Salt on the wounds.

[Jaggeroth/Jerry/Grimey]

Thursday, August 22nd 6:32 PM

-The John Muir Medical Center was abuzz, just like any other day. Nurses, Murses and Doctors all ran about between the rooms and checking in on their patients in the ICU ward. A special room was set aside down the hall, twice was large as the others and three times as expensive. The shades were closed along the grooved wall of glass, a safety precaution as two of the three inside didn't want to be seen with their private family shame.-

"I told you this would happen, Johnathan. I told you the day you gave in and took him to that show."

"You're right, Martha, you usually are. How was I to know that taking him to that show would lead to this?"

"I blame that poster you got him. That, that Vlad poster with all those bloody people on it. He put it up above his bed. That's who's to blame for this!"

"You two know this counts as our yearly get together, right?..."

-The Shotgun Kid laid in his hospital bed, his eyes closed as the two at his bedside had their passive aggressive argument as to why their son ended up like this. They were dressed in matching, navy blue golf tees, with the women donning expensive jewelry. The doctors weren't actually sure if Jerry was really awake, or if his smart ass remarks were a natural reflex. He laid with swollen eyes shut, but a large frown still over taking his face as he was forced to listen to the two gawking, chicken figured people he was forced to call his parent's.-

"You know your sister Suzy? She graduated last year, top of her class in UNL, the prestigious university you dropped out of... She already has a career sub-contracting for your father's investments. Her and Darrel are getting married next spring and already want to start a family...why couldn't you be happy like her?"

"Because I couldn't sit at a desk all day crunching numbers...You forgot to give me an ass when I was in the womb..."

"Darrel is an intelligent man, he has a bright future in the insurance markets. I'm proud to call him my son in law."

"Are you two even listening to me?"

"Why can't he find a nice women and settle down? That's all I wanted for him. That Bella girl Suzy told us about sounded nice, even if she did have tattoos, she could have had them removed. He could have even started expanding to other states for you if he wanted to travel so much, Jonathan...And he could have joined the polo leagues for men if he wanted to be in a sport..."

"Jesus? Can you hear me? It's me, Jerry...I'm ready...take me now..."

"Jeremy Nathaniel Gottfried! You will not talk to your mother like that! Asking that Jesus for help, we raised you better."

"You shipped me off to boarding school when I was six. You two raising me at all is a questionable statement..."

"See how grateful he is, Jonathan? We send him to the best schools, the best summer camps, and this is how he repays us! By becoming a wrestler and smart mouthing his own mother! Thinks he's so tough. Remember that time we let him go off and play in the woods by himself? Came back crying for his mother with a bleeding lip and some crazy story about fighting off a hobo. We had the butler stay up all night with him for a week because he thought a bum was going to come back for him...really, a bum, in our neighborhood. This is how he thanks us for coming out and making sure he was well taken care of. Always so ungrateful for his parents...Even at his "job" his boss says he's a good worker, but a total ingrate..."

"....Sure, trust the guy dressed up in pink leather because he's rich and white, but the second you see a black doctor, oh no! We gotta get him away from these animals!...and that hobo was still breathing when I ran away..."

"You and your stories..."

-Jerry's father looked around, waiting for the right excuse to get away from his wounded son and back on to more important things.-

"Well, Martha, I do believe it's time to go if we're to make our plane."

"Oh no, please...don't let your dying son inconvenience you anymore..."

"We're going to Hawaii. Your father got us a great deal if we made a day stop here in California. Suzy and Darrel are coming, too. Why don't you bring that Bella we heard so much about..."

"I'm in a hospital bed, and she's dead, mom. Thanks you for bringing it up so much..."

"Well, she looked like a crack whore anyways. You can do better...now.."

-The well to do women leaned over the bed railing, looking her son in his swelled shut eyelids as he breathed heavily into his mask with little whines from the broken ribs.-

"Suzy and I were talking, and...we noticed something. You like to wrestle with large, greasy men, and have no interest in taking over for your father...are you gay? You can tell your mother...you can still be a gay insurance broker..."

-Jerry laid there, unmoving as he contemplated whether is was physically possible to swallow his own oxygen mask and choke to death on it.-

"Can that morphine drip any slower? You two are making this far more painful than it needs to be..."

TBCB: They know who.

[Vladimir Strife]

"Well, sunshine, it's not flowers and a card like a promised, but fuck me if it's not better."

The GodKing's voice precedes his presence as he slips through the curtain to the surprised Mr. and Mrs. Gottfried. The three stand there in silence a moment, each surprised and confused as they look at the other. Vladimir calmly strafes around them, setting the large bottle of Jagermeister and can of Copenhagen on the table next to the Shotgun Kid.

"I told you he was gay.."

"Martha... I think that's that Russian guy that was on that poster... That Vladimir guy.."

Vladimir raises an eyebrow and looks over at Jerry, who seems amused by the conversation. He looks back to the parents and grabs onto the Pride of O-Town's hand.

"Nope, nope. Gay lover, you got me. Jerry and I are just uh... madly in love. You know.. with buttsex. SO much buttsex. Hell, we pack so much fudge that Keebler sent us a cease and desist. It's just unreal to be honest. You guys didn't see the sex tape?"

Jerry's parents look to one another in horror, never having expected the crowd their son ran with to lead him down such a dark path.

"Oh yeah. Top notch gay sex tape. Won a few awards, got featured in the monthly Fucking Assholes magazine. Uh, Jerry got offered a role with the Red Sox afterwards for his catching performance."

Jerry pulls his hand away and Vlad starts laughing. He stands up and extends a hand toward the yuppies.

"I'm kidding. I'm Vladimir Strife. So, who the hell are you two and how on Earth do you not recognize me?"

tbcb Jerry

[Jaggeroth/Jerry/Grimey]

-The Pride of O-town continued to lay there, his groans coming weakly as he finally opened his one good eye. The oxygen flowing from his mask barely doing the trick as the rest of the machines whirled and beeped. His parent's continued looking on in utter shock.-

"These are my parent's, who were just leaving their son, like usual, for a vacation. They know of you, but only because my sister spies on my doings all the time..."

-Martha and Jonathan both propped themselves up, noses literally in the air and trying to look down on the GodKing.-

"Martha, I don't think it would be wise to leave our son in the company of this brute."

"Now you care.."

"I know, Jonathan, but we'll only get a partial refund if we miss our flight, and I was so looking forward to having Darrel teach us how to fish..."

"...Will you two just leave already! My leather bear and I need some quality time...ALONE!"

"I knew it..."

-The two quickly picked up their belongings and scurried from the room, but not before Jerry's old man could hand off his card to the Behemoth that had put his son in the hospital in the first place.-

"Since you're a co-worker of my son's, I can find you a great deal on Blue Cross/Blue Shield..."

-The two privileged began to leave in a hurried fashion, Martha turning to close the door with a huff towards the GodKing.-

"Sinners..."

-With the sudden brush of the private room's door slammed closed in Jewish disgust, the two were finally alone. Jerry's one good eye stared blankly at the gifts the GodKing had brought him. He continued to lay there as his heart monitor began beeping at a faster pace.-

"...if you tell one soul about what you saw here today, I'll take you out like I did that psychopath...now, I know you can't be here to rub more salt in my wounds, since you brought gifts...What do you want? Because if you're not here to finally end it, I'm not buying..."
TBCB: Vladdy Poo Poo.

[Vladimir Strife]

"End it? Jerry, it's already ended. We had our last little brew-ha-ha or whatever the fuck they call it and I'm the hell out of here in about 3 more matches, if my count is right."

The GodKing pops himself into a chair and leans his head back, letting out a mighty yawn before continuing.

"I was just in the area though and figured that, well, shit.. you didn't say the words I wanted, but you earned my respect and the least I could do was bring you a little get well package. I mean, I usually fix up a nice meal or take a woman out to dinner before I get into their pants, so I figure damn near killing you at least warrants a little something.."

"Yeah, I'm so sure you just happened to be passing through.. What do you really want?"

Vladimir holds up his arm, displaying the medical band around his wrist.

"I told you. Don't flatter yourself, kid. They're practically handing the damn things out."

The Behemoth rips off the bracelet and tosses it into the wastebin.

"Look, I just wanted to stop by and make sure you're alright. I have to be a bastard out there in the ring, but I don't here. And frankly, you know as well as I do that you wouldn't have went down any other way. So.. no hard feelings?"

tbcb jerry

[Jaggeroth/Jerry/Grimey]

-The Shotgun Kid laid supine in the bed, and even more in his emotions. His broken body tried its hardest, raising up a palm for the GodKing to shake.-

"You know...three broken ribs, a surgically repaired nose, a stomach sack that somehow ruptured, all of that isn't something to hold against someone you used to idolize. You're always welcome to the farm if you find yourself east of the Rockies...."

-Vladimir took the hand, shaking it gingerly with that shit eating grin of his before he was suddenly pulled in, Jerry moving himself up with surprising strength still running through his torn muscles to face him.-

"But I'm still not backing down from that heavy handed pimp and his so called fairness. While I may have lost my chance to rise above you, leaving no doubt in anyone's mind, I'm still going to continue. I have nothing now, this is my life. All I have is a small farmhouse, and a family who I can't stand, EVPW is all that's left for me, I'd rather hang myself before I sat behind a desk to crunch fake numbers and ruining people's lives, good people... And I will do everything I can to protect her from the rats..."

-The inside of the oxygen mask was being speckled with little dots of blood as Jerry's grip tightened, holding the GodKing in place.-

"I know that psycho is still out there, breathing and plotting. And don't bullshit me on that bracelet, I already know. Pay for your own insurance, not the EVPW insurance they give us. He's keeping tabs on you, and so have I, and everyone else. I know their secrets, I know about every ache, pain, cramp and bowel problem they've seen a doctor for, and unlike you, because I respect you...I will exploit their weaknesses and cripple every last one of them. Shit has gone down, shit has gotten real, and I've had enough. I know you won't be able to help me, and that's fine, I work better alone when I hunt from the shadows. I'll play the game the same way they do, but I'm out for more than blood and glory, I'm out to clean the slate for everyone, whether they want it or not...I don't care if it's the entire Horde, Circus or Niflheim knocking me around, I'm not my weakling parents who hide behind lawyers, I'm a country boy, and a country boy can survive..."


-The Pride of O-town released his grip, falling back down onto the bed with another series of groans escaping underneath the mask, his sweat dripping from his forehead to leave a greasy smear across his pillows while he rolled around and held his stomach. The pain snapping him back to a calmer state of mind.-

"You should come out to the farm though, we can shoot guns and ride four wheelers. Hell, I'll even make some farm raised fried chicken for you...but before you go...can you tell the nurse I think I ripped out my stitches?"

-He laid on his side, huffing and wheezing, though not holding a grudge against the man who was the biggest reason for him being in that bed.-

TBCB: Vlad

[Vladimir Strife]

Vladimir smirks, still amazed at the resiliency of the Shotgun Kid, having a ton of respect himself for the guy who took him to the limit.

"You've got it. Take it easy.. and I like my chicken spicy.."

The GodKing notes the slight smile that forms through Jerry's pain and steps out, flagging down a nurse. As he heads out, he sighs, considering the Pride of O-Town's warning. He reaches into his pocket and extracts his telephone. Pulling up the contacts, he dials a number and holds the device to the side of his head.

"Hey, it's Vlad. Commence the final preparations. Once things are done with Hayden and I'm the fuck out of dodge, Project Brimir goes live.... Thanks, I knew I could count on you."

Strife ends the call and slips the phone back into his pocket with a smile. As he reaches his car and unlocks it, a smile comes to him. The man who had tried to warn him and, indeed, the entirety of the company he'd help to build from the ground up, had no idea what awaited them in the final wake of the GodKing's reign.

~End of Thread~

[Envy]

A delightful read