Gray Areas

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Scene 1

Off Camera

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We open backstage at the Cartel:NxtGen show.  The show has come to an end, the staff is beginning to pack things away and the wrestlers are getting ready to leave for their respective hotel rooms or homes where they are staying.  Two individuals, though, have yet to make any preparations to leave.  At least not yet.  They are waiting patiently for the arrival of their sister.

The two women in question are none other than Blaire McBride and IWC Principle Owner Karen McBride.  They are both sitting on a plush leather sofa, sitting in wait on the arrival of their sister, Melanie McBride, who had just finished competing against Yasmeen Dumont…and winning…

Karen has had a mixed bag of results lately when it comes to her professional career.  In Global Championship Wrestling her and her future husband Eric Chambers became number one contenders to the tag team championship.  That’s definitely a good thing.  But then in the Independent Wrestling Cartel things have not been looking so well.  Karen has been manipulated and conned by Silas Mason, betrayed by Kloe Masters, she’s watched as her partnership with William Mason fell apart, and has most recently been harassed by Serenity & Friends.

Lately they’ve been rambling on and on over social media about a transformation, specifically transforming Cassidy Haze.  Now that they have apparently completely THAT transformation, they are targeting Karen, and they have offered to “transform” her.

Into what?  Karen doesn’t know.  Karen isn’t even sure she wants to know.  But what she does know is that she is at an impasse.  She is at a crossroads where decisions have to be made and something has to be done.  She has a 25% stake in IWC that is virtually worthless with the Desmond Drake-Kloe Masters alliance holding 75% of the company, her alliance with William Mason is gone, and now she has no one.  She completely and utterly alone.

Maybe she should take Serenity & Friends up on their offer?

“Penny for your thoughts?”

“hmmm?” Karen turns and looks at her older sister Blaire.  Karen puts on a pleasant smile and shakes her head. “Uh, no thanks.”

Blaire isn’t so easily dissuaded. “You just look like you’re a little upset about something, that’s all.”

Karen shrugs her shoulders. “Upset isn’t exactly the word for it, Blaire.”

“Then what is a good word for it?” She places a hand on her shoulder. “You can talk to me, Karen.”

Karen frowns before removing the hand from her shoulder. “Really?  Kind of like how I can TRUST you to help me with my IWC affairs?”

Karen is clearly referring to how Blaire had made some very poor decisions in acting on Karen’s behalf in IWC, making matches, matches that hurt Karen’s friends, hurt Karen’s reputation and standing among the roster.  It made her look incompetent and weak and, at the end of the day, inadvertently helped Kloe Masters to gain control of Orlando Cruze’s 50% of IWC.

“Look, I’m sorry…” Blaire remarks slowly with her voice trailing off “…I just felt…I felt…”

“It felt good to have that power didn’t it?” Karen asks and Blaire responds with a nod of her head. “Well being owner of a wrestling company like this isn’t about just having power.  It isn’t about being able to play with people’s lives.  It’s about so much more than that.”

“Yes, I realize that now.” Blaire hangs her head in shame. “I screwed up, I know it.  I am the reason Kloe Masters was able to betray IWC.”

“Right.”

“And if you want me to leave and not help you anymore in IWC…I will…”

Karen pauses momentarily, seeing the sincerity in her eyes and hearing the tone of her voice.  Karen shakes her head before embracing  Blaire with a hug.

“No, I want you to stay.”

“Seriously?”

They break the embrace. “Yes, just don’t try and book any match again without first coming to me.   Are we clear?”

“Absolutely.”

Karen sighs. “But then again, it may all be a moot point if Taylor can’t defeat Ba’al at the End of the Year Special.”

“Huh?” Blaire asks out of confusion. “What do you mean?”

“Kloe’s 50% of IWC is on the line in that match as well.  If Taylor wins, not only does she become world champion but Orlando gets his 50% back.  If Ba’al wins…”

“Ah,” Blaire nods her head “I see your point.”

“I absolutely must find a way around  Sinistry’s 75% ownership of IWC.” Karen remarks definitively. “I do think Taylor will win, but in an emergency situation I must come up with a course of action for the event Ba’al wins.  I cannot sit back and allow them to just run things how they like.”

“It’ll be difficult.” Blaire answers back. “They have more shares than you, of course, but with a sizeable chunk like 25% I’m sure you can do something.”

Blaire smiles. “Tell you what, you let me look into that while you focus on the End of the Year Special.  You have Cassidy Haze, right?”

Karen nods her head.  True enough, she DOES indeed have to face Cassidy Haze one on one at the End of the Year Special.  It would be nice to have these legal matters regarding her 25% of IWC taken care of while she is busy focusing on that match.

“Yeah, go ahead.” Karen nods her head. “Go for it, Blaire.  See what you can dig up, see what legal options I have.”

“Will do , Karen.”

At that time the door to the dressing room swings open widely.

“I won! I won!  Blaire, I won!”

The bubbly, very excited Melanie McBride comes hopping and skipping into the room.  She planned on making a beeline for Blaire and giving her a great big hug but she stops dead in her tracks when she spots an unexpected visitor.

“Kare-Bear…”

Karen grins. “Hi, Mel.”

“Kare-Bear!”

Melanie changes direction and instead of making a beeline towards Blaire, she makes a beeline towards Karen.  The elder McBride is still on the sofa and cannot react before her younger sibling is on top of her, tackling her on the sofa and hugging her tight.

“I am sooooooo super surprised you came and soooooooo glad you came!”

“Ack!” Karen chokes. “I can’t breath, Mel…”

“Oh…” she blushes as she pushes herself off of Karen “…sorry!”

Karen shakes her head. “It’s ok…”

Melanie composes herself and then smiles big and wide again. “Did you see, Kare-Bear?  Did you?  I won!  I won my first ever wrestling match!”

“Congratulations, Mel.  Let’s hope that it will be the first of many for you.”

Blaire sits down next to Karen on the sofa.  “I am really glad you came to support me, Kare-Bear.  We’ve been through a lot, you and me, and it means a lot for you to be here for my first wrestling match.”

“Yes, well,” Karen sighs deeply “at least one of us should continue the wrestling tradition of this family that I began.”

Melanie blinks a few times curiously. “What’s wrong, Kare-Bear?”

“It’s complicated, Melanie.” Blaire interjects. “She’s a little upset right now, that’s all.”

Karen shakes her head. “I already told you that I’m not upset.  I’m just confused…”

Karen stands up and walks away from her two sisters.  The brunette begins pacing the floor.  Melanie grows concerned.

“What’s wrong?”

Karen turns to face Melanie and Blaire.  She shrugs her shoulders.

“I am at a crossroads.  There are multiple paths I could take right now.  For starters I could just take my 25% of stock in IWC, sell it back, and leave.  Just walk away and leave them to their own devices.”

Blaire sighs. “I can understand why you may want to do that, Karen.  It isn’t as if you’ve had a lot of support from within IWC…with the exception of William Mason.”

“But he turned on Kare-Bear.” Melanie responds sadly.

“Right, but you know what?” Karen turns around and a newfound intensity forms across her face. “I could keep on fighting.  With or without William, with or without any allies, I could go on and continue fighting the good fight for the good of IWC.”

“Seems  overly optimistic to me.” Blaire remarks.

“Well you’re just a negative nanny.” Melanie retorts after sticking her tongue out at Blaire.

“And then there’s a third option…” Karen remarks while holding up three fingers.

“Third option?” Blaire asks while arching an eyebrow. “Do tell?”

“Yes…what’s this third option, Kare-Bear?”

“Simply put I could take Serenity up on her offer.”

“Huh?” Melanie looks confused. “What offer?”

“Don’t do it, Karen.” Blaire shakes her head. “It’s a trap.”

“What offer?” Melanie asks, still confused and seeking answers. “What’s the offer?”

Blaire turns to Melanie. “Serenity offered to take Karen in and…um…transform her…whatever that means.”

“She can’t!” Melanie exclaims as she hops up and runs over to Karen. “You can’t seriously be considering that!”

“Why not?” Karen shrugs her shoulders. “I tried being good,  I tried playing by the rules, I tried helping IWC, but I received no support and no gratitude.  I am being offered support and gratitude by Serenity.  Why not take her up on this offer?”

“Because you’re better than that.” Melanie points out.

“Am I?” Karen sighs. “I’m not so sure anymore.”

She walks over to the sofa and sits down. “I am not so innocent, Mel.  I was a prostitute…”

“Yes, and why were you a prostitute?  You did it for your family.  Every dime you made as a prostitute went towards medical bills and food for your family.  And then after you were adopted by us McBrides, after you came into wealth and you no longer had to be a prostitute, what did you do?  You used that wealth to fund organizations that help young girls who turn to that street walker lifestyle the help they need.”

Tears form in Melanie’s eyes. “The Karen McBride I know would not give up on IWC so easily.  The Karen McBride I know is a fighter and would fight to her dying breath to help the good people of IWC.”

Melanie embraces Karen in a tight hug. “Don’t tell me that Karen McBride is gone!”

Karen sighs and, after breaking the embrace, wipes a tear from her sister’s face. “Don’t worry about it, Mel.”

“Huh?”

“You’ve changed my mind.  I won’t even consider that option.”

“Yay!” Melanie again embraces Karen.

“Are you going to leave, though?” Blaire asks curiously. “Are you going to leave IWC?”

“No.” Karen shakes her head. “Melanie is right, I need to stay and do what I can to protect IWC.  That starts with making things right with the one man who trusted me and was willing to help me out.”

“William?”

Karen nods her head. “I’m going to make things right with William Mason, so help me God I will.  That’s the first thing on my agenda.  And then…Cassidy.  I’m going to rid myself of Cassidy Haze and her pals once and for all.”

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Karen McBride

On Camera

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Serenity, sweet sociopathic Serenity, you wanted me to accept the truth…also something about a transformation but that’s another point…you wanted me to accept the truth that chaos is inevitable and that there is no real order.  You want me to accept that there is no good or evil, black or white, that the IWC is just one great big gray area.

To an extent I actually agree with that.  I want you and Cassidy both to remember who you are dealing with, but especially Cassidy because she is my opponent at the End of the Year Special.  She needs to remember that she is dealing with someone who has a complete life experience and by “complete” I mean that I have seen it all.  I have gone from being dirt poor and barely surviving to living in the lap of luxury and let me tell you, there are monsters and con-men in both worlds.  The only good thing about the monsters on the streets is that at least they are honest about who they are whereas the monsters in the world of the one percent wear the finest clothing, put on the finest jewelry, all to appear nice and dolled up, all to conceal their hideous selves.

Both set of monsters will devour you if given the chance.  And in both worlds it is rare, very rare, that you find someone that is pure…one hundred percent pure good or one hundred percent pure evil…

He did a horrible thing, but would anyone doubt that Bernie Madoff truly loved his family?  And even our world champion, Ba’al, as much as he deserves to have his ass handed to him by Taylor at the End of the Year Special, I don’t doubt the love that he has for his wife.

And then there’s my own story.  You know it.  What I did back then was illegal, yes, but I did it not for myself but for my brothers and mother, all of whom had medical needs and had to have food to stay alive.  My birth mother is dead now but my brothers are alive now, quite possibly because I was willing to commit that crime.

So you don’t have to tell me about the gray areas, you don’t have to try and convince me about the lack of true good and true evil, I already know this.  My statement about fighting the good fight was merely a figure of speech.

Is Orlando Cruze a saint?  No.  He has his own fair share of skeletons in the closet.  But ultimately this “good fight” that I am involved in has always been about who can best run this company.  As a businesswoman I know these types of things quite well.  I know who can run a business and who can run a business into the ground.

Kloe Masters and Desmond Drake can and will run IWC into the ground.  IWC, SIN, or whatever the hell tweedle-dee and tweedle-dumb want to call it will be dead in less than a year if they are allowed to maintain full control of this company.  They’ll bankrupt it without even trying.

That’s why I fight this “good fight”…it isn’t because it is a “good” cause in and of itself because I know better.  It is simply what is best for business.  Between Desmond/Kloe and Orlando, Orlando is the better businessman and knows how to best proceed.  And if not him, then I’d rather have control for myself because at least I know I’ll run this company the right way.

This is about business, nothing more, and so I have to turn down your offer.  Transformation just isn’t for me.  I will continue to do things the way I see fit.  I will continue to wage this war until it is won, or until I am dead, because I do not give up.  I do not quit.

I am NOT going to quit on IWC.

That’s bad news for you, Cassidy, because I AM coming to the End of the Year Special and you can call yourself Cage or Haze, either one is fine by me because at the end of the day everyone will be calling you Karen McBride’s Bitch after I beat your psychotic ass from  pillar to post, up and down the aisle, through the crowd, and hell, even into the streets if I have to!

Things are going to change, Cassidy, and you are going to be made into an example of that change.  I’ve been playing nice up until now.  From now on I’m through being nice.  I had been harassed by End Effect…I had been harassed by you and your looney-tune crew…quite frankly I am fucking sick of it and I am going to show everyone just what happens when you piss off Karen McBride.

What happens is that you end up in the hospital, having emergency surgery to remove my foot from your ass!

McBride Incorporated Briefing

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Off Camera

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“How do you do it?”

Melanie McBride, the youngest of the McBride siblings, is seated on a plush black leather chair in the waiting room just outside of the conference room on the second floor of McBride Incorporated’s Corporate Headquarters in New York City.  The young brunette, dressed in a cream colored sundress with a hem that extends to just above the knee and an orange floral print design, is watching with awe at her older sister, Karen.

Albeit they are sisters only by adoption only, Karen and Melanie have been closer than any siblings have ever been.  Truthfully, they are the best of friends.  Once upon a time Melanie was bullied by the two older siblings, Stan Lee Jr. and Blaire McBride, and Karen was the only one willing to stand up to them on Melanie’s behalf.  Karen, having a history of being the outcast and oppressed, did not want to sit idly by while one was being abused.

The two were fast friends ever since and even now that Blaire has changed her ways and has made up with Karen and Melanie, it is still Karen and Melanie who are the closest.  They still watch each other’s backs. 

Melanie knows all about Karen’s rough upbringing.  She knows all about Karen’s teenage years of living on the streets having to fend for herself.  She knows how Karen has had to fight all of her life so it is no surprise at all to Melanie that her adopted sister can fight very well, but that doesn’t change or ease the pain of watching her take the abuse that she took at the hands of Ambrosia at Upping The Ante.

And yet, despite it all, Karen McBride came out victorious, just as Melanie knew she would.

It also enraged Melanie to no end when she saw Veronica Rodriguez, also known as Fury, blindside her sister with a lead pipe.  Rodriguez, a woman whose family speaks so much about respect, disrespects Karen with a lead pipe assault after she had just been through hell with Ambrosia, it was enough to piss off anyone, especially young Melanie who idolizes Karen.

Yet there is a time and place for everything.  Sometimes Karen has to tuck that side of herself, that part of her who can street fight with the best of them, away for a period of time so she can deal with the business aspect.  Sometimes she has to cease being Karen Leonard the fighter and become Karen McBride the corporate businesswoman.

Today she is here at McBride Incorporated’s Corporate Headquarters in New York City as Karen McBride the  cutthroat businesswoman, not as a street fighter, and Melanie has to admit that she is impressed with how quickly she can turn that switch and transition from fighter to businesswoman so easily.

“Do what, Mel?”

Karen asks this as she stands a few feet away from the door and a few feet away from Melanie.  The brunette principle owner of IWC is wearing a white silk blouse, black blazer, and a black pencil skirt.  Her feet are encased in black high heeled pumps.  Karen is the picture of a corporate super power ready to strike.

“I mean, look at you…” she waves with her hands at her sister “…here you are, ready to set foot into that room with some really nasty corporate big wigs and fat cats, ready to speak their language and do business with them like a pro, and yet just last week you and Ambrosia were beating the hell out of each other in a street fight!”

The elder McBride smirks knowingly.  Then, with a gentle, smug, stride she walks over to Melanie and sits down in a chair next to her and places a hand on top of hers.

“You know me pretty well by now, Mel.”

“Better than anyone, I think!” Melanie responds with a bright, cheerful smile before leaning in closely to whisper into her ear. “I read your diary!”

Karen half-smiles. “Is that so?”

“Yup…who is Troy, by the way?”

“…he isn’t important…”

“I doubt it!” Melanie says playfully.

“He is from my past, Mel, and speaking of my past, you know about my past on the streets…”

Melanie suddenly grows serious once more.  She doesn’t look hearing the stories about her sister on the streets.  She knows all too well about how Karen had to be a prostitute to make enough money to support her mother and two brothers after their father left and abandoned them.  The thought of poor Karen whoring herself off just to survive breaks Melanie’s heart.

“Yeah, I know…”

“And you know about the monsters I had to deal with on the streets, monsters that nearly took my life some nights…”

Melanie shakes her head. “I don’t want to talk about this, Kare-Bear.”

“I know you don’t, but all I’m trying to say is that I have dealt with monsters before, and what I have come to realize since your parents adopted me is that the monsters of the corporate world are no different and no less evil than the monsters of the streets.  They just use different tactics.”

Karen runs a hand through her sister’s long dark hair. “So don’t worry about me.  I’ll be fine.”

Karen stands up, so does Melanie, and the two share a heartwarming embrace…one that is cut rather short when the door to the conference room opens and their sister Blaire exits.

“Ah, how touching!”

Karen and Melanie turn to face Blaire who smiles at the both of them. “No hug for me?”

“Usually a hug from you is followed by a knife in the back.” Karen says with a wink.

“Ok, ok!” Blaire holds up her hands in a joking sign of defeat. “Guilty as charged, I deserve that!”

Melanie is the first to break the ice with a hug for Blaire.  Blaire then turns and embraces Karen as well.

“So, are they ready?”

Blaire nods her head. “Yes, and you’re lucky that IWC Upping The Ante did so well in terms of pay per view buy rates because I was able to use those sales to warm them up…”

She places a hand on Karen’s shoulder. “But now the ball is in your court.  You have to seal the deal and make sure they are pleased with how our IWC project is going.”

“Is Stan there?”

Stan Lee Jr. is their brother and the oldest of the siblings.  Used to Stan and Blaire were allies while Karen and Melanie were the best of friends.  Now Blaire has sided with Karen and Melanie and Stan is on his own.

“Yes he is, and he will do anything to convince the board not to let you proceed any further.”

“But he can’t do that.” Melanie butts in, interrupting Blaire and Karen. “He only has a 12 and 1/2 percent stake in McBride Incorporated.  You two together have a 37 and 1/2 stake in McBride Incorporated.”

Blaire nods her head. “Yes, Melanie, but there’s still the other 50%...”

“Mom and dad.” Karen responds.

“He can’t stop us today, but Stan could easily turn people against us.” Blaire embraces Karen one last time. “So knock them dead, Kare-Bear.”

Karen snickers. “Only Melanie is allowed to call me that...”

With that said Melanie wishes Karen good luck as she and Blaire watch Karen turn and walk into the conference room.  Karen shuts the door behind her.  Men and women, some older some younger, are seated are a long, oval shaped table that is in the center of the room and then heads immediately to the front of the table where she sits down.

“Greetings everyone!” She says cheerfully. “I hope you found my sister Blaire’s news rather promising.”

“Yes, we heard some good things from Blaire.”

The woman who answered her is a slightly heavyset, older woman who looks very debonair is none other than Diane Cooker McBride, the mother of Stan Lee Jr., Blaire, and Melanie McBride, the woman who adopted Karen.  A pleasant smile is on her face, which is in stark contrast to the sneer on the face of the younger man sitting to her left.  That man happens to be Stan Lee. Jr, the oldest of the McBride siblings.

“But your brother,” she motions to Stan “still has a few reservations.”

“I take it Blaire did not ease his mind?”

Diane shakes her head. “No, he has a few questions, as do a few other members of the board, but Stan will represent them all.”

“Wonderful.” Karen smirks rather smugly, looking forward to a confrontation with her older brother. “But if I may, could I please make my opening statement?”

“No!” Stan Lee Jr. shoots right up out of the chair. “We’ve already heard from Blaire!  It’s my turn!”

“Now hold on, Stan.” Diane grabs him by his arm and gently tugs. “This is Karen’s project primarily, I think we should hear her out.”

Stan knows that his mother, along with the patriarch of the family Stan Lee Sr., hold 50% of the company and making them angry would not be wise, so he sighs and sits back down.  Karen grins confidently, proud of her first of hopefully many victories today.

“Excellent, now some of this will be old news as Blaire I’m sure already told you a lot of this, but profits in McBride Incorporated have been up consistently ever since Reawakening Day and those profits can be directly credited to the pay per view buy rates, ticket sales, and merchandise sales of the Independent Wrestling Cartel.  And THAT is why I wanted to purchase a 25% share of IWC ownership.  I saw the potential in the product and I knew…”

“Bullshit!” Stan’s outburst shocks the other board members. “You just wanted a world title match!”

“Hush, Stan.” Diane remarks. “Let her finish.”

Karen grins smugly. “Thank you…now as I was saying, I knew that owning a 25% share of IWC would assist our company as well.  And thus far I have been right.  So I ask…”

Karen shrugs her shoulders. “What is the problem?”

Stan Lee shoots a desperate, pleading look at his mother Diane. “Can I talk now?”

She nods her head. “Yes, voice your reservations so that Karen may address them.”

He sneers. “With pleasure...”

He points a finger. “You are mishandling everything in IWC!”

“Mishandling?” Karen feigns innocence. “How?”

“Desmond Drake is getting your ass kicked, Kloe Masters is making you look like a fool, and this is NOT good for you or OUR company!”

Karen grins. “That’s nice of you to pretend to care about me, Stan; just like the used car salesman you are.”

“I do care…”

“No, you don’t, you only care about the bottom line.” She laughs slightly. “Actually, no, you only care about trying to make me look bad.”

“I am trying to be fair to you, Karen.  That’s what I’m trying to do.”

The principle owner shakes her head. “Sorry, but not convinced.  Now then, why don’t you get on with it?  I have a wrestling company to run and you have a goat to sacrifice to Satan.”

Stan Lee Jr. is now thoroughly frustrated with his sister’s tactics and insults.  But that’s how she’s always done business in McBride Incorporated.  This tactic always worked well against Stan because it took him off of his game.

“Let me spell it out for you, then…Upping The Ante, you against Ambrosia…”

“I won.  Kicked her ass too, might I add.”

“Yeah and afterwards Veronica Rodriguez, some dumb bitch named Fury, hit you with a pipe!”

Karen sighs, nodding her head. “This is true…”

“And now you two are facing each other in a hardcore match!”

“Right, and your point is?”

“My point is that IMAGE IS EVERYTHING!” Stan’s voice grows a little as he gets intense. “And you getting trashed week in and week out by Drake’s cronies makes US look bad as a company!”

“Are you done?”

Stan thinks about that question for just a moment before sitting down. “Yeah, I’m done.”

“Good, because I’m ready to address these concerns.” Karen stands up.

“First of all, IWC is my company, not yours, and secondly, I bought that 25% of IWC with my personal wealth, McBride Incorporated does not own IWC.  So how exactly are my problems with Desmond Drake and Kloe Masters a problem for McBride Incorporated?”

“Image is…” Stan starts to say again, repeating himself, but Karen interrupts

“NO!  Don’t say it because you already have.  You say image is everything but let’s examine this for just a moment.  Yes, I had to fight Ambrosia in a hardcore match at Upping The ante but I won.  Now I have to fight Veronica Rodriguez on RIOT and yes, I will win again.  But win or lose, what it comes down to is the almighty dollar…”

She smirks confidently. “…money is what makes the world go around, am I right?  Money is the bottom line for McBride Incorporated and so far my IWC Project has made you money, correct?”

“Yes, but…”

Karen shakes her head. “No buts, Stan, it’s simple business.  We are making you money and as long as that pattern remains McBride Incorporated should not have any issues.  Now then, are there any other concerns?”

The room remains quiet, even Stan Lee Jr. cannot say anything.  “Good…now then, I will take my leave, and Stan...”

He looks up at her as she gets out of her chair. “Huh?”

“Do me a favor, choke on a chicken wing this evening when you take whoever your whore of the day is out for a date.”

Karen makes her exit.

==========

Stan Lee McBride Jr.

On Camera

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How did I get roped into this?  Nevermind.

Veronica Rodriguez, my sister’s latest opponent.  Or maybe the better term is assassin because even I can clearly see that she’s being booked in a way by the IWC powers that be, namely Desmond Drake and I wouldn’t be surprised if that bitch Kloe Masters is involved either, to try and get her hurt or injured.

Come to think of it, I honestly wouldn’t mind if you roughed up Karen a little bit.  She’s not a REAL McBride anyway.  I don’t care what happens to her.  And you’ll get your licks in. You’ll bruise her and maybe even draw some blood.  It is a hardcore match, after all.

But you’re not going to win.  You just cannot win, Fury.  You can’t win because Karen McBride is just too God-damned stubborn to lose.  She is too damn stubborn to just give up and leave well enough alone and walk away from it all.

And as much as I hate to admit it, she’s a hell of a fighter.

This is one dangerous person you face, Veronica.  A stubborn little bitch who has no problem busting you in the mouth as she likes to say.  And what makes her even more dangerous is the fact that she is backed into a corner.  She has Desmond Drake and Sinistry targeting her, she’ll no doubt have End Effect going after her, and I’m sure that crazy broad Ambrosia will want some revenge after she got her ass kicked by Karen at Upping The Ante.

As a businessman I tend to call things like I see them.  Do I like Karen?  Not a bit.  Nothing would make me happier than to see her get busted in the mouth.  And I’m sure you’re more than capable of delivering that, toots, but the problem for you is that my sister will bust you in the mouth too, and then she’ll shove her foot so far up your ass that it’ll have to be surgically removed.

Good luck…no honestly, I mean it, good luck…you’re going to need it.

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Gregory Leonard

On Camera

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I’m admittedly still rather new to this whole wrestling thing…

…oh I’m sorry, an introduction is in order right?  My name is Gregory Leonard, one of Karen’s biological brothers.  Or, as I like to call myself, her blood brother.

I may not know a whole lot about wrestling, but I am learning, and one thing that has struck me is this group that recently popped up in IWC calling itself End Effect.

End Effect seems like something that, once upon a time before our mother was murdered, me and Sam and Karen could all have gotten into.  We were the outcasts of society and all we wanted was respect.  Now?

Karen has earned her respect from those on the streets because she uses the wealth she was adopted into for good causes and she doesn’t just sit on her wealth either.  She fights for a living.  She works to maintain herself.  She fights for what’s right and that has earned her a hell of a lot of respect among the outcasts.

I know because I am there to listen to them.

So yeah, I thought this End Effect was pretty cool stuff…until Veronica Rodriguez thought it was in her best interest to attack my sister with no cause whatsoever.

I’d ask you why you did it…I’d ask you why you blasted her with that pipe…my sister has her theories which I’m sure she’ll get to but honestly, I don’t care about why you did it.  All I know is that for every action there is a consequence.

Or as those fancy scientists like to put it, for every action, there is an equal but opposite reaction.

You took her out with that pipe at Upping The Ante, you had the last world then and I hope you felt good about it, I hope you enjoyed that, because now Karen  gets her revenge.  She gets her payback.  And you had better believe she is going to leave you lying flat on your damn back just like you left her lying at Upping The Ante.

Prepare yourself, little bitch.  Prepare to be busted in the mouth.

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Karen McBride

On Camera

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I can hear it now, all of the shock and awe on the lips of the IWC universe, none of them expected The Harlequin of Hardcore to be bested in a street fight by Karen McBride.  No one expected her to go down in defeat at the hands of the 25% principle owner of this company.  And yet that is exactly what happened.

What gives?  Is Ambrosia just not as good as she used to be?  Was she having an off day?  Or did I just get lucky?  Some might even say that Ambrosia got beat at her own game.

Wrong on all counts.  The fact is that hardcore rules, street fighting, that is MY game!  It is MY world!  She dared to set foot into my world and she paid a hefty price.  I kicked her ass and I came out the winner, just as I said I would.  And just as I predicted, Desmond Drake’s little plan to rough me up did not work.

Nice try, but I guess now you’re going to recruit Veronica Rodriguez?  Yet another hardcore rules match, yet another hopeless attempt at destroying me.

The problem this time is that you picked a really lousy assassin.  You were better off with Ambrosia.

Fury, Rodriguez, or whatever the hell you want people to call you, you and your End Effect pals talk of respect while, in reality, you know nothing about respect.  I am a principle owner of this company, Vero.  What that means is that I’m your boss.  Most employers would just be happy and content to sit back and let the underlings and minions do their dirty work while they reap the rewards.

Namely, I’m describing Desmond Drake.

Those people don’t know what the hell it’s like to get in the ring and compete.  They don’t know what it is like to bleed and sweat and pay the price for this industry.  I do because I am willing to get right there in the trenches with the people who work for me.  I am willing to get right there on the front lines with the soldiers of IWC whereas others are just as pleased sending pawns to do their dirty work.

Your, Veronica, are a pawn in Desmond Drake’s game.  You…Ambrosia…and End Effect, all of you are pawns he is using to try and take me out.  You are being used and manipulated, and you are either happy little servants or just completely stupid and ignorant of it all.

Either way looks bad on you.

You jumped me at Upping The Ante with a lead pipe after my fight with Ambrosia.  What that tells me is just how pathetic you are.  Not only did you need a weapon to put me down but you couldn’t put me down until AFTER I had been through a war with Ambrosia.

So tell me something, Rodriguez, just what exactly do you think is going to happen on RIOT when you have to face me in a hardcore match and I am fresh, I am ready for you, and you don’t have the advantage of a surprise attack?

I kicked the shit out of Ambrosia at Upping The Ante, you better believe I’ll kick the shit out of you on RIOT.  You have nothing on me, Fury…absolutely NOTHING…

…heh, funny, that name of yours; FURY…the truth is that the only Fury that the IWC fans will bear witness to is my own, the fury of Karen McBride, a street fighter and principle owner, the bitch that is beyond pissed off right now at this situation and will gladly plant a boot up the ass of anyone who dares step in her way.

And you, Veronica, you are putting yourself in the way…you are putting yourself into harm’s way because you are too stupid to realize just what the hell you have gotten yourself into by choosing to lie down with the dogs like Ambrosia and Desmond Drake.

Furthermore, End Effect likes to speak about the outcast of society…at least that’s what I’ve heard time and again from Eric Herrera…proudly representing the outcasts.  Appropriate, then, that you get to face someone who knows all about being the outcast of society.

I was NOT born into wealth.  I was left in a situation where my father left my mother to raise three children on her own.  My mother couldn’t support us as she was chronically ill, so I had to get the money…

…by any means necessary…

…only for my efforts to be done in vain when a drive by shooting took the life of my mother.  I was lucky, though.  I was lucky enough to be adopted by a wealthy family who raised me and educated me.  But I will never ever forget where I came from.  I will never ever forget the outcasts.

I respect what End Effect and its members have done but what I don’t respect is selling your soul. It’s clear to me whose side you are on, Veronica, and it saddens me to see that, but I’m not going to grieve.  I’m not going to mourn.

I’m just going to bust you in the mouth.