How to Conquer an Ocean (If You’re a Roach)

October 2nd, 2025

Why was I late to the arena?

It was the day before I had to face Ivan Stanislav but instead of concentrating on that match I was elsewhere.

Where did I end up?

Panama City.

I suppose the past few weeks have bothered me a tad more than I have admitted. My time in Tampa though had given rise to a decision that I normally would have never even given a second thought to. I had left my hotel room after I woke up sweating. I needed a new bed, and I needed to escape the numb depression that wallops me every time I listen to Jack or Doc say something positive about The Octopus.

Angry Tuna Seafood Company at Pier Park

The snow crabs were not a stupid choice but those would come later.

The outside seating looking out at the panhandle was soothing…

...Not for long.

“NEPHEW!”

Sigh.

In the haze of feeling like I was thrown into a trench right before a mudslide I had taken a phone call and agreed to meet HIM.

Ellis Jackson.

He stood up when he saw me and gave me a big toothy smile that made me clench my right hand into a fist ready to create a new box of peppermint chiclets. I groaned loud enough for a nearby seagull to drop the food he was stealing and fly away. Ellis puts his arms out like he wanted to give me a hug which gave me goosebumps and my body shivered in revulsion towards him.

Nope, I took a seat.

Ellis sat down seconds later looking disappointed in me. “Ah Steve, just because we might not see eye to eye, we are still family.”

This family has a master’s degree in gaslighting.

“What do you want?”

He cleared his throat, “I don’t expect you to forgive me, just like I won’t forgive you…”

I interrupted that with a tone of sheer annoyance, “wait…what would I ever have to apologize to you about?”

He clasped his hands as his elbows were propped on the table. He squinted and then continued, “you embarrassed me on live TV, Steve.”

“YOU PUT REBECCA…” I paused as I saw all the other eyes begin to look over at us because of how loud I had been. “…You put Rebecca in a coma, you asshole. You are lucky I haven’t choked you out and tossed you into the gator infested waters.”

He leaned back and laughed, “ah yea, that’s what that was about, right? You didn’t just want to get rid of me so you could finally be a member of the Octopus and soak in the success?”

The sheer insanity of that statement wasn’t lost on me. It is not unexpected though. This man has made it his mission to step on as many people as possible to get to his goal. What his goal is and what The Octopus’s goal is, probably vary by but neither were goals that have been shared with me.

Always in the dark.

I sighed and shook my head. “I would have been fine if instead of being initiated I was told to go home after I took years off your pathetic life. You are the reason for everything I have been going through…”

He interrupted me this time, “whoa, jellyfish, I am not the one holding your precious woman. Speaking of which (soft chuckle) when was the last time you saw her?”

Welp.

I reached across the table and grabbed him by the shirt collar and leaned in as close as I could, “do you take glee in putting your death in motion?” I let go and sat down in my seat and wiped my hands.

Ellis gulped and brushed his shirt, attempting to get rid of the creases I had put in it. “We are good, stand down.” He then looked at me and shrugged, “what, you think I came alone?”

I rolled my eyes as I saw the irritating face of Ren wave at me from a boat at the pier. “How exactly did you get that criminal here from Japan?”

He laughed, “oh come on, nephew, you know damn well America is open for business these days.”

“Bribes?”

“Eh, who’s to say.”

“Great, love to be immersed into the crumbling of an empire. Instead of playing games just tell me what you want and how you are getting all your info?”

He smiled back at me looking incredibly proud with what he was about to say. “I spent a decent amount of time learning about cameras and let’s just say that Octopus headquarters has quite a few. I wouldn’t say it is ‘must see TV,’ but I have learned quite a lot.”

I began tapping my left index finger on the table as I soaked in what I had just heard. It wasn’t something I had expected to hear.  I began imagining him drooling as he watched Rebecca slumber in a coma surrounded by a family I couldn’t stand. My teeth began to grind hard enough to make a diamond. Not one full of steroids though, one I would reckon would be stolen by HER.

Ellis saw this as a victory and continued, “I tell you this, because I would like a truce.”

The anger I felt was quickly replaced with a small laugh, “ha, a truce?”

He nodded, “just with you.”

I leaned back in my chair, “why should I even consider this?”

His smile was so large I could see every coffee stain on his aging teeth, “I will share everything I know with you, Steve. Your mom, your friends, and where I have the lockbox. Did you not once wonder why I am here?” Again, he didn’t even wait for my response and continued, “Rebecca lived here when she was child when her father was assigned to Tyndall Military Base.”

Ooof, that was a gut punch.

I didn’t know that, but the fact he knew that not only angered me but made me realize that he was out of moves as well.

It took everything I had not to explode again and instead I cracked my knuckles, “go on.”

“I want back in, Steve.”

“Huh?”

“The truce and everything I will share with you comes with a cost. That cost is letting me back into the spotlight. I want to wrestle again.”

The water I was sipping came flowing out of my mouth as it opened in surprise. There was no way this man who was close to fifty and hasn’t wrestled since 1999 should be getting back in the ring. Then again…I really didn’t care, “if you can figure out how to keep that from the family then I will help you.”

He laughed and shook his head, “will we need to worry about them when the time comes? My brother keeps himself as isolated as he can with his son, leaving Rico to act for himself in The Octopus. He has begun to think about his legacy and sees his son as an extension to his legend. I am certain you will be asked to introduce him to PRIME officials in the future.”

I raised my eyebrow. I hadn’t known that Lawson had begun training his son but more importantly Ellis was way too confident in his plan. I had nothing against the kid but the look on Ellis’s face made me uncomfortably aware that he didn’t care who went down if he got what he wanted.

Make a deal with the devil, be prepared to fail.

I should have known better, right?...

“Ok, let’s continue.”

…I don’t

--

October 24th, 2025

I had no idea where Jack had disappeared to after his um…Ounce of Jack interview that had more eyes roll then Ralph Wiggum performed as he disappeared down a hill.

It was oddly refreshing if not confusing. I know that SHE has given him assignments without letting me know before and not even Ellis could shine light on Jacks whereabouts.  I decided to let the issue go for now because surprisingly I was called to meet my former mentor: JD Lawson.

It was eye raising, since this was just weeks after the sea roach let go of a bomb of information that I was still having difficulty coming to terms with.

He asked me to meet him at a location deep within the hills of Arkansas where he once built a large residence that had since become a creaking ghostly reminder of the hubris of indulgence.

I slowly drove up the overgown long driveway and memories flooded my mind.  The times I couldn’t wait to wake up even if the only training I had was mowing the lawn. It was rare to smile at the past and it didn’t last long when the driveway ended. The sun belt down on me to show the grass out of control and the area looking like it had become a wildlife garden.

I would respect such an endeavor if I didn’t already know it was because this place had become an empty reminder of the past for the past decade.

There was nobody to greet me, so I parked and made my way inside.

The door wobbled.

The inside was dusty.

It was like a living museum to a once proud wrestler that had the industry by the throat before it became too much, and he walked away and became The Octopus’s linchpin. The man who could make it all possible. The man who was once the face of an organization to spread through the world under the guise of fighting corruption.

I shook my head, saddened by the ten years I missed while in a coma and by what had become of the man I once respected with all my being.

“NO, TAKE CONTROL OF THE LEGS FIRST DAMMIT!”

I leapt.

It wasn’t hard to figure out where that yell came from. I followed the sound and stopped outside the door where the noise was emulating from.

I swung it open as hard as I could and strode in like these people inside were trespassing on MY land. I stopped a few feet inside and the surprised faces of JD and his son stared at me.

“Ever heard of knocking?”

I ignored that since it came out of the screeching mouth of a kid who looked like he was about to pass out from losing too much water.

I looked at JD, “why am I here?”

The Orca approached me, our eyes level as he stared an angry glare at me “is this how you want to speak to me, nephew?”

My loud laugh began to subside but before I could answer that snot-nosed brat tried to blindside me and lunged at my legs.

SMACK!

 

Oops.

Guess I couldn’t control my reflexes, and my knee was imprinted on his forehead. He crumpled to the floor and his eyes rolled back in his head. I looked down at him and shrugged.

JD sighed and bent down to check his breathing. He stood back up and looked like he was about to punch me but then both of his arms fell to his side as if he was giving up on something.

I shook my head, “where the fuck is your fire, uncle? You always talk about how I have lost it but how would you know when yours went out so long ago that nobody can even fine the remains of it.”

He gritted his teeth and balled his hands into fists again but just turned his back and walked a few paces away. He learned against the wall and pointed at his son, “he is as weak as you were, but a lot more disrespectful.”

Ellis’s words about JD and his son began echoing in my head. It got louder and louder to the point where my head started hurting. I groaned and looked back at my mentor, “that’s awesome, JD, but again why am I here? Do you and the rest of the selfish sea dwellers forget that I should be concentrating on my match with the pale masked hero?”

The Orca finally showed his teeth, “what’s that going to be…your fourth loss in a row? I think you can take some time out of your busy schedule of being depressed to help train this spoiled brat a little bit.”

“To what end, a contract with PRIME?” I had used Ellis talking points and began to feel sick to my stomach. “I don’t need to hear about my recent failings when you are here looking more defeated than some scumbag finding out the baby is his.”

He took a step forward and stopped and shook his head, “look, I know I have made a lot of mistakes, but I refuse to fail in making that twerp into a wrestler WE all can respect.”

That didn’t interest me at all because all I heard was that my career didn’t matter. I blinked a few times and then looked back at him, “each and everyone of you ‘family’ members have nothing to teach but how to live a life of greed and regrets. That little shit can get my respect when he puts some real work in. If you want to show me that you care about ME, then we can have a rematch ourselves. I haven’t forgotten how you embarrassed me before my match with Flambo.”

He frowned at that comment. It was obvious he had been taken aback by how I had acted since I had got there, and this was the icing on a fish cake. “I…”

I interrupted him, the anger in me boiling past the point of return, “Square the fuck up, you whale. This isn’t a damn submission match.”

That did it.

Even as I shook in anger, I knew he would try to prove his superiority to his son and go for my legs as well.  I dropped the weight of my body to the floor and took my right index knuckle and went directly to his throat. His eyes told the story before I heard him start gasping for air. I stood up and slung my tentacles around his neck and landed a Dragon Suplex on the hard floor of the room.

The thud was reminiscent of tossing a carcass on a morgue table.

I got back up and looked down at JD Lawson. Pfft…The KING.

I had hoped this would be a release and that I would feel vindicated.

Instead, all the memories I had of training here came washing over me like a tsunami and I felt like I was going to drown.

--

An Hour Later.

I sat in the living room rewatching old wrestling tapes that Lawson would show me after every training session.

Wrestlers he knew.

Wrestlers he beat.

Wrestlers he respected.

Not one match was without his commentary. This is how I knew about such legends as Dan Ryan, Brandon Youngblood, Joey Malone, High Flyer, Ivan Stanislav, Jason Snow and yes…even Lindsay Troy. Most of these were wrestlers he respected as the only one he had ever wrestled was High Flyer and here I am having wrestled three of them. Some of these wrestlers are ageless, eh?

The oddness of that wasn’t lost on me. I always had hoped he would have told me I had made him proud when I tore Dan Ryans knee and temporarily retired him. Or when I beat Lindsay Troy and she spiraled into an alliance with cOnOr fUsE.

I paused the TV and grabbed the drink in front of me.

Was it too early to drink whiskey?

Let’s just say I am on Farthington hedge maze time.

“I never saw you, TAL. That’s not to say you weren’t there, but I guess you didn’t warrant any respect from him.”

I put the glass back down and pushed play as I watched JD Lawson cripple Lawrence Stanley for the umpteenth time in their careers. “You were even in CSWA and not once did The English Gent tell JD about you. No, he was always begging for him to join him and Hardy because he wanted so badly to finally beat him. Not ever a peep about a masked white man obsessed with winning a World Title.”

I shrugged as the three-count ended on that match. “It is probably not fair for me to judge you on never hearing about you though. I actually…believe it or not…have a modicum of respect for you. I have noticed your drive to beat Ivan or win the title has become a punchline to many wrestlers in PRIME. I am not one of those because I will always feel like an outsider to these arrogant gatekeepers. I think your dream can only end two ways though and that is why I feel like you may have sustained a lot of brain damage over your long career.”

I leaned back in the couch and chuckled, “your obsession will leave you broken, mind and body. You just keep getting back up and fighting though and I can appreciate that. I can look at you as someone I can learn from because since Flambo beat me I have failed repeatedly. Unfortunately for you, what I can learn is to keep fighting and let’s be honest…I just knocked out my uncle and mentor what do you think I will do to you? Maybe you can reach out to your former rival, Sean Stevens and ask him how my goddamn knee tastes.”

I got up and tossed another tape in the ancient VCR. This tape was old, but it couldn’t be more important to me right now. I was famished but the only thing I found was expired canned goods in the pantry. “What the hell have they been eating?” I mused loudly to myself as I pushed play and watched the static disappear into the condescending face of “The Corporate Raider” Ellis Jackson walking to the ring.

“You know TAL, I find the timing of our match and what is transpiring in my life incredibly fascinating. Here I am remembering past lessons and of all things Ellis Jackson’s last non count out victory before he took over ownership of the UWF was in you guessed it…CSWA.”

The match flashed on the screen:

October 17, 1999

"Corporate Raider" ELLIS JACKSON vs. "The Real" WES ANDERSON

I shook my head dumbfounded by the odds of it, “such a short run but I suppose when you are planning on a hostile takeover of the fed that made him and Lawson enemies and allies you put the boots on the shelf. Maybe you can reciprocate and put your mask on a shelf. Takes more courage to know it’s over then to keep putting your body on the line.”

“Feeling nostalgic?”

I jumped at the scratchy voice of JD and watched as he sat down next to me on the couch. He rubbed his neck and then pointed at the TV, “what could you possible learn from watching this?”

The truth was a nonstarter.

“Sometimes seeing the dark arts employed an entire match can help unlock new ideas and why aren’t you mad?”

He poured himself a drink and took a small sip. “You did what I always told you to do. I cannot be mad because my former student finally got the better of me. Hah, I am relieved.”

“Uh…”

“I need you to promise me something though,” the seriousness showing on his face made me nervous, the obvious pain he still felt was alive in each word.

“It depends,” I said carefully, though I wanted to yell at the rooftop that I will never trust these people again.

He nodded, “I know my son is an idiot, but he is young and will mature in time. I need you to protect him.”

James Lawson, or as he is known to others: Jimmy, was still taking a nap several rooms away. “Isn’t that your job?”

He sighed, “I wanted this curse to end with my generation, but I have no say in matters, Steve. I never wanted you to get involved but SHE had been planning The Octopus since her engagement was announced. There is no love left in her, and I don’t want her infecting my son.”

WINNER: ELLIS JACKSON.

 

I heard it, but my comprehension had been suffocated.

Why…

Why…

Why…

The thoughts swirled and then I closed my eyes and imagined a world that would never exist for me. I reopened my eyes, “I…accept.”

He let out a long breath as if it had been held since his son was born.

I turned the TV off and stood up, “I better get going.”

He nodded and stood up with me and then gave me the most awkward hug ever and whispered, “I’m sorry and good luck.”

A lump got caught in my throat, and I hugged him back.