Lina's scream echoed throughout the hall, bringing Gourry and Zelgadis to her dressing room.
"Lina??" Gourry called out, and banged on the door, "LINA! What's wrong!"
Lina pulled the door open, "There is NO WAY... and I mean NO WAY... I am wearing THIS... out THERE!"
Gourry and Zelgadis looked at her, and found themselves at a loss for words.
Lina was dressed in a rather revealing black cat suit, with thin pieces of leather criss-crossing up the front.
"Lina...?" Gourry began, "Your outfit..." He furrowed his brow, confused, "It makes you look like you have breasts!"
"SHUT UP, GOURRY!!" Lina shouted, and whacked him upside his head.
Just then, Xelloss appeared, "Ahhh... Lina! That outfit looks good on you. I see Mr. McMahon found a use for Sable's old costumes after all!"
Lina glared at Xelloss, "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! I look like a FOOL!!"
Gourry took a closer look, "Well... actually, Lina... you look more like a -"
"DON'T say it, Gourry!" Zelgadis interrupted, "Just don't say it!"
"Hmm... the rest of you should get into your ring attire as well, don't you think?" Xelloss asked.
"Yeah... whatever..." Zelgadis replied, and headed into the dressing room beside Lina's. Gourry soon followed.
"And what about you?!" Lina asked, "Don't you have your own ring attire?"
"Me? I'm perfectly comfortable in this..." Xelloss replied, showing off his regular purple robes.
"But that's what you wear all the time!" Lina answered.
Xelloss smiled, then disappeared.
***
THE ARENA
The townsfolk of Dalnar felt incredibly out of place as they watched the Wrestling fans pile into the arena. They were loud, obnoxious... and rude! Well... most of them. Once in a while, they would meet up with a few polite ones. The locals would be there to cheer on those who had come to their rescue - Lina Inverse "the Dragon Spooker", and her companions. Perhaps they would save the day. The townsfolk of Dalnar could only hope.
***
The lights began to dim, and the crowd got louder. A spotlight lit up the middle of the ring, and a man in a tuxedo came out, "Welcome to the WWF at the Dalnar Dome! We're proud to be bringing you RAW IS WAR ..."
The man continued to blather on about his company and its sponsors. Fireworks lit up at the entranceway, and the cheers of the fans filled the arena. Music struck up... and Vince McMahon sauntered into the ring.
"Tonight, we have a special surprise for the people of Dalnar. Your heroes - Lina the Dragon
Spooker, Gourry Gabriev, Zelgadis Graywers, and Amelia Wil Telsa... whatever her name is... have agreed to help you get your town back!" Mr. McMahon then smiled a cold smile, "but you know what?? They have NO CHANCE IN HELL to do it!!" The fans cheered this proclamation, and the locals booed. Mr. McMahon then happily made his way back to the dressing room.
The ring announcer continued on with his duty, "This match is scheduled for one fall! Making her way to the ring, accompanied by Triple H, the ninth wonder of the world - CHYNA! Her opponent---" the ring announcer stopped, and looked at the commentators - Jim Ross and Jerry "the King" Lawler, "Are you sure this is her name? It's way too long for a Wrestler's name!" The ring announcer waited for confirmation, then spoke again, "Making her way to the ring, Princess Amelia Wil Telsa Sailune..."
Amelia came out wearing a purple sailor fuku.
"WOAH!! Puppies!! Look, JR! I see puppies!" Lawler began.
"For goodness sake, King! She's just a KID!" JR replied.
Lawler looked again, and lowered his voice, "Sorry... for a moment there... she.. uh.. just didn't look like one..." he cleared his throat, and continued to watch the show.
Amelia smiled at the crowd, then quickly ran to one of the ring posts and perched herself on top of it. She grabbed the ring announcer's mic, and spoke, "People of Dalnar, I will destroy these intruders with the hammer of justice! I will not fail! This I promise you!!" The townsfolk's cheers were drowned out by the boos from the fans. Amelia spoke over them, "You may boo me now, but I have justice burning in my heart, and I will prevail!!" With that, she put the mic down and turned to her opponent.
"Come on, little girl..." Chyna called out, "Let's see what you've got!" Chyna took an attack stance and waited for Amelia to make the first move.
Amelia smiled, and held up her hand, "LEVITATION!" she shouted, and rose above Chyna.
"ELMEKIA LANCE!" A flash of light headed towards Chyna... and within moments she was out cold. Amelia landed back on the ground, and rolled on top of her opponent. The referee counted 1-2-3.
"The winner, Amelia Wil Telsa Sailune!" the ring announcer said.
"She used MAGIC!! That should be a disqualification!" Triple H shouted to the ref, but the ref stood his ground. His decision was final.
Triple H swore under his breath and carried an unconscious Chyna back to the dressing room.
***
BACKSTAGE
"What the hell was THAT?!" Mr. McMahon shouted to his son, "No one gave them permission to use MAGIC!"
"Well they USED IT, pops! What are we going to do about it?!"
Mr. McMahon stepped out of his dressing room and saw his head referee walking towards the arena. "Earl!" he called out. The ref turned to Mr. McMahon, "New rule! If they use magic, they are AUTOMATICALLY disqualified!"
"Vince... come on! You know those kids can't win unless they use magic! They're not wrestlers!" Earl replied.
"I know... that's the POINT! Now just do your job!" Mr. McMahon replied.
Earl shrugged, and headed to the ring to announce the new stipulation.
Mr. McMahon turned to his son, "Now that THAT is taken care of, I have some business back at the office. Can you take care of things here?"
"No problem, pops! Those locals will NOT win any more matches! That's a promise!"
***
ARENA
"It has now officially been declared by Vince McMahon that if the Dragon Spooker and her companions dare use magic, they will be automatically disqualified!" The head ref informed the audience. Once again, the Wrestling fans' cheers drowned out the locals' boos. Earl handed the microphone back to the ring announcer.
"This match is scheduled for one fall..." the ring announcer began, "Making his way to the ring area, Y2J, Chris Jericho! His opponent, Lina the Dragon Spooker's sidekick, Gourry Gabriev!"
Gourry came out wearing a pair of royal blue tights and black boots, with his sword in a sheath at his side. He stepped into the ring, and had a stare down with Chris Jericho. The bell rang.
Gourry pulled out his sword, "LIGHT COME FORTH!" he shouted, and the sword came to life.
Jericho quickly bolted out of the ring, "Vince isn't paying me enough to fight some guy with a glowing sword and better hair then ME! NO WAY!!" With that, he made his way back to the dressing rooms.
Gourry seemed confused, "Isn't he going to fight?"
The ref sighed and called for the bell. Gourry was proclaimed the winner due to a count out.
***
BACKSTAGE
"What's going on here?" Shane McMahon shouted, irate. "First Chyna gets knocked out, then Chris runs away because the guy has a sword!" He shook his head and walked out of his makeshift office. "KANE!" Shane McMahon shouted down the hallway, "Where are you?! If you don't beat this girl---" He stopped when he saw Lina looking intently at a TV monitor at the other end of the hall. He quickly made his way towards her. He caught the tail-end of the G-TV logo, and then the screen went to black. "What were you looking at?!" He asked.
Lina jumped at the unexpected voice, then regained her composure and turned to face him, "Hello, Mr. Shane. You know... I just saw something very interesting on this monitor,"
Shane crossed his arms, annoyed, "And what did G-TV catch this time?" He asked.
"YOU!!" Lina answered.
Shane McMahon seemed taken aback, "ME? But what could I possibly..." he stopped as the realization came to him, "You... you SAW me... doing... THAT?"
Lina nodded, "You know, I didn't think you were capable of such a thing. I guess I should have known, though. You seem like the type."
"And WHAT type would THAT be?" Shane McMahon asked.
Lina smiled, and took a page out of Xelloss' book, "That is a secret!" she said.
"Listen, Miss Inverse, if you're quite finished playing your little mind games with me, I would like to head on my way..." Shane said.
"You know, I could go out there and tell everyone what I saw ... and I could also tell your father. Do you think he'd appreciate knowing his son's little SECRET?"
Shane seemed nervous for a moment, then returned to his cold exterior, "If you want to get personal with me, Miss Inverse, I'm more then willing to get personal with YOU! Instead of fighting KANE, you can be fighting ME!"
Lina was surprised, then narrowed her eyes, "Fine. I have no problem with that... but I should just let you know that if you cheat, I have a fire ball with you name on it!"
Shane clenched a fist, "You dare threaten ME! Let me promise you, Dragon Spooker, one way or another, I will come out on top! Or else my name is not Shane McMahon!" He then turned around and walked away.
***
ARENA
The ring announcer began his bit again "This tag team match is scheduled for one fall... making their way to the ring, ARMAGEDDON!"
Xelloss walked to the ring with a smile on his face. The Undertaker followed close behind.
"Their opponents, the Acolytes," The ring announcer finished.
The Acolytes came to the squared circle, and quickly began attacking the Undertaker. They threw him to the outside, and continued their attack.
Xelloss watched from his corner with a smile, "Ahhh... lucky guy!" Then frowned, "Why should he have all the fun?!" He joined the others on the floor and whacked Farrooq with his staff.
"Now now... don't forget about ME!"
Farrooq quickly turned his attention away from the Undertaker, and grabbed for Xelloss... who floated out of the way. Farrooq was not amused.
Suddenly, the crowd was distracted by something.
"What's going on JR?" Lawler asked.
"I don't know, King... someone is running down to ring! Wait... it's a young girl!"
Lawler looked at the girl running to ringside, and frowned, "HEY!! She doesn't have any puppies!!"
Lina heard the comment, and headed over to the commentator's desk. She swiftly knocked the crown off Lawler's head, and headed towards the fight at ringside. "Xelloss..." she called. Xelloss was busy pummeling Farrooq. "XELLOSS!!" Lina shouted. Xelloss turned around to see Lina waiting impatiently for him to notice her.
Farrooq took this moment of distraction to hit Xelloss from behind. The trickster priest seemed unfazed and turned his attention back to Farrooq, smiling, "That hurt... Do it again!!" Farrooq punched Xelloss in the face, and Xelloss continued to smile, "Again... I like this! It's fun!"
Farrooq began to back away, "What are you? Some kind of pain freak?!"
Xelloss smiled and nodded, "Yes. Hit me again!"
"Oh hell no!" Farrooq shouted. He grabbed Bradshaw and pulled him away from the Undertaker,
"This guy is a NUTCASE! Let's get out of here!" The two quickly headed backstage. The Undertaker gave chase.
Xelloss turned back to Lina "Now that they're gone, Lina dear, how can I help you?"
"Lina DEAR?!" She sputtered, then shook her head, "I'll talk to you about that 'dear' thing later. Right now, we have a big problem!"
"And what problem would that be?" he asked.
"I found out some dirt on Mr. McMahon's son! Come with me!" Lina said, and led him back to the dressing room.
***
BACKSTAGE
Lina and her companions huddled in a quiet dressing room backstage. "Well, I was watching a monitor in the hallway... and it shows Mr. McMahon's son doing some really weird things ..." Lina started.
"Weird? Like what?" Gourry asked.
Lina took a deep breath, "Apparently, Mr. Shane has been practicing magic and bewitching the fans to come to the shows..."
Gourry, Amelia, and Zelgadis were taken aback at the news. After all, Shane McMahon didn't seem like a sorcerer.
Xelloss, as usual, remained calm. Lina got annoyed, "How can you just sit there and look like nothing fazes you?!?!" she snapped.
"Because... nothing does. But as for your news, Lina dear..." Xelloss paused when he heard an angry grunt from Gourry for his choice of nickname. Xelloss simply smiled in return, "As for your news, Lina dear... I knew that already."
Lina looked at him, surprised, "You did? Then why didn't you TELL us that Mr. Shane was capable of MAGIC?!"
Xelloss shrugged, "You didn't need to know..."
"Well I need to know NOW!! He challenged me to a MATCH!!"
"Oh really?? That should be interesting!" Xelloss answered with a mischievous grin.
"Xelloss... if you know what magic he's learned and who's been teaching him, TELL ME!"
Xelloss looked thoughtful, "What magic he's learned and who's been teaching him? Hmmm... I think -"
"You think WHAT? Do you know?? DO YOU?!" Lina was desperate.
Xelloss looked at her, and smiled, "Shane's powers and teacher..." he started, "...are a secret!"
Lina shook her head, "Why do I even bother asking?!" She turned back to the others, "Zel, you go out there and have your match with Stone Cold. I'll try to find out about Shane,"
"But you may need my help!" Zelgadis protested.
"No. You can't cut out on your match. It would look suspicious!" Lina answered.
"Miss Lina is right, Mr. Zelgadis! You have to go out there. Me, Mr. Gourry, Mr. Xelloss and
Miss Lina will split up and find out what we can about Mr. Shane..."
Zelgadis frowned, "Somehow, I don't think that fruitcake Mazoku will help you..." he said.
"What do you mean? Of course he will, right Xelloss?" Lina started, then turned around to face Xelloss. She was greeted with an empty space instead. "Wha..?" She looked around the room, "Xelloss??" No answer. Lina muttered a swear word under her breath, and sent everyone off their separate ways.
To Be Continued
