Team Desire vs. Light in the Darkness

[Wisteria Waltz]

This time of year always felt magical to Amelia and Luz for many reasons.

Amelia's birthday had fallen within this past month, while Luz's was on the horizon.

Two of their favorite holidays—Halloween and Día de Muertos—took place back-to-back during this time of year.

Not to mention this time of year held so much significance from an SCW standpoint to the couple as well. This was around the time four years ago when they'd first debuted for the company. Two years ago they'd announced to the entire world that they were coming back to try their hand once more. And, of course, last year they went on to become World Tag Team Champions.

This year was already shaping up to be no different, but Amelia and Luz knew that they needed to keep putting in the work to make it as special as they wanted it to be. Not only did they have the chance to walk into what was quickly becoming their most treasured pay-per-view on SCW's calendar with the very same titles they finally won for the first time the previous year at that very show, but just two nights prior they were finally going to seal the deal and take the next step in their journey together as a couple.

Both women were grateful that all the work they still needed to do provided an invaluable distraction to throw themselves into, because otherwise they probably would've melted into puddles from the realization that they were now less than a month away from becoming Mrs. and Mrs. Nevado.

They had managed to put Apocalypse behind them for the moment, knowing that at this point any lingering questions and issues they had would have to wait until Breakdown to hopefully resolve. Truth be told, if the couple had their way, they would put Luz's pending United States Title shot on the backburner until they were absolutely sure Deanna was 100% and she and Luz could have the kind of match that deserved to tear the house down. Besides, given the fact that this year's Under Attack would be their first time officially competing as wives, it would feel appropriate if they could compete together on that show, ideally defending their World Tag Team Championships since they knew there were some challengers who deserved an opportunity to step up to the plate.

Of course, that was assuming the couple had their way, like so many people seemed to think they always did for some reason.

They also had no plans of falling into the same trap they had with the Stewards once before.

A sense of déjà vu hung over their heads whenever they trained for this match over the course of the past week, but it helped them keep their eyes on the ball. The last time they had been asked to defend these titles against Katie and Gigi, they had been coming off the lengthy diversion of helping Twisted & Sadistic get out of the mess they'd made for themselves and had gotten so tunnel-visioned on finally settling that score on SCW's biggest stage that it ultimately cost them. This time, while they had hopes for what they wanted to do at Under Attack, nothing was set in stone just yet, and they were determined to prove that they had, in fact, learned their lesson from the last time this match had happened.

This was the first defense of their third reign with these titles—as much as that thought didn't sit well with them after how much time had passed since winning them back—and their top priority on the wrestling front was getting out of Buffalo with those titles still around their waists.

That didn't mean there wasn't other business to address. After all, they had a wedding to finish planning and preparing for. This is where their found family, most of whom were already serving in the wedding party in some fashion, had stepped in to take a lot of the burden off of the brides. Obviously Luz and Amelia had the final say on every decision since this was their big day, but by this point, the support system around them had forged a plan to keep them in the healthy mindset they deserved to be in, allowing them to put their focus where it needed to go so they could keep thriving. It honestly blew their minds just how loved and supported they truly were, and it made them grateful for just how far they'd both managed to come over the course of the past few years.

Of course, not everything could always go the couple's way, as mentioned earlier, and that wasn't just limited to SCW either.

Amelia opened the door to their hotel room in Buffalo, stretching her arms out as she stepped into the room. Luz followed close behind, cracking her neck before throwing herself onto the bed with a dramatic flourish that at least got a giggle out of her fiancée. It was a light moment that helped ease some of the frustration of their most recent endeavor: trying to visit Deanna Frost.

It had been enough of a pain trying to find exactly what hospital in New York she'd been admitted to, considering SCW officials had proven surprisingly resistant to the idea for reasons they refused to divulge and Selena, the only other person who likely knew where she might be, was keeping her distance from them likely because of what happened in the Trios finals. Luz had suggested maybe asking Avery to use their FBI connections to find where she might be recovering, but Amelia had put her foot down on the grounds of feeling like that was a questionable invasion of privacy and gross misuse of one of the more powerful connections they had in their support system. Through trial and error over the past several days, they had finally managed to find where Deanna was, only to be told that aside from immediate family they wouldn't allow any visitors for her at the moment. Luz's frustration had been palpable, her kind soul wanting nothing more than to make sure her friend was alright, but Amelia's level-headedness had at least allowed them to leave a message to be passed along to Deanna.

It was a simple message of the two of them wanting her to know they were thinking about her and hoping she got better, confirmation that they were excited to see her at their wedding, and a heads up that Luz was on deck for her U.S. Title so she could rest peacefully knowing her next challenge would be the exact opposite of the nonsense that The Enigma had tried to pull.

“Just two wrestlers who care about this sport giving it their all to show that to the whole world” had been Luz's exact words.

“You doing alright, cariño?” Amelia asked as Luz stretched out on the bed, pouting in a way that she found adorable despite the visible frustration her beloved was showing.

“I just hate how much of a waste of time this all felt,” Luz groaned. “We've done so much driving over these past few days just trying to find the right hospital. I feel like we've somehow explored the whole state of New York and barely indulged in any of it, and it was all for naught. Why couldn't we just be told that when we asked SCW officials what hospital she was admitted to in the first place?”

“I'm afraid I can only speculate,” Amelia sighed as she sat down on the edge of the bed, running her fingers gently along the patterns of Luz's mask. “They might just be playing cautiously given everything that happened with this Enigma nutcase. Plus... no offense, but she looked pretty bad the last we saw of her before the feed cut. Maybe she still needs time to rest before they feel comfortable going beyond immediate family visiting her.”

“You're probably right,” Luz admitted as she slowly sat up. “It's just hard knowing someone we care about is hurt and it feels like there's not much we can do about it.”

“And that concern for others is just one of the reasons why I love you so much, Luna Nevado,” Amelia softly smiled before pulling Luz into a gentle kiss.

“I love you too Amelia,” Luz giggled, “but maybe we should save some of the 'lovey-dovey mushiness' for our vows.”

“As if you haven't had yours written for years by this point,” Amelia laughed, prompting Luz to gently shove her as she started laughing as well.

She wasn't wrong, not to mention she was guilty of doing the same, but it really was the little things that helped breathe so much life into the love they shared for one another.

“Alright,” Luz said after she took a moment to catch her breath. “What should we do now? Get some training in for Breakdown?”

“Maybe not the best idea,” Amelia openly pondered. “We should definitely do some stretching, but we've been driving around for most of the day. Pretty sure our bodies aren't in the mood for anything too physical, and most of the gyms will probably be closing soon.” Amelia pointed towards the window, where it was clear the sun was beginning its descent for the day. “Not to mention, we've been working ourselves pretty hard these past few days for this match, even with how much we've been driving around. I think we've earned a break, for the sake of our physical and mental health.”

“All good points,” Luz nodded in agreement. Truth be told, her brain wasn't fully on board, but she was trying to be better about feeling like she needed to push herself too hard to prove something. “Maybe we could just study some film then? At least that way we're still putting in some work for this match.”

“I don't see why not,” Amelia shrugged as she moved to retrieve one of their laptops from their bags. As she did, she found a notebook sitting on top of them, and after grabbing it and looking it over carefully, her eyes widened briefly before her face settled into a look that Luz knew had the potential to spell trouble.

“What's got you ready to dive into the deep end of your brain?” she asked, snapping Amelia out of her thoughts before she could go too deep.

“Looks like your mom came in while we were out and left us the latest seating chart for the wedding, and...” Amelia trailed off as she held out the notebook for Luz to examine.

“What's with all the random X's on some of the seats?” Luz raised an eyebrow, which caused Amelia's to raise as well before she took another look at it.

“Let's see... according to the little note she and Ivy left for us, those X's are meant to represent 'plain clothes' officers and agents hiding out in the crowd, just in case anything happens and the obvious security is something that's expected and accounted for,” Amelia noted. “But that's not what got to me Luz. Look at the second row, closest to the aisle, right behind your mother and the seat reserved for your father's spirit.”

Luz took a closer look at the area Amelia had indicated, and now her eyes were widening at what had thrown Amelia for a loop. Penciled in right next to each other in those seats were Selena and Deanna Frost. Ordinarily, that wouldn't have been any cause for concern, but one thing Selena had noted when she'd talked to Amelia weeks ago was that things in her and Deanna's relationship... weren't the best at the moment, for lack of a better term, especially since that was all the explanation they'd been given to work with. Seating them next to one another for the wedding seemed like the perfect convoluted scheme to try and give them a little push to talk things out, and a far more naive Luz from a long time ago would've been all over that plan.

If she'd learned one thing from this relationship with Amelia, however, it's that you can't force things to happen, especially if it involved the lives of other people.

“Yeah... maybe we should change that,” Luz admitted. “Which one should we move?

“I say neither,” a voice suddenly chimed in. Luz and Amelia turned to their door to see Ivy entering and marching up to them with a wicked grin, swiping the notebook out of Amelia's hands with a “yoink!”

“Ivy!” Amelia cried, her tone half-playful and half-serious.

“You want to explain yourself, missy?” Luz said, trying to sound like a stern mother but only succeeding in making Ivy laugh at the attempt.

“Alright, if I must,” Ivy said with a dramatic flourish that helped ease some of the building tension, though she did put on a more serious tone when she spoke again. “Look, I know you two want to be nice to them, and I definitely respect that. But as Amelia's maid of honor, I feel it's my duty to give those two the kick in the rear they need to do what always works for you two: just freaking talking it out already.”

“Just because it works for us doesn't mean it'll magically work for them Ivy,” Amelia pointed out.

“And I'm willing to bet they haven't even given it a try yet,” was Ivy's response as she gently batted away Luz's hand trying to reach for the seating chart. “Look, if they get all upset about it, you can tell them to blame me and I'll happily tell them this was all my doing to their faces if I need to. Besides... I consider this payback.”

“Payback?” Luz asked as she and Amelia exchanged glances. “Payback for what?”

“Well,” Ivy began, holding up a finger. “For one thing, payback on Selena for that little stunt she pulled trying to drive a wedge between you two just to better her odds of winning the Trios Tournament.” She held up a second finger. “Also, the whole 'wrestling under a mask and pretending I'm someone else from SCW's past' stunt from last year's Open Invitational match. I think I have the right to be a little petty about not knowing I was throwing down with one of SCW's best when I entered that match.”

“I'm not saying you aren't entitled to some petty payback if you want it Ivy,” Amelia carefully said. “It's just... I don't know if we want to create any issues at our wedding, even if you want to rightfully take the heat for this.”

“We're already worried enough about even the slightest possibility of any lingering members of The Empire trying anything,” Luz added. “Not to mention if anything comes of all those weird messages we've gotten if it's not connected to The Empire, and this Theresa woman trying to get in our heads and convince us of problems that don't actually exist in our relationship...”

“Right... I heard about the whole Lady Snapdragon thing from right before this past pay-per-view,” Ivy sighed. She struggled to admit it because she was one of those wrestlers who was a natural to hate, but Theresa had been an inspiration of hers growing up to keep fighting and try to create her own path into the wrestling business. That inspiration had admittedly faded quite a bit when Theresa became a known associate of the Blythes outside the ring when Amelia had been blackmailed into cutting all ties with her, but hearing about the stunt she tried pulling on Luz had stomped out any lingering embers of that. It's like they always say: never meet your heroes.

“She tried to talk with us again when we finally starting leaving the Rogers Arena back in Vancouver after the show,” Luz informed her, not even bothering to hide the anger she felt for the old woman.

“She what!?” Ivy yelled, eyes going wide behind her glasses. “Why didn't you guys tell anybody?”

“Because we told her off and refused to let her plant her little seeds of doubt or whatever this time,” Luz responded.

“She ultimately just left us with cryptic nonsense,” Amelia added. “That wasn't even the strangest part about it all.”

“Yeah... our old 'friend' Jacob showed up wanting to talk with her, acting like it was urgent,” Luz rolled her eyes.

“What the hell...?” Ivy mumbled. “He didn't try anything, did he?”

“Nah, he wasn't there for us,” Amelia noted. “He didn't even realize we were trying to tell off Theresa, and when he did he begged us not to report the fact that he technically violated the restraining order he got slapped with to stay far away from us.”

“That's good at least,” Ivy admitted with a sigh of relief. “Still... what the hell was any of that about?”

“We're still racking our brains trying to figure that out ourselves,” Luz admitted.

“As long as Jacob isn't actively antagonizing us anymore, he's not a threat as far as I'm concerned,” Amelia dismissed. “I'd still like to know why the heck Theresa suddenly came out of the blue to try and screw with us before our wedding. I mean, what does she even have to gain from it?”

“...maybe she's been the one sending you those cryptic messages?” Ivy suddenly threw out, grabbing both of her friends' attention. “Think about it: these messages are basically trying to talk you out of going through with the wedding and actually becoming each other's wives, and it hasn't worked. So why not try a direct approach and convince you that there's problems to make you question things in your relationship that aren't there?”

“It's... possible...” Amelia mulled this theory over in her head. “Starting with letters definitely feels like enough of an old school approach to cover her tracks, but for as well off as she's become, she always gave me the vibe of being too old to care for text messages and modern phones, and I doubt she'd waste money on a ton of burner phones just to keep harassing us.”

“Maybe not her... but do you think Jacob would?” Luz pitched.

“I know he's supposed to be staying the heck away from us,” Amelia replied, “but why would he go out of his way to hold some sort of grudge? He ruined his own life following false leads he got from who I'm pretty sure was my mom because of how much she knew it could get to us while covering her tracks.”

“Or... his source could have been someone just like your mom!” Luz's eyes lit up as the pieces started coming together in her brain. “We both know enough about the kind of wrestler Lady Snapdragon was to know that her ability to get into her opponent's heads was perhaps second only to Caleb, and I could tell from when she first talked to me that she had a similar kind of vibe to both him and your parents with how she said anything. Why else would Jacob seek her out to talk with her?”

“He's definitely more tech savvy,” Ivy noted as she started to pick up on where Luz was going, “and if we're assuming Theresa was his source for the 'truth' about you guys, he'd have a connection to maybe do her bidding until she saw it wasn't working. And Jacob doesn't have to have a connection with Caleb or The Empire to be talked into doing something for someone...”

“...especially if he gets something out of the deal as well, preferably for his little YouTube show,” Amelia finished, realizing how easily the dots were starting to connect. She assumed her mom was Jacob's 'insider source' because Ophelia Blythe was that petty, especially to her own daughter, and would pull a stunt like that. The more she thought about it, however, the more obvious it became that she couldn't have done it given she and Aleister were in the middle of their trial around that time, and any contact they would've had beyond each other or their lawyer would've been heavily monitored in case they were plotting something. It's the whole reason Adrian had been the one to try and reach out to them about testifying in the first place.

Still, something wasn't quite adding up in her brain.

“I don't think Theresa or Jacob are behind the messages though,” she admitted, which surprised Luz and Ivy who were both looking like they'd just solved the mystery of the millennium.

“What makes you say that?” Luz asked.

“Don't get me wrong, everything lines up and the timing is convenient... maybe a little too convenient...” Amelia offered, standing up and beginning to pace back and forth as she mentally worked through this. “Even still, I don't think Jacob would willingly risk anything he has left trying to mess with us more than he already has. He's already been arrested multiple times, has the restraining order that's supposed to keep him away from us, and he even admitted in one of his videos that he was wrong about whatever lies he got fed and apologized for it. Why would he risk whatever reputation he's got left knowing full well if he got busted then he's probably not getting off so easily next time?”

“That still leaves Theresa though,” Ivy pointed out.

“I don't know...” Luz now chimed in, rubbing her chin as she thought back to that encounter in the parking lot. “What was it she said to us before she left? 'He's looking forward to seeing the two of us again'? Who's 'he'?”

Amelia opened her mouth, ready to offer another theory, but she was cut off by the sound of Luz's phone ringing. All three women exchanged looks before Luz retrieved her phone from the bedside table, finding a number she didn't recognize calling her. She moved her thumb to actually accept the call, but Amelia suddenly grabbed her wrist.

“Ames?” Luz questioned.

“What are you doing, Luz?” was the question she got asked in return.

“Answering this call,” Luz replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“But I think I remember that being one of the burner numbers that texted us,” Amelia noted as she examined the number, Luz's phone still ringing away.

“Exactly!” Luz exclaimed. “I'm tired of this nonsense, and we can get to the bottom of who it even is right here, right now, and tell them to leave us alone already!”

“Unless they're using one of those voice changers,” Ivy pointed out, which caused Luz to groan as she realized her friend was probably right. That seemed like an obvious trick to pull for a situation like this.

“I say we let it go to voicemail,” Amelia offered. “Maybe this person's using a voice changer, maybe they're not because they're expecting us to answer. And if we have a recorded message...”

“...then we can have Avery and them look into it and maybe see if we can finally figure out who's our mysterious messenger is!” Luz caught on, looking at her phone one last time as she knew this was the final ring it would give before going to voicemail, her last chance to let her curiosity get the better of her. Instead, she resisted the temptation by instead opting to kiss Amelia, mumbling in Spanish about how brilliant her future wife was as Ivy just rolled her eyes at the two dorks she called her friends.

A few moments later, Luz got the notification from her phone about a new voicemail. Trepidation began to set in as she, Amelia and Ivy all exchanged looks before nodding in agreement. Playing the voicemail and putting her phone on speaker, they all listened carefully, not knowing what to expect.

A raspy voice that sounded like nobody they'd heard before is what they were ultimately met with, practically hissing the following message:

“The cross is the victory, the resurrection is the triumph. The resurrection is the public display of the victory, the triumph of the crucified one. If November 1st will be your unholy matrimony, then it shall be eclipsed by his resurrection. It's not too late to reconsider your sins.”

Luz and Amelia both looked annoyed and frustrated as the voicemail finished playing, and Ivy couldn't blame them. They at least got confirmation that something was planned for the date of their wedding, and whatever it was promising almost sounded like a declaration of war.

As far as The Light In The Darkness were concerned, however... if anybody wanted a war, they'd get one. And whether it was The Empire, whoever was behind these bizarre threats, or even Team Desire, they'd all come to learn firsthand that Amelia Blythe and La Pequeña Luz would fight like hell to defend everything that meant the world to them, especially when they'd worked so hard to get to this point in the first place.

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The very first thing that greets our eyes is a close-up of the SCW World Tag Team Championships, proudly displayed for us to take in every elegant detail etched into the golden center plates. As we begin to pull away, we find that these titles are wrapped around the waists of their rightful owners, Amelia Blythe and La Pequeña Luz, The Light In The Darkness. As we get a sense of our surroundings, we can tell that there's a breeze by the way that it catches their hair, and it's not hard to begin to make out the Buffalo skyline behind them, indicating that they've made their way to the rooftops to say what they need to say. One would think that they'd look to be in higher spirits given the success they had at Apocalypse, but there's a more frustrated look in their eyes as the champions stand before us, hand in hand.

“We're going to be honest with all of you right here and now: Apocalypse was a night that left us with more questions than answers, and we can't help but feel frustrated by it all. I'm sure a lot of you out there probably think that's silly or stupid. After all, we both won our respective matches. What's there to be frustrated about? Anyone out there who really knows us or has followed our careers... you already know. Yeah, I currently stand before you as the number one contender to the United States Championship, just as I truly wanted in the grand scheme of how things could have played out in Vancouver. I made no secret about how I wanted Deanna to beat The Enigma because that title deserves a proper match between the two of us to see if I'm worthy of succeeding Deanna as champion or if her incredible reign deserves to continue. That said... I'm still not completely sure if all I am is the number one contender. I heard the talk from CHBK, about the possibility of an interim champion needing to be declared, and I truly hope that isn't the case. I know I'd have technically earned it with my win, but... between all of you and me? I'd prefer to try and beat Deanna for the actual title properly, not feel like I'm just a placeholder until Deanna and I can have our rightful classic that you all deserve to see.

Hopefully Breakdown will have more answers, but there is one thing I can say for sure on the matter... Deanna, if you're watching this, I'll be praying for a speedy recovery so you can get back to kicking butt like only you can, and whenever it does end up happening, preferably when you're 100% again, I'm looking forward to an incredible match with you worthy of that championship.”

“Meanwhile, I think it goes without saying why I'm rightfully frustrated coming out of Apocalypse. The finals of the Trios Tournament were my chance to prove myself and earn that coveted contract, much as Luz did the same with her future U.S. Title opportunity. It wasn't easy, and I'll honestly commend Polly, Andrew and even you Selena for the fight we got. At the end of the night, however, my team ultimately prevailed... but it hurts for me to stand here and say I truly earned anything. For reasons I wish I could comprehend, Blake Mason decided to stick his nose where it didn't belong. Maybe he wanted to brag about how someone like me, who truly wanted to earn this the right way, now owes him for his unwanted assistance. Maybe he just wanted to stick it to Selena because of their clashing World Title aspirations. Whatever the reason, I cannot truly stand here and say that I earned the Trios contract that is now in my name, and for as much as Blake probably doesn't care and Selena will no doubt try to use against me, all I can do is try to keep pushing forward to make up for it and prove that I do deserve that contract, and eventually, prove that I deserve whatever opportunity I choose to use it for as well.”

Amelia can't help but sigh and look down at her feet, clearly being more bothered by this than many might have expected. Luz looks over to her, her thumb gently rubbing along Amelia's knuckles to try and help put her at ease. After a moment, Amelia does look up, her lips curling into a soft smile that Luz returns before they turn their attention back to us, seemingly more at peace with the chaos that's unfortunately unfolded around them, at least for the moment.

“As much as we wish otherwise, there are things that happen in this company that are beyond our control, and the best thing we can do is try to adapt and keep moving forward. Maybe that comes as a shock to some of you out there, but contrary to this popular belief that seems to get tossed around a lot lately, Amelia and I don't have a lot of control over how things play out. We're not some evil schemers trying to play people like pawns on a chessboard, we're not sucking up to CHBK or acting like his pets... we're just two wrestlers who want nothing more than to get in that ring week after week and showcase our best efforts to show all of you where we are right now and how much we've grown since our last match. We're just as much at the mercy of Alex's booking decisions as just about everybody else on the roster, and even we find ourselves wishing for things we don't exactly get.”

“Case in point: the titles we proudly wear around our waists. Back at Rise to Greatness, we marched into St. Louis with only one goal driving us: to prove that we'd learned from our past mistakes so we could overcome the two teams that brought an end to our runs as World Tag Team Champions and get these titles back. We were bound and determined to bring the fight to both Twisted & Sadistic and Team Desire to put our crisis of confidence behind us and prove, definitively, that we are the best tag team in SCW today and want to keep elevating this incredible division to even greater heights so long as we stand atop the mountain. That's not to say that we didn't appreciate the opportunities we were given to stand on our own over the course of this past month, but we can understand the frustration and the desire to call us hypocrites because these titles we fought so hard to get back ended up lost in the shuffle, especially given how things with the Trios Tournament ultimately played out. This upcoming Breakdown, we plan to rectify that mistake, and all of Buffalo will get to come along for the ride as Luz and I proudly challenge ourselves to not only keep proving ourselves as singles competitors, but continue to defend our place as the top tag team in SCW today.

It's honestly fitting that the first challenge we have for this title reign is the same team that ended our last one.”

There's a notable pause as Amelia and Luz think back to that night. June 20th at the Kaseya Center in Miami, they had been challenged by Katie and Gigi Steward with the titles on the line. The Light In The Darkness had asked for a fight, and they certainly got one, watching as Katie ascended to Supreme Champion status at their expense and realizing the grave mistake they had made in underestimating just how much of a battle they were in for because they'd been looking too far ahead. Their eyes narrow, smiles giving way to more determined looks as we can almost feel the intense desire to get that win back.

“Katie, Gigi, I think it's pretty clear how familiar all of this feels. The Light In the Darkness defending the World Tag Team Titles against Team Desire on Breakdown, a match born of the fact that it's been far too long since Amelia and I have defended these titles and refuse to let either them or all our hard work together be forgotten. We know what you're probably thinking... there's an old saying that clearly states 'those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.' I'm pretty sure we even said that leading up to our last match as well... but this isn't the exact same situation as June 20th. We're humble enough to admit to the mistakes we made several months ago, because when we said those words, they were in reference to our desire to not become victims of Supreme Champion history a second time... a task we ultimately failed because it was clear we were focused far too much on Glory and Brittany waiting in the wings at Rise to Greatness. At the end of the day, everything regarding them had set us up perfectly for your little plot twist. The Stewards had climbed to the top of the tag team division, Katie had earned her Supreme Champion crown... but then what?”

“There's a reason that no matter what twists and turns our wrestling journey has ultimately taken over the course of this past year, Luz and I have proudly held and defended these titles for the vast majority of it. It's a question we had to answer, a lesson we had to learn the hard way even before we reached this point for the very first time. It's one thing to become a champion, but the journey doesn't end there... if anything, it only gets harder the longer you're willing to fight to remain a champion. Not once, during any of our title reigns, did we ever back down from a challenge, and while we may have faltered twice, we always picked ourselves back up and came back stronger than ever, ready to take these titles back and resume pushing every tag team on this roster to keep stepping up their game and proving that this company has the best tag team wrestling in the entire world.

Katie, Gigi, you've both held championship gold in your own respective rights and have been around this company long enough that we expected to see you pick up where we left off, keep that passion burning bright and show the world that, at least for the time being, you truly were a better team than us. Unfortunately, you took your foot off the gas pedal, let the grandeur of Katie's newfound place in the history books create this illusion that you were invincible, and what happened? When the time came for you to show the world exactly what Team Desire was capable of as World Tag Team Champions, you couldn't show that same hunger from the night you dethroned us.”

“Make no mistake, we want to face the same Team Desire that stepped up to the plate and managed to take us down all those months ago, we want you to challenge us and give us nothing less than your absolute best. But we're far from the same team you crossed paths with on that night... this time, we're not turning a blind eye to how badly you want to take these titles back from us, we're not underestimating what Katie Steward, Supreme Champion or Gigi Steward, the woman who scored the fated pinfall back on that night are bringing to the table. Forget Apocalypse, forget my future U.S. Title opportunity or Amelia's Trios contract, forget any asterisks that hover over our heads from that night. Come Saturday night in the KeyBank Center, the only thing that matters to us is proving, definitively, that while we may not have been the ones to eliminate you two at Rise to Greatness, it's no mistake that we stand here before you as SCW World Tag Team Champions once again. There will be no doubts, no questions, no arguments this time.”

“We know there are other teams who probably aren't happy that you're getting this rematch, maybe even wanting to point out that you shouldn't even have it because you lost the belts in what was technically our rematch. Even still, that's irrelevant come Breakdown, because Katie and Gigi have their chance to prove, once and for all, that June 20th was no fluke. But if the fact that I made you, Katie, submit in the first round of Trios was any warning, then we hope you come prepared for the full force of our evolution as competitors. Saturday night, right here in Buffalo, we're going to find out just how much this truly means to the both of you. Despite the different challenges we've taken on over the course of this past month, one thing has not changed: tag team wrestling, and being able to call ourselves SCW's champions of it, mean everything to us. Our blood, our sweat, our tears... that is the foundation upon which this division as it stands today was built upon, and if you want to remove us from the top of this mountain again, then you'd better be prepared to introduce us to a Team Desire that plans on showing that same fight for every single match that follows this one.”

“This time, you don't have the benefit of us being distracted and worn down to take advantage of. The spotlight is all yours, Katie and Gigi, and by the end of Saturday night, we hope you'll understand exactly why we will always be the light shining strong in the darkness that will never go out.”

“We wish you the best of luck and hope to see the Team Desire that beat us before once again... but we'll be damned if we don't close the book on this rivalry without having earned our happy ending to this story.”

We watch as Luz and Amelia carefully unclip their titles before holding them high, the camera catching the glint of their engagement rings as well as the two stand tall and proud over the city of Buffalo, where they hope to continue their legacy as perhaps the greatest tag team of SCW's modern era. The doubts and questions of Apocalypse, the haunting memories of the Stewards ending their previous title reign... they know this is their chance to put all of that behind them and keep building towards their brighter future they're fighting for, and they're going to seize this moment no matter how hard the fight.