“Ronin” Chris Dumont vs. Marie Jones

[The Matt]

2 of 2
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April 22nd, 2024
Worcester, Massachusetts
Off Camera
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This isn’t what you think.

What this night presents is what appears to be the eccentric, some would say downright deranged, SCW Underground Champion Kimberly Williams walking the streets of Worcester, Massachusetts dressed in torn denim jeans, flip flops, a “Queens of Chaos” logo t-shirt, and a black biker jacket, all while carrying her beloved penguin Wasley in her right hand. Yes, this certainly appears to be Kimberly but it isn’t. If you were to think that, you’d be wrong. This isn’t the SCW Underground Champion; it is the SCW Television Champion, Kimberly’s identical twin sister, “The Phoenix” Marie Annabelle Jones, who seems to be going out for a stroll cosplaying as her twin. This is a practice that Kimberly does all the time, but what is it about tonight that has Marie out and about dressed up as Kim, cosplaying as Kim? Love will make one do strange things and in this case love has forced Marie’s hand, love is forcing The Phoenix to do some very strange things.

Marie Jones loves Julianne Buchanan. She wants nothing more than to be with her gorgeous blonde lover. They have spent so much time together and have endured the ups and downs of the Inner Peace Enlightenment cult together. When they both left the group, Marie had hoped their romance, their love for one another, would be enough to help them endure. But the more time she spends with Julianne, the more concerned she becomes about her intentions. Julianne has grown to become more domineering and in the relationship, throwing her weight around in the relationship. But that’s not even the biggest red flag for Jones; she recently learned that Julianne plans to restructure and reform Inner Peace and wants Marie to rejoin the group. She insists that Marie’s proper place is by her side within Inner Peace. Marie does feel as if she should be with Julianne, she wants to be with Julianne, but being with Inner Peace, again, is a different story altogether. Marie lost the trust and faith of her family and lost custody of her son because of her involvement with Inner Peace. It took a long time for Marie to earn all of that back and to get her son back. She knows returning to Inner Peace would risk all of what she fought so hard for and she isn’t sure she is ready to do that, despite Julianne’s assurances that things are different.

Initially she agreed to be with Julianne, to be with Inner Peace again, but now Marie is having second thoughts. Marie isn’t sure that her decision to be with Julianne in the newly restructured Inner Peace is the correct decision. But Marie does know that there is one way she can possibly find out for certain about the true intentions of Julianne Buchanan. There is one way she can find out if Julianne is being genuine and sincere or if this is all manipulation all along. This is what brings her out to Worcester, Massachusetts dressed the way she is, dressed as her identical twin sister. She just hopes that she can be just as convincing as Kim.

“I can’t believe I agreed to this.” Marie says to Wasley the penguin. “I mean, Kimmy is better at this than me. Kim spent one month pretending to me! She went out on a date with my ex-boyfriend pretending to be me! She convinced my son’s school principal that she was me! She is far better at this than me!” She sighs out of frustration. “She should be doing this, not me! But I guess I understand…kind of…I mean, I need to see it for myself. I need to hear it for myself. I can’t rely on Kim to do all of the heavy lifting and report back to me.” Marie nods her head. “Yes, I know she would do it for me if I asked, but if she reported back to me would I believe her or Julianne? It would still be her word against Julianne’s and I love them both. So I supposed yeah, I do need to do this on my own so I can hear it and see it for myself.”

Marie Jones stares down at Wasley and the blank expression on the plushy penguin’s face. She rolls her eyes. “My God, look at me! I’m talking to a damn penguin!” She shakes her head. “Not even a penguin, I’m talking to a toy penguin! This crap is causing me to lose my damn mind. Next thing I know I’m going to be dragging your dumb stuffed ass to the ring with me.” Marie smirks. “Although having you sit ringside might disturb Chris Dumont just enough to give me the edge in my Television Title defense.” Marie thinks about it for a moment before shaking her head. “Nah! I’d rather win it the right way, clean in the center of the ring with no shenanigans. I don’t want there to be any excuses, win or lose.” She kisses the penguin plushy on its beak. “Besides, I doubt Kim would lone you out to me for Breakdown anyway. I’m shocked she let you out of her sight for this little game.” Marie chuckles lightly before she comes upon a modern looking home up on a hill. She sighs uneasily. “Well, here we are Wasley. Julianne’s home. Wish me luck.”

The Phoenix begins to make her way up the hill towards Julianne’s home. Marie knows this path and this home all too well. She has been here many times before as herself, as Marie, but this time is different. This time the stakes are raised as she is quite nervous because she has the unenviable and difficult task of tricking her lover into believing she is really Kimberly Williams. The appearance isn’t the problem. Marie and Kim look identical in every sense of the word. But Julianne and Marie have been lovers for quite some time. If anyone knows Marie and can tell them apart, it would be Julianne. Sure, Kim fooled Julianne once, but that was Kim. Kim is better at this than Marie. Can Marie be just as good at this as Kim is? Can Marie pull off the act? There is also this feeling of guilt. She knows she is about to lie and deceive her lover. But Marie feels it must be done. She needs answers one way or another. She approaches the door and is about to ring the doorbell but stops.

“No, no…that’s what I would do…what would Kim do?” Marie grins and then knocks on the door loudly to the tune of ‘shave and a haircut.’ She waits a few moments before doing the knock again. Finally the door opens to Julianne Buchanan standing there in the doorway. Julianne looks surprised at first but then her face contorts into a look of angst and frustration. Marie can tell that Julianne must believe that she really is Kim. For now the act is working. How would Kim proceed from here? “Hello! Have you heard about our lord and savior Wasley?” She holds the penguin plushy up in Julianne’s face.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Julianne demands angrily. “For that matter, how the hell did you find me?” She tilts her head to one side, studying her carefully. “Did Marie tell you where I lived?”

“Marie? Nopers.” Marie shakes her head. “My sister has her head shoved so far up your ass she wouldn’t tell me anything about you. I found you the way I find everything and everyone…by snooping. I’m a brilliant snooper.”

“Good for you.” Julianne rolls her eyes. “Now what are you doing here?” She shakes her head. “Actually, you know what? I don’t care what you want. I just want you to leave. I do not want you here.”

For a brief moment Marie does consider leaving. She still doesn’t like deceiving Julianne. And yet, a part of her does feel that Julianne is hiding something. She may not get another chance to find out what truly motivates Julianne, whether she is being sincere or if there is some other underlying agenda. Marie forces herself to continue with the deception.

“Oh don’t worry, I’ll leave,” she boops Julianne on her nose “as soon as you tell me exactly what you are up to, young lady.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh don’t play coy.” Marie smirks. “I already know about your grand plan to bring back Inner Peace.”

“How did you find out?” Julianne asks with a look of shock on her face.

“Remember what I said earlier? I’m really good at snooping into shit that’s none of my business. Sticking my nose into things where it doesn’t belong is a hobby of mine.” Marie grins knowingly. “So what do you got up your sleeves, Julesy? Why are you bringing back the cult, the same cult you and Marie just escaped from?”

“None of your business.” Julianne states sternly. “Now leave!”

Maybe Julianne doesn’t have any sinister intentions? Sure, she’s acting suspicious, but that could just be chalked up to the fact that Julianne does not like Kim. Marie is beginning to feel a sense of relief that maybe, just maybe, Julianne is being sincere about everything. Still, Julianne hid things from Marie before. She hid the restructuring of Inner Peace. Could she be hiding more? Marie must know. She decides that one more tactic is needed to to ensure that the blonde isn’t hiding anything. She needs to call her bluff.

“So you’re not gonna spill the beans?” Marie asks. Julianne shakes her head. Marie shrugs her shoulders. “Oh well…I suppose I can find out on my own, then, but when I do, you can believe that I will make sure Marie finds out…that she will learn about everything you have planned and…”

This certainly sparked a response from Julianne that Marie wasn’t expecting. She reaches out, grabs Marie by her throat, and slams her against the side of her house. The blonde, now sporting a look of pure rage, gets up into Marie’s face, growling angrily, almost as if she were a wild beast.

“You ruined Inner Peace not once but twice.” She shakes her head. “You will NOT ruin Inner Peace for a third time! Not this time!” She slaps her across the face. “You corrupted Marie, MY MARIE! You turned her against me and my beloved Raul! It will not happen again!”

“But I thought…” Marie chokes out “...but I thought you and Marie helped put Raul in jail.”

“We had to because of you and your interference!” Julianne shouts. “But I am actively working to get him out of prison and then when he returns, I will convince Marie that her proper place is with Raul, and with me!”

“Thanks for spilling the beans, Julesy.” Marie says. “You gave away your plan just like any good saturday morning cartoon villain.”

“Maybe, but unlike them, I will make sure you aren’t around to ruin my plans.” She reaches into her pants pocket and produces a knife. “Me and Marie will be together forever with Inner Peace, serving Raul, the way God intended.”

Suddenly the knife is kicked out of Julianne’s hand. The blonde is stunned because it didn’t come from Marie, or at least who thinks is Kim. Julianne then turns to see Kimberly Williams stepping out of the shadows. Kim is dressed identically to Marie and is holding a tape recorder in her hand.

“You know, Marie, you could have just beat her over the head with Wasley.”

“Sorry I didn’t think to do that, Kim.” Marie says. “But she DID pull a knife on me.”

“Wait a sec…” Julianne looks at Kim and then at Marie, slowly she realizes what has happened “...you two switched places?!”

“I suspected you had been manipulating me almost from the start. The fact that you kept the return of Inner Peace hidden from me for so long raised a lot of red flags. But I loved you, Julianne, and I didn’t want to believe you would do this to me. So I had to hear it for myself. And now that I do know the truth, I know exactly what I need to do.” Marie pushes Julianne to the ground and then joins her sister Kim by her side. Julianne scrambles back to her feet.

“You can’t do this!” She exclaims. “Do not let that maniac corrupt you! You belong to Raul! We both do!”

“That maniac is my sister!” Marie shouts angrily. “And I thought this new Inner Peace was about female empowerment but you stand there saying that you and I belong to Raul? I belong to no one.” Marie shakes her head. “Inner Peace was and always will be a bullshit cult designed to enslave women, not empower them.” Marie and Kim turn and start to walk away. Julianne chases after them.

“No! Marie, don’t go!” She begs. “You belong with Inner Peace!”

“Shut your damn mouth!” Marie exclaims. “I am through with you! We are done! And I don’t want to hear from you ever again!” Tears form in Marie’s eyes. She did truly love her, making this difficult to say. “I know all about the skeletons in your closet, as well as all of the skeletons in Raul and Inner Peace’s closet. I can make sure you sit in a jail cell right next to him and I will if you ever try to contact me again.” Marie turns and begins to walk away, Kim follows her. They still hear Julianne shouting angrily but they can tell she isn’t following. Once they are out of earshot Marie turns to face Kim.

“Thanks for helping me, Kim.” Marie says. “I didn’t want to believe it but…” she sighs and shakes her head.

“Hey, no problem. That’s what sisters are for.” Kim smirks. “And granted, I didn’t want to be right about her.”

“It is what it is.” Marie shrugs her shoulders. “She was using me, manipulating me. It seems as if anyone I get close to turns out to be abusive, a manipulator, or they just end up dead.” Marie says quietly. Kim pats her on the back.

“Don’t worry. The right person will come along.”

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On Camera
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Wrestling is a very funny business. Two complete strangers get randomly paired together and they come within an eyelash of earning a shot at the world tag team championship. That was us, Dumont. The Ronin and The Phoenix came together as one of the unlikeliest of pairings and we came close on several occasions to winning that tag title contenders match. But close isn’t good enough in this business. All that matters is the win and in a match like that when you have so many tag teams involved and it’s just one fall to a finish, it is much easier to get lost in the shuffle than it is to rise to the occasion and pick up the win. That’s all that happened at Taking the Leap. We got lost in the shuffle and Twisted & Sadistic took advantage, not pinning either of us but pinning The European Fiery Nation instead.

I suppose we could gripe about how we technically weren’t pinned or beaten in that match. But what would that make us? Just a couple of complainers. You and I are not complainers. We do not gripe, bitch, and moan about opportunities that passed us by. We learn from our mistakes and we move on to the next big challenge and, Chris, I can see big things on the horizon for you and me individually. There’s no need to worry ourselves over what happened in the past. Besides, I think we did one hall of a job for ourselves considering we never had worked together before that night. And maybe, someday, we might get the opportunity to work together again.

But right now it is time to focus on the present, it is time to focus on the here and the now. Right here and right now, this next time The Ronin and The Phoenix come together, it will not be as tag team partners, it will be as opponents. We will not be working together, we will be working against one another. Because, you, Dumont, you impressed management. You showed your stuff at Taking the Leap and now you are next in line to challenge me for the SCW Television Championship. We might not have earned that tag title shot but you, my friend, have earned yourself a title shot nonetheless.

And me? It’s my back up against the wall. I am in the situation where I have nothing to gain and everything to lose. The pressure is on and in more ways than one. Little known fact, Chris, is that when it comes to me and this Television Championship, I have not had a good history of successfully defending it. Once again it’s one of those ironic things about this business. I have been SCW United States Champion and SCW World Tag Team Champion but when it comes to this Television Title I now have in my possession, I rarely have a successful title defense. Let’s face it, Chris, you have the advantage here. Sure, I may technically have the champion’s advantage in the sense that I have to be pinned or submitted to lose the title, but history is not on my side. History is on your side, my friend.

Yes, the pressure is on and on big time, but that’s when I perform at my very best. When the pressure is on, that’s when The Phoenix rises up from the ashes to burn her enemies to the ground. And that’s why I believe that this latest run in SCW will be my very best run in SCW. I returned to the SCW ring with all of the pressure in the world on my back. I put the weight of the entire world on my shoulders because I wanted to prove to everyone that I am SCW’s workhorse, that I am the one person you can always count on to be there for the fight. And this Television Title is the very definition of who and what I wanted to be when I returned to SCW.

The SCW Television Champion has to be the workhorse, they have to compete each and every week without rest or vacation. The SCW Television Champion has to be ready for the fight no matter who it is, where it is, or when they are called upon to fight. The champion must be ready to fight at all times. And that’s who I am now. When The Phoenix died only to be resurrected from the ashes once more, I rose from those ashes as the workhorse, as the fighter that SCW needs me to be. That’s why this SCW Television Championship means the world to me.

And that is why you will have to KILL ME in order to take this championship from me.

History may not be on my side but history can go straight to hell! I am going to bring the fight to you, Chris. Everything you saw me do to Colleen to win this, everything you saw me do at Taking the Leap, you can kick all of that up ten notches coming up on Breakdown when you and I collide because I will not accept mediocrity, I will not be content with those same old tired phrases… “Oh, well, at least I tried”...

Bullshit. Trying isn’t good enough. I know who and what I am, I know what I am capable of, and for too long I deprived these great fans of everything that I am. For too long I deprived my opponents of everything that I am. Ever since my return, anyone and everyone who has stepped into the ring against me has had to face EVERY SINGLE GOD DAMN BIT OF THE PHOENIX!

Now you get to face The Phoenix. Now you get to face EVERYTHING that I am! And I am not coming to Breakdown to try, I am not even coming to Breakdown to defend my title. I am coming to Breakdown to SUCCESSFULLY DEFEND my SCW Television Title. I am coming to be the workhorse champion that the great SCW fans deserve. And nothing will stop me.

Nothing will stop The Phoenix from rising…