“... it looks like you and Danny Levi, a once prominent star on the indies, were once married? Does he have any plans to come to Carnage as well, or do you have any connection to him still?”
Belle Silva had texted Adrienne earlier that week about some of the questions she would like to ask. She had thought deep and had prepared extensively how she would answer. She didn’t know about the last one. In hindsight, she couldn’t blame an investigative journalist such as Belle to not ask the hard questions. In that moment however, Adrienne felt herself shrinking under the hot lights, cameras clicking away, and the collective shocked reaction of the people in the audience. Seconds later, the terrifying Mia Rayne had done her a favor.
Being an unwilling participant in a confrontation she didn’t understand, she almost felt relieved to be pushed out of the way, painful as it was. But as the conflict continues, as she witnessed the courage of Belle and the righteous fury of Zephyr Quinn, Adrienne felt she could fight back, too.
The rest of the night was a welcome distraction. Alex Winter in particular had proven to be a ruthless opponent. However, this was a team affair and his partner was less than compatible. She knew that Steve had become apathetic to the raging maelstrom of masculine fragility that Winter had become. Lashing out against everyone, he had made no allies. It was rather easy to target and isolate Party Boy at the end.
Adrienne was lost on Insidious. They had decided to have some coming out party and had nearly infected the entire show. For someone like Nathaniel Grant to claim that he cared little about Matt Knox - sending out his indistinguishable lackeys to do his wet work on him seemed to say otherwise. Inadvertently, she had been caught up in her second conflict of the night.
No one would set her aside like that again. Not Mia Rayne and not, what was it?
Grant or whatever goofy name he was going by however wasn’t really the leader of Insidious or Empire of Blood or --
The lead tip of her pencil broke against the paper as she tried to sketch out the web of conspiracies involving Insidious in a study notebook, “Damn it.”
Fortunately, no one was around to hear her potty mouth. Adrienne was back to reality. Ice cream sundaes, luxury hotel rooms, and nearly unlimited access to resources beneficial to the growth of her career sure were nice. But Baltimore was not her home.
She felt a sense of dread when she had been welcomed back to Clearwater.
Eventually, Adrienne just accepted that lonely nights in her apartment were the norm. She especially missed her new friends and was looking forward to a promised Zoom call soon. But tonight’s solitude was nothing a few glasses of wine couldn’t help. Digging through the junk drawer in the kitchen, she sought a way to continue her studies. Random batteries, loose coins, a half-used roll of electric tape, an empty prescription bottle of Wellbutrin and … finally, a purple cylinder shaped pencil sharpener.
However, her mind wandered as she doodled a picture of Sah’ta Thor in a stylish Hugo Boss inspired uniform.
Belle wasn’t the first one to bring up Danny. Matt Knox did, too. She could sense that he wanted to teach her husband a lesson. A lesson in what, she wondered. Matt was a good guy. He had realized the error of his ways and had asked her to be his partner in a future affair against Insidious. He had trained her as an equal. But most of all, she hadn’t been reduced to a sexual conquest. And something else had happened because all of the weird vibes of being a replacement daughter had dried up in that desert seemingly.
But this idea of vengeance against Danny was misplaced.
Adding the finishing touch of stink waves on the tribute to her future opponent, she tossed the pencil onto the coffee table and closed her notebook for the night.
Danny Levi was a good man.
Twisting the wedding band with a nervous energy, she tumbled head first into his world.
“San Jose was a joke.”
Last March, the Levis had just returned from the California experiment. It had failed miserably when Magnificent Danny Levi had failed to gain any traction. The promoter had taken one look at Adrienne and said she could branch out on her own. It wasn’t the nearly dozen losses he had accrued. It wasn’t that the audience expressed complete apathy to his cheap tactics. It was because one person paid her a little attention. Said that she made people smile, especially the children who had attended her shows. There was a candid photo this promoter shared of Adrienne waving goofily to a kid behind Danny’s back.
Danny had ripped the picture in two and had walked away from his committed appearances.
These incidents weren’t new. For the past few years, Danny had transformed his body for the better. Through hard work, sure. But the anabolic steroids had made him prone to anger. Coupled with a complete lack of accountability, Adrienne was an easy target.
That night.
That night was no exception.
Adrienne looked up from her copy of Night World, Vol. 1, “I liked it there. The people were nice.”
It was just past midnight. It was the first night back and they hadn’t even bothered to unpack yet. Tomorrow would be a long day. Danny would have to go back on his hands and knees to Clearwater’s Best.
And that meant - Adrienne would -
Danny’s raised tone cut through her introspection, “The fuck are you going on about?”
“I’m sorry,” she sat up in bed, clutching the book to her chest, “but please don’t start tonight. I just meant it was …”
“Start tonight?” His voice was full of indignation as he kicked off the sheets and rolled to the edge of the bed. His back was massive and checkered with acne.
Instinctively, she shrunk away from the hulking mass. It wasn’t like Danny had ever hurt her but sometimes she felt like he wanted to. Her words were quick and almost melded together as she tried to calm the situation down, “It was a long day, Danny. For the both of us. But look, I called Kaplan. It’s only been a month and I have a job with them still. And like-”
“Shut up.”
“Danny?”
Standing up, he looked larger. Adrienne and Danny were actually the same height but in this rigid stance, with his fists clenched, he looked a giant. He turned around. His black boxers riding up high on his right thigh. His breathing was heavy.
“You okay?”
Muttering under his breath, “This was on you.”
Perplexed, Adrienne shook her head.
“Don’t you deny it. I should have known. You … you refuse that fucking prick Fairman one time and then suddenly my contract’s null and void,” his bare feet plodded on the carpet around to her side of the bed.
Adrienne didn’t want to visit the proposal that sent her running out of that room earlier this year. Danny had got like this before, though. Feeling sorry for himself. This would pass. She readjusted the sheet he had kicked off. It was cold this evening. Her good pajamas were still in a garbage bag that was designated for travel laundry so she opted for a long black t-shirt and a pair of boxers herself.
“And then out west,” he was closer, Adrienne could hear his teeth grating, “you wanna go and be a star without me?”
“No,” her nails dug into the book’s cover, “Jael was just talking to me about where we could go.”
“Don’t play coy with me, cunt.”
Reacting with an urge to cry every time Danny called her this, Adrienne pleaded with her husband, “Danny, I’m not. I didn’t know.”
Despite the poor lighting, she could see his pupils were very dilated. Spittle formed around the corners of his mouth as he spoke down to her, “It was all about you. Everywhere I go. Everything I try. No matter what. They only want you.”
“Dann--”
Her husband lunged at her, hand grasping around Adrienne’s throat. Instinctively, she clawed at his arms and kicked at him. The heel of her foot went right into his kneecap. He let an anguished cry mixed with a carnal fury she’d never heard even when he was in the ring.
She rolled away from him, falling off the bed. Stumbling to her feet, Adrienne ran right into him and was pushed back onto the bed. Her legs repelled his advance, “Danny!! Stop--.”
As she stood up, Danny was upon her again, incomprehensible gibberish poured from his mouth as he grappled with her. One hand inched closer and closer to her neck as over a decade of realized impotence had made Adrienne his enemy. The other tore long strands of her thick hair from her scalp. It was a colossal struggle. Strength versus Will.
Danny’s foot faltered in a new hitch in the carpeting and he stumbled backwards. His massive frame broke through the dry wall of their bedroom.
Something felt off. Rage drained from Danny’s expression as he clutched the left side of his chest, “Ade, call 9-1-1…”
Concern for her own well being was replaced with a frantic realization that her husband had just collapsed in front of her. Adrienne ran out of the room, nearly tripping over their luggage in the hallway, to retrieve a cordless phone hanging in the kitchen. Fumbling the phone in her hands, she returned to Daniel.
“Danny, it’s going to be alright,” she looked down at the phone. Pressed 9. Danny’s breathing was harsh and abbreviated. He looked up to her with pleading eyes. Pressed 1.
He looked pathetic.
Adrienne, a mere six feet away from Danny, knelt. Their eyes met. Her finger hovered over that last press.
“Call,” he whispered.
She wiped away at her eyes, steeling herself to a possibility.
In the long stillness of the night, she watched this man with an odd curiosity. His breathing slowed. Dropping the phone beside her, Adrienne watched the light leave Danny’s eyes.
His head lulled, mouth agape, and he didn’t respond to her, “Danny?”
Danny’s gone.
“Death.”
Adrienne Levi was in a graveyard with nice clean cut grass. Well, one for pets. She sat cross legged next to a little marker that read “Jimmy”.
Alex Winter: Loser 4 Life was boldly proclaimed in black impact font on her white t-shirt. She had on black leggings and she may have used some of her win bonus to buy her that cute pair of white and purple New Balances at the mall.
About to continue, she paused, she shuffled through some note cards she had hidden behind her back, “Sorry, I was trying to be all dramatic and I lost my train of thought.”
Folding them up, Adrienne put the aides back away.
“Alright,” taking in a deep breath, she exhaled, “I’d cut this out later but the trial of my video editor expired so this is what you get. This is like my third take, too. So yeah, death. My cat Jimmy died just before I started working at Carnage. My mom paid for this.”
Chuckling, she persisted with this possible folly, “I have a point, trust me. I don’t know what Jimmy’s last moments were. I came home one day and he was just curled up in the closet. The vet said he was just an old stray and I’d given him the best year of his life in a long time. But I have to imagine it's hard to confront your own mortality. To realize that your time is truly finite.”
Looking down at her hands briefly, she watched her thumb toy with the wedding band on her ring finger.
“Nathaniel Grant.” Adrienne looked back up. She had propped the cellphone horizontally against a stone in front of her. She was hoping the beloved former pet parents of Bobo wouldn’t mind, “I know you go by another name but I get super giggly every time I say it. It’s like you’re Santa but you’re really new wave about it. But you’re a global superstar. You’ve won a lot of championships. All of that other stuff you talk about. The company. The 3 percent capita increases. Training children to fight wars in third world countries. I don’t know if any of that is true. It seems like you’re a Q LARPer. And if it’s true, it makes a real simple girl like me wonder why you are bothering with a company that runs shows out of one arena.”
Adrienne gave a knowing smile.
“Now, let’s talk about something real. I understand you’re also battling something terminal. You talked about it somewhere else but I can’t afford cable so I’ll never know. You’re still young. Happy belated birthday, by the way. And to many more in the coming years, because despite what I’m about to tell you, what you’re going through must be pretty heart wrenching for you and your family. But whatever you’re going through doesn’t excuse you’re doing here. To me. To Matt. To this whole company.”
Adrienne didn’t want to keep on this subject. She didn’t want to be here but the other one wasn’t an option, “I’m sorry if that hurts your feelings but Nate, you’re kind of a jerk. That’s not to say that jerks deserve to suffer but you’re not just that. I can’t speak for your whole career but all I see out of you is cruelty. Through your words and actions. You expect everyone to stop and care about what you're doing at all times. Your little group ran in just after my first ever victory. I know you won’t care but I’ve worked so hard for that moment and you stole it from me.”
Sitting up straight, Adrienne’s tone once more raised from her normal mousey quality, “And well, I’m not going to let you get away with that. I don’t care if you weren’t there. You’re in charge. Or Aaron. I don’t care! Insidious as a concept is morally bankrupt and it’s … just dumb. Matt has a lot of issues with you personally and I can’t profess to understand but in my short time working with him, it’s clear that you’re in the wrong. So here’s what I’m going to do. I want a do over and my first victory by myself, it’s going to be against you, guy with a dozen cheesy nicknames. And then at the next big show, hold on, Matt just told me this the other day…”
Snatching a notecard back, she found what was looking for.
“We Are Relentless … or WAR? Oh, okay, well there, Matt and I are going to take out your flavorless goons. Nate, you’re just going to have to come to terms that nobody outside of your group gives a rat’s butt about what you’re preaching. And with your limited time left on this Earth, I recommend you try and figure out that there is more to humanity than being a prick to everyone you meet. Otherwise, your last moments are going to be pretty pathetic.”
And of course, the recording didn’t just stop, “Siri, stop recording.”
Siri wasn’t listening.
“Darn it, okay, Just pretend it ended a few seconds ago,” she crawled towards the camera. The feed cut off as her palm enveloped the lens.
Last Edit: Jul 26, 2020 12:19:05 GMT -5 by Deleted: Code error in format.
Post by Sah'ta Thor/Insidious on Jul 31, 2020 18:59:21 GMT -5
First Round Fallout
Carnage Arena
Baltimore, MD
July 29th, 2020
Mid-Afternoon
It had been just over a week since Chaos 95 and the explosive nature of the first skirmish of Insidious's war against the rest of Carnage Wrestling was in the books. Many would say that the violence Insidious had committed was uncalled for. Yet, in the end the truth was that each and every display that had happened on Chaos 95 had been necessary. The time for the subtle approach had ended as evidenced by the total destruction of The Family. Sure the group could come back for revenge and in truth that was a welcome prospect.
However, it was time for the future which meant that Nathaniel Grant had to look forward to Chaos 96. He had shows up to the Carnage Warehouse to look for his opponent for the upcoming week. His search had been a bust as he had been told that Adrienne Levi only showed to the arena on show days. This fact was news to him as admittedly Nathaniel didn't spend much time at the arena between shows due to a myriad of reasons. With this information, he had decided he would just cut his promo while he was there.
Having determined he was going to cut his film a video package while he was at the arena and move on to workin on one of his non-Carnage related projects. As such he could be seen wheeling a large red and black roulette wheel with gold lettering towards the ring area. As he pushes it through the Gorilla area he grabs one of the random backstage camera guys and has him come along. The pair come out and stop at the top of the ramp where Nathaniel turns the wheel so it is facing the ring. Once in place Nathanile turns to the camera guy and gives a thumbs up to signal the start of recording.
"Hello Carnage Legion. I know I am probably the last person you want to see right now considering the way Chaos 95 turned out. Trust me I plan to address what happened in just a few moments. However, there is a matter that I want to address first and foremost. There was a news story posted on the Carnage Wrestling Network site about my debuting the Wheel of Extreme for my match at Chaos 96. Well take a look at the Wheel of Extreme."
With a smile Nathaniel points towards the wheel beside him as the cameraman zooms in on the wheel to show that each wedge had a different match stipulation on it. As the cameraman pans over the entire wheel, Nathaniel starts up a conversation.
"Mr. Camera Guy what is your name?
"Uhh, my name is Carl."
"Thank you for that. Now, Carl can you tell the folks at home when the first time you saw this wheel was."
"I first saw this thing a few minutes ago as it was being moved out here."
Carl was speaking nervously as he wasn't sure where Nathaniel, who was a contracted Carnage Wrestling talent was going with his questions.
"Excellent. Carl have we had any prior conversations?
"No we have not Mr. Grant."
Nathaniel nods at this news having got exactly what he needed to hear for what he needed to have happen next. He gives a faint smile before nodding to himself slightly.
"In your estimation would you consider yourself connected in any way to Insidious or the Imperial Enterprises?
There is a pause as the camera shakes side to side before Carl realizes he was holding it.
"As far as I know that is the truth."
"Excellent, now that we have established that there is no connection between us I need a favor from you Carl. I need you to hand me the camera a minute while you give that wheel there a spin for me.
Carl starts to protest about the cost of the camera and then realizes who he is talking to. The image starts to shake and Nathaniel takes the camera and aims it at the wheel. Meanwhile Carl, who proves to be a guy who vaguely resembles Silent Bob, gives the wheel a big spin.
"Round and round it goes. Where the Wheel of Extreme lands only gravity knows."
The Wheel of Extreme spins for a good ten seconds before slowly coming to a stop. As the wheel comes to a stop the image jostles again as Nathaniel hands Carl back the camera. Once the image steadies again the wheel has come to a complete stop on a wedge reading "Opponent's Choice."
"Interesting, it looks like the fate of the match type is the hands of my opponent for Chaos 96. This means that Andriene Levi gets to decide the rules of our meeting. Yet, I am going to admit that besides what I have seen of her in the ring since her Chaos 93 debut I don't know much about her at this moment. So let me address that right now, Ms Levi got her first win in Carnage last Chaos when she teamed with Matt Knox. Not that I am one to talk about the whole winning and losing thing here in Carnage."
Nathaniel starts to pace in front of the wheel as he takes a breath.
"However, for some who is practically a rookie in this industry I will say that she has some skills. Yet, for all of those skills I highly doubt she could last fifteen minutes in the ring with someone of my experience. This isn't to say that Levi doesn't have talent. Oh, I will be one of the first to say that she will be a big start someday. Though that day won't be on Chaos 96. What I do know is that for someone who has spent most of her career in the wrestling world as a valet, she has some much to learn about the in ring side of things. I wonder though if in her time as a valet did she learn that a lot of rosters have cliques and factions."
As he speaks he looks around the arena with intensely burning eyes.
"Let's be honest Levi, you have fallen into the middle of a squabble that didn't even concern you. What happened at the end of your match on Chaos 95 with the other members of Insidious attacking you and Matt post match was the result of Matt's actions. While you admittedly were collateral damage, you have to realize that Matty spit a giant loogy on Aaron while you were still in the match for no reason other than his alignment to me. Yet that wasn't all Matty did since as soon the bell rang on your victory he started yelling insults at all three of my stablemates."
The pacing continues as Nathaniel licks his lips while taking a breath.
"As far as I know none of my teammates had any intention of doing more than watching your match last week. Go back and look at what went down Levi, Insidious was evaluating your match in the audience. How would you have reacted to being spit on? Particularly in these times? Yet, I have to applaud your performance in that tag team match. I am sorry your moment was stolen by Knox letting his anger at me cloud his judgement. I get why you jumped in to defend him and I admire your fire. Yet, here is some advice for you Adrienne, get all the facts before you pick a side."
As he paces he keeps looking at the Wheel of Extreme every few seconds while he contemplates his next words.
"Speaking of Knox, he is a man who admits he became a self-exiled drug addict after our last match. A match that happened October 24, 2008. I won't bore you with the details of that night but it was the last time he was in the ring until he showed up here in Carnage. You heard what was said by both of us after Insidious destroyed The Family without mercy. You heard the challenge he made and the simple fact that I have accepted. However, that matter now lays in the hands of Carnage Wrestling management to book the match. Considering I already have my match booked for We Are Relentless, you can assume the management has a plan for us afterwards."
Nathaniel shakes his head as he contemplates what to address next.
"Now, coming back to Ms. Levi, I am sorry that you have gotten drawn into a family squabble that should have been handled privately. In fact, if Matt had reached out to talk to me before this got nasty we would be having a much different conversation now. Alas, we see what has happened and frankly and who is propelling this into being such a huge issue. You have heard the allegations flung at me and the responses I have made. You strike me as a smart woman who has a lot of potential. You should be proud of what you managed to learn from your valet days and how you have trained on what you have seen. Regardless of how our match goes down I would like to arrange some training time with some of the trainers I know. I am sure Knox will say I am trying to brainwash you or something with this offer but it is there."
The pacing continues and gets more frantic as Nathaniel licks his lips.
"Regardless of what you decide Levi, I have plunged Carnage into war. I didn't want to force the issue with such a violent display but I was left no choice. I know I made some big promises when Insidious first showed up here in Carnage back on Chaos 88. Things seemed to be going just fine until after Isolation. We have all heard the comments made by the commentary time about Insidious since then. I won't rehash them here but the bottom line is there was no respect. The bottom line, is that I had other plans for the direction Insidious was going to take."
The pacing by this point was reminiscent of a caged lion.
"Yet, one can only take so much disrespect before there is a snapping point. That point was reached in the aftermath of WrestleStock 2020 with the realization that to be respected by anyone here in Carnage that I was going to have to force the issue. It became crystal clear to me that for Insidious to be taken seriously we would have to become violent. Which the result was seen in living color on Chaos 95."
As Nathaniel paces he starts to laugh in a sadly amused way as he holds up his hand to stroke the Wheel of Extreme.
"Let's not forget that I gave the roster an ultimatum. Simply put, in the war that has started here in Carnage, you are either part of Insidious or against us. Sides must be chosen in the coming conflict. I have my eye on a few potential allies but also I am fully aware that I am bound to have enemies. Which considering I forced JD Mohr to tap out in order to become the Number One contender to Mac Bane's Baltimore City Championship."
The hand stroking the wheel moves closer to the end edge and fingers grasp one of the pegs for a few seconds before dropping back to Nathaniel's side.
"Yet, I get ahead of myself since Chaos 96 isn't yet in the books. Like I said, Adrienne, as much skill as you have managed to pick up since you transitioned from being a valet to an in ring competitor won't be enough to last fifteen minutes with me out there. Yet, the match type for our encounter is in your hands. See you on Monday night when the whole world learns what you have decided."
Nathaniel stops speaking, having made his points. He reaches in his pocket and hands over a flash drive to Carl.
"Make sure this gets added to the end of this as a recap history piece."
"I will see to it Mr. Grant."
With that the recording stops and Carl hurries off to get what he had just recorded edited and the spliced to the contents of the flash drive he had been given. Meanwhile, Nathaniel Grant grabs the Wheel of Extreme and moves it back to the Insidious locker room.
Flashback: Debuting The Wheel of Extreme
Battelle Hall
Columbus, Ohio USA
July 9th, 2011
During GEW Chaos
:Sah'ta Thor:
No since you already know all of those things. However let me return to my initial point, you see The Asylum are claiming to be the soldiers who are destined to return the GEW back to the carnage era of yesteryear. Well as you can plainly see I have been doing my part as well. But I have one more thing to reveal that should make my case better than any more words ever can.
With that Thor turns and pulls the sheet off the covered object to reveal a roulette wheel. A closer look at the wheel reveals that there are twenty possible spots for it to stop on and each has a different match stipulation written on it.
:Sah'ta Thor:
Let me introduce to you the Wheel of Extreme. On this wheel are twenty match types ranging from a regular no-stipulation match...
:Mick 'Crell' Crellin:
Wait... is that one even LEGAL in the US?
:Stevie Howard:
Who cares? I wanna see someone hit it!
:Sah'ta Thor:
...to a flaming tables match. There is a cage match and first blood match so as you can see there's bound to be something for everyone. But I am sure you want to know what this has to do with anything, well the simple answer is that as of now every match I am in, unless otherwise stipulated by the Board of Directors, will have a stipulation spun from this wheel. There is only a five percent chance that I will not end up leaving my blood in the ring any given night. And before anyone complains about this being unfair and against their contracts, I have the express approval of the GEW Board of Directors to make each spin of this wheel a legally binding match type. So without further ado, Savannah would you like to determine what the stipulation for tonight's main event is?
Savannah chuckles.
:Savannah:
Okay - so you brought me here to play Vanna. I can do that.
Savannah spins the wheel, then sends the ball along the track in the opposite direction. She then makes a big deal out of posing for the camera.
:Sah'ta Thor:
No I am having you spin this so no-one can claim I rigged the wheel. This way whatever is selected is without the taint of my influence since you had no idea what was going on.
The wheel finally comes to stop with the ball on the stipulation. Thor sees the stipulation and chuckles in amusement. Savannah bristles a little, but only for the briefest of moments before she too smirks. Thor turns to the camera.
:Sah'ta Thor:
'Street fight.' Perfect. Troy... Oliver... please use the next, let's see, hour plus to prepare for this.
And we fade back to ringside.
:Mick 'Crell' Crellin:
Holy moly...
To Fly a Kite
Castle Thorn
Near Grand Lake, CO
July 3th, 2011
Early Morning
Nathaniel Grant had finally managed to make it home to his family's private retreat from the world. Castle Thorn had been built decades ago by his father in Norway. It had taken a liberal amount of money and nearly a year to have the grounds moved from Europe to where they now stood on the western facing slope of the Colorado rockies. Only the direct family and few close friends had been given the location of what was a fully arranged castle that sat at the center of a twenty square mile plot of land. On the grounds were several isolated cottages and multiple hunting trails and camping spots. Yet, for all of its grandeur Castle Thorn and the surrounding environs contained many memories for the man known as Sah'ta Thor. Which is why he came here for at least several days a week when his schedule allowed him too.
One of his favorite spots was on a bench in the well kecp hedge maze of red striped black roses. He didn't know why he still kept them as they were a legacy of his first wife, a woman who had left him on several occasions. Yet, for all of the pain she had caused him over the years she had given some happy times as well. Besides without her Nathaniel wouldn't have ever had Sujir and Astryd as his children. Or the grandchildren that had resulted. He often came to the rose garden when he needed to think about serious matters. In fact, that was he was there now, he was trying to figure out how if he was approaching his whole impending dementia thing correctly. Yet, so far he had come to the conclusion that his choice had been the right one. His body could still withstand the punishment of wrestling and for the moment his mind remained mostly his own.
"Grampy, why the serious face?"
The sound of the question breaks through Nathaniel's deep thoughts causing him to shake his head. As his thoughts become less focused he recognizes the voice as that of his granddaughter Gael. Another sake of the head allows him to identify the words she had spoken as his eyes come to rest on her smiling face.
"Why hello there Little Storm. I was just thinking about some big important things."
"Like what?"
Nathaniel just smiles at the inquitiviness of the innocent question and gives a slight chuckle of amusement.
"Just thinking about the future while reflecting on my past. Something you tend to do the older you get."
As he speaks Nathaniel stands up and then swings Gael up on to his shoulders. As she settles down she giggles in happiness as he starts to walk out of the hedge maze.
"Where are the rest of the galavanting horde?
Gael giggles as she holds on tight to her grandfather's head to state steady on his shoulders.
"I think Nigel and Soren are practicing swords with Ivan and Loren. Ivy and Kayla I think are inside with Isabella doing something fashion related for Grammy. Not sure where Soreno is but he may have gone with Aunty Astryd into town with Hope and Sierra."
"Ahhh, why are you not with any of them?"
Gael giggles as she points a hand out towards one of the lawns where a kite was laying with a rick to hold it on the ground.
"I wanted to fly a kite but couldn't get it up in the air so went look for you Grampy."
Seeing the kite Nathaniel moves towards it as he listens to his granddaughter's explanation. Once they get within a few feet of the kite Nathaniel grabs Gael and spins her off his shoulders in a full circle spinny copter. The spin lasts for a few seconds before Nathaniel falls on to the grass with a laugh. Gael lands next to him with loud joyful giggles. The pair lay on the grass for a couple of minutes before Gael bounces up to grab her kite. As she moves Nathaniel gets back to his feet at a more measured pace. Once Nathaniel is back on his feet Gael shoves the kite at him.
"Make it fly Grampy."
Nathaniel takes the childish demand in stride as he takes the kite. After a few seconds he looks over the string and then nods slowly letting the kite rise into the air. He hands kneels down and hands Gael the handle and helps her to get her kite into the air. Once the kite was about ten feet into the air and Gael had it completely under control Nathaniel grabs and sets her back on his shoulders before rising back to his feet.
"I know I have been busy the last few weeks but I want you to know I am proud of what you did at WrestleStock. I have seen a video of you winning that big battle royale Izzy put on to end the Imperial Youth Wrestling exhibitions. Did you have fun?
"Thanks Grampy. It was super hot in that desert but I had fun. Would rather have been somewhere that had a pool but it was an adventure. All my friends at school will be jealous. Will we be doing some else like that soon?"
There was unbridled truth and innocence in the response that ate a bit at Nathaniel's soul. He had set up the Imperial Youth Wrestling as a means for Isabella and the rest of the children he had rescued to have something to do to help heal from the trauma of being treated like slaves. Yet, he had managed to keep the darker side of the wrestling world from tainting it so far. Any wrestler who told you that the industry didn't have a darkside had never been involved in a major feud. Thinking about the lengths that he had gone to in his own career made him wonder if he had done the right things by opening up a youth aged wrestling organization. Maybe, Matt Knox was right in that he had no business allowing kids to get into a wrestling ring. Yet, there was the fact that without an official outlet that had trained supervision the kids who were the most dedicated to the IYW would have found somewhere else to act out their wrestling games.
"Grampy?"
Nathaniel shakes his head to push away the negative thoughts as he sought to enjoy this bit of time with his youngest granddaughter.
"Sorry Gael, your questions got me thinking about work. I am glad to hear you had fun and I agree a pool would have made the heat more bearable. As for having another event like WrestleStock we will see. It depends on my work event schedule. Though I am sure Izzy would love to set up another event so it is a matter of time."
With those words Nathaniel starts to walk around the lawn while Gael flies her kite while the pair enjoy each other's company.
