Kimberly Williams vs. Konrad Raab

[Braddock]

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May 14th, 2022
Boston, Massachusetts
Off Camera
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“Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,” - Edgar Allen Poe, The Raven

It is a cold and rainy evening in Boston, Massachusetts.  The dusk has fallen and night is quickly approaching.  The home of Kimberly Williams is already a strange and eerie place to be, considering that The Woman Scorned and former SCW Underground Champion refuses to keep it tidy, refuses to clean, and actually prefers it to appear in shambles.  The deranged ginger grew up in shambles.  For the first eighteen years of her life she was raised by her legal guardian in a run down shack located in the middle of nowhere, a shack that would not pass any health or safety checks.  Williams has been used to living like this, in what most would call squaller.  Could she afford better?  Yes, she has inherited great wealth from her now deceased manager Sorinah.  Yet she still refuses to upgrade.  This is her lifestyle and this is the way she likes it.  Kimberly is used to the feelings of cold and loneliness.  But that cold and loneliness is taking on an added creepiness on this New England night as a storm is rolling in, with sounds of thunder heard in the background.  The dark clouds look menacing and the flashes in the background seem to indicate lightning is coming as well.

Bring it on.  Kimberly is not intimidated by storms.  In fact, tonight she expects to sleep very well.  She just received the news from her half-sister Jessica Lasiewicz that SCW general manager Shaun Cruiserweight…errr, that’s Shaun Cruze…has finally broken down and granted Kimberly’s request.  On the next Breakdown from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Kimberly will challenge Konrad Raab (or Oktoberfest as Kim prefers to call him) for the SCW Underground Championship inside of a steel cage.  Over the past few months she has been granted world title matches, television title matches, and finally when that was all done still she was made to jump through hoops and cut through red tape.  Yet finally the match she has long sought after is here; her fair one on one rematch for the SCW Underground Championship.

Kimberly is walking slowly through the hall of her small home and into the living room.  She is wearing a pink unicorn onesie and has a bottle of Sam Adams in her hand.  There is a ratty torn looking old sofa in the center of the room.  A small cage with her pet hamster named Caligula is on the sofa.  The Woman Scorned sits down on the sofa next to Caligula.  She takes a deep breath and then sighs.  What’s that smell?  Probably mold, mildew, and any other possible contaminants that are poisoning Kim.  But figuratively speaking Kim is smelling the sweet smell of victory.  One would think that tonight, after downing this booze, Williams would be able to rest easy for the rest of the night…

“Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, as of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.” Edgar Allen Poe, The Raven

Three loud knocks are heard at the door.  The fact that she can hear these knocks despite the rolling thunder and other sounds of the storm in the background is enough not to scare Kim but definitely put her on high and heightened alert.  Williams takes a quick swig of her Sam Adams and then places it down on the sofa next to her hamster Caligula.  It isn’t long before three more loud bangs are heard from her front door. The Woman Scorned sneers.

“Tis some visitor, tapping at my chamber door. Only this and nothing more.” Williams gazes back down at Caligula and smiles broadly. “I really should stop reading poetry before bed!” Kimberly’s focus is placed right back on the front door when she hears three more loud knocking sounds.  The Woman Scorned narrows her eyes in a look of anger.  She already has an idea of who this visitor may be, and that is precisely why she truly cannot get a good night’s sleep tonight.

Kimberly Williams has been the target of a string of attacks recently.  The first one was a few months back in Nashville, Tennessee shortly after an SCW event.  Kim and her twin sister Marie were attacked by a mystery woman outside of their hotel.  A few weeks later Marie’s home was burned to the ground.  While Marie thought it was a coincidence, Kimberly became convinced that the two were connected.  She was convinced that both crimes were perpetrated by the same person.

A month prior to the first attack, Marie had used a large sum of Kimberly’s inheritance to finance a very public legal defense of their uncle, Douglas Williams, who was in prison for a string of murders.  In Marie’s mind, getting an innocent man out of prison would make them look good in the public eye.  But Kim knows her uncle is guilty; and as soon as she and Marie were victimized by two crimes shortly after this began, Kim knew that the assailant had to be a member of the victim’s family.  The Woman Scorned even went as far as to track down who she felt was the most logical suspect: Carol Johnson, a woman who has been in trouble with the law for arson before and is also the younger sister of one of the victims. Kim and Jessica paid Carol’s mother a visit, where Kim threatened her to keep Carol away from her business. She was hoping a threat would do the trick.

Yet it appears that perhaps Carol Johnson has arrived on Kim’s front doorstep.  Three more loud bangs are heard from the front door.  Williams walks over to the fireplace and picks up a dagger that is lying on top.  Kim turns back to Caligula and flashes a warm, motherly smile at the hamster. “I’ll be right back, sweetie!  Mommy has to gut a bitch!”

The Woman Scorned happily skips over out of the living room and over towards the front door.  Three more loud knocks are heard.  This is getting annoying.  Kim may stab whoever it is regardless of if it is Carol or not.  Williams grabs hold of the door knob and pulls it open.  She rears back with the knife and starts to thrust forward but stops suddenly as she sees that it is not Carol Johnson, the suspected attacker and stalker, there on her doorstep…

…it is Kim’s twin sister, Marie Jones.

“Kim!  What the hell is with the dagger?!” Marie says, jumping back.  She is soaking wet from the rain that is now pouring down as a result of the storm.  Her long sleeve red sweater and denim jeans are drenched, possibly ruined.  Kim looks over at the dagger then back at Marie and shrugs her shoulders.

“What do you expect?  Some random stranger comes knocking on my door at night during a thunderstorm and you expect me NOT to be prepared to stab someone?”

“Kim, I’m YOUR sister!”

“Yes, and that means you have a key to my house.  Why the hell didn’t you just use it?” There is a long pause from Marie while Kim awaits an answer.  None comes and Marie just sighs and shakes her head.

“I wanted to make sure it was ok to come in…considering we didn’t part ways on the best of terms…”

Kim gazes deep into her twin sister’s eyes.  Looking past the drenched rat appearance of The Phoenix, Kim can see a look of repentance in her eyes.  Williams sighs and steps aside, motioning for Marie to step across the threshold.

“Come in out of the storm, Marie.”

“Thanks.” Marie nods her head in appreciation.  She steps across the threshold and makes her way over into the living room with Kimberly following closely behind.  Marie immediately goes towards the sofa but Kim quickly speaks up…

“No…Caligula is sitting there.”

“What?”

“Caligula will get wet if you sit next to him.  Caligula doesn’t like getting wet.”

“Then we can move him to the floor.”

“No, Caligula gets to sit on the sofa. YOU sit on the floor.”

“I probably deserve that…” Marie sighs as she sits down on the floor next to the sofa.  Kimberly approaches and sits down on the sofa next to her hamster.  Williams folds her arms over her chest and frowns.

“Do you want something to drink?  Or maybe a towel?”

“No…” Marie shakes her head “...I think you know why I’m here.”

“Humor me.” Kim says with a playful grin on her face. She does indeed know why Marie has decided to come crawling up to her doorstep this evening.  Well, she has at least two ideas of why she is here.  She’s either here to try and manipulate her again or she wants to apologize.  Either way, Kim is going to work her emotions, torture her, make her work for it.

“Please don’t play games with me, Kim!” Marie says as she wipes her face down; it is unclear if she is wiping tears out of her eyes or just trying to dry her face the best she can with the sleeves of her shirt. “I just said it outside.  We did not end on good terms.  And…”

“And what?” Kim cups her hand over her ear, as if she wants Marie to speak louder.

“...and I just don’t want to let it end like that.  That’s all.”

“Why not, little miss Matriarch of the Jones Family?  Our mother retires and suddenly you declare yourself as the head of our wrestling family.  Our Aunt Kayla is still active but did you consider that?  No.  What about me or Jess or Kelly?  No.  Hell, you didn’t even consider our cousins who have Jones blood in them.  You just automatically assumed leadership position.” She sneers down at Marie. “Which is all you’ve ever really wanted.  You’ve always wanted to boss people around.”

“Kim, please…”

“Shut up!” Kim snaps back quickly with venom dripping from her voice. “I have taken a lot from you, Marie.  This has been years in the making, so if you really are sincere about making things right between us, then you are going to sit there on your ass and listen to me tell the truth about you!” Kim’s loud and sharp words pierce Marie’s soul.  She remains silent and lets Kim continue.

“Since the time I turned eighteen and was no longer bound to my legal guardian, I wanted to kill you.  I literally wanted to murder you, Marie.  And you know why?”

“Emma…your guardian.” Marie says quietly. “She lied to you about me, about our mom, about…”

“Yes, she did put lies in my head.  But Marie, you should know that even fairy tales begin with kernels of truth. And what I observed when I saw you, my twin sister, was a spoiled brat.  I saw the favorite.  And you can’t deny it, you used to be mom’s favorite.  Even Jessica sensed it and resented you and mom for that reason.  But unlike Jess, I was crazy so I decided to try and murder you. That’s why I got locked up in a mental asylum…” she points a finger at Marie “...because I tried to murder you.”

“I remember.”

“And the men in the white coats at the funny farm were trying everything they could to keep me locked up indefinitely.  They didn’t think it was possible to get through the anger, the rage, and the insanity to find the real Kimberly Williams.  And my half-sisters, my mother, they weren’t willing to try.  But you, my twin sister, you were willing to reach out.  You visited me many times and we spent hours talking.  Do you remember how those early conversations went between you and I?”

“Yeah…” Marie gulps, with a nervous look on her face, and nods her head “...mostly you were telling me I was an idiot for trying and that if you ever got out you were going to kill me.”

“Yep!” Kim says grinning from ear to ear. “But you didn’t give up, did you?  You kept trying and eventually you broke through.  You found Kimberly Williams the human being. That changed me forever. Was I still a little eccentric and deranged? Yes, but I had changed enough to convince the men in white coats to let me go.  And because of what you did for me, I was in turn loyal to you.” She chuckles nastily. “We may be twins, Marie, but we are sooooo very different.  It really is nature versus nurture.  And for the two of us it boils down to nurture.  You were nurtured in an environment of wealth and privilege and you never went without anything.  I was raised by sociopath who never gave a damn about me.  So I learned to become self-reliant, and whenever I actually DID need help…I learned to appreciate those who actually did give a damn about me.  Do you remember UWA?”

“Uh-huh…”

“Good.  That was one of the first placed where we worked closely together.  You were a tag team champion in UWA with Sophie James then and just like the spoiled brat you are, you didn’t appreciate it.  You wanted a singles title.  So you asked me to take your place as tag team champion, knowing full well how convincing I was at being you and knowing UWA would never figure it out.  So I took your place in order to let you keep the tag title but not actually defend it and at the same time pursue other avenues and singles success.  You’re welcome.”

“Uh…thanks?”

“And then there was our first appearance in SCW.  You drank Syren’s kool-aid.  You bought her line of bullshit hook, line, and sinker.  And you helped her and Katya maintain control over SCW for quite a long time.  You even had me join in and help you.  I told you that Syren was a no good back stabbing bitch.  I know who the no good back stabbing bitches are because I was raised by one, and Syren is a no good back stabbing bitch.  Did you listen to my warnings?”

“No…”

“That’s right, you didn’t.” Kim sneers. “You went and made a fool of yourself and me in the process.  You also nearly burned down a ton of bridges by siding with that whore.  But I remained loyal.  And then SCW Retribution 2020, I lost the SCW United States Title and you lost your bid to become SCW Adrenaline Champion.  That night you took your ball and went home, leaving me alone in SCW.  Despite my loyalty to you, you had no loyalty for me, but I didn’t hold any grudges. What you did was your business.  But then at last year’s End of the Year Special, you wanted to make a grand return.  And you promised me that you would help deliver to me the one thing I wanted most…my rematch for the SCW Underground Championship.  You were jockeying for tag title shots for us, and I remained patient, you managed to get me a Television Title shot that I did NOT want, and I remained patient, and I even took that lame ass World TItle Match you roped me into, because you promised this would all lead to an Underground Title Match for me eventually.  I was expecting you to use whatever magic you had to get me a shot at the Underground TItle that next Breakdown after Retribution.  Instead we were scheduled to face Selena and Deanna.  I had no problems fighting them but you convinced me to walk off the job.  I remained loyal and walked off with you.” Williams throws her head back and laughs.

“Being used and manipulated is enough to drive anyone crazy.  It brought back a little of that darkness, that darkness that I had buried deep down inside. I will freely admit to you that I was prepared to hurt you, Marie.” The Woman Scorned gazes down into her twin’s eyes.  Marie is clearly shaken by this admission.  Kim finally shakes her head after a tense few moments of letting that admission sink in. “But I didn’t want to leave my nephew without a mother…or leave his mother crippled.  So I gave you mercy and told you to just stay out of my life.  That gift of mercy was my last bit of loyalty for you that I had remaining inside me.” The Woman Scorned rises up off of the sofa.  She motions for Marie to stand up.  Reluctantly, and unsure of what Kim is about to do, Marie does stand up and faces her sister.

“I want you to look dead in the center of my eyes and know I am serious when I say that while I will never hurt you, this really is the last chance you’re getting with me.  All I ever wanted since walking out of the loony bin was a normal relationship with my family…but most of all with my twin sister, who you would think would be the closest relationship I would have.  I don’t want to be your sidekick, Marie.  I want to be your sister.”

Kim and Marie lock eyes.  They stare at one another for several tense moments.  Finally Kim stretches out her hand, offering a handshake.  Marie looks at the hand and then back at Kim.  Marie shakes her head and instead embraces her twin with a tight hug. “That’s what I want too, Kim!” Eventually they break the embrace.  Kim and Marie are both smiling now.  Though Kim’s smile quickly turns into a more stoic gaze.

“Good…but you had better not be manipulating me again.  In fact, after tonight you should know that you cannot manipulate me.  I’ve always known you were using me but I let you because I felt I owed you my loyalty.  You have used up the loyalty you had gained just for getting me out of the funny farm.  From here on treat me like I should be treated…like your sister.”

“Deal.” Marie says, nodding her head quickly and wiping some tears from her eyes. A soft laugh escapes her lips. “I’m glad we could have this talk, Kim.  And I really am glad you finally got that Underground Title Match.”

“You heard?” Kim asks.  Marie nods her head.

“Yeah, Jess told me all about it.  Go kick Konrad’s ass and take that title back.”

“That’s the plan.” Kim says with an evil grin.  A really loud clap of thunder followed by lightning echoes in the night sky.  Marie and Kim turn and look out the window.  Marie shudders.

“That storm is so awful.  I hate to get back out in it but I need to go pick up Sean and get home.”

“Home?” Kim shakes her head. “No, you need to stay.”

“But I need to get my kid.”

“Is he safe right now?”

“Of course, he’s with mom.”

“Good, then call her and tell her she’ll need to keep him overnight.  You’re staying here tonight.”

“Kim, what’s wrong?” Marie is looking nervous again, mainly because Kim is looking more and more frantic, her face is even growing pale.

“Look, Marie, there’s a reason I damn near stabbed you to death at the front door!”

“Yeah, because you’re jumpy.”

“That’s not it.” Kim shakes her head. “Do you remember Paula Johnson?”

“Uh…sort of.  Isn’t she one of the victims of Uncle Douglas’s alleged murder spree?”

“Not alleged, our Uncle Douglas DID kill those people, Marie.  You can be in denial if you want but he did kill them.  And he did kill Paula Johnson.  She had a baby sister named Carol.  Carol grew up and in her teens she was in trouble with the law for arson.” Marie’s eyes grow wide upon hearing this startling revelation.

“Are you suggesting she burned down my house?!”

“I’m telling you she did!  I practically confirmed it when I went and confronted her mother a few weeks ago.”

“You did what?!”

“Jessica didn’t tell you that?” Kim asks. Marie shakes her head. “Oh, well, she probably knew you’d overreact.”

“Did you threaten her?”

“I did not threaten her…” Kim shrugs her shoulders “...but I may have threatened her daughter THROUGH her mother…”

“Oh God…” Marie shakes her head “...Kim…”

“This woman was already off her rocker enough to be an arsonist.  Now she’s been provoked because you’re trying to get her sister’s killer out of prison, and she’s been further provoked by me intimidating her mom, I fully expect her to track me down and confront me.”

“And you had the knife to kill her, right?”

“Of course.”

“Kim…” Marie sighs and shakes her head “...you can’t just go around killing people.”

“Why not?  It would end this.  It would end this problem that you started.”

“I started?  How did I start it?!”

“You started it by trying to get our murderous uncle out of prison.”

“But he may be innocent.”

“He’s not innocent!”

The back and forth argument between the twin sisters abruptly ends when a loud crash is heard throughout the house.  Kim and Marie are immediately hit with a wave of winds and rain, because the nearby window has been shattered and broken.  Kim looks down to see a brick has been thrown through the window.  Marie rushes over to the window to see if she can find the perpetrator.  But by the time she gets there she hears the screeching of tires, indicating that whoever it is just sped away.

“Damn it…” Kim snarls “...it was Carol, I’m sure.”

“I hate to say it but you’re probably right.”

“See what I mean, Marie?  We HAVE to end this!  She will keep attacking us until she is stopped.”

“Let the police handle it.”

“They won’t be able to stop her.”

“How do you know?” Marie asks.

“Because I know that kind of rage she has…it is the same kind of rage I had once, the kind of rage I had when I was eighteen and wanted to kill you.  I would not have stopped had it not been for you.” Kim states grimly.  Marie is about to respond when a ringing indicates that her cell phone is going off.  Marie reaches into her pockets and produces her iPhone.  The caller ID says ‘mom’.  She quickly answers it.

“Hey, mom…I’m at Kim’s and I’m about to head home but…” Marie’s eyes grow wide and the look of fear across her face indicates to Kim that something bad has just happened “....oh no!  We’ll get there right away!”

“What is it?” Kim asks as Marie puts her phone away.

“It’s Jessica…her home was broken into about an hour ago.”

“It was Carol.” Kim says angrily.  She starts to storm away and Marie rushes to catch up.

“Calm down, Kim!”

“No!  She attacked you and I, she tried to burn your house down, she attacked me at my home, and she went after Jessica.”

“But why Jess?  She has no ties to Sean Williams.”

“But she is our half-sister, and Carol knows that Jess was there when I confronted her mother, and Carol knows that she can get to me through Jess.  You can’t convince me otherwise, Marie.  This has to end one way or the other.  It will be us or Carol.”