Sorry it has taken me so long, but the garden has been keeping me busy! A lot of the match was scripted by my cousin.
This is the first story I have ever finished. And there's a part II, don't worry. I'll be taking a break though, from now until then. So enjoy this, I certainly have loved writing it.
Lily had everything ready by the time Heidi came back from her morning routine, which quickly bled into the thin sunshine of the chilly afternoon. The tall brunette was positively atwitter with the excitement of her surprise and simply couldn't contain the squeal of delight she let forth as she heard the hotel door unlock from the other side.
Entering with her shoulders sagging under the weight of her sweat-drenched parka, Heidi winced at her friend's high pitched emission and collapsed against the door.
"Holy crap, Lil, it is COLD out there!" she said, her cheeks stained with windburn, her runny nose causing her to sniffle every couple of seconds. Her wild hair, which was usually pulled back from her face, was allowed to blanket her neck and shoulders, poking out with random corkscrews and ringlets from the scarf and hat she yanked off by one dangling string.
Smiling, Lily went over to help pull free the parka as well as the many other subsequent layers of blubber Heidi had piled on before leaving that morning. Neither woman said anything about the road trip, Husky, the Nexus, or how the combination of the three had left both of them feeling. Instead, knowing that Heidi had much more important things to think about than the stirred up feelings of a high school sweetheart, Lily did her absolute best to make sure that Heidi was only thinking about Heidi.
Detecting a hint of mischief in her pal's grin, Heidi mumbled a thank you as Lily began to hang up her coat and hoodies once the Hellcat was back down to her regular workout pants and long sleeved t-shirt.
"All right, out with it. What's up your sleeve?" she asked, putting a hand on her hip in a way that looked expectant, though she was really just trying to catch her breath. The workout regimen that she'd been following was indeed helping to craft her into a finer athlete. Of course, the memory of this brought up Swagger, who had written the whole thing up, and Heidi felt the familiar sting as she replayed their last encounter in her mind.
Too excited with her surprise, Lily did not notice the brief darkening of Heidi's face. She slid the closet door shut and bustled to her bed, moving as effervescently as a butterfly who knew of a particularly aromatic flower. Dropping to one knee, Lily pulled a large rectangular package from underneath the bed skirt, complete with a fat silk ribbon in bright red across the top. With eyes filled to the brim with delight, Lily placed the box in the center of Heidi's bed and waited with her hands pressed together in front of her chest.
"I hope you like it. I had to do a bit of creative thinking to make sure everything was just right," she said nervously as Heidi dashed over and plopped onto the bed, causing the package to bounce with her.
"What is it?" she asked needlessly as she yanked open the lid of the package, tossing it and the bow behind her. A huge gasp overtook her as she stared at the contents, her mouth poised still in a shocked circle as she lifted up the first item.
Inside, was Hellcat's uniform.
"Is this a tiger print top? With beaded fringe at the bottom?" Heidi asked excitedly, standing from the bed in all haste to yank off her long sleeved t-shirt. She fumbled for a minute as she tried to push the fringe out of the way so that she could pull the top over her head. Once it was in place, Heidi looked down to admire the fine work and saw that it was tiger print save for one breast cup, which was playfully done in cheetah.
"OH MY GOD LILY, I LOVE IT!" Heidi shouted, too much in awe of her new costume to do anything other than put it on. She kicked off her workout pants and pulled on a pair of tattered capris that looked as if she'd just walked away from a fight with a lion as the victor. "And it doesn't show my tummy!" she added, obviously in praise for the outfit since Heidi was not interested in being sexy.
The strength of Lily's smile nearly cracked her face in half as she watched her friend examine how the beaded fringed covered the few inches of skin that showed from the bottom of her top to the hem of her capris.
"Oh, I'm so glad you like it! I was worried that it was a little much," she said, leading Heidi's gaze back to the box, where a pair of marginally furry boots were.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" Heidi asked with mock indignation as she grabbed one boot and then the other. She kicked her sneakers off and then sat on the edge of the bed to yank on her new fighting boots, that looked as if she'd just sewn them from the hide of her latest kill. "These are so badass, Lil!" she said, standing up to let her get a good look. "And there are gloves too?" she asked as she saw the final pieces of her costume in the box. She pulled them on, looking on as if the treasure chest just kept getting deeper and deeper.
Standing there in her new uniform, Heidi "Hellcat" Harris looked indeed like a jungle Hellcat warrior. Her boots were wild looking, her brown capris were functional and apropos to her gimmick, and the top was as fierce as the cats it portrayed. Once her gloves were on, gloves made of similar material as her boots save for the black, sports material that went around her hands, Heidi ran into the bathroom to look herself over.
"Lily, this is the coolest thing anyone has ever done for me," she said, coming out of the bathroom as she shook her wild hair around to complete the feral look.
Lily just smiled and went forward to give Heidi a light hug.
"It was my pleasure! You're a wrestler now, you need a proper outfit," she said with a pleasantly dismissive nod of her head to suggest that it was nothing.
However, Heidi returned the hug with more force than usual before letting go, and then looked up earnestly at her.
"No, I mean the whole thing. Letting me travel with you, putting me up in your hotel rooms, helping me out with that secret article, not getting mad at me when I got your car wrecked, sticking with me when I was a jerk..." without meaning to, Heidi had turned the simple thank you into an accidental apology. Her face caught up with her heart and she gave Lily a real smile. "You're the best. No doubt about that."
The tall brunette, in her cheetah print kitten heels (in support of her favorite wrestler), choked back a little sob just in time to keep from losing her cool. She knew that tears and emotions made Heidi uncomfortable so she maintained her composure and sighed out a huge smile.
"You're my best friend. Agreed, having you around hasn't exactly been the most convenient," she tilted her head to the side, looking at the statement she'd gotten from the mechanic, "but I haven't regretted a minute of it," she said. This time, her eyes misted, but she blinked them away and threw her arms around Heidi in another big hug.
When she pulled away, Lily touched the corners of her eyes lightly to ensure that no makeup was smeared, and then clasped her hands together in front of her, beholding the new and improved Hellcat.
"Oh Heidi, you look sensational!"
Hellcat grinned, standing proudly. Then, her eyes drifted to the wall clock and they bugged as if Santino had hugged her again.
"Crap!" she exclaimed, holding her forehead. "I gotta go do something. I'll see you before the show tonight so you can make me all feral and stuff, ok?" And with that, Heidi began to carefully strip from her costume and laid all the pieces out nicely before hopping into the shower to prepare for the most grueling part of her day.
Heidi found Jack Swagger pumping iron in a deserted gym at the arena they were to perform at that night. She watched him through a crack in the door as her feet seemed sluggish, like she was marching to her death. This would be the single most embarrassing apology she'd ever given, and the most revealing. Her stomach was churning like a bottle half full of water in the hands of someone running up the stairs and she actually began to feel sick as she placed a hand over her rumbling tummy.
Forcing herself into the gym, Heidi could hear the clank of metal on metal as Jack went through repetitions. He was at the bench press station, glaring at the ceiling with the singularity of determination that only a professional could exude, his grunts filling the air around him. She noticed that he wasn't wearing his gaudy patriotic onesy, or the black one he'd favored as of late, but looked like a normal guy at the gym in black shorts and a white shirt.
From her vantage point behind him, Heidi could see his blonde brows knitted together with effort and the tawny crop of hair that was currently running with sweat.
Before she had the time to talk herself out of the courage it had taken to even try and find the All-American American, Heidi cleared her throat to catch his attention.
Swagger finished his set and then pushed the heavy barbell back into the holders overhead. He sat up and wiped his brow tiredly, not having seen who the culprit was.
"Can't you find another machine? I'm thtill buthy here," he said impatiently, looking over to the source of the noise only to find the one wrestler he sorely wanted to avoid. "Oh." he said, his voice drier than toast. "It'th you."
He sounded about as excited as a kid who'd just learned his dog got worms.
Swagger's face went stony as the memory of Heidi's outrageous insults flew back into his face. She'd called him stupid and publicly embarrassed him, but the most treacherous betrayal of all was how she spat on his feelings. Finally, after much thought, Swagger understood: he embarrassed her. After all he had done to train her and help her, she was not only ungrateful but ashamed to be thought of as his girl. And that, he was pretty certain she had been, at least for a while.
His blue eyes cut to her, accusing her of the unthinkable – hurting his feelings – before he turned away to dig in the ADIDAS bag beneath the bench.
Heidi gulped.
"Jack," she began, trying to get him to look at her.
He grabbed a towel from his bag and wiped his face, ignoring her easily as he hooked his hand through the bag strap and stood, raising his arm to hoist it onto his shoulder. He then dabbed at his neck and armpits, all while decidedly giving Heidi the cold shoulder, and then mopped up the sweat from the bench.
"Jack, PLEASE! I'm trying to do the right thing here," she pleaded as she stepped forward to grab his elbow and whip him around to face her. She was tired of the brush-off and simply had to take action so that the sickening feeling in her gut would go away.
Swagger threw her off his shoulder like a monkey shooing a fly and finished wiping up the sweat.
"I haven't heard an 'I'm thorry' yet, tho you mutht not be trying too hard," he retorted. Then, just as quickly as his witty reply had come, Swagger spun around to face her. She looked truly repentant and he took a small measure of pride in that... right before he tossed the sweat-drenched towel on top of her head.
Gasping with pure indignation, the wild-haired woman pulled the wet and smelly towel from her face, grimacing as a few beads of pure sweat dripped onto her cheek. All manner of apologizing had just flown out the window and she stormed forward after Swagger as he made for the exit.
"HEY!" she called out angrily, spinning her hand so that the towel started to spiral. "I SAID, I'm trying to do the RIGHT THING!"
Right then, Heidi snapped the towel at Jack's bottom, using the damp cloth like a whip. The CRACK that sounded was nothing compared to the surprised howl that left Swagger's mouth as he hurried forward a few paces, reaching behind him to cover his stinging buttock.
"What'th the MATTER with you?" he hollered, turning at last to face her fully.
"I'm in here like a total MORON trying to apologize and you throw your nasty SWEAT TOWEL in my face?" she asked, her rage causing her to whip the towel twice more at Jack's thigh and stomach. Both blows hit and the beefy blonde doubled over a bit as the sting in his abdomen eclipsed the sting on his rear.
"Calm down, would you? I'll lithen thith time!" he assured, squirming away from the next hit, which was carefully aimed for his groin. "HEIDI," he warned in a booming voice as she was readying another mighty crack of her sweat-whip, holding his index finger up like a principle might to a naughty student.
Heidi ignored his warning and snapped the towel again, scowling back as she hollered, "You should have...listened...the first time!" while cracking the towel in between words until she was beginning to exhaust herself, hair flying, heart hammering. At long last, Heidi was showing just how much she cared as her repressed emotions came to a full boil.
Right as the towel was fully taut in the air, Jack's hand whipped down and grabbed it, tugging forward so that the girl on the other end careened towards him. Once caught, Heidi's eyes went wide, her mouth pulling into a tiny dot on her face as she stared up at the big, blue eyes she'd been without for the past handful of days.
"Thtart apologithing," he grunted, holding onto his end of towel and adding his other hand to grip her wrist to keep her from running away.
Heidi sighed and cracked her neck first to one side and then the other, as if speaking these words were going to physically strain her.
"I'm sorry for calling you stupid. And kicking you over in your chair," she said, leaning her free hand on her hip as she gave him a good look at her face, letting him search her for insincerity and ulterior motives.
Unsatisfied, Jack squeezed her wrist tighter, as if to punish her for such an incomplete thought.
"That'th it? That'th all you're thorry about?" he asked incredulously, furrowing his brows as she insulted him yet again. "You inthult my intelligenth when you KNOW I'm thmart, you make a fool of me in PUBLIC, and you don't even bother to show up for my WWE Championship match againtht the Mith?" With every sentence, his grip on her wrist tightened, like a noose. "And then, to top everything off, you come in here with thome thtupid apology about kicking me over when you KNOW that I'm upthet becauthe you're ashamed of kithing me?"
Swagger looked to the side, shaking his head as a bitter laugh came forth.
"Jack, let go!" Heidi demanded, stomping her foot and pulling against his strong grip.
"No! Not until you admit that you liked it!"
Heidi growled, her eyes narrowing as she let out an exasperated groan. "THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN TRYING TO DO, YOU BIG DOPE!"
The Oklahoma native let go of her wrist then, causing Heidi to stumble back before she caught herself against the bench he had just vacated.
"Tho you're thaying..."
"That I..." Heidi suddenly felt embarrassed, her cheeks flushing deep red as a dead giveaway. "That I like you, and have for some time!" she said, closing her eyes and shouting out the words so that she couldn't lose her nerve. There was no denying it now that she'd hollered it in his face. It was somehow fitting that the first time Heidi ever admitted she had feelings for someone that she would scream them at the poor sap after an ambush with a wet towel, but Heidi felt only marginal relief. Now that she had vocalized her emotions and brought them into the light, she felt that sickening churn in her gut again thanks to the voice in her head that told her she was too late. Jack had moved on to someone taller and older and prettier, like Maryse or Alicia Fox. Or he was no longer interested in someone like her at all!
Standing there, red as a tomato, Heidi looked up at Jack, feeling pitiful. "I'm sorry it took me so long to come to grips with that. I didn't mean to spit in the eye of all your help," she said softly, once she was able to finally get to the heart of her long overdue apology.
Swagger looked pleasantly surprised at her reaction, remembering all over again what had attracted him in the first place – her guts. Satisfied, the enormous man shifted gears quickly and in no time at all, his cocky grin had returned as he put both hands on his hips and smirked down at her.
"I knew it," he said arrogantly, reminding Heidi of all the reasons he grated on her nerves.
"You jerk! You're supposed to say something nice now!" she said, swatting at his sternum.
"All right, all right," Swagger conceded with a little roll of his eyes. "Jutht one more thing though," he said, leaning down as if he had a secret. "You didn't admit that you liked kithing me."
Heidi balked, her jaw dropping as he tried to pour lemon juice all over her sliced pride.
"Oh COME ON!" she said, laughing at his ridiculous request. Hadn't she shared enough of her warm and fluffy feelings for one day? "Can't that wait until later?"
Jack was not kidding though, and shook his head as he looked straight at her, their faces mere inches apart.
"You could alwathy prove it," he said suggestively, leaning closer so that he could finally kiss her again.
Grinning, Heidi pushed her index finger to his lips before he had the chance to land the smooch. Jack's eyes opened, looking down at her curiously, his eyes searching hers for any sign of foul play.
"I'll do you one better. You'll see," And then, without further explanation, Heidi dashed out of the gym, leaving Jack to the reps that he could now complete with the smugness he so enjoyed.
"Heya Hellcat! You see this here? This is Husky's room!" Heath Slater said in a taunting, sing-song voice as he and Justin Gabriel posed in front of a hotel room for the cameraman, who was catching the scene on video tape for the audience packed in for the pay-per-view.
"Yeah, we know about his little stunt in getting you here so we decided to keep him from making any more mistakes," Gabriel explained, knocking on the door and then going quiet to listen for the reaction on the other side. When nothing was forthcoming, he and Slater shared a laugh, the latter shrugging his shoulder.
"Oh well, Hellcat. Guess there's no one to come save you now!"
From backstage, Hellcat watched the clip of the Nexus barricading her brother with a stoic expression. She had never counted on Husky to come save her, she had never asked for his help, nor had she in any way counted on him like she used to. Instead, the clip merely steeled her nerves, knowing that, at the very least, the Nexus was down by one.
The main event came quicker and with a greater vengeance than Hellcat had thought possible. The heavy boos that came before her (thanks to Wade Barrett) were replaced with youthful cheering as 'O Green World' began to play, the techno groove ushering in the new and improved Hellcat, complete with crazy curls that bounced any which way they pleased.
The fans went wild at the sight of her new outfit and Hellcat played along, grinning and pumping her fist in the air as she boogied down the ramp and towards the intimidating steel cage. Wade Barrett was already standing at the steel steps, one foot lifted on them as if he had a bit of the cap'n in him, and a smirk on his face that she wanted to punch inside out.
"Lily, wow! Look at Hellcat tonight! This is the most professional we've ever seen her," Lawler complimented, leaning back in his chair and waving his hand towards the caged ring.
"Oh what do you mean, professional?" Cole countered, CM Punk nodding next to him. "That ridiculous outfit isn't going to help her win this match!"
"I've got to agree, Cole," Punk said, adjusting his microphone as his eyes, heavy with disdain, followed Hellcat as she approached the steel steps. "That uniform will probably be the most exciting part of this main event. I don't even LIKE Wade and I know he's going to win," Punk added, turning a smug look to Lily, whom he simply loved to torment now.
Rolling her eyes as she watched the referee unlock the steel cage, Lily tucked a sheet of sleek brown hair behind her ear. "Please, the uniform is a must for any wrestler who wants to be taken seriously. I'd say she's already showing determination towards this match if she cared enough to show up looking like a real Hellcat."
Climbing the steps, Hellcat swallowed hard and scoped the layout of the ring to see where exactly the table, ladder, and chairs were. However, as soon as the door shut behind her, the referee locked the cage and the match began, the bell ringing out to send the crowd into their excited chatter.
Hellcat spotted the pile of arsenal lying out of the way in the ring in one place, with Wade Barrett being the closer of the two to the potential weapons. With a loud roar, Hellcat rushed at the British goon, intending to take him out at the knees to land on top of the table, ladder, and chairs. However, with his mind also on speed, Barrett ran at the pile and grabbed a folded steel chair. He swung as she bolted towards him, as if he were going to play the most violent game of baseball ever, a severe look on his face.
"He's going for the steel chair, can he connect..." Lawler asked as Wade brought his arms back completely to swing the chair with all his force into Hellcat's face.
"Nope!" Lily cheered happily as Hellcat slid underneath the blow, hopping to her feet on the other side while Barrett gave one full rotation from the momentum. As he was gaining his balance, Hellcat lunged forward, grabbing the chair with both hands and wrenching it from his grasp to toss it aside, the chain link clanking as the steel chair collided.
Fighting back, Hellcat made sure her feet were planted and then sent a donkey kick to Wade's stomach, doubling him over as a loud "ugh!" flew from his lips on the wings of spittle. Grabbing his arm, Heidi leaned back and started to run, forcing Wade's feet to follow as she pulled him into the ropes to set up for one of her favorite moves – the Hellcat Feral Lunge.
As Wade was flying into the middle of the ring, Hellcat was on the other end, crouched down until the final moment, when she sprung, her arm hooked out to catch Wade's knees and topple him over onto his big, ugly, crooked face.
"She's going for the lunge!" Lily said, nearly biting her pristine manicure down to shreds.
Right as the move was about to connect, Wade's wits returned to him and he instead countered the move by bringing his boot up to kick Hellcat in the face. Royally booted, Hellcat flew so hard that she did a backwards somersault to land in yet another crouch, shaking her head as she tried to keep her rolling eyes on the greasy prize.
"Both Barrett and Hellcat are taking a bit of a breather, it looks like," Lawler said, tapping his pencil on the desk in front of him as he clearly disapproved of kicking girls in the face.
"Ha, did you see how far she flew?" Cole asked, looking over to CM Punk who also looked somewhat pleased. However, being the wrestler that he was, Punk did not count Hellcat out of the equation just yet.
Lily glared over at the two men making such merry of her friend's potential injury. "Of COURSE she flew, he's twice her size!"
"She should have thought about that before she got in the ring with the leader of the most dominant group the WWE has ever seen!" Cole retorted, each word a slap in Lily's face. "She's toast! The only reason Barrett isn't the victor already is because he's been holding back."
"That's funny," Lawler interjected in that tone of voice that let everyone know he had something funny to say. "I thought it was because he put too much oomf on that swing and Hellcat out-maneuvered him."
Barrett walked around, regarding Hellcat with the same look he gave to all pleasant things, and wiped his nose, nodding at the referee. There was indeed no holding back now. She stood as an insult to his leadership and his prestige and he would stand for her mockery no longer.
He ran forward, all 260 pounds of him intent upon ending this pitiful charade before she had the opportunity to gain any more momentum. He grabbed one of her arms and then jerked her towards him, lifting her arm over his head to pull her onto his shoulder in the perfect setup for a Wasteland.
"THIS IS IT!" Punk vociferated, throwing himself forward from his seat to watch the meddling brat get what she had coming.
The crowd began to boo loudly as Wade stood up, carrying Hellcat with him on his shoulders like a deer he lugged home for that night's supper. However he quickly lost grip on her as she began to squirm, elbowing him full-force in the side of the head time after time until finally she slid down his back.
Landing with catlike agility, Hellcat, never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, hooked one leg around Barrett's ankle and then pulled back as hard as she could while shoving forward with her hands.
"Oh, she's knocking him down like a tree! I'm impressed, I think that outfit has gotten Hellcat into the right frame of mind to win this thing!" Lawler said with a full smile, clapping a little as the large WWE superstar fell face-first, hitting the mat for the first time that night.
Barrett struggled to his hands and knees, crawling to the corner to lean against the ropes and gather his breath while the crowd cheered his demise. Holding onto one rope, Wade attracted the attention of the referee, who came over to check if he was well enough for the rest of the match. Barrett shooed him away with a heavy swing of his arm and hoisted himself up the ropes into a standing position, shaking his head to clear the smarting sensation from his already crooked nose.
With her heart thudding with ever increasing speed, the rush of blood the only sound she could hear save for the occasional, errant cheer, Hellcat ran over to the chair she'd flung away from him earlier. Picking it up, she turned around to wield it like a club, holding the legs as she watched Wade Barrett stagger to his feet.
She ran forward, swinging the chair at Wade's middle to double him over again, taking away his height advantage so that, maybe, she could knock out a few of his teeth. Alas, at the last minute, Wade held his arm out, taking the brunt of the blow away from his middle, though the crash of metal on his arm rang from the steel cage to the furthest reaches of the stadium.
The blocked blow caused the chair to vibrate from the hit, shaking Hellcat's arm so much that she had to let go and hold her hand. Wade allowed her no such time for recovery though, and grabbed her injured hand, yanking her close and pulling her leg up to hoist her onto his shoulder, setting up for another Wasteland.
Wade gave a smirk full of hubris to the crowd as their faces hated him from the other side of the steel cage, the people booing and throwing their empty cups at the ring.
"Oh my god," Lily breathed, holding a hand to her mouth as the breath shot from her lips. This was it.
With a laugh that turned into a twisted roar, Wade leaned back and then threw Hellcat forward onto the mat, where she struck so hard that she bounced up once, completely airborne, and then fell again, limp.
"That's it, ladies and gentlemen. Just like I said it would end, Wade Barrett picks up the victory over the intruder, Hellcat!" Cole announced gleefully, standing to applaud the Brit's fine performance.
Wade dropped and hooked both of Hellcat's legs in one of his big arms, pinning her knees to her chest just as her senses came back to her. The crowd started to clap in a slow, rhythmic chant that soon caught around the arena like wildfire, the chant of "HELL-CAT!" in time with their claps as they tried to rally the done-for woman from almost certain doom.
Hellcat's eyes opened just as she saw the black-and-white striped jersey come rushing at them, his arm swinging high into the air to pound the mat once. She had lost.
CM Punk joined Michael Cole, the two of them offering a standing ovation to Wade Barrett's impressive Wasteland, glad to finally be rid the pesky fly they had been fruitlessly swatting at for over a month.
Lawler shook his head, his expression the very face of disappointment. He sighed, forcing himself to watch as the ref swung his hand up to deliver the two count.
Hellcat had lost. It was over. There was no way she could pull her shoulders up from the mat with her knees squashed against her chest. The slightly hairy boots were silhouetted by the bright lights glaring into Hellcat's squinting eyes as she remembered, again, that no one was coming to save her. Her mind flashed to Swagger, but he didn't have the time.
She had lost this one all on her own.
Wade, figuring that he had won, started to stand by the time the referee was bringing his hand down for the third and final count.
And that was all the window Hellcat need.
In a surge of strength, the blonde spitfire kicked her legs up, breaking free of the count mere seconds before THREE was called.
"TWO AND A HALF, HELLCAT KICKS OUT OF THE WASTELAND AT TWO AND HALF, A FEAT UNHEARD OF!" Lily screamed excitedly, leaping from her seat and holding the headpiece to her ear to make sure that every home viewer was sure of what she had said.
Back to her feet, Hellcat leaned against the ropes as the referee came over to check if she was all right enough to continue. She was smart enough to take the small breather this allowed her, and only nodded when she had caught her breath.
Instantly, the wall of black-and-white moved clear to reveal a spitting mad Wade Barrett at the other end of the ring, his arms along the top rope, looking like a bull scraping his hooves. He watched her carefully, with a look that promised not to make the same mistake twice, reminding her with a cruel sneer that it was only because of him that she was still in the match.
Hellcat ran for the chair with the singular intent to keep a weapon in her hands if at all possible. Against a bigger opponent she could use all the advantages she could get. The possible risk of having the chair stolen from her was one she was willing to take, especially after she had almost lost her only opportunity to win her brother back.
Wade too was hellbent, but only to finish the match. He moved quickly and with the fluid motions of someone who had performed the same move over and over, trying to pull Hellcat into yet another Wasteland.
"Wade just won't back down, he wants to end this as brutally as possible," Punk commented, nodding his head as he leaned his arm over the back of his chair, like he were a coach giving notes on a game well played.
"But Hellcat won't either!" Lawler replied.
The crowd's cheering made the whole place thrum as Hellcat artfully dodged the grab he aimed at her arm. Wade stumbled for a mere moment and his female opponent wasted no time in slamming the chair against his back, cutting him to his knees as he howled in pain. She could take no pleasure in the scrunched look of pain her enemy wore and waited as Wade got to his feet and turned around to face her, earning another deafening CRACK from the chair. With a woozy expression, Wade fell back like a single domino.
Thinking fast, Hellcat opened the folding chair and placed it in front of Wade Barrett and then ran to the other side of the ring to try her Feral Lunge a second time. She crouched down, her arm hooked over the rope as she waited for Wade to lumber to his feet.
Once he was standing, Hellcat burst forward, running as fast as she could, throwing her arm out to hook around his knees.
"This time she connects!" Lily called, sitting back down and scooting forward so that she could be as close as possible to the action.
Barrett's knees buckled, his feet sweeping from underneath him to force him, once again, forward. He fell like a great elm and didn't realize until it was too late that he was going to crash face-first into the folding chair she had set up while he was down.
As his head struck the steel seat his entire body went floppy and he fell to the ground to eat mat.
The crowd, Lily, and Lawler were all on their feet as Hellcat grabbed one of his heavy legs and leaned back for the cover.
Hellcat could not see what the crowd was gasping and screaming about, having long ago stopped listening to them as she narrowed her focus. She would not make the same mistake Barrett had and let up on her hold before she was absolutely certain that the victory belonged to her.
The referee slid towards her, swinging his arm up for the one count that was totally lost as the crowd began screaming and booing at something neither Hellcat nor the referee could see.
Horrified, Lily watched as Justin Gabriel hopped out from underneath the ring before the referee had even begun counting.
"What's he got there?" she shouted, pointing to where Gabriel was fumbling with something small and silver just as the rest of the Nexus (minus Husky) were flying down the ramp.
"HE'S GOT THE KEY!" Lily shrieked, trying to get the ref's attention.
It was too late though. By the time Justin got the cage door open, the referee was only counting TWO and the dogs were inside.
Immediately, David Otunga ran at Hellcat and slammed his hip into her, knocking her off his boss, who was sufficiently wasted for the time being. Michael McGillicutty rushed in to help his teammate, grabbing the steel chair she had used to defeat Wade and folding it thin again. Raising it over his head, McGillicutty brought it down on Hellcat's back, causing her to yelp and jump in pain.
Slater and Gabriel came next, hoisting her up to her feet and throwing her into the ropes. On the rebound, both men were readied with their arms stacked on top of each other, catching Hellcat in the gut, her air shooting from her lungs as they forced her back into the ropes. This time, as she bounced back towards the pair, she moved right into a face-buster from the One-Man Rock Band.
"It is chaos in there tonight, ladies and gentlemen, and things are starting to look pretty bad for Heidi "Hellcat" Harris," Lawler said, trying to keep as fair a spin on a bad situation as he could.
"Oh what is THIS?" Punk demanded to know as he watched Rey Mysterio, Jack Swagger, Randy Orton, and John Cena storm the steel cage, throwing wide open the door Gabriel had unlocked to pour into the ring like a mob.
Immediately, John Cena pulled the table forth and set it up in the middle of the ring while Mysterio dragged Hellcat by the ankles into the corner where she was less likely to be injured. She was not bleeding, like the last time she'd been struck with a chair by the Nexus, but no amount of patting her face helped to rouse her.
The roar of the crowd had become something truly incredible as they watched the purple-shirted hero duck a swing from Otunga. As David left his arm groping for the attack, Cena grabbed it and pulled him onto his shoulder, where he kicked and wriggled, but to no avail. With a mighty heave, Cena delivered an Attitude Adjustment that sent Otunga from the A-List to the B-List.
"I'm surprised to see Randy Orton here," Lily said, looking left and right to see if her colleagues shared her sentiment. "I mean, I'm certainly glad to see him, but he never showed an interest in helping Hellcat before. I wonder what changed his mind."
"Lily, I hear what you're saying," Lawler answered, "but I think most REAL men," here he took a glance Cole and CM Punk, "are sick to their stomachs to see a group full of guys beating up one girl. Maybe Orton's just listening to his instincts."
"Oh please, Orton is playing the numbers game. By interrupting a main even he puts himself in the limelight and aligns himself towards this perpetually PATHETIC underdog. He's not doing anything noble, I can promise you that," Punk sniveled, rolling his eyes at both Lily and Lawler's disgusting naivety.
Back in the ring, Randy Orton was just setting up the other steel chair a few paces from the ropes. He turned around to throw a clothesline at Slater, who was trying to attack him from behind to give McGillicutty the chance to give Orton a DDT onto the very chair he himself had set up. With their foul plan botched, Slater hit the ground and flopped over onto his boss's motionless form, leaving McGillicutty alone with the Viper.
With his cold, dead eyes, Orton dodged one attack from Michael, ducking as his punch went wild and then waited, ready to strike. When Michael came back, Randy was ready and grabbed McGillicutty's head to administer an RKO onto the steel chair. His head struck first and then he tried to stand, an amazing effort in and of itself, only to stumble right into a flying dropkick from the top rope by Rey Mysterio.
The fans went berserk as McGillicutty fell to his knees and then crumpled onto his face.
Lily clapped right along with the crowd, hardly knowing where to look until she noticed Justin Gabriel climbing to the top of the turnbuckle. Her delicate fingers clenched her pen as she tried to see who was in the line of fire and then stood up, throwing her pen at the cage as she saw Heath Slater dragging Hellcat's body from the protection of the corner.
"SWAGGER, DO SOMETHING!" Lily harped, leaning forward on both hands as she tried to get the All-American American's attention from the headlock he was ruthlessly squeezing around Otunga's neck.
Jack looked up as he heard Lily's voice, the shrillness of it cutting easily over the din of the crowd. He looked left and saw nothing that required his immediate attention, but as he looked right he saw Heath Slater moving out of the way with Hellcat lying, unconscious, in the perfect position to receive Gabriel's 450 Splash.
Roaring, Swagger dropped Otunga, who held his throat and took heaving breaths to regain his oxygen. The 265 pound haystack moved quickly, jumping over Hellcat's body to proceed like a train off it's track right up the turnbuckle, using the bottom two ropes like stairs. Gabriel kicked at Swagger to push him off but the All-American American was not done in so easily. His face was furious, even more so than usual, and it was the last thing that Justin Gabriel saw as Swagger brought his fist out and then swung a huge haymaker. The punch hit Gabriel on the chin, toppling him over backwards to hang in the ropes, both hands holding his face, which had started to bleed.
"How about that Swagger!" Lawler said, for once with something like praise to say about the tall blonde wrestler. "Looks like whatever issues he and Hellcat had were worked out, because he is on fire right now! Look at him!" He said, throwing his arm towards the ring as Swagger unceremoniously untangled Justin from the ropes by grabbing his ankle.
"HE'S GOING FOR THE ANKLE LOCK!" Lily said, unable to control the volume or excitement of her voice.
Once Swagger had the ankle lock on Gabriel, he roared angrily and started to drag the South African towards the door of the steel cage.
"Where is he going?" CM Punk asked, his lip curled into a frightfully disapproving glare.
Swagger dragged Gabriel down the steel steps, his head bouncing off each stair as he was promptly escorted out of the arena entirely, bleeding and scraping as Jack Swagger took him out of the competition as literally as humanly possible.
"I can't BELIEVE Swagger just did that!" Cole shouted hatefully, as if he took the act as a personal affront. "Someone needs to take him under their wing and remind him what being a WWE superstar is all about! He's lost sight of himself all because of THAT girl right there," he said, pointing childishly to where Hellcat was still lying, out cold.
"Oh stop it, Michael! You're only bitter. Swagger is showing us a renewed aggression and you're upset that it was brought on by actually giving a hoot about someone? You're too much," Lily said, shaking her head to stop herself from saying something unladylike.
"Its not ABOUT that, Lily," Punk snapped, "its about consistency. He and Hellcat have had their share of ups and downs so its obvious that, as a team, they need to break up."
"Weeeeeeeell," Lawler began, drawing attention away from the bickering beside him, "it looks like both of the legal wrestlers are still out and show no signs of getting up! I've got to wonder who has the real advantage here."
Just then, The Miz ran down the ramp, the crowd and commentators alike reacting loudly as the WWE Champion charged the ring like a river that had escaped it's dam.
Inside the steel cage, Randy Orton had just delivered a scoop slam to Heath Slater and was watching for the perfect moment as the One-Man Rock Band blundered to his feet. However the perfect moment never came as The Miz rushed Orton from behind, sending him sprawling headfirst into the steel cage.
Sheamus flew down the ramp then, running as fast as his alabaster legs could carry him and leaping onto the top steel step. Throwing open the now-useless door, Sheamus stepped inside and looked around for Hellcat, remembering all too well how she had given him a dual set of knees-to-the-face, rendering his match a disqualification all those weeks ago.
The crowd went from booing the Irishman's arrival to suddenly cheering as yet another body stormed the caged ring, this time none other than John Morrison! His bedazzled pants glimmered like tiny beacons of hope as the lights hit them, moving faster than Sheamus had and ascending the steel steps on the wings of applause.
With Sheamus still in front of him, Morrison lifted a leg to side-kick the ivory tower further into the ring, where he fell on his knees.
Once inside, Morrison continued his assault on the King of the Ring, Sheamus O'Shaunnessy, drop-kicking him in the chest so that he stumbled back. On his way, Sheamus tripped over the form of Wade Barrett and then landed hard on his bottom, wincing and holding his lower back as he stood up.
The Miz kicked Hellcat so that she rolled out of the way, regarding her as little more than trash that was beneath him to dispose of. Just then, a fresh faced John Morrison charged the obnoxious WWE Champion, throwing his body into the turnbuckle in a might body slam. The Miz fell down, holding his shoulder as John Morrison set up for his finisher.
"Oh, and here it comes," Lily said with a small smirk on her face.
Morrison hopped up, bouncing both legs off the top ropes and then started to spin in an impressive aerial display.
"STARSHIP PAIN!" Lily cheered as Morrison's finisher hit, leaving The Miz temporarily down for the count.
"Don't count out Sheamus," Cole snidely reminded as the King of the Ring threw Slater across the ring, landing harmlessly on the table, and then hastily scrambling off before he was put through it.
Feeling proud, John Morrison reveled in the whooping crowd as he stood up from the Starship Pain and looked around, just in time to receive a brutal Brogue Kick from Sheamus.
"What did I tell ya?" Cole asked, looking straight at Lily as if this had become a personal war between the two of them.
Morrison spun around completely, his hair and mouth flying slack until he crumpled to the ground and remained there.
"All right, I've had it," CM Punk declared, standing up and throwing off his headset. Before Lily could register what he had in mind, CM Punk had hopped over the announcer's table and was climbing the steel stairs!
Cole looked on and then, after a particularly unpleasant grin, he too threw down his headpiece and charged the ring.
"COLE, GET BACK HERE!" Lily wailed, kicking off her kitten heels under the table. She scooted back in her chair, as if readying to join the action in the ring and was stopped only by the calming hand that Jerry "The King" Lawler placed on her armrest.
Punk's direction was clear and he wasted no movements at all as he rushed into the cage, which was quickly turning into a free-for-all. His eyes were trained on John Cena and all of the sign waving, purple-shirted bologna that he embodied.
Cena had Otunga on his shoulders again but was thwarted as CM Punk rushed him in a powerful clothesline, knocking Otunga off to collide headfirst onto the table. Cena fell to one knee as he looked up to his attacker, befuddled to see Punk, who should have been at the commentator's table.
Punk's eyes were like a pair of twin Mars, burning holes through Cena's skull as he kicked Hustle, Loyalty, and Respect square on the chin. The larger, broader Cena fell over backwards, and Punk, never one to let moss grow on a good thing, started stomping his enemy's face, holding onto the ropes and jumping to drive his boot forcefully onto Cena's neck and head.
Meanwhile, Rey Mysterio had just moonsaulted Heath Slater, driving the ginger into the mat. Heath was not so easily disposed of, however, and leapt quickly to his feet. Alas, he jumped up too fast and was the victim of a scoop slam from Orton that had him seeing a circle of birdies around his dizzy head. He scuttled to the ropes, hanging there to catch his breath and wipe his brow, relishing in the small reprieve as he unwittingly lingered in the perfect setup for a 619.
"What's Del Rio doing here?" Lily and Lawler both exclaimed as Alberto del Rio charged the ring as well.
"He was on Team Hellcat, but I don't think he's here for her tonight, guys," Lily said, looking over to Lawler, who was the only person still at the table with her.
Mysterio had just leaned on the ropes to build his momentum for the 619 that would eliminate Heath's threat in the match. He was running but seconds before he grabbed the ropes, Alberto del Rio, who obviously cared more about his hatred for Mysterio than helping Hellcat, tackled his sworn enemy brutally to the ground. Over top of him, the Mexican Aristocrat started wailing on Mysterio, pounding his fist again and again into the black mask he loathed so entirely.
Lawler had finally seen enough.
He tossed his headset and then abandoned Lily to take care of the commentary as he jogged around the table and up the steel steps as the cage about the ring rattled from all the commotion inside.
Lawler's first victim was Alberto del Rio, whom he kicked off of Mysterio, giving the latter a chance to hop to his feet and shake off the blows that had almost done him in. The King then turned around and spotted his number one target: Michael Cole. Cole was trying to help The Miz up from the mat, pulling on his arms and pleading for him to start standing. Still dizzy from the Starship Pain, The Miz sat up, but his head lolled heavily, his chin drooping to his chest.
"Michael Cole is desperate to get The Miz on his feet but I don't think he sees Lawler behind him," Lily announced heatedly, her voice firm and excited. Unable to see much of the action, Lily moved back her chair and climbed onto the table, standing in her bare feet while the rest of the world got an excellent view of her tiger-print dress.
Stepping forward, Jerry Lawler tapped on Michael's Cole's shoulder. Cole looked behind him and then flew forward as Lawler landed a punch so hard that a mouthful of spit flew from the commentator's lips.
However, this unintentional sacrifice gave The Miz the time necessary to stand. Waiting for Lawler to turn around from his revelry as the crowd praised him for doing what they all wished they could, The Miz wiggled his fingers, staying low to pounce. As soon as the opportunity presented itself, the champ streaked towards Lawler and put his hands behind his head, staring back at the crowd with a detestable grin, rubbing it in their faces as he made them watch. Kicking Jerry's feet out from underneath him, The Miz gave him a Skull-Crushing Finale and then hopped up to point at the audience with a sick smile on his face.
As he was taunting the crowd, doing his best to secure himself as the biggest and most loathsome heel in the company, The Miz turned around and then startled as he walked right into an RKO. Orton fans from around the arena flew from their seats with fists raised in the air as he put an end to the awful WWE Champion.
"Oh it is absolute anarchy in there, ladies and gentlemen!" Lily announced, using her solitude to prove how fine a broadcast journalist she was. Holding the headset to her head, she carried on to say, "from my vantage point I can see CM Punk continuing the assault on John Cena, who is not looking good, my friends. In the other corner, we have the river-rat, Alberto del Rio giving Mysterio a brutal Rolling Cross Arm Breaker, and it looks like Sheamus is going for the High Cross to Morrison!"
Standing like a pillar of the whitest porcelain, holding John Morrison in an overhead T position, Sheamus' intent was clear.
"Oh my goodness, this is exciting! Sheamus has set up a chair and intends to put an end to Morrison once and for all here at this TLC Cage Match! The two legal wrestlers are still out cold, but can they survive the mayhem without getting hurt?" Lily asked, glowing as her moment to shine brought out the very best in her. Without having to compete with Cole and Punk she was allowed to do what she did best: call things like she saw them.
As Sheamus was stepping forward to throw Morrison over his head and into the chair, his opponent started to wriggle and easily crawled out of the High Cross, landing on his feet behind the enormous Irishman.
Thwarted, Sheamus turned around and grabbed at Morrison's arm to throw him into the chair instead, this time connecting so that both the glittery-panted buffoon and the steel chair went rolling.
"And now we're back to Cena as he tries to block the savage blows from none other than CM Punk, who somehow thought it was his job to interfere in this match as well!" Lily continued.
Punk was absolutely ravenous with rage. His eyes were wide and frenzied as he punched and kicked again and again. After a punch that landed so hard that even Punk had to shake his hand afterwards, Cena started to stand. The crowd stood with him, hoping that, at last, someone would punish Punk for all his misdeeds.
With silent hatred, CM Punk swung again to keep Cena from standing.
But this time, John Cena caught Punk's errant fist.
From every corner of the stadium, people were cheering as Cena got to his feet and then hauled Punk onto his shoulder. With that signature grin that everyone associated Cena with, the purple-shirted man threw Punk sideways off his shoulder in yet another stunning Attitude Adjustment.
Adding insult to injury, as Punk was trying to get up, Cena grabbed his foot and then locked his legs around Punk's, putting him immediately into an STF and pulling back mercilessly on his chin to drive the pain into every part of the greasy jerk's body.
Morrison, who was recovering from the tumble into the steel chair, climbed to the top rope, waiting for Sheamus to turn around and notice him. As he did, The Guru of Greatness jumped, drop-kicking the King of the Ring into the ropes to dangle, ready for the 619.
Seeing that Sheamus was set up for a flawless blow, Morrison looked frantically around for Mysterio. Spotting del Rio on top of him, giving the San Diego native a Rolling Cross Arm Breaker, Morrison charged. Standing over top of del Rio, Morrison jumped up and then landed with both legs on top of the Mexican Aristocrat's head.
Alberto del Rio loosened his arm-bar on Mysterio, who rolled away cradling his arm to his chest. The tall Mexican with his almost-golden trunks turned a wretched eye to Morrison, considering him to be his new opponent and yelling at him in Spanish.
"Its Morrison and Alberto del Rio now, who will be the quicker...?" Lily asked hypothetically as she leaned forward, watching everything unfold from the relative safety of her stance on top of the table.
Morrison ran up the ropes as quick as a rabbit running from a predator and then turned, kicking del Rio in the side of the head. Alberto swooned, his eyes going instantly blurry, and then fell into the ropes the same way Sheamus had.
With feeling back in his arm thanks to Morrison's save, Rey saw the chance for a double 619. He chose del Rio first, bouncing off of the ropes opposite his target and then swinging through to drive his knees into his number one enemy's face. Without a moment to spare, Rey leaned back on the ropes again and delivered a second 619 to Sheamus, putting both of them out of the fight for good.
Alberto fell to the side, under the ropes, and lay there, motionless. Sheamus staggered backwards and it took both Mysterio and Morrison to roll him out of the way.
Exhausted, Morrison stuck his hand out for Mysterio to shake, both men nodding as their hands clasped. Lastly, they both walked over and helped up John Cena, who leaned heavily between them on their shoulders as the three men made their way out of the cage.
"There are bodies everywhere," Lily informed as she nodded to Mysterio as the three of them shuffled up the ramp and away from the scene of such awesome carnage. "Wade is down, Hellcat is down, Slater is down, Gabriel has been dragged from the ring in an ankle lock, Otunga is down, The Miz is down, Sheamus is down...!" she said, counting up the bodies she could see and trying to remember who she was forgetting.
The chaos flared brightly, rendering the steel cage a battlefield filled with carnage and bloodshed for all of about 3 minutes and then burnt out just as abruptly. There were bodies strewn everywhere, draped over chairs, tangled limbs, and the slow, steady breathing of people who were not about to stand any time soon.
Miraculously, Hellcat started to stir. She sat up, holding her head and checking for blood, like the last time the Nexus had beaten her with a chair, and held her head for a moment as she tried to make the throbbing pain go away. Every heartbeat was like a pulse of pain through her skull, her face strained to try and will the hurt away.
"HELLCAT ROUSES!" Lily cheered, realizing that her friend was the body she saw moving. There was no missing the hair, and her new outfit certainly helped distinguish her from the other, larger, more noticeably male bodies about her.
She hopped to her feet as a wave of cheers hit the roof and bounced back, the crowd a jumping mob. Looking around her at the carcasses that shared the cage, she wondered just what the heck had happened in the brief time she'd been out. It seemed as if an all out war had gone on, with no clear victor since everyone in the ring was quite out.
Without preamble, Hellcat started to climb the side of the steel cage.
"She's going to escape, the Hellcat is climbing for her freedom AND the victory while Barrett is still on the mat!" Lily announced, grinning down to Jerry Lawler, who had just exited the cage to rejoin his lovely co-anchor at the table on which she was standing.
Hastily fitting his headset on and considerably pleased that he had knocked Michael Cole in the face, Lawler added, "she's got to climb out or knockout her opponent now to win this. The door is unlocked so she can't exit that way for a victory!"
Barrett began to stir, sitting up and shaking his head as he blinked away the tiny dots that danced at the edge of his vision.
Renewed in her purpose, Hellcat climbed faster, scrambling up the side of the cage until she stood at the very top, some twenty feet above where Barrett was just getting to his feet.
Hellcat saw the narrow window of time closing as Barrett's strength came back to him, just as hers had. It was her last chance to silence Barrett and she took it without a second thought to how high she was and how wrong something so risky could go.
"HOLY CATS!" Lawler shouted as Hellcat leapt from the top of the steel cage. "BARRETT IS IN FRONT OF THE TABLE!"
Indeed, Wade Barrett was in the wrong place at the worst time.
As Hellcat gained momentum from her mighty leap, she readied herself and then landed a flawless drop-kick to the British villain. Her hide-looking boots hit him right in the chest before she braced herself for the fall.
Barrett flew back into the table, the weight of his body with the added velocity of her twenty-foot drop kick busted it clean in half to leave Barrett lying in the wreckage.
He was not getting up.
The chairs were set up on each side of the table, having been positioned by wrestlers who met other untimely ends. The only weapon left in Hellcat's arsenal was the ladder.
She grabbed the tall silver ladder and opened it with a yank of her hands in opposite directions. Once it was upright, she moved it carefully to straddle Wade's feet, and began to climb the rungs.
"Why isn't she going for the cover?" Lily asked hysterically, holding her forehead as she jumped up and down. "She has him! SHE HAS HIM! Heidi, go for the COVER!" she shrieked.
Lawler glanced up at his colleague, her floor-length dress and glossy hair seeming suddenly out of place as she lost her mind with worry. "She's out for blood, Lily! She wants to send a message! The Nexus have been ganging up on her and beating her senseless for weeks now. This is the time and place to make a statement!"
Lily pouted, her shoulders slumping as she caught her breath. "But she has him," she whined, gesturing with a bangled arm to the ring, where Barrett was obviously not getting up.
For the first time since the main event had begun, the crowd was silenced. Only the dull murmurs of disbelief were heard as Hellcat ascended one rung at a time to stand at the very top of the ladder. Awed to the point of silence, her fans watched, their stomachs in knots as they waited for the spectacular display.
Just then, the Titantron flickered to life and the Nexus theme song began to play.
"Heidi," a familiar voice rang out, using her real name instead of her stage one.
Hellcat turned as "we are one" faded, leaving Husky Harris alone at the top of the ramp, a microphone poised at his lips. Her eyes burned with a fire that could not be controlled as her brother dared to interrupt the most important match of her life. Without a microphone she could not reply and merely had to listen to what he had to say.
"Heidi, you can stop this. You can go home to mom and dad who MISS YOU. This is... this is crazy! We shouldn't be fighting like this, we're family..."
Right then, Justin Gabriel ran out from backstage and knocked the microphone from Husky's hand as he ran towards the ring. Slater too was standing now and her window of time to put Barrett away once and for all was shut.
Slater and Gabriel stared up at her for a moment and then both rushed the ladder, knocking it over with Hellcat still on top. She jumped out to avoid the jagged debris of the broken table and the unforgiving steel of the ladder. Landing on her hands and knees, Hellcat took a huge breath to regain the wind that the landing had stolen from her.
Her glare as she stood promised that she would not be fazed by such petty motions but she was tiring. After a drop-kick from the top of the steel cage and an ungraceful topple from the ladder, the last threads of her resolve were beginning to unravel.
Husky stood, mouth agape at the ruthless move his teammates had used to try and thwart his sister. When she hopped up he closed his jaw and saw that, as usual, she had not listened to a single word he'd said.
Throwing his arms up in defeat, Husky Harris decided that the time for words was over and that the time for action had come.
To the amazement of the crowd and Lily alike, Husky started walking towards the ring.
"Well, well, well, it looks like CM Punk has finally crawled his way back to the commentator's table. It looks like you took a beating out there, Punk, are you all right?" Lawler asked hypothetically, wearing a falsely civil grin.
CM Punk hoisted himself into his chair, angrily grabbing his headset to place it back on. His chest was heaving as if he'd just run for his life from a bear and his slicked-back hair was as disheveled as his ego.
"That girl is a MENACE!" He shouted, pointing an accusatory finger to the steel cage where Hellcat was trying to face off against Slater and Gabriel. "She's worse than the Nexus... SHE NEEDS TO GO!"
Lily looked down as CM Punk's voice reverberated in her headset. She dismounted the table gracefully with the help of Jerry Lawler's hand, which she held until she was firmly on the ground.
"Oh what's this?" Punk taunted, standing from his chair to face off with Ms. Stark. "Did the little flower get mad because I called her friend out? You've been nothing but a butt-kissing, sign waving FAN of Hellcat ever since she's arrived, UNANNOUNCED might I add, to start wrecking things on RAW and Smackdown! You're just as much a part of the problem..."
Filled to bursting with disgust, Lily approached CM Punk and walloped him right in the nose.
CM Punk looked shocked for the fleeting seconds before he fell to the ground, holding his face.
With an expression that suggested Lily had done no more than take out the trash, the tall and ordinarily pacifistic brunette dusted her hands off and took her seat. She sat tall and proud and allowed herself the privilege of a small smile as Punk groped for his seat again to hoist himself from the ground.
The crowd was cheering right along with Jerry Lawler, who was simply beside himself with a fit of laughter.
"Oh man," he said, wiping the tears from his eyes as another bout of merriment shot through. "You not only got silenced by a girl, but the nicest one in the WWE!" Lawler added, slamming his hand on the table as the joke at Punk's expense just got better and better. "Lily Stark... punched you in the FACE...!" he said, barely able to speak as the guffaws kept coming.
Inside the ring, Hellcat had no time to look and see why the crowd was chanting an unfamiliar name (LI-LY!) or why they were all so excited. Her vision darted back and forth between Slater, Gabriel, and the referee who was standing out of the way. There was no way she could get the three count on Barrett now, despite his immobility.
"Slater and Gabriel are guarding the body of their fallen boss, Wade Barrett!" Lawler said, giving Lily the chance to worry her lip at the sight.
Hellcat looked to them, one after the other, like a lion closed in by other, larger lions, and debated her options. The thought of a double clothesline entered her mind but she dismissed the notion, knowing her brain grasping at straws. She had neither the strength nor the physique to pull off such a move, but there was no much else available to her. If she attacked one, she would be attacked by both, and if there was one thing she knew it was that she was in no position now to fight two strong and speedy opponents.
Just then, the crowd's roar started to grow as the All-American American tore down the ramp, a steel chain dragging behind him from his ankle.
"Oh my, look at this! Swagger is charging to the steel cage, dragging what looks to be a chain behind him! That must be what took him so long to come back, they trapped him!" Lily hollered in total excitement. With Swagger there to even the odds then Hellcat had a fighting chance.
The chain dragged noisily up the steel steps, tearing Hellcat's attention away from Slater and Gabriel for a split second as Jack Swagger re-entered the ring. Justin Gabriel looked nervously at the Okie, having been the victim of a vicious ankle-lock the last time he and Swagger had been in the rinf together, mere moments before.
Despite their earlier reconciliation, neither Swagger nor Hellcat had anything on their mind but triumph. With the crowd losing control of themselves, Hellcat stepped to the side to face Slater, who stood in front of the steel chair on one side of the destroyed table. Gabriel stood in front of the other, and, with a single nod, both Hellcat and Swagger rushed their targets.
"A double charge!" Lawler cried.
Hellcat caught Slater in the middle and sent him hurling backwards at the same time as Swagger sent Gabriel soaring. The flash of cameras and the glare of the lights caught the moment in every spectator's memory as the last remaining members of the Nexus flew into the steels chairs and then moved no more.
Swagger nodded his head towards Barrett, urging Hellcat to make her move before he had the chance to get up and make the match even more brutal.
Hellcat rushed Barrett and flopped onto his chest. Hooking her arms around on of his great legs, she leaned back to go for the cover.
The referee came out from hiding as the whole arena chanted with him, "ONE, TWO...!"
Before THREE hit, Hellcat leaned her head to whisper "gotcha," in Wade Barrett's ear.
When the ref's hand came down to complete the three count, Hellcat sprung up from the wreckage of the table, her face scrunched as she howled so loudly that her voice started to crack. The victory was hers and with it came the spoils.
She could talk to her brother as much as she wanted.
Seeing Husky at ringside from through the chainlink, Hellcat climbed the cage a bit, pointing her finger at him in a promise to speak with him later. He held her gaze, quiet and expressionless, and then nodded.
Lily started to cry, fat tears of joy pouring down her cheeks as she watched the siblings take the first step towards renewing their relationship.
Hellcat looked around for a microphone and started shouting her request to the referee, who could only guess what she wanted by reading her lips thanks to the ear-splitting applause of the crowd. He gave her one and she took it, putting a hand on her hip and catching her breath, grinning confidently as the chant of her name reached the roof.
"I have one last things to prove," she began. "One last person to thank," she said, looking to Lily, who was clapping on top of the table again, this time joined by Jerry Lawler. Hellcat winked at her best friend, and then turned to address the audience, who had gone quiet only to hear what the newest wrestler in the WWE had to say.
Behind her, Swagger was happily tossing bodies out the door. First, he chucked Alberto del Rio, and then he kicked Sheamus so that he toppled painfully down each step. Hellcat caught him in the middle of hoisting Michael Cole onto his shoulder to chuck him out of the ring and then grinned, beating her chest the same way he did when he had landed a victory.
Jack let Cole drop ungracefully into a heap by the door and looked to Hellcat, as if he began to understand what she meant earlier that day about doing him one better. He looked around the arena for a moment, catching his breath, and then looked to the small, unruly young woman before him.
He gazed at her for what seemed like a long moment, watching her lift the microphone to her lips in slow-motion.
"That last person I want to thank is Jack – "
This time, it was Swagger who acted.
He stepped forward and tossed the mic from her hands, an act to which she narrowed her brows and hollered "HEY!" in total confusion. However, there was no mistaking his intentions as he wrapped an arm around Hellcat and picked her up, silencing whatever speech she had prepared by pressing his lips fully against hers.
Lily's tears of joy turned into a long and drawn out "aaaawwwwwwwww!" as she leaned into the fatherly side-hug Lawler offered her. She laughed, her smile outshining the glistening tears, and started to applaud again with the rest of the crowd who simply couldn't get enough of their newest superstar and her accidental boyfriend.
Heidi's breath caught in her chest, her eyes wide for a moment before she finally forfeited to her feelings and threw her arms around Swagger's neck and her legs around his middle, kissing him back forcefully with a handful of black onesy in her fist.
As they parted, neither party could staunch the wide grins that stretched their mouths, and as they walked up the ramp to Hellcat's music, there was no denying that the WWE had just earned a new and thrilling superstar.
Lemme know whatcha think.