[Roux]

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Foots in Asses
Mikah’s House - HAWAII
04 APRIL 2023
OFF-Camera



I should be excited. I cleared the first round of Blast from the Pats. I was even responsible for picking up the win for my team. That was something that I would have killed for the first time around, but I couldn't enjoy it last week. Everyone talks about Fenris carrying me through Blast from the Past the first time, so choking out Seleana to advance was that defining moment that I would have killed for five years ago. All I ever wanted back then was a little bit of acknowledgement. I never got it, and I am not sure I ever got over it.  Had Mikah just given a fuck back then, I wouldn't have had to deal with Kris. I wouldn’t have ended up hurt. If she would have just stepped up and done her job there wouldn’t have been any setbacks.

Before I stepped back into the ring, I had successfully compartmentalized those feelings. I built a life for myself outside of competition. Being married, being part of a real family for once, made all of those negatives not suck anymore. I stopped being angry. I managed to channel all of that energy into being a better trainer and coach. I devoted myself to the gym, and the students, no matter my feelings about them. I wanted the next group through Jet City to have the advantages that I didn’t. I was happy when it was Eiley and Oz heading to the tournament. It felt like my hard work was finally paying off, but then history started repeating itself.  The tournament finally kicks off, and Mikah is nowhere to be seen. Eiley gets passed off to Jet City, and then shipped down to Jet City South with excuse after excuse about why Mikah thinks it is best to be hands-off. It was bullshit, but it wasn’t my place anymore. I did what I could to help everyone along, but then Coby asked me to participate.

He dug up all of the resentment without knowing it. And then when Eiley lost, I snapped. If Mikah wasn’t going to show up for her students, she was going to tell me why. I wanted her to look me in the eye and give me a reason. I wanted her to tell me why she wasted our time. Was she that cruel? Getting to Hawaii from Barbados wasn’t necessarily the easiest thing in the world, and certainly didn’t improve my mood. Even a direct flight would have been thirteen hours, but four layovers had added another eight. It was nearly a full day sharing air with strangers, and having kids scream or kick the back of my seat.  By the time that nightmare was over my fuse couldn’t have been shorter. I pulled up to her house just in time for the announcement that she had made a move to an even bigger house.

Another ten minutes into a trip that was already way too long, I couldn’t promise myself that I wouldn't seriously harm her. The gate at the end of the driveway was open, which was the very first thing that had gone my way. I basically sprinted up to the front door and had to stop myself from attempting just to kick it open. I balled my first to knock, but stopped. I forced myself to remember the searing pain that had radiated up my arm the last time my anger got the best of me. I took two deep breaths, and then summoned the restraint needed to knock reasonably. When there was no answer, I tried again; this time with a little less composure. By the third time, that restraint was gone.

COURT: I KNOW YOU’RE HERE! AND I AM LIKE 80% SURE I COULD KICK THIS DOOR IN!

Nothing. Not a peep. I cocked my arm back and balled my fist. I figured if I aimed for the glass the worst that I was going to get was cut up. That could be stitched, wrapped, and worked around. I was willing to take the risk if it meant being able to blow off some of the rage that had been building for years. I didn’t close my eyes like I had when I swung at Kris all those years ago. My stance and form is a lot better these days. My eyes were locked on my target, and I was already picturing how it was going to shatter when my fist drove through it. It never got there though. The tunnel vision that the rage gave me prevented me from hearing the footsteps behind me. As I threw my weight forward behind my fist, an arm wrapped around my waist, and I felt my feet leave the ground. In a flash I was whirling around away from the door like I was weightless.

JASON: That’s a bad idea.

The rage was gone as soon as his voice rang in my ears. I felt all of the tension that I was carrying disappear in an instant. He put me down as quickly as he had scooped me up, and took a step backwards towards the door. The two of us had gone through this several times before. When Mikah had shipped me off to Jet City, he warned me about letting that rage control me instead of me controlling it. I even got the ‘I told you so’ conversation after I broke my hand because I refused to take that warning seriously. Yet here we were, years later, still in the same situation.

COURT: Why am I always the only one that is ever angry?

I turned back towards him to see that he had positioned himself in the center of the double doors leading into the house. His hands were up in front of his chest with his palms facing out to me. The smile on his face that made it annoyingly hard to stay angry.

JASON: ...because you want to see the best in people, and the rest of us just accept that everyone sucks.

He wasn’t wrong about the latter. It was frustrating to watch how his dysfunctional and codependent network of friends and family interacted. Somehow these people put together a few incredible in-ring careers and launched a handful of successful training schools in spite of the fact that they were all awful.

COURT: Is it so bad that I am angry? Is it wrong to expect her to actually step up for someone other than herself? It’s literally what she signed up for when she took on students. It doesn’t just piss me off because she did it to me, it's everyone. I couldn't live with myself if I did that to any of the students at Jet City. Why does she get a pass?

It didn’t look like he disagreed with me, but he stayed put between me and the door.

JASON: Maybe even though you can see it from the perspective of a student and a teacher, you are still missing pieces of the puzzle.

It was just another excuse, and I wasn’t going to let any of them waste my time with more of those.

COURT: You’re the one standing in between me and the answers that I want. Move, and I can go get them.

He shook his head. That wasn't an option.

JASON: I can’t do that. Besides, she’s not even here right now. You’re angry, and deservedly so. I understand, but I can’t condone what you’re here to do.

I couldn’t believe that he was drawing his line in the sand. For years we all watched him enable the worst in his brother. He spent years covering up all of Kris’ faults, but now he was trying to take some righteous stand.

COURT: Why are you even here?

The sudden change of topics didn’t appear to surprise him at all.

JASON: Mikah needed a hand with getting her gym up and running down here. We talked about it at Christmas, and I said if there was anything I could do, I would. So Eiley got sent up to Jet City for a while and I am doing what I can to help out down here.

If it was a lie, it had been one that he rehearsed because the words rolled off his tongue effortlessly. I wasn’t ready to just accept it though. A lot of it didn’t add up.

COURT: Christmas? You two aren’t necessarily friends. Why would you have been down he--

He didn’t let me get to the end of the thought before leaping at the chance to answer the question.

JASON: This time last year wasn’t necessarily the easiest time for any of us, and some had it much worse than others. Mikah and I didn’t have to be super close. When awful shit happens to family, you show up for them.

Again, it sounded well-rehearsed. Something about it just felt wrong though. Sure, everyone involved with Jet City had strange familial relationships that I didn’t fully understand, but this was a stretch. Jason barely had anything to do with Kris and Mikah’s relationship, and refused to help him with Jet City South. If he felt guilty about that, maybe he would reach out a little bit following what happened at Kris’ gym last year, but showing up here felt like a few steps too far. It didn’t mesh with the man that I knew.

COURT: I don’t believe you.

The surprising thing about his reaction to the words was that he wasn’t surprised at all. The smile didn’t fade from his face. He didn’t tense up. I was standing there calling him a liar and he wasn’t phased by it at all.

INTERCOM: I think you’re going to have to tell her the truth, man. She ain’t dumb like everyone else.

That voice wasn’t Mikah’s but it was familiar to me. More importantly, the tension that I thought I would see rise up when I called Jason a liar was all over his body language now. Whoever was on that intercom was the reason that he was trying to sell me this bullshit about Mikah needing his help. He turned his head towards the intercom and his tone was much harsher than when he was addressing me.

JASON: I don’t need any of your help. I thought you were supposed to be shutting up?

The realization hit me like a slap in the face while he was responding. It wasn’t the words that he said, but the tone that he said them in. There was real hostility there. I hadn’t heard him talk to anyone but his half-brother that way. However, that wasn’t Kris’ voice that I heard. I would have had that one pegged from the jump. I was on the right track though. It was a voice I knew; a voice from Jet City.

COURT: Jaycee?

I didn’t mean to say it out loud, and my hands came up and clasped over my mouth as soon as the name slipped out. The moment of realization was short-lived though. The series of thoughts played out at a rapid pace. At first I wanted to know what in the world the man that was responsible for what happened to Kris would be in Mikah’s house. That thought was dissolved by wondering why he would have been with Jason, of all people. The guy had been missing for more than a year, and was the only key to figure out exactly what happened at Jet City South. None of us had been given any real answers. We just walked in and found the scene.

JASON: Court, you have to under--

There were no more thoughts. I didn’t even really hear the words that Jason was trying to say before cutting him off. The blind rage that had subsided momentarily, boiled over. I reached out and grabbed Jason by the hand, lacing my fingers with his. Before I even knew what I was doing I had twisted it left, and ducked under his arm. With his arm locked behind his back there wasn’t a whole lot that he could do to reach me. He tried to push me back with his free hand, but I drove the toe of my shoe directly into the back of his deteriorated right knee. He dropped like a sack of potatoes.

COURT: OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR, JAYCEE!

There was no answer from the intercom. I grabbed the handles on each of the doors and started to twist and rattle them, hoping either of them would give. Jason grabbed a hold of my ankle, but I kicked his hand away.

JASON: He didn’t do it Court. It’s not his fault.

I heard what he said, but I wasn’t listening to him. Just a few moments ago he was standing between me and this door, lying, with a smile on his face. He wasn’t going to tell me the reason that he was actually here. He was going to lie just like everyone else. If I wanted answers to any of my questions about last year, I needed to find the source. A source that we all thought was long gone.

COURT: THEN LET HIM TELL ME THAT!

Ruby and I had worked closely with Jaycee. He had been one of the first students that we actually got to take on ourselves. Kate was busy basically running the place. Kris was busy being Mikah’s partner. Jaycee was one of my students. Then he just disappeared the day that they found Kris. The day that the world stopped turning at Jet City. How could Jason be so calm?

JASON: You have to calm down!

He hadn’t even made an attempt to get up off the ground. Instead, from his knees, he wrapped his arms around my waist and tried to pull me back away from the door. I turned towards him before he could tighten his grip and tried to fight him away, but he wouldn’t let go.

COURT: Why are you protecting him?!

I tried to pull his head back so that he would have to look up at me, but he ducked his head down and put his cheek into stomach. Again, he lifted me into the air, this time as he got to his feet, and turned me away from the door. He didn’t drop my feet back to the ground like he had last time though.

JASON: You don’t understand, okay? And I wasn’t ready to tell you. It’s the whole reason that I had Coby ask you to be in the tournament though. I promise. You deserve to know the truth…

I kept fighting at his arms even though I knew that it was futile.

COURT: You were lying to my face just a second ago, and I am supposed to just trust you now, why?

I didn’t think that there were a series of words that would make any of this okay. I didn’t see a way out of the rage until I finally got to put my hands on Jaycee. Mikah’s lack of enthusiasm for her students was long-forgotten. I was going to beat every detail of the story out of that kid if it was the last thing that I ever did. Kris would have wanted that, and wouldn’t have accepted anything less.

JASON: You have to listen to me. He didn’t do anything wrong. People came after him and Kris got caught in the middle. Jaycee is literally the only person on the planet that can help us find those guys though, okay? You can’t go pummeling him because we need him. Beating him down isn’t going to solve anything.

It wasn’t an answer that I wanted to hear though.

COURT: How do you know? He had all year to come forward! If he had anything to say, he already would have.

I was still fighting against his grasp when the intercom clicked twice and Jaycee’s voice came through once again. He didn’t sound like the confident kid that I remembered. He wasn’t loud, or cocky. He wasn’t even angry even though I knew that he could hear everything that I was saying.

JAYCEE: They took me when they shot Kris, because they were there for me, not him. He was just a witness that they didn’t need talking. Jason’s lying to you Court. I might not have pulled any triggers, but it was definitely my fault. I brought them right to him,  when I should have run.

His words didn’t make me feel any better. They answered a lot of questions, but it didn’t make the fire burning in my stomach go away.

JASON: They were in the wrong place at the wrong time, Court. Kris went there in a rage, just like you. Jaycee went there to hide, just like he has been doing for the last year. There is a lot more to the story than you know.

I felt my eyes get glassy again, and knew that this time I was not going to be able to fight it off. I carried all of this around for a year without even realizing it. It was all too much to deal with right here, Jason was right about that much.

COURT: Put me down Jason.

I didn’t scream it. I wasn’t mean about it, and did my best not to let my voice crack through the words. He didn’t argue, and I didn’t look back. From the moment that my feet hit the ground, I ran to the rental car, slammed the door, and took off. This was not something that I was equipped to deal with at the moment.  My problems with Mikah had waited several years, another couple of hours or days wasn’t going to matter. I needed time to process everything.



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>COURTside: Vanishing Act

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I wasn’t terribly excited about the tour going hand-in-hand with the Blast from the Past tournament, but I can’t lie, this feels pretty fitting.

The feed opens with just Court within view of the audience. As usual, the viewers appear to be in the palm of her hand before the camera takes off with a mind of its own. It ascends from where she sits, and backs out to show that she is sitting atop a railing. As we get further and further away, the screen flashes white momentarily as the light of the Flannan Isles Lighthouse blinds the screen. The railing where Court sits is just above the light itself high above the ground on an island surrounded by crashing waves. There is a helicopter on the helipad behind her, most likely the way she had gotten to the now automated lighthouse in the first place. The camera starts to dip back down towards her, but we can hear her voice as clearly as if she were in the room with us.

Apparently the Unsolved Mystery of this place is people going missing. Three guys just up and disappeared. They didn’t take any of their shit with them. Didn’t even light up the lighthouse during the storm. They were just gone, without any explanation. Of course, people have their theories, but nobody really knows…

She pauses for just a second as her voice trails off. There wasn’t the usual confidence in her that the fans were used to seeing.

Seems like the Jet City comparisons are aplenty. Throughout the history of this company we all seem to come in, make some big splash, only to disappear without a trace. When was the last time any of you saw my wife in the ring? What about Coby? Or even Jason Halich, the guy that started it all? I am just as guilty as any of them. I show up and win this tournament as a rookie, only to disappear. I came back for my big shot, and vanished without a trace. I finally got some momentum last time around, but gave it up to focus on being a trainer at Jet City. And none of that even starts to compare to the way our favorite Jet City Hall of Famer seemed to come and go as he pleased, always leaving the fans and locker room hanging.

She shrugs her shoulders, and forces herself to keep going.

This time last year two people disappeared from Jet and Sin Cities without a trace and without any real answers to what happened. I can understand the way the families of the people that went missing here feel. It sucks not to have answers. It sucks to be left wondering what went wrong, and how it could have been avoided. If you don’t even know what happened, there’s really no way you can even process it and start to move on, is there?

She looks around at the lighthouse, and then back up to the camera as we start to close back in on her.

It even happens in this tournament every year. People from all over the world sign up, but once they lose, we never really see them again. Very few of the fresh faces actually stick around after they watch their opportunity to challenge for the SCW or Bombshell Championships slip away. Personally, I think that is a little short-sighted, but we have already talked about my history. I don’t really think that I am in a place to criticize anyone that disappears, regardless of their reason. Plus, this week I get to step into the ring with two people that are looking to make me vanish all over again.

She allows herself a brief moment of excitement, and a smile crosses her face.

I mean, the competition in the first round had the same motivation. Did anyone see what happened when Seleana and Peter Vaughn tried to put Ken Davison and I out? I don’t think that there was a more resounding win in the first round than Seleana actually getting choked out. I don’t think that there was a time in the first round that we weren’t in full control of what was happening and where things were going. Ken and I went in with a game plan and came out with a near flawless victory. For everyone that thought that the two of us couldn’t coexist, or that I was going to be too rusty to win this tournament, I hope that was a wake up call. Then again, the first round is usually the easiest one to clear. Look at J-Mont and Zoey Lukas. They basically had a bye.

A gust of wind shakes that camera where it hovers in front of her, and her hair blows wildly with it.

I can’t really say anything bad about J-Mont other than the fact that I don’t particularly like his name. The guy came in as an SCW unknown, and dominated the first round for his team. Zoey was barely even needed at all, which is why I am not going to be hearing any excuses about how Ken and I got a week off while you two are going back-to-back. I can’t take away or pick apart anything J-Mont said or did in the first round because the shit he talked was entertaining and the way he backed it up was more than impressive.

It wasn’t like Court to be handing out free compliments without a catch, and she didn’t leave the viewers waiting for it either.

...but I am still going to take a former SCW World Heavyweight Champion over any newcomer, no matter how impressive. And look, I know that J-Mont is not new to this business, and has been competing basically his whole life. I watched the same promo that everyone else did last week. I watched him ramble about how he was the leader that this company had been looking for. I listened to him talk down about Mac Bane, who has won this tournament, and has dominated Sin City. For all of his big talk though, he did manage to make me laugh. His big gripe against Mac was that he was nothing but a follower, even though he has been leading this company for a while now.

She laughs.

It wouldn’t be funny if J-Mont hadn’t ended the whole thing talking about how he was going to follow in our footsteps. It wouldn’t be ironic if his big finale wasn’t all about how he wanted his name etched into the history of this company the same way that mine is. The same way that my wife’s is. The same way that Mac’s was last year. He said he wants to be the one to knock Mac out of the tournament for his own self-serving reasons, but the drive to win the whole damn thing is to help Zoey Lukas climb up out of her sister’s shadow.

Turning her attention to the woman that she will actually be locking up with, she takes a much more serious tone.

I think the fact that she thinks she is in Alicia’s shadow is impressive. She’s huge, which is something that J-Mont was most impressed with last week. Her record also isn’t bad. I mean, she missed some time due to some emotion damage, but who hasn’t?

Having already run through her own checkered history with the company, it’s obviously not a point that Court wanted to stay on for very long.

... my problem is with the idea that Zoey has been so dominant that J-Mont feels she deserves the recognition that would come with winning the title. He says he wanted her to jump out of her sister’s shadow, like that is something that can be done so easily. My wife and I have each won this tournament. Does that mean that Zoey is currently in our shadow? Of course not. Just like winning it won’t change the fact that Alicia is one of the top three bombshells in the history of this company. I should know, I have been in the ring with her. Winning this tournament won’t change the shadow being cast by Alicia. Not even winning and then successfully cashing in and taking home the Bombshell Championship could shake that shadow aside. The fact is, Alicia has earned her place as bigger and better than either of those two things. She has set records in this company. What has Zoey ever actually done?

She paused like she was waiting for a response even though she was the only person in sight.

She was given every physical gift possible, and had the privilege of debuting against the always-losing Jessie Salco. She dominated Sam Marlowe and Mercedes a few years after either of them could be considered a real contender. I can’t even give her credit for what she did to my wife and Kate back in their match, because everyone knows that Alicia being in the match was the real trump card. It is easy to do everything right when you have one of the best in the business in your corner.

Court cocks her head to the side, and brings her index finger up to her cheek.

...but what happened when she wasn’t so much bigger than her opponent? What happened when she squared up with someone that wasn’t obviously past their prime? Oh right, Tempest mopped the floor with her, that’s what. That told me all that I needed to know about Zoey. She might be gifted. She might be trained by some of the best. She might even be crafty enough to stand her ground with any bombshell past, present, or future. But she is also human. She is not unbeatable. She is not some superhuman that is impossible to keep down. She is not what J-Mont thinks that she is. Look no further than the fact that she had little to no impact on her team winning last week. J-Mont did it without her. Just like Alicia could have done it without her. As physically dominating as she looks, Zoey hasn’t really ever done anything worth mentioning. She hasn’t won any huge matches. She has never succeeded under any real pressure. She has beaten pushovers and bullied people smaller than her. Nothing more. Nothing less.

It was a bold statement, but not the most important.

..and that is why she doesn’t scare me. I have almost always been the smallest competitor in the ring, and it has never pushed me off my game. I have had to deal with the pressures that come from winning the big ones against the big stars. Ask Evie if you can find her. I have come out on top of this tournament before, and even if that’s the high point of my career, it is still a mountain that Zoey has never actually climbed. Just like everyone else, she will try to take away my accomplishments by saying that my big win happened years ago. Let’s not forget that I choked out my last opponent in this tournament not even two weeks ago. Underestimate me if you want, but don’t complain when you meet the same fate.

She looks away from the camera, and out to the shoreline where waves violently crash on the beach.

At least when the two of you vanish after losing this match, nobody will think it’s an unsolved mystery. They’ll all get to watch your embarrassment live.

With a wink, the scene fades to black.