Rise of a Saint-Pt. 1

“…and when he comes back he will bring with him a terrible vengeance…he will bring with him the wrath of an angry deity that has been scorned and forgotten by all those who used to live in fear of his name. His return will not come through one grand action though but through numerous little deeds unknowingly carried out by the one who stands to lose the most through his return. For when he returns, the first one he shall target will be the one who helped him to return…”

~The Book of the Saint

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Matthews Mansion
Casey/Matthews Mansion
Chicago, Illinois
Wednesday, March 14th
2012

Jessica Matthews
Are you sure you don’t want to come?

I laugh as I press my full body weight even deeper into the couch and place my hands behind my head

Corey Casey
Oh I am quite sure

Jess rolls her eyes as she heaves a heavy sigh. She had been adamant about me trying to repair the relationship that existed between myself and the rest of her family, especially Ashley…but I just didn’t see the point. There was clearly nothing I could say or do that would ever change those people’s minds about who I was and what I would do in order to try and make up for lost time with Jess. Hell, the two of us were even still planning on getting married in September…but the rest of the Matthews family still held that deep hatred of me.

And of all the people who hated me on Jess’ side of the family, there was no one I could think of that had more pure hatred of me than Ashley Matthews. The two of us had tried to somewhat get along during the Bad Company-era of NLWF…but the relationship between Ashley and I had been tenuous at best and didn’t last long at all. And yet, here was Jess, knowing full well that Ashley and I hated each other with a burning passion, inviting me out to lunch with her, Ashley, and the kids. The pure irony of it made the smirk on my face grow even wider

Jessica Matthews
Core…you have to at least TRY to fix things with Ashley. She is going to be one of my bridesmaids in our wedding…

I shrug my shoulders

Corey Casey
Jess…emotions are still running high right now on your side of the family. Everyone is still hurting from Chuck’s death and I don’t think that right now is when I should be attempting to get into the good graces of someone who has hated me for quite literally the last 5 years of her life

Jess sighs again and I make damn sure to control my smirk from getting even wider. It was with that sigh that she let me know that she had given up…

Jessica Matthews
Alright fine…but at least try to get a little work done on the master bedroom while you’re here

I nod my head

Corey Casey
Yes dear

Jess leans down, grabs the pillow I had been using to cushion my neck, and hits me on the head. I try to cover my head with my arms but Jess is too fast and connects two shots with the pillow

Jessica Matthews
Oh shut up

Jess turns and tosses the pillow down at me before turning and walking over to the stroller where Raylyn and Gavin were safely buckled. Jess grabs the handles of the stroller and turns and walks towards the front door

Jessica Matthews
Love you! Don’t forget to work on the bedroom!

I sit up and wave to Jess and the kids

Corey Casey
Farewell my love…bye kids! Daddy loves you!

And with that, Jess and the kids walk through the front door and Jess pulls it shut behind them. I lay back down on the couch and replace the pillow behind my head as a content smile appears on my face.

Corey Casey
Now this is the life

As I lounge on the couch, a thought pops into my head. I suddenly find myself reliving the argument I had with Chris and Ashley at ME Headquarters a little less than a month ago about all of Chuck’s wrestling memorabilia. Chris and Ashley had argued that Jess and I shouldn’t be allowed to live in this mansion because every meaningful piece of Chuck Matthews’ entire wrestling career was stored in this house. Every title, every photo, every DVD compilation series…everything.

“I wonder…”

Before I can finish the thought, I find myself slowly sitting up and placing my feet on the floor. I stand up and begin to walk towards the stairs that I knew would lead me up into the main hallway. I don’t know why I felt the need to find this room…and it had to be an entire room, I knew that much. I knew that Chuck was too big of an egomaniac to NOT have an entire room dedicated to his wrestling prowess. The pulling sensation in my stomach guided me up the stairs to the second floor of the mansion. Once at the top of the stairs I turn to my right and walk down the hallway until I reach a door at the opposite end of the 2nd floor from the master bedroom. Without even thinking about it, I reach out and open the door…

And just like I had thought, I found myself standing in a fairly large room. Sunlight spills in from the windows scattered throughout the room and shines down on the seemingly endless piles of Chuck Matthews wrestling memorabilia. Every inch of every wall in this room was covered with a poster of Chuck, or a PPV poster that had Chuck’s name on it. Standing against the right hand side of the room was a large glass case that held every title that Chuck had won over the course of his career. Behind each title was a picture of Chuck with the title slung over his shoulder or resting in his arms framed on a little golden stand that had the date, opponent, and location where he had won the title.

It wasn’t the titles that caught my eye…nor was it the posters or the small little Chuck Matthews wrestling figurines that sat on some of the shelves in the room. The thing that caught my eye was the massive banner that hung on the left hand side of the room. The banner must’ve been the size of a flag and the sight of it brings a smile to my face…



I nod my head as I stare at the Bad Company banner

Corey Casey
“The Alliance of Defiance”…you’re damn right we were

Bad Company…the biggest, most successful stable in the history of NLWF. Chuck Matthews and Corey Casey…two men who were considered to be the two biggest egomaniacs in NLWF…two men whom the world thought would rather rip each other to shreds than work together. But the world didn’t know what was going on behind the scenes. The world didn’t know that Chuck and I both agreed to put side our egos to work towards a common goal…the complete and utter dominance of NLWF. Chuck and I agreed to put side our differences to bring out the end of Nick Ridicule…

And we never once looked back.

I turn and look out the window on the far wall which overlooked the driveway and suddenly feel uneasiness in the pit of my stomach. I walk towards the window and see an all black Ducati motorcycle parked in front of the mansion. A figure wearing all black with a black motorcycle helmet slowly puts the motorcycle in park and climbs off the bike.

Corey Casey
What the fuck…

I could tell by the way that the leather clung to the figure’s body that the figure had to be a woman. I watch as the figure gets off the bike and walks up to the front door of the mansion. As she walks towards the door, the figure reaches into her pocket and removes a small card, no bigger than a business card. She then slides the business card under the door and then turns and quickly walks back to her motorcycle. I watch as she revs the engine, feeling immediately alarmed at the series of events I had just watch unfold. Before putting the motorcycle in drive, the woman lifts her head and seems to lock her gaze on me. She points up, seemingly at me, and then draws a straight line from the window I was staring out to the front door before revving the engine of the bike once more and speeding off down the driveway

I feel my heart begin to race as I suddenly snap into action. I turn and sprint out of the room and run over to the stairs. I quickly run down the stairs and over to the front door. As I get closer to the door, I begin to see the outline of the business card that the woman in the black motorcycle helmet had slipped under the door. I skid to a halt just inches away from the door as I suddenly recognize the familiar symbol that is printed on the top of the notecard



Corey Casey
The Insurgency…

The Insurgency was a home grown terrorist group that specialized in taking action against political figures and corporations that seemingly controlled the government. The Insurgency believed that the corporations of the world, but especially in America, controlled the way that entire nations ran their government. The Insurgency constantly pointed out the constant flow of bribes and the seemingly endless levels of corruption by Senators and Congressmen and women. The biggest corporation that The Insurgency believed was corrupting America was Matthews Enterprises

They had finally come to collet. I feel panic mix with terror as I look down at the taped fist with the lightning bolt symbol on the back of the business card. I knew when I borrowed that money from The Insurgency a little over a year ago to come up with my 3rd of the starting cost to found IWF that this moment would come. For some reason though, I had always hoped that The Insurgency would forget about me…that they would decide that they had bigger fish to fry than to try and come calling on me.

A sudden realization suddenly dawns on me and a smile appears on my lips as I shake my head. I quickly think to myself

“Wait…I already paid my debt to The Insurgency!”

And it was true. When Chuck and Brandon had wanted to start IWF, it was true that I didn’t have my 3rd of the money needed to start the promotion…but The Insurgency had already collected their debt from me. They had already turned me into a spy within ME Headquarters and gotten all the information they could about ME as a corporation from me. What more could they possibly want?

A cold shiver suddenly shoots down my spine. The Insurgency wouldn’t have come calling if they didn’t already have something on me…

I lean down and pick the business card up off the floor. I flip the business card over and read the message scrawled in black ink on the other side

“The Poorhouse. 6th street. Downtown Chicago. 1pm Thursday”