A fine cold rain streaked across the window has the city outside buzzed with the low muted energy but inside the hotel room there was a tension that could be cut with a knife.
Victoria paced, slow but with fury. Her bare feet soundless on the carpet, the Bombshell Roulette Championship laid across the bed just behind her.
Vincent stood at his favorite perch near the window watching. His silence wasn’t it new he rarely interrupted her storms, and the night after Climax Control was no different.[/i]
“It's something about this city….” said Victoria “The air is foul and damp I ccould feel it in my lungs the moment we landed. But they didn't want to hear anything about me feeling unwell, and now Lilith Locke pins me in some throwaway tag match and suddenly everybody's whispering that I’m slipping.”
She turned sharply toward Vincent.
“I'm not slipping Vincent.. I was ill..” she said “The Amsterdam air didn't agree with me, and Harper? Harper was too busy playing rebel child to follow simple instructions and let me lead her.”
Vincent said nothing but there was a slight twitch in his lip. He could hear her but his mind was focused on his own problems in particular The Execution of Jayden Harris…
“She's supposed to listen Harper Mason….” Victoria said “I gave her an opportunity I offered her elevation but she has this streak in her a defiant and ungrateful one maybe this Queens Gambit will teach her some manners. Sometimes tough love is the only kind that gets through.”
She turned away from Vincent as she drifted toward the dresser and looked at her reflection. Her eyes looked different they were sharper, perhaps hungrier, but not weak. Never weak.
She grabbed the Roulette Championship. Her “Sweet Rue” that had been with her for so long and cradled it like a wounded creature, or newborn baby.
“I legitimized this championship.” she said “I bled for it. Built my entire reign as queen around it. Now Christian Underwood pulls the rug from under me. Tricks me into defending MY championship in a fatal four-way. That smug little snake with his spreadsheets and coffee breath.”
She paused her eyes resting on her own reflection.
“He thinks I don't see the pattern. He thinks I don't see the coup that he's trying to create.” She said “They're trying to depose me Vincent, piece by piece. First Alexandra Calaway steals my throne and burns It to the ground, and now she gets paraded into the Queen for a Day match she can have the opportunity to take my crown as well? I swear if she wins….”
She turned away from her reflection and sat down on the corner of the bed setting the belt down next to her as she dug her nails into her palm with a restrained rage.
“And then there's the others…” she said “Crystal and Selena in the same ring that's not competition that's a duet. Cassie Wolfe once again taking opportunities that should go to Harper Mason. Then we got a couple of tryhards in Juliana Dimaria and Kat Jones. the whole lineup is a damn charity buffet and none deserve to wear the crown.”
She paused a soft exhale leaving her lips.
“They want me to crack. I can feel it.” she said “They want the queen to fall apart on camera so they can sweep up the pieces and turn me into a plot device for someone else's story.”
You picked up her championship again and move back to look at her reflection now with a smile and fire in her eyes.
“But there will be no fall.” she said “There will be a transformation they have no idea who they're dealing with. Let them crown their new queen. I'll be sure to be the first in line at her coronation. Let Harper try to take my championship. I'll show her what defiance earns. Let Lilith Locke continue to think her methods of madness are superior to mine, and let Song make her attempt to make herself relevant one last time.”
She turned and looked at Vincent again.
“They think I'm coming undone Vincent.” she said ”That all of this, the throne, the title, the new queen, that it's making me crack. But they can think whatever they want. I will remind them why my crown should never be touched. Why I should have been the final Queen for a Day winner last year. They should have retired the whole concept after I won it. I feel we may be heading to war Vincent and it may be just us."
Finally Vincent spoke.
“Stronger together.” he said with a nod.
“Yes.” she said with a smile that matched his “Stronger together. Which reminds me, the mixed tag titles have been vacated, and I don't know what their plans are for those at this moment but it's something for us to keep our eyes on."
“They want war? Then war it shall be.” said Vincent.
Both of the twins had their own problems to deal with at Into The Void. Vincent was looking to go further with his execution of Jayden Harris, while Victoria had not only her “coup” to worry about, but a deposition as well, and a new Queen she would be ready to set her eyes on.
But there would be no deposition.
There would be no peaceful transfer of power.
She was in control.
_________
A fog rolls through a shadowed alley in Amsterdam the cobblestone underfoot still wet from the recent rain. An old street lamp casts its shadows, as a figure approaches cutting through the fog. It's Victoria Lyons.
She wears her Bombshell Roulette Championship proudly over her shoulder with sharp eyes, she's dressed in a long black coat as she stares directly into the camera poised but with a hint of madness hidden beneath her eyes.
“You want to put things into perspective Harper?" said Victoria “You want to analyze who gains the most from our tag match? That's the story you chose to tell, because you still don't understand that wrestling is more than just a series of numbers, vlogs and clever soundbites as you talk like you've already arrived.”
She shakes her head slightly.
“The problem is you haven't arrived Harper.” Victoria said “You were invited into the presence of royalty to be given a chance to arrive, and what do you do with that honor? You spit on it. You question it, and you doubt it. As if your rookie insight somehow carries any weight against my reality. Your little "what if I bailed on Victoria..” fantasy revealed just how unprepared you truly are to stand in front of the storm that's coming for you in Paris.”
She slowly walks forward through the fogged alley.
“Our match was no failure. It was a test.” she said “And I may have taken the pinfall which is only because the Amsterdam air did not agree with me and I was under the weather, but you Harper failed something more important than the actual pinfall".
Her voice starts to slip into a darker colder tone.
“You failed me.” she said “You were there to learn, to listen, and instead you defied you made that little Vlog of yours and made me sound like a joke like I was throwing names in a hat just improvising."
She scoffs with disgust.
“Let me make one thing perfectly clear Harper.” she said “Nothing I do with improvised. I chose Song and Lilith for a reason. I wanted to see how they’d react. I wanted to see if you'd hold position under pressure. All my decisions are made with the precision of a chessmaster but instead of standing by me and learning what was unfolding around you, you spend your time fantasizing about bailing out and riding solo.”
She smirks into her camera and her eyes glistened.
“That's why it's time for tough love.” she grinned “At Into The Void, we are not partners and you will not be protected. You will be staring across the ring with a different VIctoria Lyons. You'll be standing across from your reckoning, so before the final piece in the Queen's Gambit is played..”
She pauses for a moment.
“Let me give you one final piece of advice.” she continued “Don't ever assume that I'm not ten steps ahead of every little plan you think you're clever enough to plot. There's a reason I've held this roulette championship for over 300 days. Nobody can outplay the queen."
She exhales heavily.
“Now let's talk about you Song.” she continued.” You're supposed to be some methodical presence among the chaos, calculated and efficient. A “By the book warrior” so to speak.
She scoffs and shakes her head.
“You talk like you are above Lillith, and above the games.” said Victoria “But let's be real, you didn't win that match, she did. You just tolerated her long enough to let her carry the weight. Your hesitation to shake her hand after she pinned me told me everything. You didn't mind it, you didn't need the spotlight because the victory itself was enough. But I know what it is that really eats at you.”
She leans into the camera.
“You know I've already beaten you this year.” she grinned “You know the moment the bell rings what’s coming for you. You may have a shot at my title, but it's because I gave that to you. You know deep down the end of the day I will be the one standing over you, Lilith and Harper."
She straightens up her posture keeping her eyes on the camera.
“But I do ask you this Song. Does Master Lilly see you as a champion or ad revenue?” said Victoria “Because he said it himself, he wants to bring the eyes from china. Clicks, streams, and commercials. He sees your value with a number stamped on it and wants SCW to make sure they wring every single cent out of you before your contract is up. You're nothing more than a final investment."
She pauses for a longer time to let the words linger.
“While Harper is flailing around for her identity and Lilith is carving her own from the shadows.” said Victoria “You're just passing through. Another product on the shelf being positioned for one last sale before you write off into the sunset.”
She shakes her head.
“So for you Song, when that bell rings in Paris.” Victoria continued “You're going to remember what it's like to be beaten by somebody who's not here to be sold. You're going to be beaten by someone that's here to be feared, and when you're gone and forgotten chasing whatever glory your handler carves out for you next, I'll still be here with this championship in my hands.”
She holds the championship out to the camera before placing it back on her shoulder with a heavy breath.
“Oh but we do have one more don't we…" said Victoria “Lilith Locke. My wildcard. A woman who speaks in riddles wrapped with razors.”
Her own twisted smile forms on her face.
“You talk poetry like blood soaked metaphors will shield you from the truth.” said Victoria “You want everyone to think you're chaos incarnate, and that you're suffering gives you depth. But you're not chaos Lilith you're just noise. beautiful noise I'll give you that, but noise all the same just static dressed up as scripture.”
She repostures herself and lifts her chin slightly in a regal fashion.
“This felt like a summoning for you?” Victoria continued “Sweetheart no one summoned you. “You were begging the void to notice you, but that silence you wallowed in for weeks? That was your own irrelevance.”
She leans in closer to the camera smiling.
“You talk about your altars of regret and making reality flinch.” said Victoria “But reality doesn't flinch, it watches and waits. Then when it's ready it crushes you under its heel."
She straightens her posture keeping her ever confident gaze on the camera.
“You don't need fire, blood, and cryptic verses to make the world kneel.” said Victoria “I look them in the eye and they bow. If you want to unmake me then you better pray the darkness you worship hears you, before I bury you in it.”
She takes another deliberate lingering pause.
“Three names…. three styles… three offerings…” said Victoria “Song with her honor, Harper with her hunger, and Lilith with her darkness. You all come with your scars and stories and sharpened teeth and think it makes you dangerous, but it just makes all of you predictable.”
That confident grin appears on her face again.
“I'm here to prove that no matter how many of you scream, scratch, or sacrifice.” she said “There's only still one name that will echo even when the crown is gone.”
She pauses and turns walking back into the shadows as we hear her voice with one final whisper, before everything fades to black.
“Victoria.”
__________
Victoria stood in the midday sun on the edge of an overlook looking at a shimmering lake down below, arms rested on the stone railing between her and the view. She remained quiet for a moment, dark sunglasses rested on her eyes.
Vincent sat nearby on the stone railing itself, expressionless his thoughts focused on his own war with Jayden Harris.
“This whole thing is rigged…” she muttered. “I had chosen Harper Mason for the Queen's Gambit, and I entertained the idea of Song and Lilith Locke as possibilities, not certainties. I got played."
Vincent's eyes shifted even though his mind was elsewhere he was still aware of his sister's plight.
“You're not wrong sis.” he said “It's a setup they're trying to tear you down.”
“They let me set the stage and then pull the rug from under me..” she said “Now I'm in a fatal four way with three different problems all at once.”
“Still nothing you can't handle at the end of the day.” Vincent noted.
“Harper, sweet Harper.” she said “She was my golden girl, my real choice, the one I thought I could mold. Sharp, young, and good under pressure. But she's defiant and she questions everything. She acts like she's above the foundation I'm offering her, and I feel she may be turning into a problem at this point."
“Some people are just beyond helping.” said Vincent.
“And Song wants one last go at it before her contract ends.” said Victoria “There's nothing noble in that. She's just throwing a final hail mary trying to cling to whatever relevance she had left. She’s nothing more now than a headline from a bygone era."
“You beat her once.” Vincent reminded her “You'll do it again.”
“Lilith Locke is the true question mark.” Victoria admitted “I called her my wild card for a reason I included her to shake things up, to keep everyone guessing. But I wonder if I've dipped too deep into the well. Not because I think she's better than me, because she's not. But she's chaotic, the kind of wild card will flip the board just to see what happens next.”
“Just remember she's not the only one who thrives amid chaos.” said Vincent.
There was a long pause between them before Victoria spoke again.
“I'm not paranoid.” she said.
“Didn't think you were” said Vincent “You're just being perceptive, they've never understood you and they've never understood us. They call me your lap dog because I support you like it's some crime to be a supportive brother. They don't realize that we molded from the same DNA, two bodies from the same cell. A bond they can never understand.”
“Jayden Harris?” said Victoria.
“Jayden Harris is my problem.” said Vincent “He'll be handled and it will be on my terms.”
“They think this queen's gambit is going to break me.” said Victoria “But they forget who laid the board in the first place.”
“Then you need to remind them.” said Vincent
“Oh I'm going to remind every single one of them.” said Victoria with narrowed eyes.
The twins stood there for a while just overlooking the lake both focused on their own futures, and still keeping the bond that made them The Lyons Twins.
__________
The cameras open on a crackling fire resting inside a steel shallow basin in the center of the frame. The location remote, the flames illuminate her face
Victoria Lyons.
She wears black from head to toe in a long leather coat, dark sunglasses, and sleek black gloves. Her tight fitting trousers tucked into her heeled boots that tap the stone underneath her feet.
“Three names. Three delusions. Three drops of the queens personal poison into my own glass.” said Victoria.
She produces a slip of paper folded in half and she unfolds it the name in bold letters is revealed.
Harper Mason.
“Harper..” she says with a hiss “You were the one I chose when the queen's gambit began, because I saw something in you. Something raw, something real. I saw it since day one when I won this crown and put you in that handicap match. But you refuse to see it in yourself. I thought I could shape you mold you and bring you into my legacy..”
She crunches the paper softly.
“But now all I see is arrogance.” she said “Defiance for the sake of defiance. You think your rebellious nature makes you dangerous, without realizing I'm the one that's trying to bring out the real danger that you refuse to let loose.”
She reaches out holding the paper over the fire.
“You think this could be your moment?” she said “That you'll step in the ring and topple the queen you could have served beside? All you do is spit on the once in a lifetime offer that's being presented to you.”
Callously she drops the paper into the fire and watches has the flames consume it.
“My faith in you was misplaced, perhaps…” she said “Perhaps my wild card was the better choice all along.”
She produces another paper with the next name on it.
Lilith Locke.
“I'll admit it Lilith.” Victoria said “You are chaos incarnate. You move without rhyme, logic or fear and that should terrify me.”
She pauses, a sinister smirk of her own creeping across her face.
“But you have chaos without direction.” said Victoria “That is why you'll collapse. You'll swing your fist at everything without stopping to ask if the building you’re tearing down is also the one keeping you up.”
She reaches out holding the name over the flame.
“I chose you as my wild card in the Queen's Gambit." said Victoria “Hoping you would bring destruction to the others, but the truth is all I see is you destroying yourself.”
Without hesitation she drops the name into the fire.
“And then there's our other friend.” she said.
Another paper appears in her hand with the final name.
Song.
“You really feel like the one that doesn't belong here.” said Victoria “Unlike Harper and Lilith you want this to be one final run at glory. At least Harper and Lilith are looking to create their legacies. You're still clinging to your own washed up one and you hope somehow winning this match or somehow make you relevant once again.”
She holds the name out over the flames.
“But your time is done.” she said “And your flame is fading. You won't ride into the sunset on top with all the glory and honor. You'll fade out with a fizzle and a whimper.”
With one final release she dropped the last name into the fire and looks into the camera with dead eyes.
“It's time to show you what danger really looks like.” she grinned “Danger is not Harper Mason with a fistful of youth, ignorance and empty rebellion. Danger is not Song clawing at the last threads of a fading legacy, and danger is not Lilith Locke dancing on the edge of a cliff she doesn't even know she built.”
Her words cut sharp and direct.
“Danger is me.” said Victoria “Because I have everything to lose, and I'm not going to let it be taken from me lightly. If somehow the conspiracy against me is completed, then that becomes even worse for the rest of you because a queen with nothing left to lose doesn't sit in mourning. She rises in wrath. She becomes the fire and she becomes the end. You all fantasize about me losing everything at Into The Void, but you're not ready for what happens if I do.”
The fires illuminate her face as she raises up the Bombshell Roulette Championship like a relic.
“So come for me. Take your shot try to tear down everything I've built.” she said “But just know that SCW isn't ready for a queen who has lost everything. For if I fall something darker will rise from what remains.”
That she turns and walks away from the fire her voice echoing through one last time.
“But I won't lose and I won't be deposed.”
“You have two options.”
“Kneel or burn.”
The fire continues to crackle as the scene fades to black.
Victoria paces back and forth across the floor of her hotel room, her phone in hand with her lawyer on speakerphone. Vincent had gone to take a walk leaving her alone, there were no cameras rolling but she was still performing still commanding and still furious has she angrily barked into her phone.
“What do you mean there's nothing you can do?” she said.
The voice of her lawyer came through the speakerphone.
“Victoria…" he began with caution “I reviewed the contract from last year's Queen for a Day and the verbiage is quite clear. The queen title is exactly that, a day. The language was ceremonial and symbolic.”
“I wore that crown for a year!” she hissed “I redefined what it meant, they let me keep it because they knew I deserved it.”
Her pacing becomes slightly more furious backlit by the city outside the window.
“Technically they were being generous.” her lawyer explained “They could have claimed the crowd within twenty-four hours, but they didn't. That still doesn't mean you have any legal ownership of it.”
“You should be the one reinforcing that ownership!” she said “What do I pay you for.?”
“Victoria, we drafted protections around your brand" he said "Not any specific title, we filed trademarks for..” her lawyer started
“…Don't throw buzzwords at me.” Victoria cut in “You need to figure this out that's your job.”
“But there is no breach of contract..” her lawyer explained “No deception, nothing actionable. You signed the agreement, you were Queen for a Day and they extended the courtesy. That's not something we can litigate.”
“And that's where you fail to understand the situation.” she said “I didn't just wear the crown. I defined it, I made it profitable. The whole thing was worthless before I touched it and now they want to strip it away like I was keeping it warm for someone else.”
“I understand but legally speaking..” he reiterated “You have no ground to stand on, there's no recourse. You're not being stripped you're being succeeded.”
Victoria's eyebrows narrowed.
“Nobody succeeds me.” she said “I decide when my reign ends. You know what I think? I think you got comfortable thought you had a nice cozy spot that could get your bills paid. But when the real battle comes you fold. You're no lawyer you're just a paperweight holding a business card.”
“Victoria..” her lawyer said
“No I don't want to hear it. You're fired.” she said “Effective immediately. I'll have a courier send your last check and you can take your incompetence somewhere else.”
“Victoria please don't be impulsive..” he said “You're upset I get it but..”
“Save it.” she cut him off again “I'm done I want nothing more to do with you or your pathetic disclaimers I don't pay people to lose.”
She ends the call with the sharp tap and a heavy silence follows. She sets the phone on the corner of the bed and sits there for a moment.
“Think they've ended my reign..” she said to herself “But they don't understand. Let the peasants cheer for their new Queen. They'll all learn that a borrowed title means nothing when the real monarch arrives.”
She walked over to the window that her brother always like to stay perched at and looked at the City of Paris beneath her thinking about who will wear the crown next about how to crush them and she wasn't going to need a lawyer to do it.
Of course there was still the matter of her Roulette Championship and that was another fight entirely.
__________
The cameras open on a wispy undefined void with an eerie ambient hum. Shadows flickering like candle smoke, the air is still but never truly quiet as Victoria Lyon steps into frame, crown adorned on her head, championship slung on her shoulder.
Her blonde hair is looser than usual, slightly disheveled, her eyes wider and her voice a bit too calm, as if she were holding a storm inside of a teacup.
“She has a sweet tooth..” Victoria laughed. “She strolls through Paris counting days on her fingers like they mean anything. Did you think I'd be flattered that you put a calendar around me Harper? That you plotted your little mountain climb right through me? You think I'm Everest, but you don't realize I’m what lies underneath it, the thing in the dark that swallows the climbers hole.”
She tells her head slightly to the left.
“You speak of what happened last year when I became Queen for a Day.” Victoria said “But do you remember what you were last year and what I let you become? the world truly started to notice Harper Mason when she went up against two of the very best in SCW in Alexandra Calaway and Juliana DiMaria. You may not have won, but that would be a tall order even for your queen. The point is they saw your heart and they saw the fight Harper Mason can truly bring. That was the opportunity I gave you when I became queen.”
She straightens her posture and takes a few steps forward.
“I was the first person who truly saw something in you Harper.” she said “Not Josh, not your trainers, not Cassie. I picked you and I gave you purpose and what do you give me in return? Whining podcasts and saccharine little Vlogs with pastries.”
She blinks in her voice shifts more jagged and raspy.
“Now you want to talk about grudges sweetheart? You only think you understand grudges.” Victoria said “You haven't lived in one, you haven't marinated in one, slept beside it, fed it and made it a second skin. I have, it became me.”
She smiles slightly.
“I told you the Amsterdam air was poison and you called it an excuse.” said Victoria “You say I threw the match and let it happen? When have I EVER backed down from a fight? I have defended my championship against names like Bella Madison, Alexandra Calaway and Luna Pasilno! All of which are better women than you. So listen again. I was not feeling well and I still went out there and fought. That's no excuse It's what happened. You can't tell me there wasn't a funny smell in the air in Amsterdam. Not to mention the muffin I got from that Dutch bakery tasted funny as well. But you know what? I'm in Paris now and the air is a lot cleaner here, so I don't need to worry about any poisonous air flow.”
Her eyes narrow.
“I was just trying to set you free Harper.” Victoria said “From the lies you tell yourself, from all the illusions you built around yourself, but you refused to listen. So if you want to continue to be defiant, continue feeding yourself lies, then so be it."
Victoria shrugs.
“Because I promise they'll come a day when all my truths will come to light.” she said “And I won't be there to help you, but I will be there to tell you I told you so.”
She scoffed slightly shaking her head in disappointment.
“I had such high hopes for you” she said “But you have failed me Harper. Now I'm just going to have to put you down.”
She takes a short pause.
“But there's others name echoing in the halls, and one has curiously piqued my interest.” said Victoria “One that thinks the spiral of chaos belongs to her. One that thinks she's seen monsters before, our dear friend Lilith Locke.”
A crooked little smile forms on her face.
“There's something in your eyes I recognize.” she said “That twitch, that glint, that's slow simmering chaos that's looking for an excuse to spill.
Her eyes glow like she's a predator sensing another in the wild.
“You bring your own kind of madness and chaos to the table, and honestly I kind of like it.” she said “You're not faking it. That's the thing, so many try to wear madness like a costume. They throw on some eyeliner, recite some poetry, call themselves unhinged and hope the audience eats it up.”
She shakes her head.
“But not you.” she said “You're in ,it you live it, and you breathe it.”
A slight hint of admiration in her voice.
“But let's not get ahead of ourselves.” she said “Your madness is real, sure. But mine? Mine's older meaner and more deliberate. Your chaos burns hot, wild and loud. But mine whispers, waits, and spreads like a poison sleeping through the veins.”
She exhaled slightly
“I don't scream into the void Lilith.” she said “I teach it to sing. I do have to wonder if maybe I picked the wrong one, because I keep thinking about Harper. How I tried to pull her into my world, into our world, to show her what's real and what lies underneath. But she wasn't ready or perhaps she never really wanted to see but you would never make that mistake. Maybe I should have sought to mentor you.”
She speaks like she's reminiscing about an opportunity missed.
“You understand your place on the board.” she said “You understand what it means to be the wild card, and the unpredictable piece in the Queen's Gambit. There's something beautiful in that, however I also know you'd never take the offer.”
She pauses pacing around the fog slowly.
“You're far too into your own spiral.” she said "You've carved your name on your own asylum walls, you don't want to be led and I won't beg.”
She shrugs.
“So here we are.” she said "Madness against madness two different bands of broken. You want to claw and tear and be seen. But I want silence, I want the moment after the screaming stops when your breath catches and you realize you're alone in the dark and you chose this. I won't pretend I can predict what you'll do in that ring Lilith, that's what makes you dangerous. But I will promise you this, you won't out crazy the mad queen.”
Her eye twitches slightly has she snares into the camera.
“And then we have Song…” Victoria continued “You've gone quiet since the tag match. No spark, no echo, nothing. Is this truly how your story ends?"
She passes forward slightly.
“All this legacy, all this mystique, and you just go silent.” she said “But I guess that's fitting isn't it? Your name's always been a little poetic and now your song is ending.”
She lets her words cling in the air for a beat.
“Legends don't fade like this.” she said “Not if they still have fight left in them. But maybe you don't and if you want to call it a day that's fine, I won't stop you. I'll even help you pack and send you into early retirement with a smile.”
She pauses.
“In all honesty of all the players on the board in the Queens Gambit.” she said “You'd be the worst winner, not because you're the weakest or because you don't have the resume but because you don't care anymore.”
Another pause with an exhale.
“At least Harper's still swinging.” she said “Defiant as she is, she still believes in something she still fights, and she still wants it.”
Another breath.
“And Lilith?” Victoria said “She's dangerous, chaotic, and mad. She’s not hiding, but you? You've got nothing left to say, and if you got nothing left to say then you don't belong in that ring with me.”
She lets her words sit heavy in the air like judgment passing.
“You don't get to show up to the Queen's Gambit and hope your name does the work for you.” she said “Your silence isn’t power and it's not mystique, it's cowardice and I hate cowards. I hate people who pretend they're still in the game when they've already packed it in. If you're done then stay gone.”
She scowls at the camera.
“I'd say let this be your swan song.” she said “But that's too pretty and too clean. You don't get a graceful exit, you get dragged in the dirt and left there with the rest of the ones that gave up. You're no legend Song, you're just unfinished business.”
She takes a few steps closer to the camera, and the area around her seems to shift darker.
“I've looked into all of your eyes now.” she said “Harper. Bright, furious and desperate to prove herself. Lilith. Chaotic, unstable, so eager to be the crack in the mirror that she doesn't even realize she's looking into mine. Song. Silent and fading, with one foot already out the door.”
She keeps her gaze straight ahead on the camera.
“All of you bring something to this match.” she said “Harper brings heart. Stubborn, defiant, reckless heart that refuses to lie down. But heart can be broken. Lilith brings Madness, wild and screaming. But remember madness without purpose is just noise, and I deal in results. Song. Legacy and silence, but silence is just space before the fall.”
She holds her championship out to the camera.
“This championship doesn't belong to any of you.” she said “You don't take this from me. You can't. You're chasing something I already own. Fighting for a place I conquered, and the Queen's Gambit?"
She grinned.
“That's my board.” she said “That's my move, and the three of you are pawns moved into position. Played by instinct, emotion, and impulse. I've already seen the endgame. I've already made the sacrifice, and I've already won. The Queen's Gambit belongs to the queen.”
With her Championship slung back on her shoulder she turns and walks into the fog her final words echoing through the darkness.
“Long may she reign.”
__________
She wasn't sure how she had found herself on the rooftop of the hotel but here Victoria Lyons was, overlooking the city of Paris. She had fired her lawyer earlier for his incompetence, and her brother had yet to return from his walk.
Her hand shook has she held the cigarette in her hand she wasn't a smoker, yet somehow she felt she needed it, or perhaps she liked the aesthetic of having something burning between her fingers instead of inside her chest.
She heard the door open behind her and shut with a click. She didn't need to see who it was she already knew.
Vincent didn't even announce himself he just walked over and stood with his hands in his coat pockets overlooking the city beside her.
They stood there together in silence for a moment before she finally broke it.
“What?” she muttered blowing smoke into the sky.
“I didn't say anything.” Vincent said ”Not yet.”
Another short moment of silence.
“They're not ready.” Victoria muttered. “Harper doesn't want to better herself. Song doesn't know what she wants, and Lilith is far too concerned about trying to out crazy the queen.”
Vincent didn't respond he did as he always did and let her talk.
“They just want a moment.” she said “That's all this is. They think sharing a ring with me will make them matter.”
He felt Vincent turned to her as he finally spoke.
“Are you scared?” he asked
“Of those three?” she said flicking ash to the wind “No.”
“That's not what I asked.” he said. “Are you scared?”
“Not scared.” she said again in a slower tone “I'm just aware.”
She glanced over at him.
“They're all coming at once.” he said “Three different styles, and three different reasons but they've all got their eyes on you and only you."
“Because I'm the champion.” she said.
“No.” he said “Because you're the one they need to break.”
Victoria coughed, not being used to the smoke in her lungs.
“Harper's got something to prove not to the world but to herself.” Vincent went on “You can knock her down five times, and she'll drag herself up on the sixth. She's resilient. She's the kind of woman who doesn't know when to quit."
Victoria nodded. She knew that, that's part of what made her want to mentor Harper, but that's also what made Harper annoying.
“Lilith..” he said “Is chaos, No one can prepare for her, not even Lilith herself. She's clever and she sees the threads most people miss. She'll find the crack in your armor while you're too busy dismissing her.”
She nodded again, Lilith was perhaps her biggest concern in the match.
“And Song…” he continued “Well you never know what to expect with someone like her, she's been around long enough to know how to capitalize on one little mistake before you realize you even made it.”
Victoria stomped out her cigarette.
“You trying to scare me?” she said looking at her brother.
“I just want to know if you've considered what's coming.” he said “Because the last I checked you weren't invincible.”
“I've defended my title seven times.” she reminded him.
“And this isn't number eight.” he said “Not yet. You have three different fights all happening at once. No brakes and no breathing room.”
“I’ve fought harder matches.” she said.
“Not with three wolves at your throat.” he said.
“I did as much on the Princess Cruise.” she reminded him.
“Yeah but this isn't about who can knock who into a pool off a highwire. This is going to be an actual fight” he reminded her.
And there it was,weight behind his words. She knew her brother wasn't being cruel, and he didn't lie. and he didn't let her lie to herself.
Victoria formed a fist with her hand at her side.
“I can handle it.” she said “I'm not afraid of them. I'm afraid of losing what comes after if they take it from me, the belt, the spotlight, do I even matter anymore?"
“Truthfully?” Vincent said “No. Not if you let them take it clean.”
She raised an eyebrow at him curiously.
“But if you make them fight for every breath.” he said “If you make them bleed, scream, and crawl? Then even if you fall they'll remember you.”
“You think that'll be enough?” she asked.
“Immortality comes from memory.” he said “Not gold plates and leather straps. That is the realization I came to on my walk. That is what I intend to teach Jayden Harris. He's angry I took his championship opportunity away, but now I'm going to show him that immortality is more than just gold plated championships and trophies."
“Yeah..” she nodded “Maybe you're right, but Rue and I have been together for a long time and I'm not keen on parting with her."
“You're more than the championship now.” Vincent said. “You made that championship. That championship did not make you.”
“Be that as it may.” Victoria said “I'm not going to roll over and die. They want to take this from me they're going to have to crawl through fire and glass on their hands and knees to even have a chance.”
A sly smile appeared on Vincent's face
“Good.” he said “Just whatever you do, don't look down. Because if you fall you'll know how far you had to fall.”
She nodded.
“And no more cigarettes.” he said “It's unbecoming of you.”
Then he turned and left her on the rooftop back to her lonesome, she reached for another cigarette and lit it taking one drag before stomping it out, refusing to let the stress win, continuing to enjoy the calmness that came as she overlooked the city at this hour. She didn't look down but she cleansed her fist tighter, imagining the faces of song Lilith and Harper beneath her boots instead of a dirty old cigarette.
__________
It's late night when the cameras open on Victoria alone on a hotel rooftop. The city of Paris glimmering beneath her, she doesn't turn to look at the camera right away. Her fingers resting lightly on the ledge.
“Vincent said immortality doesn't come from gold and leather, that it comes from memory.” she said.
She turned to the cameras her eyes unblinking.
“That got me thinking about this championship.” she said.
She reaches over and lifts the championship from where it's draped over the ledge and rested it on her shoulder in one fluid motion.
“This championship has followed me like a shadow.” she said “Match after match, defense after defense, I've carried it through wars. I've walked into main events with it and made it mean something.”
Her tone grows colder has she adjusts her strap.
“But the truth is I sometimes wonder if it's enough.” she said “The truth is this title doesn't elevate me, I elevate it. I've done everything a champion is supposed to do and I made this belt matter again, but sometimes I can feel it pulling at me, holding me here, caging me in.”
She exhaled softly.
“I didn't understand it until recently.” she said “I was thinking about when my cousin Eddie was feuding with Peter Vaughn and Peter was in a similar place. He was the male roulette champion at the time. Dominant, calculating and smart enough to know what most people didn't. That sometimes a championship is not a reward it's an anchor.”
She took a few steps closer to the camera.
“But Peter also talked about needing the right person to take the belt from him.” she said “Not just anyone, not someone lucky or loud, but someone that could take what he built and make it more. That's legacy and that's what he was chasing.”
She pauses.
“Sadly for Peter he got Eddie as his successor.” she grinned.
Another short pause.
“But I understand what Peter was talking about now.” she said “Because I'm standing in the same place he was, with the same weight on my shoulders, and as I'm looking around I don't see a single one worthy of being MY successor.”
She keeps her tone sharp and cold.
“I tried with Harper. More than once.” she said “I reached out, I offered her the chance to be something bigger than herself, to grow and learn but she refused over and over.”
A quiver in her lip.
“Lilith is clever and unpredictable.” she said “Dangerous in the way that glass is when it shatters. But chaos without purpose burns out fast, and she can't carry this. She’d drop it before she even realized what it's supposed to mean.”
She let her words cling in the air like venom.
“And Song?” she said “Song has already made it clear that her contract is up in a few months. There is no purpose to her as my successor because she won't be around long enough to make it mean anything.”
She takes a breath.
“I've been thinking about what this match is really about.” she said “It's not about proving I'm the best that's already been done. It's not even really about me keeping this championship because honestly it's already beneath me.”
Her tone remains cold and raw.
“This match is about me.” she said “And what I leave behind when this is over. This is a match about legacy and immortality. I’m not going in there to just retain a championship, I'm going in there to etch myself into the stone of this business. To make sure that when people talk about dominance they talk about me.”
She takes a few steps closer to the camera.
“I'm fighting for more than gold at this point.” she said “But I won't lose this championship to any of you. Not because I need it, but because you don't deserve it.”
She holds the belt out to the camera.
“I don't care how determined you are Harper. How twisted you are Lilith. Or how mysteriously quiet you are Song." she said "I'm not handing over what I built to three women who only want a moment. I want eternity. I will be remembered with or without this title but I'll be damned if anyone takes it before I decide it's time.”
She walks past the camera now her voice coming through one last time, as if carried by the wind.
“None of you are worthy….”
And then it all jarringly cut to black.