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Do Your Job
Scene 1
Off Camera
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“This isn’t how I wanted it!”
Julia
Braddock won her match on RIOT. You
would think that would make her happy.
You would think the fact that she won and, perhaps, put her career in
IWC back on track would be a cause for celebration. So why isn’t she celebrating? Why is she complaining? Why is Julia Alexis Braddock, Glenn
Braddock’s newest protégé , upset over the fact that she actually won a match
in the Independent Wrestling Cartel?
It’s almost as if she would have preferred to lose…
…and in a
funny way, she probably would have preferred to lose. Julia, you see, is not focused entirely on
winning and losing. Now make no mistake,
winning is certainly better than losing for any athlete and Julia is no different
on that front. Julia wants to succeed
and wants to do her family proud. She
wants to one day be a world champion.
But being a world champion has to take a backseat for something far
important in Julia’s mind…
…redeeming
herself.
Julia
Braddock knows all too well the specter of the Noel Family that currently
haunts her. Julia knows of her past and
she knows that she cannot escape it that easily. She is the one responsible for assisting in
brainwashing Glory Braddock, turning her into Gloria Marie Noel, Aphrodite
Noel’s daughter. Julia went on to pave a
path of destruction in the IWC women’ s division, including vicious attacks on
Selena Frost and reigning Queen of the Ring Champion Marina Valdivia.
Now many in
the sport of professional wrestling find it difficult to believe that people
can change. That is understandable,
considering the amount of politics and backstabbing that goes on in this
sport. But Julia Braddock has truly
changed. She has truly turned over a new
leaf and she wishes people would give her a second chance. That’s the thing, she has to earn that second
chance. She has to prove to the world
that she has changed and that the power hungry, manipulative bitch known as
Julia Noel is gone forever. She has to
prove that Julia Braddock is back and that she is here to redeem the Braddock
Family name.
She fought
to a standstill with Selena Frost but came up just short. She tried to show she had changed by offering
a handshake and a congratulations but Selena refused to accept the handshake,
showing that she still didn’t trust Julia.
The next RIOT Julia was set to face Cassidy Haze and she had hoped maybe
one more match, win or lose, would prove to the world that she had
changed. Unfortunately Silas Mason had
other plans as he threw Lukas Montgomery in as Julia’s tag team partner and
made it a handicap match.
Braddock
tried her best to keep it within the rules and to fight fairly; Julia even
tried to save Cassidy when Lukas looked to blast a prone Cassidy with the steel
chair, but the referee mistook it for a cover and counted the pin.
This
definitely looks bad on Julia and could very well set back her redemption
process. And if that weren’t bad enough,
Julia now has to team up with Lukas Montgomery yet again and this time to face
Cassidy Haze and Katelyn Buehler.
Furthermore,
this is NOT the match you want if your goal is to prove that you are a changed
person.
It’s
backstage after RIOT has come to a close.
Most everyone has left or, at the very least, have packed and are about
to leave. Julia Braddock and her crew
are the only exception. Her trainer and
uncle Glenn Braddock and her agent Henry Van Stanton have been unable to
convince her to leave. She’s still
upset, as illustrated by how she paces back and forth across the floor of her
dressing room, pulling at her long blonde locks of golden hair. The contortions on her face shows just how
frustrated and angry she is right now.
“Please, Julia, calm down.”
Henry begins
slowly, hoping that his gentle tone will sooth Julia’s anger and angst. The charismatic wrestling agent and promoter
is wearing a purple tweed jacket, matching vest and pants, and a white button
up shirt underneath the vest. He is
wearing a dark crimson bow tie because, well, bow ties are cool. Sitting on the bench next to Henry is none
other than the old warhorse himself, Glenn Braddock. While Henry tries to appear and sound
soothing and comforting towards Julia, Glenn makes no bones about his
feelings. He looks just as frustrated as
Julia does. A scowl is etched across his
hardened, battled weary features. He is
wearing black pants and a black polo shirt.
“This is getting you nowhere.” Henry
states definitively.
“This wasn’t supposed to happen!”
Julia stops
pacing and turns to face Henry and Glenn, both of whom stare back at her, Henry
with a note of concern on his face, and Glenn, by contrast, with a look of
frustration on his face, a look as if he is about to kill someone at any moment
and, considering his mood, that may very well happen.
“Yes and pacing the floor won’t help
matters.” Henry looks down at where Julia has been walking. “You’ll create a trench and trench’s are NOT
cool.”
“All I want to do is prove that I have
changed but people keep getting in the way!” She narrows her brow in an
sudden look of hate. “You know who I
blame?”
“I’m afraid to ask…” Henry’s voice
trails off.
“Your brother!” Julia points a finger at
Henry, almost as if to accuse him. “It’s
all his fault, you know? He keeps
sticking his nose into MY business! He
thinks I’m still his client! He refuses
to accept that I have changed!”
The female
Braddock cracks her knuckles. “So maybe
before I start proving to the world that I have changed, I need to beat the
living hell out of him!”
“Uh, that may not be the best idea,” Henry
states uneasily while his voice again trails off.
“And why not?” Julia insists. “Are you trying to protect your brother?”
Van Stanton
shakes his head. “It isn’t like that,
Julia, and you know it.”
“Then explain it to me!” Julia reaches
out and grabs him by his oh so cool bow tie and jerks him to his feet. “Listen to me, Doctor, your brother has been
a pain in my ass for a long time! He was
a pain in the ass when he was my manager!
He is even worse now that he’s following me around like some lost
puppy! He’s literally ruining everything
for me! Why shouldn’t I just rip his
damn vocal chords out?”
“…you sound your uncle.”
Glenn
snickers. “Is that a bad thing?”
Julia
Braddock relinquishes her grip upon Henry’s stylish bow tie. Immediately the good Doctor sets to fixing it
right. It is a cool bow tie and needs to
be done right. Julia backs away slowly
and sighs deeply.
“Mason is the problem and you know it.”
Julia finally says.
“I agree, my brother IS the problem, but
violence is NOT the way we deal with him.
Not yet.”
“Why not?!” Julia exclaims once more. “Why can’t you go all Oncoming Storm on his
ass! I know you can!”
Henry walks
of and places his hands on her shoulders. “I
know I can, but that’s not how we’re going to handle him. We’re going to try and avoid that, because we
are better than him.”
“Fine, I’m better than him, great, but what
am I to do in the meantime?” Julia asks, clearly getting more and more
agitated as this goes on.
“What do you mean?”
“I am supposed to work with Lukas
Montgomery.” Julia states stoically. “We
are supposed to be a tag team against Cassidy Haze and Katelyn Buehler. I personally could care less about Montgomery. But Haze and Buehler? Those are the types of people whose trust I’m
trying to win back.”
Julia sighs,
shaking her head. “If I win, I’m the bad
guy…if I lose, it hurts my career…what’s the damn point anymore?”
Ah yes,
well, that was a mistake for Julia to even utter those words. This response from the younger Braddock
prompts the elder grizzled veteran known as Glenn Braddock to shoot up off of
the bench. He quickly approaches Julia
and slaps her hard across the face. He
just stares at her, stone-faced but angry while Julia rubs the stinging out of
her cheek.
“What…what was that for?”
“That was to knock some fucking sense back
into you.” He growls angrily.
“But…”
“No,” he shakes his head “you listen to me. First of all, NO ONE said this journey to
redemption would be easy for you. Look
at what you did as a member of the Noel Family.
It will take a lot to make up for that.”
Julia,
knowing this to be true, bows her head in shame. “I know…”
“Another thing you should know is that
making your start in this industry is never easy, because that’s what this is
for you, really.” The grizzled veteran’s stony features slowly begin to
soften. “This is a new beginning for
you. You are starting fresh. You wouldn’t question how you were booked if
you were a rookie, would you?”
Julia shakes
her head. “No, but this is
different. I know why Silas Mason booked
this match.”
“This is no different from anything
else. You go out there and you do your
job. You wrestle and you compete. Don’t do it for that piece of shit Silas
Mason. Do it for yourself, do it for the
fans. It’s that simple.”
“I guess…” Julia sighs “…I guess you’re right.”
This
touching moment as Glenn and Henry are attempting to make their student feel
better about her situation is abruptly brought to an end as the door to the
dressing swings wildly and violently open.
Mason Van Stanton storms into the room (who else) and makes his way past
Glenn and Henry to Julia.
“MY QUEEN!”
Mason gets
down on his knees and begins kissing her feet. “I knew you would come to your senses, Your Majesty!”
Julia tries
to get her foot away but Mason has a pretty firm grip on it. She looks pleadingly at Glenn and Henry.
“Help?”
Henry rolls
his eyes as he approaches his younger brother Mason. Henry kneels down and pulls the younger Van
Stanton off of Julia’s foot.
“Let me go!” Mason whines. “I must worship my queen!”
“She is not your queen.” Henry says
correcting him. “Not anymore.”
Mason
scrambles back to his feet. “But you saw
what she did out there!”
He grins
knowingly, turning to face Julia and winking at her. “That was brilliant!”
Once again
he kneels down and begins kissing her feet but this time she shakes herself
free and backs away from him.
“Get away, Mason!”
“What’s wrong, my queen?” He asks
innocently. “I was just worshipping you!”
“I am NOT that person anymore!” Julia
insists even as Mason continues to come closer and closer towards her. “I am NOT Julia Noel. I am Julia Braddock!”
“Braddock, Noel, whatever name you want to
go by, you are still my queen.”
Julia
squeezes her eyes shut tightly. She
balls up her fists. Henry attempts to
step in between but Glenn grabs his arm, stopping him from advancing.
“So what do you say, my queen? Shall we be off?”
Mason offers
his hand out to Julia. The younger
Braddock responds with a swift kick below the belt followed by a knee to the
face. Mason still isn’t felled (to his
credit). But then Mason turns around and
stumbles right into a right hand from Julia that knocks him down.
“So much for no violence…” Henry says as
he slaps his forehead in disappointment.
Glenn
approaches Julia, stepping over Mason Van Stanton in the process.
“Don’t listen to him.” Glenn says
slowly, quietly.
Mason slowly
pulls himself up. “My queen…”
In one swift
motion, and without even bothering to turn and look, Glenn flings his fist up,
smacking Mason in the face, knocking him back down again. This time a disappointed Henry Van Stanton
helps his younger brother to his feet and helps him out of the dressing room,
leaving Julia alone with her uncle.
“This is just so difficult.” Julia
whines.
“I know, but no one said it would be easy
for you. You are heading in the right
direction. It may not seem that way
right now but trust me, this is exactly what needs to happen. Just continue doing your job. Who cares what everyone else thinks. You know you’ve changed. I know you’ve changed. Henry knows you’ve changed. In time, everyone will know you have changed.”
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Do Your Job
Scene 2
On Camera
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The man
standing here before us is wearing a light brown, almost cream colored, tweed
jacket, a red bow tie, red suspenders, and a white button up shirt. He is wearing black pants and black
shoes. A confident, almost smug look is
etched across his face as he stares into the camera, waiting to begin.
“Hello, I’m The Doctor! Dr. Henry Van Stanton to be precise…”
But we
already knew that, right?
“…you have all observed the recent journey
Julia Braddock has been on lately. She
has been trying to change her reputation.
She has been trying to prove to the world that she is a new person and
that the vile, despicable person she once was no longer exists. Some of you believe her and are giving her
the second chance that she so rightfully deserves. On that same note, I’m sure many of you are
still doubting my good friend Julia Braddock’s motives.”
He nods his
head. “I can understand the doubt. The
sins of Julia’s past are well documented.
But her sins of the past are just that…the past…now I know a thing or
two about time and what I can tell you about time is that we cannot dwell on
the past, we have to move forward.”
“I’m not going to stand here and pretend to
be pleased that Silas Mason has decided it is best booking practices to put
Julia Braddock in a tag team match with someone as unbalanced as Lukas
Montgomery as her tag team partner.
Unfortunately there’s no changing it and, you know what they say,
sometimes you just have to play the hand that is dealt to you. I am also not going to pretend that my
brother, Mason Van Stanton, is through with Julia.”
Henry
narrows his brow in a hard gaze at the camera. “I hope you prove me wrong, brother.
I hope you are smart enough to stay out of Julia’s business, because
otherwise you will have to deal with me.
You will have to deal with The Oncoming Storm. Make no mistake about it, you will NOT be
allowed to interfere in Julia’s business on RIOT. I will take care of you while she takes care
of her own business.”
We switch to
another scene as Henry fades away. As we
fade back into view we see someone else standing there. That person is none other than Julia’s
trainer, the grizzled veteran with the most feared eyebrows on the planet,
Glenn Braddock. The fierce trainer is
wearing black dress pants, a black matching jacket, and a button up shirt.
“Do your job…”
He grunts “…those were the words I told Julia Braddock
when she found out that she would be tag teaming with Lukas Montgomery to face
Cassidy Haze and Katelyn Buehler. Just
do your damn job.”
Glenn shakes
his head. “No, it isn’t the most ideal of
situations, but she has a job to do and that job is to wrestle. She’s not doing anyone’s dirty work. She was booked into a tag team match where
she is expected to perform, not for that ignorant piece of garbage Silas Mason,
but for the fans, and for herself. What
a wrestler, or any athlete for that matter, is here for is to win. Athletes are paid to compete and win.”
“Julia Braddock has changed and if you don’t
believe it or if you just can’t accept it?
Fuck you. No one gives two shits
what you think anyway. This is Julia’s
career and she is free to do with it as she wants, she is no longer tied to any
tyrant or dictator or pretend queen. So
sit back, relax, and listen to Julia BRADDOCK!”
Once again
the scene fades out. We fade back in and
we see a lovely female dressed in a tight black skirt, black high heeled pumps,
and a long sleeved red sweater. Her long
blonde hair hangs unrestrained to shoulder length. This is, of course, none other than Julia
Braddock herself.
“I could stand here and continue with the
whole begging and pleading routine, trying to get the world to believe that I
have changed. But what would be the
point? Some of you will just never
believe. I could do the woe is me
routine and talk about how tough this is for me, but once again, what would the
point be?”
Julia shakes
her head. “There is no point to it. None whatsoever. It’s like my uncle Glenn says, there is only
one important thing that I need to do…”
“…I need to do my job.”
“No, I don’t particularly care for the fact
that I’m having to tag team with a certifiable maniac like Lukas
Montgomery. I don’t particularly like
the fact that I may be in as much if not more danger from my own tag team
partner as my opponents, Cassidy and Katelyn, are from my tag team
partner. Most of all, I don’t like the
fact that certain people think that they can control me.”
She points a
long slender finger at the camera. “Mason
Van Stanton…Silas Mason…I’m looking at you two clowns.”
“You think you can control me but no one can
control me. I do what I want now. I am free.
I am liberated. If you think I’m
still your puppet then you have another thing coming, because there are no strings
attached to me anymore. I will not do
your dirty work for you. This match on
RIOT isn’t about you. I am a wrestler
and this match on RIOT is about what me, a WRESTLER, does best…and that’s
wrestle…”
“Cassidy, you were right about us. We were once controlled by other people but
we both fought back, we both freed ourselves from that control and we are
stronger for it. I did my best last
RIOT, I did what I could, I tried to stop that steel chair attack from Lukas…”
She chuckles
“…unfortunately I also ended up pinning
you. It wasn’t my intention, I swear. Now we find ourselves on opposite ends of a
match again, this time a tag team match.
At least you won’t be facing me and Lukas alone. At least you have Katelyn Buehler, a hell of
a tag team partner, I must admit. At
least things will be fair this time. And
this time the best wrestlers will win because I will continue to do whatever I
can to ensure that justice prevails.”
“Katelyn, I almost wonder why you were put
into this position. I mean, shouldn’t be
preparing for Serenity? This is your big
chance not only at revenge but at the world championship. You failed at Invictus but you’re getting a
second chance and not everyone gets a second chance. So yeah, I’m surprised to even see you here. But regardless, you’re here and that makes
you my opponent, and that makes you part of the job I need to do.”
“I am a wrestler and a wrestler’s job is to
compete for the fans, for their entertainment, and to try and win. All four of us will be competing on RIOT for
the entertainment of the fans and we will no doubt put on a hell of a show for
them, I have no doubt that we will steal the show, and I also have no doubt
that I will do everything I can…”
She shakes
her head “…scratch that. Let me correct myself. I won’t do ‘everything I can’ in order to
win. I will not utilize New Eden
tactics, I will not utilize Silas World tactics. Queen Julia Noel is dead and I won’t utilize
her tactics either.”
She pats
herself on the chest. “I am going to
utilize my tactics, the tactics of a wrestler, the tactics taught to me by
Glenn Braddock! If I win, it will be
because I was the better wrestler. End
of story. If I lose?”
Julia holds
out her hand. “I will shake your hands
and congratulate you. I will raise your
hand in victory. This new Julia Braddock
is about respect. And I know respect is
not deserved. Respect is earned. Henry said I deserved something…”
She shakes
her head “…I deserve nothing. But I will continue to fight like hell to
earn the respect and trust of my peers and the great wrestling fans of the
Independent Wrestling Cartel.”
