Chapter 25:
"Haley!" Jeff Hardy was near frantic as he burst into the medical room. He had watched the Highlight Reel with mounting horror as Jericho snapped, not only severely injuring Shawn Michaels, but knocking his valet into a heap on broken glass when she tried to interfere in defense of the Heartbreak Kid.
Hunter turned to face the Rainbow haired warrior. He had been standing back, giving the trainers room to remove the glass and clean up the cuts on Haley. It had been a long time since Jeff had seen such cold fury on the face of the Game. His eyes stared at him with subzero temperature, his expression was impassive. Every emotion within Triple H had been banked. Jeff was no longer looking at the King of Kings, he was looking at the Cerebral Assassin.
"Jericho's going to pay for this…dearly." Hunter spoke low, his tone making the hairs on the back of Jeff's neck stand on end.
Jeff had thought along the same lines, but in hot tempered rage, as he watched the man who was supposed to be one of Haley's best friends turn on her. Hunter was thinking in terms of rage, but he was cold, calculating. He was the man that Randy Orton had learned all his tactics from.
"I trusted that bastard with Haley." Hunter continued in the same voice. "I let him take care of her against my better judgment because I know what he's capable of. I thought he might have changed, the way he was with her. I was wrong; I won't make that kind of mistake, not with Haley."
"How is she?" Jeff was almost afraid to ask, the fear stemming from setting Hunter off. Jeff had originally planned to take care of Jericho for this, but he had forgotten the bond Hunter and Haley shared. They were family, blood related or not, Haley had gone from being the Rock's prodigy to the Game's rising star.
"A little bloody, a little bruised, but no worse for wear." Hunter glanced over his shoulder at the Women's Champion. "Jericho's fortunate that's all she suffered or I'd hunt him down right now and kill him."
"He's definitely not himself. Something snapped in him. I mean, Jericho used to defend Haley against everything; he got right in my face the short time we were fighting. If he'll do that to her, who knows what else he'll do to Shawn?" Jeff shuddered at the thought.
"Shawn isn't innocent." Hunter shook his head. "He can take his licks and fight his own battles on this one. Haley was out there doing her job and he turned on her. For that, I'll kill him."
"You're not the only who wants to." Jeff ran a hand through his multi-colored hair. "Not only am I willing to go after him for her, but John Cena just tore apart his locker room."
"Well, you two are going to have to wait in line." Hunter's fist clenched. "Just wait until Dave finds out. There will be a whole new form of punishment unleashed. After I'm done, anyway."
"Dave!" Matt Hardy entered his friend's hotel room, Shannon Moore right by his side. "Did you watch RAW?"
The Animal looked up from the new set of papers he had been given by Stephanie McMahon. He had missed RAW that evening due to his meeting with her and Shane about scheduling and appearances, but he had made sure to tape it. Haley would kill him if he missed it entirely. He hadn't played the tape back yet and had planned to when she called him like she did after every show. She hadn't called yet, but he assumed she was running late; probably getting caught up with Hunter or something.
"No, I was waiting for Haley to call me. I had a meeting so I taped it and was going to watch her match talking to her." Dave didn't like the expression on their faces. "What's going on, guys?"
"You might want to sit down, and watch Jericho's Highlight Reel." Matt suggested cautiously.
"Okay." Dave lowered his large frame onto the edge of the bed, while Shannon fast forwarded the tape.
When they reached the meat of the Highlight Reel, Shannon hit the play button. Dave tensed when Haley shrieked as Jericho and Shawn Michaels began to brawl in the ring.
"Chris stop!" Haley pleaded with her friend as he began to make his punches on Shawn Michaels.
Shawn soon reversed it so that he had the upper hand and began to pummel the Canadian Superstar, right back into a corner.
"Shawn don't!" Haley flew backwards when HBK shrugged her off. "Guys, stop this now!"
"Ah!" Shawn Michaels dropped to his knees from a low blow.
"Chris let it go!" Haley put her hands on Jericho's chest as a form of restraint when Y2J came out of the corner to continue his assault.
Jericho merely tossed her aside and pulled HBK back to his feet by the hair. "You know something Michaels?" He sneered. "The worst is yet to come!" With being said, Jericho rammed the legendary superstar into the Jeritron face first. Glass shattered into a million pieces, littering the canvas on of the ring. Shawn's cry of pain echoed through the entire arena.
"No!" Haley stumbled to her feet and whirled in the direction of Shawn, who lay face down, clutching at his right eye. "Jericho, what have you done?!"
He seized her by the upper arms, his grip tight enough to cause pain. He held her right up to his face so that her feet left the ground. "If being like him is what it takes to be a hero, I don't want to be a hero anymore, Haley. You'll do what you have to do and so will I. I'm done saving the WWE, Haley and in doing so, I'm done saving you!"
He pushed her away from him with enough force to send her a good few feet in the air, before she screamed as she slammed into not only the canvas, but the broken glass that covered it.
"Haley." Shawn managed to groan, as he turned to see the Diva, lying close to him, unconscious and blood beginning to spill from the numerous tiny cuts she suffered.
Jericho left the ring to a chorus of boos while various referees and medics rushed the ring to attend to the fallen superstars.
Matt Hardy looked to Batista while Shannon cut the footage. The veins began to pulse beneath his skin, while fury blazed into the eyes of the Animal. He had felt this rage before, when Umaga had threatened his girl, when Randy Orton had knocked her out with steel steps meant for John Cena, when Kennedy stomped the hell out of her ribs last year. But, none of them had ever drawn blood.
Jericho made her bleed. Batista would make sure Jericho met the same fate, tenfold.
"That son of a bitch!" Dave roared as he stalked to his gym bag to retrieve his cell phone. "I'll kill him. I'll rip him limb from limb." He punched in Hunter's cell phone number, knowing the Game would be with Haley.
"Hunter?!" Dave huffed. "I just saw what happened? How is she? Is she all right?" He paused while Hunter spoke on the other end. "Can I talk to her?"
"Dude, Jericho is a dead man." Shannon whispered to Matt.
"You're not kidding. It's not just Dave either. I found out from Jeff. He's livid and John Cena tore apart his locker room. Jeff said that what he and Cena felt though, paled in comparison to the fury that Hunter has right now." Matt shook his head. "We're going to see the return of the Cerebral Assassin."
"Take care of her for me, Hunter. I know you will." Dave sighed heavily. "Tell her that I love her and I'll be there on Wednesday. I just have to get through the SmackDown taping tomorrow, screw everything else. I'm going to kill Jericho for this, I swear to God."
"I do not want to be Chris Jericho right now." Matt grimaced.
"Me neither." Shannon agreed with a fearful nod of his head. "Dead man walking."