Swann, Cannon & Braddock vs. Frost, Marshall & Hayes

[SnowQueenSCW]

The Dark Side of the Sun


"Peace of Mind"

Selena breathed contently as she lay under the covers. She felt a mixture of various temperatures against her pale, cool skin. She feel the coolness of the blanket against several parts of her naked flesh, but she also felt warm in certain places, particularly every place her wife’s smaller form was snuggled up against her, the Snow Queen spooning her beloved pet.

For the umpteenth time, Selena sighed contently, cuddling against her wife and savouring the moment. It was the fourth Monday of the month at the Frankfurt Prison III, the date of Selena’s allowed conjugal visit with her wife. She had spent the whole post-pay-per-view week in Germany…

Well, that wasn’t technically true. First, she had spent a few days looking after Regan. The Hellcat had put in the fight of her life against Xander Valentine and Selena could not have been prouder of her sister-in-arms…

But even so, she had been denied what had been promised to her. A full, uncompromised, untainted match with the Executioner. For all that had happened with her own war with Xander, Selena couldn’t deny that the Hall of Famer and Executioner had given her a fair and solid match at the end of it all. Why was it so hard for Regan to have the same thing?

Regardless, the platinum-blonde had stayed with Regan until she was well enough to travel home. The Hellcat, knowing Selena’s schedule with Deanna, had bit the young Frost woman to go, keeping in touch with her partner and sister while Selena had spent the rest of the week/weekend in Germany and the Schoenburg Castle.

Another sigh, content as she was, and Selena quietly ran her foot against calf of Deanna’s top leg, squeezing her wife closer to her and burying her face in Deanna’s mane of red hair.

“I love how affectionate you are.” Whispered Deanna as she held onto her arms encompassing arms, wiggling a little against Selena playfully.
“Just for you, darling.” Selena whispered, placing a soft kiss against the nape of Deanna’s neck, an act that earned a shiver of delight from the redhead.

Slowly, the younger woman turned over onto her other side to face the wrestler, emerald eyes meeting sapphire ones. “Maybe I love you.” Deanna whispered without any prompting. Her smile indicated she didn’t need any.

“Maybe I love you.” Selena smiled back, leaning in to capture her wife’s lips in a gentle and full kiss. They had already explored the… ‘wifely rights’ to one another earlier and were now simply savouring each other, knowing it would be another four or so weeks till they would have another chance, if that.

Selena hadn’t said anything about that. She didn’t have to. Despite being incarcerated, Deanna knew the schedule of SCW. She knew what was on the horizon.

Taking Hold of the Flame, and with it the road to Rise to Greatness. It was SCW’s biggest Pay-Per-View, the show of shows, the biggest thing SCW put on…and the busiest time of the year for everyone in SCW. Far more press conferences, house shows, promoting…

It was very possible that her beloved wife – The Face of SCW if she had heard correctly – would be unable to visit her as often in the coming weeks, perhaps even being unable to make their monthly conjugals…

It’s only for a few months… Deanna told herself, seeking comfort in her wife’s cool warmth. They need her – you can’t have her all to yourself… after that, it’ll calm back down and she’ll be all yours again…mostly.

The sound of birds could be heard outside, clearly enjoying the spring season of Frankfurt. The additional liberties that had been granted to the redhead, that is to say the warden allowing her to walk through the outside ‘playpen’ with her wife rather than be cooped up in the ‘visiting section’ as part of Deanna’s good behaviour, meant that the two of them could appreciate such things together. Still, Deanna missed walking the  trails of Manhattan and the beaches and such with Selena. She missed crossing the bridges into New York and walking Times Square hanging off her wife’s arm. She missed seeing her wife dressed in big, round shades and maybe a big, round hat to block much of the sun and heat.

Nine more years… the dark part of her mind bitterly reminded her, but she forced that back. No, things were different now, even if she didn’t trust Talia Scythe at all.

“How are things?” she finally asked.
“Hmmm?” hummed the Snow Queen, her eyes having fluttered shut for a moment before snapping open at Deanna’s question. “In general?” she shrugged. “Not much since yesterday. Elsianna’s still having that issue with her memorization skills with math, but it’s Gerda and I are helping. She’ll get it.”

Selena had mentioned this before. Their oldest daughter was working her way through second grade, with some help from a translator, and, while she was beyond bright and creative, as her teacher had pointed out to Selena, she was having a bit of trouble with mathematics. At the educator’s prompting, Selena had invested in some fun games like blocks and math cards to play with her daughter. “It’s a little slow and she does get frustrated…” Selena added.

“That’s math for you…” Deanna rolled her eyes.
“I like math.” Selena shrugged. “For the most part. I don’t really care how fast a hummingbird will need to play against the wind velocity in order to reach a bird-feeder hanging X number of feet off the ground.”
The statement caused the redhead to regard her wife with mild surprise. “That’s an oddly specific scenario.”

Selena shrugged. “I…may have taken a math club challenge pamphlet from one of the stores just to see where I stacked up.” She added a laugh. “I didn’t do really well…”

“Well…you don’t use their equations in everyday life.” Deanna stated. “But no, that wasn’t what I meant to ask.” She hesitated a little. She didn’t like the bring up this subject anymore than she liked the existence of it and she had kept herself from bringing it up the entire time Selena had been in Germany this week. “With Talia…” she finally whispered.

The confusion on Selena’s face disappeared, to be replaced with a look of understanding. “Nothing yet.” She replied, a bit of disappointment in her voice. “She says she’s spreading out some feelers and contacts. I…” it was Selena’s turn to hesitate. “I had to give over the files of the case.”

Deanna’s eyes widened in shock. “You what?”
“I had to, Deanna.” Selena answered. “If she’s going to help us, she needs to know everything about the situation.”
“But…” Deanna sputtered, panic filling her. “She’ll use it against us! Give it to Malcolm or something-  she’ll blackmail you! Threaten to tell the world about it!”

She was about to say more when a pair of soft fingers pressed against her lips. “Deanna.” Whispered the platinum-blonde, trying to gently calm and comfort her wife. “Remember, we have our own power against Malcolm and the Scythes. And she’s exiled here. If she does anything like that, then it will only hurt her. And as for the world finding out about this…she won’t.” Selena settled on saying. “Again, because it hurts her cause. Malcolm wants her to solve this and not embarrass himself or the family. She exposes me, I expose her and Malcolm. Can you imagine how it will look if his daughter-in-law was caught snooping into the ‘closed case’ of a…” 

She didn’t finish the word. She didn’t want to call Deanna that. Because it wasn’t true! It was the biggest lie Selena had ever heard, and the fact that a judge had called her beautiful, loving wife that… she would never believe it. Not in a million years.

“But how long before someone finds out?” Deanna finally asked. “It’s been almost a year and you’ve managed to keep it quiet, but they will figure it out.”
“Figure what out?” Selena shrugged. “My family is in Germany, travel is limited with the way the world is right now, so I have to go to them until further notice.”
“That would stick for long.” Deanna sighed, though she snuggled closer to her wife’s warmth. “Sooner or later, people are going to find out that you’re married to a woman incarcerated for pedo-“
“Don’t say it.” Selena ordered, her sapphire eyes alight with quiet fury.
“My point is that, as soon as the world finds out…everything will change…” 

That particular part, Selena wasn’t sure of. Not of Deanna’s words. The redhead was one-hundred percent right. Selena had always kept her private life, aside from the obvious things like her marriage and children, relatively quiet. People knew the surface stuff, but the depths? Her past demons? Her history? No, she had kept that out of her work. They were two different worlds, only barely inter-lapping as far as she was concerned. 

But she understood what Deanna was talking about. In a world filled with women like Ravyn and Syren, and more dangerously as of late, Sienna, Bree and Glory, who would take any and every shot to take down an opponent, push the envelope well into the ‘personal’ territory, there was no telling what they would do this kind of information. What was certain, though, was that it wouldn’t be good.

“And if SCW management got wind of it, they might not want to associate with you – they could fire you-“
“I know.” Selena sighed, though she refused to release her wife from her arms. 

She didn’t understand the politics of SCW as well as her sister, Regan, did. Things like ‘merchandising’ and ‘investments’, words Sasha D. had thrown around when Selena had signed a new, multi-year contract back in January, Selena didn’t understand. But she knew enough to know that Sasha wouldn’t be too thrilled if she discovered that the wife of ‘The Face of SCW’ was incarcerated for charges of pedophilia. Even if Selena implored Sasha to understand that Deanna was innocent – wrongfully convicted – no… there was a good chance that, even then, Sasha, for the sake of the company’s image, would fire Selena. 

“It doesn’t matter.” Selena whispered to Deanna before returning her attention back to her wife. “If that happens, then it happens and I’ll deal with it.” She stated firmly. “I can deal with the slander and as for having a job with SCW – all I need to do is hold out till Regan gets her Supreme Champion status. If I get fired after that, then at least I leave with no regrets.”

“But you love it there…”
“I love you more.” Selena stated firmly, leaning into press her lips to Deanna’s forehead.
“Stop trying to be charming.” Deanna half chastised, half swooned. “I’m serious.”
“So am I.” Selena replied with the same firmness. “You and the children will always come before work. Even if I have to leave SCW till we get you cleared or I have to go somewhere else, I will. And I won’t regret it.”

But you don’t want to go anywhere else.

That part was true. Perhaps it was Glory shamelessly bringing up Selena’s past work with other promotions like IWC and ULW, but it only had further driven home the point that Selena felt that SCW was her home as a wrestler. She had learned so much elsewhere, what she needed to learn to survive in SCW and and appreciate the business and values she fought for. But that didn’t mean she could just find the same kind of belonging anywhere. No… if Glory’s words had done anything, it was the opposite effect of what “The Best in the World” had probably intended.

Rather than diminish the aspect of ‘loyalty’, Selena had felt empowered by them. Because Glory had been right. While Selena had won several championships outside of SCW, she hadn’t fully embraced who she was or anything of the sort until she had returned fully to SCW. She had never believed that she was a World-title level contender until she found her home in SCW. She had never believed that she could be the best until she had discovered something to fight for – that something being the morals and standards that Supreme Championship Wrestling instilled which had kept it a running, successful business for over fifteen years. 

She knew she wouldn’t find such a feeling anywhere but SCW… but if SCW didn’t want her anymore.

She shook her head. That day would come some day whether she wanted it to or not, but….that wasn’t now. That wasn’t today. “We’ll figure it out.” Selena settled on saying before returning to savouring her wife’s presence, a far better action than lamenting a potential future without SCW.

A future she didn’t want to contemplate.


________________________________________

The Royal Letter

Dear True Believers and the SCW Universe,

Last time I was promoing like this, I spoke about my past and the things I had witnessed. Glory Braddock, arrogant and smug as she is, had declared up and down that her ambush on me had “only been a taste”. And I had said my piece about that particular notion. I had rather hoped that, after that, the Cold Blooded pay-per-view would have been a sort of ‘palette-cleanser’ of sorts. Something that could put things back in order, the truth that I had always believed in – the values of SCW: good form, competition, supreme wrestling, and so forth – shining through.

And in several ways, it more than did – and in other ways, not so much.

Now, I want to take a second and say something that I know Glory never will. To Glory, sure, but mostly to Asher Hayes. Thank you. Thank you for giving me an amazing match. You’ve heard Glory whining and crying about it being a ‘handicap match’ or something like that, but you and me, Asher, we know better. The SCW Universe knows better. And you, sir, you didn’t pull your punches. You got a few good shots on me. I’m still sore from that a little, and it’s been over a week! 

Asher, I wanted to see what it was that managed to get one over on Regan Street and at Cold Blooded, you showed it to me. You showed me not just how amazing you are in the ring, but how full of hot air and crap that Glory is. The man I faced was not ‘past his prime’. The man I faced was a future World Champion. Regan saw it, and now I believe it, too. So thank you. I just wanted to get that out of the way before I get to more depressing stuff.

Because I’d be a fool not to acknowledge that there is a new SCW World Champion. Yes, after shot after shot, attempt after attempt, the Beauty Factory has finally managed to snag the World title from James Evans. I give that man all the credit in the world. As a person, I don’t really have much to say about him – my opinion on that doesn’t have a place here right now. As a wrestler, accepting every challenge and rising to every occasion on his own merit, he deserves so much respect. From the End of the Year Battle Royale, through Retribution, till the end…

Still, onward we need to go. And while I know he will, certainly, speak his mind soon about the events of Cold Blooded, it falls to myself, Ace Marshall, and my past Pay-Per-View opponent, Asher, to deal with the Beauty Factory: this time Chris Cannon, Sienna Swann, and, of course, Glory Braddock.

Let me start by asking something to the Factory as a whole: are you riding high at this point? Are you content? Sienna, with your victory over Jake Starr? Glory, with that cheap shot you just had to plant me with after our match? And Chris… well, I really do hope Ace broke your nose. Truth me told, after sticking it where it doesn’t belong in terms of matches and people’s lives and careers, it deserves a solid kick!

But, are you all happy? I mean, the World title is back in your camp! Congratulations! I saw you, Sienna, celebrating like a mad-woman with Bree in the ring, almost as if you had been the one to win the title, but we both know that isn’t the case. Still, I have to wonder…

How long will it last? More specifically, how long before Bree just ‘let’s someone win’ it?

You see, Bree may be riding the world’s greatest high right now as the United States and World Champion, but one thing that has always stood out amongst the lot of you is what I have been stating for so long. Every one of you, from the supposed ‘IronAngel’, to ‘Superman’, to… heh… ‘The Best in the World’ are not above twisting the narrative, taking shortcuts, and settling for less than you promise.

Was it not you, Sienna, that promised to become World Champion when you stacked the deck against James Evans? Only to settle on Bree Lancaster becoming World Champion?

Was it not you, Cannon, that promised to silence Ace Marshall for good, only to settle on trying to take him out when you couldn’t beat him in the ring?

Was it not you, Glory, that promised to beat me and ‘the old man’ Asher Hayes, proving that you were ‘the best in the world’? Only to settle on attacking me after you failed to do that – after I beat you?

Yes, Cold Blooded certainly did leave a bad taste in my mouth, but it is one I am quite familiar with, because it’s a taste I’ve experienced over and over again. Where people that thought that by stealing my words or ‘catchphrase’, by throwing the same shade that everyone else has for the past six or so years, that they had me all figured out. Where people thought my beliefs, my passion, was something that could be overcome and diminished and broken. That my heart, the heart that refuses to back down, the heart that tells me to keep getting back up, is a shallow mask that craves only title gold and the spotlight, popularity, and attention, blah blah blah… The taste when those people are proven wrong, when they can’t keep me down, when they can’t beat me? The Ravyns, the Xanders, the Giovannis, and, of course, the Brees? What happens?

They take what they can get. They settle for the cheap stuff. That’s the taste I am quite familiar with and that is what I tasted at Cold Blooded. Because you, Glory, you took what you could get. 

Now, I will give you credit. What you did wasn’t exactly original. Sure as hell wasn’t ‘one of a kind’ like you claim you are. But I won’t deny that it was effective. You attacked me after our match and walked away. More of a hit and run like a coward, but I’ll give you more credit: your logic? That I ‘had to pin Asher’ and not you so it ‘doesn’t count’? It’s not the most pathetic thing I’ve heard from someone before. You can talk to Bree Lancaster about that one. 

But ‘doesn’t count’…

Let me ask you, Glory. Would it have ‘counted’ if you had pinned Asher? Would you have remarked how ‘I didn’t pin Selena, so I didn’t beat her…’ or would you have invaded Twitter with the good old hashtag #BestInTheWorld, declaring yourself this supreme being over Asher and I? Declaring that you had proven your point and beaten the odds, embellishing the win as if you had just won the World title yourself?

Wait… you still tried to do that. What was it you’ve changed the narrative too now? That you’re the hero that SCW needs, is that it? That you say and do what’s best for SCW? That you proved me to be a hypocrite and a cancer?

Quick question – and a familiar one: How? You seem to keep skipping that part. The ‘how’ you did it. How you proved it. How any of your narrative actually works out given your actions and promises.

Me? Last time I spoke, I called you out on that. I said that Glory Braddock does what is best for Glory Braddock. I said it then, and I’m saying it now, because that’s the M.O. of the Beauty Factory. Twisting the narrative and doing whatever is best for them. And, let’s face it, Glory, that hasn’t changed all for you. It wasn’t for SCW that you attacked me after the match, Glory, just like it wasn’t for SCW that you did the same thing in my last Breakdown match with Madison Steward. You did it because that’s all you can do when it comes to me. You threw everything you had at me and you couldn’t keep me down. You, ‘The Best in the World’, just like I said you would, got more and more desperate and still could not take me and the ‘old man’ you promised to ‘put to pasture’. Me…’The fraud’ and Asher ‘the nostalgia act’? We brought the fight and we kept coming – proving you wrong at every single turn. And you couldn’t stand it. Your ego couldn’t stand it. Because I told you that no matter what you threw at me – no matter what you threw at SCW – we would keep getting back up. And when it came down to ‘who wanted it more’ and ‘who fought for it more’? That was me, Glory. Otherwise, you would have been up faster and unable to break that ‘pin that wasn’t on you and thus doesn’t count’. 

So you can say whatever the hell you want, Glory, about being the “best in the world’, being a ‘true hero’ of SCW – I don’t believe you. And, like I said back in New Orleans, the SCW Universe doesn’t believe it either. You’re none of those things, and if Cold Blooded was any indication, you proved to me that you’re not “one of a kind”. Talented as you are, skilled as you are, you’re just like the brats in the Beauty Factory and in Infamous, people that want the world handed to them on a silver platter but will never go that extra mile to earn it on their own. People who whine and cry when they don’t get their way rather than prove it and make their way happen through hard work and dedication. People who will never go that extra step to get back up when their knocked back down.

And sooner or later, the Beauty Factory is going to have nothing in their camp. Not the United States Championship and not the World Championship. Because all three of you? Chris, Sienna, Glory? You’ve proven that you have limits to how far you will go in this ring. You’ve proven that ‘how long you can last’, even you, IronAngel, is a very tangible thing. 

And I fully intend to test those limits tonight. Don’t get me wrong, I fully expect the same old schtick from the three of you – or should I say four or five of you? Because, let’s face it, Xiomara is gonna be there, ready to strike, and if Bree Lancaster can pull herself away from a mirror long enough to make an appearance, we know she’s going to be there. I sure as hell am not fooling myself: I expect to be a very bruised Snow Queen by the time this whole night is over. But I do not care.

Because I don’t care if it’s one of you, two of you, three of you, or five of you. I will keep coming until the right thing is done. I will keep fighting until what is truly ‘best for SCW’ is accomplished. SCW will keep fighting you until the right thing is done. And that’s taking back the two titles your group has and giving it to people that will actually fight for them. Who will honour what they stand for. Who will stand for what SCW stands for. 

But apparently, I should be ashamed of myself because I think one of those people is Asher Hayes? That right, Glory? I should be ashamed because they aren’t of the same ‘morals’ as I am outside the ring? That I’m teaming with people out of ‘popularity’ and nothing else?

Have you paid the least bit of attention to anything that’s been happening here, Braddock? The people and the SCW Universe may believe in what I do. Some don’t, and that’s fine. I don’t try and force these people to believe me, I try and prove it every time I am in this ring. And newsflash, Glory, I’m the last popular person on the roster by the roster. Xander, the Wonderland, hell, even the Helms aren’t particularly fond of me. They tolerate me, sure, but they’ll be the first to tell you that I’m annoying and all that. I’m not ‘popular’ with the roster, hell half of them want to kill me or put me on the disabled list on any given day. Pretty sure Ace would love to break my nose too! 

And I don’t like a number of people either, as people. Yeah, that’s true. I’m not a fan of Ace and his hedonistic lifestyle. Same with Asher. Not a fan. But you’re talking about private lives. You’re talking about personal beliefs, and as a woman that’s had to deal with persecution of such things because of who she was, you think I’m going to be so narrow-minded to judge people like that? Yeah, Ace may be a scumbag, but he’s not the one assaulting others en masse. Asher Hayes may be a former drug-addict, but he’s fought for his freedom from that demon and he’s not the one attacking people from behind after matches. But, seriously, you want to talk about morals?

Okay, if we’re doing this: how bout the woman that slept with a judge to win a beauty contest? How bout a woman that’s been the target of TMZ for the past year. Like I said, what matters to me is what happens in this ring, in this world of wrestling, but since you brought it up… but what do I know, right? You and your group are ‘the saints’, right? Doing what is ‘best for SCW’? ‘Curing it of cancers’, right? Being ‘role-models’?

You know, I almost have to laugh at that, Glory. You want to comment on ‘chemistry’. You want to tell Asher, Ace and I how we can’t ‘gel’ together, only to lump us into a group as ‘cancers’ like we already are a team. You call the three of us cancers, Glory, yet how are we hurting SCW? If I’m a glory-hound, then I’m just a woman working harder than everyone else, fairly, to get that glory. If Asher is a ‘nostalgia act’, then he’s someone that’s overcome his demons to be here and earn everything off his own back. And if Ace is an ‘entertainer’, well… then maybe he’s being true to himself.

As opposed to you, the ‘true hero’ of SCW. Tell me, Glory. What kind of message are YOU trying to send? Or the Beauty Factory is trying to send? If at first you don’t succeed, blame someone else? If you can’t win, cheat? Themes of adultery, blackmail, mob-like attacks… but you want to talk to me about morals?

Yes, maybe you and the Beauty Factory have the perfect chemistry compared to Asher, Ace and myself. Maybe that will aid you in Breakdown. It very well might. But I seem to recall a night where ‘the perfect chemistry’ didn’t work out at all. Where all of Beauty Factory, seemingly united, seemingly perfect in chemistry, failed. 

You know it as Retribution. And what was the reason behind that? Oh, that’s right. James Evans kept getting back up!

Hell, even Cold Blooded, it wasn’t the perfect chemistry of Beauty Factory that made Bree the double champion she now is. It was Syren that had to do it. So while you may have ‘better chemistry’ with your team, it’s beyond clear that you’re not quite as ‘untouchable’ and perfect as you claim. 

Myself? Asher? Ace? We don’t have to agree on morals. They don’t have to like me and I don’t have to like them. But between those ropes? One thing we can all agree on: that when it comes to “the fraud of SCW”, there isn’t a damn person that fits that name more than you, ‘Best in the World’. And between those ropes, where you vowed to ‘expose me’ or whatever – that is what exposes you and the Factory. That’s where I’ll do what’s been pissing you off for weeks. Same thing that happened with your ‘perfect chemistry’ at Retribution. I’ll follow James Evans’ lead as I did at Cold Blooded and keep getting back up.

You’ve proven that things, matches and even championships, Beauty Factory, can be bought and stolen. You’ve proven that. Congratulations. You’ve proven that justice and the right thing may not happen in one night. You’ve proven that, sometimes, the short-cutters and the bitter liars and cheaters? Sometimes they get the last laugh. Sometimes they win the battle. 

But there’s a reason they never win the war. There’s a reason the good and the hard-working and the passionate are always remembered and always survive and always win the long battle. Because they inspire. Because their hearts, their beliefs, their voice transcend the selfishness and cowardice of those like you. 

And I believe the same thing can and will happen in SCW. You may be able to buy, steal, and rob others of matches, victories, Trios contracts, and championships, but those things can also be earned. Those things can also be achieved and the day where those titles are once again so treated is coming. The day that those amazing, beautiful, incredible fans continue to wish for is coming. James Evans brought it. Asher Hayes brought it, even Ace Marshall brought it – and we will continue to bring it each and every day until, like with Infamous, we – SCW - moves past the Beauty Factory – moves past all of you – SCW still standing, still fighting, still believing.

Believe it, Beauty Factory. And watch us keep getting back up.

Sincerely,
Selena Michelle Frost