The U.S. Cellular Center in Asheville, North Carolina, home of this evening Hybrid Ascension show. It was only a two hour drive or so from Dollywood to get here and so Seleana Zdunich, Christina Rose and Brittany Williams had made the trek through the mountains and arrived to see how Seleana’s sister, Zenna Zdunich, was doing. Zenna, her fiancée, Linnéa Lacroix, Linnéa’s sister, Alissa Lacroix, and the Zdunich Sisters’ cousin, Maja Lindström, were all there as a part of the Ascension roster, Zenna, Linnéa and Maja as part of a three-woman team called the Fallen Angels and Alissa as their manager. The group was not booked into any matches but were scheduled to take part in the show in some other capacity for the evening. Seleana, Christina and Brittany make their way down a hallway and stop at a dressing room door just in time to see a young blonde woman turn the corner on the other end of the hallway and start towards room there. The blonde stops and waves at Brittany before entering the room leaving Brittany standing there almost dumbfounded. Seleana sees the blonde walk into the other room and nods.
Seleana Zdunich: Oh yes, I forgot Rain would be here.
Comprehension dawns on Brittany’s face and she nods as well while Christina frowns in momentary confusion.
Seleana Zdunich: You remember the Halo girl that came over to the house?
Christina nods.
Seleana Zdunich: Rain is her twin sister. She works here as well.
Christian nods as Seleana knocks on the door they’ve been standing in front of nwo for a good minute or two. The door opens and the four faces they had expected to see, Zenna, Alissa, Linnéa and Maja, all smile back at them.
Seleana Zdunich: Hej, Shenzi!
Zenna nods and waves them all into the room, her accent matching Seleana’s.
Zenna Zdunich: Hej, Sarabi!
Seleana walks in and nods to the other three in succession, first Linnéa...
Seleana Zdunich: Hej, Li…
Then Maja.
Seleana Zdunich: Maja.
And, finally, Alissa.
Seleana Zdunich: Lis.
Christina and Brittany follow, Zenna closing the door behind them.
Christina Rose: Hey…
All four nod back to her and Brittany can’t help but notice that only Maja seems genuinely happy.
Brittany Williams: Something wrong?
Alissa shrugs like she’s trying to downplay a legitimate concern, her New Orleans accent standing in stark contrast to those of Seleana and Zenna.
Alissa Lacroix: Maja’s actually wrestling tonight.
Seleana frowns in confusion.
Seleana Zdunich: I thought you were not booked and were just going to get an interview segment?
Zenna, Linnéa, Alissa and Maja all nod quickly in return, Zenna, Linnéa and Alissa looking slightly upset to give this answer while Maja beams happily.
Zenna Zdunich: We were…
Zenna trails off and Seleana’s confusion only deepens.
Seleana Zdunich: But?
Zenna nods to the others, Linnéa managing the answer, her own New Orleans accent matching her sister’s and yet somehow managing to sound slightly more redneck in tone.
Linnéa Lacroix: Kenneth James Bradford…
Before anyone can elaborate, Christina frowns hard, almost matching the original occupants of the room.
Christina Rose: Who?
Seleana sighs heavily.
Seleana Zdunich: He was a young, up and coming star here for Hybrid Ascension.
Brittany looks on almost suspiciously, concern filling her voice.
Brittany Williams: Was?
Alissa nods sadly.
Alissa Lacroix: He died yesterday. Cancer.
Linnéa nods as well, looking almost blankly into the abyss.
Linnéa Lacroix: Just kinda… out of nowhere.
Shaking her head, Zenna leans back against the wall by the door.
Zenna Zdunich: He wrestled on the last show two weeks ago like nothing was wrong.
Linnéa nods yet again.
Linnéa Lacroix: Turns out he knew he had terminal bladder cancer and just never bothered to tell anyone.
Brittany’s eyes narrow.
Brittany Williams: Why does that mean Maja is…
Before Brittany can finish her question, Zenna points to the printout of the night’s card posted to the wall behind Linnéa and Maja.
Zenna Zdunich: He had been booked tonight in a six-person tag with a bunch of people who were gonna be in title matches in two weeks. So, the GM, Trenton Page, called all of us who weren’t booked tonight and said he needed a volunteer.
Maja almost jumps up from her seat in excitement, her accent coming on thicker than either Zdunich Sister’s had. .
Maja Lindström: I volunteer!!!
Seleana takes in the looks on her sister’s face as well as those of the Lacroix Sisters and swallows hard.
Seleana Zdunich: And her partners are?
Maja’s smile remains affixed even as she shrugs slightly.
Maja Lindström: Sela-Rica Lark and Kristina Spencer.
Seleana nods knowingly, a new dread finding its way into her being at this answer.
Seleana Zdunich: Oh…
Christina glances to her fiancée.
Christina Rose: Is that bad?
Seleana nods.
Seleana Zdunich: They are violent women who cannot be trusted. One is the Queen of the Devil and the other is a kindred spirit who openly wishes to do harm to her own family in this match. Maja has also never had a partner that was not family. Usually it is Zenna, but it has been both Zenan and Linnéa as well.
Brittany nods even as Christina ponders this situation a little.
Brittany Williams: Yeah but, she wasn’t on the card before and now she is?
Maja smiles, nodding even as the others all frown suspiciously.
Maja Lindström: Ja.
Brittany shrugs as if the answer here should be obvious.
Brittany Williams: So… it’s an opportunity to show what she can do with top level competitors?
Again, Maja nods, smiling happily while the rest of the family stands there, viosibly not pleased at the situation.
Maja Lindström: Ja.
Brittany almost high fives Maja.
Brittany Williams: Sounds like it’s a win-win situation. You get to wrestle when you weren’t supposed to and you get to go out and show what you can do with big names. What else could you ask for?
Maja nods and now actually does high five Brittany.
Maja Lindström: I like this one!
Linnéa can’t help but smile.
Linnéa Lacroix: So, did y’all like Dollywood?
Seleana, Christina and Brittany all shrug slightly.
Seleana Zdunich: We have not seen much of it. We checked into our hotel there and then drove here.
Linnéa, Zenna, Alissa and Maja all nod, taking in the information.
Zenna Zdunich: You’re there for a match, ja?
Seleana nods.
Seleana Zdunich: Sin City is doing a tour of parks. Have done Disney and Six Flags so far.
Zenna snickers.
Zenna Zdunich: And they send you to a country park?
Seleana nods.
Seleana Zdunich: My opponent finds it ironic as well because she is a metal chick like you.
Linnéa, Alissa and Zenna all grin.
Linnéa Lacroix: Is this good?
Seleana shrugs.
Seleana Zdunich: I do not think so.
Christina nods, looking slightly worried for a second.
Christina Rose: She and I have a history…
Linnéa and Zenna look to each other and nod.
Zenna Zdunich: So she’ll have it out for you extra?
Seleana starts to answer and then nods.
Seleana Zdunich: Probably, ja.
Zenna and Linnéa look to each other again but before they can answer, Brittany pipes up.
Brittany Williams: Well, you’ll just have to show her that you are your own person and that focusing on my mom is a mistake!
Christina nods and the others all cheer.
Alissa Lacroix: Fuckin’ a!
Linnéa points at Brittany.
Linnéa Lacroix: I like this one too!
Christina smirks playfully.
Christina Rose: Well, of course, look where she came from!
Everybody cheers again as the meeting continues on for another hour or so. Eventually, Linnéa turns on her phone’s camera and points it at Seleana.
Seleana Zdunich: Hello, Sin City Wrestling! I am coming to you from Asheville, North Carolina, just two hours from Dollywood where I have come to see some of my family wrestle.
She nods and Linnéa flashes the camera around to show Zenna, Alissa and herself before putting it back on Seleana, catching a glimpse of Brittany, Maja and Christina as it goes.
Seleana Zdunich: You will notice, Jessie, that you are familiar with some of them from Honor Wrestling as Li, Z and Lis have played with their band for that company three…
She pauses and looks to them for proof positive.
Seleana Zdunich: Three times now?
They nod to her and she brightens right back up.
Seleana Zdunich: But our match on Sunday will have nothing to do with Honor Wrestling, Hybrid Ascension, or any other place outside of SCW. Our match will have nothing to do with them, with Brittany or with my fiancée, Christina Rose, since none of them will be in the ring with you.
She nods and motions at the camera and then back to herself.
Seleana Zdunich: It is only you and I in this match and you can call any of us whatever you want, Jessie, but it does not change that when we get in the ring, you will not accomplish what you have said you will set out to do.
She nods pointedly.
Seleana Zdunich: Yes, it is true, I have not had the immediate success I wish for in SCW but it is also true that I am relatively new to this sport and still learning. I take every time I climb into that ring as a success since someone my age is not supposed to be able to succeed as quickly as I have. You look at my record and see a string of failures. I look at my record and ask, how many wins should someone who has only been in this country for just under a year’s time, and has only even trained to fight for seven months supposed to have. I am a thirty-one year-old rookie with six months in this sport and I have hung in there with people that should have destroyed me on paper.
She nods to Brittany behind her.
Seleana Zdunich: Mercedes Vargas, the Boardwalk Angels, my own soon-to-be stepdaughter, just to name a few.
Brittany nods encouragingly as Seleana just stares dead into the camera.
Those are championship level competitors stepping into the ring with somebody that this time last year was working at an animal park in New Zealand.
She nods pointedly again as the camera zooms in on her, framing her face in the shot.
Seleana Zdunich: You will not destroy me, Jessie Salco. Better than you have tried, and all have failed because while Christina did train me, I am my own woman and I can take whatever you wish to throw at me! You will find when you step into that ring that I am not just a rookie and I am not just somebody sleeping with a championship-calibre legend! I am not just Christina Rose’s fiancée or Brittany Williams’ future stepmother. I am Seleana “The Cat” Zdunich and I will show you that this cat has claws!
