Disclaimer: Don't own WWE or any of the wrestlers. If I did own the franchise, my life would be a helluva lot better than it currently is. The only characters I own are Armistead and Corbin Taylor.
Time of Your Life II: Love or Lust?
Chapter One: Trouble Arrives
Luke Armistead sat in the empty arena, his guitar in his lap, and closed his eyes, savoring the temporary quiet as he idly strummed the guitar strings. He thought a moment before smiling and starting to play one of his favorite Merle Haggard songs, his Southern accent making his voice sound all the more like the country legend's.
"The first thing I remember knowin', was a lonesome whistle blowin', and a youngun's dream of growin' up to ride. On a freight train leavin' town, not knowin' where I'm bound, and no one could change my mind, but Mama Tried.
The one and only Rebel child, from a family meek and mild, my Mama seemed to know what lay in store. Spite o' all my Sunday learnin', towards the bad I kept on turnin', 'til Mama couldn't hold me anymore.
And I turned twenty-one in prison, doin' life without parole. No one could steer me right, but Mama Tried, Mama Tried...Mama Tried to raise me better, but her pleading I denied; that leaves only me to blame 'cause Mama Tried."
He played the musical intermission, getting lost in the song before starting the second verse.
"Dear ol' Daddy, rest his soul, left my Mom a heavy load. She tried so very hard to fill his shoes. Workin' hours without rest, wanted me to have the best, she tried to raise me right, but I refused.
And I turned twenty-one in prison, doin' life without parole. No one could steer me right, but Mama Tried, Mama Tried...Mama Tried to raise me better, but her pleading I denied; that leaves only me to blame 'cause Mama Tried."
He played the ending chords, letting them fade away in the silence, which was suddenly broken by single-person applause. He glanced toward the end of the ramp and grinned at seeing his wife of four months, Mickie James-Armistead, standing there. Armistead rose from his seat and set his guitar on the other side of the barrier before sitting on it, swiveling his legs over, picking up his guitar, and walking over to his wife.
"Enjoy the concert, Darlin'?" he asked, and Mickie smiled.
"You know I love it when you sing."
"But don't look for me to put out an album," her husband replied, as they headed backstage. "John's the musician in the WWE family."
"As long you still sing for me," Mickie told him, and Armistead nodded before grinning at her.
"As long you keep handy the cheerleader outfit you wore in that photo shoot."
Mickie smacked his arm and giggled. "Shut up, you perverted goofball."
"What?" Armistead complained as they headed to their locker room. "I think it's a fair trade."
Mickie's laughter echoed down the hall.
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Later that evening, Armistead strolled into the regular locker room to see several other members of the RAW roster talking to someone he'd never seen before.
"Hey, Luke," Triple H greeted, "come meet the new blood."
Armistead wandered over and introduced himself.
"Corbin Taylor," the young man replied.
"Excited to be here?" Armistead asked, and the young man nodded.
"Hell yeah...I can't wait for my first match." Taylor paused briefly before grinning at the room in general. "All right, guys...gimme the heads-up: which of those beautiful ladies out there are available?"
"Not many," Jeff Hardy muttered from across the room.
"Let's narrow it down," Triple H offered helpfully, in an effort to stave off any potential locker-room conflicts. "Which one caught your attention the most?"
"The Women's Champ, of course," Taylor grinned. "She's exactly my type. Mickie James, I think her name is?"
Most eyes in the locker room turned to Armistead.
"James-Armistead, actually," the Richmond Rebel replied, waving his left hand in the air to show off his wedding ring.
"Oh..." Taylor seemed surprised initially, but a thoughtful look soon came over his face.
After conversing with several other members of the RAW roster for a few minutes, Armistead left for his own locker room, and completely missed Taylor look at his back with a conceited smirk and mutter under his breath,
"Married, huh? Well, I always did love a challenge..."
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Armistead headed down the hall and pushed open the door to his locker room, smiling as he saw his beautiful wife sitting on the sofa, dressed in her wrestling gear and text-messaging on her cell phone. Mickie looked up and smiled as Armistead entered.
"Hey."
Armistead leaned down and kissed his wife.
"Got a new guy on the roster," he told her, and she nodded.
"Yeah, I saw him earlier. He's a lot like Chris Masters was...full of himself and thinking he's God's gift to women everywhere."
"Just watch out for him," Armistead warned, causing Mickie to shake her head and smile exasperatedly at him.
"He seems like a harmless flirt, Luke...don't pay any attention to him."
Armistead snorted contemptuously.
"He's gonna flirt his way right into a Stuka-Cross combo, the STFU, a Pedigree, or a Twist of Fate if he ain't careful. Not to many guys like others flirting with their girlfriends or wives."
Mickie rolled her eyes and got to her feet.
"It's cute the way you worry about me," She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him lovingly. "Trust me, babe...you're stuck with me. I'm not going anywhere."
She released Armistead and headed for the locker room door.
"You just said you weren't going anywhere!" Armistead griped jokingly, causing his wife to laugh.
"I'm in the first match tonight...I've got to get to the gorilla position."
Armistead smiled and wished Mickie luck in her match as she headed out the door.
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Two hours later, Armistead was feeling pretty good. His match with Kofi Kingston against Chris and Randy had brought down the house. Randy had set Kofi up for an RKO seconds before Armistead threw Chris into the steel ringpost, taking him out, and then climbed onto the top turnbuckle and performed a Stuka-Cross combo on the Legend Killer, sliding out of the ring before the ref even knew what had happened and allowing Kofi to roll Randy up for the win.
After celebrating their victory in the ring while Chris and Randy staggered to the back and RAW went off the air, Jeff and Luke headed backstage as well.
"Great match, mon...thanks for de save." Kofi clapped Armistead on the shoulder before heading off down the hall.
"Yeah, but could you warn me next time before you do that Stuka combo move of yours? Damn," Randy muttered, rubbing his forehead as he headed for his own locker room.
"Nice hit off the ringpost, Reb," Chris Jericho groaned as he passed by Armistead. "I feel like I've been hit by a bus."
At that moment, RAW's newest Diva, Kelly Kelly, approached them. Seeing Y2J's bedraggled state, she immediately went over to him and took his arm.
"Come on, Chris...I'll help you to the locker room."
Armistead looked at Chris with a 'What's this?' expression on his face. Y2J simply shrugged and gave Armistead a goofy grin as if to say, 'I dunno, but I like it!'
Armistead shook his head and headed down the hall himself. He was almost to his locker room when he noticed movement down one of the more dimly-lit hallways. A few moments later, his wife emerged from the shadows looking somewhat unsettled, with a slight blush on her cheeks.
To Armistead's surprise, Corbin Taylor sauntered out of the darkness a few seconds behind Mickie, a pleased smirk on his face.
"What's going on here?" Armistead demanded, starting toward Taylor, but Mickie grabbed his arm.
"It's nothing, Luke...he cornered me, but I put a stop to it. Nothing happened."
Taylor scoffed.
"Please...it's not like you weren't begging for it." He glanced at Armistead and grinned evilly. "I like a challenge, Rebel, and your wife is the epitome of one."
Armistead briefly saw red, but Mickie's presence kept him from putting the arrogant bastard through a wall. He glowered at Taylor.
"A word of advice, sir...don't start trouble you can't handle."
Taylor smirked at him. "Guess that leaves the entire roster open, doesn't it?" He glanced at Mickie. "See you around, gorgeous."
As he turned to leave, Armistead reached out, grabbed his arm, and fixed him with a frigid glare.
"Don't play with fire, Newbie...you won't like the results."
Taylor burst out laughing and jerked his arm loose before walking down the hall. After a few paces he stopped, glanced back at Armistead, and burst out laughing again before shaking his head and continuing on.
Armistead turned back to Mickie. "You all right, Darlin'?"
Mickie nodded. "Let's just get changed and head to the club to meet everyone else...I wanna forget I ever met him."
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The ride to the club was made in silence; Mickie was apparently feeling guilty about the compromising position she'd let herself be caught in, while Armistead was racking his brain in an effort to let her know everything was all right between them and that he trusted her fully.
After Armistead got his car keys back from the valet, the couple headed inside the club and back to a VIP area, where most of the WWE roster was sitting. Almost immediately, Mickie headed over to the group of Divas, while Armistead joined the guys around another table.
"So Luke," John Cena asked, " What do you think about the new guy on the roster?"
Armistead's expression darkened considerably as he told the group of his and Mickie's encounter with Taylor.
"We need to watch him around the Divas...he doesn't seem like the type to take 'no' for an answer," Armistead finished.
He glanced at the various faces around the table, and there seemed to be a general consensus that the Divas were off-limits to Corbin Taylor. Looks of determination were prevalent on the faces of those married to or dating a RAW Diva, while the SmackDown! group appeared somewhat relieved that such a guy wasn't part of their roster.
"He comes near 'Ria, he's dead," John stated.
"Same goes for Candice," Jeff stated.
"Watch over Lillian for me, will you, guys?" Dave Batista asked. "Let me know if he tries anything with her...I'd be happy to surprise him on RAW if he does."
Chris Jericho wasn't saying anything, but Armistead could tell he was thinking about what he would do if Taylor tried anything with a certain blonde Diva.
After a brief silence, conversation turned to other matters, and eventually the Divas starting coming over, dragging the superstars onto the dance floor. After three hours or so had gone by, Armistead was starting to worry about his wife. She'd had about six or so strong alcoholic drinks - Armistead wasn't exactly sure what they were - and was starting to act very inebriated.
"I think I'd better get you back to the hotel, Darlin'," he spoke in Mickie's ear so he could be heard over the noise of the club.
His wife grinned flirtatiously up at him, her gaze glassy from the effects of alcohol.
"You wanna go have fun, don'tcha?" she slurred, and Armistead rolled his eyes.
"No, we have an early flight, and you're going to have a massive hangover as it is. I just thought you'd like some sleep before we had to get on the plane."
Mickie shook her head. "Nuh-uhhh...when we get back to the hotel, we're not gonna go sleep...we're gonna have some fuuuunnnn!"
"Whatever you say, Darlin'," Armistead replied, "let's go."
"Waitta minute," his wife stated. "I need go potty 'fore we go."
Armistead nodded, and watched as Mickie staggered across the club and into the women's restroom. He headed back to the group and told them he and Mickie were leaving, and was still waiting for his wife five minutes later when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to come face-to-face with the World Heavyweight Champion, Edge, who grabbed his arm and dragged him across the dance floor toward the restrooms.
"What do you want, Adam?" Armistead asked, not really in the mood for Edge's boasting and superior attitude. He smirked. "I ain't goin' in the bathroom with you; I don't go that way, and I never knew you did either."
The World Heavyweight Champ stopped in his tracks, turned, and glowered at Armistead.
"Listen, Rebel, under normal circumstances I'd take great pleasure in showing someone something like this, but I know for a fact this is serious. Look."
Armistead gazed in the direction Edge was pointing, and his world crashed when he saw his wife leaning against the wall outside the ladies' restroom, making out with a guy like there was no tomorrow.
"I'm sorry, Luke," Edge said, and Armistead was surprised to note he actually sounded sincere.
"What're you sorry for, Adam?" Triple H came up beside them, followed by Shawn, Kofi, John and Maria, Jeff and Candice, Matt and Ashley, Dave and Lillian, Randy and Stacy, Chris and Kelly, and Phil and Torrie.
Armistead merely jerked his head toward the restrooms.
"I'd go over there and break that up, but I seem to be frozen in place. But that's a good thing because I think if I laid hands on the guy, I'd be arrested for first-degree murder."
The group of superstars and Divas turned and looked in the direction Armistead indicated, and many a jaw dropped.
"What the fuck?!" John yelled.
"Aw, man..." Jeff muttered.
"Oh, shit!" Matt exclaimed.
"Uh-oh..." Chris trailed off.
Dave merely lowered his gaze and shook his head, while Randy and Phil winced. DX didn't say a word, they simply started in that direction. When they reached Mickie, Hunter pulled the guy off her and threw him in Shawn's direction, where he ran right into some Sweet Chin Music and crumpled to the floor like a sack of potatoes as the rest of the group ran over.
As everyone crowded around, Hunter leaned down and raised the guy's head off the floor so they could see who it was: Corbin Taylor.
"Fucking bastard!" John snarled barely restraining himself from kicking Taylor's unconscious form in the ribs.
Mickie's rambling broke through the mutterings of the guys as she frantically tried to explain to her fellow Divas.
"He used a Southern accent...I thought he was Luke...I thought he was Luke!"
All eyes turned to Armistead, who was standing at the edge of the crowd gazing at Mickie, a completely blank expression on his face. Without a word, the Richmond Rebel turned away and walked out out of the club, leaving a group of superstars giving each other worried glances and a group of Divas trying to calm a hysterical one of their own.