As Luc Would Have It...

09.05.25 City Hall Gary, Indiana “This is a bunch of horse manure and you know it, Kenny.” A crass statement from Randall Schwartz greets us as we focus on the Masters of the Moscowverse, with Kenny packing away the ballot box and other props into the trunk of their rental as The Entertainer continues to rant. “I put way too much time and effort into this election. They called me crazy, that said that Gary wasn’t actually meant to have an election in 2025, and yet here we are!” “We’re here because you got it in your head that you should be mayor of this city,” Kenny chimes in, shaking his head with a sigh as he slams the trunk door shut. “Which I’m pretty sure was either directly or indirectly inspired by Max Kael running for--” “How dare you, sir,” Randall snaps with a furrowed brow and a glare. “I would never be so derivative, especially of someone we ousted from the Red Army.” “Yeah, I know,” Kenny mutters. “About that. Randall, you do realize that our PRIME contracts have been tied to the Red Army for roughly the past year? Do you remember all that talk around last Colossus?” “Well, yes,” Randall says with a nod. “But keep in mind, buddy, we’ve been taken very good care of by the Army in that year.” “Have we, now?” Kenny raises an eyebrow at his friend’s reply. “Like the way Ivan took such good care of my family when he invited them to Moscow, that they all got either beat up for verbally abused, and now my brother’s missing? Or the way I was given so much care by the Army as a whole after what Max Kael did to me, that I’ve been seemingly abandoned for the past several months even after they took him out of our ranks?” Randall looks more and more nervous with every passing word from his pal, which rises in volume and sheer anger as he continues. “Yeah, such good tender loving care from the Red Army,” Kenny says, his voice suddenly falling off a proverbial cliff to reach a flat, sarcastic statement rather than an angry proclamation. “Give me a break, and sell me a better story.” Kenny is forced to take a breath after that brief ramble, as a noise from his phone alerts him to a text from Alexei Ruslan. He pulls the phone out, reading the message aloud. “Make sure to meet with us in Miami for very important Red Army meeting to address the Almasy and what’s next,” Kenny states flatly. “Also, luck is on your side as you face Luc LaBelle. Make the most of it, I know you’ll make us proud!” Kenny shakes his head with another sigh as he pockets his phone. “Well, that’s just lovely,” Kenny says, turning his attention back to Randall. “I’ll tell you what, though. Part of me considers it an honor that PRIME would have me be the second opponent LaBelle has faced not named Steve Lemieux--” Randall responds to this with a chuckle and a “hon hon hon,” which in turn garners a bit of side-eye from Freeman. The Entertainer just hangs his head in embarrassment as Kenny continues. “At the same time, the bigger question is gonna be how much my heart will be in it. I’ve dealt with a lot of flack from the Red Army the past few months, not the least of which being that you and I were both reduced to task rabbits when they needed us. It’s been a lot to process, and that makes for a mighty big rut I’m stuck in at the moment. But you know what I’m really good at, Randall?” “Digging a deeper hole to get yourself out?” asks The Entertainer, confusing Kenny greatly in the process.

“I--what? No,” Kenny replies with another raised eyebrow toward his comrade. “I’m good at scratching and clawing my way out of a rut. I’ve done it before, and I’m gonna do it again at ReVival 75. Rose faced LaBelle back in Lexington, and I gotta keep the Red Army streak of humiliating ol’ Luc alive. On top of that, I need to prove I can pick up a win after the Bandits took us down that night.” “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t remind me of that,” remarks Randall. “I’m still shaken up by the absolute size of that Hessian fella.” Kenny simply ignores Randall as he presses on. “Besides, I dunno how much I really want to be in the Red Army anymore, but I damn sure don’t want to be kicked out. We saw how it went for the likes of Arthur Pleasant and Max Kael, and I want my departure from the Army to be strictly on my terms, ya know?”

Randall slowly nods his head in acknowledgement, before motioning toward the rental. “So it’s a road trip to Miami, then?” “It’s a road trip to Miami,” Kenny says in agreement, eventually nodding with a smile. “Let’s get outta here before someone finally calls the cops on us for trespassing.” With that, the Masters make haste in entering the vehicle before driving off. With how busy the streets of Gary are at this time of day, they don’t notice a young man keeping a close eye on them before scribbling some notes on a pad with his pen. He reaches into a backpack, pulling out a small voice recorder. “The Masters are off and running,” the man states. “I’ve got to get a bead on what those two are up to, as the past few months have seen strange occurrences all over the world…many of which have been tied to men looking an awful lot like Kenny Freeman and Randall Schwartz. We will have our scoop, though, this I promise you. Kent Ramsey is on it!” With that, the man presses stop on his recorder and puts it--along with the notepad and pen--back into the bag, making a quick exit of his own as we fade to black.