Redemption.

[Jennie Docherty / Djinnie!]

The scene fades in on a glorious shot of a gigantic balsam fir tree fully decorated in the living room. The twinkling lights adorning the tree are the only source of light in the room, and that was more than enough light for the entire room. The majority of the ornaments were already hung with care…but the former IWF Women’s World Champion, Jennie Fenix, stood in front of the tree wearing the traditional Holiday pajamas. Her niece, Lilith, now at fifteen months, held with one arm around her, holding Lilith to her hip, while pointing out the ornaments to her niece and explaining them.

“...and that one is Darth Vader! Your parents are a bit of Star Wars nuts, and–” Jennie rolls her eyes and presses her hand to her chest, “But I am, too! So it’s okay. It’s okay! OOOH!” she stretches her hand forward to pull another ornament toward them, “And this is Grogu! Or Baby Yoda. His name is Grogu but people still just wanna call him Baby Yoda.” She draws in a deep breath and then holds the ornament near Lilith, “GRO-GU.” She says and nods with heavy exaggeration then puckers her lips several times while overlooking the tree for the next ornament.

“Good morning,” a voice calls out from the balcony overlooking the living room from the second floor. Jennie glances up to see Tara standing at the balcony, and Lilith squeals rather loudly before starting to speak baby gibberish, “She’s not going to understand Star Wars just yet…”

“You gotta start ‘em young, Tara! Lilith is gonna be a true Jedi…”

Tara sort of rolls her eyes, but doesn’t disagree in the least. She starts walking toward the staircase while rolling on with the short conversation, “Fine, fine. But Mom and Dad’s flight is landing soon and I was going to go pick them up from the airport, and take their favorite granddaughter and great-granddaughter. Are you coming?” By the time that Tara asks the question, she has gotten to the bottom of the staircase and Jennie reluctantly hands Lilith over.

“Naaah, I have some things to take care of here! That way– y’know– I’m not busy while they’re here!” Jennie answers.

“Okay, well, I have to get her dressed and ready to go,” Tara says while drawing Lilith in, “Hiya!” Tara speaks with excitement riddling in her tone for her daughter, “Are you excited to see meemaw and pawpaw?”

Soon after Tara and Lilith retreat back upstairs, Jennie turns her attention back to the tree and then walks to the nearby recliner where she sits down, and picks up a nearby mug filled with hot chocolate…she holds the mug loosely in her hands before tilting her head a little to the side, “There ain’t no use in hiding, so come on out.” Jennie mutters.

The camera inches its way forward as the bright eyes of the former champion, and hopeful Heiress lock her gaze on the camera in front of her.

“There were…” Jennie shrugs her shoulders a little bit as if weighing the options, “MISTAKES that were made last week that I made one person pay for, and these are MISTAKES that I hope aren’t going to be replicated this week! What was the biggest mistake that the luscious redhead had to say? Hmm?” She lowers her chin a little and pauses for added exaggerated effect.

“She COMPARED me to my sister… Do you understand why that’s a mistake? Do you understand why that’s WRONG? Like– I love my sister, okay? That is mi amiga! That is my blood! That is my YANG! We are a team– just ‘cause we haven’t had the honor of fighting as a team here just ‘cause, under the new rules, Tara doesn’t want to take the titles away from her dude, and her son…but when that day comes, you can bet that you’ll see THE FENIX SISTERS RIDE AGAIN! So– insulting her? How are you going to try to compare us when you haven’t even done what she’s done IN THESE HALLS?! I doubled her time? She beat yours! What is your point?! Now, now, Virginia, honey, I don’t want you to think that I believe you’re going to make that same mistake ‘cause I surely hope not… but then again, I’ve heard you talk before and from what I’ve gathered, that’s just about all it is, ‘cause when it comes time to deliver…” Jennie’s eyes go wide as she turns her head from the camera, and sips cautiously at her hot cocoa while trying to resist the urge to say her thoughts aloud.

“Virginia… my sweet Virginia… I’ve seen how high you can fly! How close you can get to capturing the grandest prize in all of professional wrestling, but how you were never quite able to… finish the job…” She clicks her tongue, “Pity!” she says with an exaggerated cockney accent.

“Like, that seems to be the only thing that you were ever able to brag about. How close you’ve come to capturing the title! How many times you’ve earned the chance to fight for the title, and even bragging about how you– lost– a match… but hey, right, you were the first one to pin Shelly, right? But… umm… let’s think about that match for a moment. You also pinned her after she was exhausted. You’re a tough cat, Virginia! I’m not taking that away from you! I know that if you hit me, it’s going to hurt! I know that if you see blood, you’re going to go for it! I know that you’re calculated, you’re strong, you’re fierce, you’re everything that everybody says you are! You took the fight to Shelly! I’m not taking that away from you. I’m not claiming that you didn’t give her one of the toughest fights of her life! But you still couldn’t get the job done.” She shakes her head a little bit.

“Y’see, that tells me something more about you, Virginia…” Jennie leans forward in her chair, holding the mug with both hands. Her gaze falters away from the camera as she takes another deep breath, and gives a wry smile at the camera before continuing, “It tells me that every time you get into the ring with someone, you’re already underestimating them. You thought you had Tara’s number way back when, but she took that title out from under you! Don’t think I wasn’t keeping tabs– years of my sister being off, and she came back…and you thought that rust was going to slow her down, but she took that title out from under you. You underestimated her for years of being off. All those times you fought Shelly Diamond– you underestimated her… You had this thought that you finally had her number, and so you were relying on– oh, I don’t know– the stars! WISHES! FATE! To give you something that you felt you were owed…it’s like you have all that power and fighting experience that you think you’re just going to be overbearing for your opponents, and it’s like I say every time I get into the ring: I’M USED TO BEING THE UNDERDOG! I’m used to having my opponents counting me out before the match starts, and I think you’re going to play… right… into… that…” She says with a clap of her hands between every word for added emphasis.

“And I know–” she forces a smile as she cocks her head to the side, “–the hate that you have for my family. I know how much you hate that we’ve come in and taken everything! And why? Because we can. You have that gatekeeper mentality alive and strong. You’ve gone on to call us a very wide range of names, and while I know most people like to exclude me from that list ‘cause they think that I’m going to somehow take their side over my family… anyways! What’s with all your hate for us? Is it because you know, deep down, that you’re never going to be on our level? That your pinfall over Shelly was eclipsed when Tara beat Shelly? And then I beat Shelly? And that’s not a knock against Shelly! It just tells you how fucking good we are at this! And why does that bother you? Why does competition bother you?” Jennie gives that traditional Docherty smirk.

“Let me remind you what I think of competition… and I said it last week, and I don’t really wanna sound like a broken record, but I just wanna make sure you understand me and something I think you need to understand: I love it! I don’t want someone in the ring that I’m going to crush in thirty seconds or less… I don’t want someone who isn’t going to take me to my limits… I want someone who is going to PUSH ME! I want someone who is going to force me to better myself! I want someone who can BEAT ME! And talk, talk, talk all you want about how you challenged everybody to come out and fight you, but it just tells me you didn’t have that draw that you thought you had– no one wanted to fight you, and not ‘cause they were afraid, but ‘cause they didn’t care.” She can’t help but pout out her lip, but soon fixes herself back up.

“You want that aura? You want that draw? Honey, you were close! YOU! WERE! CLOSE!” She pinches her fingers as close together as she can without them actually touching, “But you dropped the ball. Again! If you want that aura, honey– if you want that draw– then that means that you have to earn your way up… Because no one is going to remember how close you came to beating Shelly; the only thing they’re going to recall is that you lost to Shelly. I am earning that aura– I am earning that draw! I am becoming the name that people drop when they think of getting into the ring with… ‘cause they know that I deliver. They know that despite my size, despite my silly antics, when things start getting tough, I prevail! I will fight harder! I will fight longer! I will give my entire body just to walk out with the win! Just to walk out with the title! And they know– oh, honey, they know– that when I get knocked down, I always, always, always, get back up! And that’s why I’m here…” She slumps back in the chair and takes another sip of cocoa.

“In Heiress to the Throne. I know what happened at Bloody Assizes– I know the final image that people saw… They saw The Murder standing over me. They saw– Brooklyn– defeat me… one-on-one. I’ve said it before, and I’m going to say it again: I’m not making excuses! The numbers game was never against me, just my best was not enough that night. But y’know what I do? I get stronger. So I’m in Heiress to the Throne, and I know there really wasn’t an easy person to be in the ring with to start this tournament… I mean, really, let’s be real about it: the only person in the tournament who hasn’t done much to prove themselves in this industry is Zasshu II, and I love that girl! She’s so– gifted. So– talented. Everyone else: world title contenders! I was hoping to see my girl, Atty, in the finals, but it was no easy road… what can ya do?” Jennie scoffs.

“That image, though. That image of Brooklyn standing over me… Of The Murder standing over me… it still bothers me. I still want– REDEMPTION. And I knew since there were no excuses for what happened– there was no one to blame but myself– that I had to go back up from the bottom! But this opportunity presented itself… Heiress to the Throne… this opportunity to get myself back in the title hunt, and I knew I had to take it. I knew I had to capitalize on it! So you can play with your clock, Virginia, you can tell us all about time, and tell us how dominating you’re going to be: none of that is going to matter! ‘Cause this isn’t about your time… this is about… MY REDEMPTION. I’m going through everybody. I’m going to be Heiress to the Throne. And then– Brooklyn– I’m coming back for the title… Ciao for now! OH! And Happy Holidays!” Jennie blows a kiss to the camera.

She believes that the scene has come to a close since the camera does back away, and she sets the mug down on the table before jumping from the chair and pulling something from the pocket of the jammies, but just as she does, her phone starts ringing like crazy and causes her to jump!

She pulls her phone out, and puts the phone on speaker, “Hello?”

“Jennie! How’s it going?!” the voice is recognized as none other than Cliff Cook.

“It’s great! Just– decorating the tree…”

“AWESOME! Listen, I was thinking about something, and I just wanted to get your–”

“It’s Christmas! Everything else can wait, ah’right?” Jennie interrupts.

“Yeah, but–”

“CHRISTMAS! Spend time with your family! Maybe give Adi a call! I’m sure she’d love that!”

“But–”

“CLIFF! Be with your family!”

“Fiiine. Do you want to meet up for bobas later?”

“As if you had to ask! Me and Allen will meet you at say– two?”

“Two is good! Auf wiedersehen!”

The phone goes off. Jennie reaches into her pocket now to pull something from the jammies and holds it well enough that no one can see what it is, “This should be a good hiding spot.” Jennie whispers to herself.

“A good hiding spot for what?” another voice creeps out from behind, and Jennie jumps yet again to turn to see Dean Harper standing there.

“STAHP! SCARING ME LIKE THAT!” Jennie shouts.

“I– how did you not hear the door open?” Dean asks.

“I was in the zone.”

Dean nods.

Jennie retracts her arm trying to hide the object in her hand.

“What’re you trying to hide?” Dean asks.

Jennie glances around to see that nobody is around, but still dares not say it aloud. She gestures Dean closer, and the two stand close enough that nothing can be seen.

“Oh, damn!” Dean gasps.

“I know, right?!” Jennie answers.

“Are you ready?” Dean asks.

“Yes.” Jennie answers without any hesitation.

Dean takes the object from Jennie and then reaches to the center of the tree, and pulls his arm back out.

“Should be good there.”

End.