Off-Camera
Friday, February 3, 2023
Common Room
Shieldmaidens Clubhouse
San Clemente, California
10:18 AM PST
This was certainly not a usual trip. Seleana certainly knew of the Shieldmaidens given that her daughter-in-law, former SCU championship competitor Haylie Jo “Halo” Annis was the Vice President of the San Clemente Charter and her sister-in-law, Eavan Maloney, has been a full patch in both the New Orleans Charter and the New Egypt, New Jersey Charter. But Seleana had never actually been to this clubhouse. She’d been to the one in New Orleans as it had hosted a party she’d attended when she first arrived in America, much like the one her younger sister, Katra, had attended that had introduced her to Eavan in the first place.
That was New Orleans, not San Clemente.
So now, she walks into the big common room of the clubhouse next to her daughter-in-law and frowns at their surroundings, confused by the purpose of the trip..
Seleana Zdunich: Why are we here?
Halo shrugs at her mother-in-law.
Halo: I figured if we was gonna get on with trainin’ people like D-Dub, Emily, Sofia, Ravenna, whoever else…
Seleana frowns in confusion.
Seleana Zdunich: Are Emily and Sofia not trained?
Halo shrugs.
Halo: How trained were either of us when we made our debuts? I live in a house with three other champions, won a shitload of championships myself and I'm probably the least properly trained person there!
Seleana crosses her arms.
Seleana Zdunich: You make hens out of feathers…
Halo shrugs.
Halo: I’m just sayin’, Jane and Cheech done both got more straight trainin’ than I did and Lord knows B-Brat did too. Obviously B-Brat and Mama Chrys did something right since we both champions and all but…
Seleana nods, raising her hands to slow Halo down.
Seleana Zdunich: I think Christina has already seen to Emily as well in that manner, ja?
Halo snickers.
Halo: Yeah but ain’t nobody really seen to poor Ravenna. She had that one match last year teaming with Sofia whether she wanted to or not. I think she damn near pissed herself at having to be in the ring them Bisque Dolls, which, hey, I get it. If I was her size, her age, been in the country like six weeks and not speaking the language perfect and I saw what reminded me of monsters, I’d be pissin’ myself too!
Seleana nods understandingly.
Seleana Zdunich: Are they all here?
Halo nods.
Halo: They’s all prospectin’ now. Chi Chi almost looked like she’d fuckin’ lot her mind laughin’ at the very idea of B-Brat bein’ a prospect because it meant she’d get to boss her around. The first week she tried to put her foot down about it in the house and was not pleased to get told home was not necessarily off-limits to that stuff. We worked it out some but I think Cheech is gonna enjoy this almost too much.
Seleana exhales heavily.
Seleana Zdunich: All of them?
Halo nods.
Halo: All of them.
Shaking her head again, Seleana is almost overwhelmed at the sound of this idea.
Seleana Zdunich: Are you certain this is a wise idea?
Halo shrugs.
Halo: How wise was anything with me and B-Brat? We wasn’t exactly a storybook romance, was we?
Seleana Zdunich: Ja, but Brittany and Chiaki at the same time?
Halo: I mean, they share a house…
Seleana nods knowingly yet clearly not comfortably.
Seleana Zdunich: Dawn is aware of the familial problems this could cause her, ja?
Halo nods grimly.
Halo: Yeah, wants Melly to get trained up too.
Seleana frowns.
Seleana Zdunich: Melissa is an executive.
Halo can only smirk.
Halo: Yeah, but you met D-Dub, right? She’s a little on the excited side for the idea.
Seleana ponders the situation for a second and then nods back.
Seleana Zdunich: She has not approached Chavy about that as well?
Halo shakes her head.
Halo: Far as I know, it’s just Melly, not Chavy too. I don’t think she bothered to tell Teddy about this idea or he might have tried to talk her out of it.
Seleana Zdunich: Ja… alright, are you keen to get started then?
Halo nods.
Halo: Though you’d never ask!
The two women head towards the back door to go out to the training area set up in a warehouse that used to be vacant but now is used for practice. Halo leans their way, Seleana following, not knowing what to really expect but feeling almost like she’s obligated to help as she is able. Family commitments always come first.
On-Camera
Friday, February 3, 2022
Parking Lot
Venom Ink/Shieldmaidens Clubhouse
San Clemente, California
6:04 PM PST
The camera opens upon Seleana Zdunich standing next to a black 2019 Ford F-150 Raptor belonging to Halo that had been a gift from her wife and mothers-in-law because a photo had been noticed in a prominent place in Halo’s room of a similar truck that the young woman from Tennessee was using as motivation for her wrestling career. Seleana looks over the truck and nods to herself.
Seleana Zdunich: I remember when we gave HayJo this truck. She had let it be known to us that it was both her dream vehicle and her reminder to herself to not allow herself to fall into certain habits.
She pats the truck’s fender.
Seleana Zdunich: To me it is a reminder of the ties that bind us together. We both willfully married into this family. We have both had that decision questioned early and often and quite publicly, ja?
She nods knowingly to the camera.
Seleana Zdunich: HayJo’s housemates, Jane Harper and Chiaki Sanada, have made merchandise calling for my marriage to end on more than one occasion and I know they are not alone given how well that merchandise sold. They even added some for the third member of our relationship and it sold well despite her own tendencies towards infamy.
She smiles at the truck.
Seleana Zdunich: I know that they have not been great fans of Brittany’s either. I am aware that she tends to emulate her mother in certain ways and thus gains enmity from many just as Christina has in the past.
Looking away from the truck and straight into the camera, Seleana steels herself.
Seleana Zdunich: No matter what any of them have ever done, HayJo and I have never questioned our choices. We see sides of them that no one else sees. We see who they are when they do not feel the need to act and add persona on top of themselves. I see Christina instead of Crystal and HayJo sees Brittany instead of B-Brat.
Exhaling, Seleana looks down to her feet.
Seleana Zdunich: In the same manner, Christina and I see Alex and not Diamond.
Looking back up, Seleana smiles slightly.
Seleana Zdunich: And that is why I was so proud of them when what happened at NFW’s WrestleWar happened. Christina showed she cared for more than herself as did Alex. For that short amount of time, the world saw who all of us really were. It was not who Christina likes people to see, it was her and nothing else, exposed to the world.
She nods to herself, the smile fading quickly.
Seleana Zdunich: But it was not by their choice that this was shown. No, they were dragged kicking and screaming into the light by two people who have decided we are all collectively the antichrist for reasons not given and currently unknown. Two people who have decided it would be perfectly acceptable to attack our twelve-year-old daughter and who refuse to come anywhere near us in a sanctioned match.
Seleana glares into the camera, anger and near hatred radiating off of her.
Seleana Zdunich: Jimmy and Cindy Warren…
Fire rages on in her eyes.
Seleana Zdunich: You do not get the titles in front of your names as no one who has ever taken the Hipocratc Oath would do what you did and anyone who would, does not deserve to be given that respect!
She points accusingly into the camera.
Seleana Zdunich: You said you would do no harm and yet with both Christina and then Aurora, you do worse than cause slight pain.
The rage causes her entire body to shake.
Seleana Zdunich: If you would do such to a child, you would do it to anyone if given the opportunity and that is why when I am finally afforded the opportunity to pay you back, I will.
Pulling herself together, the shaking stops but the anger remains albeit slightly blunted now.
Seleana Zdunich: Now, on Sunday I face a woman who I have no such enmity and no such worries about in Chelsea LeClair.
She nods.
Seleana Zdunich: I am happy to test myself against you Chelsea. You have earned the respect that those fittor do not deserve. You have earned the respect and the dignity of your name being spoken with reverence because you have shown yourself to be a worthy opponent but also have shown a quality of person that they refuse to allow themselves to have in themselves. You are a good person and you are a good competitor. I look forward to this.
Seleana bows deeply.
Seleana Zdunich: Thank you for not being like them, Chelsea.
She manages a small smile again.
Seleana Zdunich: Thank you for this match. Let us make this one to be remembered, ja?
She nods and then cl;imbs into the passenger seat of the truck as the camera fades.
