A/N: This chapter is a tad long because I didn't want to break it up as I thought doing so would leave too large a cliffhanger, so I hope you enjoy.
Shane had made his way upstairs to the second floor of the mansion after his training session. The halls were devoid of children as they were all sleeping by that time. Shane was able to hear, however, the sound of his sister Stephanie seemingly arguing with her husband Triple H in the main office. Shane paused a moment then made his way to the office to see that Stephanie and Triple H were arguing.
"What is going on in here?" Shane asked.
"Have you been on your Twitter, Shane?" Triple H asked in reply to Shane's question. Shane shook his head.
"Not since I made my last interview appointment."
"AJ told the world that she'll be speaking on behalf of Alpha Humans everywhere. It's been a shit storm since then. Social media's been hounding us and even put out death threats on AJ if showed up!" Shane grew surprised and worried within the same second.
"What?" He yelped. "Death threats?"
"Yes, Shane. Threats, riots, and anything else negative you can think of. She's going to get herself hurt out there."
"Well, tell her to call it off." Stephanie shrugged.
"We can't get in touch with neither her nor Phil." Stephanie said. "It's like they went off the grid, and the event's tomorrow."
"Tomorrow!?"
"Yes!"
"We're going to have to send someone there to make sure nothing happens." Triple H shook his head.
"This is getting to be too much and we just came out with all this a few hours ago!"
"To top it all off, I haven't heard from either Michelle or Windham since the funeral. I've been calling nonstop and neither of them answered. I'm going to go to the ranch tomorrow morning." Stephanie began pacing around the room. "Everything is just going down hill."
"We should have just kept things the way they were." Triple H said. "Things were fine the way they were." Stephanie stopped her pacing to face her husband.
"Paul." She started. "We needed to come out with what we are. We all knew it was going to be hard in the beginning. Just not this hard." Shane walked to the middle of where Triple H and Stephanie stood.
"Look." He said. "We are going to have to toughen up here. We've got a lot of people depending on us to succeed in leading the Alpha Human race, and just as many looking for us to fall. We can't fold when we've just started." Stephanie and Triple H looked down to the floor. "Steph, I'm worried about Michelle and Windham, too. I'll go with you." Triple H sat down in one of the seats.
"I'll take two people with me to AJ's speech." He said. "I have a feeling we're going to need to be there." Stephanie and Shane looked at him.
"Who are you taking?" Stephanie asked.
"I'll need Rami to help me spot any Alpha Human activity, and Mercedes can warp us out of harm's way if we need to get out quick." Stephanie nodded.
"I'll go get everyone together so we can tell them what's going on tomorrow." She said before walking out of the office, leaving Shane and Triple H in the office alone.
"She's really worried about Michelle." Triple H said to Shane, grabbing his attention.
"I know." Shane replied. "I am, too. She's never gone this long without contacting us. I hope she and Windham are okay."
Mojo Rawley stood over the sink in the bathroom of his hotel room. He had just finished brushing his teeth and preparing himself to relax in his room for the remainder of the night. Mojo stepped out of the bathroom and looked at his phone resting on the nightstand plugged into the charger. He had several texts from his friend Zack Ryder; he was trying to talk with Mojo about what had happened between them earlier that day, but Mojo was still a bit upset about how Zack felt about Alpha Humans and was not ready to talk to him. Mojo grabbed his phone and looked through the messages before hearing several hard knocks on his door.
"It's open." He said. The door opened to reveal Ettore Ewen, known as Big E in the WWE Universe, standing outside. "Yo, come in man. What's up?"
"Some of us were gonna go to the bar down the street." Big E said as he walked into Mojo's room. "Thought you might wanna come." Mojo thought for a moment before responding.
"Nah." He said. "I'll pass tonight. I'm kinda tired."
"What!? The party animal doesn't wanna party?" Mojo sighed.
"To tell the truth, I was gonna get up early and go to that rally April's putting together." Big E looked at Mojo with narrowed eyes.
"Yeah?" Big E said. "What for?" Big E witnessed Mojo hang his head low trying to figure out what to tell him, and he knew why. "You're an Alpha Human?" Mojo looked at Big E.
"Ya know…" Mojo stopped his thought.
"It's cool, man." Big E said. "Trust me." Mojo eyed Big E.
"You're an Alpha Human, too?" Big E grinned. He then held his hand up in front of him and a small ball of bright green energy formed in his palm.
"Yup." He said. Mojo smiled big.
"No joke! That's awesome!" Mojo stood to his feet. "I can kinda do that." He held both of his hands in front of his face, opened his mouth, and breathed into his hands blue energy that formed into a ball. "I can spit this stuff outta my mouth when I shout." He crushed the ball of energy in his hands then looked at Big E to see a look of interest on the man's face.
"Pretty awesome." Big E said. He then thought about what Mojo said prior to their revelations. "So you're going to AJ's rally then? Me too." Mojo's face lit up.
"No joke?"
"Yeah. She's basically my sister and you and her are the only ones who know I'm an Alpha Human. She supports me so I'm supporting her." Mojo nodded. He had never actually spoken personally to AJ Lee, but he knew who she was, what she stood for, and what she meant to the company. He then found out that she support the Alpha Humans, which made him like her even more.
"That's awesome." He said. "I'll have to see if I can hang out with her sometime."
"I'll talk to her and Phil for ya." Big E said. "I'm sure we can all work something out."
"Cool." Mojo then thought to himself. "Yo, why don't we go to the rally together? Wouldn't make much sense riding in two rides to go to the same place." Big E nodded.
"You're right. I'm leaving around 8. I think Adrienne's going, too. I'll ask her if she wants to tag along."
"Cool. I'll meet ya downstairs in the morning." Big E turned to head towards the door then remembered why he visited Mojo to begin with.
"Oh!" He said. "Coming to the bar?" Mojo thought to repeat his previous reply, but gave it a bit more thought.
"Fuck it!" He said. "Hell yeah, I'm coming!" Mojo began jumping around the room, his signature energetic vibe filling it to the brim. Big E laughed.
"Hell yeah!" He said. "Bring yo ass, son!"
Rusev sat on the edge of his bed waiting for Lana to emerge from the bathroom after her shower. He flipped through television channels for a while, attempting to find something to watch on it before he began to grow restless.
"Catherine." Rusev said aloud to his wife. "Please come out of the bathroom. We have dinner reservations." That moment, Lana stepped out of the bathroom wearing a simple yet stunning white dress. Her hair and makeup were fashioned into the bun she was known to wear to the ring. Rusev smiled at his wife.
"You are beautiful." He said to her, making her smile. Lana's smile faded quickly as she fell into thought.
"Are you sure we are doing the right thing by going to April's rally tomorrow morning?" Lana asked her husband as she fastened her necklace around her neck.
"Do you not want to go anymore?" Rusev asked her in response.
"It's not that I don't want to go. I just don't want to intrude into Miss April's business."
"She is doing a good thing by trying to support the Alpha Humans. We should support her in return." Lana smiled and nodded.
"I feel the same, Miro." She said. "I'm glad we agree." Rusev stood to his feet to kiss his wife.
"Are you ready for dinner now?" He asked Lana.
"I am."
"Then let's go. We'll think about tomorrow…well, tomorrow." The couple walked towards the door and made their exit to head out to dinner.
Noam Dar had finally made it to the John F Kennedy International airport in New York City after a grueling ten-hour flight. He looked out of the window as he walked down the aisle to get off of the plane. Once he stepped off, Noam eyed the airport terminal in bewilderment as he had never seen a terminal so large. Upon stepping in, he immediately look for a familiar face. After a moment of searching, he found them. It was a Filipino man with spiky hair wearing a white hooded jacket, black baggy pants, and stylish sneakers. The man was holding a sign with Noam's name on it in an attempt to help Noam find him. Noam grinned from ear to ear when the two men's eyes finally met.
"Teddy!" Noam nearly shouted, garnering the attention of the man known as Teddy "TJ" Perkins. "Over here!" TJ waved at Noam as he headed to meet the younger man where he stood. TJ immediately wrapped Noam in a huge hug when he finally reached him.
"Noam!" TJ said. "Good to see you! I'm glad you made it safe." Noam sighed.
"The ride was terrible." Noam said. "There was a huge man sitting in front of me and he wouldn't stop snoring! Then the seats weren't the most comfortable. I'm just glad that's over." Noam looked to his left at the line for passport checking. "I have to go through customs." TJ waved his hand.
"No problem." He said. "I'll wait for you right here." With that, Noam got into the line and waited his turn. TJ plugged in his earbud headphones and began listening to music while he waited for Noam to pass through customs. Nearly twenty minutes had passed when Noam finished and made his way to TJ, the latter removing his earbuds. "Damn, that took forever!"
"They were trying to say my passport wasn't valid and that I missed a stamp back in Switzerland." Noam said. "I showed them where the stamp was and they let me through." Noam ran his hand through his hair. "I just wanna pick up my stuff, get to the room, and get this day over with!" TJ nodded.
"I bet." He said before starting towards the area where baggage claim was stationed. "Come on. Let's go get your stuff and get outta here."
After the two men retrieved Noam's things, they made their way out of the airport and to TJ's car to leave. TJ glanced at Noam, sleep beginning to weigh heavily on the younger man's eyes.
"You didn't get any sleep on the trip here." TJ said. "Did you?" Noam shook his head.
"No." He answered. "I was too busy being bothering by the ride and thinking about other stuff." TJ raised his eyebrows.
"Really?" He said. "Like what?" Noam almost told his good friend about his Alpha Human abilities, but caught himself and spoke otherwise.
"Just stuff, you know." He said instead. "The WWE, being away from home, the usual."
"Come on. When has that stuff ever bothered you? If anything, I'd be excited to come to the states and wrestle with the WWE. They're doing big things now." Noam nodded.
"I know."
"Yeah, and I hear one of the Divas from years ago is throwing some rally for the Alpha Humans tomorrow morning." Noam perked up a bit after hearing about AJ's rally. "I was gonna go, but from the looks of it you're kinda tired and I don't wanna go by myself."
Noam thought about the rally. He did not know much about the woman holding it, but he assumed that if she was holding it on behalf of the Alpha Humans then she had to be an Alpha Human herself or at least a supporter. Noam immediately felt the need to meet her regardless of how tired he was sure he would be that morning.
"Well." Noam started. "I wanna go, so I'll go with you."
"You're not gonna be tired?" TJ asked Noam as he glanced over at him.
"A wee bit, but I don't think I wanna miss that." TJ grinned.
"Yeah, I bet it's gonna be pretty interesting!" Noam nodded then turned his sights back on the road flying past him as TJ drove them to their hotel.
John Cena slowly crept into Nikki Bella's room, assuming she was still asleep. The excitement of seeing his girlfriend without the red tint of his lasers for the first time in months nearly made him shout out to her. He looked at Nikki and saw that she was in fact awake and reading a book on self-preservation. She looked up at John and her eyes widened when she noticed his glasses were missing.
"John!" Nikki nearly yelped and she threw her book into the air and leapt out of the bed. "Where the hell are your glasses? We gotta find those!" John began waving his hands in the air in detest.
"No, no, no!" He shouted as he grabbed Nikki by the shoulders. "It's okay. I have them, but I don't need them anymore." Nikki looked at John and noticed his were open.
"How are you…How did you?"
"Claudio helped me control my eyes, Nicole." Nikki unnoticeably cringed hearing Cesaro's name. "I can see you now, Nikki!' Nikki blinked when it dawned on her that John's eyes were open without his lasers shooting from them. She curiously touched John's face near his eyes.
"You can see me?" She asked him. "Tell me what color robe I have on." John blinked.
"Soft yellow." He said. "My favorite color on you." Nikki grinned from ear to ear and hugged John as tight as she could.
"This is amazing!" Nikki said. She then let John go and ran out of the room.
"Where are you going?" John shouted at her as she left. Nikki disappeared down the hallway, leaving John in her room by himself. He shook his head and laughed.
Down the hall, Nikki continued her stride and nearly ran into Finn Bálor whom was stepping out of the library.
"Whoa!" Finn said. "Where are you off to so fast?"
"Sorry, Fergie!" Nikki said. "I'm looking for Claudio. John said he helped him control his lasers and I wanted to thank him." Finn felt a chill course over him when Nikki told him about John and Cesaro. He composed himself and answered the woman.
"He's downstairs." He said as he pointed towards the stairs.
"Thanks, Fergie." Nikki said as she ran past Finn to head down the stairs. Finn watched her as she left him, eying her with slight disdain.
Celeste slowly opened her eyes as she woke up from her sleep. She looked down at herself and saw the blanket Phil had put over her to keep her warm. Celeste then heard a faint yet familiar voice talking as if practicing for a speech. It then dawned on her that the day of the rally AJ put together was upon her. Celeste quickly stood off of the sofa and made her way into the kitchen where she thought the voice of AJ Lee was coming from. She heard AJ call out from the guest bathroom.
"I'm in here." AJ said, making Celeste turn and head to the bathroom to see AJ in the mirror.
"Wow." Celeste said. "You actually pinned your hair up." AJ turned to face her friend.
"This is important to me. I need to make the best impression I can." Celeste blinked.
"Are you nervous?" AJ shook her head.
"Not even a little." AJ then sighed. "Phil's a different story all together, though. I didn't sleep at all. He said he was worried about me."
"Well, don't you think there's a reason why he's worried?" AJ huffed.
"I know, Celeste. It isn't going to change how I feel about this." Celeste waved her hands.
"No, no. I wasn't trying to change your mind. I'm just saying, try and think about how Phil must be feeling about all this. His secret was just exposed by the family he doesn't necessarily care for, and on top of it his wife is throwing herself in harm's way defending him. I'm no psychiatrist, but I'm thinking Phil isn't feeling very strong and manly right now."
AJ thought about what her friend Celeste revealed to her. Phil would never speak about it, but his world being turned over in the course of a mere two days surely took its toll on him. His concern for AJ did not help the matter either, and AJ had only thought about what she was doing to defend the Alpha Humans without thinking about how to defend her husband directly. Celeste noticed AJ had detached herself from the conversation.
"I struck a nerve." She said. "Didn't I?" AJ nodded.
"Yeah." She said pathetically. "You did, but in a good way. I was so busy caring about all of the Alpha Humans that I forgot to care for my hubbie. I feel so stupid." The two then heard the master bedroom door open and saw Phil emerge from the room. AJ immediately ran to embrace him to his surprise.
"I just woke up." Phil said. "You normally don't come near me until after I brush my teeth."
"I'm so sorry." Was all AJ was able to say. "I wasn't thinking about you. I was thinking about everybody else." Phil looked at Celeste who looked back at him. He then looked down at his wife.
"Apes. It's okay. I know you're fighting with me. I just can't help but worry, you know. I'm your husband. Am I not supposed to worry about you?" AJ swallowed and took a deep breath.
"Of course." She replied. "I worry about you all the time." Phil nodded.
"Great." He said. "Now, can I go get ready for your rally?" AJ quickly let go of Phil and stepped aside so he could go to the bathroom to get himself together. As Phil closed the door behind him, Celeste looked at AJ smiled, AJ returning the smile.
Mick Foley had finished preparing himself for his day when he descended down the stairs of his home to fix breakfast. When he made his way to the kitchen, however, he witnessed his daughter Noelle dressed as if she were on her way out, cooking breakfast. He walked into the kitchen and eyed her with skepticism.
"You're up early." He said, startling her. Noelle sighed.
"I am, Daddy." Noelle said. "I'm making breakfast. Eggs, toast, bacon, and tomatoes. You know, like Mom used to do." Mick smiled to himself.
"I loved it when she roasted those tomatoes in the oven." He said. "I thought I'd hate them, but she made me eat them and I ended up loving them. That's how I did you when you were younger."
"I remember." Noelle smiled as she opened the oven to pull the tomato slices out. Mick then thought about Noelle being fully dressed.
"Are you going somewhere?" He asked. Noelle turned around slowly as if she knew her answer would upset her father.
"I know you're gonna be mad…" She said hesitantly. Mick instantly knew where she was going.
"Noelle. Please don't tell me you're going to AJ's rally." Noelle was silent, letting Mick know that she in fact did make plans to attend the rally. "You couldn't tell me you were going?"
"I wanted to." Noelle said apologetically. "You know I did. I just knew it would make me sad because you have other things to do and you can't go. I'm sorry." Mick sighed.
"It isn't that, Noelle." He said as he sat down at the dining table. "I just have a bad feeling about it. I would rather you not go."
"But Dad. Phil and AJ are our friends. Why would I not support them? One of us has to be there, and since you can't go, I'm going."
"Noelle. You don't understand how serious this could get." Noelle immediately felt insulted by her father's comment.
"What do mean I don't understand, Dad?" She asked with slight agitation. "I've been supporting the Alpha Humans right along with you ever since Mom and the boys died. I do understand how serious this is. Everybody just learned what we've known for years. We can help the world understand what it means to be an Alpha Human because we've been with them. Are you forgetting that Mom and Dewey were Alpha Humans, Dad? What AJ is doing is important and I think that I should be there to help her, for us and for the kids that are Alpha Humans right now." Mick looked into his daughter's eyes and nearly broke into tears as he believed he saw, in that moment, his late wife.
"You are definitely Colette through and through." Mick said. "You're right, Noelle. You're my daughter, though, so I'm gonna worry about you. That's all it is. It's just me worrying." Noelle turned off the stove and went to hug her father.
"Dad." Noelle said. "I know. You don't have to worry about me. I'll make sure to keep myself safe and out of trouble." She then stood up straight and pulled her phone out of her pocket. "I did text Ettie, though, and he said he's gonna be there, too, so he's picking me up from the airport. There. I'm all safe." Mick closed his eyes and looked at Noelle before laughing and shaking his head.
"I still don't necessarily approve, Noelle." He said. "I also know I can't stop you. Just please be safe." Noelle hugged her father once more.
"Thank you, Daddy!" She said. "I will be. I promise." Noelle looked back to the stove and went to the cabinet to grab plates and utensils. "Oh, breakfast is done."
Several hours had passed through the morning and the Chicago venue named Lincoln Hall slowly filled with people wishing to attend AJ's rally scheduled for later that morning. There was no cost for tickets, however there was an extensive search for all who planned to attend, and the line to do so reached what appeared to be an infinite length. People were holding signs and collages they had made in attempts to add to the rally as they stood waiting to be searched. TJ Perkins and Noam Dar parked in a spot further away from the venue in one of the numerous parking areas. TJ looked at the line of people waiting to be searched.
"Whoa!" He said, making Noam looked over to where he was looking.
"That's the line for tickets?" Noam asked.
"They aren't selling tickets, so I'm guessing that's where you get searched."
"Searched? For security?"
"I guess so." Noam unbuckled his seat belt and opened the door to get out of the car.
"We'd better get in line now then." He said. TJ followed suit, unbuckling his seat belt and getting out of his car to follow Noam to the line of people. Out in front, Noam noticed the line was moving fairly quickly. He turned to see TJ and several others making their way towards the line and then turned back around. He felt TJ's hand on his shoulder.
"Looks like the line's moving pretty fast." TJ said. "We'll be up there in no time." Noam nodded as he looked off towards the entry gate.
"Yeah." He said. "No time at all." The two men, along with everyone else, saw a limousine pull up in the closer parking lot.
"Wonder who that is." TJ said. Noam eyed the vehicle with an acute sense of curiosity.
Inside of the limousine sat Triple H along with Sami Zayn and Sasha Banks. Triple H sat with his chin resting on his knuckles while Sami and Sasha sat quietly. Sasha decided to break the silence.
"So." She started. "Are we just spectators or are we bodyguards?" Triple H sat up.
"We're both." He replied. "We're here to support AJ and make sure nothing goes off."
"No harm or disrespect meant, Paul." Sami started. "But we only revealed ourselves a day ago. I hate to say it, but this is just one big melting pot for drama."
"Rami's got a point, Paul." Sasha added. "We should be on the lookout for more than just AJ."
"Did you scout out a few escape routes for us?" Triple H asked Sasha.
"I did."
"Good. You're both right, and that's part of what we're here for, too. We'd be stupid to think something won't happen this morning." Both Sami and Sasha nodded in agreement. The trio then heard the limousine door open and looked to see the driver waiting to escort them out of the vehicle. Triple H looked to the duo. "Let's go."
Outside, Noam and TJ watched as Triple H, Sami, and Sasha exited the limousine. Cheers and shouting for the trio started immediately once everyone realized who they were. Noam's eyes lit up as he realized he had an opportunity to speak with Triple H personally about his situation. Before he knew it, he was making his way towards the Superstars and leaving his friend at the back of the line.
"Noam!" TJ called out. "Noam, what are you doing?" TJ sighed and shook his head before running after his friend. TJ pardoned himself after passing nearly every person in line following Noam whom had garnered the attention of the security staff. In front, Sami felt a pressure in his head and forcefully shut his eyes, Sasha noticing his gesture and tending to him.
"Rami?" Sasha said. "You alright?" Triple H turned to Sami before hearing commotion in the line people behind the three of them. He heard his name being shouted and turned around to see security detaining a young man.
"Mister Levesque!" It was Noam Dar. "Mister Levesque, I need to talk to you!" Security shouted in Noam's ear and held him from approaching the Superstars moments before TJ Perkins caught up to him. Triple H recognized TJ, but not Noam. Next to him, Sami looked up to see the two men being detained by security and narrowed his eyes.
"Paul." He said. "One of them…" Triple H looked at Sami then back towards the two men. He then waved down security.
"They're with us." He said. "They just missed the limo is all." The security staff stood down and let Noam and TJ pass. Noam readjusted his jacket while TJ spoke to Triple H.
"Sorry for causing a scene, Mister Levesque." TJ said. Triple H waved him off.
"Call me Paul." He said. "Now, the question is why you're causing a scene." Noam cleared his throat as he gathered his nerve to speak in front of his friend.
"I'm-uh-Noam Dar, sir-uh-Paul." Noam stuttered as he offered his hand for a handshake. "I was coming to you initially for a tryout in WWE developmental." Triple H raised his eyebrows.
"I've heard of you and seen some of your matches." He replied. "You're good. You came all the way from Scotland to come try out here? There are tryout facilities closer to your home country than the US, ya know." Sami looked at Noam, reading his body language and discovering that he was, in fact, nervous about something. It then dawned on him why Noam appeared intimidated. Noam looked back at TJ whom shrugged his shoulders, then looked to Triple H and sighed.
"Yeah." Noam said. "I know. There's something else that I wanted to talk about, too, and I couldn't talk about it with anyone but you and Stephanie." Noam's words intrigued Triple H as he immediately knew what Noam was referring to. He looked at Sami whom nodded at him, than back to Noam.
"We'll discuss it after the rally." Triple H said. "You can ride with us. Do you have your things?" Noam fought hard to hide his excitement so as to not come off as childish.
"Uh-no." He replied. "Not with me. They are back at Teddy's place."
"We'll go get them." Triple H looked at TJ. "If you don't mind, Teddy." TJ raised his hands.
"No." He said. "Not at all." Triple H nodded and turned to the guard inspecting the entrants.
"These two are with us." He said. The guard nodded and let the five of them through to find their seats.
In the parking lot, the group of Big E, Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods, Mojo Rawley, Ember Moon, and Noelle Foley stepped out of their vehicle wearing discreet outfits to keep from garnering unnecessary attention. Noelle looked at the line and her jaw nearly dropped to the pavement.
"Is this the line to get in?" She asked rhetorically. "Are you serious?" Ember winced.
"Looks like it." She said. Xavier shrugged.
"Come on, guys." He said. "This is for a good cause. Plus, something tells me we'll be standing up for most of this so get used to it." Kofi shook his head.
"Yeah." He started. "It's for a good cause, definitely, but lord knows I'm going to hate standing up all morning."
"Just consider it leg day." Mojo said optimistically. Noelle rolled her eyes.
"I guess so." She said. "I just can't wait to see Phil and AJ!" Big E, standing behind the group, looked back and noticed a familiar face.
"Is that Miro and Cat?" He asked. Everyone turned around to see Rusev and Lana approaching the line, and they were all met with warm smiles and Lana running towards them.
"Ettie!" Lana nearly yelped as she embraced the much larger man with a hug. Rusev bump knuckles with Kofi and Mojo then hugged Ember and then Noelle.
"I didn't know you guys were gonna be here." Xavier said with excitement. Noelle then got an idea.
"I know we're dressed to unimpress." She said. "But we should take a selfie." Lana smiled.
"Let's do it." She said. The group of them gathered together for Noelle to snap a photo of them all. Noelle pulled out her phone then took the photo, showing it to everyone before posting it on her Twitter account.
"Awesome!" Noelle said before looking down the line.
"Is this the line?" Rusev asked. Mojo sighed.
"Yup." He said. "This is the line. It's movin' though." Rusev huffed.
"I hate lines." Lana rubbed his arm.
"I know, Moya lyubov'." Lana said. "This is important, though."
"I know, I know."
The McMahons rode quietly to the Calaway home to check on Michelle McCool and Bray Wyatt. Neither Stephanie nor Shane spoke as their nerves grew tense the closer to the home they drew. Stephanie looked at her phone to see if either Michelle or Bray had responded to her messages. Nothing. She sighed.
"We're almost there, Steph." Shane said in an attempt to ease her nerves and, in a way, his own. "I know they're both okay. Mark's death most likely hit them harder than it did us. They probably just need more time." Stephanie shook her head.
"I just can't shake this feeling I'm having." Stephanie replied.
"I know. I can feel it, too. Just don't think about it, alright?" Stephanie looked out of the limousine window at the scenery drifting past them.
"I just hope they're both alright."
Time passed and Lincoln Hall filled with people waiting patiently for AJ Lee and her husband Phil to appear. In the very front seats in protective gates sat Triple H, Sami, Sasha, TJ, and Noam. Sasha looked over at Sami whom, unbeknownst to his comrades, had been feeling pressure in his head ever since he sat down and trying to find the source of it.
"This is going to be wild." She said to him. "Right?" Sami nodded at her.
"I know." Sami said. Noam looked over at Sami and Sasha and wondered whether they were Alpha Humans as well before turning his attention back to the stage.
In the farthest hallway to the east, four armed guards watched the stage awaiting AJ's arrival and watching for any disturbances. Their attention was so tied to the stage that the four of them did not the men known as Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper behind them. Bray smiled.
In the back, security were scrambling around making sure the stage was guarded as heavily as possible per the request of AJ's husband Phil. There were several armed guards as well as bodyguards waiting for the Brooks' to arrive so that they could accompany them to the stage. After several minutes, the entry doors opened and in stepped AJ, Phil, Celeste, and several guards. AJ looked around at all of the security and winced.
"Why are there so many of you?" She asked. Phil shook his head.
"I asked them to be here." He answered, making AJ look at him.
"Phil, they're making me nervous. Please ask some of them to leave." Phil bit his lip and sighed before talking to the security manager standing in front.
"Just… have about three groups fall back, okay?" He said. "I don't want her to be nervous out there." The woman nodded then looked back of the group of security officials.
"Groups B, F, and G." She said. "Stay back here and guard the doors, alright?" The three groups did as they were told and gathered strategically near the rear exit. The manager then looked at AJ. "We're ready when you are, Ma'am." AJ looked at her husband and friend.
"Thank you both for being here for me." She said to them. "You ready?" Phil and Celeste nodded. AJ then turned back to the woman and said, "We're ready." With that, the still massive group of security officials led the trio through the back of the venue and towards the stage. When they reached the walkway leading to the stage, the security guards made their way out.
"I'll give you the word when it is good to come out." The manager told the trio of former Superstars.
Everyone out in the crowd began to cheer as the guards filled up the stage as they knew it was time for AJ to make her appearance. Triple H looked around at the people he could see while Sasha and TJ cheered for AJ and Noam looked on. Sami did his best to focus his powers to keep watch for Alpha Human activity, but the energy emitted by the crowd created a distraction. He grabbed Triple H's arm to get his attention.
"Paul." Sami said as loud as he could. "I can barely feel anything here! I think there's too much going on!"
"You're gonna have to work a bit harder, alright!?" Triple H responded.
"I'll try, but I'm telling you it's getting weak right now!" Triple H cursed to himself as he had not anticipated Sami's power being weakened by the environment. He turned back to the stage and he, along with everyone else, saw AJ, Phil, and Celeste step out from the sea of security guards. The cheers intensified as AJ made her way to the podium where a microphone was situated so that she was able to speak into it. AJ smiled with joy in her heart over the amount of people who showed to support her cause.
"Thank you all so much for coming to support us here!" AJ said into the microphone. "Thank you for coming to supporting the Alpha Humans because they are still human beings!" The entire venue lit up with cheers and chants as AJ continued to speak. "Yesterday was a monumental moment in history all over the world. Yesterday, the Alpha Human race was revealed to all of us and what a reveal it was!" AJ paused a moment. "It had the entire globe buzzing about it, as expected. But, for the most part, all I saw was negativity. Hurtful comments, angry gestures, and discrimination! We know nothing about the Alpha Human race because we just found out what they are! Before yesterday, we were all human beings living our lives."
In the middle of the crowd, the large group of Superstars looked on and listened as AJ spoke her feelings. Big E, paying the most attention, nearly let a tear escape his eye. His tear was noticed by Xavier before he could hide it.
"Are you crying?" Xavier asked Big E.
"No." He replied quickly. "I was just trying not to yawn. I'm still kinda tired."
"Lay off the jello shots next time, man." Kofi chimed in. Big E let out a manufactured laugh before taking a deep breath. On stage, AJ continued to speak.
"We all went to work, school, or whatever we did during the days and nights." AJ continued. "…We did it without knowing what we know. Now that it has a name, people are judging, they're hating, they're bullying! Alpha Humans are still humans regardless of what they can do!" AJ heard the crowd cheer wildly for her. She began to feel that her decision to address the sudden treatment of the Alpha Humans was the right thing to do. Phil and Celeste looked on as AJ continued, but Celeste began to hear a faint sound of booing. She furrowed her brow and looked to Phil.
"Some of them are turning on her." She said to him in his ear. Phil looked around to see if he could spot where those people were only to decide the search was for naught.
"We should love them and embrace them!" AJ continued. "Your father could be an Alpha Human. Your mother. Your friends. Your child!" People cheered louder and even began to hold up the signs some of them created for the rally, but the jeers began to grow noticed by AJ as well. The small woman felt a panic grow in her, but she stood her ground. "Please, everyone. Don't throw your loved ones away because they're different! Love and cherish them because they are who they always have been! Alpha Humans are not our enemies!" Her comment seemed to seal the division between those in the rally who supported the Alpha Human race and those who came to share their hatred.
The limousine transporting Shane and Stephanie to the Calaway Estate continued towards its destination as its two passengers rode quietly. Shane began to drift off to sleep while Stephanie sat erect with worry. She had checked her phone several times only to be disheartened when she saw that neither Bray nor Michelle had contacted her. She closed her phone out and nearly slammed it against the vehicle door before deciding to simply put it back in her pocket. Stephanie and Shane then heard the driver call out to them with an oddly distressing tone in his voice.
"I believe we are here, but…" The man said to them, cutting himself off. Stephanie and Shane looked at each other.
"But what?" Shane asked. Instead of answering, the driver got out and opened the door for the two owners. Stephanie got out first and then looked around to find an open field. She then looked to where she remembered the Calaway Estate to be and found more empty land. Shane looked on with narrowed his eyes.
"Are you sure this is the right place?" He asked the driver. The man nodded.
"This is the address of the Calaway Estate." He replied. "It just appears the home may have been moved."
"How could someone uproot an entire estate, Craig? Come on, don't talk silly, man!" As the two men went at each other, Stephanie examined the area where the home was a bit closer. She saw that there was no trace of the home ever being where she knew it should have been, but the mailbox was still present. Shane and the driver stopped arguing and looked at Stephanie.
"What's up, Steph?" Shane asked.
"The mailbox." Stephanie said. "It's here. There's mail in it for Michelle." She pulled out some of the mail in the mailbox. Most of it had been cards with get well wishes in them. She could not understand what had happened, but Stephanie knew something was amiss.
"Where the hell'd the house go then?" Shane asked. "How did it disappear?" Stephanie shook her head.
"Shane." Stephanie called out. "I don't know what it is, but something's seriously wrong. I can't get in touch with Michelle or Windham, and now the entire Calaway home is…missing." Stephanie pulled her phone out. "We need to call Paul."
"I think we should notify the police." The driver suggested. Shane shook his head.
"We can't go to the police with this." He explained. "We have nothing to give them. We can't just tell them a house was here and now it's not." Shane turned to Stephanie. "Is he picking up?"
"No." She said. "He may not be able to hear it."
The rally was beginning to grow verbally hostile the longer the crowd listened to AJ speak on behalf of the Alpha Humans. While a great amount of people agreed with AJ and supported her, an even larger group revealed themselves to simply be there to darken her message and show how they detested the Alpha Humans. In the front, Triple H was scanning the area while Sasha, TJ, and Noam covered their ears to try and deaden the noise. Sami held his temples as the pressure in his head grew too heavy for him to bare.
"What is going on?" Noam shouted. "I thought she was here to bring everyone together!"
"She was!" Sasha shouted back. "But not everyone was!"
"I can't feel anything now!" Sami said. "This could be bad! We should go now, Paul!"
"We can't leave AJ out there by herself!" Triple H shouted in response.
"She's got those guards! She'll be fine! They'll get all three of them out of here!"
Up in the middle of the crowd, Noelle looked around at the increasingly hostile crowd and immediately felt the need to leave.
"We should go before this gets too bad, you guys!" She shouted at her friends. Ember agreed.
"She's right!" She said. "This is about to get ugly real quick!" That moment, Lana felt a sharp and familiar presence in her head. Her eyes widened and she started scanning the area, her gestures drawing the attention of her husband.
"Catherine?" Rusev called out to Lana, making everyone else look at her. Both Big E and Mojo eyed her with skepticism. "What's wrong? What are you looking for!?"
On the stage, AJ was no longer able to be heard due to the gargantuan noise of the now hostile crowd. Her face had fallen from confident to slightly frightened and uncertain. She began to question the decision she made to host the rally. Before she knew it, she was being pulled down from the podium by security.
"Misses Brooks!" The security official shouted. "We need to get you all off this stage safely!" AJ's mind instinctively told her to call for her husband.
"Phil! Celeste!" AJ shouted.
"We're up front, Apes!" Phil shouted back. "Follow the guards!" AJ turned herself to follow the security off the stage. However, she felt something violently enter her body through her back and out of the left side of her chest. The heat of the object felt as if it had turned her lungs into stone as her breath began to leave her body. Her sight then grew blurry as she heard screams through her hazy hearing. AJ then felt her legs give way and felt her face hit the floor of the stage. Her consciousness quickly left her body as the security guards scrambled on stage, surrounding her as she laid motionless. Phil turned around to see his wife laying on the ground in a crimson pool and his heart immediately sunk to the depths of a darkness feared by many a man. His eyes widened and his nerves shook as he ran through the guards.
"April!" He shouted as he ran to her side and saw what happened to his wife. Phil embraced AJ's body and looked into her emptied brown eyes as a thin stream of blood began to flow out the corner of her mouth. "No-no-no-no-no, please! Please no…" Phil put his hand over the hole in his wife's chest as the crowd realized what had just happened in front of all of them. Triple H's eyes widened as he looked on.
"Oh no…" He said. "No…please don't let that be…" Celeste, finally able to make her way through the sea of security, took one look at AJ and instantly began to weep.
"Oh noooo!" She cried out as she saw her best friend's lifeless body being held by her husband. Phil, covered in the blood of his wife, buried his face in her hair and began to cry uncontrollably.
"Please don't take her from me…." He murmured. "…She's all I got left…please." He looked into her eyes once more. They remained lifeless. Celeste covered her face and fell to her knees in tears, and the security began to make their way to the stands to find the culprit.
"Scan every damned entry way now!" The manager shouted into a handheld device. "No one's leaving until we have everybody accounted for!" Phil's body began to shake as the sorrow of losing the love of his life to a man-made weapon began to fill his conscious. Celeste looked at her two friends in horror. She then noticed that the then sunny morning sky begun to rapidly fill with clouds. She looked up at the sky and then back at Phil to notice him not moving with AJ still in his arms. The sorrow that filled Phil's heart slowly began to turn into anger. Anger over the loss of AJ. Rage. Vengeance.
"Ph-Phil?" Celeste called out through her tears. He did not answer her. He instead stood to his feet with a growing rage in his face and gently laid AJ on the ground. That moment, his pupils faded to a flashing white hue and the sky unleashed a violent rain. Celeste backed away from Phil as everyone witnessed him begin to levitate into the air. The massive crowd began to run for the nearest exits as bolts of lightning and strengthening gusts of wind descended upon them. Towards the middle, the group of Superstars fought to leave their positions and make their way to safety. Noelle lost her footing and slipped, hitting her head on the railing and knocking herself unconscious. Big E ran to her aid.
"Noelle!" Big E yelled as he grabbed and proceeded to carry her out. Celeste looked up at Phil as he continued to ascend feet into the air. The higher he levitated, the more intense and numerous the lightning grew, and Celeste decided that there was nothing she could do and that she needed to leave. She stood up as quickly as she could and made her way out of the venue. Phil, with a violent cry, released bolts of lightning from his hands and shot them out at the scurrying crowd, blasting several people and searing them with the heat of the electricity. Out in the panicking crowd, Triple H looked over to Sasha and shouted at her.
"Noooow!" He shouted. "Let's goooo!" Sasha screamed to the top of her lungs.
"Everyone grab hands!" She said as she grabbed Noam's hand. She then took a deep breath and used her power to teleport the five of them out of the arena just before a bolt of lightning struck the area where they stood. The sorrowful rage in Phil's heart continued to manifest in the form of the storm his massive power created, the sheer force of the elements beginning to destroy the arena known as Lincoln Hall. He struck down as many people as he could reach with his lightning bolts as they all ran to escape the mighty Alpha Human's wrath. Outside, everyone scrambled to try to escape the storm created by Phil's rage. The wind had grown so strong that it was dangerously blowing the cars in the parking lot through the air, some of them striking unfortunate people who were unable to avoid them. The group of Rusev, Lana, Xavier, Kofi, Ember, Mojo, and Big E holding the still unconscious Noelle held on tightly to each other so they could all make their way to safety without being blown away when Kofi saw a small car headed their way.
"Car!" He shouted as everyone worked to shift out of the car's path. Unbeknownst to them, however, a bolt of lightning struck a massive chunk of the arena had been broken and was positioned to fall on top of all of them. Mojo caught the mass out the corner of his eye and turned to face it.
"Fuck!" He shouted aloud. He then took a deep breath and looked at Big E, who nodded at him.
"Xavier!" He said to his friend as he handed Noelle to him. "Take Noelle!" Big E then positioned himself next to Mojo and gathered his Alpha Human energy together in his hands. Then, the two men simultaneously unleashed their energy onto the falling pillar, the force of the energy strong enough to hold it in place. Big E turned to his friends who looked on in amazement.
"Go!" He shouted at them. "Now!" All of them ran out of the way of the pillar, leaving Mojo and Big E to the task. Mojo felt himself running out of breath and the pillar began to fall again. Big E cursed aloud as he knew they would be smashed. Both Mojo and he then felt a hand touch their shoulders. Big E looked to see Sasha Banks standing between them.
"Hold on!" She shouted. Within milliseconds, the trio disappeared into a fuchsia-colored cloud of energy and the massive pillar hit the ground with an earth-shaking slam. Kofi, Rusev, Lana, Ember, Xavier, and Noelle managed to escape the pillar and held onto each other moving through the storm. That moment, the same fuchsia energy cloud surrounded the group and Sasha appeared between them.
"Don't let go!" She shouted before making them disappear within her energy.
The Lincoln Hall arena had been decimated. Hundreds laid dead in the stands and amidst the rubble. Phil, face laden with tears and clothes stained with the blood of his wife, descended as the storm subsided. He fell to his knees and cried out for his wife as his feet touched the floor. His heart was broken into pieces and his mind was detached from reality as he mourned his loss. His tears were slowly halted by a voice resonating in his head.
"They hate you now." The voice said. Phil looked around and then felt a dark presence behind him. He witnessed a dark fog form and out of it stepped Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper. Phil eyed the two men with disdain.
"We aren't your enemy." Bray said to Phil. "We never were. Those people out there. They are your enemy. She knew what would happen today, but she trusted them to do the right thing. They took your goddess from you, Phillip." Bray signaled Luke to help Phil stand. "These people must learn their place. What you did today… was show them that we are not to be feared nor loved…but respected. We must show the world that we are here to stay." Bray then looked at AJ's fallen body. "I mourn your loss, but not as you do. Come. This world does not deserve what you and your wife have given them. Let us console you…." The broken and battered man known as Phillip Brooks was unable to speak for himself due to both mental trauma and physical exhaustion. Luke carefully led him to the dark fog formed by Bray Wyatt and the three of them proceeded to disappear, leaving what looked like a warzone in the scorned wake of Phillip Brooks.