Post by Jet Somers on Dec 8, 2018 23:51:00 GMT -5
Vinegar: What are they doing here?!
Covert Jay: Behind you, Jet!
Jet turns just as Eden Morgan slams into him with a hard forearm, to the back of his head, dropping him to all fours. She wastes no time in gripping his hair and pulling him more upright before driving her fist right between his shoulder blades, a tiny puncture wound made. She taps the ring she wears again, the needle hidden once more as Gabriel Baal moves in to stand over Jet.
Vinegar: Someone do something! Where is security?
Lieberjosch: Methinks this reeks of revenge. Jet cost Gabriel the Cross-Hemisphere title at WrestleStock and that bill has come due.
Jet grasps at Gabriel’s ankles as Eden’s serum works through him, still trying to fight his way upright. Gabriel leans down and whispers something in his ear while Eden kicks the mats away, revealing hard concrete. Inside the ring, Sarah Lacklan argues with Chartreuse clearly in an attempt to buy time and so he doesn’t notice events on the outside. Each time he starts to turn back, she grabs at her ankle, crying out in pain and then assuring him she’s okay.
Gabriel looks to Eden and then lifts Jet up, Jet’s dazed and drugged stare meeting Eden’s cold one.
Vinegar: THE FALL! Baal just drove Somers down hard with The Fall on the concrete!
Chartreuse holds Sarah’s hand up in victory briefly before checking on Jet, Gabriel and Eden watching smugly, barely giving Sarah a second glance before turning to make their way up the ramp.
“Damage Inc.” plays and Robert Ooley steps out carrying Louis and stopping Baal and Morgan in their tracks.
Ooley: Ol’ Bob has had just about enough of you two. It was bad enough when Serpentor was using that damned cane, but now Shangri-La is doing whatever it is she’s doing—
Ooley waves his bat around wildly in Eden’s direction, Gabriel and Eden rolling their eyes.
Ooley: Do you have any idea the money we’ve had to shell out because of you two running around like a pair of jackasses with syringes, just stabbing people? Enough!
Ooley takes a breath and glares at Eden.
Ooley: I’ve had my share of problems with Bummers, but the shit that you’ve pulled in his life- he deserves to put that to rest. So at Horizons, it’ll be Bummers and Shangri-La!
The crowd around them goes wild at the thought of seeing Eden and Jet in a grudge match. Eden stiffens, looking back toward the ring warily as Gabriel starts to mouth off at Ooley.
Ooley: I’m not finished yet! Serpentor, you’ve had quite a year against the Calm woman, Ol’ Bob would say she has your number. And truth be told, I’m tired of having to answer why you and Shangri-La continue to cost us money in hospital bills so... at Horizons, it will be Serpentor and the Calm woman!
The crowd roars again, Gabriel rolling his eyes.
Ooley: And if she beats you, your time here in UGWC... is done.
The smiles fade from Gabriel and Eden’s faces at his words, Ooley chuckling.
Ooley: Didn’t like that, did you? Good! Now let’s make it better, since the two of you have a habit of getting involved in each other’s matches. Both of these matches will occur simultaneously in the same ring. Two separate referees. But if Shangri-La lays a hand on the Calm woman or if Serpentor touches Bummers, Serpentor’s career is forfeit.
The crowd roars its approval again, Gabriel and Eden looking less and less pleased, Eden yelling about “fairness”.
Ooley: You’re right, Shangri-La, so I’ll add this- if Bummers attacks Serpentor or if the Calm Woman attacks Shangri-La, they will be out of the UGWC title scene for a calendar year.
He grins sarcastically at a fuming Eden and Gabriel.
Ooley: Satisfied? Was your little stunt worth it?
He walks to the back, swinging Louis as he goes, leaving Gabriel and Eden staring at each other in shock.
----------
When the door opens, the unsuspecting redhead's eyes go wide as saucers. She can't even speak through her joy at seeing her uncle standing on her doorstep, and she throws her arms around him as she leaps to embrace him.
"Oh my god, Uncle Jet, it's been years!" she isn't haughty until she pulls back. "Why haven't you visited?"
He offers a half shrug.
"I don't go out of state much anymore since your Aunt Sherry passed," he admits. Havyn pushes the door open behind her, motioning for him to come inside.
"Have you been to see Mom?" she wonders as she leads him into her home.
"Went there first after I landed," he looks around approvingly at her set up. State of the art and tastefully decorated, her home boasted affluence without showing it off. Hard to believe she was a Morgan. "I wanted to surprise you but I wasn't sure where you were staying."
"Well, you could have least kept in touch," now she seems hurt as she pauses and looks back, seeing Jet stare up at a mantelpiece covered in old photographs. His eyes wander over the ghosts he used to call a family.
"How's Dyson?" he asks. The air goes out of the room.
"He's getting better," she says with optimism, although her throat tightens noticeably. "Mom didn't talk about him, I guess."
"She did," he shrugs one shoulder "Not about the injury though. More about when you guys were kids. She did tell me that Saya was graduating junior high this year."
Havyn suddenly beams with pride, "She's going to play soccer!"
"No interest in the... family business then?"
She's hesitant to answer, "Not the business, no...."
"Something else?" Jet prods gently.
"Levi's been helping her with a genealogy project," she explains, "I don't know how she got it into her head... maybe it was losing her granddad earlier this year. She's been really interested in learning about her family history."
"Nothing wrong with that," Jet says, "right?"
"Well, Levi's family hasn't buried any secrets," she mutters. "So his side's easy."
Her eyes meet Jet's, and there's a classic shine of defiance there.
----------
Backstage camera opened up on Jordan King’s office where his cell phone was ringing. He held a finger up to pause his conversation with the Cross Hemisphere Champion, Maggie Lockheart, as the crowd cheered at her appearance.
Jordan: Jordan here. Aye?
Maggie raised an eyebrow as Jordan’s eyes widen.
Jordan: Yeah, glad you called, mate. One second…
Maggie: You have got to be kidding me right now.
He covered the mouthpiece as he stood.
Jordan: Pardon me, love. It’s Jet.
Maggie: Oh, well in that case. Feel free to put off seeing me for just a bit longer.
He caught Maggie’s look and cut his eyes toward a poster for an explanation. Maggie followed his gaze to an advertisement for the concurrent Horizons match featuring Jet, Eden Morgan, Gabriel Baal, and Lucy Wylde.
Jordan: What’s the story, mate?
The head trainer pulled the door, cutting off the conversation as he stepped into the exam room.
Maggie found herself looking at the poster with a puzzled look on her face. Last week, Jet had taken The Fall directly onto the concrete floor from Gabriel. He had been unconscious after Eden had dosed him with Baal’s serum, one she knew all too well. Pity she hadn’t been there to return the favor Jet had paid her several months ago when she’d been in the same position, but he’d been competing with the bruised ribs that she’d given him at Battleground. That part was his own fault and she felt no guilt for it.
Still…
She looked over the desk toward a folder she’d noticed when she first came in. A rather thick file, the name Eden Morgan was on the tab.
Glancing at the door, she reached across the desk quickly and swiped the file, tossing it into her bag without looking. She relaxed quickly just as the door opened and Jordan stepped back through.
Jordan: Ooley’s going to have kittens when he finds out.
Maggie: Alright, I'll bite. Finds out what exactly?
Jordan: Jet’s finally taking my advice. He’s going to heal.
Maggie: Oh, well, in that case. Good for him.
Jordan: Right? And here I thought you'd have a bit more empathy for the lad.
Maggie: Empathy? I do... I mean, isn't that the idea, though? I'm not sure if you're trying to be philosophical or what here, but we all beat the hell out of each other, and then you tell us to just heal so we can do it all again later.
Jordan: His home doctor is putting him off for the rest of the year.
Maggie tried to keep herself from tensing.
Maggie: So it's actually his home doctor's advice he's following then. Way to take the credit for something you didn't even do.
Jordan: It's still my advice. I don't really care how he goes about following it - as long as he does.
Maggie: So Jet's gonna be taking some time off. Great. Just great. Pretty soon UGWC is just gonna be us, Lucy, and the Cool Kids.
Jordan: Ehh, I don't think it'll be that bad. Stick around long enough and you're bound to see a turnaround, lassie.
Maggie: That's your job, King. Make sure I'm 'healed up' enough to stick around.
Jordan: As long as you take care of those ribs of yours for the next few weeks, you should be fine.
Maggie: Heh. If it's not one thing, it's another. Thanks. I'll make sure to tell Eden, Zane, and for that matter Lacklan to lay off the ribcage. Who knows, perhaps I can convince them to cave my skull in instead.
Jordan: Or you could knee them in the groin area. That particular maneuver seemed to work wonders.
Maggie: Very funny.
Jordan: I thought so. Just take care of yourself, please. For me. Consider it a personal favor.
Maggie: I'll... think about it. Wouldn't want ol' Ooley losing it, now would we?
Jordan: With the way Jet's situation is going - Ooley’s going to break another bat.
----------
She looks across the modest dining room table at her uncle in awe. Only now, under the harsh light of the naked bulb hanging over them does she notice how much he's aged. His hair, which hangs down to the middle of his back, has gone thin, and while not yet gray, certainly has lightened. His face is more lined than she remembers, and the beard which now rivals her late father's, has turned white around the mouth. It's hard not to mourn for the years lost between them.
"So what happened to her after Horizons?" Havyn breaks the silence.
Jet gives a noncommittal shrug as he stares at the label on the milk stout she'd offered him.
"Didn't hear from her after that," he admits, "she dropped off the face of the earth. I suppose she went back to England with Baal."
It's impossible to hide the growl in his voice when he says the doctor's name.
"I thought she'd have come to the funeral at least," Havyn mutters, "but then again I didn't think you were there until Hayleigh pointed you out. It would have done Mom good to see you then, you know."
Jet nods as he runs his thumb and first two fingers down the side of his mouth, tugging at the shorter hairs around his lower lip.
"I wasn't so sure I was welcome back," he says, "after what I did."
Havyn's brow furrows, not understanding what crime her uncle could have imagined that had caused him to exile himself to Mississippi for so many years.
"You mean hurting Aunt Eden the way you did?" she comes out with it all at once as realization dawn on her. "Jet, you know Daddy had pretty much excommunicated her when you made her leave that time."
"Of course," he chuckles, "I was one of the last hold outs to welcome her around down here, and your dad kept trying to get me to give up on her."
"Dad thought she was a cancer to the family," Havyn remembers, "I never really understood that, I guess. I mean, we're not exactly the Partridge family."
Jet is taken aback.
"How the hell do you know about the Patridge family?"
Havyn chuckles, "Levi's into all these old shows. He's got the TVLand App."
"We pulled a lot of stupid shit in those days," Jet admits, "and I'm not proud of a lot of it, especially where you kids were concerned."
"So why was she singled out?"
"Eden singled herself out, Havyn," Jet explains, "we all pretty much knew by the end that she hated herself. That was clear even to the people we worked with. What people didn't realize, what helped me make that last decision, was that she loathed herself so thoroughly, she didn't just think there was something wrong with her, she believed there must be something wrong with anyone who cared about her, too."
"How could anyone in their right mind love such a thing?" Havyn surmises.
"Something like that," he agrees. "If you admired her, respected her, emulated her, you were worthy of her ire. How dare you invest in a creature so low? And if you cared about her, or even loved her, she'd tear you apart. The way she thought she should be torn apart."
"Thats... fucked up," Havyn blinks a few times, trying to get her head around it.
----------
Jet sits staring down at the manila envelope on the coffee table before him. Slumped forward on the couch, his concentration isn't broken when Sherry enters the room.
She pauses looking carefully down at what's caught his attention, and she bristles when she sees the name Eden Morgan on the tab. She clears her throat and starts to give him a warning.
Sherry: If you have doubts about what I told you a couple months ago--
Jet: I don't. I don't even know what's in here. It was in the mail this morning with a note from Maggie Lockheart.
Sherry: Lockheart? Why would she be sending you stuff about Eden?
He meets Sherry's eyes for the first time.
Jet: I can't be sure. The note just says 'I thought you should know.'"
She shakes her head.
Sherry: I hope like hell she's not trying to drag you back into a shitstorm with her. That's more than I can take right now.
Jet sighs as he looks back down at the file.
Jet: She wouldn't be the only one; apparently while I was lying there unconscious, Ooley came out and announced a match between us at Horizons.
Sherry: Horizons?! Jet, the doctor said you probably wouldn't be able to compete again until January, no thanks to what that Lockheart bitch did to you.
Jet puts his hands up in a calming gesture.
Jet: Easy, Sher. I learned my lesson. If I had listened to Jordan after Battleground, I wouldn't be in the mess I'm in now. I don't intend to compete.
She cuts her eyes back down to the folder
Sherry: Good. Find out whatever she wanted you to see, and throw that shit in the trash.
She stomps out of the room, and Jet closes his eyes for a long minute. Letting out another sigh, he finally leans forward and opens the file.
----------
"But wait a minute," Havyn interrupts, "Aunt Eden knew how incredible she was. She talked about it at length."
Jet smiles, "And she was incredible. She was fierce, and beautiful, more dangerous than anyone I've ever met and talented to a fault. Eden Morgan was nothing less than a living work of macabre art, equal parts a miracle and terrible to behold."
"You talk like you didn't wind up hating her in the end like everyone else," Havyn accuses.
"I didn't hate her," Jet's face grows serious. "I never have, even as much as she hated me in the end."
"Then why did you do it?"
"Because she asked me too."
----------
Jet: How mad is she?
He walks through downtown Chicago, the dawning sun causing him to wince as he passes another reflective shop window. His left arm is raised pressing a finger to his ear to drown out the sounds of the busy morning. In his right ear is a Bluetooth device.
Jet: Well, that's good. Jez will keep her entertained while I'm gone this week, then.
Jet drops his arm to his chest and pulls out a pair of dark wraparound sunglasses and puts them on before continuing his brisk pace.
Jet: The only way Jordan's going to clear me to compete is if let him check me over every damn morning this week.
He pauses at a crosswalk, waiting for the light to change
Jet: I do care, Chad, but I have to.
Beneath his arm, Jet carries the full-to-brimming file that Lockheart had mailed to him, clutching it as if it's his reason for being there.
Jet: No, this is going to benefit everyone, in the end.
He rushes to make it across the wide avenue to the next corner before the countdown ends.
Jet: It's not like it has been before. This is the last time. I'll make damn sure of it.
As he steps up onto the curb, Jet catches a moment of relief as an overhanging sign for the corner boutique momentarily blocks out the glare. He pauses and looks up, then absently allows his eyes to wander into the shop window. They settle on something there, and his mouth drops open.
Jet: Chad? Let me call you back.
He reaches up and presses a button the earpiece, then rushes into the shop. The view lingers for a moment, then lowers to show the centerpiece on display. Minutes later, a shopkeeper can be seen accompanying Jet to the display and removing it. The clerk looks amused, if slightly disbelieving, but Jet is practically beaming.
----------
"Eden chose me, you see," Jet continues. "She realized like I did that as long as one or both of us were capable, our fates would be hopelessly entwined. Do you know your Aunt Sherry almost left me over her?"
"Yeah, a couple of times," Havyn gives a haughty smirk.
"It wasn't until the end that I really started to believe her," Jet's eyes drift toward the window, seeing long-forgotten scenes play out in the reflection.
"What did you mean by 'she chose you?'" she wonders. "Chose you for what?"
"If you really studied Eden's career," Jet points out, "you can easily pick out the wars she cared the most about. The ones she really put the fervor and passion into. Oh sure, she'd go tete-a-tete over Twitter with any of those Cool Girls before a match, but she didn't care. Then you look at the hell that was started between her and people like Alan Wallace, Lucy Wylde, Zane Scott, Mickey Dragon, Travis Roberts... she would escalate to head-scratching levels before fighting them."
"Yeah, maybe it was my teenage brain at the time," Havyn rolls her eyes, "but I remember wondering when one of these guys was going to get fed up and just put a bullet in her teeth in the parking lot one day. Not that I'd ever wish for that, but I feared it. You guys didn't work with the most stable people."
"The less stable the better," Jet agrees, "if you knew the crew she was ingratiating herself to by the end..."
Jet gives a visible shudder remembering the last mess she'd gotten herself into, one she hadn't even realized how deep she was into until right before he'd put her down.
"The point is," he continues, "Eden knew she was meant to flame out in the most spectacular way possible. The people who were obsessed with her saw her as an enigmatic gift they didn't understand whether or not they deserved. She engendered a need in certain people. She would never have agreed with that view, of course, but she knew how to manipulate it."
"Why do you think she settled on Gabriel in the end?" Havyn asks pointedly. "What made him better than Killian King or any of the others?"
"That's easy," Jet smiles, "they're both the worst thing that ever happened to the other, and they both knew it. Gabriel hated himself, too, and it was usually because of the things that happened to the people closest to him. Just like her. But neither of them would ever compromise who they were to save their friends or family, despite what they might have said to the contrary."
"So they're just alike?" Havyn wonders.
"No," Jet shakes his head firmly, "in the end, Eden wanted to be destroyed for the cancer she was. Gabriel wanted to be forgiven, or, barring that, excused."
"So that's why she picked the toughest fights with the most dangerous enemies," she realizes.
Jet nods, "But, none of them could give her what she wanted. They hated her too much to grant it to her, even if she deserved it."
"I don't follow," she admits.
"In all the world, there was only ever one soul to match Eden's," Jet says as his voice grows even more calm. "If she was the flame, then I was the gunpowder."
"Oh please," Havyn gives a nervous chuckle, "you're a teddy bear."
"Maybe you forgot I once had you and your brother kidnapped?" he snaps. Havyn's lip trembles for a moment, and Jet's features soften.
"You guys didn't realize what was going on at the time, of course," he correct himself. "And we made sure you weren't affected... at least at that time. That's why your grandparents were there."
"When was this??" she looks beyond scandalized, the faintest hint of horror has seeped into her eyes.
"It wasn't real," Jet puts a hand up, as if halting the accusations and hate that might fly his way in the next instant. "It was staged. You were with your grandparents, and your mom and dad were in on it. But the world didn't see it that way. My point is, I can keep the darkness that's in me, that's in every member of this family, under some sort of control--"
"Until someone sticks the right match to it." she finishes for him. Her eyes lower as she thinks about Dyson's horrible stunt on Synergy eight weeks ago. It had been enough for Creative Director Matthias Raab to put him in the Battleground match, and that's where his family had watched him fall... and fall... and fall.
Havyn was well acquainted with the darkness her uncle was describing.
"No one knew Eden the way I did," Jet reiterates, "not even Gabriel fucking Baal. In the end, there was only one person who was going to give her what she deserved... what she wanted. What she craved."
"But how?" Havyn pleads through watery eyes. "You had more than enough chance to put her away, and probably could have done so without nearly killing her the way you did. How could you??"
Her anger has finally broken free, and when she realizes that Jet has closed his eyes and started shaking his head slowy, her rage renders her unable to formulate her next sentence.
"Eden chose when she was done," Jet repeats, "And how. She. Chose. Me."
"Bullshit!" she screams. "How could you know that??"
"Because of the Rule Unwritten," Jet says simply. Havyn simply stares, her lip curled in disbelief with his nonsense.
"Edie was well versed in the Rules," he says by way of explanation, "especially the first. I think it was her favorite weapon. But she knew the final Rule meant that no one could give her the ending she deserved but someone who loved her the way I did."
He pushes himself up from the table and walks over to the window, staring out at the first flakes of snow that have begun to drift unnaturally early for this part of the country.
"I was able to do it because I didn't do it out of hate."
Covert Jay: Behind you, Jet!
Jet turns just as Eden Morgan slams into him with a hard forearm, to the back of his head, dropping him to all fours. She wastes no time in gripping his hair and pulling him more upright before driving her fist right between his shoulder blades, a tiny puncture wound made. She taps the ring she wears again, the needle hidden once more as Gabriel Baal moves in to stand over Jet.
Vinegar: Someone do something! Where is security?
Lieberjosch: Methinks this reeks of revenge. Jet cost Gabriel the Cross-Hemisphere title at WrestleStock and that bill has come due.
Jet grasps at Gabriel’s ankles as Eden’s serum works through him, still trying to fight his way upright. Gabriel leans down and whispers something in his ear while Eden kicks the mats away, revealing hard concrete. Inside the ring, Sarah Lacklan argues with Chartreuse clearly in an attempt to buy time and so he doesn’t notice events on the outside. Each time he starts to turn back, she grabs at her ankle, crying out in pain and then assuring him she’s okay.
Gabriel looks to Eden and then lifts Jet up, Jet’s dazed and drugged stare meeting Eden’s cold one.
Vinegar: THE FALL! Baal just drove Somers down hard with The Fall on the concrete!
Chartreuse holds Sarah’s hand up in victory briefly before checking on Jet, Gabriel and Eden watching smugly, barely giving Sarah a second glance before turning to make their way up the ramp.
“Damage Inc.” plays and Robert Ooley steps out carrying Louis and stopping Baal and Morgan in their tracks.
Ooley: Ol’ Bob has had just about enough of you two. It was bad enough when Serpentor was using that damned cane, but now Shangri-La is doing whatever it is she’s doing—
Ooley waves his bat around wildly in Eden’s direction, Gabriel and Eden rolling their eyes.
Ooley: Do you have any idea the money we’ve had to shell out because of you two running around like a pair of jackasses with syringes, just stabbing people? Enough!
Ooley takes a breath and glares at Eden.
Ooley: I’ve had my share of problems with Bummers, but the shit that you’ve pulled in his life- he deserves to put that to rest. So at Horizons, it’ll be Bummers and Shangri-La!
The crowd around them goes wild at the thought of seeing Eden and Jet in a grudge match. Eden stiffens, looking back toward the ring warily as Gabriel starts to mouth off at Ooley.
Ooley: I’m not finished yet! Serpentor, you’ve had quite a year against the Calm woman, Ol’ Bob would say she has your number. And truth be told, I’m tired of having to answer why you and Shangri-La continue to cost us money in hospital bills so... at Horizons, it will be Serpentor and the Calm woman!
The crowd roars again, Gabriel rolling his eyes.
Ooley: And if she beats you, your time here in UGWC... is done.
The smiles fade from Gabriel and Eden’s faces at his words, Ooley chuckling.
Ooley: Didn’t like that, did you? Good! Now let’s make it better, since the two of you have a habit of getting involved in each other’s matches. Both of these matches will occur simultaneously in the same ring. Two separate referees. But if Shangri-La lays a hand on the Calm woman or if Serpentor touches Bummers, Serpentor’s career is forfeit.
The crowd roars its approval again, Gabriel and Eden looking less and less pleased, Eden yelling about “fairness”.
Ooley: You’re right, Shangri-La, so I’ll add this- if Bummers attacks Serpentor or if the Calm Woman attacks Shangri-La, they will be out of the UGWC title scene for a calendar year.
He grins sarcastically at a fuming Eden and Gabriel.
Ooley: Satisfied? Was your little stunt worth it?
He walks to the back, swinging Louis as he goes, leaving Gabriel and Eden staring at each other in shock.
----------
When the door opens, the unsuspecting redhead's eyes go wide as saucers. She can't even speak through her joy at seeing her uncle standing on her doorstep, and she throws her arms around him as she leaps to embrace him.
"Oh my god, Uncle Jet, it's been years!" she isn't haughty until she pulls back. "Why haven't you visited?"
He offers a half shrug.
"I don't go out of state much anymore since your Aunt Sherry passed," he admits. Havyn pushes the door open behind her, motioning for him to come inside.
"Have you been to see Mom?" she wonders as she leads him into her home.
"Went there first after I landed," he looks around approvingly at her set up. State of the art and tastefully decorated, her home boasted affluence without showing it off. Hard to believe she was a Morgan. "I wanted to surprise you but I wasn't sure where you were staying."
"Well, you could have least kept in touch," now she seems hurt as she pauses and looks back, seeing Jet stare up at a mantelpiece covered in old photographs. His eyes wander over the ghosts he used to call a family.
"How's Dyson?" he asks. The air goes out of the room.
"He's getting better," she says with optimism, although her throat tightens noticeably. "Mom didn't talk about him, I guess."
"She did," he shrugs one shoulder "Not about the injury though. More about when you guys were kids. She did tell me that Saya was graduating junior high this year."
Havyn suddenly beams with pride, "She's going to play soccer!"
"No interest in the... family business then?"
She's hesitant to answer, "Not the business, no...."
"Something else?" Jet prods gently.
"Levi's been helping her with a genealogy project," she explains, "I don't know how she got it into her head... maybe it was losing her granddad earlier this year. She's been really interested in learning about her family history."
"Nothing wrong with that," Jet says, "right?"
"Well, Levi's family hasn't buried any secrets," she mutters. "So his side's easy."
Her eyes meet Jet's, and there's a classic shine of defiance there.
----------
Backstage camera opened up on Jordan King’s office where his cell phone was ringing. He held a finger up to pause his conversation with the Cross Hemisphere Champion, Maggie Lockheart, as the crowd cheered at her appearance.
Jordan: Jordan here. Aye?
Maggie raised an eyebrow as Jordan’s eyes widen.
Jordan: Yeah, glad you called, mate. One second…
Maggie: You have got to be kidding me right now.
He covered the mouthpiece as he stood.
Jordan: Pardon me, love. It’s Jet.
Maggie: Oh, well in that case. Feel free to put off seeing me for just a bit longer.
He caught Maggie’s look and cut his eyes toward a poster for an explanation. Maggie followed his gaze to an advertisement for the concurrent Horizons match featuring Jet, Eden Morgan, Gabriel Baal, and Lucy Wylde.
Jordan: What’s the story, mate?
The head trainer pulled the door, cutting off the conversation as he stepped into the exam room.
Maggie found herself looking at the poster with a puzzled look on her face. Last week, Jet had taken The Fall directly onto the concrete floor from Gabriel. He had been unconscious after Eden had dosed him with Baal’s serum, one she knew all too well. Pity she hadn’t been there to return the favor Jet had paid her several months ago when she’d been in the same position, but he’d been competing with the bruised ribs that she’d given him at Battleground. That part was his own fault and she felt no guilt for it.
Still…
She looked over the desk toward a folder she’d noticed when she first came in. A rather thick file, the name Eden Morgan was on the tab.
Glancing at the door, she reached across the desk quickly and swiped the file, tossing it into her bag without looking. She relaxed quickly just as the door opened and Jordan stepped back through.
Jordan: Ooley’s going to have kittens when he finds out.
Maggie: Alright, I'll bite. Finds out what exactly?
Jordan: Jet’s finally taking my advice. He’s going to heal.
Maggie: Oh, well, in that case. Good for him.
Jordan: Right? And here I thought you'd have a bit more empathy for the lad.
Maggie: Empathy? I do... I mean, isn't that the idea, though? I'm not sure if you're trying to be philosophical or what here, but we all beat the hell out of each other, and then you tell us to just heal so we can do it all again later.
Jordan: His home doctor is putting him off for the rest of the year.
Maggie tried to keep herself from tensing.
Maggie: So it's actually his home doctor's advice he's following then. Way to take the credit for something you didn't even do.
Jordan: It's still my advice. I don't really care how he goes about following it - as long as he does.
Maggie: So Jet's gonna be taking some time off. Great. Just great. Pretty soon UGWC is just gonna be us, Lucy, and the Cool Kids.
Jordan: Ehh, I don't think it'll be that bad. Stick around long enough and you're bound to see a turnaround, lassie.
Maggie: That's your job, King. Make sure I'm 'healed up' enough to stick around.
Jordan: As long as you take care of those ribs of yours for the next few weeks, you should be fine.
Maggie: Heh. If it's not one thing, it's another. Thanks. I'll make sure to tell Eden, Zane, and for that matter Lacklan to lay off the ribcage. Who knows, perhaps I can convince them to cave my skull in instead.
Jordan: Or you could knee them in the groin area. That particular maneuver seemed to work wonders.
Maggie: Very funny.
Jordan: I thought so. Just take care of yourself, please. For me. Consider it a personal favor.
Maggie: I'll... think about it. Wouldn't want ol' Ooley losing it, now would we?
Jordan: With the way Jet's situation is going - Ooley’s going to break another bat.
----------
She looks across the modest dining room table at her uncle in awe. Only now, under the harsh light of the naked bulb hanging over them does she notice how much he's aged. His hair, which hangs down to the middle of his back, has gone thin, and while not yet gray, certainly has lightened. His face is more lined than she remembers, and the beard which now rivals her late father's, has turned white around the mouth. It's hard not to mourn for the years lost between them.
"So what happened to her after Horizons?" Havyn breaks the silence.
Jet gives a noncommittal shrug as he stares at the label on the milk stout she'd offered him.
"Didn't hear from her after that," he admits, "she dropped off the face of the earth. I suppose she went back to England with Baal."
It's impossible to hide the growl in his voice when he says the doctor's name.
"I thought she'd have come to the funeral at least," Havyn mutters, "but then again I didn't think you were there until Hayleigh pointed you out. It would have done Mom good to see you then, you know."
Jet nods as he runs his thumb and first two fingers down the side of his mouth, tugging at the shorter hairs around his lower lip.
"I wasn't so sure I was welcome back," he says, "after what I did."
Havyn's brow furrows, not understanding what crime her uncle could have imagined that had caused him to exile himself to Mississippi for so many years.
"You mean hurting Aunt Eden the way you did?" she comes out with it all at once as realization dawn on her. "Jet, you know Daddy had pretty much excommunicated her when you made her leave that time."
"Of course," he chuckles, "I was one of the last hold outs to welcome her around down here, and your dad kept trying to get me to give up on her."
"Dad thought she was a cancer to the family," Havyn remembers, "I never really understood that, I guess. I mean, we're not exactly the Partridge family."
Jet is taken aback.
"How the hell do you know about the Patridge family?"
Havyn chuckles, "Levi's into all these old shows. He's got the TVLand App."
"We pulled a lot of stupid shit in those days," Jet admits, "and I'm not proud of a lot of it, especially where you kids were concerned."
"So why was she singled out?"
"Eden singled herself out, Havyn," Jet explains, "we all pretty much knew by the end that she hated herself. That was clear even to the people we worked with. What people didn't realize, what helped me make that last decision, was that she loathed herself so thoroughly, she didn't just think there was something wrong with her, she believed there must be something wrong with anyone who cared about her, too."
"How could anyone in their right mind love such a thing?" Havyn surmises.
"Something like that," he agrees. "If you admired her, respected her, emulated her, you were worthy of her ire. How dare you invest in a creature so low? And if you cared about her, or even loved her, she'd tear you apart. The way she thought she should be torn apart."
"Thats... fucked up," Havyn blinks a few times, trying to get her head around it.
----------
Jet sits staring down at the manila envelope on the coffee table before him. Slumped forward on the couch, his concentration isn't broken when Sherry enters the room.
She pauses looking carefully down at what's caught his attention, and she bristles when she sees the name Eden Morgan on the tab. She clears her throat and starts to give him a warning.
Sherry: If you have doubts about what I told you a couple months ago--
Jet: I don't. I don't even know what's in here. It was in the mail this morning with a note from Maggie Lockheart.
Sherry: Lockheart? Why would she be sending you stuff about Eden?
He meets Sherry's eyes for the first time.
Jet: I can't be sure. The note just says 'I thought you should know.'"
She shakes her head.
Sherry: I hope like hell she's not trying to drag you back into a shitstorm with her. That's more than I can take right now.
Jet sighs as he looks back down at the file.
Jet: She wouldn't be the only one; apparently while I was lying there unconscious, Ooley came out and announced a match between us at Horizons.
Sherry: Horizons?! Jet, the doctor said you probably wouldn't be able to compete again until January, no thanks to what that Lockheart bitch did to you.
Jet puts his hands up in a calming gesture.
Jet: Easy, Sher. I learned my lesson. If I had listened to Jordan after Battleground, I wouldn't be in the mess I'm in now. I don't intend to compete.
She cuts her eyes back down to the folder
Sherry: Good. Find out whatever she wanted you to see, and throw that shit in the trash.
She stomps out of the room, and Jet closes his eyes for a long minute. Letting out another sigh, he finally leans forward and opens the file.
----------
"But wait a minute," Havyn interrupts, "Aunt Eden knew how incredible she was. She talked about it at length."
Jet smiles, "And she was incredible. She was fierce, and beautiful, more dangerous than anyone I've ever met and talented to a fault. Eden Morgan was nothing less than a living work of macabre art, equal parts a miracle and terrible to behold."
"You talk like you didn't wind up hating her in the end like everyone else," Havyn accuses.
"I didn't hate her," Jet's face grows serious. "I never have, even as much as she hated me in the end."
"Then why did you do it?"
"Because she asked me too."
----------
Jet: How mad is she?
He walks through downtown Chicago, the dawning sun causing him to wince as he passes another reflective shop window. His left arm is raised pressing a finger to his ear to drown out the sounds of the busy morning. In his right ear is a Bluetooth device.
Jet: Well, that's good. Jez will keep her entertained while I'm gone this week, then.
Jet drops his arm to his chest and pulls out a pair of dark wraparound sunglasses and puts them on before continuing his brisk pace.
Jet: The only way Jordan's going to clear me to compete is if let him check me over every damn morning this week.
He pauses at a crosswalk, waiting for the light to change
Jet: I do care, Chad, but I have to.
Beneath his arm, Jet carries the full-to-brimming file that Lockheart had mailed to him, clutching it as if it's his reason for being there.
Jet: No, this is going to benefit everyone, in the end.
He rushes to make it across the wide avenue to the next corner before the countdown ends.
Jet: It's not like it has been before. This is the last time. I'll make damn sure of it.
As he steps up onto the curb, Jet catches a moment of relief as an overhanging sign for the corner boutique momentarily blocks out the glare. He pauses and looks up, then absently allows his eyes to wander into the shop window. They settle on something there, and his mouth drops open.
Jet: Chad? Let me call you back.
He reaches up and presses a button the earpiece, then rushes into the shop. The view lingers for a moment, then lowers to show the centerpiece on display. Minutes later, a shopkeeper can be seen accompanying Jet to the display and removing it. The clerk looks amused, if slightly disbelieving, but Jet is practically beaming.
----------
"Eden chose me, you see," Jet continues. "She realized like I did that as long as one or both of us were capable, our fates would be hopelessly entwined. Do you know your Aunt Sherry almost left me over her?"
"Yeah, a couple of times," Havyn gives a haughty smirk.
"It wasn't until the end that I really started to believe her," Jet's eyes drift toward the window, seeing long-forgotten scenes play out in the reflection.
"What did you mean by 'she chose you?'" she wonders. "Chose you for what?"
"If you really studied Eden's career," Jet points out, "you can easily pick out the wars she cared the most about. The ones she really put the fervor and passion into. Oh sure, she'd go tete-a-tete over Twitter with any of those Cool Girls before a match, but she didn't care. Then you look at the hell that was started between her and people like Alan Wallace, Lucy Wylde, Zane Scott, Mickey Dragon, Travis Roberts... she would escalate to head-scratching levels before fighting them."
"Yeah, maybe it was my teenage brain at the time," Havyn rolls her eyes, "but I remember wondering when one of these guys was going to get fed up and just put a bullet in her teeth in the parking lot one day. Not that I'd ever wish for that, but I feared it. You guys didn't work with the most stable people."
"The less stable the better," Jet agrees, "if you knew the crew she was ingratiating herself to by the end..."
Jet gives a visible shudder remembering the last mess she'd gotten herself into, one she hadn't even realized how deep she was into until right before he'd put her down.
"The point is," he continues, "Eden knew she was meant to flame out in the most spectacular way possible. The people who were obsessed with her saw her as an enigmatic gift they didn't understand whether or not they deserved. She engendered a need in certain people. She would never have agreed with that view, of course, but she knew how to manipulate it."
"Why do you think she settled on Gabriel in the end?" Havyn asks pointedly. "What made him better than Killian King or any of the others?"
"That's easy," Jet smiles, "they're both the worst thing that ever happened to the other, and they both knew it. Gabriel hated himself, too, and it was usually because of the things that happened to the people closest to him. Just like her. But neither of them would ever compromise who they were to save their friends or family, despite what they might have said to the contrary."
"So they're just alike?" Havyn wonders.
"No," Jet shakes his head firmly, "in the end, Eden wanted to be destroyed for the cancer she was. Gabriel wanted to be forgiven, or, barring that, excused."
"So that's why she picked the toughest fights with the most dangerous enemies," she realizes.
Jet nods, "But, none of them could give her what she wanted. They hated her too much to grant it to her, even if she deserved it."
"I don't follow," she admits.
"In all the world, there was only ever one soul to match Eden's," Jet says as his voice grows even more calm. "If she was the flame, then I was the gunpowder."
"Oh please," Havyn gives a nervous chuckle, "you're a teddy bear."
"Maybe you forgot I once had you and your brother kidnapped?" he snaps. Havyn's lip trembles for a moment, and Jet's features soften.
"You guys didn't realize what was going on at the time, of course," he correct himself. "And we made sure you weren't affected... at least at that time. That's why your grandparents were there."
"When was this??" she looks beyond scandalized, the faintest hint of horror has seeped into her eyes.
"It wasn't real," Jet puts a hand up, as if halting the accusations and hate that might fly his way in the next instant. "It was staged. You were with your grandparents, and your mom and dad were in on it. But the world didn't see it that way. My point is, I can keep the darkness that's in me, that's in every member of this family, under some sort of control--"
"Until someone sticks the right match to it." she finishes for him. Her eyes lower as she thinks about Dyson's horrible stunt on Synergy eight weeks ago. It had been enough for Creative Director Matthias Raab to put him in the Battleground match, and that's where his family had watched him fall... and fall... and fall.
Havyn was well acquainted with the darkness her uncle was describing.
"No one knew Eden the way I did," Jet reiterates, "not even Gabriel fucking Baal. In the end, there was only one person who was going to give her what she deserved... what she wanted. What she craved."
"But how?" Havyn pleads through watery eyes. "You had more than enough chance to put her away, and probably could have done so without nearly killing her the way you did. How could you??"
Her anger has finally broken free, and when she realizes that Jet has closed his eyes and started shaking his head slowy, her rage renders her unable to formulate her next sentence.
"Eden chose when she was done," Jet repeats, "And how. She. Chose. Me."
"Bullshit!" she screams. "How could you know that??"
"Because of the Rule Unwritten," Jet says simply. Havyn simply stares, her lip curled in disbelief with his nonsense.
"Edie was well versed in the Rules," he says by way of explanation, "especially the first. I think it was her favorite weapon. But she knew the final Rule meant that no one could give her the ending she deserved but someone who loved her the way I did."
He pushes himself up from the table and walks over to the window, staring out at the first flakes of snow that have begun to drift unnaturally early for this part of the country.
"I was able to do it because I didn't do it out of hate."