Selena Frost vs. Asher Hayes

[Konrad Raab]

2 RP Limit for singles

3500 Word Limit Per RP

Deadline: 11:59:59 pm ET THURSDAY, June 26, 2025 (to ensure lots of time to post)

[Asher_Hayes]

From the Book of Asher: The Ashes of Tragedy, Part One

[SnowQueenSCW]

Villain of the Year

”Up in the Air…”

Eyrie Tower
New York City, New York
July 29th, 2025
5:13am (approx. 45 mins till sunrise)

She gave a sigh as the elevator doors opened into the lavish penthouse-suite, her eyes able to see much of it despite the darkness of the night filling the rooms. That won’t last much longer – she thought as she quietly walked through the halls, taking only a slight glance at the walls and décor, keeping her bag over her shoulder despite its weight pressing down on it.

This place… this castle… it was amazing – magnificent – spoke volumes of its resident/owner. All of that and more… and yet, it was all a facade to her. A front. An escape for her to be the cold villainess that she had to be out there beyond it – in the world of SCW. In truth she preferred something else, she sighed as she reached the far east side of the suite, reaching her hand up to slide open the glass-panelled door to the outside balcony. Immediately, she felt the cool breeze – thankful for it. She would have hated if the morning was muggy and humid. Instead, it felt clean, cool, and refreshing to her: an almost fall=season kind of morning. Stepping out onto the vast balcony, she placed her bag on the large glass table meant for guests and drinks/food, removing a few things here and there and placing them beside the bag before making her way towards the guardrail of the balcony – her favorite spot to stand. Off in the distance, she could see the first few whispers of sunrise coming, bringing a sad, knowing smile to her face.

A new day was coming. New possibilities. New promises.

Yet… she found herself turning her gaze away from it for a time, a little more towards the north. To a neighbourhood – and a house – she could not see with the naked eye but she knew was there. In truth, she wanted to be there. To belong there again. For that wonderful home – that Forever Home – to be her home once more.

With a sad smile, the young woman shook her head knowingly before returning her attention to the streets and cars and people below.

“It’s far too late far that.” She whispered softly into the soft winds. “Far too late…”

********************************************************

Eyrie Tower
New York City, New York
June 24th, 2025
7:14am

“Are you almost done in there?!”

Selena heard the pounding on the door and quickly walked the few steps out of the stone-tiled shower and glass doors, grabbing her large black tower and wrapping it around her frame – just in time to see the door in front of her open up. Immediately, there was a flurry of movement of red and blonde as the two girls – one adult and one child – walked into the space. The person that had spoken, the young girl with hair almost like hers, wore a black and gray t-shirt with a black trim around the color and matching gray shorts – it was humid as hell in New York, even with them being hundreds and hundreds of feet above the ground (above some of the low clouds even). Closer to the sun to melt us… Selena thought to herself, though she knew that was not how things really worked.

Snapping back to reality, she regarded the child, but the redhead spoke before she could.

“Are you almost done, Selena?” Deanna asked. “The kids have to get ready for school.”

“Done?” Selena asked in surprise, swiping at the water still on her face with her free hand (the other being used to keep her towel wrapped around her body. “You know there are at three other bathrooms here in the castle, right, hunny?” Her eyes widened for a second as she realized the addition she had added at the end of that sentence, quickly pointing a finger towards the shorter of the two girls. “Her hunny. I meant her.”

“I know.” Deanna nodded with zero surprise. “Elsa doesn’t want to waste water.”
“Waste water?” Selena raised a wet eyebrow before returning her gaze back to Elsianna, who gave a shrug of her shoulders.
“Class started a green-initiative. I’m helping.”

“Uh-huh.” Selena nodded before tilting her head. “And this wouldn’t be any kind of ‘good behaviour’ to get out of being grounded, is it?”

“No!” the child shot back. “I just want to help.”
“Yeah… well, help get your mother get her conditioner. I forgot to pick up more yesterday.”
“You did?” Deanna asked, looking past Selena to look into the shower, seeing the empty bottle on the side.
“Yes, I’m sorry.” Selena sighed. “I meant to, but then I got distracted and forgot. You can use mine.” She called over Deanna’s shoulder as she saw Elsianna searching the cupboards further down the large bathroom. “Third shelf on the right.”

The young girl did as she was told, pulling out a blue bottle and handing it to Selena. “There you go.” The Snow Queen remarked, handing said bottle to Deanna. “I’ll get some more for you while I’m dropping off the kids.”

“Oh…” Deanna nodded her head. “You want to drop them off?”
“Well, sure…” Selena shrugged, seeing the passive look on Deanna’s face. “What’s wrong?”
“I wasn’t sure… Wasn’t sure who was dropping off and…”

Unable to stop herself, Selena laughed a little, though not at the younger woman. “It’s not ‘one or all’, Deanna. WE can drop them off, if you like. There’s enough room in the Aston, you know.”

“Especially if I can’t go if I’m late.” Elsianna spoke up brazenly, surprising both mothers. “What? I need to use the shower.”
“Hun-“ Selena stopped herself, eyeing Deanna for a nanosecond before turning her attention back to Elsianna. “Snowflake…” she reached out to gently guide her daughter out of the bathroom. “There is a perfectly good shower right by your bedroom. I’m sure Mother Nature can take one for the team, okay?”

“No, but-“ Elsa tried.
“I’m done with my shower so you can go now by yourself, assuming your brother isn’t using it.” Selena added. “But the car is leaving in thirty minutes and I’m taking you to school whether you’re ready, clean and dressed or not. It’s your call.”

She closed the door in front of the child, hearing the girl huff with teenage-indignation, before turning around to lean against the wooden door. “Three floors… multiple bathrooms and beds… and I’m still trying to manage ‘shower time’.” She half-laughed, her eyes closed for a moment. “Huuuuuhhhh.” She groaned to the ceiling for a moment, letting her mind just relax for a moment.

It had been almost a month since the fire that had taken the Frost family’s ‘Forever Home’. Accommodations had not been an issue, as Selena had immediately ushered Deanna and the children to live with her in the castle suite in the Eyrie Tower with her. Since then, they all had adjusted as best as possible while their Manhattan home was being rebuilt. In that vein, Selena had spared no expense, having the contractors use the blueprints of the original house to rebuild, warning to sue if ‘so much as the wallpaper being a SHADE off from what it was’ due to the amount she was paying. It’s worth it… she thought to herself. As far as cause was concerned, the firefighters had chalked the whole thing up to some hooligans. Given Selena and Deanna’s celebrity-status, and the fact that this had happened in the past year in Kentucky, what else was there to believe? There was no shortage to the number of enemies Selena had in SCW and her family was always the quickest path to ‘get to her’, so it stood to reason…

But it was off-putting to say the least! Even so, if it was someone associated with SCW, Selena was sure they would show themselves eventually, and she would deal with them, preferably before the end of the SCW season…

Opening her eyes, the platinum-blonde stared back at the smirking face of her ex-wife, Deanna merely standing by the shower with her arms crossed over her robed chest.

“What?” Selena asked.
“I don’t think it’s as bad as you’re making it out to be.” Deanna replied knowingly. “First of all… I think you love it.”
“Love it?” Selena asked, pushing herself away from the door and walking past the redhead and towards the sink and counter, grabbing another towel from a shelf to dry her hair. “What do I love?”

“Having us all here with you.” Deanna explained. “Living under one roof. Fighting for ‘who uses the shower first’.”
“Okay, we only did that once back home.” Selena countered. “And that was because of the plumbing.”

“Oh! Don’t remind me!” Deanna laughed. “The drought of 2018.”

They both laughed at the memory. Old plumbing that needed replacement/updating had, effectively, forced the Frosts to go without water for several days, leading the whole family (including the dog!) to use the lake connected to their backyard to be as clean as possible – which meant VERY early morning baths.

“Everyone had to be up and in the lake before sunrise so no one could see us bathing.” Selena recalled with a laugh. “And then there was the laundry day because the plumbers were behind on their schedule!”

“Oh my gods! That was hilarious!” Deanna laughed. “We were too scared to use bleach or anything like that in the lake so it was just bars of soap, scrubbing in the dark, bashing everything with one of David’s hockey sticks and-“

“Hoping for the best.” They finished simultaneously, both enjoying their own laughter at the fond memory.

“We ‘saved’ enough water for a lifetime, I think.” Selena added at the end as she finished drying her hair with the towel before beginning to blow-dry it. “And I’ve got a dozen or so stories of racoons and whatnot in case Elsianna gets started on ‘recycling’.”
“We are not giving up recycling.” Came the warning tone.
“No, but if she goes overboard with it, I’ve got ‘em.” Selena smiled at Deanna, using the mirror’s reflection to direction her expression.

The two stood in silence for a moment, simply letting the silence fill the room – well, what silence could be had with a blow-dryer working and a longing glare at one another.

“Do you think there’s someone coming after us again?” Deanna asked, a look of relief flitting across her features as she finally asked the question that had been bothering her.

It was the question neither had brought up since the fire, the two women distracting themselves with their own ‘projects’, Selena with her training and the royale, and now RTG, and Deanna – well, Selena had learned what the redhead’s ‘project’ was the same night she had announced her cash-in on her contract – shock could not even begin to describe what she had felt over that.

“I’m not sure.” Selena sighed, turning off the dryer and placing it on the counter. “But I have been thinking about it.” She ran a hand through her still, slightly, damp hair.

“And?” Deanna asked, taking a step closer to Selena.
“And, honestly?” Selena sighed. “No, I don’t.”

“Really? You don’t think it’s someone from work? Or maybe the Scythes or the Frostmeres or-“

“Deanna… Deanna…” Selena tried, turning around to face her ex-wife. “The Scythes are gone. Malcolm is dead and Ryan is rotting in prison. Same with the Castles. Killjoy is dead. Brachiss and his mother are dead. It’s been years since any of them were involved in our lives.”

“And months since SCW…” Deanna breathed, causing Selena’s hands to fly out and take hers on instinct.

“De…please…” She tried. “Remember how you calmed me down?”
“I don’t need to do that.” Deanna shook her head before it shot up in sudden realization. “Unless I’m triggering you-“ she attempted to move away but Selena held the redhead’s hands firmly.

“No, you’re not.” Selena pressed. “We’re hundreds of hundreds of feet above ground. Nobody is coming for us up here.” She gave Deanna’s hands a comforting squeeze. “But we have to think a bit more logically.”

“I am.” Deanna sighed. “That’s why I’m worried that it’s work-related.”

“H…” she caught herself… then let it slide anyway “Hunny…” Deanna’s eyes shot up in surprise, the redhead looking around to see if any of the children had re-entered the room. “I’m talking to you.” Selena assured. “I know the immediate thing is to think of the five or six people dealing with us. Gio, Cid, Asher, Jordan-“

“What about Xander?”

“No way.” Selena shook her head firmly.
“What do you mean? He’s done it before. He’s invaded our house before. He knows where it is.”
“He just wouldn’t!” Selena pressed even surprising herself with the strength of her defense. “If he’s going to kill me, it’s going to be in the ring, okay? That’s just how he is.”

A second slight silence filled the room before Deanna shook her head. “I can’t be as sure.”

“You don’t have to be, okay?” Selena assured. “Because it’s none of them.”
“How do you know?”

“Because nobody knew you were coming back till AFTER the fire. Nobody knew I was cashing in till AFTER the flame.”

“But… they could have found out like Mason-“

“If I could hide it from you and you could hide it from me, nobody in the world would have a damn clue.” Selena pressed with finality. “Assuming it was someone in SCW, then it clearly was against me because of my place in the royale – someone that feared me winning. And if THAT is true, then it was meant to distract me and keep me from main-eventing Rise. And if THAT is true, then they failed. And nothing can be done about it now.” Selena exhaled. “Which is why I agree with the firefighters.”

“What? That it was an accident?”
“What else could it be, Deanna?” Selena pressed. “Nobody in SCW gains anything from doing that to us. Mason tried and looked what happened to him. Do you think anyone wants to get on my bad side this close to RTG after what I did to him? When it changes nothing?”

“An accident…” Deanna’s voice trailed off. “Maybe…I just don’t know.”

“And we don’t have to worry about it right now. You’re alright, I’m alright, the kids and Obi are alright. And you’ve got enough to worry about. I’ve got enough to worry about. Okay?” Slowly, Selena turned away from her ex-wife to re-enter the room. “Just don’t go inviting someone like Asher to dinner, okay?”

“Oh my gods…” Deanna rolled her eyes at the remark, turning to follow Deanna through the bathroom and into the adjoining master bedroom. “I’m not trying to be friends with him!” She remarked. “It was just the right thing to do.”

“No, the right thing to do was for him to get a little humility.” Selena corrected, reaching into a nearby chest of drawers, pulling a pair of blue jeans and laying them on the bed. This was followed by some socks and underwear and a dark green t-shirt. “Maybe for all the crap he said to me about you while you weren’t there.”

“That’s not the right thing to do, Selena.” Deanna argued. “That’s the opportunistic thing to do. There’s a difference.”

“So, accountability means nothing?” Selena asked, gazing up from her clothes-piling. “He just has to say a few ‘nice words’ and he’s forgiven? Forgiven for calling himself ‘the REAL United States Champion’ and discrediting you? Forgiven for dragging my name – OUR name – through the mud for months until he got stupid and lost whatever high-ground he thought he had?”

“Selena, I… I don’t care about that, okay?” Deanna sighed. “This is why I didn’t want to tell you about my return sooner.”

For a moment, Selena’s head shot up to gaze at her wife, a look of surprise on her face that lasted only a second before it returned to her clothes. “Can you…” she tried. “Can you please turn around for a minute?”

Biting her lower lip and giving a look that could only mean ‘Really?’, Deanna sighed before, thankfully, turning her back to Selena, allowing the platinum-blonde to remove her towel and get dressed, though she spoke as she did.

“I am not mad at you for going back to work, okay?” Selena called out to the redhead. “I’m glad you’re feeling well enough to do it. I’m worried, yes, but I’m not mad about that. I just… I am not as forgiving as you are, okay?” she answered back. “Especially to people that do that kind of shit to us.”

“You have to let those things go, Selena.” Deanna called over her shoulder. “So he doesn’t think I’m a champion. I haven’t been allowed to come back and defend the title in nearly a year. So, he has a point.”

“And what? He’s earned it?” Selena laughed. “He gets a lucky draw at Fatal Fortunes on a return, just like Hudson and Cid and Allocco, but it’s even worse because he then disappears for weeks and lets Jordan run roughshod with it but even so, he can’t look you in the eye and say ‘hey! I was wrong! I’m sorry!’. Oh no! It’s only when you hand him the title, literally save his ass, and only THEN does he give a thank you but let’s give him a free pass for all the shit he did to you before that and all the shit he did to us while he was in The Brand, and all the shit-“

“Selena…” Deanna’s voice cut through the rant. “I’m not Asher, okay?

Ashamed, Selena released a long huff of an exhale. “Sorry.” She whispered to the redhead, sure the woman had heard her. “I just… I don’t like him. I’ve NEVER liked him. And… I don’t want to face him right now. I feel like… Like it’s a lose-lose for me. Like I’m stepping on your toes or something.”

“What do you mean?” Deanna asked, turning around without thinking. Luckily, Selena had just slipped her shirt on, completing her attire and able to stand before her. Before the older Frost could explain, however, the bedroom door opened, allowing the young boy to stomp in, earning both women’s attention as he stood there, barely dressed and his hair still damp.

“Mom, Mom.” David called out to both women. “Elsianna’s bossing me around about the shower.”
“David, we’ve told you to knock before bursting into people’s rooms.”
“But this isn’t Mom’s room…” David tried, throwing a look at Deanna.
“No, but it is Mother’s room.” Selena chastised, point to herself. “Meaning the rules still apply.”
“I’m sorry.” David replied. “But Elsa keeps saying I’m ‘wasting water’.”

“Alright, I’m handling this.” Selena huffed. “Come on, little guy.” She ordered, gently ushering her son out of the room, throwing a glance back at Deanna. “You want to use my shower or the one in your room?”

“I’ll use the one in my room.” Deanna answered assuredly.
“Don’t forget to grab my conditioner then.” Selena reminded, gesturing back towards her own bathroom, where Deanna had left it. “I’ll make a note in my phone. We can pick up more after we drop off the kids.”
Deanna nodded. “Thanks.”

It was the only exchange they had as Selena guided her son down the halls and back towards his room and the guest bathroom. She would have a word with Elsianna later – the girl clearly acting out because of her ‘grounding’. “Come on guys!” she called out as she left David to his own tasks, checking the clock on the wall as she passed it. “Car leaves in fifteen minutes!”

She heard the shuffling of several feet throughout the ‘castle’, causing a small smile to cross her for a moment. A quick stop at the fridge to grab an energy drink and she was out on her favorite spot at the balcony, overlooking the city as morning had already begun. From the sun in the east, to the clouds above, to lastly, the streets and the cars waiting below, she gazed at them all…

A little over a month left… she thought to herself with a tired smile as she sipped at her Monster drink, as if she could feel the seconds ticking away.

A little over a month to last.
To keep this all up – this show of dominance within SCW.
A little over a month left to hold the world…
And the greatest challenge she would ever face…

“Hey!” she heard the woman behind her, recognizing it instantly. “You coming?”

“Yes.” Selena answered with a sigh. “I’m the one driving after all.” She added as she walked away from the balcony to rejoin her family and begin the new day.

[Asher_Hayes]

OOC: I must sleep

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-t8V...p=drivesdk

[SnowQueenSCW]

Villain of the Year

”Down in the Trenches…”

Essex Market
New York City, New York
June 24th, 2025
10:26am

Her gaze was down towards her black runners again, but only so she could, for the umpteenth time, start from the bottom of the nearby shelf of goods and move her head up to observe the rows and rows of produce. In this case: Tomatoes and avocadoes. Her pale hand glided over the lot of them, occasionally grabbing one and giving it a squeeze to test its firmness. If the produce passed the eye and squeeze test, it was placede in a plastic bag with a few others, as Selena continued her shopping through the market. Still, her mind occasionally flashed back to the sheer height of some of the stalls and shelves of good. Though she was a decently tall woman (a bit above average in terms of height), there were times that she felt small here on the ground, surrounded by people and such high shelves. In fact, part of her felt like that movie “All Quiet on the Western Front” – worried that if she peeked her head up too far above the tall shelves, she’d be sniped in the head!

Suppose that would be cause for celebration for many in SCW… she quickly shook her head to dispel such thoughts, instead refocusing her efforts to tie up her bags of tomatoes and avocados before adding them to her shopping cart. They had already dealt with the ‘lack of Deanna’s conditioner issue’ after dropping the kids off at school, Elsianna going on and on about her class’s green initiative the entire ride there – to the point where David had his fingers in his ears the whole ride. The silence had almost seemed strange as the two Frost women had begun their own tasks within the NYC market spaces, but, still, Selena was unsure which she preferred: the silence or the bustle of family. Perhaps each has their place in life… she reasoned as she pushed her cart further down the path between vendors, hearing the hustle and noise of customers and workers as the day continued.

Their noises didn’t affect Selena that much. She had learned long ago how to ‘tune it out’, much like the audience within SCW that had turned on her – raining their boos upon the platinum-blonde every time she appeared. That was especially true now given the recent events she had heaped on them with her contract cash-in. Of course, there were some obnoxious fans – and even some of her fellow wrestlers – that were proclaiming that they ‘called it’ or whatever. She scoffed at the notion. Idiots like that had done the same thing when she had run around SCW with a mask and padded suit on during the EOTY Invitational, running a list of ‘potentials’ or ‘offhand remarks’ and then claiming ‘intelligence’ when one of those people/remarks on the list proved to be true.

Including the then world champion, Asher… her jaw clenched. Can’t wait to hear him ‘call it’. She rolled her eyes at the notion. Why did SCW have to pair him with her? She had said up and down that she wanted to stay away from the man for the sake of Deanna’s return so the redhead could ‘handle the matter’ as she deserved the chance to. What was management thinking? Was this some kind of swerve? Asher was – somehow – buddies with Cid Turner and, sure, there was a history between her and Asher, not just regarding the United States title back and forth with Deanna, but also the world title, but still!

I don’t have time for this. Not for another ‘I knew it all along’ rant or another ‘Selena buries people’ tirade… she sighed, returning her attention back to her shopping, eyeing several wheels of cheese of various size, color and, most of all, price. Geez! How is cheese so damn much?! She thought, picking up one small wheel to observe it before putting it back down, the texture, alone, enough to dissuade her from any kind of purchase- But speaking of Deanna…

The thought of the redhead caused Selena to turn herself around on the spot, eyes scanning the way she had come and any subsequent route the younger woman could have taken on her own- The flash of red hair luckily caught her eye, causing her to slowly (with cart) about-face and push said cart back down the pathway until she, too, made the turn needed to be near the black-shorts, pink-shirt wearing woman knelt down to smell one of the many displays of flowers.

“Watch out for the bee there.” Selena said when she drew close enough, causing Deanna’s head to jerk towards the voice, recognize the warning, and then immediately jump back.

“A bee?! No no no!” Deanna whined a little, swatting at the air for a few seconds until she turned her head back at the not-so-concealed, bottom-lip-biting smile from the Snow Queen. “You’re not funny.” She pouted.

“Disagree.” Selena shrugged. “You know they say you shouldn’t swat at bees, though. That actually makes the chances much higher that they sting you. The key is to ignore them when they are buzzing around your head.”

“Attention-starved bees?” Deanna asked, unconvinced. “I don’t think so.”
“No.” Selena shook her head. “Something to do with fear of attack and scent on a person that swatting at them makes them aware of. I heard about it on a nature show.”
“You’re watching nature shows now?” Deanna laughed, stepping back towards the display of flowers and studying each one.”
“It was the only thing on one night.” Came Selena’s reply with a shrug.

The former world champion remained quiet for a moment, simply watching as her ex-wife continued studying the array of flowers for their arrangement, color, and variety of stems and leaves. They were all beautiful, the platinum-blonde could see that, but she was more interested in watching the redhead and enjoying Deanna’s enjoyment of it. She tried not to gaze too long, lest Deanna catch her ‘leering’, which would only prompt another conversation, besides the cause of the fire, that they had not discussed… The events before it.

Selena sighed quietly, still keeping an eye on Deanna. While the cause of the fire still baffled the wrestler, Selena was more confused and frustrated over the fact that she had been with Deanna – in every way – before that. There was no beating around the bush there. She had had sex with her ex – crossed the line she had tried since the divorce never to cross. Risked her entire plan and future on a night of passion that – LITERALLY – culminated in the house burning down! If that wasn’t a bad omen, I don’t know what is!

Still, they hadn’t talked about it since. Hadn’t even brought it up. Soon as Deanna and the children had moved in, Selena had assigned them all guest rooms, including Deanna, and Deanna had not complained or said a word against it. And for that, Selena was truly grateful-

“Hey…” Came the voice from the redhead in front of her, causing her to turn and see the emerald eyes gazing at her – studying her. “I need to ask you something.”

Oh shit! Did I just jinx myself?! Selena mentally cursed. “A…about?” She swallowed the shake in her voice, pale hands gripping the steering-rod of the cart.

“What you said earlier this morning.” Deanna answered, standing up to her full height and moving closer to stand beside the taller woman.
“I said a lot of things.” Selena replied with a shrug – trying to act nonchalant – but only getting an eyeroll from Deanna.

“About Asher. You said you didn’t want to face him.” Deanna stated. “That it was a lose-lose for you. What did you mean?”

“Oh that!” Selena exhaled – not meaning to sound so relieved but unable to help it. “Just…” She tried to explain but Deanna spoke at the same time.

“Are you worried about facing him?

“Worried?” Selena laughed, again unintentionally. “No.” That wasn’t entirely true. On a purely ego-level, facing Asher held its own conundrum of problems. True, a win or loss did nothing to her future. Whether Asher wanted to cry and whine about being ‘buried’ like he had so many times before or make promises of ‘exposing Selena’ or ‘weakening her’, there was truly nothing he could do to stop her match at RTG from happening. He had no contract to insert himself into the match. He had no sway with the management. All he could do was bark and bitch and then try and beat Selena.

But still, beating Selena could still do damage. She had gone the near-entire year without suffering a pinfall or submission or KO loss of any kind. The only losses on her record had been the Trios Finals, mired in controversy thanks to Blake Mason, and the THOTF royale, which was also swamped with technicalities and issues. That was it. A loss now, when she was so close, threatened to disturb that image – that statement of dominance and right that she had to the main-event. She already had enough detractors. She didn’t want more based around her win-loss record.

Still… that was only a small reason – not the main one.

“Beating him…” She tried, choosing her words carefully. “I don’t want to.”
That shocked Deanna. “You don’t want to?” She eyed the Snow Queen. “I don’t believe that.”

“I’m not going to say it.” Selena shook her head. “But no, I don’t want to beat him – rather, I can’t beat him the way I want to.” She sighed. “I want to make him eat crow for all the crap he said about you and all the shit he’s going to inevitably say about me. I want to embarrass him like I did back then.”

“Embarrass him how?” Deanna asked, earning a raised eyebrow from Selena.
“Allocco five moves of doom.” She stated, saying Deanna’s eyes widen in sudden understanding. “… but I can’t.” she added.

“Why not?”

“Because a ) Most importantly, that will taint your match with him and your comeback and b ) the last time I embarrassed him in a match, he up and quit SCW the very next day!” Selena shook her head. “And THAT will ruin your match as well. But if I don’t, then I tarnish the main-event of RTG as well!”

They had been walking for a bit, checking more shelves and items as they spoke, but the focus remained on the conversation. “You could just beat him clean.” Deanna offered. “Nothing over the top, you know?”

“Deanna…” Selena eyed the woman she loved. “I’m already being told up and down that I don’t belong in the main-event by everyone with camera and time. I can’t afford to slow down and ‘go easy’ on someone. Plus…” She sighed, hating to admit it. “Asher’s too good for that. Anything less than my best and he’ll catch me…” she turned her gaze back to Deanna. “Like he caught you.”

She saw Deanna tense up at that – recalling her one shot at the World title. “Yeah… okay…”

“So… that’s my frustration.” Selena shrugged. “Damned if I do. Damned if I don’t.”

They kept quiet for a few moments, letting the facts weigh on their minds as they continued shopping, Selena only speaking some offhand remarks about ‘wanting to make pasta for one dinner and burgers for another’, grabbing the necessary items from different vendors as they walked. It wasn’t until they were exiting the market and heading back towards Selena’s Aston that Deanna finally spoke.

“You’ll think of something.” She offered with a smile. “You always do.”

It was a basic platitude! A solution-less response! A handing off of any help whatsoever!

So… what did it make Selena better… make her smile… when she heard it?
_______________________________________________________________

The Royal Letter

Dear Asher Hayes,

I have a question for you before all this begins! And no! It’s not the one you’re probably thinking of. I don’t need to ask that one. Simply because I don’t care what your answer for it will be. You can ‘claim’ things up and down like you did the last time we fought. Claim I’m ‘predictable’ with my cash-in, claim I’m ‘burying you’ like you always have, claim the sky is green and the grass is blue for all I care. That’s just the ego and arrogance of Asher Hayes – unable to accept that Selena Frost is simply ‘smarter’…‘better’. Because, despite ‘seeing it coming’… what could you do to stop it? Hmmm?

To stop me from beating you and becoming World Champion last year?
To stop me from using my contract to headline Rise to Greatness this year?

Oh, that’s right. Nothing. You could do nothing. All you could do was play the role I had for you and accept destiny as it was – with me standing above you in every way.

But I digress – I said I had a REAL question for you, Mr. “REAL United States Champion”, and I won’t beat around the bush here. So here it is:

How did it feel to humble yourself before a Frost?

No no! I don’t mean me when I ask that! That’s not something new there. I mean a different Frost. I mean – after months of declaring up and down that Deanna wasn’t a ‘real’ champion. Of slandering my family and my name up and down with your same old BS – attacking credibility and attacking a woman that couldn’t be there to defend herself… how did it feel to have to stand in that ring last week, in front of that same woman, and say ‘Thank You’? To know, in your heart, that you OWED a debt to a Frost?

I have to imagine, knowing your ego, that it had to sting a little. Especially as it was a Frost that eliminated you from the royale back in New Orleans, dashing your ‘Kismet reunion’ dreams. Now, I have to admit, after all your crap since you snuck back into SCW, THAT moment made me smile quite a bit. Sending you crashing to the ground – still the Frost’s bitch, aren’t you?

Here’s the thing, Asher. I’m not saying this to… entirely… make you mad. I’m not. I’m just setting the stage here. Because I want you to understand what’s happening. Because, I don’t know if this was management or your begging for it or whatever, but someone thought that ‘Asher Hayes vs. Selena Frost’ was a good idea for this upcoming Breakdown. And, yeah… it does look good on paper. It does. Interim United States Champion vs. the Greatest of All Time – The Future World Champion. Great chance to keep proving what I’ve been proving and that is I haven’t needed the world title to be the most dominant and untouchable superstar in SCW. Great demonstration of why I deserve to be in the main-event of Rise to Greatness by beating the “REAL United States Champion”.

Except one little thing.

See, Asher, let’s not kid ourselves here. There’s a reason last time we fought, I beat you clean and took the world title away from you. There’s a reason that I was able to eliminate you from the royale. But there’s also a reason that I didn’t just cold-clock you with a Glass Shard kick when you mouthed off to me months ago about Deanna. There’s a reason I’ve left you alone this whole time rather than just make an example out of you like I did Blake Mason and Kristen Scott when they disrespected my family, letting you run your mouth as you did – and then choke on humility as YOU were taken out for a while and couldn’t be there for your title.

It's not hard to figure out. The answer is Deanna. See, Asher, you can come here and make all these promises of ‘breaking my spirit’ and ‘exposing me’ and ‘proving something’ – your atypical, unoriginal little goal of “redeeming yourself” a weak mimicry compared to Josh Hudson and Adam Allocco doing it not too long ago – but your part in MY world, however, I don’t give a shit about that. Your part in MY world has always been to be dealt with by Deanna. For you to be humbled by a Frost, yes, but this time by Deanna Frost. Not me. For Deanna to take back the title you said she isn’t the champion of… and leave you with nothing, while I rise up and rule SCW – no longer ‘unofficially’, but with world title in hand.

That’s what my world dictates, Asher. What my destiny is!

Which leaves me in a rather sad state here. Because I could just beat you into the ground. I could. I could embarrass you like I did back then, or like I did with Syren or Blake Mason or Kristen Scott or like I did with so many others in the royale. I could and, honestly… I wouldn’t think twice about doing it. Cause someone that waltzes into SCW during Fatal-Fortunes, got HANDED a shot at the United States title, and still mouths off about me being ‘handed everything’ and whines about being ‘buried by Selena’? Yeah, you still need some more humbling, boy.

But the problem I have is that… I know what losing to me does to you. I know what being humbled by me does to you – when Asher Hayes, surprise surprise, can’t win the big one. When Asher Hayes can’t get the job done against someone BETTER than him.

Hell, we saw it last Breakdown, didn’t we?! The RTG rewind! That was you winning the United States title against Nathan Kaye in 2009! A memorial moment, clearly!

But how did that reign end, Asher? How did part of your career go?

You lost the title to Shilo Valiant, didn’t you? A rookie – a nobody – someone you thought yourself better than… and then you quit. You left. You didn’t have your belt anymore so you gave up just like that! Fast forward fifteen or so years and you lose the world title to me… and you quit. You let your contract expire, refuse to renew and resign, all because you couldn’t beat me… all because you couldn’t handle that I was, and am, better than you.

Do you see why that puts me in a delicate situation, Asher? Because I can’t let you win – I can’t! Why the hell would I disgrace myself and the world title AND the main-event at Rise to Greatness by allowing that? So you can run around the locker-rooms and throughout your promos bragging about it until you were blue in the face like Hudson’s done? So you can have some false ‘validity’ to your ‘claims’? So the SCW Universe can have some false ‘evidence’ because they simply cannot accept the destiny that I spelled out for them months ago?

No, Asher. I cannot let you win in my world. Against Luz? Against Majors? Fine. That can be tolerated. But against me? Against the World-Ruler? No. There is simply far too much at stake and far too much involved for me to let you ‘slip by’ like that. Far more important things than your ego and insecurity.

So, I need you to understand, Asher. Tonight is not about humbling you. It’s not about making you regret the words you uttered about Deanna or even me. It’s not even about our history. It’s about me doing what I have to for the better of SCW and for the destiny set in stone for it. It’s about me doing what needs to be done for that destiny. Which means, I simply beat you because I am better… and then I let you go back to your little corner in my world until Deanna destroys you in Texas.

The real question, however, is this, Asher…

AFTER I beat you... After I beat you again… what are you going to do? You going to still play in MY world with your little ‘Interim Title’? Or are you going to show SCW that you haven’t really changed at all and just quit on them like you always have? Run away as soon as you’re beaten?

What’s it going to be, Hayes? Will you quit? Or will you play nice in MY world?

That’ll be the only thing you have any control over. Whether you believe it… or not!

Welcome back to MY world, Asher. Better decide how long you want to stay in it!

Sincerely,
Selena Michelle Frost
The World-Ruler and NEXT SCW World Champion