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Scene 1
Off Camera
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We open
backstage at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Rise To Greatness kicked off with a triple
threat match between Josh Hudson, Christy Matthews, and Marie Jones to
determine a number one contender to the SCW Adrenaline Championship. The show has been rolling on with excitement
and action ever since, giving the fans quite the thrill. There is one person, however, who is neither
excited nor thrilled about any of this and her name is Marie Jones.
Jones had a
chance to do things the right way, to earn another shot at the Adrenaline
Championship, but she failed to do so, losing tonight to Christy Matthews in
the triple threat opener. Truthfully,
Marie feels as if she doesn’t have to earn another opportunity. She had Andrew Raynes beaten when interference
from Dylan Howell cost her the championship.
Now instead of defending the Adrenaline Championship at Rise To
Greatness she was stuck trying to earn another shot at a title she feels in her
heart of hearts should already be hers.
The match
was her idea, mind you, because she wanted to at least try to do things the
right way; at least, the right way in the mind of the fans of SCW and SCW’s
management. But it is clear and evident from
the scowl on her face and the way she carries herself, with a sense of angst
and anger, that she is questioning her own judgment as she makes her way
through the halls of the Rogers Centre.
“Marie!”
The redhead
stops in her tracks when she hears the familiar voice of her identical twin
sister. Marie turns around and sure
enough she finds Kimberly Williams, dressed in torn denim jeans, black boots,
and a black “SCW” t-shirt. She quickly
approaches her sister and places an arm on her shoulder.
“Are you ok, you seem upset?”
“I’m fine, Kim. But I don’t want to hang around for the rest
of the show. I’m done here. I take it Arthur didn’t come?”
Kimberly
sighs and shakes her head. “No but can
you blame him? He’s probably still
seething a little about you and Blake.”
“Yeah, I know…”
Marie’s
voice trails off as she lowers head in shame.
She feels extremely guilty over cheating on Arthur with Blake
Mason. She had always wanted to find a
good father figure for her son, for Sean, and just when she finds the right guy
she pulls this stunt and for what reason?
To get a thrill? She knows she
did wrong and that she needs to try and make it right. She also realizes that it probably served as
a distraction that kept her from focusing on her Rise To Greatness match. You won’t hear Marie make excuses very often
but this is one time she feels justified.
Jones shakes
her head, as if shaking these feelings altogether as she tries to regain her
composure, fighting back the emotions that are fighting their way to the
surface. She swats Kim’s arm away from
her shoulder and motions down the hall.
“Just go get the car and bring it around,
ok?”
“Sure, but don’t you want to talk or…”
“There will be plenty of time for talking
later. Just bring the car around. I’ll go get my stuff and I’ll see you out
there. Ok, sis?”
“Sure, ok.” Kimberly responds, nodding
her head reluctantly before walking away.
Marie waits
until Kimberly is out of eyeshot and earshot until she lets her emotions run
free. Tears begin to flow. This was not how she wanted things to go
down. She had only wanted to experience
life on the edge. She wanted to live
life on the wild side just for a little bit and see what it was like. She had no idea of the consequences that it
would carry with it. Her marriage is now
threatened, unless Arthur can find it in his heart to forgive her.
Professionally
Marie is not much better off. She was
seemingly on the verge of a breakthrough year until she failed to capture the
Adrenaline championship. Ever since that
point things have gone downhill for Jones.
She just knows she needs to somehow find a way to bounce back from all
of this and turn her career around.
Jones turns
and resumes her walk further down the halls of the backstage area of the Rogers
Centre. She takes a sharp left and finds
the locker room area where she had used earlier this evening. She pushes her way inside and luckily finds
it empty. She does not want to be
bothered right now by anyone. She spots
her gym bag lying down next to a bench.
She’ll just pick it up and leave.
Simple as that.
“Evening, Marie.”
There’s
another voice she recognizes all too well and another voice belonging to someone
she would rather not talk to right now.
Marie sighs as she turns around to find her mother, Angelica Jones,
standing in the doorway of the locker room area.
“What are you doing here?”
“You certainly do know how to make your
mother feel welcome.” Angelica remarks rather sarcastically.
“I’m sorry, but you’ve gone off the radar
ever since you and Kayla had your supposed “final match” in SCW.”
“Yeah, and I’m beginning to think that was a
mistake.”
“What was a mistake, going off the radar or
having the final match?”
“The match,” Angelica answers “but not the match itself; it was a great
match. But I think Kayla and I made a
mistake in calling it the last match in SCW.”
Marie arches
a brow out of curiosity. “Feeling the
itch again?”
“Possibly.
You never know what might happen.”
“So is that why you’re here, mom? Are you here to talk to Mr. D about making a
grand return?”
“It’s true, I do have the itch again, the
itch to compete, but it’s different this time.
It isn’t the same as before and so I can’t guarantee my next run, if
there is a next run, will be the same as before. I may not be trying to win the world title or
trying to dominate alongside your aunt Kayla.
It will probably look very different.”
“How so?” Marie asks out of genuine
curiosity.
“The details aren’t quite worked out yet,
mainly because I’m not even sure if I will return, but my potential return isn’t
what brought me here tonight. The fact
that this is Rise To Greatness XV, the biggest event on SCW’s calendar year,
isn’t even what brings me out here tonight.”
“What are you doing here then?”
“I’m here for you, sweetie.” Angelica
answers, pointing a finger at Marie.
That’s not
what the younger Jones wanted to hear from her mother. It’s what she feared but not what she
wanted. Marie and Angelica have had a
rocky relationship ever since Angelica murdered Marie’s father. It was that incident that landed Angelica in
a mental ward for several years. Marie
did eventually forgive her mother but the pain is still there. The distrust is still there.
“Not now, mom.”
“I know you’ve had it rough lately and I
know I haven’t exactly been the best of mothers…”
“That’s an understatement.”
“…BUT I am here for you now and I want to
help you if I can, especially when it comes to you and Arthur.”
“You want to help save my marriage?” Marie
laughs in a scoffing manner. “That’s a
laugh, considering you’ve had how many failed relationships…four or five?”
“Five.” Angelica answers slowly and
quietly.
“And one of your ex-boyfriends happened to
be my father, whom you murdered by putting a bullet in his head.” She
shakes her head. “So I’m sorry if I’m not
exactly willing to listen to your advice regarding my marriage.”
There is a
tense pause for several seconds as Marie stares angrily at her mother. Marie’s features soften as she realizes that
she seriously hurt her mother’s feelings.
“Look, mom, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it.”
“No, it’s ok Marie. Maybe you’re right, maybe I shouldn’t be
giving you relationship advice. You are
a grown woman now. You don’t need your
mother for these type of things.”
Marie looks
at her mother’s face and feels even more guilty than before. She didn’t intend for this, either.
“I wouldn’t mind some advice on what to do
next in SCW. I assume you’ve been
keeping up with what’s been happening?”
“I have.” Angelica remarks, nodding her
head. “It was tough watching you lose
tonight. I know you wanted that
Adrenaline Title Match very badly.”
“I did, but you see mom, I shouldn’t have
had to have earned another title match.
I already had Andrew Raynes beaten.
The title was mine, it was within my grasp. But as I was about to finish him off, Dylan
Howell comes down and attacks, drawing a disqualification.”
“I know…” Angelica’s voice trails off. It’s as if she’s heard this before and she
probably has if she has listened to any of Marie’s promos or twitter rants
recently.
“You’re not supposed to interfere in any
matches. That’s against the rules. That’s why there was a disqualification. Unfortunately the title doesn’t change hands
on a disqualification. Still, Howell
broke the rules. And yet he gets
REWARDED for breaking the rules when Mr. D GIVES him exactly what he wants; a
shot at the Adrenaline Championship, in the Thunderdome no less.”
Marie pats
herself on the chest. “And how am I
rewarded for following the rules? I get
shafted. Week in and week out I get shafted.
It isn’t fair, mom. And do the
fans care? No, they don’t. They were cheering loudly for a rule breaker,
a cheater, a mentally imbalanced loony tune who did not deserve that opportunity
at the Adrenaline Championship.”
“Your time will come, Marie.”
“Yeah, it will, but how long do I need to
wait? I’m doing things the right way all
the while I’m watching rule breakers get rewarded and it’s frustrating. Maybe I should stick around and attack
Kennedy Street in the middle of the world title match. Hell, it got Dylan Howell an Adrenaline Title
Match, if that’s how the idiots running this place decide title contenders then
maybe that’s what I should do to get a world title shot.”
“I think you already know that is not how
you get what you want.” Angelica smirks. “I’ll grant you that maybe Dylan and Raynes don’t deserve much in terms
of respect, I’m not even sure that Lizard King maniac Gio deserves much, but
Kennedy Street has earned her spot and deserves more respect than that.”
You’re right, of course.” Marie sighs
and shakes her head. “Still, I’m not sure
how much more of this I can take. I’m
constantly being shafted and cheated. I’m
doing things the right way and getting nowhere fast and those succeeding are
those who are taking the shortcuts. It
makes me wonder if I should start taking shortcuts too.”
“It’s said that patience is a virtue.” Angelica
place a hand on her daughter’s shoulder. “Have
patience, Marie, keep fighting, and you’ll get rewarded. You’ll get the opportunities you deserve and
it’ll be that much more satisfying when you get do it the right way.”
Marie
frowns. “You talk as if you know it from
experience.”
“I have won many championships and many
accolades and achievements in my time, Marie, but almost all of them were by
taking the easy way out. If I could do
it all over again, I would go back and try to win those championships the right
way. It’s one of my biggest professional
regrets.”
Angelica
embraces her oldest daughter. “Don’t make
the mistakes I made, professionally or personally.”
After
breaking the embrace Marie gazes into her mother’s tear filled eyes. “You mean Arthur now, don’t you?”
“Yes, I mean Arthur. Make things right before it’s too late.”
==========
Scene 2
Off Camera
==========
The marriage
between Marie Jones and her husband Arthur Pond has been rocky to say the least
ever since Arthur learned that Marie had spent some time with Blake Mason. Cheating on one’s spouse is the ultimate sign
of betrayal and usually kills a relationship.
For Marie, though, she hopes she can salvage this relationship. The one thing she wanted more than anything
else was to find a good father figure for her son Sean Connor Jones.
Arthur loves
Sean as if Sean was his very own son, and Sean loves being with Arthur. It really has been the perfect setup. Things have been different in the weeks
following the revelation that Marie had been cheating on Arthur. Her normally
loving husband has been quiet, cold, and distant. Marie knows it’s her own fault and she knows that she is the
only one who can fix this.
Marie is
currently riding up the elevator to the second floor of the hotel where she is
staying with her husband Arthur. As soon
as the elevator reaches the second floor it comes to a slow stop. The doors open and Marie Jones exits the
elevator. The Phoenix turns and begins
to head down the hall. Marie soon comes
to a hotel room door, presumably her own.
Marie then takes her keycard and inserts it into the door slot and then
once she hears it unlock she pushes the door open.
“Arthur?!
Sean?!” Marie shouts as she steps into the room and shuts the door
behind her. “Are you here?”
“Sean isn’t here.” Comes Arthur’s voice
from deeper inside the suite. Marie
walks in and finds Arthur sitting in a comfortable chair next to the window. “He’s with his Aunt Kim right now. She insisted that she keep him for a little
bit. She said that you and I might need
some time alone.”
“Oh Kim…” Marie chuckles lightly “…you clearly have been talking to mom.”
“Huh?” Arthur gazes at her quizzically.
“Oh, nothing. But Kim is right, we do need to talk,
sweetie.”
Jones sets
her gym bag down on the floor before walking over and sitting down on the edge
of the king size bed. She motions for
Arthur to sit down next to her. Arthur
sighs as he gets up out of the chair and walks over to the bed, sitting down
next to Marie.
“I know what you want to talk about but do
we have to talk about it now? It’s late
and…”
“If not now then when?!” Marie exclaims.
“Arthur, I’m scared. I’m genuinely scared of losing you and I don’t
want that.”
“Then maybe you should have thought about
that before you decided to sleep with Mason.” He growls angrily.
“I know,” Marie states with tears
flowing freely down her cheeks “it was a
terrible mistake and I wish I could take it back.”
“But you can’t take it back. Once that genie is out of the bottle there is
no putting it back in. What’s done is
done, Marie. And this kind of action you
perpetrated, it doesn’t just damage us, it could potentially damage you. How many people know you cheated on me?”
“You, Kim, and Blake. Jessica suspects something but isn’t clear
what’s going on.”
“Your sisters wouldn’t say anything but what
about Blake? You know him and his
past. He could easily use that against
you one day. He could ruin your
reputation, Marie. And that’s not to
mention the fact that this could destroy our marriage.”
Arthur
shakes his head in disappointment. “You
really didn’t think any of this through, did you? What did you hope to achieve out of
this? What does Blake offer you that I
didn’t? Money?”
“Not the money!” Marie exclaims while
shaking her head. “My mom and aunt are
loaded with cash, Arthur! If I wanted
the lap of luxury I could get it from them, but I choose to live a simple
lifestyle. I wanted to see what it was like to be bad, to live life on the
edge. You don’t get it, Arthur. You aren’t in my position where I see
degenerates like Ace Marshall and Cassidy Carter doing whatever they want,
whenever they want, and they get all the spotlight and opportunities. Even someone like Amy Chastaine who is openly
in a relationship with multiple other men while being married is cheered and
praised by the SCW fan base. And then
you have people like me…”
She shakes
her head and wipes some tears from her eyes “…I
bust my ass as I do things the right way, I don’t get much of a spotlight just
because I live a rather normal life. I’m
normal, I do things the right way, and I don’t get rewarded for it. I get cheated week in and week out. I guess I just wanted to see what it was like
to just do whatever the hell I felt like on a whim, without worrying about the
consequences.”
“You’re right, I don’t understand and I can’t
understand because I am not actively in the same wrestling environment you
are. That’s why I’m willing to give you
the benefit of a doubt, that and because I really don’t want to lose you
either.”
Marie
attempts to embrace him in a hug but Arthur pushes her away. “Whoa, I’m not done. Marie, what you did was a betrayal of trust;
the ultimate betrayal of trust when it comes to a marriage. This wedding ring…”
He flashes
his wedding band “…is supposed to
represent our devotion to one another. Yet you didn’t seem to care about that
when you were running around with Blake Mason.”
“I already told you, Arthur, I’m sorry!”
“And I do forgive you but that doesn’t mean
I trust you. It will take a while before
I will ever trust you again, Marie. In
fact, I’m not sure our relationship will ever be the same as it once was. Hell, it could end up being stronger than
before if we survive this, but it damn sure won’t be the same.”
==========
On Camera
==========
Dylan Howell
never should have even been allowed to face Andrew Raynes for the SCW
Adrenaline Championship at Rise To Greatness.
He attacked me in the middle of the my match, yet apparently that, in
the mind of the talking heads running things here in SCW, is enough to make
that reject from a sanitarium worthy of a title shot. He breaks the rules and gets rewarded with a
title opportunity. At least I got to
sleep well knowing that he didn’t WIN the title at Rise To Greatness. Seeing a mentally unbalanced person like him
who never should have been in the title match actually WIN the title would have
been a travesty.
Then there’s
me, someone who does things the right way; hell, I even went beyond just doing
things the right way. I had Raynes
beaten. I had him dead to rights. I shouldn’t have to earn another title shot
and yet I was willing to earn my title shot.
Yes, I asked for the triple threat match against Christy Matthews and
Josh Hudson. Now Christy, whose greatest
natural ability is the ability to complain about being a single mother, has the
title shot that should be mine.
Shut your
fucking mouth, Christy. I was a single
mother for ten years before marrying my husband Arthur and I never whined or
complained or used it as a crutch as much as you do. So if you think you’re something special
because you’re a single mother then think again.
The point of
my rant is that I realize now that bad behavior is apparently rewarded while
doing things the right way isn’t held in very high regard. In fact, sometimes bad behavior is rewarded
in Supreme Championship Wrestling.
Now that isn’t
to say that I’m going to back to my old ways.
I’m not going back to being the full of herself little bitch that I once
was. But I am tired of playing
nice. I am sick and damn tired of being
patient and waiting on my opportunities to come to me. I am going to start TAKING my opportunities
because I don’t just feel I deserve them, I KNOW I deserve them, I KNOW I am
worthy.
I am The Crown
Jewel of Professional Wrestling, I definitely deserve more than what I’ve been
getting. But it’s my own fault because
I have been complacent. I have been
content to sit back and just let things happen.
From now on, I MAKE THINGS HAPPEN!
Now that
brings me to Konrad Raab, a guy who always seems to just be happy to be here,
happy to be with SCW. You won at Rise To Greatness and I’m happy for you, but unlike
you I’m not content with just being here.
I want to be a top star in Supreme Championship Wrestling. Eventually I would like to challenge for the
SCW World Championship and I know I’m already at that level. I know I can beat anyone on this roster,
including the reigning champion.
Unlike you,
I am not just content to sit around, smiling proudly, happy to be on the
greatest roster in professional wrestling.
I want to be the brightest shining star in this company and nothing else
will satisfy me, Konrad. Contentedness
is what kills a career and, to be perfectly honest, it damn near killed mine.
My
contentedness is what allowed Dylan Howell to get that title shot at Rise To
Greatness instead of me. I should have
protested more but I didn’t. I should’ve
demanded the right to fight the winner of Howell and Raynes but I was content
with “earning” it the right way. Now
look at me. Look at where I am.
I’m done
being content. I’m no longer just happy
to be here. I want to be the best; I
want to prove that I truly am The Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling and
that it isn’t just a cute marketing phrase.
I have dreams and aspirations of being MORE than just an Adrenaline
style wrestler but of main eventing Rise To Greatness. But you, your only dream is being here.
Your dreams
have been fulfilled, Konrad. You have
nothing else to gain. And that means no
drive and no motivation. My dreams are
bigger than yours, my drive is bigger than yours, and my aspirations are damn
sure bigger than yours. That’s why you make an excellent stepping stone. People like you make an excellent stepping
stone for people like me, because you just want to be here. I want to be THE BEST.
Am I going
to rebound? You damn right I will rebound
when I kick your ass and drive your head into the mat with Ave Maria. Nothing will change for you. You’ll continue just being happy to be a part
of SCW. But for me the entire landscape will change. It’s just one match and it’s just against one
guy but the ferocity and intensity I show against you will illustrate to Mr. D
and the SCW locker room that I am done playing around, that I am done being
nice, and that I am ready to usher in the era of The Crown Jewel, at the
expense of people like you, Konrad.
People who are content. People
who are willing to sit back and be happy with their place in this roster.
People like
that piss me off because they could have so much more out of their career, they
could be so much more successful if they just weren’t so damned
complacent. All this while people like
me bust our asses off only to get held back.
I’m not
getting held back any longer. I’m going
to take what I deserve, Konrad. You’re
just getting in my way.
