The Beginnings

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The Past

Off Camera

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“I know they’re after me, but are my girls safe!”

This is the enraged voice of Bart Jones, who recently lost his wife to a murder, one that doesn’t make sense, one that baffles police and officials in that this person seemed to not know Kelly Jones.  This person had no beef with anyone, really.  It was just a complete and total random act of violence.  It’s the kind of crime that no one understands and those are typically the types of crimes that are worse than all of the rest.

As Bart is yelling in the background his two daughters, Angelica and Kayla, are sitting in the kitchen.  They do not mean to eavesdrop but their father’s booming voice makes it impossible not to hear the anger coming from his mouth.  Whoever he is yelling at, this has something to do with them and their safety.  Angelica and Kayla, though, do not care much about their own safety right now.  They are in mourning over the loss of their mother.

It’s just been a day since it happened and both girls, Angelica thirteen and Kayla twelve, are still extremely shaken up over it all.  Angelica is probably the most shaken up of the two of them, as she had a front row seat to it.

“Are you ok, Angel?”

“…”

Kayla reaches over and puts a hand on her older sister’s shoulder.  Kayla has always been very mature for her age.  This is a trait she will carry with her for the rest of her life.  She can sense her sister needs comfort right now.

“Angel, you haven’t spoken since…”

“…Mother.”

Kayla is taken aback, jerking her hand away. “What did you just say?”

“Mother.”

The younger red head sighs, bowing her head. “Angel, you know she’s gone.”

“No, not her…” Angelica produces a rosary, their mother’s rosary “…I mean, Mother.”

“Where did you get that?” Kayla points at the rosary beads. “Those are supposed to be buried with her.”

“Too bad.” She reaches up and wipes tears out of her eyes. “I need something to remember her by.”

Kayla puts her hand back on her sister’s shoulder. “Are you sure you’re ok?”

“No…”

“Well then,” Kayla reaches in to try and embrace her “we can…”

Angelica shoves her away. “No…”

“Angel…”

“NO!”

The older sister hops up out of her chair and bolts out of the kitchen and heads towards the stairs.  Kayla gives chase, worrying what might come of this.  Along the way Kayla hears her sister shouting “NO” at the top of her lungs.  Kayla eventually makes it to the top of the stairs in time to see her sister entering their parents’ bedroom.  Kayla rushes inside and spots Angelica fumbling through the nightstand.

“What are you looking for?”

Angelica finally produces a gun. “….this!”

Kayla lunges towards her sister but Angelica side steps her and Kayla lands on top of the bed.  It’s too late.  Angelica puts the gun to her head and pulls the trigger….

…CLICK…

…it’s not loaded.  Kayla is thankful for this blessing but doesn’t take any chances.

“DADDY!”

Her senses tell her that the gun isn’t loaded but Angelica keeps pulling the trigger anyway, hoping some bullet will magically appear.  All the while she continues her chant of “NO” over and over again.  This continues until finally Bart Jones appears in the doorway.

“What’s wro…ANGELICA!”  He walks over and jerks the gun out of her hand and tosses it across the room.  “NO!  DO NOT TOUCH THAT AGAIN!”

“NO, NO, NO…”

Bart kneels down so that he is eye level with his daughter.  “Angelica, sweetie, nothing is so bad that you should ever consider taking your own life!”

He embraces her in a tight hug.  “I already lost one of my favorite girls this week, I can’t bear to lose another!”

Angelica is still muttering “NO” to herself, though quietly.  Kayla meanwhile hops off the bed and joins her sister and father in the embrace.

“Will everything be ok, dad?”

“Kayla, I love you and your sister more than life itself.  I would do anything to save your lives.  You realize that, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I know.” Kayla says, answering for Angelica as well who is still muttering “NO”.

“Good, because you will be safe.  I swear to God you will be safe.”

“Thank you dad.” She embraces him. “I love you.”

“Thank you, Kayla…but I fear you and your sister won’t be saying that soon…”

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Present Day

Off Camera

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The heels of strappy 3 inch high strappy sandals are clicking across the off white marble floor in this mausoleum in Boston, Massachusetts.  Dimly lit florescent lights allow the wearer of these expensive, flirty shoes to comfortably see ahead of her as she negotiates her way through this place of memory and death, a permanent resting place for those entombed here; not that she needs any assistance in navigating this place, for this person has made the trip many times before.  It’s a trip she makes at least once a week.  It is her top priority above everything else.  She has even been known to miss wrestling events and appearances in order to make this regular visitation.  The figure walking down the hall of this mausoleum is none other than Angelica Jones and she is here to visit someone very special to her; her mother, Kelly Maria Jones.

A relationship between a mother and her daughter tends to be a bit of a roller coaster.  Daughters start out loving their mother and looking up to her, learning so much from her.  In her teenage years the daughter grows into her own and becomes rebellious and she claims to hate her mother.  Angelica Jones never grew into that last phase.  Her mother Kelly was murdered right as she turned thirteen years old.  The lasting memories of her mother was of a saintly woman who could do no wrong.  To this day, even though she is dead, Angelica looks up to her mother as a young daughter would look up to her mother.  To this day Angelica continues to regularly visit her mother’s grave.

Visiting her mother’s grave brings back not only the good memories of her mother but also painful memories, memories of how it felt to lose her, memories of the terror of having to watch her die, and then having salt rubbed into the wound with the aftermath, what happened after her mother was murdered.

Angelica and her sister Kayla were left alone to be raised by their father Bart Jones.  At the time of the murder Bart and Kelly seemingly had the ideal family; a happy marriage and two perfect daughters.  Everything was turned upside down with the murder of Kelly in more ways than just the obvious.  Bart Jones, the father of Angelica and Kayla, decided not to raise them alone and instead of finding a new wife he separated the daughters, sending them both away to foster care.  In the matter of a couple of days Angelica Jones went from  having a sister and two loving parents to having a dead mother, being separated from her sister, and abandoned by her father.

Her first reaction was confusion.  The young teenager did not know why all of this had happened to her and her family and, most of all, why would her father abandon her?  The confusion quickly grew into anger and resentment as she grew older.  The teenager grew into a bitter, angry adult who was enraged at her father with her mind made up never to forgive him for abandoning her and her sister Kayla.  The sisters would eventually reconnect as adults with their father and they would eventually learn from their father why he abandoned them.  But the explanation and apology was not enough.  They were united in their refusal to forgive Bart Jones.

It’s been decades since the death of Kelly Jones and the split between Angelica and her father Bart and once again he has resurfaced to make his presence felt.  Bart Jones played mediator between Glory Braddock and Angelica Jones, helping to make peace between the two feuding cousins, battling and arguing over jealousy and greed.  Learning that it was Bart who talked Glory into making peace with Angelica really shocked her to the bone.  Angelica did not expect that from Bart, partially because she has conditioned herself to believe that nothing good can come from her father.  But it was Glory’s next request that really took the cake in terms of surprise.  Glory suggested that Angelica try and make peace with Bart much like how she went and made peace with Angelica.

As she walks the halls the red head wearing a cream colored sundress that extends down to just below the knee and a black leather jacket takes note of her surroundings the many tomb markers, markers with flowers and notes of love.  Jones passes by statues of Catholic saints, many of them she recognizes, others she does not.

At the end of the hall she comes to the place she was looking for; it is one lone tomb marker below a stain glass window depicting the assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven.  The woman crosses herself before entering the sacred area and then reaching out with her right hand and touching the marker.

“Hi mom,” she says quietly, with a baited breath “I missed you a lot today.”

A sarcastic chuckle escapes her lips as she reaches up to wipe a tear out of her eyes.  “Who am I kidding?  I always miss you.  That never ends.  It never will.”

The Boston native reaches into her purse and pulls out a small red rose.  Jones takes the rose and puts it up to her nose and takes a good long whiff of the rose before exhaling with a pleasant sigh.  She then sets the rose down next to her mother’s marker.  Red roses always were Kelly’s favorite flower.  Angelica has made it a point to always bring some red roses to her mother’s grave when she visits.  It’s a ritual.

“I know you’re up there watching over me in heaven.”  She turns her head, gazing upwards as if looking towards heaven itself. “In the most difficult of situations I can feel your warmth washing over me.”

She reaches up and brushes a strand of her long red hair out of her face.  “I’m sure you saw what’s been happening with me and Samantha.  Hell, I’m sure you were shouting at me for ever letting myself get bullied by that overbearing bitch.”

Angelica, remembering where she is, blushes furiously in embarrassment. “Sorry…it’s just…”

Suddenly her demeanor changes.  The sheepish grin on her face after embarrassing herself quickly changes to a scowl.  Something is not right here and she can sense it like an animal sensing danger.

“How long have you been standing there?”

The red head turns around and finds her father standing behind her.  Bart Jones is dressed in denim jeans, black boots, a black t-shirt and a heavy denim coat.  His hair is black with gray streaks in it because he’s been trying desperately to keep the gray out like most vain men his age.  The grizzled features tell the story of a man who has been through a lot in his life and has survived a lot.

Bart Jones is a former FBI agent and the kind of work he did for the federal government is why, according to him, he had to abandon his daughters.  Kelly Jones had been murdered in a botched hit against him.  A home invader had been hired to kill him but he wasn’t home, Kelly and Angelica were, so the man murdered Kelly and made Angelica watch the whole thing.  Bart learned that the botched hit was from the Russian Mafia and that he and his daughters could be in more danger.  Feeling that the only way to protect Angelica and Kayla from the threat of danger was to separate them from his custody, he sent them away to foster care.

Unfortunately for Bart, that explanation was not good enough for Angelica and Kayla.  But then again, what Bart didn’t take into account is the law of unintended consequences.  Angelica ended up going into a deep depression and tried to kill herself while Kayla ended up getting beaten and molested by her foster father.  Those terrible experiences, combined with the loss of both their parents, made them extremely bitter towards Bart.

“Not too long.”

“That thing you do is annoying.” Angelica responds with a hint of venom in her voice. “You should stop it.”

One thing Bart Jones learned from being an FBI agent is the ability to be very sneaky.  He can easily walk up on someone without them knowing it.  That talent tended to bypass Angelica, who always made her presence felt wherever she went.  Having the spotlight directly upon her had always been part of Angelica’s outgoing and, some would say arrogant, personality.  It is that necessity to be in that spotlight that is driving Angelica’s actions leading up to Taking Hold of the Flame in SCW.

Taking Hold of the Flame will feature a rumble style match in which the winner will earn a world heavyweight title match.  One match and one singular opportunity to propel herself right into the limelight in this new company she only recently joined up with, no thanks to Samantha Hodgson.

Hodgson, Angelica’s domineering agent, had tried to run Angelica’s life and for awhile Angelica put up with it, thinking that Samantha would fulfill her promise to get her a world title shot.  So far it has not come to fruition and Angelica, tired of waiting, is exploring other options.  One option includes none other than Silas Mason.

While she has not signed with Mason, Angelica has let it be known to Samantha in particular that she has an interest in signing with Silas, hoping that he can do a better job getting her to the top than Samantha did.  At this point old friendships do not matter.  Her primary goal is to become world heavyweight champion and the first step to achieving that is to win this battle royal.

“I’m sorry, Angel, it’s an old habit that dies hard.”

“How appropriate to speak of death in a place like this.”

“I see your wit hasn’t changed since I last saw you.”

“The last time I saw you was too long.”

Bart Jones, feeling a sense of frustration building up, rolls his eyes.  “Angel, you asked me to come here.  What exactly is it that you want?”

The elder Jones speaks the truth.  Angelica did ask her father to meet her here today and there is a good reason for it.  As much as she wants to just disown him for good, she has to admit that Glory Braddock is right.  There is a chance that he could make things right.  Redemption is something that Angelica knows she herself has needed in the past.  She has had a colorful history of evil deeds in the wrestling industry.  She herself has had to prove herself and redeem herself countless times.  Why not give him an opportunity to do the same?

“We haven’t seen one another in years and that’s what you say to me?”

She approaches him slowly and cautiously.  Once they are within arm’s length of the other, Bart reaches out and runs his hand through his daughter’s long red hair.  To her credit, Angelica doesn’t shy away.  She lets him do this.

“I’m glad you went back to the red hair, but part of me wishes you stuck with blonde.”

She blinks her eyes curiously. “Huh?”

“You dressed like that, wearing your mother’s old leather jacket, with your natural red hair that you got from your mother, you look so much like her and that makes being here incredibly difficult.”

Bart turns his head away, not wanting his daughter to see him fighting back tears. “It’s like seeing a ghost.”

“You…” those words, comparing Angelica to her mother, is such a strong compliment that it disarms her immediately, the hateful words she had planned for him immediately disappear “…you really think so?”

“I do.” He looks back up at her and despite his eyes red from tears he still manages a grin. “No offense, but that blonde hair just made you look like a fake.”

“I felt like a fake.” Angelica replies.  “It was all Samantha’s idea.  She wanted me to have the image of a champion.”

“And that image was of a cookie cutter blonde bombshell?”

His daughter nods her head. “Yeah…”

Bart shakes his head. “That overbearing little…”  His voice trails off as he catches himself.  His daughter grins.

“On that we can definitely agree.”

Father and daughter share a hearty laugh with one another, something they haven’t done in years.  It doesn’t take long until they realize this and they exchange looks, sad looks, regretful looks into one another’s eyes.  It’s Bart who breaks the ice.

“What happened to us, Angel?”

“You know what happened to us, dad.”  She points at the grave marker. “That right there should be the only reminder you need as to what happened between us.”

“Don’t you think I regretted what I did?  I regretted what I did every day of my life from the moment you two left my side until today.  I never wanted to give you two girls away.  Never.”

“Then why did you?”

“Is that what this is about then?” Bart asks curiously. “To make me feel guilty?”

“No…” her voice trails off “…I just wanted you to hear let you know that I am giving you a chance.”

“What?”

“You heard me right, dad.  I don’t want to talk now, not here, but eventually we are going to sit down and talk and I want to hear you out.  I want to give you one more chance.  God knows I have needed a lot of chances myself.”

“But I…” he shakes his head “…I don’t deserve a second chance.”

“No, you don’t.” Angelica responds sternly. “But I didn’t deserve another chance with my daughters but they gave me one.  And Glory and I also have a second with one another.  I’m willing to give you a second chance if you can earn it.”

A half smiles crosses her face. “You are my dad, and there’s no way I can change that.”

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Beginnings

On Camera

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It’s a cloudy, overcast day in a typical cemetery.  The grass has been well kept and is very green and looks rather healthy.  The only odd thing about this picture is the woman propped up against a nearby headstone.  The woman is wearing a knee length black dress, black high heel pumps, and a veil over her face.  Whoever this woman is we can tell she has long red hair that touches her shoulders.

“This place is a place where lives end.”

The woman tears off her veil and reveals her identity to be that of Angelica Jones.

“Yet in most religious traditions this place is also viewed as a place of beginnings, because most religions do not believe that this world is the end all be all, that there is something else after this physical plane of existence.  In other words, death, and the burial here at a cemetery just like this one, is but the beginning of a brand new glorious life.”

“Taking Hold of the Flame will be the end of thirty-nine world title dreams.  Thirty-nine dreams of world championship gold will be ended at this pay per view and but for one person their dream of a title run will begin.”

The Dragon pauses to turn to her left and stare out at the headstones, then she turns to her right and looks at them as well.  Finally she turns around, looking at those behind her.  She turns back around to face the camera and pats the headstone she has been standing at.

“The lives of these people were cut short, perhaps too short.  Many of them died with regrets, regrets of the goals they didn’t meet, the prizes they didn’t win, the victories they didn’t achieve.  Most of these people died with many things left on their bucket list.”

“I’m not going to be one of them.” Jones shakes her head. “I refuse to leave Taking Hold of the Flame with any regrets, with any thoughts that if I had done something just a little bit different, that I might have won.  When I step into the ring with thirty nine of the best SCW has to offer I am going to make sure I have done everything I can, everything in my power, to leave as the winner.”

Angelica holds up three fingers. “People know me by three names.  Firestar, The Golden Goddess, The Dragon.”

“Firestar is that never say die attitude within me.  Firestar is the unquenchable thirst for competition.  Many have tried to extinguish Firestar’s drive and passion but none have succeeded.  All end up getting burned to death.”

“The Golden Goddess represents the totality of wrestling knowledge and experience that I contain within me.  The Golden Goddess has been in the ring against the best this industry to offer and it has defeated them all.”

“Finally there’s The Dragon…”

A nasty laugh escapes her lips.  “The Dragon is the creature that even I fear, because it doesn’t know when to stop.  The Dragon also doesn’t really care as much about winning as it does about hurting its enemies.  The Dragon has a thirst for blood and violence that few in this industry can honestly match.”

“I realize that to win Taking Hold of the Flame I will have to tap into every single one of those personalities.  I will have to have that never say die attitude, that drive and passion, I am going to have to have that wrestling knowledge and experience edge, and I will need to have a thirst for blood and a willingness to do anything necessary in order to win.”

She motions to the many headstones around her.  “This place is a place of new beginnings and just as it is a place of new beginnings, so too will Taking Hold of the Flame be a place of new beginnings.  Taking Hold of the Flame will be the beginning of something new, something far greater not just in SCW but in professional wrestling as well.”

“My ascendency.”