There was a greasy spoon diner down the road from the Training Temple. It made a mean grilled chicken sandwich, and sometimes, there was nothing like some french fries. Sure, eating there was essentially cheating on one's diet, but... Well, sometimes it was necessary for sanity. After the workouts this day, it was necessary.

 

Eugene had been busting his butt, and it had definitely paid off. The Training Temple tee-shirt he had on hung off of musculature and physique, not flab and chunk. His plate was damn near licked clean, but he had had to take a call. Mom needed his input on  her computer, and since she sometimes thought that turning off the monitor meant turning off the computer, it would be a while.

 

Tom Sawyer, on the other hand, was sitting with the other four who had come with them to the diner. Omar Wise, Katie Partridge, Kaz Tanaka and Jonah Proudfeather. Jonah had been monitoring the guy's diets, making sure they didn't cheat. But hey, the guy was human, and he wasn't exactly Mister Success himself. A little bit of indulgence wasn't gonna kill anyone.

 

"So. How 'bout that Heidi bitch?", the usually... stoic Omar finally rumbled, now that he had torn through his Turkeyburger like it was the first food the man had ever seen. Katie narrowed her eyes a bit, and Omar held up his hands in apology. "Hey. She took a cheap shot. Callin’ it like I see it."

 

Katie took a moment to mull it over, before finally nodding. "I hate cheap shots.", she agreed, voice a bit exasperated. They had all watched DEFIANCE TV on ESEN. To be honest, getting to watch someone they regularly interacted with on national TV was sobering to most of the class. Seeing Tom on TV, much less in such a fun match had been very exciting for the whole crew. The plans were already in motion to have everyone get together and watch the next DefTV episode on a big projector-screen.

 

Tom wiped the eggyolk off his lips, nodding to fill in his gap of silence. "Mmm.", he mumbled, trying to swallow the crusty whole wheat bread he had just used to sop up the last of the fried egg he had ordered.

 

"Heidi's got a lot of anger, and I’ve pretty much made myself her number one focus.", Tom gamely offered, trying to keep his voice jovial. It wasn't working.

 

"T' say the least...", Omar concluded. Katie and Kaz both nodded. Jonah rolled his eyes, looking up from Star Wars Angry Birds.

 

"Dude, just get Splenda to show you how to do the Pimphand. Problem solved." Jonah gave a huge grin, putting his iPhone down on the table. Katie didn't bother trying to hide her disgust, and Kaz just kinda shot Tom a look, trying not to smirk. Jonah's humor fell flat a good... 90% of the time.

 

"Tom, like...” Kaz took a few moments for the internal flywheel to get up to speed, once he started talkin’. “You ever thought about keeping a posse with you, man? Heidi's a total lone wolf, brah. I could come and watch your back... We could get AJ or Joey to come with us...” Kaz’s slow, lazy California surfer-drawl made the words take five times as long as they should. But Kaz’s sleepy grin definitely made him come off meaning well. “Like, we could even lean on Lucas to come, brah. Make a whole squad o’ dudes, dude...”

 

Tom just kinda looked down, twisting up his lips. "Lucas... doesn't want to go back to wrestling shows. He's worried that he'll get involved in a brawl and end up in a wheelchair." He sighed a little bit, flicking the torn-off straw wrapper across the table, landing it in the splodge of ketchup still on Jonah’s plate.

 

Omar gave a sage nod. "Fused neck, right? Mos’ people don’t wanna take th’ risk...”

 

"Something like that...", Tom muttered.

 

"Well. I'd offer t' come too, but m' boy got somethin' movin'. I think Donny's gonna get me a contract somewhere. He's been talkin' about puttin' a tag team together, and I'm goin' to the doctor to be cleared t'morrow." Omar dug into one of the pockets of his sweatpants, pulling out a creased-and-folded ten. 

 

"Aw, that's rad, brah!", Kaz cried. Katie gave a quiet golfclap, and Tom broke into a big grin, clapping Omar on the shoulder.

 

"Your ankle gonna be okay?", Tom asked softly. Omar gave a firm nod.

 

"Got all the movement back, no pain, x-rays show that it's fine..." Omar finally gave a proud grin, slappin' the table. "Back to basics. Gotta get into th' company, gotta prove m'self and whoop some asses, an' then... Well, maybe I'll be able t' be th' Champ again."

 

Katie smiled happily for the big man. Kaz was obviously envious. "Man, all I can get is Serbo bookin’ me in NYP.... I appreciate that and all, but...If I can’t get booked in Sergei’s company, where could I get booked?." Kaz glanced down, lips pressed tightly together. "Just wish I’d get some karma t’ pay out, roll into DEFIANCE or an Exodus or HOW or somethin’, man...”

 

"You need a gimmick, Kaz.", Katie purred. "Tom got into DEFIANCE because of his bugfuck promoes. And they needed tag teams. Omar got into Exodus because of his look and his manager. You've got an Asian look, but you don't wrestle any of the Japanese styles, and you don't want to do anything stereotypical. Not even the Surfer Boy thing. Why can't you just live with the stereotype? Dentari's doing the whole guido Mafia thing..."

 

Kaz hung his head. He knew what she was saying. Tom leaned forward a bit. "What makes you think Dentari's not legit?"

 

"Oh, come on. Anyone who talks about the Mafia isn't in it. At least, not anymore. Remember Nicky Corozzo, Sergei's old buddy who sold himself to White? He was an enforcer for a street gang, sure, but he was a total no-hoper. They wouldn't let him go any higher because he's half Russian." Katie sat back, smirking primly at the big reveal.

 

"I dunno, chica. Sergei told me th’ dude was legit.", Kaz nervously offered. Katie shot him a glare at the contradiction. Kaz just flashed her a grin, knowing he was pushing her buttons. 

 

"In any case, Dentari's dangerous. He might have come in with just a gimmick, but he's for real. He beat Heidi by ref stoppage. He's won belts. He's gotten big wins. He's on more of a streak than I am, so I've got to really bring some steak. Can't just rely on sizzle." Tom's voice was a bit raspy, no real enthusiasm in it.

 

He had a lot on his mind. Alceo Dentari's reputation spoke volumes.

 

"Kid...", it struck Katie as funny that Omar was talking to the much-more experienced wrestler as "kid". Sure, Omar was older, but... "I know how to be a heel. A big part of the job is to make sure that people don't want to fight you because they worry about fightin' ya. That's the point."

 

"Yeah! If Dentari can make you worry about fighting him, then he's done half the job already." Katie knew heelin' by proxy. Daddy had been Mike Phoenix, a big name in the desert-feds of the Southwest. 

 

"Yo, Tom..." Jonah had been letting the students hash shit out for a while, but now, the Coach leaned in. The Coach who hadn't done a fuckin' thing in his own right. "Let me put it this way. Van Tominator. Aggro Crag. Independence Day Rumble. You've paved your own way in this business, and not given into the temptation to take shortcuts, screw people or do anything the easy way. So if anyone should be worried about anything..."

 

Katie clapped a bit more loudly. "You already told him, Tom! Dentari needs to be worried about what happens when a properly motivated Tom Sawyer comes a-callin'. I think you're gonna shock the world when you do what nobody else has done, and beat Dentari like a dusty rug." The redhead leaned in toward the blonde fella sittin' next to her, a big grin on her lips.

 

Tom barely noticed Katie’s enthusiastic leaning in, even the view down the low neckline of her New York Pro tee-shirt. He was too busy staring off into space, deep in thought. “I’ve been in DEFIANCE for a long time. And I’ve fought just about everybody to come through those doors at one time or another.”

 

“Man, remember Chasin’ Lincoln?”, Kaz drawled, smacking the table with one hand. “Dudes came in and went right up to the DEF Tag Champs, you an’ Lucas. Dudes were like...” Kaz puffed himself up, forcing his voice to get all blustery and fake-white. “We’re big scary guys, yo!”

 

Tom, Katie and Jonah all snickered. Omar just gave a little smirk. Kaz broke into a helpless giggle, his facade of Chasin’ Lincoln toughness falling away right quick. “You were like a pitbull, man! You got right in their face and said that you’d solve it in the ring! They outweighed you and Luke by at least a hundred pounds! That was killer, brah.”

 

Tom nodded, the memory throwin’ a big grin onto his lips. “Yeah. With Lucas by my side, I felt like I could take anybody on. And even when I was runnin’ out to save him against the Truly Untouchables, I felt like I was unstoppable. That zipline stunt made my feet go numb when I was standing on that platform.”

 

“So... What’s the problem? Dentari’s another guy in a long line of killers who have stone-cold reputations. You’ve dealt with that. And you’re gonna deal with it again.” Katie lifted her glass of icewater, and swirled the melting ice in the glass, before taking a long drink from it.

 

“I suppose the big issue is that he has my damn belts...”, Tom hazarded, eyebrows knitting together in a bit of exasperation. This whole Trios concept was throwing him for a loop. Tag teams were easy. Three person groups... Well, they hadn’t worked out well for Tom yet. “Can’t figure out how to get a three-man stable going. Eugene’d be my tag partner tomorrow if I asked him. I could probably get Python to do it for a show or two, but... I dunno. When Lucas and I were a team, I never had any doubts? Now... Seems like it’s all that I have.”

 

“Then it’s simple, kid.”, Omar broke in with his deep rumble of a voice. “Don’t worry about tag teams or trios. If the only person you want to put in the line of fire is you, an’ the only person you feel you can fully rely on is you... Then just be you. Go out there, get into that Ladder War, an’ hannle yo’ business, son.”

 

“Hell yes. Take this opportunity to show that you’re not just a tag teamer. You’ve been trying to re-establish your rep until now. I’d say after the three-on-one AND the Python match, you’ve done it. Now, it’s time to take that first step. And your path...” Katie stroked a lock of flame-red hair behind an ear.

 

“Leads me through Alceo Dentari.”, Tom finished.

 

“Hard road to travel, brah. But you know how you get through any journey, man?”, Kaz drawled, leaning back in his chair.

 

“How?”, Tom responded curiously.

 

“One step at a time, brah. One step at a time.”