La Pequena Luz vs. Glory Braddock

[Wisteria Waltz]

Luz was no stranger to the grand stage of Rise to Greatness…

It was on this stage where she and Amelia had proposed to one another, officially becoming engaged before their very first match at SCW’s biggest event.

Rise to Greatness marked the beginning of arguably their defining reign as World Tag Team Champions, finally overcoming the team of Brittany Lohan and Glory Braddock in the process.

Last year, it was where Luz prevailed in an intense four way to become the undisputed United States Champion and arguably prove she truly was worthy of holding that gold.

And yet, despite being in Detroit, Rise to Greatness was the last thing on her mind right now.

It had nothing to do with the roles being reversed this year, with Amelia being the one with a marquee title match while Luz had a challenge with potential World Title implications ahead of her.

No… Luz was preparing for war, just not against Glory Braddock.

In a way, it almost felt like an ironic echo of two years ago, where Glory had called into question Luz and Amelia’s focus and drive after they’d spiraled hard following an abrupt change to the Tag Title picture for Rise to Greatness that almost excluded them entirely. Glory had seen fit to repeat the tactic, aiming to take advantage of Luz trying to focus on making things right and pulling Amelia back from the brink just so she could claim a single win to shortcut her way back to the World Title picture, even after all her boasting about wanting to earn it.

Still, while Luz would love to earn a chance at the World Title herself, regardless of whether it was her wife or one of her best friends waiting there to meet her, right now the greater priority was earning not just Amelia’s freedom, but her own as well.

As she sat in her Detroit hotel room trying to mentally prepare herself for what she was about to walk into, she couldn’t help but check her phone, hopeful that there would be any word from Amelia even if she knew it would pose a risk to her wife to contact her right now. She shouldn’t have been surprised to find nothing, but her eyes couldn’t help but linger on the photo still saved as her wallpaper: a shot of her and Amelia on their wedding night, decked out in their Día de Muertos attire and happily standing before her father’s ofrenda, letting his spirit bless their new matrimony.

“Papá…” Luz sighed as she lowered her head, closing her eyes in prayer. “Siento lo que estoy a punto de hacer. I just… I can’t let Caleb keep haunting us like this. He orchestrated taking you from me, he’s trying to take Amelia, he wants me… I fear there is no other way to end this…”

Luz felt a tear forming in her eye, but she fought against it, trying to stay strong even though she knew this was probably one of the hardest things she was ever about to do. Wrestling against Glory, even at her best, was nothing compared to knowing she had no choice if she finally wanted to be rid of the hypocritical holy man who had been haunting her entire life. She swore she felt a presence with her, embracing her from behind, telling her it was alright… she chose to believe it was her father’s spirit, even with her emotions running high in the face of what she was about to do.

“Luz?” She looked up and saw Avery standing in the open doorway, nodding down the hall. “It’s time to go.”

Luz could only take another deep breath before looking at her phone wallpaper one more time, determined to bring about happy moments like that once again. It was the least she and Amelia deserved after everything they’ve been through.

“I’ll see you soon, Ames… and I’ll bring you home,” she said to reassure herself before kissing the picture and following Avery.

“Are you sure you want to do this, Luz?” Avery asked, not wanting to put any more doubt in her head, but also knowing that Luz had never done what she was planning to do while Avery, for better or worse, had experience in this department.

“I wish I didn’t,” Luz honestly admitted, her voice shaky before she tried to steel her resolve. “But Caleb can’t be allowed to keep looming over our lives and acting like he’s a god we’re supposed to bow to and beg to be saved by. He’s ruined everything he touches and we know he won’t stop… it has to be me. Me and Amelia… the last two people his ego would ever suspect to go through with this.”

Avery mulled over Luz’s words, clearly not fully agreeing but knowing the hour was nigh and Luz had a point. The trust she even maintained in Amelia throughout everything… Avery had struggled to believe it when Luz revealed everything Amelia had told her, even if it all made sense, but they couldn’t ignore the golden opportunity Amelia had given them. If all went as planned, then no one would have to fear The Empire ever again, and if Luz and Amelia were willing to sacrifice a part of themselves to make it happen…

Before they descended the final staircase down to the lobby, Avery stopped Luz. She looked at the NCA agent curiously before Avery proceeded to pull something off of their belt, and Luz’s jaw dropped when she saw what it was. The dagger may have looked simple, but she could tell by the wear on it that it had seen use several times over the years and probably ended its fair share of lives.

“If you’re going to do this, then you need the right tool for the job,” Avery told her firmly. “This dagger has served me well in both the FBI and NCA whenever I’ve needed to get up close to take out a target. If you’re sure this is the only way, then I promise you that monster will never see it coming.”

Luz hesitantly took the blade, taking a moment to get a feel for it. Clearly, she was out of her element wielding it, but Avery was handing her the perfect tool for the job and she was hellbent on making it work for her.

“Gracias,” Luz smiled at Avery as she safely tucked the dagger away, probably the last real bit of genuine joy she was going to show until she had Amelia back in her arms.

“You’ve got this, kid,” Avery nodded with a confident grin to help bolster Luz’s spirits as they made their way through the lobby to meet up with everyone else outside most of whom were piling into an SUV Marilyn had rented, but some were clearly insistent on riding with Luz in her rental car.

“We’ve got contact from our agents back home,” Darius informed the both of them as well as the others as he finished up with a call. “Amelia’s tip helped immensely… we’ve got confirmation that members of The Empire have been using secret tunnels leading to somewhere underground beneath the old Blythe family castle.”

“No doubt Vladimir’s design,” Avery confirmed, being intricately familiar with the designs and tactics of their former FBI co-worker.

“We’ve got men in position ready to raid,” Evie confirmed. “We gave them a time to strike… if we know Caleb’s ego as well as we think we do, we can time this right and take him out.”

“Then let’s not keep him waiting any longer,” Luz said, her voice emitting raw determination to finally have a future to look forward to at long last… one without The Empire lurking over their shoulders.

No one argued with Luz as they all piled in and made the drive over to the abandoned parking garage Caleb had scouted out and deemed the perfect location to do this, because of course he would after what Luz had gone through last year at another one of these places. She recalled last year around this same show, when the head of The Empire’s splinter cell had attempted to kill both her and her family. She had fought back but was hesitant to stain her soul taking the life of another, even to defend herself against a lunatic who deserved it. Stephen Crane had ultimately died, and Luz had a strong feeling Caleb might have saved her back then, both to resolve his own problem and to build up to this moment.

Luz didn’t engage in any of the chatter during the drive, simply keeping her focus on the road and the task ahead of her, but she still acknowledged the love and support from her closest friends that were going to be the key to pulling the trigger here, especially since there was one very important face missing from this picture and Luz was not ending this day without that face properly by her side once again.

The moment she drove up to the old parking garage where this was supposed to go down, Luz immediately spotted them: Caleb White front and center, his remaining elites all proudly lined up behind him… and Amelia standing right beside him, trying to maintain her proverbial mask for just a little longer. As Luz quickly stepped out of the car, knowing everyone else was right behind her, she also took careful note of all the Empire goons hiding in plain sight, clearly securing the perimeter and prepared to try anything if the NCA had an ambush planned. There was a plan alright, as Avery, Darius and Evie had scouted this location a week ago once Caleb confirmed it, but that was for The Empire to find out.

Right now, Luz was focused on making sure Caleb took clear note of the sheer disdain she had for him. Catching Amelia’s gaze, she saw the concern and sorrow over her needing to be this way, but she saw the same dark fire burning in her beloved’s eyes, confirming they were on the same page for this even if they both wished there was another way.

“I commend you for your punctuality,” Caleb complimented, sounding sincerely impressed. Everything about it already made Luz’s skin crawl.  “Now, I know that the parties of interest here have important business to prepare for, so shall we make this quick and seamless? I’m sure you, Luz, will greatly appreciate the help I can offer you to erase the blight that is the Braddock name from this Earth for good, just as I’ve helped prepare Amelia to erase the plague that is another-”

“Don’t even dare to utter Deanna’s name, you sick monster,” Luz growled fiercely. She was not about to stand here and let this religious psychopath insult their friend.

“Yes, I do recall seeing her at your wedding the night I was justly freed,” Caleb smugly gloated. “A pity that things between her and Selena don’t seem to have worked out… it is to be expected with such abominations of love, I’m afraid, as you and Amelia here have discovered.”

“Can we get this over with?” Amelia snapped. The cold outburst briefly took Luz aback, but as she chances a subtle glance into Amelia’s eyes, she could see the truth: her impatience was part of the mask she was trying to wear, hoping to move this along to a point where maybe, if they were lucky, Luz could have an opportunity to strike.

“What… have you done to her?” she heard Henry demand, his voice trembling with barely-restrained rage as she glanced over and saw his fists tighten. She quickly took note of the way everyone around her was reacting before she realized what they were referring to. They hadn’t seen Amelia’s wrist uncovered since she disappeared, not like Luz had in the locker room a few weeks ago. She was the only one among their found family who was aware of what Caleb had started doing, that Amelia was now scarred with The Empire’s sigil for life, and she couldn’t blame their horror and disgust at the sight. Even now, seeing Amelia’s sacrifice with her own two eyes only made her more determined to put an end to this nightmare once and for all.

“What I felt I had to do in order to avoid any more… complications,” Caleb spoke with a tone that sounded almost insulted at the implication that branding those that followed him was wrong, especially as he glared at the NCA agents behind her. “I couldn’t afford any more attempts to infiltrate and corrupt my holy cause that would escape the watchful eye of God. So those truly devoted to our divine mission prove themselves by being marked as proof of their loyalty and devotion, just like my elites… and just like Amelia here.”

“You sick son of a-” Luz heard Evie growl as she began to pull out her gun, but that immediately drew clicking sounds from every Empire cultist surrounding the area, a show of force meant to warn her against what she was about to do. She glanced back to see Darius, despite his own disgust at this revelation, trying to calm her down.

“I notice you don’t have one,” Marilyn jabbed, clearly looking to instigate. “What’s the matter, bozo? Not loyal to your own preaching?”

“My loyalty to God is unquestioned,” Caleb frowned, but maintained a level head in the face of the antics of someone he’d been haunting for just as long as he’d loomed over Amelia and Luz’s families. “He has guided my hand in judging and cleansing every filthy, unworthy soul I have met throughout my life, from my own brother to the witch who led him astray.” He grinned at Marilyn’s furious reaction before turning that grin to Henry before his eyes ultimately landed on Luz and her family. “And that includes the man who donned a mask and proclaimed himself an angelic spirit when your people are the most corruptive influence this world has ever suffered from.”

It took a herculean effort on the part of Luz’s willpower to not just reveal her dagger and rush Caleb in a blind rage, wanting so badly to just lose herself in rage at the vile things this man had to say about her father, a man who didn’t deserve to have his life ended by Caleb’s twisted machinations. She did have to grab her mom before she attacked for Luz, though she was shocked at the absolutely harsh but deserved torrent of Spanish her mom threw Caleb’s way for his comments. Even Amelia seemed to be struggling to restrain herself, which further proved that Caleb didn’t have the control he thought he did.

“As much as I’ve enjoyed this conversation,” Caleb continued, brushing all of this off as if he was above it all, “it’s not why we’re gathered here today. Luz… shall we make our exchange so that I can begin making amends for your father’s existential failures and prove that even you are truly worthy of a place in Heaven if you try?”

“Let’s do this,” Luz spat in disgust, refusing to let Caleb ramble on any further about her father or anything ‘holy’ he thought he was doing with all of this. As she glanced at Amelia when the two of them and Caleb moved to meet halfway, she saw the emotionless expression her wife was trying to maintain, but it was clear Luz had been convincing enough to create the illusion that she truly was willing to give herself up if it meant Amelia could truly come home. Genuinely, she would if that’s what it would take, there wasn’t a doubt in her mind on that, but while the rest of their family had stayed back to not risk being fired upon, Luz tried to focus on Amelia, using this precious time to make sure they were on the same page here.

Thankfully, the gift that Amelia had left with her weeks ago had proven invaluable in setting the stage for this exact moment.

Before the two could exchange places, the moment was interrupted by Caleb’s phone ringing. To say he looked irritated would be an understatement, but he tried to play it off all the same.

“My apologies,” he insisted before answering the call. “This had better be important, because I’m in the middle of-” He trailed off as whatever news was being broken to him destroyed his composed control entirely. “What do you mean our base has been discovered? That’s impossible! The NCA should have no… knowledge… of…”

Caleb’s stunned gaze slowly turned to Amelia, and knowing that Luz had just given her the perfect opening, she watched as Amelia revealed a dagger of her own and attempted to slash at Caleb’s throat with it. Unfortunately, Caleb dropped his phone and caught her wrist, twisting it to try and force his dagger from her hands. Luz wasn’t going to allow him to disarm her wife, however, pulling out the dagger Avery had given her and lunging, aiming right for Caleb’s black heart. Caleb, however, managed to block her efforts as he seized her wrist with his free hand.

“You two… truly are beyond salvation…” Caleb grunted as he tried to use his legendary wrestling prowess to disarm them, but Luz and Amelia were not going to be stopped. He still knew exactly how to end this stalemate as he yelled to his minions, “Kill them all and let God sort them out!”

While Luz felt a momentary pang of PTSD at the familiar cry that had been the wary cry of The Empire’s splinter cell, Caleb soon found his order going up in smoke as the small turret-wielding drones the NCA had hidden around the area in preparation for this moment revealed themselves, firing upon the cultists and either ending them or driving them into retreat. Luz saw the elites prepare to move in and back Caleb up, but the others quickly rushed past the three of them to keep them from interfering, thanks to a serious numbers advantage.

This didn’t deter Caleb, however, as he surprised his two biggest thorns by rolling back and expertly throwing them into one another. It didn’t disarm either of them, but that didn’t stop Caleb from revealing another dagger and aiming right between Luz’s eyes, but Amelia quickly moved in front of Luz and blocked the strike with her own dagger.

“I had such high hopes for you… both of you…” Caleb growled in disappointment, still trying to rip away at Luz’s kind nature and Amelia’s self-worth even now. “All I wanted was to save you both from damnation… to make things right…”

“For yourself!” Luz spat. “All you’ve ever cared about was false redemption because you can’t stand the idea of going to Hell where you belong!”

“My soul has always belonged in Heaven,” Caleb sternly continued. “I have always been better than every other wretched soul corrupting this world, God himself has decreed it. That is why I know you will not strike me down… you aren’t strong enough to stain your souls-”

“Enough!” Amelia yelled as she grabbed Caleb’s wrist and rolled underneath his blade, kicking his leg out from under him. Luz didn’t hesitate to kick his dagger out of his hands, disarming him before Amelia continued. “Luz and I have had to live our lives with your shadow looming over us, making us fear you. Just like my parents, you’re done trying to dictate our lives for your selfish gains!”

“You’ve tried to break us for years, all because you couldn’t cope with the truth that everything you’ve done locked you out of Heaven a long time ago!” Luz added.

“You don’t understand!” Caleb tried to plead. “We’re better than all of them! We don’t belong in the fiery pit! I don’t belong-”

As Caleb ranted, Luz saw him try to lunge for her once more, but she wasn’t about to let him win… not this time. She thrust the dagger forward, her aim true as the blade pierced Caleb’s chest, driving straight through whatever was left of his twisted heart. She felt her blade make contact with Amelia’s, realizing that her wife had mirrored the attack from the back as Caleb gasped between them, blood oozing from his mouth.

“If we’re hellbound, then so be it…” Luz fiercely declared.

“...as long as we go down together,” Amelia finished with just as much ferocity.

Caleb had nothing more to say… he tried, but the blood rising from his throat refused to allow words to form. They both let go and stepped aside, collapsing against one another as the man who had tormented them for most of their lives fell to the ground, his death as undignified as he deserved.

Somewhere in the midst of it all, they felt their loved ones surrounding them, checking on them, questioning Amelia specifically about what she’d pulled, but Luz made sure she was right by her side to keep her grounded, staring deep into her wife’s eyes as the realization dawned on them of what they’d done. Even still, though, they took solace in the fact that it was necessary.

Their souls may have been stained, but they were finally free.

Without its self-righteous leader, The Empire would crumble, especially once the brainwashing was broken and the truth of Caleb’s intentions finally sank in.

Luz was finally free to pursue a brighter future, alongside the woman who meant everything to her.