Bree Lancaster vs. Amelia Blythe

[Konrad Raab]

2 RP Limit for singles

3500 word max per RP

Deadline: 11:59:59 pm ET Wednesday, October 18, 2023

[Wisteria Waltz]

OOC: For the sake of having a clear timeline, this takes place days after the CD from my effort for Apocalypse, which puts it a few days after the 9/14 Breakdown with the tag team turmoil but before the 9/21 Breakdown, hence why nothing from it or Apocalypse is directly mentioned in this piece as they technically haven't happened yet.
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New Orleans was normally an ideal place to visit if you were looking for sights to see. A vibrant nightlife, excellent cuisine, a great history and an abundance of activities to enjoy, there was little reason to not have an upbeat attitude within the city's borders.

Unfortunately, Luz and Amelia could find nothing to be excited over, and it was hard to blame them.

New Orleans was meant to be a bit of a break stop for the couple between Breakdowns, with the plan being to watch the wrestling show happening later tonight to not only support Ivy as she sought to keep building her career, but also to support Gage as he finally got to live his own dream job of being part of a commentary team for a televised wrestling show. Sure, it wasn't the big leagues or anything, but Gage's enthusiasm at getting a chance at all was hard not to smile at. Beyond that, The Light In The Darkness was going to regroup after tag team turmoil and figure out their next course of action, anticipating that the upcoming Breakdown in Austin was likely going to address the teams that had won matches within the gauntlet but hadn't won the whole thing.

They were never ones to dwell on the question of 'what if' and would be the first to admit that they hadn't had enough to go bell-to-bell in the gauntlet, but they had no plans on being left out of any discussions over who should be next in line after Apocalypse given the run they had managed to put together, especially since the team that beat them and the tandem that team had ultimately fallen to were the only other ones who had done anything similar aside from the Alloccos, who had won the whole thing.

Their minds, however, were in no condition to be focusing on wrestling like they had wanted to, though, and The Empire was to blame for that. Just when they thought Caleb couldn't sink any lower, he'd finally broken his silence in the form of a gift for the newly-engaged couple, though someone's severed eyeball accompanied by a cryptic warning was hardly anyone's definition of a 'gift.' Any plans to sleep off the exhaustion from the tag team turmoil they'd gone through were out the window for that night, and neither woman had been able to get much sleep since then either. Their friends couldn't blame them, even if they were growing concerned... even Valentina was at a loss for words as to what had happened, and she'd been raised for the past few years by the monster who'd done this. She'd personally taken charge of watching over her stepsister and future stepsister-in-law on the drive from Tampa as they tried to rest, but clearly the sight had rattled the both of them deeply and they couldn't get more than a few minutes of rest before they woke up screaming from whatever nightmares had greeted them.

She recalled hearing them explain what had happened while trying not to gag at the visceral 'present' they'd been left before watching Ivy go into a full-scale manhunt while Gage informed the front desk of what had happened so they could have both security and the police do a full sweep themselves, but no sign of anyone who was a known member or affiliate of The Empire could be found, leaving all of them frustrated. Ultimately, the eye had been taken by the Tampa police as evidence to see if they could get any information on who it belonged to or any leads on tracking down its delivery person for answers, but Luz was certain she had an idea of who the eye might belong to... a hunch that was proven correct when they were called while on the road to New Orleans after some tests were ran.

Ever since they'd arrived in New Orleans, Amelia and Luz had basically spent the mini-vacation locked in their rooms, not that anyone could blame them as much as it broke their hearts. Still, they promised they'd do their best to get some rest and still support Ivy and Gage as they didn't want to keep them or Valentina from enjoying the Big Easy while they were here, but the trio had held firm on checking in frequently and being there to help the two if they needed it.

One thing that had slipped through the cracks in all of this was the planned call with Marilyn Clauson that she'd promised to go over the tandem's turmoil run. The fact that she was putting it off because of something serious happening on her end was understandable, especially if it was painfully clear now what that personal issue may be, but the couple had been extremely hesitant to try and reach out to her about it given what had happened. Even now, Luz found herself staring at her phone screen while she and Amelia were shakily cuddling together on their hotel bed, her finger hovering to compose a text to Marilyn but no move being made to do so.

“I know what I said a few days ago,” Amelia suddenly said as she watched her fiancée, a notable tremor in her voice, “but maybe we should just leave her be if we're right on this.”

“I mean, we know 100% now that eye belonged to a Clauson, and we had a painfully strong hunch even before the Tampa police told us,” Luz choked out. “I really want to check in all the same and see if together we can all piece this together, but... how the heck do you even bring up that we might know what happened!? I mean, she never did call us the next day like she promised so this is definitely affecting her more than she wanted to let on...”

“I want to say that maybe we can just let this go and try to figure out how to improve without an extra opinion,” Amelia started, but Luz cut her off.

“How do we even mentally move on after what we saw though? Forget the turmoil, you think Bree or Glory or anyone in SCW's ever gone through something like getting someone's actual eyeball as a 'present' before?”

Amelia slowly shook her head, Luz having taken the words right out of her mouth. Luz did shoot her an apologetic glance after a deep breath regained some of her composure, but even a brief kiss of reassurance between them didn't shake any of the nerves. After all, how does one just 'get over' opening a present left for them and finding a severed body part from another human being inside? That went far beyond even any of the most extreme violence that the two of them had ever seen in SCW, or any wrestling company for that matter.

As the couple debated whatever few options they felt they had, their attention was diverted by Luz's phone chiming to indicate a new notification. Since she already had her texts open, she and Amelia were surprised to see a brand new series of texts from Marilyn that read as follows:

Terribly sorry for the silence girls

Been dealing with a lot this past week

If you've got time to talk now I'll give you a ring

They looked at one another, a bit surprised that she had been the one to reach out to them, but they would gladly take this as a sign. A bit of hushed conversation quickly yielded a decision that led to Luz texting back that they were good to talk but wanted a video chat if possible. Sure enough, it only took a minute before her phone was going off and she quickly accepted the video call. As soon as they saw her, it quickly became apparent that Marilyn had been going through something, but once she got a good look at the exhaustion plastered all over their faces she immediately put on a proverbial mask of concern.

“Whoa, and I thought I'd been through something fierce lately. Hate to say it but the two of you look like death warmed over. Didn't think not winning the turmoil would hit you that hard, and if that's the case then-”

“No, no, it wasn't the turmoil!” Luz quickly cut in.

“Not being able to go all the way did hurt,” Amelia clarified, “but... something happened when we got back to our hotel that's been giving us nightmares ever since. The fact that we haven't become so exhausted we've just fallen into a dreamless sleep is...” She ended up being cut off by a big yawn before she could stop herself.

“Yeah, that's not good, wrestlers or not,” Marilyn said grimly. “What the hell happened?”

“Caleb happened,” Luz spat, and the surprising amount of venom in her voice caught even Amelia off guard, even if she echoed the sentiment.

“So that old bastard really is done hiding...” Marilyn growled. “He better pray that I don't get my hands on him after what he just did on top of whatever happened to you two!”

“I wish I could say it would be that easy sister, but even I want another shot at him for the atrocity he committed... even if it is my fault...”

Luz and Amelia seemed to wake up a bit at the surprising addition to their conversation as Marilyn angled the phone a bit to reveal that she was with her sister Lily. To say that the older Clauson sister looked even worse that the other three women in this conversation combined would be an understatement. Not only did she look like she hadn't slept in ages but she sported several nasty cuts and bruises across her face that look like they'd healed up a tiny bit over whatever time had passed. Even her clothes looked a bit dirty and ragged, a far cry from what she'd worn the last time the tandem had seen her.

“Lily?” Amelia breathed out in sheer disbelief. “What happened to you?”

“Well... for starters, I'm no longer in The Empire,” Lily lamented, turning her gaze to the floor on her end of the call. “Since Caleb had disappeared and the group had basically gone quiet without him, I came back home to visit our mom and dad until I was needed again. I wasn't expecting Caleb to actually show up on our doorstep out of the blue...”

“He basically forced himself into the home we grew up in and tried to force Lily to hurt our parents for being the reason she ended up 'needing his help to save herself' in the first place,” Marilyn growled.

“¿¡Él hizo qué!?” Luz shouted, and Amelia felt like a boulder was sinking into her gut at the mere thought that Caleb had actually found some way to stoop even lower than he already had thus far.

“It was supposed to be a test...” Lily lamented. “It turns out he had suspicions of me being a mole from the very beginning, so he wanted me to hurt my parents to prove that I was truly loyal. As much as Marilyn and I had our parental issues growing up, we've all worked to start mending that bridge and I would never dream of hurting them. I tried to fight him instead... I managed to get one good shot in that might have broken his nose, but he brought backup that restrained me. Men wearing The Empire's attire that I've never seen before... men who I don't think were wrestlers. They beat the hell out of me, restraining our parents in the process. Then... then Caleb decided that I needed to be 'punished' for lying to him about wanting to 'be saved.' He... he...”

“He forced Lily and mom to watch as he put our dad, who's not that much younger than Caleb himself I should point out, in a submission hold and slowly but surely broke every bone in his left hand and wrist. Then, as an exclamation point, the son of a bitch carved out his left eye right in front of them before they all left.”

Marilyn had placed a hand on her sister's shoulder to help try and comfort her before chiming in with the rest of the ordeal, and Amelia and Luz both looked aghast at what they'd learned. Luz actually moved her free hand to her mouth as though she were about to vomit, leading to Amelia slowly and somewhat numbly rubbing her back as they tried to process this.

“So yeah... that's why I didn't get back to you right away with feedback on how you girls did in tag team turmoil,” she continued. “I really didn't mean to seem like I was blowing you girls off, but I've been trying to help the rest of my family recover from this as best as they can while plotting out how I'm going to hunt Caleb down and make him regret ever trying to pick a fight with the Clauson family in the first place. The thing that pisses me off the most is that he actually took my dad's eye with him! What the hell is he going to do with my dad's eye, wear it around like some kind of sick trophy!?”

“...we know what he did with it...”

The Clauson sisters both snapped their attention to Luz as she mumbled that out, just audible enough for the video call to pick it up. She looked to Amelia who slowly nodded before she began fiddling with her phone. After a moment, a ping was heard on the other end and Marilyn opened up the image she'd just been texted before her and Lily's jaws both dropped in sheer horror at the picture of a familiar eyeball resting inside of a present.

“That's dad's eye, alright...” Marilyn slowly said after a tense moment of silence, recognizing the iris color she'd inherited. “What...?”

“Remember how we said he'd been struggling to sleep and Caleb was to blame?” Amelia carefully said, getting a nod from Marilyn in return. “Somebody left that in a present outside our hotel room door shortly after we got back from Breakdown and were about to get some rest after the turmoil. It came with a pair of notes saying that it was 'an eye for an eye' and warning us not to 'share the sins of your family.'”

“What in the ever-loving hell is THAT supposed to mean?” Marilyn yelled in disbelief.

“Did you see who left the box?” Lily inquired, her tone slowly growing more agitated as she continued. “Was it a short woman with her eyes hidden behind her hair? I'm going to ring that little gremlin's neck-”

“I didn't see anybody when I answered the door, only the present sitting on the floor,” Amelia jumped in. Luz lightly chuckled at her beloved unintentionally rhyming, but the joy was fleeting. Still, Amelia was filled with a little bit of hope that maybe they could recover from this enough to not feel like they were contending with a huge mental and emotional blockade.

“I'm... sorry about the two of you being involved in this at all,” Lily lamented. “And I'm so sorry to our parents that I led that madman into our home...”

“It's not your fault Lily, and I'll keep telling you that until it sticks,” Marilyn told her sister firmly.

“Marilyn's right,” Amelia confirmed, finally grabbing onto some shred of confidence for the first time since she and Luz opened their 'present.' “The only person to blame for any of this is Caleb. I don't know what he thinks he's trying to achieve with this whole stunt, but he's the main soul with blood on his hands and if he's going to keep finding new and more disgusting lows to sink to, then we need to somehow find a way to stay strong and show him that he's not getting his way!”

“No matter what he wants!” Luz chimed in, feeding off her fiancée's motivation as she slowly tried to get a handle on her headspace.

The Clauson sisters both watched the young couple from the other end of the video call, finding their own lips slowly curling into smiles they hadn't worn in what felt like forever. True, they could tell the girls were still far from where they normally were mentally, but the fact that they were trying to pull themselves together out of sheer defiance to Caleb's disturbing scare tactics was inspiring and a sign that these two truly were so much more than even they had given them credit for at first. Perhaps that was dangerous thinking considering Caleb had some sort of obsession with getting these two into his proverbial flock, but it was also proof that they were going to be defiant until the end... maybe, just maybe, whatever Caleb was scheming, these two would truly be the ones to put an end to all of it once and for all.

The moment found itself interrupted when Amelia's phone started going off. She and Luz exchanged looks before she shot both her and the Clauson sisters an apologetic glance before reaching over to retrieve it from the nightstand. Her eyebrows shot up when she saw her own siblings were trying to video call her and she quickly answered.

“Ed? Em?”

“Hey sis,” Emily replied with a wave. “We've got some news we need to... um... are we interrupting something?”

“And what happened to the two of you?” Edward jumped in. “You both looked like you haven't slept in days.”

“That'd... be correct...” Amelia sighed.

“It's a long story, one that we were actually just discussing with Marilyn and her sister,” Luz added, tilting her phone so the two simultaneous video calls going on could somewhat see one another.

“You can fill us on later if you're up to it,” Emily told them. “We just wanted to give you a quick warning Ames... mom's out and about doing some wedding shopping today.”

“Did something happen between her and dad?” Amelia said, her tone betraying the bizarre hope of some sort of rift forming between her parents that might take them out of the equation.

“We could only wish,” Edward groaned, bursting that bubble. “It's for you... she's going about things as though this engagement The Empire was claiming exists between you and their Golden Prodigy is still on.”

“It was never on, to begin with!” Luz huffed. “She's publicly denied it several times, she uppercutted him when he tried something while I was defending my mask against Valentina...” She paused to take Amelia's hand and held them up to show the rings. “We also publicly proposed to one another on SCW's biggest stage!”

“Luz is right, there's surely no one who could remotely buy into this nonsense at this point,” Amelia punctuated her love's statement.

“Apparently The Empire still does,” Edward noted.

“They aren't making any public claims about it,” Emily added, “but they're working fast to get a wedding set up and all we've managed to swipe from mom since she's spearheading the preparations is that they're planning on it being before the end of the year.”

“I'm afraid I knew nothing about this or even why it was part of this plan in the first place,” Lily revealed from the initial video call. “Aside from Caleb's clear homophobic rhetoric, anyway. I wouldn't be surprised if they're hoping to make you rush your own wedding to take some of the magic away from your moment.”

“Or, since they've been keeping quiet altogether, planning some way to force Amelia into marrying that scrawny hellspawn to deny her and Luz their happily ever after,” Marilyn proposed.

Regardless of whatever the plan was, knowing that The Empire was aiming to proceed with this arrangement despite her refusal and engagement to Luz only raised more concerns, especially after Caleb's little threat. With the Blythe twins agreeing to keep them posted and the Clauson sisters planning to follow up on what they'd learned, the couple was left knowing that they'd need to fill the others in, but they were adamant on finding a way to shut this all down.

No matter what The Empire tried, The Light In The Darkness would shine through, just like they would in SCW no matter where the road through the tag team division took them next.

[HardyGirl]

Breakdown 10-19-23 #1

[Wisteria Waltz]

It was a beautiful day outside in Raleigh, and that was a sign in Amelia's eyes to embrace the outdoors for speaking her piece.

She and Luz always had a preference for being outdoors whenever they had something to say, but she especially felt more comfortable with the idea. In a way, standing outside whenever she spoke felt like she was embracing the freedom she'd gotten from her parents all those years ago... as much as they continued to try and drag her back under their thumbs even to this day. It was a small thing, but it helped her feel that much more like her true self and not the porcelain doll her parents tried to treat her as growing up.

Plus, having some fresh air helped immensely in keeping her thoughts clear, especially after the past several weeks following Caleb's little 'present' he'd had delivered to them.

“Here should be good,” she called over her shoulder as she laid out the mat she'd brought with her while Luz stopped a few feet away to begin setting up.

“You sure you want to film this in yoga attire?” Luz couldn't help but ask as she turned away from setting up the camera as Amelia started to pull off her coat. “There's nothing wrong with it, before you even ask, but shouldn't we take into account the autumn weather?”

“Luz, Raleigh is sitting in the 60s right now,” Amelia pointed out as she pulled her phone out of her coat pocket to double check the accuracy of that statement. “I know no one watching may know that, but you're not exactly dressed for colder weather yourself, now are you?”

“Touché,” Luz admitted as she glanced down to her anime t-shirt and jean shorts. She reached out to take Amelia's coat, but paused when she saw her fiancée tap at the screen a few times before what she assumed was a voicemail from an unfortunately familiar voice could be heard loud and clear over speaker.

“Amelia, this is your father. I'm not surprised you're trying to continue this rebellious streak that's gone on for way too long, but you at least owe it to your mother and I to fix the damage you've done to our family name in your next match. I want you to make that talentless wench who injured you months ago feel the same pain and humiliation that she-”

Amelia rolled her eyes and deleted the message before tossing her phone and coat to Luz before she got a start on her stretches.

“Do you think they'll ever truly realize that you're your own woman now and just... I don't know... fuck off?” Luz said as she finished setting up, the rare swear earning a raised eyebrow from her partner.

“I can only dream,” Amelia lamented. “I'm hoping to win this match alright, but it sure as hell won't be for our family name... especially when I don't plan on keeping it for much longer...”

She said the last part quietly, hoping Luz wouldn't hear. They still hadn't discussed naming conventions once they officially tied the knot, but Luz knew full well that losing the Blythe name would sever the final link still tying her to her parents and their obsession with a family legacy once and for all and Amelia wanted to hope she'd be on board with that decision.

That was a discussion to be saved for later though, and once Luz gave her the thumbs up that she was all set, Amelia nodded that she was ready and took a deep breath, clearing her head of lingering family drama and recent horrors in favor of stretching out any lingering damage and saying what she needed to say before Thursday night.

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We open up to a bright and beautiful autumn day in Dorothea Dix Park, the largest park in all of Raleigh, North Carolina. The Raleigh skyline stands tall and proud off in the distance, the horizon line decorated with rows upon rows of trees whose leaves are turning red and gently drifting to the grass below. It truly is a beautiful and serene picture, which might explain why this is where we find Amelia Blythe. Clad in dark red yoga pants and a black tanktop, she's currently seated on a mat that's been laid out on the grass while doing some stretches. Notably, her stretching is focused on the knee that was injured a few months ago, a fact that she knows isn't lost on one particular person who's no doubt watching. She finishes up with her current stretch before turning her full attention to us, keeping that leg extended outward as she begins to speak.

“Injury is a sign of weakness... I can't even begin to tell you all how many times I heard those words growing up, even if I know full well their purpose was to gaslight me until I could convince myself that I felt no pain. All part of my parents' plan to mold me into what they believed was the perfect wrestler, bar none. Except... nobody's perfect, and nobody can be perfect. We're all human, and that means our bodies are prone to breaking down when pushed too far or punished too much, or even because of some unfortunate stroke of fate. I consider it a miracle that before SCW I had never found myself sidelined with any significant injuries, just the bumps and bruises that we all endure as part of being in this sport. And yet, I have been injured twice since signing on the dotted line with this company: once because of an awkward landing after being powerbombed out of the ring by Adam Allocco's former muscle... and once at the hands of Bree Lancaster back at Taking Hold of the Flame this year.

I want to make something clear right now... unlike a certain recent return who I'm sadly not surprised holds a grudge against Luz and myself, I don't blame Bree for what happened on that night. We were both giving it our all with a vacant championship hanging in the balance and she happened to push my knee beyond its limits. If anything, I'm at fault for letting a dangerous old habit of mine cultivated by my upbringing take over by continuing to fight not only in that match, but also in the battle royal later that night. I've... always had a problem with trying to downplay any problems and not let anyone know if it's worse than it truly is, a problem that Luz has helped me try to break over the years but that's easier said than done when it was ingrained into my very way of thinking as I grew up. Never show weakness, never let anyone else know how much I was hurting so it couldn't be used against me... I could never fault Bree for being the better tactician on that night by taking my vertical base away from me and capitalizing on a weak point she created, especially when I know she wouldn't intentionally try to injure me.

To insinuate such a thing would make me a hypocrite after how much I tore myself up over what happened with James Evans weeks prior to that, and I could never blame Bree for something that was just as much my fault for trying to fight through the pain. Even still, I don't regret the fight I gave her on that night... if anything, it's helped motivate me to make sure it doesn't happen again to the best of my ability.”

With that, Amelia lifts her leg up into another stretch that she holds for a few moments. As soon as she lets go and her leg drops, she swivels her hips and moves in a fluid motion until she's back up on her feet, the motion reminiscent of how she might perform a go-behind to get someone in a rear waistlock. She takes a moment to softly chuckle as she pats her once injured knee before turning back to us with a smile. The familiar giggling of La Pequeña Luz can be heard from somewhere behind us at this before Amelia continues.

“Breakdown this Thursday night in Raleigh will see me have a chance to show Bree how much I've improved since Taking Hold of the Flame, even without any titles up for grabs this time. Sure, we've crossed paths since then, but not in a one-on-one capacity like we are this week. I know we can both attest to how much different things are when we only have each other to focus on and not have to factor Luz or Datura into the equation... or anyone else for that matter, considering our two sides have yet to have a tag match with one another without a few other people involved. That U.S. Title tournament final is the only instance where we've had any sort of opportunity like that, and I can promise you I have no plans on my knee becoming an easy target this time around... not when Luz and I have a major opportunity on the horizon.

Considering our earned status of number one contenders to the World Tag Team Titles came as a result of me pinning Bree at Apocalypse, I know she has every reason to be motivated about taking me down as I do about getting that singles win back from months ago. Believe it or not, that's what I'm hoping for: a chance to test how far I've come against a Bree Lancaster who's also constantly getting better and determined to not let me catch her again like I did that Sunday night.

This match between Bree and I? This is all I could ask for... this is the kind of wrestling that motivates me to get in that ring and give it all against the very best that SCW has to offer. This is what it should be, just a test to see if Bree is still better than me or if I've finally improved enough to surpass her for the moment. I know that all of you will be cheering us both on as we give each other 100% and beyond because I've experienced it already, and that's all we need. No games, no sneak attacks, no diversions... I know Bree got sick of it real quickly when Ravyn was still holding the Tag Titles with Ace, and I wouldn't be surprised if that woman saw this as a prime opportunity to try and screw with the both of us given the current situation. On the plus side, I think it's safe to say that Syren won't be interested in joining in and not just because she has the Adrenaline Title to defend as well, and I would think that even Ravyn is smart enough to leave well enough alone knowing that I have Luz and you, Bree, have Datura to make sure the kind of fair match we had back at Taking Hold of the Flame is exactly what we can hope to expect this Thursday night.

Though, maybe make sure Datura knows to keep her eyes peeled for that scenario. I can promise you Luz will be more than happy to help her run Ravyn and her cronies off so we can focus on topping our previous singles match.”

Luz's hand suddenly reaches into the shot, giving a thumbs up from behind the camera before it quickly retreats from our view. Amelia just smiles and softly shakes her head as she presumably locks eyes with Luz for a moment, but she quickly snaps out of her lovesick daze with a rapid shake of her head before recomposing herself.

“Bree, I swear I've made this clear to you before, but even if I haven't I want to emphasize it right now. I respect the hell out of you, I'm honored to get to compete against you once more. You're a woman who's done it all in SCW... two-time World Champion, four-time U.S. Champion with one of those reigns coming at my expense, Supreme Champion status. I don't have a doubt in my mind that you're destined to be in the SCW Hall of Fame whenever you finally decide it's time to hang up the boots. Those kinds of accomplishments? I've managed to find them just about anywhere else I've competed, whether it was with Luz by my side or going it alone. My parents had high hopes that I would accomplish great things in this business and I have... not because of what they wanted me to be, but because I wanted to prove to myself that I could find success without those expectations drowning me every single time I stepped between those ropes.

In SCW, however, I've come nowhere close to that level yet, and I know I never will unless I can prove both to the locker room and to myself that I have what it takes to be able to overcome the challenge you're presenting to me.

Luz and I both know what awaits us in the very near future. We know we're going to be tasked with trying to dethrone arguably the greatest tag team in SCW history if we want to finally make our hopes of reigning as Tag Team Champions in this company a reality, two undisputed legends in their own right... as much as Ravyn doesn't act like she deserves that honor most of the time. Challenges like that, challenges like this match with you... we need to prove that we're able to meet them head on and rise to the occasion if we're ever going to make it in this business, that I know beyond a shadow of a doubt. It's one thing for us to be able to say we've given our best shot in these kinds of situations and came close, but I'm sure know from your own early days in SCW that unless you can close that gap and prove you can beat those big names, you'll never get to where you want to be.

That's why this match is so important to me Bree, why I have to give you everything I have and come away with my arm raised in victory this time. I know this won't get any easier as time goes on, and the more Luz and I fail to rise to the challenge then the less likely that The Light In The Darkness will ever prove we deserve to be seen by future generations of wrestlers in the same light as talents like you. A win over you on Breakdown proves to the world that Amelia Blythe can truly overcome one of SCW's absolute best, that there is hope for The Light In The Darkness to earn the same level of respect and admiration that you've earned a hundred times over and then some... right now, in this moment, that would mean so much more to me... to us... even when compared to winning the right to have another opportunity to fight to call ourselves Tag Team Champions finally.”

Amelia slowly closes the distance until we're fairly close up on her face, the fire in her eyes impossible to miss.

“I ask only one thing of you for this Breakdown Bree... don't hold back. Give me everything that you've got, come at me as though we were once again fighting with championship gold at stake. Test the limits of my knee again if you have to. I have to... I NEED to come away from this match knowing that if I am victorious this time around that I truly earned it, no questions asked. I need to know... because if I cannot beat a bona fide Hall of Famer in the making at her peak, then that's far from a good omen considering what lies ahead for us, and I will gladly fight with everything that I have to create that hope that maybe, just maybe, we're finally ready to make our names truly known in Supreme Championship Wrestling.”

With that, Amelia takes a deep breath and nods to us before she steps away, leaving us with one last moment to see the Raleigh skyline and linger on her words before we fade out.

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Luz tosses Amelia a bottle of water as she stops the recording, the technician wasting no time in getting a rather generous drink as the luchadora double checks to make sure the footage is alright before she sets the camera aside and goes to roll up the mat Amelia was using.

“You kind of got a bit intense there at the end, Ames...” Luz admitted.

“I had to, Lulu,” Amelia admitted once she stopped guzzling down water and wiped some sweat from her brow. “What I said is true... I know we'll always fight through any challenge before us, but I hate the idea of us constantly falling short when it matters most in SCW. It's going to start getting to us eventually, and I'd hate to see either of us fall back into that spiral. I need this win to prove that we have what it takes to beat SCW's very best and prove we deserve to be among them.”

Luz nods as she reaches into the pocket of her jeans and grabs Amelia's phone that she'd been hanging onto while her fiancée threw her light jacket back on to once again have the pocket to store the device.

“You're right... we both know we can do it, but until we can actually back it up with a big win then it's going to be a struggle to get anybody in that upper echelon to truly give us the respect we're trying to earn.” Luz took a deep breath at that thought, knowing they'd earned a bit of respect but that many in SCW still wrote them off even in discussions regarding the tag division. She opened her mouth to keep going on that thought, but her attention was diverted as she saw a voicemail notification on Amelia's phone. “Hey Ames... someone left you a voicemail while we were recording.”

“If it's another one from mom or dad like the one I got beforehand, then just delete it,” Amelia shrugged before taking another drink of her water.

“No... it's from a number we haven't seen in way too long,” Luz revealed, and that got Amelia's attention. She walked over to her partner and nodded, signaling for Luz to play the voicemail on speaker so they could both hear it.

It was surprising enough that they'd finally heard back from Ryan Lumis after months of silence from the private investigator, but the message he'd left had them exchanging confused and concerned looks over what he had to share.

“Miss Blythe, and Miss Luz as well if you're listening together... I apologize that I haven't been in touch with you in quite some time. As you know, while I agreed to help you both investigate several things regarding those who had initially hired me to get dirt on the two of you, I had another case I was working that needed to be resolved first because of its importance. I am surprised but extremely grateful at your patience... which is why I need you to know that what I have to tell you is information I'm not supposed to give you, but I feel you both need to be in the loop on this as well. Call me back whenever you get this message and we'll arrange a date and time to talk, bring anyone you feel should know this as well. And... I apologize in advance for what I have to share.”

[HardyGirl]

Breakdown 10-19-23 #2