Taking Hold of the Flame Battle Royal

[The Matt]

ooc: 2 of 2 for Kim
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May 29th, 2022
Boston, Massachusetts
Off Camera
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What was meant to be a nice, normal, ordinary day for Kimberly Williams turned into an absolute wreck. Although let’s face it, anytime The Woman Scorned is involved nothing is ever normal or ordinary. Kimberly did hope to spend some time bonding with her nephew, she had hoped to just enjoy herself, and most importantly, Williams had hoped that the nightmarish stalking would be over. Those hopes were all dashed when Kimberly and Sean were jumped on the street and assaulted by none other than Carol Johnson, the same obsessed stalker who had been making Kim’s life a living hell for the past few months. What is more frightening to Kimberly is the fact that Carol has slowly been escalating her attacks. It started with a targeted strike only on Kim and Marie physically, outside of a Nashville hotel. Then she burned down Marie’s home in Boston. Then she went further and attacked other members of the family, namely Kim’s half-sister Jessica Lasiewicz by breaking into her home and wrecking the place.

Kimberly, Marie, and Jessica at least can defend themselves if necessary. Carol has now taken it too far by targeting Sean, Marie’s son and Kimberly’s nephew. Kim had suspected that she would eventually take it to that level; she had secretly hoped that Carol wouldn’t go as far as to attack an innocent child but Kim is a realist and she decided to take precautions. Williams clued authorities into the fact that she would be taking her nephew out on the town and that she was afraid for his safety due to the threat Carol posed. Authorities agreed to have police follow Kimberly, just in case Carol decided to strike. Sure enough, Carol did strike. And she did threaten the safety of Kim’s nephew Sean Jones. But Kim put her own health and well being at risk to defend him. She intercepted Carol, allowing her to beat on her over and over, giving Sean time to get away and most importantly allowing the police time to arrive and take care of the situation.

She may appear to be a psychopath, she may seem to be a lunatic, but deep down in her heart and soul she loves her family. Kim would sacrifice her very life for her family and today she damn near had to; but thankfully, Carol was captured. The obsessive stalker who wanted nothing more than to ruin Kimberly’s life has been taken into custody. Unfortunately, that may not be the end of it. Carol Johnson herself had already shouted at the top of her lungs that it wasn’t over. Despite being in handcuffs and thrown into the back of a police cruiser, the somewhat demented Johnson was adamant that she would not let it end here and now. Kimberly had hoped that by doing things by the books, letting the legal system handle Carol and showing her mercy, that perhaps it would finally end.

Yet the fact that The Woman Scorned is sitting in the hallway of police headquarters outside of a detective’s office is an indication that it may not be over. Kim is still dressed in torn denim jeans, flip flops, and a black “SCW” t-shirt. Seated next to her is her nephew Sean, who is also still wearing the same attire from earlier; denim jeans, sneakers, a plain white t-shirt. Kimberly has a cup of coffee, black, in her hands. Kim and Sean, as the victims and therefore witnesses of this attack, were brought in to give statements to the detectives. After all, they were just attacked by a woman who clearly wanted to do them physical harm, maybe even kill them.

Murder isn’t unusual to Kimberly Williams. It is a tactic she has used before in order to deal with problems. Usually she is good at hiding the evidence of her crimes. Weeks ago she had the opportunity to put an end to Carol Johnson. She had a knife in hand and a prone Carol in a local cemetery; she could have cut her throat right there. But Kimberly decided to show mercy. In Kim’s mind, murder started all of this when her uncle murdered Carol’s older sister, sending Carol spiraling into a quest for revenge. Would murder really solve the problem? Would ending Carol’s life really finish things? Murder is normal for Kim. Mercy, on the other hand, this is a new thing for The Woman Scorned. She isn’t used to showing mercy. And it scares her to death.

“Kim!” Williams and Sean both look up. It is almost like seeing yourself in the mirror, for Kim’s identical twin sister and Sean’s mother, Marie Jones, comes rushing over. Marie is dressed in a red blouse, black knee length skirt, and black patent leather high heel pumps.

“Mom!” Sean jumps up and runs over to greet his mom. The two embrace in a tight hug. Marie kisses him on his forehead.

“Are you ok, Sean? Did you get hurt?”

“No.” He points to Kim who has now risen up to her feet. “Aunt Kim saved me.”

“Oh Kim!” Marie exclaims as she turns to her twin sister. The sisters embrace in a tight hug and both begin to cry. “Thank you so much! Thank you for saving him! You have no idea how much this means to me!”

“Don’t mention it.” Kim says with a smirk on her face. “Seriously, don’t mention it. I don’t want anyone to realize I actually have the feelings of a normal, sane individual. It would totally ruin my reputation as a psychopath.”

“But after what I’ve done to you…” Marie’s voice trails off. Kim sighs.

“Marie, I love your son. He is my nephew, after all. He is my family. Just like you are my family. Regardless of any past differences we have had, I would still do anything to help my family.”

“Thank you.” Kimberly sits back down. Marie sits down next to her and Sean leaps over in between them. “So what happened?”

“I had just taken him out to an arcade.” Kim smiles sheepishly. “And Wasley may have broken a Whack-A-Mole machine.”

“Wasley…your boyfriend or the penguin?”

“Yes.” Kim says, nodding her head. Marie sighs and rolls her eyes.

“Look, just fast forward to when you two were assaulted.”

“The juicy details then! Well, we were waiting for taxi when a rope was wrapped around my neck. That nutjob Carol was trying to choke me out. Then she went after Sean. But I tackled her to the ground. Carol gained the upper hand and proceeded to kick the ever living crap outta me.” She motions to the bruises and blood stains on her face. “See?”

“Yeah…” Marie cringes “...damn, that was rough.”

“I know, right? I coulda washed up, I suppose, but you know what they say on those True Crime shows, you never want to tamper with a crime scene.” She motions to her face. “I think my face qualifies as a crime scene!”

“This doesn’t make sense.” Marie says, shaking her head.

“What doesn’t make sense? She punched my face until it looked like ground beef. I think that qualifies as a crime.”

“No, what doesn’t make sense is you.” Marie points a finger at Kim. “You are a highly skilled fighter. Hell, you are better than either me or Jessica.”

“Really?” Kim smirks. “You both have won world titles in other companies. I haven’t won any world title anywhere.”

“That’s because you haven’t had a fair one on one shot. You had a shot at the SCW World Title but a bunch of other people were involved. One on one you can beat Selena Frost. I know it. That’s why I was pressuring you so much, Kim. I know you are good enough to be World Champion. And at Taking Hold of the Flame…”

“Taking Hold of the Wasley.” Kim says, correcting her twin sister. Marie rolls her eyes.

“Whatever. Point is, I believe in you. I believe you can win the whole thing, you can win that rumble and punch your ticket to Rise To Greatness and beat Selena for the world title.”

“That’s what I intend to do.”

“Exactly. So if you can do all that, why does some untrained nutcase get the better of you?”

“Uh, I dunno.” Kim shrugs her shoulders. “She got lucky?”

“No way. Not THAT lucky. You were showing her mercy, weren’t you?”

“Hush!” Kim says while holding a finger over her lips. “What did I say about ruining my reputation?”

“There’s nothing wrong with that, Kim. In fact, I’m proud of you for showing restraint.”

“You are?”

“Yes.” Marie nods her head. “Going through the legal system is the best way to handle this. You were right all along, this woman has been stalking us and harassing us since Breakdown in Nashville months ago. But now the police have her in custody and it is over. We can move on with our lives.”

“I wish I could believe you.”

“What do you mean? The police have her, Kim. They have her dead to rights. She’s going to prison.”

“But for how long? Sure, she already has a record so maybe she will spend some extra time in prison due to that bit alone. But she just assaulted me, that’s all she did.”

“And she burned down my house…and she broke into Jessica’s house and wrecked the place.”

“But can they connect all of those incidents?” Kim asks. “Can they prove that the person who attacked us in Nashville, the person who burned down your house, the person who broke into Jessica’s house, and the person who attacked me today are all the same person? Even IF they can prove that, which is a difficult task, then at most she may get ten years, maybe fifteen? Twenty if we’re lucky. But then we have to worry about the possibility of parole. If she behaves herself and is a good little girl then she may get out early. And she’ll pick up right where she started.”

“You worry too much, Kim.” Marie remarks. “Maybe she could get out early if she is a model prisoner. But you saw how crazy she is; do you really think she could fake it for that long in order to get an early release?”

“I do…” Kim’s voice trails off. She laughs softly. She looks down at Sean. “Hey kiddo, why don’t you go get Aunt Kim another cup of the black stuff?”

“Coffee?”

“You got it.”

“Sure!” Sean gets up and walks off. Kim then turns her attention back to Marie once she is certain Sean is out of sight.

“Just because someone is crazy doesn’t mean they aren’t cunning. People say I’m crazy. But for a long time I had the world convinced that I was dead. Meanwhile you were locked away in my basement, as my prisoner, whilst I replaced you in your life. Do you remember that?” Kim asks. Marie quietly nods her head. It was a painful memory, and it was the event that got Kimberly locked up for a time in a mental hospital when Marie was ultimately rescued. “If I can pull off that kind of act, then I think crazy Carol can easily pretend to be a sane human being for a few years, long enough to earn an early release.”

Kim and Marie stare at one another for a few tense moments. Sean then returns, walking back towards them with a cup of coffee in hand. Before he can hand it off to Kim a door opens and an older man in a black suit, a detective, steps out and turns to face them.

“Ms. Williams?” He asks for Kim. She nods her head. “Would you mind stepping into my office please?”

“Sure thing, Columbo!” Kim gives a playful salute as she stands up. She looks at Sean still holding the cup of coffee. “Give that to your mom, I think she may need it more than me.” Kim turns and walks away from the pair and towards the detective. Kim follows the detective into his office. He shuts the door behind him.

“Have a seat, Ms. Williams.” He motions to a chair. Kim sits down in the comfy black chair. The detective goes to his desk and sits down. “My name is…”

“Columbo!”

“Not Columbo.” He chuckles softly. “Though I did love the show.”

“Oh darn! I was hoping for Columbo. Does Andy Griffith work here at least?”

“Sorry, wrong state.” He chuckles. “My name is Detective Smith. I read over the statement you gave to the police that were on the scene…”

“I hope I was graphic enough! I even left my face the exact same way Carol had left it! Don’t wanna mess up any evidence!”

“I appreciate that…I think…” the older detective sighs “...but yes, I did read your statement, and it matches up completely with the confession Ms. Johnson had made earlier. I was actually surprised that she confessed so quickly and so easily. But what surprised me most is how proud she sounded. She seemed proud of what she had done to you….and your sisters.”

“Wait…” now it is Kim’s turn to look surprised. “...she told you everything?”

“Ms. Williams, our department has been following your case for quite some time. Ever since the arson investigation into your sister’s house being burned down, actually. We learned that you two were attacked earlier by someone in Nashville. We had suspected from that moment that perhaps you were the victims of the same person and not two different people. Then when we investigated your other sister’s home getting broke into and vandalized, we again kept your case in the back of our mind. My department did not think it was a coincidence. Ms. Johnson confirmed our theory by confessing to all of them.”

“So you already cracked the case?” Kim grins from ear to ear. “You’re better than Columbo and Andy Griffith put together! But uh, if you already have this figured out, why do you need me?”

“What I do not understand yet is the motivation.” He looks straight into Kim’s eyes. “In fact, she told me to ask you about her motivation.”

The grin that Kimberly Williams had been sporting immediately goes away. This was not a topic she had wanted to discuss. She had hoped to move on from her tumultuous past. But Carol’s one last ditch gambit is to force Kimberly to admit to her own family’s crimes and horrid past. Kim knows that she is a good liar. She was trained well in the art of lying and knows she could easily lie to this detective’s face and he would believe her. But Kim decides once again to go against her nature. She decides to open up and tell the truth.

“Look detective, I’m gonna be totally honest with you.” She studies him closely. “You look like you’ve been here awhile. Are you near retirement age?”

“Pretty close. As you can tell by my silver hair, I have indeed been around the block quite a few times.”

“Then maybe you would remember my last name.”

“Williams?” He shrugs his shoulders. “I can’t say that I do. Then again, Williams is a rather common last name.”

“What about Douglas Williams?” Kim asks. This name immediately causes the detective to sit up straight in his chair.

“Douglas Williams? My God, I helped investigate those killings. “Are you his…”

“...his niece, detective.” Kim says, finishing his thoughts for him. “I’m his niece. My dad was Sean Williams.”

“Damn.” He shakes his head. “You know, I was convinced your father was involved but I couldn’t prove it. And when your uncle confessed to everything, well the district attorney’s office refused to let us go any further at that point.” He sighs. “I apologize, I shouldn’t be letting my emotions get to me like that. It’s unprofessional.”

“It’s ok. I mean, I get it. I know my uncle was a monster and quite honestly, I believe you, I think my dad was involved. But what I do know is that my dad felt guilty about his involvement. He worked hard to turn his life around and try to make up for his crimes in some way.”

“He should’ve turned himself in.”

“Yeah, well, we’re not perfect. But he did try.”

“Carol Johnson…now I know!” He snaps his fingers. “Her sister was one of the victims! That’s why she was stalking you?”

“That’s right. When my sister got wind of the fact that my uncle may not have been involved in the whole series of murders, she decided to fund a legal defense on his behalf, to get our uncle’s sentence reduced. I warned her that she would be stirring up a hornet’s nest but she didn’t care. Sure enough, someone noticed; namely, Carol. Carol just couldn’t accept that there was a chance her sister’s killer would get time taken off of his sentence. So she decided to exact revenge the only way she knew how.”

“It certainly makes sense.” Detective Smith sighs. “Unfortunately your testimony probably won’t be enough. I probably need to hear that motivation come from Ms. Johnson herself.”

“She’ll admit it.” Kim says. “Trust me.”

“How are you so sure?”

“Just trust me, she will admit it. She didn’t say anything to you because she wanted to force me to admit that my father and my uncle were monsters. And that I, by association, am also a monster.”

“Well I’m not a philosopher or a preacher, and I’m certainly not god.” he rises up out of his chair and approaches Kim. He places a hand on her shoulder. “But you risked your life to protect your nephew. In my eyes you are not a monster. You are a hero. Now I don’t know if your father really was trying to turn his life around, if he really was trying to redeem his family or not, but looking at you right now, I’d like to think that maybe YOU take a giant step in redeeming your family name.”

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June 4th, 2022
Cleveland, Ohio
On Camera
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The cameras begin to roll. It is dark outside. The moon shines brightly overhead, and other than the lamppost on the streets of Cleveland, Ohio that is the only source of light that we currently have at the moment. It isn’t long before “The Woman Scorned” Kimberly Williams enters the scene from the left. Kimberly is dressed in torn denim jeans, black boots, and a red t-shirt. Her long red hair hangs straight and unrestrained to past the shoulders. She has the SCW Underground Championship title belt wrapped around her waist.

“The question is why?” A sinister, demented laugh escapes her lips. “Why, Kim, why? Why don’t you care about the world championship? Some would have the audacity to say that if you are not in this business to be the world champion then you should leave. To them I say that you are full of shit. Those are the same arrogant, pompous assholes who think that they and they alone can determine what is right and wrong in professional wrestling. They are the ones who claim to be the singular moral compass of SCW. Those same pompous, arrogant jerks have been heroes, villains, good guys, bad guys, indifferent guys, and everything in between. Just look at our commissioner Shaun Cruiserweight. He has been just about every kind of person that you can be in this business. Or maybe Syren? She was willing to frame someone for attempted murder just to become world champion, she was willing to use her influence over the boss’s bitch daughter to get a leg up over the competition, but now suddenly we’re supposed to believe she is reformed and that she wants to earn the world title the right way? How many times has she done that song and dance where she would break every damn rule in the book only to suddenly turn into the hero again when it suited her? Even my cousin, Glory Braddock, who like Syren is in Taking Hold of the Flame, pompously believes that she is the only moral compass of professional wrestling. Yet she threw her hat in with those scoundrels the Beauty Factory. But now she’s suddenly the old Glory Braddock again? I don’t buy it. And I expect that little girl of hers, Amelia, is gonna adopt many of her same personality traits.”

“And people like them, they want to lay judgment upon people like me who because I don’t want to be world champion?” Kim shakes her head. “You’re all fake. There’s only one person here who is not fake, who has been consistent since day one and that is the reigning SCW World Champion Juneau Frost. Juneau, I will give you credit where credit is due. You have never wavered from who you are. Which is appropriate because you hold the one symbol of SCW’s prestige. You hold what these egomaniacs like Syren, Braddock, Allocco, and others in this battle royal claim to be the richest prize in SCW…the World Championship.”

“Unfortunately this is where we part ways.” Kim cackles again. “I see the truth behind the lie that is the World Championship. Shaun Cruiserweight makes rules regarding that title and he just chooses to break them whenever it suits him. And it isn’t just him. Every other idiot who has managed this place has done that…they make a rule and they break it. It’s supposed to be illegal to deliver a low blow or use a foreign object in order to win a match, it draws an automatic DQ, yet how many times were tactics like that utilized and then the rules were ignored? Hell, Syren became champion once by framing someone for a crime. If Mr. D actually gave a damn about the rules he would have marched his old ass to the very next Breakdown and stripped her of the damn title. But he let it roll. Shaun Cruiserweight allowed a match between Juneau and Holly Adams to take place where the title could change hands on a disqualification. And despite blatant outside interference from yours truly, no disqualification was called. The rule was cleared but was ignored.”

“The SCW World Championship is a tainted prize. It has lost its shine and its prestige due to years and years of criminal acts perpetrated just to get ahead. My eyes have been opened to the truth that the only way to live and to receive a fair opportunity in society is to live in a society without rules. And the only fair way to do business in wrestling is in a wrestling business without rules.” She pats the Underground Title belt around her waist. “The Underground Title is the very definition of wrestling without rules. There are no rules in the Underground division, therefore you cannot break any rules. Therefore the Underground division is fair. And the Underground Title is more prestigious than the World Championship held by Juneau.”

“So why am I in wrestling when I do not want to be world champion? That’s why! Now comes the next question, why am I in Taking Hold of the Flame when the prize awarded to the winner is a shot at the SCW World Championship, a title that I do not want? Simple; I am going to send a message to Shaun Cruiserweight, to Juneau, to all of those pompous asses who think that they can make the rules, and hell, I’ll end up sending a shockwave of a message throughout all of professional wrestling.”

“See, you have people like Owen, Alexis, and Oktoberfest, you have people like Glory Braddock and Syren, you have people like Crystal, Diamond, and even that cheap Rocky III Thunderlips rip off in this battle royal, all vying to earn a shot at the World Championship because they are all under the delusion that the SCW World Title still means something. I am going to tear their dreams away from them by winning that battle royal. All of these people who claim to want to become World Champion…and the person who actually wins it all will be someone who doesn’t give a rat’s ass about the world title!” She throws her head back and laughs. “Now THAT is funny, don’t ya think?”

“That, my friends, is the ultimate punch line to the ultimate joke that is the SCW World Title. Because when I win Taking Hold of the Flame, someone who doesn’t care about being world champion will then be in the main event of Rise To Greatness fighting for the title. And I will be fighting either Juneau Frost, the last remaining symbol of hope for the SCW World TItle, or Gigi The Spiritual Advisor.” Kim drops to her knees. “I am begging you, Juneau, please win! Please retain! Because it will be much sweeter to prove my point by fighting you at Rise To Greatness than it would to have to fight GiGi.” Kim stands back up.

“Winning Taking Hold of the Flame would put me in the main event of Rise To Greatness. That’s the only prize I want. Because when I go to the main event…” she unclasps the Underground Title belt and raises it high over her head “...THIS will be defended alongside the World Title. Shaun Cruiserweight will have no choice. The main event of Rise To Greatness will be an Underground Title Match thus proving my point to the entire world that the Underground Title is superior.”

“I have worked so long for this moment. Hell, while I was still running around with my sister Marie at the beginning of the year, I was even then contemplating what it would be like to not just win the Underground Title but to elevate it. I salivated at the mere thought of silencing the boirgiouse elites of SCW and symbolically back-handing everything those assholes hold near and dear to the hearts. This has been my goal for a very long time now. Do you honestly believe that I am going to let thirty nine delusional losers gets in my way? Do you honestly think any of you can stop me? I’m begging you to try because no one has stopped me yet. I have taken more abuse in my short time here in SCW than many of you kids would ever take in your entire damn life! Because I am willing to sacrifice my blood, my health, and my life for what I do…to prove myself as the real Queen of the Death Match! There isn’t anything any of you thirty nine other clowns can think of to do to me that would make me quit.” The camera zooms in on Kim’s face which looks more and more twisted and psychotic.

“A revolution is coming, comrades. And you are looking into the face of that revolution. It all begins at Taking Hold of the Flame…and I swear to God that this revolution will not end until my message has been sent, until I have won Taking Hold of the Flame! And I swear to God that I will paint Cleveland red in the blood of anyone who tries to stop this revolution!”

Kimberly turns and walks away. The camera fades to black.