Land of Shadows (1.03) Shadow of the All-American Family

[Stormm]

You know, when you two were born, your mother and I thought we had it all figured out. She wanted me to keep wrestling, and had convinced herself she was going to stay at home. Through all the craziness the first couple years you were around, it didn’t take long before we realized we were in trouble. As far as importance goes, you were at the top of that list for us, but there were so many other people out there who needed our help in some fashion too.

That’s where Izzy came in.

She helped us out more than we could have ever imagined, and after you guys graduated high school, she hasn’t been around very much. But, no doubt, most of our family memories that you two can think of over the last twenty years or so, she was there with us, or like so many times, it was just you three.

Izzy became just as much a part of our family as she was her own.

But through all that craziness, my career, your mom’s non-profit, and keeping the “family business” going strong, there were very few times where our family came together as a collective unit. More times than not, there was at least one piece of the puzzle missing, and until now, as we all get ready for you two to walk across that big stage, the last time I can remember us all being together was... Well, it’s been a while.

Actually, now that I think about it, it’s probably been since 2019.

...Shadow of the All-American Family...

Your uncle Aaron had actually just graduated from K-State too, and was spending the Summer with us, and to work out with me, before heading off to training camp. I’m sure you both remember going to a couple Bengals games to watch him play before the injury that forced him to retire from the league early?

The smell of a mid-spring storm creeping through the Kansas plains seeped in through the open windows of Michaels manor. The strong winds rolled through the hills, and to accompany it all were the rhythmic drums of thunder that assured everyone sitting in the living room that evening that Mother Nature was still present.

On the couch, Justin and Lindsay sat, each with a toddler bouncing in their laps. On the television was some form of cartoon distraction for the young Joe and Remi while the adults conversed. On the loveseat close by were Justin’s siblings, twin sister Morgan, and younger brother Aaron, both lost in the screens of their cell phones. Opposite the love seat, Isabelle Rey was perched in her favorite chair, nothing on her phone was worth checking, so she found herself watching the animated tiger teach the youngsters about life.

It had been over a year since all the Michaels had come together, fourteen months to be exact, since Gene and Michelle’s funeral that brought them all back to Kansas.

Since then…

Aaron had finished his senior year at Kansas State University and graduated with a bachelors in Computer Engineering, while also serving as the Wildcats starting quarterback for the last two seasons. Due to his spectacular performance, he was selected in the fourth round, one hundred and fourth overall, by the Cincinnati Bengals in the draft. He would be planning to make the move to Ohio later in the year.

Morgan had spent the last year hitting the gym and getting back into shape after a long sabbatical from in-ring action. Although she would not admit it, most everyone knew it was more about a long-term relationship that had ended poorly. The rest of the family had not even met the man, nor seen any pictures, so they had questioned if he was real or not. They knew better than think she’d made him up, though, after seeing how she reacted to the relationship falling apart.

“Have you scored us any seats yet?” Aaron questioned, his eyes still fixed on his phone. Texting his girlfriend and various friends who were still back in Manhattan, finishing up their last week of classes.

Justin and Lindsay share a look before he clears his throat to get his brother’s attention, and Aaron finally looks up. “I’ve got you and Morgan on the list for box seats for every Trauma between now and the beginning of August, and then front row seats for Living a Legacy and Return to Glory.” He shares, and his brother smiles. Morgan, though, has still not looked up from her phone. “If you guys know anyone who wants to help fill that suite, we’ll fly them out with you for the six Traumas, but I could only get three ringside seats for the pay-per-views.”

“We all know Morgan isn’t inviting anyone, so I’ll take those extra pay-per-view seats for Lauren.” Aaron laughs, but Morgan, who is laid out across the loveseat and over Aaron’s legs, lifts up her right leg and jams her heel into his leg. “Ow, what the f…”

“Aaron!” Lindsay shoots a glare over at her brother-in-law, and the room goes silent, except for Izzy, who points and laughs at Aaron.

Morgan finally chimed in on the matter. “If it’s just going to be him and Lauren I’ll be fine with the box seats, but if he’s going to invite any of his creep friends, I’d rather you get me a regular seat somewhere.” She looks up at Aaron and shakes her head. “The last time he invited friends to a show, that red-head got drunk and grabbed my butt; I’d rather not break anyone else’s nose. Or maybe I could just hang out backstage with Lindsay, Izzy, and the kids?”

Looking over at his wife, and then Izzy, who both shrugged their shoulders like that would be okay, Justin nodded to his sister. “That’s fine, but I’m also going to nix the idea of any of those guys from coming, they tore that suite to heck, and that was not a fun bill to get.”

Your aunt Morgan had been spending a lot of time in the gym after that mystery guy and her broke off their relationship. She got even more depressed after we turned forty, and she realized how much time she had wasted away from the ring. Her true passion was wrestling too, but had given up on it after leaving Japan, and wished she hadn’t. We all knew what she really wanted, but was too proud to outright ask for it at the time. Of course, we all know what ended up happening, but she wasn’t going to beg for me to sign her to AWE. She would, however, eventually try-out, and kill it. Even after all those years away, she hadn’t missed a step.

“Are any of these shows even going to be worth watching, or are you just going to choke in this tournament again?” Aaron, who definitely had inherited the Michaels Mouth gene, joked about Stormm being unable to secure an Icemann Invitational victory since before the youngest sibling’s eleventh birthday.

“You’re lucky I’ve got Remi in my lap.”

“Bring it on old man!”

“Here, Lindsay, take her!”

Shooting daggers at both her husband and Aaron, she didn’t even have to say anything, and they knew enough was enough.


“Alright, alright. Morgan, get him!”

Knowing better, Morgan looks at Lindsay, and simply shakes her head with a smile.

“Honestly, I can’t tell you what the Return to Glory arc is going to be, so those shows might not be the best, but if I can help it, they’ll be worth going to!” Justin admits.

“You think you can beat Seromine?” Izzy, having had enough of toddler TV, chimes in.

“Honestly, that crazy a-hole has finally shed the Seromine mask, so I’m actually going to get, after all these years, a match again THE Anarchist. Something I’ve been hoping for since TUF!” He admits with a smile. “But Seromine, Anarchist, it doesn’t really matter, the Icemann himself could come back from the dead, nobody is going to keep me from winning it this year!”

“Stormm versus the corpse of Luis Malave would be a better match than anything we’re going to get after your match against Willard!” Morgan concedes, her gaze back on her phone, but it causes the room to chuckle.

“Are you trying to tell me you don’t want to see Kyle Shane ‘crush my skull’ in AGAIN?” Justin teases. “Honestly, PCW’s Golden Boy being on the same side of the bracket as me seems a little odd, I figured the suits would try to schedule it so we face off in the final.”

“Maybe they want Kyle to have an easier match in the semis, you know, so when he faces Dominator in the final, he’s still in decent shape?” Aaron continues the banter, and the young ones can understand the sarcasm somewhat, but they definitely sense the fun the adults are having, and the start to giggle along, while their attention turns to everyone from the television

“You mean the guy I was carrying the North American title around for for over a year? Yeah, definitely, and then he can crush his skull in too, and unlock the Giant Slayer achievement, or whatever!” Joey laughs and claps his hands, and Remi follows along.

The twins had just turned four earlier in the year, and were beginning to quite the little conversation. They were starting to understand more and more about “the biz”, and were even starting to contribute little phrases when Justin and Lindsay would talk about wrestling that actually fit the conversation.

“Force of Nature!”

“One! Two! Three!”

Both of them hopped down from their parents’ laps, and acted out the finale of a match, with Remi taking the bump, and Joey covering her, and them both slapping the floor for the three count. It was their favorite thing to do, as they both got a kick out of it, and ate up the attention they got for acting it out, laughing and clapping along after their performance.

“To be honest, I don’t really care who I face, and Willard is in that list when it comes to this tournament, I’ll be darned if I go out in my last attempt without winning the whole effing thing!” Toeing the line with the language with impressionable ears present, Lindsay shakes her head with a smile at Justin.

“As much as we all want to see you win it again, just don’t go getting yourself injured. You tend to ignore your limits when you’ve got your mind set on something like this, and winning that tournament isn’t going to do you any good if you get hurt in the process.” Lindsay, ever the worrier, knows that at forty, he’s only the same Stormm mentally that he was when she first saw him wrestle.

“You worry too much, Linds!” Aaron admits as he sits his phone down on the arm of the loveseat.

“Someone in this family has to!” She fires back, and they all share a laugh, as they’re all aware of how stubborn everyone in that family can be.

Honestly, it’s probably one of my fondest memories looking back on it. Like I said, we would go years before we all sat down together again. Only, this time, instead of acting out wrestling moves not fully understanding what it all meant, you got to hear a bunch of stuff that we hadn’t really talked about with you two. And of course, one of those stories spawned this conversation, which, as long winded as you know your father to be, we’re probably going to be sitting here for a while.