12:47 PM
February 22nd, 2017
Tendonin Manor
Cleveland, Ohio
Camera Status: Off
The table was laden with food. During her timeouts with Dragasha, the Paraguayan wasn’t aware of some of her physiological issues. There were consequences. Dragasha often forgot to feed herself regularly. There was also the issue of injuries. Because Dragasha thrived on almost unlimited adrenaline, she often wasn’t aware of how injured she was. As Jessica sat at the table, eating a gyro, she closed her eyes in happiness.
Stuffing her face like this, she knew she’d pay for it later, but she didn’t care. On the other side of the table, her three children watched her, shocked, having never seen her eat so much. Only Lucius paid his wife no mind, and he ravaged a shoulder sandwich. After finishing another plate, Jessica looked around the table, glancing at Jessica II. Her heir had wanted Pizza, and thus, she had gotten pizza. Ashley wanted fried chicken, and Lucius Kevin wanted cereal.
Jessica: Are you three not hungry?
Jessica II: Momma eating fast…don’t want choke…
Jessica: Momma has to get big and strong again.
Lucius: If Momma keeps eating so much, the only thing that’ll get big is her butt.
Jessica: Lucius!
Lucius: It’s true!
The children laughed, and they continued eating. Jessica felt like she hadn’t eaten in weeks – and with Dragasha, that wasn’t impossible. Later, Jessica and Lucius were looking at bank statements that came the day prior. Jessica looked at the total for outbound transactions on one of her larger accounts, and after reading it a second and third time, she flipped out.
Jessica: SHE SPENT HOW MUCH!?
Lucius looked up excitedly, having been making some markings on the notepad on his lap. In shock, he knocked his glass of vodka off the table.
Lucius: What’s wrong, dear?
Jessica: What in the holy hell did she spend two billion dollars on?!
Lucius: Oh…yeah. She…kinda went a little crazy. She bought a couple of yachts.
Jessica: To do WHAT with?
Lucius: I think she just liked them. Personally, I do like the Project At-
Jessica: Wait, she got the Project Atom?
Lucius: That’s what she called it.
Jessica: That still only account for maybe a quarter billion. Dammit…burning through my fucking money.
Lucius: She also…did a thing with a shuttle.
Jessica set the paper down and looked at her husband, her eyes twitching.
Jessica: Husband…please tell me she did not buy a goddamn space shuttle…
Lucius: Don’t be silly, dear. Space Shuttles cost hundred of billions. Not even you can afford to actually buy one.
The Paraguayan tilted her head, challenging the idea.
Lucius: Okay, maybe one or two. But no, she didn’t buy one. Just did a thing. I honestly don’t know what she was planning with it, but it’s been ready, for whatever, for about two days.
Jessica: Every damn time…there is always ridiculous aftermath, because she has no impulse control.
Jessica sat down and began writing, shaking her head.
7:21 PM
February 23rd, 2017
Aboard the Gulfstream G650
Enroute to MCO, Florida
Camera Status: Off
Lucius had tried to talk her out of it. It was unsurprising, really. It was extremely dangerous. Even she was sure she should follow through with it. But, she wanted to do something exhilarating. And, the money had already been spent. That was on Jessica’s mind as she heard her uncle’s over the PA.
Pilot: Final Approach to Orlando. Buckle up back there.
Jessica did as told. She couldn’t believe she was actually doing this. It was madness. Her equipment was already ready to be transferred, and her Mustang had been brought up from Miami.
After landing, Jessica loaded her things into her Mustang before kissing her uncle’s goodbye as they prepared to take the bird back to Cleveland. Looking around the airport, Jessica noted another private jet coming in on final approach. She watched it for several moments, even after it had landed. She had always loved jets and planes. After buying her first several years ago, she bought another. The original had been lost in a crash with one of her cousins on board. Thinking of J. Natalia brought a tear to her eyes as she climbed into the Mustang.
*********
The next morning dawned bright and warm, as was expected. Jessica had been warned that sudden changes in the weather could affect the project. Today, though, as she parted her hotel room windows, she knew it would be a good day for another flight. And so it was, she bathed and dressed before heading out to the Kennedy Space Center. The complex was a bit over an hour away from the hotel, but the drive was pleasant.
Arriving, Jessica passed through several checkpoints before parking her vehicle. As she looked across the field, she saw the majestic vehicle again, this time in the daylight. Again, she felt a sharp pang. She could do this from at home – there was no need to go so over the top. In the back of her mind, she felt an uneasiness that she couldn’t explain. Several things this year so far had not gone the way she wanted; considering how horribly wrong THIS could go, she hoped the trend would end.
Before it would be time to load into the vehicle, Jessica had to attend a final safety class. As she walked in, she again felt that sharp, sudden flash of apprehension. Something bad was going to happen. She pushed the thought from her mind and sat for the class. It was a lot of information to take in in the two hour session, but at the end of it, she gritted her teeth as she stood and marched off to the locker room to begin dressing.
Heading out to the platform, Jessica noted the local news crews that had began to arrived; it was expected. You couldn’t REALLY hide something like this, after all. There was a trolley that would take them to the platform to begin entering the vehicle. Riding it, Jessica smiled and nodded as the pilot told her about the history of the vehicle being used today. She felt herself becoming frozen with fear. There was still time to back out. No, she wouldn’t do that. This was already all paid for; it would be silly to waste the amount of money this had cost.
And so, an hour later, the full crew were strapped in and Jessica’s equipment had been stowed, as well. The time had come. It was too late to escape now. She was committed. The vehicle began to shake as the engines fired up. Out the windows, she saw the massive clouds of smoke begin to form and rise.
The Paraguayan closed her eyes, trying to fight the images of seeing the space shuttle break up into pieces like the Challenger. And then, she saw the Challenger.
Horrified, she squirmed in the seat, trying to shake the image from her head, but it was there, now, and she couldn’t make it leave. The analyst, Ryan, next to her looked over.
Ryan: Hey, you’ll be alright. Just relax.
How could he be so sure, though? Jessica began breathing faster as she tried to say the words she hoped would get her off of the shuttle and back on the ground. She admitted it to herself, then and there, she was afraid. Her pride broke as she stared up into the sky. She was afraid. But it was too late.
And the ride began. Jessica closed her eyes and began reciting the lyrics to her theme music. I’m Good, I’m Good, I’m Great. She repeated this over and over until she heard the pilot state that they had reached Escape Velocity. Not only had they gone too far to turn back, the only direction left was up, and out of the atmosphere. And then, she saw the darkness get darker as they left the planets pull. They were free of Earth’s gravity well.
As she had been advised the trip upward had taken roughly ten minutes. Only a few minutes later, they were in orbit. After a system check both onboard the craft and at Mission Control on the ground, they were certain the flight had gone off without a hitch. Jessica unstrapped herself and removed the suit so that she could begin.
12:05 PM
February 24th, 2017
Aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis
In Orbit
Camera Status: On
The scene began with a panning image of Planet earth from the window of the space shuttle. Then, it landed on the floating form of Jessica Tendonin. With Zero Gravity, the image was a bit surreal. Her red hair flowed freely as she floated with her arms crossed. As she began, her green eyes blinked slowly.
Jessica: I’ve always striven to push limits, exceed expectations, to awe. And to that end, my work can speak for itself. I came to EWC with the single goal of prover that even though I’d stepped away to raise my children, I still wasn’t the woman to mess with. I didn’t come to EWC with championship goals.
My desire for EWC gold began on June 5th, 2016. Scars and Stripes. I had competed earlier in the night, in the Brawl versus Rampage match, and was the last eliminated from the Rampage Team before CBK won it for the Friday Night Crew. What I remember about that night, however, is watching Shelley Silver wrest the EWC United States Championship away from Alexis Morrison in a ladder match before she hightailed it to Brawl.
But you see, even before then, I’d defeated Morrison one on one, in a non title match. And then, I would go on to defeat Silver, in a one on one non title match. Of course she went on to lose it to Luke Wolfe. And that is where the biggest stain in my EWC career began. I was pitted against the man who called himself the Messiah. A man who surrounded himself with minions lower than himself not to raise them up, but rather, to make himself feel better as he marched among ants.
In my first singles loss in all of 2016, Luke Wolfe got the scratch in the W column on that night. But, it wasn’t over. You see, Luke Wolfe still had what I wanted now. The United States Championship. And at Uncensored, I finally got my chance, after waiting for four months. And, in arguably my biggest match in EWC thus far, and in fact all of EWC…I failed.
In this business, sometimes, stuff becomes personal. And while personal can be fun, it clouds judgement, and dilutes the thinking process. On Halloween, I was so focused on proving I was tougher than Luke wolfe was, that I lost sight of the actual goal. And because of that tunnel vision, in my quest to simply hurt Luke Wolfe, and beat him to the end of his life…I lost.
Look, it’s a known fact that JTC helped Luke Wolfe in that match; he’s even admitted it to me via twitter, saying Luke came to him begging. But, that’s neither here nor there. Fact is, I lost. And to a degree, I’ve made peace with it. I’ve lost before, I’ll lose again. I went back home and told myself I would climb that ladder again. I would work to reach Number One Contender Status Again.
November. It was time for the season finales to begin. I called up President Mac and told him I am the hardest woman on his payroll, and wanted a chance to prove it. And so, I put in the overtime; I went to Rampage, won, went to FSW, won, and then, finally, on Brawl, I went, and I shut that shit down by leaving Red Dragon a quivering mess in the ring.
That night, Michael Saint called me, and offered me another chance at the United States title. But, it would be against The Emerald, Drew Stevenson. And, to make it worthwhile, it was a ladder match. Stevenson is one hell of a competitor; and his name is well known among the greats in this business. But at Wrestlefest…my greed for the United States Championship would not allow me to leave without victory.
Even against the third pace winner of King of the Cage, the Dragon roared and fought with such a ferocity that in the end, nothing could stop me from climbing the ladder. Not the asthma attack, not the broken nose, not the bruised ribs, nothing.
Jessica paused now, and reached up, off camera. Then, she pulled down the briefcase she’d won at WrestleFest. It was still dented and bloodstained. Staring at it for but a moment, she looked into the camera again.
Jessica: For four months, it’s eaten me up inside that I failed to win that Unites States Championship. But…for the last two…I’ve had a sliver of hope. Griffin Hawkins…the new EWC United States Champion. As I sat in the hospital, hearing those words, my heart was a bit broken. I wanted to be the one to end Luke Wolfe’s reign of terror.
No matter. It’s been done, and congratulations have already been said. Griffin, you’re no Luke Wolfe. And at the same time, I’m no Billy Feral. When I faced off against Luke Wolfe, I was blinded by rage, and wanted to hurt him. But you…I don’t have that same Kill Bill mindset. What I have is the immense drive to be the best. At Hardcore Revolution, my goal isn’t to hurt you, or send you to the Emergency Room, but if that is what it takes…then so be it.
The goal is to finally become the EWC United States Champion. At Hardcore Revolution, you’re entering my playground. I will do whatever it takes to leave as the United States Champion, because for me, failure is a burden so horrifying that I’d do anything to avoid it. I don’t want to say I’m the best. I want to show it. And if that means I have to climb a hundred ladders, hit you with a hundred chairs, and put you through a hundred tables, then that is what I will do.
Griffin, you are, without doubt the greatest EWC TV Champion of all time. The precedent you set will stand for a long time, and I mean more than just the amount of time you carried the belt. But the thing is, you never faced anyone who wanted it enough. You might even recall that I refused to take place in a free for all a while back, with the winner getting a shot at it. But when it comes to that United States Championship, I didn’t walk in and say I wanted it yesterday, and I didn’t find myself in this position by pure chance like the like of Eddie Crank.
I’ve fought my way to be here, Griffin, as have you. At Hardcore Revolution, I’m proving I’m still not the woman to mess with, and I’m leaving the arena as the United States Champion. I am committed to that, and I will not be swayed. You’re entering my playground, Griffin, and contrary to the name…I don’t play…I win.
Jessica pointed out a window, and the camera panned a bit. The earth was shown.
Jessica: I’m not coming back down there just to lose, Griffin. I’d tell you to count the days, but I’ve already done that for you. Seventy. That is the number. You’re at Sixty-seven right now, so I want you to savor the next 72 hours, because that is how many you have left with the EWC United States Championship in your clutch.
The scene ended now, zooming out from Jessica as it faded to black.
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