https://allstargavintaylor.wordpress.com...the-steal/

(OOC Short entry this week - birthday constraints got to me, but this is better than nothing, right?)

The Monster They Made

For those who came to Times Square and found themselves unable to find a place to ring in the new year, there existed alternatives.

One such alternative happened to include the sexiest, raunchiest circus performance you've ever seen in your life.

By New Year's Eve, Cirque du Sins had relocated from Boston, where it had held its last set of shows in the week leading up to SCW's Shattered Reality pay-per-view, to a vacant lot in Manhattan, located not too far away from the legendary site of the most famous new year's party in all of America. To say that ringmaster Lucian Lurid wanted to send 2025 out with a bang was an understatement: he had practically planned his own show/party to rival New Year's Rockin' Eve, complete with his own take on the ball drop that came with such an elaborately eloquent and explicit description that it's probably best not repeated for the sake of decency. All you need to know is that his ball was going to have his hottest act dancing inside of it, and once it dropped and 2026 was upon everyone, said act had quite the surprise planned that was definitely going to, at least in Lucian's mind, “blow everyone's loads” to quote the man himself.

That said, even as the party raged on and most of his acts were probably pulling off the best and hottest versions of their acts they've ever performed, there were two acts conspicuous by their absence.

Angel, which was no surprise as Antonio had him doing other work tonight.

And the Glimmer Sisters.

That wasn't to say Gia & Gina weren't down to party, because assuming so would make one question if you even knew the twins. Hell, they were practically partying in Montreal at Derek Adonis's temporary nightclub during night two of Shattered Reality after proving, to no one's surprise, that The Vision just didn't have what it took to stop the kinky clown sisters from going undefeated to close out the year. One could assume that since they were the act that was going to be dancing in the dropping ball (or balls, as it were), that they were simply conserving their energy until they had to step inside. Lucian may be a genius when it came to putting on a show, but even he knew better than to ask any of his performers to do nothing but dance for hours on end inside a confined space.

They were conserving their energy alright, but that didn't mean they weren't busy.

The SCW schedule to kick off 2026 already guaranteed the twins would be going beyond where Cirque du Sins could follow, given that the next two shows were in Japan and then back to Canada respectively. That alone meant that before they caught their flights, Gia & Gina had some unfinished business they needed to look into while they still had the chance to potentially do something about it.

Gina: Gia, will you stop admiring that photo and take this seriously?

Gia: What? I can't admire the fruits of our new little side gig after we got Derek and Lucian talking with each other?

Gia couldn't resist grinning as she flipped her phone around, revealing a promotional photo that had been taken prior to Gavin Taylor ruining all the fun to try and save face after he'd failed to win his own match on night one. Destiny Page found herself between the Glimmers, who were only wearing their tag title belts in a manner that covered their asses and private areas at the very least and were otherwise topless, all posing with enticing looks to the camera. As good as Destiny looked in her rather revealing dress, the twins had tried to talk her into ditching it for the shot, but they did adhere to the consent rules of KABLAMia and backed off when Destiny made it clear she wasn't willing to go that far quite yet.

Gia: Can you imagine if we had gotten her out of that skimpy little dress? Bet you $20 that Wendell nerd would've died a happy man if we slipped that under his weird lunatic buddy's locker room door.

Gina: You're right, that would've made for a better photo if you ask me, but as fun as it is enjoying this new partnership between Cirque du Sins and KABLAMia and what it means for us, we need to shelve the fun and games... at least until we're in the balls.

Gia chuckles at her sister's intentional phrasing, but her face quickly becomes serious as she sighs, knowing Gina was right. They had something extremely important they had planned to do once they finished livestreaming their holiday message to The Vision that foretold of how fate was going to leave them empty-handed once again prior to that weekend, but they had decided to hold off on it in favor of focusing on their match.

Watching Antonio murder a man right in front of them who had sounded very sincere when he said he loved the loan shark will certainly do that to a person.

Up until now, Gia & Gina knew that Antonio was a very dangerous man. The fact that Lucian could barely get through a conversation with the guy without nearly pissing himself spoke enough volumes and the twins couldn't blame him. Even as they repeatedly stood defiant in his face, they could never once claim in any of those moments that they were not afraid of Antonio. The truth of the matter was... they were scared shitless of this sick fuck and had only survived because they always had to bank on Antonio being either so arrogant that he would happily play with his prey before going for the kill or clever enough to know that doing anything to them given their very public status as SCW champions, especially out in public view, would put him in conflict with law enforcement that would finally bring his entire criminal empire collapsing down on top of him.

Watching him murder one of his own men in cold blood without giving a single fuck and just leaving him in a pile of other corpses he'd already created before the twins even knew he was in Boston drove home the point of just what kind of monster they were truly dealing with.

And they knew full well they were directly in his crosshairs if he put together that they were the ones who had snuck into his office and pulled the little heist that had cost Jordan Saxton his life, among others.

Slowly but surely, Gia retrieved the documents she had swiped that night and laid them out across the table in the twins' trailer, with her and Gina each taking a few to look over, the end goal being to figure out exactly what kept Angel bound to that power-hungry lunatic. They were hoping to see some kind of contract they could either figure out how to break or just straight-up destroy if they could confirm it was the original copy, or at the very least expecting some sort of blackmail material that Angel wouldn't want anybody else knowing about and Antonio could expose if he felt it necessary.

The twins weren't expecting what greeted their eyes, which explained why there were so many pages in the first place.

Gia: Gina... is it just me, or does this bastard have Angel's entire life story typed out right in front of us?

Gina: Yeah, I figured Antonio had some sort of dirt on Angel, not... all this.

They weren't looking at simple blackmail material, they were looking at what may as well have been a biography that painted a disturbingly clear picture of the drag queen who Antonio had hoped would usurp their place as the top stars of Cirque du Sins. It was all laid out in black and white before their very eyes: Angel's real name (Anthony), his date of birth, everyone in his family. Just as disturbing was the rather lengthy rap sheet that Angel had to his name, from being busted in prostitution stings before Antonio had gotten his hooks into him to drug use and distribution. There were even charges of assault and murder attached to his name that had ultimately been dropped, but Gia & Gina weren't stupid: just because Angel hadn't been guilty of those crimes and was only suspected due to being in the wrong place at the wrong time, that didn't just erase the fact that the charges had been laid across his shoulders in the first place.

Gia: Jesus, look at this list of drugs he's been busted with! Heroin, cocaine, meth, PCP, ecstasy... how the fuck did he even get his hands on high grade fentanyl?

Gina: That's nothing. If we're to trust this little biography Antonio's put together, apparently Angel's father is one of the most powerful businessmen right here in New York... and Antonio apparently has enough dirt to destroy his life on shady business deals, insider trading, fraud...

Gia: No wonder Angel's practically handcuffed to this guy, never mind the fear of what Antonio might do if he even tries to get away from him. This might as well be an encyclopedia on how to stalk someone, learn everything about them and completely destroy their whole family if you really wanted to!

Gina: I knew Antonio was a disgusting narcissistic sociopath, but this? Is there even a word for how low this goes?

As Gina pondered that question, Gia's mind began racing as she looked through more and more of the documents that unraveled exactly who Angel was, right down to the strained relationship he had with his family and the fact that adopting a drag queen persona hadn't been enough to keep Antonio from figuring out the connection if he felt he could use it, either to keep Angel in line or target his family if they could give him something.

Gia: Gina... how much do you think he knows?

Gina: About Angel? Apparently fucking everything judging by what we're reading-

Gia: No, I mean about us?

Gina: Why the hell would Antonio think we were worth this much effort?

Gia: Do you not remember how often he's admitted to the value we have? What we mean to this circus, to Lucian? That's not even getting into what we have going on in SCW right now, and if he saw what we were doing on those stripper poles at Derek's club then you know he can confirm what kind of hot ass act we'd be in one of his clubs.

Gina opened her mouth to argue, but it quickly closed and her eyes nearly popped out of her skull as her twin's implications began to really sink in. Clearly, something about Angel had piqued Antonio's interest enough that he went out of his way to dig up literally every grain of dirt he could about the drag queen, all the way up to his family and whatever life he had prior to becoming who he was now. And since he had expressed similar interest in them to their faces...

Gina: You don't think he's trying to dig up the same kind of dirt about us, do you? I mean, we went above and beyond to destroy everything that could ever tie us back to who we were, our old lives. There's not even anything like what Angel's got he could use against us!

Gia: There is... one thing.

Gina: ...you don't think...

Gia: Given what's right in front of us? I wouldn't put it past him if he finds out and is hellbent on trying to make us his.

Gina wanted to hate her sister for even putting the thought in her head, but she knew as well as Gia did that there was only one bit of leverage that Antonio could ever possibly have over them beyond threatening their lives, and at least in that scenario they had the gamble of Antonio putting everything he had going for him at risk of finally being busted for how illegal all of it was.

Unlike whatever SCW's upcoming Fatal Fortunes thing could throw their way, Gia & Gina didn't want to gamble on what would happen if their parents ever discovered the women they'd became.

While they preferred not to think about it too much because it was in the past and they were certain they had put that past behind them completely, Gia & Gina had a... complicated relationship with their parents. They loved their mom and dad, don't get them wrong, but they had a plan all laid out for their twin daughters and Gia & Gina simply disagreed with it. Hurtful words were exchanged, the twins began to rebel, and once they were old enough to do so, they took off to build whole new lives for themselves from scratch, giving birth to the Glimmer Sisters.

It may not seem like much, but the whole point of going as far as they did to reinvent themselves was so their parents would never know that Gia & Gina Glimmer, twin sisters who flaunted their goods for the fastest rising adult circus in America and had quickly built themselves into two of the raunchiest and most devious wrestlers in arguably the biggest promotion on the planet today, were actually their daughters. Every single thing in that list would no doubt cause them to have a heart attack, and while the twins had kind of ended things with their mom and dad on a sour note, they certainly didn't want to actually be responsible for any significant shocks to their system, let alone put them into any trouble with a man as dangerous and heartless as Antonio.

Gina: OK... OK... here's what we do.

Gina began gathering up all the papers, knowing they hadn't looked through all of them yet, but they didn't need to. They'd gotten more than they'd bargained for out of their efforts, and now the question of what they could even do with any of it was burning a hole straight through their brains, assuming they even [i]could do anything with any of it.

Gina: Lucian's going to be expecting us in a few minutes. We stash this somewhere safe, we go help everyone ring in the new year in the most sinful way possible, and then we figure out what the fuck our options even are later.

Gia: Yeah, as much as we need to break this chain keeping Angel bound to Antonio... I don't even know how the hell we proceed from here. This was... way more than we bargained for.

Gina: Doesn't change the fact that we're going to figure this out. I don't care how, but we'll find a way.

Gia: We always do sis, whether it's this asshole or SCW trotting our hot asses out at random for whatever chaotic fun and games they want us to play for the first two shows of the new year. That's what makes us the goddamn Glimmer Sisters.

Gia & Gina high-five one another to affirm their stance, even if it feels much shakier than it usually does. They were staring down arguably their greatest challenges yet, but they knew the moment they started to hesitate in the face of them, they were well and truly screwed. That's how they'd gotten this far both in the lives they'd made for themselves and in SCW, and they couldn't afford to have that confidence waver now.

Once the documents were stashed away in a safe within their trailer where their cash and any other valuables were locked away, they took a moment to make sure they looked ready to party. They had on the skimpiest dresses they owned, dresses that were not designed to do a very good job of hiding anything, and their tag title belts around their waists made for the perfect accessories. Just one extra thing to take off as they planed to slowly strip with each minute that got closer to midnight until the big climax that would ring in the new year. Once they were all set, they stepped out of their trailer...

And literally bumped right into the last person they wanted to see tonight or any night.

Antonio: Hola chicas. What's your hurry?

Standing right in front of their trailer door, using his admittedly tall and chiseled physique like he was a human wall, stood none other than Antonio, grinning like a cat who had finally cornered the mouse he'd been hunting for. Unnerved enough by that twisted grin, Gia & Gina moved to sidestep around him to get to where they needed to go, only for each of their arms to be seized by some of Antonio's goons, the surprise and their clear size advantage leaving the twins with no time to think of a way out before they heard the click of a familiar gaudy-looking custom revolver, the barrel of which was practically shoved right into Gia's face.

Gina: Can we help you with something Antonio?

Gia: Yeah, we're going to be late for Lucian's balls dropping to start a brand new year.

The henchmen restraining them couldn't help but snicker at the crude joke, but they quickly fell silent once they realized their boss wasn't laughing along.

Antonio: I'm sure Lucian can make do without you, especially since we have important business to discuss. You see, some rather valuable documents were recently stolen from my main club down in Miami... you two wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?

Gina: Why would we?

Gia: And could you get this ugly ass revolver out of my face, please?

Antonio scoffed but complied... by moving to press the barrel against Gina's cheek instead.

Antonio: Well, I was informed by a now-former employee of mine that I apparently had two new whores to dance at my club... whores who claimed I gave them a note but haven't shown up for work since.

Antonio took a moment to dig around in his pocket with his free hand. As he did, he nodded to another of his goons, who moved to head into the twins' trailer, much to Gia & Gina's protest... a protest that died as soon as Antonio held out a very familiar note.

Antonio: Now... I know the two of you wrestled not too far away from my club that night. I watched you in action... pretty hot stuff in its own right, to be honest. Almost makes me wish I'd have seen your match in Boston, or even the little show you put on in Montreal. But when I inquired about whether or not the two of you were busy changing or something when you took so long to leave, I hear that you were already long gone... left right around the same time these two wayward sluts snuck into my club. Ringing any bells?

Gina: Not a one.

Gia: Sounds like you're just desperate to tie some big incident to us because you're still mad we're not sucking your dick.

Antonio growled, annoyed, as he crumpled up the note the twins had left with Jordan that night and tossed it aside. Gia & Gina just glared defiantly at him, but the confidence was only a front to mask the fear they knew Antonio was trying to drown them in. They doubted he'd take such a big risk tonight, hoped they were right to spin that roulette wheel, but just in case they were wrong... they'd rather go down proudly opposed to him than afraid of this son of a bitch.

Goon: Boss, there's no sign of any papers in here, aside from a bunch of notes that have nothing to do with you or him.

Antonio's attention snapped up to the goon that was stepping back out of the twins' trailer, and if he was irritated before, that revelation had him about ready to blow a gasket.

Gia: See? We didn't take your shit or whatever.

Antonio: No... I know you two perras are lying to me, and I wouldn't put it past him to have put you up to it!

Before the twins knew what was happening, Antonio stepped aside... revealing Angel, handcuffed, gagged and looking more terrified than they'd ever seen him before. As if to further twist the proverbial dagger, Antonio moved his revolver so the barrel was now pressed to the side of Angel's head, causing Angel to scream something that was too muffled by the ball gag in his mouth to make out.

Antonio: Now... I'm going to count to three, and when I do, somebody is going to tell me what I want to know. Otherwise... well, this can be my version of your little Fatal Fortunes thing to see who I decide to aim this gun at. Emphasis on fatal.

Gia & Gina exchanged looks with each other before locking eyes with Angel, who looked at them in fear before closing his eyes, as if he'd already accepted his fate. As Antonio began to count in spanish, however, the revolver slowly moved away from Angel's temple and towards Gia, his finger slowly beginning to squeeze the trigger.

The gunshot that echoed out in the night brought an immediate halt to the party going on inside the big top.[/i]

(The Foundation) "Duality"

If you're up for taking a match or two, respond to this thread and I'll be in touch.

OOC: Chronologically, read this piece for Amelia after you read Luz's, as Luz's takes place after her match on night one of Shattered Reality and Amelia's (this one) takes place after her own match on night two.
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Shattered Reality had left a bitter taste in Amelia's mouth.

For as much as she tried to put it out of her mind, remind herself that she wasn't good enough yet, even accept the congratulations that were given to her by those in the gorilla position when she stepped through the curtain on having yet another potential match of the year contender on her resume, she had to face the facts:

She'd lost to Glory Braddock, one-on-one, once again.

She'd taken her shot, throwing herself at the biggest challenge available to her at the moment, and she'd fallen short again.

Just like she had against Syren.

Just like she had against Cid Turner.

All in all, it was a very bitter pill to swallow, and not how she imagined closing out a year that, on paper, felt like the worst year of her entire wrestling career.

She didn't want to believe that, especially when compared to the earliest years of her time in the business, the times where she was unbeatable, yes, but also absolutely miserable because she was forced to be someone she's not. As she found herself pondering them, however, the facts didn't lie. 2025 had started with her and Luz, after ending 2024 in a defiant display of heart and determination against them, being bullied and thrown aside by the Fall of Man despite their best efforts. From there, Amelia had seen a series of highs and lows, the highest point arguably being a big win at Rise to Greatness that felt like just the proof she needed that she was ready... only for her last three pay-per-view results to say otherwise. Sure, she'd challenged for the World Title, but what else did she have to show for her efforts?

Could she even really count the World Title opportunity considering she'd used her Trios contract to force it, as opposed to Glory who'd earned her way to her own shot or Syren who won a number one contender's match just last night?

Amelia tried to shake it off as she stepped into the backstage area, but for some reason, the pain of this loss was particularly hard to ignore, and worse yet, it was opening up so many old wounds that she thought had healed over time. She could feel herself slipping, the negative thoughts ensnaring her like a tornado that refused to let her out of its eye. She hugged herself tight, her body trembling, as she carefully stepped aside to be out of sight. It was almost instinct, as if her mother's commands were still echoing in her thoughts, especially as she could see Glory not too far away, having left the ring ahead of her and still soaking in the hard-fought victory.

'Do not let that woman see how weak she made you look,' the familiar cruel tone of Ophelia Blythe commanded, and the memory of that voice haunting her thoughts was enough for Amelia to duck out of sight, fighting to keep herself from truly breaking down and crying over this latest setback.

She tried to tell herself it was alright, that she'd do better next time, that 2026 would be a much better year for her, but she couldn't even think it convincingly enough.

“Amelia?”

Amelia looked up, not even realizing that she had sunk to the floor at some point, and locked eyes with her wife. To say that La Pequeña Luz looked worried would be an understatement, and she was already kneeling down beside her wife, not caring if anybody saw or had a remark about it because Amelia was clearly not doing well and that was Luz's top priority.

“Ames? Can you hear me?” she asked, earning a nod from Amelia in return. “Are you alright?”

“What do you think?” Amelia shot back, perhaps more bitter than she might've intended.

“Right, stupid question...” Luz admitted, facepalming at the mistake. “You want to talk about it?”

“...what is there to even talk about, Luz?” Amelia mumbled. “I lost... despite how badly I needed this win, not even because it was Glory standing across the ring from me, I failed. Again.”

“Ames, look at me,” Luz asked, and Amelia did so. “I know it hurts, and yeah, it absolutely sucks. But, we'll have a few weeks to just kind of relax and pull ourselves together before SCW picks back up in the new year. I can feel it... 2026 will be the year of Amelia Nevado...”

Luz kept talking, doing her best to try and cheer her wife up in that special, goofy way that only she could. This time, though... it didn't seem to have the same effect on Amelia that it usually did. If anything, not that Luz seemed to be aware of this as she'd apparently shifted to rattling off possible plans for them to enjoy the holidays together to rest up for a fresh start in the new year, it seemed to be having the opposite effect on Amelia than it usually did. The more optimistic Luz tried to be about Amelia's future, the more she tried to treat this like it was just another setback she could move on from, as though it were just that easy, the more irrationally angry she felt herself growing.

'Who is she to tell you that you can just put tonight behind you that easily?' a voice suddenly spoke in her head... a voice that sounded both familiar and yet foreign at the same time. 'She won her match this weekend! She's holding championship gold again! What does she have to worry about?'

Amelia tried to ignore whatever feeling this intrusive thought seemed to bring with it, but as much as she hated to admit it... there was a good point. Luz had won her match, she'd become United States Champion for the third time last night, and while Amelia had been proud of her wife and happily celebrating with her just 24 hours prior... now the memory just left a bitter taste in her mouth, feeling like she once again ruined what could've been something special all because Luz succeeded where she had fallen short.

She didn't know how much time had passed over contemplating this and hating every second of it, but by the time she snapped out of it, she saw that Luz had risen to her feet and was offering a hand to help her up, though the concern in her eyes made it clear that she was starting to realize her optimistic pep talk didn't seem to do the trick this time.

'She's pitying you,' the voice called out in her head again.

“Ames?” Luz called out, the worry painfully clear in her voice. “Can you hear me?”

Before Amelia could even register what was happening, she found herself smacking Luz's offered hand away before she slowly pulled herself back to her feet. It was a bit more difficult than she seemed to believe it would be considering she'd just wrestled yet another lengthy match and could definitely feel everything that Glory had put her through, but she managed to get back to her feet on her own and started heading towards her locker room.

“Mi amor?” Luz practically choked out, clearly taken aback by Amelia smacking her hand away and now trying to leave without her. She followed after Amelia, keeping a healthy distance so Amelia didn't feel like she was being smothered by her wife... even if Luz felt justified in being more worried than usual.

If Amelia had fully been paying attention, she wouldn't have blamed Luz for being scared right now. After all, she hadn't seen Amelia react this badly to a loss since the night where Luz herself had been responsible for the very first blemish ever on Amelia's otherwise-perfect record at the time, and Amelia's reaction to defeat had still been fairly bad the first couple of times she'd endured it after that night as the wounds from being forced to live up to her parents' unreasonably high expectations were still extremely fresh. And yet, Amelia was arguably the best version of herself now, finally well and truly free of her parents and everything they could ever do to her, allowed to enjoy the life she chose and be unapologetically herself.

So why did she feel like this loss, in particular, had her believing her entire world was crumbling around her again?

Suddenly, she found herself thinking back to two years ago, when she and Luz were challenging Dark Fantasy for what would become their first World Tag Title reign. She remembered the warning that Ravyn had given her, the claims of the challenges she had gone through with Syren when it came to clashing desires and the pride of the wrestling business, the similarities she saw between the two couples. She'd brushed it off back then, believing it was just Ravyn's usual mind games to try and divide and conquer before their title match, confident that she and Luz could just talk through any problem and work through any issues together.

'Can you, though?' that inner voice claimed again. 'Would she truly understand if you explained to her how much you envy her success?'

“I don't...” Amelia started to say. She felt tempted to argue, knowing full well that she and Luz and been in this exact same scenario many years ago, except with the roles reversed now. The problem was, she knew that Luz envied the success she was finding at that time, and while they'd talked through it, she'd be lying to herself if what she felt right now wasn't any different.

“You don't what?” Luz spoke, snapping Amelia out of her thoughts and making her realize she'd spoken out loud. “Amelia, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't getting really worried now. Please talk with me...”

“...what do you want me to say, Luz?” Amelia replied, again knowing her voice had a sharper edge to it than she intended. Still, that inferno burned within her, and even as she reached her locker room and placed her hand on the knob, it didn't simmer. If anything, she felt it burn hotter in her veins. “I lost. Glory once again proved she's better than me, just like everyone else that's made their point that maybe I don't belong in the main event picture, that I jumped into that deep end a little too soon. Should I apologize for being such a failure and once again ruining what could've been a much better moment for us because I couldn't get the job done? Should I admit that you're the better half of us so everyone can feel happy about being right?”

“Ames, what the heck!?” Luz cried, actually taking a step back at her wife's harsh reply. She opened her mouth to follow up, but suddenly found herself unable to come up with anything to say beyond her initial horrified exclamation. Seeing how awful Luz felt when, truth be told, none of this was actually her fault, briefly snapped Amelia out of whatever haze had overtaken her in the past few minutes, but while she looked guilty, it didn't fully erase the feeling that still simmered in her gut.

The two women just stared at one another, an unfamiliar tension beginning to suffocate them both, until Amelia huffed and opened the door to her locker room.

“I'm going to take a shower,” she declared., though her voice sounded a bit strained, like she, herself, wasn't sure about what to even say right now. “After that... we'll see...”

Amelia didn't elaborate any further, and despite Luz calling her name and reaching for her, Amelia didn't pause or respond, instead just closing the door behind her and locking it, ensuring total privacy. She knew she didn't need it... Luz was already intimately familiar with every inch of her and would never make it awkward or uncomfortable, and she could feel her heart aching for her wife's presence, practically begging her to unlock the door right now and resolve this. In response to any consideration for that, her brain seemed to counter that Amelia was better off without Luz right now, and some time alone would do her some good to stew over the painful facts that she was closing the year out on.

Deep down, Amelia knew that wasn't true, but trying to override the pain of tonight's loss was proving easier said than done.

Even as she stripped down to her birthday suit and made her way to the shower, hoping the hot water would rinse away all the problems that seemed to be clinging to her like a second skin tonight, her thoughts refused to rest. She could hear Paul's words from a few days ago, the ones that had briefly sent her spiraling like she just knew she was now, echoing in her mind once more, claiming that Glory didn't truly care about her or respect her, repeating comments Glory had made in the past to question whether or not Amelia was ready to take that next step up.

As the water began raining down upon her and she worked to try and wash the aches and exhaustion out of her muscles, her brain refused to stop going. She could practically hear her parents' disappointment rattling in her skull, berating her for yet another failure that could've been avoided if she had just stuck to the plan they had laid out for her. Even if she managed to banish that from her mind, her thoughts redirected her back to Under Attack just last month. It wasn't the loss she suffered against Syren, though, that chose to plague her brain next... no, it was the words Meghan Strader had said to her wife leading up to the moment where she had ended Luz's second U.S. Title reign.

“And finally,” Meghan had stated, “you’ll have a legitimate claim to chase the World Championship from what you have done as U.S. Champ before I dethroned you.”

'Meghan wasn't wrong,' that voice from before rattled in her skull. 'Luz has earned that right, and last night only solidified it more. Three times now she's held the U.S. Championship, and people like Meghan believe she's done more for that belt that Cid Turner has for the World Title you failed to take away from him. What have you done? A short TV Title reign? Luz eclipsed that easily. A Trios contract? That ended up being wasted on an opportunity no one believed you deserved in the first place.'

“Shut... up...” Amelia growled, hands going from washing her hair to starting to pull at her brown locks, as if the pain of trying to rip them out by the roots would finally afford her some mental peace and quiet.

'Why aren't more people talking about you, Amelia?' the intrusive thought probed further. 'Why are they saying Luz has earned the right to aim for the top while telling you, to your face, that you don't belong there? Why is Luz constantly featuring in all of SCW's promotional videos while you are nowhere to be found? She has taken the spotlight for herself... and you're simply burning away in her light.'

“Shut up!” Amelia cried again, no longer able to tell if the wet streak trailing down her cheeks was water from the shower or her own tears finally breaking through the proverbial dam.

The problem was, no matter how angry she got at her thoughts for painting this picture for her... they weren't wrong, and Amelia's throat was burning from how badly she wanted to either scream or vomit or... anything that might quell the storm.

'Selena Frost, Meghan Strader, Glory Braddock...' the voice continued. 'All three claim to respect you, one even still considers you a friend... at least, when the cameras aren't rolling. And yet, none of them have ever shown you the same respect they show to your wife. None of them believe you can succeed like she has. Luz is the shining star of The Light In The Darkness, and Amelia Nevado is the failure destined to be forgotten to that very darkness, just as Ravyn predicted all those years ago.'

“No! You're wrong!” Amelia yelled, thrashing around as though she could hit something, anybody, and this voice would finally shut up and leave her alone.

'You know I speak the truth,' the voice continued. 'After all... I'm you.'

Amelia didn't know when it happened, but at some point in her internal struggle, she had wandered out of the shower and found herself back in the locker room again, her gaze drifting over to a mirror set up in one of the lockers. She didn't see the reflection of her naked, trembling, distressed form, however. No... the woman staring back at her wore her face, but looked far more confidant than Amelia had felt in some time. If anything, she almost looked like a champion: poised, proud, unstoppable. Almost like...

“Who I used to be...” Amelia mumbled out loud, feeling her own heart drop as she said those words.

“Correction: who you still are, deep inside,” her reflection claimed. “You can shed the last name, cut all ties with mother and father, but you'll always have the blood of the Blythe legacy pumping through your veins, and you know that's a legacy that demands perfection.”

“That's not me anymore!” Amelia yelled at herself.

“Maybe you're right,” her reflection shrugged. “After all, Amelia Blythe would have never let anyone make a joke out of her, not even her own wife. Think of all you could've had... wrestling greatness, championship glory just by demanding the opportunity, the respect you deserve. Maybe Caleb had a point... maybe you do need to be saved...”

“You don't know what you're talking about,” Amelia spat, shoulders shaking as she breathed heavily, feeling her heartbeat pounding in her ears.

“Oh, but I do,” the reflection scoffed. “Like I said, I'm you... the real you, buried beneath the charade of weakness that everyone has taken advantage of. Case in point: how quickly is someone going to go for your throat over the way you went after Glory's injured leg, trying to beat her at her own game, but will conveniently forget how Luz took advantage of the referee being down to turn Gavin's Lights Out and steal the U.S. Title?”

Amelia tried to turn back towards the shower, hoping that if she finished it and got dressed she could try to put this out of her head. Maybe she could say something to Celine the next time the therapist was available for a session. Amelia was so lost in her head that she'd completely forgotten she just wandered out of the shower soaking wet and hadn't dried off, slipping on a puddle that had formed beneath her and falling to the floor with a thud.

“Face it, Amelia...” her reflection taunted her. “They were all right about you. You haven't earned anything on your own since that U.S. Title tournament where you lost in the finals so very long ago. You had to rely on a contract won for you with the help of others, including outside help, just to give yourself something. Meanwhile, Luz is getting opportunity after opportunity handed to her. Who knows? Maybe Fatal Fortunes will see her challenge for the World Title and succeed where you failed, while the luck of the draw relegates you to something embarrassing that's inevitably forgotten? Maybe you were never good enough to strike it out on your own-”

“SHUT THE FUCK UP!” Amelia roared at the top of her lungs as she reached for the nearest thing she could get her hands on, which turned out to be one of her boots, and hurled it as hard as she could. The sound of glass shattering pierced the agonizing haze of her thoughts as she slowly looked up through burning eyes, seeing the mirror lying in fragments before her. The concerns that she had destroyed venue property or the whole 'seven years of bad luck' thing briefly flashed through her mind before she saw the reflection that manifested from her most intrusive thoughts still grinning at her, almost in mockery and disappointment, in the broken pieces.

“Amelia!?” she heard Luz's voice call through the door, followed by frantic knocking and attempts to turn the knob despite it being locked. “Amelia, are you alright!?”

“Go away!” Amelia yelled, though her throat felt hoarse from yelling at herself. Instead of pulling herself to her feet or even crawling anywhere to either finish her shower or get dressed or... anything at all, she just laid there, naked as the day she was born, every scar gifted to her from her parents fully exposed to the lights above. Luz's frantic attempts to get to her felt like white noise right now, and there was a burning thought that Amelia didn't want Luz to make it inside.

It made her skin crawl, but she couldn't deny it any longer... they were all right. Luz was eclipsing her, and Amelia found herself hating her wife over it just as much as she hated herself.

OOC: Chronologically, read this piece for Luz before you read Amelia's, as Luz's takes place after her match on night one of Shattered Reality and Amelia's will take place after her own match on night two.
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Even as she held the title in her hands, Luz still couldn't believe it.

Right here in Boston, she had regained the United States Championship for the third time.

She knew this was only the beginning, though. Meghan may have applauded her win after the fact, but the gaze they exchanged after the three was counted told Luz all she needed to know. Things between them were far from settled... it was a feeling Luz knew all too well, especially when it came to these multi-person matches. Pinning Gavin and finally shutting him up had been very much worth it, but Meghan had been the champion going in, and it was only a matter of time before the two of them would cross paths again, one-on-one, with that title on the line.

That would be Luz's true test when that day came.

As Luz finally stepped through the curtain and navigated through the gorilla position, grinning at the applause she got from members of production for her victory, she looked down at the title that was once again resting over her shoulder. While it felt good to be holding it again, Luz's brain wasn't content. She'd held the World Tag Titles with Amelia three times as well, and each subsequent reign had been quite a bit longer than the first, a clear sign of the progress they'd made together and proof of why they had established themselves, even now when they had become more focused on singles endeavors, as one of the best tag teams in SCW today. Becoming the team that was the measuring stick for all others to compare themselves to? It was a right they had earned.

And now, here Luz was on reign number three with the U.S. Title... and deep in her mind, the seed of doubt began to blossom on whether or not this would be the kind of reign she was looking for that would prove she's reached that same point as a singles star.

Both of her previous runs with this title had been just shy of 100 days, and while her previous reign had been longer, it hadn't been by much. Almost an entire month longer between Tag Title reigns one and two versus just four days with the U.S. Title didn't inspire the same level of confidence, and while she was determined to make up for all of it with this run and prove she was worthy of being a U.S. Champion to remember, Luz wasn't so prideful as to believe it was going to be that easy. With Meghan back on the hunt and certainly having a proper one-on-one rematch coming at some point, a hungry Damon Cage still waiting in the wings for the title shot he'd earned in KABLAMia, and Fatal Fortunes just on the horizon to once again test her fortitude through being booked twice, once with her title up for grabs, the road ahead was one that threatened to make her third run with this title a much shorter affair than the last two.

“Batata!” Luz was suddenly saved from her potential spiral as Amelia crashed into her with a big hug once Luz had made it far enough backstage. “¡Felicidades por la victoria! ¡Sabía que podías lograrlo!”

For right now, though, Luz felt she could afford to worry about those impending challenges later. After all, she'd earned the right to celebrate her big win tonight.

“Gracias, Amelia,” Luz chuckled as she leaned forward and gave her wife a big kiss before they joined hands, fingers threading together, and began heading back to Luz's locker room for the night. “Also... did you just call me a sweet potato?”

“Sorry,” Amelia chuckled sheepishly, a blush beginning to consume her cheeks. “I wanted to try and be cute with some sort of pet name beyond just calling you Lulu, and for some reason 'sweet potato' was the first thing that came to mind.”

“Aw, Ames...” Luz cooed as she leaned her head on Amelia's shoulder. “If you ask me, though... you're the sweet potato.”

Amelia nearly choked on her own breath as the tables being turned on her as both women giggled. Truth be told, Luz missed moments like this, where the two of them could just be cute and lovey-dovey without the stress of everything else hanging over their heads. Granted, Amelia still had to get through her own match in Montreal tomorrow night, but Luz had high hopes that her wife could finally get the win over Glory Braddock that she deserved to have.

Moments like this... moments like their long overdue honeymoon about a month prior... they were growing fewer and farther between as time went on, and Luz hated it.

It was hard to blame the wrestling business for any of it, considering both she and Amelia knew exactly what they were signing up for when they became two wrestlers in a romantic relationship. The rigors of SCW's travel schedule specifically had come with its fair share of stress and challenges, and match results could easily sway whether or not they felt like having these little moments was even worth it when there was work to be done... a mindset they were both trying to be better about breaking when faced with setbacks.

If it wasn't the wrestling business, though, it was usually The Empire demanding their attention and stealing their free time to even consider these moments. 'Usually' being the key word right now, because Luz wasn't blind to the oddity that the religious cult had gone eerily silent once again ever since Paul had started traveling with them. It was a puzzle that no one in their group had still been able to figure out: Caleb had seemingly ordered that Luz, Amelia and their found family be left alone in the wake of the cult's splinter cell falling months ago, an act of forgiveness that surely had some strings attached to it because despite his claims to the contrary, they knew Caleb White was not the caring and generous soul he tried to paint himself as. Henry and Valentina both had the physical and mental scars to prove it.

That still led to the mystery of Paul himself. The Empire seemed to have some great interest in him, almost to the obsessive degree they did with Luz and Amelia. Unlike the couple, however, there didn't seem to be any signs that Caleb wanted to 'save' Paul like he did with them, just that Paul apparently had or knew something and they wanted it by any means necessary. What it was that Paul supposedly possessed was the missing piece to the puzzle, as Paul himself didn't even seem to know why he was a target and no Empire cultist that had been pursuing him seemed too keen on answering that question.

Even more bizarre was the fact that once Paul was protected within their group, it almost felt like Caleb's orders to leave them alone suddenly extended to him as well. Not a lick of it was making any sense and that's what frustrated Luz the most. Before, she and Amelia had been able to try their best to stay one step ahead of Caleb's schemes because despite being a brilliant manipulator, the religious zealot was egotistical enough that they could figure out the patterns to his movements and find the opening to shut them down. Now, though? The Empire was defying all logic, and while that bothered Amelia far more, Luz would be lying if she said she wasn't a little disturbed by how little sense it made herself.

“Earth to Luz,” Amelia called out, snapping the luchadora from her thoughts once more. “You alright, querida?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah...” Luz tried to play it off, but Amelia could see straight through it and Luz knew it. “Did you need something?”

“I was asking if you wanted to shower here or back at the hotel before we check out and start heading to Montreal,” Amelia repeated what Luz clearly had missed. “But clearly something's on your mind. You want to talk?”

“I...” Luz began before cutting herself off with a sigh, trying to figure out how to approach this. “It's just... I can't help but think about The Empire again and how nothing they're doing makes any sense anymore.”

“I should be reminding you of what Celine told us about letting them feel like they have that kind of power over us,” Amelia pointed out, “but I get what you mean. It was one thing when we knew they'd gone quiet after Caleb got broken out of prison because they were rebuilding their ranks, but this?”

“He's definitely trying to be 'nice' hoping that leaving us alone after what Crane and your parents pulled will somehow change our tunes about joining him,” Luz mused. “Surely by now he's realized that's not working. I mean, look at the Empire butt we kicked saving Paul from some of those white-cloaked goons! If that doesn't scream 'we're not taking your bait, you big idiot' then I don't know what does.”

Amelia couldn't help but chuckle at Luz's declaration. “You're not wrong, which does make it strange... almost as strange as Paul himself.”

Luz raised an eyebrow at this. “I thought you didn't have a problem with someone being strange?”

“Your brand of strangeness is endearing and I love you for it amor, you know this,” Amelia replied, punctuated with a kiss on Luz's masked cheek as the two had stopped close to the TD Garden exit. “Paul, however... something's definitely off about him. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I know it's not the good kind of 'strange' or 'weird' that you proudly wear as a badge of honor and have every right to.”

Luz frowned, not at Amelia's description of her because her wife wasn't wrong about Luz finally being proud of who she was and not hiding any of it anymore, but because she was confirming everything that Henry had explained to her about what happened while Amelia had been training with him and Darius as Paul spectated. Her mind was once again brought back to the question she'd asked herself after she had wrapped up her therapy session with her mom by her side, wondering if wanting Paul to be safe from The Empire by traveling with them had been a mistake after all.

“I know every fan is entitled to their opinion,” Luz murmured, and Amelia couldn't help but frown at the doubt creeping into her beloved's voice, “but still... even if he had a point about Glory's respect for you being hard to pin down whether or not it's truly genuine, something I know I've publicly called her out on before, he didn't have to phrase it the way I heard he did. I mean, he pushed you into a brief panic attack and that's not OK!”

“No, it's not,” Amelia did agree with that, taking a deep breath as she cupped Luz's cheek in her palm, fingers tracing along the details of her wife's mask. “Still, your tone is making me think there's something else going on in your head right now.”

Luz took a deep, shuddering breath, making it clear to Amelia she was trying—and struggling—to compose herself for whatever was about to leave her mouth next.

“Ames?” she finally started to ask. “Be honest with me... do you think I screwed up asking him to join us for his own safety?”

Amelia bit her bottom lip, and Luz knew that wasn't an easy question to answer. She knew her wife wouldn't want to hurt her feelings, and it was hard to argue against Luz's nature to help others in need because that was just the kind-hearted soul she was. Screw everyone who constantly claimed the two of them were too nice for this business, because sometimes a little kindness went a long way... right?

“I honestly don't know, Luz,” Amelia finally admitted after a moment. “I can't just say no without hard proof that something's truly up here, because it's hard to argue that Paul has been safe from The Empire ever since he started traveling with us. Yeah, his fan opinions feel like they've... cut a little too deep at times, but we've heard how passionate fans have gotten over us before, whether to claim we're the greatest wrestlers alive today or to hate us just because we're not the edgy, line-walking badasses they think every wrestler should be.”

It wasn't quite the answer that Luz was looking for, but Amelia's logical analysis did help put into perspective just how flawed her question truly was. In the short term, yeah, giving Paul sanctuary among their found family had done its job, even if The Empire once again backing off completely still baffled them. Long term, though? Not enough had really happened to confirm whether or not it truly was a mistake.

“I guess you're right,” Luz finally admitted after a moment. “It's like... yeah, some of Paul's opinions as a passionate fan have been a little uncomfortable, but you remember how long it took Henry to fully feel comfortable around us after we saved him from Caleb?”

“Yeah, the poor guy was such a nervous wreck because his uncle never allowed him the chance to properly interact with anybody before,” Amelia nodded. “He's come a long way... maybe Paul's the same way? I'm not exactly saying he's some former Empire member who's ashamed to tell us that, even though we've got two who were personally handpicked by Caleb among us now, but maybe he's not too used to being part of a dynamic like we all have and doesn't know how to properly express himself?”

“Hopefully,” Luz nodded. “I really don't want to feel like I tried to help someone and they just took advantage of my kindness again. It got old when I was a kid and it just plain sucks in general.”

“If Paul does turn out like that, I'll personally turn him into a human pretzel,” Amelia vowed. “I don't care if he is a fan, it's not right for someone to think kindness is a weakness that must be exploited. It's why I've gotten so sick of people trying to use that against us around here.”

“I love how quickly you jump to my defense Ames, but hopefully we're overthinking this and it won't ever come to anything like that,” Luz said before she kissed the corner of Amelia's lips. “Now, to answer your earlier question I apparently didn't hear, I think showering back at the hotel makes the most sense. Probably better to not linger around in case Gavin or Kemal blow a gasket over my win tonight and want to 'make it right' with some sort of gang attack.”

“I wouldn't think the European Fiery Nation would risk that with Dakon and Ludvig having such a big match tomorrow night,” Amelia noted. “And Gavin's probably still trying to have his lights turned back on after you dropped him for the win. Still, I'll run back to your locker room to grab your stuff quick since I'm not exhausted from a grueling match, and we can all get going.”

“God, I love you, babe,” Luz giggled, eliciting a giggle from Amelia as the two exchanged a sappy, loving kiss before letting go of each other so Amelia could jog off and retrieve Luz's things. Despite knowing she probably should wait since mid-December Boston was quite chilly, Luz had too much adrenaline rushing through her veins from surviving that fiveway to really give the cold much thought as she stepped outside, steam quickly radiating off her body as she scanned the parking lot. She figured everyone else was still enjoying the show and that was perfectly fine, considering it would give her time to shower back at the hotel and get everything packed to head out to Montreal for night two of Shattered Reality.

To her surprise, she did see a familiar face standing out on the parking lot, hands in his coat pockets as though he were waiting for someone... and she had a feeling she knew who that someone was.

“Paul?” she asked, approaching the bearded figure as Paul's gaze turned to lock onto her with surprise. “What are you doing out here?”

“Oh, Luz!” he exclaimed. “I was just getting some fresh air. Watching you steal that victory and the title was truly a work of art, and... to be honest, I don't know how I feel about watching someone like Shaun Cruze return and try to just encroach on the efforts you and Amelia have been trying to build yourselves up to. Where is she, anyway?”

Luz visibly cringed at Paul's words, reminding her of exactly what she and Amelia had just discussed about how innocently insensitive he seemed to come off at times, and this had definitely been one of them. Seeing her reaction caused visible confusion on his face, and Luz quickly moved to answer him.

“Ames is running back to the locker room to grab my stuff before we head back,” she answered. “You guys can still stick around and enjoy the rest of the show, I'd just like to grab a shower and relax for a moment before we hit the road to Montreal for Amelia to compete tomorrow night.”

“Shouldn't you stick around, though?” Paul asked. “I mean... that main event between Syren and Kim Williams feels like something Amelia should be paying attention to-”

“Her focus right now is on Glory tomorrow night,” Luz clarified. “Anything else, and we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. That does, however... um... bring up something I wanted to talk with you about...”

“Is it about what I said during Amelia's one training session?” Paul asked, suddenly sounding worried. “I apologized to her for getting a little too pushy with what I said...”

“It's... partly that, but also partly about what you just said, too,” Luz sighed. “Look, we get it. You're a fan and you clearly have a very high opinion of Amelia and I. I wouldn't be surprised if getting to hang out with us was like the ultimate fan dream come true for you if it wasn't for the messy circumstances. But some of the things you've been saying just... they're rubbing a lot of us the wrong way, to put it mildly. Like claiming I stole my win tonight, or criticizing Shaun even if it's trying to defend us. I don't want to feel like I'm telling you to just stop being a passionate fan because fans are the true backbone of the entire wrestling industry, but... maybe you could... I don't know... try to be a little more conscious of some of the things you say? Pretty please?”

Paul just stared at Luz for a moment like she'd grown an extra head, and it quickly made Luz's adrenaline start to fade and her anxiety spike, worrying that she might have offended him. After a moment, though, Paul chuckled and shrugged.

“I'm truly sorry if I've been making everyone feel uncomfortable,” he admitted. “You're right, I've been such a devoted fan for so long and getting the chance to be around my favorite wrestlers, even despite the circumstances with all this Empire nonsense, has made me forget that I have a filter and I should remember to use it sometimes, because not everyone thinks the same way I do. I'm sorry again for stepping out of line, and I promise I'll try to be more aware of the things I say in the future.”

“That's all I ask,” Luz nodded, lips slowly curving back into her usual smile. “I know it's tough... I was a fan too when I watched my father growing up, and everyone in our little found family has their own baggage and quirks we're all still dealing with, but understanding is always the first step to helping each other address it.”

“Wise advice, indeed,” Paul nodded sagely.

As Luz watched him head back inside, passing by Amelia and nodding to her along the way, Luz wanted to feel relieved that Paul had been so understanding of her point. And yet... she couldn't help but feel like this was too easy, like he was just letting her feel like she was dictating the conversation and only agreed to make her feel like she'd gotten through to him. It was something about his tone that felt... painfully familiar.

She shrugged it off for now, focus shifting to a nice hot shower back at the hotel and cuddle time with her wife before Amelia kicked butt tomorrow night, just as she did tonight, but there was that lingering doubt in the back of her mind that was slowly growing stronger, more determined to accost her for making some sort of mistake over something she still didn't quite fully understand just yet.

For everyone's sake, she hoped she was just imagining it.

OOC: Takes place immediately following Deanna's first FF roleplay.