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“Wheeler, you don’t have to do this. There’s plenty of time to back out. TK can find somebody else.” Bryan pleads, watching as Yuta paces in gorilla.
Yuta turns, a sad smile on his face. “You know better than to try to talk me out of this.”
“Yeah, I know. You’re stubborn just like the rest of us.” Bryan rolls his eyes and Yuta wants to tell him that there is no ‘us’ anymore. “But you haven’t exactly been in the right headspace since All Out. If you go into a match with Claudio like that, you’ll get hurt- or worse.”
“Claudio uppercut you. Mox literally tried to fucking murder you. They orchestrated that whole thing. I’m doing this.”
Without another word, Yuta’s music hits and he’s up the stairs and through the tunnel. He’s sure that the crowd is cheering but all he can hear is a deafening roar.
They planned Bryan’s attack without him. They put special measures in place to make sure he couldn’t interfere.
They knew that there was no way he would have let them do any of that.
They listened to him scream, cry, and beg instead.
And they did nothing.
Yuta steps into the ring with ease and watches as Claudio’s music hits and he makes his way to the ring.
The bastard is acting like nothing has happened at all.
He’s even wearing his part of the trios titles.
Fucker.
Claudio’s dark eyes land on him and it takes every fiber of Yuta’s being not to jump him right then and there.
Bryce motions for the ring bell and Yuta unzips his hoodie, revealing his trios title underneath. Yuta unstraps the gold from around his waist and marches right up to Claudio. Any amount of trepidation that he might have had before is long gone now.
He shoves the title in Claudio’s face. The movement was so sudden and hard enough that Claudio stumbled back a bit.
“I’m done.” Yuta snarls, letting the belt fall to the ground. He backs away with his arms outstretched, almost beckoning Claudio to take the first shot.
And Claudio doesn’t waste any time in doing so.
It almost knocks the wind out of him.
Yuta fires back with a series of forearms and finishes it all off with a dropkick. Claudio scrambles back, trying to get some distance to recover.
Yuta advances anyway.
“Why?!” He screams, backing Claudio into the corner. “After Regal- after everything- why did you do it?”
Claudio shoves him back and Yuta stumbles back into-
Somebody starts pummeling him before he even had time to turn around. Arms wrap his neck in a loose sleeper hold and Yuta kicks out.
The bell rings due to the interference and out of the corner of his eye, he can see some movement.
And it’s not long before Mox strolls into his field of view.
“Oh, kid. We gave you a chance to choose the correct side here.” He drawls, watching as Yuta struggles. “But I think it’s time to force your hand.”
The crowd gasps and Yuta’s eyes flick to the ramp- just in time to see Pac toss Bryan down it. Yuta thrashes again and the person tightens their hold.
His eyes don’t leave Mox the entire time.
Bryan is shoved into the ring unceremoniously, clutching at his neck.
Pac files in and is shortly followed by Claudio.
Who is now holding a steel chair.
Yuta’s eyes widen and he tries his hardest to break away. But the hold tightens again and his vision begins to tunnel.
“You had your chance two weeks ago in Chicago.” Mox steps forward and grabs Yuta’s chin roughly. “You should have hopped the ring ropes and marched out of that damn building with us. But you didn’t. You stayed with him. You stayed with him and played nurse.”
Once upon a time, the look in Mox’s eye was something that Yuta admired. It was almost feral. But now that he is on the receiving end of it-
It scares the absolute shit out of him.
Bryan is pinned to the mat now, Claudio’s foot firmly planted on his upper back.
Yuta has to admit that he and Bryan weren’t exactly close during the early days of the BCC. They bickered and fought quite a bit.
But as Bryan took him on hikes in whatever city they were in and spent more time training with him- they almost fell into the same roles that Regal and Bryan himself had fallen into all those years ago.
A slap stings hard across Yuta’s face and suddenly Mox is taking up his entire field of vision.
“Focus.” Mox growls. “You have five seconds. Us or him.”
Yuta’s body reacts before his brain could think about what he was doing and a large blob of spit lands on Mox’s face.
Mox laughs, wiping it away. “You've got a lot of fight in you, Yoots. I wonder who taught you that.”
A punch to the gut threatens to crumple him, but the arms around his neck and head keep Yuta upright.
“So, one final time, us or him.”
Tears gather in his eyes. His breathing gets more panicked.
His heartbeat roars loud in his ears.
“Please don’t hurt him.” Yuta begs. “Please, Mox.”
Mox scoffs and Claudio raises the chair.
And Yuta can only helplessly watch as the chair connects with Bryan’s head.
He kicks out and connects, the arms around him loosening for the briefest second before constricting around him again.
“Now, Yuta-”
“No.” He chokes out.
“Excuse me?”
“I said no!”
Whatever happened next was a blur to Yuta. The arms were released and he collapses, gasping for air.
Mox’s thundering footsteps stomp towards him as he scrambles towards the corner. Yuta turns and props himself up on the bottom turnbuckle, eyes wide with fear.
Mox towers over him.
“Yoots.” Mox spits. “I’ve never been more disappointed in you.”
The last thing that Yuta registers before his entire world goes black was the mic falling-
And Mox’s boot hurtling towards his face.