We Have To Win

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October 30^th, 2016

Off Camera

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Boos are ringing out in the Quicken Loans Arena.  Angelica Jones is sprawled out in the ring.  The music of Vixen Cain is still playing in the arena and she can hear it.  She knows that the chamber match has ended and she came up just short of the United States Championship.  The Boston native, Angelica “Firestar” Jones, could probably get up if she really wanted to, but she is eaten up with pain and fatigue. She’s too tired, too exhausted, and just wants to rest right now after what was one of her toughest, perhaps one of her best performances in Supreme Championship Wrestling, even if it was in a losing effort.

Yes, it is true, Angelica Jones did lose, but in that losing effort she managed to eliminate Merrick Wiseman, Jake Starr, and she lasted until the very end, coming up just short against Vixen Cain.  And perhaps an even greater achievement is the fact that Angelica Jones did not have to tap into her darker half, the evil part of her soul that has always been a part of her life.  She’s called it The Dragon and all of her life The Dragon had plagued her.

Angelica had fought long and hard to try and rid herself of The Dragon.  She thought she had gotten rid of that beast and yet, when the chamber match was announced, she grew fearful that it might rear its ugly head.  She feared that the violence and brutality of the chamber match would bring The Dragon back.

Angelica fought the urge to unleash The Dragon.  She fought the urge to become that monster once more.  She fought as just herself, as Angelica Jones.  And while she may have lost, at least she can look at herself in the mirror and know that she did so honorably.

This is why a wide grin is on her face as she lies there on the mat.

“Angelica!”

That voice sounds familiar.  Angelica thinks she knows who it is, and if she’s right, her smile would grow even wider…if that’s possible…

“Don’t go in there, Ms. Jones.”

“That’s my sister, asshole!”

Angelica lets out a slight snicker.  Yeah, that’s her younger sibling, Kayla Jones, obviously trying to push her way past the wall of officials and into the ring.  Angelica could’ve told those SCW officials that Kayla is way too stubborn to be stopped.  If she wants something, she’ll keep coming until she gets it.  And she knows that it’ll take more than a few SCW referees to stop Kayla Jones.  Sure enough, it isn’t long until Kayla is now staring over Angelica’s prone form.

“Angelica!  Are you ok?!  Angelica!”

Angelica chuckles lightly.

“I’m fine, sis…”

“You’re not fine!

“Sure I am, it’s just a flesh wound…”

Kayla blinks curiously a few moments before a look of realization washes over her.  Then Kayla glares angrily at her older sibling and then quickly jerks hard on her long red hair.

“OWWW!  What was that for?!”

“This is not the time to quote Monty Python.”

“It’s always the time to quote Monty Python.”

Kayla rolls her eyes.

“Let’s just get your goofy ass out of here.”

Kayla Jones reaches down and grabs her sister by the arm.  Angelica could’ve gotten up already so it isn’t that difficult to, wish Kayla’s help, push herself up, first to her knees and then back up to her feet to a standing position.  Angelica and Kayla place arms around one another’s shoulders as they slowly begin to walk.  The siblings make it to the ropes and Kayla holds the ropes open for her older sister, helping her out of the ring.  Kayla and Angelica and then steps down the steel steps and begin to go back up the entrance ramp.

“It’ll be fine, Angel.  It’ll be fine.”

“Oh it was great.”

Kayla shoots her sister a curious gaze as they walk up the ramp.

“Huh?”

“It was great, Kay.  It really was great out there.”

Kayla frowns as they make it to the ramp and push their way through the curtain.

“You lost.”

“I know…but it was still great…”

Kayla shakes her head.

“You didn’t drink that margarita before the match, did you?”

Angelica chuckles.

“Of course not!  Why would you suggest that?”

“Because you do not sound anything like my sister.  My sister would be royally pissed off right about now about the loss.  My sister would be talking about getting Vixen Cain back in the ring and winning the United States Championship.”

Kayla stares pointedly at Angelica.

“So tell me, what did you do to my sister?”

Angelica winks.

“I didn’t get drunk, if that’s what you’re wondering.  I wouldn’t have made it as far as I did had I went into this match drunk.”

“Then what is wrong with you?”

“Nothing is wrong with me.  In fact, I couldn’t be better.”

She sighs.

“I was tempted to unleash it, Kay.”

“What do you…”

Kayla sighs as she realizes what Angelica is referring to and then nods her head.

“…oh…The Dragon?”

Angelica nods her head.

“Yeah, The Dragon.  I was tempted to give in.  I was tempted to unleash it.  And who knows?  Had I unleashed The Dragon, I may have won…”

She shrugs her shoulders.

“…but the United States Championship isn’t worth my soul and unleashing The Dragon would’ve meant losing my soul.  I may not have won the title, I may not have won the match, but I fought honorably.  I kept my dignity.  I can be proud that I did my best.”

Kayla smirks.

“Yeah…you’re drunk.”

“I am NOT drunk!  I’ve just matured.”

Kayla rolls her eyes.

“Right, it took you forty plus years for you to mature?”

“Ok, so maybe ‘mature’ wasn’t the right word, but you know what I mean.”

“Oh I know exactly what you mean and I think mature IS the right word.”

Kayla winks.

“You are definitely childish, sis.”

The siblings continue down the hall until they come to a door, left cracked slightly open.  Kayla helps to push it open the rest of the way and then the two walk into the room, their dressing room.  The younger siblings gently walks her over to a bench and sets her down on it.  Kayla stands there, staring over her older sister.  Angelica is still smiling broadly and Kayla sighs, shaking her head.

“So are you ok?”

“Yeah, I’m great.  Never better.”

“What about us?”

Angelica looks up at Kayla with confusion in her eyes.

“Huh?  What do you mean?”

Kayla sits down next to Angelica and stares directly into her eyes.

“I mean us…The Sisterhood.  How are we doing?”

“We’re fine, sis…we’re…”

Kayla shakes her head.

“You still don’t get it.”

Kayla sighs.

“Look, listen; you did great out there tonight.  You were absolutely fantastic out there.  And you came within a hair of defeating Vixen Cain to win the United States Championship.  You just proved out there, even if it was in a losing effort, that you can still get the job done in singles action.  I wouldn’t…”

Kayla sighs again, sadly this time.

“…I wouldn’t be surprised if you wanted to forget the tag team division and The Sisterhood altogether.”

Angelica smirks.

“Now who is being foolish?”

“Huh?”

“I know I can still get the job done.  And tonight just proved it to my critics.  I’ve always known that I could get the job done.  But as far as my future here in Supreme Championship Wrestling goes…”

She reaches out and grabs Kayla’s hands, holding them tightly.

“…I am wholly and entirely dedicated to The Sisterhood, to us.”

“Really?”

“Of course I am.  I’ve had my share of singles success but now I want to succeed with you, with my sister, the best sister in the world.  We’ve been through so damn much in our lives.  We’ve even been World Tag Team Champions here in SCW.  And by God, we will be champions again.”

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Present Day

Off Camera

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Under Attack has come and gone and despite coming up short in an effort to win the United States Championship in the chamber match, Angelica Jones can still hold her head high knowing that she fought to the bitter end, eliminating Jake Starr and Merrick Wiseman along the way, and that she didn’t give in to the temptation, the temptation to unleash the beast within.  Angelica did not unleash The Dragon and she is proud of herself.  Beyond that, Angelica is optimistic about her future now that it appears as if The Dragon is truly gone this time.  Gone for good.  Gone and never to return.

Kayla Jones was not quite certain about her sister at first.  She was genuinely worried about how Angelica would take the loss.  The matriarch of the Jones family had come within an eyelash of the United States Championship.  She doesn’t normally take losing that well to begin with, adding how close she came just adds salt to the wound.  And yet Kayla was pleasantly surprised to see that Angelica took the loss rather well.  Not only did she take the loss well, but she seemed ready to move forward from Under Attack and return her focus back on The Sisterhood and trying to regain the SCW World Tag Team Championships.

It couldn’t have happened at a better moment, because it was just announced that the Jones sisters would be back together to compete against Gable Winchester and Autumn Valentine.  The rivalry between these two teams goes back to over a year ago.  Winchester and Valentine were the ones to dethrone The Sisterhood and take their titles in the first place.  The Sisterhood earned rematch after beating them in a non-title match but they failed to regain the belts in that rematch.

Winchester and Valentine have been tough champions, having held the belts for over a year now, but it seems as if they may not be on the same page.  There may be a lack of communication, and that’s putting it mildly.  If Angelica and Kayla can take advantage and defeat Gable and Autumn now when they are at their weakest then perhaps The Sisterhood can earn another shot at the SCW World Tag Team Championships.

They’ve done it before, they know they can do it again.

But on this day the world tag team championships are the farthest thing from the minds of Angelica and Kayla Jones.  They are in a bridal shop in Boston, Massachusetts where they are looking for a dress for Kayla, a special wedding dress for Kayla’s upcoming special day.  It will be the day Kayla gets married to Trenton Snow…

“What’s taking her so damn long?!”

That's the impatient sound of the Jones Family matriarch, Angelica Jones, as she taps her foot and checks her watch.  Angelica is wearing denim jeans, flip flops, and a black “SCW” t-shirt.  To Angelica's left is a dress, still on its hanger, no doubt the dress she will be trying on momentarily.

“I wish she wouldn’t be such a damned perfectionist.”

“Give me a break, sis…”

Kayla emerges from behind the curtain.  Angelica can’t help but stare wide-eyed at her younger sibling as she looks damn near regal in a royal purple bridal gown.  Kayla spins around in a three-sixty, showing it has no back.

“I just want things to be perfect!”

“…wow.”

Kayla giggles.

“What?  Is that the best you have?”

Angelica shrugs her shoulders.

“What do you want from me?”

“Well, I DID say I wanted perfection.  So tell me…did I achieve it?”

Angelica studies her for a few moments and then sighs, nodding her head.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

Kayla tilts her head to one side, staring at her older sibling skeptically.

“Why are you lying to me?”

“I’m not lying.  You look great.”

Kayla shakes her head.

“You don’t believe that.  You’re just saying that because you think that’s what I want to hear.”

Kayla walks over and sits down next to Angelica.

“Tell me the truth, sis. I know you don’t like the color, you said so yourself before I went into the changing room.  So just tell me the truth.  Do you like it?”

Angelica sighs and shakes her head.

“Ok…no, I don’t like it.”

“Fine.  So tell me, what’s wrong with it?”

“The dress is beautiful, Kay, it really is, but…”

Angelica frowns.

“…that color…”

“It’s just a color!”

“Maybe, but this is different.”

“How?”

Angelica rolls her eyes.

“Fine, call me a traditionalist if you want, call me  old…”

Kayla smirks.

“You ARE old.”

“…not funny.  But yeah, call me old, call me a traditionalist, but the bride is supposed to wear white.”

Kayla stares at her sister Angelica for what seems like an eternity.  Angelica is stunned when she notices tears form in Kayla’s eyes and start to roll down her cheek ever so slowly.

“What?  What’s wrong, sis?  What’d I say?”

Kayla shakes her head.

“It’s not…it’s not you…”

“Then what is it?”

Kayla wipes some of the tears from her eyes.

“You wouldn’t understand.  I mean, how could you understand what I’ve done to myself…to my…”

Her voice trails off, she shakes her head as she tries to find the words.

“…reputation…”

“Your reputation?!  What does that have to do with anything?!”

“White is supposed to be a color of purity.  And yet you know damn well that Trenton Snow was not the first that I…”

Kayla’s voice again trails off.  Angelica smirks as she finishes her younger sister’s thought.

“…the first you had sex with?”

“Right.  Trenton wasn’t my first.  But that’s not the only thing.  My first was Jason.”

Angelica nods her head.  She remembers Jason all too well.  The Jason to which Kayla is referring is none other than Jason Redfield, Kayla’s first husband.  They seemed to be perfect for one another.  They seemed to be truly in love.  But appearances can be deceiving.  Their relationship, obviously, did not last…

“I cheated on Jason.  That’s why we split up, because I cheated on him with Andreas.  But you knew that.  Then there was Andreas…”

Again Angelica nods her head.  Andreas Lasiewicz is another she knows very well, probably better than Jason.  Angelica had actually dated Andreas at one time before her sister Kayla got together with him.

“…I thought we had something special.  I truly did.  Andreas gave me two children.  Paige and Duncan.”

Kayla actually manages to crack a smile, despite the tough memories.  She wipes the tears from her eyes.

“But I fucked that one up too.  I was on the GDW Board of Directors when Andreas wrestled for Global Division of wrestling.  I pushed to keep him out of the world title scene because I thought he had mental issues.”

Kayla buries her face in her hands and starts crying.  Angelica can do nothing to comfort her except to gently pat her on the back.

“I betrayed him…and I lied to him about it…I can’t blame him for wanting nothing to do with me…”

Kayla holds up three fingers.

“Trenton is number three.  THREE!  What am I going to do to him?!”

“You’re going to marry him.  You’re going to love him.  That’s what you’re going to do.”

“Really?  I thought I was going to do that with Jason and Andreas but it didn’t work out.  I cheated on Jason, I betrayed Andreas…”

Kayla stands up and motions to her purple wedding dress.

“Now do you see why I insist upon wearing purple instead of white?  White is for purity and I’m far from it.  I’m a whore!”

“Oh sweetheart…”

Angelica stands up and embraces her sister in a tight hug.

“You’re not a whore.”

“Yes I am!  Trenton can do so much better than me…and…”

“And what?”

“…and I’m afraid I’m going to hurt him like I hurt Jason and Andreas.  It seems as if that’s all I do to the men in my life.”

Kayla shakes her head.

“Everyone always thought you were the terrible one and I was the good sister…but they were wrong.  I’m the monster…”

“You’re being silly.”

Angelica wipes some tears out of her sister’s eyes.

“Look at yourself, beating yourself up over the past.  But then again, it seems as if that’s what we Jones girls do best, huh?”

Angelica sits Kayla back down on the bench.  Angelica then sits down as well.

“I haven’t exactly had the best of luck with men, either.  Sean Williams…Andreas Lasiewicz…Sean McBride…then I gave up on men and tried Brittany Lohan…that didn’t work out and now I’m with Lindsey, my fifth relationship…”

Angelica smirks.

“…point is, if you’re a whore, I’m a slut.”

Kayla can’t help but laugh out loud at Angelica’s own self-deprecating humor.

“There’s that smile!”

“Ok, so maybe you have a point, but I’m still worried about what might happen.  You know?”

Angelica nods her head.

“I know, and it’s perfectly understandable to be worried.  But I learned that the best way to deal with your fears is to confront them.  So if you’re really worried about this, then you need to just suck it up and tell Trenton.”

Kayla’s eyes grow wide.

“Tell…Trenton?”

“I mean, he knows that you have had two previous relationships, but does he know how they ended?  Tell him.  I guarantee you he’ll understand and he’ll forgive your past…even though you seem unwilling to forgive yourself.”

Kayla gives a half-smile.

“Maybe you’re right…I can try it at least.”

“Yeah, at least give it a try.”

“Hey, since when did you become so upbeat…optimistic…and uh, pastoral?  This just isn’t in character for you.”

Angelica laughs lightly.

“I know.  I’ve changed a great deal, haven’t I?”

“That’s obvious.  But how?  Why?”

“Sister Maria was right about me, Kay.  I may no longer be a nun, but my gift and my calling is still there.  The person you see, the person I am now, that is the person I was when I was in the convent before hate filled my heart, before The Dragon took hold on my soul, before I wanted to seek vengeance against the very society that tried to destroy us.”

Kayla grins.

“You’re different, that’s for sure, and it will take some getting used to, but I think I like this version of you.”

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On Camera

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Angelica steps into the scene wearing a black sleeveless jumpsuit with a surplice neckline that pleated with a self-tie sash belt at the waist.  It has a wide leg but you can barely make out her toes peeking out from underneath the wide leg, her toes painted a dark red.  Her long gorgeous red hair hangs unrestrained to below the shoulders.  Her fingernails are painted the same shade of dark red as her toes.

“The story of The Sisterhood lately has been that for every one step forward that we take, we’re pushed two or three steps backward.  But we’re not going to make any excuses.  It’s no one else’s fault but our own.  And there’s no one else who can fix it, no one else who can get us back on track, except for The Sisterhood.  We’ve had our ups and we’ve had our downs; we are the only ones responsible for the situation that we now find ourselves in, and that means we are the only ones who can pull ourselves back up to where we want to be.  And where do we want to be?”

“We want to be back in contention for the SCW World Tag Team Championship.”

“That puts us directly in conflict with Gable Winchester and Autumn Valentine.  And that’s something Kayla and I are definitely not unfamiliar with.  We’ve danced before, Gable and Autumn.  We’ve had our rounds many, many times.  You beat us for the championships, fair play to you, and we refused to accept it.  We refused to accept it because we were never pinned, we were never made to submit.  Our competitive nature took over and we wanted to prove that in a straight up match, we could beat you two.”

“We got that opportunity in a non-title match and we beat you.  We beat you to earn a rematch at the SCW World Tag Team Championships.  At the time you could not have understood how we felt, but let me tell you how we felt.”

“We felt vindicated.  Kayla and I weren’t pinned when you won the titles, on top of that, there were other teams involved.  It was a clusterfuck.  Kayla and I KNEW that if we just got one straight up one on one match that we could beat you.  And guess what?  We BEAT you!  We pinned you!  We felt vindicated and we knew, we just KNEW that if we got one more opportunity, this time in a tag team championship match, that we could beat you again and take back our championships.”

“But that didn’t happen.  Oh we got our title shot, we got it at Taking Hold of the Flame, but we didn’t beat you.  On that night, you beat us.  You pinned us.”

“According to my math that’s three high profile matches, two won by you, one of them won by us.  We definitely have had our rounds, we definitely know each other very well by now after fighting each other so many times.”

“Most everyone else would hate each other by now.  But I speak for myself and I think I can safely speak for Kayla when I say that we don’t hate you.  We respect the hell out of you.  But the fact is that you have something that we want.  You are currently in the position that we want to be in.  You are at the top of the tag team division.  You have those SCW World Tag Team Championships.  We want that.  We have to have that and we will fight like hell to get back there.  We will put you through hell to get back there.”

“Lucky us, and unlucky for you, it seems as if Mr. D or someone else in SCW has deemed us worthy of one more opportunity, because it’s you two against the Sisterhood one more time.  No belts on the line but a hell of a lot of pride riding on the line, and a lot of pressure riding for you two, because if you fail, if you get beat by The Sisterhood, then we’ll be coming back soon for a tag title shot.”

“This is our second chance, Gable and Autumn.  This is our opportunity and we are letting everything ride on this because we know we can beat you, we know we WILL beat you.  You’ve been great champions, but damnit it’s our time to step back up and reclaim our spot at the top of the tag team division, it is our time to prove once again to the tag team division that The Sisterhood is STILL a legitimate threat and one of the top teams in SCW.  And we’re going to start by kicking your teeth down your throat!”

“Take it away, Kayla.”

Eventually the lovely, feminine creature known to one and all as Kayla Jones steps into view.  Jones is wearing a gold colored knee length half-sleeve sheath, chic, and modern formal cocktail dress with a bateau neckline.  Her feet are encased in strappy three inch heels and her long red hair hangs down unrestrained to shoulder length.

“I should sue you for copyright infringement, Angelica.  The whole ‘kicking teeth’ line is mine and mine alone.”

“But in all seriousness, my sister is right, we are going to kick your teeth right down your throat.  It’s that simple.  We’ve been fighting bitterly tooth and nail to rise back up to the top of the tag team mountain or over a year.  We won’t deny making our own mistakes.  We are not going to make any excuses. We screwed up.  But over the course of the year in which we’ve been ousted from that top spot, we’ve grown, we’ve evolved, and more importantly we’ve learned from our mistakes.  We know how we screwed up and we know how we’re going to fix things.”

“We’re going to fix things by going straight for the jugular.  No holding back, no playing nice.  Respectful, yes…but not nice and damn sure not pretty.  On Breakdown you two will get the absolute best of The Sisterhood, and that’s just the absolute worst thing that could possibly have happened to you.”

“Take it as a sign of respect, Gable and Autumn.  We respect you.  We respect you to the extent that we’re going to push the envelope in terms of what we’re capable of.  We’re going to bring our one hundred and ten percent, we’re going to throw everything we have at you, because we know to be the best you have to beat the best and currently you are the best.”

“We also understand that this may very well be our last shot.  We got a shot at Taking Hold of the Flame and we lost. We were entered into a tournament to crown new number one contenders and we lost.  Now we’re booked against the world tag team champions of SCW.  Angelica is right, you have no idea how lucky we feel.  But to get back into title contention we have to actually start to win.  If we beat you, just as we beat you before, then we’ll get that title shot that we want.  But if we lose, if we lose like we lost at Taking Hold of the Flame, then it’ll be long time before we get another opportunity.”

“We understand that and that’s why, just as Angelica alluded to, we’re putting all of ours eggs into this one basket, this is why we’re going all in against you two on Breakdown.  We’re going to throw everything we have at you and we are going to sacrifice everything we have in our heart and soul.  We will live or die on this one match.  Either we beat you and live to fight another day, perhaps to fight for the tag team titles, or we’ll die and perhaps never again get back to the top of the mountain.”

“That’s how The Sisterhood approaches everything from now on.  We approach every match as if it could be our final match.  We’re taking everything that seriously because it very well could be that serious for us.  We don’t just want to beat you, we HAVE to beat you on Breakdown, we have to beat you more than anything you can ever imagine.”

“And we will beat you, and we will kick your teeth right down your throat.”

The camera fades to black.