When I was a little girl, my mother used to tell me how one day I would be the leader of the clan. It was always a dream of mine, knowing that my father was a tired old man. Tombstone needed to be ushered into a new era. There was absolutely no other way to state it, his beliefs were outdated, the rules needed to be rewritten, these people were never going to be anything other than the salt of the earth under his rule…
… and in one night all of it was taken from me.
Tombstone, TX.
Apocalypse
I blacked out after I fell down the pit which was supposed to be covered, my leg getting trapped when it broke through the rotten wood, making me a sitting duck to Chris Cannon. As I opened my blue eyes, I looked around dazed and in a state of confusion. Cannon was lying on top of me, he too was stirring. The pain was too much to bear, I could barely move, weaving in and out of consciousness trying my hardest to stay awake. I could hear my brothers and sisters of the Gypsy cloth climbing down, concerned, one voice yelling at my father…
“WHY, JOHN!? WHY WOULD YA PUT US AT THE EXPENSE OF A FUCKIN’ GORGER!?”, his voice rang loud, echoing in the pit, yet my father stayed silent. I could see him staring down at me, almost in remorse. Maybe he thought I was a shoe in to win and I WAS! But dumb luck cost me this fight. Now Chris Cannon has what my LEGACY SHOULD HAVE BEEN! As I start to cough, hemorrhaging and tasting my own blood swirling in my throat, his gaze is the only thing I could focus on, raising my bloody hand up to him, trying to reach so I could fucking pull him in here with me for my fate was going to be his.
“Siobhan….”, he muttered my name, knowing that he made a grave mistake, throwing everything that our family stood for, what my mother ultimately wanted. I could feel the other members of the clan help Chris off me, he was conscious, trying to push them off but could barely stand on his feet. As they helped their new leader, they left me there lying, staring at the stars on a warm and beautiful night without a cloud in the sky.
“You love stargazing, don’t you Siobhan?”, my mother’s voice clear as if she was here sitting with me right now brushing her fingers through my hair. “Momma…”, were the only words that came out of mouth, turning to see her glaring right at me with her soft features and warm smile, that is when the tears started to trickle down my bloody cheeks, I tried to touch her face, reaching over…
“Momma….”
The more I stretched, the further she was away. Then she disappeared, and I looked back up at my father who watched them take Chris Cannon out of the pit, raising his hand as Tombstone worshipped and acknowledged their new leader. No, this wasn’t happening, it was all a bad dream, and I would wake up from it knowing that no matter what has happened, it wasn’t real and one day Tombstone would be mine….
MINE!
“Get Siobhan out of the pit and to the infirmary right now Sawyer!”, he screamed at my half-brother. “Yes, poppa.”, he then proceeded to climb down but I screamed….
“LEAVE ME ALONE! BURY ME IN THIS GODDAMN HOLE! BURY ME! BURY ME!”, with every little bit of energy I had left. I saw Chris Cannon turn to my father. “HELP HER!”, much to my surprise, why would he care after all I did to him!? WHY!? His now new minions reaching down, hoisting my body as I squealed in pain, something wasn’t right, coughing up more blood, before everything became blurry….
… and I lost consciousness.
A Few Hours Later
As my eyes opened, staring at the white ceiling, the salty taste of my blood, the smell of sweat, trying to see where I was at, still in my wrestling gear, my father sat there staring at me. I didn’t want to talk to him, there was nothing more I needed to say, getting up to my feet, I must’ve had some cracked ribs, it wasn’t enough though to hold me down, trying to walk was a task…
“Stay in bed.”, he commanded, but I wasn’t about to allow him to tell me what to do. “Fuck you, poppa.”, I replied in a venomous shriek. Reaching for the door, he stood up and walked over blocking it. “We have no business! Where are my Jackals!?”, I demanded to know, he took his time answering me back though. “They are outside, waitin’ fer ya ta wake up. We gave ya a sedative and treated yer wounds, but ya gotta stay in bed, shower up, put on some clean clothes and get some sleep.”, as if I was really going to stay there.
Shaking my head, I tried to push him out of the way, but he wouldn’t budge. “Get out of my fucking way, now! For I am leaving this place and you will NEVER see me again!”, retorting back to his resistance of allowing me to walk away peacefully before I did something I wouldn’t regret.
“Siobhan….”
“DO NOT EVER CALL ME THAT AGAIN! I AM NOT YOUR DAUGHTER ANYMORE!
“Yer always gonna be my daughter and this? Was always gonna be yers, until ya defied the clan! Everything that yer momma and I wanted ya to be and…”, I wasn’t going to listen to this anymore, cutting him off, I finally pushed him out of the way. “Don’t you ever mention momma again, you took her from us and now you took my legacy, this was all fixed, that pit cover was fixed! You intended on Chris Cannon winning the whole time so that you may teach me some lesson, yes? Is that what this was all about!? Well congratulations, you won, and the prize is you will never see me again until the day you’re about to take the final breath, I will make sure to stand over to see you die and piss on your fucking grave.”, upon saying this, my father stood there in disbelief, knowing how much I hated him for what he had done. As I was opening the door though he grabbed my wrist forcefully, trying to pull away but he wouldn’t let me go…
“I did this fer ya! I wanted ya ta understand what ya gotta do ta make this yer legacy! But no! Ya had to throw it away because of Gunari or all the other influencers that have taken their audience with ya! This was all yers but tonight ya lost it ta a gorger and that was of yer doin’ not mine! Not anyone else! Yer still the rightful heir Siobhan, ya always were but now with the creed, it changes. Yer at his mercy, his rule! His charge! Until I say otherwise. Ya want Tombstone? Then show me Siobhan what yer willin’ ta do ta get it, but right now, it belongs ta Chris Cannon and he is yer leader!”
“THE HELL HE IS! No Poppa, no. It doesn’t work that way anymore. This isn’t my legacy, not now, not ever after tonight. See, I’m a woman of my word, you know that. Momma raised me that way, I would never go back on what was agreed and break those prehistoric rules that are in place. Had I won, had I not been robbed? I would have cleaned it up and changed it all. I will not get that chance, poppa, thanks to you. I lost Tombstone, and now you lost me forever. Let go of my arm.”, as we stared at one another intensely for a brief moment, for the first time and not even at my mothers funeral my father shed a tear. I stood there, trembling in anger and sadness. I wanted to hold him and say that everything was going to be okay….
… but it was a lie, nothing was going to be okay. Turning around he let me go. I couldn’t look back and so walking out was my only option. The thoughts of burning this place down crossed my mind, but as I looked over at Chris sitting outside bandaged up, we both locked eyes, I hated him. I wanted to destroy his life because of Sienna Swann and the rest of the gorgers that he has housed his entire career. In this very moment, I couldn’t, for out of respect to his victory, he was the leader of Tombstone. That didn’t mean one day I would come back and dethrone him, but until then, I will get my revenge in other ways, wrestling, outside in the real world, not in the confines of this place.
“Minerva.”, calling my name, turning to Chris, holding my ribs. He slowly stood up and walked over to me, extending his hand. “A battle well fought. Now it is over.”, but I didn’t shake his hand. Instead, I walked right up to his face…
“This will never be over Chris Cannon until your demise.”
Without another word, the Jackals were there to grab and carry me to the trucks. I looked over my shoulder, Chris and I locking eyes again, then to my father, closing my eyes, well aware that will be the last time I ever see him again until the day I return to destroy this fucking place.
The Following Morning
Lifting my head off the pillow, half naked, I look over to find Drake Hemingway with my barefoot on his lap. He was slowly rubbing up and down my skin, trying to clear the cobwebs, I was completely out and didn’t remember even getting here. I was all clean, change of clothes and in a t-shirt and underwear. Squinting my eyes, I could see that he was troubled, for The Jackals failed miserably at Apocalypse.
“How long have you been sitting there.”, I asked while trying to sit up. “All night, they brought you to me, you were unconscious, between the wounds and the medication they gave you in Tombstone, your body couldn’t take it anymore. Tell me something Minerva, was all of this worth it? The games with Cannon? Peyton Rice? Sienna Swann? All those victims that we took without pity or remorse? To lose it all in the end?”, and while I was shocked at his approach, I couldn’t argue it one bit. We failed in the end, everything I wanted was gone. But not all was lost, not all was going to fall wayside. There was still one place that we could conquer and take over with Tommy Valentine and Kandis. Leaning in, caressing his face, my eyes tearing up some, knowing that I lost my legacy, but I refused to lose the war….
“Every goddamn bit of it.”, his eyes widen some, not expecting that answer. “As Hamlet said to Ophelia, ”God has given you one face, and you make yourself another.” This is the battle my love between these two halves of identity…Who we are and who we pretend to be, is unwinnable, Drake.” Just as there are two sides to every story, there are two sides to every person. One that we reveal to the world and another we keep hidden inside. We are that duality governed by the balance of light and darkness, within each of us is the capacity for both good and evil. But those who are able to blur the moral dividing line hold the true power… The Jackals. Our task is not over…. Until the SCW is OURS.”
Our lips touch, gently kissing him and reassuring Drake that this is but another chapter in the unwritten book that is yet far in reaching its climax…
No One But The Jackals.
SCENE FADES
REC:
“There are moments when a humbling experience may change your outlook on things accomplished or events foretold, when defeat, pain and embarrassment are all rolled into one nice little package, a bow tied around it and placed right in front of your beaten face, that is if you can still see and decipher it in any way possible just to make some sense out of it after a bludgeoning. My career has always been a hill of ups and downs, I never had it easy in this business, from the first match I had to the last, nothing was ever handed to me, I had to work and keep working just for a single ounce of respect and recognition. I gained the notoriety I wanted, the SCW superstars, well at least those that are not full of themselves and shit, the ones who actually have an ounce of decency or morale, not wrapped up in their press and championship lore, the accomplishments throughout the years and expect the newer talent to be on their level and if they are not, recluse from ever being some sort of challenge, there are many like that here in the SCW, maybe even I fell into that line from time to time in the industry, not out of need to fit in but out of arrogance and even ignorance. I will always be hated, looked upon the rest of this roster especially the women as a whore, talent-less and annoying.
As my frustrations start to grow, I have always known that every fragile, petty little bitch here cannot handle adversity, the minute they are challenged, defeated or upended by what they want to label “lesser talent”, suddenly the chips fall and those who were always destined to succeed here must look over their backs, and frankly I am not arguing the point, I would do the same thing, I have no issues attacking anyone, anywhere and anytime, yet many here have grown complacent and accustomed to getting their way, when they don’t, they must ruin someone else’s and take from them a key victory or moment in their career, in this case my destiny and family heritage. I must now look at myself in the mirror and determine how I am going to handle all of this and fix it quickly. Am I standing here making excuses as to why I just suffered probably the most humiliating loss of my career to Chris Cannon on my own dirt and now find myself in the back of the line once again while he goes off to become a World Champion? Minerva needing to climb back up and remind this company just who the fuck I am?
No, Chris may have been an opportunist with the freak accident which led to my downfall, but I would have done the exact same thing. Is Superman better than me? No, I refuse to believe that but on that night, he was a little more violent, a little more focused and a little bit luckier, but see, this is a long road and even by his words, he knows we will meet again, and while he is there humble about the win leading what was MINE! Telling the world that he is proved everyone wrong while being done with me, making Minerva a liar, I must accept it, with a stark warning….
Laugh now, you will be crying later.
Chris Cannon, I’m going to leave you with this. For the first time in my career, you beat me like no one has ever done before. I literally thought I was going to be paralyzed after what you did to me, luckily that is not the case. It was an experience that was both horrifying and enticing, for I was given what I earned, thank you. I will never take away from your huge win, savor the moment, lead my people, for it will be the last time you ever feel that way again. My father once told me, there will be a time when someone changes your life, for the better or the worse, and it is at that very moment where I must decide if I have met the one person who has unleashed the devil trapped inside of me. You handed me what I asked for, I will never deny that, and you earned my respect begrudgingly, but in doing so, you also have earned my angst, ire and hunger for revenge, an act I am willing to wait patiently for after I dispose of everyone else including those in this Trios Tournament and “Lexy Corp”. We will meet again sooner rather than later, and I hope you do get your chance at the World Championship, and I will make sure you win it, so I can pry it out of your cold hands when I am done leaving you a pile of bloody mess and broken bones like you did me at Apocalypse.
For finally…
I found a man worth killing.
Now we come to the Trios Tournament, the Chalice much like the Knights of the Round Table searching for the Holy Grail, sipping from its nectar for everlasting life and what better way to get a ticket to the very top then by this prize. Shilo Valiant and Tsunami will help me achieve it, long as they fall in line, one legend, one monster, one Black Rose. Standing in our way are Xander Valentine, the Apex Predator of the SCW, Gavin Taylor, the Court Jester and Ducky the crazed phenom…
… I am not impressed; hut do not take my lack of excitement as anything other than a simple perception. Xander is dangerous, making me wet just thinking about what he can do to me in the ring, but see my Titan, I have brought men your size down to their knees, glaring into my icy blue eyes with one thought…
… mercy.
You may call me a novice, but I think we both know that is all hyperbole, the psyche game, for you’re not that arrogant considering the Executioner is about to meet the ONLY woman in this company who can behead him in the public square. This is your moment to prove me wrong, to step into Breakdown and shut me up, to back up all that shit talking telling the world that you are better than Minerva, yet much like in life, there will always be dreamers who think like Walt Disney, if they can dream it, they can do it, but when you face me, I tend to turn those into nightmares. The Devil maybe in the Details, unfortunately there isn’t a single person in this promotion who has an attention span more evolved than an earthworm, including Gavin Taylor.
Yes, I look at you as a man who tried to do everything in order to finally break the ceiling and become a World Champion, 12 years, still waiting. But much like Xander I know that deep down inside, behind that façade and wall you call bravado lies a man who knows exactly what I am capable of, is Trios that important to me when I can get what I want, when I want? What you did in the past, what has happened to lead you into this very moment, the ups, and the downs while they create character and motives, they do not guarantee victory. I have also been in the gutter, failed miserably in life and lastly was never the same again after my mother died. But I used those tragedies, atrocities, the very occasions and junctures from which they slowly became the building blocks to who I am and what I will end up doing before they bury me upside down so every single one of you can kiss my ass.
Breakdown and the Trios Tournament, this includes you Nicole, Ducky it doesn’t matter I will bring you down on that head made of rock and destroy all 18 personalities in one shot for this is my play and come tomorrow night, Xander, Gavin and Ducky, I will open the door for you to step right in, walking into my purgation. See, this was all part of the plan, and I had stated the road I take and where I end up are always different. If you want to brag about your accomplishments, by all means, do not let me stop you yet in my short time here I have made a bigger impact than most do in years. If you three want to point out the obvious about how important this contract is to the survival of your careers, fine. If you want to state just how much better you are then me, fine…
For when this is all over, I promise you Xander, Gavin and Ducky, I will place the two coins on your eyes for the ferryman to take you across the River of Styx straight into damnation. Your team may be consistent of talent and barbaric carnivores, but come Breakdown, I’m going to feast on your fucking bones.
When My Heaven Becomes Your Hell.”
/REC
Minerva 