La Pequena Luz, Penguin & Calvan Greene vs. Kinneck, Cruze and Ravyn Taylor

[Wisteria Waltz]

OOC: All characters appear with permission
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The ball was rolling for The Light In The Darkness as their return had gone without a hitch, and Luz and Amelia couldn't argue that it just felt right being back in an SCW ring.

Sure, maybe the win wasn't anything special in the eyes of many, but everyone had to start somewhere. Plus, if you asked them, the couple would be more than happy to tell you they'd rather work their way back up and earn a tag title opportunity.

With their feet firmly back on solid ground in the company, it came as no surprise that an old question suddenly resurfaced: what if one of you got an opportunity all your own? It was a question that had come up during their first stint in the company that ultimately went unanswered when they were both injured, although some believed they might get the answer when comparing Luz's concussion to Amelia's neck injury before the couple asked for their collective release altogether. It was the kind of thing that always got asked when you wanted to hunt for a way to drive a wedge between teammates by suggesting an imbalance, either to gain an advantage or just because you wanted to see a team implode and the battles that would result from it.

Personally, the question annoyed Luz—as much as she tried to hide it—because it showed how little some people truly understood the two. They had worked hard to establish themselves well before they ever crossed paths, even if that was a time in their lives they preferred to forget about. More importantly, they had found quite a bit of success individually over the years and were still going strong as a team to this day, owing to just how healthy their relationship was that any of the usual problems that would break up any couple or tag team when enough cracks began to show could be resolved by just talking through it and doing their best to support one another.

Luz knew it was inevitable that she and Amelia would be staring down opportunities in SCW that would shine the spotlight on one and not the other, but she had to admit that she wasn't expecting it to be literally right as the two came back.

When she heard her name had been drawn for the annual Trios Tournament, Luz was honestly expecting Amelia's name to be drawn as well with the potential for them to have to oppose one another in the tournament, but it wasn't a surprise when the random draw didn't bring her name up either. Even still, it was a hot topic of discussion between the two throughout the past week, even if that usually consisted of Luz feeling the need to apologize for something that was completely left up to the luck of the draw and Amelia assuring her girlfriend that she'd find something to keep her occupied in the meantime if Luz's team managed to make their way through the tournament.

Amelia was more concerned with who Luz would be teaming with, even if Luz herself felt she lucked out a bit with the draw.

Many in SCW wouldn't see Hairless Penguin and Calvan Greene as ideal partners for one reason or another, but leave it to Luz to always try to find the bright side of any situation. Sure, maybe Calvan felt like he didn't take this business seriously most of the time and often seemed like he was lost in his own little world, but he'd competed in the recent Chamber Match with a world title opportunity and had plenty of experience in the company to draw from. Maybe Penguin seemed like he was just a gimmick whose sole purpose was for Lexy Chapel to make some extra money and capitalize on... something, but there was no denying that the man had come a long way in the ring, and Luz and Amelia were never ones to underestimate a team who'd managed to reign as tag champions for the better part of a year regardless of who they were and how they got the job done.

As far as Luz was concerned, anyone else in the tournament could look at their team and see a joke if they wanted to, because she knew full well that her team had one thing that none of the others had: no noticeable issues between teammates. Where other teams had two people who did not have great history with each other or that one 'wild card' that had the potential to cost their team by doing their own thing and not cooperating, the closest you were going to find with her motley crew was the fact that Luz and Penguin were potential rivals in the tag division.

Given their respective teams hadn't crossed paths in the ring yet and what Luz had seen confirmed to her that Penguin was more likely to want to win the right way and actually prove himself than his partner was, she didn't think there would be any real animosity to try and exploit.

“I think I have to give him more credit than I initially wanted to,” Amelia said as the two sat backstage at Breakdown, having just finished watching the Frosts retain the tag titles. The fact that Penguin had intentionally ignored the injured arm of Deanna Frost was not lost on the couple, even when his partner and manager were blatantly trying to further damage it to get the belts back.

“I wouldn't have taken the match until Deanna was 100% again just so we could know for certain if we're the better team, but I can't fault him for the manager he's stuck with,” Luz noted. The possibility that Lexy Chapel and even Dancing Bear would likely be in her team's corner left a sour taste in her mouth, but it would be one of those things she'd have to try and work around to the best of her ability. In a way, it was almost a throwback to before SCW when she found herself having to team with someone who not only wasn't Amelia but also didn't share the técnico moral code she operated under in the ring, a lucha libre concept known as Relevos Increíbles.

She was tempted to ask Amelia to join them at ringside just to make sure they didn't try anything and ensure her trio could get the job done fair and square, but her going solo in trying to rein in two other people at once was a tall order and may possibly just cause more problems than it would solve. Besides, they had agreed a long time ago that in certain scenarios they wouldn't accompany each other to ringside to remove any complaints of foul play even if they never did anything more than support one another, and this was one of those times.

The couple chatted about things that weren't specifically Trios oriented as they kept watching the show from their locker room, even if Luz was taking careful notes in her head as every match that followed the tag titles contained a potential opponent she could find herself facing in the tournament. She couldn't help but flash Amelia a knowing smile and silent thanks for the change in conversation. They'd learned a long time ago that while Amelia was every bit the classic “student of the game” type of wrestler, Luz was able to focus better when she had something else to subconsciously focus on so her thoughts wouldn't wander. It was why she always trained or studied matches with some music playing or a show or movie she liked on in the background, and Amelia had no problem engaging in unrelated chit-chat if it helped Luz focus in her own unique way.

That was especially important during the main event as the two watched Owen Cruze put on the performance of a lifetime and earn the right to be called world champion once again, considering he was one of the first opponents Luz would face in this thing. Without something else to devote her thoughts to, she probably would have started overthinking and spiraling at the idea of her second match back in SCW pitting her against the new world champion, reigniting the concerns that the couple weren't ready for SCW yet and this second attempt might have been a mistake.

'Anxiety is a bitch,' Luz thought to herself as the two prepared to head back to their hotel for the night. No matter how many times she proved both the doubters and her own insecurities wrong, the thoughts always came back. She wanted to think that it wouldn't be this way if her life hadn't taken some of the twists and turns that it did, but she knew full well the burden of being compared to her father and following in his footsteps would've been present even if he hadn't unfortunately left this world.

Luz pondering this caused her to lag behind a bit in gathering her stuff, but Amelia didn't mind and patiently waited outside of their locker room. As she waited, her ears picked up on something just around the corner that caught her attention.

“I don't think I can do this.”

“Come on dude, what's the worst that could happen?”

“I could get my butt kicked? I know we're teaming with one of them next week and maybe beyond, but how do I know they'll actually help?”

“We could always go do our own thing. I've been wanting to give this 'life guru' thing a shot, helping you and others find the way of zen and rock hard abs.”

“...I think I'll take my chances with them.”

“That's the spirit dude!”

Amelia couldn't help but give a confused glance towards the hushed conversation happening around the corner, especially since she recognized the voices. She didn't get much time to ponder what it was about before a familiar voice graced her ears from the other side.

“Alright, ready to go! Sorry for the hold-up Ams... kind of let my thoughts linger on something, eheheh...”

Amelia jumped a bit, having not expected Luz to be ready while her focus was still on the bizarre pep talk(?) happening nearby, but she quickly calmed herself as Luz's nervous chuckling slowly turned into a proper amused giggle. Amelia shot her a light-hearted “don't do that again” look before the two turned to leave, but before they got very far they heard a pair of footsteps approaching them and looked back to find Hairless Penguin quickly approaching with Calvan Greene trailing behind. Luz was pleasantly surprised by this as she wasn't sure if she'd actually be interacting with her Trios team outside of match time and had required her girlfriend's help to keep from having a panic attack over worrying if she should even try to reach out to them between shows, considering she'd grown up being bullied over being overly enthusiastic in trying to interact with everybody.

Said girlfriend, who actually found that trait endearing in Luz given how little affection she'd gotten period in her own life before she entered it, was eyeing the two warily. Penguin seemed to grow nervous at catching her gaze, while Calvan appeared to be unfazed if he'd even noticed it.

“HP! Calvan!” Luz cheerfully greeted, oblivious to what Amelia was doing. “Something I can help you with, mis nuevos amigos?”

Penguin and Calvan exchanged looks of confusion for a moment.

“My new friends,” Amelia translated for them, and Luz looked embarrassed at how easily she'd slipped into her native tongue at the excitement of this actually happening.

“We're already friends?” Calvan asked. “Sweet, that was easy!”

Penguin joined Luz and Amelia in glancing at Calvan for a moment before the former cleared his throat.

“So... um...” Penguin mumbled for a moment before taking a deep breath to try and compose himself. “OK, I have to be honest with you both: I kind of suck at this.”

Luz and Amelia looked at one another, taken aback by such a blunt admission from a former champion, but Penguin continued.

“I know people have been talking about me improving and stuff, but I've pretty much lucked my way into my biggest achievements. The tag title reign, my Taking Hold of the Flame performance... believe me, I want to prove to people that I truly have gotten better and that I deserve all this praise people want to give me for it, I want to prove that the name Hairless Penguin actually means something in SCW, but I'm nowhere close to any of that as much as I may say otherwise. And yet, here you two are, riding into SCW after so much hype about these prestigious wrestling families you come from. You, Luz, fly around the ring at a speed that will probably make even Owen envy you next week, and Amelia's over here showing off grappling that Josh and Glory are secretly jealous of and will never admit to it. You and Calvan could probably carry me easily, but I really want to be able to contribute and not let our team down. Please, please teach me your ways!”

Both members of The Light In The Darkness had their jaws on the floor at this, neither one having expected this from someone that, outside of working with Luz for this tournament, was effectively considered one of their higher profile rivals in their pursuit of tag team gold. More surprising was that Amelia, who was often more careful about looking deeper into the true intentions of others compared to Luz, couldn't find any hint in Penguin's plea that what he'd just said was anything less than genuine. She'd never met anyone in this business, SCW or otherwise, who would ever think of openly admitting that they weren't very good at this despite the success they had to their name thus far. And yet, Amelia could feel her old instincts stirring that kept her on guard about this.

Luz seemed to recover and had started opening her mouth to respond, likely to agree if Amelia knew her as well as she thought she did, and she quickly cut in before a sound left her mouth. “Could you guys excuse us for a moment?”

Luz looked stunned as Amelia pulled her back into their locker room for a moment, catching a look of worry from Penguin that she knew was a sign he believed they were going to turn down his request, and her heart ached for the man after he'd just finished pouring his out in asking for their help. Still, as the door closed behind them, she knew that if Amelia wanted a private chat about this before they gave an answer, she had a good reason for it.

“Everything alright?” she asked.

“I don't know...” Amelia said, her voice shaky as Luz quickly picked up on the signs that she was having an internal conflict with her old self. “I could tell he was being genuine, but something about this just... feels off to me. How does someone actually make it to a place like SCW, have a months-long tag title reign and even place third in a match that rewards the winner with a world title opportunity on their biggest show of the year, and just flat out admits that they suck and need our help to not suck? This has to be some sort of plan by Lexy to make sure her team keeps an edge over us in the tag title hunt.”

“You mean the woman who's been spouting conspiracy theories for as long as we've been in SCW as a whole and planned to exploit an injury thinking it'd make it easy to get the tag titles back that didn't work because of the very person who just asked us for help?” Luz pointed out. “I think by bringing her up you answered your own question of how Penguin might have gotten into SCW, but we've both clearly seen he's serious about wanting to get better and earn his accolades fair and square, the way we prefer to do business.”

“I...” Amelia started before she fell silent, the look on her face clearly indicating that she knew Luz was right and whatever was going through her head right now was probably due to the remnants of her upbringing. “Sorry, I just... don't know what to make of this. I've never had anyone ask me to train them before.”

“And you think I have?” Luz asked with a small lilt to her voice that she hoped would help quiet the storm raging in her girlfriend's mind.

“Fair,” Amelia said with a small chuckle that brought a smile to Luz's face. “I'm just worried for you, as dumb as it sounds. I mean, this is a former champion who either sucks as much as he claims or, hopefully, is just so lacking in confidence after his team lost the tag titles and then failed to get them back that he only thinks he sucks that much. On one hand, him being honest about this is something that could tank your Trios team and that's an opportunity for you and potentially us in the bigger picture down the drain. On the other...”

Amelia trailed off, hesitant to put a voice to her other thought, but Luz had a feeling she knew what it was. It was no secret that Amelia had trust issues, which was completely understandable after everything she'd endured growing up. On the other side of that coin, Luz was notorious for being too trusting, always believing that she could see the good in others and having had it bite her in the ass on several occasions. While it struck a balance that worked for them, this was a situation where Luz's approach would have to be relied on because she had no other choice if she wanted to earn that contract, and Amelia was clearly concerned about what would happen if that necessary trust was misplaced.

“I get it Ames, I really do,” Luz finally responded. “Given the situation, I don't see the harm in training him if it helps better our Trios chances. And if down the line he ends up having to use that against us... well, how many times have we had to face off in the ring after training with one another and made an honest spectacle out of it?”

Luz's answer seemed to pacify Amelia for the time being, and with a soft kiss exchanged and a promise to talk more about it later, they stepped back out to see Penguin and Calvan still waiting there.

“Sorry for the wait!” Luz announced to get their attention. “We had some... personal things to talk over first, but we've got no problem working with you to make sure you're Trios ready!”

“Really?” Penguin asked just to be sure he'd heard that correctly, and Luz's enthusiastic nod sent a wave of relief washing over him. “Oh thank god. I'll have to let you know when I can train, if that's alright. Lexy's insisting that Bear and I go watch that new 'Cocaine Bear' movie so he can get that killer instinct she thinks he's missing.”

“I thought that didn't come out until next year?” Luz questioned as the two of them began exchanging contact details to set everything up.

Amelia just carefully watched this unfold before turning her attention to Calvan, who was still standing there. “Would you like to join us for training?”

“Nah man, I'm already all elite,” he said, motioning to his abs in the process. “I'm just here supporting our little Penguin bud.”

Amelia just blinked, dumbfounded at this response as he decided to wander off now that his job was supposedly done. Luz and Penguin parted ways shortly after and the couple finally started heading back to their hotel.

Luz may have been on cloud nine about being able to bond with her Trios team before they went into battle, but Amelia found herself concerned for whatever her girlfriend had found herself drawn into and whether or not that contract would be worth it.