5 Card Draw

==========

Off Camera

==========

Ever since her arrival in SCW, Jessica Lasiewicz had been helping other people, whether it was helping longtime family friend Brittany Lohan against Blood Grove or whether it was helping her own mother free herself from the clutches of Silas Mason.  Ever since her debut in SCW, Jessica’s tenure has been defined by selfless acts of heroism.

Selfless acts of heroism may earn you brownie points with the fans and perhaps a few co-workers but it does not make much money and it most certainly does not win championships and that is what Jessica has wanted to do with her career: she has wanted to win gold, she wanted to be just as successful as her famous father and mother, Andreas Lasiewicz and Angelica Jones.  She wanted her name to rank right up with theirs in the annals of professional wrestling history.

So Jessica Lasiewicz had made a promise to herself that she would begin focusing on herself and her own personal career within Supreme Championship Wrestling.  No longer would she fight battles for other people.  But after a failed dive into the women’s championship division, Jessica now once again finds herself fighting other people’s battles.

This is one battle that Jessica is hard pressed not to turn away from.  Her mother and aunt, the SCW World Tag Team Champions Angelica and Kayla Jones, have been hounded recently by the likes of Jake Starr, a nuisance who has been chasing them down, getting involved in their matches, sticking his nose into their business where it doesn’t belong.

With Angelica Jones fighting Dylan Howell, Jessica Lasiewicz finds herself defending the honor and good name of The Sisterhood by facing off against Jake Starr one on one.

The young Morning Star is sitting in a darkened room, alone, at a round, dirty table.  A deck of poker cards is in the center of the table.  Jessica seems to be waiting on someone in particular…

“You're late.”

The raven-haired Polish woman can hear the footsteps approaching.  She turns around to spot her sister, the redheaded Boston native and IWC alumnus Marie Annabelle Jones, approaching a few feet away.  The older sibling is wearing denim jeans, black boots, a black t-shirt, and a black leather jacket.  Her long red hair hangs unrestrained to just below the shoulders.  The nails on her hand are painted a bright red color and, we can assume, her toenails match.

Marie Jones, the self-proclaimed crown jewel of professional wrestling, approaches the round card table.  She pulls out a chair and sits down across from her sister Jessica.

“And you are lucky I came at all.” Marie snaps back at her. “I haven't exactly been in the best of moods lately and I'm not up for your judgmental attitude.”

“Is that so?” Jessica asks, arching an eyebrow. “Or are you just grandstanding in order to look tough?”

“What do you mean?”

Jessica shakes her head. “Quit the act, Marie.  You know you can't hide anything from me.”

Jones sighs and shakes her head. “Ok, ok, fine.  What is it you wanted to talk to me about?”

“All in due time.” Jessica reaches out and snatches the deck of playing cards out from the center of the table. “But first, let's play.”

“What?” Marie asks incredulously. “Now?!”

“Yes, now.” Jessica answers back, nodding her head. “I think it's best we ease the tension a little and I think a game of poker is the best way to do that.”

Lasiewicz doesn't even allow her sister time to get any further words of complaint out before she immediately begins to shuffle the cards.  Marie rolls her eyes.

“Are you serious?”

“Yes.  Now shut up.”

Marie sighs deeply. “What game?”

“5 card.”

After a few moments more of shuffling, Jessica begins to deal out the cards, one to Marie and then one to herself.  She does this until each of them has five cards to work with.  Jessica then lays the deck of cards back on the center of the table.

“I honestly see no reason for this.” Marie says as she studies her cards. “You say this is to relieve the tension between us.  There is no tension between us.”

“The last time we were alone together you attacked me.”

Jones shrugs her shoulders. “Fine, ok, maybe there is some tension...”

“More than just some.”

Jessica tosses two cards down onto the table.  She raven-haired beauty takes two cards off the top of the stack in the center of the table.  She stares at her new hand and smiles happily at what she now has in her possession.  Lasiewicz then looks up from her hand of cards and up at Marie.  Her smile turns into a frown of displeasure.

“I tried to help you, Marie, and you turned me away at every turn.  Now suddenly I find out that you are turning over a new leaf?”

Jessica shakes her head. “I apologize if I find that hard to believe.”

It is now the red-head's turn to play the game.  She stares intensely at her cards but it doesn't take her long to decide what she wants to do.  She removes only one card from her hand and puts it in the discard pile.  She picks up one card from the deck in the center and inserts it into her hand.  She stares at her new hand and then stares back at her younger sister Jessica.

“I just want to make things right, Jess.  That's all.”

“You and mom are a lot alike.” Jessica responds back nonchalantly. “You both fuck things up and expect the rest of us to just bend over backwards to forgive you and let you off the hook.  Just one more second chance you say...”

Jessica shakes her head “...one of these days there will not be another second chance.  One of these days you will screw up so royally that no one will ever forgive you.”

Marie lowers her head in shame, realizing that her younger sister raises a very good point.

“I know...”

“I hope you do.  I do hope you understand that you burned a great many bridges with this ego-trip you went on this past year.  Granted these bridges can be repaired because many of them have only been burned down just once.  But if you keep this up, if you continue down this path, you will find yourself isolated forever, you will find yourself with no friends, no allies, and on your way to your own destruction.”

Marie chuckles. “Now you sound like someone from Star Wars.”

The sisters share a genuine laugh, one that does, in fact, ease the tension Jessica had wanted to ease all along.

“Well you may not be on your path to the Dark Side but you are on your way to being just like our mother.  Granted she turned out ok, but she took the long, difficult road towards where she is today.  I doubt she would want you to take the same road she did.”

“So, are you giving me another chance?”

Jessica nods her head. “Of course I am.  We're sisters.  Nothing changes that.  But just remember what I said, you may not many more chances after this.  So be careful.”

“I will...and thanks, sis.”

“Don't mention it.” Jessica smiles wryly. “Now what do you got?”

Marie places her cards on the table: a queen, a ten, and three kings. “Three of a kind.”

“Is that all?”  Jessica places her cards on the table: a two, three, four, five, and six, all of hearts. “Straight Flush.”

Marie shakes her head in disappointment. “Damn...”

Jessica collects all of the cards and begins to reshuffle.  “Another game?”

“Sure.” Marie responds.

Jessica continues to shuffle for a few seconds and then deals out the cards, five to herself and then five to Marie.  She places the rest of the cards in the center of the table.  The sisters each pick up their respective hands and stares at the hands intensely.

“What about you, Jess?”

“What about me?”

“How are things in SCW?”

Jessica shrugs her shoulders. “Eh, they could be better.  I helped free mom from Silas Mason but that was it.  I've been aiming at trying to become SCW Women's Champion but that hasn't bore any fruit.  I have also been helping mom and aunt Kayla.  That's why I'm facing Jake Starr on Breakdown.”

“I thought you were done fighting other people's battles.  What changed?” Marie asks with a smirk on her face.

“This is different.  This is for family.”

Marie tosses one card into the discard pile and then takes one card from the main pile and places it into her hand.  Jessica, meanwhile, looks at her own hand, staring at it intently.  She then looks down at the discard pile.

“Do you want a card?”

Jessica shakes her head. “Not this time.”

Marie studies her sister intensely, noticing the confident smirk on her face, before finally placing her cards down onto the table: two kings…and three queens.

“Full House.”

“Nice.” Jessica places her cards one at a time on the table…first a ten of clubs…

“Ten.”

…Jack of Clubs…

“Jack.”

…Queen of Clubs…

“Queen.”

…King of Clubs…

“King.”

…Ace of Clubs…

“Ace.  Royal Flush.”

“Royal Flush?!” Marie is shocked, her mouth nearly hits the floor. “How’d you…”

“I have my secrets.” Jessica winks.

“Your dad taught you to play.” Marie drops her cards onto the table. “I should know better than to play you.”

“You really should.” Jessica remarks as she places her cards on the table as well. “As so should Jake Starr.  But he’ll find out very quickly what kind of mistake he is making.”

==========

On Camera

==========

Do you want the definition of irrelevance?  Look up Jake Starr in the dictionary.  Jake Starr is irrelevance personified.  Jake Starr is someone who doesn’t evolve.  He is the same damnable uninteresting person he’s always been all of his SCW career.

Since you have nothing better to do and no other way to remain relevant and interesting in SCW, you’re going to latch yourself onto The Sisterhood.  You choose to assault them and harass them at every turn.  Why?

Because you want their spotlight.

I can’t blame you.  Angelica and Kayla are clearly the hottest thing right now in the tag team division.  Who knows?  There could be bigger and better things for The Sisterhood down the road.  But you made the mistake of going after them and now you have made yourself a target.

And it all starts on Breakdown with you and me.

I’m going to show you the error of your ways and after I take you down and take you apart maybe then you will have learned your lesson.  Maybe then you will know better than to go after The Sisterhood.  But hey, after I’m done with you, if you still want to get your ass kicked, then by all means, pursue this path…

…but be warned, it’s a path that leads to your destruction.

Dobranoc…