Straight Talk

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Making Peace

Off Camera

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Julia Braddock has been shouting at the top of her lungs to anyone who will listen that her quest for redemption is over.  She is proudly declaring victory and proclaiming that she is no longer the pompous, arrogant Queen Julia of old, but she has regained her former self, she has once again staked claim to her Braddock heritage.  Julia has won championships before in her wrestling career, but reclaiming the trust of her Uncle Glenn Braddock and reclaiming her Braddock name and heritage is, quite possibly, among her greatest achievements.  She is quite proud of this accomplishment.

Unfortunately, Julia Braddock does not truly feel that she has achieved this goal.

This would be a shock for the rest of the world, for the entire wrestling world has followed Julia on her journey, a journey that included convincing Glenn Braddock and Henry Van Stanton that she had indeed changed and that she wanted to redeem herself.  It was a journey that included Julia battling the likes of Mason Van Stanton, Lukas Montgomery, and Silas Mason, all of whom wanted to try and lure her back to her old evil ways.  And after Awakening, when she defeated the combination of Lukas Montgomery and Mason Van Stanton, and then the following Riot when she added to her momentum with a victory over Emily Cage, Julia Braddock appeared to have shaken off the demons of her past and was ready to move on with her life.

Oh but appearances can be deceiving and they have been very deceiving when it comes to the Braddock family.  It was deceiving in an ironic way, because while everyone was focusing on Julia Braddock, Glenn Braddock, the Van Stanton Brothers, Lukas Montgomery, and so many other factors that came into play in this multi-faceted journey, one big piece of the puzzle was ignored…

…Glory Braddock.

The irony lies not in the fact that Glory Braddock is, arguably, the most famous of the Braddock Wrestling Family, but more so due to the fact that this whole “Queen Julia Noel” situation was started as a direct result of jealousy that Julia Braddock felt towards her famous cousin.

Had it not been for that jealousy, had it not been for Julia and her jealousy, she never would have gone down that path that led her to the allegiance with Aphrodite Noel, that led her to becoming Queen Julia Noel, and eventually led to Glory Braddock being brainwashed into thinking she was Gloria Noel.

Julia does have other issues to deal with, namely her professional wrestling career that is blossoming.  Julia Braddock defeated Lukas Montgomery at Awakening, she defeated Emily Cage on Riot, and now she is scheduled to compete in the tournament to crown a new number one contender to the IWC World Championship.

Tournaments are challenging enough, add to that the fact that Julia Braddock will be tested like she has never before been tested as she goes up against Orlando Cruze in the first round.  Julia certainly has a great deal of momentum in her corner right now, with two big wins under her belt, but no doubt she is the underdog against Orlando Cruze, a self-proclaimed Icon of IWC, and she will have to be at the top of her game in order to defeat him.

That being said, one would expect Julia Braddock to be focused almost entirely on Orlando Cruze and, to be fair, her trainer and uncle Glenn Braddock does believe that training is key right now…

…and he has no problem letting her know it…

“This is a mistake.”

Glenn’s voice is low but firm as he says this to his niece.  They are standing outside of her cousin’s apartment in London, England.  The blonde is wearing a floral print sleeveless sundress with a gently pleated Empire waist that allows the dress to flow freely around her.  The hemline stops just above the knee.  Her feet are encased in high heeled sandals.  Her long blonde hair hangs freely to shoulder length.  The grizzled veteran standing next to her is her uncle, Glenn Braddock, and he wears blue jeans, a white button up shirt, and plain white tennis shoes.

Julia Braddock agrees with her uncle, to an extent.  She knows that being here in London, England as opposed to Japan is a mistake.  The travel back and forth will no doubt drain her and she knows this.  Being here instead of being in Japan is just handing Orlando Cruze yet another advantage he does not need.  But Julia Braddock feels that there is a far greater goal to achieve here, one that is far and away greater than potentially winning a world championship, and that goal is to finally, for once and for all, put to rest the issues between her and her cousin Glory.

“You’re probably right, Uncle Glenn.”

“Probably right?  I know I’m right!” He snarls. “You should be in Japan right now preparing for war with Orlando Cruze!”

“I know Orlando Cruze is tough…”

“He’s more than tough.” Glenn answers back. “He will easily be the toughest competitor you have had to face in IWC and I don’t say that just for shits and giggles, because you know how much I disdain that piece of garbage.”

Julia giggles lightly. “I never would have guessed that you don’t like him!”

“Point is that he is good and you need to be prepared.”

“I know he’s good,” Julia responds, turning her attention away from Glenn and back towards the apartment “but I also know that I need to settle things with Glory.”

“That’s my daughter in there.” Glenn says softly. “I can settle things for you myself, I can talk to her while you prepare for Cruze.”

Julia shakes her head. “No, Glenn.  I was the one who did this to her, I started this with my jealousy.  I need to finish this.”

The grizzled veteran stares at his niece, who stares right back at him.  Finally Glenn just sighs. “I’m not going to talk you out of this, am I?”

“No, uncle Glenn, you’re not.” She says with a smile and a wink.

“Fine then.” He says, relenting. “It’s just…”

“What?”

“I worry about her.”

“Understandable.” Julia responds. “She is your daughter.  But she’s my cousin and I hurt her.  Now I’m going to try and fix things.”

With that Julia Braddock turns away from her uncle Glenn and begins to walk towards the front door of her apartment.  Once she gets there she wastes no time in knocking on the door.  The beautiful blonde stands and waits.  And waits.  And waits…until finally the door opens.  Julia sees Kurt Logan, Glory’s husband, standing there.  He wears a plain white t-shirt, blue jeans, and black boots.

“Oh, hi Julia,” Kurt sounds as if he was not expecting her “umm, what can I do for you?”

“You seem flustered.” She remarks. “Surprised to see me?”

Kurt grins. “Yeah…kinda…”

“Well, you aren’t the only one.” She remarks with a slight giggle, thinking back to her uncle’s criticism. “Is Glory available?”

“Yeah, she is,” Kurt answers “in fact, she just got back from therapy.”

Therapy.  That word causes Julia to wince in pain.  Glory Braddock has to go to psychiatric therapy in an attempt to undo the mental damage done to her, mental damage done in large part by Julia Braddock herself.  This is a painful reminder of why she is here, why she has to be here, to try and make things right between her and Glory.

“May I, ummm…” her voice trails off as she fights back tears “…may I see her?”

Kurt nods his head. “Yeah, sure…”

Kurt turns and motions for Julia to follow him inside the apartment.  Julia follows Kurt deeper into the apartment, deeper and deeper, until they get to the living room.  They step through the door and Julia finds Glory seated in the plush black leather sofa, smiling warmly.  The British Bombshell is wearing a pink sleeveless dress with a scoop neckline and a hem that stops just above the knee.  Her feet are encased in matching pink high heeled pumps.

Seeing Glory like this is enough to bring more tears to Julia’s eyes.  Before Julia can say anything,  Glory sees her, and greets her first.

“Oh, hi Julia!” She says, greeting her cousin with a polite wave.

“Ummm…hi...” Julia says uncomfortably.

“I will leave you two alone.”

Kurt responds as she takes his leave from the living room.  Once Kurt is gone, Julia manages to find the strength and courage to approach Glory on the sofa.  Glory is still smiling, not noticing the tears yet.  She motions for Julia to sit.

“Sit down!”

Julia nods and sits down.  Glory stares deep into her cousin’s eyes, still smiling, but that smile slowly fades as she finally begins to notice the tears.

“Julia, you’re…you’re crying…” Glory sounds confused “…what’s wrong?”

“You!” Julia exclaims, her tears rolling down her cheek like waterfalls as she can no longer hold back.

“What do you mean?  What did I do?”

“It’s nothing you did,” Julia assures her “It’s just seeing you like this…the pink, the dress…”

Julia shakes her head “…you hate pink, Glory, and you hate dresses.  At least, the Glory I knew hated pink and hated dresses.  This is not the Glory Braddock I know, this is Gloria Marie Noel.”

Glory frowns, shaking her head. “You’re wrong.  My name is Glory Braddock.  I’ve reclaimed my identity.”

“Maybe, but you don’t look like her.  And besides, I did this to you, I created Gloria Marie Noel.”

She bows her head in shame. “That’s why I came here, Glory.  That’s why I wanted to talk to you.  I was jealous of you and your popularity and success.  Wrestling came so easy for you that I guess it was just expected that it would come easy for me as well but it didn’t, and when it didn’t, when the pressure came, I took my frustrations out on you, I got angry with you and decided to make you pay for a crime you didn’t commit.”

Julia looks back up into her cousin’s eyes.  “I decided that as Braddock cousins you would always be the most successful, and the only way I would ever beat you was to sell out to Aphrodite Noel, to transform us both into Noel sisters so that I would be the most successful and most loved.  But I was wrong for what I did and I ask that you please forgive me.”

There is a tense pause as the two cousins stare at one another.  Julia is hoping that Glory will respond positively, that she will forgive her.  More tense moments pass until finally Glory speaks up…

“Yes, you and Aphrodite Noel did a number on my psyche with your mental attacks and brainwashing.  But I have been going to therapy, Julia.  And great progress has been made.”

“That’s…that’s good…”

Glory nods her head. “That is good.  And the therapy has helped me to realize and to accept who I am, that I am a Braddock.  But I want you to do me a favor, Julia.”

“Anything.”

“Ask me one question…ask me who my mother is.”

Julia blinks curiously. “What…?”

“You heard me, cousin.” Glory answers back. “Ask me about my mother.”

“Who…who is your mother?”

“Aphrodite Noel.”

Julia is shocked at first to hear this, but that shock quickly changes into a feeling of grief and sadness, even guilt as she realizes that she is the cause of this.

“Glory, please, I…”

“No, just shut up and listen!” Glory exclaims. “Your brainwashing worked so well that while a part of my mind, the logical part, tells me that my mother is a woman named Mary Ford, but that is a very small part of my mind.  The majority of my mind tells me that this woman never bothered to get to know me, she never tried to raise me.  My father, Glenn Braddock, raised me.   Now your brainwashing was so successful that I was convinced Aphrodite Noel was my mother.  But the therapy I have been attending has me in doubt, but that doubt is very small, because quite frankly Aphrodite Noel is the only mother I have ever truly known.  I love Aphrodite Noel and turning on her, betraying her, pained me.  I did it only because I love my husband Kurt Logan more and she was attacking him.”

Glory sighs, shaking her head. “Even mothers can make mistakes, I guess.  But because she attacked my husband, I will be estranged from her…at least until she makes peace with him.”

“But she’s not your mother.” Julia answers. “I brainwashed you, you said it yourself.”

“That’s right, you did brainwash me, at least that’s what I’m getting from the therapy.  I have doubt now, all thanks to the therapy.  I need therapy…” she points a finger at Julia “…thanks to you.  And you want to talk about seeing me like this?”

She stands up so that she can tower over Julia. “The old Glory Braddock is gone.  Too much damage has been done.  And if seeing me like this hurts you so much then I hope it serves a permanent reminder of what you did to me!”

Julia lowers her head, her crying renews. “I…I am so sorry, Glory…I really am.  Honestly, if I could fix things I would but…but…”

Julia sighs as she stands up “…but I can’t.  So I’ll just go.  I’m sorry for bothering you, Glory.”

Julia starts to walk away but Glory reaches over with her hand and places it upon her shoulder.  Glory spins her around and then wraps her up in a tight hug.

“Don’t…I’m the one who should be apologizing…”

“Apologizing for what?”

“Apologizing for blowing up at you.” Glory answers. “You were brave for coming here to try and smooth things over with me.  That shows guts and sincerity.”

“I just wanted to make things right.” Julia answers. “I just wanted to fix things.”

“And this is a good start.” Glory smiles warmly. “And another good step in the right direction is for me to forgive you…so Julia…”

Tears are now flowing down the cheeks of both women as Glory continues “…I forgive you.”

“I don’t deserve forgiveness.”

“What you deserve is irrelevant.” Glory answers. “You and I both should get a second chance, I think, and that’s what I’m suggesting.  We start over from here.  A clean slate.”

“Clean slate?” Julia says with a hint of a smile beginning to f orm.

“Yeah, a clean slate.  Does that sound fair?”

“Definitely fair.”  Julia answers as she wipes tears from her eyes. “Thanks, Glory…”

“Thank you, Julia, for making things right.  Now do me one more favor.”

“What’s that?”

“Beat Orlando Cruze, go on and win the tournament in IWC, and become world champion.”

Julia laughs. “You mean you follow my career?”

“Of course I do!” Glory exclaims. “Why wouldn’t I?  We’re family.  We are Braddocks.  I have done so much for the sport but now, now it’s your turn.  You are the major player in the Braddock family.  You are the one to carry the torch.  Go back to Japan and prove to the world that you are a world champion in the making.”

Julia smiles “…will do!”

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Straight Talk

On Camera

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The camera begins to roll and the scene before us is that of an empty gymnasium.  The walls are an off-white and the floors are a gray cement.  There are weights scattered all over the floor, a blue wrestling mat on the far left hand side, a heavy bag on the far right hand side, and in the center screen is a standard wrestling ring.  The ring has black ropes and a black apron but the mat is a Carolina sky blue.  It’s empty at this moment but that quickly changes as we see, from stage left, Glenn Braddock entering the scene.  He is wearing a gray hoodie, gray sweats, and white tennis shoes.  The grizzled veteran steps up onto the ring apron and then steps between the ropes, entering the ring.  He steps into the center of the ring and glares angrily at the camera.

“I heard a world title tournament is taking place and you had better fucking believe I have been busting my ass to get Julia ready, and you had better believe that Julia has been busting her own ass to get ready for this golden opportunity.  Getting a title shot is an honor and a privilege.  Title shots don’t come by every day and they are hard as hell to earn, so when I heard of this half-arsed little tournament IWC is putting on, I wanted to make damn sure Julia was ready.  And then I heard that my niece gets to face the so-called Icon in the first round.”

Glenn shrugs his shoulders. “I guess she should feel honored, right?  Privileged?  Shit, I don’t know about her but I can tell you that the only feelings I have right now are complete and utter bloody disgust at my blood having to face a bald-headed egomaniac like that.”

His eyebrows narrow in a hateful glare.  Those eyebrows, you could take bottletops off with them!  The veteran points a finger at the camera, directly at Orlando Cruze if he is watching.

“If you want to throw around nicknames like The Icon then allow me to inform you of who the fuck I am.  I am Glenn Braddock and when I was wrestling they called me Britain’s Best.  In my career I lost only one damn time.  And if you want to talk about being a man, then I could tell you about how little chrome-domed boys like you have it easy, how you are pampered with your lap of luxury, your money, and how you don’t know what it’s like to struggle.  You’re competing in a tournament to decide a new number one contender?  Bloody hell, Cruze, I competed in tournaments galore, but the difference is I fought anywhere from six to nine times in one night whereas you are fighting just once every other damn week.”

Glenn shakes his head.  “I could say all that but I refuse to do like you and put the spotlight on myself like some egomaniacal piece of garbage.  I am going to let my niece, Julia Braddock, take the stage.  I am going to let her to tell it to you exactly how it is.  And boy, let me tell you, you are not going to like what she has to say, and you are not going to like it when she pins your bloody ass to the mat to defeat you, humiliate you, and advance in the tournament.”

The elder Braddock turns and heads towards the ropes.  Once again he steps through the ropes, onto the ring apron.  Glenn steps down and then makes his exit stage right.  Then, from stage left, we see the lovely Julia Braddock approaching the ring.  She steps up onto the ring apron and then steps between the ropes and into the ring.  She heads to the center of the ring and turns to face the camera.  We see that she is wearing blue jeans, high heeled silver sandals, and a black t-shirt which reads “Pipe Bomb Queen” on the front in purple lettering.  Her long blonde hair hangs unrestrained to shoulder length.

“Thanks, Uncle Glenn!” She winks at the camera. “That was just an absolute wonderful introduction!”

Julia uses her hands to model the shirt she is wearing. “You see this shirt, Lando?  This shirt was a gift to my cousin Glory Braddock…you remember her, right?  The woman who you forced Brittany Lohan to team up with back in Motor City Underground, not because you thought they’d make a great team, which admittedly they did, but only because you thought it’d be funny as hell to see them implode?  But yeah, that Glory Braddock, this was her shirt and it was a gift to her from one of her best friends, Jackson Adams.  One thing Glory was infamous for during her pro-wrestling tenure was her venomous pipe bombs and Jax thought it was appropriate to gift her this shirt to remind the world who the pipe bomb queen really was.  So I thought that it was appropriate to wear this shirt, because right here and right now, a new queen is about to be born.”

She smirks knowingly. “Pipe Bomb…”

“Now Orlando, you are supposed to be the good guy, you are supposed to be the one the fans look up to and cheer, you are the hero who fought valiantly against the evil Cindy Todd and who will no doubt continue the fight against other evils in IWC.  You are supposed to be the good guy, the hero, that f word that I am not supposed to use!”

She chuckles lightly, shaking her head in disappointment. “I’m not so sure, Lando.  I mean, does a good guy, does a hero, say that they are the only single solitary male wrestler for any of the Triad to get excited about?  Does a good guy, does hero, does that naughty f word bury every single male athlete in all three Triad federations?  What about Andre Jordan?  He has been dominant in the Evolution title picture and had a good run with the tag titles.  Are you saying he’s a nobody?  A nothing?  And you know, you may not guys like Chris and Scott Cannon, or Luckas Knight.  You may not like them and hell, I would agree with you that Monarchy tactics are not right.  But what you cannot do and should not do is deny their ability inside of the ring.  You can hate William Mason all you want for whatever reason you want, and you may be right, but to deny that he is a future world champion is wrong.”

“I think Ethan Von Aaron is among the most perverted piece of crap pigs that I have ever been unfortunate enough to meet.  But he’s a former champion, Lando.  You cannot deny that the man is good in the ring.  You cannot bury all of these athletes, whether they are morally good or morally bad is beside the point.  You cannot bury them and burying them is not the action of a hero, it is not the action of the good guy, and it damn sure is not the action of an Icon…”

Her face grows much more serious “…those are the actions of an egomaniac and quite frankly, Lando, if you’re going to act like that and talk like that, then maybe you should join your wife Taylor in Monarchy, because the way you and so many others fault them for talking and acting is the same way you talk and act.”

“You ARE a great athlete, Orlando, and I am indeed honored to get to face you at Riot in this world title tournament.  But the difference between you and me is that I refuse to bury you.” She shakes her head. “That’s the old Julia.  Queen Julia would have buried you, and I would have plenty of ammunition to do it too.  I mean, you love to bring up how you built IWC, but let’s not forget that you also were responsible for building that resounding success that was Motor City Underground…”

Julia sighs “…yeah, I could bury you on that history, but I am not going to do that, because you are a great athlete, you are a former world champion, and I look forward to matching wits against you.  I was trained by the best wrestlers I know, my Uncle Glenn and my cousin Glory, and I am excited about testing myself against one of the best to ever come out of IWC, because I know that if I can defeat you, then I can defeat anyone that comes my way in this tournament.  I know that if I can make it past the famed Icon, then I can make it all the way through to the finals where I will win it all and go on to compete for the IWC World Heavyweight Championship.”

“You see, Orlando, this is the part where it is MY turn to be just slightly arrogant, but not overly so.  The fact is that I just completed a redemption journey.  I fought my way back from the darkness and into the light once again.  I’m sorry if that sounds cheesy but that’s just how it is.  Now I am embarking on a new journey and that journey is to continue the Braddock heritage of winning and being champions.  My journey started with a victory over Emily Cage,  it continues with this tournament and continues with you…”

She points a finger at the camera “…you, Orlando, you and me have a date with destiny and that date is Riot.  Only one of us will advance in this tournament.  Either you will advance and continue in your ridiculous quest to prove you’re the only real man in the Triad, or I will advance and continue the proud Braddock heritage and become a world champion.”

Julia winks at the camera. “Good luck, Orlando…you’ll need it…”