SCW Boards
Roleplay Boards => Climax Control Roleplays => Topic started by: Mercedes Vargas on July 17, 2026, 06:55:37 PM
-
Blog: Almighty Fire
semana del 12 de 19 julio de 2026
It's only been a few weeks since Summer XXXTreme ended, but you know what's funny?
I swear it's like I never left that cruise ship.
I'm standing exactly where I planned on standing—as World Bombshell Champion. Not because I got lucky against Victoria Lyons. Not because the timing was perfect. And definitely not because somebody handed it to me.
This was earned the hard way.
This was years of taking every disappointment, every setback, every "close but not close enough", every person who thought they had my number, and turning every one of them into another brick beneath my feet.
So now, eventually, somebody's going to ask the question: Can she keep doing it? Not win it. Keep it. For more than a month, anyway.
Winning the championship was one night. Keeping it is something else entirely. Now every woman in this division measures herself against me because I'm the one holding what they all want. That's what being champion does. It changes people. Some become obsessed. Some become desperate. Some convince themselves this is finally their moment.
You think I care about critics? About jealous locker room whispers? If anything, I’ve given everyone else something to chase. The problem is none of you can catch me.
And if that bothers people? Good. It should. Because while they were busy doubting me, I was stacking championships. While they were complaining, I was making history. I didn’t get here by being liked. I got here by being undeniable.
I've been doing this for far too long to worry about who's cheering for me and who's rolling their eyes in the locker room. None of that ever won anybody a championship. Winning matches did. Adapting did. Outlasting everybody who thought I'd fade away did.
Violent Conduct XI is right around the corner, and everybody knows what's at stake. Everybody wants to head into that show with momentum. Everybody wants to be part of the conversation. As far as my match this weekend with Seleana Zdunich, I've heard people call this match a showcase. I don't.
A showcase is an exhibition.
A showcase is where the outcome hardly matters.
This?
This matters, especially against someone who I know all too well.
People say rivalries never truly end, and maybe they're right. They say old rivalries linger. Old grudges stay alive.
Every time Seleana Zdunich's name comes up, somebody wants to frame this as unfinished business. Maybe that's true for them. It isn't for me. We've shared the ring, we've beaten each other, we've said things we probably can't take back, but I'm not walking into Reading, Pennsylvania looking for closure. I'm walking into Reading, Pennsylvania to send a message to every woman with their eyes on this championship.
There's this idea floating around that because we've fought before that she somehow knows me, that I might be distracted.
Might.
Could.
Maybe.
Seleana knows exactly where she stands, and so do I. She's walking into this match as someone with nothing to lose, and people love a good underdog story.
Champions deal in certainty.
Here's one.
When that bell rings, I'm better. That's not arrogance. That's evidence. If I wasn't better, I wouldn't be standing here wearing gold now, would I?
Seleana's going to have to do better than hope, have to do better than history, have to do better than wanting it more if she's going to beat me, because recent history says I've had her number lately.
People keep telling me how dangerous Seleana is because she's been here forever. They're right about one thing—she has. She's had opportunities most women would kill for. World Bombshell Champion. Bombshell Roulette Champion. Big matches. Big moments. And yet here we are, seven years removed from the last time she held the World title, five years since the last time she held the Roulette title, and people still talk about her potential more than they talk about what she's actually done lately. That's the difference between us. Nobody talks about my potential anymore. They're talking about what I'm doing right now.
I know exactly how hard she fights. She's always had heart. She's always been determined. She's always been willing to throw herself into situations most people would avoid because somewhere in the back of her mind she's convinced herself "impossible" just means "not yet." I've never questioned that.
With that being said, allow me to offer you some unsolicited advice, Seleana. Don't spend the night before our match second guessing yourself whether you should show up to Reading, Pennsylvania. Bring your confidence, bring whatever you think you need to survive what’s coming and get plenty of rest because you'll need it. Bring your sister-in-law because I want her to watch the humiliation you're about to get on the world's stage.
When I walk to the ring, I won't be thinking about revenge. I won't be thinking about our rivalry. I won't be thinking about proving anyone wrong. I'm thinking about one thing.
Walking back up that ramp with the World Bombshell Championship still resting on my shoulder. On my waist. In my possession.
Seleana is going to come into this match believing she can turn back the clock. I expect her to. I'd be disappointed if she didn't.
But believing something and making it happen are two very different things.
She's getting her opportunity.
I'm keeping my championship.
And when the dust settles, the conversation won't be about old rivalries anymore.
It'll be about who's walking into Violent Conduct XI with the World Bombshell Championship.
Me.
~~~
INT. THE FLOATING PENALTY BOX - NIGHT
[The old boat-turned-restaurant rocks gently against its moorings. A TV over the bar plays Summer XXXTreme highlights on mute. The championship replay freezes on MERCEDES VARGAS holding the WORLD BOMBSHELL CHAMPIONSHIP high after the final fall.]
[Hugo, the owner, stands behind the bar with a clipboard and the expression of a man fighting both debt and destiny. Tomas lounges in a booth, half-paying attention, half-trying not to work. Ricardo sits with a glass of wine, holding it like it was cast in crystal by a master. Irma sketches in a notebook, focused and serene.]
[The door opens.]
[Mercedes enters, title slung over her shoulder, exhausted but glowing with the kind of confidence that only comes from winning when nobody expects you to.]
[A beat.]
HUGO
There she is.
TOMAS
That’s a terrible opening line for a woman who just survived a war.
MERCEDES
I’ll take it. Better than “you look tired.”
RICARDO
You look legendary.
MERCEDES
That’s closer.
[Hugo sets down the clipboard.]
HUGO
Main event. Summer XXXTreme. Two out of three falls. Victoria Lyons. You actually did it.
[Mercedes smiles, drops into the booth across from them, and sets the title on the table.]
MERCEDES
“Actually did it” makes it sound like I was supposed to fail.
TOMAS
I mean, statistically—
IRMA
Don’t.
TOMAS
I wasn’t going to say anything mean.
IRMA
You were definitely going to say something mean.
[Ricardo swirls his wine.]
RICARDO
Let history be precise. The first fall belonged to Mercedes.
HUGO
Fast, clean, confident. She looked like she had Victoria figured out.
MERCEDES
That’s because she thought I was the part of the story people skip.
[Hugo nods, impressed.]
HUGO
And then you took the second fall.
MERCEDES
She got careless. That’s what happens when the favorite starts wrestling the ending instead of the match.
[Tomas leans forward.]
TOMAS
So what, you just waited her out?
MERCEDES
I survived her. There’s a difference.
[Irma looks up from her sketchbook.]
IRMA
What made the difference?
[Mercedes taps the championship plate with one finger.]
MERCEDES
Experience. Patience. And knowing exactly when somebody starts believing their own hype.
[Ricardo raises his glass.]
RICARDO
That is cinema.
MERCEDES
That is wrestling.
[On the TV, the replay rolls: Mercedes fighting through the third fall, absorbing a strike, countering the next move, dragging herself into position.]
HUGO
There. Right there. That’s where she lost control.
MERCEDES
That’s where she realized I wasn’t going away.
TOMAS
You mean like this restaurant?
[Hugo shoots him a look.]
HUGO
Not helping.
TOMAS
I’m trying to bond.
RICARDO
He has the spirit of a stray dog.
TOMAS
And you have the voice of a man who can’t afford his own rent.
IRMA
Both of you stop. Mercedes is telling a victory story.
[Mercedes smiles despite herself.]
MERCEDES
Thank you.
[She leans back, title still on the table between them like a small, stubborn sun.]
MERCEDES
They wanted Victoria Lyons to be the future. Young, polished, fearless. She walked into that match like the company had already written her name in the belt.
HUGO
And instead they got you.
MERCEDES
They got me.
RICARDO
The veteran they thought had already passed her prime.
MERCEDES
Exactly.
IRMA
And that bothered them.
MERCEDES
Good. It should.
[A beat. The TV shows the final cover. The crowd on screen erupts.]
MERCEDES
That last fall? It wasn’t about being stronger. It was about not panicking. Victoria wanted a sprint. I turned it into a fight. She wanted the spotlight. I wanted the belt.
TOMAS
And now you have it.
MERCEDES
Now I have it.
[Hugo grins and lifts his glass.]
HUGO
To the World Bombshell Champion.
[Ricardo lifts his glass too.]
RICARDO
To the woman who beat the future.
[IRMA follows.]
IRMA
To winning the hard way.
[Tomas stares at his soda, then raises it too.]
TOMAS
To the only reason this place is still interesting.
[Hugo points at him.]
HUGO
That was almost nice.
TOMAS
Don’t ruin it.
[Mercedes laughs, then stands and rests a hand on the title.]
MERCEDES
You know what the best part is?
[The others look at her.]
MERCEDES
Everybody back there wanted the neat version. The clean handoff. The feel-good coronation. But wrestling doesn’t care what they want. It cares who lasts.
HUGO
And you lasted.
MERCEDES
I lasted.
[A silence settles over the table, not awkward, just earned. Outside, water laps against the hull. Inside, the lights buzz softly overhead. The old boat creaks like it’s listening.]
[Irma closes her sketchbook.]
IRMA
You should celebrate.
TOMAS
We should all celebrate.
RICARDO
With what money?
TOMAS
That’s a valid complication.
[Hugo looks around the restaurant, then at Mercedes, then at the TV.]
HUGO
Champagne would be nice.
RICARDO
We have no champagne.
HUGO
Then whatever passes for celebration on a sinking boat.
TOMAS
That’s usually panic.
[Mercedes laughs again, then slides the title back over her shoulder.]
MERCEDES
I can work with panic.
[She heads toward the door, then pauses.]
MERCEDES
Keep the lights on. I might need a place to come back to when everybody else starts pretending they believed in me.
HUGO
Always.
IRMA
Congratulations, Mercedes.
RICARDO
And for the record, you made Victoria Lyons look like she was auditioning.
TOMAS
That was almost poetic.
RICARDO
I contain multitudes.
[Mercedes exits. The door shuts behind her. Everyone else sits in the aftermath of the moment, the championship replay still glowing on the TV.
Hugo picks up the clipboard again, stares at it, then drops it.
HUGO
All right. Back to work.
TOMAS
We’re still not getting shut down, right?
HUGO
Not tonight.
RICARDO
That sounded ominous.
IRMA
It always sounds ominous.
[The boat rocks. The TV keeps playing. The title is gone, but the win lingers in the room like heat.]
FADE OUT.
~~~
Present Day ♦ L O S A N G E L E S, C A L I F O R N I A
[REC•]
[The camera opens on Mercedes Vargas seated comfortably on the patio of an upscale rooftop lounge overlooking the Los Angeles skyline. The late afternoon sun reflects off the glass buildings behind her. A pair of designer sunglasses rests on her face as she lazily swirls a glass in one hand, looking entirely too relaxed for someone with a main event looming.]
"You know, I always appreciate when someone takes the time to talk about me at length. Seleana, you certainly have a way with words—so many of them, in fact, I almost needed a second cup of coffee to get through your little TED Talk. But don’t worry, I took notes. I always do."
[She flashes a sly smile, swirling her glass.]
"Soy muy buena para recordar."
"I'm very good at remembering."
[She sets her drink down.]
"First, let me say how touching it is to hear you finally admit what I’ve known all along: I’m not so easy to get rid of. I mean, you’ve practically made a hobby out of telling me to quit. You begged, you pleaded, you even tried reverse psychology. I haven’t seen that much effort since the last time you tried to convince yourself you were humble."
[Mercedes leans in, voice soft and just a bit conspiratorial.]
"But here’s the thing, Seleana. You keep asking me to walk away, but you never seem to ask yourself why I’m still here."
[A small shrug.]
"Maybe it's because I love this business."
[Another shrug.]
"Or maybe..."
[Mercedes taps the faceplate of the World Bombshell Championship.]
"...it's because every time you think you've got me figured out..."
[Her fingers linger on the title before she lifts it onto her shoulder.]
"...I give you something new to worry about."
[A playful smile.]
"¿Qué te parece?"
"What do you think?"
"This World Bombshell Championship looks good on me, doesn't it? Almost as good as when it looked on you, back when you still smiled in your photos."
[She removes her sunglasses, eyes glinting.]
"You say you’ve never given me your best. I suppose it’s easier to say you were holding back than to admit you just couldn’t put me away for good. But hey, if you need to tell yourself bedtime stories to sleep at night, who am I to judge? Some of us count sheep, others count excuses."
[Mercedes takes a sip, unbothered.]
"You know what I don't understand? Everybody keeps talking about this match like it's some kind of reward. Reward for what? Tell me the last thing Seleana did that earned a main event with the World Bombshell Champion. I'll wait."
“People love to talk about how long you’ve been here, Seleana. Like time alone is supposed to mean anything.”
“I’ve been here just as long.”
[A slight pause.]
“The difference?”
“Being part of the conversation isn’t the same thing as belonging in it. People mention your name because you’ve been around forever.”
[Mercedes lightly points to herself.]
“They mention mine because I’m the one setting the standard.”
[A confident smile.]
"Así de simple."
"It's that simple."
[She rises from her chair, championship still resting comfortably on her shoulder.]
"Look at the careers we've had."
"Mira los hechos."
"Look at the facts."
"Look at where we are today."
"One of us is walking into Reading, Pennsylvania carrying the World Bombshell Championship."
[She slowly adjusts the title on her shoulder.]
"The other is still trying to convince people her best years aren't behind her."
[She raises an eyebrow as if she was expecting a debate on this. She closes the remaining distance to the camera, stopping just a few feet away, the smile gone now.]
"Esto..."
[A beat.]
"...esto es lo que se gana cuando nunca dejas de pelear."
"This...this is what you earn when you never stop fighting."
"This..."
[She pats the championship.]
"...is what making it looks like."
"This is what it looks like when you’re a bonafide legend."
"This is what it looks like when you've become part of the foundation of one of the best women's divisions in the world."
"Head-to-head."
"Bell-to-bell."
"Pound-for-pound."
[Mercedes never breaks eye contact with the lens.]
"It's not difficult to figure out whose career people will still be talking about years from now."
[A beat.]
"And whose name becomes trivia."
"Porque una cosa sí te puedo prometer, Seleana."
"Because one thing I can promise you, Seleana."
[She adjusts the championship one final time.]
"Cuando suene esa campana..."
[A beat.]
"...no va a haber excusas."
"When that bell rings...there won't be any excuses."
"Sólo una mujer saldrá de Reading con todo el impulso."
"Only one woman will leave this weekend with all the momentum."
[Mercedes gives the camera one last knowing smile.]
"Y ya sabes quién es."
"And you already know who that is."
[Mercedes offers one final smile before speaking in Spanish.]
"Estar preparado para lo peor, esperar lo mejor."
"Prepare for the worst, hope for the best."
"Y que la suerte está siempre en su favor."
"And may the odds be ever in your favor."