Uprising I - One Shall Stand, One Shall Fall
Jun 10, 2020 5:19:27 GMT -5
Shadowlove, Wade Moor, and 8 more like this
Post by James Nightingale on Jun 10, 2020 5:19:27 GMT -5
James Nightingale stands on top of the old Wyoming Hospital, alone, staring into the pitch-black night as he smokes a cigarette.
“Was it worth it?”
“Deserting Alice and the kids after allowing The Matriarch to guide me into the darkness”
“Laying my hands on Zooey, sparking a six-month war with Kidsgrove.”
“The blood on my hands, including that of the poor soul who now lays in my morgue.”
Nightingale smiles sadistically.
“You’re damn fucking right it was worth it.”
He flicks his cigarette into the dark abyss, he then turns and heads back inside.
Earlier that day…
The Wyoming Hospital, the very same place where Nightingale previously left Kidsgrove for dead, has now been purchased by The Angel of Death. With funding from both Emily Deschanel and MS-13, the once run-down, deserted hospital has now become the stateside base of operations for Nightingale’s new business venture, AOD Incorporated.
Inside the boardroom, Nightingale, dressed in the same black suit worn for the contract signing on Clash, stands in the window, looking over the mountain views in the distance. Discreetly in his hand is his wedding ring, returned to him by Alice last week, he rolls it amongst his fingers whilst he appears deep in thought. For a moment he closes his eyes, and thinks about his last encounter with his ex-wife, the parting words she said to Nightingale. He quickly regains his composure.
He is joined in the boardroom by Emily, as well as Adrian, the Lieutenant of MS-13, and his lawyer, Thomas Gray, previously Emily’s Hollywood lawyer, now working for AOD Incorporated. There is a large crate in the corner, with a big bow wrapped around it, a house warming present of sorts from Emily to Nightingale, which remains unopened.
Nightingale, still stood looking out of the window whilst his audience awaits, “Thank you all for attending our first business meeting today, we’ve got a lot to discuss and little time before I destroy Kidsgrove once and for all at Evolution, so let’s get on with it.”, he turns around and sits in his chair at the head of the table, he lights a cigarette and leans back into his chair. “Thomas if you’d please give us a status update on the PPE situation?”
Thomas opens his folder, “The trucks organised by The Jensgrove Foundation were apprehended yesterday evening on route to their destination, the stock has been safely secured. I have a meeting with a private hospital tomorrow, we’ll shift the lot for three-times their value.”
Nightingale nods in approval, “Excellent work, the Eradication Campaign needs continued cash flow to keep it viable, PPE is a hot commodity currently. Make sure we continue to apprehend The Jensgrove Foundation trucks, we’ll continue to stockpile the PPE and sell it for well over market value. I also want you to begin to stockpile antibiotics. With the rioting going on, there’ll be an increase in infection from wounds suffered, stockpile it now, before the demand is high”
“Excellent plan James”, replies Thomas.
Nightingale turns to Adrian, “How did your mission to Cheyenne go?”
Adrian lights a cigar, “It was a success, we obtained all the targets on the list, they’re all in holding rooms ready for the harvesting to begin, as soon as the extraction team arrives. Who knew organ donation was such a lucrative business?”
Nightingale smiles sadistically, “It’s crazy the amount of money someone will pay when they are desperate for a new organ, life’s priceless, except for when the rich will pay me a small fortune for a new heart, or a new kidney.”, Nightingale flicks away some cigarette ash, “How are the boys adjusting to their new surroundings?”
“Good boss”, Adrian replies.
Nightingale nods, “Excellent, this is our new base of operations, it is imperative MS-13 maintains it’s safety", Nightingale takes out a file and passes it to Adrian. “Enclosed in that file are details of Florence Nightingale’s family, I want you to put a team together to travel to England and reclaim her remains. Kidsgrove thinks he was clever handing them back to her family, he’s just put them in danger. Bring Florence’s remains back to me where they belong, and dispose of her family”.
Adrian nods, “As you wish, I’ll ensure she is returned to you.”
Nightingale looks at Emily, who appears fairly uninterested, he shakes his head, “Things are going to move quickly in the coming weeks, first we have to ensure Kidsgrove’s eliminated permanently at Evolution, if that bastard beats me, this war will have been for nothing. AOD Incorporated is taking over the world, my Eradication Campaign needs finances to continue, Gravedigger’s investment got the ball rolling, Emily stealing the Deschanel family fortune was a massive bonus, poor Zooey is going to get a big fucking shock when she sees her wealth has diminished.”, he begins to laugh hysterically, Thomas and Adrian join in, Emily still appears uninterested.
Nightingale suddenly stops. “That’s enough laughing for today, it’s time we all get fucking serious, I’m going to war with Kidsgrove, I’m confident I’ll destroy him, but I’ll never underestimate him. He has proven he is resilient, I’ll give him that. He should have died in the morgue downstairs with the amount of insulin I pumped into him, but fuck he survived, somehow. He was lucky enough to survive at Rush, but I guarantee to all of you in this room, that I’ll not miss at Evolution, I’ll beat him so badly, he’ll not be able to answer the count of ten, and I, THE ANGEL OF DEATH, WILL STAND OVER HIS FALLEN BODY!”
Nightingale stands and walks back to the window, he begins to play with the ring again. “That’ll be all for today, this meeting is adjourned, leave us.”
Adrian and Thomas collect their things and leave the boardroom. Emily remains in her seat whilst Nightingale continues to gaze out of the window.
Nightingale, in an irritated tone, “What is it now?”
Emily tuts like a child, “I’m bored, this world domination stuff has got you all distracted, I want to have some fun with my Angel of Death. You haven’t even opened your present yet, you ungrateful bastard.”
Nightingale turns to Emily, suddenly curious, “What present?”
Emily smiles seductively, “Go and see for yourself, my love.”
Nightingale returns the ring to his pocket and walks over to the box, kissing Emily on the cheek as he passes her. After pausing for a second, he rips off the bow and starts breaking open the crate. After using a crowbar, the crate lid finally breaks off and drops to the floor.
Nightingale, caught off guard by the contents, steps back. He turns to Emily, “Is, is it really him?”
Emily doesn’t respond, she just smiles at Nightingale.
Nightingale suddenly pulls the contents out of the box, it's a man, bound and gagged. He pulls his face into the light, it’s SAM KIDSGROVE!
“Oh baby, you really have outdone yourself this time.”, says Nightingale. “It looks like Evolution has come early for you Sammy boy!”
But suddenly he notices something is wrong, Kidsgrove is missing the small scar on his neck left from the injection site from the incident at Rush.
“For a minute I thought you’d actually brought me Kidsgrove. No worries, Matthew McConaughey is also a good present, he helped Kidsgrove at Revolution by causing a distraction, giving him the opportunity to attack me when I was about to take ZMac’s head, I’ve wanted to get my own back on this Redneck piece of shit for a long time.”, Nightingale pulls out the gag, “You ready to die for your sins, Matty Mac?”
McConaughey screams for help, in a Californian accent, not the usual McConaughey Texan drool, “HELP ME! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD HELP ME!!”
Nightingale turns angrily to Emily whilst still holding onto his present, “EMILY!... WHO THE FUCK IS THIS?!?!”
Emily, sheepishly responds, “Well, I tried, I really tried to get you McConaughey, but his agent wouldn’t return my calls, and well I heard of this guy, he is the top Matthew McConaughey impersonater in the country, I figured he’d prove a good tune-up for you baby?”
Nightingale closes his eyes and composes himself, he reopens them and looks straight at the impersonator, “A tune-up eh? I guess your heart was in the right place. Tell me, what is your name?”
The impersonator timidly responds, “My name, my name is Jake.”
Nightingale smiles sadistically, “I’m sure you’ve made a tidy living off of your looks, it’s a pity you look like two cunts I despise, you spend all your life pretending to be like them, now today, you get to feel the pain Kidsgrove will endure on Sunday at Evolution.”
“PLEASE...PLEASE NO!”, shouts Jake.
“Shh”, responds Nightingale, “Mind you, you won’t get the opportunity to tell them how it felt… because I plan on disposing of you when I’m done, but perhaps I’ll mail him your face, the one thing that connects you, as a sign of the horrors that lie ahead for Kidsgrove.”
Jake begins to sob, “GOD HELP ME!.”
Nightingale turns to the door, “BOYS! STRING HIM UP!”
Two members of MS-13 enter the room and drag away Jake, who is kicking and screaming for help as he is dragged to his impending doom. Nightingale and Emily walk to each other, kissing passionately on the lips.
We return to an old treatment room, Jake is chained to the ceiling. He remains gagged, hanging there at Nightingale’s mercy.
Nightingale walks into the room followed by Emily. He removes his blazer and then his shirt and tie. “I would hate to get your blood all over my new suit.”
Jake closes his eyes in fear, Nightingale grabs him by the hair and gets in real close to his face.
“You’ve spent your life pretending to be a failure like Kidsgrove, from here on out, I will recognise you only as him, and as a result, you will feel the full wrath the real Kidsgrove will endure.”
Nightingale, viciously headbutts Jake, followed by strikes to his face and body. Quickly Jake’s cries turn to silence, his head slumps forward as he slips into unconsciousness.
Emily puts her hand on Nightingale’s shoulder, “Don’t break your hands baby, you'll need them on Sunday.”
Nightingale halts his attack, and turns to Emily, “Yeah, that’s a good point.”
He walks over to a table which holds dozens of light tubes, he starts by picking one up and smashing it over Jake’s body, and then another, striking again and again. The tiny shards of glass tear through Jake’s flesh, blood begins to flow out from dozens of small lacerations.
“It’s been a long war, who knew when I choked out Zooey all those months ago it would lead to this. The thing with wars, they are long, they contain many battles, you’ve won some, I've won more, but really all that matters is I win this war, and that is what I’ll do at Evolution, I'll win the war and stand over your fallen body.”
“Why did I attack Zooey? Because I wanted to. She had no business being in my ring, pushing some political crap down our throats. But really, she was just bait, just what I needed to lure you back into the ring. You lost in the Wrestler of the Year tournament and then what, you thought you’d go save the world? Please! Why would anyone pay any attention to the ramblings of a failed wrestler? Let’s look at the facts, you have won gold Sam, two-time US Champion, both reigns lasted a little over a month, Tag Team Champion, Shadowlove carried The Hollywood Elite, you were the final UCI Intercontinental Champion, you failed to unify it with the World title, just like you also did with the International Championship. Do you see the pattern here? You think you're some A-lister when in truth you fluff your lines all the time. Maybe your brains got scrambled when you were defeated by Dandy inside Hell In A Cell, it’s ok though, because at Evolution, one year after you choked inside that cell, I’ll choke you out myself, just ask Zooey how that feels.”
Nightingale stops to catch his breath.
“Sure, I don’t have the titles to show, yet. But my sole focus throughout this war was to inflict as much pain on you as humanly possible. My Eradication Campaign will march on long after you're gone and I’ll have plenty more meaningful title reigns than you’ll ever have."
Nightingale frowns at Jake, “Looks like he’s done already.”
“Do you want me to get the smelling salts?”, Emily replies.
Nightingale shakes his head, “Don’t bother, it turns out Jake is a fantastic impersonator, he’s as spineless as the real Kidsgrove, he’s too weak to take his beating like a man.”
Nightingale grabs a stool and places it down next to Jake and takes a seat, he lights up a cigarette. His face and upper body is covered with a splattering of Jake’s blood.
“Look at you, you’re pathetic. Your career is over, you think you are still relevant here, but you're not. Your time has been and gone, and you’ve wasted your chance, it’s now in cardiac arrest, and there isn’t enough adrenaline available to get it up and running again. When you signed your new full-time contract Monday, you lied to yourself, and the fans. Because you know deep down you don’t have it anymore. You have become the sacrificial lamb to the evolution of Nightingale. Your failure to overcome me is the rocket fuel I need to propel myself to the top because for some unknown reason your name still holds some worth, it won’t after I stamp out your legacy when you fail to make the count of ten.”
Nightingale stands up and walks up to Jake, standing face to face with his unconscious body.
“How does it feel to be so emasculated, you're not even the focal point of Jensgrove, Zooey is, you’re an afterthought. She was the one left vulnerable in the ring whilst you were off playing fake politician, you left her in that ring all on her own for me to strike, catching her in my choke and feeling her body thrash around between my legs until she went limp. How does it make you feel that Zooey wears the trousers in your relationship? She was the one who had the balls time and time again to face me in the ring, whilst you hid away, scared of The Angel of Death.”
Nightingale walks behind Jake.
“All this time you thought you were getting into my head, making me fear you? Nothing you could do or say to me would allow you to get into my head. I’m confident in my own abilities, in the long training I completed, the teachings I received from The Matriarch, who despite your feeble attempts to take her away from me, will be back at my side very soon. Even before I became The Angel of Death, I witnessed horrors as a nurse that you could never imagine, from dead children to burns victims, trust me when I say there is nothing you can do to me that would allow you to infiltrate my head.”
“You couldn’t beat me with the mind games, nor physically. Jumping me at Revolution, I easily escaped, simply throwing a fan in your direction. Stowing away in my car and causing the crash into Walmart, I overcame you by smashing you in the head with a toolbox. Jumping me whilst I entered our match at Rush, I hogtied you, flew you to this very facility, and left you for dead. You act like the hard man, the aggressor, but it always ends the same way, myself kicking your ass.”
Nightingale whispers in Jake’s ear.
“So this is it Sam, the final battle to end the war, you’ll try your best, you’ll attempt to give your dying career one last shot of adrenaline to get your cold, dead heart beating again. But truthfully, it’s gone and won't ever come back to life. I’m taking you to deep waters, where I intend to drown you. Last Man Standing is your funeral, it’s where you are finally laid to rest. I’d say don’t fluff your lines, because it’s the final act of a live performance so you cannot reshoot the scene. But honestly, you were recast in this performance long ago, because the week you left following your defeat in the Wrestler of the Year Tournament, I made my debut in Action Wrestling. I’m everything you are, but one hundred times better, and at Evolution, despite a long struggle, you’ll finally succumb to The Angel of Death, you’ll be laid to rest as your failure of a career is finally taken off life support, and I move one step closer to realising my destiny in becoming World Champion.”
Emily shouts, “KILL HIM, KILL HIM FOR ME JAMES!”
Nightingale wraps his arms around Jake's throat, just like he did to Zooey all those months ago, except this time he doesn’t let go, squeezing harder. Jake, momentarily regains enough consciousness to make one final attempt to break free by pulling at Nightingale’s arm, but he fails, soon a pop can be heard from Jake’s neck, and his arm falls limp as he becomes Nightingale’s latest victim.
Nightingale releases the lifeless impersonator and walks over to Emily, together they share a kiss.
Emily breaks away from Nightingale’s lips, “Evolution, you don’t stop, you don’t stop until he is eradicated once and for all, you hear me?”
Nightingale replies, “The Angel of Death is coming for Kidsgrove… Zooey can pray for his mercy, but it won’t matter, his fate is already sealed, ONE SHALL STAND, ONE SHALL FALL! When Kidsgrove falls this time, he won’t ever get back up again.”
Emily passionately kisses Nightingale, He picks her up and she straddles him, he lays her on the table as the scene fades to black.