iNtense 38: The Damned and the Dam After the brutal attack on Aria Murphy on iNtense 38, in which Daryn Thompson returned and attacked the current Starlett Champion, jOlt staff cut away. The following took place off air. It was a pivotal moment in the night, due to the fact it was one of two attacks that put Sylo in one of the worst mindsets he’d been in since he returned. The solid resolve that held in the savage Beast and used logic and strategy finally showed its first crack. What would this mean as jOlt grew closer to D&C? More so, what would it mean as “Superstar” Vince Jacobs and jOlt’s reckoning, Sylo, raced with reckless abandon to finally settle the score: “Okay on three. One, two, three!” With a grunt EMT’s lifted Aria keeping her as straight as possible as they laid her on a stretcher. Aria wasn’t very responsive except for a few mild groans but she didn’t cry or scream. It had to be said, she was tougher than most men in the back. “Let’s get her loaded up. Jesus Christ, it seems like we’re taking a body out every week. Maybe we should start charging double,” One of the EMT’s laughed a little as they began to roll Aria away on the stretcher. As soon as they went through the side curtain, though, they immediately had to stop. It was as if the oxygen had been sucked out of the surrounding area. All the EMT’s froze in place as Aria laid trying to stay conscious. “Kill that bitch" was the only thing she really said that could be deciphered because if it wasn’t for Aria’s mumbling you could hear a pin drop. All four EMT’s stood wide eyed and slack jawed unable to speak, much less move, because they were now staring down the barrel of a loaded gun. That gun? Sylo. “Which one of you thought it’d be a good idea to make a joke while escorting an injured competitor?” Sylo eyed each EMT, watching for any sign that would give away who it was. “Sir, it was very unprofessional, and we will make sure there are repercussions but time is of the essence, especially if she has a concussion or spinal injury.” The obvious head EMT decided to grow balls or babble out something to keep the Human Natural Disaster at ease. “Time is of the essence.” Sylo squinted, those predator-esque eyes filled with malice. “So important one of you had time to crack a fucking joke? Every last one of you has carried away someone I’ve sent to the hospital. I’ll escort you to the ambulance and if I hear one word out of line? If I even feel one of you is trying to be a comedian, I’ll snap your fucking neck and we can skip the hospital and go straight to the morgue. Are we clear, gentlemen?” Sylo let out a brief snarl as all four nodded. All four knew Sylo wasn’t in the kind of mood where you wanted to take liberty with your words. So, instead of risking it, they all just shut their mouth and moved forward as Sylo escorted them through the back. “J? Is that you?” Sylo looked over his shoulder, he saw Aria, he saw the pain in her eyes, and for a brief moment he wanted to tear away and break them all. He wanted to let that primal side take the wheel and go diving head first into madness leaving nothing but a trail of bodies and ashes in his wake. He could feel that darkness whisper and start to rise it’s massive, dark, head from the darkest corner of his soul. “You’re the...GOD....DAMN....SUPERBEAST! Or have you forgotten that? Every one of your enemies can fall beneath your boot. Everyone that would mark themselves as your enemy could feel the flames of hell itself if only you would let go--if only you would be FREE!” No. Sylo told himself, more so, whatever was inside him no. That was the easy way. That was the quick way. Injuries heal. Sure, some could take longer than others but what Sylo was doing would destroy more than just someone's body. He shook his head slightly, now wasn’t the time, and he looked into Aria’s eyes that reflected, almost like glass. “Aria, don’t talk. Save your energy. You’re going to be okay. You’re tough. You’ll be back on your feet in a day. Hell, you’re tougher than most of the people that call themselves men in this place,” Sylo smirked, trying to reassure Aria while suppressing the wildfire that burned inside him. “I can still fight. I’ll be--” Aria’s eyes rolled for a second before she focused again. “Fight. Match. We’ll win.” She tried to nod but between the neck brace and the EMT’s she wouldn’t even get the chance. “Destroy them. Break them now and just take what’s yours. Please don’t tell me you’re going soft.” A single sinister cackle followed inside Sylo. His stomach turned a little as the EMT’s opened the ambulance doors. “J?” Aria’s eyes roamed up to Sylo. Sylo inhaled sharply. He leaned down close, close enough to whisper in her ear. “We’ll win, Aria because we’re better than them but I need you healthy. Rest and come back to fight another day. Let me handle this. I swear, I’ll take care of everything here and I’ll come by the hospital when I’m done here. You did good. You’ll get the bitch back, don’t worry, and as for the rest of them,” Sylo moved up and looked back toward the arena where the roar of the fans echoed. “Let’s just say, as far as tonight, you won’t be the only one headed out in an ambulance.” The wildfire was threatening to engulf every inch of Sylo. He could feel it. Then he felt someone, Aria, squeeze his hand. He looked down one more time at her. “Give em’ hell...and punch a few in the mouth for me.” Aria, even in her weak state, was strong. She even gave Sylo a faint smirk. Sylo looked down at Aria only for a moment before replying. “I’ll do you one better than that. I swear it.” “Good, I’d hate to have to kick your ass. You don’t scare me.” She laughed but groaned and instantly regretted it. Sylo only nodded slightly to Aria as they loaded her up. “I’ll see you soon.” “Yeah, you will, you’ll see me real soon,” Sylo replied as they loaded Aria up. Sylo tapped the door and the ambulance sped off, sirens blaring. “And just like that there’s a crack in the dam.” And Sylo wouldn’t argue. For once, they agreed. Someone was going to pay. Someone was going to get hurt. And if the One Man Wrecking Crew had his way, that someone would be Vince Jacobs. Warriors 04: What a Tangled Web Vince Jacobs stood looking at the door for a few seconds before he turned and walked back over to the sofa. He sat down and pulled out his smartphone and started flipping through some apps. The door swung open and in walked Natalia. Vince did not look up at her but he knew something was not right. “Where have you been?” Vince said as he continued to thumb through his smartphone. Natalia was taken aback by the question because was not the possessive type. He gave her freedom because there was trust between the two. “Why would you ask me that Vince?” “You just told me with that answer where you were. You went to see Jay again didn’t you.” Vince was still thumbing through his smartphone with a calm tone that was very disturbing to Natalia. Natalia knew she couldn’t lie as she inched her way closer to the Legacy Champion. She sat her gorgeous Russian body next to Vince. “Yes I went to see Jay again. I was trying to talk some sense in him as I have been doing to you. Jay has been my friend for years and you…” Jacobs slowly turned from his phone and looked at the Russian beauty. “…you are everything in my life right now. I just feel this war is going to get a lot of people hurt and I don’t want to see either one of you hurt.” Natalia looked at Vince with a small tear streaming down her face. “So Aria was right then. Do I need to worry about you and Jay?” “Aria, was she in here?” “That’s beside the point. The problem I have is you keep going to Sylo, to talk. That man doesn’t want to talk. He doesn’t know how to talk. All he knows is caveman antics. It had to take a world class athlete myself to show the world that Sylo is a joke and a fraud.” “Don’t change the subject Vince. Why was she in our locker room? Vince did not say a word at first. Natalia knew the history that Vince and Aria shared. She knew the reason why Vince was divorced from Victoria because she was there when it all went down. “Vince you didn’t answer my question? Why was she here? Was she trying to atone for what she did or was she scouting for Jay?” “Aria is well Aria.” Vince said as he looked at Natalia who turned her head for a second. “I know Vince that’s why I need to know why she was here.” “Are you jealous Nat? Do you feel there is something going on between the two of us just because she visited me? How about we look at it a different way. Should I be jealous that you have been going to see Jay every week? You know all about my history with Aria but you also need to realize that I know your history with Jay as well. Should I be asking you these same questions Natalia?” Natalia looked at Vince in shock that he would ask these questions. She grabbed Vince’s hand. “Jay and I are just friends. Nothing more and nothing less. I know the real Jay Sylo and this is not him. I just wanted to see if I can talk to him to get this ridiculous notion of war out of his head. You are not his enemy but he thinks you are. I was trying to talk sense into him before he does anything crazy.” “Natalia I understand you care for your friend but he is a menace and he needs to be put down like the dog he is. If no one else here has the balls to do it then I will. I can agree on one thing he said, and that after this is over, both of us will be changed men.” The camera faded out as Natalia moved closer to Vince on the sofa. Warriors 04: Deep Inside of a Parallel Univers “Hey there you are!” Aria Murphy came running down the hallway, jogging to catch up. Her hair flowed behind her as the Starlette title bounced on her waist. She stopped and smiled from ear to ear as she looked up. Standing before her was Sylo. His expression was granite. What had become common place had now been lost as something dark and angry swirled behind those emissive blue predator eyes of The SuperBeast. Aria’s expression dropped as she cocked her head a little. “Are...you alright?” Her eyebrow slightly raised. “Get rid of her. She’ll just distract you. Did you come this far just for that? My God, I agreed to work with you but I didn’t agree to become some emotional touchy-feely let’s discover our feelings BITCH! Ditch the broad, we have work.” That voice slithered through Sylo’s thoughts from the darkest corners. “Fine, just thinking. What is it?” Sylo wasn’t cold, just direct, but it still caught Aria off guard. “I just wanted to tell you that-” “You told Vince off? I know. I know you two have history. You think I’d let you near me without knowing damn near everything about you?” Sylo stared at Aria. Her shock was etched across her face. “Stop being such a pussy! We don’t have time with this.” “I heard you stayed with me till I was in the Ambulance. I heard you came by the hospital. I got the book you left me...” She scanned his eyes. “Pussy.” You could hear the contempt...well...you could if you were Sylo’s subconscious. SHUT UP!, Sylo roared in reply to the Beast. “Yeah, Aria, it was no big deal. Listen, I just have a lot on the line. I promise, we’ll talk when this is done.” Sylo was trying to pull away but Aria wasn’t allowing it. “Are you mad about, well, me going to talk to Vince? I mean, he told me if I came back around you, I had made my choice pretty much. Fuck him though, right? He’s a jackass that only cares about himself.” Aria chewed on her lip and let her eyes wander to the ground. “Well, she got the fuck him part right, at least. From what I heard they were fucking each other right.” A dark laughter came from within Sylo. Sylo snarled back but kept it internal. “No. I’m not mad. I just can’t lose focus Aria and right now there’s just too many distractions. I can’t go into this without my full focus otherwise it’s all gone. I swear, when this thing is over, we’ll talk. I’ve got to go now though. I’m sorry.” Sylo stared at Aria a moment. “Oh no, it’s cool. I know. I’ll see you at Divide and Conquer. We’ll compare belts after we get done taking out two pieces of trash.” She put on a strong front and smiled as Sylo just gave a slight nod and walked away. “Focus? Yeah. You know where we go to “focus” now lets go. You’ll get beaten, bloodied, and embarrassed in a few seconds without me. It’s time.” Sylo didn’t fight, he didn’t argue, he just walked down the long hallway toward the exit as Aria Murphy just stared. Somewhere she wondered what actually went on in Sylo’s head. She felt stupid for getting so close to Sylo at such a pivotal point in both their careers but the facts were simple enough: She had never seen so much controlled power in one man, Sylo really was going to war at Divide and Conquer, and she had never started to develop some sort of emotional connection to another individual that fast in her life even if Aria would never admit it to another living soul.