The House of Frost vs. Light in the Darkness

[Wisteria Waltz]

OOC: My second for Amelia
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As we find ourselves staring into an absolutely gorgeous sunset, it quickly becomes apparent by the impressive stretch of forest that we're not in Portland, Oregon, the site of this upcoming Breakdown. As if we need any further proof of that, we slowly pan away from the sunset to find Amelia Nevado standing on what looks to be a balcony, and Portland certainly doesn't look like they have any castles that feel like they belong more in Victorian-era England than anywhere else. Still, Amelia stands before us watching the setting sun... but there's a noticeable melancholy in her gaze, as if she wishes she were sharing this moment with someone who isn't here. She may have the World Championship resting over her shoulder, but the fact that she's dressed in more casual attire that doesn't seem to fit either with the setting or the image she's seemed to cultivate for herself as the crown jewel of the New Order starts to raise some serious questions. Notably, this might also be the first time in a long time that we've seen Amelia with her hair down instead of tied up in her signature ponytail or even a professional-looking bun like she's been shown having lately. Amelia's gaze slowly drifts towards the World Title sitting on her shoulder for a moment before moving to us.

“Me llamo Amelia Nevado. Soy su Campeona Mundial de SCW.

And yet... that's not what this upcoming Breakdown is about.”

Amelia slowly shrugs the World Title belt off her shoulder before gently setting it aside, removing it from the shot entirely. This startling move is then followed by Amelia folding her hands in front of her like a proper young lady, a pose we've seen from her many times... and yet, something about the look in her eyes makes it almost seem like she's doing this against her will, even though she's the only person who could possibly be present given the small space of this castle balcony.

“For the past year, all I've ever wanted to do was prove myself... prove that I belonged here in SCW, prove that I was good enough to stand at the very top, prove that there was no weak link in The Light In The Darkness, that Luz and I were equally talented. And yet, no matter how hard I worked or what challenges I endured, all anybody wanted to talk about was what Luz was doing. When I cashed in my Trios contract, wanting to step up to the plate and challenge for the World Title, I became a side character in what should have been my biggest moment because a certain someone was too egotistical to share the spotlight. Every challenge I threw myself at afterwards, I lost sight more and more of what made wrestling mean something to me again.

Because of that... I'm not ashamed to admit that I might've lost my way a little bit.

Unlike some, I take full accountability for the decisions I've made and know they may not have been the right ones, but in that moment, I didn't care because I finally had my confidence back and I truly felt like I was earning my keep at long last. And yet, many people out there disagree, and despite their different reasons, I do understand why they would think that way. I have the backing of the New Order, never mind that they have never interfered in any of my matches nor do I want them to. I have the CEO putting me on a pedestal... which, when you think about it, isn't too different from accusations that CHBK did the same for Luz and I on several occasions long before Mr. Delatosso even entered the picture.

Perhaps the most frustration thing I can't deny, however, is the constant belief that I don't deserve to be World Champion because I haven't truly earned it yet... and to some degree? Maybe they're right. I've been putting in the work, I've been pushing myself harder than ever before, but time and time again, circumstances beyond my control have denied me the chance to silence this criticism that I cannot win on my own. I won a multi-person match to earn the right to challenge for the World Title... I won the exact same kind of match to become champion, never mind the fact that it was supposed to be a one-on-one if Syren and Selena hadn't tried to intrude on my opportunity. Even Taking Hold of the Flame was supposed to be Gavin's rematch and the moment I would finally end this criticism once and for all... and then the Glimmers had to use Gina's Trios contract to invent one of the most humiliating matches I have ever had the misfortune of being a part of, and one I hope never makes a return.

I've heard it all these past few weeks... people still claiming that Luz is my superior, completely ignorant of how much it hurts her to hear as much as it bothers me. People throwing my singles record in my face when I've been trying to have those opportunities to show how far I've truly come and had the script rewritten on me. Even the last time I competed, that six-person tag match, I won because of a disqualification. While I do not blame Polly or her guards because someone did attack her from out of nowhere, it frustrates me to think that I'm either being denied the chance to prove myself a worthy World Champion or excuses are being made to diminish what I've been trying to do, whether you love me or hate me now, to prove I'm good enough to be respected as an equal and as a worthy champion.

If Luz can be beloved for three reigns as United States Champion, even when she will fully admit that none of those reigns were perfect... then why can't I under the same circumstances?”

Amelia lets out a shaky sigh, any hint of the arrogance she's been using like a proverbial mask nowhere to found, though the frustration is certainly understandable. She glances over at where she set the World Title belt out of the shot for a moment before she almost forces her gaze to return to us.

“But as I said, this Thursday night isn't about the World Championship. It's about the World Tag Team Championships... and perhaps more importantly, it's about bringing everything full circle, back to where it all began. The House of Frost was the first major challenge Luz and I faced when we returned to SCW, our first shot to hold those titles we've since gone on to redefine. On that night, Selena and Deanna defeated us... more importantly, they told us that we weren't ready, and we acknowledged that by putting our careers in their hands and asking them to tell us when they believed we were ready.

Here we are... three years later. The Light In The Darkness has carried the tag team division on its back, but despite the efforts we've made on the solo front, people are still coming up with excuses to pretend like we haven't been doing our part to try and carry this entire company on our backs and prove that we're ready for far more than just tag team glory. No one's ever made those same excuses about the House of Frost... at worst, they've rightfully thrown Selena's attitude back in her face because she completely lost sight of everything she once stood for and questioned whether or not Deanna can even measure up because no one wants to see her beyond Selena's shadow.

Not even Selena it seemed, if all the talk of being the only person who 'should' ever be World Champion going forward around here was any indication.

Let's face it Selena... the last time we crossed paths, we said some horrible things to each other, and while I might be willing to admit I regret some of those things in hindsight, I do not regret saying them because you needed to hear them. You needed to be called out on your hypocrisy because all you've done ever since you came back and dethroned Asher Hayes for the World Title years ago is act like SCW is nothing without you, that it might as well be dead if you aren't World Champion. Last I checked, it's been doing just fine without you hogging the spotlight and demanding that you be the only thing anybody cares about, but that doesn't stop you from making up excuses to try and keep yourself believing that everything revolves around you and you're the only person around here allowed to actually prove a damn thing.

That said, though... I will acknowledge that despite Deanna going through my own wife to win Taking Hold of the Flame, all just so you could have another Rise to Greatness main event to your name, I do respect the efforts you've made to make it up to Deanna after the stunt you pulled to encroach upon the very chance you want to criticize me over not being able to prove.

Let me ask you an honest question, Selena: do you truly believe that I wanted Hubris to become a four way dance? No... I earned my title shot against Gavin, one-on-one, and then Syren had to insist on her rematch taking priority while I think the less said about what you resorted to at this point, the better. I earned my second chance to actually prove I could stand at the top of the mountain, and just like when I called my shot against Cid Turner, you had to make me feel irrelevant in what should've been my moment. I could've had a do-over in getting that match and proving what you think I can't prove at Taking Hold of the Flame... but then the Glimmers had to pull their sick little stunt. If you believe, for one second, that I actually wanted to go through with any of that humiliating lingerie nonsense, let alone see Luz subjected to it right alongside me, then you truly have lost it.

At the end of the night, though... Luz and I pulled together, survived being humiliated and practically violated, and I got to call myself World Champion while we returned to the throne of being World Tag Team Champions together.

A throne that I know full well you and Deanna could take away from us, despite how long it's been since you two last teamed together.

Let's face it Selena... we're both pretty pathetic, aren't we? We lost ourselves and became everything we both hated, we've both been World Champion now but no one cares about that, and yet, despite it all, we both have someone in our lives who still believes in us and supports us even when they have absolutely no reason to do so. How many times has Deanna defended your name when she didn't have to while you were both walking separate paths? How many times did she insist that Kim Williams leave you alone because despite being a friend to her, she didn't understand what was going on between you two? Heck, she even wanted to give you the World Title match against me at Rise to Greatness even after everything! And Luz is no different for me... I've refused to hide behind her and prove that I can stand on my own, but despite the way I chose to do it, she's unflinchingly been my biggest supporter, still trying to not only inspire me as she always does, but reach out aiming to guide me back to the right path.

Maybe we need Luz and Deanna more than we think... which is exactly why this match needed to happen.”

Amelia exhales a little more firmly this time as she takes a few steps forward, leaning on the edge of the balcony and taking a moment to watch the sun continue its descent. It's hard to know what's going on in her head right now as she keeps her face pretty emotionless, but she does eventually shake her head as if snapping out of a trance before glancing over at us once more.

“There's another reason I felt this match had to happen... and it's not exactly for the reason I told Jessica to pass along to you, Deanna. Yeah, maybe this match will prove which couple truly has everything figured out and held together more, but while I can stand here and repeat what Luz and I warned the Glimmers about, that we've already had a supernatural level of synergy that will carry us through even when we're not quite on the same page... I'm also willing to admit that you and Selena might be further along in fixing things between you than Luz and I are, and the fact that Selena actually refused to let you hand over the shot against me at Rise to Greatness proves that.

What it doesn't prove, however, is whether or not you're truly ready for that match, and that's what this Breakdown in Portland will truly help us figure out.

I know you probably won't believe it Deanna, and I'd be lying if I said my attitude lately didn't have other reasons behind it, but I'm speaking from experience now when I say that if you don't think you deserve this shot and your head isn't fully ready for this, then you aren't going to stand a chance against me when the lights are brightest. Look back at how much I fell apart when I failed to dethrone Cid, regardless of the role Selena played in sabotaging my confidence. Look at every single challenge I threw myself at, trying to reverse course the only way I knew how, only to fail time and time again. I'm only here now because I got the chance to regain that confidence and prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I deserve to be World Champion, that I belong in the main event.

You, on the other hand? Last year, you fully admitted that you felt you came back too soon and weren't fully ready to throw yourself back into this fire, and that played a role in Luz becoming the undisputed United States Champion one Rise to Greatness ago. You turned it all around and ran the table to not only become Adrenaline Champion, but win Shot of Adrenaline on top of it. You even won the Taking Hold of the Flame battle royal... you, not Selena, and you even went through a Luz that was more determined than I've ever seen her to do it! And you'd rather give that up and believe that you don't deserve this?

Then we put that to the test in Portland.

I'm not going to pull any sort of stunt like Dexter Grant tried to pull on you during Shot of Adrenaline before you met again in the finals, Deanna. When that bell rings, you're not just getting a taste of what I'm bringing to Rise to Greatness, you're getting the full course. I'm throwing everything I have at you to see if you're focused enough, confident enough, to weather that storm, and I want you to return the favor. I think we both know Selena and Luz will give this their all, not just because they aren't meeting again in two weeks' time, but because none of us are wired that way. I know we'll both make adjustments before it becomes just the two of us, but we owe it to those fans and to each other to give Portland, Oregon a taste of what we can do when the brightest spotlight of them all is all ours.

Just as you owe it to me to prove that you're just as capable of being a World Champion as Selena is.

Just as I owe it to you to prove that no matter what I say, no matter what kind of attitude I may show, things between us will only be settled in that ring, where the talking stops and the outcome is definitive beyond any doubt.

Come Breakdown, we're going to see a match that's long overdue... even if the mirror is a little broken right now in terms of how much we still reflect one another. Make no mistake, though... I'm walking into the Moda Center ready to prove that where I'm at now is no fluke, that I truly have earned the right to be called one of the very best in SCW today, regardless of whether I need to help Deanna get her head in the game or try to forcibly earn Selena's respect a second time.

And while I know Deanna and Selena will lean on each other and show us that despite what they may think, the House of Frost is far more cohesive than I think they want to believe... Luz, I know you believe in me, and I believe in you too. It's why I handed you my Tag Title belt after we won at Taking Hold of the Flame, why I trusted you to keep it safe until I could figure things out and find my way back. It's why I'm sorry that I didn't consult you once before calling for this match... but I hope you see why I felt I needed to do this, why I need to share the ring with you again. I don't know if we'll find a way to get back that win from the Frosts from three years ago, but I do know one thing:

You are my Light In The Darkness, and if we can work together to make some magic happen on Thursday night, then maybe we'll not only still be able to call ourselves World Tag Team Champions, but maybe... just maybe... SCW can see a miracle happen, one that I think all four of us are hoping for deep down, but you might be the only person willing to say it out loud. I love you, mi amor... I see your fight and I encourage you to keep coming for me, and maybe by the time the bell rings on Breakdown, we'll all be a little closer to figuring this out... together.”

Amelia gives us a smile, and while it's a little shaky, it's perhaps the happiest she's genuinely looked all year. It's a smile that truly inspires hope for many different reasons, a smile that makes us want to believe that despite what everybody else thinks, there is one voice that truly cuts through it all and keeps Amelia going. Maybe there is hope for Amelia yet... whether or not that's truly the case, however, will be put to the test on Breakdown, that's for certain.