==========
December 27th, 2019
Boston, Massachusetts
Off Camera
==========
Dr. Jennifer Warren used to be the staff
psychiatrist at Global Division of Wrestling at it is there that she became
closely acquainted with the Jones family. Dr. Warren in her time as staff
psychiatrist for GDW assisted Angelica Jones as well as her children, Marie
Jones and Jessica Lasiewicz. When GDW
shut its doors for good Dr. Warren was offered the chance to work with another
promotion but instead chose to branch out and look forwards to bigger and
better things. Now she is a well known psychiatrist with her own practice
in Boston, Massachusetts. During this
time in her career, Dr. Warren assisted the likes of Angelica Jones (again) and
Marie’s twin sister Kimberly. In fact,
it was Dr. Warren to whom Marie reached out when she wanted to get her sister
Kim the psychiatric help she needed. If she has to see a psychiatrist to
deal with her current issues, then she will see the one she feels she can
trust.
The Phoenix sits in the waiting room, just outside
of Dr. Warren’s office. Jones would rather not be here but she feels that
this is important. She feels has no
other choice. Mental issues have plagued young Marie Annabelle Jones for
the entirety of her life, maybe not directly but definitely indirectly, for her
mother, the matriarch of the Jones family, spent time institutionalized for the
shooting death of Sean Williams, father of Marie and her identical twin sister
Kimberly Williams. And it is the aforementioned Kimberly Williams who
also spent time in a mental ward for the kidnapping of Marie herself.
Marie herself is not immune to mental trauma.
She had to go see Dr. Warren for issues before, among them being the post
traumatic stress of being kidnapped by Kimberly and subsequently losing her
memory as well as the recent invention of a secret identity which she used to
prowl the night life. She is lucky that Warren ensures absolute privacy
for her patients, because Jones definitely does not want any of her dark
secrets leaking out. She wants the world
to think that she is controlled, she is calm, that of all the Jones women she
is normal. No one can ever know the truth, no one can know that she has problems
of her own that she needs to deal with.
First was her suicide attempt. Arthur Pond,
her husband, killed himself and Marie blamed herself for his death.
Instead of reaching out to a legitimate psychiatrist, Marie went to the Inner
Peace Enlightenment Retreat. There she thought she was learning how to
think positively about everything and, hopefully, put her dark past behind
her. Instead what she got was even more trauma and stress than
before. Now she knows that if she wants
to fix her mental problems she must seek out help from the one source she feels
she can truly trust…
...Dr. Jennifer Warren.
She can tell that Dr. Warren must enjoy the beach,
for there is a picture of a beach was sprawled on each wall, each depicting
beautiful scenery: rolling waves on idyllic sand. Across from me was a tiny
black wooden coffee table holding health magazines. Underneath it was a dull
grey carpet that covered the whole room. A television hung in one corner
displaying boring commercials. The Phoenix is nervous and she does her
best to hide it. She is nervous because her family has a history of mental
issues. Everyone has had run-ins with
mental institutions and psychiatrists.
Marie does not wish to become another statistic in the Jones family
mental saga but she also realizes that she is slowly falling apart.
“Ms. Jones…” Marie
suddenly looks up and spots the woman herself, Dr. Jennifer Warren, standing
just inside the waiting room, between herself the threshold that leads to her
office. Warren is a lovely blonde woman dressed in a smart dark green
pencil skirt, black patent leather high heel pumps, and a silk white button up
blouse. She also sports a brief
welcoming smile designed to inspire confidence and allay apprehension.
Marie is also dressed nicely for this occasion, some call her a prude but she
always wants to be fashionable if not ladylike for any non-wrestling event,
thus she is dressed in a knee length black skirt, black patent leather pumps, a
red blouse, and her signature black leather jacket. “...I’m ready to see
you.”
Jones sighs as she steels her nerves, preparing for
this uncomfortable visit. She pushes herself up and follows Dr. Warren
into her office, shutting the door behind her. The blonde psychiatrist
motions to a comfortable looking cushy sofa where she clearly wishes for Marie
to sit. Jones doesn’t even bother waiting for an invitation before
sitting down. Marie adjusts herself in
the nice, padded sofa in Dr. Warren’s office. The blonde doctor sits in a
leather rolling desk chair next to the sofa staring into Marie’s hurt, pained
eyes. Even though she is afraid of being
here with the psychiatrist, this particular psychiatrist is the only one whom
The Phoenix feels that she can truly trust.
“Ms. Jones, it is nice to see you again.”
Dr. Warren says in a sincerely sweet voice. “I have seen your sisters
recently, your mother too, but you I haven’t seen in a very long time.”
“I know.” The
redhead Boston native remarks with a nod.
“If my memory serves, the last time we spoke
briefly about your...um, secret identity. We came to the conclusion that
it was not a case of dissociative identity disorder but instead just a case of
you being…”
“A complete and utter basketcase?”
Marie throws out the suggestion with sarcasm dripping from her voice. She
remembers the time when she took on a new identity, a secret identity that she
utilized only at night. It was her way of escaping the problems of her
public life. Through sessions with Dr.
Warren, Marie finally realized that she needed to cast aside the identity and
just deal with her emotions and her trauma.
“I was not going to use that term.”
The blonde psychiatrist responds flatly.
“It’s ok, I will use it for you.”
“Changing the subject, is the relationship between
you and your twin sister holding up well? I must admit that while I am
proud of you two for repairing what many thought was an irreconcilable
relationship, I was slightly concerned about a resurgence of post-traumatic
stress due to the kidnapping episode.”
The Phoenix doesn’t wait one moment to even
consider the notion. Jones shakes her head for she considers her twin
sister Kimberly not only a good friend but a true sister. All past has
been forgiven, including the kidnapping episode. “No, no post-traumatic stress
whatsoever. Kimberly and I are doing fine.”
“Very good.” Dr.
Warren says with a nod of her head. The blonde doctor reaches over to her
desk, produces a pen and notepad, and begins to scribble down notes. After a
few moments she stops and looks up at her patient. “Still, it has been quite
some time since your last visit. Granted, I would prefer everyone to be
perfectly healthy even if it meant I would go out of business, thus seeing you
here again after such a long time does trouble me. Tell me, Ms. Jones,
what brings you back to me?”
Marie has been sitting and contemplating this
moment for quite some time. There is a lot on her mind and quite a bit
that weighs heavily upon her conscience right now. Where does she
begin? For Jones it makes the most sense
to begin where it all got started…
“Have you heard about what happened to my husband?”
Dr. Jennifer Warren sighs deeply and nods her
head. She doesn’t keep a close eye on all of her patients, just the ones
she gets close to, befriends even, and she has befriended the Jones
family. She has kept track of each and every one of their lives and
careers; Marie knows this and thus is not surprised to learn that Dr. Warren
has already heard of Arthur’s suicide.
“Yes, I heard. My condolences, Ms.
Jones. Though I must admit, I thought you had handled his passing quite
nicely. Granted it was only an assumption I made based upon the fact that
you never came to see me about this tragic event.”
“Your assumption was incorrect. I did not
handle it well…” Marie’s voice trails off as she shakes
her head.
“Was your husband suffering from depression?”
“Yes, but it’s too easy to just blame the
depression when it was all my fault.”
The blonde psychiatrist frowns and immediately
shakes her head. “I have no idea what you are talking about, but I can tell
you with almost certainty that it was not your fault Arthur Pond committed
suicide. The depression…”
“...THE DEPRESSION WAS MADE WORSE THANKS TO ME!”
Marie shouts loudly, almost screaming at the top of her lungs, at the
psychiatrist as she swings her legs over the side of the sofa, now sitting in
an upright position staring a hole through Dr. Warren. The Phoenix takes
a few deep breaths to try and calm herself as she realizes what she just did
and is grateful that no one else was in the waiting room at the time, otherwise
they definitely would have heard her shouting. Tears are forming within
her eyes. A few moments later, after
Marie has composed herself, she sighs and shakes her head.
“I...I’m sorry, Dr. Warren...it’s still difficult
for me. And yes, I do blame myself for Arthur’s suicide.”
“My apologies, Ms. Jones, but I must still ask, why
do you blame yourself for his suicide...or at the least why do you blame
yourself for exacberating his depression?”
The tears are flowing freely down Marie’s
cheek. Dr. Warren reaches out, finds a napkin off of her desk, and hands
it to The Phoenix. Marie uses it to dry her eyes before speaking again. “Because
he found out that I was cheating on him with another man.”
This was one secret Dr. Warren did not know,
because Marie kept it a secret from as many people as possible. The man
in question was Blake Mason. It wasn’t
long after Arthur found out about the affair that he committed suicide.
This is why Marie blames herself for her husband’s death to this day.
“I see…”
“Yeah, you see…” Jones
again flares up in anger “...and now that you do, try telling me that I am
not responsible for his suicide!”
Marie is shouting again, only this time not as loud
as before. Dr. Warren has heard worse from other patients, thus she is
not fazed by this in the least. A few tense moments later and Marie again
composes herself. “I’m sorry, Dr.
Warren...I’m just...just…”
“No explanation is required, Ms. Jones.” The
psychiatrist remarks. “The emotions you feel right now are perfectly
legitimate. Still, I have to ask, if you were feeling this way, why did
you not seek out professional help earlier...whether that help came from me or
someone else?”
“I couldn’t.” Marie
shakes her head vehemently. “It was not an option, Dr. Warren, it was just
not an option at all.”
“Why not?” Warren
insists.
“It’s in my family. You know it as well as I
do, my mother spent time in a mental institution as did my twin sister.
If word were to get out about my past, my own dark secrets, the case could
easily be made for me to be institutionalized. And I don’t want that…” her
voice trails off, a sense of fear and forboding in the air. Dr. Warren
just shakes her head.
“It would not have been that way, Ms. Jones; your
mother still sees me from time to time. Your half-sister, Ms. Lasiewicz,
even came to visit me not too long ago.
And here you are today.”
“No offense, Dr. Warren, but you’re lucky that my
family does come to see you about our problems.”
“And what makes me so special?” The
blonde psychiatrist asks with a wry grin.
“We trust you.”
“Why didn’t you trust me with your current problem
before?”
“I thought I could handle in other ways.”
Marie answers flatly. “I tried speaking to my parish priest. He was
absolutely no help. Things got worse and
then I attempted suicide myself.”
“Tell me more.” Dr.
Warren says with arched brows as she listens to her patient, The Phoenix, tell
the tale...
==========
June 5th, 2019
Boston, Massachusetts
Off Camera
==========
It’s been at least an hour since Marie Annabelle
Jones was at her Boston, Massachusetts home speaking with her sisters.
Hell, maybe more than an hour has passed.
She isn’t quite sure. Time doesn’t exist to her right now. And yes, she knows that her sisters have been
trying to get in touch with her. Her phone has been vibrating like crazy
in her pocket. But she’s been ignoring
it. She knows what she wants to do, what
she feels she must do, and she doesn’t want either Jessica or Kimberly to try
and talk her out of it.
The redhead knows that she is outside of the Boston
city limits. She finds herself standing at a bridge overlooking a body of
water. The bridge is a marvel of steel and cables. It spans the river six
lanes wide and looks like it just got beamed down from outer space. The old
brick one that's still on the town's postcards crumbled and became
unsafe. Each block was square and perfectly laid, the arches were
mathematical semi-circles and along the edges was a balustrade of stone carved
into dome topped pillars.
Jones stands, overlooking the edge. It is a
beautiful sight in the nighttime sky. Too bad this has to be where it
ends. It’s just too difficult and too
painful; life is too painful for Marie. So many hurts and so many
problems. And she still hasn’t managed
to get over what happened to Arthur.
It would be much better if it were over.
“Ahem…” the
noise startles Marie ever so slightly. She turns around suddenly to find
a young man in a bright yellow suit and a black tie. His black hair is
slicked back and he is wearing somewhat thick glasses. He appears to have a week old beard.
The polite smile indicates that this stranger is friendly.
Still, Marie doesn’t want anyone near her and that
includes her sisters and even this guy, whoever he is…
“Go away!” She
shouts angrily at him. “I’ll call the police!”
“If you believe myself to be a threat to you then
why bother calling the police? I mean, you are planning to throw yourself
over the side of that bridge and end it all. Are you not?”
Jones is immediately silenced by this man’s
words. It’s almost as if he is telepathic. She shakes her head.
“You’re crazy!”
“Are you not planning to kill yourself?”
She considers lying but realizes how terrible of a
liar she truly is and just sighs as she nods her head. The man smiles
warmly as he ever so slowly approaches Marie.
“See? The truth does set you free. Now
I do want you to know that I am no threat to you. I just happened to be
out and about, I saw you standing there looking sad and forlorn.”
“You were stalking me?”
Marie spits out.
“You call it stalking. I call it
observing. Either way, I assumed you may
be attempting suicide and I couldn’t stand to see the life of a lovely woman
like you extinguished in that manner, especially not if I could help.”
Jones stares at him for a few moments with
skepticism washing over her face. “So you just want to help a perfect
stranger?”
“Young lady, this idea of ‘strangers’ is a cancer
upon humanity. If one is a stranger then we are less likely to care about
them. If we see a stranger in pain then
we pass them by; it isn’t my problem, correct? Just like the priests and
levites walked on by and left the beaten man for dead but a good samaritan
stopped and assisted.”
“I heard that parable before in Church.”
Marie growls.
“But do you know why The Good Samaritan
helped? Because he does not believe in the concept of strangers. Neither
do I. Everyone is a friend as far as I
am concerned and I will always help my friends.”
“So we’re friends?”
Marie scoffs. “That’s crap. I don’t even know your name.”
“Fair point.” The
man responds. He holds out his hand “My name is Raul Alfaro.”
She stares at his hand for several moments but The
Phoenix is still skeptical of him. She refuses the handshake and, after a
few moments, Raul gets the hint and pulls his hand back.
“May I at least ask what is so terrible, so
horrible, that you feel taking your life is the only answer?”
“It’s none of your business!”
She spits back at him with venom in her voice.
“No need for the hostilities, miss. I’m only
here to help.”
“You can’t help me.”
Marie shakes her head. “My life, both professional and personal, is
tanking! I allowed people to turn me into a monster! That monster pushed my own husband to killing
himself! So why not just jump over this bridge? Karma.”
“Now we arrive at the truth.”
Raul remarks, nodding his head. “But this doesn’t have to be the end, and I
can help you.”
“I highly doubt that.”
“Maybe I can’t.” He
shrugs his shoulders. “But what have you to lose? Besides, think of
your loved ones. Think of your family.
Would they want you to end it this way?”
Marie doubts seriously that this Raul can help
her. She thinks he’s just some crazy stalker. But then again, if she really believed that,
then why is she still here entertaining his notion? One thing he is right
about though is that it would be unfair of her to end her life like this when
she still has friends and family who care about her and love her. This
act would hurt them as much if not more than she’s hurting right now. Raul Alfaro is also right about one other
thing…
...suicide is not the answer.
“Ok, fine. I won’t kill myself.”
“Good, now go back to your friends and loved
ones. I’m sure they need you now, just as you need them. But before you go...”
he reaches into his pocket and produces a business card and hands it to
Marie. She looks at it, studying it carefully before looking up at Raul.
“Inner Peace Enlightenment Retreat?”
It sounded cheesy as hell.
“Yes, I told you that I could help you. This
is it.”
“No thanks. I’m not interested.” She
tries to hand the card back to Raul but he refuses to take it.
“Keep it. Think about it. That’s all I
ask. You will never again hear from me unless, of course, you call the
number on the card. Fair enough?”
Jones still doesn’t trust him but nods her head in
agreement. “Fair enough.”
==========
December 27th, 2019
Boston, Massachusetts
Off Camera
==========
Dr. Warren furrows her brow. “So you were going
to throw yourself off of this bridge but a stranger stopped you?”
“Yes, Raul Alfaro talked me down. He
convinced me not to end my life.”
“It is a good thing that he was there.”
Dr. Warren states pointedly. Marie sighs and shakes her head.
“Perhaps, but he was not all that he appeared to
be.”
“What do you mean? Tell me more about this
Raul Alfaro.”
“I did not trust him that night but something about
his voice was soothing and calming, something about the way he spoke at the
very least did manage to bring me back down from the brink, so I gave him and
his Inner Peace Enlightenment Retreat a chance. I would visit once a week
for several weeks, speaking not with Raul but with a young lady whom he
introduced me to. Her name was Julianne Buchanan.”
A smile forms upon the face of The Phoenix as she
recalls Julianne. She was one of the few good things that came out of the Inner
Peace experience. “Who was Julianne in relation to you? A
friend?”
“Sort of.” Marie
nods her head. “She was a mentor but not in a supervisory way. I
shared my problems with her, she shared her problems with me. In time I
found that getting all of my problems off of my chest and just telling someone
else about why I was hurting was quite healthy.” An eerie ear to ear grin
forms upon her face. Marie resumes speaking but this time her voice sounds
upbeat and dripping with joy and happiness.
“And Julianne, she was just so friendly and super
bubbly and totally awesome! She convinced me to join the Inner Peace
Enlightenment Retreat! We were best
buddies! Pals!”
Dr. Warren frowns as she studies Marie
carefully. She realizes that this is not normally how her patient
speaks. The psychiatrist scribbles notes on her notepad. “Obviously
there was a falling out of some sort that caused you to leave the Inner Peace
retreat. Tell me about this.”
Hearing the question brings Jones back down to
reality. The tone of her voice returns to normal and the smile
immediately fades. “Remember how I said that I did not initially trust Raul
Alfaro? My fears were confirmed.
It was little more than a sex cult, picking up new members from amongst
those members of society who were broken and preying upon their need for a
miracle cure. That’s how he got to Julianne...that’s how he almost got to
me…”
“Is there anything else you would like to tell me,
Ms. Jones?”
“Just that I know for a fact that I have not gotten
over my husband’s suicide. And I am convinced that I am still suffering
post traumatic stress from this experience with the Inner Peace Enlightenment
Retreat.”
That last statement peaks the psychiatrist’s
curiosity. Usually she is the one to diagnose and yet Marie sounds quite
confident in her own self-diagnosis. “What makes you think that, Ms. Jones?”
Again, Dr. Warren listens intensely as Marie tells
the story…
==========
December 19th, 2019
Boston, Massachusetts
Off Camera
==========
The feeling in the air isn’t just a somber feel but
it is almost as if it is a feeling of death itself. A stillness and
silence has taken over this entire house, despite Marie’s best attempts to
cover it up with the loud music.
“KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!”
Yeah, she hears the banging at her front door but
she’s going to just pretend that it is nothing. It could very well be
just the pipes in the house or an animal or the wind. It’s not necessarily someone who wants to
come in. Even if it was, Marie doesn’t want company. Not right now at least. She’s in a dark place and would rather stay
there by herself. This darkness has affected all aspects of her
life. It all began with the suicide of
her husband. It only continued when she
sought out help from The Inner Peace Enlightenment Retreat only to learn that
it was a cult preying upon young women with problems like hers.
“KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!”
There’s that knocking again. The Crown Jewel
of Professional Wrestling still refuses to acknowledge it, despite the fact
that there is no doubt of its origins being someone at the door wanting to come
in. Let them knock. Let them knock
as long and as often as they want. Marie
wants no visitors. Not right now.
Oh but who lets a locked door stop them
nowadays? Marie hears the door unlocking and rolls her eyes as she hears
it creaking open. It can only be family; they have keys to her home. The redhead turns and looks just in time to
see her identical twin sister Kimberly Williams entering the living room.
“What are you doing here, Kim?”
“What’s wrong, Marie? I’m not allowed to come
talk to my sister anymore?” The Woman Scorned asks after sitting
down next to her sister on the sofa. “Besides, you did sign this over to
me. Remember?”
“How could I forget, another dumb mistake made by
yours truly this time thanks to that Inner Peace crap.” The
sarcasm is dripping from the voice of Marie Jones.
“See, this is what I’m talking about.”
Kim points out. “You are blaming yourself for everything, you are just not
yourself, you are…”
“I’m what? Am I crazy? First of all, Kim, everything IS my
fault. It was my affair with Blake that pushed Arthur over the edge, that
led to my own depression that I stupidly went and tried to fix at the Inner
Peace retreat instead of going to see a legitimate psychiatrist. And if
you want more mistakes I can go back to earlier in the year and remind you of
how I trusted Dark Fantasy and Katya.”
“So you’ve been made some mistakes?”
Kimberly shrugs her shoulders. “Big deal!”
“To you it may not be a big deal but to me it is!”
Marie shakes her head. “I wouldn’t expect you to understand anyway.”
Kimberly reaches out and grasps her twin sister’s
hand. “I’m just trying to help.”
There is a long tense pause as Marie contemplates
what she wants to say next. A few moments later she grins from ear to ear. “Yeah,
I know you’re trying to help sis! And I appreciate it, but I can handle
this!”
“Huh?” Kimberly
asks, totally confused and thrown off by Marie’s sudden change in attitude.
“I just need to think more positive. That’s
all. You know what I mean?”
“I don’t think it’s as simple as that.”
Kimberly remarks, shaking her head. “I think you need to see some
professional help. Go visit doc Warren.
You know we can trust her.”
“Oh, Kimmie, it IS that simple! But if it’ll
make you happy, then yeah, I’ll go see Dr. Warren in a few days.”
==========
December 27th, 2019
Boston, Massachusetts
Off Camera
==========
“So you’re here to appease your sister?”
Dr. Warren asks with a skeptical frown on her face.
“No, I realize that I legitimately need your help.
That change in attitude, I know I did it earlier when talking to you, it is a
strategy that I was taught at the retreat. It is centered around thinking
positively. Julianne practiced it so
much that it turned her into a bubbly airhead.”
The Phoenix pauses for a moment before shaking her head. “But I know that’s
not me. That is just me trying to pretend to be something I’m not.
I am not an optimist and I never will be.
I am a realist.”
“If you know that this practice is not sound, then
why do you still utilize it?”
“I have no clue.” Marie
answers with a shrug of her shoulders. “The only answer I can possibly think
of is that maybe it has become automatic? I’m not like Julianne yet, who
has allowed this positivity training or whatever the hell you want to call it
become her entire identity, but at certain points when I am becoming too
stressed, maybe I just automatically utilize the practice, just as if it were
an instinct.”
“But you are convinced that this is due to post
traumatic stress?” Dr. Warren asks. The Phoenix nods her
head.
“Yes, yes I do. And as much as I hate to
admit it, a part of me envies Julianne and how she is right now.”
“Was she always so upbeat and optimistic?”
Warren asks.
“No, she was made this way because of how much time
was spent at the retreat. I only sound like an optimist on very rare
occasions because I didn’t spend nearly the amount of time Julianne spent
there. Raul didn’t get to me the way he got to her. But damn it, Dr. Warren, Julianne seems so
damn happy all of the time and I want to be happy.” Tears
begin to flow down her cheek once again and Jones takes a tissue and wipes her
eyes.
“Happiness is one thing but happiness at the
expense of reality and happiness by turning your back on who you are as a
person is NOT healthy.”
“Those are my thoughts as well.”
Marie sighs deeply. “But what do I do about it?”
“It will take more than one session, that is for
certain. I suggest we schedule you another appointment but before that
appointment I want you to do two things for me.”
“And what’s that?” Marie
asks curiously.
“You need to confront your problems head on.
One problem is the dealing with the suicide of your husband. Visit his
grave, visit his family, do something, Marie but you must deal with that.
You must also confront Julianne Buchanan.”
“Why do I need to confront her?”
“Julianne represents the PTS you are suffering as a
result of the Inner Peace Enlightenment Retreat. You cannot go back to
the retreat and confront Raul. Allow the
authorities to deal with him. You need
to be with Julianne. You two can help one another.”
Funny, this is the exact advice Raul Alfaro gave
Marie; he said that Marie and Julianne needed to help one another. Now
Dr. Jennifer Warren is giving similar advice.
Whether the advice is sound or not remains to be seen, but Marie does
hope and pray that she is finally on the road to recovery.
==========
On Camera
==========
The SCW logo flashes upon the screen.
“Haunted” by Taylor Swift plays in the background. Then we cut to a
standard gray backdrop. Some of the
cameras and lights are in the shot, oddly and strangely enough. There is
a brief wait of several seconds, but not too long, just long enough to build up
anticipation. The wait ends when Marie
Annabelle Jones, The Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling, enters the scene
from stage right. The Phoenix is wearing a long ankle length black skirt, black
high heeled pumps, a red blouse, and her signature black leather jacket.
Her long gorgeous ginger red hair hangs unrestrained and straight down to below
her shoulders. Her nails, both finger
and toe, are painted a bright red color.
The Phoenix finds herself in a rare situation with
a third SCW World Championship opportunity this year alone. Most would be
elated at the opportunity and one would think that Marie would have a smile so
big on her face that would have to be surgically removed. Instead she
glares stoically, emotionless into the camera.
Eventually the music from Taylor Swift dies down and when it does The
Phoenix begins to speak.
“Christmas is over, the year 2019 is nearly over
and we are about to ring in the new year of 2020. Everyone will be making
their New Year Resolutions, goals that they would like to accomplish in the
coming year. I know exactly what my New Year Resolution will be and I
will get to that in a moment but first I should look back to the year
2019. How did 2019 treat The Phoenix?”
“April 10th, 2019 I defeated Ruby Amarant to become
SCW Television Champion. September 22nd, 2019 my sister and won the SCW
World Tag Team Championship from Ryan Watson and Autumn Valentine. Also
in the span of one year I have had two opportunities to compete for the SCW
World Championship.” Jones holds up two fingers indicating
her two opportunities, one against Sienna Swann and the other against Syren.
“That’s a pretty damn good year. Still, it
isn’t the best year I could have had. I am still leaving 2019
disappointed in myself because I know mistakes were made, I know that I could
have done a hell of a lot better competing inside the squared circle and I
could have made a hell of a lot better judgment calls. You see I came to
SCW with one goal in mind; to become a World Champion again. Some will pretend they have morals and
values, some will pretend to have a higher calling and that they are in this
thing for better, selfless reasons.”
The Phoenix shakes her head. “Not me, I am not
going to lie to anyone out there. I will call a spade a spade and I will
tell you that I came to SCW to be a World Champion. This time last year I
was voted to receive the SCW World Championship opportunity against Sienna
Swann. It was an honor and a privilege to receive the title shot but it
was humbling more than anything else because I had done nothing to earn the
opportunity. It was just simply what the people wanted to see. The people gave me an opportunity of a lifetime…”
“...and I blew it. I failed to defeat Sienna;
on that night, Sienna was the better competitor. She beat me in the
center of the ring. I cannot deny
it. But I couldn’t deal with it, so I
made a poor judgment call in selling my soul to Katya, Syren, and Ravyn just
for the promise of another world championship match. Syren would
eventually become champion and guess what?
I got title shot number two. I
battled Syren one on one and no, it wasn’t without controversy, but the point
is that I did not get the job done. That
was the second time I had failed to capture the championship that I craved so
much.”
“Eventually I would realize my mistakes and I
sought to redeem myself. I wanted to battle back from the bottom up and
earn my opportunities the right way and never again sell my soul to anyone for
the promise of gold. I expected it to be a very long time before I would
ever get anywhere close to the SCW World Championship.”
A low chuckle escapes her lips.
“Yet here we are, the End of the Year Battle Royal
approaches and thanks to Kellen Jeffries and his Trios Contract, anyone and
everyone living and breathing has a shot to become SCW World Champion.
All they have to do is show up and enter the match. Obviously there will be a ton of
competitors. No one in their right mind
would turn down an opportunity like this.
This is the kind of night dreams and fantasies are made of; because on
this one given night, anyone, no matter how good or how bad they are, could
become a World Champion. But will I be among them?”
Marie shrugs her shoulders. “It really is a
difficult question because if I am truly honest with myself then I have to
admit that I do not deserve this opportunity. I already had two
opportunities at the World Championship this year, two one on one opportunities,
and I failed both times. This will be my
third World Title Match in the span of a year. It is a rarity in this
sport that anyone receives that many.
Some would argue that it speaks highly of how good I am that I received
multiple opportunities.”
The Phoenix sighs and shakes her head. “I am not
entirely sure that is accurate. One of them was a fan vote, the other was
a reward for being a good little Infamous Henchwoman. I never really
earned either opportunity and this, again, would not be an earned
opportunity. It’s just upon Kellen’s use
of the Trios Contract. And if I am being honest with myself when I say
that I want to earn my way and earn my opportunities from here on out then I
would be a hypocrite for accepting this golden ticket.”
There is a long tense pause as the camera focuses
in on Marie’s lovely features. Then the redheaded Boston native smirks
knowingly. “Damn it, I’ll just bite the bullet and be a hypocrite! I
would be just as much a hypocrite for not entering. Any true competitor worth their salt who has
trained, busted their ass, and sacrificed time away from their families for
this sport have all done so with the dream of someday becoming a World
Champion. It is offensive to the very competitive spirit of this sport if I didn’t
at least try!”
“For those who claim that this is unfair or that
this demeans the world championship, I tell you this; look at the competition
in this match. Look at the potential superstars who will enter this
match. And we all know Sienna Swann will be in this match, Sienna being among
the greatest world champions in recent memory, her and many others like her
will be throwing their names in the hat for this singular golden
opportunity. To overcome them all proves that you are truly the absolute
best.”
“So will I try?” Jones
nods her head emphatically. “You are damn right I will! I will enter
this match and do what I can, I will give it my all, and I will do everything
in my power to make the third time the charm for me. I got my first SCW
World Championship opportunity at this event last year. One year later my resolve has only
strengthened, my goals have not changed. I still want to become SCW World
Champion and by God I will do everything I can make that dream a reality!”
“Haunted” by Taylor Swift resumes playing.
Marie begins to exit stage left. The
scene fades to black.
