The Casey Chronicles-Part Two

My childhood is pretty fucked up…but then again, most people’s childhoods are these days. Between the MEMPO conducting random raids on people’s houses after their AI fails or some random jackass dressed as a member of The Insurgency shooting innocent people in the streets and then collecting a paycheck from ME after, this isn’t the most opportune time to be a kid. But then again, I didn’t grow up in this day and age.

It’s kind of ironic that I had such a fucked up childhood…mostly because I grew up in the most stereotypically happy home ever. Big mansion, mom and dad were still married and were still very much in love, I had a twin brother, a golden retriever puppy and a white picket fence around the yard. We had money enough to live comfortably and both mom and dad spoiled me and my brother rotten.

But then, one day, everything went to shit

I remember that day as clearly as if it had all just happened yesterday. I was 6 at the time and I had just had my first day of first grade. I was getting off the bus at our mansion when I saw 5 police cruisers sitting in our driveway. I remember the bus driver giving me a conflicted look…like maybe she shouldn’t let this little girl get off the bus if the little girl is going to be walking into a murder scene. Before she could change her mind though, I had already gotten off the bus and was almost at my front door.

As I walked by the cop cars, I heard a strange knocking sound coming from the backseat of the cop cruiser nearest to me. I remember turning and looking up at the window…and seeing my father’s face looking back at me. I tried banging on the door and screaming for help…but no one would come and help him…or me. I was so confused, I wanted to know why daddy was locked up in the backseat…why wasn’t he inside with mommy?

I remember one of the cops suddenly lifting me up in his arms and bringing me inside. I remember my mother holding me close to her chest and running her fingers through my hair as she told me over and over again in her most soothing voice that everything would be fine and that daddy had to go away for a while. I could easily tell there was something more she wasn’t telling me though. Her voice tended to quiver when she was sad or unsure…a fact my brother and I were able to pick up early in our childhoods.

I would later find out that my father was arrested for suspicion of being involved with The Insurgency. He would be acquitted and released later that week…but the memory of that day still haunts me even now. Because that incident marked the beginning of the end of the happiness and safety I felt as a child. From that day forward my mother, who was deeply paranoid as it was, seemed to be everywhere at one. Whenever my father went anywhere, she would always ask him where he was going and when he’d be back and she’d make him call when he got there and when he left. She was also paranoid about my brother and i…she wanted to know where we were and what we were doing at all times. She began to neglect her own well-being and began to constantly scrutinize everyone else.

Then, one day, my mother found a single gold coin in the pocket of my father’s favorite pair of jeans. The coin had The Insurgency symbol engraved on one side and the word “Purifier” engraved on the other side. The only reason I knew what was on the coin was because I was helping my mother do the laundry when she found it. I remember her face drained of color and looked quite ashen. At the time I was confused…what was wrong with daddy having a funny little coin? I will never forget my mother’s response to that question for as long as I live. My mother squatted down and held the coin up in front of my face at about eye level and said:

“This is the reason why mommy has to go now.”

She then reached out and placed the golden coin in my tiny little hands, went upstairs, and hung herself

How’s that for fucked up?

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I could feel the temperature rising in my body and my lungs filling with methane and oxygen. I duck behind a large Jersey barrier as a burst of automatic gunfire whizzes over my head. I can hear her voice as clear as day, despite the sound of explosions and gun fire sounding out from all around.

Ashley Matthews
Show yourself Casey!

I close my eyes, feeling my anger and hatred mix with the fire that now coursed through my veins. I had to complete my mission…I had to be the vengeful striking hand of my father…I had to do what he commanded of me…for the good of The Insurgency.

I had to kill my cousin Ashley

I could hear the sound of her footsteps slowly approaching the spot where i was taking cover. I smirk, knowing exactly what she would do next. She would point her gun over the edge of the barrier and just dump her clip into what she assumed was my dead body. It was standard ME operating procedure…and it was so damn predictable.

As the sound of her footsteps get closer, I snap my fingers, causing flames to appear in my hands. My smirk widens…it would only be a matter of moments before the perfect time to strike would present its self. I look up and see the barrel of Ashley’s gun slowly peaking over the edge of the barrier

Ashley Matthews
Come out, come out wherever you are…

Raylyn Casey
I’m right here

I move with the deftness of absolute certainty…or, as my father would put it, “like chain lightning.” I reach up and grab the barrel of Ashley’s M-16 machine gun, wrapping my fingers around the barrel tightly. I can feel the Pyro Booster surging through my body and liquid fire bursting from every single pore in my hand. I hear Ashley’s scream pierce the sound of the gun fire and explosions and the gun suddenly drops from her hands.

I take the M-16 and toss it to the ground and slowly stand up. I turn around slowly and climb over the Jersey barrier. I can see Ashley lying on her back, trying desperately to crawl away from me. She wouldn’t escape me…she mustn’t escape me…

Raylyn Casey
It’s been too long my dear cousin

Fear. I can see it in Ashley’s eyes, as plain as day. But there is also defiance swimming deep within her eyes. That was the problem with the Matthews…they were always defiant until the last.

Ashley Matthews
Not nearly long enough you evil bitch

I chuckle softly as I continue to walk towards Ashley. Ashley continues to try and inch away from me using only her legs to push herself back while holding her hands together in an attempt to regain feeling in them after having them nearly burned off.

Raylyn Casey
The sooner you realize that The Insurgency is fighting to undue all the insanity that your father and your adopted brother have unleashed on this country the better

I smile wickedly as Ashley’s back bumps up against a large chunk of what was one a cement wall. She had nowhere left to run.

Ashley Matthews
Matthews Enterprises was only trying to help Raylyn.

I can feel the fire burning in my veins. It needed to be released soon or it would erupt of its own accord and cause damage to myself or whoever else happened to be around. I look down on the face of Ashley, feeling the fire in my veins mix with the pure, unadulterated hatred and loathing that I felt for this woman…my cousin…

Raylyn Casey
ME is the disease…and The Insurgency is the cure…

A look of abject terror appears on Ashley’s face as soon as I utter that phrase. The fear in her eyes was so real it was almost like…like she had heard that phrase somewhere before…a long time ago...

Ashley Matthews
No…not you too…

I slowly lift my arms up, feeling the liquid fire gathering at my fingertips. I wanted to hit Ashley with every single flame that I had inside of me. I wanted to make sure this bitch burned for hurting my father…for hurting my mother…

Raylyn Casey
Good bye Ashley

Just as I am about to unleash the full force of the towering inferno that had gathered in both my arms, I heard the loud “CRACK” of a sniper rifle. I release the inferno while diving for cover, hoping to roast Ashley alive while managing to avoid the sniper’s bullet.

I hear a soul shattering scream of agony and pain and I laugh insanely. At least my flames had hit their target. I land hard on my right side and roll behind the remains of a burnt out car. I take a moment to regain my composure before forming a massive fireball in between my hands. I suddenly jump to my feet and throw the fireball like a baseball in the direction of the sound that I had heard the sniper’s shot come from.

As the fireball soars through the air, I turn and look to where Ashley was lying just a few moments before. Ashley’s hands cover the left side of her face but, as she turns and sees me looking at her, she pulls her hair back as if to show me the damage I had caused…



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My eyes shoot open and I look around in a panic. For a brief second I thought I could see Ashley’s burned and deformed face looking at me from the shadows. I can feel myself breathing heavily as I try to remember where I am.

Above me is the gray stone of the cave that I was currently sleeping in. Beside me sits my rucksack…full of boosters that I had hurriedly packed two days ago before I left Insurgency HQ. The only person who knew where I had gone was Abby…and she only knew because I needed to leave someone in charge and someone that I could trust to keep things running smoothly. Although Abby was the one person who always managed to ask me where I was going and why. Everyone else was used to me being there one minute and then gone the next…but Abby was one of those people who always wanted to have a handle on where I was going. I always just told myself it was because I was the leader of The Insurgency and because I was her leader. But, inside, I knew that wasn’t the real reason. Inside I knew the real reason was because…she honestly cared about my well-being.

I chose to ignore that reason…if there was one thing my father taught me that I truly took to heart…it was that feelings were for the weak

I climb out of my sleeping bag and roll it up tightly before stuffing it into my rucksack. I then tie up my rucksack tightly and throw it over my right shoulder. I slide my feet into my boots and lace them up tightly. I take a deep breath and steel myself for the events that I knew were ahead. I walk out of the cave and begin walking through a seemingly barren expanse of land.

There wasn’t a tree or flower in sight. This part of the country had been hit especially hard by The Insurgency Civil War. When my father first joined The Insurgency he was recruited by someone known as Shamrock. Shamrock convinced the elders of The Insurgency that my father should start off as the leader of the South Boston branch of The Insurgency. The Insurgency was split into branches then, each branch head reported in to a section chief who then, in turn, answered to the head of The Insurgency.

Needless to say, my father wasn’t one who would be happy to serve the whims of others forever.

My father slowly rose through the ranks of The Insurgency, eventually conning and manipulating Shamrock himself into stepping down as the New England Section Chief and naming my father his successor. As Section Chief, my father carried out some of the most vicious and effective attacks against ME targets in New England…including taking over ME’s corporate headquarters in Boston and executing the head ME official.

But then…something happened that would change The Insurgency forever. Zeus, the leader of The Insurgency, died. Normally, when a leader of The Insurgency dies, he names someone to succeed him and take over his spot. But Zeus…he was a hard headed and stubborn man who was convinced that he had too much to accomplish before he died. Unfortunately for Zeus, having shit to do doesn’t mean you can’t die.

With The Insurgency in chaos and every Section Chief believing that he should be the one that should take Zeus’ spot, fighting began to break out amongst the Section Chiefs. Each Section Chief began vying for power, using their branches of Insurgency members as personal armies. My father and the New England chapter of The Insurgency saw the chaos and mass confusion as a chance to finally become the true leaders of The Insurgency. My father trained his branch the hardest, pushing his soldiers to fight for the good of The Insurgency and he began using a mass system of propaganda to win the hearts and minds of his troops and their families.

It was around the time of The insurgency Civil War that I joined up with the New England branch of The Insurgency. When I first joined up I didn’t want my father to know I had joined. I didn’t want to be handed anything by anyone. I wanted to make my own mark on the movement.

But my father didn’t get to be the Section Chief by being stupid.

My father managed to figure out that I had joined up with his branch of The Insurgency and he made it his mission to personally oversee my training. He pushed me harder than the rest of his troops; he tried to mentally break me and then re-made me into the perfect soldier. But the thing was, I managed to retain a small amount of my own identity. I managed to keep a hold of a small amount of my personality…I managed to outsmart my father.

I suddenly see, in the distance, a large gray building. A smirk slowly appears on my face as I recognize that I am nearing the end of my journey…Massachusetts Bay Federal Prison was just ahead.

The Massachusetts Bay Federal Prison was the last bastion of government control. When my father had taken over the New England states and claimed them for The Insurgency, he had decided that the Mass Federal Prison wasn’t worth taking over. He claimed that even glorious freedom fighters like the members of The Insurgency needed a place to go to be detained should the need arise. So he allowed the government to keep their prison open…but all the guards inside the prison knew exactly who was really in charge. Whoever controlled The Insurgency controlled the prison.

Eventually, in true Casey fashion, I got sick of serving as a foot soldier for my father. I had greater aspirations than just being my father’s tool. My father had been using me as his own personal assassin, sending me out on missions to kill other Section Chiefs and get rid of the opposition. He also used me to win over the loyalty of the masses…by preaching that I was the perfect woman…all because of the fact that I had discovered that I could combine Boosters and not become a burned out husk.

Hence my codename…Eve

By preaching that I was this “perfect woman” my father managed to earn the loyalty of his followers…or so he thought. In reality, I had started my own little movement. I wanted a job of greater importance…I wanted to have more of an effect on The Insurgency…I wanted to lead…

Long story short: I wanted my father’s job…so I took it.

I approach the walls of the prison, noticing the fresh flecks of blood on the barbed wire which ringed the top of the prison walls. The guards of this did their jobs quite well. They knew who they could kill and who they couldn’t. the guards knew that, as long as they left the vital political prisoners or important members of The Insurgency who had been sent here for some reason or another along…they could do whatever they wanted to the other prisoners.

I stop just outside the massive set of concrete slabs that served as the prison’s front doors. To my right there is a small speaker box with an intercom speaker in the middle. There is also a security eye at eye level right above the intercom. I walk over to the speaker box and press a button labeled “Call.” After waiting a few moments, I hear a gruff male voice come from the speaker

Guard
What do you want?

Raylyn Casey
This is Eve…I’m here to see my father

The security eye’s laser shoots out and scans my retinas. I then say my name, giving the vocal identification.

Guard
You passed the security clearance alright…but we need to see your mark in order to make sure that it’s really you

I sigh and roll my eyes. These ass holes knew damn well who I was…they always just wanted to see my tattoo. I drop my rucksack and lift up my shirt, making sure to cover my right boob with my left hand. My tattoo covered the entire right side of my body, extending from the top of my hip and ending just below my right armpit.



Raylyn Casey
Happy now?

I can hear chuckling from the other end of the microphone as I lower my shirt

Guard
Nice to see you again Eve. What brings you to our humble prison?

I resist the urge to scream obscenities at these jackasses. This was the second part of the stupid fucking game they always played. But I went along with it…because, at the end of the day…despite the fact that I could easily take the entire prison alone…they were in possession of someone I needed to see…someone who, despite using me for a majority of my childhood as a way to gain power over other Section Chiefs, still meant something to me on the lowest level…

Raylyn Casey
I’m here to see my father…I’m here to see Corey Casey

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The room was cold. It was always fucking cold in this prison though. The guards liked to fuck with the temperature all the time as a way to try and encourage their prisoners to go insane. This place was run like a gladiator coliseum…only the strongest survived. But by “strongest” I didn’t mean just the physically toughest…I also mean the strongest mentally as well. My father seemed to not only survive in this prison…he seemed to thrive…he seemed to reveal in this dark hell hole.

I guess you can’t drive an insane person crazy again…

Raylyn Casey
Hello father

My father and I were sitting at a small steel table in the middle of a dark and dirty room. There were florescent lights shining above us, casting the entire room in an eerie light that seemed almost too bright to be real. My father was dressed in a dirty and stained orange jumpsuit that had the sleeves torn off. His body was covered in numerous scars ranging in length and severity while his dreadlocks seemed to extend all the way to his tail bone. His eyes were seemingly calm though and he seemed to be lucid.

Corey Casey
I am doing well Raylyn…how does today find you?

I shrug my shoulders

Raylyn Casey
I am doing well. How are they treating you in here?

My father lifts his wrists up to show me that his hands are chained together. There is a central chain that runs from the handcuffs to his ankles. A smirk appears on his face

Corey Casey
You have your dogs trained well

I lean back in my chair and kick my legs up on the table. I remember briefly my last visit with my father. Mid-way through the conversation The Lord had taken over and had jumped to his feet and dove across the table in an attempt to strange me with his bare hands

Raylyn Casey
My “dogs” know better than to bite the hand that feeds them. Besides, we don’t want a repeat of what happened last time now do we?

I can see the anger flash in my father’s eyes briefly before disappearing again

Corey Casey
We both know what happened last time wasn’t my fault. The Lord…

Raylyn Casey
Is a part of you…and while it is very sad that the real Corey Casey can’t control himself and cat like a human being even around his own daughter…I have to make sure you are locked up from now on around me for my own safety and in order to ensure the continued success of The Insurgency.

My father seems to mull my words over in his head. I knew what was really going on though. Inside his head, my father was having a conversation with the devil himself…my father was talking with the most sadistic and evil thing ever unleash upon this Earth.

I knew that my father was putting on this façade of being pensive because he was really discussing something with The Lord.

After a moment, my father leans forward and speaks in a low voice…so low I almost can’t hear him

Corey Casey
How go the preparations for the picnic? Is your Uncle coming?

I put my feet on the floor again and lean forward in my chair. The two of us knew that we couldn’t trust the prison guards, despite the fact that we were paying them good money to look the other way as The Insurgency conducted a number of missions and programs that were of questionable legality. There was always someone who had a deeper pocketbook and who would be willing to pay anything, no matter the cost, to get advance information pertaining to any hint of an attack.

Raylyn Casey
We’ve picked a lovely little park to meet up with my dearest uncle. I have already picked the friends I want to come with me. We are going much sooner than we originally planned though because the weather looks like it might turn a bit sour later on this week

My father chuckles as he leans back in his chair. We both what the code meant. Little children knew better than to play outside these days…they knew that they might accidentally get caught in the crossfire or killed by a rouge MEMPO. The “picnic” we were discussing was, obviously, the planned operation to assassinate Chuck Matthews,

Corey Casey
This is excellent news Raylyn…you will finally end the feud that began a long long time ago

I nod my head in agreement. My father had no idea…but the feud would most certainly be brought to an abrupt and bloody end by the end of this operation.

Raylyn Casey
I have already made several plans and back up plans should something go awry

My father’s voice suddenly begins raspier and his eyes begin to burn with an unnatural fire

The Lord
Typical Matthews…

I resist the urge to pull out a Booster and burn The Lord alive. “Soon all will be right in the world” I continuously whisper to myself. Soon…

Raylyn Casey
Would you kindly release your grasp on my father for a moment? I must finish discussing important matters with him

The Lord chuckles menacingly

The Lord
I have access to his brain…why can’t we talk my daughter?

I feel anger beginning to boil up inside of me…which I quickly repress. I couldn’t let The Lord get to me…there was still so much to do

Raylyn Casey
I am no daughter of yours. If I remember correctly…my mother managed to banish you to the tiniest and darkest corners of my father’s mind for years

The Lord’s upper lip begins to quiver in rage as his eyes burn ever brighter. I knew it was almost time to end this visit before something bad happened…

The Lord
But let’s look at how that fairy tale ended shall we? I am here, stronger than ever, while she is…

The Lord pretends to look around as the anger begins to spread from the pit of my stomach throughout my entire bloodstream

Raylyn Casey
She lives on in my father’s heart…and in my heart…and in the heart of my brother…

The Lord
Corey’s heart is fragmented into a million unusable pieces. Broken by your mother after she lynched herself. Your brother…well, you have no brother so there is really no point in discussing him at all…

I try to hide the fact that I agreed with The Lord. My father hadn’t been the same since my mother had lynched herself and my brother…well…even I didn’t consider him to be my brother. My brother was a betrayer and a coward. I pull myself to my feet and grab my rucksack before, turning and walking towards the door on the far wall that would release me from this suffocating room and would granted me freedom from the insane ramblings of a broken man.

Raylyn Casey
Tell my father I said good bye

The Lord chuckles again softly

The Lord
…but your heart is strong. I can sense it…

I freeze as my hand touches the cold metal of the door. I tilt my head slightly and look over my right shoulder at The Lord who is still sitting quite still in his chair. The sadistic grin is still plastered all over his face…a sadistic grin that was eerily familiar to the grin I got on my face when inflicting pain on another person

Raylyn Casey
My heart and resolve are strong because they are my own. Your pitiful heart is weak and pitiful because you and my father have nothing left but to squabble over million pieces of a broken heart in the darkness of a prison cell

Before The Lord can say anything else, I pound on the door. The door swings open and I walk out of the brightly lit room.

Raylyn Casey
Good bye Lord Casey

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+The Match+
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“It’s in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped”

Before I get into the part where I disprove everything Brandon has said about me…let me touch upon a subject that has been on my brain for the past week. Chris Matthews…I owe you a thank you my friend. You showed up and helped save me and Death-Angel from a 5 on 2 assault. I appreciate the helping hand man, I really do. At the end of it all, I couldn’t stop the cane shot…but I’d say we got a bit of revenge on the Brits eh?

I was toying with the idea of coming down and lending a helping hand in your match this week with the Brits…but I know how you feel about people interfering in your matches. I know how you feel about people sticking their noses where they don’t belong. I will let you fight this one out bud…but if you get jumped at the end of that match…just know that I’ll be right there to lend a helping hand.

Moving on…

War is, most definitely, Hell Brandon. You might think you’re the only guy with combat experience here…but I am a living testament to how wrong you truly are. I have seen combat during my time with Salvation. I have personally done things that would physically sicken you. I have seen people I knew get their heads blown off…blah blah blah…I’m not going to get into a pissing contest with you about who has seen the sickest shit and who has done the most awful things. That chapter of my life is over and done with man. I don’t need to brag about the past.

Because my eyes are solely focused on the future

You’re angry at me for feeding a fake Anna to Nick? Well then…I guess I should be angry at you too for leaving this industry high and dry when we needed you the most. I guess that half the guys on the roster should be angry at you for turning tail and leaving us without so much as a “hey guys I’m going to play GI Joe in real life for a few months! See ya!” I appreciate you going out and fighting for my freedom, so on and so forth…but it doesn’t change the fact that, when this industry needed you the most…what did you do?

You decided to go and live out your fantasy of yelling “Yippie Ki Yay motherfucker!” while firing an automatic weapon.

But, that’s not what we’re really here to discuss is it Brandon? We’re here to talk about my destiny…we’re here to talk about fate dubbing me as her chosen one to become the first ever IWF Champion. Make no mistake about it Brandon…I am the one whose destiny it is to hold the IWF Championship. Am I saying that I am overlooking you?

No

Am I saying that I don’t expect you to push me to the edge?

No

Am I saying that I haven’t thought about even the slightest possibility that I could lose?

No

I approach a match as a student of the game. I study the angles and the odds Brandon. But there is more to a match than just skill and technique. There is more to a match than pure dumb luck. A good wrestler also needs a touch of destiny…a good wrestler needs to have fate on his side in order to climb the ladder and to become the best in the world. And let me tell you right now…I have finally seen the fate that stands etched upon destiny’s tablet. I am destined to become the first ever IWF Champion.

I serve no one and I enter this match without anyone to lean upon or any help to call down to the ring. I enter this match with nothing but the clothes on my back and the tape on my wrists. But, more importantly, I enter this match with destiny standing by my side.

The two best wrestlers alive on planet Earth will collide at Demolition Day. The two men who seem to be the only two who can rightfully call themselves the greatest will meet in the main event at Demolition Day and set the tone for the rest of IWF’s history and the tone for the IWF Championship. The real question is this Brandon:

Can you say that you have been chosen by fate?

Because I can