White Rabbit- He's Back

Battle Grounds VIII: The Last Stand
HP Pavilion
San Jose, California
Saturday, May 14th
2011

Pain…it’s all I could feel…I could think about…it was in every single breath that I took and screamed out at me from every single muscle in my body. But I knew that the pain meant nothing compared to the rage and the anger I felt flooding through my body as I stared at Brandon Macdonald. He had kicked out of The Purifier multiple times…I knew it was time to do something drastic. I knew I had to end this feud with a bang…I knew I had to kick Brandon so hard in the head that I snapped his spine like a twig and forced him to surrender the IWF Championship.

Suddenly, a cold feeling washes over me as I suddenly see the white rabbit staring at me from the top of the entrance ramp. I narrow my gaze and shake my head, trying to banish the feeling of dread that was threatening to envelop me. I had to end this now…I had to…

The sound of “I Fucking Hate You” begins to play over the speakers. Smoke appears everywhere on the stage. A single shadowy figure is being raised above onto the stage. The white rabbit shakes his head as he looks down the entrance ramp at me. Suddenly, the rabbit’s eyes flare with an unholy fire and a voice echoes around the inside of my brain

“IT’S TOO LATE! YOU SHOULD’VE FOLLOWED ME WHEN YOU HAD THE CHANCE! NOW YOU SHALL SUFFER AT THE HANDS OF AN ENEMY YOU THOUGHT WAS DEAD LONG AGO!”

The voice rattling around the inside of my skull makes me immediately drop to my knees. I slowly bring my heads up to my head, trying to get the voice to stop, when I suddenly see the sight of a man with a large black bandana and a sledgehammer walking towards the ring. It wasn’t the bandana or the sledgehammer that summoned the look of disbelief on my face though…it was the red mohawk…it was the fact that I knew exactly who the man was…it was him. I watch as the man with the red mohawk slowly walks down the entrance ramp…heading straight towards me. Suddenly, the voice once again rattles around my skull

“YOU KNOW WHY HE IS HERE! YOU KNOW THE FATE THAT AWAITS YOU! YOU COULD’VE AVOIDED THIS…YOU COULD’VE SPARED YOUR BODY THIS PUNISHMENT…IF YOU HAD JUST FOLLOWED ME LIKE I WANTED YOU TO…”

Nick Ridicule slides into the ring. I knew it was Nick…I could smell the foul odor of his breath, I could see the familiar look of envy and hatred in his eyes. He was here to try and kill me…he was here to try and take IWF from me, from the fans, from the other owners…Nick was here to try and revive his old glory…his old ways. I slowly stand up and find myself face to face with the man I hated the most in this entire world...this entire galaxy…the man I fucking hated more than life its self. I tremble as pure fucking hatred surges through my bloodstream and I reach up with both my hands and grab my hair as I stare at Nick

Corey Casey
What are you doing here?! You can't be here!

Nick slowly reaches up and pulls off his bandana, revealing his sickening smile. His eyes seem to taunt me…his smile makes the acid in my stomach boil like superheated tar. I take a half step backwards and ignore the screaming of the white rabbit’s voice in my head

“YOU WILL FALL IF YOU STRIKE NOW!”

I lower my shoulder and attempt to spear Nick Ridicule back to Hell. Nick suddenly smashes me in the stomach with the sledgehammer, sending me to the ground. Nick picks me up, and lifts me above his head. I barely have enough time to realize the futility of my situation before Nick suddenly brings me crashing back down to the mat with a vicious power bomb. My head collides with the mat and my vision suddenly becomes blurry.

I tilt my head up…and see the white rabbit sitting on my chest. The white rabbit looks deep into my eyes and I suddenly feel my entire body go limp. The white rabbit’s voice echoes around my brain once more

“You will feel pain unlike anything you’ve ever felt before…get ready…”

Before I can say anything, searing pain consumes my entire body. I feel shark punctures and a stabbing pain all over my back. I try to roll away from the pain, I try to find some sort of relief…but, instead, am only met with a different kind of pain. Fire consumes my body and I feel my spine suddenly arch in a direction a human spine is never supposed to arch in. All the while, as my entire body is wracked with this sole searing pain, the white rabbit’s voice beats on my brain like a drum

“This is…your fault…this is…your fault…this is…your fault…this is…your fault…”

I try to scream, I try to call out to the rabbit….to God…to Jess…to anyone who will listen in order to make the pain stop. I beg and plead with the white rabbit…but the white rabbit simply laughs wickedly as he watches me writhe in pain…

All of a sudden, I hear the sound of a bell…and the pain stops…

[Ding Ding Ding!]

Megan O’Day’s voice caresses my ears like the voice of an angel…granting me a sweet release from the agony I was in…

Megan O'Day - Ladies and gentlemen, here are your winners, James Shark, Brandon Macdonald. Team Swag!

…and then I see his face. Nick Ridicule leans down and grabs me and lifts me up. Nick leans in and winks at me before staring me dead in the eyes

Nick Ridicule
Did you miss me?

…and just like that…the pain suddenly explodes once more…this time in my stomach. The force of the sledgehammer shot that Nick had just delivered to my sternum drives me down to the ground. As I fall to the canvas, everything slows down into slow motion. I turn and see the white rabbit staring up at me from the canvas. The white rabbit twitches his nose, his gaze piercing me down to my very soul

“I can make the pain go away. I can arm you with the tools to take your revenge. I can make sure that you never feel this pain again…”

I suddenly feel my entire body shutter as a I let out a long sigh

Corey Casey
What do I have to do?

I swear to God…the rabbit then came the closest I have ever seen a rabbit come to smirking

“All you need to do…is follow the white rabbit…”

I crash down to the mat, landing on my hands and knees. I’m not even looking around at Nick…the people in the stands…VVR…or anymore for that matter. I simply look the white rabbit dead in the eyes

Corey Casey
I will follow you

“Then prepare for our journey to begin…”

Everything suddenly returns to normal speed. Before I can turn my head, I feel my neck arch and I collapse to the mat face first. Everything turns a vague shade of gray-ish black as my vision slowly begins to cloud over. Before is slip into the sweet grasp of unconsciousness, I hear a voice that sounds sort of like my own…but there was something different about it…

Corey Casey
Nick....Ridicule

My body begins to move, as if on autopilot. I try to roll over but I am moving without knowing why or how. My body drags its self over to the bottom ropes and leans out. I look down and suddenly see that I am holding a microphone

Corey Casey
I...I was going to take this time to challenge Brandon to a match at Isolation for MY IWF Championship.

My hand comes up and wipes some of the blood away from my eyes…only my vision doesn’t improve. I hear the white rabbit’s voice echoing inside my head

“The path starts here…”

I hear my voice thundering out over the arena again

Corey Casey
But then. You, had to come and ruin everything. I hate you Nick Ridicule. You were supposed to stay away. We came here to leave you behind. We came here to start anew. Without you.

My arm suddenly drops the microphone, due to the fact that I am shaking so hard.

Corey Casey
Nick Ridicule, I fucking hate you. I hate you more than anything in the entire world. You ruined everything Nick! Again! Fuck you Nick. Next weekend, Isolation. It's going to be me against you! One on one! Inside the Isolation Dome!

As I drop the microphone, my body begins to sieze. I feel my body begin to convulse, twitching and jarring this way and that. I feel my heart beat begin to skyrocket as I twitch and spasm. Before I completely lose consciousness…I hear my strange sounding voice suddenly speak the words I hadn’t spoken for nearly a year…the words that gave me a hint as to what the white rabbit wanted from me…a hint as to who the white rabbit really wanted to talk to…The lights begin to flicker in the arena and then completely go out. After a moment of darkness, I can hear a familiar evil laughter echoing around the inside of my head…or was the laughter echoing around the arena…it was so hard to tell. The light suddenly blink on for a moment and then back off and the last thing I hear before slipping into the darkness is…

"So it was written....So it shall come to pass"

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Location: ???
Date: ???
2011

“Wake up”

The voice rattles around the inside of my skull, reaching through the curtains of darkness and pulling me back into the waking world

Corey Casey
Ugh…

My temples pulsate as pain washes over me in waves. I slowly open my eyes and immediately feel my entire body stiffen in shock as I realize that I am behind the wheel of a car

Corey Casey
Holy shit!

I clutch the wheel tightly and try to keep myself from swerving either too far to the right or too far to the left.

Corey Casey
How the hell did I get here?!

I look around at the landscape outside of the car. There were dry arid hills as far as the eye could see. Long stalks of dry grass sway to and fro as they blow in the late afternoon breeze. Up ahead, there was a dark and gloomy forest that seemed to stand out in stark contrast to the rolling open hills.

“Don’t panic”

I slowly look at the passenger’s seat…and see the white rabbit sitting there looking up at me

Corey Casey
You…

Suddenly, I remember everything that had happened at Battle Grounds. My muscles and bones suddenly begin to call out in protest, reminding me of the severity of the injuries I had suffered. Despite my best efforts, a soft groan of pain escapes my lips. The white rabbit doesn’t say anything for a moment; he just continues to stare at me with his cold, emotionless white eyes. The white rabbit suddenly breaks the awkward silence of our drive

“I can’t do anything about the pain. It is the cost that you had to pay in order to atone for your failure”

I chuckle softly as I shake my head. A smirk appears on my face as I realize just how insane all of this truly was

Corey Casey
I know you can’t do anything about the pain…I don’t even know if you’re real! This is absurd. Here I am driving through the middle of god knows where, driving some random car I had never been in or even seen before in my entire life, talking to a white rabbit that may or may not be a hallucination!

The white rabbit narrows his eyes as he stares directly at me

“Oh…I am very much real. I am not real in the sense that I exist on a physical plane…but as far as you are concerned…I am VERY much real”

I look around again at my surroundings, feeling frustration and anger welling up inside of me as I struggle to get my bearings

Corey Casey
Where the hell are we?

“We are going to where we need to be”

Clearly this whole situation was going to be an exercise in futility

Corey Casey
Gee thanks…that was every helpful

The white rabbit doesn’t even bother responding. Instead, he hops over to the window, gets up on his hind legs and sticks his head out the window like a dog. I steal a glance at the white rabbit, who had his eyes closed and a look of pure ecstasy on his face as the wind playfully pushed his ears back. Was the white rabbit even real? He had basically told me that he was…or had he? He had said that he didn’t “exist on a physical plane”…but what the hell did that even mean? Honestly, I think he was just screwing with me. Then again…a strange white rabbit with all white eyes and pinkish red fur around his paws was exactly the kind of fucked up thing that my twisted mind would come up with.

A strained silence fills the car as we enter the forest. As soon as the car crossed into the forest, a strange feeling of déjà vu washes over me. I shake my head trying to rid myself of the feeling, but the deeper into the ever darkening forest we go, the stronger the feeling of déjà vu becomes.

“You’ve been here before”

The white rabbit’s voice catches me off guard and snaps me back into the moment. I sigh as I massage my aching temples in an attempt to get the pulsating pain behind my eyeballs to stop.

Corey Casey
You care to elaborate on that statement?

The white rabbit shakes his head

“All will be revealed soon enough”

I roll my eyes and turn my attention back to the road

Corey Casey
Perfect

The canopy of the trees overhead slowly begins to thin out as we travel deeper into the forest. The trees go from tall, strong oak trees around the edge of the forest, to thinning and wilting birch trees as the white rabbit and I speed faster into the heart of the forest. As the trees begin to thin, they also begin to appear less healthy…their branches seem to be bare of leaves and the sound of birds and animals slowly begins to become less and less frequent the deeper into the forest we go.

I didn’t even notice any of this though. My mind was too busy struggling with the questions of whether or not this white rabbit was even real to begin with and where the hell was I. Suddenly, the forest ends and I find myself sitting on the edge of a plateau. Below me lies a large and barren valley that stretches out seemingly forever. On the horizon I see large black mountains rising up from the Earth, like sharpened stakes that seem to stab the reddish orange sky above. In the center of the valley is a large city, with a massive stone wall surrounding it. My feeling of déjà vu intensifies as I slow the car down and take in the scene in front of me

Corey Casey
I’ve been here before…

It wasn’t a question; it was a statement of fact. I could feel it in my bones. I knew that I had stumbled out of that same forest and walked to the edge of this plateau. I knew that I had stood on this very spot and looked out at this very same plateau as the sun set. Suddenly, the wind kicks up and the white rabbit’s voice whispers in my head

“You are not asleep…this is your destiny. To achieve greatness…you shall find the answers you seek…”

My entire body seems to fall asleep as I feel pins and needles in all of my limbs. I slowly rev the car’s engine and begin to drive down from the plateau and slowly drive across the barren valley. It was like I was driving through a dream that I had dreamt before. It was like driving through a dream that I had been having over and over again, every single night, for the last year and a half of my life. I didn’t ask any questions…because I didn’t need to. I knew where I was going and I knew where the dream would end. The only thing that was different this time was that something felt…wrong. Something felt like it didn’t quite fit in with the rest of the dream.

The city walls grow larger as the car moves steadily closer to the city. It’s evident now that the city is deserted and that the walls were slowly falling into disrepair. There were large sections of the walls missing, brought down by the forces of nature and the elements. I suddenly notice that the two massive wrought iron front gates of the city were now rusted over…were wide open, leaving the city at the mercy of looters and thieves.

“A once proud city…is now reduced to a skeleton…a husk of its former self”

The white rabbit’s voice snaps me back into the moment. I shake my head as an uneasy feeling mixes with a strange sense of sadness and anger that, for some reason, began to envelop me. Without thinking about it and without really knowing what I was saying, I suddenly turn and look at the white rabbit and speak in that same, unfamiliar voice that I had used at the end of Battle Grounds

Corey Casey
Those who destroyed this city are the ones that tried to destroy me

A surprised look appears on my face. What the hell did that even mean? There wasn’t a group of people that tried to beat me down…it was just Nick Ridicule. There wasn’t some conspiracy out there whose sole purpose was to make sure that I died a painful and horrible death…was there?

Corey Casey
Alright…you really need to tell me what is going on here

The white rabbit twitches his nose as his voice rings in my head

“All will be revealed soon…stop the car”

I suddenly realize that we had driven around the remains of the city and were now parked at the base of a large hill. The hill was dotted with trees and had a well-worn path that slowly wound its way to the top of the hill. There were no animals scampering about the hill, and the oppressive silence that seems to smother the entire valley is only broken by the occasional call of a crow. I feel myself being drawn to the path…the path that I knew would lead me to whatever lay at the top of the hill.

I slowly get out of the car and close the car door behind me. My legs seem to move on their own, like they had walked this path so often that they already knew where to go. I avoided all the gnarled roots and the hidden pit falls that I, somehow, already knew were littered throughout the path.

Corey Casey
How do I know all of this…?

I look to my right and notice that, for the first time in the last two weeks, the white rabbit isn’t hopping along at my side. I shrug my shoulders…maybe that was a good sign. Maybe all this fresh air and being at whatever this place was would help clear my head and make me feel saner.

I soon come out of the forest and soon come to a fork in the path. If I continued to walk straight up the path, I would go to the top of the hill. I start to walk towards the top of the hill…but the pulling feeling I had been feeling at the bottom of the hill seemed to tug me, not toward the top of the hill, but toward the path that led to the right. I shrug my shoulders and begin walking briskly down the small off shoot path.

With each step I take down the path, I feel the pulling feeling getting stronger and stronger. Like there was something so important waiting for me at the end of that path that my body just couldn’t wait to discover and embrace whatever was awaiting me. Suddenly, I see a large marble entrance way with the words “Victims of The Prophet” engraved on it. I feel the blood drain from my face and I shake my head frantically…suddenly realizing where I was and why I was here…

Corey Casey
No…I won’t…

“YES…YOU WILL…YOU MUST! IT IS YOUR DESTINY!”

My body begins moving on its own, just like it had at Battle Grounds. Images begin flashing through my mind as I walk into the graveyard and see the dozens of crosses erected throughout the graveyard. As I walk by each cross, I see the statue of one of HIS victims crucified in some grotesque fashion. Some were strapped to the crosses with barbed wire tied around their wrists and ankles…others had large rail road spikes driven through their wrists and ankles instead. Some of them were being consumed by flames while others were simply just left to suffer until they drowned in their own blood.

I try to fight my body…try to stop my legs from slowly and clumsily walking to the center of the graveyard. I knew what was awaiting me there…I knew what would happen if I continued walking down this path…

It would lead back to the darkness…it would lead to HIM. All of a sudden, I hear HIS voice screaming from all around, overwhelming all of my senses

“THE TIME HAS COME! THE MOMENT IS AT HAND! THE WEAKNESSES OF THE PRESENT SHALL BE WASHED AWAY BY THE FLOOD OF ANGER AND HATRED!”

I scream out

Corey Casey
NO! MY LIFE IS GOOD! I HAVE EVERYTHING I WANT! I DON’T WANT TO BE ANGRY…I DON’T WANT HIM TO RETURN! I DON’T WANT…

The clouds begin to turn blood red in the sky above. Lightning splits the sky as thunder booms all around. The wind kicks up and begins whipping violently through the graveyard…almost as if nature its self wanted HIM to return. A I suddenly feel a heavy raindrop fall from the sky and splatter on my face. I knew, as soon as the drop hit my cheek, that the liquid that was raining down from above wasn’t rain…

It was blood

Corey Casey
NO! HE WILL NOT RETURN! I WILL FIGHT HIM! I WILL DESTROY HIM AND SEND HIM BACK TO THE SHADOWS FROM WHENCE HE CAME!

HIS voice once again screams out

“YOU SURRENDERED YOURSELF TO ME WHEN YOU AGREED TO FOLLOW MY SERVANT! YOU GAVE IN WHEN NICK RIDICULE RETURNED! YOU GAVE IN TO THE ANGER AND THE HATRED! MY TIME HAS COME ONCE MORE!”

I slowly navigate my way through the graveyard until I get to the biggest statue in the middle of the crucifix garden. In the middle of the graveyard was a large black marble statue. The statue depicted Death Angel, his upper body still covered with the straightjacket HE had forced on DA before HE crucified Death-Angel. As I slowly approach the statue I also began to notice the fine detail that had gone into this statue. The barbed wire was wrapped tightly around the wrists of Death Angel and little streams of blood were shown dripping from his wrists. My eyes are drawn up to the statue’s head. On the statue’s head is the tattered mask of Death Angel which was shown as melting off of Death-Angel’s face. Sitting atop Death-Angel’s head is a barbed wire crown that is clearly biting deep into Death-Angel’s scalp. Upon further inspection, I can read the hateful engraving at the base of the statue:

“God said let it be so…and The Prophet delivered unto him his greatest enemy…the first to fall at the feet of The God by the hand of his Prophet”

I suddenly feel myself being forced to my knees, like an invisible person were pressing both his feet against the back of my knees. I try to fight it…but my body seems to move independently of my wishes. At the same time, the crucified face of Death-Angel beings to slowly morph and change. The mask falls away and is replaced by a sickening smirk. Long dreadlocks slowly grown from the statue’s head and begin to cascade down the statue’s shoulders and chest. The statue suddenly rips its arms and legs off of the cross before bursting into flames.

Corey Casey
YOU’RE DEAD! I KILLED YOU!

A chill of fear shoots down my spine as I hear the familiar voice whisper in my ear

The Lord
I was dead…but The Lord has risen from his grave once more.

Lightning suddenly falls from the sky and strikes me. The wind reaches hurricane speeds and the blood continues to fall from the sky in driving sheets. I feel myself beginning to fall away as a blinding white light overtakes my vision and the bloody rain fills my mouth and nose. With my dying breath, I whisper

“Jessica Matthews…I love you…”

Another lightning bolt falls from the sky and strikes me square in the chest…stopping my heart and banishing me with a blinding white light…

+++++++++++++++++++++++

I stretch my arms out, enjoying the liberating freedom of being back in my body. I had banished that pansy Corey Casey into the same prison that he had trapped me into all those many months ago. I laugh wickedly as I throw my arms out to either side. The bloody rain continues to fall as I tilt my head back and revel in the feeling of being back in the world

I truly was back in control
Of my destiny that had been written long ago
Casey should’ve known that I was destined to rule the hoards
So it is written…So it shall come to pass…
Quoth The Lord