Addressing The Elephant In The Room

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Off Camera

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Breakdown from Mexico City, Mexico went off without a hitch for The Sisterhood.  Granted, they were not in a match that night, but still, it was uneventful and, for Angelica and Kayla Jones, uneventful is a very good thing right now.

The Sisterhood have definitely lost a step lately.  It all began at Broken Beliefs when they lost the SCW World Tag Team Championship back to Honor Code.  Fatal Fortunes threatened to pull them apart by placing them in individual singles action.  When the sibling pair finally did manage to return to tag team action a couple of weeks ago on Breakdown, they lost to Tommy Valentine and Jake Starr.

Have they lost a step?  It would appear so.  Those close to the Jones family sense that there is some tension at the least, out and out infighting at worst, between the two Sisterhood members.  What could the issue be?  Kayla has been vocal of her disapproval of her older sister’s choice in romantic partners.  They argued publicly over social media, even.  But supposedly that’s been dealt with…

…and yet the tension is still there.

So what is going on between Angelica and Kayla Jones?  No one knows for sure, but whatever it is the sibling pair need to get the problem resolved and quickly.  They are already immersed in the road to Rise to Greatness and they know full well that their performance in the coming weeks will determine their spot on the biggest event in professional wrestling.

Kayla Jones hasn’t been with SCW as long as her sister.  In fact, Kayla only came to SCW when Angelica needed assistance.  She remembers, Rise To Greatness two years ago, Kayla was there watching Angelica break free from Silas Mason.  Shortly thereafter they reformed The Sisterhood and became SCW World Tag Team Champions.

Now?  Things are looking bleak.

Kayla sits in a blue steel folding chair in the dressing room at Mexico City, Mexico shortly after Breakdown has come to its conclusion.  She is dressed in a flowing, loose fit ankle length floral print skirt, a red short sleeved top, and sandals on her feet.  Her long gorgeous red hair hangs unrestrained to shoulder length.

The younger half of The Sisterhood appears to be deep in thought, so deep that she doesn’t even notice when the door opens and her oldest sister, Angelica Jones, joins her in the room.  Angelica is wearing a pair of form fitting denim jeans, a black t-shirt, and her signature black leather jacket.  Her long red hair hangs unrestrained to shoulder length.

“Kay?”

“Huh?” Kayla is startled as she looks up to see her sister there.  Kayla smiles pleasantly, letting out a slight sigh of relief. “Oh, it’s just you.”

“Who did you think it was?” Angelica asks with a smirk.

“I don’t know.” Kayla responds shrugging her shoulders. “You just surprised me, that’s all.”

“Oh, well I’m sorry,” Angelica says “I didn’t mean to scare you.  I just wanted to see if you were ready to leave.  Trenton pulled the car around.”

“Uh, yeah…” Kayla says somewhat absent-mindedly “…I’ll be there in a moment.”

Angelica frowns. “What is it?”

Kayla shakes her head dismissively. “It’s nothing.”

Angelica and Kayla know each other very well and it goes beyond just being sisters.  They have a very close connection that even few siblings have with one another.  They always seem to know what the other is thinking, or at the very least, they seem to know when something is bothering the other.  It’s terribly difficult, if not outright impossible, for Angelica to lie to Kayla or vice-versa.  Something is bothering Kayla, Angelica can sense it, but what is it?

Earlier Angelica had burst into the dressing room and informed her that they were rusty, that they needed to get back into tag team shape and to do that she had booked them in a tag team match for next Breakdown from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Kayla is a proud athlete, much like Angelica, could the implications that they had lost a step or lost focus had gotten under Kayla’s skin?

There is only one way to find out.  Angelica walks over and picks up another steel folding chair propped up against a wall.  She takes it and sets it up in front of Kayla.  Angelica sits down in the chair in front of her younger sibling and tag team partner Kayla Jones.

“What’s wrong, sis?”

“Nothing.”

Angelica shakes her head. “You’re lying.”

Angelica tries to place a comforting hand on her sister’s knee but Kayla swats it away.  Angelica sighs out of frustration.

“Is this about earlier tonight and what I said?”

“You think I’m bothered by what you said tonight?” Kayla chuckles. “I just find it somewhat funny that you think a few words and a match that you helped set u p will make things better for us.”

“Ok, you make a point,” Angelica says, nodding her head, “but will you allow me the chance to make my case?”

“Go for it.”

“Look, let’s go ahead and make something perfectly clear.” Angelica begins rather sternly, her sister Kayla folding her arms over her chest and nodding her head in response.

“Ok…”

“Kayla, it is clear that we are not in an enviable situation right now.” Angelica says plainly, matter-of-factly. “In fact, I’d say we are in the absolute last place we want to be.”

“And where is that, Angel?”

“Right where we were one year ago today.” Angelica says stoically. “Think about it, as we were heading towards Rise To Greatness last year we were former SCW World Tag Team Champions but were we challenging for the belts?”

Angelica waits on an answer; hearing none, Angelica shakes her head. “No, we weren’t.  We didn’t even know what we were going to be doing for Rise To Greatness this time last year.  We ended up slowly but surely drifting apart, doing our own thing.  Does that sound familiar?”

“I get where this is going…” Kayla attempts to chime in but Angelica holds up a hand to silence her.

“We were going our own separate paths but we didn’t know where those paths would take us.  As a matter of fact,” Angelica shrugs her shoulders “I’m not even sure we were on any paths. We were more likely just rambling around aimlessly with no real goal heading into Rise To Greatness.  And do you remember what we ended up with at Rise To Greatness?”

Kayla sighs and nods her head. “Yeah, I remember.”

“I fought Justin Davis.” Angelica chuckles lightly. “I remember calling it the piss break match.”

Kayla smirks. “You were angry at the time, angry at being ‘randomly thrown on the card’ as you put it.  You weren’t exactly respectful, sis.”

“Perhaps I was a little disrespectful…”

“A little?!” Kayla arches her brow, shocked at her sister’s understatement. “Angelica, you used a low blow to beat him.”

“Fine, so maybe I wasn’t exactly a saint back then,” she rolls her eyes before pointing a finger at Kayla “but neither were you, if I remember correctly.  You called your match just simply ‘space filler’, you openly said you were hoping to lose, and you didn’t exactly appreciate being on the pre-show as opposed to the main card, now did you?”

Kayla’s eyes narrow and a low growl escapes her lips. “I was very disrespectful, I admit that, and I was wrong…”

“I’m not asking you to apologize for your words or for feeling the way you did.  I’m merely offering this up as motivation, because the fact is that we are right back in that same place we were one year ago.  We are roaming around randomly, not sure of where we’re going, not on any clear or distinct path.  Add to that the fact that we have lost a step.  We lost the SCW World Tag Team Championship back to Honor Code.  We got beat by Tommy Valentine and Jake Starr.”

“They’re good, Angelica.”

“I agree,” Angelica nods her head “but we’ve been together longer, we shouldn’t have been experiencing any ring rust, we should’ve had them beaten.  The point is that The Sisterhood is on a losing streak and that puts us in danger of once again being overlooked.”

Angelica reaches out and places a hand on her sister’s shoulder. “I know you won’t disrespect Supreme Championship Wrestling again the way you did last year, but there are no cameras here.  There are no prying eyes.  This is just you and me, sis; so tell me, honestly, do you want to once again get stuck on the pre-show against some random names just because Mr. D and SCW management can’t find anything else for us to do?”

A weak, sad smile spreads across Kayla’s face. “You’re appealing to my pride.”

“You’re damn right I’m appealing to your pride, because I’m proud of who we are and what we’ve accomplished.”  Angelica stands up. “We are The Sisterhood, damn it!  We are two time SCW World Tag Team Champions!  We deserve better!”

Kayla stands up as well and shakes her head. “No, I don’t want to be on the pre-show again.  But I’m also not going to stand here and say we deserve better.  Name recognition alone doesn’t cut it, we have to our own spots here in SCW and, to be perfectly honest, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“But you do want better than the pre-show?”

“Damn right I want better than the pre-show.  I would love to be tag team champion for a third time.  But we haven’t earned that spot, sis.  Lately, we haven’t earned anything.”

“That’s my point.” Angelica says with a grim tone. “We haven’t earned anything because we haven’t been focused.  It’s time that we changed all of that.  It’s time that we regained our focus, wouldn’t you agree?”

Kayla nods her head, smiling confidently. “Damn right.”

Angelica grins knowingly, a grin that matches Kayla’s. “Excellent, glad to hear it, because we’re going to need it for this match I set us up with.”

“Oh?”

“Stacy Kissinger and Craig Thomas.” Angelica remarks. “Adrenaline Rush.”

“I thought Tyler Tucker and Craig Thomas were the team of that trio?”

Angelica nods her head. “Normally it is, but I’m guessing they’re going to try different things.  I mean, Tyler has been successful as a singles competitor.  He is a former United States Champion.”

“Well good for them,” Kayla announces “let’s just make sure this new incarnation of Adrenaline Rush doesn’t live up to the standard of the original one we’re used to facing.”

“You’re right, this is Adrenaline Rush, and we have fought them before.” Angelica says with that same serious tone. “That’s why this is very important.  We know we can beat Adrenaline Rush.  This is our chance to rebound.  So if we fail here, then we need to…”

“No,” Kayla shakes her head, interrupting her older sister “just no, we’re not even going to consider that possibility.  We’re going to win, right Angel?”

Angelica smiles warmly. “Right.”

“Unfortunately it won’t be that easy.”

“Oh I know,” Angelica begins, nodding her head “we may be on the same page but we have to stay there, stay focused, we have to do our homework, and we…”

“No, no, no…” Kayla shakes her head “…I don’t mean any of that.”

“Oh?” Angelica looks on somewhat perplexed. “Then what do you mean?”

“I think you know exactly what I mean.” Kayla sighs. “Aphrodite.”

Aphrodite Noel is the latest love interest of one Angelica Jones.  Angelica and Aphrodite had been rivals once upon a time but now they’re giving this relationship a try and Kayla, for her part, does not understand why.  She cannot see why Angelica would even associate with Aphrodite let alone get wrapped up in a romantic relationship with her.

For Angelica it was simply a matter of needing someone in this post-Lindsey Carter world.  Angelica’s wife, Lindsey Carter, went missing several months ago and for the longest time she was extremely upset, depressed, and didn’t think she could bounce back.  But Aphrodite was there to offer consolation.  She was there as a shoulder to cry on.  She was there as a friend at first but, later on, as much more.

Despite Angelica’s repeated attempts to explain it the sisters remained divided.  Kayla did not buy Angelica’s explanation and, at first, she was very vocal and adamant about her disapproval of the relationship.  Though lately they had gone on to just agree to disagree and not bother to bring up the obvious elephant in the room.  Thus it seems as a surprise that now the subject is being brought up and by Kayla Jones no less.

“Are you sure you want to talk about this, Kay?”

Kayla shakes her head. “No, I don’t want to talk about it.  Do I NEED to talk about it, do we NEED to talk about it?”  Again she nods her head. “Yes, yes we do.”

Angelica sighs and sits back down in her chair. “Fine, then let’s talk.”

“I don’t know what the solution is, sis, but we need to figure it out soon.” Kayla sits back down as well. “We need to be on the same page and time is not on our side.  You’d better believe Stacy and Craig will be on the same page.”

“Yeah they will be, but Kayla,” Angelica sighs “a solution implies that there is a problem and, to be perfectly honest with you, I do not think there is a problem with my relationship with Aphrodite.”

“But that’s exactly it!” Kayla exclaims. “You don’t think there’s a problem but I do.  You love her and I don’t trust her.  That is the problem.  Aphrodite Noel is the Yoko Ono of The Sisterhood.”

Angelica glares angrily at Kayla. “Are you implying Aphrodite is trying to destroy us from within?”

“I’m not saying that, it’s just…” Kayla sighs out of frustration “…look, whether she is doing it intentionally or unintentionally is irrelevant, the fact is that she is coming between the two of us.”

“Kayla, have you ever stopped to think” Angelica points an accusatory finger at her younger sister “that you and your jealousy are the real reasons why there are issues within The Sisterhood?”

“You’re nuts!” Kayla exclaims.

“Am I?  Think about it for just a moment…” Angelica reaches out and takes Kayla’s hands “…for the longest time all we had was one another.  When mom died and dad abandoned us, we had to rely on ourselves to survive.”

“Your point being?” Kayla asks sarcastically.

“My point is that it is tough to let go and let others have their time with us.  I admit, I was jealous of your first husband Jason spending all that time with you, time that I used to spend with you.  And then you can only imagine how jealous I was when you started dating my ex…”

Kayla snickers. “Yeah, dating Andreas was an interesting time…”

“And now you’re with Trenton Snow.   But have I thrown a fit?” Angelica shakes her head. “No, I kept my thoughts and opinions to myself.”

Noticeable tears are beginning to form in Kayla’s eyes.  “What are you trying to say?”

“I’m saying that I want the same courtesy from you.  This isn’t the end of what we have, Kayla, and it damn sure isn’t the end of The Sisterhood.  We still have that third tag team title to win.  But Aphrodite Noel, whether you believe it or not, does care about me, and while you may not like her, or believe her motives are pure, you still have to accept her as part of my life because it is MY life, not your life.”

“Not my life…” Kayla’s voice trails off as she ponders her older sibling’s words.

“Yes, I ‘m sorry I had to be so blunt but…”

“No, don’t apologize.” Kayla shakes her head. “You’re right, and I needed to hear that, it’s just that…”

She reaches up and wipes a tear from her eye “…I’ve seen you get hurt before, Angel, I’ve seen you hurt so many times.  I’ve been hurt many times but I finally found my happiness with Trenton.  You deserve that same happiness, and I just don’t want to see you get hurt again.”

Angelica smiles warmly. “I appreciate hearing that, Kay, I really do, but Aphrodite and I don’t even know yet if what we have is on the same level as what you have with Trenton.  We’re just trying this out.  What I do know is that she does make me happy.  And you want t hat, right?”

Kayla nods her head. “Yes, yes I do.”

“Then just let her make me happy and forget about it.”

Angelica stands back up, so does Kayla.  “We are so close to Rise To Greatness.  We are on that road and we find ourselves at a crossroads.  We can prove to SCW and Mr. D that we deserve the best heading into this once in a year special extravaganza, we can do something great at Rise To Greatness…”

She shakes her head “…or we can let silly professional and personal issues divide us.  So what’s it gonna be, sis?”

Kayla smirks and then embraces her sister. “I say let’s kick Stacy and Craig’s teeth right down their throat!”

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On Camera

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Tell me if you’ve heard this story before.  It’s a few weeks before Rise To Greatness and everyone on the roster is looking to make an impact, everyone on the roster is looking to prove that they belong on the grandest stage of them all with the greatest athletes of them all.  Everyone wants to make their impact just weeks before the night where you can cement you SCW legend.

The road to Rise To Greatness is not an easy one.  It’s full of twists and turns, ups and downs, dangers, trials, and tribulations, but if you can make it, if you can endure the gauntlet, then you will make Rise To Greatness where you can forever write your name in the stars.

Some have specific goals in their quest to reach Rise To Greatness, others just want any spot amongst the greats.  Kayla and I aren’t picky, we will be happy with what we can get, but at the same time it’s no secret that we want to become three time SCW World Tag Team Champions.

The first tag team championship here in Supreme Championship Wrestling was awesome.  It was shortly after Rise To Greatness 2015, Angelica and I hadn’t teamed up in a long time due to my history of neck injuries, but she convinced me to wrestle again.  She convinced me that I still had it in me to kick some teeth in.  And when we won that tag team championship again, for me personally I was elated because it proved to me that I still could get the job done.  But it was extra special because it was with my sister.

The second tag team title run was special because it proved the first run was no fluke.  We lost those belts too soon.  Entirely too soon.  It could easily have been argued that our first run with the gold was a fluke.  We wanted to prove it was no fluke.  By defeating Honor Code to get the belts back, we proved that The Sisterhood was not a fluke.

Now then, what would a third SCW World Tag Team Title reign mean?  How would it be any different from the previous two reigns?  Quite simply, it will be the beginning of our attempt to cement our place in SCW history as one of the great teams.

Now tell me if you’ve heard this story before; there is another team who clearly wants the same thing we want.  Another group who also want to make their permanent mark upon SCW tag team history, much like we have.  It happens to be a tag team that we are very familiar with, a team that we can’t seem to get away from, as if our gravitational fields just keep pulling us towards one another.

Of course, when it comes to Adrenaline Rush, we’re normally used to facing Tyler Tucker and Craig Thomas, but this will be somewhat different as we face Craig Thomas and Stacy Kissinger instead.

Oh and tell us if this sounds familiar; you’re at a crossroads in your career.  Tyler Tucker seems to be hitting it big as a singles star but where does that leave the tag team portion of Adrenaline Rush?  Where will all three of you land as we careen forward on this road to Rise To Greatness?

You’re in the same boat as Angelica and me.  We don’t know what lies ahead of us on this rough and bumpy road, we’re just fighting, we’re clawing, and we’re doing everything we can to make an impact, to prove our worth, and earn our way to Rise To Greatness.  We know damn well that impressive performances alone are not good enough.

Just ask Tyler Tucker.  He put up a hell of a fight at Supreme Saturday, he put up a hell of a fight later on at Taking Hold of the Flame, he was damn good in fact, but he still lost and he is still arguably out of the SCW United States Championship discussion.

Winning isn’t everything, but it is pretty damn important, especially now.

Supreme Championship Wrestling has among the deepest tag team divisions in professional wrestling, that combined with the chaos and questionable status of the SCW World Tag Team Championship themselves creates for a great opportunity for each and every tag team in this company and that opportunity is right there, ready to be taken, ready to be snatched by anyone willing to take the necessary risks in order to be great…

…risks.  Opportunities do not come by without risk and if you want that opportunity to be great you have to be willing to take risks.  That’s what the road to Rise To Greatness is all about, the men and women in this company taking the risks necessary to put themselves on the map at the expense of everyone else.

Craig, Stacy, we respect the hell out of you because of the many wars we’ve been through.  We’ve won some, you’ve won some, but ultimately you’ve earned our respect and we hope we’ve earned your respect as well.  But there is an opportunity coming up for us at Rise To Greatness, we do not know what the opportunity will entail, but we are damn sure not going to squander it and that means we can’t let anyone get in the way of us and our opportunity…

…not even Adrenaline Rush.

We haven’t exactly been ourselves lately, Adrenaline Rush.  That’s obvious.  The last two matches we’ve been in as a team were losses.  We need to build up momentum in order to get to where we want to be.  We need this win in order to maintain our course, and we need this win to prove to the world that The Sisterhood is far from done.

You’re going to try to stop us because you want that same goal, you want tag team glory, you want that opportunity that we want at Rise To Greatness.  But you can want it all you want, Craig and Stacy, unfortunately for you, you’ve been  matched up against the two time SCW World Tag Team Champions, and we are prepared to take the necessary risks to put you down and move past you on the road to Rise To Greatness.

What else are we prepared to do them, sis?

Do I have to?

Yes!

…we’re prepared to kick your teeth right down your throat!

Sisterhood vs. Starr/Valentine

I heard what my sister had to say.  And yes, I’ll admit, it was great to be away from the tag team scene even if it was just temporary.  I think people began to question whether or not I still had it in me to get the job done on my own.  I could hear the people talking about me behind my back, raising doubts about my ability to hold my own in a wrestling match without the aid of my sister.

Kayla, I love you sis, but you have no idea how much it ate me up inside knowing that people felt I needed you, and I’m sure if you’re honest with yourself, you’ll agree that you wouldn’t want people thinking that you needed me either.

That noise filled my ear for so long that I began to believe it myself.  So I had to prove to myself that I could still hold my own, that I could still get the job done by myself.  I had to prove that I was still The Firestar, that I was still The Golden Goddess of Professional Wrestling that had won multiple world championships, was a multi-time hall of famer.

Here in SCW I had made it to the semi-finals of the Shot of Adrenaline Tournament in back to back years and I did all of that by myself.  I didn’t have any help either year in climbing those mountains. And I guarantee you I would’ve done it three years in a row but I was focused too much on tag team wrestling.

Yes, I needed this time away to prove to myself that I could still do it on my own.  And I regained confidence in myself and I proved to the world that I was still a great singles star by earning victories over former world champions such as Samantha Raine, Rachel Foxx…

…and I also beat Jake Starr.

Hi there, Jake!  I’m sure you have such fond memories of me!  I’ll get back to you and Valentine in a minute.

Never forget just who in the hell I am and what the hell I can do.  Never forget that any time I want I can still be a success on my own.  I am not and never will be tag team exclusive.  But right now my sister needs a tag team partner, she needs someone she can trust, she needs someone who can work with her, who knows her…

…that person is me!

You can laud Ravyn Taylor all day long and yes, she does have a sparkling record matched by few here in SCW, but the fact is that she let my sister down.  And hey, it’s not necessarily her fault.  Some people just don’t gel and maybe her and Kayla don’t gel.

But Kayla and I, we gel. We’re family, we’re sisters, we’re blood, and we have that natural chemistry that comes with being family and if anyone can lead Kayla back to tag team gold it’s me, her sister Angelica Jones.

And quite frankly, I would damn sure love to become SCW World Tag Team Champions for a third time.

Jake, Tommy, the tag team division is in flux with AJ Helms being the sole holder of the tag team titles.  SCW does have a deep, talented tag team division and this match will go a long way to seeing which of us has the brightest future going forward.

Well we’re The Sisterhood and we don’t roll over for anyone and you, Jake Starr, better than perhaps anyone else, should know that Kayla and I don’t quit all that easily.  We just keep coming, like a pair of annoying cockroaches.  And no matter what you try, whether it be bug spray or stepping on us, we just keep crawling.  You can’t kill us.

You had to resort to beating the hell out of us with chairs and interfering in our matches and yet that still didn’t stop us from coming after your ass.

This will be a war of attrition and a war that we intend on winning, because we want to climb back to the top of the tag team mountain.  It’ll be a journey, it’ll be a tough climb, but we intend to make that climb and make that journey successfully, and that first step is you two.

And we will go right through you two like a hot knife through butter.

Focus on the Family

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Off Camera

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Happiness, joy, and sheer comfort are the emotions that I feel right now.  Perhaps I shouldn’t be feeling this way.  After all, Supreme Championship Wrestling has been a mixed bag for my family lately.  My daughter did become United States Champion, and immediately after that she was attacked by Regan Street, not to mention the craziness she has to deal with regarding her twin, my other child Kimberly Williams.

Then there’s my sister, Kayla Jones.  Together we are The Sisterhood and we are two time SCW World Tag Team Champions.  I wanted to make that three time champions but then Fatal Fortunes drew Ravyn Taylor as Kayla’s tag team partner, not me.  And then, on this most recent edition of Breakdown, Kayla and Ravyn failed to become SCW World Tag Team Champions.  That should bother me, but it brings a small sense of satisfaction.

And that’s not all.  While my family may not be doing so great right about now, I have been riding a wave of momentum.  At Fatal Fortunes I defeated the reigning Television Champion Jake Starr and a former World Champion Rachel Foxx.  Then later on another edition of Breakdown I defeated Samantha Raine, an old rival of mine from my days in GDW where she reigned as GDW World Champion.

Many people think that I have my groove back.  Many suggest that the dominant Angelica Jones of old has returned to form and that I could take SCW by storm.  Who knows?  They may be correct.  I must have opened someone’s eyes, because I now find myself scheduled to face Christy Matthews, a former Adrenaline Champion, in the next SCW Television Title eliminator.

Yes, if I just keep my winning streak alive, I could be well on my way to becoming SCW Television Champion.  And that is quite the reason to be pleased with myself.  But if I were to say that my professional wrestling success is the only reason that I’m happy and content with myself and my life right now, well, I’d be lying.

Brilliant gold and orange hues bled like fire in the east over the rivers and beyond the city of Boston, Massachusetts. The first slither of the sun peeked over the skyline in a radiant, white form. Gradually it raised, a defined circle in a vibrant backdrop. The rivers were liquid gold and silver.  As the sun fully revealed itself it seemed to swell, loosing its focus and spreading in contrast to my contracting pupils.  I exhaled with relief as I sat up in bed.  I turned my head to look out the window, the source of the beautiful rays of sunlight.  This morning’s sunrise was a breathtaking display of radiant colors. Bright streaks of red, pink, and orange slowly overcame the dark blue and purple of the twilight sky. The sky resembled a prism; all the colors blended perfectly into each other. The sun itself was just peeking out of the horizon, and its brilliant rays already shined brightly and began to warm the air.

Eventually I manage to pull myself out of bed.  I walk over to the full length mirror and take appraisal of myself.  I like what I see; a beautiful redhead decked out in a green ruffled steel boned lace corset.  The suspenders of the garter are attached to sheer black stockings.

“Good morning, beautiful.”

I turn around and spot the other reason why I’ve been so happy these days; my girlfriend, Aphrodite Noel, still lying on the bed.

This beautiful woman has also been the cause of a great deal of tension within the family.  Kayla may claim she’s giving her a chance but she doesn’t trust her one bit.  My daughters have all remained silent on the issue, but if they did agree with their aunt Kayla, then who can really blame them?  Aphrodite was once a vicious rival of mine inside of the squared circle.

I admit, they have just cause for concern.  I just don’t care.  Aphrodite was there for me when I needed someone to talk to, to cry to, to unleash my emotions to.  She listened to me and comforted me in my time of need after my wife, Lindsey Carter, went missing.

Kayla wasn’t there for me.  My daughters weren’t there for me.  Aphrodite was there for me.

Aphrodite slowly rises up off of the bed and walks over to me.  It is then that we embrace in a tight hug.  Quickly our lips lock and we kiss passionately.  After breaking the kiss she winks at me.

“How long have you been awake?”

“Not long.  I literally just got up.”

“We could go back,” she motions to the bed “if you want.”

I admit, it is tempting.  Quite honestly, it’s hard to resist.  Finally, I nod my head.

“Yes, let’s.”

I take her by her hand and we go together back towards the bed.  I lie back down first and Aphrodite follows suit.

“What’s on your mind, Angel?”

“hmmm?” I ask, absentmindedly.

“Don’t play innocent with me, Angel.” She says with a mocking note of sternness in her voice. “I know you all too well.  You have something on your mind.”

She reaches over and runs a hand through my long red hair. “So please, share.”

I roll over and gaze deep into her eyes. “Just thinking about you, that’s all.  I’m thinking about how lucky I am to have you.”

“If only that were true.” Aphrodite says with a sigh. “But how can you be thinking just about me when I know your family situation is in a bit of turmoil right now?”

Not this again.  I sigh out of frustration and roll over so that I’m no longer facing Aphrodite. “It isn’t a big deal, Aphrodite.  Honestly, it isn’t.  Don’t worry about it.”

“Don’t worry about it?”  Aphrodite sits straight up in bed, I catch a glimpse of this out of the corner of my eye but I remain lying down. “Angelica, I told you from the start that I never intended to come between you and your family.  Now if I am the cause the cause of any problems between you and your sister, then I want to know.”

“It isn’t that simple.”

“Then make it simple.”

I realize now that there is no avoiding this subject.  I sit up in bed and turn my head to face Aphrodite’s, gazing deep into her eyes.

“If Kayla has any problems with you, well that’s on her.  Whatever problems she may have with you will not affect the way I feel about you.  But you are right…” I pause to collect my thoughts and Aphrodite uses that time to place a comforting hand on my shoulder “…you are right, Kayla and I have been growing further and further apart recently.”

“I don’t want to be the cause of that, Angelica.”

I shake my head. “You’re not the reason why we’ve been growing apart.  It’s just life.”

I chuckle lightly. “I guess it just hit us later than others, but really, it’s just life.  I thought my life had ended when our mother died and then our father separated us and abandoned us.  I spent my teenage years thinking I would never see my sister again.”

Aphrodite nods her head as if a light bulb went off. “I can see that the reunion of you two much later in life was a treat.”

A smile finally cross my lips even as tears form in my eyes. “Yeah, it was great.  I was thrilled to see her but I secretly blamed myself for losing her the first time.”

“Nonsense,” Aphrodite scoffs “your father did that to you.”

“My mind knew that but my heart told me otherwise and I listened to my heart.  Point is, I had lost her once and I refuse to lose her again.”

“How did your sister feel about this?”

I shrug my shoulders. “I never asked her.   But I believe she probably felt the same way I did, because we were inseparable after that.  It’s why we always stuck together in the wrestling business.  It’s why any of our singles endeavors in Supreme Championship Wrestling never lasted long.  We wanted to stick together.”

I get up off of the bed and walk over to the window.  The sunlight creates a beautiful scenery as I look out at the Boston skyline.

“I can’t pinpoint a time when it started but we began to grow more distant.  Even when we won the SCW World Tag Team Championships for a second time, as great as that was, as wonderful an accomplishment as that was, I somehow felt that it would be the last time The Sisterhood would ever be SCW World Tag Team Champions.”

By this time Aphrodite has joined me by the window.  She wraps her arms around me from behind in an embrace.

“Again, it’s nonsense.  You and Kayla deserve another title shot.  I could understand your concerns if Kayla and Ravyn had been successful but they were not.  This opens the door for you and Kayla to go for the gold again.”

“Maybe, but would we just be delaying the inevitable?  Besides, would we really get a tag title shot?  I mean, Kayla isn’t the only one with more pressing matters to deal with.”

“What do you,” Aphrodite pauses as she suddenly realizes what I’m talking about “oh right, your Television Title Eliminator against Christy Matthews.”

I nod my head. “That’s right, and what’s more is that I want this win.  I want it badly.”

“Of course you do, you are a professional athlete and a competitor.”

“It goes beyond that,” I respond, shaking my head, “because I haven’t felt this good about myself, this confident in my abilities, in a very long time.  I beat Jake Starr, Rachel Foxx, and Samantha Raine.  I’ve been on a roll lately and I know that I can defeat Christy Matthews.  And even better than that, I know I can become SCW Television Champion.  And I don’t need Kayla’s help.  I can do this on my own.”

“And does Kayla feel the same way?”

“Honestly…I don’t know.  I mean, I know she wanted to become SCW World Tag Team Champions with Ravyn, and yet she still offered to give up her title shot if it would make me happy.”

“She was willing to give up her title shot for you?” Aphrodite arches her brow. “Surprising.  It definitely shows that she cares about you.”

“Yes, but I think she was just trying to appease me.” I sigh deeply. “I think she is having similar thoughts and feelings that I’m having, but she was just trying to make me feel better.  The Sisterhood has been growing apart for quite some time now.  Kayla has had a shot at the tag titles with a different partner and now I very well could become the SCW Television Champion, if I can first get through Christy Matthews.”

Aphrodite gently turns me around so that I’m facing her.  “Angelica, listen to me…just because you and your sister are no longer tag team partners, doesn’t mean you are growing apart.”

“You’re right,” I respond, nodding my head “and if it were just Kayla, then I wouldn’t be this concerned, but it isn’t just her.  My children…”

The tears that have been welling up flow freely now.  Aphrodite embraces me as I cry on her shoulder.  I have four daughters, the oldest two are the twins, Marie and Kimberly.  My middle child is Jessica.  And my youngest, just entering her teenage years, little Kelly, who was named after my mother.  Aphrodite gently pats me on the back in an attempt to comfort me.

“What is it, what’s wrong?”

I look up into her eyes as I struggle to find the words. “…my children, they…they’re growing apart from me.  And it’s my fault…”

“I refuse to believe that.” Aphrodite remarks, shaking her head. “You and Marie seem to have an excellent relationship.”

I nod my head. “Yes, right now we do, but how long will that last?  I can already see the disappointment in Marie’s eyes.  She’s disappointed in me because I haven’t given her twin sister Kimberly a fair chance to redeem herself and rejoin the family.  I’ve practically blacklisted Kimberly and soon, Marie’s loyalty to her sister will lead her to blacklisting me.  I just know it.  And Jessica…”

I wipe some tears from my eyes “…Jessica has long since been disappointed in me, both me and her father.  She rarely maintains any communication with anyone now outside of her sisters or her husband.  All I have left is little Kelly…I hope don’t screw that one up…”

“I’ve watched you deal with your children, Angelica,” a warm smile spreads across Aphrodite’s face “and I can honestly say that you are a wonderful mother.”

I sigh. “I don’t feel like one.”

“But you are,” Aphrodite insists, “and I get it, we all make mistakes sometimes.  Perhaps you’ve made a mistake with Kimberly…”

“I’m just not sure I can trust her.” I remark, interrupting Aphrodite. “She’s mentally unhinged and has tried to harm me before.”

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t you spend time in a mental institution?”

Guilt swarms over me.  She’s right.  I spent time in a mental institution after killing Marie’s father.  I nod my head.

“Yeah, I did.”

“And didn’t the Jones family welcome you back with open arms?”

“Yes, yes they did.”

“So…” her voice trails off, a smile forms on her face “…what’s wrong with giving Kimberly a chance?”

A thousand thoughts are swirling through my head.  She’s right, of course.  It would be hypocritical of me not to give her a chance.  But it’d be…

“Difficult.”

“Hmmm?” Aphrodite asks with an arched brow.

“It’ll be difficult, but you’re right, I need to give her a fair chance.”

“It will be difficult, but the right thing never is easy.” Aphrodite takes me by the hand and squeezes it tightly. “But I’ll be here to help you.”

I smile warmly.  Then I kiss her on the cheek. “Thanks, Aphrodite.  Your support means everything to me.”

“Not a problem, that’s what I’m here for.  But now that we have dealt with this,” she motions back to the bed, “why don’t we go back to finishing what we started?”

I grin knowingly. “My pleasure.”

==========

On Camera

==========

Fatal Fortunes didn’t turn out to be all that fatal after all.  As a matter of fact, Fatal Fortune turned out to be the night that I got my career back on the right path.  That night I overcame the challenge of two individuals, one of which was a reigning champion and the other was a former SCW World Champion.   But the Fatal Fortunes edition of Breakdown wouldn’t be the end of my winning streak.  I went on to defeat Samantha Raine, a woman I’ve known all too well during our days competing for GDW.

What Fatal Fortunes ultimately did was serve as a reminder to the SCW universe that I was The Golden Goddess, the dominant Angelica Jones, long before I ever tag teamed with my sister Kayla as The Sisterhood.  Before Kayla and I won two tag team championships in this great company, I was a legend in my own right, and while I have yet to win singles gold in Supreme Championship Wrestling, my record as a performer here is unquestioningly good.  In back to back years I made the semi-finals of the SCW Shot of Adrenaline Tournament.  You don’t get that far for two straight years by being a slouch in the singles division.

Yet I allowed others to pass me by because I was content with just teaming with my sister.  I was content with being a member of The Sisterhood and going after the SCW World Tag Team Championship.

Now don’t get me wrong, I still have those tag team titles in sight, as I’m sure Kayla does as well, but what Fatal Fortunes  as well as my matches thereafter proved is that I don’t just still have what it takes to get the job done as a singles competitor but I’ve improved.

That’s what you need to understand, Christy.  We’ve tangled before and you beat me. So you definitely have my respect and I know based upon how you operate inside of that squared circle not to put anything past you.  You will do anything to win. You will break any rule and take any shortcut.

Good, because I not only know every dirty trick in the book, but I wrote a good chunk of that book myself.  I’m prepared for anything you can throw at me.  But more importantly than knowing what you’re capable of and knowing what to expect from you, I know that you are the only person right now standing between me and another shot at the SCW Television Championship.

I had my first opportunity back when Ace Marshall held the belt and I was so close to winning it.  I would argue that had it not been a triple threat match, had it just been one on one,  I would’ve beaten him for the title.

But that’s in the past and I’ve learned from my mistakes.  I’ve used what I learned then as well as what I learned from losing to you, Christy, I used those lessons to grow as a competitor and as an athlete, and now I am better prepared to take you down.

I’ve been here for three damn years and all I have to say for myself is two reigns as an SCW World Tag Team Champion.  Now most would be happy with that…

…but I’m NOT most people!  I am used to being feared, I am used to people being intimidated by me!  I am used to success.  Thirteen times across multiple companies I’ve held world championships.  I thought my career was over but I was convinced to come out of retirement and join the ranks of SCW and what have I done since?

Absolutely nothing!

It eats away at my heart and my soul that I have been unable to take that next step and win singles gold.  It’s been boiling up inside for a damn long time.  I’ve been able to contain it by teaming with Kayla, winning tag team gold, but now that The Sisterhood has been temporarily sidelined…

…I have no reason to hold back!

I am angry, Christy, but I’m not going to let that anger distract me.  I’m going to let it fuel me and I’m going to let it keep me focused on the task at hand, and that task is defeating you on Breakdown and moving on to challenge for the SCW Television Championship.

You’re not going to get in my way.