dgdhs ::: Undertaker and Kane's locker-room :::

Stephanie stood outside of Mark and Kane's locker-room, a look of uncertainty painted all over her face, she knew she had to face this ghost sooner or later, but now just a few seconds away with facing it, Stephanie felt dread enter her body. She hadn't really confronted Mark on what happened back in '99 and plus she wasn't exactly his or Kane's favorite person, like Lita had told her earlier. Stephanie had been so sure of herself up until now, now she felt like she was a lost little girl, and all she wanted to do was turn around and let Shane, Andrew, Matt and Jeff take care of this situation.

*Oh don't you dare Stephanie McMahon! Are you going to let the men in your life save you whenever you are going to fall? You're an independent woman, you don't need Shane or Andrew to wrap you up in a security blanket or put you in a plastic bubble whenever you might get hurt.* Stephanie's inner voice chimed in.

Stephanie nodded, reassuring herself, she brought her fist up, she let it connect against the locker-door. Stephanie brought her hands behind her, as she waited for someone to answer the door.

"Coming..." Mark said, grabbing a black tank-top, he pulled it over his head as he stumbled over to the door, he had been taking a short nap before Kane's match with Triple H, which was to happen after Triple H's first match against Big Show. Mark didn't know what was really going on, all he knew was that Shane, Andrew, Jeff and Matt Hardy had come up with some plan to bring Triple H down, and any plan that would destroy Triple H, was a plan Mark would love to help out in.

"Um, hi Mark." Stephanie said nervously once Mark opened the door.

Mark gave Stephanie a stern look, raising his eyebrows up, he tried to find the strength in his body to be angry because Stephanie was at his locker-room door but confusion got the best of him. "What are you doing here little girl?" Mark said, making his voice as rough as it could get.

"To talk to you." Stephanie stated, not letting herself be scared by the tone in Mark's voice. "I heard you and Kane are going to help the guys in their plan to bring down Hunter."

Mark nodded. "Yeah we are, I didn't think you would have a problem with it."

"Kane can't fight Hunter tonight." Stephanie stated.

Mark grinned. "And why the hell not? Look I don't care that much for you..."

"But you at least have to listen to what I have to say, you owe me at least that, considering everything you did to me in 1999." Stephanie said, waiting for Mark's reaction.

Mark's rough expression suddenly turned soft at the mentioning of what he had done to Stephanie two years ago, the look in Mark's deep eyes were no longer an annoyed look, but a soft look. Mark hadn't expected Stephanie to bring that up, he had almost forgotten the kidnapping, it had been two years ago, and a long two years; But Stephanie's tone and the look on her face, gave away that the ghost of what he had done was not gone.

"Come on in, Kane is in the shower, so we'll have some time to talk." Mark moved aside so Stephanie could walk in.

"Thanks." Stephanie muttered as she walked into the locker-room. "Look I appreciate Shane, Andrew, Matt and Jeff wanting to punish Hunter for what he did but see me, Lita and Chyna don't want to be treated like fragile pieces of glass."

Mark slammed the door shut and walked over to the couch. "So what does this have to do with me?"

Stephanie frowned. "I need your help, and believe me you are the last person I would want to go to for help, considering how you made my life like hell, by stalking me, leaving cryptic messages behind for me and then finally kidnapping me and trying to perform a black wedding on me."

Mark knitted his eyebrows, he then ran his hands over his face. "I was a different man back then."

"You were no man, you were a monster!" Stephanie snapped. "An evil man that got his kicks on scaring the crap out of young naive women, and the fans loved you for that."

Mark shook his head. "Hey don't get all riled up now, you came to me remember? Don't come in my locker-room attacking me, I'm only going to say this once, because I don't like saying things more then once... I'm sorry. I'm not saying that's gonna make you feel a 100% better, but that is the only apology you will get from me, I'm not good with that sentimental crap, takes me long enough when to talk to Kane or leave him alone." Mark replied.

Stephanie stared at Mark for a long time. "Anyways, to make sure my, Lita and Chyna's plan work, we need Kane to stay away from Hunter tonight."

Mark shrugged. "I don't know, Kane is real up to winning his belt back." Mark replied.

"And he will, we just need to prolong things, all good plans take time, do you not agree?" Stephanie asked.

"Well yeah, what kind of plan are you thinking?" Mark asked.

Stephanie sat down next to Mark. "We all want Hunter to endure pain, but not too much pain too quickly. Tonight he'll fight Big Show, he'll probably get some interference by someone, so tonight he will get his way, but then on Monday Night Raw revenge will be ours, Kane can have his match, a hardcore match. After Kane wins the belt, that will just be the beginning of our plan, we'll take down all of Hunter's friends and then eventually repeatedly take him down. Hunter has prided himself in his alliances, one such as Stone Cold Steve Austin, we can use that against him, believe me, I just need to know that you and Kane are in and that Kane isn't going to fight Hunter tonight."

Mark nodded. "Well I can't speak for Kane, but I'm in, this is going to be my amends for '99 okay?"

Stephanie nodded. "Yeah, if you come through, all is forgiven."

"I'll come through." Mark said simply.

"I'm in too." Kane replied roughly, as he walked into the room. "I want to help."

Stephanie stood up and smiled at Kane. "Well that's great, thanks guys, and oh yeah don't tell Shane, Andrew, Jeff or Matt I was here, okay?"

Kane and Mark nodded. "Sure thing." Mark replied.

Stephanie smiled, waving to Kane and Mark before running out the locker-room door.

Mark turned to Kane, giving Kane a look. Aligning himself with Stephanie McMahon was the last thing he had planned on doing when he woke up from his nap, but somehow it was going to be the one of two things he was going to be most proud of, the other one being making amends with Kane. "Hunter's going down."

::: Outside of the arena :::

Lita walked outside of the Smackdown arena and smiled when she saw Spike Dudley and Molly Holly sitting down on a bench, their hands entangled in one another's. Lita would be lying if she said she didn't find the relationship between Molly and Spike cute, they had overcome all sorts of obstacles just to be together. But right now wasn't about her examing their relationship, right now was about forming a plan, and to form a plan, they needed allies.

"Molly, Spike!" Lita screamed as she ran over to them.

Molly looked away from Spike and grinned when she saw Lita. "Oh hi Lita, what brings you out here? Me and Spike just decided to come out here to escape our families, and plus we like to be alone, gives us time to reflect on things."

Lita nodded. "That's cool, look I would love to small talk with you guys but I am in a hurry and I was wondering if you two would like to help me on this plan me, Chyna and Stephanie are coming up with?"

Spike cleaned off his glasses, flashing Lita a smile. "What kind of plan?"

"Well you see, we are sick of Hunter and his little games and attacks, so we thought up a plan to get Hunter back. Shane, Andrew, Jeff and Matt formed a plan behind our backs, so we decided to form one on our own, but more well thought out and sneakier, and right now we are getting some people to help us, so far we got Undertaker and Kane on our side, and right now Chyna is talking to Jericho and I already know that we will have Benoit on our side. So I was hoping you two would like to join us, I know you guys got to hate Hunter and the things he is doing, just as much as us."

Spike nodded. "Triple H gets away with a lot of things he shouldn't, sort of like my brothers."

Molly nodded as well. "Triple H is a meanie, he took Kane's belt from him, Kane is a real sweetheart and totally didn't deserve that."

Lita smiled. "That is why it would be perfect for you two to join us, we are forming a team, a team that will eventually bring Triple H down. We'll attack him from every side, using logic; There is one problem, Kurt, Edge and Christian might be with us as well, and I know Kurt hasn't been the most friendliest guy to you."

Spike scrunched up his nose. "No he hasn't, he threatened Molly and on various times attacked me, I don't like him, but I dislike Hunter more, so I guess if Kurt stays out of our way, we'll do the same."

Molly nodded. "We're in Lita."

Lita smiled, hugging Molly Holly out of the blue, a hug which Molly reacted to by hugging Lita back. "This is great guys, you won't regret this! Oh by the way, do NOT tell Shane, Andrew, Jeff or Matt about our plan okay?"

Molly and Spike nodded. "Okay," they said in unison.

Lita waved and ran back into the building, she grabbed her black cell phone and flipped it open. "Hey Stephanie, I just got done talking with Spike and Molly, they're in, how about Team ECK? Oh that's good, so the con-chair-to will be paying Hunter a visit real soon? That's awesome, is Chyna still talking to Jericho? Hah, what do you think they are talking about? I mean obviously getting him to join sides with us isn't going to take that much, you think they're... oh shut up Stephanie, you are too funny, okay talk to you in a few girl."

Lita shut her phone off and walked into her locker-room with a grin on her face, things were going great, and if they continued this way, Hunter would be begging for their mercy and Shane and the guys would be feeling idiotic from keeping their plan away from her, Stephanie and Chyna.

::: Jericho's locker-room :::

"So was there something you needed to ask me?" Jericho asked, pouring himself something to drink, he shot Chyna a look before sitting down in a chair.

Jericho had NOT been expecting to see Chyna, they hadn't really talked to each other in a whole year, and now here she was knocking on his locker-room door, saying how she needed to tell him something.

"Yeah..." Chyna said, pacing back and forth, avoiding eye contact with Jericho. "Listen Chris---" Chyna's voice was cut off by Jericho.

"Chris?" Jericho asked, smirking.

Chyna rolled his eyes, this was just like Jericho, to pull this little game when she was trying to ask him something important, just like him to look incredibly adorable when she was trying to be serious.

"Shut up, look Jericho you're sick of Helmsley too right?" Chyna asked, finally looking at Jericho.

Jericho nodded. "Of course I am, him along with Austin, but Austin seems to be staying out of trouble as of late, anyways, why do you ask?" Jericho stared at Chyna, questioningly.

"Me, Lita, and Stephanie are forming a plan, a plan to take Hunter down. Shane, Andrew, Jeff and Matt had been forming one behind our backs, trying to protect us, so we thought we would form one on our own, to show them that we can handle ourselves. So far we have Mark, Kane, Spike, Molly, Benoit, Edge, Kurt, and Christian on our side. And I was wondering---" Chyna's voice trailed off.

Jericho smirked. "And you were wondering if I would be gracious enough to join sides with you and your little army of self righteous guardian angels? Why would I? Me and you haven't talked in over a year and the last time we did wasn't on best terms, so I don't think I owe you anything."

Chyna rolled his eyes, now he was no longer adorable, now he was just an asshole. "Look Jericho, don't treat me like this, I came to you to ask you a simple question, but if you can't answer it, then I'll just go..." Chyna turned to leave but turned around when she felt Jericho's hand touch her arm.

"Don't go." Jericho said quickly. "I'll join, I guess you don't want me to tell Shane, Andrew, Jeff and Matt about the plans right?" Jericho asked, smiling softly.

"Yeah, we don't want them to know what we are planning. Our plan will come into action on Monday Night Raw, Kane will be fighting Hunter for his belt, with Mark in Kane's corner. We're going to make sure to have an ambush attack if needed, but knowing Kane, he won't need it." Chyna smiled.

"No problem, but just to let you guys know, there is rumors going around how Trish and Albert are going to be helping Hunter in his match against Big Show tonight, so we are going to have Albert and Trish to deal with, just to let you know." Jericho leaned back into the couch. "So you, Lita and Stephanie are working together huh? I never thought you and Stephanie would ever work on something together."

Chyna shrugged. "Well everyone deserves a second chance right?" Chyna asked looking into Jericho's eyes.

Jericho nodded slowly, looking into Chyna's eyes, trying to wonder if the question was about Stephanie or him. Everyone deserves a second chance... even them? They hadn't talked in over a year, but his feelings for Chyna hadn't changed, he still felt strong emotions for her, those sort of emotions never go away. "Yeah I guess, although I know Stephanie is changed, I'm just glad you two are being friendly with each other. Well definitely count me in on your plan, and don't worry I won't blab it to anyone."

Chyna smiled again, despite whenever she did and she got a smile from Jericho, she felt butterflies in her stomach. Chyna was not a sort of person who got butterflies in her stomach, but Chris Jericho gave her butterflies. Even after a year he still gave her butterflies, it was incredible how he affected her. "Okay, see you at RAW."

Jericho nodded. "Yeah see you at RAW."

Chyna nodded and walked out of the locker-room, she took in a deep breath as she walked down the halls, why did he affect her so much? Not even Hunter had this sort of impact on her, Chyna grimaced when she thought of Hunter, he was going down. Hunter liked to victimize people, he liked to be in charge, first he had victimized her, and now he was doing the same to Stephanie, but this time he wouldn't get that chance, not if Chyna had anything to do with it.

Chyna grabbed her cell phone, she flipped it open and dialed Stephanie's cell number. "Hey Stephanie, yeah just got done talking to Jericho, he's in, who else do we have on our side? Oh really APA? How did you get them to listen to you?" Chyna paused to laugh. "You bribed them with beer for them to listen to you? Well they love their beer, so they're definitely in? Who else? Rhyno? Well yeah considering that he's friends with Edge, Kurt and Christian, uh huh okay. Great, be careful, okay bye."

Chyna clicked 'end' on her phone and stuffed it back in her pant's pocket, she had a pensive look on her face, Stephanie had told her that she was going somewhere, but wouldn't tell her where, that wasn't what she was worried about, what was worrying her was what if she bumped into Hunter again? The sooner they terminated Hunter the better, Chyna didn't know if she could handle being worried about Stephanie much longer.

::: Kurt's locker-room :::

"So here's the plan..." Kurt paused as he saw Rhyno come walking in. "You're late." Kurt said, pointing to the clock. "I said be here 10 minutes ago."

"Sorry, I had business to do." Rhyno shrugged sitting down.

Christian looked away from Edge and saw the look on Kurt's face. "Kurt just continue with the plan."

Edge nodded. "Yeah Kurt, what's the plan?"

Kurt shook his head and then sat down next to Christian. "Trish and Albert are rumored to be interfering the Big Show match tonight, which means that Hunter will probably win..."

Rhyno grunted. "That is where we come in right?"

Kurt nodded. "Right. We come through the crowd as Albert goes to walk in the ring, Edge and Christian you two hit him with a con-chair-to before he can get into the ring. Rhyno you gore Trish and I'll give Hunter a angle slam when the ref isn't looking and then that will give Big Show time to pick up the win. Rhyno, you don't have a problem goring Trish do you?"

Rhyno shook his head. "I didn't have a problem giving it to Lita or Molly Holly, I sure as hell don't mind giving it to Trish. Actually, I might find it a little enjoyable." Rhyno grinned.

Edge laughed. "Oh dude this is going to be brutal."

Christian smirked, nodding. "You know how long I have wanted to give Albert a con-chair-to?"

Rhyno shook his head. "So how do we know when to come through the crowd?" Rhyno asked, ignoring Christian and Edge and paying his full attention to Kurt.

"We'll be hiding in the crowd when the match begins, and then when we see Albert descending into the ring, we make our move, we got to make this fast. We can't give them any time to think, the second we see Albert and Trish we jump into action, no hesitance."

Rhyno nodded. "Alright."

Christian smirked. "This is going to reek of awesomeness."

Edge nodded. "It SO is!"

Kurt sighed and shared a look with Rhyno. "Okay so meet you guys right before the match." Kurt said, indicating that the speech was over.

Edge nodded. "Alright dude, see you out there." Edge said as he and Christian left.

Kurt groaned. "Sometimes I swear..."

Rhyno rolled his eyes. "Don't get me started on their *language*, what the hell is awesomeness?"

Kurt snorted, shaking his head. "Awesome with a -ness added to the end of it?"

Rhyno laughed, a short and small laugh, but a laugh nonetheless. "I knew that much."

::: Triple H/Big Show match :::

Hunter paced in the ring nervously as the referee made Big Show drop the sledgehammer, and for that much Hunter was relieved. Hunter was having a hard enough time making sure Big Show didn't get to the three count, Big Show was more ready for this match then he was. Hunter had beat Big Show a few times in the past but this time was different, he was being thrown around in the ring like a rag doll. Hunter ducked Big Show's first move but was then trapped in his second, Hunter let out a scream as he got thrown to the mat, his back grounding into the mat.

Stephanie sat in her locker-room watching the Triple H and Big Show match on the television screen in her locker-room with Shane and Andrew sitting next to her. Stephanie pulled her hair up into a ponytail, as she watched was going on.

"Triple H is not succeeding in this match at all. Commissioner William Regal set this match as punishment for what Triple H did to Stephanie on Smackdown, 2 weeks ago." JR commented.

"And what justified punishment this is, Triple H can hardly get a move on Big Show. This is an important match for Big Show, if Big Show succeeds in punishing Triple H, this could be impressive work to Vince." Michael Cole replied.

"So pretty much Big Show is just sucking up..." JR said, adjusting his glasses.

"Well yeah... wait what's this? Trish and Albert are running in to help Triple H! I can't believe this!" Michael Cole exclaimed as Trish and Albert ran up to the ring.

Stephanie jumped up from the couch, a look of shock on her face. "What the hell is this?" Stephanie screamed. Stephanie had expected interference, but she wasn't expecting to see that it was Trish and Albert.

"Figures Albert and Trish would join sides with Hunter, this is exactly something like them to do." Andrew muttered, his arms crossed against his chest as he watched the match.

"Wait, what's this now? Kurt Angle, Rhyno, Christian and Edge have just emerged from the crowd!" JR commented as he watched Kurt, Christian, Edge and Rhyno run up to the ring.

"Oh man! Albert just received a con-chair-to from Christian and Edge! Trish got a gore by Rhyno! Earl Hebner is seeing if Trish is okay and bam while the ref's back is turned Kurt gives Triple H an angle slam!" Michael Cole screamed into his headset.

"This was a complete set up, looks like team ECK along with Rhyno are not too happy with Triple H!" JR said, in his usual calm voice.

"And let's remember Kurt is friends with Stephanie, so that could also be the reason of this attack plus like team ECK is always saying, they're always a step ahead of people, you never know what team ECK is going to do." Michael Cole replied.

"Or team RECK, let's remember Rhyno is a part of this." JR said, watching Kurt slip out of the ring.

"Big Show is going for the pin... 1, 2, 3! And Big Show is the winner of this match with a little help from team RECK!" Michael Cole said, raising his voice.

Stephanie widened her eyes as she watched everything play out on the screen, she could hardly believe what had just happened, Kurt along with Christian, Edge and Rhyno had purposely caused Big Show the win. This had not been part of the plan, tonight Hunter was going to have his victory and then on RAW he would lose, but obviously team RECK had different plans.

"What the hell was that?" Shane asked, pacing back and forth in the locker-room.

Stephanie smiled. "That was my best friend, got a problem with him?"

"Wait Michael, this match doesn't seem to be over with, Albert has recovered from the con-chair-to and is heading after Kurt Angle... oh he just gave Kurt a british bulldog, that has to hurt!" JR said, grimacing.

Stephanie looked at the screen with wide eyes, as she watched Kurt writhing in pain. "Oh god..." Stephanie muttered, as she saw the referees trying to separate Albert away from Kurt. Stephanie let out a sigh of relief once she saw Rhyno give Albert a gore to save Kurt from another british bulldog, she then watched Christian and Edge pull Kurt up and then they all ran out out of the arena, escaping through the crowd.

"Big Show may have won this battle with the help of team RECK, but I have a feeling, the war is far from over." Michael Cole said, when he saw Hunter slide out of the ring with Trish and help Albert up.

NEXT IN TAINTED:

Stephanie confronts Kurt, Christian, Edge and Rhyno on their attack on Hunter, Albert and Trish on Smackdown.

Shane and Andrew question Kane on why he didn't fight Hunter on Smackdown.

Steve agrees to help Stephanie.

Andrew continues to worry about Stephanie.