THE BOOK OF EXTREME: The End is Nigh (Part 2)

[Mikey eXtreme]

THE BOOK OF EXTREME
The End is Nigh

Part Two



This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend
The end

Mikey eXtreme: It’s almost like part of me is dying.

Mikey’s home for the past few years has been that WCF ring. Everything has revolved around competing inside that squared circle infront of screaming idiots that didn’t deserve to witness what he was giving them. In the grand scheme of things, Mikey hasn’t been in the WCF that long, maybe just north of four years, which is a footnote in the careers of people like Odin Balfore and Oblivion. Guys like FPV and Roy Speede who have put on classic WCF matches through their careers.

Mikey has only been here for a few years but it defined his very being. It meant the world to him to hear his name announced as he walked on down the aisle, and stepped into that ring.

Mikey went from a nobody, opening Slam with guys like Adam Young to an eventual World Champion. He ascended the ranks and captured championship belts, put on five star matches, and shined in ways that he never thought possible.

But, with the WCF anything was possible.

He fought for that hardcore championship because it was something that he thought he needed. He fought for that hardcore championship because he thought it would make him special. He fought for it because it would establish himself as a quote unquote top guy. However, it was during these battles, these fights with guys like Odin, that he realized he didn’t need that belt for the world to know that he was the Greatest Competitor in WCF history. He didn’t need all of the accolades that he has collected through the years.

It was the matches that made him special. It was the battles that he had inside that ring that made everyone talk about the King of Darkness.

Mikey eXtreme: But, with death comes balance. As this part of me comes to an end, there is a bright future ahead of me. There is a future of pure dominance. This chapter is almost concluded, but there is still unfinished business. There are still things that must get done before WCF comes crashing to the ground at the feet of everyone who kept it afloat.

I know I’ve failed it myself, from time to time. But here I am to give it the send off that it deserves. Here I am to give one of the greatest matches in WCF history. Here I am to step into that ring with some of my biggest enemies, and some of the biggest talents in WCF history.

Here I am to say goodbye to the WCF with a swift kick to mark my X across everyone involved. Odin Balfore, the biggest thorn in my side for the highest of my highs. Odin Balfore, the man who dethroned me at every chance he got. The man who took my World Championship. The man who took my Hardcore Championship. The man who took me out of action twice within a year.

Mikey hangs his head in shame.

Mikey eXtreme: But, I’m coming guns a blazing, Odin. I’m not going out this way, I’m coming for your head. I’m coming to destroy you. To humiliate you as you have humiliated me. To put you into a place that you have put me. To make you question your everything.

But this won’t end here, Odin. This won’t end at ENDGAME. There is no end to this. There is no end to the amount of damage that we will inflict on each other. But our WCF chapter ends here. It ends in one of the biggest matches in company history. It ends in one of the biggest hardcore championship matches that anyone has ever seen.

And I’m fighting for more than that championship, I’m fighting for redemption. I’m fighting for my WCF Legacy. This is just another match for Odin Balfore, but this is everything for me.

Mikey runs his hand over his scalp. He finally lifts his head and looks into the camera.

Mikey eXtreme: You’ve beaten me with ease, Odin. You’ve crushed my dreams. You’ve left me to fester and wallow in my own pity. I’m full of festering hate, pain, and anger. I’m a ticking time bomb ready to explode, Odin, and you’re going to wind up as the victim in this explosion. You’re going to be the one that gets put down, this time. I’m not going to allow you this victory, because I know how important this match is to you. I know how important that the WCF is to you, and I know you want to win this match more than anything.

And that’s why I’m going to take this from you. That’s why I’m going to ruin this moment for you. You took my World Championship. You took my Hardcore Championship. But, I’m going to take this from you. I’m going to fill your memories of the WCF with DARKNESS. When you think back to your time here in this company, the only thing that will fill your mind is that final match. That match where Mikey eXtreme finally overcame the odds and defeated you. That moment when Mikey eXtreme goes down as your last loss in a WCF ring.

The great ODIN BALFORE, the last person to loss the Hardcore Championship. I like how that sounds. It sounds even better when you attach the fact that Mikey eXtreme will be the last person to win that belt. The one that goes down forever as HARDCORE CHAMPION of WCF. If you think I’m going into this match to play around and have fun, you’re gravely mistaken.

I know you’re not dumb, Odin. I know that you’re going to come out swinging. But I’m coming out shooting. I’m coming out with death on my mind and I’m not going to let you escape it easily, Odin. You’re going to have to fight for your life. You’re going to have to dig down deep and bring everything you’ve got because I’m coming for your heart. I’m coming for everything that matters to you.

I’m coming, Odin.

II

Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end
I'll never look into your eyes again

Mikey and Vidalia were enjoying a night out in Manhattan. They had just left O’Lunney’s in Times Square and were slowly migrating through the streets of Manhattan. There was nothing worse than having to walk through Times Square, but Mikey had enough whiskey in his system that he didn’t really care. Though, he was still pushing his way through the crowd, not once letting go of Vidalia’s hand.

Mikey eXtreme: Wait, where are we going?

Mikey laughed. They had left the pub with no real direction. Were they going to hop on the train? Or should they continue this night with drinks at another bar?

Man: Hey man, want a mixtape?

Someone hands Mikey a cd which he instantly throws on the pavement.

Man: Yo! What the fuck, man! That’s gonna cost you $10.

Mikey laughs in the man’s face which doesn’t sit well with the street peddler. The man shoves Mikey, who instantly hits him with a superkick, sending him crashing down on top of his cd. A group of people crowd around, some shocked and appalled, some taking out their phones to record the altercation that Mikey had instantly brought to an end.

Crowd: WORLDSTAR!!

Mikey turns to one of the many phones pointed in his direction and with a smile begins to drunkenly speak.

Mikey eXtreme: The end is coming. Wrestling, as we know it, is coming to an end. The WCF is closing it’s doors and just as quickly as this asshole crashed and burned, Frankie Patrick Vegetable’s WCF run is finally being stomped out.

Some of the crowd begin to disperse, a few stick around to film who they believe to be a crazy new york bum.

Mikey eXtreme: FPV, one of the best of the best, right? A grandslam champion, somebody who knows what they’re doing in that ring, right? But he has never won that Hardcore Championship. He has never been able to grasp that strap because this lifestyle doesn’t suit him. This style of..

Mikey laughs while speaking this line, but returns to seriousness quickly.

Mikey eXtreme: play, just isn’t something he was made for. He knows it. I know it, we all know it. He was able to capture that KING OF DEATHMATCH crown, sure. He captured that crown because I was too busy that night to care. He captured that crown because I didn’t throw my name into the hat that year. I brought Corey Black to his limits in the first King of Deathmatch and thanks to a lucky explosion, he landed a victory that could have gone either way.

But now, you’re stepping into a place that you don’t belong, Frankie. You’re stepping into MY world. Into MY kingdom. You’re stepping into a Hardcore Championship match so you can try to catch that white whale that has eluded you all this time, but I’m here with Endgame Spoilers, you don’t ever catch that whale. In fact, that whale is murdered in front of your very eyes, Frankie. The KING of eXtreme is gonna take that whale right there while you’re trying to recover from that destruction and carnage that I bring your way.

This ain’t a Georgia street fight down on Peach Street or Peach Avenue, or Peach Way, Frankie. You’re about to dragged through the roughest streets in America. You’re about to find out the hard way why I’m the King of New York. Why I run these streets.

Mikey looks at Vidalia, who has a large smile on her face. She’s not only in love with Mikey eXtreme, but she can’t get enough of his confidence. He knows he’s going to win this match and he knows that he is too much for FPV to beat. He knows that he’s going to walk out as the last HARDCORE CHAMPION, and it’s sending all kinds of feelings through her body. The longer she watches Mikey, the more she wants him. Mikey can see the lust in her eyes, and he winks at her.

Mikey eXtreme: Thank you for listening to your king, you’ve all been good loyal subjects. All hail the crown, all hail the KING of DARKNESS.

Mikey shoves the few remaining phones out of his face and pushes past the crowd. He raises his hand into the air and with two fingers, hails a cab. He opens the door for Vidalia and as she climbs into the back seat, Mikey’s hands run all over her, grasping her ass as he follows her into the cab.

Mikey eXtreme: We’re on our way to Brooklyn, get us there as quick as possible and there’s a nice tip in it for you.

The driver steps on the gas and they fly out of there as Mikey and Vidalia lock in a passionate kiss, his hands running all over her body.

III

Can you picture what will be?
So limitless and free
Desperately in need
Of some stranger's hand
In a desperate land

Name the top 10 wrestlers of all time. Roy Speede often makes the list, but not Mikey’s. Mikey’s list is Mikey eXtreme 10 times in a row. Roy Speede is nowhere near. Though, he did hold the Hardcore Championship for 182 days, a record. But, let’s be clear here, Mikey eXtreme was on his way towards breaking that record when he won Ultimate Showdown. Mikey was just too good to break the record, and thus, an asterisk should be attached.

Mikey eXtreme: Roy Speede.. Roy..fucking speede. The SILVER LINING. Too bad that the DARKNESS will be too dark for anyone to see that lining.

Too bad that Ol’ X is going to put you down with the biggest super kick in the history of professional wrestling. Too bad that after this match Roy Speede will fall into the abyss of forgottenness where he was festering for years before he came back to nobody’s delight.

But here we go, Speede.

Ready to climb into that ring with one of the most violent individuals to ever step foot in this industry and for what? So you can have your goodbye match? Because, let me tell something, Roy, this ain’t just your goodbye to the WCF Galaxy, this is goodbye goodbye. This is your last match ever, if you’re planning to stand between me and what’s rightfully mine. If you think for one minute that you have what it takes to deny me of my rightful place as HARDCORE champion, then you’re absolutely insane.

But, maybe that’s what it takes to step in there with me. Maybe that’s the needed ingredient in going into battle with a mad man like myself. I mean, surely, you can’t go into this match with any kind of confidence that you can win, you can’t go in there thinking you can “out-hardcore” me, because we all know that’s impossible.

182 days, Speede. You’ll always have that, and I commend you on that. That’s great, that’s wonderful. Really, that’s something that you should hold onto and boast to the world about. I mean, nobody else has been able to climb that rank, right? Nobody else. I only held that belt for 128 days before I was upgraded to the promised lands that you were never quite good enough to reach, Roy. One hundred and twenty eight days and I won Ultimate Showdown and walked out of that ring with the WCF World Championship. I stepped out of that ring the greatest wrestler alive and that’s something that you’ll never be able to claim.

Mikey grinned, a shit-eating grin. It was obnoxious and made him look like a complete asshole, but wasn’t that what Mikey was? Wasn’t he a complete waste of life? A vile, sadistic, cancer on the world?

Mikey eXtreme: You know, Roy, my boy. You one time referred to me as a, what was it? A less-talented version of yourself. Do you remember that, Roy?

It made me completely fucking sick to my stomach. How dare you compare us? How dare you liken myself to you? And how dare you try to put my talent down? You ran away from the WCF and you found yourself having a run in AW that brought you joy, that brought you the accolades that you could NEVER achieve here.

I didn’t win a world championship here because the good talent fled. I didn’t win a championship here because there was nobody else. I won that World Championship because I deserved it. I won that world championship because when I lace these boots up and step into that ring I am the greatest fucking competitor in WCF history and there isn’t a thing you can do about that. You were in AW wrestling once a month and lucking into two world championships that you know deep down that you didn’t deserve.

And we all know that had I won the first HAVOC Rumble, that I would have become AW World Champion instead of Wade Moor, and you never would have won that belt. So count your lucky stars, Roy, but lady luck has run dry and there’s no amount of lube that you’re gonna find to open her legs for you this time.

Roy, my boy. This is it for you. This is the end. The end of the myth that is the great Roy Speede and I’m just glad that I’m going to be the one responsible for putting your career six feet deep along side WCF.

Mikey looks into the camera, a sly grin across his face. He lifts his hand with a sarcastic wave to the viewer while slowly mouthing, “goodbye.”

IV

”Lost in a Roman wilderness of pain
And all the children are insane
All the children are insane
Waiting for the summer rain, yeah”

Three hours outside of New York City, Mikey eXtreme stepped out of a black van. Freakshow, who had already exited the van, was opening the door of an old beat up house in the middle of nowhere. Weeds and grass had overtaken the one time beautiful flower garden that surrounded the porch of the house built sometime in the late 1800s.

Mikey’s adopted father, Doc Tanner, had owned this house before Mikey, and used it as a getaway house where he could bring his family on weekends to get away from the loud and violent city life for a short time.

Doc: The fresh air will do you good, boy.

Mikey eXtreme: It was too quiet, Doc. It drove me crazy.

Doc: It was peaceful!

Mikey shrugged, maybe Doc was right, but it drove Mikey insane. He was used to the sirens, the gunshots, the traffic, that loud Brooklyn life. He didn’t want to spend his weekends in the middle of nowhere watching the grass fucking grow. But here he was, spending the day alone in solitude in the middle of nowhere.

By the time Mikey approached the house, Freakshow was already on his way back to the van. He looked at Mikey to make sure this was what he wanted and Mikey nodded. Freakshow stepped back into the van, placed the key in the ignition and fired the van back up before peeling out down the gravel filled driveway.

Mikey entered the house, planting himself on an old dusty couch. There was a television ahead of him, but there was no electricity running through the property right now. There was no need, Mikey was just here to refresh his mind and get himself into the thick of things.

Doc: You’re here because you’re afraid, Mikey.

Mikey rolled his eyes.

Doc: You know it’s true, you don’t want you WCF legacy capped off with a loss. You’re here to get your mind right.

Mikey didn’t respond. He knew Doc was right,

Doc: There’s to big hurdles for you in this match, the other 3 guys are just easy prey.

Mikey eXtreme: Andre?

Doc: You remember Aftermath?

Mikey growled.

Mikey eXtreme: He doesn’t escape that easy this time, Doc. He doesn’t get to walk away clutching that Hardcore Championship this time.

Doc: It hurt, didn’t it?

Mikey takes a deep breath.

Doc: That’s good. Use it. Let it motivate you. Let it light that fire inside you. Let it burn Andre Holmes to the ground.

A smile comes over Mikey’s face for the first time.

Mikey eXtreme: He didn’t even show for the Age of Ultron match, Doc. He was scared. He knew that he wasn’t going to be so lucky that time and he avoided it like the plague. He knew that I was going to win that match and he bolted..

Doc: But the match never happened, so we don't know what would have happened. We can’t know that you would have steamrolled the competition that night.

Mikey eXtreme: They all FEARED me, Doc.

Doc: Possibly, so. But there is a new found confidence in everyone right now. Everyone wants to prove one last time that they are capable of victory inside that WCF ring, Mikey. You know it, I know it. Let’s not forget that, and lets focus.

Mikey eXtreme: We put on a classic at Aftermath. It was one of the greatest matches that the WCF had ever seen. We were ruthless. We were aggressive. We both wanted each other dead.

This time, that might have to happen.

That’s the only way Andre Holmes is leaving with that Hardcore Championship. He’s going to have to take my life in the process. He’s going to have to end everything right in the middle of that ring, because I’m not giving up that easily. I’m not allowing him, nor anyone, to get the best of me this time. I’m here for a war and I’m prepared to do whatever it takes. There’s no rules for a reason, and I’m going to exploit that. I’m going to prove to the world that I am the greatest Hardcore Champion that has ever lived.

Andre Holmes had his run, and I was unable to dethrone him. Do you think I’ve ever been able to get over that? It has haunted me almost as badly as Ethan King, Vengeance, and Nathan Chambers. It has slowly torn me apart from the inside that I would never be able to avenge that loss, but the wrestling gods are smiling down on me right now. They are showering me with gifts because they have given me just that.

They have handed me Andre Holmes and there’s going to be nothing relentless about him at ENDGAME. The beating that I am bringing his way, the violence, the carnage.. That’ll be relentless. I’m not coming after him for fun, Doc. This is personal. This is owed to him. And he’s going to feel every single ounce of pain that I inflict on him. He’s going to feel his world coming to an end and he’s going to be helpless to stop it. He’s going to be shred to pieces, ripped apart piece by piece, limb by limb by a true artist, Doc. When we step into that ring, we are stepping onto my canvas and the bloodshed that will bathe that ring will be my paint.

And I am painting a masterpiece of pain.

The Hardcore Championship would be coming home with Mikey eXtreme, it would be his third reign with the belt and it would be one that would never end. It would be something that he cherished for the rest of time because it symbolized his time in the WCF, his second home. A place where he actually mattered and a place where he belonged.

V

Mikey eXtreme: Hey, monster? Are you in there?

Mikey tapped the lense of the camera which made the camera man cringe. This was expensive equipment and he hated to see it damaged in any way.

Mikey eXtreme: I’m talking to you, idiot. Can you hear me?

Mikey looked into the camera puzzled.

Mikey eXtreme: I guess nobody's home, huh?

Mikey chuckled to himself and looked around the room to see nobody else laughing.

Mikey eXtreme: Tough crowd.

Mikey looked deeper into the lense.

Mikey eXtreme: You don’t have to respond, Oblivion, we both know that after years of having your brains bounced around in that ring that it’s kind of hard for you to hold an actual conversation.

Mikey looks towards someone in the room,

Mikey eXtreme: Make sure they donate his brain for CTE research, alright? It might be abnormal but that’s how it was when he found it.

Again, Mikey looks around the room expecting a laugh or two. Silence.

Mikey eXtreme: Oblivion, you had your first WCF hardcore championship match when? Sometime in the 70s right? Back in the day when the competition was..

Mikey tilted his hand a few times, symbolizing the competition was just.. so/so.

Mikey eXtreme: And now, in your last Hardcore Championship you’re up against..

FPV. Mikey tilted his hand again.
Roy Speede. His hand titled again.
Andre Holmes. Mikey made a face, slightly better competition.
And Odin Balfore. Mikey nodded his head while shrugging his shoulders. There was some okay competition.
And, Me. Mikey shook his head. The competition was far too fierce now that Ol’ X was in the match. At least, for Oblivion. This was something that was not up the monster’s alley. This was something that the Monster had no right in trying to tame. IT should stay hidden behind Jakob Lister, stay there with its tail tucked between its legs, shaking: scared.

Mikey eXtreme: Oblivion, we’ve never really shared that ring much during my time here in WCF and we both know that was a good thing for you. You were able to keep doing what you do and I didnt have to show the world how a monster like yourself can be easily brought down and put to sleep in the middle of that ring.

I was never afraid of the boogeyman, Obi, and that’s all that you are. An overgrown children’s nightmare. A complete and utterly useless joke.

Mikey smiled.

Mikey eXtreme: Jakob, keep that monster tamed. Keep that monster out of this match because if you unleash that beast.. If you have the gall to let IT run wild in New York City.. then it will be the last time anyone sees IT alive. It will be the last time that anyone hears about Oblivion, because I’m not holding back. I’m not allowing anything to get in the way of retaining that Hardcore Championship for one last time.

I’m not Katherine Phoenix, Obi. I’m actual talent. I’m something that you cannot beat, that you cannot defeat. I am what fills your nightmares, that deep darkness that you can’t escape from. I am your deepest secret fear..

We both know it’s there, Oblivion..

Don’t hide it anymore.

Let the fear consume you..

Let your KING show you where you belong in this kingdom.

In the fucking morgue.

Good luck, Oblivion. It’s the only chance you have at winning this match.

But luck would not find Oblivion, nor would it show up for anyone else that was slated to step into that ring with Mikey eXtreme, who was a man on a mission for hardcore Gold.