Light in the Darkness vs. Twisted & Sadistic vs. Team Desire

[Wisteria Waltz]

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,” as the old proverb goes.

It was a saying that Luz and Amelia had become quite familiar with throughout their own wrestling journeys, especially when faced with setbacks that forced them to stop and reevaluate things. As scary as it could be to admit to one's faults and weaknesses, sometimes it was even scarier trying to change anything when you'd grown so comfortable with what was working, even when it wasn't anymore.

The road to Rise to Greatness had been filled with twists, turns, uncertainty and self-doubt from the young couple, starting with the abrupt end to their second run as SCW World Tag Team Champions. The unexpected loss to Team Desire would've been painful enough on its own, but knowing that they had been the victims of history yet again as yet another name earned Supreme Champion status at their expense had been a near-fatal blow to their self-esteem. The spiral they'd fallen into had arguably been the worst one either of them had ever gone through, made even worse because they'd gone through it together instead of being able to help pull one another out of it. It had taken a startling wake-up call from their own boss to actually snap them out of it, and a thorough talking-to from their found family that had been spearheaded by Marilyn to finish pulling them out of the darkness they'd been drowning in.

The more they looked back on it, the more silly the felt about how much they'd lost their grip on everything, being so afraid of a stigma regarding their title losses that they'd tried to get ahead of something that no one had even bothered to mention even in passing yet.

It hadn't been easy, but in the weeks that followed that defeat, Luz and Amelia were slowly building themselves back up. They'd been working with everyone to improve so that when Rise to Greatness rolled around they could bounce back and reclaim the titles they'd lost, including constant reassurance that they weren't selfish for agreeing to take their rematch when they had the right to one and deserved to be a part of the match where SCW wanted the absolute best of their tag division showcased just as much as Team Desire or Twisted & Sadistic. New training regiments that also addressed their mental well-being as much as their physical had been a great first step, and had already yielded results with the tandem's victory over the European Fiery Nation under their own rules. It had been a great display of the couple's willingness to break out of their shells a little more and show just how much they could fight and adapt, and any arguments against themselves about only winning because of the surprise appearance of Shaun Cruze were quickly cut off by their friends pointing out that not only was his involvement legal in Underground Rules, but also done in response to Konrad getting involved first.

Luz was thankful that Konrad's mace shots hadn't actually caused any notable injuries to her ribs and she was still more than cleared to keep training and compete alongside the love of her life on the biggest stage in the business.

While they weren't booked on the final Breakdown before Rise to Greatness would be upon them, the couple still knew it was worthwhile to get some more training in while they could. They'd taken a few days off from it to make sure Luz's ribs were 100% and any lingering pain from the hardcore affair had faded, and making up for lost time seemed like it could go a long way in accomplishing what they were hoping to do, especially with everyone watching over them to make sure they didn't push themselves too hard again. That had led to Marilyn reaching out to an old contact of hers that lived in Detroit so they could borrow his gym to train in as it made little sense to head back to her school in Connecticut when the SCW pipeline was Toronto to Detroit in the span of a week.

A lot of the time where they were resting physically had been spent studying tape, taking notes about the ways Team Desire had managed to thwart their offense as well as looking into what had led Twisted & Sadistic into looking more vulnerable than they would ever likely admit despite how they'd lost on that same Breakdown to the Shining Maidens. That had ultimately led them to today's endeavor, where they were practicing some new moves to add to their arsenal that would hopefully catch their opponents off-guard come Rise to Greatness. Ivy and Henry had agreed to be their proverbial training dummies for this exercise, mostly because the other options in that department were Edward and Emily, and Amelia's twin siblings were currently in the process of walking her and Luz through a little gift they were willing to bestow upon them.

“They key to it all is timing,” Edward noted as he motioned with his arms to try and mime how it was supposed to go. “We don't think you two will have any problems with it because you two have always had this freaky ability to sync yourselves up in the ring, but knowing and practicing when the second person needs to make their leap is what keeps this from turning into a disaster.”

Emily nods to Henry, who agreed to take the move as part of the demonstration as everyone got into position, Amelia and Luz watched carefully as Henry moved forward, right into Edward's grip as he lifted him up for a flapjack. The exact moment Henry was at the height of the lift, Emily leaped up with as much strength as her legs could muster, catching Henry as he fell and directing him to the mat for the flapjack/leaping reverse STO combination the twins had dubbed the Double Vision, their go-to match ender for their entire run as a team. The twins both rose to their feet and Edward leaned down to help Henry up as well.

“The best time to do it is when the flapjack person has the opponent at the peak of the lift,” Emily confirmed. “You leap at that moment, and you'll catch them perfectly on the way down to direct them into the second half of the move. Ivy, you want to be their opponent so they can give it a try?”

Ivy nodded as the three ladies got into position, with Amelia stepping forward. At Emily's signal, Ivy stepped forward and Amelia lifted her for the flapjack. Once she was at peak height, Luz easily hit her cue and leaped up to guide her down into the reverse STO. As they both helped Ivy back to her feet, the twins and Henry were all applauding them.

“Perfect timing!” Emily grinned.

“You two are naturals at this!” Edward affirmed.

“It's honestly a little disturbing how easily this came to the two of you,” Henry admitted.

“Not when you think about sweet these two are when their focus is on each other instead of wrestling,” Ivy coughed out as she got her bearings. “Kind of feels like my teeth are going to fall out just thinking about it.”

“Aw come on Ivy,” Amelia laughed despite how red-faced she and Luz were at the insinuation. “You love us.”

“And I don't regret it,” Ivy confirmed.

“So... want to run through it one more time, just to be sure, before we move onto something else?” Emily asked.

“Maybe we could try switching places this time?” Luz suggested. Amelia looked at her in confusion, knowing that Luz's lucha libre training made her the ideal half of their team to be doing the second half of this move, but Luz just flashed her a reassuring smile before leaning in and whispering something in her ear. Whatever it was, Amelia's eyes went wide at hearing it before she grinned and nodded.

“Hey Ed, you want to help us out with this one?” she suggested to her brother. “Give Henry and Ivy a bit of a break?”

“Sure!” Edward happily chirped as he got into position, completely missing the curious looks of Emily, Ivy and Henry, who all had a feeling the couple were up to something.

Once they were set up, Edward moved in so Luz could be the one to pick him up in the flapjack. Instead of falling back, however, Luz used all of her strength to keep him suspended as it quickly dawned on him that he wasn't about to fall victim to the double team maneuver he and his sister had been using for years. Before he could question what was happening, Amelia moved in and hooked him for a very familiar looking hammerlock DDT.

“Now!” she shouted, and she and Luz both fell back, driving Edward into the mat of the training ring with a delayed flapjack/elevated Eye-Opener combination. They both got back to their feet, looking almost giddy with excitement at what they'd just pulled off before they helped Edward back to his feet, who quickly started stretching out the shoulder that Amelia had hammerlocked.

“What the heck was that!?” he exclaimed.

“It looked like Luz and Amelia putting their own twist on your guys' move,” Gage snarked from where he sat outside the ring, his grin being infectious as Ivy and Henry were soon sporting ones as well.

“It was impressive, I'll give you girls that,” Emily remarked as she went to check on her brother's arm and shoulder. “How long have you been planning that one?”

“Actually, I just came up with it,” Luz admitted.

“Really!?” came the collective response from their shocked friends.

“Well, Luz and I have been talking ever since you all helped us get our heads screwed back on straight,” Amelia noted, “and when we were watching back our title loss to the Stewards, it was the first time we really noticed just how much they seemed to be anticipating when we'd attempt the Waltz. They weren't just ready for it, they were practically waiting all match for that one moment to throw us off so much that they could take advantage and really catch us the way they did.”

“We realized that for as well as we tried to design the Waltz to come from anywhere at anytime, we've been relying on it for so long in tag matches that it's become easier to scout for,” Luz added. “Yeah, we've got the Everlasting Oath as a backup option, but if the skill level of SCW has taught us anything so far, it's that we can't fully rely on a double submission approach as a solid plan B to fix that like we could under lucha libre rules.”

“So you've been thinking of adding something new that no one would see coming,” Henry realized.

“After getting to practice doing the Double Vision, I got inspired and my mind started racing,” Luz bashfully admitted. “Don't get me wrong, Ed and Em's move is amazing and we're honored that you're passing it on to us to add to our arsenal, it's just...”

“This is something that I think we can fully call our own,” Amelia finished when Luz's train of thought seemed to start derailing.

“Plus, having two moves that involve a flapjack might further confuse people about what they're trying to stop!” Luz tacked on as she threw her arm over Amelia's shoulders, practically beaming with the grin she wore.

“That would sound really weird out of context, you know, but it'd be on-brand for the two of you.”

The couple both started sputtering as Marilyn couldn't resist laughing at her friendly little jab, having walked over to stand behind Gage at some point during the conversation. It had startled him a bit, but he quickly got a reassuring hand on his shoulder from Evie, who had also stopped by to check in on everyone.

“Don't mind her,” she threw out. “I think she's just looking for something to amuse herself after standing around and watching the two of you hard at work for the past hour.”

“Don't go parroting Avery just because they're not here,” Marilyn warned Evie, who responded by sticking out her tongue and getting everyone to laugh at how absurd it all was.

Luz and Amelia would wholeheartedly admit that moments like this were the levity they desperately needed these days, going a long way to helping them remember that just because this business meant everything to them didn't mean they needed to work themselves to the bone for it all the time. Lord only knows what might have happened if they'd have walked into that war with the European Fiery Nation if CHBK hadn't gotten through to them, or worse, if he'd actually agreed to their admittedly ridiculous terms. Forget about whether or not they'd have still won that match, the conversation may have been more about whether or not either one could even compete at Rise to Greatness if they hadn't pulled back on how hard they were pushing themselves in the nick of time.

After everyone took a moment to catch their breath, the six in the ring slowly got back to work, transitioning into what looked like Luz and Amelia seeing how many different variations of the classic Doomsday Device they could concoct and practice to keep opponents on their toes, even taking suggestions from the others. Gage even threw out an idea or two from where he sat as Marilyn and Evie observed their progress.

“It's good to see them like this again,” Marilyn thought out loud, with Gage silently nodding in agreement.

“It got that bad, huh?” Evie asked.

“The two of them actually marched right into their boss's office and tried to punish themselves for their title loss by demanding they have to literally run through the entire roster before they could ever try for gold again,” Marilyn stated, and Evie quickly picked up on the effort Marilyn was putting into making sure that statement sounded as grim as she truly believed it was.

“Fuck...” she exhaled. “I'm sorry we missed it and couldn't offer any help. Darius and I have both been buried in working to figure out how that wannabe wrestling journalist got hold of the security footage from where we've got Caleb locked up.”

“At least he'll hopefully not be an issue anymore if his latest video is anything to go by... hopefully,” Gage warily said.

Jacob Harrison, the creep who ran the True Hero Wrestling Reporter YouTube channel, had been quite the nuisance for The Light In The Darkness for a while now, having devoted a ridiculous amount of time and effort into following a tip he'd been given by a still unknown source to prove that the tag team was actually a tandem of imposters that had kidnapped the real Luz and Amelia and were masquerading as them, all in the name of The Empire. The last time he'd devoted any video time to talking about this, that they knew of, he'd aired security footage his source had handed over to him that showed an attempt by the remnants of the cult to break their deranged leader out of prison, conveniently during the eight person tag match the couple had that night in London at Taking Hold of the Flame.

After ignoring his channel for weeks because trying to snap Luz and Amelia out of their spiral had taken top priority, Gage had decided to skim through his content to see if there was anything else he'd said that needed to be a concern. While Jacob gloating about how “right” he was in the wake of that loss because “the real Light In The Darkness would never lose to someone like Team Desire” had sadly been expected, what really took him by surprise was his following video, where the man seemed visibly disturbed like so many others were about how the former champions had responded to their title loss. By his own admission, Luz and Amelia trying to throw away their own careers seemed like the perfect proof that it “wasn't truly them,” but the raw emotion they'd shown throughout their entire conversation with CHBK was enough to make him publicly question if he'd been deceived into chasing a false lead this entire time. Aside from briefly mentioning them while he recapped results, any videos he'd posted since had actively avoided saying anything about them, something he'd responded to comments about saying that he “didn't feel comfortable addressing this situation right now.”

If anything, knowing that Jacob seemed to finally be realizing he'd made a grave mistake this entire time brought peace of mind to the group, because it was one less problem that Luz and Amelia definitely did not need right now that was no longer a concern. Gage wanted to argue that the man owed his friends an apology for everything he'd done, but he wasn't about to push this issue if it was seemingly dead and would hopefully stay that way.

“Any luck on trying to get him to cough up his 'trusted source'?” Marilyn asked.

“Negative,” Evie sighed and shook her head. “Avery, Darius and I grilled him for hours after we saw his video and confirmed the footage he showed... bloke's never even met his source and has only communicated with them online or over the phone. All he's revealed is that the voice belonged to a woman, something we already knew from Avery's director being contacted to negotiate his initial release. He was given a name, but he claims he signed an NDA about it and is terrified about violating it.”

“Even though he's broken so many other laws chasing this bogus tip and being an absolute creep in the process?” Gage huffed.

“Yeah, we tried pointing that out to him,” Evie groaned. “He actually told us that being jailed for breaking the law would make him a martyr to his so-called fans, but whoever's stringing him along supposedly has the power to completely ruin his life if he outs them so he's willing to hide behind the NDA excuse even in the face of law enforcement.”

“If he wasn't so incompetent, I'd almost be tempted to compare him to Caleb in that regard,” Gage stated.

“And his source is drawing a lot of parallels to Ophelia Blythe by the sound of things,” Marilyn spat. “I can't imagine having to deal with her and Al has been any easier.”

“It hasn't, but at least watching them and their lawyer squirm trying to find some sort of out has been amusing,” Evie chuckled. “The judge finally had enough of their stalling to confirm their 'star witnesses' and set a hard date for trial to resume. If they can't get Luz and Amelia to testify on their behalf on that date, then he's holding them in contempt of court for wasting weeks trying to make it happen and moving the trial to closing statements so the jury can finally deliberate, and we all know they'd never do that even if Mr. Verner wasn't just bluffing to find some other out to save his clients.”

“Maybe that explains why that scumbag's actually been trying to call them lately,” Marilyn pondered.

“Wait, he has!?” Evie jerked her head to look up at Marilyn in disbelief.

“Key word: trying,” she stressed. “He had the audacity to call Amelia's phone shortly after she and Luz exposed how bad their lowest points truly were on national television for all to see, and given the time zones I'm not ready to buy the coincidence that he chose to call at that exact moment. I didn't let her answer it, though, and she and Luz have since blocked his number.”

“How long has he been...?” Evie started to ask, but Gage chimed in before she could finish the thought.

“That night was his first attempt, and Amelia even showed us her call history to prove he hadn't tried before then. She and Luz have even agreed to either ignore or let us screen any calls that come from unfamiliar numbers if he tries that tactic, since they've got both of Amelia's parents blocked and they can trust any contacts they've got saved.”

Evie nodded at this information, taking a deep breath before pulling out her phone to fire off a text message to Darius to update him about this development. It was concerning that Adrian was actually attempting to follow through on his claims of trying to get them to testify so Aleister and Ophelia could avoid their deserved prison sentence, mostly because everyone knew there was no way in hell that was ever going to happen so there had to be another angle he was working for.

“Alright, I think we're ready to call it a day,” Amelia called out from the ring after she and Luz had finished one last run through of some of the new moves they'd been working out.

“You sure?” Ivy questioned, treading carefully as she and the others prepared themselves for the response.

“I'm with Ames,” Luz responded. “We've pushed ourselves enough for today and I think we've got a lot of progress to show for it!”

“Plus, we want to make sure we've got enough time to clean up and get ready,” Amelia added. “Hopefully we won't have to do much more than talk about our title match at Rise to Greatness tonight, but you never know what surprises Breakdown could throw at us when we're this close to that big show.”

Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief as the couple climbed out of the ring and grabbed a drink of water, which had Luz raising an eyebrow beneath her mask. “What? Did you guys not think we'd want to stop? We've been at this for a good while now.”

“It's not that,” Edward tried to reassure them as he held up his hands defensively.

“It's just...” Emily tried to add, but faltered when she couldn't figure out how to properly word it.

“I think they were expecting you to just be saying that so we'd start packing up and then you'd go right back to it,” Marilyn finally admitted with all the subtlety of a brick, drawing some stunned and upset looks her way because of it.

“...that's completely fair,” Amelia shrugged, surprising everyone. “But we promise you guys we mean it.”

“Thanks for looking out for us, though,” Luz admitted. “Especially after everything we put you guys through while we were at our lowest these past few weeks.”

“And I know of two people who are at their lowest and could really use you both looking out for them.”

Everyone's attention suddenly jerked to the unexpected addition to their conversation, and a collective shudder ran through their bodies at the smug figure practically strutting over to them. It had been one thing to see Adrian Verner, the Blythe family lawyer for so many years, putting on an arrogant act when he and Amelia's parents had crashed her and Luz's date in London despite rightfully showing concern for the whole affair just minutes prior, but the confidence he oozed now made them all want to gag at how sure he was that he was going to succeed with whatever had actually brought him here. Before he could get within arm's reach of his targets, though, Evie quickly put herself between them, a snarl on her face and her body in a fighting stance if it became necessary.

“Oh, I should've known you'd be here, mutt,” Adrian growled lowly. “Where's your friend?”

“He's busy with work that's more important than you,” Evie spat. “Since you're here, though, would you like to state why?”

“I suggest you take a deep breath before you overstep your bounds,” Adrian retorted, quickly regaining his confidence. “I'm not breaking any laws even by America's substandard idea of that concept, and I'm sure the judge would love to hear all about-”

“Why don't you answer her question?” Luz abruptly cut him off, causing him to wheeze a bit in surprise before he coughed and cleared his throat in an effort to try and recollect himself.

“Why, Miss... Luz, was it?” Adrian held up his hands to prove he wasn't any sort of threat. “My calls to you and Miss Amelia don't seem to have been going through lately, and since I figured the company you keep is petty enough to-”

“We blocked them of our own volition,” Amelia cut him off this time. “Just as we've had my parents' numbers blocked for some time now. We're kind of busy, and the last thing we need is the distraction of two people who can't take a hint that I don't want them in my life anymore.”

“Oh, surely you don't mean that,” Adrian pleaded, and it was clear to everyone in the room he was really trying to lay it on thick. “They're your parents, Amelia. They brought you into this world, raised you to be the best young lady you could possibly be, showed you a purpose worthy of the family name!”

“They also kept pitting us against one another and abused us when we didn't live up to their impossible standards,” Emily threw out as she and Edward climbed out of the ring to stand beside their baby sister.

“Excuse me, I don't believe I was talking to you,” Adrian spat before glancing around at everyone present. “Any of you. So, ladies, why don't we go somewhere more private to discuss-”

“Anything you have to say to us, you can say in front of them,” Luz interrupted once more, making it clear by her tone that despite being a literal ray of sunshine, even her patience had its limits and Adrian was really starting to test them.

“Look, this is hardly professional,” Adrian lamented. “Amelia, your parents are at risk of going to jail. They're just as much victims of this whole Empire nonsense as you two were. Don't tell me you actually believe they would willingly aid such a psychopath?”

“Oh, I'd believe it even if I didn't witness it with my own two eyes,” Amelia fired back. “They put me through hell for my entire childhood, blackmailed me into cutting ties with people I actually cared about, tried to arrange a marriage for me before I was even born to someone I would've never been interested in-” she paused to glance back at Ivy and Henry, who gave her reassuring nods before she turned and continued. “They've been openly homophobic about who I truly am, racist towards my soon-to-be wife, and that's not even getting into the fact that my father actually pulled a gun on us and tried to kill the very childhood friend he and mom wanted out of my life.”

“A fact that you know we've already brought up during the trial, Adrian,” Evie tacked on, knowing full well she and Darius have explained that sequence of events to the judge seeing as how they were undercover and intervened to prevent Aleister from actually hurting anyone on that night. “There's only so much a claim of Caleb 'convincing' him to do it will get you when he's actually served jail time already for that incident and it's all on record.”

“S-Surely you misunderstand-” Adrian stammered out.

“No, we understand pretty clearly that Aleister and Ophelia Blythe deserve to be in prison for everything they've done,” Luz growled.

“And we will not be testifying on their behalf to save them,” Amelia followed up. “Not when they don't deserve it.”

“And not that you ladies could, anyway,” Evie glanced back at them. “I didn't mention it because I didn't think Adrian here was actually serious about this, but the day the trial resumes after all the stalling he's done for this? It's July 27th.”

“That's the day of the Rise to Greatness pre-show!” Gage exclaimed.

“And they'd be jetlagged to hell flying back from England in that short amount of time to wrestle a match they've spent so long preparing for,” Henry noted, coming off as surprisingly calm about this whole revelation, but his voice carried a dangerous edge to it as he glared down at the lawyer. “Not to mention all the fans they'd disappoint by having to miss the fan event during the pre-show.”

“N-Now, now, there's no need to get all bent out of shape about this,” Adrian gulped. There was no hiding how nervous he was as he took a step backwards. “We can come to some sort of reasonable agreement to get around this little issue. I mean, Amelia and Luz would probably be saving themselves some embarrassment if they skipped the show anyways, but-”

“You know, you're not as good of an actor as you think you are,” Marilyn suddenly chimed in... after having snuck up behind Adrian and saying that low enough in his ear that it startled him, but loud enough that everyone could hear her. Adrian responded with a rather high-pitched yelp as he scrambled away from the woman, but just as he started to get his bearings he saw her holding something up. “I know an act when I see one, and you can't con someone who knows the game better than you do.”

“How...?” Adrian quickly patted himself down, visibly sweating now as he grew more and more panicked. “How did you...?”

“I may have learned how to pick a pocket in case of emergencies,” Marilyn shrugged as she showed everyone the tape recorder she'd swiped from one of Adrian's pockets, the record button visibly pressed down. “Now, I know by American laws that Michigan is a one-party consent state, and I may not know how well this would fly over in the UK, but I'll be damned if I let you take advantage of these kids just to keep your scummy clients out of the clink.”

“You...!” Adrian was visibly struggling to keep his composure now before he turned to Evie, who Marilyn handed the tape recorder to. “You can't possibly be condoning this! She actively committed a crime right in front of you! Arrest her for stealing from me!”

“The only crime I'm witnessing right now is the depths you and the Blythes will sink to if it means avoiding having to face justice for everything they've done,” Evie replied, her voice stern and professional as she stopped the recording... and then proceeded to drop the recorder on the floor and smash it beneath the sole of her boot. “I believe that recording these ladies' words and then editing them together to try and give the testimony you want them to present without their presence to validate it is treading a serious line, Mr. Verner.”

“Now hold on...!” Adrian started to shout.

“Esperar.”

Everyone went silent as Luz calmly cut through the cacophony, all eyes turning to her. Her gaze, however, only met Amelia's, the two of them locked in one of their infamous silent conversations. Whatever it was about, Amelia nodded to her before turning to look at Adrian.

“One thing I think we can all agree on is that this needs to end,” she spoke as calmly as she could, which was surprising at this point given the chaos of the whole situation and what it meant for her in particular. “Is it safe to assume our testimonies on the stand will do just that regarding my parents' trial?”

“Uh, I... um... yes, yes it will!” Adrian ultimately replied, nodding like some sort of bobblehead doll with a grin that was cheesy enough to match.

“Amelia, you can't be serious!” Edward snapped, but Amelia ignored her brother, instead turning to look down at Evie with a smile that slowly began to grow.

“Evie... what would it take to be able to show up in that courtroom, say what we need to say, and still be able to make it to St. Louis with plenty of time to spare for Rise to Greatness?”

“Wait... what? NO!” Adrian cried.

“You'd be willing to testify against your parents?” Evie asked, using her official voice just to make sure she had the clarification she wanted.

“We both are,” Luz agreed as she wrapped an arm around her fiancée's waist.

“They've skirted around the law and avoided facing justice for far too long,” Amelia added. “If Luz and I are going to truly head into our big title match at Rise to Greatness focused and with a much healthier mindset, then it's only fair we eliminate the biggest distraction we have left.”

“But... but... there's no way, with the trial date...!” Adrian kept stammering, reminding everyone of a malfunctioning robot with how poorly he was holding it together.

“Given how long things have been held up because somebody-” Evie shot Adrian a glare as she made sure he knew she was talking about him, but the smirk on her lips betrayed her true feelings about this situation. “-was stalling just to get this exact thing, I think Darius and I can convince the judge to resume trial sooner so as not to conflict with your wrestling schedules.”

“Absolutely not!” Adrian roared. “On behalf of my clients, I do not-”

“Your clients are getting what they asked for,” Amelia silenced him one last time.

“Just not exactly what they wished for,” Luz added. “Take it or leave it.”

Adrian stumbled over his words a bit more, frantically trying to find any way to salvage this situation, but with so many pairs of eyes bearing down on him and the two people crucial to his gambit firm in their decision to work against him instead of with him, he ultimately fled the gym with his tail tucked between his legs.

As far as Luz and Amelia were concerned, they couldn't have asked for a better turn of events. Sure, the preference would have been to not even bother with Adrian at all, but once again they were reminded of the power they had in the support system around them, a system that kept them thinking positively and gave them the strength to take that step in the first place. As both ladies hit the showers and changed for Breakdown to say one of their final pieces before the biggest show of SCW's calendar year, they were feeling better than they had in a long time, knowing that as long as they were willing to fight for it, the future they desired was almost within their grasp.

All they needed to do... was take that first step.