So when a wrestler wins his debut match, his team scoring a victory over two renowned superstars and former champions, where do you go to celebrate?
Why, McDonalds of course!
"Really, man...McDonalds?"
"Sxxxy" Shane Boswell, the 'Crown Jewel' of the Seven Deadly Sins, sits opposite of his friend and mentor in Synn, at a booth in the lobby of the town's local McDonalds. Shane was an incredibly handsome young man with a sculpted physique that would drive many an artist to madness in an effort to recreate. And he knew it too. Hence why Synn felt he was the natural to wield the mantle of the Sin of Pride, the most dangerous of them all. Shane was a multiple champion in both the singles and tag team divisions, and thus easily the most successful of the entire stable.
He issued the coy question towards Synn who could only reply with a sigh and a shrug. Synn said, "Hey, don't blame me. I wanted to reward Despayre by winning by letting him pick where we ate." He held his hands outward in mock presentation. "This is where he chose."
"Uh huh." Shane leaned back in the cushioned booth and cast a glance to the side where he watched Despayre at his seat, fiddling around with the colorful box set before him. "Enjoying that Happy Meal there?"
Despayre glanced up at the speaker and shook his head in a silent negative. Synn frowned.
"Why not? This is where you wanted to come, isn't it?"
"Mm hm." Despayre confirmed, holding up a small, round puzzle globe. "But I can't figure this thing out." He complained in a singsong whine.
"Can I have a look at it?" Shane asked, holding his hand out and Despayre reluctantly placed the game puzzle in his palm. Shane brought it in for a closer look and realized it was like one of those old Rubik's Cubes from the eighties, only in a circle form. All these little colored squares were mixed up and the goal was to get the lines around the globe the same color.
Shane began to attempt to solve the puzzle with Despayre watching in a hopeful fascination, but after a few minutes, Shane uttered a curse that drew looks from the few tables that had occupants and he practically tossed it onto the table and Synn's own hand closed over it.
"Have a few problems with it did we?" Synn joked and Shane just rolled his eyes.
"I get paid to look good, not play with toys."
Synn chuckled as he too began an attempt to solve the globe puzzle with Despayre's eyes watching every move. While doing so, Shane turned to the disturbed young man whom he helped train and smiled.
"So, I saw you and Gabe kicked some ass out there."
Despayre bobbed his head in an excited nod of confirmation and Shane nodded as well. "Good man! And a title match to reward you. They don't give championship matches out to just anyone now."
Synn mumbled as he began to frown at the attempted working on the game. "I don't know. Have you seen some of the guys in this match?"
"Can't say I have." Shane answered with a shrug that bore testimony he could care less who else was in the ring other than their boy. "I've been catching a few bits here and there."
Synn paused just long enough to glance up at Shane and ask, "And did you catch what that fool giant was saying?"
"He's not a nice guy." Despayre offered in a hushed whisper, taking a huge bite out of his cheeseburger (without the cheese). "Made fun of me."
Shane waved off the words. "Don't let it bother you mate." He said. "Guys like that, who are that big? Brains are so damn small, all they can do is come up with insults, and lame ones at that, so they have something to say. Guy's a douche."
"What's a douche?" Despayre asked, eliciting a bewildered exchange of looks between Synn and Shane.
Synn gave him a pat on the shoulder and said, "I'll explain it to you later." Before growling and slamming the globe back onto the table in an admit ion of defeat. Shane looked about as smug as could be.
Shane said, "Now who's having problems with a toy for a kid?"
"One more word out of you and I cut off your supply of body oil!" Synn warned.
"Like hell you will." Shane boasted with that confidant array of arrogance only he seemed to be able to generate. "You like watching this all slicked up as much as anyone."
"More." Synn smirked. "But that's beside the point."
"You try." Despayre's voice drew their joking barbs away from one another and to the table's end where there was a set high chair for a child, but only instead of a little child, there was that little teddy bear known affectionately to Despayre as Angel. In front of the bear was, yes, a second Happy Meal and now the globe that none of the men present were able to solve. Shane looked up at Synn with an arched brow but Synn could only shrug.
Despayre glanced up at them watching him, and his eyes found Shane's own and from out of the blue, asked, "So you're his lover?"
"WHAT!?" Shane shrieked, drawing more looks as his face blanched at the idea. "No! Not just no but hell no! Where would you..."
"Desp," Synn began, trying to diffuse the situation. "I think you may have misunderstood me."
"No." Despayre shook his head, doe-eyed. "No, no. You said if you had your way you'd bend him over and ..."
"Here!" Synn called, shoving a handful of quarters into Despayre's hands, pushing him from his seat before he could finish his statement. "Go play Ms. PacMan over there!"
"But Angel..." He whined, pointing at the bear.
"We'll make sure he finishes his meal now go."
Despayre turned and headed off further into the lobby where a few arcade style games were stationed beside the play land area. Synn turned back from watching his charge to see Shane just staring at him with an expectant look.
"Oh don't give me that look!" Synn sneered. "He didn't say anything that I haven't told you a thousand times before!"
Shane shuddered, "I think I need to soak my head in alcohol just to clean the mental image out of my mind!"
A few moments pass by in silent amusement between the friends as they worked on their respective meals. Only then did Shane finally glance up and he said carefully, "So this TV title match ... what do you think his chances are?"
Synn set his burger down and looked off to where Despayre found his way into the inflatable play area filled with hundreds of colorful, rubber balls. Watching him for a moment, Synn leaned onto the table, offering an answer.
"I don't think it'll be hard if he can keep his focus, but that's the trick. He was uncomfortable enough in that tag team match but he managed to get a feel for it after a few moments and actually did pretty damn good for himself. I've been explaining to him that this time he doesn't have a partner and he's in there with four other guys who all want to win just as much as he does."
"How's that going?"
Synn chuckled beneath his breath. "I'm not so sure. Initially he had a fit, thinking he had to fight me because there’s another guy in there named Sin, but I managed to calm him down and explain that it won't actually be me in the ring against him. I'm not sure he really understands that but when the time comes and he sees me on the outside and not the inside, it'll sink in. So far the only one to show his face has been Big Bad Casey (flexing his forefingers) but that was like a ripple in an ocean listening to him. An act that befit an action, but in the overall scheme of things, won't amount to much."
Shane took a drink from his sweet tea and asked, "You think he'll be okay? That is a pretty hefty size disadvantage he has going."
Synn glanced back to Despayre who he watched briefly take his turn at the slide down into the pool of rubber balls before he answered, "Actually I think Casey will have more trouble with Despayre than the other way around. I mean, it stands to reason that he'll have the biggest target painted on him since he's the biggest guy in there. The other guys will be after him just to get him out of the way, and I explained to Desp that it'd be in his best interest to help them take the big guy down."
"That should be fun to see, watching Desp actually work with someone he has to beat."
"Oh it'll be a treat, there's no doubt on that." Synn agreed. "I told Despayre to do absolutely whatever it took to take the big man out of the match and leave him as crow food. Told him to focus on the knees and ankles and eventually he'd fall. Too many times you watch these matches on television where a small guy keeps hitting a big guy with dropkicks and clotheslines and you get nothing as a result. You don't chop down a goddamn tree by taking the axe to the tip! You strike at the base and eventually it falls."
Shane rubbed his chin and asked, "And you think these other guys in the match will actually think the same?"
Synn scoffed, "If they have half a brain to share between them, they will. Taking the bigger man out of the match will make the entire night easier on the rest of them. Common sense!"
"Yeah well...common sense doesn't seem to be a trait shared by that group of wankers he's in there with." Shane observed. "They may target our boy just because he's the rookie."
"Opening themselves up for Casey to take advantage of the smaller guys." Synn shook his head. "I'd like to think they're smarter than that, but if not, I'll be out there at ringside to make sure Despayre gets a fair shake."
"Where's Gabriel anyway?" Shane asked. "I'm surprised he's not booked!"
Synn answered, "Some kind of convention in Monte Carlo. He couldn't resist taking advantage of the rubes as he called them."
"Jeez," Shane laughed as he shook his head. From the corner of his eye he saw down on the table the globe and exclaimed, "Heyyy! Desp solved it!" Picking up the globe puzzle and admiring the solved structure with the matching colors.
"Shane." Synn said. "Despayre's been over in the play area. He hasn't touched it."
Shane turned around and looked over to see that indeed Despayre was still busying himself with the amusement area, having finally made his way to the arcade games and was currently engaged in a round of Ms PacMan. Puzzled, Shane turned around and said, "Well if we couldn't do it and he didn't touch it, then who...?"
He looked down at where he picked the globe up and saw just the teddy bear in its high chair. Shane looked at the globe, then the bear, and then the globe before finally shaking his head in disbelief.
"Christ I need a drink!"
