Disclaimer: I own nothing but the story itself. If you want to post it on your website, feel free to; just tell me the site address!
Rating: PG: 13 to be safe!
Characters: Eric Bischoff, Three Minute Warning, Stephanie McMahon, Chris Jericho
Pairing: Stephanie/Jericho
Timeline: No time in general, just a long time after Stephanie was forced to quit.
Author's Note: Gosh darned muses. I keep all of my story ideas in a binder, and at the moment I have about 20, so here's one of them. Forgive me if the story is a little off; I've never written about this pairing before. I hope you guys enjoy, and please review!
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Halo Over the Devil's Head
Chapter 1
Eric Bischoff stood in the RAW ring, a smirk on his face. He brushed a hand over his suit, and waited until the negative cries of the audience had silenced. The black-haired man raised the microphone to his lips and spoke. "I'm here tonight, in Atlanta, Georgia, to make a public apology to Stephanie McMahon," he announced. There was a stirring in the crowd. Without waiting for the fans to try and make sense of his statement, he continued, "So, Stephanie, if you would…" he trailed off, and seconds later a burst of music blared through the arena. The navy curtains near the entrance fluttered, and Stephanie McMahon emerged.
As she walked down the steel ramp with confidence, everyone turned their eyes to her, surveying her. Gone were the bangs over her forehead, as well as the business attire. Her hair was as long as it had always been, but now it was highlighted with a few well-placed blond streaks. Instead of her usually conservative clothes, she was wearing a skimpy, spaghetti-strapped black dress that ended mid-thigh and clung to her figure, accentuating her curves. She carried herself with ease, even in the four inch platform heels. The brunette stepped onto the apron, and ducked underneath the second rope to get into the ring. Someone from the outside of the ring handed her a microphone just as Eric spoke.
"You're looking mighty fine today, Stephanie, if I do say so myself," he told her.
Stephanie stared at him, her expression unchanging. "Thanks, Eric," she said flatly, her tone slightly sarcastic.
Bischoff lifted the microphone closer to his mouth. "I invited you here to my show to apologize to you, Stephanie," he said once more. "I'm sorry that you were fired—excuse me, I forgot. I'm sorry that you quit." Stephanie narrowed her eyes, still holding the microphone at her side. "You see, it's kind of my fault that Vince McMahon set his eyes on you and started that chain of events."
"Oh, really?" Stephanie replied, arching one eyebrow.
"Yes," Bischoff turned to the audience. "You see, when you took the General Manager space on the other show, you became in competition with my show. Sure, after a while all of the trading and jumping from show to show stopped, but in Mr. McMahon's eyes, we were still competing for ratings. And, well, when he found out that your show's ratings were more than a point behind RAW, he turned his sights to you."
Stephanie stepped closer to him, resisting the urge to hit him across the face with the microphone, and kept calm. She didn't speak into the mike, and simply listened as Bischoff continued. "You see, Stephanie, I feel bad. My managing skills are so great, and obviously so much better than yours. I just feel bad that I put you out of your job," he turned to face her again. "But I also think it's a good thing that you are no longer a GM, because, well, in my opinion… You've been in the WWE three minutes too long."
The brunette took a step back and looked around. She hadn't missed the key word for the Three Minute Warning. After seeing that no one was coming, she glared at Bischoff. Three Minute Warning had broken up months ago, seemingly disappearing off of the face of RAW. He was just bluffing. "This is a load of bullshit," Stephanie said into the microphone. "I'm out of here," she threw it down, and turned to leave.
She was met with a hellacious clothesline by Rosey. Eric Bischoff flashed a grin at Rosey as Jamal and Rico slid into the ring, Jamal picking Stephanie up by the hair. Effortlessly, he held her over his head, and then slammed her onto the mat. Rico lifted her to her feet and shoved her toward the turnbuckle. The eccentric man then ran at her, leaping to the third rope and giving her a harsh kick to the face and downing her.
Stephanie felt the pain rushing through her body as she laid face-up on the mat a few feet from the turnbuckle. She was too dazed to realize that Rosey was climbing the turnbuckle. She was a sitting duck.
Rosey crouched on the top turnbuckle, aiming to give Stephanie a body splash. Right before he jumped, however, someone shoved him, sending him flying off of the turnbuckle to the left, and into Jamal. Rico whirled around, only to see that their new opponent had climbed the turnbuckle. He had no time to dodge the dropkick aimed at him.
Stephanie felt the ring shaking beneath her as her unseen savoir decimated Three Minute Warning. Weakly, she tried to lift her head, but a dizzying sensation caught a hold of her, and she immediately put her head back down. The brunette rolled over on her stomach, inhaling sharply at the pain the movement was met with. Slowly, she grasped the bottom rope and pulled herself up, relying entirely on the ropes for support. When she had gotten to the second rope, she felt a presence beside her. Immediately, she looked to her right, and looked into the clear blue eyes of her savoir:
Chris Jericho.
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Author's Note: I hope you guys like! Please review! Oh, and I can't update anything until the 13th or 12th (I'm going camping), just so you know!