Post by JMC on Oct 6, 2016 20:11:14 GMT -6
[The Cornett Mansion, North Manchester, IN; Wednesday, October 5th, 2016, 10:23AM Eastern Time]
{Mood Music: Everclear – “When It All Goes Wrong Again”}
<Perspective: James M. Cornett (On-Camera)>
Oh, how Chaos was giddy over this…
He was finally getting his hands on the two women that put my daughter’s career in jeopardy, one of them almost doing much more.
Granted, Jamilyn had more than made up with both women since their initial encounters, which I for one was proud of, but Chaos was known for never letting a grudge go.
Death had promised him his chance at Strife.
He was getting it one way or another.
And this wasn’t even factoring Kate’s personal hate-boner for the two. If anyone had more reason to go after Winterstar than Chaos did, it was Kate. Those two women had essentially ruined her life, and while some, Destiny included, were beginning to suspect that Kate was holding onto Destiny as little more than a consolation prize, a store-brand soda to Jamilyn’s name-brand appeal, the training sessions, and how much Kate had put into them, were showing how much she wanted to avenge what happened to the woman she still called her soulmate, much to Destiny’s chargin.
It just so happened that Sangue was in a gracious mood last Friday to grant him and Kate that match.
But I could tell it was taking a toll on my youngest to keep her head up after everything that’d happened over a 13-month time frame. Even by Destiny’s standards, this was pushing what her young mind and heart could tolerate, and Kate’s attempted suicide last week as a result of her transgressions being exposed combined with everything else that had happened…
It wasn’t looking well.
Fortunately, I was ready to begin my portion of the video that would be ready for the world to see in hours, but before I did, I needed to adjust my costume.
The Shadow Chaos costume.
Imagine Van Helsing combined with a Power Ranger, or Kamen Rider Wizard Flame Style to you overseas Sentai nuts, and you have about the idea of the modern Shadow Chaos costume, complete with red-visored helmet, red chestplate over black trenchcoat, and modified gloves. A low whistle of approval came from behind the camera.
I had forgotten, this was the first time Farrah had ever seen me in this gear, and hers was a powerful reaction. Even behind the camera the sight of her gnawing on her lower lip around a fiery grin was obvious. She stepped in, tightening her focus just enough to take it all in, speaking out in a low, purring tone.
"SOMEone looks loaded for bear... and sexy on top. So this is the mighty darkness you keep beneath that handsome exterior. I can see the appeal."
"And it's all yours to command at will, Farrah...if you ever decide we need to be put to use, anyway."
Strangely, Farrah had been the one lover I'd ever had that HADN'T wanted to make Chaos submit to her will, as was customary with Mavericks like mine. Her reasoning at the time was that her control over Chaos would have compromised the power and respect I commanded, one of the reasons she felt so drawn to me to begin with. Now, however, seeing the recetnly updated Chaos gear and having been witness to some of his more volatile outbursts toward people who had disrespected me or family members, she almost seemed like she was beginning to have a change of heart.
"Always so tempting, so inviting. But you see... you're just part of the whole. Just one slice of the pie. And I'm a very greedy girl, Chaos. I want it all. Not a bite, not a piece... everything. You just happen to be part of that package."
Perhaps she wasn't seeing Chaos. She called him a part of me, a facet. In that split-second that I thought the temptation was beginning to take over, she shut it down with a spicy smile and got her full face back behind the camera.
"Try not to forget that. You're already mine. You were mine the day James made me his queen. But all that gets you is acknowledgement. You're his weapon, his strength within. I'm the anchor that makes sure he's never consumed by that strength."
HAHA! Damn, dude...shot down twice in a month? I never thought I'd see the day.
Oh shut up, Jimmy. We will give you credit here...this girl is not like the rest. She understands limitations, boundaries. You might as well have hit the jackpot with this one.
Oh, to say I did that would be underselling Farrah in her entirety. And if she thought I was sexy in this getup, you should see what she chose to adorn herself in for her camera feature this time.
It actually made her Poison Ivy costume from last time look mild by comparison, if that was even possible.
The dress? Down to her ankles. The boots? To her knees. The slit in the skirt? Damn near to her hip. And the tight silk blouse and cropped leather jacket, coupled with that long hair in a tight braid, sealed it. As if she were aware that my focus was elsewhere at that moment, she whistled softly and gestured to the camera with a smirk.
"Eyes forward, sugar. You've got a message to deliver."
Of course she wanted me to get down to business and put this piece on its way to the internet. She knew what was coming after.
Well, after I got Kate back into gear anyway.
The blonde had been so exhausted by everything else, she'd barely gotten breakfast in before crashing on the couch in the basement. I'd make sure she was okay before taking my queen upstairs and exhausting her in a different way, but that was all irrelevant at the moment.
I had a promo to cut.
I rolled my neck and heard at least four pops as I limbered up.
"Just tell us when..."
That, likewise, meant she had to get down to business, too. Sliding her headphones back into place, she set the camera on its mount and made a few careful adjustments. In her professional element, she double-checked... checked again... then gave me the signal.
"Conflict.
"So many people misinterpret that word these days.
"You can be in conflict with nature, drowning in a raging river after a thunderstorm, desperately trying to stay above water.
"You can be in conflict with people, be it verbally or physically, and even if you think there's a winner, in reality, everyone loses when you lower yourself to that.
"You can be in conflict emotionally, your heart tied to one person but your mind telling you it's over and to move on to another. Only, we all know it's never that cut and dry, is it?"
I looked back to Kate, still crashed out, then back to the camera.
"You can even be in conflict morally. Say...partnering with someone that you don't like in the first place in order to overcome identical rivals."
I rubbed my hands together, and though my face was unable to be seen, my helmet lifted as if to indicate my grin.
"And that's what we're looking forward to most at Armed and Dangerous. Because no sooner than the match was made public, the signs of Winterstar falling apart at the seams were already there. Hell, they hadn't even made the first stitch, and the two were already showing signs of agitation with each other. And with everyone else barred from ringside for this event, the two seem impossible to gel together as a team. Not that it isn't possible, we ourselves have seen our fair share of more rivaled talent managing to co-exist for a greater goal, but it just tickles us that, right when the two thought they could breeze through Armed & Dangerous without any sort of challenge whatsoever, FINALLY the Visionary CEO Sky Sangue shows that she has the watermelons to punish these two for what they've done to Kate Bass. Nevermind what they've done to us as a father, those two have single-handedly destroyed that woman's life in ways no mere human should be able to do."
I eyed Farrah for a moment behind the camera, but this one time she didn't flash me one of her heart-melting smiles or size me up with those wicked eyes. She kept that device centered and ready, my every word and gesture, my every move... caught perfectly. It made sense now why Zahara was so reluctant to let anyone else handle her video work.
She did, however, offer a few words in the middle of the pause.
"Hatred or anger can put people together too, though. Not as effectively but... it's been known to happen. What if? What if they DO get on the same page and their fury becomes their shield?"
"Ah, but that's where the challenge is for them. Because love her like Robinson or hate her like the Horsewomen, give Veronica credit where it's due, she's at least putting up an effort to TRY and get along. She could have very easily dismissed the whole match and said 'Screw it, I'm not coming in today', leaving Katalina to her own devices. But Veronica is at least TRYING to cooperate with Katalina. She's at least making an effort to attempt a cohesion of units long enough to survive the night. No, if anyone has proven to be the 'weak link' in ever single grouping she's ever been in, even within her own clique...
"It's Katalina.
"Think about it...over the course of the past two months, she single-handedly almost caused the implosion of the Horsewomen simply because of her own selfish desires. Which, while we're on the subject of that, is it bad that we came into VoW thinking Katalina was the leader of the Horsewomen? All the advertising we'd seen from the group in every other company they'd been in gave the impression that Katalina was the one leading the charge against everyone, and yet here, we notice a very different dynamic. The False Horse is merely an underling to Death itself. That little comparison we did a few weeks back? Yeah, that wasn't by accident. Katalina is more of a pestilence to any wrestling group she's associated with. Outside the ring, in person, she might be a whole different person, but as the Chaos in the Shadows, we don't really care about that. Our concern is in the ring, and the very idea that she injured a potential Horsewoman and ALMOST got away with it consequence-free...Horsewomen resolution or not, they can't deny that Katalina has been the source of a lot of problems lately, within their ranks, between herself and Blink, and within the key matches she's partaken in over the course of the last three months."
"Tell her how you really feel..."
Farrah responds with a dry chuckle from behind the camera.
"...just don't let personal get in the way of business, sugar. Whatever you think of Katalina and the women she rolls with, they've been a force for this long for a reason. People step lightly and speak softly when they're in the area. Not saying you ought to be afraid of worried. Just careful."
"When it comes to Emma and Joanna, yes, we will agree that they have earned their place and our respect. War questioned why we'd respect her given that she would embody some of the very reasons we would normally hate someone? Because at least she does things for the right reason. Honor and respect are still factors in her actions. Even Death herself, minus the Wilson..."
Yeeeaaahhhhh, you KNEW that one was coming somewhere in this mix...
"Her actions may not always be noble, but she still has a code of ethics and a logical reason behind her actions. She has a goal much similar to ours with a methodology that's near identical--break down the stagnant so that life can be reborn."
I pointed to Kate again, her groans mid-sleep now causing her to stir a bit.
"And honestly, if we're going to talk about the personal aspect, if ANYONE deserves to take this match personally, it's Kate. For fuck's sake, the woman has been robbed of her soulmate, both in the ring and in life, because of what Cloud Strife and Sephiroth Pine have done. No, we have no personal vendetta anymore against Katalina or Veronica, because it's gone beyond that. You said something about fright and worries. The Cornett family motto from the first moment we were created has always been 'Do Right, Fear Nothing'. And that's where we thrive. Because we have no fear in our truest form.
"But you know what we saw when we had our scarred hand wrapped around that will-sapping vinyl-clad tramp?
"Fear.
"She can deny it all she wants, but Katalina tasted fear for the first time in a LONG while that night. She knew that her attempt to save her precious maid at the cost of the career and health of the Horsewomen's only open candidate and someone she was /SUPPOSED/ to consider a friend...had finally caught up with her. And you'll notice, ever since then, she's been fucking up. Oh, it may not seem like it, but her underhanded tactics and selfish ways have, regardless of the front the three of them put on for everyone else, caused rifts within the Horsewomen. After all, how can Death expect the False Rider to follow when the woman is so used to leading in almost every other aspect of her life?"
Knowing Farrah, I was about to be redirected to speak about Winter in greater detail, so during my pause, I began to calculate Chaos' next words. Katalina had proven she could be broken many times...Winter was still a wildcard in this whole mess, and arguably the stronger threat. Winterstar's cooperation aside, it would have been ill-advised to focus all my energy on the False Rider when Frosty the Snow Bitch still needed to be taken to task.
Except my spicy camerawoman was... remarkably quiet for a few moments. She kept the camera aimed and properly settled, but she didn't offer much until the silence reached a concerning level.
"And Winter?"
It was all for the sake of making a case in terms of the match, of course, but perhaps Farrah had her own thoughts where Katalina was concerned. It wasn't something she brought up very much. I would have to address that with her after filming, because Katalina was but one of MANY topics Chaos and I disagreed about. But for now, I had a monologue to finish.
"Ah, yes, the Wonderful World of Winter. One could argue I went over the source of Katalina's Bob-Omb implosion a few matches ago...unless you think the world needs a refresher course, Farrah..."
"No, the world knows by now. It is the past. It is the future we are concerned with. It's Winter's turn to be pulled out on the carpet for a well-overdue face-plant."
Sounded like a hint of distaste there on my Spice's behalf!
"Well...sounds like we're not the only ones that has a hate-boner for the Orphanage and hope they get a well-deserved Karma trip of the worst variety. See, Winter, you can claim all you want that Iser's interference was unwarranted or even unwelcome, but the fact is, you capitalized on it. You didn't do what Katie Moicelle would have done and just waited for things to even out again, you went straight for the win. And people always make the cock-ass excuse of 'This is a ruthless business, you gotta be ruthless to get what you want', but all that complaining about Iser last week...and there was no offer for a fair rematch? Come on, Ashley Spinelli, that asterisk on your title win HAS to be bugging you on some level..."
Man, just breaking out ALL the obscure references, aren't I?
"This is where, much as we despise what Katalina did to our daughter, even though we felt she shouldn't have been given a title shot as a reward for causing a life-threatening injury to VoW talent, she at least had reasons beyond herself to do that and at least made it known that, selfish as it was, she at least had bigger-picture implications. Other than spoiling this supposed lifelong dream you had, which we're still not buying given your attitude past that point, what point exactly is there in denying Chaotic Light a rematch with a proper and fair resolution UNLESS this was part of the Orphanage's plan to begin with?"
"Fear? Greed? Guilt? All, some or none of the above? Can't pretend to know what goes on in that woman's head... but I'm betting the lapdog she has following her around on an obvious leash is doing his share of whispering in her ear."
Not-so-thinly-veiled Robinson reference on that one. I get the feeling that she could've been quite a bit more harsh about the so-called Punisher had she a mind. But I knew that look; she was enjoying what she was seeing and hearing.
"But that's the complete irony. Last week, she looked like a little kid going 'I don't care how I won it, it's mine! All mine!' Yet, the moment she realized that she was going to have to tolerate one of the few people that she apparently has less taste for than Zelda Lawson, suddenly she was like 'Well fuck...okay, let's get in it, PARTNER.' Which leads into the biggest difference between Winterstar and Chaotic Light--cohesion."
"Problem is, as off-put as they are by each other, as much as they aren't getting along... you still have the issue of your own partner. And if you don't wake her up, figuratively speaking..."
She adjusts the camera, leading to me turning to the couch as well. Kate is a bit more fitful now, tossing and turning a little harder on the cushions.
"...then whatever standing advantage you got will be gone, sugar."
"Ah, you would think she needs that jarring, but if her determination in the training sessions we've had are any indication, she's as driven to win this match as we are, probably even more so. See, our involvement in this situation is merely as a corrector of balance. If anyone has the most personal vendetta against those two, it's Kate. Veronica's stunt with Stacy and Zelda broke apart two relationships and drew Jamilyn to help her friends. That led to the perfect storm of circumstances that cost Kate her soulmate, her championship opportunity, and some could argue her sanity. But the funny thing is, just when we think she's pushed to her limits, she bounces back stronger than ever. She's got the motivation, she's got the desire. All that she lacked was the opportunity for vengeance...until now. Now, the Oracle has gone Batwoman in order to put Miss Freeze and Catwoman out to pasture."
Yeah, yeah, I KNOW it's not the right superhero, but considering Batwoman's sexuality and the fact that Kate was still going to be my future daughter-in-law, it made sense to push "Kate Kane" forward.
"Eloquently put. If you have that kind of faith in Kate, I can do no less."
She got that smirk back, bringing the camera to bear on me once again.
"The Harambe of it is this...say what you will of us and Kate, but we at least have shown we have the unity of a tag team. We have shown that even with Stacy, because there were no miscommunications, we did everything we could."
And this is where the game changed up.
I took off my helmet and looked into the camera...my eyes back to their normal chocolate brown.
"Katalina...Veronica...I...James...have no personal vendetta against either of you. You two have both done my daughter right in ways I may never be able to repay you for. But come Armed and Dangerous...there will be no Orphanage to take you in...there will be no Horsewomen to end the days...no one is going to save you from the Crimson Nightmare you've awakened. Until his thirst for balance and vengeance is sated...until Kate Bass has a chance to avenge all the wrongs you two have done to her...it's going to eat at me until I allow him what he seeks. The sooner you accept the fate of which you made...the sooner your lives can go back to normal. But until then..."
My eyes shifted to jet black again. No demon...no supernatural force...the schizophrenic entity that I had to create in order to survive.
The Green Goblin to my Norman Osborn, if you will.
"...there are FOUR THINGS you need to remember when dealing with any of the Cornetts...
"The water's wet...
"The sky's blue...
"Chaos is the only constant...
Oh shit, he was gonna switch it up on me.
"And we will fear nothing as we do what's right.
"Because we are the Fly in the Ointment...
"The Monkey in the Wrench...
"THE PAIN IN THE ASS...."
And that's normally when I would have said something about being the FinalHazard to Winterstar lasting more than one night...
if Farrah hadn't done the single most erotic and most astounding thing I've ever seen from a woman.
"The warrior that brings the devil himself to heel, riding on the saddle of the world with the angel on his shoulder offering her light to the bloody road ahead of them both. And who could that warrior be other than the dark god before you all right now? We got not issues, Katalina, and there ain't no love lost between Winter and myself... but Chaos wants what it wants. It is time."
Oh Hell yeah!!
Soon as I got done with Kate, I was taking Farrah upstairs, taking her right in the living room, leading her upstairs, chaining her to the bed, and...
Well, I gotta leave something to your imaginations!
Overmasculine pervs...
"As the wicked angel herself has proclaimed...
"So it must pass.
"Star...Pine...come Armed and Dangerous...we WILL be the FinalHazard of your comeuppance."
I took a deep breath and smiled to Farrah, waiting until she signaled that the camera was off. Which she did, ensuring the recording's being archived twice before shutting the device off... a habit brought on by an old lesson from long ago.
"Wicked angel, huh? Maybe Jay-El will let me borrow those wings of hers so I can look the part..."
"Knowing the way that girl is, she's probably got three pairs of the things. Maybe we could even crash NYCC for a day...knowing Kate, she'll need at least some sort of interesting promo material. No more Batman, though....I'm thinking more Bloodshot."
"I think I could pull off a pretty slick Huntress..."
She says, wandering up to me and sliding her arms around my waist. The armor is a hindrance at this point but if it bugs her she isn't letting it show.
“Huntress, Ivy, Wonder Woman, Phoenix, Rogue....hell, there's a litany of women you could very easily pull off, babygirl."
"You know who Zee would pick for herself... though she mentioned once that if she ever went evil... she'd try for Lady Shiva. Can you imagine?"
"Actually I can...she's got the build and, as of late, the dangerous look to pull it off. With a little help from our cosplay expert over here..."
I looked back to Kate, who finally looked like she was waking up from her unexpected nap.
"I probably should make sure she's okay before taking you upstairs and repaying you for that sexy as hell closing..."
"Let's both make sure. Carry her upstairs, baby, and we'll put some good food in her and have her rest in a proper bed for a while."
Her blinking awake, however, proved less capable for that.
"Doesn't look like that's happening for a while now....but I have a better idea. Why don't you go ahead and start the editing process in the AV room down here while I tend to Kate?"
Honestly, Farrah was much more adept than I was at trimming and encoding files. By the time I'd be done talking to Kate, she'd already have the file on encoding and set up to automatically upload to Youtube for posting the next day.
"Sure thing."
Taking the memory cards from the camera, she pocketed them. When she walked past the couch, though, she stopped to give Kate a big hug and a smile before continuing on to the AV room. It seemed to bring a smile to the blonde's own face, in fact. The last week plus had been particularly hard on her, but now wasn't the time to be a friend.
Now was the time to be a father.
I walked over to her and nudged her. "You finally getting your energy back, kiddo?"
“Fuuuuuuuuuuucccckkk...” She held her head hard as she slowly sat up.
"That's a yes. You even aware of where you are right now?"
Kate shook the cobwebs from her head and looked around. “Not in the ring anymore. Ugh shit... I'm gonna need one hell of a bubble bath...”
"To say the least." I sat down on the chair nearby. "So what's going on, Kate? Truthfully...the way DJ's been acting, she's feeling a little pushed..."
“Away?” Kate closes her eyes and lightly shakes her head. “I'm trying not to. I've tried opening up to her, but it's difficult having the feelings that Jami lived with so easily.”
"Mind explaining that to me?"
“I guess it's better to say the feelings that Jami accepted so easily. Destiny wants a one and only who will be true to her and I desperately want to be that for her, but...”
She blinked in the way you could only do if you were being smacked in the face with a rubber epiphany that you really didn’t want to arrive. Her voice took a more depressed tone as she processed the revalation. “There's so much with all the others that it feels empty without them. Oh God…”
And this was what I feared. Kate had gotten so used to a polyamorous lifestyle with Jami that she hadn't even thought what she had done to DJ was wrong for their relationship.
"Let me ask you something...no half answer. If you had the ability to share Mimi with Tyler, no restrictions, but you had to give up Destiny in the process...what would you do?"
“I couldn't do it. Knowing it would hurt Destiny... it was almost too much after Jeremy revealed everything to her. But she probably told you that story already...”
In all honesty, I was probably one of the lucky few who didn't know the full story by now. All i knew was that something had happened...until today, I was in the dark.
"Katelyn...why do I get the feeling I've been kept in the dark here? It sounds like there's part of this story I haven't been told yet."
The thing was, and take this for what you will, hurting my daughter was a minor thing compared to Kate's sanity. My little girl was a month from 17, she could get over what Kate did. But if Kate wasn't happy in the relationship...that would only cause them both more suffering down the road. I needed to know just how deep Kate's feelings for Destiny were.
The answer I got...wasn't exactly what I wanted to hear.
“Long story short, I cheated on her, Parker, Tyler and Taryn, once each, Jeremy told her, I lost it and took a bunch of pills. I resisted each time, but... well I'm sure you can put two and two together just with this conversation.”
I sighed as I leaned back. This was starting to make Destiny's conversations with Aeyvah make more sense, as well as how distant she seemed with Kate the last few days.
"So you're a sex addict then..."
Whoa, James, bit on the crude side there, huh?
Not exactly.
In an open relationship like what Jami and Tyler have, so long as rules are set, it ain't that big a deal. You get someone like Destiny, though, who's more traditional...suddenly that kind of promiscuity can be a problem, especially if she tried to resist.
Plus, saying it like that…her reaction would tell me exactly how she felt.
"I used to have the same problem too."
Kate blinked once again, this time more out of shock than realization. “Okay, first off, ouch, I do have some pride left and I'd appreciate that remaining intact. Second, there's another piece to that puzzle that you didn't put in place. I won't just give it up to anybody who flashes a smile and buys me a drink. There's been other serious offers and I have turned those down without batting an eye. There's something about those three specifically. Because I care for them. Or "cared" really in the cases of Parker and Taryn.”
She took the bait.
"Never said it had to be random strangers…a sex addiction doesn’t mean you’re seeking it out with anyone without restriction, but it can cause some problems. But that’s not important right now…clearly there are more emotional issues at work here. So based on that and your recent string of tweets, as long as you could still see Tyler, or at the very least Mimi, this wouldn't be an issue...is that what I'm understanding?"
“If all parties were in agreement, maybe. But the chances of that happening are so small, even Vegas wouldn't bet on it.” Kate shot her eyes up real quick. “And that is to stay between you and me.”
"I think it's a little late for that..."
The high soprano voice of Destiny rang from the base of the stairs. She'd heard at least a good chunk of the conversation...
And the way she was staring at Kate told me she was considering that very solution more than she might have initially anticipated.
Kate flipped her head in surprise at first, then flipped her head back and glared at me. “Really? I thought you were better than that.” She sighed, shakin her head and putting her hand to her face. “These two weeks have just been the stuff of nightmares...”
"Hey, don't go blaming him!" Destiny finished the walk downstairs. "I came down here of my own volition. He didn't know I was gonna come down, just like you didn't. So don't even try to pin this on him, alright?"
She took a deep sigh and sat beside Kate, putting her arm around the blonde. "And for the record, honey....I'm more open to the idea than you think....so long as we have a few key rules put in place..."
Kate, however, threw her hands up and stood up quickly. Apparently her indecisiveness was acting up again. “No, I'm done. Nope. Not gonna do this now.” She gathered up her stuff and slung her bag over her shoulder. “Thanks for training with me, James. I'll see you at the show next week.”
"You...have got to be kidding me..."
Destiny looked toward Kate, now visibly irritated.
"I'm sitting here, telling you that I'm opening up to the idea of you being yourself, admitting I was wrong to try to restrict you like that, and you're walking away from me? I'm trying to meet you in the middle here, and you're punishing me for that?"
I shook my head and stood up, putting my hand on Kate's shoulder and pushing her back beside her fiancé. "No, Kate....Farrah and I will head upstairs. It's clear you two need to hammer this out before things get any more complicated." Kate tried to stand up again, but my hand kept her down. "Kate...you can only run so many times before she stops chasing..."
Kate shook her head and looked at Destiny. “You know why I can't. I already told you I can't, I won't go back to that.” She swatted my hand away with a nasty look on her face. “And you, as much as I wish you were my father, you aren't. Don't force me into something I'm not comfortable with.”
Ouch...
“You both know I hate pay-to-win games,” Kate said, readjusting her strap, “and that's exactly what this will be. And that price is way too damn high for me to just go with it. And even then, there's no guarantee that I'll actually get what I want out of it. I'm sorry but I'm not gonna take that chance.” She looked to my daughter, a tear forming in her eye. “It's better if I stick strictly with Destiny until there isn't any doubt in her mind anymore about me.”
"You...you mean that?" Destiny stood up and went to Kate, holding her hands. "I'm sorry I haven't been a very good fi--"
“You finish that sentence, I will call this off.”
Oh fuck you, Kate….now you done pissed me off.
It’s one thing to tell that to someone who’s being stubborn and pig-headed, but someone who was ACTUALLY TRYING TO COMPROMISE WITH YOU?!?!
The more I thought of it, the more I was seriously hoping Destiny would just tell Kate to fuck off. I didn’t need to see my daughter disrespected like that. Instead, Kate brought one of her hands up to Destiny’s cheek. “Of course I mean it. It hurts because I'm not there yet myself, but I do mean it. There's a reason I said everything I did the other night, a reason I'm not doing those hashtag theme days anymore. You're right not to put anymore blind trust in me. Because I can't even give it to myself.”
All Destiny did was hang her head, and I could see why. She was being hushed and told that she couldn't even express herself the way she wanted to for fear of things ending. As much as I'd hoped Farrah would interject at some point, this was getting to be too much.
"But that doesn't mean you've deserved the way I have treated you...I just want things between us to work. You're making a huge sacrifice for me, Kate...one I never should have demanded from you to begin with."
I walked over and put my hand on my daughter's back. I was at least going to TRY to be the better guy here…
"And yet she's telling you she's willing to accept that if it means you and her work things out. Which tells me you two are meant to be together. She's not asking for blind trust, Jadyn...she's asking for faith in her."
"If I didn't have faith, James, would I have proposed to her at all?" Destiny asked me. Part of my heart cut deep when she said that, because it meant she knew the truth about her lineage....
With that, I backed my hand off of her and, following Farrah, walked upstairs slowly.
I don't know if Destiny ever truly knew it, but that day....
That day I lost any right to call her my daughter.
{Mood Music: Everclear – “When It All Goes Wrong Again”}
<Perspective: James M. Cornett (On-Camera)>
Oh, how Chaos was giddy over this…
He was finally getting his hands on the two women that put my daughter’s career in jeopardy, one of them almost doing much more.
Granted, Jamilyn had more than made up with both women since their initial encounters, which I for one was proud of, but Chaos was known for never letting a grudge go.
Death had promised him his chance at Strife.
He was getting it one way or another.
And this wasn’t even factoring Kate’s personal hate-boner for the two. If anyone had more reason to go after Winterstar than Chaos did, it was Kate. Those two women had essentially ruined her life, and while some, Destiny included, were beginning to suspect that Kate was holding onto Destiny as little more than a consolation prize, a store-brand soda to Jamilyn’s name-brand appeal, the training sessions, and how much Kate had put into them, were showing how much she wanted to avenge what happened to the woman she still called her soulmate, much to Destiny’s chargin.
It just so happened that Sangue was in a gracious mood last Friday to grant him and Kate that match.
But I could tell it was taking a toll on my youngest to keep her head up after everything that’d happened over a 13-month time frame. Even by Destiny’s standards, this was pushing what her young mind and heart could tolerate, and Kate’s attempted suicide last week as a result of her transgressions being exposed combined with everything else that had happened…
It wasn’t looking well.
Fortunately, I was ready to begin my portion of the video that would be ready for the world to see in hours, but before I did, I needed to adjust my costume.
The Shadow Chaos costume.
Imagine Van Helsing combined with a Power Ranger, or Kamen Rider Wizard Flame Style to you overseas Sentai nuts, and you have about the idea of the modern Shadow Chaos costume, complete with red-visored helmet, red chestplate over black trenchcoat, and modified gloves. A low whistle of approval came from behind the camera.
I had forgotten, this was the first time Farrah had ever seen me in this gear, and hers was a powerful reaction. Even behind the camera the sight of her gnawing on her lower lip around a fiery grin was obvious. She stepped in, tightening her focus just enough to take it all in, speaking out in a low, purring tone.
"SOMEone looks loaded for bear... and sexy on top. So this is the mighty darkness you keep beneath that handsome exterior. I can see the appeal."
"And it's all yours to command at will, Farrah...if you ever decide we need to be put to use, anyway."
Strangely, Farrah had been the one lover I'd ever had that HADN'T wanted to make Chaos submit to her will, as was customary with Mavericks like mine. Her reasoning at the time was that her control over Chaos would have compromised the power and respect I commanded, one of the reasons she felt so drawn to me to begin with. Now, however, seeing the recetnly updated Chaos gear and having been witness to some of his more volatile outbursts toward people who had disrespected me or family members, she almost seemed like she was beginning to have a change of heart.
"Always so tempting, so inviting. But you see... you're just part of the whole. Just one slice of the pie. And I'm a very greedy girl, Chaos. I want it all. Not a bite, not a piece... everything. You just happen to be part of that package."
Perhaps she wasn't seeing Chaos. She called him a part of me, a facet. In that split-second that I thought the temptation was beginning to take over, she shut it down with a spicy smile and got her full face back behind the camera.
"Try not to forget that. You're already mine. You were mine the day James made me his queen. But all that gets you is acknowledgement. You're his weapon, his strength within. I'm the anchor that makes sure he's never consumed by that strength."
HAHA! Damn, dude...shot down twice in a month? I never thought I'd see the day.
Oh shut up, Jimmy. We will give you credit here...this girl is not like the rest. She understands limitations, boundaries. You might as well have hit the jackpot with this one.
Oh, to say I did that would be underselling Farrah in her entirety. And if she thought I was sexy in this getup, you should see what she chose to adorn herself in for her camera feature this time.
It actually made her Poison Ivy costume from last time look mild by comparison, if that was even possible.
The dress? Down to her ankles. The boots? To her knees. The slit in the skirt? Damn near to her hip. And the tight silk blouse and cropped leather jacket, coupled with that long hair in a tight braid, sealed it. As if she were aware that my focus was elsewhere at that moment, she whistled softly and gestured to the camera with a smirk.
"Eyes forward, sugar. You've got a message to deliver."
Of course she wanted me to get down to business and put this piece on its way to the internet. She knew what was coming after.
Well, after I got Kate back into gear anyway.
The blonde had been so exhausted by everything else, she'd barely gotten breakfast in before crashing on the couch in the basement. I'd make sure she was okay before taking my queen upstairs and exhausting her in a different way, but that was all irrelevant at the moment.
I had a promo to cut.
I rolled my neck and heard at least four pops as I limbered up.
"Just tell us when..."
That, likewise, meant she had to get down to business, too. Sliding her headphones back into place, she set the camera on its mount and made a few careful adjustments. In her professional element, she double-checked... checked again... then gave me the signal.
"Conflict.
"So many people misinterpret that word these days.
"You can be in conflict with nature, drowning in a raging river after a thunderstorm, desperately trying to stay above water.
"You can be in conflict with people, be it verbally or physically, and even if you think there's a winner, in reality, everyone loses when you lower yourself to that.
"You can be in conflict emotionally, your heart tied to one person but your mind telling you it's over and to move on to another. Only, we all know it's never that cut and dry, is it?"
I looked back to Kate, still crashed out, then back to the camera.
"You can even be in conflict morally. Say...partnering with someone that you don't like in the first place in order to overcome identical rivals."
I rubbed my hands together, and though my face was unable to be seen, my helmet lifted as if to indicate my grin.
"And that's what we're looking forward to most at Armed and Dangerous. Because no sooner than the match was made public, the signs of Winterstar falling apart at the seams were already there. Hell, they hadn't even made the first stitch, and the two were already showing signs of agitation with each other. And with everyone else barred from ringside for this event, the two seem impossible to gel together as a team. Not that it isn't possible, we ourselves have seen our fair share of more rivaled talent managing to co-exist for a greater goal, but it just tickles us that, right when the two thought they could breeze through Armed & Dangerous without any sort of challenge whatsoever, FINALLY the Visionary CEO Sky Sangue shows that she has the watermelons to punish these two for what they've done to Kate Bass. Nevermind what they've done to us as a father, those two have single-handedly destroyed that woman's life in ways no mere human should be able to do."
I eyed Farrah for a moment behind the camera, but this one time she didn't flash me one of her heart-melting smiles or size me up with those wicked eyes. She kept that device centered and ready, my every word and gesture, my every move... caught perfectly. It made sense now why Zahara was so reluctant to let anyone else handle her video work.
She did, however, offer a few words in the middle of the pause.
"Hatred or anger can put people together too, though. Not as effectively but... it's been known to happen. What if? What if they DO get on the same page and their fury becomes their shield?"
"Ah, but that's where the challenge is for them. Because love her like Robinson or hate her like the Horsewomen, give Veronica credit where it's due, she's at least putting up an effort to TRY and get along. She could have very easily dismissed the whole match and said 'Screw it, I'm not coming in today', leaving Katalina to her own devices. But Veronica is at least TRYING to cooperate with Katalina. She's at least making an effort to attempt a cohesion of units long enough to survive the night. No, if anyone has proven to be the 'weak link' in ever single grouping she's ever been in, even within her own clique...
"It's Katalina.
"Think about it...over the course of the past two months, she single-handedly almost caused the implosion of the Horsewomen simply because of her own selfish desires. Which, while we're on the subject of that, is it bad that we came into VoW thinking Katalina was the leader of the Horsewomen? All the advertising we'd seen from the group in every other company they'd been in gave the impression that Katalina was the one leading the charge against everyone, and yet here, we notice a very different dynamic. The False Horse is merely an underling to Death itself. That little comparison we did a few weeks back? Yeah, that wasn't by accident. Katalina is more of a pestilence to any wrestling group she's associated with. Outside the ring, in person, she might be a whole different person, but as the Chaos in the Shadows, we don't really care about that. Our concern is in the ring, and the very idea that she injured a potential Horsewoman and ALMOST got away with it consequence-free...Horsewomen resolution or not, they can't deny that Katalina has been the source of a lot of problems lately, within their ranks, between herself and Blink, and within the key matches she's partaken in over the course of the last three months."
"Tell her how you really feel..."
Farrah responds with a dry chuckle from behind the camera.
"...just don't let personal get in the way of business, sugar. Whatever you think of Katalina and the women she rolls with, they've been a force for this long for a reason. People step lightly and speak softly when they're in the area. Not saying you ought to be afraid of worried. Just careful."
"When it comes to Emma and Joanna, yes, we will agree that they have earned their place and our respect. War questioned why we'd respect her given that she would embody some of the very reasons we would normally hate someone? Because at least she does things for the right reason. Honor and respect are still factors in her actions. Even Death herself, minus the Wilson..."
Yeeeaaahhhhh, you KNEW that one was coming somewhere in this mix...
"Her actions may not always be noble, but she still has a code of ethics and a logical reason behind her actions. She has a goal much similar to ours with a methodology that's near identical--break down the stagnant so that life can be reborn."
I pointed to Kate again, her groans mid-sleep now causing her to stir a bit.
"And honestly, if we're going to talk about the personal aspect, if ANYONE deserves to take this match personally, it's Kate. For fuck's sake, the woman has been robbed of her soulmate, both in the ring and in life, because of what Cloud Strife and Sephiroth Pine have done. No, we have no personal vendetta anymore against Katalina or Veronica, because it's gone beyond that. You said something about fright and worries. The Cornett family motto from the first moment we were created has always been 'Do Right, Fear Nothing'. And that's where we thrive. Because we have no fear in our truest form.
"But you know what we saw when we had our scarred hand wrapped around that will-sapping vinyl-clad tramp?
"Fear.
"She can deny it all she wants, but Katalina tasted fear for the first time in a LONG while that night. She knew that her attempt to save her precious maid at the cost of the career and health of the Horsewomen's only open candidate and someone she was /SUPPOSED/ to consider a friend...had finally caught up with her. And you'll notice, ever since then, she's been fucking up. Oh, it may not seem like it, but her underhanded tactics and selfish ways have, regardless of the front the three of them put on for everyone else, caused rifts within the Horsewomen. After all, how can Death expect the False Rider to follow when the woman is so used to leading in almost every other aspect of her life?"
Knowing Farrah, I was about to be redirected to speak about Winter in greater detail, so during my pause, I began to calculate Chaos' next words. Katalina had proven she could be broken many times...Winter was still a wildcard in this whole mess, and arguably the stronger threat. Winterstar's cooperation aside, it would have been ill-advised to focus all my energy on the False Rider when Frosty the Snow Bitch still needed to be taken to task.
Except my spicy camerawoman was... remarkably quiet for a few moments. She kept the camera aimed and properly settled, but she didn't offer much until the silence reached a concerning level.
"And Winter?"
It was all for the sake of making a case in terms of the match, of course, but perhaps Farrah had her own thoughts where Katalina was concerned. It wasn't something she brought up very much. I would have to address that with her after filming, because Katalina was but one of MANY topics Chaos and I disagreed about. But for now, I had a monologue to finish.
"Ah, yes, the Wonderful World of Winter. One could argue I went over the source of Katalina's Bob-Omb implosion a few matches ago...unless you think the world needs a refresher course, Farrah..."
"No, the world knows by now. It is the past. It is the future we are concerned with. It's Winter's turn to be pulled out on the carpet for a well-overdue face-plant."
Sounded like a hint of distaste there on my Spice's behalf!
"Well...sounds like we're not the only ones that has a hate-boner for the Orphanage and hope they get a well-deserved Karma trip of the worst variety. See, Winter, you can claim all you want that Iser's interference was unwarranted or even unwelcome, but the fact is, you capitalized on it. You didn't do what Katie Moicelle would have done and just waited for things to even out again, you went straight for the win. And people always make the cock-ass excuse of 'This is a ruthless business, you gotta be ruthless to get what you want', but all that complaining about Iser last week...and there was no offer for a fair rematch? Come on, Ashley Spinelli, that asterisk on your title win HAS to be bugging you on some level..."
Man, just breaking out ALL the obscure references, aren't I?
"This is where, much as we despise what Katalina did to our daughter, even though we felt she shouldn't have been given a title shot as a reward for causing a life-threatening injury to VoW talent, she at least had reasons beyond herself to do that and at least made it known that, selfish as it was, she at least had bigger-picture implications. Other than spoiling this supposed lifelong dream you had, which we're still not buying given your attitude past that point, what point exactly is there in denying Chaotic Light a rematch with a proper and fair resolution UNLESS this was part of the Orphanage's plan to begin with?"
"Fear? Greed? Guilt? All, some or none of the above? Can't pretend to know what goes on in that woman's head... but I'm betting the lapdog she has following her around on an obvious leash is doing his share of whispering in her ear."
Not-so-thinly-veiled Robinson reference on that one. I get the feeling that she could've been quite a bit more harsh about the so-called Punisher had she a mind. But I knew that look; she was enjoying what she was seeing and hearing.
"But that's the complete irony. Last week, she looked like a little kid going 'I don't care how I won it, it's mine! All mine!' Yet, the moment she realized that she was going to have to tolerate one of the few people that she apparently has less taste for than Zelda Lawson, suddenly she was like 'Well fuck...okay, let's get in it, PARTNER.' Which leads into the biggest difference between Winterstar and Chaotic Light--cohesion."
"Problem is, as off-put as they are by each other, as much as they aren't getting along... you still have the issue of your own partner. And if you don't wake her up, figuratively speaking..."
She adjusts the camera, leading to me turning to the couch as well. Kate is a bit more fitful now, tossing and turning a little harder on the cushions.
"...then whatever standing advantage you got will be gone, sugar."
"Ah, you would think she needs that jarring, but if her determination in the training sessions we've had are any indication, she's as driven to win this match as we are, probably even more so. See, our involvement in this situation is merely as a corrector of balance. If anyone has the most personal vendetta against those two, it's Kate. Veronica's stunt with Stacy and Zelda broke apart two relationships and drew Jamilyn to help her friends. That led to the perfect storm of circumstances that cost Kate her soulmate, her championship opportunity, and some could argue her sanity. But the funny thing is, just when we think she's pushed to her limits, she bounces back stronger than ever. She's got the motivation, she's got the desire. All that she lacked was the opportunity for vengeance...until now. Now, the Oracle has gone Batwoman in order to put Miss Freeze and Catwoman out to pasture."
Yeah, yeah, I KNOW it's not the right superhero, but considering Batwoman's sexuality and the fact that Kate was still going to be my future daughter-in-law, it made sense to push "Kate Kane" forward.
"Eloquently put. If you have that kind of faith in Kate, I can do no less."
She got that smirk back, bringing the camera to bear on me once again.
"The Harambe of it is this...say what you will of us and Kate, but we at least have shown we have the unity of a tag team. We have shown that even with Stacy, because there were no miscommunications, we did everything we could."
And this is where the game changed up.
I took off my helmet and looked into the camera...my eyes back to their normal chocolate brown.
"Katalina...Veronica...I...James...have no personal vendetta against either of you. You two have both done my daughter right in ways I may never be able to repay you for. But come Armed and Dangerous...there will be no Orphanage to take you in...there will be no Horsewomen to end the days...no one is going to save you from the Crimson Nightmare you've awakened. Until his thirst for balance and vengeance is sated...until Kate Bass has a chance to avenge all the wrongs you two have done to her...it's going to eat at me until I allow him what he seeks. The sooner you accept the fate of which you made...the sooner your lives can go back to normal. But until then..."
My eyes shifted to jet black again. No demon...no supernatural force...the schizophrenic entity that I had to create in order to survive.
The Green Goblin to my Norman Osborn, if you will.
"...there are FOUR THINGS you need to remember when dealing with any of the Cornetts...
"The water's wet...
"The sky's blue...
"Chaos is the only constant...
Oh shit, he was gonna switch it up on me.
"And we will fear nothing as we do what's right.
"Because we are the Fly in the Ointment...
"The Monkey in the Wrench...
"THE PAIN IN THE ASS...."
And that's normally when I would have said something about being the FinalHazard to Winterstar lasting more than one night...
if Farrah hadn't done the single most erotic and most astounding thing I've ever seen from a woman.
"The warrior that brings the devil himself to heel, riding on the saddle of the world with the angel on his shoulder offering her light to the bloody road ahead of them both. And who could that warrior be other than the dark god before you all right now? We got not issues, Katalina, and there ain't no love lost between Winter and myself... but Chaos wants what it wants. It is time."
Oh Hell yeah!!
Soon as I got done with Kate, I was taking Farrah upstairs, taking her right in the living room, leading her upstairs, chaining her to the bed, and...
Well, I gotta leave something to your imaginations!
Overmasculine pervs...
"As the wicked angel herself has proclaimed...
"So it must pass.
"Star...Pine...come Armed and Dangerous...we WILL be the FinalHazard of your comeuppance."
I took a deep breath and smiled to Farrah, waiting until she signaled that the camera was off. Which she did, ensuring the recording's being archived twice before shutting the device off... a habit brought on by an old lesson from long ago.
"Wicked angel, huh? Maybe Jay-El will let me borrow those wings of hers so I can look the part..."
"Knowing the way that girl is, she's probably got three pairs of the things. Maybe we could even crash NYCC for a day...knowing Kate, she'll need at least some sort of interesting promo material. No more Batman, though....I'm thinking more Bloodshot."
"I think I could pull off a pretty slick Huntress..."
She says, wandering up to me and sliding her arms around my waist. The armor is a hindrance at this point but if it bugs her she isn't letting it show.
“Huntress, Ivy, Wonder Woman, Phoenix, Rogue....hell, there's a litany of women you could very easily pull off, babygirl."
"You know who Zee would pick for herself... though she mentioned once that if she ever went evil... she'd try for Lady Shiva. Can you imagine?"
"Actually I can...she's got the build and, as of late, the dangerous look to pull it off. With a little help from our cosplay expert over here..."
I looked back to Kate, who finally looked like she was waking up from her unexpected nap.
"I probably should make sure she's okay before taking you upstairs and repaying you for that sexy as hell closing..."
"Let's both make sure. Carry her upstairs, baby, and we'll put some good food in her and have her rest in a proper bed for a while."
Her blinking awake, however, proved less capable for that.
"Doesn't look like that's happening for a while now....but I have a better idea. Why don't you go ahead and start the editing process in the AV room down here while I tend to Kate?"
Honestly, Farrah was much more adept than I was at trimming and encoding files. By the time I'd be done talking to Kate, she'd already have the file on encoding and set up to automatically upload to Youtube for posting the next day.
"Sure thing."
Taking the memory cards from the camera, she pocketed them. When she walked past the couch, though, she stopped to give Kate a big hug and a smile before continuing on to the AV room. It seemed to bring a smile to the blonde's own face, in fact. The last week plus had been particularly hard on her, but now wasn't the time to be a friend.
Now was the time to be a father.
I walked over to her and nudged her. "You finally getting your energy back, kiddo?"
“Fuuuuuuuuuuucccckkk...” She held her head hard as she slowly sat up.
"That's a yes. You even aware of where you are right now?"
Kate shook the cobwebs from her head and looked around. “Not in the ring anymore. Ugh shit... I'm gonna need one hell of a bubble bath...”
"To say the least." I sat down on the chair nearby. "So what's going on, Kate? Truthfully...the way DJ's been acting, she's feeling a little pushed..."
“Away?” Kate closes her eyes and lightly shakes her head. “I'm trying not to. I've tried opening up to her, but it's difficult having the feelings that Jami lived with so easily.”
"Mind explaining that to me?"
“I guess it's better to say the feelings that Jami accepted so easily. Destiny wants a one and only who will be true to her and I desperately want to be that for her, but...”
She blinked in the way you could only do if you were being smacked in the face with a rubber epiphany that you really didn’t want to arrive. Her voice took a more depressed tone as she processed the revalation. “There's so much with all the others that it feels empty without them. Oh God…”
And this was what I feared. Kate had gotten so used to a polyamorous lifestyle with Jami that she hadn't even thought what she had done to DJ was wrong for their relationship.
"Let me ask you something...no half answer. If you had the ability to share Mimi with Tyler, no restrictions, but you had to give up Destiny in the process...what would you do?"
“I couldn't do it. Knowing it would hurt Destiny... it was almost too much after Jeremy revealed everything to her. But she probably told you that story already...”
In all honesty, I was probably one of the lucky few who didn't know the full story by now. All i knew was that something had happened...until today, I was in the dark.
"Katelyn...why do I get the feeling I've been kept in the dark here? It sounds like there's part of this story I haven't been told yet."
The thing was, and take this for what you will, hurting my daughter was a minor thing compared to Kate's sanity. My little girl was a month from 17, she could get over what Kate did. But if Kate wasn't happy in the relationship...that would only cause them both more suffering down the road. I needed to know just how deep Kate's feelings for Destiny were.
The answer I got...wasn't exactly what I wanted to hear.
“Long story short, I cheated on her, Parker, Tyler and Taryn, once each, Jeremy told her, I lost it and took a bunch of pills. I resisted each time, but... well I'm sure you can put two and two together just with this conversation.”
I sighed as I leaned back. This was starting to make Destiny's conversations with Aeyvah make more sense, as well as how distant she seemed with Kate the last few days.
"So you're a sex addict then..."
Whoa, James, bit on the crude side there, huh?
Not exactly.
In an open relationship like what Jami and Tyler have, so long as rules are set, it ain't that big a deal. You get someone like Destiny, though, who's more traditional...suddenly that kind of promiscuity can be a problem, especially if she tried to resist.
Plus, saying it like that…her reaction would tell me exactly how she felt.
"I used to have the same problem too."
Kate blinked once again, this time more out of shock than realization. “Okay, first off, ouch, I do have some pride left and I'd appreciate that remaining intact. Second, there's another piece to that puzzle that you didn't put in place. I won't just give it up to anybody who flashes a smile and buys me a drink. There's been other serious offers and I have turned those down without batting an eye. There's something about those three specifically. Because I care for them. Or "cared" really in the cases of Parker and Taryn.”
She took the bait.
"Never said it had to be random strangers…a sex addiction doesn’t mean you’re seeking it out with anyone without restriction, but it can cause some problems. But that’s not important right now…clearly there are more emotional issues at work here. So based on that and your recent string of tweets, as long as you could still see Tyler, or at the very least Mimi, this wouldn't be an issue...is that what I'm understanding?"
“If all parties were in agreement, maybe. But the chances of that happening are so small, even Vegas wouldn't bet on it.” Kate shot her eyes up real quick. “And that is to stay between you and me.”
"I think it's a little late for that..."
The high soprano voice of Destiny rang from the base of the stairs. She'd heard at least a good chunk of the conversation...
And the way she was staring at Kate told me she was considering that very solution more than she might have initially anticipated.
Kate flipped her head in surprise at first, then flipped her head back and glared at me. “Really? I thought you were better than that.” She sighed, shakin her head and putting her hand to her face. “These two weeks have just been the stuff of nightmares...”
"Hey, don't go blaming him!" Destiny finished the walk downstairs. "I came down here of my own volition. He didn't know I was gonna come down, just like you didn't. So don't even try to pin this on him, alright?"
She took a deep sigh and sat beside Kate, putting her arm around the blonde. "And for the record, honey....I'm more open to the idea than you think....so long as we have a few key rules put in place..."
Kate, however, threw her hands up and stood up quickly. Apparently her indecisiveness was acting up again. “No, I'm done. Nope. Not gonna do this now.” She gathered up her stuff and slung her bag over her shoulder. “Thanks for training with me, James. I'll see you at the show next week.”
"You...have got to be kidding me..."
Destiny looked toward Kate, now visibly irritated.
"I'm sitting here, telling you that I'm opening up to the idea of you being yourself, admitting I was wrong to try to restrict you like that, and you're walking away from me? I'm trying to meet you in the middle here, and you're punishing me for that?"
I shook my head and stood up, putting my hand on Kate's shoulder and pushing her back beside her fiancé. "No, Kate....Farrah and I will head upstairs. It's clear you two need to hammer this out before things get any more complicated." Kate tried to stand up again, but my hand kept her down. "Kate...you can only run so many times before she stops chasing..."
Kate shook her head and looked at Destiny. “You know why I can't. I already told you I can't, I won't go back to that.” She swatted my hand away with a nasty look on her face. “And you, as much as I wish you were my father, you aren't. Don't force me into something I'm not comfortable with.”
Ouch...
“You both know I hate pay-to-win games,” Kate said, readjusting her strap, “and that's exactly what this will be. And that price is way too damn high for me to just go with it. And even then, there's no guarantee that I'll actually get what I want out of it. I'm sorry but I'm not gonna take that chance.” She looked to my daughter, a tear forming in her eye. “It's better if I stick strictly with Destiny until there isn't any doubt in her mind anymore about me.”
"You...you mean that?" Destiny stood up and went to Kate, holding her hands. "I'm sorry I haven't been a very good fi--"
“You finish that sentence, I will call this off.”
Oh fuck you, Kate….now you done pissed me off.
It’s one thing to tell that to someone who’s being stubborn and pig-headed, but someone who was ACTUALLY TRYING TO COMPROMISE WITH YOU?!?!
The more I thought of it, the more I was seriously hoping Destiny would just tell Kate to fuck off. I didn’t need to see my daughter disrespected like that. Instead, Kate brought one of her hands up to Destiny’s cheek. “Of course I mean it. It hurts because I'm not there yet myself, but I do mean it. There's a reason I said everything I did the other night, a reason I'm not doing those hashtag theme days anymore. You're right not to put anymore blind trust in me. Because I can't even give it to myself.”
All Destiny did was hang her head, and I could see why. She was being hushed and told that she couldn't even express herself the way she wanted to for fear of things ending. As much as I'd hoped Farrah would interject at some point, this was getting to be too much.
"But that doesn't mean you've deserved the way I have treated you...I just want things between us to work. You're making a huge sacrifice for me, Kate...one I never should have demanded from you to begin with."
I walked over and put my hand on my daughter's back. I was at least going to TRY to be the better guy here…
"And yet she's telling you she's willing to accept that if it means you and her work things out. Which tells me you two are meant to be together. She's not asking for blind trust, Jadyn...she's asking for faith in her."
"If I didn't have faith, James, would I have proposed to her at all?" Destiny asked me. Part of my heart cut deep when she said that, because it meant she knew the truth about her lineage....
With that, I backed my hand off of her and, following Farrah, walked upstairs slowly.
I don't know if Destiny ever truly knew it, but that day....
That day I lost any right to call her my daughter.
