Downtown Las Vegas, Nevada...Two of the members of the controversial stable, the Seven Deadly Sins, stood on the door step of the spacious house of their friend and mentor, Synn, and his son and their teammate, one half of Sinful Obsession aka Despayre. Fans familiar with this group would know them as the 'Sxxxy' Shane Boswell (the Sin of Pride) and his erstwhile and comely companion, Fantasia (the Sin of Lust).
The home itself was a spacious abode that bordered on the description of a small mansion, and never failed to impress those who came calling. Yet these two members in particular would sometimes see it as a home away from home when they would come to Nevada for touring purposes. At this early hour, however, they had been asked over as a favor to the man of the house, Synn himself.
Ringing the doorbell which rang a low-key tune that seemed a cross between a hymn and a gothic sound wave, Synn's doing no doubt, the front door was answered by the household's live-in housekeeper, the feisty Theresa Aguilera -- a woman who had captured the hearts and attention of each member of this team and one of whom they saw as a member of their own.
Only a petite standing of 5'1", Theresa looked up at the 6'8" Shane Boswell and smiled.
She said, "Hello, Shane." She smiled down at Fantasia who stood perhaps an inch or two taller than she. "Fantasia." She added with a smile, graciously. "Come in. Synn is expecting you."
Theresa stepped aside to allow the two entry into the house's main foyer, and ever the gentleman, Shane allowed Fantasia to enter first. It also gave him a simple excuse to cast his eyes downward for a mouth watering glimpse of her eye-catching backside. (Don't get the wrong idea, though! Fantasia has found many an opening to do the same to Shane!)
Shane then stepped in past the door frame and followed her into the house, absently asking, "So how's he feeling?"
Theresa shut the door behind them, and locked it as was her personal custom, and as they turned to face her, she answered, "Rough. He won't go to the doctor, of course, but it's definitely the flu."
"Wow." Shane said, shaking his head. "In all the years I've known him, I've never seen Synn sick."
Theresa nodded, "It was bound to happen, sooner or later. I suppose he got it from me when I had it."
"Oh now," Fantasia started. "There's no reason to blame yourself."
"Why not? I do."
His voice came from the hallway and they turned their heads slightly to look around and Synn emerged from the annals of the house's hallway and he approached them. Indeed he
did look less than healthy with watery eyes and his complexion flushed. He was dressed in more comfortable and casual attire than they were truly used to seeing him in; a black turtleneck and matching sweat pants. He had a box of tissues in one hand and held one to his nose as he arrived, giving Theresa a playful look of disdain.
Theresa sighed and rolled her eyes before she said, "How many times do I have to tell you I am sorry?"
"No, I'm sorry." Synn replied. "Sorry I didn't toss you out into the garage the first moment you sneezed."
Shane and Fantasia paused to watch this verbal jousting between the pair, knowing the vast amount of respect Synn had for this little Spanish firecracker of a woman inferred he was merely teasing at the threat. Synn then suddenly brought a clenched fist in front of his mouth and was in the midst of a sudden coughing fit.
Shane frowned and stepped back, "Yo, man! Tissues!"
Getting control of himself, Synn took a deep breath and turned to address him, "Forgive me. I'm unaccustomed to the etiquette of being ill around people."
Shane said, "Just don't get too close. Got it?"
Synn said, "So, what? Deep tongue kisses are out?"
"Save that for my birthday." Fantasia said. Shane turned and looked at her with a quirked brow and she shrugged. What?" She asked. "You saw the wish list!"
Shane turned his head to cast a wary glance at Synn who equaled him in size, then turned back to Fantasia and shuddered. He said, "Not enough hard liquor in the state of Nevada."
Smiling, Fantasia shook her head in mock dismay and then leaned aside to look to Synn, the man she perhaps knew the longest, second only to Shane. She said, "For the record, that sounds like a lot more than just a cold. With that cough, it could easily be bronchitis."
"Told you." Theresa added with a haughty sniff. She wagged a forefinger at him. "You should go see the doctor."
Synn rolled his eyes at the notion and Shane jumped in and added, "They're not wrong. If it's bronchitis, you'll want it nipped fast. You don't want Despy to get sick, do you?"
Ending another bout of coughing, Synn said in a croaking voice, "Newsflash, all of you. I already made the damn appointment to get you off my back."
"Really?" Asked Theresa. "You're going to see the doctor?"
"Today." Synn answered with a nod. "It's one reason why I asked you two..." He pointed toward Shane and Fantasia. "... To take Joshua to his training session with Gabriel. If he knew I was going, he'd insist on going with me and I won't take the risk of scaring him or getting him sick."
"Sneaky." Shane murmured with a grin. "Sneaky, sneaky, sneaky."
"Not especially." Synn said, wiping his nose with a tissue. "But I appreciate the compliment. Hospitals and doctors offices just scare the hell out of him. So this was the only time I'd be able to go on my own without him getting suspicious."
"Ready!"
The child-like cry came from upstairs and the heavy footfalls heralded the timely arrival of one-half of Sinful Obsession, the man-child known as Despayre. They all looked up toward the top of the stairs and Despayre, clad in a heavy jacket to stave off the Las Vegas winter chill, hopped on the banister and before they could utter a word of protest, he slid down toward them with a 'whoop' of glee. At least until he lost control of his momentum and slid off at the very end and landed with a thud on the bottom step, on his bottom.
"Ouch!" He whimpered, standing up and rubbing his heiney gingerly.
"I warned you about doing that!" The housekeeper scolded him. "You might have gotten hurt!"
"I did get hurt!" He said with indignity in his voice. He cuddled the teddy bear in his arms closer and smiled toward Shane. "Didn't make it any less fun!"
Theresa sighed in a faux exasperation and Synn handed her a woolen hat and she stepped closer and before Despayre could utter a word of protest, she slid it over his scalp, and almost over his eyes.
"Hey!" He cried out and huffed, his eyes almost entirely hidden by the thick hat. "I don't like wearing hats!" He reached up to pull it off but Shane was fast enough to grab his wrist before he could.
"Well, tough." Shane said. "Gotta wear it until we get to the gym. You don't want to get sick, do you?"
"He's not wearing one." Despayre pointed out, jetting a thumb back toward Synn. Despayre then frowned and turned to look at his father and he pinched the edge of the hat's brim and pulled it up from his eyes so he could look at him more closely. "Hey! He's not even wearing a jacket!"
"That's because I'm not going with you, Joshua." Synn said.
"How come?" Despayre tilted his head to the side in questioning. "Aren't you going to help me and Gabriel get ready for our big match?"
"No, you're in perfectly good hands." Synn said, motioning towards the two who would be escorting him to meet his tag team partner. "I don't want to risk getting either of you sick before your match with the NWA Champions. It's too risky."
"Oh you don't have to worry about me!" Despayre shook his head. "It's Angel you have to worry about." He held his teddy bear up for them to see. The plush bear was also clad in a bite-size jacket, courtesy of the child's department at JC Pennys. Despayre continued, "Teddy bears are
very prone to catch the sniffles. All you have to do is say 'cold' and Angel starts to sneeze."
Fantasia shared a brief yet silent exchange of amused looks with Shane before she addressed Despayre and asked, "Are you trying to tell us that Angel is a hypochondriac?"
"No." Despayre said, drawing the teddy bear back against his chest in a warm snuggle. He shook his head with an expression of confusion on his young face and replied, "He doesn't steal. He just thinks he gets sick all the time."
Shane chuckled at the childlike thought process of this little guy and said, "C'mon Despy." He placed a hand on his shoulder and escorted him to the house's front door which Fantasia had opened for them. "Let's get going. I bet Gabriel is already there."
Despayre held Angel up to 'look back' at Synn and Theresa and waved it's paw toward them and calling out, "Bye!"
___________________________________
Just three blocks down from the SCW head offices in downtown Las Vegas was building that housed a new endeavor directed toward the men and women of Sin City Wrestling; a modest gym that would serve as a training facility for the superstars and bombshells that called SCW their home territory. SCW co-owners Mark Ward and Christian Underwood wanted the men and women that worked for them to be able to remain in top shape, so the idea of a training facility specifically for them seemed only natural.
Inside of the gym was a small but standard set of equipment for working out, including several weights, treadmills, cycle trainers, and of course, right smack dab in the center of the gym, a six-sided wrestling ring for their workers to keep their ring skills crisp and sharp.
Much to Shane's prediction, Gabriel had indeed arrived first, accompanied by his girlfriend, the ever lovely Odette Ryder. Gabriel was currently in the ring with a young man who had been hired by Synn to serve as 'sparring partners' so-to-speak against his men, the better to prepare them for their upcoming battle for the NWA World Tag Team Championship. Synn knew the stakes were high with this much anticipated golden opportunity, and was taking no chances.
No expense would be spared to make certain that Sinful Obsession would walk out of Reno, Nevada as the new Tag Team Champions of the World. Hence, the hiring of two young workers from the independent circuit to keep both Despayre and Gabriel on their toes.
As the young grappler's partner stood on the outside, appearing somewhat bored, Odette herself watched on as Gabriel tussled with his 'opponent' inside of the ring. Gabriel ducked behind the young man, tying his arm painfully up the back in a hammerlock. He wrenched it high up, almost forcing him to touch the back of his head, but the kid proved he could, in fact, wrestle, as he reversed the hold and wound up behind Gabriel, holding him in an identical hold. Gabriel, however, did not remain in it for long and he reached up behind him with his free arm and snapmared his foe over his shoulder. Taken by surprise, the indy worker jumped to his feet and rushed him but Gabriel took him over with an arm drag and kept him restrained in an armbar.
"Okay guys!" Shane called out, emerging from the back. "Despy's almost ready!"
"God it's about time." The worker on the outside of the ring muttered, an insolent act not lost on either Odette nor Gabriel.
Gabriel let his opponent go and rolled outside of the ring to join Odette at her side, and wait for his own tag team partner. Shane approached the pair and they noticed that he was having a rather difficult time of smothering a smile from his face.
Gabriel's eyebrow rose and he said, "Okay. Out with it."
Fantasia slid up beside Shane as he snorted back a laugh and jetted a thumb at the locker room's direction. He choked back a laugh and said, "Wait'll you see this!"
Odette frowned and asked, "See wh...oh my..."
"Gabriel!" The cheerful cry of greeting echoed off of the walls and Despayre raced from the back and wove his way around the ring, practically crashing right into Gabriel with a tight hug. One would think he hadn't seen him in weeks!
Yet it wasn't Despayre's enthusiastic greeting that drew the attention of practically everybody in the gym. It was what he was wearing; neon green leotards with powder blue shorts worn over them, a "Beware the Stare" Angel T-shirt, neon yellow tennis shoes and white sweat bands around his forehead and wrists.
"Despy..." Gabriel swallowed hard to fight back the laugh he felt forthcoming so as not to hurt his "little brother's" feelings. "What are you wearing?"
Despayre glanced down at his attire, not understanding the question. He looked up and sighed outwardly before he replied, "Hel-LO! When one is working out, one must wear proper work out clothes!" He paused to look over Gabriel's own outfit, which was nothing more than the ring gear that he regularly competed in. Despayre added, "We'll work on you next. Now I can try that new move Angel taught me!"
"Angel taught you a new move?" Odette asked with a smile, finally having started to grow accustomed to Despayre's way of seeing the world around him.
"Mm hm!" Despayre nodded. "We've been saving it for a special occasion. He told me the match for the NWA titles counts, so he wants me to test it out."
"Excuse me." The cocky wrestler said with a hint of annoyance in his voice. He had been waiting outside of the ring but now that Despayre had arrived on the scene to join Gabriel, he climbed inside of the ring to join his own workout partner. He continued, "Can we get on with this? We haven't got all day."
"Rude." Despayre murmured from the corner of his mouth.
Gabriel looked up at the 'kid' with a frown on his handsome face and said, "You've got attitude for a wrestler who has to find work as someone else's sparring partner."
The grappler standing against the ropes took a sudden step back, his head rocking as if he had been physically slapped rather than verbally by Gabriel's statement. His face flushed red, and then he managed to find his confidence once again and he leaned up against the ropes and said, "Well, I have a friend here recording this so the bosses can see their golden boys beat by a couple nobodies. Hm?"
They all turned their heads and saw a young woman holding up a video camera as she peered through the viewing lens, recording everything.
Gabriel exchanged amused glances with Shane, and he shrugged before saying, "Fine, but when were finished here, that's going on youtube."
The cocky wrestler nodded, biting his bottom lip as his partner for this workout looked as if he were about to crawl under the ring in embarrassment from his partner's actions and attitude.
Gabriel turned to Despayre and asked, "Who starts?"
Despayre shrugged innocently and whispered, "Rock, paper, scissors?"
"Sounds good." Gabriel answered and they drew up their fists over their palms and at the count of three, Gabriel drew paper and Despayre rock.
Both men turned and started to climb into the ring, but pulled up to a halt at their partner doing the same.
Gabriel said, "Uh, Despy. I won."
"You did not!" Despayre protested.
"Yes I did." Gabriel tried to explain. "I got paper."
"Paper doesn't beat rock!"
Fantasia stepped in and tried to reason, "Despy, it actually does."
Despayre turned to her with a perplexed expression and cocked his head to the right, asking, "How do you figure?"
"Paper covers rock, Despy." Shane said.
Despayre looked into the air and sighed with exasperation before he tried to explain, "Maybe so but what happens if a gust of wind blows over, huh? Then what happens? Paper blows away. Rock stays put. Rock keeps paper from blowing away."
Gabriel blinked, then turned to Odette and said, "You the know the scary part is that it's all starting to make sense."
Gabriel then turned to Despayre and waved him toward the ropes. Despayre made a 'woop' of glee and pressed Angel into Shane's arms before he scrambled inside of the ring and hopped over to where that cocky wrestler stood, staring at the smaller grappler with a look of disdain and amazement. Despayre spit into the palms of his hands, rubbed them together and then put up his 'dukes' as Odette rang the bell.
"You can't be serious!" The cocky wrestler sneered, looking out at the others and pointing to Despayre who was bobbing and weaving around him in an amusing imitation of a boxer's dance. "
This is what I got hired to work with!? What sort of drugs is..."
"Hey Despy!" Gabriel called from his corner. "Give him the Despy Special!"
The wrestler frowned at this cryptic challenge but before he could question it, he let out a sharp yell as Despayre stomped heavily on the tip of his foot!
"Son of a..." But he was cut off again when Despayre kicked him right in the shin! He yelped and bent at the waist, grabbing his knee and that put him in the perfect position for Despayre to whip his head forward and right into his chin with a painful headbutt! The man fell back and around and collapsed to his knees while Despayre himself staggered back, holding his forehead.
Odette looked up from where she stood in their corner and smiled, "Despy Special?"
"Despy Special." Gabriel nodded with a satisfied smile, having shut that arrogant ass up.
___________________________________
The training match had become a mere formality. The two workers hired to help train the members of Sinful Obsession for their upcoming NWA World Tag Team Championship match against Canadian Connection were proving to be capable grapplers, but they were clearly not in the same league as the seasoned combination of Despayre and Gabriel. Their team work was simply too much for them to overcome.
Despayre was pinned in a far corner by the quieter of the two opponents who attempted an Irish whip into the neutral corner but Despayre held on and reversed it, sending him in instead. Despayre then ran in and literally ran right
up the man's body, back flipping and landing and landing on his feet! Despayre then jumped up and brought the man from out of the corner with a well executed monkey flip. ...
The arrogant loud mouth of a man darted forward, arm extended for a clothesline, but Despayre ducked down and slid through his open legs. Before the guy could even tell what just happened, Despayre sat up and promptly sank his teeth right into the guy's posterior, drawing a yelp of pain from him and laughter from almost everyone else watching in the gym! ...
Gabriel tagged Despayre back into the match. Gabriel Irish whipped his opponent off of the ropes and scooped him up as if for a spine buster when Despayre used the top rope as a spring board, crashing into the helpless wrestler with a mid-air senton. ...
The arrogant wrestler was trying to regain his bearings as he flopped on the canvas, while Despayre bounced around in a rabid state of excitement. Despayre hurriedly grabbed him by two handfuls of his hair and peeled him off of the mat. Despayre then ducked behind him, setting him up for a pumphandle slam -- but turned him around into the maneuver and ended up dumping him right on his head!
"Holy sh...!" Shane exclaimed from ringside, and at the same time, as if he knew Despayre's intention, Gabriel climbed inside of the ring quickly and cut the man's partner off from making the save as Despayre tied the downed opponent up in a cradle while the gym's hired referee made the three count to end this sparring match!
Despayre jumped up and ran around the ring in wide circles as Gabriel turned away from the man's partner and smiled out at his teammates.
Gabriel shrugged, "Hey I know an Angel taught move when I see one!"
___________________________________
The afternoon had worn on and despite the initial training match, neither Shane nor Fantasia eased up on their friends. Two more sparring matches against two more sets of hired workers followed throughout the afternoon, with random sets of training with the aforementioned weights and the like. They broke only for drinks of water and meals, all the better to prepare Despayre and Gabriel for what could possibly end up being their biggest match in years.
Finally, it was time to draw this day to a close. Gabriel said his good-byes to his 'little brother' and left with Odette (after obtaining a copy of that first training match for Youtube), and Shane and Fantasia finally managed to corral Despayre with a small degree of difficulty to get him home in time for supper.
The front door of the house swung open with a loud clatter and Despayre came charging in, shouting, "I'm hooooome!"
"Shoosh!" Theresa whispered through pursed lips as she emerged from the kitchen, the wafting scents of a garlic pasta emanating from within her 'domain'.
Despayre skidded to a halt and frowned, "What'd I do?"
"Nothing chico." Theresa said, then pointed upstairs, directing his attention to the second floor of the house. "Synn took some cold medicine and it knocked him out. He needs his rest."
Despayre smiled and rolled his eyes before he said, "Don't be silly! Synn doesn't get
that sick!"
"Well, this time he did." Theresa shook her finger at him. "Now I'll have supper ready for you .. and Angel, here in just a bit. You go watch Bugs Bunny or something and I'll call you when it's ready. Okay?"
Despayre cuddled his teddy bear against his chest and nodded without saying a word. Satisfied, Theresa turned around and headed back toward the kitchen. Once she vanished behind the swinging door, Despayre glanced upstairs...
The bedroom was dark, almost completely void of any light as the crimson colored curtains were drawn against any remaining light outside from peeking through the glass windows. It allowed for a restful atmosphere and thanks to the prescribed drugs, Synn had fallen fast asleep. A good thing, too, that he had allowed himself to be bullied into going to the doctor. As it turned out, it
was bronchitis that he had developed, and the doctor told him that if he had waited any longer, it could have worsened into pneumonia.
Synn could barely be seen under the mass of blankets he had crawled under, and he was so 'out of it' that he did not even note the bedroom door opening slightly so that a certain teddy bear could poke his bite-sized head through the door to catch a glimpse of him.
Downstairs, Theresa was putting the finishing touches on the casserole she had been preparing when Despayre slid quietly into the kitchen. He bit his lower lip and raised a hand as if he were in class, wanting to offer the teacher an answer.
"Theresa?" He said. "Can I borrow the turkey thermometer?"
She was so busy in the details of her meal preparations, she only half-absently said, "Top drawer."
She took no note that Despayre had an arm load on bandages, medicines from the bathroom cabinet, and a large can of soup in his arms as well. Angel just so happened to have been placed at the pillows by Synn's head while he slept. Despayre waddled over to the indicated kitchen drawer and reached in without dropping anything to extract the thermometer. He then turned and went back the way he came, and only when she pulled the apple crumble from the oven, did Theresa look up sharply and she turned and hurried out of the kitchen.
___________________________________
Despayre sat in front of the large screen television, a dinner tray over his lap with Theresa's meal piled high atop of it. His eyes were glued to the screen and the antics of the cast of "Courage the Cowardly Dog", a new DVD that Rage had purchased for him as a gift. He was practically wolfing down his meal, anxious to return to his duties as Synn's caretaker, a task he had taken upon himself and despite Theresa's adamant objections, one he would return to.
Theresa kept her eyes on him as she held the telephone to her ear and waited for the man she needed assistance from to pick up.
Theresa whispered, "Gabriel? It's Theresa. ... I need you to do me a favor. ... Come and pick up Joshua. ... I know he just got home, but Synn has bronchitis and needs to rest and Joshua won't leave him alone. ... Perhaps you could have him stay the night or keep him busy somehow so Synn can get his sleep? ... I know he wants to take care of his papa but I just had to confiscate a turkey thermometer from him! ... No, that is not a laughing matter Gabriel."
Of course, Gabriel could not see her fighting off the smile from her own lips. Okay, so it
was a laughing matter.
Theresa nodded, "Thank you. Get here fast. I can't keep him distracted forever."
Theresa nodded and hung up the phone. She then stole a glance past the foyer and into the living room where Despayre was taking a drink of his milk, his eyes never leaving the TV screen. Gabriel could not get here fast enough.
TBC in Gabriel's RP...___________________________________
"Hello!"
"You'll have to forgive me for interjecting myself in this promo for Despayre. This is usually where Synn makes a personal appearance to address the opposition and perhaps discuss a thing or two about the upcoming match, but I'm afraid that won't be happening this time around. Synn is not well and he is under Doctor Angel's orders to remain in bed until he's well enough to be our personal spokesperson once again."
"You see, the folks of Sin City Wrestling are used to how these things work, but let me fill you all in the NWA in on a little tidbit: my bestie Despayre isn't much of a talker. Not really. So Synn usually does his promo talking for him. With Synn down and out with the ickies, I guess it falls to me to address a few issues in the upcoming NWA World Tag Team Championship match in Reno."
"Between you and me, I'm not sure whether I should even bother or not. It's not like Despayre and Gabriel's opponents in the Canadian Connection went out of their way to discuss anything about my boys or the match itself. It appears to me that the Crippler and Rey just aren't planning on taking this championship defense very seriously."
"That's their mistake to make, not our own. You see, ever since Sinful Obsession first arrived on the wrestling scene, from their time in the AWA and right up to Sin City Wrestling, people have underestimated them because they don't appear as the typical tag team combination. But you see, that is what has made them so great! That is what has made them so dominant inside of the ring! And that is what will make them emerge from this match as the new champions of the NWA's tag team division!"
"You can say anything you like about actions and appearances, but what it boils down to is teamwork and experience, and nobody can say they're better at either where the team of Despayre and Gabriel are concerned. They have been working together for a fair few years now, and what had started as a partnership evolved into a bond of brotherhood that is rarely, if ever, seen in this business these days. They know the strengths and weaknesses of one and the other. They know the needs and what the other is about to do inside of that ring."
"Can the Canadian Connection say the same? Oh I'm sure they have the talent to back up the fact that they're the World Champions, but the fact of the matter is, that until today, Sinful Obsession has never made an attempt to challenge for an NWA Championship. That would be the only reason why anyone in that team would have held gold around their waists."
"How unfortunate for them now that Despayre and Gabriel's eyes have been opened onto a bigger picture. It was just a few weeks ago that they held the SCW Tag Team Championships, a reign that had lasted for over eight months. Eight months! Can you fathom that, champs? Can you picture yourselves holding a title for such a length of time? No? Yeah, me neither. And it is such a pity that Sinful Obsession lost their titles in such a fashion, that they themselves were not the team that had been bested in a triple threat title defense."
"But you know the old saying; when one door closes, another one opens! That would be the case here in the NWA because for so long as they were the SCW Champions, their commitments kept them from even dignifying the notion of pursuing your championship. Until now, that is. Now that the SCW gold is around another team's waists for the time being, their time has been freed and their focus is somewhere else."
"It's on the gold that the Canadian Connection calls their own."
"How unlucky for the champions."
"How'd I do?""You did great! I couldn't have done better, myself!""Well, that goes without saying.""Hey!"
