Man Of Mayhem, Part I

[Tommy Knox]

///Man Of Mayhem\\\
Chapter XXXII, Part I

"This is who I am, love it or hate it, this is me."
- Knox -

Sunday 2:03 PM [August 4th, 2013]
Long Beach, California

At the Nomad clubhouse, the familiar sight of Harley Davidson's rest in the parking lot. The day is nice, sunny with a few clouds scattered here and there. A comforting warmth fills the air with a gentle breeze from the coast. It's your typical day at the beach.

Knox and Wallace sit at the picnic table right outside of the clubhouse entrance. With a beer in hand, the two talk amongst each other. A couple of other members are in the garage turning wrenches.

"What you did a few weeks ago, brother, will not be forgotten." Wallace says.

Knox thinks to himself for a moment before replying. "Don't worry about it, it was nothin'."

"It was more than nothing. You helped the club and showed your loyalty to the patch." Wallace says as he takes a drink from his beer.

"It was easy. He didn't even see it comin' until the gun was in his face." Knox takes a drink from his beer and wipes the excess from the corner of his mouth. "I'd do anything for this club."

Wallace stands up and places his hand on Knox's shoulder as he looks down at him. "I believe that you will and you showed that to all of us." He then reaches in his pocket and pulls out a patch and drops it on the table in front of Knox.

Knox looks down at it for a moment, starring at the words stitched across the face; "Men Of Mayhem". He then grabs it and holds it in his hand as he looks back up at Wallace. "What's this?"

"You earned it, brother. The brothers and I discussed this while you were on the road with APW. You deserve this just as much as the next man in this club with it on his cut. We're thankful to have you as a member in this charter, in the Nomads." Wallace says.

Knox thinks to himself for a moment and then stands to his feet. He looks down at the patch once more as he nods his head and looks back up at Wallace. "I'd be honored to wear this."

The two then embrace once another with a brotherly hug and turn towards the entrance of the clubhouse where the other members of the MC are standing, watching as Knox gets deeper in the club. They then begin to cheer as this act of brotherhood excites each and every one of them.

From the back of the crowd, Moses, a full patch member, steps forward with a bottle of whiskey in hand. "Lets get this party started!" He yells as the other members yell in agreement.

Wallace looks at Knox and nods his head toward the entrance of the clubhouse. "After you, bro. I figured we'd give you one hell of a party before you leave for Philly tomorrow. What you did was an act of honor and will always be appreciated."

"A party, huh? Lets do this. I need to unwind before the flight tomorrow anyway." Knox says as he walks towards the entrance. The other members clear a path for him as he enters. Wallace then follows behind and the rest fall in suit.

The commotion can be heard inside as the drinks start to pour and the music fills the air.

Tuesday 12:17 PM [August 13th, 2013]
Long Beach, California

Outside of the Nomad clubhouse, the parking lot is empty. A few of the garage bay doors are open as the legal side of things is still open for business. As for the members of the MC, their motorcycles are nowhere to be seen, except for one.

The weather is fair today, not too hot but bright nonetheless. The air is somewhat cool today, dry but not too bad on the skin. You can smell the salt in the air, a little more than usual. On days like this you can normally find the club in the outskirts of town, burning the highway up as they tear through the quiet foothills with the loud rumbles of their horses.

Back to the clubhouse, all but one motorcycle is has vanished from the premises. The black, custom Shovelhead rests in its normal parking spot, a few spaces down from the entrance, not near the front of the line. Although these men find themselves outside of the law, they have order amongst themselves, laws not recognized by big brother.

Inside, Knox stands by the pool table with a stick in hang. The radio can be heard in the background as "Hail to the King" by Avenged Sevenfold plays through the speakers. With no one else in sight, Knox plays appears to be playing against himself as he switches from solids to stripes after a missed shot. Thinking time, he must be using this moment to clear his head from the outside things that have happened, things not pertaining to the club but to his other lifestyle in the ring.

Knox bends over the table and lines his shot up. He concentrates for a moment as silence fills the air, except for the sounds of guitars in the background. As he pulls the stick back to take his shot, a voice fill the air and catches him off guard. "Don't miss."

As he brings the cue forward in contact with the ball, you can tell by the sound that it didn't make good contact. The ball rolls to the other end of the table and crashes into the eleven, sending it toward the corner pocket but nowhere near falling in. He missed. A simple shot, easier than most, missed by losing focus for one split second. You could see the irritation in his eyes.

"Well, well, well... look who it is. You've put on a few pounds, friend." Knox says as he leans up and directs his attention across the room, at the entrance of the clubhouse.

Jason Kash steps into the room with a pissed off look on his face as he stares back at Knox. "What, didn't think I was actually going to come? Don't worry about my pounds, just worry about yourself." He says as he walks in closer to Knox standing by the pool table.

Knox thinks to himself for a moment before answering as he can tell that Kash is frustrated. A few days earlier, Stefan Raab joined te Black Hand, he was a member of APW's Asylum brand, the brand that Kash also called home himself. Raab had been beefing with Reaver, Kash's partner in crime, once an enemy but now a long time friend. Foul Play is what they called themselves.

Earlier in the year, when Knox was alone with no one to watch his back, he reached out to Foul Play and they became allies. Kash and Knox go back a long time, back to 2006 when the two first met in another promotion. Ever since then there was a mutual respect for one another. Not even a year after meeting, they created one of the most influential three man operations in the wrestling business, Influential Minds. The two, alongside with Demon Ted Soul changed the face of their respected promotion and will forever be brothers in arms.

Raab also had full control of Asylum as he was the general manager. This was a smart move on the Black Hand's part as they now have control of Asylum under Raab's leadership. On that same night Raab joined forces with the plague that has swept APW, he took it upon himself to fire Kash to put Reaver at a disadvantage. With Kash out of the picture, Reaver was by himself with no one to watch over his back, not even Knox, the one man that he himself watched out for when Kash answered the call a few months back. This was a fucked up situation.

"You have to believe me, Kash, I had no idea that Raab was goin' to do that." Knox said as he placed the stick on the pool table and walks around, towards Kash.

A smirk came to Kash's face followed by a chuckle of laughter. "I'm supposed to believe that?", he questioned.

"Yea, actually you are." Knox responds.

"I don't even know you anymore, man. Ever since you started rolling with Nomad you've changed. We go back, way back and I thought there was a level of trust between us. You're just full of shit now and this so called power you think you have has changed who I thought you were." Kash said as he walks closer to Knox.

The two meet eye to eye in the center of the clubhouse as the music slowly begins to fade away. Knox then walks over to the bar, turning his back to Kash. "You think you know me?"

Enraged, Kash grabs Knox by the cut on his back and throws him into the bar. Empty bottles scattered just before crashing to the floor. Knox slowly turns around and laughs for a moment before stepping back in Kash's face.

"It wasn't supposed to go down like this, not what I had in mind. When I first had this vision, Foul Play was at the top of my list. I extended my hand to you and for what? You turned a cold shoulder to me and I didn't question your loyalty. You have to believe me, Kash." Knox says as he reaches over the bar and pulls a cold beer from the icebox below.

"You've walked away from this business and came back plenty of times. Shit, in WCF you left me hanging after we won the tag team titles. I told you to prove yourself and show me that you're in this for the long haul and then maybe, just maybe we could talk. What did you do? You used me and played us for a fool." Kash walks to the bar and leans over, standing beside Knox.

Knox thinks to himself before replying as the mixed emotions roll through his head. "Used you?" he asked.

"You heard me. When you first came back and started beefing with NBK who did you come to for backup? You came to me and Reaver, Foul Play. We backed you up when you needed it and this is the thanks we get?" Kash said.

"Backed me up? You guys had an agenda in the matter. It wasn't just to help me. You two wanted a shot at the tag team titles and you know damn well that I'm right. What if Gooch didn't betray me and we actually won the straps, how long would it have been before you came after them, after me?" Knox asks.

"You just don't get it, man. We were supposed to be brothers. What we had, it goes back way longer than APW. You threw it all away just to push yourself forward. We should have let NBK destroy you. We should have let nature run its course and then your demons would have come back into picture and you would have ran like you always do." Kash said as he shakes his head, looking down at the bar.

Knox eyes widen as he can't believe what Kash just said. "NBK destroy me? Are you fuckin' out of your mind? I crushed NBK. Where's Titan at now? He sure as fuck isn't in APW addin' more losses to his record. I ran him away. I proved to him that I'm the better man both in and out of the ring."

"What about Gooch?" Kash asks.

Silence fills the room once more as Knox takes a drink from his beer and stares off across the room. "What about him? He dug his own grave. We had a good thing goin' and he ruined it. It's one thing to show respect where it's been earned but you don't sit down with the enemy, behind enemy line and break bread with them. He brought everything upon himself. I'm not ashamed of what I did."

"First Titan, then Gooch... lets not forget about Havok. You're a monster and you're out of control." Kash stands up straight and turns toward Knox who does the same. He then looks at the cut on Knox's torso and scans it from top to bottom. One thing then sticks out and its the patch on his chest; Men Of Mayhem. He then shakes his head as he leans back to take another look. "I don't even want to know what you did to earn that patch for yourself. I'm guessing that what you did to Titan, Gooch and Havok doesn't even come close to the blood you spilt to earn that tag."

"It's none of your business what I do with the MC. This is who I am, love it or hate it, this is me." Knox says as he takes another drink from his beer.

"So now you're one of the "one-percenters"?" Kash questions.

"What if I am? I've put in my time and paid my dues. Wrestlin' has a shelf life and when my time is up, I have somethin' to fall back on. I'm sorry that we can't all be a one-percenter in the wrestlin' business like you, Kash. I'm sorry that we all can't be like you, Mr. action addict lookin' for that next fix. There's no tellin' when my time will come to walk away from this sport, if it's on my own will or not. I did what I did to survive." Knox says as he pulls out his pack of cigarettes from the pocket inside of his cut.

Kash laughs quietly before responding. "Did what you did to survive?"

"You heard me. It was either sink or swim for me and damnit, I chose to swim. I hurt the people I did to get to where I am today. I don't see any of those cowards scheduled to fight Envi at Shockwave. Envi is all mine and there's nothin' that anyone can do to stop that, it's inevitable. I'm not just goin' to sit by and follow someone else's lead. I live by my own rules and take what I want." Knox says.

"What about Envi, are you going to take him out for good too?" Kash asks.

"Maybe I will. One thing is for sure. I'm goin' to strip of that Overdrive championship once and for all and erase his name from the record books. After I'm finished with him, he won't be anything more than a mere memory that slowly fades away as each dyin' day passes." Knox says.

Kash finds this amusing as a smile comes to his face. "Envi isn't like the others. He's just not going to let you destroy him, destroy everything he's worked for."

"He doesn't have a choice. It's my destiny to rid Evan Envi from APW. The fans love him, oh do the fans love him. I don't give a fuck. I'm not in this business to please the fans anymore. I made that loud and clear the night that I first turned on Gooch and desecrated his body in that ring. I'm in this game for myself and no one else. Sure, the Black Hand is who I roll with within APW but each and every one of us can fend for ourselves. We don't need to count on one another to handle our shit for us. That's what separates us from all of these other "factions" in APW. We can each handle our own but together, no one can fuck with us." Knox says as he takes a drink from his beer and places a cigarette between his lips.

"You're one cocky son of a bitch, KnoxVILLE. I'll give you that. I still think that you're taking Envi too lightly and that this will blow up in your face. When it does, I'll be the first one in line to say I told you so." Kash says.

Knox pulls out his lighter and ignites the flame with the flick of his thumb. He then lights the tip of the cigarette and takes a slow drag, letting the smoke engulf his lungs as it relaxes him. "I'm gettin' tired of you callin' me that."

Kash laughs again as he looks Knox in the eyes. "What, KnoxVILLE?"

"Yea." Knos says.

"Get over it, you'll always be that to me. You can pretend to be someone else but I know who you are. You're not this man that you lead on to be." Kash says.

"Is that so? Knoxville is dead to me, has been for some time now. He was a fuck up, a junky, a loser. All that's behind me now. After Shockwave, after I win that Overdrivde championship and send Envi packin', you'll see for yourself. Knox says.

A puzzled look comes over Kash's face as those last words roll off Knox's tongue. "Why do you think that you're going to send Envi packing and on his way out? He's done more in APW than you ever will. It's going to take more than what you throw at him to send him on his way out."

Knox chuckles for a moment before replying. "It's simple. The fans love Envi more than they love themselves. Taking that title away from him a few weeks ago only forced that love to grow as their hatred for me consumed them. If anything, they want to see me fail and witness Envi put me in my place. Sorry, it's just not goin' to happen, not that easily. I've dismantled the League, a group of men led by him. One by one I took them out with ease. Hell, Kado was the only one smart enough to get out before his time came. After I have my way with him and prove to the world that I'm the better man in that ring, it will crush him. I'm goin' to take Lady Overdrive officially and turn that bitch out. I'm not goin' to let it dictate what kind of man I am as it did Envi. I'm goin' to redefine what a champion is in APW and bring the weight of the world crashin' on his pathetic corpse. I'm goin' to destroy everything that he stands for and everything that he once was. After that, he'll have no choice but to walk away and turn his back to a new contract signin'. In the end, I win at all means necessary."

"Hah... you're fucking crazy! He's not going to break that easily. He..." Knox rudely interrupts Kash, cutting him off in mid sentence.

"He doesn't have a choice. His time has come and gone and now it's my time. I've taken out his friends and I'm goin' to take him out, period!" Knox says.

"I think that patch on your chest is going to your head. You may be an outlaw here in Long Beach but you're not by any means the baddest mother fucker on Overdrive." Kash says.

"I'm a Man of Mayhem, both inside and outside of APW. Anyone who stands in my way will come to know that truth. I've sat on the sidelines while others got their big pushes in this business. I've given my blood, sweat and tears for this business only to get spat on by the fans the first chance that came their way. I'm done livin' by society's rules and I'm sure as shit done with playin' by the rules of this sport. If you want something, you have to go out and get it for yourself. Nothin' is free in this world and I'm livin' proof of that. Evan can count his blessin's that we aren't fightin' outside of APW because I wouldn't hesitate to end his life in the blink of an eye. But we're not on the outside fightin', we're fightin' in the sanctioned ranks of APW and professional wrestlin'. I can't just make him disappear from the face of the earth but I can make him disappear from APW and become nothin' more than a distant memory in the back of everyones mind." Knox takes a slow drag from the cigarette and inhales. Holding the smoke in for a moment, he then exhales and looks at Kash who stares back at him.

"You're fucking nuts. I'm glad to see that you're head is in this thing one hundred percent but it's disappointing that things had to be like this. We were once brothers. But now..." Knox interrupts Kash once more.

"We're still brothers." Knox says.

Kash shakes his head in disagreement before getting back on track. "Now, we're just former friends who obviously don't see things the same anymore. We were brothers, no more. You burned that bridge when you aligned yourself with Raab and he gave me the boot. I just had to come and talk to you face to face about it and I've heard all that I needed to hear. You're not that same guy that I stood beside, proud, and took the wrestling world by storm. You've changed and honestly, I don't know if it's for the best. Good luck with Envi but don't be surprised when you don't scare him off and he puts you in your place. Actually, that's what I'm hoping for."

Knox takes a drink from his beer and stares down at the bottle for a moment. "I hate to disappoint Kash, but, I'm goin' to prove you and the rest of the world wrong. I'm goin' to prove that when I defeat Envi at Shockwave and wrap that Overdrive championship around my waist. Your negativity just fuels my fire, along with all the hatred I get from the fans. I'm goin' to climb to the top and be the king of the mountain. People think that Level-One and his world title is the best that APW has to offer. It's time to show everyone that the Overdrive championship is where it's at. People are tired of seein' the same thing over and over and that's what they get with the world title. A new dawn is upon us and it's my time to reign with an iron fist."

"Good for you, dick! While you're at it, reigning supreme and what not, maybe you can convince Raab that I'm not going anywhere." Kash says.

"If you want, I can get him to reverse that decision. I'm tellin' you, bro, I had no idea that was goin' to happen. I can get you back in the game." Knox says.

"I don't need your help. I don't need to owe you any favors. Raab and Reaver and fighting for control of Asylum and there's no question in my mind that Reaver is going to win. Once he gets control and rips it from the Black Hand's grasp, I'll be reinstated officially and then it's back to business. This isn't the last you'll be seeing of me, KnoxVILLE." Kash says.

"Raab will retain control of Asylum one way or another. I can promise you that. Whether or not Reaver wins, I can get you back in now. All you have to do is ask." Knox says.

"Eat a dick! I have faith in my boy, my true friend. I'm out of here. I have a plane to catch. I just wanted to meet you face to face. I've seen and heard all there is that I needed to. You make me sick!" Kash says.

Kash then pushes off the bar and walks to the entrance of the clubhouse, turning his back. Knox takes another drag from his cigarette and then a drink of beer as he watches Kash walk away.

"It doesn't have to end like this." Knox says.

"It's only getting started." Kash says with one foot out of the door.

Knox shakes his head as he watches Kash leave and then yells. "Where are you goin'?"

Outside, Kash yells as the sound of his voice travels through the clubhouse. "To my mama's! Peace!"

Knox continues to sit at the bar by himself, thinking of what's to come in the future and with who once was, his best friend.