Go home.

[Jennie Docherty / Djinnie!]

The water-stained mirror holds the reflection of the former IWF Women’s World Champion, Jennie Fenix, as she has her hands down on the marble counter. Her face was– empty… Instead of the usual care that she would take to apply her own make-up, she stood free of anything to mask her face from herself and her audience. The bright eyes of The Djinn stare at her own reflection. She bites down on her bottom lip ever so slightly, and tilts her head to one side, and then to the other. Several silver necklaces around her neck with the pendants jingling from every tilt she makes before she finally raises a hand and traps one between her fingers: the phoenix emblem.

She drops the pendant slowly after, letting it dangle again at her chest before letting out a short chortle. She drops her head, and the multicolored hair hangs low…the silence ensues for a moment longer until she finally smacks her lips together a couple of times, and another heavy snort causes her nostrils to flare before she finally breaks the silence.

“At the beginning of this year, I was standing at the head of the pack…” she says in a soft, yet fierce tone.

“I stood as the IWF Women’s World Champion, and I was doing everything I could possibly think of to elevate the title to new limits! I wanted to bring us back to– a golden era… I wanted to bring back all of the competition that walked out the doors, and I wanted to bring in new competition! I wanted people to think of that title and know that…” her hand balls up into a fist, and raises her head and eyes toward the mirror before pounding her closed fist a single time against the mirror, “THAT is the title to go after! THAT is the title that people should be fighting over! THAT is– THE– title!”

Shaking her head slightly, Jennie bites down on her lip again. Her face scrunches and un-scrunches a couple of times before she resumes, “And I got exactly what I wanted, didn’t I? I was able to beat Shelly Diamond. I was able to even bring Brooklyn Madrox out of retirement and light a fire under her… because I beat her in our first encounter, but now the score is very different. Brooklyn stands– two wins… to my one…” she exhales softer this time, and there was no way that she could hide the disappointment that she felt in herself for not being able to take back the championship that she had been able to call hers at the beginning of the year.

Her goal to beat Shelly Diamond’s record as the longest reigning IWF Women’s World Champion of all time, and on her first ever run, was thwarted. And she couldn’t help but feel like a failure for being unable to reclaim the championship.

Despite that disappointment, Jennie could still bring herself to smile– and the smile does creep back across her face. The excitement. She sucks in air through her teeth, and with confidence, she resumes her speech, “But…y’know what? I could be like everybody else! I could have suffered a loss, and then take my ball and go home and claim that I was robbed, and there was some sort of conspiracy against me. OR! And this is my preferred option: GET MY ASS BACK UP…TAKE THEIR BALL…and shove it so far up their–” Jennie closes her eyes and raises a hand as if to tell herself to calm down.

“I choose the latter,” she mutters, and reopens her eyes, “I’m not like those people. I’m not the type of person who loses a title– a match– and then cries myself out of existence… I get back up, I fight again! And that leads the question to: where have I been? Honey, I’ve still been fighting! It might not be under the IWF banner, but that doesn’t mean that I’ve forgotten about any of you! That doesn’t mean that I’m not going to come back to reclaim the championship! That doesn’t mean that this is any less– home.” Jennie scoffs and turns her attention back toward her own reflection.

She takes up a container of makeup from the counter, and leans a little over the counter to start applying it carefully.

“Sooo… if you thought that I was sitting home, and licking my wounds, then I am so– so– sooooo sorry to burst your bubble! But it was the opposite… I’ve been spending a lot of my time over in Glasgow. Over in Liverpool. But I heard everyone talking. I heard everyone whispering. I heard everyone wishing– wishing– wishing on a star. Wishing on a lamp. Wishing on a lucky wishbone. Just… wishing… that my music would hit, and I would come out from the crowd… like I do… and they would scream my name. Cheer my name. That I would march my way down to the ring, and I would step into the ring with anyone! I would step into the ring with everyone! I heard all of the wishes. And so–” she continues to carefully apply the makeup, “you don’t have to worry anymore, ‘cause–” she finishes her eyes with two vertical slants coming from each eye heavy on black resembling the mask of death, “Mama’s home.” She says as her lips curl into a smile hiding some of the mischief behavior she was known for.

“And I return to the IWF ring being entered for a chance to go back after the title that was taken to me on the grandest stage of them all! NIGHT! OF! THE! IMMORTALS! To MISS CAN’T MISS, to BROOKLYN! I’m returning for a chance to call myself– THE HEIRESS. And who do I happen to be against in the very first round? SHEA O’HARA? Honey, honey, honey… I know all about you, okay? I know that you proudly call yourself a former IWF Women’s World Champion, much like–” she pivots on her feet to turn in a one-eighty, and gives a short curtsy, “–myself! And I know…” she says whilst tapping her finger against her chin a couple of times, “I know, I know, I know, I know, I knooooow that you rely on– nostalgia. You rely on reminding these people that you were once a champion, and you rely on reminding these people of your accomplishments, but do you want to know what I think of your accomplishments? Honey? Snookums? Do you wanna know? I’m gonna tell you!” She says and snaps her fingers together.

Now facing the camera, Jennie jumps up to sit on the edge of the counter and kicks her legs back and forth aimlessly while leaning heavily against her hands.

“I think you– are full of hot air. I think you can look at those little accolades of being a former women’s world champion, and former openweight champion, and you can rely on that to try to tell the fans of here– the fans of now– how great you were, but you were always a second fiddle, weren’t you? You were always someone that was being outshined by everyone else that was around you! And that’s why when Brooklyn took the title away from you in the first round, when The Pack first decided to come around, WHERE DID YOU GO?! Where were you?! Do you want to–” she clicks her tongue, “–answer that little stumper for me, ‘cause truly, babe, I’m confused! I’m confused as fuck! ‘Cause The Pack ran…amok…and you…hid. You did everything that I refused to do! You sat at home, licking your wounds, and what were you telling yourself during that time? What were you doing to try to motivate yourself? To inspire you to take the fight to them? A WHOLE LOT OF!”

Dramatic pause for the fans at home to participate in a drumroll.

“NOTHING! You did NOTHING! Hell, we don’t even have to dial it that far back…” She sniffles and licks her lips, scrunching her face a moment to let another momentary pause take her time to ensure that she has the correct wording, “When I fought against Brooklyn Madrox in hopes of taking back the championship, and then– I’m not going to make excuses, okay?! She beat me. Fair and square. One-on-one. But that didn’t stop Rowan from coming back. That didn’t stop Vivienne from showing her true colors, the colors I saw out of her from the first time I got into the ring with her–” she scoffs, “And don’t you fret none, ‘cause Vivi will get hers, too. ANYWAYS! At the end of the night… WHAT HAPPENED? I was laid out in the middle of the ring, and PACK TWO-POINT-OH…STOOD… OVER ME! But what were you doing?” She cocks her head to the side and waits a moment for an answer that’ll never come.

“Sitting at home, and thinking to yourself: HMM! That’s interesting! Honey, they weren’t exactly conspicuous… I knew something was up, these fans knew something was up, everybody knew something was up, but you couldn’t be bothered to come down and let your presence be known on that night! You had to go rally behind who? Abigail? Eternity? Shea, let me just repeat myself here for you… When the going got tough, you tucked tail and ran. You hid. You stayed in hiding, and honey, this is a battle that you should probably go back into hiding for because this is a battle– a WAR– that you are not going to be ready for, and you can say anything you want…you can talk all you want… this war is going to get a hell of a lot worse before it gets any better, and you’re just not the person that I would rely on as a captain of my team to keep the wolves at bay. So–” Jennie waves her hand as if to gesture Shea away, “Maybe you should just go home.”

She flashes a quick, sarcastic smile, and nods a couple of times before raising her hands up to brush her hair back over her shoulders and without losing a beat, resumes her own speech, “When I won the Women’s World Championship, I didn’t sit around and take any sort of easy route… I didn’t want any sort of easy challenge. I know about the past challengers of IWF! Okay? And all I’ve ever wanted was to bring challengers back– all I’ve ever wanted was to fight the best… all I’ve ever wanted was for everybody to recognize that I can be counted amongst the best! That’s why I wanted Shelly! That’s why I wanted Brooklyn! That’s why I was in the ring week in and week out and I was calling everybody out of retirement. That’s part of the reason that I wanted to beat Vivienne, and I’ll gladly do that again! I want to be in the ring with the likes of Serenity Holmes and show miss britches that just like she couldn’t beat my sister, she wouldn’t beat me… but game still recognizes game, and she’s damn good, and I’d love to share the ring with her at some point, and I know she’s got her eyes set on the same title that I’d like to take back. I wanna be in the ring with the likes of Emmanuelle! I LOVE ALL OF THE NEW COMPETITION! I LOVE ALL OF THE RETURNING STARS! I LOVE THE CHALLENGE!” Her voice raises in sheer excitement.

She takes a momentary pause to let all of the dream matches in her mind subside as she has to focus more on the one that is directly in front of her: Heiress to the Throne. Shea O’Hara.

“I thrive on it. I thrive on being counted out before the match even starts ‘cause then I fight– with a fire… I fight harder than everybody else! I fight longer than everybody else! I do the unbelievable! While I was here– in the IWF– challenging everybody to come here! Planting a flag and letting them know that I was the champion, you were nowhere to be found! Hell, Shea; even after you said you were going to fight THE MURDER with your friends by your side, where have you been? What have you done? I’ve taken the fight to them! With Zasshu! The second… And what have you done about them? I’ve called the IWF my home, I have made the IWF my home, and I only ever want my home to be the grandest… I only want the best for my house, and honey, you’re not it. I think that history is going to have a little repeat– I think these fans are going to remember that the moment things get tough, Shea O’Hara is going to go back into hiding… This week, snookums: you go back into hiding.” Jennie blows a kiss at the camera, and flashes a wink.

“Heiress to the Throne time… HEIRESS TO THE THRONE. A chance for me to redeem myself– a chance for me to return to the title picture, and I’ll be honest with everybody: ever since I lost the championship, and lost the rematch, I just– I haven’t felt that I deserved to challenge for the championship. I’ve had my hands full, mind you, but I knew– I knew, I knew, I knew that I didn’t want to just come up and demand myself a title shot! I knew that I had to start over. Start from the bottom. And earn my way back to the top. But I was presented with this opportunity… I was presented with a chance to enter HEIRESS TO THE THRONE and I knew that it was the chance for me to do that! But it was more than that… y’see… and believe me when I say this, but I really don’t like always being compared to my family, or even comparing myself to my family, but these tournaments have been a bit of a curse for my family, am I right?!” She chuckles aloud.

“I mean, SERIOUSLY, let’s look at lil’ Sabe. Three times–” she holds up three fingers, “THREE TIMES he has come close to winning the whole thing, only to lose in the finale! Tara– all the way to the finals only to LOSE! And to who?! TO ROWAN! Another person that I wanna see quit trying to tease me, and gimme everything I want… hit me, choke me, gimme a little tussle! Anyways… yeah… these tournaments have not been our friend.” She says while shaking her head.

“The Family Jinx… that’s what I was called for a while ‘cause everybody looked at me, and looked at my sister, and they would always wonder how we were related! ‘Cause Tara is so– great? And I am so– not? I think I’ve already proven that to be far from true, and I think this is my chance to even break that family curse! MY CHANCE TO BECOME THE FIRST WINNER OF HEIRESS TO THE THRONE IN MY FAMILY! Do you think this is something that I’m gonna let squander? Do you think that I don’t see what’s in store for me at the end?! ANOTHER MATCH WITH BROOKLYN! And Brooklyn, honey, I see you– I see you, and I can see that you are starting to get some chinks in that armor of yours… I’m coming to take it off of you! It all starts this Tuesday, though, when I secure my first win in the tournament… and I take… any… and all… challenges… en route to becoming Heiress to the Throne. There are a lot of names in there! And a lot that I’d love to be in the ring with… Atty, boo!” She forms a heart with her hands and blows another kiss to the camera.

“Love you! BUT! You aren’t getting between me and my chance of redemption. It’s time to start making those wishes, bitches, but when any of you get in the ring with me– so sorry…” she pouts a little, “But your wishes aren’t gonna stop me from winning. Ciao for now!” Jennie waves to the camera.

Before the camera fades out, though, a voice can be heard off-camera.

“JEN!” Allen Chaney can be heard shouting, and the door swings open. The camera turns toward Allen, and Allen gives the side glance while muttering to himself, “Don’t look at the camera, don’t look at the camera, don’t look at the camera… HEY!” his voice returns to normal, and he has a cookie jar held in his hands as he tries to twist open the top. “I can’t seem to get this cookie–” Jennie springs to her feet, and snatches the jar away from him.

“I’LL GET IT!” she shouts.

“–jar…” Jennie twists and turns the top as if it were a dial on a safe, and Allen looks absolutely dumbfounded when Jennie opens it.

“GOT IT!” She reaches into the jar and pulls out a cookie, holding it out for Allen, “BUTTER PECAN!”

“I hate pecan! Well… not hate. Hate is a strong word. But I’d rather it not have pecans.” Allen says in a sad tone.

Jennie stuffs the cookie back into the jar, and pulls out another one, “SNICKERDOODLE!”

“YES!” Allen says excitedly, and Jennie holds the cookie out for him. He starts walking back for the door.

Meanwhile, Jennie clutches the cookie jar, and takes a peek inside. “He almost found you!” she says to herself.

End.