Post by shawnwarstein on Dec 17, 2022 21:04:57 GMT -5
Prologue: Starting At The End
“When you go to meet God, you wanna look nice.”- Hollywood Undead “Bullet”
The year is unimportant. The day, even less so, but with the snow falling outside a reasonable person would be quickly able to assume it’s Cristmastime. The howling of the wind, blowing drifts of snow up against the house, making entering and exiting a difficult task.
Much more so for the old man who climbs out of his bed. Knees pop, back cracks, a bellowing cough to clear his throat. He moves so slowly that Drax The Destroyer thinks he’s invisible. Years of wear and tear on his body has caused him to become a shell of what he once was.
He shuffles himself to the nearest bathroom. He doesn’t check the time, it’s irrelevant. This man has nothing but time left. No matter how short there is left, it’s all he has.
The empty house harrowing to say the least. When he takes his last breath, no one will be around to find him. Bridges burned, loved ones scorned and family alienated. No one left.
He will mumble to himself that. “I’m Okay. It’s fine.” However these are just words that he uses to shroud himself from feelings.
Dark feelings.
You know the ones. Everyone has them from time to time. Majority of people don’t actually listen to them. They are fleeting. Here one second and forgotten in the next. He however wasn’t in the majority. Most people have a network of people to help them, remember he’s all alone. Most people aren’t broken messes meandering through their lives just waiting for the inevitable. He awakes every morning angry.
For still breathing. For being a burden. A burden to whom you ask? Himself. He would rather be gone from this world. There’s nothing left for him to accomplish. No one left to share it all with. He is truly a jumbled mess of what life is.
He always craved being alone, now that he has it. All he can think about is why no one is here. He doesn’t cry, even though he wants to. Resigned to his own mortality he huffs in the mirror.
It’s not the first time he’s about to do what he’s going to do, but this will be the first time he’s done it with a purpose. With an end goal in mind. The door to the medicine cabinet opens with a creek. He shoves some bottles to the side. In the bottom left corner he uses his nails and peels back the thin board. Behind the board is a small compartment. Littered with a few empty pill bottles. “Jackpot.” He says quietly to himself.
In the back of the alcove he finds a full bottle. He rattles them and places them into his pocket. He carefully places the board back and aligns the bottles back in their proper places in front of it.
His shuffling footsteps along the hardwood floor echoes against the walls. Walls of which are adorned with pictures of better times. Some faces are scribbled out with a sharpie. Some are torn in half. Memories of a distant past. One he wished he could forget, but made sure to have the constant reminders on the wall.
A confusing concept to say the least, but it served its purpose. In times when his back was against the wall, there were times when he’d look at that wall and be motivated. When people started calling him on all of his bullshit, a reminder that some were still there. The barren wall doesn’t make him sad, nor does it motivate him.
No. He looks into the eyes on those pictures and sees the emptiness behind them. The pushing of people away. Before they even knew it, he did. The shuffle of his feet continues into the bedroom.
He tosses the pills on the bed and takes a deep breath. The closet doors open as he pulls out a black pinstripe suit and a pair of black shoes. He tosses the shoes and suit onto the bed.
After a few moments he is fully dressed. He adjusts the cuffs and sits down on the edge of the bed. His hand searches blindly behind him. As he grasps the bottle he pops the top off.
With one solid motion he dumps the contents of the bottle into his mouth. Swallowing was hard and his face showed just a bit of trepidation. Then it was done. He fell backwards onto the mattress and watched the ceiling fan above him.
Spin round and round.
Round.
And.
Round.
Until his eyes finally closed.
Chapter One: A Haunting on The Hill
“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” -Søren Kierkegaard
An eerie calm is in the air. The low drone of the fan. The draw string clinking against the globe that encompasses the light. When his eyes shoot open.
In a frenzy he sits up right. First patting his chest, then rubbing his face. Sweat beads formed on his brow and slowly ran down his face. His skin is clammy and pale.
But he was alive.
How was he alive? He thought to himself and scavenged around the bed for the bottle. Useless to search for it, he knew what was in there. He shouldn’t be moving. His throat should’ve seized up, his airways should’ve closed tighter than a nun’s snatch. Yet here he is breathing fresh-ish air and not in complete misery.
A chill runs down his spine as a throaty voice calls to him. “I’ll be with you in just a minute.” Followed by the sound of a toilet flushing and water running from the faucet. “Don’t get up. Just a second.”
Out of the bathroom ‘walks’ a man. Dressed in all black which is in high contrast to his skin which is a chalky tone. He coughs and a small cloud of dust protrudes from the hand he attempted to cover his mouth with. Upon rubbing his eyes our hero notices that this man is an apparition of some sort, not touching the ground and hovering a few inches off of the ground. “So you’re the chap that I’ve been sent to today huh?”
“Wha—.” The man stares. Mouth agape, his eyes darting back and forth. “Am—- I dead?”
The apparition chuckles for a moment before floating towards our hero. “That’s to be determined.”
“What the hell does that mean?” The man says with a puzzled look on his face. “Look. I can touch myself. I can breathe. I can dance.” The man stands up and begins doing a bastardized version of the running man.
“First off…. Stop. You’re not that coordinated. Secondly, turn around.” The apparition nods his head and points towards the bed. The man mocks the ghostly figure before turning around and looking down at the bed.
Laying there on the bed is Shawn Warstein’s broken and battered body. Eyes closed and looking peaceful for the moment. Not believing what he’s seeing, our hero attempts to shake the body, but his hands phase right through. “What the FUCK is going on!?!” Our hero spins towards the apparition, his eye furrowed as a red hue begins to emanate from the man. “You have three seconds before I go absolutely nuclear on you to explain yourself!”
The apparition rolls his head and places his hands on his hips. “Fine.” The ghostly man waves for our hero to follow him. The ghost turns around and opens up the closet door.
As it opens a blinding white light shines through. Shawn stops in an instant. “Nah man. I know better than to go towards the light.”
“Seriously? An old wives tale? Come on, you idjit.” The ghost disappears into the light. Shawn takes a deep breath and follows right through.
As Shawn’s eyes adjust to the light, a loud commotion is heard. Shawn looks around the pristine white room and notices hundreds of other ghosts and people following right behind them. Their speech is all jumbled together however his apparition was the only voice he could hear clearly amongst all the chaos.
“Sorry. It’s the busy season.” The ghost points around the room. “Usually we aren’t this busy. Anyways. The big guy upstairs…”
“Wait. God is real?” Shawn stops suddenly.”
“Who said anything about God?” The ghost points up towards a glass window that leads into a large office. “Derek. My boss, and the boss downstairs…”
“You’ve got to know what you're doing when you say it like that right?” Shawn raises an eyebrow towards the ghost.
He merely shrugs. “It’s not my fault all of you mortals put so much emphasis on God and Lucifer and whatnot.” The ghost keeps moving forward with Shawn right behind him. “What all of you call heaven and hell, to us up here is just home. It’s our job to make sure people get assigned to the right spot for all of eternity.”
“Seems… archaic.” Shawn responds.
“Maybe a little bit, but when you’ve been doing this for eons… it just makes sense after some time.” The two ‘men’ push past a few gawkers. Some people are crying, others are angry and some seem content with the situation. The ghost continues. “Now yes there is a quote in quote good place and a bad place. What we are doing here right now is determining where you will end up.”
“And what if I don’t really fit in either place?” Shawn pondered out loud.
“Never happened before, but I would assume that you’d be stuck here in purgatory forever.” The ghost smirks as Shawn’s face drops. “Ahh I’m just messing with you. It really has never happened and I don’t think you’re the exception. Here we are.”
They finally approach an office. The ghost opens the door and floats behind the desk. Shawn looks around and sees a few awards on the wall, one in particular stood out. ‘Quickest Close’ and it was dated 32A.D. Shawn sits down across from the ghost and clicks his teeth. “Soooo now what?”
“I don’t know. Yet. It hasn’t hit me.” Shawn hears him and just nods. “Oh sorry, the name is Jerahmeel, you can call me Jer.”
“Cool. So have we started yet?” Shawn asks.
“You’re a tricky one, you know that? On one hand you kinda want to be here, but I can sense in your aura that deep down you don’t.” Jer taps his fingers on the desk. “You see I was going to go the, It’s a Wonderful Life, route but that would just make you want to stay here. Then I was going to go, The Miracle on 34th route, but that would make you want to go back.”
“What’s the difference?”
“The difference is you can’t have a sway in any of this. If I sense that you want to go one way or the other I can’t see who you truly are. Essentially, I have to see you in your purest form. What truly makes Shawn, Shawn.” Jer stops tapping his hand on the desk, then slaps the top of it with his palm. “I got it.”
“Thank Derek.”
“It’s not those movies, it’s A Christmas Carol.” Jer smiles from ear to ear. “Three outcomes. Three different viewpoints. It’s perfect.”
“Except for one thing.” Shawn butts in.
“What’s that?” The ghost tilts his head.
“Scrooge wasn’t dying, he was a dick.” A succinct answer from Shawn.
“Are you saying you aren’t?”
“Touché.”
“So. If we are going to Scrooge this, I’m going to have to pick three times where you can see…” Jer continues for a moment then trails off. Shawn snaps his fingers a few times.
“Yeah, yeah. I’ve seen the movie several times. The original. The Muppet one. The ERB. I get the point.”
“Let’s get to it.” Jer claps his hands together and the room is flooded in white.
Chapter Two: Past meets Present
“Children begin by loving their parents; as they grow older they judge them; sometimes they forgive them.” -Oscar Wilde
The two men apparate to the South Side of Chicago. A few days before Christmas. This is in one of the better neighborhoods in the area. The house is rather large with a long driveway.
Inside the house two figures sit by the window. One of them is feverishly opening presents, while the other sits back and nods. Shawn looks around curiously. “Wait a minute.” The snow under his feet crackles with each step as he approaches the window. “I remember this day.”
“As well you should.” Jer follows behind him. Shawn places a hand on the window and then taps it lightly. “They can’t see or hear you.”
“I think you’re wrong about that.”
Shawn then begins to slam his fists against the window. The two men inside don’t seem to notice him… at first. As Shawn continues, one of the men glances towards them. And after a moment stands up and looks directly at Shawn.
He’s face to face with himself. Past Shawn mumbles. “Thought I heard something.”
“Yeah, whatever cunt. Check out these…” Past Noah then quickly puts a piece of Lego in his mouth.
“Get that out of there. I knew there was a reason your mom never got you those as a kid.” Past Shawn turns towards Past Noah and slaps him on the back a few times. The Lego falls harmlessly to the ground.
“Told you. But I remember this very vividly. It wasn’t Legos that he got. It was a special kind.” Shawn turns around. “And then…”
A truck pulls up to the house. The front door bursts open as Past Noah runs to the truck. After a minor scuffle with the driver Noah pulls out a bike. He rides it up and down the block several times before eventually succumbing to the icy nature of the Midwest.
“So of all the times to choose, you chose this one?” Shawn walks up to Past Noah and attempts to help him up.
“Get off of me cunt.” Noah flails his arms.
“Dammit Noah. There isn’t anyone out there.” Past Shawn comes outside and walks right through Shawn and helps Noah up.
“Piss off cunt. I know something weird is going on.” Noah brushes himself off and walks the bike back towards the house. Past Shawn walks with him.
“What do you mean?” Past Shawn asks.
“You’re usually very observant and always aware of what’s going on. You said you thought you saw something.” Noah stops and turns quickly. He is face to face with Shawn. “I see you, you cunt. I’m going to punch you in the face so hard!”
“Shut up Noah.” Past Shawn grabs Noah and drags him back inside. “Come on.”
“I’m telling you Dad, we are haunted.”
The two men disappear inside the house leaving the two specters outside. Shawn turns to Jer. “I still don’t know why we are here. This was….”
“Weeks before.” Jer replied. “It wasn’t for a few more weeks before it came out that you were his father.”
“Well yeah, but you could clearly see the bond forming already.” Shawn smirked.
“Fair. But tell me this Shawn.” Jer turned and pointed towards the two of them. “At this exact moment. Right then and there. What was Noah to you?”
“Seriously?” Shawn looked at Noah through the window. “I don’t know.”
“Sure you do. All you have to do is be honest with yourself. Remember, I’ll know when you're lying.” Jer placed a hand on his hip and rolled his hand forward. “So?”
“A friend.”
“Come on Shawn. Do you really think that?” Jer furrows his brow. “Now I’m only going to ask this one more time. What was Noah to you, in this exact moment?”
Shawn backs away from the window and looks towards Past Shawn. A smile on his face, but he knew better. It was hiding something. It was hiding the truth.
“He was a tool.”
“There we go.” Jer smiles and nods slightly. “Keep going.”
“He was a means to the end.”
“And what exactly was the end?”
“The XWF Universal title. Right here at this moment I was two matches away from Briefcase. And in those two matches I was the same distance away from winning Lethal Lottery. He was my ace in the hole. He was going to make sure that we, sorry, I came out on top.” Shawn turns towards Jer and smiles himself. “And I did it. A few weeks later it came to our attention that he was my biological son and that’s when it all changed.”
“Do tell.”
“When that happened, he was no longer just a tool to be used. He was my own flesh and blood. Someone I needed to elevate higher than myself. I always knew he was better than me, but now I had to show him. We swept C*nt Fest. We walked out double champions and my Universal Title reign could wait.” Shawn takes a deep breath and exhales through his nose. “It was then I realized it wasn’t just about me anymore. It was about us.”
“Now you’re getting it.”
“Let me ask you something.” Shawn places a hand on Jet’s shoulder. “Can you guys feel pain? Can you die?”
“I mean, yeah kinda.” A worried look comes across Jer’s face. “Why do you ask?”
“No reason. I figure if we are going to be stuck here reliving the past might as well get to know the guy who’s showing me everything, yeah?” Shawn pats him on the shoulder again this time a little bit firmer. “So where to next? This Christmas? That’s how the story goes.”
“Yeah, no. I’m calling an audible.” Jer snaps his finger and the two of them are once again engulfed by a white light. Only this time there is a red hue near the center. “Let’s keep it moving.”
Chapter Three: Do unto Others
“Family isn’t always blood. It’s the people in your life who want you in theirs; the ones who accept you for who you are. The ones that would do anything to see you smile and who love you no matter what.” -Maya Angelou
The light fades from white to the red hue. Shawn and Jer appear on a beach.
“Home sweet home.” Shawn looks over the water and then swings around to see the bungalow. Outside sits Excellence and inside laughing can be heard. Shawn walks through the sand and pulls back the curtain from the open window.
Sitting inside the bungalow is Aiden Reynolds, Dickie Watson, Shawn, Kasey Vex and Betsy Granger. Dickie has his Fight NYC Empire Championship sitting on the table, as Shawn Places the trio of Island titles on there as well.
“NSQ.” Shawn turns towards Jer. “I figured you’d go back to the Black Order days.”
“Nah. We don’t blame you for that.” Jer walks up next to Shawn.
“What do you mean… you know what, never mind.” Shawn glances over towards Jer and then back at the party inside.
Shawn wraps an arm around Kasey and kisses her on the cheek, then whispers something in her ear. Aiden catches them. “Oi. No secrets around these parts mate. Out with it.”
Shawn looks at Kasey and she nods and mouths ‘Go Ahead’. Shawn turns his head towards Aiden. “If you must know I was telling her I couldn’t wait until all of you leave so we can desecrate these titles properly.”
“Too much mate.” Dickie chimes in. “What you two do with them is your business but…”
“Seriously we are going to do some sick shit with them. I’m talking like…”
“Brother Mine, please stop.” Betsy slams her drink and then slams the glass onto the table. “No one wants to know.”
“Well the idiot savant asked.” Shawn points towards Aiden.
“What’s that mean?!?” A clearly confused Aiden looks at Dickie who shakes his head ‘no’, before Aiden looks at Betsy who shrugs slightly.
“All I’m saying is, don’t ask questions that you don’t want the answers to.” Shawn picks up his drink and takes a sip. “Seriously, what did you think I was saying to her?”
“I dunno.” Aiden replies.
“Do you really think I’d plot and plan the downfall of NSQ right in front of all of you?” Shawn looks around at all of them. “Look I understand that I’m not the most trustworthy of people, but I’d like to think I’ve shown over the past few years that at least you guys could trust me.”
“Yeah mate you have, but also..” Dickie stops himself.
“I know. There’s always a but, however I’ve done nothing to give anyone in here pause.” Shawn shakes his head. “I’ve bent over backwards for everyone here, and it’s still not enough. I’ve backed all of you in whatever you wanted to do, and still not good enough. I’ve put each and every one of you before myself l. And guess what? It’s not enough.”
“Brother…” Betsy tries to say something but is quickly cut off by Shawn.
“Just leave. All of you.” Shawn quickly stands up and points towards the door.
“Come on mate. Don’t be like that.” Aiden stands up. As does Dickie and Betsy. “We were having a good time. Let’s forget this all this and get back to having a fun night.”
“You’re right. It was fun. Right until I was accused of…” Shawn was cut off by Dickie.
“No one accused you of anything. Aiden asked a question.”
“Yeah he did. With a weird undertone to it, but that’s right Crazy Shawn just jumping to conclusions as usual.” Shawn grabs his drink and hoists it to the sky. “To NSQ. Let’s show them we are just as broken as they think we are.” Shawn finishes his drink. “Just leave.”
Aiden, Betsy and Dickie all shake their heads and walk out of the bungalow. Shawn looks down at Kasey who is whistling to herself. Without saying a word Shawn walks to the back bedroom of the bungalow as Excellence whirrs and disappears.
“Psst!” Outside the window Shawn tries to get Kasey’s attention.
“You don’t get it do you?” Jer waves his arms wildly and then slams on the outside wall. “They can’t hear you!”
“Psst. Kasey. I’m sorry.” Outside Shawn keeps repeating that over and over again. Kasey tilts her head and looks at the window where Shawn and Jer are. “Just go to him. He needs you now more than ever. He won’t say it himself…. Well I am saying it… just go to him.”
After a brief pause Kasey stands up from the couch and walks into the bedroom. As Jer shakes his head. “You knew that was going to happen.”
“Maybe. But if you notice, I wasn’t in the room. How would I have known that she tilted her head?”
“Whatever. So. What was that all about?” Jer points his thumb towards the bedroom.
“You see when a man and a woman…” Shawn is abruptly stopped.
“I know what sex is.” Jer takes a deep breath. “I was talking about the outburst.”
Shawn shakes his head and begins to walk out towards the water. He sits down. He hands play with the sand as the water washes up on the soles of his shoes. Jer appears and stands in front of him.
“You know the deal.”
“Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.” Shawn picks up a handful of sand and slowly begins to drop it from his palm. “Have you ever questioned everything about yourself?”
“Go on.”
“From the moment NSQ formed it was always a WHEN situation, never an IF. When was Shawn going to turn. When is his jealousy going to shine through?” Shawn dusts his hand free of the sand and then claps them together. “The funny thing. It never happened. Sure Dickie and I fought for the Empire title. And yeah He beat me. I said congratulations and moved on to the next. There was never any deceit with them. Right then and there, it hurt that it would even be a thought.”
“What did you do?”
“I kept doing what I was doing. Hoping and praying that they would see what I was doing. How I was always putting them first. Always fighting for them. Bleeding for them.” Shawn sucks in air through his teeth. “And it was always WHEN. They were the closest thing I had to a family for the longest time. Hell not since Noah, it fucking killed me that is was a WHEN.”
“So you didn’t turn on them?”
“Not all of them.”
“What about the other one? The missing one?”
“Hey…..” Shawn sits up and turns towards the bungalow. “He was there that night.”
“Time to go.”
“Hold on.” Shawn begins to walk towards the bungalow. “He was there. It wasn’t Aiden….”
“And away we go.”
“Son of a bitch…..”
Both men are once again engulfed in a while light, this time the red is more prominent as the two men dissipate.
Chapter Four: Man in the Mirror
“When you judge another, you do not define them, you define yourself.” -Wayne Dyer
As the light dissipates, Jer and Shawn are standing in a white room. A room of our nothingness. A place where you can hear your thoughts more clearly than ever… well without the assistance of drugs. Shawn clears his throat, breaking the silence. “Umm. Pretty sure you're supposed to show me the future, yeah? You know how everyone is going to trash me when I’m gone or how they are all better off without me.”
“Listen man this is my journey.” With a snap of his finger a mirror begins to appear in the middle of the room. “I COULD show you your future, but you already know what happens if I do that. How is that going to change your mindset now? How is that supposed to help me decipher if you go up or down?”
“Good point.” Shawn looks at the mirror and runs his hand across the side. Something is different about this particular mirror. “So what? I’m supposed to bear my soul into this mirror so you can judge me based on my thoughts?”
“Nope. Nothing of the sort.” Jer hovers over to the mirror and stands behind it. “It’s already told me everything I needed to know.”
“What?” Shawn leans around the side of the mirror. “You can’t be serious? This is the culmination of this and it ends on a whimper? That’s lame.”
“I don’t know what to tell you? The rest of it was just window dressing for you, so that you’d be comfortable with what’s about to happen.” Jer turns around and begins to fade away.
“Wait! Where are you going?!?” Shawn takes a few steps towards Jer, but every step the distance between the two grows. “Fine FUCK YOU! I don’t need you!”
Shawn spins towards the mirror. He should’ve been looking at the backside of it, but the front was facing him. “Curious.”
The reflection of Shawn follows each move Shawn makes. He springs an arm out, the reflection follows. He kicks a leg, it follows. Shawn leans over the side and checks the back. “Nothing.”
“It’s just a mirror.” Shawn turns around, but the reflection doesn’t move. Sensing something is amiss, Shawn glances over his shoulder. The reflection tilts his head, its eyes glow a deep red, and a small growl comes from the mirror.
“Really?” Shawn taps the mirror. “Listen buddy, I was a heroin addict for years. A little growl and some bloodshot eyes aren’t going to faze me. You’re going to need to try a bit harder.”
The reflection looks past Shawn and snorts ferally. “Seriously? Come on man, you can’t scare me.”
The reflection begins to claw and scratch at the mirror. Shawn stands there smiling. “Even your brain dead self has to know that isn’t going to work.” Shawn grabs the top of the mirror and pulls it close. “Here, I’ll show you how it’s done.”
Shawn grabs the top and with his left elbow smashes the mirror. Into a thousand pieces. Shawn looks down at the pile and all that is heard is a whimper and crying. Shawn bends down and runs his hand through the glass shards.
*POOF*
“What the heck man!?!?” Jer appears and lifts Shawn up by the collar. “Why did you break that! We’ve only got one!”
“Really? Just one?” Shawn smirks at Jer. “You mean to tell me, in all this infinite glory. Up and Down. You’ve got one mirror? I call bullshit.”
“Seriously man. No joke.” Jer magically summons a broom and dustpan. He begins to sweep up the mirror shards. “Derek himself made this. It was supposed to show us and you, who you really are on the inside. Usually I would just bring people right here, but we were backed up, so we went on a little adventure.”
A loud static fills the air. Shawn looks at Jer. Who is now covering both his ears and nodding profusely. Muttering to himself. “Yes.” “Yes, sir.” “I’ll send him right now.”
“Um…” Jer turns around and sighs. “It seems as if the Boss wants to talk to you.”
“Okay.” Shawn shrugs. “Do people normally talk to him around this time?”
Jer ponders the question for a moment. “No. Not really. He usually leaves us to make the judgment. Well it seems as if our journey has ended. See you around.”
Jer snaps his fingers. Shawn is bathed in an all red light. Just before disappearing Shawn smiles. “Sooner than you think.” With a wink Shawn dematerialized and is gone in the blink of an eye.
Chapter Five: Shawn Bless Us Everyone
“People with high assurance in their capabilities approach difficult tasks as challenges to be mastered rather than as threats to be avoided.” -Albert Bandura
Just as fast as he was gone, Shawn was now in an office.
“Have a seat.”
A chair slides across the ground and forces Shawn to sit down. Shawn tries to adjust himself but is unable to move.
“So you know who I am.” The Boss from earlier walks up behind Shawn and grasps both of his shoulders. A firm grasp, so much so that you can see the whites of his knuckles.
“You’re God.” Shawn says while tilting his head up and looking at the man out of the corner of his eye.
“No, no, no.” Derek releases his grasp on Shawn’s shoulders and walks behind the desk. “He left a long long time ago. Leaving all of us to fend for ourselves up here.” Derek kicks his feet up on the desk and leans back. “If you paid any attention you would’ve seen all religions. Muslim, Hindu, Mormon, all of them out there in the lobby, however you were too concerned with yourself to notice.”
“Gotcha. So let me get this straight.” Shawn points to Derek. “Not God.”
“Well no. Little G. I’m a god, not THE God.” Derek shakes his head. “Where are my manners?” With a snap of his fingers Shawn is free to move about. Shawn rings out his wrists and cracks his neck. “I have to take precautions. Being the boss and all.”
“I understand.” Shawn adjusts himself in the chair. “Let me ask you the same question I asked Jerahmeel.”
“Ah yes Jerahmeel. One of our most devoted workers. But sure, ask away.” Derek leans forward on the desk, resting his elbows on the top and his head in his hands. “You don’t have many more questions to ask.”
“Right.” Shawn rolls his eyes. “So what I asked him was if you could die. So…. Can you?”
Derek raises up from the desk. “Can I die? I honestly don’t know.”
Shawn nods and then smiles out of the corner of his mouth. “One more question.”
“I suppose. I am generous.” Derek nods slightly.
“Have you ever looked into the mirror? You know the one I broke. The one of one.” Shawn coldly stares at Derek.
“I can’t say that….” Shawn interrupts Derek.
“I know that you haven’t. That’s why you don’t know what the mirror is.” Derek stares at Shawn directly. “You see God, that’s with a big G, didn’t leave. Actually he never left.”
“He is…” Shawn stops Derek before he could finish.
“Was.” Shawn pulls out a large piece of the mirror and grasps it in his hand. “He is now dead. What none of you ever realized was he was there. It was my reflection that showed me all of your errors. God being the mirror showed us how he saw us. When I looked in there all I saw was myself. Vindictive. Crass. Egotistical.” A look of worry falls on Derek’s face as Shawn continues. “But I’m also very, very resourceful. My reflection told me about the mirror, and all about each and every one of your protections.”
“Our what?” Derek asks.
“God made it so you couldn’t die by an instrument of mortals.” Shawn taps the edge of the mirror on the desk. “This isn’t made from mortals. It’s actually God, not God Made, but actually them. So Derek I’ll answer the question for you. Can you Die? Yes. Say it with me now.”
“Y—-es. Yes I can die.” Derek swallows hard after each word. “What do you want?”
“Now we are getting to the point.” Shawn takes the piece of mirror and begins to spin the tip of it into the desktop. “I want to go back, but not to this reality. To a happier ending. Can you do that Derek? Can you give me what I want?”
“I—-I don’t think so.”
“Too Bad.” Shawn lunges across the desk without warning and jams the mirror piece into Derek’s chest. You’d expect to see blood, but all that is seen is a bright light, followed by a loud bang.
Shawn shields his eyes and when he finally opens them standing there is Jerahmeel. He looks around the room and sees Shawn standing still with the mirror piece in his hand.
“What happened here?” Jerahmeel said flabbergasted.
“Looks like you’re in charge now.” Shawn said with a deep sigh. “Can you do what I want?”
“Yeah. Give me the mirror.” Jerahmeel holds his hand out.
Shawn looks at him and then to his hand. Slowly he places the mirror piece in his hand. Jerahmeel smiles. “Can’t say that I saw this coming.”
“What can I say? I like challenges. So when do I leave?”
“Right now.” Jerahmeel nods. “See you again.”
“Probably not.”
The two men nod as Shawn is for the final time engulfed in light. This time however it’s all white.
Chapter Six: Accepting The Praise
“I Am Inevitable.” -Thanos
“Shawn.” A soft voice is heard. “Shawn.” A little bit louder. “SHAWN!” Not so calm anymore. Shawn is rustled awake. Sweating profusely and unaware of where he is.
“Kas—ey?” Shawn rubs his eyes.
“Yeah. Who else was going to be here?” Before she could say anything else, Shawn grabs her and pulls her close. Borderline squeezing the life out of her.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. It was the only thing I could do.” Shawn loosened his hug and looked at her in her eyes. “I love you. I have always loved you. I will never stop loving you.”
“Sweetie, I love you too, but tonight isn’t about me. It’s about you.” Kasey points to the monitor, as Shawn sits up. Finally noticing where he is. “You almost missed your call. Get out there and do what you do best.”
Kasey kisses Shawn on the cheek and ushers him out of the door. She smacks him on the ass and gives him a wink.
Shawn winks right back at her before walking down the corridor. His head down. His heart is racing. He stops and listens.
“Introducing the final inductee of The Wrestling Hall of Fame Class of Two Thousand and *{*]Static*{*}].. he is the Afterthought. The Apothecary. The Tyrant. He is SHAAAAAWWWWWNNNNN WAAAAAAARRRESSSTTEEEEIIIINNNNNN!!”
The roar of the crowd always gets the adrenaline going. Shawn walks on to the stage, as camera flashes go off in every direction. Shawn gives them an eager wave and shakes the presenters hand. He pulls out a sheet of paper and looks down at it.
“I had a whole speech prepared for tonight, but fuck it.” Shawn crumples the paper up and tosses it behind him. “That’s not my style. Never has been, never will be. So let’s get right into it shall we?”
“I am beyond humbled to be standing here right now. Not here in the sense of The Hall Of Fame, but physically here. I should’ve died ten times over and yet here I still stand. A living breathing contradiction. A man capable of speaking out of both sides of his mouth. A devious planner with only one goal in mind.”
“Victory at any and all costs.”
“Then something happened. Something clicked in my brain. I thought to myself long and hard about what I truly wanted to accomplish in my last few years in the wrestling game.”
“I wanted to do something that I never did before. I wanted to foster relationships that would last well beyond my time in the ring.”
“There are so many people I want to thank, because without them surely I wouldn’t be standing here right now. I’m not going to be able to get to everyone and if I don’t mention you, Sorry. But I’ve got to start off with the man that gave me my chance, Jon Brown. I will forever be in his debt. Without him, there is no Fuzz. There is no Shawn Warstein. There is no *]}{static}}][*.”
“Then I’d move along to Noah Jackson. The best bastard son I never knew I had. I can’t forget Dickie Watson and his Hetero Lifemate Aiden Reynolds. Betsy Granger and there are so many others to thank.”
“Then there is the gorgeous, strong, capable and extremely smart, Kasey Vex.”
“She has been nothing but a blessing to me. She stood by my side when no one else would. She pushed me to be better than I ever thought I was capable of. At my lowest time she was there. When I was on top of the world, she was right there.”
“I want her to know that I love her more every day than the last one. That I will forever be grateful to call her my *|]{ static{}|]* and for that I can’t wait to see what we do next.”
“And finally I want to thank myself.”
“If it wasn’t for me there wouldn’t be many of you young wrestlers fighting in places that I helped build the foundation of. Thank me for everything I put up with to make the industry better for you today. Respect me for everything that I accomplished.”
“I did this not because I was the best. No. I did this to prove to everyone that I was ALWAYS the best. That no matter how many times my back was pushed against the wall, I was going to come out swinging. If you came for me, you needed to kill me otherwise it was game over for you.”
“So in closing I want all of you to know that there wouldn’t be a Hall Of Fame without Shawn Warstein. This place needed me more than I Needed it. I bring value. I bring prosperity. I bring notoriety.”
“Up until tonight, this was just a Hall of Wrestlers. Now…”
“It’s where Gods are forged. Me being here just Level Up’d this place. It was never a question of IF Shawn Warstein gets in, it was always when. And tonight that question was answered.”
“Thank You, Fuck You. Bye.”
Shawn raised his arms and flipped off the crowd. Some cheered, most took to giving him exactly what he wanted and boo’d the roof off of the place.
Back behind the stage Shawn sees Kasey and smiles. The two of them share a hug and kiss, before she looks up at him. “So how are we feeling?”
Shawn looked back at the stage one last time. Then back to Kasey. “I’ve got you. I’m fan-fucking-tastic.”
Shawn and Kasey walk out of the building as the camera fades to black.