[It was good to be home, the Royal Pain tour hadn’t gone as well as Eddie had hoped, but he at least was able to cap it off with a victory at the end. Maybe it wasn’t over Finn Whelan, or even HB Carter. But it was a victory none the less and now, now he had the chance to take a championship from Finn Whelan, not the World Championship but the tag team championships that Finn held with World Bombshell Champion, Kayla Richards. It all sounded great, but there was only one problem. Victoria.
SCW had thrown both members of the Lyons family quite the curveball, giving them a tag team championship opportunity. It was no secret that they didn’t get along, but in SCW did anyone really get along with Victoria? It was going to be one of the biggest uphill battles of his career. He had to go against two of the very best, but also had to figure out how to get on the same page as his royal pain in the ass of a cousin.
He nearly thought about training Sabrina, she was certainly more tolerable that his cousin. But his girlfriend just wasn’t the athletic type, and deep down he knew in ring competition wasn’t for someone like her. There was Cleo Phillips, his close friend and co-hort at The Lyons Den. She would be an amazing partner, and would certainly enjoy knocking the ever loving crap out of Kayla. But Cleo had her own business, she was the PWS World Champion, and certainly didn’t have time to sign for another company.
‘Sure do wish you were signed to SCW instead.” Eddie grumbled, as he sat with Cleo. The two had just finished a sparring session.
“Maybe you and I could be facing The Wolves instead.”“Yeah, but you know Coach man.” she replied, “He’ll put talent in different companies, but they’ll still be exclusive to their respective companies. That means you and Victoria in SCW, and Alex and myself in PWS.”
“You think I can trust her?” Eddie said.
“Honestly.” Cleo said,
“As crude as she is, I do think you can trust her on this occasion. If there’s one thing she doesn’t like, it’s losing. She’s gonna be a complete bitch about it, and she’s gonna act superior to you but she won’t risk losing the match. Especially since it means she could hold two championships.. She’ll probably blame you if you do lose though.“And take all the credit if we win.” Eddie said shaking his head.
“Haha, no cap.” Cleo laughed,
“But point is, she’s going to want to win just like you. You just need to figure out how to push past all her other bullshit.”“Easier said than done.” Eddie sighed,
“You’re lucky you got Alex. He can be an ass at times, but at least he keeps to himself.”“Fair point.” said Cleo
“Coach said on X he needed to talk to us.” Eddie continued,
“Probably wants to try getting us on the same page.”
“Most likely.” said Cleo,
“You know he just wants the best for all his students. I wouldn’t worry about it too much. I mean you know what to expect from Victoria. She’s got a big mouth, but we both know she can back it up as well. She doesn’t have that championship of hers by accident. She won it from Alexandra Calaway, someone I’ve been to war with as well. So I know it didn’t come easy for Victoria. Your best bet, is to just do you and let her do her. Let her run her mouth, and you just worry about handling business when you need to.”Eddie nodded, Cleo was right and he knew it. Victoria was annoying and she was certainly going to try to take the lead in all of this. She would play the superiority card, and act as though she was Eddies superior, but if he could keep his focus on the match and ignore his cousins boastful attitude, they really did have a good chance of winning.
“So like I said, just let her run her mouth.” Cleo continued,
“Don’t let her get to you. Grit your teeth and bear it as they say. Show the SCW fans what The Lyons Den can do when they fight together.““Yeah, maybe it’s not so bad.” said Eddie,
“I guess we’ll figure this out more when we meet with Coach.”“Yeah, no doubt he’ll sort it all out for both of you.” she said.
Eddie’s phone buzzed, and as he checked it a smile grew on his face.
“Sabrina?” said Cleo.
“Yeah, we’re gonna meet for dinner later.” he said,
“I guess we’re getting Italian.”
“Damn, now I want lasagna.” said Cleo.
“Anyway, I better run.” said Eddie with a laugh,
“Got some SCW business to attend to, before I meet with the lady.”
“A’ight” said Cleo sharing a fist bump with Eddie,
“I’ll see you around, and remember..don’t sweat it so much. It’s just Victoria.”They both shared a quick laugh, and fist bumped one more time, before Eddie left the training school, and Cleo went back to her own workout routine.
__________
The air was crisp and cool, as the cameras opened on Eddie Lyons outside among the trees, taking in the serenity of the nature around him. He leans back in his Jeans and SCW T-shirt against a large oak tree, a pensive expression on his face.
“You know, I had hoped to take a championship from Finn Whelan at Violent Conduct. But it just wasn’t my time. Fair enough.” he said,
“But never did I thought I’d find myself in this situation. I have a chance to take a championship from him, but I have to work with my cousin Victoria to do it.”He sighs heavily, he doesn’t really want to team with his cousin more than anyone else does. Should they win, he’ll be stuck with her, and should they lose…well cruel as she may be, Eddie doesn’t plan on losing. They can win the titles and figure out their shit later, maybe…hopefully. He pulls a polaroid out of his pocket and holds it up to the camera, as it zooms for a closer look.
It’s of three children, a blonde boy and girl, and a slightly younger boy with messy brown hair, all three are holding replica belts, and doing run of the mill wrestling poses.
“Do you remember Victoria?” he said,
“You, Vincent and myself. We had dreams of being champions together. The three of us as one, it was all we ever wanted. Then things happened, my father moved his family to Baltimore, and you and Vincent went on to have your WWH careers. Now it’s years later, and you’ve gone down a dark path. Vincent left on his boat ride of self discovery, and me? I just kept on being myself. I don’t need any journey of self discovery because I know who I am. You may have strayed from your path, but I haven’t. What I am seeing this as is an opportunity. An opportunity to get you back on that path. Back to the Victoria I knew growing up before you allowed yourself to be consumed by hate and jealousy. I do believe that person is still in there somewhere, and I’m going to take it upon myself to see if I can pull them back out. I owe it to our family to at least try. Honestly Vicks, I might be the only person left in that locker room you can trust, and that’s only because we’re family.”
Its that pesky honor that Eddie binds himself too. Family should look out for one another, through good or bad. It may be a weakness, causing him to sacrifice personal gain in favor of adhering to his principals. But honor also strengthens his character, and can lead to more self respect in the end when one finally does achieve their goals by doing things the “right” way. He wasn’t sure if he could change Victoria but he had to do something, especially if they ended up champions together.
“We’ll talk later Vicks I’m sure.” said Eddie pocketing the picture and, grinning as he used his cousins childhood nickname,
“I want to talk to Finn Whelan. Our esteemed World Champion…”He pauses for a moment, and looks around at the natural scenery around him. After a moment he shrugs and sighs.
“Sorry the crickets seemed to have missed their cue.” he grinned, “I kid. I kid. Truthfully, you’ve been a helluva World Champion. Nobody has been able to beat you. You have one hundred percent earned your right to call yourself the best. Nobody can take that away from you.”
Eddie pauses again, and takes in a nice breath of fresh air.
“Now, that whole thing that happened between us in PWE?” he said,
“Water under the bridge as far as I’m concerned. I’ll never know why you chose to target me back then, but if I want to beat you NOW? I can’t hold onto old grudges, but you should understand something too.”The fire started to grow in his eyes, circumstances aside this was a big opportunity for Eddie Lyons. He was going to square off against the world champion, and that alone could mean a lot for his future depending on his performance. He needed to be his best, no better than his best. He had to find what he was missing, and embrace it.
“Back then, I was just a kid still finding himself.” Eddie said,
“But I’ve grown as well since then. I’ve faced some of the best in this company and beaten them. I won’t be pushed around so easily this time. It’s about time someone put a dent in this little dominant streak of yours, maybe it’ll even begin the downfall of Finn Whelan. Who knows? I’m just focused on one thing at this point and thats those Mixed Tag Team Championships.”He pauses again, reposturing himself against the tree as he continues.
“I know the big question is if we can even get along.” Eddie shrugged,
“And honestly. I’m not sure. My cousin is pretty unpredictable. But I know I can trust her to work toward getting the victory. Do you really think she wants to blow an opportunity to hold two championships? Like, have you MET Victoria? She’ll do whatever she feels necessary to win, and I’ll do the same. We may disagree with each others tactics, but at the end of the day…we’re both going to want those championships, because neither of us are going to roll over and die. It’s just in our blood, and the one thing we have in common.”It was odd to admit he had anything in common with his cousin beyond a blood connection, but it was the truth. They both had that never die attitude about them, Eddie just happened to be a good deal more humble about it.
“By the way Kayla…” Eddie continued,
“I haven’t forgotten about you, but your more of a Victoria problem anyway, and as the Bombshell World Champion, I’m sure she sees you the same way I see Finn. Victoria may be callous, but she’s not stupid. She knows what it means to get in the ring against the Bombshell World champion. But as mentioned, I’ll allow The Lyoness to shred you, while I focus my attention on Finn.”He grins at the camera and looks down at his shoulder.
“Damn, I’m the only one without gold in this encounter.” he said,
“Something I’m sure all three of you will point out. But that’s okay. Just means I got nothing to lose here. I mean I’ll get and earful from Victoria on why I lost the match, but other than that I’m good. I said a few weeks ago it was time for the ascension of Eddie Lyons, and that still stands. I may have hit a few bumps, but that’s bound to happen. I hit a few bumps before I was able to become Roulette Champion, but I got there. That’s how I do my winning, I take my hits and I keep fighting back. You slap me in the face, I smile and slap you back harder. If we beat you here, who’s to say I can’t beat you for that World Championship as well? Then Victoria and myself would be the ones dripping in gold. That…well it would be something. But lets not get too far ahead of ourselves, right now it’s about the mixed tag team championships, and how they are coming to The Lyons Den.”He sighs heavily, it’s clear he has his concerns about Victoria but is doing his best to keep his own focus and put his best foot forward to deal with the cards he’s been dealt.
“You talked a lot about family to Kris, and your upbringing.” said Eddie,
“I can’t say I had it as tough as you. Some might even call me privileged, because I got to grow up in this business since I was a child. It’s really all I’ve ever known or wanted. But I still had my own fight. I have to go out there and show that Eddie Lyons is his own man. I don’t want to be known as the son of Ray Lyons. My father, and my uncles had their time way back when they were doing IWF, I’m sure you’ve heard stories from your ex-wife about those days. I’m told there was a lot of drama and politicking, but the memories everyone made together are what really made it work.”He leans back against the tree again, getting a more comfortable position.
“Point is, I have expectations of me just because of my lineage.” said Eddie, “I have to prove that I’m NOT just some nepobaby trying to live off my family name. I know I had everything I needed to make it in this business at the tip of my fingers and I won’t let any of it go to waste. I may have had a jumpstart, but I’m still my own man and I will create my own legacy for the Lyons name.”Eddie speaks his his usual confidence, showing his fearless and unbreakable nature. He’s one of the few left on the roster that hasn’t yet shared the ring with the World Champion, with all that about to change Eddie is a man ready to show Finn Whelan just who the fuck he is and why people like Aiden Reynolds believe he is the one that will dethrone Finn Whelan.
Aiden just had the championship wrong.
“I won’t take anything away from what the two of you have done.” Eddie said,
“You and Kayla have dominated as both tag team and world champions. What I don’t like is this idea you’re unstoppable. Because you’re not. Nobody is. I’m not, Victoria isn’t and neither are the two of you, and I think that Eddie Lyons…the one you have yet to square off with will be your kryptonite. It’s about time for the Wolves of Gheimhridh to meet their match in the form of The Lyons Den. My cousin is no quitter and neither am I. As unlikely of a team as we may be, we’re still family and we’ve known each other our whole lives. I know things about her nobody else does, and she does for me as well. We don’t need to be best friends, or to even like each other to be a successful team, we just need to know how to work with each other and nobody can do that better than family.”He couldn’t believe himself, was he possibly juggling the idea of making this team a permanent thing, even if they did come up short? If they did, could he even reel her in some, perhaps make her more slightly more palatable to everyone else in the locker room. Or perhaps she would break him, and Eddie himself would become more aggressive and vicious. They would bring an interesting and fresh dynamic top say the least.
“It’s just become so mundane.” Eddie continued,
"Finn wins again. Kayla wins again. The Wolves win together…again. It’s almost what people expect at this point. It’s time we change their expectations, starting by you losing to a team nobody expected. I’ve praised you, time and time again. Even called you the best because I consider myself an honest man and you have earned the right to be called such. You are the best, and that’s why I seek to defeat you. Because I want to beat the best, and I want to show the best that Eddie Lyons is not one to fuck around with. After the smoke settles on Climax Control, you will find yourselves one championship lighter and the message sent to the locker room is that the downfall of Finn and Kayla will have begun.”He looks to the camera, still beaming with his ever confident and headstrong aura.
“Vicks…” he said, grin appearing on his face,
“Let’s go out there and show them what happens when The Pride works together, and bring those championships back to our den. We can figure out the rest along the way. I’m probably going to get some flack from people for saying this, but I have your back. You’re still my cousin and you’re still my blood and that the end of the day, as the old saying goes. Blood is thicker than water.”He keeps his confident gaze on the camera. The look of a man determined to become a champion again even if if meant teaming with arguably the most unliked Bombshell on the roster. He couldn’t control Victoria, but hopefully she understood the bigger picture as well, and as the person who knew her better than anyone else in the locker room,. Eddie was absolutely sure she did.
-fade to black-
________
Eddie was starting to get annoyed, here he was willing to try and make this work with Victoria so they could hopefully find some sort of mutual understanding, and she couldn’t even be bothered to show to to the meeting Coach Kaiser had called them for. Eddie shook his head as he looked at his coach and the head trainer at The Lyons Den.
“She’s not gonna come.” Eddie told his coach, “She probably thinks she has it all under control, and doesn’t need any help.”
“Oh, she’ll be here.” Coach Kaiser grinned, “I made sure of it.”
Eddie raised an eyebrow, that was curious. It wasn’t easy to make Victoria do much of anything. However Coach Kaiser was a crafty guy, who had a few tricks up his sleeve, and almost like clockwork the door to the office swung open, and Victoria was shoved in by PWS World Champion Cleo Phillips.
“Get yo’ ass in there.” Eddie heard Cleo say as Victoria was shoved through the doorway.
“Fine Fine…” he heard Victoria mutter, begrudgingly taking the seat next to Eddie after moving it a few feet away from him.
Eddie didn’t know it, but Coach Kaiser had figured out that Victoria was in fact, a bit afraid of Cleo. She would never admit that flatout of course. Kaiser knew his students though, and he clouds see right through her. Cleo’s rough upbringing and felonious history made Victoria nervous, he also knew Eddie respected the hell out of Cleo so he wasn’t going to cross her as well.
“Cleo, can you just hang by the door?” Kaiser asked, to ensure both Eddie and Victoria would stay put.
“Yeah Coach, I gotchu.” Cleo replied, as she took her post by the door.
“So you got your thug to bring me here. “ moaned Victoria, “Can we get this over with?”
Out of his pocket Coach Kaiser pulled out two stones, a pearl white one, and the other an onyx black. He pushes the white stone to Eddie and the black stone to Victoria.
“What we have is two sides.” he said, “One light, one dark. Many believe these to be opposing forces, and in many cases they can be. But what many don’t know is that when light and dark work together, they can be damn near unstoppable. You both see this upcoming match as an annoyance, and you feel at odds with each other because of your conflicting beliefs. But in reality, this could set up to be one of the greatest tag teams SCW has ever seen.”
Eddie and Victoria caught each others gaze for a moment, before quickly looking away from each other.
“If the two of you can figure out how to work together,” Coach Kaiser went on, “Then you will have the perfect balance of light and dark, and THAT is how you will win. I know you can figure it out, at the end of the day the two of you are family and that bond is even more unbreakable than Eddie. You never turn your back on family, even when they act at their worst."
“Okay Vin Diesel.” Victoria smirked, “Look, as long as he stays in his lane, and out of my way everything will be fine. I’m the champion between us, so that should make me team leader.”
“Don’t you get it Victoria?” said Eddie, “There is no leader, we need to be equals. Finn and Kayla will walk all over us if we can’t find common ground. This situation isn’t ideal for me either but it is what it is, and we have to work as equals.”
“Don’t YOU get it?” Victoria snapped, “It wasn’t supposed to be this way. I was supposed to win my first set of tag team championships with Vincent, my BROTHER. My TWIN. Not my little cousin.”
“Well Vincent isn’t here, so I’m what you got.” Eddie clapped back, “I don’t want this opportunity to go to waste, and that’s what will happen if we can’t work together.”
“Maybe you could wear a Vincent mask?” suggested Victoria, she was only half joking.
Eddie sighed audibly, and threw his hands in the air, Coach Kaiser turned his attention to Victoria.
“He’s right.” Coach Kaiser said, “Vincent is on his own journey. Whenever he’s back from his boat trip of self discovery, we can figure out something for him. For now, it’s about the two of you, and bringing home the SCW Mixed Tag Team Championships to The Lyons Den. So I’ve decided that I like what Mark and Christian are doing, and since I control your contracts, you two are officially an SCW Mixed Tag Team. That means even if you come up short, this..isn’t over. You’ll remain a team. Win or lose you are going to learn to work together.”
“And if I refuse?” Victoria said.
“I can always pull your contract.” Coach Kaiser replied, “Find someone else to represent The Lyons Den instead. I mean, if you don’t want the opportunity that is.”
“You wouldn’t pull my contract.” Victoria replied.
“Try me.” Coach Kaiser replied, giving Victoria a death stare, knowing as successful as Victoria was. He could still build up one of the new talents pretty quickly, seemed Victoria knew it too as she sat there with an annoyed look on her face.
“You really think this is a good idea?” Eddie asked.
“We’ll find out.” said Coach Kaiser, “But it’s what’s happening. I’ll leave the details of the name, music and all that to the two of you. Besides SCW is in need of some more teams so like it or not it’s happening.”
Silence. Neither Victoria or Eddie said anything. The expressions on their faces showed their discontent but even Victoria couldn’t refuse Coach Kaiser at the end of the day. At least if she wanted to keep her contract.
“Good.” said Coach Kaiser, “Now moving along. I can’t do it all for you but I can try to help guide you, so I have arranged some team building exercises for the two of you. I’ve asked Cleo to be the enforcer to make sure all goes well, and no funny business is had.”
“What sort of exercises?” Eddie asked.
“You’ll find out tomorrow. Just be at Freedom Park tomorrow at noon. Cleo will meet you there.” Coach Kaiser told them.
“Wait, you aren’t coming?” said Victoria.
“No.” said Coach Kaiser, “I want the two of you to figure this out on your own.”
“Yeah, under the threat of your thug.” Victoria said with an eyeroll.
“Like I said.” Coach Kaiser replied, “Cleo is just there to make sure things go smoothly, she’ll be keeping an eye on both of you, and will be reporting her results to me.”
“Well I don’t plan on losing.” said Victoria, “So we were going to end up a team for a while anyway.”
“A little overconfident, but still the right attitude.” Coach Kaiser shrugged.
“Whatever then.” Eddie sighed, “We’re a team then. I just hope you know what you’re doing.”
“Trust me.” said Coach Kaiser, “It’ll be fine.”
Eddie wasn’t keen on this news, and neither was Victoria but neither had a choice at this point. Coach Keevee Kaiser had full power over their contracts, as he did with Cleo, Alexander and the rest of his students. He wasn’t afraid to pull new talent and give them a shot if his current ones weren’t performing or just seemed to be falling short.”
“May I go? I’ll be at the stupid thing tomorrow.” said Victoria. “But I want to get some things off my chest first. I need the AV room.”
“Yeah, fine. Go do what you need to do. Eviscerate Kayla verbally. Just make sure you’re at Freedom Park, tomorrow at noon.” said Coach Kaiser
“Yeah sure whatever.” said Victoria grabbing the black stone and pocketing it as she moved to exit the room, only to be stopped momentarily by Cleo near the door.
“Yo’ ass better be there, cause I’m doin’ this shit as a favor to Coach.” said Cleo, “You best not waste my time.”
Victoria said nothing, only nodding at Cleo before quickly exiting through the door.
Coach Kaiser looked to Eddie after she left.
“What about you? Anything more to say?” he asked Eddie.
“I don’t know.” Eddie said, “I mean an official team? I don’t want her reputation around SCW rubbing off on me.”
“Then be her light.” said Coach Kaiser, “Or that is to say, let your reputation rub off on her. Perhaps she’ll knock this queen nonsense off and focus more on her championships.”
“I guess. Maybe…” Eddie shrugged.
“You guess? Maybe?” said Coach Kaiser, “You sound defeated. Maybe you need HER to help you find your killer instinct, because if you want to beat Finn Whelan, you are going to need to dig deeper than ever before and find something you never knew you had in you. You’re gonna have to be willing to kick his motherfucking head off.”
Eddie said nothing, only listened. He knew Coach was right too, he had felt like he’d taken a step back since losing the Roulette Championship. It was time for him to take his new step forward, it was time to unleash a more aggressive side. One that could match his cousins viciousness, he still didn’t want to maim anyone, but he could get a little meaner, a little more vicious, a little more like a lion.
“You want Finns head?” said Eddie, “Wanna send it to your friend Aaron in a box? Then you got it Coach. You wanna see me get vicious. I’ll get vicious. I don’t know how, but I’ll knock some sense into Victoria and we will figure this out. You said Freedom Park at noon tomorrow?”
“Yes indeed.” Coach Kaiser nodded.
“Alright. I’ll be there.” Eddie said, grabbing the white stone and pocketing it before heading to the doorway where he nodded to Cleo, “See you there Cleo.”
She fist bumped him, as he exited the room.
“You crazy for this one Coach.” Cleo said with a smile.
“Yeah..I know.” Coach Kaiser replied, with a grin of his own.
__________
