Selena Frost vs. Bree Lancaster

[SnowQueenSCW]

Selena's tears had long since dried out as she stood there – not because she was cold and heartless, but simply because she had simply run out of tears to shed. Her jaw, however continued to tremble as the message – her voice came from Deanna's phone, her beloved wife patiently holding the phone so they both could hear on speaker.

“Why am I the only person that gives a shit?” her own voice on the phone, slurred for certain from the alcohol, was still filled with a pain that Selena had felt gripping her own heart since she had woke up the morning after. ”Am I just not good enough? Is it because I failed SCW to you at Rise? Why can't you tell me so I can fix it? Why can't you just call me and tell me WHAT to fix?! Would that be so hard?”

A soft cry came from message, causing Selena to look away and to the eyes of Deanna. The young woman's emerald orbs were also red with shed tears – her heart breaking at hearing her wife in such a state, imaging her wife so broken...

”Why... why does everyone I ever care for leave? My father...my mother...my friends... even my own wife... I had to MAKE her promise to stay while I tried to become a stupid Supreme Champion... can you believe that? What kind of monster does that to her own wife?”

There was a moment of silence from the message, though Selena's sobbing breaths could faintly be heard as it continued to play.

”Why am I telling you this? You don't care. Nobody cares – why'd you leave if you cared? Well... a sniffle was heard. ”Well, I'm not fucking leaving! You hear me?! the voice was suddenly loud, almost like a roar. I'm NOT going to let your family... and YOUR kid ruin ESS-CEE-DEW! I've got kids too, old man! I've got three! And when they're bad, my wife and I deal with that! It's called discipline! And if you – if you – if you don't have the spine! I WILL! I WILL! Got a problem with that? Come back and fire me! I DARE YOU!!

The line went dead and the message ended, causing Selena to turn away and cover her mouth with her hand. How could she have said such things? Even if Mr, D. wasn't there – she had no right to assume anything!

“Gods...” she whispered before turning back to her wife. “How...how did you get the message?” she slowly asked.
“Because...” Deanna sighed. “You, fortunately, didn't call O.. You called me.”

It took a moment for Selena to realize, but she quickly fished out her phone to check the call-list. And sure enough, Deanna's name had filled the majority of the list.

“I...I must have picked your name instead of 'D.' in my contact list when I was...” her throat hitched and she gulped. “When I was...”
“Drunk.” Deanna whispered. “Thank goodness.” she added.

Slowly, Selena slid the phone back into her pocket. “I'm... I feel like if I say 'sorry', it's going to make things worse.”
“Why didn't you call me the next day?” Deanna asked.
“Because I was ashamed. I had to tell the officials that I was sick the next day at house shows. Fortunately, they weren't too mad – and I did the other two...”
“Selena.”

The white-haired woman cast her eyes again to her wife. “I didn't want to tell you over the phone. I didn't want to drop that on you. I needed to come home and tell you this... face to face. It just felt like the right thing to do. And I wanted to come to you with solutions.”
“The right thing to do would have been to call me...” Deanna started but quickly changed her tone. “Solutions?”

Slowly, Selena nodded her head, guiding her wife further into her office and gently prompting her to sit on the desk, where Deanna had placed herself originally. Reaching into her coat pocket, Selena pulled out the envelope she had been holding. “I think I need a break.”

Deanna's eyes widened in alarm. “A...a break?” her voice stammered. Her mind was racing a mile a minute, with a hundred thoughts and dreads going through it. 

“...you.” Selena finished, but Deanna only heard the last word, her mouth opening and closing in alarm.
“Me..Me?” she asked, feeling her own eyes begin to well with tears. “A break from me?” She stopped herself from asking the dozens of questions of 'why, where, what did I do' that rampaged inside her – this wasn't about her. The voicemail alone was proof enough – Selena needed help. Needed a solution to her returning demons of alcoholism – and if Deanna, herself couldn't provide it...

Steeling herself with a deep breath, Deanna nodded her head. “If that is what you feel, then you do what you need to do. I can go stay at Amy's until you want me to come back. If you want the house to yourself, I can take the children – Christmas holiday will give us some coverage-”

“With you!” Selena's voice shot out, causing the redhead to snap her head up. “I didn't say 'from you'. I said I need a break with you. The two of us....” the platinum-blonde finished in a whisper, though there was no way anyone could hear her, even if she shouted. Her head dropped shyly as the last set of words escaped her, as if she was terrified of upsetting the perched, red-haired woman. “On a second honeymoon.”

Had Deanna not been sitting so close to her standing wife, she would have missed Selena's muttering cluster of words. However, as Selena reached into the envelope and pulled out a few slips of paper, handing them to Deanna, the younger Frost wife could not misconstrue the other woman's meaning even if she had not heard her. For on the first of the pieces of paper – written in typed font – was a plane ticket – an express plane ticket to Germany.

“Germany?” Deanna asked before her eyes widened and her mouth hung open, realization igniting her expression and her eyes.
Biting her lower lip, Selena nodded. “I rented the castle for us.”

Deanna's eyes flew down as she separated the papers, finding another piece of paper with a reservation confirmation number and small itinerary, with her name written on it. She skipped past that for now in favour of the larger print that was on the paper – specifically the name that rang so many bells in her memory. Once more, her head snapped up.

“You got us the Maisonette Suite?!” 

Shyly, a smile broke across Selena's face. The German castle – known as the Schoenburg Castle – along with that particular room (out of its dozen of hotel rooms that resided within its stony walls) had held such significance to them both. For it had been there that the two women had spent their first honeymoon, sharing a few weeks away from the world – two newlyweds practically drowning in their love and new adventure together. The memories of that time – even if it was three years ago – immediately brought matching rosy blushes to both women. 

“We can't...”

The statement caught Selena off-guard, to say the least, causing her to tilt her head in confusion to her wife.

“Don't give me that look, Selena.” Deanna sighed. “I want to go. You know that. But we aren't just two recently married women. We have children-”
“We had a child when we were married.” Selena smiled.
“One. One child and one on the way.” Deanna added. “Now, we have three.”
“And Gerda has agreed to watch them.”

Taken a back, Deanna did a quick tilt of her own. “You spoke to Gerda?”
Selena nodded.
“When?”
“The last few days... I called Schoenburg first – since they're close to closing their doors for the winter, I had to make a personal inquiry like last time.”
“How did that go?” Deanna asked.
“Turns out they remember us.” Selena replied. “We're the 'sweet American girls that love the winter'.” she tried to say it in a German accent, but the Snow Queen failed miserably. 

They had been fortunate three years ago, their reservations starting five days before the 'closing date' – and the hotel being kind enough to keep some staff on hand so they could stay an extra week to finish their honeymoon.

“When I told them that we'd only need the most minimal of staff and that I'd pay high-season rate and any other-”

“Did you break the bank?” Deanna asked. Not that money was an issue for them, but being from a middle-class family of modest income, Deanna was practically programmed to consider such things. Selena, her lifetime ranging from low-middle class with her father to her stepmother at least making her pretend to be wealthy as 'The Snow Queen' to being dirt poor as the 'reject' and 'The Crazy Miner's Daughter' to being rather well-off with her SCW income and the gold-mine bequeathed to her by her father – and other investments she made- 

Selena shook her head to re-focus herself. “It wasn't as expensive as you think.” She simply answered. “Turns out a few people were looking for some extra shifts – and there's a few private parties happening before and after -” Selena raised her hands to stop herself from getting distracted, taking a deep breath as she did. “The point is that the room, and the castle will be empty except us and the staff.”

Again, Deanna had to sigh – despite wanting nothing more than to rush into her wife's arms and say, “YES!” as loud as she could. Three years ago, she would have, but life had changed her – Selena as well. “Selena...” she tried. “It's...it's certainly romantic and, dammit, you still know how to make me giddy...”

“But?” Selena interpreted.

“But it's not just your birthday and our anniversary. What about Elsianna? Her birthday on the New Year. And SCW...”

“Deanna...”

“And we still need to finish setting up Santa's workshop for the neighbourhood. We promised them we would have they helped us with Halloween-”

“Deanna!” Selena interjected. “Can you please just listen to everything I have to say before you say 'no'?”

Slowly, the redhead looked down at the ticket in her hand before slowly nodding her head.

“Alright.” Selena took a deep breath, clapping her hands together before rubbing them together, even if the envelope was still in her hand. “I've had a few days to think about this. After... that night... I realized that time away is what I need. Time to be with you. We... we need to get away so we can talk and find solutions to all of this.” 

Quickly, Selena reached into the envelope to pull out some brochures, handing them to Deanna. “Like this.”

Taking the papers, Deanna gave them a quick glance over – that being all that was needed in order for her to see the bright, yellow As on the cover. She cast her wife a glance. “Really?” she asked.

Selena's answer was a mere nod. “I told you I... I messed up.” she admitted, the guilt in her voice, but because the emotional attack on herself had lessened, her speaking had returned to its less...cursive... way. “I'm not in control of this...and I want us to find a way to fix that. I asked Dorian those brochures in the mailbox for me.”

“Dorian?” Deanna asked in curiosity before her brain clicked the pieces together. “Oh! Doctor Embers!”

Selena nodded in confirmation. While she certainly had no fondness for doctors, her past with the likes of Doctor Matthews and, of course, Paracelsus being enough to turn her away from doctors for the rest of her life, she could not deny their necessity in her career. Besides, Dr. Embers was part of their neighbourhood, living just on the other side of the lake, a short ten-minute walk. He was a good man with a good family – his daughter... Selena actually forgot her name, mentally cursing herself for doing so – was friends with Elsianna.

“But...that still doesn't-” Deanna began, casting her eyes down, back to the papers in her hands, specifically the room rental confirmation. As she did, however, her voice trailed off as she read, and re-read the date. “Is there a typo?” she asked. “It says eighteen dash one dash twenty-nineteen for the start date but then twenty-seven dash one- shouldn't one of them be a twelve and reversed? These dates don't make sense.”

“They do if you book them for the eighteenth to the twenty-seventh of January.” Selena replied.
“But...” Deanna started before changing her thoughts. “What about SCW?”

With a nod of her head and a sharp breath between exposed, white teeth, Selena slowly reached into the envelope – Deanna not missing how her wife's hand shook a little this time as she did. Pulling out a pair of papers, Selena handed them to the sitting redhead. “We're also going to talk about this as well.”

Again, Deanna took the papers, placing the brochures on the table beside her. Again, she only had to graze over the initial, bold font-typing on the top of the first paper to know what it meant. Rather than speak immediately, however, her eyes travelled down, across every page, until she had all the information figured out, including the large number seen there. Lifting her head, Deanna eyed her wife, who was leaning against the wall nervously, biting her thumbnail.

“You didn't sign it yet.” she stated.
“No.” Selena answered. “After that night... I don't...” her voice trailed off before she jerked her head up and forward a bit, prompting Deanna refocus and see the last piece of paper Selena had to share. Again, the bold print at the top was read – but this was all Deanna allowed herself to read.

Request for Termination of Employment

While the first paper was a contract in format, what Deanna saw was that of a simple, printed Word Document. 

“You had already thought about this.” she stated simply. 
Selena nodded. “Before I even arrived in New York.” her voice was sad but also determined. “I haven't chosen one way or another.”

“Why not?” Deanna asked, genuinely curious as to her wife's reasoning. “It's a lot of money for another year.”
“Money we don't need.” Selena stated. “And all that stuff you were saying earlier? About the boss and the state of SCW and how my year's been going – I can't turn that around with this...that...”
“Addiction.” Deanna stated, earning a sad sigh from Selena. “You have to start calling it what it is if you hope to get better.”

“Well, I call it that in the letter. I tell them everything – well, everything they need to know.” the platinum-blonde corrected. “My point is that I haven't renewed my contract with them yet, but neither have I sent that letter to them.”

“And this is your solution?” Deanna asked skeptically. “Stay in limbo?”

“No.” Selena replied quickly before shuffling over to Deanna. Before the redhead, the platinum-blonde knelt down, her hands resting on Deanna's knees as her sapphire eyes gazed into Deanna's emerald ones. “Right now? My contract expires at the End of the Year event, right? Anniversary of my debut in SCW.”
“Right.”
“After that? The only match I possibly owe... or am owed, I suppose... is whatever I cash in my Trios Contract for.”
“And you have an idea for that?”
“Not a clue!” Selena laughed. “Not one idea – even after nearly a year. Nope, nothing.” she laughed again, a genuine laugh. “But I will think of something and make it happen at the January Pay-Per-View.”

“And then what?” Deanna asked.
“Then...” Selena bit her lower lip before leaning up a bit to move closer to Deanna. “I take the fastest jet to Germany and meet you at the castle. We spent the next week being...well....” Selena trailed off for a moment before a coy smile broke across her face. “It can't be all work and no play, right?”

Despite herself, a slight, amused, smirk came across Deanna's face – and the Snow Queen saw it immediately. “Yeah, yeah.” Deanna settled on answering. 

“Okay – but, we talk. We figure out what we're going to do about rehab, we talk about SCW, about us, the vow-renewals – everything! If we feel the best thing for me to do is quit SCW, I'll quit. No questions asked, I'll give them that letter.”

“Seriously?” Deanna's eyebrows rose, not entirely sure she was convinced Selena could do such a thing.

“Deanna...” Selena breathed slowly. “I need to solve this. I can't be – out of control here. And if I can lose it out there? Where my guard is always up against people that hate me – wrestlers that want me out of SCW for good? Imagine how easy it will be for me when my guard is done around you and the children.”

Emerald eyes widened at the thought. Deanna hadn't really thought about that. She had figured making this home a dry-county of sorts would have solved the issue. But there were still bars nearby. Places that sold alcohol for sure. 

“I won't...I won't bring that person – that...me – into this house. I won't.” Selena vowed. “Just...” she started before she saw Deanna's eyes were downcast to the pale hands that were on her knees. “Deanna, please look at me.”

Slowly, Deanna lifted her face to gaze at her wife. “Please – I know you have no reason to given all that's happened – but please trust me and say you will go and meet me at the castle. I promise I will not mess this up.”

For a moment, Deanna closed her eyes, taking a shaky breath through her nose. Selena's heart raced like a hammer inside her rib cage. But as her wife opened her eyes and the tears fell from the emerald orbs, she could not help her own from falling.

“Alright.” Deanna promised genuinely, placing her hands over Selena's. “I will meet you at the castle.”

___________________________________

The Royal Letter

Slowly, the camera fades in to the sight of a crackling fire, the 'snap-hiss' of the flames as they burn away the fuel of firewood being the only sounds heard at first. However, as the camera moves away and past it, the sight of stone walls are seen surrounding the scene. These are not some furnished or smoothed walls of a mansion or castle or private studio like several superstars will use in their Pay-Per-View. No, these are the rough walls of nature itself, forged by the earth's own hand. And, yet, in the unforgiving world that is Nome, Alaska, a cave such as this could be seen as a haven.

That certainly is the case for the woman seen sitting against the cave wall, just a few feet from the fire. She wears a white, thick coat with gray fur-trims around the hoodie (which is down – exposing her pale skin and white hair). The glow of the fire seems to dance across her features as she stares into the flames, her mind clearly on something other than her current surroundings. The only other sign of the present cold outside besides this woman's attire, is the slight mist that escaped her lips every time she exhales.

Now... this is cold. she finally says – a fitting opening for the Snow Queen, Selena Frost. I mean – you can go around the world and experience winter in all kinds of places – but there's no place that has this kind of cold.

Reaching up a hand, Selena quickly pulls the white, fluffy glove off it, revealing pale fingers. The kind that goes through your body and settles in your bones. The kind that slices through your 'protective clothing' – your 'armours' – like a surgeon's scalpel through soft tissue. Nothing is strong enough here to truly stop the cold when its at its peak around here.

With a turn of her head, the platinum-blonde stares out towards the entrance of the cave several yards away from her. Despite the distance, she can see the flurry of snow falling outside, a blizzard raging on beyond her 'castle of stone'.

And you're really only given two options in this kind of world. You can either run away from it or you can deal with it. And if you're trapped in this place – like I was most of my life – your options then change to 'accept it' or 'die'. A small smile at the dark humour graces the young woman's lips, mild amusement evident in her.

Funny that I would need to come to a place like this after everything that happened last year. she says. If I had been Bree or Sienna or anyone in the Beauty Network, this would be the last place to consider. I imagine they are off in their hot-tubs, saunas, photoshoots, makeup chairs – and I'm not knocking that. I live in comfort as well in Manhattan. But 'comfort' is something I needed to be rid for what is headed my way. Because... there is no comfort for what is coming up. There's no hot tub or comfy chairs in that cage...

All there is, surrounded by that cold steel, are two options...

With a deep breath through her nose, Selena exhales another shroud of mist. Last Breakdown, my video was submitted to all of you. I don't have anything to use to check on the reaction to that – only the people that live in the town below, which I visit every so often in the last few weeks. All I know was that it was received and aired. I hope all of you – the True-Believers and the SCW Universe – could understand my absence from the End of the Year Special and my absence now.

It is not fear – believe me, it will be a long while before I am afraid of Bree Lancaster. If the likes of Red Rayne's sadistic tendencies, Matt Auclair's brutish strength, Ravyn Taylor's twisted mind, and Regan Street's – well, Regan just being Regan – if none of those things scare me, then I certainly am not going to be intimidated by Bree Lancaster scoffing in front of a camera or posting pictures of herself on Twitter about how 'good' she is. 

No... I truly needed to come back here, True-Believers. Where everything really started for me. You see... Selena pauses, choosing her words carefully. Back in December, as we were approaching the End of the Year, I started asking myself what the 'old Selena' would think of who I am now. Because this year marks my fifth year being a wrestler. A small chuckle comes from Selena. I know that isn't much compared to others like Regan and Dark Fantasy – and it sure as hell can't compare to the boss, Mr. D. – when you view the over fifteen years SCW has existed. But half a decade – it was hard to believe that so many years had passed since I was part of such a history. 

For me, reflecting on it, it felt like it had only been a few days since I was that young girl – the one that was hated by most of the town by being born different, being the 'Crazy Miner's Daughter' – that decided to risk it all on some pinhead idea of joining a wrestling promotion with no real experience. If you had told that girl that, in five years time, she would not only have accolades that rivalled several hall of fame inductees in SCW, but also she'd be married to the most... amazing woman... with the most beautiful set of children – and a dog on top of that – all of them living in the big city of New York, she'd probably laugh in your face and think you were drunk or on drugs or something. No way was the 'Snow Queen of Nome, Alaska' ever going to have the chance to leave this place.

Again, Selena takes a moment to gaze around her cave, recognizing every crack and crevice that she sees.

But the funny thing is? What that 'old Selena' was really good at? Cutting through the crap. That Selena... she was so miserable here that she didn't care who loved her and who hated her. She embraced the notion of being cold as ice and not caring if people judged her on her appearance – she was... she was like the cold here in Nome. Selena releases a shot of breath, like a dagger of mist. She cut right through. So, when I wondered last month what that Selena would think of me now... the platinum-blonde shakes her head. I know that she'd see right through the accolades. Right through the lifestyle. Right through everything and she'd laugh in my face too.

Sapphire eyes re-focus on the burning fire just in front, the embers casting beautiful, shifting lights around the cracks in the walls.

She'd laugh at me and probably ask me the most damning question: What happened?

For the woman that had 'the Year of Selena Frost', winning two tournaments and the world title and beating the top stars in SCW in 2016. For the woman that headlined every pay-per-view in 2017, winning the world title again, what the hell happened?

Sniffling a little, Selena runs her hands through her hair, which seems as white as the snow outside. A few days ago, while I was submitting my footage to the SCW staff, and a friend allowed me to stay a few hours and watch the replay of the End of the Year Special. 

To do so was both a touching and... a humbling experience. Because, while I was beyond honoured to have shared in the 'Match of the Year' award, there was nothing else of me there. When SCW was reflecting on 2018, that was all of Selena Frost that was shown. A match of the year that she lost. Aside from Owen Cruze mentioning my loss to him as he won the royale, that was how SCW highlighted 2018 for itself and for me – as if I wasn't there.

Quietly, Selena wipes at her eyes with a few gentle fingers. And I don't blame SCW for that. Not even a little. I blame myself. I blame myself for this year. I don't know what happened. I don't know what changed for me, but it's easily been the roughest year in my career. The constant assaults on me, the numerous interferences in my matches, having a crate dropped on your ankle, head smashed by a monitor, does anyone even remember that I held the Television title for a few weeks?

Selena shakes her head.

My point is that, watching that special, I knew why the 'old Selena' would have laughed in my face and asked that damn question. Because that fire – the passion – Selena's eyes go back to gazing at the fire. The one that burned within the freezing cold – burned within me – somewhere in 2018, it was on the verge of being stomped out. I wasn't thriving in SCW last year or dominating or being 'the best of the best', I was just trying to survive each and every onslaught from Past, Present and Future, or Dark Fantasy, or the Beauty Factory, or whomever came at me in droves. I was just clinging on – hoping to keep whatever fire I still had in me burning...

That... isn't how I want 2019 to be. It isn't how I want my career to be!

That's why I'm here now – back home, where it all began. To rekindle that flame. To harvest it into a burning fire and bring that fire into the roofed cage... so I can then unleash it on you, Bree Lancaster.

Selena's eyes narrow as she turned her head to stare into the camera.

Is this the part where you throw your hair back and tell me I 'talk too much'? Or that what I have to say has no 'substance'? Well, that's okay, Bree, because I'm going to keep this simple for you. I'm just going to ask you one simple question. One question and you can just turn the rest of this off if you so choose.

The Snow Queen leans forward a little bit, her eyes still on the camera. What happened, Bree?

Hmmm? That's the question that keeps popping into my head whenever I think about that last match of ours. Every time I think about the ending between you and me. That question keeps popping up. What happened, Bree?

What happened to your promise that you were going to 'crush my dreams' of becoming the United States Champion? What happened to your promise that you were going to make me 'tap out' to you – make me 'surrender' my dream and my ambition to you? What happened to your promise that you were going to 'beat me so bad that I 'would not even want to cash-in my Trios contract against you'?

A brief silence hangs in the frigid air before Selena continues. 

What happened, Bree? Because, if that all happened, how would this all be possible? Why would this match exist? And why would I be in the cold of Nome, Alaska, desperately ensuring that I would be more than ready for this match in Los Angeles?

The Snow Queen crosses her arms over her chest as she leans against the cave wall she is sitting near. I'll tell you what happened - since I'm not prepared to listen to more of your mental gymnastics right now – and it's the same thing I accused you of the last time you and I faced. 

Bree Lancaster did what Bree Lancaster always does when she can't make good on the grandiose promises she makes in her promos and her tweets. Bree Lancaster settles. 

Just like she settled for the United States Championship when she failed to become the World Champion earlier this year, Bree Lancaster settled on simply retaining the championship against me back in December. And you can tell me a hundred different lies and a hundred different stories you've concocted and a hundred different theories you've fabricated, Bree, to explain yourself. 

The world saw it!

It saw you in that match – in that ring – with me. In a match that we were told 'no interference would be permitted', we were told that it was going to be just you and me. And you know something? I thought you were actually on board with that. When you tweeted about the injustice of our first match being thrown out because of Katya and Dark Fantasy, I thought – for a moment – that maybe, just maybe, you wanted to find out the truth about who was better. That, after years and years of countouts and other people being pinned and other the disqualifications, you would be dying to know as much as I would. Dying to know who, between Bree Lancaster and Selena Frost, was truly the better wrestler. On our own – your talent against mine. Your skills against mine.

A knowing smirk and shake of her head does little to hide the irritation on Selena's face. I can't believe I gave you that kind of credit... 

Because I was prepared to accept a win or a loss to you, Bree, if that was how it all went down. I was prepared to be humbled and accept that if you actually made good on any of your promises and earned a victory over me on your own. I was prepared to give you everything I had and, if that wasn't good enough, admit to the world that I had lost that night to someone that truly wanted to be the United States Champion more than I did...

But there you were, in the ring, locked in the Frost's Bite. And the world saw it. It wasn't you 'wanting it more than Selena' that saved you. It wasn't your drive or your will or anything you possessed. Bree. It was Scott Burnside who saved you! Scott pulled you towards the ropes to get you out of that submission. Because, guess what! You had nowhere to go!

Selena's voice raises a little in anger, her voice echoing a little within the cave's confines. 

And you realized, really quick, the reality of your situation. Before, you told me I didn't 'want the United States Championship enough'. That I didn't have the 'drive' to take the United States title from you. In fact, I believed your usual reaction when asked by interviewers and by Andrew Raynes about me was to laugh and scoff at such a notion of me beating you. 

Yet, in that moment of you lying on the mat, clutching your arm as Scott saved you, you realized, with dawning horror, that it was you, not me, that was about to tap out and surrender the United States Championship. You realized that you – supposedly one of the best of SCW - couldn't beat me. You couldn't beat me so bad that I would disappear. You couldn't make me surrender. And you realized that, if you fought me as you swore you would, that you would NOT be leaving with the United States Title. My will and desire were far stronger than you ever gave me credit for...

So, you settled...

That last word, 'settled', hangs in the air with a slight echo.

You, in less than a second, threw away your promises – sold them out – and settled on cheating. Settled on grabbing the rope and calling that a victory. After so long of declaring my 'countout' victory to 'not count', you proudly declared your 'victory' on Twitter and Breakdown – that you finally earned your pinfall victory. 

Well... the good news for you, Bree. You got your win over me. You've got your pinfall victory over me. As it was said, the history books will show that Bree Lancaster pinned Selena Frost. You can rant about it, brag about it in your promos while I'm here in Nome. You can do all of that! But in terms of proving who is 'better'? Selena slowly shakes her head. You haven't earned that yet. 

And the bad news for all of this is: while you haven't earned that right yet, you've earned everything else that is coming to you. You know, I could have actually respected you if you had beaten me cleanly. If you had done all you could and made at least one of your goals and promises happen. I could have respected you in a bit more of a degree if you had beaten me on your own – or at least tried to to the bitter end. But you didn't. 

And looking back, Bree, I remember how you said to me in one of your promos that while I do 'what is right', you do 'what works'. Honestly, that sat in my head for awhile and it stayed in my head in the week building up to our second match because, frankly, I couldn't stand the notion of that. That SCW was filled with people that cared only about getting the victory at all costs. And although I had spent most of 2018 dealing with people just like that, like Regan, Sienna, even Christy Matthews on some level – I didn't want to believe that it was what compromised most of SCW... 

Because I didn't know where that would place you and where that would place me if it did. Was I just not willing to do enough? Was I just not willing to do what was necessary to achieve my dream, like crossing that line as you do so often? Was I just not willing to go that final step, even if it was considered bad, with the best of intentions?

But then I realized something after that second match. As I sat in the back, thinking about what had happened - what had just occurred - I realized what 'works' means to you. And I realized what it actually makes you. And it's not a champion. It's a damn coward!

Taking a deep breath, Selena rolls her shoulders back a little.

What kind of person has their match interrupted and, instead of fighting back, runs away? What kind of person pretends to be a great champion – promises to bring a worthy and violent fight unlike anything the challenger has seen and then settles for cheating? 

There is no longer any way for me to mistake you and I, Bree Lancaster. Because, seeing you scurry away from the fight after our first match – hiding in a corner - while Kennedy Street, Giovanni Aries, Trinity Street, Owen Cruze, myself, Christy Matthews, and so many others fought Katya's entourage, and then our last match... I realized that your 'way of working' is nothing more than damn shortcut.

Shortcuts here, shortcuts there, whatever you can do to keep holding on. To keep the fantasy in your head alive. Long as you have a title – any title, right? Or are you still pining for that tag-title rematch? – Bree Lancaster will settle for any title, because as long as you have one, you can claim that you are 'one of the best in SCW'. But personally? I think the BarBree I saw at the End of the Year special is more of a champion than you!

Reaching into her jacket where the zipper is, Selena pulls out a small, golden chain with a pendant at the end of it. Carefully, she holds it up, the glow of the fire illuminating it, revealing it to be a small, gold nugget.

This was my father's. He actually found it inside this very cave... she looks around the cave with a smile. Remember what I said I was called, Bree? 'The Crazy Miner's Daughter'? Well, my father believed that this cave – this hunk of rock he owned – contained gold. That it had been overlooked and abandoned in the old Alaskan gold rush of 1899. A quiet chuckle. He spent so much of his adult life looking for some of that gold... this... she holds up the nugget. Was all he found of his dream. He was mocked, ridiculed, deemed crazy by the town. And after he disappeared, I wondered, for so many years, why didn't he just fake it, you know? Why didn't he just put gold in here – buy it or something, and pretend that he had found it? If only to shut up the world we lived in.

But he never did. He never settled for that. Because he could lie to the world. He could lie to every person that spit on him, both literally and figuratively, but he could not lie to himself... or to his daughter. Selena clutched the pendant in her hand tightly. My father refused to be seen, even by his own reflection, as a coward. As someone that just sold out their beliefs for the sake of 'looking good'. 

He deserved better than that... and so does SCW!

And I don't give a damn if this sounds cliche at this point, Bree, but my father is ten times the person you are! And I would damned if I let your 'logic' sit in my head for another second – if I allowed his memory to be replaced by your filth. Because you are not an honest champion. You are not a respected champion! You are the one that would have faked finding gold just to brag and show off to the town. You are the one that would have betrayed your beliefs and standards just for a moment of feeling important!

Because nothing you said came true, Bree. Because here I am, using my trios for one last shot against you – one last chance to reclaim the SCW United States Championship. Here I am, not afraid to be here in Nome and push myself to my limits to rediscover that fire that I need to beat you. Because my father didn't give up on his dream despite failing over and over again – and neither will I. 

To me, Bree, you are NOT the United States Champion. You are the thief that stole it from me. You are the thief that stole it from SCW and you are the thief that stole it from every single person that paid to watch our match in the arena and sat down to watch it in front of their television. You are the imposter, parading around with your 'falsely discovered gold' declaring how you 'found it'!

Selena takes a deep breath before exhaling, an attempt to calm herself, though her sapphire eyes darken considerably.

This Pay-Per-View is called 'Making Things Right'. And this is the first step. I am making this right, Bree. I am locking us in a cage and I am not going to stop until this injustice, this unfairness, this thievery... this crap! Has been made right! And I am not going to promise some kind of submission or 'special victory' because it does not matter to me. I don't care if I knock you out or make you tap out. In this match, where there are no rules, I will only promise one thing – and unlike you, I will keep this promise. I am going to beat you from side to side, from pillar to post from turnbuckle to turnbuckle until I am done with you. I am going to show you the reason why I am known as 'The Crazy Miner's Daughter'! Because, like my father before me, I will not surrender my dream by being like you.

Because like my father, locked in my own cave – cave of metal and chains – I will just keeping digging and digging, chipping away at you until my dream comes true... and I strike gold!

With a tilt of her head and dark smile, Selena's face continues to be illuminated by the glow of the fire as she clutches her pendant tightly.

Believe it.

The camera slowly fades on that image, leaving the Snow Queen to her winter training grounds...