==========
September 13th,
2016
Off Camera
==========
We open in a
seedy bar just inside the Miami, Florida city limits. Some might call this place a dive, but
whatever you call it, this is definitely not the place where the upper class
crowd gathers for a drink. At this
particular dive we find bikers, gangsters, and a few loners here and there
either trying to drink away their problems or trying to pick up a woman, and
failing unsuccessfully at one or the other or both. A pool table is in the center of the bar
where the bikers are gathered for a hearty game. A few of the gangsters stand off to the side,
watching from afar, while everyone else is just drinking it up and having a
good time.
The bar area
itself looks like any other, with various patrons seated atop the plain wooden
stools. There are no cushions on these
stools. This dive either cannot afford
them or the owner is just too cheap to upgrade.
Sitting at the bar area with a nearly empty glass of scotch is the firey
red-head Marie Annabelle Jones.
Jones is
wearing a knee length black leather skirt, a red blouse, and her signature
black leather jacket. Her feet are
encased in low heeled black sandals. Her
long red hair is messed up and disheveled.
The normally well kept eldest daughter of Angelica Jones looks the worse
for the wear and there is a reason for that…
…today is
just one day removed from the UWA pay per view Sectioned.
But
truthfully, you have to go even farther back than that to see how she got here
tonight drinking her pain away. Things
for Marie in the UWA have spiraled out of control ever since the Outbreak event
in which she defended the world championship in a rematch against Vanilla Skyy,
a rematch that she lost.
It was a
bitter pill for Marie to swallow.
Winning the UWA World Championship at Olympus was a culmination of a
journey, a journey of redemption in which Marie wanted to right all of the
wrongs she had perpetrated, earn the trust of her friends and fans, and, in the
process, win the world championship, but this time do it the right way. And yes, she did achieve that goal. She completed her road to redemption at
Olympus. She earned the fans adulation,
she won back the trust and respect of her peers, and she won the UWA World
Championship.
And yet she
knew she had to face Vanilla Skyy one on one.
She had earned a victory over Vanilla, two of them in fact, but both
victories other wrestlers. Marie felt
that to truly make things right between the two of them, that a one on one
match was necessary. That one on one
match went down and, unfortunately for Marie, Vanilla won the championship
back.
The silver
lining is that a mutual respect had been earned between the two. But that is a very small consolation for
Marie, who had just lost the world championship. But Marie had maintained some hope that the
UWA would be gracious enough to grant a rematch at the world championship. But that rematch never came. Still, Marie was hopeful because an
elimination chamber match was announced where every singles championship would
be on the line. Surely Marie, the most
recent world champion, would be among the six included in the chamber to
compete for the world title?
Much to her
surprise, she was denied even that opportunity.
In fact, it seemed as if UWA was intent on keeping Marie off of
television. Since losing the
championship on the August 1st edition of Outbreak, UWA had only
booked her one time, and that one time was a non-title tag team match. She wasn’t even scheduled to defend her tag
team championship at the Sectioned pay per view. The leader of the Ginger Nation wasn’t quite
sure if the UWA was using her tag team title as an excuse to keep her away from
the world title picture or if they were just going to keep her from being
booked period.
So it’s one
day after Sectioned and Marie again did not compete. The next Outbreak was announced and she was
not surprised to find that she was not on that card either. Jones, who had fought so hard to redeem
herself, who had tried to do things the right way, is beginning to question if
any of it is worth it? She’s also
beginning to wonder what she should do next?
Unfortunately,
alcohol doesn’t always give you proper judgment. And Marie has already had plenty in her
system and is about to ask for more as she takes her shot glass and quickly
downs the last of the scotch. She slams
her glass back down and shoves it forward towards the bartender.
“More…”
The
bartender had been busy chatting with another patron when Marie interrupts his
conversation. He turns and looks at the
empty scotch and then at the drunken stupor in which Marie stares at him. He shakes his head.
“No.”
Marie
reaches into her coat pocket and produces a scrunched up wad of bills. It’s unclear how much money is here due to
how wadded up they are but she shoves all of it in the direction of the
bartender.
“Just keep filling it up until I say stop!”
“You’ve had too much, ma’am.”
Marie pounds
her fists on the bar.
“I’ll say when I’ve had enough, damnit!”
“Ma’am, you really should just call a cab
and go home.”
Marie
reaches across the bar and grabs the bartender by his shirt collar and pulls
him forward.
“Give me another scotch or else I’ll…”
Jones
suddenly feels herself pulled backward.
She released the grip she had on the bartender and turns around to face
the culprit; one of the bikers who had been playing pool. He took time away from his game to help the
bartender, who was about to get laid out by Marie Jones. All of these people look at her as just some
drunk woman, but they don’t recognize her from television. They don’t realize that she knows how to
fight and is specifically in trained in a few martial arts. And if this biker is not careful, then he may
find out the hard way just what kind of fighter she is.
“Leave him alone.”
The biker
says this sternly but Marie responds by shoving the biker back a few steps.
“What the fuck do you care?!”
“The guy’s right, you’re far too wasted for
another round. Go home, babe.”
Ok, that
right there was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Marie kicks the biker in the groin and then
rears back and punches him square in the jaw with a vicious right hand.
“I AM NOT A BABE!”
The biker
stumbles backward against the pool table.
Marie rushes in and tackles him on top of the table and rains down right
hands. One of his pals pulls her off of
him and drops her roughly to the floor.
Marie picks up a dropped pool stick and swings it, smashing the other
biker square in his head, dropping him to his hands and knees.
“Marie!”
This new
voice comes from the other end of the bar, where the entrance and exit
are. We find a woman who looks identical
to Marie in the face, hair, and body build.
The only difference is the clothing she’s wearing. This woman is wearing torn denim jeans, flip
flops, and a black t-shirt with “Kimmie” written on the front in hot pink
lettering. This is Marie’s identical
twin sister, Kimberly Williams. Kimberly
has been on the search for Marie ever since Marie didn’t come back to the hotel
room after a post-Sectioned fan event.
Clearly she
has found the right place.
“Oh shit…”
Kimberly
rushes over to her twin sibling. The
bikers are busy trying to take care of one another to notice Kimberly grabbing
Marie by her right arm and dragging the drunken woman with little struggle
towards the bathrooms.
“Hey!
What’s the deal! Lemme go,
Corey!”
Kimberly
rolls her eyes.
“Geez, you are drunk.”
Kimberly
shoves Marie into the ladies room.
Kimberly enters the room after her and shuts the door behind her. She takes the nearby garbage can and places
it in front of the door to hopefully block it from opening.
“There, to make sure we maintain our
privacy.”
Kim turns to
face her twin and sighs upon the sight her drunken identical sibling lying on
the floor in a stupor. The redhead sighs
and shakes her head with disgust, and for Kim to be disgusted at this, it must
be pretty bad!
“Marie, you are supposed to be the good
child. What in the ever loving hell
happened to you?”
“Not…”
“Not what?”
“…not…not fair!”
Kimberly
sighs as she places her hands on her hips.
“Look, I’m the whiny spiteful one,
remember? Quit stealing my shtick! Plus you’re making ME into the responsible
one! This just isn’t right!”
Kim sighs
and kneels down next to Marie.
“What’s up, girl? What’s not fair?”
“Not…not wrestling…not booked…”
“Oh so you’re pissed that you haven’t been
booked in forever and a day? Hell, I’d
use the opportunity to go vacationing myself.
Get a tan. But wrestling? Who’d wanna do that anyway? I mean, other than me? Cause, like, I did wrestle once. Or twice.
Or a few hundred times.”
Kim notices
that Marie’s eyes are totally shut. The “good”
sibling has passed out. She sighs and
produces her own cell phone. She stands
up and dials a number before putting it to her ear.
“…uh, yeah, hi, Arthur, you need to come
pick up your wife…”
Kimberly
snickers.
“…not only did I find her, but I found her
causing some badass destruction. Getting
drunk, starting fights, and then passing out…”
She throws
her head back and laughs.
“…she’s fine, I’m hiding her in the women’s
restroom…”
She frowns.
“…yes, I am hiding her, because the police
are apparently on their way. I heard the
sirens on my in…”
Kimberly
rolls her eyes.
“…your girl stirred up the shit, I suspect
they’re coming after her. But don’t worry, I have a plan. Just get your cute little ass down here and
pick her up. She’ll be in the women’s
room.”
Kimberly
hangs up her phone and then proceeds to remove her own shirt and kicks off her
flip flops and denim jeans. In no time
Kimberly is standing there in just a black lace bra and panty. Then she kneels down and removes the black
leather jacket from her sister before quickly taking off her sister’s red
blouse and placing it on herself. She
does the same to the black leather skirt and black high heeled sandals. Kimberly puts on the black leather jacket
and, just like that, she now is dressed like Marie was and Marie is lying there
on the floor in just a red lace bra and skimpy thong panty.
“There, no one will be the wiser.”
“Urrrrrggggg….”
Kim smirks
“Well we can’t have that, now can we?”
She kneels
down and takes Marie and, one leg at a time, places her into the torn jeans she
had worn down here to the bar. Kimberly
then pulls Marie up to her feet and places the black t-shirt on Marie.
“There!
You look just like me!”
Kimberly
lets go and Marie falls back to the floor.
Kimberly sighs.
“Oh well…maybe your boy toy will be here
soon and he can help you?”
“Nnnnnnooooo…”
“I seriously doubt you have any idea what’s
going on, sis, or that you’ll remember any of this tomorrow, but police are on
the way and you definitely don’t want a criminal record. Lucky for you, you have a twin sister ready
and willing to help and not one of those drunk idiots out there knows your real
name.”
Kimberly
kneels down and kisses her sister on the nose.
“See you soon, babe. I hope Arthur posts bail for me.”
Kimberly walks
out of the bathroom, where is no doubt about to either get assaulted by the
bikers who think she’s the one who attacked them or get arrested by the
police. Meanwhile Marie sits up and
shouts angrily.
“No!
Get back here! NO! I want…I want…”
Marie falls
back to the floor.
“…I want another drink!”
==========
September 14th,
2016
Off Camera
==========
Sunlight
beams in through a window, shining down upon the lovely face of Marie Annabelle
Jones, who is sleeping on the king sized bed in the hotel suite in Miami,
Florida. Sitting at the foot of the bed,
starting at the lovely figure before him, is none other than Marie’s husband,
Arthur Pond. He’s been worried about his
wife since yesterday, when she went missing.
That fear has subsided now, for the moment, because he now has his wife
back with him and he can see that she is safe.
For the
moment.
Marie’s eyes
flutter open as the sun continues to beat down upon her. Jones sits up and stretches real big as a
groan escapes her lips. She stares at
Arthur quizzically.
“Arthur?
How…um…?”
“Nice to see you have returned to the land
of the living.”
“Huh?”
Arthur
motions to her head.
“How’s your head?”
Marie
groans.
“It hurts…”
Arthur nods
his head.
“A headache.
Typical hangover.”
“Hangover?”
“Yeah, you were pretty wasted last night,
according to your sister.”
Marie shakes
her head.
“What was Corey…or was it Kelly…or…uh…”
“Wrong on both counts.”
“Huh?”
Arthur
smirks.
“Try Kimberly.”
“Kim?”
He nods his
head.
“Yeah, you never came back to the
hotel. And you never answered your cell
phone. I was worried so I was going to
go looking for you myself but your sister volunteered.”
Arthur
narrows his eyes, not in a look of anger but definitely with a far sterner look
than Marie is used to seeing from her loving husband.
“When she gets back, you should get on your
hands and knees and thank her for what she did.”
Jones is
still having a hard time comprehending what her husband is saying, partially
due to the headache from the hangover.
She rubs her forehead with her hand and sighs.
“What do you mean? What did Kim do?”
“You don’t remember?”
Marie shakes
her head. Arthur sighs.
“Damn.
You really were wasted.”
“Just tell me what she did!”
“To do that I have to explain what you did.”
He points a
somewhat accusatory finger at Marie.
“Instead of returning to the hotel you went
to a seedy bar in Miami. You somehow
started a bar fight. The bartender, who
was among those you manhandled, had called the police.”
Marie gasps.
“Oh God…”
“You were lucky that Kim got there before
the police did. You were also lucky that
everyone else in that bar was almost as drunk as you were and didn’t notice a
switch was made.”
Jones
furrows her brow.
“A switch?”
“The only thing anyone remembered was your
clothes. So she dumped you in the
bathroom where she traded clothes with you.
Then she went back outside just as the police arrived. She took full responsibility for the bar
fight and no one was the wiser.”
“She took the fall as Kim…”
He nods his
head.
“That’s right, she took the fall as
herself. Your record is clean.”
He winks.
“It’s nice having an identical twin.”
“Oh Kim, she shouldn’t have done that! She…”
Marie rubs
her head again as the headache flares up.
“…oh I feel awful! She took the fall for me…”
Arthur
sighs.
“What were you thinking, babe?”
“Oh Arthur, you just don’t understand. I’m not sure you could understand.”
He grins
knowingly.
“Try me.”
Marie’s eyes
light up with intensity.
“Wrestling is my livelihood, Arthur! My mom has wrestling but she also has country
music. My aunt Kayla has wrestling but
she also has modeling. Wrestling is my
livelihood! I have nothing outside of
this and I take it very seriously! Do
you have any idea how hard I worked to become UWA World Champion?”
“I was there. Believe me, I know.”
“You were there for Olympus. Olympus was the end of the journey to my
redemption. You weren’t there for the
beginning. You weren’t there for all of
the pitfalls and the obstacles that kept getting in my way. You only saw the end result.”
She sighs
and nods her head.
“Losing the title doesn’t bother me, you are
never champion forever. And to lose it
to a competitor the caliber of Vanilla Skyy…well there is no shame in
that. But what happened after that…what
UWA did to me…”
She growls
angrily.
“…it’s like they completely forget about me
completely! I wasn’t given a rematch, I
wasn’t even considered for the elimination chamber, and outside of one tag team
match I wasn’t booked at all for one and a half months. Hell, I still haven’t been booked for ANY
singles match since the singles match against Vanilla Skyy when I lost the
title!”
She starts
to pull at her own gorgeous red hair.
“It’s just not fair!”
“I’m not going to argue that point. But the real question is…”
He smirks.
“…what are you going to do about it?”
“Huh?”
“It’s real simple, Annabelle…”
Marie frowns
as she prepares to interrupt him.
“My name is Marie!”
“I know, but I call you Annabelle to get
your attention.”
He winks.
“Anyway, it’s like a wise-old man once told
me…he may have been Canadian…but anyway, this wise-old man told me that if you
don’t have faith or don’t trust your employer, then why stay?”
“Are you telling me I should quit UWA?”
He nods his
head.
“If they’re not treating you properly, then
yes.”
“That is what Corey did when IWC mistreated
her, but…”
She sighs
and shakes her head.
“I can’t just quit. I am the UWA World Tag Team Champion with
Sophie James. Sophie came to UWA just
for me. It wouldn’t be right to abandon
her like that.”
“Well you need to do something…”
He reaches
over and runs his hand through her long red hair.
“…because you scared me to death
yesterday. I don’t want to see a repeat
of that ever again.”
“But Sophie…”
“I understand your sense of obligation
towards Sophie, but you also have to care about your own well-being too. So if you won’t leave UWA, is there at least
some compromise?”
Marie
ponders this question for a moment.
Arthur is right, Marie needs to do something. She does need to make some sort of
change. Being UWA World Tag Team
Champion is great, but she wants to be a singles competitor at the end of the
day. She still has that drive to be the
best. And if UWA won’t let her, then
maybe somewhere else will? It is at that
point that an idea enters her mind and a smile crosses her face.
“I think I have an idea.”
“Oh really?”
Suddenly
Marie’s face grows pale. Her features
contort into a look of pain.
“But first…”
“What?”
“…but first…I need to throw up…”
Marie bolts
up off of the bed and makes a break for the bathroom. Arthur can’t help but laugh at his hung over
wife and can only hope and pray that her idea, whatever it may be, will prove
to be just what she needs to get her out of this funk she finds herself in.
==========
Present Day
On Camera
==========
“Give me a warning when you’re ready.”
It’s safe to
assume that this voice is not coming from behind the camera but is, instead,
coming from the person the camera is currently shooting. But we do not see their face. That’s because the camera is pointed directly
at their ass. A shapely ass at that.
“Ok.
You’ve been warned.”
“Huh?”
“You’re on!”
The figure
spins around and the camera zooms out to get a full shot of the person, Marie
Annabelle Jones. The Crown Jewel of
Professional Wrestling is wearing a slinky little number that embraces every
single one of her luscious curves. The
black dress is a stretchy, sleeveless, off the shoulder midi-dress that
features a wide fold-over neckline and an open back cut-out. The skirt flares out ever so slightly and
stops just below the knee. Her feet are
encased in strappy black high heeled sandals.
“How long have you been recording?”
“Um…at least a minute now.”
Marie glares
angrily at the camera, more specifically at the person behind the camera.
“KIM!
I told you to warn me before you started shooting!”
“I know but our ass is just sooooo yummy it
had to be broadcast.”
“It’s not OUR ass!”
“Well…we are identical and all…soooo…”
“Shut up and keep rolling…”
Marie sighs. She forces a smile upon her face before
waving politely at the camera.
“Greetings, SCW! If I look familiar, I should look
familiar. I already have made my debut
on Supreme Championship Wrestling providing back up for my aunt Kayla as she
went up against Alexis Quinne. I watched
her back as I fought against the outside interference of Punk Hazard. And that right there should tell you just
what kind of person I am. But in case
you haven’t figured it out yet, then allow me to spell it out for each and
every one of you watching this right now.”
She motions
to herself with the thumb on her right hand.
“My name is Marie Annabelle Jones. That’s right, JONES, a member of the famous
Jones wrestling family. Some refer to me
as The Phoenix because while you may be able to temporarily knock me down,
there is not a force in heaven above, here on earth, or in hell below that can
kill me! I will always rise up, just
like the mythical phoenix, and I will always come back for more! That’s why some, namely my enemies, call me
The Phoenix. But there is another name I’m
called, a name all who I have associated with remember me by…”
She smirks.
“…I am The Crown Jewel of Professional
Wrestling. And I don’t mean that as a
title of arrogance, I mean that when it comes to pro-wrestling, I have done it
all. Violent, hardcore wars…check. High flying affairs…check. Tag team matches…check. Multi-person clusterfucks…check. And when it comes to championship
matches? Well I always show up with my
A-Game. Now in UWA I am one half of the
nearly year-long reigning World Tag Team Champions. But I am the Crown Jewel of Professional
Wrestling and I don’t want to sit on the sidelines for months on end, and quite
frankly, I also want to be challenged by the best singles division in
pro-wrestling. I want to go up against
the best and let’s be honest, there is no singles division better than the one
in Supreme Championship Wrestling. And
that brings me to my opponent for Breakdown…”
She points a
finger at the camera.
“…that’s you, Hannah. Hannah ‘Declares’ Warr…”
She
snickers.
“…I like the name, I honestly do. And I also like the booking of Mr. D here in
this case, and I think you like it too.
Most of the new kids on the block get some enhancement talent, jobber,
or a curtain jerker before being thrust into the flames. Clearly that’s not happening to the two of
us. SCW clearly thinks just as highly of
you as they think of me, because they wouldn’t have signed you to a contract
otherwise, and SCW is putting the two of us inside that ring, one on one, to
put on a hell of a show, and to steal the show live from Paris, France!”
Jones shakes
her head.
“But I’m not satisfied with just putting on
a hell of a show. I wouldn’t be called
The Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling if I was satisfied with just
entertaining, if I was satisfied with just competing. Competing is great, it really is. To hear the fans cheer, that’s a rush. But winning?”
She grins.
“That’s what I’m here for! I recently completed a road of redemption
that culminated in me becoming UWA World Champion. But that was more about redeeming myself as a
person and as a competitor than about being the best. I have here to Supreme Championship Wrestling
to challenge myself against the best roster in professional wrestling…”
She points a
finger at the camera.
“…and clearly Mr. D thinks you are among the
best, otherwise he wouldn’t have hired you.
Now my new journey to prove myself as one of the best in pro-wrestling
starts here in SCW and it starts with you, Hannah. And if you want war, then you had better
believe that I will bring war with me.
The Phoenix will ride into Paris with the flames of war at her
back. The Phoenix will begin this
journey against you, Hannah Warr, but The Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling
will finish it. And Hannah, win or lose,
the result is irrelevant, because the outcome for you and everyone else I face
after this, my SCW in-ring debut, will be the same. You will gaze into my eyes, the eyes of an
intense warrior, the eyes of The Phoenix, and you will utter those two ancient,
sacred words…”
Marie shuts
her eyes.
“…Ave Maria.”
“Nice dramatic finish, sis!”
Marie opens
her eyes and scowls at the camera.
“Shut up, Kim, and quit recording!”
