Chapter 9: Rise
Ten of these ~ is a time change
Four of these • is a pov change
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the wrestlers mentioned in this story, or anything pertaining to WWE and TNA. I am well aware that the ages of the wrestlers in this fic don't match the time period of the fic. (I found it more sympathetic and believable for them to be younger, and that they'd garner more pity with a greater age difference.) I also moved AJ and Punk's marriage up a year. It was necessary to my story. Sue me. Violence, disturbing torture, blood, angst, language, slash, smut, non-con/rape (in later chapters).
SONG: RISE BY SKILLET
Hunter stops whipping Hardy then, much to my surprise. Jeff's face is scrunched up in agony and he whimpers as Hunter brushes past him on his way to where I'm chained up.
All I see is shattered pieces, I can't keep it hidden like a secret, I can't look away from all this pain in a world we made!
I look down then, finally finding relief from the horror I had to witness. My breath comes hard and fast as Hunter comes to stand in front of me. My stomach turns but I keep my stare firmly affixed on the cold, concrete floor beneath my knees.
"Whatever I want?"
Everyday I need a bulletproof vest, to save yourself from what? You could never guess!
"Anything. I won't say a word. I won't resist. I won't insult you. Just please stop hitting him. It's me you want, he's got nothing to do with it." I'm still speaking to the floor, but I hear Hunter head up the stairs, Paul following him.
Am I safe today? When I step outside in the wars we wage?
To talk about how they plan on torturing me next, no doubt.
I look over to Jeff in the dim light. He's a mess, shaking and shivering. He's just hanging from the ropes, unable to stand, just like I was.
Our future's here and now, here comes the countdown…
Lord knows he doesn't deserve this. His fearless spirit is going to be crushed into oblivion by two psychos seeking revenge against not him, but against his best friend, me.
Sound it off, this is the call! Rise in revolution!
They're torturing him for the sole reason that he's in the wrong place at the wrong time.
It's our time to change it all! Rise in revolution!
I can't imagine how long they would've gone on whipping him if I hadn't begged them as much as I did.
Unite and fight, to make a better life.
Jeff groans as he asks the question that has probably been the source of his confusion since he got dragged down into this.
"Why were you down here in the first place?" He moans softly and I feel so bad for him.
Everybody one for all, sound off, this is the call!
"Hunter jumped me in my hotel when I was on my way to my room, he drugs me and I wake up in my own private hell."
Tonight, we rise!
I growl low in my throat, I haven't forgotten the severity of my situation or the men who created it.
Rise, tonight, we rise!
"They have this crazy scheme to 'break me'."
Rise, tonight, we rise!
"Apparently I need to 'learn respect' and 'stop ruining his plans'. I think so far, if I were to take stock of my injuries, my head is split from the attack in the hallway, my jaw is kind of swollen from a shot with brass knuckles, my ribs are busted up, my back is in about the same condition as yours and I think I have a cigarette burn in my forearm. Not that it matters, really."
Like a hand grenade thrown in a hurricane.
"You were right. I didn't want to know the answer."
Spinning in chaos, trying to escape the flame.
"Yeah, for once I kinda wish I was wrong."
Yesterday is gone, faster than the blast of a car bomb!
"Man so they've really gone off the deep end, huh?" His words still come out choked.
"Jeff?" I ask, trying to get back to the matter at hand.
"Mmm?"
"Are you ok?"
No response.
"You can give me a honest answer, man. I went through that exact same thing."
He hesitates. He finally whispers meekly to me, like it's a secret. He's already picked up on the fact that weakness is something we have to hide in this place.
"…It hurts, oh God Phil, it hurts," Jeff groans, his breathing shallow and ragged. That strikes a knife in my heart. My fault.
And when the scars heal, the pain passes. As hope burns, we rise from the ashes!
"I know. I wish I could tell you it gets better, but the only way they'll let you forget about that is by hurting you again. I'm so sorry, Jeff, this is all because of me."
Darkness fades away and the light shines on a brave new day.
"No, it's not. Dammit, Phil, that's exactly what they want you to think."
Our future's here and now, here comes the countdown…
"You can't let them break you. And you can't keep trying to take my beating for me."
Sound it off, this is the call! Rise in revolution!
"They're gonna fucking massacre you for what you just said, I hope you realize that."
It's our time to change it all! Rise in revolution!
Pausing, he coughs, then winces as the small action sends shock waves of pain through his body. I know, because not too long ago I was in that same position.
Unite and fight, to make a better life.
He shakes his head sharply, doing his best to re-focus. "You're giving them an all-access pass to take away the one form of self-defense you have."
Everybody one for all, sound off, this is the call!
"Now, there's no telling what they're going to do if you go back on your word, so you're going to have to sit pretty for them."
Tonight, we rise!
"But after that I swear to God you have to fight them as hard as you can."
Rise, tonight, we rise!
"But only your battles, not mine. You're gonna kill yourself if you keep doing what you're doing," Jeff says, some of his fire blazing in the quiet words.
Rise, tonight, we rise!
"But Jeff-"
"No buts."
In a world gone mad, in a place so sad, sometimes it's crazy to fight for what you believe!
Jeff groans in pain again. "You need to let me help you take the heat, or you're going to end up exactly how they want you."
But you can't give up if you wanna keep what you love!
"Broken. You can't stop fighting. Even if it means they hurt you worse. Or hurt me worse. You gotta keep fighting them."
Never give up, no!
"They can't win. We're fucked if they win."
Rise, like we're alive, tonight, we rise!
I try to protest, but Hardy shushes me as the door opens upstairs and someone enters the house.
Make a better life, tonight, we rise!
'But Jeff' are gonna be the last words I say for a long time.
Rise.
A greeting and a laugh are exchanged, but I can't make out the voice of the visitor before my tormentors come back downstairs.
Rise.
Oh no.
Rise.
No.
Rise in revolution.
Rise.
A/N: I know this was short, but I had to cut it off there.
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