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Chapter Six: Backlash

Stephanie smiled that vindictive McMahon smile. "Suit yourself," Stephanie replied, dropping the subject. "I'll let the big guy know you're up here." She thought she saw a glimpse of hesitation, but Mira just shrugged and went back to watching the matches unfolding in the ring.

Stephanie was surprised. There was just no shaking her.

Game time.

Batista and Mira stood behind the curtain, listening to "The Time Is Now" as John Cena completed his entrance. He was the underdog, the fan favorite, the one that everybody wanted to see win the championship on this night.

Dressed in a scarlet halter dress with a sheer midriff, she took a deep breath and did a few light jumps in her heels to get her cardio going. She was always like this before game time. She loved it. The screaming fans, the lights, she just wanted this night to be over. She wished they weren't pushing this Cena and Batista stuff so roughly. She wanted to just be over with it. But, Cena and Batista were the two top guys in the company, and pushing them into a feud seemed almost natural.

She heard the power chords strum up for Batista's theme and she plastered a sick smile on her face. She hadn't really spoken to Dave since Monday, when he rammed Cena's head through the car. She was just so confused. Christ, it was getting so that she didn't really know what she wanted anymore. Well, she knew what she wanted, she just didn't want to admit it.

He held open the curtain door for her, and let the show roll.

John Cena loved the dress. Loved seeing her in it. He loved how one hand was placed on her hip as she swung her way out to the top of the ramp. She stayed a few steps forward of Batista the whole time, and he just flexed and leaned on the ramp, his pyrotechnics going off. But she kept going, not even going into the ring. Of course she couldn't, because as the pyrotechnics fell, John Cena charged Batista up the ramp and they began trading punches. This wasn't going to be a match; this was going to be a violent brawl, and that was where the two men were good. Cena wanted vengeance; he had lost his title opportunity and in his mind a potential girlfriend. He wanted Batista's blood for the ten stitches he was sporting in his forehead and everything he had endured in the last four weeks. He was ready for war.

Mira kept her distance, not even bothering to do anything more than cheer for Batista. She could hear the catcalls of "Slut" and "You Screwed Cena" behind her. It was the "Slut" one that was bothering her more, because Cena had actually called her that. So she knew that she had hurt him, because he would never talk to a Diva like that. Not even to Candice.

The brawl made its way into the ring and the referee finally rang the bell, which meant the match had officially started, even though Cena and Batista had been punishing each other outside for five minutes. Cena's stitches were already ripped and he was starting to bleed violently, causing Mira to fight the concern creeping over her. She can't be concerned about him, especially not at ringside, where she was supposed to be some "Jezebel" in the eyes of Jim Ross and the fans. Narrowing her eyes, she turned on the fans and argued with some middle-aged balding idiot in the front row who thought that Cena was the greatest thing since Hulk Hogan. She raised her hand to him and dismissed him, orbiting the ring to each screaming fan's delight; that way, this time around she would actually hear what they had to say to her. Some of them, if they were on the other side of the barricade, she would have slapped their teeth out. She slapped her hands along the ring apron in support for Batista, who had a headlock locked in on him in the middle of the ring by Cena. "Ba-tis-ta!" she was chanting. "Come on!"

But things weren't to get any better for the champion. Batista battled out with a counter suplex, but Cena reversed the Irish whip and hit him with the flying shoulder block and the Five Knuckle Shuffle. She should have reached out and grabbed his foot - she even caught the surprise of her allowing him to get away with it, but she thought she had done enough damage. Anyway, since getting that championship back, Batista had changed. And not for the better. And she hated it. She hated the twinges of jealousy when he didn't stick to the plan, she hated the idea that probably nobody bought her ploy and just saw it as her running away from her problems.

She was scared to feel anything for John Cena. She hated the idea of him calling her every twenty minutes to make sure she was okay. She saw Batista set up Cena for the Batista Bomb and her heart leapt into her throat. The puddles of Cena's blood in the middle of the ring made her want to be sick. All she wanted was to be left alone. She didn't want this.

She felt a weird sense of relief wash over her when Cena somehow managed to counter it into a DDT. Both men were down for the count, and she was willing Batista back to his feet. Or was she really? In her mind, she was flashing back and forth between both men. She had nothing against Cena, and she had nothing against Batista, and she just wanted them to be okay. She was lamenting the fact that she had even agreed to Batista's deal. It just seemed like the perfect escape at the time.

Cena rolled over on top, an arm draped over Batista and the referee counted to two. Batista kicked out and Mira breathed a sigh of relief. Her stomach was doing dances.

This was just getting too complicated.

At the end of the night, Cena had won the championship back when Batista tapped out to the STFU. With Cena in the back getting his stitches repaired, Batista was ignoring Mira, as though it was her fault that he had tapped out. He had just stalked into his locker room, grabbed his things and headed back to the hotel, without a word, leaving Mira to stay alone at the arena at the bay of the hostile glares and gloats that her fellow Divas were passing along to her. It didn't help his sixty day suspension was starting now, as well.

Shane McMahon approached her, and she appreciated the fact that he was cool with her. "Hey, Mira. How are you?"

"What a match," she replied. "I couldn't believe Cena countered the Batista Bomb like that."

"Guy's got a lot of fight," Shane replied. Mira nodded. "He'll be okay," he passed on. It was a nice connection she had with Shane. They were friends enough to know what each other was thinking. He was a good guy.

"Thanks."

"I have to tell you. Tomorrow night you gotta report to Dad's office," Shane replied. "He has some plans for you now that Dave's been suspended. You'll stop by before the show starts?"

"You know it," she replied. Her stomach was feeling heavy again. What did Vince have planned for her?

Tomorrow night on Raw is going to be fun. Tune in.