03-30-2023, 04:04 PM
(This post was last modified: 03-30-2023, 04:05 PM by SnowQueenSCW.)
OOC: Selena’s second roleplay. Plays off her first. Promo takes place day of Breakdown. Good luck everyone!
DISCLAIMER: The following is a work of fiction and not to be confused as complete or accurate representation of any beliefs, religions, etc. Please refer to research/articles by experts for that.
The Edison Ballroom
New York, New York
March 26th, 2023
5:19pm
Everything that washed over her made Selena feel small and inferior. Weak and overwhelmed. The loud music of beautiful orchestra as the band played with passion, filling the large space with its Victorian music – music that held both beauty and, she could hear, a darker tone. A twinge of something out of place (almost haunting). Its loudness filled her ears, almost to the point of painful with some notes with their volume and pitch. Every few moments, the music would overwhelm her, causing the Snow Queen to raise her head to the ceiling, where she would see the ceiling – so far away from her – decorated with the fine crystals of chandeliers and complex designs. It reminded her of the crystal caves in Nome she had once known as her home, but far more complex than most areas of nature could create – almost disgustingly so. These ‘ice designs’ were man-made, as if to mock what nature could do. She could only last a few seconds looking up until her eyes hurt from it, causing her to drop her head down in time to see the flurry colors spin and turn around and in front of her from where she stood!
Every shade, every pigment, every color and frill. Silk, lace, chiffon, long-gowns, shorter ones, hair up, hair down, it was an assault of colors on her eyes that was felt more like viewing inside a kaleidoscope than seeing the actual world.
She tried to breath, but her nose burned with the scent of strong alcohol as it passed around her, servers in suits with trays almost floating around the dozens and dozens of people. She could also, if she moved close enough to the tables, smell the displays of food there – the decadence of such delicacies on the fullest display as broadly and loudly as everything else in this room. She smelled sweet things, savoury things, spicy things, she smelled foreign foods and even familiar foods belonging to her home here in New York (albeit far more ‘refined’ if that made sense).
Gods, how much she hated it all.
The revulsion swam inside her as she stood in the ballroom, staying closer to the outside of the dance floor, her eyes, whenever they could handle the cavalcade of sights and colors, scanning as much as she could. This was not a ballroom party designed to entertain or invoke joy or, but status and power. It was to display superiority of the host. The opulence was meant to remind, not entertain. It was meant to instill a feeling of powerlessness.
Especially for her – especially to remind her of where she stood in all this.
She had never been to The Edison Ballroom before, though she had definitely heard of it and even walked past it throughout her time in Manhattan and New York City. What use did she have for a ballroom? Yes, she loved dancing – especially with her wife, Deanna – and there was something regal and royal about Victorian-style balls like this that she enjoyed (having attended more than one in her travels with said redhead), but to rent a place like this? To spent tens of thousands? Maybe hundreds of thousands?
That was the growing thought that nagged in the Snow Queen’s mind, causing her anxiety and fear to grow – though she refused to display it or let it cripple her. Raphael Alden, the host, there was no way a place like this was ‘free’ so quickly as the few weeks he had to plan this. How much had he paid to ‘acquire its services’ for today? How much had he bribed or spent to ensure this place for whatever he had in mind?
And what was in mind? Selena thought as she eyed her surroundings once more. All around her, various people in their dresses and suits were either enjoying drinks, food, or dancing on the dance floor in the center of the large ballroom. Even if they weren’t all wearing masks, Selena doubted she knew anyone that stood before her, unless her mother came into her line of sight. Quickly, as she thought about her, the platinum-blonde scanned all of the room she could see. It did not take long for her to spy the woman she was looking for, the pink chiffon that wrapped up and around the shoulder of the woman along with the Swarovsky Crystals of different colors (contrasting the dark purple of the dress) made her mother stand out to anyone specifically looking for such a sequence. Even masked, her mother was not difficult to find for the former world champion, and seeing her standing in a corner of the room, merely smiling and nodding her head at the people that passed her by, gave a bit of relief to Selena, allowing her to continue her walking around the room, trying her best to continue her assessment, which was growing more and more similar to certain negative emotions she did not wish to feel.
While she had made her mother dress in a flashier gown, the Snow Queen had chosen the opposite, wearing a dark-blue A-line Scoop Sweep Train Chiffon Lace Evening Dress With Sequins around the bodice and shoulders of the train. She had managed to get a matching mask that covered part of her face like any normal masquerade mask would, but she kept her hair in its usual iconic braid, one of the few things that was giving her comfort in all of this.
Were all of these people Aldens? Were all of them here to see her mother? Or had they just come because Raphael had invited them and it was a ‘status-thing’?
She knew so little about this family, and it bothered her more than she wished to admit as she watched everyone dancing around her, their voices of merriment and conversation adding to the waltz-music being played. She heard snippets, words of praise and others of rumors. They sounded normal… like a big family reunion but what kind of family? She didn’t know and it unnerved her. Never, even in the audience of the Frost/Frostmere clan, had she encountered so many members at once. There must have been dozens, maybe even fifty or more, she had lost count. And while, perhaps under far more pleasant circumstances, she would have been delighted at the sight of so many of her mother’s family and relatives, now it only added to that being of smallness, meekness… of powerlessness.
Just like in SCW.
The thought came unwanted and without hesitation or permission, forcing her to slam her eyes shut as emotions were triggered inside her. Why had she lost her temper like that in her promo? She had yelled and cursed more than she had in her entire career! She had swore at the man she had respected for so many years in O. D.. She had cursed out the Board of Directors! And worse of all, she had thrown a tantrum the likes of which she had never done on any show or promo in her life! It was as if she had forfeited whatever mental edge she could have had with her credentials, accolades, and history with hardcore matches like the chamber, unsanctioned, last-person standing matches, etc.
Now the world knew that Selena was thrown off her game – that she was angry and rattled and shaken! Her, ‘The Face of SCW’, was already losing in the mental-games department heading towards the most fucked-up match she had EVER been apart of.
It would only be a few days from now and not only would she no longer be the SCW world tag-team champion with her wife, but she wasn’t sure either of them would still be a champion in SCW at all. Kimberly Williams had played – she hated to admit – a hand with her Trios that had trapped every champion and enemy of hers. It was cowardly, it was pathetic, it was playing dirty, but dammit, she had played it so smartly. With all the ‘rules that don’t apply’ to her, there as no way Kimberly was not going to get what she wanted: to once again be the Underground Champion and screw over everyone that had beat her or put her in her place, from Owen to the Frosts.
It was more than doubting their abilities as a team. It was more than just the odds of ‘surviving a clusterfuck’ of a match, which was already getting the attention of old foes like Ace Marshall to come back out of the woodwork (if Retribution was any indication), it was, easily, a nigh statistical-impossibility for them. One Selena couldn’t help running through her mind over and over again.
To retain. To simply stay the tag-team champions… not only did they both have to agree to lose the match, but they would have to do so in a way that put them back to back in points! As in, in the sea of superstars that had already been invited and those that had ‘made their presence felt’ on social media in their desire to join the match (open invitational as well), the House of Frost not only needed to have the proper points high enough (but not too high) to keep the tag-titles, but BOTH of them could not be more than one point apart from each other!
It was impossible! If Selena was too high, she’d become the Adrenaline Champion. Too low and she’d be the Television Champion. Same with Deanna! And on top of that, to even attempt would be to try to lose… on purpose!
She had never done that in her entire life, even in her darker days in Nome, Alaska, as she had tried to drink her nights away, the idea of oblivion her constant goal. Still, never, even then, had she let herself choose defeat. Not there or SCW! She had withstood so much pain and injuries but still overcoming so much just because she refused to do anything but try to win. To try and defeat whatever opposition was in her way.
But now? If she did… if she tried to be herself, be the woman she believed herself to be, she would be hurting The House of Frost – and the woman that meant EVERYTHING to her.
Once more, that familiar rage filled her, causing her to release a soft growl that, thankfully, was swallowed up by the cacophony of noise that the ballroom created as she mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, swore at Kimberly, the Board of Directors… and even O. D. once more. She was no closer to understanding why he had agreed to this. Why he had trapped such good people like Owen and Bree – trapped her, the woman that had fought for his company, for his daughter, for his creation, year after year, never taking a break, never leaving SCW’s side, never straying from what SCW was supposed to mean.
Would he have allowed this if I was Kelcey? she thought bitterly. Or even Regan? Or Ow- she stopped as she thought of the world champion. Gods, she felt for the kid. He was doing so well, achieving so much – a momentum that had rivaled hers a year ago during the ‘Reign of Integrity’. And while she had been waiting for the day to face him in the ring again… not like this. She thought.
Like her, Owen was trapped too. He couldn’t win the match AND keep both titles. The ‘rules’, if they could be called that, made that literally impossible. He could only keep one title. And while rematches were guaranteed for all current champions entering into this match – Selena wondered how a loss here would hurt the boy’s momentum…
“Taking it all in?”
The voice came from behind her, causing Selena to turn on the spot slowly, following the direction of the uncomfortably close, accented voice as it whispered over her shoulder. She was quick to see the black-suited man standing before her, a broad smile over his features. His mask was a simple black one that ran across his eyes – eyes that were running up and down her form, studying her.
“You do make quite the fashionable woman.” He offered politely, the compliment genuine but unaffecting Selena’s raw, emotional state.
“You look like the racoon that frequents my house and eats my trash.” Selena shot back, her jaw clenching a little – clearly knowing who she was addressing.
Ignoring her jab, Raphael smoothly removed his mask, continuing to offer a smile to the wrestler. “How are you enjoying the venue, Selena?” he asked, again with that genuine tone. “No, really. I truly want to know.”
Gently, he offered his arm to her, causing the Snow Queen’s eyes to shoot down to it, almost in disbelief. However, if she had learned anything from being in this place, it was that she could only rebel so much when she had no winning hand or ‘secret weapon’ of her own (minus the gun she felt concealed in her at the center of her corset, deep enough to be hidden - and no hand but her own would dare go). Exhaling a little louder, she took the offered arm with her hands, letting Raphael accompany her walk throughout the ballroom, the man offering smiles and kind words to those that passed him (now that he was recognizable without a mask on).
“It’s a bit much.” Selena stated simply, her eyes scanning the room. “Or a lot much.” She corrected bluntly. “You ever hear of ‘overcompensating’?”
“Yes.” Raphael answered. “When my father left with nothing, I had to crawl and claw my way back up to providence. It took years.” He explained, a hint of hurt in his voice. “And I had to humble myself, let myself be kicked around and treated like dirt – like I didn’t matter no matter how hard I tried. I had to be reminded day after day that those I worked for, those I respected, didn’t respect me or even care about me. I had to endure it for so long… so that when I was above them all? I’d never look back. I’d never stop enjoying the fruits of my labour.”
Despite herself, Selena felt her throat silently gulp at the brief insight into Raphael’s life, hating how she found some relatability to it. Except she wasn’t powerful enough to do what he had done. She was still struggling. It didn’t matter how good she was or how loved she was within the company or how respected she was with the fans. She was still small and powerless compared to the board, to O., and to people coming and going with their ‘offers’ to acquire the company.
“There’s always someone bigger…” She whispered. “Someone better… someone more powerful.” She couldn’t hide the dark edge that clipped around her voice.
“I don’t believe that.” Raphael remarked as he gently guided Selena to the dance floor. Without hesitation, he gently moved the Snow Queen’s hands and arms into the proper position as the other dancers, Selena offering no resistance and stepping perfectly (as her stepmother, Anastasia, had ingrained in her memory since her youth) into the dance with the others around her. “I believe…” Raphael continued as he lead the platinum-blonde expertly, “Look at the human race. We are at the top of the food chain. World leaders? Nations with the greatest technology? Even your precious SCW has it’s ‘top of the ladder’, does it not?”
Selena looked away for a moment. Yes, technically. There WAS a ‘top’ for people like her in SCW. The world championship. Whoever held it, she knew this from experience, was considered at the apex for all wrestlers. But really?
“If that power existed for someone like me.” She turned her head back to Raphael. “Then you would not have me here tonight. Or my mother.” She stated. “There is always someone more powerful out there. Someone with more money. More resources.”
“And if there isn’t?” Raphael asked, his eyes illuminating with the notion. “If there is nothing that is higher than you? Not in money or power or resources? If nothing is beyond your reach? What then?”
Selena gave a thought to the question for a moment, though this time she refused to look away from the host. “I guess…” she breathed. “That would make you ‘God’.” She saw the smile widen on Raphael’s face, though she gave a knowing one of her own. “That was what you wanted me to say, wasn’t it?”
“You don’t think that’s achievable?” Raphael asked, taking a moment to eye the ballroom he had acquired. “After all, what is a King to a God?”
Sapphire eyes narrowed at the man, Selena’s hand tightening its grip until she felt the bones in Raphael’s hand pressing together. “What is a god to a non-believer?” she asked staring at him darkly.
Despite the discomfort he must have been feeling in the athlete’s strong grip, the older man gave no sign of it. “Shall we ask your boss? Or do you still believe in him?”
Her jaw clenched as she continued to step in time with the dance, too afraid to give any answer to those questions – mostly because she didn’t have one. Not one that she believed anyway.
Did she still believe in D.?
Did she even want to now? After everything he had done? Disrespecting Deanna, hiding things from the SCW Universe, even considering Jenni Anderson as a offer? And now this cash-in?
“Where is your mother?” Raphael asked, seeming to take pity on the Snow Queen in this interrogation and changing the subject.
“Nearby.” Selena answered. “As promised.” She added bitterly. “So get your shots in now because after this? We’re done. I don’t want to see you or any of the Aldens again. Do you understand me?”
“Perfectly.” Smiled Raphael, slowly releasing Selena as the current song slowed to a stop. “I look forward to doing just that.” He gave that smug grin before giving a slight bow and walking away.
I would remove that hand if I were you…
That same dismissal! That same feeling of ‘not mattering’ or ‘being unworthy’ of answer! D. had given her that same treatment! To her and her wife!
Selena felt the familiar snap in her and her head jerked around left and right, eyes scanning for something – anything to -
Quickly, she reached out towards a passing waiter, grabbing a flute of champagne and plucking it off the table. The waiter paid her the barest of minds as he walked past her. But as for Selena, she had barely pulled the glass off when a hand gripped the glass-holding hand, squeezing tightly before wrestling the flute of her Selena’s grasp, placing it back on the table.
“I don’t think so.” Came the cold, barely-concealed-angry, voice in a rough whisper before the hand tightened more around Selena’s, causing the Snow Queen to wince a little, the platinum-blonde too surprised to immediately respond.
“What are you- ah!” she gasped as she was jerked further onto the dancefloor, all but pulled back into that familiar waltz position, though far rougher than Raphael had done. Finally, she was able to take in her ‘abductor’… and feeling the immediate shock through her system as she beheld fire-red hair and emerald-green eyes.
“If you tell me that you were about to drink that wine, which I could smell the booze from over there, by the way-“ the redhead growled. “I am leaving you.”
“Deanna?” Selena asked in genuine surprise. “What are you?”
“Doing?” Deanna’s jaw clenched, anger emanating off her in waves. “I could ask you the same question, Selena.” She hissed.
Guilt? Shame? Even a little intimidation – Selena felt the full gambit as she was roughly lead through another dance.
“I wasn’t going to drink it.” Selena tried to explain. “I swear, darling.”
“Don’t you darling me!” Deanna hissed quietly as she spun Selena with no care.
“I promise!” Selena begged. “I wouldn’t – I was going to splash it into Raphael’s smug face!”
“And why the hell are you here with him in the first place?!” she leaned in, pressing her face close to Selena’s. “Without me?”
“I…” Selena bit her lower lip, her mind flashing back to the fight they had had that night Selena had come home last week after convincing her mother to reunite with the Aldens and gone shopping for their gowns and masks. She remembered her wife staying up, waiting for her in family room. She remembered that look – so similar to the look of anger in her wife’s emerald eyes now. She remembered the words spoken… and how things had been left between the two of them and the awkwardness that had followed for the past week. “How did you even find this place?”
“Really?” Despite the black ombre feather mask she wore, Deanna’s eyebrow could be seen lifting for a second in disbelief. “You’re going to try and put the focus on me? Okay.” She squeezed Selena’s hand tighter. “I unlocked your phone, checked your message with Allejandra and then followed you here. It wasn’t hard to figure out. I’ve known all week.”
“You…” Selena’s eyes widened in shock under her mask, the hurt clear in her voice. “You invaded my privacy?”
“Oh, you do NOT get to play the victim card on me, Selena Frost.” Deanna hissed back. “Not after you lied and hid things from me… again!”
“I had to.” Selena answered back, her hurt emotions leading to a more familiar emotion – anger. Fighting back, Selena gripped the hand Deanna was leading her with, tightening her own hold and turning their entwined hands into a test-of-strength, and inadvertently creating a support system for the other to lean and move. As the music picked up, Selena twisted and turned in a stationary figure-eight in front of Deanna, her legs lifting high to accentuate the movement, though her eyes never strayed from the redhead. “I had enough to worry about keeping an eye on mother without having to worry about getting her AND you out.”
“And what makes you think I would need help getting out?” Deanna challenged back, pulling Selena’s hand up to spin her on the spot, the Snow Queen’s dress billowing with the gorgeous twirl before Deanna pulled her back close.
“Oh!” Selena laughed. “Like how you got out of that Texas Cloverhold last week?”
Seeing emerald eyes widen before narrowing at Selena’s words – the Snow Queen instantly regreted what she had said.
“No.” Deanna whispered back harshly. “Like how I saved your ass when Blythe almost choked you out.”
Both women glared at each other through their masks. They had BOTH worked together and saved each other at Retribution! It was beyond clear of that! But that wasn’t going to win their respective case.
“Well, fat lot of good that does now.” Selena finally spoke. “Cause by next week, we won’t even BE champions anymore.”
“And that’s my fault?” Deanna asked before stepping back, dragging Selena across the dance floor as the Snow Queen extended her leg, wrapping the other around Deanna’s waist to assist in the move. “You’re the one that can’t accept ‘losing’.”
“Oh! And you’re not salivating at the chance to become a singles champion after being snubbed over for Cassie Wolfe and Konrad Raab last pay-per-view and even Hairless Penguin last year?!”
Again, Deanna’s jaw clenched at the stalemate between the two, the redhead pulling Selena back up to her feet. Logically, the two hated each and every word they were speaking – the problem was they were too mad at everything: SCW, the Aldens and each other to acknowledge such a thing as logic.
“Then I guess it’s every Frost for herself.” Deanna hissed back. “Maybe I’ll win the world title then.”
“Oh yeah…” Selena laughed. “Cause last time you fought Owen, it worked SO well.”
“I don’t see you beating-“
“Allocco, Bree, and Glory in a fatal-fourway.” Selena launched back before Deanna could finish. “You?”
A harsh laugh escaped Deanna, the two still trying to keep their voices low to avoid unwanted attention. “Oh, you know what, Selena?” her muscles tensed. “Maybe I’ll just pin the ‘great’ Selena Frost!”
Selena suddenly sauntered closer, leaning into Deanna to press her chest against the black-suited woman. “This isn’t our bedroom, Deanna.” She shot back smugly. “I’m not just going to LET you pin me.” Closer, she leaned in until her voice was ghosting over Deanna’s earlobe. “Maybe I will after Breakdown. After I kick your tight, little ass!” the slight growl in her voice was part anger, part smugness and part something else neither woman could identify in the moment. “I’ll need something to do to celebrate-“
Her voice dropped as she felt Deanna’s whole body grow still, the look of anger, frustration, and whatever else morphing into genuine shock as the redhead’s emerald eyes dropped down to Selena’s chest pressed up against hers. “Are…” her voice trailed off, her steps faltering for the first time in this dance to place a hand to Selena’s chest. “Did you bring a gun?”
Immediately, Selena’s eyes widened, the Snow Queen instantly taking a step away and gaining some distance between the two wives, each woman staring at the other.
“Selena!” Deanna gasped quietly, rushing over to her side, immediately looking around the dance floor. Aside from the few glances that came their way from onlookers regarding their dance, no one gave them much thought. “What the hell?” Deanna asked.
“It’s not-“ Selena tried. “It’s just a precaution.” She explained. “And why I didn’t want you here with me.”
“That’s not a fair-“
Deanna barely had the chance to get the words out to return to the argument before she was interrupted by the purple and pink dressed Alejandra stopping in front of them, just a few feet from the center of the dance floor.
“Selena, I-“ her eyes widened as she saw, through her pink-and-purple mask. “Deanna? What are you doing here?”
“Being nosey.” Selena sighed. “I should have realized.” She refocused on her mother. “Mother, I told you to stay on the sidelines.”
“Raphael came to me.” She admitted. “I…I didn’t want to deal with him. He said we were free to go.”
“He did?” Selena asked. “But he hasn’t done anything yet. Has anyone talked to you?”
“Not beyond a mere hello or a question.” Alejandra answered honestly. “I don’t think they’ve figured out who I am.”
“So, why the hell would he-“ Selena’s voice trailed off as the idea came to her a split second after Deanna, the Frost wives speaking at the same time.
“Unless to get us together on the dancefloor-“
The music suddenly stopped, as did all the dancing from the people surrounding them.
“Ladies and gentlemen!” came the loud, accented voice as Raphael Alden stood on the balcony overlooking the entire lower floor, no more than twenty, maybe thirty feet above but enough to remind Selena of her conversation with the man regarding ‘god’. Not even subtle. her mind growled as she stared up at the man.
“It is my pleasure to not only end one of the greatest scandals involving our great charter, but to bring it to its full conclusion!” Scanning down, Raphael spotted Selena, Deanna and Alejandra standing on the dancefloor, his genuine, gentlemanly smile slowly morphing – becoming more wolf-like. “After forty years of hiding… I give to you…” he gestured towards the trio. “Alejandra Grimalkin Alden!”
Immediately, anyone nearby the three women backed away as the group stared at them. With a sigh, Alejandra reached up to remove her mask, revealing her entire face to them. A shock resonated throughout the ballroom, causing Selena to shift closer to her wife and mother, her hand slowly reaching up towards her concealed gun. Please, Odin… she prayed. Don’t make me use this…
“Heads of the Alden…” Raphael spoke out. “Are you all accounted for?”
Immediately, six or seven various people removed their masks and stepped forward. They were all of various age, gender and race but all shared the same expression, glaring at Alejandra. “We are.” One of them, a tall, tanned one spoke.
“Then, at long last…” Raphael smiled at the trapped trio. “Let us commence the trial of Alejandra Alden!”
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![[Image: tetXUW1.gif]](https://i.imgur.com/tetXUW1.gif)
The camera opens up to a sight that was similar to that of SCW’s last show, the flagship-pay-per-view that was Retribution: an empty arena filled with décor and a wrestling ring. However, this is not the AT&T Stadium of Dallas, Texas, nor is this Retribution or some pay-per-view replay. Rather, this is the Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, the site for tonight’s episode of SCW Breakdown. A night where, perhaps for the first time ever, there will be only one match. A match that will put every single title on the line in a point-system in an attempt to ‘shuffle’ the champions and their divisions. The cash-in of Kimberly Williams’ Trios contract is responsible for this night and left SCW and the SCW Universe in a state of varied opinions. While some fans have praised Kimberly’s ‘creativeness’, others have called her out on her ‘beyond obvious’ attempts to simply ‘steal back the Underground title with her ‘clauses that favor only her’. While some have expressed excitement over SCW being shuffled and changed in such a random, unknown way, others have voiced displeasure at SCW, essentially, ‘forcing champions to lose their titles and/or their momentum’ and the ‘blantant disrespect to every division/championship except the world title’. Such varied opinions echo through the halls of SCW, in the minds of fan and superstar alike.
The only constant amidst all this is the empty ring under the arctic blue and white lights; and as the camera moves into the space, the singular woman can be seen standing inside it, hands on the ropes as she overlooks the empty arena, her sapphire eyes focusing on the glowing graphic of ‘SCW’ that hangs high as if in identification. For several seconds, the platinum-blonde eyes the glowing letters high above her, unable to tear her gaze away; unable to stop a few tears forming from within her eyes, though she doesn’t let them fall.
With a shaky breath, Selena Frost reaches up to wipe at her eyes with the back of her hand, her head staying lowered as she leans her forehead against the rope, the black of her leather jacket, pants, boots and shirt a contrast to the white of the ring and her hair.
This ring used to be my sanctuary. she whispers to no one in the arena and everyone that is listening in. My home…
When I didn’t have a home. When the lands where I was born and raised were nothing more than a cold hell. When there were days that I didn’t want to wake-up the next morning. When I didn’t believe in anything other than the demons I let control my soul… this place let me in. This place – SCW – and every member of it… became a part of my life. A grumpy father, a crazed uncle, a passionate sister-in-arms, a mentoring aunt, estranged black-sheep cousins, everyone in the SCW Universe became a part of a family to me…
And… she releases a shaky breath. No matter how much it hurt to be a wrestler. No matter how much it hurt to do the right thing and fight for things that, maybe, nobody else wanted to or couldn’t fight for like integrity and raising the standard beyond tainted finishes and controversy – this place was still here to welcome me back in. To let me feel hurt but still remind me that it was all for a reason. To give me purpose when I had spent so much of my life not having any.
Lifting her head, she eyes the SCW graphic once more. I always would say to every person that thought they were ‘bigger’ than SCW or thought they could control SCW that SCW would always be here. That SCW was bigger than any of us. That SCW could endure everything and would continue to be a symbol of supreme championship wrestling… It was… it was the greatest honor of my career to constantly be defending that belief as ‘The Face of SCW’…
Her voice trails off slowly and, for a moment, there is only silence. But that was why I… I won’t mince words… I lost it during my last Royal Letter. Because I don’t feel THAT SCW here now. I don’t feel the same SCW that I felt when Deanna and I fought Amelia and Luz at Retribution. I don’t see that same SCW that I saw in the eyes of Bree Lancaster or Chance Owens – looking for their opportunities and fighting for everything they believe in. I don’t see that same SCW that Owen Cruze displayed when he held that world championship proudly above his head. Or that Glory Braddock fought tooth and nail to redeem herself for. she shakes her head at the graphic. Like I said, I don’t know what this is, but what this is tonight? What is being allowed to happen here tonight by management? This isn’t integrity and it isn’t SCW!
Turning in the ring, Selena slowly paces it. It’s easy to ignore that for people coming out of the woodwork like Ace Marshall – a man that hasn’t given a crap about SCW for months and only comes back and tries when it amuses him to do so – when it’s easy for him. Another ‘asshole’ like Adam Allocco that thinks the world revolves around him and he’s ‘god’s gift’ or something. And it’s easy to ignore it all for someone that just wants the big carrot at the end of it, like Syren, still desperate to have her ‘moment’ with D. wrapping the world title around her waist as she FINALLY breaks the record for most world title reigns in SCW history – because she hasn’t had more than enough chances to do that in the last two or so years, right? Didn’t she just lose to The One and Xander Valentine in her last pair of matches? “Best Wrestler in the World” – or was that Glory Braddock? They both seemed to want that name though they did little to prove it here. A few seconds as the world champion and the most failed attempts at regaining the world championship – but this time is different! Who cares if SCW is crumbling around us, right?!
Again, there is a growl under Selena’s voice as she paces in the ring. See… so many of you – probably all of you except Owen Cruze and I, you just see potential ‘upgrade’ to becoming World champion. Who wouldn’t take this chance like YUYO or Xander or whoever else shows up? Someone with nothing to lose, who can turn around all those losses with one title-steal here tonight. And let’s not kid ourselves here, guys, aside from the world title – the other 'new champions' will have stolen the titles. How else to you describe Kimberly’s ‘safeguards’? “Love for the company and SCW Universe”?
Selena scoffs at that. You know what ‘loving this place’ truly is, guys? It’s not running off when you’re bored when some fake wedding didn’t work or because you lost the big match and ‘don’t got it anymore’. It’s not attacking people out of jealousy because ‘it should have been me’ and then saying you’re a ‘standard of wrestling’ in SCW. It's not bailing on matches or threatening to not show up on shows because you're not getting the championship shot you want.
Loving this place is about being here when it’s NOT easy. When it’s NOT at the height of your momentum. When you’ve been knocked to the ground so hard and so often that you question whether you should get back up – and you get up because you love this place and all it means to you!
It's not trying your hardest only when there’s a title on the line, but trying your hardest every match and every night and show!
She stops for a moment, her pale hands clenching into fists. It’s what I believe in. It’s what I am. It’s what I do. It’s WHO I am.
But like looking at that graphic and not knowing what this place is… I looked at myself in the mirror after that announcement for this match… and I don’t know what to do.
Because I am not Syren or Ace Marshall or YUYO or Kimberly Williams or Konrad or Evans or Nicole or the other dozen or so names that were invited by name on that list. I am not someone that has everything to gain and nothing to lose. I am one of the few that is defending a championship.
And unlike the singles champion, that isn’t just me keeping a belt. That’s a title I share with my wife. My Deanna… she gives a shake of her head. And you see where I am going with this, because what that means is more than just the improbability of ‘scoring close to Deanna’ in this match in order to retain. No, that’s not what I’m talking about. If THAT was all that was against us, Deanna and I would find a way. I know we would. She and I have gone through so much worse and arrived out of it stronger than ever.
No, that’s not what I am talking about. I’m talking about how, in order to retain the tag-team titles that we spent months trying to rebuild, months trying to win and bring integrity to, The House of Frost has to score close… and then purposely lose so we end up in the right ‘place’ in terms of points…
Reaching a side of the ring, Selena leans against the ropes again. Purposely lose… she repeats, letting the words sink in a little more. That’s almost a bigger slap in the face than O. D.’s cold-shoulder to me a few weeks ago. Because I’ve been doing this for nearly a decade and never, not once, was I encouraged to ‘lose on purpose’ to keep what I got! To keep a title that I earned. Know why? Cause that’s not how we do things in the SCW I know and love!
We train, we study, we work hard every day to be the best and to beat the best challengers the world has ever seen. THAT is how you retain championships! THAT is how you stay at the top of your game and top of the division you represent!
But now… SCW wants me to lose in order to stay the world tag-team champion with my wife…
She takes a moment to process that. Because what kind of partner – what kind of wife am I -if I don’t? If I don’t do everything in my power to keep us as the world tag-team champions so new teams like Bree and Datura keep coming into the division and teams like Light in the Darkness come back to SCW for 5-star matches like what we gave at Retribution? What kind of champion would I be if I didn’t do all I could to stay the champion… by losing this match…
She takes a deep breath, looking down at her hands. See, this is much harder than your decision, Owen. Casting away the Underground championship? You’ve probably already made peace with that, comforted that an automatic rematch is in your future in case you want it back. You’re the guy doing what I wish I could do – simply defend the title that means most to you. You’re the one champion here that CAN scoff at this like you did at Retribution when it was announced because this changes nothing for you. You fight to be the best, you fight to retain, you fight to stay the SCW World champion.
Selena smiles bitterly. This is a walk-in-the-park, a typical day in the office for you, Owen! Me? I either have to end a dream in The House of Frost being tag-team champions and, thus, hurt my wife… or I have to sell out every belief in this place and in myself that I have. I either have to surrender the tag-titles that my wife and I have worn with pride… or I have to ‘give-up’.
She shakes her head.
I’ve taken monitors to the head and never gave up.
I’ve been whipped by barbed-wire cat-o’-nine-tails and never gave up.
I got my foot crushed by a crate, I’ve been thrown off scaffolds, I’ve been cut open, rammed into cages, into pods, had concussion after concussion and never, while I still had breath in my body have EVER given up. Not on SCW and not on my myself!
But, if I don’t give up… my family loses…
She gives a huff. And yeah, maybe this is just something I can’t win. Maybe this is something like when I lost the world title last Rise to Greatness, where I step back and let SCW do its thing – have faith that SCW can do better and come out of this okay…
But like I said, Owen, I don’t know if THAT SCW exists right now. With this place being up for sale, with matches like ‘slumber parties’ and this clusterfuck, with the BOSS altering matches to suit his needs like he did to my wife's match with you? I don’t know if that SCW exists and if SCW can survive this!
And on a personal note, Owen, I’m sick and tired of waiting for you and the others to get it right.
She stares at the camera, sapphire eyes narrowing. For eight long months, I spent each day bringing the standard of the world championship up from the crap it was at. For eight months, I fought everyone that was put in my way, winning by skill and faith in myself and what the standard in SCW could actually be. Then, when I DO step away so guys like you can have a chance? It all falls apart. The man that beat me? Couldn’t live up to my standard for two weeks, losing it the first chance he had! The guy after him? Tried to hold the title hostage against superstars! And then you? You lost it after your first title defense! Yeah, funny how that isn’t brought up? How YOU, Owen, let Lexy literally steal the title right from under you.
And see… that was something that stuck with me, because I thought we were done with this kind of ‘Giovanni Aries kind of crap’ when I booted The Brand out of SCW for good and reduced Holly Adams to little more than a five second teaser video every few weeks – you’re welcome for that, by the way.
A small smile comes to the Snow Queen. But I leave well enough alone? And it all happens again. It all is happening again – and it’s worse than ever before. Because now? It’s not just the standard of the world title being lowered, it’s the integrity of every single division! It’s SCW in its entirety being dragged down! And instead of doing anything about it, you’re chasing Adam Allocco and smashing his head with the world title. You’re watching old security footage of the past while I’m the one trying to get to the bottom of all of this that’s happening to OUR SCW right now! I’m the one busting my ass trying to protect SCW when it should be YOUR job, Owen Cruze!
Her voice echoes with the accusation.
And that was why I was so angry in my Royal Letter, Owen. Because the second I heard those rules regarding this match, I knew exactly what I was going to do – what I had to do. The answer was beyond simple because, at the end of the day, I’d rather be titleless than live a damn lie. I rather earn my championship success than have it be a damn door-prize. I’d rather earn my wins than have them handed to me. I’d rather be a nobody with my morals and beliefs than a somebody with none of them.
And here? It’s even more simple. Because this is not something that I want to do, Owen. I don’t want to end your story, cliché and overused as it’s been (Allocco’s been telling a similar story of ‘last swan song’ or whatever for months now). This isn’t something that I want to do. This is something that I need to do. That I HAVE to do.
Because you? You’re just looking down - at the world belt around your waist. Me? I’m the one looking ahead. I’m the one that can’t recognize the SCW graphic and what it stands for anymore. I’m the one that’s seeing the keys changing owners and I don’t like it. I don’t trust it. I’m the one that is seeing SCW losing itself and its integrity and I’m seeing that I have NO choice in this matter! I have to do something! I NEED to do something!
Because it’s not just O.’s company. It’s not just the Board’s company. It’s THEIR company! she gestures to the empty seats surrounding the ring. It’s my wife’s company. It’s MY company. It’s my children’s company! And for nearly a decade, I stood proud showing them that if you work hard and believe in yourself and never sell out your morals and beliefs, you can accomplish anything! I was proud to teach that lesson to the SCW Universe, the children of SCW, and MY children as their mother…
And I won’t make myself a liar just to keep a title reign alive for my house.
She gives a sigh. Come this Breakdown, the House of Frost will no longer be the SCW world tag-team champions… the words settle for a moment before she speaks again.
But… she exhales. Come this Breakdown, the House of Frost WILL have, once again, the SCW World Championship!
Because that is my ONLY option, Owen! It’s the only thing I can do in this fight! Fight to win! Like I always have! Like I always will! Fight with all my integrity, fight to be the best, fight to win and represent what SCW means to me: Integrity! It’s the simplest realization I had! Tonight, I sacrifice my tag-team reign with my wife for the sake of my beliefs and my integrity and what those titles – including the ones you hold – truly mean to me. Tonight, I show up here and I do what I do better than everyone else and check the records if you don’t believe me because I have not been pinned or submitted since July, kid!
She pauses for a moment for a strong exhale. I win! And I win! And I win! And tonight, with no other choice? I win and I become the SCW World champion for the fifth time!
Do you get it now, Owen? Are you able to look around and see me doing the job that should have been yours since December? Or are you still only concerned with your ‘story’? Because that’s not what you’re fighting for tonight. Maybe against all the others like Josh Hudson and Allocco, if he shows up, yeah, that could be a good motivation, but with me? You aren’t fighting a ‘feel good moment’ like Allocco did at RTG last year. You aren’t fighting for some ‘truth’ and vengeance for Alistaire. You and I are fighting for everything in SCW! The past, the present and, most important of all, the very future of this company!
Sapphire eyes narrow at the camera. Remember that night on Breakdown back in January? I stood in your way and told you to fix the shit that was surrounding SCW and the world title? I looked in your eyes that night, Owen, and I saw a man – a boy – that wasn’t capable of doing it. A boy that didn’t want to do it. A boy that just wanted to tell his story and be world champion. Didn’t think about the company. The legacy of that title. He just wanted to be the champion.
I have given you months to fix that and you have failed, Owen. You have buried that title in controversy, underground matches, stealings and now this. So now? I’m done waiting. I’m out of time. I’m out of patience. And I am not going to sit around and wait for this kind of match to be chosen again, where every other division suffers for it! Where the integrity of SCW is further dragged down the drain and slapped across the face. No! Tonight, Owen, I’m going to walk up to you, risking everything I have in SCW, and I’m going to tell you one last time to ‘fix this crap’ before I show you how it’s done… even if I’ve got to rip your banged up knee right off the leg to do it!
Standing in the middle of the ring, Selena stands defiantly. Because I tried doing it O.’s way and the way for everyone else. Tonight? Like I did a year ago… I am going to do it MY way and become the SCW World champion for a fifth time! And when I do, I will bring the standard back up to where it belongs…
Where the Board…Kimberly… and even the great O. D. cannot possibly touch it!
Selena holds her hands out in a flourish. Believe it, kid. Because this is MY home! And it’s not going anywhere!
The camera slowly fades on the Snow Queen before going entirely to black.
DISCLAIMER: The following is a work of fiction and not to be confused as complete or accurate representation of any beliefs, religions, etc. Please refer to research/articles by experts for that.
The Witches of Alden
”Misfortune”
The Edison Ballroom
New York, New York
March 26th, 2023
5:19pm
Everything that washed over her made Selena feel small and inferior. Weak and overwhelmed. The loud music of beautiful orchestra as the band played with passion, filling the large space with its Victorian music – music that held both beauty and, she could hear, a darker tone. A twinge of something out of place (almost haunting). Its loudness filled her ears, almost to the point of painful with some notes with their volume and pitch. Every few moments, the music would overwhelm her, causing the Snow Queen to raise her head to the ceiling, where she would see the ceiling – so far away from her – decorated with the fine crystals of chandeliers and complex designs. It reminded her of the crystal caves in Nome she had once known as her home, but far more complex than most areas of nature could create – almost disgustingly so. These ‘ice designs’ were man-made, as if to mock what nature could do. She could only last a few seconds looking up until her eyes hurt from it, causing her to drop her head down in time to see the flurry colors spin and turn around and in front of her from where she stood!
Every shade, every pigment, every color and frill. Silk, lace, chiffon, long-gowns, shorter ones, hair up, hair down, it was an assault of colors on her eyes that was felt more like viewing inside a kaleidoscope than seeing the actual world.
She tried to breath, but her nose burned with the scent of strong alcohol as it passed around her, servers in suits with trays almost floating around the dozens and dozens of people. She could also, if she moved close enough to the tables, smell the displays of food there – the decadence of such delicacies on the fullest display as broadly and loudly as everything else in this room. She smelled sweet things, savoury things, spicy things, she smelled foreign foods and even familiar foods belonging to her home here in New York (albeit far more ‘refined’ if that made sense).
Gods, how much she hated it all.
The revulsion swam inside her as she stood in the ballroom, staying closer to the outside of the dance floor, her eyes, whenever they could handle the cavalcade of sights and colors, scanning as much as she could. This was not a ballroom party designed to entertain or invoke joy or, but status and power. It was to display superiority of the host. The opulence was meant to remind, not entertain. It was meant to instill a feeling of powerlessness.
Especially for her – especially to remind her of where she stood in all this.
She had never been to The Edison Ballroom before, though she had definitely heard of it and even walked past it throughout her time in Manhattan and New York City. What use did she have for a ballroom? Yes, she loved dancing – especially with her wife, Deanna – and there was something regal and royal about Victorian-style balls like this that she enjoyed (having attended more than one in her travels with said redhead), but to rent a place like this? To spent tens of thousands? Maybe hundreds of thousands?
That was the growing thought that nagged in the Snow Queen’s mind, causing her anxiety and fear to grow – though she refused to display it or let it cripple her. Raphael Alden, the host, there was no way a place like this was ‘free’ so quickly as the few weeks he had to plan this. How much had he paid to ‘acquire its services’ for today? How much had he bribed or spent to ensure this place for whatever he had in mind?
And what was in mind? Selena thought as she eyed her surroundings once more. All around her, various people in their dresses and suits were either enjoying drinks, food, or dancing on the dance floor in the center of the large ballroom. Even if they weren’t all wearing masks, Selena doubted she knew anyone that stood before her, unless her mother came into her line of sight. Quickly, as she thought about her, the platinum-blonde scanned all of the room she could see. It did not take long for her to spy the woman she was looking for, the pink chiffon that wrapped up and around the shoulder of the woman along with the Swarovsky Crystals of different colors (contrasting the dark purple of the dress) made her mother stand out to anyone specifically looking for such a sequence. Even masked, her mother was not difficult to find for the former world champion, and seeing her standing in a corner of the room, merely smiling and nodding her head at the people that passed her by, gave a bit of relief to Selena, allowing her to continue her walking around the room, trying her best to continue her assessment, which was growing more and more similar to certain negative emotions she did not wish to feel.
While she had made her mother dress in a flashier gown, the Snow Queen had chosen the opposite, wearing a dark-blue A-line Scoop Sweep Train Chiffon Lace Evening Dress With Sequins around the bodice and shoulders of the train. She had managed to get a matching mask that covered part of her face like any normal masquerade mask would, but she kept her hair in its usual iconic braid, one of the few things that was giving her comfort in all of this.
Were all of these people Aldens? Were all of them here to see her mother? Or had they just come because Raphael had invited them and it was a ‘status-thing’?
She knew so little about this family, and it bothered her more than she wished to admit as she watched everyone dancing around her, their voices of merriment and conversation adding to the waltz-music being played. She heard snippets, words of praise and others of rumors. They sounded normal… like a big family reunion but what kind of family? She didn’t know and it unnerved her. Never, even in the audience of the Frost/Frostmere clan, had she encountered so many members at once. There must have been dozens, maybe even fifty or more, she had lost count. And while, perhaps under far more pleasant circumstances, she would have been delighted at the sight of so many of her mother’s family and relatives, now it only added to that being of smallness, meekness… of powerlessness.
Just like in SCW.
The thought came unwanted and without hesitation or permission, forcing her to slam her eyes shut as emotions were triggered inside her. Why had she lost her temper like that in her promo? She had yelled and cursed more than she had in her entire career! She had swore at the man she had respected for so many years in O. D.. She had cursed out the Board of Directors! And worse of all, she had thrown a tantrum the likes of which she had never done on any show or promo in her life! It was as if she had forfeited whatever mental edge she could have had with her credentials, accolades, and history with hardcore matches like the chamber, unsanctioned, last-person standing matches, etc.
Now the world knew that Selena was thrown off her game – that she was angry and rattled and shaken! Her, ‘The Face of SCW’, was already losing in the mental-games department heading towards the most fucked-up match she had EVER been apart of.
It would only be a few days from now and not only would she no longer be the SCW world tag-team champion with her wife, but she wasn’t sure either of them would still be a champion in SCW at all. Kimberly Williams had played – she hated to admit – a hand with her Trios that had trapped every champion and enemy of hers. It was cowardly, it was pathetic, it was playing dirty, but dammit, she had played it so smartly. With all the ‘rules that don’t apply’ to her, there as no way Kimberly was not going to get what she wanted: to once again be the Underground Champion and screw over everyone that had beat her or put her in her place, from Owen to the Frosts.
It was more than doubting their abilities as a team. It was more than just the odds of ‘surviving a clusterfuck’ of a match, which was already getting the attention of old foes like Ace Marshall to come back out of the woodwork (if Retribution was any indication), it was, easily, a nigh statistical-impossibility for them. One Selena couldn’t help running through her mind over and over again.
To retain. To simply stay the tag-team champions… not only did they both have to agree to lose the match, but they would have to do so in a way that put them back to back in points! As in, in the sea of superstars that had already been invited and those that had ‘made their presence felt’ on social media in their desire to join the match (open invitational as well), the House of Frost not only needed to have the proper points high enough (but not too high) to keep the tag-titles, but BOTH of them could not be more than one point apart from each other!
It was impossible! If Selena was too high, she’d become the Adrenaline Champion. Too low and she’d be the Television Champion. Same with Deanna! And on top of that, to even attempt would be to try to lose… on purpose!
She had never done that in her entire life, even in her darker days in Nome, Alaska, as she had tried to drink her nights away, the idea of oblivion her constant goal. Still, never, even then, had she let herself choose defeat. Not there or SCW! She had withstood so much pain and injuries but still overcoming so much just because she refused to do anything but try to win. To try and defeat whatever opposition was in her way.
But now? If she did… if she tried to be herself, be the woman she believed herself to be, she would be hurting The House of Frost – and the woman that meant EVERYTHING to her.
Once more, that familiar rage filled her, causing her to release a soft growl that, thankfully, was swallowed up by the cacophony of noise that the ballroom created as she mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, swore at Kimberly, the Board of Directors… and even O. D. once more. She was no closer to understanding why he had agreed to this. Why he had trapped such good people like Owen and Bree – trapped her, the woman that had fought for his company, for his daughter, for his creation, year after year, never taking a break, never leaving SCW’s side, never straying from what SCW was supposed to mean.
Would he have allowed this if I was Kelcey? she thought bitterly. Or even Regan? Or Ow- she stopped as she thought of the world champion. Gods, she felt for the kid. He was doing so well, achieving so much – a momentum that had rivaled hers a year ago during the ‘Reign of Integrity’. And while she had been waiting for the day to face him in the ring again… not like this. She thought.
Like her, Owen was trapped too. He couldn’t win the match AND keep both titles. The ‘rules’, if they could be called that, made that literally impossible. He could only keep one title. And while rematches were guaranteed for all current champions entering into this match – Selena wondered how a loss here would hurt the boy’s momentum…
“Taking it all in?”
The voice came from behind her, causing Selena to turn on the spot slowly, following the direction of the uncomfortably close, accented voice as it whispered over her shoulder. She was quick to see the black-suited man standing before her, a broad smile over his features. His mask was a simple black one that ran across his eyes – eyes that were running up and down her form, studying her.
“You do make quite the fashionable woman.” He offered politely, the compliment genuine but unaffecting Selena’s raw, emotional state.
“You look like the racoon that frequents my house and eats my trash.” Selena shot back, her jaw clenching a little – clearly knowing who she was addressing.
Ignoring her jab, Raphael smoothly removed his mask, continuing to offer a smile to the wrestler. “How are you enjoying the venue, Selena?” he asked, again with that genuine tone. “No, really. I truly want to know.”
Gently, he offered his arm to her, causing the Snow Queen’s eyes to shoot down to it, almost in disbelief. However, if she had learned anything from being in this place, it was that she could only rebel so much when she had no winning hand or ‘secret weapon’ of her own (minus the gun she felt concealed in her at the center of her corset, deep enough to be hidden - and no hand but her own would dare go). Exhaling a little louder, she took the offered arm with her hands, letting Raphael accompany her walk throughout the ballroom, the man offering smiles and kind words to those that passed him (now that he was recognizable without a mask on).
“It’s a bit much.” Selena stated simply, her eyes scanning the room. “Or a lot much.” She corrected bluntly. “You ever hear of ‘overcompensating’?”
“Yes.” Raphael answered. “When my father left with nothing, I had to crawl and claw my way back up to providence. It took years.” He explained, a hint of hurt in his voice. “And I had to humble myself, let myself be kicked around and treated like dirt – like I didn’t matter no matter how hard I tried. I had to be reminded day after day that those I worked for, those I respected, didn’t respect me or even care about me. I had to endure it for so long… so that when I was above them all? I’d never look back. I’d never stop enjoying the fruits of my labour.”
Despite herself, Selena felt her throat silently gulp at the brief insight into Raphael’s life, hating how she found some relatability to it. Except she wasn’t powerful enough to do what he had done. She was still struggling. It didn’t matter how good she was or how loved she was within the company or how respected she was with the fans. She was still small and powerless compared to the board, to O., and to people coming and going with their ‘offers’ to acquire the company.
“There’s always someone bigger…” She whispered. “Someone better… someone more powerful.” She couldn’t hide the dark edge that clipped around her voice.
“I don’t believe that.” Raphael remarked as he gently guided Selena to the dance floor. Without hesitation, he gently moved the Snow Queen’s hands and arms into the proper position as the other dancers, Selena offering no resistance and stepping perfectly (as her stepmother, Anastasia, had ingrained in her memory since her youth) into the dance with the others around her. “I believe…” Raphael continued as he lead the platinum-blonde expertly, “Look at the human race. We are at the top of the food chain. World leaders? Nations with the greatest technology? Even your precious SCW has it’s ‘top of the ladder’, does it not?”
Selena looked away for a moment. Yes, technically. There WAS a ‘top’ for people like her in SCW. The world championship. Whoever held it, she knew this from experience, was considered at the apex for all wrestlers. But really?
“If that power existed for someone like me.” She turned her head back to Raphael. “Then you would not have me here tonight. Or my mother.” She stated. “There is always someone more powerful out there. Someone with more money. More resources.”
“And if there isn’t?” Raphael asked, his eyes illuminating with the notion. “If there is nothing that is higher than you? Not in money or power or resources? If nothing is beyond your reach? What then?”
Selena gave a thought to the question for a moment, though this time she refused to look away from the host. “I guess…” she breathed. “That would make you ‘God’.” She saw the smile widen on Raphael’s face, though she gave a knowing one of her own. “That was what you wanted me to say, wasn’t it?”
“You don’t think that’s achievable?” Raphael asked, taking a moment to eye the ballroom he had acquired. “After all, what is a King to a God?”
Sapphire eyes narrowed at the man, Selena’s hand tightening its grip until she felt the bones in Raphael’s hand pressing together. “What is a god to a non-believer?” she asked staring at him darkly.
Despite the discomfort he must have been feeling in the athlete’s strong grip, the older man gave no sign of it. “Shall we ask your boss? Or do you still believe in him?”
Her jaw clenched as she continued to step in time with the dance, too afraid to give any answer to those questions – mostly because she didn’t have one. Not one that she believed anyway.
Did she still believe in D.?
Did she even want to now? After everything he had done? Disrespecting Deanna, hiding things from the SCW Universe, even considering Jenni Anderson as a offer? And now this cash-in?
“Where is your mother?” Raphael asked, seeming to take pity on the Snow Queen in this interrogation and changing the subject.
“Nearby.” Selena answered. “As promised.” She added bitterly. “So get your shots in now because after this? We’re done. I don’t want to see you or any of the Aldens again. Do you understand me?”
“Perfectly.” Smiled Raphael, slowly releasing Selena as the current song slowed to a stop. “I look forward to doing just that.” He gave that smug grin before giving a slight bow and walking away.
I would remove that hand if I were you…
That same dismissal! That same feeling of ‘not mattering’ or ‘being unworthy’ of answer! D. had given her that same treatment! To her and her wife!
Selena felt the familiar snap in her and her head jerked around left and right, eyes scanning for something – anything to -
Quickly, she reached out towards a passing waiter, grabbing a flute of champagne and plucking it off the table. The waiter paid her the barest of minds as he walked past her. But as for Selena, she had barely pulled the glass off when a hand gripped the glass-holding hand, squeezing tightly before wrestling the flute of her Selena’s grasp, placing it back on the table.
“I don’t think so.” Came the cold, barely-concealed-angry, voice in a rough whisper before the hand tightened more around Selena’s, causing the Snow Queen to wince a little, the platinum-blonde too surprised to immediately respond.
“What are you- ah!” she gasped as she was jerked further onto the dancefloor, all but pulled back into that familiar waltz position, though far rougher than Raphael had done. Finally, she was able to take in her ‘abductor’… and feeling the immediate shock through her system as she beheld fire-red hair and emerald-green eyes.
“If you tell me that you were about to drink that wine, which I could smell the booze from over there, by the way-“ the redhead growled. “I am leaving you.”
“Deanna?” Selena asked in genuine surprise. “What are you?”
“Doing?” Deanna’s jaw clenched, anger emanating off her in waves. “I could ask you the same question, Selena.” She hissed.
Guilt? Shame? Even a little intimidation – Selena felt the full gambit as she was roughly lead through another dance.
“I wasn’t going to drink it.” Selena tried to explain. “I swear, darling.”
“Don’t you darling me!” Deanna hissed quietly as she spun Selena with no care.
“I promise!” Selena begged. “I wouldn’t – I was going to splash it into Raphael’s smug face!”
“And why the hell are you here with him in the first place?!” she leaned in, pressing her face close to Selena’s. “Without me?”
“I…” Selena bit her lower lip, her mind flashing back to the fight they had had that night Selena had come home last week after convincing her mother to reunite with the Aldens and gone shopping for their gowns and masks. She remembered her wife staying up, waiting for her in family room. She remembered that look – so similar to the look of anger in her wife’s emerald eyes now. She remembered the words spoken… and how things had been left between the two of them and the awkwardness that had followed for the past week. “How did you even find this place?”
“Really?” Despite the black ombre feather mask she wore, Deanna’s eyebrow could be seen lifting for a second in disbelief. “You’re going to try and put the focus on me? Okay.” She squeezed Selena’s hand tighter. “I unlocked your phone, checked your message with Allejandra and then followed you here. It wasn’t hard to figure out. I’ve known all week.”
“You…” Selena’s eyes widened in shock under her mask, the hurt clear in her voice. “You invaded my privacy?”
“Oh, you do NOT get to play the victim card on me, Selena Frost.” Deanna hissed back. “Not after you lied and hid things from me… again!”
“I had to.” Selena answered back, her hurt emotions leading to a more familiar emotion – anger. Fighting back, Selena gripped the hand Deanna was leading her with, tightening her own hold and turning their entwined hands into a test-of-strength, and inadvertently creating a support system for the other to lean and move. As the music picked up, Selena twisted and turned in a stationary figure-eight in front of Deanna, her legs lifting high to accentuate the movement, though her eyes never strayed from the redhead. “I had enough to worry about keeping an eye on mother without having to worry about getting her AND you out.”
“And what makes you think I would need help getting out?” Deanna challenged back, pulling Selena’s hand up to spin her on the spot, the Snow Queen’s dress billowing with the gorgeous twirl before Deanna pulled her back close.
“Oh!” Selena laughed. “Like how you got out of that Texas Cloverhold last week?”
Seeing emerald eyes widen before narrowing at Selena’s words – the Snow Queen instantly regreted what she had said.
“No.” Deanna whispered back harshly. “Like how I saved your ass when Blythe almost choked you out.”
Both women glared at each other through their masks. They had BOTH worked together and saved each other at Retribution! It was beyond clear of that! But that wasn’t going to win their respective case.
“Well, fat lot of good that does now.” Selena finally spoke. “Cause by next week, we won’t even BE champions anymore.”
“And that’s my fault?” Deanna asked before stepping back, dragging Selena across the dance floor as the Snow Queen extended her leg, wrapping the other around Deanna’s waist to assist in the move. “You’re the one that can’t accept ‘losing’.”
“Oh! And you’re not salivating at the chance to become a singles champion after being snubbed over for Cassie Wolfe and Konrad Raab last pay-per-view and even Hairless Penguin last year?!”
Again, Deanna’s jaw clenched at the stalemate between the two, the redhead pulling Selena back up to her feet. Logically, the two hated each and every word they were speaking – the problem was they were too mad at everything: SCW, the Aldens and each other to acknowledge such a thing as logic.
“Then I guess it’s every Frost for herself.” Deanna hissed back. “Maybe I’ll win the world title then.”
“Oh yeah…” Selena laughed. “Cause last time you fought Owen, it worked SO well.”
“I don’t see you beating-“
“Allocco, Bree, and Glory in a fatal-fourway.” Selena launched back before Deanna could finish. “You?”
A harsh laugh escaped Deanna, the two still trying to keep their voices low to avoid unwanted attention. “Oh, you know what, Selena?” her muscles tensed. “Maybe I’ll just pin the ‘great’ Selena Frost!”
Selena suddenly sauntered closer, leaning into Deanna to press her chest against the black-suited woman. “This isn’t our bedroom, Deanna.” She shot back smugly. “I’m not just going to LET you pin me.” Closer, she leaned in until her voice was ghosting over Deanna’s earlobe. “Maybe I will after Breakdown. After I kick your tight, little ass!” the slight growl in her voice was part anger, part smugness and part something else neither woman could identify in the moment. “I’ll need something to do to celebrate-“
Her voice dropped as she felt Deanna’s whole body grow still, the look of anger, frustration, and whatever else morphing into genuine shock as the redhead’s emerald eyes dropped down to Selena’s chest pressed up against hers. “Are…” her voice trailed off, her steps faltering for the first time in this dance to place a hand to Selena’s chest. “Did you bring a gun?”
Immediately, Selena’s eyes widened, the Snow Queen instantly taking a step away and gaining some distance between the two wives, each woman staring at the other.
“Selena!” Deanna gasped quietly, rushing over to her side, immediately looking around the dance floor. Aside from the few glances that came their way from onlookers regarding their dance, no one gave them much thought. “What the hell?” Deanna asked.
“It’s not-“ Selena tried. “It’s just a precaution.” She explained. “And why I didn’t want you here with me.”
“That’s not a fair-“
Deanna barely had the chance to get the words out to return to the argument before she was interrupted by the purple and pink dressed Alejandra stopping in front of them, just a few feet from the center of the dance floor.
“Selena, I-“ her eyes widened as she saw, through her pink-and-purple mask. “Deanna? What are you doing here?”
“Being nosey.” Selena sighed. “I should have realized.” She refocused on her mother. “Mother, I told you to stay on the sidelines.”
“Raphael came to me.” She admitted. “I…I didn’t want to deal with him. He said we were free to go.”
“He did?” Selena asked. “But he hasn’t done anything yet. Has anyone talked to you?”
“Not beyond a mere hello or a question.” Alejandra answered honestly. “I don’t think they’ve figured out who I am.”
“So, why the hell would he-“ Selena’s voice trailed off as the idea came to her a split second after Deanna, the Frost wives speaking at the same time.
“Unless to get us together on the dancefloor-“
The music suddenly stopped, as did all the dancing from the people surrounding them.
“Ladies and gentlemen!” came the loud, accented voice as Raphael Alden stood on the balcony overlooking the entire lower floor, no more than twenty, maybe thirty feet above but enough to remind Selena of her conversation with the man regarding ‘god’. Not even subtle. her mind growled as she stared up at the man.
“It is my pleasure to not only end one of the greatest scandals involving our great charter, but to bring it to its full conclusion!” Scanning down, Raphael spotted Selena, Deanna and Alejandra standing on the dancefloor, his genuine, gentlemanly smile slowly morphing – becoming more wolf-like. “After forty years of hiding… I give to you…” he gestured towards the trio. “Alejandra Grimalkin Alden!”
Immediately, anyone nearby the three women backed away as the group stared at them. With a sigh, Alejandra reached up to remove her mask, revealing her entire face to them. A shock resonated throughout the ballroom, causing Selena to shift closer to her wife and mother, her hand slowly reaching up towards her concealed gun. Please, Odin… she prayed. Don’t make me use this…
“Heads of the Alden…” Raphael spoke out. “Are you all accounted for?”
Immediately, six or seven various people removed their masks and stepped forward. They were all of various age, gender and race but all shared the same expression, glaring at Alejandra. “We are.” One of them, a tall, tanned one spoke.
“Then, at long last…” Raphael smiled at the trapped trio. “Let us commence the trial of Alejandra Alden!”
_______________________________________________________________
The camera opens up to a sight that was similar to that of SCW’s last show, the flagship-pay-per-view that was Retribution: an empty arena filled with décor and a wrestling ring. However, this is not the AT&T Stadium of Dallas, Texas, nor is this Retribution or some pay-per-view replay. Rather, this is the Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, the site for tonight’s episode of SCW Breakdown. A night where, perhaps for the first time ever, there will be only one match. A match that will put every single title on the line in a point-system in an attempt to ‘shuffle’ the champions and their divisions. The cash-in of Kimberly Williams’ Trios contract is responsible for this night and left SCW and the SCW Universe in a state of varied opinions. While some fans have praised Kimberly’s ‘creativeness’, others have called her out on her ‘beyond obvious’ attempts to simply ‘steal back the Underground title with her ‘clauses that favor only her’. While some have expressed excitement over SCW being shuffled and changed in such a random, unknown way, others have voiced displeasure at SCW, essentially, ‘forcing champions to lose their titles and/or their momentum’ and the ‘blantant disrespect to every division/championship except the world title’. Such varied opinions echo through the halls of SCW, in the minds of fan and superstar alike.
The only constant amidst all this is the empty ring under the arctic blue and white lights; and as the camera moves into the space, the singular woman can be seen standing inside it, hands on the ropes as she overlooks the empty arena, her sapphire eyes focusing on the glowing graphic of ‘SCW’ that hangs high as if in identification. For several seconds, the platinum-blonde eyes the glowing letters high above her, unable to tear her gaze away; unable to stop a few tears forming from within her eyes, though she doesn’t let them fall.
With a shaky breath, Selena Frost reaches up to wipe at her eyes with the back of her hand, her head staying lowered as she leans her forehead against the rope, the black of her leather jacket, pants, boots and shirt a contrast to the white of the ring and her hair.
This ring used to be my sanctuary. she whispers to no one in the arena and everyone that is listening in. My home…
When I didn’t have a home. When the lands where I was born and raised were nothing more than a cold hell. When there were days that I didn’t want to wake-up the next morning. When I didn’t believe in anything other than the demons I let control my soul… this place let me in. This place – SCW – and every member of it… became a part of my life. A grumpy father, a crazed uncle, a passionate sister-in-arms, a mentoring aunt, estranged black-sheep cousins, everyone in the SCW Universe became a part of a family to me…
And… she releases a shaky breath. No matter how much it hurt to be a wrestler. No matter how much it hurt to do the right thing and fight for things that, maybe, nobody else wanted to or couldn’t fight for like integrity and raising the standard beyond tainted finishes and controversy – this place was still here to welcome me back in. To let me feel hurt but still remind me that it was all for a reason. To give me purpose when I had spent so much of my life not having any.
Lifting her head, she eyes the SCW graphic once more. I always would say to every person that thought they were ‘bigger’ than SCW or thought they could control SCW that SCW would always be here. That SCW was bigger than any of us. That SCW could endure everything and would continue to be a symbol of supreme championship wrestling… It was… it was the greatest honor of my career to constantly be defending that belief as ‘The Face of SCW’…
Her voice trails off slowly and, for a moment, there is only silence. But that was why I… I won’t mince words… I lost it during my last Royal Letter. Because I don’t feel THAT SCW here now. I don’t feel the same SCW that I felt when Deanna and I fought Amelia and Luz at Retribution. I don’t see that same SCW that I saw in the eyes of Bree Lancaster or Chance Owens – looking for their opportunities and fighting for everything they believe in. I don’t see that same SCW that Owen Cruze displayed when he held that world championship proudly above his head. Or that Glory Braddock fought tooth and nail to redeem herself for. she shakes her head at the graphic. Like I said, I don’t know what this is, but what this is tonight? What is being allowed to happen here tonight by management? This isn’t integrity and it isn’t SCW!
Turning in the ring, Selena slowly paces it. It’s easy to ignore that for people coming out of the woodwork like Ace Marshall – a man that hasn’t given a crap about SCW for months and only comes back and tries when it amuses him to do so – when it’s easy for him. Another ‘asshole’ like Adam Allocco that thinks the world revolves around him and he’s ‘god’s gift’ or something. And it’s easy to ignore it all for someone that just wants the big carrot at the end of it, like Syren, still desperate to have her ‘moment’ with D. wrapping the world title around her waist as she FINALLY breaks the record for most world title reigns in SCW history – because she hasn’t had more than enough chances to do that in the last two or so years, right? Didn’t she just lose to The One and Xander Valentine in her last pair of matches? “Best Wrestler in the World” – or was that Glory Braddock? They both seemed to want that name though they did little to prove it here. A few seconds as the world champion and the most failed attempts at regaining the world championship – but this time is different! Who cares if SCW is crumbling around us, right?!
Again, there is a growl under Selena’s voice as she paces in the ring. See… so many of you – probably all of you except Owen Cruze and I, you just see potential ‘upgrade’ to becoming World champion. Who wouldn’t take this chance like YUYO or Xander or whoever else shows up? Someone with nothing to lose, who can turn around all those losses with one title-steal here tonight. And let’s not kid ourselves here, guys, aside from the world title – the other 'new champions' will have stolen the titles. How else to you describe Kimberly’s ‘safeguards’? “Love for the company and SCW Universe”?
Selena scoffs at that. You know what ‘loving this place’ truly is, guys? It’s not running off when you’re bored when some fake wedding didn’t work or because you lost the big match and ‘don’t got it anymore’. It’s not attacking people out of jealousy because ‘it should have been me’ and then saying you’re a ‘standard of wrestling’ in SCW. It's not bailing on matches or threatening to not show up on shows because you're not getting the championship shot you want.
Loving this place is about being here when it’s NOT easy. When it’s NOT at the height of your momentum. When you’ve been knocked to the ground so hard and so often that you question whether you should get back up – and you get up because you love this place and all it means to you!
It's not trying your hardest only when there’s a title on the line, but trying your hardest every match and every night and show!
She stops for a moment, her pale hands clenching into fists. It’s what I believe in. It’s what I am. It’s what I do. It’s WHO I am.
But like looking at that graphic and not knowing what this place is… I looked at myself in the mirror after that announcement for this match… and I don’t know what to do.
Because I am not Syren or Ace Marshall or YUYO or Kimberly Williams or Konrad or Evans or Nicole or the other dozen or so names that were invited by name on that list. I am not someone that has everything to gain and nothing to lose. I am one of the few that is defending a championship.
And unlike the singles champion, that isn’t just me keeping a belt. That’s a title I share with my wife. My Deanna… she gives a shake of her head. And you see where I am going with this, because what that means is more than just the improbability of ‘scoring close to Deanna’ in this match in order to retain. No, that’s not what I’m talking about. If THAT was all that was against us, Deanna and I would find a way. I know we would. She and I have gone through so much worse and arrived out of it stronger than ever.
No, that’s not what I am talking about. I’m talking about how, in order to retain the tag-team titles that we spent months trying to rebuild, months trying to win and bring integrity to, The House of Frost has to score close… and then purposely lose so we end up in the right ‘place’ in terms of points…
Reaching a side of the ring, Selena leans against the ropes again. Purposely lose… she repeats, letting the words sink in a little more. That’s almost a bigger slap in the face than O. D.’s cold-shoulder to me a few weeks ago. Because I’ve been doing this for nearly a decade and never, not once, was I encouraged to ‘lose on purpose’ to keep what I got! To keep a title that I earned. Know why? Cause that’s not how we do things in the SCW I know and love!
We train, we study, we work hard every day to be the best and to beat the best challengers the world has ever seen. THAT is how you retain championships! THAT is how you stay at the top of your game and top of the division you represent!
But now… SCW wants me to lose in order to stay the world tag-team champion with my wife…
She takes a moment to process that. Because what kind of partner – what kind of wife am I -if I don’t? If I don’t do everything in my power to keep us as the world tag-team champions so new teams like Bree and Datura keep coming into the division and teams like Light in the Darkness come back to SCW for 5-star matches like what we gave at Retribution? What kind of champion would I be if I didn’t do all I could to stay the champion… by losing this match…
She takes a deep breath, looking down at her hands. See, this is much harder than your decision, Owen. Casting away the Underground championship? You’ve probably already made peace with that, comforted that an automatic rematch is in your future in case you want it back. You’re the guy doing what I wish I could do – simply defend the title that means most to you. You’re the one champion here that CAN scoff at this like you did at Retribution when it was announced because this changes nothing for you. You fight to be the best, you fight to retain, you fight to stay the SCW World champion.
Selena smiles bitterly. This is a walk-in-the-park, a typical day in the office for you, Owen! Me? I either have to end a dream in The House of Frost being tag-team champions and, thus, hurt my wife… or I have to sell out every belief in this place and in myself that I have. I either have to surrender the tag-titles that my wife and I have worn with pride… or I have to ‘give-up’.
She shakes her head.
I’ve taken monitors to the head and never gave up.
I’ve been whipped by barbed-wire cat-o’-nine-tails and never gave up.
I got my foot crushed by a crate, I’ve been thrown off scaffolds, I’ve been cut open, rammed into cages, into pods, had concussion after concussion and never, while I still had breath in my body have EVER given up. Not on SCW and not on my myself!
But, if I don’t give up… my family loses…
She gives a huff. And yeah, maybe this is just something I can’t win. Maybe this is something like when I lost the world title last Rise to Greatness, where I step back and let SCW do its thing – have faith that SCW can do better and come out of this okay…
But like I said, Owen, I don’t know if THAT SCW exists right now. With this place being up for sale, with matches like ‘slumber parties’ and this clusterfuck, with the BOSS altering matches to suit his needs like he did to my wife's match with you? I don’t know if that SCW exists and if SCW can survive this!
And on a personal note, Owen, I’m sick and tired of waiting for you and the others to get it right.
She stares at the camera, sapphire eyes narrowing. For eight long months, I spent each day bringing the standard of the world championship up from the crap it was at. For eight months, I fought everyone that was put in my way, winning by skill and faith in myself and what the standard in SCW could actually be. Then, when I DO step away so guys like you can have a chance? It all falls apart. The man that beat me? Couldn’t live up to my standard for two weeks, losing it the first chance he had! The guy after him? Tried to hold the title hostage against superstars! And then you? You lost it after your first title defense! Yeah, funny how that isn’t brought up? How YOU, Owen, let Lexy literally steal the title right from under you.
And see… that was something that stuck with me, because I thought we were done with this kind of ‘Giovanni Aries kind of crap’ when I booted The Brand out of SCW for good and reduced Holly Adams to little more than a five second teaser video every few weeks – you’re welcome for that, by the way.
A small smile comes to the Snow Queen. But I leave well enough alone? And it all happens again. It all is happening again – and it’s worse than ever before. Because now? It’s not just the standard of the world title being lowered, it’s the integrity of every single division! It’s SCW in its entirety being dragged down! And instead of doing anything about it, you’re chasing Adam Allocco and smashing his head with the world title. You’re watching old security footage of the past while I’m the one trying to get to the bottom of all of this that’s happening to OUR SCW right now! I’m the one busting my ass trying to protect SCW when it should be YOUR job, Owen Cruze!
Her voice echoes with the accusation.
And that was why I was so angry in my Royal Letter, Owen. Because the second I heard those rules regarding this match, I knew exactly what I was going to do – what I had to do. The answer was beyond simple because, at the end of the day, I’d rather be titleless than live a damn lie. I rather earn my championship success than have it be a damn door-prize. I’d rather earn my wins than have them handed to me. I’d rather be a nobody with my morals and beliefs than a somebody with none of them.
And here? It’s even more simple. Because this is not something that I want to do, Owen. I don’t want to end your story, cliché and overused as it’s been (Allocco’s been telling a similar story of ‘last swan song’ or whatever for months now). This isn’t something that I want to do. This is something that I need to do. That I HAVE to do.
Because you? You’re just looking down - at the world belt around your waist. Me? I’m the one looking ahead. I’m the one that can’t recognize the SCW graphic and what it stands for anymore. I’m the one that’s seeing the keys changing owners and I don’t like it. I don’t trust it. I’m the one that is seeing SCW losing itself and its integrity and I’m seeing that I have NO choice in this matter! I have to do something! I NEED to do something!
Because it’s not just O.’s company. It’s not just the Board’s company. It’s THEIR company! she gestures to the empty seats surrounding the ring. It’s my wife’s company. It’s MY company. It’s my children’s company! And for nearly a decade, I stood proud showing them that if you work hard and believe in yourself and never sell out your morals and beliefs, you can accomplish anything! I was proud to teach that lesson to the SCW Universe, the children of SCW, and MY children as their mother…
And I won’t make myself a liar just to keep a title reign alive for my house.
She gives a sigh. Come this Breakdown, the House of Frost will no longer be the SCW world tag-team champions… the words settle for a moment before she speaks again.
But… she exhales. Come this Breakdown, the House of Frost WILL have, once again, the SCW World Championship!
Because that is my ONLY option, Owen! It’s the only thing I can do in this fight! Fight to win! Like I always have! Like I always will! Fight with all my integrity, fight to be the best, fight to win and represent what SCW means to me: Integrity! It’s the simplest realization I had! Tonight, I sacrifice my tag-team reign with my wife for the sake of my beliefs and my integrity and what those titles – including the ones you hold – truly mean to me. Tonight, I show up here and I do what I do better than everyone else and check the records if you don’t believe me because I have not been pinned or submitted since July, kid!
She pauses for a moment for a strong exhale. I win! And I win! And I win! And tonight, with no other choice? I win and I become the SCW World champion for the fifth time!
Do you get it now, Owen? Are you able to look around and see me doing the job that should have been yours since December? Or are you still only concerned with your ‘story’? Because that’s not what you’re fighting for tonight. Maybe against all the others like Josh Hudson and Allocco, if he shows up, yeah, that could be a good motivation, but with me? You aren’t fighting a ‘feel good moment’ like Allocco did at RTG last year. You aren’t fighting for some ‘truth’ and vengeance for Alistaire. You and I are fighting for everything in SCW! The past, the present and, most important of all, the very future of this company!
Sapphire eyes narrow at the camera. Remember that night on Breakdown back in January? I stood in your way and told you to fix the shit that was surrounding SCW and the world title? I looked in your eyes that night, Owen, and I saw a man – a boy – that wasn’t capable of doing it. A boy that didn’t want to do it. A boy that just wanted to tell his story and be world champion. Didn’t think about the company. The legacy of that title. He just wanted to be the champion.
I have given you months to fix that and you have failed, Owen. You have buried that title in controversy, underground matches, stealings and now this. So now? I’m done waiting. I’m out of time. I’m out of patience. And I am not going to sit around and wait for this kind of match to be chosen again, where every other division suffers for it! Where the integrity of SCW is further dragged down the drain and slapped across the face. No! Tonight, Owen, I’m going to walk up to you, risking everything I have in SCW, and I’m going to tell you one last time to ‘fix this crap’ before I show you how it’s done… even if I’ve got to rip your banged up knee right off the leg to do it!
Standing in the middle of the ring, Selena stands defiantly. Because I tried doing it O.’s way and the way for everyone else. Tonight? Like I did a year ago… I am going to do it MY way and become the SCW World champion for a fifth time! And when I do, I will bring the standard back up to where it belongs…
Where the Board…Kimberly… and even the great O. D. cannot possibly touch it!
Selena holds her hands out in a flourish. Believe it, kid. Because this is MY home! And it’s not going anywhere!
The camera slowly fades on the Snow Queen before going 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)