Vincent looked at them all spitefully. Who did they all think they were? Throwing their relationships in his face. Eddie and Sabrina, Victoria and Darian, now even Alexander had Rise. Everybody at the Lyons Den had someone to spend the Christmas season with. Everyone except Vincent, and he only had two words to say about that.[/i]
“Bah humbug” Vincent muttered to himself.
They looked pathetic anyway. Eddie was trying to hard to be father of the year, Victoria was on some sort of power play and Alexander’s girl spoke in broken english. Besides love was just a distraction, and it would only make him weaker. All he needed was the Roulette Championship.
His Roulette Championship. The one he had been gifted when the powers that be needed someone worthy to carry it and had chosen him as their champion.
Not won. CHOSEN.
The real problem was that dirty mop headed little cockroach Logan Hunter. A fool who refused to learn his place. A pest that Vincent needed to smash into dust once more. And hopefully this time Logan Hunter will get the message through his thick head.
The more immediate problem was Ryan Keys.
A man who once held the very championship Vincent had been chosen to hold. A man looking to make a statement by getting a victory over the champion. Another one of these old SCW relics looking to recapture their former glory, only to realize the game has changed and they just can’t keep up anymore.
So Vincent was going to have to crash his party, and shut it down. Make Ryan Keys realize that stepping into the ring with Vincent Lyons Jr is anything but fun. Make this party one that Ryan Keys will regret attending, but never forget.
He would make an example out of Ryan Keys, send a message to Logan Hunter about what's coming his way at Inception. He had to end Logan Hunter at Inception or he would keep coming back like a festering wound that wasn't cauterized properly.
Vincent felt his fingers twitch at his side.
It should have been enough for Logan the first time he fell, but he continues to pop back up running his mouth like a parasite that refuses to starve. It was clear Logan wasn't going to stop coming until Vincent removed the option, and Vincent would remove that option at Inception.
But that was at Inception. Ryan Keys still came first.
Vincent shifted slightly leaning back against the wall, replaying everything he had knew about Ryan Keys.
Ryan Keys wasn't as loud as Logan but he was just as confident. He had been the Roulette Champion champion nearly ten years ago and perhaps he thought that made him important, or perhaps he thought that fact should worry Vincent.
It didn't.
That version of Sin City Wrestling didn't exist anymore, there were different expectations and everybody worked differently. Ryan Keys was going to need to modernize his game if he was going to stand a chance against the chosen champion of SCW.
Ryan Keys still thought he was someone that belonged in the conversation, that he even still mattered or anybody cared anymore. All lies that Ryan would tell himself to feel comfortable.
But comfort bred mistakes and that's when Vincent would drag Ryan into deeper waters and drag him under into his world.
A world that was anything but fun, no loving partner, no parties, just malice, and intentional destruction. He would answer every step Ryan took he would outwork him and make Ryan think that the rain was getting smaller at every passing minute and before he even realized what was happening, the killshot would come and he would become one more of Vincent's victims.
Vincent narrowed his eyes letting the thoughts settle in, he felt his fingers twitch again.
Ryan Keys would never see the killshot coming because Ryan Keys was predictable to a fault believing the idea that experience equals control. He didn't realize that Vincent wasn't someone you could control. Vincent would do whatever he wanted to whomever he wanted. Consequences be damned. The Kasey Brothers learned that lesson the hard way. Logan Hunter should have learned that lesson but he was also thick-headed so it seems like he wanted more just like Brayden Williams did.
Vincent laughed to himself.
“Idiots.” He muttered.
The laugh was short and humorless and echoed faintly in his own mind which was the only place it belonged. These idiots were marching forward under the assumption that the rose applied evenly and consequences were universal, not understanding that they never were in the first place.
Ryan Keys would reach for a familiarity when it got difficult, his old habits, old instincts trying to find a moment to regain control while Vincent thrived in the moments when control slipped away. Ryan Keys was outdated, and it was time Vincent served him his eviction notice.
He felt his fingers tighten, the twitch was gone.
The order was clear. Ryan Keys was first, and then Logan Hunter. The Roulette Championship would remain exactly where it belonged.
With him.
He gave one final glance around the Lyons Den at these people who were supposed to be his cohorts. They could keep their relationships and their distractions. None of that mattered to Vincent.
He was the constant now. Not Eddie, not Victoria, not Alexander, or Cleo or anybody else, and he was going to crash Ryan Keys's party.
__________
The camera flickers in through static, black balloons sway gently, half deflated and tangled around overturned cocktail tables. Confetti litters the floor alongside a cracked champagne bottle that crunches softly beneath the weight of a boot stepping into frame.
The lights flicker slowly as the camera slowly tilts upward Vincent Lyons Jr standing alone among the wreckage.
His eyes rest on the camera as he exhales through his nose and that humorless smile crosses his face.
“So this is what's left..” he said in a calm controlled tone, “This is always my favorite part.”
He nudges in overturned chair with his food sending it scraping across the floor the sound echoing loudly amid the empty space.
“The aftermath.” he said with a faint smile.
He lifts his head and looks directly into the camera.
“Welcome to the party Ryan Keys…" he said “Or what's left of it.”
He casually strolls through the ruined room, brushing his fingers over a table draped in torn streamers with a reverent touch like a man admiring a crime scene of his own design.
"You see this place Ryan?" he said gesturing around him "This place used to be full of life people are laughing drinking and telling stories about how things used to be.”
He looks up to a broken banner hanging crookedly from the wall with only part of the lettering remaining visible.
WELCOME BACK.
“They all said the same thing.” he smirked “That the night was about memories and nostalgia in honoring what came before. This is the lie you live in Ryan“
He grabs the banner with a tight grip and rips it down with a sharp tug let it fall to the floor.
“You're walking to this match like it's an invitation." Vincent said “Like you've been asked to relive the glory days and the lights are going to hit just right and for one night you get to matter again.”
He laughs humorously to himself.
“It's adorable really..” he said “But the thing you don't understand is that this isn't a reunion, this is a cleanup.”
He pauses his voice hardening as he squares himself to the camera.
“Ryan Keys you don't belong at this party.” he said tilting his head slightly “You're not on the guest list, you're not part of the atmosphere, you're not even the entertainment. All you are is the mess.”
He straightens his posture and begins pacing, stepping through the broken glass on the floor.
“Men like you confuse history with authority.” Vincent said “You think because you held the Roulette Championship nearly 10 years ago that it still means something.”
Vincent scoffs.
“That championship you remember? That version of Sin City Wrestling?" Vincent said “That version is dead, buried, and rotting. People like you, Alex Jones and Kris Ryans can try to relive their glory days all they want, but the truth is this new generation is better than any of you ever were.”
He pauses letting those words hang as he gestures around the room.
“This is what happens when the party goes on too long.” Vincent continued “When people refuse to turn the lights on and see the damage. Nothing but empty bottles and broken promises.”
He picks up a crushed party hat, and gazes at it for a moment.
“You're still wearing this..” Vincent said “Telling yourself that you still have it, that you're actually up to the test of the new generation.”
He drops the hat with a soft smirk.
“But you're not.” he said “You don't belong here anymore, and I'm going to make this your eviction notice. I wasn't invited to this party. I got no toast, or applause. All I got was responsibility, I got chosen.”
He takes a few steps closer to the camera making sure to crunch the hat beneath his boot.
“While you're trying to relive what you once were.” Vincent said “The powers that be looked at the present and the future, and they decided that I was the only one that could be trusted to carry the division.”
He looks to a nearby table where he has the Roulette Championship resting, picks it up and places it on his shoulder.
“You know what I love about parties Ryan?” Vincent said “Everybody thinks they're immortal while the music's playing and the lights are on, but eventually the lights turn off and people have to face the reality of who they really are.”
He keeps his merciless gaze on the camera.
“And you Ryan Keys, you're predictable.” Vincent said “You move like a man who expects the world to slow down when he needs it too, like time is something you can negotiate with. You use your experience like a shield and I'm going to take that shield from you.”
A thin smile grows on his face.
“I'm going to drag you out onto the dance floor when the music's already stopped.” Vincent continued “I'm going to make you breathe harder than you remember, and every second you survive you're going to realize something terrifying.”
The smile doesn't waver.
“That I'm what dwells in your nightmares.” he went on "For me this is about humiliation, that you thought you walked into the ring thinking you were reclaiming something, but in reality you're losing what little you have left.”
The cameras linger on his face, his smile fades into something colder as he adjusts the Roulette Championship on his shoulder to remind everyone where it belongs.
“Humiliation isn't loud or flashy Ryan.” Vincent continued “It doesn't come with fireworks or a highlight reel, humiliation is realization.”
He steps closer to the camera, glass still crunching beneath his boot.
“It's the moment your lungs burn and your instincts tell you to slow the match and take a breath to regroup.” Vincent continued “And then you discover there is no regrouping anymore. “
A few more steps.
“You're going to try to fall back on old habits Ryan. I know you are.” He continued “Then you're going to trust muscle memory and what worked ten years ago, but every single time you do I'm going to be there first.”
He exhales sharply, motions around the room again.
“This place.” he continues "This place is what happens when people refuse to accept that their time has passed, when they cling too long to their invitations, looking for a proper send off.”
He pauses shortly.
“You don't get a send off Ryan.” Vincent said “You get erased. And when it's over when you're laying there staring up at the lights trying to remember when the music stopped, I want you to understand something.”
He grins.
“That it wasn't personal.” Vincent said “It was just maintenance. I clean up the trash that has lingered too long once the party ended. I take the garbage out back and dispose of it for good.”
He takes a slow step back.
“This isn't about rage or jealousy Ryan.” Vincent continued “This isn't some emotional outburst because I want what you once had. I already have that. I don't want your past Ryan, I want to bury it.”
He lifts his chin slightly, as he straightens up his posture.
“People like you look for a loud ending.” Vincent continued “You want the end to come with a big bang, a big final moment. One last stand where everyone remembers your name.”
He shakes his head.
“But the end is when the crowd stops believing.” he continued “When your body reacts slower than your mind and you realize the ring doesn't care about your memories, and neither do I. You're going to feel it before you understand it Ryan, that moment when you're still fighting, still convincing yourself you're in control and then I take that control away.”
He exhales softly through his nose.
“You won't even know when it happens.” he said, stepping closer to the camera “Your arms will start to feel heavier, your breath won't come when you expect it, and your timing will betray you. “The worst part of it all is, I still won't be tired. This isn't a match you can grind through Ryan. It's not going to be a war of attrition, it's going to be an execution with no music or lights or crowd to save you.”
He exhales again.
“You think your name still carries weight around here.” he said calmly “I'm going to show you what irrelevance really is when I wipe your name from history for good. You don't belong here anymore Ryan your time is over, it's been over. I'm just the only one willing to tell you the truth. The truth that Ryan Keys just doesn't matter to Sin City Wrestling anymore.”
He lets those words linger in the air.
“This is the part nobody prepares you for Ryan, the quiet after or there's no music swelling to tell you how you feel, and no crowd chanting your name." Vincent continued “When it's just you laying there staring at the lights realizing that everybody's moved on without you. It doesn't happen overnight and you didn't become irrelevant all at once. It happened piece by piece, match by match while you were convincing yourself you still belonged.”
He tilts his head slightly.
“I'm just a moment it becomes official.” he continued “I become the moment you realize that maybe you were good enough back then, but the now isn't yours anymore. It's mine.”
He shifts his eyes momentarily to his championship.
“The party is over Ryan Keys." Vincent said “The lights are off, the guests are gone and I'm going to be the one that locks the door behind you.”
The camera remains on Vincent standing motionless among the wreckage with an unbothered expression on his face as everything fades to black.
