Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Joe takes a deep breath as he looks out the car's window. He twiddled his thumbs together, letting his thoughts run free for the moment. He always thought car rides were the most peaceful and relaxing time, especially when you’re not the driver. It was his comfort zone, a place where he could let his imagination run free and ideas flow. He needed a little alone time before he arrived at his destination.

He looked forward at the window that separated him from the driver. The driver was bathed in darkness, Joe couldn’t make out any facial features. He thought it was rather odd that he had to be escorted like this in a black car with the windows blacked out. It made him feel a little special, although it seemed a little overboard for a party.

This was a party for a lot of wrestlers. Most of them were WWE, but Joe had the privilege of being one of the few non-WWE wrestlers invited. Hell, he was the only TNA wrestler invited. From what he heard, there were going to be 80 wrestlers there, but that’s just what he knew. 80 was still a lot to get together all in one place, and Joe at least knew that some of them had to be people he knew, so why not go for a night of partying where he could enjoy himself? Plus the invite claimed it was for the ‘promotion and fundraising of important research of the human psyche’, and who could say no to charity? Not Joe!

The car began slowing down as Joe’s mind snapped back to reality, and he noticed the mansion where the party was meant to take place. It was certainly grandiose, it looked like something the Addams Family would live in if they weren’t in love with the creepy gothic aesthetic. Joe was taken slightly aback at the sight. He knew it’d be a nice place, but this nice? And in the middle of the woods no less?

The car came to a complete stop. Joe noticed two guards at the door, however, they didn’t seem like the typical bodyguards you’d see at an event like this. They looked more like they were part of a SWAT team, fully armored in riot gear with a shield in one hand and a gun in the other. It made Joe feel a little uncomfortable, but he figured they just wanted to make sure everyone was safe. Another man opened up the door as Joe finished his thought, and this one looked more like a butler, as he expected.

“Mr. Hendry.” The butler spoke. “It is an honor to have you here. Please, right this way.” The butler motioned to the doors, which the guards opened as Joe stepped out from the car. Light poured out like a tidal wave, blinding Joe for a brief moment as he stepped inside. Once his eyes adjusted, he was in awe at how much bigger it seemed on the inside.

The light came from a decadent chandelier that hung from the ceiling, the crystal glowing vibrantly over a grandiose staircase. The red carpet on the staircase cascaded down to the hard wooden floor, which stretched for what seemed like miles. The walls were a subtle white color, decorated with paintings of men and women of grandeur. If it wasn’t a painting, it was something made of gold like a golden sword or a golden spear.

Joe then noticed the people. His fellow wrestlers. They looked like they could be in a painting alongside the other grand portraits on the walls. Some people there were people he was somewhat acquainted with, others he only ever saw on screen or social media. He felt like a fish out of water, everyone else had at least one other person they knew well, but Joe didn’t seem to have any.

He jumped upon hearing the doors shut behind him and quickly looked back after the bang rang out. When he turned again, he noticed the eyes watching him. Most of the expressions were unreadable. He thought they might be saying, 'What’s this guy doing here?’ He was the only TNA wrestler invited. Sure, he did stuff on NXT, but he was TNA to his very core. He figured everyone else knew that too, even the NXT wrestlers. After a moment he noticed that almost everyone had looked away, going back to their conversations. Joe began walking further into the mansion, hoping there’d be something or someone that would make this a little less awkward.

His eyes immediately drifted to the bar. Typically he wouldn’t care that much about a bar or a pub, he drank but it wasn’t a lot, but the bar was manned by something that wasn’t a man. It was a machine, a pair of robotic arms. It made Joe curious, and the champion had to get a drink if it meant interacting with the cool bartender bot. He took a seat up at the bar, noticing an iPad with the selections on it. Joe decided to go simple with his drink, a classic pint of Guinness. He tapped on the picture of his desired drink, and almost immediately the machine sprung into life. One arm grabbed a glass and brought it up to a tap, while the other arm began pouring out the drink. For as simple as the action was, Joe thought it was so cool watching a robot pour out a beer.

The bartender bot set the pint down in front of Joe. It was the most beautiful pint of Guinness Joe had ever seen. There was a healthy chunk of foam at the top, and none of it spilled out of the glass despite the glass being filled as much as it could. It was almost too good to drink, but Joe wanted a taste no matter how amazing it looked. He carefully took the pint in his hand, brought it up to his lips, and gently poured the liquid into his waiting mouth. He took a moment to savor the taste and he couldn’t lie; it tasted much better served by a robot.

Joe set the drink on the bar, having satisfied his curiosity. Suddenly, he felt a hand grab onto his shoulder. I was rough and calloused, not helping Joe identify who it was.

“I had a feeling ye were gonna be here, fella!” The voice the hand connected to exclaimed. Of course, it didn’t take long for Joe to realize who it was after that.

“Sheamus! Ya scared me, I thought I was about to get thrown through the bar!” Joe joked. He was more than happy to see Sheamus. The Celtic Warrior had tried defending him during the Royal Rumble, and while they didn’t get to talk much outside the ring, they’d gotten to chatting on Twitter and Joe liked Sheamus.

“Ye’re durable, it wouldn’t kill ya!” Sheamus retorted with a grin. “How ya doin’, fella?”

“Much better now that I see your stupid grin!” Joe chuckled.

“Stupid, huh?”

“Not you, just the grin.”

“I’ll have ye know that my grin has a degree in engineerin’!”

“Oh yeah, what’s its alma mater?”

“Strathclyde!”

“Yer grin didn’t go to Strathclyde!”

“It's got the degree ta prove it!”

Both men begin laughing at their absurd back and forth. Joe was glad to have someone there he enjoyed talking to finally, and he was glad it was someone who matched his energy. “Well, what about ye? How are ya?” Joe asked.

“Pretty good. Mostly been chatting up some old friends.” Sheamus claimed. “But, I had to make time fer my new friend! I’m surprised ye’re the only TNA person out here.”

“Yeah! Pretty cool huh?” Joe noted. “Might’ve been because of the NXT stuff, but whatever. Kinda feel out of place though. I mean, I don’t really have a big relationship with any of the NXT guys.”

“I hear ya, but hey, that just means you can meet some new people!” Sheamus insisted.

“That’s a good way to look at it.” Joe nodded.

“In fact, I can introduce ye to some people now!” Sheamus exclaimed. Having done Celtic Warrior Workouts for so long, Sheamus was familiar with a surprising amount of people at the party. Joe smiled as he allowed the tall Irishman to grab him by the arm and practically drag him from the bar. Joe quickly downed the rest of his perfect drink and set the glass on the bar right before he got dragged. With Sheamus’s enthusiasm, Joe could tell it was going to be a good night.

—

Roman had his leg crossed over the other, arms crossed as well, as he stared into nothing. He wasn’t sure why he accepted the invitation to this stupid party, he didn’t want to go. From what he knew, there were a ton of people there he didn’t want to see unless it was pinned in the ring. Jey and Jimmy he was fine with, at this point, he wasn’t on horrible terms with either of them despite everything, but then you have Jacob and Solo. Those two he wasn’t thrilled to see. And Seth… It was such a pain any time he had to see that man’s face.

He knew that it was more than just them there who’d possibly want a piece of him, but those were just the people he knew were going to be there. He felt like he was overreacting, but he had nightmares before tonight. He always had nightmares, but these felt too real to ignore. He was standing there, frozen and powerless. He couldn’t move as he watched someone being torn limb from limb, stabbed, bludgeoned, maimed. He couldn’t tell who was the victim, but he could always see the face of the attacker as it happened. Every night, it was someone different, one night it’d be Drew Mcintyre, the next it’d be Seth Rollins, the night after that it was Jacob Fatu, and after that, it’d be Cody Rhodes. He’d never know who’d be doing it next, but every time it went the same way. The attacker would grab the victim’s head, yelling out ‘Your reign of terror is over!’ and begin ripping it off with their bare hands, the victim screaming and screaming and screaming until it finally came off. Then the attacker would hold it up like a trophy, and Roman could finally see who the victim was.

It was his head, frozen in time with pain and fear, staring back at him. He would never admit it, but it terrified him. He had nightmares, but this one felt so real. It felt more like a prophecy than it did a simple nightmare and the fact he didn’t know who the real culprit would be made him weary. He had no idea if it would happen and who to avoid so it never would.

He felt a hand placed on his shoulder. Looking down to his side, he was greeted by the face of Paul Heyman. “You don’t have to talk to anyone, you just have to make your rounds, and we’ll be out of there in less than an hour.” The Wise man reassured Roman. Roman must have looked tense, although Paul always seemed to sense what Roman was feeling. Roman felt he owed something to Paul, he sacrificed so much for Roman, even as the True Bloodline fell apart at the seams. Through thick and thin, Paul still stuck by him, even if it was going to mean certain death, but Roman still kept his nightmare from Paul.

The car came to a stop right before the entrance. A butler opened up the door to the car. “Mr. Reigns.” The butler spoke. “It is an honor to have you here. Please, right this way.” The butler motioned to the doors, which the guards opened as Roman and Paul stepped out from the car. Roman didn’t question how fortified the guards seemed to be. He figured with how much star power was in the building, it was a safety concern. Roman passed by with Paul following, but before Paul could get passed the doors, the guards stepped in front of him, stopping him from entering.

“Excuse me!” Paul called out, causing Roman to turn back around. “I apologize, but I am the Chief’s Wise man. I have to go in with him!” even with Paul’s protests, the guards didn’t budge. Roman quickly went back, pushing past the guards.

“If he’s not allowed in, I won’t either!” Roman proclaimed. The guards looked at each other, clearly not knowing what to do.

“Gentlemen.” A voice spoke up. Paul and Roman looked back to see it was the butler, his hand over his ear. He seemed to be getting commands from an earpiece. “Please allow Mr. Heyman to enter with Mr. Reigns. Direct orders.”

The guards nodded and stepped out of the way, allowing Roman and Paul to enter without any more problems. Roman took a glance around as the door slammed shut behind them. Everyone seemed to notice what had happened, but no one said a word about it, at least not to Roman… Well, almost no one.

“Damn, getting kicked out already?” A voice called out. Roman looked over to see Jimmy, Jey, and Naomi sitting on a couch, with Jimmy having his arm wrapped around Naomi. “You haven’t even gotten to try the food yet!”

Roman couldn’t help but softly smirk. The Usos never failed to amuse him, even after being forced out of The Bloodline. Roman went over with Paul trailing behind. “I’m surprised they kept you two here.”

Jimmy chuckled. “They love me here. Not sure about Jey, though.” Jimmy joked. Usually Roman expected some sort of quip from Jey, but the younger twin was oddly quiet. He stared off into the distance, and as Roman followed Jey’s gaze, it seemed to conveniently land on one Rhea Rhipley as she talked to Damian Priest. Roman couldn’t help but chuckle at Jey’s obvious feelings. He was never exactly subtle about anything, love included, but he wasn’t gonna tease Jey about it, at least not yet, he’s sure Jimmy already did that enough.

“They don’t love you, they love your wife.” Roman joked as he sat between the Usos, which seemed to break Jey's trance.

“Oh don't try flattering me, Roman.” Naomi piped up with a laugh.

“He's not wrong,” Jimmy stated with a shrug. “Still doesn't explain why they let Jey in.”

“They like me!” Jey insisted. “I mean it'd be awkward if they didn't let the Royal Rumble winner into the party!”

“Okay fine, I'll give you that.” Jimmy scoffed as he playfully rolled his eyes. “Anyway, why’d they try throwing you out, cuz?”

“They didn’t, they tried throwing Paul out,” Roman claimed, with Paul nodding.

“Thankfully, it seems the butler knocked a little sense into the guards,” Paul added.

“Hm. Wonder why they didn’t want you to bring Paul with you.” Jimmy commented.

“A mystery of the world we’ll probably never know!” Jey exclaimed, clearly joking around.

“It was… odd,” Roman admitted. “The butler was talking to someone through an earpiece. Maybe the host? He also said to let Paul in because of ‘direct orders’.”

“Well, it’s a charity event, right?” Jimmy stated. “Plus the guards are pretty heavily armored…”

“It just struck me as weird.” Roman shrugged.

“It’s probably nothing,” Naomi claimed. “I’m sure it’s just the host wanting everything to go as planned.”

“Who even is the host?” Jey questioned.

“According to the invitation,” Paul explained. “It’s a man named Eddie Von Price. He’s a wealthy investor and donates generously to the WWE.”

“He’s clearly got cash, look at this place!” Jimmy exclaimed, raising his hands to gesture to the grandiose setting. “I gotta thank him for inviting us for the food alone!”

“Is the food all you think about?” Naomi questioned with an eyebrow raised.

“It’s good food!” Jimmy responded.

Roman chuckled at Jimmy’s enthusiasm over the food, but within he felt off. Something, he wasn’t sure what, but something filled him with a sense of dread. A storm was coming, and the new and true bloodlines may be in danger.

—

The doors opened up once again as Liv and Dominik entered. Liv hugged Dom’s arm, a huge smile on her face as the two entered and immediately began mingling. Rhea looked on, a look of frustration clear on her face. She wasn’t frustrated at Liv or Dominik for what had happened, she was frustrated at herself for not being over it.

“You sure you don’t care about Dom?” Damian piped up, noticing Rhea’s gaze wander towards the happy couple.

“I’m not sure, that’s the problem!” Rhea exclaimed, turning her attention back to Damian. “I just… every time I finally get him out of my head, I see Liv hugging and kissing him, and it pisses me off. I don’t want to make them jealous, but I wish there was a guy I could go to that would just make me forget about them.”

Damian’s eyes briefly flickered to Jey before going back to Rhea. “Try not to focus on it too much. I mean, that guy might be closer than you think.”

“Yeah? Well, he better get here soon. Not sure how much more I can take watching all… that.” Rhea stated as she gestured toward Liv and Dom. Damian went to comment again but was cut off when someone bumped into him. It wasn't a simple bump though, it was fully intentional and almost knocked Damian off his feet.

“Watch it!” Damian called out immediately. Once he turned, he saw a pair of blue eyes glaring back at him. “...Nice to see you, Drew.”

“Can't say the same for you, Priest.” Drew growled out in response before walking away. As Drew walked, Damian noticed Drew had his sword Angela with him, held in a holster wrapped around his waist. Damian raised an eyebrow. That was certainly a weird item to decide to bring to a party.

“What’s his problem?” Rhea questioned.

“Oh, the bastard is still upset about the elimination chamber,” Damian claimed, rolling his eyes. “He’s been taking any shot he can ever since. I honestly thought he’d be more childish but… Why does he have the sword with him?”

“Big guy always takes it with him to these big events. They cracked down on him using it in the ring, so he decided to use it anywhere he could.” Rhea explained.

“Can I say pathetic?” Damian questioned.

“I was being nice about it, but yeah.” Rhea nodded. That’s when she noticed someone approaching out of the corner of her eye. Rhea turned to see a tiny wrestler. She was a Japanese wrestler, one Rhea had seen but had never spoken to since she had always stuck to Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling, and was the only wrestler who was strictly from a Japanese Promotion.

“Hello!” She spoke up, both Rhea and Damian having their attention on her. “My name is Mizuki.” She introduced, bowing to Rhea and Damian.

“Oh yeah, you’re from TJPW.” Damian nodded. “I’m Damian Priest, this is Rhea Ripley.”

“Pleasure to meet you, mate.” Rhea bowed to Mizuki, with Damian following her lead.

“It’s an honor to meet you both!” Mizuki exclaimed, a bright smile on her face. “I’ve seen both of you in the ring, you’re amazing wrestlers!”

“I can say the same to you. You’re a natural at this.” Rhea responded.

“Thank you!” Mizuki giggled. Rhea couldn’t deny Mizuki was adorable. She never thought someone like her would ever want to be in the ring, but she was glad Mizuki was just for how talented the girl was. “I was looking around for you for a while. I finally wanted to meet the original Judgement Day! You’re both incredible!”

Rhea and Damian looked at each other with a smile. Rhea was glad someone was more excited to meet them than they were on the current Judgement Day. “Oh, we’re gonna be friends.” Damian stated calmly.

—

Drew sat down on the couch, crossing his arms. He didn’t want to be here, he had no real reason. Sheamus just happened to convince him it was a good idea, so Drew accepted the invitation on the condition he could bring his sword, Angela, with him. It seemed the host was excited for Drew to have it with him, at least someone did.

He tugged at his kilt slightly, trying to make sure it covered him up. Drew was not exactly dainty, it was hard for him to sit with his legs closed, and so wearing a kilt could be slightly dangerous when he was trying to be decent in public.

“You couldn’t have worn pants for once, huh?” A voice rang out, teasing the Scotsman. Drew looked up, seeing none other than CM Punk leaning onto the couch, a smug shit eating grin spread across his face. Oh, how Drew longed to punch that stupid face, that stupid… rugged… handsome… what?

“Fuck off.” Drew softly growled, looking away from Punk.

“Sorry, but I just got here.” Punk stated. “Well, not just, I got here and then your bestie swarmed me with… well if I said his name, he’d appear.”

“Great.” Drew scoffed. “I don’t think Sheamus knows I’m here yet-”

“If he did, you wouldn’t look like you’re about to pass out on that couch.” Punk cut off Drew as he went around to sit next to Drew.

“Yer really testin’ yer luck tonight, aren’t ya?” Drew sneered.

“Admit it, you missed me.” Punk teased.

“Not in a million years!”

“Come on…”

“Ye’ve lost yer mind!”

“You’re obsessed with me.”

“I am not obsessed with ya!”

“You don’t think I see the way you watch me in the ring?”

“With hatred?”

“With obsession.”

“Ye’re an arsehole.”

“I know I am, what does that make you?”

“Fuck off!”

“Not until you admit it!”

“Never!”

“Then I guess I’m never fucking off!”

Drew glared into Punk’s gaze, his bright blue eyes attempting to pierce Punk’s dark brown ones as he did with Damian, but Punk wasn’t so easily moved, instead staring back with equal intensity. “Ye love to push buttons.”

“Yours specifically.” Punk grinned.

“What about Seth’s?”

“Seth pushes his own buttons, I just gotta tell him to, but you? It’s almost like a game.”

“Yer makin’ it sound like yer the one obsessed here.”

“So what if I am? I can admit it at least.”

“I’m not obsessed.”

“You are.”

“I'm not.”

“I can see it in your eyes.”

“I don’t look at ye any differently than anyone else!”

“That's what you think.”

“Did ya just come here to harass me?!”

“Mostly.”

“I fucking hate you.”

“You want to kiss me so bad.”

“I hope ye die.”

“No, you don't.”

“Yes, I do!”

“You'd go to my funeral.”

“To piss on yer grave.”

“You'd try kissing me.”

“Why would I kiss a dead body?!”

“To try some Disney bullshit.”

“Oh that's it, I'm leaving!” Drew sprung up from the couch, beginning to storm towards the doors.

“Wait! Don't you wanna give me a goodbye kiss?!” Punk cackled as he chased after Drew. Drew's face was flushed red, though it was unclear whether or not it was out of anger or embarrassment. Punk figured it was a mix of both.

Drew's footsteps were heavy as he stormed the door. He reached out, but as he was reaching, Punk heard a strange noise. He looked up to see a metal barricade beginning to come crashing down, and Drew was right in the way. Punk quickly grabbed Drew and pulled him away from the door, right as the barrier slammed only centimeters from Drew's face. The noise echoed through the room, causing everyone to stop whatever they were doing to look at what happened.

“What the hell?!” Drew shouted out, backing away from the barrier. Any other open window or escape to the outside held the same fate, metal barriers slamming down left and right. Panicked murmurs began filling the room.

“Does this usually happen at these kinds of parties?” Joe questioned, looking at the Irishman with clear worry on his face.

“I’m pretty sure it’s not,” Sheamus claimed.

Both Uso twins looked to Roman, as if he might have had something to do with it or if he knew how to fix it. It was sort of an old habit for them to look to Roman whenever something big was happening. Roman rose to his feet, immediately becoming defensive in case something was about to attack.

Damian placed a hand on Rhea’s shoulder and one on Mizuki’s shoulder, though Rhea was quick to shove it off. She could protect herself in a situation like this.

“What did you do?!” Punk exclaimed.

“Why are ye accusin’ me of doin’ it?!” Drew retorted

As the room descended into panic and fear, a long ringing tone eventually silenced the crowd. It seemed to be coming from a speaker, and a man’s voice would ring out over the building.

“Welcome to the Von Price Estate. You will all be participating in an experiment to promote the research of the human psyche. Stage One will begin now. There are currently 80 of you in the building. In half an hour, two of you must be killed, otherwise there will be serious consequences."

And just like that, the intercom clicked off. There was an immediate mix of reactions. Some reacted in confusion, others in fear, and some began to laugh as though it was a sick joke at the expense of the wrestlers.

Joe and Sheamus looked at each other. Joe was one of the panicked ones, looking up at Sheamus as though maybe the ginger had an explanation for the madness, but Sheamus was just as stunned as he was.

Jimmy wrapped his arm tighter around Naomi, while Jey almost grabbed onto his brother, but kept his hands to himself. Roman looked to Paul, who kept a straight face as he nodded to Roman as if talking to him telepathically.

Rhea and Damian chuckled a bit, both believing it was a joke. I mean, even if it was real, how could you get a bunch of wrestlers here and expect them to just kill each other with no motivation other than an empty threat? Mizuki was not as laid back, twiddling her thumbs nervously. She was unfamiliar with everyone here, so she had no idea if anyone would follow through on the command.

Drew would also laugh at the announcement. It was ridiculous to him, although he didn’t seem to notice some of the eyes warily drawn to his sword. Punk went to investigate the metal barrier, trying to see how strong it was or if there was any way to get it open again.

“Everyone!” Roman called out, standing up on the couch. “Remain calm!” he called out, although some seemed to either not be listening.

“YOUR TRIBAL CHIEF IS SPEAKING!!!!” Paul called out, finally getting the full attention of everyone in the room.

“I understand that no one knows what’s happening, and while the announcement could be a joke, we have to take this seriously,” Roman explained. “So, no one is leaving this room until we figure it out. We’re going to focus on getting this barrier up and out of the way, so we need as many hands as possible! In the meantime, if you’re not helping, then try to at least relax.”

“Who put you in charge exactly?” A voice called out. Roman looked over to see none other than Seth Rollins.

“Do you have any ideas, Rollins?” Roman sneered.

“Listen to The Tribal Chief when he’s speaking.” Paul warned. Seth rolled his eyes, but he kept quiet.

“Right, any other objections?” Roman called out. Most of the other wrestlers stayed quiet. “Good, let’s get started.”

Everyone began scattering around, either going to the metal barrier to try and help pry it open, or to stay out of the way of those trying to open the barrier. No one dared to try and walk out of the room, mostly out of fear of either getting killed or getting on Roman’s bad side. Roman stepped down from the couch, watching as everyone followed his orders.

“You think you’ll keep control?” A voice asked. Roman looked to his side to see Solo standing next to him.

“For a while,” Roman admitted, being surprisingly cool-headed with the fake tribal chief. “But with how some of these people are, it won’t last.”

“Why do you try so hard to be this high and mighty man?” Solo questioned.

“Aren’t you trying to steal my birthright?” Roman hissed out.

“I mean that… you control everyone, not because you’re “the Tribal Chief”, but because you want to be in control.” Solo pointed out.

Roman thought about it for a moment. “It doesn’t matter. Besides, this is serious. No one leading could result in someone dying.”

Solo nodded. “I’ll go get Jacob. We’ll work on getting the wall down. We’ll set the bloodline to the side for now, at least until we get that door open.”

Roman’s eyes widened in surprise, but he nodded. “Good. We need as much help as possible.”

Solo walked away, leaving Roman by himself as Paul came up to him. “Are you alright, my Tribal Chief?” Paul asked. Roman nodded in response, but he had the feeling he wasn’t. He knew deep down this wasn’t a joke, this wasn’t a bluff, and there was no way out, but that hope that there was pushed him on. There was no way this would turn into a full-blown massacre.

…Right?

—

CURRENTLY ALIVE

AJ Styles
Akira Tozawa
Alexa Bliss
Asuka
Austin Theory
Axiom
B-Fab
Bayley
Becky Lynch
Bianca Belair
Big E
Booker T
Braun Stroman
Brock Lesnar
Bron Breakker
Candace LeRae
Carlito
Carmelo Hayes
Charlotte Flair
Chelsea Green
Chris Jericho
CM Punk
Cody Rhodes
Damian Priest
Danhausen
Darby Allin
Dominik Mysterio
Drew McIntyre
Dustin Rhodes
Edge
Elton Prince
Finn Balor
Grayson Waller
Gunther
Iyo Skye
Jacob Fatu
Jade Cargill
Jey Uso
Jimmy Uso
Joe Hendry
John Cena
Jordynne Grace
Kevin Owens
Kit Wilson
Kofi Kingston
LA Knight
Lexis King
Liv Morgan
Logan Paul
Ludwig Kaiser
Lyra Valkyria
Meiko Satomura
Mizuki
MJF
Naomi
Nia Jax
Omos
Otis
Penta
Piper Niven
R-Truth
Randy Orton
Rey Mysterio
Rhea Ripley
Roman Reigns (+Paul Heyman)
Roxanne Perez
Sami Zayn
Seth Rollins
Shane McMahon
Sheamus
Shinsuke Nakamura
Solo Sikoa
Stephanie McMahon
Stephanie Vaquer
The Miz
Tiffany Straton
Toni Storm
Valhalla
Wendy Choo
Xavier Woods

Chapter Text

As the time ticked by, everyone was getting down to the wire. 25 minutes had passed, and nothing had gotten them a smidge closer to breaking down the barrier. Almost everyone in that room had given it a go, and nothing budged it. It didn’t help that it seemed the air conditioning in the building had turned off. It had gotten extremely humid, to the point people were drinking so much water that the bar had run out, leaving the only choices for beverages as alcohol or club soda, and the club soda was also close to running out. Many were either overheating, tipsy, disgruntled, or some combination of the three, and because of the policy in place and Roman’s enforcement of it, appointing CM Punk, John Cena, and both Rhodes brothers as guards of the exits, no one had gone to leave or try fixing the air conditioning.

Not to mention the other problems that had been found. Cell Phones were so far out of service that no one could make any kind of calls, and no landlines or touch-tone telephones were in sight. Yelling out for the guards on the other side of the barrier didn’t do much either, although whether or not that was because the barrier was too thick or the guards just weren’t going to help wasn’t entirely clear.

Still, there was persistence as Roman was still leading the charge to try and break the barrier. He, along with Joe Hendry, Gunther, Jacob Fatu, Braun Stroman, and Jordynne Grace stood by the barrier, all six prepping themselves while Paul Heyman, Sheamus, and Solo Sikoa stood by.

“Count of three, everyone start lifting,” Roman instructed as everyone got down, grabbing the bottom of the barrier. “Sheamus, count us off.”

Sheamus cleared his throat.

“One!”

“Two!”

“Three!”

The six began pulling at the barrier. Everyone was giving it their all, with all the strength they had going into pulling the barrier off the ground. However after a solid minute of pulling, it was clear there wasn’t any progress being made, and all six dropped out, exhausted.

Joe stumbled back to Sheamus, who handed him a cup of Club Soda. “It’s alright fella, ye did good.” Sheamus insisted as Joe took a swig of the carbonated water.

Jacob stretched his arms as he stepped away from the barrier. “This isn’t working, we need another plan that isn’t just pulling at the barrier. If only our ‘glorious’ Tribal Chief didn’t have a one-track mind.” Jacob scoffed, glaring at Roman as the OTC stood by Paul.

Roma ignored Jacob, trying to think of another way to get the barrier open, but his thought process was interrupted when Dustin Rhodes tapped him on the shoulder. “We’ve got a problem,” Dustin informed Roman, before leading the Tribal Chief to the issue.

There, Punk was arguing with Logan Paul, and the argument turned into a borderline screaming match, while Cody tried to insert himself between the two to prevent things from becoming a fistfight. Roman quickly pushed in between Punk and Logan, with Cody backing away.

“What is going on here?!” Roman commanded.

“Logan here is trying to leave!” Punk exclaimed

“Because Mr. Tribal Chief over here doesn’t know what he’s doing!” Logan shouted back. “If we could just walk around the fucking place, we’d probably be out of here by now!”

“I get it, but we need to stick together so no one ends up dying!” Roman insisted.

“Fuck that! All of this is a fucking croc, anyway! What’s the point in all of us hiding in here if no one is gonna fucking die?! It’s just a waste of-”

BANG!!!

Roman flinched, closing his eyes as he felt a wet, mushy substance hit his face. He could also hear the sound of a thud on the ground and several people screaming, gasping, and even gagging. A smell filled his nose that smelled like a freshly lit firework and some kind of copper. Everything seemed to happen all at once, but Roman could distinguish every little detail up until the moment he opened his eyes again.

When he did, he saw Logan lying face down on the floor, at least he assumed since there wasn’t much of a face there anymore. Blood gushed out of every nook and cranny of what was once his head, his brain splattered on anything that was near. Roman looked down to see his hands covered in the same crimson liquid and pink matter, the same he felt hit his face. He turned around to see Punk and Cody. Punk stared back at Roman, hands covering his mouth as he watched on in shock and horror. Meanwhile, Cody staggered back, his eyes fixed on Logan as he quickly turned around, unable to look at it any longer.

Paul quickly rushed over to Roman, a look of panic on his face. It was rare to ever see that from Paul, especially for the Tribal Chief. “Are you alright?!” Paul asked, the words seeming to spill from his mouth as he grabbed Roman’s hand. Roman hesitated, unsure how to answer. Once he did open his mouth, he was interrupted by a-

BANG!!!

Stroman collapsed next, falling against the metal barrier and sliding down it, leaving a trail of bloody mush as he slid. Some of the blood splashed onto Sheamus and Joe, although not nearly as much as Logan’s blood on Roman. Joe froze up, looking as though he was about to scream or cry, but Sheamus didn’t leave him time to do so.

“GET DOWN!!!!” Sheamus shouted, grabbing Joe and taking cover underneath a table. After that, many of the other wrestlers do the same, getting down on the ground and using anything as cover. No one knew who was taking the shots or where they were coming from, but everyone assumed that someone was taking them.

Paul nearly dragged Roman down onto the ground, using his own body as a shield as there wasn’t any furniture to hide under.

The Usos hid behind the couch, Jimmy hugging Naomi close while Jey was practically praying.

Several wrestlers hid behind the bar, including Rhea and Damian. Rhea felt Damian’s hand on her shoulder again but didn’t push it away this time.

Mizuki panicked, not knowing where to go until she suddenly felt someone grab her leg and pull her underneath a table. It took her a moment to register everything, but when she did, she saw Drew Mcintyre staring back at her, looking over her as if trying to see if she had any injuries.

BANG!!!

Another shot was taken and Carmelo Hayes, who failed to find a spot in time, met the same end as Logan and Stroman, his body falling to the ground and the back of his head pouring with blood.

Solo and Jacob had taken cover by a large vase. They looked out into the open area, and Solo immediately noticed Sami Zayn nearby, running like a chicken without a head as he tried to find somewhere to hide. He opened his mouth, but Jacob placed a hand on his shoulder.

“He’s the enemy, leave him.” Jacob insisted. Solo closed his mouth, going to follow what Jacob said, but then he remembered what he told Roman.

‘We’ll set the bloodline to the side for now, at least until we get that door open.’

The door wasn’t open yet.

“Sami! Over here!” Solo shouted, popping his head up for a brief moment, and waving his hand. Sami looked over to who shouted his name and immediately rushed over, taking his place next to an annoyed Jacob. Sami gave Solo a silent nod, to which Solo nodded back.

Punk dove by the grand staircase, peaking his head over and gazing around, his gaze landing on Seth Rollins hiding behind one of the couches. Seth locks eyes with him, staring back with an intensity that suggests he was trying to manifest Punk's head getting blown off next.

BANG!!!

It was quiet for a few moments, everyone waiting with bated breath for another body to fall. It was quiet for those few seconds. To Roman, it was oddly calming. He knew before and after every disaster, there was quiet. It was a strangely beautiful quiet, but it signaled the beginning of grief.

And that grief came as the sound of an anguished scream. It was full of pain, but not the pain of a gunshot wound, the pain of someone dying in your arms, of losing someone you can't live without, and Roman's eyes widened as he could connect to who that pain belonged.

That was an Uso.

Roman, disregarding his safety, pushed Paul away as he rushed to his feet and ran to where the source of the scream came from. Paul wasn't nearly as fast and had to watch in panic as Roman ran out into the open area. “Roman!” He cried out, disregarding formal labels as he just wanted Roman to be safe, but Roman kept running. Jacob wasn't wrong about Roman having a one-track mind.

Roman quickly made his way toward the couch, his mind flashing with images of the worst. He looked over to see both Jey and Jimmy covered in blood, but it became apparent it wasn’t theirs as Jimmy wailed and sobbed, holding Naomi’s body close to him as blood gushed from her head. Jey had a hand on Jimmy’s shoulder, trying to comfort his older brother, but it was clear he was too stunned to do it properly.

The only sound that could be heard was Jimmy’s sobbing, many of the others began slowly peaking out. All seemed to be over. Roman went around the couch and sat by Jimmy and Jey. He wasn’t always good with empathy, but he needed to try for the sake of Jimmy.

“...I’m so sorry. Everything will be okay.” Roman softly uttered. Jimmy looked up at Roman, tears mixing with the blood of his beloved.

“No!” Jimmy shouted. “Nothing will ever be okay again…” he sobbed out much softer. Roman was bad at showing empathy, but he at least understood Jimmy’s pain.

Of course, no one was going to be given any time to mourn here.

The same ringing as before could be heard, and the voice came in again.

Stage One is complete. Stage Two will begin now. There are currently 76 of you in the building. In an hour, 30 of you must be killed, otherwise there will be serious consequences."

And just like that, the intercom clicked off. Now everyone knew there was no bluff. There was no joke. It was real, and no one wanted to end up with a new hole in the head.

Hysteria swept the crowd as everyone began to scramble. Everyone was racing around, attempting to get out of the area. People were pushing, shoving, and even began fighting each other. Roman stood up, wanting to control the situation, but even he could see that control would not help them in the moment.

As the crowd began scrambling, Rhea and Damian popped up from the bar. Damian grabbed a bottle of vodka and the two made a run for the stairs.

Sheamus and Joe stayed underneath the table, hoping to wait out the crowd. Joe’s eyes widened as he saw someone getting pushed over, not even recognizing who it was at the moment before they got trampled. They had no time to move, no time to fight back, as someone’s heel stomped onto their neck. Joe didn’t see any of it directly, but judging from the twitching of the trampled person’s body and the crimson liquid beginning to pool underneath them, he could make a good guess where the heel landed.

Punk continued hiding behind the stairs before he noticed Seth was still glaring at him. He began connecting it together, realizing that Seth wasn’t going to look away until Punk was lying lifeless on the floor. In a slight panic, Punk took off running, beginning to hear heavy footsteps behind him as he took off through the halls.

Drew looked over to see Punk just as he was running, with Seth following behind. He looked back down at Mizuki as his hand drifted down to his sword. “I’ve got something I need to take care of, but ye owe me one, don’t forget that!” Drew insisted before he took off running in the same direction as Punk and Seth.

Mizuki chose to stay underneath her table as well, she knew that even if it wasn’t intentional, she was small enough that someone could bulldoze her easily, especially some of the much bigger wrestlers.

Jacob grabbed Solo by the arm and dragged him away, leaving Sami behind. Solo wanted to go back for him, but he knew Jacob wasn’t going to slow down or let go.

Roman looked back down at Jimmy and Jey, realizing they couldn’t stay for very long even as Jimmy mourned his wife. He looked around, seeing Paul had gone to a door and was motioning for Roman to come.

“We’ve gotta go!” Roman insisted, grabbing Jimmy by the arm, forcing him to drop Naomi and dragging him away. Jimmy was still in hysterics, but he did nothing as Roman dragged him away. Jey went to follow, but then he noticed Rhea and Damian running up the stairs. His gaze went down to see Liv and Dominik near the bottom. Rather than being in some form of distress like everyone else, the look on their faces had a much more sinister look to it. Jey felt he should go with Jimmy, to comfort him, but Rhea and Damian were in much more immediate danger. He quickly changed his trajectory as Roman and Jimmy vanished behind the door with Paul.

Paul slammed the door shut, turning to Roman and Jimmy. Jimmy fell to his knees, still sobbing. He at least seemed to slightly calm down now that he was away from Naomi’s body, but it was clear he was still in shambles.

Looking around, Roman figured this must have been a man cave of some kind. It was much dimmer compared to the expanse of the main ballroom, and inside was a pool table with a wall of pool ques next to it, a couch set in front of a widescreen TV, a couple of tables, each with a deck of cards and two glass ashtrays sitting on them, and several posters on the walls of different wrestlers. Roman specifically noted Andre the Giant, Macho Man Randy Savage, and The Ultimate Warrior among others.

“Are any of you hurt?” Paul inquired, interrupting Roman’s train of thought.

“I’m okay,” Roman stated. “Jimmy’s shaken up, but nothing physical, and Jey’s-” Roman spun around as he searched for the younger Uso twin. “Where did he go?!”

That seemed to get Jimmy to stop sobbing completely. “He’s not here?!” Jimmy exclaimed, rising to his feet. “We have to go back!”

“Jimmy-” Roman went to try and calm Jimmy down.

“No!” Jimmy interrupted. “I’m not gonna listen to whatever excuse you’re about to throw at me! I just lost the love of my life, I’m not gonna stand around here and let my brother die too! A-And Solo too! I know he’s been causing you trouble, but he’s still my brother!”

Jimmy continued his rambling, although he didn't seem to notice when Roman leaned down to whisper to Paul.

“They wanted us to kill 2, and when we didn't 4 people died. Now they want 30 dead, do the math.” Roman whispered.

“That’s 60,” Paul stated.

“So, that means 30 have to die so 30 more can live,” Roman stated.

“What are you saying?” Paul queried. “I’m sure there’ll be 30 dead by the time the hour is up.”

“30 dead, maybe, but not in an hour.” Roman scoffed. “No one is organized. Someone needs to make sure that goal gets met.”

“And you think that should be you?”

“Unfortunately.”

“We don’t know where anyone is, not even Jey.”

“We know where his brother is.”

“...My Tribal Chief-”

“It’s the only way!”

“He’s in pain!”

“We can’t let his pain get in the way. If 29 people are dead and he isn’t, there goes 30 other people!”

“Then kill me too!”

“Paul, no-”

“By your logic, I need to!”

“Stop. Think about it. They didn’t want you in the party, they actively tried to stop you. Is there really 76 people still alive? Or is it 77?”

Paul stopped and thought about it. He was denied access, he was never meant to be here. Maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t supposed to be there. He wasn’t part of this so-called ‘experiment’, and if what Roman was suggesting was correct, he didn’t count towards the number of bodies.

“My Chief, I still think you shouldn’t do this.” Paul insisted.

“It’s either 30 people now, or 60 later,” Roman repeated.

Paul stood there for a moment before letting out a deep sigh. “Do what you need to do.” Paul nodded in defeat.

All the while, Jimmy was still rambling like a madman. It was clear that Naomi’s death had broken him enough that he simply couldn’t hold back anything anymore. Roman took advantage of Jimmy slowly grabbing onto one of the glass ashtrays. He then slowly went back to Jimmy while Paul turned away, unable to watch what was about to happen. Jimmy looked up at Roman, not seeing the danger until-

SMASH

Roman hit Jimmy over the head with the ashtray, causing it to shatter into a million pieces. Jimmy screamed out in pain, stumbling back until his back was against the pool table. He put his hand to his head, feeling the familiar liquid begin dripping down his face, this time it came from his own body.

“Roman, what the hell?!” Jimmy shouted out as Roman grabbed one of the pool cues.

“I’m so sorry, Jimmy” Roman insisted. “But it’s for the sake of saving lives.”

Roman brought the pool cue and brought it down to strike Jimmy. Jimmy quickly jumped out of the way, landing on the floor. The pool cue hit the edge of the pool table, causing it to break into two pieces. Roman held up the piece in his hands while the other fell to the ground. He noticed how it splintered, turning it from a blunt weapon to a sharp one with just a single swing.

Roman turned to Jimmy, who was frantically trying to crawl away, too discombobulated to get up on his feet. Roman caught up to him, raising the pool cue, and with one swift motion, he stabbed it down into Jimmy’s back, the cue going straight through and coming out of Jimmy’s stomach. Jimmy let out a pained scream, collapsing onto the ground. His blood poured from his stomach, staining the carpet from a pleasant green to a dark red.

“ROMAN!!! STOP!!!” Jimmy screamed out.

Roman stabbed down again, creating another passageway through Jimmy’s stomach. Jimmy began spitting up blood as he screamed.

“IT HURTS!!! IT HURTS!!!” Jimmy screamed again.

Roman stabbed down again, aiming higher and going through Jimmy’s chest.

“P-PLEASE!!!”

Roman stabbed down again.

“I DON’T WANT TO DIE!!!”

Roman stabbed down again.

“STOP!!! STOP!!!”

Roman stabbed down again.

“P-Please! I can’t-”

Roman stabbed down again.

“I-I can’t…”

Roman stabbed down again.

“...I’m sorry…”

Roman stabbed down again.

Jimmy had stopped breathing by that point, his insides too stabbed and mangled as he choked on his own blood.

Roman stabbed down again.

Jimmy’s body lay lifeless on the floor, his dead eyes filled with pain and sorrow permanently.

Roman stabbed down again.

Roman stabbed down again.

Roman stabbed down again.

Roman stabbed down again.

Roman stabbed down again.

Roman stabbed down again.

Roman stabbed down again.

Roman stabbed down again.

Roman stabbed down again.

Roman stabbed down again.

Roman stabbed down again.

Roman stabbed down again.

Finally Roman tossed the bloodied cue aside, panting as he stared down at his now-deceased cousin on the floor. Roman had gone through his body with the cue so many times that you could see his organs through his back, and his organs were complete mush. You couldn’t even tell where anything started or ended, or if there were actual organs there in the first place.

Roman had a sense of dread befall him. He felt horrible for killing Jimmy, but he didn’t feel bad because it was his cousin, one who was still trying to mourn the loss of his wife and one who had a family, but he felt bad because he felt there were going to be consequences for the action.

‘Your reign of terror is over!’

…It was probably nothing.

Roman went back to Paul, who still had his back turned. “It’s over,” Roman stated.

“...You couldn’t have made it any less painful for him?” Paul asked, not even looking up at Roman.

“He made it painful for himself.” Roman groused. “Now, we’ll need more than just pool cues if we want this to go easier. Come on. Let’s hope no one tries striking while we’re out looking.”

—

Once the room had cleared out, Sheamus and Joe slid out from underneath the table. They looked around. The four who had gotten shot were still there, lying on the ground motionless, but it looked like two new bodies joined them now. The first was the one Joe had witnessed getting trampled.

Joe ran over to the body, flipping it over. Danhausen stared back at him. Blood leaked from the hole in his jugular as well as from the corners of his mouth. Joe felt awful for not going out to try and save him. He just sat there and watched because he didn’t want to end up the same way. It felt awful and selfish now, but he was at least glad he didn’t die.

Sheamus went up to the new body. This one belonged to Ludwig Kaiser. No blood was visible, but from the way his head was turned, it was clear his neck was snapped, another victim of the crowd pushing him down and trampling him in the panicked frenzy.

“Shit, Sheamus…” Joe uttered. “What do we do?!”

“Alright, just keep calm, fella.” Sheamus soothed. “We just gotta survive. We need to find something, anything, that’ll protect us, we don’t have to kill anyone.”

Joe took in some deep breaths to prevent himself from panicking. “Right, right. Where do we go?”

“Hi!” Another voice called out. Both Sheamus and Joe looked over to see Mizuki crawling out from underneath the table. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I saw a garden with this big shack before I came inside. The fence is too tall to climb, so maybe they will let us go out there.”

“Oh, that’s actually a great idea!” Joe exclaimed. “Thank ya, uh… sorry, I don’t think I caught your name.”

“Mizuki! I wrestle in Japan only.” Mizuki introduced herself with a bow. “You’re Joe Hendry, and that’s Sheamus. It’s good to meet you both!”

“Ye got that right.” Sheamus nodded. “Here, lass. Why don’t ye come with us? Strength in numbers.”

“Oh, I’d love that!” Mizuki exclaimed as she joined the Scotsman and Irishman. The three began navigating the mansion, hoping to find a way out into the garden so they could get access to the potential weapons. Even with the dire situation, not all hope was lost. Unfortunately, that may not be true for long.

CURRENTLY ALIVE

AJ Styles
Akira Tozawa
Alexa Bliss
Asuka
Austin Theory
Axiom
B-Fab
Bayley
Becky Lynch
Bianca Belair
Big E
Booker T
Brock Lesnar
Bron Breakker
Candace LeRae
Carlito
Charlotte Flair
Chelsea Green
Chris Jericho
CM Punk
Cody Rhodes
Damian Priest
Darby Allin
Dominik Mysterio
Drew McIntyre
Dustin Rhodes
Edge
Elton Prince
Finn Balor
Grayson Waller
Gunther
Iyo Skye
Jacob Fatu
Jade Cargill
Jey Uso
Joe Hendry
John Cena
Jordynne Grace
Kevin Owens
Kit Wilson
Kofi Kingston
LA Knight
Lexis King
Liv Morgan
Lyra Valkyria
Meiko Satomura
Mizuki
MJF
Nia Jax
Omos
Otis
Penta
Piper Niven
R-Truth
Randy Orton
Rey Mysterio
Rhea Ripley
Roman Reigns (+Paul Heyman)
Roxanne Perez
Sami Zayn
Seth Rollins
Shane McMahon
Sheamus
Shinsuke Nakamura
Solo Sikoa
Stephanie McMahon
Stephanie Vaquer
The Miz
Tiffany Straton
Toni Storm
Valhalla
Wendy Choo
Xavier Woods

Chapter Text

Punk huffed and puffed as he ran desperately through the halls. He looked over his shoulder, greeted by Seth’s sadistic grin as he ran after. Punk had no options; he could either keep running or try fighting, and he knew Seth wasn’t letting Punk escape until one of them died.

He looked around, trying to see if any of the doors were worth stopping for, but most were closed shut, and the ones that weren’t only led to dead ends. So, Punk continued down the path before him, taking any twist and turn he could to try and throw Seth off, but like a lion hunting a gazelle, Seth never let up.

Eventually, Punk found himself in a dead end. There weren’t even any doors to offer any kind of barrier. The only things that could possibly help him were the two rifles hung up on the wall. Punk grabbed one and turned just in time to be greeted by Seth standing at the other end of the hall. Punk cocked back the hammer, took aim at Seth, put his finger on the trigger and-

Click.

It was a wall decoration. Of course, it was empty.

Punk trembled slightly, especially when Seth smirked and pulled a pocket knife out. “What’s wrong, Punk? Thought you’d be glad to see I made it out of there alive.” Seth taunted as he stepped closer.

“Seth, this isn’t worth it!” Punk faltered, holding the rifle close. It didn’t have any ammunition, but it was better than nothing.

“Of course, it’s worth it! I’ll finally be able to get rid of you!” Seth cackled, slowly creeping towards Punk.

“What would your wife think?!” Punk barked out nervously.

“She won’t care! No one cares about you, the only one who does is that ugly ass dog!” Seth ridiculed. Seth was now only a few feet away from Punk. Punk attempted to swing the rifle at Seth, but Seth grabbed it, ripping it from Punk’s hands, and tossing it away. He then brandished the knife in front of Punk’s face, his other hand going to Punk’s throat, choking the Straight Edge wrestler just enough to make him squirm. “I’m going to be the one to end you, right here and now! Not John Cena, not Rey Mysterio, not MJF, and definitely not Drew McIntyre! If only Drew were here to watch me rip your guts out and throw them onto the floor, knowing he could do absolutely nothing while I get to watch the life fade from your eyes!”

Seth raised the knife, Punk bracing for impact and shutting his eyes tight. It only took a few seconds for the sound of the blade piercing through his flesh filled Punk’s ears as he felt blood splatter across his face. He waited as he begged for death to take him now, but nothing seemed to happen. He couldn’t even feel any of the pain as he felt Seth’s grip on his neck cease completely. Punk slowly opened up his eyes before involuntarily letting out a gasp at the sight.

The blood wasn’t his, it was Seth’s, having been spilled onto him by the sword piercing through his chest. Seth’s eyes were opened as wide as they could go as a hand was forced over his mouth. He had dropped the knife and was gripping the hand, trying to get it off him. His wide eyes looked up at his attacker, and in turn Punk looked up as well, seeing the familiar icy blue eyes glaring down from the Scottish Psychopath.

“Listen to me good, ye bampot,” Drew growled. “Punk is mine. I don’t care how much ye hate him, he belongs to me. Ye don’t get to decide if he lives or dies, I do… what does it matter what I tell ye? Ye’re a dead man either way.”

Drew removed his hand from Seth’s mouth and, with what seemed like a simple pull, Drew pulled the sword up through not just Seth’s torso, but also through his neck a his head. Seth’s eyes rolled back into his head. For a brief moment, it didn’t look like it did much damage, that is, until Seth’s body fell to its knees. His body split from the top of his head right down to the bottom of his pectorals. Blood gushed from his body onto the floor, and Punk even noticed how precise Drew’s slice was, having matching halves of Seth’s stupidly symmetrical face. Even the gap between his teeth was perfectly even. It was beautiful in a disturbing, gory way.

Finally, Seth’s body slumped over, falling face-first onto the ground. That’s when Punk’s gaze snapped back to Drew. Drew’s eyes analyzed Punk’s face, looking for any kind of injury or harm Seth might have done. Punk assumed Drew was getting ready to finish him off, his eyes glancing down at the sword which dripped with Seth’s blood. He knew Drew had an obsession, but he didn’t think it went so far as to want to be the one deciding if Punk lives or dies. Drew stepped over Seth’s body, approaching Punk. Punk braced for impact again, but his eyes shot open when he heard Drew drop the sword, the blade clattering to the ground.

Suddenly, Drew grabbed Punk and pulled him into a tight embrace. Punk was thoroughly confused. This was still the man who had talked about wanting Punk to die several times, right? He had the chance now, why wasn’t he taking it?

“Fuckin’ hell, I thought I lost ye,” Drew muttered, a stark contrast to his typically rough, loud speaking. That’s when it clicked for Punk. Drew was obsessed, but not with hating Punk like any of the others, like Seth or MJF. Drew was obsessed with PUNK. He wasn’t sure what to think of this, but if it got him saved like it just did, he wasn’t going to complain too much.

Drew let go, looking Punk up and down. “He didn’t hurt ye, did he?” Drew questioned.

“What happened to going to my funeral to piss on my grave?” Punk asked, a smirk creeping onto his face. Even in a situation like this, he couldn’t help but tease the Scotsman.

“Do ye want me to help or not?” Drew huffed, his voice going back to its usual roughness.

Punk couldn’t help but chuckle. “I’m okay. Just a little shaken.”

“Good…” Drew muttered as he grabbed the blood-soaked sword. He also grabbed Seth’s pocket knife. “Here,” Drew said as he pressed it into Punk’s hand. “At least have somethin’ to protect yerself with.”

“...Why are you helping me?” Punk questioned. He already knew the answer, but he wanted to see if Drew would admit it directly. Drew looked back at Punk, his gaze softened.

“...I need ye to get out of here alive, Punk. Even if it kills me.” Drew responded. Punk’s eyes widened. It wasn’t the response he was expecting, but it was straightforward, a change in the stubborn Scot’s usual answers. Drew turned back, beginning to walk a few steps. Punk went to move, but his eyes went straight back to Seth’s body. It reminded him that Drew was still a dangerous man. Drew still had the power to overpower Punk and detach his head from his body like a dysfunctional boy destroying his sister’s dolls.

“Are ye comin’?” Drew’s voice rang out, breaking Punk’s trance. Drew was about halfway down the hall already. While Punk still had his questions about Drew, it was better to try and get along with Drew than it was to go out with a potentially huge target on his back.

“...Yeah, I’m on my way!”

—

Damian slammed the door shut behind him and locked it as both he and Rhea caught their breaths. The two wound up in a bedroom, one that was simple yet elegant. There was a plush bed in the center of the room, the covers seemingly shining in the light. On the wall was a giant mirror, much bigger than anyone needed. There was also a bedside table, which Rhea approached. She opened it up and saw that inside was a pistol with plenty of bullets to go inside, and a matchbook. Rhea grabbed the pistol and the matchbook, knowing she could use them to protect herself.

“Alright, we just gotta wait it out.” Rhea insisted as she turned to Damian. That’s when she noticed the bottle of vodka. “...Did you seriously grab a bottle from the bar?”

“What? Do you expect to get through this sober?” Damian questioned.

“...Give me a swig.” Rhea insisted. Damian handed off the bottle, and Rhea opened it up before pouring some of the clear alcohol down her throat. He pulled away, wiping her mouth. “Holy shit, that is strong!”

“Yeah, it’s got a lot of alcohol in it. Turns out premium just means get wasted ten times quicker.” Damian shrugged as he took the bottle and also took a swig.

“Just be careful with that, don’t need to be blackout drunk when someone decides to break in,” Rhe stated.

“No one is gonna break in, we’ll be fine!” Damian claimed. Then, as if god himself decided to prove Damian wrong, there was a banging on the door. Rhea and Damian immediately backed up, trying to keep quiet and hope whoever was behind the door would just leave. That was far from the case.

Suddenly, the banging stopped, and just when Rhea and Damian thought they were safe, the blade of an axe crashed through the door. Rhea and Damian both screamed as it was pulled out before smashing through the door again, creating a bigger hole. The axe was removed again, and Liv Morgan stuck her face through the door.

“HERE’S LIVY!!!”

“Where the fuck did she get an axe?!” Rhea shrieked.

“I don’t know, just shoot her!” Damian screamed in response.

Rhea looked down at the gun in her pocket, remembering she had grabbed it. Liv pulled her face away from the door just as Rhea pulled it out and pointed it at the door. Liv attempted to stick her hand in and reach for the lock, but Rhea fired. Liv managed to unlock the door, but the bullet pierced through the back of her hand. Liv screamed as she pulled her hand back in pain. Rhea fired another shot, but it only hit the door.

With a heavy kick, the door swung open, and behind it stood Liv, one hand oozing the familiar crimson liquid while the other gripped the axe, as well as Dominik holding a kitchen knife. Rhea held up the gun, pointed directly at Liv’s head. “Any closer and your head gets another hole in it!” Rhea shouted.

Rather than listen, Dominik instead ran in front of Liv. Rhea paused, her hands shaking. Damn it, it was times like these where Rhea wished she could just get over Dom. She couldn’t bring herself to pull the trigger. On Liv, sure, but Dom? She couldn’t, even if he was charging at her and Damian with a knife.

“RHEA!!!” Damian wailed before Dom rammed into him, tackling Damian to the ground. Rhea snapped out of it, pointing the gun at Dom before Liv charged at her, knocking the gun out of her hands as they got into their scuffle.

Rhea attempted to wrestle the axe from Liv’s hands, grabbing onto the handle as Liv brought it up to strike her. Rhea pulled and pushed with Liv, both women looking into each other’s eyes with more hatred than you could ever imagine.

Dom took a stab at Damian’s face, but Damian moved his head just in time for the knife to stab the floor instead. Damian looked over to see the bottle of vodka on the floor nearby. He quickly grabbed it and smashed it over Dom’s head, causing alcohol and glass to cover both men. Dom cried out in pain as Damian threw him off. Damian got to his feet and rushed to try and help Rhea, but Dom grabbed onto the ankle, causing him to trip. Dom wasn’t taking anymore chances, grabbing the knife and slicing the back of Damian’s ankle wide open.

Damian screamed out in pain as Dom quickly crawled closer. He grabbed the back of Damian’s head, forcing him to expose his face and neck before putting the blade up to his throat.

“Wait!!!” Damian shrieked. “Look at yourself! Look at Liv! Don’t you see how insane you’re being?!”

Dom thought for a moment, the knife lowering slightly. “I do… but it’s you or me, man. I’m not gonna become a statistic, not right now.” Dom brought the knife back up and this time, he forced it into Damian’s jugular, slicing it open as blood began to pour out of Damian’s neck. Damian choked on his blood, his eyes wide with panic as Dom dropped his head. It only took a few seconds for Damian’s heart to stop.

Dom got back onto his feet, bloody knife in hand, as he took a step towards Liv and Rhea so he could help Liv finish the job. That is, until he heard footsteps rushing towards him. Dom turned, only to be greeted by the bottom of a shoe, kicking him in the face. Dom stumbled back, slamming his head into the back of the giant mirror on the wall. The mirror shattered. Sending more broken glass to cascade onto Dom. Dom slumped onto the ground, blood dripping from the back of his head and onto the floor.

Liv didn’t notice as she continued wrestling with Rhea over the axe. Rhea attempted to flip their positions, but Liv forced the handle of the axe down, causing it to collide with Rhea’s nose, breaking it in the process. Rhea screamed in pain as she instinctively let go of the axe, her hands moving up to her nose. Liv brought the axe up once again, preparing to bring it down, when suddenly she was grabbed and pulled off of Rhea, causing her to drop the axe.

Rhea’s eyes widened as she watched Jey Uso throw Liv over his shoulders. Liv was kicking and screaming, attempting to fight back. “Put me down!!! Let go!!!” Liv commanded. Jey carried her out of the room as she continued to struggle, all the way over to the banister. He then proceeded to throw her off his shoulders, over the banister, without looking. It wasn’t a height that could kill anyone, and Jey knew that, but what he didn’t see was the baluster at the beginning of the banister. It had a pointed tip, sticking up higher than the rest of the banister.

Liv screamed as gravity pulled her down. Then, accompanied by the sound of a sickening crunch, Liv felt the baluster stab through her back and up out of her chest. Like a violent fountain, blood sprayed up from the wound. With what little life she had, she slowly raised her head to see what had happened to her. The gory sight before her caused her eyes to widen even more than they already had. The blood shooting up from her, the pain of the baluster destroying her body, and the realization of her imminent death caused tears to start streaming down her face. Yet she didn’t scream or sob. Her eyes quietly rolled into the back of her head as her body went limp.

Jey watched all of it as it happened. A hand was over his mouth. That wasn’t his intention. He didn’t mean to do that; it was an accident, but then again, Liv had attempted to kill Rhea. In a situation like this, sometimes accidents look more intentional, even to the person who caused it. Jey stared down for a moment, contemplating his actions. It was to protect someone. Dom had already killed Damian, he had to make sure no one else would die, and yet… he was fine letting Liv lie impaled. It was too late for her anyway.

He turned and looked away from Liv. He promised himself he would never look back, and he walked away.

Jey rushed back into the bedroom. He opened his mouth to say something but stopped upon seeing Rhea kneeling beside Damian’s body. Her back was turned to Jey, and she was silent, but he could tell she wasn’t okay. She was mourning her closest friend, who was almost always there for her.

Silently, the younger Uso made his way to Rhea’s side. He knelt beside her, looking over to her. She wasn’t crying, instead, she stared down at Damian, a look of soft despair on her face. Jey then looked back down at Damian. His eyes stared out into nothing, a now permanent look of panic etched onto them. It was forever trapped in the moment Damian realised he was about to die.

“Where’s Liv?” Rhea finally piped up, bringing Jey’s attention back to her.

“...Gone.” Jey answered simply.

“Good…” Rhea responded, not even looking up at Jey. Jey noticed how she seemed to only stare into Damian’s eyes.

“...I wish I got here earlier,” Jey admitted. “If I were here a few seconds earlier, maybe he’d still be alive.”

“Don’t blame yourself,” Rhea replied. “He wouldn’t want you to.” As she spoke, she reached her hand out, closing Damian’s eyes. He looked more peaceful like this, like he was at peace. He almost looked alive if it wasn’t for the giant wound in his neck. “Thank you for saving me, Jey.”

Jey nodded solemnly. “We should go, shouldn’t we?”

Rhea nodded. Jey got to his feet, holding out a hand for Rhea to help her to hers. Once both were up, Rhea grabbed the axe from off the ground, handing it to Jey. She then grabbed the gun, as well as going into the bedside table and stuffing as many bullets as her pockets would let her carry into them.

“Here, I think I know where Roman and Jimmy are. We should get to them, then we’ll have strength in numbers.” Jey insisted.

“Lead the way.” Rhea agreed, and the two walked out of the room. Heading towards the stairs, Rhea caught a glimpse over the balcony, her eyes widening when she saw Liv impaled. She knew Liv was dead, but that wasn’t what she expected from Jey. She was almost impressed by it if it weren’t so gory. Either way, she wouldn’t question Jey. She saved her, that’s all that mattered to her. The only thing she didn’t know was who died for her to live.

—

Jacob dragged Solo into a room, slamming the door shut. Both men began catching their breath, Jacob slowly turning his attention to Solo. “What the hell were you doing back there?!” Jacob shouted.

Solo nearly jumped at the sudden yelling. “What did I do?!”

“I told you to leave Sami, and you just casually let him hide with us!” Jacob scolded

“What was I supposed to do, let him die?!” Solo barked back.

“He’s the enemy!”

“Why does this matter now?!”

“Because only the strong are going to survive here, and Roman’s bloodline needs to die out before that happens!”

“The Bloodline doesn’t matter when people’s heads are getting shot off left and right!”

“It’s our chance to get one over on them!”

“You forget, you’re not the chief of our bloodline here!” Solo got right into Jacob’s face. “I am YOUR Tribal Chief, and as YOUR Tribal Chief, I am telling YOU to get YOUR head out of YOUR ass and have just a single shred of empathy for a human being, even if they’re with the other Bloodline! Do YOU understand?! The bloodlines do not matter until everyone is free, got it?!”

Jacob stared back into Solo’s eyes, a clear fire brewing inside of him. Solo still didn’t back off, staring right back and trying to match the intensity.

“...Fine,” Jacob uttered. “But don’t come crying to me when Roman decides your head looks good on a wall.” Jacob began walking towards the door.

“Where are you going?” Solo questioned.

“You said the bloodlines don’t matter,” Jacob stated. “So, I don’t need to be around to protect you. So, I’m gonna go out there and do what I want.”

“That’s not-!” Unfortunately, Jacob was out the door before Solo could finish. Solo stared in disbelief. Jacob was acting like a psychopath over the bloodlines, and the moment Solo tells him to knock it off, he just leaves him there.

Solo scoffed; he didn’t need Jacob. He could do things for himself; Jacob was just the enforcer. No, Solo could do this without him. If Jacob wanted to be like that, so be it. The fact of the matter was, he wasn’t going to let Jacob force him to let his brothers, or anyone for that matter, die for the sake of the Bloodline. He began to pace, his eyes wandering around the bedroom, and he was just now realizing he was in

Suddenly, Solo heard a creaking. Solo looked over, his eyes drawn to the closet as he saw the door swing shut… well, almost shut. The door popped open as Solo saw two pairs of eyes staring back at him. Now was his chance. He could get a couple of allies right here and now if he played his cards right.

“Hey, it’s alright!” Solo insisted. He stuffed his hands in his pockets before flipping them inside out to show they were empty. “I have nothing to gain from hurting you, trust me.”

Solo could hear whispering between the pairs of eyes before the closet door opened up, revealing Akira Tozawa and Elton Prince. Both men were a mess, covered in blood. That’s when Solo finally noticed the obvious trail of blood leading out of the closet. He’s not sure why he didn’t notice it before; perhaps he was just too shaken up by Jacob to notice. The trail went from the closet into a door across the room. It was wide open, and judging by the lighting coming from it, Solo could tell it was a bathroom.

Looking back at Elton and Akira, Akira noticeably had a piece of sparkly blue cloth over his right eye, and judging by Elton’s pants matching the cloth, it was clear that Elton created a makeshift bandage out of his outfit for Akira. Elton himself had a few cuts and bruises on his face, but it didn’t seem to be anything major.

“What… happened in here?” Solo asked, although he wasn’t sure he wanted the answer.

“Kit and I were hiding in here.” Elton began to explain. “We thought we could wait it out, but I don’t think Bron Breakker liked that idea. He got Kit, smashed his head open on the sink.”

“And Bron?” Solo questioned.

“Almost got me too, smashed the mirror in there with my face, but Akira jumped in to help. It cost him an eye, but it cost Bron his jugular, so you tell me who got off worse.” Elton said. “We heard footsteps, so we hid in the closet, that’s when you and Jacob had your argument.”

“Are you doing okay?” Akira checked in.

“I’m fine, I should be making sure you guys are okay!” Solo insisted.

“Well, we’re not dead,” Elton stated. “Beaten up, but not dead.”

“I guess that’s about as good as it’s gonna get.” Solo sighed. “I think I should stick with you guys.”

“What about Jacob?” Akira questioned.

“He’s stubborn, I just hope he’s not trying to go after Roman,” Solo admitted. “I think he can hold his own. I can too, but I believe in safety in numbers.”

“After the beating we just took, couldn’t agree more,” Elton stated with Akira nodding in agreement.

“Then it’s settled. Here, we can’t hide in here forever. If we can find a place with some weapons, we should be able to survive.” Solo instructed. Both Elton and Akira got out of the closet, following Solo’s lead. It was already becoming clear that if they wanted to make it out of here, they needed to arm themselves and fast. Everything was moving fast, and no one wanted to be the next victim on the count, but the problem was that no one knew who would be next.

CURRENTLY ALIVE

AJ Styles
Akira Tozawa
Alexa Bliss
Asuka
Austin Theory
Axiom
B-Fab
Bayley
Becky Lynch
Bianca Belair
Big E
Booker T
Brock Lesnar
Candace LeRae
Carlito
Charlotte Flair
Chelsea Green
Chris Jericho
CM Punk
Cody Rhodes
Darby Allin
Dominik Mysterio
Drew McIntyre
Dustin Rhodes
Edge
Elton Prince
Finn Balor
Grayson Waller
Gunther
Iyo Skye
Jacob Fatu
Jade Cargill
Jey Uso
Joe Hendry
John Cena
Jordynne Grace
Kevin Owens
Kofi Kingston
LA Knight
Lexis King
Lyra Valkyria
Meiko Satomura
Mizuki
MJF
Nia Jax
Omos
Otis
Penta
Piper Niven
R-Truth
Randy Orton
Rey Mysterio
Rhea Ripley
Roman Reigns (+Paul Heyman)
Roxanne Perez
Sami Zayn
Shane McMahon
Sheamus
Shinsuke Nakamura
Solo Sikoa
Stephanie McMahon
Stephanie Vaquer
The Miz
Tiffany Straton
Toni Storm
Valhalla
Wendy Choo
Xavier Woods

Chapter Text

“Hurry! This way!” Mizuki called out, leading the way. Joe and Sheamus followed suit. Navigating the halls of the manor was a nightmare, nothing seemed to lead in the right direction. They’d somehow end up going in a bunch of circles, but now Mizuki was confident she had figured out where they needed to go.

She had almost missed the wide open door to the garden, but quickly composed herself, stopping just before it. “I knew it!” Mizuki jeered as Joe and Sheamus caught up.

“Finally!” Sheamus exclaimed. “Let’s go, I don’t think we need to waste anymore time in here.”

The three exited to the outside world. Unfortunately, that world was incredibly closed off due to how high the fencing was. Not to mention it was reinforced with barbed wire, and the group thought maybe electricity, or at least Joe thought so. But, all they needed were some weapons and shelter, and the shed outside painted in a soft blue seemed to promise them both.

They approached it, hopeful that they had some safety now that they had found this, but that quickly dissipated.

“Hey!” A voice yelled, causing the three to stop dead in their tracks. It seemed to come from the shed. “Turn around now! We aren’t afraid to kill you!”

“Stand down, fella!” Sheamus called out in response. “We aren’t here to attack ye, we just need some protection for us!”

“Find it somewhere else,” The voice called back. “We got here-”

“Hold on!” Another voice called out, also from inside the shed. “Is that Sheamus?!”

“...Yes!” Sheamus replied, confused. Suddenly the door swung open. The group was greeted by Penta and Rey Mysterio, Penta much more enthusiastically than Rey who held a pair of bloody garden shears.

“Sheamus!” Penta trumpeted. “It’s so good to see you! Come in! Come in! Bring your friends in too, any friend of yours is a friend of mine!”

Sheamus grinned. He’s always had a knack for befriending anyone and everyone. The YouTube gig helped, and it was paying off with Penta. Sheamus, along with Joe and Mizuki, entered the shed. The shed was quite spacious, for the most part, only having bags of fertilizer and a wheelbarrow with more bags of fertilizer taking up space. On the wall, there was a wide selection of both gardening tools as well as tools like hammers, screwdrivers, drills, and wrenches. There was even a circular saw and a scythe.

“How can you be sure they won’t turn on us?” Rey groaned.

“Because, Sheamus would never!” Penta insisted, shutting the door behind the three. “And I imagine he would team with people who wouldn’t either.”

“Fine, but don’t expect me to warm up to them instantly.” Rey scoffed.

“If ye don’t mind me askin’,” Joe interjected. “Is there a reason those shears have blood on them, or did ye find them like that?”

Rey walked over to the wheelbarrow, grabbing one of the bags of fertilizer and setting it on the ground. Inside, you could see the face of Stephanie Vaquer with bloody holes replacing her eyes. Joe took a step back, clearly a bit shaken. “Bloody hell...” Sheamus muttered.

“We didn’t want to kill anyone,” Penta reassured the trio. “We just wanted to hide in here. She came in and we welcomed her, and she thanked us by trying to spear me with a pitchfork.”

“I grabbed the closest weapon and I saved Penta,” Rey added. “We put her body in the wheelbarrow so we wouldn’t have to look at her.”

Sheamus grabbed the bag of fertilizer Rey had moved and put it back over her face. “Yeah, we want to look at her even less.”

“I can tell you, none of us are going to try killing you.” Mizuki nodded. “As long as we have a place to stay, we’re fine.”

“Get comfortable then. This is gonna be a long night.” Rey responded. “All I hope is that Dom is staying alive.”

“The fella is smart,” Sheamus assured Rey. “I’m sure he’s okay.”

—

“Uggh… fuck...”

As Dom regained consciousness, he struggled to process everything. He didn’t know who attacked him or how much time had passed since he had been attacked. His head hurt like hell, and he was coated in the blood gushing out from his head due to all the glass that hit him. He slowly looked up to see no Liv and no Rhea. The only one still left in the room was Damian’s cold body.

Dom groaned in pain as he attempted to get back onto his feet. He was incredibly unsteady. He probably should’ve stayed and waited for someone to help or finish him off, but something told him to fight back. Something was always telling him to fight back. He was always fighting with someone; it was simply in his nature. It’s all he knew, either fight or die.

He stumbled, leaning onto the wall as he took in the sight of Damian on the floor. He felt bad. He felt evil. Sure, they had their differences, but he can’t help but remember the good times he had with Damian when they were friends. It tore him up seeing all that blood pooling onto the floor, something that he did. He tried justifying it to himself. It was either Damian or him, but… Dom attacked first. If he hadn’t, would either of them have had to die? He tried distracting himself by leaning over and grabbing the knife that had slid away once he was kicked into the mirror. He had a feeling he’d never forgive himself for it.

Dom made his way towards the door, taking a look around for anyone who may have been waiting to strike. He had to find Liv, he had to know she was okay. If he got ambushed like that, who knows what might’ve happened to her. He stumbled out, grabbing onto the railing to keep steady. His eyes widened as he got the answer to his question almost instantly. Over the railing is where he saw Liv, impaled.

He froze up at the sight, going perfectly still. Liv, the one person he wanted to fight for rather than against, gone just like that. He felt another liquid begin running down his face; tears. He couldn’t save her. He should’ve, but he didn’t. And the rest of the Judgement Day, what would they think? He didn’t kill her, sure, but why should they believe him? It was his fault for not going to protect her, for letting himself get stunned. He should’ve been able to save her. Why didn’t he save her?!

Dom looked down, trying to pull himself together. He needed to fight for himself, that’s all he knew anyway, but he wanted to fight for Liv, not for himself. All he knew was fight or die, and he didn’t want to fight anymore.

Dom took the knife he had and jumped over the railing, standing on the edge. He glanced down at Liv again. She was the last thing that really kept him grounded. Rhea did too but, wherever she ended up didn’t matter, he burned that bridge a long time ago. He held up the knife, the blade directed at his heart. He counted down to himself.

Tres… Dos… Uno…

And plunged the blade right into his aching heart.

CURRENTLY ALIVE

AJ Styles
Akira Tozawa
Alexa Bliss
Asuka
Austin Theory
Axiom
B-Fab
Bayley
Becky Lynch
Bianca Belair
Big E
Booker T
Brock Lesnar
Candace LeRae
Carlito
Charlotte Flair
Chelsea Green
Chris Jericho
CM Punk
Cody Rhodes
Darby Allin
Drew McIntyre
Dustin Rhodes
Edge
Elton Prince
Finn Balor
Grayson Waller
Gunther
Iyo Skye
Jacob Fatu
Jade Cargill
Jey Uso
Joe Hendry
John Cena
Jordynne Grace
Kevin Owens
Kofi Kingston
LA Knight
Lexis King
Lyra Valkyria
Meiko Satomura
Mizuki
MJF
Nia Jax
Omos
Otis
Penta
Piper Niven
R-Truth
Randy Orton
Rey Mysterio
Rhea Ripley
Roman Reigns (+Paul Heyman)
Roxanne Perez
Sami Zayn
Shane McMahon
Sheamus
Shinsuke Nakamura
Solo Sikoa
Stephanie McMahon
The Miz
Tiffany Straton
Toni Storm
Valhalla
Wendy Choo
Xavier Woods

Chapter Text

Drew and Punk walked through the halls. They had mostly stayed silent, Drew wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible, meanwhile, Punk didn’t know how to approach Drew about the Scottish Warrior’s feelings. Punk had been incredibly conflicted about his feelings for Drew. On one hand, he didn’t love Drew as much as he loved messing with him and getting him mad, but on the other hand, was that really what he loved about Drew? He wanted a straightforward answer, but it didn’t look like he was any closer to getting that answer.

Punk looked up at Drew, trying to analyze his expression. It was cold and focused, he was completely locked into surviving and ensuring Punk survived with him. He focused on Drew’s eyes. If there was anything Punk could note about Drew’s appearance, it was those eyes. They glared at Punk whenever he looked at them, but they softened out of it. Punk never really knew that Drew wasn’t exactly hiding how he felt about Punk. His eyes were surprisingly expressive, but Punk never looked into them closely.

Eventually, Punk felt he had to say something. If he didn’t, Drew wouldn’t either. So, Punk took a deep breath. “Drew, I-”

“Shh!” Drew hushed, placing a hand over Punk’s mouth. “I heard somethin’,” Drew whispered, stopping in front of a door. It wasn’t like any of the other doors; this one was made of metal and swung open with ease, and they didn’t even lock. Drew leaned in, careful not to fall into the door. Punk did the same.

“Are you sure this is what we should do?” A voice asked from inside. Punk immediately knew it was Paul Heyman.

“You don’t need to do anything.” Another voice reassured, this one belonging to Roman Reigns. “All you have to do is stick with me, I'll take care of everything else.”

“Then let me rephrase. Are you sure this this what you should do?”

“It's the price I have to pay.”

“Then why did Jimmy pay for it?”

“It was necessary.”

“To kill your own cousin? What about Jey? Or Solo?”

“...I just pray I don't see them. I don't want to do the same to them.”

Punk's eyes widened in shock. This twisted ‘experiment’ had barely begun, and Roman was already resorting to not just murder, but killing his cousin? One who had just lost his wife? One who has friends and family to live for? He knew Roman; he could be cruel and violent, sure, but this crossed a line. Roman had already done so much to drive away everyone who cared about him, and now that no one was there to ground him beside the Wiseman who would marry the ground Roman walked on if he could, Roman saw himself as this god, someone who got to choose who lives and who dies.

Roman didn't seem to realize that he wasn't a God in human clothing; he was a human attempting to be a God, and no God would let such blasphemy slide.

Punk looked up at Drew. He could see that familiar rage in his eyes, one that consumed his thoughts. He could feel that Drew wanted to rush in there, skewer the Tribal Chief on his sword, and leave him for dead, but Punk knew better. Drew may have been physically stronger, but Roman used his head and his strength, and even if Drew had the upper hand, Punk knew Roman had allies, even without Paul. Sami was still out there, and Jey might not even know Jimmy is dead, let alone the fact that Roman did it. They needed to wait, or at least let someone else take a swing at the Tribal Chief’s pedestal.

…Punk knows who they can get to do that.

Punk puts a hand on Drew’s arm, causing the Scotsman to break from his thoughts and look down at Punk. “Wait here,” Punk insisted in a hushed tone. “If they try to attack me, step in, but other than that, do not move. Don’t kill either of them if they do attack.”

It’s clear in Drew’s eyes that he wanted to protest. Even he knows that Roman and Punk are equally matched, and with Roman having Paul by his side, Punk should have someone in there with him, but Drew recognized Punk was smarter than him. He wasn’t calling himself dumb, but Punk was much more levelheaded and grounded, which made Punk smarter in every way. So, Drew simply nodded, allowing Punk the space he needed.

Now, Punk didn’t want to immediately alert Roman or Paul to his presence. To prevent this, Punk got down on the floor, able to see the two’s feet in the wide gap under the door. He began slowly sliding underneath, listening in on the continuing conversation as he did so.

“My Tribal Chief,” Paul began. “All I ask is that you reconsider.”

“And my answer is no.” Roman insisted. “Someone has to keep this up so that we don’t lose more people in the long run.”

“Sure, but did it have to include Jimmy?”

“Like I said before, if he lived and we were one away from the goal, then what was the point of keeping him alive? Besides, he isn’t part of the Bloodline-”

“The Bloodline doesn’t matter when people are dying! You told Solo that we were setting aside the Bloodline until those doors opened, and now his brother is dead!”

Roman paused, seeming to soak in Paul’s words rather than immediately deflecting them like he had been doing. “...Even if Jimmy was part of the Bloodline, people need to die so we don’t lose more later on. My decision is final, do you understand?”

“...Yes, My Tribal Chief.”

“I sure as hell don’t”

Paul and Roman turned as soon as they heard the third voice of Punk chime in. The Straight Edge Superstar was now standing in front of the door, one hand on his hip, with the other holding Seth’s pocket knife. Roman’s eyes narrowed, taking note of the blood that covered Punk and the handle of the blade, but not the blade itself.

“I mean, what good does it do to kill your cousin exactly?” Punk further pushed.

Roman glared slightly back into a cabinet that sat behind him and slowly stuck his hand into one of the cupboards. “It’s to save lives. What’d you do to Seth?”

“I didn’t do anything to him.”

“Why are you covered in blood?”

“Not because I killed him.”

“Clearly.”

“If it’s clear I didn’t kill him, why’d you ask? Also, why are you just assuming I was with him?”

“That’s his.” Roman pointed to the pocket knife. “The fact that you, of all people, have it means something happened to him. You didn’t kill him since the blade is clean.”

Punk raised his eyebrows. “Damn, you’re observant. Question, though, why do you know that this is Seth’s?”

“I gave it to him back when we were friends,” Roman stated. “I thought he threw it out once he hit me with that steel chair; clearly, I was wrong. So, what happened to him? What did you do?”

“...I wasn’t lying, I didn’t do anything to him.” Punk restated. “But, you wanna know exactly what happened? What did you do to Jimmy?”

“None of your business.” Roman scoffed.

“Paul.” Punk turned to the Wiseman, already expecting that response. “What did Roman do?”

Roman chuckled. “Paul isn’t gonna tell you what happened just because you a-”

“Roman grabbed a glass ashtray and smashed it over Jimmy’s head,” Paul explained. “He proceeded to stab Jimmy to death with a broken pool cue.”

Roman looked to Paul, disbelief filling his eyes with a tinge of anger, though he looked almost impressed.

“Damn,” Punk chuckled. “Even if killing him was necessary, don’t you think the violence wasn’t?”

Roman’s eyes landed back on Punk, that tinge of anger growing to consume them. He pulled his hand from the cupboard, revealing a Chef’s knife, which he pointed at Punk. “I’ll show you too violent if you keep questioning me!”

“You don’t want to do that.” Punk scoffed.

“I really don’t,” Roman agreed. “But this whole conversation is going nowhere!” and with that, Roman charged at Punk with the knife. Punk stood there, allowing Roman to get close as the doors behind him burst open.

Drew slammed his body into Roman’s, sending the Original Tribal Chief onto the ground, the knife sliding across the floor. Roman groaned as Drew pinned Roman down with his foot, pointing his sword at Roman’s throat.

“You wanted to know what happened to Seth, right?” Punk chuckled. “ This is it! Seth tried killing me, and right before he did, Drew came in and made quick work of him.”

“Drew, what the fuck?!” Roman barked out, but that just got the blade of the sword pressed against his throat.

“I know how much you hate Seth, you should’ve been there.” Punk further taunted. Punk then turned his attention to Paul, who took a few steps back. Paul reached onto the counter for anything that could protect him as Punk began walking towards him. He grabbed a spoon, tossing it at Punk without hesitation. The spoon missed entirely, flying over Punk’s shoulder.

Punk grabbed Paul’s wrist, his iron grip keeping Paul from running off. “Paul,” Punk spoke up. “I’d like to cash in that favor now.”

—

“You sure you’re okay?” Jey questioned, holding the axe close as he walked by her side.

“I’m gonna have to be.” Rhea nodded. “I can’t grieve forever, not in a place like this.”

Jey hesitantly nodded. He understood just how dire the situation had become. There wasn’t any chance of escape, it was survival of the fittest here. You couldn’t exactly do much if it wasn’t to save a life or end it.

“Where did your family hide out?” Rhea asked, trying to change the subject.

“It’s not too far, c’mon.” Jey insisted, grabbing Rhea’s hand instinctively. Rhea flinched slightly, but she didn’t force him away. It was nice to have someone who cared enough to keep her close. If anything, she wanted him to pull her closer into a hug, but there wasn’t time for hugging, not in her mind at least. They continued walking with Jey leading the way.

“...What about you?” Rhea suddenly piped up. Jey looked back at her with an eyebrow raised.

“Me?” Jey questioned.

“Yeah, are you okay?” Rhea reiterated. Jey stayed silent for a moment. He had to think about that, which should’ve been the first sign that maybe he wasn’t okay. However, despite being forced to do horrible things just for survival, he didn’t think he wasn’t okay. Being thrown into a situation like this wasn’t ideal, but he was alive, healthy, and he knew the people he cared about were protected.

“Yeah.” Jey answered simply.

“Are you sure?” Rhea pressed further.

“No,” Jey confessed. “But once I get you to safety, I’ll be sure.” He nodded. Jey spotted the door he saw Roman and Jimmy running towards it earlier. He figured either they were in there or they relocated, but they wouldn’t just up and abandon him. Roman might, but Jimmy wouldn’t allow him to. He knows for a fact Jimmy would feel responsible if anything happened to him and he wasn’t there to stop, Jey would feel the same if the roles were reversed.

Jey and Rhea approached the door. Jey went to grab the doorknob before stopping himself. He didn’t want Roman or Jimmy to potentially attack him if he opened it unexpectantly, and that’s if they didn’t barricade it off already. Instead, Jey knocked.

“Hey, Uce!” Jey called out. “It’s Jey!” The younger Uso twin waited for a response or someone to move, but nothing happened.

“I think they moved already.” Rhea claimed, but Jey felt like he needed to get in. He reached for the doorknob again, this time without any kind of hesitation. He turned it slowly before creaking the door open.

“Roman, Jimmy, you i-” Jey cut himself off as his eyes fell upon the sight. He heard Rhea gasp behind him, but he didn’t comprehend it. All he could think about in that moment was the fact that he was looking at his brother’s corpse, mangled and cold. With only that on his mind, Jey couldn’t stop his feet as he raced towards the body, dropping to his knees at his brother’s side.

“Jimmy?” Jey quietly uttered. “Jimmy, get up.” Jey began shaking Jimmy’s body. He did it gently, like he was trying to wake Jimmy up, not fully comprehending it wasn’t going to work. The shaking slowly became more frantic as Jey began to panic. “Jimmy? Jimmy! Jimmy, this isn’t funny, wake up!”

Jey felt his mind being transported to a simpler time. They were only 8 years old. He and Solo were playing soccer in the backyard, Jimmy acting as a referee while their mom cleaned the house. Jey was way better than Solo, but he wouldn’t try flexing on Solo that hard. He’d score a goal, then Solo would get the ball and Jey would ‘accidentally’ trip right before he could get the ball from Solo, thus securing him a goal. At one point, Jey had the ball and decided to try kicking it from one side of the yard to the other. He didn’t account for the wind as he kicked it as hard as he could, causing it to veer and smack Jimmy in the face, sending the oldest boy to the ground.

He and Solo rushed over to their brother, and Jey would begin shaking him to try and get him up. “Jimmy? Jimmy, get up!” Jey would shout. “This isn’t funny, wake up!” Jimmy wouldn’t move until Jey stopped shaking him. That’s when Jimmy would pop up and scare Jey as payback for the ball to the face. It was simple fun looking back, and Jey didn’t want to believe Jimmy wasn’t going to wake up and scare him.

“Please! Please, Jimmy!” Jey began to shout, his hands trembling as he felt tears forming in his eyes. “I can’t lose you, just wake up!” The realization began to dawn on him as he looked into Jimmy’s cold, dead eyes. The tears that stained his face, making it clear Jimmy didn’t want this either, and yet he couldn’t save himself, just like Jey couldn’t save him. Jey’s shouting turned into incoherent sobs as he hugged Jimmy’s body. His arms could barely pull Jimmy into a hug, his hands shaking uncontrollably as he held onto Jimmy. He didn’t care that Jimmy’s blood stained his clothing, he didn’t care that Jimmy’s limp arms couldn’t hug him back, he just wanted Jimmy to breathe, to tell him he was okay, to pop up and scare him, to make him mad for a little bit before their mom called them in for a snack, and the realization he’d never get that again made him feel helpless. It made him want to throw himself over that banister he threw Liv over.

He sobbed into Jimmy’s shoulder, tears staining Jimmy’s shirt while blood stained Jey’s. He didn’t even register the pair of arms wrapped around him from behind until a few seconds after they did. Rhea, despite her stance of there being no time, knew Jey needed a hug from someone who wasn’t gone already. Rhea knew Damian wouldn’t have wanted a big reaction like this after he died, and she’s sure Jimmy wouldn’t want it from Jey either, but Jey couldn’t keep his emotions in like Rhea could. Rhea was used to it, but Jey wasn’t.

Slowly, Jey began setting Jimmy down and turning to Rhea, his arms wrapping around her as he continued to sob. I guess Jey had his answer for Rhea now. He wasn’t okay. Nothing will ever be okay again.

—

“Now?!” Paul exclaimed, trying to yank his arm from Punk’s hand despite the futility.

“No, tomorrow.” Punk responded sarcastically. “Yes, now! Now is as good as ever to use it up when your Tribal Chief is as good as dead!”

“Shut up!” Roman shouting. Drew pressed the blade into Roman’s throat, breaking the skin. Roman was lucky, Drew only broke skin as he groaned in pain.

“Drew!” Punk snapped at the Scottish Warrior. “I told you, don’t kill him!”

“I’m not killin’ him!” Drew retorted.

“You’re pretty damn close!” Punk fired back. “Keep the blade up, but no more blood!”

Drew glared at Punk, but he followed orders, moving the blade slightly further away, although keeping it close to Roman’s throat.

“Now then,” Punk turned his attention back to Paul. “What I want you to do is grab that knife,” Punk pointed to the one Roman had dropped when Drew ran into him. Drew, using his free foot, kicked the blade towards Punk and Paul, the knife stopping just at Paul’s feet. “And you’re going to stick it into Roman until he stops screaming.”

Roman couldn’t help but laugh. “Are you serious?” He cackled. “Paul wouldn’t do that to me! Tell him no!”

Punk knew better than that. Roman had only ever seen Paul as his personal, loyal wiseman, but Punk had known him for longer. Before Roman had become tribal chief, when Roman was simply the Big Dog, Paul had never held any allegiance for very long. He only ever did things for himself, things that would benefit him in the long run. The only reason he stayed with Roman was because Roman was successful and powerful, and Punk had always known that the moment the Roman ship sank, his loyalty would go down with it, and right now it was looking like that ship was gonna hit the bottom of the ocean any second now.

Punk released Paul’s wrist as he grabbed the knife, pushing the handle into Paul’s hands. Paul looked at the blade. “C’mon, Paul, you wanted to save lives, why are we keeping the guy who keeps trying to end them?”

“Paul, tell him no!” Roman repeated

Paul took in a deep breath. “No, my Tribal Chief, I can’t do that.”

Roman’s eyes widened. For the first time, he seemed to have genuine fear in them. Punk opened his mouth, presumably to praise Paul for his choice, but Roman acted quickly. He grabbed the blade of Drew’s sword, yanking it out of the unsuspecting Scotsman’s grip. His hands were cut open in the process, but it was a necessary sacrifice if he wanted a chance at survival. He then dropped the blade, grabbing Drew’s leg and pulling it from underneath him, causing Drew to lose his balance.

Roman rolled out of the way as Drew landed hard on the ground. Punk rushed at Roman with Seth’s pocket knife, but Drew accidentally grabbed Punk’s ankle, taking the Straight Edge Superstar down with him. Roman gets back onto his feet, scrambling despite the open wounds on his hands. Before he can run off, out of the corner of his eye, he sees Paul charging at him, blade pointed at the Tribal Chief. Paul isn’t as nimble or fast as Punk or Drew, giving Roman the time to reach into a cabinet and grab the first thing his hand could reach. It was a bread knife, but any knife would do fine now.

The Tribal Chief narrowly avoided Paul as he took a stab at Roman’s side. Roman sliced at Paul’s shoulder, the serrated blade cutting open Paul with ease. Paul cried out in pain, his hand instinctively going to the wound, giving Roman enough time to kick Paul, sending the Wiseman backward onto the ground and dropping the knife.

Drew grabbed onto the handle of his sword, ready to jump in and finish this himself, but then Punk grabbed his arm. “Let’s go.”

“What? And let Paul die here!?” Drew whispered-shouted back.

“Either Roman dies and the threat is gone, or Paul dies and Roman loses everyone’s trust. It’s a win either way, come on.” Punk insisted, helping Drew to his feet as the two rushed out of there.

Roman saw Punk and Drew run out of the kitchen, and he wanted to follow, but consequences needed to be handed out. Roman grabbed the knife Paul dropped, putting the bread knife in his pocket.

Paul put his hands up defensively.

“WAIT!!!”

—

Jey continued crying into Rhea’s shoulder, unable to process the situation before him. He didn’t even know what had happened that led up to this point. He didn’t know who did this to Jimmy, why they did it, or how he was going to avenge Jimmy for what they did.

As Jey continued sobbing much quieter, Rhea perked up, hearing footsteps approaching. She could tell it wasn’t just one person, it was a group. She began panicking, not knowing who was approaching. For all she knew, it was the rest of Judgement Day, coming back for revenge for what happened to Liv and Dominik. She felt trapped, not knowing how to get Jey up and moving after everything.

“Jey?” She tried muttering. “Jey, someone’s coming. Jey?!” Her words fell on deaf ears.

The footsteps continued to approach, Rhea shutting her eyes tight and hoping whoever appeared behind that door was planning on getting violent. The last thing she needed was to get killed after Damian. She didn’t want his death to be in vain, she had to last as long as possible. The footsteps stopped. No one was moving anymore. Rhea slowly opened up her eyes, slightly confused.

Her eyes lay upon Solo, Akira, and Elton. All three looked shocked to see the body, but Solo especially seemed devastated. It made sense, Jimmy was Solo’s brother too, but it was clear Solo wouldn’t have the same reaction to it as Jey did.

Solo slowly moved into the room, Akira and Elton hesitantly moving in behind him. Rhea thought this was sort of an odd group to be hanging out together. Akira and Elton, maybe, but throw Solo into the mix, and it suddenly turns into a trio that shouldn’t exist. It’s like if the Jock, the Art Kid, and the Nerd were suddenly best friends. She wasn’t going to question it out loud, though, not after seeing this. Solo would need some time to process it, she’s sure.

Solo kneeled by Jimmy’s body. His hand ran across Jimmy’s tear-stained cheek as he stared into Jimmy’s dead eyes, as if trying to watch back what happened through them. Rhea could already see tears forming in the corner of Solo’s eyes, but he quickly wiped them away.

“Who…” Solo uttered. “....Who did this?”

“We don’t know,” Rhea responded. “We came here because Jey thought Roman and Jimmy would be here. Roman wasn’t, Jimmy was.”

Solo’s eyes narrowed, almost like he didn’t believe Rhea. “...He did this, didn’t he?”

“Who did?” Rhea queried.

“Roman.” Solo answered. This seemed to snap Jey back into reality, letting go of Rhea and turning to his younger brother.

“No… No, he wouldn’t.” Jey insisted.

“He had to!” Solo persisted. “No one else would do this! No one else is like Roman!”

“Maybe, but why?! What would he get from killing Jimmy?!” Jey argued.

“Does it matter?” Solo growled. “Roman could have done it because of some delusion that fucking Wiseman put in his head! He kisses Roman’s feet any chance he gets!”

—

“My Tribal Chief, please!” Paul begged. “I’m so sorry, it was a mistake, but please! I am loyal to you and only you, I could help you every step of the way!”

—

“I get you’re all against him, but he wouldn’t kill because Paul told him to!” Jey barked back.

“Like hell he wouldn’t!” Solo scoffed.

—

“Like hell you are!” Roman lashed out. “After the stunt you pulled, you think I have any trust in you?!”

“It was a mistake! I should never have betrayed you!” Paul quavered.

—

“He wouldn’t betray our family like that!” Jey objected

“The moment any one of us showed a hint of defiance, we were kicked to the curb!” Solo pointed out. “If anything, he might think this is payback for Jimmy defying him!”

—

“I can help you get payback against Punk! I can trick him! I will do anything you say, just don’t kill me!” Paul shivered.

Roman raised the knife, causing Paul to cower. He hesitated, wondering if killing the wiseman was worth it.

—

“If I knew any better, I’d kill that Wiseman myself for getting into Roman’s ear!” Solo sneered

“Don’t talk like that!” Jey scolded. “I’m gonna find out who did this. And once I find out who,”

—

“You want to know something, Paul?” Roman growled. “There’s one thing I want from you.”

“Anything!” Paul exclaimed. Roman leaned in close.

“I.”

—

“Want.”

—

“Revenge.”

—

“For.”

—

“Everything.”

Roman brought the blade down into Paul’s chest. All Paul could do to react was let out a yelp at the sudden stabbing. Roman then dragged the blade down through Paul’s chest and down to the bottom of Paul’s belly. Paul clenched his teeth, wanting to scream but knowing Roman’s ears had already gone deaf to him. His silence was only broken once he began coughing, blood spurting up from his mouth.

“My…. Tribal…. Chief….” Paul sputtered. His eyes then rolled into the back of his head, and the Wiseman went completely still.

Roman panted as he fully processed everything. He looked down at Paul with no sympathy, only pity for him. He looked down at his hands still holding the knife, his palms coated with not just Paul’s but Jimmy’s blood as well. Was he the problem? No, he couldn’t be. Jimmy’s death was for the sake of saving others, and Paul attacked him first. He wasn’t a monster, he was simply doing what was best.

….

So why does that phrase keep repeating in his head?

‘Your reign of terror is over!’

Why can’t he forget it? Why won’t it go away? Why can’t he just do this? He wasn’t a monster, he was simply a man trying to save lives.

That voice was wrong, whoever it belonged to.

—

“Jey,” Rhea uttered, going to place her hand on his shoulder, but the Uso was quick to stand up. Rhea followed after him

“We’re going.” Jey huffed. “I’ll go find Roman, he’ll tell me what happened.”

Solo stayed quiet, glaring up at Jey. “It’s better if we stick together.”

“No,” Jey insisted. “We’re not gonna agree on anything if we do that.”

“...You’re right.” Solo sighed. “Elton, Akira, you guys coming with?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Mhm.”

“Right, we’re off.” Solo echoed, standing up. Just like that, the three left the room, no more words to Jey or Rhea. The two stood there, the tension thick enough to cut with a knife.

“We’ll find out who did this,” Rhea reassured him. “Maybe we’ll prove Roman’s innocence.”

“I don’t think so.” Jey admitted.

“Really?” Rhea questioned. “Why not?”

“...No one else is like Roman.”

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Chapter Text

Jacob wandered throughout the halls, still frustrated. Solo wasn’t thinking clearly. Why should Jacob obey someone who doesn’t have their head on straight? He knew Solo could at least protect himself, but maybe some alone time would help him see why Jacob was right. It also gave him time to equip himself, which almost killed him anyway. He had been going into any room he could for supplies, and eventually found himself in a room with MJF. He didn’t intend to fight with him, but when he got charged with a fire poker, Jacob wouldn’t take that lying down. He didn’t have to smash MJF’s head into a wall until part of his brain was exposed, but maybe MJF should’ve thought about that happening before trying to attack Jacob, plus Jacob got the fire poker out of it.

As he continued, Jacob made sure to look out in case anyone decided to attack him again. He had no intentions of ending up as a victim. He couldn’t die, not when Solo was out there by himself. If he dies and Solo dies, it’s Jacob’s fault. At least if they’re simply separated by distance rather than life, Jacob has a chance of getting to Solo before it’s too late. He didn’t ‘abandon’ Solo, he’s just letting Solo do things on his own for an extended period, so it wouldn’t be his fault if Solo got hurt.

Jacob opened up the door to the nearest room. Inside was a seemingly untouched Bedroom. It looked so pristine that dust was collecting on everything. Jacob ran his finger across the wall. The Orange wall popped much more vibrantly underneath. If anyone were in here, they couldn’t have touched anything if they didn’t want to get caught. Jacob rummaged through the bedside table. There were a bunch of unimportant papers, mostly coupons that were 30 years out of date, and some sleeping medication around the same age, nothing Jacob could use as a weapon. Jacob took the medicine and stuffed it into his pocket. He could use it as a final resort if push came to shove.

He turned to the closet door, thinking maybe there was something he could use. He approached the door, and the doorknob shone in the light.

…

The doorknob shone in the light.

Jacob stopped himself, but before he could get out of there, the door swung open. The next thing he knew, he was on the ground, gripping a pair of wrists as they tried forcing a dagger into his chest. Jacob didn’t even have time to recognize who was attacking him, he just knew he needed to get them off of him.

He kept his eyes shut tight as he felt his resistance becoming less and less effective. The blade grew closer and closer to Jacob’s chest, even as Jacob used all his strength to push it away. Suddenly, his attacker pulled away, causing Jacob to lose his grip. His eyes shot open as he looked up at the blade. His attacker was obscured by the light that poured down onto them. The attacker went to plunge the dagger into Jacob’s chest.

BANG!!!

Rather than the blade finishing Jacob off, a gunshot rang out. Chunks of flesh and blood flew out of the attacker’s chest, raining down onto Jacob.

BANG!!!

Another shot rang out, and this time it went through the attacker’s head. Their body slumped over, falling to Jacob’s side. Jacob clutched his chest, panting. That was a little too close for Jacob’s liking, and there was a small realization that he may not be able to do this alone.

“You alright, man?!” A voice rang out. It interrupted Jacob’s train of thought. It was the voice of his savior. He approached Jacob, standing over him. Again, the face was obscured by the light overhead, casting him in shadow. He reached out a hand to Jacob. Jacob lay there for a moment before accepting it, his savior helping him to his feet. Jacob wiped some of the attacker’s blood from his face as he finally saw who saved him.

It was Sami Zayn.

Jacob’s eyes widened. He got saved by Sami? This wasn’t just some fever dream he was having before death? Sure, Sami wasn't a member of the Bloodline anymore, but they still weren't on good terms period. Jacob looked down at his attacker. It was Finn Balor, his eye completely gone, along with a good chunk of the rest of his head.

“Jacob?” Sami spoke again, trying to get Jacob’s attention as he lowered the shotgun in his hand. “Are you alright?”

“Why are you helping me?” Jacob was puzzled, not even bothering to answer Sami.

“Because your Tribal Chief helped me,” Sami responded. “I know you guys are willing to work with me, so I’m willing to work with you.”

Jacob wanted to outright refuse here and now. Sami wasn’t going to make a hypocrite out of him, and he wanted to do this alone… but [dang] it, he knows he’s not going to survive without someone else with him. So, Jacob swallowed his pride and simply nodded.

Sami knelt by the body of the deceased Judgement Day leader. Jacob watched as Sami flipped Finn’s body over and dug into the back of Finn’s now open head.

“The hell are you doing?” Jacob queried, taking a step back.

“Grabbing this,” Sami answered as he pulled out a tiny, metal ball. It was too rounded and perfect to be shrapnel from Sami’s shotgun.

“What is it?” Jacob questioned further.

“Well,” Sami started. “Did you ever stop to look at the victims of that ‘shooting’ before everyone ran off?”

Jacob shook his head in response.

“I did. Comparing the bodies, there wasn’t really any consistency, and there were no bullets or any exit hole for the bullets like you see with Finn.” Sami stood back up, lightly tapping Finn’s head with his foot. “Looking up at the walls, I didn’t see anywhere the shots could’ve even come from. I was confused until Kevin Owens came at me with a pipe, don’t know where he got it, but that’s not the point. I found a shotgun on the wall and some ammo in a side table, shot him in the head, and this little metal ball flew out of his head. That’s when it clicked; it’s a bomb.”

“What?” Jacob’s eyes widened again.

“Oh yeah.” Sami reiterated. “Don’t know when or how, but they put bombs in the back of our heads. I tried taking mine out when I figured it out, but it started beeping. If I had tried any longer, you’d find me on a bathroom floor with a hole in the back of my head.” As proof, Sami turned and lifted his hair, revealing some bloodied bandages and gauze on the back of his head. Jacob’s hand instinctively went to the back of his head. He could feel some weird bumps on the back of his head, almost like stitching.

“So you mean if we get to an hour and we haven’t met the goal…?” Jacob started.

“Doesn’t matter where you are, your head could be next.” Sami finished. Sami then reached into his pocket, pulling out four other metal balls from his pocket. “I’ve been scavenging these outta people who died. So far, we've got Owens, Danhausen, Kaiser, Rollins, and now Balor.” Sami added Finn’s explosive to the rest and stuffed them back in his pocket. “They might come in handy later, though, maybe we can blow a hole in the wall or something.”

“They’re not gonna slip up that badly.” Jacob deduced. “Not when they managed to plan all this. Could be some use for ‘em though… say, I know where MJF’s body is if you want another one.”

“Cool!” Sami chirped. “Question, why do you know where his body is?”

Jacob raised an eyebrow at Sami.

“You’re absolutely right, I don’t want to know!” Sami beamed as Jacob led the way out of the room. Jacob was still a bit hesitant to go through with allying himself with Sami, but maybe Solo was right in a way. Even if they were against each other, what harm would it do to have a friend in this scenario?

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Chapter Text

Punk’s breath came in short, sharp pants as he rounded the corner into a closet. The closet was pretty small, considering all the cleaning products inside: brooms, mops, a vacuum, and several assorted chemicals. Punk was tempted to leave then and there, but was stopped when Drew pushed him further inside, nearly causing Punk to tumble into the cleaning supplies. Drew slammed the door shut behind him before he leaned on the wall to catch his breath.

“Jeez, I think Roman could hear that clear from the kitchen.” Punk teased, unable to pass up an opportunity to take a jab at Drew.

“Oh, fuck off.” Drew scoffed as he sat down on the floor, crossing his legs to at least give Punk the courtesy of not seeing his privates. Punk soon joined him on the floor.

“Can I say what I was gonna say before we ran into psycho chief?” Punk questioned.

“Go on.” Drew allowed.

“...I never actually thought you were interested in me.” Punk hesitated. “I mean… In the way you hated me, yeah, sure, but… You need me alive?”

Drew stayed quiet. It was clear that he was debating whether or not he should admit what he’s feeling right now. After a moment, he finally spoke up. “It took me a while to figure it out. First, I thought I just really hated ye that much, but then it got so overwhelming… I didn’t want to admit it. I mean, we had this huge rivalry, and suddenly I have a crush like a schoolgirl? It’s pathetic.”

“It’s not pathetic.” Punk confided. “Shit happens. Would the company have problems with it? Maybe, but it’s not like they can fire you because you fell in love with another wrestler. It happens all the time.”

“I don’t care what the company thinks.” Drew sternly admitted. “It’s everyone else. The fans, my friends, my family, what would they think of it?”

“Since when do you care what the fans think?” Punk asked. “Look, if anyone thinks less of you because you love someone, then they never thought anything of you to begin with. They wanna cut ties with you over this? Fine, let ‘em, they’re making the mistake, not you.”

Drew stared down for a moment. The man had a point. Why would he want someone in his life who would suddenly be against him because he was in love with Punk? Drew looked up before remembering who he was getting the advice from. The man sitting before him was Punk. The man he loved, the man whom he had been rivals not even a few weeks ago. Did that mean…?

“...Why are ye telling me this?” Drew puzzled. “Ye don’t actually… feel that way, do ye?”

Punk stayed silent for a moment. How did he feel? He was never confronted with this kind of question before. He’s been in plenty of rivalries before, hell, one of them nearly got him stabbed a few minutes ago, but Drew had always been different to him. Was it because he loved Drew? That’s what he didn’t know.

“...I couldn’t tell you.” Punk finally answered. “I don’t 100% hate you if that’s anything, but I don’t know how I really feel about you.”

Punk looked into Drew’s eyes again. There was a simultaneous look of disappointment yet hope. It wasn’t the answer Drew wanted, but it’s clear that Drew was glad Punk didn’t outright say no. Drew was already worried about his reputation being ruined by such a strong feeling; he didn’t want it to be all for nothing, especially in a situation like this. Punk didn’t even notice he had crawled closer to Drew; he was too busy reading the emotion in Drew’s eyes.

“...I guess I don’t mind if ye don’t feel the same, as long as ye don’t die here.” Drew concluded.

“I don’t want you to die either.” Punk added on. “I don’t want anyone to die, but if one person had to get out of here, I want it to be you.”

Drew looked back into Punk’s eyes. Punk couldn’t get over how nice Drew’s eyes looked. Punk wishes he had paid attention sooner. They were such a pretty color of blue, he could practically imagine himself swimming in them. Drew blinked. Somehow, Punk found himself admiring the way Drew’s eyelashes moved, too.

“What are ye doing?” Drew finally spoke.

“Staring contest, you just lost.” Punk joked without missing a beat. Drew chuckled. It was the first time Punk ever got Drew to laugh in front of him.

“Shut up,” Drew spoke softly.

“...For real though, have your eyes always been so…” Punk trailed off.

“...Beautiful?” Drew finished Punk’s sentence.

“Well, that’s way more straightforward than I was going for, but sure.” Punk gently intoned. “I just feel like I could stare into them forever and never get bored.”

Punk noticed Drew’s face slightly turn red. It was easier for Drew to hide it with his beard, but his paler skin made it obvious regardless. That’s when he noticed Drew subtly moving in closer, but rather than pull away, Punk started ever so slightly inching closer as well.

“Ye mean that?” Drew queried.

“Every word.” Punk admitted, but finally, he couldn’t help it, and he closed the distance. Punk's lips came crashing into Drew's, the straight edge Superstar closing his eyes. He felt Drew's hands gripping the back of his neck. They felt so gentle compared to any time they were in the ring together. He didn't think Drew's hands were capable of anything but swinging and occasionally tweeting; it was almost alien the way they felt, and yet it was so familiar at the same time.

Punk's hands reached up, tangling with Drew's hair. It was so soft and delicate. He really should get Drew's hair routine. Maybe he could bring back his own long hair with the grey in it this time. Punk couldn't help but melt into Drew's embrace as their lips became more entangled. By the time they finally broke away from each other, both men were out of breath. Punk opened his eyes, only to see Drew staring back at him again. This time, something was burning behind them, something that couldn't be ignored: passion. And Punk couldn't deny he had a similar passion burning in his own body.

Punk's hand moved down to Drew's cheek, the Scottish Warrior leaning into the touch as Punk softly pressed his forehead against Drew's.

“I thought ye didn't know.” Drew commented.

Punk laughed. “I think I've figured it out now.”

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Otis
Penta
Piper Niven
R-Truth
Randy Orton
Rey Mysterio
Rhea Ripley
Roman Reigns
Roxanne Perez
Sami Zayn
Shane McMahon
Sheamus
Shinsuke Nakamura
Solo Sikoa
Stephanie McMahon
The Miz
Tiffany Straton
Toni Storm
Valhalla
Wendy Choo
Xavier Woods

Chapter Text

Sheamus watched as the rest of the group seemed to get along well. Joe and Rey talked with each other, discussing things like championships, their lives, and some advice, mostly just trying to get to know each other. Meanwhile, Mizuki and Penta kept playing rock, paper, scissors. They weren’t trying to do anything other than keep themselves from getting bored. It was entertaining to Sheamus in a way; they treated it like they were competing for the world championship.

They stared into each other's eyes, each trying to get a read on what the other was thinking. Penta wiggled his fingers a bit before he balled them into a fist, bringing his hands up to start the match. Mizuki’s hand faltered slightly, but she brought hers up as well, ready to put her all into it. A bead of sweat runs down her face. She’s nervous. Penta notices it. He knows. Both raise their fists. “Rock.” They both say, bringing their fists down into the palms of their hands. Penta has a firm grip; it almost looks like he punched himself.

Meanwhile, Mizuki’s hand was delicate but firm, even through her apparent anxiety. “Paper.” They both bring their fists back up before putting them back down again. They stare into each other’s eyes. Both want this win. Both need this win. “Scissors.” They bring their fists up before putting them down again. It was now or never. They had to decide their next move, for it could be the last one they make. Both have their actions locked in; you can tell it in their eyes.

“Shoot!” With the final word, they bring their fists up, and in a split second, they bring them back down. It takes a moment to process what just happened. Penta had unballed his fist, laying his hand flat on top of the other. Meanwhile, Mizuki had stuck out two fingers as her fist rested on her other hand. The two looked at their hands before looking at each other. They nodded in agreement. Mizuki had won the battle.

Sheamus softly chuckled to himself. It was good to see some levity in such a grave situation. When no one knew what would happen next, something as simple as watching two fully grown adults take a simple game so seriously was a breath of fresh air. He looked out of the small hole in the wall next to his face. No one else seemed to be coming. He didn’t think anyone would; it wasn’t like this was a trendy place to be. Even he had to admit it was a little dumb hiding here, but they at least had weapons in case anything went wrong.

“Hey, Sheamus,” Joe called out, causing the Irishman to look up. “Rey here says ye used to be a king, what’s that all about?”

Sheamus chuckled in response. “Yes, yes, I was. It was a highlight of my career.”

“Didn’t you lose to John Morrison like 20 times after you won?” Rey teased.

“We don’t talk about that!” Sheamus insisted, causing Joe and Rey to laugh.

“I guess you did better than I. That was what, 2010? I didn’t even make it past round one.” Rey admitted

“Who’d ye lose to?” Joe questioned.

“Cody Rhodes, back when he was dashing.” Rey admitted

“He isn’t dashing now?” Joe said with an eyebrow raised.

“After a few drinks, he is.” Sheamus jested, causing both Joe and Rey to chuckle, although Rey seemed to be still a bit worried. “You alright there, fella?” the Irishman checked in.

“...I’m still worried about Dom.” Rey sighed. “I know he can hold his own, and I know he probably doesn’t care what happens to me, but I’m still his dad.”

Sheamus and Joe looked at each other. Neither had children of their own, but they could empathize with Rey’s plight. Even if Dom had long since separated himself from his dad, Rey still considered Dom his son. Dom may not even be his biological son, but if he wasn’t, he was the only thing he had left of his best friend.

“Tell ye what,” Joe finally spoke up as he turned back to Rey. “I can go back with ye into the manor, and we can go find Dom. How does that sound?”

Sheamus’s eyes widened in slight surprise. What Joe was suggesting was incredibly risky, especially if it was just the two of them. Most people would call it stupid, but Sheamus could see it was selfless. Joe barely even knew Rey, and yet he was willing to offer this to someone he had just met.

“...Are you sure?” Rey questioned, as though he was reiterating Sheamus’s silent sentiment.

“Positive!” Joe reassured with a smile. Rey opened his mouth to respond, but was quickly interrupted.

“Shit!” Penta cried out. “Block the door!”

The three men looked as Mizuki and Penta started grabbing anything with weight, mostly bags of fertilizer, and tossing them in front of the door.

“The hell is going on?” Sheamus asked as Rey looked into a hole in the wall.

“Fuck, that’s the McMahons!” Rey blurted as he ran to grab a weapon. Sheamus looked through the hole and sure enough, Shane and Stephanie McMahon were not only charging toward the shed, but Shane held a shotgun whilst Stephanie had a pistol.

“Where the fuck did they get guns?!” Sheamus gasped as he frantically grabbed a bag of fertilizer. Before anyone could block the door properly,

BANG!!!

A shot rang out, putting a hole through the door and causing Mizuki to hit the ground with a thud. The bullet thankfully only grazed her shoulder, but she still let out a pained yelp, causing Penta to quickly drop everything to check on her.

BANG!!!

Another shot rang out, flying over everyone’s heads right before the door flung open. Now, Shane and Stephanie barged in, guns pointed at the group.

“Thought we might have some in here. It’s just like he said.” Stephanie boasted.

“Alright, we don’t need to make this harder than it has to be.” Shane declared. No sudden movements, and this’ll be over nice and quick.”

Sheamus stammered. “Ye can’t jus-”

BANG!!!

Sheamus couldn’t get another word out before Shane pulled the trigger. Sheamus flew back, hitting the wall. He immediately tuned out the screaming and yelling as he focused on himself. He didn’t feel any pain. He looked down at his torso. He forgot he was still holding the fertilizer. It had stopped the bullet completely before it reached Sheamus’s torso.

Suddenly, he felt something fall onto the bag. It took him a moment to process it. It was a circular saw. Just his luck. Not only did he get saved from being shot, but he had a weapon just fall into his lap. He knew it wasn’t a good idea to charge at the two, even with his weapon. It was stupid, not selfless… but maybe something could be stupid and selfless.

Sheamus jumped up. He managed to figure out how to turn the damn thing on before charging at Stephanie. Before anyone had time to react, Sheamus brought the saw to her torso, blood splattering everywhere as Stephanie screamed in agony. She dropped the pistol before falling to the floor. Shane quickly brought the shotgun up and went to shoot Sheamus, but

Click!

It was jammed. Just his luck.

Sheamus charged at Shane, this time tackling the older McMahon sibling. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion from there. Sheamus raised the saw, looking down at Shane’s face. His expression was somewhere between regret and the realization that he wasn’t making it out of here alive. The Irishman couldn’t hear anything but the sound of the saw buzzing and the shotgun clattering to the ground. He brought the saw down, not even giving Shane time to flinch.

When the saw connected with Shane’s face, it was like Sheamus struck oil in Texas. Blood gushed everywhere, along with some bone fragments and brain matter. Sheamus didn’t turn the saw off until he felt it hitting the concrete beneath Shane. He panted, finally able to focus on what was going on around him. He looked down at Shane’s now split face. If Sheamus were to remove the saw and put his face together, it’d look like Shane was letting out a silent scream of agony.

The Irishman stood up and looked back at the rest of the group. Everyone else was staring back in horror. No one moved; it was like Sheamus was looking into a painting. Mizuki and Penta were hugging each other, Rey had backed himself against the wall, and the portrait illusion was broken when Joe suddenly ran into the corner and vomited. None of them expected something like that out of Sheamus. Could he be intimidating in the ring? Yeah, but no one ever thought that the man who was so friendly outside of it could do something so animalistic, even for the sake of self-defense.

Sheamus then looked at Stephanie, noticing her twitching and coughing up blood. The Irishman knew she’d bleed out eventually; there was no way she could survive a giant gash in the chest without immediate medical attention, but he knew it’d be inhumane to just leave her there in pain. He grabbed the pistol she had dropped, pointed it to her head, and

BANG!!!

Stephanie stopped moving entirely. Sheamus then turned to Rey, offering him the pistol.

“Ye said ye wanted to find Dom, right?” Sheamus questioned. Rey silently took the pistol and nodded. Sheamus then grabbed the shotgun.

“Let’s go find yer son.”

CURRENTLY ALIVE

AJ Styles
Akira Tozawa
Alexa Bliss
Asuka
Austin Theory
Axiom
B-Fab
Bayley
Becky Lynch
Bianca Belair
Big E
Booker T
Brock Lesnar
Candace LeRae
Carlito
Charlotte Flair
Chelsea Green
Chris Jericho
CM Punk
Cody Rhodes
Darby Allin
Drew McIntyre
Dustin Rhodes
Edge
Elton Prince
Grayson Waller
Gunther
Iyo Skye
Jacob Fatu
Jade Cargill
Jey Uso
Joe Hendry
John Cena
Jordynne Grace
Kofi Kingston
LA Knight
Lexis King
Lyra Valkyria
Meiko Satomura
Mizuki
Nia Jax
Omos
Otis
Penta
Piper Niven
R-Truth
Randy Orton
Rey Mysterio
Rhea Ripley
Roman Reigns
Roxanne Perez
Sami Zayn
Sheamus
Shinsuke Nakamura
Solo Sikoa
The Miz
Tiffany Straton
Toni Storm
Valhalla
Wendy Choo
Xavier Woods

Chapter Text

Rhea let out a deep breath as she and Jey walked through the halls. They had both been pretty quiet ever since they left Jimmy. It was clear Jey was set on finding Roman and getting him to clear his name, because Jey knew Roman did it, but he didn’t want to believe it. He didn’t want to lose any more of his family, and Roman killing their own blood would destroy everything. Even if they weren’t allies in the ring, outside of it, they were still family, but does that still hold if one of you killed another?

Rhea looked over to Jey. His expression was tired, yet focused. His axe rested on his shoulder, the blade surprisingly clean and shiny as it reflected the dim light above. It almost looked like the lighting was brighter than it was when it reflected off the axe. His once-blue button-up was stained a deep purple, a color beautiful yet haunting to Rhea.

The silence was killing Rhea. She wanted to talk to Jey, to connect with him, to make sure he was still Jey under all that guilt and sorrow, but she knew better than to try and pry into him after he held his brother’s dead body in his arms. She knew he was already at the limit right now, and for as fun loving as Jey usually was, Rhea could sense he had the same rage inside him that fueled Roman and Solo.

Luckily for Rhea, Jey broke the silence for her.

“I’m sorry.” Jey simply stated.

“...Sorry for what?” Rhea questioned.

“I’m sorry you had to sit in the middle of that argument.” Jey explained.

“You don’t need to apologize for that.” Rhea insisted, waving her hand. “Not the first time I’ve been in the middle of a family fight.”

“I just… Solo says stuff before he thinks.” Jey admitted. “We all do, but Solo is the absolute worst about it.”

—

Solo led the way as Elton and Akira followed. He only looked forward, never looking back at anything they passed even if it could help. He didn’t want to talk right now, he didn’t want to feel, he just wanted to leave. He wanted to get out so he could scream and punch the walls, but he couldn’t do that. Not here. Not when he risked not only himself being killed, but people who put their trust into him.

—

“He was always the black sheep, no doubt about it. He never really liked being part of the family, honestly I’m surprised he didn’t try making his own bloodline sooner.”

—

“Hey, Solo!”

Solo’s train of thought was interrupted as he turned to Akira.

“You might wanna come see this.” Akira stated, motioning to the doors he was standing by. They were swinging doors, not like the rest of the manor.

—

“He’s still my brother, I’ll never pretend he ain’t, but…”

—

Akira pushed the doors open. Solo’s eyes widened as he took in the sight before him. That damn Wiseman laid dead on the floor, blood pooling beneath him and turning the once white shirt underneath his suitcoat crimson.

—

“He’s not a leader. If he’d just stop pretending he was, maybe we’d agree on something.”

—

“Shit…” Solo uttered as he approached the body, kneeling down by it. Akira stood on the other side of Paul, his arms crossed as he studied Paul’s body. Elton kept away, leaning against the wall as he let the other two investigate.

“...Was it Roman?” Elton questioned. “I mean, I know Paul had a lot of enemies in the past-”

“And if any of them had done it, they’d be laying next to him.” Solo cut off Elton. “Roman’s not one to fuck with, especially when it comes to Paul. If Paul is dead and there’s not another dead body next to him, then it’s safe to say we know Roman did it.”

“Then it means he took out Jimmy too, right?” Akira asked. “Why would he kill Paul unless it had something to do with Jimmy?”

“...You’re right.” Solo reassured as he stood up. “Roman wouldn’t have done it without a reason. So, unless that reason was because Roman let someone else kill Jimmy, then it’s gotta be because he did it.”

“Are we gonna do something about him?” Elton queried.

“No, not unless we come face to face.” Solo insisted. “You can’t face the bull head on, not when he’s like this. We need to avoid him, either he’ll tire himself or he’ll realize what he’s done. What we need to do is find Jacob.”

“Seriously?” Elton questioned.

“We need to warn him. Jey already knows, he just won’t admit it, but as far as Jacob knows, Roman is vulnerable. If he tries going up against Roman, he’s not coming back out alive, and I won’t have his death on my conscious, not when my brother is already dead.” Solo instructed.

“And if we don’t find him?” Akira asked. Solo paused, clearly hesitating at the question. If they didn’t find him, it’s Solo’s fault. Solo couldn’t save him, Solo couldn’t protect him. Solo is supposed to be the Tribal Chief, he’s supposed to protect everyone, even if they’re his enforcer. He needed Jacob more than Jacob needed him, but at the end of the day, what was there to say if he couldn’t save Jacob?

“...God have mercy on his soul.”

CURRENTLY ALIVE

AJ Styles
Akira Tozawa
Alexa Bliss
Asuka
Austin Theory
Axiom
B-Fab
Bayley
Becky Lynch
Bianca Belair
Big E
Booker T
Brock Lesnar
Candace LeRae
Carlito
Charlotte Flair
Chelsea Green
Chris Jericho
CM Punk
Cody Rhodes
Darby Allin
Drew McIntyre
Dustin Rhodes
Edge
Elton Prince
Grayson Waller
Gunther
Iyo Skye
Jacob Fatu
Jade Cargill
Jey Uso
Joe Hendry
John Cena
Jordynne Grace
Kofi Kingston
LA Knight
Lexis King
Lyra Valkyria
Meiko Satomura
Mizuki
Nia Jax
Omos
Otis
Penta
Piper Niven
R-Truth
Randy Orton
Rey Mysterio
Rhea Ripley
Roman Reigns
Roxanne Perez
Sami Zayn
Sheamus
Shinsuke Nakamura
Solo Sikoa
The Miz
Tiffany Straton
Toni Storm
Valhalla
Wendy Choo
Xavier Woods

Chapter Text

Drew and Punk slowly opened up the closet door. Both took a look to the left, then one to the right, before they both stepped out into the hallway. Drew held his sword up while Punk pocketed Seth’s knife. The two, now unified in their love for each other (a phrase which would probably make both of them cringe), were ready to mow down anyone who decided they were dead meat. They two made their way down the hallway, both in full defense mode. Drew kept up the front while Punk made sure no one chased them from behind.

“So once we get outta here,” Punk spoke “When are we going on our first proper date?”

“Ye’re thinkin’ about that now?” Drew questioned, although he could sense the humor in Punk’s voice.

“You confessed your love to me, I don’t wanna hear you getting all offended now that I’m asking for dinner and a movie.” Punk jested.

“Ye’re insatiable.” Drew chuckled.

“And you’re obsessed!” Punk retorted. “And now you can’t deny it, I have full blown, 4k, HD, theater quality proof!” Punk insisted, which caused Drew to mutter something that Punk couldn’t hear. “What’s that?” Punk questioned.

“I said ye’re obsessed too, so ye can’t judge me!” Drew smugly responded.

“Ugh, fine, I won’t judge you for your obsessiveness.” Punk rolled his eyes playfully.

“...How about next Saturday?” Drew asked, causing Punk to perk up.

“What was that?” Punk responded.

“For our date.” Drew stated. “Next Saturday, we’ll go to a nice restaurant, maybe go for a long walk or something. How does that sound?”

Punk stayed quiet, genuinely surprised Drew was offering an answer to his little joke. “...Sure, that sounds nice.” Punk finally agreed.

“Good, cause ye’re paying for it all.” Drew joked.

“Oh, come on!” Punk groaned jokingly.

“Hey, ye already agreed, no take backs.” Drew chuckled.

“Fiiiine… but we’re finding a pet friendly restaurant, cause I know how much you love Larry.” Punk added on.

“I didn’t agree to that!” Drew scoffed.

“And I didn’t agree to paying, what are we doing about it, princess?” Punk questioned.

“...Fine, I’ll pay for it then, but ye’re paying for the date after that.” Drew insisted.

“Deal.” Punk agreed. The two rounded the corner just as the sound of a muffled scream rang out. Drew and Punk looked at each other, as though telepathically communicating if they should investigate or mind their business. In the end they went down the hall, trying to see if they could locate the origin of the scream. It helped that some banging and yelling happened to be coming from the same area.

Eventually, Punk and Drew were led to a door. The lock on it was busted, which allowed anyone to access it. Punk and Drew looked back to each other before Punk reached for the door. Before he even touched it, another shout emanated from the room. Neither Punk nor Drew could tell what exactly was said, but they could tell it was angry and fueled by adrenaline.

Even so, Punk opened up the door with a loud creaking noise. The scene unfolding inside was a bloody one. On the floor was Becky Lynch’s body, covered in blood and stab wounds and clutching a revolver. A few feet away, Piper Niven, equally as dead and bloody, sat against the wall with a gunshot wound to the forehead. Standing over Becky was Chelsea Greene, holding up a knife and going to stab down, but upon hearing the door open, she slowly turned to look at Drew and Punk with a wide eyed expression, almost like a puppy that just got caught doing something naughty. It might have been cute if it wasn’t actually Chelsea standing over a dead body.

“...This isn’t what it looks like.”

—

Jacob looked back at Sami as they walked. Jacob was still reluctant to partner up with the redhead, but at this point he couldn't back out. He needed an ally, and with Solo still missing, Sami was all he had. Meanwhile, Sami seemed aloof to Jacob’s hatred. It wasn’t like he was oblivious entirely, more so he willingly overlooked it. He missed having someone around who took things more seriously, who got a little overexcited and angry sometimes. He wished he didn’t have to put that someone down with a shotgun, but now Jacob could potentially fill that void! If it’s a coping mechanism, just call Sami an engineer!

Jacob paused his walking with Sami nearly bumping into him. Sami was confused until he looked over his shoulder and saw why Jacob stopped. They had ventured towards the stairs, the same stairs that Liv Morgan had been impaled through, and the same stairs that Dom Mysterio’s body laid next to.

“Holy fuck…” Sami muttered. “How did this…?”

“Doesn’t matter.” Jacob answered. “Whatever happened, they’re both dead now.”

Sami hesitantly nodded. He then grabbed the knife he’d been hiding in his pocket. He kneeled down by Dom’s body, carefully turning his body over and beginning to remove the bomb from the back of his head.

“Get the fuck away from his body!”

Sami immediately jump up at the sound, his arm getting grabbed by Jacob as the Samoan Werewolf pushed Sami behind him, acting as a human shield for Sami as he pointed the firepoker at the voice. It belonged to Rey Mysterio, who pointed his pistol directly at Jacob and Sami. Soon enough, he was joined by Sheamus and Joe Hendry.

“Woah woah woah, this isn’t what it looks like!”

—

“It looks like you just stabbed Becky to death.” Punk blatantly pointed out.

“Okay, so it’s exactly what it looks like.” Chelsea admitted, dropping the knife. “But I can explain what happened!”

“O…Kay?” Punk stated, grabbing Drew’s arm, prompting Drew to lower the sword.

—

“What it looks like is you’re about to butcher my kid!” Rey shouted, never lowering the gun.

“He was dead when we found him!” Jacob shouted back.

“Oh sure he was!” Rey responded sarcastically.

“Really, he was!” Sami insisted. “Just let us explain before you do something you’re gonna regret!”

“Rey, Fella,” Sheamus finally spoke up, gently grabbing Rey’s arm. “Let’s hear them out for a second. If they’re fibbin’, it’ll be easy to tell.”

Rey hesitated at Sheamus’s words, but as Penta and Mizuki finally joined the group, Rey conceded. “Fine. This better be the truth.”

—

“Piper and I were hiding out in here, we weren’t planning on doing whatever that weird voice wants us to do.” Chelsea explained. “Then, out of nowhere, we hear Becky banging on the door. She sounded hysterical, something about Seth, but we weren’t gonna let her know we were in here. So, she broke inside, and shot Piper. I got lucky that she was out of bullets and I managed to score a knife on the way here, so… that happened.” She motioned to Becky’s body.

—

“We were just walking around, and we found them. I have no idea who killed who or why, but they were already there.” Sami claimed. “The reason I was cutting into Dom was because I was looking for one of these.” Sami then pulled the explosives from his pocket and holding them out. “They’re bombs. They somehow got them in our heads, that’s how everyone was getting ‘shot’ earlier. I’ve been collecting them in case I could use them.”

—

Drew and Punk looked to each other. Punk knew they were near the location of Seth’s corpse. “We… might have caused that.” Punk admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

—

“No way…” Rey muttered before he finally let his guard down, reaching for the back of his neck and putting his hand up into his mask just enough to feel the stitching. The rest of the group instinctively also reached back to see, also feeling the stitching on the back of their necks

“Damn it…” Sheamus muttered. “How?”

“Don’t know.” Sami simply answered. “All I know is that whoever is doing this can set them off at any time, so unless you find somewhere they can’t see you, you can’t get ‘em out either.”

—

“He’s uh… sort of cracked in half like a KitKat.” Punk elaborated

“Oh… Ew…” Chelsea commented. “But you guys aren’t gonna kill me, right?”

“You were avenging one of my sisters in arms, for that I respect ye.” Drew claimed.

“Really?” Chelsea questioned.

“Nah, but I’m not gonna kill ye regardless.” Drew admitted.

“We’re not psychopaths, we’re survivors.” Punk added on. “Hell, if my partner in crime doesn’t mind, we’d be happy to let you tag along.”

“Ditto.” Drew confirmed.

“I’d love that! Thank y-” Chelsea paused as she seemed to realize something. “Wait, aren’t you guys supposed to hate each other?”

“Uhhhhh…” Both men spoke in unison. “We… ‘Buried the hatchet’.” Punk claimed.

“We ‘signed a treaty’.” Drew added on.

“‘Came to an agreement’”

“‘Sealed the Deal’”

“‘Sued for Peace’”

“‘Called the dogs home’”

“That one doesn’t make sense.”

“I ran outta metaphors.”

Chelsea paused as she tried figuring out what was going on. Suddenly, the realization hit her like a freight train. “ARE YOU TWO DATING?!?!”

“Jeez! Voice down, lady!” Punk insisted. “Don’t let the whole manor know!”

“I knew it!” Chelsea cheered. “I knew there was something between you two! The moment the internet finds out, oh it’s gonna be insane!”

“Yeah, well let’s not worry about that right now.” Punk stated. “Let’s focus on getting out of this place.”

“Right.” Chelsea chuckled as she went to join Drew and Punk. “So, when’s the wedding?”

“Oh cram it, Chelsea.” Drew scoffed.

—

Rey let out a reluctant sigh before his eyes landed back on Dominik. He said nothing, clearly trying to process how he should react. Sheamus put a hand on Rey’s shoulder. “Ye don’t have to pretend it doesn’t affect you.” Sheamus quietly insisted.

In response, Rey finally broke down, quiet sobs emanating from the luchador. “Oh, mi hijo…” he uttered as he gently fell to his knees. Penta joined him as he placed a hand on Rey’s shoulder. Penta spoke quietly to Rey in Spanish, which even if any of them understood, was too quiet to make out. Sami looked to Jacob, yet Jacob’s stern, mean look didn’t crack. It was night and day between Sami and Jacob. Sami felt Empathy, Jacob felt Pity.

Sheamus looked at the two outside his group. “Here, there’s something you two should see.” Sheamus claimed. Sami perked up a bit while Jacob raised an eyebrow. Sheamus motioned for the two to follow him as he began to walk. Joe followed as well, not wanting to leave Sheamus alone with the two even when they proved their own innocence.

Sami and Jacob followed after the Irishman and Scotsman. It was mostly quiet as they walked until Jacob spoke up. “So, what happened to you?” He motioned to Sheamus, noticing just how bloody he was.

“Uhh…” Sheamus thought for a moment. “Shane McMahon ran into me… while I was holding a saw… directly towards his face.”

“Okay, what about him?” Jacob asked, pointing at Joe’s shirt which had vomit on the front of it.

“I watched.” Joe answered bluntly.

“Wait, where did you find a saw?” Sami queried.

“There’s a shed outside the manor but uh… I wouldn’t go there.” Sheamus insisted.

“...I’ll take your word for it.” Sami nodded. A few moments later, the four men had reached a door. Sheamus opened it up, stepping aside so Sami and Jacob could see there on the ground.

“...Jimmy?”

CURRENTLY ALIVE

AJ Styles
Akira Tozawa
Alexa Bliss
Asuka
Austin Theory
Axiom
B-Fab
Bayley
Bianca Belair
Big E
Booker T
Brock Lesnar
Candace LeRae
Carlito
Charlotte Flair
Chelsea Green
Chris Jericho
CM Punk
Cody Rhodes
Darby Allin
Drew McIntyre
Dustin Rhodes
Edge
Elton Prince
Grayson Waller
Gunther
Iyo Skye
Jacob Fatu
Jade Cargill
Jey Uso
Joe Hendry
John Cena
Jordynne Grace
Kofi Kingston
LA Knight
Lexis King
Lyra Valkyria
Meiko Satomura
Mizuki
Nia Jax
Omos
Otis
Penta
R-Truth
Randy Orton
Rey Mysterio
Rhea Ripley
Roman Reigns
Roxanne Perez
Sami Zayn
Sheamus
Shinsuke Nakamura
Solo Sikoa
The Miz
Tiffany Straton
Toni Storm
Valhalla
Wendy Choo
Xavier Woods