OMISSIONS FROM MILTON'S 'PARADISE/INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE LOST':
The bells tolled over Calgary.
The bats dispersed from the belfry as Howard Finkel rang the 10-bell salute. This was the second wrestler Finkle had buried this Spring. The Ravishing One had passed in April. Vader lit a candle and sat in the back row. His signature mask blackened like a widow's veil. He wore a suit with a small corsage over a stain from the finger sandwiches at Renegade's wake. The Road Warriors led the bereaved to their seats. The wrestlers gathered in the pews as Brett read the eulogy, his tears hidden behind the Hitman's shades.
Vince McMahon was barred from the chapel.
It was the Lone Hart, the Black Hart in that coffin, but this wasn't the first time.
This was the Second Death, the death of the soul.
Rumor of the forthcoming coup had been whispered amongst the archangels during the weeks leading up to Over the Edge. The Sons of Light took flight. Brian Pillman gave the nod. The Sons of Darkness had been challenged for the title. The Title. Hardcore rules. Gabriel was felled. Earl Hebner calling for the bell as the cherubs tapped. Owen executed a Northern Lights suplex and transitioned into an arm-bar as he and Pillman were both cast from Paradise.
Pillman was allowed to take flight while Owen was banished-banished without his wings.
The heavens opened. The Blue Blazer fell back to the mortal Earth like Icarus in a luchador mask.
By the millions they were released. Led by The Junkyard Dog and Peter Maivia, the Fallen Angels blackened the skies over Kansas City as the de facto leader remained crucified in the turnbuckle.
Austin chugged a Keystone, leaving another unopened before the Pyre of the Martyr. The Acolytes opened the doors of the cathedral. The ground rumbled as they removed the Seventh Seal. The APA's loyalty had been secured.
Beneath the blackened skylight in the atrium, Roussimoff took his seat and crossed his legs as the Sons of Light descended, filling the depths of the coliseum. The hooded figure at the altar held his torch and filled the censers with fire and cast the flame to the dry earth. The wrestlers lent their blood to the flame as the pyre spread, illuminating the expanse of the amphitheater.
The Dark Minister took the podium and removed his hood.
With a silver grin, Rick Rude, delivered the sermon to the Infernal Council.
The Nature Boy screamed his battle cry to the rafters, the lancet arches and the flying buttresses crumbling from the resonance as the Dead Wrestlers marched in lockstep through the flame.
The Invasion commenced in the name of the one they called 'Nugget'.
