Post by Stormm on Jun 26, 2014 18:36:49 GMT -5
It was the billowing smoke that caught Aaron's eye. The amber glow that he noticed next prompted him to sprint—not just run—out of his room looking for his older brother. Justin and Lindsay had settled into their crevices on the couch that evening, the television was on, but they weren't paying too close attention to it. They had seemingly been drawn closer than ever over the past month or so, and the way they could sit there gazing into each others eyes while deep in meaningless conversation was testament to that.
Three words were all it took, though.
"It's on fire!" The youngest Michaels came to a sliding stop on the floor just outside the corridor to the living quarters of Michaels Manor. He'd been living there for some time, but it never failed to surprise him when his socks and the hardwood floor didn't get along.
Justin's arm came flying off of Lindsay shoulders and both of their heads snapped back towards the excitement. Lindsay's face full of questions, and Justin's full of fear. "What is?!" The Force of Nature quickly snapped as he rose to his feet. The cushion on the couch let out a sigh of relief with the vacancy.
Heavy breaths separated Aaron's woods. "I don't know, but it might be that cluster of trees that you always run by."
"The siblings." Lindsay murdered.
There was no hesitation in Justin's step, and no pause to throw on more than the tank top and shorts he donned. Lindsay gingerly pushed herself off of the couch, but was quick to follow her husband. "Stay here." She said to her brother-in-law as she pursued Justin.
"Hurry!" Justin exclaimed as he glanced over his shoulder to see Lindsay tagging along. Usually the Force of Nature would make the trek past the tree line on foot, but as he and his wife stepped out the front door to the smell of burning fields and noticed the orange glow in the distance, there was little time to waste. "Call the fire department!" Justin yelled back to his younger brother as he took Lindsay hand-in-hand to the garage.
They hopped onto an ATV that actually belonged to Aaron, but Justin used from time to time to tour the grounds of the Michaels Manor estate. The pace was swift and in just a few brief moments, as the Midwest air pummeled their faces, they arrived just beyond the tree line to see all seven trees ablaze.
Who?
Why?
How?
One of those questions was pretty self explanatory, but nevertheless had crossed both of their minds. They slowly climbed off of the all terrain vehicle and planted their feet firmly on the ground and watched, jaws agape, as something that means so much to them—and so many others—was reduced to ash.
With little grass at the base of the siblings, the damage hadn't spread to the rest of the valley between the two tree lines, but the worst of it had already been done. A small scorched line leading from about fifty yards out from the seven trees could be seen, and the faint smell of gasoline accompanied the fire, making the "how" of this mystery a no brainer.
"Murdoc?" Lindsay questioned as the "who" of the matter was the first question to be worked on out loud.
Justin shook his head. While the fire fits the bill for Pure Class Wrestling's pyromaniac, there was much more to the wrestler formerly known as The Prophet than bullshit tactics like this. However, it was the first name that popped into Stormm's head as well. Could he have found out about this place, summoned one of his magical balls of fire to burn away one of the Michaels' fondest memories together?
It surely made no sense when considering the line of burn left by a trail of gas to the siblings. Murdoc wouldn't need to add gasoline to the equation if he was the one who wanted to burn it down. That, and why would a man such as that lower himself to tactics like that? "Murdoc is a son of a bitch, but he'd be more likely to ring the doorbell to Michaels Manor, flip us off or tell us to go fuck ourselves, and then light IT on fire." Justin admitted, shuddering at the thought. "He doesn't need a mental upper hand like this, either. He's already dispatched two former World Champions in the Icemann Invitation to this point, and surely he'd be looking to knock off his third in a row."
"If it's on fire, he seemed like the go to option." Lindsay chuckled, finding it somewhere to make light of the situation.
A quick nod of his head showed Lindsay that he agreed, but no smile or hints of laughter came from the Force of Nature. "Be it as it may, there's no way Murdoc would waste his 'precious' time to come to Kansas and burn a few trees. Hell, that smug bastard probably thinks just like the rest of PCW does these days. Completely forgotten about me being a former World Champion, but has no issues remembering my inability to win a Genesis title match."
"Kind of two thousand thirteen, don't you think?" Lindsay joked, trying to lighten the mood.
Justin shot a quick glare at his wife before turning his attention back to the fire. "You don't have to tell me that." He scoffed. "But apparently it's been a hot topic in the locker rooms and front offices of Pure Class Wrestling since it happened. I took personal leave when we were having issues, that scum Skylar Marshall finally got what was coming to him, and I come back to the same old shit." The Force of Nature pressed on. "If it were so damn easy to win the Genesis title, maybe he should have actually participated in the Genesis title match he was scheduled for, won it, and shown the rest of the faithful how truly meaningless the title supposedly was."
Shaking her head, Lindsay replied. "Don't be like the rest of them Justin." She said. "Stop living in the past."
"I'm not living there, just making a point."
"Not a very interesting one."
He shot her another glare before his sidetracked train of thought continued. "All in all, he's won two titles in PCW that I haven't, and he might very well be the most feared individual in the locker room right now. Then again, I've also won two titles that HE hasn't, no matter if one of them was the Genesis title or not."
"Three."
"Excuse me?" Justin questioned.
"Three titles." Lindsay responded immediately.
He looked at her, puzzled. "I won the Genesis title twice, but that doesn't mean I've won..."
Lindsay interrupted her husband before he could finish. "You won this tournament once, have you not?"
Justin finally smiled and broke the concrete scowl that had been plastered on his face. "I was getting there, but just hadn't lumped it into the "title" category." He admitted. "But you're right, I've done that as well!"
A long silence followed as the couple continued to watch the siblings burn, the smell of charred bark and tennis shoes filled the air around them. "So what point ARE you trying to make then?" Lindsay finally asked.
"All I'm saying is, Murdoc in no way would ever consider pulling something like this. As far as he's concerned, he's got the Icemann Invitation as good as won already, despite the fact that he may very well have to go through two MORE former World champions to win it." He took a quick breath. "I'm probably the least of his worries of the three others left that he may have to face." He finished with a sigh.
Moving closer, Lindsay wrapped her arms around Justin's left, and pulled him closer to her. "Does that bother you?"
He shook his head again. "Bother me?" He asked back. "No, not at all. I know exactly what I need to do in a couple of weeks to win this thing for a second time, and concerning myself with what others THINK about me isn't one of them." He confirmed. "If I'm going to make it to the final, I can't expect to step in the ring with him and match his intensity or his strength. I need to step into the ring and do what everyone before him has failed to do, and that's show him that I'm actually a little afraid to be going against him."
"Seems counter productive." Lindsay said with a weird look on her face.
"It's only showing him what he expects to see, and at the same time, respect for the competitor he is." Justin kissed the top of his wife's head as he continued to watch the orange flames engulf the siblings. "But it also gives him less to feed on inside of the ring, and adds more to the surprise factor if and WHEN he realizes Stormm is no fucking pushover!"
As if a spark had spawned a flame inside of his head, his last comment seemed to bring a realization to it all. "What is it?" Lindsay pondered.
"I know who burned our trees!" He exclaimed. "I know why he burned our trees!" Justin continued. "I know what I'm fucking going to do about it too!"
There was no drawn out thought process to it, nothing to consider, and nothing at all to talk to anyone else about, Justin was sure of himself. "Who? Why? WHAT?!" Lindsay shrieked.
"That piece of shit that took my parents from me, and has taken over half of my life away from me too!" He yelled with a sinister smile. "Damian Sorrow has been sitting back waiting for me to do something I said I wasn't going to do, and he finally showed his had by doing this shit!"
Doctor Damian Sorrow had been but a memory to the Michaels for nearly the last year. Sure, he had brainwashed Justin's mother, kidnapped his father, and waited, for whatever sick and twisted reasons he had for the Force of Nature to do something, but apparently the old man grew impatient, and came back after Justin.
It took no time at all for Justin to take Lindsay's hand in his again, and just a split second more for them to hop back onto the ATV to make their way back to the manor. Sirens could be heard in the distance, getting closer, and Lindsay wrapped her arms tightly around Justin's midsection. "Don't go getting yourself hurt, or killed." She said softly, so softly that Justin barely heard her.
"I'd be more worried about Murdoc tearing me to bits than some old man. Damian is all bark and no bite, and what I have planned, he'll be left without the bark." He did his best to ease the worries of his wife, but it didn't seem to work.
"Murdoc might hurt you, but you never know if that old man might have found someone willing to do something worse to you." She said, the concern in her voice getting worse.
Justin slowed down and glanced back at Lindsay with a furled brow. "Why the sudden fear of something happened to me?" He wondered.
Lindsay gulped, a look of fear of her own now apparent as her face turned deathly white. She had been holding onto something for a while now, never finding a good time to tell her husband, or anyone in her family, the news. She had all but asked for Justin to be curious at this point, doing her best to hide any and all signs of the changes coming her way, coming their way, and now she had been forced to finally come clean.
"I'm pregnant."
Three words were all it took, though.
"It's on fire!" The youngest Michaels came to a sliding stop on the floor just outside the corridor to the living quarters of Michaels Manor. He'd been living there for some time, but it never failed to surprise him when his socks and the hardwood floor didn't get along.
Justin's arm came flying off of Lindsay shoulders and both of their heads snapped back towards the excitement. Lindsay's face full of questions, and Justin's full of fear. "What is?!" The Force of Nature quickly snapped as he rose to his feet. The cushion on the couch let out a sigh of relief with the vacancy.
Heavy breaths separated Aaron's woods. "I don't know, but it might be that cluster of trees that you always run by."
"The siblings." Lindsay murdered.
There was no hesitation in Justin's step, and no pause to throw on more than the tank top and shorts he donned. Lindsay gingerly pushed herself off of the couch, but was quick to follow her husband. "Stay here." She said to her brother-in-law as she pursued Justin.
"Hurry!" Justin exclaimed as he glanced over his shoulder to see Lindsay tagging along. Usually the Force of Nature would make the trek past the tree line on foot, but as he and his wife stepped out the front door to the smell of burning fields and noticed the orange glow in the distance, there was little time to waste. "Call the fire department!" Justin yelled back to his younger brother as he took Lindsay hand-in-hand to the garage.
They hopped onto an ATV that actually belonged to Aaron, but Justin used from time to time to tour the grounds of the Michaels Manor estate. The pace was swift and in just a few brief moments, as the Midwest air pummeled their faces, they arrived just beyond the tree line to see all seven trees ablaze.
Who?
Why?
How?
One of those questions was pretty self explanatory, but nevertheless had crossed both of their minds. They slowly climbed off of the all terrain vehicle and planted their feet firmly on the ground and watched, jaws agape, as something that means so much to them—and so many others—was reduced to ash.
With little grass at the base of the siblings, the damage hadn't spread to the rest of the valley between the two tree lines, but the worst of it had already been done. A small scorched line leading from about fifty yards out from the seven trees could be seen, and the faint smell of gasoline accompanied the fire, making the "how" of this mystery a no brainer.
"Murdoc?" Lindsay questioned as the "who" of the matter was the first question to be worked on out loud.
Justin shook his head. While the fire fits the bill for Pure Class Wrestling's pyromaniac, there was much more to the wrestler formerly known as The Prophet than bullshit tactics like this. However, it was the first name that popped into Stormm's head as well. Could he have found out about this place, summoned one of his magical balls of fire to burn away one of the Michaels' fondest memories together?
It surely made no sense when considering the line of burn left by a trail of gas to the siblings. Murdoc wouldn't need to add gasoline to the equation if he was the one who wanted to burn it down. That, and why would a man such as that lower himself to tactics like that? "Murdoc is a son of a bitch, but he'd be more likely to ring the doorbell to Michaels Manor, flip us off or tell us to go fuck ourselves, and then light IT on fire." Justin admitted, shuddering at the thought. "He doesn't need a mental upper hand like this, either. He's already dispatched two former World Champions in the Icemann Invitation to this point, and surely he'd be looking to knock off his third in a row."
"If it's on fire, he seemed like the go to option." Lindsay chuckled, finding it somewhere to make light of the situation.
A quick nod of his head showed Lindsay that he agreed, but no smile or hints of laughter came from the Force of Nature. "Be it as it may, there's no way Murdoc would waste his 'precious' time to come to Kansas and burn a few trees. Hell, that smug bastard probably thinks just like the rest of PCW does these days. Completely forgotten about me being a former World Champion, but has no issues remembering my inability to win a Genesis title match."
"Kind of two thousand thirteen, don't you think?" Lindsay joked, trying to lighten the mood.
Justin shot a quick glare at his wife before turning his attention back to the fire. "You don't have to tell me that." He scoffed. "But apparently it's been a hot topic in the locker rooms and front offices of Pure Class Wrestling since it happened. I took personal leave when we were having issues, that scum Skylar Marshall finally got what was coming to him, and I come back to the same old shit." The Force of Nature pressed on. "If it were so damn easy to win the Genesis title, maybe he should have actually participated in the Genesis title match he was scheduled for, won it, and shown the rest of the faithful how truly meaningless the title supposedly was."
Shaking her head, Lindsay replied. "Don't be like the rest of them Justin." She said. "Stop living in the past."
"I'm not living there, just making a point."
"Not a very interesting one."
He shot her another glare before his sidetracked train of thought continued. "All in all, he's won two titles in PCW that I haven't, and he might very well be the most feared individual in the locker room right now. Then again, I've also won two titles that HE hasn't, no matter if one of them was the Genesis title or not."
"Three."
"Excuse me?" Justin questioned.
"Three titles." Lindsay responded immediately.
He looked at her, puzzled. "I won the Genesis title twice, but that doesn't mean I've won..."
Lindsay interrupted her husband before he could finish. "You won this tournament once, have you not?"
Justin finally smiled and broke the concrete scowl that had been plastered on his face. "I was getting there, but just hadn't lumped it into the "title" category." He admitted. "But you're right, I've done that as well!"
A long silence followed as the couple continued to watch the siblings burn, the smell of charred bark and tennis shoes filled the air around them. "So what point ARE you trying to make then?" Lindsay finally asked.
"All I'm saying is, Murdoc in no way would ever consider pulling something like this. As far as he's concerned, he's got the Icemann Invitation as good as won already, despite the fact that he may very well have to go through two MORE former World champions to win it." He took a quick breath. "I'm probably the least of his worries of the three others left that he may have to face." He finished with a sigh.
Moving closer, Lindsay wrapped her arms around Justin's left, and pulled him closer to her. "Does that bother you?"
He shook his head again. "Bother me?" He asked back. "No, not at all. I know exactly what I need to do in a couple of weeks to win this thing for a second time, and concerning myself with what others THINK about me isn't one of them." He confirmed. "If I'm going to make it to the final, I can't expect to step in the ring with him and match his intensity or his strength. I need to step into the ring and do what everyone before him has failed to do, and that's show him that I'm actually a little afraid to be going against him."
"Seems counter productive." Lindsay said with a weird look on her face.
"It's only showing him what he expects to see, and at the same time, respect for the competitor he is." Justin kissed the top of his wife's head as he continued to watch the orange flames engulf the siblings. "But it also gives him less to feed on inside of the ring, and adds more to the surprise factor if and WHEN he realizes Stormm is no fucking pushover!"
As if a spark had spawned a flame inside of his head, his last comment seemed to bring a realization to it all. "What is it?" Lindsay pondered.
"I know who burned our trees!" He exclaimed. "I know why he burned our trees!" Justin continued. "I know what I'm fucking going to do about it too!"
There was no drawn out thought process to it, nothing to consider, and nothing at all to talk to anyone else about, Justin was sure of himself. "Who? Why? WHAT?!" Lindsay shrieked.
"That piece of shit that took my parents from me, and has taken over half of my life away from me too!" He yelled with a sinister smile. "Damian Sorrow has been sitting back waiting for me to do something I said I wasn't going to do, and he finally showed his had by doing this shit!"
Doctor Damian Sorrow had been but a memory to the Michaels for nearly the last year. Sure, he had brainwashed Justin's mother, kidnapped his father, and waited, for whatever sick and twisted reasons he had for the Force of Nature to do something, but apparently the old man grew impatient, and came back after Justin.
It took no time at all for Justin to take Lindsay's hand in his again, and just a split second more for them to hop back onto the ATV to make their way back to the manor. Sirens could be heard in the distance, getting closer, and Lindsay wrapped her arms tightly around Justin's midsection. "Don't go getting yourself hurt, or killed." She said softly, so softly that Justin barely heard her.
"I'd be more worried about Murdoc tearing me to bits than some old man. Damian is all bark and no bite, and what I have planned, he'll be left without the bark." He did his best to ease the worries of his wife, but it didn't seem to work.
"Murdoc might hurt you, but you never know if that old man might have found someone willing to do something worse to you." She said, the concern in her voice getting worse.
Justin slowed down and glanced back at Lindsay with a furled brow. "Why the sudden fear of something happened to me?" He wondered.
Lindsay gulped, a look of fear of her own now apparent as her face turned deathly white. She had been holding onto something for a while now, never finding a good time to tell her husband, or anyone in her family, the news. She had all but asked for Justin to be curious at this point, doing her best to hide any and all signs of the changes coming her way, coming their way, and now she had been forced to finally come clean.
"I'm pregnant."
