The RubyWay Chronicles Part 14: Origins

[Kevin Hardaway]

OOC: To fully understand this RP, I would probably wait until Allison/Ruby posts her RP, as hers takes place before mine. I was going to wait until she posted hers to post mine to make things easier, but conflicts with our work schedules got in the way. So it's up to you.

Either way, enjoy.

Ruby Tyler: “How long have you been standing there?”

Kevin Hardaway: “Long enough.”

The moment she turned to face him in the cemetery felt like the longest few seconds of her life at that point. Here she was, secretly trying to visit and to talk to Kevin’s former wife, Angie, at her grave site in Baltimore, and he found exactly where she was at. The thing being that even know she knew of her existence, he never told her where Angie was buried at. Maybe as a precautionary advisory perhaps. He didn’t want Ruby to know maybe to fear that she was going to go on a little grave digging adventure and rid of her once and for all. Rumors have been running that burning the bones of a vengeful spirit will remove their ghost. He didn’t want her to just up and do that.

But alas, she didn’t. All she was here for was to have a pep talk and maybe try to make some sense as to why Angie has been here recently to make Kevin and Ruby’s lives an absolute hell. And when Kevin found Ruby just standing there near her grave, Angie disappeared from the scene. Whether or not she was there talking to Ruby is one thing, but Kevin had heard enough from the two. And before she was going to find out on her own, he had to tell her the truth.

About what happened to Angie. Why this book is in their lives at this point of time, and why is Angie here now trying to warn the two of them about impending danger. The nightmares of Ruby’s demise. The apocalyptic forefront. Everything.

The two drive back to Ruby’s cabin where she is hesitant to even walk in her own house, but she steps a foot in and Kevin goes to the fridge to grab a couple of drinks.

Kevin Hardaway: “I guess I need to tell you this. Before you go all Googleable to see what really happened? Lord knows you already did enough digging as it is.”

Ruby Tyler: “Googleable? The hell does that mean?”

Kevin Hardaway: “Just...let me explain, okay?”

He sits down next to her on the couch as he hands her a beer from the fridge. He doesn’t even speak for a few seconds, just trying to open the bottle and take a long and arduous drink before explaining himself. He starts to have second thoughts and even then, it’s more of a thought process of “get this out before you reconsider, stupid!”

Kevin Hardaway: “I’m just going to spit this out as quickly as I can before I get second thoughts.”

He takes a long pause.

...Angie was a hunter...like you, and...like me.”

She almost spit out her beer at this point, but even so, she had a struggle trying to swallow the sip she took before dropping that bombshell just now of his.

Ruby Tyler: “Beg pardon?”

Kevin Hardaway: “The book? The fact that I knew to call you before anybody else? Why else did it all just fall into my lap? Because I knew what she had gotten into, and I didn’t have anybody else to even turn to. I knew of your kind way before you got me into this mess, and I knew that the only way that I could get rid of it was to call somebody in her field for help. Turned out...the only person I knew in said field, was you.”

Ruby Tyler: “Why didn’t you try to look up one of her hunter friends that she worked with?”

Kevin Hardaway: “Because nobody trusted her. They all ran after what happened with her and the book.”

Ruby Tyler: “Actually...back the fuck up. Is that why you have that fucking thing? Because somebody has a death wish with your family?”

Kevin Hardaway: “It’s more complicated than that.”

Ruby Tyler: “OH! I CAN SEE THAT!”

He just wanted to get up and leave at that point. She obviously didn’t care about the reason why all of this came about at the moment, just that the book and everything that has happened was technically her fault. But that wasn’t her motive at this moment. She wanted to know, even after the events that took place in the graveyard today. And of course, with everything that has happened between the two, it had to be told. She decided to take a deep breath and apologized right then and there.

Ruby Tyler: “Hey...I’m sorry. This...this is just a lot to take in right now.”

Kevin Hardaway: “And I haven’t even told you the half of it yet.”

Ruby Tyler: “Well then...tell me. How did you find out? How did you take it? What...what happened with her?”

Kevin Hardaway: “I didn’t even find out until after she passed away. It makes sense now as to why we’ve been so estranged and distant the last couple years of our relationship, but we always stayed close to each other. Maybe because we didn’t want Kim to be in any danger or maybe it was just because of how she died was why she was always by my side. But...the afternoon after we laid her to rest, I get a tap on the shoulder from somebody who I had never met in my entire life. And...you know the whole trope of “her wanting me to find out all about her secret life” and all that jazz. Yeah, it was one of the last hunters she ever had contact with and stayed in contact with. Mostly because she needed somebody to do what was said in her will about letting me know about everything that she had did behind my back.”

He wasn’t even looking at her at this point...just his bottle of beer and maybe the scene in front of him. He didn’t know what her response was going to be, and he didn’t even want to look at her reaction to all of this, because after her minor outburst, he was afraid that all of this was going to be for nothing, that it took him this long to explain himself. Then again, Ruby was the one who had to walk to her grave to see what everything was all about, and throughout the trips and the hotels and the incidents between the two, it was only a matter of time. He just wasn’t ready for it. Who in the world really can be?

Kevin Hardaway: “But this guy handed me this box, and in it carried a journal and a bunch of trinkets she carried along her days and random pictures, and a DVD. Inside the journal was just...notes and chicken scratches about her hunts and her encounters with what goes on at night. But, what was on the DVD was the thing that put everything into motion. Apparently while I was out traveling the world and out in my prime, this is what she was doing. She was traveling as well. Probably hoping that one day, our paths wouldn’t cross at a random airport or something. Hunting things that are out of the ordinary. And apparently she did it up until Kim was born. Which is funny because, that sounded like a perfect ticket out of this world. Raise a daughter, try to rekindle a broken relationship with me. She didn’t want to do it anymore."

Ruby Tyler: “But obviously something happened that got her back into it. Else she would still be here, and I...wouldn’t.”

Kevin Hardaway: “Yeah. She got a call from the guy who I was just talking to you about, about a nest that needed to be cleaned out of an old building. Nothing too hectic, as him and a bunch of friends got rid of most of the people in there. She just needed to clean up some loose ends and make sure her fellow hunters were fine. That was when she found that...that fucking book. Apparently, according to her journal, it didn’t look like how the book looks now. It was much cleaner on the outside. Of course it still had the shit inside.”

Ruby Tyler: “So...what happened?”

Kevin Hardaway: “Well, I mean...you know what happens when you read from that thing. And, she had no idea what it entailed, so she and a bunch of hunters gathered together to look at it to see if it would cause any harm. It...from what I read, it was an absolute bloodbath, but for some crazy reason, she got out of it alive. She lost a lot of trust within the community for just leaving them like that, to get mangled and chopped up. So, she tried to get rid of it by any means necessary. You name it, she tried, to no avail. It obsessed her, and even through all of that, she still tried to get time to help take care of Kim with me. Now that I mention it, I was unsure on why she looked a little frizzled from time to time. Now I know."

Ruby had no words of her own either. She just decided to listen to the story in front of her, as every bit of feared reaction from him was running through her veins as well. The only thing she could really do as she drank from her bottle was casually place a hand on his thigh. To the naked eye, it was just a comfortable place. To her...it was to show support.

Kevin Hardaway: “The only thing that she found out was going to work was that she had to make a deal with whomever was running that book. See, the thing with that book is that somebody planted it there, my guess being the leader of the nest she was running through. If she could bury the book deep within the woods on some burial ground, it would shut off whatever was coming through it. I didn’t get all the details because she wasn’t thorough in her notes and on the DVD, she didn’t say because she didn’t want me finding it. I don’t blame her. Anyways...she...she had to sacrifice herself in order to do it. A pure soul shielding the book so it didn’t get out. How she was a pure soul beats the fuck out of me, but I guess her making a strong case to raise Kim right and be the best wife she could be helped her cause."

Ruby Tyler: “...god, I just…”

Kevin Hardaway: “The good news was that her sacrifice wasn’t immediate. She was able to say goodbye. So she told me that she had cancer, but didn’t tell me because she didn’t want me to leave my day job to raise Kim. Which...is what I did for a little while. In February 2010, I had my then final match against Brad Kane in Baltimore. I won, and I remember grabbing Kim from her arms. That was the last time she ever saw me in that ring. The last time she ever saw me smile. She passed away a week later. And then, I found out about all of this and just...I didn’t think anything of it. I was still mourning and in shock and everything else that it was like getting blackout drunk. I tried to forget it, and...for a bit, I did. Then last year happened...with that bitch and The Family, and meeting you, and everything came flooding back. Then one random night, I got a delivery in the mail and it was that fucking book. I...I didn’t know who else to talk to about this and you were in this field and...I panicked.”

Ruby Tyler: “Sooo...why haven’t we talked to this leader yet, to see if he has any clues?”

Kevin Hardaway: “Don’t you think I’ve tried? I’ve been looking on my off time while we’ve been training and...well, I’ve found nothing as you can tell.”

Ruby Tyler: “Actually, I might have a small lead.”

Kevin Hardaway: “Really...where?”

Ruby Tyler: “I...I know a professor at Penn State?”

Kevin Hardaway: “Penn State? Are you fucking kidding me?”

Ruby Tyler: “Is that supposed to mean something?”

Kevin Hardaway: “It’s...it’s a sports thing.”

Moving on.

Ruby Tyler: “Anywho...his name is David Wells. He’s a great mind, and he has a knack for this kind of thing. There’s just one minor, teeny-tiny problem.”

Kevin Hardaway: “Which is?”

Ruby Tyler: “We might have...had a thing awhile back.”

Kevin Hardaway: “...okay?!”

Ruby Tyler: “I thought you would be the…”

Kevin Hardaway: “Why would I even be? Why are we even talking about this?”

Ruby Tyler: “No idea.”

Kevin Hardaway: “So okay...let’s get packing.”

Ruby Tyler: “Actually...let’s just go up there tomorrow. I think both you and I have had enough excitement for one day. It’s...it’s been a rough one, for the both of us. With all of this origin story nonsense out of the way, I think it’s just best if we relax and call it a night. Keep drinking, maybe watch a movie from the list. We could use it.”

Kevin Hardaway: “Yeah...you’re right.”

Kevin takes a final glug from the bottle before setting it back down on the coaster on the table, settling into a deep breath.

Kevin Hardaway: “Hey…?”

Ruby Tyler: “Yeah?”

Kevin Hardaway: “We’re going to get through this, right?”

Ruby Tyler: “I know I feel like I tell you this so often that it loses all meaning, but honestly...yeah, we are. What? Did I train you for nothing? But...finding all of this out gives me a little more confidence that what I’m doing is the right thing here. I know this isn’t the life you wanted, and there are MORE than enough days in the calendar year where I want to choke you so hard that your eyeballs pop out of your skull…”

She chuckled at that last sentence. As like she meant it in more than one way…

Ruby Tyler: “...but, I’m pretty sure Kim would like to see her father’s eyes still in his skull. And I know you mean well and I know that you want this thing gone so you can move on...to a normal life.”

Kevin Hardaway: “At this point...I don’t know if I can do normal anymore.”

Ruby Tyler: “Then you can try the best you can.”

Kevin Hardaway: “But yeah...I would like that. I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t mind it either since I wouldn’t be in your life constantly and you can go back doing your own thing.”

Ruby Tyler: “Actually…it could be worse.”

Kevin Hardaway: “How so?”

Ruby Tyler: “If you don't give me another beer, it will really be worse.”

He chuckles and nods as he stands up from the couch, grabbing both his and hers’ empty bottles as she turns on the ol’ Netflix queue from the TV. With her only just seeing Back to the Future for the very first time, she pulls up the sequel from her list as he grabs two more cold ones from the fridge and sits down with her, settling in and relaxing to watch a film that was supposedly set in 2015. Last year really was something, and as the two watch and talk and laugh, it feels like we are really going back to the future.

===================================================

So this is what happens when somebody falls off a mountain.

It seems that reality isn’t all the same from fantasy after all. People would rather talk about somebody falling to their doom rather than somebody finally trying to reach the top of the thing. I know I have used this metaphor more often than not lately, but is there anything else to compare it to. Maybe this is what he wanted though. It is Zero McHannon after all. The guy who is more starved for attention in this world than a pussy-grabbing presidential candidate at a college party. And this man was your champion for how long actually? I might despise the man more than a thousand suns, but at least I would have respected Chandler Scott as FGA World Champion and look what happened there. Even he failed.

And to whom? Somebody who decided that “Woe is me, I’m just going to take my ball and go home!” Congratulations, Zero...you are officially the worst champion that FGA has had to offer in the history of the company. Even worse than A.J. Fairchild. Because even he didn’t walk out of the company with the title. Least he lost it fair and square...then he walked out of the company. But nope...even if you couldn’t do that correctly. You have been champion three times and yet, every single one of those reigns has been a transitional reign for the next star. So you know what, I’m glad you fell off the mountain and hit the ground, because that’s where you deserve to be in the first place. It’s amazing what you think you’ve accomplished and yet nobody even thinks the world of you, no matter how much you spout off on Twitter or in the ring or anywhere else. Welcome to my world, Zero. I know the feeling all too well, but you know what...I don’t bitch, I don’t moan, and I sure as hell, don’t decide to walk out while I’m holding the biggest prize in the world.

No, I do something about it and I have been doing something about it ever since I laced up a pair of boots for the first time and decided to step in this very ring. I have upfronted armies to get to where I needed, I have scratched and clawed to get to where I needed, and hell...sometimes I just walked into that door and I grabbed it without any hesitation. And yeah, if I can’t get something by trying my damndest, like I have been doing since I got to FGA, then I’m just going to fucking take it. And you know what, that’s what me and Ruby did at Retribution. Everybody talks about the “status quo” and I don’t mean by the actual terminology, I mean by Cordy and Dan...and everybody talks about them and Zero and Cannon and Chandler and Carmine and Annie. Always that group. When was the last time a memorable moment in this company that involved NONE of them?

That’s why we did something about it. That’s why we’re lighting a match and we’re burning this fucking mountain to the ground. And rebuilding it ourselves. And you know what...it’s actually started, whether you guys like it or not. Because for a change, somebody actually did something right. God bless you, Asherman. When Zero threw a tantrum and decided to take his ball, you ripped that ball straight from his shoulders.

Now granted, the idea afterwards...ehhh, not so much. Because guess who is in the middle of this golden pile of absolute horsepiss? Yep.

Yeeeep.

Now for a change, I can’t deny the accomplishments in my “partner”, and I say that with finger quotes because nothing means anything in 2016. Butttt...you have had some success, Cannon. Especially lately. Although...wait, no you don’t. According to sources, you have the same amount of successful defenses as a world champion as your pal Zero did. Soooo, why in the god’s green earth do you consider yourself just as great as say, Zero...or even your OTHER pal, Tony Carmine? Because, I’ve said it a million times on Twitter that Carmine can’t even sniff the World Championship right now, even when he’s fighting for it. You know, the whole “can’t hit water even in the Pacific Ocean kind of thing” that I have said a million times.

But you know what, I don’t care. I don’t care about you, Cannon. I don’t care about you, Carmine. I don’t even care about Ryan LeCavailer and I have only mentioned her name just this second ago. Mostly because I haven’t been in that ring with her. But it doesn’t matter. Sure, she’ll sprout off some piece about destiny and whatever vomit comes out of her mouth, but it doesn’t fucking matter one simple bit. Why should I care? Why should I care about this motive that you and Carmine will possibly have standing across the ring from one another? How do you think me and Ruby feel? We don’t give a shit. We might be on opposite sides of that ring in a couple weeks if all goes according to plan, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. We’re used to it. Right now, we’re only on one hunt and that is to burn it all to the ground and take the FGA World Championship back to where it rightfully should be.

And I don’t care how it’s done. It could be me vs. Ruby for all we know. Do we care? Not really. Because it’ll mean at least one of us has made it to the top. And that’s all that matters.

New Kings? Meet the new blood. Judge, jury, and executioner style.