Raging Storm Chapter 11 Raging Storm
Chapter 11: Playing the Game
By: Jay Winger

Note: this is set the Monday after "Chapter 10: Broken."

To recap: Stone Cold swings by the hospital to visit Rain, who is staying at the Storm's bedside while he recuperates from Billy Rose and Brick's attack. Rain remains confident that the Storm will recover and take it to Rose. At the arena, Rose formally introduces the 7'1", 350-pound Brick and maintains that he plays the game as well as anyone, and that he will become WWF Champion before he leaves. Brick, Rose says, is there to get the weak and worthless out of his way. Backstage, the APA arrives, but gets immediately attacked by Brick and Rose. In a match, Rose took on William Regal, but Brick came out to save Rose from the Regal Stretch and gave Regal the Breaker Chokeslam. Later that night, Stone Cold took on Kurt Angle, and Rose attacked the referee, distracting Austin for Brick to give him the Breaker Chokeslam as well. Rose then taunted Austin and told him, "Don't mess with Cal-if-orn-I-F'ing-A!" Back at the hospital, Rain and the Storm were both upset by this. The Storm sent Rain back to the hotel to get some sleep, then got out a cell phone, on which he talked to two men, Roger and Mike, and asked if they would help him out when the time came. They readily agreed, and the Storm said, "Billy Rose ain't the only jackass who can play the game."

Teaser: The Storm, still recuperating, tries unsuccessfully to prevent Rain from going up against Billy Rose and Brick by herself while Rose continues to play the game.

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, Brad "Brick" Dickerson, Roger Ziger, and Mike Zahn 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, 3 July

A long, black stretch limo arrived in the garage, and Shane, Rhino, and Team ECK got out. They all grinned as Billy Rose got out next, and Edge & Christian laughed and slapped high-fives. "This rules!" Christian said. "Tonight, not only do we get to take on that reekazoid Jericho and that midget Crash in a tag-team match, but Lone Star is no more!"

"Yeah," Edge agreed with a grin. "I can't believe that Way-Too-Gay is a fellow Canadian. That just scrapes the depths of sucktitude!"

"I gotta say, Billy," Shane said, "kudos to you for doing what no one thought possible -- taking down Lone Star."

Rose smirked. "Like I said on Thursday, I play the game as well as anyone -- and the game last week was Divide and Conquer. Take down Skinner and his bitch, take down the Acolytes, and soon Stone Cold is a man alone. And now he's a man broken -- just like Skinner."

"Hey, Billy!" came a deceptively cheerful voice. Shane and his Faction turned to see Mick Foley waddling up. Rose scowled with distaste. "What's new?"

"I'm not the Storm, Foley," Rose muttered. "What do you want?"

"Well, first I was wondering where that buddy of yours is," Foley said. "You know, Brick."

Rose raised his eyebrows and turned to look in the limo. The door opened on the far side and a hulking form got out. The limo raised off its axles as the weight decreased. Brick turned his forbidding face and looked at the commissioner. Foley didn't seem daunted. "Hi, Brick. Listen, after what you pulled last week, I'm giving you the night off. If you show up here again, I'll suspend you, okay?"

Brick's perpetual scowl deepened, and his massive hands curled into fists as he walked around the limo toward Foley. Rose stopped him. "Uh-uh, Brick. No smashy-smashy unless I say so, yeah?" Brick grunted. Rose turned back to Foley. "Okay, Foley, we'll play it your way tonight. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some devious plotting to do." He flashed a malicious grin and started to head off, but Foley stopped him again.

"No, no, Billy, see, I already booked you in a match tonight," Foley said.

"Yeah?" Rose said, turning back. He smirked. "Who against? The Brooklyn Brawler?"

"No," Foley said. "You talk about playing the game, Billy? Well, tonight, you will play the game when you take on the Game."

"He's going up against Hunter?" Shane asked. He laughed. "This'll be easy! Billy's fought Hunter before, and he can beat him, no sweat."

"Exactly," Rose said with a smile. "This is my chance to prove I can hack it with anybody, that I am as smart as any man in the WWF -- and who better than the Game himself to prove it against?" He poked Foley in the chest. "You just signed the Cerebral Assassin over to part of the mentally elite. Congratulations, Foley. Now, goodbye." He looked up at Brick. "Brick, go back to the hotel. I'll call you later." Another grunt in response, and Brick ducked back into the limo, which sank under his weight. Rose leaned over to the front window, told the driver, "Take him back to the hotel." The limo drove off.

* * *

"Goddammit, Claire, don't you even think about it!" Skinner shouted at her as she checked her 'uniform' in a mirror in his room. "I told you he's better than you, and you didn't listen! You got hurt, dammit, don't put yourself at risk so quickly!"

"Sorry, Matthew," she replied, "but you're not going to convince me. I'm going, and, as Mick would say, that's final."

"Damn it, listen to me, Claire!" Skinner said, sitting up straighter in his bed, then wincing as his back protested. "You're not just dealing with Rose anymore -- you've gotta face facts: you'd be going up against Brick, too, and the guy's too damn mean to care about hitting a woman. He'd break you just as he did me."

"I can handle it," Claire said. "Besides, Brick isn't there."

"You think that makes you safe after tonight's over?" Skinner said. "Trust me, Claire, if you piss Rose off enough, he might send Brick stalking after you. He did that to me in CIW."

"No offense, Matthew," Claire said as she headed for the door, "but this isn't CIW." And she left.

Skinner fumed for a moment, then watched the monitor for a sec before picking up his cell phone. He dialed a number and listened to the voice on the other end pick up. "Joe's Crematorium. You kill `em, we grill `em."

"Hey, Mike."

"Dude, it's you again! Rog, pick up!" "`Sup, Skinner?"

"Hey, Rog. Listen, you both in town?"

"No doubt." "You know it, dude."

"Good," Skinner said. "I want you to hang out at the arena. Keep an eye on Claire for me."

"You mean Rain?"

"Yes, Roger," Skinner said, "I mean her. I think Prick Bastard may be mad at her after the night is over."

"Then you can count on us, man, we'll take care of her."

"Good. Remember, guys, do what I tell you, `cuz it all has a system."

"Heh. Right, man. Catch you on the flip." "Z-ya, dude!"

Skinner hung up and watched the TV carefully.

* * *

Rose was taping his wrists when Mick Foley ambled into the Faction's VIP room. "What do you want?" Rose growled.

"Just letting you know, guys," the Commissioner said, "that there will be no interference from your Faction, or from Triple H's Alliance."

From the other side of the room, there was a sound of disappointment from Edge & Christian and their good buddy Rhino. Foley grinned at them. "No ECRI from you boys tonight. Stay here, and there won't be any problems."

"Except for the pain that Triple H is about to feel," Rose remarked.

* * *

The TitanTron lit up with the glaring face of Triple H. "It's time to play the game. Time to play the game!" Motörhead played as images of the Game flashed on the screen. "It's all about the game, and I can play it! It's all about control, and if ya can take it! It's all about your debt, and if ya can pay it! It's all about pain, and who's gonna make it!" The Game himself appeared under the screen, head bowed as he poured water over it. He tilted his head up, sucked in a mouthful, then spewed it into the air as he headed down the ramp. "I am the Game, you don't wanna play me! I am Control, no way you can shake me! I am Heavy Debt, no way you can pay me! I am the Pain, and I know you can't take me!" Triple H took in another mouthful of water as he went around the side of the ring. "Look over your shoulder, ready to run, like a coy little bitch from a smokin' gun. I am the Game, and I make the rules. So move on out, you can die like a fool." He tossed the bottle to the timekeeper. "Try to figure out what my move's gonna be -- you're more of a sucker, why don't you ask me? Don't you forget there's a price you can pay -- `cuz I am the Game, and I want to play." An instrumental measure played as Triple H climbed up on the apron and glared out at the crowd, then threw his arms in the air, shooting out a spray of water as a spotlight lit him up. "It's time to play the game." Triple H stepped into the ring and went to the corner, where he flexed and posed again.

"The following contest is scheduled for one fall. Introducing first, from Greenwich, Connecticut, weighing in at 246 pounds... TRIPLE H!" Triple H's music cut out as he faced the TitanTron. It lit up with Billy Rose's video and the music of the Union Underground. "How long? How long? -- I said how long? I said how long? I said how long? Until you crack..." The Californian walked out in his Every Rose Has Its Thorns t-shirt and crimson pants. "And his opponent, from Los Angeles, California, weighing in at 245 pounds... BILLY ROSE!"

Rose strode down to the ring, looking quite confident. He stopped on the apron and glanced out at some of the new signs the crowd had made. Dumb as a Brick said one, while another read Rose Cannot Stop a Force of Nature and had a bolt of lightning striking a rose. A particularly apropos sign said Rose Cannot Play the Game and had the letters H H H underneath that.

Rose smirked and hit his pose, then stepped into the ring. He walked up and made an ehh gesture with his hand from his jaw at Triple H, then danced back as the Game lunged, held back by the referee. The fight bell rang and Triple H lunged again. Rose caught him and locked up with him, then brought his knee up into Triple H's gut and hooked him for a snap suplex. Hunter was up quickly, but pressed back into the corner by Rose, who began hitting him with right hands. Rose went to whip him across the ring, but Triple H reversed it. Rose came off the corner, stunned, and walked right into a clothesline from Triple H.

Rose got back up, and ducked a clothesline from Triple H again, this time landing a side kick to the back of Triple's neck. The Game shouted in pain and fell against the ropes. Rose quickly pulled him back into a German suplex, then lifted Triple H's leg to kick at his knee. He kicked three times, then hooked a leg for a pin. 1... 2-- and Triple H got a shoulder up. Rose stood up and dropped an elbow into Triple H's knee, holding it for a leglock, then letting go and hauling Triple H to his feet. He whipped him into the ropes, then kicked him in the knee again, tripping Hunter and sending him crashing to the mat.

Triple H kicked Rose off of him when Rose grabbed his legs and tried to twist them for a submission hold, then got to his feet using the ropes. He limped and faced Rose, who charged him. The Game back-dropped him over the ropes and sent him tumbling to the floor. Hunter ran across the ring and shot off the ropes, coming back in a baseball slide dropkick to Rose's head as he got to his feet. Rose went stumbling into the barricade and bashed his fists into Triple H's head with a double axe-handle from the side.

Triple H retaliated by trying to knee Rose in the gut, but the Californian blocked with his elbow. Hunter had made the mistake of attacking with his injured knee, and the blow from the elbow caused him to wince and stumble back. Rose grabbed his arm and whipped him into the steel stairs, which Triple H plowed into with his legs, causing him to flip over them and land almost on his head. Rose got up and went over to Triple H, then bashed his head against the announce table before swinging him around and rolling him back into the ring.

Triple H met Rose with a kick to the head, then a series of stiff right hands. He whipped him into the ropes and swung a clothesline. When Rose ducked and shot off the other ropes, the Game met him in mid-rebound with a high knee. Rose went down, and Triple H went over and grabbed his head before pounding his knuckles into his temple. He released Rose, but the Californian was back on his feet and suddenly waded into Triple H with his punch combo -- right jab, left hook, hard right body blow, and the Game doubled over. Rose smirked and made a cutting gesture at his throat, then pointed at Hunter. He pinned his head between his legs, then raised his arms to the sides, setting up for the Thorn powerbomb.

Rose executed the gutwrench and held Triple H behind his head in the crucifix position. As he turned around, however, he suddenly saw a female form leaning back on the top of the turnbuckle. Rose dropped Triple H in surprise, and Rain catapulted herself at him in a Windfall, flattening him. The referee called for the bell as Rain started hitting him with remarkably strong forearm shots (considering her size), then turning him over and going for the Twister Anklelock. Rose kicked and tried to worm away from her, but she stomped her foot on his ankle, then twisted the other one. Rose grimaced in pain and clenched his fists.

Triple H had landed in a heap when Rose dropped him, and he looked up in surprise as he saw Rose trapped in a submission hold from a woman. A smile broke out on the Game's face, and he leaned back on the ropes to watch. He and Rain both looked up, however, as the stocky, black-clad form of Rhino came charging down the ramp. Rain bailed, releasing Rose and rolling out the far side of the ring as Rhino came barreling into the ring. Rhino went after her, but Triple H caught him with a hard forearm shot to the side of the head, knocking the man-beast down. Rain hopped the barricade and disappeared into the cheering crowd.

Triple H left the ring and headed triumphantly up the ramp, smirking back at a seething Rose and a quivering Rhino, who glowered first at the Game, then off into the crowd where Rain had vanished.

* * *

Billy Rose and Rhino came back into the Faction's VIP room in a fury. "Goddammit, I am gonna kill that bitch," Rose muttered as he grabbed a steel chair from the corner, then marched back out the door. Rhino, who was pretty upset too, followed.

* * *

Rain was hurriedly heading back to the parking area to get in her car to head for the hospital, but as she emerged into the garage, she found two men she did not want to see waiting for her.

"There's the bitch!" Rose shouted, brandishing his chair. "Get her!"

Rain had almost no time before Rhino charged and gored her back into the cement wall. Her back, which was still sore from the Thorn powerbomb Rose had given her last week, screamed in protest, and she let out a groan of pain as she slumped down. Rose stood over her and raised the chair. "Teach you to mess up my matches, you fucking bit--"

Rose was cut off as someone attacked him from behind. Rhino looked up, and got a flurry of punches to his face, which stunned him and sent him to the ground. Rain looked up at her saviors. The one stomping Rose and then beating him with a steel chair reminded her of the Hardys... roughly the same build, same hairstyle. He had a narrow face and beady little eyes underneath his long dark hair, which had streaks dyed blue and silver. The one who had punched out Rhino was larger and built like a boxer -- looked like one too. His nose was a little squashed, and his knuckles were large, built up from years of experience. He had dirty-blond hair and slate-gray eyes.

Rose and Rhino scrambled to their feet and hastily made a retreat as the dyed-haired man threw the chair after them. "Go back to your mama's tits, ya stupid dumb fucks!" he shouted after him. He turned back to his cohort with a smile. "Snoogins," he remarked, slapping a palm. Rain blinked with surprise as she got back to her feet. The dyed-haired guy looked -- and sounded, frankly -- like Jay Phat-Buds from the Kevin Smith movies.

"I know they're damn wrestlers, but we kicked their mother-lovin' asses!" the boxer grinned. Rain was frankly expecting him to be like the Silent Bob of the group. Evidently not. This guy sounded more like Matthew Lillard. He turned to Rain. "You okay?"

"Yeah, fine," she said, rubbing an ache in her back. "Who're you guys?"

"Oh, I'm Roger Ziger, and this here's my psycho buddy Mike Zahn," the boxer said, indicating.

"Yeah, we just happened to be in the area," Mike said, "and saw those two dumb-asses attackin' you, so we thought we'd do, like, the Good Samaritan thing and kick their asses."

"You sure you're okay?" Roger asked. "You don't want us to give you a lift or something?" Seeing the suspicious look on her face, he raised his hands. "Honest, we're just bein' helpful. No ulterior motives or nothin'."

"Serious, miss," Mike said, brushing his hair back out of his eyes. "Anything we can do."

Rain sighed and shook her head, smiling a bit. "No thank you, I'm really fine, I can--" She broke off as she saw that Rose had evidently taken the chair to her car, if the shattered windshield was any indication. She sighed again. "Well, looks like I could use a lift."

* * *

"You sure you want us to drop you off here?" Roger asked as they pulled to a stop at the hospital.

"Yeah, you don't look all that banged up," Mike said.

"It's okay, guys," Rain said as she got her stuff together. "My boyfriend's in here."

"Cool," Roger said. "Take care of yourself, now."

"Thanks again!" Rain said, as she shut the door and headed into the hospital.

Roger and Mike watched him go, and then Roger took out a cell phone. He punched a speed-dial.

* * *

Skinner picked up his cell phone as it rang. "Matthew Skinner," he said.

"Dude, it's Roger. You were right to send us to check on your girl. Saved her pretty little ass from getting beat down by Prick Bastard and Rhino."

"Thanks for the save, then, Rog. Tell Mike likewise. I owe you one."

"Nah, you don't, man," Roger said. "You'd've done the same for us."

Skinner glanced up as he saw Claire coming. "Listen, I've got to go. Thanks again."

"No prob, man! Z-ya!"

Skinner hung up and smiled as Claire sat back down next to his bed. "Did you have a good time?"

"I'd've had a better time if I'd gotten that prick to scream or tap out," Claire said. "But I'll settle for humiliating him."

Skinner smiled again. "Well, if it was worth it to see him all pissed off... Be interesting to see how flustered he gets when he figures out he can't touch me."

"What do you mean?" Claire asked, puzzled.

Skinner smirked. "Hey, like I said, Rose isn't the only bastard who can play the game. Now don't you worry about it. I had a therapy session scheduled during the broadcast, so I got one of the nurses to tape the show for me. Let's sit back and watch Rose squirm in slow-motion."

-more to come-

Next: Billy Rose is infuriated by the Storm's continued mind games, and the two vie to prove who is "The Mental Elite."

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.