Adamson vs. Scott vs. Frost

[supremecw]

Kelsai Adamson vs. "The One" Kirsten Scott vs. Deanna Frost
SCW United States Championship

2 RP Limit per person
Deadline: 11:59:59 pm ET Monday, October 2, 2023

[TheOne]

OOC Note: Edited because I forgot to spell check

{NEHMIAH: Chapter 3 - Apologies for not updating Chapter 2 in my template}

In the world of rebuilding everything that has collapsed around you, there is one thing that seems to become the last thing that, in regard to the foundation of the rebuild, corrects itself.  And that is the aspect of trust.  Not just amongst the community, like with the situation with the pizza parlor, but with those who once believed in you.

My life has been marred by not being trusted.  I think back to walking through the hallways of my school, and having all eyes upon me.  I remember the whispers.  I remember those who saw me as inferior to them.  And then I remember the boy who tried to instill trust in me before my parents were assimilated into The Compound, and then was the first to betray me.  I remember Hailey disappearing me, and again, those I believed who wouldn't want to stir the pot, doing just that, and causing me, even after I became "The One" to adopt the mentality of not trusting anyone.

And that legitimately meant anyone...

I didn't, truly, trust The Prophets, even though I did their bidding.  I didn't trust my parents.  I didn't trust anyone who had ever been nice to me for any reason and wondered if what my predecessor had told me about Hailey was true.  Yes, I even doubted Hailey.  I doubted everything which was why I made that Compound as secure and under my thumb as possible.  It's why I made sure there was always a way for me to know more than everyone else, just in case someone decided to defy my trust again.

And when I brought it to the ground, I thought it would be the end of these issues...

I thought I would be able to open my eyes to the world, and those around me, and not believe that it is just a matter of time before it happens again.  But I was wrong.  Yes, I have people around me who I don't believe would stab me in the back.  Yes I have begun to let others into my "circle," but I always wonder at what cost it'll be at.  I always wonder if it will be at the cost of my sanity, the cost of my safety, the cost of my life.

I ask these questions, but I also do what I do best, and I bottle them upside inside.

I know, deep down, that the internalizing of all of these emotions isn't the best decision.  I know everyone says talking about your emotions is better than just letting everything build up.  But again, my walls of trust have been wrecked to their foundation by a trebuchet of lies and deceit.  And when it's just me being able to rebuild them, it can only be done at so much speed.  So it takes time to allow myself to stop from ensuring that Kirsten Scott is safe, emotionally and physically.

But the fact is, I have to rebuild, and I have to not let the destruction rule me.  That is the story of Nehemiah.  The rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem, and reviving the inhabitants to feel a sense of safety once again, after its walls were brought to rubble.  This is my world as well.  My world, ultimately, is still rubble.  My world i ultimately still nothing like what I portray to those around me.  I have to show the strength to those I have allowed to retain my trust, and ensure I am still their protector.

It's what I owe them...

It's what they deserve...

But is it all for naught, or is it being accepted for the truth I am offering?  It's where I'm torn.  It's where I'm confused.  It's where I wish I could read minds.  But the fact is, if trust is to be rebuilt, it has to start somewhere.  I have to start with those who have shown me that I don't have a reason to distrust them, but instead, trust them to be the ones who rebuild my faith in society as a whole.

Sometimes, it's the innocent who carry the most power, and those of us guilty of failure that have to put our egos to the side and open our ears and just... Listen...

Along the banks of the river near where they are staying, and have become a place where the group has all found comforting, Kirsten Scott sits on a bench alone.  Unlike before, she sits alone, just staring out at the river, which has been given an added surge due to a storm, and is extra loud with its rush downstream.  Kirsten stares at the middle of the rushing river, as if trying to intimidate it, but in her mind, she is hyper-focused in the sound of the water rushing.  For her, it is what she needs as the "white noise" to allow her to just stop the world around her, and think.

About an hour or so passes before she feels a hand upon her shoulder.

Kirsten immediately shakes herself out of her almost trance-like state, and looks back to see Emma coming around the side of the bench, and sitting down beside her.  Emma looks at Kirsten and smiles, inside knowing Kirsten is thinking about something, but before addressing it, just admiring the same beauty that is before them, from nature.

Emma Taylor: It's just beautiful, isn't it?

Kirsten's mindset is still scattered, and initially treats Emma like a child.

Kirsten Scott: Yeah... But are you having fun?  I mean, that's why we are here, right?

Emma immediately senses Kirsten's "walls" and initially plays along.

Emma Taylor: I am.  I mean, how couldn't I be?  This is Earth at its purest form.  Water, flowing, going toward the ocean based on where we are located.  It's natural beauty and it's something we can't control.  It's something I can finally sit and enjoy without fear.  It's finally something I can be around and have fun with it in the background.  It's literally perfection at its finest...

Kirsten nods.

Emma Taylor: ... But then there's you...

Kirsten freezes.

Emma Taylor: ... You're not here embracing the beauty.  You're here... And you're in pain... You have your mind racing...

Kirsten takes a deep breath.

Kirsten Scott: Nah... I'm like you... I'm listening to the water flow... I'm letting it's sound bring me a sense of calm I haven't had...

Emma lowers her head and looks back toward the water.  She can feel Kirsten's defiance in her words.  And it's out of nowhere, the growing teenager, the little girl who has grown over the years since being found to be captive by her parents, takes a deep breath and looks over at her savior and sends a shock wave in one word.

Emma Taylor: BULLSHIT!

This is the first time ever that Emma, "The Oracle," has ever uttered such vulgarity toward Kirsten, and Kirsten's eyes go wide before slowly looking her way with a surprised look on her face.  Emma is already looking at her with a stern look of her own, and, again, for a first time ever, it's Emma who chides the woman who set her free.

Emma Taylor: ... I'm sorry, but I can sense what you're thinking, and honestly, it's complete BULLSHIT, and I'm NOT going to allow it...

Kirsten is completely stunned and her jaw noticeably drops.

Emma Taylor: ... I don't care if I was a damn child when we first met, but guess what, I'm at an age where I am learning what the world is now, and how it actually works.  I may miss some nuances, like what happened at AJ's, but one thing I don't miss ANY DAY OF THE WEEK, is a FRIEND lying to my face...

Kirsten's jaw closes and she stares Emma down.

Kirsten Scott: Where... Where am I lying, then?

Emma Taylor: Your little prophetic, comment about the water bringing you calmness.  The water doesn't speak to you.  Yeah, it may bring you calmness, but it isn't giving you insight because you refuse to ask all of the questions.

In fact... You're scared to...

You're scared to be vulnerable to anyone, including yourself.  You're scared it will make those of us who look up to you and respect you run away.

Kirsten just gets a smug look on her face and begins to shake her head.

Kirsten Scott: ... All I can say is, shut up...

This is the first time that Kirsten Scott has ever made any kind of negative situation.  She has always been revered, and for Kirsten to tell Emma to, "shut up," shows Kirsten actually willing to let her guard down and allow herself to treat Emma like she would anyone else.

This doesn't deter, Emma.  In fact, it was an emotion she hoped to bring out in the woman she looks up as her elder sister.

Emma Taylor: You know what, no... I'm not going to you.  Why?  Because I see past this front you have created in front of us.  I see past all of your lies.  And I don't mean that as in you're faking us out, I mean that as you're not as OK as you want us to believe.  I know that something very deep is troubling you.  And while others may not see past the surface, you should know I see through everyone.  You can't hide from me.  I know what you think...

This forces Kirsten to clap back, yet again.

Kirsten Scott: ... You know what, Emma, no matter how fucking clairvoyant you may be, deep down, you will NEVER know what the fuck I am really thinking!

Being called out by name actually does surprise Emma, this time, as this one is much more personal.  Kirsten realizes what she says, and drops her head in self-disappointment.  She immediately takes a deep breath.

Kirsten Scott: ... I'm sorry... I let it get the best of me...

While Kirsten expresses her displeasure with herself, Emma takes a deep breath and continues to push forward.  She first begins by reaching over and placing her hand on Kirsten's arm, which almost creates a "mind meld" like situation between the two, on an emotional level.

Emma Taylor: ... You fear failure, Kirsten... You fear that everything we did, everything we allowed ourselves to go through, everything we put our actual blood relatives through, was in vain.  You fear that my parents and The Compound will rise again.  You fear that you will see all of those you, as you see it, "betrayed," will rise up and have the "numbers game" against you.

You forget us... This is a fear that you are still fighting alone...

You also fear, and I would say this is the crux of it all, is the wrath of your family.  You are scared that one day this will all come back to haunt you and you're going to have to look them in the eye and explain to them why you did what you did, and did so for a group of people who have no kinship to you.  In your soul, you believe you sold them out.  In your soul, you believe you did them wrong, and sold them out, and I get it.  I get that you believe that you broke all of the rules.

I get that the little girl, who still lives inside you fears her parents doing to her what they did to her from the get-go...

I promise, Kirsten... I see it...

I feel it...

Emma takes a deep breath, and begins to brush her thumb back and forth on Kirsten's arm, trying to give a soothing aura about what she is saying.

... But you need to know you're not alone.  I'm in the same boat.  I won't speak for others, just me, but I will say we are a lot alike in that regard.

You and I both know how much of a prisoner I was of my own family and their lifestyle and exploits.  I was used... I was abused... I was just like you in many ways.  We both were just pawns in a scheme of our parents game, but yes, in different ways, I will say.  But in the grand scheme of it... It was the same.  And because of that I look at Kirsten Scott, this hero, to me, in the same way sometimes as she sees me.  I see her as the same little girl that Kirsten Scott sees Emma Taylor, right now.  You can't see me as the girl in her teenage years, growing up day in and out, in front of your eyes, because I was who I was for so many years.

I was a child...

To you... I'm still that child...

And I get it, and you're not alone.  I know Hailey and Ethan are the same.  And I also know that, like you, I'm scared, everyday, that we are the only ones who feel that fear inside...

Kirsten looks confused.

Kirsten Scott: What do you mean, only ones?

Emma Taylor: We know my brother... He's blinded by one thing... Freedom... And I don't blame him.  At his age, he believes this is all over and behind us.  He believes he is a free adult, and he may be.  We don't know what lies ahead.  But he's so happy to be free of the fact our parents imprisoned him, he's not going to give it the time of day.

Hailey... She's the same way for you...

You two are older than Ethan and I, and didn't go through what we did.  But Hailey is older than you, and had to become the black sheep of her family when she lost her power grab against "The One" who preceded you.  It took work for her to begin to rebuild trust and learn to be part of her family again among all of the turmoil.  And yet, she still puts forth a front, like you, like me, like Ethan, where she is the rebel of her family and she believes it on the surface.  She's as lost as us all, but if you confront her, like I am you, she would fight back, again, just like you...

And just like my brother...

But one day it will come to her, and she'll realized she's as lost as us all.  Our family is lost.  Our family is bonded by that one emotion.  But everyone's stubbornness keeps them at an arms length from one another, leaving the potential for mistrust or dissension...

Kirsten Scott: And how do you know all of this, about us all, huh?

Emma smiles, and initially replies in a manner that wouldn't be OK with many, but with Kirsten, would fly.

Emma Taylor: I am "The Oracle," so what do you expect?

There is a very slight grin from Kirsten, and without making light of it, Emma continues on.

Emma Taylor: ... In all honesty, it's the same way I know how Hailey and Ethan feel as well.  I feel it.  I legitimately feel it.  I sense it day in and out.  I have that ability to feel what others don't, and that is where my parents were right.  The "visions" they thought I saw were whatever highs I had at the time.  But the feelings I had about how they should behave and operate were always me.

So yes, I am "The Oracle" in that regard...

And you may never see that side of me, or accept it, and that's OK, because Emma will never look at you and see "The One," instead of Kirsten.  It's part of who we are, and why we are the way we are.  We don't look at one another like others may.  We don't see the superficial.  It's not something that is easily defined, but it is something we both strive to cultivate, no matter how big of an age gap there may be... We feel one another, and we want it to thrive...

Kirsten looks at Emma, completely devoid of response.  She then sucks through her teeth and spins her head back toward the water.  She has never been called out like this before and thinking about what was said.  She takes a deep breath with some hesitation before replying.

Kirsten Scott: I... I just want this pain to go away...

Kirsten sniffles, fighting off any urge to show tears or emotion.

... I did so much wrong in my days.  I hurt so many people.  I embodied an evil that I don't feel I can escape...

Emma squeezes Kirsten's arm.

Emma Taylor: Escaping your demons isn't the answer Kirsten.  Letting them lead you, guide you, and change how you react in the future IS.  And it's not something to try and do all at once.  Hell, I even know that.  It has to happen day by day.

"The One," as it was known in The Compound must no longer exist in reality.  Her essence, sure, that is inevitable because it is tied to you.  But "The One" that Kirsten Scott embodies going forward must break the mold that everyone remembers so that essence begins to fade into history.

You must break that mold!

You have to break that mold by embracing who you were.  You have to take what you did, run with it, and ultimately do what nobody before you ever did.  You have to grow with it!  I mean, do you believe I can't see you reliving your own childhood in this whole situation, just because of being in the wrong place and wrong time?  Do you not think I see that you spoke up, and your parents did to you what, in a sense, they did to me, by imprisoning you in The Compound, first as a child, and then as "The One?"

I am having to learn it, too...

And that's why we have to stick together.  We are learning together.  We are fighting together.  Others may understand bits and pieces, but only we understand the whole story.  We have to accept the realization that the pain and suffering we went through was worth it, in the end.

I believe it...

I wouldn't be here with you, if I didn't... I would have run away with my brother, through the fence, and forgotten your existence, if I felt there wasn't a connection there.  But I didn't because there was more there to acknowledge than I knew...

Emma takes a deep breath, and looks out over the water as well.  Only a few seconds pass, but it feels like an eternity between the two of them.

... And we both know I was forced to grow up faster than I should have, or anyone else my age.  It's why I have taken so much love for such simple things lately.  It's not about being a "kid," as much as it is experiencing those things everyone I could feel got to before me.

And I'll be honest... You and I may not be paddling the same exact boat, but we may be paddling down the samr river, and we need to embrace that this river we are listening to has taught us a lot.  And it's our job to now take what it has given us, and not what it has made us fight against.  If WE don't, then we will both see our families surrounding us once again, in a situation where we are forced to endure nothing but pain and suffering.

But if we face it head on... We have an opportunity to see the family we have before us who is understanding in believing in both of us, which will allow us both to continue to spread our wings, understand who we are, and believe that it may lead to a brighter outcome down the road...

It's with those final words Kirsten just takes a deep breath and, for once in their conversation, actually does what she claimed to have been doing all along, and listening to the river flow.  In her mind, and that of Emma's, the river represents their journey.  Somedays it is upstream, and fighting a current wanting to push them back, other days the paddling is easy.  But most days they face a little but of turbulence that they must endure and continue to make heir way through like most people in society, while assuming their battle is far different.

---------------------------------

{PROMO}

Kirsten Scott sits alone, in a chair illuminated only by a single light, lightly swinging aove her head.  She stretches her neck, and rotates her shoulder, showing the effects of what the melee at Breakdown put her through.  The camera, being intitially at a distance, slowly zooms into her, and she looks up, beginning her speech...

Chance, I think neither of us like to have a REAL match, do we?  We prefer the FIGHT of the streets, and the willingness to just throw hands at whatever, and whomever, come our way.  But the problem was, this time I was ready for it.  Like I said, Chance... This time... It would be different...

Chance, we have our beef and our turmoil and the minute I feel like there is some kind of change in the odds, I'm going to be like a tiger backed into a corner.  I'm going to begin looking at where to strike first, and then strike often.  So while we had our moments of brawling, I kept one idea in the back of my head.  I kept ONE, SINGLE, SOLITARY, THOUGHT, just there as a "break, in case of emergency..."

Roll 'em up and hold 'em down...

You see, you were focused on the fight aspect again.  You made the mistake of doing exactly what I told you we had to NOT do, in order to make our match right.  We allowed that mentality to fuck us over once, and I went in there hoping it wouldn't be twice, but just in case, I made sure I was ready for your "swing for the fences" mentality.  And as our match progressed, you, more and more, reverted back into that mindset, where you wanted to fight me, and not face me, and that's when I knew I had to get you ready for a finish that would end in my favor, and then allow me one final moment...

The chance to throw more punches and FINISH the FIGHT!

So I did what I did...

I rolled you up, you were discombobulated enough to not realize what was happening, and once that third count happened, I went balls to the wall again, trying to FIGHT you.  And it was in that match, that fight, that finish, and that beatdown that I delivered after, that I can definitively say one thing...

Chance, our chapter is CLOSED!

And I don't say that to demean you, shut you down, or say you can never come after this Television Championship again, but it says that this whole saga, this fight battle, this between you and I is over.  If you want to work your way into my path again, you had better earn it.  You had better get this little squabble between us, you don't get to just FIGHT your way to me.  You have to EARN your way.  You don't get to get into this title picture because you beat someone up.  You get into this title picture again because you defeated an opponent in the ring...

Why?

I've fought you...

I've beaten you...

I've PINNED you...

Now it's your turn to realize what it takes to become Televison Champion the RIGHT way because I went down your path and neither of us won.  Then I made you look STUPID and made you realize what you were up against in the REAL WORLD.  So if you want to play with the big boys and girls again on my turf, you do so with MY BLESSING.  I'm not ruling you out, Chance... I'm simply saying you had your, well, chance, and you blew it.  Now you have to do like everyone else and prove that you are worthy of facing the new GENERATION of Television Champion in Supreme Championship Wrestling, and not some honyock that may or may not have been the flag bearer before me.

Like I say when this became my second reign... I am taking it seriously, and making sure that the WORKHORSE of SCW is truly seen, respected, and DEFINED, by what I do.  I am not going to let just anyone walk onto my playing field and become something that I have had to WORK for, twice... So if you want to vindicate yourself, if you want to say you're not just some thuggish brute who WANTS to be something bigger than they are on paper, you get over yourself and this rage that you have inside.  You grow up and decide to wrestle your opposition and step up to the plate, night in, and night out, and show the TELEVISION AUDIENCE why you are worthy of even being in contention for its championship.

The ball is in your court if you think this is TRULY your next step...

If it isn't... Go do what you want...

But if it is, know you have to grow up in my eyes.  And I will be in Mr. D's face for.  You have to grow up from this rage-monster mentality, if I'm Television Champion, and if you do, then our paths will cross again, and THEN the world will see something for THIS TITLE, it has never seen before...

Kirsten hands the Television Championship off to Hailey, flanking her at her right, as her focus goes away from it, to what is in front of her.

... But in Supreme Championship Wrestling, I have learned one thing, over my year long tenure, and that is nothing stops.  Nothing ends. Everything always flows from one moment to the next.  And while I could sit here and drone on about Chance and any future opportunities for the second straight time, guess what, Kirsten Scott has something bigger to fry than a third match with someone with anger issues...

And I know that's ironic for me to say after what happened at Breakdown, but hey, as one wrestler once said, tell me when I'm lying, when it comes to saying I'm the first to have some anger issues in SCW?

EXACTLY!

If anyone wants to claim irony, just go look back in SCW history, and get over it, because now "The One," is moving on and moving forward.  If that is something people don't like, darn, I guess they will have to just do the same, now, won't they?  Because the reality is I have something bigger in front of me NEXT, and it isn't another defense of MY Television Championship.  That's why I handed it to the side.  I didn't want to stand here, acting like a champion, when I am going to be going out there and trying to BECOME a champion in Supreme Championship Wrestling... AGAIN!

And this time, it's not just some random opportunity at a workhorse title that I've come to define...

Hailey's arm is seen reaching into frame with the Television Championship, and Kirsten pushes it off, looking in that direction.

STAHHHHP!

Hailey pulls her arm, and the title, out of frame.

... No, instead, I am getting an opportunity to move up the rankings.  And first and foremost, I am not going to say it is a match for a more important title.  Every title represents a something special in SCW.  The Adrenaline Championship, it's for the people who fly all over, the Underground Title is for the insane human beings, this Television Championship...

Hailey's arm very slowly comes in again, and is slowly pushed away by the palm of Kirsten's hand.

... This match, however, is for the United States Championship, a title with a lot of prestige to it.  One that has been one of the most competitive and fiercely defended and desired in the whole company.  And yes... I include the World Championship as well.  It's a title that, whomever holds it, ends up becoming marked, and PROVING to be one of the most difficult to defeat in the whole organization.  So the fact that Kirsten Scott has worked her way up the ladder, proven herself as a WORKHORSE, is now being seen as someone who deserves a chance to vie for something to put me in a new category of SCW superstar...

And that is not the Workhorse... That is the PEOPLE'S Champion...

You see SCW's United State's Champion is someone who goes out there and fights for everyone.  Sure, it's called the championship of ONE COUNTRY, but it truly represents everyone.  It represents the people who have strived to make SCW what it is today.  Your World Champion, that's just simple... It's the "best of the best" at that moment in time.  But the United States Champion, that's something bigger, if you ask me, because you're being asked to represent the people, versus just proving one singular point.  And that is something I have to look at and say, I am actually honored to be a part of.

Sure, part of my inclusion has to stem from what happened at Breakdown.  Sure, my involvement with the Frosts and Kelsai may have had something to do with it, and them deciding to, again, involve themselves in my business, probably helped, but the fact that the United States Championship will be on the line with me involved is nothing short of...

Well...

Kirsten smirks and her face turns from fun and cocky, to that of very stern and angered.

... An APOCALYPSE!

You see, Kelsai...

You see Deanna...

This whole, year long-ish, thing between the three of us is finally coming to a head, all this time later, and doing so with something on the line where it actually fucking matters.  I've been faced with you each, in my life, time and time again, over these past, roughly 12 months, and it's been a thorn in my side.  And now there's something for us to fight for.  Now there is a REASON for this all to finally come to an end, and it's not because of a brawl, it's not because the Frosts have overstayed their welcome in SCW, it's because it is time for someONE, a specific ONE, and "THE ONE," to go out there in front of the PEOPLE and assert her dominance...

Deanna, you got this title at Rise to Greatness, and you defended it afterward.  I commend you for that.  You made the pre-show matter, and were able to show the world on the main show that you were legit.  I felt I did the same, but I did so against FOUR others, all trying to eliminate ONE.  You just had to do so against Alexis Quinne and call it good.  You succeeded, and I will commend that.  I didn't.  I will ADMIT that.  But like I said, the odds were severely not in my favor, and that is here nor there, because we both made a statement that night.

I guess you could say Kelsai and Chance did, too, but the reality is, who stood in their way, huh?

But that was then, and the reality is now... I have done a lot since Rise to Greatness, and I'd argue I've done more than either of you two.  I've been the person, night in, night out, who has been EXPECTED to perform.  I have been THE... FUCKING... ONE... Who SCW has gotten to throw to the wolves every Breakdown, and just see if I can walk back in one piece.  And that's why I call what I do being the WORKHORSE for this company, but it's about time I expand my reach.  It's about time the WORKHORSE becomes something MORE for this company to lean on, and not just have to sit back and be the token Television Title match of an episode of Breakdown.  It's time that Televison Champion walk out there with more modicums of respect than ever before, and like the namesake of the pay-per view implies...

I am ready to shake this foundation to... Its... CORE!!!!

And, like it or not, that is going to happen...

Kelsai, Deanna, you two have been these little gnats flying around my head for so long, always avoiding being swatted, or somehow fitting through the holes of the flyswatter.  But like I said, here we are for a reason.  You survived for a reason.  It was because you weren't supposed to be erased from the annals of time by a simple swat.  You were salvaged for the purpose of your own Apocalypse.  You were salvaged for the date in which your entire existence became... Historic...

And I don't mean that in a manner where you are going to be this rising hero, I mean in the matter of Pompei.  You are both going to become very aware of what it is like to face a natural disaster at the hands of Kirsten Scott because I am done with this roundabout way we all keep crossing paths.  It's time your paths are led off of cliffs and you fall to your demise.

And that will be what happens...

I don't care what you fight for...

Chance's honor...

The honor of the Frost name...

None of it matters when the Apocalypse comes for you both because that will be when you both realize you are no longer champion of THE PEOPLE.  You don't represent what THE PEOPLE want in SCW.  I may not be the one who claims to be the champion of the people, but I will be the one SCW anoints as such because that night, I am going to leave you both looking up at me and seeing me hold, not just the Television Championship as SCW's ultimate workhorse, but the United States Championship as the definition of WHO I AM and now WHO ELSE I REPRESENT.  Because I already represent the locker room.  I represent those who scratch and claw.  Now it's time I show that I can do more for this organization, and, well, as one person once said...

I HAVE TO FINISH THE STOOOOOORY!

And my story has a long narrative, and this is just another chapter.  This is the NEXT chapter.  See I've always said my journey here was to write the next book, the next chapter, the next iteration of SCW, and scrub the shitty "prequel" that had kind of run its course after its first successes.  And I plan on finishing that ending the right way.  Not the "Firefly" way, where it's all scrambled... Not the "George Lucas" way, where it's just a shit show.  But the way SCW, the people, and those who PAVED THE FUCKING WAY, deserve.  So I will be leaving Apocalypse with the world in flames...

The Walls of Jericho, fallen...

The Potato Famine, mashed...

Pompeii, vanished...

This will be what is left in my wake, and all that will emerge is Kirsten Scott carrying another championship over her other shoulder, and showing the people, much like Moses, the way to the New World.  This will be the future.  This is the prophecy of The Oracle, herself...

And this will become the TRUTH that those in SCW live by, just like death and taxes... THERE WILL BE "THE ONE!"

[SnowQueenSCW]

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

”Oddity”

Frost ‘Forever Home’
Manhattan, New York
September 26th, 2023
10:13am


It wasn’t the sound of the rain that woke up Deanna, nor was it the dull ache in her knee, a reminder of the still recovering limb. It wasn’t even the louder thunder that came by in flashes as the morning storm made its way through Manhattan, no doubt watering the rest of the streets, homes and urban sectors of the city – maybe even reaching as far into New York as Times Square… which wasn’t really that far considering Deanna could, and had, walked from her house to it many times in the eight years she had lived here.

These were all things she would notice after she awoke. But they were not what awoke the young redhead. Not a sight or sound, but rather a sense of smell. A scent that slowly creeped up on her, as if wafting into her and her wife’s bedroom before finally settling on her nose. It was confusing at first, this new scent invading her dreary mind.

Had she been dreaming? Yes, she had been. She was still there a bit. Part of her mind was still replaying it as if trying to hold onto sleep for just a bit longer. She was in a field of daises with her beloved partner, holding the platinum-blonde’s hand as they walked. It was sunny and there was something going on today? Some kind of festival just down the path from the park they stood in – that was all her mind was conjuring as the smell filled her, adding to the confusion. Why did the flowers smell that way?

Inevitably, the battle of reality vs. dream ended, Deanna’s emerald eyes fluttering open to see the white ceiling of her bedroom. She didn’t move right away, merely lying on her back and taking in the smell, her mind still a little groggy to understand what it was she was smelling as her dream faded from her memory. It was then that she heard the sound of the rainfall pattering on the window and, despite not moving, felt the twinge in her knee as her muscles awoke with her, twitching and shifting a little.

Her knee was still recovering from her fight with Bree Lancaster weeks ago, and her battle with Sarah Wolf hadn’t helped things. It wasn’t debilitating or whatever. She could still train and wrestle with little difficultly. But much like a sore muscle or a bruised bone or a sore ligament, some of the pain still lingered.

To Deanna, it remained not only a bullseye for her opponents, but a reminder… one her mind immediately, yet slowly in her awakening state, drew towards. A reminder of what she was dealing with. The fact that there were people now seeing her as a target, as an opportunity. If Rise to Greatness had done anything, it had shown that Deanna Frost’s star was certainly on the rise. Add not one but two successful title defenses into her reign, more than the current world champion, Kandis, and now… Deanna was someone to beat. Someone worth beating. Not because of her last name, but because she was the United States Champion.

Slowly, the redhead exhaled through her nose, a soft hum sound coming from the expulsion of air. It was exciting and terrifying. She had wanted to carve her own path in SCW, perhaps learn from the past year, both from herself and from her wife. She didn’t want to become ‘fixated’ on a goal or put the world on her shoulders because she felt she had to. She simply wanted to do what she felt was right.

She wasn’t… arrogant wasn’t the right word… foolish? Could she call her wife that? It sounded like an insult, but she didn’t mean it to be. But what had caused so much strife for the Snow Queen had been the perpetual mentality that the platinum-blonde had to solve all of SCW’s problems. That she didn’t just have to be ‘the standard of integrity’ but she had to try to make EVERYONE be about integrity.

And that just seemed… or rather ‘grown’ to be… unrealistic. At least to Deanna.

It was like trying to get every animal in a zoo to be a zebra. Or every person to believe a certain concept. There would always be detractors. Critics. Cheaters. People with low to no morality. People that wanted a shortcut. People that enjoyed it. How had Kandis put it? ‘Shameless’? That was just life. She had met many people like that in her childhood in Kentucky, just as her wife had in Nome, Alaska. And SCW would always have people like that. People that favored cheating and ambushes and tactics backstage rather than settling their differences in a match and proving their words from bell to bell with skill and passion.

So, why did that bother her A LOT less than it had her partner? It had driven her lover straight out of SCW, leaving Deanna alone to fend for herself.

And it wasn’t as if Deanna couldn’t see the problems. SCW was… struggling to say the least. Yeah, CHBK was a snake and couldn’t be trusted fully… but he seemed to be trying! Genuinely trying to do right for the company. And yes, SCW was filled with annoying, bad, corrupt people to say the least, but there were good people there too! Bree, Luz, Amelia, Kelsai, Syren, Quinne just to name a few. People that were, at their core, decent, good people. So, it didn’t seem as hopeless to Deanna that SCW could be better overall. It just… it didn’t have to be her doing it alone or by herself.

She gave her head a little shake as she stretched her arms a bit, feeling her spine pop in a few places – which felt really good. Maybe it was because she hadn’t spent nearly ten years in SCW yet. Maybe her wife had just burnt out from so many years of trying to do right by the company she had loved.

That happens… her mind chimed in. And it was true. For the most part, Deanna had really just rolled with the punches. Fought the fight alongside her beloved and enjoyed the ride. There hadn’t really been any pressure or ‘expectations’ on her like there had been on the older Frost. Nobody had expected her to do well on her own. Nobody had expected her to win any awards or be a good tag-team partner with her wife in The House of Frost. Nobody had expected her to be more than a ‘flash-in-pan’, a concept that people had believed in more so after the dreaded ‘Five Moves of Doom’ match and an abysmal TV title reign that saw her lose to the biggest – what word had her wife used? ‘Jobber’? – in SCW history!

But that had just made her want to fight harder to prove herself. To prove people like The One – Kristen Scott, Deanna reminded herself – wrong. One of the loudest voices that had tried to ‘rid SCW’ of the Frosts, especially ‘The Face of SCW’ (surprise surprise), had broken Deanna’s arm in the elimination chamber just to get to the platinum-blonde. And had, arrogantly, thought that such a thing would be all that was needed to remove at least Deanna. It all had simply motivated Deanna to exceed those low ‘expectations’ of her and push herself further than before.

Even so, the weight of the world had never been on her shoulders, either by choice or by circumstance (both of which applied to her wife). She had never seen herself as some kind of ‘hero of SCW’ or ‘savior or integrity’. Yes, she believed in it and wanted her career, however long it lasted, to be full of it. No cheating, no needing to be cruel. No needing controversy or ‘special treatment’. Just her showing her ‘grit’! That was it.

In truth, as she lay in bed, she quietly prayed to never have the pressure her wife had endured. She didn’t want the weight of the world on her shoulders. She never wanted to feel like she had to ‘save’ everything. She just wanted to prove herself in SCW. She just wanted to keep working at getting better, working towards ‘whatever was next’. Right now? That was having a full and successful reign as the United States champion. After that? Who could say? Would she still be the United States champion? Was ‘The One’ – Kristen – with her lengthy TV title reign too much for the redhead or was Kelsai secretly this amazing talent that could beat anyone and pull up what some would see as ‘an upset’? Champion… not champion… Deanna wasn’t sure what would happen at Apocalypse or after it. But she wasn’t interested in being ‘The New Face’ or whatever… hell, she couldn’t even be ‘The Queen’s Guard’ anymore without a queen in SCW.

“Maybe I need a new nickname…” she whispered under her breath, though nothing jumped out at her as she lay in bed. Still, it felt like a necessary discussion she would have to have at some point, either with someone in SCW like Amy Chastaine – who had, oddly, started taking a fondness to the redhead – or her wife, though that seemed less and less likely as the days went by…

Again, the smell came back, this time a bit stronger, but along with it came a sound. A slight, barely perceptible, sizzling sound from down below her – like WAY down below her. The first time, she had been too groggy to really understand it or recognize it. But now? Now that she was awake? It was so much easier.

It was bacon. Yummy bacon!

For a brief moment, Deanna savoured the smell, allowing a smile to form across her features as she stretched again. The next second, she had pulled off the covers and shifted herself to stand on the floor, ignoring the slight ache from her knee as she stood up. She was only a few steps towards the door before she suddenly veered to the right, taking a necessary detour to the bathroom, allowing nature’s call to be answered. She even gave herself a minute afterwards to gaze at herself in the mirror, enough time to fix her red mane of bed-hair, pulling the strands and combing them down into the free waterfall of red that it was. Washing her face with cold water, the young woman finally allowed herself to exit her bedroom, making her way downstairs – playfully seeing herself as Toucan Sam! Follow your nose! she thought in delight as her hand, using the stair-rail, guided her down the stairs, following the smell and familiar ‘sizzle-sound’ as they both grow fuller and louder respectfully.

Within another minute, she was standing at the doorway, her eyes watching the woman in the kitchen moving around. As for the kitchen itself? It was filled with various bowls, mixtures/batters, utensils, and food! On the kitchen table was a lovely platter of food, from fresh-cut fruit to toast to waffles to, of course, fresh-cooked bacon!

“Did you raid our entire fridge?” came the playful voice from Deanna as she leaned against the doorway, her arms crossed over her chest, feeling the fabric of her dark-green nightgown. Before her, the woman stopped and turned, allowing Deanna to see her fully. She wore blue jeans and a charcoal-black t-shirt. Her hair was pulled back into a tight but messy bun, with several strands fanning out from it. Still, the woman smiled at Deanna.

“Actually.” Selena slowly stuck her tongue out playfully. “I went grocery shopping.”

“This early?” Deanna asked with a tilt of her head as she moved into the kitchen, opting to lean on the one side of the counter that was clean and devoid of food/batter/mixture. “What was open?”

The question seemed to surprise or confuse the older woman – Deanna wasn’t sure which – as Selena tilted her head to regard the redhead. “You know it’s past ten a.m, right?”

It was Deanna’s turn to be surprised, the woman jerking her head towards the digital clock on the microwave, but she also checked the one on the damn oven to make sure she wasn’t seeing things or one of those clocks was lying! There was no trickery. It was past 10am, moving closer to 1030am actually. But… she had gone to bed at ten, opting for an earlier turn in after her workout in their gym-

“I slept for nearly 12 hours?” emerald eyes grew wide, almost in disbelief were it not for the clocks she had seen. Despite this information, Selena merely gave a shrug of her shoulders.

“Maybe you were super tired.” She offered with a patient smile. “Remember when I had days like that? I could sleep the whole day away…” her voice trailed off a little as she fixed a plate with a waffle, some bacon and some cut fruit. “You’re allowed to give yourself time to recover, Deanna. It’s a lot that you’re doing.”

“I know but…” again, her eyes went wide in sudden realization. “It’s a school day! The kids-“

“I took them.” Selena interjected. “Sit down and calm down, sweetheart.” She gently pressed, offering the full plate to an empty spot on the table, complete with coffee, orange juice and utensils. “I got them to school before I went grocery shopping.”

“Oh…okay…” Deanna breathed as she fully entered the kitchen/dining area. “Sorry I wasn’t up. Were they…” she winced a little as she took her seat, more at the thought than any physical discomfort – even as she felt Selena’s gentle hand on her arm to help her sit. “Were they disappointed?”

“A little.” The older woman admitted. “But I told them you were working hard and that they needed to understand that.” Standing beside her seated wife, the platinum-blonde, without hesitation, leaned down to kiss the her wife’s forehead. “You’re sort of the breadwinner now.”

Deanna had to scoff at that. While, yes, she was the only person with an ‘active income’ in regards to her staying in SCW, Selena was still the one ‘bringing home the bacon’. First, despite being out of SCW, her merchandise was still on sale. Second, all her years of savings, months and months as a champion of some kind – and all the bonuses it held, and some investments here and there, had left them with more than enough money where retirement could happen tomorrow and they’d still be fine in their ‘Forever Home’. It came from not needing a dozen new cars or boats or some high-class vacation every few months like some of the less ‘thrifty’ superstars in SCW – not to mention Selena never taking a ‘break’ in her employment in almost ten years. Still, Deanna didn’t mention any of that, merely shrugging her shoulders.

“Have you…” she tried to choose her words carefully. “Have you given any more thought to what you want to do now?”

She had been asked week after week at Breakdown about her wife. From friends like Jessica to people like Jaina, to fans, to fellow wrestlers – all asking the same thing. When was Selena coming back? After a week or two, it had become ‘IS Selena coming back?’. She couldn’t go a week or a show without someone wondering or asking her about it, as if looking for some ‘inside scoop’ – including Amy Chastaine. Of course, Deanna had answered honestly each time.  That she didn’t know. Because she didn’t… and it bothered her to no end.

She was Selena’s wife, the closest person in the platinum-blonde’s life, and even she wasn’t being told what the ‘plan’ was. What was Selena’s ‘next step’.

It wasn’t about the money Selena brought in as a celebrity/top-tier wrestler or even the worry of their future. It was just… Deanna couldn’t put words to it. Since leaving SCW, her wife had simply shifted. Done a 180! She never spoke about wrestling, unless in passing, didn’t watch anything, including Deanna’s matches, hell, the Snow Queen had locked up her office space and, far as she knew, hadn’t visited it since that first Breakdown of the new season.

Far as it seemed, Selena wanted nothing to do with wrestling or SCW – even the influx of calls from companies like TIA and XWF went unanswered by the Snow Queen, and since that episode of Breakdown, there had been many! She couldn’t imagine how many emails her wife had ignored since then. Offers from companies to have “The Face of SCW” join them. Promises of better pay, more respect, more appreciation from the fans… all went unanswered far as Deanna knew. As if those weren’t even things Selena really wanted anyway. Not money, not praise, not devotion…

Still, if that wasn’t what Selena was looking for with leaving SCW, then what was it she wanted… Deanna wanted to know. She didn’t know what to make of ‘this’ Selena.

Hearing her question, Selena gave a slow exhale before shrugging her shoulders. “No, I haven’t.” she answered honestly, yet simply, without the slightest hint of shame.

“O…okay.” Deanna nodded. “No rush.” She tried, picking up a fork to poke at a piece of sliced strawberry.

“I mean…” she heard Selena breathe. “Factually, speaking, I really don’t have to work again for the rest of our lives. Same with you. We can still afford the house, the kids’ education and such. We may want to sell the bus and plane eventually, not to mention let Eric go when we do that, provided we can get him a good job before that, but…yeah… I’m happy here.”

“But…” Deanna breathed. “You can’t just be a stay-at-home mom, Selena.”

“Why not?” she saw her wife smile good-naturedly, not seemingly upset with Deanna’s assessment. Again, something very different than the Selena she had seen for so many months – the one with the weight of SCW on her shoulders who could – and sometimes had – snapped at the most miniscule things. Quietly, she pulled out the chair next to Deanna to sit beside her. “Deanna, I’ve never had the chance to be a real stay-at-home mom or wife. It was you when you were my manager and then Gerda when… well, Frankfurt… and then a wrestler.” Deanna gave a nod, not wanting to dwell too much of her time in that prison.

“I haven’t… you know…” Selena gave a shrug, sapphire eyes on the hands that held Deanna’s free one. “Haven’t ever had the chance to just be… a mom, you know? I missed so many things of our children. And I realized when I left SCW that this was really a blessing in disguise.” She offered a smile, a genuine one, to her wife – something Deanna had, she realized, seen more and more of as the days had passed since Selena’s departure. “Even in Nome, I became a wrestler for a better life for Elsianna. It wasn’t until SCW grew on me that I became attached to it. Now that it’s… well, what it is.” Again, that wince but she seemed to pull back a little before recovering. “Now that I’m done with it, I can focus on what I should have for a long time. Us. The family.”

“But…I mean… you can do other things.” Deanna offered. “Like what about friends? What about the neighbours? We can go out more often too.”

“It all sounds wonderful.” Selena smiled again, giving Deanna’s hand an affectionate squeeze. “But I’m taking it slow. Baby steps. I’ve been one thing for so long… this is just all so new to me. I just… I guess… I just want to be happy.” She tried to explain. “After so many months of fighting for nothing-“

“It wasn’t fighting for nothing.” Deanna corrected.

“It was.” Selena sighed with a mild correction. “They didn’t want me. They didn’t want what I stood for anymore. Integrity…good form… honor…” her eyes grew a little distant, seeing something that only she could see before snapping back to reality, her gave, once more, locked on her wife. “They wanted me out.” She gave a shrug. “It’s fine. I was growing stale or something. An old act. Like The One said – out with the old.”

“Please don’t say that.” Deanna sighed. “I don’t want you to believe that.”

“Deanna, it’s fine.” Selena smiled another genuine smile. “It’s better this way. To leave on my own… well, not my own terms but before things got worse. I… I didn’t like what I was becoming and I don’t want to be somewhere that I’m not wanted. And with me gone, you can carve your own path, make your own name – and I know that you can win the fans over!”

“I…I guess…”

The idea had never really hit the redhead. The idea that she could be really liked by the fans anymore. In the beginning, it had been her association with Selena that had gotten her cheered. Then, when they had booed the Snow Queen, Deanna had been lumped in there too. She had been thrown off in the past by such random and wide-ranged audience reactions, however, much like her opponents’ views of her – always drawing her in with her marriage to Selena – it was ‘by association’.

Now? The reactions were muddy. They weren’t loud and wild cheering like with Kandis and her… ‘displays’, but neither were they the roaring ‘boos’ her wife had gotten for reasons that still baffled several in SCW, including Deanna. They were somewhere… in the middle? Was it really that way?

Some booed her and others were cheering – some still gave her high-fives during her entrance too! That was always fun! And some kids still wanted to get pictures with her after the shows, that always cheered her up!

In short… things were just… strange in SCW – about as strange as they were with “Selena the housewife” here. It wasn’t bad – it was good in some ways – just… it was all strange, perhaps because it was all so different from what had been her ‘status quo’ for so many years. Deanna missed the way the two of them could be united in a goal. She missed the ‘work discussions’ they would have in strategy to a match one, or both, of them had. She missed being able to talk about her hopes and dreams in SCW with a woman of such vast experience and then listen to Selena’s in return. She missed sharing goals and dreams with her wife, like regaining the tag-team titles – though that seemed impossible now.

It had been Selena’s one request in all of this. Unless she asked, there was no talk about SCW. The platinum-blonde simply didn’t want it. In an emergency, yes, checking in on Deanna’s health, sure, or advice on moves, perhaps – but that was pushing it. Otherwise, nothing. She didn’t want to know what was happening. She didn’t want to know who was running what or who was champion or what the fans thought – nothing. Far as she was concerned… SCW was on its own, and so was she, everything regulated down to a simple “How was work?”, which meant a one word answer from the redhead like “Okay” or “Meh” if she was lucky.

Was that why Deanna had been drawn to Amy Chastaine? Because she was filling the role Selena refused to fill now as some sort of guide or mentor? The redhead wasn’t sure but she had kept her word to Selena. She hadn’t spoken a word about her match with Wolf or her upcoming match at Apocalypse – a triple threat for the United States championship – or her fears regarding it.

To keep herself from talking about it then and there, Deanna gave a nod to Selena’s remarks before biting into a piece of bacon, tasting the crunchy, salty cooked meat on her tongue. Even if her mind refused to shut up, she could keep herself from doing that thing where she constantly rambled on without thinking! Food was the answer in this case!

Still, her mind persisted. Particularly Amy’s remark on ‘being too nice’ in SCW. What did that even mean? ‘Being too nice’? Deanna wasn’t ‘too nice’! She was in the business of fighting and beating up other people! What was ‘nice’ about that? I mean, yes, she tried to give people the benefit of the doubt like Selena did and, okay, she had forgiven a number of people that had screwed her or her wife over in the past, sure. And, okay!, she had become the voice of reason to a lot of ‘shady’ things happening to Selena… but ‘too nice’?

Was that even possible?

Or was it something less literal than simply being kind? Maybe it was a warning that Amy had foreseen in her experience in SCW. The woman was the fastest Supreme Champion in SCW history. Had seen her share of injuries and vicious superstars that did said ‘injuring’ – having been injured and, basically, taken out by Bree Lancaster years ago. Maybe that was the warning. That if Deanna wasn’t willing to go to ‘a certain point’, then she stood to suffer for it – maybe even be taken out of SCW for it...

It wasn’t a horrendous leap in logic! She was going to face Kristen Scott – the woman that had not only started an unnecessary brawl backstage just for the sake of her continued ‘warped mission’ of removing the old or whatever but broken Deanna’s arm.

Would she do it again to become United States Champion? Deanna almost scoffed at the thought, with bacon still in her mouth. There was no question. Kristen Scott was still “The One”. A name change or add-on didn’t erase that fact. She was still the woman obsessed with removing any Frost from SCW and achieving victory. Still a woman that would do anything to get what she wanted.

Was that what Amy had meant? That Deanna was ‘too nice’ to stoop that low? Well, yeah… that was true. Despite herself, Deanna couldn’t condone doing something like that to another superstar just to ‘win’ or ‘get a title’. No one deserved that! No one deserved to go through what she did just because of a match. It was cruel! It was unfair!

Did that make her ‘too nice’?

She wasn’t sure how Kelsai would feel about it because they hadn’t had much a of a history in dealing with each other, far as Deanna could remember. But no, she wouldn’t do that. She wouldn’t injure an opponent just to get an ‘advantage’ or ‘a win’. It was wrong! Bottom line, it was wrong!

The sudden feeling of lips against her temple made Deanna jump a little, quick ‘meep’ escaping her at the unexpected kiss. She heard a quiet giggle, so care-free, next to her ear before she felt another kiss on her cheek before Selena leaned back a little.

“You’re gonna get wrinkles constantly frowning like that.” The platinum-blonde teased.
“Says the woman who already has white-hair in her thirties.” Deanna teased back, sticking out her tongue at the woman for added measure.

Giving a quick and confident wink in return, Selena pushed herself out of her seat, once more moving around the kitchen, this time for cleanup.

“I can do that!” Deanna tried. “You made breakfast-“
“Quite alright.” Selena smiled back. “Enjoy the food. I’m also sure you’ve got ‘work-stuff’ to do.”

‘Work-stuff’. That’s what Selena was calling it as part of their new ‘no shop talk’ policy. Working out, studying videos – and Deanna still had a lot of those to go to where One/KRISTEN was concerned, given the fact that the woman was the SCW Television champion and, by the rules of the belt, had to defend it every show (for the most part).

For that, Deanna was grateful. One could brag about having more matches than either her or Kelsai, but it also meant that Deanna could study so much more relevant stuff! Up-to-date move list, mentality, weaknesses! She had found that stuff boring for so long- ”Can’t I just run in and just beat the person up?” – Gods, she had sounded so immature and petty back then. But now? Creating strategy based on ‘knowing your enemy’? Something her wife had taught her in her wars with Vixen Cain and Adam Allocco and Xander Valentine… it was sort of fun! ‘STRATERGIZING’ Deanna had playfully called it, and it was one more thing she missed sharing with Selena.

“What are you going to do?” Deanna asked. “I mean, with your free-time?”

“I’ve got a paper due for Mrs. Winthrop.” Selena sighed. “Gotta finish that.”

“Oh yeah… how is that going?” Deanna quickly asked. She had been so preoccupied with her wife quitting SCW and being the United States Champion, that she didn’t have as much time to help Selena with her ‘witch homework’ than she had before. Again, she watched as Selena shot her another warm smile.

“Good.” She answered. “Scored 83% on the last test.”
“That’s great, Selena!” Deanna smiled.
“You probably got 100%.” Selena teased back, not really caring which of them was the ‘smartest’.
“No…but I did okay.” Deanna shrugged. Despite her obligations, she had done all she could to maintain a good standing with the Alden family – if only because of the deal they had put the Frosts through.

Still… she also was enjoying learning so much about the Aldens and the history of witches therein. As for her wife, well… it was actually something that was also benefitting from Selena’s departure from SCW. The Snow Queen had thrown herself into her studies, immediately showing improvement in her tests and papers. She wasn’t a genius and se sure as hell didn’t understand everything, but with no burdens or stress on her regarding ‘saving a federation’, she would handle a few quizzes and papers, it seemed.

“Do you…” Deanna bit her lower lip, her hand distractedly playing with a piece of waffle. “Do you want to train with me today? If you get a moment I mean…”

She saw her wife’s back to her stiffen, the older Frost’s hands finding the counter near the sink she was cleaning the dishes in. For a moment, there was utter silence between the two. The longer it dragged on, the more and more Deanna regretted her words.

“It’s just… I’m nervous….” Her words started to speed up as she tried to explain. “And it’s a triple threat and I’ve been in fatal-fourways before but not with this kind of pressure. Because I don’t want to stop being champion and I don’t want The One to get the title after flying off the handle week after week and-“

“Deanna.” The voice was louder and firmer, but it didn’t scare Deanna, merely grabbing her attention. Slowly, she watched her wife, who looked so much taller with her standing and Deanna sitting, turned around to face the redhead. “I can’t.” there was a firmness in her voice but also a hint of sadness there.

“I know… we talked about it.” Deanna sighed, casting her eyes down at her food. “But… can we just… I mean… I’m scared.”

A sigh escaped the pale lips of the Snow Queen as Selena regarded her wife, her head tilting a little to the side. “I know.” She breathed. “But you have to do this alone.”

“Why?” Deanna asked, feeling the sudden spike of frustration. “Why did you have to leave cold turkey? You could have been my manager like I was for you if you didn’t want to wrestle. We could at least talk about it! We could study together, train together, but no! You make this life-changing decision without even asking me! You just throw at me at the hand-binding ceremony and then just walk out on SCW and me!”

“I didn’t walk out on you!” Now there was a defensive spike in Selena’s voice. “I would never-“
“Not on me me!” Deanna corrected. “Not on me, your wife. Me your wrestling partner!”

There was another bout of silence, shorter than the first as Deanna found her words. “You didn’t just walk out on SCW, Selena.” She breathed. “You walked out on me. On us ever being the tag-team champions again. On us being The House of Frost. On me learning more from you and being better. Of making you proud. Of learning from you – do you know how much I loved that?! That I could learn from you not just in life but in wrestling too?! Now… that’s gone. And I’m… I’m alone.”

She reached up to wipe at a stray tear in her eye. “I’m alone when I drive to the airport. I’m alone when I drive to the towns or fly there. I’m alone in the hotels because I can’t take the limo-bus anymore because you’re not there. I’m alone when I arrive at the arenas and when I sit in the locker room. I’m alone when I walk the ramp. I’m alone when I wrestle. I’m alone when I meet the fans. I’m alone when I head back here…”

“And…” she breathed, her voice a little shakier. “And all anyone wants to talk about is you. Where are you? When are you coming back? What is going on? Questions I can’t answer but remind me just how alone I am in this wrestling world.” Angrily, she swiped at her eyes again before turning her emerald-glare towards Selena. “So no. You didn’t just leave SCW, you left me. And I had no choice in the matter.”

There was no longer anything defensive in Selena’s posture or gaze as she took her wife’s onslaught. Rather, as Deanna tried to study, the platinum-blonde simply nodded her head. “I know. And I’m sorry.”

That answer sent shockwaves through Deanna, mostly because there was no denying it or even trying to defend herself against it. The Selena she had seen before Rise to Greatness would have fought to be ‘right’ with every fiber of her being, obsessed with doing the right thing and being right and bringing integrity and ‘the greater good’ and all that. But there her wife stood, accepting the accusations.

“I should have told you sooner… and I… I was selfish. I admit that. But I…” she took a shaky breath. “I need to be selfish, Deanna. At least in this.” Quickly, she moved across the room, placing her pale hand over Deanna’s once more. “You don’t think I want to be your manager? To help you through this time as you’re FINALLY getting the chance to have your own career? I do! I very much do!” again, she gave Deanna’s a firm squeeze, though this one seemed far more desperate, as if she was trying to will on her honestly into the gesture so Deanna could feel it. “But… it’s like my addictions. Once I start…”

“You won’t be able to stop.” Deanna slowly breathed.

“And then I’ll be right back to being a wrestler again.” Selena sighed. “Back to being obsessed with integrity and doing right by the fans, even if they hate me. Doing good by the company. And I… I just can’t do that to myself anymore. It hurts too much. And it’s costing me too much with you and the kids.”

Deanna didn’t answer right away, merely letting her wife’s words sink in as the taller woman held her hand, Selena slowly tracing her thumb against the top of Deanna’s knuckles. It made sense, and Deanna knew it. How easy would it be for Selena to slip further and further until she was a wrestler again, which the Snow Queen clearly didn’t want to do? Even so… though she understood it… she still didn’t like it.

“I should…” she breathed. “I should go train.” She settled on saying. “After I change.”

Carefully pushing herself out of her seat, Deanna moved further from Selena. “Thank you for breakfast… or brunch…” she shrugged, a crooked smile ghosting her features before she turned, making her way to the doorway. However, the compulsion to say one last thing stopped her, causing the young woman to turn her head to regard her seated wife, Selena still gazing at her.

“I’m not saying I don’t understand, because I do. I very much understand. But…” she gave a quiet sigh before she spoke her mind. “Running away from your problems never solved anything. Neither does hiding from them. You taught me that. Just like you taught our children that.”

With a turn, she left her wife with that thought. She needed to hear that. She thought firmly. And if fighting her own wars in SCW completely alone was what was needed to get her wife to see the validity in her words, then so be it.

Screw fighting to change SCW… she thought as she made her way upstairs to change. I don’t need to change the world. I just need to show that some things are truly worth fighting for!

_______________________________________________________________

The Guard Tower

So… a lot of talk’s been happening around, right guys? I mean, the elephant in the room regarding my spouse aside, SCW has been forced to shift things lately. We’ve had new management. We’ve had new champions and a new season of SCW as it emerges into its 21st year. And between people being ‘banned from world titles for X amount of matches won in a row’, to legends putting their careers on the line, to a quote ‘Shamless champion’, to an SCW without its Face…

There is a shift in things and what has been asked of me, what has been wondered besides the proverbial game of “Where in the world is Selena Frost?” is how will I adapt in this new SCW. Will I leave it as my wife did because the fans don’t quite understand or believe in me? Will I change like Amy Chastaine asked me to? Will I this, will I that… on and on it goes…

But you see… the problem is that everyone – I mean everyone here in SCW – is giving me WAY too much credit. You guys think I am capable of that level of planning. That level of seeing into the future, of foresight? The truth is… I’m just a redhead that wanted to be a wrestler and now is living that dream every day. I’m just a girl from Kentucky, living in Manhattan and wanting to be something worthwhile in my own life. I don’t have to be ‘too nice’ or ‘tough’ or ‘violent’ or whatever people want to slap on me. At the end of the day, I just have to be… well, me.

And that is the most important thing for me here! That everything I do isn’t because someone told me to or someone demanded it but rather something I decided to do on my own decisions. Something I choose to do every time I step in this ring and fight between these ropes! Never settling and never accept other people’s ‘views’ of me!

It is what made me believe in integrity, sure, but it also is what kept me alive in Frankfurt. It is what kept me alive in SCW. It is what has kept me alive when everyone else was sure that I couldn’t stand here without a Snow Queen looking out for me.

And yes, that was the case for a long time. When Chris Cannon threw me into the barricade years ago, I felt it. When Adam Allocco beat me with five moves, I felt it. When Chlamydia stole the Television title from me, I felt it. When Rated X stole the tag-titles from the House of Frost, I felt it!

I felt failure, I felt weakness, I felt inability, I felt the blame. Because when the measuring stick is, quite arguably, the greatest world champion of all time, you don’t need anyone to tell you that you don’t quite measure up…

It is no secret, it has been something that has been haunting me for nearly two years – ‘The Shadow of Selena Frost’. But even so, even with everything that’s come with being married and in love with Selena, I wouldn’t have changed a thing. The struggles, the ongoing battles I have to carve my path here. And it’s because of that certainty that I can say, and I’ll say it directly to Amy Chastaine with all the respect in the world: Maybe I am ‘too nice’, Amy. Maybe I am… but I wouldn’t change a thing about who I am. I rather be ‘too nice’ in your eyes and the eyes of every person that hates anyone with the last name of ‘Frost’, then hate myself every time I look in the mirror! I rather be me than hide behind a name, or a gimmick, or a concept I do not truly believe in!

You can hate me! All of you can! Voice your opinions, I love that you do! Believe or don’t believe! Because I am not here to alter SCW or save it or ram integrity down your throats. And I’m not here to be a scandal or pariah. No! I am here because I have my own journey and my own road to lead. I have a journey that I don’t entirely know the destination… but I am excited! I am here because I love it here! I love to show my grit and I love to show the world that I am so much more than the wife of a Snow Queen!

And to stand here now, with the United States title, one of the top titles in SCW - a product of that grit and determination, that willingness to roll with the punches when others won’t or can’t? That is…that is such a feeling! It’s vindication! It’s proof positive! It’s evidence that I don’t need to be a ‘hero’ or a ‘villain’. I don’t need to be a ‘savior’ or ‘shameless’ or anything like that. I don’t need to fill every newscast or TMZ!

I just need to be me! Deanna Frost. I just need to be me even when the world says ‘change’ or someone screams ‘Run! I’m gonna destroy you!’.

So… in that regard, let’s talk about Apocalypse! Because if you want to talk about that – then really, elephant in the room? Let’s talk about Kristen Scott, or as I know her better: “The One”…

The One… the self-proclaimed ‘workhorse of SCW’. And I find that to be rather interesting of a statement, One, because you’ve talked about it for weeks now – pretty sure you said it six or seven times in your promo before trying to shove your ‘People’s Champion’ idea that you liked better. But you gave a decent argument: How you’re doing more matches than anyone else. How you’ve run roughshod in the Television Championship division! How you have this killer instinct about you…

And I would be lying if I didn’t see that on full display. I mean, no disrespect to Kelsai, I respect her very much, but you compare the three of us together: You, me and Kelsai, it’s been the two of us, One, that’s made the most of our opportunities. Kelsai shuffled from a television title opportunity to trying to help her group have that title with Chance Owens, to getting a chance to become number one contender for the world tag-team titles. And, despite her talents, her knowledge, her experience, all the respect I have for that woman, such opportunities have, sadly, slipped through her fingers.

You and me, One? We can’t afford to let opportunities slip through our fingers. We have to grab them because who knows when they are going to come back, am I right? So I understand your desire to make the most of your reign as Television Champion and this triple threat opportunity for the United States Championship! If this were just a matter of who will win based on our abilities to make the most of opportunities, I’d say you and I are rather close with Kelsai slightly trailing behind.

But while you want to quote other wrestlers like it’s going out of style, let me give you an original line here… One I gave to you months and months ago….

“Is that all you’ve got?”

I mean, One – sorry, Kristen Scott, right? ‘The One’ is just a nickname now, right? Well, Scott, you come here and declare up and down that my ‘destruction’ is inevitable. That you’re going to ‘shake SCW to its core’… How can this redhead possibly ask such a question with such a promise of pain and suffering?

Better question, Scott: Why does it all sound so familiar? Like hearing that old tune on the jukebox and becoming giddy because you happen to know the lyrics! Because if someone was capable of destroying me, like you’ve claimed for nearly a year to be capable of, Kristen… why haven’t you beaten me yet?

Let’s go back a ways, shall we? The most iconic moment in our history, One! The moment that started it all! Let’s go back to the night where you and I were tossed in the elimination chamber for the number one contender spot for the world title. There a young girl is, hair as red as the blood on her face. Exhausted from having already competed in a tag match earlier that night yet still trying to hold her own inside one of the deadliest structures in SCW history.

Do you remember that night, One? Under Attack last year? Or is it all ‘buzzing’ from the fly that you’d rather forget? The reason I remember that night so acutely, Kristen, is because that was the night you decided (not for the first time) to try and make a name for yourself at someone else’s expense. To try and get my wife, the big fish’s, attention… by breaking my arm!

Without remorse or hesitation, you chose to try and eliminate me not just from the match but from SCW altogether, all because you thought “the Frosts had overstayed their welcome”. You, a rookie, same as me, thought you knew better than all of SCW, just like now with you choosing to ‘close the book’ on your feud with Chance Owens, arrogantly thinking you call all the shots around here.

Remind me, Scott, how did that night go? I eventually got my arm put in a cast and? That’s right, I still eliminated you from the chamber. You literally broke my arm and still couldn’t take me down, One! And for weeks and weeks, I struggled with rehab, I struggled to come back and when I did, what happened?

You were waiting for me. Ready to pounce and ready to try again and take what I had earned in SCW. You haunted me, stalked me, attacked me from behind with Nicole Kinneck – Pro, I know – but how did THAT little venture of yours go?

Let me paraphrase YOU, since you do it so often…

I fought you.
I beat you.
I made you pass out!

And it isn’t bragging or arrogance that I bring this up, One. Far from it. I know how dangerous you are. I know how good you are and how you keep getting better. You brag about numbers, yeah!, by obligation of the title you carry, you HAVE to defend that title every show. I know. I wore it too! The fact you’ve held it as long as you have is a testament of your ability, ruthlessness and that desperation to be more. Throw that in with that promo where you are practically begging the SCW Universe for a nickname, and you’ve got a recipe for a very arrogant, but deadly, woman that could easily do more than just break my arm this time around.

So, with all your growth and betterment since our last fight, Scott, all these lofty dreams of being ‘The People’s Champion’… why haven’t you figured me out yet? Why are you still missing things?

You think all I had to do was beat Quinne and ‘call it a day’? Do you remember who, precisely, I had to beat to get this title for the main show in the first place? Or who I had to retain it from on the first episode of Breakdown this season? Bree FRIGGIN’ Lancaster! Easily one of the top ten greatest female wrestlers in the history of SCW! Twice, I had to beat her, and she isn’t even the first former world champion I’ve beaten! Can you say that, One? How many former world champions have you beaten in this reign of yours, since you like talking about numbers. How many former world champions have you silenced MULTIPLE times? I’m sure you can brag about beating Syren once but it’s kind of hard to do that considering the last time you fought her, she trounced you!

Do you want to know the real reason I’ve beaten you over and over, while you don’t have a single victory over me, Kristen? It’s not because I’m more talented or more experienced than you. Ask Amy Chastaine, I’m sure she’ll say you’re far more vicious than I am. It’s not because I have some secret weapon…

No, it’s because you continuously underestimate me. You see me as the fly buzzing around your head and someone that’s ‘lucked out’ when facing you because I avoided the ‘swatter’ – odd analogy because I thought you were the horse, but still…

The reality is, however, is that I didn’t ‘luck out’ by you missing me. You got me every time, Scott. You squashed me. The scar on my arm is proof of that. You’ve ‘smooshed’ me several times! The reason I am still here, however, is because I took your beating, your ‘swatting’ and instead of just ‘dying’ like any other fly would, I got back up and kept fighting!

That is the difference between us, ‘horse’. The fact that, yeah, I’m breakable, but unlike you, I don’t know how to quit. You want to know what REALLY makes a workhorse in SCW? It’s not being here and bragging when it’s easy. When you’re at a high wave of momentum and can’t seem to come down! It’s the days things DON’T go your way! When you’re knocked so hard to the ground that everyone believes you won’t get back up and you still do! It’s the days when you’re too hurt to move but you do it anyway! It’s the days when you’re not the hottest thing walking but maybe the most hated or disbelieved person – a person all the SCW Universe wants to quit - and you still come here to fight for what you believe in and what you want to be! It’s the days, not when your friends support you, but you’re alone… with no one… and you still stand tall and still keep fighting!

It's called GRIT, One. And no matter how many times you’ve swatted me and, literally, trampled over me, I have kept getting back up because of it! More than that, while you’re content to throw cliches around, I have been in the trenches with the best to get better. Yeah, I evolved too. Just that, instead of changing my name and shouting one-liners, I got better in the ring so I can stand toe to toe with greats like Glory Braddock and Alexis Quinne and beat them! Where I can headline Breakdown episodes while you have stayed to your little ‘tricks’ of ambushes and blindside attacks from the crowd from last year!

So, yes, Kristen, though you use a different name, I very much know this tune you are playing. What’s more, I very much know how to OWN this tune you are playing! To the point where I can stand at Apocalypse, not in terror because of its name, but with a hunger to prove myself further and show that I don’t have to be ‘The People’s Champion’ or ‘The Workhorse’ or even ‘The Queen’s Guard’ but Deanna Frost – my own woman playing by her own rules and staying the SCW United States Champion!

The world won’t burn tonight, Kristen Scott, but your momentum and your arrogance will. Even if you break my arm again… even if you swat me down again, even if your trample on me again! I’ll just get back up and keep fighting until I beat you once more. And all your promises? All your borrowed lines? Well…fitting for the name… I will simply burn them out!

Checkmate, bitches!