Moving on from the past: Part 7

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Off Camera

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It’s been almost one year to the day that the redemption journey of Marie Annabelle Jones began the final stretch.  She worked long and hard hours, busting her ass in the ring to redeem her own personal name and earn the trust and respect of the fans and of her peers.  There was only one way to cap off her redemption journey and that was to win the UWA World Championship on the grandest stage of them all, UWA’s first pay per view Olympus, and to win it the right way, to earn it through hard work and dedication and by defeating her opponents, not through trickery or deceit.

Then she had to earn her way to Olympus via a tag team tournament with the dangerous loose cannon Willow Wilkes standing by her side as her tag team partner.  They advanced through some stiff competition but together they did win the tournament to punch their ticket to Olympus and earn a world title match.

Still, it wouldn’t be that simple.  It couldn’t be that simple, not for Olympus, not for UWA’s biggest night, and especially not for Marie who wanted to cap off her redemption journey the right way.  It was turned into a Pyramid Match, first of its kind, and along with the champion Vanilla Skyy and the tag tournament winners Marie Jones and Willow Wilkes, they threw Victoria Salinas into the mix as well, making it a four way match.

Marie Annabelle Jones would have to defeat three top notch competitors in a match she’d never been in before in order to cap off her redemption journey with a UWA World Championship win.  It seemed to be impossible and yet, in what amounted to a true storybook ending, Marie Annabelle Jones managed to overcome the odds and become the UWA World Champion at Olympus in the first ever Pyramid Match.

Now she wants to return to Olympus and once again main event for the UWA World Championship.  It would make her the first competitor to main event back to back Olympus events.  It would also mark her rematch for the UWA World Championship, a rematch she has yet to receive since losing the title to Vanilla Skyy.  But in order for her to go back to Olympus in the main event she will have to compete at Collision Course in the most unique of environments.

In one aspect, though, Collision Course will not be all that unique for The Phoenix.  The first phase of Collision Course will be tag team matches in which each participant, Marie included, will be randomly paired up with someone else and have to compete against another team that has been randomly paired together.

Jones is used to having to work with all types of individuals, especially people she may not get along with.  She got along with Willow Wilkes long enough to win an entire tournament last year, surely she can get along with whoever she is paired with in order to win one match and advance to the second and final phase of Collision Course…

…a rumble match composed of the winners of the tag team matches.  The winner of the rumble match will earn the right to compete for the UWA World Championship at Olympus.

Now, one year later, Marie Annabelle Jones is no longer trying to redeem herself but instead is out to prove herself.  She admits her faults with the #GingerHoax but, at the same time, she truly believes she was also wronged in being pigeonholed in the tag team division.  This year at Collision Course, Marie Annabelle Jones is out to prove that she is among the best athletes on the UWA roster by overcoming everyone to get that shot at the UWA World Championship at Olympus.

Unfortunately, one of her co-conspirators in the #GingerHoax currently has The Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling distracted from the ultimate goal of winning at Collision Course…

…that distraction is her identical twin sister, Kimberly Williams.

In fairness, Kimberly Williams wants nothing more than to help Marie.  She wants to make up for her own misdeeds of the past directed at Marie.  But in doing so, Kimberly has, from time to time, gotten herself into big trouble.  The most recent trouble she’s gotten herself into involves the woman they mutually know, a dangerous woman known as Emma Storm.

Emma had tried time and time again to ruin and destroy the Jones family but to no avail.  Kimberly was her most recent attempt to ruin the Jones family.  For all intents and purposes Emma had kidnapped Kimberly as an infant and twisted her mind, molded her into a weapon.  But as an adult Kimberly grew to realize how Emma was manipulating her and using her and she wanted revenge for what Emma had done.

Emma tried to stay under the radar and away from Kimberly’s notice but, unfortunately for Emma, Kimberly managed to track her down.  She found her, kidnapped her, and locked her up in an abandoned basement where she would torture her for weeks on end.

Then David Burns burst onto the scene.

Marie Jones had no clue who David Burns was until he approached her and Kim in an intimidating fashion and demanded to know where Emma was.  It was then that Kimberly admitted to Marie the truth, not just about the identity of Burns but also about what she had done to Emma.  Marie was hoping that Kimberly would wise up and let Emma go.  Then she would be David’s problem.

Unfortunately, it’s too late for that…Emma is dead; murdered at the hands of Kimberly Williams.

To make things even more complicated, Kimberly has taken the body and run away.  Marie now must find her before she gets in trouble with the authorities…

…or with David Burns.

“I honestly don’t know why you do it.”

That’s the voice of Arthur Pond, the husband of Marie Annabelle Jones.  He’s driving himself and Marie, who is in the passenger’s seat frantically trying to call her identical twin sister on her iPhone, down the road as the pair go in search for Kimberly Williams.  Arthur, though, has his own doubts about trying to find Kimberly.

“Why do you say that?”

“Don’t take this wrong, Marie.  I know you care about your sister and I can appreciate that…”

Marie puts her phone down and turns to glare skeptically at her husband.

“I feel a ‘but’ coming on.”

Arthur chuckles.

“…BUT, look at all of the trouble she has caused us, the trouble she has caused you.  How many times have you had to bail her out of jail?  Or how about the insane drug related, alcohol related antics from her and Sophie?  And now this, because of her and her crazed obsession with getting revenge on this Emma woman, now you have another psycho named David Burns threatening you?”

Marie narrows her brow.  She doesn’t like where this is going.

“What are you saying, Arthur?”

Arthur sighs.

“I guess I’m just suggesting to cut ties…she’s dug her own grave here now that she’s murdered a woman.”

Marie shakes her head vehemently.

“No, I can’t abandon her.”

“She murdered a woman, Marie!  I don’t care how bad of a person Emma may have been, you can’t just murder someone.  It’s wrong.”

“You’re right, murder is wrong, and you’re right, Kimberly has done a lot of things lately.  You pointed out some of those things she did but do you want to know what else she did?  When I was in a depression after losing the UWA World Title, I drowned out my despair by getting drunk in a bar and in a drunken rage I assaulted people.”

Arthur sighs.

“I remember.”

“Then you remember she took my place and took the blame for the assault, claiming she did it.  She did that all so I wouldn’t have a criminal record.”

Tears form in Marie’s eyes.

“There is good in her, Arthur.  She claims to be a sociopath but I know that she is a good person deep down inside.”

She reaches up and wipes tears from her eyes.

“I couldn’t forgive myself if something were to happen to her.”

Arthur looks over at his wife, a redhead woman who is doing her best not to break down and cry, and he chuckles ever so slightly.  Marie looks over at him angrily with the tears in her eyes.

“What’s so funny?”

“You, you’re…you’re such a better person than me.  Hell, you’re a better person than most people.”

Marie frowns and shakes her head.

“Bullshit.”

“Your sister has done terrible things, Marie.  Most people would give up on someone like Kimberly.  They wouldn’t even give her the time of day let alone try to see the good in her and yet you see the good in her.”

Marie turns and looks at her husband with a half-grin on her face.

“Are you trying to butter me up?”

“Maybe a little…but it is the truth, you do see the good in her and in everyone.  That’s what I love about you.”

Arthur sighs.

“So as much as it pains me to admit it, maybe we do need to find Kimberly, if only for no other reason to keep you safe if not also for Kim’s benefit.  So let’s find her.”

Marie Annabelle Jones grins.

“Thanks, Arthur.”

“So where are we going, babe?”

“Your turnoff is coming up soon.”

Arthur looks rather perplexed.

“My turn?  We’re almost in the middle of nowhere.  I see no roads.”

“Trust me, it’s…”

She points up ahead to the right.

“…it’s there, turn right!”

Arthur notices what appears to be a dirt path that leads into the woods.  Reluctantly he turns right and begins to head down the dirt path, a dirt path that Marie Jones knows all too well.

The first time she went down this dirt path was when she was invited personally by Emma Storm herself.  Marie didn’t know at the time where she was going and, to be honest, she was going against her better judgment, but something in her gut instinct told her to go anyway.  When she arrived at the destination she found the cabin.  This cabin, a rundown rackety little excuse for a home, was the place where Emma lived off the grid and where Emma had raised Marie’s identical twin sister Kimberly after taking custody of her at birth.

Jones wouldn’t see the cabin again until Kimberly took her back months later.  Marie wanted to make peace with Emma Storm and finally put an end to the feud between the Jones family and Emma Storm.  Kimberly was insistent that doing so would be a bad idea.  Looking back, Marie wishes she had listened to her twin sister.  When they arrived at the cabin they found it deserted.

Emma was gone.

They also found that they were not the only ones looking for Emma.  The brute of a man known as David Burns confronted them, demanding to know where she was.  Despite Marie’s insistence on the contrary, Burns seemed convinced that Kimberly knew where Emma was hiding.  He wanted them to give up her location or else…

Marie would learn later that David Burns was Emma’s ex-lover and the reason he wanted to find her was because he wanted to rekindle their relationship.  Kimberly knew him all too well because he helped raise Kimberly in that very same cabin.  Marie also learned that Kimberly had taken her hatred for Emma too far by kidnapping her and locking her up in the basement of an abandoned home.

Ideally Kimberly would just let Emma go and then David Burns would be Emma’s problem.  Unfortunately, in a fit of rage, Kimberly murdered Emma and now their best weapon against this dangerous man is gone.  And even more problematic is that Kimberly has run off with Emma’s body in tow.

Marie blames herself for Kimberly running away.  In the ultimate guilt trip, Kimberly pointed out how her mother Angelica Jones, her aunt Kayla Jones, and even Kimberly’s own sister Jessica all refuse to acknowledge Kimberly and how they all refuse to have anything to do with her.  Kimberly pointed out, accurately so, that Marie received the best care and nurture throughout her life while Kimberly was raised by a sociopath and an abusive drunk.

It was heartbreaking for Marie to hear how her twin sister had practically given up on being accepted into the Jones family and had given up on having a normal life.  And yet, as heartbreaking as it is, a part of Marie believes that Kimberly may be right in thinking that.

Another part of Marie wants to continue to fight desperately for the heart and soul of Kimberly Williams.  That part is what is driving her on this night.

The sighs on her right left, trees and bushes, rock formations, all pass by in a quick whirl as the car speeds down the dirt path.  Marie, though, knows this path quite well by now.  She knows this heads straight to the cabin and she knows if her sister is anywhere in Massachusetts right now, it would be here, at the cabin where she was raised.

“Where is this place anyway?”

“Be patient, Arthur.  It’s coming up real soon.”

“Oh I’m patient, it’s just that these woods give me the creeps.”

They continue down the road in silence for a few more minutes.  Arthur’s eyes never leave the road as drives as carefully as he can on this rather rough dirt road.  Eventually, as they continue their drive, Arthur slows the car down.  His eyes grow wide.

“Is that it?”

Taking one hand off the steering wheel he points to a rundown cabin up ahead.  Marie nods her head.

“That’s it.”

The vehicle slowly pulls to a stop in front of the cabin.  Immediately Marie’s eyes light up as she notices what appears to be a glimmer of hope in the darkness…

…Kim’s sports car that she had been driving is also parked here, a few yards away but still in eyesight, even in the dusk.

“Kim’s here!”

Marie quickly hops out of the passenger’s side of the car and Arthur follows her exiting the driver’s side after turning off the car.

“How do you know?”

“Her car is here.”

“I’m coming too…”

“NO!”

Marie says this intensely as she points a finger at Arthur.

“Stay here, please?  This is between me and Kim.”

Arthur sighs and nods his head.

“This goes against my better judgment babe, but…ok, I’ll wait here.”

Jones makes a beeline for the front door of the cabin.  It easily swings open and the redhead Boston native bolts inside the main living area, which has been practically picked clear from Kim’s many visits to the old homestead.  Marie scans the area, looking for signs of her sister.

“Kim?  Kimberly?!”

Suddenly she hears a familiar shouting from the bedroom…

“Marie!”

Jones arches a brow.

“Kim?  Kim, where are you?!”

“Go away!  Get out of here!”

The sound of her twin sister’s voice sounds quite frantic, as if she is worried for her sister’s well-being, as if she is afraid of something…or someone.  But who would Kimberly possibly be afraid of?  Who would someone with the violent capacity of Kimberly Williams possibly be afraid of?  The answer to that question comes a few moments later…

“WHO THE HELL IS THAT?!”

Burns.  That is David Burns.

“Leave her alone!”

“That’s that pathetic lookalike bitch, isn’t it?  Your damn sister?”

“I SAID LEAVE HER ALONE!”

Kimberly sounds as if she is genuinely frightened, fearful for her life even or of Marie’s life, all because of this man.  It’s hard to imagine Kimberly being in such dire straits that she would be this afraid.  She’s always been emotionally strong and tough.  Marie has never seen her identical twin sister break down the way she has broken down here.  It’s frightening, and yet it also inspires her to rush to her aid.

Jones rushes into the bedroom, connected directly to the main living area, where she finds Kimberly on the floor, nearly naked in only lace black panties and matching bra, with the brutish bearded David Burns standing over her, brandishing his fists in an intimidating fashion.  He is wearing torn denim jeans, black boots, and a plaid button up shirt.

Kimberly looks over at Marie with a fearful look.

“GO AWAY, MARIE!  RUN!”

David turns and glares angrily at Marie.

“So that’s your name, eh?  Marie?”

Marie narrows her brow in an angry stare at David before nodding her head.

“Yeah, my name is Marie…”

She charges Burns.

“…and you’re going to leave my sister alone!”

Marie gets caught with a quick backhand from Burns that causes her to stagger backward into the wall.  David grunts as he reaches over, grabs her by the neck, and slam her back first against the wall.

“Such heroic nonsense.”

“Leave Marie alone!”

Kimberly scrambles to her knees.  She wants to get up and help Marie but David is too quick, surprisingly quick for a man of his size, as he releases Marie, causing Jones to drop to her knees, and then in that same quick motion he turns and kicks Kimberly in the ribcage.

“I’ll leave you both alone if you just tell me what the hell I want to know!”

He kicks Kimberly in the gut while she’s down.

“WHERE…”

He kicks her in the gut again, this time causing her to cough up some blood.

“…IS…”

He kicks her a third time, in the ribcage this time.

“…EMMA!”

Kimberly stays silent.  This act of rebellion angers Burns to the point of bending over and grabbing her by the hair.  He jerks her up to her feet and glares angrily into her eyes.

“WHERE IS SHE?!”

“She doesn’t know!”

That was Marie, who made it back to her feet.  Burns drops Kimberly and then turns to face a defiant Marie Jones.

“You’re seriously gonna lie for the bitch?”

He points down at Kimberly’s fallen form.

“You realize she’s a psychotic bitch, right?  You know what she’s done, right?”

“I know damn well what she’s done!  She assaulted my mother, my aunt Kayla, and myself, all because of the lies told to her by Emma Storm.  I remember how she once kidnapped me and took my place out jealousy towards me.  I know all of this, but you know what?”

She points to Kimberly who has now made it to her knees.

“That is my sister.  That is Kimberly Francis Jones.”

Kimberly’s eyes grow wide, shocked at what she heard.  David Burns just chuckles.

“Jones?  That bitch is a Williams…”

“SHE IS MY SISTER AND SHE IS A JONES!”

Marie rears back and slaps Burns across the face.  Burns reaches out and grabs her by the throat again.

“There’s your mistake, bitch!”

“Let her go, David.”

David turns his head to face Kimberly.  He notices that she has a gun pointed at him.  He chuckles but does indeed let go of Marie Jones.

“What are you gonna do, bitch?”

He slowly starts to approach Kimberly, who just backs away slowly.

“Stay back!”

“What are you gonna do?!”

“Kim, NO!”

Without warning Kimberly pulls the trigger.  The bullet goes right into David’s head.  Point blank range.  Burns immediately falls flat on his back to the floor.  Marie gasps as she holds her hand over her mouth, staring in shock first at David’s dead body and then looking back up at Kimberly.

“Kim, you…”

Kim sighs as she drops the gun to the floor.  She shakes her head.

“I’m sorry, Marie.  I couldn’t help it.  I didn’t want him to hurt you.”

“No, don’t apologize.”

Marie walks over and embraces Kimberly in a tight hug.

“You did what you had to do.”

Marie and Kimberly are hugging and crying on each other’s shoulders to the point that they do not hear the door opening and closing shut.  It isn’t long until they hear a familiar male voice…

“Marie!  Kim!  Where are you?”

“We’re in here, Arthur!”

Marie and Kimberly break the embrace.  It isn’t long until Arthur emerges in the bedroom.  He looks down at the dead body of David Burns and gasps in shock.  He looks up at Marie and Kim.

“Is he…”

“Yeah, he’s dead.  Don’t ask any questions.  We’ll take care of it in a moment.”

“Right.”

Arthur bends down to check on the body.  Marie turns to face Kimberly.

“What did you do to Emma’s body?”

“She’s still in my car.”

“Good, we’ll take care of both her and David and then put this whole situation behind us.”

“Marie…”

“Yeah?”

“Did you mean what you said?”

Marie looks quizzically at her twin sister.

“What do you mean?”

“Did you mean it when you said I was a…a Jones?”

Marie can see the tears forming once again in Kimberly’s eyes, this time not tears of sadness but tears of joy.  Marie nods her head.

“Yes, Kim, I meant every word.  You are every bit a Jones as I am.  And…”

Marie embraces Kimberly tightly in a hug.

“…I am sorry, I am so deeply sorry for what you’ve gone through.  I’m sorry for how I treated you.”

They break the embrace and Kimberly shakes her head.

“You don’t have to apologize, Marie.  It’s my fault.  I’m the one who is the consistent fuck up.”

“Don’t say that.  You may have made mistakes but family is supposed to help each other out and you are family.  From here on out, I promise that I will be there for you and I will help you.  We will get through this together, Kimberly.”

Marie looks over Kimberly’s form.  Then she looks deeply into her twin’s eyes intensely.

“Kim…what did he do to you?”

“It isn’t important.”

“Yes it is, Kim.  What did David Burns do to you?”

Kim turns her back on Marie.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

Marie places a hand on Kimberly’s shoulder.

“Kimberly, please…”

The twin sighs.

“He did to me what he would always do to me when growing up, what he did to me is the reason why Emma kicked him out…he…”

Kimberly turns back to face Marie.  Tears are in her eyes.  She reaches up and wipes them away.

“…he beat me and he…he…”

Before Kimberly can finish her statement, Marie embraces Kimberly in a third tight hug.

“Say no more, Kim.  Say no more.  I had no idea.”

Marie gently and comfortingly pats Kim on the back.

“But we’ll get through this.  I promise you, Kim.  We’ll get through this.”

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On Camera

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Laughter permeates the air as a spotlight suddenly appears shining brightly inside of a wrestling ring.  The shadowy silhouette of a female figure is seen standing off in the dark corners of the ring.  The laughter is coming from her.  That female steps into the spotlight revealing her identity to be none other than The Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling, or as she prefers to be called nowadays, The Phoenix, Marie Annabelle Jones.  Marie is wearing a red shimmering crew neck short sleeve sheath cocktail dress that features allover sequins.  Her feet are encased in strappy black high heeled sandals.  Her long gorgeous blonde hair is pulled up into a gorgeous hair styling.  Jones proudly displays her UWA X-Limits Championship title belt by draping it over her right shoulder.  She faces forward with a knowing half-grin on her face.

“The Olympus season is upon us and the excitement is in the air.  Everyone wants to be in the main event of Olympus competing for the UWA World Championship and I come here before you today with the supreme of confidence that I can do just that.  Part of that confidence comes from the fact that I already know what it is like to compete in the main event of Olympus.  I’ve been there, I’ve done that, I won the first Olympus main event, defeating the likes of Vanilla Skyy, Willow Wilkes, and Victoria Salinas to become the UWA World Champion.  So I know all about getting the job done on the grandest stage of them all.”

“I also feel supremely confident that I can go back to the big dance because of the new, innovative way in which Helms has decided to choose the number one contender for the UWA World Championship at Olympus.  Last year it was a simple tag team tournament that I won with Willow Wilkes.  This year Helms decided to kick things up a notch with a completely new style of competition.”

Marie winks at the camera.

“And that’s perfectly fine by me.  Drew Bryant and David Helms can create any kind of crazy match they want and stick me in it and I’ll outperform everyone else and I will always win.  Last year they invented the sadistic Pyramid and they put Vanilla Skyy in it, they put Willow Wilkes in it, and they put Victoria Salinas in it, but who else did they put in it?”

She pats herself on the chest.

“That’s right…me…I was put in it and I won.  I won the first ever Pyramid Match.  I know I can win this first ever at Collision Course if given the opportunity.  UWA won’t book a standard rumble match like SCW does with Taking Hold of the Flame.”

Marie shakes her head.

“UWA wants to make damn sure that the winner has earned the right to face the champion at Olympus and it isn’t some lucky bastard.  To do that the competitors are put together in randomly assigned pairings and will face off in tag team competition.  But guess what?”

Jones chuckles.

“Yeah, that’s right, The Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling is also a tag team expert.  I’ve won tag team championships in every organization I’ve been in and I have done so with too many partners to name.  I’ve worked with friends and enemies alike all with the goal of emerging victorious.  Hell, I did this same damn thing last year by having to work together with Willow Wilkes to win a tag team tournament.  If I can work with her for three matches to qualify for Olympus last year, I can win ONE tag match this year at Collision Course in order to get one step closer to getting my UWA World Championship Rematch at Olympus in the main event.”

She holds up two fingers.

“That brings up phase two of the inventiveness of David Helms, the phase my sister so eloquently calls the clusterfuck.  The winners of these tag team matches will go on to the rumble match at Collision Course and the winner of that rumble match will have truly earned that main event spot in Olympus.”

Jones shakes her head.

“Now I can brag all I want about my experience in tag team action and I can talk about how I know what it’s like to be in the first ever Olympus main event, but at the end of the day there’s nothing I can say about the rumble match at Collision Course to make anyone think I hold any sort of special advantage.  Hell, even if my sister Kimberly advances to the rumble and decides to help me out, that still doesn’t mean much because you cannot predict or plan for a rumble match.  Literally anything can happen.  You just have to be at the top of your game, you have to be prepared for anything.”

“But there is one thing I can say for myself and that is the fact that, more so than anyone else in this event, more so than anyone else in UWA, I am a survivor.  An injury nearly put me out of my career but with the help of Sophie James and thanks to Drew Bryant and David Helms giving me another chance, I was able to come back and win the UWA World Tag Team Championship.  The Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling may have been slain by Vanilla Skyy but The Phoenix rose from her ashes to challenge Silas World and take The X-Limits Championship from Myra Lynwood. Each and every time I have been knocked down, I rebound back better than ever.  You can knock me down but you cannot keep me down.”

Jones nods her head.

“The Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling is, indeed, gone, but The Phoenix is here to stay.  I will always rise up from the ashes stronger and more powerful than ever.  The Phoenix bounced back from seeming obscurity to become UWA X-Limits Champion, defeating Myra Lynwood….”

She snickers.

“…that’s right, the same Myra Lynwood who UWA right now considers to be the number one contender to the UWA World Championship.  How’s that for rising back up from the ashes?”

Again Marie winks at the camera.

“I have proven time and again that I can survive anything thrown at me.  Make me team with someone who I’ve never teamed with before or, worse yet, someone whom I cannot stand?  That’s fine.  I can put my differences aside and work with them for the common goal of defeating our mutual foe and advancing to the rumble match.”

“And the rumble match itself doesn’t phase me, either.  Put me against one person, two people, or put me in there against all of them at once.  I’ll face them down and I will either be triumphant or I will die trying to be triumphant but you can better believe that if I do go down, I’ll go down fighting and I’ll bring a few of them with me!”

“Whoever gets The Phoenix as a tag team partner at Collision Course will get a partner that you can trust and depend on, if only for that one match, because once that match is over, all bets are off and we will be enemies, enemies seeking after that same goal of being in the main event of Olympus competing for the UWA World Championship.”

Jones shuts her eyes as she speaks the next few words.

“Let me tell you something else about being in the main event of Olympus.  It’s exhilarating.  And being the World Champion is addictive.  Once you’ve been to the top of the mountaintop, once you’ve tasted the gold, you want it again.  You want it back.”

She holds up three fingers.

“I’m one of three individuals in this event at Collision Course who have been there, who have done that, and know what it is like to be in the main event of Olympus.  But even more than that, I know what it’s like to be World Champion.  And yes, I do have that addiction, and yes, I do what that title back.  I haven’t even had a rematch at the title since losing it to Vanilla Skyy; not a one on one rematch, not a triple threat, no rematch of any form.”

Jones smirks.

“But that’s fine, I’d just assume earn my way back to the top and prove any and all of the doubters and critics wrong.  Because I know I have many.”

She nods her head.

“I know who you are; you are the ones who may have disagreed with my #GingerHoax, and I admit, perhaps I did handle things a little inappropriately, but I wanted to be a singles competitor.  More than that, I wanted to be a world champion again and for almost a solid year now I’ve been ignored and passed over for other individuals.”

Jones shakes her head.

“That won’t happen any longer.  I know what I want and I will bust my ass at Collision Course to get it.  And yet there are still some of you who never did believe in me in the first place.  There are some of you who watched my first rise to the top here in UWA when Willow and I ran roughshod through that tag tournament to win our way into Olympus and then I went on to run roughshod over my opponents to become UWA World Champion in the first ever Pyramid Match, despite my success there some of you still argue it was a fluke.  You point to my title loss to Vanilla Skyy one month later as evidence of that.”

“Vanilla Skyy is no longer an issue to me, not to my conscience.  I’ve beaten her twice now.  I don’t need to prove myself to anyone else in that regard.  But those of you who doubt me still, you will eat crow at Collision Course.”

“There are those who believe that the UWA main event scene is theirs and theirs alone.  For awhile, I almost bought into it myself…”

Marie chuckles.

“…I mean, it’s been a rotating carousal of some combination of Alana Starr, Victoria Salinas, and Rachel Tatum Lee in world title matches.”

She shakes her head.

“No more.  I gave a major reality check to everyone in UWA when I defeated Myra Lynwood for the UWA X-Limits Championship.  The Phoenix is still a major player and she isn’t going to settle for being X-Limits Champion, she wants the World Championship back.”

She points a long slender finger at the camera.

“I’m coming for that world championship, I’m coming for my rematch, a rematch I should’ve had a long time ago, and in doing so I will once again shake up the main event scene in UWA.  I will forcibly inject new blood into the main event scene.  And yes, ladies and gentlemen, I am that new blood.”

“There are many new wrestlers from the Ante Up Academy, midcard athletes who want to break into the big time but have never had that opportunity, and veterans who want one last shot at glory.  This is their chance to do exactly what I want to do, to forcibly inject themselves into the main event for the first time…or maybe for one last time…”

She sighs.

“Unfortunately, I will also have to be the destroyer of their dreams.  I will not let them achieve their dreams at my expense.  That world title opportunity at Olympus is mine to have and I will take it.  I will take it by winning at Collision Course, adding yet another achievement to my sparkling record.”

“Winning at Collision Course is just half the battle.  Winning at Collision Course just puts me back in the main event of Olympus, which is an honor in and of itself, but the ultimate goal is to become UWA World Champion once again.  Being in the main event of my second straight Olympus and winning the World Championship for a second time would forever cement my spot as one of the best wrestlers in UWA history.”

She points into her eyes.

“Look into these eyes, ladies and gentlemen, look into the eyes of The Phoenix and know that I will sacrifice my body and my blood and my everything in order to once again be UWA World Champion!  Look into the eyes of the first ever winner of Collision Course!  Look into the eyes of your next champion!”

The intensity in her eyes is fierce but only momentarily.  She eventually calms herself.  The Phoenix sighs and once again shuts her eyes.

“One last word, a word to Drew Bryant.”

She opens her eyes.

“Back when IWC was still in existence and we were just a brand extension of the company, you drafted me first.  I was your number one draft pick to the Uprising Brand.  I should’ve been honored and privileged that you felt that highly of me that you’d pick me as number one over every other superstar.  You clearly saw something in me that no one else saw.”

She sighs.

“But I kicked and screamed, acting like a child having a tantrum, demanding to be traded to Riot where I’d be fed easy matches thanks to then Riot owner Silas Mason.  I should’ve been proud that you wanted me to be a part of this great new experiment called Uprising.  I thought I had learned my lesson much later, after I had changed my ways and became UWA World Champion.  But losing the title did something to me.  Perhaps it caused me to regress?”

The intensity returns to her eyes.

“But I am here to tell you now that I am damn proud to be a part of UWA!  And I am also here to tell you that what I do at Collision Course is not just to prove my critics wrong and win back the UWA World Championship…”

She chuckles.

“…although that is a big part of it!  But this is also for UWA.  I love UWA and I cannot sit idly by and let someone endorsed by Silas Mason continue to reign as champion.  There are others in this event who also want this for the wrong reasons, who want only the destruction of UWA.  I can’t let them near the championship, either.”

“Drew, you may have some regrets over drafting me number one, and I understand that, but I promise you that at Collision Course I promise you that I will make you proud to have drafted me first, and I will go on to Olympus to win back the World Championship and this time be a champion you can be proud of.”

The camera fades to black.

==========

Kimberly

On Camera

==========

Hello again!

Yeah, I already told you once that I really don’t care much for being World Champion but I hope you paid very close attention to my sister Marie.  She’s the one who wants this and take it from me, she damn sure wants it more than anyone else in this little clusterfuck.

She doesn’t like me calling Collision Course a clusterfuck but hey, what else do you call it?  It’s a clusterfuck, babe!  I’m sorry but I call things the way I see it!

I don’t need this win, I don’t need to be UWA World Champion, so I said I was going to do what I could to help my sister in this little clusterfuck.

Oops, there’s that word again!

But you know, now that I’ve heard Marie, and after speaking to her, I can tell how intense she is and I can see how badly she wants this.  And you know what else?

I feel bad for everyone else in this Collision Course Clusterfuck.

There you go!  Triple C!

I feel bad for everyone in Triple C, because if you stand in Marie’s way, you’re gonna get hurt.  Marie wants the World Championship back and she will mow over anyone who tries to stop her.  She doesn’t need me.  She’ll tear the competition a new asshole at Triple C on her way to punching her ticket to the Olympus main event.

As for the champion herself?  Well she’s already beaten Myra Lynwood once for the X-Limits Title, it’d be easy as pie to do it again for the World Title if Marie were to challenge “Choke Under Pressure” Lynwood.  And while everyone else wants to shudder in fear of Rachel Lee, my sister fears no one and would put her down just as quick.

Spoiler Alert, kiddies!  Marie Jones will win at Collision Course and then she will win the UWA World Championship at Olympus in the main event.