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Clearance
Off Camera
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New Year’s
is a time when the human race begins to simultaneously think about the past and
the future. It is on this one time of
year when we look back on the good and bad of the previous year, 2015, and when
we look forward to the hopes and dreams of what 2016 may very well bring us. In many ways, that makes New Year’s a very bittersweet
holiday for very many people. Sometimes
people look back on the past year and all of the good memories. Sometimes people look back and find only
regrets. Looking forward to the future,
though, is almost a universally accepted time of hope. Everyone hopes that the next year will bring nothing
but happiness and joy. That is what makes
New Year’s a bittersweet period.
Marie
Annabelle Jones’s New Year’s Holiday will be bittersweet to say the very
least. As she looks back upon 2015 she
is reminded of failure, after failure to capture the top prize in the
Independent Wrestling Cartel; the World Heavyweight Championship. As she looks back on 2015 she is reminded of
her failure to win Last Stand, failure to win at Invictus, and failure to
defeat Vanilla Skyy, all failures in her attempts to become the world
championships.
The one
saving grace that Marie had to look forward to was the tag team title opportunity
she had earned along with her best friend and #GingerNation tag team partner
Sophie James. And yet, even that small
silver lining is being threatened, for The Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling
injured herself at an IWC wrestling event and was put on the shelf. Without doctor’s clearance to wrestle, her
future in IWC, her future as number one contender to the world tag team titles,
all of it hangs in the balance. Will
Marie be cleared to wrestle in time to maintain her tag title shot? Will Marie finally win the world title? So many questions remain unanswered.
With 2016
now on the horizon and the Uprising Brand of IWC about to start a new year, some
of those unanswered questions will be answered on the Uprising 9 card. Chris Davids and Cassius DeLight will face
Jessica Wilde and Lilith Evans. The
winners will face Sophie James and her tag team partner later on in the evening
for the IWC Uprising Tag Team Titles.
Sophie is
not the kindest of individuals. As
Sophie herself so eloquently put it, she is known as the Motor City Bitch, not
the Motor City Carer. And yet, for all
of her bitchy attitude, she is loyal to Marie.
The two are friends. Sophie is
bound and determined to have Marie as a tag team partner on the Uprising 9 card
when the tag team titles are decided.
But that can only happen if and only if Marie herself is cleared to
wrestle by doctors.
The future
of Marie Annabelle Jones hangs in the balance and that’s what brings her to the
doctor this day after Christmas. She
sits in the waiting room of the doctor’s office, dressed in a tight form
fitting pair of jeans, black boots, and a black long sleeve sweater. Her long red hair hangs unrestrained to just
below her shoulders. With her is her
love interest Arthur Pond, who is wearing a pair of khaki pants, dress shoes,
and a plaid button up shirt.
Arthur
shoots his lovely girlfriend a curious, concerned gaze, as he studies her for
several moments. He notices her
wriggling nervously. Many thoughts go
through his head before he finally breaks the silence.
“Calm down.”
“Calm down?”
Marie
repeats this in an incredulous tone, almost as if she cannot truly believe he
made this request of her. Jones shoots
him a glare of her own that could kill.
“How can you ask me to calm down, Arthur?”
She asks, snapping at him with venom dripping from her voice. “Some quack of a doctor is about to decide
my professional wrestling fate. I cannot
be calm.”
Pond’s look
of concern contorts into a wry grin.
“Now Marie, aren’t you overreacting just a
little bit?” He snickers lightly. “I
somewhat doubt your entire professional wrestling career hinges on what one guy
says.”
“Girl, not a guy.”
Arthur rolls
his eyes. “Fine, girl, lady doctor, but
that’s not the point. The point is that
you have your entire career ahead of you, whether she clears you or not.”
“You don’t get it.” Marie shakes her
head. “How could you get it? You’re not a wrestler like me, you could not
understand what I’m going through.”
Arthur sighs
and nods his head. “No, I am not a
wrestler, and you are right, there are some things about this sport that I will
just never understand.”
He takes her
by the hand and squeezes it tight. “But I
do understand that you are young, you are strong, and I understand that even if
this doctor refuses to clear you today that you will still return, eventually.”
The red-headed
Boston native looks at Arthur and laughs lightly, shaking her head in some
sense of disbelief.
“Right, I will return…” her voice trails
off as tears form in her eyes “…after I have
been stripped of my tag title shot.”
A sense of realization
falls across Arthur Pond as he finally begins to figure out why his lovely
girlfriend from Boston is so upset. He
wraps an arm around her shoulder in an effort to comfort her.
“I see…”
“Sophie wants me to remain as her tag team
partner. She has made that abundantly
clear to Drew Bryant. But Drew has made
it abundantly clear that I have to be medically cleared first.”
“That’s ironic,” Arthur starts with a
chuckle “I mean, isn’t IWC the place that
that thrives upon chaos and yet they want you to look after yourself?”
Marie nods
her head, grinning. “Yeah, I see the
irony…”
Jones and
Pond share a laugh, something that a stressed out Marie needs right now more
than anything else. Their joy and
laughter is interrupted when a young woman with straight black hair dressed in
khaki pants, white sneakers, a blue blouse, and a white doctor’s coat enters
the waiting room.
“Marie…Marie Jones?”
“Huh?” Marie looks up, away from Arthur and
at the woman. “Yeah…”
“Come with me. You can come too, sir.”
Arthur
stands up first and, taking Marie by the hand, urges her to her feet. The two then walk hand in hand, following the
black haired lady doctor through the door, into the back area. She leads them back through a short hallway
and then they make a right and enter a room.
The room is plain, cream colored, with a doctor’s bed on one end, two
standard cushioned chairs, and a black chair with roller wheels.
“Have a seat.”
Marie and
Arthur sit down in the two standard chairs while the doctor sits down in the roller
chair. She takes her stethoscope and
puts the earpieces in her ear and then rolls over in the chair to Marie. She places the stethoscope against her chest.
“Let me hear your heart.”
Marie sighs
out of frustration but Arthur gives her hand a tight squeeze, signaling her to
calm down. The doctor smiles and then
takes her wrist.
“Sounds good, now let’s hear that pulse.”
“Doc…”
“Marie…” Arthur scolds.
“No, Arthur, I’m being serious.” Marie
gripes. “Why is any of this important?”
“Sorry, Ms. Jones, but it is standard
operating procedure.”
Marie waits
as the doctor takes her pulse. After the
minute has passed and the pulse taken the doctor wheels away and smiles
pleasantly at Marie as she takes some notes.
“Ok, now let’s get down to business.”
The doctor
places the clipboard down on the bed and then turns to stare back at Marie and
Arthur.
“Marie already knows me quite well by now,
but you and I have yet to meet.” She extends a hand towards Arthur. “My name is Dr. Lynwood.”
“Nice to meet you, doctor.” Arthur
responds, shaking her hand.
“Now then, Marie,” she turns to face
Marie “you know why you’re here.”
Jones nods
her head. “Yes, I am here because the
brilliant brain trust within IWC have seen it necessary to do everything they
can to keep me away from the tag titles using every means available to them.”
“Marie!”
Arthur exclaims
loudly, in shock at what his girlfriend just accused her workplace of
doing. The doctor, on the other hand,
just laughs it off.
“Let her have it, sir. Ms. Jones certainly has a right to be upset.”
“You say that and yet still I’m coming in to
see you, still waiting patiently to be medically cleared to wrestle.” Marie
narrows her eyes in a serious, angry gaze at the doctor. “I am ready, doctor. I am ready
to return to action. I deserve to return
to action.”
“Being ready to return to action and
deserving to return to action are two different things.” Dr. Lynwood
responds. “I am not here to judge whether
you deserve the opportunity, I am here to decide if you physically can compete
and, the way I see it, from looking at my records and charts….”
There is a
slight pause. Marie leans in closer as
she anxiously and excitedly waits for the responds. Arthur squeezes her hands tightly. The doctor smiles pleasantly.
“…I think you’re ready to return.”
Those were
definitely the words that Marie wanted to hear.
She has been waiting to hear those words from the medical field for a
very long time, ever since Drew Bryant issued the order that Marie would be out
of action until further notice from the doctors. These are the words Marie has been waiting to
hear ever since Drew Bryant told Sophie James that she would have to find a new
tag team partner if Marie did not get medical clearance. Jones stands right up and jumps for joy, not
even bothering to care about the fact that she is doing this right in front of
the doctor and Arthur.
“Yes! Yes! Yesssss!”
“You certainly sound happy!” Dr. Lynwood
responds.
“You have no idea, doctor.” Arthur
chimes in. “She has been looking forward
to this for a long time now.”
Marie
eventually c alms down. She turns to
face the doctor and shakes her hand. “Thank
you doctor.”
“Don’t thank me, Ms. Jones. I’m just doing my job. But may I be so bold as to put my own
personal opinion into this?”
Marie nods
her head. “Sure.”
“Don’t squander this opportunity.”
Marie tilts
her head to one side, frowning. “What do
you mean?”
“I am one of IWC’s primary medical
doctors. I keep up with what you and
your fellow wrestlers do and 2015 was a roller coaster for you, wasn’t it? I mean, the Last Stand Rumble where you did
so well but came up short. Invictus II
you came up short. Your opportunity
against Vanilla Skyy also you came up short.
Time and time again you came up short.”
“Yes, and you’re rubbing it in now?”
Marie demands, getting angry.
“No, I’m just making a point. Because each time you failed, you
overreacted. Each time you failed your
actions became more and more extreme, you pushed the envelope, and what
happened is that you ended up injuring yourself.”
“I have to keep pushing myself or else I
will never get what I want.”
“I know you want to be a champion again but
you cannot keep pushing yourself.” Dr. Lynwood warns. “You pushed yourself this time and got injured. But you were lucky and it wasn’t a bad
injury. If you keep pushing yourself,
you might injure yourself worse next time.
If you keep pushing yourself you might very well put your career at
risk.”
Marie shakes
her head. “I get what you’re saying, but
you’re wrong. You are dead wrong. I have to push myself harder and harder. I cannot stop, I cannot let up, because I
have a second chance and I will not let this second chance get away from me. I will be world champion. I will be tag team champion and no one can
stop me.”
“You’re right, you do have a second chance”
Dr. Lynwood answers “but if you push
yourself too much, you may very well squander that one in much the same way you
squandered that first one.”
“And I already told you, I have to do what I
have to do.”
Dr. Lynwood
sighs and nods her head. “Ms. Jones, a
new year is approaching, is it not?”
“Yes, and…?”
“And I am just suggesting that you should
think about your successes and failures of this past year. Think about everything that happened in 2015
and try to learn from your mistakes.
That’s all I’m saying.”
“Yeah and all I’m saying is that me and
Arthur are leaving.”
Marie turns
and storms out of the door. Arthur
follows closely behind, calling out after his girlfriend.
“Marie, wait!”
Marie doesn’t
wait. She keeps on walking. She walks down the hall and into the waiting
area. Arthur keeps walking, trying to
keep up. Marie then walks out of the waiting
room and outside of the doctors office building. That’s where she stops and stands,
waiting. Arthur finally catches up with
her and stands behind her, wrapping his arms around her in a comforting
embrace.
“Marie, what’s wrong?”
“This is my chance, Arthur.” Marie says,
clearly stifling tears. “This is my
chance to be champion again. This is my
chance to prove to the world that I can get the job done.”
“I know that you can get the job done. You know you can get the job done.” Arthur
kisses her on the cheek. “But Dr. Lynwood
is right, if you do not learn from the past, then you are doomed to repeat it.”
Arthur turns
Marie around to face him as he gazes sternly down at her. “You can’t trust people like Silas Mason. You can’t go on the warpath against your
bosses like you did when you waged war against Drew Bryant. You have to be smarter, darling. You know this.”
Marie nods
her head, using her right hand to wipe tears from her eyes. “Yeah, I know…”
“As long as you know this and as long as you
have learned from the past, then I am confident that you will be fine.”
He leans in
and kisses her passionately on the lips. “Happy
New Year, Marie.”
“Happy New Year, Arthur.”
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On Camera
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Marie
Annabelle Jones is wearing a knee length black skirt, black high heeled pumps,
and a red short-sleeved sweater. Her
long red hair hangs unrestrained to shoulder length and she has her nails
painted red to match the sweater. A
confident gaze is etched across her lovely features.
“Good evening, IWC. It has been awhile, hasn’t it?” Jones
spins around full circle. “But here I
am! I am back in all my glory! No injury can keep me down and no force of
nature here on earth and no power in heaven above or in hell below can keep me
from fighting to achieve what I ultimately want more than anything else. Nothing can keep me from fighting to achieve
my dreams and goals, the same dreams and goals any wrestler worth their salt
has…”
Jones smirks
knowingly “…championships. Glory.
Success.”
“I
spent all of 2015 fighting for that success.
The Last Stand Rumble was supposed to be my night and while I did
succeed in making a statement, in making an impact, I failed to win the Rumble
and a failure is still a failure. I
managed to get into the Invictus II main
event for the world title and I came within a hair of winning it, and yet, a
loss is still a loss. I battled tooth
and nail with Vanilla Skyy hoping to ascend to the top of the Uprising Brand
and, still, I failed to be champion.”
“New Year is all about learning from the
past. As they say, if you do not learn
from the past then you will be doomed to repeat it. Well I am not one to make the same mistakes
over and over again. I know I made a
mistake by trusting Silas Mason. I know
I made a mistake with my constant overreactions and by waging war against Drew
Bryant.”
Jones sighs.
“I now realize that Drew Bryant was right
about me all along.”
“No more!” Marie shakes her head. “Things change and I can change and starting
now I am a different person! I have been
gifted with a rare gift, the gift of a second chance. My second chance begins in the year 2016 and
I will not make the same mistakes again.
In the year 2016 I will ascend to
the top of the IWC mountain. I will be
the best. I will be the Crown Jewel of
Professional Wrestling, as I always said I am, because I will not make the same
mistakes. This time everything will be
flawless.”
“And it all starts with the Uprising Tag
Titles. The tag team championship may
not be the world championship but it’s a good place to start and, besides that,
it’s a championship opportunity that me and Sophie James deserve. The Ginger Nation has been promised this
title opportunity for a long time and yet we have yet to actually receive our
title shot until now. 2016 is the year
that we will not be denied. 2016 will be
the year that the Ginger Nation steps up to the top of the tag team division in
IWC.”
“Cassius DeLight and Chris Davids have
already been bested by the Ginger Nation.
No problem there. Then there’s
Lilith Evans and Jessica Wilde, the New Sinistry. I still think of New Sinistry like New
Coke. It’s not as good as the original
coke and never will be. They are nothing
but pretenders.”
Marie
smirks. “And you know what the real
advantage will be for Ginger Nation? The
element of surprise, because neither Davids and DeLight nor the New Coke Crew
has any clue that Sophie James has chosen me as her partner. And even if they did successfully guess that
I was her partner, there is still the other advantage that Ginger Nation has;
the advantage of being rested and refreshed.
New Sinistry and Davids/DeLight will have already fought once before
having to fight the Ginger Nation for the tag titles.”
“Sophie and I have every right to be
confident heading into Uprising 9. This
is our time and our chance and every advantage is on our side. But are we taking this lying down? Are we overconfident?” Marie shakes her head.
“Not on your life. That was my mistake
in 2015. I let overconfidence get the
best of me but not this time. I learned
from the mistakes of 2015 and I will not repeat them. 2016 is the year of Marie Annabelle Jones and
the Ginger Nation and it starts with the Uprising tag titles coming home to me
and Sophie.”
Marie nods
towards the camera. “I’m coming home,
IWC. See you soon.”
