Dos Equis

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Sins of the Carter

Off Camera

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Trouble is afoot in the Jones Household and it all boils down to one principle virtue: honesty.  Granted, Angelica may not be the greatest of human beings, but one thing she values above most anything else is honesty.  Just tell her the truth and you’ll be fine.  If you ever lie to her, however, or if you bend the truth in any way, and if you ever dare to try and manipulate her, then you will have gained a new and dangerous enemy.

Honesty is the best policy; most of the time, at least.  There are some occasions when a little dishonesty or a little white lie is for the best.  Angelica knows this and understands this perfectly well.  She, herself, is fully aware that she is no angel when it comes to honesty, but she does try.  Angelica tries real hard to uphold that virtue of honesty.  She has tried to instill in her children and she does not like being lied to or manipulated herself.  The question, however, is how far would she go when she is lied to or manipulated?  What does she consider a true lie and true manipulation as opposed to just a little white lie that hurts no one?

That is a question that is currently unanswered, but we may get closer to a resolution as we go along.  What we can do, for now at least, is get a little insight into Angelica’s professional persona.  The red-headed Dragon is good at separating her professional and personal lives.  Inside of the wrestling ring, she will do anything to get what she wants.  She will do anything to get ahead of everyone else.  This is why she sold to Silas Mason and why she was Samantha Hodgson’s client before him.  Jones was, and still is, convinced that agents like Mason can help her get what she wants in professional wrestling.

What Jones wants right now more than anything else is to get championship gold back around her waist.  Angelica gets that very opportunity on next SCW Breakdown as she faces Ravyn Taylor for the United States Championship.

Jones senses the work of Silas Mason in this championship opportunity.  She won’t openly say it in public, but privately she will admit that she is surprised to get this title shot.  She may have done well in Shot of Adrenaline but since then the only real victory she had was against Alexander Sire in Best of the Best.  Yet here she is getting a championship opportunity.

This is just further proof that she needs someone like Silas Mason to help her get these matches.  Also, a veteran of the sport like Angelica knows full well that championship opportunities like do not come by very often, manager or no manager, Silas World or no Silas World.  That is why she is going to take full advantage of this US Title Match that she has before her, that is why she is going to do whatever it takes to win, because she knows full well that she may not get any further opportunities like this if she fails here against Ravyn.

And yet, with such high stakes coming up in just a few days, it would come as a surprise to many to find that Angelica isn’t in the gym training, that she isn’t busting her ass to get ready for what will be quite a challenge for her.  Ravyn, after all, has proven to be quite a dominating force, especially since becoming champion.  Ravyn is more of a technical wrestler while Angelica tends to prefer high risk.  This clash of styles could hurt Angelica’s chances, especially if Ravyn is able to keep her grounded.  Keeping this in mind you would expect her to be preparing for what will no doubt be quite a challenge.

Instead, Angelica is primping in front of a full length mirror in her bedroom.  She is pleased with what she sees; a tight strapless black dress that hugs every curve of her lovely figure.  Her feet are encased in black high heeled shoes.  Her long red hair is pulled up nicely and styled in the back.  Her nails, both finger and toes, are painted a bright red, which matches the red on her lips.

You might even say that she’s drop dead gorgeous.

“Angelica?”

Jones turns away from the mirror and gazes towards the door, which leads out into the hallway.   A smile creeps upon her face.  She recognizes the voice as that of her wife, Lindsey Carter.  The younger Lindsey has just returned from another business trip.

Right before Lindsey left, Angelica learned that it was Lindsey who had lied to her and manipulated her into firing Samantha Hodgson and signing with Silas Mason instead.  Angelica did not react well to this news and it looked as if things could be going south real fast.

Yet here she is, dressed to the “T” ready for her wife’s return, ready to impress her, ready to love on her as she returns from the trip.  It seems that, perhaps, Angelica has gotten over being angry with Lindsey.  Maybe the lovebirds have a future after all?

The lovely red-head turns and heads towards the door.  Upon making her exit, she makes a left and heads over to the staircase.  She begins to make her way down the winding staircase until she gets to the bottom.  Her heels click as she walks on the marble floor towards her wife.

“Angelica?” Lindsey repeats. “Where are…”

Carter steps out around the corner.  She is dressed much plainer than Jones.  Lindsey is wearing black dress pants, heels, and a black top.  Her long black hair is left to hang unrestrained to shoulder length.

“…you...” Lindsey’s voice trails off as she feats her eyes for the first time since leaving for her trip on her wife Angelica “…wow, what’s the occasion?”

“Occasion?” Angelica walks over to Lindsey and takes her into her arms, clasping her hands around her back. “Do I have to have an occasion?  I think seeing you is reason enough.”

Carter blinks a few times out of confusion.  It hadn’t been that long ago that it almost seemed as if she and Angelica were on the road to divorce and yet here Angelica is almost lusting over her again.  Perhaps Angelica just wasn’t as angry as she seemed to be?

“I guess…” Lindsey sighs “…I guess you’re right, but what about…well…you know…”

“Lying to me about Hodgson?” Angelica asks, her face growing more and more serious. “Manipulating me into signing with Silas Mason?”

“Yeah…that…” Lindsey answers sheepishly.

Angelica smiles sweetly, innocently, before planting a kiss on Lindsey’s cheek. “Don’t worry, I’ve forgotten all that.”

“You have?”

Angelica nods her head. “Don’t get me wrong, I still don’t like it that you lied to me, but while you were gone I had time to think about it all and I realized that I had to be realistic and the reality of it all is that Silas Mason has been much better for my career than Samantha Hodgson ever was.  The fact is that Silas Mason is not the monster everyone makes him out to be.”

Jones wraps her arm around Lindsey’s shoulder and leads her further down the hall.

“You see, Lindsey, I have been competing in GCW, I do part time appearances in IWC, and of course my biggest job, my most important role, is the one I have within Supreme Championship Wrestling.  In that time, in those companies, I have come to realize that there are individuals out there worse than Silas Mason, far worse.  Besides…”

The red head, with Lindsey in tow, pushes her way into the kitchen “…how can I hate someone who no doubt helped me get a United States Championship Match?”

“Really?  A Title Match?” Lindsey’s voice seems to ooze the excitement she has for her wife. “I am so happy for you, babe!”

“Yeah, me and Ravyn Taylor head to head.” Jones goes to the cupboard first and retrieves two wine glasses, setting them both down the counter.  Then she goes over to the refrigerator and retrieves a bottle of wine. “I’ll see if I can knock her off of her perch.”

Jones begins to pour the wine, first into Lindsey’s glass and then some into her own. “I know you can do it, Angel.  I have faith in you.”

A half-smile forms across Angelica’s face as she watches Lindsey sip on the wine. “Faith, that’s a funny word…”

“In what way?”

“People throw that word around all the time.” Angelica chuckles. “I hear it from everyone.  They all say ‘you just gotta have faith or ‘I have faith in you’ or some other motivational bullshit.  The question, though, has nothing to do with belief of any kind.”

Lindsey continues sipping on the wine. “It doesn’t?”

“No, it doesn’t.” Angelica shakes her head. “The question, the important question, is simply this…”

A sneer forms across Angelica’s face “…how many of those idiots actually believe the bullshit they’re spouting?”

Lindsey is about to react when she finds herself suddenly feeling dizzier and dizzier, she finds it harder and harder to stay upright.  Carter immediately drops the wine glass, causing it to shatter on the floor.  She braces herself on the nearby counter to keep upright.

“Oh, Linds!” Angelica whines. “That was one of my favorite glasses!”

“Angel…Angelic…” she can barely utter anything at all as she tries to stay on her feet “…what’s…happen…”

“Well that’s a very simple…” the sound of a phone ringing is heard nearby, very closely nearby “…hold that thought, sweetie, I have to take this.”

Lindsey Carter didn’t even notice what was said to her.  She didn’t even notice the ringing.  She was too busy losing her grip on the countertop and falling to her hands and knees on the floor.  Angelica, meanwhile, was also ignoring Lindsey as she whips out her cell phone and puts it to her ear.

“Hello…oh hi, Megs!”

Lindsey couldn’t help but hear that.  There is only one person Angelica ever called “Megs” and that was Meagan Collins, Angelica’s best friend and Lindsey Carter’s former arch-rival in the business world.  Angelica and Meagan once played Lindsey for a fool, tricking her into signing a pre-nuptial that basically gave full control of Carter’s business over to Meagan in the event Angelica and Lindsey divorced.  Thus Angelica could have her fun with Lindsey until she got bored, divorce her, and then Meagan got the company.  What Meagan didn’t count on was that Angelica and Lindsey eventually grew to have legitimate feelings for one another.  The contract was still over Lindsey’s head but she never thought it would come up again.

Until now, as Lindsey is on her hands and knees on the kitchen floor listening in on Angelica’s conversation with Meagan Collins.

“Yeah, she’s right here…drugged her up nice and good…” Angelica chuckles “…you were right, she didn’t suspect the wine at all…but then again, if I know my Lindsey, she probably would’ve drunk it, drugs or no drugs.  She loves her wine, don’t you sweetie…”

She ruffles Carter’s hair “…yeah, come on over…oh you are?  Ok, great, you’ll be here in a few minutes then…She’ll be ready for you by the time you get here.”

Angelica hangs up the cell phone.  She puts it away and then kneels down so that she is eye level with Carter.

“I told you earlier that I had come to a realization that there were monsters out there, people who were worse than Silas Mason.” She uses her thumb to point at herself. “I’m one of them.  I can be much worse than Silas Mason could ever hope to be.”

Jones stands back up.   Meanwhile Carter collapses all the way onto the floor.  Her hands and knees no longer strong enough to support her.  She is barely conscious at this point and can barely make out one or two words of Angelica’s rant.  Jones knows this but doesn’t care.  It just makes her feel good to get this off of her chest.

“It isn’t entirely your fault.  A lot of it is my fault.”  Angelica shuts her eyes as tears, real tears, begin to form within them. “It was my fault for thinking I could have someone who loved me and trusted me.”

Her eyes and face flush red with anger. “Sean Williams…Andreas Lasiewicz…Sean McBride…all of them gave me a child but none of them wanted me!”

She points a long red fingernail down at Lindsey’s fallen form, which is unconscious by now.

“I thought you were different so I let you off easy. Instead of giving Meagan what she wanted I decided to try and make us work.  And I thought we were working.  But to find out that you were willing to lie to me in order to manipulate my professional wrestling career…”

Jones shakes her head “…that just shows me…it shows me…”

She pounds her fists on the kitchen counters “…it shows me that I just don’t know.  I just don’t know about us anymore.”

Jones kneels down once more.  “But I’m willing to give you another chance, because I do think that there is a small possibility you do love me and that you just made a small mistake.  Thing is, mistakes have consequences.  You have to pay for your sins, Lindsey, and in the process you need to be reminded as to who is the alpha and who is the beta in this relationship.”

Angelica stands back up. “Meagan is going to take you back because, quite frankly, I’m too angry to deal with you right now.  She’ll…remind you in her own unique way as to who is in charge.  Then, maybe then, I’ll let you come back home.”

An evil grin forms across Angelica’s lovely face “…maybe…”

The sound of a doorbell is heard ringing. “Oops, we have company.  Now don’t go anywhere.”

Angelica laughs nastily at her own, rather bad, joke as she turns and exits the kitchen, leaving the unconscious Lindsey Carter alone.  The red-headed dragon is full of emotions as she makes her way down the hall, running a gamut from anger to grief and sadness.  Relationships for Angelica never have worked out properly and it appears as if this one is no different, even though she had hoped it would be.

Jones approaches the front door and opens it, revealing Meagan Collins and her husband Michael both standing there, waiting patiently.  Michael looks on stoic and emotionless while Meagan, by contrast, has a huge grin on her face.

“Angel!” She walks right on in and embraces Angelica with a hug. “Great to see you!”

“Great seeing you too, Megs!”

After breaking the embrace, Angelica motions with her arm down the hall.  “Walk down the hall, you’ll see the kitchen.  Lindsey is in there.”

“Excellent.” Meagan gives Michael a gentle shove. “Go on, Mikey.  Retrieve my toy.”

“Yes, dear.”  With that, Michael walks away, down the hall, leaving the two women to their own devices.

“So, how did things go with lover-girl?” Meagan asks playfully.

Angelica cocks her head to one side and frowns. “Do you even have to ask?”

“I guess not.  And I guess now is not the time to say I told you so?”

“What do you mean?”

“I told you that the best course of action all along was to have your fun, divorce her quickly, and then I’d take the company, leaving her with nothing.  But you got a little soft, grew sentimental.  What gives?”

Angelica shrugs her shoulders. “I don’t know, Megs.  I just thought that she and I were good together…”

“Yeah, I know the feeling.” Meagan smiles sweetly. “I was lucky that Michael and I found one another.”

She places a hand on Angelica’s shoulder. “You will find someone too.  Trust me.”

Angelica frowns. “I haven’t given up on Lindsey yet.”

“You haven’t?”

Jones shakes her head. “Not yet.”

“But she lied to you, she manipulated you, she…”

“That’s exactly what we did to her.  Twice now.  She just needs to be reminded of who is in charge.  That’s all.  She just needs to be reminded of the consequences of lying to me.  And that is what you are to do, Megs.  Are we clear?”

“But…”

“Are we clear?”

Meagan sighs, nodding her head reluctantly. “Yes, we’re clear.”

“Excellent.” Finally a smile creeps across Angelica’s face. “Maybe this will work out after all.”

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Dos Equis

On Camera

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You know the kind of darkness where you truly cannot see anything?  Pitch black?  Yeah, that’s the kind of darkness you’re faced with right now.  The kind of darkness where you literally cannot see your hand in front of your face.   And yet, even though your eyesight is hampered and hindered by the lack of light, your other senses still function properly.  Since the sense of sight isn’t working right now, let’s focus on the sense of sound and listen in to the booming voice coming in from the darkness…

“Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages…”

“…and you too, Ravyn…”

“…at this time please welcome the woman who received a standing ovation at a quadriplegic convention…the NFL has to have express written permission to re-air games that she attended…”

Suddenly the lights come on all at once.  We see Angelica Jones standing there clad in black dress pants, a white silk feminine business top, a black blazer, and black high heeled pumps.  Her long red hair hangs unrestrained to shoulder length.  Sunglasses cover her eyes and she sports a sly grin as she stands there, waiting for the booming voice to finish its introduction.

“..you can see her charisma from space…when she walks through the woods, bears play dead so she will not harm them…”

Angelica clears her throat. “Ok, sweetie, that’s enough…”

Angelica may think that’s enough, but try telling that to the booming voice. “…she is so intimidating that she once flinched at a snail and it ran off faster than a cheetah…”

Jones furrows her brow, clearly the frustration is beginning to set in. “Um…ok, that’s enough…”

“…as a freshman, she hazed seniors…if you flip over China, it says ‘made by Angelica’…she is so beautiful that any time she walks through a cemetery, the deceased men get a hard-on…she once cut down a sequoia tree with a butter knife…”

“I SAID SHUT UP!”

And suddenly there was a brief silence. “…sorry…”

The angry glare she had her face suddenly turns into an angelic, sweet smile as the booming voice silences himself and Angelica proceeds.

“It truly is going to be a historic night on Breakdown.  Why, you may ask?” She motions to herself. “The reason is standing right here in front of you, boys and girls. Put your pasty faced, chubby cheesy poof eating heads in front of your television sets and look at this individual that stands before you here today.”

Jones spins around, three-hundred sixty degrees, until she is once again facing forward.

“My name is Angelica Jones and I ooze greatness,” she shakes her head “ok, so maybe I don’t exactly ‘ooze’ it, because that would be nasty, but you catch my drift.  I am great.  I am legendary.  I am an icon in this sport.  Failure is not in my vocabulary.  I try and try and I keep trying until I succeed and I have succeeded at everything I have ever tried in this industry.”

She holds up one finger. “As a wrestler I have held world championships…”

She holds up a second finger “…I set my foot into training and managing, and I have guided other wrestlers to world titles…”

She holds up a third finger “…I have been a promoter, running the greatest wrestling company on the British isles, Pro-Wrestling FRONTIER…”

She holds up two more fingers, now all five are up “…now Silas Mason has used his stroke to make the official Public Relations Director in the Independent Wrestling Cartel.  Isn’t he sweet?  Now if he can only help me take over as SHIELD Director from that Coulson pretender on twitter I’ll be really happy…but that’s another story for another time, boys and girls…”

Jones lowers her hand and stares back at the camera. “In other words, you cannot keep me down, you cannot stop me.  I may get knocked down but by God I’ll keep getting right back up.  By hook or by crook, one way or the other, I will succeed.”

She points a long slender, carefully manicured finger at the camera. “That’s not good news for you, Ravyn.”

“I came to Supreme Championship Wrestling for one, primary purpose and that is to become a champion.  Gold defines greatness in this sport of kings…” she chuckles lightly “…or queens, as it were.  As much as some people would love to deny it, the chase for gold, the chase for a championship, is one of the biggest driving factors in this industry.  Maybe it’s not the only driving factor, but it is certainly among the biggest driving factors and motivators.”

She smacks her own chest three times. “That chase for title gold has been my motivator since day one, and I don’t mean day one of my SCW tenure, I mean day one of my professional career.  Since day one I wanted that championship gold.  Why?  Because each and every person I encountered along the way in my road, my journey, they all told me I couldn’t do it.  They all told me it would be difficult for a woman to make it in this sport, let alone a woman of my size.”

Jones shakes her head. “No, I am not the biggest wrestler on the SCW roster.  Hell, I would dare say I am probably the smallest in SCW if not the entire sport as a whole.  But that didn’t matter to me.  Size did not matter to me as I persevered and I knocked off opponent, after opponent, after opponent, proving everyone wrong along the way until, one day, I made all of my former critics eat their words by winning gold.”

“Now I wouldn’t be surprised if you haven’t heard some of those same lines from critics throughout your wrestling tenure, I wouldn’t surprised if people also told you that you couldn’t do it, that you were better off doing something else because wrestling just wasn’t for you...”

A grin forms on Angelica’s face “…but you have proven them wrong, haven’t you?  You have the one piece of jewelry, that gold belt, that shouts to the world, that tells everyone that you are a success.”

Jones points to herself with her index finger “…I have to have that gold belt, Ravyn.  That gold championship belt is what drives me, it’s what defines me, it’s what keeps me going and I will do anything to get it.”

She reaches up and takes hold of her sunglasses.  Quickly she whips them off and tosses them to the side.  The camera now focuses in on the intensity that can be seen in Angelica’s lovely eyes.

“A setback is a setup for a comeback.  Those are the words of Willey Jolley and that’s what I have had here in SCW.  I have had setbacks.  I have not failed as I refuse to admit total defeat.  I will keep going until I draw my last breath.  I have learned from those setbacks, I have learned from those mistakes, and I am ready for my first championship opportunity in SCW.”

Jones shakes her head. “I will not make any mistakes this time.  I will wrestle a picture perfect match and my strategy will be sparkling.  You will get the absolute best of Angelica Jones because I have to win.  In my mind and in my heart and soul I have to win this match and I have to take that championship away from you.   It has to become mine.”

“I have gone over this match-up time and time again and I keep coming to the same conclusion; we are evenly matched.  The two of us, Ravyn, we make for a great match-up, in both our similarities and our differences.  It’s a perfect pairing, really, as I will be your toughest challenger to date and you will no doubt prove to be my toughest opponent in recent memory.  For the fans it will be great match, for SCW it will be a money maker.  There is no doubt in my mind that we’ll steal the spotlight.”

“For me, however, this match is bigger than that.  People who know me love to sing my praises, fairly or unfairly…”

“…she can make a paper airplane break the sound barrier…” yes, the booming voice has returned.  But Angelica hates being interrupted…

“DAMNIT I SAID SHUT U P!”

“...sorry…” once again silence as Angelica regains her composure before continuing.

“Yes, people do sing my praises, fairly or unfairly, but for me their words do not matter.  I do not believe in my own hype.  I could win a thousand world titles and brag about them on twitter but in my mind it means nothing.  I still have to constantly prove to myself that I am great because my biggest critic is myself.”

“So for me, winning the United States Championship means once again proving to myself that I am the best in the world, proving to the few critics and doubters that I have left in this industry that I am the best in the world, it’s about being the absolute best that I can be, and I will prove that I am the best by ending your reign as SCW United States Champion.”

Jones reaches out with her hand off screen and produces a bottle of Dos Equis.  She stands waiting patiently…and waiting…and waiting some more.  Finally she grows impatient and looks upwards, trying to find the booming voice again.

“Ok, that’s your cue!”

“I thought you didn’t want me to say anything?”

“Don’t test my patience…”

The booming voice is heard clearing his ‘throat’. “…she doesn’t always win the SCW United States Championship, but when she does, she celebrates with a bottle of dos equis!”

Angelica tilts the bottle up and takes a brief swig before bring it back down, smiling broadly at the camera.

“Stay thirsty, my friends!”