Manhattan, New York, Thursday, 22 December, 2016 11:00 a.m.
Off Camera
Classic Christmas music, specifically Sinatra's "Santa Claus is coming to town" is playing softly from the speakers in doctor's Brown waiting room. Barbara, the peronal secretary, is working on the computer, too busy to notice Helena Noir singing the song under her breath. You wouldn't think she's a Christmas person, and that's right, without a shadow of a doubt. But she does love Sinatra after all. The Queen Of Pain is casually browsing a random fashion magazine, not really reading it or paying attention to the pictures forecasting next season's trends, but simply as a way to kill some time while she waits for her scheduled appointment with the psychologist. The glass sliding door finally opens and an emotionally tested woman leaves the studio, wiping the tears from her eyes. Helena looks at her walking to the secretary's desk, opening her purse and writing a check.
"You're really getting payed to make people feel like shit?" She couldn't resist to quip, as she walks through the door, welcomed by the doctor's smile.
"Good morning miss Noir. Always with your witty remarks I see." Like someone who's now used to the place, she heads straight to the black couch. sitting on it. The doors open and the gorgeous Barbara wals in with two cups of coffee, placing them on the small glass table. Brown opens a closet behind his desk, pulling out a bottle of whisky and spiking his coffee with it. He eventually offers some to Helena, who kindly refuses.
"No thanks. Besides, isn't a bit too early in the morning to start drinking?"
The doctor smirks. "It probably is, but sometimes this job makes you feel so powerless you can only hope two fingers of whisky could drown this feeling." He lowers his head, shaking it.
"That's not very reassuring you know. You're supposed to fix problems doc, not to get caught up in them." Says Helena taking a sip of coffee.
"When you do this for so much time, you come to know that some thing, some lives are just too broken to be fixed... The best you can do, is try to ease their pain." Saying so, he pours some more liquor in his coffee, raising the cups to his lips. "Anyway, we're not here to talk about me. It's been a couple of weeks since our last meeting, how are you doing?"
"I'm fine, I mean, I flown back to Sweden right after my match in Victory, spent some time with my mother..." The doctor interrupts her. "You don't talk much about her..."
Helena takes some time to answer. "I've spent years without talking TO her. Until Alexander came back into my life."
"You really never talked with her since you left Sweden? How long was that? Ten years?"
"Thirteen" Says Helena. "Thirteen fucking years and now I'm regretting every single moment I wasted." She lets herself fall back on the couch.
"Why you never tried to contact her before then?"
"I was too young. Then too proud, too stupid. And lately too scared." She coyly look up at him. The doctor is just looking back at her. "I know you are not here for a session, but I can't help finding this rather interesting."
Helena stares at the ceiling, rolling her eyes. "I'm starting to see my whole life in a different way now doc. A couple of months ago, you would never hear me saying I was scared about anything. Neither I would admit I have regrets."
"What changed then?"
"I can't really tell. Meeting my step-brother after all those years, knowing the hell he went through, my career taking more sidesteps than I wanted it to..."
"And couldn't this be a consequence of your emotional status?" She quickly interrupts him. "No, I'm better than this, I'm not making excuses. Aiden Morrow was the better man last week."
"But you have to admit it, that's something that rarely happened to you before. I noticed you also changed your approach, both inside the ring and on your promos. .All that In-Your-Face attitude that brought you to the top in AXN, it seems to have faded as of lately. Maybe you should go back to that, to find the confidence you seem to have lost."
Helena smirks. "You're suggesting me to start being a bitch once again?" Doctor Brown chuckles. "I'm not suggesting anything. But if you think that would help you getting your career and your life back in track, you should really consider it."
If thoughts could make a sound, these ten seconds would have been filled by a deafening noise. "It's not like I can snap my fingers and get that Helena back. That wasn't a gimmick, and neither is this. I was in a bad place back then, being a feisty bitch felt natural at the time. Right now, I'm much more calm, at peace I would say. I'm not even mad at my loss, I mean, it stings, but I did all I could. It wasn't enough to go headlining Revolution, but I impressed both the fans and management."
Brown nods. "I heard you've been granted a shot at the Heritage title at the next special event..."
"Correct. And I'm confident I won't fail. Not again." Doctor Brown checks the clock hanging on the wall. It reads a few minutes after noon. "Do you have any plans for lunch miss Noir? There's a fancy restaurant just accross the street, we could grab something, and continue our talk afer that."
Helena nods, as she stands up from the couch and grabs her coat, before leaving the office, followed by the psychologist.
Victory Studios Charlotte, NC Friday, December 23, 2016 3:20 p.m.
On Camera
"Two times. Two episodes of Victory. Two losses."
The easily recognizable voice belongs, of course, to Helena Noir. She is standing on the apron, her elbows resting on the top rope. With her back turned on the camera, she stares at the empty ring. The camera moves around the squared circle, giving us a panoramic view of the Victory Studios, as the tapings for the third episode are literally a few hours away. Everything is ready, exactly as you see it on tv. Except for the excessive calmess, and the ghost town feeling. As the camera reaches the opposite side of the ring, Helena raises her head. Her face is still covered by the grey hoodie she usually wear over her ring gear. The tone of her voice is extremely calm.
"Twice, I came this close, just to see the win slip through my fingers. Twice I entered this ring, did exactly what I promised I would have done, dominated the match, entertained the fans, showing my opponents why I'm better than them. And twice, I was left empty handed."
Once again she lowers her head, standing in silence for some seemingly eternally long seconds.
"They say third time's a charm. And I have no reasons to doubt it. I am facing just one opponent this time, no further distractions taking my focus away from the prize, no overrated rookies spending the whole match outside the ring and stealing the win from me, reaping the benefits of my work."
She steps inside the ring, entering between the middle and the top rope.
"This is my playground. Between this four ropes, I feel home. Send whoever you want alone with me in here, and watch him tap. It doesn't matter what his name is, it doesn't matter how much he accomplished in his career. It doesn't matter if he's Jonathan Cage, the Epitome Of Violence, how many titles he collected, how many high-profile matches he has been into, if he has a better record than me here in Victory. All you did, Jonny, was beat a rookie. Color me not impressed."
She takes off the hoodie, dropping it on the canvas.
"I have a great record against legends, or veterans. Guys with a ton more experience than me, claiming they have seen everything in their career, that they went through hell and back. There's no coming back from the hell I'll send you to Jonathan. I fought many guys like you, people who have been wrestled their entire lives, This boundless experience in most cases is the cause of their demise. All those fights you've been through, they'll eventually come and take their toll, am I right? What's your poison, Eternal? Your Achilles tendon? Your neck? Your back? Your shoulder? No... I know it. I watched your tapes, I watched your match against Cheesecake. You seemed to be favoring your leg, your knee in particular. The left one is that it?"
The camera catches a wicked smirk on her face.
"You should have called yourself out of this Cage. You are not doing this for the money, even though you have a family to provide for. It's the passion driving you, right? That desire to keep challenging yourself, more than your opponents. To prove everyone you still got it, that you still belong here. I honestly pictured you smarter than this. If this is really the reason pushing you to lace up your boots and enter a wrestling ring, what the fuck were you thinking when you signed up for this battle against me? Two minutes. That's the time it would have taken you to take your smartphone, Google up my name and see how many guys like you had their LAST fight against me. And not becuase I deliberately ended their careers, I enjoy inflict pain but I am not that sadistic. Their broken bones, their torn muscles and joints were barely kept together by delusion. Their minds were just refusing to realize they were done already. I unveiled this deception they were living in, served them as a mirror, put them face to face with the reality. Their time was long gone, YOUR time is long gone. I'm not saying this will be your last match, you might have something left in your tank. But trust me, you're up for one hell of a wake up call tonight."
Once again the camera starts moving around the ring, completing the circle started at the beginning of Helena's promo.. She turns as well, facing once again the camera, placed now at bottom of the entrance ramp.
"And when you'll find yourself locked in my Fondu Au Noir, having troubles breathing, unable to tell which part of your body hurts the most, re-evaluating your career choices, last but not least the one who led you in this ring with me, promise me you won't try to fight the ineluctable. Give up, quit, live to fight another day. Because, you have my word, the longer this match goes, the slightest are your chances to walk out, literally, from it. After two defeats, I have now this chance to steer my career in Victory and prove why, despite those losses, I've been granted a chance at the Heritage title."
Sitting on the mat, her legs crossed, she stares right into the camera.
"You say you want to play a game. I'm waiting Jonathan Cage. Be sure you bring all your toys, your seventeen years of career, your accomplishments, your failures, your dreams, your bad knee. Bring everything. It doesn't matter, it won't help. At the end of the night I will take EVERYTHING from you."
