Moving on from the past: Part 5

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Breakdown

On Camera

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Marie rolls to the apron and looks down to the floor before turning and Rachel starts to get up. Marie then springboards to the top rope and dives forward with a guillotine leg drop to the back of Rachel’s head. Rachel hits the mat. She rolls over and Marie gets up. She grabs her by the head and plants her with the Ave Maria. The crowd ohs. Rachel rolls over and Marie hooks the leg.

1!

2!

3!

 The crowd roars a bit. A mixed reaction comes from the crowd. Marie rolls over.

 Phillips: “Here is your winner, your next Television Championship Contender, Marie Jones!”

 Sharper: “Marie Jones considered going to the floor. Saw the opening though.”

 Knots: “And Marie Jones may not be US Champion, but she’ll not be TV Champion either.”

Sharper: “We’ll see. She faces Kennedy Street next week on Breakdown!”

 Marie Jones gets up and has her arm raised. She celebrates as Rachel holds her head in pain. The crowd continues to buzz as Marie Jones walks around the ring.

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Off Camera

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Marie Annabelle Jones has an extra skip in her step as she circles the ring.  She gazes around at the fans, soaking in the mixed reaction that gives Marie pause for reflection just before heading back up the ramp.  They used to love her.  These people used to adore her.  But she squandered that love and adulation when she decided to take shortcuts.  Jones decided to throw the rulebook out of the window and why?  She did it for respect.  She did it because she felt no one was respecting her and that UWA in particular was holding her back.  She did it to get back to the top.

Lately the self-proclaimed Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling decided that getting back to the top wasn’t worth sacrificing her soul.  She realized this after the fans, whom she thought would support her through it all, began to boo her due in large part to their disappointment over her actions and change in attitude.

A change was necessary and Marie knew it.  That change had to be a change in attitude.  Perhaps, Marie thought, that the whole Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling thing had gone to her head and that maybe, just maybe, she should go back to The Phoenix?

The Phoenix was her ring name that represented everything good about her moral idealism in professional wrestling.  It represented the belief she held that no matter how many times people kept knocking her down, that she would eventually get back up, just like the mythical phoenix.

Would a change in attitude work?  The evidence for this is piling up.  Nearly two weeks ago on the last UWA Outbreak show, Marie Annabelle Jones defeating Myra Lynwood to capture the UWA X-Limits Championship, putting a huge dent in Silas Mason’s World.  But more importantly she did it without any cheap tricks or tactics.  And on top of all of that, she heard something that she hadn’t heard in a long time…

…cheers from the fans. It was a mixed reaction full of quite a few boos as well, but still, the cheers were there and those cheers made her feel happy.  Marie then got to compete against Rachel Foxx to determine the next number one contender for the SCW Television Championship.  And in a highly competitive match, Jones defeated the former SCW World Champion.  But once again, that was not the most important thing for her.  Neither was earning an SCW Television Championship match.

The most important thing were the cheers she received after the match had ended.  True, it was a mixed reaction, just like the match against Lynwood, but still they were cheers nevertheless and those cheers did make her feel good.  And the victory over Foxx, a victory over a former world champion nonetheless, helps to remind her that she doesn’t need the cheap tricks to win her matches.

Jones did, after all, win the UWA World Championship without any cheap tricks.  If she can rise to that kind of prominence once, she can do it again, and she is determined to do so at the expense of the reigning SCW Television Champion Kennedy Street.

The upcoming Television Championship Match will be yet another big struggle for The Phoenix.  Kennedy Street, like Foxx, is a former SCW World Champion.  But Jones knows now that she is on the level of former SCW World Champions.  If she can beat Foxx, she knows she has the ability to beat Street.

But the Television Championship Match is next week.  She can worry about that another time.  For now she celebrates, because next week she may not be able to celebrate.  Time to enjoy this small victory; the one over Foxx as well as her slow but sure winning over of the fans.

The red head turns and gazes up the ramp, beginning to make her way up.  Along the way she notices a few fans have their hands outstretched.  Needless to say, Jones is surprised by this.  She isn’t going to question it, though.  Instead she races up to them and slaps the hands on her way up.  She makes it a point to slap each and every one of the outstretched hands until she reaches to the top of the ramp.  She raises her hands up high into the air one final time, getting one final mixed reaction from the fans.  Then Jones turns and enters through the curtain, stepping back into the backstage area.

A wide grin is etched across her face as she proceeds to make her way through the backstage area.  Ignoring those around her, she is still focused on what just happened; she earned a Television Title Match and she has taken another step closer towards earning the respect and adulation of the fans once more.

“Congratulations.”

Ok, that was unexpected.  But the voice Marie just heard was definitely familiar.  Jones turns around to find her half-sister, Jessica Corey-Lasiewicz Jones, or better known by her ring name The Archangel, standing a few feet away.  Jessica is wearing a sleeveless, dainty little black dress featuring a unique round neckline and a floral lace overlay with a cutout back.  Her feet are encased in strappy black high heeled sandals.  Her long red hair hangs unrestrained to shoulder length.  The most immediate look on Marie’s face is one of surprise, as she was not expecting her sister to be here.  Then she quickly places her hands on her hips and frowns.

“You really need to stop with the sneaking up on me shit, Jessica.”

“I hardly snuck up on you.”

“I wasn’t expecting you, Jess, and you never tell me when you’re coming.  You just pop up out of nowhere…”

She motions to her.

“…just like you are now.  You just popped up!  How the hell did you get here anyway?”

“I took a plane.”

Marie rolls her eyes.

“You know what I mean, Jessica!”

“My name is Archangel.”

“I’m your sister.  I am NOT going to refer to you by your ring name.  So tell me how you managed to get in the arena.”

“I used to work here, Marie.  Also I am your sister and everyone working here knows it.  It wasn’t hard to get in.”

Jones sighs and shrugs her shoulders.

“Fine, whatever…”

Marie turns and continues her walk down the hall, this time without the joyous step from earlier.  She also knows that Jessica is following her.  She expected it.  It isn’t long until they reach a door.  Marie turns to it and pushes the doors open.  She steps in and Jessica follows.   This is obviously Marie’s dressing room.  Marie immediately finds the nearest seat, which happens to be a blue steel folding chair set up near the center of the room, and she sits down in it.  Jones sighs as she looks up at Jessica, frowning.

“So, what do you want?”

“I told you.  Congratulations.”

“You’re telling me that you came all the way from Boston to Tampa Bay, Florida just to tell me congratulations…when you could’ve wished me congratulations over the phone?”

Jessica nods her head.

“Yes…”

Marie pauses.  Then she shakes her head.

“I don’t believe you.  Number one, you had no idea I would win so why come?  Hell, I had no idea I would win.  Rachel Foxx is a former SCW World Champion.  There was no guaranteed win here.  And number two, you could’ve wished me a congratulations over the phone much easier.”

“Oh but you’re wrong, Marie.  I came here to wish you congratulations.”

Marie looks at Jessica skeptically.

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

Marie sighs out of frustration, clearly not believing her.

“Fine, ok, you said it, now leave.”

Jessica grins wickedly.

“You’re not going to ask what I’m congratulating you for?”

“Oh now stop being so damned cryptic, Jess!  It’s getting annoying!  And it’s even more annoying because I know you’re congratulating me for my win over Rachel Foxx tonight.”

Marie waits for Jessica to admit it but, to her surprise, Jessica shakes her head.

“Wrong.  You were right when you said that it would be far easier and convenient for me to just phone in my congratulations for a simple match victory.”

“Oh, ok then, so you’re congratulating me on becoming UWA X-Limits Champion?”

Jessica again shakes her head, surprising Marie.

“No, that was a week and half, two weeks ago almost.  I would’ve congratulated you on that one already, but nice try.”

Marie is now beyond frustrated but she is also surprised.  She’d like to know what brings her sister here tonight?

“Fine, then tell me why you’re here?”

“To congratulate you.”

“Congratulate me for what?!”

Jessica slowly approaches Marie, who quickly gets up out of the chair to stand up.  Jessica then reaches out and places a hand on her sister’s shoulder.

“Congratulations for becoming my sister again.”

Marie furrows her brow out of confusion.

“What the hell are you talking about, Jessica?  I’ve always been your sister!”

Jessica shakes her head.

“If you mean The Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling then I’m sorry to say but no, that was not my sister.  That overbearing, arrogant, bitch willing to take all sorts of shortcuts and cheap tricks to get ahead was not my sister.”

Marie swats her hand away.

“Overbearing, arrogant bitch?!”

Jessica smirks.

“You defeated Myra Lynwood on your own to become UWA X-Limits Champion.  You fought Amy Chastain on your own and while you lost you utilized no cheap tactics and you did it on your own and you fought proudly.  You fought Rachel Foxx tonight, a former SCW World Champion, and you defeated her tonight to become number one contender to the SCW Television Championship.  And you did it on your own.”

Jessica nods her head.

“That’s my sister.  I am thrilled that my sister is back, I am proud that you brought her back, and I am looking forward to cheering for my sister as she competes against Kennedy Street for the SCW Television Championship.”

“Jessica, I…”

Marie shakes her head.

“…damnit, Jessica!  Do you have to always be this way?  I mean, you’re not exactly holy or a saint yourself.  I do my best to do what I feel is right.”

Marie stares at Jessica with a fire and intensity in her eyes.  Jessica just looks right back at her.  The stare down ensues for several tense moments until Marie finally sighs.

“What happened to the two of us, Jessica?  We’ve grown apart and I…”

Marie sighs.

“…I feel as if it’s my fault.”

“I think we both did our part in that respect, Marie.”

Jessica smiles pleasantly.

“But there’s no one to say we can’t work together to fix that.”

“I…”

Marie smiles.

“…I’d like that.”

“You’ve taken the first step, Marie.”

“And you need to take your own steps, Jessica.”

Marie rests a hand on Jessica’s shoulder.

“If I brought back YOUR sister, then I want MY sister too.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You know what I’m talking about.  I don’t know what happened between you and mom or you and your dad, or you and whoever that caused you to disavow your legal name and go by your ring name The Archangel, but that’s not you.  This isn’t you.”

Marie embraces Jessica in a tight hug.

“I want my sister back.”

“I’m not sure I can give you that, Marie.  Maybe I should go…”

Jessica breaks the hug and turns to walk away but Marie places a hand on her wrist to stop her.

“Wait!  Jessica, there is something I wanted to tell you…”

Jessica sighs as she turns back to face Marie.

“What?”

“You were right.”

Jessica tilts her head to one side, studying Marie.

“Right about what?”

“Kimberly.  I’m…”

Tears form in her eyes.

“…I’m not sure what to do but I do know I can’t trust her anymore.”

A sneer forms across Marie’s face.

“You don’t know what to do?  I know what to do, Marie, and I’ll tell you…we need to lock her up and throw away the damn key!”

Marie shakes her head.

“Can’t do it.”

“She’s tried to destroy this family before, Marie.  Hell, she once kidnapped you!  I cannot and will not save you again if she tries anything!”

Marie nods her head.

“I get that, Jess, but we can’t just resort to locking her up.  We have to do something for her.  We owe it to her.”

“I owe her nothing!”

“Maybe not, but she’s your sister too, Jess.  Whether you like her or not, we are all Angelica’s children.”

Jessica nods her head.

“Right, fine, I’ll consider your notion.  But just tell me one thing.”

“What?”

“What has she done?  You wouldn’t have admitted to me so quickly that I was right about her unless she did something.  What was it?”

“You a quick study.”

Jessica smirks.

“I just know you.”

“And yeah, she did do something.  She…”

Marie’s voice trails off.  Jessica grows impatient.

“What did she do?”

“She…she has kidnapped Emma Storm…”

Jessica sighs.  She slaps her forehead.

“Great…just great…”

“Yeah, I know.  It’s pretty bad.”

“Have you seen Emma?”

Marie pauses momentarily, unable to answer this.  Her inability to answer gives Jessica the answer she wants.  Marie nodding her head was all the confirmation she needed.

“So…you have…”

“Yeah, Kimberly has her in a basement of an abandoned home.  Apparently she’s been, uh, torturing Emma.”

Jessica chuckles.

“Can’t say Emma doesn’t deserve it.”

Marie’s eyes grow wide with shock.

“Jessica!”

“Sorry, but in all honesty, Emma has been a bigger threat and danger to our family than Kimberly ever was.  Emma kidnapped you and Kimberly as infants, taking you from our mom.  Sorry, Marie, but she deserves this.”

Marie sighs and nods her head.

“Fine, I admit that Emma has been a thorn in our side, but are we seriously going to let Kimberly go over the edge like this?”

“Once again, Kimberly has been a pain.  Maybe not like Emma, but she has been a pain.  So what if she gets caught?  It’s her problem, not ours.”

“You can’t mean that!”

Marie gets up in Jessica’s face.

“She’s our sister, Jess.  Have a heart!”

“A heart?”

Jessica shakes her head.

“I’m not sure I have a heart anymore.”

With that, Jessica turns and pulls away from her sister’s grip.  Marie then watches as Jessica exits the dressing room.  Marie is left in doubt about what will happen now regarding Kimberly Williams, her identical twin sister, who needs help.

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On Camera

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This week’s Breakdown will be a momentous one for me, for it will be the second opportunity at an SCW championship since my arrival in the company several months ago.  I’ve had to fight my way through a variety of opponents and, while I wish I could say that I held my head high and fought honorably, that would be a lie.  I’ve taken shortcuts.  I’ve used cheap tricks.  I’ve used all sorts of unsavory tactics to win matches and get ahead, some of which you don’t even know about yet.

When I lost the UWA World Championship admittedly I freaked out and I thought I knew why.  I thought all I wanted was success and championship glory. I thought Drew Bryant and David Helms were disrespecting me by not giving me a world title rematch and so I took my services and brought them here, to Supreme Championship Wrestling.  I thought I had everything figured out but I realized quickly that I was terribly wrong.

What I missed the most from being left off the UWA cards after losing the championship wasn’t the glory of being champion.  I missed the fans…

The fans in Supreme Championship Wrestling began to boo me because I took the cheap and easy way out.  That’s when I realized that the championship glory wasn’t the only thing I wanted.  I realized that I also wanted the respect of the fans.  And I lost that when I changed my attitude to match my ring name…

…The Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling.

So I want to thank Amy Chastain.  I want to thank her not only for giving me a good match at Hazardous Envy but also giving me some words of wisdom, reminding me that I don’t need the cheap tricks or cheating, underhanded tactics to get ahead.  She reminded me that I do have what it takes to get the job done on my own.

I got the job done on my own against Myra Lynwood to become UWA X-Limits Champion.  I got the job done on my own against Rachel Foxx, a former SCW World Champion, to become number one contender to the SCW Television Championship.  All of this just served to prove to me exactly who and what I needed to become…

…The Phoenix.  I am professional wrestling’s Phoenix that rises up from the ashes, never to die, never to quit, never to give up on herself or those who have supported her through the good times and the bad times, especially the fans who stood by her.

Now that I reclaimed my identity, I am ready to rise back up from the ashes and claim my first championship here in Supreme Championship Wrestling.  But to do that I have to face quite possibly my biggest challenge since arriving in SCW.

Yeah, I know, I’ve said it twice now already, once when I fought Amy Chastain and again when I went up against Rachel Foxx.  Two former world champions in back to back matches, and I am one and one split against the former world champions.

Now I compete for the SCW Television Championship against another former World Champion who, like me, is a member of a famous wrestling family; Kennedy Street.

We have a lot in common, Kennedy.  Both members of famous wrestling families, the Jones Family and the Street family.  We’ve both been former world champions who reacted perhaps in a rash manner after losing the title.

More importantly, we both know what it’s like to have to redeem ourselves, to prove ourselves in the eyes of the world.  We both know how rough that road can be, possibly even tougher than the road to the top of the mountain to become champion in this sport.

We agreed that we will tear down the house on Breakdown.  We agreed that we steal the show and have the match of the night as we fight for the SCW Television Championship, showing the SCW universe what wrestling really is about.

But you also know that, like yourself, I’m no stranger to the spotlight.  I’m no stranger to being in a big match scenario with that brass ring dangling oh so seductively before me.  And just like you, I know what it takes to reach out and snatch that brass ring away from my opponent.

You have that brass ring, Kennedy, and I’m ready to do whatever I can to take it away from you.  I am ready to push you to your limits and, dare I say it, push you even farther than you’ve been pushed before.

Apologies if that sounds arrogant, but for me that’s just how confident I am in who I am and what I am capable of.  I have been in big match scenarios against the biggest names of this sport.  This is nothing new to me.  I know I can push you to the limits and I know that I can become SCW Television Champion.

Winning that SCW Television Championship would be the ultimate icing on the cake of my own personal journey back to being The Phoenix, because even if I am unsuccessful, I can guarantee you that I will be able to hold my head up high and proud knowing that I did this the right way.

No tricks.

No games.

Just me…The Phoenix Marie Annabelle Jones, and that’s what is real…and if I have my way, I will be your next SCW Television Champion.