Final Act: Climate Change: Before The Flood

The Trickle.

“Looks like a time and place has been decided.”

“I suppose no other time will be better than this for us to act.”

“Both?”

“I know what you would prefer but I really don’t care.”

“How am I supposed to relay that?”

“Don’t worry about it. Just worry about afterwards and do not leave any witnesses.”

“Of course.”

--

The Temporary Alliance at Sea.

February 5th, 2026

Drip

“So, uh…the weather?” Steve Harrison comments as the condensation from the ice in his water drips off his glass.

Drip

“Pfft, it is colder than your mom trying to show affection to a puppy.” Ellis Jackson, always the poet, replies with a grin on his weathered face.

Tap

Steve gives Ellis a soft laugh, the one you would give someone, so you don’t hurt their feelings. He taps the glass of water and sighs. “This place has good pancakes.”

Tap

Ellis takes a sip of his coffee as he stares and tapes his index finger against his full glass of water, “I already ate.”

Awkward…

…Pause.

The two family members just stare at their drinks inside the Chantilly, Virginia diner where Steve had decided they should meet before going to the old Miracle Milk farm. Normally these two would be going back and forth at each other trying to prove who was winning whatever fight they were currently engrossed in.

Not today though.

There seemed to be a lot of nervous energy in the air that was suffocating both their minds.

The Man with which Miracles are born from shakes his head, “well then I hope the coffee is good.”

Ellis nodded, “No complaints.”

They both groan at the continuing awkwardness and then exasperated they both say at the same time, “I CAN’T WAIT TILL THIS IS OVER.”

That amazing connection of being negative is a definite family trait. They both begin chuckling and the awkwardness begins to be replaced with the warmth and coziness of not trusting each other. At least that is what it looks like as they both stop laughing and give each other serious head nods.

“Look, I don’t trust you and it is taking all my strength to not grab that cup of hot coffee and break it over that smug face of yours.” The Immoral Jellyfish points at the steaming coffee with a grin on his face.

Ellis shrugs and moves his coffee closer to himself. “Look, nephew I only care about you living up to your promise to me.”

The Immortal Miracle Jellyfish Man smiles and shakes his head, “ok…wait, you were serious about wrestling again?”

The former world champion wrestler does some arm stretches and nods, “I am dieting…”

“On purpose?”

Ellis rolls his eyes, “well no, but even so, I am still working on weights and doing cardio.”

Harrison laughs to himself, “I will let you count moving items out of your way when you run away in paranoia as doing ‘weights’ and ‘cardio.’”

“Oh, fuuuuuuuck you. How hard can it be these days when you get to wrestle people called the Lasagna Boys. Looks like you are doing the Russell Westbrook and stat padding against the worse the wrestling industry has to offer.”

Harrisons smile fades very quickly after the comment by Uncle Roach. He takes a sip of his water as he attempts to get his composure back. “I wrestle who the witch of Vae Victis puts in front of me. There is no rhyme or reason for anything she does unless you kiss her ring or insult her repeatedly on Revival. I prefer just pretending she has nothing to do with me since she holds grudges longer than a Ouroboros.”

“So, she is like every one of our family members? Thought you could handle something like that, nephew. Maybe you just don’t have the drive to move forward anymore. I can understand since you have had to deal with me and The Octopus, but don’t you want actual wrestling friends…or any friends at all?” Ellis cups his coffee and takes a small sip, his eyes never leaving Steve.

Harrison sighs, “holy shit, old man, did Sandy give you a list of pressure points to annoy me with? Are you Dr. Jackson now, a man to solve your mental health?”

Dr. Sea Roach waves his hand towards Harrison, “classic deflection tactic.”

“Oh, fuuuuuuuck you,” The Miraculous Man gives back to Ellis and follows it up with a middle finger.

“Steve…it isn’t hard to see that you have trust issues,” he puts his hands up, “now, now, let me finish. I understand why but, you must realize that without friend’s life can feel rather empty.”

“Oh really? Well, I swore I had a really good friend who I happened to also love that…hmmm…I dunno you are to blame for being in a coma.”

Ellis gives Steve a head nod, “touché.”

Harrison rolls his eyes, “look, you selfish shithead, I will move at my own pace, and I am not desperate enough for you to be a friend. If you want to wrestle, great, I will get you back in but don’t expect anything else from me. Heh, I doubt you will get one foot into the door before Max Kael feeds you to his newest monster.”

“What is he a Fettuccini Lad?”

Steve smirks, “yea, sure, let’s go with that. I will introduce you. I am sure no old washed-up wrestlers will be maimed in the process. Maybe you could witness me firsthand down in the donkey show capital world of Tijuana take care of Toddrick. I am still a tad angry with his partner with his amazingly outdated insults towards the greatness of the bald brethren.”

Ellis puts his hand through his hair, “ah darn, a group I am not part of.”

Harrison glares at him, “your sarcasm just shows your ignorance towards our excellence. The hair was just in the way of the brain powered vibrating out of our heads. My power isn’t just physical, it is mental and Toddrick should probably pray to Marie Callender that his marinara isn’t all drained on the canvas.,” Steve smirks. “I would apologize to him for what I am going to do but Miguel has put him in a place he cannot, and I will not let him escape from.”

The Sea Faring Roach nods, “I get it, I get it, you are going to put someone in a wheelchair because their friend made fun of you being bald,” he laughs softly. “It does seem a bit extreme but seeing as I have done far worse things just for attention, I can respect your resolve. Do not think it will impress me though because I tore more knees of wrestlers in my times then you have embarrassed Cancer Jiles.”

“Shit, that is quite a lot, but we all know mine are on record and yours nobody remembers anymore. That isn’t an old joke either, uncle, it is a nobody gives a shit about your wrestling joke.” Steve pauses for a second and continues, “I would love to continue bragging about my wrestling and shooting the shit with you Ellis, but we have other things to conclude here.  I didn’t think about how much I hate it here during this but, we need to come up with what happens if we find the key.”

Jackson whispers ‘oh,’ and nods his head, “of course, Steve. I don’t care about this lockbox anymore, so if all goes well you can get everything per our agreement. I have already given you a lot of information so you can trust that I will do what I say.  To be honest, I need you to be happy here because I am hoping to use you to smooth the edges with my sister.”

The Miracle Man stands up and tosses a ten-dollar bill on the table and looks at Ellis, “Since we on an honesty streak, I may as well tell you that I already have and it…well…we shall see. She seemed open to not putting you in a wheelchair at least.”

Ellis stands up and laughs, “that is like getting a hug from her, but hey…family, right?”

Harrison sighs, “this one.”

Scene fades as they both walk out of the diner.

--

The Fisherman

I knew what the conclusion was going to be because we had put the plan into motion weeks ago. You toss a lure out to a desperate hungry little fish and watch as it bites and agrees to live in a fishbowl you have created.

But again, these fish are a dime a dozen. When one has nothing left to give you it is easy to toss it in a toilet bowl and flush it away.

Unfortunately, the snow and ice that had hit Northern Virginia recently had still not completely melted so even my timing was off.

I parked in the woods, hidden by many trees at the remote dilapidated farm. I had only seen horse farms and large houses when we got into the sprawling land in the mid-south of Loudoun County.

The cold had made my joints hurt.

It was days like this when I really felt that retirement was right around the corner. The truth is, I should have retired at least fifteen years ago. This work is for the young but at least in my advancing years I had perfected delegating to the distressed and the downtrodden. Easy to manipulate and easy to dispose of.

Doesn’t mean I revel in this.

I had long stopped fighting against something I could not escape though.

Sigh…

…I had long stopped caring about anything after that day.

I still fight for my own life though, which even to me seems foolish and selfish, after all I had abandoned in the name of loyalty which hasn’t been shown back to me since the early nineties.

I watched a bird fly by undeterred from the frozen snow on each branch it landed on. This was a beautiful area, maybe when everything was done, I could find a little slice of heaven out here with my own horses.

I laughed.

Even the thought of that was absurd to me.

I looked down at my phone.

“👍”

I had been staring at that stupid thumbs up for a few minutes as I let the reality of what it meant wash over me. I wasn’t expecting miracles, but I certainly hoped this foolish man followed instructions.

‘Late to the game,’ I mused as a car pulled up to the farm and a familiar face jumped out looking disheveled and frantic. What an unserious man.

“Leave him be, meet me at the meeting place,” I texted back to the thumbs up annoyance.

 “👍”

I groaned to myself and muttered as I took my seat belt off, “fucking idiot.”

I might be at the age to cash social security checks (if I had ever paid in to it) but my experience living at the edge of society has evolved my ability to move without being heard.

“WHAT THE HELL!”

It helped that he was making too much noise to even pay attention to his surroundings.

“DAMMIT, I LEFT MY PHONE IN THE CAR, SHIT-SHIT-SHIT.”

I shook my head. I will never understand why such fools were allowed such duties within their organization.

“SHOULD I CHECK, SHOULD I GET THE PHONE, OH MAN, WHAT THE HELL.”

Ugh, such indecisiveness, I really thought that maybe I should put him out of his misery. It would probably be best for everyone but that would just be another mess I would have to clean up and my bones were aching.

--

A Feast for The Piranhas.

Jack Marley was about to jump out of his clothes. What he saw inside had sent him into an anxiety attack that he had never properly instructed on how to deal with. Normally, a hit of the joint would calm his nerves but right now he was sweating, his heart was racing, and fear had ingulfed his every thought.

He moved his head slowly back to looking in the rundown barn, lying there both lying unconscious (he hoped) were the bodies of Steve Harrison and Ellis Jackson. He took a big gulp and turned back towards his car, his body finally moving and a thought that he needed his phone to contact the madam.

“I won’t kill you,” he heard as he turned.

His eyes got big at the sound but then he felt the weight of a butt of a gun thumping down on the side of his head. He collapsed to the ground, his head pointing towards the open door of the barn. All he could see now was blood, he wasn’t sure if it was his or the pool had started to form between the unmoving of who he wanted to protect and the person who he always thought was the threat to them.

His eyes fluttered but he used all his strength to not pass out. He watched as the man limped slowly towards the two Octopus members. The man put his gun back in his waist holster and then gingerly bended down and put his hands on both of their necks to check their pulses.

Jack blinked.

He blinked again.

The blood was now dripping from his head across his eyes.

“Oh,” the man said, a sullen look on his face. A face Jack could not discern but it was a voice that was familiar to him.

The man stood up slowly and stared down at them and rubbed his eyes like one would if they were tearing up.

Jack finally blinks once more and his eyes didn’t reopen. His breath was heavy, but he was in no apparent danger as he fell unconscious.

--

The Fisherman: Part II

Crack.

Crack.

The cold really isn’t good for my hands. Dragging a body at my age isn’t the easiest thing, especially with how cold it is.

I should be happy it wasn’t two bodies.

I wasn’t though.

I had never wanted this to be the ending for today. Some puppets act thinking a bigger spectacle would make them look better to those they are trying to suck up to.

I don’t like flashy things.

I particularly didn’t like this disposable trash fish even without him going against my plan.

I sent a message to the boss as soon as I had driven off in the stolen ambulance I had procured days ago from a different state. The plates had been changed and the next vehicle to change to was right across the West Virginia and Virginia border.

This is what a real organization work like I angrily thought as I waited at red light. I turned to see the body in the back. His chest was still taking in air, but I was afraid of what damage was done to his head. The blood had stopped after I had done first aid and wrapped it up, but I didn’t see anything but blankness when I looked into his eyes.

This was like déjà vu.

The curse was real and these fools had made it angry for the past twenty years.

It was probably my fault…I really could have just ended it all back then.

Pfft, I know better than to let my emotions carry my thoughts. I shook the thoughts off and remembered that we have no free will, we have the family and we have the pact.

These cannot be broken.

Ding

I looked down and read the text, “I changed the plan,” I read softly to myself.

I furiously texted back but didn’t push send.

I breathed in and out as I let the anger wash over me.

“Ok, contact you later,” I typed back.

The Climate Had Changed: the flood would be coming soon.

We all deserved this.

But I wasn’t sure if HE did.

Let the levee give way and count the bodies afterwards the boss would say.

Sigh.

I’m too old for this shit.

--