It was a quiet New Year's Eve in the home of Victoria Lyons, she had just returned from a wonderful birthday dinner with Darian has she sat on the couch with a blanket draped Loosely over her shoulders the fireworks hadn't started yet but the anticipation of the new year was already humming through the glass.
She heard her phone buzz on the coffee table but she didn't look at it she already knew it was just more birthday wishes from her peers and family members. Many of which she never even talked to during the year, but somehow every year there they were wishing her the best like they actually knew her.
She asked her slowly through her nose and looked up at the ceiling hoping it would answer questions that she hadn't figured out how to ask. Questions about who she was and what she was becoming.
It was New Year's Eve and also her birthday, It always felt so strange to her, like the universe couldn't decide if she belonged at the end or at the beginning. Vincent had been born a minute later on New Year's Day, a fresh calendar list, all she got was the final breath of the old year.
Her gaze shifted to her faint reflection in nearby window, there were no fancy lights or ring gear or championship belts draped over her shoulder, she was just a woman sitting alone with her thoughts, away from the usual noise that always drowned them out.
Harper Mason slipped into her mind uninvited, as it seemed to always do these days.
The Bombshell Roulette Championship.
Victoria had the longest reign in the division's history until Harper came along and ended it.
Victoria feels her jaw tighten slightly, she can still feel the shock and disbelief, the way air left the room when it happened. Everybody looked at her to see if she would snap and turn into exactly what they thought she was. But she didn't scream, she just recalibrated.
However Harper didn't just beat her Harper took something that day she ended something historic and put a period at the end of his sentence that Victoria wasn't ready to finish writing and now here they are again ready to write another chapter.
The Bombshell Internet Championship
A different championship and a different moment but the same two women. She looked down at the faint marks still on her knuckles and flexed her hand. She had wormed her way into Harper's championship match by attacking her and now Harper felt like Victoria stole something from her.
Maybe she had, and maybe the way she went about it wasn't fair. But to Victoria the ends always justified the means. She had found a way to make herself a champion again and it worked, Harper was just going to have to deal with it and understand that life didn't always play fair.
Luna Palsino flashed through her mind next. She didn't hesitate to answer Eddie's call, and stepped in when Luna tried to involve herself in his match. But why had she really done it?
If she was being perfectly honest it was because it made her feel important and it made her feel needed. Eddie needed her help, he had come to her. But at the same time she knew it was the right thing to do. She knew something would have to be done about Luna in that situation and both Eddie and Carter were too honorable to lay their hands on a lady.
But then there was Harper, the contract, and the name signed in blood. She hadn't planned it that way. It had come from somewhere instinctive. When she signed that contract in Harper's blood there had been that flicker of a moment where she felt powerful, and then another flicker where she had felt hollow.
The hollow feeling lingered longer than she had wanted it to, sitting in her chest like a low ache not sharp enough to hurt or loud enough to demand attention just present and persistent.
She leaned back into the couch listening to a clock tick it's way toward midnight and a new year she wasn't quite sure she was ready for. Familiar footsteps padded softly somewhere behind her, she didn't look, she knew those steps and waited for the familiar weight to settle on the couch beside her, as she nestled closer to Darian. She could still smell the faint remnants of the Italian restaurant he had taken her to for dinner.
“You're thinking loudly.” she heard him say.
“Runs in the family.” she shrugged.
“Care to share any of it?” he asked
She exhaled slightly, curling her fingers.
“I keep replaying it, all of it.” she said “Harper. Luna. Eddie. The contract signed in blood. Me.”
Darian raised an eyebrow.
“They villainize me for my assault on Harper, but they cheer for me taking out Luna.” she said “Am I supposed to be good? Am I supposed to be bad? I don't even know anymore.”
“When have you ever cared about any of that?” Darian asked.
“I've been asking myself the same thing.” she said
“You're allowed to change…” Darian said “You know that right?”
“I know.” she said shifting slightly “I've felt it ever since Harper took the Roulette Championship from me. I kept telling myself that records are meant to be broken and if it wasn't her it would have been someone else but that reign was proof that everything I sacrificed meant something, that it all had a purpose, and when it ended I felt the universe asking me who I was without it “
Darian listened.
“I still don't have a clean answer to that.” she said "But I do have the Bombshell Internet Championship, and it feels different. Like this one isn't about proving I can last, this one is about proving I can adapt.”
“Adaptation will keep you alive in this business.” Darian said with a knowing nod.
“Exactly..” Victoria said “I don't want to go backward and chase the ghost of that reign forever, but I also don't want to pretend it didn't matter.”
“Then don't pretend.” Darian replied “Let it matter, just don't let it own you.”
“Easy to say..” Victoria scoffed.
“And hard to do.“ he agreed “But when have you ever shied away from hard?”
She let that sink in for a few moments, searching herself again, flashes of Harper's blood, reminders of how heavy the pen felt in her hand.
“It was a statement you know..” she said “When I signed that contract in Harper's blood, a reminder to everybody that I'm not somebody who waits for permission or does things the right way.”
“There she is..” Darian grinned.
“Most would say that doesn't make me good.” she said “But I don't necessarily think I'm bad either.”
“You never really were one for labels.” Darian said “You just have to be Victoria, and maybe they'll like what you do, and maybe they won't but you're going to do what's best for Victoria Lyons.”
Victoria listened.
“And right now what Victoria needs to do is tell Harper Mason that she's not sorry.“ Darian said “She took the opportunity because she could and if Harper wants to call her a thief, this is her opportunity to try and take it back.”
“My thoughts exactly.” Victoria said with a dangerous smile. "This year I'm not chasing who I was, I'm becoming who I need to be.”
The sound of the clock continued ticking closer to midnight.
Ten
Nine
Eight
She thought about her Bombshell Internet Championship, where the Bombshell Roulette Championship had represented validation, this one represented evolution.
Seven
Six
Five
Whatever came in the new year and whatever consequences followed her choices she had come to peace with one truth.
Four
Three
Two.
She wasn't here to be good, and she wasn't here to be bad. She was here to be undeniable, and Harper Mason would be the first to be reminded of that in 2026.
One.
It was time for another undeniable year for Victoria Lyons.
“Happy New Year Dare Bear." she said, locking in a New Year's kiss with her fiance.
__________
The cameras snap to life to find Victoria Lyons standing alone in the center of the frame, the Bombshell Internet Championship resting on her shoulder like it's an extension of her body.
The room is simple with concrete walls, some exposed beams and a few overhead lights. She looks directly into the lens with a warm and knowing smile.
“I spent my holiday season in peace, with my fiancé.” she began calmly, “No crowd, no rivals, no opinions screaming at me from every direction telling me who I'm supposed to be, and do you know what I realized?
She paused and took a calculated step forward.
“I realized how loud everybody gets when they think they figured someone out.” she continued. "They cheer for me when I put down Luna Pasilno, stopping her from interfering in Eddie and Carter's match. That was okay with everyone because I was helping the right people fight the right fight.”
She paused, taking another slow step forward.
“But I take out Harper Mason, sign my name in her blood, and suddenly everybody's uncomfortable.” She said with a shrug “Funny how morality works like that. What I find truly funny about it is, had you chosen to sign your name in my blood, they would have loved you for it. They would have chanted your name and tweeted about how badass Harper Mason is.”
She shakes her head and rolls her eyes slightly.
“But because it was me…” she continued “Because I didn't play the part you were comfortable assigning me, suddenly it's a problem.”
She takes another slow step forward.
“Harper, I want you to listen to me very carefully.” she said her tone growing sharp, “This isn't jealousy, or me spiraling because you took something from me once, this is clarity.”
She tilts her head slightly keeping her eyes on the camera.
“You ended my Roulette Championship reign.” she said “The longest one the division has ever seen, and I'm not going to rewrite history or pretend it didn't matter, because it did matter.”
She pauses shortly.
“It mattered because that reign wasn't just wins and defenses.” she continued “It was proof, proof that every sacrifice I made and every night I chose this over comfort, it all meant something. When you took it from me, the world went quiet waiting to see if I would crack and become exactly what they already decided I was.”
She grinned.
“But I didn't.” she said “I recalibrated, figured out what I needed to do to become a champion again and I did it. Unfortunately it had to come at your expense, and you can call that stealing all you want, but the truth is I never stole anything. You still had your opportunity, I just changed the variables and you were unable to adapt.”
She taps her Internet Championship.
“If me turning your singles opportunity into a triple threat really threw you off your game that much.” Victoria continued “Maybe you don't deserve to be a champion, because a champion, a real champion stays ready for anything and a real Champion is always able to recalibrate.”
She knowingly adjusted her championship, running her fingers across the plate letting them linger there a little longer than necessary.
“You see Harper, champions don't live in perfect conditions.” she continued “They don't get straight roads and clear skies, they get chaos and they get moments where the script gets torn up right in front of them. It is in those moments you can either evolve or make excuses.”
Her expression sharpens.
“You want to frame this like I robbed you of something sacred.” she said “Like I corrupted some pure opportunity that was meant to be yours. But that opportunity was never guaranteed, it was conditional and I changed the conditions. That's what you call intelligence.”
She nods slightly.
“That championship reign you ended..” she continued “Everyone will remember the length and the records I set, but what they won't remember are the nights after where my body didn't want to move and the days where the pressure sat so heavy on my chest that breathing felt like work. That reign taught me endurance, but losing it taught me honesty.”
She took another step closer to the camera.
“It taught me that I had wrapped too much of myself around being the example.” she said “I focused too much on making myself the measuring stick, and when you took it from me I realized how dangerous that was. I realized the moment you define yourself by one thing, you make it easy for the world to decide who you are when that thing is gone.”
She straightens up her posture.
“So I refuse to let the world define me by what I lost.” she said “And that's what scares you the most Harper, not the blood or the contract, the fact that I'm no longer tethered to anybody's expectations. I don't need to be the longest reigning anymore. Do I want to be, and am I going to try to be? Absolutely. But I don't —--need—--- to be. I'm not going to be the example of how to do things the right way, I'm going to do things my way because what I need to do is win.”
She pauses.
"You know the difference between the two versions of me?" she continued "The woman you beat, and the one you're going to be standing across from now? The first one wanted to be respected and she got that, but this one? This one wants to be undeniable. So you can call what I did to get into your championship match, theft, or crossing a line, you can call it striving for attention, phrase it however you want. I choose to call it clarity.”
She takes another calculated step forward.
“Clarity.” she repeated “The kind that strips away excuses and doesn't ask for permission. Because once you see things clearly Harper, you stop lying to yourself and you stop pretending this business it's about fairness, or momentum or who deserves what on paper you stop pretending that championships are won by morality plays and good intentions.”
She lifts the Bombshell internet Championship off her shoulder and holds it in front of her.
“This isn't mine because I was patient.” She continued “It's mine because I was decisive, I didn't wait for an invitation, I didn't hope an opportunity would come back around and offer me a reward. I found an opening and I forced the issue.”
She rests the title back in place on her shoulder.
“That's the part that makes people uncomfortable.” Victoria continued “The forcing of the issue, because it reminds them that the difference between —-almost—-- a champion, and a champion is usually someone willing to do what others hesitate to. I didn't wake up one morning and decide to be controversial, I woke up and decided I wasn't going to be passive because passivity is how legacies fade.”
She pauses shortly.
“Some may call me ruthless, and that's fine.” she said “That word exists for a reason, but don't confuse ruthlessness with recklessness. I didn't act without thought, I acted with intention and the intention was this.”
She taps her championship.
“You ended one reign Harper.” Victoria said “But you didn't take my understanding of this business. The woman you beat needed validation and she needed her reign to speak for her, but the woman sitting here now? She IS—--- the justification, and somewhere deep down that scares you because you can't outweigh me anymore, and you can't outlast me hoping I break under the weight of expectation. This championship doesn't weigh me down, it sharpens me. So go ahead and walk into this match telling yourself that you're owed something, and you'll be reclaiming what was stolen because when that bell rings you're not really fighting for justice, you're fighting to prove you can take it from me and that's going to be a much harder fight.”
She adjusts the championship once more.
“So bring all that anger.” she said “Bring every excuse and grievance, whatever you tell yourself to sleep at night because I'm done explaining myself. One thing is for sure Harper, when this is over there won't be any confusion.”
She lets those words hang for a moment.
“When that bell rings it won't be about who people like more.” she continued “Or who the crowd decides fits the role they're most comfortable cheering for, it's about who's prepared to walk in and live with the consequences and I assure you that I already am. You may have beat the version of me that needed to prove she belonged, but now you're about to face the version that knows she does. I will do whatever it takes to leave that ring with this championship on my shoulder.”
She pauses.
“So prepare however you need to.“ she said “But understand this, when you step in the ring with me you're fighting for survival because this year I'm not looking to be remembered fondly, I'm looking to be remembered clearly. I will walk out still the Bombshell Internet Champion and you will still continue running circles chasing championships trying to do things the right way.”
She laughs to herself.
“It must be so exhausting.” she said “Running in circles, convincing yourself that if you do everything the right way the universe will reward you. The hope that if you're patient enough it'll all work out. But the truth is, it won't because this business doesn't reward virtue. It rewards resolve and right now mine is absolute.”
She pauses again.
“So keep chasing permission Harper.” she said “Keep waiting for the perfect moment that tells you it's finally your time, because when you step in the ring with me you will find out what happens when someone stops waiting all together. I promise you, you won't be facing a woman haunted by what she lost, you'll be facing someone who already let go of it and learned how dangerous she can be without it. If you really think I took something from you, that I took this championship from you, than this is your opportunity to make it right, so come take it if you can, but when I walk out still Bombshell Internet Champion you better take a good hard look at yourself and realize what you need to do, what you —-really—- need to do if you want to be a champion around here, because once again I know I'm willing to do whatever it takes.”
She winks at the camera with a knowing grin as everything fades to black.
