I Can Do This

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Off Camera

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Marie Annabelle Jones made her debut in Supreme Championship Wrestling on the European Tour in front of a crowd of thousands upon thousands of cheering Parisians.  It was a victorious, successful debut as she planted Hannah Warr head first into the mat with Ave Maria and picked up the pin fall victory.  SCW and its roster of superstars had been put on notice; The Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling had arrived.

Her goal here in SCW is a simple one; she just wants to create a singles career for herself.  She truly hoped that she could get that in UWA, the Uprising Wrestling Alliance, and it appeared as if they were going to give her a legitimate shot.  She had qualified for the Pyramid Match at Olympus, their signature event, in which she won the UWA World Championship.  Jones, quite literally, was on top of the UWA world being the World Heavyweight Champion and World Tag Team Champion simultaneously.

It is the tag team title that would end up complicating things for young Marie.  No one is champion forever and, eventually, Marie would lose the title.  And when she did lose the world championship, she was booked almost exclusively in the tag team division.

She understands that rematch clauses are not honored in UWA, but at the same time Jones had been a former world champion.  She was the winner of the first ever Pyramid Match.  Jones felt that, even if she didn’t get a world title shot automatically, and despite the fact that she was a very dominant world tag team champion with Sophie James, that she should at least continue to be allowed to show off her skills as an individual athlete.

Yet it didn’t happen.  UWA and its management, Drew Bryant and David Helms, felt it was necessary to keep her in the tag team division.  Marie gave them every opportunity to change their mind but it didn’t happen.  She was even left off of the card of the next UWA pay per view Sectioned.  She was not only disallowed from competing in the elimination chamber match for the world title, whereas some people who didn’t even deserve to compete for the world title were allowed into the chamber, but she was also disallowed from being booked altogether.

Marie felt betrayed by the UWA.  She felt betrayed by Helms and Bryant.  And thus she felt she had no other alternative than to seek out greener pastures.

Thus Supreme Championship Wrestling entered the equation.  Here Marie could show off her individual wrestling talents and skills. Here she can be a singles competitor and not pigeonholed into the tag team division.  And she’s already shown that she can get the job done with her one on one victory over Hannah Warr.  Now she’s ready for next Breakdown and Kara Abheri live from Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Hannah Warr was another wrestler making her debut the same night as Marie when they fought.  Kara is still fairly new to SCW and still looking to make her mark in Supreme Championship Wrestling.  Turning back the challenge she faces will be quite a challenge for The Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling, but it is one she must do if she wants to continue her successful run and prove to any and all of her doubters that she can get the job done in SCW…

…and she definitely plenty of doubters.

“I really don’t like this idea at all.”

Marie Jones sighs as she lies down in her bed, staring up at her iPhone.  On the screen is her agent, Tabitha Silverstone.  They are apparently engaging in a FaceTime chat of some sort.  The live feed chat is definitely convenient for young Marie.  Family is very important to her, just as it is with all Jones women.  A mere text message isn’t always enough.  Hearing their voices isn’t always enough at times.  There are times Marie wants to see the faces of her mother, the legendary Angelica Jones, her aunt Kayla Jones, and her sisters and cousins.  That is what makes FaceTime a great tool for Marie.

It can also be used to help her stay in close contact with Tabitha Silverstone, her agent.  That’s normally a good thing.  Tabitha has been an excellent agent for Marie and she trusts her judgment, not just as an agent but as a friend.  But this is one lecture from Silverstone that she does not want to hear right now.  Unfortunately, Tabitha isn’t going to let her off the hook.  She is going to let her hear every bit of what she has to say.

“You’re spreading yourself too thin.”

Marie has heard that line before.  She rolls her eyes.  Tabitha doesn’t like that very much.

“Quit rolling your eyes.   You know I’m right.  Isn’t UWA enough for you?  Why overextend yourself by placing yourself in SCW as well?”

“You know damn well why I had to, Tabs.”

The intense fire that every Jones woman seems to have enters Marie’s eyes.

“I want to compete on my own.”

“So  you want to get rid of Sophie James?”

Marie shakes her head.

“I didn’t say that, I fully intend to continue my obligation in UWA as its World Tag Team Champion, but at the same time I refuse to be pigeonholed as just a tag team wrestler when I know I am so much more than that.”

Marie glares angrily at the phone.

“I beat Vanilla Skyy, Willow Wilkes, and Victoria Salinas to become World Champion in the first ever Pyramid Match.  Yeah, granted, I lost it, but every champion loses their title eventually.  But I did prove that I belonged in the singles division.  And yet Helms and Bryant felt it was necessary to pigeonhole me in the tag division?”

Tabitha sighs.

“I understand what you mean and I understand why you’re upset.  But they do have a tag team division to think about as well.”

“And I said I would fulfill my obligation to that.  Hell, I had been World AND Tag Team Champion simultaneously, Tabs.”

“I recall, but maybe they don’t want you to split your focus?  Maybe they wanted you to focus on one or the other?”

Marie shakes her head vehemently.

“That’s not fair!  I earned BOTH belts, they have no right to make me choose!”

“Life isn’t fair, Marie.  But again, I see where you are coming from.  I just feel that there were better ways you could have handled this.”

Jones sighs.

“How?”

“If you really wanted to be a singles competitor, you could have just vacated your tag title, given it to Sophie, let her pick a new partner.  That puts you exclusively in the singles division.”

That angry intense glare returns to Marie’s face.

“I shouldn’t have to make that call.”

“Or…you could have just quit UWA altogether and signed with SCW.”

“Again, I shouldn’t have to make that call.”

“And you think going to Mr. Drachewych and signing a contract to wrestle in Supreme Championship Wrestling without notifying ANYONE…not Helms, not Bryant, not even your own tag team partner Sophie, was the right call?”

Marie winces.  Tabitha had a good point there.  She hadn’t notified Sophie about the decision to sign with SCW.  In fact, the only person who knew about it was Arthur, Marie’s husband.  He was the one who suggested that Marie come up with a compromise.  And yet, Marie somehow thinks he would have been more in agreement with Tabitha’s proposals rather than the one Marie ultimately went with.

Then there’s Sophie herself.  Sophie was there for Marie when she needed her.  Sophie was a friend when Marie had none.  Sophie helped Marie get back on track and helped Marie in her road to redemption.  Now Marie feels rotten for making Sophie feel like a second class citizen.

“Well…maybe not…”

“Definitely not.”

Tabitha sighs.

“I’ve done my best to calm her down.  You two are still tag team champions in UWA and you need to be a cohesive unit if you expect to stay that way.  So you need to talk to her and get back on the same page.  And while I am not exactly thrilled with this SCW prospect of yours, what’s done is done, so I will support you every step of the way.”

Marie grins.

“Thanks, Tabs.”

“So, you defeated Hannah Warr.  And you are now facing Kara Abheri, correct?”

Marie nods her head.

“Yeah…”

“Excellent.  Just focus on defeating her.  She signed her SCW contract before you did but she is still fairly new and looking to make a good impression with SCW management and the SCW fans.  You need to make a good impression with the SCW management and the fans and you also have the added pressure of proving to the world that you can do this.”

“You mean, I have to prove it to you?”

Tabitha shakes her head.

“No, of course not.  I believe in you.  But there are those who question the decision that you made, and I don’t just mean Sophie James.  If not a win but at least a good performance against Kara Abheri will go a long way to silencing those critics.”

Marie nods her head.  Then out of the corner of her eye she sees her bedroom window opening.  She gasps as she stares towards the window.  Tabitha, who is on FaceTime, cannot see what is going on; though she can see the distressed look on her client’s face.

“What is it?  What’s wrong?”

Just then Marie breathes a sigh of relief as she watches her twin sister Kimberly Williams climb in through the window.

“It’s no one, Tabs.”

“Hey!”

Kimberly places her hands on her hips and stares incredulously at Marie.

“I AM someone!”

Marie snickers as she turns to face Tabitha.

“I better go.”

“Ok, talk to you later, Marie.”

And with that, the two hang up. Marie sets her iPhone to the side and then turns to face Kimberly.

“You know, I gave you a key to the front door for a reason.”

“Front doors are so boring.  Windows are where it’s at!”

Marie Jones stands up and greets her twin with a hug.  Standing side by side it is virtually impossible to tell them apart; only the clothes differentiate between the two.  Marie is wearing a black skirt that falls to just below the knee, simple black flats, and a red long sleeved sweater.   Her sister Kimberly is dressed in…well…

…nothing.

That’s right, Marie’s sociopathic twin is standing in this bedroom wearing nothing but a lacy bra and panty number.  Marie scans her up and down and frowns.

“Where are your clothes?”

“Clothes are also not necessary, sweetie.  We were born naked, after all.”

“I doubt you got all the way to my house in your underwear, Kim.”

Kim snickers.

“True enough.”

She points to the window.

“I left my clothes on the ground before I started climbing up.”

Marie can’t help but throw her head back and laugh.

“Kim, I don’t know if I will ever understand you.”

“I can help you understand me.”

Marie rolls her eyes.

“I’m not sure I want to understand you.”

She motions to Kim’s nearly naked form.

“I mean, look at you!  You’re near naked…”

“It feels liberating!”

“Liberating wasn’t the exactly the word I was going to use.”

“That’s because you are a bit of a prude, darling sister.”

Marie frowns.

“Excuse me?”

Kimberly nods her head as she takes Marie by the arm and guides her back over to the bed where they sit down side by side.

“You look at me now in my underwear and you think less of me.  You thought less of me when I posted scantily clad photos of myself for that dweeb’s twitter tournament…which I nearly won, by the way…and you think less of me because I indulge myself upon chaos, I thrive upon chaos.”

“I don’t look down on you.”

Kimberly nods her head.

“Yes you do.  Don’t lie, just admit that you do.  You and everyone else except for Abi and a select few others look down on me and why is that?  Because I don’t fit their mold for what I should be.”

She picks up the iPhone Marie cast aside.

“The iPhone lady looked down on you for what you did, by signing with Supreme Championship Wrestling.”

“Her name is Tabitha Silverstone.”

“I heard her on that iPhone, so she’s now iPhone Lady to me.”

Kimberly throws it to the side.

“Point is, she looks down upon you because you did what made you happy, even though it didn’t fit into the mold of what everyone else thinks you should be doing.  But my question is this…”

Kimberly grins nastily.

“What business is it of iPhone Lady’s what you do?”

“Umm…”

Marie honestly has no idea of how to answer Kimberly.  She raises a good point.  Before Marie can answer, Kim holds up her hand to silence her.

“Look, before you say anything, let me ask you this.  Do you recall when I kidnapped you and replaced you?”

Marie rolls her eyes.

“How could I forget?”

“Right, and do you remember why I did it?”

“Because of some crazy notion that I was the favorite…”

“It wasn’t a crazy notion, Marie.  It’s the truth.  You ARE the favorite child.  You always have been mother’s favorite.  Corey may deny it, but between you and her, she knows deep down you are the favorite.  And little Kelly, the youngest, she’ll learn it soon enough.  But you being the favorite child IS a fact and I wanted so badly to be the favorite, to be you.”

Kim sighs.

“But there was more to it than that.  You had so much to offer in terms of sex appeal and influence within pro-wrestling and yet you didn’t any of it.  You lived a boring, dull life by following the rules.  You were the good girl.  You wasted your life, Marie, and at the time I felt you didn’t deserve to live that life.  So I wanted to live it for you.”

Williams shakes her head.

“But I was wrong, not in my assessment of the problem but in finding the solution to the problem.”

Marie sneers.

“If you’re suggesting I start acting as crazy as you then forget it!”

“I’m not suggesting that at all.  Everyone is unique, everyone does what they want.  We are all individuals, after all.  What I am suggesting is that you quit following the rules.”

Kimberly wraps an arm around Marie’s shoulder.

“Look at what following the rules has got you.  UWA won’t give you a world title rematch.  You go to SCW so you can be a singles competitor and you get nothing but doubters and critics.  What I’m suggesting, sister, is that you do what you want, do not worry what other people think.”

Marie shakes her head.

“I’m not that person anymore, Kim.”

“What person?  The person who at times sided with Ethan Von Aaron and Silas Mason all with the goal of trying to take a shortcut to becoming World Champion?  I am not asking you to become that comic book villain again.  Be the hero that you want to be.  But sometimes even heroes have to bend the rules.”

She winks.

“Just ask Frank Castle.”

Marie shakes her head and then sighs.  She runs a hand through her long red hair.

“I don’t know.  I just want people to believe in me and I want to have a chance, an opportunity, to show what I can do.  That’s all.  Is that so much to ask?”

“No, it isn’t.  But there does come a time when you’ll have to ask yourself, how much longer are you going to remain loyal to those who refuse to support you and yet they wish for you to  follow THEIR rules?”

Marie sighs and shakes her head.  She wishes to follow the rules.  She wants to do the right thing.   And yet, Kimberly is right about one thing; she does feel as if the world is against her.  And if the world is against her, how long will she continue to do things by the book?

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On Camera

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People said I was crazy for trying to wrestle in both Supreme Championship Wrestling and Uprising Wrestling Alliance at the same time.  My mom and aunt, you know them as The Sisterhood, do that and yet they don’t get called crazy.  They get called gutsy.  They get called dream seekers.  But I get called crazy for thinking that I can be a tag team wrestler in UWA and a singles wrestler in SCW.

Then my SCW debut came and I did exactly what I said I would do.  I walked in and I performed to the best of my ability.  Better than that, I excelled.  I planted Hannah Warr headfirst into the mat with Ave Maria and I walked out a winner.   I won my debut match in SCW.  I thought that maybe, just maybe, that victory would change some minds. I thought that perhaps I would have won over some supporters.

I wasn’t so lucky, I guess.  My critics and doubters are still there, shouting as loud as ever that I’m crazy to think that I can be a star in both SCW and UWA.

And yet, being a star isn’t even my goal.  I just want to be able to wrestle as a singles competitor.  I want to show off what I can do on my own and if UWA won’t give me that opportunity, then maybe SCW will?  I’d like to shut these critics and doubters up.  I certainly would like their support.  But I realize that I will always have them, telling me that I can’t do it.

That means I’ll have to always be better than just good.  I have to be great.  Each and every night I step into an SCW ring I have to be great in order to continue to prove them wrong and prove that I belong here in SCW.

That brings me to you, Kara Abheri.

You are relatively new to SCW as well.  You made your debut before I did, granted, and you have a few more SCW matches under your belt than I do, but that doesn’t change the fact that we both find ourselves in similar situations having to prove that we belong here in this great company with all of this tremendous talent.

The difference is that I have a hell of a lot of pressure on my shoulders to perform, not only to prove these critics and doubters wrong, but also to live up to my family name.

I am a Jones.  I am a daughter of Angelica Jones, to be precise.  The name Jones bring with it a certain level of expectation.  You are expected to be great.

You may have heard me call myself The Crown Jewel o f Professional  Wrestling.  I admit, that certainly sounds like something someone who is quite arrogant and full of themselves would say, but I assure you that I am neither arrogant nor am I full of myself.  The Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling is a name others have given me.  And it stuck.  I have to live up to that high and mighty moniker.

If you lose on Breakdown, it’s not as big a deal.  One minor slip up on your SCW career is not that big of a deal.  You can always pick yourself back up, dust yourself off, learn from your mistakes, and be on your way.  Besides, losing to a former UWA World Champion is nothing to be ashamed of.

But if I lose it will be like confirming everything that my critics have said about me is true.  It will be a form of confirmation that, yes, I have bitten off more than I can chew.

That’s why I HAVE to beat you, Kara.  I cannot afford minor bumpbs in the road like some can.  I have to keep up the momentum I started after defeating Hannah Warr.  I have to defeat you and then keep going forward from there to prove that I belong in this company and that I can do this.

I will do this.

I will do this because I am Marie Annabelle Jones, The Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling, and I belong in SCW.  To prove it I have to go through you.  We’ll have a hell of a match, babe.  No doubting that.  But it won’t be your arm raised in victory at the end of the match.

It will be mine.

What Brings Me To SCW?

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September 13^th, 2016

Off Camera

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We open in a seedy bar just inside the Miami, Florida city limits.  Some might call this place a dive, but whatever you call it, this is definitely not the place where the upper class crowd gathers for a drink.  At this particular dive we find bikers, gangsters, and a few loners here and there either trying to drink away their problems or trying to pick up a woman, and failing unsuccessfully at one or the other or both.  A pool table is in the center of the bar where the bikers are gathered for a hearty game.  A few of the gangsters stand off to the side, watching from afar, while everyone else is just drinking it up and having a good time.

The bar area itself looks like any other, with various patrons seated atop the plain wooden stools.  There are no cushions on these stools.  This dive either cannot afford them or the owner is just too cheap to upgrade.  Sitting at the bar area with a nearly empty glass of scotch is the firey red-head Marie Annabelle Jones.

Jones is wearing a knee length black leather skirt, a red blouse, and her signature black leather jacket.  Her feet are encased in low heeled black sandals.  Her long red hair is messed up and disheveled.  The normally well kept eldest daughter of Angelica Jones looks the worse for the wear and there is a reason for that…

…today is just one day removed from the UWA pay per view Sectioned.

But truthfully, you have to go even farther back than that to see how she got here tonight drinking her pain away.  Things for Marie in the UWA have spiraled out of control ever since the Outbreak event in which she defended the world championship in a rematch against Vanilla Skyy, a rematch that she lost.

It was a bitter pill for Marie to swallow.  Winning the UWA World Championship at Olympus was a culmination of a journey, a journey of redemption in which Marie wanted to right all of the wrongs she had perpetrated, earn the trust of her friends and fans, and, in the process, win the world championship, but this time do it the right way.  And yes, she did achieve that goal.  She completed her road to redemption at Olympus.  She earned the fans adulation, she won back the trust and respect of her peers, and she won the UWA World Championship.

And yet she knew she had to face Vanilla Skyy one on one.  She had earned a victory over Vanilla, two of them in fact, but both victories other wrestlers.  Marie felt that to truly make things right between the two of them, that a one on one match was necessary.  That one on one match went down and, unfortunately for Marie, Vanilla won the championship back.

The silver lining is that a mutual respect had been earned between the two.  But that is a very small consolation for Marie, who had just lost the world championship.  But Marie had maintained some hope that the UWA would be gracious enough to grant a rematch at the world championship.  But that rematch never came.  Still, Marie was hopeful because an elimination chamber match was announced where every singles championship would be on the line.  Surely Marie, the most recent world champion, would be among the six included in the chamber to compete for the world title?

Much to her surprise, she was denied even that opportunity.  In fact, it seemed as if UWA was intent on keeping Marie off of television.  Since losing the championship on the August 1^st edition of Outbreak, UWA had only booked her one time, and that one time was a non-title tag team match.  She wasn’t even scheduled to defend her tag team championship at the Sectioned pay per view.  The leader of the Ginger Nation wasn’t quite sure if the UWA was using her tag team title as an excuse to keep her away from the world title picture or if they were just going to keep her from being booked period.

So it’s one day after Sectioned and Marie again did not compete.  The next Outbreak was announced and she was not surprised to find that she was not on that card either.  Jones, who had fought so hard to redeem herself, who had tried to do things the right way, is beginning to question if any of it is worth it?  She’s also beginning to wonder what she should do next?

Unfortunately, alcohol doesn’t always give you proper judgment.  And Marie has already had plenty in her system and is about to ask for more as she takes her shot glass and quickly downs the last of the scotch.  She slams her glass back down and shoves it forward towards the bartender.

“More…”

The bartender had been busy chatting with another patron when Marie interrupts his conversation.  He turns and looks at the empty scotch and then at the drunken stupor in which Marie stares at him.  He shakes his head.

“No.”

Marie reaches into her coat pocket and produces a scrunched up wad of bills.  It’s unclear how much money is here due to how wadded up they are but she shoves all of it in the direction of the bartender.

“Just keep filling it up until I say stop!”

“You’ve had too much, ma’am.”

Marie pounds her fists on the bar.

“I’ll say when I’ve had enough, damnit!”

“Ma’am, you really should just call a cab and go home.”

Marie reaches across the bar and grabs the bartender by his shirt collar and pulls him forward.

“Give me another scotch or else I’ll…”

Jones suddenly feels herself pulled backward.  She released the grip she had on the bartender and turns around to face the culprit; one of the bikers who had been playing pool.  He took time away from his game to help the bartender, who was about to get laid out by Marie Jones.  All of these people look at her as just some drunk woman, but they don’t recognize her from television.  They don’t realize that she knows how to fight and is specifically in trained in a few martial arts.  And if this biker is not careful, then he may find out the hard way just what kind of fighter she is.

“Leave him alone.”

The biker says this sternly but Marie responds by shoving the biker back a few steps.

“What the fuck do you care?!”

“The guy’s right, you’re far too wasted for another round.  Go home, babe.”

Ok, that right there was the straw that broke the camel’s back.  Marie kicks the biker in the groin and then rears back and punches him square in the jaw with a vicious right hand.

“I AM NOT A BABE!”

The biker stumbles backward against the pool table.  Marie rushes in and tackles him on top of the table and rains down right hands.  One of his pals pulls her off of him and drops her roughly to the floor.  Marie picks up a dropped pool stick and swings it, smashing the other biker square in his head, dropping him to his hands and knees.

“Marie!”

This new voice comes from the other end of the bar, where the entrance and exit are.  We find a woman who looks identical to Marie in the face, hair, and body build.  The only difference is the clothing she’s wearing.  This woman is wearing torn denim jeans, flip flops, and a black t-shirt with “Kimmie” written on the front in hot pink lettering.  This is Marie’s identical twin sister, Kimberly Williams.  Kimberly has been on the search for Marie ever since Marie didn’t come back to the hotel room after a post-Sectioned fan event.

Clearly she has found the right place.

“Oh shit…”

Kimberly rushes over to her twin sibling.  The bikers are busy trying to take care of one another to notice Kimberly grabbing Marie by her right arm and dragging the drunken woman with little struggle towards the bathrooms.

“Hey!  What’s the deal!  Lemme go, Corey!”

Kimberly rolls her eyes.

“Geez, you are drunk.”

Kimberly shoves Marie into the ladies room.  Kimberly enters the room after her and shuts the door behind her.  She takes the nearby garbage can and places it in front of the door to hopefully block it from opening.

“There, to make sure we maintain our privacy.”

Kim turns to face her twin and sighs upon the sight her drunken identical sibling lying on the floor in a stupor.  The redhead sighs and shakes her head with disgust, and for Kim to be disgusted at this, it must be pretty bad!

“Marie, you are supposed to be the good child.  What in the ever loving hell happened to you?”

“Not…”

“Not what?”

“…not…not fair!”

Kimberly sighs as she places her hands on her hips.

“Look, I’m the whiny spiteful one, remember?  Quit stealing my shtick!  Plus you’re making ME into the responsible one!  This just isn’t right!”

Kim sighs and kneels down next to Marie.

“What’s up, girl?  What’s not fair?”

“Not…not wrestling…not booked…”

“Oh so you’re pissed that you haven’t been booked in forever and a day?  Hell, I’d use the opportunity to go vacationing myself.  Get a tan.   But wrestling?  Who’d wanna do that anyway?  I mean, other than me?  Cause, like, I did wrestle once.  Or twice.  Or a few hundred times.”

Kim notices that Marie’s eyes are totally shut.  The “good” sibling has passed out.  She sighs and produces her own cell phone.  She stands up and dials a number before putting it to her ear.

“…uh, yeah, hi, Arthur, you need to come pick up your wife…”

Kimberly snickers.

“…not only did I find her, but I found her causing some badass destruction.  Getting drunk, starting fights, and then passing out…”

She throws her head back and laughs.

“…she’s fine, I’m hiding her in the women’s restroom…”

She frowns.

“…yes, I am hiding her, because the police are apparently on their way.  I heard the sirens on my in…”

Kimberly rolls her eyes.

“…your girl stirred up the shit, I suspect they’re coming after her. But don’t worry, I have a plan.  Just get your cute little ass down here and pick her up.  She’ll be in the women’s room.”

Kimberly hangs up her phone and then proceeds to remove her own shirt and kicks off her flip flops and denim jeans.  In no time Kimberly is standing there in just a black lace bra and panty.  Then she kneels down and removes the black leather jacket from her sister before quickly taking off her sister’s red blouse and placing it on herself.  She does the same to the black leather skirt and black high heeled sandals.  Kimberly puts on the black leather jacket and, just like that, she now is dressed like Marie was and Marie is lying there on the floor in just a red lace bra and skimpy thong panty.

“There, no one will be the wiser.”

“Urrrrrggggg….”

Kim smirks

“Well we can’t have that, now can we?”

She kneels down and takes Marie and, one leg at a time, places her into the torn jeans she had worn down here to the bar.  Kimberly then pulls Marie up to her feet and places the black t-shirt on Marie.

“There!  You look just like me!”

Kimberly lets go and Marie falls back to the floor.  Kimberly sighs.

“Oh well…maybe your boy toy will be here soon and he can help you?”

“Nnnnnnooooo…”

“I seriously doubt you have any idea what’s going on, sis, or that you’ll remember any of this tomorrow, but police are on the way and you definitely don’t want a criminal record.  Lucky for you, you have a twin sister ready and willing to help and not one of those drunk idiots out there knows your real name.”

Kimberly kneels down and kisses her sister on the nose.

“See you soon, babe.  I hope Arthur posts bail for me.”

Kimberly walks out of the bathroom, where is no doubt about to either get assaulted by the bikers who think she’s the one who attacked them or get arrested by the police.  Meanwhile Marie sits up and shouts angrily.

“No!  Get back here!  NO!  I want…I want…”

Marie falls back to the floor.

“…I want another drink!”

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September 14^th, 2016

Off Camera

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Sunlight beams in through a window, shining down upon the lovely face of Marie Annabelle Jones, who is sleeping on the king sized bed in the hotel suite in Miami, Florida.  Sitting at the foot of the bed, starting at the lovely figure before him, is none other than Marie’s husband, Arthur Pond.  He’s been worried about his wife since yesterday, when she went missing.  That fear has subsided now, for the moment, because he now has his wife back with him and he can see that she is safe.

For the moment.

Marie’s eyes flutter open as the sun continues to beat down upon her.  Jones sits up and stretches real big as a groan escapes her lips.  She stares at Arthur quizzically.

“Arthur?  How…um…?”

“Nice to see you have returned to the land of the living.”

“Huh?”

Arthur motions to her head.

“How’s your head?”

Marie groans.

“It hurts…”

Arthur nods his head.

“A headache.  Typical hangover.”

“Hangover?”

“Yeah, you were pretty wasted last night, according to your sister.”

Marie shakes her head.

“What was Corey…or was it Kelly…or…uh…”

“Wrong on both counts.”

“Huh?”

Arthur smirks.

“Try Kimberly.”

“Kim?”

He nods his head.

“Yeah, you never came back to the hotel.  And you never answered your cell phone.  I was worried so I was going to go looking for you myself but your sister volunteered.”

Arthur narrows his eyes, not in a look of anger but definitely with a far sterner look than Marie is used to seeing from her loving husband.

“When she gets back, you should get on your hands and knees and thank her for what she did.”

Jones is still having a hard time comprehending what her husband is saying, partially due to the headache from the hangover.  She rubs her forehead with her hand and sighs.

“What do you mean?  What did Kim do?”

“You don’t remember?”

Marie shakes her head.  Arthur sighs.

“Damn.  You really were wasted.”

“Just tell me what she did!”

“To do that I have to explain what you did.”

He points a somewhat accusatory finger at Marie.

“Instead of returning to the hotel you went to a seedy bar in Miami.  You somehow started a bar fight.  The bartender, who was among those you manhandled, had called the police.”

Marie gasps.

“Oh God…”

“You were lucky that Kim got there before the police did.  You were also lucky that everyone else in that bar was almost as drunk as you were and didn’t notice a switch was made.”

Jones furrows her brow.

“A switch?”

“The only thing anyone remembered was your clothes.  So she dumped you in the bathroom where she traded clothes with you.  Then she went back outside just as the police arrived.  She took full responsibility for the bar fight and no one was the wiser.”

“She took the fall as Kim…”

He nods his head.

“That’s right, she took the fall as herself.  Your record is clean.”

He winks.

“It’s nice having an identical twin.”

“Oh Kim, she shouldn’t have done that!  She…”

Marie rubs her head again as the headache flares up.

“…oh I feel awful!  She took the fall for me…”

Arthur sighs.

“What were you thinking, babe?”

“Oh Arthur, you just don’t understand.  I’m not sure you could understand.”

He grins knowingly.

“Try me.”

Marie’s eyes light up with intensity.

“Wrestling is my livelihood, Arthur!  My mom has wrestling but she also has country music.  My aunt Kayla has wrestling but she also has modeling.  Wrestling is my livelihood!  I have nothing outside of this and I take it very seriously!  Do you have any idea how hard I worked to become UWA World Champion?”

“I was there.  Believe me, I know.”

“You were there for Olympus.  Olympus was the end of the journey to my redemption.  You weren’t there for the beginning.  You weren’t there for all of the pitfalls and the obstacles that kept getting in my way.  You only saw the end result.”

She sighs and nods her head.

“Losing the title doesn’t bother me, you are never champion forever.  And to lose it to a competitor the caliber of Vanilla Skyy…well there is no shame in that.  But what happened after that…what UWA did to me…”

She growls angrily.

“…it’s like they completely forget about me completely!  I wasn’t given a rematch, I wasn’t even considered for the elimination chamber, and outside of one tag team match I wasn’t booked at all for one and a half months.  Hell, I still haven’t been booked for ANY singles match since the singles match against Vanilla Skyy when I lost the title!”

She starts to pull at her own gorgeous red hair.

“It’s just not fair!”

“I’m not going to argue that point.  But the real question is…”

He smirks.

“…what are you going to do about it?”

“Huh?”

“It’s real simple, Annabelle…”

Marie frowns as she prepares to interrupt him.

“My name is Marie!”

“I know, but I call you Annabelle to get your attention.”

He winks.

“Anyway, it’s like a wise-old man once told me…he may have been Canadian…but anyway, this wise-old man told me that if you don’t have faith or don’t trust your employer, then why stay?”

“Are you telling me I should quit UWA?”

He nods his head.

“If they’re not treating you properly, then yes.”

“That is what Corey did when IWC mistreated her, but…”

She sighs and shakes her head.

“I can’t just quit.  I am the UWA World Tag Team Champion with Sophie James.  Sophie came to UWA just for me.  It wouldn’t be right to abandon her like that.”

“Well you need to do something…”

He reaches over and runs his hand through her long red hair.

“…because you scared me to death yesterday.  I don’t want to see a repeat of that ever again.”

“But Sophie…”

“I understand your sense of obligation towards Sophie, but you also have to care about your own well-being too.  So if you won’t leave UWA, is there at least some compromise?”

Marie ponders this question for a moment.  Arthur is right, Marie needs to do something.  She does need to make some sort of change.  Being UWA World Tag Team Champion is great, but she wants to be a singles competitor at the end of the day.  She still has that drive to be the best.  And if UWA won’t let her, then maybe somewhere else will?  It is at that point that an idea enters her mind and a smile crosses her face.

“I think I have an idea.”

“Oh really?”

Suddenly Marie’s face grows pale.  Her features contort into a look of pain.

“But first…”

“What?”

“…but first…I need to throw up…”

Marie bolts up off of the bed and makes a break for the bathroom.  Arthur can’t help but laugh at his hung over wife and can only hope and pray that her idea, whatever it may be, will prove to be just what she needs to get her out of this funk she finds herself in.

==========

Present Day

On Camera

==========

“Give me a warning when you’re ready.”

It’s safe to assume that this voice is not coming from behind the camera but is, instead, coming from the person the camera is currently shooting.  But we do not see their face.  That’s because the camera is pointed directly at their ass.  A shapely ass at that.

“Ok.  You’ve been warned.”

“Huh?”

“You’re on!”

The figure spins around and the camera zooms out to get a full shot of the person, Marie Annabelle Jones.  The Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling is wearing a slinky little number that embraces every single one of her luscious curves.  The black dress is a stretchy, sleeveless, off the shoulder midi-dress that features a wide fold-over neckline and an open back cut-out.  The skirt flares out ever so slightly and stops just below the knee.  Her feet are encased in strappy black high heeled sandals.

“How long have you been recording?”

“Um…at least a minute now.”

Marie glares angrily at the camera, more specifically at the person behind the camera.

“KIM!  I told you to warn me before you started shooting!”

“I know but our ass is just sooooo yummy it had to be broadcast.”

“It’s not OUR ass!”

“Well…we are identical and all…soooo…”

“Shut up and keep rolling…”

Marie sighs.  She forces a smile upon her face before waving politely at the camera.

“Greetings, SCW!  If I look familiar, I should look familiar.  I already have made my debut on Supreme Championship Wrestling providing back up for my aunt Kayla as she went up against Alexis Quinne.  I watched her back as I fought against the outside interference of Punk Hazard.  And that right there should tell you just what kind of person I am.  But in case you haven’t figured it out yet, then allow me to spell it out for each and every one of you watching this right now.”

She motions to herself with the thumb on her right hand.

“My name is Marie Annabelle Jones.  That’s right, JONES, a member of the famous Jones wrestling family.  Some refer to me as The Phoenix because while you may be able to temporarily knock me down, there is not a force in heaven above, here on earth, or in hell below that can kill me!  I will always rise up, just like the mythical phoenix, and I will always come back for more!  That’s why some, namely my enemies, call me The Phoenix.  But there is another name I’m called, a name all who I have associated with remember me by…”

She smirks.

“…I am The Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling.  And I don’t mean that as a title of arrogance, I mean that when it comes to pro-wrestling, I have done it all.  Violent, hardcore wars…check.  High flying affairs…check.  Tag team matches…check.  Multi-person clusterfucks…check.  And when it comes to championship matches?  Well I always show up with my A-Game.  Now in UWA I am one half of the nearly year-long reigning World Tag Team Champions.  But I am the Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling and I don’t want to sit on the sidelines for months on end, and quite frankly, I also want to be challenged by the best singles division in pro-wrestling.  I want to go up against the best and let’s be honest, there is no singles division better than the one in Supreme Championship Wrestling.  And that brings me to my opponent for Breakdown…”

She points a finger at the camera.

“…that’s you, Hannah.  Hannah ‘Declares’ Warr…”

She snickers.

“…I like the name, I honestly do.  And I also like the booking of Mr. D here in this case, and I think you like it too.  Most of the new kids on the block get some enhancement talent, jobber, or a curtain jerker before being thrust into the flames.  Clearly that’s not happening to the two of us.  SCW clearly thinks just as highly of you as they think of me, because they wouldn’t have signed you to a contract otherwise, and SCW is putting the two of us inside that ring, one on one, to put on a hell of a show, and to steal the show live from Paris, France!”

Jones shakes her head.

“But I’m not satisfied with just putting on a hell of a show.  I wouldn’t be called The Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling if I was satisfied with just entertaining, if I was satisfied with just competing.  Competing is great, it really is.  To hear the fans cheer, that’s a rush.  But winning?”

She grins.

“That’s what I’m here for!  I recently completed a road of redemption that culminated in me becoming UWA World Champion.  But that was more about redeeming myself as a person and as a competitor than about being the best.  I have here to Supreme Championship Wrestling to challenge myself against the best roster in professional wrestling…”

She points a finger at the camera.

“…and clearly Mr. D thinks you are among the best, otherwise he wouldn’t have hired you.  Now my new journey to prove myself as one of the best in pro-wrestling starts here in SCW and it starts with you, Hannah.  And if you want war, then you had better believe that I will bring war with me.   The Phoenix will ride into Paris with the flames of war at her back.  The Phoenix will begin this journey against you, Hannah Warr, but The Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling will finish it.  And Hannah, win or lose, the result is irrelevant, because the outcome for you and everyone else I face after this, my SCW in-ring debut, will be the same.  You will gaze into my eyes, the eyes of an intense warrior, the eyes of The Phoenix, and you will utter those two ancient, sacred words…”

Marie shuts her eyes.

“…Ave Maria.”

“Nice dramatic finish, sis!”

Marie opens her eyes and scowls at the camera.

“Shut up, Kim, and quit recording!”