“Fake is the latest trend and everyone seems to be in style!” - Unknown

{The Bane Home - Las Vegas, NV - “Into The Unkown”}

[Off Camera]

The morning sun showed through the kitchen window like a yellow blade, cutting through the gloom of the dark house. The evidence of housekeeping on my part danced in that ray of light, the dust particles threatening to give it substance. Its destination was the wedding ring on my left hand. I raised my hand up ever so slightly so that the single diamond on a band of silver sparkled. “A light of hope,” I muttered to myself. Shaking my head, I raised a cup of coffee for a sip. Then setting the cup back down, “Or just another light at the end of the tunnel that later becomes a train.” I smirked, “Time will tell I suppose.” I grunted as I rose up from the chair, I grabbed my coffee cup to go outside with it. As I headed for the door, I patted my left shirt pocket to insure that my cigarettes were in fact there. The door creaked as I opened it, just another thing that needed to be attended to. There was a small utility cabinet near the back door. I opened it and found the WD40 and worked on the hinges. Soon, they stopped creaking and squeaking. Satisfied with that I put the can back in its place and opened the back door.

The back porch also showed how unattentive I had been as I stared off into the backyard. Weeds were everywhere and the grass was almost calf-high. “You would think that a guy who made as much money as I do would hire someone to do that shit.” I shook my head in disgust at my own inaction towards keeping this place looking decent. I sat down heavily in my chair, I did love this screened-in back porch. I lit a cigarette and leaned back in my chair. What had caused me to fall so far and so quickly? “A woman who needed a break,” I said out loud for the first time. That moment when she had shoved her wedding ring in her pocket and walked out of my life, she declared exactly that. She had lied to me, kept things from me. All she had to do was be honest about certain things and everything would have been fine. My phone notified me of an incoming text message.

“Incoming Message from Chris”

“You’re really starting to get some attention in XWF, my man. You’re booked against Marf for Warfare”

I turn on talk to text, “What the hell is a Marf?”, and I pressed send. A few moments later, another message.

“Former extreme champion, among other titles he’s held. This will be great for you, only your second match in and all.”

I responded again, “Sounds good, I’ll see you there.”

I turned the talk to text back off again and focussed on the issue at hand. My relationship with my wife. “This is what has turned you mean, you realize that yeah?” I said it in a way that was heavy on two things, truth and sarcasm. Smirking I replied to myself, “Something like that, but then again I’ve always been mean.” I had played the hero and villain before, many times. This was nothing new to me. “No one expects to be the villain in their own story do they?” I sighed heavily and then smiled, “Unless they prefer it that way.” That much was true about me, I never thought otherwise, and it’s not like I tried to hide it. I mean, considering what I had helped Chris and J-Mount do at the rumble over in Action Wrestling. That speaks volumes to who I am and have always been.

“Fuck Corey Black.”

Fade.

{The Bane Home - Las Vegas NV - “Settling Scores”}

[Later That Evening - Off Camera}

Earlier this year a group of men, led by Dominick Del Gado had torched the Oblivion Garage to the ground. The two biggest problems with that were one, it was my fucking garage. Two, they almost killed my wife. I had tracked down two of the three thugs that did this. The third had slipped away to somewhere unknown. Well, unknown until late last night. In this business, we sometimes make powerful enemies, or maybe just desperate.. Del Gado was a man who had become obsessed with my wife. He had, earlier this year, tried to get in her good graces by promising information about her old friend, and where she might be. When that all went south, he decided to end her life but it didn’t quite work out as he planned. They were local toughs, all from Vegas and all with records with local law enforcement. I had tracked him here to a low-end casino on the outskirts. It was outside the mob's purview or so they thought. That of course was before I became involved.

Now they knew full well about this place but had promised me that they would do nothing until I had gotten the last of the men who had tried to take something very important from me. So far, I had not killed anyone in pursuit of my vengeance. So, I was on the roof of the casino. The air was crisp and a light wind blew. My quarry was just about ten feet ahead of me having a cigarette. He obviously heard the audible snick of my zippo lighter as I lit one of my own. He whirled around, pistol in hand, it was too dark to identify it. I shrugged and took a drag off my own cigarette. “Gonna shoot a man for having a smoke? That’d be awful unkind.” He relaxed and holstered his gun. “Sorry, been a bit jumpy lately.” I shrugged again, “Sound like you’ve made some enemies.” I stayed in the shadows, so he couldn’t see my face. “Yeah, a job recently went bad.” Another drag from my cigarette, “Oh yeah? Wanna talk about it?” Even in dim light, I could see the sneer on his face. “Why would you care?”

“Fair point,” I said flatly. “I’ve heard that talking helps for those who’ve done something to really fuck up their lives and causes them to live in fear. “Just an observation, don’t take offense.” He laughed. “Well, I would if it wasn’t true.” I had my thumb on the record button of my app the entire time, I pressed the virtual button and could hear the chime in my earbud. The earbud was hidden from him as well as I turned my head slightly to the right. “I don’t know why you’d want to hear about this, and honestly I can’t think of a single reason to tell you.” I shrugged my shoulders again. “Up to you, kid. I have no vested interest in your life, just a stranger's offer to help is all.” He smirked, “The only way to help me is to kill that Bane guy, he owns the Oblivion Garage. I think he’s killed off the others involved.” I didn’t say anything, I simply allowed him to feel more confident, and safer, than he really was. It’s all part of the game, if you give a man enough rope, he’ll hang himself without you having to do a thing. In a sad way, he reminded me of Matt Knox at that moment.

He sighed heavily, “Know what? Fuck it, I’ll tell you.” I nodded, thinking, we have ourselves a bingo.. With that, he began to tell his story. “We were hired by this guy, Del Gado I think his name was. Said this job would be easy money, no one would be there so we’d just go torch the place.” It tracked how I had visualized the scene in my head. “We get there though and this red-headed woman was there.” He rubbed his jawline as if remembering her stiff right hook. “So, Del Gado tried to restrain her and bind her hands with zip ties, but he wasn’t strong enough. We jumped in and helped him. She was strong though and fought like something out of hell itself.” He paused for a moment, as I crushed out my cigarette.

“The struggle finally ended when Del Gado slugged her in the back of the head. We finished dousing everything with gasoline and then set it ablaze.” He shuddered then as if remembering something. “That place went up quick, the other two took off like a shot. Del Gado and I stuck around long enough to see her stagger out of the fire. Then, for some reason, she went back in for something. Was the damndest thing I’ve ever seen.” He shook his head and said very softly, “I don’t know if she survived that fire or not, but I wasn’t about to stick around to find out. She and her husband had become almost celebrities in this town.” I allowed him to finish spilling his guts and caught everything on the recording. I gave the kid a meaningful look, not that he could see it. “She did survive,” I said as I stepped out of the darkness. I cocked my head to the side, “But you won’t survive this night.” The last thing he would feel in his life was fear and a burning sensation between his ribs on the left side of his body.

Fade.

{The Strip - Las Vegas, NV - “Asserting My Will”}

Walking down the strip, I occasionally nod at people when they recognize me. I smile as I see the “Recording” message as I go live on social media.

Hey Y’all! Welcome to Las Vegas!

I turn the camera, showing the lights and the action going on, on the streets.

[You see that? That’s how God would have done it if he had money./color]

I smile as I continue walking around the strip.

[color=limegreen] Vegas is a place where the losers think it’s the meanest place on earth. Which suits me just fine. I love it here, when I watch others fail here it makes me smile. Just like when I watched Marf fail, and he will again. You see, I’ve had exactly one match in this company, and now I get to face Marf?

I smirk and then shake my head in disgust.

The guy who lost his extreme title, right around the same time I debuted here. He’s a real peach of a guy, isn’t he?.

I roll my eyes but continue on.

it really does make one wonder if that’s the same mouth he kisses his mom with. If he has someone that claims him as his or her child that is.

The smile is now gone, replaced by something much darker and more intense.

Regardless of his lack of creativity, he’s a hell of a fighter, I’ll certainly give him that

The intensity remains and my look as the camera continues to roll hardens around my eyes.

That alone will not get you a victory over me. You see, not too far from here is the T-Mobil Arena. Where the self-proclaimed tough guy goes toe to toe with a guy, who’s honestly been around for a while.

The intensity and the hardness don’t lessen, my voice drops to barely a whisper.

You think you’re a badass? I hope you believe it. I hope you come at me with everything you have in your soul, Marf.

The hardness around my eyes softens ever so slightly.

I feel quite certain that Marf has no idea who I am. It happens to short-sighted people who can never look beyond their own nose. If you don’t pay attention to the industry outside of your company, you are a fool.

The hardness is now gone and a smile threatens to tug at the corners of my mouth.

You’re not a fool, are you, Marf?

I allow the smile to fully bloom, not a genuine smile but the wolfish grin of a predator.

I certainly hope not, tough guy. I hope you’re clever and more importantly ready to fight. If you’re not, I’m gonna straight fuck you up.

I allow the predatory smile to remain.

I’m sure that you are still bitter about losing your title. Take all that bitterness and angst. Drink it all in, channel it into something meaningful and come knock me off my high horse. Come at me bro, make me bleed, make me beg for mercy.

I shake my head and chuckle slightly.

You won’t though. You’re not wired for that. You don’t have the guts or the fortitude to make me pay for my words. Just like when you lost your title, I’m gonna leave you crying like a bitch.