In an unremarkable gym somewhere, Natalie McKinley - dressed in a pair of dark grey shorts and a cyan crop top - is seen lying face down, using a lying leg curl machine. As she continues to exercise her hamstrings, into view, behind Natalie, wanders Jason O'Neil - the long-time friend of Simon Jones, and an acquaintance of Natalie's, who she last saw back in January, when they had a confrontation outside a Las Vegas nightclub.
Jason is dressed in a pair of black jeans, a green t-shirt, and stingy brim leather fedora. He looks around the gym, scanning the assorted equipment and the people using them, until he spots Natalie. He then walks over to her, and stands by the machine that she is using, but keeps himself out of her field of view. A few moments later, once Natalie has finished using the leg curl machine, she takes her hands off the side handles of the machine, and then moves her legs, as she turns herself around, to sit on the bench of the machine. It is then - as Natalie looks up from her seated position on the bench - that she catches sight of Jason; the expression that appears on Natalie's face makes her surprise evident - as does the tone of her voice.
Natalie: 'Jason? What are you doing here?'
Jason: 'What's the matter, Natalie? You look like you've seen a ghost!'
Natalie gasps, and then stutters as she replies.
Natalie: 'I...I'm just surprised to see you is all. The last time I saw you, you told me not to come looking for you again.'
Jason smiles, enjoying Natalie's obvious discomfort.
Jason: 'I believe I also said that if I wanted to talk to you, that I would come and find you - and well, here I am.'
Natalie: 'And so what is it that you want to talk to me about?'
Jason: 'Your match at Summer XXXTreme IV, of course. It's just thirteen days away, and you've got a big opportunity ahead of you.'
Summer XXXTreme IV being "thirteen days away" places the date of this encounter as Monday 18th July - the day after the most recent episode of Climax Control.
Jason: 'It looks like you've been hard at work, getting yourself ready for that match.'
Natalie: 'Would you expect anything else from me?'
It is a rhetorical question, but one that Jason answers anyway.
Jason: 'No - I admit I wouldn't.'
Natalie gazes towards the floor momentarily, looking away from Jason; she then raises her head, and asks him another question.
Natalie: 'Are you here to help me? Or are you here to torture me?'
A sly grin crosses Jason's face.
Jason: 'Now why would you say that, Natalie?'
Natalie: 'Because, on the last couple of occasions that you've spoken to me, your tone hasn't exactly been pleasant.'
Jason: 'That's probably putting it mildly.'
Jason smirks.
Jason: 'Like I said, I'm here because I want to talk to you about your match at Summer XXXTreme IV; you've got the chance to regain the Bombshell Roulette Championship.'
He then rubs his chin.
Jason: 'I find it ironic that you could leave Summer XXXTreme as a champion - I mean, bearing in mind what you did last year, when you cost Simon his chance to become the first ever three-time SCW World Heavyweight Champion.'
Natalie lets out a sigh.
Natalie: 'And here it is.'
Jason feigns ignorance.
Jason: 'Here what is?'
Natalie: 'The real reason you're here: to tell me what you think of me.'
An unperturbed Jason shrugs.
Jason: 'What is there for me to say on that subject? After what you did at last year's Summer XXXTreme, I don't think a lot of you; I think you should consider yourself very fortunate to even be allowed to set foot inside an SCW ring again, let alone to be allowed to challenge for one of their titles.'
He then smirks again.
Jason: 'I had hoped that Roxi Johnson would beat Kate Steele last week, to win the roulette title. And that's not because I like Roxi, or because I dislike Kate - it's because then you wouldn't have gotten to compete for that particular title at Summer XXXTreme.'
Natalie: 'That would have been okay with me: as I stated when I accepted Kate's challenge for this match, I don't care whether or not the roulette title is at stake.'
Jason scoffs at Natalie.
Jason: 'You will have to forgive me if I don't believe that - after your past actions, you haven't exactly given me reason to take anything you say at face value.'
Natalie looks away from Jason, somewhat ashamed, and unable to argue with his remark.
Jason: 'I just think that after how you denied Simon the chance to regain the world heavyweight title last year at Summer XXXTreme, it would have been ironic if Roxi had beaten Kate, and thus denied you the chance to regain the bombshell roulette title, three weeks before this year's event even begins!'
Natalie looks back at Jason, a flash of anger in her eyes.
Natalie: 'So when you said you want to talk to me about my match at Summer XXXTreme, what you really meant was, you want to tell me about how you're hoping to see me lose to Kate Steele - is that it?'
Jason: 'Well, I'm not sure I would go that far - though having said that, I have put a bet on Kate to win.'
Jason pretends to wince.
Jason: 'Sorry - I've just realised what I said; I probably shouldn't mention gambling to you, should I?'
Saying nothing, Natalie simply glares at Jason.
Jason: 'By the way, how is your arm feeling after what Kate did to you last night?'
Jason places a hand on Natalie's left shoulder, which causes her to grimace in pain.
Jason: 'Oh; sorry about that.'
He then pulls his hand away.
Jason: 'Still sore, huh?'
Natalie: 'Yes - it is. But by the time Summer XXXTreme comes around, I'm sure it will be fine.'
Jason: 'Well, good - I guess.'
Jason puts his hands on his hips.
Jason: 'You know, Natalie, you and Simon may both have competed in SCW, but that's where the similarities between the two of you end. Let's use Summer XXXTreme as an example: Simon appeared on each of the past two events, and both times he was in the main event, with the World Heavyweight Championship on the line; you, on the other hand, are going to be in your rightful place: the opening match of the show.'
Natalie looks down at the floor again, not wanting to listen to what Jason has to say.
Jason: 'I feel bad for Kate Steele, having to waste her time defending her title against the likes of you - as the best current Bombshell Champion, she deserves better. In fact, she wouldn't be out of place in the main event of Summer XXXTreme, whereas the closest you're going to get to a main event is, well, when you were stood at ringside last year.'
Natalie continues to stare at the floor, as she tries to ignore Jason.
Jason: 'The main reason you make such an effort to be friends with Crystal Millar is probably because you know that's the closest you're going to get to the World Bombshell Championship.'
This prompts Natalie to look at Jason, and to try to interrupt his diatribe.
Natalie: 'That's not fair! Crystal and I became friends a number of months before she even won the title.'
He ignores her though, and carries on.
Jason: 'I have no idea why Melody Grace was so keen to have you be her tag team partner. It's almost two years since you wrestled your first match, and what have you got to show for your career so far? A solitary reign as the Bombshell Roulette Champion, which lasted a grand total of fifty-six days - that's pathetic.'
Jason takes his hands off his hips, and then prods Natalie's left shoulder with his index finger.
Natalie: 'Ow!'
Natalie uses her right hand to swat away Jason's hand; she then stands up.
Natalie: 'What are you doing, Jason?'
Jason: 'It's a shame Kate Steele released you from that submission hold of hers when she did - if she hadn't let go of it, she could have done us all a favour, by ripping your shoulder out of its socket, and saving us from having to watch you in the ring, trying and failing to make something of your wrestling career.'
Jason sighs, before continuing.
Jason: 'She could yet do that at Summer XXXTreme, but I can't take any chances.'
Natalie: 'What do you mean?'
Jason: 'I would say I'm sorry, Natalie, but that would be a lie.'
Jason grabs Natalie's left wrist, and then bends her arm against her back, into a hammerlock, applying pressure to her already hurting shoulder; Natalie screams out in pain, as she struggles against the hold.
Natalie: 'Why isn't anybody doing anything to stop this?'
Glancing around, Natalie notices that everyone else in the gym is frozen in place.
Natalie: 'What the...'
Her thought is cut off, as Jason wrenches the hold, leading to Natalie letting out another wail. Just as the pain in Natalie's shoulder begins to get even more excruciating, it is then that she sits bolt upright in bed, in her cabin aboard the Royal Princess. Natalie glances around the room in bewilderment, and as she touches her left shoulder, the realisation hits her that it was all just a dream.
Natalie: 'Fuck.'
Natalie leans over towards the nightstand next to her bed, on which is her mobile phone, which she uses to check the time: it is just before 1 a.m. on Tuesday 26th July - the second night of the Summer XXXTreme cruise. Natalie runs her fingers through her hair, the dream still fresh in her mind.
Natalie: 'What the fuck was that?'
Natalie then lies back down, wishing to drift off to sleep again, and as she does so, the scene changes to later that day, to now show Jacqueline Jones - wife of Simon - beside the larger of the two pools on the Royal Princess. While her husband is nowhere to be seen, Jacqueline - who is wearing a pink swimsuit - is lying on a sun lounger, reading a book.
As Jacqueline continues to read her book, it is not long before someone approaches her - that being Natalie, who is wearing a black strapless bikini.
Natalie: 'Do you mind if I join you?'
Jacqueline looks up at Natalie and smiles politely.
Jacqueline: 'No, of course not - be my guest.'
Jacqueline sits up, and retrieves a bookmark; having used the bookmark to keep her place, she puts the book down on the floor. She then lies back, as Natalie lies down on the sun lounger next to her.
Natalie: 'What are you reading?'
Jacqueline: '"Song of the Skylark", by Erica James - it was recommended to me by a friend.'
Natalie: 'Is it any good?'
Jacqueline nods.
Jacqueline: 'I'm enjoying it so far.'
Natalie: 'Maybe I'll have to check it out for myself.'
Natalie has a glance around; as she observes the other people that are by the pool, something catches her eye.
Natalie: 'It looks like there are a couple of German SCW fans on this cruise.'
Jacqueline frowns.
Jacqueline: 'Why do you say that?'
Natalie: 'Do you see those over there?'
Natalie points in the direction of a pair of sun loungers that are currently unoccupied, but both of which have towels on them, reserving them; Jacqueline laughs.
Jacqueline: 'I hadn't spotted those until now.'
Natalie continues to gaze around the poolside area; she then looks at Jacqueline, as she asks her another question.
Natalie: 'Where are Simon and Matty?'
Jacqueline: 'They've gone to the toddlers' area. By which I of course mean, Simon has taken Matilda there.'
Natalie: 'They've left you to relax on your own, then.'
Jacqueline: 'Yeah, something like that.'
A brief silence follows. Natalie then fidgets anxiously, which Jacqueline notices.
Jacqueline: 'Is something the matter, Natalie?'
Natalie: 'No.'
Natalie sighs.
Natalie: 'It's just...'
She hesitates, before asking a question.
Natalie: 'Is Jason on board the ship?'
Jacqueline: 'Jason? No, I don't think so - if he is, I haven't seen him, and Simon hasn't mentioned him at all; I think the last time I saw Jason was on last year's cruise.'
Natalie breathes a sigh of relief, which just makes Jacqueline more curious.
Jacqueline: 'Are you alright, Natalie? Are you trying to avoid Jason? Did he do something to you?'
Natalie: 'Only in a dream.'
That causes Jacqueline to frown again.
Jacqueline: 'What?'
Natalie chuckles to herself.
Natalie: 'A dream I had last night; I was in a gym...'
Natalie smiles wryly.
Natalie: 'Yes, as if I don't spend enough time in the gym during the day, when I'm asleep I dream about being there as well.'
Jacqueline laughs at Natalie's quip.
Jacqueline: 'I'm not really surprised to hear that.'
Natalie smiles at Jacqueline.
Natalie: 'Anyway, as I was saying, I was in a gym, it was last Monday - the day after the last show - and I was working out, when all of a sudden, Jason appeared; he spent what seemed like several minutes belittling me, told me he had put a bet on Kate Steele to beat me at Summer XXXTreme, and then he tried to re-dislocate my left shoulder.'
Jacqueline: 'That's some dream. And it does sound like something I could imagine Jason doing. Well, except for trying to injure you - I'm not sure he would go that far.'
Natalie: 'No, probably not.'
Jacqueline: 'I wouldn't be surprised if Jason actually has put a bet on you to lose your match. Simon has shared with me Jason's opinion of you; I know that after what happened last year, while Simon has forgiven you, Jason hasn't been willing to do the same.'
Natalie sighs once more.
Natalie: 'Yeah. At least Simon forgave me though.'
Jacqueline: 'That didn't surprise me at all - that's the way Simon is; if you wanted to count how the number of people he bears a grudge against, you wouldn't need many fingers.'
Jacqueline places a reassuring hand on Natalie's arm.
Jacqueline: 'You ought to put what happened last year to one side, Natalie - I know Simon has. Now this year, he wants to see you win; he's not here just to be the host for the show, or because it's a free holiday for us: he would also like to see you become a champion - as would I.'
Natalie: 'Thanks, Jacqui.'
Natalie smiles at Jacqueline, who smiles back at her.
Natalie: 'It will be far from easy. Kate has been a dominant champion, and the type of match doesn't exactly favour me. But, as long as my shoulder is still in its socket, I'll keep fighting, to try to win that title.'
Natalie covers her mouth, as she attempts to stifle a yawn.
Natalie: 'Before that though, there's the small matter of Drake and Mikah's wedding, on Friday.'
Jacqueline: 'Yes, I'm rather looking forward to that; I haven't had chance to meet Mikah yet, to show her that I'm not imaginary.'
Jacqueline is referring to something Mikah said to Simon in a conversation they had earlier this year, at My Bloody Valentine II; Natalie laughs.
Natalie: 'Do you know that Mark Ward actually accused Mikah of sleeping with Simon?'
Jacqueline nods her head.
Jacqueline: 'Yes, I had heard about that. I know better than to think that Simon would cheat on me - I learned that lesson after wrongly accusing him of having an affair with you.'
Having been reminded of something that she would prefer to forget, Natalie is not sure what to say - fortunately for her, Jacqueline soon speaks again, saving her from having to say anything about that subject.
Jacqueline: 'Are you looking forward to the wedding?'
Natalie: 'Yeah, I suppose so - although I'm not looking forward to having to wear a dress.'
Jacqueline taps her chin.
Jacqueline: 'Now that you mention it, I don't think I've ever seen you wearing a dress - or a skirt, for that matter.'
Natalie: 'That's because I don't - not if I can help it; I am unashamedly a tomboy.'
Jacqueline responds in a sarcastic tone.
Jacqueline: 'Really? I would never have guessed.'
Natalie and Jacqueline share a laugh.
Jacqueline: 'Seriously though, with a body like yours, I'm sure you will look amazing, whatever you wear on Friday.'
Natalie grins, flattered.
Natalie: 'Thanks, Jacqui.'
Jacqueline: 'You're welcome, hun.'
And with that, as Natalie and Jacqueline's conversation is about to drift onto other topics, the scene fades to black.
The scene opens inside Natalie's cabin on the Royal Princess, on the morning of Friday 29th July. Now wearing a pair of dark grey shorts and a cyan crop top, Natalie is lying on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. Propping herself up on an elbow, Natalie turns to face the camera, and begins to speak.
Natalie: 'In a few hours' time, the first big event of the Summer XXXTreme IV weekend will take place: the wedding of Mikah and Drake Green. I've already finished my workout for the day, and so before I have to start to think about smartening myself up for the wedding, I'm going to kill some time by talking about the thing this weekend that is of the greatest concern to me: my match on Sunday against Kate Steele.'
Natalie then sits up.
Natalie: 'But just before I go any further, I need to let you all know that you can get a ten percent discount at GymShark.com by using the code "McKinley10" at the checkout; McKinley10 is all one word, and it's the numbers one and zero, not the word ten.'
Having done her bit to advertise her sponsor, Natalie can now concentrate on discussing her match at Summer XXXTreme.
Natalie: 'When I came to the aid of my friend Crystal Millar, almost six weeks ago now, as she was being attacked by Kate Steele, I wouldn't have expected that action to lead to a match between myself and Kate. But here we are, two days away from me and Kate colliding inside the six-sided ring, with the SCW Bombshell Roulette Championship at stake - having come this far, I may as well go the whole the way, and try to take Kate's title from her.'
Natalie smirks.
Natalie: 'It could be argued that this match between Kate and I is more than just six weeks in the making. You see, while me interjecting myself into Kate's altercation with Crystal is ultimately what led to this match, she had stuck her nose in my business prior to that. Now admittedly, that was just on Twitter - she hadn't done anything physically to me at that point - but after all of her negative tweets about me, as well as others, it's about time that Kate got her comeuppance. And who better to give Kate her just deserts than me? I can't think of anyone.'
Natalie's smirk changes to more of a grin.
Natalie: 'I have recently re-read all of the unpleasant things that Kate has tweeted about me, and I'm not going to sit here and recount all of them - if you would like to read each of them, you can head to Twitter and see them for yourselves - but reading through those all of those tweets again just...'
Natalie clenches her right hand, forming a fist.
Natalie: 'They just gave me extra motivation - as if it was needed - to beat Kate this Sunday.'
Natalie then lets out a sigh, as she relaxes her hand.
Natalie: 'Twelve days ago, just as we seemed to be heading serenely towards our match at Summer XXXTreme, Kate stoked the flames, when she attacked me backstage at Climax Control - having attacked Crystal, Cindy Warren before that, and now me, these backstage attacks are becoming something of a habit for Kate.'
Natalie looks down at the floor.
Natalie: 'I'm going to try to not get riled up as I talk about this.'
She then takes a deep breath, lifts her head up, and continues.
Natalie: 'Kate knew exactly what she was doing when she attacked me twelve days ago. And I don't mean that she did it simply to try to soften me up ahead of her match.'
Natalie shakes her head.
Natalie: 'She chose to specifically target my left shoulder. It's no secret that I dislocated my left shoulder last year, and although I have long since recovered from that, I am now more susceptible to suffering an injury to that shoulder than I was before. And so because of that, I have to begrudgingly give Kate some credit, as what she did was smart: if your opponent is the strongest woman on the roster, then it certainly makes sense to target their most vulnerable body part - I understand why she did what she did.'
Natalie touches her left shoulder.
Natalie: 'But while I may understand the motive for Kate's attack, I'm definitely not going to let her get away with it - oh no!'
Natalie shakes her head again - more vehemently this time.
Natalie: 'It might be worth me reminding you all that Kate was actually the one that made the challenge for this match. When I accepted her challenge, I said that I didn't care whether or not the roulette title would be at stake - and there's a part of me that still feels that way, but now, after what Kate has done to me subsequently, I want to take that title from her. And not so much because I want the roulette title for myself, but more so because I know how much holding that title means to Kate, and so I want to deprive her of that - that would be the best form of retribution that I could get.'
Natalie smiles.
Natalie: 'Kate is on the verge of becoming the longest reigning Bombshell Roulette Champion in SCW history - all that stands between her and that accomplishment is me. At present, the record for the longest reign as SCW Bombshell Roulette Champion belongs to Mercedes Vargas, who held the title for twenty-five weeks, until she lost it at Blaze of Glory IV. And who was the one to finally defeat Mercedes?'
Natalie pauses, as if to allow time for someone to answer her question.
Natalie: 'It was, of course, me; I've already ended a record breaking reign as champion, Kate - on Sunday, I plan on stopping your reign from surpassing that record.'
Natalie nods her head.
Natalie: 'However, just as it wasn't easy for me to beat Mercedes, I know that it's not going to be easy for me to beat Kate either. I'll give credit where credit is due: it's no fluke that Kate has held the roulette title for as long as she has - she really is the best current Bombshell Champion in SCW. And to make this match even trickier for me, the only way to win is by submission; whatever you may think of Kate and her husband's claims that she is the best submissionist - which I'm sure isn't actually a proper word - she is definitely more suited to this type of match than I am.'
Natalie sighs.
Natalie: 'Submission wrestling isn't really my thing; perhaps I'll just have to resort to inflicting so much pain on Kate the she eventually passes out - that would count as a submission, right?'
There is a momentary pause; Natalie then shrugs her shoulders.
Natalie: 'I guess there's only one way for me to find out.'
Natalie gets up from the bed, and stands up.
Natalie: 'The time for talking is nearly over, Kate. Just remember, that everything I do to you on Sunday evening, you brought upon yourself. I'll see you in the ring.'
Natalie glares at the camera, and after a few seconds, the scene then fades to black.
