Supreme Championship Wrestling

Adam Allocco vs. Selena Frost
SCW World Championship
Rise to Greatness XIX

2 RP Limit
Deadline: 11:59:59 pm ET Saturday, July 30, 2022

OOC: Here we go. The following plays on the previous roleplays (Selena’s and Deanna’s) from the previous weeks. On a personal note, thank you everyone that has been part of this story/journey. It’s been one of, if not my favorites, to write. Good luck, Adam! In two parts due to length.






She walks through the desert of snow, hearing the crunching of the white powder under her boots. How familiar it sounds – almost comforting amidst the barren land… almost.

In truth, she longs for home. She longs for the warm embrace of love that belongs only to her wife – her beloved redhead. She longs for that feeling of being welcome, of being loved, of being respected, of being trusted, of being adored – all of it.

The winter wasteland offers none of that to her. It remains cold, almost untouchable save by the savage winds and sub-zero temperatures. The trees, as always, are stripped of their leaves and parts of their bark are buried beneath the deep snow, forgotten to time and nature… much like she will be someday…

Perhaps someday soon… she tries to speak those words but finds she cannot – the strong wind blowing its power and rage swallows up the very sound in her voice as it whips her long braid of platinum-blonde hair any which way it pleases, even pushing her back every now and then as if in mockery.

This…this is feeling she cannot stand. This is her greatest fear. Being alone. Being forgotten. How long had she tried desperately to escape this? How many years had she wallowed in such a state, waiting for death to claim her? How she had, in her desperation, conjured up a snow child to believe in to try and maintain a single shred of sanity? How she had drowned herself in alcohol – whatever she could get – to numb the feeling of utter loneliness and worthlessness?

She hated returning here – to be forcibly reminded of where she came from, what she was before fate had stepped in and opened the metaphorical door a crack, allowing her to rush through it in mad desperation. Here? It was as if it never happened, as if it didn’t matter that she was known, respected and loved – that she was the world champion of SCW.

Here, she was still Se…no, she couldn’t even say that with 100% certainty anymore. Killjoy had been there every step of the way to throw doubt and pain every time she had come close to getting her life back – her identity back.

It was why she was walking now, walking through this nightmare. Walking to her death.

She knew she wouldn’t go down without a fight – her very nature refused to simply accept her fate. How often had she defied expectations in her life? Killjoy? The DeCarlos? The Scythes? The Frost/Frostmere clan? The Dragon Slayers? Not to mention so many – nearly every opponent in the past year – she had faced in SCW, demanding she surrender? That she ‘expose her true self’ – whatever that meant – and give up trying to be something more for the SCW World title and the SCW Universe.

She had defied them all, just like Deanna had. She had kept going, overcoming every challenge and ‘deadline’ set. Every expectation and “standard” placed on her.

Still, as her hands held onto her arms as she trudged through the thick blanket of snow into the clearing and she recognized the land and markings – she knew that, even with her heart and her passion and refusal to yield… she was merely delaying the inevitable.

Everything dies…

She didn’t have to look up to know the glowing yellow-green eyes were watching her from above. How part of her wished she could have understood that “constant” of her nightmares. They were the only thing she had yet to truly figure out. Were they Killjoy? Her father? Malcolm? Her stepmother from beyond the grave?

She almost laughed at that way of thinking. It was beyond pointless now to consider. Perhaps in the next life or after-life – whatever awaited someone like her.

Her eyes spotted a section of the untouched snow of the field – she could almost feel part of her, like she had in her childhood, wanting to rush and jump into it! Disturb it and play with it with the utmost abandon. Would the eyes then change to disappointment? Annoyance? Or would they smile at the display of such ‘wonder’ and ‘happiness’, however temporary?

Still, she kept walking into the open field, her eyes taking sight of the wrecked, burnt remains of the house just a few yards beyond her – covered with snow though, like the trees behind her, parts of the bare/stripped wood were visible. Beyond that, just a ways away, she could see the entrance to the cave, even amidst the flurry. 

Her father’s cave. Her cave. The entrance to the mine. 

And standing between her and her past – was the fiend.

She recognized instantly the dark leather jacket and the black skull helmet – trademarks of the murderer. Unlike her, the monster seemed unaffected by the winds and snow. Perhaps it was that that spiked the traveller’s pride, forcing herself to straighten up to her full height and drop her hands to her sides, withstanding the wind and the cold.

”Are you ready to die?” the voice echoes across the fields, ringing in her ears.

The woman said nothing in reply – why would she? She knew what she would like to say – what she desperately wanted to say, but she knew that the wind would simply swallow up her voice again. Nome was merciless – devoid of compassion – except for the scraps from a few of its people like her Uncle Liam. What was she but the product of such cruelty? Or was she the product of love against all odds – how she wished, with all her being, that would be true. That Deanna would tell their children how the Snow Queen was born – the story she knew… even if it might be untrue.

She took a slow, deep breath and closed her eyes, knowing what would come next. The same ending to every nightmare. Every visit. Every encounter her. 

The foreboding, inevitable conclusion… her end. 

And then…

….

And then….

“Answer me.”

Selena’s eyes shot open, her senses instantly reawakening from their temporary leave of reality. Her body exhaled the long breath she had taken as she had closed her eyes a mere moment ago. Those same eyes, sapphire in color, scanned her surroundings.

It wasn’t snowing but pouring rain. She was drenched, standing in the field with her leather jacket – the one she had stolen from Gavin years and years ago – and her black wrestling pants. She felt the material of her wrestling tights and the long, form-fitting shirt she wore (all but her wrestling jacket was on) against her skin, a choice she had made to give her the most freedom of movement. She could feel the rain drip in through the openings in her jacket to soak into the material of her clothes. She felt her hair, her braid, plastered against her back and the back of her neck. She heard the loud crack of thunder shake the skies above her. She felt the ground, soaked, beneath her boots. 

Slowly, the Snow Queen’s eyes settled on the voice before her – Killjoy – standing before her impatiently. Behind her enemy were the soaked remains of her childhood home. The house Selena had burnt down years ago: her way of leaving her past behind her. Beyond that, the cave of her father – the stone soaked with the rainfall that surrounded and assaulted them both.

“Are you…” Killjoy rasped, the black skull giving the altered voice Selena was far more familiar with. “Ready to die…” there was still that smug satisfaction in her voice as she stood there, the raining coming down on her just as fiercely.

Standing there, just a few yards apart, Selena took one last breath, letting the thunder above her pass with a loud roar that shook the ground.

“No.” She replied with a smile. “Are you?”

Killjoy gave no reaction for a second, merely standing her ground. The few lights that stood to the sides, held up by tall poles, offered only a little illumination in the dark – along with the lightning of the storm – but it was enough for Selena to see all she had. Slowly, the skulled creature reached up towards her helmet and, despite the storm, Selena could hear the click and snapping of metal gears and latches releasing as her enemy slowly pulled off her helmet, tossing the contraption to the ground and revealing the young woman’s face – a face, even Selena had to admit, was so much like hers.

“This doesn’t end…” Killjoy stated in her real voice – the same timbre but lacking Selena’s accent. “Until one of us is dead.”

A sad sigh came from the Snow Queen as she slowly nodded her head, feeling the water continue to pour on her as she took off her jacket, tossing it to the ground. “There can be only one Selena Frost.” She answered back, repeating the words she had spoken to Killjoy at their last confrontation at the children’s school weeks ago. 

“Precisely.” Killjoy grinned wickedly.

The wrestler opened her mouth to speak but the thunder roared again, muting her voice with authority. It was doubtful Killjoy would have listened anyway. For in that flash of lightning and crash of thunder, the fiend was bolting towards Selena, her feet kicking up water from the soaked ground as she ran.

She was only sixty feet away… fifty…forty…

Slowly, taking one last deep breath, Selena stepped back into her fighting stance as Killjoy continued to close the distance between them. “And then…” she whispered, the storm drowning her voice. “…oblivion.”










The Frost House
Nome, Alaska
July 24, 2022
12:09am

Selena felt herself flying back and quickly twisted her body into the momentum, her hand launching into the wet grass of the ground to keep her steady as she completed the modified cartwheel the momentum from blocking Killjoy’s kick had forced. She barely had time to land on her feet before Killjoy was before her again, throwing punches and kicks in rapid succession, water from the rainfall flying off both combatants. 

Killjoy had been nothing but aggressive from the start, relentlessly attacking Selena and leaving only moments here and there for Selena to try and counter-attack. It was all the Snow Queen could do to block and dodge and roll through.

Her arms and legs hurt already from blocking the attacks – she was 100% certain there would be bruises on her body (or corpse) when this was over. 

Her eyes suddenly shifted as she caught an opening in Killjoy’s offense – an error caused by the slippery ground! – as the woman slipped on her foot a little, exposing her side during another kick. Moving quickly, Selena stepped to the side and dropped to the ground to sweep the slipped leg further, effectively sending Killjoy crashing to the ground. Just as quickly, Selena rolled onto the murderer, mounting her and driving her fist into Killjoy’s face, the woman unable to get her hands up in time to block it until the second punch. Still, perhaps from desperation or fear or a mixture of both, Selena continued to rail down punches on Killjoy, driving her fist over and over again wherever she could land it. 

She was suddenly being grabbed and flipped over by Killjoy’s legs, but she quickly spun out and landed on her feet, jumping back a bit as Killjoy pushed herself to stand, the latter clearly frustrated with the circumstances of this fight.

“You don’t need to do this.” Selena implored loudly atop of the sounds of the storm. “All of this…this madness! Why do you care how I live? How I am now? You could be your own ‘Selena Frost’ if you truly wanted to. No one would think twice.”

“Desperate are we?” Killjoy laughed as she paced around Selena, catching her breath.

“No.” Selena replied sternly. “I mean we don’t have to kill each other! I just don’t see why you need me gone to have a ‘life’. You won’t be able to simply ‘take my place’! Even you have to know that by now!”

“Can’t I?” Killjoy smirked with a tilt of her head. “I’m faster than you, stronger than you, I’m more driven. And maybe your wife and my parents will need convincing…or other methods to ‘play along’.”

Upon hearing that, the proverbial ‘button’ being pressed, Selena was on the move, angrily charging and tackling Killjoy back to the ground. She had barely landed when she felt Killjoy catch her and roll her over, but she kept moving, causing the pair to roll across the wet grass several yards, each one fighting for control. 

With a sudden kick, Killjoy launched Selena away from her, allowing the two to, once more, gain a standing position. “Hit a nerve did I?” the murderer taunted. 

“You think you can just waltz into my life and take it? You step one foot into my house and Deanna will kill you – she knows how to work a gun.” Selena threw back. “Same with my parents.”

“True. True.” Killjoy smiled knowingly. “But as it stands, I have plans for that – of course you won’t have to worry about that when this is all over. And as for SCW, who will notice? Or even care?”

“What are you talking about it?” Selena asked, her stance shifting a little in confusion.

“Oh come on.” Killjoy laughed. “Think about how easy it would be. I go in for you and drop the world title to Adam Allocco. You’re out of the limelight, scorned, angry – lost the title that meant so much to you… it’s the perfect time to ‘turn’, don’t you think?”

“Turn?” the Snow Queen asked.

“Of course!” Killjoy laughed as she explained. “The ‘great Selena Frost’! Master of integrity… ‘soundly beaten’ by the man that would ‘do anything to win’. How can SCW be behind such a man – a man with no integrity - after so many months of integrity and hard work? Her heart breaks…” Killjoy simulated the act of a heart breaking with her hands as she continued to pace. “Suddenly, SCW doesn’t deserve ‘integrity’ or ‘goodness’. They deserve someone to ‘rule absolutely’. To overpower and destroy her opponents. To not wrestle for glory but pure domination. Suddenly, as if she was ‘holding back last July’-“ Killjoy winked a sapphire eye at Selena. “Selena decimates Allocco and regains the world championship. She’s back on top… perhaps hated but oh so comfortable in her ‘true skin’.”

Despite herself, Selena stood there, utterly dumbstruck. It was absurd! It was insane! It was…it was… completely possible.

For years, she had read discord messages and heard the chatter on the web – people wishing for her to take on a ‘heel’ persona. Her fellow superstars all believed she could and would – as if her ‘Believe it’ and morals was nothing more than a fascade – ‘Selena the fraud’. How many years had she heard those words? How many years had she been mocked for her standards and beliefs? Hell, Allocco had JUST talked her under the table last Breakdown with that ‘sainthood’ logic every superstar had used against her – including Owen Lee when she had fought him weeks ago!

Why weren’t you there when this happened? Why weren’t you there when this happened? Why didn’t you help this person? Or this person?
 
She had faced such accusations from the start of her career, when Autumn Valentine had started the campaign to ‘expose Selena as the evil brat’ because Selena hadn’t been there to stop The Coalition from hanging Christy Matthews upside down during an episode of Breakdown…

For Selena to forsake it all – her beliefs and morals – and just…just be like everyone else. Hell, be what the ‘latest’ had accused her of – be a damn ‘bully’ if The Brand was to be believed. If she stopped being ‘different’…. Like Allocco had said. ”Do I need to be?”

The world would accept it in a heartbeat – some would even praise her – as well as themselves - for it if she turned!

“Deanna won’t let you.” Selena tried. “She’d stop you. She’d fight you.”

“Of course she would.” Came Killjoy’s smug response. “But if you can’t stop me now…what hope does she have?”

It was a line that was meant to deflate Selena… that much was certain. So, Killjoy was surprised to see the Snow Queen laugh a little as the rain continued to fall.

“That what you think?” Selena asked, tilting her head. “Killjoy – Deanna is so much better than me in every way.”
“Bias.”
“No…fact.” Selena laughed. “She went to prison and still maintained her good nature. She survived being raped and still is ‘her’. She’s fighting a damn war in an Underground match and is still not giving in. And she’s getting better and better as a wrestler. Don’t you get it? She is going to surpass me some day… which means she will surpass you.”

The words seemed to sink in a little to Killjoy, the woman taking a moment to think about it before scoffing. “Too bad she won’t be around by the time such a thing is possible, then.” She answered with a smirk. “I told you… I have plans.”

“So your plan is to kill her?” Selena asked, her body growing stiff as Killjoy continued to pace around her, laughing at such a question. “Answer me.” Selena barked. “Are you planning on killing my wife?”

Slowly, Killjoy turned her head towards Selena. “Yes.” She answered. “Eventually, Deanna will die. It’s necessary.”

Selena felt it then. The familiar snap in her. That ‘step’ that pushed her into the territory she rarely wished to go. The place that had seen her destroy Xander Valentine in minutes. The place that had seen her bring him down into unconsciousness, take down Vixen Cain, and dismantle Bree Lancaster inside a roofed cage (just to name a few dark moments of history). The place that had made her toss the grenade into the church and kill Nicodemius, Brachiss, and Evangeline DeWinter. The place that had made her assault Queenie in Frankfurt… and so many other things that haunted her.

A place Killjoy thrived in.

“That’s all I needed to hear.” Selena replied before springing towards Killjoy, launching a crescent kick directly at the woman’s head, the Snow Queen putting everything she had behind it…. Only to be met with a strong block by Killjoy’s waiting arm.

“That doesn’t work.” The woman mocked. “You’ve tried that already.” With a quick spin, Killjoy effectively pushed Selena’s leg away and, using the same momentum, side-kicked Selena in the stomach, sending the wrestler stumbling back, the wind effectively knocked out of her lungs.

Rather than press her attack, however, Killjoy just stood there, smugly. “You’re out of your league, Selena.” She spoke as Selena struggled to breathe. “I know every move you can make and every way to counter it. I know everything you’ll throw before even you do.”

Selena’s eyes widened as she slowly regained her ability to breath. It was true – everything Killjoy said, every plan she had, it was based on one thing. Years of experience. Because Selena was Killjoy’s obsession! For nine years, she had studied Selena, learning her every move, how she thought and acted, learning every element of her life for the sole purpose of taking it over – as Killjoy believed Selena had done to her when they were babies thanks to Project: Black Ice.

It had been a year ago when she had finally met this woman and, just like then, Selena couldn’t fight her. Didn’t stand a chance against someone that knew her so well.

The thought suddenly froze in Selena’s mind. Knew HER so well… Knew her so well…

”I’m a master at this sport. Selena can’t afford to confuse me as another challenger. I have answers where she has questions…” Adam Allocco’s words from his promo against Holly Adams – it had sounded so familiar when Selena had heard it. Why had Adam hidden his ‘playbook’ of moves for so long? Because he knew Selena’s and didn’t want to even the playing field. Why was Killjoy so smug and arrogant? Because she knew Selena’s style! It was an advantage of ‘absence’ that Selena didn’t have… Allocco had only been back a few months (as he liked to brag) and Killjoy had lived in the shadows for years…

Selena had no way of knowing fully what either was capable of… but…but… 

That doesn’t mean they know what I am fully capable of…but… her mind ran a million thoughts and possibilities, time seeming to slow just a little for the Snow Queen. Am I capable of pulling this off?

Taking a slow, deep breath, Selena straightened her posture, urging her heart to slow its beating. Taking a step back, her stance changed to one she had never done before but had seen… when she had faced a certain ‘Fallen King’. 

Giving a tilt of her head, Killjoy scoffed. “Okay, let’s see where this takes us.” She walked forward, immediately throwing a punch. There was little behind it, the fiend mocking Selena with it. In the wrestler’s mind, she wanted to block it and counter it with a forearm… but Killjoy would be waiting for that…

But what if she… 

She moved before she could finish the thought, she had blocked Killjoy’s punch and, instead of counter-attacking, simply grabbed her body and dropped Killjoy down into the ground with an STO, Killjoy’s head bouncing into a nearby puddle of mud! Quickly, Selena rolled away and was back on her feet, seeing Killjoy shake her head, now covered with mud, stunned and a little confused.

“What the hell was that?” she spat angrily.
“Something I learned from a guy that thought he was a god.” Selena shot back, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. “You going to fight or take a nap down there?”

Angered from being the one mocked this time, Killjoy was back up in seconds and mad-rushing Selena, back to throwing those serious punches and kicks she had at the start. Once more, Selena was on the defensive, but only part of her mind was staying present, keeping an eye on Killjoy to block and dodge any damaging blows. The other part of her mind was racking threw her memories – pouring through her past matches, her past opponents, digging through what had ‘worked’ against her…

She just managed to grab a hold of Killjoy’s leg from the side as the maniac threw it. “Nice try.” Barked Killjoy as she leapt up to throw a second kick with the other leg, but Selena ducked it – just as Killjoy had expected, the woman landing on her feet. Everything in Selena’s mind screamed at her to put her in a headlock or a reverse DDT like she would have in the ring. Again, Selena was already moving before she could properly think as Killjoy threw her hands up around her neck to block the expected attack. Grabbing the waiting hands, Selena instead fell back, dropping them both onto the ground with her knees folding up and ramming into Killjoy’s back with a loud crack!

’JUDAS SYNDROME! TOMMY SAW THE ENZIGURI COMING!’

Selena kicked Killjoy off her as she heard the woman yell in pain, again, rolling back onto her feet. This time, however, Killjoy took a bit more time on the ground, one hand grasping her back.

“What…” groaned Killjoy as she angrily hammer-fisted the ground before pushing herself back up. “The hell are you doing?”

“Honestly?” Selena laughed, despite herself. “I don’t even know!” she laughed again, the adrenaline making her just a little giddy despite the dire situation. 

“Stop fucking around and fight me!” growled Killjoy.
“I am fighting you.” Laughed Selena again. “You’re just pissed cause now it’s you getting your ass kicked!”

That was enough to agitate the woman further, Killjoy again rushing in, ready to launch another punch. Again, Selena’s instincts told her to throw a dropkick or something, but she completely ignored them – choosing the opposite – and ducked low at the last second! Immediately, she felt the weight of Killjoy on her and stood back up, grabbing the woman’s neck and leg as Selena balanced her on her shoulders. Immediately, she felt Killjoy’s elbow strike her in the head but she ducked her head low to dull the blows.

“Hang on! I always wanted to try this!” Selena screamed in laughter as she began to suddenly spin on the spot! “WEEEEEE!! YOU’RE AN AIRPLANE!” she screamed, her mind flashing back to moments of picking up her little Amiliah and David so they could ‘fly’!

Moments her Deanna had missed…because of Killjoy.

The humor out of her mind in that instant, Selena’s jaw tightened as she felt her lifted enemy try a weak-as-hell elbow to stop Selena, the woman growing more and more dizzy atop of Selena’s shoulders. “Everybody off.” The Snow Queen growled before flinging Killjoy off her, spinning her around and into her waiting arms – the wrestler dropping down and lifting her knees up again for Killjoy’s head to crash into hard!

“Thank you, Giovanni…” Selena whispered. And he will NEVER hear me say that. She quickly thought on instinct before she was running, seeing Killjoy begin to push herself up – once more simply acting as she leapt up. Killjoy couldn’t see her and thus, couldn’t stop her, as Selena stomped Killjoy’s head back into the ground with a sickening curb stomp.

Stumbling away, Selena looked down, breathing hard as the grounded woman refused to move. “Okay… I don’t like that move.” Selena breathed, her heart burning. “I don’t know why Owen does.”

Still, she had felt Killjoy’s body go slack on that last curb stomp. With a deep gasp for air, Selena felt the last of the adrenaline leave her, causing her to drop to a knee.

She had done it. She had beaten Killjoy – or rather not being Selena had been the key to beating Killjoy. Still…

With another deep breath, the still conscious woman pushed herself to her feet walked the few yards from her enemy towards her own discarded leather jacket. Throwing it over her frame, she reached into her pocket to slowly pull out the silver weapon. She felt the gun – heavy in her hand – as she eyed it. 

“It’s her or me.” Selena whispered to herself as she turned to eye Killjoy’s body on the ground. The woman, fake or otherwise to Selena, had made it clear. She would not stop until Selena was dead and she had taken over the Snow Queen’s life. She was going to kill Deanna – also admittedly! 

With a slow movement of her fingers, Selena cocked the gun, feeling the click as well as hearing it. A frightening calm filled her – not at what she was about to do but how easy and right it felt. Turning on her foot, Selena walked the last few steps towards Killjoy, now only a few yards from her – and easily in range. 

She would not miss.
She would not waste a shot.
A killshot for Killjoy… and everything would be right – everyone would be safe again.

She lifted the gun, held it in place with both hands, aimed straight at the platinum-blonde head that was soaked with rainwater and mud. 

The flash of bright lights behind her and the large honk of a horn – a contrast of the lightning and thunder – was enough to halt her as Selena turned her head to see the car stopping right in front of her. The blue Honda Civic flashed its high beams, as if to further get Selena’s attention (which was not possible) and the door flew open, the driver tumbling out.

“STOP!” cried the woman as she ran from the car towards Selena, small hands reaching out to grasp Selena’s gun-wielding hands. “Don’t do it, Selena. Please.”

It took Selena seconds to piece the last few moments together. Her eyes took in the lights of the car, which helped to illuminate the dark red hair of the woman holding her now. The same lights allowed her to see the desperate emerald eyes that bore into hers.

“Deanna?!” Selena gasped. “What the hell! I told you to stay with the children-“
“And how many times have I EVER listened to you when you’ve said that?!” Deanna shot back, her hands choking the gun that Selena held. “Don’t do this, Selena! You’re not a killer.”

“She has to die!” Selena argued. “She swore you will eventually – that she’ll kill you!”
“But she won’t! She hasn’t!” Deanna implored. “Call the police! She’s beaten!”
“She’ll just get out!” Selena argued. “And she won’t stop! She needs to BE stopped!”

“That how it works?” Deanna threw back, her voice a mixture of pain and tears. “Someone too big and too scary, you’re just going to ‘do away with them’? If you can’t ‘beat them’, eliminate them? That it?”

“This isn’t like-“
“Like what?” Deanna interjected. “Like wrestling? Sure seems familiar to me!”
“This is life and death, Deanna! You – our children – our family!”
“Is fine! Fine, Selena! You don’t have to-“

The two were unable to finish their conversation as they both were sent to the ground with a powerful tackle. Immediately, Selena fought in the dark against the form, but it was quickly off her, allowing her to get to her feet, still feeling the gun in her hand. Looking around wildly, Selena held it out in front of her.

“Deann-“ her voice died in her throat as she saw Deanna standing there, just a few feet away from her… with Killjoy holding a gun of her own against Deanna’s temple.

“It seems we both brought guns to a fist fight.” Killjoy growled, though that smug smirk was back amidst the mud on her face. “You should have killed me when you had the chance.”

“Just…” Selena tried, taking a step forward but stopping immediately when Killjoy pressed the gun further against Deanna’s skin. “Let her go.”

“Throw the gun away. Hard as you can.” Killjoy ordered.

It only took a second for Selena to comply, the woman tossing the weapon into the dark forest. She heard it land but could not see where it had gone. “Now let her go!” Selena ordered.

“Oh please.” Killjoy laughed. “I told you. This doesn’t end until one of us is dead.”

Selena felt her breath catch in her throat, her body stiffen. This was it… this was oblivion. It had finally come as Killjoy gripped Deanna tighter to her.

Still, only silence met the trio.

“Still…” Killjoy seemed to think, turning her head this way and that. “No…that would be too easy this way.” Her eyes widened and a wicked grin suddenly crossed her features. “Move.” She ordered the redhead, pulling Deanna away and across the field. “Don’t move yet!” she ordered back to Selena in a yell.

“Stop!” Selena begged. “Let her go! I’ll- I’ll come willingly.”
“Oh, you’ll come willingly!” Killjoy mocked. “But you’ll die painfully! In here! With the REAL Donovan Frost.”

Without another word, Killjoy dragged Deanna into the cave – the cave of Donovan Frost that lead into the gold mine – the pair disappearing into the dark.

Too terrified to move, the implications clear in her mind, Selena could only inhale and exhale as she, once more, felt the weight of the rain on her head and shoulders and back. Why had she hesitated? Why had she listened to Deanna? Another second or two and Killjoy would have been out of their lives! Her family would be safe! So what if the price of that was risking her morality?! 

“Dammit, Deanna…” Selena whispered into the thunder, feeling the last of her adrenaline link into anxiety. Her head jerked back towards where she had thrown the gun. There was no point looking for it now. It was lost in the dark – like a needle in a haystack. 

Her head turned back towards the space where Killjoy and her wife had disappeared. She knew what she had to do. Of course she knew! There was no other choice for her! 

Deanna was it for her. Without her, there would have been no Selena Frost! There WAS no Selena Frost. Not like this. And if it came down to her life or Deanna’s?

The frightening thing was how easy such a choice was. 

Selena took a step forward, followed by another, until she was marching closer to her father’s cave. Even in the dim light of the streetlights and the lights of the Civic Deanna had driven, Selena could still make out the familiar etchings of stone that she knew so well… but also the object on the ground that reflected some of the high beams.

Her feet slowing, her sapphire eyes studied the object until she was standing in front of it. Tentatively, wet, pale hands reached down to pick it up. The fiberglass-metal construct felt a little heavy in her hands, but not by much, and the eye-socket visage stared into hers. Slowly, the most terrifying of ideas coming to her, Selena turned the helmet around, her thumbs finding the panels that widened to accommodate entrance as she slipped the skull helmet over her head. 

It fit perfectly, which was worse than it not, she realized. The latches clicked and whirred together to close behind her, snugly fitting the item over her cranium. The rain suddenly felt so much farther away, the sound muffled slightly. 

Her sight had not changed much and yet, but she could faintly hear gears or something humming in the metal and padding – her hands felt along the surface of her ‘head’ until one sunk a little behind the left eye socket. Immediately, it was as if someone had turned every light on in the space and her vision was clear with a yellow-green tint.

“Night vision…” Selena whispered, her hands leaping into her throat. That wasn’t her voice… it was Killjoy’s! So, that’s how she did it…

Without another word, her shock subsiding, Selena marched into the cave. It looked the same as it always did, but there was no time for nostalgia. Quickly, her eyes found the service elevator that would lead down into the mine – one of the first things the mining company had installed when she had come for this place. Silently, she thanked Odin that it was still operational – the cave having protected it from the elements for the last few years. Stepping in, Selena activated the down function and felt the shift in movement as she rode the machine down the lift.

She didn’t know what she was going to do. She couldn’t use the same trick she had in the field. There was no space for it. And anything foolish would just endanger – or even kill – Deanna. No, once more, as before, Killjoy was holding all the cards. 

I need to trust that Deanna can work with me and help me solve this…. she breathed as she felt the old elevator stop its descent, the doors opening irregularly due to their lack of use and upkeep. Stepping out, the skulled Snow Queen immediately spotted several things.

First, the lights that ran across the stone walls every few feet, wired up to a makeshift control room. Second, said control room to her left that held a large fuse box, a PA speaker and a large, metal microphone. And third, PA speakers spaced far more sporadically than the lights (every dozen yards or so). 

This was the doing of the mining company to ensure safety and communication while they had been excavating. 

Shaking her head to clear it of all distractions, the wrestler moved further into the cave, peering around every corner she turned. Where were they? The cave stretched out, she knew that well, but it was not infinite. She would soon have them cornered, unless they had dropped off the-

At the thought, Selena quickened her pace, and then quickened it again when she began to hear muffled voices coming a ways ahead. She was almost in a dead run when she turned the corner and saw Killjoy wrestling to keep Deanna moving.

“Let her go!” shouted Selena, her voice dark and robotic – haunting her.

Spinning around, Killjoy’s eyes widened at the sight before her. It must have been a sight to see someone staring at her with her ‘face’ and glowing eyes. A quick glance at Deanna’s own expression confirmed this.

“So, that’s what it looks like…” Killjoy half-breathed, half-smirked before resuming her stance as she had outside the cave, pressing the gun to Deanna’s head. “It suits you.” She mocked.

“This isn’t going to end the way you want it to.” Selena warned as she took a step forward. 

“Oh…” Killjoy breathed, tilting her head. Even in the dim lights of the cave, Selena could still see the dishevelled hair and patches of mud on her face. “You think so?”

“Think about it.” Selena spoke slowly. “You kill her, then I kill you. Even if you shoot her and then me, you will not be leaving here a free woman.”

She gestured towards Deanna. “She completes the picture. She goes missing? You give yourself away. She dies and you lose. You can replace me… but you can’t have me exist truly without her.”

It was a stretch to anyone that didn’t know Selena Frost – but it was beyond true to everyone that did. It would be a glaring hole in logic, especially after Deanna’s incarceration, thanks to Killjoy. One without the other? It was possible, but it was a red flag. Even Killjoy knew that, the murderer’s eyes flashing with recognition as she desperately contemplated her next move – so much so that she did not see Deanna’s eyes jumping from her to Selena, the redhead biting her lower lip as her hands slowly reached up towards the arm that Killjoy had wrapped around her neck.

Just a little more… Selena mentally growled, watching Deanna’s hands inch closer and closer. “Last chance, Killjoy.” She called out, regaining the woman’s attention. “It’s the only way we’re leaving here. Walk away. Leave us be – I’ll even help you if money is an issue. But let. This. GO!”

The second the word ‘go’ left her ‘lips’, Selena saw Deanna spring, her mouth and teeth clamping down on the forearm of Killjoy. In a flash of shock, Killjoy screamed out, but she didn’t pull the trigger – perhaps seeing the weight in Selena’s words – instead raising the butt of her gun to bring it down on Deanna’s head.

It never reached its target as Selena reached them and held the arm up with one hand, the other grabbing Killjoy to shove the woman harshly into the nearby wall of stone! 

“RUN!” she roared in that Killjoy ‘voice’, grabbing Deanna’s hand and running back the way she came, hearing Killjoy real voice screaming angrily. Left and right Selena ran until the sounds of Killjoy were quiet echoes. Stopping, she turned around quickly to face her beloved redhead, who was winded and looked up at her with emerald eyes a mixture of pain and unease – no doubt seeing her wife in such a contraption.

“Sel-“ Deanna began but was stopped by the taller Frost.
“Take the next two lefts and then a right. You’ll reach the elevator.” She ordered in a harsh whisper. “Take it up, get back in the car and get out of here!”
“What about-“

“I am ending this.” Selena growled darkly. “One way or another.”
“But Selena…” Deanna tried.

“No.” shot the Snow Queen. “Whatever happens – do NOT stay here.”

“But you don’t understand!” Deanna tried, her voice still a whisper like her wife’s as her hands shot into her pockets, pulling out her…cellphone? “I have-“

“There’s no time for this!” Selena came in again, pushing Deanna away. “You need to go!”
“But everything-“

“GO!” Selena’s hadn’t meant to yell but her frustration guided her action and it was enough. Despite herself, Deanna turned and ran, taking the route Selena had instructed to her. Alone with her thoughts for a moment, the older Frost took a few breaths, calming her heart and mind as best as she could before pushing herself back up to her feet. With one last glance the way Deanna had gone, she then, cautiously travelled further back into the mine once more, straining to hear any sign of Killjoy-

Of course, the sound of a fucking shovel nailing her in the back of the head and echoing loudly in her ears solved that mystery as she turned a corner, her head, thankfully, protected by Killjoy’s helmet, though the impact sent her crashing into the stone ground.

Slightly dazed from the shock, Selena looked up to see Killjoy standing before her, a rusted, discarded shovel in the fiend’s hands, the handgun back in its holster. 

“I hate you.” Killjoy declared darkly as she stalked towards the fallen Selena. “You were given so much – I gave you so much! I allowed you to reach your goals. I gave you time to accomplish all you wanted! I let you become a world champion! Headline Rise to Greatness! Become a bigger star than you ever were! And it STILL wasn’t enough for you! You had to defy me at every turn! You had to want more! You couldn’t just be content!”

She raised her hands and brought the shovel down, Selena, just barely, rolling out of the way. 

“You took two years from Deanna and I!” Selena countered, trying to sweep the leg of Killjoy but the woman dodged it by leaping back. “You terrified me and my children! You tried to kill Gavin! You made us live in fear! And for what?! Because of something I never knew?! That I never meant to be part of?!”

Another swing, and Selena managed to throw her arms up and block the blow in the limited space of the pathway. Grabbing the shaft of the shovel, the Snow Queen strained to wrestle it from Killjoy, who fought back with a rage all her own.

“You took EVERYTHING from me!” Killjoy roared, her voice cracking in the echoes of the cave.

“No!” Selena shot back, her voice a robotic, dark growl. “I may have took your beginning. YOU’RE the one that’s wasted the rest!”

With a loud yell, Killjoy pressed hard and slammed Selena against the wall and then down, driving the wrestler into the ground and pressing the wooden neck of the shovel closer and closer into Selena’s neck, cutting off air to the Snow Queen’s lungs. Desperately, the trapped Selena struggled against the weight, unable to breathe. 

“It’s over!” Yelled Killjoy, spittle escaping her mouth as she ground the weapon into Selena.

For a moment, as her lungs burned and her head became lighter and dizzy, Selena’s mind flashed through a million thoughts. Deanna, Elsianna, David, Amiliah, Oberon, Jean, Zoe, Jonathan, Alejanda… memories of her past with her father and step-mother. How would all of this go with her gone?

How would SCW fare without her? Probably better than with me… Why was she joking when she was dying?! Still, it was pretty funny. Not a lot of her fellow wrestlers liked her – maybe they would play “Ding! Dong! The Witch is dead!” rather than ring the bell ten times in memory of her. She found herself not minding the idea. Of course, Adam would be World Champion, which was sad but it wouldn’t last. She had faith someone like Glory, Owen, or Syren or even Cid or her Deanna would be strong enough, smart enough or crazy enough to take the title off him and, maybe, put things back on track with the integrity of the World title - maybe even make it better than I ever did…

That thought was pleasing, and as her vision began to darken, Selena found herself smiling at that thought. And her children would be okay. It broke her heart that she would not see them grow up and become the amazing people they were already growing into, but Deanna would protect them. She was far stronger than she realized – Selena had meant it when she had yelled it to Killjoy earlier. She just wished she didn’t have to break the redhead’s heart like this…

Please forgive me, Deanna… Selena tried to whisper but was too weak to do so, her voice coming out in sputters. Funny how they tell you about the white light at the end of the tunnel… her last thoughts began to form. But they never tell you of the music you hear when you die. Though the trumpets and horns make sense…wait what?!

Despite the dimming of her senses, the woman heard the music grow louder and louder until it was filling the cavern/mine halls. Killjoy’s head jerked up, eyeing the source of the noise – the PA system strung throughout the cave’s paths. “What the fuck-“ she growled at the system and noise and…singing?

“GOD SAVE OUR GRACIOUS QUEEN!” came the choir recording loud and – proud? – over the sound system. “LONG LIVE OUR NOBLE QUEEN! GOD SAVE THE QUEEN!”

It was so loud now that it almost burned in Selena’s ears, though she could still hear Killjoy screaming at it. “Shut it off!” the non-masked platinum-blonde yelled, driving up a hand to cover an ear as the noise grew louder. 

“SEND HER VICTORIOUS! HAPPY AND GLORIOUS! LONG TO REIGN OVER US! GOD SAVE THE QUEEN!”

With one of Killjoy’s hands now off the shovel, Selena felt the weight lift of her neck and she gulped for air, her lungs burning with relief. It was enough for the Snow Queen, on instinct, to use both hands and spin Killjoy off her, the world champion rolling away with the shovel, getting to her feet awkwardly just as Killjoy did, the maniac pulling out her gun once more and holding it towards Selena.

The two stared down each other as the anthem continued to blare its last notes before suddenly stopping.

“Your wife, I assume.” Killjoy growled, annoyed.
“She…” Selena gasped more air into her lungs. “She never listens to-“

“Commencing…” the female, robotic voice interjected loudly as it broke out across the PA system, once more grabbing the attention of both women. “Final Project - Project: God Save the Queen.”

There was a snap and crackle from the PA, as if the recording was shifting, until a voice was heard – one that Selena was certain she would never hear again.

“Hello, Selena.”

Her eyes within the helmet went wide. There was no mistaking that voice – she had known it for years.

Her distorted voice rang through. “M…Malcolm?”

“Indeed.” Came the ‘reply’. “And now it’s time I told you the truth of who you are.”

_______________________________________________________________

The camera opens up to reveal the SCW World Champion, Selena Frost, sitting in a leather chair in front of a dark red curtain. Her hair is tied in its iconic braid, which matches her pale skin but contrasts the magenta shirt and blue jeans she wears. Sitting in her lap is the SCW World Championship, the champion’s sapphire eyes resting on it as her fingers graze over it, the Snow Queen in quiet contemplation.

There’s something… Taking a slow breath, Selena lifts her head, though her hands continue to hold the world title. Something that I want to clear out of the way right here and right now before we get too carried away with things. I know I can get a little hot-headed and cold-tongued when I start talking and I really want to start this with a clearer mind, especially before my opponent opens his mouth and tries to outtalk me again. And this is something that’s been said by my opponent over and over again - and by nobody else - but it’s been the backbone of the majority of his promos over the last few weeks. she gives a tilt of her head, quickly licking her lips before speaking.

The idea that I am and continuing to ‘underestimate Adam Allocco’.

A slow, sad smile breaks across her features. Yeah, it’s sad that I have to start what could very well be one of the greatest world championship matches in SCW history like this. I mean, consider the facts. We are talking about the Rise to Greatness main-event here. An event that comes along once a year. An event that every superstar dreams about being part of. We are talking about the SCW World Championship match! A match that forty people, just recently I might add!, tried to kill one another to get into. We are talking about a champion that has held the title longer than any other superstar in the near 20 years of SCW history – the weight of such an accomplishment. And, on the other side, we are talking about a man that BEAT addiction and alcoholism in record time just to get back here and face said champion – a man that has two decades of wrestling experience! And last, but certainly not least, we are talking about a situation – with VERY few exceptions, as I pointed out last year – that RARELY favours the defending champion. Even including last year when I retained against Ace Marshall, the majority of Rise to Greatness main-events have always ended with a new SCW world champion…

Looking away for a moment, the champion seems rather reflective in that second before returning her gaze back to the camera. And what bothers me here, Adam, is that, with all of that – all of that history and majesty, all of that pressure and high stakes, and all you’ve bragged about and done these past few weeks – with all of that… and you genuinely think I am underestimating you...

Shifting her weight a little, Selena adjusts the world title over her shoulder, crossing a leg over the other. Adam, the reason I am here as the world champion is because I’ve NEVER underestimated my opponents – especially those that are willing to do anything to win, as you have proudly made clear on a constant basis. From the Brand to Glory Braddock to Double Jeopardy – the list is a long one of opponents that I have beaten and there wasn’t one that I underestimated. I saw what each one brought to the table, good or bad, brought to the ring and I worked my ass off to be ready and prepared, just like I will be ready and prepared when it is your turn to try and take this world title from me this Sunday.

Selena’s fingers drum a bit on the gold plates of the title. And when that happens, Adam, when you get your shot, I know exactly what I am in for – the man, the family – that I am putting everything on the line against. In fact, while this may seem unpopular or absurd to you, maybe it’s you that’s been underestimating me because you think I don’t know a thing about you, Adam. That I don’t know a thing about the Allocco family you’ve spoken of – of you and your son.

The Snow Queen shrugs. So, let me clear that up right here and now, Adam, in case you never paid attention or never were informed. While you were gone from SCW for the umpteenth time, I was there when your son, Alistaire, came into SCW. I was there when he burst onto the scene and told the world that he was going to make SCW – make all of wrestling – a better place. That he was going to bring morality and prestige and honour back into SCW. And, in case you don’t know, it was me that your son pinned inside the Elimination Chamber to capture his first SCW World Championship back in 2017, mere months after his debut – a feat that has NEVER since been duplicated.

I was also there when your son won the 2019 Taking Hold of the Flame battle royale and, while I was beating the most powerful wrestler ever to walk into SCW – Xander Valentine – in record time at Rise to Greatness, I got to see your son win the world title again by pinning Syren in the triple-threat main-event. A match where he told you to stay backstage – because UNLIKE you, Adam, he wanted to become world champion on his own skill and ability – to fight clean and respectfully. With integrity.

Now…I could go on about your and my history, too. I could talk about how you came at me with Bison Jones – The Golden Boys, trying to take the tag-team titles off of Regan Street and I almost two years ago. I could talk about the disrespect you showed my sister, Regan, by making an adult parody of her documentary – and how you ultimately got beat by Frozen Hell.

A nostalgic smile crosses Selena’s features for a fleeting moment. But… to say that I have a history with you and your son – with the Allocco family – would be a fair statement. And the idea of ‘wrestling’ and ‘Allocco’? It just goes together. Like a bird to air, fish to water, wrestling… Selena lifts up one hand before lifting up the other and eyeing it. And Allocco.

It is in an Allocco’s blood to be part of wrestling. It’s in Allocco’s blood to seek fame and glory inside the wrestling ring just as much, perhaps more, than he does outside it. In fact, as we’ve all heard many times – the Alloccos are so associated with wrestling that you became a promoter. You and your family spearheaded Majestic Wrestling. 

But more importantly, at least for me, the world knows that when an Allocco wants something bad enough – when an Allocco wants something enough that he’s willing to truly fight for it… an almost excited smile crosses the features of The Face of SCW. It takes something akin to ‘otherworldly’ to stop him. Case in point, your son. Wanted the world championship? He got it. Wanted to win Taking Hold of the Flame and become champion again? He did it. 

I have experienced, firsthand, just how good your son – and how you – can be, Adam. I have spent weeks seeing it as you fought my wife, as you fought Hudson, as you fought Holly. I have spent years witnessing it. More than that, I’ve spent years seeing the unapologetic ‘asshole’ that you pride yourself on being and continue to be. I’ve seen the depths of what you’ll do to get what you want. And, as true as you say, that person has not changed. You’ve admitted that…

The platinum-blonde takes a slow inhale of breath. So, again I ask: with all of that, Adam, all of that history, all that ability and intelligence and borderline desperation in you, why the hell would you think – would you ever believe – that I would EVER underestimate you? She allows a moment of silence as if an answer can be given to the question, until she holds up her pointer finger.

In one word: arrogance. 

The other thing that is synonymous with the name ‘Allocco’. Pure, high-level, egotistical, narcissistic arrogance. 

It was your arrogance, Adam, that made you stroll into your first match post-royale against my wife and, in your promo, talk about how you ‘broke the glass mask’ that I, apparently, wear when you called me a ‘self-righteous bitch’. Despite herself, an amused grin forms across Selena’s face, her next sentence slower. As if I have never heard that remark before from anyone else. 

Not from The Brand for the entirety of my two reigns as world champion this past SCW season, not from the likes of Bree Lancaster, Ace Marshall, or even Owen Lee just a few weeks ago. That I am a ‘self-righteous bitch’. That I am a ‘liar and a fraud’? That I am ‘up on my self-erected pillar’ - Oh no! Because Adam Allocco said it, THAT is what does it! That’s the difference maker! The intonation! The inflection! The insult is EXACTLY the same but because it’s the ‘great mastermind’ Adam Allocco saying it, you got me, right Adam? Sadly, Selena shakes her head.

Arrogance, Adam. Arrogance that you think you are so above everyone else. It was also arrogance that made you think that ‘four moves of doom’ was all that was needed against my Deanna. It was arrogance that made you interfere in Josh Hudson’s attack on me – claiming nobody but you would be ‘the one’ to beat me. And it’s arrogance that has you come back to SCW and promise that you’re going to ‘change the landscape of SCW’ like your son did... or tried to do, but I’ll get to that shortly. Selena holds her hand up towards the camera before lowering it back down.

The point is, Adam, is that that is where my attitude towards you starts to shift. Where I start taking this confrontation a bit more personally. Because you are more than good enough to challenge for the world title. You’ve more than earned your right to face the world champion, me, on the grandest stage in all of SCW – Rise to Greatness. I have zero issue with that. I actually respect that. I respect you wanting to make history with this father/son deal you’ve been promoting – even if I don’t entirely believe you on it. I can still respect the stakes. I WANTED our match to be about that. About you, the wrestling legend, against The Snow Queen, Selena Frost. I wanted that so badly because it COULD have been something beyond special. Match of the year? Screw that! This could have been ‘Match of the Decade’! Beyond imaginable – dare I say: unbelievable…

But because of your arrogance, Adam, while you have claimed all of these things – this change in wrestling that you will usher in, that you’ll carry the belt with pride – in the very same breath, you’re admitting that it doesn’t matter how you become champion, just as long as you ARE the champion when this is all over. That you will do ‘whatever you need to do’, legal or otherwise in the confines of the match, to become the world champion. And, of course, you’ve shrugged off the negative opinions of the SCW Universe and my opinions of such a thing, using the notion of ‘honesty’ as a substitute for ‘integrity’. As long as you are ‘honest’, nobody should complain or be mad or blame you for what you do, right?

Selena shakes her head. And that baffles me, Adam, because…they are not synonymous. Being ‘honest’, ‘true to yourself’, while a virtue in its own right, is not synonymous with ‘integrity’, yet you treat it as if it is. You treat it as if you can now do whatever you want and you are justified in all that, because you’re honest about it and, hey, Syren did it! Sienna Swann did it! Ace Marshall did it! Bree Lancaster did it! On and on you could go about who’s done what you are going to do – or try to do - this Sunday in Nevada.

Again, Selena’s words are slower. And that, Adam Allocco, is why, while you THINK and SAY I am underestimating you, I KNOW you are underestimating me. Because you think such a strategy will actually work. Just like you thought your words – that unoriginal ‘glass mask’ barb - worked. Arrogance.

Because rather than listen and learn from this past year, rather than learn the reasons why this is only your FIRST Rise to Greatness main-event in SCW and - what? - your first pay-per-view chance at the SCW World title in how many years? - you already see yourself as ‘the master of the game’. You, as you said, ‘have answers where Selena has questions’. 

And yet, to prove that…you come here and say the same thing that every other person has said to me for the past year, for most of my career, in fact. You bring down my morals, belittle my beliefs, and say you’re just ‘keeping it honest’ and will do ‘anything to win the world title’. Let me ask you something, Adam, since you were the one asking this question during our pow-wow with Sharper. How DOES that make you any different than Ace Marshall? Syren? Cid Turner? Bree Lancaster – since you mentioned them. Because, like you, they ALSO mocked my beliefs and my dreams for integrity in SCW. Like you, they relished in the notion that they would do ANYTHING to win and become/stay the champion. And, like you, they thought they had ‘all the answers in dealing with Selena Frost’.

And one…by one…by damn one…Selena counts the numbers with the fingers of her free hand. They fell to me. Because, for all their answers, all their plans, all their desperations and ‘willingness’ to do whatever it took to take the world title from me or to beat me or whatever, it didn’t happen.

And rather than understand that – understand the reasons why, rather than learn from it, Adam, you have picked up their ‘blueprint’ and just followed it step by step. Word for word. Guarantee after guarantee. You looked me in the eyes and made it clear that such a plan was more than good enough for me, more than good enough for Rise to Greatness...

Again, the Snow Queen shakes her head, a bristle of agitation in her. Adam, there is a reason ‘doing whatever it takes to win’ hasn’t worked for Holly Adams and the Brand against me. There is a reason that using the same ‘lines’ hasn’t worked in the past in ending my reign as world champion, no matter who you ask like Tommy Valentine or Kandis. There is a reason that ‘same old same old’ doesn’t apply to SCW anymore. she eyes the title on her shoulder.

Because of the new standard. Because of integrity. Because this is SCW – and more is demanded now! More is NEEDED now to become World Champion!

And because, for nearly 235 days, I have refused to let such a mentality as yours thrive in the SCW World title picture. For nearly 235 days, I have put my heart, my mind, body, everything I have on the line time and time again to overcome some of the greatest challenges I’ve ever faced, refusing to do so ‘by any means’ but instead by talent, heart, and faith. 

Against masterminds like Giovanni Aries.
Against desperate ‘do anything to win’ fools like Holly Adams.
Against veterans and legends like Tommy Valentine.
Against wrestling greats like Autumn Valentine.

And through it all, Adam, I’ve refused to simply stay complacent. To let myself fall on the ‘same strategy’. I have forced myself, unlike you – rather than stay the same ‘asshole’ or ‘master bitch’ or whatever – to constantly evolve and adapt to maintain my integrity and the integrity of this world title.

With a slight scoff, Selena relaxes in her chair, her eyes still on the camera. Now you…you say that such a thing is an impossible task. You say that such a thing – making SCW be about integrity. About true Supreme Championship Wrestling - is impossible in SCW, so why bother? her jaw clenches for a moment before she answers. I’ll tell you why, Adam. Because it’s not. It’s not impossible.

When I see Aaron Demitria stand up to The Brand and refuse to let the world title be cheapened by a disqualification victory? That is a success.

When I see Glory Braddock training her ass off and beating a legend like Syren just to face ME and try and be ‘the one’ to end my reign? That is a success.

When Tommy Valentine, Cid Turner, AND Giovanni Aries, of ALL people, face me with no shenanigans or plans – simply because they WANT to beat me at my best with my standard hanging there? For the pride of saying they could? THAT is success.

When our new boss, Shaun Cruze, is doing all he can to make ALL of SCW like I have made the SCW world title? When a man as powerful as him is facing down lunatics like Kimberly Williams and The Brand because he believes in that integrity? Wishing that integrity in other divisions of SCW like the Television Title? That, Adam Allocco, is success.

And when the SCW Universe cheer loudly with chants of ‘We Believe!’ and ‘This is awesome!’ when I show that standard in my matches? THAT is a success. she smiles genuinely for a moment before her expression returns to a more serious one.

The reason why you think it is impossible, Adam, is the same reason everyone before you thought such a standard was impossible. The same reason everyone you wish to ‘emulate’ in words and strategy deemed it ‘impossible’. Because such a standard is just too hard for you, isn’t it? It doesn’t come easy to a man like you – maybe for the first time in your entire life, something ‘wrestling-related’ does not come easy to an Allocco. 

You came here like a bat out of hell, worked hard for what? A few months, one match, one royale, and got the biggest payoff one could get in SCW… But getting TO the dance is not the same as WINNING the dance. Ask everyone that, just like you did, got past Syren to get to me – getting TO me is one thing. BEATING me is an entirely different challenge. Ask Glory. Ask Cid. Ask Ace Marshall. Like you, Ace came out like a bat out of hell – won the royale for a second time in his career, the only man to do so - and he also thought HE had all the answers. And, like you, he wanted to do anything to win… and it still wasn’t enough.

Because the ‘answer’ to my standard, Adam, is too hard for you. Doing more than what everyone else has tried so far is too hard for you. So, you arrogantly deny it. You deem it impossible. You say it cannot be done or maintained. That it’s a fantasy. All to hide how deep down, the validity of such an answer? How real it actually is? It terrifies you, doesn’t it, Adam? Because you know, just like I know, how Ace Marshall’s fate last year could very well be YOUR fate in Las Vegas this year. And, unlike Ace Marshall, a bump in the road to an Allocco is like a damn ‘bridge is out’ on your journey…

Selena sighs briefly. Back to Alistaire, your son… lost the world title shortly after he won it the first time. Took him two years to get that mojo back. And all he could manage was just a few weeks with the title until, like before, he burned out and never again touched the top of the mountain.

Because once that doubt takes hold, Adam, you have proven that you are NOT strong enough – or brave enough - to face it. Not strong enough to try and overcome it. You run. You make excuses and you hide. Hide behind your addictions, your arrogance, and your delusions. That’s why you NEED to be the asshole, Adam. That’s why you NEED to underestimate me because as long as you have nothing to lose, nothing to account yourself for, nothing to respect or fear, and everything to gain – so long as it is short and easy to you - you can keep going.

Biting her lower lip, Selena leans forward towards the camera a little. But come this Sunday, you are no longer going to have all the answers to all the questions. Come this Sunday, you are going to find out why being just like the ‘others’ doesn’t work.

She places her free hand over her chest. From the bottom of my heart, from one reformed alcoholic to another, I pray that you stay on your journey of sobriety and getting your life back on track. As a family man, as a human, as a wrestler, as everything. But as a professional? You are going to need another vice to feed your ego, your delusions, and to line your pockets. Because if ‘the same as the others’ is what you’re going for – if THAT is what you’re giving me, Adam, and the SCW Universe on the greatest night in SCW history… then you’re going to end up just like the others.

Unconscious, beaten, and merely a footnote in the Reign of Integrity.

The world champion gives one last shrug, her cold eyes on the camera, on her intended audience. Believe it, Adam. Your move, King…

The camera stays on her for one more moment before fading entirely to black.

Malcolm Scythe’s Home
Nome, Alaska
November 19th, 2021
1:23am

Once more, sleep evaded Malcolm Scythe, which was why he was sitting in his living room, using his phone to play videos on his big-screen television. There was a few empty, plastic water bottles on the table beside the couch, as he didn’t want to keep getting up to get a drink, though he was sure he would need to go to the bathroom if he kept drinking water. 

Sleep came at odd times for the mayor – scratch that, former mayor of Nome. He had, some time ago, stepped down from that position, with his son, Ryan, vying for the seat. The idea of Ryan….

Adjusting his black sleep trunks and gray t-shirt, the old man gave a sigh. He really regretted how he had shaped Ryan’s path. The boy, his eldest, was really a product of Malcolm’s own mind – the opportunistic politician warping the boy into his ‘successor’. Still, Ryan was raw, unpolished, far more destructive in his methods than his father, who favoured finesse and style over brute strength and manhandling and whatnot.

Did he love his sons? Yes. He could admit that to himself now, but he did not feel pride with Ryan as he did with Gavin’s good nature… or with Selena and her children – his grandchildren.

For a moment, the old man’s mind jumped back to that pleasant memory five days ago, when he, his son sons, and his daughter-in-law Talia had met with the entire Frost family, including the VanHohenheims (Malcolm’s jaw still stung a little from that punch Jonathan had clocked him with the second the two had reunited – though the old man now smiled at that memory) and the Blacks. They had spent the whole day at the Serpentine Springs, and he had – there was no denying – a marvelous time with his extended family, including his grandchildren, Elsianna and David. Even little Amiliah, though he felt no connection to as he did to the other two, was sweet and kind for a child of her age. 

Despite himself, Malcolm changed his streaming screen over to YouTube – perhaps watching a few more videos would make him sleepy. Immediately, under the recommendations, he spied the screen-capture of Selena and of a rugged, bearded man that was in need of a shave more than he was. No word of a lie, seeing the long beard on him made Malcolm reach up to touch the stubble that had grown on his own face the last few days. He had cleaned himself up for the meeting with the family at the springs, but not since.

“Selena Frost vs Cid Turner III” he read quietly to himself before clicking on the screen. It didn’t take much for him to realize that he was watching some teaser video for the upcoming wrestling show, which he had actually started watching more regularly since his ‘retirement’ from politics. This was a promotional video for the final battle for the SCW World title, the biggest belt in Selena’s wrestling world – like a championship trophy or ring or something. It didn’t really matter to Malcolm. It was Selena doing what Selena always knew how to do:

Fight to survive. Fight to thrive. Fight to make things better.

Despite everything in his life, Malcolm had genuinely believed, in his younger years, that he was doing the same for his family and for Nome, Alaska. Making the world a better place. Sure, he had made some mistakes in his past that had forced him to change his name and come here – but he had started off with the best of intentions, wanting to help this small poor town that the world didn’t think anything of thrive and be something of its own.

Still, real life was never so easy. And, at some point, he couldn’t really remember where it had happened, he had started taking shortcuts, easier paths to get what he wanted. A lie here, a bit of blackmail there, a bribe over there, maybe some intimidation with so and so – the domino effect was apparent the more and more he reflected on things. How things could have been different if he had not made that ‘first shortcut’ – a little white lie to better his standings with political circles. Still, the more you do it, the easier it gets. And easier it is to do worse, and worse and worse.

What would his children have been like if he had never taken that shortcut?
What would Selena have been like?
What would his grandchildren be like?
What would-

The sound of movement coming from behind him caught his ears for a moment, the old man turning  his back a bit to examine the source of the sound. He saw nothing but the back of the kitchen area, the walls of brick that lined the oven. Talia had left hours ago after checking in on him – the sweet girl. She deserved far better than Ryan. Even so, with her gone, and hearing the noise again, Malcolm could only smile sadly.

“I know you’re there.” He called out to the room. “Amazing how poorly your stealth skills are. I thought we trained you better.”

“Or maybe I wanted you to know I was here.”

From another doorway, out stepped the woman dressed in black pants, laced boots, a black shirt and a leather jacket. The bottom part of her face was covered with a skull-jaw-designed bandana, but that didn’t keep Malcolm from seeing the platinum-blonde hair that was tied back in a ponytail.

“You always were too arrogant for your own good.” Malcolm scoffed, sitting back in his couch as he switched over to another video of Selena, this one of a full match of her fighting Ace Marshall at Rise to Greatness last year.

“Coming from you, that’s hardly worth anything.” Came the response as the woman flopped down on the chair next to Malcolm’s couch. Slowly reaching up, she tugged at the cloth covering her jaw, revealing her full face to Malcolm. Casting her eyes to the television screen, she gave a scoff as she saw Selena nail Ace Marshall with some kind of kick. “I can’t believe you thought she could replace me.”

Malcolm said nothing, merely reaching over to grab a full water bottle, drinking a bit of it.

“I fought her, you know.” Laughed the woman. “Couldn’t land more than a kick here and there. She was basically a novice compared to me.”

“And yet you were the one that got shot in the arm.” Malcolm slowly replied. “While she was well enough to fight-“ he gestured towards the screen. “This was less than a week after your little ‘visit’, I might add.”

“She had two other people.” The lady scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “Rebecca and that redhead got in the way.”

“And you didn’t think they would?” laughed Malcolm a little. “Oh, Atlas, you really don’t know what you’re in for.”

“Stop calling me that.” Growled Killjoy. “My name is Selena.”
“I thought it was ‘Killjoy’ now.” Mocked Malcolm, causing a smirk to grace the woman’s lips.
“It terrifies that faker, so I’ll take it.”

“Being able to best her in a single fight does not make you stronger or better than her.” Malcolm stated simply. “You know that.”
“I know that I can take her at any time.”
“Can you?” again, he chuckled. “So why don’t you?”

“Please.” Killjoy grinned. “You taught me the best revenge was to make them suffer.”

It was a remark that removed any humor from Malcolm, the old man giving a tired sigh. “Atlas…”
“I said to stop calling me that! I know who I am!”

“No, you don’t.” Malcolm shook his head. “You think you know and you are obsessed with this – I understand why, I truly do. But I…I was wrong and have been wrong for a long time. It was wrong of me to have you raised as I did.”

“Which part? The brainwashing? The training? The dangling who I was like a damn bait hook? Which part, exactly?”

“All of it. That’s why I gave you to Rebecca. To give you the chance of a normal life.”

“You TOOK my chance at a normal life.” Killjoy growled, pushing herself to her full height. Moving around the room, she began pushing things out of the way, creating a wide open space in the middle. “I could have been her.” She pointed a sharp finger to the video that continued to play on the screen, the Snow Queen of SCW nailing Ace Marshall with a top rope, falling/flipping twisting move of some sort. “I was meant to be her.” She added darkly. “And I will be again. I’ll undo your greatest crime.”

Despite the dark tone in her voice, Malcolm remained unfazed as he watched the young woman pull a chair into the middle of the room before eyeing the former mayor. “That where you want me to sit?”

Killjoy did not reply, the woman merely continuing to move around the room, gathering things from a bag of hers that now sat on the table in the kitchen area. Still, slowly, Malcolm pushed himself out of his couch, making his way over to the chair. Without Killjoy seeing, he adjusted his youtube video – turning the ‘autoplay’ on before tossing the phone onto the couch. He was in the chair for only a few seconds before he felt something being wrapped around his wrists – rope, he spied.

“I assume this will be painful?” he asked as he watched the woman – his own creation – tie up securely to the chair, offering him a wicked grin as she did.

“More ‘fitting’ than painful… but fuck yes.” Killjoy answered, producing a single needle filled to the brim with a liquid. “Ever heard of Strychnine?”

“Vaguely.” Malcolm raised an eyebrow. 

“Fascinating drug.” Killjoy mused. “Tightens the body the more and more you pump into it. Combine that with some cuts and torture, the body’s tension can’t leave so the pain is intensified…until the body is so rigid…that the lungs stop working.”

Despite himself, Malcolm’s eyes widened a little bit, though he still gave a smirk to his intruder. “So I’ll suffocate to death.”

“That’s the plan.” Killjoy grinned darkly. “Alone and abandoned. Just like you left me.”

“Makes sense.” Shrugs Malcolm.

“You’re really not making this fun for me, Malcolm.” Came the mocking voice of Killjoy, the voice lacking the accent that her ‘doppleganger’, as she put it, had. “You’re a politician. Barter for your life. Tell me ‘you’re sorry’. Tell me you’ll ‘do anything to live’.”

“No.” Malcolm replied simply as he settled further into his chair.

“No?” Killjoy asked, somewhat surprised. “You rather die a painful death?”

“I’ve been expecting a fate like this for two decades.” Laughed Malcolm. “And besides, I’ve never given you what you want. And I think it would be rude to break that trend now.” He gave a tilt of his head. “But if it’s worth anything, I am sorry. For all of it.”

“I thought you weren’t going to beg for your life.”

“I’m not.” Smiled Malcolm as he glanced at her. “Because I know you’ll lose. You already have.”

“Oh, the great mind of Malcolm Scythe.” Taunted Killjoy as she waved the hypodermic needle in front of him. “You’ve already got everything planned out but not how to save your own life?”

“My life doesn’t need to be saved.” Malcolm shrugged. “And I’ll take comfort in the fact that you’ve already lost.”

“Please. Once she-“ she gestures to the screen and the woman wrestling on it. “-learns the truth, I will watch her unravel. I will watch her world crumble around her. And she is back to being that washed-up drunk that she was before any of it, ONLY then will I kill her and take her place.”

“Good luck with that.” Malcolm smiled. “But I’ll be laughing when it all comes crumbling down around you, child.”
“You won’t be doing anything.” Killjoy whispers darkly in Malcolm’s ear. “Other than rotting in the ground and feasted on worms. And it will be just the kick that faker needs to dig into Project: Black Ice… and then lose everything! All because of you…”

“Yes…” Malcolm smiled, cringing a little as the needle was stuck into his neck, the serum concoction working in his system as he felt his body stiffed. Without any hesitation, he kept his eyes glued on the television screen, watching as Selena Frost celebrated in the ring with the world title, her wife Deanna in her arms. “All because of me…” he barely whispered his last words before the pain began to take hold…









The Frost Gold Mine
Nome, Alaska
July 24, 2022
12:26am

“Hello, Selena.”

Selena’s eyes went wide with the skull helmet of Killjoy’s that she wore. There was no mistaking that voice – she had known it for years. How often had she heard that damn, accented voice mock her and irritate and infuriate her and…and… now make her stop dead in her tracks and feel utter joy and disbelief. Her distorted voice rang through. “M…Malcolm?”

“Indeed.” Came the ‘reply’ from the PA system as the recording continued to play. “And now it’s time I told you the truth of who you are.”

“Scythe…” growled Killjoy, the gun still in her hand and pointed towards Selena. “I killed you.”

The recording continued, unfettered by either woman’s words. “If you’re listening to this message, then two things have happened.” Malcolm explained. “First of all, I’m dead. My past has caught up with me and the woman you know as Killjoy has killed me – I imagine in a most painful and barbaric way.” There was a smug smirk that came from the murderer’s lips as she heard those words, taking pride in her crime. “The reason I know this is second part – the only way you could be listening to this message. And that is if Killjoy has made you aware of Project: Black Ice and you, not surprisingly, couldn’t heed my warnings to stay away.” There was a lift of amusement in Malcolm’s voice at that, as if he wasn’t even surprised by Selena’s actions.

“You were always too curious. Too driven to do the right thing, even if that meant running headfirst into danger. Your father was the same way – Donovan, I mean. But-“ he was suddenly very serious again, his tone giving that away. “To give some context, I am currently recording this message approximately four days before we are to meet at Serpentine Falls.”

Selena’s eyes widened at that detail – four days… that was close to when she had defeated Cid Turner for the second time and become World Champion, the start of ongoing reign as the top superstar in SCW. 

“I must admit, I am excited for that. I don’t know what will happen but am prepared for some good and ill moments.” Malcolm explained. “And it might very well be the last good memory I have before I die. But, I digress…” 

“Project: Black Ice began as Operation: Snowman. A cunning little idea I had after learning of Anastasia DeCarlo’s inability to conceive children. As per the contracts arrangements between your father, myself and the DeCarlo family, an heir was needed. There was no other option.” The voice took a moment to breathe. “Given that, I took upon myself to create a system to bring the ‘best option’ for an heir. Someone genetically gifted that could strengthen the Scythe family once they were married into it – which was meant to be your part of the contract, Selena.”

Despite their physical situation, neither woman moved from their position, both too enraptured with the voice to continue their fight.

“If you have listened to Killjoy, then you know all this. You know why I did it and how I did my best to hedge my bet in acquiring a strong heir. But then Selena Frost was born. And with that, I abandoned my plans for a time, believing that fate had granted what I wanted in an heir. However, once that heir was discovered to have medical issues – including a hole in her heart – I could not simply forget how close I was to getting that ‘perfect heir’. I revitalized the project, rechristening it ‘Project: Black Ice’ with the sole intention of replacing Selena Frost with a far worthier, stronger candidate…”

“See?” Killjoy mocked with a hiss, shrugging her shoulders and grinning wickedly. “I told you.”

“However…” Malcolm’s voice cut in. “After years of trial and error, I realized a very depressing fact. Fate was still interfering. No one was good enough. No one fit the categories. And I realized that my hand was going to be forced. Your father insisted at the beginning of Operation: Snowman that we use his and your biological mother’s sperm and eggs to create a child for them. I promised them I would…but ultimately lied. However, as the failings mounted, I realized I had no other option. So…as one last effort, I completed my promise to them, unknowing to them, of course. Nearly a year later, I had my heir.”

“You.” Killjoy spat.

“Atlas was by far the closest thing I could ever imagine to a ‘perfect heir’, at least I thought so. The plans were in motion and Anastasia was informed my desire to switch. Of course, the child wasn’t hers, so why would she care?”

There was a moment of silence between all three ‘beings’, two woman and one recorded from a dead man, until the voice of the dead former mayor shattered the silence.

“It turns out she did care.”

“What?” Selena asked in disbelief, her words warped to the tone of Killjoy’s ‘skull-voice’, though the surprise in her voice was still beyond clear.

“She came to me, the day after the switch was to happen…with the same child I had given her. She said she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t make the switch.” Again, the amusement in Malcolm’s voice. “She wanted to take this child that I had deemed ‘unworthy’ of being my heir and raise her to be beyond worthy. To be superior to the Scythes until I was begging her to be my heir. Such arrogance…but not unfounded or even ill-suited.” He laughed a little. “She said if I followed through with Project: Black Ice and made the switch myself, she would tell the DeCarlos and the contract would be nullified. Suffice to say, I kept my mouth shut.”

“But there I was with a child that was perfect in my mind…but now impossible to fulfill her destiny. Once more, fate decided to mock with my plans and – wonder of wonders – the child born from my own machinations had the same condition as the baby she was ‘superior’ to. I saw this as my way of showing fate that I was its master. That my decisions were better. The true child of Alejandra and Donovan Frost…her heart recovered and healed from its genetic issue. Atlas’ did not.”

Selena’s eyes flashed back to Killjoy, who was looking more and more confused, which was becoming more and more rage.

“By that point, the damage done from that hole in her heart would linger in Atlas for the rest of her life, making her ill-suited to be an heir. But I couldn’t just discard her like I did the others. I had played God too many times in this. So, I gave her purpose. I told her she was the real Selena Frost. That her life had been taken from her and that she was better off that way. And when the time was right…I handed her over to Rebecca, my ex-wife, in the hopes that a loving parent would give her the kindness she had been denied for so long.”

Selena listened fully. It was similar to how Malcolm, after causing the mine-section collapse that had robbed her of her father for so many years and robbed her father of his memories, had arranged for him to find Alejandra – a speck of kindness in a life of cruelty and misdeeds.

“Selena…” Malcolm’s voice rang through the Snow Queen’s ears. “Surely you must know, deep inside you, who you are. Something greater than I am could only be responsible for your existence. At best, I created a warped, bitter version of you. But, my dear, that version of you… is every much a Frost as you are… She is not your clone or your ‘facsimile’. She is your sister. In every sense of the word.”

Selena’s eyes found Killjoy’s face, her words unable to form in her mouth beyond one. S-sister…

“And Atlas…Killjoy… I told you that I am sorry. I wish I could undo all of this but, knowing you – how like me you are… there is no other way than this. You will never be Selena Frost. Because there can only be one…true… Selena Frost.” A temporary pause came from the recording. “Goodbye, Selena. I wish…” a laugh escaped the voice. “Never mind. Let’s just say that I’ll die happy knowing you owe me one.”

The laugh in his voice, playful, died as the recording ended…only for a new voice to break through the speakers.

“Selena! Did you hear that?” it was one she recognized as fast as she had Malcolm’s.
”Deanna…” she whispered.
“You’re you! I told you! You’re the real Selena Frost! That’s what I was trying to tell you-“

“No…” growled the unaccented voice of Killjoy, her anger bubbling over. “No! NO! NO! NO! NO!” With her yells growing in volume, she pointed up the speaker that had spread this message, firing her gun wildly at the speaker. The metal bullets zipped into the plastic, ripping holes into it and blowing parts of it off, the sound sputtering and short-circuiting! “He’s lying! He’s always been lying!”

“Ki…” Selena tried, catching herself. “Atlas-“

She regretted her attempt at tact as Killjoy turned her head towards Selena, the unmasked woman’s sapphire eyes burning wildly. “DON’T FUCKING CALL ME THAT!” she pointed the gun straight at Selena, the Snow Queen barely able to leap out of the way and down another hall to hide behind a large stone wall. “I AM SELENA FROST! I AM THE REAL SELENA FROST!” Killjoy screamed, firing madly down the hall Selena had just been standing.

Pressing herself against the stone ‘wall’, Selena listened as shot fired out, the sound like the thunder she had heard outside as it bounced off the walls. Her hands still clutched the shovel Killjoy had tried to kill her with, but her mind was too busy burning to fully notice.

“I’m Selena…” she whispered, hearing only her own voice in her head this time. “I’m Selena…” her voice cracked a little as she repeated it the second time. “I’m…” she sniffled. “I’m really Selena…”

The firing of bullets stopped for a brief second, catching the skulled-Snow-Queen’s attention before the very telling ‘click’ of an empty chamber!

She’s out of bullets! She barely had time to register her thought before she was sprinting out of her hiding space and rushing Killjoy, shovel in hand. ”I AM SELENA FROST!” she yelled out passionately as she swung the shovel, aiming for Killjoy’s head, only for the target to duck at the last second. 

“NO! I AM!” Killjoy screamed back shoving Selena towards the nearby wall. “You’re a fraud! A faker! An imposter!” 

The small space of the stone halls confined them, forcing Killjoy to try and grapple Selena as opposed to the strikes she had been favoring outside the cave earlier… grapples that, the Snow Queen realized, were amateur at best!

Grabbing Killjoy’s head, Selena spun her around with a headlock before rolling the small distance to the ground in an effective side-snapmare. ”You grapple like a rookie.” she mocked before jumping to her feet before her eyes spotted Killjoy desperately trying to reload her gun. Just as she did and lifted it, however, the space was suddenly thrust into complete darkness… the only exception being the dimly glowing yellow-green of Selena’s skull eyes. Still, Killjoy fired into the dark, her rage clouding any rationale. She didn’t even realize that Selena had moved out of the way and was now behind her – Killjoy’s own helmet offering sight in the dark.

With a strong kick to the back, the helmeted-woman sent Killjoy sprawling to the floor and into another pathway, back the way they all had come from. The clattering of the gun as it skittered across the floor from Killjoy’s fall was the loudest sound and Selena locked onto it. As the fallen woman at her feet scrambled to try and find the weapon in the dark, Selena stepped over her with ease and scooped the weapon up into her hand before turning back around to face Killjoy. In her ‘vision’, she saw the woman stare up at the glowing eyes and…perhaps for the first time, Selena saw fear in Killjoy’s face.

She knew she shouldn’t enjoy the sight – but Odin help her – she reveled in it.

”How does it feel?” came the haunting voice of Killjoy – to Killjoy – the fake Selena Frost backward crawling further down the hall, back towards the service elevator, though her eyes never left Selena’s. ”How does it feel to be told that everything you believe in was a lie?!” the masked woman growled, holding the gun higher up towards the downed murderer. ”To have everything you believed about your identity stolen from you?!” How does it feel to be held at gunpoint?! To know you’re going to die?!”

Casting her eyes back, Killjoy spotted the emergency lights of the old service elevator all three women had used tonight – except the elevator was still on the ground floor above, thanks to Deanna using it. She…there was no way she could get to it. No way she could fight in the dark and land a shot before Selena would pull the trigger.

She…she was trapped. She was beaten…

But the skull-wearing woman before her. The woman that looked just like she did when first wore the mask.

“Now I see…I was right…” a slow smile formed over her lips, almost angry and maniacal, yet daring. “You ARE here to replace me!” She held her head up a little. “Do it! Kill me. Become Killjoy! Become ME like you were always meant to! Complete Project: Black Ice! I’ll die here – but I’ll die knowing I was Selena Frost in the end and you were the very thing you despised!”

Despite herself, Selena gripped the gun tighter in her hands, once more in the same position as outside the cave. She had it – the means to end this. To end all of this! All she needed to do was pull the trigger and kill this woman.

The woman that had incarcerated her beloved for two years – stolen two years of their lives together.
The woman that had tried to kill Gavin.
That vowed to kill Deanna.
Vowed to kill everyone Selena loved…
The woman that was…her sister…

With a loud yell, Selena threw the gun towards the open elevator shaft where it disappeared from sight as it sailed down towards the bottom, giving a loud clang as it landed just a few feet from where the door was. It was enough for Killjoy to gaze up at Selena with utter confusion.

”I will never become you.” Selena declared. ”Selena Frost is not a killer… I am not a killer…”

“Our family is NOTHING but killers!” Killjoy shot back. “The very clan you revere! The very name you covet! The people you’re linked to?! It’s in your blood! It’s in your DNA! And you can fight it all you want! In time – you will become me. Whether you like it or not!”

No more words escaped the fiend as Selena slammed her foot into the side of Killjoy’s face, effectively kicking her into unconsciousness.

”Not today.” Selena replied with a whisper, her eyes taking in the down form of her enemy before her head jerked up from the sound of the elevator working. Stepping over Killjoy’s form, the wrestler heard the sound of gears whirling as the cables worked their task. 

The elevator chamber was being lowered. Someone was coming.

Bet it’s Deanna… Selena thought. First the recording, then the lights out, now this… She can never stay aw-

“AHHHH!” came the scream from behind her, the Snow Queen turning around in time to see Killjoy rushing towards her. On instinct, Selena spun out of the way, watching Killjoy sail right past her and into the elevator shaft, the scream of rage being replaced with a scream of shock as Killjoy fell the twelve feet to the ground of the shaft, a thud filling Selena’s ears as she rushed to the shaft and looked within.

She saw Killjoy struggling to get up, clearly stunned from the fall. 

“Atlas!” She called out, her ears also taking in the sound of the descending elevator. Killjoy turned to glare at her as the skulled-head Selena lowered her arm towards her. “Take my hand! I’ll pull you out! Hurry, the elevator is coming down!”

Bewildered, Killjoy glared up at the eyeless skull of Selena. “Why?!” she barked back. “How can you just-“
”Because we’re sisters.” Selena called back, almost desperately. ”Now, come on!”

But Killjoy did not move. Instead, her eyes fell to the ground before settling on what she was looking for. Dropping down to squat, she held up the gun that Selena had thrown down the shaft, cocking it quickly.

”What are you doing?!” Selena yelled back. 

A dark smirk came to Killjoy’s face. “There can be only one Selena Frost…” she aimed the gun at Selena’s head.

”Don’t do this! Please!” Selena begged.

“Only one…” Killjoy screamed before pulling the trigger.

With no other choice, Selena rolled back into the stone path and out of the bullet’s path. The very next second, a loud scream was heard as the elevator dropped onto the bottom floor, the tons of metal unforgiving on the woman below it…

A dreadful silence filled Selena’s ears, outside of her own heavy breathing, her eyes taking in the ceiling of stone, illuminated by her night-vision, as she laid on her back. She heard the doors of the elevator open and a white light, small, flash across the space, the sound of small, rapid footsteps reaching her.

“Selena?” came the familiar voice as her sight was filled with the yellow-green sight of her wife’s face. “Selena!” Deanna called out, kneeling down to cradle her wife into a sitting position. 

“Deanna…” Selena whispered, suddenly feeling all her energy leave her as the adrenaline began to wear off. “The helmet. The latch at the back.”

Quickly, Deanna’s fingers found the back part and pressed the release mechanism, allowing her and Selena to pull the helmet off of the older woman’s head. It made it a dull thud as Selena dropped it to the ground beside her, choosing instead to pull her wife into her arms in a tight embrace. “It’s over.” Selena whispered, hearing her own voice again.

“Where is…”
“Gone.” Selena answered, leaning back to gaze at her wife’s dimly illuminated features before turning her eyes towards the elevator. “She couldn’t accept the truth…she chose oblivion over it.”

Following her wife’s gaze, Deanna slowly nodded her head in understanding, Selena’s sapphire eyes finding hers shortly after. “You saved my life again.” Selena whispered. “How did you find that recording of Malcolm?”

“We always had it.” Deanna explained. “Hidden in the file of Project: Black Ice.”

Despite herself, the platinum-blonde felt a smile creep onto her features. “He always knew how things were going to turn out.”
“Yeah…” Deanna sighed. “Would have been nice if he had just told us in the first place!”

“Yeah…” Selena nodded as the two slowly made their way back over to the elevator. “But hey… it should make a great story for the grandkids someday.”

The redhead shook her head as she helped Selena into the elevator and pressed the up button. “Any more ‘family secrets’ to share with your wife, Selena?” she asked, her voice showing her tiredness.

“Not that I know of.” Selena shrugged, exhausted. “But I mean…” she added with a smile as the elevator began to rise. “We’ve only dealt with one side of my family. I have no idea what the others are like…”

“Selena…”

“I was kidding.” The platinum-blonde grinned as she took Deanna’s hand into hers as the rode the elevator away. “Pretty sure we never have to worry about such a thing…”

It would be two months before she realized how wrong she was…
_______________________________________________________________



The camera opens up to the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, the site for tonight’s greatest SCW pay-per-view of the year, Rise to Greatness. Already, the setup looks incredible, with over 50,000 empty seats, the massive screens, long rampway, and the large Rise to Greatness display. The weekend has already been abuzz with incredible meet-and-greets and events for the SCW Universe. However, with only a handful of hours before the weekend is to begin, starting with the pre-show, the arena is calmly quiet, with arctic-blue and white lights shining down onto the ring. For there, standing in the ring, is the woman that will spearhead the main-event for the second time in a row. The lights catch her platinum-blonde hair, which contrasts her black leather jacket, dark-green shirt and blue jeans and running shoes. On her shoulder, the gold of the SCW World title shines a little brighter under the lights as the SCW World Champion looks around the empty arena.

I almost can’t believe I’m back here… her voice shakes a little as she continues to look around. I mean under these lights, these circumstances…this is something that- a year ago, I was ready for that night, Rise to Greatness eighteen… I was ready for that night to be my ‘time’ at the big dance. My time at the big feast. Because to be here, whether you’re the challenger or the champion… it’s beyond special.

It is beyond everything you dream of, everything you can imagine, everything you can possibly conceive. And for me, to be here once – to be at the main-event, to win it, to make it ‘Unbelievable’ and to celebrate it’s ‘unbelievableness’ with my wife… that was enough for me. Reaching up with her free hand, Selena Frost rubs a tear out of her eyes with her palm.

Little did I know how far I – how far WE could go, True Believers, SCW Universe. Little did I realize how much greater this moment could feel right now.

Because this wasn’t made from a single match. This wasn’t made because I caught Cid Turner in one match and managed to take his spot at the Rise to Greatness main-event like I did last year. This wasn’t done because I got lucky or something like that. This was accomplished by us working together with one solitary goal… her eyes cast down to the world title on her shoulder.

To bring integrity to this championship. To make the standard more than what it had been for the majority of its career. Ask any superstar, they’ll tell you a story of how they got screwed out of a title. Hell, my wife got screwed out of her TV title a couple of weeks ago when she was hit by a damn chair during her match! Ask any fan, they’ll tell you countless times this championship changed hands under similar circumstances. Hell, SCW management authorized a damn six or seven on one against the champion in a damn cage two or three years ago because someone was swinging around a Trios contract. Infamous, Beauty Factory, Beauty Network, Wonderland, The Brand – there is no end to the memories of controversy.

And yet, for all of it, none of it has gotten its claws on this championship. This championship and its meaning has endured. Its integrity has endured and grown and now, we are here, not from one match but by 235 days of growing integrity. By a bettering standard! And it’s something we all worked together to create so… Looking around the arena, Selena places a hand over her heart as she turns her gaze to the camera, to her audience. From the bottom of my heart, thank you SCW Universe, True Believers, everyone. Thank you.

Thank you for standing by me. Thank you for supporting me and my wife. Thank you for never giving up on this dream!

Like I said, your voices were a constant reminder that this was not ‘the impossible dream’ like I was told by so many, including my opponent. A few people said I was foolish to try and change ‘the status quo’ but all of you? You made me believe I could – that it was what you wanted. That you were as tired of the tainted finishes and controversies surrounding this incredible title as I was.

Which is why someone like Adam Allocco pisses me off so much. Her smile fades and she takes a deep breath and exhales before her tone becomes colder.

Because you, Adam, you’re strolling into this night – this night that people work year round to try and get – you’re strolling in ready to do whatever it takes, right? We’re back on this train, but I need to ask you something right now. Just a quick question.

Are those REALLY the rules you want to play by? Because, let’s just analyze that for a second, here, Adam. What if I decide to just play by your rules? Hmmm? What if, right at the start of the bell, I just kick you between your legs and end the match then and there. Sure, you get the win. You might even get a rematch down the road when the new season of SCW starts again…

But that ‘goal’ of yours? That dream of ‘father and son winning Rise to Greatness’? Selena snaps her fingers. Gone in a flash. Destroyed in an instant. And wouldn’t that be almost poetic. Something that YOU wanted – something YOU believed in taken away from you and destroyed in seconds after all the crap you’ve done, right?

The Snow Queen holds up her hand to quiet the ‘audience’. But don’t get ahead of me, Adam. I’ll get to that. But wouldn’t that be fair, Adam? If I did ‘whatever I had to’ to stay the World Champion just like you are going to to become World Champion? If I took your playbook – your strategy – and outsmarted you with it?

You said that your ‘return’ wouldn’t be complete until you beat me at Rise to Greatness for the world title, well, Adam, what if I just took that away? What if I hid behind technicalities like ‘champion’s advantage’ like you’re hiding behind your ‘honesty’ and your ‘desperation’ to ‘be the best’? What if I hid behind the idea of doing what was best for SCW in my actions like you’re hiding behind the notion that ‘other people are bending the rules, why can’t I?’? What if I hid behind my love for this place and desire to do better by it like you’re hiding behind this father/son story you’ve got going on for some cheap attention? 

See, Adam, at the end of the day, you talk a tough line, but you don’t want me to play by your rules, do you? You don’t want me to play this game like you will because if I did? You would have ZERO chance of becoming world champion. You’d have ZERO chance of making history – and you’d only have yourself to blame for it, wouldn’t you?!

She gives a shrug as she begins to pace around the ring. And I’ll be honest, Adam, there was a part of me that almost wanted to do that. After how you mocked me, mocked my wife, mocked the work she and I have put into this company while you were taking LOA after LOA? After you sauntered back into SCW and just declared you were going to be world champion as if it was the easiest thing in the world? How you spoke to me at the first Breakdown leading up to all of this and you told me that your path was ‘destiny’ – it was inevitable? A part of me wanted to just take your words and shove them down your throat and then make you cough them out with a kick to the groin… stopping where she walks, Selena turns her head back towards the camera.

But that’s not good enough for me, Adam. That isn’t good enough for this title, for this pay-per-view, and it sure as hell isn’t good enough for them. I don’t have to beat you at Rise to Greatness, Adam. That’s what I want to make clear. I don’t have to beat you to stay the champion – and I could just as easily make you eat your words of ‘do anything to win’ and silence you with a single kick to your Alistaire-spawning privates. But I’m not going to do that, Adam. Because I may not HAVE to beat you, but I damn sure NEED to beat you!

Because that kind of mentality? That kind of hiding is exactly what I have been fighting against since I took this belt from Cid Turner last year. That kind of mentality, with the Brand rigging my matches with advantages in their favor, with people like Kimberly Williams trying to screw me out of the title, I have been trying to fight that and better this place for months. And it’s been a hell of an endeavour but, as you made it clear, and so many others have made it clear over the last few weeks, the work is not done. 

More than that, Adam, you made it clear just what would happen if I let you become the SCW World Champion tonight.

Casting her eyes down to the title, Selena shrugs it off her shoulder to hold it in her hands. Because how is it going to be, Adam? You going to give me all you got, right? You going to do all you can to beat me, right? What about after that? You came back here at the most opportune moment – the playoff season of the year. What about after that? What about September? What about October? What about November? You going to stick around? Or is this the part where you high-tail it because it gets too hard for you? Or you grab another group of ‘friends’ and hide behind them? Or you throw some more adult-content on the web to get attention? What’s it going to be, Adam?

The champion looks up, eyes glaring. Better yet, Adam, let me ask you. Let’s say you succeed. Let’s say your ‘plan’ goes perfectly and you become the SCW World Champion. Everything you planned, everything you put together, everything you have done has worked perfectly and you can now have your moment of history, the title you never held – what are you going to do the second things don’t go your way?

When it’s your name that’s being dragged through the mud? When it’s your words and your dreams being twisted and knotted? When it’s you that’s outnumbered and ambushed? When it’s your family that’s attacked and threatened and insulted? What are you going to do, Adam, when all of that is on you?

Better yet, what are you going to do, Adam, against people like me? People that, unlike you, don’t give up. Don’t surrender. Don’t stop even after a loss, but power through, get better, keep pushing year round? What are you going to do against people like that, Adam? When you need to be on your A game not just for a few weeks or even a few months, but every day of the damn year?! What are you going to do against people with more passion than you, more drive, more ability? Who put in the time year-round while you come and go out of this federation like geese in winter?

Taking a quick breath, Selena holds up her pointer finger. Lastly, Adam, when you’ve got everything exactly how you want it and you’ve got your title – what are you going to do against the people…like you? The assholes. The people not afraid to use your own rules against you? What are you going to do when it’s someone else’s friend playing theme music to distract you in the middle of your match? What are you going to do, Adam, when you can’t hide behind a sliver of your playbook anymore because every move is on YouTube? What are you going to do against the other people that come and go out of here with a wave of momentum – people like Ace Marshall? What are you going to do when it’s you being assaulted with a chair or outnumbered two, three, or seven to one? What are you going to do, Adam, against people that will do “anything to win the SCW World Championship” just like you?

There is a moment of silence as Selena lets her questions hang in the air. See, that’s something I saw in your eyes, Adam. The man with all the answers? You don’t have answers for that. Because you don’t care. You don’t care about thinking that far. You don’t care about the future of this title. You don’t care about the consequences. All you care about, at the end of the day, is you.

That’s why you don’t feel you owe SCW anything despite the number of times they’ve given you second chance after second chance after second chance. Adam, they FIRED you! You know how bad you have to screw up to get fired here? SCW had no reason to rehire you but they gave you ANOTHER second chance anyway. Yet, you feel you don’t owe them anything? You don’t owe the SCW Universe something for all the months you humiliated this federation? Humiliated the titles you held? The people you worked with? Of course not, cause you’re Adam freaking Allocco. she spats the name.

And that’s why I despise you, Adam. Because all you do is take. You take and you take and you don’t care about giving anything back. Not to SCW or the SCW Universe and sure as hell not to the title you claim you’re going to carry with pride – when we both know you’re just going to carry it with ego and YES, there is a difference.

I have carried this belt with pride and have done all I can to make the division better. To inspire others. Hell, at Double Jeopardy, I told everyone in the second match not to interfere and to let integrity and skill win out – and even Kandis listened to me there. That’s how much I cared about this title, this division, and what the world title meant. To the point even my enemies believed. You? You just want to walk around here, spend the extra money and use this belt to call yourself the ‘best in the world’. All…about…you.

Sapphire eyes scan around the arena, how gloriously decorated it is. And the world can burn around you if it has to, right, Adam? Case in point? Let’s talk about the God of Wrestling Tournament back in 2019 – the last one ever. A tournament that, in the past, has helped make and define such careers like Shilo Valiant and Christy Matthews. That has highlighted such talent as David Helms, Ace Marshall, and Syren…

Do you even remember who won the last tournament, Adam? A young man by the name of Alban McConnell. He won the tournament you created and handed to SCW – and, like Christy and Shilo, he made something of his career here, right? You remember him using that prestige to become a star here, right?

Sadly, Selena shakes her head. You don’t. You can’t. Because winning a tournament – an Adam Allocco tournament – did NOTHING for his career. He never stepped foot into an SCW ring. He never challenged for an SCW title. He won your tournament and was basically forgotten. And you? You never mentioned him again. You didn’t care about any of those people that believed in your tournament – including me!

Want another example? A year later, you came back with “The World’s Best” Tag-Team tournament. A tournament that would crown, and I’m quoting you here, “The Greatest Tag-Team in the World”. Except what did you have? God of Wrestling you had dozens and dozens of people sign up and fight. But now? People were wise to you. People understood what the name Adam Allocco meant in tournaments… and you could barely squeak out eight teams for the tournament. But of course, you remember the winners right? Devin Brando and Lyza Reyes. Remember that night, Adam? Taking Hold of the Flame 2020. You promised SCW that they would remember that classic finals for years to come. And what happened to that ‘world’s best tag-team’?

Again, Selena gives a sad shrug of her shoulders. By next pay-per-view, Rise to Greatness? They were gone. Never to be seen again. Didn’t even challenge for the world tag titles. Weren’t even considered for the tag-team of the year…because Regan and I won that award. And you? Never mentioned them again.

Selena’s jaw clenches as she lowers her head. All those dreams, Adam. All those superstars’ hopes of being something worthwhile, believing in you and your tournaments and where did it get them? NOWHERE! Winning an “Adam Allocco tournament” got them NOTHING because at the end of the day, you didn’t make those tournaments for them. You didn’t make those tournaments for the SCW Universe. No, Adam, you brought those tournaments out and took what you got because it put you back on television! Who was it that had to ‘host’ those tournaments – every show – as a commentator? Who was it that presented the trophies. Who was doing all the talking throughout both tournaments?!

Adam Freaking Allocco! 

All you wanted to do was make yourself relevant again! And if 50 people and 8 tag-teams had to have their hopes and dreams dashed for that to happen, so be it, right?! the cold in Selena’s voice is unmistakable. 

You…are a cancer, Adam. Everything you touch, you destroy and you wither it away all for your own desperation and your own ego. You almost ruined your son’s career by barging in and taking over as his ‘manager’. You took the tag-titles and television title back several years to the point that Autumn Valentine had to hold the TV title for months for it to have any credibility again. All because you can’t live without thinking you’re this big shot. The King of Strong Style. The Renaissance Man. Wrestling’s Enlightenment. The best wrestler in the world. 

That’s why you promised me you’d do ‘everything’ to win and become world champion. Because you don’t care about pride. You don’t care about the world title and what it means, you don’t care about the SCW Universe, you don’t care about the SCW roster, just like you didn’t care about any of those people in your tournaments. All you care about is you.

Taking a moment of silence, Selena lowers her hand to her side, her other hand still holding the title. And for a moment in history, you are willing to try and bring down this house that myself, Deanna, and every True Believer and fan have built together. But let me tell you something, Adam. This house you want so badly to be ‘the King of’? To sit on the throne of? It was built not by one night and one royale match. It wasn’t built with weeks of promises. It was built with months of hard work, of being here, of taking on the best and never settling for the easy way out. The blood, the sweat and tears of me, my wife, countless superstars and challengers, legends and greats and each and every member of the SCW Universe. WE built this house brick by brick, day by day, all year! WE built this house that you are going to enter this Sunday.

And if you think that you can come in here after showing up for a few weeks, slap your name on the door and claim “It’s mine now” – it doesn’t work that way.

Reaching the middle of the ring, Selena stands there, eyeing the camera. Make no mistake about this, Adam. You are new to the Rise to Greatness main-event. You have no idea what such stakes and what such a match brings out in me. Because while you are fighting for your ‘moment’ – while you are fighting for YOU – I am fighting, not just for the world title, I am fighting to keep this title and all of SCW FROM you. I am fighting to ensure that you NEVER ruin another life, another thing of SCW ever again! I am fighting, not just for a moment or myself, but for all of SCW and for years of moments! Years of integrity! Of true pride! And a championship that they can truly be proud of!

The world champion takes a deep breath. Adam, you can bring everything you have and do everything you can to take this title from me. But this Sunday, while you do anything to get it, I will endure everything to ensure that you don’t.

Believe it!

Carefully, Selena holds up the world title above her head, the image clear in its presentation before the camera slowly fades to black.