Post by djinnie on Feb 20, 2023 18:07:01 GMT
Within the blink of an eye, the scenery snaps in and is fixated on the star, who is front and center. A young woman. The lass is dressed up in a rather peculiar fashion: dress pants, a vest with a gold chain protruding from one of the pockets, a wool overcoat, and a newsboy cap. The pants are black on one side, and lavender on the other, with barely visible pinstripes; the vest is lavender, the overcoat is black, and the cap alternates similarly to the pants. If it were not for all of the colors, you could probably swear that you were watching Peaky Blinders, but don’t touch that controller, because you’re not! It was as if Harley Quinn clashed with Thomas Shelby. Jennie’s head is low, allowing the brim of the hat to hide her eyes. The mauve hair protruding from under the hat makes it quite clear that this is in fact the challenger for the New World Championship at Bangers & Mash, Jennifer Aurora Docherty.
Similarly to the rest of the outfit, she wears one lavender glove, and one black glove; she folds her hands in front of her. On both of her shoulders are the two titles that she currently holds: the IWF Women’s World Championship, and the Interstellar Gemini Championship that she won with her sister, Tara Diosa Docherty-Jimenez, or better known to the rest of the industry as Tara Fenix.
Jennie raises her head ever so slightly, unveiling her eyes to match much of her outfit; there is that “Docherty” smirk on her face. A smirk that was more common for her sister or nephew to sport during their own promos, but she was able to pull it off just as well as the both of them. She scoffs, and finally gives her opening statement to the audience, “Baaad luck, innit?” She speaks in an exaggerated cockney accent.
“D’ya understand how many times I’ve fought for a title, and how many times I’ve TRIED to prove myself to everybody around me, just for me to… fail? I mean, really, the list goes on, and on, and on, and on, and on of how many times I’ve fought for a title only for the majority of my fights to end in the same way: loss. Loss. Loss! Loss! LOSS! And d’ya know what I have to hear every single time I march to the back?” Jennie pauses for dramatic effect, and licks her lips. The camera pans out to unveil an overcast sky creating a gloomy effect to the weather. Jennie stands in the center of an old brick road.
“Good effort. Good effort! As if that is some sort of magical phrase that is going to make everything better! Good effort! As if that is going to take away the STING of having to hear the announcer declare my opponent as the winner EACH and EVERY single time! Good effort! As if I should be proud for coming close to winning, but not actually winning. Good effort,” she scoffs, “Those two words have been beaten into my head so many times that it does nothing but give me anxiety… It does NOTHING but stop me from sleeping at night, ‘cause I’m having to ask myself: what could I’ve done differently? Could I have dug a little deeper? Could I have given a little more?! They’re words that have come to me every single time I’ve been knocked down… It does NOTHING for me except make me afraid…afraid that I’m not good enough. Afraid that, as hard as I try, I’m never going to be viewed in the same prestige as those around me…those…closest to me…” her voice shakes, and she loses the accent momentarily.
Several images begin flashing across the screen, showing Jennie’s sister throughout her illustrious career holding up each title she was able to capture, and then even showcasing her nephew holding up the grandest title of one of the companies he was signed to at the age of nineteen.
“Everyone alllllways tries to undermine. Alllllways tries to compare me to everyone else, and always view me as the lesser sister; the baby sister. And– I want to say, first and foremost, I love my sister– I do– I do, and I know that we’ve had our differences in the past and that she, like everyone else, didn’t think I had a place in this industry, but with all of my effort, I’ve done my best to prove everyone wrong! And I like to think I did just that. I like to think I did prove everyone wrong, and I like to think that I am STILL proving everybody wrong! I’ve turned her into a believer, and now…one by one…more and more people are believing in me. More and more people are seeing something in me. Less and less people are looking at these titles on my shoulder and saying that I only got it off a fluke, or that I only got it because my sister is carrying me. I like to think that I’ve proven myself time after time just by having these opportunities given to me. But I’m intrigued: what do you think, Alice? Hmm?” Jennie takes a short stride to her side, maintaining her fixed gaze with the camera whilst raising a hand to rub her chin in contemplation.
“Do you think that it’s a mistake that I’m constantly being placed into these title matches? Do you think that I’m just in over my head? Do you think that I was put in this match as a feelgood victory for you? Just to be that person that you dominate now that you’ve officially been crowned as the New World Champion? The person that you defeat to solidify the legitimacy of your reign?” Jennie cocks her head to the side in an inquiring fashion. She waits for several seconds, as if Alice Gemini’s voice would be heard answering in the wind, “Hmm?” she persists.
“Good effort pays off, right?” Jennie asks the rhetorical question while raising one shoulder, and then the other, in a shrugging manner to show that her effort, has in fact, paid off. She is, by every right, a double champion. “Double champion. Double champion! That’s what I am! I am a DOUBLE CHAMPION! I am the HIGHEST STANDARD in IWF with this title…” Jennie raises her shoulder with the IWF Women’s World Championship, “Me an’ Tara are one of the GREATEST tag teams in the business with this title,” she raises her other shoulder with the Interstellar Gemini title on it.
Jennie lets out a snorting laughter under her breath, and takes a couple more steps forward with the ground crunching beneath her feet. She lets the silence linger a little bit longer before finally continuing her speech, “I can’t help but look at what you’ve done in this company since coming in, and then look again at some of the things that I’ve done. The stories are just like–” Jennie hesitates in speaking, as if searching for the right phrase, “Polar opposites. You came into the company to win a tournament! To become the first-ever holder of a title… you got listed as the Rising Star of the Year, and then there’s me…” Jennie smacks her lips together a couple of times, and scrunches her face, “I won a match…against a baguette…” she shrugs as she recalls her past accomplishments within the company, “I came close to winning in my debut. I came close to winning the Classic Championship. But I DID beat that croissant! And so there’s just no denying that I’m…exactly where I should be! There’s no denying that I’m the right person to be fighting for this title against you!” She stops to ponder it for several seconds.
“Polar opposites. You’ve defeated most of the people that you’ve come across, and I’ve only beaten one person, but with so much promise against the rest of the people! Innit funny? Let’s not kid ourselves, though, and I think– I think it’s best that I accept what we both know I am walking into this match…” Jennie spreads her arms out to put herself on display, “I’m the underdog! And honey, as much as these people can’t help but cheer for you, they can’t help but cheer for the underdog! I’m the horse in the race that a gambler wouldn’t risk their bet on, but the horse they’re going to hate afterward when I force them to lose everything. But now I look at you, and, truth be told, Alice: I don’t give a flying fuck what your role is supposed to be, or what’s supposed to happen! I don’t give a fuck if I’m supposed to be the one to give you a little fluff before your inevitable fall, ‘cause NONE OF THAT…is what I’m going to be. Right? It’s been a series of good efforts for too long now, and y’want to know something? IT’S TIME that the good effort pays off AGAIN! I’m planning– no– no, not planning… I’m going to walk into Bangers and Mash as a DOUBLE CHAMPION, and I’m going to walk out as a TRIPLE CHAMPION!”
Jennie takes another deep breath, and cocks her head back to the side, “The good effort won me my first World Championship, and good effort that won me and Tara the Interstellar Gemini titles. Double…Champion. And that’s something that the headlines aren’t putting on the advertisements. It’s a DOUBLE CHAMPION versus a DOUBLE CHAMPION. Like– this– this is something bigger than what we see out of every other promotion, always advertising that they’re going to have a CHAMPION versus CHAMPION showdown! This is BIGGER! This is BETTER! And they should be playing that up… they should be making sure the world knows just how big this match is going to be, and you, Alice, should be treating me as the threat that I know I am!”
Jennie takes one bold step forward, and raises a finger to point at the camera, “This won’t be our last dance, honey, and I look forward to the next, but this is the one where you’re just going to have to let me take the lead. You can walk around with your head held high, but I’ll be walking out as the New World Champion.” Jennie pivots on her heels, and starts walking away as the scenery fades out momentarily.
“You know you’re not twenty-one yet, so I’m not letting you get anything to drink!” Jennie exclaims.
The scenery shifts into a local London pub where Jennie sits at the bar beside her nephew, Sabin or better known to the industry as Wraith. There is a distinct frustration in his tone as his hand fumbles with the drink menu, “The legal drinking age here is eighteen! Why would you bring me to a pub?”
“You can’t come to London and not go to a pub! Besides, your mom would kill me!” Jennie answers, and then pulls out her phone. She taps the screen several times, swiping this way, and that way, and her phone finally loads, “Hey! This is a Pokémon gym!”
“Oh, cool. Is it a raid?” Sabin asks while also taking out his phone.
“Nooo, but it will be soon!” Jennie answers, and then immediately sets her phone down. She begins tapping her fingers rapidly against the counter in a nervous manner. She then reaches for the drink menu and browses their drinks, while Sabin is browsing the menu for food… Out of the corner of his eye, he glances at his aunt, and can tell that she’s panicking over something.
“Take it easy,” he says.
“Easy for you to say!”
“Listen, Tláak’w,” Sabin says in a gentler tone, “I know that you’ve had this struggle for a long time. I know that you really, really, really want to be able to do something that not even Tláa has been able to do by wearing three titles at one time, but you’re not going to do it if you’re an absolute nervous wreck!” He grits his teeth, and glances around the pub to ensure that they’re not receiving too much publicity for being who they are. “You know that you can take this. It doesn’t matter who’s standing across from you! This is your night. This is your match– this is your title to take! Don’t psych yourself out before the match even starts.” Sabin sniffles after finishing his statement, and goes back to browsing the menu for food. “You can change what you do, but you can’t change what you want.” Sabin says as a direct quote.
The bartender comes over after some time, and greets both of them, “G’afternoon. Can I get either one of you started off with a drink?” he asks.
“I’ll take a Glasgow Punch, and a shot of Glenkinchie!” Jennie says and places the menu down to start looking at the food menu.
“And I’ll take a–” Sabin hesitates, glancing back at Jennie to see if she’s paying attention or would stop him from ordering an alcoholic drink, but he eventually sighs, “A ginger ale.”
The bartender nods to both of them and leaves to bring them their drinks. Jennie stares blankly, going back to the quote that Sabin had said before the bartender came by. It repeats in her head many times, and many times over, when she considers what it is that she wants… What do I want? Jennie thinks to herself. She taps her finger against the counter several times to continue pondering, I want… respect… I want to be recognized as one of the best to do it. I want to be able to stand with my family and know– know I belong. But more. More. I just– I know I have this ego in me that I can’t erase… it runs in the family. I know I’ve seen it in Tara. I know I’ve seen it in Sabin. I know I’ve seen it in Chris. It’s part of the family. We have to be the best. I…have to be the best.
The bartender comes back around with the three glasses, and places the ginger ale in front of Sabin, and the two alcoholic drinks in front of Jennie. Jennie takes the shot glass in her fingers and looks at it for a moment, but she cannot stop herself from thinking about her upcoming title match… she cannot stop herself from thinking about Alice. “To Alice…” Jennie finally says, raising her shot glass in a saluting manner, “May you be in Heaven a full half hour before the Devil knows you’re dead.” Jennie downs the shot, and Sabin sips from his ginger ale. End.