Amelia Nevado vs. Clyde Sutter

[Wisteria Waltz]

When it came to The Light In The Darkness, there was a feeling of frustration lately that felt like it was stuck to them with super glue.

It had been quite a while since they'd felt this way, and Amelia Nevado vividly remembered why she hated it so much.

She and Luz had every reason to feel frustrated coming out of the Breakdown in Charlotte. Luz, despite her best efforts, had seen her interim U.S. Title reign end at the hands of Asher Hayes. That, in and of itself, wouldn't have felt like such a big deal, if it weren't for the fact that Asher had made it clear he really didn't care for the title, interim or not, and had made clear his intentions to ditch it as soon as he had a clear path back to the World Title he felt still rightfully belonged to him. At least Luz cared for the honor of calling herself U.S. Champion in any form, just as she and Amelia cared deeply about the SCW World Tag Team Titles and all the hard work they had put in to make the division mean something again.

Something they both knew the Fall of Man could care less about.

William Heaven's smug gloating, trying to kick Luz while she was down, had Amelia seriously considering breaking her and Luz's oath of professionalism to shut him up, but she was able to resist the dark temptation and keep him from feeling like he won any more than he already thought he had. As if that and his smug reminder about their upcoming World Tag Title defense against James and Giovanni wasn't enough, before leaving the Spectrum Center, Amelia had been informed that on next week's Breakdown in Columbus, she'd be in action against Clyde Sutter. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Heaven had probably pulled some strings to try and use the self-proclaimed Assassin to make sure Amelia was as damaged as he hoped Luz would be going into Retribution, a pay-per-view that the couple already had a less-than-stellar track record at with last year's outing being the first time they'd ever won on that stage.

As frustrating as matters within SCW were, however, things beyond the ropes weren't looking any better to try and provide any sort of reprieve.

Amelia still remembered the tense confrontation with her parents just outside of Madison Square Garden the previous week, the arrogance of her parents grating on her nerves almost to a degree that William Heaven would be jealous of. Having to interact with them when they should rightfully be sitting in jail was infuriating enough, but for them to go and deny Avery the opportunity to reveal what they needed to share on their terms, all while openly displaying that whatever time they had spent sitting behind bars hadn't had any effect on their blatant homophobia and racism... it made Amelia's blood boil, to put it nicely.

She recalls when they had all made it back to the hotel that night, how they had quickly shelved the talk of Luz's surprise U.S. Title defense so Avery could reveal everything. Unsurprisingly, the knowledge that they were no longer working for the FBI because of the asinine antics of the U.S. President virtually ignited an inferno under everyone's skin, but that fire had been smothered beneath the news of Jacob Harrison's death. They were all in agreement that while the guy had been a creep and a pest, he was ultimately a pawn that was used by The Empire to get to them and even he didn't deserve to be a casualty in this whole sick and twisted game Caleb White was playing.

It was becoming painfully obvious he and his cult were looking to take advantage of rising political tensions across the globe, looking for any dominoes they could knock over while making it look like someone else's fault so he could ignite the hellstorm he was looking for to carry out his 'God-given mission.' Worse yet, it was an angle that Amelia knew they were all powerless to really do anything about, as politics was a realm that was far beyond anything any of them really knew or even wanted to be involved in.

Powerless... that was the common theme between matters inside and outside of the ring right now, and Amelia despised it. She remembered all the years she had felt powerless to stand up to her parents and be able to decide for herself who she wanted to be, not to mention everything that it had cost her before Luz had barged into her life and lived up to that name. Needless to say, it was a very understandable problem that brought up a lot of painful memories and feelings, especially considering how it made people like William Heaven and Caleb White feel untouchable, empowering them to pretend like they were these brilliant tacticians when the cracks were plainly visible to anyone willing to look for them. Those they led certainly wouldn't, as they were too blinded by what they felt was a necessary path to receive the rewards they believed the world owed them.

It was no surprise to anyone that once they had all arrived in Columbus, Amelia had wasted little time in getting to work in the nearest gym she could find. Granted, they all likely believed she just wanted to stay on top of her game and make sure she was prepared to try and reverse the fortunes of The Light In The Darkness however she could before Retribution. While there was some truth to that, the further reality was that Amelia was chomping at the bit to vent some of her frustrations in a way that felt comfortable to her without risking her blowing up on anyone and making it seem like she had relapsed in any way. Sure, she knew there was nothing wrong with being angry about how things had been playing out lately, but there was only so much relief she could find by simply venting to Luz or her siblings or... anyone in their little found family, really.

'Luz is already beating herself up enough over Breakdown,' she reasoned to herself as she knocked around a training dummy with a barrage of european uppercuts that were perhaps a little more vicious than she'd ever thrown in her entire career. 'She deserves a mental break to return to the brilliant ray of sunshine she deserves to be.'

It hurt Amelia so much to see Luz's light beginning to dim because of how everything had been going, and she couldn't blame her. 2025 had been an awful year so far for the two of them, and they were both desperate for anything that could turn the tide anywhere. Losing matches and hearing their opponents gloat about their self-perceived superiority was nothing new to them... they learned and adapted so they could do better next time. Even slumps like the one they currently found themselves in had happened before and they knew those clouds would eventually break if they kept at it. The problem had been not only far far the Fall of Man was pushing to try and break them beyond just beating them in the ring, but how little progress there seemed to be in trying to deal with The Empire now that they were a problem again. The mere thought of just how difficult and overwhelming it was all starting to feel drove Amelia to that familiar state of zoning out as she transitioned into complex submission hold after complex submission hold with terrifying ease.

“If that dummy were alive, I'm pretty sure it would've tapped ages ago.”

Amelia gasped as she was pulled out of her trance, her head snapping up at the unexpected voice. It took a moment, but she eventually lowered her guard once she realized it was Henry who had spoken to her, looking like he was dressed to train as well. As Amelia slowly regained her bearings, she took the opportunity to really take in every single scar that decorated Henry's body, having never really noticed beyond the facial ones until now.

“What are you doing here?” she carefully asked him, and Henry actually snickered at her continuing to keep her guard up.

“Luz asked me to come check on you,” he replied with a shrug of his shoulders. “She was getting worried about you. She wanted to come down here herself, but her mom doesn't want her anywhere near here until her arm's got full strength in it again.”

“That makes sense,” Amelia chuckled as she exhaled, feeling a lot of her tension leaving her body thanks to the brief moment of levity. “I love Lulu dearly, but that dummy would've taken the first chance to throw herself back into training as soon as she set foot in here.”

“Kind of like you did?” Henry asked, his eyebrow raised, and that brought an annoyed scowl onto Amelia's face that caused him to raise his hands. “Hey... no offense, but we all know how hard you and Luz push yourselves. It's honestly kind of scary sometimes.”

Amelia opened her mouth to reply, but quickly closed it as she realized she didn't really have a good argument, knowing full well she and her wife shared a lot of the same issues when it came to their self-worth and how far they would bend to do anything even as simple as Amelia trying to prevail over Clyde Sutter on this upcoming Breakdown.

“Sorry if I hit a sore spot,” Henry spoke again, sheepishly running a hand through his sandy blonde hair. “I know it's been almost a year since you all got me away from him, but... even now, I'm still kind of learning how to properly be social like this. I... I know how you and Luz feel... how much it hurts thinking you're not good enough...”

Amelia just stared at Henry for a moment, silently contemplating his words before she nudged the training dummy out of the ring.

“It's kind of sad, actually...” Amelia admitted as she backed into the nearest corner of the training ring and leaned against the turnbuckles. “All this time, all the effort we went through to get you away from your monster of an uncle... and I don't think we've ever really had a proper conversation to get to know one another.”

“Well... I know everything about you... or at least, who you were supposed to be...” Henry grimaced as those words left his mouth, and he couldn't blame Amelia's face for scrunching up in a bit of disgust as well. “Even disregarding what I was supposed to know when the plan was for us to be married—thank God that never came to pass—I think I've got a pretty good idea of who you really are just from what I've seen over the course of the past year. It's... honestly really scary how similar we are in a lot of ways. Feeling like you aren't good enough, pushing yourself or being pushed too hard to live up to some impossibly high standard...”

“It is kind of scary how much of a trend that seems to be with everyone,” Amelia noted with a concerned nod. “Did Caleb...?”

“Yeah... most of my scars are from him,” Henry admitted, turning his gaze to the mat in shame. “Some were the result of matches, just like you and Luz, some were from whatever dumb missions he sent me out on that got a little more physical than was planned, but... where your parents made sure to never leave you with any noticeable evidence of what they did, Uncle didn't care because I'd always be hidden behind the mask he gave me... I was always his 'Golden Prodigy' and never Henry.”

“It's amazing how much of a hypocrite that man can be, considering how much he demonized both Luz and her father over wrestling under masks for cultural reasons,” Amelia huffed.

“I mean,” Henry replied, “you know the story all too well by now, if not from dealing with him then from William Heaven pretending to play puppet master. They don't care about contradicting themselves because as long as they have the results, they believe they will always control the narrative.”

Amelia let out a frustrated sigh, knowing that Henry was right. Unfortunately, it didn't help in figuring out how to truly upend that narrative, but maybe knowing that was the best place to start. It was honestly the best she could come up with right now as she pulled herself out of the corner, going to potentially retrieve the training dummy.

“Don't take this the wrong way,” Henry spoke again after a moment, “but... I think Luz losing that title was a blessing in disguise.”

Amelia's head snapped to Henry, briefly frightening him with how scary she looked as she charged him, shooting into a takedown, but Henry managed to block it and spin so he had her against the ropes.

“How dare you say that!” Amelia shrieked as she started reaching for any limb she could grab a hold of, but Henry managed to block every attempt with terrifying precision.

“Just... hear me out! Please!” Henry pleaded with her. “I'm sorry, but I'm-”

Henry trailed off as Amelia managed to grab hold of his hand, twisting it and moving to his fingers, ready to snap them. Henry grit his teeth in anticipation but otherwise stood his ground, eyes locked onto Amelia's glare as she breathed heavily but made no further move to do what she was poised to do.

“You have one chance to explain yourself,” Amelia finally spat, voice trembling with barely-restrained anger.

Henry took a deep breath, trying to keep himself calm even in the face of Amelia's understandable fury. “I'm sorry... I know how much Luz means to you and vice versa, so I know something like that isn't what you want to hear right now. But consider this: the Fall of Man have had the upper hand on your two for most of this little war, and a good reason for it has been the distractions. As much as I know Luz saw being a double champion as a challenge to prove herself, ultimately I think it was hurting you both in the long run. These guys? They've been preying on that, pulling the strings to run you both ragged so they don't have to try as hard as they know they should to prove whatever point they think they're making.”

Amelia continued to stare him down, ready to snap his fingers, but she bit her bottom lip as Henry's words seemed to resonate with her. Seeing this, Henry continued.

“Trust me when I say I know how much you both want to prove yourselves and leaves your marks on SCW, but there are some battles you have to give your undivided focus to if you want to truly be at your best. I really hate saying this, but Luz's U.S. Title reign was keeping you from doing that, especially when they have the numbers to take everything if they wanted to. It's like The Empire and how they keep using their numbers and connections to pull games like what they did with Jacob...”

“But how are we supposed to deal with that?” Amelia finally cut in, her hands trembling even as she still seemed ready to snap Henry's fingers at a moment's notice. “Caleb's taking advantage of us trying to focus on wrestling and it's throwing us off in both aspects!”

“But you have something against The Empire that you don't quite have in SCW right now,” Henry pointed out. “Help. No offense to the Dangerous Minds, but the help they were giving you against the Fall of Man was more about wanting to resolve their own issues and you just happened to have a common enemy. But I know, you know, Luz knows, we all know... that the two of you can beat the Fall of Man no matter what they pull because despite what they convince themselves, you two are that good and you deserve to be where you are now. As for beyond the ring... well, no matter how much my uncle wants to focus on the two of you specifically, you've always got people watching your backs. Let us help to shoulder some of the load so you and Luz can focus on what's important to you, and whenever Uncle decides to stop hiding and make his next move, we'll make sure you're not caught off guard or overwhelmed.”

After a moment, Amelia finally let go of Henry's hand, her eyes turning to the mat as she pondered his words. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Henry rubbing his hand, and guilt began to settle in over how she'd acted. He was right... she'd jumped to conclusions because she assumed someone who was supposed to be a friend was putting the love of her life down, and there was no telling what would've happened had she actually pulled joint manipulation on him.

“Sorry...” she exhaled after a moment.

“Apology accepted,” Henry shrugged, surprising Amelia at how quickly he forgave her. “Believe me, if I were in your boots, I'd probably react the same way to something like that. Maybe I should have been more tactful about it, but my point still stands. Besides... you both have your whole careers ahead of you. Heck, you have your Trios contract still, Amelia! But you both will get more chances to shine as singles stars, and you can prove that come Breakdown. But you know you need to be 110% focused if you want to defend the mountain you've rebuilt together from those clowns, and you can show that and be the spark to burn down the efforts of William's goons.”

“Just as Luz has been that spark for me so many times in my life,” Amelia breathed, a smile finally beginning to form on her lips. “Thanks, Henry... I think I really needed that.”

“It's the least I can do after everything,” Henry nodded to her. “You want me to hang around and give you a sparring partner?”

“I think I could use that over a dummy right about now,” Amelia nodded. “Plus, I'm sure it'll buy you some time to think up a better way to word that to Luz later.”

Henry could only respond with a nervous laugh, but as much as it hurt to hear him say it, Amelia knew he had a point. In one form or another, the couple had been torn in multiple directions for the longest time, and what had once felt like a perfect challenge to prove themselves had started working against them. Like it or not, it was sound strategy on the part of William Heaven.

Unfortunately for him and his plans, Amelia and Luz were always willing to learn from their mistakes and setbacks, and the time would come when Luz or even Amelia would be standing tall as United States Champion again down the line. Right now? All that mattered was denying Clyde Sutter his dirty pay day and showing the Fall of Man that their games were done, regardless of whatever nonsense William continued to feed their fragile egos.

And if Caleb and his Empire felt this was the perfect opportunity to strike of their own accord?

Well, Amelia and Luz could adapt to that mess as well, and despite their best efforts to single them out and break them down, they would have help in weathering that storm the next time they tried something.

It was only a matter of grounding themselves and focusing on how to make all the puzzle pieces fit together to form the bigger picture... one where The Light In The Darkness continued to shine and thrive for years to come, as survivors of everything the world sought to throw at them.