The Nickleman hobbles into the XWF’s flagship recording studio with his body lacerated, punctured, and quite possibly infected post-Relentless. The battles across two nights of Relentless took a massive toll on Charlie, but his gleeful eyes refuse to betray the bitter pain in his soul. As far as you could tell from his chipper smile, The Nickleman’s never seen a better day! Nonetheless Charlie’s entire body looks battered and bruised, with barbed-wire indentations still lingering upon his wounded flesh.

As Charlie limps into the production studio, he tips an imaginary hat to his producer. An old Korean man with a balding head, the producer just nods politely in Charlie’s direction. Regardless, The Nickleman hangs his imaginary hat upon an imaginary coatrack before he places his hand upon the recording room’s door handle.

“You ready to record a banger, Mr. Kenobisha?”

The producer nods his head in The Nickleman’s direction.

“Ready as always, Mr. Nickleman! But…where are the other 3 corners?”

The Nickleman’s sly grin betrays his sinister intentions.

“There’s only 2 Corners now: me and Solomon.”

Mr. Kenobisha contorts his face into a confused expression.

“But what of Isaiah King? What of Sebastian?”

“What of them?”

The Nickleman snickers to his battered self before he pushes down on the handle, opening the door into the recording studio. But before he can enter, his producer chimes in one more time.

“Mr. Nickleman….are you sure you’re in any shape to record right now? You don’t…you don’t look well, Mr. Nickleman!”

Charlie chuckles to himself, pushing his hair back from his eyes as he looks down at the 4 Corners record producer.

“Oh, don’t you worry about me, Mr. Kenobisha….I just had to receive my Scarlet Verdict, courtesy of The Nicklewoman herself. And who am I to second-guess my own sister? I may not be medically cleared to wrestle, but I can still drop a banger or two.”

Charlie winks at the producer before stepping into the recording studio and putting on his microphone headset.







That’s when the producer drops THE BEAT, and Charlie launches into a Grammy winning performance!








Sleep, my little Jennie

Let your dreams take wing!

We cut to an animated shot of Charlie Nickles lingering over the bed of a sleeping child.

One day when you're big and strong

You will KILL A KIIIIIIINNNNNGGGGG!

The Nickleman tucks the little girl in, kissing her on the head as he sings her his lullaby. We flash between shots of Charlie singing in the recording booth, and animated Charlie singing to little Jennie.

I've been exiled, persecuted

Left alone with no defense!

When I think of what that blonde did

I get a little tense!

The shot of Charlie putting the young girl to sleep is quickly replaced with a video montage, smashing together clips from Leap of Faith and Relentless night 3. Every clip shows Dolly Waters betraying The Nickleman’s ambitions.

But I dream a dream so pretty

That I don't feel so depressed-

'Cause it soothes my inner Charlie

And it helps me get some rest!

That’s when we see an animated clip of Charlie Nickles, once again raising the Universal Championship above his head like a crown.

The sound of Kieran’s dying gasp…

Isaiah squealing in my grasp!

Their fanbase’s mournful cry

That's my lullaby!

We cut between shots of Charlie signing in the booth, and shots of Charlie examining a hacksaw inside of a ‘Killer Tub’.

Now the past I've tried forgetting

And my foes I could forgive-

Trouble is, I know it's petty…

But I hate to let them live!

Still photos of Kieran and Isaiah King flash across the screen. Conspicuously, no shot of Betsy Granger is shown.

So I found myself some bodies

Who'll string the Kings up a tree!

We cut between shots of Charlie Nickles in the booth, and shots of Charlie Nickles associating with Jennie and Solomon.

Oh, the battle may be bloody

But that kind of works for me!

We cut directly a shot of Charlie Nickles standing in the  middle of a killer tub, appreciating his hacksaw with devious delight.

Sleep, ya little pyscho!

Uh—I mean, precious little thing…

Suddenly, we cut to another animated shot of The Nickleman: but this time, he’s singing his lullaby to a baby Solomon.

One day when you're big and strong

You will KIILLLLLLL A KIIIINNNNGGGG!!!!

We cut between animated shots of Charlie singing to Jennie and Solomon’s childhood selves.

The pounding of the drums of war!

The thrill of The Corporation’s mighty roar!

The joy of vengeance!

Testify!

Back inside the ‘Killer Tub’, we see The Nickleman taking off his shirt- and donning the referee’s garb.

I can hear them cheering

Charlie! What a ref!

We quickly cut between shots of Charlie in the booth, and shots of Charlie singing to the tired children.

Payback time is nearing

And then our flag will fly

Against a blood-red sky

THAT’S MY LULL-A-BYYYYYYYYYY!!!

The red light above the booth fades to black. The only sound left is the low whine of the monitors. Charlie stands in the dim glow, his shoulders rising and falling, his breath ragged. His reflection in the glass looks like a ghost watching itself breathe.

He limps into the control room, one step at a time, dragging the weight of Relentless behind him. Mr. Kenobisha turns his chair, startled by the sight of blood still seeping through Charlie’s taped ribs.

“That was… quite the song, Mr. Nickleman. But… who were you really singing to?”

Charlie looks at him, eyes hollow but burning with manic pride.

“To everyone drowning in that tub. Scoops, Kieran, Isaiah… they can scream, they can claw, but it won’t matter. The water rises for all of them.”

Charlie steps closer to the console, pointing at the screen where the recording still ripples across the audio’s waveform.

“You see that, Kenobisha? That’s victory. Because no matter who escapes first, The Corporation wins either way. My people are in that water. Geppetto's fingerprints are on every chain. The only thing any of them can do is scream…until the water rises.”

The producer swallows hard.

“You…you sound like you actually want them to drown.”

Charlie gives a half-smile, half-grimace, his teeth streaked red.

“Want has nothing to do with it. The sea doesn’t want to drown a man. It just does!”

He stares at the screen one last time. The track plays back faintly through the speakers, his own voice whispering from the void:

“Sleep, my little psycho...”

Charlie straightens his collar, limping toward the exit.

“Send that track to corporate. Label it ‘Charlie’s Lullaby.’”

The Nickleman pauses in the doorway, smirking through the blood and sweat.

“Categorize it under children’s music.”

The door closes.

Kenobisha turns back to the console, staring at the audio waveform on the screen. He reaches for the stop button, hesitates, then hits play again.

"Sleep, my little Jennie..."

Charlie's voice fills the empty room. The producer leans back in his chair, rubbing his temples. Mr. Kenobisha glances at the door Charlie just exited through, then back at the screen. He thinks about the hacksaw. The chains. The rising water. Six people trapped, and only one man decides who gets the tool to escape....

He thinks about the smile on Charlie's face as he sang about drowning....

The producer saves the file, labels it exactly as instructed: "Charlie's Lullaby - Children's Music."

He stares at those words for a long moment.

Then he saves a backup copy. He labels it: "Evidence."

Just in case.

The monitor hums. The track ends.

Then, silence.

Cut to black.