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Scene 1
Off Camera
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You know
what it’s like on those dark and stormy nights? The loud thunder makes your cat
run for cover and you sigh in relief knowing that you don’t have to go out in
that mess. Unfortunately, some people have to go out in that mess. Perhaps they
desperately need to see someone or perhaps they work nights and they have to
drive to work.
Annunciation
Roman Catholic Church in Boston, Massachusetts is open on this night. The
priest, Father Fitzgibbons, keeps his church doors open on most nights, even
the stormy ones, to allow visitors to come and talk with him on this dark and
stormy night. But the question has to be asked, what person in their right mind
would go out in this mess to talk with a priest?
Marie
Annabelle Jones.
We open on a
dark and stormy night in the parking lot of Annunciation Roman Catholic Church
located in beautiful Boston, Massachusetts. The parking lot is completely empty
except for one Ford Fusion. The door to the fusion opens and Marie steps out of
the vehicle. Marie is dressed appropriately for a meeting with her priest,
attired in a long black skirt that goes down to her ankles, a white blouse, a
matching black jacket, and black high heeled pumps. The Phoenix’s red hair has
grown some more and now almost reaches down to shoulder length. She quickly
opens up her umbrella and walks up to the front doors of the Church. Marie
fumbles around with her umbrella in an attempt to close it. After a few
attempts, she gets the umbrella closed. Marie looks down and takes a good look
at herself, to see if she got wet. Thanks to the umbrella, she didn’t get as
wet as she could’ve been.
With one
hand, Marie flicks her long red hair back, then she pushes the door open and
steps inside. Marie walks inside until she steps up to the doorway to the
entrance to the actual sanctuary itself. Marie looks up and she can see the
massive crucifix at the front of the church. Without taking her eyes off of the
crucifix, Marie quickly makes the sign of the cross over her chest. Marie, who
knows this process all too well, then turns and walks over to the confessional
booth. Marie walks inside the booth, expecting to find it empty, but to her
surprise, she can see a shadow on the other side of the wall. This, obviously,
is the priest, Father Fitzgibbons.
“My God, who has enlightened every heart,
help you to know your sins and trust in his mercy.” Father remarks as he
usually does with each confessor. Marie
follows it up with the traditional sign of the cross.
“Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It has been two months since my last
confession.”
“Not bad, Marie, but I know you can do
better.” This is Marie’s home Church in Boston and Father Fitzgibbons has
known the Jones family for quite awhile.
Marie sighs deeply with disappointment.
“I know, Father, but I’ve been busy touring
with Supreme Championship Wrestling. We’re
here in the northeast temporarily but we’re heading right back down to Phoenix,
Arizona for Rise To Greatness.”
“I understand,” the kindly man with a
thick New York accent remarks, “but you
should always seek out a church to attend if you can. Your daily obligation, after all…”
“I know.” Marie says, nodding her head. “And I guess that’s one of my sins…missing
the Holy Mass…”
“Ok, anything else?”
“Well…” Marie’s voice trails off as she
sighs once more “…I’ve fought so hard to
try and redeem myself, to repair the burnt bridges and destroyed relationships
during my reign of terror in pro-wrestling.
It was horrible, I used my own
sister to help me win matches, I…”
“Marie, wait…”
“Yes?”
“I do not need all of the graphic detail.” Father
can be heard chuckling. “I just need to
know, have you sought forgiveness from the individuals you have wronged?”
“Absolutely.” Marie says, nodding her head.
“All of them?”
“Yes, of co…”
Marie’s
voice again trails off. She ponders the
priest’s message and she begins to think, has she truly sought out forgiveness from
everyone? Has she really tried to
rebuild all of the bridges she burned?
It eventually dawns upon her that she has not and she shakes her head.
“I guess not. There is one individual who stuck by me
through thick and thin. We more than
just allies, we were the best of friends.
Then I just up and abandoned her.”
“I understand. And you are sorry for this, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Good, then pray your Act of Contrition.”
Marie bows
her head. “O my God, I am heartily sorry
for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins, because of thy just
punishment, but most of all because they offend Thee, my God , who art all good
and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve with the help of thy grace to
sin no more and avoid the near occasion of sin. Amen.”
“Excellent…Marie, I forgive you in the name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
“Amen.”
“Now, the Act of Penance I give you…find you
friend, make peace with them.”
“Thank you, Father.” Marie says with a
smile on her face. “I think she’ll be in
Phoenix, Arizona for Rise To Greatness weekend anyway. I may get the chance to do just that.”
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Scene 2
Off Camera
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In the faith
of the Roman Catholic Church, penance is a rite originally reserved for those
who had sinned seriously enough to be excluded from the Lord's Supper, known
also as Communion or The Eucharist. Today
it is continued almost exclusively in the practice of private confession to a
priest and the absolution bestowed as an act of forgiveness. Rarely is it as simple as a priest granting
absolution and that’s it. The priest
will typically give the confessor a task, an act of penance, to perform in
order to illustrate the truth of their repentance and how sorry they are for
what they have done and how they do not wish to sin again.
Marie
Annabelle Jones is a practicing Catholic from a strong Catholic family. She’s had this belief drilled into her from
the moment of her birth. That is why
redemption is and always has been and always will be very important to The
Phoenix. Much like the Catholic rite of
penance requires the confessor to perform an act of penance, Marie Annabelle
Jones feels that it is necessary for her to somehow the world (or at the bare
minimum those who she wronged) that she is a changed person and that she is
actively seeking wipe that stain of guilt from her soul.
In Supreme
Championship Wrestling she knew that using her twin sister to help win matches
was wrong, and yet she did it anyway.
She burned a great many bridges and destroyed a great deal of the trust
people had in her. She fought hard to
prove to the world that she could still get the job done on her own, that she
wanted to get the job done on her own, and that she did not need any help. It was her latest path to redemption, a path
that would eventually lead her to the SCW United States Championship.
Everything
seemed to be going well for Marie. She
had defeated Tyler Tucker for the gold, retained it at Taking Hold of the Flame
against Tucker and Regan Street. But
then she ran into Jinn at Supreme Saturday from Puerto Rico and she lost the
gold that she had fought so hard to earn.
It was extra
painful due to what the United States Championship represented to her; it
represented the change she had made in her life. It represented the completion of her
redemption journey. Now that symbol had
been taken from her and she wants to win it back. She had one change on Breakdown but it ended
in a double count out. Now she’ll get
one more opportunity in a fatal four way elimination match against Stacy Kissinger,
Regan Street, and Jinn for the United States Title.
It is one
more opportunity for Marie to regain that symbol of her penance.
But if the
United States Championship truly is Marie’s symbol of redemption and penance,
then she has to ask herself, does she deserve it? Not from a wrestler’s standpoint, mind
you. She definitely has the skill and
ability to get the job done at Rise To Greatness and win back the title. Does she deserve the penance…
…does she
deserve the redemption?
Has Marie
Annabelle Jones truly sought out forgiveness from everyone she has wronged in
the past? That is the question Marie has
been asking herself for days and, it slowly came to her, that there is an
individual who she has not sought forgiveness from, an individual whom she
still needs to confront in order to truly feel redeemed…
…Sophie
James.
Sophie James
is now the UWA World Champion but she started out in UWA as Marie’s tag team
partner. Marie needed her help even
before there was a UWA, when UWA was just the Uprising Brand of IWC. Marie needed a tag team partner and Sophie
was there to be more than just a tag team partner but also a friend. Sophie remained with Marie in UWA every step
of the way.
Sophie was
there when Marie won the UWA World Championship. Sophie was there when Marie decided to pull
the heinous #GingerHoax trick on the entire wrestling world. Sophie always supported Marie, no matter
what, and then when the pressure built up, when things didn’t go Marie’s way,
she left UWA. She left UWA for the greener
pastures of Supreme Championship Wrestling.
Now Marie
does not regret going to SCW. She’s
never been happier in SCW. But at the
same time, she feels she owed Sophie a hell of a lot more than just to abandon
her the way she did.
So with Rise
To Greatness weekend coming up, Jones realizes that this is her opportunity to
make up for past sins; the sins she committed against her best friend Sophie
James.
The
redheaded leader of the #GingerNation sits at a small round table at the back
of a small bar and grill. It’s not a
very rowdy place, or a very “happening” or popular place, which is surprising
considering it is Phoenix, Arizona. The
crowd here isn’t as large as most places you might expect to see these crowds,
but that’s what Marie prefers; a quieter place, a calmer more peaceful
environment.
A glass of
water sits in front of her. She is
wearing a knee length black skirt and a red long sleeve blouse. Her feet are encased in black high heeled
peep toe pumps. Her long gorgeous red
hair hangs unrestrained, flowing past her shoulders. A smile is on her face and she cannot contain
the chuckle that eventually escapes her lips.
It is hard not to laugh at the guy singing Karaoke right now. He’s not all that great.
Then again,
Marie realizes she wouldn’t be all that good.
Her mother is the singer in the family, not Marie.
“Yo!
Marie!”
The familiar
voice immediately snaps Marie out of her focus.
She turns towards the sound of the familiarity and she notices her best
friend, Sophie James, making her way over towards the table.
“Sophie,” Marie stands up just as Sophie
gets there and the two women embrace in a hug, but the hug doesn’t last long
before the break the embrace and study each other up and down, taking appraisal
of one another“wow, it’s been too long.
Way too long. It’s so great to see you.”
“Tell me about it sweetie, it feels like
forever since I last saw you!”
“I know.
We shouldn’t stay away that long again.” Marie motions to the table. “Sit, please! I’m sure some server will come back by to get
you a drink if you want one. I’m just
having water, personally.”
Jones
motions again to the table. Sophie nods
and sits down. Marie then sits down and
takes another swig of her water. She
sighs as a smile spreads across her face.
“I know I already said it once but
congratulations on that UWA championship win.” She points across the table
at Sophie.“There is no one in this
business right now more deserving of a world championship than you, you’ve
worked so hard for this.”
“Are you trying to make me blush? Seriously
don’t, I have no shame remember?” Sophie chuckles.“Nah, thanks Marie, I really do appreciate it… I mean, the start of the
year was rough I won’t lie, but… well, I’ve finally done it, I’ve achieved
something people never thought I would, something /I/ never thought I would…”
Jones nods
her head. “I get it, and some may have
doubted you, you may have doubted yourself, but I knew you could do it. It’s like my mom always told me, on any given
night anyone can be beaten and on any given night anyone can break through the
glass ceiling and become a star. Both of
us had our moments.”
She touches
her own chest. “Mine was with the United
States Title in SCW, yours was just a few days ago. And I really am happy for you. And I’m glad you agreed to meet me here,
because…”
Her voice
trails off“…this has been a long time
coming. It really has; I would have come sooner to see you but I’ve been so
busy with Kim. Did you know she checked herself into a mental clinic?”
“She did? I had no idea sweetie, I’d have
visited if I’d have known…”
“She wanted to fix herself.” Marie says,
nodding her head.“She wanted to better
herself so that she could rejoin the family. And she worked very hard at it.
I’m real proud of her.”
“Hey, if anyone can understand the desire to
want to get better it’s me, right?” She smirks.“I’m so fucking happy to hear it though Marie, I really am. I love Kim
to bits and I’m glad she’s getting better.”
Marie nods
with a sigh. “But yeah, that’s why we
haven’t been by lately, but the truth is I feel bad about leaving you in the
first place.”
Jones shakes
her head as a look of shame spreads across her face.“I remember winning that world championship you have now, it was the
greatest feeling ever.”
A wide ear
to ear grin spreads across Marie’s face, but that smile quickly fades as more
memories come to mind…
“UWA then granted Vanilla Sky her automatic
rematch...and she won. Which was
fine. I hated losing, but it was
fine. She beat me fair and square. But then…” she shakes her head“…I never got a title rematch. I wasn’t even
booked for months on end.”
She sighs
and shakes her head.“But I pressed on,
eventually I won the X-Limits Title from Mya Lynwood. She was granted an
automatic title rematch, just like Vanilla.
And I still hadn’t gotten a world title rematch.” A few flare ups of
the infamous Jones anger and rage begins to show on Marie’s face. “And Myra…well she won.”
Jones sighs
as she tries to contain her emotions.“I
honestly have no problems accepting a loss if I lost straight up. But it seemed
as if UWA was treating me differently and unfairly and I couldn’t take it
anymore…” her voice trails off.
“So I left; I left and I never looked back. At least, I didn’t want to look back. I had to start looking back at things and
I…well…” she sighs deeply as tears form in her eyes“…I feel so damn guilty.”
She motions
to Sophie.“You came to UWA on my behalf
to help me out when I needed you as a tag team partner and friend when no one
else would trust me, but then I abandoned you and left you in that same UWA.”
Jones
motions to herself now.“I style myself as
a firm believer in redemption, I’d like to make it up to you somehow someway,
but for now I just have to start with a simple….I’m sorry. I’m sorry and can
you find it in your heart to forgive me?”
There is a
bit of a pause as the friends and former tag team partners stare across the
table at one another. Finally Sophie
breaks the ice.
“Listen Marie, I think you’ve beaten
yourself up a lot more than what you actually deserved… was I a bit pissed?
Sure. I only ended up in the IWC in the first place to help you out when you
needed a partner, but considering everything I’ve been through lately? Sweetie,
I’m not even CLOSE to being able to judge you, not with how I acted at various
times during our tag run. We’re not the same people we were back in IWC anyway…
far as I’m concerned it’s water under the bridge.” She shakes her head.“Nothing to forgive.”
“I appreciate it, Sophie...” a wide grin
forms on Marie’s face as she wipes the tears from her eyes “…your friendship does mean the world to me. Really, it does.”
“You’re not to bad either…” she smirks
and winks playfully.
“Hey, if you’re sticking around for Rise To
Greatness, you should join me backstage. I could use the support, I have a
hellacious challenge ahead of me.”
“Sure, I’m gonna be around anyway, Ace needs
all the support he can get… I mean, not because I don’t think he can beat
Kelcey, he just needs a lot of help… like dressing himself and stuff.”
Sophie smirks.“But you’ve got it sweetie,
I’ll swing by your locker room before hand, may even try and watch from the
curtain if they’ll let me. I don’t know how much access a triple A actually
gets you in SCW but I’ll try…”
“This United States Championship has been a
microcosm of my own redemption journey. I had it completed, just as I had the
United States Title, then I threw it all away, just as I lost the title to Jinn
because I was careless and took him too lightly. Now to win the title back I
have to beat Jinn, Regan Street, and Stacy Kissinger in order to get it back.”
“Hey, if I can beat four people in a fucking
Harry Potter Hunger Games match, you can do this! You always WERE the better of
the two of us Marie, and I’ve seen you do so much over the few years we’ve been
friends. You’ve got this… you just have to believe in YOU, that’s all. That’s
what I did, started to believe in myself. Do the same and you’ll walk out as
champ, I know it…”
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On Camera
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As The Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling I’ve been on
some pretty big stages. In GCW at their
very first event when they came back to life in 2012 I won the World
Championship in a one night single elimination tournament. I competed at the very first UWA Olympus
event, winning the World Championship in the first ever Pyramid Match. Most recently I won the SCW United States
Championship and I proudly defended it at Taking Hold of the Flame against two
amazing athletes, two of the best SCW has to offer.
Now I get to
step up to the biggest stage of them all, an event everyone fights and claws an
entire year just to make sure they’re worthy of being on the main card. It’s Rise To Greatness and I’m competing for
the SCW United States Championship. It’s
Regan Street, Stacy Kissinger, and the upstart newcomer who happens to be the
United States Champion, the man known as Jinn.
And it’s me…The
Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling…
…actually,
scratch that last part. I’m not walking
into this thing thinking it’ll be easy or a cakewalk just because I’ve had some
good memories in my career. This is
Supreme Championship Wrestling. This is
the best collection of talent in wrestling today and I will be facing three of
the very best on that roster for one of the most prized possessions in this
company. Each and every person wants
this and they want it bad.
Some, like
Jinn, just want to protect it from the evil-doers…or the douchebags, the jerks,
the assholes, the bitches, whatever term you would prefer to use.
Some, like
Stacy Kissinger, have been fighting like hell for this opportunity and just want
this one opportunity to make that impact and take the gold.
Some like
Regan Street will do anything to win. As
much as I dislike her tactics, and as much as I dislike her personality, I can
respect that she will do anything to win and she makes no bones about it. At least you know what to expect from the
Hellcat.
And then
there’s me…but who am I? Am I just
Angelica’s daughter?
No. For a long time I was wrought with a lack of
self-confidence due to feeling trapped in my mother’s shadow, but if anything
these past two years has proven that I am my own athlete, my own person, and
that Marie Annabelle Jones is an entirely different Jones that you should have
to worry about.
So who am I
if I’m not The Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling or Angelica’s daughter?
My name is
the namesake of the city that plays host to Rise To Greatness. Ladies and gentlemen we will be throwing down
live in Phoenix, Arizona and damn it I AM THE PHOENIX OF PROFESSIONAL
WRESTLING!
Jinn knows
it. He may have beaten me for the United
States title in Puerto Rico but I haven’t stayed away. I kept coming after him
and I was oh so close to regaining the title.
Had it not been for a bloody count out I would have won back the
championship, I just know it.
So
congratulations, Jinn…I do mean it…congratulations on keeping that
championship. You have proven to be a
worthy title holder. But the fact is you
still have what I want and the fact is that I am still a Jones and we do not
take losing very well. I lost back in
Puerto Rico and I still haven’t avenged that loss.
Respect,
good and evil, all of that aside, Jinn, what I want is that belt you have…the
United States Championship.
I am The
Phoenix, and who else knows it?
Regan damn
sure knows it. She kept knocking me down
and I kept getting back up. She thought
she had things will in hand at Taking Hold of the Flame but she did not walk
out as champion…I DID! And now here we
are again, The Hellcat and The Phoenix, one more time.
The sad
thing is, Regan, you could have made it here and have already been United
States Champion without these damn games.
I know it because I know you’re a Street and I know that automatically
means you’re damn good at what you do in the ring. You don’t need the bullying, the blindside
attacks, or any of the sort, you don’t need to do it. All you need to do is do what you do best…
…just
win. That’s why I pity you, at
times. I was the same way. I threw the tantrums, I bullied, I attacked
people to get my way. But guess what?
It didn’t
work.
And Regan,
it won’t work out for you, either. Rise
To Greatness will be your last chance and I will be happy to make sure you do
not cash in.
And Stacy,
while we may not have much, if any, history with one another, you should know
damn well the same thing that Jinn and Regan know. You should know that just like The Phoenix
you cannot keep me down and I will not die.
I have that same Jones stubborn streak, that same Jones fighting spirit
that runs through my mother’s veins, my aunt’s veins, it runs through my veins
and it keeps me going. There is nothing you,
Jinn, or Regan can do to keep me down or to keep me away from what I want.
Rise To Greatness
is in Phoenix and, appropriately enough, that’s when The Phoenix will RISE TO
GREATNESS!
