Update! - I read back through this chapter and realized I uploaded the older version I neglected to delete before I left work. The version you're reading now is the updated version with one part removed to be saved for later chapters (It felt rushed to me). If you read the one before this, then I am sorry for somewhat putting out that spoiler. :(
A/N: There are a few Russian words and phrases in this chapter. Translations below.
:Ublyudok- Bastard
:Otets- Father
:Moya doch'- My daughter
There you have them. I hope enjoy this chapter. I'm working hard to update this as soon as I can. Thanks for waiting, and of course reviews are welcome. :)
"It seems like my actions are finally coming back to me, Michael." Vince said to Shawn Michaels as he sat back down in his chair. "However, what you just said gave me an idea." Shawn looked at Vince confused.
"What did I just say?" he asked. Vince smirked.
"Phil and April can only sue me for what I have still invested in the WWE since I signed the company over to my daughter because April still works for them."
"I don't follow what you're getting at."
"If I can someone pin all this on Paul and Stephanie, then they'll sue them and run the company down to rubble. It will be like killing two birds with one stone!" Shawn could not believe what he was hearing.
"What are you saying, Vince?"
"I wanted to end the WWE years ago. I am getting old, and no one could manage it like me so I wanted it to end with me. The reason I gave Paul and Stephanie the reigns was because I just knew they would fail and destroy the company for me. I didn't think they would do so well. I didn't think they would get such high reviews and praise." Vince stood to his feet. "Sergei thinks I called him to help him be known to the world as a scientist or whatever, but the real reason I called him was to destroy the WWE with propaganda. I hired him three years ago to make an illegal muscle enhancer and I would use the WWE label to sponsor it outside of the radar. When Sergei finished it, I needed a weak scapegoat, so I chose one of their most popular Divas to use it on."
"April." Shawn said.
"Yes. She's always taking time off so it sounded like the best option. It would look like she took time off to take the drug and better herself illegally. But I knew she wouldn't willingly subject herself to it, so I hired you and Matthew to follow her. Sergei's daughter Catherine offered her help in exchange for a job with the WWE. I used Catherine to scope April out while she worked and Matthew to keep an eye on her after hours, though the paparazzi did a lot of that for me. When Matthew found out where she would be the night of the whole Bistro fiasco, I told him to take a backpack to the area and plant it where it would cause a distraction. He told me he gave it to some fan of his who noticed him and thought it was a souvenir. I assume that fan went to the bistro when it went off."
"Wait a damned minute, Vince." Shawn interrupted. "You mean to tell me that 'backpack' you gave Cardona was a fucking bomb? Does he know that he was carrying a bomb, Vince?" Vince stood up and faced Shawn.
"No one knows except me," Vince pointed at Shawn. "..And now you."
"People died, Vince! Daniel Bryan was killed by your damned bomb! What the hell were you thinking?"
"I trusted Matthew to do what I asked him to do for once and not pawn it off on someone else! He was supposed to place it somewhere away from people, not in a crowded eatery! His stupidity caused that to happen."
"Vince, you were the only one who knew that explosives were in that bag."
"They have no way of pinning it on me. The fan that had the bag was killed in the explosion."
"So if Matt didn't give the bag to that fan, it would have been him who got blown up."
"It is what it is." Shawn looked at Vince and decided enough was enough.
"You're a murderer." He said. "And when the feds hear about this you're gonna pay for all you did."
"Don't forget." Vince started as he secretly opened his drawer. "Your hands are just as dirty as mine are."
"I accepted your offer because you told me you needed to get that man Cesaro here. That's all I signed up for! I've got no dealing with killing people!" Shawn turned around to head out of the room. "Count me out!" Knowing that when Shawn made up his mind that there was no convincing him otherwise, Vince knew there was no other way to keep him quiet. He silently pulled a pistol with a silencer out of the open drawer, aimed it at the back of Shawn's head, and shot him. Shawn fell to the floor and a pool of blood began spreading where his face met the marble floor. Vince pulled out a cloth and rubbed the handle free of his handprints before placing it back in his drawer. He pressed a button on his phone.
"I need all hands up here." Vince said. "I have a mission for the full staff." He hung up the phone and spoke to a lifeless Shawn Michaels. "I hated to have to do that. You were such a good friend."
Randy drove while Zack sat up front. John and Cesaro sat in the back seat. The ride to Randy's home was an hour and a half away from where they left and they were about twenty minutes into the drive. After the events past, the four men were silent seemingly trying to gather their composure back together. Randy drove carefully and cautiously which was rather unsettling for John. The tension of figuring out what to say to Cesaro also weighed heavy on him. Zack kept quiet as he felt he was still in ill graces with the other three men and did not want to spark an argument of any sort. Cesaro kept quiet simply because he was unable to think of anything to say. However, something ended up coming to mind.
"What did you need to talk to me about, John?" He asked Cena, catching him off-guard.
"Uhh." John struggled to find words to reply.
"Shit, John." Randy said. "I already know about this, so you can go ahead and talk to 'em. Geez." Zack took that as a cue to plug the headphones he kept in his jacket pocket into his phone and begin listening to music. "Look. Matt can't hear you now, so go on and talk to the guy." Cesaro furrowed his brow.
"Is it that serious?" he asked.
"Just listen, Claudio." John started. "I've been an asshole to you, and I'm sorry. I should have never stood you up. I should have answered your calls, your texts. I should have done better by you." Cesaro did not know what to say in response to John's confession.
"All you had to do was say you weren't interesting in talking to me." Cesaro said. "I would have been fine with it." John waved his hands.
"That isn't it, though." He said. "I do want to talk to you. I like you, Claudio." John surprised Cesaro with that comment.
"You like me?"
"Yes. I like you. You're a good person."
"Wow." Cesaro said, almost in disbelief that the great John Cena said he liked him. "Thank you, John. Thank all three of you for saving me back there. Including you, Matthew, despite you being the one who put me in there."
"Look, man." Zack said as he turned to face Cesaro. "I'm really sorry about that. I was going through some stuff and thought Vince would help me get back on track. I had no clue he was doing that type of stuff."
"Don't worry about it." Randy said. "You know now so now if anything happens and you're to blame, we are kicking the one-hundred percent grade-A horse shit outta you!" Zack winced.
"You won't have to worry about me." Zack replied. Randy laughed to himself before turning back to the road.
In the SUV behind Randy, Phil sat in the back seat with AJ who was lying her head his lap sleeping and PJ who sat next to her. Celeste sat up front with Paige who was driving.
"I still want to know where the hell they were." Paige harped.
"We all do." Phil said to her. "April's asleep right now, though. We'll have to wait until we get to Randy's."
"Isn't he married?" Celeste asked. "How will be able to keep us with his family there?"
"Randy hasn't been married for two years." Paige explained. Celeste looked shocked.
"Really?"
"Yes really. Alanna is staying with his ex-wife now. He gets her every other weekend."
"No kidding. I was with the WWE two years ago. How do you know that and I don't?" Paige shrugged her shoulders.
"I don't know. Did you ever try talking to Randy at all?" Celeste thought about it and realized that aside from questions about the company, she did not know much about any of the wrestlers' personal lives minus Phil and April's.
"I guess not." Paige laughed. She then scanned the scenery as she drove.
"His place must be really nice." Paige said. "It's pretty far out."
"I just hope there's something to eat." PJ said. "I'm starving." Phil looked down at a resting AJ as his friends spoke amongst each other.
"What the hell happened to you today?" He asked her in his head.
"Just give him time, Nikki." Brie told her sister as she tried to call John Cena's phone once more. "He might still be upset." Nikki looked down at her phone. She tried to call John seven times counting the call she just ended.
"Maybe you're right." She said. "I should just give him some time before I talk to him. I hope he's doing okay. Part of me still loves him." Brie put her hand on top of Nikki's.
"I know, Nikki. It'll get easier for you…for both of us." Brie then had an idea.
"I know what would cheer you up." She said. "Let's go find some dairy-free ice cream and a good movie to laugh at. What do you think?" Nikki smiled.
"Dairy-free, Brie?" she asked while giving Brie a sarcastic look.
"Okay. We'll get regular ice cream just this once." Nikki hugged Brie as tight as she could and the twins stood up to grab their things and head out of their room. After they walked out and closed the door, they walked down the hallway. Nikki then noticed someone familiar to her walking their direction.
"Brie." She said. "Isn't that…" The man stopped in his tracks. "Nick Nemeth?" Dolph Ziggler all but ran to the sisters.
"Brie! Nikki!" Dolph greeted the twins. "I didn't know you were staying here." Surprisingly, it was Nikki who stepped out to hug Dolph with a tight hug.
"Nick." She started. "How are you?"
"To be honest, I've been better." Brie noticed his tone.
"You do sound down." She said. "What's the matter?" Dolph waved off the question politely.
"Never mind me. How are you two doing? I haven't gotten a chance to see you since the ceremony." It took more strength than Brie anticipated to keep from crying at the mention of her husband's memorial ceremony.
"We're making it." Nikki then looked at Dolph.
"You know." She started. "We're all going on a tough time. Me and Brie were going out to get ice cream and movies, Nick. Would you like to come with us?" Brie looked at her sister and smiled at the abnormally kind gesture. Dolph smiled.
"That sounds like a good idea." He replied. "I'm staying with Rami. Mind if I invite him so he's not alone?"
"That cute ginger boy?" Nikki said, making Brie look at her with eyes and a smile of disbelief. "Sure."
"Great." Dolph said. "I'll go get him. Give me one quick second."
"It's okay." Nikki said. "We'll come with you." Dolph nodded and walked off. Then Brie looked at Nikki.
"Gee, Hot Box." Brie said to Nikki. "You really don't waste any time. Do you?" Nikki giggled.
"I just said he was cute." Nikki said in defense. "I think Rami is adorable." Brie laughed.
"Whatever, Hot Box!"
The group of Randy, John, Cesaro, Zack, Paige, Celeste, PJ, Phil, and AJ finally made it to Randy's beautiful home. Randy got out to open the door to his home, followed by everyone else.
"Alright ladies and gents." Randy said. "Make yourselves at home. Alanna's with her mom this week, so the whole house is free." After about ten minutes, AJ finally woke up after Phil tapped her a few times on her shoulder.
"Are we there?" AJ said groggily. Phil nodded.
"Yeah." He said. "We're at Randy's." AJ got up and got out of the vehicle. The couple walked into the home and noticed everyone sitting in the various sofas in the living room, seemingly waiting on Phil and AJ to join them.
"Get over here, AJ!" Paige harped. "You've got a story to tell us!" AJ grimaced at Paige's comment. She sat down in the open seat next to Zack and Phil sat in the one next to Celeste and PJ. AJ took a deep breath as she gathered the strength to tell her friends her story.
"Well," she started. "It started when I left my room to visit Claudio. When I got there he had already left or so I thought. The guy at the desk told me he left John and Randy. I walked out of the hospital and ended up running into John and Randy who were also looking for Claudio, which threw me off because the desk guy told me he left with them. I called him and he answered and told me that Vince McMahon wanted to see me and him, so the three of us went to Vince's conference building here in the city."
"I never called you, April." Cesaro told her. AJ nodded.
"I know, Claudio." She replied. "I'm getting to that." AJ took a breath and continued her story. "Well, the receptionist greeted us when we walked in and lead us to Vince's office. Catherine was there, Shawn Michaels was standing next to Vince, and Zack was standing next to Catherine. We sat down and Vince's Russian science guy told us that they had made a drug or something that enhanced natural human strength. Kind of like "organic" steroids."
"Organic Steroids?" PJ asked rhetorically. AJ nodded. Randy then butted in.
"And get this…" Randy started. "They used that stuff on April to "test" it and make sure it's safe!" Phil immediately angered.
"What?" He said as he stood to his seat.
"Phil, please." AJ pleaded. Phil threw his jacket down into the chair. The jacket barely missed Celeste.
"No, Babe! I knew that fucking fossil was up to no good!" Celeste calmly placed her hand on Phil's shoulder.
"Phil." Celeste called out. "It won't do any good shouting in here." She then took a deep breath. "We're all pissed off right now, but we should let April finish telling us what happened." Phil huffed but ultimately decided that Celeste was right. He sat down and offered the floor back to his wife.
"Well," AJ began in a stoic voice. "We then found out that it wasn't Claudio who had called us and told us to meet Vince there. It was Shawn Michaels. John figured that out. The bodyguards knocked John and Randy out…" Randy cursed under his breath. "…and Catherine put me to sleep. I woke up in the science guy's lab on a table. He told me I was having side effects and said that my brain was getting stronger. Then he told me John and Randy were gonna be killed for knowing about what happened to me, so I broke out to try to find them. When I found them, they were with Matt and said that he helped them get out. We got surrounded by Vince's bodyguards so I killed them and we were able to get out of the building." Randy broke in again.
"She poltergeisted their asses!" He said. Phil furrowed his brow.
"She did what?" he asked.
"She dropped most of them with jazz hands, broke dude's gun in half with her hands and blocked him in with some force field! April's awesome!" Celeste, PJ, Paige, and Phil looked at AJ waiting for an explanation. AJ looked down at her feet.
"He's not lying." AJ said to them. "I couldn't believe it either when I was told but it explained everything I've been feeling lately." Paige then crossed her arms and began ruminating.
"What exactly can you do, AJ?" she asked her friend. AJ moved over to the smaller seat near the large television mounted on the wall.
"That's just it." AJ replied. "I don't know. I started hearing voices and then I realized that they weren't just voices. I was actually hearing people's thoughts. Then I started to see colorful veins pulsing through everything. I don't know what that is. That night at Raw when Nikki hit me and I pushed her without touching her was the only time I had done that until tonight. That's when I found out I'm able to move things with my thoughts."
Paige merely blinked at the answer to her question. It sounded absurd, but she knew AJ well enough to know that she would not lie about something of such magnitude. The British native decided it was best she see what AJ's abilities first hand.
"Prove it." Paige said to her, making everyone eye her.
"Prove what, Saraya?" AJ asked. Paige crossed her arms.
"I want to see you do something." John huffed at Paige's request.
"Come on, Saraya." He said, only to be ignored. AJ waved.
"It's okay, John." AJ said, her voice slowly becoming monotonic. "Right now I have complete control of my body and its functions. I can make myself faster, smarter, and stronger and I am also able to heal myself quicker than the average human. I can also see the life force of other living things and tell how strong or how faint it is which means I can tell you any injuries, or ailments you may have. I can hear other people's thoughts like they're multiple conversations in my head going on at once." AJ stood up from her chair and faced her friends. "Lastly, I can control matter weighing about two tons or less. That amount grows as time passes." AJ then looked to Paige. "What would you like to see, Saraya?" Paige gave her a look of confusion.
"I…" was all Paige could muster. After hearing AJ say she had no knowledge of her skills, she suddenly knew everything she was capable of and was aware that she would only become stronger and more adept. That seemed to scare the British woman. As if he knew that Paige needed to be saved, Randy broke in.
"Aren't you guys hungry or something?" he said. "I'm starving! I can stick a pizza in the oven."
"You know what?" John added. "That's a great idea. Let's pop a movie too while we're at it." PJ sat up in his seat next to his wife.
"Now you're talking!" he said, making Celeste shake her head. AJ slumped down on the floor.
"I'm actually really tired." She said. "Do you all mind if I get some sleep?"
"Go ahead." Randy told her. "You can have Alanna's room. It's the one upstairs with all the Gumball stickers on it." AJ knew exactly what he meant by Gumball stickers as she watched the cartoon often. She stood up to walk upstairs.
"You want me to come lay with you?" Phil asked her. AJ shook her head.
"Not if you're not tired. You can stay down here if you want to."
"Are you sure?" Phil put his hand on AJ's shoulder. AJ could feel his pulse course over her like a river.
"I'm sure." AJ replied before kissing him. "You eat. I'll be upstairs." With that, AJ walked up the stairs and left her friends to their own devices.
"Are you sure we shouldn't go back and see if they're okay, Nattie?" Summer Rae asked Natalya as they pulled up to Tyson and Natalya's house. She had been trying to convince her two hosts to see about helping to find AJ for nearly the entire ride but to no avail, Natalya and Tyson insisting Summer get to a bed and get some sleep.
"I'm sure they found April by now, Danielle." Tyson said. "Besides, you've had a rough night. You gotta get some rest." He opened the car door and got out. He then walked over to open Natalya and Summer Rae's door for them. "Come on. You need some sleep." Summer Rae shook her head.
"I just can't sleep knowing AJ may be missing." Summer told them. "Could you please call Paige and find out if they found her? I don't have her number. Otherwise I'd call myself." Natalya willingly pulled her phone out and dialed Paige's number and turned the speakerphone on so that Summer Rae could hear.
"Hello?" Paige answered after only one ring.
"Hey Saraya. It's Nat. Did you guys find April?"
"We most certainly did, and she had one fuck of a story for us!"
"Really? Is she alright?"
"Well, yes and no. I'll have to get her to tell you about it. I wouldn't be able to explain no matter what words I used."
"As long as she's okay. That's what matters. I just wanted to call and check on you guys. We're gonna get some sleep. Talk with you soon."
"Alright. Sleep tight." Natalya ended the conversation and noticed Summer Rae sigh with great relief.
"Thank you so much, Nattie." Summer said. "I'm glad they found her." She then looked at Tyson. "Thank both of you for taking me in tonight. I just couldn't sleep in that hotel room by myself with all this on my mind." Natalya hugged her.
"It's no bother." She said. "Now come on. I know you're tired. We'll show where you're sleeping tonight." The three walked inside the house and Summer began thinking to herself.
"What story did AJ tell them?" Summer asked herself silently as she listened to her hosts tell her where her room would be. She then called out to get their attention.
"Everything okay, Danielle?" Tyson asked.
"I was just wondering if it would be too much to ask for some cantaloupe." Natalya and Tyson looked at each other.
"Do we have cantaloupe?" Natalya asked Tyson. He shook his head. "We'll have to go get some then."
Triple H and Stephanie finally arrived home. The two got out of their ride and started for the door. Stephanie noticed her youngest daughter Vaughn peaking through the window and the middle child Murphy pulling her down. Stephanie smiled.
"Looks like Simone let the kids wait up for us." Stephanie said as the two walked up to the front door of their home. The moment Triple H stuck the house key in the door they heard their children run for the door. Triple H could not help but to laugh before opening the door to three screaming little girls jumping up and down.
"Daddy, daddy!" the eldest daughter Aurora said as she showed her parents her hands. "Simone painted my nails for me!"
"She did?" Triple H said with excitement. "Let me see." He bent over to look closer at them and the moment he did, Vaughn jumped on his back.
"They're beautiful, honey." Stephanie told Aurora. Aurora hugged her mother.
"I wanted red, but Simone told me pink is better." Stephanie smiled.
"Well she was right. Pink is much prettier." The family then heard Simone running to catch the children only to find that they were caught by their parents.
"I'm so sorry, Mister and Misses Levesque." Simone said. "I told them not to run." They all then heard a man's voice call out to Simone. The man walked up to the door and noticed who it was.
"If it ain't Steph and H-H-H!" It was Simone's father, Dwayne 'The Rock" Johnson.
"Rocky!" Triple H and Dwayne clasped hands.
"Didn't think you two would ever make it home." Dwayne let go and went to hug Stephanie.
"We're sorry for keeping you." Stephanie said as she broke the hug and the two families walked inside. "We had quite a bit of business to take care of today."
"Everything going alright with that girl April?" Dwayne asked as Triple H, Stephanie, and he sat down in the living room and Simone took the girls upstairs to read them a bedtime story.
"So far so good." Triple H answered. "It isn't her we had to deal with, though. We had an episode with Nicole." Dwayne looked surprised.
"Nikki Bella?"
"Yes." Stephanie chimed in. "We can't say exactly what happened until the press conference but she is doing much better now."
"Good to hear." Dwayne said to the two owners. "Vince was pretty hard on those girls. You know, between the three of us." Triple H nodded in agreement.
"We know." He said. "We've been trying to right by everybody, but he left behind some pretty deep cuts and bruises. It's been hard but we're doing what we thinks is best and everyone's been pretty happy."
"I knew you two'd be able to turn all that mess around." Dwayne said to them. "The last time I came back to wrestle Cena I swore I'd never be back to wrestle with Vince in charge." Stephanie nodded.
"A lot of the formers say that." She said to Dwayne. The man raised his hands.
"I wasn't speaking bad about 'em."
"No no. I understand. Dad was beginning to get too wrapped up in the company. I'm glad he decided to retire and get some much needed rest."
"Right." Dwayne then sat up in his chair. "Have you heard from him lately?" Triple H thought for a moment.
"Actually no." he said. "The last we spoke to him was at Wrestlemania week before the Hall of Fame ceremony. Shane said he tried to call him a week after that but he didn't answer." Dwayne raised his eyebrows.
"Wow." He said. "Vince really is taking a break from everything."
"Whatever he needs to do to get his mind back to normal, I say go for it!" Dwayne laughed at Triple H's comment and stood up.
"Well," Dwayne said as he stretched his arms over his head. "It's getting late and we have a drive to make. Better get going." Stephanie stood up.
"You don't have to leave tonight." She said. "You're more than welcome to stay here. We've plenty of room and I'm sure Simone is already asleep in the girls' room."
"Steph's right." Triple H added. "Plus, it is getting late and you're already looking tired as hell." Dwayne shrugged his shoulders.
"Alright, alright." He said. "We'll stay here tonight."
"Good." Stephanie said. "You can have the guest room. You know where it is."
Lana and Fedoseev stood behind the conference building making sure they were out of the sight of the many cameras. Lana was shaking her head.
"Father." She said. "Are you sure you don't want to call this off?" Fedoseev pointed at his daughter.
"Aneschka." He said to her. "He broke the contract. No amount of money can buy him out of this. He has no clue of my connections in Russia. He will not help us find the Goddess so we will have to find her ourselves and make that McMahon and everyone tied to that slimy ublyudok pay for his treachery!" Lana grabbed her father's arm with emergence.
"Otets! Please call them off! Do not do this! You could get into really big trouble here if you are caught! Please!" Fedoseev slapped Lana across the face causing her to fall to the ground.
"Our family…" Fedoseev started, angrily eying his fallen daughter. "…does not beg!" Lana held her hand to the area on her face where her father struck her and stood to her feet.
"Forgive me, Father." She said to him. Fedoseev paternally pulled Lana into a seemingly loving embrace.
"Aneschka, moya doch'. All you must do to make me proud…is earn your keep." He looked her in the eyes. "Do what you are meant to do when time comes to do it."
