Tag Team Turmoil Match

[Wisteria Waltz]

The month that followed after Rise to Greatness felt like something out of a fairy tale, and Luz and Amelia wouldn't have it any other way.

All the years they had been together, first as friends and then as girlfriends, had already seemed like a dream come true for so many reasons and the thought of those feelings getting any better had been nigh impossible to comprehend. Being engaged, however, had suddenly amplified all of those feelings by a thousand, and every time they looked down at the engagement rings that now adorned their fingers it brought them back to the very first time when they had taken the plunge and guided their relationship in a more romantic direction. The idea of actually spending the rest of their lives together and being able to call the other their wife was suddenly very real, and it made them both just as giddy as they were nervous to take that big step.

The only thing that would have made the moment sweeter would've been a victory in their first outing on the Rise to Greatness stage, but the couple were keeping their heads held high and focusing on the positives. That alone meant that any 'need for help' from Holly if she chose to offer it wouldn't be necessary, proving that regardless of the end result of that match, Holly hadn't truly beaten The Light In The Darkness no matter how much she might believe that herself.

While there would still be a lot of planning regarding the impending wedding that would need to be done, the couple were grateful for the distraction that SCW would provide so they wouldn't overwhelm themselves with possibly going overboard to make that day more special than it already would be. They'd heard all the horror stories of 'bridezillas' and how they would even spawn from normally good women exposing a hidden ugly side of themselves that nobody knew existed and they were determined not to let themselves become such monsters, a promise their friends and family vowed to help uphold. It may not seem like a concern that would need to be had at all, but considering both girls' insecurities they still worked through together on a daily basis and how fragile their states of mind could feel at times, the last thing they wanted was for Amelia to slip back into being the heartless ice queen her parents had hardwired her to be or for Luz to lose that light that made her into the beacon of hope that had already helped changed so many lives for the better.

Considering there were still outside forces that had to be accounted for as risks to crash the party, there was more than enough reason to need whatever help they could take in keeping themselves grounded as they grew closer to the magical date, whenever that would be.

Ever since the blow they'd been dealt when Luz defended her mask and saved her new sister from being one of their puppets, The Empire had been relatively quiet. Their members had still been wrestling in the UK and maintaining their dominance of the country where they'd first formed, but Caleb had once again seemingly vanished without a trace from the public eye. Having no tabs on the group's leader to keep an eye on was unnerving enough, but Amelia's parents had also been disturbingly quiet when she half-expected at least her mom to be blowing up her phone over her and Luz's double proposal during their Rise to Greatness entrance. With none of the members who were still wrestling bothering with any interviews and ultimately acting as though they'd taken a complete vow of silence, it gave off the impression that The Empire might be crumbling... Luz and Amelia, however, knew better than that and had every reason to worry over what they might be scheming beneath the surface.

When things seem too quiet and peaceful is always when something unexpected happens that unravels it all... maybe it was a common trope in fiction, but it was one the couple would always abide by even in reality because they had that feeling crawling beneath their skin that this would never be truly over until The Empire was absolutely dismantled and Caleb White was either dead or rotting in a prison cell or anything that would 100% guarantee that he would never pose a threat to them ever again.

Maybe a bit excessive, but Luz and Amelia always trusted their guts when it came to people like Caleb and everything about him made even the mere thought of his existence come with the mental sound of alarm bells.

As SCW resumed following the customary break they gave everyone after their biggest show of the year, the girls turned all of their focus to preparing for whatever would be in store for them. Considering the company as a whole was entering an entirely new era with CHBK at the helm, no one fully knew what to expect but several had their reservations given the man's track record. The only interaction either of them had with the SCW legend was during their first run with the company when he reached out to them with a match contract when he'd effectively been charged with hand-selecting Syren's opponents as her manager in order to pave a worthy path back to World Title contendership for her, an interaction that had led to the couple picking up what would be their final victory before the dual injuries that sidelined them. While that memory offered good prospects for what they might expect with him at the helm of SCW, it was also hard to ignore the apprehension of many in the locker room, notably Selena Frost, over him being in charge, especially given how close he'd been with Ravyn Taylor for the longest time.

To their surprise, the start of a new era for the company had brought them rather limited opportunities to actually build themselves back up after that loss at Rise to Greatness. Two shows had passed now, and while the couple had been present and ready to compete, they hadn't been booked to do so and hanging out backstage turning their focus back to wedding planning had been the extent of what they'd been given. A few people they'd asked about it had implied the extra break was an 'early wedding gift' of sorts from the new man in charge to help them come down from that rush of emotions from actually proposing to each other, but all CHBK himself had offered when asked when the cameras weren't around was that he was planning something big for the tag division and they'd get a chance to prove themselves soon enough.

This had led them to the upcoming Breakdown in Tampa, Florida where they would finally have their first match post-Rise to Greatness. The challenge before them? A tag team turmoil pitting them against every other currently active team in SCW, with the winner going on to attempt to dethrone Ace and Ravyn at the Apocalypse pay-per-view. The tandem certainly had to give CHBK credit for the major idea, especially since it felt to them like the perfect opportunity. Admittedly, despite Selena giving them her blessing to end their honorable self-imposed exile from pursuing the Tag Titles until she had deemed them worthy of being champions, they had struggled to really justify it to themselves at that point in time. By going up against every other team all at once, victory would prove once and for all that they truly were ready to take that next step and lead the division as its champions.

Between the last Breakdown and this upcoming one, the pair had decided to drop in at Marilyn Clauson's wrestling school out in Bridgeport, Connecticut to get some help in making absolutely sure they were ready for the fight that would soon meet them. It felt like the safest option at the moment considering Ivy and Gage had their own business to attend to and Edward and Emily had opted to return to England for the time being to see if they could sniff out what their parents were up to since even they knew a prolonged silence of this magnitude was very out of character for Aleister and Ophelia Blythe. Marilyn had been more than accommodating to them, making sure her students were at the top of their game to help keep The Light In The Darkness shining bright for this golden opportunity to take another crack at reaching the top of the tag team mountain in SCW.

At the moment, the two of them were taking a breather after Marilyn had the bright idea of running them through a tag team turmoil of her own with her students pairing up and making Luz and Amelia run the gauntlet. Her reasoning was to make sure they had the stamina should they find themselves as one of the two teams at the very start, especially since they'd have to fight through multiple teams with various different styles and approaches as opposed to the lengthy clash they'd had with one team back at Retribution or the chance to really catch their breath like they somewhat had during the chaotic scuffle that Kim Williams had invoked with her Trios contract the following Breakdown. The lack of experience on the part of the students had been somewhat compensated for by the fact that she could technically throw more teams at them than what they were expected to face so far in the real deal, but The Light In The Darkness had succeeded in the task, earning this break before Marilyn planned on shuffling the tandems and making them run through it again.

“Muy bien, gracias mamá. Te amo,” Luz said as she opted to use part of this break to call her mom. She let Amelia finish getting a drink of water before the two locked eyes, and it was immediately clear that Luz was about to be the bearer of some bad news. “So... I don't know what kind of lawyers he has working for him or who he paid off or whatever, but mom just told me that all the charges that Caleb was facing down in Mexico for how he treated Valentina for the past several years have been dropped, just like that.”

“You're kidding,” Amelia replied in astonishment, and the slow shake of Luz's head that confirmed what she'd just said caused her to huff in frustration. “So he's basically going to just get away with everything he did to Valentina? Did that monster even have the decency to show his face?”

“Unfortunately yes to the first and no to the second,” Luz groaned. “Even if there's very clear evidence he's abused her, Valentina's technically a dual citizen adopted by him in Mexico but taken back to live with him in England. Mamá says his lawyers made an infuriatingly strong case about how no one can prove any abuse happened in Mexico so he can actually be prosecuted within its borders. The most they have to go off of is the shady orphanage he adopted her from, and unfortunately that works more for the case against the orphanage than it does against Caleb. He weaseled his way out without even having to crawl out of whatever hole he's hiding in.”

“I wouldn't start thinking anyone can turn right around and try to nail him on that over in Britain,” Marilyn suddenly interjected from inside the ring as she seemed to be fiddling with her own phone while supervising her son Remy on getting the ring ready for training to resume. “I can tell you from experience that no one, not even your parents Amelia, has more power and influence in that country than the bastard known as Caleb White. How he got it, I couldn't begin to tell you, but that's the last place you want to try and fight some sort of legal battle against him.”

“Unbelievable...” Amelia spat. “I know my mom and dad have gotten away with some truly awful things over the years, but when faced with crystal clear evidence even they wouldn't be able to find a way out of legal trouble despite all their money and connections. There's no way Caleb could pull that off either.”

“I don't know what to tell you kids,” Marilyn lamented. “The man's easily one of the craftiest S.O.B.s I've ever had the displeasure of knowing. He thinks he's above everything because he's the moral standard everyone else is supposed to abide by and somehow he's made that a fact in at least one place in the world. Honestly, I know it's your home turf Amelia, but it makes me feel like you getting out of that country was the smartest decision you've ever made.”

“I hate to interrupt, but why do I have to be the one making sure this ring's ready to go when you're the teacher here mom?” Remy complained as he pulled on one of the middle ropes to make sure it was taut enough. “What the heck are you even doing, anyway?”

“If you must know,” Marilyn replied with an annoyed roll of her eyes, “I'm trying to get a hold of my sister. She's been just as quiet as all the other Empire goons and considering she's supposed to be working as a mole, the silent treatment has me worried.”

“How did you and Lily even get involved with all of this,anyway?” Amelia chanced asking.

“Yeah,” Luz added. “You told us that you two had history with not only Caleb but also our parents in the business. Time to reveal that secret backstory, Marilyn!”

“You two just want a little longer to rest before I put you through the gauntlet again, don't you?” Marilyn shot them an unimpressed look, but they surprised her by popping to their feet and quickly sliding into the ring, moving with as much energy as they had at the start of today's training session.

“We're ready to go, we just want to know how the heck you're involved in this Empire mess at all aside from helping us out,” Luz grinned.

“It's not that we don't trust you or your sister,” Amelia tacked on. “It's just... we want to cover our bases with people we know we can trust, that's all.”

Marilyn opened her mouth to make some smartass quip in response, but promptly shut it when she began to realize she hadn't really given the young couple too much reason to trust that she and Lily were truly on their side. She'd been helping them on the side, but that could also easily be a cover to prepare them for induction into The Empire for all they knew if that truly were the Clauson sisters' plan and they'd been playing their cards right up to this point. At this thought, she let out a sigh.

“Alright, I guess I should bring you both into the loop since we've got a common enemy,” she finally said.

In response, Luz quickly hopped up to sit on the top turnbuckle of the ring as Amity leaned back in the corner, the two of them almost cuddling in a way that seemed like it brought back some memories for Marilyn. Remy plopped down into a crossed-leg seat on the canvas, also having never heard about any of this and wanting his curiosity sated. With a light chuckle, Marilyn finally opened up.

“Well, I told you my sister and I had clashed with your parents and Caleb in the ring, and that wasn't a lie. Aleister, Ophelia, even El Espíritu Angélico were all not that much younger than the two of us when they first started out, but Caleb had still long since cemented himself as one of the best to ever lace up a pair of boots, or so everyone claimed. Lily and I started out as a tag team, found some success... Caleb took notice on an excursion here to America once and started trying to feed Lily's ego, making her believe she was destined for great things because her style was similar to his while I always preferred to win by any means necessary without crossing any major lines. That's... actually what drove a rift between us and ignited our years-long sibling feud. That geezer unknowingly exploited some insecurities Lily had for a long time because her efforts for anything were always ignored because our parents always treated me like the golden child, even though I hated the attention because my mom in particular was practically smothering me with it. At some point when we were teens, mom's sister died in a house fire and I don't think she ever emotionally recovered, hence why she latched onto me since I apparently looked like a younger version of her.

I wouldn't know... Lily and I never got a chance to meet our aunt for ourselves.

Anyway, he destroyed our relationship with each other and we spent years trying to kill each other because of how he manipulated her by telling her everything she'd been wanting to hear for so long. In that time we crossed paths with Aleister and Ophelia so many times and we were actually in agreement that they both sucked and we couldn't stand them... even partnered up briefly despite our own issues to shut them up. Your dad though Luz... he saw straight through it all when he entered the mix. He encouraged me to be true to myself at a point where I was seriously considering changing my ways just to reunite with my sister, he broke through to Lily and pointed out every contradiction Caleb had fed her over the years to make her see the truth... we reconciled in private not too long after that, but publicly she never really let go of our feud, which worked to our advantage when Caleb fell off the face of the earth after he felt like he'd finally beaten your dad. Don't know how he came to that conclusion, but at the end of the day he was obsessed with getting both Lily and I to follow him like he's some kind of twisted pied piper... kind of like what he's trying to do with you. He failed back then, but only because ol' Spirit butting in took all his focus off of us and turned it onto him. Still... that man's manipulation cost us both so much and left us with a lot of regrets, and we vowed that we weren't going to let him or anyone like him pull that shit with anyone else ever again.”

Marilyn turned to the couple and they could practically feel the fury radiating off of her from her determination to stick to her word.

“That's why I tried to warn you about any direct confrontations with him a while back, because that almost always plays right into his hands,” she finishes. “But... I have to hand it to you on the stunt you pulled that hit him right where it really hurts. But you two had better not think that was the end of it. If I picked up on anything from ol' Spirit's battles with him, when Caleb White has his undivided attention on you, no force of nature or act of God will divert it anywhere else.”

“We had a feeling it wasn't going to be that easy,” Luz told her.

“And no matter what he throws at us, he's going to learn that even his most devious tactics won't drag us into his darkness that easily,” Amelia added with conviction.

'Huh... maybe these kids are more ready than I gave them credit for,' Marilyn thought to herself as she simply nodded in agreement with them. 'I know ol' Spirit would be proud of his daughter and absolutely love this Blythe girl.'

With her 'mysterious backstory' revealed, Marilyn managed to get Luz and Amelia back in action as she ran them through another tag team turmoil against different combinations of her students, making sure they'd be ready to take that next step back into Tag Title contention and keeping them focused on achieving what they wanted while Caleb was out of the picture licking his wounds.

They'd gotten so invested in this training, however, that Marilyn missed a text finally coming in from her sister... an important text that would be a key salvo in the next round of this conflict.