when he’d rather be anywhere else
– Len Wein
September 15, 2015
CLARK COUNTY, NV
The last time the Evans brothers had met like this, the tables were positioned a little differently. They were each on separate sides of the glass, but it had been Rex wearing the jumpsuit. This time it was Tommy, but he was donning that same cocky smile he always had, even as he was dragged along the hallway by the guard. Rex couldn’t help but smile at him, even though everything inside of him was being ripped to pieces.
“How’s my little brother?” He asked with a smirk after picking up the phone. Tommy leaned back in his chair, looking both ways before leaning in close as if telling a secret.
“He runs this shit,” they both start laughing, and Rex is simply happy to see that Tommy is… okay. The last time he did time, things weren’t so good. Blood Money was in there, and to say they didn’t treat him well would be the understatement of the century. “Nah, for real. BM is dead and gone. I get the occasional salty glance for being a nark, but it was worth it. I’m going to come out the other side alright.”
“That’s great news,” Rex breathed a sigh of relief, relaxing in his seat a little. “Have you heard from Jasper?”
“Yeah the suit said everything should go according to plan. My trial is in a couple weeks, and thanks to the information I gave they already have Tyrone and the crooked in custody, so my deal should be good to go,” Rex smiled, happy to hear that his brother really was going to be alright. “Been thinking about handing off the business, too.”
The statement catches Rex off guard. Even after everything he had been through, he didn’t expect his brother change much. Tommy loved his gardening business as much as Rex loved wrestling. He assumed it be as impossible to walk away from as wrestling was for Rex.
“If that’s what you want, I think it’d be for the best,” he responds, trying not to delve too much into it as he casts a glance at the guard over Tommy’s shoulder. “Lil’ D?” Tommy responds with a nod, and Rex continues with a furrowed eyebrow. “You know I probably should have put two and two together myself, but you never told me who his older brother was.
“Oh, uh-” Tommy suddenly looks uncomfortable, clearing his throat and then laughing nervously. “Yeah I figured it was best for the well being of my best friend that I don’t tell my brother that his brother tried to kill him in prison,” he barely has time to finish the sentence before they both start laughing. It’s followed by an awkward silence as Rex fidgets with the phone cord. “So are you going to tell me or do I have to bring it up myself?”
“I don’t think you need to be bothered by my trivial bullshit,” Rex responds, shifting his weight in the metal chair.”
“Your trivial bullshit? Evan fucking suspended you for something I did,” Tommy leans in, talking with his hands as he pounds his fingers into the table. “Did you tell him that you had nothing to do with it? That I just said I wanted fresh air and would stay on the plane? That I went behind your back for personal reasons not because you wanted to hurt him?”
Rex doesn’t respond, his eyes simply grow distant as he finds a certain blemish on the table to stare at. Tommy continues, but he mostly drowns out the words. He didn’t want to admit how upset he was. He didn’t want to show that Evan could have any sort of effect on him at all, especially to his brother who didn’t understand what he was trying to accomplish anyway.
“I may not agree with whatever it is you’re trying to do with Harrison, but I’m damn sure not going to let him throw it all away for something that I did,” Tommy stares at him, offering him silence until Rex looks back up, making sure that he was still listening. “You might not think very highly of yourself, but even from the basement I can tell that you’ve changed since you took that break. And if he can’t see that you could literally be the best friend he has ever had, regardless of the inevitable drama that being friends with Rex fucking Evans entails, then he doesn’t deserve your friendship at all, bro.”
“Yeah,” Rex just nods, drifting back to his blemish on the table. “But maybe he’s right, you know? Maybe people like you and I can’t ever change-”
“When’s the last time you had a drop of alcohol, Rex? When’s the last time you mindlessly beat someone within an inch of their life without being between the sound of two bells, huh? Three years ago you were, no offense, a white trash drug addict living in low-rent housing and now you’re the owner of an entire fucking business enterprise that has their hands in six different cookie jars, driving around in fucking Ferari’s and having your own home in four different states,” Rex glances up at sees a genuine smile on Tommy’s face. “Rex we all fuck up, and the Evans brothers know how to fuck up in a colossal way. But if you think people can’t change you’re an idiot.”
Rex nods a little, repositioning himself as he had unwittingly began to slouch in the chair. He takes a deep breath, but Tommy speaks again.
“And if you really want to prove to Evan that everything you did to him last year wasn’t the real you, if you really want to get Evan Harrison to call you his fucking friend…” Tommy shakes his head at this, chuckling because he’s had a diverse history with the man himself. “Then you need to just nut up and do something about it. Go out there and show him what you’ve showed me the past few months, that no matter where you want to be you’re there when he needs you.”
October 12, 2012
RIKERS ISLAND, NY
He hadn’t been expecting any visitors that day. It was two days before his big match with Merlyn, the first match that actually had some sort of implications since he had signed on with Code Red Wrestling. Merlyn was a CRW legend, and Rex knew that he would have no problems running straight through him on his quest for the top. So he hadn’t scheduled any meetings with Gust, and he certainly didn’t have any friends waiting for him here in New York.
So he was surprised when he got the announcement that someone was waiting for him at the phones, even more surprised when he saw his mother leaning against the back wall. His heart sank. He had made sure when he was at Wisco that she would never come visit him, he didn’t want her to see him like this. He had assumed transferring to Rikers would make sure it’d never happen. But there she was, biting the end of her sleeve as a tear dripped down her face.
His own lip trembled a bit. He wasn’t happy that she had to seem him in his county blues, but he hadn’t seen her in months. He knew he had broken her heart, but as she looked away and walked right out the door he felt his own breaking. He stopped moving, watching as she left. Prisoners were escorted back to gen pop as soon as their visitors left, so he assumed he’d be taken back right away with her leaving. But as he turned to the guard, a simple nod in the direction of the booth filled him with dread. If his mom was here, and now she was leaving, who was in the booth?
The tear finally worked up the courage to slide down his cheek as he rounded the corner, seeing the obnoxiously bleached hair of his baby brother. It’d been far too long since he checked in on him. Perhaps his biggest regret outside of… the incident. He breathed heavily, his lip trembling again as he lowered himself into the seat. They each reached for the phones, but Tommy was looking at him with an inexplicable expression. One he knew all too well, but had never seen on his little brother.
“Hey, Tommy,” he choked out, clearing his throat. “How’s my little brother?” Rex tries to stop his lip, digging into his leg with the tips of his fingernails. But Tommy doesn’t say anything. He just stares at him with that look. That inexplicable look. “I-I know… I know we haven’t talked in awhile. I’ve been trying to find the right things to say.”
“No you haven’t,” the words were filled with venom, but there was something else laced within. Sadness, hurt.
“What do you mean? I think about you all-” he’s cut off by the other phone smashing violently against the glass. The guard on the other side moves closer along the wall, looking at the Evans brothers with intent.
“Shut the fuck up, Rex,” he was fighting back emotions of his own, his own lip might have quivered a bit even. “I fucking hate you. Everything about you is rotten to the core.”
Another tear slid down the cheek of the older Evans brother. He knew what his brother said was true, but he never wanted Tommy to know that about him. He wanted to be his brother’s rock, his idol. But now he was talking to him through a two-way phone with glass between them.
“You’ve made me promises since the day I was old enough to understand them, and never ONCE did you keep them. You told me you’d never let him hit me again when I was five, but he did. When I got older, you said that you wouldn’t let him hit her anymore either. You promised me you’d get us all out of there, but you never did. You said you were just leaving for the weekend, but you never came back. You’ve only ever cared about yourself, and that will NEVERchange,” he was crying now, choking out his words with as much venom as he could through the tears. “I fucking hate you Rex Evans.”
Tommy slammed the phone on the table with authority, and the visitors door opened again. As Tommy stood up so did Rex, trying to shout through the phone but a figure by the door caught his attention. His mother was walking back into the room, with more tears. This time he noticed the bruises on her cheek, and she was followed by another figure. His heart sank even deeper than it had before as Allen Evans walked into the room. He walked over to his window and grabbed Tommy by the arm with force.
His brother hadn’t hung up the phone properly, so Rex was able to hear the faint voice of his father whisper through a snarl. “We’re here to see your stupid statue, not to see your pathetic brother. Don’t ever let me catch you talking to him again,” he snarled, and pushed Tommy towards his mother. Rex was biting his lip now. The tears were gone, replaced with a rage Rex hadn’t felt in a long time.
That was the moment he realized he had neglected his own brother for years. Tommy was his one true friend, but he was never there for him, not when he really needed him. He had good intentions, but he never followed through. He was always too caught up in his own problems, his own issues. He never expected his mother to go back to Allen. But none of that mattered, because Rex realized that a true friend would always be there, even if he wanted to be anywhere else.
September 16, 2015
LAS VEGAS, NV
It was the third or fourth time he heard the song ‘She Sells Sanctuary’ in that strange, autotuned voice. It confused him every time, because she had said it was a sample of ‘90s covers, and The Cult released the original in 1985. But it was Annie, so he just laughed it off. She was a friend, and he gave his friends record deals. It’s what he did. Not like he was trying to compete with Capitol or Universal. He just wanted to carve out his own little piece of the industry, and give unheard voices a place on the digital market.
So far he was successful, since he brought on Keith Fuller to handle everything related to the label. He’d pop by everyone in a while, approve or deny things. He didn’t deny very often, releasing tracks digitally wasn’t a very big risk but it was definitely worth the possible reward. And Keith knew how to make anyone with the slightest bit of talent sound like a Grammy nominee.
But today, sitting there listening to Annie’s autotuned renditions of ‘90s songs (and The Cult), he couldn’t shake a feeling of annoyance. It wasn’t at her or her music, in fact it likely had nothing to do with the label at all. But as he settled into the leather couch behind Keith his leg wouldn’t stop shaking, vigorously at that. He bit down on his bottom lip, clamping his eyes shut, trying to figure out what had him so out of sorts.
He didn’t want it to be him[/]. He didn’t want it to be wrestling at all. He only came back for one reason, and with that out the window it was pointless for him to care anymore. But deep down he knew that he couldn’t stop fighting people. Deep down, he knew he couldn’t stop trying to make up for everything he did to [i]him. So he finally cleared his throat and jumped to his feet, shoving a hand through his disheveled beard and grunting loudly, almost growling as he paced back and forth a bit. Keith turned around, tilting his head and glancing at his boss.
“Fuck it, man,” he finally said, reaching down and unplugging his phone. “You good Keith?”
“Yeah dog, what’s up?” Keith asked, his chair turning as his eyes followed his boss right out the room. He shook his head at the lack of response, muttering beneath his breath “alright then, catch you later.”
It only took him a couple of minutes to get to the Luxor after hopping behind the wheel of his 2015 Challenger Hellcat. He dropped the keys off with valet at the hotel and rushed around to the arena side. He had his hood pulled far up so as to not get noticed, by the fans or security. He wasn’t sure how enforcing they’d be with the suspension he was handed the week before.
“How much for a ticket, man?” He asked from beneath his hood, grabbing his wallet and glancing at a scalper.
“Buck fitty, my mans,” Rex immediately laughed, glancing up and pulling his hood up slightly.
“One hundred and fifty dollars for nosebleeds, are you fucking kidding me?” He tensed his cheek muscles, like the man had probably seen on television a hundred times. The scalper’s fist immediately drew to his mouth, his other hand extending out as if resisting the temptation to reach out and touch him.
“Ohhhh shit, my mans, it’s you! Make it a buck an’ we square!” Rex shakes his head, pulling his hand through his beard before pulling out three bills.
“I don’t need special treatment,” he hands the money to the man, snatching the ticket and walking quickly into the crowd after pulling his hood back down. Security barely even glances at him as he makes his way through. Once they saw he didn’t have any carry ins, they lost interest completely and just peeled apart his ticket.
“Enjoy the show!” The woman said laxidasically, and he almost scoffed but decided not to make a scene. He made it into the arena just in time to see Larry Gowan’s hand get raised in victory, which made him smile just a bit. He didn’t know either of the Knights very well, but he liked them. He wasn’t sure why. He leaned against the wall, watching the clip of last year’s Queen of Sin and then watching Brytain’s announcement.
I should be down there. He thought as he glanced at the empty ring, his fists clenching at the thought of stepping between the ropes. Rex no longer shied away from the fact that he had a lot of problems: alcoholism, mental diseases. But his love for fighting was the one thing that actually scared him. Because there wasn’t anything he could do about it, and no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t stop.
And then ‘Helter Skelter’ blared over the sound system. Rex’s jaw instinctively tightened, and he shifted weight as his whole body got tense. “I stand by that decision, you know” were the first words out of his mouth. He gritted his teeth at that, but he knew that Evan thought he was doing what was right. He listened to him drone on and on about this and that, and it was only making him frustrated. More frustrated that he suspended him, but also frustrated that he came. He didn’t need this. There were literally thousands of other promotions out there in the world that would undoubtedly kill to have Rex Evans on their roster.
He was just about to turn around when all the lights went out. He heard somebody a few rows down from him scream “take this shit back,” but Rex knew better than that. His heart started to race, but he didn’t know why. When the lights came back on he saw a figure standing there. He couldn’t tell who it was, but it made him hesitate. He knew he should just leave, walk away. Evan didn’t see him as a friend, and he probably never would. Perhaps after everything that they had been through, it would be impossible.
But he glanced at the screen and saw a familiar face. Without hesitation he pushed off the wall and started making his way down the steps quickly. Someone must have noticed him because they started cheering loudly and yelling move to everyone in front of him. Rex’s heart started to beat out of his chest as he thought about the man on the screen. It was a man who had helped, however proxied it was, brainwash his own brother against him. A man that helped cause the rift between them that almost caused him to lose Tommy forever. A man that was known for working very closely with one of the few people in the world Rex wholeheartedly hated.
If wrestling fans weren’t so diehard, he probably could have caught a couple of legal cases at the way he pushed and clawed his way through the crowd. But he knew he had to get there, he had to stop him. He didn’t know if Marko was there solely to hurt Evan, or if there was some deeper meaning. Perhaps Brandon was just lying in wait, hoping, praying, expecting Rex to jump that barricade. But he didn’t care. He knew there was a very good chance that he’d get his with that familiar busaiku knee strike as soon as he stepped over. But it didn’t matter. He had to try.
And within a second of hopping the wall he was under the bottom rope, using his hands to propel his momentum upward and hurl his shoulder as hard as he could into the ribs of Chernobyl’s Masterpiece. A quick glance at the rattled chief was all he need to make sure he was okay, before he went on the offensive and started thrusting stiff fists right down into his demon’s visage. He was unrelentless. Perhaps he was taking a lot more out on Flins than simply preventative measures.
He wavered a bit, and it was just the opening Marko needed to push away and slide under the bottom rope. It became immediately apparent that Marko had no intention of fighting Rex, so whatever job he was sent here to do had nothing to do with him, and perhaps only arose as a product of his suspension.
After watching the demon from his past retreat up the ramp he turned to Evan, several different emotions coursing through him. He breathed heavily, his knuckles slightly bloodied and his heart running a mile per minute. He bit his tongue and reached out, helping Harrison to his feet. Everything he had to say he said with his eyes, staring into his friend’s before dropping to the mat and disappearing back up the ramp the way he came.
September 17th, 2015 – Unstoppable Records; Las Vegas, Nevada
The last couple of weeks have really opened my eyes to a few things. When I came back in July, I told myself and everybody else that it was all just because Evan asked me. I said it was just for the paycheck. But I think I’m finally coming to grips with the fact that that was a boldfaced lie. But I wasn’t just lying to all of you, I was lying to myself.
I didn’t want to believe that I need wrestling as much as it’s clear to me now I do. I’ve never been happier than I am spending time with my son, and it was great breaking away and living as normal a life as I could for those few months. But deep down inside I knew that I was missing something. And being suspended last week reminded me just how much I crave stepping between those ropes and going to fucking war.
Which is exactly what each and every one of us do, each and every week. Our theme music hits, we walk down that ramp, and we step between the ropes into a fucking warzone. We’re putting our minds, our bodies and our spirits on the line every time we walk into that ring. And I wouldn’t want it any other way. Because I live for this shit, and I know that everybody else back there does to.
Those are the words I said to you in preparation for our first encounter, Kenol, which was nearly two years ago. In retrospect it was a stupid thing to say, as the results of that match states pretty explicitly. But losing that match isn’t what makes the sentiment so idiotic. It’s that I would imply you were capable of walking into a match with any mindset other than being prepared for war.
Billy you might not think people pay much attention to you, but I’ve made it a habit to keep a fairly close eye on anyone that has proven their ability to nearly decapitate me with nothing but their arm. And I have a feeling I’m not the only one. DPI makes it difficult for anyone to ignore the League of Extraordinary Evil, because he’s so loud. But I don’t think I’m in the minority when I say I pay attention to what the two of you do out there for a completely different reason.
People seem to forget that even though you’ve tethered yourself to an interesting partner, you’re a dangerous man. They seem to forget that you took Drake Mosa to the absolute limit, and forced him to cheat just to move past you. And I know you’re probably well aware that everyone is forgetting about what Kenol Billy is really capable of. What better way to remind them than by beating me again?
So as we march into battle this time Billy, I’m not going to make the overwhelming underestimation that you need to be told to prepare for war. I’m just going to tell you that I am prepared for it. Because the Billy I pinned a couple of weeks ago was not that same Billy that pinned me a couple of years ago. And vice versa.
But this week, I think the right Kenol Billy and the right Rex Evans are going to show up, so perhaps the warning should go out to everyone in the Luxor. Perhaps they need to be told that on Wednesday, they’re going to witness a brutal fucking war.
– ‘The Avatar of Brutality’ Rex Evans
September 20, 2015
OCEAN CITY, MD
Rex breathes heavily from behind the wheel of his rental car, looking down at the bag on his lap. He never saw himself doing something like this, flying cross country with illegal drugs in his bag. Perks of owning a private jet. Another sigh and he pushes open the door, glancing up at the house he parked in front of before walking up the path.
He needs this. He brings his fist up to the door, knocking a couple of times before pulling the bag up and glancing at it. After a few seconds the door opens and Rex is greeted by a confused expression on the face of Evan Harrison. His eyes fall to the bag of greens and it’s unclear if his look changes to one that is more confused, or perhaps just indifferent because… weed. “You want me to kick her off the brand?”
The Rex Evans 