Light in the Darkness vs. Hollywood

[Wisteria Waltz]

OOC: Decided that since I've got LITD separated right now in the story I'm trying to tell and this is the best way I can try to get things to where I want them to be for THOTF, I'm going to do separate RPs for Amelia and Luz for this match instead of a joint effort to cover the both of them as a team. This is Amelia's effort, and I'd recommend reading this one first in terms of chronological order as something that happens in this one will play a role in Luz's CD that will be posted shortly.
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She had done it...

Amelia Nevado was finally the SCW World Champion...

She knew people would probably try to dig for any sort of excuse to diminish the accomplishment, but anyone who watched Hubris saw it clear as day: Amelia was the only one in that match that ultimately didn't have someone helping her specifically, and she was the one who found a way to get the win. She had even choked out Selena Frost to cement her victory... sure it entitled Gavin to a rematch and left the door open for Syren to potentially have an argument if she so chose, but Selena? The one who had been the most vocal about how much Amelia didn't belong in this position at all?

She no longer had any excuses to fall back on.

No longer could anyone make the argument that Amelia was the weak link in The Light In The Darkness. Sure, maybe Luz had more singles title reigns to her name, and all of them had been pretty decent in length, but Amelia had been the first between them to hold SCW's top prize, beating arguably three of the best wrestlers in the entire company right now to make this moment a reality.

So why did she feel so hollow?

A big part of her wanted to blame the way everything had unfolded in the aftermath of Hubris, and the Glimmer Sisters were at fault for that. She couldn't blame Gina for wanting to use her Trios contract to go after the World Title... that would be the pot calling the kettle black, and there was an odd catharsis to being the World Champion being cashed in on after she had been the one cashing in and calling her shot. That was the only credit she would give Gina and her twin sister, though, because everything else about what they had chosen to do made her skin crawl and had her wishing there was some way to nullify the cash-in and just let her deal with Gavin one last time to punch her ticket for the main event of Rise to Greatness.

At Taking Hold of the Flame, the narrative she had lost herself to of proving she, like Luz, could succeed on her own without her wife's help was now out the window, because she was going to need Luz's help in order to retain the title she had just fought so hard to finally earn, simultaneously blowing up Luz's plans by forcing her to use the Tag Title shot she'd been sitting on since Fatal Fortunes, and Amelia knew Luz well enough to know she was waiting for one specific partner to be ready and willing before she pulled the trigger. Making things worse was the fact that the Glimmers didn't care about actually proving their claims of being superior to The Light In The Darkness fair and square, instead making a whole unnecessary spectacle out of it that was going to require Amelia and Luz to not only prove they could still work together, but also force them to wrestle in nothing but their underwear while being judged like prized cattle.

The Glimmers could spin their version of 'fairness' all they wanted, but Amelia wasn't stupid. The whole setup was designed to reward them with every advantage they could get to try and steal everything they did not deserve and sweep the details under the rug by just pointing to a result that claimed the twins had beaten the tag team that breathed new life into that division and elevated it to a point it hadn't reached in some time.

As irritated as Amelia was about all of this, the hollow feeling only resonated within her whenever her thoughts focused on one specific element to this, and that was the woman she loved despite everything.

If she was being honest with herself, Amelia was... baffled, to say the least, by Luz's reaction to everything. She could tell her wife was upset by the revelation of her alliance with Frank Delatosso and the path she was walking, that much had been obvious, but while Amelia had done everything in her power to avoid Luz when the camera weren't rolling, desperately trying to hide the other “deal with the devil” she'd struck recently, she had expected Luz to be a little more... determined, maybe, to try and convince Amelia that she was making a mistake? And yet, Luz met her on the stage as Hubris went off the air, genuinely applauding her title win. She had tried to make it clear, both to Amelia and to anyone who asked, that she was legitimately proud of her wife for reaching this point and that was that. Even when she had broken the news that Mr. Delatosso wanted Amelia to have the ring alone to celebrate her title win before the Glimmers ruined everything, Luz had taken it somewhat in stride.

Luz was obviously not alright with Amelia's alliance or the justification she had given the night it had been revealed, so why was she just seemingly accepting it or trying to ignore it and just focusing on her win?

In Amelia's mind, she needed to figure this out, especially if her and Luz were going to have to return to their roots just to prove that the Glimmers could stack the deck in their favor all they wanted, they were not going to beat the team that, even now, Amelia would still proudly admit has earned the right to call themselves the greatest tag team of SCW's modern era.

And also because if she couldn't get a read on how Luz was trying to play this, then she was worried about where things might go from here regarding the other alliance that she absolutely regretted, but was determined to see it through if it ultimately resolved arguably her biggest problem once and for all.

'You're still worried about her? After deceiving her about everything? After venting your frustrations on her for your own failures? After throwing away everything in a desperate bid to try and prove something? As far as I'm concerned, you've only proven that you're finally the Blythe you were always destined to be.'

Amelia's sigh was so audible, she swore she could hear it echo throughout her hotel room. It was a lavish hotel, far fancier than she would normally care for even with her newfound World Champion status, but she kept that to herself since Caleb had somehow manage to get himself, her, and all of his elites rooms at this particular hotel in Washington, D.C. without any sort of issue, given that The Empire was essentially recognized worldwide now as a religious extremist group at the very least. Part of her wouldn't be surprised if Caleb was taking full advantage of how much the United States government was falling apart right now, courtesy of a man who felt like a more unpredictable and unhinged version of the deranged zealot, to fly under the radar without a care in the world.

Her thoughts on that were second only to the concern of Luz finding out the truth behind why she'd tried to completely disappear beyond her obligations to SCW, or what that might mean for her in regards to the NCA. There was no way Avery, Darius and Evie still weren't traveling as a part of their found family, especially to protect Luz now that she had tried to disappear. Of the three of them, Darius was the only one she hoped would have any idea of what she was hoping to pull, but her note had been so vague so as to not tip her hand in case anyone else happened to see it besides him.

'You're right where you should've been all along, and yet you're still trying to manipulate things to take even more. You really are just like your mother...'

“Absolutely not,” Amelia growled, seemingly to no one if she wasn't all alone in the room. She, of course, was the only one who could hear the voice of her inner critic, still tormenting her even after all this time. “Why won't you just leave me alone? I've already proven I can be everything I've worked for without becoming anything like her or dad!”

'Have you, though?' Other Amelia prodded from within her thoughts. Amelia could practically feel her grin, and it drove her mad. 'Because from where I'm standing, you almost finally followed the blueprint they laid out for you the day you were born. You're not quite perfect yet, though, especially since you could still stray from-'

“I don't want to hear it,” she spat at herself, turning her glare towards a nearby mirror. Maybe it was the frustration of everything taking hold again, but she swore she saw her reflection smirking, as if daring her to break hotel property just to try and shut her up. “I earned the right to call myself World Champion, and nobody can deny me that. I knew the risks of what I was getting myself into, but I swore I would make it work and I did. I may hate what awaits me in Las Vegas, but like it or not, there's nothing Mr. Delatosso or CHBK could have done to stop this mess and I just have to suck it up and deal with it, no matter how much I hate it. Not even Caleb or those two I once called my parents could get me out of this either-”

'Funny that you say CHBK couldn't have done anything about it,' Other Amelia teased, and Amelia clenched her trembling fists tightly, determined not to let that aggravating voice in her head win now that she finally had things going her way. 'Not once did he ever give you the same opportunities he gave to Luz when you both began focusing on singles exploits. Tell me... if you had been at Breakdown in Milwaukee, would you have insisted that Polly step aside so that you could have been the one to piledrive him?'

Amelia's breath hitched, and she found herself coughing as a result as she tried to pull herself together after that little jab. She knew that when she showed up to Breakdown this week, there were going to be a lot of questions about how she felt about that, considering she'd been absent last week when it had all gone down. Mr. Delatosso had insisted she earned the night off, likely to keep her away from the Glimmers and any games they may have wanted to play while he still desperately looked for any way to try and cancel Gina's Trios cash-in. Luz had been there, but only to give her one interview as far as Amelia saw. Not even she had run down to try and help save CHBK, which raised a ton of questions in and of itself.

There was a very strong part of Amelia that felt disgusted at seeing what happened. Had she been frustrated by CHBK seemingly overlooking her in favor of Luz? Absolutely, she'd be lying to herself if she thought otherwise. Just because Mr. Delatosso had offered her the opportunities she felt CHBK had been passing her over for didn't mean she wanted CHBK to actually get hurt. She'd been paying attention two weeks ago, and it was clear he, like Mr. Delatosso, wasn't a fan of the Glimmers' gambit, and Luz being caught in the crossfire because Gia and Gina needed every advantage possible was proof that even if the man had something against her for the choices she'd made, Luz's involvement meant he had nothing to be happy about either.

'Back to worrying about Luz,' Other Amelia scoffed, and seeing this play out in the mirror was only driving Amelia closer to the brink. 'I'm curious... after everything you've sunk into this little scheme of yours, how do you think she's going to react when she finds out exactly why you've been avoiding her?'

Amelia opened her mouth, ready to tell her inner critic off because Luz wasn't going to find out about this, especially after she'd explicitly struck the deal with Caleb to leave Luz alone because he'd gotten at least one of them finally, but the words died in her throat as she saw her reflection hold up her left arm, reminding her of what was scarred into her wrist now. They had all become far too familiar with the symbol by this point, leaving no room for interpretation so she could deny why she had it. The proof of her betrayal was sitting right there on her wrist, and sooner or later, Luz was going to know.

Potentially even as soon as this Breakdown if she wasn't careful. After all, Mr. Delatosso had scheduled her and Luz for  tag team action against Hollywood, calling them a 'warm-up' for Taking Hold of the Flame. While she wasn't 100% sure on where he stood regarding Luz, he was at least very much aware that, like it or not, Luz was going to need to be in sync with Amelia again if she wanted to keep the World Title. Finally giving the Tag Titles a proper set of champions again seemed like a bonus on paper, but Amelia needed to figure out where things even stood with Luz first.

Before anything could come of Amelia's argument with herself, she heard a knock at her door. She glanced towards it in confusion, knowing she hadn't ordered room service and knowing that Caleb had asked not only his elites, but also any other Empire members who were also hanging around for 'security reasons,' to leave her be. She looked back at her reflection, but Other Amelia seemed to be done trying to plague her for the moment as the Amelia she saw in the mirror perfectly matched her movements.

Huffing to herself at the thought of Other Amelia believing she'd won this round, she finally moved towards the door and opened it. She didn't recognize the man on the other side at first... at least, not until she saw the Empire pin he was wearing, as Caleb had actually forbidden any members of the cult who had come with them to D.C. from wearing their usual cloaks and masks so as not to draw any unwanted attention.

“Can I help you?” she eventually asked him.

“I, uh... just wanted to check on you,” the man said, and something about it was already raising some red flags in Amelia's mind. “I know Lord Caleb said to give you privacy, but I heard you coughing and got concerned.”

“I'm alright,” she reassured him, her gaze never leaving his just in case something about this was as wrong as she felt it was. “Just got too lost in thinking about something and let some water accidentally go down the wrong pipe.”

“Ah,” the man responded, nodding as though he understood. “You really should be more careful. You're important to Caleb and we wouldn't want anything bad to happen to you.”

Amelia just eyed the man carefully, noting that he didn't refer to him as 'lord' or any other title the man truly didn't deserve. As far as she was aware, unless something in the conversation prevented him from being referred to so highly, Caleb had gotten so egotistical lately that he now insisted that anyone within The Empire, save for his elites (of which she was apparently considered one now), refer to him in any way that implied he was the true second coming of Jesus like he truly believed he was. Not to mention the subtlety of the threat he tried to hide within his tone.

Without addressing him any further, Amelia started to close the door, though she kept a careful eye on him as she did so. The moment the door was almost closed and he wasn't visible anymore, she instinctively took a step backward, which turned out to be the right choice as he tried to force his way into her room, the door impacting against the wall as he lunged for her. She caught the glint of the knife he was aiming at her chest, hoping to impale her lungs, but whatever clever quip he clearly had waiting on the tip of his tongue that was probably about giving her something to really cough about quickly died as she caught his arm, wrenching it and forcing him to drop the knife. He tried swinging with his other arm, but Amelia ducked and immediately pulled him to the floor, her wrestling instincts snaring him in the Blight Choke. He frantically flailed, his free arm desperately reaching for the knife, but Amelia kicked it towards the door so it was well out of his reach. He kept trying to fight, but it wasn't long before his arm went limp and she could feel him passing out in her grip, which is when she finally let go and tossed his body off of her.

As she stared down at his unconscious body, she slowly rose to her feet, her body trembling. She didn't know if it was the rush of adrenaline from defending herself or the fact that someone had once again made an attempt on her life and her nerves were shot, but any thoughts she wanted to dedicate to what just happened faded as she heard a slow clapping of hands coming from the doorway. As she turned her gaze in that direction, she saw Caleb standing there, a proud smile on his face that made her want to vomit.

“Excellent work, Amelia,” he praised her with that same caring tone that she hated hearing from him so much. She watched as he slowly bent down and picked up the knife, examining the blade and finding it just as pristine as it had been when one of his supposed minions had whipped it out at her. “Although, you would be much better off finishing the job while he's out. You can't be too careful-”

“Don't... even...” she growled at the man she was supposed to acknowledge as her leader now, slowly catching her breath.

“I'm willing to let your reluctance slide... for now,” he chuckled to himself as he turned and motioned behind him. Two of the elites, the one who had branded her (who she had since learned was named Mason) and Vladimir, shuffled their way past Caleb and grabbed the unconscious Empire member before carrying him out of the room, making sure that to anyone who might pass by that it looked like something had happened to him and they were taking him to get some help.

“What was that all about?” Amelia demanded. “Some kind of sick test of loyalty? I'm already branded with The Empire's sigil for life.”

“You are correct about a test of loyalty, but rest assured... yours was never in doubt,” Caleb smugly replied, and Amelia's blood only boiled more. “Having you finally embracing salvation has provided our humble group with one very important blessing, Amelia. I am, unfortunately, very well aware that Stephen's splinter cell did not fully die with him, nor did I suspect that what happened in our home country was the end of it either. They may believe themselves smart, staying quiet and pretending to be loyal to my mission, but you... your mere presence is perfect for drawing them out so we can cleanse ourselves of their misguided efforts for good.”

“Is that all I'm good for?” Amelia dared to ask, wanting to test and see how Caleb would respond, especially since he surely had some sort of bigger plan in mind now that he finally had her within his ranks.

Caleb simply continued offering that 'sincere' smile that made her skin crawl as he put a hand on her shoulder, and she had to resist the instinct to either shove it away or try and break it. “Oh, you have a far greater purpose than you know,  Amelia, and I promise you will understand soon enough.”

That was all he was apparently going to give her before he took his leave, closing the door behind him and leaving her alone in her room with her thoughts once more, and all she could do was take a deep breath and try to pull herself together. She knew the risk she was taking here, just like she had taken a risk in letting Mr. Delatosso guide her to the top. She had told herself repeatedly that she needed to make this work, and that was true now more than ever. This Breakdown would simply be the latest test she had to endure to finally settle everything hanging over her head once and for all.

Unfortunately, Amelia had no idea that the splinter cell member she had just uncovered and subdued had a backup plan in case his efforts had failed... and while he would no longer live to see it through, his phone and what he had on it was about to serve the next phase of Caleb's plan perfectly.