Steel Angel [vs] Axle Vengeance

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(OOC: I'm way to hungover and pressed for time to code it right now, enjoy.)

Chapter 10: Father of the Year?

Flashback
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
"Droppin the HAMMER down since '97"

Storming through the Phillips Center halls Ace Static and I had walked away the better men, retaining our belts and continuing our onslaught against all comers. Fuck everyone HFF handled. Seeing a camera down the hall I pointed at it to Damien and Ace. We marched towards the camera in unison. Stepping forth I was the first to open my mouth, as usual.

“I dunno what it is about these IWF fucks running their mouths, sure I’m an IWF fuck now too…by default. Smartest decision ever made by this company and I stand by it is the purchase of UECW and all of its contracts. I guess some of these talentless hacks prefer acting like UECW never existed even though their company bought UECW out. So fucking stupid. Pick up a newspaper or read an article or two. Jesus, I’m surrounded by morons. Sure everyone these days wants to always throw out the card of “you’ve never faced such and such” or “you’ve never accomplished as much as I have” but yet most these people here that are saying that are just blowin smoke. Legit.”

Grabbing the camera and kicking the cameraman to the ground I was furious. Something had got to me. Maybe it was the adrenaline still racing through my veins from having just retained the Tag Team Championships. Either way I was in rage mode. With the cameraman keeled over and on the floor I tossed the camera to Damien who chuckled holding it steady.

“Fuck you Flex. Plain and simple, I couldn’t reiterate the fact anymore than needed. I can’t believe you tried to go there, you should’ve known better than that Flexy. You shoulda known better than to bite the hand that feeds you…friend. Did you really think that you belonged in the same breath as me? Is that REALLY how you see things? That’s a joke. When the FUCK did Flex Johnson become in the same league as Axle Vengeance? That’s news to me. I’ve always looked at you as in the league of…let’s say, Alex Storm. A champion in a time when UECW had fallen from greatness, the dark period no pun intended. A champion during a time when the greats left the company to explore other options due to a lack of talent and lack of challengers. Flex let’s face it if it wasn’t for your UECW loyalty you would’ve never amounted to anything in that company. You’re like Booker T in WCW. Sure you’ve got to actually touch the titles, not for an extended period I might add but yeah they threw you some bones. I like to call them Loyalty Bones. Mike Nelson handed a few of those out in the past, believe me we’ve talked about them. There are even a few people that don’t deserve to be in the Hall of Fame but again…Loyalty Bones. For the people that stayed when the company didn’t have the money to pay the stars. Me, nah I bounced he couldn’t afford me. Then when shit got squared away and he came calling I was right there with HFF to save that company once again. Look at John Tolly, the dude is shit. The same goes for you Flex. What happened when HFF came rolling back through the halls of UECW? What happened when we showed up and smacked all of you in the mouths? We conquered. We took that bitch over. Fuck you for thinking less of us. Truth be told when HFF stomped everyone in UECW Flex Johnson went back to fuckin curtain jerkin…hell we would even throw a sheet over your head just to embarrass you. You’re a joke; I’ve got PROOF that you’re a joke. It’s not just me talking out of my ass like most of you seem to like to do. I’ve got facts and I’ve got my shit straight. All I need is both my hands to count the titles you’ve carried. You’ve accomplished more than me!? HAHAHA don’t make me fucking laugh. CLOWN. Fuck you Sho’nuff. I’ve got the glow, call me Bruce Leroy. HFF walked away our PRIDE fully intact tonight. Look at you now. Look at YOU NOW. Question us, question ME even for a moment and with the back of my hand I’ll put you in your place. Eat a dick Flex. HFF will always be greater than you and as for ME…that’s no contest, it’s blatantly obvious that I’m far superior to you. Kiss the pinky ring bitch.”

Holding out my hand to the camera like a royal king I flared my pinky out so later when he watched this shit he could kiss it. Fuck Flex, Desmond was a bitch too. Nodding my head to Ace I motioned for Damien to follow us as we walked down the hall towards the back exit. We were going home fuck the main event.

“You know I’ve done so much. So people often ask why I still do what I do. Truth be told I came back to the business for the money. I came back because Corey Casey offered me my chance at vengeance and also insured a FAT paycheck for sure. There’s something else that keeps me coming back though. Sure I’ve got a thing for violence and it makes me happy when I’ve had a shitty week or a terrible day that I can just head down to that ring…when the bell sounds every ounce of anger and hatred I have in my heart and soul can be unleashed on whoever I’m facing. It’s a big thing for me. It’s like my own form of therapy I guess you could say. God forbid that Axle Vengeance sits down with a shrink. Fuck that. No one can figure me out. Besides I’m mentally too strong for something like that. I’m more than capable of figuring out what’s wrong with me. I’m more than capable of pointing out my own faults and my own vices. I’m not like Stygian, no one needs to get inside my head.”

Hopping into the ride, the murdered out ’57 Chevy Bel Air. Ace fired up the engine as Damien held the camera in the backseat. The way things had been going none of us were thrilled. Here we came to IWF having aspirations of greatness but being forced to destroy rejects like Libby and Patrick. They weren’t in our league. The whole damn roster wasn’t in our leagues. Bottom line was HFF had become bored. Racing down the street I turned to the back facing the camera.

“You know I talked my shit and said my piece already. What more is there to say? We all know the end result of this match. We already know that HFF is the best; we already know that all other teams are full of shit. We all know that Sean Libby was too embarrassed to open his mouth. Do we need to go the extra mile and have a dick measuring contest next?”

Looking down at my crotch I smiled and looked back up slowly lifting my head upwards and focused my eyes directly into the camera lens. Tweaking out for a second my whole body got the chills from the wind chill. Ace had rolled down the windows to fire up a cigarette. Fuck it time for a swig. Pulling out a pint of JB I took a swig.

“If we did that, I’d win that too. Then again with all the cocks out in the open Tim Patrick might have a flashback and freak out. Hey Tim does it feel even worse to know that you just poured your heart out not but a few days ago and yet no one still gives a fuck about you? Pussy.”

Tim turned my stomach he was pathetic. We’ve all had struggles and we’ve all had shit we’ve had to deal with. Shit that tears people up inside and shit that would turn someone’s entire world around. I’ve been there. I never cut myself. I never hurt myself. I hurt others. Thus the profession choice was an obvious one. I always looked at suicide as the coward’s way out of not having to deal with things. Not having to deal with the horrors of real life and deal with the brutal truth in the lives we live. Fuck that. As I downed the rest of the whiskey I chucked it out of the car watching it shatter into a million pieces. All of us started laughing. I still laughed at the immature shit, fuck you.

“Timmy and Libby, you guys make a cute couple. But they don’t make a good tag team, O.O.B…out of bed that is. So Timmy do tell me how someone that was picked on all through high school and tired of being considered “different” because of the way he was and the things he had been through how does someone that had been through that…how does that person come at me and chastise me for my APPEARANCE!? Fuck you. You’re a liar. Nothing you say holds weight anymore. You can try to downplay me as a professional because I just don’t give two fucks what anyone in this business thinks of my career choices. However you can’t take away my in ring abilities and my ability to sell out the arena. Hell even NLWF came knocking at my door BEGGING to book the mega match between James Shark and myself. Like I’ve said before I walked into your house, tore the roof off this motherfucker and already superseded anything that you’ll ever accomplish in this company let alone this business. Did you think you had a chance? I told you that you didn’t stand a chance. Even if you decide to blame Libby for the shit performance, YOU couldn’t win with ANYONE against HFF. PEROID. It wouldn’t matter if you walked down with Stygian’s big, dorky, medieval dragon, seven foot tall, mythical creature, looks like Ron Perlman as the Beast…yada yada…fuck him he couldn’t make you a winner. Once the match is over just quit teaming with Libby and prove me right. Prove to the world that Tim Patrick was a loser at birth, a loser at life, and certainly a loser in the ring.”

Pulling up my tag team championship I glanced down at it and cracked a smile. Damn it felt good having these brand new designed championship belts specifically made for US. I mean come on everyone knew these belts were brought back because HFF came into town. Seriously, look that shit up. Turning my head to Damien I just couldn’t stop talking my heart was racing.

“HFF walked into the arena tag champs and walked out tag champs it was that simple. We carried them on our backs and carried the match into the spotlight. It’s just the way it is and how it’s ALWAYS been. It’s the way it’s been for a long time. Good news and bad news for the teams we faced. The good news is maybe now that they get to stepped into the ring with men like HFF on a showcase like Nowhere to Run maybe, just maybe they’ll earn a name in this sport. Bad news, well the bad news is they’ll earn that name by being known as the men HFF obliterated in front of a capacity crowd, on pay-per-view…live in front of millions. I’ve said what needs to be said and all these fucks were only shooting blanks. They couldn’t fire off at the mouth like me and they couldn’t back it up either. When a group of people start talking and the bigger badder motherfucker starts talking back then the little guys shut up…it’s simple. We win.”

With that I pushed the camera away from my face and puffed the last few puffs from my cigarette before tossing it into the street. Turning my back on the camera as Dames tossed it out of the car. HFF was ready, the rest of these guys…weren’t. Even if they claimed it, they didn’t show it or say it. I shut them up with my last promo and I’ve spoken the truth the entire time. These dudes just pulled shit outta their mouths trying to get over. Well guess what I’m so non-professional I called them out on it. I’m sure they hoped I wasn’t paying attention but I was and I heard the words, I saw the claims. I just simply took my ax and chopped them down to size. Game over. Been droppin the HAMMER down since '97. Suck my dick.


Flashback
Location: Redondo Beach, CA
"Showtime...The Childhood"

Sunshine, brightness, the sound of children playing…happiness. The world, my world was at peace - young and innocent without a care in the world. Running free, the only thing I truly cared about was what was going to happen on my Saturday morning cartoons. Springing from my bed every Saturday and rushing into the rumpus room full of energy and life - those days had been long gone. Those days were over. Yet whenever I reflect on my past and the things I’ve done, the places I’ve been, the people I’ve known…it all comes back in waves.

Sprinting outside with sword in hand I was prepared to do my worst. Swinging away flailing my arms about I rushed the castle wall. Storming ahead with my army behind me. Scaling higher and higher above the wall I could see the enemy closer. An evil soldier climbed down and started to duel with me. Crossing swords and doing battle with one hand holding onto the wall with the other - the slightest slip could be deadly. He swung and I ducked watching him clank his sword against the castle wall losing his weapon in the process. I booted him in the gut and sliced his throat as he fell from grace plunging to the depths below.

“I’m coming for you!” I shouted out to the Evil Warlock that held my allies hostage. The evil warlock laughed at the idea of me coming after him. Needless to say I pressed on forward climbing the top of the wall up and over. Standing tall atop the castle I could see my final enemy, the many I had came for, standing in front of me. Rushing with full speed towards him he cast a spell causing me to freeze where I stood. Struggling, gritting my teeth, and using every muscle in my body to fight I marched forward little by little. My face began turning beat red as I persevered. “I will not STOP! You cannot STOP ME!” pushing forward I was within ten feet of my target. I closed my eyes slowly reaching my sword back to swing for the final blow as the Warlock’s eyes widened not expecting me to be able to power through his spell…

“ALEX! DINNER TIME!”

She always had to ruin the fun, just when things were about to get heated up and get going she always called me for dinner. Losing my focus and my track I hopped down from the tree throwing my sword to the ground first. “Be careful son” my mom warned me as I jumped down rolling after impact. Rushing inside the house and down the hall I could smell the tater tots, I loved tater tots. “Don’t forget to wash your hands” yelling to me I had already known what she was going to say to me. Turning the sink on and letting it rip I quickly scrubbed my hands closing the door behind me as I ran to the kitchen.

“What’s for dinner mom?”

“You’re favorite…”

She turned around to face me holding a hot metal tray of excellent goodies. My smile was cheesy just about as cheesy as the grilled cheese sandwiches she had made for dinner. The oozing cheese and crisp looking tots made my mouth water. A mother knows her son, and a good woman knows the key to every man’s heart is through his stomach.

“GRILLED CHEESE AND TOTS!!!!”

I was so excited; my ADD was kicking into overdrive, as I couldn’t wait to tear into my food. A whole day of activities outside had led me to feeling famished. I quickly devoured the grilled cheese so my mom threw another sandwich on my plate. “Eat up little man,” she said to me with a smile, that was always her nickname for me. Even when I was a teenager and hated it, she always called me that. Oh well I’d never tell her that and break her heart, I always loved my mother and that would NEVER change.

“Mom I’m done with dinner, can I go watch the game with Dad?”

“Sure you can honey, wash your hands again…they’re greasy.”

Hopping down from my chair I ran full speed like a bat out of hell down the hall once again scrubbing my hands furiously. Running into the living room I jumped as high as I could and landed on the couch right next to my Dad as he bounced from the impact giving me the annoyed eyes.

“Dad who’s winning?”

“The Lakers of course.”

“GOOOO LAKERS! Dad is Magic doing good?”

“Magic just got a triple double son. That mean he got double digits in points, rebounds and assists.”

“I know what triple double is Dad.”

Honestly I didn’t know. For some reason with my Dad I never wanted to feel stupid or inferior. Guess for whatever reason I wanted him to think of me as an equal or be proud of me. No matter the reason that’s the way it was with my father. He taught me most of what I knew in life and I followed his example to perfection. People even said down the road how much alike we are both appearance wise and our general mannerisms.

Watching the Lakers play the Supersonics in the NBA Western Conference Finals was awesome. Magic Johnson had become my favorite player and he still to this day is my favorite basketball player of all time. His fluidity on the court yet his ability to still play hard nosed basketball was fascinating. A legend in his time and that legend will exist for all of eternity. I didn’t fully understand the game at a young age but my eyes were purely focused on Magic, and magic is exactly what I was witnessing.

“YES! Attaboy Magic”

“WOOHOOO!!!”

Following my Dad’s lead the game had ended and the Lakers were victorious. Magic sealed the game with a drive in the paint and a dish to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. We high fived as my dad looked at the clock and picked me up over his shoulder “it’s time for you to go to bed” he said carrying me to my room. “Dad can’t I stay up with you?” I asked him begging and pleading for him to let me stay up. Looking at my Dad I could see him glance over to my Mom seeking approval. As she shook her head no I knew I was doomed. “Sorry son not tonight, you’ve got school tomorrow but at least it’s FRIDAY!” Yelling out Friday my Dad tossed me onto the bed laughing. I smiled back at him and got under the covers for bed.

“Goodnight son, sweet dreams…I’ll see you in the morning ok?”

“Goodnight Dad, sweet dreams.”

As I said goodnight back to my Dad he turned off the lights and I closed my eyes. Life was pretty good. I couldn’t wait for school either tomorrow so I could talk with my friends about the Lakers game and how late it was on but how my Dad was so cool he let me finish watching it. Then we’d probably play basketball and I had dibs on being Magic. It’d be an awesome day at school for sure.


Flashback
Location: Redondo Beach, CA
"Youth Rebellion"

Siren like wailing piercing through my skull as my eyes slowly opened up. Reaching with my right arm I pounded the alarm clock with my fist shutting it off. Mornings sucked. Everything sucked. Closing my eyes again I was sure I could get another hour of sleep in before I had to force myself out of bed.

“GET UP! Get your lazy ass outta bed. This room is a fucking pigsty.”

My Dad came stumbling into my room yelling loudly. He was on one of his bingers and a tirade to boot. Kicking up my clothes and shit scattered around the floor. I could smell the booze on him from my bed. The whiff of liquor practically forced my eyes wide open.

“ALRIGHT! I’m up…JESUS!”

Sitting up in my bed still warm under the covers I rubbed my eyes with my hands. My dad was cackling before he quickly grabbed the blanket and tore it off of me. The cold nip in the air got to me as I shivered and glared towards him.

“GET UP!”

The look on his face made me want to punch him right in jaw. Lucky for him I was smarter than that. Sure I could’ve hit him and dropped him because he was wrecked but I knew what’d happen to me the moment after he got up. Giving me a look like he was begging me to say something I just held back and hopped out of bed brushing by him heading towards the bathroom.

“You just gonna walk away from me like that?”

Storming up from behind me he was following right behind me yelling at me from behind right in my ear. Ignoring him I really didn’t feel like having a confrontation this morning. As it was I was already on edge and ready to snap, I really wasn’t lying when I said I hated mornings.

“HEY!”

Another challenging comment made with extra-added bass in his tone. He grabbed my arm and spun my around looking right into my eyes. Fuck him. Drunk asshole. Rolling my eyes and looking down at the ground I wasn’t giving him the satisfaction of getting under my skin. “You’re drunk” softly saying the words under my breath he caught wind of my words.

“What’d you say?”

Giving me the stink eye he swung his fist towards me. Feeling frightened I did what was instinctual for me and ducked. Thundering upon impact my Dad’s fist smashed against the wall. His eyes closed tightly while he grimaced in pain as he shook his hand trying to shake the feeling back into it.

“Little fucker…”

Snarling at me with a quick whip of his left hand he smacked me across the face sending me stumbling backwards. Piece of shit. The hit was hard enough to push me backwards, not hard enough to bruise my skin. However with my cheek bright red and the taste of blood in my mouth I was furious. Stepping towards him nose to nose he just cracked a smile begging me to make a move. Seriously, fuck him. Turning my back on him I walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind me locking it.

“Why God? Why have you given me a life like this? Why must I suffer so much?”

Questioning the Lord above I sat down slowly sinking to the bathroom floor with my head between my legs as I begin to feel an immense amount of hatred coming over my body. The hate was so strong it turned to tears. Slowly flowing down my face the tears continued to fall. Surely life wasn’t meant to be this way. Not my life anyways. I went from being a young kid living the best life with possibly the greatest parents in the world to living like…this. A father drowning his sorrows in the bottle, night after night drinking fifth after fifth and of course using me as his personal punching bag when he felt the need to feel like some form of a man again.

“God, there has to be a reason for all of this…when will the test me over? My strength is running out Lord.”

Never really religious it was sort of my last resort. Maybe talking to God or whatever higher power there was out there he could help me. Maybe if he heard my cries he’d answer the call. As I sat there at a low point, an all time low at that point in my life…I looked around and nothing changed. God hadn’t appeared to fix things or even talk me down off a cliff. Guess God was on vacation or didn’t talk to people that were non-believers before. Fuck if I knew how religion or God worked, my family wasn’t into the entire keeping up with the Joneses bullshit. Sniffling and sobbing my voice cracked occasionally as I spoke with judgment and conviction.

“WHERE ARE YOU!? People say you’re supposed to help and show us the light…FUCK YOU! Where are you now that I’m begging you to enter my life…embracing the light only for you to turn your back.”

Slamming my fists against the back of the wall my hands were starting to throb but I continued to pound away my eyes closed tightly tears still running down my face. Fuck God. The drywall began to give way to the now holes I had torn through from my pounding of the fists. My pops would for sure give me shit over punching holes in the wall but I didn’t care. Honestly I didn’t care about much at that point in my existence. Things were derailing rapidly and I just didn’t have any more fucks to be given.

Present Day
Location: St. Louis, Missouri

“You know ever since I’ve joined IWF it seems as though I’ve head people breathing down my neck begging to work with the legendary Axle Vengeance. Truth be told…I’m tired of it. All of these people lying and dictating orders to me, it’s done…as of now it’s over. Maybe it was the moment of clarity I had when I walked into NLWF only to be drugged by Brenton Cyrus. Sure he promised me a fair shake and offered visions of greener pastures after my frustration with the current state of IWF. IWF’s current state bothered me, not to mention my standing in the company more or less. When I signed the contract here again empty promises. I’ll make you the face of The Empire and stand beside you while you bring in your boys and lead us into a new direction they said. You’ll get a shot at bringing down Alexander Remington and gaining your vengeance once and for all, he swore. Trust him, trust anyone again? No. Never again.”

“I just found some news a few days ago, some disturbing news to say the least. So disturbing was the news that I feel it needs to be addressed as soon as possible. For the time being I’ll keep my mouth shut. I’ll go in silence. Keep on going on about my business and not react like a child. Not react and fly off the handle. No. Instead my response needs to be calculated. As much as I’ve been slighted and taken advantage of. As much as I’ve been chastised for my actions speaking out against things that have been going on…this response HAS to have purpose. It needs to hold meaning. If I was just to share everything to the world right here and now, walk out at Battlegrounds call the traitor out and BURY him with my fists…it’d be all too simple. Too simple for the methodical mastermind of course.”

“For now I’ll bide my time and wait. Wait in the wings and wait in the shadows for my moment to strike. Let the people that have caused problems for me wonder if it’s them I’m referring to. Watch the people in the back squirm as I walk by wondering if and when I’ll exact my revenge. Let the mood in the back turn to uncertainty. Axle Vengeance is pissed off and he’s looking for blood.”

“Steel Angel should be lucky to even be able to get back in the ring with me. I’ve beaten him once already and I’ll do it again. He doesn’t deserve anything he’s been given in this company. He doesn’t have talent and when someone bigger and stronger stands in front of him he folds like a STEEL chair. I don’t need to say much about the guy. He knows I’m going to win. I’ll attempt to restrain my thoughts from wandering too much. Hey Steel, I win and you lose. You’re used to it though right?”

“Big changes are coming for Axle Vengeance. Prepare yourself and watch closely. It all starts soon. Change is evident.”


>-|END|-<