Selena Frost vs. Cid Turner III

[SnowQueenSCW]

OOC: Warning: There is some imagery in this roleplay that may be disturbing to some readers. Discretion is advised.

Project: Black Ice

”Parting Words”

State of Alaska Department of Public Safety
Anchorage, Alaska
December 3rd, 2021
12:34pm

She hadn’t had much time to ask many questions. In fact, she hadn’t said much of anything about it. How could she?

Deanna had shown her the text she had received shortly after Selena had left Breakdown to return to Nome a week ago. Beyond that? The redhead had known nothing. What else was there to know, really?

Malcolm Scythe was dead. Her greatest enemy… the grandfather of two of her children… was dead.

From the moment the news had escaped her wife’s lips in that dark cave belonging to her father, the reality hadn’t settled in with Selena. Malcolm Scythe dead? It didn’t seem possible to the platinum-blonde. The master of mind games – the man with a thousand different plans to destroy his enemies – the most powerful man in all of Nome… was dead…

She had battled against that reality, that truth, quietly in her mind as she had returned with Deanna to SCW – over to Montreal for the final episode of Breakdown before her World title match with Cid Turner in her hometown of New York. Had fought that reality as she had stood in the ring with the world champion, breaking down so much of their past and their current views. Had fought that reality as she had left Montreal and hopped on her private plane to take her back to Alaska, even when the plane had changed directions to land not in Nome, but in Anchorage.

That was where the body had been taken to be analyzed. That was where she needed to be to believe it. She had see it. See Malcolm…one more time.

“I can’t believe we’re doing this.” Whispered Deanna as she stood outside the facility, the Alaskan wind blowing the braids of her red hair back behind her. She peeked a glance at her wife, who stood before her. When Selena gave no reply, she turned her head fully to regard her wife. She had been expecting something like her beloved throwing out her catchphrase ‘Believe it!’ or something playful like that. Instead, the older Frost was silent standing there in her brown boots, black pants, maroon sweater and leather jacket, her hair loose in the wind. “Selena?”

“Hmmm?” the Snow Queen’s head snapped towards Deanna, sapphire eyes meeting emerald ones. “What?” she asked, her focus back on her.
The redhead gave a shake of her head, dismissing the moment. “Isn’t Jean supposed to be here-“

She was not able to finish her sentence as the front doors to the complex opened, gaining both Frost women’s attention. Exiting, the suited Jean Black greeted them. “About time.” He replied simply, no malice or bite in his tone. “I hate this city.” He added with a shake of his head.

“Shocker.” Selena whispered as she walked the short distance needed to stand close to her old friend, Deanna eventually following her. “You hate travelling, period.” She added.
“For good reason.” Jean replied, his tone as somber as Selena’s.
“Have any problems?” the platinum-blonde asked, getting right to the point of the three of them being so far from even Nome.
“None.” Jean reported, giving his head a little shake. “Autopsy results were concluded – he’s just in cold storage now, waiting to be brought back to Nome.”

“Please tell me we are not responsible for that.” Deanna quickly replied, a shiver shaking her frame a little at the thought of travelling with a corpse.
“No.” Selena answered before Jean did. “I’m sure arrangements have been made for that.” She added, her mind momentarily drifting to Talia, Gavin, and Ryan – Malcolm’s closest family.

“Well, they better prepare for a ‘closed casket’ ceremony.” 

The remark came from Jean, the detective crossing his arms over his chest, his walking stick dangling from his left hand. While it unsettled the Frost wives, neither of them were surprised by it. 

To be clear, none of the three were seeing the death of Malcolm Scythe beyond what it was. Malcolm, Selena had told them, had predicted his death at the hands of Killjoy and, two weeks later, it had happened. There was no sugar-coating it. Malcolm had been murdered and none of them had reason to suspect anyone but Killjoy. 

“Is it bad?” Selena asked regarding the current condition of the body.
A slow sigh escaped Jean before the detective nodded his head as he licked his lips. “Yeah.”

Moving out of the way, he allowed the Frost women into the facility, closing the door behind all of them. “Cold storage is that way.” He gestured with his free hand as he moved to the right hallway. “Don’t touch anything once we get there.” He added. The trio remained silent as they made their way through a set of doors and down a flight of stairs.

“Considering our location…” Deanna tried, keeping her hand on the rail as they descended. “Wouldn’t surprise me if ‘cold-storage’ is just outside the facility…”

There was no response from either Selena or Jean, merely the sound of footsteps as they continued to walk down each step.

“Because it’s Alaska…and it’s cold outside…” she tried, her voice trailing off as she, a little embarrassed, looked down at her feet. “I thought it was funny.” She whispered to herself as her feet made it down the last step. The second her feet touched the ground of the bottom floor, however, she suddenly felt a pair of warm lips pressing into her cheek for a gentle, light kiss. Snapping her head, she stared into the gentle eyes of her wife, Selena merely offering her a sad smile before taking her hand in hers, squeezing it tightly, before resuming her following of Jean without a word.

They passed through some security and some front desks, which also had security, but their explanation was the same each time as it came from Jean. He was there as the private detective of the Scythe family, instructed in examining the body of Malcolm Scythe on the family’s behalf. The two women following were his intern (Selena) and his notetaker/secretary (Deanna). 

Not that anyone would question that… Selena thought as they made their way across another hallways, so many of them decorated in the same colors of blue, beige, and white. This is probably the most excitement they’ve seen here in years.

The Anchorage crime-unit facility was responsible for all of Alaska… mostly because of the few towns that actually existed but also because of the low population within Alaska itself – because who would really WANT to live in such a snowy, cold hell that was Alaska, right? Hell, Nome wasn’t even reachable via car from Anchorage, only by flight. As such, the Anchorage station served all of Alaska in terms of crime labs and such… 

Thing is… Malcolm’s death may have been the most interesting thing that had happened to them in recent history, Selena surmised. Probably since the Butcher Baker…still, I wonder how’d they feel if they knew it was an actual madman…

No one had come forward with information on Malcolm’s killer. The local police of Nome were still conducting their own investigation, as was Jean – but only Jean knew what Selena knew, which was what Malcolm had told her two weeks ago. His prediction, his acceptance of it…

For what it was worth, the fact that none of the other Scythes: Talia, Gavin and even Ryan weren’t being targeted was a bit of relief to the Snow Queen. She knew Killjoy was dangerous, had even been held at gunpoint by the bastard, but he had yet to kill before Malcolm. And part of her, maybe a naïve part of her, had hoped it would never come to that. That, maybe, he would appear and they could talk this out like she had with Malcolm in the past – or at least solve all of this without bloodshed.

That was clearly impossible now, she knew, as the last set of metal doors were pushed open by Jean and the three walked into the cold-storage room. Looking around, Selena could see the small, metal confines lining one of the walls - small freezers of shining, stainless steel. She could see the tables and tools that were in their proper place and some of the staff that moved in and out of the room, clearly not many corpses to investigate today.

Unfettered, Jean moved to a section of the room at the far back, where a table stood with a sheet covering – well, it was clear what it was covering. He waited for Selena and Deanna to reach him, the pair staring at the tarp covered body.

“Are you ready to see this?” he asked slowly, putting on a mask and sliding on some latex gloves. “I can tell you, it’s sick.”

Deanna took a deep shaky breath, her hand, once more, finding Selena’s, grasping it tight. She was scared, and Selena could feel it from her wife. The redhead was here for Selena. Unlike the wrestler, she trusted Jean’s words. She didn’t want to see a dead body.

But here she was, for Selena, and the Snow Queen mentally cursed herself for it. Cursed herself for her denial. Cursed herself for needing to see – needing to know – just how far Killjoy could, and had, gone in his obsession to destroy Malcolm… because now, she was the one that was left. The only one that was left.

“Alright.” Came the sigh from Deanna. “Do it.”

Slowly, Jean reached out to take the top of the tarp covering the body by the hand and with a steady pull, he removed it.

The sight made Deanna half-scream, half-gasp, turning to bury her head into Selena’s body, her hands clutching her like a lifeline. “Oh gods…” she cried into Selena’s leather coat.

For Selena, she couldn’t look away, no matter how much she wanted to! She couldn’t scream, no matter how much she wanted to! She couldn’t vomit, no matter how much her stomach retched and churned – so much like the hot-spring waters she had visited three weeks ago! She couldn’t do anything but just… look.

There, on the slab, lay the body of Malcolm Scythe… but what in Odin had been done to him?

The skin was pale, touched by death, and was covered in bruises and cuts across his arms and chest and legs. The fingers in his right hand were swollen and bruised and bent at horrid angles, as if they had been broken and smashed! There was dried blood that came from his mouth that stained his lips and cheek. His eyes were glossed over, swollen in one and another was bulging a little. There were bruises that wrapped around his wrists and his shins, like he’d been tied or bound to something…

And then there was the expression. Taking it all in, the face of Malcolm Scythe wasn’t the confident or powerful man that Selena had grown up fearing. Nor was it the tired, but gentle and patient face that had met them with apologies at the Serpentine Springs. This face – this expression – was wrapped in pain. Contorted in torture. Veins were pressing against the skin – as if they had been waging a war within him just to stay alive. His mouth was twisted and wide in an agonizing presentation, in that position at death and locked in from rigor mortis.

One word encapsulated it all before the three people’s eyes: Suffering. Malcolm Scythe had suffered a death that was not meant for any human being – REGARDLESS of how ‘evil’ they were!

“What in hell…” a breathless sentence slipped out of Selena. “How could someone do this?”

Without a word, Jean pulled the tarp back over Malcolm’s body. “Strychnine.” He answered. “That’s how.” He waited for Selena to lift her head to him, her eyes on him, though the absolute shock refused to leave her sapphire orbs as she held Deanna to her. “He was found tied up in a chair and with enough Strychnine in him to take down an elephant.”

“I don’t….” Selena shook her head. “I don’t know what that is.” She admitted, her voice shaking.
“Well, the doctors enlightened me.” Jean explained, his voice devoid of emotion. “Imagine your body becoming more and more rigid, tightening more and more with each increase of the substance in your body. Until… until your lungs can’t function anymore.”

“He…” Selena tried, looking down at the tarp. “He suffocated?”
“I imagine he was tortured as well. Like tensing your body when you’re cut or hurt – the muscles can aggravate and make the pain feel fresh. And as he was feeling that pain, he started being unable to breath…”
“Torture…” the voice came from Deanna, who had turned her head back to Jean. “It’s sick.”

Looking down at the deceased and covered Malcolm, Jean could only nod his head. “I hated him – almost as much as you.” He admitted, casting his eyes at Selena. “But never would I wish this on him… on anyone… this is beyond evil.”

Despite herself, Selena found herself instantly agreeing. Gods, how many times had she dealt with people that she felt were ‘evil’ or doing ‘evil things’? Her stepmother, the Scythes, Milady DeWinter and Brachiss… and then there was her world of SCW! Xander Valentine attacking innocent audience members, Giovanni trying to dismantle Mr. D. in a match, Vixen Cain trying to kidnap her with her private bus – Cid Turner manipulating everyone around him with his ‘god’ act…

None of them were like this. None of them seemed this demented!

“Please…” came Deanna’s voice. “Please tell me they have something on Killjoy! Anything!” her hands tightened around Selena’s arm. “Please, Jean…” she begged.

A sigh escaped the detective’s lips, which only plummeted the Frost wives hope – what little they had. “There is something…” he started, reaching under the tarp to lift up the arm closest to him and holding the appendage towards the Frost women. “Forensics said they found several traces of gun powder on his hands. And when they got there, there were several bullet casings on the ground and blood on the floor and wall… some of which… wasn’t his.”

Emerald and sapphire eyes grew wide. “You mean…” Selena asked. “He shot Killjoy?”
“I think so.” Jean replied. “Although, when they tested the blood – there was no match to any profile in any database.” 
“Of course not.” Deanna laughed bitterly. “Odin forbid anything be easy.”
“Deanna.” Selena tried, reaching out to touch her wife’s face, only for her wife to turn from her and march out of the room.

Turning back to Jean, Selena opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out, her eyes flying between Jean and Malcolm’s body. Apparently, though, it was enough for Jean to understand, the detective nodding his head before excusing himself from the room to follow Deanna.

Alone with the corpse of the man she hated the most in this entire world, Selena’s eyes fell back onto him. Her mouth opened again to speak but she found no words immediately. Instead, her mind was filled with questions.

How had Malcolm faced Killjoy? Had he begged for his life? Offered anything to spare it? Had he only fought when he had no other choice?

If Selena had not seen Malcolm three weeks ago, she would have believed that. A politician – a man like Malcolm, more specifically – would have offered anything to be spared…

But that wasn’t the Malcolm that had sat with her on the deck near the hot springs. Not the Malcolm that had told her that he knew death was coming and was ready for it. Not the Malcolm that had smiled and laughed with her children – had apologized to her and her family. 

“First my stepmother faces death with dignity.” She whispered, her eyes on the white tarp. “Now you?” 

She shook her head. “Were you just an old tiger sensing your end?” she asked as she stood there, her eyes on the part of the tarp that covered the head. “Or were you just trying to buy Deanna and I more time together?”

She was met with silence, which didn’t surprise her. “Happy…” she whispered. “That’s what you wanted me to try and be, right?” she had to laugh at that as she felt tears prickling at the back of her eyes. “Tell me, Malcolm. How am I supposed to be happy about this? Do I rejoice because you’re dead? Ding dong the Scythe is dead?” she half-cried. “Maybe I should be! Maybe you deserved this! After all you’ve done?!”

She threw her head to the ceiling for a moment, shaking her head and closing her eyes as another laugh escaped her in a huff.

“How the fuck can I be happy about this, Malcolm?” she lowered her head. “Tell me!” she ordered the lifeless shell. “How can I ‘let myself be happy’ that this happened to you? What do I tell my children – YOUR grandchildren? What do I tell your sons? Or Talia?!” 

Again, she was met with silence, which only frustrated her more.

“You saw this coming – yet you couldn’t just tell them? You left it on my shoulders? What am I supposed to do?! He’s-“ her mind flashed back to that night back in July. In Rebecca’s house, where she had first met the black-skulled madman. How he had outfought Selena, countering every kick and punch she threw with ease!

“Pathetic. You are merely a child throwing a tantrum when you fight.”

The words echoed in Selena’s head, her hands tightening into fists. “I…I can’t beat him.” She whispered. “Even with all my cold and dragon and the cave… I can’t beat him.”

For a second, brief as it was, her mind seemed to flash between Killjoy and someone else with those words, but it didn’t last – the parallels existing in her mind for only a second to add to the despair she felt.

Was that what her nightmares were telling her? Those eyes in the sky? Her enemies before her? Was that what the message was? That whether it was Cid Turner or Killjoy or Giovanni or Malcolm – the end result was always the same? Her utter failure and complete destruction? Was that what the powers beyond her were trying to tell her?

If so, where did that leave her? To fight it or accept it like Malcolm had? To savour what little time she had left and just be happy because she was as powerless to stop it as he was?

She felt the tears falling down her cheeks in steady streams, pale hands flying up to press into the skin and droplets. She didn’t want to accept it! She didn’t want it to end! She didn’t want to just give up and give her life over to Killjoy or hand Deanna over to Cid…

Cid…

For a moment, that sickening bargain came to Selena’s mind. The one where Cid had, with no tact whatsoever, asked to impregnate Deanna for the sake of his cult and Gleebnorb. Again, the idea was wrong and sick, mocking everything about their marriage – their love – that Deanna and Selena believed in.

But… could Cid and his followers not protect Deanna from Killjoy? They were hundreds, maybe thousands! She was one person… 

The rationale lasted only for a second within Selena’s head before she immediately shut it down, but the fact that it had EXISTED within her mind for even an instant was enough for Selena to yell angrily, slamming her hands down onto an empty, nearby table! She stayed, perched over that table, breathing heavily.

“I don’t know what to do…” she whispered. “I don’t know how to win.”

”Because, to you, winning has always been about just that. Winning and losing…”

Selena looked up and back towards the voice she heard – her eyes suddenly taking in the unmarred face of Malcolm Scythe, standing before her in that suit of his! “You being alive and the other person dead or broken or no longer a threat to you. That’s how you always viewed ‘winning’.” He continued. “Even in your world of wrestling.”

Quickly, she turned her head to gaze back at the tarp. The body was still under it, the tarp hadn’t moved.

“You…” Selena took a moment to breath and calm herself. “I was looking for you in the caves…” she whispered. “To bring me back to a place where I could beat Cid.”
“I know.” The ghost smiled. “I always return there when you don’t need me, just as you always return there when you do.”
“So, why couldn’t I find you weeks ago?”
“You didn’t need me back then. Not like now.” Smiled the specter.

The ghost had taken many forms in the past for Selena: Deanna, Dawn Lohan, Adrian Scythe, and… the most common and damaging in Selena’s past, her ‘Snow Child’…

“So, why that form?” she asked, wiping at the tears still in her eyes.
“Because you needed to talk to him the most right now.”
“But you’re not him.” Selena countered. “You’re my mind breaking down or something.”
“Reaching its limit.” The ghost corrected. “Yes. You’re almost there. I’d say very close.”

The platinum-blonde took a shaky breath. “What happens when it reaches that limit?” she asked.

To answer, ‘Malcolm’ simply smiled. “Wouldn’t that be interesting to see… The world has seen your body reach limits and what happens to you when you overcome them… but your mind, oh…” He shook his head in intrigue. “I don’t think even Cid Turner would want to see that.”

With her hands, Selena fished them through her hair, grasping at the gorgeous strands as she tried to calm herself with her breathing. “Conceal…” she whispered…

“Don’t feel.” The ghost stated the next line for her. “Not going work this time, child.” He added. “You’re too afraid. You’ve got a killer coming for you now – not just some obsessed madman. You’ve got an impossible fight on the horizon – a supposed ‘god’ – and all that pressure on your shoulders. You’re not going to get rid of it just by trying not to feel it.”

“Then what do I do?” Selena asked, her voice cracking. “Why couldn’t you just give me SOMETHING to use? Why does it ALWAYS have to be me that solves the problems?”
“Oh…” the ghost grinned. “Now, we’re getting somewhere.” He leaned forward on the table he sat on, gesturing with his withered fingers. “Go with that.”

“Why do I have to be the one that solves everyone else’s mistakes! Killjoy even admitted that you were to blame! Why do I have to fix your problem?” she shook her head, unable to stop the flood of emotions and thoughts that were rampaging through her, her mantra failing. “Why do I have to save SCW every single time?! Why can’t Syren for once in her career?! Why can’t Cannon?! Why can’t Braddock?! Why can’t someone else do the impossible and beat Cid Turner? Why does it always have to be me that’s the measuring stick? Why does it always have to be me that’s asked to slay the monsters or stop the frauds or beat the unbeatable?! WHY?!”

Her voice echoed through the room, empty but for the one living and the other dead. 

“Because there is no one else who can.” Malcolm replied. “I told you that I couldn’t beat Killjoy… but you might. That wasn’t me being hopeful. I truly believed that you are the only person who can beat Killjoy.”

“But why me?” Selena tried, the tears returning to fall from her eyes. “Why does it have to be me? Why can’t anyone else?”

“I wish it could be.” Malcolm smiled. “I wish I could say someone else can… just like I know millions around the world wish someone else could beat Cid too… but only you have under such stakes. You’re the only one, right now, that stands a chance against him.”

“Cid or Killjoy?” Selena laughed.
“Yes.” Malcolm smiled.

Looking around the room, Selena wiped at her eyes again before they settled on the tarp-covered body. “Gods, I….” she laughed, wanting to reach out and touch the arm in comfort, but knowing she couldn’t. “I should tell you to burn in hell… but…” she took a deep breath. “I am so scared now, Malcolm. I’m so fucking scared of what you have left me with. The monster that you’ve created. But I… I hope…” her voice broke again with her words. “I hope that you were able to have that peaceful memory during all of that pain. I hope… I hope whatever you planned works… and I hope…” she laughed, unable to hide the irony she felt with her last words. “I hope that you – wherever you end up – find more happy moments.”

Biting her lower lip, she turned around towards the doors. The ghost was gone, for now. With a sigh, she pushed herself out of the room, opening the door and following the path she had taken with Jean up the stairs and down the halls until she was standing outside of the complex once more, where she spied Jean standing there with Deanna, the redhead sitting on a bench, clearly in her own thoughts. Seeing, Selena, however, she was back on her feet, her hands clutching together.

Selena was quick to rejoin her, marching over to her without a word and throwing her arms around her beloved wife. The redhead caught her instantly, grasping onto her as tightly as she could as the cold wind blew around them. Jean, bless him, kept quiet as he stood near them, his hands in his coat pockets.

“I’m scared.” Selena admitted in a whisper into her wife’s ear. Her wife merely nodded her head several times.
“I am too.” Came the eventual whisper. “What do we do now?” It was a fair and honest question and one the Snow Queen didn’t have an answer for as she pulled back to stare into her wife’s emerald eyes. 

She had come back to Nome, back to her father’s cave, because of fear…

Looking back, she could admit it to herself. She had been afraid to face Cid Turner – afraid that she wasn’t ready to beat him this time around. It had started the Breakdown following Rise to Greatness – that new confidence Cid had shown. He had stood in the ring with Selena and glared at her with those eyes.

That was the first night Selena had seen it. To anyone else, it was confidence, but to the Snow Queen, she had seen that drive, that spark, only in one other person’s eyes… 

Her own… when she would visit her father’s cave.

It sounded crazy and she knew she couldn’t tell anyone, but she had seen it. Somehow, Cid had taken that spark! Taken that ‘heart of Alaska’ or ‘the heart of the Snow Queen’, she had no idea how but it had been there that night! Staring her in the face in that ring! And despite how she tried… given it everything she had… she had lost to Cid at Apocalypse… and now? Cid was the most arrogant bastard in SCW. He wasn’t “The Fallen King” anymore – he was acting like a damn saviour, a god now! With her spark in his eyes…

And for three weeks, Selena had scoured the cave. Searched high and low, trying to find it for herself. Find even a piece of it to take back with her to give her a fighting chance against Cid Turner – a fighting chance for her last chance at the World title…

But, there had been nothing, the cave was an empty cavern, devoid of gold and any semblance of power. Even now, with its ghost haunting her back there in the cold-storage, Selena didn’t feel anything but fear… but no longer of Cid…

”What do we do now?”

The question, in Deanna’s voice, repeated in her head. She could go back to the cave and keep searching for something, anything, to take back with her to New York. Perhaps the ghost would follow her back if she went back to the cave…

”Or you can stop hiding…”

Looking past Deanna, Selena spied the suited ghost of the former mayor standing by their rented car, a knowing smile on his face. “Stop hiding, child.” He said, though only Selena could see and hear him. “Stop hiding… face it all… and let yourself be happy.”

For a moment, she just stared at him – wishing, perhaps for the first time, that he was really there to tell her that. But he soon disappeared into the snowy winds of Alaska, leaving Selena there with Deanna and Jean. With a shaky breath, she turned her eyes back towards her beloved wife. “I wanna go home.” She whispered, squeezing the redhead a little more in her arms. 

“What about the cave?” Deanna asked as Selena guided her towards their car. “And everything?”

Smiling sadly, the platinum-blonde shook her head. “There’s nothing there for me now.” She admitted with a sigh as the trio got into the car as the platinum-blonde started the engine. “There hasn’t been for a long time, I think.” 

Deanna saw the sadness in her wife’s eyes. Whether it was because of Killjoy or Cid Turner, she wasn’t sure, but sitting there, her Selena did not look like the unbeatable, unstoppable Snow Queen that had accomplished “The Unbelievable Main Event” or the woman that had defied Xander Valentine time and time again.

She was… the redhead wasn’t sure. She seemed sad but also…happy? Was that possible?

“I just…let’s just go home.” She heard Selena repeat herself. “I don’t want to be here anymore. I want to be with you, and our children… no matter what happens.”

Slowly, the redhead gave a nod. “The kids will be thrilled.” 
“Yeah…” Selena seemed to think for a moment as she backed the car out of the parking lot. “When we get home, I wanna...” her voice trailed off for a second.
“What?” the redhead asked before Selena turned to her with a mischievous smile and biting her lower lip.
“I wanna take the kids bowling.” Selena replied simply.
“Bowling?” Deanna asked in a bit of surprise. “Why?”

“Because…” Selena sighed as she continued to drive towards the airport. “Everyone should go bowling as least once in their life…”

_______________________________________________________________

The camera opens up to reveal the interior of Madison Square Gardens! Not only is this the arena, the site, for tonight’s big episode of Breakdown, that will see two championship matches, it is also the hometown of the number one contender for the SCW World Championship. And as the camera takes in the empty arena, with bright white and blue lights shining down towards the squared circle, it settles on the ring to spot the woman standing in the ring, her hands on the ropes as she looks around the space, the lights showing her leather jacket, blue jeans and gray-sweater.

This is a place I know well… comes the accented voice of “The Face of SCW” Selena Frost.This is a city that I know well! her smile is bright. This is an arena that I know well.

Turning towards the interior of the ring, Selena moves to the middle, her eyes still taking in the empty seats and SCW graphics that illuminate many parts of the upper area.

I know it well because this is not just a spot for Breakdown. This is not just a spot for a world title match. This is my hometown. This is where I live. An hour’s walk, or a twenty-five or so minute drive, or fifteen minutes by subway cause that’s just how it works in New York, you could find my house in Manhattan! a quiet laugh comes from her before she continues speaking, her voice a little softer and more reflective.

I have lived in this city for about six or so years now. I have lived in this state longer than that. When I ran away from Nome, needing to be free of my past, this city took me in and treated me like one of its own. When I was living off each SCW paycheck in the early years, this city let me in and gave me a place to belong.

For a moment, Selena reaches up to wipe a tear from her eye with her finger. And when I had finally made it as a main-event-calibre wrestler in 2016, and I wanted to give my wife a house that we could grow old in, a house where we could raise our children – a forever house – there was no other place I wanted to be. There was no other place I wanted to look but here in New York…

She grows quiet for only a moment. I know that I am going to hear something about “being from Nome, Alaska” like it’s something I should be ashamed of. Maybe I’m not ‘New York born’ but New York is where I belong as much as Nome and as much as SCW. I have walked that one-hour distance to this arena, walking around it, wrestling within it, so many times. And to be fighting for the world championship here, here in this place, my home, with my children able to watch from ringside, it means the world to me! It’s at the top with main-eventing Rise to Greatness back in July!

The platinum-blonde holds up her hand for a moment towards the camera. But there’s something I want to make clear. Something I learned so quickly coming into a big city like New York. This… she gestures with a sweeping hand to the entirety of the arena. -this arena is so much a part of the history of New York, so much part of its identity. The history made here. Championships won, records broken, in many different sports – hell, I try and make the rounds on the world series every year, waiting for that year that the Yankees will FINALLY win another championship! she smiles, crossing her fingers in hope and laughing a little at how much of an effect her home has had on her.

But the thing is, as beautiful as this arena is, it is not the only thing that makes up New York. It is not the heart of New York. It is a part of New York, but there is so much more to it. It’s not just Broadway or the Statue of Liberty or Times Square, it’s not.

What I, and every single New Yorker knows is that New York – the heart of New York – is beyond that. It’s the people you meet when you walk down the streets. It’s the subways you have to take to get anywhere around here. It’s the damn rats in those subways that are as big as adult-sized shoes! It’s the hotdogs, it’s the panhandlers and performers on the street. It’s the guy you see sitting at the park every morning feeding the pigeons. It’s the people standing around Times Square singing loudly in the cold winter in homage to the late Stephan Sondheim. It is the good, it is the bad, it is the ugly parts of America all put together. It’s messages of hope, unity, hard work – cause that’s how the song goes, right? “If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere! It’s up to you, New York, New York!

Licking her lips, Selena takes a slow breath, clearly showing her emotions to this state and city. That is what New York truly is… and in much the same way, the same is true about SCW. You see, this here? she runs her hand in a circle, gesturing towards the ring she stands in. SCW is so much about this. It’s our business, it’s our lifeline, it’s where we bring to all of you and what you are paying to see – what happens in this ring. We are Supreme Championship Wrestling…

But, at the same time, we are more than what happens in this ring, aren’t we? the young woman looks around the arena, the camera following her.

Which brings me to the current world champion, Cid Turner. And I’m going to start by giving you something that will just primp you right up, Cid. And that’s respect.

Selena takes a deep breath. Between these ropes, inside this ring, what SCW is so much about? You deserve to be world champion. You deserve to call yourself the best wrestler inside this ring. Syren, Datura, Bree Lancaster, Chris Cannon, me, you have turned back challenge after challenge, opponent after opponent, and you have done it on terms that could only define ‘supreme championship wrestling’. she holds up her hand towards the camera.

No, no, you have proven that, when that bell rings, you are nigh unbeatable. You’re not the smartest, not the fastest, not the strongest, but you more often than not find a way on your own and through your own abilities and I respect you for that, Cid. I truly do.

I want to take you back to Under Attack, Cid, and what that night meant to me. See, I’m not going to lie to you. I was upset when I was asked to keep integrity in the match as an official. I was upset because I wanted to be the one that beat Syren and Chris and Asher and you – even when Asher was removed, I wanted to be the one that beat three of the best in SCW. That was the wrestler in me. But that wasn’t meant to be.

But the thing is, I knew that if I was going to, eventually, get my rematch like Mr. O’Dwyer promised, I wanted to do the next best thing and beat the best out of those three. I wanted, when all was said and done between all of us: you, me, Syren, and Cannon and Asher, there would be no doubt to who was the rightful world champion. So, when I raised your hand that night, Cid, it didn’t hurt me. It didn’t upset me. It was what I wanted. It was what Deanna wanted. Because nobody can say ‘Co-World Champion’ anymore, including you and Asher. Nobody can say ‘Oh, well…’ like some kind of excuse. I’m not facing some ‘Co-World Champion’ like I did at Taking Hold of the Flame.

You wanted this all to be about you, didn’t you, Cid? Well, now it is! You, Cid Turner, are the RIGHTFUL World Champion. You, Cid Turner, quite easily the Male Wrestler of the Year, no question, are the best of SCW right now. A pause comes in to let her words settle.

That is what you have done inside this ring, Cid. That is what you have built for yourself in 2021 in this squared circle. You have fought and retained that world title when you’ve needed to and you have proven you are, and will be, one of the toughest competitors I will ever face - past, present, and future included.

Taking a deep breath, Selena gives a shrug of her shoulders. But like I said – like New York – SCW is more than what happens in the ring… she gestures to the canvas she stands on once more. SCW is more than just putting on a good match inside this ring. SCW is about standing for what you believe in, fighting for what you believe in, and choosing where you stand when things get tough. Like you have claimed to be, it’s about hope…both inside…

Suddenly, with graceful agility, Selena roll-flips off the turnbuckle, landing easily on her feet outside of the ring. And outside of the ring. And there, Cid, is where my respect for you ends – inside the ring.

Biting her lower lip, Selena looks down at her hands for a moment. I want to take you back a couple of years, Cid. Back to the year 2014, at the event that was ‘Total War’. Air Canada Center – an event that saw SCW face one of the darkest and deadliest factions in SCW, New Eden, in Tactical Warfare… For a moment, Selena seems a little lost in the memory as she speaks. Members like Red Rayne, one of the deadliest women in SCW history, Matt Auclair, the underground icon and hall of famer Rachel Foxx, Mika Kozlov, and Aiken against team SCW. Every single person having a condition added that would enact if they were the one that was pinned, from losing promised matches to being forced to retire...

As she walks around the ring, Selena stops at the rampway, casting her eyes up it to the platform under the large titantron screen. Right at the beginning, Team SCW’s David Helms was told that he couldn’t participate because of Silas Mason owning his contract, leaving SCW one fighter short. In response, Mr. D. placed all his faith in one person – a young rookie named Selena Frost, who wasn’t even finished her first year of wrestling. A rookie being told to stand with names like Syren, Ravyn, and Regan Street and defend SCW against one of the deadliest factions in SCW history.

Selena takes a deep breath. I remember that night. Where I could very well have taken David Helms’ punishment of ‘retiring immediately’ if I was pinned. I remember running down that ramp where Helms was waiting by the chamber, chair extended to hand to me. He looked at me and he said something I’ll never forget.

“Don’t fuck up. This is your chance.”

She pauses for a second, letting those words be heard in the silence. I’ll get to what happened later, Cid, but let’s fast forward a bit. One year later, I am fighting inside an elimination chamber at Under Attack with Dark Fantasy – a team, you know very well, by the way – against another stable that wants to rule SCW with an iron fist: Monarchy. Chris Cannon, Lucas Knight, and Trinity Street. And during that match, Trinity Street tries to punt kick Syren’s head off – to take her out of SCW as she vowed to do earlier…and I pushed her out of the way, taking the hit for me, buckling my ribs, and yet, helping my team win.

Selena’s head turns back towards the ring. I’ll give you one more, Cid. Tactical Warfare, Retribution 2019, arguably, as Sharper put it, the biggest match in SCW history. Four teams: Team SCW, Team Katya, Team Beauty Factory, Team Dark Fantasy, all fighting for ownership of SCW – a match that could see Sasha, Katya, Syren/Ravyn/CHBK, Sienna/Bree, or The Wonderland be put in charge of the company you currently claim to want to save…

Carefully, Selena hoists herself onto the apron of the ring, sitting on it. Now, I’m not telling you this to brag about my past, Cid. I’m telling you this because I have a simple question for you. All three of those matches, the world was put on my shoulders and I had a choice. Risk it all, including my very career and health, for the company that I loved and I believed in… or not. Was I scared? she nods her head. I was. I was terrified. What if I wasn’t strong enough? What if I wasn’t smart enough? What if I didn’t have what it took to protect the company and the people that I loved and respected? What if I let them all down? What if I lost my job? What if I failed the SCW Universe? What if I couldn’t provide for my family after this? On and on and on such thoughts ran in my head, Cid, every time I had to face these odds – these dangerous matches…

So, let me ask you, Cid… what do you think would have happened if you were in my place? What would you have done, Cid Turner?

She tilts her head. Because you’re ‘the hero’, right, Cid? That’s what you said last week? You were ‘the hero SCW needs’ and I’m just a ‘brainwashing’ manipulator, because that line hasn’t gotten old in eight years. So, what would you have done in those positions, Cid?

There is a moment of silence before Selena shakes her head. No, you don’t have to answer that, Cid, because that’s what I mean when I talk about what goes on ‘outside’ of this ring and ‘outside’ of matches.

And for over 150 days of this year, you have held that world championship, and for the majority of that, you spent most of your time letting other people talk for you, from Holly Adams to Asher Hayes. You let Asher Hayes fight most of your non-title battles and represent you while you sat around in your changeroom. You dressed up like a little clown on Holly’s talk-show, looking for where ‘you dropped your title’. And all the while, you kept promising SCW the same thing: change.

”I’m gonna give SCW a facelift!”
“Higher ratings!”
“Must see matches!”
“An end to the conspiracy of being held back!”

Do you remember that, Cid? I remember. Those were the promises you and Asher made to the world when Holly handed you the world title on a silver platter by screwing Suited and Booted. Promises that you couldn’t keep at Taking Hold of the Flame when I beat you… she shakes her head.

But that didn’t stop you or Asher, did it? On and on your talk came as you came back to challenge for the world title – passionate promises once more! Guarantees once more! But now there was a new development! This was a brand new Cid Turner! This wasn’t the man that cried for help or cried in the middle of the ring and begged to be ‘handed back the title when he lost it’. No! This was Cid Turner with the power of Gleebnorb! This was Cid Turner confident! This was Cid Turner – the ‘hero of SCW’! Yes! Hell, I was swept up in it! I even saw something new and unique in it! A brand new Cid Turner! Never had your voice been so loud! Never had your stock been so high!

And then on that one night in Denver, in your hometown, you beat me and regained the world championship! Your hometown folk were on their feet! The SCW Universe exploded, some cheered and some booed, but they all tuned in to Breakdown, ready for what you had promised them over and over again! Ready for change! Ready for that facelift! Ready for hope! Ready for a supposed ‘hero’!

Lowering her arm, Selena’s tone changes to one of knowing disappointment. And they were lied to just like last time. They were mislead by a false god like all your followers in that complex were mislead, Cid. Because at the end of the day, change wasn’t ‘higher ratings’. A ‘facelift’ wasn’t ‘must see matches’ put on by you. ‘Making SCW better and giving it hope’ wasn’t improving the brand of it. The only thing you meant with change was ‘make Cid Turner World Champion again’.

Carefully, Selena rolls back into the ring, jumping back to her feet. Because what did you do when the pressure was on you, Cid? What did you do when the world was put on your shoulders and people depended on you? Here! Let me show you!

Leaning against the ropes, Selena points the titantron that flickers on before the screen flashes and changes to a clip of Under Attack, the angle of the camera showing Cid Turner standing there during the Trios Tournament finals, purposefully watching as Xander pins Kennedy Street for the three-count and doing nothing as his team - the team he had taken for his best friend, Asher Hayes, loses. The clip ends with Cid Turner snapping his fingers in ‘disappointment’.

What did you do, Cid, when you were faced with a threat beyond wrestling?

The screen flashes to a clip of Breakdown a few weeks ago: with the Jackals’ Tommy Valentine, and Kandis and Drake Hemingway are standing before Cid backstage. The clip shows the world champion grabbing the nearby backstage-interviewer, Jessica Winters, and throwing her into the Jackals in order to make a getaway – to save himself. The clip stops before the camera turns back to Selena, her expression tense and her voice barely concealing her anger at the mistreatment of her friend.

What did you do when you were scared, Cid?

She glares back up to the titantron to watch as a clip is shown of Cid hiding behind a crate, hiding from Brittany Lohan before changing to Selena fighting Lohan, protecting Cid Turner, who throws up a thumbs up and then runs away from the scene. The camera returns to Selena, who’s been watching all these clips unfold as she leans on the ropes.

Is that the kind of ‘hero’ you are, Cid? Is that how you ‘save’ people? Is that how you ‘change SCW’ and ‘give it hope’? By abandoning them when they need you most? By giving up on everyone, including your best friend, when he’s in trouble? By throwing innocent non-wrestlers like my friend, Jessica, into the hands of people like the Jackals?! By dumping all of your problems on others – your followers – or on Deanna and I so you can ‘take credit’ later while we clean up YOUR mess?

Turning back into the ring, Selena shakes her head. That isn’t a hero, Cid. That is a coward. That is something that I teach my children never to be. That is a man that says words that he has never nor will ever truly mean. Words like ‘saving’ or ‘hero’ or ‘helping’ or ‘making a difference’. That is a man that will make any promise to anyone just to stay relevant or keep his power. Just to get what he wants. Ask Vixen Cain or Giovanni Aries - I’ve made a history of dealing with such liars and conmen.

The Snow Queen holds up a pale hand, extending two fingers. Twice now, Cid, I have, personally, listened to you spout your confidence about you and about Gleebnorb. I have listened to you try and use the same words over and over against me, even going as far as to throw my own catchphrase back at me more times in one segment that I have all week. All to try and convince me that you believe in something.

A sad laugh escapes her. Let me tell you something, Cid. I don't just say those words and that's it, because simply saying 'believe' a hundred times isn't enough! Words only get you so far. In this ring, outside this ring, in this world. You need to stand by your words – stand by your beliefs. And when the time comes that your beliefs are challenged or dared to be proven, you have to be willing to FIGHT for those beliefs! You have done none of that. All you have proven is that the only thing you truly believe in is that world title. Not Holly, not Asher, not SCW or the SCW Universe, not even Gleebnorb!

You have lied to your friends and your followers, you’ve left teammates and SCW high and dry, you’ve watched your best friend be dragged off to prison and done nothing, and all because Cid Turner only believes - all that truly matters to Cid Turner - is the world championship being in the hands of Cid Turner.

And as long as you have that, Cid, you say you are justified in all that you do. As long as you have that title, you think that you are free to fight when you want, run away when you want and do whatever you want whenever you want. You think that because you have that you are ‘automatically’ the best in the world and ‘automatically’ a hero and 'automatically' deserving of praise and followers.

Selena shakes her head as she stands in the ring. And just like SCW, just like New York, that title is not just about what happens in this ring! It is more than just winning a match in your hometown or winning a match when there’s no threat beyond the ring. It’s about coming here every night, putting in the time and fighting every challenger knowing you have a target on your back. It’s about, instead of running from a fight, you stand your ground and BRING the fight! It’s about being willing to risk your health and your career for this company and that championship, not because you have to, but because you believe in this company, that championship and the SCW Universe that fucking much! her voice echoes throughout the arena for a moment.

That is integrity, Cid. And if you really were a hero, if you had a shred of integrity, you wouldn’t have needed me at Under Attack to keep it in your match! If you had a shred of it, you wouldn’t have taken credit for ‘giving me the Unbelievable Main Event’. You would have admitted that I became world champion not because of you, but in spite of you! And if you had a shred of integrity, Cid, you wouldn’t have needed to hit me with title belts and chairs!

And if you were a hero with integrity, Cid, we wouldn’t be here talking about it, would we? We’d be talking about the match. We’d be talking about how well we know each other. We’d be talking about how hard we’re going to try and win this match. How we’re basically going to have kill each other to win this tie-breaker, throwing as many moves and inside cradles as we could to get that three-count! We’d be talking about how this is the most important world title match of the year, certainly is the most important world title match of my career! How our match will make the front page headlines of "The New York Times" tomorrow and highlight all the large LED screens of Times Square!

Closing her eyes, a sigh escapes the young woman. But we’re not. We’re not talking about that or how you changed SCW or saved people. We’re not talking about ‘the good of Gleebnorb’. We’re talking about how you and your group dragged SCW’s reputation through the dirt with a drug scandal. We’re talking about how, when push came to shove, you ran away from the likes of the Jackals and Brittany Lohan. We’re talking about how you’re the world champion and the biggest thing you've done is play 'supporting actor' to Holly Adam's vignettes!

You say that the SCW World title is ‘confidence’, I say that if you’re not enough without it, you’re nothing with it! I say that, while the SCW title is a crutch for you, to me it is a standard. A standard that you have failed to uphold and a standard that I have worked for years to raise up while you have stood there and done nothing as part of A/C Unit, taking the name of SCW and being the world champion and dragging it through the fucking mud, back to the days of Infamous and the Beauty Factory! Lowering her hand, Selena takes a deep breath.

Tonight, Cid, in our third encounter, I am going to become World Champion, not ‘because of you’, but, as I did before back in June, in spite of you. I am going to beat you because I want to be the best in SCW by beating the best – and right now, inside this ring, that is you. That is my reason. The method – the how I am going to find a way to beat you - is the fundamental difference between us and it isn’t our skills. It’s the word that’s been attached to my name for years, especially recently. The thing that you say I don’t have.

Integrity.

Because when the pressure was on me, I didn’t fuck up the chance David Helms gave me.
When Syren and SCW needed me, I didn’t hide in a pod.
And when I was scared of failing SCW, I didn’t run away.

I have helped shape dreams and have helped make them come true. I have protected and, even in a small way, saved this company over and over again. I have fought, tooth and nail, for my beliefs - my body scarred and bloodied over and over again because, in the end, I refuse to let fear, loss, and pain take away my integrity, my pride, and my belief in every part of this company and its people!

The Snow Queen lifts her arms a little before dropping them. That will be the difference, Cid, because I refuse to ‘hide’ or 'have someone else' fight this match for me. I refuse to ‘do nothing’ as you try and continue this mockery of being ‘a hero’ and ‘changing SCW’. I refuse to ‘run away’ and ‘fuck up this chance’, no matter how I feel!

Tonight, Cid, I am going to beat you. Even with Gleebnorb in your corner, I am going to beat you. Not because I want to be ‘a hero’ or a ‘savior’ or a ‘god’, but because I want to be the best. Because I want a world champion that stares down monsters and threats and stands up to them rather than runs from them. I want a world champion that will stand in protection of non-wrestlers when they are being bullied, endangered, or harassed, not use them as shields. I want a world champion that will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with other wrestlers as they take on the world, not hide behind them. I want a world champion that truly cares about these people and this company! I want a world champion that, when the words ‘hope’ and ‘integrity’ are used, they actually mean something worthwhile with action that defines them!

Staring into the camera, Selena shakes her head at her opponent. And no matter how many times you steal my catchphrase, Cid. No matter how many times you try and be me, and beg me to believe it and you, I will never believe that that ‘world champion of integrity’ will ever be you. And tonight, in my hometown of New York, in front of my family, I will prove that beyond a shadow of a doubt...

Sapphire eyes filled with passion and hope narrow, a happy smile forming on the Snow Queen's lips. Whether you want to believe it…or not.

The camera fades on the smiling Selena Frost before completely going to dark.