The Counter-Invasion
By: Jay Winger

Timeline Note: This goes from the end of "Raging Storm" (late August, post-Summerslam) up to around late December, around, during, and after the PPV there.

Summary: When Shane and Stephanie's Alliance runs rampant over the WWF, Billy Rose decides to level the playing field.

Teaser: A recap of what transpires from Summerslam as the invasion takes place, with a force of nature and an act of God trying to stop it.

Rating: R - for violence and profanity

Disclaimer: All things WWF and WCW are property of WWFE, Inc. All things ECW are property of whomever the frell owns ECW. All things CIW are property of me. The characters of "The Storm" Matthew Skinner, Claire "Rain" Whittaker, Roger "Zed" Ziger, Mike "Zeta" Zahn, Billy Rose, Brad "Brick" Dickerson, the band Cold Steel, et al. are also my property. Please ask before you use them. Viper, Rattler, Soul, Cobra, Python, and all other creations of Boulder are his property and are used with his permission.

Chapter 1: Amassing the Forces

September

After his victory over his longtime nemesis Billy Rose at Summerslam, Matthew Skinner, aka The Storm, spent a couple of weeks recuperating from his grueling Hell in a Cell match. For the first week, he was off TV, as were Brick and Rain, while Zed & Zeta basked in their own win over seven-time Tag Team Champions Edge & Christian in their Ladder Match. Rose was likewise absent, brooding over his humiliation and the defection of all his loyal supporters, save Rhyno.

During the month of September, many changes took place within the World Wrestling Federation. Shane had disappeared off TV when Vince went into another one of his evil, power-tripping moods, firing Mick Foley as Commissioner and replacing him with William Regal. The young McMahon made his disapproval of his father's actions plain in an in-ring promo, then left.

Meanwhile, as Viper and Rattler left the Alliance for personal resasons, internal friction started to break that powerful faction apart. WWF Champion Triple H became more and more paranoid of all the enemies their group had, trying to prevent Test and Soul from teaming up with outside people in matches against others, much as Helmsley had done to Viper when he'd teamed up with Lita in his last match before leaving. Also, the unsettled business Test had with Triple H over Stephanie came up again, and Test was kicked out of the group. Soul left soon thereafter, being something of a loner himself, and Triple H was half-afraid that the mysterious masked man would turn on him without notice.

Meanwhile, the less-powerful but still significant faction of Team ECK started to break up as well, as Kurt Angle split off to pick up his old feud with Chris Benoit. Edge and Christian also went on singles ventures, but Edge got the better end of the stick, defeating Chris Jericho in a match to become #1-contender for the Intercontinental Championship on Test's waist. Christian attempted to help Edge out as the feud progressed between Test and Edge, but tended to only hinder rather than help, but Edge succeeded in winning the title at the Unforgiven PPV.

Another major change that took place was the departure of color commentator Jerry "The King" Lawler, as he left for personal reasons. To replace him, Vince McMahon brought in the former owner of ECW, Paul E. Heyman. Heyman took over for color on Raw and during PPVs, while Tazz did Smackdown.

But the biggest news of September was the buying of WCW. Vince McMahon eagerly agreed to buy his floundering competition, but delayed the signing, wanting to bring Ted Turner himself onto Raw to finalize it. Shane McMahon swiftly took advantage and bought WCW right out from under his father's nose. When father and son collided at Unforgiven, Shane got some help from ex-commissioner Mick Foley, allowing Shane-O Mac to deliver what would later be identified as a "Van Terminator" to a trashcan into Vince's face to finish him off for the win.

October
October saw The Storm and Rose return to TV more often. When he first returned to TV back the previous month, The Storm had confirmed that Brick's betrayal of Rose at Summerslam was indeed part of the "system" he had referred to for the weeks leading up to it. The Storm himself lacked a major feud and simply hosted the month's PPV from WWF New York, while Rain defended her Women's title against all comers.

Rose returned and tried to go after Triple H and the WWF title again, but Rhyno was unable to be of much help. This led to Rose continuing to berate and blame Rhyno for his losses, until finally the Man-Beast snapped and delivered a Gore (or "GORE! GORE! GORE!" according to Heyman) to the Mental Elite during a #1-contender's match for the WWF title, costing Rose the match to The Rock. This led to a feud between the two former allies, culminating in a no-DQ match at No Mercy. During the match, Rhyno had drilled Rose with a few Gores, and looked to finish it with a top-rope splash, but Rose got up, crotched Rhyno by shaking the ropes, then climbed to the top and delivered a deadly top-rope Brain Damage to the Man-Beast, pinning him shortly thereafter to win.

After losing a title match against Triple H, The Rock left the WWF for a long while, apparently succumbing to the call of Hollywood.

Austin picked up a feud against Benoit next, with the Rattlesnake trying to prove he was a skilled technical wrestler, and with the Wolverine trying to prove he can brawl with the best of them. Their intense feud came to a head at No Mercy, where Benoit was unfortunately injured when he landed badly on his neck from a top-rope superplex.

Meanwhile, Shane and WCW lurked around the edges of the WWF, with its wrestlers running in during matches and causing havoc. Lance Storm superkicked Perry Saturn in the head during a match with Raven, scrambling the brains of the already-addled former Army Ranger. The Dudleys, who had turned on their little brother Spike when he continued to make advances on Molly Holly, lost a match to the Hardys when Hugh Morrus ran out and delivered his No-Laughing-Matter Moonsault to Bubba Ray. And Steve Blackman, the normally unflappable Lethal Weapon and Hardcore Champion, was distracted by the feminine wiles of Stacy Keibler, enabling Test to throw him a chair, then deliver his massive Big Boot finisher for the win.

November
It was after the No Mercy PPV and leading into Survivor Series that things started to get uglier. Someone had been stalking Sara Calloway, the wife of the Undertaker. That stalker turned out to be WCW wrestler Diamond Dallas Page, who eagerly urged the Undertaker to try and make him famous. This led to a confrontation at the November PPV, which the Deadman easily won, sending DDP packing.

Meanwhile, Kurt Angle had taken it upon himself to try and discourage Shane from invading the WWF, running after Shane at every opportunity. They finally collided in a brutal and bloody Street Fight at Survivor Series, which Angle won, though he was exhausted and a bit injured himself when all was said and done.

The Storm and Stone Cold teamed up with Zed and Zeta at in a classic Survivor Series match against Edge, Christian and the Dudleys. Zeta was the first eliminated by Edge, following the Buzz Killer DDT. Zed came next after a 3-D. Austin then roared back with a Stunner to Christian to eliminate him, and The Storm hit the Downdraft on D-Von Dudley to eliminate him, taking it back to two-on-two. Austin got eliminated next, thanks to a Spear and a Bubba Bomb. The Force of Nature, however, was not to go down quietly. He eliminated Bubba Ray Dudley with a Windfall, then squared off against Edge for several minutes before finally countering a Buzz Killer and reversing it into the Southern Lightning Driver for the win.

Billy Rose sought to get some respect back for himself by going after the Hardcore title, still held by Test. In their match at Survivor Series, Rose put a lot of his focus on Test's shoulder, which he'd injured time and again with the Deadly Blossom over the months, and went for the Brain Damage a couple times, but Test would shove him off. The former bouncer also tried to deliver his Big Boot finisher, but the Californian continued to duck it. Finally, Rose injured the shoulder with a Deadly Blossom hold, then went for the Brain Damage onto a steel chair. Test reversed it into a full nelson slam onto the chair, then pinned Rose to retain his title.

Triple H, meanwhile, had picked up his feud with Chris Jericho again, this time for the WWF title. During the match, Stephanie tried to get involved on her husband's behalf, but Jericho planted a big kiss on her, making her become disgusted and run backstage to cleanse her lips. The big surprise during the match, however, came when WCW Champion Booker T jumped out of the crowd and attacked the Game, delivering an Axe Kick and then throwing Helmsley through the Spanish announce table. Jericho attempted to capitalize, but Triple H kicked out and eventually hit a Pedigree to retain.

The following night, as Raw was broadcast from Madison Square Garden, Shane McMahon turned up in WWF New York with Booker T and made an announcement: "You see, Dad, in order to build a brand like WCW, WCW needs television exposure - and Dad, I gotta give you credit on this - I didn't think it was possible... through all of your connections, through everything that you have, through all of your money you have been able to block WCW from airing on ANY television network period. And since you have prevented WCW from airing on any television network period, guess what? It's now time for WCW to invade the WWF."

That very same night, as Test lost his Hardcore title to Rhyno, WCW wrestler Mike Awesome attacked Rhyno immediately after his match and gave him an Awesome Bomb onto a shipping pallet, then forced the referee to count the pin and steal the title.

December
The next couple of weeks were fast and furious. Lance Storm wandered around the WWF backstage, evading the Federation wrestlers who tried to bar access to WCW. To make matters simpler for his comrades, The Storm started going by "The Storm" Matthew Skinner for his ring name, settling often for just Skinner. Linda McMahon turned up and all but forced Vince to allow Shane and WCW airtime, goading him into making the Invasion PPV. In one of the few good matches that WCW aired on WWF TV, Billy Kidman defeated Gregory Helms to capture the WCW Cruiserweight Championship.

Then, less than two weeks from Invasion, the Invasion took an ugly turn. As Kane and Jericho took on Lance Storm and Mike Awesome, two men jumped out of the crowd and attacked the WWFers. Those two men, former ECW mainstays Tommy Dreamer and Rob Van Dam, joined Lance and Awesome in beating on the two helpless Federation wrestlers. Then, six of the WWF's roster ran out, apparently to help. But then, as the realization that the WWF "special forces" were Tazz, Justin Credible, Raven, Rhyno, and the Dudleys sank in, Paul Heyman crowed to Jim Ross, "Feel this moment, J.R.! FEEL this moment!" As one, the six WWFers turned to face their 'comrades' and suddenly a ten-on-two beating occurred on Kane and Jericho. Heyman then got up and announced to the world that he was sick and tired of talking about WWF versus WCW, and that it was time to remind the world of the existence of the Tribe of Extreme, that the ten men in the ring and reformed ECW, that "This Invasion just got taken... to the... extreme!"

That night, Vince was then suckered into helping Shane try to repel the ECW threat by teaming up with him, but this turned out to be a ruse, as WCW and ECW joined forces to defeat the five WWF men who came out to fight. Shane walked out to gloat and made another major announcement, "I am personally responsible for all of this! I am personally responsible for WCW - I am personally responsible for ECW being here tonight! And hear me out, listen up, and I am personally responsible for the merger of WCW and ECW coming together, tonight! So Dad, at Invasion, this new entity - WCW and ECW is gonna kick the WWF's ass! Oh yeah - oh wait, I got one more thing for ya - and I am also personally responsible, and privliged to introduce you to the new owner of ECW - I believe you know this person quite well...ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Vince's daughter, Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley!"

The formation of the WCW/ECW Alliance (often called the "WECW Alliance" by Internet fans and recappers) shocked the world, and threw the WWF off its stride, especially by the defection of six of its roster. Still, the WWF managed to get some of its thunder back when Jeff Hardy managed to beat Mike Awesome and regain the Hardcore title, only to be immediately challenged by Rob Van Dam of the Alliance.

The Invasion PPV finally came around. One of the matches, which many fans claimed was booked simply because of the names of the men involved, involved Lance Storm and "The Storm" Matthew Skinner. The two were fairly evenly matched, but Skinner's resiliency and harder hits soon pulled him ahead. As Skinner prepared to finish Lance off with a Southern Lightning Driver, however, Justin Credible -- Lance's partner in the Impact Players -- showed up and superkicked Skinner in the face, allowing Lance to pin him for the win.

Rob Van Dam -- the Whole Fucking Show -- again bested Jeff Hardy, as he had several years earlier when he'd had a try-out in the WWF, and when Jeff was still just a jobber. RVD hit several of his signature manuevers, and put the Team Extreme member away with a Van Daminator and a Five-Star Frog Splash to pick up the win.

X-Pac, who had finally managed to win the Light-Heavyweight title from Dean Malenko seveal weeks earlier, matched himself against Cruiserweight Champion Billy Kidman. Though the dirty-playing X-Pac tried as best he could to beat Kidman, the high-flying WCWer defeated him with a Kid Krusher and then a Shooting Star Press.

Jericho had been challenged to a match by "Hurricane" Gregory Helms, and accepted. Helms cheated during the match, however, exposing a turnbuckle and bouncing Jericho's head off of it before going for his finisher, the Vertabreaker. Jericho, however, managed to counter and reversed it into the Walls of Jericho, forcing Helms to tap out.

A big eight-man tag was also booked. Big as in size. The WWF had on its team Big Show, Brick, Albert, and Billy Gunn, while WCW put up Shawn Stasiak, Hugh Morrus, Mike Awesome, and Chris Kanyon. The match soon broke down, but Kanyon managed to hook Gunn for a Flatliner onto a chair to allow Stasiak to get the pin. After the match, though, the WWF team laid out the Alliance team, with Albert and Gunn taking turns whipping the four Alliance members to Brick and Big Show, who gave all of them huge chokeslams.

The women got involved too. Rain and Lita put their differences aside to take on Alliance divas Torrie Wilson and Stacy Keibler, and humiliated the other two by stripping them down to bras and panties, then pinning them after hitting a Downdraft and Twist of Fate.

The main event was the Inaugural Brawl, a ten-man tag team match. The Alliance Team, seconded to the ring by Shane, Stephanie, and Heyman, was comprised of DDP, Rhyno, the Dudleys, and Booker T. The WWF Team, seconded by Vince alone, was made up of Triple H, Stone Cold, Undertaker, Kane, and Kurt Angle. All members of all teams got involved, but in the end, Triple H suddenly turned on Angle, who had Rhyno in the Angle Lock submission, kicked him in the face, then Pedigreed him, allowing Rhyno to make the cover for the win.

The unthinkable had happened. The WWF Champion, Triple H, had defected to the enemy camp.

Raw: December 23, one night after Invasion.

The Alliance was in the ring, lording over their victory in the Inaugural Brawl, with Triple H standing firm in joining his wife in ECW to destroy the Federation. Rob Van Dam looked quite smug and cocky, wearing his new Hardcore Championship on his shoulder. Stephanie was speaking. "It's quite simple," she told the fans. "The Alliance is the new dominant force in this business! The WWF is dying, it's lost two titles already, and it's going to lose more. Shane, Hunter, and I will not stop until we've put the WWF out of business!" She smirked and looked around the ring. "No force of nature and no act of god is going to stop this invasion from taking place!"

As the fans booed Stephanie as the ECW theme played, the music suddenly switched, becoming metal rock, that of a band called Cold Steel. Thunder-like drum beats played as the lights in the arena flashed wildly, leading up to a thunderclap-like cymbal crash, and the lights went out. There was silence for a moment, and then a voice spoke.

"This is your Storm Warning." The fans started cheering as a siren's wail merged with a blaring guitar, and then the music roared up as the lights came up on flashing lights in theatrical smoke. "The Storm" Matthew Skinner walked out on the ramp, glaring into the ring. He held a microphone and drove the point home by wearing his I am a Force of Nature T-Shirt. "Cut the music," he ordered. He held his black baseball bat (with the word UGLY stenciled on one side) in his other hand.

The fans cheered for a moment as the Alliance looked back at Skinner on the ramp. Finally, he spoke. "You must be pretty proud of yourselves," he commented. In the ring, many of the WECWers nodded. "You won yourself a lotta matches last night, you have yourself a new member and a shiny new belt to add to your collection..." More nodding, and then Skinner snapped, "Big fucking deal!" That got their attention.

"You think any of this impresses me? You think any of this impresses the guys in the back?" he asked, gesturing behind him. "You think any of this impresses the Internet fans? You think any of this impresses them?" he asked, pointing to the crowd, which cheered. "The fact remains that this 'Alliance' you've got there is comprised of nothing but a bunch of stupid posers. I mean, WOW, WCW -- a company so consumed with keeping its big names happy that they shell out millions of dollars to washed-up has-beens who don't even bother to put any work into their matches -- and ECW -- a company led by a fat, balding slob who can't even add two plus two!"

Shane, Stephanie, and Heyman were all shouting abuse at Skinner, who ignored them. "I mean, geeze, Shane, if you were going to compete with your father on the mental level, if you're so damn smart, if you're wrestlers are so damn smart, how come they all had to cheat to beat us last night?" He tucked his ugly-stick under his arm and counted off matches. "Me against Lance, outside interference. Eight-man tag, illegal man uses a chair to knock out our guy. Inaugural Brawl... Triple H shows us just who the dominant figure in that marriage is." He rolled his eyes and mimicked Stephanie's voice. "'Oh, Hunter, won't you please join the Alliance?'" Then he frowned and mimicked Triple H, talking low and dragging out his words. "'Well...uh, sure, honey, anything for you....uh."

Mr. & Mrs. Helmsley both reacted strongly to this and The Storm rolled his eyes. "And geeze, what leaders you guys had to pick. A fat, balding, obnoxiously loud slob. A whining, spoiled-rotten little bitch with a voice like nails on a chalkboard. And a lying, manipulative, deceitful, silver-spoon wussy boy!"

Stephanie turned her mic back on. "Shut up!" she shouted shrilly. "You can't talk to me like tha--"

"Oh, god, Stephanie, stop!" Skinner interrupted. "The dog owners three towns over are calling to ask you to please make the hurting stop!"

Shane coaxed the mic from his sister and spoke. "Who the hell do you think you are!?" he shouted. "You can't just come out here and talk to us like that!"

"I just did, wussy boy," The Storm replied. "You wanna shut me up? I take on any one of your guys, one-on-one, here tonight. I'll save my thoughts for use in beating the living hell outta whatever shmuck wants to take me on."

Shane turned to his wrestlers, and one of them, a tall Jersey native wearing a white T-Shirt, stepped forward. He had a beard and slicked back hair, and his shirt said Invasion MVP on the front, and Who Better Than Kanyon? on the back. He took the mic from Shane. "Shane, please, I'm asking you," Kanyon said in his lisping voice, "as the Alliance's Most Valuable Player, my helping us win our match enabled us to win overall last night. So, as the MVP, there's just one question I gotta ask you." Shane nodded and gestured for him to continue. "When it comes to taking out that guy," Kanyon said, pointing out at The Storm, "who betta than Kanyon?"

The Storm started to raise his mic to reply, but stopped and glanced out at the crowd as they began to chant "Skinner! Skinner!" He smirked, then said, "Okay, Shane-O Wuss, if you wanna offer up Waterboy here as the sacrificial lamb, that's fine with me. But, hey, Waterboy," he said to Kanyon, "couple things before you tangle with me. First, get your gear all set and everything, then, get yourself all cooled off with some of that 'high quality H2O,' get some speech therapy to fix that thhhhtupid lithhhhhp! And then, get set to get wrecked, `cuz you're gonna go one on one with one unstoppable Force of Nature!"

Matthew Skinner raised his ugly-stick in the air, then pointed it out to the side, at the audience, and slowly swept it in a quarter-circle until he finished pointing at Kanyon, who suddenly looked nervous.

* * *

Some corny-sounding music played, while images of Chris Kanyon from old episodes of Monday Night Nitro played for the self-proclaimed MVP of the Alliance. He came out, wearing his burgundy tights with the white design on the legs, and his Invasion MVP shirt. He wore his usual stupid grin on his face, turning and spreading his arms to bask in the non-applause he was receiving. "The following contest is scheduled for one fall. Introducing first, from the Alliance... KANYON!"

Kanyon hit the ring and turned in a circle again, then took the microphone from Lillian Garcia and spoke. "Y'know, ever since the dawn of time, everyone and everything, from the highest noble to the lowest ant has had but one question they were unable to answer. And that question is, 'Who betta than Kanyon?'"

The audience replied by shouting, "Eeeeverrybody!"

Kanyon was about to shout what he believed to be the answer ("Nobody! The answer is nobody!") when the rumbling drum/thunder roll began to herald the arrival of his opponent. The Jersey man removed his T-Shirt and paced in the ring as "Force of Nature" started up and Matthew Skinner walked out of the smoke. "And his opponent, from Dallas, Texas, weighing in at 240 pounds... "The Storm" MATTHEW SKINNER!"

The Storm climbed into the ring and posed on the ropes, raising a fist in the air, then thumping each shoulder with his fists simultaneously, then again, this time extending his thumbs, forefingers, and pinkies in a "metalhead" sign, then pointing out at the crowd. He stepped down and removed his sunglasses, then paced about the ring opposite Kanyon.

The two then locked up and attempted to push each other back, but Skinner got the upper hand, hitting a wristlock and then a hammerlock. He tried to clip Kanyon's legs and go for the Necksnapper, but the former Jersey Triad member quickly slipped out of that. Skinner quickly charged and took him down with a clothesline, then a second. He whipped him into the ropes to go for a front dropkick, but Kanyon held onto the ropes with his arms and Skinner fell to the mat with a thud.

The self-styled MVP start laying in stomps and boots to Skinner's head, then punches and forearms as he got to his feet. He muscled him back into a corner, pummeled him some more, then whipped him across the ring. He went for the follow-up clothesline, but The Storm blocked with an elbow to the face. He then went to snap his fist into Kanyon's face, but Kanyon blocked with his arm, then grabbed his head and arm, swinging down and around into a neckbreaker.

With the Force of Nature down, Kanyon pulled him to his feet and started to climb to the top rope, holding Skinner's head in place for a super Rocker Drop, but before he could deliver, Skinner jostled the ropes, crotching him. The Storm then started to climb up as well, hoisting Kanyon onto his shoulder. He stood poised on the second rope, then shouted, "Time to go for a ride, Kanyon!" But before he could hit the Deathride, Kanyon slugged him in the head and hit the super Rocker Drop. He turned him over and hooked a leg, but The Storm kicked out at two.

Looking angry, Kanyon started punching him in the temple, then pulled him to his feet, going for a suplex. Skinner, however, countered, and delivered a suplex of his own. He quickly locked on an armbar, wrenching Kanyon's arm. WCW's "innovator of offense" screamed in pain and tried to get free, but finally Skinner relented and pulled him to his feet, gesturing to his shoulder to the crowd, which roared its approval. Skinner went to whip Kanyon, preparing to yank back on the arm to pop it from its socket, but Kanyon instead reversed his momentum and ran straight back into his opponent, hooking his arm under the jaw and grabbing his other shoulder, almost like he was looking for the Rock Bottom, but instead dropped backwards, driving The Storm face first into the mat, his version of the Split Second (or Downward Spiral), which Paul Heyman dubbed the "I'm Better Than You."

Kanyon again covered, but Skinner kicked out at two again. The so-called MVP got up and stamped his foot in annoyance, slapping his hands to tell the ref to count faster. He started to pick him back up, but Skinner suddenly moved, grabbing Kanyon's legs, tripping him onto his face. Pouncing, he twisted one of Kanyon's arms back in a hammerlock, holding it down with a knee as he locked his hands under his jaw. This was the infamous Hammerlock Necksnapper, and Kanyon started screaming in pain, looking on the verge of tapping out.

However, the fans started booing as a swarm of Alliance wrestlers came charging down the ramp, followed by Shane and Stephanie, who egged them on. Sean O'Haire kicked The Storm in the face, breaking the hold and causing the referee to call for the disqualification. O'Haire pulled Skinner up and held him in place for his partner Chuck Palumbo's Jungle Kick, and they took turns stomping away on him with Raven and Tommy Dreamer, as Rob Van Dam started to go up to the top rope, poised to deliver the Five-Star Frog Splash.

Suddenly, a dark-robed form leapt out of the crowd, shoving RVD off the top rope and to the mat. Shawn Stasiak quickly rushed the hooded figure, who deflected his swing and punched him back into Raven, then vaulted over the top rope, dragging a chair into the ring behind him. Palumbo rushed him next, and managed to stagger the intruder, knocking his hood off. A golden-haired man with a thick goatee and mustache glared back at him, then blocked his next swing and swung his own gloved fist into his head. By this point, Skinner was back on his feet and gave O'Haire a swift punch in the nose, knocking him down, and causing Tommy Dreamer to back up.

The hooded man pulled an "ugly-stick" from his monk-like robes and threw it to The Storm, who quickly hit Kanyon with it as he started to get back up. The newcomer swung his chair up and hit Stasiak with it, sending him sprawling to the outside. Skinner hit Raven with the ugly-stick in the ribs, then the back, kicking him and sending him rolling out of the ring. Palumbo and O'Haire regrouped for a moment, as the dark-clad man shrugged off the robe, revealing himself standing in a sleeveless black shirt with a golden cross on the chest, dark pants and boots. A silver cross dangled from his neck as he swung the chair at Palumbo, who took it on the head and fell to the mat and out of the ring. O'Haire got a shot to the head from the ugly-stick to send him packing.

The Storm knocked Tommy Dreamer down with the ugly-stick, then turned around to see RVD back on his feet, suddenly leaping in the air and delivering a spinning kick straight into the new man's chair, driving it into his face in a Van Daminator. Skinner charged and brained RVD with the baseball bat, sending him out of the ring as well. He helped the blond warrior to his feet, then turned to see Tommy Dreamer on his feet again. The former ECW mainstay charged, and Skinner sidestepped. The newcomer caught Dreamer by the waist, hoisted him in the air, pivoted, and dropped to a sitting position, hitting a variant of the Sky Hi powerbomb.

Kanyon quickly retreated when he saw all this and backed up the ramp with his Alliance cohorts as The Storm and the blond-haired man paced in the ring. Skinner turned to his comrade, clasped his hand, then raised it in the air along with his ugly-stick, as the other man did the same with his steel chair. Shane and Stephanie stared at them in shock and fury as the segment ended.

Smackdown: December 26

The Coach stood in the backstage area with The Storm and the mysterious robed man for an interview segment. The stranger's face was half-hidden in shadow by his hood. "Storm, last Monday night, in the midst of your match against Kanyon, you were suddenly mugged by the Alliance, when this man standing with you intervened and helped save you. Who is he?"

"Coach," Skinner said, "I wanna remind you of something that Stephanie said the other night, so let's go on a little trip down Memory Lane, shall we? Shane, Stephanie, and that Kool-Aid merchant Paul Heyman are in the ring, talking about how their Alliance is unstoppable." He paused. "I believe Steph's exact words were 'no force of nature and no act of god is going to stop this invasion from taking place.'" There was a distant round of boos from the crowd.

"Famous last words, Stephanie," The Storm said, "because I am The Storm, and I am a Force of Nature, and this man right here is a former comrade of mine back in my CIW days. This man is Scion, and he is an Act of God."

"That's right, Coach," Scion said in his grave voice. "Together, Matthew and I are going to stop the Invasion in its tracks, and bring retribution on the ungrateful and dishonorable children of Vince McMahon." He bowed his head, shading the rest of his face in his hood's shadow, lifting his silver cross in his hands.

The Storm smirked at the interviewer. "I guess what you could say, Coach, is that the Alliance's insurance premiums are about to go through the roof." He turned and left, Scion following him, leaving Coach to look at the camera.

-more to come-

Next: As The Storm and Scion try to wage a war against the Alliance, Billy Rose lays his plans to make a return.

If you have any ideas for possible feuds/relationships for any of my characters, drop me a line at jay_winger_2k@hotmail.com.

-=Jay 2K Winger=-
Live and Almost Legal
January 19, 2002