the hymn of a broken man: act one - where angels fell

the hymn of a broken man
key entity extraction v: michael trey
june 2001
boston, ma

"Have you ever considered, you know, not thinking about it?" the black haired man asked Jonathan Collins.

In these times, he was blond, brash, and cocky. Jonathan Collins had taken over the world as Jonathan Storm. It would be two years later that he would change his name permanently to his real one as a wrestler, but for now, he was representing the HWF as one half of a tag team with the HWF Icon himself, Michael Trey.

"Thinking about what?" Jonathan asked.

"This little thing that seems to rack your brain all the time. You keep thinking about this mark on your arm and you act like it's calling to you. Look, it's cool that you play this manipulative prick out there, but you're my partner and I need to know what you're thinking," Michael told him. A couple months later, Michael would pull off one of the most elaborate hoaxes in professional wrestling history as he faked his own death to get out of the spotlight and use his absence to shock the system of a man he was now calling his best friend and brother, but in this moment, Jonathan and Michael were still strangers passing in the night.

"This...mark, as you'd call it. Well, it's just stupid. It's a reminder of where I belong," he said to Michael as he started to wrap his left wrist up in tape. As Jonathan grew to have several tattoos over the years, it was this one that he could never seem to shake, a mark on his wrist that was often now hidden by watches, wrist tape, long sleeves, whatever he could use to hide it.

It was the mark of The Perfect Evil.

"Who says where you belong?" Michael asked.

"Just...people. Important people," Jonathan mumbled back, trying to get ready for the match without putting too much thought into this.

"If you spend your whole life letting people tell you where you belong, you're going to find yourself nowhere near where you want to be. At some point, you have to figure out where you belong, Jon. Trust me, it wasn't until I stopped letting everyone else dictate my life that I went somewhere," Michael told him. "And trust me, if I let people dictate what I did, I wouldn't be here. I took a chance competing with a guy that not many people have seen the best of in the HWF and look at this! We're a couple wins away from winning this whole tournament. You and I? We got this. We're gonna turn heads," Michael told him with a grin.

"Yeah..." Jon said, smiling back at his friend. Over the next few months, Michael and Jonathan would become like brothers. Though the two would never meet in a one on one encounter, the two would often show up together in several promotions and do their best to team up and prove to the world that the combination of Michael Trey and Jonathan Collins was as unstoppable as his partnership with Darrin Stearns. The trio was often considered the best of friends backstage and were often considered the reasons the other two stayed in the HWF as long as they did. Not far apart in age, Jonathan and Michael had a true bond that nobody could damage, not even some of the other key entities.

As powerful a force darkness can often be, few things came between Jonathan Collins, Darrin Stearns, and Michael Trey. And it was through what Jonathan learned from Michael that he found the strength to leave that darkness behind and begin the path that separated him from The Perfect Evil.

the hymn of a broken man
act one: where angels fell
june 2014
fukushima, japan

Darrin Stearns and Jonathan Collins had found themselves in a local police station, completely taken aback as to why they were here.

"So...big show, huh?" Jonathan said with a laugh.

Darrin wasn't laughing.

Thankfully, he had the help of Tristian Michaels, his sister-in-law, to help him get himself organized in the company. The problem was the mass chaos that ensued on his first show as the man in charge. Daisuke Iwakuma had tainted the ending of a great match, he and his servant Eve attacking Sydney Christensen. Had Jonathan's wife not intervened, Darrin was unsure as to what would have happened to one of Jonathan's most advanced students. Now the two were in the police station addressing the other issue. A gaijin, an American to be exact, surprisingly showed up at the show and attacked Jeremiah Robinson with a pipe, only to be revealed later that Tom Higashikata knew him.

"So that scrawny little kid that hangs out with Shinji told you about him?" Darrin asked.

"Just that they know one another and he buys weed from him. I don't know what the fuck is going on, but if anyone can get to the bottom of it, it's us," he said as a police officer approached him.

"Mr. Collins, Mr. Stearns, we've processed the paperwork, and he's being released into your custody. You say he's just part of the show?" the officer asked. Darrin gulped, unsure whether to be truthful or not...Jonathan didn't bat an eyelash.

"He's new, we brought him aboard late. Sorry if he wasn't in our original group list," he said to the officer, bowing respectfully to him before they went on their way, Darrin and Jon lagging behind the officer as they followed him towards the kid.

"How do you do that?" Darrin asked.

"Do what?" Jonathan said with a grin, tapping his friend's lips.

"You're worse than Kane sometimes," Darrin muttered.

"Yes, but all those gay rumors about us went away back in 2004," Jonathan laughed, leaving Darrin to fume for a moment before laughing himself.

The arrival in the holding cell, you could see that Tom was terrified to see his friend locked up as the young man stayed quiet in the cell, head down and absolutely irritated.

"Yo, dawg, I'm gonna get #FreeCarey trending on Twitter and you gonna get yo ass out of here quicker than Kendrick became best rapper in the game!" Tom said as he grinned at his friend, who remained silent.

"You've had enough excitement for one day, Mr. Higashikata," Jonathan told him as they entered the area, placing a hand on Tom's shoulders. Tom instantly shrunk into himself, completely intimidated by the wrestling legend before the guard started to unlock the cell for the man they called Carey.

"Yep, looks like the guy," Darrin said.

"And it sounds like Tom was calling you Carey," Jonathan said as the kid got up and looked right at Jonathan with no fear in his eyes.

"Get me out of this cell and tell that fucking bitch Jeremiah to meet me in the parking lot, because I'm gonna finish what I started!" he said through gritted teeth as Jonathan held him back.

"Hey! I just bailed you out of jail on our company's money after you did some heavy duty damage to our show. You wanna mind explaining to me what the hell you're doing here and who the hell you are?" he asked.

"YO! EVERYONE KNOW MY DAWG C2!" Tom exclaimed, trying to butt in before Darrin shot him a glance that quieted him.

"Now before the little troll interrupted, tell me who you are and what is going on," Jonathan demanded.

"THAT BITCH PUT MY GIRL IN THE HOSPITAL!" Carey exclaimed, shoving Jonathan as he walked away from him, Collins taken aback at the boy's aggression toward him as he started to march out of the station and away from the trio.

"My boy's gonna blast that nigga with that pipe again and Deacon ain't EVER getting up! DAMN!" Tom exclaimed as Jonathan forcefully pushed Tom toward Darrin.

"Take him back to the hotel. Tell Shinji if I see this shortstack at the next show without a valid reason to be there, I'm gonna donate him to Dr. Kuller for science," Jonathan said as he went marching to chase after the angry boy. Jonathan quickly caught him, grabbing his shoulder, spinning the kid around who took a blind swing at Jonathan, who dodged deftly.

"YOU WANNA GO TOO? YOU GONNA STOP ME FROM GETTING AT HIM? I KNOW WHAT HIM AND JERRY MATTHEWS DID TO YOU! YOU CAN'T TELL ME YOU DON'T WANT ME TO FINISH HIM LIKE YOU DID PREACHER!" the kid screamed, suddenly aggressive toward the Saint of Violence as he shoved him again.

"RELAX!" Jonathan shouted. "Who are you? What did he do?"

"Payton's my girl!" he said, eyes watering. "And she hasn't woken up since that night! She's in the hospital, tubes connected and she's all messed up, and what have you and that other suit done? You've done nothing! You reward him by keeping him around! I want justice, man! I'm gonna get it by lodging this pipe in his fucking skull and reminding him that you don't mess with me and you don't mess with my dame!" Carey shouted.

"You don't think I care about Payton? She's like a little sister to me, to Jimmy, to Fiona--" Jonathan started.

"Yeah, well you didn't do shit. Yeah, I see you show up, and I see Fiona, but Jimmy ain't caring worth shit, and you guys don't seem to care how people operate around here! I took justice and I put it in my hands," Carey said. "And when I'm done, he's gonna fucking know Carey Caldwell put him down for the count."

"Yeah, well let me tell you something, kid. That rage don't do shit for people, all of it just being bottled up and used like that. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about," Jon said as he tried to put his hand back on Carey's shoulder.

"Yeah, well you don't know shit these days!" Carey spat back at him. "All you do is sit up on your little Mount Olympus perch and wait for the right time to pick the bones after all the soldiers do the work. You ain't even graced that show with your presence until tonight and you expect me to wanna listen to you? I'm gonna fuck up that dude Jeremiah sometime soon, and not you or anyone else is gonna stop me. If she don't wake up, I'm gonna make sure he sure as shit never does."

"Then let me help you do it without you having to worry about being arrested," Jonathan, trying to reason with the angry boy.

"What are you gonna do? You gonna teach me like you taught Payton? See what that did her?" he asked as he shoved Jon's hand away again.

"I'm going to make sure you get the best education in professional wrestling I can get you provided. If you want your revenge, I think it's in your best interest to consider how you approach it. I'm not saying that this is going to be perfect, and it's going to hurt...but if you want to do this without ending up in jail again, you're going to have to trust me," Jonathan assured him.

"What are you gonna do? Teach me yourself?" he asked bitterly, almost sarcastically considering his thoughts on the man in front of him.

"As a matter of fact, kid...yes," Jon said with a smirk. "Jonathan Collins, at your service."

"I know who you are. I'm Carey Caldwell. And your Deacon's about to become a grease spot," he retorted angrily still.

"Well, Carey Caldwell...c'mon. I'll buy you something to eat and we'll talk about your future," Jonathan told him, sighing as he realized just how much he still had ahead of him.



A wise man once told me that the only score worth keeping is how little suffering we inflict against how much suffering we relieve. Now I'm no genius, but part of me really buys into that thought. I know that we all suffer. I know we all have secret pain and broken hearts, but it's what we we do with them that makes us who we are.

I know what people are thinking. I'm coming back to Pro Wrestling FRONTIER after pretty much saying how little I wanted to do with the company because of Madman Szalinski. Well, I'm gonna be real right now...I still don't have any desire to be here. I'm here as a favor to Chandler Scott, and mostly I want to remind people that their GFC Tag Team Champions are still two of the best wrestlers in this company today, and I don't even work for this company.

Now I know what people think here about the Godfathers of Wrestling, and quite frankly I'm rather nonplussed about it. A lot of it is bullshit spewed by Madman Szalinksi because he's a fucking crybaby who gets mad he can't get his way. He gets so cranky and bitchy, he takes to YouTube to air his grievances and can't even be man enough to confront people about his issues, so he whines and cries like a small child. The truth is I just don't have time for that bullshit in my life. I don't have time to cater to someone who is so far under my level that even my daughter can't reach that far beneath and she's significantly shorter than me. I may as well be dealing with a child when it comes to Szalinksi, but even my daughter is more mature than he is.

This isn't about him though, this is about The Filth. Whoever one of them is. I'm quite familiar with Sylar Drake, so let's talk about my former employee.

Sylar is a good kid. Or he was a good kid. Quite frankly, I don't know what to think of Sylar anymore, but I can tell you my perspective on him as someone who used to be his boss.

As some of you may know, and some of you may not know, I spent a lot of my time retired as a teacher. So in the eight years I stepped away from wrestling, I was completely comfortable teaching. One of the things I learned when it came to students is that you could open the door for a student, you could do as much as you could for them, but it was up to them to take the steps and reap the rewards. It was up to them to take the chances.

Sylar Drake was afraid to reap the rewards.

I gave him opportunity after opportunity. I opened door after door for him, and Sylar just didn't know how to step through. Does that make him a bad wrestler? No! Never in a million years would I consider Sylar a bad wrestler or a lost cause. Sylar is exceptional at what he does, and I think it says a lot about the fact that he's willing to travel everywhere to better himself. The problem with Sylar is that he just simply...can't. He doesn't have the button that separates the good from the great, and the extra gear that separates the great from the best in the business. Sylar regressed, and it's disappointing to see that, because I continue to see what Sylar has become and I feel bad for him. I feel bad for the fact that Sylar doesn't know how to take the next step that will make him the wrestler he really wants to be.

And how do I know he's regressed? Look at what he's put himself with. This...Filth, or whatever you want to call it. It's the fact that he can't stand on his own. He had taken great steps in his career to overcome being manipulated, but then he allowed it. It began with Magnus Gunner, and it continues with Frank Wiland, and I suppose it's time for me to come put an end to this. It's one half of your GFC Tag Team Champions and one half of the upcoming challengers as a team, and if that doesn't excite you for big things to come, you need to stop watching wrestling, BECAUSE NOTHING WILL PLEASE YOU.

The reality is that as sure as I am these belts aren't going anywhere, I know that I'm going to put out a million dollar performance both in EXODUS and in Frontier! It's just a shame part of that is putting down Sylar Drake. You had a good run, kid, but the business end of my backfist says you're about to find out just why people don't mess with me.

Now Sterling Everett, I...have no idea who you are. That's not a good thing for you. See, in all my years in this industry, I've learned never to take lightly someone that I don't know. In fact, most of the time, I overcompensate on strangers. Everett, it seems like you're supposed to be a basher and bruiser, and that's great. You throw some stiff shots and tough punches, but I got a left fist that when I unleash a backfist...well let's just say that there hasn't been a soul that's waken up from a ZERO Hour in time for them to actually kick out.

So Sterling, it's great that you have the background you do. Adam Stryker is a guy I respect a great deal, and I actually think you went to the right place to learn something, but there are some things in this business Adam Stryker can't teach you, and I happen to think that one of those things is how the hell you're going to deal with one of the best tag team wrestlers on the planet in Laurel Anne Hardy, the greatest goddamn Junior Heavyweight to walk this planet, and the combined ability of the two of us as tag team specialists mean one thing, Mr. Everett.

You are absolutely, positively, one hundred percent fucked.

I'm looking forward to this, Sterling. See, the beautiful thing about me being able to pick and choose when I wrestle is when I do, it's because I've got the urge to compete. I've got a desire to get into the ring, kick someone's ass, and I'm going to enjoy every second of it because I'm goddamn good at what I do. Some would say I'm the best, but I guess it's time I start putting that back to the test again.

Sterling, you seem like you've got a hell of a future. You may just be one of the brightest future stars in the world, but I'm gonna be real with you...it's not happening when you step into the ring with me. The bottom line is I'm going to get into the ring and I'm going to do what I do better than nobody else. I'm going to take to the air, and I'm going to out wrestle you because that's just what I do. And if you don't tap out...I'm gonna knock you the fuck out with the hardest backfist you've ever felt in your life.

The Filth has had an opportunity to show what they can do. Maybe they've impressed and turned some heads, because they've got some talent. At this show, it's time you people remember just how good Laurel Anne Hardy is. It's time you people remember just how good Jonathan Collins is.

You may not like the Godfathers of Wrestling, but the fact remains the same. Since the inception of this group, we have dominated Pro Wrestling FRONTIER. That doesn't change because it's just one of us in this match. The Filth gets mopped up on this show, and there is nothing they can do about it!

Because she is Laurel Anne Hardy.

Because I am Jonathan Collins, and I am professional wrestling.

And you are just two shitstains that need a little cleaning up.