Raging Storm Chapter 6 Raging Storm
Chapter 6: Losing Control
By: Jay Winger

Note: this is set the Thursday after "Chapter 5: Kick It Up a Notch."

To recap: Billy Rose gives Raven some pointers for his Hardcore title match later that night against the Storm, but after Raven and Rose leave, the Storm drives into the garage and totals the SUV where Raven's female ninja partner is waiting. During the match, the Storm is absolutely dominant, but then Haku gets involved. The islander put the Storm in the Tongan Death Grip, but the Storm managed to beat Haku over the head with an ugly-stick to get free. As Raven tried to escape, the Big Show arrived on the scene to try to lay claim to the title himself. The Storm managed to put out Show long enough to attack Raven and make the pin and pick up the title, but then Rose ran out and clobbered the Storm with a steel chair, allowing Raven to regain his title. The Storm chased them to the garage, where Rose, Raven, and the female ninja jumped into a car. The Acolytes, who had come out to help the Storm, were blindsided by Edge & Christian, and then Kurt Angle and Shane McMahon double-teamed the Storm. When Lone Star, Mick Foley, and Vince arrived on the scene, Mr. McMahon decided to give the Storm a match against Kurt Angle on Smackdown! for King of the Ring qualification. Mick Foley improved on that, booking Shane against Austin, and Edge & Christian against the Acolytes -- much to Vince's dismay.

Teaser: Billy Rose continues to play mind games with the Storm, who comes close to snapping completely.

Rating: R - for violence and profanity

Disclaimer: All things WWF are property of Titan Sports. The characters of Matthew "the Storm" Skinner, Rain, and Billy Rose are completely fictional. I do incorporate a few traits from existing WWF wrestlers, but for the most part, they're my creations.

THURSDAY: Smackdown!, 15 June

"What'cha thinkin'?" Steve Austin asked of the dark-haired woman sitting next to him in the pickup truck.

Rain looked over at him. "I'm worried, Steve. I haven't seen Storm in days. When he disappeared from the hotel, I was half-afraid he'd gone to find Billy Rose again."

"He did," Austin pointed out. "But I don't think Storm would kill the som'bitch."

"I'm not so sure about that anymore, Steve," Rain said. "At first, I think all Storm wanted to do was seriously injure him -- but since Rose started playing these mind games with him, he's been getting more and more irrational!"

"How d'ya mean?" Austin asked as he turned onto the off-ramp toward the arena.

"You heard him last week in that match with Raven," Rain said. "Remember? He had Raven down and he shouted, 'Come on, Billy, let's see you shrug off this one.'"

"You think he's startin' to go nuts or somethin'?"

"That's what I'm afraid of, Steve."

Stone Cold's Austin 3:16 pickup pulled into the garage of the arena, and then Austin squinted as he spotted someone stalking around the lot. "Well, speak of the devil."

It was the Storm, and he was moving up and down the rows of cars, peering inside, looking for something or someone. He held an ugly-stick in his hand, and held it ready to swing. He didn't even look up as Austin and Rain pulled up next to him. "Storm!" Rain called. He didn't give any sign of having heard her as he marched down to the next car. "Matthew!" she tried again, using his real name. Once again, no reaction.

The Storm, having reached the end of a row of cars, stood up and looked around. He didn't even seem to notice Austin's truck as he marched over to Harvey Whippleman, who had walked in. "You!" the Storm shouted. "Which one of these cars is Rose's?"

"I don't know!" Whippleman cowered, backing away, then running off.

The Storm growled, then swung his bat down into the hood of the car he stood beside. It dented, and the alarm went off. The Force of Nature didn't even seem to notice. He stalked toward the halls, bellowing, "ROSE!"

Rain looked at Austin pointedly. "You see what I mean? He didn't even notice us. This isn't like him."

"Damn," Austin said. "Whatever the hell Rose did to him, Storm's gettin' madder'n me -- and that's sayin' somethin'."

"I just hope Storm doesn't lose it when he fights Angle tonight."

* * *

"The following contest is scheduled for one fall, and is for qualification in the King of the Ring tournament!"

The patriotic horns started up and the jeering of the fans descended upon the Olympic Hero as he walked out from the TitanTron. Kurt Angle waved grandly to the fans and stopped on the ramp while pyros went off behind him. He smiled, tapped the medals on his chest, then climbed into the ring, where he did a few warm-up exercises. "Introducing first, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, weighing in at 220 pounds... KURT ANGLE!"

Angle smiled to Lillian and took the mic from her, then looked up at the fans. "Now, I would just like to say that it is an honor to be in this very ring tonight to once again start on the road to regaining my once-proud title of 'King of the Ring.' Now, I've had a long string of success since being crowned two years ago, and I will once again earn that crown and then go on to become WWF Champion." He stopped, then looked a bit miffed by the chants of ANGLE SUCKS! that were cascading down on him, then went on. "I am also out here tonight to stand up for a friend of mine -- Mr. Billy Rose." More boos as the newcomer's name was mentioned. "Now, in the past week, Billy's been the victim of a series of senseless and violent attacks by the man who calls himself 'the Storm.'" The fans started cheering again. "Now, Storm, I have just one thing to say about that -- while there's no doubt that you are full of intensity, and that you occasionally show intelligence, I must say that as a Man of Three I's, you most certainly lack integrity. Oh, it's true," he told the booing fans, "it's true. Now--"

Angle was cut off as the Storm's pyros went off and "Damage, Inc." roared up. The Olympian blinked in surprise, then removed his medals and put them aside as the Storm emerged from the smoke, ugly-stick still in hand. The Storm's hair was a bit disheveled, and his face had an almost feral look to it as he removed his sunglasses. His eyes held that same eerie disfocusedness that he'd had on Thursday when he attacked Raven. The Storm climbed into the ring and started for Angle, but referee Mike Chioda stopped him and took away the baseball bat. "And his opponent, from Dallas, Texas, weighing in at 239 pounds... THE STORM!"

Chioda held the Storm back for a moment, while Angle watched him with a suddenly nervous look. When the referee stepped back to allow the match to begin, the Storm launched himself at Angle with all the subtlety of a ballistic missile. He forced Angle back into the corner, where he began to hammer away at the Olympian with hard punches, then stomps as Angle slumped down. Chioda pulled the Storm away, only to get shoved off as the Storm moved back in. Angle tried to pull himself up and managed to get one kick in to the Storm's gut, but then the Force of Nature fired back with a fast pummel job that left Angle dizzy. The Storm held Angle's head and pulled him out of the corner, pushing himself up on the second rope and grabbing Angle's head. He pushed out and swung around Angle, planting him in a Tornado DDT.

The Storm stood up and looked around at the fans, his eyes giving the strange impression that his mind was both elsewhere and simultaneously focused on the match. He turned to Angle and started to kick away on him. "You goddamn son of a bitch!" he swore as he beat on the Olympic Hero. "I'll teach you to get your friends to beat on me, Rose!" He grimaced as he mounted Angle and started slugging him in the face. "Come on, Billy, you're supposed to be the hard-line tough guy! Waste me! Come on, Billy!" More punches. "What's the matter? You had no trouble hitting me with a chair! Hit me!"

He started to choke Angle, but got pulled off by Chioda, who took the moment to give him a lecture on the rules. Angle sat up and threw a punch to the Storm's stomach, stunning him long enough for Kurt to get to his feet and lift the Storm for a shinbreaker on his knee, then a death suplex. The Storm landed nearly on the top of his head from the move and lay in a daze as Angle dazedly pulled himself up using the ropes. The Storm got to his feet, steadying himself with one hand on the mat, wincing a bit at his leg. The gold-medalist swung a clothesline, but the Storm ducked and set up for a death suplex of his own. He lifted him, but Angle flipped out of it, landed behind the Storm, then grabbed his waist for a German suplex. Again, the Storm was dropped nearly on top of his head, and groaned in pain, holding his head.

Angle quickly put on a leglock, stressing his injured knee. The Storm grimaced and hissed in pain, clenching his fists. He lunged toward the ropes and managed to grab one. Angle released him and stomped on his chest, trying to wear him down. The Storm rolled out of the ring and bent over for a moment, still holding his head, limping just a bit. Angle went over and leaned over to pull him in, but the Storm grabbed his head and yanked him down into the ropes, knocking him down on his back. He grabbed Kurt's ankles and dragged him out of the ring, where he began to whale on him with punches and kicks.

"Come on, Billy!" the Storm snapped at Angle again, his eyes still showing that disfocus -- though now it was unclear whether it was from blind rage or those suplexes. "Where's the lord of pain from CIW?! Where's the taunts and mind games?!" He whipped Angle into the steel stairs, which toppled loose with a clang. The Storm dashed over and beat Angle's head against the post. "Come on, Billy! Fight back!" He pressed Angle's head against the post. "I thought you were this big shot who could take anything! Take a swing! Hit me!"

Chioda shouted at the Storm to get Angle back in the ring. Amazingly, the Storm seemed to register the fact that someone was talking to him and pulled Angle away from the post and rolled him back into the ring. He almost absently wetted his finger and raised it in the air, ascending to the top and leaning back, holding the ropes for balance. As Kurt unsteadily got to his feet and turned to face the Storm, the Force of Nature pounced out and took Angle down with the Windfall. But rather than make the cover, the Storm leaned down in Angle's face and screamed, "Well, Billy, I'll give you a taste of what you did to me!!" He flipped Angle onto his back, then twisted his arm around into a hammerlock. Angle started kicking, but the Storm had already pressed his good knee against the wrist on Angle's twisted arm and then locked his hands under his jaw, pulling his head back extremely painfully.

Angle started screaming, tapping the mat furiously while the Storm just threw back his head and roared, "Come on, Billy, let's hear that snap!" Chioda called for the bell, and Lillian announced, "And the winner as the result of a submission, THE STORM!" Metallica began to play, but the Storm showed no signs of releasing Angle. If anything, he wrenched the hold in more painfully. Angle cried out again and tapped again, but the Storm didn't let him go. Chioda tried to pull the Storm off, and it wasn't until he actually began a five-count that the Storm released Angle. But rather than just leave, he went to Angle's feet, stepped on one and locked the other one in a Twister anklelock.

Hoist by his own petard, as it were, Angle started screaming again, and Chioda again tried to pull him off Kurt, but the Storm was not moving. "That's right, Billy!" the Storm shouted. "Scream!" Chioda tugged at his arms and shouted at him, but the Force of Nature's grip was like steel. Officials flooded the ring, trying vainly to pull the Storm off. Angle was tapping the mat like crazy, but this just seemed to spur the Storm into intensifying the Twister.

Sgt. Slaughter waded through the officials and grabbed the Storm, managing at last to break the hold and pull the incensed Texan off the Olympian. The Storm wheeled around, ready to hit the Sarge, but then his eyes finally seemed to focus a bit. He blinked as he recognized Slaughter, then glanced at Angle. He stared for a moment, then shoved Sgt. Slaughter away and pushed through the refs, grabbed his ugly-stick, and march/limped up the ramp, bellowing, "ROSE!"

Later that night...

"You sure Skinner's left?" Billy Rose asked Shane McMahon as he laced up his boots. He looked up, his eyes glittering like cold obsidian. "`Cuz I don't want that fucking maniac interfering in my match."

"Relax, Billy," Shane said. "I know he's gone, `cuz after he ran in during my match with Austin earlier, I saw him get put in Austin's truck and get driven away. He's not going to interfere." He looked at the Californian. "You sure you don't want my help tonight?"

"Like you said," Rose said, "relax. It's only Tazz. If Skinner can beat this guy, then he'll be a piece of cake for me. Besides, this is for the King of the Ring tournament. I want to win this on my own. Best way to make an impression."

Shane nodded. "All right. But if you ever need my help--"

"Right," Rose said with a wry grin. "I know."

* * *

"The following contest is scheduled for one fall, and is for qualification in the King of the Ring tournament!"

The TitanTron pulsed and throbbed, flashing the orange 13 symbol, an EKG beep playing. The beep flatlined, and then pyros exploded, theatrical smoke filling the air. "If You Dare" played as Tazz walked through the smoke. "Introducing first, from the Red Hook district of Brooklyn, New York, weighing in at 240 pounds... TAZZ!"

The Brooklyn Badass climbed into the ring and took off his orange sunglasses, then tested the ropes as he waited for his opponent to arrive. The TitanTron lit up again with Billy Rose's face and videos of him attacking people in and out of the ring. The Union Underground's music played: "How long? How long? -- I said how long? I said how long? I said how long? Until you crack..." Rose walked out, removing his red shirt as he came down the ramp. "And his opponent, making his way to the ring from Los Angeles, California, weighing in at 245 pounds... BILLY ROSE!"

Tazz, impatient, didn't wait for Rose to get in the ring. He stepped outside and charged, but Rose stopped him cold with a clothesline takedown on the floor. He quickly pulled Tazz back up and threw him headlong into the steel steps. Tazz rolled onto his back, kicking his feet as he held his head in pain. The Californian wasted no time in stomping on Tazz's knee, weakening him a bit, before rolling him into the ring to officially start the match.

Tazz stumbled to his feet, clutching one knee with a hand as Rose advanced toward him. He made a swing, but Tazz slipped past and wrapped his arms around his body for a belly-to-belly suplex. Rose rolled back to his feet, shaking off the suplex, and advanced again. Tazz locked up with him, and Rose used his slightly larger size to push Tazz back into the corner. There, he snapped out of the lockup and began hitting the Brooklyn native with right hands. Abruptly, Tazz brought his hands up and raked them across Rose's face (which Ross called a "Red Hook to the eyes"), and using the momentary distraction to reverse their positions. Now Tazz was the one doing the attacking, with kick after kick, wearing Rose down until he was slumped in the corner.

Tazz was pulled back by referee Tim White, but he moved back in to pull Rose back up. He hooked him up for a suplex, but Rose blocked it by hooking his leg around Tazz's ankle. Tazz tried again, but Rose now moved and they fell to the mat, where Rose wrapped him up in a small package. White counted to two before Tazz kicked free. He aimed a stomp at the rising Californian, but Rose caught his leg, and appeared to be going for a dragon screw leg-whip, but he swung Tazz up and onto his shoulders. Face intense, Rose gave a wild grin to the audience as he stretched Tazz in a torture rack on his shoulders. White was over to ask if Tazz was going to give up, but the Red Hook native refused.

Finally, Rose stopped the hold by dropping back in a Samoan drop variant, then hooking a leg for a near-fall before Tazz got a shoulder up. Grimacing a bit, Rose grabbed Tazz's head and slugged him in the head a few times, then went to the ropes. He climbed up to the top, pointed out at Tazz and sprang out in a Savage elbow. Tazz rolled away, and Rose had barely enough time to pull his elbow back before landing painfully. Tazz tried to turn him over for a camel clutch, but Rose wasn't cooperating. He pulled his knees in, bringing Tazz close enough for a quick one-two punch combo, then kick-shoved Tazz off of him and into the ref.

Tazz stumbled to his feet, holding his face and looking dazed by the punches. He turned around and Rose floored him with a nasty uppercut. Rose ascended to the top again, pointed out, and once again jumped out with a Savage elbow, this time landing it. He made a cover, but the ref was down. Rose scowled, left Tazz and prodded the referee with a boot. As the referee stirred, Tazz got up, snuck up behind Rose, then snared him with the Tazzmission. The two slumped to the mat, but Tazz was just too close to the ropes, and Billy grabbed them. The ref had recovered by now and made Tazz release the hold.

The Brooklyn native got up and stomped on Rose a bit, then set him up for a back suplex, but Rose flipped out of it. Tazz whirled around, only to get another one-two punch combo, then a hard body blow which doubled Tazz over. The Californian followed up with a hangman's neckbreaker, then stood up. He glanced out at the audience, then pointed at Tazz before making a cutting motion at his throat.

He pulled Tazz up and placed his head between his legs. He paused, looked up, then raised his arms out to the sides. The fans started clamoring, then watched as Rose stooped and hooked his hands under Tazz and flipped him up in a gutwrench. Rather than sit Tazz on his shoulders, however, Rose flipped him completely over his head and held him up by the armpits, causing Tazz's arms to stick out to the side in a "cross" position. He held this for a moment, then roared as he threw Tazz up, caught his waist and brought him down hard in a sit-out powerbomb. Rose held Tazz down for the pin. 1... 2... 3! "Until You Crack" played again as Rose shoved Tazz away and stood up, posing. "Here is your winner, BILLY ROSE!"

Rose was still posing when Tazz got back up and clubbed him in the head with a forearm. "I'm gonna punk your ass out!" Tazz shouted as he began pounding on him, only to get knocked back as Rose rallied. Finally, Rose hit the one-two-gutshot combo again and threw Tazz to the mat, where he locked him in the Deadly Blossom. The fans were starting to boo him as he laughed and stretched Tazz more painfully.

Abruptly, Rain ran down the ramp and slid into the ring, throwing herself at Rose with a double axe-handle. Rose grunted as she hit him in the face and released Tazz as he rolled away from Rain, who stomped at him. She had him by the ropes, where she stomped on his chest, but then he lashed out and clipped her knee, taking her down. The Californian got to his feet, checking his nose, then glaring down at Rain, who was getting back up. He continued to stare at her, an incredulous look on his face, then started laughing. Rain blinked in surprise at his reaction.

"Wh-what the hell is this?" Rose asked when he caught his breath. "What? Skinner can't fight his own goddamn fights? He sends his woman to do the dirty work? What is he, a fucking coward?"

Rain blinked, then yelled and kicked up between Rose's legs. His eyes bugged out and he doubled over, and Rain took the moment to hook him in a full-nelson, looking to go for the Downdraft. Rose, however, caught his ankle on her leg and stopped it, then pulled one arm free, wrenching the other one and shoving her down. Rain kicked and screamed, trying to get away from him even before he locked her in the Deadly Blossom, but to no avail. Rain screamed in pain as Rose just laughed cruelly. The fans were booing like crazy, chanting "STORM! STORM! STORM!" in a vain attempt to call out the Force of Nature.

Instead, the familiar sound of glass shattering was heard and the fans went ballistic. Stone Cold came sprinting down the ring and booted Rose in the head, stomping at him, then pulling him up and throwing him into the ropes. As Rose came back, Austin gave him the Stone Cold salute and then kicked him in the gut, turned around, and dropped him in a Stunner. Rose lay in a twitching heap on the mat while Austin got down and yelled in his face. The Rattlesnake stood, then went over to Rain, who was weakly pulling herself up with one arm, the other hanging limp.

He helped her out of the ring, then stood over Rose and gave him another "salute" before helping Rain up the ramp while Disturbed played around them.

* * *

"You sure you're okay, Rain?" Austin asked as he drove her to the hotel in his pickup truck.

"I'll be fine, Steve," she said, wincing as she felt her neck. "I'm a resilient girl."

Austin was silent for a moment, then shook his head. "I don't like this. Storm's gonna be goin' apeshit over what Rose did to ya. I ain't seen anyone as crazy as that since the day I got here."

"I know," Rain said as they pulled up at the hotel. "I'm planning to sit him down and try to talk some sense into him."

They headed toward the Storm's room, only to find the door hanging open. The room had been ransacked, mirrors smashed, window broken with one of the chairs in the room, tables and beds overturned, lamps shattered, and the TV sitting there with smoke coming out of the hole in the glass, where an ugly-stick protruded.

There was no sign of the Storm, and his bag was missing. Rain stepped inside, dumbstruck. "Holy shit," she whispered.

"Rain," Austin said. She turned around, and noticed for the first time that the mirror in the bathroom was intact, but the Storm had spraypainted across it:

THE BASTARD'S GONE TOO FAR -- DIE ROSE DIE!!

-more to come-

Next: The King of the Ring tournament continues, with both the Storm and Rose moving up and the Storm sinking further into madness -- a simultaneous "Ascent and Descent."

If you have any ideas for who you think the Storm, Rain, or Billy Rose should team up with or go up against, drop me a line at jay_winger_2k@hotmail.com.