Post by Admin on Aug 21, 2023 2:10:38 GMT
Natalia and Mackenzie Korcynski’s Home
Kenora, Ontario Canada
January 7th, 2021
John had been through a lot in his life; he was raised away from his family with his twin sister, Tamika, and their mother, Lisa Hayes. He came back to North America at 16 and not even two years later had followed his father’s motorcycle tracks and earned his rockers as a Bandido.
“Well, this is it. Come on, John, you have gone toe to toe with the toughest Cartel bosses, crooked cops, and your big sister Megz.” He is attempting to give himself the courage to do what he has to do. “You can do this.”
John stretches when he steps out of the “cage” (what bikers call 4 wheeled vehicles), a 1967 Mint Green Buick Skylark and puts his kutte in the backseat. He wasn’t ashamed of his standing as the head of a criminal organization, but he didn’t want to bring unintended heat to who he was going to see. His snakeskin boots click on the pavement onto the asphalt driveway and up the front porch steps. Opening the glass door, he knocks three times on the red wooden door. He can’t hide his smile as a woman in her early thirties opens the door with a bit of a shocked look on her face.
“Well, I didn’t think you were gonna show, Johnny.”
“I mean, I am a lot like my old man, but I am not him, Natalia,” he responds. Embracing his former lover, he lets go, and her hands sit on his shoulders, looking up at him.
“Thank the lord. Come in. Mackenzie is out right now, but she’ll be home soon.”
The One Percenter follows her inside and is impressed at the home Natalia has provided for their child, especially in a place like Brandon, Manitoba. That was probably the biggest shock to his system that they had been so close to him in Winnipeg, and he didn’t know.
“Please, sit. Fancy anything to drink?”
“Sure, surprise me,” he says as he takes a seat on the blue couch in the simple yet quaint living room.
Natalia makes her way to the kitchen when John notices family pictures on the mantle above one of those fancy electric fireplaces. He walks over to a framed elementary graduation photo of his daughter. His fingers run down the glass covering the photo.
“She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” Natalia says as she hands a can of Coca-Cola to her baby’s daddy. He nods a thank you and takes a drink as he takes the picture in his hand and sits back down.
“She looks so much like Meeks.”
“Yes, she does. She has your eyes and your big sister’s attitude.”
“Shit, sorry about your luck, hah.” Natalia remembers that laugh and the smile that followed it all too well. “Looks like you have done a fine job raising her… I am sorry I wasn’t there, Nat.”
Natalia sits down beside John on his right, placing a hand on his knee.
“It’s not your fault. Your father… he made it very… clear… that you weren’t to know. I am the one that should be sorry.”
He sighs and shakes his head, looking down.
“I’m not mad at you, Nat. I know what my old man was like. He kept Megz from knowing she had twins when she wasn’t much older than Mackenzie. He was a bad dude who made even worse life choices, and it finally caught up with him.”
“I heard he fell on a bullet; ever find out who did it?”
He shakes his head slowly. He was lying. He knew it was his niece. He just didn’t know Veronica existed yet.
“I’m sorry, John. I know, despite everything, that you and your sisters loved him.”
“You only have one father in life. Either love him for who he was or not at all.”
Natalia’s own father wasn’t much better.
“Can I ask you something, Johnny?”
“Shoot.”
“Why did it take you so long to come around? You found out about our angel in 2021 after your dad passed…”
“(Sigh) That’s a good question, Nat. I was… scared. I still am. I’m not a good man, doll. You can’t do what I do without being a savage. I am not even sure I should be here right now.”
Placing the photo on the wooden coffee table in front of the couch, he leans back and gives Natalia a half smile.
“It’s a great thing that you are here. Mackenzie needs a strong male role model in her life, and who better than her own dad? You might think you are an evil man, but I see all the charity rides for sick kids and diseases.”
Joh rarely felt uncomfortable, but when he was receiving compliments about himself as a man, he didn’t take it well. He quickly changes the subject, and he would be glad he did.
“So, what have you been doing with your life, Natalia? Besides raising our daughter, that is.”
“Well, I am getting ready to do my final exam for placement in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Have a job lined up out of Toronto.”
John’s eyebrow raises up slightly and smiles softly at the mother of his child.
“RCMP, eh?”
My last match in IWF didn’t exactly go so well. I passed out in the middle of the ring because there is one thing a Strader doesn’t do (even when it’s detrimental to our health) is tap out. Our pride gets the better of us a good amount of the time. Sometimes it pays off, and others it doesn’t. My match against Knox didn’t pay off. He took ten points in a tournament I never wanted to be part of, and he evened the score between us. He was right though, my win over came in a cluster fuck of a match and now he has some bragging rights.
One thing he said I wanted to set the record straight on is that I have never felt inferior to any of my family. Megz (when she was alive), Meeks, my father and Veronica are/were about the glory that can come of this business. I have never been in the shadow of anyone with our last name because my goals differ completely from theirs.
When I was matched up against the former two-time IWF World Champion James Gilmore, I’m not in the IWF to win championships or anything of the sorts. I am here because I like to hurt people. Does that make me a monster? Maybe, but it has served me well in turning the Brothers of Mayhem MC from a small time club to one of the higher placed top ten Motorcycle Clubs.
Marriot Inn
Houston, TX
August 3rd, 2023
“Damn, doll….”
“I knew you would like that.”
The IWF Invictus Champion, Alexandra Calaway, cuddles up under the arm of the International President of the Brothers of Mayhem, John Nash Strader with her head on his chest, his fingers gently stroking her hair , in postcoital bliss. John had been away up north in his home country of Canada dealing with a rat/infiltration in his club that was a cooperative operation between American and Canadian law enforcement. He had dealt with the problem for the time being. However, he enjoyed spending time with Alexandra and Ashlynn. Not to mention the bond he had been forming with his 17-year-old daughter he only met in February 2021. That was just before he signed with WrestleWorld after the disaster Project: Dishonour.
“Ah, I missed you, doll.”
“Successful trip?”
John shrugs slightly, turning his head to kiss the top of hers.
“We’ll see. Just happy to be back with my Panhead.”
“Really? Your panhead?”
He smiles playfully at Alexandra, his hand stroking her cheek.
“Oh, don’t be too upset. I mean, which did I ride first? My Panhead or you?”
Calaway elbows him, and he chokes on his laugh.
“You’re just a fairytale come true.”
“Would you have me any other way?”
Leaning over, she lays a kiss under his ear on his neck.
“Maybe take you a few different ways….”
Wraith, that’s the one thing we have in common. The joy we get from making someone cry out in agony. I have seen it in your matches here in the IWF, and when my sisters would force me to watch those big independent events. We also have in common that we both lost to The Raven this year. The difference there is, I didn’t let it bother me, nor did I run for two years from the corvid, but even a blind man can see it is still eating away at you. Deflating when someone wants the glory of defeating someone that only talent like Stratford, Vhodka and Calaway can beat. One might think I’d be jealous that I couldn't defeat the Raven when my old lady did, but all I am is proud of her, and I always will be.
I saw it in Meghan and Tamika, the shadow of living under our dad, trying to overcome the impossible standards he set while he was active in the ring. You had that in your stepfather, which you overcame, kudos to you, but you and I both know (as does the rest of the industry) that no matter how successful you are, until you defeat your own mother and aunt in the ring, you’ll always be in their shadow. Sure, your name is big enough to be spoken by some of the best, but it’s Tara and Jennie that the big companies out there want. IWF scored the consolation prize in you, but if given the choice, they would want one of them.
You know I am right.
Oddly enough, you’d think that the IWF brass would’ve gone after my niece when looking to have a Strader on their roster, but it was me they wanted. So, hold on to that TV title for as long as you can, because one day you will lose it, and your character will be determined on how you bounce back from that. You have shown you are still a bit of a child still after your match last week, but it isn’t too late to learn to overcome that.
Then we have the man you defeated for that championship in Nick Danger. A man a little closer to me in similarities. A 3rd generation wrestler just like myself. Our grandfather and father took our names to a whole new level. A level that can be absolutely daunting. While yours is based in the ring. For me, it was living up to the One Percenter my old man was when he was alive as the National Sgt. At Arms of the Bandidos MC.
Highrise Rooftop
St Catharines, Ontario
July 31st, 2023
He was born the Devil’s Son. His fate etched out the nanosecond he came to life inside his mother’s womb. His destiny was to raise a powerhouse of a motorcycle club in one of the most biker violent countries in the world, destined to return to the ring and destined to take his father’s spot beside Simon Kalis, the OG of Montréal and Los Angeles. Destined to find out he was a father to a now seventeen-year-old girl. He had accomplished a lot in the last two years. He had twenty-three charters across Canada, thirty-two in the United States, and twelves across the United Kingdom from England to Wales to Ireland to Scotland.
“Where are you, Nat?” John said to himself quietly, the uncharacteristically cool mid-summer breeze.
John is standing on the roof of a high rise overlooking the Great Lake of Ontario, the Toronto skyline off in the distance. The loud air horn heard for miles around blared as a fishing boat glided into a nearby port. It’s a chilly evening, so he keeps warm with a Support Your Local BOMB-squad hoodie, blue jeans, and, as always, his signature snakeskin boots. He pulls his soft pack of Marlboro Reds out of the pocket in the front of his hoodie and lights a cigarette. He takes a drag and runs his free right hand through his semi-long dirty blonde hair. His icy blue eyes weren’t as vibrant as they usually were. He knew he had to find out who started the joint cooperative sting operation sooner than later to worry about as he was trying to build the new pipeline. John had to go back to Winnipeg before he returned to his woman, to set up the prison pipeline to all Brothers Of Mayhem charters to keep his club going.
“I better hit the road.” He is a little taken aback as he turns around and sees his daughter’s mother, and RCMP detective, Natalia Korcynski, staring at him, dressed all in black, with her gold RCMP badge hanging around her neck partially covered by her black leather jacket.
“Talk to yourself a lot?”
“....”
“Right, you’ve been doing it since we were kids.” Natalia hugs him, and it feels natural to her. She sits down and pats the concrete beside him to sit down.
“Where have you been?” He sits down beside Natalia and sees Mackenzie in her face.
“Making sure no one followed me. Wouldn’t exactly be great for my career if my bosses found out I was the department leak.”
He rubs his face with his right hand before replying.
“What I am trying to understand is why I didn’t get a heads up about this operation.”
“Because I didn’t know until the right arm of the Femme Fatale MC was knocking on my door. Last thing we need is for me to lose my badge and end up behind bars.”
John nods. He takes a drag of his cancer stick.
“I spent some time in a cage back when the Brothers started; it’s difficult but you aren’t gonna go to jail,” John said with an exasperated sigh. “Were you able to get me any information at all, Nat?”
Natalia stands up, looking out over Lake Ontario. She turns around to face him as he stands as well.
“No, John. I couldn’t. Whoever started this operation doesn’t want anyone in the department to know. Prevents leaks to people like me,” Natalia said, burying her face in her hands, rubbing and stretching her skin down before her hands fell to her side.
“Fuck, this isn’t good. It wasn’t easy to get this pipeline set up, but apparently it was really fucking easy for them to turn prospects and a Goddam hangaround into damn rats. If this sting is even slightly successful, it could shut down at least a dozen charters and no one is gonna trust the MC.” John’s voice has the hint of aggravation Natalia remembered from their youth.
“Listen, Johnny, we will find out who is behind this, alright? Seriously, someone is gonna slip up. The department is full of egos. All we know right now is that it’s the RCMP working with the DEA and, possibly, the ATF. I can tap into a couple of friends I have in the FBI. I’ll make the call in the morning. Staying at the clubhouse?”
“No, I’m going to head to London. Taking care of a couple of things for Meeks.”
Natalia reaches out, taking his hand in hers.
“Don’t worry, it’s all gonna even out and go back to normal,” Natalia said, trying to ease his worries. “Tell me, is she good with our baby?”
“Yeah, Alexandra is amazing. Mack adores her. They have been sparring. She’s determined to be a Cowgirl From Hell like her aunties. Alexandra’s daughter, Ashlynn, she’s a doll too. I am beyond lucky to have three amazing women in my life.”
Natalia steps in close, holding his hands in hers, and he looks away. She moves in for a kiss, but he pulls back, shaking his head.
“Nat, no. I can’t. I love her. She is the first woman I have loved since….”
“.... me.”
John is silent as he pulls his hands away and quickly exits through the rooftop door. Natalia turns and looks back out over the lake, the moon reflecting off of it.
“He was mine first, Calaway. I’m the mother of his daughter. When I find out who’s trying to ruin his club and him… I am going to put it on you…I’m going to ruin you.”
People will always remember the three most feared initials in wrestling, SNS aka Scott Nash Strader, but for me, like I said, it’s living up to the other world he loved more than this business. Just like our opponent, and the kid that took away your TV title, I know this match is about trying to gain the advantage in the Heir to the Throne tourney.
So while you two are concerning yourselves in that, my goal is as simple as the day is long: crackin’ necks and cashing cheques. Even if I got a submission win, I won’t be catching up on any points as this is only my third match in this stupid fuckin’ tournament of egos.
In my second (and back to back) main event in my short time here in the IWF, I am going to do what I do best: step through those ropes and lay a hurt down on the two of you that neither of you will see coming because you aren’t that different from most of the other’s in this business with underestimating me because I don’t have the “success” my old man, sisters and nieces have, and the over inflated egos the two of you have.
How you do anything in life is how you do everything in life.
See you soon, boys.
