==========
Scene 1
May 24th,
2018
Off Camera
==========
Sunlight
streams in from the window, striking the face of Marie Annabelle Jones as she
lies down in her King sized bed in her luxury suite hotel room in Lexington,
Kentucky. Marie slowly blinks herself
awake and stares into the sunlight with a warm smile upon her face. In the past the sunlight would be an
unwelcome visitor but lately, the sunlight has come to represent how much
better young Marie’s life has been looking.
Metaphorically
speaking, things do appear to be looking up for Marie now that she rid herself
of the threat of Damian Daniel Toole once and for all. With him out of her life and out of her mind
she can focus on what’s important for her wrestling career and that is finally
reaching up and grabbing that next brass ring, the greatest brass ring of them
all; the SCW World Championship.
Young Jones
has been close on many occasions to earning a world championship match but
never could position herself where she could rightfully demand such an
opportunity. Every opportunity she’s had
has slipped through her fingers. But now
Rise To Greatness season is upon us and that means Taking Hold of the
Flame. If Marie can win that one match
then she guarantees herself a world championship match in the main event of
Rise To Greatness.
It’s easier
said than done; she’ll have to overcome thirty-nine other SCW wrestlers in
order to get the job done. But Marie
knows that she can pull off the seemingly impossible task, because she has
faith in herself and in her abilities.
Jones is
full of hope and optimism in recent weeks, so much so that it would take a
crisis of extreme proportions to bring her down from the high she is currently
on. That much is evident from the wide
warm smile upon her face as she throws the cover off and sits up, revealing
herself in black lace panties, matching lace bra, and sheer nylon
stockings. She swings her nylon covered
legs over the edge of the bed and stretches out before standing up…
“Damn…”
She is
startled and turns around quickly to spy her husband, the somewhat dapper
Arthur Pond, standing there with a devious grin on his face. Marie wasn’t expecting him back so soon, that
much is for certain based on the surprised look on her face. Arthur chuckles lightly.
“…you look sexy, Marie; damn sexy. Is all of this for me?”
“It was but now I’m not so sure.” Marie folds her arms over her chest and
frowns. “How long have you been standing
there, Arthur?”
“Long enough to get a good show.” He
winks.
“Now that’s not nice.” She shoots back
with a playful grin on her face. “I did
just tell off a pervert for that same thing, remember?”
“How could I forget?” He approaches the
bed. Marie stands up and they greet one
another with a gentle embrace a kiss on the lips. “You were brave, Marie. You were
very brave for what you said to Damian.”
“It was nothing.” She shakes her head. “It
just had to be said.”
“Yes, and I
wish I had been there. He is a dangerous
man and…”
“And he
cannot harm me anymore.” She takes Arthurs hands into hers. “He has no more power over me. I do not fear him. Just have faith in me, babe.”
“If I say I do have faith in you and I mean
it will you feel up to one more session like the one we had last night?”
“You mean right here and right now?!” Marie
exclaims.
“Yes, why not? You are dressed for the occasion.”
“Yes I am but it’s early in the morning.”
She gives him a playful shove.
“And why should that stop us?”
Arthur leans
in and the two start to passionately kiss.
They drop down onto the bed.
Arthur’s right hand rubs her stockinged leg while his left hand rubs the
back of her head while they kiss romantically, and intimately. His hands start to creep up towards her
lace-black panties but then she stops him by gently shoving him off. He looks somewhat surprised by this stoppage.
“What’s wrong, Marie?”
“Not right now, Arthur.” She shakes her
head as she gets up off of the bed and walks over to the closet. “I have too much on my plate and too much on
my mind.”
“Wait a second,” Arthur stares at his
wife skeptically “are you sure you’re ok
about Damian?”
“I’m fine.”
Arthur hears
his wife but he isn’t convinced by her.
Her voice just doesn’t sound very convincing at all. He watches her slip a simple “SCW” t-shirt on
over her head as she walks back over to the bed. She sits back down and proceeds to start the
removal of her nylon stockings.
“If you need to talk about anything, you
know I’ll listen.” He places a hand on her shoulder. “I’m here for you.”
“I appreciate it, but I’m fine.” She
tosses her stockings to the side. “I’m
just very busy today, ok? I’d like to
make an appearance at the SCW House Show and meet my sister Jessica to
celebrate her being honored and recognized by Global Championship Wrestling for
her achievements all before I return to the hotel.”
Marie leans
over and kisses Arthur on the cheek. “Then
maybe, just maybe, if you’re still up for it you horny bastard, we can enjoy
ourselves. How does that sound?”
“I hate waiting but I am a patient man.” He
returns the kiss with one of his own. “Sorry
for pressuring you, Marie. I just care
about you, that’s all.”
“Thank you for caring, Arthur.”
==========
Scene 2
May 24th,
2018
Off Camera
==========
Marie is not
typically a liar. Granted this was only
partially a lie, but most would say that even a partial lie is still a lie. Marie did make the SCW House Show
appearance. What Marie did not do and
does not plan to do was meet her sister Jessica to celebrate any achievement or
accomplishments or anything of the sort.
She is not meeting Jessica at all.
There is someone else Marie plans to meet with before returning to the
hotel where Arthur Pond waits on her.
This lovely
vision of beauty walking into the bar is none other than Marie Annabelle Jones,
but you would have to get a real close up view of her in order to figure that
out. She is not dressed as she normally
would be. Instead of her modest or
conservative attire, she is wearing a short and tight black leather skirt with
a lace up side, black high heeled boots, and a leopard print halter top. Her hair is black, but this is not her
natural hair. This is a wig. The black
hair of the wig hangs down to just at shoulder length. Her nails are painted black and she even has
black lipstick.
Jones
approaches the bar and sits down next to a familiar figure; none other than
Blake Mason. She bangs impatiently to
get the bartender’s attention.
“Hey, loser!
Gimme a scotch…” she smirks “...actually,
mix something with that, I don’t care what, just make it strong shit and I’ll
tip ya good.”
Blake turns
his attention to the woman. With his eyebrow raised he says “And I thought I was looking to escape from
reality. You should at least know what you’re drinking. Trust me, you’re going
to have a hangover the next day. Best to be prepared.”
“Preparation is for losers.” She
chuckles. “Trust me, I’ve busted my ass
week in and week out and for what? I’m stuck
in a damn best of five series that maybe one or two people even know about and
I can guarantee you no one in that battle royal even remember my damn name.”
She winks. “You DO remember mine, right Blake?”
Blake leans
in. He whispers in her ear, “I do. But if
you don’t want the rest of this bar knowing who you are, talking shop isn’t the
best identity concealer.”
“Thanks for the advice handsome, my name is
Lynette by the way. Lynette Williams,
it’s what my father was going to name me had he not gone fucking nuts and
allowed mom to put a bullet through his brain.” She taps herself on the
cheek. “You want to give me some
sugar? You know you want to.”
Blake holds
up his finger to show his wedding ring. “Staying
honest, Lynette. I love my wife. She may drive me up a wall sometime. What
relationship doesn’t come with challenges, right?”
The
bartender returns with “Lynette’s” drink. Blake waves at him. “Bring me a scotch on the rocks?”
The
bartender nods. He goes away. Blake takes a sip of his drink. “You probably don’t want to listen to me
drown on about my situation. What brings you here tonight?”
“Kinda the same reason you are. I mean, you’re right, relationships are
challenging, but they’re only challenging when you decide to play by the
rules. I tried playing by the rules in
life and look at where it’s gotten me...or rather, where it’s gotten the public
me if you catch my drift.”
She takes a
sip of her drink and sets it down. “Look
at life, I played by the rules and yeah, I got a husband, but I also had a
crazy ass stalker recently. Is that
fair? But I handled it like a pro, like
a good role model for women I did not buckle under pressure. I continued to play by the rules society laid
down. But then there’s your
‘friends’...what’s her name? Amy?”
“Lynette”
snickers and nods her head and lowers her voice slightly as she continues
speaking.
“Yeah, I play by the rules and I get
ignored. I have no grudge against Amy, I
know you do, but it does get kind of frustrating when she doesn’t play by
society’s rules and yet gets lauded and praised as brave and noble. I’m not judging her life choices by any
means, it’s just frustrating because it isn’t fair. So why am I out here, Blakey-poo? Because I want to see what it’s like from the
other side. Fuck, my psychotic twin got
by pretty damn well like this, so why can’t I see what it’s like to throw the
rulebook out the window and do whatever the fuck I want?”
“Doing exactly what you want comes with a
price. I have paid that price ten times over. A former friend of mine hates my
guts. I should be used to it, everyone I become friends with hates my guts
eventually. Groundhog day, you know?”
The
bartender returns with Blake’s drink. He takes a sip of it. “This is my life now. No real friends to
speak of. I come to a bar drinking away
knowing full well I’m not going to find the answers I’m looking for. Do me one
favor. Don’t say the A-word.”
“Don’t worry, Lynette doesn’t judge.”
She sighs and a frowns crosses her face. “I
don’t judge either, Blake. And you do
have friends, at least one. And that’s
me talking, not Lynette.”
She laughs
lightly. “Funny, I sought redemption so
many times in my life and career and now I want to see what it’s like to be
depraved yet you seem like you want redemption?”
Blake
shrugs, “Don’t know if redemption is the
right word. For so long I crossed so many lines that lines usually run away
from me now. I tanked pretty much every friendship I ever had in the name of
trying to become successful in this sport. The one person who supports me
unconditionally, the path she is on makes me uncomfortable. Just want to find a
path gives me peace. That’s all. ”
“That’s me.” She takes a sip of her
drink and sighs. “I want to do things the
right way, I want to earn my way to the top, because in my heart of hearts I
believe that it is the way I should do it.
Taking Hold of the Flame is coming up.
Who knows what might happen?
Could it happen that night?”
She shrugs
her shoulders. “Hard to say, but
overcoming thirty-nine others is a tough task.
But I see so many others from the person you speak of, Syren, Ravyn, and
even people like Amy and the Helms family all doing things professionally or
personally I once would consider heinous.
As I said, that’s the reason for Lynette. It’s my way of having my cake and eating it
too; walking on the dark side and yet still maintaining the perception that
Marie Jones is the sweet upstanding person we all know.”
She
chuckles. “I have to admit, it was fun
for tonight at least. But have I learned
anything about walking on the dark side?
Not really. Speaking as me, not
as Lynette, I think you should give redemption a chance. I’ve always believed redemption is possible
for everyone, no matter how fallen you are.
But tell me, do you think I should keep Lynette around?”
Blake nods. “Yes. I do. What made Tiger Woods great was
he showed the public one image. Upstanding family man. Model citizen. Behind
closed doors when no one was watching, he let his darkside have free reign. He
did get caught. His darkness got brought into the light. Hasn’t been the same
since. Would have done a better job telling the world, no apologizes.” Blake
sighs, “Since that day he lost his edge. He became a puppy. The Tiger Woods we
knew as the most dominant athlete in the world is dead. So I say keep your
alter ego around. Be prepared. One day you might get caught. If that day comes,
are you going to own your darkside to the world or are you going to be like
Tiger, apologize and become a shell of your former self. They say darkness
cannot survive in the light. It can, if you own it.”
“Maybe you’re right; because I’m definitely
capable of darkness, that’s not the problem.
I was the mastermind of the Ginger Hoax in UWA where Kim defended the
tag titles in my place for several months.
I sold my soul to Silas Mason for the goal of becoming world champion in
IWC and GCW. But then I had my
redemption and like Tiger Woods I apologized.
So perhaps that’s the problem?
But does redemption have to be saying you’re sorry?”
“I’m not an expert on redemption. It is
exhausting saying you’re sorry all the time.” Blake chuckles. “Only apologize if you mean it. Sounds
simple enough right?”
“Yeah, but nothing is ever simple. Even if you seemingly have everything. You and I both know that. I was born into a great family and wanted for
nothing and yet I’ve been through more hell than any human being should have to
endure.”
“You came out of it okay in my book.”
Blake smiles. “Part of the reason I have
always been an admirer of yours. Despite everything you’ve gone through, the
goodness shines through. Plus it's always refreshing knowing there are people
in the world who don’t hate me. I don’t mind most of the world hating me,
that’s fine. Kennedy.. Yeah, she hates my guts. Kelcey went through her I hate
Blake phase too. If I can someone avoid driving the people I actually give a
crap about wanting me dead, that’s progress I guess.”
Blake take another
sip of his drink.
“People are more forgiving than you
know. Humanity is better than what you
may give them credit for. Be patient, it
may take awhile, but if you legitimately try, then eventually you may win some
of their trust back.” She laughs. “I
came here to party as Lynette and now I’m giving advice as Marie. So much for the first outing.”
“Practice makes per..” Blake stops
himself. “You’ll get there in time. I’ll
help. If there is one thing I am good at, it’s being devious. If you can
sprinkle your redemption magic on me, sounds like a fair trade.”
“I think that’s a fair trade.”
She takes
one final swig of her drink, finishing it off before placing the glass
down. She hops off of her bar stool and
pats Blake on the back.
“Your wife is a very lucky woman, that’s me
and Lynette talking, but Lynette wants to have more fun next time we see each
other.” She winks playfully at him.
Blake nods, “Your husband is lucky as well, Marie. You’re
good people. Being a good person doesn’t mean you need to live inside a box.
Step out of it, sometime. Lynette will be good for you.”
Marie
acknowledges the compliment with a nod as she turns around and makes her way
past the tables and people in the bar.
She gets to the front door and makes her exit. Once she is out on the street she immediately
goes back to acting out Lynette, strutting her stuff as she goes down the
street looking to hail a taxi. It
appears as if she is in luck as a taxi slowly comes to a stop. She is about to walk towards it when…
“I wouldn’t get in there if I were you.”
She stops
dead in her tracks. She knows that
voice. She sighs as she looks at the
taxi driver with the window rolled down.
“Uh, sorry about that, I’ll just get the
next one.”
The taxi
driver nods and then proceeds to drive off.
Meanwhile Marie turns around and walks down an alleyway between the bar
and another building. Marie stops near
the center of the alleyway and throws her arms up in the air out of
frustration.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are!”
It isn’t
long until a feminine silhouette appears from the shadows. She steps out into the light and we see that
it is Jessica Jones-Lasiewicz, Marie’s half-sister. She is wearing black denim jeans, black
boots, and a black long sleeved sweater.
Her long black hair hangs unrestrained to below her shoulders. Marie places her hands on her hips.
“What are you doing spying on me, Jessica?”
“You call it spying but I call it looking
out for your well-being.” Jessica smirks knowingly. “I got an interesting call from my brother-in-law.”
Marie rolls
her eyes. Arthur must have called her
about something. “What did he want?”
“Oh he just wanted to know if you were ok.”
“He called to check up on me?” Marie
asks with some shock. “Doesn’t he trust
me?!”
“Of course he does, but try to understand
that he called your cell phone first.
You must have it turned off. I
would’ve been worried as well.”
Marie sighs
and kicks herself mentally for making such a mistake. “What did you tell him?”
“I told him you were ok. I played along with whatever lie you told
him, Marie. And for now at least, I will
continue to play along, so long as you tell me what the hell you are doing
dressed like that.”
“You mean you don’t know?”
“I know you’re up to something, dear sister,
because you don’t wear clothes like that, that’s just not your style. And that wig…” she reaches over and jerks
the wig off of her head “…terrible,
absolutely terrible wig. You’re dressed
like cheap whore and you’re walking the streets alone going to bars like
that. So what are you doing?”
“Well, I…” Marie thinks about it for a
moment, she thinks about spilling the beans, but then she just shakes her head “…I think that this is none of your
business.”
“You’re lucky I respected your privacy
enough not to follow you into the bar. I
would’ve humiliated you and whoever you’re cheating on your husband with right
then and there.”
“I was NOT cheating on my husband!” Marie
exclaims. “I am going through some tough
shit right now, Jessica, shit that you wouldn’t understand, no one would
understand, and I am handling it the best way I know how. But one thing I would never do is cheat on my
husband!”
“Then you should have no problem telling me
what you were doing in that bar?”
“It’s none of your business, Jessica.”
Jessica
sighs and shakes her head. “It is my
business because we’re family and we help each other. Those are YOUR words, not mine. And one day maybe you’ll feel like opening up
to me, but until that day keep in mind that I am watching you and heed this one
word of warning.”
Jessica’s
eyes narrow. “Your greatest fear was
becoming our mother. You didn’t want the
mental instability she suffered, you didn’t want the Scarlet Letter of having a
new lover seemingly every few months because she was so crazy no one could
stand her. Looking at you now I can say
that you are walking on thin ice, Marie.
You are close to becoming our mother, whether you like it or not.”
She places
her hands on Marie’s shoulders. “Your son
has a father figure, you have a loving husband; do not throw that away.”
Jessica
walks away, leaving Marie deep in her own thoughts.
==========
On Camera
==========
September 28th,
2016 is a date that I remember very well.
It was the day that I officially made my debut in Supreme Championship
Wrestling. I have changed a great deal
since that day. Back then I was a very
bitter, very angry person. Admittedly I
joined SCW not for the greatness or for the thrill of the competition but out
of spite and hate, hatred towards the rival company UWA where I had once
competed. I blamed UWA for not giving me
as many singles opportunities, booking me instead in the tag team
division. So I took my talent elsewhere,
I took my ball and went to SCW, thinking that I could make UWA pay for
overlooking me.
I was
victorious over Hannah Warr in my SCW debut.
Next I defeated Kara Abheri, albeit due to a distraction. You could imagine the smile on my face. It had to be surgically removed. Two matches in and already two wins under my
belt. I thought for certain that I was
going to make UWA pay.
That’s when
reality struck. I lost to Kara in a
triple threat that also involved Hannah.
I lost a Television Title eliminator to Brett Sinclair. And finally, to top off my failures, I had
the chance to capture the United States Championship from Amy Chastaine but I
could not get the job done.
I was devastated
but more than that, I was humbled. I
came to SCW out of spite for UWA hoping I could be successful here and make
them regret mistreating me but when SCW started granting me singles
championship opportunities, I failed to deliver. Amy tried to offer me words of
encouragement. She said I could get the
job done the right way; without the cheap tricks.
I didn’t
have long to think about those words then but I did have time to think about
them after I was injured in a match against Syren, putting me out of action for
awhile. I sat at home, not only thinking
about my future with SCW but also thinking about why I came to SCW in the first
place.
It was then
that the words of Amy Chastaine finally hit home and I realized that I came for
all the wrong reasons. This never should’ve
been about my petty jealousy and anger; this is about competition and here in
Supreme Championship Wrestling is where you find the absolute best competition
in the world. And if I do set my mind to
it, if I fight with all of my heart and soul, then I can get the job done. I can truly defeat anyone SCW puts in front of
me because I have all of the talent and the ability in the world to be a world
champion.
I have done
it seven times elsewhere, why can’t I do it here?
I returned with
that very mindset and immediately I defeated Shane Lawson and Craig Thomas in a
triple threat match to determine the number one contender for the United States
Championship. Then the following Supreme
Saturday I defeated Tyler Tucker to become the SCW United States Champion.
Was it a
fluke? Some may have argued that
initially, but I proved them all wrong by defeating Tyler Tucker and Regan
Street in a triple threat match one year ago at Taking Hold of the Flame to
retain the United States Championship.
The
following year would see me enter a world championship series in which I
defeated two former world champions Ace Marshall and Christy Matthews. I defeated Aaron Blackbourne to become the
new SCW Television Champion. And most
recently you’ve seen me and another former world champion Katelyn Buehler light
it up in a hell of a best of five series.
By the time
Taking Hold of the Flame comes around gets here I will have been a part of this
company for six hundred and thirteen days.
It has damn sure been a rough and tough journey thus far and I know
there will be tougher challenges ahead of me in the future. It has been a roller coaster ride to say the
least but that ride is about to go through Taking Hold of the Flame, the one
night where I can finally accomplish what I had set out to accomplish six
hundred and thirteen days ago…
…earn a shot
at the World Championship.
I have never
had a shot at the SCW World Championship; and yes, there are many others in
this battle royal who could say the same damn thing. There are those who have been in this company
longer than I have whose journey may have been tougher than mine who can say
the same damn thing. But this is where I
get a little bit selfish and say that I just don’t care.
Sorry, but I
just don’t care. There comes a point in
your career where you have to look out for yourself; Taking Hold of the Flame
is an example of one of those points where you have to be selfish. It doesn’t matter about the person next to
you and their story. They’ll eliminate
you in a heartbeat all for an opportunity to become SCW World Champion because
this is every man…or woman in my case…for themselves.
I’ve been
busting my ass in SCW trying to prove not only to myself but to everyone else
that I can hang and I have not only done that but I have excelled. Yet I haven’t had my opportunity at the world
championship. Yet I still the same names
orbiting around that world championship picture. Now some people would gripe about that and
complain. Not me. The way I look at it, if you don’t like it,
you need to step up and do something about it.
Taking Hold
of the Flame is going to be when I step up and do something about it.
I’m going to
shock the world by winning that battle royal against all of the odds. I’m going to overcome thirty-nine other
competitors and become the number one contender to the SCW World
Championship. Then the world will be
shocked again because it won’t be a Street or a Helms, it won’t be a Cruze or
an Ace, it will be a Jones in the main event of Rise to Greatness challenging
for the SCW World Championship.
No, I’m not
just talking out of my ass. I know
exactly the kind of challenge I face at Taking Hold of the Flame. I’ve been to this dance before and come up
short. Hell, I attempted to pull off
this exact same feat last year; I defended my United States Championship
earlier in the night before trying to win the battle royal. This year I have the added challenge of
having to defeat Katelyn Buehler before going on to the battle royal.
Can I do
it? Can I compete twice in one
night? Don’t bet against The
Phoenix. Just when you think I’m down
and out I get back up stronger than ever.
I understand that difficulty in wrestling twice in one night because I
did it already. That’s old news for
me. And I understand just who I’m up
against.
I’m up
against Sienna Swann who already went one hour, competing in this should be a
cakewalk for her right?
I’m up
against former multi-time world champion Syren who no doubt have back-up galore
watching her plastic ass.
I’m up
against Amy Chastaine, the woman who helped get me back on the right track, and
now it’ll be my job to derail her Rise To Greatness dreams.
In short, I’m
up against the elite of Supreme Championship Wrestling. I’m against some people I’ve never beaten
before and some people I’ve never fought before. Do I know the difficulty of the challenge I’m
faced with? You damn right I do. So I’m not just talking out of my ass here,
but believe me when I say that I am ready to forever rock the foundation of the
world championship picture here in SCW and break the glass ceiling like so many
others have done in the past.
But those
others who have shattered that glass ceiling fell after a short time. I’m breaking that glass ceiling and there’s
no way in hell you’re getting me back down after that. Once I break through that glass ceiling I’m
going to shoot through the sky like a rocket to the damn moon.
Most of this
field of forty will tell you that they want this more than anyone else. And they may feel it in their heart of hearts
to be true, but the reality is that no one wants this or needs this more than
me. Taking Hold of the Flame will be the
culmination of a journey that I began over six hundred days ago when I made my
debut in SCW; a journey not out of spite or hate, but a journey to get just one
more opportunity to be world champion.
All I need
is one shot for the championship, anytime and anywhere, and I know I can win
it, but up until now I’ve been denied that opportunity. I will not be denied at Taking Hold of the
Flame. If I have to go through thirty
nine other wrestlers then so be it, I will earn this championship match, I will
main event Rise To Greatness, and I will become the new SCW World Champion.
