vs. Lailoken Da Vinci

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May 2^nd, Breakdown

Los Angeles, CA - STAPLES Center

Off Camera

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The Los Angeles, California Staples Center is still buzzing; I can still hear the fans in the arena abuzz with excitement.  But none of that bothers me.  None of that matters to me.  I came, I wrestled a brutal match against The Gothfather and have the bruises and scars of battle to prove it, but I came out with the victory and that’s all that matters to me; I won.

The SCW staff, officials, and other wrestlers stare, some with awed appreciation at a warrior who just got finished with a brawl, or with confusion at a once strong independent woman who has seemingly given herself entirely to a stranger, to Quinn Murray.  Most if not all of them are curious as to what exactly is going through my mind.  I can’t say I blame them for being curious; me, a woman who once prided herself on being the master strategist of professional wrestling, a woman who prided herself on being the puppet master now finds herself as the puppet, being manipulated by her new manager, Quinn Murray.

But I still do not care what they think.  Their opinions do not matter.  All that matters to me is success.

Yet while it may not make sense for them, success does speak for itself.  I have been on quite the winning streak as of late.  And that’s what I have been striving for.  It’s what I have wanted for so long.  My first year in SCW was marred by losses, failures, and disappointments and now I have seemingly turned things around just by simply aligning with this strange woman known as Quinn Murray.

No, I don’t care what others think of m my arrangement.  The only person whose opinion does matter is Mark O’Brian, my brother.  I have received some minor resistance from my brother Mark.  Mark O’Brian isn’t pleased with this arrangement at all.  The way he sees it, Quinn is trying to split us up.  He believes Quinn is trying to separate us for her own nefarious motives.

Mark does not understand what I am going through.  How could he understand what I am going through?  Ever since I set foot in the world of professional wrestling I prided myself on being able to use my masterful strategic skills, my skills and my abilities inside the ring, all to work towards my advantage to achieve my goals.  And yet when my career takes the nose dive that it did, of course I would go back to the roots, of course I would go and return to where I got my start, to the person who taught me everything I knew.

Of course I would go to Bridgett Kennedy.

Excuse me, that’s Quinn Murray to the public.  I recently learned that Quinn Murray was but merely an alias and her real birth name is Bridgett Kennedy.  But according to her, Bridgett Kennedy is also an alias.  Bridgett, or Quinn, whoever…she claims that she is in reality the incarnation of Athena, Greek Goddess of Wisdom.  Now how do I feel about that, you ask?

It’s not for me to question my Mistress.  She gives me wisdom, I use it to win my matches, I’m happy with the arrangement.  No need to ask questions.

I continue walking until I stop suddenly and turn to the left, walking forward and to a dressing room door.  Mark O’Brian, my overprotective and somewhat Neanderthal-ish brother, rushed ahead of me, thus I anticipate finding him behind the door.  I turn the knob and push the door open.  Upon walking inside I find a strange new arrival in my dressing room.

A female, with brown hair, sitting cross legged on a stool, with her arms folded over her chest, staring critically and judgmentally at me.  I tilt my head to one side and frown.

“Ashley…”

Ashley as in Ashley O’Brian, my sister-in-law.  We’ve never had much of a relationship.  When she and Mark first dated, I convinced Mark to dump her.  I was so manipulative, so convincing, that I had Mark believing that she was only out for herself and would never accept me as part of their life.  Being how loyal he is to family, Mark immediately dumped her.  I was good then, very good.  I was so good I could convince people to take their own lives.  My plan to keep them apart didn’t work; they got back together and ever since then Ashley has hated and despised me.  Ok, well, maybe hate and despise are too strong.  She definitely never trusted me again since that time.  Seeing her here is definitely a shock to my system.

“Sophie.”

Her voice is stoic and emotionless, much like mine usually is.  It’s to be expected coming from the woman who does not like and does not trust me. I sigh and walk right on past her further into the room, approaching my bag, ignoring her very presence except to ask one question.

“So where is Mark?  He was with me at ringside.”

“He was at ringside with you, I saw him.” She responds, nodding her head. “It was a great match, by the way.”

“Like you care.” I snap back at her. “You never cared for wrestling at all. You’ve actively tried to talk Mark into quitting.  And you never cared about me at all, so…”

“True, I never was a big fan of Mark putting his body on the line, but I grew to accept it because I know he loves it so much.  As for you, well…” she shakes her head “…no, I don’t care much for you.”

“Exactly.”

I roll my eyes as I reach into my bag and pull out a towel.  I use it to wipe the sweat from my face. I toss the towel aside and look back at her.

“But it still begs the question, what are you doing here?  You’ve never come to any wrestling event with Mark and me.”

“You’re right.  Even though I accept it as part of my husband’s life, I still can’t stand watching him get hurt.  So I try not to attend these events very often.”

Normally I’m the cryptic one.  Normally I’m the one who avoids the questions and yet here I am the recipient of that precise kind of treatment on behalf of Ashley O’Brian.  It doesn’t make me happy in the least little bit.  I approach her and as I do so she hops up off of the stool she had been sitting on.  We are now face to face, nose to nose.  The tension is thick.

“I’m here to see you, Sophie.”

Now that’s rich!” I start to laugh. “You almost had me going there for a second, Ashley.  I actually thought you were here for a serious reason.  But clearly you’re just here to annoy me.  So let’s just skip all this nonsense and tell me, where is Mark?”

“Why do you care where Mark is anyway?” She asks, shrugging her shoulders. “It’s not like he’s going to take you home.  You have Quinn Murray for that, don’t you?”

Immediately the room goes cold.  I grow silent as I frown and study her for a few moments, pausing to collect my thoughts.

“How much did Mark tell you of her?”

“He told me enough.  He told me how she will only let you see him at these Breakdown events and house shows?  He told me how she made you move in with her.”

“Loud mouthed Neanderthal…” I growl angrily.

“That ‘loud mouthed Neanderthal’ is worried about you, Sophie.  He loves you and cares about you and the only reason he hasn’t said confronted her himself is because he knows if he does, that woman will try to manipulate you into never seeing him again.”

“He’s right for not sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong.”

I walk away from Quinn over to a nearby chair.  I pull it up and sit down.  Ashley walks over and stands over me.

“This isn’t like you, Sophie.  You’re a strong, independent woman; why are you allowing yourself to be controlled by her?”

“And what do you care?!” I shout angrily with tears forming in my eyes as I look up at Ashley. “You hate me!  You never trusted me!”

“You never gave me any reason to trust you.  Don’t think I forgot about how you drove a wedge between Mark and I when we dated the first time, causing us to break up.  I hated you for that.  But I also saw how much he loves you and despite my personal feelings towards you, I was willing to accept you into my life because Mark loves you so much.”

“So you want to stick your nose in just because you want to help Mark?” I suggest with a snarky voice.

“That’s part of it.  But also because I know you are capable of so much more.” She reaches over and places a hand on my shoulder.  “Sophie, I also remember how an ex-lover of mine tried to frame me for murder.  You went out of your way to try and clear my name.”

“I couldn’t bear the thought of my idiot brother being upset.  That’s all that it means.”

“No, you’re wrong.” She shakes her head. “You could’ve sat back, let the justice system do its thing, and I would’ve been unjustly convicted and sentenced to God knows how long.  You would’ve had Mark all to yourself and you wouldn’t have had to do anything except sit back and watch it happen.  But you fought for me.  What that shows is that you’re human, you have good in you Sophie.”

“Nice memory to bring up, Ashley, but how about I bring up a memory of my own?  Tony Morgan…”

Tony Morgan is my ex-husband.  Yes, I was married once.  It didn’t turn out well and Ashley remembers that incident.

“Your marriage to Tony ended in a very…um…unfortunate way…”

I snicker “that’s a nice way to put it.”

“…BUT I do remember that time you two were together.  I saw the look in your eyes.  You were happy, and that Sophie O’Brian was a good Sophie O’Brian, a woman capable of love and compassion, not the sociopath you claim to be.”

“She was weak!” I stomp my foot on the floor as hard as I can. “She was weak and she’s dead!  She’s dead and she’s never coming back!”

“Is she?  I think she’s still there, you’re just holding her in.”

“No, she’s not coming back.” I shake my head. “She’s weak.  I need to be the way I am and that’s why I need my Mistress.  She’ll make me strong enough to be a winner, never again a failure.”

“So it comes down to that?  You thought you were a failure and so you sold your soul to this woman in order to be a success again?” She snickers. “For someone who claims to be so smart, you really don’t know much about life.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” I snap back.

“Sophie, sister…” her voice trails off and I admittedly am shocked that she called me ‘sister’, it’s the first time she ever acknowledged the relationship as sisters-in-law “…life is full of ups and downs.  No one is perfect, not you and not even your little puppet master.”

“You are very convincing.” I stand up and immediately grab hold of my gym bag. “But I hate to inform you, that person you think exists, that good Sophie O’Brian…she doesn’t exist.  This is who I am.  This is who I want to be.”

I start to walk out but then Ashley speaks up again. “And what about Mark?”

“What about him?”

“He’s being tortured because of this arrangement you have with Quinn Murray.  He knows the deal, he told me all about it.  Quinn Murray will force you to choose between her or Mark if he were to confront her.”

“Yes, that’s right.” I respond, nodding my head.

“Mark is almost certain that you’d choose him if you had to choose, but he isn’t willing to take the risk.  He loves you too much.”

I turn around to face Ashley. “Why are you saying this?  Why are you doing this to me?”

“You once saved me, Sophie.  So I’m doing what I can to save you, and unlike my husband, I’m not afraid to take the risk and confront Quinn.”

“You know what she will do if you confront her.”

“I do,” she nods her head “she will tell you to choose and you’ll tell her to kiss your ass and that you choose your family, your brother Mark.  That’s what will happen.”

“Like I said…you are very convincing…”

“I know you’re going to leave with her tonight, Sophie.  And I know what she’s promised you.  She’s promised to make you stronger, able to succeed and achieve your goals.  But ask her one question…”

“What?”

“When does this whole process of making you stronger end?  And when it does end, when you ARE stronger, when she perfects you, can you then leave?  Can you then return to your family?  Will she ever release you?”

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Present Day

Dublin, Ireland

Off Camera

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It’s been over a week since the encounter with my sister-in-law Ashley O’Brian.  I have to admit it was not only surprising but strangely touching that Ashley would go out of her way to say those things about me, to try and reach out to me and convince me to leave Quinn Murray.  I honestly didn’t think she cared about me at all.  And perhaps she doesn’t care a great deal about me, but she does see a lot of potential within me, potential that I never knew I had.

Quinn Murray sees potential within me as well.  But she sees a different kind of potential, the potential that can lead to superior strength and power; the kind of power that can lead to me becoming a force to be reckoned with in this world.  And it’s that kind of potential I’m interested in.  I am interested in reaching my fullest potential of power.  The only thing Ashley can lead me to is becoming weaker, even weaker than I was before reuniting with Quinn Murray, if that is even possible.

For over a year I’ve been a disappointment to myself.  And while I haven’t heard it from anyone, I can only imagine that I’ve become a laughing stock for everyone in the wrestling world.  The once great Sophie O’Brian, a four time world champion, can’t accomplish anything in the business, let alone stop a year-long winless streak in Supreme Championship Wrestling.  And yet as soon as I reunite with Quinn Murray, that streak ends with victory after victory after victory.

And Ashley wants me to not only dump Quinn but also to become even more of a disappointment, to become even weaker than I was before?

No, I will not allow myself to become weaker.  I need Quinn Murray to continue on my winning ways as I head into Breakdown against Lailoken Da Vinci.  He is a newcomer to SCW and I’m tasked with being among his first few opponents.

I intend to make sure he is not a success.

The elevator doors slide open revealing the entrance to the dungeon-like basement area of Bridgett Kennedy’s (aka: Quinn Murray’s) massive mansion like home.  It’s a surprising contrast to see, how beautiful it is above ground and yet this place is dark, dank, smells bad, and is just overall an unwelcome place.  Quinn exits the elevator first and I dutifully follow her closely behind.  We approach the portrait of the Greek Goddess Athena.  Immediately I drop to my knees and kiss the outstretched hand of Quinn Murray.

“Thank you, my pet.  Your devotion is appreciated.”

“Of course, my Mistress.”

“Now tell me, you were victorious over The Gothfather, which is yet another victory under your belt.  I may not know much about professional wrestling yet,  I am still learning mind you, but I would hope that SCW management would put you in a better match against a better opponent.  Am I correct?”

“I am wrestling Lailoken Da Vinci, my Mistress.”

Her eyes grow cold as a scowl forms on her face. “And who the hell is that?”

“He’s new, Mistress.  He had a match against Edward Adams and won.”

“And…?” She asks, her voice trailing off as if to expect more.  I merely shake my head.

“And that’s it.  He’s had one match.”

“Help me get this straight, my pet, because as you know I do not know a great deal about wrestling just yet.” I see her pacing, I see the frustration growing on her face.  I do not dare stand up just yet.  I just listen. “You have strung together victories against Billy Breakdown, Bill Barnhart, and The Gothfather.  Clearly you have improved since your debut in Supreme Championship Wrestling.  And that isn’t to count the time you defeated Angelica Jones and the time you nearly became SCW Television Champion, and yet despite all of this, they have you facing a young no-name fool like Lailoken Da Vinci in what will be his second match with the company?”

“That is correct, my Mistress.”

“You know what this means don’t you?” She stops right in front of me and gazes down, her face is full of rage and anger. “This is a blatant sign of disrespect towards you as a competitor and, because you are my pet, my personal plaything, and my weapon of mass destruction, then it is also a blatant sign of disrespect towards me.”

She motions for me to rise up to my feet.  I do so with caution.  “How shall I remedy the situation, my Mistress?”

“I want you to send this David Helms person and whoever advises him a message.  Helms is the person making the matches now, am I correct?”

“Yes, my Mistress.”

“Excellent, then I want you to send him and his ilk a message.  That message will be Lailoken Da Vinci in a bodybag.  I will even hand deliver Mr. Helms a note, telling him that future disrespect of Athena The Goddess of Wisdom will be treated thusly.”

I watch her stoically, awaiting orders or even further words of wisdom.  What I see is the angry glare suddenly turn into a rather pleased grin.  It’s this kind of reaction from her that does worry me.  Yet, at the same time, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to me for it is the same kind of reaction I used to have; she switched from angry to seemingly happy and pleased in just a few seconds.  I used to do that, too.  Not anymore.

“All of SCW’s disrespect aside, I can happily report that I am very pleased with you, my sweet pet.” She rubs the back of her hand across my cheek. “Your mounting victories have proven that you have taken my words of wisdom to heart.  You have even helped recruit a newcomer to the fold.”

“Ian McKinnon.”

Ian McKinnon was once my loyal foot soldier.  He once served me and even swore that he would follow me to the ends of the earth and back.  True to his word, he has done just that. He has agreed to follow Quinn Murray’s path to wisdom.  I am not entirely sure that is a good thing for him.   Few can handle this life.  And it is that thought right there that brings Ashley O’Brian’s words from last week back to me.

“Mistress, may I be so bold as to ask a question?”

“Why, of course, my pet.  You are here, after all, to learn from the Goddess of Wisdom.  So by all means, ask away.”

“Yes, I am here to learn from you.  I sacrificed my soul, my very self I sold to you just so I could obtain the wisdom I needed to become stronger and to use that newfound strength and power to achieve all of my goals.  And I can feel that I am very close to achieving this; my victories over Billy Breakdown, Bill Barnhart, and The Gothfather prove this to me.  My question is, when I do reach that level I want to be, what will then become of our relationship?”

She arches her brow as her face furrows out of curiosity. “What do you mean?”

“With all due respect, Mistress, I think you know.  I live here with you, but not as a person as your toy…your pet…you plaything as you called me today.  And I’ve accepted your terms because I want the wisdom and strength.  What happens when I get that wisdom and strength?”

I watch her cautiously.  I’m not entirely sure how she’ll react.  I’m not entirely sure it was a good idea to ask this question Ashley had originally posed but something made me do it.  A grin forms on her face as she nods her head, but that grin does not mitigate my concerns.

“My sweet pet, you truly are a very wise individual, truly close to the precipice of greatness, the precipice of your Goddesses’ wisdom.  And you have indeed made great strides, you have grown stronger and wiser, but I think you may be setting your bar slightly too high.  You were very wise and very strong when you abandoned me, but you’ve returned because you think that’s not good enough.  You want perfect wisdom and perfect strength.”

“Correct, my Mistress.”

“Isn’t it accurate to say that no one is perfect?” She reaches out and taps me on my nose. “But then again, that applies to humans.  Humans are not perfect.”

“Forgive my disrespect, Mistress, but you have achieved perfection.”

“True, but the difference between you and the rest of your pathetic human race is that I am divine.  I am a goddess.  Now try to follow my logic, my pet.  I have perfect wisdom because I am the Goddess of Wisdom, and our agreement was that you would resume your proper role as my pet until you obtained that goal of perfect wisdom.”

“Correct.”

“And we’ve established that humanity is not perfect.  Is it even possible then for you to achieve PERFECT wisdom?  Besides, I am a goddess, beyond that I am your Mistress, do you dare say that you could achieve equality with your goddess and mistress?”

“No, my Mistress.” I shake my head.

“Then I think you know the answer to your question.”

“Yes, yes I do, my Mistress.”

“No need to thank me, my pet.” She runs her hand through my long black hair. “Your undying loyalty and devotion to me is all I ask.”

“Of course.” A smirk crosses my lips. “Thank you, my Mistress, for your wisdom.”

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On Camera

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I just wonder if David Helms and his ilk in Supreme Championship Wrestling are trying to annoy me.  It is a good question, because consider that my personal weapon, MY Sophie O’Brian, has been ripping through each and every opponent SCW has thrown her way…

…Billy Breakdown, gone.

…Bill Barnhart, still an afterthought.

…The Gothfather, still irrelevant.

And yet MY Sophie O’Brian is facing the newcomer, the rookie, the kid who has only one match to his name.  And of those three that MY Sophie has defeated, one of them is receiving a championship match on Breakdown.

Does this make sense?  Does this booking have wisdom behind it?  No, it doesn’t.  This booking offends Sophie but worse still it offends me.  And SCW will see what happens when I am offended, because Sophie O’Brian is my weapon and I have her aimed at Lailoken Da Vinci and I am ready to pull the trigger and end his existence.

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On Camera

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“I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.”  --- Leonardo Da Vinci

Leonardo Da Vinci and I clearly are on the same wavelength.  We have the same thought process.  He explains quite well why I am on a quest for further wisdom, why I seek further knowledge and understanding.  I have always considered myself a master strategist, the ultimate student of the game, and yet it took me this long in my career to finally grasp the ultimate truth that you are never through learning.  There is always one more lesson to learn. There is always more truth and more wisdom to obtain.  That is why I am a lifelong learner of wisdom and truth.

It shouldn’t come as to a surprise to anyone why I bring up a master of the Renaissance period like Leonardo Da Vinci.  It should be fairly obvious considering my opponent is a blithering nitwit named Lailoken Da Vinci.

I wonder where he ‘obtained’ that name?

Despite your nonsensical ramblings, it is clear that you have at least some grasp of wisdom.  Your vocabulary gives that much away.  Knowing that I am facing someone with an appreciation for wisdom is heartening to some degree, but there is a drastic difference between you and me and that difference is explained in the second half of Leonardo Da Vinci’s quote.

Being wise isn’t good enough, Lailoken.  It’s what you do with that wisdom that makes the difference.

It’s a lesson I had to learn, my friend.  I was adrift in the abyss of this professional wrestling world, accomplishing little to nothing with what skills and abilities I had but the real disappointment came because of how I wasted my wisdom.

I have made it my quest to never again waste that wisdom.  Billy Breakdown, Bill Barnhart, The Gothfather, all of them have fallen before me since I refocused and retooled myself.  Ever since I realized that this wisdom I had built up had been going to waste and that I needed to use it, ever since that point I have been tearing through anyone and everyone SCW chooses to send my way.

Now they send you after me.  And believe when I say that this isn’t going to be very fun for you.

Yes, you’ve had it easy thus far.  You had Edward Adams and, yes, you were victorious.  But then you had Derek Adonis but what happened to that match? It was announced but it never happened.  What happened, Lailoken?

Two.  Since your announced arrival sometime in late March you’ve had two matches.  Where have you been, my friend?  Your wisdom, while worthy, is not being utilized, and if you do not utilize it, you will fail.

Trust me, I know.  I’ve made that mistake before and I will never again make that mistake.

Wisdom is a powerful tool, Lailoken, but as you will find out, if wisdom is not used properly, it can and will be the death of you.