Post by JoJo Rush on Nov 19, 2023 18:06:32 GMT -6
November 5th, 2023 | 1600
Carnegie Club, New York City
To say the Rushman blood being intense people would be an understatement. JoJo Rush literally being the most famous example of the Rushman intensity. Although his brother Jakob was also somehow intimidating. Which was an impressive feat as his reach only went as far as Jakob's wheelchair can take him. We join them shortly after they exchanged pleasantries.
"It's uh- nice to finally meet someone from Jon's family, but you better have a good reason why you didn't want Jon to even know you're in town."
Says a rather uneasy Tori. The bodyguard wore a red leather jacket over a black turtleneck with dark jeans and boots. Jakob dressed to blend in with his smart suit looking no different from any other suit in the city. Jakob's stoic expression and dry tone was off-putting for a lot of people, and it felt completely alien to those who've listened to JoJo's rather colorful way of speaking.
"Ah'm not too great with beatin' around the bush, so Ah'll cut to the heart of it, Ms. Taylor: My brother has no business wrestlin', nor do your lil' gang have any right exploiting my brother's mental illness for a couple of belts. So here's what's going to happen next."
Jakob digs into his coat pocket and pulls out a checkbook. He begins filling out a check, complete with his signature. The only space empty was the dollar amount. Jakob slides the check over to Tori and elaborates with the same kind of dryness a dispassionate boss would have for an employee.
"You're going to take that check and fill out whatever number you want. Then you take my brother and disappear. Rehab, therapy, your own little private island– Ah don't give a damn what you do, or how you explain you got the money. Ah just want Jon gone, understand? Its your free ticket out of that blood-sport."
Tori takes the check and looks it over. Then looks over to Jakob who relaxes into his seat after handing a total stranger a blank check.
“So just take the money and run? You think Jon is going to go for that?”
“He will if you ask him too.”
Tori pauses and looks over the check, flipping it around to see if it was the real deal. Meanwhile, jakob appears confident, as if he had not just given away a one-time key to his personal account.
“I have a counter-offer.”
Tori looked up from the check and back to JoJo’s older brother and spoke as deadpan as she could be.
“I will take this check– fold it longways–”
Tori drops the check back onto the table with a harsh thud.
“And shove it right up your ass.”
"Excuse me?"
Jakob sat back up straight, his brow furrowed as he gave the same intense look Tori’s seen before on a different face.
"Do you not see what Ah see? He's losing his damn mind and killing himself on live TV for the whole damn world to see. Or do you not care? ”
Taylor wasn't afraid of firing the first shot, and it showed in her direct tone. Jakob appeared unphased and unmoved, like he knew that Tori wasn't going to hit a man in a wheelchair.
"He isn’t insane.”
Tori shook her head and admitted.
“I know that makes me sound crazy but frankly I don’t have any other explanation for what happened between him and Darna Dare than the supernatural.”
The Bodyguard appeared a bit defensive, and quickly elaborated in frustration.
“Maybe we are insane. I was crazy enough to think you had anything worth saying to me– and you thought you could buy me off. Jon might be a lot of things, troubled is definitely one of them. But he’s a kind man. A great man– A man that nobody could pay to betray me-”
Tori sighed and chuckled to herself before trailing off.
“He drives me crazy insisting that nobody can take the championships from him. That he can carry that weight.”
Tori did her best JoJo impression complete with air quotes. She chuckles to herself, the act causing her to remember all the times Jon has said that before.
“Yeah– he’s pigheaded, emotional, I used to think he was going insane, but I don’t know how else to explain what’s happening with Jon other than the Supernatural? He vanished from my arms in the dead of night out of thin air. I saw him have a whole conversation with a horse, and the horse talked back. Fucking Kisikil happened– ”
Tori shuddered. Jakob raised a brow, clearly taken back from the mention of the worst incident involving his wayward brother.
“You mean to tell me that wasn’t special effects?”
“That nearly broke Jon– there wasn’t a night he didn’t spend in tears. It– nearly broke us too, but he found peace, and that’s all I want for him. I don’t understand what Jon means when he says he wants to make a new world but– I believe him when he says he wants to make the world better. He loves life, he loves the people he’s opened himself up too, and most importantly I know that he loves *me.*”
Those last words hit Tori like an aftershock, then it felt more like a revelation, if the metaphorical bulb burned any brighter for Tori, it’d flashbang the entire bar.
“He loves me.” Tori said to herself, her voice trailing off. She polishes off the drink and raises up to her feet.
“I gotta go.”
She left in a hurry, but halfway through the door she turned around to Jakob and gave the man some last parting words.
“You, and your whole family can go fuck themselves.”
Jakob was stunned, but it didn’t show in his stoic expression. He pinched his nose and muttered to himself in frustration. The last thing we get to see before our world fades to black is Tori hurriedly waving down a taxi while also sending a text message.