"Is this some sort of joke?"
Dante looked up from the contact, staring between Damien and Clarissa as they stood in front of him in his living room, him sunk back in his armchair.
"My father has an odd sense of humour, but not like this," Clarissa said.
"A contract? Out of nowhere? With a sponsor boxers would kill to have?" Dante said, completely disbelieving. "He could run a campaign with pocket change with what he earns."
Clarissa gave a strained smile, raising her eyebrows as she glanced away. "Yes, I know how much my family earns," she muttered.
"Damien, this is it," Dante said, leaning forwards and staring at Damien, "This is what we were talking about. This is the chance that makes or breaks you. This is the last shot you need, to make it back as a champion or retire for good."
"I know," Damien muttered as Clarissa slid to the side and took a seat on the sofa.
Beside her, Darcy leant forwards and took the contract from Dante, reading through it for himself.
Everyone looked at him as he read and he eventually let out a breath, his eyebrows lifting.
"It's a hell of a deal," he said, looking up, "The fact that he can get you a fight with the current champ? This guy doesn't pull his punches anymore then you do."
"I have to earn my way up there though," Damien said, "I have to win the other three matches. Tyson won't fight me until I prove I can win." He looked at Dante. "I'm not sure I... I'm not sure I can win."
"Well!" Dante said, suddenly clamping his hands to the arms rests and shoving to his feet, getting right up in Damien's face and Damien instantly backed down without hesitation. "Never thought I'd hear you admit that without a huge fuss preceding it," he said.
Damien shot him a glare.
"But that's a step in the right direction."
"What? Thinking I can't win?"
"No, showing some self-doubt. It's not always a bad thing, you realise. A double edged sword, certainly, but not always bad. It will either hold you back and simply ground you in reality."
"Seems to have been holding him back so far," Clarissa muttered and the triplets looked at her.
"Exactly," Dante said, looking back at Damien. "Now let's think about using it as a defence."
"And how the hell do you do that?"
"You're not sure you can win? Well defend yourself from being hit until you're sure you can win." He prodded Damien in the chest then tapped the side of his own head. "Sometimes you need your mind more than your fists to win a fight," he said, his voice low before he smirked "Though I was always the tactical one while you have always just been the heavy hitter."
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Donny," Darcy said, "He still hasn't signed that contract yet."
"True," Dante said, pulling back and taking the contract, holding it out to Damien.
Damien looked down without taking it.
"Do you think he was right?"
Damien looked up at Dante's question as Dante looked at the contract he held.
"He?"
"'You'll go on down in history, boys, one way or another. Perhaps you'll join the ranks of the Four Kings or you'll crash and burn like Icarus, but you'll be something, someday.'"
"You still remember that, word for word?" Damien said, shaking his head.
"Yeah well, I never took so many knocks to the head. My memory still functions," Dante said then he looked up and pushed the contract towards him. "When does he want an answer."
"The end of the week."
"That's a long time to debate."
"What would you do?" Damien asked.
Dante raised an eyebrow at him. "If this contract came my way? I'd reject it."
Clarissa stared at him in shock but neither of his brothers seemed surprise; Darcy just gave him a look that said he wasn't helping anything.
"He meant if you were in his shoes, not yours," he said with a sneer.
"I know," Dante replied with a sneer in reply before sitting back down again. "I'd take it," he said simply, "I don't know when another chance like this will come up again. Your track record has been shit the last few months, who'd sponsor you? Mad men and business tycoons."
"Usually they're quite similar people," Clarissa said.
"What would you do, Clarissa?" Dante asked, looking at her.
"I already told him," she replied, "No sense missing a chance like this when it falls into your lap, I'd take it."
Everyone looked at Darcy and he just held up a hand at the sudden attention. "No surprise from me, I'm like the others. Someone came to me with a music contract tomorrow, I'd take it, I can put that same mentality to boxing. I'd take it. You're the only idiot who could drag his feet over something like this, Day."
"What if I fail?"
"Then you fail," Darcy said, shrugging, "You've been a world champion, Damien. Not everyone takes that title, and not at the age you got it. You've already proved yourself once, you made it. You've gone where most people never reach; you're allowed to fail now."
"But I wouldn't suggest it," Clarissa said, "Not with a sponsor like that."
"Look, all I'm saying, whatever happens, you can't box forever. We're worried about your health and if you keep fighting the way you do, you may not be around as long as you should be. I'm not saying it is, but suppose this is your last year, why not go out against the champion? Give them a show. Remind the world that you are a legend, win or lose."
"Make them talk the way they did when you were at your peak just last year," Dante said gently.
Damien looked between the three of them, then took hold of the contract, turning it towards him and looking though the barrage of legal jargon that all boiled down to one thing.
If he signed the contract, if he fought, he would get his chance.
He could be champion again, even if he could never fight again.
He looked away, the thought catching his off guard as it always did, constricting his chest for a moment until he cleared his throat.
"Alright," he muttered, "... I'll think about it."
~~
Next: Friday
Music By: Hall of Fame by The Script

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Into The Ring (Phenomenal: 2)
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