#2SidesOfTheSameCoin #TheFallOfLordJosephFlash

[Wade Moor]

Prologue: The Unveiling

The rooftop of the Quicken Loans Building was as silent as the grave, save for the howling of the wind and the soft pitter patter of rain drops that came during a cloud break. Wade stood there as a monolith - fists clenched and breast heaving – opposite a knelled over Nacho, who's face had begun to ease the signs of strain. Though Wade bore over him, Nacho didn't feel threatened. Nacho knew Wade wanted to hear what he had to say...as for afterwards?

Nacho couldn't even tell looking into the eyes of The Arbiter.

Nacho dropped his defensive posture and rose from his knee, slowly inching towards the man known as Moor.

“Speak your piece, Nacho”, Wade bellowed as Nacho came even closer.

Nacho fretted for a moment...the knowledge he had to impart upon him wasn't exactly the “speak your piece” kind of intelligence. He would have to make skin contact with Wade, something that the giant seemed all too apprehensive of. For his plan to work, he would have to gain his trust...before the unspeakable happened and Moor beat Nacho into dust.

“I'll have to touch you...”, Nacho started, but Wade was quick with the response.

“WHAT?!” Wade said as he drew closer to Nacho, poised to strike.

“You'll have to trust me”, Nacho pleaded, “Believe me, you can!”

Wade's face went from cold to blistering angry in the span of a second.

“Why the fuck should I trust you?” Wade roared, “I don't even know who you are!”

Nacho threw his hands out.

“But I know you!” Nacho exclaimed, “You're Wade Moor, born to Elizabeth and William Moor, brother of Leven!”

Wade booted Nacho's chest immediately, knocking him to his back. Nacho gasped for air as Wade drew over him, ready to drop down on the small framed man and pound his face into nothing. Nacho held his hands up in one last measure of defense before The Leviathan brought his death unto him.

“I know of Nikita!” Nacho shouted, “I know of her and your mother, how they travel with you! How you...keep them safe!”

Wade lifted Nacho clean off the ground with one hand and leaned him over the edge of the roof. Cars thundered underneath the two, the people inside completely unaware of the situation unfolding above them. Wade let go of Nacho's shirt and he careened over the edge, but before he fell to his instantaneous death, Wade caught the man's ankle.

“WHO ARE YOU?!” he yelled, “WHO SENT YOU?! WAS IT THE OWLS?! TELL ME, AND YOUR DEATH WILL BE MORE DIGNIFIED!”

Nacho hollered below, trying his best to keep his calm, but looking at a city street from his upside down position rattled his nerves.

“I'm not with the Owls! I'm not even with Thuggin, or Bostin!”, he begged, “Please Wade! What I have to show you may effect your entire future...hell, everyone's future! Please Wade...don't do this!”

Wade stood there, death grip on Nacho's ankle, nostrils flaring as he processed the information.

What did this man want with Wade?

How did he know about Nikita and his mother?

If he was with the Owls, wouldn't he have already gone to them with the information he had? Or worse, wouldn't Wade already be dead?

After a few moments of silent deliberation, Wade pulled Nacho up and over the edge, tossing him hard to the ground. Nacho groaned, gripping his abdomen as he struggled to his feet...but Wade was already on him, pushing him up against the wall to an advantageous combat position.

“Tell me what you have to say Nacho”, Wade whispered, “Or I'll kill you right now.”

Nacho ground his teeth.

“I have to...” Nacho gasped, “I have to touch. It's the only way. There's so much to say, but so little time. They'll be here...I have to touch your skin Wade. Please...”

Wade groaned as he shoved Nacho even harder against the wall.

“Who are you?” Wade asked.

Nacho sighed.

“It's not who...” he said, “But what I am.”

Wade eased his grip on Nacho's collar, and Nacho took that moment to make his move. He yanked the glove off of his left hand and touched it to Wade's face. In a moment, Wade's eyes glossed over, as if his soul had left it's husk. His body went limp, and Nacho followed the motion as Wade hit the ground.

---

CYHNK-REGERSSTTTT
*buzz static*

“Damn, Joseph..was that your C-Material? Because I could smell your absolute try-hard faggotry from all the way over here, or maybe that's the smell of your career burning? Or was that just your first round pleasantries? Getting all the bullshit out of the way before you land your hard hitting jabs? The problem with that is...the first round is arguably the most important.

“You should know that, I mean...you're a boxer or some shit, right? Some fucking autistic wop from nowhere who hits faster than Forrest Gump can run? You know that the first round is where you feel out your opponent, get a sense for how they're going to act for the rest of the bout. If that's the best you had to throw at me? Then there is no doubt in my mind that I will walk out of Explosion as a two time World Champion, Joseph.

“The second round though...that's where the real fun begins. This is where you get a sense for your opponents endurance. If they can match what they did in the first round, than the fight should be fairly even...but if you matched what you did in your first, then you're absolutely fucked, because that shit-show was a straight up abortion from top to bottom. I mean, all your really did was suck my dick for about twenty minutes before you admitted that I was better than you in every conceivable way.

“How? How did you do it, Joseph? You were so cautious, carefully crafting your 'scathing shoot' from top to bottom. Digging into the facts because 'ouch, that'll get him right?' Wrong. Dead fucking wrong, Joseph. I'm going to tell you where you went wrong, but I'm going to let you sit on that as I systematically destroy you. Come on, let me show you how a real wordsmith does it.

“Let me take you on a journey, Flash. Let's go back to before Dune tossed your sole child from that balcony and utterly condemned his young life to the void. Let's go back to the life and time of the Imperious One: Lord Joseph Flash, a god among men: Or so you would have them believe, but let's really dig into those days of Imperium and find out just who was at the top of that food chain, shall we?

“First off, you had Cairo and ICE, a bitter rivalry turned friendly as the two beat each other into a bloody pulp time after time. They had some sort of respect for each other, and to this day, both mens names are mentioned far more than yours is. Then you had ZMAC, one of the most methodical mother fuckers in the WSeaF. Then there was you...you were doing something, right? I mean, you were Lord Joseph Flash at the helm of the most stacked wrestling stable in WSeaF history.

“Wrong again BOI. You were just there, underachieving because you're a lazy motherfucker who's passion is equal to that of a toddler with ADHD. Nah, the man who stood at the top of that Imperium food chain, the one who refused to give up...was Kaz Mazy. A stupid little boy, but his heart was at least in it. He had both Tag Team Championships, the other you tried to gracefully 'claim', but failed to deliver on that promise. He had the United States Championship, a tertiary useless title, but he defended it as if it was the only championship in this federation.

“That's the mark of a fighting champion...not whatever the hell you claim to be. And as your teammates fell around you, becoming tired of your nonchalant attitude, you decided to step up and say: “LOL that was my plan all along faggots. Eat a dikkkk”. What a crock of fucking shit, Joseph. The only thing you're good at is staking your claim where it doesn't belong.

“You even tried to repeat this cycle as Adam Young gained more prominence over you. Going back to your padded win ratio, you took more weeks off than Barack Obama. So much so, that even Adam Young was able to gain some traction. But as you sat on your couch, wondering just what in the hell was wrong with you, you say Adam on the TV. He was getting the chants or the heat, whatever he desired.

“You just couldn't handle that, could you? Why weren't the people hanging on your every word?! You're Lord Joseph Flash, killer of Imperium! So you finally decided to get off your lazy fucking ass (LOL seriously bitch? Fat jokes?) and do 'something' about it. You came back, made a fool of Young – like that shit is hard to do or something – until he finally challenged you to a match.

“You want to talk about me losing to Jayson Price? He's a former World Champion, and he's held more belts in this federation than anyone ever has...you literally have no room to breathe, let alone talk. You lost to Adam Young! You want to talk about how you fixed that match? The only thing I saw was Adam Young bending you over and sticking it in. All the money in the world wouldn't be worth that embarrassment #fuccboi.

“You tried to do it with The Pride as well. Three upstart kids, making a buzz and a name for themselves on the Twitter board. You had to hop on board with that because you're incapable of coming up with an original thought. You had to kill these kids careers because you couldn't figure out something original to hit me with. After they came out and attacked #BeachKrew, it seemed like the sky would be the limit for them.

“But where is The Pride now? Pulling their puds for a shot at the tag team titles while the third one is stuck in some curtain jerking clusterfuck battle royal? Lord Joseph Flash strikes again. Sucking the life out of yet another stable so he can have five minutes of television time and a dick stroking talking point? You did absolutely nothing for their careers and even less for yours.”

A laugh emits from the recording.

“And don't even get me started on this motherfucker:



“You already have to relive that embarrassment every day of your miserable life...but I'm going to make you relive it again you fucking pleb. This guy...this guy was fucking trash. Somebody I would have made light work of. Sunday fucking brunch, because a guy's got to eat right? But you...you underestimated him, something I never would have done, and a mistake I definitely wouldn't repeat again.

“But you? Like I said, you're quick to repeat your most fatal mistakes. You're underestimating me Joseph, and that's the dumbest thing you could do in this situation. I mean, do you even know who you're talking to? I'm fucking Godnilla BOI! I'm The Leviathan! Those aren't just namesakes, I've earned them through blood, sweat, and toiling. My achievements? Nobody can ever take those away from me.

“But you tried. You tried every limpwristed tactic you could think of to nullify the things I've achieved. That's where you went wrong, Joseph. You want to downplay coming second in War? You want to understate the One main event? You want to minimize my title reign? Bitch, you don't have the scrote to pull off the things I've done. All I hear is you overcompensating for your lackluster WCF career by making it seem more important than it actually is.

“All the things you said about me Joseph...what's that going to say about you when I drop you with that BROSEIDON PUNCH and give you that '1 2 3' you so desperately crave? I mean, if I'm a fat lump and a shit wrestler, what does it make you when you eat the pin at Explosion? You going to come up with some whack ass excuse to why you dropped the belt in your very first title defense? Here, I'll give you one bruh:

“You fucking suck.

“That's the plain and simple truth for a plain and simple guy. You're not the end all be all for me. If by some miracle, you actually win this match? Then my career will still be intact, ready to move on to the next thing. But when I win? Man, you're going to be floundering. Everything you've believed to be truth will come barreling down on top of you, crushing you under the weight of your own bullshit. All at the end of my gauntleted fist.

“You have to realize one thing to be true Joseph: I'm not afraid of you, you're afraid of me. That's why all of your attempts at buttfucking me have come up limp dicked. You're a fucking wet fart Joseph, but you whiff the loudest and your stink permeates the entire room. That's been the sum of your career so far.

“And when you step into the ring with me? That will be the death knell.

“Hope you enjoyed it while it lasted Joseph.”

*buzz static*
CYHNK-REGERSSTTTT

---

Part I: A Shattered Memory

Wade's eyes flickered open and attempted to scan the room, but his cranium burst with pain as he tried to turn his head. He trashed with all his might in his bindings, but his appendages wouldn't respond. His breath wouldn't come to him and his heart began to pound out of his chest. He tried to listen to the noises around him, but a dull hum rang over his sensory, like an onset case of tinnitus.

<Wade...Wade...can you hear me?>

The voice rang clear over the dull hum, as if it was coming from inside of him. He attempted to respond, but his vocal chords wouldn't react and no noise uttered from his mouth.

<Just think Wade. I should be able to hear you.>

'Who are you?' Wade asked from inside his own head.

<Oh Wade, it's Nacho! Thank the Maker it's working!>

'Where the hell am I?' Wade begged Nacho for the information, 'Where have you taken me?'

Wade tried to break free from his bindings once more, but to no avail.

<I haven't taken you anywhere, Wade. You're inside of a memory, locked away deep in your own mind.>

'What are you talking about?' Wade's thought speak shouted, 'I've never been here before!'

<Not that you remember Wade. But you have been here before. This is where we met for the first time.>

'Where's here?! Where am I?! What the FUCK are you talking about?!' Wade asked as his panic levels rose.

<You're aboard the main JALAXARITKATUSIAN craft, in the experimentation ward.>

Wade's mind raced as the floodgate in his mind opened a smidgen and the representation rushed back to him. He tried to scream, roar as loud as he could...but still nothing would come. He was trapped here, in his own mind, forced to relive this horrid memory.

'Why?' Wade asked, 'Why did you bring me here?'

<There's something here you need to see. I know it's painful Wade...but you have to. It's the only way you'll understand. The only way you'll start to trust and believe me. This is for the best.>

As Wade chewed over his thoughts, a pair of voices began to speak. One in a deep, raspy voice that he immediately recognized as Hacksaw Jim Thuggin. The other in a sing-song melody, much more delicate than his counterpart. Wade's head moved of it's own accord, turning towards the voices rolling through the bright chamber.

Except what he saw wasn't human. Two spindly, obelisk creatures with dagger like fingers and piercing eyes spoke back and forth to each other in English, though Wade couldn't discern the words. Wade wanted to scream, wanted to vomit, wanted to break free from his bindings and smash the creatures until there was nothing left of them. One of them approached him, it's mouth tittering at an inconceivable rate. It touched his cheek and Wade felt his anger peak, but still unable to do anything about it.

It spoke to him, but the dull hum became even louder. Wade's head felt on the verge of exploding, but just as it felt like he was about to collapse from the pain, it receded and he was back in the memory. It felt like time was moving at a crawl. Perhaps it was his own recollection? Or maybe Nacho had some control over the temperament in this memory? Wade had no perception of fantasy or reality anymore. He felt like he would go crazy inside of this foggy simulated consciousness.

<This is what you need to see Wade. You're about to turn to your right. Take a good look at who is lying next to you.>

As Wade's head titled to the left, he saw the very distinct outline of Jared Holmes face against the glare of the sleek silver table he was lying upon. He was unconscious, his chest moving gently up and down as the creatures worked on the two of them. Wade wanted to yell to Jared, call to his friend to break free, but still no words came out.

'What are we doing here?' Wade asked.

<We were performing an operation to see if you were the Earth Children we were after. I skipped passed that part so you didn't have to relive the obvious pain and duress your mind underwent during it. We picked Jared up from his hovel in California and we picked you up from that dirty swamp...the night you murdered your father.>

'You know about that?' Wade asked.

<I know a lot about you Wade. Nearly everything. We were desperate for progress...and we put your life in jeopardy. We performed a mind probing operation that surely would have killed you both if you weren't the ones we had been searching for. Fortunately, or unfortunately, however you look at it...the operation was successful. You both survived, and we found our Earth Children the Prophecy spoke of. At what cost, though?>

'What do you mean?' Wade asked.

<Just keep watching.>

As if on cue, the two creatures began to chatter very angrily at one of the other creatures in the room. He held up his hands in defense as they pointed furiously at Wade.

“You were supposed to administer a high enough dose to keep him tranquil!” Hacksaw Jim Thuggin yelled at the creature.

<That was me he was shouting at. I knew, one day, that I would have to unlock this memory...so I kept you lucid enough to recall it. I knew this day would come soon.>

'Why?' Wade asked.

<I began to have reserves about our mission ever since we discovered who our Earth Children may be. The things we would have to do...the lives we would have to roll over. We...we killed our planet Wade. It's dying. Our race is dying. Earth is the only suitable substitute. Not all JALAXARITKATUSIAN'S are heartless like Jimophy. He is too focused on the mission to see...that maybe it's time for us to die. We had a chance, and we blew it. Too much emphasis on greed and power that we lost sight of what is truly important. Life, and living it. What we do here defines us after we die Wade. I know I'm probably the last person you would listen to...but never forget that.>

Wade lay there for a while, soaking in everything that he had just learned. He debated for a moment whether he actually wanted to be lifted from this memory, or if he'd rather rot in it like some kind of chromatic tomb. Maybe this was the fate had in store for him? Maybe this was his own special hell, one that could only be dreamed up in his own fickle mind? Maybe it was what he deserved?

'Now what?' Wade asked.

<I wish I could tell you it was over Wade...but we haven't even scratched the surface yet.>

As Wade began to wonder what else Nacho had in store for him, his eyes flickered shut and the dream scape went dark.

---

CYHNK-REGERSSTTTT
*buzz static*

“So have you finally figured out how this is going to go Joseph? Have you decided to lay down and die for The Leviathan? Or are you still holding out hope that maybe, just maybe, you have this match wrapped up? Do you think yourself to be 'free', Lord Joseph? Do you still think you know the 'truth'?

“Listen:

“I'm not some queer duck who allows himself to be guided by the whispers of little birdies on his shoulders. I don't care about angels and devils playing a game of tug-of-war with my soul, pulling me in alternate directions with opposing perspectives of protagonism. That never interested me. Opinions? Yeah, they're gray, but the truth isn't. The truth is black and white. You can tarnish it, you can distort it, you can spin it any way you like, but that truth is like a diamond. It's the hardest rock in the world and you'll never destroy it or erase it. I know the truth and I want the world to know.

“I know it's not going to be simple, Joseph. It hasn't been simple for me. I grew up in a swamp in Florida, beaten around by my father until I decided to take matters into my own hands. Nothing has been simple for me. I've never wanted it to be simple. Simple? I don't know the meaning of the word. Not in its practical application, anyway. We can do the simple things in this life. We can take the easy way out, or we can stand on our own two feet as men and slog on down that road less traveled.

“That's why I came after YOU Joseph. Not for something as trivial as the World Championship, but for reasons even you couldn't even begin to comprehend. The bogeyman exists only in our own minds. That's what no one understands. Doing the righteous thing? That's every man, woman and child's greatest fear because most of us are conditioned from birth to believe that the best way is the simple way, the easy way, the path of least resistance. Now if that's so, if that's the truth, then why is it that the most venerable men and women throughout history weren't afraid to die for their cause?

“When I came after you Joseph...I was only thinking about you. Lord Joseph Flash, looking down over his very own kingdom.

“But now that I think about it, I'm not sure what about you is supposed to intimidate me. I got news for you BOI: Explosion will not be the time or place where you reveal to me what is. Explosion will go down in the annals of history as the night that Lord Joseph Flash was bled out and exposed for the insecure man/child that he really is. You're going to see what a real man looks like on Sunday. You're going to see what a real monster looks like as well. You wish to wield power, Lord Joseph? You know nothing of the sort.

“Do you know what regicide is, Lord Joseph? It's nerdbomber speak for killing a king. And since you fancy your self in such esteem and royal terms, you have painted a bullseye square upon your chest, one that I'm taking aim at as you listen. You are a target for acts from such traitorous subjects such as myself. You say that I stabbed my father? Maybe that's just foreshadowing for your present situation. I hold nothing sacred except the glory of victory. That's how I've always been. I commit unspeakable acts of bloodshed in and around the squared circle in the name of victory.

“Why do you think you have stepped into the ring and have won just as many times? You take the path of least resistance while I scratch and claw for everything I have ever earned. You wish to tarnish and distort my achievements when yours could barely even measure up to mine. Do we even need to go down that road again? I think, for the sake of clarity and the pursuit of the truth, we will.
.
“Let's go back to your rivalry with Dune, the man you claim to be number two in this federation and the only one who could measure up to the skill of one Lord Joseph Flash. You seem to have tunnel vision where this rivalry is concerned, as if you stood toe to toe with Dune and came out in equal measure...but all I seem to remember is Dune slapping you around like the ragdoll twerp that you are. Inconceivable...you're Lord Joseph Flash! You're at the very top of the food chain where that is concerned...I mean, you have the World Championship around your waist to prove such a thing, correct? If I have to tell you how wrong you are in this line of thinking, then maybe you never knew the truth after all.

“Dune took you to the woodshed, not once, but twice. The only, THE ONLY, reason you ever beat Dune is because he deemed it so. You never could match up to the man. You only spun a web of lies and caught people in it like the spider to the fly. Now Dune is quick to go to bat for you because you've somehow wormed your way into his mind with the ideal of respect and friendship...but that's only the spiders venom rotting the poor man's mind. You've leeched out everything that ever made The Sandman feared.

“You've taken all of his momentum, slurped it up like the gluttonous Lord Joseph that you are. Now he's doomed to rot away until nothing is left but the husk of the man, and he's too stupid to even figure it out. But me? I know the truth, Joseph. I see right through that tangled web. I see not a spider, but a frightened little man, afraid to lose the one thing he has that has kept him relevant thus far.

“That World Championship? It means everything to you...and hell, maybe it means everything to me? Who knows? I'm not one to rest on laurels. The 'should have' 'would have' 'could haves'. That fight between you and Dune should have ended in one of your deaths, but the two of you managed to weasel your way out of punching that ticket. You came up with some errant excuse and blindsided the world with some limp wristed hand shake, some false show of respect.

“But you dig down deep enough and you find the truth. You can't escape the truth for very long Lord Joseph. It always comes back to you, like some wicked boomerang hurling towards your face.

“You're not a spider, Joseph. You're not even a snake. I don't want to give you the satisfaction of believing for even a second that you're some malevolent puppetmaster.

“I'm the spider. The one that sat down and frightened Lord Joseph away. That's why you won't respond to me on Twitter. Hell, you even hijacked a news feed saying 'This User Is Blocked' when it wasn't even a tweet. That's the penultimate feeling of fear:

“The ultimate? That's standing across from me, one on one, in that ring at Explosion. You think you've felt pain, Joseph? You may have lost your child, but you know nothing of pain. Men fear the finality of death. Monsters fear the cliche of being. Which circle do you find yourself in, Joseph? I think you're the type who likes to play both sides of the fence. You curl a toe towards the banal, only to wiggle it towards the final, the absolute. Why do you step into our world if you think the family life is what suits you? Decisions, decisions, Joseph. You've made plenty of poor ones in your life.

“You can't avoid the indignity of me crashing your housewarming party and throttling you where you cower, so I want you to tell me how you really feel about me Joseph. Not what they want you to say! I want you to tell me how YOU really feel from the darkest part of your blackened heart. I will hear you. I will listen. I will not relent when I vanquish your body on Sunday night in the city of Chicago, but I will feel every ounce of pain that I inflict upon you. I will savor it. The paradigm will shift as it inevitably does. The power will pass from your hands to mine. Lord Joseph Flash's Empire will crumble and necessarily so, and I shall rise in its wake. Your ruin is my rise. Welcome to my world. Will you survive?

“The truth is, I will be standing long after you have been pounded into powder and cast to the winds of change. And if you believe anything otherwise...then you're just as stupid as I thought you were.

“Do whatever you have to do Joseph.

“Just know that you're not walking out of Explosion as the World Champion.”

*buzz static*
CYHNK-REGERSSTTTT

---

Part II: A Far Off Dream

When Wade finally awoke, the air around him was arid. He struggled to catch his breath, bringing his hands to his throat in attempt to open it. He choked and sputtered, the last coating of saliva that blanketed his mouth began to stream from it, hitting the earth below him and drying instantly. He held his hands out, ready to fall forward and accept his fate...just as a gentle hand rested on his shoulder.

The arid landscape suddenly had no effect on him. He caught wind and his chest heaved. He coughed as the sweet oxygen filled his lungs. He savored it as if it were the last time he would ever breathe again. He wanted to bend down and kiss the ground, but he was abruptly aware of surroundings. He scanned the area, but there seemed to be no sign of life around him. He wanted to call out into the desiccated void, but he wasn't keen on finding out what would answer his call.

“I was wondering when you would come to”, said Nacho, his voice creeping up from behind him, “It seems like this journey is taking a toll on your mind even I couldn't account for.”

Wade turned his head, as if it were on a swivel, towards Nacho. He stood behind him, still clothed in his ridiculous hodgepodge of outerwear. The dust swarming the two of them seemed to pass directly through him, and that's when Wade noticed it was doing the same to him.

“How long was I out for?” Wade asked.

“Here, you've been out for minutes. But back in the real world? Hours, maybe. It's hard to tell when we're here.”

“Where's here?” Wade questioned.

“This...is the surface of JALAXARITKATUSIA”, Nacho replied.

The wind howled as it drove the sand into dunes far and wide.

“Wa-wait...what?” Wade asked, “How is that possible.”

“We are in my memories now...but they just seem like nightmares now.”

Nacho seemed to become distant, but Wade stood and wrapped his hand around Nacho's forearm. He came to, but he seemed even more forlorn than before.

“Why are you showing me this?” Wade asked.

“Because I wanted you to see...just what exactly Earth has in store for it, if the JALAXARITKATUSIAN'S were to successfully complete their mission. I came to the surface, once, as a youngling. They show everyone at a certain age on my planet. They want us to know this, indoctrinated by fear...they wanted us to believe in the cause. That we were doing the right thing by taking another planet, by fear or force.”

Wade stood there, taking in his surroundings. He felt an emptiness inside of him that was different than normal...pity wasn't an emotion that he had experienced since he was a boy. He had found a dying animal in the woods. His father insisted he stay away from it, that he might catch something...but Wade didn't want to abandon it. He pleaded with his father to let him stay, but his father stuck a knife in the creatures skull and, thankfully, put it out of it's misery. But he didn't spare it. Instead, he turned that poor creatures pain and suffering upon Wade and delivered to him ten fold.

Spare the rod, spoil the child.

Wade, to this day, was still glad he had killed that fucker he called his father.

“I fear for your people Wade. I fear what may become of your planet. I've only heard tales of what JALAXARITKATUSIA used to be...lavish forests and deep oceans. How I wished to feel the spray of the ocean on my face, and when we got to Earth...boy, did it feel good. It was there, with my toes between the sand, that I decided we didn't deserve it.”

Wade watched as Nacho recalled his most vivid of memories.

“Humans, though...they still have that hope. I know you have world leaders that wish nothing but to destroy your planet as we did ours, but I see people like you Wade. People that know not of endless greed and want.”

Wade smirked, a cool air rising between the two.

“Then you don't know me at all”, Wade replied.

Nacho snapped his fingers, smiling at Wade as he did.

“You forget that I know almost everything about you, William”, Nacho remarked.

“I'm going to give you one warning”, Wade said, “Do not call me William again.”

“I only say it to make you aware”, Nacho replied, “Aware that I know you. The real you. Not the person they want you to believe you are. I know the truth, Wade. You are not Jared Holmes. You're not a monster. You're a human. With real emotions. A soul.”

“I don't believe in that”, Wade replied, “All that mystical mumbo-jumbo. I'm a scientist. There are no such things as souls.”

“Science can only account for so much”, Nacho argued, “The rest is in the hands of the Maker.”

“Well, when he's ready to step in, tell him to give me a buzz”, Wade snapped, “Because ever since I was born, it's been me. Just me. I've never had anyone to guide me into this world.”

“Maybe not”, Nacho said, “But maybe he needed you to endure your hardships so that when the time came...you would be ready.”

Wade furrowed his brow, looking towards the sullen JALAXARITKATUSIAN.

“Ready for what?” Wade asked.

“To save The World, Wade”, Nacho replied.

Wade froze in place, the thoughts rushing into him as quickly as the dunes arose around him.

“Come...it's time to leave this place”, Nacho said, “I have but one more thing to show you...then you decide.”

Nacho placed his hand on Wade's head, and the world around him went black. He came to moments later on the rooftop of the Quicken Loans building, his mouth as dry as the concrete he lay upon. Nacho stood over him, looking as if he were going to pass out. He ushered Wade to his feet and motioned for him to follow. They moved behind a humming AC unit that blocked both of them from view.

“What is it you want me to see?” Wade asked, his teeth chattering from the anxiety coursing through his body.

“They'll be here soon”, Nacho replied.

“Who?” Wade asked.

“Just watch.”

And as if on cue, the door to the rooftop burst open, and a young socialite looking man stepped through the threshold.

Joey Flash.

---

CYHNK-REGERSSTTTT
*buzz static*

“I'm going to end you, Joseph Malignanni.”

*buzz static*
CYHNK-REGERSSTTTT