Eddie had finally gotten baby Jordan to fall asleep, wrapping up in her favorite lion blanket they had got from Victoria, he placed her gently in the crib as their puppy Koda took his usual spot on the floor, ever since Jordan's arrival, Koda always slept by the crib.
He found his wife Sabrina back in the living room on the couch trying to find some sort of Christmas special to watch on Netflix.
“There's too many to pick from.” she complained mildly, "How many lame Christmas movies does one streaming service need?”
“Why do we gotta watch the lame ones?” Eddie said taking a seat next to her.
“Because they're more fun.” she grinned.
Eddie gave her a half smile, his eyes shifted slightly.
“You okay?” Sabrina asked, catching it instantly “You have the face again.”
“What face?” Eddie asked, “I'm not making a face.”
“You are…” Sabrina said “It's the Eddie's thinking too hard face, the same one you made when you tried to build Jordan's crib without reading the instructions.”
“Well those instructions were unnecessarily confusing.” Eddie said.
“They were pictures.” Sabrina said blankly.
“Confusing pictures.” Eddie retorted quickly.
Sabrina smiled at him with a slight shake of her head.
“So deflection time is over.” she said “What's wrong?”
“Just thinking about the next few weeks.” he said "I have to deal with Raven this Sunday and then potentially walk into a dangerous match with Brayden Hilton at Inception.”
“Well Brayden has yet to accept.” Sabrina reminded him.
“I'm sure he will.” Eddie said “A guy like that? I don't think his ego will allow him to say no. If he does then he'll just be showing himself to be a bigger coward than anybody thought.”
“Well maybe right now we should be concerned about what we do know.” Sabrina said “And that's Alexander Raven.”
Eddie sighed.
“I've never been able to figure him out.” said Eddie “Every time I've gone in there against Raven, he's gotten the better of me and yeah that messes with my mind a little bit, because no matter how much I've grown, no matter how much I've learned, Alexander Raven always proves to be my kryptonite.”
“You're not confident?” Sabrina asked raising an eyebrow.
“I am…” Eddie said, “I mean I'm confident in what I can do, it’s just Ravens the type of guy to dig into your insecurities and see what he can attack, and he knows he has history on his side so he'll definitely use that as a weapon.”
“Well he wouldn't be wrong to.” Sabrina said “He's smart to weaponize whatever he can.”
“And that's what worries me.” said Eddie “He's smart.”
“And so are you.” Sabrina reminded him "Don't forget your Eddie Lyons, you're the guy who always takes people to their very limit. You think he's not worried about that? You don't think Alexander Raven knows that it's going to take all of him to defeat you?”
“And yet he's managed to pull it off every time.” said Eddie
“Well if you keep thinking like that…” Sabrina said “Then he is going to defeat you, in fact you're probably playing into his game right now even thinking like this. You don't think this is exactly what he wants?”
“I mean yeah probably.” Eddie said quietly letting her words settle in, “He loves when people overthink and the doubt starts chewing you away from the inside.”
“And right now you're letting him in without even knocking.” Sabrina said bluntly.
Eddie sighed, Sabrina was right and he knew it.
"It's just hard not to." he admitted "I have to walk into this match knowing I've never been able to figure him out and he gets to walk in knowing he is capable of beating Eddie Lyons."
“He's beaten you.” Sabrina said “But he's never defeated you. You always come back stronger and better, and if you continue to be a thorn in his side you will be able to beat him. You need to try to play his game in your own way, that means you get into his head. Be the guy that no matter how many times he thinks he's done with them you keep coming back. Beaten, but never truly defeated.”
“There is the possibility he'll overlook me…” Eddie said, "He might be more focused on Carter and assume that he's just going to beat me once again like he always has.”
“And that's when you strike.” Sabrina said, "Show him that no matter what, You never overlook Eddie Lyons, even if you've defeated him a thousand times.”
Eddie leaned back into the sofa.
“Yeah that's true..” Eddie said “When he gets too focused on using me to send a message to Carter, that's when I turn everything upside down.”
“That's the Eddie Lyons I know.” Sabrina smiled “The one who doesn't just survive pressure, but uses it against his opponents. Eddie Lyons doesn't crumble, he just bends a little till he figures out how to stand again. Raven may be smart and calculating, but he's not unbeatable.”
Eddie nodded.
“Don't let the past dictate the present Eddie.” Sabrina reminded him "You're smarter than that this match isn't another chapter in the book of Alexander Raven which is another chapter in the book of Eddie Lyons and you're going to decide how it goes.”
“You always know what to say to get me back on track.” Eddie smiled at her, giving her a soft kiss on the forehead.
“Well that's my job.” she said “I'm your wife, I'm supposed to support and motivate you, remember Alexander Raven is the one with the number one contendership, he's the one walking into this match with all the expectations you're walking with nothing but hunger the pressure should be on him and not you.”
“...huh.” Eddie nodded letting the words sink in.
“Now what's the deal with Brayden Hilton?” she asked.
“Brayden is a whole different story than Alexander Raven.” Eddie said.
“Meaning?” Sabrina asked.
“I issued the challenge to him.” Eddie said “I need to fight him in a Lyons Den match, one of the most grueling matches in my family's history.”
Sabrina said nothing, just listened.
“I never even heard this guy's name before.." Eddie continued “But he chose to mention mine, and question my work ethic and take a shot at the Lyon's Den in general. I can't let that happen. I need to defend the honor of my family and everybody who's trained at the Lyon's Den.”
“So it's about teaching him a lesson?” Sabrina asked.
“Something like that…” Eddie said “If he wants to see how hard I work then he's going to find out. I told everyone that very plainly you don't question my work ethic and if they speak about you, or speak about Jordan they better do so respectfully.”
“Well remember not to take things too personally, and lose track.” Sabrina reminded him.
“I won't.” Eddie said “As far as Brayden is concerned, if he is man enough to accept my challenge he will learn a lesson that you should never poke the lion.”
“Well if he thinks you don't work hard.” Sabrina said “Then he's either blind, or the biggest idiot in the world.”
“Maybe both.“ Eddie grinned.
“Yeah maybe..” Sabrina laughed “Anyway how about we just relax and find some lame Christmas movie about a small town baker falling in love with the CEO.”
“We really have to watch one of those?” Eddie said
“Yes.” said Sabrina “Because cheesy terrible Christmas movies are the best and it's my movie night.”
“Well you got me there.” said Eddie “I'll go make the hot cocoa.”
“Extra whip on mine.” Sabrina smiled.
“Of course.” Eddie nodded.
He headed off to the kitchen to prepare the two Cocoas, now feeling more focused on his upcoming match with Alexander Raven, confident that this will be the time he gets the victory.
As for Brayden Hilton whether he accepted or not, he had done nothing but made himself a target that was being hunted by the most relentless lion in the pride.
__________
In the early hours of the morning Eddie stood holding his baby in the nursery trying to rock her back to sleep as quietly as possible as to not disturb Sabrina.
“It's okay sweetheart.” he said softly “Daddy's got you.”
Jordan let out a soft coo as she settled against his chest while he sat in an armchair. I don't even know he rocked her gently and patiently, keeping a steady rhythm.
But his mind was moving a lot faster.
Alexander Raven.
The name resurfaced in his mind quietly, not with the spike of anxiety from earlier in that evening, just an ever-present shadow that never went away. He looked down at his daughter in his arms with a smile.
She had no idea about anything, about contenders, and pressure, and championships and family Legacy and everything this business came with, but somehow she was what grounded him better than anything else in the world.
His thoughts drifted to Sunday when he would step into that ring with Raven and face that intensity once again. He's thought about how Raven was always two steps ahead of everybody else, and how he never seemed rushed or panicked, just smart, calculated, and dangerous.
He had felt it every time he'd been in that ring with Raven, like he was chasing a moving target and then just when he thought he'd caught up, Raven would change the rules.
Raven had all the history on his side and he knew it he knew Eddie was going to carry that weight. Any knew he needed to find a way to steady himself and not play into Ravens games.
Jordan let out some soft baby babble shifting against his chest, Eddie tightened his grip and began quietly humming a little tune without even realizing it.
The sound steadied her and in truth it steadied him too, he thought about what Sabrina had told him earlier.
“He's beaten me.” he said quietly “But he's never defeated me.”
He thought about his past losses to Raven and the moments that came after, the process of fixing things and trying to figure out what went wrong, because Raven never left Eddie broken, he left Eddie evolving.
Jordan's breathing became more softer and relaxed, a tiny hand doing its best to grip Eddie's shirt.
Raven was smart, perhaps too smart he'd be looking for patterns he'd be looking for Eddie to be the same Eddie he defeated before so it was time to change that, it was time to break the pattern.
Eddie stood a few minutes later rocking his daughter gently as her tiny eyes shifted back into a sleep and he sat her gently in the crib, before heading back down the hall to hopefully sleep through the rest of the night.
He would be relentless, and he would be stubborn. He would refuse to be a stepping stone on Raven's quest to become world champion, in fact he was ready, he was ready to shatter every bit of Alexander Raven's momentum and claim it as his own.
__________
The camera slowly flickers to life, there's no fancy scenery or lighting, just Eddie Lyons sitting on a chair leaning forward slightly in a quiet room.
He doesn't speak right away, he just lets his eyes linger on the camera for a moment and then exhales.
“You know Alexander, I've been listening…” Eddie began “...to every sermon you've given over the past few months telling the world how inevitable you are, and I realized something.”
He straightens up his posture slightly.
“You talk an awful lot for someone who claims not to care.” he said “You've called me an afterthought, and said I have no killer instinct and that I'm just a bump in the road on your way to becoming something greater. But yet here we are again and I'm sure you're going to issue more warnings to me and try to define who Eddie Lyons is in your own mind once again.”
Eddie shakes his head slowly.
“But you don't get to do that.” Eddie said “Only Eddie Lyons gets to define Eddie Lyons, and Eddie Lyons doesn't need to measure himself in victories or championships. Eddie Lyons is someone who, win or lose will always be able to walk out with his head held high, because he understands respect and he understands honor. Perhaps if you understood those two things better Raven, you wouldn't find yourself so lost.”
He tilts his head slightly.
“That's where you and I are fundamentally different Raven.” Eddie continued “You seem to think honor is a costume that people wear to make the crowd cheer a little louder, but for me honor isn't something I perform it's something I live with even when nobody's watching.”
He pauses for a beat.
“You tell the world that Eddie Lyons has no killer instinct.” Eddie continued "That I don't have what it takes to finish the job and I'm too bound by my own rules to ever truly succeed.”
He pauses again.
“That real killer instinct is about knowing exactly who you are in the worst moment of the fight and not blinking.” Eddie said “And I'm not someone who blinks, I endure. And that that bothers you doesn't it? Because however many times you've put me down, I still don't go away. I still come back fighting and refusing to cave into your worldview.”
He gives a confident but not arrogant smile.
“You think that because I won't break the way you want me to, that I must be afraid of doing what's necessary in your mind.“ Eddie said “But I'm not afraid of it, I just don't need it. You like to talk about being broken like it's some sort of evolution, like everyone has to shed what makes them human to stand at the top and call me stubborn for refusing to do that.”
His eyes narrow slightly.
“Have you ever wondered why I refuse?” Eddie said “It's because I understand exactly what it costs to lose yourself. You think restraint exists because of fear but restraint exists because of choice and you hate that.”
He pauses shortly.
“Because your whole worldview depends on the idea that there's only one path forward.” Eddie said “That at some point or another, everyone has to choose what you choose and that everyone has to become lost. But here I still am still refusing to become the thing that you insist I must be, and every time I come back it pokes a hole in that certainty that you cling to so desperately.”
He pauses for another beat.
“I don't fit into your neat little philosophy for everyone either breaks the right way or gets discarded.” he said “You call me predictable, but I think what really bothers you is that I'm consistent. Consistent in who I am, and what I refuse to become. Consistent in the fact that no matter how many times you knock me down I stand back up as the same man refusing to let you drag me down to your level.”
He keeps his eyes locked on the camera.
“You've beaten me and that's fine.” Eddie said “That's what history will say, but history doesn't tell the whole story. History doesn't talk about the adjustments and changes and that every single time I come back different enough to make you work harder.”
He readjusts his posture slightly.
“I fight with honor and respect not because I'm chasing approval searching for validation.” [/color]Eddie said “Because I know my worth, and I don't need to tear someone else down to feel tall. My worth isn't fragile. You on the other hand, you need people to break so they can validate your world view by failing the way you expect them to.”
Pause.
“And when they don't.” he continued, "You just keep talking, you keep explaining and sermonizing and trying to convince everyone that what you do is necessary. All that is is insecurity dressed up as philosophy.”
He exhales.
“You've called me a problem, something to be dealt with on your march towards the championship.” Eddie said
Pause, a sly grin.
“Good.” he continues “Because problems don't disappear because you want them to, and I'm going to be the problem that won't go away Raven. Because you don't scare me, I see you, I see the talent and I see the danger but I'm still going to stand in front of you once again and refuse to move. So you can say I have a lack of killer instinct or whatever you want, but know that once things get uncomfortable, I'll still be there standing right in front of you because you can beat me but you can never make me disappear, and that's the reason we're still having this conversation.”
He keeps his eyes still locked on the camera with a slow deliberate nod.
“So go ahead and walk in thinking I'm some sort of obstacle in your way toward what you believe you're owed.” Eddie said “Just don't make the mistake of thinking I won't resist because I'm not your lesson Raven, I'm the man who keeps standing in your way, and I'm the man that's going to destroy all of your momentum before you even get to Carter. I'm Unbreakable Eddie Lyons and the one thing you will never do is defeat me.”
The room stays quiet and the camera lingers on Eddie's calm unshaken face as it all fades to black.
[/i]
