The Hounds of Vegas is a WWE AU universe created by HMSquared. In this universe, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, and Dean Ambrose are cops on various sides of the law. Seth is a dirty cop, Roman is clean and wants to see his former friend go down, and Dean is MIA. Other characters include Triple H, Seth's dirty-as-all-get-out boss; Randy Orton, a former protege of Hunter's and Dean's boyfriend; Finn Balor, a fellow cop with a dark secret; and Corey Graves, Seth's ex-boyfriend. As suggested by the title, the series takes place in Las Vegas, Nevada.
All works in this universe (which are in chronological order) can be found here
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The Hounds of Vegas universe contains examples of:
- Anguished Declaration of Love: Dean confesses his love for Roman in Never Was right after the latter gets shot.
- Anti-Hero: Seth eventually possesses shades of this. Even after his Heel–Face Turn, he still works outside the law to kill Triple H.
- Anyone Can Die: Very much so. By the time Scraplets of Fate's first chapter ends, Dean is the only Hound of Vegas left. Over the course of the series, additional minor and major characters are killed off.
- Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: Charlotte is the brains, Lexi is the brawn, and Paige is the beauty.
- Big "WHAT?!": Seth lets one loose in Chapter 14 after learning Roman succumbed to leukemia.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Finn. While a legitimately kind (albeit naive) individual, his split-personality Devitt is downright nasty. He forces himself onto Seth in Chapter 14 and the events of The Day It Started were strictly Devitt's doing.
- Bottle Episode: Fractured is one long scene that takes place in Lucky 13.
- Call-Forward: Many in Never Was to the first chapter of The Hounds of Vegas. Which makes sense since we finally get the details of Seth's Face–Heel Turn.
- Cast Full of Gay: As stated on this page, all but one of the main characters are members of the LGBT community.
- Cliffhanger: Several chapters, including the third to last one, end this way.
- Darker and Edgier: The Night I Loved You and He Is Not Yours. The former describes Dean faking his death, particularly the state of his injuries. The latter is the darkest piece in the series, dealing with the rape of Randy.
- Dirty Cop: Seth, Triple H, Randy (formerly), and Stephanie by association. It's mentioned their dirty cop ring The Authority had more members, but they were killed by Sting before the story began.
- Double Standard: Rape, Male on Male: Averted. The events of He Is Not Yours are treated rather seriously and explicitly referred to as rape.
- Freudian Trio:
- Gay Groom in a White Tux: Subverted; Seth and Dean both wear white suits when they get married.
- Girliness Upgrade: Inverted; Lexi gets more tomboyish as Roulette goes on.
- Good-Guy Bar: Lucky 13, a bar owned by Corey Graves. It has appeared in almost every entry as an iconic location.
- Incompatible Orientation: Mojo Rawley, Lexi's boss in Roulette, has a massive and super-creepy (as in, he's a stalker) crush on her. Being gay is just one of the reasons she doesn't reciprocate it. Happens again in Chapter 5 when a slightly drunk Corey flirts with her.
- Karma Houdini: Mojo Rawley in Roulette. Due to being friends with his station's captain, he doesn't get prosecuted or fired for his actions toward Lexi.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Triple H turns on Seth in Chapter 3, shooting him in the chest. Six chapters later, the favor is returned.
- Love Will Lead You Back: It's heavily implied Corey still has feelings for Seth and believes he'll come crawling back. Keep in mind, Corey has a new boyfriend at this point.
- Make It Look Like an Accident: Triple H's plan is to pass off his attempt to murder Seth as a mugging.
- Precision F-Strike:
- Lexi and Corey drop one F-Bomb each in Chapter 5 of Roulette, a first for the series.
- Devitt drops an F-Bomb in Scraplets of Fate.
- Properly Paranoid: Even as a bad guy, Seth suspected Triple H would betray him. He was right.
- Relationship Upgrade: Seth and Dean in Chapter 12 after realizing they've been in love with each other the whole time.
- Sorry, I'm Gay: Chapter 3 of Roulette is literally titled "Sorry, But I'm Gay." In this case, it refers to Lexi's creepy boss who's been stalking her.
- Stepford Smiler: Dean is incredibly jealous and depressed in Never Was due to Roman’s relationship with Seth. However, his friends have no idea because he makes it seem like everything is okay.
- Title Drop: Chapter 7's title (Dastardly Symmetry) is used at the very end of the chapter.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Downplayed; while Charlotte and Lexi are both neutral, Lexi dresses slightly more punk.
- Wham Episode:
- Chapter 3: Triple H turns on Seth and attempts to murder him after the Architect kills Sting.
- Chapter 7: Randy gets killed by Triple H, causing Dean to slit his wrists.
- Chapter 8: Ends on Seth taking Triple H and Stephanie hostage.
- Chapter 9: Seth kills Triple H and officially reunites with Roman.
- Chapter 14: Seth and Dean postpone their wedding after Roman loses his battle with leukemia.
- World of Snark: Almost all of the characters are some form of Deadpan Snarker.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Triple H attempts to kill Seth in Chapter 3 after he becomes too sympathetic. However, it doesn't work.
