Jonathan Willis Vs. Matt Knox

The two men had started at the same point, in the same match, with history so identical it was bone chilling. In their time, the pendulum had taken different paths. When one won, the other lost. And as the other began to find victory, the other had lost his hold on it.



Matthew’s pen stopped as he stared down at the journal he had purchased the day of WAR. He had kept a journal as a boy, finding it an easy way to unload the excess that crowded his mind. Break up the fog, leave room for the thoughts that matter. Make it easier to navigate his way through this world. After idly tapping his pen on the same page for a few minutes, he snaps it shut and slips it into his pocket. He takes a long drag off his cigarette then and exhales a plume of smoke from his nose.

He almost felt lost, not fighting henchmen. On one hand, it brought a calm to him that had been absent recently. On the other, he feared lulling himself into complacency. He had no ill will against Jon Willis, wasn’t why he made the challenge. However, He could not allow himself to take it easy on the man who had been so frequently compared to him since they both joined Carnage just days apart.

Add in that for the first time in a minute, he was alone again. It felt odd to notice that. Dozens of times, he had opened the contacts to call or text Silvio or Adrienne, only to close the app and shut the screen off. No. He had pushed them out of his war path, and for now they needed to stay there.

Away.

Thor had lost his bid for Mac Bane’s title, only for Mac to drop it right after to go and dance with Kyra. God, that sounded awful. Senseless even. Just as senseless as the attack on Thor, which he had first been alerted to on Twitter.

And then made intimately aware of it later on that night..

---

He had been in bed wide awake for hours after the twitter exchange with Alex. Reading through fan’s comments and a couple hashtags, he pieced together that Thor had been attacked after the show in the parking lot by a group of masked assailants. Four, apparently. He shook his head at the thought. Four people was about 1 percent of the possible suspect list. Thor had made anything but friends in Carnage, after all

The knock on the door roused him fully, and he almost shot out of the bed. His first instinct was Bert. But no. No, Bert wouldn’t knock without yelling. Kid was all about being noticed. Second was the police. Likely, considering the very public, very personal dispute between the two men.

Knox strode carefully toward the door of the suite, flipping on lights as he did so. He took a moment to breathe, through his mouth as opposed to the busted but not broken nose before opening the door, and feeling the blood still heated from battle suddenly be turned to ice.


“Did you do it?”


He found himself stupefied in the face of Hope Knox, here crystal blue eyes staring up at him in a mix of anger and sorrow. He holds her gaze a moment, before replying in a quiet tone...god, he could barely find his voice around them

“No” he says, running a hand over his face paying mind to not put pressure on his nose “No, Hope I didn’t have anything to do with what happened to your grandfather”

“Would you tell me if you did?”

Matthew went silent for a beat. He leans down to stare into Hope’s eyes, his face stiffening as he tried to be firm, serious

“I’ve done a lot wrong to you, Hope. But I never have, and I never will lie” he turned, walking away from the door but leaving it open. Hope hesitated a moment before stepping in, closing the door behind her “If I wanted to take him out, like that? I’d have done it already”

Hope remained silent, watching him move. She couldn’t recall the last time she had been alone with the man she knew to be her father. Not this alone, not without her mom or uncle nearby. She follows him after a beat, into the living area of the suite to find him lowering his sore body into a chair. She sits across from him, and the pair sit in silence for a few uncomfortable moments before finally, Matthew’s voice shatters it.

“You were at the show?” he asks. She simply nods, fiddling with the zipper on her jacket. Matthew stared at her quietly once more. Struggling not to see the child he knew instead of the young woman she had grown into without him. He taps his fingers on his kneecaps a beat, then shakes his head

“Don’t really agree with Astryd letting you see shit like Mitch and the Rat, let alone Thor and fucking flaming ta--”

“You gave up having a say a long time ago, dad”

Her tongue was like a razor to him. He recoiled at first but shook his head, and leaned forward, into that searing pain, to stare at her “I know, but it doesn’t change how I feel. How I feel about you, Insidious,everything.”

“I am Insidious, dad” she cut in, leaning forward and holding his gaze “I can’t believe it has to be said again but them? Grandpa Nate? Mom? Uncle Sujir? Poppy? Uncle Aaron? Aunt Kyuubi? They were there, in person for everything you sent a package to.”

“And they got you wrestling other kids for god knows wh-”

“It’s a youth program, dad! It’s for kids who have issues. Like depression, substance abuse, broken homes…” she put a tad more venom on the last bit “And again, and I mean this. You. don’t. Get. to. Judge.”

He looked away and Hope bit at the lump growing in her throat. She shook her head, staring down at her hands that had clasped together “Besides, you said you’d come and at least see. I don’t know WHY I believed that lie, too”

He remained silent a moment, before moving his gaze back to her “No. I was there. Saw your match. You do a better hurricanrana than I ever did. Of course, you’re not six foo--”

“You were there?” her voice had an air of innocence. Hopefulness, and surprise even. He remained silent, only nodding to her in response“You came..and you didn’t come say anything to me? To Ivy?”

He pursed his lips as the tone returned back into the dreary depths and he bowed his head, clasping his own hands together “Hope..” he started, then cleared his throat “I went out there..to stop it. I was going to stop your match, stop the event. Probably fight your uncle and their security...I had it all planned. But then I..” he looked up, but not at her. He focused on the outlet in the wall. Nondescript, and not her..

“Saw you. Saw how much fun you were having. How good you were. And then your mom and uncle came out, with Ivy...and I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t break that up.” He finally moves his eyes to her, finding her gaze locked on her shoes “I don’t agree with anything. Anything your grandfather, and your uncles do. I don’t trust it. But I couldn’t directly involve you in this..”

Her head lifted then, twisted with rage and tears welling up in her eyes. She stood, and spoke through clenched teeth “You don’t agree? You don’t agree? Then why the hell would you leave me with them? Ivy aside, they never asked for me. YOU did. YOU adopted ME and then you ditched me!” she was upon him in a flash, finger jabbed indignantly in his face “YOU left me, for more than a decade. Middle School, High School I had to do that without a dad. I’m still doing it. I’m a senior now, you know? I’m sure you did. You know everything, don’t you? DON’T YOU?!”

He stood up then, staring down at her silently. She responded by bumping her chest into his midsection, glaring up at him as her verbal assault continued

“You might not have attacked Grandpa Nate, but you might as well have! You’ve brought so much bullshit onto him and Aaron, let alone Poppy and Kyuubi! You have an entire company wanting them beaten and broken! And now, what, you want to tie a chain to him and you, and make me and Ivy watch our dad, and grandpa kill each other?!”

“I’m doing this for you” his voice came, small and barely above a whisper

“Stop saying that! Stop telling anyone that! You’re doing this for yourself. I’m almost eighteen. I don’t need a father. Not now. I needed one, but he wasn’t there. And Ivy?” she sneers, leaning up to glare closer into Matthew’s eyes “She’ll never, ever want anything to do with you. She’s terrified of you. All she’s ever seen you do is hurt Poppy, and now our uncle Aaron and Aunt Kyuubi.”

Matthew turns his head away as Hope steps back, shaking her head at him with disgust, looking just as pitiful as she did righteously angry

“I don’t want to hate you. I never wanted to. But you’re making it harder, and harder dad. Stop this, please. Let it go. Let it go before you burn what’s left” Her voice trembles as she wipes at her eyes once more. Matthew stares at her as he feels the hot sting of tears in his eyes, a lump chokes him as he replies

“I can’t” he replies, barely above a whisper “I can’t, Hope. I..can’t do it. I have to do this. For you, for Ivy. For..”

The sting of the slap cut him off and he swore he felt his heart shatter in his chest. Her footsteps were rapid and heavy as she left, he stood there, head snapped to the left long after the door slammed behind his disgruntled child. He sunk back into the seat, lifting a hand to run his fingers over the deepest wound he had suffered that night

---

His fingers traced where the slap had been as he took the last drag off his cigarette, flicking it onto the ground and grinding it out with the heel of his converse. The sea seemed calmer to him, the calmest it had been since he got to Baltimore. The nostalgia seemed real now, the dread was gone.

Maybe she was too?

He shook his head of the thought, of the ghosts. He stood and began to walk away from the bench he had taken up residency upon, and back toward the Marriott. He thought briefly about going to the hospital to see Thor for himself, but shook the thought as quickly as he had the others. No. He had bigger fish to fry. One that would take all his might and all his skill to conquer

Willis had done the unlikely at We Are Relentless and pinned a man who had hoped to pile onto Willis’ sliding success while simultaneously injecting adrenaline into his return. But by god, Jon took the fight to ‘The Answer’ and then he won it. Knox knew before arriving at that boat that he was going to make those call outs

He had tried in vain to give Jon a tag line, but he couldn’t. He figured, deep down that it was because Willis was above a nickname or a label. He wanted to fight everything the man was. Not just some tag line that new prick running things would put on a T shirt.

The parallels of their journeys were well documented, near ad nauseum. But it was still chilling to think about. They arrived days apart, with identical qualifications, backgrounds, goals...hell, one could argue that aside from obvious physical differences their look was similar. Scarier then was the odd trend, only broken at WAR, that every time Knox won a match, Willis lost and vice versa.

It was a formula Knox couldn’t help but want to fuck with. What would happen if they met one on one? Two World Champions trying to find their footing, trending in opposite directions until the one night neither could be beaten. It seemed inevitable.

Might as well get it done now.

---

“Relentless”

The camera came to life to find a rather plain Matt Knox seated on the apron of a ring in his makeshift training center. He wore a black t shirt, jeans, and converse. His hair was neatly combed, eyes focused but free of the malice that had fogged them up for most of his recent history

“It’s a funny word, and a lot less fun to experience. And I have experienced your relentlessness, Jon Willis.” A smile cracked his features “Seems a lifetime ago, doesn’t it? Two returning champions, come to reclaim that glory. Thrust into a group outing for that big return. You ask anyone who saw it, you and I ran that match. As good as Levi has become, she was nowhere near our level that night..and Poppy?” He shakes his head “Still not close.”

Matt reaches behind himself, grabbing the middle rope and pulling himself to his feet with it before continuing “But, they were there. Levi and Poppy. And sure we had our moments, Jon. But it didn’t come down to us, not like it should have. . and then you started catching fire. While I seemed to start fizzling out before I could burn”

“Funny how quick things change, isn’t it?”

He wraps his arms around the top rope, leaning back he flips over the ropes into the ring and begins walking around the squared circle, running a hand over the top rope as he talks

“I asked for this match Jon...or rather, accepted your call out because I need a break from this shit with Insidious. I need to feel competition for the sake of competition again, so committing assault doesn’t become second nature to me.” He paused his walk “And besides, the Legion deserves it. All this crazy shit. Cages, Motorcycles, Mutants bleeding jelly, some pipsqueak rock star tweeting at the talent….No, they need to be reminded of what a real, good, old fashioned match looks like”


He leans over the top rope, staring into the camera “But see Jon, there’s more. There’s layers. Remember the trend I brought up? We’re even again, Jon. Way I see it, however, this goes. Decides our fate. And while I know I won’t stop you from reaching the summit if I beat you...I know if I lose, you’ll get there first. And i’ll be damned if i’m the poor son of a bitch that’s going to try and rip a world title off you.”

“No Jon, I can’t let this just be another match. I can’t let this be something purely in the spirit of healthy competition full of mutual respect, and handshakes. No Jon..I have to prove a good friend wrong. I don’t like breaking it to you, but this isn’t your movie. I’m not an extra. This is all in my hands now, Jon.. First you. Then The Rat. Then The Champ. Then, the fossil..”

He took in a deep inhale, closing his eyes and bowing his head and letting the air out of his lungs “Carnage is on notice, not that that’s anything new. Hell, between Zane King, Zephyr Quinn, Jack Michaels, Mac Bane, Kyra, Amber Ryan, Ken Dildoson and everyone else in that circle jerk pissing contest I figure everyone but Boy is on some kind of world-altering notice.”

He raises his head, and his gaze back into the lens. His features have gone to stone, his eyes piercing with fury and determination

“But i’m not them. I’m not some giant muscle bound ball of impotent rage, i’m not some crybaby runt yapping at a retiree. I’m not a man flirting with a comeback. I’m not a pseudo cowboy. I’m not some crazy person with a tack fetish. And i’m sure as hell not some bald prick with a LARP church.”

“And i’m not Relentless”

He paused briefly, eyes casting to the side with a stray thought before snapping back to the lens

“I am The Raven. And I am Reckoning. I’ll see you at Chaos, Jon”

---

“I saw her leave”

Bert’s words snap him out of his trance. He looks across at the younger man, who’s gaze focused on the Denver omelet instead of his friend. Matthew remained silent, before raising the mug of coffee to his lips and taking a sip.

“Yeah.”

Was all he replied as he picked up his fork and speared a chunk of cantaloupe, before shoveling it into his mouth “Probably the last time you will”

Bert looked up then, before shifting his gaze around the room and fidgeting in his seat uncomfortably. “You wanna talk about it, man?” he eyed Matthew for a response, noting the stiffening of his shoulders as his whole frame froze for a split second, followed by a slump and a shrug.

“Nothing really to talk about” he replied evenly “Thor got jumped, got her twisted up. She said some hurtful shit I had comin. I said a bunch of shit I had no right to...but then what else is new” His long, slender fingers drummed on the tabletop then as his eyes went around the diner. After a bit more weighted silence, he continued “She isn’t ever going to be my kid again. Sooner I accept that…” he trailed off

“Come on bro, like you said she’s just upset over Thor getting taken out by the foot clan” Bert smirked hoping the joke would crack the shell his friend had put up since WAR

“No, Bert….it’s done. Hell, it’s been done. Best I can hope for is she gets as fed up with them as she did me” He shakes his head, waving a dismissive hand “But that’s out of my control. I need to focus on what I can control.”

“You really think calling everyone out like that is gonna do something, man? I mean, I know you got glory and history, and you’re winning left and right but that world title picture is crowded right now.”

“Isn’t about the title, Bert. Not yet”

“Then..??” Bert questioned, raising his hands to accentuate the point. Matthew speared and consumed a slice of mango then. It was adequate. He held up his index finger

“Willis, to prove which of us is better and put that debate to rest”

The middle finger

“The Rat, to prove who the real monster is”

The ring finger

“The Champ, Amber or Ken. To prove that i’m every bit as good as the upper echelon here”

Then, he raised his pinky

“And finally, Thor. So I can move on to fighting that upper echelon for the gold”

Matthew returned to his meal, leaving Bert to consider a moment. He furrowed his eyebrows and spoke up “What if Thor isn’t ready to go by 100? What if this is done?”

Matthew froze, coffee mug inches from his lips before he spoke

“Then Insidious pays his debt. Each member on the roster.”

“What does that mean?”

A chuckle from Knox as he finished the beverage and set the mug down “Soon as I figure it out, i’ll let you know. Now chow down, we got shit to do”

As Bert set about demolishing his Omelet, Knox produced the journal once more along with a pen. He opened to the last entry, and made an amendment