There’s always a need down in the underbelly. Everybody has them, from the upper crust themselves down to the lowliest beggar in the slums. Gal’s gotta eat, gotta sleep, gotta have enough to make it through to another day. And for some, they’re willing to pay anyone to get anything. But the folks at the top got the cabbage to keep their hands clean from the dirty places.
So they hire scapegoats.
They like to keep it simple. Find a guy that’s got nothing to lose. No name, no real history to speak of. The chumps that are desperate to shine out even just a little bit more. Reach out with a staff member of the house, and go through these desperate fuckers for that stuff with the extra kick.
And when something goes wrong, as it always does? That fat cat gets away with the cheese, and the scapegoat falls beneath their weight. Just another creampuff that gets taken off the streets, never to be seen again. Just another person screwed by the systems in power.
For every scapegoat, there isn’t a single happy ending to one of them. Whether they broke the law, or just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. All eventually end up in a world of hurt. Some just get thrown away in a cell to rot. Others get baptized by their stupidity, face first in a pool of their own blood. And those are the clean ones.
So when I see you St. Claire, the MO is perfectly built there. A stranger with an unknown history just strolls into the ring like he’s the hottest thing around? Picking a fight as “The Greatest Antagonist?” Gets a meeting with the top cheese, and then starts to do his dirty work for him? I could see you from a mile away from what you were.
Just another scapegoat for Zeus to throw away and discard.
You think it’s high living now, being in the pocket of the most powerful man here in Arcadia. But I know his type. I know that it’ll only be a matter of time before an unfortunate incident occurs, or you’re charged with false claims. Maybe you’ll be the idiot that screwed up his plans against something. Maybe the thing you’re screwing is his wife. But it will be something. Just enough to blow the gasket on Zeus, and get him really angry.
Then it won’t matter how much of an antagonist you really are. Never seen a corpse that can pick a fight.
So take my advice kid. Get your stuff together, turn around, and bounce. Get out of here while you’ve still got some marbles left to get straight. Because dealing with a top fella ain’t gonna keep you around long enough. Picking fights is one thing, but pissing off the head guy? You’ll be in a world of hurt that no one can pull you at from.
And the only fools who do that are dead ones.