Chapter 9: This Ain't Over
By: Jay Winger
Note: this is set the Monday after King of the Ring, after "Chapter 8: Ascend/Descend."
To recap: upon arriving at the arena, the Storm confronted Stone Cold about his repeated run-ins to save Rain from Billy Rose. The Storm implies that there's a relationship there, which Austin denies. In his first match, the Storm took on Rikishi, and managed a win with the Windfall. After the match, however, Rikishi gave him a Banzai Drop. Backstage, Rain helped the Storm tape his ribs, revealing a heavily scarred back and body to the APA. (One particular scar on his back the Storm attributed to a lackey of Rose's back in CIW -- one Brick Dickerson.) They then ran out to the parking area to find Billy Rose trashing the Storm's car with a sledgehammer. The Storm nearly attacked him when Rose punched Rain in the face, but held himself back. Rose then went on to his match against Test and picked up the win by forcing him to tap out to the Deadly Blossom. The Storm tried to convince Rain that Rose was out of her league, and, offended, Rain packed up her bag and left. In the semifinals, the Storm went up against his ex-tag team partner Chris Benoit, and after a brutal match-up, the Storm forced Benoit to tap out to the Necksnapper. Billy Rose had the daunting task of taking on the Big Show, and actually managed a win after hitting a Savage elbow. In the finals, the Storm and Rose went berserk on each other. Both men managed to avoid, counter, or get free from the other's submission holds or big moves, but in the end, the Storm managed to get out of the Thorn powerbomb's set-up and hit the Downdraft on Rose to become the King of the Ring. After the match, the Storm taunted a livid Rose, who swore to Team ECK and Shane that the Storm was going to pay.
Teaser: Factions collide and factions fracture. Rivals square off and step off. And Billy Rose isn't through with the Storm by a long shot.
Rating: R - for violence and profanity
Disclaimer: All things WWF are property of Titan Sports. The characters of Matthew "the Storm" Skinner, Claire "Rain" Whittaker, Billy Rose, and Brad "Brick" Dickerson are completely fictional. I do incorporate a few traits from existing WWF wrestlers, but for the most part, they're my creations.
MONDAY: RAW is WAR, 26 June
As the WWF came to Los Angeles after King of the Ring, the Lone Star locker room was in a fairly good mood despite the few disturbances they had the night before. The APA had already gone through a twelve-pack of beer (each) and were in the midst of a game of blackjack when the door opened and the Storm walked in. He wore a smile on his face and carried his King of the Ring crown in one hand. Bradshaw, Faarooq, and Jacqueline started grinning. "Hey, all hail the King!" Faarooq shouted.
"Hail to the King, baby!" Bradshaw added.
The Storm grinned, then said in his best Duke Nukem voice, "Groovy." More laughter. "Beer me," the Storm said, setting his duffel and crown down to catch the tossed can. "Thanks." He cracked it open and poured it into his mouth, then stopped to belch. He collapsed in a chair and reclined, slumping down and finishing off the beer before tossing it over his shoulder into a trashcan. "It's good to be the King."
"Okay, I think we've exhausted all those clichés," Jackie interrupted.
"Yeah," the Storm said. He looked around, then frowned. "Where're Steve and Rain?"
"Austin got off to a late start," Bradshaw said. "He'll be here. I think he said he ran into Rain at the hotel. He said he'd bring her to the arena."
"That so?" the Storm asked. He frowned a bit more, then shrugged. "Seen the sheet for the night?"
"Yeah, right here," Faarooq said, passing him a paper. "Us three got a mixed-tag with the Hollys."
"Hmm," the Storm said, scanning the sheet. "They haven't signed me to a match tonight." He glanced at his watch. "Oop. I got me an interview segment in the ring. `Scuse me."
* * *
The fans turned to the TitanTron as the familiar guitar-chord played. Only now, instead of merely showing a silhouetted man in a downpour raising his arms to the sides, it showed the Storm, in a clip from the previous night, raising his crown in the air. At the crescendo of the chord, the Storm's voice suddenly proclaimed, "All hail the King!" The lightning pyros went off and "Damage, Inc." started up. The fans cheered as the Storm came out through the flashing smoke, carrying his crown in his hand. He climbed into the ring, up on the second rope, then raised his crown up in the air. He set the crown down in the corner, then took up a microphone. He paused as the fans cheered loudly.
"This goes out," the Storm said, "to every black-mask-wearin' yahoo, to every arrogant back-stabbing son of a bitch, and to every single pansy-ass yellow-bellied bottle-blond West Coast jackass -- seek shelter, because the Storm... has... ARRIVED!" More cheers. "Last night, I proved, once again, that I have what it takes to take on anybody in the World Wrestling Federation. I became the King of the Ring. I took on the 'Bad Man,' Rikishi, and kicked his very considerable ass. I took on the 'Canadian Crippler,' Chris Benoit, and made him tap out to the Necksnapper. And then, I went up against that guy I like to think of as the Prick Bastard -- Billy Rose. And I showed him that no matter what sorta mind games he wants to play, you don't piss off the Force of Nature."
The Storm paced a little bit. He paused. "See, Billy thinks that by allying himself with a McMahon, he can really go places. He thinks if he gets himself a little mutual admiration posse around him, he'll have himself guys who'll back him up. But, see, that's where he's wrong. Allow me," he said after a brief pause, "to borrow a page from the Book of Austin. We all know that it says D.T.A. -- Don't Trust Anybody. Well right under that, there's another little line that says You Can't Trust a McMahon. People have been burned by the McMahons time and again. Mick Foley got screwed out of the WWF title by them several times. The Rock got screwed by them. Stone Cold got screwed by them. Hell, even a McMahon doesn't trust another one. Look at that goddamn family, Billy! Vince's daughter is in thick with the 'Alliance,' which resents his influence. Shane has himself his little 'Team ECK,' and flat-out goes against his father's wishes.
"And if you think you can trust your so-called friends, Billy," the Storm went on, "just look at what happened last week. Dunn, roll the footage." He turned to the TitanTron as it showed the police arresting Billy Rose on RAW the week before. Shane asked if Team ECK had any money to contribute to Rose's bail, only to find they'd left. The video cut off. The Storm chuckled. "Some friends, huh, Billy? They didn't even post bail for ya. That's just gotta suck."
He paced a bit more. "But I can understand, Billy, if you want another shot at me. So, this being my first night as King of the Ring, I'm feeling a bit magnanimous. I tell you what -- I'll give you a shot against me, in this very ring, here tonight!" The fans started going crazy at the thought of seeing those two go at it again. "So you get your little Californian ass out here, get your hair all dyed to the right shade, and get set to get wrecked, boyo. The Force of Nature's on a roll, and I'll roll right over ya and grind your ass under my boots. And that is your Storm Warning."
He paused and glared at the TitanTron, which soon lit up with another entrance video. "How long? How long? -- I said how long? I said how long? I said how long? Until you crack..." The fans booed as Billy Rose sauntered out, wearing a new t-shirt. It had a graphic of a red rose with blood pooling around the flower. Lettering read Every Rose Has Its Thorns. The back showed two silhouetted people, one of which was in the midst of giving the other a Thorn powerbomb. Rose glanced out at the crowd, then posed, raising his arms to the sides and peering out to his right, then to his left. A smug little smirk sat on his face. He raised a microphone and spoke. "Storm, just gotta say a few things -- first, you underestimate just how smart I am. What I lack in physical power, I make up for strategically. I'm very careful with how I do my business, Storm. You learned that the hard way back in CIW. I may lose the individual battle along the way, but you can never conceive my goals." Rose paced on the stage. "But I tell you what, Storm -- I accept your challenge, because you're on my turf, now, Nature Boy. You're in my hometown -- you're right smack dab in Los Angeles, Cal-if-orn-I-F'ing-A! I will step into the ring with you, and then, just when you have victory within your grasp -- it will all slip away, Storm, and then, you will be broken."
Rose was now half-way down the ramp, but stopped and turned back as cars crashed on the TitanTron and the familiar guitar chords played. The fans went crazy as Commissioner Mick Foley waddled out in his own unique way and grinned at the cheering fans, who were chanting, "FOLEY! FOLEY!" He raised a finger. "Now wait just a minute, guys, I can understand if you want to go at each other again, but I have another idea. Instead of giving these people the same match they had last night, I think we'll take care of this whole Team ECK versus Lone Star thing we've got going. So tonight -- right here, in Los Angeles, California! --" (Cheap pop.) "-- we will see you, Billy Rose, and your friends, Kurt Angle and his, heh, manager Trish take on you, Storm, the Texas Rattlesnake, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and your girlfriend, Rain." Rose started to shout at him, but Foley raised his hand. "I'm sorry, but I'm the commissioner, and that decision... is final!"
* * *
The Storm paced in the parking lot shortly thereafter, the Acolytes hanging out nearby. Considering how furious Rose seemed to be, they didn't want the Storm taking any chances getting blindsided by Shane's faction. Within a few minutes, Stone Cold's pickup truck pulled into the garage, and Austin and Rain stepped out, carrying their bags. A large purple bruise marred Rain's eye where Rose had punched her last night. Austin frowned slightly as he saw the Storm. "What's up?"
"We got us a match tonight, that's what," the Storm replied. "You, me, and Rain against Rose, Angle, and Trish."
"That a fact?" Austin said.
"Yeah," the Storm said. Then he tilted his head a bit, his expression unreadable, and not just because of his sunglasses. "And isn't this a coincidence? Steve and Rain both showing up together. Once again. And after my girlfriend mysteriously never turns up at our room at the hotel last night."
"Storm..." Rain began wearily, but he cut her off.
"No, no, Rain, it's all good," the Storm said, a strange little smile on his face. "Just a friend helping out another, right, Steve? I'm just making sure I have things correct. Right, Rain?" He looked at her intensely from behind her sunglasses, and she said nothing. "Right?" he repeated. "Anyway, let's just get back to the locker room until our match starts, yeah?"
He turned and headed back into the corridor that lead to the Lone Star locker room, and the Acolytes watched him go, then looked at Austin and Rain and shrugged. "He's been a bit weird since the match got booked," Bradshaw admitted.
"A bit weird?" Austin repeated. "That guy's startin' to get goddamn certifiable."
Rain, strangely, said nothing, merely shouldered her bag and headed down the corridor.
* * *
The Storm was tightening his gloves and wrist tape when Harvey Whippleman burst into the room. The Storm scowled slightly. "What do you want, Harvey?"
"Uh, Mr. the Storm, sir, someone's wrecked your car," Harvey managed to stammer out.
"Goddamn that prick bastard," the Storm growled, standing. He got up and ran out of the room, Rain and Austin following. He heard his rental car's alarm wailing. When he arrived on the scene, he found the hood bashed in, the roof smashed, headlights shattered, and the windshield broken.
"Damn, you really pissed him off, didn't ya?" Austin remarked.
The Storm, however, was staring at what had broken the windshield. In the middle of the spiderweb of cracked glass lay a large red brick. He slowly walked up to the car, then looked at words someone had scratched in the roof.
BREAK HIM, it read.
"Storm?" Rain said, seeing him staring at the words intently. When he didn't react, she touched his arm. "Matthew?"
He seemed to snap out of it, looked at her, the words, then around them. "Let's go," he said. When she started to speak again, he said more urgently, "Don't ask questions, just go." He looked at Austin and jerked his head. "Come on, man, let's go. I got some bad ju-ju off of this..."
* * *
"The following is a mixed tag-team contest," Lillian Garcia announced when it came time for the main event, "scheduled for one fall."
The patriotic horns of "Medal" played and boos came down on the Olympic gold-medalist, the former fitness model, and the Californian wrestler as they came out. "Introducing first, the team of TRISH STRATUS, BILLY ROSE, and KURT ANGLE!" Halfway down the ramp, Rose hit the same smug-smirk pose he did earlier in the night while Trish leaned against Angle as he raised his arms up. The fourth-of-July pyros went off behind them, and then the team continued down to the ring, where Rose climbed up and vaulted over the ropes before taking off the red shirt he had on over his Every Rose Has Its Thorns t-shirt. Kurt held open the ropes for Trish as she stepped inside. Kurt posed once more, then removed his medals, kissed them, and passed them out to the stage hand.
The music of the Union Underground's "South Texas Deathride" began to play over a video of the Texan team's big moves. "So come on, come on, come on, get up, get up. South Texas Deathride, you mother-- Come on, come on, get up, get up. South Texas, man, I'm livin' it up!" The three members of Lone Star stepped out. Austin wore his BMF vest, the Storm his I am a Force of Nature t-shirt, and Rain wore a simple black t-shirt with the blue lightning bolts coming down from the shoulders. "And their opponents, from the Great State of Texas, the team of Rain, the King of the Ring, the Storm, and Stone Cold Steve Austin -- LONE STAR!"
The heel team left the ring as Lone Star climbed in. Austin went to hit the corners, while the Storm climbed up on the second rope in one of the other corners. He held his crown in his hand and raised it up in the air. Rain just stood and gave a scathing look at Rose, who merely smirked and scratched a finger at his eye, mouthing 'Aww, poor baby.' Once Austin was done with all four corners, he threw off his vest and beckoned for the heels to step into the ring. The Storm handed his crown out to the stagehand, then removed his sunglasses and did the same, and beckoned as well.
Finally, Angle and Rose charged the ring, and Austin and the Storm met them head on. Trish looked ready to run, but Rain helped the Storm out in pummeling Rose, and didn't seem interested in beating up Trish. Austin hurled Angle out of the ring and followed to continue the beatdown. The Storm and Rain whipped Rose into the ropes, and on the rebound, Rain gave him a drop-toe hold, but he only fell about three inches before the Storm hit him with a hard lariat. Rose went down hard, oofing and holding his jaw where the lariat hit. The Storm sent Rain back to the corner and twisted Rose's legs around into a Figure-Four Leglock.
Rain cheered the Storm on from the corner, then got yanked off the apron by Trish, who aimed a weak forearm shot. Rain blocked it, lifted Trish up and dropped her on the barricade. While she was thus distracted, Angle managed to stun Austin with a headshot to the barricade, then a side Russian legsweep into the barricade. The Olympian ran into the ring and stomped on the Storm, who released Rose. Kurt and Rose stood the Storm up and whipped him into the ropes, then aimed a tandem clothesline, which he ducked. As he came off the ropes again, they hit him with a stereo dropkick. Angle went to the corner to make the required tag-in from Rose, who complied.
Angle started hammering the Storm with right hands as he got up, then gave him a back suplex as he got to his feet. As the Storm got up, he got a vertical suplex, then a belly-to-belly as he got up again. Angle whooped and celebrated, then went over to the corner, going upstairs for his textbook moonsault. As he stood on the turnbuckle, however, Rain jumped in the ring and yanked his feet off the ropes, crotching him on the turnbuckle. Referee Earl Hebner told Rain to go back to her corner, but the damage had been done.
The Storm got up and shouted to Rain, who was back in the corner. She nodded and climbed to the top rope as the Storm grabbed Angle's legs and pulled them over his shoulders as he faced out in the ring. He pulled Kurt out, then flung him down hard in a high-angle spinebuster. Rain sprang out in a big kneedrop and hit Angle's shoulder. The Storm tagged her, and Rain began her offense. She kicked away at Angle as he rolled to his knees, then hooked him up for a snap suplex. A whip into the ropes was followed by a shove into the air and Angle toppled to the mat from the Farewell. She came off the ropes for a legdrop, but Angle moved away, then stood and started kicking her. He dragged her to the hostile corner and reached out to tag Trish, who eagerly tagged in now that Rain was more subdued.
Trish landed a double-axe handle from the second rope to Rain's twisted arm, then applied some more weak forearm shots in against the ropes before she went for a whip. Trish bent down to back-body drop Rain, but the Texan woman vaulted over her in a sunset flip, rolling Trish over. Rose quickly ran in to break up the pin and snared Rain quickly in the Deadly Blossom hold. This prompted the Storm to charge and land a dropkick to the side of Rose's head. The Californian released Rain to roll out of the ring while the Storm pursued. Trish tried for a quick cover, but now Austin was in to break up the pin. Angle charged him and quickly gave him an Olympic Slam, going for a cover. Rain broke it up and now Angle turned his attention to her.
Outside, the Storm was banging Rose's head against the announce table relentlessly. Trish tried to rescue him with a chop to the Storm's back, but he just gave her a back elbow and continued pounding on Rose. He finally scooped Rose up and dropped him on the announce table, then turned to the ring. He saw Rain being pounded on by Angle in the corner, and ran in to help, but Austin got there first and yanked Angle off her to give him a back suplex. The Storm shoved Austin as he got up. "What the hell are you doing?" he shouted.
"Helpin' Rain out! What the hell's it look like I'm doing?" Austin shouted back.
"Rain can take care of herself, dammit!" the Storm shouted at him. He looked to the side and quickly both Texans ducked the double clothesline Angle aimed. They each kicked him in the gut, then hooked him up for a tandem suplex. Austin continued pounding on Angle while the Storm turned and saw Rose charge. He quickly gave him a Lou Thesz press and began whaling on him with one-two punches. Austin and Angle brawled out of the ring while Rain got up and chased after Trish who had begun putting the boots to her as she rolled out of the ring. Soon, Austin and Angle had brawled to the production area next to the ramp while Rain pummeled Trish by the timekeeper's table. This left the Storm busy with Rose as he kicked him in the corner.
That's when the TitanTron abruptly lit up. A snarling beast of a man with a thick mustache and dark brown hair appeared on the screen. Music kicked in. "Break it! (Break it!) Break it! (Break it!)" Hard metal music kicked in as the screen showed footage of the same man demolishing people in a wrestling ring and smashing things. The Storm looked up at the screen with surprise, and slowly his expression changed to one that no one had ever seen on his face since he debuted:
Fear.
A man appeared on the ramp now, and the fear on the Storm's face intensified as he saw him. The man was a behemoth. At least seven feet tall and packed with muscle. His long deep brown hair was tied back in a spiky ponytail and his thick muscles bulged under a black sleeveless shirt. He wore black pants with red stripes running down the sides. Black tape covered the tops of his hands and elbow pads stood out on his huge arms. He started down the ramp as the music continued. "I come from a broken home -- `cuz I broke it! I've seen some broken bones -- `cuz I broke `em! Don't you get in my face -- `cuz I'll break it! Don't you get in my way -- `cuz I'll break you!"
Rain looked up as this gigantic man reached the ring and saw the look of fear on the Storm's face. She looked back at the newcomer and her mind flashed back to the few weeks following the end of Matthew Skinner's stint in CIW. She recalled his words about his last match -- and suddenly she managed to put a name to the face.
"Brick," she whispered.
Brick stepped into the ring by stepping over the top rope and plodded straight up to the Storm, who backed up as he advanced. Brick glowered down at him from his towering height, and then one massive hand clapped down on his throat. The Storm gagged, then was hoisted up over head -- but not in a chokeslam position. Brick held him up in a gorilla press for a moment, turning in a circle, one hand still clamped on his throat. Then, his free hand spun the Storm back into the chokeslam position and Brick hurled him down and the Storm was slammed hard into the mat with a terrific crash. The Storm shouted with pain as he spasmed on the mat, holding his spine.
Billy Rose pulled himself to his feet with a smile as he stood over the Storm. He looked up at Brick, who was glaring down at the Storm. Rose tapped him on the arm. Brick turned to look at him. Rose held his fists together, then pantomimed snapping something. "Break him!" Rose ordered. Brick nodded, stepping over the rope on the far side of the ring and pulling the Storm out to slump against the apron. Brick stooped and dragged a 2x4 out from under the ring. As the Storm started to recover, Brick wound up and brought the board hard across his back. The board snapped, and the sound was like a gunshot. The Storm convulsed and screamed in pain, falling to the ground.
By now, Hebner had long since called for the bell. Rain ran to the Storm, who lay on his back in considerable pain, then looked up as a huge shadow fell over her. Brick glowered at her, then grabbed her and hoisted her over head in a gorilla press. He tossed her through the ropes into the ring to Rose, who stood her up, then threw her to the mat with a brainbuster. He then made a cutting motion at his throat and pointed at Rain. The fans were booing like crazy now as Rose set Rain up for a Thorn powerbomb. Gutwrench, and Rain hung in the crucifix position for a moment before Rose hurled her up and caught her around the waist for the sit-out powerbomb.
Rain lay on the mat, limp, as Rose got to his feet and raised his arm in the air in victory. Brick stepped into the ring and posed alongside him, raising his massive arms in the air and bellowing a deep roar. Rose smirked down at Rain, then sauntered over to the ropes and looked down at the Storm on the ground. He called for a microphone and got one. "Storm, hey, Storm, look at me." Slowly, through the pain that was clouding his vision, the King of the Ring looked at him. Rose smirked. "I told you, didn't I? You cannot conceive of the plans I have cooked up. I may have lost the battle last night, but now you are the one who's been broken."
Rose dropped the mic as Brick's music played again, and the two left in triumph as the Storm and Rain both lay on the ground, beaten.
-more to come-
Next: Billy Rose and Brick run roughshod over Lone Star while Rain stays with the recuperating Storm, who has been "Broken."
If you have any ideas for who you think the Storm, Rain, Brick or Billy Rose
should team up with or go up against, drop me a line at jay_winger_2k@hotmail.com.
