Scars of a Fascade
”The Rules of the Game...”
The Pulse Jazz Club
New York City, New York
November 6th, 2025
2:51am
The Pulse certainly lived up to its name, Selena thought as she sat in ‘her booth’ – well, it had become her booth with the many times she’d been there.
Helps if you know the owner... Around her, the low lights, warm shadows, and music rippled through the air, the slow jazz comforting and preferred over bars that would blare out loud rock or heavy metal to get people to dance.
Gods, I sound old...
The throught was depressing but she was used to it. She had been feeling this way for so long now. Maybe that was why she kept sinking out to visit this place. She had friends here, yes, but to not tell Deanna? Merely that she was going out, if that. Sometimes, she was workout, shower, change, and just go, leaving her bag in one of the lockers of the private gym – paying for that later with the smell, yes, but not caring in that moment.
Did she feel guilty about this secret? No. It wasn’t like she was cheating on Deanna. She would never do that – she had never, nor would ever, want someone as much as she desired and loved the redhead. Still, she was hiding these quiet outings. She always came late, when the crowd was less and the noise of talking couldn’t fully drown out the sound of the jazz players, be it a live band or something from the jukebox.
She rested her elbows on the polished walnut, a tall glass of something pale in front of her. She always ordered something different. This time, it was ginger beer with lime. Quietly, she traced a finger down the glass, catching one of the condensation-droplets onto her finger for a brief second. To anyone else, she might have looked content to be left alone. Leather jacket, dark jeans, her platinum-blonde hair in its iconic braid. An air of confidence and security, to be sure – every bit The Snow Queen.
How little they know...
She smiled to herself as a new song began, this one heavier on the sax than the last one, her eyes fluttering shut on instinct, allowing her thoughts to come to her.
She hadn’t been booked.
She couldn’t remember the last time she had not been advertised for an SCW pay-per-view, not including that four-month stint where she tried to leave SCW, only for them to beg her to come back. But this new regime. This CHBK/Dean Black-led group? Despite people jumping her and ‘automatically’ getting a match with her like Chris Lawler, despite people attacking her, despite people getting in her way... Nothing.
You’re not booked... The words from that idiot kept turning and swirling around in her head. She had gone undefeated since Rise, pushing herself back to her winning ways against anyone she faced. Yet, it mostly went unnoticed.
Earn it... Those two damned words... that’s all the old man and Black and Knight would say! Over and over again. Earn it! Earn it! Earn it! You know what they didn’t say? How!
Selena felt the growl in her throat, which she tried to drown with a gulp of her drink. That was the insane part of it. She was tied up with the Glimmer Sisters on a matter of respect and pride, but without a partner, or so management said, she was getting nowhere, which was way the Glimmer Sisters were so bold. Like keyboard-warriors hiding behind their monitors, they felt safe while the Snow Queen couldn’t take away the very thing that gave them their arrogance – the tag-team titles. But her primary goal? The world title? There was no ‘way’ to earn it. She was winning! She was beating everyone she faced! Glory Braddock had crashed and burned just last week, blowing her change against Cid Turner – a chance she had gotten by doing what? Winning! Not against Selena, oh no!, but just against a few roster people.
Hell, even Syren!
Gods...that woman... the management and announce team, once more for the umpteenth time, were trying to force “Syren for World Champion” and “Syren for Number One Contender” down everyone’s throat again! And why?! Because she won a tag-team match because Chris Cannon saved her ass and because she had gotten lucky against Amelia? That was it? That was all it took for Syren to get put back into the mix, but Selena had to ‘earn her shot’ again?!
She was trapped! Every move she made? Didn’t matter. She won, nothing happened. She stood up for herself? Nothing happened. She made challenges? Nothing happened! She accepted challenges? Nothing happened. Nothing brought her closer to either goal, be it humbling those damn sisters or getting back the world championship she should have had back in July!
And there’s no reason for it!
“You always get that faraway look when the sax starts,” The voice seemed to almost emotionally grab Selena before she fell off the edge into another tirade, yanking her out of her thoughts and back into the club. Opening her eyes, she turned to see the soft smile of her friend, Tannis Goesha. “Like it’s saying something only you can hear.” the blonde added.
“Maybe it is.” Was all Selena could say in reply as she gazed into her drink.
“You thinking about Elsi again?”
“Always.” the Snow Queen replied. “Though not so directly this time.”
Tallis nodded, shuffling over to sit beside Selena. “You made any progress?”
“She hasn’t said much to me since she demanded I stopped calling her...” Selena’s voice trembled.“Since that morning last week.” She didn’t want to think about her daughter standing there, on her crutches, screaming at Selena to stop calling her ‘Snowflake’, the nickname she had given Elsianna since she was born.
“She’ll come around...” Tannis tried, weak as it sounded.
Selena shook her head. “You don’t know her like I do. She’s got her mother’s temper. Both of ours.”
Tallis rested her chin on her hand. “So… like mothers, like daughter?”
“Exactly.” Selena sighed. “She doesn’t want to be anything like me.”
“Because of work.” Tallis nodded, having heard this story so many times. “Doesn’t she understand-”
“I don’t think she wants to.” Selena sighed. “She doesn’t care about what Mason did – only what I did to him. She doesn’t care that management is holding me back, just what I do to stop it. She doesn’t care about Cid Turner stealing from me and lazying his way around SCW. Just that I’m attacking him or getting in the way of people getting to him or whatever.” The Snow Queen shook her head, her mind’s eye conjuring up that disgusted, ashamed expression Elsianna had on her face last week. “She just sees her mom turning into a monster every time she comes on TV.”
The two immediately grew silent, neither able to say anything right away.
“Hey,” Tallis said after a pause, tapping her on the arm. “You just have to keep trying, okay? Kids go through these phases, right? Ozzie and I-”
“Talking about me again?” he asked with a grin.
At the mention of his name, Asmodeus Griffin appeared as if from the shadows, standing in front of the booth. Tall, dark-skinned, shoulders broad, complete with a vest and rolled-up sleeves, a man who could have looked intimidating to Selena if not for the warmth in his eyes.
“Only good things,” Tallis replied with zero hesitation, flashing him a smile.
“Sure, sure.” Asmodeus chuckled, leaning in to kiss her on the cheek. “You two need anything?”
Selena gestured to her glass. “Another one of these, if you don’t mind.”
“Coming right up.”
Asmodeus walked the few steps away needed to reach the drink table, hands working nimbly to begin mixing the requested drink.
Alone again, Tallis leaned closer to Selena. “You’re better than you used to be. When you first came here, you were wound so tight I thought you’d punch a hole through the walls.”
Selena’s smirk came and went. “I was close.”
“And now?”
The platinum-blonde sighed, allowing herself to answer honestly. “Now I’m just tired. Just... just so tired...”
The conversation drifted after Asmodeus returned with Selena’s drink. They talked about so many things, none of which the Snow Queen could remember. Eventually, though, the owner went to check on the stage setup, and Tallis decided for an early turn-in, leaving Selena alone again with the soft hum of the club to fill her ears.
Her phone buzzed and she checked it. Nothing from Elsianna. Just another automated reminder from SCW. She was finally booked. After being dismissed from a pay-per-view and a supercard, she was booked on Breakdown – in mocking handicap match against European Fiery Nation.
Selena stared at the screen for a long moment, as if she could will the words to change. Will the ‘And Partner?’ remark to alter. Then she locked the phone, set it down, and rubbed her temples.
They knew she’d notice that little bit and they didn’t care. She’d been told to “earn” her shot, to “prove she was still marketable.” Whatever that meant. She’d beaten everyone they put in front of her. And yet, they still wouldn’t let her near the world title scene or the tag-titles or whatever.
Because villains weren’t supposed to win in the end.
Because she wasn’t the “right image.”
Because she didn’t play nice backstage anymore.
Her jaw tightened. She’d sacrificed everything—her health, her family, her sanity—for this career. And now she was just another name they could keep off a poster without losing sleep.
“Mind if I join you?”
Selena blinked, surprised out of her thoughts, as this voice didn’t sound like anyone she knew. Turning her head, she saw the woman standing at the table before her. Blonde hair flowing freely, eyes like liquid blue glass. She wore a fitted black dress that shimmered faintly in the amber lights, hugged every curve and gave just the right amount of clevage.
Selena straightened slightly. “Uh… sure,” she said, gesturing to the booth beside her.
The woman smiled as took her seat. “You look like you could use some company.” she gave a tilt of her head towards Selena. “You’ve been staring into that drink like it’s about to tell you a secret.”
Selena smirked at that. “Maybe I was hoping it would.”
“I can think of better ways to find secrets.” The woman tilted her head, her gaze sliding up and down Selena in a playful way. “You come here often?”
“Once, maybe twice a week,” Selena replied, though not sure why she was. “Usually this late.”
“Then I should come here more often...” the woman teased, earning a laugh from Selena.
“You’re flattering the wrong woman.”
“Oh? Why’s that?”
With ease, Selena held up her hand, revealing the wedding ring she still wore.
The woman’s lips curved, not into a smirk of surprise surprise, but one of amusement. “Oh, I know you’re still married.”
Unnerved by the response, Selena turned her head to truly study the woman, something tugging at the edge of recognition... And then it clicked.
“Arachnia?!” She asked in surprise, earning a wider smile from the blonde.
“There it is. Good to see you, stranger.”
Arachnia rested an elbow on the counter, watching Selena with that half-smile of hers.
“Didn’t expect to see you here,” Selena said after a beat. “Actually, I didn’t expect to see you at all. Shouldn’t you be at New Eden?”
“Only when I want to. But Asmodeus and I trade favors sometimes. I pour his patrons a few drinks when he’s short-staffed, he sends me home with a bottle of something exotic. Tonight, though...” she gave a shrug. “I just came to listen to the band.”
Selena’s eyes narrowed faintly. “And to flirt with strangers?”
Arachnia’s smile turned lazy. “Only the ones who look like they need it.”
Selena laughed quietly, almost against her will. “Still with a sharp read.”
“It’s a blessing and a curse.” Arachnia sighed playfully. “But I’m not here to chase you, stranger. I just came in, spotted you and...” she gave a clicking sound with her tongue. “I saw a woman pretending not to bleed.”
Selena’s jaw set. “I’m fine.”
“That’s not what your shoulders say.”
“Excuse me?”
Arachnia tilted her head, studying the Snow Queen.“Tension radiating down both arms, but your hands stay perfectly still. That’s control. The kind of control that hurts. The kind of control people learn after they’ve spent too many years white-knuckling their way through something. Addiction maybe. Or loss.”
Selena’s lips parted slightly. “You always go straight for the throat?”
“Like a spider.” Arachnia answered. “But only when I recognize the mark. You’re sober, aren’t you?”
“Recovering.” The words came before Selena could stop them.
Arachnia nodded, not impressed, not pitying. Just seeing.
“You’re good at that,” she muttered. “Reading people.”
“I make a living on it,” Arachnia said with a shrug. “Behind a bar, everyone tells you who they are without ever saying a word.”
“And what do I tell you today?” Selena asked.
“That you’re tired of fighting battles no one else even sees. You keep winning, but every victory costs you another piece of yourself. You’ve got the eyes of someone who wants to stop hurting people, but doesn’t know what she’d be if she did stop.”
“Hey—Arachnia!” Tallis called out, seeming still awake and coming back into the club. “You didn’t tell me you’d be stopping by.”
Arachnia gave a small wave and a smile. “Surprise.” she answered back.
Still, it was Selena that did the reading now. And while Tallis was delighted to see her friend, the platinum-blonde sensed the tension between the two women—the unspoken electricity of two people who’d met before under different masks.
“I’ll let you two talk,” Tallis said, reading the mood. She gave Selena a small squeeze on the shoulder before disappearing again.
“So,” Arachnia said quietly, turning back to Selena. “Work doesn’t know what to do with you?”
Selena’s head shot over to the woman in alarn. “How could you possibly-” she stopped herself. Any idiot watching SCW could have known that just by seeing the ‘Face of SCW’ barely on the shows these days beyond the ‘same scene’ of arguing with management. Nothing new. Nothing interesting.
“They know exactly what to do with me.” she slowly answered. “Keep me in the middle. Let me take the hits, sell the fights, keep the others looking good.”
Arachnia’s brows lifted. “And you let them?”
They make you one and you just... go along with it?!
Elsianna’s words from last week... which only added to Selena’s misery.
“What choice do I have?” Selena’s voice had an edge now. “I show up. I fight. I win. They say I need to ‘earn’ a title shot. They don’t tell me how. I try to take on the tag champs because they keep ambushing me, and they say I can’t—‘no partner.’ They’ve boxed me in.” she half-growled.
“Maybe they’re afraid?”
The question from Arachnia surprised the Snow Queen. “Of what?” she asked. “I’m not the one with the belt.”
The woman gave a shrug. “Well... When you stop needing them, they lose control. You’re fighting for validation from people who already decided you don’t fit their picture.”
“Easy for you to say,” Selena muttered. “You’re not stuck in a contract.”
“No,” Arachnia admitted. “But I am stuck in a life that tells me who I’m allowed to be every day.”
Selena looked at the blonde then, seeing something in her posture, perhaps familiar. “You mean because you’re—?”
“Because I’m me,” Arachnia interrupted gently, quickly and experly changing the subject as she turned her own glass slowly. “You said your daughter doesn’t speak to you.”
“Don’t bother.” Selena sighed. “You don’t know anything about her.”
“No. But I can tell what that empty space in your voice means.” Arachnia met her gaze again, unflinching. “What did you do that made her stop believing in you?”
Selena hesitated, her breath shallow. “I stopped being her hero.”
“That’s not a sin,” Arachnia said softly.
“It is to her.”
“So you broke her illusion.”
Selena looked away. “I broke her heart.”
“You ever think maybe she needed that?”
Selena’s eyes snapped to her. “What?”
“Heroes don’t survive in the real world. Maybe she needed to see the truth.”
Selena scoffed. “You make it sound noble.”
“It’s not noble. It’s necessary.” Arachnia smiled faintly. “She’ll come back when she realizes you’re not her hero—you’re her mother.”
Selena’s shoulders slumped. “You talk like someone who’s been through it.”
Arachnia chuckled lowly. “Maybe I have. Maybe I’m still in it. Every day, someone decides who I’m supposed to be. And every night, I decide they’re wrong.”
Selena looked at her, in utter confusion. “How do you do that? Just… not care?”
“Oh, I care.” Arachnia said simply. “I just stopped caring their way.”
That line hit Selena harder than she expected, allowing Arachnia to continue.
“You’re still trying to win a game that’s rigged. What happens if you stop playing by their rules?”
Selena’s laughed bitterly. “They’ll fire me.”
Arachnia leaned closer, her tone sharp. “People like you don’t get erased. They just get rewritten.”
Selena went still. Her heart thudded once, deep and deliberate.
“I’m not telling you to burn it all down,” Arachnia continued. “Just… stop waiting for permission.”
The phrase gnawed at her. In wrestling. In motherhood. In everything.
Arachnia stood after a while, smoothing her dress. “I should go. New day, new possibilities and all that.”
Selena looked up, startled by how quickly time had passed. “You just drop something like that and leave?”
Arachnia grinned. “That’s what I do. I spin a web, and then I let people decide if they want to step through.”
She left without another word, Selena watching her go and finishing what was left of her drink. The lime had gone bitter, but she didn’t mind. It fit.
The next time she focused back to the present, Asmodeus was wiping down the bar, humming along with the pianist’s closing riff. “You all right, Frost?”
“Yeah. Just thinking.” was all she could reply
“Lot on your mind?”
“Always.” she answered. “Too much thinking on myself.”
“Well...” Asmodeus shrugged. “The world doesn’t hand out many mirrors these days. Just cameras.”
“That’s... weirdly insightful of you.” Selena raised an eyebrow, earning a laugh from Ozzie.
“That’s jazz, baby,” he said, spreading his hands. “Makes people honest.”
She laughed softly at that, then looked back at her reflection in the mirror of her glass. Her own face stared back: older than she liked, but clear-eyed.
Arachnia’s words lingered: Maybe she needed that.
Maybe. Maybe Elsianna needed to learn that her mother wasn’t a cartoon hero. That heroes could bleed, could fail, could rage and regret—and still keep walking into the ring. Maybe all of SCW needed to learn that.
They say I can’t challenge the tag champs without a partner. the cold voice in her mind reasoned.
Maybe I don’t need one. Maybe I walk out next show and dare them to stop me. Maybe I make noise loud enough they can’t pretend that I can be so easily silenced...
“Stop waiting for permission,” she murmured to herself before quietly dropping some bills onto the table to cover her drinks before pushing herself out of the booth, waving to Asmodeus and Tannis before heading outside, the cold wind of New York City hitting her full force.
“Winter is coming...” she whispered, more to herself than anyone.
It won’t be ignored... and neither will I...