11-04-2024, 08:59 PM
OOC: Plays off Selena’s last Breakdown roleplay and the events of last Breakdown as well. Royal Letter is for the sole recipient and is considered private/off-camera.
Dr. Glasgen’s Office
New York City, New York
November 1st, 2024
11:14am
“Selena… Selena!”
The crisp, authoritative voice snapped the platinum-blonde out of her trance, the former world champion jerking her head back towards its source, sapphire-eyes wide, from staring out the window. She had lost herself in her talking, taking some distraction (and some comfort) at the sight of the gray skies that seemed to saturate everything with their ‘darkish’ presence. Not that it was dark, but the grayness seemed to just… settle there… which oddly mesmerized and comforted Selena.
It reminded her of home – her real home… was that true? Part of her still felt the longing for Manhattan, the desire to go back and stay at the ‘Forever Home’ she had bought for Deanna so many years ago, while the redhead had been pregnant with David, not just squatting there to look after the children due to Deanna’s-
No… Selena had not been reminded of that place, but of Nome, Alaska. True, the closed-off section of the world had had its share of ‘sunny days’ and spring-time, but, for her, there had always seemed to be dark clouds hanging over the small town – literally and metaphorically. Nome was closed off from most of the world, with travel outside of it rather difficult/next to impossible except for the well-off/well-to-do. It was why she had been ‘trapped’ there for the first twenty-plus years of her life, spending all of her money from meager savings as a waitress at Liam’s Bar and Grill to get a bus ticket to Anchorage, followed by a plane ticket to get to the End of the Year Event of SCW (one way) in order to gamble on her future over a decade ago…
“Selena!” Again, that voice, causing Selena to shake her head.
“I heard you.” She breathed. “I’m sorry.”
She was only partially sorry. She had welcomed the slight break from the verbal diatribe and mental exhaustion she was feeling. Not only from the events of the past few days, but because of all of this emotional onslaught she was feeling opening up like this. But… she had to.
From where she sat on the light-brown couch, the woman spied Dr. Glasgen, the therapist Selena had hired months ago in a ‘last attempt’ to reconcile her marriage with Deanna. The dark-haired woman had stuck with her usual pant-suit attire, something Selena had, coincidentally, worn herself today, though Selena’s was dark-navy while the doctor’s was a charcoal-gray. Glasgen’s hair was freely falling while Selena’s was in its iconic braid… though not as pristine as it usually was (a little messy in her haste to tie it) and she could feel the weight in her eyes from the lack of sleep the last few days. How could she sleep with-
“We were talking about your nightmares.” Glasgen reminded the younger woman, who merely gave a nod of her head.
“Right.” Sighed Selena. “I’ve had nightmares before and…” she winced a little. “I’ve had nightmares of that moment before.”
“Where your stepmother tried to drown you?”
Again, Selena nodded. “But it’s been years since I’ve had that nightmare. Literally, years. I…” she took the opportunity to truly gaze at the therapist. “I thought I had let go of that part of my life.”
“Perhaps…” Glasgen tried to choose her words carefully. “Perhaps there is something about it that you haven’t addressed or come to terms with.” She offered. “Sometimes, past traumatic events are there to serve as reminders or the events in our lives cause us to reflect back on them.”
“No one’s tried to drown me, doctor.” Selena coldly replied, keeping her tone down despite her annoyance. “Spike me on my head? Use me to get quick attention and fame? Thrown me off a scaffold? Sure. But not drown me in a small bathroom with a door.”
“A situation does not have to be the same in order to remind us of the past.” Glasgen explained. “Merely trigger the same kind of emotional response or find some kind of similarity. Like seeing someone and being reminded of someone else.”
Again, Selena sighed. She understood all of that, of course. She wasn’t an idiot. Familiarity was what had caused her to seek out Glasgen in the first place weeks ago, after the first return of that dreaded nightmare. She had not been ignoring the signs. She had seen what was happening to Deanna – how the redhead had been unravelling due to the actions of The Enigma, and it had scared the Snow Queen. Not just for her ex-wife, but for herself.
It had only been about a decade ago that she, herself, had been so convinced that she was the mother of a child made of snow. That her mind had conjured up, in an act of survival, an illusion for its own protection. Selena could not deny it any more than she could her own name – she had been mentally unstable. Perhaps not to the extent of some of the other wrestlers in SCW, but still, somewhat delusional to believe that snow could take sentience and be a person like in ‘Frosty the Snowman’. And seeing her beloved breaking down like that before her very eyes, coupled with the nightmare Selena had had in the time following Apocalypse and that damned Mason’s interference…
She hadn’t wanted to take any chances and had, immediately (regardless of the costs), sought out the therapist she trusted, beginning sessions with her a short time later.
She couldn’t afford to break like Deanna was. Their children needed one of them and Selena had had to step up, given the recent circumstances.
“That can’t have been easy…”
“What?” Selena asked in surprise, eyes wide. “What can’t have been easy?”
“You just said that you had to step up to take care of the children given your ex-wife’s condition.”
“Did I?” the Snow Queen asked in surprise, not realizing she had spoke, at least, some of her thought aloud.
“Yes.”
“Oh…” Selena shrugged uncomfortably. “No, it’s… it’s been difficult.” She admitted. “I mean… I’ve had to before, when Deanna was incarcerated.”
“On her trumped-up charge?” Glasgen recalled, earning a nod from Selena.
“And Gerda is always helping.” The woman added.
“That’s good.” Glasgen nodded. “But that’s not why you came here today as you did.”
“As I did?” Selena asked, in somewhat confusion. Now it was her turn to get a nod from Glasgen.
“You’re distracted. You’re barely able to hold a conversation without looking away every few seconds. You’re not keeping on subject as you usually do – it’s often been about your nightmares and their frequency. But today…” her voice trailed off for a moment. “Something seems a bit more… prominent in your mind.”
She could have denied it. Could have sworn up and down that nothing was wrong. Could have reminded the woman that she was under Selena’s paycheck – that it was her ‘hour of therapy’ to talk about whatever she wanted to talk about.
But she didn’t… she didn’t say any of that. Instead, she merely looked back out the window, towards the gray outside of New York City, words forming and escaping her before she could really think about them.
“I… I fucked up royally.”
*******************************************
Bedfast, Kentucky
October 25th, 2024
1:54pm
“Just find a spot!” Ordered Selena as she sat beside Otrera Ishtar, the Amazonian woman driving the large bus through the streets of the small neighbourhood.
“Not so easy when it’s a damn bus!” Ra shot back angrily. “I told you we should have parked somewhere main and then let me get us a rental car but NOOOOOOOO! You couldn’t wait another fifteen, twenty minutes!”
“Because it shouldn’t be THIS difficult!” Selena countered back, matching the Egyptian woman’s attitude. “I just saw two buses go through here!”
“THROUGH here!” Ishtar repeated. “Not park here!”
“For Odin’s sake!” Selena huffed. “Just-“
“There!” Ra pointed out with her hand before immediately pulling to the right, managing to turn the bus towards a curb which was connected to a long strip of grass and sidewalk, a more than adequate parking spot for the large vehicle. With a sigh of relief, the taller woman turned the bus engine off and sat back. “Happy now, your majesty?”
“Not till you open the door.” Selena countered. “Or am I to go through the front window?”
Turning her glare over to her employer, Ra merely lifted a dark eyebrow. “Say the word and I’ll happily assist with that.”
The cold glare that came from Selena lasted only a second before the Snow Queen reached out, flicking the proper switch (she knew her own bus after all!) and causing the doors to open. “Remember who pays who here, Ra.” She warned.
“Remember that my job has limits of allowance, MS. Frost.” Ra countered, stressing the connotation. “And I’m starting to wonder if your dalliances with your ex count as that.”
Selena was already off the bus before the woman could finish, causing Ra to “slam” the doors shut behind the woman – that is to say she flicked the same switch Selena had but with MUCH more authority!
Ignoring her hired help for the time being, Selena felt her shoes hit the grassy ground, followed by a step or two onto the sidewalk, using the concrete surface as a sort of support to steady herself. She knew she was being unreasonable, and not for the first time – or even the first time with the same circumstance. How many times had she pulled herself away from SCW, hurt or whatever, and immediately forced Ra to drag her somewhere because of Deanna? She had, honestly, lost track. With rushing Deanna to the hospital after her collapse and taking her here, rushing to her side here and there, to this… Selena really could not remember every scenario, which was more than enough proof-positive of her own assessment of her overworking her aide and, she didn’t want to fully admit it, her friend.
Probably because you don’t have that many now… her mind mocked, throwing the sad reality back in the woman’s face. It was undeniable. While Selena still maintained solid connections with her friends of old like Jean and Zoe and David Helms and Regan Street, she was no longer as ‘liked’ in the world of SCW behind the scenes. In fact, if she were honest with herself, the only friends she thought herself in having were Luz and Amelia – Light in the Darkness – who had remained kind to her despite the path the Snow Queen walked as the most ‘hated’ wrestler in SCW.
They even invited me to their wedding… Selena sighed, though she wasn’t entirely sure she’d be able to make it now, let alone Deanna, given recent circumstances.
The thought was a cold splash of reality, and the Snow Queen immediately began marching down the street, in the direction towards the house she had spotted during Ra’s difficult mission of finding a parking space amidst the subdivision. So many of the houses were jammed packed together, the residences – some covered in Halloween décor - literally connected despite separate people/families owning them. It was so different than the Black Arrow neighbourhood, where the houses were separated by land and yards but connected via sidewalks and the long trail that wrapped around the small lake that linked all of them together.
This seemed…far more crowded and Selena wasn’t a fan – though that could have been because of her claustrophobia. Again, she felt the stirring of memory in the back of her mind – of a little girl trapped in water under a door – and she immediately threw that further into the recesses of her brain. She didn’t have time to focus on that! Quickly, as she marched down the street, she tried to refocus on something, anything – even if it made her mad to think about.
It wasn’t that hard to do. Seeing her own feet and, thus, attire: black running shoes, denim jeans, her purse, and a dark-green sweater that made up for her lack of jacket for the fall weather. She had not packed any ‘fancy clothes’ to wear or clothes that ‘displayed power’, nor had she put any on the bus this time beyond what she had worn for Breakdown and she had NO desire to wear the same clothes she had just worn yesterday, rather certain at least one of the three women would have noticed that when she arrived and what kind of image would that send?
Desperation? Weakness?
She had already shown that by letting her guard down around James Evans. While the Snow Queen wasn’t all that mad of the man’s actions against her, she was still annoyed by it. What had she expected? The idiot wanted the spotlight on him and she was the biggest star in SCW, even outshining the world champion WITH EASE, and she had left herself wide open for an attack while she had been assaulting Blake Mason, causing him ANOTHER loss to his less-than-stellar record. Of course Evans took the opportunity to stand out!
In that, she couldn’t blame him for his assault on her, only that she was still slightly reeling form it. Her head and neck still stung, though it was not bad as that damn piledriver on the steel Blake had given her at Apocalypse. At least the doctor hadn’t kept her overnight or demanded this and that this time around. A little NX and sleep while Ra had driven the bus from Ottawa to Kentucky had pretty much cleared things up. Still, she would have to deal with situation that was the Elimination Chamber and James Evans’ threat eventually.
But not now…
Instead, she kept marching down the street, turning on the corner and spotting the house nearby. Unlike the others, it was on its own space, not joined at the hip to another. Like a few houses, this one had been built and established in the early days of the neighbourhood, the other building built around it and the allowances of land. The owner, Selena knew, had refused to give up what space she had, forcing the city to keep it, and other houses that had shared that view, separate. The result was a few odd buildings that looked far homelier to Selena than others, like the one she was approaching.
It struck Selena that, despite her not visiting this place since before Amiliah was born (seven years for those keeping track, the exception being recently to drop Deanna off here), she still recognized all the details of the house. The red-brick layering, the concrete block that served as the porch step, the small line of flowers that served as a garden coming down the step and sidewalk towards the driveway. She gave it a quick notice but not long enough to even slow her stride… until she spotted the patch of the garden that was different than the rest.
Where, if she recalled correctly, there had been a small bush of leaves with the smallest of blossoms, was now a burnt, leafless mass. Charcoal black with some of its ashes spread out around it, the wood of the trunk standing there and yet… looking more like a murder scene than a symbol of life. Just beyond that, the windows were shattered and boarded up with wooden panels…
It was enough for Selena leap onto the porch, her hand immediately flying out to knock briskly on the door. She hadn’t called, just like she hadn’t last time she was here, and she didn’t care that she hadn’t. Instead, she strained her ears to her any movement from inside the house.
It didn’t take long for her to pick up something as the sound of shuffling steps came forward, the door was unlocked and opened. Before her, Selena locked eyes with… Deanna…
No… It took only a second for Selena’s brain to catch herself. The woman bore a striking resemblance to her beloved, that was true, but this woman was taller, with sharper facial features where Deanna’s were softer and kinder, a more brownish red shade of hair where Deanna’s was vibrant in its dark-red color, and this woman’s eyes looked more like seafoam green-blue where Deanna’s eyes were emerald. Not to mention that this woman was taller, basically Selena’s height, and her expression was immediately cold towards the Snow Queen.
“You again.” The woman remarked, not overly surprised.
“What happened?” Selena asked without any greeting, merely pushing herself past the woman to enter the house, dropping her purse on the nearby small table. Manners and propriety be damned – she was not in the mood! “You had one job!” she ordered.
“A job you threw at my feet without telling me anything beyond the basics!” the woman snapped back.
“I didn’t figure you needed a reason to help your own sister in a time of crisis!” Selena shot back, hands on her hips as she turned back towards the policewoman.
“A sister I’ve not seen in how long?” reminded Amelia Springs. “And by the way, thanks for pointing out that she’s out of her fucking mind! That would have been nice to know!”
“She’s not…” Selena breathed. “What happened?”
“Nothing.” The older Springs sibling tiredly replied, running a hand through her hair in agitation. “That’s what I keep telling her. It was some stupid prank by some of the neighbour kids.”
“Lighting your garden on fire and breaking your windows was a stupid prank?” Selena asked, her eyes wide in disbelief, until she heard the voice from further within the house. “What constitutes a real emergency? The apocalypse?”
“It happens every year or so…”
Turning around, the Snow Queen spied the younger woman suddenly standing before her. This one had long, brown hair that matched her eyes but her skin was almost as pale as Selena’s but far softer looking, as if the woman had not suffered any injuries in her life – a far cry to the scars that covered Selena’s ribs and back. The shorter woman wore black jeans and purple t-shirt with a wide opening that showed her collarbone and tops of her shoulders. Still, she appeared so gentle compared to the rough Amelia that was arguing with the platinum-blonde.
“Happens when you’re a cop. And a lesbian.” Amelia finished her wife’s statement with a resigned shrug. “I tried to tell Deanna that but she wouldn’t listen! She kept going off that ‘someone was after her’ and that she was ‘the only person that could stop it’!” The cop rolled her eyes. “Haven’t heard anything this crazy since last time she was here…” she eyed Selena. “Remember? When she claimed she got knocked up by a ghost or something?”
Selena’s jaw clenched. “You know… for someone that’s learned her sister is a victim of rape and assault, not to mention wrongfully imprisoned for two years and JUST survived a fucking burning building… you can be a real bitch, you know that?”
“No more than the one that just dumped said person on my doorstep.” Amelia countered. “Thought you were supposed to take care of her. Wasn’t that what your wedding was about? Not that I would know, I wasn’t invited!”
“You didn’t want to come!” Selena countered.
“Because YOU twisted Deanna into something she wasn’t!” Amelia shot back! “You were the one that offered her this ‘grand life outside of here!’. Well look around! How’s that going?!”
“ENOUGH!” Came the voice of the third woman – Isabella ordered, surprising both Selena and Amelia with her bluntness, the woman usually so quiet and reserved. “This solves nothing.” She added. “You’ve had this argument every time Selena has been here!”
Slowly, she stepped towards her wide, laying a hand on Amelia’s shoulder. “Like it or not, Deanna chose the path she went. And like it or not, she has been happy too. Your nieces and nephews are proof of that! If Deanna wasn’t, she would have come back here. She didn’t…” her eyes turned to Selena. “Because Selena loved her and did all she could to make her happy. Deanna is more than strong enough to have left her if she hadn’t.”
There was a silence between the three of them for a moment, allowing Selena to inhale and exhale a long breath. “I’ll admit that I wasn’t perfect in those years.” She started. “I never… I… I always had her best interests at heart. But…” she turned her gaze back to Amelia. “You have to know there were so many wonderful times. The holidays, the dates, the things we accomplished together, our children…” she wanted to say more, to give more concrete examples but her trembling voice stopped her, causing her to clam up to avoid showing too much weakness. “Is she… Is she alright?”
“Yes.” Isabella answered for her and Ami. “That therapist was here earlier this morning.”
“Who?” Selena asked before the answer came to her. “Marsh-Asher?” Her jaw clenched. “I told him to stop getting involved.”
Amelia, not quite outside her anger towards the platinum-blonde yet, simply shrugged her shoulders. “He’s been here every week to talk to Deanna. Again… not that we’ve had much say in this-“
“I get it, Ami.” Selena sighed. “I’m sorry to have dumped her on your doorstep. But I didn’t know where else to go, alright?”
It had been a quick, and tough decision. After Deanna’s collapse prior to Apocalypse, the Snow Queen had decided what every doctor had advised Deanna to do. To stop wrestling. To stop chasing The Enigma. And while she couldn’t, realistically, stop Deanna from fighting the man in some unsanctioned match already put in motion, she could begin the steps needed to slow Deanna down. She just needed a place to do it.
Her ex-wife’s hometown of Bedfast, Kentucky, had been the only option, specifically, the home of Deanna’s estranged sister, Ami. She had given Deanna one chance to make all of this right, under the guise of ‘keeping her safe from Engima until the unsanctioned match’. Once that had been done and things had gotten worse seemingly, Selena had acted…
“And she’s still pissed at me?”
“More than you can imagine…”
The voice did not come from Amelia or Isabella, but rather the woman standing at the top of the stairs down the way. Her arms were crossed over her chest and glaring daggers – emerald daggers – at Selena. Beside her stood another familiar face, the tall man having stayed in this house as well by order of Selena.
“Deanna…” Selena breathed, ignoring the warning signs and moving closer, even stepping up the stairs towards the redhead. “They had you calling at… and I heard-“
“Heard what?” Deanna asked, her tone guarded and not taking a step towards Selena. She seemed to be clutching something in her hands, but Selena could not quite make it out.
“Your call.” The platinum-blonde remarked. “To James and Alex. About the fire. The windows. Everyone heard it-”
“You heard that?!” Deanna asked, her eyes wide. “Wait… what do you mean ‘everyone heard it’?”
For a moment, Selena mentally cursed herself. She had not wanted to let that slip. “It was…” she tried to find the right words to explain it. “It was during Breakdown… it was live…”
“Oh my god…” Deanna’s hand reached out to take the wooden stair rail. “They must think I’m a nutbag!” she breathed. “Gods… They couldn’t believe me when the damn ring was exploding! Who’s going to believe me about this?!”
“Deanna…” Selena tried, only to be re-met with a dagger-glare.
“No.” she bit back. “I’m not talking to you.” She added. “Why are you even here?”
“What do you mean, ‘why am I here’?” Selena asked in disbelief. “I was worried! I thought something had happened to you!”
“Even if it had – I can take care of myself, remember?!” the redhead countered. “Not like you were any help in that building! You thought I was crazy too!”
“I… I didn’t think you were crazy- I DON’T think you’re crazy-“
“Oh please!” Deanna spat back. “If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have done all of this!” she gestured towards the house she stood in. “Under lock and key? These visits from a therapist!”
“THAT’S on SCW! Not me!” Selena tried. “I told them to back off!”
“Why? So you can pick a doctor for me? Like Glasgen?!”
“There’s…” Selena tried. “There’s nothing wrong with seeing someone. I’m seeing her.”
“I…” the remark was enough for Deanna to be taken aback for a moment. “You are?”
Selena nodded. “I’m dealing with my own problems… but I’m trying.” She reached out a shaky hand. “I want things to be better for us.”
The hand was, immediately, swiped away as Deanna recovered, returning her cold glare towards Selena. “Long as it’s on your terms right? If I’m just ‘the perfect little redhead’ that you want, right?”
“Wha…no!” Selena tried. “I’m just scared, Deanna, okay? That’s why all of this happened. Because things are happening to you! You have to be able to see it! Your health? Your lack of sleep? Everyone wants to help you get better!”
“This coming from the addict?!”
There was no taking that back – even as emerald and sapphire eyes went wide. Even as the man standing next to Deanna winced and whispered “Low blow…” under his breath. Even as Isabella called out Deanna’s name, nothing could be done.
Silence saturated the space between all five people in the room, one so thick that no one dared to break it for several seconds. Slowly, Selena allowed herself to recover from the shock, turning her head down to take a deep breath before speaking. “You’re right.”
She let those words settle before looking back up towards Deanna, the redhead’s face a mixture of hurt, pain and – gods, Selena could see the loneliness louder than any other. It was something she had lived for over half of her life. “I’m not one to talk. I’m an addict. I’m the most hated person at work. I’m… I’m so many things.” She kept her eyes locked on Deanna.
“But I’m also the one that’s been further than you have. Someone that believed in something that I… I had no business believing in. But I had to – in order to survive. And I couldn’t see reality because the thought of being without that something – it would have broken me. I’m telling you, Deanna…” She tried to reach out again, trying to offer her hand to her beloved. “I lost myself to a child made of snow… if you keep chasing your phantom of smoke… you’ll end up somewhere you might not be able to get out of – where none of us can reach you…”
The redhead seemed to stare at the hand, seemingly forgetting about everyone around her but the woman that stood a few steps down from her. For several seconds, no one said anything and Deanna’s eyes did on stray from the pale hand before her.
“So…” she breathed, emerald eyes, once more, finding Selena’s. “You do think I’m crazy.” She gave one last glare at Selena before the next words came out. “Never imagined I’d actually miss Frankfurt…”
The shock and realization of her words hit Selena like a damn truck, but it was already too late. In that second, Deanna marched down the stairs, shoving past the platinum-blonde, past Amelia and Izzy, and marching out the open door, closing it behind her.
“Deanna!” Selena called out. “That’s not-“ but the door slamming shut silenced her, though her gaze stayed on the door.
“Well…” the man still standing at the top of the stairs remarked, moving down to stand at the same level as Selena. “I’m not an expert, but… if you were trying to get through to her… maybe don’t call her crazy next time.”
Selena’s head snapped back to the man. “That’s not what I meant, Eric, and you know it!”
The old friend of the Frost family winced. “Sort of sounded like you did.”
“No kidding.” Amiliah chimed in, earning a sad sigh and a nod from Isabella.
“I didn’t call her crazy!” Selena countered. “I just-“
“Actions speak louder than words, Selena.” Eric spoke up, the man shaking his head. “I mean… what did you think was going to happen? You dumped Deanna in the one place she never wanted to return because of the pain it brings her-“ his gaze shot back to the Springs-wives. “No offense.”
“None taken.” Amelia shrugged in understanding, Izzy offering a similar understanding with her smile, allowing the boy to continue.
“And then, insult to injury, you took away her phone, her credit cards… every chance she has to leave this place. You basically imprisoned her in the last place she’d rather be! What did you THINK she was going to feel?! Like it was some kind of damn vacation?”
“I…” Selena tried to explain. “What else would I have done?!” she turned her gaze to Amelia and Izzy. “What would you have done? Or have me do?! She wasn’t going to stop hunting for this guy! Exploding rings?! Burning buildings?! She was LITERALLY killing herself over this!” she found her way back to Eric again. “What would you have me do?”
“Well, I don’t know, but I know that taking her away from her home and children was NOT the way to go!”
“And what if Enigma HAD come for my children, Eric? What then? Or are is everyone here going to forget that they are MY children to? What if he had gone after them to get to Deanna?” Selena countered. “What if keeping her hidden also protected them? Ever think about that? Or the fact that, despite the divorce, I still love Deanna more than anyone in this room!”
“You think Deanna hasn’t thought about that?” Eric countered with a shrug. “Pretty sure she’d have at least given you some benefit of the doubt if that even made the least bit of sense. But it doesn’t.” he shrugged again. “You took matters into your own hands, Selena. And this time… she’s not even married to you. You’ve got no claim over her and you’re still trying to control her.”
“I…” Selena felt her jaw shake, words failing her as she gazed down the man. “That’s not what marriage is…”
“No, it isn’t.” Amelia chimed in. “But you can’t even hide behind it now. You can’t just say that you’re ‘protecting your wife’ because she’s not your wife. You’re just a woman obsessively trying to control a woman you still have feelings for – and causing more problems for her and the rest of us in the process.”
The platinum-blonde did not move as she heard these words, instead focusing her attention on the carpeted-flooring that covered the stairs she stood on.
Control. It all came down to control. Everything she was involved had to have her in control. SCW? The rematch clause – hell, Mason had hit the nail on the head (though Selena had already admitted to it long before then). The Trios contract hadn’t been needed by the Snow Queen, but she still wanted it because of the control it offered. Her own life? Everything she did screamed control. Living in a castle penthouse above some of the clouds of NYC? Control. This whole thing? Protect Deanna by, basically, putting her in a prison? Control.
And why? Because of some fear of lack of control? Because of some nightmares? Because of some part of her past where she had no control and had been at the mercy of those stronger than her? Rebelling only in certain moments where she could and surrendering every other time?
Even in this whole “Wild, Wild West” thing in SCW, while Josh Hudson was doing everything but that while Selena was living it, she was STILL trying to control everything. Inserting herself into the main-event – not that she planned to stop that – Interfering in matches time and time again to screw with Mason and mess with Hudson. Waring with Knight and Asher-Marshall and the old prick, Alex?
It all came back to control. Her trying to control the things that were beyond her control. Even when she really didn’t deserve any control in the first place – such as with Deanna.
It took awhile for a sigh to escape her, the Snow Queen shaking her head. “You guys think I’m this out-of-control monster, don’t you?”
“No.” Isabella answered for everyone. “You and Deanna are both troubled and… we think SCW is the cause of it all.”
Slowly, with a dawning realization, Selena turned her attention from Eric, to Amelia, to Izzy, then back to Eric. “You’ve been talking a lot?”
“Well… you basically jailed me here to.” Eric shrugged. “Had to talk to someone during their ‘date night’.” He tried to joked, only receiving a roll of the eyes from both Springs-women. “And I can’t believe I’m saying this because it would, effectively, cost me my job, but… I agree. SCW’s the issue.” He eyed Selena. “You could just leave.”
Selena sighed. It was not something she hadn’t heard before. In fact, Deanna had begged her to before everything with The Enigma had come to a head, while she was still the World Champion. And then, Selena had begged the same of Deanna during everything with the aforementioned masked man. To just walk away and leave everything behind.
She hadn’t when Deanna asked.
Deanna hadn’t when she had asked.
And now…
“I can’t.” Selena sighed. “I’m too far gone.” She smiled. “Both Deanna and I are. Even if I quit and somehow manage to take her with me, she’ll still be searching for The Enigma. I know a thing or two about haunting ghosts.” She looked away for a second, almost sure she spotted something out of the corner of her mind’s eye but, knowing the truth, ignoring it. “She’s not going to stop until she either comes to terms with her own obsession like I did… or she really does destroy The Enigma.”
“And what about you?” Amelia dared, eyeing the Snow Queen. “When do you stop?”
A sad smile crossed Selena’s lips. “Unfortunately, when it comes to a ‘phantom of smoke’ to destroy… I don’t have one.” She turned her attention towards Amelia. “I am one.” She gave a shrug. “Which means the only way out for me…” She let the last part hang in the air through silence, at least for a second.
“Is for someone to destroy you?” Eric guessed.
“Oh good lord.” Amelia scoffed. “How melodramatic can you get?”
“Selena…” Izzy tried, the gentler Springs approaching her. “There can be another way.”
“I know.” Selena replied with a smile. “But after all I’ve done? I don’t… I don’t think I deserve an easier or ‘kinder’ way.” She tilted her head, allowing the exhaustion to show in her eyes. “I knew what I was doing when I did all of this. I knew I couldn’t be the Blue-Eyed Devil AND be Deanna’s wife, yet I still tried to protect her and be both in my own way. And I KNEW that what I was doing was right and wrong at the same time – especially in SCW – and I still did it. Now? Now I can’t go back. I have to see it through and… I lost Deanna… which I deserve. I…” she breathed. “I deserve an ending where I get what’s coming to me. At some point…”
Maybe the chamber… her mind mused. It actually seemed like a fortunate happenstance. Between Mason wanting revenge up and down, James Evans wanting to ‘re-establish’ himself, Brittany Lohan being the ‘always loving destruction’ woman that she was, Raynes being… well, Raynes… and Polly still so desperate to break the glass ceiling, there was no shortage of people that would love to be the one that ‘pulled the trigger’ on Selena Frost. The prestige of that alone would make, or skyrocket, a career. Hell, Hudson was STILL riding his “I broke Xander’s streak” and that was like twenty years ago or something.
In that moment, she could feel the ‘phantom pains’ of the scar on her back, as if they were burning because she had thought of them. Some of those scars she had received in the numerous chamber matches she had been in throughout her ten-plus years in SCW. Elimination Chamber, Roofed Chamber, Cage match, Tactical Warfare, Selena had, essentially, been in almost all of them, some more than once. The structure was brutal and unforgiving, regardless of which incarnation it took on. Yes, if anyone was going to stop her and destroy her… it would be within that structure.
All while Josh Hudson shakes hands and gives smiles… her devil-mind whispered darkly, the irony not lost on the platinum-blonde.
“Anyway…” Selena sighed, turning her attention towards Amelia. “You’re sure the windows and the fire was just kids?”
The cop nodded. “Chief’s already got some suspects he’s looking into.”
Looking beyond her, Selena saw the boarded windows once more, giving a nod of her head. “Then… I guess I’ll go.” She sighed. “Can you…” she turned her head towards Eric. “Do you mind just keeping her here just so we can be sure? I mean… in case he DOES show up, you know?”
“Yeah, I get it.” Eric nodded. “You going to talk to her?”
Selena paused, considering it for a minute before slowly shaking her head. “I doubt she’ll really listen to me at this point. Not like I’ve earned that right any way.” Slowly, she made her way down the stairs. “Least I can do is leave her be so she doesn’t have to look at me and…”
Her voice trailed off as she spied the small table by the door, where she had left her purse… or rather, where her purse HAD been placed…
Eyes going wide, Selena quickly marched down the steps, ignoring her name being called as she reached the table, looking around it and behind it. “Did…” her voice began to make the sound but her brain was faster. No one had moved – come and gone – out of this room since she had stepped into it… except for one person…
Immediately throwing the door open, Selena gazed into the outside once again, her eyes immediately finding her purse on the porch, on its side. Only a few items had spilled out of it like her shades and some papers…
But as she gathered them up, she knew – without having to check, though she did anyway – she knew two things were missing.
Her wallet and her cellphone.
“Dammit! Dammit!” She growled out before shouting. “Deanna?! DEANNA?!”
It was enough to pull out the others, both Springs and Eric coming out to join her on the porch.
“What are you-“ Amelia started before a cold glare from Selena silenced her.
“She played me!” Selena growled. “She saw the purse on the tabletop and did that WHOLE spiel just to get herself down there so she could swipe my purse!”
“But then why-“ Eric started, eyeing the purse very clearly in Selena’s hands.
“Because the wallet and the phone, Eric!” Selena sighed in irritation. “Of course…” she added with a curse. Eric had said it himself! Selena had taken away Deanna’s means of leaving Kentucky. No money and no means of contact. She had been strict in that ruling to Eric, Ami, and Izzy! And here she was leaving BOTH lying around in plain sight of Deanna – like water to a parched dessert-dweller. OF COURSE SHE WAS GOING TO STEAL THEM!
“She’s gone…” Selena breathed, turning back to the others with a look of sad certainty. “Deanna… is gone.”
_______________________________________________________________
The camera opens up to a decorated office space, complete with a shelf of books behind a throne chair. Within that throne chair sits Selena Frost, but not the one SCW seems to know. Rather, this one wears blue jeans and a maroon t-shirt, very casual attire, and while her demeanor is usually that of ‘The Blue-Eyed Devil’, that does not seem to be the case here as she calmly breaths, offering a soft smile to the letter’s sole recipient.
Polly… she breathes slowly. I know you’re probably used to these after Trios, but I wanted you to understand something before all of… this… begins. Because I’m not going to talk too much about you by the time I reach Under Attack. And it’s not because I don’t respect you – it’s actually the opposite. I’m sending this to you… and only you… because I do respect you, and I need you to understand the reality of where the hell you’re headed.
Because you’re being an idiot.
Biting her lower lip, Selena shakes her head. Do you honestly think I’m not upset about Trios, Polly? Yeah, maybe I didn’t need the contract like you did, but THAT’S the reason why I’m upset. Because you DID need it! For gods’ sake, Polly, I’ve had to watch you time and time again get so close to breaking that glass ceiling! With me, with Hudson, with RTG, and then with Trios. I mean, geez, Polly, did you ever wonder why the hell I was pushing your buttons in the Trios buildup in the first place?
Selena shakes her head. I wanted you to THINK! I mean REALLY think! WHY you’re not where you want to be? HOW you’re not where you want to be! What are you good at, what do you suck at. What do you know? What don’t you know – and then I wanted you to come to terms with it. Not for me, not for Hudson, sure as hell not for Alex Desbourais and Lucas Knight but because YOU could understand it!
Because at the end of the day, Polly, you don’t have to answer to any of those people! Not Colleen, not Marissa, not Raynes, not Mason, not Alex and the others, not the fans, and not even to me! The only person you need to answer to at the end of every match and every show is YOU! That’s what I wanted you to realize! And I’m sorry that Trios couldn’t do that! I wish I had seen it coming but I didn’t! I didn’t realize how desperate Blake Mason was to get a world title shot. I didn’t realize how little he cared about the tournament and how little CHBK would care that his first Trios Tournament was so tainted and devoid of integrity.
Selena shakes her head. But I can’t stand by and watch you make an ass out of yourself because of it.
I mean, how many times have you tried to ‘get even’ with everyone, Polly? You went after Mason, how’d that go? He seemed fine after your little tantrum. Didn’t even mention you last week, did he? – and let’s not forget you got levelled by Raynes. Then, you tried again last Breakdown. How did that go? I watched it, remember? You got blasted by Mason.
And you want to know the reason I didn’t run down there to save you, Polly? It wasn’t that I couldn’t or I was afraid of getting beat up. Are you kidding? I’ve fought a damn Executioner. You think I’m afraid of Mason and Rayes? Assuming I’d have you by my side doing it in that moment? Ha!
Selena releases a short laugh before readopting her serious expression. Polly, I didn’t run down there because, again, you needed to see something. Every attempt you’ve had to ‘gain revenge’ has failed to get you what you want – getting you nowhere at the best of times and getting you blasted and knocked out at the worst of times. Because you’re running around like a damn chicken with your head cut off! You’re not thinking! You’re not being smart! You’re just being angry. And do you honestly think that’s going to get you anywhere inside the chamber?
Think about it it!
Her voice echoes a little at that command. REALLY think about it! Mason has aligned himself with Lohan AND Raynes – them teaming up against you should be proof of that! That’s THREE people working against you! Evans has The Fall of Man watching from gods know where! And you’re just running in, screaming and swinging at whatever moves!
Now… she sits back in her chair. Look at me.
I’ve humiliated Mason, despite his numbers and hired goons, week after week. I took his world title – a title he was seconds away from getting. I humiliated him by brutalizing him with a chair. He has not had one moment – one single thing – to be proud of since he meddled in MY business. I have made him regret making that deal with Heaven Jr. and taking Trios from us… because I was smart! I took my time and planned my shots! I waited until the time was right to strike! When it mattered most. I was humble enough to know that I couldn’t do what you are trying to do and just lose it like that! To the point where he was cursing ME at Breakdown, swearing up and down to get even – THAT is true revenge!
You need to be smarter, Polly! Because if you think that your way is going to ‘make it through’ the chamber, then you’re not going to get past the first half! Think about it! Mason wants the world title and has half the combatants on his payroll. Evans will do ANYTHING and say ANYTHING to fuck with your head, or should we ignore how he did that to the Underground division for so many months last time he was here?
You and I? We don’t have a stable or hired goons to help us out, Polly. Your girls won’t be there and I… she pauses for a moment, as if a knowing fact dances across her vision – a sad, heartbreaking reality – before she looks back into the camera and offers a knowing smile. I’m alone.
But you, Raynes, Mason, Evans, maybe even Lohan – you think simply winning the chamber will net you the promised land. Polly, that isn’t true. What good is winning if you’re destroyed? There’s no contendership in this match! There’s no title on the line! Sure, it can push you, but what happens when Mason decides to meddle again, this time post-match? Or James decides to hold true to his ‘die with me’ BS? Cause I know men like that, Polly. I KNOW men like that!
If they can’t beat you… they’ll eliminate you. Why else do you think Heaven Jr. needed Mason? Why else did Mason hire Raynes to take you out?
They know they can’t beat us! Mason KNOWS he can’t beat us! So he wants us out of the way. That’s what the chamber will be – his way of getting rid of us… if we let him…
Leaning forward, Selena’s sapphire eyes glare into the camera. I’m not going to offer you something I can’t deliver, Polly. I WANT to be the one to win the chamber and I WANT to be the one that throws it back in everyone else’s face – except yours. I won’t lie to you and tell you otherwise. The hand I offer you now will, inevitably, pull you in and lock you into the Devil’s Gate or smack you hard enough to set you up for the Glass Shard. I won’t pretend it won’t. But neither will I fault you for doing the same to me when it’s the right time to. When it’s just us in the chamber.
That is what I am proposing, Polly.
She smiles knowingly. Because the chamber isn’t just about winning, Polly. Like I said, what’s the point in being a ‘winner’ if you’re taken out for months or longer? You’ve seen the scars on my back. You know what the chamber can do.
No, it’s not enough to simply win, Polly. We - you and me? We need to survive. You to break that glass ceiling and me to use my rematch clause to regain the world title and expose this sham of a “Wild, Wild West” champion. We need to survive the chamber in order to do what we need to do. And if all you’re going to do is run around, flailing your arms and fists and attacking anything that moves… you’re not going to survive.
Once again, Selena sits back in her chair. So, you can either do like you’ve done… or you can do like me.
Think about what we did together, Polly. Together… we had Xander F’N Valentine trembling in his boots! We became the RIGHTFUL winners of the Trios contracts – the ones that deserved them. Now, think about what we can do if we work together in the chamber against the team of Mason, Raynes, Lohan and the wildcard of James in that mix. Think about what we could accomplish! Think about what your name will mean if you pin a former world champion in Evans with my help. If you enact your revenge by pinning Mason with my help. If you defeat an icon like Brittany Lohan and so forth…
And, on top of all of that, you survive the chamber, whether you win or lose, you walk out – with them… the SCW Universe, cheering you for overcoming so many and surviving past so many. Isn’t THAT better than simply ‘beating the hell’ out of Mason because he screwed us out of the finals? Better than beating the hell out of Raynes just because he has no morals and attacked you over a ‘deal’? Why simply beat them when you can stand above them with me in the world title rankings, ensuring that all their dreams of ‘being world champion’ shall have to stay behind YOU?
Selena tilts her head. Polly, I want you to think about this. REALLY think. I am offering you a chance to survive as far into the chamber as we can go – to the point where, no matter how much they promise to ‘kill us’ or ‘injure us’ or ‘end the influence’ we have in SCW ‘once and for all’ so they can ‘save SCW’ – you will know that they will fail. You will know that you are safe. Because until it is just us… I will have your back, like I did in Trios. I will ensure you CAN survive this chamber. Because you deserve to. You deserve to break the glass ceiling. Not Lohan, not Raynes and sure as hell not Evans or Mason, but YOU, Polly!
And when it is only you and left in the chamber? Selena offers a kind smile. After our survival is guaranteed… I will offer you a REAL chance to break that glass ceiling. One that NO ONE will be able to refute. Or…
Selena offers one last shrug. You can turn this down and just be forgotten in the chamber once again… just like last time… with a Frost eliminating you…
Really, it is up to you, Polly. Whether you want to believe it… or not…
The Snow Queen offers a tilt of her head. Think about it… before the shot fades entirely to black.
Villain of the Year
”Phantom of Smoke”
Dr. Glasgen’s Office
New York City, New York
November 1st, 2024
11:14am
“Selena… Selena!”
The crisp, authoritative voice snapped the platinum-blonde out of her trance, the former world champion jerking her head back towards its source, sapphire-eyes wide, from staring out the window. She had lost herself in her talking, taking some distraction (and some comfort) at the sight of the gray skies that seemed to saturate everything with their ‘darkish’ presence. Not that it was dark, but the grayness seemed to just… settle there… which oddly mesmerized and comforted Selena.
It reminded her of home – her real home… was that true? Part of her still felt the longing for Manhattan, the desire to go back and stay at the ‘Forever Home’ she had bought for Deanna so many years ago, while the redhead had been pregnant with David, not just squatting there to look after the children due to Deanna’s-
No… Selena had not been reminded of that place, but of Nome, Alaska. True, the closed-off section of the world had had its share of ‘sunny days’ and spring-time, but, for her, there had always seemed to be dark clouds hanging over the small town – literally and metaphorically. Nome was closed off from most of the world, with travel outside of it rather difficult/next to impossible except for the well-off/well-to-do. It was why she had been ‘trapped’ there for the first twenty-plus years of her life, spending all of her money from meager savings as a waitress at Liam’s Bar and Grill to get a bus ticket to Anchorage, followed by a plane ticket to get to the End of the Year Event of SCW (one way) in order to gamble on her future over a decade ago…
“Selena!” Again, that voice, causing Selena to shake her head.
“I heard you.” She breathed. “I’m sorry.”
She was only partially sorry. She had welcomed the slight break from the verbal diatribe and mental exhaustion she was feeling. Not only from the events of the past few days, but because of all of this emotional onslaught she was feeling opening up like this. But… she had to.
From where she sat on the light-brown couch, the woman spied Dr. Glasgen, the therapist Selena had hired months ago in a ‘last attempt’ to reconcile her marriage with Deanna. The dark-haired woman had stuck with her usual pant-suit attire, something Selena had, coincidentally, worn herself today, though Selena’s was dark-navy while the doctor’s was a charcoal-gray. Glasgen’s hair was freely falling while Selena’s was in its iconic braid… though not as pristine as it usually was (a little messy in her haste to tie it) and she could feel the weight in her eyes from the lack of sleep the last few days. How could she sleep with-
“We were talking about your nightmares.” Glasgen reminded the younger woman, who merely gave a nod of her head.
“Right.” Sighed Selena. “I’ve had nightmares before and…” she winced a little. “I’ve had nightmares of that moment before.”
“Where your stepmother tried to drown you?”
Again, Selena nodded. “But it’s been years since I’ve had that nightmare. Literally, years. I…” she took the opportunity to truly gaze at the therapist. “I thought I had let go of that part of my life.”
“Perhaps…” Glasgen tried to choose her words carefully. “Perhaps there is something about it that you haven’t addressed or come to terms with.” She offered. “Sometimes, past traumatic events are there to serve as reminders or the events in our lives cause us to reflect back on them.”
“No one’s tried to drown me, doctor.” Selena coldly replied, keeping her tone down despite her annoyance. “Spike me on my head? Use me to get quick attention and fame? Thrown me off a scaffold? Sure. But not drown me in a small bathroom with a door.”
“A situation does not have to be the same in order to remind us of the past.” Glasgen explained. “Merely trigger the same kind of emotional response or find some kind of similarity. Like seeing someone and being reminded of someone else.”
Again, Selena sighed. She understood all of that, of course. She wasn’t an idiot. Familiarity was what had caused her to seek out Glasgen in the first place weeks ago, after the first return of that dreaded nightmare. She had not been ignoring the signs. She had seen what was happening to Deanna – how the redhead had been unravelling due to the actions of The Enigma, and it had scared the Snow Queen. Not just for her ex-wife, but for herself.
It had only been about a decade ago that she, herself, had been so convinced that she was the mother of a child made of snow. That her mind had conjured up, in an act of survival, an illusion for its own protection. Selena could not deny it any more than she could her own name – she had been mentally unstable. Perhaps not to the extent of some of the other wrestlers in SCW, but still, somewhat delusional to believe that snow could take sentience and be a person like in ‘Frosty the Snowman’. And seeing her beloved breaking down like that before her very eyes, coupled with the nightmare Selena had had in the time following Apocalypse and that damned Mason’s interference…
She hadn’t wanted to take any chances and had, immediately (regardless of the costs), sought out the therapist she trusted, beginning sessions with her a short time later.
She couldn’t afford to break like Deanna was. Their children needed one of them and Selena had had to step up, given the recent circumstances.
“That can’t have been easy…”
“What?” Selena asked in surprise, eyes wide. “What can’t have been easy?”
“You just said that you had to step up to take care of the children given your ex-wife’s condition.”
“Did I?” the Snow Queen asked in surprise, not realizing she had spoke, at least, some of her thought aloud.
“Yes.”
“Oh…” Selena shrugged uncomfortably. “No, it’s… it’s been difficult.” She admitted. “I mean… I’ve had to before, when Deanna was incarcerated.”
“On her trumped-up charge?” Glasgen recalled, earning a nod from Selena.
“And Gerda is always helping.” The woman added.
“That’s good.” Glasgen nodded. “But that’s not why you came here today as you did.”
“As I did?” Selena asked, in somewhat confusion. Now it was her turn to get a nod from Glasgen.
“You’re distracted. You’re barely able to hold a conversation without looking away every few seconds. You’re not keeping on subject as you usually do – it’s often been about your nightmares and their frequency. But today…” her voice trailed off for a moment. “Something seems a bit more… prominent in your mind.”
She could have denied it. Could have sworn up and down that nothing was wrong. Could have reminded the woman that she was under Selena’s paycheck – that it was her ‘hour of therapy’ to talk about whatever she wanted to talk about.
But she didn’t… she didn’t say any of that. Instead, she merely looked back out the window, towards the gray outside of New York City, words forming and escaping her before she could really think about them.
“I… I fucked up royally.”
*******************************************
Bedfast, Kentucky
October 25th, 2024
1:54pm
“Just find a spot!” Ordered Selena as she sat beside Otrera Ishtar, the Amazonian woman driving the large bus through the streets of the small neighbourhood.
“Not so easy when it’s a damn bus!” Ra shot back angrily. “I told you we should have parked somewhere main and then let me get us a rental car but NOOOOOOOO! You couldn’t wait another fifteen, twenty minutes!”
“Because it shouldn’t be THIS difficult!” Selena countered back, matching the Egyptian woman’s attitude. “I just saw two buses go through here!”
“THROUGH here!” Ishtar repeated. “Not park here!”
“For Odin’s sake!” Selena huffed. “Just-“
“There!” Ra pointed out with her hand before immediately pulling to the right, managing to turn the bus towards a curb which was connected to a long strip of grass and sidewalk, a more than adequate parking spot for the large vehicle. With a sigh of relief, the taller woman turned the bus engine off and sat back. “Happy now, your majesty?”
“Not till you open the door.” Selena countered. “Or am I to go through the front window?”
Turning her glare over to her employer, Ra merely lifted a dark eyebrow. “Say the word and I’ll happily assist with that.”
The cold glare that came from Selena lasted only a second before the Snow Queen reached out, flicking the proper switch (she knew her own bus after all!) and causing the doors to open. “Remember who pays who here, Ra.” She warned.
“Remember that my job has limits of allowance, MS. Frost.” Ra countered, stressing the connotation. “And I’m starting to wonder if your dalliances with your ex count as that.”
Selena was already off the bus before the woman could finish, causing Ra to “slam” the doors shut behind the woman – that is to say she flicked the same switch Selena had but with MUCH more authority!
Ignoring her hired help for the time being, Selena felt her shoes hit the grassy ground, followed by a step or two onto the sidewalk, using the concrete surface as a sort of support to steady herself. She knew she was being unreasonable, and not for the first time – or even the first time with the same circumstance. How many times had she pulled herself away from SCW, hurt or whatever, and immediately forced Ra to drag her somewhere because of Deanna? She had, honestly, lost track. With rushing Deanna to the hospital after her collapse and taking her here, rushing to her side here and there, to this… Selena really could not remember every scenario, which was more than enough proof-positive of her own assessment of her overworking her aide and, she didn’t want to fully admit it, her friend.
Probably because you don’t have that many now… her mind mocked, throwing the sad reality back in the woman’s face. It was undeniable. While Selena still maintained solid connections with her friends of old like Jean and Zoe and David Helms and Regan Street, she was no longer as ‘liked’ in the world of SCW behind the scenes. In fact, if she were honest with herself, the only friends she thought herself in having were Luz and Amelia – Light in the Darkness – who had remained kind to her despite the path the Snow Queen walked as the most ‘hated’ wrestler in SCW.
They even invited me to their wedding… Selena sighed, though she wasn’t entirely sure she’d be able to make it now, let alone Deanna, given recent circumstances.
The thought was a cold splash of reality, and the Snow Queen immediately began marching down the street, in the direction towards the house she had spotted during Ra’s difficult mission of finding a parking space amidst the subdivision. So many of the houses were jammed packed together, the residences – some covered in Halloween décor - literally connected despite separate people/families owning them. It was so different than the Black Arrow neighbourhood, where the houses were separated by land and yards but connected via sidewalks and the long trail that wrapped around the small lake that linked all of them together.
This seemed…far more crowded and Selena wasn’t a fan – though that could have been because of her claustrophobia. Again, she felt the stirring of memory in the back of her mind – of a little girl trapped in water under a door – and she immediately threw that further into the recesses of her brain. She didn’t have time to focus on that! Quickly, as she marched down the street, she tried to refocus on something, anything – even if it made her mad to think about.
It wasn’t that hard to do. Seeing her own feet and, thus, attire: black running shoes, denim jeans, her purse, and a dark-green sweater that made up for her lack of jacket for the fall weather. She had not packed any ‘fancy clothes’ to wear or clothes that ‘displayed power’, nor had she put any on the bus this time beyond what she had worn for Breakdown and she had NO desire to wear the same clothes she had just worn yesterday, rather certain at least one of the three women would have noticed that when she arrived and what kind of image would that send?
Desperation? Weakness?
She had already shown that by letting her guard down around James Evans. While the Snow Queen wasn’t all that mad of the man’s actions against her, she was still annoyed by it. What had she expected? The idiot wanted the spotlight on him and she was the biggest star in SCW, even outshining the world champion WITH EASE, and she had left herself wide open for an attack while she had been assaulting Blake Mason, causing him ANOTHER loss to his less-than-stellar record. Of course Evans took the opportunity to stand out!
In that, she couldn’t blame him for his assault on her, only that she was still slightly reeling form it. Her head and neck still stung, though it was not bad as that damn piledriver on the steel Blake had given her at Apocalypse. At least the doctor hadn’t kept her overnight or demanded this and that this time around. A little NX and sleep while Ra had driven the bus from Ottawa to Kentucky had pretty much cleared things up. Still, she would have to deal with situation that was the Elimination Chamber and James Evans’ threat eventually.
But not now…
Instead, she kept marching down the street, turning on the corner and spotting the house nearby. Unlike the others, it was on its own space, not joined at the hip to another. Like a few houses, this one had been built and established in the early days of the neighbourhood, the other building built around it and the allowances of land. The owner, Selena knew, had refused to give up what space she had, forcing the city to keep it, and other houses that had shared that view, separate. The result was a few odd buildings that looked far homelier to Selena than others, like the one she was approaching.
It struck Selena that, despite her not visiting this place since before Amiliah was born (seven years for those keeping track, the exception being recently to drop Deanna off here), she still recognized all the details of the house. The red-brick layering, the concrete block that served as the porch step, the small line of flowers that served as a garden coming down the step and sidewalk towards the driveway. She gave it a quick notice but not long enough to even slow her stride… until she spotted the patch of the garden that was different than the rest.
Where, if she recalled correctly, there had been a small bush of leaves with the smallest of blossoms, was now a burnt, leafless mass. Charcoal black with some of its ashes spread out around it, the wood of the trunk standing there and yet… looking more like a murder scene than a symbol of life. Just beyond that, the windows were shattered and boarded up with wooden panels…
It was enough for Selena leap onto the porch, her hand immediately flying out to knock briskly on the door. She hadn’t called, just like she hadn’t last time she was here, and she didn’t care that she hadn’t. Instead, she strained her ears to her any movement from inside the house.
It didn’t take long for her to pick up something as the sound of shuffling steps came forward, the door was unlocked and opened. Before her, Selena locked eyes with… Deanna…
No… It took only a second for Selena’s brain to catch herself. The woman bore a striking resemblance to her beloved, that was true, but this woman was taller, with sharper facial features where Deanna’s were softer and kinder, a more brownish red shade of hair where Deanna’s was vibrant in its dark-red color, and this woman’s eyes looked more like seafoam green-blue where Deanna’s eyes were emerald. Not to mention that this woman was taller, basically Selena’s height, and her expression was immediately cold towards the Snow Queen.
“You again.” The woman remarked, not overly surprised.
“What happened?” Selena asked without any greeting, merely pushing herself past the woman to enter the house, dropping her purse on the nearby small table. Manners and propriety be damned – she was not in the mood! “You had one job!” she ordered.
“A job you threw at my feet without telling me anything beyond the basics!” the woman snapped back.
“I didn’t figure you needed a reason to help your own sister in a time of crisis!” Selena shot back, hands on her hips as she turned back towards the policewoman.
“A sister I’ve not seen in how long?” reminded Amelia Springs. “And by the way, thanks for pointing out that she’s out of her fucking mind! That would have been nice to know!”
“She’s not…” Selena breathed. “What happened?”
“Nothing.” The older Springs sibling tiredly replied, running a hand through her hair in agitation. “That’s what I keep telling her. It was some stupid prank by some of the neighbour kids.”
“Lighting your garden on fire and breaking your windows was a stupid prank?” Selena asked, her eyes wide in disbelief, until she heard the voice from further within the house. “What constitutes a real emergency? The apocalypse?”
“It happens every year or so…”
Turning around, the Snow Queen spied the younger woman suddenly standing before her. This one had long, brown hair that matched her eyes but her skin was almost as pale as Selena’s but far softer looking, as if the woman had not suffered any injuries in her life – a far cry to the scars that covered Selena’s ribs and back. The shorter woman wore black jeans and purple t-shirt with a wide opening that showed her collarbone and tops of her shoulders. Still, she appeared so gentle compared to the rough Amelia that was arguing with the platinum-blonde.
“Happens when you’re a cop. And a lesbian.” Amelia finished her wife’s statement with a resigned shrug. “I tried to tell Deanna that but she wouldn’t listen! She kept going off that ‘someone was after her’ and that she was ‘the only person that could stop it’!” The cop rolled her eyes. “Haven’t heard anything this crazy since last time she was here…” she eyed Selena. “Remember? When she claimed she got knocked up by a ghost or something?”
Selena’s jaw clenched. “You know… for someone that’s learned her sister is a victim of rape and assault, not to mention wrongfully imprisoned for two years and JUST survived a fucking burning building… you can be a real bitch, you know that?”
“No more than the one that just dumped said person on my doorstep.” Amelia countered. “Thought you were supposed to take care of her. Wasn’t that what your wedding was about? Not that I would know, I wasn’t invited!”
“You didn’t want to come!” Selena countered.
“Because YOU twisted Deanna into something she wasn’t!” Amelia shot back! “You were the one that offered her this ‘grand life outside of here!’. Well look around! How’s that going?!”
“ENOUGH!” Came the voice of the third woman – Isabella ordered, surprising both Selena and Amelia with her bluntness, the woman usually so quiet and reserved. “This solves nothing.” She added. “You’ve had this argument every time Selena has been here!”
Slowly, she stepped towards her wide, laying a hand on Amelia’s shoulder. “Like it or not, Deanna chose the path she went. And like it or not, she has been happy too. Your nieces and nephews are proof of that! If Deanna wasn’t, she would have come back here. She didn’t…” her eyes turned to Selena. “Because Selena loved her and did all she could to make her happy. Deanna is more than strong enough to have left her if she hadn’t.”
There was a silence between the three of them for a moment, allowing Selena to inhale and exhale a long breath. “I’ll admit that I wasn’t perfect in those years.” She started. “I never… I… I always had her best interests at heart. But…” she turned her gaze back to Amelia. “You have to know there were so many wonderful times. The holidays, the dates, the things we accomplished together, our children…” she wanted to say more, to give more concrete examples but her trembling voice stopped her, causing her to clam up to avoid showing too much weakness. “Is she… Is she alright?”
“Yes.” Isabella answered for her and Ami. “That therapist was here earlier this morning.”
“Who?” Selena asked before the answer came to her. “Marsh-Asher?” Her jaw clenched. “I told him to stop getting involved.”
Amelia, not quite outside her anger towards the platinum-blonde yet, simply shrugged her shoulders. “He’s been here every week to talk to Deanna. Again… not that we’ve had much say in this-“
“I get it, Ami.” Selena sighed. “I’m sorry to have dumped her on your doorstep. But I didn’t know where else to go, alright?”
It had been a quick, and tough decision. After Deanna’s collapse prior to Apocalypse, the Snow Queen had decided what every doctor had advised Deanna to do. To stop wrestling. To stop chasing The Enigma. And while she couldn’t, realistically, stop Deanna from fighting the man in some unsanctioned match already put in motion, she could begin the steps needed to slow Deanna down. She just needed a place to do it.
Her ex-wife’s hometown of Bedfast, Kentucky, had been the only option, specifically, the home of Deanna’s estranged sister, Ami. She had given Deanna one chance to make all of this right, under the guise of ‘keeping her safe from Engima until the unsanctioned match’. Once that had been done and things had gotten worse seemingly, Selena had acted…
“And she’s still pissed at me?”
“More than you can imagine…”
The voice did not come from Amelia or Isabella, but rather the woman standing at the top of the stairs down the way. Her arms were crossed over her chest and glaring daggers – emerald daggers – at Selena. Beside her stood another familiar face, the tall man having stayed in this house as well by order of Selena.
“Deanna…” Selena breathed, ignoring the warning signs and moving closer, even stepping up the stairs towards the redhead. “They had you calling at… and I heard-“
“Heard what?” Deanna asked, her tone guarded and not taking a step towards Selena. She seemed to be clutching something in her hands, but Selena could not quite make it out.
“Your call.” The platinum-blonde remarked. “To James and Alex. About the fire. The windows. Everyone heard it-”
“You heard that?!” Deanna asked, her eyes wide. “Wait… what do you mean ‘everyone heard it’?”
For a moment, Selena mentally cursed herself. She had not wanted to let that slip. “It was…” she tried to find the right words to explain it. “It was during Breakdown… it was live…”
“Oh my god…” Deanna’s hand reached out to take the wooden stair rail. “They must think I’m a nutbag!” she breathed. “Gods… They couldn’t believe me when the damn ring was exploding! Who’s going to believe me about this?!”
“Deanna…” Selena tried, only to be re-met with a dagger-glare.
“No.” she bit back. “I’m not talking to you.” She added. “Why are you even here?”
“What do you mean, ‘why am I here’?” Selena asked in disbelief. “I was worried! I thought something had happened to you!”
“Even if it had – I can take care of myself, remember?!” the redhead countered. “Not like you were any help in that building! You thought I was crazy too!”
“I… I didn’t think you were crazy- I DON’T think you’re crazy-“
“Oh please!” Deanna spat back. “If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have done all of this!” she gestured towards the house she stood in. “Under lock and key? These visits from a therapist!”
“THAT’S on SCW! Not me!” Selena tried. “I told them to back off!”
“Why? So you can pick a doctor for me? Like Glasgen?!”
“There’s…” Selena tried. “There’s nothing wrong with seeing someone. I’m seeing her.”
“I…” the remark was enough for Deanna to be taken aback for a moment. “You are?”
Selena nodded. “I’m dealing with my own problems… but I’m trying.” She reached out a shaky hand. “I want things to be better for us.”
The hand was, immediately, swiped away as Deanna recovered, returning her cold glare towards Selena. “Long as it’s on your terms right? If I’m just ‘the perfect little redhead’ that you want, right?”
“Wha…no!” Selena tried. “I’m just scared, Deanna, okay? That’s why all of this happened. Because things are happening to you! You have to be able to see it! Your health? Your lack of sleep? Everyone wants to help you get better!”
“This coming from the addict?!”
There was no taking that back – even as emerald and sapphire eyes went wide. Even as the man standing next to Deanna winced and whispered “Low blow…” under his breath. Even as Isabella called out Deanna’s name, nothing could be done.
Silence saturated the space between all five people in the room, one so thick that no one dared to break it for several seconds. Slowly, Selena allowed herself to recover from the shock, turning her head down to take a deep breath before speaking. “You’re right.”
She let those words settle before looking back up towards Deanna, the redhead’s face a mixture of hurt, pain and – gods, Selena could see the loneliness louder than any other. It was something she had lived for over half of her life. “I’m not one to talk. I’m an addict. I’m the most hated person at work. I’m… I’m so many things.” She kept her eyes locked on Deanna.
“But I’m also the one that’s been further than you have. Someone that believed in something that I… I had no business believing in. But I had to – in order to survive. And I couldn’t see reality because the thought of being without that something – it would have broken me. I’m telling you, Deanna…” She tried to reach out again, trying to offer her hand to her beloved. “I lost myself to a child made of snow… if you keep chasing your phantom of smoke… you’ll end up somewhere you might not be able to get out of – where none of us can reach you…”
The redhead seemed to stare at the hand, seemingly forgetting about everyone around her but the woman that stood a few steps down from her. For several seconds, no one said anything and Deanna’s eyes did on stray from the pale hand before her.
“So…” she breathed, emerald eyes, once more, finding Selena’s. “You do think I’m crazy.” She gave one last glare at Selena before the next words came out. “Never imagined I’d actually miss Frankfurt…”
The shock and realization of her words hit Selena like a damn truck, but it was already too late. In that second, Deanna marched down the stairs, shoving past the platinum-blonde, past Amelia and Izzy, and marching out the open door, closing it behind her.
“Deanna!” Selena called out. “That’s not-“ but the door slamming shut silenced her, though her gaze stayed on the door.
“Well…” the man still standing at the top of the stairs remarked, moving down to stand at the same level as Selena. “I’m not an expert, but… if you were trying to get through to her… maybe don’t call her crazy next time.”
Selena’s head snapped back to the man. “That’s not what I meant, Eric, and you know it!”
The old friend of the Frost family winced. “Sort of sounded like you did.”
“No kidding.” Amiliah chimed in, earning a sad sigh and a nod from Isabella.
“I didn’t call her crazy!” Selena countered. “I just-“
“Actions speak louder than words, Selena.” Eric spoke up, the man shaking his head. “I mean… what did you think was going to happen? You dumped Deanna in the one place she never wanted to return because of the pain it brings her-“ his gaze shot back to the Springs-wives. “No offense.”
“None taken.” Amelia shrugged in understanding, Izzy offering a similar understanding with her smile, allowing the boy to continue.
“And then, insult to injury, you took away her phone, her credit cards… every chance she has to leave this place. You basically imprisoned her in the last place she’d rather be! What did you THINK she was going to feel?! Like it was some kind of damn vacation?”
“I…” Selena tried to explain. “What else would I have done?!” she turned her gaze to Amelia and Izzy. “What would you have done? Or have me do?! She wasn’t going to stop hunting for this guy! Exploding rings?! Burning buildings?! She was LITERALLY killing herself over this!” she found her way back to Eric again. “What would you have me do?”
“Well, I don’t know, but I know that taking her away from her home and children was NOT the way to go!”
“And what if Enigma HAD come for my children, Eric? What then? Or are is everyone here going to forget that they are MY children to? What if he had gone after them to get to Deanna?” Selena countered. “What if keeping her hidden also protected them? Ever think about that? Or the fact that, despite the divorce, I still love Deanna more than anyone in this room!”
“You think Deanna hasn’t thought about that?” Eric countered with a shrug. “Pretty sure she’d have at least given you some benefit of the doubt if that even made the least bit of sense. But it doesn’t.” he shrugged again. “You took matters into your own hands, Selena. And this time… she’s not even married to you. You’ve got no claim over her and you’re still trying to control her.”
“I…” Selena felt her jaw shake, words failing her as she gazed down the man. “That’s not what marriage is…”
“No, it isn’t.” Amelia chimed in. “But you can’t even hide behind it now. You can’t just say that you’re ‘protecting your wife’ because she’s not your wife. You’re just a woman obsessively trying to control a woman you still have feelings for – and causing more problems for her and the rest of us in the process.”
The platinum-blonde did not move as she heard these words, instead focusing her attention on the carpeted-flooring that covered the stairs she stood on.
Control. It all came down to control. Everything she was involved had to have her in control. SCW? The rematch clause – hell, Mason had hit the nail on the head (though Selena had already admitted to it long before then). The Trios contract hadn’t been needed by the Snow Queen, but she still wanted it because of the control it offered. Her own life? Everything she did screamed control. Living in a castle penthouse above some of the clouds of NYC? Control. This whole thing? Protect Deanna by, basically, putting her in a prison? Control.
And why? Because of some fear of lack of control? Because of some nightmares? Because of some part of her past where she had no control and had been at the mercy of those stronger than her? Rebelling only in certain moments where she could and surrendering every other time?
Even in this whole “Wild, Wild West” thing in SCW, while Josh Hudson was doing everything but that while Selena was living it, she was STILL trying to control everything. Inserting herself into the main-event – not that she planned to stop that – Interfering in matches time and time again to screw with Mason and mess with Hudson. Waring with Knight and Asher-Marshall and the old prick, Alex?
It all came back to control. Her trying to control the things that were beyond her control. Even when she really didn’t deserve any control in the first place – such as with Deanna.
It took awhile for a sigh to escape her, the Snow Queen shaking her head. “You guys think I’m this out-of-control monster, don’t you?”
“No.” Isabella answered for everyone. “You and Deanna are both troubled and… we think SCW is the cause of it all.”
Slowly, with a dawning realization, Selena turned her attention from Eric, to Amelia, to Izzy, then back to Eric. “You’ve been talking a lot?”
“Well… you basically jailed me here to.” Eric shrugged. “Had to talk to someone during their ‘date night’.” He tried to joked, only receiving a roll of the eyes from both Springs-women. “And I can’t believe I’m saying this because it would, effectively, cost me my job, but… I agree. SCW’s the issue.” He eyed Selena. “You could just leave.”
Selena sighed. It was not something she hadn’t heard before. In fact, Deanna had begged her to before everything with The Enigma had come to a head, while she was still the World Champion. And then, Selena had begged the same of Deanna during everything with the aforementioned masked man. To just walk away and leave everything behind.
She hadn’t when Deanna asked.
Deanna hadn’t when she had asked.
And now…
“I can’t.” Selena sighed. “I’m too far gone.” She smiled. “Both Deanna and I are. Even if I quit and somehow manage to take her with me, she’ll still be searching for The Enigma. I know a thing or two about haunting ghosts.” She looked away for a second, almost sure she spotted something out of the corner of her mind’s eye but, knowing the truth, ignoring it. “She’s not going to stop until she either comes to terms with her own obsession like I did… or she really does destroy The Enigma.”
“And what about you?” Amelia dared, eyeing the Snow Queen. “When do you stop?”
A sad smile crossed Selena’s lips. “Unfortunately, when it comes to a ‘phantom of smoke’ to destroy… I don’t have one.” She turned her attention towards Amelia. “I am one.” She gave a shrug. “Which means the only way out for me…” She let the last part hang in the air through silence, at least for a second.
“Is for someone to destroy you?” Eric guessed.
“Oh good lord.” Amelia scoffed. “How melodramatic can you get?”
“Selena…” Izzy tried, the gentler Springs approaching her. “There can be another way.”
“I know.” Selena replied with a smile. “But after all I’ve done? I don’t… I don’t think I deserve an easier or ‘kinder’ way.” She tilted her head, allowing the exhaustion to show in her eyes. “I knew what I was doing when I did all of this. I knew I couldn’t be the Blue-Eyed Devil AND be Deanna’s wife, yet I still tried to protect her and be both in my own way. And I KNEW that what I was doing was right and wrong at the same time – especially in SCW – and I still did it. Now? Now I can’t go back. I have to see it through and… I lost Deanna… which I deserve. I…” she breathed. “I deserve an ending where I get what’s coming to me. At some point…”
Maybe the chamber… her mind mused. It actually seemed like a fortunate happenstance. Between Mason wanting revenge up and down, James Evans wanting to ‘re-establish’ himself, Brittany Lohan being the ‘always loving destruction’ woman that she was, Raynes being… well, Raynes… and Polly still so desperate to break the glass ceiling, there was no shortage of people that would love to be the one that ‘pulled the trigger’ on Selena Frost. The prestige of that alone would make, or skyrocket, a career. Hell, Hudson was STILL riding his “I broke Xander’s streak” and that was like twenty years ago or something.
In that moment, she could feel the ‘phantom pains’ of the scar on her back, as if they were burning because she had thought of them. Some of those scars she had received in the numerous chamber matches she had been in throughout her ten-plus years in SCW. Elimination Chamber, Roofed Chamber, Cage match, Tactical Warfare, Selena had, essentially, been in almost all of them, some more than once. The structure was brutal and unforgiving, regardless of which incarnation it took on. Yes, if anyone was going to stop her and destroy her… it would be within that structure.
All while Josh Hudson shakes hands and gives smiles… her devil-mind whispered darkly, the irony not lost on the platinum-blonde.
“Anyway…” Selena sighed, turning her attention towards Amelia. “You’re sure the windows and the fire was just kids?”
The cop nodded. “Chief’s already got some suspects he’s looking into.”
Looking beyond her, Selena saw the boarded windows once more, giving a nod of her head. “Then… I guess I’ll go.” She sighed. “Can you…” she turned her head towards Eric. “Do you mind just keeping her here just so we can be sure? I mean… in case he DOES show up, you know?”
“Yeah, I get it.” Eric nodded. “You going to talk to her?”
Selena paused, considering it for a minute before slowly shaking her head. “I doubt she’ll really listen to me at this point. Not like I’ve earned that right any way.” Slowly, she made her way down the stairs. “Least I can do is leave her be so she doesn’t have to look at me and…”
Her voice trailed off as she spied the small table by the door, where she had left her purse… or rather, where her purse HAD been placed…
Eyes going wide, Selena quickly marched down the steps, ignoring her name being called as she reached the table, looking around it and behind it. “Did…” her voice began to make the sound but her brain was faster. No one had moved – come and gone – out of this room since she had stepped into it… except for one person…
Immediately throwing the door open, Selena gazed into the outside once again, her eyes immediately finding her purse on the porch, on its side. Only a few items had spilled out of it like her shades and some papers…
But as she gathered them up, she knew – without having to check, though she did anyway – she knew two things were missing.
Her wallet and her cellphone.
“Dammit! Dammit!” She growled out before shouting. “Deanna?! DEANNA?!”
It was enough to pull out the others, both Springs and Eric coming out to join her on the porch.
“What are you-“ Amelia started before a cold glare from Selena silenced her.
“She played me!” Selena growled. “She saw the purse on the tabletop and did that WHOLE spiel just to get herself down there so she could swipe my purse!”
“But then why-“ Eric started, eyeing the purse very clearly in Selena’s hands.
“Because the wallet and the phone, Eric!” Selena sighed in irritation. “Of course…” she added with a curse. Eric had said it himself! Selena had taken away Deanna’s means of leaving Kentucky. No money and no means of contact. She had been strict in that ruling to Eric, Ami, and Izzy! And here she was leaving BOTH lying around in plain sight of Deanna – like water to a parched dessert-dweller. OF COURSE SHE WAS GOING TO STEAL THEM!
“She’s gone…” Selena breathed, turning back to the others with a look of sad certainty. “Deanna… is gone.”
_______________________________________________________________
The Royal Letter
The camera opens up to a decorated office space, complete with a shelf of books behind a throne chair. Within that throne chair sits Selena Frost, but not the one SCW seems to know. Rather, this one wears blue jeans and a maroon t-shirt, very casual attire, and while her demeanor is usually that of ‘The Blue-Eyed Devil’, that does not seem to be the case here as she calmly breaths, offering a soft smile to the letter’s sole recipient.
Polly… she breathes slowly. I know you’re probably used to these after Trios, but I wanted you to understand something before all of… this… begins. Because I’m not going to talk too much about you by the time I reach Under Attack. And it’s not because I don’t respect you – it’s actually the opposite. I’m sending this to you… and only you… because I do respect you, and I need you to understand the reality of where the hell you’re headed.
Because you’re being an idiot.
Biting her lower lip, Selena shakes her head. Do you honestly think I’m not upset about Trios, Polly? Yeah, maybe I didn’t need the contract like you did, but THAT’S the reason why I’m upset. Because you DID need it! For gods’ sake, Polly, I’ve had to watch you time and time again get so close to breaking that glass ceiling! With me, with Hudson, with RTG, and then with Trios. I mean, geez, Polly, did you ever wonder why the hell I was pushing your buttons in the Trios buildup in the first place?
Selena shakes her head. I wanted you to THINK! I mean REALLY think! WHY you’re not where you want to be? HOW you’re not where you want to be! What are you good at, what do you suck at. What do you know? What don’t you know – and then I wanted you to come to terms with it. Not for me, not for Hudson, sure as hell not for Alex Desbourais and Lucas Knight but because YOU could understand it!
Because at the end of the day, Polly, you don’t have to answer to any of those people! Not Colleen, not Marissa, not Raynes, not Mason, not Alex and the others, not the fans, and not even to me! The only person you need to answer to at the end of every match and every show is YOU! That’s what I wanted you to realize! And I’m sorry that Trios couldn’t do that! I wish I had seen it coming but I didn’t! I didn’t realize how desperate Blake Mason was to get a world title shot. I didn’t realize how little he cared about the tournament and how little CHBK would care that his first Trios Tournament was so tainted and devoid of integrity.
Selena shakes her head. But I can’t stand by and watch you make an ass out of yourself because of it.
I mean, how many times have you tried to ‘get even’ with everyone, Polly? You went after Mason, how’d that go? He seemed fine after your little tantrum. Didn’t even mention you last week, did he? – and let’s not forget you got levelled by Raynes. Then, you tried again last Breakdown. How did that go? I watched it, remember? You got blasted by Mason.
And you want to know the reason I didn’t run down there to save you, Polly? It wasn’t that I couldn’t or I was afraid of getting beat up. Are you kidding? I’ve fought a damn Executioner. You think I’m afraid of Mason and Rayes? Assuming I’d have you by my side doing it in that moment? Ha!
Selena releases a short laugh before readopting her serious expression. Polly, I didn’t run down there because, again, you needed to see something. Every attempt you’ve had to ‘gain revenge’ has failed to get you what you want – getting you nowhere at the best of times and getting you blasted and knocked out at the worst of times. Because you’re running around like a damn chicken with your head cut off! You’re not thinking! You’re not being smart! You’re just being angry. And do you honestly think that’s going to get you anywhere inside the chamber?
Think about it it!
Her voice echoes a little at that command. REALLY think about it! Mason has aligned himself with Lohan AND Raynes – them teaming up against you should be proof of that! That’s THREE people working against you! Evans has The Fall of Man watching from gods know where! And you’re just running in, screaming and swinging at whatever moves!
Now… she sits back in her chair. Look at me.
I’ve humiliated Mason, despite his numbers and hired goons, week after week. I took his world title – a title he was seconds away from getting. I humiliated him by brutalizing him with a chair. He has not had one moment – one single thing – to be proud of since he meddled in MY business. I have made him regret making that deal with Heaven Jr. and taking Trios from us… because I was smart! I took my time and planned my shots! I waited until the time was right to strike! When it mattered most. I was humble enough to know that I couldn’t do what you are trying to do and just lose it like that! To the point where he was cursing ME at Breakdown, swearing up and down to get even – THAT is true revenge!
You need to be smarter, Polly! Because if you think that your way is going to ‘make it through’ the chamber, then you’re not going to get past the first half! Think about it! Mason wants the world title and has half the combatants on his payroll. Evans will do ANYTHING and say ANYTHING to fuck with your head, or should we ignore how he did that to the Underground division for so many months last time he was here?
You and I? We don’t have a stable or hired goons to help us out, Polly. Your girls won’t be there and I… she pauses for a moment, as if a knowing fact dances across her vision – a sad, heartbreaking reality – before she looks back into the camera and offers a knowing smile. I’m alone.
But you, Raynes, Mason, Evans, maybe even Lohan – you think simply winning the chamber will net you the promised land. Polly, that isn’t true. What good is winning if you’re destroyed? There’s no contendership in this match! There’s no title on the line! Sure, it can push you, but what happens when Mason decides to meddle again, this time post-match? Or James decides to hold true to his ‘die with me’ BS? Cause I know men like that, Polly. I KNOW men like that!
If they can’t beat you… they’ll eliminate you. Why else do you think Heaven Jr. needed Mason? Why else did Mason hire Raynes to take you out?
They know they can’t beat us! Mason KNOWS he can’t beat us! So he wants us out of the way. That’s what the chamber will be – his way of getting rid of us… if we let him…
Leaning forward, Selena’s sapphire eyes glare into the camera. I’m not going to offer you something I can’t deliver, Polly. I WANT to be the one to win the chamber and I WANT to be the one that throws it back in everyone else’s face – except yours. I won’t lie to you and tell you otherwise. The hand I offer you now will, inevitably, pull you in and lock you into the Devil’s Gate or smack you hard enough to set you up for the Glass Shard. I won’t pretend it won’t. But neither will I fault you for doing the same to me when it’s the right time to. When it’s just us in the chamber.
That is what I am proposing, Polly.
She smiles knowingly. Because the chamber isn’t just about winning, Polly. Like I said, what’s the point in being a ‘winner’ if you’re taken out for months or longer? You’ve seen the scars on my back. You know what the chamber can do.
No, it’s not enough to simply win, Polly. We - you and me? We need to survive. You to break that glass ceiling and me to use my rematch clause to regain the world title and expose this sham of a “Wild, Wild West” champion. We need to survive the chamber in order to do what we need to do. And if all you’re going to do is run around, flailing your arms and fists and attacking anything that moves… you’re not going to survive.
Once again, Selena sits back in her chair. So, you can either do like you’ve done… or you can do like me.
Think about what we did together, Polly. Together… we had Xander F’N Valentine trembling in his boots! We became the RIGHTFUL winners of the Trios contracts – the ones that deserved them. Now, think about what we can do if we work together in the chamber against the team of Mason, Raynes, Lohan and the wildcard of James in that mix. Think about what we could accomplish! Think about what your name will mean if you pin a former world champion in Evans with my help. If you enact your revenge by pinning Mason with my help. If you defeat an icon like Brittany Lohan and so forth…
And, on top of all of that, you survive the chamber, whether you win or lose, you walk out – with them… the SCW Universe, cheering you for overcoming so many and surviving past so many. Isn’t THAT better than simply ‘beating the hell’ out of Mason because he screwed us out of the finals? Better than beating the hell out of Raynes just because he has no morals and attacked you over a ‘deal’? Why simply beat them when you can stand above them with me in the world title rankings, ensuring that all their dreams of ‘being world champion’ shall have to stay behind YOU?
Selena tilts her head. Polly, I want you to think about this. REALLY think. I am offering you a chance to survive as far into the chamber as we can go – to the point where, no matter how much they promise to ‘kill us’ or ‘injure us’ or ‘end the influence’ we have in SCW ‘once and for all’ so they can ‘save SCW’ – you will know that they will fail. You will know that you are safe. Because until it is just us… I will have your back, like I did in Trios. I will ensure you CAN survive this chamber. Because you deserve to. You deserve to break the glass ceiling. Not Lohan, not Raynes and sure as hell not Evans or Mason, but YOU, Polly!
And when it is only you and left in the chamber? Selena offers a kind smile. After our survival is guaranteed… I will offer you a REAL chance to break that glass ceiling. One that NO ONE will be able to refute. Or…
Selena offers one last shrug. You can turn this down and just be forgotten in the chamber once again… just like last time… with a Frost eliminating you…
Really, it is up to you, Polly. Whether you want to believe it… or not…
The Snow Queen offers a tilt of her head. Think about it… before the shot fades entirely to black.
![[Image: hffOaUZ.png]](https://i.imgur.com/hffOaUZ.png)
SCW Supreme Champion
6x SCW World Champion
4x SCW World Tag-Team Champion
2x SCW United States Champion
3x SCW Adrenaline Champion
SCW Television Champion
Longest Reigning SCW World Champion (234 days)
Winner of Shot of Adrenaline Tournament (2016)
Winner of Best of the Best Tournament (2016)
Winner of Trios Tournament (2018)
Winner of U.S. Championship Tournament (2020)
Winner of World Championship Tournament (2023)
Winner of Tactical Warfare (2014, 2019)
Winner of Elimination Chamber (2015, 2024)
Winner of Roofed Cage Match (2019)
Winner of Last Person Standing Match (2019)
The Unbelievable Main Event (2021-2025)
Winner of Double Jeopardy Match (2022)
Winner of EOTY Invitational (2023)
Winner of EOTY Invitational (2023)
Winner of Ironman Match (2024)
Wrestler of the Year (2016, 2021, 2022, 2024)
Tag-Team of the Year (2020 - w/ Regan Street)
Match of the Year (2018, 2019, 2021, 2023, 2024)
Feud of the Year (2014, 2019)
Shocking Moment of the Year (2024)
![[Image: 34zetxl.png]](https://i.ibb.co/SnpvD5T/34zetxl.png)