Representative of the Shinigami Foundation vs. Deanna Frost

[SnowQueenSCW]

The camera opens up to a balcony on top of some kind of penthouse suite. Sitting there on the balcony chair, overlooking New York City, is the SCW Adrenaline Champion, Deanna Frost. She wears blue jeans, a light-green sweater and gray longcoat. Her red hair, curly and free, moves a little in the light winter-wind, but not enough to be distracting. In her hands, and resting over her shoulder, is the Adrenaline Championship.

Taking a moment to collect her thoughts, the champion then turns her head towards the camera.

So… where do we start?

She tilts her head a little side-to-side, seemingly thinking about her usual question.

To be honest, I’m not too sure where to start. I know what I SHOULD talk about. I know what I OUGHT to talk about first.

I should talk about how Fatal Fortunes was both invigorating and humbling. Rewarding and inspiring. How I was able to prove a point, but at the same time, be reminded that I can’t lose my desire to do better each and every night. Because whether it was winning and retaining this championship at night one or losing a chamber match at night two, there was always something to learn. Something I can take with me and better myself from so I can do better now! As we reach the conclusion of this amazing tournament...

Those words seem to set something off a little in Deanna’s mind.

But, instead of doing what I SHOULD do and talk about what I SHOULD talk about, my mind keeps racing back to that leaked footage of the CEO, Frank Delatosso, and CHBK. Footage that, maybe, we weren’t supposed to hear and, I’ll be honest, part of me wishes I hadn’t.

Because to hear your boss, effectively, say that this tournament is a joke – that what you have worked through for months, endured every match, and believed with all your heart is little more than a ‘failure’? Everything you have fought for is a waste and doesn’t matter?

Biting her lower lip, Deanna shakes her head.

I’m so tired of hearing that. Because, I’ll say it! I don’t care if Mr. Frank Delatosso is the CEO – Mr. C-E-O is W-R-O-N-G! Wrong! Because while he has sat pretty in his office, counting his money and lifting his nose down on this tournament, so many of us have been in the trenches, waging war and, yes!, risking injury because we believe in this division, this championship, and this tournament! We are about to have FOUR people fight tooth and nail in three matches just to try and solidify the final standings going into the semi-finals and the finals!

We are willing to fight and risk it all... and it’s supposedly for nothing?!

I refuse to believe that! I did not come all this way for ‘nothing’! I did not risk coming back early for something that ‘doesn’t matter’! I did not fight with all I have for a ‘joke’, but to be better and for the honor of being a champion in SCW and part of an incredible division! So if Mr. CEO wants to think this is a joke, I – WE, me, my fellow wrestlers, and the gritters – WE will show him he is sorely mistaken!

Determined, Deanna exhales a breath before regaining her calm.

Sorry, I had to get that off my chest. I know I may come back to it in the days to come but for now? I’m focused again on proving my words and this tournament. And Breakdown...

This is it guys! Final matches in play! Everyone fighting for position! Finalizing the spots.

Which is both interesting and odd for me, because if Shattered Reality and Fatal Fortunes was anything to go by in terms of the perception of ‘my place’ here, it seems some of my peers see the word ‘undefeated’ next to my name, and they think it means comfort.

They think it means I get to breathe easier. That I get to coast. That I get to start looking ahead to “A Taste of Things to Come” and pretend that Breakdown is already behind me...

Deanna shakes her head. That’s not how this works.

Being undefeated doesn’t take the pressure away, people. It multiplies it! Because every single opponent that steps in front of you isn’t just trying to ‘beat’ you anymore.

They’re trying to be the one.

The one who hands you your first loss.
The one who knocks the champion down and takes the title away.
The one who gets remembered.

And at Breakdown? I’m not just undefeated. I’m the Adrenaline Champion!

For a moment, Deanna eyes the title on her shoulder. When I took this title from Dexter Grant, I didn’t just change my career - I changed the entire Shot of Adrenaline tournament, not just how it could be seen by for myself as well. From that moment on, every match I wrestle is a title defense. No exceptions. No clauses. No asterisks.

And for me... Every bell ring I hear isn’t just a ‘start the match’. To me, it says: prove it again.

Prove why you were the one to beat Dexter Grant.
Prove why you are undefeated.
Prove why you are leading this tournament and holding this championship.

Prove it.
Prove it.
Prove it!

Looking back up to the camera, a smile breaks across Deanna’s lovely face. And I welcome that.

Because championships aren’t meant to be protected by circumstances like the previous champion tried. They are not meant to be protected by ‘deals’ or ‘clauses’ or ‘specialty matches’ or ‘shortcuts’.

No! They are meant to be protected by heart. By preparation. By the willingness to walk into a ring knowing everything can be taken from you in one night – in one second - and doing it anyway! That is what this championship and this whole tournament should mean for representing this division! It’s what I’ve seen on the faces and in the eyes of everyone competing tonight!

And I will show it tonight in my final round robin match.

Now, this is where I’d talk about my opponent and discuss things. But... as if the remants of Fatal Fortunes are inking their way across my weeks – that or we’re starting a tradition here - I don’t know who I’m facing! she laughs a little, clearly a little amused.

Originally, it was supposed to be Chris Dumont. But, as you all know, injuries don’t care about plans, and the Shinigami Foundation has made one thing very clear throughout this tournament: they don’t believe in standing still. One falls, the others step in! And instead of just handing out wins and points, CHBK, I think, had done the right thing – you hear me, CEO?! I said it! The right thing! – and let the Shinigami Foundation show their strengths and adapting skills with this swap-in and out!

So SCW will NOT be deprived of more SoA matches, and I am all for that! THANK YOU, CHBK! That is what the boss should have said to you! Thank you, MR. CHBK!

Clapping her hands together, Deanna rubs them. So! With all of that said, I’ve got my work cut out for me. Because instead of one opponent, I’ve been preparing for four.

And that means something important:

It means I can’t train for habits.
I can’t study tendencies.
I can’t game-plan for one specific weakness.

In other words, gritters, I have to be ready for everything!

On one hand, the curtain could part and Wil Pierce might walk out—an all-rounder who can shift styles mid-match without warning or indication. Someone who can outwrestle you, outpace you, and outthink you if you let him settle in. Facing Wil Pierce means surviving adaptability itself.

Or it could be Alex Belmont—a striker who doesn’t believe in feeling-out periods. A grappler who doesn’t care how much punishment he takes as long as you take more. Facing Alex Belmont means understanding pain as a language - and being fluent in it. she shrugs her shoulders knowingly, her past speaking volumes of that last declaration.

Maybe it will be Dante Slayton. Power. Pressure. Control. A man who turns momentum into gravity and makes every mistake feel heavier than the last. Facing Dante Slayton means you don’t get to blink. I heard that from my wife, whom some of the Foundation has recently faced!

Or maybe—just maybe—it’s David Striker that will come calling for this championship. Cold. Calculated. Relentless. A technician who doesn’t rush because he knows time is on his side. Two of these men have already proven themselves by pushing Selena to the brink in recent weeks, nearly beating her – a former world champion and possibly, and in my opinion bias as it is, the best SCW superstar in history – and David Striker is one of those two. Facing him means knowing exactly who you are when there’s no chaos to hide behind.

Deanna clicks her tongue inside her cheek. Four possible opponents. Four completely different matches. And all of them are walking into Breakdown with the same truth hanging over their heads...

They HAVE to win.

There’s a three-way tie clawing at the last two semifinal spots. No margin. No safety net. No “good showing.” You win, you’re in! You lose? You’re watching the biggest night of this tournament from catering.

I can’t say I am in that boat, but I have been in that position before. That kind of pressure does something to people...

It sharpens them.
It strips away hesitation.
It turns respect into desperation. Just ask Polly.

But that’s why this match matters more than people think. Because the man who faces me at Breakdownm whoever he may be, won’t be cautious. He won’t be conservative. He’ll be fighting like someone whose future depends on it—because it does!

And some people think that puts me at a disadvantage...

The champion shakes her head. They think uncertainty is a weakness. They think not knowing your opponent means not being prepared.

Like the CEO, they are wrong.

Because, unless you’re Dexter Grant and living in a bubble of delusion and half-baked ‘theories’, you all know that uncertainty is where I live!

I didn’t build this reign by controlling every variable. I lived off doubt and the odds against me. I made my way through this tournament not controlling... but by adapting. By adjusting. By staying calm when plans fall apart. By trusting the work I’ve put in, not the circumstances around me.

And for all of you, Shinigami Foundation, I don’t need to know who my opponent is to know what you all want.

You want this championship.
You want the momentum.
You want the story that says you were the one who stopped Deanna Frost.

She grins. And you’re welcome to try.

Because I didn’t come this far to protect my record.
I didn’t win this title to hide behind it.
I didn’t survive this tournament by playing safe.
I came here to compete.

I came here to represent what the Adrenaline Championship is supposed to mean—pace, heart, resilience, and the refusal to back down when the match gets uncomfortable.

Adjusting the title over her shoulder, Deanna’s expression becomes more determined. So if you’re Wil Pierce, bring every style you’ve mastered.
If you’re Alex Belmont, bring every strike you’ve ever thrown.
If you’re Dante Slayton, bring all that power and see if it’s enough.
If you’re David Striker, slow it down and test me move by move.

Because Breakdown isn’t about surprises or controversy or about ‘jokes’. It’s about truth!

It’s about who you are when the pressure is real, when the crowd knows what’s at stake, when one mistake can cost you everything!

And whoever steps through that curtain at Breakdown—

You’re not just fighting for your place in the semifinals. You’re fighting a champion who understands exactly how much this means to you.

A champion, knowing all this, and will refuse to give you an inch. Because you’re most dangerous will meet my grit and my resolve head on!

This is my final round robin match.
This is my championship on the line.
This is the last warning before ‘A Taste of Things to Come’ changes everything.

Deanna pushes herself to her feet. So step up! Because I’m not backing down. I’m not slowing down. And I’m not giving this championship up without a fight you’ll never forget.

Tonight? The mystery will be solved! The unknown will be known! I will know my opponent. WE will know who is going to the semifinals. And we, the SCW Universe and you, Shinigami boys, will know that I will STILL be the SCW Adrenaline Champion!

She gives an excited grin, Checkmate, bitches! before the camera fades entirely to black.