Post by The Lost Breed on Feb 21, 2021 17:57:11 GMT -5
Matthias Mintzel is recuperating at the AOD, Inc. headquarters following a tough night on Monday Night Clash. He is standing in a lounge area, bored, waiting for James Nightingale to arrive for a training session ahead of their tag team match against Byron Bathory and Mr Abraham.
He notices a TV remote on the side. He looks around, there is still no sign of Nightingale. He shrugs to himself, then grabs the remote and switches on the TV. He flicks through a couple of channels before finally stopping on ESPN whilst he sits down on a couch. He rests back as a familiar theme song is played.
As the introduction to First Take finishes, the camera begins rolling inside the studio. Host Molly Qerim sits in the middle of the table with Stephen A. Smith to her right and Max Kellerman to her left. Molly: GOOD MORNING! Welcome to First Take. There is no shortage of news today on a Tuesday morning. We are going to get to all of it. Max Kellerman… Stephen A. Smith… I’m Molly Qerim, how are we all doing this morning? Smith: Whatsup...Whatsup! Kellerman: Let’s get it on! Molly: Alright, alright. Let’s get into it. Footage begins to roll of the segment between James Nightingale and Frank Patrick Venable from last night’s episode of Action Wrestling’s Monday Night Clash. Molly: Now there’s nowhere else we can start today's show other than with the shocking developments from last night's edition of Monday Night Clash. This has got the internet wrestling community divided on who is the bad guy here. For months, James Nightingale and FPV have been locked in a bitter rivalry. Nightingale escalated the feud when he viciously attacked FPV’s older brother, Vic, as-well-as Vic’s fiance and his friend, all within the same night. But what has got the community so divided is that last night following Team NATEingale’s defeat to The Following’s Dandy DiVito and CJ Phoenix in the second round of Battlebowl, footage was played of FPV, who had flown himself to The Kings City, England to have both Nightingale’s and his wife Alice’s two children removed from the care of their grandparents, and placed into foster care. Is this a move too far? Especially for someone who is considered a “good guy”. Max, you’ve been keeping an eye on this one, were FPV’s actions justified, or has he taken this too far? Kellerman: Absolutely not, FPV was completely justified in his actions last night. Look, we’ve seen over the last, what, fifteen months now that James Nightingale is a complete psychopath. We’ve seen him harm the likes of A-list celebrities Zooey Deschanel, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, as-well-as stabbing his ex-girlfriend Emily and leaving her bleeding to death. We’ve also seen him pump Sam Kidsgrove’s body with insulin… INSULIN! A known diabetic sufferer… and left him for dead inside an abandoned hospital, an abandoned hospital which he has now turned into the headquarters of god knows whatever kind of organisation he is running. Not only have we seen him perform such travesties in the ring, but we have also now learned that he has ties to Mara Salvatrucha, more commonly known as MS-13, a violent gang that’s been linked to multiple crimes. Max shakes his head. Kellerman: And now… now his wife has returned to his side, Alice. This is the same wife who he abandoned as-well-as his children some five years ago. Alice also chose to abandon her kids to rejoin her former high school flame like a schoolgirl with a crush, despite having witnessed her former lover assault several members of FPV’s family on a live feed. So do The Nightingale’s deserve to have their kids placed into foster care, HELL YES! They clearly don’t care because they both abandoned their kids to pursue this Natural Born Killers reenactment they so desperately want to live out. I commend FPV for his actions, he should be praised for them, not vilified like so many have. Stephen looks on at Max in frustration. Smith: Are you done now? Molly: I can see your chomping at the bit Stephen A., what do you say in response to this? Should FPV be commended? Smith: Thank you, Molly. I’m going to be diplomatic, but I’m not going to hold back. To answer the question directly Molly, FPV should NOT be commended for his actions. Do you think that having children forcibly removed from a loving home is a commendable action? This notion that because you're the “good guy”, you can go and ruin children’s lives just to get one over on your rival absolutely sickens me. I’m not condoning The Nightingale’s actions, Molly, they are not innocent. But FPV’s actions are disgusting. What gives you the right Frank to condemn those poor innocent children to a life of suffering by forcing them into a cold, loveless foster care system when they were already in a loving home. Sure you could say that their parents had abandoned them, but did it occur to you that they had in fact made the hardest decision, to let them go. Molly and Max look puzzled. Smith: Perhaps The Nightingale’s are not as demented and selfish as we all think. Perhaps they understood that the path they were heading down wasn’t conducive for raising a family. Therefore they made the difficult decision to leave them with their grandparents, to ensure they lived a normal life. And now Frank, you go and have them placed into foster care, for what, a pissing contest? You should be ashamed of yourself, Frank. You’re not a “good guy”, you're a “bad man”, a very “bad man”. Molly shuffles her papers. Molly: Those are very strong opinions Stephen A. Smith: I tell you what, I’d hate to be Nightingale’s opponent next week on Monday Night Clash, he’s tagging with Mintzel against who again? Molly: Nightingale and Mintzel will be facing off against Byron Bathory and Mr Abraham. Smith: If either one of them is watching this, I suggest you get your affairs in order because if you think that you’ve seen a dangerous Nightingale before, think again. Because next week, he’s gonna be fired up, he’s gonna be motivated. He will imagine you’re both FPV and he’s gonna put a world of hurting on both of you. Kellerman: And let’s not forget that he’s teaming with Matthias Mintzel, who is dangerous in his own right. He is more decorated than Nightingale, and he too will have a point to prove after coming up short himself in his own Battlebowl matchup last week. |
Nightingale had entered the room without Mintzel noticing and had been standing listening to the talk show.
“That’s enough, turn it off,” orders Nightingale.
Mintzel switches it off whilst standing and faces Nightingale.
“Been standing there long?” asks Mintzel.
“Long enough,” replies Nightingale, “It’s time we start training, you’ve got some making up to do following NATE’s failure”.
Nightingale leads the way to the training room, Mintzel follows whilst shaking his head.
Those talk show hosts are fools, they normally force their own agendas down the world’s throats. But Stephen A. did have a point today...
...you should feel bad for Bathory and Abraham.
The Lost Breed is extremely motivated this week, we’re out to prove once again why we are amongst the elite here in Action Wrestling. We will begin the show with a sign of unity…
...and end it bathing in the blood of a recovering sinner and one who claims to eat sins.
I am confident that my brother, Matthias Mintzel, can handle Mr Abraham because I have a keen eye for The Sin Eater, Byron Bathory.
Some say you are a fallen angel Byron, yet we know that is a lie because I myself am The Angel of Death. It does fill me with a sense of pride that my life's work has been well received by so many. My actions divide the opinions of the masses, some despise it, yet others understand the importance of my mission.
But as one becomes more notorious throughout the world, it will, from time-to-time, attract copycats.
I’m touched, if you wanted to come under my tutelage, you just had to ask…
...on second thoughts, my charitable work ended by helping Claire Hawkins ride my coattails in the main event, I won’t make that mistake again.
Where we differ though is that you choose to eat the sins of those you face, whereas I simply choose to eradicate the weak.
Eradication of the weak is a much more effective way of moving forward. I highlight a weakness within this promotion, for example, Lissie Hope. I exploited her weaknesses, used them against her and beat her at Wrestler of the Year. Then she overdosed, thus I eradicated her from all relevance.
This method has also worked against another former World Champion, FPV. I found his weakness, his family. I caved his brother's head in with a baseball bat, leaving him in a vegetative state. Poor Frank lost his mind, and as-a-result has fallen to The Angel of Death, twice. And he will fall again to yours truly at Battlefield, just like how Abraham and yourself will fall by our hands at Clash.
My methods are effective, they are often vilified, but I have defeated some of the very best here in Action Wrestling using such extreme methods. Yet yours have failed so badly that your sole victory is against an individual more laughable than yourself. You even lost to Dionysus, who my Lost Breed brother, Downfall has embarrassed time-and-time again whilst forging his own path to greatness.
The Sin Eater’s biggest flaw will be that Action Wrestling has far too many sins for one man to consume. This company was born from the sins committed by Torture and Gravedigger, it runs through the blood of this promotion.
You have overpromised on a mission statement that you simply cannot fulfil.
Just look at the man who seeks to eradicate The Sin Eater. I have so much blood on my hands at this point, I have committed so many sins that I cannot be redeemed, definitely not by myself, and certainly not by you.
Do you have the appetite to eat my sins? Could you stomach that much pain and anguish? I would love for you to walk in my shoes, even just for one minute to see the things I have seen, the horrors I witnessed even before I accepted The Matriarch's hand.
Could you stomach dead children? Hangings? Victims of hit-and-runs? All these were caused by the sins of man. This should be easy for you, this should be the kind of thing you consume, yet my gut tells me you couldn’t handle that kind of pain, the pain that I live with every single day.
You cannot have my pain, because it led me to where I am now, it brought me to the attention of The Matriarch, making me the man I am today, and set me onto a path of greatness.
I wear my sins as a badge of honor, they are my trophies, they set me apart from the crowded pack here in Action Wrestling. The stories of The Angel of Death are already infamous…
...whereas The Sin Eater has already become a laughing stock.
I wish you were my primary focus, Byron. But you're not, after defeating you, I move on to FPV. I will make him pay for his sins, but I won’t devour them, I’ll use them against him to eradicate Frank from Action Wrestling.
Abraham and yourself are simply a tune-up for The Lost Breed, a means of working out the kinks ready for the war ahead.
You can try and eat my sins…
...erase my legacy…
...but realistically, you’ll just be another victim of The Angel of Death, just another poor soul who they show footage of after I have eradicated you when they list off my accomplishments on talk shows.
Matthias Mintzel drops the deadlift bar for the last time tonight. It hits the floor with a clang and rolls a few inches away from him as he takes off his gloves and heads over to his gym bag.
“Fucking making up to do for NATE... what am I supposed to do? The guys a fucking clown, he helped you beat a three-time World Champion, try blaming the ones who chose the partners. It sucks you got dealt a Joker but I can’t turn him into an Ace”.
He mutters to no one in particular.
He grabs his mobile and immediately sees the time, 10:04 PM.
“Shit”.
Since when had Matthias been the kind of guy who’d accidentally stay at the gym for hours without realising? He wonders this himself as he puts some of his workout wear in the bag. Weirdly the gym had become a bit of sanctuary. Besides, he’d lost the Hardcore Title to Spencer Adams, and now hadn’t managed to make the Battlebowl (though he held Frank Lowe entirely responsible for that), so where else would he be? What else would he be doing? Maybe in the past, that could’ve been answered any number of ways, but these days it seemed to be where he found himself more often than not.
Could there be any other reasons...?
Matthias’ phone buzzes.
YOU HAVE 9 NEW VOICEMAILS
Matthias sighs a deep, long sigh. He knew full well that probably the main reason he was at the gym was the fool who’d left him all those 9 voicemails.
MESSAGE 1:
“High Miss Der Minstrel Haw R Yoo Kan Wi Trane 2 Day Eye Fink Dey R Gettin Mi Red E 4 A Wurld Hev E Wate Tytl Chans”.
Was it really worth it? Matthias had spent his whole life as a lone wolf and somehow he’d got himself an unwanted sidecar who just seemed to weigh him down.
Being a wrestler was hard work, sometimes he actually admired how NATE managed to swan around the world of Action Wrestling without a care in the world. Matthias had a weight of expectation now, his own awareness of his imperfections at the top of that pile but those of James Nightingale and Downfall in The Lost Breed.
Then the rest of the roster…
Competing weekly with the likes of Carter Shaw, Kyle Kemp, Der Metzger, Twiztid Insane, Spencer Adams, Frank Lowe and the rest was tough going. Matthias knew he could hang at that level, he had proven it. But what toll was dragging NATE through with him taking on his ability to do that?
MESSAGE 2:
“High Matty Ass Ar Yoo Gowin 2 C Mi Moma 2 Nite Iff U R Eye Wil Sho U Mi Nyoo Soo Plecks”.
Matthias wasn’t naive to the “relationship” he and Traw Ma had. He got to have sex with an attractive young woman with no strings attached. He had no interest in marriage, no interest in long term commitment and no interest in dating as such, so it worked for him. And for her, she got someone else to look after NATE, sometimes.
But was that holding him back? Was he now just a glorified babysitter? Did he have time for a part-time job whilst trying to compete in Action Wrestling? Other wrestlers barbs about NATE never bothered Matthias. They’d invariably talk about how much of an idiot NATE was and Matthias knew that much more clearly than anyone else, seemed a waste of energy to bring him out.
But at the same time, he felt like he was responsible for him. James Nightingale had made it clear he expected Matthias to make NATE competitive, which really wasn’t an option. NATE was a lead weight and increasingly didn’t seem worth carrying around.
MESSAGE 3:
“Hi Miss Der Minstrel Eye Jus Wona Sae Fanks 4 Beein Mi Bessd Frend”.
Months and months of working together and, from the bottom of his heart, he had no affection for the kid. None at all.
You’d think that by now he’d at least be sympathising with him in some kind of twisted Stockholm Syndrome scenario but it wasn’t happening. If he never saw NATE’s dumb face, and dumb body, and heard his dumb voice and smelt his dumb smell ever again he’d be absolutely fine with that.
MESSAGE 4:
“High Miss Der Minstrel 1 Dae Eye Wil Introwdyoos U 2 Mi Nyoo Frend Hu Iz Called Kyoo Yoo Wil Lyk Hym”.
He owed NATE nothing, they’d had a match many months ago and Matthias had won. The deal was if Matthias beat NATE then NATE had to leave him alone forever, Matthias destroyed NATE and ended up working with him anyway because he was a sucker.
Matthias had booked flights and accommodation to Atlanta alone. NATE wasn’t booked so it was easy. He didn’t know yet, and Matthias was sure he wouldn’t understand why his “bodyguard” services wouldn’t be required.
But Matthias needed to do this weekend alone.
Maybe he needed to do more than this weekend alone.
Matthias has heard enough.
MESSAGE 5: DELETED
MESSAGE 6: DELETED
MESSAGE 7: DELETED
MESSAGE 8: DELETED
MESSAGE 9: DELETED
Alone, the way he likes it, Matthias turns off the lights and leaves the gym. One sleep and then to Atlanta for Monday Night Clash. No messing around this week, no distractions, just pure focus on one thing, winning.
Mr Abraham, we’ve had a gaping hole in Action Wrestling for a few months. We’ve all been crying out for some random fish out of the water to come along and start spouting off about how immoral and terrible for the world Action wrestling is… but I have to say I much preferred it when Amelia Abernathy did it compared to your style. At least she was attractive.
I’ve got some good news and some bad news for you Mr Abraham. My brother James Nightingale has rather taken a shining to your partner this week, Byron Bathory. That’s the good news. You see James has a natural habit of taking things a bit too far, and when I say a bit too far I mean Byron Bathory is never going to be the same again. James Nightingale is a dangerous man all the time but he lost last week and so whoever it was who got into the ring with him this week was doomed from the start. When he decides he wants something he doesn’t just take it, he grabs it and he rips it into shreds and burns the shreds whilst laughing with his wife, Alice. As I say, the good news is you’re not his prime target, lucky you.
The bad news is you’ve got me.
False prophets are my speciality, I find you fun. I don’t get the connection between your preaching and wrestling. The shite you talk about relies on faith and people to follow you. You hope that by using long and silly words people will fall for it and think you’re a wiser man than you are and listen to what you have to say. I’m not one to go along with that, no matter who’s doing the talking, I keep my words simple and straightforward, I only have one simple message for everyone to hear:
I’m going to knock you the fuck out.
Because that’s where things fall down with the likes of you. We see it time and time again. You come in and you spout your mouth out and everyone knows it’s bollocks, but you at least create some kind of intrigue for yourself, and you’ve done that Mr Abraham, people seem to have noticed you and that’s half the battle, right?
But then you have to get in the ring. And that’s where it all goes badly wrong, huh? I’m sure you’ll try and explain away your two losses with some more absolute word vomit but that’s why I’m such a problem. I look at someone who’s lost to a complete nobody and a lost Cruiserweight and all I see is a victim. I see me throwing you around the ring like a fucking ragdoll and I see me and James brutalising you for our own amusement because we can and it’ll be easy. When you’re flying headfirst towards the arena floor, do you think you’ll be fooling anyone that you’re going to sort out all of society's ills? Or do you think you’re gonna get a concussion?
I’ve given you a fair crack of the whip. I’ve actually wasted fifteen minutes of my life listening to what you’ve had to say since you showed up here.
I don’t really know what to say though. I’d assumed you’d at least have some charisma or something. You’d think your influence delusion would come from somewhere, but even by the low standards of wrestling’s self-proclaimed prophets, you’re not up to much. I’d criticise what you have to say but beyond the odd word here and there, I have no fucking clue what you’re on about. Usually, there’s something to cling onto, like a quirk or a unique message or like I say, at least you guys have a look that gives off something of an aura, but there’s nothing from you.
When my Grandpa was on his way out he thought the ghost of Johann Sebastian Bach was channelling him to write his last symphony. The problem for Grandpa was that sadly Mr Bach didn’t channel any of his musical ability through to him so his story didn’t convince anyone, least of all the nurses of Rostock Mental Hospital.
You remind me of him Mr Abraham, but unfortunately for you, before he lost his marbles he was a lifelong Nazi so I won’t be taking any mercy on you.
It’s not a good look Mr Abraham. It’s one thing that you’re a geriatric, it’s one thing that you’re clearly senile and losing your mind completely but it’s unfortunate that on top of that you’re shit at wrestling. Who’s going to follow you? Who’s going to listen to a word you say? You’re the least impressive newcomer since… NATE? Even he talks less crap than you.
For too long The Lost Breed has allowed other factions to bask in the limelight where they have not belonged. This is the start of us taking what’s rightfully ours… everything. If there’s one bit of sympathy I do have for you Mr Abraham, I assume you didn’t ask for this. Action Wrestling is going to see me at James Nightingale’s side a lot more than they have, and we’re only going in one direction. I suppose someone had to be the first step we take and it seems like it’s you and Byron Bathory who are our sacrificial lambs.
You keep repeating your message in the vain hope that someone listens to it, but this week is all about the message me and James are going to send to Action Wrestling. And I’m sure you understand, because you’re the expert, that this message can’t be sent in half measures. We have to make an example of you. People are scared of James Nightingale as it is, people are scared of Matthias Mintzel as it is and this week we show everyone what chaos we’re going to cause, together.
I’ll leave you with some advice Mr Abraham, you might thank me later. Don’t try and save Action Wrestling, concentrate on saving yourself. It’s not too late and it’s easy to do. Realise how ridiculous what you’re doing is and stop. Stay away from us on Monday.
Because if you don’t, you’re in big danger.