Religious Wright vs. Amelia Blythe

[Wisteria Waltz]

Patience was a virtue.

That was a lesson Amelia had to learn growing up, not because she was impatient by any stretch of the imagination, but because her parents always drilled into her head the value of jumping at an opportunity the second the opening became available. The only patience she 'needed' according to her father was waiting for that opening to strike, and even then his definition of patience leaned away from what the word actually meant and more towards trying to forcibly steer events in the direction that would make that opening appear before her. It was the way both of her parents had operated in the ring and how her mother had become the business tycoon she defined herself as now once she retired from active competition. Even still, she taught herself how to be patient the right way, waiting for that moment where she could finally get out from under their thumb and build her life into what she wanted it to become.

It was amusing in hindsight how she finally found that opening thanks to someone who used to be pretty impatient by her own admission.

Luz's energy never ceased to amaze Amelia, always being fully devoted to the task at hand even if she was prone to going overboard with it. And yet, she fully understood what it meant to be patient, especially since the ever-changing landscape of the wrestling business meant she wasn't always going to get the opportunities she may have wanted. Not once did it ever stop her as she made sure she was as ready as she could be once she did get her moment, and it was simply another entry on the list of things that Amelia admired about her girlfriend.

For the past few weeks, Luz had devoted herself wholeheartedly to helping her recover after the damage her knee had sustained back at Taking Hold of the Flame. Amelia had to show a great deal of patience to ensure she recovered properly, but earlier this week she had finally been cleared by doctors to compete once more. She still had some kinks to work out as there was still healing to be done, but being able to compete again helped put her mind at ease as she could now turn her focus to bouncing back from Taking Hold of the Flame and doing her part to set up whatever awaited her and Luz for their very first Rise to Greatness.

Being able to finally get Religious Wright off her back about what happened to James Evans sounded like the perfect first step to her.

It felt weird at first arriving to Buffalo separate from Luz, but she and Amelia had done a lot of talking after they first opened up to one another back in the locker room after Taking Hold of the Flame and the idea of needing to be apart at some points wasn't as scary as it used to be. After all, it wasn't just the two of them all alone against the world anymore, which in and of itself spoke volumes about how far they'd come over the years to be able to open up enough to not only build new bridges with other people but also rebuild old bridges they thought had been destroyed forever. She knew Luz would join her in Buffalo before Breakdown even got underway... right now she had some business to take care of down in Mexico to set the stage for the gamble she was making in not only ending the charade of her doppelganger once and for all, but also hopefully saving her in case the bad feeling they both had about Caleb was correct.

Luz not only had her mom watching out for her while things fell into place, but also the connections she'd forged both from competing down there and from being the daughter of El Espíritu Angélico.

Amelia had her siblings as well as Ivy with her in Buffalo, and Gage was due to join them at some point after he finished interviewing for a commentary position with a wrestling company who happened to have their headquarters in this city.

In Amelia's mind, this was actually the perfect opportunity she'd been waiting for.

After their talk at Taking Hold of the Flame, Amelia was more certain than ever that she wanted Luz to be the woman she spent the rest of her life with. She didn't care about what her parents wanted of her or that stupid 'Golden Prodigy' of The Empire they had pegged to be the husband she never wanted in the first place, she wanted to propose to Luz. Ivy and Gage had been a big help in keeping Luz occupied at points within the past week alone so she didn't worry about Amelia's recovery while she was out spending time with the twins, who had been a significant help in their own right when it came to procuring the perfect engagement ring. Amelia didn't have a doubt in her mind that Luz would love it... all that remained now was the plan to actually propose to her.

For as certain as she was about wanting to marry Luz, though, the idea of actually proposing it was more nerve-wracking than even the greatest challenge that had been thrown at her so far in her wrestling career.

That was why Amelia was meeting with the others at a little restaurant called Hutch's that she'd heard good things about (and not just because the restaurant was in close proximity to the Buffalo History Museum that she'd been wanting to check out while she was in town). It seemed like a good idea to her to have a good lunch and spend the time together brainstorming ideas that she could use to get herself to go through with this plan, especially since it had been enough of a struggle trying to keep the engagement ring hidden from Luz's prying eyes while she'd been taking care of her during her recovery. As much as she loved her luchadora to death, trying to plan for taking this next step in their relationship was next to impossible while constantly in her presence.

“Surely you knew what you were getting into when you started going out with her, right?” Ivy had asked once they'd gotten their food and Amelia had lamented this to her and the twins.

“I had an idea,” she admitted after taking a bite of the steak she'd ordered, “but I didn't think her going from my friend to my girlfriend would amplify it. I don't hate it though... it's just a little inconvenient when I'm trying to figure out how to ask her the most important question of our lives.”

“You can't really blame her considering she was just following the doctor's orders regarding your knee,” Edward said while pointing his fork at her before he used it to dig into the salmon he'd ordered.

“How has your knee been doing, anyway?” Emily asked, concern evident in her voice. Considering she'd recently started looking into medical training as something to do if and when she no longer wanted to wrestle, she had even more of a reason to worry about her baby sister's injury.

“It's been holding up well, even through a full-speed mock match with Luz before we caught our flights,” Amelia told her. “The true test will be against that Religious Wright creep tomorrow night, but SCW's doctor told me I was all clear and I should be at the point where any remaining pain will work itself out as long as I play it smart in the ring for a little bit.”

She saw her sister nod and breathe a sigh of relief at this before taking a bite of her chicken. Even though they'd been on much better terms for a few years now, it still threw her for a loop just how much her siblings truly cared about her. That thought always ended up giving way to how much she resented her parents for pitting their children against one another all their lives for the prize of attention and affection from them; a prize that never truly existed in the first place for any of them. Amelia quietly growled at the thought, and everyone at the table had an idea of what had prompted that reaction from her.

“Anyways,” Ivy jumped in, trying to steer the conversation back to a happier topic, “do you have any idea about what you might want out of this, at least?”

Amelia thought for a moment as she chewed the next bite of her food. “I know I want it to be something kind of big and elaborate... I know that's not usually my thing, but it's definitely Luz's and I think it would show her just how much spending the rest of eternity with her would mean to me if I pulled a page out of her playbook. Plus, maybe doing so will put me in a position where I can't talk myself out of it if my nerves start trying to win out.”

“Maybe it should be something fairly public?” Emily pitched. “That way, it also finally puts the nail in the coffin on this bullshit mom and dad are still trying to spread about you being engaged to that golden prick.”

“Not a bad idea, and I'm sure Luz would see that as a bonus since she and I are both about as sick of that nonsense as we are of Wright,” Amelia noted, her tone growing more frustrated when she mentioned the man who'd been a thorn in her side for weeks now in SCW.

“Maybe you could do it during your Rise to Greatness entrance?” Edward offered between bites. “I mean, I figure you and Luz will probably plan something elaborate for your very first one anyway since this is the big pay-per-view where going all out to make a moment for yourself would be the norm. I'm sure slipping a proposal in would really wow her and give you both extra motivation for whatever match you guys have.”

Emily and Ivy both shot looks at Edward that seemed to suggest something they all knew that Amelia didn't, but she didn't seem to pick up on it. She found herself too deep in thought about the idea, weighing the pros and cons of it mentally.

“Tempting,” she said after a moment, drawing all eyes back to her. “The problem is that it's hard to even plan a big entrance when we don't even know what we're doing yet for the show. What if we can't have an elaborate entrance because we're competing on the pre-show or part of some sort of big gauntlet or multi-person match or something? Or what if we aren't even teaming together and have different spots on the card?”

“Well... it wouldn't hurt to plan for the best case scenario and maybe devise a plan B in case one of those ends up being the case,” Ivy reassured her, leaning over the table to put a comforting hand on hers. Amelia took a deep breath and smiled, knowing her best friend had a point. There was no sense in getting too worked up over it right now, and there was plenty of time to figure something out regardless of the scenario.

“Guess who just got a chance to finally live his dream?” Everyone was surprised when Gage suddenly jumped into their conversation, putting his hand on top of Ivy and Amelia's as he wore the widest grin Amelia could ever recall seeing the man wear.

“They gave you the position?” Ivy excitedly asked as he sat down beside her.

“They were impressed with my wrestling knowledge and thought my voice would be a perfect fit for their company!” Gage elaborated with just as much excitement.

“Hey, congrats Gage,” Amelia told him with a sincere smile. “It'll be awesome finally getting to hear your voice calling a show because, honestly, this is something I think you should've been doing several times over by now. You were born for this.”

“Thanks Amelia,” Gage nodded to her before pulling his phone out of his pocket. “That's not the only news I bring with me though. Don't know if Luz got in touch with you yet or not, but this just showed up online.”

After tapping his screen a few times, Gage set his phone in the middle of the table. While he flagged down a member of the wait staff to place his own order, they all watched the video he'd pulled up that showed someone they all immediately recognized as the fake Luz finishing up a match from the show that was going on this afternoon in Luz's old promotion in Mexico. While she was celebrating her win, albeit half-heartedly they all quickly noticed, a familiar song overtook The Empire's theme and everyone was on their feet as the real deal danced her way out onto the stage before making her way down to the ring and confronting her doppelganger, publicly confirming once and for all that The Empire's Luz had been an imposter the entire time. She addressed this fact and what it meant to her to see someone try to steal her identity, really playing up how upset she was by it before she laid down the challenge for a lucha de apuesta, calling for the winner continuing on as the one and only La Pequeña Luz while the loser had to both unmask and give up the name for good.

While Ivy and the twins were stunned by this challenge Luz was making, Amelia carefully noticed her girlfriend mouthing something to Valentina during gaps in her speech, asking for her trust in the plan she was laying out.

As the fans roared at the idea of the high stakes match, “Luz” seemed to ponder the whole thing before she quietly left the ring and tried to retreat to the back, though Amelia noticed her whisper something to Luz as she walked past her before stepping out. She ended up being stopped on the stage by the Golden Prodigy himself, and Henry wasted no time in accepting the challenge on the fake Luz's behalf. Amelia just quietly nodded to herself as the clip ended while her friends were all trying to make sense of what they'd just witnessed. Gage filled in Ivy and the twins about what a lucha de apuesta was and why this challenge was such a big deal, but it was clear all of them were wondering if Luz had lost her marbles. It was only when they saw Amelia barely reacting to the clip beyond a small smile that something seemed to click for them.

“Amelia, did you already know about this?” Gage asked her.

Amelia nodded and took one final bite to finish off her steak before she filled them in. “Before we left the arena after Taking Hold of the Flame, I filled Luz in on what we learned from eavesdropping on that one call Lily set us up with. She was just as concerned as we were about what exactly Caleb would do to that girl he's 'raised' solely to imitate her, so she's spent the past few weeks getting everything together to allow her to resume her bookings pretending to be Luz just so she could reveal the truth and make this challenge. It's a huge risk for sure, but it's the only bait we thought Caleb and his goons would bite on after all the curveballs we'd already thrown into their plans.”

“Do you think she can win, though?” Ivy asked in concern. “No offense to her because we all know how good Luz truly is, but that girl who's been pretending to be her is just as good.”

“I wouldn't put it past those clowns to try anything just to be sure they get the outcome they want,” Edward chimed in.

“That's why, regardless of when this match is happening, I plan on being in her corner supporting her,” Amelia firmly told them. “Plus, all of Luz's father's friends plan on hanging around to make sure they don't try anything, especially since this will be Luz's first time wagering her mask in a match and that alone means a great deal in lucha libre. As for her actual opponent... well, a lot of the style Valentina's been using has been a result of training with mom and dad, and not only did she hand me my first loss when they trained me for most of my life up to that point, but she knows some of it herself now through training with me. She's got this.”

“But what about...?” Emily started to say, aiming to bring up the unsettling implications they'd overheard from Caleb weeks ago, but Amelia quickly silenced her by pulling out her phone and pulling something up to show her and everyone else.

“Ryan sent me an e-mail yesterday,” Amelia explained. “It's not much because he's been really tied up with this other case and he says it's going a lot deeper than he thought it would, but he did at least send everything he could find regarding our doppelganger and Luz and I already looked over all of it. We knew her name was Valentina because she slipped that to us the night we had that big confrontation, but whatever her original last name was seems to have been lost. She was orphaned at a young age but kept running away from where she was supposed to be staying and trying to just live on the streets, something about that orphanage that's giving Ryan a reason all his own to start digging. She's roughly the same age Luz is and looks close enough to her that she could be her twin, which Caleb picked up on when he apparently found her near the beginning of last year while touring through Mexico. He officially adopted her and up until this whole “Empire Luz” stunt she basically disappeared without a trace... also Caleb apparently used some sort of alias to adopt her because her current legal name is 'Valentina Cinco' which also explains why no one even knew he's resurfaced in public and thought the first time was when The Empire debuted back in England. The last thing he found on her was evidence that she might've been physically abused both in that orphanage and by Caleb while he was trying to adopt her...”

“Jesus...” was Edward's response to that, and everyone else at the table could only nod in agreement with him. They all hated Caleb already, but this was starting to put him in a light that made them afraid not just for the likes of Valentina, but perhaps many in their stable pending how this man tolerated their failure behind closed doors.

“We may not know why Caleb's so interested in us still,” Amelia told them as she put her phone away, “but Luz and I are hellbent on dismantling his Empire and being rid of him whatever it takes. Between this gamble Luz is making and whatever we decide to do so I can pop the question to her, we're going to undermine all of his plans and finally be able to just live our lives the way we've always wanted to together. Not only do we deserve it after everything we've both been through, but it's the least we could give to Valentina as well once she's unmasked and out of his clutches.”

“You sure you're going to be able to help this poor girl?” Ivy nervously asked.

“At this point... we owe it to her for our mere existence getting her caught up in a situation she didn't deserve to be in because of this lunatic,” Amelia responded.

The sheer conviction in her voice told them all they needed to know, and they were all in on this latest plan to strike a major blow against The Empire, hopefully bringing all of them one step closer to being free of this threat once and for all.