Professional Help

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Professional Help

Off Camera

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Extreme Fury was the date that I revealed to the world that I had sold my soul to The Good Movement in order to become a World Tag Team Champion.  Did I sell my soul for the world tag team titles?  Partially, yes.  Part of me said that if I cannot beat them, then join them, and I had done everything in my power, Mark and I had done everything in our power, to defeat them, to bring them down, but none of it had worked.  Perhaps it was time for me to join the enemy and let them give me what I had wanted all along?  At least, that was the decision that I had come to reach.

Becoming a champion wasn’t the only reason I had decided to throw my lot in with The Good Movement.  Another big reason was my lover, Polly Norah.  I hated to see her suffer as an unwilling member of that group so I joined them so that I could at least keep her company and, maybe, protect her.  Perhaps that is the noble thing I had done.

Then there’s a third reason I went and joined The Good Movement.  I need some way to be able to contain my aggressive, violent urges.  So far I have assisted Kordelia Price in defending the tag titles against Kathryn Pearson and Syren and I have assisted The Good Movement as a whole in taking apart TPKid.  All of this is done to help contain these urges I am having, urges to maim and destroy.  I will not be able to contain them for long, though, and that is why I need help.

“You really are serious about this, aren’t you?”

My brother’s voice is one mixed with surprise and concern.  I don’t think he truly expected me to actually go through with this, to actually go to see a psychiatrist.  The truth is, I have to do it.  This darkness within me, this beast, is becoming nearly uncontrollable.  I have to find a grip around what created it and then find a way to contain it.  Besides, Mark and his new wife Ashley made it clear that I won’t get to see them or their daughter until I get real help and if that means going to see a psychiatrist, then so be it.

In all honesty, Ashley doesn’t trust me even now that I am beginning my sessions with the psychiatrist.  If she had her way, I wouldn’t see them at all ever again period.  But as it is, my brother is the voice of reason…surprise, surprise…and I do have this chance, perhaps my last chance, to redeem myself.

It’s a challenge to admit you need help.  At least for my family it is.  My brother and I both tend to be rather stubborn when it comes to asking for help.  We generally want to go to war on our own.  We generally want to fight the battle ourselves until the bitter end, consequences be damned.  Not very strategic or smart, but that’s just how we are wired.  But this time I know I need help.

“I meant what I said, Mark.” I respond dryly without bothering to look over in his general direction. “I am going to see help.”

“But why?”

“Stupid question, Mark.  Don’t ask stupid questions.”

“I don’t think it’s a stupid question.  I think it’s a pretty good question.  Are you doing this because you sincerely want to help yourself or because you just want to appease me?”

I turn my head and glare at him.  “I told you not to ask stupid questions.”

“I don’t think it’s a stupid question!” He exclaims.

“Well it is.”  I sigh deeply. “Fine, yes part of it is because I want to be able to see you again; all of you.  Your daughter, my niece Martina, is sweet and I miss her and you…”

I let out a slight chuckle, shutting my eyes as a warm smile crosses my face. “…we’ve been through so much together, Mark.  Too much to watch it end just like that.”

I open my eyes back up and compose myself. “Even Ashley.  We may not have known each other long but I’ve grown to like her, even if she doesn’t really trust me right now.”

“Can you blame her for not trusting you?”

I shake my head but remain silent.  If I tell the truth, I don’t even trust myself in this current frame of mind that I find myself in.  What started as a small spark has escalated into a full blown wildfire that has already taken the life of my husband Tony Morgan.  Who knows?  My beloved Polly Norah could be next if I cannot maintain some control over it.

Thankfully, due to Polly’s injury keeping her inactive, the only person who gets that close to that side of me is Kordelia Price.  And while no one would really miss her much if Kordy were to get injured or worse at the hands of my dark side, I am quite certain that she can handle herself against it.  As dimwitted as she may be, so is also quite a formidable fighter when called upon to defend herself.  The young girl just needs proper motivation and a good general to direct her.  Kordy, truth be told, is a great weapon in warfare, she just needs the right individual to point her and pull her trigger.

Ok, that sounded perverse…moving on…

I took over as IWC World Tag Team Champion when Polly Norah got put on the shelf with an ankle injury.  Now it’s me and Kordy as The Harem defending the belts and our next challengers will be Mr. Hush and P Clarence Whitman III.

Therein lies another underlying reason for the therapy, one which I have not mentioned to Mark but one which I’m sure he can guess.  I cannot afford to snap in the middle of a match.  I cannot afford to let my potential psychosis cost me and Kordy the world tag team titles.

“We’re here.”

Where exactly is here?  Well, it’s the offices of Dr. Jennifer Warren, the former psychiatrist who treated me in GDW before it shut down.  I was going to continue treatment there but never went through with my promise to do so.  Now is as good a time as any to do it.

The parking lot is almost empty except for two other vehicles.  Dr. Warren and I scheduled it this way so I would have some privacy walking in.  I didn’t want the prying eyes of God and everybody upon me, watching me enter a psychiatrist’s office.

Mark pulls the vehicle into a parking space up front.  I place my hand on the handle and am about to open the door before Mark’s hand wraps itself around my wrist.

“Sophie, wait…”

I turn and look at him, into his warm eyes, that look on his face, him smiling down at me.  “I want to say how proud I am of you that you’re doing this and…”

Are those tears forming in his eyes?  I didn’t know that he was that big of a softie!

“…I am glad you’re doing this, because I missed you Sophie.”

“I missed you too, Mark.”  I lean over and embrace him. “Now cut out the waterworks, ok?  Dr. Warren will make me good and we’ll be back together again.  Better than ever.”

I make a hasty exit out of the car before anything else can be said.  Honestly, I just didn’t want Mark to see the tears beginning to form in my own eyes.  I always wanted to appear strong; stronger than I really am.  Emotions, to me, had always been a weakness and I didn’t want to show any signs of weakness.  Especially not to Mark, not now that I am about to walk into quite the battle, a battle against a foe that will be quite challenging indeed…

…a battle against my own consciousness.

I cannot let Mark see me right now.  I have to be strong and I do not look very strong as I enter the front doors and walk into the waiting area.  The chairs and a sofa are all empty as I am the only person there except for a secretary who immediately takes notice of my entrance, looks up, and waves politely.

“Oh, hello Sophie!”

It’s bad when their secretary is on a first name basis with you.

“Hello.  Is the doctor in?”

She nods her head. “Yes, she is.  In fact, she’s waiting for you right now.”

“Good…”

I am glad to hear that.  I want to get this first session over with as soon as possible so immediately I make my way past the secretary, through the doors, and into Dr. Warren’s office.  Jennifer Warren got her start as a psychiatrist by working for GDW, which had required its wrestlers to pass a mental examination before being cleared to wrestle.  Since GDW closed up she was able to use that past experience to springboard her into her own practice, serving all types of individuals, but she still receives some visitors from former GDW athletes, myself included, although it has been quite some time since I had any encounter with her.

The office itself is a beige color and is very business oriented.  It definitely does not illustrate excitement and neither does Jennifer.  Jennifer, or Dr. Warren as it were, herself is sitting at herself doing paperwork when I walk in.  I do not believe she heard me so I clear my throat to get her attention.  Quickly she jerks her head up and smiles upon seeing me there.

“Ah, Sophie!” She waves politely. “You made it!”

“You sound surprised.”

“I hate to say it, but I kind of am.” She says, smiling sheepishly. “Your record isn’t that sparkling.”

I nod my head. “True enough.”

I make my way over to the nearby plush red sofa where I lie down.  It is perpendicular to Dr. Warren and that’s where she likes it; her patients comfortable and close to her so she can analyze them.

“Well Sophie, there is indeed a lot we can discuss…”

“That is true.” I laugh somewhat sarcastically. “My husband’s death…my brother and I having difficulties with one another…my lesbian relationship with Polly Norah…where to start?”

“You always were a psychiatrist’s dream.” She chuckles and, despite myself, I laugh a little as well. “But truthfully, before we get into any of that, why don’t you just tell me what you want out of these sessions?”

I sit up and turn to face her with a steely-eyed glare. “Are you sure you want to know?”

“I kind of have to know, Sophie, otherwise we cannot continue.”

I lie back down, shut my eyes tightly as I begin…

“Mark is the oldest.  But you knew that, right?”

“Mmmhmmm…”

“What you didn’t know is that I wasn’t planned.  I wasn’t supposed to be here.  I was an accident and my father made it abundantly clear that he didn’t want me.”

I can feel the tears welling up inside as I fight them back. “He would routinely get drunk worrying whether or not he’d have enough money to sustain a wife and two children.  Then he started taking it out on me for being born and my mum for giving birth to me.”

“I…” her voice trails off “…had no idea…”

“Eventually I learned to fight back.  My heart grew colder, less caring, and I buried my emotions deep down inside out of fear, fear of showing weakness.  Tony…”

A smile creeps across my face as I speak the name of my husband. “…Tony, sweet man that he was, you knew he was a psychiatrist too, didn’t you?”

Dr. Warren nods her head. “Yes, I knew that.”

“He told me I didn’t just learn to fight back.  Based on my actions after I moved on, my vicious streak, my violent streak, he said I created a security blanket for myself, something to protect myself with.”

“Interesting.” I can hear the doctor furiously scribbling notes onto her notepad. “That seems like an accurate diagnosis, at least it’s something I would agree with, but I have to ask…protection from what, exactly?”

“Protection from ever becoming that girl again.  That girl who allowed herself to get beaten and abused.”

I sit back up and swing my legs over the side of the sofa.  I bury my face into my hands.

“Tony is dead, doctor.  I have no one to help me.  I am worried about what I might do if I get out of control.  What might I do to Polly Norah?  What might I do to my own tag team partner Kordelia Price?  And then there’s Mark…”

I shake my head. “Mark has a daughter.  My niece.  I couldn’t live with myself if I hurt her.”

I look up pleadingly at Dr. Warren. “Please, doctor…please help me…”

“It seems to me like you need to cope with the root cause of all of your pain.” Dr. Warren states, placing her pen and notepad down, staring at me intensely.

“What does that mean?  What do I need to do?”

“You’re not going to like it.”

“What?”

“You need to confront your father.”

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This Isn’t A Joke

On Camera

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A leopard never changes its spots, zebra doesn’t get rid of its stripes.  It’s a fact of life.  A rattlesnake, at the end of the day, is still a poisonous reptile that will strike at a moment’s notice.    That is the snake’s nature and you cannot change that about it.

When I graduated from the Braddock Wrestling School, Glenn Braddock told me one important lesson.  He told me that a wrestler, him or herself, is a lethal weapon and that I should use my newfound knowledge and abilities wisely.

I graduated that day with Glory Braddock and she received the same advice but she interpreted it differently than I did.  She interpreted it was meaning to show mercy and not be selfish in this business.  I interpreted it as meaning that I should make every shot count that I should not waste my time.  I needed to make sure I had my goals set, I had to make sure my eyes were on the prize and that everything I did was to ensure I achieved that goal.

And that was how I conducted my business when I got my start in professional wrestling.  Glory, my good friend, got my brother and I started with GDW.  Under that motto of Total War we became two time world tag team champions of GDW and the longest reigning GDW world tag team champions.  We moved onto MWA and we did the same thing, two time and longest reigning world tag team champions.

This was the Sophie O’Brian who used a faction of FWA employees to invade MCW in order to take its world heavyweight championship.  This was the Sophie O’Brian who took advantage of a vulnerable Jacob Laymon, lying unconscious after a beating from Dante, to take the FWA World Heavyweight Championship from him.

That Sophie O’Brian was unstoppable.  That Sophie O’Brian did not believe in taking any prisoners.  But the wrestling industry could not handle that Sophie O’Brian and I was pressured to make changes in order to fit in with the status quo.  I softened myself, I became what you people call…

…normal.

It was that Sophie O’Brian, the soft and weak Sophie, who joined IWC with her brother Mark in hopes of becoming World Tag Team Champions.  I should have known that playing it their way, by playing by their rules, would not get me anywhere.  I should not have listened but I did, I tried to give them all what they wanted and I was the one who suffered as a result.

The people wanted Total War to take on The Harem?  Too bad.  I am through giving the people what they want.  I am through being the person that the world wants.  I am going to be the person that I need to be.  I am going to return to the original Total War philosophy of winning by any means necessary.  Achieve the objective by any means necessary.  My objective was to become world tag team champion in IWC and I did just that.  I achieved that objective by selling my soul to The Good Movement.

All I have to do for them in return is what I would’ve done anyway…

…hurt people.

Anyone who dares challenge for the tag titles, be that Kathryn Pearson or anyone else, or an enemy of Porno Lad’s like TPKid, they will all meet the same fate.  I have nothing personal against any of them.  I just have a job to do and some aggressive urges to exercise and you’re as good a people as any to take them out on.

Mr. Hush and Mr. Whitman are next on the list.  A pair of running gags if I ever saw them.

Well I’m here to tell you that this isn’t a joke.  This isn’t a comedy relief.  This is my job and I take my job deadly serious.

True, Kordy may not take her job very seriously.  Sometimes I have to keep the girl motivated and focused.  But let Kordy have her fun.   Let her enjoy herself.  She’s effective either way and whether she decides to be the fun loving Kordy or the destructive death machine I know she can be, the end game is still the same…

…you two will suffer.

So laugh it up now while you can.  The world can laugh it up now while it can but soon the joy will die.  The smiles and the laughs will fade away and that will remain are tears and sadness when we are through with you.

That’s what I do, you see.  That’s what I’m best at.  I destroy things.  I end things.  I finish them once and for all.  That is why I am the ultimate weapon of The Good Movement.  That is why I have made The Harem ten times more dangerous than it already was.  I have no conscious, I have no passion and no mercy.  I live for the suffering of others.  I enjoy hearing the cries of pain and anguish of my victims and I will enjoy torturing the two of you.

I sacrificed a great deal to become IWC World Tag Team Champion.  I sacrificed normalcy so I could become IWC World Tag Team Champion.  If you think I’m going to just let a pair of stand-up comedians like you take this from me then you truly are dreaming.

If anything, I will turn your dreams into a nightmare.