You’d think that being such a close and trusted associate to the Dentari family would mean being able to afford a decent place somewhere in one of the more... upmarket areas of Brooklyn, right? Well you’d be wrong. Tony Di Luca, despite being one of Alceo Dentari’s most trusted employees, lived in borderline poverty when compared to his boss.

The place he called home was a small, third floor, two room apartment, located in a building opposite a warehouse and next to a closed down, boarded up nightclub. Inside, the walls, carpets, ceiling, and even the furniture were a depressing shade of grayish brown, although whether that was by design or purely filth wasn’t clear.

It wasn’t all gloomy though, the outside of the building had been spruced up with plenty of colorful graffito-tags.

But let’s got back inside, shall we?

Sat in a dark, dreary corner of his dark, dreary apartment, staring out of his dark... Ok, you get where we’re going here. Staring out of the window was ‘Two Hands’ Tony Di Luca, one of the former DEFIANCE trios champions. Behind him, attempting to find a comfortable position on the ludicrously undersized couch, was ‘Big’ Vincent Rinaldi.

“What else could we have done, Vinny?” Tony mused as he watched a car on the street below wheel spin its way out of park and drive away rapidly into the distance. Was it stolen? Knowing this neighbourhood, probably. “I tried talkin’ to him. I tried reasonin’ with him. I tried everythin’ I could think of to get through to him, but he weren’t havin’ none of it. He just had to push buttons, he had to turn the screws... he had to get under their skin.”

Vinny absentmindedly nodded silently behind his partner, the fact he didn’t vocalise his agreement didn’t matter though, Tony was more thinking aloud than he was looking for answers.

“And the worst part is, I get it. I understand why he wants to rile up the champ. I understand why he wants to complain to the boss...” Di Luca continued, still staring into the distance. “But just ‘cause I understand... don’t mean I agree with it.”

Again, there was no response from Rinaldi. He was still too busy trying to find a way to cross his legs, spread his arms out, rest his head back, do anything he possibly could to finally relax on the couch.

“Dentari’s desire to be World Champion cost us our titles.” Tony said as he finally turned to face his partner, who immediately ceased his fidgeting, pricked up his ears, and tried to make it look like he’d been listening the whole time. “An’ now we gotta go out there an’ pick up the pieces?”

Obviously he didn’t pay any attention to the context, because Rinaldi simply smiled and nodded right back at the much more talkative gorilla.

“What’re you smilin’ at?” Tony asked as he furrowed his brow, “This ain’t good... This ain’t a good thing.”

Vinny immediately wiped the grin off of his face and shook his head.

“This whole thing, Vinny, it’s all kinds of fucked up.” Di Luca said as he turned back to the windows and leaned against the frame, “We shouldn’t have lost them titles. Anyone with half a brain cell knows full well we was screwed outta them belts ‘cause Dentari rattled one too many cages.”

”But now we’re expected to go out there an’ fight for a match we shouldn’t hafta be fightin’ for in the first place.” Tony continued, “An’ we ain’t just gotta do it for ourselves neither... This ain’t just for you an’ me. No, Dentari’ll be reapin’ the benefits if we win... The guy dug this hole all by himself an’ now we’re expected to find a way outta it, all so as he can have some sorta backup plan if this whole World Title hunt goes south.”

Despite the dust covering the glass Tony could still see Vincent’s reflection in the window. He could also clearly make out the look of obvious disagreement on his face.

“Don’t give me that look. You know as well as I do if Dentari wins the world title he ain’t gonna give two shits about gunnin’ for them trios titles again.” Di Luca said as he turned around once more, “The fact that we wanna be champions again ain’t important to him ‘cause all he cares about is becomin’ world champion.”

Taking a couple of steps towards his partner Tony started to rub his chin. His mind was racing, going a mile a minute you might say, playing through scenario after scenario almost in an instant. Considering the variables, inventing the outcomes.

“An’ if he does it, if he becomes World Champion at Ascension, we ain’t gonna be chasin’ no trios titles no more.” Tony added with a shake of his head, “We’re gonna be chasin’ after him, clearin’ up his mess, an’ makin’ sure the enemies he’ll be accruin’ left, right, an’ center don’t get to him.”

“If Dentari wins the world title then it ain’t gonna matter how this match turns out, ‘cause win or lose, our days as champions will be over.”

As he rubbed his hands together it seemed like Tony was done, but just at that moment he picked up his head and took in a deep breath, as though he’d had an epiphany.

“But say he don’t do it...” Di Luca said sounding positively euphoric, “Say he don’t retrieve that title at Ascension... We’ll be the ones to provide the safety net, we’ll be the ones that make sure he becomes champion again... An’ we’ll be right there alongside him...”

That got Vinny’s attention.

“That’s right, not behind, but right there next to him. Partners rather than employees.” Di Luca beamed. “Just think about it, Vinny. If Dentari don’t win the title he’ll wish he’d listened to everythin’ I been tellin’ him these last few months. ‘Cause if he had we’d all still be holdin’ them Trios titles.”

Even with his diminished brain capacity Vinny understood the potential ramifications of the upcoming match. He’d been working for Dentari for years now, and several of those had gone by without any sign of a promotion. Any hint of moving up the ladder, especially as many rungs as Di Luca was promising, would always be something that he just got.

“But there’s one more possibility… Dentari don’t win, an’ we don’t win…” Di Luca said, almost as an afterthought.

“But that don’t bare thinkin’ about.”

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