Tuesday May 24th
Las Vegas, Nevada
7 a.m
It has been a long and tiring couple of days for Rage. He did what he set out to do in his third match against Dmitri when he won back the Internet Championship that Dmitri had won from him just two weeks ago in Okayama. Winning it back wasn’t exciting or thrilling, as he felt he never should have lost it in the first place, but after getting it back on the last Climax Control before Into The Void V, Rage made the decision to take the next week and a half to head back home to Las Vegas to relax...or try to, away from the rest of the Seven Deadly Sins.
His flight got in late last night, and because he’s still without a license, he was forced to take a cab home. It’s not something he particularly liked having to do, but until the tour of Japan is over, he can’t properly take care of getting his license back.
After the cab dropped him off late last night, he noticed Phil’s car wasn’t in the driveway which meant one of two things. Either his younger brother was working a late shift, or he was at his girlfriend, Maddie’s, place for the night. Either way he didn’t mind because it gave him the chance to get some proper uninterrupted sleep for a while.
Or so he thought.
He’d only been asleep for a few hours, but the smell of coffee brewing and bacon cooking woke him up. He stumbles his way out of bed, puts a t-shirt and heads downstairs to the kitchen. Phil is wide awake and cooking breakfast when he looks up and sees Rage standing at the bottom of the stairs, his sleepy eyes begging for a cup of coffee. Phil takes one look at him and doesn’t need to be asked as he grabs a mug from one of the cabinets and pours his brother some of the fresh brewed coffee.
Phil: Aren’t you supposed to be in Japan?
Rage nods as he takes a couple of sips of coffee and sits on one of the stools that surrounds the center kitchen island, and Phil turns around to check on the bacon.
Rage: Yes and no. Next show isn’t for a couple of weeks so I decided to come back for a bit. Clear my head a bit.
Phil nods as he turns the bacon over and lets it finish cooking as he turns to face his brother once again. Aggie, their pet cat, jumps up onto the kitchen island in front of Rage, immediately purring away as she practically begs to be pet. Rage wastes no time in granting her wish as he runs his hand along her back and she enjoys every second of it.
Phil: Clear your head? What’s going on now? Don’t tell me you’re thinking about walking away again.
Rage shakes his head.
Rage: Nah, of course not. But that doesn’t mean shit hasn’t been getting to me recently and I just needed to get away from it all before I did something I might regret.
Phil: Why do I get the feeling this is about more than just SCW stuff? Something going on with Kittie?
Rage laughs and shakes his head. Just as he is about to respond, however, Aggie lets out a weird cough that startles Rage. He looks down at her, confused for a moment, before he looks up at Phil.
Phil: She’s been doing that for a couple days. I thought she was just gonna hack up a hairball or something, but she never does. I’ve been meaning to take her to the vet, but she’s acting normal otherwise.
Rage: Guess we’ll just have to keep an eye on her for a bit and play it by ear.
Aggie continues to demand attention from Rage, which is given to her and Rage turns his attention back to Phil.
Rage: Anyway, no, this doesn’t have to do with Kittie. Kittie is still her nagging irritating self, so nothing new there. It’s just...I don’t know, Phil. It’s hard to explain.
Phil nods, but he goes quiet for a long while. He seems to be debating something in his mind. When he finally looks up, he has a very serious look on his face.
Phil: Can I ask you something, Jake? Don’t get pissed off, either. Just answer this question honestly.
Rage raises an eyebrow but he keeps his attention on Phil as if giving him permission to go ahead with his question, and he takes another drunk of his coffee.
Phil: You and Kittie have been together for almost two years now, right? I know people have joked about it in the past but...have you ever honestly thought about...
Phil almost can’t finish his question as Rage looks at him, confused. Phil then takes in a deep breath before he finishes his question with one single word.
Phil: Marriage?
There it is. The dreaded “M” word, and hearing it caused Rage to nearly choke on his coffee. Aggie quickly jumps down from her place in front of him and disappears into another part of the house as Rage stares at Phil, wide-eyed and momentarily speechless.
Phil: I mean I know you and I were dealt shitty cards in life, bro, but you seemed to have a good thing going with Kittie. Otherwise you wouldn’t still be with her. And don’t try and feed me some crap about it just being about the sex either, because you wouldn’t have moved her in here.
Rage takes in a deep breath and lets out a long sigh, followed by a bit of a laugh.
Rage: Look, Phil...Marriage is just some stupid sheet of paper that, if you ask me, just fucks up relationships in the long run. It ain’t for me, and I’m pretty sure it isn’t for Kittie, either. Thank fuck she hasn’t even brought it up, and she seems just fine with our...arrangement...anyway.
Phil nods again as he turns around and turns the fire off underneath the bacon. He takes it out of the pan and puts it on a plate lined with a paper towel to soak up some of the grease, but he seems to be deeper in thought about something. Rage tilts his head to the side as he stares at Phil.
Rage: Why...w-wait...Are you thinking of proposing to Maddie? Shit, Phil...You two haven’t been together even a year yet!
Phil shakes his head.
Phil: Whoa, calm down! I’m not proposing to Maddie. Not yet anyway.
Rage: Yet? But you are thinking about it?
Phil: Well...kind of. I mean, I haven’t really discussed the whole marriage thing with her yet, but...I don’t know, man. I could definately see me settling down with her. Marriage...kids...the whole nine--
Rage holds up his hand and shakes his head quickly.
Rage: Yeahhhh….let’s stop right there. Don’t even get on the topic of kids. There’s no way I’d doom a kid to have our DNA. No offense to you if that’s what you want, but…
He just shakes his head again, not knowing what else to say. Phil seems a little disappointed to hear Rage say this, but not for himself...He’s disappointed for his brother.
Phil: I understand why you’d feel that way, Jake. Hell, I used to feel the same way. After what Dad did...after what he put us through...But shit can change in the blink of an eye. Maddie got me honestly considering it. You can’t tell me you haven’t thought ”What if…” before?
Rage quickly looks down and just stares at his coffee mug. Phil notices a weird expression fall over Rage’s face, but it disappears as quickly as it had appeared and Rage eventually slides his coffee mug away from him before he looks back to Phil.
Rage: Look, all of that just isn’t for me, alright? Do what you wanna do with your life with Maddie, but as for me? Marriage and kids with Kittie just isn’t gonna happen. Anyway, enjoy your breakfast, bro. I’m gonna go take a shower.
Rage doesn’t give Phil a chance to either apologize for bringing up such a sensitive subject, or respond at all, as he stands up from the stool and quickly heads back upstairs to go take a shower. Phil stands back in the kitchen for a few moments, shaking his head, before he finishes making his breakfast.
********************
Friday May 27th
Flash forward to a few days later and all is once again quiet in Rage’s household. The big man himself has his entire six foot eight inch, three hundred pound frame sprawled out on the length of his oversized sofa at the moment. He has something clutched in his hand, and his eyes are closed as he’s drifting off to sleep, still clearly exhausted from the lack of sleep following his long flight back to Las Vegas, even though a few days has passed. A few moments later, he begins to snore and his hand opens up, allowing a wallet sized photo to drop to the floor.
As Rage snoozes away on the sofa, Phil appears from downstairs with his car keys in hand. He quietly walks over to the sofa and looks down at his snoring brother and he lets out an amused laugh with a shake of his head. Just as he is about to turn around and leave, the photo on the floor catches his attention and he walks around the sofa and carefully reaches down to pick it up. He gets a close look at the person in the photo...the woman in the photo, and he immediately recognizes her.
Phil: Hey, Jake...Wake up.
Rage lets out a loud animalistic snort as he doesn’t appear to hear his brother trying to get his attention. Phil tries again, only this time, he kicks his brother’s leg.
Phil: Dude! Wake up!
With a hard enough kick, this finally startles Rage awake and the big man nearly falls off the sofa. He looks around, confused for a moment, before he realizes where he is and he sits up and rubs his eyes.
Rage: Shit...Sorry, Phil. I’m fucking exhausted.
Phil turns the photo around and holds it in front of Rage’s face. Rage’s eyes widen as he knows he’s been caught.
Phil: Who is this? How do you know her?
Rage snatches the picture out of Phil’s hand and shakes his head, trying to hide his guilt. Oh he knew her alright. The woman in the photo was Electra Blaze, his troublesome ex-girlfriend.
Rage: Don’t worry about it, Phil. Forget you ever saw this, alright?
Phil: Yeah, that might have worked, but that woman was here a little over a week ago.
Rage’s jaw nearly hits the floor and his eyes widen upon hearing this latest development. The last time he had seen or heard from Electra Blaze was almost two years ago after he power bombed her through a table following the hell she caused.
Rage: She was here? Electra...was here?! Why didn’t you tell me?!
Phil: Dude, I didn’t think it was that important! She showed up here but when I answered the door, she just said she must have had the wrong house! She looked a little different than that picture, but it was definitely the same face. Who is she anyway?
Rage shakes his head again and just stares at the picture and the seductive smile that Electra had on her face. He lets out a growl before he puts the picture in his pocket and looks back to his brother.
Rage: She’s...She’s my psychotic ex-girlfriend, alright? Last time she came around she fucking kidnapped Kittie and caused a bunch of shit. Trust me, Phil, she’s trouble and if she’s back around, that’s not fucking good. Fuck! This isn’t what I need right now!
Phil: Whoa, relax, bro. She seemed pretty harmless and I can tell you she looked completely different than that picture. She looked more….Modest, I guess you could say. She really didn’t look like the type of woman who would kidnap Kittie that’s for sure.
Rage: Yeah, well you don’t know her like I do, Phil. When she wants something, she’ll go to any lengths just to see that she gets it. Not to mention, she’s got a sick obsession with fire.
Phil seems genuinely surprised to hear this and he runs his hand through his buzzed hair. His eyes light up a few moments later as he realizes something.
Phil: Wait...do you think she’s going to try getting back together with you? After you powerbombed her through a table?
Rage: Either that or she’s back to try and get payback. Either way, like I said it ain’t good. Fuck!
Phil: Seriously, Jake, chill. Alright? She left as fast as she showed up and she didn’t make a scene or anything. Don’t get yourself worked up over this, because I doubt she’s going to come back. You’ve got a match coming up next Sunday so just focus on that, okay?
Rage takes in another deep breath as he gets back to his feet. He’s still visibly upset and concerned with this latest development, but he can’t focus at the moment.
Phil: Look, I’m heading over to Maddie’s for the night. She’s been over here most of the time while you guys have been in Japan so I could make sure to keep an eye on Aggie, but since you’ve been here I figured I’d spend some time at her place. When are you heading back to Japan?
Rage: My flight leaves Sunday afternoon. Fuck, I don’t even want to go back now. I need to find out--
Phil: You don’t need to find anything out, bro. Alright? You and Despayre have big matches coming up so you need to go back to Japan. Worry about retaining your title and finishing off this tour before you go freaking out over a problem that isn’t even here right now.
Rage lets out a sigh and nods his head.
Rage: You know, if I’m honest Phil, if there’s any reason I don’t want to go back to Japan it’s because I’m struggling to even be supportive of Despy right now. Finding out Electra showed up here just gives me an excuse--
Phil: Wait...what? Do I even want to know why?
Rage: Probably not. Despayre is only looking forward to this match against J2H because of how he treated him and how he’s been treating Melody. I don’t think he even really wants the title, and I’m stuck facing the same guy for the fourth time in a row...Oh, and Casey Williams, too. The whole situation is fucking irritating.
Phil lets out a surprising laugh and Rage turns his head and gives him an annoyed glare as Phil shakes his head.
Phil: Look, I’m not about to get into that subject with you. You gotta figure out that shit for yourself. Anyway, I need to get going. I was supposed to be at Maddie’s ten minutes ago. Just don’t worry about the Electra thing until you get back from Japan. Whatever she came here for doesn’t matter and you don’t need it being a distraction in your match against Dmitri and Casey.
Rage: Easy for you to say, Phil. Go on and get over to Maddie’s already. I’m not one to be a complete cockblock...
The brother’s share a laugh and Phil just pats Rage on the shoulder before he turns and heads out. Once Rage hears Phil’s car speed of away from the house, he plops back down on the sofa and pulls the picture of Electra out of his pocket again. His eyes narrow as he stares at the picture.
Rage: Alright, Electra...what the fuck are you up to now?
His eyes remain fixed on the picture and he doesn’t move an inch as he quietly wonders what has brought Electra back around.
The following day Rage is walking around his room with his duffel bag on his bed. He’s putting some fresh sets of clothes into the bag as he prepares for his final trip to Japan. Aggie is on the opposite side of the bed, curled up on one of the many pillows. Her tail moves slowly as her eyes follow Rage as he walks around the room collecting everything he needs for Japan and when he finally zips his duffel bag closed, his phone starts ringing. He steps away from his bag and heads over to the dresser where his phone is and sees that Synn is the one calling him. He doesn’t even hesitate in answering as he accepts the call and puts it on speaker while he looks around the room making sure he has everything he needs.
Rage: Hey Synn, what’s going on?
Synn lets out a bit of a chuckle.
Synn: You sound a little better today. Beauty sleep must have done you some good.
Rage: Sleep? What’s that?
Synn: Surely you’ve had plenty of time and opportunity to get rest on your trip home?
Rage is now the one to let out a chuckle and he shakes his head, though Synn can’t see it.
Rage: You’d think, but I can’t sleep for shit these days. Especially not after a little conversation I had with Phil yesterday.
Synn: I’m afraid to ask, but something tells me I need to know this. What’s going on?
Rage takes in a deep breath, and while he’s about to tell Synn exactly what is going on, he’s not exactly prepared to.
Rage: I guess I better tell you now before anything happens. Phil said Electra showed up here a couple weeks ago. She didn’t say what she wanted, and apparently she thought she had the wrong house and left.
Synn: Ahh, yes. I can see why that would be concerning, but how did he know it was Electra? I was under the impression he had never met her?
Rage hesitates for a moment as he tries to come up with a believable excuse, as he doesn’t want to explain why he was looking at an old picture of Electra.
Rage: I guess she mentioned her name or something. He hadn’t met her until that point and knew nothing about her. Look, I don’t know why she showed up at my house or what she wants, but I don’t have a good feeling about it. I just want you on your guard as much as I will be. And let me be the one to tell Kittie when I get there. My flight leaves tomorrow afternoon so I’ll be in Tokyo by Monday night.
Synn: It’s not my place to tell Kittie about this, so long as you do tell her. Anyway, this isn’t why I called you. I want to make sure you’re alright about your match next week.
Knowing Synn can’t see him, Rage rolls his eyes.
Rage: Oh I’m peachy, Synn.
Synn: Now is not the time for sarcasm, Rage. I know you weren’t thrilled when the card was announced for Into The Void. I don’t think you were thrilled even before it was announced.
Rage: Can you honestly blame me, Synn? I’ve had to face Dmitri the last three matches, and now Into The Void will be the fourth straight match in a row. I don’t have a problem beating the shit out of Casey Williams again, but it’s getting a little old having to face Dmitri week in and week out.
Not only can Rage see the look on Synn’s face in his mind, but he can almost hear him nodding his head as well. Synn lets out a sigh before he responds.
Synn: I can understand your frustration, Rage. But this triple threat match against Dmitri and Casey might not have happened had Dmitri not demanded his rematch right away. These things don’t happen often, but they can happen so just try not to worry too much about it.
Rage: I ain’t worried about it, Synn. I’ll do what needs to be done and just hope that I never have to face Dmitri again after this shit. I swear, he and Casey are the one with the damn feud, yet I’ve faced the guy more than he has! I got stuck in the fucking middle and I don’t get it!
Synn chuckles again.
Synn: Funny how these things work, isn’t it?
Rage: Not really, no. I should have just let Dmitri keep the damn title, but I knew if I let that happen, that decision would have come back to bite me in the ass.
Synn: Yes, it would have. You shouldn’t deny yourself something you deserve, Rage.
Rage lets out a quick laugh and he sits on the edge of his bed. He looks back to Aggie as she lifts her head up and lets out another cough like she did the other day before she lays her head back down and falls back asleep.
Rage: Yeah I have a feeling that after Into The Void I’m gonna end up having to deny myself something sooner or later. Especially if Despayre wins the belt from J2H.
Synn: What on earth does that mean?
Rage: It means that if...well, when Despayre wins that title, I’m gonna have to back off from trying to get a shot for a while. Not that they’d give me one anyway so long as I still have the Internet Title. I’m screwed either way so I guess it doesn’t matter. Just busting my ass for nothing.
Synn lets out another sigh.
Synn: I don’t agree with that at all, Rage. The fact that you have a title says otherwise. You have it because they know you deserve it. We all know you deserve it.
Rage: Not everybody. Seems like a lot of people seem to think I’m boring and not worth the World Heavyweight Title anyway.
Synn: Since when have you ever worried about what anyone else thought? The right people can see how hard you’ve been working since you came back. Don’t let what other people think get to you, and don’t ever let it hold you back. Things will fall into place eventually, but right now, you just need to focus on defending the Internet Championship. I promise you that it will only help build you up as the challenge that we all know you are.
Rage just lets out a sigh and rolls his eyes. He lays back in the back and Aggie takes that as her cue to climb onto his large chest and curl up into a ball.
Rage: Yeah, yeah...We’ll see about that.
Synn: I’m serious. But we’ll discuss all this in a couple days once you get back to Tokyo. Try and get some rest tonight. You’ve got a long flight ahead of you and we both know how challenging getting any sleep on a plane can be.
Rage: Challenging? It’s damn near impossible, Synn.
Synn: Exactly. Anyway, I’ll let you go for now.
Rage: Alright. Later, Synn.
Synn ends the call on his end and Rage leaves his phone on the edge of the dresser. Aggie is quietly purring on on his chest and he gently rubs her head and lets her sleep where she is.
Well what do you know? Looks like I find myself heading into my first title defense yet again. Second time in just a few weeks, but this time I’m expecting a very different outcome. You see, back in Okayama when I faced Dmitri, I was having an off day. A very of day. A shitty day in fact, but things will be different this time. Ain’t a chance in hell that I’m going to let myself lose the Internet Championship on my first defense AGAIN. Especially not to Dmitri again, and it sure as shit won’t be to fucking Casey Williams, no matter what he thinks.
When the card was announced whoever put that shit together made sure to point out that the Internet Championship has been part of some weird ass game of “hot potato” as of late. I can see why you’d think that, but I’m telling each and every one of you right now...it fucking stops NOW.
Just like the constant matches against Dmitri will be over after Into The Void. Four matches in a row is just irritating and regardless of the outcome of this match, I’m not aiming for a second. It got real old, real fast and win or lose, I’m moving on to better things. But I ain’t planning on losing.
As much as I’d love to sit here and talk on and on and on about Dmitri again, I’m not going to waste my time repeating myself. Because let’s face it, what can I say at this point that I haven’t already said before? People like to sit back and call me boring, but next time that shit happens I’m just gonna tell them to go and watch one of Dmitri’s promos because listening to that guy talk for as long as he does puts me to sleep. Every. Fucking. Time. I don’t think he realizes this, but that sophisticated philosophical shit or whatever he spews out of his mouth all the time isn’t gonna get him very far in SCW. He got lucky against me once, but that was the ONLY time he’ll get a win over me. If there is one thing I can guarantee it’s that Casey Williams is gonna be the one to get pinned and I think Dmitri and I can agree on that much.
I find it funny that somehow, I got stuck in the middle of his feud with Casey Williams. Not only did I not ask for that, but I sure as shit didn’t want it! And because of that, Casey now has an inflated ego as if he actually deserves the Internet Championship. Oh, and he also seems to think that Dmitri cost him the title at the fatal four way match at Blaze of Glory.
*chuckles*
Casey, you really are one dumbass motherfucker, you know that? For several different reasons, but allow me to point out the STUPIDEST thing you’ve done recently. You let yourself get so confident...so high and mighty on yourself that you actually divorced your wife and fucking left her and your kids so you could concentrate and your career in SCW. Dude, the fact that you actually got a woman to marry you and then knocked her up was the greatest thing you’ll ever accomplish because when it comes to SCW, ya ain’t gonna be a champion anytime soon. If ever again.
I find it laughable that Tommy Knocks actually thinks you’re actually doing good recently. Guy must be blind because when was the last time you won anything worth bragging about? Go ahead, I’ll give ya a few minutes to think about that, but I’m guessing it’ll take ya a while. Longer than a while probably.
Casey, I’m gonna do ya a favor, though. I’m gonna let you continue to think you actually stand a chance at walking out of Into The Void with the Internet Championship, because honestly, I need a good laugh. I don’t care how big you are. I don’t care how intimidating you’re supposed to be. Your record speaks for itself. How can anyone find you intimidating in the slightest when you haven’t done shit with your career. I’d tell ya to just go back for the Roulette title but you’re not even worth that shit these days.
I might not have asked for this match, Casey. I might not have wanted it, either, but if there’s one thing I’m going to enjoy, it’s going to be embarrassing the fuck out of you because any chance I have to do that? I’d gladly accept it. You just make it too fucking easy. Beating you is just too damn easy, Casey.
I know you were hoping this title shot for you was gonna be a one on one against Dmitri. I’d say sorry for spoiling that for ya, but I’m really not. Not that you actually stood a better chance in a one on one against him, but now? Now you’re really fucking screwed, dude.
Bring your best, Casey. Or bring your worst. Either way, it ain’t gonna be enough. I’ve got the most to lose going into this match, and I don’t intend on walking out without MY Internet Championship.
That goes for you, too, Dmitri. You two can beat the hell out of each other for all I care but when all is said and done? I’ll be the one pinning someone’s shoulder to the canvas.
I’ll be the one walking out still the Internet Championship and you two? Well...you can get back to that worthless feud of yours. Just keep me the fuck out of it!
See ya next week, assholes!