La Pequena Luz vs. Cara Strader

[Wisteria Waltz]

Amelia Blythe and La Pequeña Luz had high hopes for the international tour that SCW embarked upon recently.

Perhaps they had gotten their hopes a little too high, in retrospect.

While the couple had succeeded in defeating the European Fiery Nation in Japan, despite the best efforts of Dakon and Ludvig to turn the match into a hardcore affair, everything else about both that Breakdown and the one that followed in Sydney, Australia had devolved into a chaotic mess that they would love to forget. They knew trying to control the carnage would be easier said than done, but they were not going to allow all of the hard work they'd been putting in to shine the spotlight on tag team wrestling and show the world that it was on the same level as even the World Title picture to be erased just because some of the newer teams to the fold didn't want to play along.

As far as they were concerned, Twisted & Sadistic were their problem now until their title match was done. Once the couple had proven, beyond any reasonable doubt and without any excuses, that they were good enough to defeat Glory and Brittany to remain atop the tag team division, then they could be left to comprehend why their tactics to quickly get back into contention had ultimately failed them. Teams like the Dangerous Minds and the Cowgirls From Hell complicated that, however... it was hard to blame them for wanting to pay Glory and Brittany back given everything that had happened leading into Taking the Leap, but the only definitive way to settle things should be in the ring in their humble opinion, and they knew exactly what was going to happen if they notched that crucial victory they were training for while Twisted & Sadistic were at less than 100% because of the consequences of their own actions.

The mere thought of this cycle repeating and only getting worse because of a justifiable excuse made them both sick. Especially Luz, who had endured a childhood full of bullying and being caught in the crossfire and knew better than even Amelia how this game worked, and she in particular was determined to restore order by reminding everyone of the one and only place where things really mattered in this business: inside the ring.

That said, things outside the ring hadn't been going as smoothly as the engaged couple would have liked either, and it left them begging to the heavens for a decent length of time where they could actually just enjoy their lives without someone trying to barge in and unravel it for who knows what reason.

Even two weeks later, Luz and Amelia were still haunted by the mortifying incident that had taken place at what should have been a nice, relaxing, well-earned trip to an authentic onsen in Japan prior to that Breakdown. One minute, they were unwinding in the calming hot waters of their private outdoor bath, then the next, they were trying to keep from being exposed in more ways than one by some maniac who'd been ranting and raving about “exposing them as frauds” or something to that effect. Thankfully, no pictures of them in the buff had ended up anywhere online, confirming the officers who had arrested the man had made good on their word of wiping his camera of the offending images that not only violated the couple's privacy but also the sacred cultural taboos against such behavior in a Japanese onsen.

Not only would it have been mortifying to have such images floating around for all to see and do as they pleased with, not to mention damaging to their personal and public image, but Luz in particular would have suffered the worst of it because she had been without her mask at the time, not wanting to disrespect Japanese culture and having been reassured that their bath should have been completely private to relieve any fears of breaking one of the most sacred rules of her own culture. If anything bearing her unmasked face got out into the public eye before she rightfully ended up in a position where she had to unmask as per lucha libre tradition, she would effectively be disowned by the very culture she fought to represent and be seen as a role model for aspiring young men and women looking to break into the business themselves, hoping to one day don their own mask and identity to forge their own legacy in the sport.

The couple had informed their found family of this incident during a call they'd had after getting settled into their hotel in Sydney, and 'disgusted' and 'angry' might have been too nice to describe their collective reactions to this turn of events. Luz's mom and Amelia's siblings were, understandably, fuming after hearing about this and it took a lot of talking down to keep them from abandoning their own affairs just to fly out to Saitama themselves to tear the man to pieces. Given the seriousness of the cultural taboos he'd violated, the creep was almost certainly not going to be an issue again going forward. Still, Luz and Amelia would've loved to have any idea of what the heck he was even going on about and why he was looking for them in the first place, and Gage had volunteered to do some digging after getting a description to see what he could find.

It almost bothered them how easily they mentally welcomed the chaos from the last Breakdown just because it gave them something else to focus on, but at least they hoped that whole incident was some weird one-and-done deal and their undivided attention could be on reminding the tag division of the simple concept that two wrongs don't make a right.

It almost felt weird to Luz and Amelia that SCW was returning to the States for a single Breakdown before heading up to Canada and then presenting Taking Hold of the Flame from England, but they weren't going to question the specifics of this whole international tour considering two of those shows allowed them to return home, in a sense. The pay-per-view was obvious given it was Amelia's birth country, but the next Breakdown emanating from Los Angeles put it a roughly 45 minute drive away from the house they had built together, giving them a rare chance to sleep in their own beds for a little while and figure out their next move within the walls that made them feel the safest.

Luz took a sip of her coffee as she sat on the couch, her mind completely focused on the footage she was studying. Gage, ever the enthusiastic wrestling historian that had made him invaluable as a commentator on the independent scene lately, had passed along everything he could get his hands on regarding not just the Cowgirls From Hell, but the Strader family as a whole to give the couple an idea of what they were up against. Sure, Taking Hold of the Flame was going to be an interesting affair given what had been booked by CHBK to try and resolve this mess once and for all, but Luz was also getting her first taste of singles action since losing her Television Title months ago and she was determined to keep momentum in her and Amelia's favor by turning back the challenge of Cara this Thursday night.

Amelia couldn't help but smile in admiration at how intently Luz was watching the Cowgirls' debut match in SCW, specifically focusing on Cara's time in the ring. One of the few things Luz had told her that few others actually knew was the fact that she had been diagnosed with ADHD when she was still in school, and it had been just one of the reasons why her classmates felt the need to bully her and treat her like an outcast, and that thought made her heart ache for the woman who had effectively saved her from herself so early in their careers. It was hard to tell, given that Luz was not only involved in something that was everything she could've ever dreamed of, but she just had such a love for life itself that you really had to dig to find any hints that she was neurodivergent. Truth be told, she'd talked at length with Luz about the possibility that she, herself, might also be neurodivergent in some way, and it was a possibility she felt they still needed to explore if things became quiet enough in their lives. Still, seeing Luz so hyperfocused had her heart doing flips at just how much she had accomplished in spite of everyone who had told her that, even as the daughter of a legendary luchador, she didn't have the focus to be able to accomplish anything as a wrestler in her own right.

“She's got a lot of similarities to you,” Amelia noted, breaking the silence as she turned away just to plate the breakfast she'd finished cooking before going to join Luz on the couch so they could study together.

“She's a good high-flyer, that's for sure,” Luz admitted as she took a bite of the omelet her wife-to-be had made, humming to herself as she swallowed. “And this is a good breakfast.”

“I'm glad you approve of my cooking,” Amelia chuckled. “I'd like to think I've come a long way from nearly burning down the kitchen when we first moved in together.”

“Considering your parents were the kind of stuck-up rich assholes who just left all of that to butlers and personal chefs and the like, you can't be blamed for not knowing how to cook for yourself even as an adult Ames,” Luz scolded as Amelia shrugged, unable to respond with a mouth full of food. She wanted to disagree, but she knew Luz had a point and wasn't about to let her go beating herself up again for something that was the result of her parents.

“Truth be told, I'm a little jealous that you get the singles nod in LA this week,” Amelia sheepishly admitted.

“Hey, you'll get your singles record back into the positives soon, I just know it!” Luz then punctuated this exclamation with a kiss on the corner of Amelia's lips that left her laughing and shoving her away because of the sticky syrup that had accompanied it.

“Thanks hermosa, but it's not just that,” Amelia said, and Luz immediately draped an arm over her shoulder and pulled her close at the change in tone. “I was kind of hoping to show my parents the next steps I'm taking to cut their influence out of my life. You know they're probably still keeping tabs on us while their lawyers find every loophole possible to keep them out of jail for being part of The Empire.”

“Don't remind me...” Luz groaned at the thought of the lingering remnants of The Empire that were still a potential issue even with Caleb imprisoned, but she was silently grateful that without their leader the veritable cult had seemingly died along with any hope that man ever had of being free. “I'm sure they'll get to see the next evolution of you soon enough Ames, especially as we get closer to finally tying the knot.”

“Just like Cara's going to learn the hard way just how much you continue to evolve and why that makes us such an effective tag team,” Amelia grinned, and Luz couldn't argue with that as the two began to softly kiss.

The sound of the doorbell kept them from considering the option of going any farther than that this early in the morning, and their blushing faces couldn't hide the fact that the thought had crossed both of their minds even briefly.

Clearing her throat, Luz was the first to break the awkward silence. “Were you expecting anyone, mi amor?”

“Actually, that's probably Gage,” Amelia replied as she slowly pulled herself up off the couch and started heading towards the front door. “He said he was going to stop by and needed to talk with us about something.”

Luz raised an eyebrow at this before double-checking to make sure her mask was on and secure. In the back of her head, she knew it was, but she didn't want to take any risks after what happened in Saitama even if it was one of her friends. Then again, the fact that Amelia had seen her maskless face after she had first donned it would been enough to effectively blacklist her as a 'real luchadora' if anyone found out, so better safe than sorry in her mind.

“Hey Luz!” She pulled herself out of her head before she could start spiraling as Gage waved to her while Amelia trailed behind him, and the two exchanged high-fives before he plopped down on the couch and cracked open the laptop he'd brought with him.

“How've you been Gage?” she asked him. “And where's everyone else?”

“Well... Ivy's got a match coming up and Henry's helping her prepare,” Gage replied, and Luz and Amelia couldn't resist an exchange of shit-eating grins as they knew those two had been growing a lot closer than they thought anyone had picked up on. “As for Amelia's siblings... well, they're still trying to figure out how to swing a flight to Japan.”

“I told them the creep had basically been dealt with,” Amelia groaned as she ran a hand through her hair. “Considering what he did, he'll be lucky if he gets to leave Japan anytime soon.”

“Yeah... about that...”

The couple turned their gaze back to Gage, who was looking pretty nervous. Considering they could tell something was on his mind and he didn't seem like he wanted to bother them, they didn't need to guess to figure out what he was referring to.

“Are you telling me he somehow got released!?” Amelia yelled.

“After he violated our privacy and spat in the face of Japan's culture and etiquette!?” Luz joined in.

“It looks that way,” Gage lamented, “and I know exactly why he crossed that line in the first place and what he was on about, though I couldn't begin to tell you why he even did it.”

Luz and Amelia looked concerned now as Gage ultimately navigated to a YouTube page, and almost immediately they recognized the person in the channel banner and thumbnails as the very same guy who'd barged in on them bathing. The very sight of him apparently having a YouTube channel made them want to vomit after their sole experience with him so far, but the more they saw as Gage scrolled through the videos, the more confused and infuriated they became.

“What the heck are we even looking at?” Amelia had to ask.

“Who does this 'True Hero Wrestling Reporter' think he is?” Luz added, cringing at the name that had been used for the channel.

“His real name is Jacob Harrison,” Gage answered. “He's one of those YouTube channels that posts all sorts of wrestling conspiracy theories and tries to pass it off as 'real news' and junk like that. Sadly, he's among the most popular, though even I can't figure out how people buy into this crap.”

He clicked on a random video to play it. Sure enough, once the obligatory YouTube ads that were probably how this scumbag made his money were out of the way, they were treated to the man proudly introducing himself by the name Gage had given them before presenting something that, while definitely looking like a professional quality wrestling news setup, was quickly lost by just how absurd the 'news' he was breaking sounded. This one in particular saw him rambling on about things like how James Evans got brainwashed by some supposedly high-ranking religious figure to explain his heavy opposition to violence in SCW and some other stuff about a company they weren't familiar with but still just sounded too farfetched to take seriously. Seeing the comments as Gage scrolled through them, however, had them wanting to go see a therapist at how easily people were actually buying into this trash and claiming there was any truth to it at all.

“...just when I think I couldn't question my faith in humanity any more than I already did sometimes,” Amelia mumbled.

“Apparently, he gets a lot of attention because he's proven willing to go farther than most others would to get what he claims is the truth, even though there's a very good reason why no one else ever stoops that low,” Gage spat, not even bothering to hide his own disgust as he paused the video.

“If what he tried to pull on us in Saitama is any indication...” Luz huffed.

“Anyways, this is the one thing above all else I needed to show you guys,” Gage said as he navigated to another video. The concern in his voice was clear as day, and they had a pretty good idea as to why when they saw the video titled “YAKUZA COVER-UP! LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS ANYTHING BUT!” There was a collective cringe at the clickbait-y title before Gage hit play, where they could see none of Jacob's usual setup, but rather, what looked like him filming from his phone from just outside a police station in Saitama.

“Konnichiwa, true believers of YouTube! It's your fearless hero of truth and justice, Jacob Harrison, exposing even more of the dark underbelly of the wrestling business that they don't want you to know about! I'm filming this from outside a police station in Japan, which is very clearly controlled by the yakuza who no doubt have some financial stake in SCW at this point as well to set up the show that's just passed. Considering those bizarre Japanese wrestlers who inevitably got destroyed by Chris Cannon's latest mistress, is it any surprise? Anyways, the reason I'm filming this impromptu is because I have breaking news that couldn't wait until I got back to the safety of the United States! Following a tip left to me by a trusted insider source, I can confirm that the tag team known as The Light In The Darkness that you've seen in recent weeks on SCW television are imposters! That's right, I have... or should I say, HAD, proof as I found the two of them in the middle of a public orgy with one another, including the so-called 'luchadora' being without her mask! Unfortunately, the yakuza-controlled cops around here arrested me and wiped the images in order to protect them, but considering everyone knows about these two and their meetings in recent months with the legend-turned-criminal Caleb White, would it be any surprise if the tag team you thought you knew had actually been replaced by lookalikes who will spring Caleb from prison? But don't worry, my loyal viewers, for I will bring this truth to light and-”

“Turn it off, please,” Luz groaned, and Gage did as she asked.

“Well, that explains why he was spouting nonsense about 'exposing us as frauds' when he proved himself to be a professional creep,” Amelia sighed.

“And unfortunately, people are buying into this garbage hook, line and sinker,” Gage lamented as he scrolled through the comments on the video. “He may be a creep and an embarrassment to both journalistic integrity and common sense, but even if it's because of weaponized incompetence, he's definitely dangerous.”

“There's something he said that genuinely concerns me, though,” Luz noted, drawing both Gage and Amelia's attention to her. “If anything stood out to me in that cringy conspiracy trash, it's that he's sticking his nose into our lives because of a tip from a 'trusted insider source.' Surely no one in SCW is so unprofessional they would coerce this guy into trying to ruin our careers... right?”

“I doubt it, but that does beg the question...” Amelia pondered.

“I can keep digging and see if I can find anything, especially how he got released as quickly as he did,” Gage offered as he closed his laptop, growing tired of Jacob's mug sitting on his screen for the moment. “This guy's definitely a wackjob who's way out of line, but if someone's intentionally using that to try and screw you ladies over, they need to be stopped before this gets too out of hand.”

Luz and Amelia nodded, already frustrated that their fight against The Empire was now being twisted into absolute nonsense by some wannabe wrestling 'journalist' for clickbait YouTube views. But considering this guy had already seriously violated their privacy once before and was apparently being driven by a 'trusted source' who clearly had it out for the couple, they needed to get to the bottom of this before someone got seriously hurt.

As much as they valued their public reputation of being 100% authentically themselves both in and out of the ring, nothing was worth any potential harm caused to each other or the people they cared about because of some guy digging around where he had no business being in the first place.