Black Friday

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Marie Jones

On Camera

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I hate to say I told you so…

…actually, no, I rather enjoy making you all eat crow!  I told you that your precious Abigail Lindsey knew about my whereabouts when Kimberly Williams had kidnapped me.  I told you she was all part of the scheme all along.  I told you and you didn’t believe me.  But now the truth is out there.  All thanks to one man who helped me to finally get the truth out there.

Silas Mason.

Samantha Hodgson kept running her mouth about getting the truth out there but she never got the job done.  Silas Mason got the job done and now I am one step closer towards my ultimate goal of redemption, I am closer to the End of the Year Special when I will gain my revenge inside of the squared circle by beating the hell out of Serenity.

Changes had to be made in order for me to reach to the point I am today.  Nothing personal against The Good Movement.  That’s what I cannot seem to get into their heads.  My problem was never with The Good Movement.  My problem was with Samantha Hodgson.  Ethan Von Aaron just took it personally.

That’s his problem.  He can be upset over losing me all he wants, my eyes are on the prize now and right now the immediate prize is the IWC World Tag Team Championship and my tag team partner in this lethal lottery style tournament is none other than Alana Starr.

How ironic, isn’t it?  My former Good Movement running buddy is my tag team partner.  It’s not just ironic, but it’s real bad, real bad for the other tag teams in this match, because we’re going to win it all.  There’s no stopping us.

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Scene 1
Off Camera

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Thanksgiving is a time of the year for many families to reconnect, but it can also be a stressful time as well.  Just because the entire family shows up with bells on, so to speak, with their brightest of smiles and joy and cheer all over doesn’t mean that it’s true.  That joy and cheer, that big smile, many times it’s a façade, it’s a front to hide the truth behind very real issues going on behind the scenes with the family.

That is never more true than with the Jones Family.  Every Thanksgiving there’s always something, there’s always that elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about.  There’s always a problem that one of them keeps hidden and the others ignore just to maintain the peace through the holidays.

This year the situation revolves around the young woman making her way up to the front door of the Boston, Massachusetts estate of the Jones family, the eldest of the Jones daughters, “The Phoenix” Marie Annabelle Jones.

Marie Annabelle Jones had, for the longest time, been a member of The Good Movement.  Recently she left The Good Movement due to frustrations over, in her opinion, being ignored by her manager Ethan Von Aaron and Samantha Hodgson.  She went to her mother for advice, seeking better representation in the Independent Wrestling Cartel.

That’s where things got dicey for the Jones family.  The other members of the Jones family, namely her sister Jessica and her aunt Kayla, wanted Marie to ditch the corrupt managers altogether, and they had hoped Angelica would guide her in that direction.  Instead Angelica sent young Marie to Silas Mason, a man who is potentially worse than Ethan Von Aaron, all nice and wrapped up in a bow tie.

This isn’t the first questionable decision about Marie’s future made by Angelica Jones.  Marie began dating Michael Bauer and Angelica has not only allowed it to happen, despite evidence of his previous wrong-doings, but has openly encouraged it, due primarily to his being a member of Angelica’s Apocalypse faction in GCW.

So now a rift has been created within the Jones family.  Angelica and Marie on one end, who believe Marie joining Silas World was the right move, and then Kayla and Jessica on the other, who think it was a big mistake.

And as for Marie herself, she is oblivious to it all.  She doesn’t even realize that her sister Jessica and Kayla are so upset with this move.  She doesn’t get it at all.  All she understands,  all she knows, is that she is in a good place right now and she is happier than she has ever been in a long time.  For the first time ever, she is actually looking forward to a Thanksgiving feast, and that is evident with the confident stride with which she walks through the front door and the big happy grin etched across her face.

“Hello, everyone!” Her voice is cheerful and full of joy, excited to see her loving family.

“We’re in the living room.”

That’s her mother’s voice.  Marie follows it, turning right and walking into the large, luxurious living room area.  It’s already decorated for Christmas, with wreaths everywhere, red and green stockings over the fireplace, a large fully decorated and lighted Christmas tree near the window.  Further decorations are being added by her aunt, Kayla Jones.

Sitting on a sofa watching her decorate, is none other than Steven Bauer and Jessica Lasiewicz.  Conspicuous by his absence is Michael Bauer, Marie’s boyfriend, and she does take immediate note of this.

“Where’s Michael?”

“He’s feeling a little under the weather.” Steven responds with a warm smile. “Food poisoning, I think.  He had a bad piece of fried chicken.”

“Oh, poo!” Marie responds, sounding genuinely disappointed as she draped her coat over a nearby chair, then proceeds to sit in the chair.  “Where’s mom?”

“I’m here, sweetheart.” Angelica enters the room with two glasses of wine. “I was just in the kitchen checking up on Lindsey and Monroe.”

The matriarch of the Jones family and hands one of the glasses to Marie.  “I figured you might want one.”

“Thanks, mom.”

Angelica sits down on the sofa next to Jessica and Steven.  Kayla continues to decorate the tree and Marie sips on her wine.  The atmosphere in the room remains a disturbingly quiet and tense one.  Everyone knows why it’s so tense; everyone except Marie, that is.  The eldest of Angelica’s three children still doesn’t know that there is underlying tension in the air on this Thanksgiving Day.  Even if she did know, she still may not bother herself with it.  Marie does, after all, have a major tag team championship tournament to prepare for on IWC Riot coming up soon.

It is being billed as a lethal lottery style tournament and, in typical lethal lottery fashion, Marie got a tag team partner that can either be a major success and or a major setback for her: Alana Starr.

The two were both members of The Good Movement until Marie left.  So in one sense they could prove to be a formidable tag team as they do have some history of working together.  But then on the other hand will Alana be willing to work with Marie?  Will the allure of tag team gold be enough to get her to ignore the fact that Marie left The Good Movement, long enough at least to win the tag titles?  Marie is banking on yes, because if they can work together then they can truly be an unstoppable force.  But it will only work out if they are both willing to play their part.  Marie is willing to play hers.  But will Alana play hers?

“Dinner is nearly complete.”

That is the voice of Angelica and Kayla’s cousin, which would make him Marie and Jessica’s second cousin, Monroe Jones.  He emerges from around the corner and sits down in one of the few remaining empty chairs, smiling warmly at Marie.

“Greetings, young Annabelle.”

“Hi, Monroe.”

Annabelle is her middle name and, for the longest time, that’s what everyone called her.  Today, though, she goes by her first name only and Marie will allow very few people to call her Annabelle.  Monroe Jones is one of those few individuals who has that special privilege.

“Is Lindsey ok?” Angelica asks.

“She is putting the finishing touches on dinner.” Monroe states.  “I wanted to remain and assist her but she assured me that she was fine.”

“But are YOU going to be fine,” Marie asks with a wink “you and Steven alone with five women?”

Monroe chuckles lightly. “Yes, the estrogen outnumbers the testosterone in this case, which is one of the few reasons I do regret the other Mr. Bauer not being here today, but nevertheless I do believe I shall survive.”

Angelica, Jessica, and Steven immediately stare daggers right through Monroe.  For his part, Monroe does not yet understand what it is that he said that is wrong.

“What is it?  What did I say?  Why is everyone so quiet?”

“Um…” Marie begins “…what do you mean by one of the few reasons that you regret Michael not being here?”

And there it is.  Monroe finally figures out what it is that he let slip.  He sighs, laughing awkwardly.

“Apologies, I let that one slip…”

“Let what slip?” Marie insists.

“It isn’t important.” Angelica says quickly, clearly trying to diffuse the situation. “Do you want to go with me to check on Lindsey?”

“No,” Marie shakes her head vehemently. “I want to know what’s wrong with Michael.”

For the entirety of the time since Marie has arrived, Kayla has been strangely silent.  But now that this situation is starting to explode, is starting to get out of hand, Kayla feels as if she can no longer hold back.  It is time for her to speak out.  Angelica’s younger sister turns around to face the rest of the family.

“Let’s just be out with it, ok?”

“Kay…” Angelica begins, sounding rather cautious.

Kayla, though, ignores her as she continues with her rant, this time focusing in on Marie.

“Marie, there’s been a lot of decisions made recently about your life that most of us question.  Dating Michael Bauer is just one of them.”

“Oh come on, Aunt Kayla,” Marie fires back “he’s been nothing but nice to me.”

“Yes and look at what he’s done to other women!”

“Can I say something?” Steven tries to interject but he promptly has his hand slapped away by Jessica.

“No.” Jessica retorts. “This is Jones business.”

“But Michael Bauer isn’t the biggest part of it.  We can deal with him.  The biggest part of it is your professional career.”

Kayla takes Marie by her hands and squeezes them gently. “We’re watching you flush your career down the toilet, first by giving to Samantha Hodgson, then Ethan Von Aaron, and now most recently to Silas Mason!”

“Now Kayla,” Angelica interrupts as she stands up to her feet “we already talked about this.”

“We did but I still think you sending your own daughter to Silas Mason gift-wrapped was a bad idea!”

“I’m still here!” Marie stands up now, looking angry now, frustrated at this beyond imagination. “Look, so what if mom pointed me into Silas Mason’s direction?  It wasn’t her decision to sign with Silas.  It was mine.  And it’s a decision I have not regretted.”

Marie turns and storms away, towards the hall.  Eventually the sound of her marching up the stairs can be heard.  There is a tense quietness in the room again.  That quietness is broken by Steven Bauer.

“So, when are we eating?”

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Angelica Jones

On Camera

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Lethal Lottery is called “Lethal” for a reason; mainly because you just never know who you’re going to get for a tag team partner.  You never know if you’re going to get a talented tag team partner or a piece of crap tag team partner.  And then even if you do get a talented tag team partner, that still doesn’t mean he or she will be willing to work together with you.  Having tag team chemistry, after all, is a necessity to being a successful tag team.

Alana Starr is lucky to have drawn my daughter as a tag team partner.  Now you might say I’m biased and yes, I am biased towards my own children, but the facts speak for themselves when you look at Marie’s record as a tag team wrestling specialist.

Five times in three different companies she has held world tag team championship gold and one of those reigns in particular, with Faith De Luca as part of Hidden Desires, she had the longest tag team title reign in company history.

All of the best tag teams know how to make it work, through the good times and the bad, and that’s what Marie knows how to do with her tag team partners.  Despite everything, despite the problems inside or outside the ring, she can put that all aside and work with anyone to get the job done.

And it’ll take all of that and then some to get the job done on RIOT.

Gavin Taylor and Andre Jordan have been running roughshod over the tag team division in IWC for a long time now.  Individually you both are great.  But individually you cannot get the job done by yourselves.  It has to be a TEAM effort otherwise Gavin and Andre will beat you too, that is if you even make it to them.

You have all the makings of the best tag team in IWC history; all the individualized talent in the world, built-in natural chemistry, you are the most dangerous team in this whole damn thing.  Don’t screw it up over petty disagreements.

Ladies and gentlemen, if Alana and Marie can get on and remain on the same page, they will be your next world tag team champions.  They will be your tag team champions for a long time.  Bank on it.

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Scene 2

Off Camera

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It may seem like a childish thing to do, but after the spat before dinner, Marie immediately bolted upstairs to what was her old bedroom and shut herself up inside.  Call it ignorance, but the beautiful red-head had truly thought the family was happy and united.  To find out that not only was the family unhappy, but that they were unhappy directly because of her actions is a major punch in the gut for the eldest of the Jones children.

You can call her a lot of things; arrogant, conceited; but just like her mother, aunt, and sister, family is deeply important to her.  Knowing that she upset them, knowing that she has caused a rift within that one thing that is most important to her, is upsetting to young Marie.

Currently she sits on the edge of her old bed, feet firmly planted on the floor, her elbows propped up on her knees, and her hands rested upon her hands.  She sighs deeply with frustration, not really wanting to go downstairs and face the awkwardness, the tension, or the angst of the now disrupted Jones Family Thanksgiving feast, a feast that was supposed to be a happy affair.

Tag teaming with Alana Starr definitely looks like a better alternative right now to this.  At least then Marie knows that there’s no illusions of Alana actually caring for her or liking her as a genuine friend.  RIOT is all business, a business of trying to win the tag team titles.  And if they can work together, then they can defeat anyone put in front of them.  Marie truly believes that.

“Can I come in, Marie?”

That’s  Jessica’s voice.  Normally she would welcome a chance to talk to her half-sister but right now she just wants to be alone, she just wants to be by herself.

“Go away, Jess!”

“Nope, sorry.”  The door opens and Jessica walks right on inside. “I’m coming in.”

Marie looks up at Jessica and shakes her head. “Why?”

“Why what?” Jessica asks with a hint of a knowing grin on her face. “Why did I barge in on you?”

She sits down on the bed next to Marie and wraps a comforting arm around her shoulders. “Do you really have to ask?”

That is one question she would like to ask but not the biggest one, not the one she’d like answered most of all.  She would also like to know why she can’t have a normal Thanksgiving like other families do, but that’s not even the most important question for her right now.

“Why do they all doubt me, Jess?”

“You have to admit that you have made questionable decisions.  Take Michael Bauer for instance…”

“Don’t you start in on Michael.” Marie begins to get a little agitated herself. “Not when you’re engaged to marry Steven!”

Jessica nods her head. “Yes, I plan on marrying Steven, but do you know the difference between me and Steven and you and Michael?  When I was informed of what Steven had done, namely that he hadn’t yet divorce his wife Tamara, I delayed the wedding.  I delayed the wedding until the divorce was finalized.”

She shakes her head. “But you’ve done nothing.  Despite what everyone tells you, you still haven’t even questioned him.”

“I know what I’m doing.” Marie says quietly.

“Do you?” Jessica asks skeptically. “Or are you just following your heart and not your brain?”

She lifts Marie’s head up so she is looking at her directly in the eyes.  She can notice tears forming in her eyes.

“I know you’re real concerned about your son.”

Marie nods her head. “Yeah…”

It’s a little known fact that Marie Annabelle Jones has a young son named Sean.  It’s a little known fact mainly because she doesn’t bring him to the arenas.  She rarely takes him out in public.  Not that she’s ashamed of him, but mainly because she doesn’t want him to get caught up in the public spotlight, not with the background he has.  Marie is a devout Roman Catholic, very devout.  As a result, she refused to get an abortion after she had been raped.  Marie gave birth to the child, naming him Sean.  The father, the rapist, is long dead.  But Sean has no real father figure to look up to and Jessica has long known that Marie wants Sean to have a father figure in his life.

“You always had a father.  You always had Andreas.  And if you and Steven continue to do good, any children you two have will have both sets of parents.”  She sighs. “But my Sean won’t.”

“I know having a father figure is important, but taking the first available guy isn’t the answer.”

“I know.”

“And I know you’re going to hate hearing this, but it’s got to be said.  Succeeding in this wrestling industry doesn’t mean jumping from one crooked agent to the next on a whim.”

Marie shoots on up to her feet. “Silas Mason is…”

“A crook.” Jessica retorts.

“He is not a crook.” Marie shakes her head. “Mother trusts him.”

“Does she?” Jessica stands up next to Marie. “Just because she’s a member of Silas World doesn’t mean that she’s his biggest fan.  Kelcey Wallace was a member of Silas World once.  She wasn’t exactly a member of the Silas Mason Fan Club.”

“You’re being silly, Jess.  Silas Mason has helped mom to multiple world titles.  He helped her negotiate the buyout of Pro-Wrestling FRONTIER.  He has done nothing but good by her.”

Jessica is still skeptical. “Doesn’t mean anything.”

“Even if she didn’t trust him, why would she then send me his way?”

“You are a Jones.  Just like her, Kayla, and me.  We all have one thing in common, we’re very stubborn.  You were hell bent on finding a new agent.  She knew it so she figured at least she could pair you up with Silas and that way she could at least look after you.”

Marie chuckles lightly. “Yeah, and Earth could’ve been populated by ancient aliens.”

“You can believe my theory or not, it really is irrelevant.  One thing you can know for a fact is what I’m telling you now.” She takes Marie by her hands and squeezes them tightly. “I care about you, Marie.  I care about you and will do anything for you.”

“Jessie…”

“Shut up and listen.” Jessica continues. “I only went to EXODUS with Samantha Hodgson as my agent so that I could learn about how Samantha operates, and find out what she knew about you.  I returned to IWC and began waging war with The Good Movement all because you were there and I knew I needed to break you free from it.  Now that you’re gone from The Good Movement I’m done with them.  Everything I’ve done so far, I’ve done for you. I’ve put my career on hold for you, Marie.”

“Jess, I…I had no idea…”

“And now I’m going to focus my energy on Silas World.  I won’t engage them, not with mom there.  But I’m going to be watching them closely.  If Silas Mason makes any wrong move towards you…I will end him.”

Marie immediately embraces her sister Jessica.  She knows that Jessica may never trust her judgment, and that she may never trust her choice of Silas Mason as a manager, but hearing her impassioned speech about what she has done and is willing to do for Marie is enough to make her feel loved, to make her feel as if she is truly cared for.

“Thanks, Jess.  It’s nice to know that people care about me.”

After the embrace is broken she motions to the door. “Everyone downstairs cares about you, Marie.  They just have a different way of showing it.  But believe me, they do care about you.  They only want what’s best for you.”

She smiles. “Now come on, dinner is ready.”

“Ok, lead the way Jess.”

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Jessica Lasiewicz

On Camera

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I’m disappointed I didn’t get included in this lethal lottery.  For someone like me who has knows all too well what it means to take a gamble, lotteries are truly my kind of sport…

This kind of event is what I know and what I know is that you are at the mercy of fate itself.  And fate, let me tell you, is a real bitch when she wants to be.   I feel bad for Danny Darko.  He got paired with a psychotic monster for a tag team partner in this tournament.

Speaking of psychopaths, Ba’al the world champion teams with Scott Cannon.  And Scott himself has said he’s going to try and cost his team the match just so that aforementioned psychopath won’t win.

Tina would have had an ideal set-up had she not opened her big fat trap and insulted Kordy.  Now it’s doubtful Kordy will want to play along with Tina.

It’s all the luck of the draw.  Are you going to draw aces, or are you going to come up snake eyes?

Alana Starr and Marie Jones have drawn aces in drawing each other.  Individually they’re amazing.  They can work together if they want to.

If they want to.

This is where luck gets thrown out the window and other aspects of the game come into play.  Luck alone doesn’t win it all.  There have been times when I had nothing in my hand…absolutely nothing…but I had the better poker face, I made my opponent think I had the better hand…

…and they folded like a tent.

Alana and Marie have the winning hand.  Yes, they’re both arrogant and conceited.  But like them or not you can’t deny their talent.  Together they have what it takes to win.  Now can they put on the poker face?  Can they look like the winning team?

I wouldn’t bet against them.

Come and place ya bets…

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Marie Jones

On Camera

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The scene opens in a crowded Macy’s store.  Shoppers and scurrying hither and yon looking for the latest in terms of clothing and other potential gifts for their loved ones on this Black Friday.  Marie Annabelle Jones does not normally participate in Black Friday but on this day she, too, is out and about, although she is being followed by a camera crew through this Macy’s store.  The red head is wearing blue jeans, black boots, a red sweater, and a black leather jacket.  Her long red hair hangs unrestrained to shoulder length.  Two large shopping bags are with her, one over each shoulder.

“Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is the day when some of the best deals are available all year.  It’s the day shoppers will go out to get their last minute buying done so that they will be ready for Christmas Day.  The funny thing is, most stores start their Black Friday sales on Thursday.  So does that mean it should actually be called White Devil Thursday?”

She shrugs her shoulders, letting out a slight laugh. “In any event, this day is yet another aspect of the holiday season, a season that is defined by its gift giving selfless nature.  Thus, in the spirit of the holidays and in the spirit of the selfless giving nature of this holiday season, yours truly will now announce her gifts to the IWC faithful.”

Jones stops walking and places her shopping bags on the floor.  She reaches into one and produces a baseball bat.

“First of all I have this baseball bat that I’d like to give to Danny Darko and Mordecai.  Danny, old buddy old pal, you are very lucky to still be walking upright today.  You are VERY lucky, indeed.  Not everyone can say they survived an assault at the hands of The Phoenix, but you did.  You survived an unscheduled retirement by my hands.”

She holds the bat in one hand and with the other she makes a fist. “With these hands I took that metal briefcase and repeatedly brought it down upon your skull.  Over and over again I bludgeoned you.  Hell, you are still competing against doctor’s orders.  I have to admit, that’s very impressive, Danny.  But coming up on RIOT your luck runs out.  We have a lethal lottery tag tournament and, honestly, can you really count on a monster to back you up?”

“As big and bad as Mordecai is, what Mordecai is NOT is faithful and loyal to you.  Give the big bad monster one opportunity and Mordecai will finish what I started.” She taps the other end of the baseball bat into her other hand. “Hence my gift to you, Danny!  This is your protection against the monster, because trust me, you’ll need it.  And hell, even if you don’t need it, maybe I will use it on you myself to finish the job that I started.”

Jones tosses the bat aside and then reaches back into the shopping bags.  The Phoenix produces a massive My Little Pony.

“To Kordy and Tina Valentine I give to you this massive My Little Pony!” Low laughter escapes her throat. “You won’t have to worry about sharing, Kordy, because I doubt Tina really cares much about My Little Pony.  Tina just doesn’t understand My Little Pony the way you do, does she?  Hell, there’s a lot of things Tina doesn’t understand.”

“What you don’t understand, Tina, is that little Miss Kordy is a very special girl.  She may have the appearance of a sweet, innocent doll, but on the inside she has the potential to be a dangerous weapon.  And yet you, the brilliant hood rat that you are, decides to do what?  You insult her at every turn on twitter.  You treat as if she is garbage.  As if she is nothing.”

“No wonder you became a member of The Good Movement, you and Ethan seem to be cut from the same clothe as he, too insults her at every turn, thinking that he can control her, make her do what he wants, yet in reality he doesn’t realize he is slowly but surely losing his grip.  So tell me, Tina, if your boy Ethan can’t control her, what makes you think you can?  What makes you think you can control Kordy and get along with Kordy in this tournament, especially when all you do is hurl insult right and left?”

Jones holds the Pony up to the camera. “Now Kordy, I want you to remember who got you this gift.  Your friend Marie got you this gift, didn’t she?  I have always treated you nice, didn’t I?  And I didn’t leave The Good Movement because of you.  I left The Good Movement because Ethan, or the ‘jerkface meanyhead’ as you so eloquently put it, wasn’t very nice to me either.  Good luck, Kordy, I hope the winner of this tournament is going to be one of our teams!”

Jones sets the Pony aside and then reaches deep inside the shopping bags again.  In one bag she produces a thing of blue kool-aid and in the other a copy of Mein Kampf.

“My next set of gifts goes out to our esteemed world champion Ba’al and his tag team partner Scott Cannon.”

She holds the blue kool-aid up to the camera first. “See this blue kool-aid, Scotty?  Don’t drink it.  Don’t drink the kool-aid.  That shit’ll kill you.”

She tosses the kool-aid aside. “It seems as if so many in IWC are drinking the kool-aid lately.  Even Kloe Masters revealed that she’s had a nice big swig of the blue kool-aid.  But I think Scott Cannon is too smart to be fooled by the allure of blue kool-aid.  I don’t think Scott will ever drink the blue kool-aid.  He knows what’s at stake here and it certainly sounds like he has a nice plan of attack when he openly said on social media that he will do everything in his power to make sure his partner  Ba’al does not win the tag team titles on RIOT.”

Jones applauds for Cannon. “Way to be a team player, Scott!  Keep those belts away from Ba’al, it makes my job all that much easier.”

She holds up the copy of Mein Kampf to the camera. “And for our world champion specifically, I have this, a copy of Mein Kampf, allegedly autographed by Hitler himself!”

“Now I know what everyone is thinking…not another Hitler reference?  Well I’m sorry but I just couldn’t help myself!  I couldn’t resist!  Think about it, he’s German, he ‘s built an army of mindless followers in order to conquer…it’s like he’s reading from the Hitler playbook!”

“So out of the kindness of my heart I went out and bought the actual, the original Hitler playbook as a gift for Ba’al.  The problem for you, Ba’al, is that you will fall into the same trap as Hitler himself.  He began to think too highly of himself, thought he could take on the world.  Made friends with Stalin and Soviet Russia only to turn on them.  Fighting wars against USA, Britain, and Russia…well you just can’t that way, now can you?”

She shakes her head. “You’re just like him, a tin-pot despot.  And just like any other tin-post despot you will get greedy, you will get arrogant, and that greed and arrogance will cost you everything.”

Jones tosses the book aside and then reaches back down inside the shopping bags and produces what appear to be the IWC World Tag Team Championship belts.  These cannot be the real belts, obviously.  Instead they are replicas, very well made replicas.  She places one belt over each shoulder.

“Now before I get to my final gift I want to address the reigning IWC World Tag Team Champions, Andre Jordan and Gavin Taylor.  Team EPIC, as it were.  You see, for my final gift I’ll be playing the role of Robin Hood.  Stealing from the rich and giving to the poor.  You have had these belts for far too long and for far too long all of us here in IWC have had to suffer through your insane prattling, your stupid nonsense about who is to be trusted and who can’t be trusted, has he changed or hasn’t he changed, blah blah fucking blah!”

“We all have suffered under your nonsensical tag team title reign and the tag team division itself has suffered under your tag team title reign.  There are no teams anymore.  You’ve single handedly killed the division boys.” She sarcastically claps. “Great job!  Bravo!”

“And it is for that reason that I have to do what is necessary to put an end to your tag team title reign.  I have to end it for the good of the business.  And speaking of GOOD…”

She waves at the camera. “…Alana Starr!  Hi there, partner!”

“It is rather awkward that you and I got thrown together as partners in this tournament, especially when I just left The Good Movement for Silas World.  But I think while Ethan may enjoy throwing a childish temper tantrum, you, being the mature woman you are, will understand.  I think you will understand why I left Ethan’s managerial services behind, especially now that you’ve seen the very same kind of actions I’ve seen, namely him drooling over Rachel Frost.  I was being ignored as a client, all the while Rachel gets the attention because she’s some kind of special?  He even ignored you from time to time.  How dare he ignore you!”

“That being said, if you still can’t understand why I left The Good Movement, then I do apologize, I’ve said all I can say, but I will tell you one last thing, Alana.  You and I have an advantage in this tournament that no other team save for the reigning champions have; built in tag team chemistry.  We have been partners in The Good Movement for a very long time before I left for Silas World.  We can work together, you and I.  We can work together and win this whole thing, Alana.  And that, Alana, would be my gift to you.”

She pats the belts over each of her shoulders. “The IWC Tag Team Titles would be my gift to you.  You’d be a double champion.  I’d be one half of the tag team champions.  Together, we’d be unstoppable.  But only if we stay on the same page.”

“Happy Holidays everyone…”