Lost & Found: PWA1

Red Rock Canyon out in the Mojave Desert has been dark for weeks. But, not tonight. The campfires have returned, burning beacons dotting the utter darkness of the Nevada night.

The Coyotes have returned to the desert. The Family has come back together. The Patriarch has awakened.

Jacob Mephisto sits with his back to a wall, looking out at the small sea of humanity that has gathered here tonight. The Montgomery Twins sit in their appointed places to his left and right. Isaac, his Reaper, sits just outside the light.

Things are as they should be. The year has started off just as The All-Father planned. A single day has passed since Mephisto showed up on SHOOT Project’s return Revolution. A mere twenty four hours has elapsed since he blinded Ignatius Albert Martin and toyed with him. Still, Jacob Mephisto can live in a moment for a long time.

He enjoyed watching Iggy stand resolute, even with the black mist blurring his vision. He relished in the moment while IAM punched at ghosts, waiting for an attack that never came.

The Patriarch smirks to himself as he stares into the crackling fire. There’s a lot of work to do this year. He’d promised that The Family would be back in force in 2023. He’d vowed that they’d feast.

It started at Revolution 186. He’d started to season the meat.

It continues at PWA 1. As his thoughts turn towards Peach Backshots, he smells the familiar scent of cigarette smoke as it burns at his nostrils. He spots his sister’s shade just at the corner of his vision.

“She’s got a lot more fight in her than anyone gives her credit for.”

His sister’s voice fills his mind, his own personal devil’s advocate. She’s no more than a shade, doomed to whisper horrid nothings into her brother’s ears until the end. Perhaps he’s the one who’s doomed. It’s difficult to say, really.

Even so, he knows she’s right. Kara Mephisto is always right. The truth of it drives him mad. Still, there’s only ever one real reaction to his lost twin’s voice:

A single twitch of his left eye.

“She’s been through hell, that girl. You’re not going to get under her skin, Jake. Not after she’s dealt with that slob she’s been with all this time.”

Mephisto sneers at the mention of Felix Mullen. Even the dastardly Patriarch can’t stand the man. Still, a sneer is all that he warrants.

Kara drones on, but Jacob tunes her out, a practiced discipline. He instead focuses on his culled flock, the Coyotes. They come from all walks of life. The dregs of Las Vegas used to make up the bulk of them. That was back when the Coyotes were controlled through drugs and other vices. Now? They’re kept clean, fed, and employed. They’ve been given purpose. Mephisto knows there are plenty of these people who simply “fake ‘til they make it.” He doesn’t turn them away though. He’s integrated these former dregs with businesspeople, law enforcement officers, and average joes. The Coyotes are the cornerstone of what this family is. They’re the lost and found.

But, every once in a while, a Patience or Decius Montgomery emerges. Sometimes a surprise Isaac arrives.

When that happens? The Family becomes stronger. There are no ultimatums, no compromises. They follow The Patriarch because he has given them glorious purpose.

He leans back, closing his eyes for a moment as he allows Kara’s voice to drift back into his mind.

“… After all, she’s one of The Anglo Luchador’s protégés. You remember him, right? Guy you couldn’t take the Intense Championship from.”

Eye. Twitch.

———

You’re just full of fire, aren’t you, Peach? Peach? Is that your preferred name?

You know, it’s interesting to me that we’d cross paths here. I mean, you and I do share a promotion together, after all. I could’ve crossed the path of Zoomer Love more than once. But, you see, neither you nor your lover have been on my radar. 

You really should’ve left it that way, dear.

Most folks are happy to stay out of my crosshairs. The ones who intentionally put themselves in my path?

They’re not the same as they were before me.

But, you know who I am already. I don’t need to tell you how I change folks.

I don’t have a need to change you anyway. I’ve seen you, and not just in the SHOOT Project. I’ve seen you under the hood. I’ve seen you set out and plant your flag. You have all the potential in the world, dear girl.

It’s too bad Felix doesn’t see it. In a way, he’s worse than I could ever be. When I want to break something? I fucking break it. I shatter it. I utterly destroy it. When I change a soul, I change it. Challenge my methods if you want. In the end? I do it face to face. My prey knows it was me. They know my intentions.

Zoomer Love? Well, I’m probably not going to be able to tell you anything you haven’t been told. Felix Mullen is a manipulator. He’s a user. But, you’re a smart girl… no… a smart woman. You know damn well what he’s doing. But, you let it happen in the name of love.

But my family is the cult, right?

You’re both just so… lost.

Felix is… well he’s no better than some of my Coyotes were before I found them. He’s addicted, Peach. His drug of choice is your manipulation. It’s sad, really, because he does have some talent.

This is about you, though, my dear. You’re so very lost.

But, I can find you.

I can make you see.

I can make that hunger subside.

In a way, PWA 1 could be your moment, Peach. 

Just not the one you think.

———

His pale, gray eyes flutter open to take in the night sky. He’d been dreaming of the Summer of 2016 again. Were they really dreams? Maybe they were just memories he’d shut out for years. That part of his life is fuzzy at best. He knows she knows what he dreamt of. She knows what he knows now. They’re forever linked.

Mephisto sits up and looks across the fire to see Kara as she always is. Her pale, gray eyes mirror her twin’s, as does her jet black hair. A light smirk plays on her lips.

“You think things are going to somehow be different this year, dear brother? You’re wrong. You can’t be different because you don’t change. You’re always looking for some soul to change or corrupt. Always trying to break the next person. You know insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”

His eye twitches a single time, but he doesn’t sneer. Instead he smiles.

“My lovely sister never believed in our cause. She was always the type to be straightforward.”

As he speaks, Patience and Decius Montgomery turn their attention to their Father. Patience regards Mephisto with eyes full of wonder, while Decius’ attention is that of a school child taking in a favorite teacher’s lesson

“Kara never believed in my methods, you see. She always thought I was, oh, what did she used to call me?”

The shade sneers.

“Fucking schemer.”

“Ah! Yes, a schemer! That’s it.”

He winks at Kara, his smirk widening.

“She used to make me so angry. She never saw my vision. She didn’t believe in family. Not that I could blame her after what our family was. Still, she wouldn’t grasp the concept that family could be more than blood.”

The smell of cigarette smoke assaults his nostrils as Kara lights a cigarette, the same one she’s been smoking for years now. Her last one. She used to call it her “lucky.” Jacob chuckles at the irony.

“We were both lost once, you know. Just like you, dear Patience. Just like you, Decius. Just like all of the Coyotes.”

The smoke of the cigarette blurs Kara’s image as it blends with the shade. Mephisto looks her in the eyes as he speaks to his children.

“Nobody came to find us though. We were just left to our own devices. She was so determined to be independent, so eager to be remembered. She was just so lost.”

A single, ghostly tear rolls down his sister’s cheek.

“So I had to do something. I knew that nobody would come for us. We had to find ourselves. So I did what needed to be done. And now? Now she’s always remembered. She’s always with me. Family is forever. I taught her that.”

Kara spits on the ground, a black mass of goop splattering on the desert floor. Nobody seems to notice. Of course they don’t. Story of her life, even before all of this.

“You’re a fucking monster. Someday, someone is going to put you down. And I’m gonna be there to watch.”

Her voice is gravel. He remembers the last time it sounded that way. He pushes that memory away as fast as it arrives. He forces a laugh that’s a little too loud. The Twins share the briefest of glances.

“They say not all who wander are lost, children. But, far too many lost souls choose not to wander at all. These are the ones we need to find. The lost deserve to be found. Even the ones who don’t know they’re lost.”

———

I see you, Peach. I see all that you are. I see all that you were. Most importantly, I see all that you could become.

You know, I really don’t like Felix. But, do you want the truth?

Are you sure?

He’s not the one holding you back.

Oh, sure, he’ll rant and moan on social media about how you abandoned him to go solo without his permission. He’ll showcase all the classic toxic traits of a mental abuser. But, is he what’s really holding you back?

No.

You’re in your own way, Peach. The proof is right there for everyone to see. The fact that you go out and you rack up accomplishment after accomplishment and then relegate yourself back to Zoomer Love speaks volumes.

Maybe Felix isn’t the only one with an addiction.

Maybe, just maybe, you’re addicted to being controlled.

Deny it, Peach. Spit venom in my eyes. Call me everything that everyone else does.

The truth is still the truth.

I’ve seen the excuses you make on social media. I’ve seen you consistently deflect every single person that’s tried to reason with you. They don’t understand. That’s your go to line, right?

You’re just so very lost, Peach.

But, it’s ok, dear. The All Father is here now. You don’t have to come to the desert. You need not feast with us. The Family recognizes one of its own all the same.

I’m here to find you, Peach.

Even if it means ripping you apart to put you back together.

Let’s see who Peach Backshots really is.

Welcome to the feast, dear. You’re the main course.

Black.