I M P R I N T
Nov 8, 2020 20:23:48 GMT -5
“The RevolutiDaddy” Wesley, Stuart Slane, and 3 more like this
Post by James Nightingale on Nov 8, 2020 20:23:48 GMT -5
AOD, Inc - James Nightingale stands next to the fire within his private chambers, drinking a glass of whiskey. He turns and looks at the sofa; Alice lays there, sleeping. James takes another sip of his whiskey and then sets it down on a coffee table as he begins to walk towards Alice. He picks up a blanket and covers her with it.
Confused about the events of the evening, he turns and walks to his jacket, picking it up and putting it on. He feels inside for his cigarettes; they are there.
He leaves his chamber and proceeds to the main lift as he attempts to head outside for some fresh air. He rides the lift to the ground floor and walks towards the exit where he is greeted by Brookes, who is on guard duty tonight.
“Evening boss”, says Brookes.
“Michael”, replies James to his young prospect, as he remains deep in thought.
“I just wanted to say once again how amazing you were in your opening round match against Lissie. That victory reminded the world why The Lost Breed is the most dominant force in Action Wrestling”.
“Yes… yes it did”, James still paying little attention, “Leave me, Michael”.
“Certainly, I am sorry for bothering you”.
“No need to be sorry, I just need to be left with my thoughts, go inside, it’s a cold night tonight. No one will mess with me anyway because last week I reminded the world what I was capable of, what I did to Hawkins and Lissie, they all fear me again”, Nightingale proceeds to wander outside, lighting a cigarette in the process.
He stops and stares at the sky, at the moon. He again reaches inside his jacket pocket, pulling out an old photo. He holds it up to the moonlight so he can see the picture whilst taking another drag of his cigarette. The picture reveals a man, James’s father.
May 28th, 1998
A warm spring afternoon outside The King City Comprehensive School; John Harrison sits inside his work van waiting for his son, James, to walk out of the school gate. John, a painter and decorator, is still dressed in his paint-stained overalls. He clenches the steering wheel as he eagerly waits for his son to arrive.
After a moment, James wanders out from a crowd of teenagers, his face buried in his latest copy of Powerslam magazine. John lightly presses on the horn to alert his son that he is waiting for him. It breaks James’s attention; he quickly stuffs the magazine into his bag and hurries towards his father’s van. As he arrives at the passenger side, a group of girls draw his attention. He stares over at them, or really, just at one, the same girl who always drew his attention, Alice. Her back was turned to James; she was wearing a white shirt, maybe a size too small. It barely reached her skirt, which was short, accentuating her long legs.
It seemed like he stared at her for an eternity until his father tapped on the window.
“Come on, Kiddo”, John says gently.
James takes one last look at Alice before finally pulling his attention away from her for just enough time to enter his father’s van. He looks again discreetly once he’s inside the van.
“So uh, who’s the girl?”, asks John curiously.
James, in an almost trance-like state, replies, “Hmm?”
John chuckles to himself as he turns the ignition of the van, “The girl you’ve been gawking at since pulled your head out of your magazine”.
James, still looking, “That’s… that’s Alice”.
As the van pulls off, Alice turns her attention to the van, locking eyes with James as he leaves. She smiles at him before turning back to her friends.
“Well son she sure is a pretty girl, have you spoken to her much or do you just stare at her?” asks the curious father.
“Stop it, Dad, there’s no chance a girl like Alice would ever go with a guy like me”.
“Nonsense”, replied John, “You're a great young man, why wouldn’t she go with a guy like you? Maybe if you paid a little less time hidden away in your wrestling magazines, she might notice you”.
“Yeah, maybe”, replies James.
“I can tell now, she’s the one”, says John, James turns to his father with a frown, “I can feel it in my bones James; she is the one. Be brave son, you don’t know if you don’t try, don’t have any regrets, talk to her, her response might surprise you, buddy. Your Grandad told me a long time ago, ‘The imprint of a father will forever remain on his son’. He taught me to be brave, as am I to you, we only live this life once, have no regrets”.
“We’ll see Dad”, James looks at his father's paint-stained overalls, “Busy day at work?”
John laughs to himself, before coughing, “Yes son, but that’s life”.
They continue to talk during their journey home together.
Nightingale takes one last look of the photo of his father then returns it inside his jacket pocket. He takes another drag of his cigarette as stares into the air, pondering his next challenge, “The RevolutiDaddy” Wesley.
“What exactly the fuck does ‘RevolutiDaddy’ even mean, much like ‘IlummiDaddy’, it means nothing. Daddy is an interesting choice of words, it’s confusing. Take ‘The Angel of Death’ for example, it’s clear as day what that means, a nurse or nurses who are known to murder their patients, simple right? You know immediately when you’re facing someone with that kind of nickname that they’re probably someone who shouldn’t be taken too lightly”.
“When I hear someone has the term ‘Daddy’ in their name, I suspect that it’s someone who is a strong leader, a role model, someone who is willing to mould the next generation. Let’s cut the crap now Wesley because we know your track recorded at that is mediocre at best”.
“It’s not your fault, at least not directly, because you were virtually an orphan growing up. I came from a loving household; my father was the kindest man in the world, he lived for his children, his sole purpose was to be the best dad possible; a stark contrast to your upbringing”.
“When a flower seed is planted into the ground, it requires watering and sunlight to grow, it requires attention and care otherwise it withers and dies. Sadly Wesley; your father didn’t share the same love for yourself, at least not the love my father had for me”.
“You were a burden on your father, the famous former wrestler from yesteryear. He had dreams and aspirations for climbing to the top of this business, yet he was handcuffed to a fucking parasite named Wesley, who was disappointing in every way possible. Why do you think he abandoned both your Mother and little Wesley at an NWA show, never to return? He knew he had to get away from you, knowing he’d fathered an abomination such as yourself would be too much of a burden to carry”.
“You may have developed above-standard physical attributes, but you’re emotionally retarded, your father needed a son, not the disappointment that was presented to him. He’s a man’s man, he came from that tough blue-collar generation, the no knee pads type whereas you’re too much pomp and circumstance. He must watch you and hang his head in shame, and will tell anyone who asks that either you're not his son or you got it from your mother’s side of the family”.
“Knowing how you’d turn out in life, I bet your old man wishes he’d pulled out of your mother rather than fill her with his seed. Or better yet, I imagine he wished he kept driving instead of picking her up from the street corner he found her on”.
“The only use your dad ever had for you was to help clear his gambling debts. He didn’t want any of those shit pasta pictures you made him in kindergarten, nor did he want to play catch with you. The only thing he ever wanted from you was your ability to lose in the ring so he could collect on a bet”.
“I saw you backstage at Evolution III, whilst I was warming up for my match with Kidsgrove. I saw you searching those corridors, looking for your father, hoping he’d show up to give you the attention you so badly craved”.
“Cancer is a cruel disease, trust me I’ve seen it first hand, many times. Your dad hated you so much that he faked having cancer just so he could jettison you out of his life. If he’s dead, there ain’t the possibility that you’d come begging for his attention again. He would finally be free of the burden you truly were”.
"I'd lie about cancer too if I produced such a pitiful welp. Bye kids, going for chemo and a length of rope."
“At least you did one thing right in your life, you did one thing that benefitted your dad, you lost the All In match at Uprising. I heard the rumours that you purposely lost so he could win a bet and clear some gambling debts. I call bullshit; I believe the bets were laid, but I know full well you didn’t throw the match. I stood in the shadows ready to attack Walter; whom I knew would come out to confront the winner. I waited and I watched you climb that ladder. trying frantically to take possession of the briefcase. You knocked off Shaw, but he springboarded back and took you down, eliminating you from contention whilst he would go on to retrieve the briefcase”.
“You must truly be the biggest disappointment a father can have for a son; you couldn’t even throw the match despite knowing the ramifications winning would have on your father’s personal circumstances, yet you went on and failed miserably in your attempt to win. You failed to live up to the expectations of the fans, failed to take that step closer to the World Title. Instead, you’re sliding all the way back to 201 and fun, and despite inadvertently helping your father, you then went and sulked about it, fucking off from Action Wrestling for two months”.
“The imprint of a father will forever remain on his son; yours wanted nothing to do with you. Leaving his imprint on you would show the world he failed, and men of his generation are too proud for that to hang on them, so he left you. Sadly you found your way back to him, I bet he wishes he’d smothered you in your sleep, or even pushed your mum down a flight of stairs so that you’d never been born”.
October 9th, 2009
James and Alice have returned to their house with their newborn son just a short time ago, having been discharged from the hospital. Alice sits on the sofa recuperating whilst James has taken his son upstairs to change his nappy.
There is a quick knock on the door before it opens, John pokes his head through with a beaming smile spread across his face, “Hello, is anybody home?”
Alice smiles at her loving father-in-law, and pulls herself up to her feet, “Here he is, what took you so long?”
John rushes over to her, trying to stop her from standing on account of his arrival, “Please don’t get up for me”, he gives a big bear hug and a kiss on the cheek, “I am so proud of you sweetie, you did amazing, well done”.
“Thanks, John”, replies Alice, “James has taken your grandson upstairs, he’s just had his first poo, sounded like a blowout”.
“Oh dear”, John chuckles, “Well James is an expert in wiping bums, I must admit it wasn’t something I was ever good at, still I’ll go survey the damage”, he winks at Alice, his smile as wide as possible.
Alice reciprocates the smile and rests back on the sofa, exhausted, “Go enjoy your grandson”.
John runs up the stairs and arrives at the nursery door, he braces himself before entering and seeing his grandson for the first time, in the arms of the new father, James.
James smiles at the entrance of his father as he cradles his newborn son, “Hey Dad, here he is”.
James passes the baby to John, who takes him into his arms as he begins to well up.
“He’s perfect”, says the joyful grandfather, he then puts an arm around James, “I’m so proud of you”.
“Thanks, Dad”, replies James.
After sharing their embrace, John continues to look at the baby, “Remember son the imprint…”.
James cuts him off by finishing the sentence for him, “of a father will forever remain on his son”, James smiles at John, “I learned from the best”.
John returns the smile. Suddenly he begins to have a coughing fit, he quickly passes his grandson back to James whilst he tries to compose himself.
“That cough sounds worse Dad, you need to get checked out. Come into work, I’m sure one of the Docs will give you a look over”.
John finally manages to regain control and his composure, “I will James, I promise”.
Nightingale continues to think about Wesley whilst lighting another cigarette.
“Raising children is hard work. We share common ground there Wesley; neither one of us are likely gonna win father of the year any time soon.”
“I’m not a hypocrite; I left my children not because I didn’t love them, no I left them because of what I was becoming. ‘The Matriarch’s’ influence over myself was strong, I didn’t want her imprint on my children, so I left them in the capable hands of Alice. I’m not getting soft, I don’t regret the decision; it was what needed to happen. My purpose in this world is to eradicate the weak, there is no need for them to travel the same path as me”.
“You Wesley; you should have chosen a similar path to myself. I knew I wasn’t fit to be a father so I removed myself from the equation. You, on the other hand, you are causing your sons the same amount of pain that you have experienced”.
“Being a shitty father in your family must be hereditary; yours despised you and now you're equally as poor as a father as he was”.
“You make me fucking laugh; you worry that your black sons will live a difficult life because of the colour of their skin? Sure I know you are from a twisted country and that continues to be an issue, but you really believe that’s their biggest problem?”
“You’re their biggest problem!”
“You think you love them, but already you’ve done to them what your father did to you and that was abandoning them. My children can turn on the TV and they will see what I am doing, they will know why their daddy cannot be in their lives because he is carrying out The Matriarchs work. Your sons; Ash and Jackson, they will look out of their living room window for most of their childhoods thinking their father hates them”.
“Their only hope is that your ex-wife Ari, re-marries somebody else, someone who is willing to take on another man’s children. Hopefully, they're young enough that the damage is not permanent, that someone else can pick up the reigns and finish what you could not. In time, you will be a distant memory”.
“This shit is hereditary; your father messed you up, you are now screwing up your kids. It’s like cancer metastasising through someone’s body. The Angel of Death needs to eradicate the weak, that includes you and your seed. How about once I’m done with you I go to Ari’s place and stop the poison from spreading further”.
May 7th, 2010
Inside a hospice, James sits next to his father, who lays dying in his hospital bed. Years of painting and decorating had exposed John to harmful asbestos, which in turn led to him developing lung cancer. Despite treatment; John was given a poor prognosis and deteriorated rapidly.
He lays in his bed; nasal cannula in his nostrils providing a small amount of oxygen, now simply for comfort, holding back the suffocation of becoming short of breath. A subcutaneous needle was inserted into his stomach, providing John with a steady supply of morphine to numb the agonising pain.
James, sat by his fathers’ side, holds his hand waiting for his inevitable passing. Alice returns, having been home to attend to their son, she joins James to comfort her husband.
“Your grandson, he uh... he’s now sitting up by himself. He’s growing so fast”, James says, desperately trying to hold himself together. Alice hugs him tightly.
“I just wanted you to know, that you were the best dad anyone could ever ask for and…”, James finally starts to sob.
John slowly opens his eyes, he has been unconscious most of the day, “...Hey… Kiddo, I’m proud of the man you’ve become. Remember… the imprint of a father will forever... remain on his son... be the best dad you can be…”.
John slowly drifts back into unconsciousness. He begins Cheyne-stoke breathing, the breathing pattern commonly observed before someone passing away, a short time later. James would never hear his father’s voice again, he died several hours later.
Nightingale wipes a tear from his cheek after thinking about his deceased father.
“Your lack of direction, lack of love and nurturing has made you into a weak leader of men. Time and time again, you’ve attempted to be the mentor, the father figure to so many. Shadows, Estrella, The Vaydens and Teijin; you thought that despite your failure of raising your sons you could guide the next generation of stars to glory, but just like being a father and a son, you failed at that too”.
“What happened to them all Wesley? You discarded Shadows despite being dominant Tag Champions together; big mistake. Estrella and Geri; they’re already washed up in this business. That leaves Vayden, whom I’m not gonna waste my oxygen on, and Teijin, who you squashed as soon as it looked like he might outgrow you”.
“Your hopes of being a leader lead you down a path of yet more disappointment and heartache; your lack of a male role model prevented you from having the capabilities to lead to anything except failure. I, on the other hand, have proven to be a strong leader; my father taught me all the skills required to be a role model, to help nurture others. Case and point last week, when The Lost Breed needed a staple win, I pin a four-time world champion clean in the ring, whereas you pin a scoutmaster who had more business volunteering at a homeless shelter than being in Turmoil”.
“You have proven to be a failure of a leader, and as a father and son. You’ve failed to live up to the hype that you’re the next World Champion, that’s yesterday's prediction, those brackets have already been busted. You’re still lost, and in your utter desperation you’ve turned to Kemp, so desperate for love and guidance you’ve potentially found a surrogate father”.
“Except it’s the blind leading the fucking blind, and as far as The Following goes, you’re the red-headed stepchild; Dandy is the star. Your sole purpose was to make up the numbers to get The Following into Trios because they had no hope with Chase on the team. This was highlighted throughout the tournament; Dandy scored two pinfalls, Kemp had one, you had nothing, you merely stood on the apron with your dick in your hands”.
“Be grateful you have a Trios trophy, The Following won it despite you being on the team. It’s the last thing of significance you’ll be doing here in Action Wrestling anytime soon after our match on Clash. I think I’ll act as a positive role model for Ash and Jackson; I’ll show them how we eradicate the weakness when I squash their fathers’ dreams”.
“That feeling of being unloved and unwanted, of being a burden, it will all be over soon. I implore you if you want to save yourself the embarrassment, if you want to save Ash and Jackson the realisation that their daddy is a loser, and that because of the genes they’ve inherited from yourself, they will likely walk similar paths. Go into the back of your truck, grab that Mossberg, pump it real good then stick it in your mouth and pull the trigger”.
Alice stands in the window looking down at Nightingale, who remains outside, pacing around whilst smoking, deep in his thoughts.
“James is many things, and has committed many heinous acts: abandoning us, the killings, he even tried to rape me before my match with Wesley for his US Title. But he's committed, dedicated to being the best wrestler in the world. He has quickly built an empire from the ashes of his war with Kidsgrove. And now he has The Lost Breed and MS-13 at his beck and call”.
“The wrestling world ridicules him for his previous career as a nurse, little do they know of the horrors he had to endure. I know the horrors, I was the one who’d cradle him whilst he had nightmares, or when he sobbed after a traumatic death. He’s seen more horrors than many soldiers endure when posted overseas. Yes, he walks a different path now, but he’s stronger, more determined than ever, and despite everything that’s happened, he’s still the boy who used to stare at my ass from his father’s van".
“The doubters look like idiots now; the nurse made the Turmoil tournament one year after debuting in Action Wrestling, he defeated Lissie Hope because he’s as good as he says he is and now he fights Wesley, someone I know all too well”.
“Let’s be honest Wesley, you know I had you beat at Higher Ground, even despite everything I had to endure with James beforehand. The only reason you escaped that night was because of Teijin and his metal bat, your young boy bailed you out”.
“Who’s going to save you this time? Kemp and Dandy? Chase Jackson? Nightingale has a whole army in MS-13 and his fellow members of The Lost Breed. Maths wasn’t always my strong point, but even I can tell you’re outnumbered”.
Alice places her hand on the glass, close to Nightingale in her line of sight, “And he has me too”.
“You think he will settle for anything less than victory? Have you seen what he’s done this last year? The last twelve months have merely been a warm-up. James Harrison was put on this planet for one reason only, to be the best wrestler in the world”.
She looks at the faint scar on her wrist from the failed suicide attempt, “Our path deviated massively, but everything happens for a reason, it’s lead to what is standing infront of me now, someone who every remaining competitor should greatly fear”.
Alice smiles, “James’s father John was the best dad anyone could ask for, he used to have a saying, ‘The imprint of a father will forever remain on his son’. It was so true, there was no one more dedicated to his goal in life, his devotion to his family, to his son. James shares the same dedication, but towards his goal of becoming the best in the world, the wrestler of the year”.
“Wesley, you may have got the better of me earlier this year, but James, he’s in a whole different league and he’s not gonna stop until he achieves his dreams”.
Nightingale turns and looks up at his window, seeing Alice staring down at him; they lock eyes.
“The Angel of Mercy is coming for you Wesley, you best pray for mercy”.
Alice smiles seductively at Nightingale, he reciprocates by smiling sadistically.