The Tale of the Fallen: Part One
“The writer is one who, embarking upon a task, does not know what to do.” — Donald Barthelme
Sometimes one looks at life like how Barthelme looks at writing, we honestly have no idea what to do or how to do it. Sometimes the rebel in us wonders why we continue to struggle against a system that seemingly has integrated us into itself with a problem; a system that has given us both the greatest and most horrible moments in our lives with such a disgusting amount of ease. What can we do as natural born heroes and rebels when we feel the fires of rebellion ceasing? Where can one turn next? Can we even do anything about it ourselves? Can we ever really do anything about, well, anything by ourselves?
Or must we simply wait for divine intervention?
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*****[/i]
The scene opens to a Philadelphia hospital, the name is shown for a brief second in a pan but the viewer is unable to read it as the camera jerks down quickly to show a figure in a dark black coat rushing into the front door of the hospital. He slams into the front desk inside, soaked from head to toe from the seemingly perpetual rain outside, and can finally be identified as LPW International Heavyweight Champion Drew Michaels. He is breathing heavily as the secretary looks at the unorthodox man standing before him and questions Drew.
Secretary:[/color] How may I help you sir?
Michaels (Breathing heavily): Ju…Juliet Michaels! Where is she!?
Secretary: Let me look. (
Turns towards computer) Do you know when she was admitted or why?
Michaels:[/color] I don’t…I don’t know. I just got a call that my wife was rushed here, I came as fast as I could.
Secretary:[/color] Hmmmmm, it seems she’s in Room 616, it’s down the hall and too the left. You said she is your wife, correct?
Michaels:[/color] Yes, of course. Is that a problem?
Secretary:[/color] No, it’s just that her brother is already down there with her and he didn’t say anything about a husband coming.
Michaels (Thinking): She doesn’t have a bro…OH GOD!
Drew turns and sprints down the hallway at full speed, his heart racing. His mind of course kept going back to one man, D. Hammond Samuels, though it could be many others. He knows deep within himself this is a futile effort; anyone who wants to hurt Juliet could have done it already. However, he cannot stop; Drew must push himself in order to save his beloved wife. He hits the corner going into the room and turns to see…Michaels:[/color] No one…
Drew looks around quickly, his head on a constant swivel. However, no one seems to be in the room with him and Juliet, who is lying peacefully in the bed. He walks over to his wife with tears in his eyes when suddenly he hears the door close behind him and a low laugh.Voice: Hello Drew.
Drew turns around to see the same man whom he had met with many times before, the dark stranger who seems to have had a long standing connection to the Bryson family, the family of Drew’s father Matthew, and a man who has definitely taken an interest in Drew’s affairs as of recently.Michaels:[/color] What have you done to her!?
Man:[/color] Nothing, nothing at all. Juliet is very sick; it saddens me to say she may very well die here.
Michaels:[/color] Then how did you know she was sick? How did you beat me here if you were not involved?
Man:[/color] Who said I was not involved?
Michaels:[/color] YOU DID!
Man:[/color] Keep your voice down, this is a hospital. (
Chuckles to himself) Now, I said that I did nothing to her. However, that does not mean I was not involved at one point in what placed her here.
Drew walks over to see his wife, his young and beautiful wife, lying there helplessly in a hospital bed with wire and tubes connected to her.Michaels:[/color] What’s wrong with her?
Man:[/color] A virus, a sickening strain that will destroy her immune system. Man made of course. She was likely injected within the last twenty-four hours; she collapsed about an hour ago. Luckily, an ambulance happened to be in the area. Convenient, no?
Michaels:[/color] The Bryson family did this, did they not?
Man:[/color] No, this is far beyond even their scope of power. This is something beyond the scope of many on this plane of reality.
Drew freezes, he hears a confidence in the man’s tone that he recognizes from a previous encounter; this encounter seemed so long ago but now comes slamming back into his mind vividly.
A couple months ago, Drew mentally traveled far into the past by touching the legendary Robe of Many Colors which had once belonged to Joseph. While there, he learned much about his past from the being now standing in front of him, including the name of his father. This being was the Lion of Heaven, the archangel above them all.
Gabriel has taken mortal form and is the man in front of him.
Drew wonders if Gabriel knows that Drew knows, he wonders if Gabriel can see into his mind while in mortal form. He hopes desperately he cannot, Drew remembers well the warning given to him by his guardian angel Uriel about a brewing discontent in Heaven between forces led by Gabriel, those advocating active intervention into the affairs of human beings in order to speed up the arrival of the Apocalypse, and those led by the Metatron who calls for the continuation of free will among the people of Earth and thus not interfering in their affairs. He can only simply stare at Gabriel in awe as the being of supreme power just stretches out his wings in their full majestic span.
Gabriel:[/color] You seemed shocked Mr. Michaels; did you not expect to see me again so soon after our last encounter? Do not worry, no matter what your “friend” Uriel may have foolishly told you; I am truly here as a friend looking to both give and receive guidance.
Michaels:[/color] So you do not advocate active rebellion in Heaven against the will of the Father Almighty?
Gabriel:[/color] I do not call for rebellion, simply a new take upon the orders He sent down.
Michaels:[/color] Explain yourself.
Gabriel:[/color] The Father says we in Heaven are to serve His Will and spread the Message throughout Creation. For the centuries since Christ came to Earth, we have taken that to mean a policy of nonintervention in the affairs of man; we felt that the Father meant for free will to play out in His infinite Wisdom.
Michaels:[/color] But you want that to change now. Why?
Gabriel:[/color] Look at the world, look at the state of things you exist in!
Michaels:[/color] I do have to admit, it is not a beautiful place to live.
Gabriel:[/color] It is miserable! Drugs destroy the minds and bodies of the people, bullets kill the rest as war cries echo from continent to continent! Corruption runs rampant as the wealthy only become more powerful while children still starve to death in the streets of a world possessing an overabundance of food. It is disgusting!
Drew thinks for a minute, taking all of this in. He knows these complaints all too well; they are the same he has put forth time and time again against various men he has confronted, men like Wevv Mang and Robert Lillehammer. Finally, he speaks once again.Michaels:[/color] That is why we work so hard to change it here on Earth; there is no need for Heaven to take up arms in these situations.
Gabriel:[/color] Your work is in vain! Good men die because they do good; evil men prosper because they are the opposite in belief. You have suffered for far, far too long because of your strong convictions while men like your future opponents have prospered for their sins!
Michaels:[/color] Sins?
Gabriel:[/color] Both are representative of those as guilty as the other for the current state of world. Wevv Mang is obvious, the evil of greed that consumes the innocent in the path to more wealth and influence. He would sell his own family into slavery for a dime, he is that greedy.
Michaels:[/color] And Sheepster?
Gabriel:[/color] Sheepster is a different kind of sin, the evil of ignorance and simple mindedness. Sheepster ignores the problems of the world in order to front a strong smile and a happy disposition. His ignorance of the affairs of the world is highly representative of the lack of caring of the majority of the human race. In fact, this general lack of caring is the greatest insult to the Father of all; at least we know that Sin consumes men like Wevv Mang and their purely evil ways. However, these men insult Him by ignoring the evils of Sin in order to quietly exist in their own little world.
Michaels:[/color] But is that worth destroying the entire world?
Gabriel:[/color] It is not destruction, it is a rebirth.
Michaels:[/color] So we are applying Hindu principles to Christianity now?
Gabriel:[/color] Every religion has a little bit of truth in it.
Michaels:[/color] Such a bold statement for a walking representation of the Abrahamic group of religions.
Gabriel:[/color] Sometimes one has to be bold.
Michaels:[/color] So what is your plan Gabriel, what do you look to do to solve the problems facing the world today?
Drew asks the question knowing the answer however he prays to himself that perhaps he is wrong, that perhaps Uriel’s information was flawed.Gabriel:[/color] As I said, a reset is needed. We need to push Armageddon closer through divine intervention and thus allow the world to transcend into the next stage of reality, the existence after Tribulation.
Michaels:[/color] The Millennium. Have to say, your plan is likely popular with the fire and brimstone nutjob.
Gabriel:[/color] Is that a thinly veiled jab?
Michaels:[/color] Very thinly.
Drew’s short lived smirk following the joke quickly fades as the beeping of the heart monitor on Juliet speeds up and then quickly returns to normal again. Drew snaps around and stares at it in both desperation and confusion. He turns around to Gabriel again with anger in his eyes.Michaels:[/color] What does this have to do with her?
Gabriel:[/color] We needed you and she is the perfect vehicle to reach The Chosen One.
Drew freaks out upon the mention of Juliet being simply a tool in some divine game and lunges forward to tackle Gabriel to the crowd. However, the angel only smiles as he goes intangible and Drew simply smashes into the door, crumpling into a pile on the floor.Michaels:[/color] Damn did that ever hurt…
Gabriel:[/color] That was a foolish and rash decision Drew, I expected much better of you.
Michaels:[/color] Then you obviously do not know me very well, do you? (Slowly climbs back to his feet) Definitely not a good idea at all to try to attack beings that exist on a completely different plane of existence…
Gabriel:[/color] Now, are you prepared to listen to my offer to you?
Michaels (Sarcastically):[/color] You are going to give me a chance to help you strip free will from the populace of Earth? Boy howdy!
Gabriel:[/color] If you were not so important to the overall plan I would begin to grow tired of the venom you allow to escape the cesspool that is your mouth.
Michaels:[/color] And if you were not an angel I totally would have tackled you. Funny how life works, huh? Now what do you need me for?
Gabriel:[/color] We need an emissary on Earth, one to spread our message and to preach the coming End of Times.
Michaels:[/color] So I will be every Southern Baptist preacher ever?
Gabriel:[/color] We need more then that Andrew; we need you to convince the public that free will is no longer a viable option for the majority.
Michaels:[/color] Excuse me?
Gabriel:[/color] Convince them to hand their lives over to us. Once the majority of the planet has done so, we can easily manipulate the rest into following suit or simply exterminate them.
Michaels:[/color] You are talking murder of men both physically and within their soul…
Gabriel:[/color] Sacrifices must sometimes be made for the greater common good.
Michaels:[/color] But what gives you the right to determine that?
Gabriel:[/color] The same thing that gives me the right to commission you as my own personal acolyte. Remember, it all comes back to Reality and sometimes, it must be Altered for the greater good.
Before Drew can question this choice of words, Gabriel seems to float over to Drew and places his hand on the shoulder of the Chosen One. Drew seems to light up along with Gabriel’s hand, a bright white light consumes both until it subsides. Drew notices Gabriel is gone when the light returns but his voice echoes throughout the room and within Drew’s head.Gabriel (Voice): Think about it Drew, think about what we can do for you and what you can do for us…
Drew shakes his head to try to escape the voice as he steps slowly over to Juliet, fear in his eyes as he looks down at his beloved wife.Michaels:[/color] Juliet…
Drew’s tears begin to run slowly down his cheek as he stares down at his immobile and sick wife’s frail body.Michaels:[/color] What did you ever do to deserve all of this? You are such a good and strong woman, all you ever wanted to do was love and care for me, to live life to the fullest possible. You wanted a family, some children to pass our legacy on to. However, now you lay in the bed and you are dying, dying of an illness passed on to you by Heaven of all places. What kind of God allows this?
Drew looks up to the sky and cries out in an indescribable yell of anger and confusion, he knows not whom he yells at or why. He simply knows that he yells. Emotions flood out of him quickly; he goes through denial to anger to confusion to bartering to acceptance all in one verbal burst. Finally he simply seats himself in the chair nearest the bed and sobs to himself.Michaels:[/color] And what do I do? Do I accept Gabriel’s loaded offer? Juliet lives but at the cost of how many innocent people unwilling to surrender their free will to a tyrannical angel looking to shape the world in his own image? Do I fight valiantly only to watch the person I care most about wither and die in front of my very eyes? Or is there another option?
There always has to be another option.
Drew shakes his head in confusion as his mind attempts to process all that he has learned in his nearly twenty-eight years in existence on this planet and hopefully apply it this situation, probably the most confusing he has yet to face.Michaels:[/color] It’s weird, my whole life I thought I could tell the difference between good and evil; I really did. However, now I stand here with an angel offering me a chance to save the world from itself, the same evils I have opposed due to my religious and political views. When it comes down to it though, I cannot bring myself to make the step towards his radical stance. It just seems so…
Wrong.
Right and wrong is a horribly confusing issue, something so important to the entire world but disgustingly subjective to every single person. There is no set definition of right for every person to live by just as there is no set definition of wrong for them to avoid like a plague. It causes many of the problems we face throughout our lives while all the time we wonder why we continually have conflict. Of course, I have now been handed the chance to remove these discrepancies in thinking by working to remove the act of thinking.
Drew shakes his head in confusion at the whole matter.Michaels:[/color] I always said “by any means necessary”, the creed preached by Malcolm X in his struggle for equality. Well, the means for equality, for the elimination of sin, is here and now I am actually wondering if I can make myself go through without. I cannot believe it, I really can’t. (
Drew stares at the ground for a minute before smirking) I wonder, what would Jesus do?
Such an overused phrase, it really is, but very important to this issue. We as people are supposed to live up to the example set for us by the
LORD Almighty during His time on this planet so I have to wonder, what would He do in this situation? More importantly, what is His take on all of this? Does He stand with Gabriel? Or does He stand proudly for the free will gifted to us as people by the Father?
Drew reflects silently for a minute, he simply allows his mind to drift as he ponders this question before turning back to Juliet, still unconscious in the hospital bed, and actually starts laughing.Michaels:[/color] The insanity of it all, I am pondering whether the
LORD Jesus Christ agrees with an archangel’s plot to overthrow God’s gift of free will to all peoples on the Earth and how I can play into or against this plot. I would give anything to worry about business opportunities like Wevv Mang does or simply worrying about trying to be more “serious” like Sheepster. No, my problems are affairs on the scale of the entire fucking Creation.
Yay.
I have been played like a fiddle for so long lately; the man supposedly explaining my family to me was simply an angel looking to manipulate the Chosen One, Wevv has played me for a fool since Dead Reckoning, and I continually try to convince myself all that I do matters in the long run. Does it really? Does it really matter to the world who wins and who loses at some wrestling card called…? (
Drew begins to nod slowly as he thinks)
Redemption.Drew keeps nodding, his eyes are growing wide as a revelation floods over him, all the weight burdening him seems to lift off miraculously.Michaels:[/color] Redemption, of course. This match is not some huge cosmic battle like I try to imagine some I have fallen into are, no this is something much less, this is something more personal. This match is one man’s struggle for Redemption.
Wevv struggles to finally cash in the Plan, the Plan he has talked about since nearly Day One of his time in the LPW. He has turned and twisted like a snake his entire career but it will all be worth it if he wins the title, it would redeem him in his own eyes.
Sheepster was once a top star, not just one of the best but perhaps the best. However, Sheepster began to fall. He was suspended for some sort of offense involving the Red Dragon; the Bad Mamma Jammas fell apart around him. Once he began to get back on his feet, Public Enemy #1 and Red Dragon conspired to break his leg and put him out of action again. Now he is back once again looking to finally cash in his long standing number one contendership for a Redemption in the eyes of the fans, he wants to be remembered not for all the bad things that have happened to him but for the good he has done and can do again.
Michaels:[/color] But where does that leave me? What do I seek Redemption for? I have cleansed the demons from my past already by defeating D. Hammond Samuels and ending his reign of terror, what else is there?
Emptiness. I feel empty. D. Hammond Samuels is a broken man because of me, Ethan Black’s reign of terror ended. My two greatest enemies have fallen on different ends of the world, now it leaves only me to rebuild. Thus, I have become my greatest enemy. I have allowed all the bad things in life to happen to those I love simply because I cannot bring myself to care anymore except about myself.
Juliet has fallen ill, she may never awaken. Even if she does, she will never be with child again due to the manipulations of Ethan Black, Jaro, and their Original Sin.
Trey Spruance, my brother, has been ran out of LPW by Styxx; hung from his own hospital bed.
The Incredible Edible, finally back by my side, was hung and destroyed by Styxx simply because he could.
TJ Rage has been forced into an alliance with the devil Al Boo Boo and now seems blinded by the evil intentions of his partner.
Uriel, my guardian angel, is on the outs in Heaven and I am contemplating turning my back on him to side with Gabriel’s cause.
All of these people mean so much to me yet I cannot see past them simply because I have been blinded by a need to find out about my family, about myself. This family never even wanted me until I was useful to their twisted religious aims, why should I want or need them? WHY DO I CARE SO MUCH!?
Drew throws his fist down onto the bed; his knuckles graze the side of Juliet’s body. Suddenly, he feels a movement begin as she slowly stirs. Finally, Juliet Michaels sits up completely as Drew stares on in shock. She looks at him sleepily before speaking.Juliet:[/color] Drew…
Drew lunges forward and throws his arms around Juliet in glee, tears running down his face. Numerous monitors, monitors that were once beeping in distress, seems to have calmed and cleared. Her strength has returned fully, the color rushes back into her face.
Juliet was healed by Drew’s touch.Juliet:[/color] Drew, where am I?
Michaels:[/color] You’re…it doesn’t matter right now. How do you feel?
Juliet:[/color] Great, just a little tired. Why aren’t we home? The last thing I remember was that I was cooking myself lunch and then it all went black…
Michaels:[/color] Its okay now, it’ll all be okay now. Listen baby; let me go get a doctor so we can go home.
Drew jumps up from his seat and slides into the hallway, crashing against the nearest wall out of Juliet’s sight. He can only shake his head in confusion as Gabriel’s parting words once again echo within his mind.Gabriel (Voice): Think about it Drew, think about what we can do for you and what you can do for us…
What we can do for you…We can do for you…Do for you…You…[/b]
Michaels:[/color] My touch, it healed her…is this Gabriel’s doing? Did he give me this gift when he touched me? Is it supposed to sway me towards his side?
No, I cannot give in; I must fight through this. Gabriel is mad…
But didn’t they say the same about Martin Luther? Malcolm X? Karl Marx? Christ Himself? All great men were considered mad, what right do I have to say Gabriel truly is?
Drew freaks out and punches the wall behind him, cursing under his breath. Finally after punching the wall once again, he turns back and stares at the camera directly.Michaels:[/color] Before, I spoke of Wevv and Sheepster’s need for Redemption. Well, I have a need to. My Redemption?
I need to make it up to the world because I refuse take the devil’s hand, disguised as an angel, in order to save the world and it may very not only curse myself but everyone else as well. Watch me world, watch me go out there and shoot for the stars in a blaze of glory as I take on two of the best wrestlers on the planet. And pray, pray that I am right in my decision…
Because I am not even sure myself.
Drew just shakes his head once again in confusion as the scene fades out to black…*****[/i]
Sometimes, we can distinguish right from wrong due to a variety of factors; how we were raised, our own personal experiences, how it affects others. Other times, shades of grey seem prevalent as one cannot seem to distinguish not only right from wrong but also dark from light or even up from down. Sometimes we make decisions based on what we feel instead of what we know, what we love instead of what we understand. Sometimes we know simply that our own personal welfare must be sacrificed for the greater good.
Tonight, I face Wevv Mang and Sheepster; two of the best wrestler on the entire planet. I do not go in there expecting to win; I do not go in there expecting to lose. I simply entire that ring expecting what I expect of myself every time I step into that arena, every time I here my music start…
I go in there expecting to be the best damn wrestler on the planet.
All the talk is cheap, all the tricks are played. Three men, one goal, one more step towards Altered Reality. Krimson Mask or cYnical await the winner, two men very much filled with Sin; two men who hold a key to the future of not only this planet but all of existence.
Tonight, one of the three men from Inferno will step into the Altered Reality spotlight. One of the three men from Inferno will take the Lords of Pain Wrestling International Heavyweight championship home with them; either to Chicago or Philadelphia or Cardiff. One of us will face the Insanity of Altered Reality in the Martinez Cup match.
For my own sake, I pray it is me.
For the sake of the fans, I pray it is me.
For the sake of the world, I pray it is me.
For the sake of Inferno, I pray it is me.
For the sake of Insanity…
They better pray it is someone, anyone else.
If it bleeds, I shall kill it. Wevv, Sheep; I know you can both bleed so now your title dreams shall die just like those of so many before you.
I would say I’m sorry but after all I’ve been through to win this title, I must do anything to retain it…
Anything to hold on to it…
Anything to cherish it…
Anything to reach Altered Reality IV for there and only there…
Can it all truly begin again.
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Gabriel:[/color] Remember, it all comes back to Reality and sometimes, it must be Altered for the greater good…
End Chapter One...