vs. Derek Adonis

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Off Camera

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I never used to be very fond of balconies; well, my darker half never was, at least.  With her in control, I was a recluse, always desiring to stay inside and away from human contact and away from nature itself.  But things are different now.  I seem to enjoy the lovely view I receive from balconies.  I feel that if I could only manage to stand on one long enough, the right one, wearing a long white trailing gown, preferably during the first quarter of the moon, something would happen: music would sound, a shape would appear below, sinuous and dark, and climb towards me, while I leaned fearfully, hopefully, gracefully, against the wrought-iron railing and quivered. But this wasn't a very romantic balcony.

You’re also a bloody cream puff who ought to realize that this is a damn exercise in futility!

That voice in my head isn’t helpful, either.

Shut up.  You have better things to be doing right now and you know it.

In a way she is right, I do have obligations to fulfill for Supreme Championship Wrestling.  I am the Television Champion and as champion I must defend it on every Breakdown, including this coming Breakdown against Derek Adonis.

You will not humiliate us by losing to that oversexed fat ass oaf!

My darker half is concerned about our wrestling career and with good reason.  She was the strategist, not me.  She is the fighter, the wrestler, not me.  I have little experience with this.  That’s what makes this defense against Derek Adonis all that much more challenging.  But I intend to do everything I can to retain the championship and that means making sure my head is clear and I am relaxed.

Staying here outside on the balcony of my room at my brother’s home in Belfast, Northern Ireland is just the thing I need to get some rest and relaxation.

The balcony had a geometric railing like those on middle income apartment buildings of the fifties, and the floor was poured concrete, already beginning to erode. It wasn't the kind of balcony a man would stand under playing a lute.

A sad smile creeps across my face and a tear rolls down my cheek.  This may not be the most romantic of balconies but I am, apparently, a romantic person and I feel a sense of loss right now.  I feel like I am missing something in my life; or rather someone.

Yes, we’re missing our Mistress Quinn Murray!

We don’t need her.

“Hey Sophie,” 

That’s the voice of my brother, Mark O’Brian and it startles me back to reality.  I wipe the tear from my eye but the sad smile remains as I turn around to face him.  My much larger and well built brother approaches me and places a hand on my shoulder.

“You were having another episode, weren’t you?”

I nod my head.  He seems to have me pegged fairly well.  I have no idea why my darker half thinks he’s so dumb.  He isn’t dumb at all.  He is quite intuitive, especially when it concerns those he loves and cares about.

“Am I that obvious?”

“It’s that emptiness in your eyes.  When I see that emptiness I know that the other Sophie is there.”

“She’s always there, Mark.” I sigh with a sense of defeatist resignation.  “She is always there and always will be there, constantly arguing and bickering with me.  I can’t seem to rid myself of her.  It just…”

Tears once again well up in my eyes as I shake my head “…it just drives me insane.”

“Well yeah, most would say hearing voices in your head is enough to make you insane.” He says with a smirk on his handsome face.  I give him a playful shove in response.

“Shut up you!”

“Heh, now that sounds like the Sophie I remember.”

Immediately I step back.  I bow my head and sigh. “Please, don’t say that.”

“Sorry, Sophie.  I wasn’t thinking.” He takes me by my hand. “Come inside, we need to have a chat.”

I nod my head and allow myself to be led by him back through the sliding glass doors of the balcony and back into my bedroom.  Mark shuts the sliding glass doors and I approach the queen sized bed with chocolate covered bed sheets.  I sit down on the edge of the bed, my head still bowed down as I stare blankly at the floor.  I feel Mark’s heavy footsteps approaching.  Next I feel him sitting down next to me.

“It’s beautiful out there, you know it?”

“I never paid that much attention.  Then again, neither did you.”

“My darker half doesn’t seem to give a damn about the beauty but I do.  I enjoy it, and yet standing there, enjoying the view, the scenery, it brings out a feeling of grief and sadness…it feels like I lost a great big part of my soul that I long to have back…”

“Tony.”

I blink my eyes curiously. “Who?”

“Tony Morgan was your husband.  You were in love with him; but then for some reason you murdered him.”

“She did it!” I start crying again as I bury my face in my hands. “She did it to protect herself, realizing that love would break her hold over me!”

Mark pats me on the back.  “I hate to see you like this, Sophie.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re suffering.”

“I’m fine.” I respond weakly and unconvincingly with what strength I have, which isn’t much.

“You’re a bad liar, Sophie.” He chuckles. “Both of your personalities are bad liars, come to think of it.  You’re suffering and I can tell; you’re suffering because you’re fighting yourself.  I hate seeing you like this.”

“You have no idea what it’s like.” I remark, finally looking up into his eyes with tears flowing down my cheek. “She’s strong, Mark, she’s very strong, and it’s becoming harder and harder to keep her under wraps.  It is tempting to just let go because it’s easier, it’s tempting to unleash her because of what she has to offer.”

“What do you mean by that?  You ARE her?”

“No, I’m not!  I am not the fighter she is!  I am not as smart as she is!  She can take down Derek Adonis on Breakdown.  But I’m not sure I can.  And yet I’m not sure I want to let her out…I have to keep her chained up…I have to keep fighting her.”

“But she IS you, Sophie; at least, a part of you.”

“No, I refuse to believe that a part of me is that dark, that evil.” I shake my head vehemently.

“A smart person once told me that all of us had the capability of being bad.  Even the best and brightest of people were capable of heinous acts.  YOU told me that, Sophie.  And you know what?  I believe you.”

“No,” I shake my head “you’re wrong.”

“All of that intelligence, the fighting ability, the wrestling knowledge and experience, all of it is right up there in that head of yours,” he taps me on my head “you have that potential, Sophie, because that bad Sophie IS the real Sophie, just like you are also the real Sophie.  You both bring a little something to the table, y’know?”

“No…” my voice trails off. “…I don’t want what she brings to the table. She’s frightening.  She’s…”

“Wait, you’re scared of her?”

“Not exactly.  I’m scared that if I let her out then I may be too weak to put her back in the bottle.  Pandora’s box; the evil I let out stays out, for good.”

“You have nothing to fear, Sophie, because I’m here to help you.” He places a hand on my bare leg.

“Huh?”

“Tell you what, let me talk to bad Sophie for a moment.”

My eyes grow wide with shock at what Mark just requested.  I shake my head. “You don’t know what you’re asking, Mark.”

“I know exactly what I’m asking.” He nods his head. “Trust me, I can handle her.”

“No, I don’t want to.”

“Give her to me.” He demands, much more sternly this time.

“No…”

“I SAID LET HER OUT!”

My eyes glaze over ever so slightly.  Quickly I recover and then I lunge forward and snatch his throat, squeezing as tightly as I can.  The momentum sends us both falling down to the floor.  I continue to squeeze his throat tightly, choking the life out of my own flesh and blood.  Rage and fury are in my eyes as I finally am unleashed, finally I am out of the bottle…

…Pandora’s box has been opened.

“IS THIS WHAT YOU WANTED, YOU STUPID BASTARD?!” I exclaim with venom dripping from my voice. “YOU TRIED TO GET RID OF ME!  YOU AND YOUR WHORE TRIED TO EMPOWER THAT WEAKLING SO THAT I WOULD BE GONE FOREVER AND YOU NOW HAVE THE GALL TO CALL ME OUT?!”

I chuckle lightly as I put another tight squeeze on his throat. “I didn’t realize you had the balls.”

With a surge of energy Mark pushes me off.  I scramble back to my feet but not in enough time to get caught in a bear hug by my brother. Mark then turns and slams me hard against a wall.  The tables are turned as he wraps his own mighty hands around my throat.

“Did you forget how strong I was?!”

I admit, I wasn’t expecting this.

Well you’re supposed to be the smart one; yet you attacked him and provoked him. You got us into this.  Now how are you going to get us out?

Shut up and let me think!

“Don’t go anywhere!”  Mark snaps at me.  “I want you and only you!  Don’t go retreating back into that mind of yours!”

“What the bloody hell do you want?!”

“I told you…” a sinister grin forms on his face “…I want to have a chat.”

I stomp on his foot and that is enough to make him let me go.  I complete a double leg takedown, bringing him down to the floor.  I mount him and start to pour on right hands and lefts.  Before anything else can come of this slugfest the door to the bedroom opens…

“What the hell is going on up here?” I pause long enough to look and see Ashley entering the room. She gasps and steps back in shock. “Sophie!  Mark!  What the hell are you doing?!”

“Just horsing around.” Mark responds with a light bit of laughter in his voice.

“Horsing around?!” I push myself up off of the floor. “You tried to kill me you overbearing Neanderthal!”

Ashley, clearly having composed herself, sighs and shakes her head. “Well we know which Sophie we have with us right now.”

“Nice to see you too, whore.”

Ashley ignores my insult but instead focuses in on my brother. “Mark, what is going on?  Why are you two fighting?”

“I did push a few buttons, I provoked her a little bit, but I needed to if I wanted to bring out that bad Sophie.” Mark answers back as he pushes himself back up to his feet.

“You intentionally brought out Sophie’s dark side?” Ashley asks with wide-eyed shock. “Why would you do that, Mark?”

“You said it yourself, Ashley; this persona was created by Sophie’s own subconscious in order to protect her.  So whether we like her or not, she actually wants the same thing we want and that’s what’s best for Sophie.  In her own twisted way, she thinks she’s helping.”

“I AM HELPING!” I snap back, pointing at Ashley and then at Mark. “But you two are just getting in my way!”

“I give ya credit, you helped her get through years of hell at the hands of our father, you helped her deal with it in the years that followed, but she’s grown now.  She doesn’t need you.”

“Bullshit, Mark!” I slap him across the face. “I alone know what’s best!  That weakling couldn’t make it in the cutthroat world!”

“Oh but she can.” Mark answers back. “And that’s what you’re afraid of, isn’t it?  She doesn’t need you anymore.  You’re afraid of becoming irrelevant.”

“Irrelevant?  Are you calling me irrelevant?!”

“Yes.”

“I don’t need to take this.” I shake my head. “I don’t need either of you sticking your nose in my business ever again!”

With that I turn bolt out of the door.  I race down the steps and quickly exit the front door.  Once outside I reach into my pocket for my iPhone.  I quickly take it and dial a number; the number that would go to Quinn Murray’s cell phone.  I hold it up and I am about to press send but I hesitate…for some reason I am reluctant to make this call…

“Sophie!”

I turn around to spot Mark standing there at the open doorway.  I sneer angrily. “You know who I’m going to call, don’t you?”

“Quinn.”

“Yes!” I nod my head. “Are you here to stop me?”

“No.” He shakes his head.

“You’re not even going to try?”

“I don’t think you will.  I’m willing to take that chance that you won’t go back to her, because if you really want what’s best for Sophie then you’ll know that going back to Quinn Murray is NOT what’s best for her.  You, maybe…but not Sophie.  Besides, I meant it when I said I hated seeing you suffer.  Tell me, Sophie…how hard is it maintaining control right now?”

I pause to ponder his words.  I know what I want to say but I’d be lying.  It’s no use to pretend.

“I…can’t…” I shake my head “…I can’t maintain control.  If I’m honest with you, she’s letting me stay in control simply because you asked to speak with me, she just doesn’t know it.  She could retake control anytime she wanted.  She doesn’t know her own strength.”

“So yeah, you’re suffering just like she is. I hate seeing you suffer, Sophie.  I want that suffering to end.  I don’t think the right way to end it is by going back to Quinn, but if that’s what it takes then so be it.  Point is, you two need to figure something out, you need to figure out some sort of arrangement because I am sick and tired of seeing my sister suffer like this!”

Were you telling the truth?  Am I as strong as you claim?

You created me, dimwit.  You’ve always had the potential.  It was just about tapping into it.

So what are you going to do?  Look at Mark, he clearly cares about you…

No, he cares about you.  And I don’t give a damn about him; but I do care about you.  That’s been my purpose all along.  I hate to admit it but you are ready.  You are ready to take on this world in just about every facet.  So I will step aside and fade away; I will let you have the reins of power.  Under one condition…

Which is?

When you wrestle, let me come out to play.  Even if for a brief moment or two.  I came to enjoy wrestling.  I thrived upon it.  I drew strength from it.  Give me that, it’s all I ask.

Deal.

Have you ever witnessed the merging of two personalities?  Of course you haven’t.  But in Sophie’s mind at this moment in time it’s as if her good self and bad self seem to come together.  Shadows of the sociopath are still there lying underneath but, ultimately, there is only one Sophie left standing.

I blink my eyes curiously a few times. “Mark?”

“Yeah?”

I throw the phone away.  I walk up to him and embrace him in a tight hug. “Thank you!  You’re the greatest brother anyone could ask for!”

“I take it that means the bitch is gone?”

“Mostly.  There may be a few residual things in my subconscious, and it won’t hurt to see a psychiatrist to make sure I’m fine, but I do the voices are gone.  I no longer hear the whispers, I don’t hear anything.  It’s just one voice in my mind now.  Just mine…”

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On Camera

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Normally you’d hear me quote a famous military strategist, probably Sun Tzu, or perhaps another great philosopher.  Normally I would take that quote and dissect it as it relates to my upcoming match.  Not this time.  Not that that overgrown walrus Derek Adonis is undeserving of my usual approach.  He is a former SCW Television Champion, someone to be taken seriously, despite his appearance as comic relief on just about every Breakdown event.

No, he doesn’t get a quote today and no one else gets a quote today because things are about to change for Sophie O’Brian.

One year ago I made my debut in Supreme Championship Wrestling.  In that year I performed at a mediocre quality at best. I was a former world champion in other companies, my brother and I had run roughshod over the tag divisions of other companies, and yet here in SCW I was barely keeping my head above water.

There’s a reason why I spoke about how no one would take me serious in the Taking Hold of the Flame battle royal.  Why would they when up until just recently I finally regained some momentum?  I was hoping that being overlooked and underestimated would play to my advantage and in any normal circumstance it probably would have, but in a battle royal where chaos reigns supreme you can never be sure of anything.

Sometimes you need to be willing to change yourself if you hope to become successful.  I went on a quest for more wisdom and knowledge and guess what?  I found it.  I found that wisdom and that wisdom helped me to change myself for the better.  It helped me hone my fighting skills.  This wisdom helped me to go from mediocre to extraordinary.  That wisdom is what gave me the ability to defeat Ikiro Yoshida for the SCW Television Championship.

Now I hold gold, but not just any gold, the championship that must be defended on each and every SCW Breakdown event.  Some would cower at this prospect but I relish in the challenge.  No longer do I seek out strategies to avoid conflict, instead I look forward to matching my strengths against the strengths of any challenger who dares to come my way.

That includes you, Derek Adonis.

What I want to know, though, is simply this; are you prepared to accept change?  Change is in the air, Adonis.  Change is a necessary part of life itself.  Charles Darwin explained this in his theories of evolution and natural selection.  Change and adaptation are key to survival in this world.  The species that are able to adapt and change will survive to pass on their greatness to the next generation.  The species that are unable to adapt and change will simply die out.

You are the comic relief; that’s how everyone views you.  That’s your role here in Supreme Championship Wrestling. And yet, despite this role that you have gladly played, you still managed to become SCW Television Champion.

It was what some call “a cup of coffee” of a title reign, because it didn’t last long.  But still your name is forever etched in history.  And now here you are on the precipice of doing so again.  And had this been against the Sophie O’Brian from one year ago, I would dare say that you had a fighter’s chance of winning the title back.

But I am not that same person from one year ago.  I have found my flaws and weaknesses and I have worked hard to correct them.  I am stronger and wiser than I was one year ago.  As it stands you don’t even have a fighter’s chance at beating me on Breakdown, Mr. KABLAMA-Sutra.

Yet the winds of change are in the air. Rise To Greatness season is upon us and that makes this season of change mean all that much more.  Anything can happen, Adonis, but only if you’re willing to adapt and change.

I have adapted and changed, Adonis, and I have become Television Champion because of it.  Now I am prepared to make you go the way of many other species who refused to adapt and change…I am prepared to make you go extinct.