Glory Braddock vs. Deanna Frost

[SnowQueenSCW]

OOC: Second one. Plays off of Selena’s Breakdown events as well as a bit from the PPV.

DISCLAIMER: The following is a work of fiction and not to be confused as complete or accurate representation of any beliefs, religions, etc. Please refer to research/articles by experts for that.

The Witches of Alden

”Silence”

Black Arrow Neighbourhood
Manhattan, New York
May 2nd, 2023
3:22pm


Deanna looked up at the clouds overhead, seeing the collage of black and white swirls that filled the sky, preventing any kind of blue or even sunlight from peeking through. The weather had called for a rather hefty rainstorm in the evening hours and it looked to be already settling in to fill Manhattan with a downpour of sky-water.

It won’t be long now… she heard the thought whisper to her, though she wasn’t really sure what her brain was referring to. Was it the rain? SCW? Or… Selena…

She exhaled a little, letting the weight of Oberon pull her as the dog moved ahead of her, the least keeping the stark-white dog rooted to Deanna’s wrist. It had been a week since her wife had left for Nome, Alaska.

Seven days and no text. No returns from the love messages, “I miss you”, or phone call/audio messages Deanna had left on Selena’s phone. She had ‘given up’ on them after the fourth or fifth day – knowing she wasn’t going to get a response until her wife emerged from whatever sadness or depression spell she was in.

I’m nervous… That was the last message she had sent to her wife. A voicemail in which the redhead had laid out how her fears about this tournament – her tournament for the now vacant United States Championship, made so by the retired Owen Cruze – had plagued her even during, what was supposed to be, their first ‘lesson’ in witchcraft. She had left three voicemails back to back (basically every time her wife’s phone had cut her off).

How she was scared of losing in the first round.
How she was scared of facing a former world champion in Glory Braddock.
How she was scared of losing to another round of “The Five Moves of Doom”.
How she was scared that it would be that ‘easy’.

How she was scared of hearing the same words from Glory, or Quinne, or Bree (albeit good-naturedly) or any of the other competitors in the tournament or… gods forbid, O. D..

Aside from her wife, it had been all the redhead had thought about the past week, spending most of her sleepless nights diving into study on the British Bombshell’s matches or training in the gym or in the ring. Still, she was a mother and had done her best to keep to that duty, even if her wife wouldn’t with her escapades.

Casting her eyes around her as she walked through her neighbourhood of Black Arrow, her house just a few blocks away, Deanna spied her daughters and son walking beside her. David was running and stopping around them, while Elsianna remained silent, holding Amiliah’s hand as they completed the obligatory walk for ‘fresh air and exercise’ Deanna insisted upon – not wanting them to stay couped up in the house with their video games and books and Legos.

Still, Elsianna was the one the redhead focused on, the child’s eyes cast down towards the sidewalk they walked. The girl had not spoken much since her grounding. While Deanna and Selena had rushed to the hospital weeks ago to check on Tannis Parks, the young patient suffering a health-scare, Elsianna had taken it upon herself to steal Selena’s phone (left in the Snow Queen’s office), order an Uber and travel to the Space-Art-Exhibit that Selena had promised to take her to.

It would have been impressive to the redhead, the brilliance of her eldest daughter, had it not scared the Frost wives to death. Had it not been for the receipt of the travel that had been emailed to Selena’s account (linked with the Uber account), they might never have found her. The young redhead could still picture the sight of her wife breaking down in the middle of the art hall as she held Elsianna close to her – so many tears for so many reasons falling from her eyes… just like Deanna’s had cried.

Elsianna had been grounded ‘indefinitely’ – a punishment the Frosts had never used before. No phone, no playing with friends like Asuna Gray, no television, no dungeons and dragons, none of that. She hadn’t fought them on it beyond the initial childish ‘it’s not fair’ but Selena had quickly quelled that with the reality of how Elsa could have been hurt or worse!

It hurt Deanna’s heart to see the child so closed off, but she could do nothing. The child had done something terrible and needed to be punished for it. It was unfair to put her mothers’ through that, regardless of her reasoning of ‘promises’. It was beyond reckless. Just like her mother… Deanna sighed as they continued to walk down the sidewalks back towards the house. She was grateful to the clouds for holding back their ‘tears’ of rain as the ‘Forever Home’ came into view.

But it was the sight of a familiar vehicle: Selena’s AXTGRIFF that she had won in the World Series of Wrestling that caught Deanna’s eyes.

Quickly, she picked up the pace, ignoring David’s protest at the slight increase in marching. Within minutes, the redhead had reached the door, unlocked it and ushered the children inside.

“Elsianna.” She spoke quietly. “Take Amiliah to play. You know to just watch her.”
“Yes, mom.” Elsianna nodded glumly, sticking to her grounding as David scampered off to return to his video games downstairs.

Alone, Deanna quietly ascended the stairs, taking to the second floor and turning there to enter the master bedroom she knew so well. Her timing was perfect, for as she entered, the door to the adjoined bathroom opened and the taller woman stepped out. She wore trackpants and a dark-blue hoodie. In her hands, she tried her long, platinum-blonde hair with a black towel. It took a few minutes of the woman drying herself from (Deanna assumed) a shower before she lowered the towel, allowing her to see the redhead standing in the doorway. Before her, Selena gave slight gasp and jump of surprise, her hand flying to her heart, the former world champion taking a few breaths to calm herself from the shock.

Despite how funny it looked, Deanna said nothing, merely forming her lips into a firm line as she leaned against the doorframe. “You’re back.” She finally spoke, earning a nod from her wife.

“Yeah.”
“Did you find what you were looking for?”

Before her, Deanna saw her wife’s expression, surprisingly, wilt a little, the older woman slowly giving a shake of her head. “No.” was all she said in reply.

The answer almost stunned Deanna. Nome had always been ‘the place’ for Selena to find some kind of answers or purpose or reasoning! It had been where she had gone to find the nerve to regain the U.S title not only against Bree Lancaster but also in a tournament years ago. Quietly. Deanna wished for such a place for herself - gods know I could use it….

But for such a haven to not work for Selena? It sounded almost impossible.

“Oh…” Deanna slowly bit her lower lip, nodding her head. “Well…that sucks.”
“Yeah.” Selena nodded her head. “I’m sorry for not returning your messages…”

It sounded so lame from her, but all the redhead could do was shrug her shoulders, the words she had received from Mrs. Winthrop echoing in her mind. “I get it.” She sighed.

“No…” sighed Selena, frustration etched into her features. “I should have been here! I knew it the moment I left but… I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t shake what happened – and… and how he just threw it away and…”

“Selena… I get it.” Deanna pressed, pushing her own feelings down deep. “I’m just glad you’re back, okay?”

Despite seemingly wishing to say more, the Snow Queen slowly nodded her head. “How did the first lesson of witchcraft go?”

“You’re not in the doghouse if that’s what you’re asking. I covered for you. But I wouldn’t recommend missing any more classes. We’re trying to get this done and over with.”

“Right…” Selena tsked from her lips, sucking a bit of breath to make the sounds. “I sort of dropped the ball, didn’t I?”

Instead of a spoken answer, Deanna merely shrugged her shoulders. “Won’t know that till you fight Hudson, right?”

“What about you?” the platinum-blonde suddenly asked, her sapphire eyes bright. “How you feeling about Glory? She’s…” she tried so hard to find the words. “She’s tough… easily one of the toughest I’ve faced.”

I’M SCARED!
I’M AFRAID!
I NEED HELP!
I CAN’T DO THIS ALONE!
I FEEL LIKE I’M GOING TO FAIL!
I’M TERRIFIED OF LETTING YOU DOWN!
I HAVEN’T BEEN ABLE TO SLEEP THE LAST FEW DAYS BECAUSE I KEEP THINKING ABOUT WHAT RAVYN AND O. SAID!

“I’m fine.” Deanna smiled, forcing her lips into the expression. “I’m not really that worried. I’ll just…” she shrugged. “Find a way to make it work…”

It was the biggest lie she had ever told in her life…

__________________________________________________

The Guard Tower

So… where do I start? Elephant in the room? Okay, we’ll go ‘Elephant in the room’.

At Playing the Wildcard… I said that I needed to win. I said that I needed to win that world tag title match, not just to undo what the “Chaos Match” had done, not just to return the tag-team titles to the House of Frost and not just because I don’t like Ace Marshall or Ravyn Taylor, but for me…

I said that ‘winning was a necessity for me’. I said that I needed to win in order to disprove Ravyn’s words that I was ‘unworthy’ and ‘unprepared’ to face former world champions and a Hall of Famer. To prove, not only to the SCW Universe, but to the roster, to the boss, and to myself that I was more than Selena’s ‘cheerleader’ and ‘shadow’!

And I lost…

Now, I could bog this promo down with words like ‘interferences’ and ‘weapons’ and ‘illegal maneuvers’ and ‘unfairness’, but you take that all away and get to the bottom line? I lost. Pure and simple. I didn’t prove anything that night… Sure, Selena and I took down person after person, assault after assault and kept standing, kept getting back up until a cheap pin ended things. Sure, I sent Ravyn Taylor scrambling back with failed plan after failed plan. Sure, some could argue that we HAD this match and our opponents based on our skill, our passion, and our abilities, but the bottom line will read forever: The House of Frost lost to Ace Marshall and Ravyn Taylor at Playing the Wildcard.

And now… I am now haunted by those words.

I am haunted by words that came from the boss that I am simply “a cog” in SCW. Something that can be bought, sold, or even tossed away while my wife remains a commodity – irreplaceable in the world of SCW. I am haunted by the words “not ready” and “unfit” and being “a shadow”. I am haunted by the image of being up against that glass-ceiling, kicking and punching away at it until my limbs are bruised and bleeding, but never breaking through. Forever destined to watch my wife on the other side as she wins accolade after accolade, title after title, and accomplishes all she can for integrity and SCW…

So, the question wasn’t “what does The House of Frost do now?” for me. My question was… what does Deanna Frost do?

And some of you, the True Believers and Little Gritters, already made your thoughts known. The words ‘rematch’ and ‘fixing the BS match that occurred’ has been thrown around, but let’s be honest here. I have preached about fairness and integrity alongside my wife since the beginning and, in all fairness, Selena and I are NOT the number one contenders for the SCW World tag-team titles. That honor belongs to Bree Lancaster and Datura, whether they are ready to cash in on it or not. And on top of that, the other tag-teams like Light in the Darkness, Chance Owens and Kelsai Adamson, Simon Lyman and Amy Chastaine, I could go on with the number of teams that have upped their game because of the House of Frost – they also deserve recognition in this division and a chance. So, while I desire to recapture the tag titles with my wife, as she feels the same, that will seemingly not happen right away.

Instead, I find myself in probably a more daunting task. That is in a tournament to crown a new United States Champion in SCW. You all saw last Breakdown. The retirement of Owen Cruze – the boy… the young man, the legend, because that’s what he has become – riding off into the sunset. Leaving a hole in the two biggest divisions SCW has. Gaps that NEED to be filled. Now, I’ve said it before that I have long desired a chance for a top-tier title like the United States Championship. For me, that title has also been special because of my wife.

You see, Josh Hudson can claim his name is ‘synonymous’ with that title, as he sits there having been eliminated from the world title tournament by Selena, but that man has never fallen of a scaffold for that title or battled in a roofed-cage for that title…

And when you think about it, the United States title has long been that ‘special tier’ that served as a bridge between the mid-card and the main-event roster. A tier where such things are not only possible but often necessary to champion such a division. Names like Selena, Shilo Valiant, Jason Zero, Tommy Valentine, Simon Lyman, Regan Street, Bree Lancaster – the list of main-event talent and Hall of Famers that, even after they were former World champions, waged war just to hold the U.S title is an illustrious and incredible one – with that title, at times, being held on par with the world title itself with the contenders, matches and rivalries that fought for it.

So, to be an entrant to crown a new U.S champion… that’s a tall order. It’s a daunting task for someone like me. And with my mind haunted by the pay-per-view and everything that’s been said about me the last few weeks from the roster to the boss, it’s, even more so, an intimidating task.

And the cherry on top? I enter into this tournament taking on one of the most decorated wrestlers in the wrestling world: Glory Braddock.

Damn… it doesn’t get much harder than that, does it, Glory? Cause there isn’t enough time in a segment to list your accomplishments, is there? The world titles you’ve won? The tournaments you’ve won? You are so far accomplished – moreso when compared to me – that a tournament like this? Where you have competed in finals and won them? This is routine for you, isn’t it? This is a zone that you are VERY comfortable with.

Not the case with me. This is my second tournament in my career and the second time I’ve had the odds against me in the first round.

But let me acknowledge something before I get started with that. I will say thank you for your kind words towards the unfairness of the pay-per-view, your views on me and I appreciate your promise to bring your A-game to our match in Salt Lake City. You hear what I’ve heard about myself from so many people for so long, it’s a kindness to have respect from such a high-tiered woman, a wrestler like yourself.

But let me correct something in your assessment of me. I’ve said before it before, I’ll say it again, and I’ll keep saying it until it is fact proven irrefutable… I am not my wife.

You see, Glory, while I agree with Selena on your past regarding the United States and United Kingdom title, in that I don’t agree with your actions, I understand your decisions regarding it. In this business, if you don’t stand out, you stand aside. If you don’t constantly evolve, you get left behind. And in this cutthroat business, where I am constantly fighting for my place, for my stance, for my very individual existence, I can understand your desire to stand out amidst the incredible talent. That need, that desire, is something we share – even if we do not always agree on the ‘methods’.

So, now that THAT is out of the way, you can understand that I also understand your desire to ‘change’ your association with the United States title. Your desire to have a reign filled with integrity that you can look fondly on. I get that too.

But here is where I deviate from our similarities and go straight for what makes us different, Glory. Because you while you can talk about ‘redemption’ and ‘fixing things’, you have that luxury. You have the luxury of being heralded as the star that you are. You are not questioned on your credentials. You are not questioned on your skill.

You have scaled the mountain, stood at its peak, and are now looking back at your time there in reflection…

I have not. I cannot do that. Unlike you, I have yet to reach that mountaintop, yet to punch through that glass ceiling and prove myself beyond a shadow of a doubt. I do not have a ‘past’ to either look back on fondly or ‘with regret’. I do not have a ‘reign’ with a top tier title that defines me like you do. I do not have a tournament that I prevailed in to prove myself to the SCW Universe.

So while you are fighting for what you did… I am fighting for what I have yet to do.

And it took… it took hearing Selena last Breakdown to understand all that. When she fearlessly looked into the eyes of Mr. D. and told him – the boss of nearly 20 years – that not only would she become the new World champion, but I would become the new United States Champion. And being in that ring, Glory, I realized that she wasn’t just blowing smoke. She wasn’t making idle promises. She wasn’t making predictions. She was stating what she believed was the undeniable truth.

And when I asked her why she believed that, she told me it was because she knows me. She knows that I need to win this tournament. That not only do I need to beat you, Glory, but I need to win this tournament as badly as she needs to win hers.

And I suddenly realized how right she was!

Because I look at everything I have endured this past year. The Underground division, the ridicule, the doubt, the pain – having my arm broken inside the Chamber and fighting through the rehab – it was ALL for THIS moment. This tournament. This chance to change things for myself forever!

You want to ‘remake history’, Glory? This is about me MAKING history! MY history. A history where I step out of the shadow cast on me, where I change from ‘undesirable’ to ‘undeniable’! Where I silence the words of Ravyn and D. and others emphatically and I become what I am meant to be! A world-class, main-event tier superstar of Supreme Championship Wrestling! Just like you!

So, Glory, while I appreciate you bring your A-game, I will emphatically say, you had better bring a hell of a lot more than that. Because I will be bringing every game I possess from A to Z! I will be bringing every breath, every drop of blood, sweat and tear that I possess! I will be bringing EVERYTHING I am to get past you just to have a chance to beat a former world champion!

You were so kind to give us a little ‘saying’ in your promo. Let me give you one my sister often told me: Every journey begins with a single step.

Breakdown – Salt Lake City, Utah – you are my single step. You are my first step to the top of that mountain! My first step to being more than a shadow, more than a cog, more than unready, unprepared, whatever the world wants to call me! My first step at being my own woman, my own superstar, my own name!

And more than a pothole for you, Glory Braddock. Because when this Breakdown, you won’t find yourself rolling over me or even tripping over me...

You’ll find yourself fully stopped by me – your road burnt out by the next SCW United States Champion!

Checkmate, bitches!