Epilogue

==========

A Heavy Conscience

Off Camera

==========

There should be jubilation and excitement in the dressing room of Julia Alexis Braddock right now.  For IWC Riot is about to close yet another spectacular show and tonight was the night that Julia finally proved to the world, and more importantly to Mason Van  Stanton, that she was indeed a Braddock and that there was nothing anyone could d o to make her return to her old ways.  Julia Braddock was here to stay and that, among other things, should be a cause for celebration.

And yet instead of joy and happiness, we find an air of discontent as Julia Braddock sits in a blue steel folding chair in her dressing room, still wearing her wrestling gear, staring blankly at a cell phone in her right hand.

Julia Braddock has been through a roller coaster of pure hell that has lasted well over two years.  All because of drugs.  No one in the Braddock family knew of the heavy burden that Julia was carrying upon her back.  No one knew how difficult it was for her to BE a Braddock and live up to the high standards set by her uncle Glenn and her cousin Glory.   No one had any idea that, to settle her nerves, she resorted to drugs.

But Aphrodite Noel found out and blackmailed her.  Julia, due to her drug use, had now found herself in subjugation to the Noel family.  But what started off as subjugation would change.  Some may say it was the drugs, Julia herself admits it was out of pure jealousy, but those feelings of inadequacy began to creep up again.  She felt as if she would never be as good a Braddock as Glenn and Glory were.  So instead she did the most logical thing (logical to her at least)…

…she embraced her new Noel family.  She gladly and proudly paraded around as Julia Alexis Noel, daughter of Aphrodite Noel.  The arrogant Aphrodite, whose desire it was to prove that she was better than the entire Braddock family, took pride in the fact that she had converted one of the famous Braddock family members.  And once again, whether it was the drugs or whether it was the jealousy, Julia saw this as an opportunity to set herself up as the best wrestler in her family without even having  to wrestle, and  at the same time, in her then twisted mind, repay her “mother” for her kindness…

…she assisted Aphrodite in capturing and brainwashing Glory.  Aphrodite had won.  The Braddock family was all but dead for Julia and Glory Braddock had become Noel children.  Unfortunately, things did not turn out as well as you might think for Julia.  In Aphrodite’s mind, Glory Braddock was the crown jewel, a multi-time world champion and a hall of famer and an owner of a wrestling organization.  Aphrodite made it clear that Glory was her favorite “daughter” and not Julia.

It was that punch to the gut, that harsh reality check that helped Julia come to her senses and realize that she had made a horrible mistake; a mistake she had to fix.

But there is no mistake that is unable to be fixed and no bridges that cannot be repaired.  At least that’s what Julia had always believed.  It was a long process, almost as long as the conversion itself.  First Julia had to leave Aphrodite and deal with her former “mother’s” backlash of doing so.  Once that was taken care of Julia had to get repair the damage done to Glory’s mind, she had to undo the brainwashing and get her cousin back.  That’s where Dr. Henry Van Stanton came into play.  With his help, Glory was forced into a mental hospital where she is currently receiving treatment.

Then came the hard part; proving to the world that she had indeed changed and that the villainous, jealous Julia Noel was gone for good.  Despite everything she would try to do, there seemed to be someone or something standing in the way, someone or something trying to stop her.  As it turned out, a great deal of those problems came from her former manager and Henry’s brother Mason Van Stanton.

Mason did not like the fact that he lost his top client…hell, his only client.  He went to hell and back to try and reconvert her back to the Noel fold.  One Riot it appeared as if he had finally succeeded with the help of Lukas Montgomery but Julia turned the tables by attacking the pair with a steel chair.

Now all is right with the world.  Julia Braddock is back and there is no doubting it.  Julia will put a close to this chapter at Awakening by fighting Lukas Montgomery and, hopefully, with an impressive victory she can open up a new chapter, a chapter that involves championship gold.

Yes, tonight should be a night of celebration for Julia Braddock.  So why does her face look so downtrodden?  Why does she look sad?

“Good morning!”

Julia’s concentration…or lack thereof in this case…is broken as Henry Van Stanton bursts through the door.  A wide ear to ear grin is on his face as he waltzes in as if he is walking upon air.  Julia just stares at him with a confused look on her face.

“Good morning, Doctor?”

The man in the bowtie shrugs his shoulders. “Ok, fine, so maybe it’s not morning here, but it is morning somewhere!  The fact about time is that it is NOT a strict progression of cause to effect!  Actually, from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint, it is more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly, timey wimey stuff!”

Julia lets out a slight bit of laughter. “Thanks, Doctor…I needed that…”

“You don’t have to be formal with me, Julia.  I’d rather you call me Henry.”

The good doctor walks over to a wall where there are other blue steel folding chairs.  He takes one that has been folded up and has been leaning against the wall.  He unfolds it and sets it down next to Julia.  Henry sits down in the chair.

“What’s on your mind?”

“Nothing.”

Henry shakes his head. “Liar, liar, pants on fire!  Which your pants being on fire is NOT a good thing EVER!”

“Huh?”

“You just pulled off a magnificent piece of con-artistry against my brother.  You gave him and Lukas Montgomery a dose of their own medicine.  You have earned the trust of the wrestling world once again.  That is what you have been fighting for all this time, Julia.”

He motions to Julia. “And yet here you are, looking like someone just ran over your puppy.  So yeah, don’t lie to me and say nothing is wrong or nothing is on your mind when there is clearly something wrong.”

Julia looks at Henry.  Then she turns and stares down at the cell phone she is still holding in her right hand.  Then she looks back up at Henry and sighs.

“I just got off the phone with Glory’s doctor.”

“Really?” Henry’s interest is peaked. “What did he say?”

“Very little progress.” Julia says with a note of sadness in her voice. “She still thinks of herself as Gloria Noel.”

She buries her face in her hands and starts crying.

“It’s all my fault!  I helped brainwash her!  I helped create Gloria Noel!  And now she may never again remember who she really was…who she really is…and it is all my fault!”

“Now stop that right now!”

Henry’s voice is forceful and demanding.  Despite her sadness, Julia still manages to stop crying long enough to quiet down and listen to her friend who points an authoritative finger at her.

“You cannot continue to beat yourself up over this!”

“But it’s my fault, Henry!”

“Perhaps, but you did it and it’s in the past.  You have to move on.  And besides, you have done everything you can to help undo that damage.  You have done everything you can to help her, Julia.  That should be enough.”

Julia turns her gaze away from Henry’s face. “It should be enough…but it still doesn’t make me feel any better.  It still doesn’t help my guilty conscience.  And it is a heavy, HEAVY conscience, Henry…”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.” Henry says quietly. “That’s why you have to be strong, and fight through this. You cannot take any shortcuts or take the easy way out.  You cannot use some quick fix to make yourself feel better.”

Julia turns to face Henry and smiles.  “Don’t worry, Doctor, I am clean and I fully intend to remain clean.  Drugs will never again be used as a quick fix to my problems.”

==========

Henry Van Stanton

On Camera

==========

Lukas Montgomery, Mason Van Stanton, it would appear that even when you put two brains such as yours together, that you still get nothing more than pudding.

Pudding brain.

There were a great many people who didn’t believe in Julia Braddock but I wasn’t one of them.  I believed in Julia Braddock.  I always believed in Julia Braddock and I always will believe in Julia Braddock. The woman has a big heart, a heart of gold, but even those with the biggest of golden hearts can make a mistake.

Julia Braddock made a mistake.  She committed crimes and she paid for her crimes.  No one else has any right to judge her.  She is a new person and she is ready to begin a new journey.

But first she must lay to rest the demons of her past and that includes Lukas Montgomery and Mason Van Stanton.

I bet you think you have the advantage, don’t you brother?  You have made it where YOU are the only one at ringside, not me or Glenn.  You think you can assist Lukas?

You are truly a pudding brain.  You truly are, brother, because the fact is Julia Braddock does not need me or Glenn Braddock in order to defeat Lukas Montgomery.

She can do it on her own.

==========

Glenn Braddock

On Camera

==========

Lukas Montgomery, you think you’re a wise guy, you think you’re smart, and maybe at one time you were, but the fact is that you got your bloody head shoved so far up Mason Van Stanton’s ass that you brain cells started deteriorating and you started making stupid mistakes.

Your biggest mistake, you dumb Blacklist reject bastard, is fucking with the Braddock family.

You’re not the only one, Montgomery.  There are others who are equally as stupid, but stupid for different reasons.  The rest of you wankers watching this are stupid for not trusting Julia Braddock when she swore that she would redeem herself.

Julia Braddock made some mistakes, some big mistakes, but the fact is that she is a BRADDOCK and when she makes a promise, then you can be damn sure that you can take it to the bank.  Whether she pretends to be a Noel or she’s going by the Braddock name, she is, at the end of the day, a Braddock and she will do what she says she will do, so when she said she would redeem herself and prove herself to the wrestling world, then by God you had damn sure better believe her.

But Mason Van Stanton didn’t believe her.  He thought he could sway her back to the Noel side.  And you, Lukas, you dumb fuck, bought into Mason’s crap.  That’s your problem.  And you are going to pay for your ignorance and stupidity at Awakening when Julia Braddock does that other thing the Braddock family is famous for…

…kicking ass.

==========

Julia Braddock

On Camera

==========

The scene before our camera is a regal, majestic one featuring royal purple draperies on the wall, a regal red carpet that leads up a series of three small steps to a golden throne with red cushions, whose red matches the red of the carpets.  Behind the throne is a changing barrier/wall, one that women step behind and you see their silhouette.  Just then a male figure steps into view from stage right.  It is Henry Van Stanton, wearing a light brown tweed jacket, black pants, and black shoes. He is sporting his signature red bowtie and he has a trumpet in his hand.  After stepping up the steps and taking his place next to the throne, he puts the trumpet up to his lips and begins to play.  After playing a few quick notes he brings the trumpet away from his lips, smirking.

“I play the trumpet now…trumpets are cool…”

He brings the trumpet back up to his lips and plays again before, once again brings it away from his face.

“”Please welcome her royal majesty…QUEEN JULIA!”

Seriously?  Those of you ‘watching’ from home may be a little surprised.  You may be wondering exactly what is going on here.  Confusion must grow even further as Julia Braddock herself emerges onto the set wearing a tight, strapless, form fitting, glittery silver dress with a hemline that stops just above the knee and matching silver heeled sandals.  A scepter is in her right hand.  She ascends the steps and sits upon the throne.

“Is this how my loyal subjects wanted to see me?  Did you want to see me as a stuck up, pompous bitch who orders people around as if she is the ruler of the world?”

She turns to face Henry. “Is that what they think, Doctor?”

He nods his head. “That is indeed what they think, your majesty.”

Julia turns back to face the camera. “Is that so?”

She gets up from the throne.  Julia turns and walks away from the throne and steps behind the changing barrier/wall.  We can see the tip-top of Julia’s head and the silhouette of her body but that’s it.

“I can understand Mason Van Stanton thinking such a foolish notion.  He’s an idiot.  But you, Lukas Montgomery, I thought better of you.  I thought you were smarter than that.”

We see her removing her high heels.  One foot, then the other, and then she tosses them over the top o the barrier.

“You have disappointed me, Lukas.  In more ways than one.  You used to be part of the great and threatening Blacklist, correct?  Now Aaron Harrison wants to kill himself and you are a minion.  You just don’t have suspenders and you’re not yellow and you’re not as cute.”

The beautiful woman is seen (well her silhouette is) removing the dress next.  The silver dress is tossed over the barrier next.

“You’re not even the top minion.  Mason Van Stanton is Silas Mason’s minion and you were doing Mason Van Stanton’s bidding.  You were licking the boots of a shit-eater.  What happened to you Lukas?  You were great!”

Based on her silhouette’s movement it would appear that Julia is now putting on some more clothes.  What?  We will have to wait and see.

“And you have it within you to be great but instead you are willing and content to be a minion.  And that is sad…really sad…”

The beautiful Julia Braddock steps back from behind the changing barrier.  She is now wearing a pair of sandals, denim jeans, and a purple tanktop.   Her long blonde hair is pulled into a ponytail in the back.

“That’s fine for you, Lukas.  If you are content with being the patsy, so be it.  But I refuse to be the patsy, I refuse to be the minion!  I am going to be me!  I am going to be Julia Braddock because that is who I am and that is who I was born to be!”

Braddock waltzes back over and tosses the scepter to Henry who catches the scepter.  She sits back down on the throne and smirks back at the camera.

“No one in IWC believed me when I said I had changed, and it didn’t help matters that people like you and Mason Van Stanton were trying to poison my mind and my reputation, but everyone underestimated me, especially you, Lukas.  You just had no idea what a Braddock was capable of.  You thought you could easily sway me, you thought I could be turned.”

She shakes her head. “But that is not going to happen!  I can stand here…”

She looks down at the throne, and herself sitting in it “…or SIT here, as it were…and proudly declare that my quest at redemption is over!  I am a Braddock, and I just have one thing to say to you…”

She smile sheepishly and shrugs her shoulders “…sorry about that steel chair attack on Riot!  But come on, Lukas, you really should’ve seen that coming!  The Braddock family is not just known for being great wrestlers but very smart, very cunning and, just like my cousin Glory has illustrated on many occasions, we are great pranksters!”

“Although Awakening will not be a joke or a prank.  It will be deadly serious because yes, I have finished my quest for redemption.  In my mind I have made up for my past sins.  Awakening begins a new chapter, a new era.  I have a new quest…the quest to become a champion here in IWC!”

She points a long slender finger at the camera. “That quest begins with you, Lukas.  You’re going down.”