The afternoon sun filtered through the windows of Victoria and Darian's North Carolina home as she stood carefully adjusting a framed photograph on their mantelpiece, one of the photographs of their wedding day.
Darian sat on the couch and watched has his wife waged war against the picture frame moving in slightly to the left and pausing then back to the right again, still not satisfied.
“You're overthinking it..” he said.
“I am not.” she said, glancing over her shoulder at him.
“You've adjusted that photograph six times.” he said.
“Five.” she replied.
“Six.” he shot back
She rolled her eyes on him and turned back toward the wall adjusting it ever so slightly to the left once more before stepping back with a smile.
“See.” she said “Perfect.”
“It's crooked.” said Darian.
“It is not.” she said looking back at him, once more.
She stared at him for a moment and then realized he was messing with her when that Cheshire Cat grin grew on his face.
“Dork.” she said.
“Takes one to know one.” he said.
Victoria shook her head as a smile formed at the corner of her mouth. She looked back at the photograph again everything had happened so fast she had the wedding, the championship, the media, the travel, her life had become a blur and right now she finally felt like she had a moment to just breathe and be home.
Her eyes wandered to the surrounding photographs sharing the mantelpiece with her wedding photo, one from when she first captured the Bombshell Roulette Championship, her mixed tag championship win, her internet championship victory, her Queen for a Day win, all of her proudest career moments and right there next to them was of course her World Bombshell Championship win.
It was the championship she had fought so hard to win, the one she finally captured by defeating Mercedes Vargas. Darian noticed which picture she was looking at.
“Been a pretty good few weeks.” he said.
“Yeah.” she smiled “It has.”
She took a seat and curled up on the couch next to her husband. She rested against him as she looked across the mantlepiece again. Every photograph told a story, every championship represented a chapter of her career, and there in the middle of it all was her with Darian in the happiest moment of her life.
The World Bombshell Championship photograph proved that she had done it and she had climbed the mountaintop and become one of the very best. But now that she was on top there were already people trying to push her off it. Frankie Holliday tried, but was sent tumbling back down the mountain once again. Now Mercedes Vargas was coming with yet another shot but this time Victoria wasn't fighting for a vacant championship she was fighting to defend her championship, and she was fighting to defend her husband's honor.
“What's going on in that head of yours?” she heard Darian ask.
“Just thinking.” she replied
“Dangerous..” he grinned.
“Shut up.” she replied.
“No can do.” he grinned “We're married now. I'm contractually obligated to annoy you.”
Victoria let out an honest laugh before her gaze drifted toward her World Bombshell Championship photograph again. It represented the realization she had finally reached the top, but when she looked at the picture it wasn't the championship she remembered or the celebration after the match. It was what happened afterward.
Mercedes standing over Darian after a cheap shot, a low blow with that smug look on her face. Almost on cue her phone buzzed on the coffee table.
It was another article, more predictions about Summer Xxxtreme, more debates on whether Mercedes would reclaim the championship. Victoria locked the screen and tossed the phone back on the table.
“All those so-called journalists will get their answer when I beat Mercedes once again.” Victoria said “For now perhaps it's time to make an example out of my opponent this week and send a very clear message to Mercedes.”
“Seleana..” he nodded.
“Yes Seleana.” she said “She'll be looking to gain momentum before her own match on the Princess Cruise but it won't come at my expense. She has to realize exactly who she's going into the ring with, and Mercedes needs to watch closely because I'm coming for her blood after what she did to you.”
Darian remained silent.
“All you wanted to do was support me in my proudest moment, and she put her hands on you.” she said “I'm going to make damn sure there's no debate about who's better between Victoria Lyons and Mercedes Vargas at Summer Xxxtreme.”
“What about Climax Control?” Darian asked.
“Seleana is just a warmup.” she said “A poor lamb being sent to the slaughter. I told the entire division that now that I'm the World Bombshell Champion, it's time to restore order. While Seleana wasn't someone I currently look at as a problem that needs to be fixed, she finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“Sucks to be her.” said Darian.
“At least she gets the opportunity to understand something.” Victoria said “She gets the opportunity to get a taste of what it's like to stand against the queen and how dangerous I can be when I have problems in my queendom. She'll learn real quick that she does not want to become one of those problems and then she can go about her business with the rest of her ridiculous family.”
“And then at Summer Xxxtreme you take away any excuses Mercedes may have left when it comes to the two of you.“ said Darian.
“Exactly Dare Bear.” she said “Exactly.”
Her eyes drifted onto the World bombshell Championship photo once more. The championship was hers and she had no intention of letting anyone take it. Frankie couldn't do it, Mercedes would fail once again, and Seleana was simply going to be a casualty of war.
___________
The cameras spring to life opening on Victoria Lyons standing proudly with her World by Bombshell Championship on her shoulder and her husband Darian Lyons proudly beside her.
“Seleana, I'm going to be perfectly honest with you.” she said “You are not ready.”
“Not ready.” Darian repeated.
“Do you even understand who you're in the ring with?" she said "I'm not just the Bombshell World Champion. I am a record breaker, and a future Hall of Famer.”
She pauses.
“And you…” she said “You're someone who can't seem to get it done on your own, loss after loss after loss. Now, I'm to expect you're ready to face someone of my caliber?”
She shakes her head.
“I'm sorry but I just don't see it.” she continued "You aren't even the best member of your own family, that honor probably belongs to Crystal.”
She pauses again.
“Now you get to step into what is probably the most important match of your career at this point.“ she said “A chance to stand toe to toe with the very best that Sin City wrestling has to offer. A chance to stand across from the Bombshell World Champion. A chance to be in the ring with me, The Head Lyoness the Queen Victoria Lyons.”
She casually runs her fingers across her championship.
“I'm sure you're thinking that this is your opportunity.” she said “Your chance to shock the world because if you can somehow beat Victoria Lyons, then suddenly everything changes, and honestly you would be right.
“But there's one problem…” Darian said.
“You have to actually beat me.” she said “And that's where your little fantasy falls apart.”
She shrugs.
“You just have to understand there are levels to this.” she said “And you're looking at the woman sitting on the highest level this company has to offer. Understand that this is your one shot, you're one opportunity to shock the world.”
She pauses again.
“But you're really going to have to dig down deep.” she said "If you do manage to shock the world then yes, you truly earned it.”
“But it will be a cold day in Hell before that happens.” Darian chimed in.
“Precisely.” said Victoria “I am and always have been on a level that you just can't reach. You can scrape, you can scratch, and you can crawl all you want but at the end of the day I will put you down and I will make an example out of you, because for me that's all this match really is.”
“A message.” said Darian
“A message to Mercedes Vargas.” she said. “I'm going to use you like a lamb to the slaughter, to show Mercedes exactly what she's getting at Summer Xxxtreme. You are going to end up nothing more than a casualty of war, a victim who found herself in the wrong place at the wrong time and suffered greatly for it.”
She shrugs casually.
“It's not your fault.”[/color] she said “But it's the nature of the business, there's winners and there's losers. When you look at our records, I look like the winner and you look like the loser. Maybe you'll get yourself together one day and make it to my level but that day is not now and it won't be at Climax Control. I am on the top of my game right now. I have beaten everybody there is to beat in this company, gand I refuse to lose to somebody who has trouble even getting a victory of her own.”
She exhales.
“Call it whatever you want.” she said “Say I'm overlooking you but the numbers don't lie. My career continues to move upward and yours remains as stagnant as ever. You should really even consider yourself lucky to be here because you get a chance to face the very best. The problem is I don't think you're going to deliver. In fact I know you're not going to deliver because I'm going to leave you flat on your back and remind the world why I am the woman that stands on top of the Bombshell division.”
She speaks with a firm confidence
“It's really a great view from up here.” she smirked “Something I doubt you'll ever see, something Mercedes can try to keep reaching for. Someday, someone will come along and knock me off my mountain, but it's not going to be you and it's not going to be Mercedes Vargas.”
She casually adjusts the championship on her shoulder.
“Not a chance.” Darian agreed.
“I didn't become world champion because somebody handed me anything.” she said “I became the world champion because every time somebody put an obstacle in front of me I knocked it down. Every person who thought they were going to stop me, learned the same lesson, that Victoria Lyons does not stay down or roll over for anybody.”
She keeps eyes locked until the camera.
“So you can have your what ifs.” she said “You can have your what if Seleana shocks the world, and what if the champion fails because the truth is nobody ever talks about the most likely outcome and that's wine where I beat you and walk out the same way I walked in.”
She pauses.
“You're not facing somebody chasing greatness and trying to make history.” Victoria said ‘You are facing history itself, because now I am the standard. I am the measuring stick, and I am the woman every Bombshell in Sin City wrestling is judged against. Until someone can take this championship from me I will continue to be the standard.”
She pauses again.
“Bring me everything you've got Seleana, because when that bell rings you're going to need every single bit of it and probably a little bit more.” she said “I'm not going to play nice with you Selena, I need to assert my dominance and you're not going to stop me from doing it.”
She adjusts her championship once more.
“You're walking into this match with hope.”[/color] she said "I walk into this match knowing. The difference is hope doesn't carry championships, and hope doesn't build legacies, results do. Results put your name in the history books and my entire career has been built on results.”
She exhales.
“That's why my name will be in the annals of Sin City wrestling history forever.” she said “Because I get results, and I don't need hope to do it. I'm Victoria Lyons and I am the absolute best.”
She pauses again.
“When somebody thought that they were better than me, I proved them wrong.” she said “Each and every one of them, so forgive me if I'm not going to lose sleep over someone whose biggest accomplishment recently is getting booked against me.”
‘Oof.” said Darian
“It's just the truth, Dare Bear.” she said “When I look at Seleana I don't see a future world champion, I see someone stuck forever chasing. Someone trying to live up to her own family name without the ability to achieve what someone like Crystal has.”
She holds her championship to the camera.
“I don't chase.” she said “I achieve. This championship is proof. This is something you will never achieve, so take a good look Selena cuz this is the closest you're ever going to get. When you step into that ring with me on Climax Control, you're going going to find out exactly why. When I expose the cold hard truth that you just aren't good enough to stand across the ring from me.”
She smirks.
“When the bell rings only one thing matters, and that's whether or not you can beat the woman standing across from you, and you can't." she said "Because you're facing me at the worst possible time. I have everything I've ever wanted, a world championship, a husband and a future. So if you think I'm going to be merciful or take it easy on you, then I'm afraid I've got some bad news.I will make causes an example out of you, and when I do beat you I will go on to beat Mercedes Vargas, and you you'll go back to doing the same thing you always do…”
She pauses.
“Trying.” she continued.
She looks at her championship.
“I don't try.” she said “I already am. So enjoy this moment, enjoy being in the spotlight and enjoy having your name attached to mine for a week. Then after I beat you you can tell all your friends that you got to get in the ring with the world champion, and maybe you can tell Mercedes Vargas exactly what a mistake she made, because the queen is coming and she's coming to RESTORE ORDER.”
She keeps her eyes locked on the camera confidently, her championship shining brightly as everything fades out to black.
[/i]
