Villain of the Year
”The Question Remains…”
Frost ‘Forever Home’
Manhattan, New York
January 5th, 2025
1:12am
She let the scalding hot water – yes,
scalding, hot water - soak into her skin, her entire body save for her head submerged within the familiar, large tub. It felt good, if not a little strange, she did not have these kind of baths very often, opting for the coldest temperature (and using ice to drop it more so) for her baths to revitalize and rejuvenate her.
However, Selena Frost wasn’t taking a bath to ‘wake herself up’. She was using the heat to slow herself down. To drain her and make her sleepy. Because it was past 1am – she had to be up in five hours to get breakfast ready for the children AND get them to school for their first day of classes since the holiday break.
And knowing all of this – she STILL couldn’t fall asleep!
She tried every aspect after putting the kids to bed around 9pm. Warm milk had failed, then she had tried a cardio workout on the treadmill, running for a solid hour. When that had backfired and only further ‘awakened her’, she had swam laps in the adjacent pool area. That had started to work – at least she physically felt tired and sore after about forty minutes of swimming – which had prompted the whole idea of a hot-water soak in the bathtub, her current situation.
Checking in, the Snow Queen could feel her body relaxing, tired and sore from the pair of cardio workouts, but her mind still was rather sharp. And it still hadn’t been able to process the same question that had rampaged her mind the last few days.
Why?
A simple question, yet one she couldn’t answer. Though this time, the question did cause her to open her eyes and look outside the open bathroom, through the doorway and into the unlit, adjoining bedroom – the bed she had shared with Deanna for so many years…
No, that wasn’t the ‘why’ that was on her mind. She already knew the answer to that question. And strange as it was, she didn’t mind the situation with Deanna right now. Yes, she knew why – it was her own fault, her obsession to control everything because she risked losing it (wasn’t that what Blake Mason was playing against her these days?) – but where she stood with Deanna? She wasn’t entirely sure… But at least things were ‘okay’. They were civil to one another, they had some wonderful conversations back and forth some days and, whenever Selena was away at work, Deanna would, sometimes, text her to check in. All and all? It wasn’t perfect by a long shot – that would involve the redhead being in the tub with her, or helping her ‘wear her out’ in a different way…
But no, the ‘why’ was actually not here, but rather in her castle-home at the Eyrie Tower in New York City. It’s where she had left them.
The Shocking Moment of the Year award.
The Match of the Year award…
The Female Wrestler of the Year award…
Why?
Again that question, causing Selena’s sapphire eyes to fly to the ceiling, taking in the white of the panels. The first award, she could definitely understand. She had stunned the world with her return, making the SCW cheer her while believing she was someone else. Even when she had struck down Asher Hayes with that Glass Shard, they had cheered her so loudly.
Then she had unmasked…
Suddenly, it hadn’t mattered what she had done that they ‘loved’. It hadn’t mattered that she had earned the prize at the End of the Year fair and square. Nope – their cheers had immediately turned to the loudest of boos simply because she was Selena Frost and they had been tricked into believing in her again – however briefly. So THAT for ‘Shock of the Year’ made sense.
It also… just said more. In a year where ‘returns’ were mostly someone running or ‘making an entrance with their theme music’, Selena had gone above and beyond. That’s just… who she was. It wasn’t enough to just ‘show up’ like Ace, Mason, and, as of last week, Josh and Syren had. That was just… lazy – which merely proved her points against the lot of them. No, she had wanted to plan a return worthy of an SCW world champion-calibre superstar. A return that left the world talking about it – which had apparently worked.
No, her confusion laid with the last two awards. The Match of the Year and… The Female Wrestler of the Year.
Why?
These awards were, by Alex’s admission, still been chosen by the SCW fans… so why the hell had they chosen her? Why…
It didn’t make sense! Sure, she could bluff it up as she had that night, talk about how there was ‘no one else in contention’, which was partially true. She was the only FEMALE to hold the world title last year – the only contenders for it being Kristen Scott, Kandis, and Amy Chastaine, all of which failed (2 of which against her) – hell, the only singles female in SCW who came close was Deanna with her year-long-plus reign as United States Champion. Even so, if the fans were so petty to turn on her over an unmasking in a second, how could they resist voting for some undeserving woman like Kandis or Chastaine just to ‘get Selena back’? The platinum-blonde had assumed that – even prepared for it!
But… they hadn’t…
They had voted for her not only as the best wrestler in SCW in 2024, but also responsible for the best match of 2024.
The best wrestler…
The best match…
Why was it so hard for her to believe that she had been wrong? Was that even it? She had been wrong before! She had been wrong about Jessica Winters being turned evil by Enigma and never being able to come back. She had been wrong about a number of people in SCW in the past. She had been wrong so many times and had admitted to it easily.
Why was this so hard to believe? That the fans, despite hating her and booing her, still could acknowledge her place within SCW? Still could say ‘Hey! We don’t like her, but who was better in 2024? And what a hell of a match that was?”
Why was that so hard for her to wrap her mind around?
Because they turned on me over my name and a damned mask! Over me disagreeing with stupid Trios match! she mentally berated herself.
Because they threw me to the curb over ONE single opinion!
It still stung – even after a year – that after ten years of giving to SCW, of fighting with so many brave and amazing superstars like Regan and David Helms, of fighting to keep it out of the hands of those that would abuse far worse than she ever could – of scars that littered her back and sides… because of one opinion, the fans had said ‘that doesn’t matter’. Even now, what were they doing? Praising the return of a woman that had spent most of her career lying and cheating her way to the top? Using her name to get ahead and take shortcuts? For Odin’s sake, Syren had been behind MOST of the last ‘uprisings’ trying to take over SCW in the past decade with her iterations of ‘Pinnacle’ and ‘Infamous’! And yet, the fans had embraced her, welcomed her back – supported her proclaiming herself going for… Selena scoffed at the notion… EVERY singles title!
Just like her – she comes in and declares every title is on her list. I go for one and people despise me…
That was why she couldn’t grasp this sudden recognition by the fans. It had to be something with management. Maybe them trying to appease her out of fear she would walk out again, or maybe the fans were just being fickle again. Or… something!
She just couldn’t believe – or hope – that, despite everything, the fans of SCW were still desiring and recognizing something of high-talent, integrity, even in the ‘Wild, Wild West’ that Hudson had promised but abandoned the second he had lost the world title.
Except he couldn’t even do that right with his damned ego…
She released a long sigh as she continued to soak in the tub. It didn’t matter, she told herself. At the end of the day, the fans still hated her, the ‘legends’ and ‘old-timers’ would still use their ‘status’ to get handouts, which was the only reason Hudson and Syren were back in the first place, and anyone and everyone would be after her – trying to use a ‘victory’ over her to catapult their own career. Ryan Cavalier certainly had tried and it wasn’t like SCW was popping THAT bubble any time soon.
Never mind the fact that I was basically toying with her that entire match. The new girl was talented, but SCW was sort of laying it on rather thick about ‘how close’ the woman had come to beating Selena in that iron-woman match during fatal-fortunes – especially since she hadn’t even taken the lead once in the entire match – or even tied Selena. Still, it didn’t matter. Didn’t matter who was the champion, who was on the ‘rise’, who was being ‘overhyped’ and who was vilified. Long as she had the rematch clause, she could override all of that and jump to the head of the pack. And with her victory in such matches as the Elimination Chamber, Female Wrestler of the Year, there really wouldn’t be many people that could argue with her when she decided to take her shot. Not realistically anyway.
Knock…Knock…
The sound of knocking on the door frame snapped the young woman out of her thoughts, her eyes flying open to see the small redhead standing there, rubbing her eyes tiredly with the back of one hand. “Mommy?” Amiliah Frost asked, trying to blink her eyes away.
“Ami!” Selena remarked in surprise, moving her body as fast as she could to the side of the tub to ‘hide’ herself. “What are you doing up, sweetheart? You should be sleeping. School is tomorrow.”
“I know…” Ami yawned. “But… I just wanted to ask if mom was making ‘hero’s breakfast’ tomorrow?”
For a moment, Selena had comment, replaying the question in her head a few times to make sure she heard right. “Hero’s breakfast?”
“Hero’s breakfast?” She asked slowly, running a free hand against the wet locks of her platinum-blonde hair. Again, the child’s response was to merely nod her head.
“At the start of school this year… Mom made a special breakfast she said would make my first day of school easier.”
“She did?” Selena asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Yeah.” Nodded the child. “It was something with eggs and a bunch of veggies and meats and chocolate milk-“
“There was chocolate milk in it?” Selena asked in surprise, causing Ami to shake her head.
“Uh-huh. We drank chocolate milk. Mom said that was the most important part.”
“I see…” Selena winced. “And this is… important?” she asked slowly, earning a shrug from her youngest child.
“Everyone is going to have to do show-and-tell for what they did during their holidays… I’m nervous…”
“I…” Selena opened her mouth to speak but slowly exhaled a breath. “I’ll see what I can do.” She offered weakly, along with a just as weak smile. “Can you…” she gazed down at her still soaked form. “Can you get yourself back to bed?”
She watched Amiliah look around nervously, her hands fidgeting with the floral-decorated sleep-shirt. It was enough of an answer for the Snow Queen to softly sigh understandingly before reaching down and pulling the plug from the tub, immediately hearing the water drain out. “Wait in the bedroom for me, okay?”
Ami, to her credit, gave a quick nod before disappearing into the adjoining room. Alone, Selena gave a sigh before pushing herself to her feet. Drying off with a towel and sleeping into the magenta nightgown she had hung on the hook attached to the door took only a few minutes. Drying her hair took the longest but she managed. Emerging from the bathroom, the former world champion spotted the child standing by her bed, waiting patiently.
“Come on.” She offered gently, extending her hand to her daughter, who eagerly took it. Together, the pair travelled out of the dimly lit bedroom, down the short hall and past the first door that was David’s room and into the middle room where Amiliah’s room was. “There we go.” Selena smiled, bending down to lift the small girl up and gently place her back on the bed. “Night light on.” She checked to make sure the small Flounder from The Little Mermaid light was on. That accomplished, she managed to pull the covers back and tuck her daughter in. “All tucked in.” She leaned back a little to check her ‘handywork’. “There we are. All set?” She waited for Ami to give a nod. “Okay.” Leaning, the Snow Queen gently kissed the girl’s forehead. “I’ll see you in the morning.” She whispered before stepping out of the room, leaving Amiliah to her dreaming, as she made her way back into her bedroom.
Alone, she closed the door behind her before releasing another exhale. “Hero’s breakfast…” she muttered to herself. “What even is that?” she asked, running a hand through her hair as she pondered what little information Amiliah had managed to recall.
With no answer forthcoming, Selena’s solution was only one. Walking the few steps to her nightstand, she gathered her cellphone and immediately unlocked the screen. Making the call was simple enough, yet her breath held as she heard ringing sound. It was nearly 1:30am. What if there wasn’t an answer? What if she was asleep? What if-
“Do you have any idea what time it is?”
What if she’s annoyed.
“1:30 in the morning.” Selena answered. “Couldn’t sleep?”
“I almost have my phone on full volume in case there’s an emergency-“ There was a sudden hitch in the female voice. “Is this an emergency?! Selena, did something happen over there?! Was it Blake?!”
“No!” Selena assured her. “It’s not Blake. I’ll deal with him fully soon enough – and I’ve got Lohan this week and trust me, she’s not getting off the hook with just a kick to the head, okay?”
“So…they’re fine.” The woman asked, earning a nod from Selena, who realized such an answer could not be seen, forcing her to speak.
“Yes.” She answered. “Well, mostly. Ami was just in here… asking about something.”
“This early?”
“Yeah…” Selena sighed. “Hate to ask this, Deanna, but… Do you remember anything about a ‘Hero’s Breakfast’?”