Chapter 11
"Hey Austin, so much for keeping her in once piece dude" Alex cracked as he watched Austin carry Madison into the dressing room and place her down gently on one of the chairs in the room.
Austin glared at him.
"Well I didn't see you come out to offer any assistance in taking those bastards out!" Austin shot back angrily.
"Hey, whoa dude, it was a joke – chill out!"
"A joke? I don't see how Maddy and I getting jumped by Kazarian and Bentley is a joke Alex"
Madison looked up at her two team mates, both looking like they were ready for a fight. She rubbed her throbbing head and frowned. This was the last thing the group needed heading into a tag title showdown with the likes of Team Canada.
"Will you two just shut-up please!" she said as she stood up and started to make her way towards the door. Both men just looked at her in surprise.
"What are you doing?" Alex questioned as he watched her hobble to the door.
"I'm going to get aspirin and an ice pack from the trainers"
"I'll come with you" Austin stated as he headed towards the door.
Madison gave him an exasperated look; all she wanted was to be alone right now.
"Look, I'm 21 and quite capable of walking a few meters down the hall by myself. I'll be back in a few minutes" she replied before walking out of the room.
Alex looked at Austin before shaking his head.
"That girl is really starting to get on my nerves" he muttered to himself.
Austin glared at Alex, but just got the look returned to him.
"Oh come on dude – the attitude, the evasiveness and secrecy every time we ask her something? You yourself were complaining about her on Tuesday remember? After you had that argument? Honestly do we really need all of this?"
Austin just looked away. It was true – he had gone to Alex after his argument with Madison at her house – he had told him everything that had gone down.
"I almost got her to talk about D'Amore today"
Alex looked at him in surprise.
"What'd she say?"
"Nothing, you guys barged in through the door before she had a chance to say anything".
Alex sat down in the chair across from Austin.
"Look, you know we can't keep this up – something's gotta happen. It's been almost a month – a month of being beaten up by Team Canada because of this chick. Now, from my point of view she needs to either start talking or start walking, because I'm getting a little tired of it"
"So have you thought about the offer?" Rodrick questioned. He was standing outside the soundstage on his mobile phone to girlfriend Jade Chung.
"Yeah, but I don't know babe, it's a long way to travel each month, and well you know I don't get on well with Austin"
"Austin's an ass to most people – and his not getting on that well with Madison either"
"Yeah, but I bet he still prefers her over me"
"Well, that can be changed you know" Rodrick snickered.
"How?"
"Well, by exposing this secret she is hiding from everyone for one"
"Yeah, but how is that going to help?" Jade replied.
Ever since she had turned down Dixie Carter's initial offer to come to TNA to complete the reformation of Generation Next, Rodrick had been hounding her with phone calls asking her to reconsider. All the time they spent together, which was not a lot these days due to conflicting schedules, usually involved him coming up with different scenario's on how to bring her into the company. This latest one involving the idea of removing Madison and inserting her into the group was just another in a long list.
"Well, the length's she is going to hide her secret means it must be juicy – I bet it would be enough to make Austin think twice about getting involved with her"
"Why are you doing this Rodrick? What has she done to you that is so bad for you to want to destroy her career basically?"
Rodrick sighed and ran his hands through his hair.
"Look, there is just something I don't about her that I don't trust. I trust you and I want you here with me"
"I'll think about it, okay" Jade said "I gotta go – love you"
"Love you too" Rodrick said before clicking the phone shut. He looked at the time – ten minutes till match time. He smiled before heading back inside to meet up with the rest of his group.
Madison stood in the middle of the ring with Rodrick and Alex as Team Canada made their way down to the ring. She sighed in relief to see it was only D'Amore accompanying the champions Bobby Roode and Eric Young. She had been expecting both Devine and Williams to be there as well – and with Austin having been called into a meeting with TNA management, she was dreading the idea of having to deal with them all by herself.
D'Amore gave her a big toothy grin as he made his way around to the opposite side of the ring.
"Can you please leave the ring ma'am" the referee said, pointing to the outside of the ring. Madison stepped outside, allowing the referee to signal for the bell to be rung and the match to begin.
Madison spent most of the match avoiding D'Amore and studying the wrestling taking place in the ring. As much as she hated Team Canada, she had to give them credit in the fact that they had exceptional talent inside the ring. She was grateful that she had the opportunity to be this close to the action – there was no better place to learn then being at ringside.
Towards the end of the match she watched Alex set Young up for a superkick. However, just as he was ready to move, D'Amore reached in the ring and grabbed Alex by the ankle – resulting in Young being able to recover anddeliver a hard kick himself.
Madison charged around to where D'Amore was standing – his face plastered with a superior grin, like he had just single handily won the match for his team.
"What the hell was that!" she yelled as she got closer.
"That, my pretty little friend, was what good managers do; they look out for their charges. You could learn something you know"
Madison smiled at him.
"Look out for this" she said as she punched him right in the jaw. He tumbled to the ground in surprise.
"Ha, Madison just clocked Coach D'Amore right in his big fat mouth!" Mike Tenay laughed.
"He is completely out of it, what a sucker punch from the little blonde" Don West replied, trying not to laugh.
"Hang on, what is this – Madison's now up on the apron. She just hit D'Amore for interfering in the match, and now she's doing the same thing!" Mike spluttered as he watched Madison flirt with Eric Young on the turnbuckle.
"What a hypocrite! Wait, is that Petey Williams making his way down to the ring?" Don replied, watching Petey make his way to the ring where Madison was still standing on the apron.
Madison turned around as she heard the crowd start booing loudly, only to find Petey standing at the bottom of the entrance ramp looking up at her.
"Get off the apron now" he simply stated, not moving towards her, but having that look in his eye that said not to mess with him.
"Or what? You going to beat up on a woman too?" she snickered. There was no way he was going to intimidate her – even though she believed he probably was a big enough asshole to actually hit her, after all, he did hang out with the likes of D'Amore.
Petey looked into the ring before looking at Madison.
"I mean it, I'd get off that apron if I were you"
"What is Petey doing just standing there?" Don questioned as he watched Madison and Petey exchange threats with each other.
"Hang on a minute Don – what is Roode doing?"
"It looks to me…….oh come on! He's going to irish whip Rodrick straight into where Madison is standing!"
Madison was about to tell Petey exactly what she thought of him when she felt something hit her in the back. Unable to keep her balance on the edge of the apron, she fell forward. However, instead of once again eating the mat on the outside of the ring, Petey simply stepped forward and safely caught the young Canadian in his arms.
She looked up at him, expecting him to drop her on the ground at any second, but to her surprise he simply placed her down gently on her feet. She looked at him, unsure of exactly what to say.
"What the hell was that Don – Petey just placed her on her feet? What the hell is going on here?"
"Beats me, hey, wait a minute – is that Jack Evans?"
"I think it is – what the hell? He just jumped Petey from behind – I thought was friends with Team Canada. Is he part of Generation Next?"
"Look at that – Rodrick just rolled Bobby Roode up in a small package. Don, we have new Tag Team Champions!"
Madison looked up in time to see D'Amore glaring at Madison across the ring and to see the referee raise Alex and Rodrick's hand in victory. She looked over at Jack to see him extend his hand to her as he headed to the ring. She looked up at Alex, who just nodded his head at her and smiled. She took Jack's hand and let him lead her into the ring to celebrate with the new champions. It was short lived though as D'Amore grabbed the microphone.
"Listen up Madison – this is the final straw. You know, I can handle it when the likes of Sabin turn their back on me – he was just a student. But you! You were special to me and this is how you repay everything I ever did for you?"
Madison just looked at him before signaling for a microphone.
"Our past has nothing to do with this Scott – it's just business"
He smiled at her, realizing right then and there that her past was something she was desperate to keep a secret from everyone.
"You haven't told your little team mates there about our past, have you? Well get ready guys, because on Impact on Tuesday – I'm going to tell you and the whole world all about Madison Mendes!"
Rodrick looked at D'Amore before looking back at Madison – she was as white as a sheet. He smiled to himself. Looks like uncovering her secrets was going to be easier then he expected!
"Their past? What the hell is D'Amore talking about?" Mike questioned as he watched the three other members of Generation Next confront Madison.
"Well, we know she was a student as his school. I guess were going to have to wait until Impact Mike!"
