The window pane was with streaked with cold rain as Vincent watched the raindrops trail down like the blood of a sharpened knife, his expression motionless and unreadable. Victoria paced across the hotel carpet behind him her voice filtering in fragments as though she was speaking through water distant and muffled.
[/i]
“It's something about this city.”
Vincent didn't turn to face her as he spoke he rarely interrupted her tirades, mostly because he didn't need to they were twin storms and she knew his silence well. It didn't mean absence, it meant the pressure was building and his mind was focusing itself in his own way. Drifting into darker corners where justice was rendered with no cameras or applause while Victoria had several names on her mind, he was focused on one.
Jayden Harris.
That was the name that had been echoing in his mind for weeks. The man he intended to execute not literally, but spiritually. Making sure Jayden disappeared from legacy, from memory and from relevance.
“I was Ill. The Amsterdam air didn't agree with me.”
There was a twitch in Vincent's jaw not at his sister's words, but because he can almost hear Jayden's voice. That smug unbothered confidence, that tone he used when he spoke about Vincent as if he was some sort of lapdog always following his sister's orders.
That tone would be the first thing he'd removed from Jayden's throat. Who was he to say such things? Jayden had a sister of his own would he not stand up for Mikhalia if her name was being tarnished in her reputation being ran through the mud? If he was any sort of decent brother, he would always stand to defend his sisters honor.
Maybe Jayden was just in the the way at the Elimination Chamber and the real target was Helluva Bottom Carter. Whatever it was it had led Jayden to his execution.
“She's supposed to listen… Harper Mason….”
Vincent exhaled he could hear Victoria in her own fury, burning like a phoenix loud visible and volatile. But he was something else entirely, he could see his own scene in fragments. A steel pipe wrapped in cloth for grip. Jayden cornered smiling at first until the first blow landed. That was the moment that mattered most. The shift when Jayden realized this wasn't a segment this wasn't a promo this was a war.
“I legitimized this Championship I bled for it.”
He could hear his sister shift has she drifted to the dresser but he still didn't turn. Somehow he knew she was clutching the Bombshell Roulette Championship, Her Sweet Rue she liked to call it. He thought it was beautiful how she could love something so violently and still look regal doing it.
He studied his own reflection in the glass pane. Those couple months on that island, it was beginning to feel like such a memory now but it had shaped the man he had become today. He had been reborn since leaving that place and you had to die to become what he was now.
Jayden Harris had not learned that yet and that's what Vincent would teach him. Maybe a pipe was too easy, too quick. This needed to take time make the message matter, make Jayden a symbol. A symbol to be broken publicly, make the audience realize they were witnessing the execution of Jayden Harris.
But he had to humiliate him first make him think he had control, then trap him, cut him down, and put him down for good.
“And now she gets paraded into the Queen for a Day match?”
Vincent flexed his fingers behind his back, the image of Jayden forming more fully. Blood on his teeth, a limp his stride, the look of fear in his eyes when he finally understood why this was all happening.
Vincent wouldn't raise his voice. He wouldn't scream or growl, he would just proceed with his plan and complete his execution.
“They want me to crack.”
His lips parted slightly he didn't like what was happening to his sister either. They were going to depose her, and as much as she was fighting it. He knew she could do nothing. It was all a conspiracy against her. All he could do was be the one to support her when the deposition was complete.
A true brother. Not like Jayden Harris.
Let them have their coronations and celebrations. Because they will be short-lived. Once the lights go out and the air turned cold, there would be only reckoning.
They think I'm coming undone Vincent.
He finally turned to to look at her fire mirrored in her own eyes her fingers tight around her championship.
“Stronger together.” he said in a firm confident voice.
“Yes." Stronger together. "Which reminds me the mixed tag titles…”
But he was already fading again his mind focused on Into The Void, to the moment Jayden Harris would stand across from him. To the silence that would fall before the execution began.
“They want war…” he said “Then war it shall be.”
The Lyons Twins were ready to continue to fight against all those who stood against them, and for Jayden Harris, Vincent was already polishing the guillotine.
__________
The cameras flicker open on a dark room where Vincent Lyons Jr is seeing sitting alone at a table, a single candle burning in front of him. His eyes icy and hollow, burning with fury as he stared into the camera and spoke in a low sharp tone.
“Everyone wants to know what the deal is…” he said “Why I'm so loyal to Victoria.”
His tone felt as if the question was insulting and not worth entertaining.
“Why do I burn everything around me when someone dares speak her name without respect?” he said
His head tilted slightly.
“The answer to that question is quite simple.” he said “She's not just my sister. She's not just blood, or some name on our family tree. She is my TWIN.”
The word twin came from his lips with a harder tone he wanted to make sure that word stuck.
“We were molded from the same cell." he said “Split from the same origin. We took our first breath together before we were even born.”
He exhales heavily.
“So when you insult her." he said “When you use her name as just some sort of passing bullet point in your little tirade you insult me and you spit on me.”
He paused and there was a quiver of his lip.
“But now we moved past all that now haven't we?” said Vincent “See your comments to her I'll admit, were much more minor than what others like Helluva Bottom Carter have said, but you still said them. You still had to pay the price of your treason. So I made sure to take away something you cared about, an opportunity at the world championship."
He took another short pause.
“You could have just taken it like a man.” said Vincent “Admit you fucked up and moved on to earn your opportunity another day. I would have left you alone as your punishment had been delivered. But your ego wouldn't let you do that and now you're facing and execution.”
He laughed to himself.
“Carter got his skull caved in for his treason.” said Vincent, “But that was also a message to you Jayden. I hope you realize this goes beyond any sort of victory this is about me taking you out.”
There's a glint in his eyes and he smiles as he talks about taking out Jayden.
“I want to know why defending my sister makes me such a bad guy or makes me weak.” said Vincent “Would you not do the same for Mikhalia? That's your sister correct? Suppose you heard her name being tarnished by someone else? How would you feel if someone called Mikhalia a pig-faced bitch who couldn't even make a dime on Only Fans? How would you like it if they called your sister a rat faced cunt of a woman? What if they said those things about Amarissa?"
A sick smile grows on his face.
“I really do hope you don't let her watch this match.” Vincent said “Because if you do all that little brat is going to wonder is, why? WShy does the bad man keep hurting daddy? Make it stop Mommy!! Make the bad man stop hurting daddy!!”
He smirks amused with himself.
“You want to burn down my family tree?” said Vincent “You won't be able to if I burn yours down first. I really hope you didn't think your family was off limits while mine was open season because that's not how this works.”
He pauses keeping his eyes on the camera.
“You're just a loud mouth.” said Vincent “A walking microphone with no real soul behind it. You think the volume of your voice equals value but all that makes you is a target. But after I rip your tongue out nobody will have to listen to you again.”
His eyes lit up illuminated by the flame of the candle.
“You're nothing more than a fraud.” said Vincent “You talk too much and listen too little. You have no idea that things I've experienced before I came here I'm not built to play nice and I don't deal in half measures. You’re the one who needed daddy to save him when Kevin Carter and his cronies were picking on you.”
He continued keeping his gaze on the camera almost looking through the flame
“When that bell rings I'm looking for more than just a victory I'm looking to hurt you.” he said “I want to leave you scarred so every time you look at yourself in the mirror you remember me. I'm looking to make sure Amarissa knows that I'm the reason she'll grow up with a cripple for a father and I want you to remember me every time your sister calls and asks if you're okay.”
There's a twitch of his lip as he continues.
“Twins are a different breed Jayden.” he said “We share blood, we share pain, and we share instinct. I'm warning you of this right now Vincent said this doesn't end when the match is over. It ends when I'm done breaking you. It's done when I decide to complete The Execution of Jayden Harris."
He blew out the candle and everything faded to black.
__________
The fire crackled in the stone ring sending it's thin whisper smoke into the air of the Bering Sea. On an old piece of driftwood sat Vincent Lyons Jr and next to him was his friend Charlie.
Or what Vincent thought was Charlie. It was the effigy he had made crafted together of sticks and seaweed covered in a piece of Charlie's bloody tattered old shirt.
“Yeah yeah I know..” Vincent said “The fish is burnt if you want to cook next time be my guest.”
He paused for a moment as if listening for a response.
“Yeah I thought so…” Vincent said “So just keep it shut and let the chef do his work. Maybe I’ll call it blackened.”
Vincent paused and laughed.
“Oh that's what you think is it?” Vincent said with a smile.
He shook his head has he chewed on a piece of the burnt fish.
“Come on eat your food man, it's going to get cold.” Vincent said “I'm sorry I burned it all right? But you got to eat.”
There was a pause as Vincent watched and then shrugged.
“Suit yourself man” he said “But let's not forget the time that time in college when you burned the box mac and cheese and set the microwave on fire.”
Vincent laughed.
“Yeah that girl you were dating was not impressed.” Vincent said “She left our dorm smelling like smoke and broken dreams.”
He laughs out heavily taking another bite of fish looking across the Bering Sea.
“What about the time you created that fake party flyer and send it out to half the campus?” said Vincent “But you put the address of the professor that had flunked you, causing his lawn to be swarmed with loud drunk strangers for hours.”
Vincent shook his head and just laughed again, taking another bite of fish.
Then his expression changed.
“That's supposed to be funny?!” he hissed.
He looked at the effigy with hatred in his eyes.
“No!” Vincent said “You know that was uncalled for! You don't get to talk about Victoria like that! Say it again I dare you!”
He stood up and looked down on the effigy as though intimidating it.
“Yeah that's what I thought.” he said.
He palmed the effigy roughly and it fell over.
“Like that?” he said “You think it's funny to make jokes about her? I thought you were my friend Charlie!”
Raising his foot he stumped heavily down on the effigy snapping some of the sticks.
“It’s your fault we’re here you know.” he said “You're supposed to be the captain. You were supposed to know what you were doing! You studied sailing in college! How was I supposed to know I was on board the S.S. Dumbass?!"
He took another stomp to the effigy, and another, and another, the sticks cracking beneath his feet.
“Oh now you have nothing to say?” he said “Now you want to be quiet?”
He grabbed the tattered piece of shirt which still had a few sticks clinging to it and put it close to his face with clenched teeth.
“You think I take things too far?” he said “You think I'm the problem? I think you're just jealous that you're not one of us. That you don't get to be a Lyons. She's better than you, you know. I'm better than you. Even Eddie and Alexander are better than you. In fact I don't need you Charlie. You can go to hell.”
With that he grabbed what was left of the effigy and heaved it into the sea.
He stood there looking at the water his chest heaving as minutes passed and the wind continued to howl.
“Victoria may not need defending.” he said to himself “But a good brother always does it anyway, and that's exactly what I am.”
The spitfire crackled a bit more the sea kept it’s silence,and the wind howled. Now Vincent was truly alone on the island, unaware of the two Russian fishermen that were currently buying supplies for their big fishing expedition in the next couple days.
__________
Vincent stood in the corner of the hotel suite watching as his sister paced around. She had been doing it for about twenty minutes now. She had remained mostly silent, it was her energy that spoke volumes.
She was breaking and he could see it but he didn't push. He had learned how to wait her out so he listened.
“They can't get away with this.” Victoria said “Maybe I need a lawyer. But none of this is fair treatment to their Queen.”
Vincent only nodded his head and continued to listen.
“She burned my throne!” Victoria continued “Alexandra Calaway and now she's coming for the crown. If she becomes Queen for a Day she's not going to waste it. She certainly going to force me into some ridiculous match up in an attempt to embarrass me.”
Victoria sighed heavily
“The worst part is…” she said “She might actually win.”
He caught her gaze over at him, and he knew now was the time.
“She hasn't yet.” he reminded her.
“She will..I can feel it..” Victoria muttered “It's all part of the conspiracy to bring me down.”
“And maybe she does.” Vincent replied “But she's not you.”
“Then I have the Queen's Gambit to worry about.” she said starting to pace again “Harper, Lilith, and Song and they're all gunning for me.”
He paused and sat in the corner of her bed and exhaled.
“I'm supposed to be untouchable.” she said. “But now my crown has become a target, and my championship? I make one little slip, one mistake and they're going to tear me to pieces. I have two targets on my back now."
Vincent nodded as she continued.
“They don't want a queen.” she muttered “They want a spectacle. They want to see me crack under pressure, because it makes them feel better about the fact they can never do what I did.”
“And what have you done exactly?” Vincent said looking in her dead in the eye.
“Excuse me?!” she blinked.
“You said they couldn't do what you did.” Vincent replied, “So what is it you did?”
“What do you mean?!” she hissed “I carried the bombshell roulette division on my back for months.”
“Go on.” Vincent said.
“I outlasted them, out worked them.” she said “I’ve beat everyone they’ve thrown at me. I broke the record for the longest reign, and I created the record of the first to break three hundred days. I elevated this championship and I made it great."
“Exactly.” Vincent said “You didn't just survive the spotlight Vicks, you became it. You made yourself the standard, and now they just want to knock you off your pedestal because they're too weak to build one of their own.”
Now Victoria was the one listening.
“They're coming for you.” Vincent said firmly "Alexandra, Harper, Lilith, Song all of them and maybe you are tired, maybe the way it's heavier than it's ever been for you, but that Crown didn't make you a queen you wore it like you were born with it."
“But what if I fall?” she said
“Then you fall knowing you're the best to ever do it.” he said “But you'll leave Paris still the Bombshell Roulette champion and as for whoever this new queen they intend to crown will be we'll just have to deal with her when the time comes. Be it Alexandra or someone else."
Victoria exhaled a more confident smile growing on her face as she nodded.
“If they want to take your crown.” Vincent said “Then perhaps it's time you show them what happens when a queen falls and a goddess rises.”
He could see it his words are getting through to her and she was gaining more confidence. He still had Jayden Harris to worry about, but like the good brother he was he was going to make sure sister and his queen was ready to defend all the transgressions against her as well.
Still Jayden needed to be executed. He was becoming a problem, a distraction and if Vincent truly wanted to support his queen through this deposition, then the execution Jayden Harris needed to be complete.
__________
The camera feed clicks on suddenly, static clears to reveal a single shot. Vincent Lyons Jr standing alone in a dimly lit corridor. He's dressed in black boots black pants and a long dark coat that looks like a shadow given form. His eyes glint with a silent rage.
“Jayden.”
The name leaves his mouth like venom, spoken with finality.
“You should have taken the hint.” Vincent continued “You should have walked away last time when I left you breathing. But you didn't and now here you are still talking still begging for relevance.”
He takes a few more steps down the corridor the camera backs away as the lens itself doesn't want to get too close.
“You ever notice at the shadows seem longer when I'm around?” said Vincent “It's because I don't walk with them, I am them. When I was stranded on a remote island, when the world forgot me, the cold nights became my only company and I stopped being someone.”
He continued stepping down the corridor slowly, the camera matching and pulling back equally as slowly with every step.
“I became something.” he said “I became awake which is more than I could say for you. All you care about is seeking your own glory and you know nothing of true family values.”
A few more steps down the corridor.
“My sister is about to walk into the fire.” he said “The deposition, the whole conspiracy, the entire machine is trying to break her apart. I need to be there I need to be present and focused and free of any distractions.”
His tone shifts slightly colder now has he steps further down the corridor.
“I want everyone to see what's going to happen to you.” he says "I want every vulture in this company, every leech behind the screen to understand that this is what happens when you crawl into the lions den."
The camera holds on him now unmoving has he steps closer to it further down the court order.
“I am the consequence." he said “I am the executioner, and you're up on the chopping block Jayden it's time to prepare yourself for The Execution of Jayden Harris.”
The screen flickers then static and everything goes black.
Vincent stood near the window of the hotel, arms crossed watching the lights of Paris dance beneath him. His jaw switched tightly as he stood there in thought.
Victoria was pacing around behind him when he turned to her.
[/i]
“I'm going for a walk.” he said in a firm quiet voice.
“Now?” she said stopping to look at him “At this hour.?”
“Yeah.” he said grabbing his hoodie “I just need to clear my head.”
She made no attempt to stop him she only nodded slightly in his direction.
“Yeah, fine, whatever.” she said “I need to call our lawyer anyway, see if we can't take care of this Queen for a Day situation.”
“Good luck with that.” Vincent said
“Thank you.” she said “And you be careful out there, watch your temper I don't want to have to bail you out of a French jail.”
He smirked slightly and walked out the door without a word.
The breeze was light has he walked the streets of Paris hands in his hoodie pocket, Hood put up.
This city was still awake, late closing cafes, the murmurs of tourists, the rumble of mopeds moving between cars, but Vincent moved through it all like a ghost detached and observing.
The loss to Kevin Carter for the Internet Championship hung in his memory. That match WAS meant to be his redemption arc, internet champion, spotlights, another box to check.
He kept walking, letting his mind wander thinking about the loss to Aiden Reynolds, another L on the record books. Then against Helluva Bottom Carter he had made a decision. Cave in his pretty little skull.
He didn't care about the DQ. Not really. what mattered was the moment, the impact, the memory that split second when the fans realized -oh he doesn't care about winning, he just wants to destroy him.-
That moment taught him more than any title ever could, he didn't need to be a champion he needed to be unforgettable.
Now people were whispering when they saw him backstage, moving out of his path remembering what he did and now it was Jayden Harris in the crosshairs.
Jayden had confidence and fire. Vincent couldn't deny that, it was a little too much confidence and that's what made it fun. Jayden thought he was fighting a man, he didn't realize he was fighting a monster that came back from the dead.
Jayden wouldn’t leave Paris the way he came in it, not after he dragged Vincent's family's name through the mud, and if he really thought the management rules and safety he'd learn otherwise just like Carter did.
Jayden wasn't all that rested on his mind. He had his concerns about Victoria as well, something was off with her she was still doing her job, moving the pieces, and staying ahead but her edges weren't as sharp lately.
The whole queen for a day mess had her hands full, she had strings to pull and people to silence, but Vincent saw what others didn't. That the pressure was eating at her and he owed her more than loyalty.
She was the one who pulled him out of the spiral after the island, after the multiple weeks of isolation she didn't flinch when he came back more animal than man. She had brought him back to himself and now she needed him.
He would stand beside her not has a Lyons, not as a tag partner, but as a brother. As a twin. If she started to slip, he'd be the one to catch her before anyone else noticed or anyone tried to take advantage.
This match with Jayden wasn’t about championships, it was about revenge. Revenge for the transgressions against his sister and his family and it was about reminding the world that Vincent Lyons Jr survived hell, and came back sharper and better.
He was here to hurt people until they remembered his name when they closed their eyes at night. That's what Jayden Harris was going to find out when Vincent made him bleed in Paris and not only would Jayden bleed, but Vincent would make sure that his screams echoed long after the bell.
Into The Void was right around the corner and he intended to drag Jayden into the void itself kicking, screaming, and begging for the light that would never come.
__________
The cameras open on a familiar but eerie silence with that thick clinging fog coiling through a ruined landscape. The camera moves slow and deliberately, creeping pans to reveal Vincent Lyons Jr amid the mist cloaked and a tattered black coat his eyes burning with fire.
“It's easy to forget people like me exist.” he said “When the world is loud and the stage is bright and everyone's screaming someone else's name they forget until the silence comes.”
He tilts his head to the side with a smile.
“Jayden…” he said “You stand in the light and act like a boy who's finally being told he matters. Like the world is waking up to what you always thought you were. But I've been awake Jayden. I didn't sleep not when my boat cracked against the reef, not when that island swallowed me whole, and not when the voices stopped talking. I stayed awake long enough to die and come back again.”
He exhales softly.
“You think what I did to Carter was cowardice?“ he said “You think the chair shot was some betrayal of sportsmanship? No it was survival. It was purpose. I hit him because it was the first time in years I felt clarity. The island stripped me of weakness and the silence taught me things you can't learn in locker rooms and training gyms. Besides you know damn well he deserved it and you can't tell me that you didn't like seeing it happen at least a little bit. Because like I said if there's one thing that you and I can agree on it's that Helluva Bottom Carter is in fact a piece of garbage."
He pauses again mostly for effect
“I crashed Jayden.” he said “My boat, my life, and my sanity out there beyond the noise beyond the chairs and the promos and the championships. I died and I came back with only one voice in my head and it told me to -make it matter-. So you think this is just a match? Just another notch on your rise to relevance? No. This is an execution Jayden and you're the one on the chopping block.”
A short pause.
“You say I should blame Victoria and that I should be angry at her?” he said “You think loyalty is weakness, and that if I was strong I’d turn my back on the only person who ever believed in me without condition. You don't get it Jayden. My sister is the last thread of my humanity. You try to cut that I become something else. Maybe you're just angry that I'm a better brother to her than you are to Mikhalia.”
He laughed slightly to himself
“And then you made your little incest comments.” he said. “Is that the thread you really want to leave dangling? Because I'll tell you now Victoria and I have heard it all before. We heard every Jamie and Cersei Lannister joke and every twincest comment thrown our way in the past.”
He shakes his head.
“It's all just childish remarks from people who think shock value makes them clever.” he said, "You just mock what you can't comprehend Jayden. You laugh because you're too small-minded to understand what real royalty looks like and what devotion sounds like. But when you're choking on your teeth in that ring we'll see how funny you still find it.”
A twitch of the eye and a quiver in his lip.
“My sister didn't beg me for help. She didn't need to.” he said “Because I'm not here to protect her, I'm here to avenge her. I'm here to deal with all the weak men who want to disrespect her, who want to disrespect us. I'm the response nobody saw coming.”
He pauses again and a soft wind powers through
“Do you know when it's like to talk to the wind?” he said “To scream into the waves and get nothing back but your own echo? I do and I'll never stop hearing it; that's silence lives in me now it's part of me. You live in noise and camera flashes, you've never faced silence Jayden. Not the kind that rips you to shreds.”
He keeps his tongue sharp and direct.
“I want you to understand something Jayden Harris.” he said “When you step into the ring with me, you're not facing a man you're facing every second I spent alone. Every night I spent remembering how people forgot me, how they moved on like I never existed. You're facing the storm that raised me, and you're facing what comes after everything dies.”
He takes a few deliberate steps towards the camera the fog curling around him like a shroud.
“You won’t win Jayden.” he said “Not because you're weak, but because I'm inevitable. Because I'm the shadow that follows every step you take to the top to let you feel safe and let you feel victorious, but it's always there lurking, watching, waiting to strike.".
He laughs to himself.
“So bring the fire Jayden. Drench the world in gasoline.” he said “Say my name one more time. Once that bell rings and the fog creeps around you, just know I'm already there and you are not going to face the same Vincent you're mocking. You're facing the ghost that came back wrong.”
Which one final glance he turns and walks back disappearing into the fog his voice echoing through.
“I'll see you at into the void Jayden Harris. Be prepared.”
Then the camera's fade to black amid the howl of the wind.
-then silence-
__________
The key card unlock the hotel door with a beep has been sent Lyons to Junior stepped inside the room was quiet the kind of quiet that felt wrong the walk had been long and slow giving him time to clear the debris that collected in his mind but the Silence of this room felt louder somehow.
It didn't take him long to come to the conclusion Victoria wasn't here the room felt as if it had been holding a breath of its own as a sense of absence hit him in the chest harder than it should have. His eyes scanned around the room.
A jacket was draped over a chair and her boots resting near the bed and on the night Stand rested her cell phone.
That was unusual, Victoria was normally not without her phone. Has he stepped closer to the phone he saw it a glass ashtray with the hotels logo waxy with fingerprints and two cigarette butts inside both bent and crushed into the glass.
But Victoria didn't smoke she had a rebellious face as a teenager, and there was a couple weeks when she divorced that Ace Michael's guy shortly after WWH closed.
That's why he knew that this was desperation frustration and presser a moment she didn't want anyone to see but she had left evidence and Vincent knew her well enough to pick up on it.
That ashtray told him everything he needed to know the Queen for a Day pressure the Fatal four-way match the eyes on her to see if she could continue to dominate as everyone expected, or if she was going to fall in spectacular fashion like everyone wanted.
But where had she gone Vincent racked his brain she was his twin where would she go to quietly keep in her thoughts.
The Rooftop.
He quickly made his way to the hallway and into the elevator, magic road its way up to the roof the elevator doors pulled open and a breeze pushed into his face and there she was perched on the ledge with her back to him in a single cigarette between her fingers its tip glowing in the night was Victoria Lyons.
He said nothing to her and she didn't turn he stepped forward and just stood behind her without speaking the two standing there like statues for a few moments supporting each other without demand.
He didn't ask what she was thinking he already knew, he just waited because he knew she would eventually break the silence.
And then she did.
“What?...” she said.
“I didn't say anything.” he replied “Not yet…”
__________
The wind came steady off the sea as Vincent stood watching. Charlie was gone, and there was no effigy left to converse with. Nothing to make him feel like he wasn't alone. He was and he wondered if he would ever make it off this island.
His mind drifted back through the years, moments, people, things that had gotten here to this point.
He saw his father again, Vincent Sr was a true symbol of pride back before the Lyons legacy fractured into rival bloodlines and bitterness. Vincent had been the unbreakable spine of the Lyons family and after his passing everything had begun to fracture.
He remembered the news of the car crash, the dullness in Victoria's voice when she told him.
The funeral felt like a blur of black disappointment, the first time he learned grief could ride in your chest like a stone that never passed.
He'd always look to his father as a hero when he was a kid back when it was just the three of them Vincent, Victoria and Eddie.
The Pride.
They used to say it was such wide-eyed hope when they were kids. The Three Lyons, bound by legacy, strength and ambition. They were to take the rest of the world by storm. Win every championship, nobody with more gold than them.
But dreams can be fickle, Vincent curled his fingers slightly with a soft exhale the memories still circling.
WWH came and went. He had actually made history there, as the first Affliction champion. Victoria in his corner as his support before she laced her own boots up. He kick-started the new generation ofLyons Den Talent under Coach Kaiser. Vincent Jr was the prodigal son. But then like everything else WWH crumbled.
So did Coach Kaiser procure new contracts for Vincent and Victoria after WWH?
No. Instead he went with the former felon Cleo Phillips. Some street kid from The Bronx snatching the opportunity he and Victoria had bled for. PWS wanted her not them. He was told it wasn't personal that it was part of some sort of rehabilitation program and part of Cleo's probation deal.
Fine let that be as it may. But then appeared Alexander Lyons from the unknown. His uncle Zachary's son. He grew up knowing his Uncle Ray, Eddie's father, quite well. But as far as his Uncle Zachary, he was out traveling spending time with ring rats and apparently they making more babies than Nick Cannon.
So Alexander arrived, angry brooding and desperate to matter, he was given the second PWS contract.
But again, everything crumbles and this time it was PWS. So when SCW was reaching out to the Lyon's Den for contracts, it should have been finally their opportunity he and Victoria would finally stop being sent to mudshow companies that failed before they even started they would finally go to a company that knew what they were doing. SCW would be their return.
But this time Eddie and his sunshine smile was the one that got the deal with SCW came knocking. There must have been no space for VLJ anymore in the story. The Golden Boy, the favorite son.
He was even starting to resent Victoria and that was the final crack. He had to go so he got on the boat with Charlie.
He didn't remember much about what they said on the dock the day they set sail they drank and laughed and we're looking forward to the open sea and then Charlie was gone…
Then he felt a way in his chest his knees began to buckle slowly he wasn't even sure how long he had been here anymore but he had became part of this island and the world had passed him by.
He had become a ghost and no one even whispered about him anymore then he felt a dizziness and the ocean twisted into shapes that didn’t make sense. Vincent felt a faint taste of salt water on his lips as everything went black……
…….
…..
…….
…….
When the light returned it came like static over a broken television. A clatter of an engine somewhere and the smell of fish and boat fuel drifted into his nostrils.
He blinked once, twice, three times. A silhouette appeared before him. A man in a jacket leaning against the edge of the boat with a cigarette burning beneath his lips.
Vincent didn't move he just looked and then saw the man look over at him and speak.
“Dimitri! He's awake!” the man said.
“The American?” another voice called back.
______
The cameras open on a cold empty room with Vincent Lyons Jr sitting on a wooden chair in the middle of this space amid the silence he leans forward slightly with his hands clasped together.
“You had a lot to say about family Jayden.” said Vincent “You made a cute fast and the furious reference, but the truth is you don't know my family at all. There is no history of the Lyons family in SCW pre Victoria, Eddie, and myself. Many in SCW know your father but I can count how many knew mine on one hand. Myself, Victoria, Eddie, and Aaron Asphyxia."
His words come calm and measured.
“That's the nature of this business I suppose. Our name was bigger elsewhere in a place where the Harris name was unknown and didn't mean shit.” he said. “Your father has you stated was an underhanded asshole, a real piece of shit the whole nine yards.”
He takes a short pause
“My father..” he said “My father had his own demons. He helped build an empire but few got to see his dark side. His other half, the one he called Syth. That was his shadow. It was a man who didn't care and only wanted blood and sometimes I feel perhaps Syth still lives somewhere inside me. It was like I could hear him knocking when that chair cracked open Carter's skull."
He lets his words linger about the air.
“Do you really think my family is built on applause and standing ovations?” Vincent said “No we're a fractured dynasty. Just look at the facts, let's take a look at Eddie. Eddie Lyons is a man too busy shining his own halo to notice how many people he steps on. He calls it righteousness, Victoria and I call it a delusion. He thinks that he's the hero of the story but he's just another narcissist convinced the sun shines out of his spotlight.”
He shakes his head.
“And my other cousin Alexander?” he said “That guy?! He hates everybody. He hates the family. He's over in PWS following Alexandra Calaway around like a sick puppy holding their tag team championships with her. He's nothing more than a black cloud trying to scream his way into mattering.”
He scoffs in disgust.
“And then we had some new arrivals this year. Matthew Zayvion and Nayeli.” he said “More of my uncle Zack's mistakes wandering and hoping to find meaning in a name they don't understand. They don't even know what they are or what they want they're just lost little cubs in a forest fire.”
He stands up now with an exhale.
“So who really is rooting for me?” said Vincent “My self righteous cousin? My other cousin who won a tag title out of spite toward Victoria? My deceased father? My uncle who choose to favor their own children? It really only is Victoria and I, and my mother I suppose. If I’m fighting for any dynasty, it’s MY line of the family. Not Eddie’s, and not any of my uncle Zacks mistakes. That means Victoria and Me. That’s it.”
He begins to move toward a wall has the camera follows him.
“So you want to burn my family tree to the ground?” said Vincent “Go ahead. You're only adding gasoline to a fire that was already burning. However since you want to send a message to me about burning my family tree to the ground, I'll send you a message how I feel about your family name as well.”
That's when the camera sees it on a chunk of raw ruined concrete spray painted and red the name Harris. His back to the camera Vincent stands in front of it and unzips.
The piss hits the Harris name and trickles to the ground between Vincent's legs. Vincent moving and wriggling around to cover the entire name, careful not to step in his own mess on the floor.
He finishes, his arm shakes twice, he zips back up and turns to the camera really cocky grin on his face.
“I'm not coming into this match for the sake of legacy.” Vincent said “I'm coming for the end, and I'm coming for the execution of Jayden Harris. You have been warned.”
Then there was a sharp cut to black and then....
-silence-