The Pathway to Victory

A meeting is taking place in one of the back rooms of the Lyons Den, hosted by PWE’s own Victoria Lyons, as she attempts yet again to draw her family members to her cause. Vincent of course is there by her side. Sitting down, looking rather annoyed and wondering why he even showed is Eddie Lyons, and back in the corner by himself is their other cousin who is currently employed by former PWE affiliate PWS, Alexander Lyons. A young girl silently walks up to Eddie and Alex offering refreshments and snacks, as Victoria steps to a podium, clearing her throat before speaking.

‘Ahem..” she coughed, “Welcome fellow members of The Lyons Dynasty. Please relax, Amanda has some kool-aid and tea sandwiches for everyone. My mother, that’s your aunt made them for us.”

“What’s this about?” snarled Alex, the oldest of the four Lyons in the room “Because I really don’t have the time.”

“It’s just a meeting of family Alex.” Victoria said with a dark smile.

“I have a family.” Alex spat back

“Who?” Victoria said with a slight laugh, “You mean Sanders and his little group. You really think they give a damn about you? Didn’t one of them recently turn his back on you guys?”

“ANTITHESIS is my family, they accepted me long before any of you did.” Alex replied, “As for what Tyson Sykes did…we’ll handle him. We don’t need your help, and we don’t need help from that goody-two-shoes over there.”

“But Alex,” smiled Victoria, “If Tyson left, then who do you think Sanders sees as the bottom of the totem pole now? That Dionysus guy? They’ve been to close for too long. Then there’s his wife Alexandra, who is apparently your new queen…another matter we must discuss, but still do you really think he would chose you over his wife? Highly doubtful.”

Alex scrunches his nose, he knows Vitoria brings up some good points.

“Still, they need me. Sanders came to ME for help. Not the other way around.” Alex replied.

“Wake up Alex.” Victoria replied, “You are just a tool to them. An animal they can keep caged until they’re ready to release his rage. But with ME as your queen, your Head Lyoness will allow you to roam free and do as you will.”

“So all you ask is I serve another queen?” said Alex, “But are you even the head of this family anymore? I’m the eldest, and my father owns The Lyons Den now, because Eddies father chose to retire and your father is dead. So if you ask me. I am next in line for head of the family.”

“Get out.” Victoria said, furrowing her brow, “Go serve your false queen Alexandra. But when the day comes when they push you out, you’ll come to me wishing you had taken action first like Tyson Sykes did.”

Alex angrily stands up, tossing his cup to the ground and for a moment him and Victoria glare daggers at each other, before he decides the better of it and exits the room.

“I don’t need any of this.” he muttered on his way out.

“Looks like your having recruitment trouble.” Eddie smirked, “Are we really gonna do this again? I just want you to leave me alone.”

“But being alone isn’t good for you.” Victoria replied, “Maybe if you had accepted our help, you would have won your match, and better yet had some backup when you went after Finn and Sybill later that night. You have no friends Eddie and in this business you need friends.”

“I don’t want the kind of friends that take shortcuts.” said Eddie, “I want to win, and lose on my own merit and because of the both of you I lost my focus and my match. Do you really think I want to join up with you after that? I don’t know how many times I need to tell you this, but LEAVE ME ALONE. I have no interest in whatever little cult your trying to build, and I can handle myself.”

“Cult?” said Victoria feigning surprise, “It’s not a cult. I’m trying to build a family here, I’m trying to save people. I figured someone as honorable as yourself would want to help the less fortunate. Don;t you want to put an end to all this social conditioning going on in the world? Don’t you want to help the less fortunate”

“Help them, sure if that’s what you want to call it.” Eddie said shaking his head “I’ll have you know Cleo Phillips actually helps the less fortunate. Maybe you should take tips from her on how to properly help people.”

“Maybe she can give me tips on how lose the PWS World Championship to Mike Hawk too.” Victoria replied with a laugh, she looked to Vincent who also laughed.

“Look if all this is is another recruitment drive, then just quit while your ahead.” said Eddie. “You know my answer. Just stay out of my business, I can handle myself. I’m done here. Tell Aunt Kristen thanks for the drinks and sandwiches.”

Victoria looks on angrily as Eddie makes his exit.

“Well if they won’t support their family, their real family we’ll have to leave them behind.” Victoria said to Vincent, “Those two are just jealous that I’m the only one in contendership for a championship.”

“One you will win, and maybe then they will see you as the leader you are.” Vincent replied.

“Certainly, and come Victory. I’ll make sure Angel and Alexander understand as well.” Victoria replied. “Come Vincent, Come Amanda. There’s work to be done.”

There would be no convincing her insolent cousins, Alex preferring to stick beside his supposed new family, and Eddie sticking with his blind sense of honor. Both of them were being foolish as far as the twins were concerned, but Victoria decided perhaps it was time to let them dig their own graves. The day will come when Alex’s supposed family show their true colors, and honor is the downfall of many men. No longer would they stand in her way, no longer could she waste precious time on them. She had her own path to pave, and her own championship to win.

---

In a shadowed room, Victoria sits on a diapalated chair, on either side is an effigy of her upcoming opponents, Angel and Alexander Hate, they eyes on each are poked out and have X’s drawn where the eyes would be.

“Change is upon us all.” she said through her putrid lips, “Change in a world that has failed people like us, people like myself, people like Angel and people like Alexander Hate. Both of them know this world has fallen into too much chaos to be allowed to continue. They know that we as humanity have failed, and it’s time for a cleansing. Look at what this world did to Alexander, a man so fueled by hate, so fueled by the unfair hand dealt to him in life that he made it into who he was, so much that it became his name.”

A slight shift in her posture on the chair as she turns to face the effigy of Alexander as she continues speaking.

“It’s not fair, the life you were forced to live. Understand you were the victim Alexander.” she said with an evil sense of motivation, “Born into a cruel world that wanted to spit you back out. But you never let that get to you, did you Alexander? No. You used it to fuel yourself further, you embraced it and it made you into quite the warrior, just…not quite good enough.”

She shakes her head, showing her disappointment.

“You could be so much better, but you haven’t yet learned to fully embrace the hatred that dwells within you, you still hold at least some sense of honor, and until you learn to fully embrace that hatred you will always just be middle of the road, always wondering why you can’t reach that next level.” continued Victoria, “I can teach you to fully embrace the hatred, fully let that darkness that you keep suppressed out so it can breathe. It can be such a beautiful thing when you do. Isn’t that right Angel?”

She smirked a delightfully evil smirk as she quickly gave a shifted glance at the effigy of Angel.

“I’ll get to you dearie” she said, “We have a little more to talk about after all.”

She giggled like a creepy child from a horror movie, as her gaze turned back to Alexander.

“As we were Mr Hate.” she continued, “You could be so much more powerful, but you refuse to truly let yourself loose. Don’t be like my cousin Eddie, use the kendo stick. Show your opponent no mercy. You need to learn that it doesn’t matter how it’s done, as long as in the end you are the winner. It’s a tragic weakness, and one that I and likely Angel as well are going to exploit.”

She pauses for a moment, as thoughts gather in her cruel twisted mind.

“You are nothing more than a lamb for the slaughter anyway.” she remarked, “Angel still seems focused on Lachlan and has forgotten who her next championship contender is. It’s my job to make sure she realizes that what’s coming her way is something more dangerous than shes faced before, because when she looks at me she knows its almost like looking into a mirror. You are just an innocent little lamb put between us, for the two of us to slaughter. Your precious little face will be left permanently scarred, and if Angel doesn’t become a thing of your nightmares, I definitely will. Point is, you’re going in there with two remarkable ladies who have both shed their former, weaker skins in favor of their new stronger, darker ones. Until you decide to full shed your own shell, and truly embrace that hatred that dwells within you,, truly embrace that darkness that l spoke of before you will simply never be strong enough. Come Victory, you are going to witness first hand how much more powerful the darkness can make someone, and maybe then you will open your eyes. I might even be willing to let you join The Pride someday.”

She smiles devilishly, and winks at the effigy as she stands to give it a kiss on the cheek, before shifting her eyes back over to Angel.

“Well, well well.” said Victoria, pacing around the scarecrow effigy, “It’s getting closer isn’t it? Closer to where you’re going to be forced to notice me, forced to look in a mirror at a reflection of yourself. Lachlan Kane should be the least of your concerns if you want to keep that championship, because there’s a lioness on the prowl, and you are the one she’s hunting.”

With a smile, she pats Angel on the shoulder.

“In another life we could have been friends, we both share a desire for destruction, we both enjoy our new lives in the darkness, and I did admit you using Lachlan's old friend Eddy against him was truly a thing of beauty.” She says with a hint of haunting glee, “But we’re stuck here, in this cruel disgusting world. The same world that made us into what we are, and the same world that must be destroyed.”

She moves back to take a seat on the chair, posturing herself to still be looking at Angel

“This world that rejects people like us, because they fear people like us Angel.” Victoria continued, “They expect us to follow a certain society norm so they don’t feel uncomfortable. Those same people will also preach to be yourself. But they don’t like us being ourselves to they Angel? But we just throw it back at them don’t we? We are who we are, and we happen to love who we’ve become. After all, they’re the ones being controlled.”

She pauses for a moment, taking in a deep breath.

“They’re the ones following the norm that society dictates to them. They’re the ones who prioritize material belongings over truth. They think they have free will, they think they have a choice, but the algorithms are put in place to secretly keep them under control.” said Victoria, “Then they all go have babies who gro up doing the same thing, the babies who will go through the same schools, learning the same curriculum designed to keep them stupid, and once they become adults they put all the stupidity on TV and call it the news.”

She shakes her head slightly, showing her disappointment.

“We need a change don’t we Angel?” Victoria continued, “We need to make the world better, so we don’t have to live in this Orwellian Nightmare anymore. We need to destroy the homosapien. The weak minded ones that have allowed themselves to become like they are. They love their machines, but have you ever asked between man and machine…who’s really the drone these days?”

She takes another moment to pause for air.

“I need that championship you have Angel. That’s what this is about. I actually kinda like you, I dig your style.” Victoria continued, “But you have something I need. You have the Victory championship. I am going to create a new world, a better world. But I need a symbol, something that shows power and that symbol is the Victory championship. I will do this, I must do this. I must show the people that I am the one that will lead them to their new salvation and I am the one that will help them reach enlightenment. The worst thing you can do is take me lightly.”

A shift in her tone, she seems slightly more serious.

“I am your next challenge Angel and it’s time you take notice of me.” she growled “I am far more dangerous than anyone ever gives me credit for and it’s getting old. Once I become Victory Champion, then everyone will be forced to give me the credit I deserve, then they will understand I am a threat to their championships, a threat to their careers and a threat to their lives. See Angel, if you aren’t with The Pride, with MY family then as much as I like you, I must deem you the enemy. After all…there can only be one dark queen, and she’s no Angel. She’s a lioness.”

She does one of those creepy giggles again, before turning to look straight at the camera.

“Alexander and Angel.” she smiled, “The next two victims. While it just might be the end for ol’ Alexander, this will be a mere preview of what Angel needs to expect when we meet for that championship. I am going to show her who the fuck I am, and if Alexander gets in the way of that then I’ll take care of him as well. I promise, both of you will…..HEAR ME ROAR.”

Behind her, Vincent appears, bearing a torch, which he uses to ignite both of the scarecrow effigies. He then stands behind Victoria, as she smiles devilishly into the camera, illuminated by the fires on both sides of her. The sounds of Ave Maria played on a piano are heard, as the scene fades to black.

---

Victoria has called for a meeting of The Pride, so she can speak to the people that have chosen to follow her wisdom, their numbers were small at the moment but she had to start somewhere, from her podium she looked over the small pattering of less than ten people that had decided to make the commune their new home away from home.

“Good morning Sheeple.” she began, “I am Victoria, your Head Lyoness here at The Pridelands, and I welcome you as members of my family, as members of The Pride. You have all made the first step to enlightenment and freedom from the chains that society has kept you in.”

“Hello Victoria.” the crowd replied in unison.

“I first want to thank Sister Amanda, for all her hard work. She was the first to join the cause, well the second if you count Elder Vincent, but Sister Amanda was the first of you to step up and make the change, and it’s time she was rewarded. Amanda, can you come up here please?” she said

A young brunette stands from her seat with a nod, and walks up to the stage, Vincent helps guide her to Victoria's side.

“Amanda has done well the past few weeks, serving The Pride honorably and without question, and for this, I grant her rank of Nalaite. This means when myself or Vincent are not around, she will be running the day to day here at The Pridelands.” said Victoria

Amanda's eyes widen, as she smiles, “It is a great honor Head Lyoness, I will not let you down.” she said.

“You understand, this rank means you must remain here at The Pridelands, you must keep our base of operations in order, while Vincent and myself travel with PWE.” explained Victoria, “You will run the community, and maybe someday with even more hard work you can achieve the rank of Elder.”

Amanda nods, “I understand.”

Victoria smiles back at Amanda, “Very good then! Lets all give her some applause, shall we?”

A smattering of applause is heard.

“Please follow Elder Vincent, he will take you to the next step in your advancement.” Victoria said, as Vincent all but forced the young girl Amanda to follow him for further instructions.

“If the rest of you work as hard as Amanda, one day perhaps you too can reach the rank of Nalaite.” she said speaking back to the crowd once more. “For now, just watch and learn from her while your Elders are away. You are at home here. We are your friends.”

Victoria wears a smile, as she speaks with great fervor.

“You already took the first step to your enlightenment.” she continued, “You have cast away your electronic devices, as per our second tenant of the manifesto. The first tenant of which is of course, is the word of NOVA is final, even the elders must obey NOVA. For it is her who guided me into the darkness in the first place, NOVA is the one who has put me on this path. NOVA can save us all, we just have to remember her word is final.”

She looks around, just observing some of the people.

“The manifesto is still being written, but this is what NOVA has said to me.” Victoria continued, “I too am being tested and NOVA doesn’t want to see me fail her, or any of us. But I still need to prove that I am the chosen warrior she needs, and I will do that by bringing us the Victory championship! The relic will be brought into our family, and our cause will grow ever stronger. Remember, we are the enlightened ones and they are all just afraid of the truth!”

That gets some cheers and claps from the crowd.

“My quest for the Victory relic continues at Riot, where I will make Alexander truly embrace his own inner hate, which he may think fuels him, but he truly hasn’t embraced it. He’s the type of guy who will be told to FINISH HIM, but is unable to pull off the fatality due to some moral qualms he keeps buried inside all that hatred.” she cackled, “And Angel, sweet Angel. She will learn who her true contender is, as your Head Lyoness strikes out of nowhere to show her the very real threat to her championship that’s just on the horizon. They’re not just gong up against me. I am going to carry the spirit of all of us into battle, because we are in fact….”

The crowd responds accordingly, “STRONGER TOGETHER.”

Victoria nods with a smile, raising a fist to the sky as the crowd does the same., chanting her name, as she looks on with pride.

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