Alexis De Tocqueville

==========

Jessica

On Camera

==========

I guess now I know why Kloe Masters never did grant me my request.  Now I know why Kloe Masters never bothered to listen to me when I made one simple request, a request that I think any normal, logical businessperson would grant…

…take this Queen of the Ring Title shot away from me.  I do not want it.

It is a simple and logical request that makes perfect sense.  It’s MY title shot.  If I don’t want it, why not take it from me and give it so someone else who does?

Why not?  Well, as long as Masters has me distracted in this pointless Queen of the Ring bullshit, then I will never be able to focus on the real problem, I will never be able to focus on what needs to be done.

In a game of chess, the pawn is the cannon fodder.  You send the pawns out first to take the initial brunt, the initial firepower of your enemy in order to break open the ranks.  And I can tell what kind of chess game you are playing, Kloe.

Tina Valentine is clearly just one of your pawns in this game of chess.  You are using her as the cannon fodder.  You care not for her well-being.  You could care less if I maim her, if I leave her lying in a bloody heap.  You don’t care because the goal is to keep me distracted.  You want to distract me from my real goal.

A game of smoke and mirrors.  Don’t pay attention to the man behind the curtain.  Right?

Too bad for you, I learned about how to play that game from the master of smoke and mirrors.  Nothing you do will fool me.

But if you refuse to take my title shot away from me, that’s fine.  I’ll keep it, I’ll beat the living fuck out of Tina Valentine, and leave the pieces for Amanda Blayze to pick up.  Or Jessica Wilde.  Whatever.  Because that title means nothing to me.

Now that I know your game, I realize you are probably not going to take that title match away from me.  That’s fine.  I can try at least.  Think about it, couldn’t you reward one of the whores in that Jim Jones Blue Kool-Aid Cult of yours.  Any of them.  Pick one.  Your crazy clan can add another title to your group.  Isn’t that great?

If that doesn’t work, that’s fine, I’ll keep the title shot.  But I feel bad for Tina Valentine.   Because that means you doomed her to an early retirement.

==========

Off Camera

==========

The holiday season is upon us.  Thanksgiving is coming up and not long after that is Christmas.  All over the world people are beginning to celebrate, people are getting into a festive holiday mood in preparation to spend time with family and friends.  Even in the Independent Wrestling Cartel, the holidays have spirits running high, despite the dreariness and dread that has come about from some as a result of what went down on last RIOT.  Despite Kloe Masters and her betrayal of IWC, despite Sinistry’s takeover, many in the company are still happy, if for no reason than to just have a job and for the fact that they can be with family and friends on Thanksgiving.  It truly is a happy and joyful time of year.

“DIE!  KILL THEM!”

Ok, well, maybe not everyone is in a very festive mood.  Who is this individual that happens to be wishing death upon another human being?  This happens to be “The Morning Star” Jessica Lasiewicz and the reason for her current bout of rage and anger happens to be the fact that she is at a Duke Blue Devils basketball game, watching a hotly contested match between them and Michigan State.  Jessica is furiously loyal to her team and wants to see them succeed, and success for her is nothing less than a double digit beat down on the court.

The young Lasiewicz began college a few years ago, taking courses part time in order to also continue her wrestling career at the same time.  She is working towards an accounting degree, something she could at least fall back on in the event of a career ending injury, something that happens all too often in this rough, high impact sport.  The Polish-American chose to go to Duke University and she fell in love with Coach Mike Krzyzewski, also known as Coach K for short, and his basketball program.  Ever since she began taking classes at Duke University she has made it a point to attend their games whenever she can and, if a wrestling event keeps her from attending, she makes sure to DVR it so she can watch it later.

Much like any die hard sporting fan, Jessica is never happy during a game, even when her team is winning.  She is always screaming at the television or screaming in the stands but, nevertheless, she is always screaming.  Out of all of the “Cameron Crazies” (the Duke fans) she perhaps is the craziest.

On this night, the game against Michigan State is a nice opportunity for her to release some of her  tension and stress, tension and stress created as a direct result of the actions of one Kloe Masters on RIOT.

Jessica returned to IWC mainly to protect her sister Marie from making a huge mistake with The Good Movement.  Marie has since left the Good Movement and now she is turning her attention to her new target; eliminating Sinistry, the real threat to IWC’s very survival.  But it seems as if she cannot focus on that threat.  She cannot focus on that goal when the IWC powers that be continue to keep  her in a continuous loop with Tina Valentine and Amanda Blayze over the Queen of the Ring Championship.

Lasiewicz does not want that championship.  It is if secondary important to her.  Her priority is saving the company.  If Amanda Blayze and Tina Valentine want to fight over the title they can do it.  And now, coming up on the next RIOT, they’ll have Jessica booked against Selena Frost, yet another female who no doubt wants in on this Queen of the Ring fiasco.

She can have it.  Jessica wants something more…

…and yet the longer things go on as they are in IWC, the more Jessica starts to believe that there is no hope for IWC’s survival.  People want to talk about making a difference and yet they always do the wrong things, they always put their trust in the wrong people, and again and again the bad guys, the villains as it were, always win.  It’s enough to make anyone depressed and Jessica is already a major league pessimist in professional wrestling.

This is yet another reason why Jessica is at the basketball game tonight.  Not only does she get to watch her school’s team play, but she also has a chance to get her mind off of the current situation in IWC.

“HURRY!  COME ON!”  Jessica stands up in her seat as the clock is counting down to the end of the first half. “SCORE!  DRIVE THEM INTO THE FUCKING MUD!”

The buzzer sounds.  The half is over.  Jessica looks on at the scoreboard with a rather distressed look…

“Forty to Thirty-Three?!”  Jessica exclaims at the top of her lungs.  “YOU CAN DO BETTER THAN THAT!  You’re just giving them a chance to come from behind and win!  DAMNIT!”

With the half over people slowly start to disperse, heading out to the concession stand to get some snacks and drinks.  Jessica, however, doesn’t feel up to it.  This half isn’t going the way she liked.  Too often she’s seen Duke have leads like this only for the opposing side to catch up later on and win the game  She would’ve preferred for her beloved Blue Devils to have a more comfortable lead at this point.  This seven point margin is not enough for her to feel good about a potential win.

Jessica sits back down in her seat and slumps over, resting her head in her hands which are propped up on her knees.  She sighs deeply, wondering, hoping, that Duke can keep it up and win in the second half too.

“So there’s our biggest cheerleader.”

“Huh?”

Jessica is rather startled when she turns to see another black haired female, about her age and height, standing up in the seat behind her.  She is one of the Duke Blue Devil cheerleaders, which is evident by the black and blue uniform she is wearing.  The uniform looks good on her, as she has the perfect figure for a cheerleader.  A wide grin is on her face; you know those grins, the type that only cheerleaders can manufacture. 

“You.” The black haired female steps down to Jessica’s level and sits down in an empty seat next to her. “You are our biggest cheerleader.”

The young Morning Star frowns, clearly not amused by this supposed compliment. “Cheerleader, you say?”

“Well maybe not cheerleader.” She scratches her chin as if in deep though. “Maybe biggest detractor.”

“Detractor?” Jessica is taken aback. “I am the team’s biggest fan.”

“You wouldn’t know it based on how you’ve been shouting.” The cheerleader grins knowingly. “I just wonder how the boys out there felt when you basically told them they didn’t do enough?”

Lasiewicz narrows her brow in angry stare at this black-haired newcomer. “I’m just telling it like it is.  You should know as well as I do that all too often our team lets up off the gas pedal, they let the other team come back from behind and win.”

She reaches out with one hand as if choking someone. “You need to choke the life out of your competition.  You need to take it by the throat and strangle the life out of it.  That’s what you need to do to win.  You cannot afford to give the enemy any openings.”

The cheerleader chuckles lightly. “Sounds like you speak from experience…”

She winks at Jessica “…Jessica.”

The Morning Star’s anger and angst is replaced with bewilderment.  She leans back a little, blinking several times.

“…how did you know my name?”

“Oh don’t be silly,” the cheerleader laughs lightly as she places a hand on Jessica’s shoulder “I know you wrestlers, like any other celebrity, like your privacy, but it’s hard not to conceal your identity when you are easily one of our most well-known students.”

She does have a point, and Jessica blushes furiously as a result.  “Ok, you got me there…”

The black haired cheerleader extends a hand. “My name is Candra, Candra Stevens.  My friends call me Candy.”

Jessica stares at her for a moment before reluctantly accepting the handshake. “Nice to meet you, Candra.”

“I’m sorry for being so abrasive,” there’s that wide ear to ear grin again “but I’ve been wanting to introduce myself to our biggest fan for awhile now.  I’ve seen you in the stands at games before, I just never had the chance to come over.”

Jessica’s anger begins to boil over again momentarily until she sees that grin on Candra’s face, and that melts her right away.  Immediately Jessica begins to realize that Candra is right, she had been shouting, rather loudly and rather angrily, at the team in the stands.  It’s almost embarrassing, she realizes, as her face flushes red.

“You couldn’t hear me all the way down there on the court, could you?”

Candra laughs a little before shaking her head.  “Don’t worry, girl, you’re fine.  The only reason I heard you was because we cheerleaders were on a break and I had snuck up on you.  Not nice but, then again, you know all about sneaking up on people, right?”

Jessica finally begins to feel a little at ease now as this conversation progresses forward.  She begins to feel more and more comfortable talking with this woman, formerly a stranger but now she recognizes her as a fellow student, a fellow Duke University student.

“I wouldn’t quite say I know everything, but I did learn from the man who does know everything.”

“Your dad!” Candra nods her head furiously. “I remember watching some of his old matches.  His matches were what got me interested in watching wrestling.”

Lasiewicz smiles with pride now as her dad is recalled. “Yeah, dad taught me a great deal about how to respect this industry.  That’s why I do what I do.”

“Well let me tell you girl, a lot of people may think you’re nuts for wanting to give up a Queen of the Ring Title shot, but I think it’s honorable of you to do that.”

Jessica chuckles. “Thanks, now if only someone in the IWC could figure that out…”

“You just keep your head up, girl.” Candra smiles warmly.  “You’re doing just fine in IWC and I have no doubt you’ll beat Selena Frost.”

“I’ll give it my best shot, that’s all I can promise.”

Jessica pauses momentarily as she stares at Candra, who looks happy and thrilled to be here, just like what you’d expect from a cheerleader.  Unfortunately, it also reminds Jessica of her long rivalry with one Kyle Butler, one that involved lots of humiliation and bitterness.  A rivalry that resulted in Jessica having to accompany Kyle to the ring for a few months as his cheerleader.  That left a bitter taste in Jessica’s mouth, not just regarding Kyle but cheerleaders as a whole.

“Candra, can I ask you a question?”

“Sure thing!”

Jessica sighs deeply. “I’m sorry, but I have to ask this, I have to know from someone who chose, willingly to do this…”

“To do what?”

“To be a cheerleader.” Jessica states. “You know that these people in the stands look at cheerleaders as nothing but eye candy.  Why on earth would you put on that uniform and basically agree with them that yes, you are eye candy?”

Jessica halfway expects Candra to be annoyed or offended by this question but, to her surprise, Candra just laughs it off, as if it were nothing.

“You know, that is ONE way to look at it, but that’s not how I prefer to look at it.”

Lasiewicz frowns, looking on skeptically. “How else CAN you look at it?”

“Well, I prefer to think of it in the sense that I can do things that they cannot do.”

“The flips and dancing and all that?”

Candra nods her head. “Yup, and because they can’t do that, that means me and the other girls out there are much more talented and athletic than they are.”

“You may have a point,” Jessica says, still sounding rather skeptical “but how can you cheer and put on that happy bubbly face when your team is getting slaughtered?”

Candra grins knowingly. “I’ve heard this one a million times, girl.  Let me tell you, the fact is that someone has to be the optimist.  That’s us cheerleaders.  And really, if you ask me, everybody needs a little bit of optimism in their life, everyone needs to look on the bright side whenever things get bad.  Otherwise you’d be depressed and suicidal all the time.”

Jessica rolls her eyes. “That right there proves I could never do what you do, Candra.  I am NOT and NEVER will be an optimist.  I am just NOT cheerful.”

“I bet you could.” She says with a wink. “You have it in you to look on the bright side!”

“No I don’t.”

“Yes, yes you do!” Candra assures her. “If you didn’t, you would’ve given up on IWC already.”

“I’m almost to that point, Candra.”

“But you haven’t, and that’s my point.  You do still have hope and that’s what us cheerleaders do.  We tap into that hope and feed it to the fans who need it.”

Candra snatches Jessica by her hands and squeezes them tightly out of excitement. “Hey, I got an idea!  Why don’t you come to our next cheer practice?  If you like what you see I could probably pull a few strings and get you on the squad.  I am the captain, of course!”

Jessica frowns. “You can’t do that…”

“I’m the captain of the cheerleading squad, Jess, I CAN do that!”

“Nevertheless, even if you could I would NOT accept.” She shakes her head. “I do NOT want to be a cheerleader.”

Candra stares at her, for a moment looking disappointed by Jessica’s rejection, but then a sly grin forms across her lovely features as she releases her grip on Jessica’s hands.

“That’s ok, you probably wouldn’t make the squad anyway.”  The cheerleader stands up and turns to start walking away.

“That’s right, I…” Jessica frowns “…what did you say?”

“I just said you probably wouldn’t make the squad anyway.  You have to be very athletic to make the cheer squad, after all.”

Jessica stands up and places a hand on Candra’s shoulder to stop her from leaving.  Candra turns around to face her, now grinning from ear to ear again.  Clearly this girl does not have a good poker face but despite that fact she is still faking out Jessica masterfully.

“What happened to pulling some strings?”

“I can pull strings, but girl, even I’m no miracle worker.”

“You wouldn’t need to be a miracle worker.” She growls angrily. “I’ve competed in Seven Stages of Hell, Ladder Matches, I’ve fought two opponents, three opponents, four opponents...”

Her eyes flash red with intense passion “…and you’re telling me I can’t cut it?”

“Then prove me wrong, Jessie.” Candra winks.

“Fine, I…” Lasiewicz thinks on it for a moment, finally realizing what has just happened “…you just used reverse psychology on me , didn’t you?”

“Yup!” Candra laughs hysterically. “Did it work?”

Jessica stares into Candra’s eyes, hopeful eyes, hopeful that she won’t reject her again.  But at the same time, Lasiewicz still has bitter, bad memories about cheerleading from her rivalry with Kyle Butler in GCW.

“I don’t know, Candra…”

“Far be it for me to try and tell anyone what to do, especially someone as successful as you,” she once again takes Jessica by her hands “but girl, you present this image of an emotionless stone cold individual on IWC programming, and you can keep that image for them if you want, but you can’t be that person twenty-four seven.  It isn’t healthy.”

Jessica now grins. “Oh yeah?  How would you know smarty pants?”

“I actually AM a smarty pants in this area.  It’s my major, I’m studying psychology.”

Jessica laughs lightly. “Ok, point taken.”

“But really, it isn’t healthy, Jess.  And maybe you should try and step out of your comfort zone?  And it’s not like you’d be alone in the journey.”  She grins from ear to ear.  “You’d have me.”

Jessica sighs.  “Look, Candra, I appreciate the sentiment, but I have had a bad experience.”

“So?  What’s one bad experience?  You should never let one bad experience ruin it all for you.  I mean, you have the figure for it, for sure.”

“You think so?”

Candra nods her head. “I know so.  And you have the athleticism for it.  It’s just a matter of getting that cheerful spirit out of you!”

“Yeah, good luck on that…”

“I guarantee I can turn you into the bubbliest of cheerleaders in no-time flat.”

“Is that a wager?”

Jessica Lasiewicz is now in her zone.  Betting, gambling, that’s what she’s good at.  That’s another skill she learned from her father.  She learned when to gamble and when not to.  Or, Kenny Rogers song goes, she knows when to hold them and when to fold them.

“Sure, we can make it a wager.” Candra remarks. “Give me a month.  That’s all I need.  If you aren’t every bit as cheerleader as me by then, I’ll buy your dinner, wherever you want to eat.  I’ll buy.”

“And if I lose?”

“Why, you gotta stay on the cheerleading squad girl!” She winks. “Although I guarantee that by that time you’ll WANT to stay on the squad.”

Candra extends a hand. “So do we have a deal?”

Jessica nods, accepting the handshake and the wager. “Deal.”

“Awesome!” Candra remarks happily. “Well, I better get going back to the squad.  Halftime will be over soon.”

“Sure, and it was nice meeting you Candra.”

“Jess…” she hugs her “…I told you, my friends call me Candy.”

“Oh right…nice meeting you, Candy.”

==========

Jessica

On Camera

==========

It’s pitch black and only the sound of a ticking clock comes from the darkness within.  Eventually the blackness fades out and the ticking clock comes into full view.  It is an old antique grandfather clock.  It isn’t long until a voice breaks through…

“It is odd to watch with what feverish ardour Americans pursue prosperity, ever tormented by the shadowy suspicion that they might not have chosen the shortest route to get it.”

Then a female enters into view from stage right.  Jessica Lasiewicz is the female.  She is wearing a black skirt, black high heeled pumps and a black long sleeved sweater.  Her long raven black hair hangs unrestrained to shoulder length.  The young Morning Star steps in front of the camera and continues speaking.

“They cleave to the things of this world as if assured they will never die, and yet rush to snatch any that comes within their reach, as if they expected to stop living before relishing them. Death steps in, in the end, and stops them, before they have grown tired of this futile pursuit of that complete felicity which always escapes them.”

A smirk forms across her beautiful facial features.

“Alexis de Tocqueville and I are clearly on the same damn wavelength because I, too, watch with wide-eyed curiosity as IWC superstars pursue their meaningless titles and shameless glory all for themselves.  Tocqueville watches with ‘feverish ardour’, I just watch wondering what in the hell are some people thinking?”

“Now I won’t sit and judge them.  If winning a championship is the most important thing for them, that’s fine.  To each their own.  But after being raised in a wrestling household with two wrestling legends as my parents, I have come to realize and understand that tyrants easily take advantage of a roster which is selfishly seeking out personal fame and fortune.”

“Amanda Blayze, Selena Frost, and Tina Valentine can fight over the Queen of the Ring Championship.  They can tear each other apart.  I don’t care.  But they have to understand and accept one thing, that whichever one of you comes out in one piece, with the belt, that you will be the champion of a dying company being run by Jim Jones and Charles Manson.”

The raven haired beauty shakes her head with disgust and disappointment.

“Winning the Queen of the Ring Title is of secondary importance.  Save the company first or else there won’t be a company to be champion of, or has that sunk into anyone’s heads yet?”

“I do know that, and sometimes I wonder if I’m the only one who does know that.  I’ve been trying week in and week to take this title shot and shove it up someone’s ass.  I don’t want to be distracted by going after a championship that could very well be nonexistent if Sinistry gets its way.  It makes sense to solve the real problem first and then focus on championship gold.”

“Selena Frost, you call yourself The Snow Queen right?  Well if being queen is important to you, then I’ll gladly let you have this fight.  It isn’t mine.  Tina can call herself Duchess of Dork for all I fucking care.  You can call yourself Snow Queen or any other royal title for all I care.  This fight over stupid titles and meaningless names is not important to me.  Hell, you can even have my Queen of the Ring title shot if you want it.  I’m trying to give it away and no one will listen.”

“I have more important things on my mind, namely trying to save this company from extinction.  My family knows all too well about what happens when tyrants take control.  Poland was conquered by Hitler and then he and his ass-buddy Stalin carved it up.  And once the allies won world war two and destroyed Nazi Germany, the supposed ‘good guys’ let Poland continue to be oppressed under America’s ‘good friend’ the Soviet Union.”

“Oh but at least I’m Queen of the Ring Champion!”

Jessica rolls her eyes.

“Why am I fighting tyranny in IWC instead of drooling over that Queen of the Ring Title like a hungry little bitch in heat?  Because I know how tyrants gain power.  I know how tyrants maintain power.  I also know that to stop a tyrant you have to destroy them.  You have to show no mercy.  You have to take the fight to them.”

“Tina Valentine is not the enemy.  She is just a stupid pawn who doesn’t know any better.  The enemy is chaos.  The enemy is the chaos that runs rampant in IWC today, because it is that chaos that has allowed the tyrants to gain control.  To reel them in and put an end to it once and for all you have to sometimes start small.”

“I can start small, Selena, and you can join in. You and I together can be an example for the IWC and show them what this industry is supposed to be all about.  We can show them what this industry can be without the chaos, without the tyranny.”

“And what a match, what an opportunity; Selena Frost, the Snow Queen, against Jessica Lasiewicz, The Morning Star.  When you come face to face against me, know that your end is drawing nigh.  Know that a world of pain is about to come your way.”

“You can take to the air like the best of the cruiserweights, and I can too.  We can put on a hell of an aerial show for the fans.  But your problem is that I can do it all.  I learned submission and technical skills from the best of them all.  I can tie you up a pretzel, in a nice neat little bow…”

She shakes her head, smirking now.

“…nowhere to go.  Nowhere to run.  Nowhere to hide.”

“You can’t stop the weather and you can’t stop a harsh winter from coming, I get that, but you also can’t stop The Morning Star.  The Morning Star will turn up the heat on RIOT and melt your snowmen and ice castles.  And when I get the Four Card Trick locked in, I will be sure that you can see into my eyes, because I want you to know when it’s all over.  I want you to know that you have no more hope, no chance at surviving.  I want to see the look in your eyes when the walls begin to close in around you.  When I have you in my trap, I want to see you tap.”

She shuts her eyes.

“Come and place ya bets.  Dobranoc…”