Unfinished Business Part I: Return on Investment

Ruben Ricardo León: Chuck, I do still respect one thing; your right to go fuck yourself. If I ever see you again it'll be too soon.

Ruben spit on the mask once again and climbed out of the ring, heading back up the ramp to the back. He knew that by now the IWF production team, probably at the behest of Chuck Matthews, the man he had just slammed on national television – Chuck's own TV network, no less – would have cut to a commercial in order to figure out how to deal with what had just happened. He liked surprising people, and for a normally quiet and reserved man he had sure put on a show for the crowd. It was a shame it was the last time any of them would see him on television.

As he passed through the curtain, Matthew Young was waiting to go out for his match against Sean Libby that was due to take place next on the show. Ruben didn't even take the time to look at him as he passed by, he and Matt had never even spoken, so he didn't feel the need to wish him luck. Had he stopped to look, he would have seen a look of pure shock and confusion on his face.

Ruben pushed aside the production team member that was responsible for telling the wrestlers when to start their entrance and walked off in to the corridor. As he strode back to his locker room, every person that he walked past turned to stare at him. Eventually he reached his locker room, and shoved the door open. His mood was no better than when he had left the stage.

He slung his bag on to the bench and sat down next to it, resting his head in his hands and letting out a long sigh. It was only now that he stopped moving that he realised that he was shaking with rage. Leaning back he took a deep breath to calm himself down.

Ruben Ricardo León: I did it. I fucking did it. I showed that asshole that I won't be pushed around...

A quiet ringing noise interrupted Ruben. He looked around to see what the source of the ringing was, and remembered that his cellphone was in his jacket pocket in the locker behind him. He stood up and opened the locker, grabbing the phone. The display on the front showed him that Maria was calling him, so he flipped it open and held it up to his ear.

Ruben Ricardo León: Hey, baby.

Maria: Ruben! What the hell was that about?!

Ruben Ricardo León: Oh, you saw that, huh?

Maria: You idiot, the whole fucking country saw that! I knew you were going to leave, but did you really have to do it like that? You have to go back out there and fight Brandon in front of that crowd. You'll be lucky if they let you get to the ring before they tear you apart themselves.

Ruben Ricardo León: I'll take my chances...

Maria: I thought you agreed that you were going to be civil about this and just leave quietly? I thought you told people that you were retiring to become a trainer?

Ruben Ricardo León: I was, and I did.

Maria: Then why the fuck did you go and do that?

Ruben Ricardo León: You saw the show, you heard what I said. Chuck Matthews ruined it for everyone. No-one treats me like that and gets away with it.

Maria: But what about the rest of the locker room? I thought some of those guys were your friends?

Ruben Ricardo León: Still are. Like I said, it's Chuck's fault. If you've got a problem with it, he's the guy to talk to.

Maria: Ugh, you're fucking impossible sometimes. When will you be home?

Ruben Ricardo León: Well I have my match with Brandon later and then I want to say goodbye to a few of the guys, but after what I said I don't know how many of them are going to want to say goodbye...

Maria: Fine, see you later.

Ruben went to answer his girlfriend, but found that she had hung up before he could do so. Shrugging, he flipped the cellphone shut and tossed it in to his bag. As he thought about it, he admitted to himself that he probably could have picked a better time for his little tirade. Certainly a lot better than twenty minutes before his last ever match in the IWF and the United States. He leaned back on that thought, turning it over and over in his head. His last match, and he certainly hadn't won himself any new friends in the crowd or the locker room.

Ruben Ricardo León: Whatever happens, I'm going to make it a match to be remembered by. I owe the fans that, whether they want to see it right now or not.


Ruben stared out through the rain spattered window at the blur of the street lights going past as the taxi made its way through the streets of Houston, from the Minute Maid Park back to Ruben's house on the outskirts. One of the good things about his last match being in the city that he lived was that he hadn't needed to sit in the airport for hours waiting for his flight.

Normally he didn't mind that sort of thing. Ruben liked interacting with his fans, and he was one of the easier of the IWF roster to pick out in a crowd, thanks to his insistence that he always wear his mask in public, and often in private too. Ruben was sure that even Maria didn't really understand his reasons for wearing the mask all the time, but it had become like a second skin to him. He felt naked without it, and his girlfriend was the only person who had seen him without the mask in years.

This time, however, he was glad to not have to deal with the fans. The match with Brandon had been one of the best of Ruben's career, and by the end he had won the crowd back around. The standing ovation proved that well enough, but still, he couldn't bare the thought of facing all of the questions he would have got. 'Because I wanted to get back at Chuck' seemed like less of a justifiable reason for his actions when he had to say it to another human being, and he was sure they wouldn't understand.

But the match...what a match. He had finally beaten his old nemesis, or at least as close to a nemesis as he had ever had in America, Brandon Macdonald, in a legitimate fight. He thought back to the moment when he cashed in his championship briefcase and pinned Brandon to win the IWF Championship just a few weeks earlier, and he had been elated then of course, but it hadn't felt like a real victory, both because he used the briefcase just after Brandon had finished another match and because of the drug problems he was suffering at the time. But now, he had his legitimate victory, and he was happier for that. He couldn't help but feel that if he hadn't picked up the win that night that he would always have had unfinished business, and right now Ruben had no desire to come back to the USA any time soon. He really didn't need that hanging over him.

He wondered if this would be the last time he would see Houston. He had decided to keep hold of his house, for Maria's sake more than anything else but he had no intentions of spending any more time in it. It was a shame, really, as it was a nice city to live in, but he missed Mexico a lot. It had been months since he had even been home, and he was itching to move back in to his house in Villahermosa, and to see all of his old friends again.

Ruben smiled to himself at that thought, just as the car pulled up at the end of his driveway. He paid the taxi driver and got out, holding his bag over his head to stop from getting wet from the rain. It was unusual that it rained at all in Houston, but for it to rain this heavily was a rare event indeed. It certainly didn't make him want to stick around any longer than he had to. He glanced up at the house as he walked up the driveway and noticed that there were still lights on. It was pushing 1am, and Maria wasn't usually up this late. Ruben could tell that he was going to be in trouble.

He pushed on up the path until he reached the front door, which he unlocked as quietly as he could. There was always the chance that she was asleep and had simply forgotten to turn the light off, and if that was the case the last thing that Ruben wanted to do was wake her up after she had been so mad at him on the phone. The door opened smoothly and, more importantly, quietly and Ruben snuck inside. He was soon stopped in his tracks, however, as Maria was waiting for him on the other side of the door, a bilious look on her face.

Maria: You're back then.

Ruben Ricardo León: Yeah.

Maria: Good.

And that was it. Ruben had braced himself for a tirade from his girlfriend about what had happened, but instead she just turned and walked off to the bedroom. Ruben was reminded of the phrase 'I'm not angry, I'm disappointed.' Either way he was glad that he didn't have to face another fight right now. His flight to Mexico City left Houston at midday the next day, and he hadn't packed any clothes for the flight down.

He followed Maria up to the bedroom to find that she was already in bed. He glanced at her, but it seemed that she was already asleep, or at least was pretending to be. He moved over to the closet that lined one of the walls of the room and removed a large suitcase from inside. He heard a noise behind him as he began filling it with clothes and turned to see that Maria was now sitting up in bed. So she had been pretending to be asleep. She could be so childish sometimes.

Ruben Ricardo León: Why are you looking at me like that?

Maria: Because you're an idiot. I can't believe you did that.

Ruben Ricardo León: Well, I did. And I don't regret it. Someone needed to put that arrogant ass in his place, and everyone else there is too pussy-whipped to say it because they're scared they'll lose their jobs. Chuck Matthews is a bully, and I don't let people push me around, and I wasn't going to let him start thinking that he could have everything his way and there would be no repercussions. You know what they say, with great power comes great responsibility. Well, all I saw was power and none of the responsibility. It was dangerous.

Maria: So what, do you expect that now you've given Chuck a bit of a ticking off, shown him up and walked out that he's suddenly going to change and be nice to the locker room?

Ruben Ricardo León: No, but the man thought he was invincible, especially with Corey Casey in tow, and he needed to be shown that he's just as vulnerable as the rest of us. And he thinks he's the master manipulator, that no-one can outsmart him. He needed taking down a peg or two in that respect too.

Maria: Jesus, Ruben, you were singing the guy's praises less than a month ago!

Ruben Ricardo León: And I was wrong. That was before I realised what a snake the guy is. I should have seen it coming all along, but the guy sure pulled the wool over everyone's eyes. I'm glad to see the back of him.

Maria: But don't you see? You did exactly what he wanted. You gave him a reaction. I'm not denying he is a jerk. He hoodwinked me just as much as you, but guys like that thrive on getting a rise out of people. They do what they do to see how pissed off people get, and Chuck, it seems, is no exception. He got what he wanted, he got you to lower yourself to his level. Sure, you got a parting shot in that he's not going to forget in a long while, but he made you in to someone that you're not. I know you, Ruben, and what you did at Battle Grounds tonight...that's not you. You're not enough of an asshole to do that. You're too honourable.

Ruben Ricardo León: If I'm so honourable why did I go behind the back of a friend and sign a contract with another company? Even if he isn't my friend any more. Everyone has the potential to do bad things, Maria. You've only known me a relatively short amount of time. Sure, all you've seen of me is Ruben the good guy. Ruben the honourably guy. And yeah, that's a big part of who I am, and I like to think that being with you has made me a better person still, but at the same time I've done things in the past that I regret. Things that I can never undo. I've no doubt that there will be more of them in the future, too. It's not as black and white as you make it out to be. The yin and the yang. Every good person has some bad in them and vice versa. Even Chuck and Corey have some good in them somewhere. I hear Corey's wife just had twins for example, and despite being a psychopath, by all accounts I here he's actually an OK dad.

Maria: I guess you're right.

There was a pause, during which time Ruben went back to packing and Maria's eyes dropped towards the bed she was sat in. Eventually, she spoke again, her voice a lot meeker than before, now that her anger had subsided somewhat.[/color]

Maria: ...Ruben?

Ruben Ricardo León: Yeah?

Maria: Do we have to leave Houston?

Ruben stopped packing again and turned back around to face Maria.

Ruben Ricardo León: Maria, we've been over this. It's the best move for me.

Maria: But do we really need to leave Houston? We're as near as damnit to the border and you fly all over the place for IWF shows anyway. Can't you just base yourself here?

Ruben Ricardo León: It's not as simple as that. I'm contracted to do all sorts of television appearances and media interviews. If I carried on living up here I'd never be hone.

Maria said something under her breath that Ruben didn't hear.

Ruben Ricardo León: What was that?

Maria: I said you're never home now! What difference does it make to me if you're not home because you're in Mexico rather than New York?

Ruben Ricardo León: That's unfair! I offer to take you with me all the time!

Maria: That's not the same. I just want to spend some quality time alone with you but you're always busy with IWF stuff. Anyway, you know I have a job too, I can't just up and leave whenever I feel like it.

Ruben Ricardo León: It's my job, Maria! Or at least it was. They were paying me good money to do that, and I wasn't going to make a half-assed attempt at it.

Maria leapt up out of the bed.

Maria: If they paid you good money why did you have to take this other stupid job?!

Ruben Ricardo León: Because it was better money. And I was sick of the bullshit. I'm homesick Maria. I miss Mexico.

Maria: So because you miss your home I have to leave mine? Can't you see that I'm the one making all the sacrifices here? I'm sacrificing my life, my friends, my job, my HOME to move with you to Mexico so you can pursue your dream of making sacks of fat cash.

Ruben Ricardo León: You're being unreasonable.

Maria: I'M being unreasonable?! It's you that being fucking unreasonable, Ruben. Do you even think about anybody but yourself?

Ruben Ricardo León: Of course I do! How could you say that? If you had such a problem with all this do you think that maybe 11 hours before we're due to leave wasn't the best time to tell me about them?

Maria: I tried to bring them up with you before, but every time you just dismissed them! You are just impossible sometimes!

Maria stormed out of the room. Ruben walked to the door and called after her.

Ruben Ricardo León: Where are you going?

The reply came from down the hallway.

Maria: To stay with my mother!

It was followed by the sound of the front door slamming.

Ruben Ricardo León: Fine, if that's how she wants it, I'll go to Mexico by myself!

Ruben returned to filling the suitcase, a look of pure contempt in his eyes.


The next morning, Ruben awoke early, still feeling angry from the night before. He had not slept well and this had not done anything to improve his demeanour. He checked his cellphone to see if Maria had left him any messages. She hadn't, but there was a text message from her mother. It simply read:

'I don't know what you did but you've really screwed it up this time. She's really pissed at you.'

Ruben rolled his eyes and slid out of bed. He had never really gotten on with Maria's mother, and the last thing he needed was shit from her right now too. One thing she was right about though was that Maria MUST have been pissed off with him. She never left it this long to text or call after an argument. Unless her mother had stopped her of course, in which case he was truly screwed. He was still too annoyed himself to care, however, and he had to leave for the airport soon.

Ruben knew he was making the right decision by going home. He had to leave. He couldn't face being in the United States any longer than he had to, and his flight to Mexico was leaving in a few hours. If this meant leaving Maria behind then...well, it was a shame. Ruben really did love Maria, but she was being selfish. If she didn't understand just how important going back to Mexico was to him, then maybe he was better off without her.

At least, that's what he tried to tell himself. Though, no matter how many times he repeated it in his head, he couldn't quite manage to make himself believe it.


Ruben Ricardo León: Hey Chuckles! Did you miss me? I bet you never thought you'd see my face again, huh?

Well, I'm back, and I'm here to stay. You see, Chuck, the thing is, as much as I thought it was over when I got in my parting shot at Battle Grounds X, I was wrong. I was wrong because what you did, how you tried to fuck me over, well the rot set in deep. At the time I thought I'd cured the cancer that was plaguing my life. The cancer you caused.

The best way to kill the cancer is to cut out the tumour. Or so I thought. When I cut off my ties to IWF, to America and moved back to Mexico I thought that would be the end of it. I thought I had tied up all the loose ends. But in truth, moving back to Mexico was the worst decision I ever made. All that happened was that the cancer spread.

I went down to Mexico and I lost my life. Maria lasted about two days there and moved back to Houston soon after. I was wrestling in a shoddy, second rate promotion. I never had a moment's peace, constantly hounded by the press and the public.

All because of you. If it wasn't for you and your narcissism I would never have had to leave the IWF in the first place. It's your fault that I got in to that mess Chuck, and that's why I came back. I thought our business was finished, but I guess I was wrong.

To cut a long story short, Chuck; you ruined my life, so I'm back here to fuck up yours. You think you're the smartest man in wrestling? Well, you're wrong, buddy, and you're about to start finding that out on a regular basis, just like you did at Battle Grounds last week. And if you think THAT was bad then you've got a whole lot of surprises coming your way in the next few weeks.

I bet it was good to see your old buddy Craig too, huh? I must admit that was a very happy coincidence. Just as I came back to the USA I saw that he was joining IWF. He seemed like a man on a mission; a mission that just happened to coincide with mine. Initially he was reluctant. I'm sure you know that like me he's very much a lone wolf, but when I flashed the cash he was suddenly a lot more cooperative. We decided to pool our resources; that is, my brain and his brawn, and we're going to make your life hell.

It's funny how money talks, isn't it? Something I'm sure you know very well. And the one good thing that happened to me down in Mexico was that I made a fuck ton of money. I just want to jump in before the whole 'LOL a lot of money in Mexico is nothing in the States' jokes that will inevitably come after and say that in this case, you're wrong. In a few months I made something to the tune of $10million. All things considered, I suppose I didn't do too badly, huh?

Bet you're thinking that I should be grateful to have earned all that money thanks to you, but I'm not. I'd give up every single cent if it meant I could have Maria and my old life back. But, seeing as how that doesn't seem to be on the cards right now I might as well use my new found wealth to fuck your day up. And that's where Craig came in. Though I'm sure with time I could have convinced him to do it for free, but I couldn't wait for ever.

The next step in my little plan is to take your precious tag titles from you. I would like to apologise to Hawk at this point. I got no beef with you, birdman. Other than your claim to be the greatest high flyer of all time. El Huracan says otherwise, but that's a feud for another time. All I'm interested in right now is humiliating Chuck Matthews.

And I've barely gotten started.

Refrigerator.