Eobard's life improved tremendously upon graduating high school. He could finally escape the shadow he cast upon himself his junior year and start anew. No more disappointed dad, or nagging mother; Stone could finally be himself and pursue his dreams without the fear of being judged by those around him. There would be no-one around Eobard during his college days, but you weren't gonna hear him complain. Considering what happened the LAST time he trusted his peers, Stone was more than happy with breezing through college without so much as even learning any of his classmates' names.

After college, Stone took his business degree and everything he learned to open his own game store: The Dungeon. Sure, it was a stereotypical name, but this was a stereotypical place! It didn't help that Eobard was a HUGE fan of D&D, having completed his first campaign when he was only 11 years old. Back when he had friends.

Business was slow, at first, as the residents of Brookridge, Tennessee weren't quite sure they were ready for a local gaming shop. But, eventually, the nerds came flowin'. Everybody has a little bit of geek in them, it's just a matter of figuring out what their niche is. Even Eobard's old teammates would've found some sort of enjoyment out of the right game. Perhaps 1st & Goal or Electric Football. There was Castle Panic for the L.A.R.P.ers, and Axis & Allies for the history buffs. Educational games for teachers, and sexy games for couples. Even the hickest of hicks can feel right at home playing a round or two of Galaxy Trucker.

Once word got around town, people began flocking to Eobard's store in search of a game that fit their own personal style. He was like Juliette Binoche in "Chocolat," hooking families up with a new way to revitalize their life. Board games were his chocolate. Business had been SO successful that Stone was left with no other choice but to upgrade to a bigger location.................... within the first couple MONTHS! Stone's loans were paid off, he got to game all day, AND his new store was 2 blocks away from a Domino's Pizza. Eobard was living the dream, and not in the fake way people who are miserable tell strangers to get them off their back; THIS was legitimate happiness.

Owning The Dungeon also meant that Eobard would never be short on players for games ever again. Sure, the patrons of his store weren't necessarily his friends, but that only made competing against them MUCH easier. Stone would feel bad if he was whooping on people he actually cared about; the fact he got to embarass these random strangers and take their money afterwards was pure bliss.

On this particular day, Eobard was teaching some noob the valuable lesson of how to "git gud" at Magic: The Gathering.

"I'll cast Lightning Bolt targeting you," the smug store owner declared, setting the piece of cardboard in his discard pile. "And another one targeting you."

The little kid glanced at his life total which, at a mere 4, wasn't gonna survive a pair of 'Bolts at 3 damage each. "Guess I lose, again!"

"I guess so," Stone responded coldly.

The kid reached into his pocket and pulled out a couple wadded up bills with a pile of quarters, which he slid in Eobard's direction. "Another booster pack, please." he requested.

Stone nodded, taking the money and adding it to the register. He then turned around and grabbed a pack before turning back and tossing it in the kid's direction.

"Good luck," Eobard exclaimed, a sly smile forming at the corner of his mouth. What this kid failed to realize was buying cards individually from a shop was not only smarter, but CHEAPER than buying a $4 booster pack in hope of randomly pulling a card you could've spent $2 on, instead. He ALSO didn't know that all these packs had been weighed, meaning Eobard put each one on a scale and opened all the ones that were heavy, while putting the lighter ones back to sell unopened. This was because the more expensive foil cards weighed more than their less shiney counterparts; meaning he could get them low and sell 'em high, while slinging the useless junk at his customers without them even knowing.

This kid obviously had no clue what he was doing as, rather than looking through the cards he pulled, he instead took the entire stack of cards and added it to his deck. Illegal tokens and all. Eobard had never seen a noob of this magnitude before, completely unaware of every move he was making. Stone should've seen it earlier when the boy tried to counter his land, but he just assumed the kid was overzealous. Turns out, he's an idiot. These were the people who kept his business afloat and Eobard wasn't gonna start correcting them now. He had too much to lose to let his heart get in the way.

"How 'bout another game?" Eobard asked, eager to get another cheap win under his belt.

"Maybe another time," the kid replied, grabbing his cards and hopping down off his chair. "I gotta get home for dinner."

"Okay, bye!" Stone called out before muttering to himself. "Sucker."

"That was pretty fucked up," Eobard's part-time employee, Damien, blurted out. He had been sitting at a table nearby as all of that was going on, and was well aware of his boss's questionable business tactics.

"He's gotta learn someday," Stone defended in an attempt to justice his actions. "Lord knows I did."

Damien shook his head, turning his attention back to the deck he was working on. "It doesn't sound like ya did."

Eobard shot his employee a glare. "Oh yeah? Well, guess what? Payday's been cancelled!"

The two of them stared at each other for a moment, before bursting out in laughter. Stone may have been an iffy guy, but he always remembered those who had his back. Damien was one of the few friends Eobard had, someone he'd known since the 1st grade. He was one of the only kids who stuck by him in high school after the Championship game, and Eobard made sure to look out for him all these years later.

The ring of The Dungeon's doorbell filled the store and in walked a man undeniably retro, but still a man out of time. He was already in his wrestling attire, and he seemed utterly befuddled by the interior of the store, appearing to try and focus on any sort of product that he could recognize. He rubbed his hands together and looked over Stone, visibly unimpressed. The old guy may have definitely not been in the best shape of his life, but he looked much better than he had any right to be.

"You work here?" the man asked, receiving an affirming nod from Eobard. "Any place a guy could take a leak?"

Eobard could feel the man's judgmental gaze, causing him to go on the defensive. "The bathroom's for paying customers," he shot back, looking over the wrestler without any sign of intimidation. "If you wanna use it, you gotta buy something."

The man rolled his eyes, searching all over for something he might actually be able to get some sort of use out of. There wasn't a damn thing.

"I can't even pronounce half this shit!" he barked, his frustration growing.

"Well, lucky for you, there's a gas station down the street," Eobard shrugged, knowing he had all the power in the situation. Just like earlier.

The man groaned, abruptly stepping forward and grabbing a bag of dice. "At least I can shoot some craps after the show with these." He didn't want the damn things, but the opportunity to drain his lizard in an actual bathroom for a change was worth the $5 price tag.

Eobard rang him up, took the money, and plopped the bag down in front of the reluctant customer. "Have a great day!" he spouted, a blatantly fake smile on his face.

The man grabbed the dice and stuffed them into his tights, before turning to go use the restroom. "Asshole."

He closed the door behind him and the pitter patter of urine hitting the water could be heard on the other side of the door. Damien turned towards his superior, a look of disappointment in his eyes. "You ARE an asshole!"

Eobard reached for a random booster pack and chucked it at his employee, the two of them giggling like a couple of school girls. A flush could be heard and the man exited the bathroom without washing his hands. As he walked past Stone, his outfit caught the future Game Master's attention.

"So what's up with the costume?" Eobard asked, trying to figure out what the man was supposed to be. "I didn't know there was any kind of convention in town."

The man scoffed, almost insulted by Stone's presumption he was some sort of cosplayer. "I'm a professional wrestler," he corrected, irritation in his voice. "Steven 'The Trooper' Cooper? Maybe you've heard of me?"

"Nope,"Eobard bluntly responded. "Can't say I have."

"Of course you haven't!" Cooper exclaimed. "You were still in your daddy's nutsack while I was winning Championships!"

"Sounds like that was a LONG time ago," Eobard sarcastically remarked. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

Steven tsked, placing his hand on the door before pushing it open. "Not unless you got a venue we can put on a show at." Eobard let out a laugh, confirming to Cooper what he already knew. "Didn't think so."

He just about made it completely outside when Damien jumped up from his chair and bolted after the wrestler. "Hold on!" he called out. "We DO have a place!"

"You do?"

"We do?!"

"Sure!" Damien declared, squeezing his way past Cooper and motioning out the door. "It's called the parking lot!"

"Are you kidding me?!?" Stone questioned, unsure if this was some kind of prank or not. "How the hell is he gonna put on a wrestling show in a PARKING LOT???"

"We've done alot worse," Cooper admitted, feeling somewhat open to the idea of holding the event there. Whatever would get him in the ring. "You ever see an outlaw mudshow?"

Eobard had no idea what the hell Cooper was asking, but he was pretty sure it was something sexual. "No.................. can't say I have."

"Well, a parking lot's a helluva lot better than that," Steven explained, shuddering at the thought of some of the venues he competed in during his early days. "We'll give you a cut of the profits, we usually give our venues 15%."

"Seeeeeee?" Damien spoke joyfully. "HE gets a place to wrestle and YOU get some money! Sounds like a win/win to me!"

Eobard wasn't so sure. "What's 15% of nothing?"

Damien slapped Stone across the chest, prompting Cooper to shoot back at the dismissive youngster. "Alot more than ya think!"

Eobard still wasn't entirely convinced, but, considering he had nothing to lose, he eventually agreed. "Okay," Stone belted, excited at the prospect of making a quick buck for merely letting someone use his parking lot for a day. "But you gotta clean up afterwards," he continued, extending a hand to Cooper. The Trooper reached out to shake it, but Eobard pulled it back and offered one more condition. "And make it 20."

Steven didn't appreciate the way this young punk was talking to him but, at the same time, couldn't help but respect him for doing it. "Okay, kid," he agreed, extending his hand further. "You got yourself a deal."

Eobard chuckled, grasping The Trooper's hand and giving it a firm shake. "Deal."

Cooper and his crew set up the ring and seating area, while Eobard and Damien finished their shifts at the store. Stone hoped the 7 o'clock start time wouldn't interfere too much with the last couple hours they were open for. The way he saw it, the show might turn up two, maybe three people; and, if he was lucky, ONE of them might stop inside and purchase something.

To Stone's surprise, the show ended up drawing a little over a hundred people which, at $15 a ticket, meant he was gonna pull in a respectable $300. That was about the price of three or four high end board games, a successful salesday in Eobard's eyes. Add in the fact over half the fans visited his store before the show, with almost a quarter of THEM actually purchasing something, and Stone was gonna be left with no choice but to give Damien a fat Christmas bonus for forcing the idea on him.

Eobard let Damien off early, knowing how badly he wanted to catch a glimpse of the action. It was the least he could do. Besides, once the show started, no-one was visiting The Dungeon. All eyes were on Steven Cooper and company.

Despite not having a single customer past showtime, Eobard kept the store open 'til 9 o'clock on the dot. He struggled to do paperwork afterwards, as the random roars of the crowd kept messing up his writing. It got to the point where he decided to say "Fuck it" and put it off until tomorrow.

Stone locked up and turned around, where he was greeted by a sea of fans. Okay, it was more like a pond, but still. Eobard had never seen this many people gathered around his store before and it was a sight he didn't mind seeing. If he could have more days like this, he'd be able to retire by the time he's 35. Then he could become one of those old men who sits in the park all day playing board games with random visiters. It'd be like owning the store, only with less responsibilities.

And that's when Eobard noticed Steven Cooper in the ring.

Stone wasn't a big fan of the guy's personality, it reminded him of his dad's hard ass attitude towards the end of his life, but he couldn't help but be impressed by his in-ring ability. The way he delivered his punches, applied his holds, and executed his slams was like poetry in physical form. It was the ultimate game. Every move strategically planned, on the fly, with the quickness of the greatest Chess Grandmasters.

Eobard gave up on sports a long time ago. He'd always been told wrestling was gay and so was liking it. This caused him to stay far away from it, choosing instead to play what was perceived as a more "manly" sport. He never knew there existed a world where heroes and villains collided like real life Avengers. He felt like his youth had been robbed, missing out on all the colorful characters he could've been cheering and jeering. Had Stone known that THIS was what professional wrestling was all about, he would've gotten into it the day he gave up football.

Eobard was hooked.

THAT was a game he wanted to play.