The Big Secret

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Off Camera

Scene 1

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Sunlight streams in from the window, striking Marie Annabelle Jones’s face as she lies down in her Queen sized bed in her hotel room in Barcelona, Spain.  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.

Despite an assault at the hands of a few thugs in Boston, Massachusetts, despite the fears of potential repercussions on behalf of the Russian Mafia which seem to be targeting Marie’s mother and aunt over in SCW, despite those potential issues that have arisen lately, there is still one issue that overpowers them all and has given young Marie new reason to hope and new reason to be happy…

…her boyfriend, Arthur Pond, recently proposed.

Being someone’s wife has been Marie’s goal for a very long time.  It has been her goal, really, ever since she gave birth to her only son, Sean Connor Jones.  The birth father was nonexistent, as Sean was the child of a rapist.  Despite the circumstances surrounding Sean’s conception, Marie never wanted to abort him.  She decided to raise her son Sean, despite what society may tell her is right or wrong about it.  The problem all along has been the fact that Sean never had a father figure in his life.  Already he is several years old and still has no father figure.  Granted, many have grown up to live full and complete life having only been raised by a mother.  Marie, herself, grew up without a father, considering her own father, Sean Williams, died while she was still very young.  Though Marie never wanted to take that risk with her son.  She wanted him to have a normal life.  She did not want him to have to endure what she endured growing up.

There were several men in her life but all of them were failures.  Some dumped her, some never really cared about her as anything but eye candy, and still others were abusive towards her and she had to dump them.  It got to the point that Marie began to give up hope on finding Mr. Right, the man she thought would be good not only for her but for her son Sean as well.

Just as she was about to give up hope, Arthur Pond came along.

Arthur seemed to be the perfect gentlemen around Marie.  He never raised his voice or his fist like some of her previous boyfriends, he cared about her not just for her looks but for her personality and who she was on the inside, and the most important thing is that he truly enjoyed being with her son Sean.  Arthur and Sean seemed to get along great with one another.  In fact, Arthur was like a natural as a father.  And now, with the proposal being made, he very well could end up being the step-father of Sean Connor Jones and the husband to Marie Annabelle Jones.

Marie’s wrestling career is on the uptick as well.  Marie Annabelle Jones recovered from an injury to become World Tag Team Champions alongside her best friend Sophie James.  The newly former tag team of Ginger Nation would dominate the IWC ranks until Uprising broke off to create the Uprising Wrestling Alliance where Marie and Sophie would continue to prosper as the dominant team of the UWA.

The Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling would further illustrate how much of an impact she can still have upon the sport by entering the Last Stand Rumble and, while she did not win the rumble itself, she did end up lasting almost an hour in the match.

Now Marie is prepared to take on a new challenge in the form of a lethal lottery style tag tournament.  The lottery was good to Marie, as she gets former world champion Willow Wilkes for a tag team partner.  The talent and ability of Wilkes is unquestioned, so with a former world champion in her corner, Marie is confident that they can go all the way and win this tournament and get the reward that comes with it…

…a shot at the UWA World Championship in the main event of Olympus.

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…

“My, my, my, don’t you look sexy!”

She is startled and turns around quickly to spy her devious, deceptive half-sister, the sociopathic twin, Kimberly Williams standing there dressed in matching lingerie.  In fact, even the hair color matches as Kimberly just recently dyed her hair red to match Marie’s.  They literally cannot be told apart right now.

“Kimberly!  What the hell are you doing here?!”

“Now is that any way to greet your favorite sister?”

Kimberly walks over to Marie.   She grabs her by the head, pulls her in, and plants a kiss on her lips.

“Now THAT’S how you greet your sister…especially if you’re a fan of the movie Deliverance!”

Marie quickly uses her hands to wipe her lips of Kim’s germs.

“Kimberly, please…”

“What’s wrong?  Not into incest?”

Marie shudders at the thought.

“No, I am NOT into incest!  And I’m also not into you breaking into my hotel room!”

“I didn’t break in.  The nice man downstairs at the main desk gave me a key.  I told him I was Marie Annabelle Jones and he believed me.”

Kimberly strikes a pose.

“It’s hard to argue that fact, right babe?”

Marie can’t argue with that.  But at the same time she wishes Kimberly wouldn’t do that.  Kimberly once before had Marie kidnapped while she took Marie’s place in her life.  Events such as those are the reason why it has been difficult at times for Marie to trust Kimberly, but still they talk, still they work together.  They are still helping one another because, as Kimberly as said, she wants to try to make amends for what she has done to Marie in the past.  She wants to be a friend and a true sister to Marie.  The question in Marie’s mind is, how much of a friend can a sociopath really be?  Kimberly is an admitted and certified sociopath.  A fact Marie has no problem bringing to her attention…

“Yeah, I wish you wouldn’t do that.”

“But it’s fun!”

“It may seem fun to you but to the rest of the world its crazy and its dangerous and you should stop.”

Kimberly playfully stomps her foot, feigning a childish tantrum as she folds her arms over her chest and pretends to pout.

“You are such a party pooper!”

Marie rolls her eyes.

“Party pooper, Kim?  Really?”

“Yes, you are a party pooper, especially considering the fact that I came here to help you.”

Marie frowns.

“Help me?  You’re here to help me?”

“Yes, I’m here to help.”

Jones sighs and shakes her head.

“Kimberly, this is proof positive of how sick in the head you still are.  Only a sociopath would believe that stealing my identity so that you could break into my hotel room is a way of helping me.”

Kimberly grins knowingly.

“You haven’t even heard me out yet.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I mean I have some very interesting information, information that could blow your life wide open.”

Marie tilts her head to one side.

“What…”

Kimberly walks over to Marie and gently takes her by the arm.  She leads her to the bed and together they sit down on the edge of the bed.

“You may want to sit down for this, sweetie.”

“Ok, ok, what is it?  What did you come here to say?”

“I have a particular set of skills, skills that make me a nightmare for people like you…”

Marie furrows her brow with confusion as she continues to listen to Kim.

“…if you let my daughter go now, that will be the end of it…”

“Uh, Kim…”

“…but if you don’t, I will find you and I will kill you!”

“KIM!”

Kimberly blinks several times, stunned at Marie shouting at her.

“What?”

“You were quoting Liam Neeson.”

Kimberly holds her hand over her mouth.

“Oops, my mistake!”

Marie rears back and slaps Kimberly across her face.

“Get a grip!  I need you be serious because if this is a legitimate concern then I want to know!”

A part of the leader of the ginger nation doesn’t want to hear it.  Her life has been excellent so far and she doesn’t want to risk anything.  But then another side of her needs to know.  Another side of her realizes that she has to know what this is, because Kimberly Williams, as psychotic as she may be, has been pretty reliable lately with her information, and if this information will blow Marie’s life wide open, then it indeed will blow her life wide open.

“It’s a real juicy one, Marie, one I found out while I was visiting my psychiatrist, that hunk Dr. Jimmy!”

Marie frowns.

“You really shouldn’t be speaking of your psychiatrist like that, Kim.”

“Oh but it’s true!  And that’s just with clothes on, want me to tell you what he looks like without clothes?”

“KIM!”

Williams giggles hysterically.

“Oh you are fun, Marie!  You really are!”

“Why the hell are you doing that…with him…?!”

Kimberly shrugs.

“Because I can?”

Marie slaps her forehead.

“Oh geez…”

“But I can find out such fun facts due to our close relationship.  Facts such as extra information on one of his patients…”

“Kimberly, I don’t care about his other patients.”

“Not even if one of those patients was named Arthur Pond?”

Marie frowns as she stares at Kimberly, studying her intensely.

“Arthur?  As in MY Arthur?”

Kimberly nods her head.

“Yup, YOUR Arthur!”

She touches Marie on the nose.

“Your Arthur is seeing a psychiatrist!  Now I can’t tell you why, I just know he has been on Dr. Jimmy’s caseload for awhile now.”

Marie stares off in the distance.

“…Kimberly…

“Yes?”

“I need you to leave.”

“Why?”

“Arthur is coming back soon with breakfast.  I plan on confronting him about this.”

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Off Camera

Scene 2

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Arthur Pond is whistling happily as he walks down the hall of the hotel with a bag of McDonalds food in one hand and a key card for his and Marie’s hotel room in the other.  He hasn’t been to Barcelona before, but that’s the brilliant part of dating a professional wrestler like Marie Annabelle Jones.  He gets to see the sights of not just the nation but the entire world when the company goes on tour, such as the European tour the UWA is currently on.

He never was interested in professional wrestling until he started dating Jones.  Then he grew seriously interested in the sport, for no longer was that just some faceless celebrity competing out there in the ring.  Now it was his girlfriend, the love of his life, putting her body at risk week in and week out.  He made it a point to study the sport and get to know it.

Arthur knows how important wrestling is to Marie.  He knows how badly she wants to become world champion again and he knows that she very well could get that opportunity on this Barcelona trip on Outbreak 2 in this tag team tournament.  As long as Marie and her partner for the tournament, a wrestler named Willow Wilkes, can get along, then they have a good shot of winning the whole tournament and the winning team will both get world title shots.  Arthur hopes that Marie and Willow can pull it off.  He really wants to see Marie have a chance to fulfill her dream.  He wants her to be happy.

He approaches the hotel room door and places the key card in.  There is a clicking noise signaling the door unlocking.  He pushes it open and then walks in.  He finds Marie sitting cross legged on the edge of the Queen sized bed.

“Hi there, beautiful!”

He doesn’t seem to notice the scowl on her face as he kisses her on the forehead.  He then walks over and places the bag on the nearby table.  He reaches in and pulls a sandwich out…

“Bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit for me…”

He pulls another biscuit out…

“Sausage biscuit for you…”

It’s at the point that he finally notices the scowl on Marie’s face.  Arthur studies her for a moment, looking at her with concern.

“Uh, Marie?  What’s wrong?”

“I am glad you finally asked.”

Marie hops up off of the bed and storms over to Arthur, getting up in his face. Arthur is worried now.  He hasn’t seen her like this before.  She is really angry.

“When were you going to tell me?”

“Tell you what…?”

“My sister told me all about it.”

“About what?”

Marie laughs sarcastically.

“Relationships should be about total honesty and yet you haven’t been honest with me.”

Arthur places his hands on her shoulders.

“What are you talking about?  I HAVE been honest with you?!”

“Really?  Then why didn’t you tell me you have been regularly seeing a psychiatrist for several years now?!”

Arthur lowers his head in shame.

“Follow me…”

He takes her by the hand and guides her back to the bed where they sit down.    He shakes his head.

“Yes, I am seeing a psychiatrist, and I have been for several years.  That’s true.  And I hid it not because you have anything to fear but because I was ashamed.”

“Ashamed of what?”

“Marie, this wasn’t just something run of the mill, this wasn’t something simple.  I was committed for awhile.”

Marie’s eyes grow wide as the revelation of what Arthur just said hit her.

“Oh…”

“I had an extreme form of dissociative identity disorder.”

“Multiple personalities?”

He nods his head.

“Yeah, that one…”

His voice trails off as he tries to regain his composure.

“…eventually, with help from medication, with help from a psychiatrist, I got better.  I still have to see the psychiatrist every so often in order to make sure I don’t have a relapse.  But still, the fact is that I did spend time in an asylum and I was worried…”

He shakes his head.

“…I was worried you wouldn’t want to be with a nutcase.”

“Oh, Arthur…”

Marie takes his hand and squeezes it tightly.

“…my mother spent time in an asylum.  You should’ve just come to me, I would have understood.”

“So you’re not mad?  You’re not ashamed to be marrying a maniac?”

Marie kisses him on his cheek.

“You’re not a maniac and yes, I still plan on marrying you.”

Marie and Arthur embrace in a tight hug.  The look on Marie’s face tells the story of a woman who is relieved that the deep secret Kimberly had was not really as bad as she thought it might be, this is the look of a woman who is still looking forward to her wedding day.  But the look on Arthur’s face is different.  Arthur looks nervous and concerned, perhaps concerned that he may one day have a relapse, and that relapse happen around Marie.  Is he really better?

He isn’t quite so sure.

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On Camera

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We open with an overhead shot of Camp Nou, the largest stadium in Europe.  The green artificial turf is already installed as it appears a game of what Americans would prefer to call “soccer” is about to be played.  Next we cut to a view of the field where we see the redheaded vixen known as Marie Annabelle Jones standing in the center wearing black pants, black boots, a red top, and a black leather jacket.  Her long gorgeous red hair hangs unrestrained to shoulder length.  Next to her is Sophie James, the other half of the Ginger Nation and the other half of the UWA World Tag Team Champions.

“Ladies and gentlemen!  In a matter of days now you will see me, THE CROWN JEWEL OF PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING, completely dominate the field on Outbreak 2!  You will witness as I overrun the pretenders and even carry a former world champion on MY shoulders to victory and an eventual number one contender’s spot for the UWA World Championship!  I am Marie Annabelle Jo…”

“NO! NO! NO!”

The two women turn their attention to the right in time to see what appears to be another Marie Annabelle Jones walking into the scene.  This Marie is wearing a black blouse and  a flirty red skirt covered in sheer lace that falls below the lining for some extra tease, the skirt itself touches at the knee.  She is perched atop black high heeled pumps.  Her long red hair is also unrestrained to just below the shoulders.

“Kimberly, this is MY promo time…”

The woman dressed all in black was not Marie after all, as it turns out it was Kimberly Williams all along, Marie’s twin sister.  Kimberly rolls her eyes.

“Oh come on, Marie!  I was just doing you a favor.”

“How exactly?”

“By shooting the promo for you.  Trash talking isn’t that hard.  I can do that while you do the boring training crap.”

Marie shakes her head vehemently.

“No, that’s not how this works, that’s not how any of this works.”

“So what do you want us to do?”

Sophie asks this while grinning with mischief in her eyes.  Marie just shrugs her shoulders.

“I don’t care, really, just get Kim and go away for a moment while I finish this.  Ok?”

Sophie and Kim exchange knowing looks before turning back to Marie and nodding their heads in unison.

“Sure!”

“We’ll just be over there…”

Kimberly and Sophie exit stage left, leaving Marie Jones alone in the center of the field.  After regaining her composure, the next generation of the famous Jones Wrestling Family turns to face the camera and smiles proudly.

“Welcome Camp Nou, the home of the Football Club Barcelona.  This great stadium also played host to the 1982 FIFA World Cup and the football competition in the 1992 Summer Olympics.   Football, or ‘soccer’ as us Americans tend to mistakenly call it, is a favorite sport amongst Europeans but in a few short days the people of Barcelona will bear witness as professional wrestling comes to its doorstep.  And that brings me to Last Stand…”

Before Marie can get any more words out, Sophie and Kimberly come trotting back onto the field carrying signs.  Kimberly carries a sign that reads “Marie Was Screwed” with “(by Arthur Pond)” written underneath in smaller lettering.  Sophie carries a sign that reads “We Demand A Recount! Gore Won Florida!”

“…at Last Stand, I…”

Marie turns around and notices Sophie and Kimberly there with their signs.  Immediately she takes Kimberly’s sign and jerks it out of her hand, tossing it aside.

“No!  I wasn’t screwed at Last Stand nor does the world need to know about Arthur!”

She turns and looks over Sophie’s sign and frowns.

“Umm…what exactly does that have to do with Last Stand?”

“Nothing, but I found it lying around in Miami and figured I could get some use out of it.”

Jones sighs and shakes her head.

“No, no, no…”

She gently shoves Kimberly and Sophie off screen.

“Not…now…go away…”

Once Sophie and Kimberly are off scene, Marie returns to the center field and turns to face the camera again.

“Now then, at Last Stand I was determined to go all the way because I had a goal in mind and that goal was very simple; I wanted a one on one UWA World Championship match against Vanilla Skyy. Vanilla and I have a history but the problem is that each and every time we fought someone else was involved.  We fought in handicap matches, we fought in triple threat matches, and I even won one of those encounters, but was it a one on one match?”

Marie shakes her head.

“No, it wasn’t, and so as far as I’m concerned it doesn’t count.  I want a one on one match against Vanilla Skyy in order to prove to myself that I can hang in the ring with one of the best in the business today.  All I had to do to get that opportunity was to win the Last Stand Rumble and I lasted for damn near an hour before being eliminated. I came so close to getting the job done but I came up short in the end.  But am I giving up hope?  Am I giving up on my goal?”

Jones again shakes her head vehemently.

“I am NOT giving up!  I will continue to pursue my goal because I know if given the opportunity I can beat Vanilla Skyy and become UWA World Champion.  I just need one shot and maybe I can take one step closer to getting what I want in this lethal lottery style tag team tournament set up by the UWA.”

Marie uses her hands to motion towards the stadium.

“This stadium Camp Nou, and Barcelona in general, is known for hosting great football tournaments such as the FIFI World Cup and even European Tournaments and the Olympic games, but now it will be playing host to a new tournament of unique design, especially for professional wrestlers…”

Unbeknownst to Marie, Sophie and Kimberly reenter the scene, this time with a “soccer ball” as American fans would call it.  They are kicking the ball around with their feet and even passing it around with head shots, as if they were real football players.

“…because…um…”

Marie gets off focus, for the sound of feet against the ball distracts her.  She turns around and sees Sophie and Kimberly again.  Marie places her hands on her hips and frowns.

“What the hell are you doing?!”

“Practicing, of course!”

“Practicing for what?”

“To be professional soccer players, silly!”

“Uh, Kimberly…”

“Yeah, Sophie?”

“I think they’re called football players.”

Kimberly shrugs her shoulders.

“Whatever.”

Marie walks over and snatches the ball away from Kimberly and Sophie.  With one mighty heave she throws it as far as she can…

“GO FETCH!”

Sophie and Kimberly quickly run after the ball.  Meanwhile Marie smirks with confidence as she turns around towards the camera to continue her promo.

“As I was saying, this tournament is unique for professional wrestlers.  Wrestlers are notoriously independent.  We want to do things ourselves and we rarely trust anyone.  The few times we do venture into tag team wrestling it’s because we chose a partner that we liked whom we could trust.  That’s just how it works.  It makes sense strategically.  You never go to war with someone you can’t trust.  And yet that is exactly the challenge that UWA has presented the roster with.  If I want to become number one contender, if I want to get a title shot, I have to trust someone I have teamed with before, I have to trust someone who has a dangerous history with New Eden, I have to trust someone that, some would say, is untrustworthy in the form of Willow Wilkes…”

“Hey, Marie!”

Marie turns to her left and watches as her other sister, Corey Jones, comes walking onto the scene, dressed in a cheerleading uniform.  Marie rolls her eyes.

“What are you doing here, Corey?”

“I’m here to support you through this random pairing tag team tournament thingy in UWA!  What else?!”

“Thanks but I’m perfectly fine.”

“I’ll be judge of that.  Who is your partner?”

“Willow Wilkes.”

“Oh, you mean Warwick Davis?”

Marie sighs and shakes her head.

“No, you’re thinking the movie Willow.”

“Oh, so you mean that redhead from Buffy The Vampire Slayer?”

Again Marie shakes her head.

“No, you’re thinking Willow Rosenberg.”

“Then who are you talking about, sis?”

“It doesn’t matter!”

Marie shoves Corey off camera.

“Just…go…away!”

Marie returns to the center of the field and faces the camera again.

“I hope that is the FINAL interruption…now then, my tag team partner as chosen by a random drawing is Willow Wilkes.  And yes, her history with New Eden would be cause for most to be nervous about her as a tag team partner but the way I look at it is that we both have a common goal.  She wants to be world champion and so do I but neither one of us will get there unless we can work together as a cohesive unit and win this tournament.  If she betrays me, she is costing herself a title shot as well.  It’s called Mutually Assured Destruction, ladies and gentlemen, and with that in mind I believe I can trust Willow to work with me and win this tournament.”

Jones grins knowingly.

“But there’s two sides to every coin, isn’t there?  I feel I can trust you, Willow, but can you trust me?  I got some statistics to prove my case…”

The number seven flashes upon the screen in the upper right hand corner.

“Seven…I am a seven time world tag team champion.”

The number four flashes upon the screen in the upper right hand corner.

“I won those seven championships in four different companies.”

The number five flashes upon the screen in the upper right hand corner.

“I won those seven championships in four different companies with five different partners.”

The number five disappears.

“You should draw two important conclusions from this, Willow.  First, I can work with anyone.  Second, I am a tag team specialist.  I know how to win in tag team action.  And I know your credentials in ULW as a former world champion.  Together we can be unstoppable in this tournament.”

Sophie James comes walking back into the scene, wagging her finger at the camera.

“But don’t you dare think about stealing my tag partner, bitch!”

“She’s not going to steal me, Sophie.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

Marie gently shoves Sophie off camera.

“Now go find Kim!”

Once Sophie is off camera, Marie returns to the center of the field and turns to face the camera.

“Our first round opponents will be Benjamin Flynn and Gavin Taylor.  Gavin, we’re cohorts in Silverstone International, so in a way its good that at least someone from Silverstone will advance, but too bad for you because I gotta make sure its me.  I need this title shot, Gavin.  I need it badly.  And as for Benjamin, we’ve gone toe to toe before.  You tried alongside Jessica Wilde to take these belts from me and Sophie and you failed.  You and the new Sinistry have tried every trick in the book and yet you have failed to gain any sort of power within UWA.  What makes you think this time will be any different?  Fact is, you’re going against The Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling, someone who KNOWS how to defeat you, and I will continue to defeat you anytime and every time we are across the ring from one another.”

“As for everyone else, Cassius DeLight and Katherine Pearson, Kalinda and Lilith Evans, Alana Starr, Julia Braddock or Danny Darko, possibly even Myra Lynwood, Grace Morningwood and Ethan Von Aaron, and yes, possibly even Serenity and my own tag team partner Sophie James…at the end of the day I know what I must do in order to carry my weight and do my part to help make sure Willow and I advance and win this tournament, because while defeating these great UWA superstars will be a tough task, I know that the reward at the end if we can get the job done will be well worth it, because the winners of this tournament will both be the number one contenders and will both receive a world title shot at Olympus.”

She holds up one finger.

“This is just the first step for me.  Step one is making sure Willow and I win this tag tournament and become number one contenders…”

She holds up a second finger.

“…step two will be when Willow and I go to Olympus and compete against Vanilla Skyy in a triple threat match for the UWA World Championship.  And WHEN I go on to win the world championship at Olympus, I can finally move on to step three…”

She holds up a third finger.

“…because a triple threat at Olympus, while I will be grateful, is still not what I ultimately want.  I want Vanilla Skyy one on one.  I have to know I can beat her one on one.  So once Willow and I win this tournament and then I go on to Olympus and defeat her and Vanilla in the triple threat to become world champion, I will grant Vanilla an immediate one on one rematch and finally get the match I have wanted for a very long time.  And the journey begins right here in Barcelona…”

The camera fades to black.