet again, we’re watching Kayla and Julianna beat each other senseless because that’s the match that matters.

I, your World Heavyweight Champion, am left with the shitters and the possible opportunities that will never come to light as long as I’m around. I hate to say it that way – it’s not fair to everyone, but it’s also the truth. It’s no way to treat a champion, and it’s no way to actually treat the championship. Contenders should have been thought long and hard prior to this Blast From the Past, and I could have built something wonderful with a man who would put every effort in. Instead, I’m watching as babies are handed things on a silver platter.

Yes.

I silver plattered someone.

Jamie Dean won the match, and Jamie Dean is the one I’m going to be facing, but believe me when I say that I’m facing merely a shadow of Jamie Dean. See, nearly seven years has gone by since Jamie has been in the ring save the last couple of matches. He even admitted he was out of the loop some four weeks ago…when he was immediately knocked out of the running by one Alexander Raven.

How sad…

Wait.

My empathy ran out five seconds ago.

The problem, Jamie, if I might address you right now, is that you gave me ammunition without really ever giving me it. When you were placed in the match that determined your fate at the last Climax Control, you sat there and said that you’ve done this before. You won a Battle Royale and you came out on top…and your prize was the championship that is so far coveted by all, and held by me.

Hey, unlike Beetlejuice, if you say Finn three times, I promise I won’t come back from the dead to haunt you.

I’ll just ensure you never come back to this.

I’m tired of the disrespect, Jamie. I’m tired of the fact that I had nothing to do, and they dreamed up an option where people who haven’t earned their chops are suddenly facing me for a championship that they shouldn’t have ever had the chance to go near. It’s almost like handing Mac Bane a thirty-fifth shot at a championship and watching him lose to Austin James Mercer because he didn’t think that it would be a viable match.

Imagine everyone’s surprise when they realized that Mercer was walking out with the championship that night either.

Everyone loves an underdog story, Jamie. Everyone loves when the plucky little underling that didn’t have an opportunity to succeed back in their yesteryears comes back and wins. You heard the pop, you heard the cheer…and yet, now you stand before me and though I am not J2H, I am a different devil. One that you’re never going to enjoy facing because not only am I good at what I do, I enjoy making sure that you won’t be good.

Tell me how far you underestimate me because of my appearance, the way I look, the way I do things, and I will introduce you to a whole host of individuals that include men who will never exist in this company again who were wrong. I’ve made it a habit to succeed.

I like habits. They’re consistent. They do what they’re supposed to. Like me.

You don’t deserve to be here, Jamie. You don’t deserve to usurp the chance that Alexander Raven or Sean Parker have to face the best that Sin City Wrestling has to offer. You don’t deserve to deliver the shot that would be heard around the world, and the reverberation throughout the universe that comes with it from getting knocked on your ass. I’m not any of the individuals you faced previously and you should be grateful for the opportunity.

You’re never going to get it again.

So when we face each other, you can do one of two things: tell me how good I am and suck up like a bitch, or underestimate me and fail miserably when push comes to shove. I have an idea of how well you choke when the going gets tough, and I have an idea of how venomously I’m going to be coming into this match. I’m mad, Jamie. I’m furious.

I’ve been disrespected.

And it’s not going to happen again.

I would say sorry for what’s about to happen to you, but like I said…empathy is gone. And now you’re just another notch in a turnbuckle post that tells me that Sin City has nothing to offer me at this time because I’ve gathered everything that has been thrown at me and eaten it alive.

You’re just another on a list, and believe me…I will salivate in happiness when I have that belt raised above my head once more in victory.

Good luck, Jamie Dean.

Because you’re absolutely going to need it.




••••••


No matter how many times he said it, he knew he was going to get drug into everything that he didn’t want to be a part of again. Eventually, it would come to a head eventually. He would have to make a decision. Dickie needed his support, he knew that. But for how long? How long would it be that he was “helping” his brother do all of this? How long until he could finally step away?

And how long until it actually affected him entirely?

Or, he thought with a sneaking suspicion, how long had it already been affecting him?

He made the way from the riverfront back to his Central Park Brownstone in record time. Perhaps it was the lack of the leisurely stroll and the full run he made a few times on the way. He didn’t bother to wait for the elevator, bounding up the steps by twos until he made it to the tenth floor. He pushed open the stair door, headed out into the small landing and rammed his keys in the door. A chime sounded somewhere in his apartment after he opened the door and he headed briskly into the apartment.

“Kayla?” He yelled, standing in the kitchen that was truly the heart and soul of the place.

He didn’t hear anything. There was no response. He chewed on his lip and frowned. At least, until the front door opened.

“Oh, you’re back,” she stepped into the room, a backpack slung over her shoulder and a confused expression on her face. “I thought you were at the gym or something…you didn’t…you know, let me know…”

Finn stared at her for a long, purloined moment. His heart felt like it was fluttering too fast for his liking, his mind was racing equally as quickly. He’d maintained composure the entire time from meeting with Aaron at the riverfront, walking his ass all the way back to the apartment, and heading into it, feeling like he was going to throw up the entire time.

With the Yakuza surrounding him now, he expected there to be problems. Problems that would affect him personally, but never at his house. Never at his home.

He grabbed the back of the barstool and leaned over it, trying to breathe correctly before he answered her.

“Finn?” Kayla questioned him once more, setting her bag on the counter and walking towards him directly. She pressed a hand to his shoulder. He shrugged her off for a moment, before heading back towards the room she came out of and looking at it. When it was clear, he stalked off to another room, and then another, checking every single room in the apartment before heading back towards the kitchen. “What is it?”

“Are you okay?”

Kayla bristled slightly, still not entirely used to Finn’s awkwardly caring demeanor. “I’m fine.”

“Did he leave?”

“Who?” Kayla’s eyes narrowed, before she realized what he was talking about. For a second, and only a second, fear coated her features. If he hadn’t known her well enough, he probably wouldn’t have seen it. He stared at her directly, and she crossed her arms. “How did you know?”

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and set it on the counter. “The camera. It’s connected to my phone.” Kayla eyed it for a second, not looking at him. After another second, he pressed her, “Who is he?”

“He’s just a loose end, I can take care of it.” She started, but Finn shook his head.

“No. Who is he?”

Kayla sighed heavily, and then crossed her arms, leaning against the counter with an annoyed expression on her face. She didn’t like being questioned, and he knew that, but he had a feeling that it was something important, something that was going to cause more issues if it wasn’t taken care of. She clearly didn’t want to tell him, though, and that was an indicator that she still didn’t trust him fully yet.

Hell, he wouldn’t trust himself either.

“Do you remember when I told you that I’ve gone through my own shit?” She questioned, looking out one of the windows towards the park. “Back in that house in Colorado, that there wasn’t a lot that you could say about your past because I’ve seen it too?”  When Finn nodded, she nodded herself affirmatively and licked her lips for a second. “His name is Jace. He’s the head of the Romani who live here in New York City.”

He inhaled, trying to wrack his brain for information from his time with Kei. He briefly remembered Kei stating that they were a blip on a large map that didn’t really matter to him, but that had been years prior. Now? They could have amassed a larger group size than the one Dickie held control of. “And he knows you how?”

She sighed again, not looking him in the eye. “I thought…at one time, I was in love with him, but–” she cut herself off, looking at Finn’s face to check for any change.

There wasn’t.

So she continued. “He came here to warn me.”

“Is this the first time this has happened?”

“No…the second. He’s been watching me and watching you and Dickie too. I don’t know how, he doesn’t tell me. But he knows what’s going on and the word has gotten out. Look, Dickie taking over has fucked up their side of the business. He didn’t say anything about how.”

“Of course it has,” Finn groaned. There was a gamut of emotions that he had charging through him. Anger, because he was once again thrown into something that he didn’t want to be a part of at any juncture whatsoever. Fear, because what if something had happened to Kayla? He would have to talk to Dickie, tell him that he needed some people stationed at the house. Or maybe he should just buy out all the other leasing contracts and safeguard the house.

That was an option.

He thought about it once more. Kei had said that he was trading with a group in New York, and if that was the Romani, then Dickie’s lack of picking up any of the major contracts that he had with these subsets were going to make them frustrated. He stepped away from the counter, heading to the next room and put both hands on the couch, clenching his fingers into the soft, plushy tops.

“You’ve got to be kidding me…” He muttered. No matter what he did, there was going to be no peace. He told Dickie that he would help him get set up, but this? This was more than what he bargained for. In a rush of irritated emotion, he pushed off the couch and then swung back around, reaching for his phone. “Look, I’ll just go talk to Dickie then.”

“No!” Kayla yelled, reaching out and slamming her hand over his. Finn’s eyes widened. She paused, and she swallowed slowly. “Let me handle it. I can handle this.”

“Kayla–

Kayla bowed her head, unable to look at him in the face. Her fingers trembled, and if he wasn’t mistaken, she almost looked as if she were about to cry. She didn’t want to say what she was about to, and it was obvious. “Look, he said if I didn’t fix it, that he would come after you and I…”

Finn softened, and he raised a hand, cupping her jaw with it and running his thumb across her cheekbone.

“I can’t deal with that, so please just let me deal with it.”

“Kayla,” he interrupted, and she finally gave him her eyes, blinking back tears that were purely from frustration. That he knew. “There is no just you taking care of anything anymore. You and I, we’re going to figure it out together, okay? We’ll go talk to Dickie together, and we’ll manage it together.” Slowly, he wrapped his arms around her and pressed his lips to the top of her head. “Believe me when I say nothing is going to happen.”

But even in his mind, he knew he couldn’t promise that. Not with this life.

Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies…

••••••

16
Climax Control Archives / PARADIGM SHIFT XIX // SEE YOU ALIVE
« on: May 10, 2024, 11:43:41 PM »
PARADIGM SHIFT XIX // SEE YOU ALIVE
WHEN YOU FEEL YOUR TIME’S ABOUT TO RUN OUT, I’LL DO MY BEST TO NOT LET YOU DOWN.
DRAGGED UNDER






••••••

Prior to Chapter 38: What I Fought For


The silence permeated the room like a stale, warm unopened room of air. Like an Egyptian tomb that hadn’t been opened for centuries. A carafe of coffee sat in between them, the fixings needed for something other than the disgusting taste of pure black roast surrounding it. The two mugs that sat there were untouched, and the two that sat at the table were almost still as statues.

Finn and Dickie were seated at the table, eyes focused on each other. The younger of the men looked almost as if he were losing temperature quickly and the older merely a stoic statue. Dickie broke the stoicism and looked down at the watch he didn’t have on his wrist, but got caught staring at the blood that was still on his hands. He shuffled uncomfortably in his seat and shoved his hands beneath the table. Almost like a kid who was caught red handed. And just like a kid who couldn’t handle silence, he finally leaned forward and placed his head on the table.

Very leader-y.” Finn commented, sarcastically.

Dickie’s head shot up and he narrowed his eyes at his older brother. “What would you like me to do? Hm? Sit like a king?” He tightened his core and sat up high, sticking his nose up in the air ostentatiously. “How’s this?!

It’s a damn sight better than your moping.” Finn’s only movement was to cross his arms and he exhaled slowly out of his nose.

In all reality, the death of Kei Hideshima was twofold both positive and negative for Finn, and he knew it from the moment his head hit the floor. There would be no threatening from the Yakuza anymore, there would be no issues with them causing chaos within his life in a negative form. While there was a part of him that mourned the death of his mentor, he also found a peace that he hadn’t had in months. And yet, he also knew that this wouldn’t bode well either. A crime syndicate in the hands of an ill-fitting kid who barely looked past his own inequities and had virtually no understanding of how he now fit into the world? It was preposterous, and ridiculous that we were even here.

What would you like me to do?” Dickie repeated, crossing his arms too. “I didn’t have a choice, Finn. He was ready to kill you and I couldn’t lose another person. So I did what I thought was best.

And now you have a whole clan in your hands.” Finn’s eyebrow raised. “You’re lucky I was able to explain what happened to Hideyaki-sama, and that the fucker trusts me.” He placed his fingers in his eyes. “You killed his shateigashira, and in doing that, you’ve taken his place. Let alone that you have zero idea what Kei did.

I know bits and pieces…

Bits and pieces are not enough to lead.

Okay, so like…how can I make this right then?” Dickie slammed his hand down on the table. “Because I don’t see ya helpin’ in any way, shape and form. I know I don’t know the stuff that makes me a good leader, and I get that part. So maybe I should just…I dunno, disband it?

Finn shook his head, and raised his eyes to the ceiling. “If you disband it, then you leave two hundred men out in the open with no leadership.

So I can’t do that.” Dickie sighed. “I just…I can’t do this on my own.

Clearly.” Finn sighed too. He also didn’t want to be his brother’s caretaker yet again, but here he was. And he knew what was going to happen next. Finn was going to be asked to take on his brother’s failures, asked to guide him, asked to be what Kei was to Finn.

Maybe…maybe you should take it?

Absolutely fucking not.” Finn swore, and shook his head.

You’re the best out of the two of us to do it!

Finn leaned forward then, narrowing his eyes at his little brother and exhaling slowly. “I am not the one that got myself into this hell. In fact, I pulled myself out of it, and you decided to jump right in because he offered you the world and all you got was blood on my table.

Dickie looked down at the table, frowned at the bloody fingerprints, and then swiped at it, trying to remove them. “Look, mate, I just…I needed to be able to stand on my own two feet, okay? Without you, without Aiden, without everyone and yeah, I fucked that up. I fucked up a lot of stuff lately – I haven’t talked to Shawn in months and Kasey has texted but I keep neglecting to text back because I–

Feel like a complete and utter failure because you lost a championship to someone who disappeared and thinks their return one day is going to be so seismic that they have to hide in the shadows? Lost your ability to stand on your own two feet? Lost your ability to look into the mirror and see a damned good wrestler who had everything in his hands but couldn’t see past his own issues to notice it?

Dickie looked down at the table. Guilty as charged, and he knew it.

You’ve made decisions that affect a lot of people, including your friends and family. And now you have to own them.” Finn sighed again, looked down for a second as he thought about how to word his next statement without being abrasive. Dickie didn’t need abrasive – his point had gotten through anyway. “You can’t throw away the Yakuza, and you’re not giving it to me.

I…

Shut up, not finished.” Finn cut him off again. “You’re twenty-eight, so I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt and note that while the world was in your hands, you took the route of being a fuckin’ pissant kid. You thought the world owed you something, and now that you have nothing in your hands to show for it, you don’t know what to do. I chalk that up to not having parents, or anyone that actually could have been a parent to you. I certainly didn’t help matters, so it’s my fault too, Dimitri.” He leaned forward. “But I’ll help.”

Dickie’s eyes widened. “You mean…

Hideyaki-sama relinquished ownership of Kei’s clan, so now you’re the Oyabun. The Watson Clan.” He sighed slowly. “And as much as it fucks with everything that I’ve been trying to get through, I guess you have a wakagashira in me. Your first lieutenant. I’ll help. I’ll try to guide you with what you need to do…maybe we can turn this from being a crime problem into something positive.

Finn, you have no idea how much that’s gonna help me here…I’m…I’m…I’m fuckin’ swimmin’ in shit and I know that I don’t always think, but I’ma make this right. I promise. I’m–

A loud pounding sounded outside of the apartment. Finn and Dickie both turned their heads to hear muffled Japanese, with one sounding like they were both getting louder and more frustrated while also having such a heavy accent on it it could be no one other than Aiden. Finn sighed, got up, and headed to the door, opening it.

I just wanted to make sure ya were okay, I mean…after the whole Wolfslair shit and now I see these two numbfucks just standin’ here guardin’ shit,” Aiden started, without even letting Finn get out a word. “Figured that Hideshima fuck was here.

And how do you know who he was?” Finn raised an eyebrow. Aiden paused, and then his cheeks flared slightly.

I heard Dickie talkin’ about him once and I…wait…” Aiden’s eyes traveled past Finn’s shoulder, and he saw Dickie standing at the end of the hallway, both of his hands shoved in his pockets. “Mate!” He shoved past Finn, but was met with the muzzle of an AK-47 against his chest from one of the guards. The man stared him down and Aiden’s eyes widened. “Blink twice if ya need out!” He yelled at Dickie.

No…” Dickie sighed, and looked at the floor. “Let ‘em through.” He ordered, and then shuffled back to the table, sitting down at it. This clearly wasn’t something he was proud of. Aiden shoved past them, and Finn followed, shutting the door behind him.

Mate, what the fuck happened to ya, huh?” Aiden slipped into a chair. Dickie really did look worse for wear, what with the spatters of blood on his clothes and face and hands. Finn crossed his arms and looked on. This would be his future, and he would have to shove all of his ire down to help his little brother…even when he had the world of Sin City resting on his shoulders.

You’re looking at the new leader of the Yakuza clan that’s been here for a long while.” Finn piped up, noting Dickie didn’t know how to tell his best friend what was going on. In fact, he wasn’t even sure they were best friends still – he hadn’t spoken to him in months.

Aiden looked at Finn, and then looked at Dickie. Dickie refused to meet his gaze, swallowing slightly. Then…

Aiden snorted.

Oh, that’s fuckin’ bloody brilliant, hey. When do I get a gun?



••••••

You know, they should really put a warning on some of their food out there in the British Isles. Let’s put it out there that I am Irish and immigrated into the States when I was but a wee lil’ babe, but nothing can kill you like blood in…well, anything. Killed my stomach for the next week – pretty sure I’ll never touch that again, no matter who convinces me to do so.

But I can’t say I’m not thankful to be the hell out of England. Too many memories, too many people, too many…problems. You see, you could say the countryside is beautiful and that London itself is grand, but at the end of the day, it’s still a fucking island with too many people on it and not enough room to do much of anything. The venues are smaller, the cities jampacked and if I see another one of those fucking Double Decker busses, I may twitch like it doesnt matter.

I know Kayla loves home, but let me tell you the further it is for me, the happier I will forever be.

We’re coming out of our last supercard, and in that time frame, not only did I retain against a man who had everything to lose, Kayla gained the Women’s World Bombshell Championship. That makes both of us a bit of a phenom in Sin City, because we are the first dual champions in our respective gender divisions, and that…makes it a bit more difficult than you could think.

You know, everyone sits there and says that we can’t manage the dual championships because one is going to fall by the wayside because we’re too busy focusing on the other. Which is bullshit, because every week, we’re set a match and we show out because we fulfill our obligations. We come in, we fight hard, and we do what we have to in order to retain, no matter what the championship is. Against Goth? Finnegan’s Wake, a move I rarely use simply to end everything. There is no redemption, no comeback story: it is a poignant note that you failed.

A wake, after all, is vigil. A vigil for someone who has died.

But not for me. For I continue living and breathing and fighting for the things that are mine.

In France, I’m to face Rodrigo Afonso…the man with the Golden Briefcase that – in my own personal opinion – means nothing. It has been nearly six months since that Golden Briefcase has been won, and it hasn’t been utilized. Multiple opportunities have been present, multiple champions have been available. But instead, Roddie over here has decided that he doesn’t even need to pay attention to what’s going on in the world to utilize it. It just seems to me that Afonso isn’t very…interested…in being a SCW wrestler. I mean, say what you want about me – since everyone seems to do so anyway, and I’ll refute all your bullshit eventually – but when I show, I show tenfold. It’s not about doing the bare minimum to get by, come in, do a match, get back to whatever else is going on. No, when I’m scheduled, I go hard.

And in my research I literally just watched this kid say that he’s a one and done when it comes to promotionals. Doesn’t really like to talk…and yet that is primarily the mode of our work. The way we communicate and work with one another to build a story…one that no amount of “needing a win” more is going to change.

I don’t need this win, Rodrigo. I don’t need a win against you. I don’t need to constantly prove my worth like you do, because I’ve done it. I hold the most coveted championship in this company, and I don’t need a win over a kid who doesn’t look like they want to be here on a regular basis to prove anything more. I want challenges. I’m not the same as the past few champions who have looked for the lowest bottom dollar to defend a championship against – and honestly, I would have preferred that this was a title match, because it might have made you work a little harder to improve your chances.

You don’t match.

Ah, what do I mean by that?

It’s simple. When a wrestler makes a statement and follows through, it’s a match. Your words and your actions match, and that makes you a threat. Since September, I haven’t lost a match, even when the best of the best thought they could defeat me. Everyone in this company always has a chance, but it’s only if they actually bring it to the venue and they fight like hell to attain greatness.

You have a briefcase…and that’s honestly the most interesting thing about you, kid. You haven’t succeeded against any particular names in recent months, and even if you were to sit there and tell me that you’d beat my ass and that you’d do better than I ever would, you don’t match. Your words don’t match your ability, because you haven’t attained anything but a briefcase that has nothing interesting about it.

And now you hope, by some grace of god, that you’ll be able to face me and defeat me? Like you have Eddie, Vaughn, Carter, virtually everyone you’ve crossed? Let me tell you, this will be a lesson to learn for you, and you will learn something at Climax Control. You’ll learn that you don’t belong in the ring with me, you’ll learn that it’s more than just saying you want to win, but meaning that with every bone in your body.

You’ll never get there unless you choose your discipline.

You said to Eddie that you could tear his championship in half?

How about I tear you in half? Your skateboard, your hope, your fears, your desires? Because I could do all of that. Piss me off, kid, and you’ll see a world of hurt that you’re not prepared for in a million years.

You’ll have your chance to stand against me, Roddie. And you’ll have your chance to do everything you can to stop me. At the end of the day, though, it’ll be just the same as it always is.

You, on your back, me….with the win, my hand raised in victory and my titles returned to me without fail.

Is this what you want to face? Because if it is…good luck, kid.

Because you’re going to need it.

17
PARADIGM SHIFT XVII // EVERGREEN
I CONFESS, I’M A MESS. I'VE BECOME MY OWN ANTAGONIST, LOST IN A WAR I’LL NEVER WIN. SINKING LIKE I'M MADE OF LEAD DOWN THE HOLE INSIDE MY HEAD. SO IF I'M IN TOO DEEP, BURY ME UNDERNEATH THE EVERGREEN.
ARANKAI






••••••

In the reality of it all, though, can prophecies last forever? Eventually, that forecasted story told of a possible future only matters if they’re in the near future. Otherwise, the belief in them fades away, and they become nothing more than folklore – no better than chaff upon the wind. For example, the storybook that men and women die for because they’re not able to look past their own feeble inequities – The Bible, if you’re not catching on – is full of prophecy.

Isaiah prophesied of a leader who would come from Yahweh, and he would take the shape of the sin in the world and leave everyone after him purified. Job foretold his own death. John, at the end of the Bible and probably in his acid-trip of old age, divined the entire world ending with four horsemen and demonic angels.

It’s hard to believe that books in the Apocrypha don’t fall in line with the other authors, but you know…

Everything is told how man wants it, not actual divination.

The end of the world is a story that is told time and time again, and in the early two-thousands, we had a book series that was fiction in which the rapture would happen and everyone who was not loved by God lived through the trials and tribulations of the prophet John. I can remember the chaos that disseminated from that, people thinking they knew the signs of the coming of the end of the world, and how much everyone in the non-secular circle tried to evangelize…

…or you know, The Harbinger book series came out and they predicted that the end of the world would come from the teachings of Revelation, that they had mathematically counted out the date and time. Yet that date and time passed like the end of the Mayan Calendar, and here we all stand, born from our shame and continuing our suffering.

The point of my diatribe here is to say that prophecies only matter if they happen in short spurts of time. Now, I said that this prophecy of mine would be that you fight and fight and fight and you push me hard and you show me that you want this championship, that you want everything in this world and the mantle of Champion in the face of an era that by all rights should be yours. You were the chosen one, you were the one that had the contendership and that was ripped from your very bones like the cake of an obese kid who doesn’t need another slice. You’ve had chance after chance after chance, and this time is your golden moment, the one where you’re truly going to trip me up.  Because you’re at your best.

But your best is not good enough.

It is a short time away…just a few days, and here we are on the precipice of another momentous occasion where you’ve been given yet another chance to shake the ground. You seek to throw me off my game by calling yourself fucking Jesus of Nazareth. Aligning yourself as the goddamn Messiah again in some form of allusion to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Now, I’m all for some delusions under the sky above, but this one takes the cake. I’ve been wrestling for quite some time, and I’ve never seen someone so fucking touched in the head as to believe they are the new messiah of the world.

That pretty much goes against that cute little storybook you claim to believe, right? Didn’t the Messiah walk with the lame, hold counsel with men who were of little faith in the Lord, and be seen with the less fortunate and those dredges of the world? I can’t imagine any savior of the lost flaunting their worth with their five thousand dollar suits and looking like a pompous little prick thinking their shit doesn’t stink.

Or is it because your entire previous argument was littered with hypocrisies and inconsistencies that it would make someone with a bad neck get whiplash time and time again?

You need redemption and you’re willing to risk your career…but you’re also the best in the business and no one can hold a candle to you! But really, you’re ready to retire if you don't attain the championship. Oh, and if you don’t get this championship one more time after the billionth time you’ve failed to attain it, then you can’t rest on any of your other laurels because those don’t matter! But no insults to your peers, you just deserve more because…you think you do?

Oh and the fear comment? Cute, but nothing really in this wrestling business makes me scared. Disappointed. Annoyed. Sure. Those I can get along with, but it’s laughable if you think I fear you. The only thing I fear is losing the ones I love, and I’m pretty sure I don’t love you.

But also, the whole…The light I am shining! But also…I AM DEATH! RaRRRawaRRRexclaimationpointoneoneone!

If you were going for intimidation, try to think before you speak. I know it’s hard. You’re missing a few brain cells, but you’ll get there. Bless your heart.

And let’s be absolutely certain you understand this: I don’t fucking admire you, you limp-dicked bitchfuck. Your name was never on my bucket list, Goth. In fact, I would have been happy to have never faced you.  I think you’re a stain on this company just as much as any of the other Saviours, and I don’t think their presence is necessary either. Look on the roster and tell me how many men on this side of the bracket are men that are worth a goddamn thing? Men like Alexander Raven have risen so many times from the ashes, have come back and created something with their own two hands. He deserved this more than you. Even when fucking Michael Harris was here, he worked his ass off to become the name that everyone wanted to attack. Even fucking whatever that wanker Crimson fuck that wouldn’t get off his own dick had more charisma in his pinky finger.

There is no fear stricken into my bones by anything you can say or do. And that’s not because I’ve put you behind me, or put you on the backburner, or whatever you think I’ve done. I know you like to assume the things that I have going on in my mind, but here’s the thing: I’ve made it pretty clear that none of you have ever been right in any assumption that you’ve ever made about me. I’m scared of this, I fear losing shit, I’ve underestimated, I’m not…whatever the fuck you want to sit there and say, the fact of the matter is that when it comes down to it, I know how to buckle down and do what I’m paid for.

I don’t need accolades to make me something in the eyes of the world. The second I resigned back with the company was the moment in which Christian and Mark got excited because there would be something different than the same old diatribe that had been glug-glugged out like an old, used pornstar on her five thousandth film. I wasn’t going to use the same old stereotypes or the same tired I’ma beat you like an old man shit that everyone in this company uses to try to get under everyone’s skin.

They knew I was going to assess the situation that I had in front of me and I was going to analyze and figure out how to come out on top. They handed me Kayla as a partner when we hated each other, and look at the brilliance that’s shot out. Shiny championships since October. I screamed about wanting the Internet Championship because I wanted to be recognized as being part of the cream de la creme of this company. Instead, I got saddled with a tournament that while I was utterly disappointed, I still made the best of every chance I got.

I turn the shit I’m given into gold. Quite literally. I have two championships and you better believe that I’m not going to lose either of them any time soon.

You see, Goth…you need this. You need this redemption, this chance, this opportunity because you feel like you’ve failed miserably and you need everything this match can provide you with because you, yourself, feel like a worthless piece of trash in this company. That you’re not able to attain, that you’re unable to do jackshit, and no amount of wordsmithing yourself as the Right Hand of God can erase the fact that you believe yourself to be nothing without this championship.

That’s the first fallacy of this business. You can be the demon in the closet that keeps even the strongest of men awake at night, and not have a championship. But this ‘If I don’t get it then I’ll retire’ bullshit is trite and pedantic and already made me yawn.

Look at the championship and tell me that it deserves a man like you, who will throw everything out the window if they can’t have it this one final time. Hint.

It doesn’t.

It deserves to be in the hands of a man who will fight for it no matter the cost, and who would be willing to fight to the end of the earth, through that tribulation supposedly prophesied, if it meant to keep it in their grasp.

What war have I fought and won, you asked?

This is a never-ending one, and I continue to win over and over and over again.

Because I am evergreen, Goth. And in your own words, you’ve already told me that you’ll never last the sands of time.



••••••

He stood at the basin in the bathroom of the apartment that felt familiar, but so far away from him. In the sink drain swirled clear fluid from the tap and blood from his hands. His body shook, and he was certain that when he showed back up on her doorstep, he would be back in the world of rejection and hurt just as he’d been just over a year ago.

He’d made sure to chuck his boots over the pier and to arrive back moderately clean, but the blood refused to wash off his hands. Perhaps it was an omen that he wouldn’t come out of this as scot free as he had been. But it was family. He had no choice.

He had no choice.

She banged on the door, and his eyes darted up to it, sweat dripping down his brow and across the sides of his face. He could hear her voice, but it seemed so far away, like she was screaming across the entire river that ran down the city sides. Everything felt like it was in a tunnel now that the adrenaline had worn off, and as he stood there, he could feel every muscle in his body going limp.

What the fuck happened?!” Kayla yelled, not frantic but not angry either. It was a strange sound, he thought, to hear her sound both simultaneously concerned and annoyed.



He’d run down the street then, slamming the door to his Toyota Corolla with little more than an afterthought as he looked up at the name of the club. High Horizons. An epithet, he supposed, to the thoughts that its owner thought he had high hopes entirely. His feet slammed hard against the stairs and he merely looked at the guard with muted fury before being let in without question. Bodies gyrated and bass boomed, and Finn could barely see anything in the darkened decor with flashing lights that most clubs had these days in order to hide the criminal affairs going on.

His eyes darted across the scaffolding, looking above for any sign of impending trouble. It wouldn’t be like Kei to cause harm in front of people, but the lack of security was concerning. Normally, there would be men stationed in various, hard to see. But they weren’t there, and Finn had no clue where they could be.

He bumped into a blonde-haired club-goer who only giggled and waved at him as he tried to sputter out an apology. But it didn’t deter him. His eyes focused in on the door, ajar, upstairs on the balcony. Kei’s office. It was never unlocked, and never opened. Not unless someone was in there, or someone was in a hurry to be somewhere else.

Finn took the steps by twos, which was far too easy. He crossed the balcony area, shifting through the random tables and bartending girls, and stopped in front of the door.



Finn opened the bathroom door, and he looked down at Kayla’s face. She was utterly confused, a little annoyed, and shocked at the appearance of her tag team partner. As he turned and went back to the basin, he finished washing the final remnants of blood from beneath his nails. He braced himself then against the counter, closing his eyes and trying to settle his heart down.

What happened?” She insisted, taking a step into the bathroom. “You went running out of here and wouldn’t even wait for me and I–

I couldn’t bring you with me.” He insisted.

Yes, you could have.

No,” he turned his head and looked at her, blue eyes open and his nostrils flaring. “I couldn’t have. Believe me.



There was nothing there, of course. A whole lot of to do for nothing, he thought, as he pushed open the door and found an empty office. Dickie’s phone pinged the same location he was standing in, so he had to be in this area. Or maybe his phone was just left somewhere. He bashed his hand into the door and turned around, looking back into the sinful solace of the club.

There were multiple levels, he knew this. But getting anywhere was going to be a bitch if there was any of Kei’s guards nearby. He sighed, and then headed for the hallway, noting that when he’d been here before, there was an elevator that took a key that he just so happened to have. He grabbed his keys from his pocket as he stepped into the metal cage, closing it behind him and then looking at the controls. Four buttons. Only one required the key. He stuck it into the metal casing next to the button and turned it, pressing the button immediately afterwards.

He swore at himself halfway down the ride that he didn’t bring anything for defense into this hellhole. And then, he swore at himself that he was going to die in a fucking club that played Tiesto, but that was neither here nor there. There were a lot of things left unsaid, and here he was, diving into a fucking den of wolves for a family member again that couldn’t figure out their ass from their front.

Nevertheless, it was eerily quiet when he stepped out of the elevator.



I don’t know what started it all.” He explained, shaking his head as he sat down on the rim of the tub. “When I got in there, it was quiet. So quiet I could hear a fucking pin drop. There was nothing, not even a breath of anything in the air. I took a few steps in and it was just…silent. Dark.

Kayla leaned against the doorway, crossing her arms as she listened. She thought maybe she could interrupt, but thought against it.

There was a hallway that led to another room, and I remembered that it was one of those places that Kei liked to bring people because it was essentially soundproof with the club’s bass. I didn’t think–

That’s fucking obvious.” She scolded, rolling her eyes.

--thanks for that,” he added, replying to her. “I didn’t expect,” he amended, “for there to be nothing down there, but when I got in there…it was just the two of them. Kei had his back to Dickie and I don’t know what was said…



He pushed open the door and the blonde haired man was busy reaching for something in a cabinet. It was then that he heard the squelching sound of something being pressed into a body, and he watched as he brother stepped forward, pushing as much pressure on the back of the Japanese man as he twisted something into him.

Kei cried out, started swearing in Japanese and turned to take swipe at Dickie, who leapt out of the way while simultaneously ripping the knife that was in his hand out of the man’s body. Blood sprayed the walls, just like it did when Kei’s people tortured others down here for information, or for simply failing to follow suit. Dickie stumbled backwards, his grimy hair thrown into his face and he fell to the floor, stumbling.

Finn stared on in shock for a full thirty seconds before he looked between the squirming man on the floor and his brother, who simply stared at his own bloody hands in his own form of stupor. “What the FUCK did you do?!” He finally yelled, leaping forward and reaching down for his brother’s body.

I don’t…I just…he’s a fucking parasite…I…I….” Dickie stuttered over his own words.

We don’t kill a fucking Yakuza member in their own fucking house!!” Finn snarled, pulling him back while kicking the knife away from him. “The fuck are you, an idiot?! Goddammit!

I’m sorry, I just…

Just what, lost your fucking brain somewhere in Cambodia?

He wanted me to fucking kill you!” He swore, and Finn stopped, looking at him with widened eyes. “I…I don’t know. He just kept saying nothing was going to go right unless you were out of the picture, and if I wanted to attain…I don’t fuckin’ know, greatness or capability or whatever the fuck, I had to get rid of the problem, and the problem was you.” Dickie looked up at him with the same pleading eyes he’d given his friends when they found out he’d tried to slit his wrists for stupid reasons. “I couldn’t…I....

So you killed him instead?!

Well, it gets rid of the problem!

You…imbecile…” Kei sputtered from the floor, and rolled onto his stomach. He looked at Finn and he looked at Dickie with a venomous expression of betrayal. His eyes fell on Finn, and he crawled to his feet and launched himself at the Seattle Saint. Of course, all of this took two seconds to happen, and Finn wasn’t prepared. A fist came down into his face, though it was not with much force. However, the heavy body of the Japanese man nearly being dead weight caused him to struggle to fight back, though he tried to blockade himself from getting hit anymore by the man. Blood spattered his clothes, his hands. Anywhere Kei touched.

Until he felt the warm spatter of blood across his face as the knife he’d kicked away was suddenly in the neck of the Japanese man. Kei Hideshima fell to the floor, holding a weak hand to his neck, before the life faded from his eyes. Finn scrambled to a sitting position and then looked up at Dickie, whose hand was trembling.

I’m sorry…

A thud of raucous footsteps sounded behind the door, and a few of Kei’s men arrived. They took a look at the scene and then looked at Dickie. His hands carried the blood of their leader, and everyone knew it. Finn’s breath froze in his chest. They could do one of two things…and one of them would be a death sentence for both of them.



Finn rose to his feet and moved past Kayla, who seemed shocked at the story just as much as he was. Finn shook his head. “They accepted his murder as a play for power.” He explained, heading out into the main room with Kayla following him. “Kei is dead. Dickie reigns. This whole night has been fucked up beyond belief.


••••••

But what is the significance of the word “evergreen”?

Evergreen, Goth, symbolizes immortality and eternal life simply because their leaves continue to stay green through the entirety of winter. It’s why the pagans of the ancient world chose them during the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year. And why the German Christians chose the Yule Tree. Everything dates back religiously to a pagan element, so why would this not be the same?

Immortality.

Eternal life.

Life and hope.

Growth.

These are all things that are representative of “evergreen”.

Throughout my tenure as a wrestler, there are things that I have done that have solidified my status at this point. I have won tournaments that no one thought I would place. I have been inaugural champion, and I have fought wars that you cannot even comprehend. My entire life has been a jumbled and chaotic mess, and what have I done time and time again except for stay eternally within the bounds of the top? Every company I join, I eventually find myself just a few matches in and I am suddenly the face of it, the man who can do nothing more than rise and rise again.

This isn’t because I’m given the world, and I am given a chance after chance. You see, ninety-five percent of the time, I’ve had to prove myself to the brass so they know just what I can and cannot do. I didn’t start out in this business the best – no, I fought for it. I’ve been a part of battles that you could never win because you don’t have the strength inside of you to pull it out of you, to become better, to fight for the things that matter. You already believe that they are yours by rights, and you haven’t had to contest for them the way I have.

I have fought friends.

I have fought with my family.

I have fought foes that would wipe the floor with your resurrected Christ carcass and I have succeeded and come out on top.

I am evergreen, because no matter what I do – if I slip and make a mistake and lose, I come right back again like an elastic band. I don’t search for redemption because I don’t need it. I don’t seek an end because I’ve still only just begun. This business is cutthroat and brutal, and the smallest amount of weakness you show, anyone will chomp down on your throat to say they’re better than you.

Eventually, the sun sets for all of us. One day, my bones may creak and my muscles may ache, and upon that day I will sit there and tell everyone that it is time that I ride off into the sunset and I’ll actually mean it. I have weathered emotional hurts, fought demons that no one can see, and yet I still ride without the thought of an accolade. I don’t do this sport to have a title attached to my name, or a list of laurels that show me as a competitor. You can have a list ten miles wide of things you have done, but ultimately mean nothing to the world once you’re gone. After all, it only cements some kind of credibility if you believe the places you’ve succeeded are credible.

I don’t know about you, but I think the fact that I am here again in such a short time says more than you would think.

The last time you won this championship, Goth, was over ten years ago. You held it for a total of sixty-three days after you hot potato’d it twice, both extremely short reigns. I won’t be a hypocrite and say my first reign was any better…thirty-five days, and I fucked it up because…well, I didn’t seem to give a shit before. I’ve held this out of your grasp now for fifty-three days alone as of today.

It has taken you ten years to get to this precipice again, and you’ve gotten a second shot in fifty-three days.

You said you were the best to face J2H, but ten years in the making doesn’t make you the prodigal son. It makes you look like you are being handed a dowry that you don’t fucking deserve.

Time and time again, you’ve tried to attain this championship. Only to have failed over and over again because in the end, you’re actually scared of what you’ll have left. Oh, you can sit there and tell me that you’ll try to be a fighting champion and that you’ll put some kind of legacy out there…but what happens when the thing you have been chasing for years is finally yours?

You lose your interest. Just like you did before. You were incapable of maintaining a defense and now, you think it will be any different? That you’ve finally become what you think you need to be for this championship?

Absolutely not.

It is the same tried tryst, a story about what you never had and the only thing left you have to acquire to mean something. If you’re going to put so much stock into a championship, you’ve already lost. Because it’s not about the championship itself. No, that is just an inanimate object set to show a placement in the stash. It doesn’t mean anything if the man holding it means nothing.

Paint yourself as Moses or the Messiah or whoever the fuck you want to stylize yourself to be in order to set yourself apart from the others but I want you to remember this loud and clear.

I am Finn Fucking Whelan, and I don’t need to paint myself as anyone other than who I am to strike hesitance in anyone that will come across me.

I am synonymous with greatness. Synonymous with the everlasting.

And I don’t need to blaspheme anything to get ahead. Go ahead. Try your luck.

Just don’t come crying to me when you come out disappointed.


••••••


I don’t know what this means,” Finn muttered, sitting on the couch and looking at the confused expression on Kayla’s face. “I don’t know what comes of all of this and I don’t know what I can do about any of it.

Dickie…Dickie runs a fucking Yakuza clan?” She sputtered, dropping down next to him once more and looking out the window onto the darkened streets of the city. Her posters seemed to stare down at the two of them, waiting for them to converse, to finally have it out and figure out what their standing was. The television was on low, a monotonous tone that at least drowned out the beating of both of their hearts. She inhaled, and then she turned to look at him. “Do you think he’s going to make that beta male dingo his underling? Because it’ll go up in flames if he does.

He couldn’t help it. He snorted and then laughed, loudly. Raucously. Like he hadn’t laughed in days and the sound of it finally lifted some chokehold on his body. She snickered slightly, and then, too began to laugh. It sounded in harmony and as if peace was near them. Like the thought of their lives having been fraught with so much and now there was the calm before the storm, a time where they could simply exist. And so they laughed.

And laughed.

Until they couldn’t anymore, gasping for breath and shaking their heads.

Once he came back to reality and the amusement faded, he leaned forward on his elbows, resting them upon his knees and looked at her. Really looked at her. Her looked at her black hair, glossy in the dim light, and her brown-green eyes, and her face. Looked at the smile she still had as she wiped a tear from her laughter away and then realized he was no longer laughing with her. He smiled, and without the hesitation he might have had barely a week ago, he cupped her cheek in his hand.

She didn’t try to block him. Didn’t try to swipe his hand away. Her smile faded and her brow furrowed.

I love you.” Finn said, quite sure of himself. Maybe it was because of the night’s events, or maybe it had simply been something that needed to be said, but out of his lips it came and there was no taking it back. But nevertheless, it was true, and it had been put out there. When her lips parted, he shook his head. “Unless you’re calling me a dickhead bitch, then I don’t want to hear anything else.

Finn.

Think about it.” He cut her off. “We’re tag team partners, and I may not show it at the best of times, but I care, Kayla. I don’t want to fuck us up. So think about it. Think about if you want to be involved in…” he waved his hand upwards, and shook his head, finally looking away from her, “this. This shit with my family. And if you don’t…well, then I get it. But think about it. And tell me when you’re ready.

He rose to his feet and smiled slightly, before taking a step around the corner of the sofa and heading for the door.

Everything would be changed. Maybe for the good, and maybe for the bad, but sometimes…

…to be unyielding and stay strong and true through all of the trials and tribulations of life were what it truly meant to be evergreen.

18
PARADIGM SHIFT XVI // PEACOCK SKELETON WITH CROOKED FEATHERS
IF TUXEDOS SLITHER OFF CORPSES, AND COPULATE WILD ON WEDDING CAKE AND THE PRIEST STARTS SNAPPING PHOTOS? THERE’S A PEACOCK ON YOUR SHOULDER, DANCING AROUND YOUR NECK, RECITING THE BOOK OF REVELATION.
THE BLOOD BROTHERS


••••••

Immediately after XV: MANIC


The blinding sun bounced off the off-white pavement outside Wolfslair. It wasn’t quite as crowded as it was in the inner city here, but it still was too populated for him to be happy. He didn’t bother going to the office, choosing instead to just turn on his heels and walk out. Wolfslair was done. He was no longer welcome, and it didn’t take much to realize that. As much as it should have been easy for him to leave them all behind, he felt a pang of guilt settle within his stomach. It was only sickeningly replaced a moment later by a pang of terror that he hadn’t felt in a long, long time.

Without their backing, he was alone.

Alone in the wrestling world, one that he’d barely made it back into anyway without the world trying to shove him down. Certainly, he had a tag team partner, but it wasn’t as if he wanted to make his sins her own.

She didn’t need to be involved. She didn’t need to be part of this at all. She’d dealt with her own fuckery in her life, she didn’t need his as well. Stay professional. Stay calm. Or rather…perhaps they were all involved now. All of them. All of Wolfslair had been embroiled in his bullshit with Dickie and Kei, and any of them could have been injured beyond repair today. The Yakuza had mobilized against him, and in turn, against his peers and potential friendships. There was no guaranteeing that Kei wouldn’t show up during his absence, and do exactly as he’d threatened previously.

And all their deaths would be on his hands.

No, Kei was after him, and he was going after things that would hurt him. The gym was no longer in danger if Finn was no longer part of it.

Perhaps it was better to be alone.

He took the hood on his vest and pulled it up over his head, tucking himself into the dark sanctuary it provided. The shades he’d shoved over his eyes at least obscured his identity to passersby, and he wasn’t really concerned with seeing other people or fans. Just the fucking people he’d aligned with so long ago and now attempted to scorn to the best of his ability.

He made his way down the street, planning on walking the fourteen blocks back to his brownstone complex, up the stairs and pack a bag to get the hell out of dodge. He knew he’d have some defense for the championships coming up – one of them being with Kayla, but that seemed so far out of left field in his continually disrupted life right now. Finn just had to make it home without an incident. He had half a mind to pull out his phone, open the Southwest app and book a plane ticket for that night.

Wait!

He heard the chime of the bells that signaled movement out the door and her voice. He stopped in his tracks, staring upwards for a moment and then turning his head. Kayla looked frantically in both directions and then directly at him, catching his gaze despite the barrier of his shades. She clenched her fists and she stomped towards him, her jaw clenching down.

That prick Alex can’t just kick you out!” She started as she approached him. “The Yakuza came to you–

The what?” Finn blanched. When the hell had she figured that out? Kayla was smart, and maybe it was because all of the invaders had been Japanese, but he doubted that was it.

The Yakuza. They came after you, and now they’re just stringing you out to fend for yourself? That’s not a team. That’s not teamwork.” Kayla’s voice was more frantic than he’d ever heard it, her accent strongly giving away her emotions that she readily kept sealed. She looked at him and she narrowed her eyes. “I’m not stupid, Finn. I know what I’m seeing.” She took a step forward, and it seemed that she wanted to reach out for his hand. But Finn took a step back.

That pang in his stomach of terror seemed to now grab it in full and start to twist it heinously.

Don’t, Kayla. Just don’t.

But I can help you. It’s not like I haven’t  been a part of something similar in the past, and I can–

Absolutely not.

But I can help!

Don’t get involved!

Look, I’ve dealt with things like this. It’s never been this fucking ridiculous, and you can’t do this alone. If it’s as bad as it looks, you’re going to need help.

Finn’s fingers clenched into the palm of his hand as he tightened his fists and shook his head. He knew Kayla was stubborn. He knew she wasn’t going to stand down. But still, he grit his teeth and he shook his head. She couldn’t be a part of this. She couldn’t be hurt because of him, he wouldn’t allow it. Part of him wanted her by his side, and as always, in all things. But he couldn’t. They couldn’t.

I’m not begging to help you, but I am begging you not to do this alone.” And he heard it: the sound of her pleas, something he’d never heard her get to. She cared. He knew she cared. Kayla wouldn’t beg anyone for anything, and here she was, doing just that so he didn’t go into something that he might not come back from. No amount of hiding behind a facade could change the tone in her voice, the way she clenched her own fists to plead with him to let her be a part of this. “Please…

He grit his teeth, and he looked down at the ground, inhaling a long breath. Every part of his being didn’t want to be alone in this. He’d gotten used to having people – his people – around him, and now because of this, they were viciously ripped from his grasp. But he couldn’t risk her.

You’re overstepping,” he snapped. “I don’t need your help, Kayla. I don’t need you to be a part of this. What, do you think I can’t handle this alone?

Well,” she paused, and then she nodded slowly, “I…yes?

Finn’s lip curled and he almost screamed at her on the street. “I have been alone in all of this since it started ten years ago! I have handled it for all this time, like I handled every hit that asshole swung at me in his service. It became easy, you know, getting rid of the trash. He created me to be who I am, Kayla! And you? How the fuck can you help me?” He hoped he was being vicious enough to get her to change her mind. “This isn’t a wrestling match, and if I’m not mistaken, it was the two of us that agreed that this was going to be a professional wrestling partnership. We are tag partners. That is it!

They stared at each other, Finn with muted fury. But that fury almost softened when he saw the hurt expression that flashed behind Kayla’s eyes for just a millisecond of a moment. He didn’t have to be an asshole, but that’s the only way it seemed like he could communicate with her in any serious manner. He had to be a dick. He had to be unkind so she would back the hell off.

She threw her hands up into the air and let out a raucous Fine!”, before cocking her hip to the side and shaking her head. “Well fuck you too then! See if I give a shit–

And then she turned her body completely away from him and heading back into the gym. Finn held his breath for a moment, and then he let out a long sigh. That damaged their relationship, and he knew it, but he couldn’t.



••••••

It was silent, and that’s how he liked it lately. No dramatics, no problems. For nearly two weeks since he and Kayla retained the championships, Finn had made his way back to Dillon, Colorado. It was a small town – didn’t even have a Walmart – within the mountain range where the Breckenridge Ski Two was just a few miles south. He owned a house here, a gift provided to him by a lawyer when his divorce went bottom up. It was empty most of the year, and only occupied when he was traveling through. Or in circumstances like these.

The only sound was the birds chirping in the finally warm morning as he sat outside on the deck, overlooking the lake in the scenery. Coffee was needed this morning, as the sun rose. Perhaps he would go for a run, then head down into the household gym to continue training for his match. Never a day off, even if he wasn’t with Wolfslair, or showing his face on camera. There were always going to be people saying shit, but he didn’t really particularly care.

He never really did. It was easy to respond to bullshit.

Finnnnnn~

He slammed his eyes shut. He heard the clicks of her Louboutins as she approached and opened the sliding glass door. He turned his head and looked at her colourful hair, pulled up into a high ponytail. Her jeans were ripped and her hoodie didn’t really match the heels, but he knew Aaron loved wearing them.

What do you want, Jezebel?

I tried to check your apartment, but of course, you weren’t there.” She rolled her eyes, walking to the railing of the deck and looking ahead. She brushed off his insult with ease. “So I thought about how well I know you, and remembered that you isolate yourself more than a bear in hibernation, so here I am.

Here I am,” he confirmed, rolling his eyes.

You want to tell me what’s going on with Kei?” She turned her head and looked at him then, raising her eyebrow.

Finn hesitated. It was hard to talk to anyone about the crime world that was the Yakuza. But Aaron was there for all of it. All of it.

He wants to run the family all on his own and take it from Hideyaki. And he’s been trying to recruit me to do it.” He replied, setting his feet on the floor and leaning over the chair.

And Dimitri?

Dickie was a moron and went to him to learn how to stand on his own. Now he’s just a peon, and he doesn’t know how to get out of it. He seems to believe that it’s easier to just follow. I don’t know,” he shook his head. “Kid’s head is thicker than mine.

Which is mighty thick,” Aaron turned and sat down across from him, crossing her leg and looking at him. “You’re still such a fucking dunce about Kayla too, but then again…you never did well with relationships. I pushed most of the relationship myself, I suppose.

Finn titled his head and then looked upwards at the blue sky, shaking his head. This is what it was going to be about?

Yeah well–

No, really.” Aaron crossed her arms. “The fact that she’s the one that ran after you after all of that and you still reject–

To keep her safe, Aaron!” He snapped. “She’s had enough bullshit in her past that she doesn’t need mine, and you know what Kei will do. Or did you forget?

Aaron’s face soured. A car accident as she was weaving down the mountain pass had been caused, ultimately, by Kei’s hand. He’d been afraid that Finn would stop paying attention to his career, so he orchestrated an accident that Aaron had survived…but their unborn twins? That was a different story. There was so much damage that they were stillborn. Their relationship suffered from that minute forward.

I haven’t. But…this is different. She wants to be by your side on this, and accepts the situation just as much as I did.” She held up her hand as Finn opened his mouth to retort. “Look, you have a woman who is willing to go into fire with you and since you’re a fucking dunderbutt, I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to tell you she’s in love with you. Or at least, I think she is. And as much as it hurts me to know that, I honestly think that you two would work together far better than anyone else. You guys could be the top of the company after this next show, and what would that be like if you were also linked hand in hand?

Aaron…

You’d be better together than apart, especially if Kei is involved. And don’t be an idiot, Finn. You’re not as secretive as you think. Even Kallie knows you love her, and she’s missing a few brain cells. Just fucking give up and try.

Finn sighed and looked at the floor.

Maybe she was right.

Maybe they would be better together.


••••••

Do you know what I like about peacocks? Besides the fact that they’re just completely vibrant, and their plumage is probably the most unique from bird to bird, they seem to walk to the beat of their own drum. Find them in a zoo, and they’re ignoring everyone around them because they know where they stand in the hierarchy. They walk alone, they exist alone, and they take what they can get.

Throughout the world, they’re two fold in their presentation of symbolism.  The obvious of all these is beauty, and yet, vanity. Like the phoenix, they symbolize rebirth, but also so much pride that could cause downfall. In some cultures, they’re considered the symbol of masculinity and confidence. But there’s one piece that they represent so fluidly that some forget to remember it exists.

Peacocks have been known in some cultures to represent prophecy.

Prophecy.

The circular eyes embedded within their plumage represent the all-knowing eye of God. But not only this, the Book of Revelation goes as far as to describe the seraphim and the cherubim – you know, the fuckin’ angels – as beings with many eyes all over their wings. They are considered in later literature, of course, to be the divine messengers…and they alone provide the prophetical notions littered all over the Bible.

Prophecy.

A peacock may stand for beauty, vanity, sin, pride, rebirth and prophecy. I’m sure immortality and a bunch of other options are interlaid within research, but I think it’s important to point out that a peacock is…well…a good fucking representation of me.

I’m prophetic in a way. I point out the shit that’s going to happen, and while ninety-five percent of me is just pointing out the truth of the matter, there’s a part that makes me think that I truly am focused on and know what’s going to happen.  Do you know why that is? Could you even begin to guess?

Because everything that happens in the future is determined by the past.

And in the past, it was me with my hand raised. Me, with the belt in my hand, me…with the thing you covet the most.

When I became the World Heavyweight Champion of Sin City Wrestling for the second time, I made a promise that I would defend this championship with everything in my bones. Just like I have the Mixed Tag Championship…and look how long that’s been in my hands now. With Kayla at my side, we’ll be holding the championships as long as the longest reigning champions…and that’s about to just continue on and on. When we make promises, we tend to keep them.

And I made a promise that I was going to hold on this one for a while, no matter how many pissants on the outside want to proclaim falsities and lowbrau hits because they’re not worth the fucking time put in.

Now, when I was told that I was going to be defending the championship against the same person that I won it from, I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. You see, I was expecting people to come out of the woodwork, seeing that the last time I held this championship, it was a little less than fifty days I held it, and I lost it in my first defense. An easy shot, right? So easy…

Or maybe they didn’t because I’m not the same person I was nearly two years ago when I won it the first time. No. Every time I come back into this world, I become a little better, a little more bitter, and a little more annoyed than I was the last time. I watched this championship hot potato over and over, from J2H to Michael Harris, and watched people constantly get the same fucking shots while doing nothing to capitalize on their own luck. I watched it hot potato from Mac Bane and Ken Davison, men who didn’t fucking deserve the championship. Lack of effort, lack of presence.

Oh, believe me, I know how much of a hypocrite I sound like here, but at the end of the day, no one wanted to show their face for a shot at this championship…and so I have you, Goth. Again.

How many shots have you had now to gain this championship? How many times will you be reborn over and over again, be like that Daft Punk song about being harder, faster, better, stronger? Because at this rate, it is an overdone script again and again. Fail, fall apart, get cheap matches to build you up and then attempt to rise again. It’s getting old, tried, and not even relevant to being true.

It was you who said you didn’t tolerate failure. It was you who said that it has made you a bitter man, because here you stand, unable to face me without trying to poke a bear that isn’t even bothered by your bullshit. Telling me that I don’t have it in me to prove you wrong, because…well, you never really gave a reason.

I don’t believe you about retirement, though. After all, you sat there telling me that you were training for facing J2H, not even remotely looking for any other competitors…so does that make you not a man of your word? That you’re planning on retirement now if you can’t get the fucking championship? Wasn’t it you who literally not two months ago that used the fact that you weren’t any other fucking’ cry baby who didn’t get what he wanted and you just proved everyone wrong.

Let me tell you something, Goth.

No one gives a shit.

No one gives a rats ass about anyone but themselves, and I’m not being facetious in this world because – let me tell you something a little further – no one gives a flying fuck about my legacy either. Right now, I’m just the little bitch that won the big one and if history repeats itself, it’ll be out of my hands pretty soon. But here’s the thing. I do prove everyone wrong. I proved Miles wrong. I proved Limitless wrong. I proved this whole fucking company wrong that I would be gone in just a few shows like I had in the past.

Tell me when, though, that I’ve been wrong and I haven’t proved everyone wrong? I’m not a liar, Goth. But you?

That’s all you do, and you lie. You spit shit out into the wind and you hope that it’ll fall and work somehow in your favor. For example, you have a win over me…congratulations, from 2020. I’ve beaten you twice if we’re counting. But I don’t make it a habit to count wins when at the end of the day, the amount doesn’t matter. It’s the fact that when you beat me, I didn’t give a shit. But the fact that I’ve beaten you?

You can’t fucking stand it.

It eats at you inside, spreading through your bones and making you feel like you’re worth nothing. You spent so long telling me that I’m in your ring, your domain, and you ended up with fucking egg on your face because you spent time telling me I was worthless. Are you going to do it again? Tell me that I have no fucking clue what I’m walking into and that you’re going to make me have a shitty time like you did to Justin Smith?

Are you going to underestimate me again?

What was it that you told me that I was going to be able to do last time? Oh. That’s right. Absolutely fucking nothing.

Well, how’s that looking now?

Between you and me, I’m tired of your pedantics. In my opinion, you don’t deserve to be up here again, getting another fucking golden opportunity when you have failed time and time again to even get to the top. You should have started at the bottom of the bottom, facing Barnhart, Kasey, Vaughn, the entire field that they stacked against the both of us, and earned your way up here. But that’s not the case, and here you stand.

I’m not underestimating you, Goth. I know what it’s like to want to prove someone – EVERYONE – wrong.

But I made a promise to myself. Fuck everyone else, to myself, that I would do everything in my power to retain.

So here is my prophecy, Goth. You’re going to fight. You’re going to do your best because that is what you do. I believe in that.

It’s just that your best is no longer good enough.

And word to the wise? Watch what you say this coming week.

You’ll never know how the snakes start to sing.
 

••••••


It’d been two weeks since his last conversation with Kayla. Except for the match, they hadn’t interacted, and that was probably best. Perhaps it had been enough time, now, for her to have calmed down. To not want to claw out his eyes when she saw him standing on her doorstep, a place that was coveted and far, far away from him. It had taken three Dax babysitting arrangements and a promise to buy a case of Aphmau MeeMeows Mystery Plushes for her before Kallie would give up the location of the apartment, but he knew eventually, she would break for a price. He didn’t understand why the price was a bunch of stuffed animals, but that was an Aiden problem.

He reached over and rang the small doorbell that rang loudly in her apartment. There was a shuffle, and then…she was there, standing in front of him with a raised eyebrow that quickly turned into a glare.

Hi.” He waved slightly, giving her an awkward half-smile.

The fuck do you want?

So she hadn’t thawed just yet. Good to know.

Do you have a couple of minutes to talk?” He asked, trying to maintain some form of civility between them. He wanted to tell her all the things – how much he actually was in love with her, that he’d fucked it up by being a blowhard and he knew it, and the whole Emily problem was simply because he thought she didn’t want him. That it was hard being in her proximity and not saying what was on his mind, but trying to do so because he thought she was the one who didn’t give any shits.

She hesitated for a moment, as if she didn’t want him invading her space. But nevertheless, she opened the door and allowed him inside, stepping off to the side to let him in. He noted that she was in a pair of gray sweatpants that were low on her hips and a tank top, and her feet were bare. She must have been relaxing, or lounging.

He noted her apartment seemed very much like her. Band posters, gothic furniture – the things that she would have put in his house if he’d allowed it. But even at the same time, he felt that it seemed like it was empty. Like she could pack all of it up in one night and then be gone in the morning. She headed towards the couch and flopped onto it, pulling her legs up and wrapping her arms around them.

Finn followed, and then looked at the empty spot on the couch. He didn’t take a seat, but looked at her. “Can I?

She waved him on, nodding slightly, and he sat down on the opposite cushion, his feet pressed against the floor. He leaned forward and clasped his hands together. “I think we need to talk about us.

Kayla raised her eyebrow, and seemed to hug herself tighter. “You’ve been pretty clea–

No.” He shook his head. “Please. Let me finish and then you can snap at me, okay? I didn’t come here to give you another speech about how we’re only tag partners…etcetera, etcetera. We can’t keep skirting around a fucked up issue. If we’re being honest, I…” he hesitated, and then inhaled and exhaled, letting it out. Keeping it in for any longer was going to kill him, and his friendship. Hell, this may even kill his friendship as well. “I fucked up.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        And I own that.

Her expression changed ever so slightly, from slight surprise to feigned confusion. She didn’t say anything, so Finn continued on.

Look. Two Christmases ago, I made a boneheaded assumption that you didn’t want to be anything more than friends. I didn’t take into account the fact that you fell asleep in my proximity,” she opened her mouth but Finn held up his hand and continued, “was that you felt most comfortable around me. So yes, I tried to forget you and maintain this friendship of ours while messing around with others. It wasn’t the right decision, and I’m sorry that I hurt you.

She clutched tighter to her legs but he could see her jaw was set. She was trying to not let him have it.

I’m sorry,” he added, “as well for the most recent bullshit. I’m rarely straightforward because past experiences have taught me that when I open my mouth about how I feel, it often comes back to bite me in the ass. But all this shit with the Yakuza…” he shook his head slowly, looking down at the floor, “I’ve already got Dickie embroiled in this, I can’t have you part of it too. You don’t know Kei, and you don’t know the actions he’s taken to get himself where he is today. He uses everyone I care about against me, and I…can’t stand the thought of losing you because of him either.

Kayla’s lashes lowered, and she looked down at the floor along with him for a moment. A second later, she looked up at him and asked with a small voice that was unlike any he’d heard come from her before, “Losing me…?

Losing you.” He affirmed, and he wanted to reach out and clasp her hand in his own. But he didn’t. He tilted his head though and then smirked slightly. “You know why, right?

She opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by the sound of Finn’s phone, a familiar ringtone signaling the call of an important person in his life. She pursed her lips together as he swore, apologized, and then grabbed it from his pocket to look at the text it brought along with its arrival. A moment later, she watched as he went pale. “What is it?” She asked, not at all hesitant.

It’s Dickie.” He sighed slowly, his body temperature dropping and his heartbeat rising. “Kei’s decided to use the only bait he has to worm me out…

19
Climax Control Archives / PARADIGM SHIFT XV // MANIC
« on: March 15, 2024, 11:34:56 PM »
PARADIGM SHIFT XV // MANIC
FEAR HITS LIKE A DRUG IN THE VEIN, HARD TO STOP LIKE A RUNAWAY TRAIN. LOOK AROUND, BUT THERE’S NOBODY TO BLAME. OH, WHAT A SHAME.
WAGE WAR






••••••


The cheers of the crowd never got old, especially when you’d won the big one. As he pushed the curtain upwards and let it fall behind him, a grin slid upon his face. Two championships. Double champion. The words that people uttered to him the entire time about being selfish, about not trying to ascertain glory by only having one championship…

Well. Fuck what they said, right?

Finn Whelan wasn’t selfish, by any means; but he certainly was competitive. Things like championships only became a factor when they became part of a game. The game this time? Proving himself. Not only to everyone else who sat there and berated him for being who he was, for willing to work with a tag partner who didn’t like nor want him around, for being infinitely observant, and for having a brain when so many people in this business didn’t. For having to listen to bitches on the other side of the aisle who would never amount to what they were, or what he was.

Go cry about it.

There was a part inside of him that had he had long since buried that crept up every once and a while when there was a celebration to be had. A part of him that wanted to seek out Kayla, find her wherever she was in the back and…well, there were no words that he could use to continue that thought. It was part that wouldn’t see the light of day, so he swallowed his feeling and pushed back into the arena. A few of the production staff clapped him on the back, and eventually, he knew he’d see either Christian or Mark before he left for the night.  They would no doubt congratulate him on a second win of the championship, but somehow, he felt that might be a hollow victory.

A cleared throat behind him as he headed down the long hallway to the locker rooms made him stop, close his eyes, and then turn his head, looking behind him with an annoyed expression. He knew the voice; in fact, he knew it so well, he was actually surprised that he’d dare to show his face tonight. Finn exhaled, and moved his whole body in the direction of the sound. Perched upon a production box, an eyebrow raised, was Kei Hideshima. How he got backstage?

He had his ways.

He raised his hands and started clapping, slowly. Finn hiked the World Championship on his shoulder and held onto the Mixed title with his other hand, staring the Japanese man down with contempt across the entirety of his face.

Kyodai,” he smiled through his words, though Finn knew the tone and the phrase far too well. Little brother, he called him. He wanted something, that was for certain. “Congratulations on the championship win. We all knew you could do it.

See, Finn had gotten into a habit of not opening his mouth unless it was required. Too many times, he’d gotten himself in shit for mouthing off, and tonight wasn’t going to be one of those nights. He was in too much of a good mood to let it be sullied by a man who continually couldn’t take no as an answer. He tilted his head and nodded, refusing to say thank you. It wouldn’t serve a purpose except for allow pride go to Kei’s head.

Nevertheless, Kei continued on, stepping down off of the box and standing face-to-face with Finn, just mere feet away. “A large shame it was only because of business.

Finn’s eyes narrowed.

You know, some money may have changed hands in a trade. A quick count for the ending, you know…keeping down a monster wrestler like Goth…

Finn knew what this was. This was Kei trying to manipulate the situation into something that it wasn’t – that he’d paid off the referee to count him as the winner, that he had a hand in Sin City business. But he didn’t, and Finn wasn’t stupid enough to believe that. He exhaled slowly out of his mouth, trying to keep his temper in check. It would do nothing for him if he snapped.

That is how things go in this business. The best win because they use their resources prominently. You do not have to thank me, Callien…I just hope you can look past your shortcomings and pride to realize that as a team once more, we could take this world by storm. Think about how strong you could be. You could have whatever you wanted.

Finn’s eyebrow raised and he tilted his head to the side. “Whatever I want?” He repeated, slowly. Smoothly. Deadly.

Whatever–

Funny, because I stand in front of you with two championships that I earned on my own. I don’t buy your claim that you had anything to do with this, because guess what – you and I both know that you wouldn’t have spent a dime on me if it meant that I could rebuff you. Which, let me remind you, is over and over and over again.

Now, Finn–

How many times do I have to say no? How many times is it going to be before you realize that even though you can wheedle my brother out of his freewill doesn’t mean that you will ever have that chance to do it again. I have the Mixed Tag Team Championships because Kayla and I worked our asses off for them. This one? I have because I was the better man tonight, and you can’t tell me otherwise. I don’t need manipulation and bullshit tactics to win everything I want. I’ve already made every fucking step that I’ve needed to be successful and they do not include you.

Kei said nothing, but a slight smile raised at the corners of his lips. He let the American Irishman snap off on him, his speech flowing to an Irish brogue as he got more agitated. The calm facade that he kept on most occasions snapped off. It probably wasn’t good that Kei could still do that, but nevertheless, it happened.

Ever since I dropped your ass, I have done nothing but flourish. With you, I kept failing miserably; you were an atomic bomb on my career, my standing, and my wellbeing. I don’t need you, Kei. Clearly, you still need me but the fucking option isn’t there. For the last fucking time, stop showing up, stop trying to get me to work with you, and for fuck’s sake, stop acting like a jilted lover who needs me more than I will ever need you.

He turned then, walking away from him with solidified steps. He didn’t bother looking behind him, only stared directly ahead of him, watching where he was walking with grit teeth and anger in his features. He was tired of this. Tired of people like him and Aaron who constantly pushed themselves into his space, refusing to back off when asked. Tired of being persuaded to do something that he didn’t want to. Dickie had very little ability to say no to anyone, but not him. He was done with this shit.

You will regret this, Callien.

Finn didn’t bother to respond.


••••••


Kei didn’t show up for the next couple of weeks, and finally, Finn felt he’d taken control of the situation and finally got through to his brain. The Seattle Saint went through the motions at Wolfslair, being celebrated for returning with the championship in his hands, congratulated even by Alex Jones, who continued to despise his presence on most days, but couldn’t deny that the gold looked good for the gym. And that it did. Dual championships, returning wrestlers to the scene, wins across the board, and even Aiden with his tie with someone like Ben Jordan, the team was doing wonderful things.

It was a quiet day for the most part. He sat in his office, like he did on most occasions that we found him. Finn wasn’t an extrovert, and he preferred to be behind the scenes, reviewing people’s promotional videos and trying to figure out how to help them bring out their own style while simultaneously hitting the weaknesses of their opponent hard. It was easy to do when once he knew who everyone was and how they approached things. Now, most of them simply wanted a review rather than a full class.

He looked up every so often, glancing out the window of his office onto the floor. From his spot, he could see Austin training with Alicia in the ring, Alex on the apron barking orders at both of them. Johanna and Kallie were seated at one of the open areas with Aaron, completing some yoga positions. Kayla was there with them, and she was rolling her eyes entirely at all of the options – that she was even doing yoga, and that she was listening to, of all people, Aaron. He could see her expression quite clearly, and he knew it well.

Aiden was standing far off at the weights, probably forlornly missing his best friend still. Finn still needed to solve that.

All and all, it was quiet. It was peaceful. It was a regular day.

Until it wasn’t.

Chaos ensued quicker than anyone could have ever expected. Weapons, assault rifles, held tightly to chests as they descended, men wearing masks appeared out of nooks and crannies that no one had even been aware of. Also the front door, where someone had grabbed Sonja and was dragging her with them, though she valiantly was stabbing them in the chest with her elbow.

Kei followed them in, and behind him trudged a very hesitant and very quiet Dickie Watson, who did not look at all comfortable with any of this.

He stood at the entryway, his arms crossed as he surveyed all of the people within the building. He noted Aiden, who was staring at Dickie like a long lost puppy dog returned home, though that expression was quickly covered with fear as one of the lackey’s Kei had pointed one of the rifles at him. Kallie scrambled up behind Johanna and Kayla, the latter of which had her eyes narrowed as she stared at the Japanese man with an intense amount of venom within her features. Aaron rose to her feet, and then snapped at the man who had the audacity to point a gun at her in Japanese.

Alex, Austin and Alicia were all struck dumb by the now three men who surrounded the ring with their weapons. At least until Alex realized Sonja was in the hands of someone else, and he moved towards them – only to be stopped with a muzzle pointed directly in his face.

Kei looked around at the equipment, raised an eyebrow, and then commented. “Kono jimu ga hoshī.” He demanded, stating that he wanted the gym. He looked at Dickie, who seemed to pale in front of his eyes. “Get rid of–

A bullet went whizzing past his head before he could issue the statement. He paused, and then he turned his head, looking at the man across from him, a gun with a silencer raised, directly pointed in his direction. Kei smirked slightly, although he could have also been praising Finn for not killing him.

That’s unfortunate,” Finn snapped, staring down the end of the gun in his hands. “I don’t think it’s for sale.

Finnegan,” Kei smiled, recovering from the fact that he was shot at, raised his hands from his crossed arms and bowed slightly. “It is lovely to see you again.

The sentiment isn’t returned.” Finn stated, and though Kei was raising his hands in surrender, he didn’t bother lowering the weapon. Kayla’s eyes were widened as she stared up at him, as if she were seeing someone that she didn’t even recognize. “You have two minutes before the wall behind you is spattered in your brain matter.

Kei chuckled, “But it is so beneath you now, is it not? Taking someone’s life? It was so easy to do, especially when asked. And what was it you received in return? Confidence, training, strength, things that you always lacked in yourself. For the mere contract to be completed as my second.

Finn’s lip twitched. This was what he meant, he thought, when he said I’d regret it. In front of all of his friends, his confidants, his teammates, Kei was outing him for what he had been, for what he’d left behind so many years ago. Six years, he hadn’t been a part of Kei’s schemes, and now here he was.

Aiden’s eyes fell upon Kei, and he tilted his head as if he recognized him. He glanced at Finn. “Oi, mate…” He started, but was hit in the stomach with the butt of the rifle that the man next to him held. “Ah, fuck…

That was a long time ago, Kei. A long time ago since you’ve had a right hand, and now you’re using Dickie for that, which has been harder for you because he’s softer than I am. You, of all people in this room, know what I’m capable of, and what I will do to protect the people I care about.

The people you care about?” Kei questioned, looking at everyone. “You mean to tell me you care about Alex Jones, the man who single-handedly almost ruined your relationship with your sister? Or Alicia Lukas, who you’ve called McWafflecunt since the dawn of time? Or shall I bring up your dear ex-wife, Aaron, who brought you to me in the first place when you couldn’t manage to find yourself. Oh but of course, then there is Kayla–

Yes,” Finn cut him off, and his voice appeared to sound even more deadly the second he mentioned Kayla. “The people I care about.” He lowered the gun and walked down the steps, keeping his eyes focused on Kei until he stood in front of him, face to face, eye to eye. “It won’t take me but a second to break your neck.

You are a changed man now, are you not?

Old habits die hard.” Kei smirked. Finn tilted his head, glancing at Dickie briefly before looking back at the Japanese crime boss. “Or, shall we play the other game? Instead of physical intimidation, we’ll go with verbal manipulation. Shall I let Hideyaki-sama know you’re planning to overthrow him?

Kei’s smile dropped.

It’s not like I don’t have a direct line to the fucker whenever I want. Speed dial, nine.

You would not.

I would, if it meant keeping everyone in this room alive and happy. You need me, but I don’t need you, Kei and the more you do this shit means the less I’m going to continue putting up with it. Now, everyone in here has heard your plan, including all of your little lackeys, so if the info goes to the head of the family, then your ass is grass, right? And you have no fucking clue who it’s going to be, so let’s do this. We’ll forget this ever happened, and you’ll go on your merry-fucking-way, and you’ll leave me, and everyone in Wolfslair, out of your bullshit.

Kei did not look pleased with this, and he glanced around at the people around him.

Or I blow your brains out and take over your position. Cuz that’s how it goes, right? I’ve only been out of the Yakuza for six years, but I’m pretty sure I remember how to take over from my immediate superior.” Finn narrowed his eyes.

Kei exhaled through his nose, and then raised a hand, signaling to his staff to retreat. He walked backwards, keeping his eyes on Finn, and headed behind Dickie, who began to follow. Finn watched them both, and when the danger was all gone, he exhaled slowly, raising his chin to the ceiling and looking upwards.

MATE WHAT THE FUCK?!” Aiden screamed, charging up to him.

Finn raised a hand, shaking his head, and then turned back to look at Alex, who was helping Sonja to her feet. The two stared at each other, and then Finn nodded.

I’ll pack my shit.” He replied, not even waiting for Alex to say anything. His eyes floated, as he walked back to his office, and he found Kayla.

She’d come to him, weeks ago now, stating that she knew there was something up, that he was involved in something. Kei had freaked her out, and now with all of it revealed, he wondered if she’d look at him any differently. She’d yelled at him that she could help him, that she was there for him, and now? She’d also snapped that she cared about him, but that was something he couldn’t have. Not with this shit. The further away from all of this she was, the better it would be.

They were just tag partners, after all.


••••••

I know people were hoping that I wouldn’t show my face, so you could get your rocks off on X or Twitter or whatever the fuck Elon Musk wants to call it. It’s easy to be critical when you’re not in the business, and yeah, I’ve had a rough start on this whole fuckin’ being the face or whatever…

Or so everyone would like me to state and believe.

I’m of a different opinion. Traditional shit like stepping out and having this big ass fucking celebration of winning a championship is definitely back in the early two-thousands, and I’m really not about that life. A lot of people like putting a lot of stock into winning the championship, and maybe that’s why it’s hot potato’d for the past few years relatively quickly. I’m not a celebratory person. I did my job.

I fulfilled my obligation.

I’m not going to say that I didn’t fulfill it well, because I won the World Heavyweight Championship against someone who was salivating at the bit for it almost as if he was one of Pavlov’s dogs. Screaming about everyone under the sun but underestimating me because he thought he was a fuckin’ shoo-in for the championship. That was a fallacy and it cost him in the end. At My Bloody Valentine V, I became a two-time World Heavyweight Champion when everyone in the world was telling me that I wasn’t going to be.

Fuck you and your opinions, to be perfectly honest.

See, this is what I’ve always hated about social media, and maybe let me point this out to people like Mikah and Julianna DiMaria. It’s easy to run your shit-slobbering mouth when you stand on the other side of the aisle, screaming at the heavens about your rotten place in the world when you don’t have to own up to it. When there is no consequence. Mikah is retired, but has not one ability to drop her attachment to sucking off leadership because she thinks it’ll garner her points on an invisible stick of favorability. Julianna jumped on a horse that she doesn’t know how to ride because she thinks she’ll get points and it’ll make her look good as the Bombshells Champion.

All it makes you look like is pathetic little bitches with nothing to do with your time except bitch and complain on social media like a female boomer complaining about gender-neutral pronouns.

In any other company, spats on social media could be solved by a scheduled match. One where the people doing the bitching face the person they’re bitching about. I could have that match. I’m happy to face whomever is put in front of me because that’s how I was trained, and that’s how I’ve worked for the past ten years of my career. This is the only company on this side of the world that has separated genders, and let me tell you right now, that is the only reason that they can continue to run their mouth and not get their words knocked the fuck out of them.

Because I’m a gentleman…and it’s not allowed.

Here. Find me outside SCW, and we’ll see about that. While it’s in SCW, Kayla can knock every word back down their throats if she so chooses.

No, I’m not going to be that champion that shows up to everything and lords my abilities over everyone else. I’m going to work. Work means actually being in the ring, doing the job that I’m paid for, not just showing up and looking pretty.

And before you start mouthing off, Mikah, Kay and I have already surpassed you and your hubby on days as champions, and it’s just going to continue on even after this week. Wolves-dash-one. Or three, however you want to look at it.

Kayla and I both have singles gold as part of our quest to succeed. As a dual champion, I represent both the Mixed Tag Team division and the Men’s division as their top competitor. I’m undefeated this year, I’m pushing for greatness, and while I have two separate divisions that I work in, I find it quite easy to focus on where I need to be in the moment, in that particular time frame. I’m not putting a championship ahead of another championship, but when I’m booked as a Mixed Tag Team Champion, that is where my focus is. That’s where it needs to be, and that’s where it’s lying when we take on this postponed match.

Ariana Angelos and Helluva Bottom Carter.

Team Go.

I’ve been here before with Carter. There and Back Again, isn’t that what you said last time? That my presence within the company was similar to a hobbit’s journey? You’re not the first to point it out, the lack of consistency, the lack of continuation. It seems to be the only thing that ultimately brings me out of my hidey hole, but you know what? That’s the only thing that anyone ever says about me that’s true. It’s easy to come up with shit, throw things in a corner, act like a bitch. Be a cunt. Whatever floats your boat, you do you, but it’s literally the low hanging fruit that everyone picks, thinks is sweet, but is really just rotten inside.

We met back in January. Second round for the World Heavyweight Championship that J2H vacated, and the story ends in that I won. It was a sad night for you, right? Because you had a rope break and still, I was declared the winner. Lucky me, I guess. It’s not my fault when people don’t recognize shit, but you know what, some of us are wishful and hopeful in our lives when maybe we shouldn’t have been. Sorry that your foot wasn’t recognized, kind of like how you are rarely recognized for greatness.

Then, you said we had similar outlooks, similar styles. I disagree. I have a very different outlook than you. You are a wishful thinker, someone who puts optimism ahead of their goals. You’re one of those people that probably talk about manifesting your greatness, and that’s what will earn you the greatest things in life. I’m sure you’re happy with Miles. That, I’m certain of. But you couldn’t manifest yourself to greatness when it came against me…and why?

Why is that?

You’re good, Carter, but your eyes are constantly elsewhere when they should be focused on the match in front of them. You carried on with Rodrigo about how Ben Jordan said you would be a future World Champion, but I disagree. You could be. Just like Miles could be. But not until you get your head correctly on your shoulders and focus on your shit. I have a multitude of shit going on in my life, but when I’m in that ring, I am solely focused on that ring, the people in it and the outcome that I want.

And I strive to make it happen.

I’ve been here before. I’ve fought these same roads over and over again seeking for the thing that made me smarter, or wiser, or just simply better than the people around me. I’m not every one of those things at any time, but my outlook has changed over the years. I tried to sit there and say to people that they were the best, that we were going to have one of the greatest knock-down, drag-outs of the century and wish them well. But I don’t anymore…and why is that?

Because I’ve learned that if I give an inch, motherfuckers like you will come in and take a mile.

Maybe I’m jaded, or simply vindictive, but I’m not a kind soul anymore. I fight with every bitter bone in my body to be the best because I finally have realized that the only person that is responsible for making things happen in my life is me. It’s not my friends, it’s not my pals, it’s me doing my utmost every time I step into that ring. When it comes to tag teaming, Kayla and I have always remained the same on this conversation: it’s a professional relationship where we put ourselves in the thick and thin of it because we only rely on the other to do our job. There are no feelings involved, we are not friends. There is no I have your back, you have mine. It’s goals and the creation and subsequent continuation of that goal.

When we faced Limitless for the championships the first time, we held strong to that fact. Feelings were wiped from the mat and we won. The second time, they expected to come back with this hero story that they would get their shit together and they would win. Nope, wrong. When we faced Miles Kasey and Alexandra Callaway, they also had this feeling within their bones that they would back each other up with their feelings.

Ben Jordan and Samantha Marlowe were the closest to winning these championships from us, but…even so, they didn’t.

Because of feelings.

Ben wanted so much to win those for Sam, and it just didn’t happen.

Kayla and I don’t do feelings. We don’t do friendships. We do this for us, for longevity, for power and strength. To prove our worth in this business, and make sure everyone is able to take credence. There is no wishy-washy, lovey-dovey bullshit behind our motives. It’s simply do our job and move on.

Now, I don’t know what possessed you to work with Ariana, but I’ll put that on the backburner because I know what the two of you are capable of. You’ve been friends, partners, for a long time. And that’s good for you, I guess. To know and echo one another in the ring. And you want gold so badly together that you’re just going to fight like hell for it. You drew against Ben and Sam, and so now, you’re given an opportunity to face the best in this company. We all want greatness, Carter. It’s all about how much you actually want it.

Kayla has her sights set on dual championship territory, and she’s going to do everything in her power to get there. Ariana is a hard-worker, always pushes herself to do well, but when it comes down to it…she’s not a match for Kayla. Kayla is out for blood, not just gold. If Kayla wins at the next supercard, she will be a grand slam champion in this company, and everyone is going to have to recognize her for her greatness. And I can tell you tonight, that she’s not about to let Ariana get one up on her at all.

And me?

Why the fuck would I be any different? After all, I am the World Heavyweight Champion, and I am the Mixed Tag Team Champion that has knocked down every challenger. I’ve stood down the ring looking at people who didn’t think I had it in me to do what I’ve done, and I’ve taken their pride and their glory right out from under them. And that includes you, Carter. I moved on when you didn’t, and maybe that win was a bit tainted, but nevertheless I’m the one standing here…and you’re fighting again for recognition. Over and over…oh look, there and back again.

I’m not going to wish you luck, I’m not going to shake your hand. I’m going to keep telling you to listen and to learn. We are competitors, we are fighters, and Kayla and I are going to fight until we have nothing left within our bones anymore. We plan on being at this position until someone has to tell us to drop the damn things. And even then, they might get told to fuck off.

The Wolves of Gheimhridh are not here to play around and make friends, nor are we here to let people who couldn’t get a solid win over their previous competitors win anything at all.

Come and try to take our championships from us. Try.

It’s not our fault if you’re missing your confidence for the umpteenth time when you come back from the ring. Just like you’ll be missing the championships from your waist.


••••••

20
Supercard Archives / Re: GOTH v FINN WHELAN - WORLD TITLE
« on: February 16, 2024, 11:20:30 PM »
PARADIGM SHIFT XIV // THE NOOSE
RECALL THE DEEDS AS IF THEY’RE ALL SOMEONE ELSE’S ATROCIOUS STORIES. NOW YOU STAND REBORN BEFORE US ALL; SO GLAD TO SEE YOU WELL. BUT MORE THAN JUST A LITTLE CURIOUS HOW YOU’RE PLANNING TO GO AROUND MAKING YOUR AMENDS TO THE DEAD.
A PERFECT CIRCLE




••••••


Savior Complex.

It was a syndrome that led to a compulsion to save people while neglecting their own needs. Psychological manuals didn’t often describe it as an actual disorder, but then again, a lot of disorders took their time in appearing. Nevertheless, it was prevalent in someone like Finn.

He couldn’t count how many times he was there for everyone else. Helping Aiden when he needed it, saving Kayla from his own wants and desires because he wanted her to prosper. His own sibling needed saving, and saving Kei’s girlfriend once a long time ago counted in this little complex.

But it hadn’t affected him yet.

See, he was always the one that fixed everything. The one who made things better. He gave his home to people who needed it, he’d help his ex-wife no matter how much he hated her. His little brother? He’d do anything to help him out of the world that he’d gotten himself into. And yet, he was still able to persevere and succeed in his career. Tag Team Championships. Now World Championship were on the horizon, and his eyes were focused.

They had to be.

Otherwise, someone might proclaim that he was only desperate to prove who he was without the ability to back it up.

••••••


The sounds of commercials playing softly nearly drowned out smooth breathing that Finn makes as he laid on the couch, dozing for a moment. He appeared to be peaceful — far more peaceful than anyone would have guessed he could be, and far more peaceful than how he presented himself. His leg was draped across the couch, the long limb almost taking up the entirety of it. One arm was propped up beneath his head and the other almost hanging off the side.

At least until his phone buzzed loudly near his head.

He didn’t bother opening his eyes, crossing his body with his opposite arm and grabbing the mobile device after a few not-well placed grabs. Setting the phone to his ear after pressing to accept the call, he was able to grind out a somewhat audible greeting half-heartedly.

His eyes snapped open as he heard the other person on the phone. He shot up to a sitting position, throwing his feet to the floor. His eyes darted around the apartment frantically, almost as if he were making sure no one was around — even though he knew there was no-one there. Finn ran his hand through his disheveled hair slowly, dropping his head and nodding slightly. “No. No, don't. Just stay there. No. I’m on my way. Send me your location.”

There were only two people in the entirety of the world that he would jump up and drop everything he was doing for. Three, if he wasn’t lying to himself, but it was easier to believe Kayla didn’t need him than to try and tell himself that she did and have it be a lie. The other two? His sister, Addisyn, and his “brother”, Dickie.

Addisyn never really needed him lately, though.

As he threw on his boots, and grabbed for a jacket to brave the cold evenings of New York City, he exhaled and inhaled slowly. With the choices that his little shithead of a brother had been making, he should have known that eventually, it would come to this. He was, after all, taking his place in the hierarchy that was the Hiyazaki Family. The migite, the right hand, of the shateigashira, the one who made things happen for their boss.

This wasn’t what he wanted to do. This wasn’t ever what he wanted to do. He was training to be a wrestler, training to be a phenomenon that would be a household name for years. That was what was promised when he entered this agreement. He could never have understood what he was agreeing to, but he wasn’t a bitch.

Yet it only took a second.

A second that could change him.

A second that did change him.

Kei told him he would be his errand boy, in a sense. But he didn’t know what that entailed. Now, he knew. He knew exactly what that was. As he stood over the limp body at his feet, someone he didn’t know and didn’t care to know, his mind reeled yet his body remained calm.

His breathing continued evenly. He didn’t clench his fingers, his emotions appeared regulated. His own hands had been what had strangled the man, a sleeper hold that hadn’t gone errant, but was precise in application. Asphyxiation. If the body was ever found, that would be the cause of death. But he didn’t intend for it to be found and he wasn’t interested in the repercussions of his own actions.

He turned his head, looking at the man that accompanied him here. “Get rid of him.” He ordered.

The man bowed, and as he approached, smiled slightly. “Kei will be pleased.

Indeed he would. After this altercation, Kei praised him for a job well done, and continued to praise until there were no other words left to speak. And for some reason, Finn liked to hear that. That he was worth something, that someone else saw he was capable. Maybe that was why he excelled underneath the Yakuza second lieutenant. There was right, and there was wrong, Kei taught. And as he trained him fluidly, creating the monster that Finn became in the ring, he also taught Finn to feel nothing about the people around him.

Maybe that was why he was the way he was. Maybe that was why he could stuff everything down. So much had happened in his life, people failing him, family regretting him. It was easy to turn off his emotions. To be someone he wasn’t. To be the asshole that everyone thought he was.

In his own opinion, Dickie could withstand the world thinking he was nothing, he could withstand every fight and he could bleed with everything in him. He could hurt others when he had to, if it meant success. But he could never hold up to what Kei wanted. He couldn’t kill. He couldn’t hurt. He couldn’t handle this position.

Finn’s steps took him quickly outside of his apartment building out into the whipping cold air. With long strides, he crossed the city streets without the identifiers of a car and a signal. He turned off his phone after receiving the location with an instruction to his “brother”. In less than a half hour’s time, he found himself at the empty warehouses near the pier, unoccupied since the pandemic wiped out the businesses that once prospered here.

The criminal underworld was virtually unknown when it came to the NYCPD. Or maybe they were just paid to give a wide berth — corruption was rampant in even the most honorable of trades. When things like this happened, they often seemed to be far, far away from the scene of the crime. And Finn was okay with that.

He exhaled, and then took a step into a doorway, the panel ajar just enough to be visible in his eyesight. It wasn’t like he didn’t know the location anyway. When he walked in, he could smell the intensely metallic scent of blood, and saw it seconds later.

It wasn’t clean. There would be traces left if they weren’t careful.

Dickie sat atop a pallet of crates, and Finn couldn’t see his face. Nevertheless, he walked forward, looking at him. The younger man was, for a lack of a better word, unstable at even the best of times. Nothing ever really was calm and collected for The Calamity. He fought with his emotions, he made choices based on split decisions.

And he had a knife in his hand.

Hey kid,” Finn muttered.

Dickie startled, and in a flash of light, the knife he held in his hands was bared forward. There was blood everywhere across his body. His shirt was stained with it, his face had it decorated, and his hands were covered. Finn raised his eyebrow.

I’d drop the knife if I were you.” He added.

Dickie did. It clattered to the floor as he dropped his hands. “I fucked it up so badly, Finn…” he murmured.

Finn looked back around and then nodded. “Yep, looks like it. Probably will take some work to get that stain off of him.

A snort issued from Dickie’s lips and and he looked up at his brother finally. The smile that was there faded from his mouth and he shook his head. “I…I didn’t know that…I could do something like this…

You can’t. This is completely fucked up. If I know Kei — and I do — he wanted it with significantly less mess. He probably screamed quite a bit and if you’re lucky, there was no one working tonight.” Finn crossed his arms. “He pushed you into an uncomfortable spot and now you’re reaping the negative effects. The fuck did you think you were doing?

I…” he muttered, and hung his head again, “I don’t know.

I told you that this wasn’t a good idea. That you had a chance to get out.

I just…” he looked up again at him, “I wanted to stand on my own two feet. I’ve always had help…and I just wanted to stand alone. Kei said I would be able to, and that he would help me.

Finn sighed. He couldn’t say that, yes, help was possible. But only if he chose to lose himself completely. And the kid was too far emotional to do that. “Kei can’t help you. That has to be a you choice. Let’s just…get this shit cleaned up and then…you’ll come back with me to the apartment. Kei won’t fuck with you there.

Are you sure?” He looked, for a moment, hopeful.

Yeah. Just…” he glanced around and looked at the men that were there with Dickie. No doubt would they say something to Kei that Finn showed up, but right now, he didn’t give a shit. He’d deal with it later. “Get it cleaned up.

Dickie paused for a moment, and then raised an eyebrow of his own. “I mean…are you going to tell them?

Are you going to…? It would be easy, wouldn’t it? To assume the mantle that he’d once had, tell all these peons to do his dirty work? To get them to work for him? For a moment, the urge to do so covered him. It would be easy.

No.

You do it.” He reiterated. “We’ll head back when you’re done.

He’d given up this life, and he wasn’t about to take it on again.


••••••


Is this where you’re going to sit and tell me about how you already know how it’s going to go and you’re going to beat me into oblivion?

Sitting in his New York City apartment, Finn Whelan hadn’t shown his face since the moment that he sat across from Goth with literally the most uninterested expression and lackadaisical attitude that could be described.

Two weeks prior, they were speaking words and signing contracts. And now? It was dawning. A new era was about to arise on Sin City Wrestling, and it was a moment in which signaled a new champion to reign. But the question arose of who would it be? Goth, who had spent years trying to reclaim his title? Or would it be Finn, who held it in the previous year of 2022, who seemed to easily be able to reach an apex within very little timeframes.

And now? It was no different. He was perched on his couch, leaned back against it with the Mixed Tag Team Championship laying on the mahogany coffee table. He smiled slightly.

Or are you going to do the tired gothic thing that you get your namesake from? Talk about the Bible like it’s a sacred document that leads you down the path of righteousness? Thus the Lord sayeth, I am the way, the truth and the light, no one shall get to heaven except through me. Yeah, I don’t give a fuck about psalms and proverbs, leading you down a trail of righteousness, thinking that you’re better than everyone because you’re somehow redeemed from the filth of the world.”

He tilts his head, and then pushes himself upwards.

“Or…are you going to create parallels between me and the rest of the industry by finding some nondescript location to preach from? For a Goth, you know, I would have expected you to speak from the Satanic Bible and talk about Killpops and gore, but you know, I guess I pegged you for some really sick looking Slipknot fan and I’ve never really been impressed.

You see, you and I, we fought to get here. You had to go through Raven, and then Mercer. Alexander Raven was who I was honestly hoping to see across from me because, while he had a go at me and my gym for quite some time, he knows how to turn a phrase and at least I’d be interested in what I had facing me. He’s changed, become something completely different in a short time, and that is the one thing that I will always say is an important key in this industry. Change is good. And Mercer? Mercer didn’t have much to deal with in Oliver Zahn after the weeks he had at the end of the season last year, but you know what…it is what it is. You could have had Helluva Bottom Carter, who you have history with…or Peter Vaughn, who after I beat, didn’t show his face for some time. Somethingsomething most dominant champion.

Unfortunately, you got me.

I stand between you and your quest for dominance here at Sin City…

Sucks to be you, right?

He leaned forward entirely, rubbing his hands together somewhat greedily before moving ahead.

I always look back at things, Goth. I like to nitpick, and a lot of people don’t necessarily like it. Sometimes I’m right. Sometimes I’m wrong. But in the end, I can twist anything to make it seem in my favor. Back in October, in the same pay-per-view in which Kayla and I won our Mixed Tag Titles, you were in a match for the then vacated World Championship. Who won?

J2H.

It wasn’t you, it wasn’t Mercer, Raven, anyone who has been circling again and again for this championship. It was J2H, who Michael Harris won it off of in the first place. Listening to you talk though, you seem to think that you’ve been lauded some kind of grace from God to be the best in the ring. Fuck, we all think we’re the greatest because we’re ego-driven maniacs, but at the end of the day, who was the best? Because it was kind of like the last time I faced you. When there are multiple men in the match, you fuck off to la-la land and can’t capitalize.

So why in the fuck would you think that you deserved to just be given the championship?”

Finn smirked a bit, giving a semi-confused expression before he raised a finger.

“You don’t. That’s not how this shit works, and if you didn’t get that then I sure as shit hope you get it now. Or are you going to tell me that that wasn’t the point of your fucking tirade at the last Climax Control? You want to talk about history, about how we’re an excuse, about how you should have just been handed the championship. That is the most asinine thing that I’ve ever heard and I’m going to stand on what I said on the same night.

Stop whining.

Stop being a crybaby bitch.

No, you’re not as important as you think you are, and at the end of the day, you sit there and state that you’re not crying about it, and you’re making an example out of everyone that you come across. Raven, a pin. Mercer, a submission. And your little explanation that you’re going to own me?

No one has owned me since I divorced my ex-wife for millions, and it certainly isn’t going to be some nose-pushed-so-far-up-his-own-ass looking fuck like you. I don’t give a fuck if you’re a hall of famer, I don’t care if you think you’re the best thing in this company, I don’t get owned.

The tired quip about me being the Mixed Tag Team Champion is also going to die when I take you the fuck out and take the World Championship. Which, might I say, is something that you’ve been considered for time…and time…and time…and time…and time…and time…and time….and time again.

I distinctly remember you being the qualifying match that brought me to the World Championship in 2022, and I beat you then.

The fuck you think that’s not going to happen now?

Vaughn iterated the same thing about not being on the same level because he’d stuck himself in easy mode for the better part of 2023 and was a champion for however many days. I seemed to have made it past him, as I’m standing right here, waiting for this match. And you? You sitting there saying that I’m not on your level? Motherfucker, we’re not even in the same dimension, because you’re sitting in the past, crying about it every chance you get.

When this tournament started, your focus was on your hatred for J2H. You talked some poetic shit about sun and lights and realities and false idols. You cried about the tournament then, and then proclaimed yourself to be Judas…while also stating that the championship was your thirty pieces of silver. And then you had the audacity to sit there and proclaim yourself to be the notch in everyone’s metaphorical turnbuckle, but let me tell you something right now.

I had no interest.

I have no interest.

If I could keep going along and never face you again, and I wouldn’t know the fucking difference. But here we are, fated to face one another. And woe is you, because guess who is going to be walking out of My Bloody Valentine as the World Heavyweight Champion?

A hint, if you will.

It’s not the man who has been crying for three years about woe is me when he should have been looking at the rest of the playing field as actual competitors instead of lesser than his Messiah ass.

Messiah, my ass.


••••••

When they returned to the apartment, Finn retrieved clothes for Dickie to change into. Sweatpants, a large shirt – these were the more comfortable items he knew his brother preferred over the garish suits that Kei’s people wore. It was an hour until either was ready to talk about what had happened, and perhaps they didn’t need to talk about it.

Nah. It’s what they did.

Dickie sat on the couch and looked around at the apartment. It hadn’t changed in his absence, or really, in Kayla’s absence either. Finn sat on the other side of the sectional, and he propped his legs up on the table in the center.

He contemplated what to say to Dickie. Did he dare mention what did change? Aiden coming back to wrestling, Kallie entering the fray…and Amelia, talking to him in the elevator, saying that he didn’t give a shit about his little brother. Except he did.

He just knew the kid better than most, and knew that until he could get his head out of his ass, nothing was going to be listened to anyway.

So you’re still Tag Team Champions?” Dickie asked, trying to clear the air. He didn’t want to talk about Kei, and Finn didn’t blame him.

Yeah. Barely. But we still have them.

Ah…and…how is everything else going?

Going into this Pay-Per-View for the World Championship again.” Finn added, looking at Dickie curiously.

The kid was fidgety, looking around the room as if something was going to jump out at him. He knew Dickie regretted losing his championship in the previous year, but had had some steps towards greatness again…a little bit. Maybe he would be ready eventually, but certainly not now.

You know…your girlfriend asked me where you’ve been.” Finn started.

He probably thought he was trying to be helpful, but this soured Dickie immediately. He snapped his head in his direction. “Amelia isn’t my girlf-”

Don’t think I’m one of the idiots that you can fool. She’s worried about you. We’re all worried about you. Even Kayla?

You finally dating Kayla?” Dickie countered, snidely.

Finn supressed his irritation, and then looked at him. “No. Because it’s not like that. It’s never been like that.” But he saw Dickie open his mouth again, and he lost it. Trust his family to be the only one who could set him off. “I don’t get why everyone is so fucked on whether I’ve put my dick in Kayla or not. Everyone is making my tagging with her the focus of every conversation when we’re literally nothing more than tag team partners. She killed it back when she moved out. It’s dead. Over. Done. There’s literal shit going on with the fucking Yakuza involved, and you want to go over this like it’s the best tea in the world.

Dickie snorted and looked at him. “You know why everyone talks about it, Finn? Because it is literally happening right beneath both your noses. Don’t think I don’t look at what’s going on. Kei watches everything, including the shows, and it’s obvious that you and Kayla are more than you realize. Just when the fuck are you going to realize it?

There.” He snapped. “Is. Nothing. Going. On.” Finn frowned, and then rose to his feet. He was tired of this same argument. And it was going to continue. “Feel free to stay here tonight, dude…or however long…I’m going to bed.

Finn.

No,” he raised a hand and looked at Dickie, shaking his head. “I’ve got more important things on my mind than dealing with whatever everyone thinks is going on with Kayla. I’ll deal with that later. I have a championship to win. I have you to keep protected. And everyone else? They can go fuck themselves at this point.

When are you going to stop slamming your face into a one-way mirror?

Finn sighed, and then…he simply shook his head and slammed the door behind him.


••••••



While we’re at it, let’s mention how you seemingly think yourself to be a god. Not a god, the Triune of Wrestling. Listening to you talk, you have a mighty high opinion of yourself. And I suppose you would after twenty one years of wrestling. The amount that you perceive yourself to be important in the eyes of everyone else is astonishingly high, but I suppose that’s what happens when you’re an arrogant dickrag.

You want to talk about the Bible and how righteous you are, let’s go all the way to Revelation. You know, the prophetic part of the big ol’ book that’s going through the ages and been reformed and redesigned by a multitude of church leaders who had their own fuckin’ agendas. Like I said, this ain’t about songs and wise sayings…you know, psalms and proverbs, for those of you who haven’t picked it up.

Revelation, as a whole, is a prophecy written by John, who is the same John that supposedly walked by the side of Christ. He was pretty fuckin’ old when it happened, so I think he was hopped up on some ganja for his pain and probably dreamed this shit up, but you know what…we’re on a tangent, so let’s go. In this book, John talks about all the things he sees about the end of the world. And part of that is Chapter 6, in which he talks about seals being removed from these scrolls and after each scroll is removed, it’s a fuckin’ horse riding out with some symbolism like conquering and judgement.

The second one is crucial in this conversation, Gothy. Revelation…

…six…

…four…

I think you’re not too stupid to realize where I’m going with this.

On the table next to the championship was a book with gold edges. A Bible, one that looked like it was used fervently, the cover beaten up. Finn reached for it, opening up quickly to a page close to the end of the book itself.

And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another.

He raised his eyes after he read, and then tossed the book aside.

I didn’t choose the name of my finisher because I thought it sounded cool. I wanted people to realize that the place in which I stand across from them is not by chance. It’s not by happenstance or luck, or godgiven rights. It is because I learned a long time ago that when there is only chaos and dissension in the world, then only then is anyone given the right to take peace. I have taken your peace, Goth.

He smiled a little, maliciously. It wasn’t unlike Finn to do so, but the turnabout of Goth’s tactics onto him made him amused to say the least.

You can sit there and cry about J2H and how you want to prove he is a fraud, but I’m about to do the exact same thing to you, because I have taken your peace. You’re disgruntled that you even need to do this, and I’m about to kick you in the fucking teeth because your eyes are so fucking focused on the future and the past that you can’t see the present. You live anywhere but the present.

When you spoke to Austin James Mercer and told him that he would be happy to worship you after you defeated little ol’ me, you lived in the future. When you talked to me at Climax Control, you lived simultaneously in the past and the future and didn’t even look at me like I was a threat.

You call yourself the enforcer of Sin City, but what the fuck have you enforced in three years? Putting down Rodrigos and Barnharts and failing miserably when it comes to the one thing that you actually want? I’m not easy mode, as I had a good fucking time telling all of your little Savior friends that I’ve beaten. Except Bane, you know, but I’m not interested in true cockroaches of the wrestling world. Davison, Vaughn, Page…hell, even Kat Jones in another company. Every single one of them put me down and told me that I wouldn’t defeat them. That I was sitting on a throne of lies.

And yet here I am, standing in front of you. I made them eat their words too, and now they’re embarrassed as fuck because they thought they were so much better than me. I’m standing here, Goth.

Taking your heart and soul with every breath in my body, with every beat of my heart.

I’m not an egotistical cunt like you. But I am someone who enjoys making a mockery and a mess of the people that stand across from me. You’re not the messiah, and there are no Judas Betrayers in your circle. No one talks about you because you’re not someone worth talking about, and when I saw this match made? I groaned, because while you are a decorated wrestler, you are not even nearly half of the man I am. 

You’re not anything like me. I am a vicious competitor, I fight with every breath I have, and I want to ensure that you will never come for this title until I no longer have it. You’ve been given dozens of chances, more than fucking Raven or Mercer, if not only the same amount…and you have failed every. Fucking. Time.

When I beat you on Sunday, I hope you feel pain. I hope you feel disappointment. I hope you feel regret for ever opening your mouth and spreading your pedantic, pissant bullshit out into the world like some precocious teenager who didn’t get their fucking way. Maybe you should look into the mirror and ask yourself what’s going to happen when you’re not the champion again. How are you going to rise up? How are you going to look yourself in the eye and think you’re remotely decent? How are you going to rise up and make amends to those you metaphorically killed in the ring for being such a fucking bitch?

I don’t like you, Goth. I never have. I think you’re one of the most pedantic people on this roster, and I know it’s easy to take pot shots when you’ve got a whole ass team behind you. But they’re not here, and now you’ve just got me in front of you.

You know.

The new Sin City World Heavyweight Champion. The reigning Mixed Tag Team Champion.

Hate to say I told you so, but you know what? I did.

You’re going to need thoughts and prayers to get past me.

And the god I know?

He isn’t so giving.

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