David Striker vs. La Pequena Luz

[Wisteria Waltz]

OOC: Consider this CD taking place at the same time as the one for Amelia's match in terms of a timeline.
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La Pequeña Luz considered this probably one of the weirdest stretches she's had yet in her SCW career.

It had nothing to do with anything that was actually happening in the business... and that felt like the problem.

Coming out of Rise To Greatness, Luz's path seemed simple enough once SCW resumed operations. David Striker had won the Scaffold Scramble and, as a result, was the number one contender to her newly won United States Championship. As elated as Luz was to think about being the one holding the unified title once the dust settled at SCW's biggest show of the year, she was even more excited to be able to get back in the ring and start building towards a match with someone she respected, even if she wasn't always a fan of the way he conducted his business. A clash of beliefs in how to get business done wasn't any concern, though, nor was the challenge of the now-former Adrenaline Champion when she'd knocked off Dexter Grant on the first Breakdown back.

No, it was the fact that she'd spent the rest of that show and the following two weeks not only with barely anything to do, but wondering if she would even be defending her title at all come Apocalypse.

It was no fault of David's. How could it be when he spent most of that time recovering? Luz had seen Gavin Taylor throw him off the top of the scaffold structure and through a pair of tables out of frustration that he'd lost the Scramble, and the closest she'd gotten to any sort of clarity was CHBK reassuring her that Striker would be 100% in time for Apocalypse and Gavin's claim to a title match held no merit. If push came to shove, she would've had no problem defending against Gavin if necessary, not because he deserved it but so his new attitude could get a reality check in the middle of that ring. Still, not having much to do and feeling like her actual title defense was almost an afterthought for weeks because of the uncertainty surrounding David's condition did not sit well with her, and anyone with ADHD like Luz was bound to go stir-crazy being in her position.

Supporting Amelia had helped in keeping her grounded and composed, and she had to admit that swapping these roles was long overdue. Not since Amelia's run through the tournament for the then-vacant U.S. Title a few years ago had it been a case of Luz standing on the sidelines cheering on her wife's singles endeavors. If it wasn't the two of them tagging together in the ring, it was Amelia cheering Luz on through both her Television and interim U.S. Title reigns, and as much as Luz loved and appreciated the support of her beloved, she could see the cracks beneath the surface, knowing how badly Amelia wanted to join her in solo success she absolutely deserved to have as well. It was why she'd been a little surprised when Amelia left her side later on the August 28th Breakdown and revealed that she'd finally turned in her Trios contract to challenge for the World Title.

“I wanted to surprise you,” Amelia had claimed when she returned to their locker room after the fact, and it had resulted in Luz kissing every inch of her wife's cute face.

Now that Apocalypse was just on the horizon, however, Luz was struggling to hide some of her frustrations about how things had been playing out.

While she couldn't fault Amelia for doing her best to put it out of her thoughts since she had a World Title shot right in front of her, Luz had enough irritation for the both of them when it came to the state of SCW affairs lately. She felt she was allowed to be upset on her wife's behalf that Selena was trying to ruin Amelia's opportunity all because she was insistent that she had to be the World Champion defending in that match, and Selena's actions this past Breakdown in trying to paint Cid in a bad light hadn't helped her case. Plus, she was absolutely allowed to be upset that she had all but become an afterthought in regards to her own title after how hard she fought to earn it back because David was determined to make Gavin pay for what happened at Rise to Greatness.

Luz understood all of it, but that didn't mean she had to agree with it.

One area where nothing seemed to be happening and Luz was absolutely OK with that was in regards to The Empire. Ever since Amelia's parents had been arrested for hopefully the final time and Luz had survived dealing with Stephen Crane (even if her thoughts were still haunted by the sight of him falling dead before her very eyes courtesy of a still-unknown assailant), the religious cult had gone radio silent once again. It didn't come as a surprise to her, considering its murderous splinter cell was now down a leader and two key figureheads while those who still followed Caleb White and believed the couple and their found family could all be “saved from their sinful ways” had been relatively quiet for far too long, likely due to trying to clean house on their own ranks because of the existence of the splinter cell.

Luz wasn't an idiot. She knew full well that it was only a matter of time before Caleb or his remaining elites likely made another move. Even with the splinter cell, they'd had months to figure out a new plan, and she doubted it was going to take Caleb too long to get everyone back in line, so she and the others needed to make the most of whatever time they had before those zealots decided to finally strike again.

“You'll have to forgive me, Luz, but... why did you want to come with me again?”

Luz turned her attention to Lily Clauson, Marilyn's sister, who she was walking alongside as they wandered the streets of Toronto. Their destination? The Royal Ontario Museum. Luz had learned recently that Lily was quite the history buff (aka a 'huge history nerd' according to Marilyn) and had been dying to check out the museum while they were in Toronto for Apocalypse. To her surprise, Luz had asked if she could tag along, which is what led to right now.

“It's not that I don't mind,” Lily continued. “I just would've thought you'd jump at the chance to train with Amelia some more.”

“We talked this morning, and Ames said she wanted to train alone for a bit today,” Luz explained. “She's got some things she wanted to get out of her system alone, and I'm willing to trust her. Hopefully she figures out what she needs to, because I would love to be able to watch her hold that World Title belt up high at the end of the show.”

“And what about your own match?” Lily raised an eyebrow.

“Already got some training in this morning,” Luz replied, “and pending how Amelia's feeling later, we might get another joint training session in this evening. Just because I haven't had much to do these past few weeks doesn't mean I'm going to let David end this title reign that quickly or easily.”

The fact that Luz's voice gained a bit of a frustrated edge to it on that last sentence was not lost on Lily.

“To answer your question, though,” Luz continued before Lily could address it, “I realized something lately. You're probably the person in our little group I've gotten to know the least. Amelia's my wife, Henry, Ivy and Gage have become my best friends, mamá and V are family, Ed and Em are Amelia's siblings, your sister's really taken to being a mentor figure for me, and I've spent tons of time around the agents with all the Empire nonsense hanging over our heads. We've interacted a few times and I know you mentored Amelia for a while, but... I just kind of wanted to get to know Lily Clauson a bit more.”

Lily looked stunned by Luz's explanation, even as the luchadora got more sheepish by the end and glanced away. Luz had a point, though: out of everyone that composed the odd little found family that had formed around Luz and Amelia, Lily had arguably spent the least amount of time around Luz. It was hardly her fault, considering she had spent a good while during the early days of everyone coming together being undercover as one of Caleb's original elites (or at least, that's the closest she could compare her position in The Empire to) until he'd grown wise to her playing double agent against him. Even after the fact, Lily had mostly stuck to interacting primarily with Amelia or her sister or the agents, if not the group as a whole.

That made the fact that Luz actively wanted to spend some time with her and get to know her better heartwarming in a way that helped her start to understand the magic of knowing La Pequeña Luz.

“I'm flattered Luz, I truly am,” Lily choked out after a moment of fighting to keep from crying in the middle of a crowded street. “I mean no offense, though, but... you don't seem much like the history type unless it relates to wrestling.”

“Yeah, you got me there,” Luz chuckled. “But the Royal Ontario Museum also has art, and I can always get lost in the colors and deeper meanings behind paintings and sculptures. Plus, like I said, I want to get to know you better, and despite what Marilyn's said about your interests... well... I'd be lying if I said the way you obsess over historical facts didn't remind me a lot of my own rambling when I have a topic I'm really obsessed with.”

“Perhaps it is a shame we haven't spent time together sooner,” Lily nodded sagely, flattered that Luz seemed to see some of herself in the older woman. “Are you sure you're alright, though? You can be honest with me... you know that, right?”

Luz bit her bottom lip, her urge to keep her issues bottled up front and center as per usual. She reasoned with herself that she could trust Lily, though... yeah, they hadn't spent too much time together one-on-one before today, which was the whole point of this trip, but Lily had also been there with everyone else, fighting to deal with The Empire and protect her and Amelia, supporting the both of them through every trial they've fought to overcome both inside the ring and out. Lily was part of the family.

“You're right,” Luz sighed as she stopped just as 'The Crystal' part of the museum came into view, with Lily halting in her tracks to watch her carefully. “I'm just... I'm still struggling with what happened in Houston with Crane. I knew I was going to probably have to fight for my life to save my mom and sister, and I was fully prepared for when that happened but... watching him fall dead right in front of me, even if he deserved it, even if it stopped him from putting a bullet through my own head. I know we still don't know who killed him, but I can't stop picturing myself being the one responsible for it all the same.”

“Sounds like a bit of survivor's guilt,” Lily nodded in understanding.

“Among other things, I guess,” Luz admitted. “Amelia and I have talked about it, and we've asked Avery about seeing if there's a therapist who might actually understand and work with us because... no offense to SCW or their therapist, but we're worried Dr. Marsh-Asher might pull us from competing so long as The Empire's still an active threat if we talk with him about it, and wrestling has always been the perfect distraction to just lose ourselves in and forget all our outside problems in the face of something we both love doing. That's what's made these past few weeks all the more frustrating. I haven't had much to do to help keep my thoughts from spiraling beyond the match with that anti-social media nutjob, and supporting Ames as she's going for the World Title is only a band-aid that works for so long. I hate that my title defense feels like an afterthought because I didn't know if my opponent would be cleared for it or not for so long, I hate that it still feels like an afterthought because of a third party who's not involved in the match, I hate that Amelia could be seen as an afterthought in her own title match because Selena's been so obsessed with getting the title back...”

Luz trails off, breathing heavily, as she realizes just how much of a tangent she actually went on for a moment there. She clears her throat, looking away from Lily in embarrassment. If it weren't for her mask, her blush would have been impossible to miss.

“Sorry, didn't mean to just dump all of that on you,” she sheepishly admits.

“You've been holding that in for quite a while, haven't you?” Lily finally responds.

“Mm-hmm,” Luz slowly nods. “I didn't mean to, especially when one of those problems isn't even mine but Amelia's, but... it's been hard trying to ignore the memory of that mess with Stephen without a good distraction and I think all the other frustrations just piled on top of it.”

“Well...” Lily thought for a moment before she her phone went off. She took a moment to look over the text message she'd received before typing something back, nodding as she did before returning her gaze to Luz. “Looks like at least one of those problems has been solved, at least. Darius just texted me asking where Amelia was... apparently he got an NCA-sponsored therapist lined up for the both of you and he wants to be the one to tell her.”

“For real!?” Luz sounded excited again, and Lily's nod of confirmation let her breathe a sigh of relief. “Gracias a dios. I'm sure Ames will be so happy to hear that as well.”

“You both have been through far too much involving The Empire as it is,” Lily admitted, “and I know what happened before Rise to Greatness didn't exact help either of you, even if you both found closure for certain things. As George R.R. Martin once said: 'Some old wounds never truly heal, and bleed again at the slightest word.' But know that no matter what happens, I and everyone else will be right here with you, helping you out however we can. And hopefully, someday soon, we can all put The Empire behind us.”

“At least we'll have Apocalypse to occupy our focus in the meantime,” Luz breathed out a chuckle before wiping a tear away from the eyehole of her mask. “And hopefully, we can end the night both holding gold and standing tall together, showing the world exactly who we are and what we're capable of.”

“I'm sure Caleb would hate the sight of that,” Lily mused, giving Luz a smile that got her smiling again as well.

“Thanks, Lily,” Luz finally said after a moment. “I needed that more than I thought.”

Lily opened her mouth to respond-

“HELP! OH PLEASE, SOMEONE HELP ME!”

Luz and Lily's heads immediately jerked towards the Royal Ontario Museum, rushing around the corner to see what was going on. They skidded to a halt, however, at the sight they found. It wasn't just some man who was outnumbered and literally being pushed around, but the two figures harassing him wore the familiar white cloaks and plague doctor masks of The Empire.

“The Empire!” Luz growled.

“Here? Now!?” Lily was flabbergasted at the sight for a moment, but she quickly regained her composure, fists clenching. “Should've guessed they weren't going to stay quiet for much longer.”

“Come on, we have to help that guy!” Luz exclaimed as she and Lily rushed over, just as the guy was thrown against the wall of the museum and staggered away before falling to his hands and knees.

“What do you want from me!?” he exclaimed.

“You know exactly what we want!” one of the Empire goons demanded. “Now tell us what we want to know and we'll be on our way!”

“I swear to you gentlemen, I have no idea what you're talking about!” the man pleaded. “Who even are you, anyway!?”

“They were just about to get lost!” Luz exclaimed as she jumped in front of the guy to defend him, with Lily right behind her. Luz knew this probably wouldn't be a good look if she actually got involved in a fight in broad daylight, but right now, all she cared about was protecting this poor guy behind her and sending these religious wackos packing.

“Well, isn't this our lucky day!” the first Empire goon chuckled.

“No, it's not!” the second one frantically said as he held his associate back. “Lord Caleb's orders were strict: the sinful couple and their loved ones are to be left alone until further notice.”

“Care to fill us in on why?” Lily demanded, stepping forward as the two cloaked figures moved back a few steps.

The first goon huffed beneath his mask before answering: “Wouldn't you like to know?”

The next thing they knew, the Empire members were turning tail and making a run for it. Lily started to pursue, but didn't go too far before she just let them go, opting to keep her eyes on Luz just in case this was some sort of trap. She still whipped her phone out and texted Evie about what had just happened, though, since she knew Avery was busy and she didn't want to pull Darius away from Amelia unless absolutely necessary, especially now.

Luz, meanwhile, leaned down and offered a hand to help the man up. “You alright?”

“I think so,” the man replied, his British accent decently thick. It felt a little familiar to Luz, though she couldn't quite place it and nothing was an exact match in her mind. “They didn't rough me up too badly before you ladies showed up.”

“What was that all about anyway?” Lily asked as she put her phone away before glancing over at Luz. “Also, Evie's on her way. If The Empire's lurking around and active again, we need to keep our eyes peeled.”

“I'm afraid I haven't a clue,” the man admitted. “I was just about to visit the museum when those white-cloaked ruffians jumped me, claiming they wanted information from me, but I couldn't begin to tell you whatever they think it was. Do you know who they are?”

“Bad news,” Luz firmly stated.

“Noted,” the man sighed.

“Maybe it's best if you stick with us for now?” Luz suggested. “We can let museum security know what happened and maybe a friend of ours can work with them once she gets here to track those two down. Is that alright with you, mister...?”

“Paul,” the man chuckled as he shook Luz's hand. “You can just call me Paul, no need for such formalities.”

“Nice to meet you, Paul!” Luz grinned. “This is Lily, and I'm-”

“La Pequeña Luz, correct?” Paul said with maybe a little too much enthusiasm before he reeled himself back in. “My apologies... I've been an SCW fans for quite some time and I thought you looked familiar.”

“Maybe we should head inside before those two goons resurface, in case they didn't come alone,” Lily suggested, earning nods from both Luz and Paul. Lily couldn't help but eye Paul carefully, as something didn't feel quite right about this whole situation. Something about Caleb actively demanding that Luz, Amelia, and their loved ones were left alone for now reeked of suspicion, and while she knew from experience that Caleb having other targets for his deranged plans of a 'truly united world' wasn't out of the question, it was hard to figure out a method to the madness for some random guy who seemed just as baffled about why he was a target. Something wasn't adding up, and if The Empire was active again, that meant being vigilant once more.

Unfortunately, being so lost in her thoughts while Luz was immediately seeking out museum security to fill them in on what happened, neither one of them noticed Paul glance back around the side of the museum where he'd been jumped... and give a nod to the two Empire goons before they truly got out of dodge and he followed Luz and Lily inside.