"Okay, so we have lots to do and very little time to do it! I... Angel? What are you doing?"
"Keeping a look out."
"Oh. For... who?"
"Mary. That rotten little friend of Shipman's."
"Now that's not very nice, Angel. You're usually much more welcoming to new friends. And, new friends of old friends. I dunno. Was Mary hanging around us when we were in AWA with Chris?"
"No. I guess he just met her. But I don't like her!"
"Ohhh! Now that's just plain silly! What's not to like? Everybody likes dolls!"
"Everybody, huh?"
"Well, not in that way! I'm a man and real men like teddy bears!"
"Atta boy!"
"So you'll try to get along with Mary?"
"Nope!"
"Awww!... You're better than that! What has she ever done to you?"
"Nothing -- yet. But I've seen the way she looks at me and quite frankly, it creeps me out."
"Angel's attracted a girl! My little teddy has grown into a... well, a teddy I guess."
"You mean like you and Melody?"
"Hey! Hey! Hey! Melody and I are buddies! Pals! Just like you should be with Mary! But time enough to cool the raging waters of dislike..."
"Raging waters of dislike?"
"Yeah! We have a lot to do! Bernie and I have a title defense this weekend against a very formidable tag team!"
"Formidable my fuzzy butt! Horace Jackson and Bruce Evans never teamed before in their lives!"
"They haven't? Well then why are they getting a shot at our titles? That doesn't seem very fair. Bernie and I had to work for our chance. So did *GROWLS!*"
"Eep! Don't DO that!"
"Boy! You do battle effortlessly against the biggest, meanest denizens of the closets and underbed world, and a little snarl startles you?"
"Well, not NORMALLY but I've been drinking a lot of Starbucks lately."
"Really? How come?"
"Those Peppermint mochas are gooood! Plus I'm so adorable the baristas keep making me freebies!"
"It must be so difficult to be so cute."
"It is. It really, really is. But what was with that snarl anyway? Trying to dislodge that meatball you swallowed whole at lunch?"
"Eventually, but no. I was just trying to pronounce the name of the last team we defended against. you know, the ones Bernie and I agreed to give a rematch too?"
"Oh! You mean R.O.A.R.!"
"Yeah. That's what I said. *GROWLS!*"
"No, they're name is pronounced *ROAR!*"
"What's the difference?"
"You forgot to conjugate your verbs. And besides, the bosses couldn't rightly give them a title match so soon after they lost to Gabriel and Rage, could they?"
"That's true. I hope this doesn't mean that Bernie and I have to defend against Gabriel and Rage! I don't WANT to defend against Gabriel and Rage!"
"I don't think Gabriel and Rage want to challenge you for the titles in the first place. They'd never want to take away what you worked so hard for. Plus, both of them have their eyes set on the big one."
"I didn't think either one of them swung that way."
"I mean, the Heavyweight title. Not... you know."
"Actually I don't but I thought I could fake a cover. Clever, huh? Still doesn't explain why Berni and I have to defend our titles against two guys who never teamed before."
"I believe it has a lot to do with SCW's Lethal Lottery system. They just like to freshen up things with random tag team pairings and sometimes, those teams get to go for the titles."
"Hm. Well, we'll do it, but it doesn't mean we have to like it. That Horace guy is kinda weird, you know? Thinks he's Darth Vader? Hel-LO! Luke! I am your reality check!"
*SNONK!* "That's hilarious!"
"Thanks! And that other guy? Blaque Hart? I know him from somewhere but I just can't quite place him."
"All that means is that he's not important enough to remember."
"That makes sense. Just so long as we get to wrestle! It's going to be a big weekend for us!"
"I know. This is going to go down as the first time in history that all the members of the Seven Deadly Sins will be in the same building, in the same ring, at the exact same time!"
"No fooling?"
"Uh huh! You. Gabriel. Rage. Synn. Shane. Fantasia. Kittie. Shipman. Hm... I'm forgetting someone."
"You, you silly bear! You're a Sin as much as any of us."
"I know. I just wanted to hear it."
"Well there. You heard it. And it'll be made even more special because Bernie and I will win and still B champions. It won't be a good thing to lose our titles to a n00b team! Uh uh! No sirree!"
"Right! But just remember; they're both quality singles wrestlers, so they'll still be a challenge. Don't take them lightly."
"I won't! Promise!"
"Good man! Now, I just have one more question for you."
"What's that?"
"Did you change your hair style or something? You look... different."
"I do? No. No I'm the same ol' Despy. I..."
A soft rap on the door to the hotel suite in Columbus, Georgia distracted this small, unique brand of camaraderie between man and teddy bear. Despayre looked up from where he was seated on the floor of the suite he was sharing with his father, the man known as Synn and he put his palms down onto the soft carpeting and pushed himself up to his feet.
"Just a moment!" He called happily, setting Angel down onto the edge of the bed so he could keep watch on the door in case there was any funny business to be had. Teddy bears took the topic of security very seriously, you know!
Despayre crossed the room and had a gander through the door's 'peep hole' as his father and 'big brother' Gabriel had drilled into him since they first met. Better to be safe, than sorry. Maybe it was one of the room service people with that glass of orange juice he had inquired about an hour ago? He had looked over the room service menu with much interest and found so many misprints that he had phoned down to the front desk to be of service and inform them of their hotel's errors. Only then to discover that they were not, in fact, misprints and that glass of OJ really did cost six dollars!
"Hunh. That's certainly weird."
"What is?"
"There's nobody there."
"Maybe they knocked and ran."
"That would be very rude of them!"
"Like you and I did to Rage's room last night."
"That was different! He was being very grumpy and I wanted to joke around with him so he could have a laugh."
Despayre looked away from his plush pal and looked through the peep hole again and shrugged.
"Nope! Still nothing." He said and grasped the lock on the door, just to have a quick look see. Maybe it was one of those nice ladies who snuck into their rooms every time they were away and rearranged everything. Despayre wasn't ever sure if he liked or appreciated those nice gestures. He and Angel worked very hard to make these hotels comfortable enough to live in and they go and mess everything up. Or clean it up. Well you know what we mean!
With a word for caution from Angel, Despayre opened the door and glanced into the hall, to the left and right, before he felt a presence and looked 'down' and his face brightened into a smile.
"Well hello there!" Despayre bent down and scooped up the doll that was at his door and turned around into the room, holding her out for his teddy bear to see. "Look Angel! You have a visitor! And a lovely young lady she is toOW!"
Despayre winced and whined, jamming his finger into his mouth to suck on it from where he had accidentally jabbed it onto the shard of barbed wire that the doll was draped in. He pulled the finger from his lips to inspect it, and seeing the skin was somehow not broken, he felt satisfied and looked down at the doll where he had dropped her on the bed, just a foot away from the teddy bear. Boy that could have been a terrible accident had she landed on top of his buddy! Angel could have been hurt!
AWKWARD!
"Geez, Mary!" Despayre frowned at the doll as he assisted her into a seated position. "One of these days we hafta get Chris to take you shopping for something else besides that getup! A people could get hurt!"
Despayre then hurried over to the dresser that the plasma TV was perched on and grasped both his wallet and the television remote. He left the remote on Angel's lap as he stuffed the wallet in his pocket.
"Now you two play nice!" Despayre wagged a forefinger at the pair on the bed. "I don't want to have to explain a hotel room brawl to security. Now I'll be right back but I hafta go see dad about our weekend plans. Be good!"
"Hey! HEY! You're not leaving me here alone with her, are you!?"
And Despayre turned and hurried out of the hotel suite, shutting the door behind him. Leaving Angel the teddy bear and Mary the doll staring at one another.
"*nervous chuckle* Hello."
Despayre down the hall of the hotel's top floor to Gabriel's room and rapped on the door. After a few moments, the door opened and Gabriel leaned against the frame and crossed his arms, a smirk on his face.
"Heya Despy! What's up?" He asked.
Despayre squared his shoulders and answered, "I was wondering if you wanted to join me for lunch? I have a lot of party plans to make for this month and I need someone to throw ideas at!"
"Party ideas, huh?" Gabriel mused. "What are we celebrating?"
Despayre said, "Well for starters, we have to throw a welcome party for Shipman! Dad was very happy he's back!"
"I bet he is. Got a feeling Synn is throwing him one right now." Gabriel murmured. "Alright, what else are we celebrating?"
"Well we have to plan my annual Halloween party!" Despayre smiled. "Oh! And Angel said we have to throw Odette a baby shower! Though he still won't explain to me where we're going to get the baby or how we'll keep it from going down the drain IN the shower."
"Despy." Gabriel sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. "That's not quite how a baby shower ... where's your dad? Shouldn't he be helping you plan these parties?"
"He's busy I think." Despayre said. "I saw Shipman pull him into his hotel room and they haven't come out yet. I guess dad is helping him plan his match strategy."
"Yeah." Gabriel nodded. "That's what they're doing." He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair before he said, "Okay. Go grab Angel and we can go hash out your party plans."
"Right!" Despayre saluted Gabriel and took off back up the hall to his hotel room.
Gabriel muttered, "And I'll go break up that little party." And he turned back into his room and shut the door behind him.
With a swipe of the key card, Despayre bounced into his and his dad's room and immediately stopped short. Something was wrong. Very wrong. Angel was gone -- and Mary was on the floor, seated against the closet door.
"What are you doing down there?" Despayre asked of the doll and gingerly pinched her plastic arm in his fingers and lifted her back up from the floor and set her on the bed side. He then turned around and looked about thee spacious room. "Angel?"
Despayre did not like this. Angel never just upped and left before. Well, not without a good reason. He wandered around the room and glanced in all the nooks and crannies that the teddy bear might have wandered into, but nothing. Gee! Could a beasty have reared its ugly head and, in defense of Mary, Angel leapt into the shadows to do battle? What a brave little soldier Angel was! defending a doll that he 'claims' not to like!
Despayre glanced down at the bed, leaning at the waist for a better look. There was no space under the bed for a battle to take place. So that left just one option: the closet! If Angel was in combat, he would need a way out so Despayre walked over to the closet door to open it and give his buddy an exit strategy. He grasped the knob on the door and gave it a tug. He glanced down and found the teddy bear in the closet, all tied up with rope wrapped all around him and a hanky over his mouth as a gag.
"Angel!" He cried. "What happened!?"
