Construction of the vineyard went on without issue.

That was what William had indicated to me, at the very least.

So it came to a shock the minute I pulled into my home that I received a call from a frantic William. "Look, you need to calm down," I said in a feeble attempt at deescalating the situation. "I can't understand you when you're talking that fast."

"I-I'm sorry," William replied apologetically, "Its easier to show you what happened. We still don't know who did all the damage; it couldn't have been the weather, we were assured that-"

"I understand William," I interrupted, "Have you at least contacted the police?"

"As soon as I saw the damage."

"Good man. I'll be there in an hour if they are looking to speak with me." I hung up the phone without waiting for a reply, threw the car in reverse, and took off for the vineyard.

The hour long drive from the southwest metro would normally be a relaxing and meditative trip. However, with the knowledge that something had happened to the tasting and storage building of the vineyard, my mind really could not focus...aside from focusing on the road, of course. Aside from passing through a few stop signs and taking sharper turns than intended, the trip was otherwise uneventful. The sun was just beginning to set when I pulled into the driveway leading to the construction site. Near the entrance, I saw a frantically waving William, no doubt relieved that I had just arrived.

Once parked, I stepped out of my vehicle, and as I walked over to William I assessed the damage I could see. Fortunately, from the outside, the damage appeared minimal. "How are things looking here?" I asked.

William was noticeably trembling. "N-not great, sir. Most of the windows have been smashed, there is an entire section of wall that was pried off, and the extra lumber that was being stored here for the remaining construction had been cut through. The insurance agent is supposed to come by tomorrow, but if I had to guess, I'd say they did over five-thousand dollars worth of damage."

"And the custom window in the back?" I inquired. William only shook his head and gestured me inside.

I stared in disbelief as I looked at the shards of stained glass now scattered across the floor. A one-of-a-kind piece of art now destroyed, unable to be replicated or replaced. The inside looked far worse; there were a few fixtures that had been ripped out of the room, you couldn't take a single step without touching some piece of glass somewhere. But the smell. A mixture of soaked through wood and spray paint...which also happened to compete with a dark pile found in the bar sink that neither William or I had the stomach to investigate for ourselves. "Do you know what happened? Did you see who did this?"

"Sorry, sir, but I didn't see who was responsible," William replied sheepishly. "They were hiding their faces with ski masks and I couldn't really tell who they were. Could've been some college kids down in Winona finding some place that probably looked abandoned to them."

"Doubtful," I rebuttled. "Winona is a little over a half-hour away from here. They'd have no reason to come up this way just to trash a place."

"Maybe it was some of the local kids, then. Some rebellious teenagers trashing a place to look cool to their friends."

"...I don't really see how; we're far enough out of the way that you would almost have to know from us what is out here. And it isn't like we are fully in operation as of yet."

While William and I thought of who could have done this, we heard two vehicles pull into the driveway. More than likely, it would be the insurance adjustor and the police. William and I provided our statements and left the officer and the adjustor to look around. They had just entered the building when a thought had occurred to me; it would have needed to be someone who knew that construction was happening here. And they would also need to be able to benefit from it.

It left one name on my mind. "Stay here with them, William," I ordered, jogging back to my car. "I need to go pay Scapelli a visit."

"You're going to tell him what happened in person?" William asked.

"I think he already knows what happened," I replied, slamming the car door. I looked in the rear view mirror and caught my glare in the reflection. This asshole was going well out of his way to try and benefit from vandalizing his own construction site.

And dammit if I wasn't going to allow him to fuck me over like this.

---

---

One pair of brass knuckles was apparently all it took.

All good reigns must come to an end, surely. But to have it end like this...

I won't lie to you all. This one stings.

Bulk will get his in kind sooner rather than later, of that I can promise you all. Even as frustrated as I am over the loss, I cannot truly stay upset. Consider, for a moment, the lengths it took to dethrone me. While underhanded, I can at least respect the tenacity. For now, however, I must look ahead to the future. Almost a year has gone by since my XWF debut, and I am delighted in knowing that the skill and aptitude I have seen here lives up to the talk about you all. I am happy to call this place my home. So now I seek to rebound off of this loss and move on as best I can. Though naturally, this will cause many of you to call my ability into question.

How fortuitous for me, then, that I end up placed against a former teammate and a former challenger. All in the same match! A happy Halloween indeed for The Lord of the Vine.

I trust that you can still remember me, Slade. I recall giving you a beating of a lifetime when we last met. Granted, this was also in the depths of hell; a thrashing of that magnitude was almost expected, was it not? Although I do remember some nonsense about how you were preparing for this match by...hounding some small town car salesman by being a minor nuisance. Since my name appears to be confusing to you, allow me to remind you that it is pronounced Die-Oh-Nye-Sus. Not whatever you decided to have engrained into that vacuum-filled void that you now call a beautiful mind. Perhaps this time around a much more thorough reintroduction is necessary.

And speaking of reintroductions, it was high time that Dolly and I manage to square back up in the ring together. Although, I will admit that I am quite perplexed by your sudden change in determination. I see you around, like always, and yet there is long-off look in your eyes, almost like you are only here to take up space. Where was the fire and passion you had during War Games, where our former world champion of a teammate carried us to a second place finish? Your fortunes were indeed favorable back then. Now? I must wonder if the lack of effort on your part is due to foretelling far too often. It is quite difficult to motivate yourself when you know what the outcome will inevitably be. You may think the cards hold all the answers, but sometimes you need to grasp fate with your own two hands and shape it as you need to.

See, I had half-expected to get lost in the shuffle once the interest cooled off on me back when I lost the television title the first time. And yet here I stand, looking to make the climb once again, with nothing left to lose but my dignity. I am not coming out here just to be outdone by previous challengers or rivals. I am here to continue making myself at home.

And Dionysus at home is just as good.