Any Means Necessary

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Sophie O’Brian

On Camera

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Total War has reunited!

…

…

…

What?  No round of applause?  No celebrations?  No parade in our honor?  It’s a shame, because everyone seemed to clamor for it.  Everyone, including Tabitha Silverstone and Andre Jordan, seemed to question Total War.  They wanted to know what had happened to us?

Nothing had happened to us.  It was all part of my plan.

Total War will always reign atop tag team wrestling.  That is something everyone will just have to accept.  Everyone has to accept that by hook or by crook, I will always find some strategy to achieve my goals; whether it be all nice and clean in the center of the ring or through treachery and deceit.

If we could not take those titles from The Harem clean and in the ring, then I would have to use deceit to get what I wanted.  So I infiltrated The Harem.  I became one of them.  I sold my soul for the IWC World Tag Team Titles.

It’s called strategy and infiltration is classic military strategy.

If you don’t like what I did then you don’t like Total War; but you know what?  I don’t care if you like us or not.  I realize now that the cheers and adulation of the fans are not worth it.  Success and victory and gold, that’s what the goal is and I will achieve my goal through any means necessary.

My next opponent is someone I know quite well.  I knew her then as Serenity.  Young Serenity, still trying to make a name in the industry but wanting ever so badly to be taken seriously as an actual wrestler.  So who else did she come to?  Who else could really show her the ropes?

That’s right. Me.  And she is not alone.  I have other students in IWC this very moment.

Young Serenity came to me wanting to be taken seriously and I taught her, I trained her, I gave her enough knowledge to be dangerous.  But she clearly let some of that knowledge slip away.  Otherwise she would be IWC World Champion right now.

I am trained in the ancient art of warfare.  I am the best strategist in wrestling.  I can come up with a game plan to bring anyone down, including Ba’al.  But no one bothers to ask me.  Not that I’d just give my secrets away.  I would charge a high price.

Abi knows those same strategies and tactics too.  Not all of them, but enough to defeat Ba’al.  Yet she didn’t defeat him.  She didn’t defeat him because she didn’t obey the advice of her teacher.

Naughty, Serenity.

Now comes even more bad news for you, Abi.  You see, this may be labeled teacher versus student, but the truth is, a good teacher never teaches their student everything they know.  They always withhold something from the eager student because they do not want the student to become the master.

I am and always will be the master, Abi.  Know that.  Understand that.  Accept that.

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Off Camera

Two Days After Reawakening Day

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The IWC World Tag Team Championship Match didn’t go exactly as Kordy Price may have wanted it to.  She lost her precious title.  She lost her Herbert.  But for Sophie O’Brian, losing the title was inconsequential.  For Sophie, something far greater was accomplished on this night in the aftermath…

…Total War is together again.

Sophie had the IWC World Tag Team Championships for a couple of months through infiltrating The Harem and now that she and her brother Mark are back together they have inserted themselves squarely into the title picture against a pair of champions who were not The Harem, a pair of champions in the form of Andre Jordan and Gavin Taylor who, needless to say, would not and could not ever work together.  Not now.  Not after what happened at Reawakening Day.

Sophie saw it all coming.  No one believed her.  They all wanted to believe in Team EPIC but she knew the truth because, as a student of military history, she saw a backstabbing coming from miles away.  But Sophie, as usual, was right.  Sophie saw it coming, planned on it happening, and now has Total War in prime position to take the titles.

But first, she has come to a coffee house to see an old friend…

Sophie approaches a table.  She finds Tabitha Silverstone already there, two cups of coffee; one assuming is for Sophie herself and the other for Tabitha.  Sophie sits down at the table with her.

“Hello again, Tabitha.”

“Hi, Sophie.”

“Lovely place,” she takes a sip of the coffee “and wonderful coffee.  You have good taste.”

Tabitha lightly smiles. “Only the best, Sophie. Before you arrived I was thinking to myself, I don’t know if agreeing to this meeting is a sound idea. Andre won’t be too keen with us meeting, considering the circumstances.”

“Obviously.  But that’s the politics of the game, isn’t it?” She sets her coffee down after taking another sip. “Which brings me to another point.  I want you realize exactly the position I have placed myself in right now.  I am now an immediate former IWC World Tag Team Champion and with my brother back by my side we are arguably in line for a title shot against the champions...Team EPIC isn’t it?”

Sophie chuckles slightly. “Yes, Team EPIC, where one partner stabbed the other in the back, just as I predicted.  I’m in quite a good position, am I not?”

Tabitha sighed knowing Sophie is one hundred percent correct in her assessment of the situation. “I wanted so badly to trust Gavin. I wasn’t an angel either. Taylor Chase and Brittany Lohan were responsible for my original client Sebastian Knight suffering an concussion that derailed his wrestling career. I exhausted every means under the sun to exact vengeance. I had Taylor’s World Championship in my hand. I was quite proud stealing her precious World Championship. Everything changed when I signed Andre. I wanted to navigate my business affairs differently. We have Silas Mason, right? No need for the female version of him. Week in week out the....”

Tabitha shut down a moment, she didn’t want to use the word, her emotions were worked up to a fever pitch... “ingrates you associated with put a bounty on my head. Gavin approached us, I wanted to give him the same second chance Andre gave me. It’s my fault. All my fault.”

Tabitha scowls. “I’m tired, Sophie. Tired of having a target on my back. Tired of being taken advantage of. The entire roster looks at me as the weakest link in the chain. I’M NOT WEAK.”

Tabitha screaming that to the heavens draws the attention of the other patrons. She quickly responds.”Sorry everyone.”  

Sophie shakes her head. “No, no, don’t apologize.  This is exactly who you need to be, Tabitha.  That anger, the hatred, you need to harness it just like I taught you when you were still my student.  I taught you to channel that anger and that hatred.  But you forgot that part, or you chose to ignore it in favor of the ideal you just spelled out for me.”

She sighs deeply. “It’s a shame, Abigail Lindsey, another student of mine, had a chance to become world champion, but she forgot the lessons I taught her and thus she failed at Reawakening Day.”

Sophie grins knowingly. “And that brings me to why I wanted to meet you today.  I like you, Tabitha.  And I want to help you.  Granted there is no saving the tag titles.  My plan is at a point of no return.  Total War will become the tag team champions.”

She holds up one finger. “All we need is for IWC to grant us one shot and that’s it.  Anyone who thinks your client and Gavin can work together NOW...after what happened...is crazy.  There’s no chance in hell of Team EPIC defeating Total War.  But I can help you save Andre’s Evolution Title reign.”

Tabitha shakes her head. “No, I don’t believe Gavin and Andre can work together after what transpired at NewAge.” A broad smile forms on her face. “That’s why I’m here. I want Gavin Taylor’s head after the stunt he pulled. He played on my emotions, Sophie. He violated my trust. He embarrassed me. I am done being the damsel in distress. I’m going to make Gavin suffer one way or another. I still have Sebastian. He’s loyal to me. I have faith Andre can handle Gavin in the ring, he has on multiple occasions. Beating Gavin one on one isn’t good enough for me.”

“There is one thing you and Gavin both have in common.” she holds up one finger. “You are both human.  You are correct, he played upon your emotions.  Brilliant strategy.  I was impressed with what he was doing, I was even more impressed with how he had everyone convinced he had changed.”

Sophie pats herself on the chest. “Someone like me, I see through that because I accept who I am.  I know how to destroy people.  I do it by using their weaknesses against them.  Do to him what he did to you.  Find what his weakness is.  What does he hold near and dear to his heart?  When you find the answer to that question, take it and use it.  Take what is most precious to him and slowly destroy it.”

Tabitha stares idly at her cup of coffee. “I... know the answer. His wife. He loves her just as much as he loves himself. If I crossed that line, I poke the bear of the entire Chase family. I don’t have the resources to fend off all them. I’m not comfortable going that route. I will find another way. Even you would agree, poking the bear of an entire family is not worth the destruction of one individual. ”

“World War II...the empire of Japan had been doing quite well in their military conquests.  They seemed unstoppable.  Until they poked the tiger that is the United States of America.  They got an atomic bomb dropped them later.  Japan wanted to take on the world, Tabitha, but you can’t take on the world unless you have the proper allies.  You can take on the Chase family but only if you have allies.  Someone just as powerful who can back you up.”

Tabitha takes a sip from her coffee. She looks into Sophie’s cold eyes. “Not just me. I have Andre to think about. I’d compromise his career entertaining that drastic of an action. Do the least amount of work, reap extraordinary benefits. I’ll find a less  extreme solution to my Gavin Taylor problem.”

“I am confident you will find a way.  Just do not forget my lessons this time.  I hope this was a learning experience for you.”

“It was. I have to do what is best for my client. If that requires me crossing the line from time to time, so be it. I do have a question. Why do you feel Abigail let you down? She took on an entire army, literally at Reawakening. She did have reinforcements, they weren’t effective, grant it. She came prepared for Sinistrys antics.”

Sophie frowns. “I could see it in her eyes.  I could see just by looking into her eyes that night that she did not have the killer instinct necessary to defeat Ba’al.  To defeat Ba’al, and Sinistry in general, you will need to do absolutely anything...and I mean ANYTHING...to win.  You cannot have any qualms about a particular tactic.  You cannot worry about the morality of what you are doing.  Just take them out by any means necessary.  That’s the only way she could have defeated Ba’al and she did not deliver on it.”

She grins. “So on New Age, I’m going to remind her.  I am going to take her back to school and re-educate her on what it means to have that killer instinct.  It’s my gift to IWC.  Truth is, IWC needs more people with that killer instinct if they want to destroy Sinistry.  Right now very few people have that killer instinct.  Taylor Chase is among them.  The way she’s being tossed about by anyone and everyone, they have her worked up enough she’ll commit literal murder in the ring soon if they don’t stop.  That’s the kind of killer instinct IWC needs.  It’s what Abigail needed at Reawakening Day but she didn’t have it.”

Tabitha nods. “I’m shocked, most wrestlers I have come across take losing the biggest match of their careers personally. Abigail has a talent for, not allowing the environment affect her. Generally speaking. I expected her to come out, talk about how she was screwed over. Hop back on the wagon, none of that. By the care free loose way she has been acting since losing, I thought she won the match. Never understood how she can walk through life without a care in the world; most of the time, aside from the few times ‘Serenity’ comes out.”

“And that is exactly what I am talking about!” Sophie exclaims. “Serenity is what IWC needs right now to help combat Sinistry.  Ba’al didn’t fight Serenity.  He fought happy Abi.  At New Age Abi will either give me Serenity or I will finish what Ba’al started.”

Sophie’s eyes grow even colder. “Look into my eyes, Tabitha, and you will understand a truth.  I am a deadlier sociopath than Ba’al could ever hope to be.”

Tabitha holds eye contact with Sophie. A chill runs up her spine, the cup in her hand trembles due to Tabitha’s hand shaking. “I believe you.”

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Off Camera

Later That Day

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The Northern Irish beauty has finished having her meeting with Tabitha Silverstone and it was a good meeting.  Despite the fact that she is a sociopath, Sophie O’Brian does care about certain individuals and among the people she cares about are her students.  Witnessing Tabitha’s failure at Reawakening Day gave Sophie the urge to go and help in any way she could, to give her student some advice on how to proceed.

Besides, if Tabitha eliminates Gavin Taylor, that makes it all that much easier for Total War to take the tag team titles.

But Sophie cannot focus on the tag titles; not right now.  She has a date with a woman who she knows to be a sociopath herself in the form of Abigail Lindsey.

Abigail is also a former student of Sophie O’Brian and Sophie was also disappointed to see her fail at Reawakening Day.  Unfortunately, Sophie knows exactly why Abigail failed.  She believes her failure is due to her not embracing her true self.  Her failure is due to not embracing the lessons of Total War.  Sophie is convinced that to defeat Ba’al, Abigail needed to become Serenity, that part of her that would do anything to destroy Ba’al.

Serenity did not come out to play.  Ba’al lived to fight another day.

Sophie also believes that for IWC to survive and even to destroy Sinistry, it will need a soldier like Serenity on their side.  Happy Abi just won’t cut it.  Sophie views her match against her student on New Age to be a way to give IWC what it desperately needs; another warrior who is willing to do what it takes to kill the cancer that is Sinistry.

And if Abigail doesn’t deliver this time, Sophie plans to finish her off.

But now her day is over and she has arrived back at her home in Belfast where she intends to turn in for the night.  That is, until she finds a strange car in her driveway.  Whereas most would balk, hesitate, at going forward with a strange car in the drive, Sophie being who she is doesn’t really care.  She approaches fearlessly, even as the driver’s side door opens.

A heavyset man of about six feet in height with busy black hair wearing brown khakis and a white button up shirt and a dark blue blazer approaches Sophie.

“Ms. O’Brian?”

He extends his hand, expecting Sophie to take it, but she does not.  Not at first anyway.  She just looks at the hand and then back up at this stranger who is at her home.

“Yes…and you are?”

“Oh…sorry…” he pulls his hand back and produces a badge “…Detective Scott O’Leary.”

Sophie frowns.  Studying the badge and then studying his face for a moment.  “Ok, may I help you?”

“Yes, you can.” He looks at her home. “May I come inside?”

She’d rather him not but it’s too late for that.  Sophie nods her head. “Be my guest…”

She gestures for him to follow her as she walks towards the front door.  Sophie opens the front door and steps inside with O’Leary behind her.  Once inside they enter the living room where Sophie sits down.  Detective O’Leary sits down next to her.

“So, what is this about O’Leary?”

“I think you know what this is about, Ms. O’Brian.”

Sophie shakes her head. “No, I honestly have no clue.”

“Allow me to give you a few clues, then.”

He reaches into his blazer and produces a few small pocket photographs.  He hands one to Sophie and she looks at it.  It is a picture of Joshua Manning with his boyfriend.  Sophie remembers both of them quite well.  She poisoned the boyfriend before murdering Manning with a bullet through the head.  She made it look like a murder suicide.

“Joshua Manning and his partner Brice Snyder.”

He hands her another picture, this one of the woman named Brandy whom Mark dated for a short while.  Another one Sophie killed, this time with Mark’s direct blessing after he learned of the games she had been playing with the siblings.

“Brandy Clark.”

He hands her yet another picture, this one of Carolyn Rose York.  A former patient of Tony Morgan who had regressed back into psychosis and tried to destroy the O’Brians.  Sophie, of course, ended up killing her as well in order to protect them.

“Carolyn Rose York.”

Finally he hands Sophie the last picture in the pile, this one of Tony Morgan himself.  Sophie’s ex-husband was killed by Sophie herself, though, yet again, Sophie made it look like a suicide.  Seeing this picture is too much as it brings a tear to her eyes.  She quickly shoves them back at Detective O’Leary.

“Too much?” He asks.

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry, but you do realize what all of these people have in common?”  He points a finger at Sophie. “You.”

Sophie wipes the tears from her eyes. “Detective, are you implying what I think you are implying?”

“I am not implying or suggesting anything right now.  I just do what I do and that’s follow patterns.  I found a pattern in these string of deaths, one that I’m shocked no one else noticed yet.”

He holds up the picture of Manning and Snyder. “Manning once dated your brother’s ex-girlfriend, who was convicted of murdering Manning’s parents.  She maintained her innocent and you and your brother supported her in that.  You constantly went to visit her.  And a few days after she was executed, Manning and his new lover Snyder ended up dead in a murder suicide, and neither one seemed suicidal to anyone at the time.”

He holds up the picture of Brandy. “Brandy had been dating your brother.  And she ends up dead too?”

He holds up the picture of Carolyn Rose York and Tony Morgan. “Carolyn Rose York had been a mental patient of this man, Tony Morgan, YOUR HUSBAND by the way.  The two had an affair which Tony ended abruptly.  It drove York even crazier, to the point where she tried to kidnap Morgan and kill you.  She is captured and put into custody.  A couple months after her release, both she and Tony end up dead just days apart from one another.”

Detective O’Leary stands up. “I’m not going to take up any more of your time, Sophie, but I am here to warn you that I am on this case.  I know something deeper is going on here, I just can’t put my finger on it.  And if you know of anything, anything at all, that can help me crack this case, then you need to tell me.  Are we clear?”

Sophie nods her head. “Yes…”

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Mark O’Brian

On Camera

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What exactly is my sister capable of?  That’s a good question, isn’t it?  No one knows quite how far Sophie will go to get what she wants.  Hell, I’m her brother and she still surprises me.  Do you think I expected Reawakening Day to happen the way it did?  Nope.  She just kept telling me to trust her.

She was right, as usual.  And as usual she manipulated everything and every damn one of ya to perfection.

What makes Total War great is the fact that we each play our part.  I’m the muscle.  I provide the power.  I don’t have to come up with the plans.  I don’t have to strategize.  That’s what Sophie does and let me tell you, she’s damn good at what she does.  She is an artist in that ring and she can orchestrate anyone’s destruction.

Abigail, you had the rare opportunity of being Sophie’s student.  You got to learn from her wisdom and experience.  And you know, if you had just listened to her, if you had remembered those lessons she taught you, then you would be world champion today.

Sophie knows what is necessary to bring down Sinistry.  I think you do too, Abigail, but you’re afraid to admit it.  You’re afraid to bring her out.

Well my sister is a very generous person and being the generous person she is, she is gonna attempt to give IWC what it needs.  She is gonna try one last time to beat these lessons into you, she is gonna try to remind you of who you need to be.

Pay attention this time, Abigail.  You won’t get another chance like this.

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Glenn Braddock

On Camera

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When I first met Sophie O’Brian she was just eighteen years old.  She had just left a terrible environment where her father had beat her routinely and that experience left her cold and afraid.  The young lady wanted one thing from me: she wanted to learn how to defend herself.  She wanted me to give her the tools necessary to make sure that never happened to her again.

She came to me cold and afraid, so what I did was I took her fear and taught her how to channel it and use it against her enemies.  And I took that coldness she had developed and I helped it grow.  I made her colder.  I made her into a cold-hearted warrior inside of the squared circle.  I taught her everything I knew.  You may not like her, but that’s irrelevant.  Her record of success in the pro-wrestling industry has helped the Braddock name to live on forever.

Now my student has become a teacher herself.  Sophie has taken so many young talents under her wing but most notably she has taken those talents who are in most need, much like how I took her in when she was most in need.

Allison Lorraine, former FWA World Tag Team Champion, GDW Women's Champion, SWWC Tag Team Champion, and most recently a former GCW World Tag Team Champion.

Arcadia Chavez, former GDW World Tag Team Champion and former SWWC Tag Team Champion.

Jennifer Alan, Caitlin O’Toole, even Tabitha Silverstone took wrestling lessons under Sophie.

And yes, Abigail Lindsey as well.

Sophie is one of my prize pupils, Lindsey.  She took my lessons to heart and she made a name for herself real early as a result, winning four world titles in her first year as a wrestler.  You would do well to listen to her, Lindsey.

So sit back, shut up, and open your mind to the wisdom that Sophie is about to share.

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Sophie O’Brian

On Camera

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The camera opens in an empty gymnasium.  A wrestling ring is set up near the center and the lights are dimmed.  Standing inside the ring, propped up in one of the corners, is none other than Sophie O’Brian.

“Hello Abigail.  I hope you recognize this place…or has it really been that long?” Sophie grins knowingly. “Yes, this is my wrestling school.  This is where I train my students in the art of destruction.”

“And you should feel honored and privileged because you are one of the few who have ever got to and who ever will get to grace these halls.  I don’t take just anyone under my wing.” Sophie shakes her head. “I only take certain people and I have a few special prerequisites.”

She holds up one finger. “First of all, they have to really need it.  The first few times we met in the ring in GDW I could tell you needed it and you needed it badly.  You were relying solely on trickery and deceit to win matches.  Now, granted, my motto is win by any means necessary, but when the only weapon you have in your arsenal are cutesy tricks then you are bound to fail.  I knew, if you continued on the path you were heading, that the wrestling world would eventually figure you and your tricks out and your career would hit a downward spiral from there.  Tricks and games alone cannot get the job done.  You needed skill and you needed it badly.”

She holds up a second finger. “Secondly, any student I take in has to really want it.  You approached me, Abigail.  You approached me about getting the necessary skills and ability needed in order to win.  No longer did you want to get by on trickery alone.  You didn’t want the world to remember you as just a one trick pony.  You wanted to be able to actually wrestle and show the world that you could get the job done.  And I saw that look in your eyes, a look that told me that you wanted it and wanted it badly.  So I took you in.”

“But that wasn’t the only thing I saw in your eyes.” Sophie shakes her head. “Oh no, there was so much more to you than just a simple desire and I could see it in your eyes.  You had something special there, something hidden deep in your soul that made you a threat to this entire industry if you ever tapped into it.  I call it a killer instinct.  Psychiatrists call it sociopathy….”

“…but you called her Serenity.”

Sophie closes her eyes and chuckles. “Serenity was a thing of beauty when let loose.  She damn near killed Alana Starr at GDW Wrestlecade X.  It was wonderful to watch.”

“See, Abigail, I gave you the wrestling knowledge that you desired and that combined with your intelligence and trickery was enough to make you dangerous but it would never be enough to get you a world championship.  Abigail Lindsey just doesn’t have it in her to get the job done and you know it.”

“I knew it too.  That’s why I had hoped that perhaps you would remember my own trainer’s words, the same words he uses on all of his students upon their graduation, the same words I use on all of mine upon their graduation, but with you I took special care to really emphasize the words, because I knew if anyone would understand the words and what they meant, Serenity would.”

“A wrestler is, him or herself, a deadly weapon.  Use what you now know wisely.”

Sophie grins. “Glenn Braddock told me that when I completed my training and I knew immediately what he meant.  I knew that I was to use my skills to achieve my goals through any means necessary.”

“But you didn’t do that at Reawakening Day, did you Abigail?” Sophie shakes her head. “No, you didn’t.  Even though I taught you the Total War philosophy, you still chose to play it safe.  You fought Ba’al as sweet and happy Abi and you failed.”

“You failed.”

“When will the imbeciles of IWC realize that you cannot play it safe against Sinistry?  To destroy them you have to use deadly force.  You have to wage a total war against them.  Destroy anything and everything that they hold near and dear.  To defeat them you must use your deadliest of weapons and yet when you had the chance to utilize your deadliest of weapons, you chose to keep her locked away.”

“Now allow me to tell you what is going to happen at New Age.”

Sophie’s eyes grow cold. “IWC needs Serenity to fight against Sinistry.  I hope you realize that and I hope you will give me Serenity at New Age.  If you choose to ignore Serenity, if you choose to keep her locked away, if you refuse to give me what I want, then I will finish what Ba’al started.”

“So if you don’t want Buehler pushing you around in a wheelchair the rest of your life, then you had better give me what I want, you had better give IWC what it needs.  You had better let Serenity out to play.  She is the only one who can survive what I have planned for you at New Age.”