Redemption

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Redemption

Jessica Lasiewicz

On Camera

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My sister thought the redemption quest was done…she thought that by attacking me, that I would see the fruitlessness in my quest to redeem my family name and that I would let redemption die.  That’s the problem with me, I’m stubborn and I get it honest from both of my parents.  There was no way in hell I was going to walk away from this fight.  If Marie wasn’t going to listen to me then I just had to go to someone who would…

…my mother.

My mother is a proud athlete who believes in our family but what she believes in more than anything else is her children.  I had to put myself at risk but I made her see how evil Silas Mason really is.  I made her see that she had to get out of Silas World as soon as she could.

Now your World is coming apart at the seams, Silas.  You had a diamond in the form of Angelica Jones and she’s left you in the dust.  Even if me, Angelica, and Harmony all come up short at Rise To Greatness, you still don’t get her services anymore.  She’s done with you even if it means the end of her career.

It’s over.

Now I’m going to continue my quest for redemption and I will pry my sister Marie loose from your grips even if it is the last thing I do!  As for my mother, she’s ready to move on from redemption to reviving her legacy, a legacy that was tarnished under Silas World…she’s going to remind the world of how dangerous the dragon can really be…

…and she’s going to do it at the expense of Katie Steward.

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Second Guessing

Off Camera

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Twelve year plus veteran of the game, Angelica Jones has learned that there are many subtleties that help create the perfect professional wrestler. Yes, one should know how to wrestle, one should be intelligent in their approach, and Angelica’s knowledge of how to wrestle and her intelligence inside of the squared circle is beyond anyone else’s.  But there are other lesser known factors that come into play when it comes to the perfect professional wrestler.  If you’re going into battle against someone and that someone can detect that you are doubtful, that you are second guessing yourself, if that person can sense that you are unsure of your own abilities, then that person could be motivated to finish you.  Thus it becomes important for most professional wrestlers to put forward a confident front, it becomes almost an art form for some professional wrestlers to appear confident even when they are not.

Angelica Jones has mastered the art of appearing confident during times when she would otherwise be second guessing herself.  You might find it odd that a thirteen time world champion and member of three pro-wrestling halls of fame would second guess herself but even the great Angelica Jones has a problem when it comes to doubt.  It seems as if her doubts and self-critique has always followed her throughout her career.  When she won her first world championship she wasn’t sure she had it in her to keep it on her own so she hired Samantha Hodgson as an agent to help maintain her career.  The partnership of Hodgson and Jones as a one-sided affair with Samantha taking advantage of Angelica at almost every turn.  Samantha knew Angelica would do as she was told primarily out of fear of losing Samantha’s assistance and thus losing that crutch Angelica had come to rely upon for so long.

It wasn’t until Angelica’s wife, Lindsey Carter, came along that the relationship between Angelica Jones and Samantha Hodgson came to an end.  Carter manipulated Jones into dumping Hodgson and signing on with Silas Mason instead.  Much like the Jones/Hodgson relationship prior, Angelica’s relationship with Silas Mason was a one-sided affair with Silas Mason dictating the terms at every turn.

Now things have changed drastically.  Angelica Jones found out about what Lindsey Carter did and so she had her kidnapped.  Lindsey Carter is now out of the picture, at least for now, and Angelica Jones has abandoned Silas Mason.  For the first time in Angelica’s long and storied career she is without representation.  For the first time in Angelica’s career, the red-headed dragon from Boston, Massachusetts is on her own.

Well, she’s not completely on her own, she does have her sister Kayla Jones by her side, as well as her daughter Jessica Lasiewicz.  Fellow Silas World alum, Harmony Fisher, is also fighting by their side and it will be Angelica, Jessica, and Harmony fighting at Rise To Greatness with their careers on the line against Regan Street, Sienna Swann, and Katie Steward.

Currently we find the matriarch of the Jones wrestling family seated along in her dressing room backstage at the Palace of Auburn Hills arena in Detroit, Michigan shortly after Breakdown went off the air.  The dressing room is actually quite roomy, as Angelica and Jessica both share it.  Wooden benches line two of the walls while blue lockers line the other two walls.  A Rise To Greatness poster is hanging on one of the walls and the floor is a plain concrete one.

Angelica doesn’t appear to be in the best of moods right now as she sits slumped over with her head resting in her hands.  Tonight she already found out about the six person tag at Rise To Greatness, a match where her career will be on the line thanks to Silas Mason, and she also has found out about her upcoming match on the next Breakdown against Katie Steward.

The look on the face of the Boston native tells the story of how concerned she is about this whole ordeal.  After all, this isn’t just her career in jeopardy now, it’s her daughter Jessica’s as well.  Jessica never asked for this, for any of this.  She’s a part of this because Angelica drug her into it; yet another instance of Jessica paying for her mother’s mistakes.

Her musing is interrupted by a light knocking at the door. “Come in…?”

Jones turns to find one of the arena workers stepping inside. “Excuse me, Ms. Jones, but your daughter is here to see you.”

A warm smile creeps across the face of Angelica Jones.  Jessica is the one mostly responsible for Angelica getting up the courage, the nerve, to leave Silas Mason and his World in the first place.  Had it not been for Jessica Lasiewicz talking some sense into her, she would still be Silas Mason’s goon to this very day.  She knows she owes her a daughter a great deal, the least she can do is fight on her behalf at Rise To Greatness and win.

“Send her in.”

The worker exits and Angelica stands up and watches her dressing room door, expecting the raven-haired Lasiewicz to come through those very doors at any moment.  Boy is she surprised when her middle-child does not make her way into the dressing room.  Instead her red-headed eldest child an IWC superstar Marie Annabelle Jones steps into the dressing room wearing a black leather mini-skirt, black high heeled pumps, a red sweater, a black leather jacket, and sunglasses.  Her long red hair hangs unrestrained to shoulder length.

“Oh, hi Marie…” Angelica’s voice trails off ever so slightly “…umm, I wasn’t expecting you.”

“Who were you expecting?  Jessica?”  Marie snickers lightly. “Oh well, you got me instead…mom…”

There is an awkward tension in the room and it is completely understandable.   Much like how Lindsey Carter manipulated Angelica Jones into signing on with Silas Mason, it was Angelica Jones who talked her eldest child Marie Annabelle Jones into signing with Silas Mason.  It seemed appropriate enough, at first.  Marie had been having difficulties of her own with Samantha Hodgson and Angelica, seeing a lot of herself within Marie, felt that maybe signing with Silas Mason would be a good idea.  Keep it within the family, you know?  Little did Angelica know that Lindsey Carter had played her for a fool.  Had she known this, she would not have encouraged Marie to sign with Silas Mason.

“So what brings you out here to Detroit?” Angelica asks, curiously.

“Is there something wrong with wanting to see my mother compete?”

Angelica shakes her head. “No, I guess not, but the thing is I wasn’t in action tonight.”

“Oh, well is there something wrong with wanting to watch my sister compete?”

The mother frowns. “Jessica wasn’t competing either.”

“Ok, ok, fine, maybe I didn’t come here to support either one of you.” The face of the eldest child grows serious. “Maybe I came here to talk some sense into you!”

Angelica should have seen this coming a mile away.  She should have expected it.   She was the one who introduced Marie to Silas Mason and to Silas World and yet she is leaving Marie alone in Silas World all by herself.  In a way, Angelica feels somewhat bad, somewhat guilty, and yet it was Marie’s decision to stay.  No one else’s.

“Sit down.” Angelica commands, pointing to one of the benches with her right hand.

“Oh is this going to be one of those mother-daughter talks that we’re so famous for?”

The sarcasm is dripping from Marie’s voice and a sneer forms across her face but she doesn’t sit down.  She just stares across at her mother who patiently waits for her daughter to comply with her request.  Eventually when it becomes clear Marie isn’t ready to comply…

“Please…sit down.”

“And what if I don’t wanna?”

Angelica doesn’t like to be challenged, especially by her own children.  The mother grabs her eldest daughter by the shoulders and forces her ass down upon the nearest wooden bench.  Angelica glares down at her determinedly.

“Now…sit…”

Angelica sits down on the bench next to her. “We’re going to talk about this.”

“No, you’re FORCING me to sit here and listen to your crap.” Marie snaps back at her. “Much like how you forced me to join Silas World awhile back.”

“I didn’t force you to do anything.” Angelica shakes her head, pointing a finger at Marie. “That was entirely your decision.”

“But you did encourage it!”

“Yes, I admit that I did encourage you to sign with Silas Mason.  It felt right at the time.”

“So what’s changed?” Marie demandingly asks. “Huh?  What has changed so much that you had to leave him?  That you had to leave me?!”

“That much should be fairly clear to you, Marie.” A smile forms across Angelica’s lips. “Besides, what’s wrong?  Are you beginning to doubt Silas?”

“Not in the least!” Marie exclaims, reaching out and taking Angelica by her hands. “I’m here because I care about you…”

The mother blinks several times out of confusion.  This wasn’t quite the response she was expecting from her enraged eldest daughter.

“You care about me?”

“Yes!” Marie nods her head enthusiastically. “Nearly a year ago I was lost, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to please the fans, please Alana Starr, or please Ethan Von Aaron.  I even had Samantha Hodgson as an agent for awhile and I thought I needed to please her.”

She reaches out and places a hand on Angelica’s shoulder. “But you talked sense into me.  You showed me a better way.  You introduced me to Silas Mason.”

Angelica lowers her head, bowing it out of shame.  She does remember the day she introduced her daughter to Silas Mason and, looking back, hindsight being twenty-twenty, she wishes she would never have introduced the two of them.

“Now I am here to return the favor.”

“How do you plan to do that?”

“It’s real simple, mom.” Marie insists. “Silas still owns your contract.  You can say you’ve left Silas World all you want…”

“I HAVE left Silas World!” Angelica states defiantly.

“Right, well you can say it all day long but it means nothing until he tears up that contract.”

Angelica frowns. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying you should return to Silas.” Marie suggests. “All will be forgiven.”

Angelica looks on at her daughter incredulously. “All will be forgiven?!  How the hell do you figure that, Marie?!”

“I am going to ask him to let you back in and forgive you as a personal favor to me.”

The elder Jones shakes her head. “No…”

“No?!”

“Marie, you should know me better than that.  I am not going to crawl back to anyone and ask for forgiveness, especially not him.” Angelica sighs. “And besides, even if I did, Silas Mason is not the forgiving type.”

“Mom, you know that you are fighting a losing battle.” Marie presses. “And for what?  For whom?  Harmony Fisher?  Jessica?”

Angelica frowns. “Jessica is your sister…”

“And she put herself into this situation where her career is now in jeopardy.”

Marie stands up. “Look, Jessica and Harmony can deal with the consequences of the decisions they made…you don’t have to…just come home to Silas World.”

“I…” Angelica shakes her head “…can’t do that…”

“Then I guess we have nothing left to discuss.”

Angelica watches as her eldest daughter turns and walks away.  She opens the door and exits, leaving Angelica alone with just her thoughts and musings to keep her company.   As much as she doesn’t want to admit it, Marie is right.  Marie is Silas Mason’s newest crown jewel and she would no doubt have him eating out of the palm of her hand.  If Angelica wanted forgiveness, if she wanted back in the World, all that would have to be done is for Marie to give the signal to Silas and all would be back to the way it was.  And truth be told, that would probably be the easiest course of action to take.  But just because something is easy doesn’t make it right.  Angelica has had to learn that the hard way growing up in this industry.  She knows that a battle against Silas World is looming over the horizon whether she likes it or not.

The first of what will no doubt be many fights over the horizon will be a one on one match against Katie Steward on the next edition of Breakdown.  No stipulation, no gimmicks, just Jones against Steward.  But Angelica is on her own now for the first time in her long and celebrated career.  That in and of itself is enough to raise doubts within Angelica’s mind about whether or not she can be victorious, doubts about whether or not she can get the job done without Silas Mason.

A knocking at the door interrupts Angelica’s train of thought. “Go away, Marie…”

“This isn’t Marie.” The voice states. “And I’m not going away.”

Angelica grins from ear to ear.  She knows that voice oh so well.  It’s her sister...

“Well don’t stand out there all day!” Angelica exclaims loudly. “Come in, Kay!”

The door opens and Angelica watches as Kayla Jones, her younger sister, enters the room.  Angelica shoots right up and immediately rushes over to meet her sister with a tight embrace.  After breaking the embrace Kayla and Angelica take appraisal of one another…

“You look great, sis…”

Angelica says this while admiring her sister’s attire consisting of denim capris, a red t-shirt, and tennis shoes.  Her long red hair pulled into a ponytail in the back.

“Back at you…” Kayla remarks.

Angelica and Kayla walk over to the bench where she and Marie had just been sitting a few minutes earlier.  Kayla sits down first followed by Angelica.  Kayla can tell by the look on her older sister’s face that something is wrong and immediately presses for answers.

“So what went wrong between you and Marie?”

“Why do you automatically assume something went wrong?”

“It wasn’t THAT hard to figure out.” Kayla smirks knowingly. “I saw my niece storming out of this dressing room pouting like the spoiled brat she’s become.”

“She has become a bit full of herself lately, hasn’t she?”

“She has an ego the size of Texas.” Kayla retorts without missing a beat. “And that’s not an understatement.”

“Still, just because you’re arrogant doesn’t mean you can’t be right.”

Kayla tilts her head to one side, studying her sister carefully for a few moments.

“What do you mean?  What is Marie right about?”

“I think you know exactly what I mean.”

“Great…” Kayla rolls her eyes “…look, sis, you need to get a grip and you can’t let whatever it is she said get to you.”

“You don’t even know what she said.” Angelica says as she shakes her head. “You have no idea…”

“Try me.” Kayla challenges.

The elder sister looks on at her younger sister.  She can detect the concern in her eyes.  They haven’t always agreed on everything but they have always been there for one another, primarily because they have only had one another throughout their entire lives.  This is no different.   Angelica knows that Kayla would not lead her astray.

“I have never been alone in this industry.  For almost my entire career I had Samantha Hodgson managing the business aspect of my wrestling career and then when I dumped her I hooked up with Silas Mason.  Now I dumped him and I’m alone for the first time ever.”

“So?”

“Think about it, Kay, do you really think I can get it done on my own?!” Angelica asks, almost shouts. “I couldn’t win the Shot of Adrenaline Tournament and I had Silas Mason in my corner.  I couldn’t win the United States Championship and I had Silas Mason in my corner.  Now he’s gone and I have no one…”

Angelica sighs, shaking her head “…no one…”

“First of all, you are looking at this all wrong.”

Kayla begins speaking as she consolingly and lovingly takes her sister by the hands and squeezes them tightly.

“It’s true that you didn’t win Shot of Adrenaline and that you didn’t beat Ravyn for the US Title.  But did you ever stop to think that maybe Silas Mason and his World were just a distraction and that’s why you lost?  Or maybe…just maybe…your success or failure has nothing to do with Silas Mason at all...”

She reaches out and places a hand on her shoulder “…and it has EVERYTHING to do with you.”

“Me?”

Kayla nods her head. “You just need to train and prepare and do your homework and the next time you get an opportunity, it won’t pass you by.  You need to accept responsibility for your actions.  You can’t pass the buck and you don’t need an agent who will make excuses for you.”

A sly grin forms across Kayla’s face. “And that brings up my second point…”

“You have two points?” Angelica chuckles. “This should be good.”

“Yes, I DO have two points to make, because you keep whining about being alone when nothing could be further from the truth.  No, you don’t have Samantha Hodgson and no, you don’t have Silas Mason.”

Kayla motions to herself. “But you do have me…”

“What do you…”

Angelica is about to ask Kayla to elaborate upon her point but then it slowly starts to sink in as to what her younger sister specifically means.  Kayla recently founded her own wrestling booking agency.  Jones Wrestling Incorporated.  Kayla herself is at its head and among its founding members are the reigning GCW World Tag Team Champions Gabriella Austin and Hayley Gold.  Jones is looking to expand her agency into new horizons and new territory.  Would it be awkward to have her sister as an agent?  Yes.  Would it be fun to have her sister as an agent?  Yes!

“Kayla, that’s…”

She stops as yet another realization slowly begins to wash over her.  The smile that had been on her face turns into one of disappointment as she shakes her head.

“…not gonna work.”

“Why not?”

“Silas still owns my contract.”

“Not for long.” Kayla says with a confident grin on her face. “When you, Harmony, and Jessica win at Rise To Greatness, you’ll be free!”

“If we win…”

Kayla reaches out and embraces her older sister in a tight hug. “You will win!”

“I’m glad one of us is confident…”

“Sis, you won thirteen world championships…you have been inducted into three halls of fame…not one of those accomplishments had been earned by Silas Mason.” She pokes Angelica in the chest. “YOU earned them on your own!”

“I know, but…”

“No buts…” Kayla shakes her head “…you earned them by yourself and it’s high time you reminded the world of just who in the hell Angelica Jones really is!”

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Redemption

Kayla Jones

On Camera

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Those of you who know me well enough know that I am not one to mince words.  I tell it like it is, because right is right whether it is popular or not.  As far as my sister is concerned, she hasn’t always been the most popular of wrestlers on the planet.  Oh she’s well known, there’s no questioning that, but “popular” just isn’t the right word.  The word I would use to describe my sister would be infamous, because everyone knows her.  Everyone knows who Angelica Jones is.  Throughout her career she has always been a lightning rod.  I would compare her to Hillary Clinton or the Confederate battle flag, you either love them or you hate them, there isn’t much room for an in-between.

A great deal of that divisiveness comes from the fact that she has made many mistakes in the past.  In her defense, she was well-intentioned.  But she made mistakes nevertheless.  One such mistake was named Samantha Hodgson.  She kept that mistake around for a very long time and you couldn’t imagine the relief our entire family felt when we learned Angelica was about to get rid of Hodgson…

…but then she brought Silas Mason into the mix.  My sister just replaced one mistake for another.

I’m not here to make excuses for her mistakes.   Silas Mason is just that…a mistake…and Angelica is prepared to deal with the mistake she made once and for all, because she is back and this is no longer just about her legacy, this is about redemption and she is going to redeem her legacy and her name.  She is going to remind everyone that she got to where she is today not because of Samantha Hodgson and damn sure not because of Silas Mason…

…she got here because of her own talents and her own abilities.  Katie Steward had better recognize that my sister isn’t just another blowhard who talks about how great she is, she isn’t just another lunatic ranting about how she’s going to maim her opponents…

…Angelica Jones means every word.

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Redemption

Angelica Jones

On Camera

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We see a green marble floor.  The clicking of heels across a marble floor is heard.  The clicking noise grows louder and louder until we can see delicate feminine feet with red painted nails encased in strappy open toed high heel shoes steps into the scene.  The feet come to a rest and immediately the camera goes upward and pans outward so as to get a full view of this lovely woman.  The woman, wearing a tight little black strapless dress and with long red hair, is none other than Angelica Jones.

“My long and storied career, despite the many championship wins and hall of fame inductions, has still been marred, tainted, tainted by men and women standing behind me, being protected by me, taking credit for everything I did.  Whether that person was Samantha Hodgson or Silas Mason there has always been someone in my career trying to take credit for everything good that I accomplished in my career and whenever I failed it was never their fault.  Never their fault.  Always mine.”

“My first mistake was believing them.  It took until now for me to realize that people like Hodgson and Silas are not just a stain upon this industry but a damn cancer that threatens its very existence because they care about themselves.  You can’t be a good agent if you care only about yourself.  A good agent looks out for the well-being of their clients.”

Jones holds up two fingers. “My second mistake is similar to the first.  You see, in my career as a professional athlete I have made believers out of everyone I set foot into the ring with.  Supreme Championship Wrestling acknowledged my greatness by acknowledging my past.  My debut night in SCW, I remember the replays and not one of the announcers pretended that I was some rookie in my first go at wrestling.  They knew who I was, they respected who I was, and they acknowledged my greatness and all of the greatness that I would henceforth be bringing to SCW.”

“Merrick Wiseman had damn sure better acknowledge my greatness, because his career was shortened considerably after an encounter with me!  And that was just one fatality on the road to Shot of Adrenaline, a tournament I came within an eyelash of winning because I...am…great…but while I was busy making believers out of everyone else in SCW, I neglected to make a believer out of the most important person…”

She use the thumb on her right hand to motion to herself “…myself.”

“Everyone believed in me.  My sister believed in me.  My daughters believed in me.  Hell, even the fans believed in me, which is why they hated me being in Silas World so damn much.  But I didn’t believe in myself.  And that’s exactly what I needed to do.  I needed to start believing in myself.  I needed to that my success had nothing to do with Samantha Hodgson, it had nothing to do with Silas Mason, and that it had EVERYTHING to do with me being great.”

“Every success is because I’m great, every failure is because I fucked up or my opponent was just plain better that night.  It’s as simple as that.  Hodgson and Silas have nothing to do with what happens to me inside of that ring.  I needed to realize that and now that I do realize that I can leave Silas World and move on with my career.”

The redhead shakes her head. “Oh but I can’t, can I?  I have to deal with my past.  I have to get rid of the excess baggage known as Silas World.  There needs to be an exorcism and the exorcism begins on Breakdown with you, Katie Steward.”

“So you’re a goddess, huh?  Funny, there was a time I called myself The Golden Goddess and, truth be told, inside of the wrestling ring I am divine!  I am god and this is my world and people like you are just damn lucky to be living in it, Katie!”

A sly grin forms across her face. “But you’re not getting the golden goddess…”

Jones shakes her head “…you tried to break my sister’s neck, you tried to break my daughter’s neck, so I’m not going to be satisfied with just humiliating you.  That’s too good for you.  Instead you get The Dragon.  You get the monster. You get my violent dark side that enjoys the bloodletting and the pain.”

“Beating you in and of itself would humiliate you somewhat, because you are still arrogant.  You have no reason to be arrogant because your career under Silas Mason has gone so far south down the toilet that it’s begun to smell like shit.  Being beaten by someone like me should help your career for the simple reason of who I am, but you’re too damn arrogant to figure that out.  So yes, beating you would humble you a little bit, but ultimately it would not do the job.  Ultimately it would not be what you deserve.”

“What you deserve for following your little puppet master around like a good little storm trooper is to be broken in half and that is what I plan to do to you on Breakdown.  I will maim you, I will watch the blood pour out from every orifice, you will lie at my feet as a beaten and bloody mess, completely unrecognizable to the rest of the company.”

“And where will your precious Silas Mason be?” Jones shrugs her shoulders. “Who knows?  What I do know is that he won’t be anywhere near that ring.  He knows better than to get in my way when I’m in this mood.  But if I am giving him too much credit…I’ll snap him like a twig as well…because if you think I care about repercussions right now then you’re wrong.  Dead wrong.  Angelica Jones  has left the building, ladies and gentlemen, and you are dealing with The Dragon now, the monster who will consume Silas World in a ball of flame.”