A New Ally

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A New Ally

Off Camera

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Karen McBride was on the losing end of the ten person tag on Riot but that does not matter to her.  She knew going in that she was just space filler for a match that she had no real involvement in and no personal interest in.  The fact that she was booked for a match was good enough for her.  At the end of the day Karen is a wrestler.  Sitting on her ass and doing nothing all day while her fellow wrestlers get all the action is unacceptable and for weeks upon weeks leading up to Extreme Fury she had no booking, no matches, nothing.  She blames it all on Desmond Drake.

They had a deal, one that has yet to be revealed, and Drake has yet to live up to his end of the bargain.  As a result Karen has been putting the pressure on him and yet so far all she’s managed to get out of it was being booked again.  A small victory but not what she is really after.  Now Karen is expected to fight Amanda Blayze on New Age.  At least this is just a standard one on one match.  At least Karen doesn’t feel as if she is doing someone’s dirty work for them.  Karen views a victory over Amanda Blayze as a chance to move her career in IWC forward.

One victory won’t be enough to satisfy McBride.  Drake living up to his end of the bargain won’t even satisfy her now.  Karen is now full of righteous indignation and is ready to use her nuclear option when the time is right.

To the world Karen may be a cutthroat, borderline villainous businesswoman, but secretly Karen uses her wealth and influence to battle the real villainous fat cats who oppress the less fortunate.  The truth is that Karen cannot stand those who use their power in order to oppress others and seeing the way Drake and Sinistry have been throwing their weight around ever since gaining control of the IWC has filled Karen with a rage like she has never felt before.  She’s done playing around with Drake.  When the time is right she will drop her atomic bomb and bring Sinistry, and especially Desmond Drake, back down to reality.

That’s later, but right now she has personal affairs to deal with; namely her boyfriend…

The lovely Karen McBride is primping and preening in front of a full length mirror, readying herself for a date tonight with her boyfriend, GCW wrestler Eric Chambers.  She is wearing an elegant, shimmery black dress with a v-neckline.  Karen chose this number because Eric has told her on more than one occasion how much he likes the way she looks in black.  This particular number also shows off all of her luxurious curves which will no doubt excite Chambers.  Due to the fact that they are attending an opera, she opted for traditional opera length gloves that extends past her elbows.  Karen is balanced on black patent leather peep toe pumps with a three inch heel.  The sound of heels clicking across wood floor alerts the cutthroat businesswoman to the fact that someone is approaching.  She turns just as the door to her room opens and she watches as her sister Blaire McBride enters.   Along with the smug look she wears on her face, she also wears a black long sleeve sweater, a black knee length skirt, black stockings, and a pair of simple black pumps.

“Hello, Blaire…”

The voice of the beautiful brunette fades off ever so slightly, she doesn’t trust Blaire, she doesn’t like Blaire.  Blaire is the oldest biological daughter of Stan Lee Sr. and Diane McBride, the adoptive parents of Karen.  Blaire and her brother Stan Lee Jr. are exactly the type of people Karen detests; the wealthy who do not care about the poor, who do not care about those who are less fortunate, the type of person who will step over anyone, who will sell their own grandmother down the river in order to get ahead.

Karen has learned her lessons on the street and from watching her adoptive parents navigate the cutthroat life of the business world that sometimes she will have to do some down and dirty things in order to survive and sometimes she will have to fight, physically, to survive.  But there are some things even Karen won’t do.  Blaire, as far as Karen as been able to tell from her years with the McBride family, has no such limitations.

It is those types of people that Karen cannot stand, that Karen promised to fight against when she came into her own vast amounts of wealth and power due to being adopted into the McBride family.  People like Desmond Drake.  Desmond used his alliance with Sinistry to come into control of IWC.  And yes, Karen did have her own business dealing with Drake, but after he has refused to live up to his end of the bargain, and after watching what he has done ever since Sinistry came into power, she has decided she cannot sit idly by any longer.  She has to do something.

“Karen.” The elder sibling, also a brunette, eyes Karen up and down, a forced, polite smile on her face. “You look lovely.  Are you going out on a date?”

“Is it any of your business?”

Blaire shrugs. “Not really, but I figured I would at least try to be polite.”

“You being polite usually follows with a knife in the back.  Forgive me for not believing you.”

“Right, well, since we’re being so honest, let’s really be honest then…I never liked you because I never could read you.”

“Is that so?”

“Sometimes you play this game just like I do, manipulating people, pretending to be someone you’re not.  Other times you are blunt, you are straight forward.  I mean, who the hell are you, Karen?”

Karen chuckles. “Who am I?”

Her eyes narrow as she stares at Blaire with an intensity that grows with each passing second.  Karen glides effortlessly across the floor until she is nose to nose with her older sister Blaire.

“It all depends upon who I am talking to, who I am dealing with.” She smirks knowingly.  “Some people need a special kind of attention.  Those types of people will be manipulated, drawn into my trap.  That’s Karen McBride.  Other people, and other times, call for a more straightforward approach.  Instead of pretending to be their friend all the while you’re stabbing them in the back, it’s best to just punch them in the face and get it over with.  That’s the woman who was raised on the streets.  That’s Karen Leonard.”

A tense moment passes as Karen and Blaire stare at one another.  Karen isn’t concerned.  She knows if Blaire tries anything she can tear her apart.  Blaire was born into this wealth and privilege and she has no real training in any form of self-defense.  Karen has had to defend herself on the streets, let alone the fact that she is a professional wrestler.

The fight that Karen thinks might be coming does not actually come.  Blaire steps to the side and walks on past her, over to the bed where she sits down on the edge of it.  Karen turns and glares at her, watching as Blaire then, surprisingly, motions for her to come over and join her on the bed.

“Sit down, Karen.  I want to say something.”

McBride is hesitant at first.  She and Blaire never have gotten along.  This could be one of her tricks but nevertheless Karen walks over and does sit down next to her older sister.

“I never liked you.  From the moment our father adopted you, I never did like you.”

Karen arches her brow. “Our father, is it?  You never recognized me as a real McBride.”

“See, that’s part of our problem, you never let me finish.”

“Fine!  Finish!”

Blaire  grins. “Thank you.  Now then, where was I?  Oh yes, I never liked you.  Part of the reason was because I never could get past the fact that you were a prostitute.”

Karen watches as Blaire shuts her eyes tightly as she speaks these words, not out of anger but out of, maybe, guilt perhaps?

“A whore!  I couldn’t stand the fact that we were letting a whore into our family and I hated it even worse when our father gave you a share in the company equal to me, Stan, and Melanie!  I didn’t think a common whore deserved it!”

“Yeah, I knew all of this already.” Karen says with a yawn. “Is there anything new here you’re going to tell me, Blaire, or is this just a massive waste of my time?”

“There’s more…I did hate you for being a prostitute, but then when I watched what you did with your share of the company, how you set up a charity promoted to assisting young girls get off the streets…and I realized…”

Blaire lowers her head in shame. “…I could never be as good as you.”

Karen’s eyes grow wide.  That certainly was not the reaction she was expecting, not at all.  She sits straight up and blinks.

“Wait…repeat that?”

“You heard me.” Blaire sighs as she looks over at Karen smiling, this time a genuine smile. “You are a wonderful person, Karen, much better than I ever could hope to be.  And that’s part of the reason behind my jealousy as well.  I can never be as good as you, Karen.”

Jealousy?  Karen had always accused Blaire of being jealous but she never actually believed she would ever admit to it.  To hear this now is a shocking admission.  It nearly bowls Karen McBride over.

“I don’t…I don’t know what to say, Blaire…”

“You don’t have to say anything.” A broad grin creeps across Blaire’s lovely features as an idea pops into her head. “But I know how I can to make it up to you and maybe try to be as good as you.”

Blaire leaps up to her feet.  She takes Karen by her hands and pulls her up off the bed and onto her feet as well.  They stand there, hand in hand, Karen is shocked and Blaire is grinning.

“I’m going to help you.”

“Help me with what, exactly?”

“I want to help you put the screws to Desmond Drake.”

Karen frowns.  She pulls her hands away from Blaire and shakes her head, backing away slowly.

“I’m not sure you know what you’re saying.”

“I know exactly what I’m saying and I know all about that nuclear option you keep talking about on IWC programming.”

“Then you know I have to handle it by myself.”

“No you don’t.” Blaire shakes her head vehemently. “Not when you have me to shoulder some of the load.”

Karen stares at her skeptically. “And how exactly can you help?”

“You already know how I can help.” Blaire now almost resembles a devil with that glimmer in her eye and half-grin on her face. “I have been in the corporate world longer than you.  I was born into it.  And you know I am much more deceptive and manipulative than you.”

“You got that right.” Karen says, rolling her eyes.

“Then let me handle the legal aspect of it, while you deal with the physical aspect of it.”

“I can handle both.”

“I know that but wouldn’t it be so much easier if you had me to take care of all the legal aspects of your nuclear option while you did your wrestling?  Amanda Blayze is your next opponent, Karen.  You still want to win your matches don’t you?”

“Of course I do.”

“Then don’t let yourself get distracted by the nuclear option and Desmond Drake.  You can reveal it any time you want, knowing that I’ve taken care of everything.”

Karen scratches her chin.  She never has trusted Blaire and yet she is now actually considering taking her up on this offer to assist her in this coming war.  And Blaire does raise some good points.  Having the Desmond Drake situation on her mind can cause a distraction and she cannot afford any distractions that might cause her to lose to Amanda Blayze coming up on New Age.  So, finally, Karen nods her head.

“Ok, I’ll let you oversee my nuclear option, under one condition.”

“Which is?”

“You cannot make any changes.  You may oversee but you cannot make official changes.  Nothing changes without my signature.”

Blaire nods her head in agreement. “Fair enough.  I wouldn’t expect you to trust me yet anyway.  I haven’t earned it.”

“No, you haven’t.  But if you are sincere…” Karen walks over and embraces Blaire “…thank you!  Damnit, thank you!”

The embrace is broken and both women are now crying tears of joy. “Karen, I will prove to you I’m sincere.  You are a real McBride, adoption be damned, and you are a wonderful sister.”

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Everyone Has A Price

On Camera

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When the camera begins to roll we see Karen McBride sitting behind her large wood oak desk inside of her office.  She is smiling rather politely, perhaps a forced smile, into the camera.

“Good afternoon.  I am Karen McBride and I really do hope you are listening Amanda Blayze.”

Karen picks up a stack of papers stapled together.  The front page has the IWC logo on the front.  She turns it to the next page and begins reading.

“Um…you dirty slut, all you know how to do is wreck the lives of happily married people!  The only chance you have at defeating me is by sleeping with Orlando Cruze.”

Karen tosses the stack of papers aside and smirks. “Ok, that’s the script.  Now that I finished reading from the script I am going to tell you what I really think.”

“I don’t care who you sleep with.” Karen shakes her head. “It doesn’t matter to me if you are or are not sleeping with Orlando Cruze.  You could be sleeping with Katelyn Buehler for all I care.  It doesn’t change what I have to do to you on New Age.”

“I have been waiting a really long time to be able to get back into action here in IWC.  For the life of me I do not understand why Desmond Drake kept me off the cards.  I do not understand why he never booked me.  But now that I’m back I am not going to let any one single opportunity pass me by.”

“Right now, you are that opportunity, Amanda.” She points into the camera. “You are my chance to advance my career just one more step further in this company known as IWC.”

“Yes, this is still IWC.  I don’t care what Drake and his little ghoul school buddies say and despite the fact that I was on that team on Riot, I am not nor will I ever be loyal to Sinistry.  I don’t have to be loyal to Sinistry because I have money and with money comes power, respect, and influence.”

“What Drake will soon realize is that everyone has a price; and with the risk of copyright infringement, everyone has a price for Karen McBride.  And that includes you, Amanda.”

“It isn’t by your choice that you were booked against me for New age but you will still be the one to pay that price for having to fight me.  I’m not in the best of moods, Amanda.  I haven’t been in the best of moods, lately, due to the run around I’ve been getting from management and I will take it out on you.”

“I know the last thing you need is yet another problem to deal with, what considering all those accusations about you and Orlando, but I don’t care.” She shakes her head. “I don’t care.  You are just a body.  You are a body standing in the way of me and success.  You are a mere obstacle, one that I have to knock over.”

“Oh but don’t worry, Amanda, while I will probably leave you battered and bruised after New Age, you can at least rest assured that things here in the company as a whole and for you too will soon get better.  Certain things need to be rectified and after my nuclear option makes things right for me, who knows, it might even make things right for you too?  But for now, at least, you’re in for a world of hurt.  Because I am going to do what I have to do.  No offense.”