James Evans vs. Amelia Blythe

[Konrad Raab]

United States Championship Tournament

2 RP Limit for singles

3500 word max per RP

Deadline: 11:59:59 PM Wednesday, May 10, 2023

[Wisteria Waltz]

If there was one thing that was for certain in regards to The Light In The Darkness coming out of the recent Breakdown in Omaha, it was the feeling of uncertainty hanging over their heads.

Despite it not exactly being her proverbial cup of tea, Luz had put up a hell of a fight against Kimberly Williams in her bid to become Underground Champion. Unfortunately, Luz's best effort wasn't enough and Kim ended up retaining the championship. She and Amelia could at least admit now that Kim had proven that she did, in fact, deserve to be holding the Underground Title again, at least for the moment. Could Luz, or perhaps even Amelia, consider looking in that title's direction again down the road?

Only time would tell.

One thing Luz certainly was above all else coming out of that show was frustrated. She knew she'd given it her best shot and had honestly done a lot better than many probably would have thought she would in an environment that she wasn't fully used to, something that Amelia had reassured her about afterward, but Luz was struggling with the fact that both times she's competed in SCW so far without Amelia either by her side or also involved in some capacity she's fallen short. The fact that this Underground Title match could now join their Tag Title efforts a few months ago as opportunities she'd failed to capitalize on was only causing her to be that much harder on herself.

It hurt Amelia to see Luz grappling with her own self-confidence like this, especially since she hadn't struggled this much with it since the very early days of her career before Amelia ever crossed paths with her. She did her best to support her girlfriend and reassure her that she was an extremely talented wrestler and she'd earn her moment, but she knew there was only so much she could do and this was a battle that Luz would have to ultimately figure out herself. Besides, Amelia would soon have her own challenges to worry about as the next Breakdown was fast approaching, and with it, her place in the tournament for the now-vacant U.S. Championship. She had a daunting task ahead of her in the form of former World Champion James Evans, but she had all the motivation in the world to prove to him that her technique was superior after his comments following Luz's loss.

Nobody kicked her girlfriend while she was down and got away with it so long as Amelia Blythe could do something about it, and she believed James could do with being dragged out of his own head and introduced to someone else's point of view for a change.

Someone else she'd love to do that with was Henry White, the so-called 'Golden Prodigy' of The Empire. The trip down to Mexico had honestly gone a lot better for the couple and their friends than Marilyn had anticipated, though she did tell them in subsequent conversations afterward while Luz was training for her Underground Title match to watch their backs because The Empire knowing they were actively working against them now was only going to paint bigger targets on their backs. Getting to finally meet her supposed fiancé face-to-face had more or less been exactly what Amelia was expecting: just another man acting holier than thou and believing that Amelia's sexuality could simply be erased so that she'd just accept being his wife. The only difference, at least from the footage she'd watched, was that Henry at least had the skills to back up all his talk, but Amelia had been raised to never back down from a challenge and if there was any slightly positive thing she could take away from how her parents raised and trained her, that was something she'd cling to with every fiber of her being.

If anything, the way James had addressed her and Luz on Breakdown honestly reminded her a lot of Henry in the way they both carried themselves, and she had no problem with the idea of picturing the Golden Prodigy as the man standing across from her in Salt Lake City as she took care of her business in the ring and hopefully took a step closer to becoming U.S. Champion, and just as importantly, a win in general to help try and bolster Luz's spirits.

Today, however, Amelia found herself spending time with her old friend again as she was out and about clearing her head. Even though Amelia was the one booked for the next show, Luz had insisted on doing some solo training with Marilyn after asking her if she'd be willing to fly on in to help her. It stung a little bit that Luz wanted some space right now, though Marilyn assured her that she'd do her best to help get the luchadora back on her feet and heading in the right direction. Ivy had jumped at the chance to spend some more time rebuilding her relationship with Amelia, especially since she still knew her old friend well enough to accurately predict that Amelia was a tightly wound ball of nerves after her and Luz had parted ways earlier this afternoon.

“I don't know Ivy,” Amelia admitted after she'd just finished rambling about her anxieties over Luz's decision to train alone today and how much the loss to Kim was still affecting her. “I know Luz is taking all these failures to heart and I'm worried she's going to push herself too hard trying to earn the success she wants. She and I are a lot alike in that regard, even if mine is still lingering trauma from everything my parents did to make me 'perfect' in their eyes.”

“I'm sure she'll be fine Amelia,” Ivy tried to reassure her friend. “Yeah, it sucks that she didn't walk away from that match as champion, but Luz is a lot more talented than I think she gives herself credit for sometimes. I mean, she's the one who scored the fall in that twelve-person tag match, she took a hell of a beating for a long time when you faced the Frosts and held out long enough to tag you in, she wrestled for over an hour after being tased, she scored the pin on a Hall of Famer at your last pay-per-view... do I really need to go on?”

“No, you don't,” Amelia chuckled a bit, though her amusement faded rather quickly. “The problem is getting Luz to realize that, and the way SCW's been booking us probably hasn't helped a lot in that regard. Yes, we're a team and one day we'll prove ourselves worthy of being called Tag Team Champions, but obviously we'd both like to prove to everyone that we're not just tag team wrestlers either. Between my run as TV Champion, even if it was rather short, and this tournament staring me down now... you don't think Luz resents me for possibly proving myself more in singles action than her, do you?”

Ivy already knew the answer to this question, but she took a moment to ponder it anyway, mostly to make sure she wasn't going to send Amelia spiraling too if she didn't word this correctly.

“Amelia,” she slowly began. “You've known Luz for way longer than I have, but in the time I have known that woman, I've come to learn that she's not one to hold any sort of grudge without a damn good reason, and she loves you way too much to ever see you in anything but a positive light. Yeah, maybe she's struggling with the idea that she's not keeping up with you singles-wise right now, but wrestling's a tough business and you two are going up against some of the very best to ever lace up a pair of boots. There's going to be setbacks for both of you, but the more you accept that and keep pushing to be better anyway, the closer the time will come when you both will prove yourselves and earn the respect you deserve. Wasn't that the whole point of your deal with the Frosts?”

Amelia couldn't help but sigh as she'd almost forgotten about that in the face of the frustrations before her. This had been exactly what Selena had warned them about, and she was certain she'd hear that warning again if she made it past James and happened to meet Deanna in the next round. The thought crossed her mind: would it be frustrating if she didn't win this tournament and become U.S. Champion? Absolutely. But even if that was the case, anything she could prove even in the face of that setback would go a long way to ultimately proving herself worthy of the success she sought, and the same was true for Luz. Deep down, she knew Luz was very much aware of the fact that she'd been a serious threat to Kim's reign for someone not used to the Underground, but even if now wasn't her time that didn't change the fact that it was a step in the right direction as long as she was willing to take it.

“There's a reason you're worried about Luz beyond just this loss and how hard she's taking it, isn't there?” Ivy said with a raised eyebrow, pulling Amelia from her thoughts.

“I... maybe...” Amelia stammered, silently cursing just how well Ivy still seemed to know her even if she was honestly grateful for it. “How she's handling this is part of it, but part of it's also this whole mess going on with The Empire.”

“Right...” Ivy huffed, having grown sick of the games that were being played with her friends for God knew what reasons. “Did you guys at least pass on what we did gain out of that confrontation in Mexico?”

“Yeah, we called Ryan as soon as we had the chance to do so,” Amelia revealed. “He said the fact that we managed to gain a name for our wannabe Luz, even if it's only a first name, is something he can try to work with, especially in tandem with what else we were able to learn about her. Having a name for the Golden Prodigy also helps us out in trying to figure out what this guy's deal is, regardless of the fact that he's Caleb's nephew.”

“No one knew his name?” Ivy said, sounding surprised at that.

“He's only ever competed as the Golden Prodigy,” Amelia told her friend. “As far as just looking into family connections, the best Ryan's been able to find up until this point was that Caleb had a brother, which explains the nephew, but apparently the two cut each other out of their lives a long time ago and the brother basically disappeared without a trace, just like Caleb did for years after he retired.”

Both women were in agreement that there was something quite suspicious about that whole prospect, but for now they could only speculate on what it all meant. That was starting to get into Ryan's territory, and with any luck the investigator would be able to come through for them and find something that could free them from this whole disaster once and for all.

“I hate to bring the subject back around,” Ivy said after a moment, “but as stressful as I know that whole confrontation was, that doesn't quite explain what else is bothering you about the blow Luz took to her self-confidence.”

Amelia just sighed as she stopped walking, turning her attention to a nearby building. When Ivy stopped and followed her gaze, she found herself intrigued by the fact that they were now standing just outside of a jewelry store.

“You remember shortly after we started mending bridges how you were teasing me about proposing to Luz?” she asked after a moment.

“Come on Amelia, you know I was just messing with you because of how much you two love and care for each other,” Ivy started to defend herself.

“I think I want to go through with it,” Amelia suddenly said, causing Ivy to do a double-take that nearly sent her glasses flying.

“You are!?” she exclaimed. After a moment of silence in which Amelia didn't respond to her and she had the chance to think it over a little more, she spoke up again. “So... can I ask what the problem is?”

“I could just say I'm nervous and leave it at that, but I know you're too smart for that even if there's some truth to it,” Amelia responded. “I've... been thinking a lot about it lately, especially in the face of this nonsense about me being 'engaged' to our golden pain in the ass. I had the thought that maybe if I proposed to Luz publicly that it might put a dagger through the heart of that lie once and for all and The Empire would hopefully be scrambling to pick up the pieces, especially since I know she loves over-the-top romantic gestures. I'm just afraid... I don't want to give the idea that I'm proposing to her just to stick it to that jerk who thinks I'm already his future wife, because she deserves something honest and real from me. And maybe I've been worried about the toll wrestling might be taking on our relationship just because of all these setbacks because of how Luz has been acting lately...”

“Alright girl, take a breath,” Ivy suddenly cut in as she put a hand on Amelia's shoulder, letting her friend take a few calming breaths before she continued. “I get it, this whole situation is just a giant mess and the fact that it's going well outside just being some wrestling feud is making you both stressed, but if I've picked up on anything since giving our friendship another shot, it's that you and Luz are that rare breed of relationship that just feels like it's meant to be. I'm sure she'll see the gesture for what you truly want it to be and that's an honest proposal because you love that girl and you want to spend the rest of your life with her no matter what, especially when things get rough like they have been lately. But if you're that worried about it, then I think you know that you need to talk about it with her.”

“...you're right, and the more I think about it the more I think I'm slipping because Luz and I are notorious for just bottling things up thinking we can deal with it ourselves, even when we know we can always trust and rely on one another,”Amelia admitted. “I don't think I can just... talk about proposing to her though. Wouldn't it kind of ruin the surprise?”

“Not if you approach it the right way,” Ivy replied with a grin. “Even if you can't bring yourself to talk about that specifically with her, though, you two should never forget how important communication is. And hey, if you need help in dropping hints about a potential wedding between you two, you know I've got your back.”

“You'd do that for me?” Amelia asked, knowing the answer but too stunned to fully process it right now.

“That's what friends are for,” Ivy confirmed.

“And this kind of bad influence is exactly why we wanted you cut out of Amelia's life.”

Amelia felt a chill go up her spine at that voice, the only one capable of causing her to react this way. She and Ivy turned and, sure enough, that voice belonged to her father, Aleister Blythe, who had just stepped out of the jewelry store. The fact that he was here in Salt Lake City at all already set off every internal alarm Amelia had as she fought to keep herself from shaking. While there was barely any difference between her parents in terms of how they treated her, her mother had reached the point where she made Amelia either annoyed or angry because she'd been more upfront in the games she played to control her youngest daughter. Aleister, on the other hand... every word he spoke carried a threatening air to it, composed yet calculating. Considering he was the one who primarily trained Amelia... every awful memory of what she had to endure to reach his standards of perfection flashed through her head and had her on the verge of a breakdown.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Ivy said, immediately stepping in front of Amelia and showing no fear against her father.

“Just doing a little shopping for my wife,” he said about as casually as he could, though even that came with a tone that suggested ulterior motives. “I don't believe that's a crime.”

“Everything you've done to Amelia sure as hell is, though,” Ivy growled.

“I simply raised her to be the best,” Aleister replied. “Sometimes a lot of pressure is necessary in order to turn a lump of coal into a diamond, but I don't suppose you would know anything about that, would you?”

Ivy clenched her fists, but Amelia put a hand on her shoulder to keep her from doing anything rash. The two women locked eyes and Amelia nodded in silent confirmation that she was OK before she turned to face her father, eyes narrowing into a glare.

“What brings you to Salt Lake City, father?” she asked in the same falsely sweet tone that her mother often employed.

“If you must know, I'm typing up a few loose ends to secure the future of our family,” her father stated. “And your role in that will come soon enough Amelia... I could do without that worthless masked thief you've been involved with for years having a role as well, but Caleb is insistent that she has just as much a debt to repay him as you do. As for why here and now exactly... well, you should certainly know all about your own upcoming show for SCW, yes? Since Lily seems to have failed in the simple job Caleb gave her to set up a meeting regarding the sale of the company, I have been tasked to not only make that meeting happen, but also close this deal before anybody else gets any bright ideas to try and undercut what we're trying to do.”

“You know Mr. D will never sell it to you,” Amelia spat. “I don't care what you, mom, or this Caleb creep think you're going to gain from any of this, but I trust Mr. D to have enough business savvy to see straight through whatever you're all selling.”

“Funny, because someone you supposedly look up to within the company doesn't seem to share that level of faith in him,” Aleister smirked. “And besides... you, of all people, should know how much money talks Amelia, and between Caleb White and the Blythes I seriously doubt anyone else in the running on this sale can match us in that regard without losing every last cent to their name in the process. But don't worry... soon, you'll get to compete in an SCW where your little friend won't have to subject herself to any of that hardcore nonsense ever again. But if I were you, I wouldn't worry about any of that... I'd worry more about not embarrassing yourself and letting an inferior wrestler choke you into unconsciousness just to prove a point, because that's what I raised you to do to people like him.”

Before anything else could be said, Aleister simply decided this is where the conversation was best ended and turned to walk away. Ivy started to go after him, but Amelia tightly gripped her arm to stop her. True, Ivy had the raw power to simply drag Amelia along if she wanted to, but the message was loud and clear: her father wasn't worth it, and it was better to not fall into his trap and simply focus on the other issues at hand right now.

Even if Amelia wished, with all her heart, that she could just get through this upcoming Breakdown with no further dark clouds on the horizon for herself and the people who meant everything to her.

[Wisteria Waltz]

Our scene opens up on a rather simple setting, that being what looks like a hotel room. Two things that stand out to us right away are that we find ourselves looking at the back of the head of the woman we're here to see as she's seated on the edge of the bed. The reason for that becomes clear once we turn our attention to the TV in the room, which is currently playing the closing moments of the James Evans/Datura match from Retribution where Datura is choked into unconsciousness via guillotine. As soon as the announcement is made that Evans is the winner, the woman hits a button on the remote and the footage switches to Playing the Wildcard, specifically the moment where James puts Cassie Wolfe in his See the Light submission and chokes her into unconsciousness as well. As soon as James is announced the winner, another button is pressed that pauses the video. The scene is still for a moment, and then our view pans around the bed to see Amelia Blythe's face as her eyes are locked onto the TV screen, clear discomfort in her gaze. She doesn't even shift her focus to us as she begins to speak.

“My father, Aleister Blythe, is often considered one of the greatest pure wrestlers in all of the United Kingdom. When it came to commanding a match and imposing his will onto his opponents with the ultimate goal of getting them to the mat and making them submit, there were few better. His signature hold, the Blight Choke, was his pride and joy, and once he had you in his clutches, that was it. Very few ever escaped, and everyone who fell victim to it in one way or another never forgot what it felt like to have their consciousness slowly fade away until defeat was the only option presented to them. I don't know for sure if it was a thought that crossed his mind before or after he fell for my mother, but somewhere along the line he came to the realization that he couldn't wrestle forever, as much as I'm sure he would've loved to find a way to do so. When your ego becomes so inflated by the thought that you may very well be one of the finest technicians to ever grace the squared circle, how do you ensure that no one ever forgets what you were capable of?

The simple answer would be to begin a family legacy... if only that man actually saw me as his daughter and not as a means to vicariously continue living out his wrestling glory through me and my accomplishments.

I was the youngest of three children all born into the second generation of Blythe wrestlers. My older siblings, Edward and Emily, were always praised by my mom and dad for the natural talent they seemed to possess for the sport, but they were barely ever considered 'proper links in the family chain' purely because they were born into this world as twins. In my father's eyes, that only ever made them worthwhile as a tag team, which would never work for the legacy he envisioned. That's where I came in... did I ever want to be a wrestler? Honestly, I couldn't tell you, because from the moment I was old enough to comprehend the world around me, it was practically drilled into my head that I was going to be the one to directly follow in my father's footsteps and be just as good of a wrestler as he was, if not better, because that's what it meant to be a Blythe. As soon as my parents felt I was old enough to physically keep up, my father began to train me.

I was still several years away from becoming a teenager the first time I found myself in my father's grasp for the hold he wanted to be synonymous with that family legacy... you tell me what kind of child is able to get free of a fully grown adult man choking the life out of you?

That became my father's way of disciplining me for even the smallest of failures, all as a means to make me understand the power held by this one submission hold so I could master it for myself and then use it on others in the ring, just as he did. I've honestly lost track of how many times growing up I found myself coming to after he'd put me in that hold, and never once did he show any remorse for what he'd done or act as though he'd done anything wrong. As far as he was concerned, what he felt was 'right' was all that mattered, and if that meant I needed to have my ability to breathe taken away from me so I could learn and master his greatest weapon, then he felt he was doing his job as my trainer correctly... note that I said my trainer, not my father...”

Amelia slowly turned her head now, her look morphing into one of disgust. She wanted to hope that it was the same look that many people who were watching this were now wearing themselves, because it was the kind of behavior that people like her father should never be allowed to get away with just because they had the money and influence to try and make all of their problems just disappear.

“Do you know why I'm sharing this story of my upbringing James? It's simple, really... I take one good look at you and I see a man who reminds me so much of my father. A man so wrapped up in what he wants and what he thinks is right that he fails to grasp the reality around him unless it can be twisted to suit his narrative. As much as I want to hope that disgusts you deep inside James after what I just revealed about him, the two of you are more alike than you'd probably want to believe. After all, my father held a very simple but very powerful philosophy when it came to the wrestling business, a philosophy that he ingrained into my very way of thinking to the point where it's just one piece to the greater puzzle that is the trauma I'm still recovering from at his hands even all these years later. To my father, wrestling should be nothing more than a test of grappling skills between two people to see whose talents are superior. No weapons, no brawling, no leaving the mat for any reason unless it was you lifting your opponent off of it so you could slam them down into it... does that sound familiar?

Week after week, you preach this idea of purging the wrestling business of violence and returning it to something more pure... the same thing my father, a man who has beaten and abused me under the guise of 'training' me, has preached for decades and continues to hold onto even to this day.

I'd like to think that your little crusade did have pure intentions when you first started down this path James... you clearly have a history with violence in the business that you want to put behind you. The problem, however, isn't the wrestling business itself... like it or not, people like you and my father can preach until you lose your voices, but you're never going to simply talk people like Kim Williams into dropping everything that makes them who they are or force them to become something they're not just to achieve your ideal vision of the business. No one person has that power, just as no one style is 'the right one' when it comes to wrestling. The fact that I can stand here and proudly admit that while I may have been molded into a technical wrestling machine I found true love and friendship in a woman who isn't afraid to take risks and fly around the ring to her heart's content is proof of what makes this business so great in the first place, and we consistently find ways to blend our respective styles together and teach each other new things so that we can keep evolving to prove that we belong here, among the ranks of the very best in the world on the SCW roster.

The fact that Luz and I are both able to stand in front of a camera and honestly admit that we still have our flaws and feel the need to prove we belong here and will put in whatever work we have to in order to prove that... something about that bothers you, doesn't it James? Because the fact of the matter is that for all your talking and your efforts to force people to accept your viewpoint as the only correct solution to your problems, you've completely lost track of who James Evans truly is... and you've decided to take it out on us because we know exactly who we are and continue to be ourselves no matter what challenges we face in this company.”

Amelia grabs the remote and presses a button before standing up, the camera panning around again so that her back is to us as the TV plays highlights of Luz's Underground Title match against Kim Williams last week. Amelia mutes the TV so that the visuals are all we have to accompany her words as she watches some of the highlights briefly before turning to face us once more.

“After Retribution, Luz and I both took part in Kim's Trios cash-in and we did so our way, fully admitting in the process that we weren't expecting to win any of the titles up for grabs but wanted to see where we stand among those who were competing and how much work we still need to do to get to where we want to be. You had that same opportunity James, and yet you walked away and never gave it a chance. If you watch that whole thing back closely, you'll clearly see that neither one of us actually embraced the Underground Rules at any point and just stuck to the ring, doing what we feel we do best. You could've done the same, using it as a way of proving that your vision was superior to the violence you think you're trying to squash in SCW, but you never did. It just so happened on that night that my Luz outscored the woman who ultimately left with the Underground Championship and had a rightful claim to an opportunity at that title. She didn't have to point that out, nor did she need to actually go through with that match, but she did even knowing full well it was outside of what she's normally comfortable with and she made Kim, someone who's built her whole identity on the concept of ultraviolence and hardcore wrestling, admit that she proved herself worthy on that night even if she didn't win.

I respect the hell out of Luz for putting herself through that and continuing to evolve to meet the challenges that SCW demands of both of us, and I will stand here and confidently promise you that La Pequeña Luz will prove herself to be a worthy champion holding SCW gold at some point because when that time comes, she will well and truly earn it.

And for that, you have declared us problems that need to be fixed... not the first time either of us have heard those vile words leave somebody's mouth towards us, and it probably won't be the last either.

We've been wary of you since the moment we caught your attention James, and it's become abundantly clear that what we fight for was misinterpreted by you, further proving what I said about how much you've stopped paying attention to the reality around you. Luz and I came here to compete, to prove ourselves out in that ring week in and week out while earning our wins fair and square and preferably avoiding all the extra shenanigans that some people prefer to employ. If that means competing in a match that's outside of our styles or comfort zone, taking a few extra risks in the process, then we see it as an opportunity to prove we can adapt to that challenge because we don't expect to always be competing in standard matches. Whatever rules we have to to fight under, we'll work within to prove ourselves, just as Luz did last week. If push comes to shove and someone thinks that means they have free reign to get the jump on us, then we'll fight back if we need to because we're not here to be victims just because we want to do this our way. I'm sorry if that's not what you were hoping for out of us, but that doesn't change the fact that we're here to fight for a better future in SCW and not even you are going to stop us from living up to our namesake just because we're not the light that you want us to be.

You didn't have to make this personal James... we could've just had a fair, respectful contest this week in Salt Lake City. It could've just been as simple as me seeing how well I fare against a former World Champion to prove that I'm ready to be one step closer to maybe calling myself the new United States Champion. You had to make it into something more, and you have no one to blame but yourself when you find out firsthand that I'm not going to be so easy to choke out like you've so proudly done to the likes of Datura and Cassie Wolfe. I'm not going to be a victim of your blind and senseless hatred James... I'm going to be the one to choke you out and open your eyes to how lost you've allowed yourself to become.

You think I should've abandoned my girlfriend, the woman who helped me out of the darkest period of my life and showed me that there is more to both wrestling and life than the fake world my parents tried to build around me... all just because she had an opportunity and took it even if it involved fighting in the Underground?

Then thank you, James, for proving just how similar to my father you truly are... because you've given me a purpose to seeing him in that ring come Breakdown when we meet so that I can find some long overdue catharsis through eliminating you from this tournament.”

After a moment, we see the camera slowly being lowered onto a nearby table and angled so that Amelia's face can still be in the shot as our camerawoman, none other than La Pequeña Luz herself, steps into the frame and pulls Amelia into a tight and reassuring hug, the last shot we get being a soft and gentle kiss between both women before the video ends.