"That cold ain't the weather. That's death approaching."
-The Stranger, 30 Days of Night
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It was the time of the year to reflect. For anybody really. For Joe, it was a time to reflect on not just this year of his career, but his entire career altogether. And reflection was something he sometimes didn't do so well. Who did, really?
Tonight was a peculiar night, though. He sat alone, staring at the Christmas tree Lizzie and Lucy had helped put up. He gazed at the lights, feeling a darkness about them. He felt he had been transitioning into this darker version of himself. Not that it was alien to him to channel an inner darkness. How many times had he done it in his career? When something turned personal? When something was on the line that he wanted so bad he could taste it?
And yet, he knew this was different. There was a sense of dread about it. And why shouldn't there have been? For six months he had been spiraling into this land of make-believe with those freaks. What was it that Daedalus had said once? Or maybe it was something Joe had dreamt Daedalus said... If you gaze long enough into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you? It was something like that. But it was accurate.
Actually, a lot of what the Astro Creeps have said have come into fruition, whether Joe or anyone else wanted to believe it.
It didn't matter though.
His eyes narrowed. He couldn't be Joe. He had to be JC.
He had to be JC and face the freakish alternate personality that Tempest had developed that he called JC Loophole, something that was meant to be like looking into some fucked up, distorted mirror. And, he had to destroy it.
"Coming to bed?" Lucy said softly.
After a moment, he managed to grunt a response, "In a little bit."
And, when she didn't leave to go back to bed, "Just taking all this in, Luce. You know how I get."
"Yes, I do know how you get. I'm ready for this to be over, Joe."
"I know you are," he replied. "One way or another, it will be soon."
He continued to gaze off into nothingness.
The abyss also gazes into you.
He came to. "I'll be in bed soon."
That seemed to be enough for Lucy to leave JC once again alone with his thoughts.
The way out is through.
Where had he heard that one? He didn't know, but he knew what it meant. The only way to get out of this strange state of mind that the Creeps had lured him into, was to see it all the way through to the end. Unfortunately for the Creeps, that ending was not going to be the one they were picturing. Their prophecies would prove to be lies.
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I made a mistake with you, Tempest. I made the same mistake that nearly every other person you've faced has made this year. I underestimated you. I never would have thought that you and your cult would have been main characters in my story at the end of the year. I've had my mind on gold, since the moment I stepped foot into this company. Hell, since the moment I stepped into this business!
But, you made a mistake with me, Tempest. You should have moved onto the next person when you realized I wasn't paying attention to you. You should have realized, this host to your parasite, is poison.
You like to boast about making a nest inside the minds of your opponents... your rivals.
You can't deny that these last few months of your rookie year have been hell for you. While you were building your little nest in my mind, I was constructing a mansion in yours. Don't worry, Tempest. It was built in your taste. The mansion is, of course, haunted. Just the way you like it. At least, you say you like it. You might even think you like it.
But, you're wrong.
Being haunted by JC is facing an entity on a level that you'll never experience again. You'll never want to, either. When I'm done with you, Tempest, you'll realize you're not the creature under the bed.
I am.
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He was spending a lot of time alone as he prepared for this last match. Only it wasn't a match. This was going to be a street fight. A street fight unlike any other he had ever been involved with, no doubt.
His mind wandered once more to how they had gotten to where they were now.
Wrestlestock. That's where it started. The Chaos Championship was on the line. Tempest, the champion. JC and... Sloane Taylor, the challengers. The bizarre happenings began there. The Creep's focus transitioned from Sloane to JC. It was when he ran his nasty hands along a portrait of JC, something that he had rolled his eyes at, at first. But Tempest's infatuation with him continued to grow. The truth was, JC was disgusted by the Creep's pathetic cry for attention. It was a cry for attention that evolved to a demand for attention.
He knew how these things worked. It doesn't matter how you mask yourself, the intention was the same. He knew what Tempest wanted. He wanted to lure JC into his traps and his warped sense of reality. He masked it with a false intent on friendship. One of the oldest tricks in the book.
So JC struck first. Turned the tables around on the Astro Creeps before they had any idea what hit them. Don't fuck with JC.
This thing was going to be made personal no matter how much JC wanted to focus on other, more important things. What was the first line of that Pantera song, Walk?
Can't you see I'm easily bothered by persistence?
That's the one. And that was how JC felt about Tempest. Annoying little mosquito that wasn't going to be happy until you squashed him.
And even after JC squashed him, instead of just learning his lesson and moving on with his mind games elsewhere, the little shit took it as an invitation to continue to fuck with JC.
At this point... what's in it for Tempest?
He pondered it, tapping his finger against his temple.
Now he began reflecting on Tempest's short career. What was it that Tempest wanted with each of his rivals?
From Kenzi Grey, he took the Chaos Championship. This was after she had made the championship prestigious. Or so she claims. At any rate, it was a shock when Tempest took it from her.
And it changed her. It haunted her so badly, in fact, that she hasn't really been around since. As if that loss was so disturbing to her, that she hasn't been the same. Like he had changed her.
Was Sloane Taylor next? What had he wanted from her?
It wasn't hard for him to admit he didn't understand most of the nonsense that Tempest put Sloane through. But the end result was Tempest passing along the Chaos Championship to her... and at JC's expense, no less.
Fair or unfair, that's how JC viewed it.
But Sloane has definitely changed since her time spent with Tempest. She's become a little more vicious. She hasn't been quite the same Sloane Taylor that the UGWC roster was used to. As a result, she's fighting Duncan Ryder. And it can be said that the roots of their rivalry go back to the Chaos Championship. And if we dig deeper... the roots go back to Tempest.
Joe stood slowly from his spot in front of the Christmas tree, and walked to the bathroom, his mind consumed with Tempest more now than ever before. He stared into the mirror.
With Kenzi, Tempest wanted to take away her pride. And he did.
With Sloane, Tempest seemed to want to break her down, and build her back up in his image. JC guessed it kind of worked.
With JC?
He reflected.
The last six months, JC had come up just short so many times.
Wrestlestock... just came up short.
Kobayashi Maru... just came up short.
Outlast... just came up short.
Battleground... just came up short.
And behind every loss, it seemed that Tempest was there, glaring at him... grinning at him.
He ran his index finger along his cheek, and was surprised to find that it left a white line on his skin. He looked closely into the mirror, running his fingers along his face again, and again leaving white marks. Like paint. He looked down at his fingers, but nothing was on them. He looked back into the mirror and ran his fingers around his eye. More marks, this time black.
Tempest was an unhappy spirit. He could feel that.
Tempest wanted to belong, and JC joining the Astro Creeps was his validation that he did belong, and was accepted, in a world where he was otherwise cast out by his peers.
He continued running his fingers along his face, black and white marks coloring one side in the mirror.
When JC drew Tempest into his own trap, Tempest made it his mission to become the curse that held JC back from success. Whether it was directly, or indirectly. Had JC officially joined as an Astro Creep? Tempest would have lifted his self-induced delusion of a curse from JC and assisted him in succeeding. Indirectly, Tempest had been at the root of JC's failures at Wrestlestock, because Tempest controlled the ending. Anyone with eyes could have seen that. Indirectly, it led to JC's failure. The roots led to Tempest.
He continued to apply more paint... paint that didn't exist, but existed at the same time.
Indirectly, Tempest had been at the root of JC's failures at Kobayashi Maru, because JC and Lucy were so consumed in deceiving Tempest and pulling him into their trap. Because of that, JC and Lucy didn't win the Co-Op titles. Indirectly, it led to JC's failure. The roots led to Tempest.
More paint. Almost his entire right side of his face was painted. Almost.
Indirectly, at Outlast, it was Tempest's team JC was part of that led to his failure. Tempest used his momentum to push JC and Dave Rydell ahead. His intentions were clear to support them in winning the UGWC World Championship. But Tempest was in his head, crawling, contorted and unorthodox. Tempest's presence indirectly led to JC's failure. And the roots led to Tempest.
Directly... at Battleground, Tempest very blatantly and very purposefully, led to JC's failure. The Creeps intervened. There wasn't much more to say than that. Tempest's physical presence led to JC's failure.
He was finished. He knew what he had to do to move on. He knew what he had to do to break this curse. The way out is through. He glared into the mirror.
And Tempest glared back.
At Horizons, Tempest would fail. And the roots of his failure, will lead to JC.
JC grinned into the mirror. Somewhere, in the abyss, the Tempest smiled back.