By: Elektra
THURSDAY NIGHT – Live Smackdown
Backstage, Jericho watched the monitor before him, "Guys, check this out," he motioned to the Hardys and Lita.
The group watched as Austin made his way to the ring, followed by the rest of the Alliance.
The bionic redneck grabbed a mic, and spoke, "My name is Stone Cold Steve Austin. What? I said my name is Stone Cold Steve Austin!" The crowed began the infamous 'asshole' chant, "SHUT UP!" Austin shouted. "I'm ashamed of ya! What? I said I'm ashamed of ya! You're pathetic! Each and every one of you! But especially two particular men – Tazz and Rob Van Dam!"
The crowd burst into cheers, "SHUT UP!" Austin responded, "WHAT? I said SHUT UP!" The crowd retaliated with a 'you suck' chant. Austin chose to ignore them and continue on with his diatribe, "RVD, who the hell do you think you are? What? I said who the hell do you think you are? You think you can just turn on Stone Cold Steve Austin and the Alliance because that slut, Stephanie, asked you to?!"
"Hey, I thought only YOU were allowed to call Stephanie a slut," Jeff said with a smirk as he watched the monitor over Jericho's shoulder.
RVD and Tazz had gathered around the monitor the moment they had heard Austin mention their names.
"You seem to have a lot of confidence, RVD, but the Alliance has confidence too!" Austin continued, and eyed the Alliance, "C'mon… who here has confidence?"
Test stepped through the ropes, "I do…"
"Good. Then you can kick RVD's ass tonight, and show him that turning on the Alliance comes at a price! What? I said turning on the Alliance comes at a price!"
"Damn…" RVD muttered behind Jericho.
"I know there was a reason I dumped that moron," Stephanie started as she joined the group at the monitor. She turned to RVD, "Are you going to accept Test's challenge?"
"Of course I'll accept his challenge!" RVD replied, then pointed to his shoulders, "I'm Rob Van Dam!"
The group watched as Kanyon climbed into the ring, "You, Mr. Austin, are an inspiration to me," Kanyon started.
"Brown-noser," Jericho replied.
"He always was," Stephanie answered.
Kanyon continued speaking, "I'm issuing a challenge to TAZZ to meet me one on one in this ring tonight!"
"Good!" Austin said, "I like that. What? I said I like that!"
"I'll kick Kanyon's teeth down his stinkin' throat!" Tazz replied.
"And last but not least, I wanna discuss Chris Jericho," Austin continued. The crowd burst into a Y2J chant, "SHUT UP!" Austin snapped, "I SAID SHUT UP! WHAT? WHAT? WHAT?"
"Now this should be interesting," Jericho replied, leaning closer to the monitor.
"Jericho, you took Stone Cold Steve Austin's belt! What? I said you took Stone Cold Steve Austin's belt!" Austin ranted. "But you didn't do it on your own! WHAT? I said you didn't do it on your own. You got that tramp, Stephanie McMahon, to help you! Now Stone Cold knows you two got the hots for each other…"
"WHAT?" Stephanie and Jericho shouted in sync.
Almost as if he heard them, Austin continued, "I said Stone Cold knows you two got the hots for each other… but that don't matter to Stone Cold! He'll kick BOTH your asses if he has to! WHAT? I said I'll kick BOTH your asses! Now here's the deal - At Sunday's Pay Per View, I challenge Jericho to make our title match a no-holds-barred match! What? I said I challenge Jericho to make our title match a no-holds-barred match! You gonna accept, Jericho, or are you gonna be as girly about it as you are about your hair?"
Jericho self-consciously ran a hand through his long blonde locks.
"Well... he's got a point about your hair…" Stephanie muttered.
Jericho glared at her, but said nothing.
Austin continued his rant in the ring, "You got till the end of Smackdown to give me an answer. What? I said you got till the end of Smackdown to give me an answer, or Stone Cold just might come back there and beat it out of you!" With that, Austin dropped the mic, his music blaring through the arena as he returned to the Alliance locker rooms.
***
ONE HOUR LATER – McMahon's office
"I'm accepting!" Jericho started.
"Are you crazy?" Stephanie asked, "Do you know what no-holds-barred means? It means a no DQ, outside interference, 'pummel you till you can't stand any more' match!"
"I've had worse," Jericho responded.
"Chris, I think my daughter has a point," McMahon started, "It's a dangerous match! No doubt Austin has something up his sleeve, and you're not 100% yet! Your ribs--"
"So?" Jericho interrupted, "We have the entire WWF locker room watching my back!" He turned to Stephanie, "If you're scared, then you can stay backstage! I don't need you at ringside!"
"I am NOT scared! And yes, you DO need me at ringside! Austin will at least have Debra there, if not the entire Alliance!"
"Oh goody… a cat fight…" Jericho muttered.
"Chris," McMahon started, "Try taking this a little more seriously! As WWF champion, it's actually YOUR call what match you want. If you want a straight up Wrestling match, then you can HAVE a straight up Wrestling match!"
Jericho shifted his title belt over his shoulder, "I AM taking this seriously, Vince! This belt means everything to me!" he explained, "But we can't hide behind rules and regulations right now! The Alliance is too powerful! We need to fight back, and if we have to do it on their terms, so be it! If we hide behind the rule book then they've already won!"
McMahon allowed a small smile, "I appreciate your guts, Chris. You're right. We can't back down at a time like this,"
"Daddy!" Stephanie protested.
"No, Steph," McMahon started, "We have to show the Alliance that they don't intimidate us! They WILL NOT come into MY arena and try to take over MY company!" he turned to Jericho, "I'll keep the boys on alert. Any Alliance members who try to run in during your match will be stopped!"
Jericho held his hand out to Vince, and smiled. The two shook hands.
"I don't like this," Stephanie muttered, "I don't
like this at all!"
