Confidence Booster

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A Confidence Booster

Off Camera

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Her purpose behind joining IWC was to compete, on her own, and to win championship gold.  And during the lead-up to Invictus she got bullied by the likes of Frankie Paradise and assaulted by Lukas Knight and Sinistry.  Then she was kidnapped by Kimberly Williams only to return to be forced to fight with her best friend, Aerik Walker as part of a sinister plot to try and split up Apocalypse.

The landscape has now changed entirely since Extreme Fury has come and gone.  Marie’s sister and part of Apocalypse, Jessica Lasiewicz, is gone from IWC.  Jackson Adams is retired and that leaves the only two active wrestler members of Apocalypse as her and Aerik Walker.  And now the sharks smelling blood are circling, looking for their best chance to strike out and finish Apocalypse once and for all.

One such shark is named Danny Darko and shark is an appropriate term, but not the fierce great whites or bull sharks that swimmers around the world fear, but more like the tiny ones, the nuisances that nip at your heel in the water.  He’s nipping at Marie Annabelle Jones and Aerik Walker, thinking that they are in a weakened vulnerable state.

The truth is much different.  Aerik and Marie are closer than ever despite their encounter at Extreme Fury.  Now more than ever are the united in readiness for battle against those who wish to see them fail and they are more than ready to finish off one of the biggest annoyances of them all.

Marie will get the first crack at Danny Darko when IWC rolls into NewAge.  Honestly she never did have any problem with Darko until he decided to run his mouth, first talking trash about her sister and then talking trash about Apocalypse.  His constant whining, moaning, and groaning has gotten on her nerves and she wants to put it all to end.  Unfortunately, even Marie realizes that a simple victory won’t suffice.  The only way to truly shut him up is to rip out his vocal chords so he can’t talk and break his hands so he can’t type.

That kind of violence can be saved for later.  Right now she just wants to win this match, labeled a grudge match.  The only one holding a grudge, though, is Darko.  Marie holds no grudge here, because to hold a grudge means he is important to her.  Danny isn’t all that important to Marie.

What is important to Marie is that she focus on the new beginning, a beginning that she hopes will bring forth lots of fruit for her career.  This new beginning, of course, is with her new agent Samantha Hodgson.

Choosing to sign with Samantha Hodgson was a difficult decision, primarily because she knew that her mother, Angelica Jones, had just left Samantha last week.  Marie hasn’t even spoken to her mother since the announcement of her signing with Hodgson had been made public.  She can only imagine how awkward and how tense that moment will be.

It was a decision she felt she had to make, though, because she tried doing it on her own and she saw where it got her.  She got sidetracked with Frankie Paradise, Kimberly Williams, and a petty fight with Aerik Walker.  Now she has a chance to get her career in IWC back on track and she’s going to do it by defeating Danny Darko on New Age.  But once she does get her career back on track she doesn’t want to ever again lose focus, she doesn’t want to ever again have people take advantage of her.  Thus why she signed with Samantha Hodgson.  She believes Samantha can look out for her best interests.

Currently Marie finds herself following her agent, Samantha Hodgson, towards her office…

“Welcome, Ms. Jones!” Samantha shouts gleefully, almost like a victorious general after winning a major battle. “Welcome to The House of Hodgson!”

The red head follows her agent down the hall of the building where Hodgson does her business, the headquarters of her managing business, the place she playfully calls The House of Hodgson.  Marie is in awe at the achievements and accolades hanging on the walls as she passes by, many of them are from people she recognizes.

“Wow, I know those guys,” she looks at a picture “that’s Alan Shields and Nico Larsson back when they won the GCW World Tag Team Titles.”

Samantha grins, rather smugly. “Yes, only the best for Hodgson, and that includes the tag team division.  Alan and Nico call themselves Wrestling Royalty and it’s a proper name, for when it comes to tag team wrestling there are few teams better than them.  They were trained in Europe, a continent which has produced some of the best talent.”

Annabelle Jones is barely listening to Samantha Hodgson as they move on down the hall.  Her eyes suddenly grow wide with shock as she sees something that really catches her attention in a big way.

“Mom!”

She rushes up to a wall where she sees a picture of her mother, a much younger Angelica Jones, after she won her first GDW World Championship.  The red head Bostonian touches the picture, carefully, looking on an almost reverent fashion.

“Samantha…were you…”

“Was I there?” Marie nods her head.  “No, I wasn’t there, Marie.  She didn’t take me on as her agent until one day after she won that championship.  And I will freely admit that I was skeptical about working with her.”

Marie continues to walk down the hall, looking at the various Angelica Jones pictures and memorabilia lining the wall as the cutthroat businesswoman who manages her continues to talk.

“I had always viewed wrestling as a barbarian’s sport, nothing worth getting involved with.  A mutual friend, Emma Storm, convinced me to give it a shot.”  She grins knowingly. “It was definitely a risk worth taking.”

Young Marie turns around to face Samantha, looking on in disbelief. “You mean my mom was the first wrestler you managed?”

“That’s right and she certainly put my agency on the map.  Despite our differences, I will never forget what she did for me.”

Jones frowns.  “Why did you and mom split, anyway?  I never understood what the big deal was.”

The brunette shrugs her shoulders. “Creative differences.”

“Creative differences?”

“Yes, creative differences.  We had different ideas of how to proceed.”

“Well that seems dumb.” Marie says bluntly. “Couldn’t you two have talked it out?”

“I think we could have but…” Samantha stops, and then shakes her head “…nevermind.”

“What is it?”

“Oh it’s just that, well, I’d rather not gossip behind her back.”

The Phoenix places her hands on her hips. “Well you already have me intrigued.  If you don’t tell me I’ll go badgering my mom, so you may as well tell me.”

Hodgson chuckles. “Very well…I have my suspicions that Silas Mason may have had something to do with our break.  I think Mason saw that Angelica and I were vulnerable and used that to his advantage.”

This isn’t a lie.  Samantha Hodgson does suspect but has no proof of Silas Mason’s involvement in the break-up of the Jones-Hodgson Alliance.  But it is true that Hodgson is using this suspicion to her own advantage to try and make sure Marie stays within The House of Hodgson.  Samantha is the master manipulator.  She will always paint herself as the victim and in this case she is bringing tons of pity towards herself.

“I never did trust Silas…” Marie says with her fists clenched “…and mom joined up with him?”

Hodgson nods. “Your mother is part of Silas World.”

“I can’t believe it…” She shakes her head in disbelief “…we have to do something.”

“Hopefully seeing both of her daughters as proud members of The House of Hodgson will bring her back to her senses.” Samantha places comforting hands on her shoulders. “You won’t leave The House, will you?”

Marie shakes her head. “Absolutely not, Sam.  This wall, a wall of fame venerating my mom, is evidence of the great things you can do and I would be stupid to cast you aside.”

“Glad to hear it.” Samantha says grinning victoriously, trying to hide her arrogance. “That means we can focus on the business at hand.”

Samantha turns and walks further down the hall and Marie follows her.  All the way Marie is still stunned to see the accolades, most of whom dedicated to her mother, lining this wall.  Finally they get to the end of the hall and Jones follows her agent through a glass door into a waiting room.  A young female secretary sits in front of another set of doors.  Hodgson waves politely at her.

“Hello, Brittany.”

“Good afternoon, Ms. Hodgson.”

Samantha points to Marie. “Brittany, this is my newest client, Marie Annabelle Jones.”

“I know you, Ms. Jones.” Brittany’s face lights up. “I became a fan of wrestling because of you, I watched you win your first world title in GCW.”

A sense of pride washes over the red head, a pride that was passed down to her from her mother, a pride knowing that there are people out there who respect her for what she does.

“Thank you, Brittany…”

“Now then,” Samantha chimes in “I do not want anyone interrupting, Brittany.  Marie and I are going to be doing some important business for the next hour.  Are we clear?”

“Crystal clear, Ms. Hodgson.”

With that Samantha walks past her secretary and then pushes the doors open into her office.  Marie enters next and takes consideration of what she sees.  Two large plants are on either side of a great big window against the far end that overlooks the skyline.  A large brown oak desk is in between those plants a black chair is behind it and two black chairs are in front of it.  Perpendicular to the desk and a few feet away is a plush red sofa. Several paintings line the wall, expensive paintings.  Needless to say, Marie is impressed.

“Nice office, Sam.”

“Thank you.”

Marie begins to walk around the room, taking in everything she sees. “It’s amazing…”

“What’s amazing?”

“…as long as you and my mom worked together, I never got to see this place.”

Hodgson chuckles. “Truthfully, Marie, this has recently been remodeled.  I was working out of something that wasn’t much better than a basement when your mother and I first met.”

“You really have come a long way.”

“I have and I owe it all to your mother.”

Hodgson makes her way over to young Marie and places a hand on her shoulder to get her attention.  Jones turns to face her new agent who is beaming with pride.

“I expect you and I to have similar results.”

“I can only hope.”

“Don’t speak like that.” Samantha chides her. “Do not sell yourself short.  Never ever sell yourself short.”

The Boston native shrugs her shoulders. “Ok, but do you really think we can make as big an impact as quickly as you two did?”

The cutthroat businesswoman has dealt with this family before.  Angelica, early on in her reign as world champion, had doubts about how good she really was.  Her boyfriend at the time did help her win that title.  People saw Angelica on television as this arrogant individual, cocky and full of herself now that she was champion.  But Samantha was the one who put that confidence within her.

Now Samantha hopes to do the same with Angelica’s daughter, “The Phoenix” Marie Annabelle Jones, a young woman who has always tried to put over others rather than put herself over.  Samantha, however, believes that to get ahead you have to put yourself over, and so she realizes it is time to instill some of that confidence into Marie.

“Tell me something Marie…what do people call you?”

“You mean my ring name?” Samantha nods her head. “The Phoenix.”

“Yes, well, you have told the world time and again that being The Phoenix means that no matter how many times you get knocked down, you will keep getting back up and rising up, just like the mythological phoenix, resurrected to fight again.”

Jones grins proudly of that description.  She always thought of her durability as one of her strong suits.

“Yeah, that’s right!”

“See, that’s your problem.  You’re focusing on the death of The Phoenix, not its life.”

“Huh?”

“I have a different vision for The Phoenix.”  Hodgson wraps an arm around her should, standing side by side as she uses her free hand to wave out in front of her as if looking at a marquee. “I can see it now; The Phoenix is a beautiful creature and that is what our focus should be on.  Why focus on the death when we should focus on its life, a life of beauty?”

Samantha steps away and points a finger at Marie. “You, my dear, are the loveliest creature in the Independent Wrestling Cartel.”

“Me?” Jones scoffs. “You’re nuts…there’s so many others out there like Taylor or…”

“My dear, sweet Marie, you are judging beauty based solely on outward appearance.  Truthfully, even on outward appearances you match them all in every way shape and form but what makes you better than all of the rest is that you have class.  You, Marie Annabelle Jones, are not some free wheeling whore sleeping with different men…or women…like Abigail Lindsey.”

Marie growls under her breath.  “Abigail?  I don’t want to hear about Abigail.  Do you realize what she did?  She knew about Kimberly Williams kidnapping me and didn’t tell anyone.  She didn’t lift a finger to help and I thought we were friends.”

“Do you wish to press charges?”

“I want to sue.” Marie grits her teeth. “I want to sue her for everything she’s got.”

“Then it shall be done.  But at the right time.”

“Just make sure you do it, Sam.” Jones is pacing the floor in anger.  “Make sure we get every penny out of her!”

Samantha is watching as Marie changes before her very eyes.  And she definitely likes what she sees.

“And you mentioned Taylor Chase?  Is someone who sold out to Silas Mason just to protect her championship really a picture of beauty?  You, Marie Annabelle Jones, have fought your way through trials and tribulations to earn everything you have ever earned.  You have never sold out to obtain those three world titles and you never sold out to become a GCW Hall of Famer at such a young age.”

Jones nods her head, feeling the pride and confidence growing within her. “That’s right…”

“So you see, I am correct, you as The Phoenix are the most beautiful creature in all of IWC and now it is time that the world knows it as well.”

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Sam’s Words

On Camera

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I have always made it my mission to ensure the success of my clients.  That’s what makes me one of the best in this industry.  People know what I can do and they trust me, they trust me with their careers, they trust me to guide them to success.  I have managed world champions and now I have added yet another former world champion to my collection of warriors.  I have added another living breathing legend to my group of clients.

Marie Annabelle Jones is The Phoenix of IWC and it isn’t because of some silly notion of death and resurrection and death and resurrection.  As good as that sounds, I prefer not to focus on someone’s death.  After all, no longer will it be Marie who will constantly be dying again and again and again.  No longer will Marie be the punching bag.  Marie, as The Phoenix, is rising up but she is rising up never to die again.  She is rising up as the beautiful creature she is, now and forever to be respected, and those who don’t respect her can expect her to make you respect her.  You can expect her to beat the respect into you.

I can understand being jealous of Marie.  There is plenty to be jealous of.  She has the looks of a winner, the looks of a champion, and she is a world champion and hall of famer at such a young age, younger than most anyone else.  So yes, I can understand being jealous of her, but being jealous is no excuse for disrespect.  You will respect her nevertheless.

Danny Darko has a problem with my client and I can see that his problem lies within his deep seeded jealousy of her.  Darko has been wrestling how long now, since the time of Jesus Christ?  And only now are people recognizing that decrepit old Neanderthal as a legend?  Marie has only been wrestling several years now and already she is a legend.

Is that what really irks you the most, Darko?  My client is already leaps and bounds more successful than you and she did it in half the time you achieved your success; less than half the time, to be honest with you!

You’re good, Darko, you’re just not as good as Marie, and that’s what eats you up the most.  That’s the truth behind your insults and disrespect.

Now that I have unmasked you, it will be my client’s joy to once and for all shut you up and in the process beat respect into you at New Age.  But then again, what do I know?  Why don’t you hear what my client has to say, straight from her own mouth…

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Time To Grow Up

On Camera

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We open in a blue room with a black leather sofa.  Marie Annabelle Jones is sitting on the black leather sofa wearing blue jeans, black boots, a black “Apocalypse” t-shirt and her signature black leather jacket.  Her long red hair hangs down unrestrained to shoulder length.  A plush stuffed animal is in her possession.

“This is a Care-Bear!” She holds up a yellow bear with a photo of Danny Darko’s face taped to it. “It’s so cuddly, soft, and adorable, isn’t it?”

She drops it down on the sofa.  “William Mason called you a care-bear and the first time I saw that on twitter I was shocked that he would say such a thing about a man like you, an athlete like Danny Darko.”

“You’re good, Dan.  There’s absolutely no denying what you can do inside of a ring.  Despite what you think of Apocalypse, despite what you think of me, I will give the devil his due and admit you’re going to be a hell of a challenge on New Age.  All of that knowledge in my head was why I thought calling you a care-bear was so rude and offensive at first.”

“But then, I got to thinking about it, and the more I thought, the more I read about your whining, pissing, and moaning on social media, I realized that perhaps Mason was right?” She turns and gazes down at the care bear. “Maybe you are a care-bear after all?”

She looks back up at the camera, grinning. “But what really took the cake was when you got attacked by The Blacklist.”

Marie balls up both her fists and starts rubbing her eyes in a mock-crying motion. “The Blacklist attacked me and no one helped me!  Apocalypse didn’t save me!  They were liars!  WAH! WAH! WAH!”

Jones lowers her fists, the mockery and parody ends and she looks dead serious. “My God, man!  How the fuck old are you?  Eleven?  If you really are as young as you act, then allow me to spell it out for you, little boy.  You see, we are professional wrestlers and in this sport sometimes bad things happen and if you can’t handle bad things happening, well, don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out.  This is for adults, not for little boys who cry over every little thing.”

“Seriously, one little instance and you can’t fucking let go?!  One little instance that you are STILL crying about it like a little child who lost his puppy!  There have been plenty of times when I couldn’t make it out to the ring to help Jessica and she didn’t get mad.  Vice-Versa there were many times when Jessica couldn’t get out to the ring in time to help me but I didn’t get mad.  You know why we didn’t get mad?  Unlike you, we actually grew up.  We matured.  You still have the mind of a child.”

“With how much you cry all the time you have to be either a child or you are pretty damn sensitive.  I mean, people say women are emotional and cry all the time, but with how much you cried over twitter after that one little attack, an attack you still whine about to this day, well it makes me wonder if you’re actually sporting a vagina between those legs of yours.”

“Do you think all that macho bravado, all those tweets you shoot up every day, do you really think that impresses me or intimidates me?  That’s just a veil to hide the truth, the truth that deep down inside you are just a scared little girl.”

Jones nods her head. “That’s right, a scared, frightened little girl afraid of the big bad Silverwolf and Phoenix.  And all that crying, pissing, and moaning is just a symptom of a much greater problem for you.  You let things get to you way too easily, Danny Boy.  I believe you when you speak of yourself in such high regards on social media.  I’ve seen you wrestle, I know what you can do.  But if William Mason calls you a care-bear and you wage world war 3 for the next month, and then the rest of Apocalypse doesn’t come out to help you when The Blacklist beats your ass and you react by throwing the world’s largest temper tantrum that STILL hasn’t ended, well it sounds like you’re overcompensating.”

“And your wife coming to IWC just makes you start gloating now?” She sighs and shakes her head. “Sorry, but that doesn’t exactly help your cause either.  Now you just sound like a little girl whose mommy is coming to save her from the bullies.”

“Mommy Vanilla, the mean people are bullying me again!  Make them stop!”

The Phoenix rolls her eyes. “Pathetic.  That’s pathetic, Daniel.  And what makes me absolutely sick to my stomach is the talent that you have and yet you are making yourself into a joke.”

She points a long slender finger at the camera. “That’s right, YOU are turning yourself into a joke.  Apocalypse doesn’t have to do anything to make a joke out of you.  You’re doing a good job of that yourself.”

“You want to know why we were so willing to beat you down at Extreme Fury?  First of all, you did provoke us, so remember that.  You would talk trash then boldly declare that we are all talk and no action.”

She grins. “Kicking your ass and costing you the Evolution Title DOES count as an action, right?”

“But see you provoking us wasn’t the only reason we beat your ass at Extreme Fury.  If that was all it was then we could have just ignored you.  One little whiny legend who doesn’t know when to quit is easily ignored.”

“It was a combination of things, Daniel.  It was the perfect storm, if you will.  You proved to us that you were nothing but a crybaby with how you reacted to Mason’s care-bear comment and the blacklist attack.  You constantly ramble on and on over social media about pointless, irrelevant bullshit that no one gives a fuck about!  When someone looks up what it means to “spam up my timeline” your picture comes up.  For goodness sake, slow down!  All that happened all at once when you decided to start provoking us.  So something just had to be done.  Action had to be taken.”

“Knowing you, you’ve probably been stewing over this, salivating over this opportunity ever since we failed to help you against The Blacklist.  And now here’s your chance to get your hands on a member of the Apocalypse.”

“Be careful what you wish for, Dan-O.  You just might get it.”

“You know what the difference is between you and me, Danny?  Maturity.  That’s also why you would never have made it as a member of Apocalypse.  My career has been defined by a journey through a living hell.  The moment I decided to become a professional wrestler I received pushback from my own family because they didn’t want to see me following in my mother’s footsteps.  Then when I did finally make my debut I was targeted by any and every two-bit thug who wanted to make a name for themselves by taking out a member of the famous Jones wrestling family.  When I grew into my own I didn’t hold back.  I threw myself into the deadliest of matches, including the infamous Insanity Cage and the Apocalypse Match, all with the full intention of proving myself to the world, all with the intention of proving that I was more than just a last name, that The Phoenix was a threat to be taken seriously.  I ended up giving a solid year of my life to this industry when I broke my leg and had to take time off.”

“And while we’re on the subject of maturity, let me tell you about real maturity, Darko.  Let me tell you about the woman who stabbed her sister and her entire family in the back because she was manipulated by her psychotic twin.  Jessica had to knock some sense into me but when she did, I looked into the mirror and I didn’t like what I saw.  I realized what I did was wrong and a complete disgrace to the industry, let alone my family.”

“Did I cry or whine about it?” Jones shakes her head. “No, what I did in response was quite possibly unprecedented in this industry.  I left the major leagues and went back to a development territory.  I had already paid my dues as we veterans like to say but I felt I deserved to be punished, I felt I needed to repay my dues, so I went back and earned my way back into the major leagues of pro-wrestling.”

“That’s what you do when you face adversity.  You don’t cry about it, you don’t piss and moan about it, you learn from it, you grow from it, and you keep on fighting until you have nothing left to give.”

She points a finger back at the camera. “And that is why you would never make a good Apocalypse member, because instead of fighting adversity you run from it.  Instead of learning from it and growing from it you whine and cry about it to anyone who will listen.”

“Another difference between you and me is that when the going gets tough you get your wife to fight your battles for you.  Aerik Walker knows from experience that I am good enough to take down anyone, even someone as accomplished as you Darko.  You don’t have to worry about outside interference because I can beat you without them.”

“And tell me this, when I do defeat you, because you know I will, what will you say when you first log into your social media accounts?  Are you going to cry because I beat you half to death in front of your Darkaholics?”

“Winnipeg called.  Chris wants his gimmick back.”

“But I will promise you this much, Daniel; I won’t go all the way.  I will defeat you but I will hold back from what I could do.  I could do the entire world and IWC a favor and take you out.” A sinister grin forms upon her face. “I am a Jones, after all.  I am fully capable of destroying someone.”

“But I won’t do that to you.” She shakes her head. “I will settle for just defeating you because I want to leave just a little bit of you for Aerik.  I want there to be just enough of you left so that he can fight you next and then you can honestly say you have fought two members of Apocalypse and you can honestly say you got your ass handed to you by both members of Apocalypse.  You will have been exposed for the fraud that you are.  The world will see that when Danny Darko says Apocalypse is all talk and no action, he’s really talking about himself.  The world will see that when Danny Darko declares to anyone willing to listen that he’s a legend, that he’s really just a big fat liar.”

“It’s time to grow up, Danny.  It’s time to put the big boy pants on and go to school, because I plan to teach you some tough lessons, lessons your mommy and daddy should have taught you a long time ago.”