Vincent Lyons Jr stood in the doorway of his living room looking around at the immaculate scenery, everything was perfectly in place with not a speck of dust to be found. That was just the way he liked it. Perfect, calm, and serene. The exact opposite of the chaos that festered in his mind.
He began pacing in his living room with the frustration that didn't belong in a room this calm wrapping his fingers against his thigh as he walked in a rhythmic fashion.
“I want to know what Brandon Hendrix did to deserve a second chance.” he muttered to himself "I already proved what I needed to with Brandon Hendrix at High Stakes and I didn't leave any room for interpretation of how that match plays out.”
He huffs a frustrated sigh.
“I'm not here to hand out do-overs.” he said
“My time isn't cheap and Brandon Hendrix had his chance, and he failed. But now he's being gifted a golden opportunity to try again.”
Vincent laughs to himself but there's little humor behind it.
“Vincent Lyons Jr doesn't do second chances.” he said “If they don't get the message the first time, then I'm going to have to carve it deeper and make sure they understand.”
He exhales and takes a seat on a lounge chair.
“You'd think Brandon would want to avoid the person who embarrassed him.” Vincent said “But apparently some people like reopening their wounds. I mean why would this match even happen Vincent? There's only two reasons."
He pauses, letting his thoughts run rampant.
“Either Brandon Hendrix is an idiot and wanted this.” he said “Or someone higher up really doesn't like him, and wants to see him get punished some more. Whatever the case may be, the outcome isn't going to be good for Brandon Hendrix.”
An almost satisfying smile creeps across his face.
“He was brave to walk into a match with me the first time, but doing it a second time is just asking for trouble.” he said “Because I am without question the greatest roulette champion this division has ever had, and I'll make anyone choke on this truth who tries to deny it.”
There's a slight twitch of his head.
“Everyone else can pretend it's not true.” he said “They can pretend it's arrogance, or delusion but that's all they'll ever be. Pretenders unable to accept the truth.”
He nods, an agreement with his own self delusions.
“They don't understand what really makes a champion great.” he said “Some count it by length, some count it by numbers but nobody ever counts it by clarity of identity.”
He exhales again.
“What really helps you win is precision and instinct." he said “Perhaps a little bit of cruelty. You need the ability to know that when somebody is beneath you they're beneath you and Brandon Hendrix is beneath you Vincent.”
He nods in agreement again.
“You already figured out everything you need to know about Brandon Hendrix at High Stakes.” he continued speaking to himself “You know all of his tells, there's nothing left for you to learn from Brandon Hendrix. So this should be no more than a damn near execution, a statement that Brandon Hendrix does not belong in the same ring as Vincent Lyons Jr and you need to make damn sure they understand that this time.”
He nods again.
“Yeah…make them understand..” he said with a sly grin “That's all you need to do. This is nothing more than an encore. They want to see you punish Brandon some more….well they can have their encore, but they'll find out that you're leaving no room for a third act.”
He nods again with a sadistic smile this time.
“Make this a showcase Vincent.” he said "You have nothing left to prove against Brandon Hendrix, so you can do whatever you want to make sure his golden opportunity goes up in flames and he'll never even want to step in the ring with you again for fear of his own life. make him fear even looking in your direction.”
His eyes widen and there's a dark gleefulness behind them.
“What more is there for Brandon Hendrix to show you?” he said “Heart? Don't kid yourself. hearts are what little kids draw on construction paper, heart alone isn't enough to handle what Brandon Hendrix has coming for him in round two.”
He smiles a satisfied smile.
“So go out there and just give them their encore.” he continued speaking to himself “Erase any excuse of a bad night, and show the undeniable truth that Brandon Hendrix is not on your level. Anybody can beat a man once, but you beat a man twice in a row and there's no coming back from that, only the unarguable truth that you are a better man than he is.”
He rises from the chair and walks over to the Roulette Championship he has displayed on a mantelpiece and looks at it pridefully.
“You are the SCW Roulette Champion.” he said “You are the greatest champion in the entire company. You know that and you're going to show them that. You're going to give Brandon Hendrix his second chance but it's only going to lead to his second ending, and this time you make sure the ending sticks."
With another smile he lifts the championship from the mantlepiece and sets it on his shoulder, he was certainly ready for round two, the real question was had Brandon Hendrix learned anything the first time?
Somehow Vincent doubted it.
__________
Vincent looked across the table at his sister and that fat boy, he was her fiance now it seemed. A variety of different containers containing a variety of Thanksgiving food sat between them. Neither of them really wanted this, but their mother had insisted that it was Thanksgiving and her children were going to get along.
But the air between them still remained cold Vincent tapped his finger against the table in arithmetic fashion, watching Darian shovel some mashed potatoes into his mouth. Victoria's fiance was already on his second plate and everybody else hadn't even finished their first.
“So how many plates you planning to go through before the rest of us Darian?” Vincent said with a smirk on his face.
That got Victoria's attention.
“Excuse me?” she said shooting Vincent a look.
“I'm just wondering if he's going for some kind of record.” Vincent said.
“What is your problem?” said Victoria, annoyed.
"Hey hey... kids... let's calm down." their mom interjected "It's Thanksgiving."
"Of course mother." Vincent said "I was just making a joke anyway."
“It's okay son.” she said.
“No it's not okay!” Victoria replied “He insulted my fiance unprovoked.”
“It's okay Victoria…” Darian said “Can we just eat? The food is really good Mrs. L.”
“Bet you'd like to keep eating." Vincent smirked.
Victoria slammed her fork down.
“You're just going to let him talk like that?” Victoria said, looking at her mother.
“Let's just relax Victoria.” her mother said “And Vincent no more jokes please.”
“Yes mother.” Vincent said politely.
There was a different weight in their mother's words. Victoria saw it instantly and Vincent likely expected it. She wasn't so much telling Vincent to stop as she was telling Victoria to stop reacting.
“Of course.” Victoria said of “Of course you're doing this again mom.”
‘Me?” her mother said “What did I do? I'm just trying to keep the peace and enjoy a Thanksgiving meal with my children.”
“You're taking his side again!” Victoria replied
"I'm not taking any sides." their mom said "I'm just trying to keep the peace between you two for one day."
“I'm sorry mother.” said Vincent with a false sincerity that wasn't lost on Victoria “I didn't mean to break it. I just thought that Darian was family now, and we could joke around with each other as family. He's going to be my brother, brothers are supposed to poke fun at each other.”
“Good, now we can all eat.” their mother continued “So how are my little champions?”
“No.” said Victoria "We're not doing this again, he doesn't just get to insult my fiance, give some transparent apology and then you just gloss over it like nothing happened.”
“Victoria sweetie..” her mom said “It was just a joke, your brother meant no harm by it. You two always poked fun at each other growing up.”
“He never means anything harmful!” Victoria said “That's always the excuse, he always says it's just a joke and then you say I'm the one overreacting.”
Vincent said nothing, just watched with the casual confidence in his eyes.
“I told him no more jokes.” her mother replied. “And he apologized.”
“He apologized to you!” Victoria said “He needs to apologize to Darian, but you can't even tell him that he was being rude. You always take his side and allow him to make whatever excuse he wants.”
“Victoria, please calm down.” their mother said.
“No.” said Victoria rising from her seat “Come on Darian we're leaving.”
“Victoria please sit back down.” her mother said “You haven't even finished your plate.”
Vincent bit his lip, refraining from making a comment about Darian finishing the plate for her. Mother did say no more jokes after all.
“Can I finish my food first?” Darian said
“No.” send Victoria abruptly “I'm not going to let my brother insult my fiance while my mom sits here and allows it. We should have gone to Eddie's.”
“If you went to Eddie's….” Vincent said “He would have Cleo watching you like you were the criminal.”
“Yeah well at least he invited us.” Victoria replied. "And Cleo watching me like it's visitation hour at the local jail would still be better than dealing with this."
“Victoria you're blowing all this way out of proportion.” their mother said.
“Of course you think that." Victoria said “You never hold him accountable for anything. Dare Bear, let's go.”
Darian sighed a defeated sigh and stood up from his seat giving a longing look to the warm rolls still on the table. After a moment he grabbed one but before he could get it to his mouth Victoria already slapped it out of his hand and smashed it back on the table.
“No.” she said “We're leaving.”
“Happy Thanksgiving.” Vincent said with a grin as the two left through the door.
Vincent looked at the two plates of food sitting in front of the now empty chairs and then to his mother.
“I'm sorry she's so difficult, mother.” Vincent said.
“It's okay my sweet boy." his mother said “She's always been that way. I just hope that one day she learns how to stop overreacting.”
“Let's just finish eating.” Vincent said “You and I can still celebrate together, mother.”
“There's my sweet boy.” his mother smiled at him “Happy Thanksgiving son.”
“Happy Thanksgiving mother.” Vincent said with a satisfied smile resting on his face
____________
The scene begins with a distorted clip of Jay-Z performing with Linkin Park.
-Encore, do you want more?
So what the hell are you waiting for?
After me there should be no more.-
A jarring cut to Norwegian comedian Viggo Ven.
-YOU WANT MORE?
One more time…..we’re gonna celebrate.-
Cut to a live crowd at a theater, chanting
ENCORE!
ENCORE!
ENCORE!
The scene then pans to Vincent Lyons Jr in the middle of a theater stage, as he takes a bow.
“Do you hear them Brandon?” he said, “They want an encore. These sick bastards want to see me inflict further pain and punishment upon you, and since it’s the holiday season and I’m in a giving mood, I’m going to give them what they want, more blood and more violence.”
He gives a wave to the crowd with a smile.
“The thing about encores is you only get them if the initial performance is unforgettable.” said Vincent “When people can't get it out of their heads, and our first act was definitely unforgettable…. for me at least. I imagine you only remember looking up at the lights.”
The crowd claps.
“I didn't just beat you that night Brandon.” Vincent said “I established myself, I carved my name deeper into the walls of this company and you continue to just try and prove something that you're never going to be able to accomplish. You really should just go home to your daughter and stop embarrassing yourself.”
Vincent pauses and takes a few steps around the stage.
“But I guess delusion is a funny thing and you probably really think you have a chance this time.” said Vincent “But look how hard you fought at High Stakes stakes just to fail. All that effort poured into a moment that never belonged to you in the first place because it belonged to me, a real man and a real champion.”
He smiles proudly.
“You don't get this encore because you're special." Vincent said “You get this encore because I am. I'm the kind of performer, the kind of nightmare that this roster desperately needs. Without me, you don't get any spotlight. You don't get any attention, you get nothing.”
He takes a few more steps closer to the front of the stage.
“You're the kind of guy that stands out a locked door shaking the handle hoping it opens.” said Vincent “But I'm the guy that built the door, and I'm the one who decides who gets through and I'm the guy who decides who gets crushed by it and guess what you get crushed.”
He smiles that sadistically confident smile of his.
“The encore is where the star really shines.” Vincent said “Because that's when the performer truly just gets to be themselves, and the truth is I like hurting people, and I'm going to enjoy picking you apart again.”
He laughs.
“So bring all the heart you have in you Brandon." he continued "Because my heart doesn't beat for anything but destruction. It's not a determination with me, it's a compulsion. A compulsion, that drives me to make sure others understand what real suffering is.”
He pauses.
“Let's make this clear, our first match was no accident.” said Vincent “It was inevitable, and this encore? It's going to be so much worse for you. But they're ready for it aren't you?”
The crowd starts their chanting again eerily in unison.
ENCORE!
ENCORE!
ENCORE!
“The people have spoken Brandon.” Vincent said “They know the encore is where the star cements his legacy, and I've already prepared my acceptance speech. I'm going to get a standing ovation while you question why the hell you tried to do this twice.”
Vincent motions to the crowd
“Ladies and Gentlemen… the encore will begin shortly.” he says.
The camera closes in closer on his face one last time.
“I really hope you enjoy this encore.” Vincent said “Because for you there will be no act three.”
Vincent takes another bow and everything fades to black as he's showered in roses being thrown by the crowd.
__________
