The camera opens on the square in downtown Savannah, Georgia, the city where Emily’s mom resides. She’s sitting on a bench by the fountain that is going. Fall has finally arrived in Savannah as the trees were changing colors, the end of another summer behind them. Emily looks a bit concerned, but a bit pissed about something. If it’s something in her personal life we’ll never know exactly because she’s very focused on her match against Mills.
Emily: Johnathan Mills. I expected something, anything, from you telling me how it was time for my reign to end, maybe something saying I was lucky to get this far, and who knows what else but instead I get more noise from the static on my television set than I am hearing from you. See Johnathan I could sit here and cry about our last meeting, about how you and Jessica beat Alzy and me but there are two factors right there that made the outcome of the match to not have much to do with the one we have before us. I’ll address my other opponents here after while but for now I want to talk to one person and that’s Johnathan.
I’ve noticed something and that is you seem to think you can just waltz in here, somehow get a shot at the Alternative title and that’s it. But you have no idea who you’re facing because if you are basing our match on the only other time we’ve faced each other…..Mills you have no idea who you are really facing.
Emily straightens up, putting her upper arm strength in her palms that are pressed into the bench.
See I must admit, and admit to my partner, that my focus was a bit off, that I was allowing some personal situations to be in control of my mind and instead of you, I was thinking about that. Allowing Alzy to take more of the heat than I probably should of. But then it was a tag match, and well this time around….it’s simple. It’s you and me.
When I knew I was getting you for an opponent I seriously thought about what type of match I would want. It’s one of the perks of the title, you can name anything you want. Oh management doesn’t always go along with it, so we won’t have say…..a Pit of Decimation, a scaffold match over a tank full of sharks, you know….REALLY dangerous stuff. So I do have to keep it a smidge on the safe side but that doesn’t mean I can’t pull some good ones out of my bag. Chairs and Chains? Did you see that Mills? I almost thought of doing that one again but it was a bit too tame. Seeing I’ve had this title since June of 2017 and I’ve defeated some of the best this company has. I beat Priest not once, but twice. First time was HIS choice, as he was the champion, and he chose an I Quit match. Yep I made big, bad, scary Priest yell I quit, two words that sounded like angels singing because I became the Alternative champion at the age of 19 years old. An admirable feat for someone so young, and many thought though that my youth would be my downfall. But I think that I’ve proven that age is just a number because look at the very next show when I defeated Priest yet again, this time in my choosing of a street fight, which means he had a lot to work with and use to defeat me, but he failed.
I took on a man who….well I’ll be facing at TLC, that man is Brian Kennedy. You know, former SCW World champion, a man who….well I could get into a lot of things about the tag titles, but that’s for later this evening. But I faced himself myself, one on one, in a ladder match and the outcome? Yep I stayed champion. Hell at Survival 2017 I took on not one, but two competitors in a Falls Count Anywhere match, again a match that brings a lot of things into it, but Tuck and Corso couldn’t stop me.
Emily sits more squarely on the bench and dusts her hands off for a second.
I even took on family, took on….my tag partner. Trust me, not the easiest thing in the world, to look across the ring and see a man who you also see at family dinners. I faced someone who has the history I do when it comes to family, but as I said that didn’t stand in the way. I defeated even him.
And that brings me to the next one on the list, and that’s you Mills. Last time, as I’ve said earlier, there were factors that were….well I think we can both agree factors beyond our control. Oh please know I’m not taking anything from Jessica, she’s a fine wrestler, as is Alzy, but their actions, and their moves were theirs and not ours. So I don’t feel the match was a true representation of who I am, of what I can do. But looking back I noticed something. You referred to yourself in the third person. Interesting concept but I can’t go around saying “Emily did this” without sounding like some savant who can tell you what day of the week September 29, 1013 was. I do remember how you talked about how my partner was holding me back. I don’t see how except that I haven’t been given something I would love to have, and that’s a shot at the World title. But I’m a very patient person, and I’ll wait my turn. Eventually Mr. Walker will look around and realize that hey, look who has stood the test of time and not run off to try my hand at another fed. I’ve been tempted but I’m loyal to SCW, which honestly Mills is perhaps more than I can say of you. I mean you came into SCW and I’ve looked, I’ve researched, went through old shows and ……Mills do you really think because you beat them on your own that makes you hot shit? Vero Rodriguez? Where is she now? She’s become a ghost as has Jacina, not that Jacina was ever that good, sort of just kept around so she wasn’t homeless.
Emily stands up and starts to walk around the fountain, as dusk has come and night is falling, the lights have come on, illuminating the sparkling water, the splashes seeming to be loud. Emily has on a long, black coat and she sticks her hands in the pocket as she walks around, thinking before she stops and shares her thoughts.
Brian Kennedy? He …..I get to face him the same night as I face you, but one on one I’ve faced him as well, I beat him and I know you beat him as well. Paige has beaten him a couple times, and yet she’s giving him one more chance. So seriously looking at your SCW wins and losses, yes you’ve won, you’re basically undefeated, but it’s the list of who you’ve been against that makes a person stop and wonder. I look at those records and I laugh, mainly because I’ve either beaten or could beat any of those very people.
Emily stops and looks at the fountain, the light playing off the water, as she thinks.
You know Mills you once told me to be careful because I’m on Paige’s radar. While I appreciate the concern I would think you’d be more focused on what’s about to happen over what is in my future. Because I’m keeping what I know of my future in the back corners of my mind, and keeping what is the most important, here and now, and that is beating you Mills. I remember what you said, which was that you wished I had saved the submissions match for you. If that is supposed to scare me, keep trying. I was trained by a man who is KNOWN for his extreme talent in submissions. I know how to do a great many of them and honestly I feel confident I could beat you with a submissions move.
Emily appears deep in thought for a moment.
When you last spoke up, it was 460 days as the Alternative champion. As of this moment, here and now, its 480 days, days that I wake up wondering what’s next, or who’s next. Who will they put in the ring to see if I can be defeated and this coming weekend it was just be shy of 490 days……nearly 500 days. That’s impressive not just here, not just in the old SCW, but even back in the days of HVW and FTWO. In fact the person who taught me held his title for 3 ½ YEARS, taking on everyone that came along, and taking them down one by one. So I’m learning quite a bit about being a champion with staying power, something that not just anyone can say they’ve done. I want to be that person, that wrestler that management can count on,, know that I’m reliable, and know when they say I’m appearing at this show or that, in whatever city in the world, that I’m there for them, and for the fans. As for you Mills I’ll add your name to my list and I have a feeling that because you lost to me, you’ll just fade into the background, be one of those “remember when……” and then it will be painful because people will try to remember you, and they will fail.
So Johnathan Mills I hope you’re ready to be added to the list of “well he tried” because I’m ready to take you on, take you into a cage with weapons around, and use them to beat some sense into you. Sense that you seem to not have an ounce of. This will be fun, and I will get the job done, and I will….quite simply….
Remain the Alternative champion.
Emily walks off towards the street, light reflecting off her black coat as she gets further away near the street.
