<Anything between these signs is considered to be spoken in Spanish and translated into English for the benefit of the viewer>
Just when you think you have everything going your way, it all falls apart.
Such was the case with Las Bandidas de Gata Negra in SCW. They had a tag title opportunity before them, Maria had been drafted into trios where victory meant she, and by extension they, had one match of their choosing regardless of what they asked for. But they ended up falling short in both cases, and with failures beginning to mount, they suddenly vanished without a trace. No explanation was ever given, only assumptions made as to why they were no longer being booked to compete. In that things, the landscape of SCW was slowly changing, adding new challenges and obstacles for the future.
That would be what the duo would face when they finally did return.
As stated already, only assumptions could really be given behind why the pair vanished. A common theory was that it had something to do with Scarlet Grey, the former partner of Valeria when she still went by Ruby Amarant, but a lot of those ships sank when Scarlet returned from injury just as Las Bandidas disappeared. Injury was the next most accepted belief, with many thinking that if one was hurt the other was simply deciding to take a break until they were back at full strength. And yet, neither was ever listed on any official injury reports released by the company. In fact, the only explanation given by their representatives was that the simply had asked for time off, citing personal reasons. Naturally, this only turned up the heat on trying to get all the details, but the only ones who could truly give those answers were the two women that no one could track down.
Valeria Garcia and Maria Vencejo had their reasons, alright, and they knew it was better if nobody knew exactly what they were up to during the cycle that lead up to the Retribution pay-per-view.
*****
February 18, 2020
The trios tournament event had come and gone, and unfortunately things had not worked out as they had hoped. Maria's best efforts simply did not mesh well with partners she was unfamiliar with, and between Marie Jones' desperation to prove herself and Owen Cruze's goody-goody ways, she had been left vulnerable and her team failed to even escape the first round. She had apologized to Valeria once they were back in the locker room, but she had been put at ease by the statement from her partner that she wasn't banking on the tournament repairing any of their recent setbacks given the chaotic format. All they could do was shift gears, and while it was easy to assume at first that this pertained to SCW, in actuality the wrestling organization was the last thing on either lady's mind.
Perhaps that was why the two found themselves in familiar territory on this night, hearkening back to the “good old days” down in Mexico before they had to separate to avoid being captured and killed by the vast majority of the underworld south of the border. It was late into the night, well past the closing time for most stores, though that didn't stop Maria from finding a way into one such place in Dallas that sold computers of all kinds along with other assorted technology. Valeria was situated in a hotel room not too far away, having checked out of the one they had for SCW to keep themselves off the radar on that front while they worked. Her eyes were glued to the laptop in front of her as she carefully guided Maria, using the security cameras of the store to her own advantage.
Garcia: As I thought, the cameras cover the entire store, so nothing is out of sight. I only see one guard patrolling, and he's about two aisles down from you and walking away from the direction you're facing now.
Vencejo: Checking off your shopping list is going to take some time, so I think he's going to need to go to sleep before I can get to work.
Valeria gave a small sound of agreement as she took a moment to double-check the aforementioned list as Maria did her thing, quickly and quietly moving towards the guard while staying in his blind spot before clobbering him in the back of the head with a hard blow using the slapjack she carried for situations like this. After making sure he was out cold, she shrugged off the pack she'd worn in and began hunting for various items that got shoved into it, mostly different laptops but there were a few other things that had her curiosity growing.
Vencejo: I don't mean to offend chica, but a lot of this stuff just doesn't seem like it's going to be worth our while to steal.
Garcia: Maybe not to you, but to me it's going to be invaluable for when we move on to the grand finale, so to say.
Vencejo: You still haven't enlightened me on what exactly we're ultimately going after. All I know is that it give you some sense of closure and it's definitely valuable. I'm all aboard based on that last one alone, but you know what they say about cats and curiosity.
Garcia: If you want me to be honest Mala Suerte, the less you know the better-
Vencejo: No chica. You seriously need to stop bottling things up like this. If I'm going to be at my best for whatever you're getting me into, then I need you to trust me with intel as much as I'm trusting you to keep me both alive and out of prison.
Valeria pulled back from her laptop a bit, wincing at the furious response that blasted from her earpiece. She had to remove it temporarily to make sure she still had her hearing, watching her hijacked security feed to make sure Maria hadn't outright stopped her “shopping spree.” The thief continued her task, although any chance she got she aimed glares in the direction of the nearest camera, making it clear she wasn't letting this go that easily. The two never really had any issues like this while working, but Valeria knew her partner-in-crime had a point.
She just hated the idea of opening up about parts of her past she'd rather leave buried.
Garcia: Alright... let's finish up here, and when you get back I'll fill in the blanks. Just... please don't hate me after you hear-
Vencejo: If I haven't come to hate you yet chica, then I think you're worrying too much about nothing.
Valeria took some comfort in that response, but no smile came to her face to show it. It sounded contradictory to try and hide anything about her past lives when she had willingly and openly suggested targeting people involved in them, but part of her had been hopeful the allure of taking treasure from wealthy yet corrupted individuals to do as they pleased with would be all she'd need to pacify Maria. The thief, however, was making it clear how much she cared for the genius and truly did value their friendship, doing whatever she could to try and get her mysterious partner to be more open about how she got to this point and why it's bothered her that she even made this suggestion in the first place.
Maria pulled the full pack over her shoulders and quickly made her way out of the store the same way she broke in, and once she was out of sight Valeria wasted no time in erasing all trace of their activities from the servers before relinquishing control, letting out a sigh of relief that they were at least one step closer to the endgame. She glanced at the window she had open that was hidden behind the video feed she'd been working with, eyes narrowing into a dangerous glare at the figure staring back at her from the photo on the page before she closed it down, refusing to let her mind recall his voice or anything it had said way back when. It was meant to be a simple task of keeping up to date on his current location and nothing more.
Garcia: You hold no power over me anymore... and soon you'll come to realize why the way you treated me was a mistake, drittsekk.
Vencejo: <I don't know what language that is, but whatever you said doesn't sound pleasant.>
Valeria turns her head to see Maria waltzing back into their room, sliding the pack off her shoulders and setting it on the bed. She unzips it so Valeria can begin taking stock of rwhat's inside and marking them off her list.
Vencejo: I didn't get all of your shopping done, unfortunately. Either this store was missing a few parts or they're sold out since I didn't even find any stashed away in the back.
Garcia: It's fine. We have time to fix that before we actually proceed to getting this plan underway.
Vencejo: Do we? I doubt SCW will-
Garcia: I asked them for a leave of absence for us for a little while, so we could focus on this. They agreed after I gave them some phony story about personal matters needing to be resolved on our end. Considering you weren't exactly in thwe best of moods after how trios went, I figured a break would be worth our while as it is.
Maria was taken aback by this news, and a little upset at how nonchalantly Valeria delivered it even if that was the norm with her. She wanted to voice her disagreement with this, but held her tongue when she thought about it and realized she did need to clear her head a bit. Despite trios not being a necessary thing she couldn't afford to lose, she still felt quite bad about the ordeal and needed a way to get her mind off of it. The fact that she could return to her roots as Mala Suerte tonight had certainly helped with that.
Vencejo: So, care to enlighten me on this endgame that's so important we're now lying to SCW about time off so we can focus on it?
Garcia: Let's just say a face from my past has built up enough of a backlog of karma that he deserves everything that's coming his way, and I think we'll be far better off after this than simply taking what SCW pays us every week. I know I will, anyway...
Vencejo: You know I'm going to need more to work with, chica. I've let you fly with being cryptic for long enough... even I have my limits, especially if I'm getting involved with a past you've barely given me any details about.
Valeria casts a glance to her partner before sighing in defeat, hoping she could've deterred this topic a little longer. Maria had a point, however, and Valeria couldn't keep her in the dark. After all, despite her confidence there was a small part of her that had a feeling she was partaking in a suicide mission, and it was only fair to give Maria a chance to back out if even she didn't feel comfortable with this level of high stakes. After finishing her checklist and making sure to note down what they would still need, she slowly walked over to her laptop and navigated back to the page she had closed down before Maria's return, the thief peering over her shoulder and her eyes widening once she saw the photo.
Garcia: There is our target.
Vencejo: Ivan Telebor!? <Are you out of your mind? He's an infamous name even among the cartels in Mexico. Crossing him is a death wish!>
Garcia: If that's the case, then why am I still here? Surely he would've exhausted most of his resources trying to get his little diamond in the rough back after she skipped town on him.
That statement had Maria's eyebrows raising, her mouth agape in shock at the thought of her friend having some sort of history with one of the wealthiest and most dangerous men in the entire world. Valeria knows the thief is expecting details, but this is when her gaze lowers to the floor and she grits her teeth, fighting back a sudden headache that's decided to plague her in the wake of what little thought she's already given the Norwegian entrepreneur.
Garcia: I'm sorry Maria... I know I should fill you in on the reason why we need to do this... why
I need to do this, but... there are still many painful memories from that life that my mind refuses to recall. Trying to piece together how I should explain it to you just gives me nothing but a headache in return, as though my brain is actively telling me it will not even exert the energy to recall those days. You will know the reasons why, this I promise you, but until I can recount them with enough clarity so you truly understand, I'm afraid I have to ask that you simply trust in me, unless...
Valeria trails off, knowing Maria will know exactly what she was going to say next. This was her chance to back out and let this matter go. She wanted to take it, having heard plenty of horror stories about this man from those she'd stolen from in the past, but the look on Valeria's face made it clear that whatever happened between them wasn't a simple matter of desiring petty revenge. Whatever he'd done had scarred a woman she didn't think could even feel enough to end up in such a state, and this realization immediately had her embracing a surprised Valeria, holding her tightly.
Vencejo: You can tell me when you're ready chica, though I'd prefer if it's before we do anything reckless. We've done what we needed to for tonight... no need to worry any more about it right now, OK?
Valeria slowly returned the hug, her mind still trying to process the fact that Maria was this willing to care about her. Even Scarlet, for all her flaws and problems, had been willing to show care towards her when she was still Ruby. It clashed with every past experience she'd had prior to her initial trip down to Mexico and that fateful meeting with Maria that would lead them to where they are today. Maybe she didn't need a reason to keep her issues locked away behind memory walls believing a new life meant they no longer bothered her.
Maybe the idea of truly having someone in her life that genuinely cared about her wasn't such a farfetched fairy tale after all.
*****
Our shot opens up in a fairly familiar spot for anyone who remembers who we're here to see, and that's on one of the rooftops in the city. Given that we're in Las Vegas, it should come as no surprise that we're here at night and all of the brilliant lights are on and drawing the attention of any sap down below looking for a good time, either in hopes of getting lucky or just begging to blow everything they have and return home empty-handed. Standing at the building's edge looking out over the sea of sin and debauchery below are two female silhouettes. After a moment, they slowly turn and take a few steps towards the camera, stepping far enough away from the bright lights that we see the familiar faces of Las Bandidas de Gata Negra. Maria looks like she's holding a fairly fat stack of cash that she has no problem counting in front of us, leaving behind the question of how she got it, but Valeria's smirk is far more subdued and amused at being back in front of a camera for the first time in quite a while.
Garcia: Did you miss us?
Garcia: There's no need to answer that rhetorical question, because Maria and I both know the truth. Of course we weren't missed... I'm sure quite a few people out there were even ready to gloat about how they were the reason we were no longer around. Sorry if I'm bringing a few of you back down to earth prematurely, but Las Bandidas de Gata Negra aren't going away that easily. We simply had to take some time away for reasons that do not concern any of you. By all means, though... come up with your own theories and excuses to entertain yourselves or try prying to see if you can possibly get any semblance of a mental advantage over us. After all, all's fair in love and war, and I'm sure those same people would simply 'love' the idea of yours truly doing a little digging of my own and sharing some dark secrets that weren't meant to become public knowledge. All you truly need to concern yourselves with is the fact that we are back, and our hunt for gold will now resume.
Vencejo: And cue tag teams suddenly getting upset because of the fact that we're back now, because they're all afraid we're going to try and make a case of trying to leapfrog them to go straight to the tag titles. Seriously? You guys are making this way too easy to read, and that's why you find yourselves struggling with the fact that another team is back in the picture now. You'll try to play us off as an afterthought while proving just how much of a threat we are because you can't help but make a fuss about our return and what it could mean to your standing around here. Thank you for the free rent you're already giving us inside your heads, because we'll gladly take it and make the most out of our stay while stealing your place on the ladder around here, just as you feared we would.
Maria can't help but laugh as she uses the stack of money like a fan, knowing that sight alone is likely to get under the skin of several people. Valeria glances over at her with a raised eyebrow, but Maria shrugs it off and keeps going.
Vencejo: Of course, a few things have changed while we've been away tending to other matters, haven't they? The titles are now in the hands of the team that probably thinks they'll hold onto them forever because they 'are' the division, and probably believe they have our number as well while conveniently forgetting about the one win we do so happen to hold over them as proof that they should be very worried about us coming back around. The luchadors we dealt with some time back turned out to not exactly fit that bill because a few faces from the past are desperately seeking one last round of glory to remind themselves of why they once were. The blind faith in a world brought to life by imagination and harmful substances continues to drive some individuals to prove why they've lost touch with reality. I could go on, but I'm certain we'll be face-to-face with some of these problems sooner rather than later and will deal with them accordingly.
Garcia: Of course, our attention has to turn to the committee that has been tasked with welcoming us back, which it seems consists of the Steward family. Which ones? We haven't been told, even though I would say it's fairly obvious it'll be Giovanna and Madison. After all, when is the last time Katie felt it necessary to 'grace' the tag division with her presence when she's far more focused on trying to treat her career as though she were a movie star and whatever arena we're in is her Hollywood back lot? Now certainly wouldn't be the time, considering she likely believes we are beneath her despite her lack of accomplishing anything worthwhile as far as I can remember. Perhaps I should be giving more respect to her as a member of SCW's hall of fame, but that would imply I respect or even care for the honor of having your name immortalized in a website's archives for as long as anyone is willing to bring it up as a point of discussion. After all, people do tend to forget things as time passes, no matter how valuable or important it may have seemed once upon a time.
Valeria slowly trails off, her mind seemingly shifting to something else as she turns her head and starts virtually staring off into space, which is fairly abnormal for her to lose focus to say the least. Maria immediately picks up on this and gently pokes her wrist with the stack of money before she pockets it and picks up the proverbial ball.
Vencejo: I'm sure Gigi and Maddy are probably offended, which itself shows the thin skin they have towards being called out on the bullshit preached by the Stewards as a whole these days. After all, Katie is supposedly the 'goddess' and her family members are, I presume, supposed to be her 'left and right hands in punishing those who defy her.' Where I come from, that would be classified as the work of grunts, goons, henchmen... however you want to put it, it's just proof of the low tier these two truly sit at no matter how much they praise and worship Katie as though she's suddenly going to make all their problems and failures disappear. If all my problems could go away that easily, I'd get down on my knees and start praying right now. Except... we all know it doesn't work that way. Stories from whatever your religion's preferred reading material happens to be are just that, but people still blindly follow them like sheep, hoping to be rewarded at the end of the day for risking their well-being for no real reason. Please, someone, enlighten me: what does 'goddess' Katie give as a reward for fighting on her behalf and never being able to succeed no matter how long you keep at it? I'm legit curious at this point.
Maria extends her arms, almost like she's begging for someone to actually answer her question even though she knows she can't get an answer in this format. Valeria seems to snap out of whatever trance she fell into at the sight of this, shaking her head a bit at her partner's antics before getting back to business.
Garcia: Which set of Stewards we face is ultimately irrelevant. We'll even be nice for a change and put forth the offer to face all three in a handicap match if they want the advantage they so desperately need. The Stewards in any combination pose no threat to us. They are merely the stepping stone that will put us back into the conversation of who should challenge for tag team gold next, and if they do wish to accept our offer it will only add value to our victory when all three of them fall in battle, victims of their own hubris for believing the facts ever supported the idea that they were capable of defeating us. After all, we've been away for a little while, so we've returned quite hungry for championship gold and prepared to do whatever is necessary to obtain it, unlike this 'holy trinity' who only seek to waste valuable roster space with their nonsensical antics and beliefs week in and week out. I would even go as far as to say I'm hoping they actually accept our offer of altering this match, simply because Maria and I could stand to be amused by this supposedly greater challenge for a little while.
Vencejo: We do kind of need to get our feet wet again around here I suppose, and it always feels better when you can hit the ground running by preying on those who are always in way over their heads to begin with. But please, go ahead and pray all you want before sitting back and letting Katie preach her good word about our fates, because Las Bandidas de Gata Negra are the only ones in control of our destinies, and we can assure you that tripping up right out of the gate upon our return just isn't written in the stars for us.
Maria holds up a finger and starts randomly tracing in the air, as though she were trying to be literal with her words. The action is amusing to her, but Valeria just shrugs it off and leaves her partner-in-crime to her own antics as she steps out of the shot. After a few moments, the scene slowly fades to black.