Scene 1 – The Storm Gathers
The arena lights dimmed, casting the crowd in shadow. Smoke hissed along the stage. The structure descended slowly from the rafters — Hell in a Cell. Gleaming steel, reinforced with blackened beams, wrapped in chain and shadow.
Michael Cole's voice was solemn on commentary:
> "This isn't about titles. It's not about dominance. This… this is personal."
The tron flashed the official match graphic.
> Jaxon Cross vs. Randy Orton
Hell in a Cell
If Orton wins, Stephanie McMahon must step away from creative and Jaxon's corner. If Jaxon wins, Orton walks away from WWE… forever.
Backstage, Jaxon stood alone, taping his wrists, staring into the mirror. Stephanie stood behind him, silent.
"You don't have to prove anything," she said softly.
Jaxon shook his head.
"I'm not fighting to prove I'm a man."
He turned to face her.
"I'm fighting because I finally know who I am."
He leaned in, forehead against hers.
"You gave me that."
---
Scene 2 – The Devil's Entrance
Randy Orton entered first.
Slow. Calculated.
He wore all black—long tights, a leather vest, and cold silence in his eyes. His entrance wasn't for intimidation.
It was for ceremony.
The crowd was a wall of sound—boos, cheers, all swallowed by the gravity of what was coming.
He stepped into the Cell and looked around like a man entering a church he once burned down.
---
Scene 3 – The Outlaw Rides Again
Then…
Jaxon Cross's music hit.
But it was different tonight—slower, darker, cut with strings and gunfire under the guitar.
He stepped through the smoke in black trunks, tape over his ribs, eyes rimmed in red. No jacket. No hood.
Just a war face.
The crowd erupted.
"OUT-LAW! OUT-LAW! OUT-LAW!"
At ringside, Stephanie McMahon stood just outside the cage, her expression composed… but her eyes locked on Jaxon.
The referee locked the Cell.
The bell rang.
---
Scene 4 – First Blood
They didn't circle.
They didn't wait.
They charged.
Jaxon hit first — a flurry of fists, a back elbow, and a lariat that rocked Orton into the corner. He drove knees into the Viper's ribs, then yanked him into the chain wall.
Orton countered with a thumb to the eye, a classic Orton move.
Then: backbreaker on the steel steps.
Jaxon writhed, clutching his spine.
Orton stalked. Calculated. Patient.
He grabbed a chair from under the ring, slid it inside, and cracked it over Jaxon's ribs.
Twice.
Three times.
CRACK. CRACK. CRACK.
Jaxon's body arched in pain — but he didn't scream.
He gritted his teeth.
Orton rolled him over, went for a cover.
1… 2… kickout.
The crowd roared.
---
Scene 5 – The Chain of Command
Orton grabbed a steel chain. Wrapped it around Jaxon's neck.
Dragged him across the ring, choking the life out of him.
But Jaxon kicked off the ropes—spun—pulled Orton into a flatliner!
Chain still around his neck, he crawled up, unwrapped it, and whipped it across Orton's back.
Red lines formed instantly.
Orton screamed.
Jaxon wrapped the chain around his fist and punched him in the temple.
Blood.
First blood.
1… 2… Orton kicks out.
---
Scene 6 – Serpent's Strike
As Jaxon tried to pull himself up, Orton slithered behind him.
RKO — out of nowhere.
1… 2… Jaxon kicks out.
Barely.
Orton snapped.
He slammed Jaxon into the cage wall. Once. Twice. Three times.
Then he cleared the announce table inside the Cell.
He laid Jaxon on it.
Climbed the turnbuckle.
The crowd screamed.
> "Don't do it!"
Orton leapt —
Elbow drop through the table.
Steel bent. Wood shattered.
Both men lay wrecked.
---
Scene 7 – Fire and Steel
Stephanie gripped the cage outside. She didn't scream. She didn't panic.
But her fingers were white around the steel mesh.
Inside, Jaxon dragged himself from the wreckage.
Orton stood behind him, chair raised.
He swung—
Jaxon ducked—
Cross Hammer with the chain-wrapped fist!
Orton dropped the chair.
Jaxon hit another.
CROSS HAMMER.
Then a third.
CROSS HAMMER — THROUGH THE CHAIR.
Cover.
1… 2… Orton grabs the bottom rope—
But there's no rope breaks in the Cell.
3.
The bell rings.
The crowd explodes.
Stephanie falls to her knees outside the Cell.
---
Scene 8 – Aftermath
Jaxon didn't rise immediately.
He sat beside Orton, blood on both of them, staring at the ceiling like a man who'd walked through hell… and come out alive.
The Cell door opened.
Stephanie rushed in.
She didn't check on his wounds.
She went straight to him.
He wrapped his arms around her, held her tight.
They didn't kiss.
They just held each other.
Because when everything else burns…
This was what survived.
---
Scene 9 – Orton's Exit
Backstage, Orton walked alone.
No music. No pyro.
No security.
He passed the catering crew. The ring crew. Young superstars lined the hallway.
Every single one of them stepped back.
Respect.
Fear.
Both.
Orton paused at the exit door.
He looked back once.
Then walked out.
No words.
No goodbye.
---
Final Scene – What Comes Next
The final shot: Jaxon Cross and Stephanie McMahon backstage, sitting in silence.
Jaxon's hand in hers.
Her head on his shoulder.
Kai, Talon, and Saint arrive, bruised but smiling.
And for the first time in months…
There's no war.
Just family.
Just love.
And the echo of steel behind them.
---