Saturday, December 10, 2016

Turmoil



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Off Camera
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Angelica Jones and her sister Kayla’s journey back to the top of the tag team division has lasted for a year and, like a roller coaster ride, has had its ups and its downs.  On numerous occasions they have been number one contenders for the belts.  On many occasions they even defeated the reigning champions, Gable Winchester and Autumn Valentine; but the fact that the victories were in non-title matches meant nothing.  Reaching up to grab that brass ring was all that mattered in the grand scheme of things and every time the Jones siblings had the opportunity to take the gold, they were unable to deliver.

Along the way The Sisterhood have had clashes with many great teams; teams such as their old rivals Adrenaline Rush, Craig Thomas and Stacy Kissinger.  They’ve battled with new teams such as Honor Code, Shaun Cruze and AJ Helms, and wild cards such as The Daughters of Darkness.  And here recently The Sisterhood’s quest to regain the world tag team gold has put them in conflict with Jake Starr, who just wants to disrupt them from winning anything.

With so much going on in the tag team division right now, it seems only appropriate that the best way to settle everyone’s issues is to throw everyone into one big match; the tag team turmoil at SCW’s next pay per view Hell Hath No Fury.

It’s hard to predict what will happen when the bell rings.  All that is known is that The Daughters of Darkness will start the match but outside of that, it really is anyone’s guess.  No one knows if Jake Starr even has a partner.  No one knows if Lexi Von Aaron has a partner.  And with so many teams already entered, teams such as Honor Code and The Sisterhood and others, anyone could walk out as the SCW World Tag Team Champions.

Despite the importance of the World Tag Team Championship to Angelica and Kayla Jones, there is still something else that is also very important to the two of them; namely, Kayla Jones and her pending marriage to Trenton Snow.

Kayla Jones has had a rough go of it in terms of her past relationships.  Her first marriage was to Jason Redfield and things were going great between the two of them until, in a moment of weakness, decided to cheat on him with another wrestler, Andreas Lasiewicz.  Jason and Kayla promptly divorced and Kayla ended up publicly with Andreas.   That relationship lasted until Kayla, in her mind, betrayed him by using her position on the company’s Board of Directors to block him from ever getting a world title shot.

Ever since then she had remained single and she thought she would be single for the rest of her days.  That was until she met Trenton Snow, the outspoken brash wrestler in Global Championship Wrestling.  He constantly kept on her case, begging for a date.  Finally Kayla relented and agreed to one date…

…but she had no idea that one date would turn into something far greater.  She saw Trenton’s true identity, which was different from the brash outspoken individual the GCW fans loved to hate.  Trenton was a polite gentleman, almost a throwback to the days of chivalry when men treated their women like queens and Kayla, being the traditionalist she is, absolutely loved it.

Dating Trenton was one thing, but now she’s going to marry him and, with under a month left until the wedding day, the reality of it all is finally beginning to hit her.  The wedding day jitters and nerves have arrived as the reality of what she is about to get herself into is beginning to sink in.

Angelica Jones is set to be the Maid of Honor at the wedding and she truly wants her sister to be happy.  She hates seeing her as nervous as she is right now, but Angelica can certainly understand her concern.  Kayla is putting herself out there for a third time when the first two times did not work out.  Angelica has also had many failed relationships.  She dealt with them in her own unique way but she definitely understands why her younger sister is worried and wants to help alleviate those concerns in whatever way she can.

Angelica decided that the best way for Kayla to forget about her problems and worries is to take her out for a night on the town.  No, it may not be a traditional bachelorette party, but a simple night out for the two of them to enjoy themselves should be enough to settle Kayla’s nerves.

Or so Angelica hopes.

“You’re going to love this place!”

That’s the voice of Angelica Jones, trying to hype her sister up and get her excited about things to come.  The siblings are standing out on a sidewalk in front of a bar in Boston, Massachusetts.  The place is called the 21st Amendment, named after the amendment of the US Constitution that repealed prohibition.  Angelica Jones is wearing a floral print maxi skirt and a black long sleeved sweater.  Her sister Kayla is wearing a long sleeved black dress with black leggings.  While Angelica looks very excited about tonight’s festivities, her sister Kayla does not look nearly as happy.

“You want me to get drunk.”

“Only if you want to.”

Angelica snickers but Kayla is not laughing.  Angelica finally sighs and shakes her head.

“Look, I’m not trying to get you drunk.  That isn’t the purpose of this.”

“Then tell me why we’re at a bar.”

Angelica reaches out and places a hand on her sister’s shoulder.

“I know you’ve been worrying yourself sick over this wedding.”

Kayla shakes her head.

“Angelica, not now…”

“No, you are going to listen to me.  I get why you’re upset.  I really and truly do.  You blame yourself for your marriage to Jason ending and your relationship with Andreas ending.  But if anyone knows about failed relationships it would be me.”

Angelica chuckles lightly.

“Sean Williams…Christopher…Andreas Lasiewicz…Sean McBride…Brittany Lohan…Lindsey Carter…that’s six failed relationships.  Three of them were marriages.  I screwed them all up.  I think I got you beat on the whole screwed up relationship thing, sis.”

Kayla finally cracks a smile.

“Are we really having a pissing contest over who has the lousiest luck with their relationships?”

“We can if you want, but you’re going to lose.  You may have cheated on Jason and blocked Andreas from ever getting a world title shot, but in a fit of mental instability I put a bullet in the head of Sean Williams.  I spent time in a mental hospital for that.”

Kayla laughs lightly as she nods her head.

“True, you kinda have me beat there.”

“I’m glad you can admit that.  Now can you admit that my idea to come here and relieve some of your stress might be a good idea after all?”

Kayla looks far from confident in her sister’s plan.  She shrugs her shoulders.

“I don’t know, Angel. I mean, yeah, I am freaking out about the wedding, but don’t we have better things to do?  We are supposed to compete for the SCW World Tag Team Championships at Hell Hath No Fury.”

“So?”

“So it’s been over a YEAR since we’ve held the tag team titles.  We’ve had to fight through every obstacle put before us…we had to overcome the ridiculous situation we put ourselves in with the Free Botswana crap…”

Angelica giggles.

“But that WAS fun, you gotta admit.”

Kayla frowns, not looking amused at all.

“Shut up.”

“Sorry.”

“Anyway…we had to fight the likes of Adrenaline Rush, Honor Code, Winchester and Valentine, Daughters of Darkness, Jake Starr, and now we’re going to Hell Hath No Fury in the Tag Team Turmoil where we’ll have to fight all of them and more one more time.”

She turns and looks to the front door leading to Angelica’s favorite watering hole.

“And yet you want us to waste time here.  Getting drunk.”

“I never said anything about getting drunk.  They do more than just sell alcohol, sis.  There’s great burgers and wings and other food.  Music, dancing, karaoke.  And yeah, there is alcohol, but that’s only if you want to.”

Kayla shakes her head.

“You’re missing the point, sis.  Aren’t we distracting ourselves by wasting time here?”

“Perhaps, but I think we run an even greater risk if we allow you to continue to be distracted by your personal problems outside of the ring.  You need to calm down, relax, and realize that this wedding is going to be great.  You need to realize that everything will be fine.  That’s why I brought you here, to have fun and relax.”

Kayla sighs and nods her head.

“Well…maybe you’re right…I have been kind of uptight lately.”

Angelica smirks.

“You’ve been VERY uptight, sis, but I’m not going to blame you!  I just want to cure you.  Now come on, let’s have some fun.”

“Fun?”

“Yeah, I’m going to sign you up to sing Margaritaville when they begin the karaoke!”

Kayla rolls her eyes.

“Oh Lord…”

With that, the sisters approach the door, open it up, and step inside.

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One Hour Later
Off Camera
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The 21st Amendment bar filled up rather quickly with a variety of patrons.  Some are loners looking for love, some are just looking for fun.  Some burly men and beautiful women.  Gays and lesbians, white and black, Hispanic.  There are even a group of bikers gathered here today.  They are trying to drink away their problems or trying to pick up a date, and failing unsuccessfully at one or the other or both.  Some are just here to have fun and party.  One such individual here just for fun is Angelica Jones, who is at the pool table, enjoying a run of good luck against a biker.

“Eight ball side pocket.”

She rears back and strikes the  cue ball, it hits the eight ball and, sure enough, the eight ball slowly goes rolling into the side pocket.  Angelica smirks as she looks back up at the biker.

“I never knew I’d be so good at this game.”

The biker rolls his eyes.

“Right…whatever…”

Angelica chuckles and is about to prepare a new game when she hears a voice over the rest of the crowd.

“And coming up next for karaoke, Angelica Jones singing Brown Eyed Girl!”

“That’s me…”

She tosses the pool stick to the biker.

“See ya, buddy!”

Angelica walks away to begin her singing, leaving the biker behind, probably grateful that she will no longer be there to humiliate him at a game of pool.  But what about Kayla?  Angelica did come here with her younger sister with the sole purpose of trying to sooth her nerves regarding the wedding.  So is this plan of Angelica’s successful?

Well it depends on your definition of success.

The bar area itself looks like any other, with various patrons seated atop cushioned stools.  Sitting at the bar area with a nearly empty glass of scotch is the firey red-head Kayla Jones.  Her long red hair is messed up and disheveled.  The normally well kept younger sister of Angelica Jones looks the worse for the wear.

Why is this the case?  Angelica meant for Kayla to use this as an opportunity to ease her nerves and to relax.  Unfortunately very few words from Angelica Jones can convince Kayla that things will be ok.  While Angelica began to play several games of pool, Kayla went straight to the bar, thinking that she could drown out her concerns in alcohol.

It hasn’t worked out so well.

Kayla takes her shot glass and quickly downs the last of the scotch.  She places her glass back down and shoves it forward towards the bartender, pointing at the empty glass and glaring at him with a look of expectation.

“More…please…”

The bartender had been busy chatting with another patron when Kayla interrupts his conversation.  He turns and looks at the empty shot glass and then at the drunken stupor in which she stares at him.  It isn’t hard for him to figure out that he needs to shut her down.  He shakes his head.

“No.”

Kayla reaches into her purse and produces a scrunched up wad of bills.  It’s unclear how much money is here due to how wadded up they are but she shoves all of it in the direction of the bartender.

“More.”

“You’ve had too much, ma’am.”

Kayla angrily shoots up off of the stool and overturns it.  She growls angrily at the bartender.

“I’ll say when I’ve had enough, damnit!”

The bartender motions with his hand towards someone.  It isn’t long until we see that the person is the bouncer.  The bouncer stares at Kayla.

“You need to leave, ma’am.”

“And who is going to make me leave?  You?!”

Things could easily escalate at this point.  Kayla is dangerous and she has alcohol in her system.  But thankfully Angelica Jones, who had been singing, unceremoniously stops her singing to rush over and break things up, stepping in between the bouncer and Kayla.

“I think I can handle this!”

Angelica leans in to Kayla’s ear and whispers.

“What is wrong with you?”

“Outta my way, Angelica!”

Kayla shoves her sister to the side and storms past the bouncer and towards the front door.  Angelica sighs and rushes off after her.  Kayla is out of the door first followed closely by her older sibling Angelica, who calls out after her.

“Kayla, wait!”

“Leave me alone!”

Angelica rushes up to Kayla who quickly turns and attempts a superkick but the combination of trying a superkick in high heels and the alcohol in her bloodstream causes her to not only wildly miss the kick but also causes her to stumble over and fall face first onto the sidewalk.  Angelica gazes down at her and sighs, shaking her head with disbelief.

“You’re drunk.”

“I…I’m not…drunk…”

Angelica nods her head.

“Yeah, you are.”

She sighs and shakes her head.

“This was my fault.  I never should have brought you out here.”

Angelica bends down and helps her sister back to her feet.

“Let’s get a cab and go back home.”

“I…love…I love…you…”

Angelica smiles.

“I love you too, Kay.”

==========
Two Hours Later
Off Camera
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Angelica Jones was definitely well intentioned when she took her younger sibling out to the 21st Amendment Bar. It’s Angelica’s favorite bar in Boston and she was most definitely certain that Kayla would love it as well.  Most importantly, Angelica was hoping that a night of fun would help her sister relax and forget about the needless worry associated with her pending marriage to Trenton Snow on December 30th.

Perhaps going to a bar was not exactly the best idea, though, because as it turns out Kayla chose to deal with her issues by getting drunk and nearly causing a fight in the bar.  But it turned out ok, Angelica got Kayla back home in one piece, and she plans to stay the night with her just to make sure her sister is fine.

Angelica is in the guest room standing by a full length mirror taking appraisal of herself.  She is wearing a black lacy bra and panty number with black sheer nylon over her legs.  Long red hair hangs down to just below her shoulders.

“I hate I let you down, sis.”

A sad smile spreads across her face as she continues musing out loud to herself.

“But we’re going to be fine.  You and me, we’ll be fine.  We’ll win those tag titles back at Hell Hath No Fury, I have no doubts.  But more importantly, you’ll be fine.  You’ll be more than fine.”

Her grin grows wider.

“You’ll be great.  You and Trenton are a perfect match and you will happy now that you have finally found love.”

Suddenly her musing is interrupted by a loud thump from the other room.  The rooms are close together and the walls are thin, Angelica knows this and thus she knows the loud noise came from the next bedroom over, which happens to be her sister’s room.  Angelica’s eyes grow wide.

“Kayla!”

Angelica bolts out of her room and walks a few feet down the hall and bolts into her sister’s room.  She finds Kayla face first on the floor with a bottle of vodka lying next to her.  It doesn’t take much to figure out what just happened.  Angelica gasps.

“Oh God…”

Angelica dives for the landline phone and immediately dials a number she knows quite well by now...

“Trenton!  Yes, get down to Kayla’s house…NOW!”



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On Camera
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The camera begins to roll.  Immediately we see the lovely feminine figure of none other than Angelica Jones entering the scene from stage right.  Angelica Jones is wearing a black pencil skirt that stops just at the knee, black high heeled pumps, a white silk blouse, and a matching black blazer.  Sunglasses cover her eyes.

“Hell Hath No Fury is in sight and I cannot think of a better time or place for The Sisterhood to step up and reclaim what we lost over one year ago and that would be the SCW World Tag Team Championship.”

She grins knowingly.

“And the fact that this takes place in December is even more appropriate, because we can’t think of a better Christmas gift to give to ourselves this year, right Kayla?”

That signals the arrival of her sister from stage left.  Kayla Jones is wearing a jumpsuit with black bottoms that are pleated at each leg and a white top with a surplice neckline and cap sleeves.  Her feet are encased in black strappy three inch sandals.  Sunglasses cover her eyes as well.

“That’s right, Angel.  It has been one year, one damn year, and throughout that year we have fought through so many obstacles, we have fought so many other teams and individuals in that calendar year as we fought back to the top; some of those were worthy competitors who should be proud of everything they’ve accomplished…”

Kayla frowns.

“…and there are still others who are nothing more than cowards, thugs, or disrespectful twerps who treat this great sport as if it were just a joke.”

Angelica shakes her head.

“This isn’t a joke to us.  This is deadly serious for us because we had to fight for a calendar year to get back here, we had our opportunities where we failed, we had our opportunities where we succeeded, and now we stand on the precipice of another tag team title reign, but to do that we have to go through the challenge of tag team turmoil.  And we are not going to underestimate tag team turmoil, we will not treat it like a joke, we are going to bust our asses and sacrifice everything we have in order to become two time SCW World Tag Team Champions.”

Angelica points a finger at the camera.

“And YOU can’t stop us, Jake Starr.  I mean, I can honestly see why no one likes you.  Kayla is right, you are nothing more than a child throwing a temper tantrum.  You lose the elimination chamber and what do you do?  You become obsessed with attacking the person who eliminated you.  And who was that person who eliminated you, Jake?”

She smirks.

“That’s right, it was me.  I beat your ass in the elimination chamber but instead of taking the loss like a man you keep attacking and attacking and attacking in some vain attempt to look tough, but instead you are making yourself look like a spoiled child whose mommy didn’t raise him right.  What are you going to do if Honor Code eliminates you in the tag team turmoil, Jake?  Are you going to stalk Shaun and AJ?  What about if El Rudo or Dante beat your ass this time? Are you going to go after the entire PUNK HAZARD collective?  Or maybe you can take a new tactic and deal with your issues in a more constructive manner, because attacking me and Kayla will get you nowhere.”

She shakes her head.

“No matter how many times you knock us down, we’ll keep getting right back up and we’ll keep coming.  You can’t stop us from achieving our goals in Supreme Championship Wrestling.  You’re just a gnat, an annoying gnat, and soon we’ll swat you and be finished with you for good.”

Angelica looks to Kayla and nods her head, cuing her to talk next.

“Jake Starr is in this primarily for revenge against us, but he’s not the only one in it for some dumbass reason.”

Kayla jokingly waves at the camera.

“Hi there, Lexi!  I’m not honestly sure why you’re in the match.  Does anyone know why you’re in the match?  I mean, maybe you want in just to be close to AJ.  Or maybe you want in so you can help AJ win.  Who knows?”

Kayla shrugs her shoulders.

“Whatever the reason, I seriously doubt you’re in this to win the belts.  You, like Jake Starr, are obsessed…but you are obsessed with AJ Helms.  And I hate to break it to you, but this match isn’t about your stalker-scary love affair with AJ Helms.  This is about the SCW World Tag Team Championship and if you think me or Angelica are going to let your fucked up, warped nymphomaniac self screw up our opportunity to become World Tag Team Champions for a second time then you have another thing coming.  I’ll kick your teeth down your throat before I let that happen.  You and Jake Starr both should step back and let those who are serious about tag team gold participate.”

Angelica chuckles.

“Like Derek Adonis and Manvel?”

Kayla frowns.

“You ARE kidding, right Angel?”

“What?  They are a tag team.”

“And they are just BARELY more serious than Lexi Von Aaron.  Hell, I’m not sure what those two clowns want more, the tag team titles or a piece of ass.”

Angelica snickers.

“I doubt they’ll get either.  We’ve beaten them once, we’ll beat them again.  And I’d like to think that the ladies in this turmoil match are far too self-respecting to let themselves be found anywhere near those two bozos.”

Kayla arches a brow.

“Even Sloan and Diana?”

“Well…maybe them.”

Kayla sighs and shakes her head.

“Moving on then…Katie and Gigi Steward, it wasn’t that long ago that you were dominating the women’s division.  Now you’re going to try and move in on the tag team division?”

She shakes her head.

“Not going to happen, because you’re going to realize very quickly that things are done differently in the tag team division and your antics are not welcome here.  Granted, I can’t speak for anyone else, but I can tell you that The Sisterhood will always stand up against that kind of crap.  We once embodied it ourselves and we regret it.  We won’t let that kind of garbage into the tag team division again.”

Angelica shakes her head.

“Kayla is right, we will not stand by and allow the tag team division become inundated by gang assaults and dishonorable cheating tactics.”

Angelica points a finger at the camera.

“We’re looking at you, PUNK HAZARD.  And Alexis Quinne can throw the race card out there all she wants, I don’t really give a damn at this point, I’m just going to call a spade a spade.  PUNK HAZARD is a gang of thugs.  When you all jump people from behind and attack them, that is a gang assault no matter what color your damn skin is, no matter what nationality you are, it is all a damned gang assault.  But guess what?”

She motions to herself and Kayla.

“You know from experience that The Sisterhood can play that game just as well as you.  You jumped my daughter and attacked her.  So we used your own damn gang tactics against you by bringing the entire Jones clan to the ringside to counter the numbers game of PUNK HAZARD.  We don’t like to play dirty, we don’t like to play by those rules, but if you push us to, then by God we will do whatever it takes to stop you.  So you had better believe that we will make sure Rudo and Dante leave empty handed at Hell Hath No Fury.”

Kayla takes her sunglasses off, revealing the intensity in her eyes.  Angelica does the same, showing the intensity in her eyes.  Kayla is the first to speak up.

“Do you see the look in our eyes?  We want this more than anything else.  We want this more than anyone else in this match.  This isn’t a game to us and we will not allow the tag team division to be turned into a joke by the likes of Sloan Sawyer and Diana Weston.”

Kayla shakes her head.

“You represent everything we hate about this sport.  Everything is a joke to you.  This whole industry is just a game to you.  Well newsflash, you spoiled little bitches…THIS IS NOT A GAME!”

She reaches back and touches her neck.

“I broke my fucking neck for this sport.  I reinjured my neck later on FOR THIS SPORT!  And yet despite those two serious neck injuries I came back.  Others would have took a hint and retired early but I came back.  Did I come back because I was a glory hog or because I was greedy for championship gold?”

She shakes her head.

“I fought like hell and busted my ass to come back from my neck injuries because I love this sport.  So go ahead, make your fucking ridiculous tweets about nothing.  Sit at the color commentary table and talk about nothing.  Until you get serious about this sport that’s all you’ll be…NOTHING.  And until you decide to get serious about this sport, you will NEVER be SCW World Tag Team Champions.  I don’t give a damn if you two bitches held tag titles in another company.  That was then, this is now, and the games you’re currently playing will NEVER get you a world tag team championship in this great company.”

Angelica chuckles.

“Wow, you sure are pissed.”

“What?  They piss me off.”

“It’s ok, Kayla, not everyone in this tag team turmoil is a bad apple.  There are Craig Thomas and Tyler Tucker, Adrenaline Rush.”

Kayla shakes her head.

“It’s Craig and Stacy, this time.”

“Really?”

Kayla nods her head.

“Yep.”

“Ok then, it doesn’t matter whether, because Stacy knows it just as well as the other two.  She knows the history Adrenaline Rush has with The Sisterhood.  We’ve been fighting since almost the beginning of The Sisterhood’s run here in SCW.  What started out as a rivalry between two enemies evolved into a rivalry between two groups of competitors who had a deep respect for one another.  We won some matches, you won some matches, and in the process we’d like to think we earned your respect, because you damn sure earned our respect.”

She shakes her head.

“But when the SCW World Tag Team Championships are at stake, respect, friendships, allegiances are all put to the side because everyone wants the gold.  Everyone wants that top spot.  And we’ll still respect you when it’s all said and done, just as I hope you’ll still respect us when it’s over, but understand that we’ll do whatever it takes to get to the top.”

Angelica looks to Kayla and nods her head, cuing her to talk next.

“Cruze and Helms are in this thing too and when you speak about respect, there is quite possibly no other team that we respect more than Honor Code.  Both are from honorable wrestling families but you all know that.  There’s no need for me to remind you of who they are and what they represent.  The fact is that they represent pretty much the same thing The Sisterhood represents.  We already said that we were not going to let the tag team division be inundated by the dishonorable gang attacks of Punk Hazard, the cheating of Team Desire, or to be made into a joke by the class clowns of Supreme Championship Wrestling The Daughters of Darkness.  And that’s your goal too, isn’t it?”

Kayla nods her head.

“Yeah, you want to maintain a sense of honor in this sport.  In that sense we are definitely on the same page.  And we’ve tangled before.  You got the better of us and, in the process, helped us to do some introspection of our own.  Ever since that one tag team encounter we have become a better team.  We have become more focused than ever before.  In other words, we may have looked past you before…”

She shakes her head.

“…but we will not look past you again.  We will NOT make that same mistake again.”

Angelica grins knowingly.

“That leads us to Gable Winchester and Autumn Valentine.  We saved you for last because you are the most important factor in the tag team turmoil.  You are the reigning and defending SCW World Tag Team Champions.  It’s almost unfair, in a way, to make you guys defend it against so many teams in one damn match.  But I know you won’t complain because ever since you won the belts you have defended against all comers without issuing one grievance.  And you have beaten each and every one of them.  I’m not sure that there has been any team to actually defeat you…”

Kayla leans over and whispers into her ear.  Angelica smirks.

“Oh yeah!  Thanks for reminding me!”

She motions to herself and Kayla.

“We hold two non-title victories over you.  Yeah, we know that it only matters when the championships are on the line but the fact is that Kayla and I know what it takes to beat you because we’ve done it before.  We have the formula, we’ve used it twice, we just have to put it into action one more time, only this time with a little something extra because this isn’t straight up you two against The Sisterhood; this is tag team turmoil.  Anything can happen.  It’s unpredictable.  But we thrive on unpredictability, and we’re not going to let the fact that this is a tag team turmoil stop us from finally doing what we failed to do for one calendar year, we’re not going to let anything or anyone stop us from doing to you what you did to us over one year ago and that is to take your SCW World Tag Team Championships.”

Kayla nods her head.

“That’s right, Angelica, and for anyone else who decides to enter, understand that this truly is the opportunity of a lifetime.  This is the opportunity to become World Tag Team Champions.  But for you it will just be an opportunity.”

She motions to herself and Angelica.

“For me and Angelica, this will be more than just an opportunity.  This will become our reality.  The Sisterhood will soon be your SCW World Tag Team Champions and it will go down at Hell Hath No Fury.  And The Sisterhood will kick all of your teeth right down all of your throats!”

Angelica grins knowingly.

“That’s a lot of teeth.”

Sunday, November 27, 2016

The Hard Truth



==========
Off Camera
==========

Darkness has fallen upon the booming metropolis of Boston, Massachusetts.  This city where the American Revolution had its roots is awfully quiet now in the pitch black of night.  The only light comes from a few street lamps and the bright moon, although astute observers know that the moon itself is not bright, it is just the light of the sun reflecting off of the moon.  Few people would bother to come out at night, but one of those few happens to be Mary Ford.

If the name Mary Ford does not ring any bells, well don’t worry, because Mary hasn’t bothered t o show her face in quite a long time.  Mary Ford has remained under the radar.  Mary is the sister of Kelly Jones.  Kelly was Angelica and Kayla’s mother.  This makes Mary their aunt.

They used to have quite a good relationship, but ever since Angelica and Kayla learned of their aunt’s promiscuity, cheating on her husband with her own brother in law, no less, they chose to disown her from the family.  Mary’s own children even disowned her for the same reason.  She literally had no one to turn to, no one to stand by her side.  Thus she went underground, never expecting to be sought out by anyone ever again.

She’s sitting on a black steel bench just across the street from Our Lady of the Annunciation Catholic Church, a beautiful church that towers high in the sky.  As a child, Mary used to go to this church with her sister and parents.  That was before she moved to England and met Glenn Braddock.  White marble steps lead up to a pair of impressive large brown oak doors.  The sides of this building are beautiful red brick that towers high into the sky, topped off by a white cross at its peak.

“Maria Kurensky…”

The voice seemingly comes out of nowhere and it startles Mary so much that she jumps right up off of the bench.  She turns her head to the left and to the right, trying to find the source of this voice, a voice that sounds familiar to her, but is somewhat distant; too distant for her to pin it down.

“Who are you?!  Where are you?!”

“Maria Kurensky…”

Mary’s face goes white as a sheet.

“How do you know that name?”

“I know much more than that.  I know that you are the daughter of a KGB agent.”

Mary shakes her head as she continues scanning the area for the source of this voice.

“No!  Ex-KGB!”

“Only because he’s dead.”

“No, he was horrified with the treatment of the Russian citizens at the hands of the KGB and Soviet leaders.  He left the Soviet Union and brought me, my sister, and our mother to America!”

“I know this.”

Mary blinks her eyes furiously.

“Wait, what?  Then why are you accusing me and…who are you?!”

“Because you should have told me.”

Mary hears rustling from nearby bushes.  Realizing that’s where the voice is coming from, she turns, bracing herself for the worst.  A figure eventually emerges from the bushes, a female figure dressed in black denim jeans, black boots, and a long sleeve black sweater.  As she steps out into the light Mary’s jaw hits the ground as she finally recognizes the person…

“Angelica?!”

Yes, Angelica Jones.  One half of The Sisterhood.  Angelica Jones, along with her sister Kayla, have a shot at the SCW World Tag Team Championship in their back pocket now that they defeated the reigning champions Autumn Valentine and Gable Winchester in a non-title match.  And that alone is enough to make the sibling pair one happy duo.  Becoming world tag team champions again has been their goal for over a year and now it seems as if they are on the precipice of accomplishing that very goal.

Unfortunately, there are certain other issues, both professional and personal, that have come up in the lives of the Sisterhood, that threaten to undermine or distract them from achieving their goal.  The professional threat comes from Jake Starr, who is clearly upset that he was pinned and thus eliminated by Angelica Jones from the elimination chamber match for the United States Championship.  Now Starr has threatened to ruin all of their title opportunities.  He’s already ruined Marie Jones and her opportunity at the Television Championship.  Could he try to ruin The Sisterhood’s tag team championship opportunity?

He’ll definitely try.  And it doesn’t help matters that Angelica is supposed to compete against Craig Thomas of Adrenaline Rush on the next Breakdown.  Angelica has no problems facing Craig.  Adrenaline Rush and The Sisterhood have definitely had their run-ins in the past.  She knows how to handle Thomas and thinks she can beat him.  But she also knows that she will have to keep an extra set of eyes out for Jake Starr, who will no doubt be lurking in the shadows, trying to ruin her match.

For Craig Thomas, defeating Angelica Jones could easily help write Adrenaline Rush into a tag team title shot as well, a title shot The Sisterhood wants all to themselves.

The personal threat comes from the news both Angelica and Kayla received recently.  Specifically some challenging news about the truth of their past and background, a past that was kept hidden from them for a very long time.  Angelica and Kayla are not quite sure how to wrap their heads around this news, but Angelica is going to try to grapple with it by approaching her aunt Mary directly.

Mary, for her part, is just stunned to see her niece standing here, ready to confront her…

“Angelica…is that really you?”

Angelica nods her head.

“Yes, Aunt Mary. It’s me.”

Mary shakes her head.

“No, I don’t…”

She turns and starts to walk away from her niece.

“…I don’t deserve to see you!”

Angelica frowns as she rushes to catch up with Mary.  As it turns out, Mary does not get very far until before Angelica grabs her by an arm and pulls her back towards her.

“Let me go!”

“No!”

Angelica spins her around so that the two women are standing face to face.  Mary’s eyes are welled up with tears.

“You have a lot to explain, Aunt Mary, and after everything you’ve put us through, everything you’ve put this family through with your lies, I think you owe it to us to give an explanation.”

Mary reaches up with her free hand wipes some tears from her eyes.  Finally, after great thought, she nods her head.

“Yes, perhaps you’re right.”

Angelica releases her grip on Mary’s arm.  The two women then walk back to the steel bench.  They sit back down on the bench.  Angelica stares directly into her eyes but it is Mary who speaks up first with a question.

“Angelica, if I may ask…how did you find out?”

“How did I find out your true last name?”

Mary nods her head.

“Yeah…”

“I have my sources.”

Mary chuckles.

“I guess daddy was not as good at keeping a secret as he thought he was, eh?”

Mary shakes her head.

“Oh we, it doesn’t matter now.  You know the truth.  No use hiding anything from you.  So what do you want to know?”

“Why hide any of it from me and Kayla to begin with?  We’re grown women.  We could’ve handled it.”

Now it’s Mary’s turn to look intense and fired up as she glares at Angelica.

“Could you really?”

“Of course we could, we…”

“Bullshit!”

She points a finger at Angelica.

“You and your sister have always had this immaculate view of your mother.  You viewed her as if she were perfect.  Hell, you looked at her almost in the same light as the Church looks at The Blessed Virgin Mary!”

“That’s wrong and blasphemy!”

“It’s the truth and you know it!  But I don’t blame you entirely.  Your father helped create that image.  He fed you that drivel, he and your mother both fed you that drivel and you ate it up!  My fault…”

She shakes her head.

“…my fault was allowing them to do it.”

Angelica rears back and slaps her aunt across the face.

“Don’t talk about my mom like that!”

“Do you want the truth?”

“Yes!”

“Then shut up and listen!  Our father…”

She sighs.

“…our father changed our identities for security reasons.  After fleeing the Soviet Union he was concerned the KGB would hunt us down.  So he changed our names. I was originally Maria Kurensky.  I was renamed Mary Ford.  Not very original, I know.  Klementina got the biggest make over.”

“Klementina?”

“Klementina Kurensky was your mother.  She became Kelly Ford.  Father taught us how to take care of ourselves on our own, because part of his strategy to keep us safe was that, once we came of age to take of ourselves, he kicked us out of the house.”

Angelica can tell the pain in her aunt’s voice.  For a moment she begins to feel guilty for wanting to target her aunt like this…assuming her aunt is telling the truth, of course…

“He told us to stay out of one another’s business.  But I loved my sister and I couldn’t help it…”

“Couldn’t help what?”

“…I couldn’t help but get involved when I saw her making what I knew would be a grave mistake.  Dating your father, an FBI agent, was dangerous enough and I told her as much.”

Angelica chuckles lightly.

“You never did like dad.  I always assumed you hated him because he was a misogynist.”

“That’s just what I told you.  Father and mother grew up in Soviet Russia.  We were used to a strong, patriarchal system.”

“You were concerned about his government ties leading the KGB back to mom and to you?”

Mary nods her head.

“Correct.  But your mother was insistent that she would do nothing to harm us.  I even tried to convince father to talk sense into her but he wanted her to make her own decisions.  Sometimes I wish father would have taken a more active role in our lives.”

Angelica winces.  More and more this is sounding like a reflection of Angelica herself.   Angelica knows that she is guilty of letting her children, namely Marie Annabelle Jones, of doing whatever she wants.  Angelica has often struggled with the idea of potentially getting more involved in her daughter’s life.  But at the same time, she doesn’t want to risk pushing her away.

“Father and mother passed away eventually and Klementina…Kelly, I’m sorry…we just had one another.  Then I learned she had been secretly cheating on her husband with a man from Russia.”

Angelica’s eyes widen.

“I imagine you freaked.”

“That’s an understatement.  First she married an FBI agent, then she cheats on him with someone from Russia?  I could have reached out to her and believe me, I thought about it, but in the end…”

She shakes her head.

“…in the end I decided to leave her for her own devices and to look out for myself.  I left the United States for Great Britain and attempted to make myself a life there.  The rest, as they say, is history.”

Angelica shakes her head in disbelief as she tries to take this all in.

“Aunt Mary, I had no idea.”

She wipes some tears of her own out of her eyes.

“You sat back and took so much grief, grief from me and Kayla, from your own children Glory and Julia, and you’ve allowed us to blame you for everything when, in reality, you were the only one in the right.  I’m so sorry.”

“Angelica, my dear, I am far from being in the right, just as your mother is far from being in the wrong.  Your mother and I both had our faults.  We both cheated on our husbands.  If anything, your father and mother were closer to being saints than myself and my ex-husband.  We never settled it.  When he learned that I had cheated on him with his brother, he kicked me out of the house, rightfully so, and I returned to the United States, effectively abandoning my daughter to be raised entirely by him.  But your mother and father worked it out so that you and your sister could have BOTH a mother and father in a stable family.”

Mary sighs.

“We both risked our family’s safety and security.  Both of us forget the dangerous situation we had escaped from and could easily return to haunt us if we weren’t careful.  We both got careless and we both suffered for it.  I suffered for it by losing the faith my children had in me…”

She sighs.

“…and my sister…she lost her life…”

“So you kept us in the dark about this…all of this…because you were honoring a promise you kept to my grandfather?”

“Yes, and because I was angry at your mother.  She wanted me to leave her alone so I left her alone.  I left for England never looked back.”

Mary stands up.

“And you and Kayla have rejected me just as your mother did.  So I shall take my leave.”

Mary starts to leave when Angelica stands up as well.

“Aunt Mary, wait!”

Mary stops and turns to face her oldest niece Angelica Jones.

“We all make mistakes.  God knows I’ve made my fair share of them and quite honestly, I’d be a damn hypocrite if I didn’t forgive you for the mistakes you made when I’ve had to ask forgiveness myself.”

Angelica smiles as she reaches out and grabs her aunt’s hands and squeezes them tightly.

“You’re the closest thing Kayla and I have to our past.  You are the closest thing we have to our mother.  I want you back in my life, Aunt Mary.”

Mary’s eyes grow wide.

“Are you sure?  What about your sister?”

“She’ll deal with it.  This is my choice, Aunt Mary.”

Angelica reaches out and embraces her in a tight hug.

“And I want you back in my life!”



==========
On Camera
==========

Clicking of heels is heard in the background.  A feminine figure emerges from over the horizon.  Closer and closer she comes until we can finally make out the long red hair that cascades down to just below her shoulders.  It’s Angelica Jones.  She is wearing sunglasses over her eyes, a tight form fitting black dress with a hemline that stops just below the knee, and matching high heeled pumps.  The red-head stops just in front of the camera.  A frown is on her face.

“Under Attack was certainly a surprise for me, not in the sense that I lost but in the sense that I got the title opportunity to begin with.  I was never expecting to be placed in that elimination chamber match to compete for the United States Championship.  I never for a second thought I deserved it.  But did you think I was going to just roll over and play dead?”

She shakes her head.

“No, I took full advantage of the opportunity I was given and I came this close…”

She holds up two fingers.

“…this close to winning the whole damn thing!  But am I upset about Vixen Cain beating me?  No, I’m thankful for my opportunity, I gave it my all, and I planned on moving on.  Kayla and I moved on past the elimination chamber and focused our attention back on the tag team division.”

Jones holds up one finger.

“It’s been over one calendar year since we held the SCW World Tag Team Championship.  We’re sick and tired of waiting.  We are not going to wait any longer.  So when we were booked against Autumn Valentine and Gable Winchester in a non-title tag match, we took full advantage.  We gave the champions everything we had and we beat them in the center of the ring.  So tell me, which teams sits at the top of the list of contenders to those tag straps?”

She pats herself on the chest.

“Me and my sister Kayla; The Sisterhood.  We are the top contenders, as far as we are concerned, and when the time comes, when Gable and Autumn or Mr. D grant us a World Tag Team Championship opportunity, we will once again take full advantage of that opportunity, we will once again defeat Gable and Autumn, and this time we will leave with the championships.  So as you can see, Under Attack is in the past.  I’ve moved on.”

She frowns.

“Unfortunately there are some within SCW who cannot move on.  One such individual is Jake Starr.  Jake Starr can’t deal with the fact that he was beaten in the elimination chamber.  And perhaps even more than that, he’s upset that he got eliminated by me.  And how does he react to getting beaten?”

The frown turns into a smirk.

“My sister said it best…a child, an immature child, throwing a temper tantrum.  That’s how you’ve reacted.  You’ve even gone as far as to attack The Sisterhood and involve yourself in my daughter’s match.  Well, I’m going to let my sister deal with you at Supreme Saturday, because I have more important matters to deal with and if you get involved, you’ll feel my wrath.”

She reaches up and takes off her sunglasses.

“Craig Thomas; heh, it’s funny how we keep running into each other, whether it ‘s one on one or tag team matches.  The Sisterhood and Adrenaline Rush have certainly had their fair share of altercations.  We’ve gone rounds and we know one another.”

That smirk grows slightly larger.

“But that also means you know just how dangerous I can be when I’m focused and right now I am more focused than I have ever been.  Just look at Under Attack and how close I came, even in defeat, to becoming United States Champion.  Look at how Kayla and I took down the seemingly unbeatable world tag team champions Gable and Autumn.  We have been denied for over a year and we’re tired of being denied.”

She shakes her head.

“I’m not going to stand for it.  I respect the hell out of you and Tyler for what you guys do in that ring.  You never quit.  No matter how rough it may get, you never quit.  But you’ve pulled the short of the end straw, buster.  You drew me as an opponent at the wrong damn time.”

She shrugs her shoulders.

“And that’s just your damn luck, because I’m a brand new person.  I’m not the same Angelica Jones from when we last fought.   I’m not the person who used to look past her opponents.  Gable and Autumn are irrelevant to me right now.  Jake Starr is irrelevant to me right now.”

She points a finger at the camera.

“You are the only person I care about right now, Craig.  I am focused.  I am ready.  And trust me, I will win.”