Title: The ARK Angels of DX in Monster Ink
Author: Kaykyaka
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the WWE and TNA characters used within this fictional story. No copyright infringement is intended and no money is being made by this work of fiction.
Ratings: K+
Characters: Shawn, Cameron and Cheyenne Michaels, Amy 'Lita' Dumas Michaels, Hunter Hurst Helmsley, LC Helmsley, Aurora Rose Helmsley, Chyna, Trish and Randy Orton, Melina and Johnny Hennigan, Batista, CM Punk, The Beautiful People, Edge, Jeff Hardy, Rey Mysterio, Stephanie and Chris Jericho, The McCools
Summary: An evil spirit takes possession of Batista and CM Punk and chaos ensues for the RAW locker room. DX discover that the problem is tattooed on the two Superstars but can Shawn and Hunter help them and protect their family at the same-time?
Chapter Twenty One - The Big Sleep
The Civic Center, Philadelphia, PA at 8:45pm:
CM Punk pulled up to the arena and turned off the car, he sat for a moment looking at the place where he would be performing tonight most likely for the last time, how ironic that it was in the City of Brotherly Love, a city that had shown him so much love - Philadelphia. After the stunt he pulled at Matt Hardy's birthday party there was little chance he was gonna get off with just a warning. He looked over at Velvet Sky who was asleep in the back of his car. He envied her, she looked so peaceful as she slept whereas he hadn't been able to close his eyes in over two weeks.
What nobody understood was that when he used his power he was re-energized by it and sleep was totally unnecessary. Nobody was interested in hearing that, people like Angelina Love and Edge just wanted him to get rid of his power saying that it was "dangerous" and Punk laughed at that thought thinking how easy it was for people to dismiss what they didn't understand. It never occurred to him that Homicide and Samoa Joe, two of his oldest friends wanted him to give up the power too for the same reason. Punk had hypnotized himself into believing that they were wrong and he was right; in the mind of CM Punk everything was a-okay.
That didn't make this moment any easier though and Punk sighed realizing he was about to give up the profession he loved so much for a power he now loved just as much. He had plans for getting by, plans which would go into action tonight.
"I'll be back real soon baby," he said to the sleeping Velvet Sky in the back seat before he exited his car and headed towards the Civic Center. As he entered the building and approached the locker room he could tell from the expression on the RAW wrestlers' faces that something was up and that something was his time in the WWE. As he changed into his ring gear DX came into the locker room and everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up at them.
"Could you guys give us a minute we want to talk to CM Punk in private," Hunter asked the other RAW wrestlers and they left the locker room leaving Punk with Shawn and Hunter. The Game sat down next to Punk while Shawn remained standing by the door. Hunter had a solemn look on his face and out of the two he actually looked the more sympathetic; Shawn's expression was stern and unyielding which wasn't how the guys usually described HBK, Punk couldn't even look at him without flinching.
"You know Punk you're a young guy with a lot of talent, no-one can deny that you belong in the WWE ring," Hunter said looking at Punk earnestly, "So many guys would love to be in your position right now, you represent where every young wrestler wants to be when he starts to climb the ladder to success. You know Shawn and I think highly of you in the ring, it's your behavior outside of the ring that has caused us to make a decision we never thought we'd have to make. But we have to protect our company and act in the best interests of the guys and girls that make this company so successful. Hopefully one day you'll understand that we're doing this for you too,"
"Spit it out Hunter what are you trying to tell me?" Punk said.
"We're suspending you for 90 days without pay, after that if you still haven't cleaned up your act you'll be gone from the WWE for good," Hunter said and CM Punk nodded.
"Okay," he said nonchalantly and Shawn's face dropped.
"Okay?" he repeated in disbelief, "Are you kidding me? You just got your first strike and that's okay? Don't you care about your career at all or has this thing you call a power totally rotted what's left of your heart?"
"Shawn calm down," Hunter said.
"No I will not calm down!" Shawn said angrily, "Do you know how awful I felt when I got fired the first time from the WWE? If I had a gun Punk I would have killed myself, that's how much I wanted to be a wrestler! Nothing was more important to me than making my dream become a reality and now your dream of being a wrestler has taken a back seat to you wanting to put people to sleep and you're too possessed to realize it!"
"Shawn that's enough!" Hunter said firmly and HBK threw his hands in the air in frustration while Punk sat there surprised by the level of emotion Shawn had just displayed.
"Why do you care so much?" Punk asked Shawn and HBK came closer to him.
"Because this is our business, Hunter and I have dedicated our life to making this company what it is today and now we're running it to make sure guys like you get an opportunity to shine the way we did. Are you really gonna throw all that away now for some stupid magic trick?" Shawn asked Punk indignantly.
"It's not a trick," Punk replied just as indignantly and Shawn shook his head sadly.
"Yes it is a trick, it's a trick from the devil himself to make you throw your life away. You think you can hypnotize other people and make them go to sleep huh? Well if you ask me you're the one who needs to wake up," Shawn said.
"Can I at least say goodbye the fans?" Punk asked.
"Why so you can put them all to sleep and then laugh about it? I don't think so come on let's go, I want you out of the building right now," Shawn said firmly and Punk was surprised by HBK's harsh attitude.
"Why are you being such a hard-ass?" Punk asked him.
"Because you're dangerous and you will remain so until that demon is out of your body," Shawn said and Batista burst through the door.
"Speaking of dangerous," Hunter said, "Hi Dave, how's your week been?"
"Exhausting," Batista replied impatiently.
"Yes all that flying around must have worn you down huh?" Hunter said, "Do you mind, we're kind of busy in here,"
"I need to change for my match," Batista growled.
"You don't have a match Big Dave you have an in-ring promo with Rey Mysterio and I believe its right now," Hunter said looking at his run sheet and Batista headed down to the gorilla position and saw Mysterio standing in the ring.
"Are you ready to go?" Shawn asked Punk who frowned.
"What you're going to escort me out of the building?" Punk asked surprised that DX were being so stringent with him.
"We believe you're holding a certain Knockout hostage in your car," Shawn said.
"She's not part of the deal," Hunter said taking Punk by the arm and ushering him out of the locker room and Shawn escorted him to the parking lot while Hunter watched the promo Rey Mysterio was about to cut on Batista from the gorilla position.
RAW Live:
REY: I don't know if you fans have noticed but one of the WWE Superstars has had a little change of heart recently, in fact, I'd go as far as to say this man has no heart whatsoever. And that's not easy for me to say because the man I'm talking about is a good friend of mine and that man is Dave Batista. [the fans boo heavily] I can tell from your reaction that you have noticed a change in Dave like I and the entire RAW locker room has. What I'd like right now is for Dave Batista to come to the ring and tell me and all of you what the Hell is going on. [the fans cheer] Batista - come on out!
Batista's music hits and The Animal comes out and does his pyro entrance and everything proving that Trish and Shawn were right and that Batista and the dragon were one and the same. Batista picked up the microphone on the ring step and entered the ring and stood opposite Rey Mysterio who looked up at him wondering if this man in front of him was really Dave Batista and not the monster that mauled his wife last week.
REY: Is that you Dave, Batista are you in there?
COLE: I don't think Rey's gonna get any words out of Batista right now.
KING: Batista's just staring at him like a piece of meat.
REY: Is there anything you wanna say to explain your actions over the past few weeks? Attacking Superstars, even going so far to put your hands on Mickie James, a defenseless young woman? How could you put your hands on her, when did you become such a despicable monster Batista? She's much braver than you are; you're nothing but a gutless coward!
It was at this point that Mysterio noticed something in Batista's eyes; the light and flicker of human intelligence was long gone and the cold, chilling stare of a monster was there in its place: Batista had left the building and a monster waiting to devour him was now standing across the ring from him. He was in danger and he had to get out of there fast. Being the consummate professional Rey decided to finish his promo first.
REY: You know I hope you're not the real Dave Batista because I would never want to do to one of my best friends what I'm about to do to you.
Mysterio hit Batista on the head with his microphone and drop-kicked him into the ropes where he executed a 619 much to the fans' delight. The move stunned Batista but he shook it off and dove for Rey Mysterio who ran out of the ring to the back with Batista chasing him.
"Nice promo Rey, you better get outta here!" Hunter said tripping up Batista giving Mysterio time to get away.
"I'm way ahead of you boss - 619!" Rey hollered and seconds later he was gone.
"Where'd he go?" Shad from Cryme Tyme asked and JTG shrugged looking at Batista.
"He picked the perfect time to leave," he said noticing how mad Batista was when he looked up and couldn't see Rey anywhere.
"You guys are up next get outta here," Hunter said to Cryme Tyme who headed to the ring for their tag match against JBL and Kane. Hunter took the tranquilizer gun he had concealed in his pocket and shot Dave with it, "Yes!" he said as Batista started to get woozy, "Now Shawn can finally lay hands on him,"
Hunter hoisted Batista over his shoulder and carried him into the locker room and then ran out to the parking lot to get Shawn. HBK had his head in the back of CM Punk's car trying to get Velvet Sky out without hurting her. All Punk could do was watch because he knew if he touched Shawn he was as good as dead.
"When you've come to your senses then you can see her again," Shawn said to him, "Now get out of here,"
"Whatever you say boss," CM Punk said mockingly as Hunter ran up to Shawn noticing the sleeping Knockout in his arms.
"We better get her inside so that I can wake her up," Shawn said.
"Batista's passed out in the locker room," Hunter said and Shawn smiled.
"You got him, fantastic let's get inside," Shawn said and the co-owners of the WWE went back into the arena while Punk watched them from the parking lot.
"Hey Hunter," CM Punk called and DX turned around to him, "I've got three words for you," he said.
"Cover your ears!" Shawn said to Hunter and The Game put his hands over his ears and they hurried through the doors, "Lock it!" Shawn said to Hunter who wedged the door shut with a steel bar so that Punk didn't get through. "I knew he was up to something," Shawn said as he lay Velvet Sky down in the men's locker room while he went to get some water.
"I better go secure the other entrances and tell the other wrestlers to be on guard," Hunter said running out of the locker room while Shawn sprinkled the water on Velvet.
Nothing happened.
"Huh?" Shawn said to himself as Velvet Sky remained asleep. He sprinkled some more water on her but again nothing happened, "What's going on?" he said to himself and he took her hand and prayed over her but when he was through she still remained asleep. Before he panicked he went to find Trish who was in the main event with Randy Orton tonight. He didn't have to look far as Trish was on her way to him.
"Trish I can't wake Velvet Sky up," he told her.
"I know," she said.
"Do you know why?" Shawn asked her noticing that Trish was a little distracted.
"Yes," Trish replied and Shawn looked around and noticed that all the wrestlers were heading towards the exit.
"What's going on?" Shawn asked Trish.
"Punk is on his way to the ring, when gets there he's gonna tell the whole arena to Go To Sleep. Under the circumstances I thought it would be best if all the wrestlers left the building," Trish explained.
"But what about the fans?" Shawn said.
"If you bless the water in the sprinkler system you can wake them up," Trish said.
"Hey this door is locked!" Kofi Kingston said trying to get the exit door open and a group of the wrestlers rammed it busting it wide open and headed for their rental cars without changing. Shawn could hear the fans cheering and Hunter went to the gorilla position and saw Punk coming down through the fans.
"That sonofabitch!" Hunter said clenching his fists angrily and he was about to head for Punk when Shawn quickly pulled him back.
"You can't go out there or he'll put you to sleep too!" Shawn said, "I'll go out there,"
"Have you laid hands on Batista yet?" Hunter asked Shawn.
"No I was trying to figure out what was going on with Velvet," Shawn said.
"What do you mean?" Hunter asked.
"She won't wake up," Shawn said.
"Oh man, okay we'll deal with that later right now you have to get that demon out of Batista," Hunter said to Shawn who didn't want to leave the fans to the mercy of Punk's sleep inducing power either.
"Okay, are we off the air?" Shawn asked Hunter who nodded, "Thank God,"
Shawn ran into the locker room while Hunter watched from the gorilla position as Punk got into the ring with a live microphone. The fans were cheering him like crazy and even though he didn't care anymore, there was a part of him that knew he was going to miss this for the rest of his life.
PUNK: Due to some internal problems the show will be ending early tonight which is a shame because this would have been the last time you would have ever seen me in a WWE ring. You see today I was suspended by co-owners of the WWE Shawn Michaels and Hunter Hurst Helmsley.
Punk explained what was happening in his own biased way and the fans booed heavily,
PUNK: I know, I know, it really makes you wonder if the WWE wasn't better off in the hands of its old boss doesn't it?
Hunter's eyes widened at the sound of a "DX sucks!" chant from the fans and it took everything within him to stop himself from going out there and telling the fans what was really going on with CM Punk.
PUNK: Yes DX do suck but not as much as it sucks to walk away from all of you.
Hunter wondered why his mic hadn't been cut yet, then he turned and saw the production crew leaving with all the other wrestlers probably thinking there was going to be another fire. Punk could not be stopped and the next few seconds were inevitable,
PUNK: At least now you can go home early and catch a few zzzzs. There's just one thing I want to ask you guys before I go, please think of me when you Go To Sleep.
The sound of thousands of bodies slumping down into their chairs across the arena was like that of a thunderous hailstorm. To Hunter it was like watching a reverse Mexican Wave and he hoped none of the fans were hurt as they fell back into their seats.
"Ha-ha!" Punk laughed still holding the mic, "Oh and Shawn if you're back there trying to revive my girlfriend, she can't be woken up by those holy hands of yours. You see I put her under a special spell where the only way she can wake up is by a kiss from me and since you just fired me, you're fresh outta luck!" Punk said and laughed again.
Hunter slapped his hand across his head and went into the locker room to see how Shawn was doing with Batista.
"You didn't happen to hear any of that did you?" Hunter asked Shawn who had his eyes closed and his hands on Batista's chest. Beads of sweat were coming down his face, he was really concentrating but he wasn't sure if he was having any effect on Batista at all. He could feel the demon inside Batista but for some reason he couldn't cast it out.
"Shawn stop," Trish said to him putting a gentle hand on his shoulder and Shawn opened his eyes.
"Trish you shouldn't be here," Shawn said concerned for The Truth's safety and she showed him her ear plugs, "Oh, have you got ear plugs too Randy?" Shawn asked TKO.
"What?" Randy replied having not heard a word due to the ear plugs in his ears.
"Nevermind," Shawn said, "I can't cast the demon out Trish and I can't wake Velvet up, what's going on?"
"Punk put a curse on Velvet so that she can only be awoken when he kisses her," Trish explained and Shawn sighed.
"Kind of like a warped version of Sleeping Beauty except the prince is really a punk," Hunter said.
"And what about Batista?" Shawn asked Trish.
"That one's a little more complicated, God told me you have to await instruction from one of his angels to cast the demon out of Batista and when you cast the demon out you won't be in human form," Trish said and Shawn just stared blankly at her.
"That's it I'm going home," Shawn said getting up.
"What about Dave we just can't leave him here?" Hunter said.
"No let's wait for him to wake up instead!" Shawn said sarcastically and Hunter narrowed his eyes at him, "Look I can't do anything for the man here I need to go home and talk to the ARK Angels,"
"Why?" Hunter asked.
"Didn't you hear what Trish just said?" Shawn asked Hunter.
"Yeah I did and she didn't say nothing about no ARK Angels," Hunter said and Shawn frowned looking at Trish.
"You weren't talking about the ARK Angels just now?" he asked her confused.
"No if I were this whole thing would have been over weeks ago," Trish said and Hunter gave Shawn a "duh" look.
"So what angel are you talking about?" Shawn asked Trish.
"God doesn't usually give out the names of angels beforehand," Trish said and Shawn scratched his head.
"So what do we do in the mean-time?" Shawn asked.
"You had it right the first time Shawn, turn on the sprinkler system, get the fire marshal to evacuate the building, go home and take Velvet Sky with you. There's nothing more we can do but wait on the Lord," Trish said and Shawn nodded realizing that he had been a little impatient.
"Okay let's get out of here," he said picking up Velvet Sky and left with Hunter, Trish and Randy after turning on the sprinkler system before the effects of the tranquilizer gun wore off.
30 minutes later in the Civic Center male locker room . . .
Batista came to and sat up on the bench he was laying down on soaking wet. He held his head and shook off the woozy feeling he had.
"How you feeling Big Dave?" CM Punk asked him and Batista looked up surprised to see the young man with the big black circles around his eyes.
"Like I've just been shot in the ass with a tranquilizer gun," Batista replied groggily.
"That's because you were," Punk said and Batista's eyes shot open.
"What?" he said outraged.
"DX shot you with a tranquilizer gun, pulled you in here then left the building," Punk said and Batista realized that the locker room was empty.
"You mean the show's over?" he asked Punk who nodded, "I gotta get outta here," he said getting to his feet.
"Where are you going?" Punk asked running after him.
"I don't know I just have to go," Batista said.
"To get revenge on DX?" Punk asked Batista.
"Maybe, I don't know, why are you asking me so many questions?" Batista said storming through the exit doors of the Civic Center.
"Because I'm an unemployed wrestler with a lot of time on his hands," Punk replied and Batista turned around to him.
"What are you talking about Punk?" Batista asked him and Punk noticed that Batista's skin was changing.
"DX suspended me," Punk said, "I have a huge bone to pick with them and I'm gonna need your help to do it,"
"Why should I help you?" Batista said his teeth sharpening and his face becoming more lizard-like.
"Because we're friends Big Dave, you and me are alone in a world where our friends are trying to destroy us and we have to stick together if we're going to survive," CM Punk said.
"I don't need you, I don't need anybody," Dave spat and CM Punk gasped as Batista's hands started to turn into claws, "I have to go now, stay away from me if you know what's good for you,"
Batista turned away but Punk pulled him back, "I know what's good for me alright and it's hanging out with you," Punk said and Batista looked down at Punk's Pepsi tattoo which was spinning all by itself, "Pretty coo isn't it?" Punk asked Dave with a smile.
"Yeah it is pretty cool," Batista said mesmerized by the spinning blue, red and white colors.
"Now whad'ya say we go for a ride and I'll tell you what I've got planned for my 90 day suspension?" Punk said cockily.
"Hop on," Batista said and he turned into a dragon much to Punk's amusement and he hopped on his back.
"I could get used to this," he said as Batista took to the air and flew high up into the sky, "How about a loop?" he said and Batista did a 360 spin in the air much to Punk's delight, he had successfully hypnotized Batista and now The Animal was under his control, "DX are gonna regret ever getting rid of me," he vowed looking down at the land below thinking it wouldn't be long before most of the people on it were either doing what he told them to do or running for their lives. Either way the next 90 days were going to be extraordinary.