Raging Storm Chapter 15 Raging Storm
Chapter 15: Brain Damage
By: Jay Winger

Note: this is set the Monday after "Chapter 14: In Your Head."

To recap: Billy Rose arrived with the Faction, paranoid that the Storm was going to attack him at the arena. After exchanging insults with Triple H, Rose left with Edge, Christian, Rhino, and Brick while Shane and Kurt Angle stayed in the garage to keep an eye out for the Storm. Rose then found a taunting note and the Storm's symbol spray-painted on the wall in the VIP room, further irking the Californian. In the Alliance's VIP room, Test and Triple H flipped a coin to see who would join him with Zed & Zeta against Rose, Rhino, and Edge & Christian. Test won, so Viper and Test joined the "Z-Men" against the Faction. During the match, Edge suffered Zeta's "Snoogans" senton, Zeta took the gore from Rhino, Rhino ate Zed's Z-Slam, then Viper's Split Second. Things began to break down after that, as Test was put back in Rose's Deadly Blossom, and then Rose countered the Split Second with a new move -- a sort of reverse Final Cut, which Rose dubbed "Brain Damage." Zed and Zeta quickly took out Christian, then Rhino with a Zetasault, allowing Viper to make the pin. After the match, Brick ran out and prepared to give Viper a Breaker Chokeslam, but instead simply threw him onto the Z-Men. Rose quickly gave Zed Brain Damage, driven a bit more crazy by seeing the Storm's King of the Ring crown on the timekeeper's table. Rose went to the garage to find out when the Storm had arrived, only to find Shane and Angle unconscious, and Rain innocently looking on. She informed Rose that she'd seen Linda McMahon's lawyers, and said that if Rose or Brick attempted to lay hands on her, she'd take them to court, much to Rose's fury. Shortly thereafter, Rain spoke on the phone with the Storm, who told them he had another ally who would do his part in driving Rose insane, but didn't say who it was.

Teaser: Billy Rose starts trying to take it to Zed & Zeta while the Storm continues to do things from afar -- prompting Rose to take another shot at Rain.

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 "Zed" Ziger, and Mike "Zeta" Zahn are completely fictional. I do incorporate a few traits from existing WWF wrestlers, but for the most part, they're my creations. The lyrics to Brick's entrance theme were written by myself as well. (For those who are curious, I title his theme "Breaker.")

MONDAY: RAW is WAR, 17 July

Shane McMahon stood with Kurt Angle and Brick as a red car drove into the garage and parked. Billy Rose stepped out, slinging his bag over his shoulder. "Where have you been?" Shane asked as Rose walked up to them and then on toward the Faction's VIP room. "The show started twenty minutes ago!"

"I know, damn it!" Rose snapped. "Almost as soon as I got off the fucking plane, I was surrounded by process servers!"

Shane blinked in surprise. "What?"

"I'm being sued!" Rose shouted, turning to look at him. "Since I hit it big here, apparently all the people's whose toes I stepped on are suing me for the shit I did to them. I'm lucky I was even able to get a cab."

"You need any help?" Angle asked. "Maybe Shane could hook you up with one of his dad's lawyers."

Rose shook his head. "No, I got my own. They were able to draw up the contracts these bastards signed, and they'll make this problem go away."

"Aww, is the poor baby having legal problems?" came a silky female voice from the side. The four men stopped and looked over to see Rain leaning against the WWF truck, a smirk on her face. "S'what you get for being so recognizable, Billy."

"Shut up, bitch," Rose snapped. "I'm in no mood to deal with your shit right now."

"What's the matter?" Rain purred. "Have a headache?" Rose snarled and glared at her. Brick advanced forward, but Rain held up a finger. "Ah, ah, ah! I've got that lawsuit all set to go. Touch me and you have another lawsuit to deal with."

"Take a number," Rose said. "Don't touch her, Brick." The big man grunted and stepped back, looking down at Rain. "We'll get her later. Let's go." Rain just smiled as he walked off.

"So what am I booked in tonight?" Rose asked as he undid his over-shirt, exposing his Every Rose Has Its Thorns t-shirt.

"Brick's got a match against Albert," Shane said, "and they haven't booked you yet."

"Fine," Rose said. "Albert's no match for Brick. You sure those two idiots from Baltimore aren't here?"

"Haven't seen hide nor hair of them," Angle said.

"Good. When you do see them, have Edge and Christian give them their own unique brand of welcome."

* * *

"The following contest is scheduled for one fall." "Yo, you're dealin' with the X-Factor!" The lighting turned purple as three men appeared on the entrance ramp. X-Pac and Justin Credible stood on either side of the bald-headed Albert and raised their arms in the air, X-Pac flashing the old 'Wolfpac' sign while Credible chopped his crotch and stuck his tongue out. Albert thumped his chest with his fists and raised his thick arms in the air. "Introducing first, being accompanied by X-Pac and Justin Credible, from Boston, Massachusetts, weighing in at 380 pounds... ALBERT!" The trio strutted on down to the ring, where Albert stepped over the ropes and posed in the center of the ring.

"Break it! (Break it!) Break it! (Break it!)" The aggressive music of "Breaker" roared up, and the massive form of Brick appeared in the entryway. He was again wearing his DO NOT TAUNT shirt, his usual forbidding scowl on his face. "And his opponent, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, weighing in at 350 pounds... BRICK!" Brick moved down the ramp with deliberate speed. "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!"

Albert started toward the ropes, but referee Tim White stopped him. While the ref's back was turned, X-Pac and Justin Credible rushed Brick, who simply snarled and floored them both with a double clothesline. Brick went the rest of the way to the ring and stepped over the ropes to grapple with Albert. The bald wrestler was a few inches shorter than the 7'1" Brick, but his physical strength appeared to be quite an even match. Finally, Brick got the upper hand when he raked a huge hand across Albert's face, then swung his forearm into his head, knocking him down.

Albert slowly rolled to his feet, but Brick hauled him back up and whipped him into the corner. There, the big man walloped him with a series of right hands, then whipped him across the ring. He roared and followed up with a big avalanche, squashing Albert against the post. Albert groaned, and Brick pulled his arms away from his chest to thump him with an armchop. Albert oofed, only to get chopped again. Finally, Brick pulled him out of the corner and went for an Irish whip. Albert reversed it, then charged Brick, yelling. Brick sidestepped and grabbed Albert's bald head, continuing his momentum and sending him through the ropes to the outside.

Brick went to follow, but Tim White stopped him and turned to look at Albert, beginning a ten-count. Brick grunted and turned around, and had a split second to see X-Pac and Credible before they fired off an X-Marks-the-Spot stereo superkick. Brick staggered a bit as the kicks hit his head, then blinked a bit. The two didn't see he was still on his feet until they turned back around to eat their second double clothesline of the night. Brick turned back to see Albert getting back in the ring, then took a forearm shot to the head that knocked him back a step. Albert tried again, but Brick absorbed it and hit an uppercut palm strike that knocked Albert against the ropes. Brick snarled and brought his fist down on Albert's thick chest a few times, then whipped him across the ring. As Albert rebounded, Brick swiftly grabbed him by the throat and then hoisted him up overhead. The fans clamored in surprise again as Brick growled, his muscles bulging with the exertion of lifting a big man like Albert, then swung the bald man down into the Breaker Chokeslam. He made the cover. 1... 2... 3!

"Breaker" played again as Brick stood up and hit a roof-shaking roar, then glared down at Albert. He looked up, thumped his chest with his fists and raised his arms in the air -- exactly as Albert had done before the match. Despite that Brick had just defeated a heel team, the fact that he blatantly ripped off Albert's pose -- coupled with the knowledge that this man was allied with that Prick Bastard Billy Rose -- earned the big man a chorus of boos.

* * *

Shane returned to the VIP room, shortly after the Faction had decimated the Alliance with a series of backstage attacks (see Chapter 12 of "Viper's Revenge" by Boulder) with a handful of papers, which he was reading over. As he looked up, he noticed something. "Where'd Billy go?" he asked Angle.

"Pacing down the hall," the Olympic gold-medalist replied. "I think all this lawsuit stuff is starting to get to him."

Shane frowned and went out to look for his friend, and found Rose pacing back and forth not too far from the garage area, where Rain was still hanging around the trucks. Spike Dudley was also there, chatting with her, though about what, Shane couldn't possibly figure out. He tapped Rose on the shoulder.

"What?" Rose snapped, turning to look at him.

"Are you still obsessing with this?" Shane asked. "You need to relax, or you're gonna kill yourself."

"That bitch is going to get it," Rose growled, glaring out at her. There were a few moments of silence before Rose suddenly tilted his head to the side. He turned back to Shane. "You got that lawsuit thing she had drafted there?"

"Yeah," Shane said, handing it to him. "Why?"

"I wanna check something." He started scanning through the legal brief, flipped a page, then stopped and flipped back. He re-read something, and then a slow smile crept across his face. And then he started to chuckle a bit.

Shane blinked and stepped back. "Okay, that was scary. I haven't seen anybody smile like that since Dad tried to divorce Mom."

Rose turned and looked at him, that smile still on his face. "I just got an idea."

* * *

Vincent K. McMahon, Chairman of the WWF and certified billionaire, looked over a packet of papers and sighed. Having to furnish no less than three VIP rooms was getting a bit much. He debated whether or not to just tell his two rebellious children to pay their own way for the VIP rooms; he had to cut some costs -- at least one of the VIP rooms. No, not Shane's, because his son could actually kick his ass in the ring. No, not Stephanie's, since she's got that nasty temper and her husband had once assaulted him with a sledgehammer. That left only one VIP room to cut.

"I'll be damned if I have to sit in a locker room like some jobber," Vince muttered to himself as he scowled at the paperwork. He glanced up as someone knocked on his door. "Come in," he answered, then stood up with a half-smile. "Billy! How've you been doing?"

"Fairly well, Mr. McMahon," Rose said, shaking his hand. "Say, I've got a favor to ask of you..."

"A favor?" McMahon repeated, his voice oddly neutral.

Rose spread his hands, smiling. "Nothing big. I just want you to book a match for me tonight."

McMahon frowned. "Well, I'd like to, but we do have a commissioner who handles these things..."

"I know," Rose interrupted, "but there are reasons I'd like to avoid going to Foley about this. For one, if I suggested it to him, he'd probably twist things around and I'd wind up fighting Undertaker and Kane or something."

McMahon scowled a bit, then nodded. "Yes, Foley does have that annoying habit, doesn't he?"

"This is why I'm coming to you," Rose said. "I mean, you can overrule him. You're the owner of this company. You cut his paycheck. You can buy and sell his fat ass a hundred times an hour!"

McMahon hesitated before agreeing to that, looking at the paperwork on the table, then nodded. "Yes, that's true. So what match do you want?"

"I want to take on Rain tonight," Rose replied.

Vince blinked in surprise. "Uh, before I forget, Billy, she does have a lawsuit ready to bring against you, right?"

"Yes, she does."

"And, uh, she can sue you if you put your hands on her, is that correct?"

"Yes," Rose said, "and before you go on -- I know where you're going with this. I'd get sued if I had a match with her, right?"

McMahon nodded. "Yes. Now, I understand how stressful lawsuits are -- Lord knows, I've been involved in enough as it is. And you've got a whole swarm of them coming at you right now -- are you sure you want another one?"

Rose smirked. "Ah, but there's a certain eight-letter word that I'm sure you're equally as familiar with." Seeing the blank look on Vince's face, the Californian clarified: "Loophole." Vince raised his eyebrows, so Rose went on, "See, the brief specifies that if I touch Rain in any way outside of an officially sanctioned WWF activity, she can sue my ass." He smiled that smile again, and now Vince started to smile his own version of it. "You see where I'm going with this?"

"I do indeed," McMahon said. "But in the interest of fairness, you will keep it strictly one-on-one, right?"

"Of course," Rose replied. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

* * *

Rain was still chatting with Spike Dudley. "You know, just something I've been meaning to ask," she said.

"Yeah?" the Dudley runt said.

"What's up with the glasses?"

Spike started to explain, "Well, it goes back to when Big Daddy Dudley traveled around the country..." But he stopped as Mick Foley walked up, not looking happy. Rain frowned as she saw him. "What's up, Mick?"

"Nothing," Foley said. "But I can tell you what's down."

"What's that?"

"My spirits," Foley said. He sighed. "I just got through talking with Vince. You've been booked in a match tonight."

Rain smiled. "Well, there's nothing wrong with that. I can handle myself. Who'm I against? Molly? Lita? Ivory?"

Mick sighed. "Rose. Billy Rose."

Both Rain and Spike blinked. "What?" Rain repeated.

"It wasn't my idea," Mick said. "It was Rose's, and he got Vince to override my authority when he booked the match. There's nothing I can do."

Rain looked at Spike, who shrugged, then sighed. "I guess I better go get ready for it."

"Yeah. Give him one for me," Spike said.

"Why? He hasn't done anything to you," Rain pointed out.

"Yeah, but he's a mean old Prick Bastard," Spike replied.

"Good point. I'll whup him the way we do it where I come from -- which is what?" she asked Spike.

"Texas!"

"Damn right," Rain smirked. "Heck, I'll give him a Texas-style Dudleyville beating for ya."

"Thanks!"

* * *

"The following contest is scheduled for one fall," Lillian announced. Thunder crackled on the TitanTron and then techno-rock music played over Rain's new entrance video, which featured her hitting her moves on various people. "Introducing first, from Dallas, Texas... RAIN!" Rain walked out, wearing her usual attire with a black I am a Force of Nature t-shirt. She slid into the ring, stood up, and raised her hands up in the air, then brushed a lock of her hair out of her face as she turned to face the screen.

"How long? How long? -- I said how long? I said how long? I said how long? Until you crack..." Out strode Rose himself, smirking, and wearing a pair of wire-framed sunglasses. "And her opponent, from Los Angeles, California, weighing in at 245 pounds... BILLY ROSE!" The Californian took his time coming to the ring, smirking and looking as confident of himself in his dominance like Mr. McMahon so often did when he strutted to the ring. He stepped into the ring and calmly removed his sunglasses, which he passed out to the stagehand. He folded his arms and sniffed a bit haughtily to Rain, then spread his arms and beckoned with his hands.

Rain rushed him and managed to hit him with a forearm shot, pushing him back into the ropes, then going for the Irish whip. Rose countered it and sent Rain across the ring instead, then nailed her in the face with a back elbow on the rebound. Rain bounced back up, holding her forehead a bit, then ducked as Rose swung a lariat at her. She clipped his foot and hit a drop-toe hold, then quickly went for the Twister Anklelock. Rose jerked his pinned foot free and squirmed around to grab Rain's leg. He stood up, smirking, still holding her foot. She hopped for a moment, then spun and hit him with an enzuigiri. Rose fell over, holding the back of his head.

Rain began stomping on him, then backing up as he got to his knees, still rubbing the back of his head where the kick had landed. She shot off the ropes, then dove at him, catching his head and snapping it back in a neckbreaker. Rose shouted in pain and rolled out of the ring, clutching his neck and head. Rain grabbed the ropes and attempted a catapult plancha, but Rose sidestepped and Rain plunged to the floor. Rose smirked as she groaned and started to get to her feet, and he moved to grab her hair to pull her up. Rain suddenly snapped her arm up between his legs, and Rose yelped in pain and grabbed at his now-abused gonads. Rain hit him with two forearm shots, then tried to whip him into the ring steps. Rose, however, reversed it and sent Rain into them. The steel stairs toppled off each other with a loud clangor, and Rain held her shoulder on the floor.

Rose stalked back over and pulled Rain up, then lifted her up and dropped her on the security barrier. Rain doubled over on the padded floor, but Rose didn't let her rest as he pulled her up and hurled her into the ring. Rose followed and took her back down hard with a clothesline, shouting, "Come on, Rain! Get up! You wanted to give me a Texas-style beatdown! Come on, waste me!" He booted her in the side and knocked her back down as she got to her knees. She crawled away as Rose stomped forward, then clipped his legs again and hit a drop-toe hold that sent Rose's throat into the second rope. Rose gagged and flipped onto his back, rubbing his throat as Rain got back up.

Rain backed up and crouched in wait as Rose got back up and turned to face her, then ran and hit a running dropkick to his face. Rose oofed and went back down holding his face. Rain wet her finger and raised it in the air, and the fans began to cheer as she went to the corner and went up to the top turnbuckle, leaning back and holding the ropes for balance. Rose got up again and turned to face her. Rain sprang out in the Windfall--

--and Rose caught her, then swung around and planted her hard with a powerslam. The Californian stood up and laughed derisively, beckoning for her to get back up. "Come on, Rain, take a swing at me!" Rain was slow getting to her feet, but saw Rose taunting her and charged with a clothesline. Rose sidestepped her again, grabbing her arm and suddenly toppling backwards, his leg swinging up behind her head as they fell. They hit the mat, and Rose's other leg came down across Rain's twisted arm and her neck, locking around his other foot, and thus locking the Texan woman in the Deadly Blossom. Rose pulled on her trapped and twisted arm, wrenching the hold and laughing as Rain shrieked in agony.

* * *

Zed and Zeta watched this on a monitor by the trucks. "Shit, man, we gotta go help her!" Zeta said.

"Yeah. Time to the Good Samaritan thing," Zed added, and the two started for the ring, but Edge and Christian stepped out of the hallway in front of them and smacked them in the face with steel chairs. As Zeta fell over from his blow, the Canadian brothers turned to Zed, who was holding his face, positioned themselves, then gave him a con-chair-to (of the vile variety). Zed went down, and Zeta struggled to his feet. Before he could get much further than a bent-over position with his hands on his knees, Rhino plowed forward and gored him into the side of the truck.

"Yeah, that oughta improve your looks a bit, Zed Head!" Edge shouted at the fallen ex-boxer while Christian snapped "Snoogans!" at the unconscious Zeta. "Come on, Christian, let's go help out Billy."

"Hey, jackasses!" came a sharp baritone. The Brothers Grin blinked, and Edge turned around and barely had time to blink before another steel chair cracked him between the eyes. Christian whirled around and got similar treatment, and Rhino was smacked back into the side of the truck, and then a second chair-shot squashed the man-beast's head against the metal.

The chair was thrown to the concrete floor. "Ya dumb sons of bitches!" the assailant snapped before stalking off.

* * *

In the Faction's VIP room, Shane, Angle, and Brick saw this transpire on the monitor and scrambled up to go stop the assailant, but found the double-doors unable to open. "Hey! Open this door!" Shane shouted, pounding on it. As the doors shook, he could hear the rattling of chains. "Somebody chained the door shut!" the McMahon heir told his comrades as they shoved at the locked doors.

* * *

Rose hadn't seen any of this happen, though he did finally release Rain from the Deadly Blossom. She gingerly turned herself over, leaning her head against the mat while she cradled her injured shoulder in pain. Rose pulled her up and threw her back into the corner, where he choked her with his forearm while he leaned in. "Give my regards to Skinner in the hospital, you fucking bitch," he growled before striking her with a reverse elbow and whipping her hard across the ring. Rain struck the far corner and flopped over as Rose went back over to her, pulling her to her feet.

"Time to scramble your brains like Skinner's," Rose smirked as he grabbed her head as though for a DDT. Instead of just dropping back, however, Rose spun around and drove his elbow into the back of her head, thrusting her down hard to the mat in a reverse Final Cut -- Brain Damage. The fans groaned in sympathy as Rose landed the move, then stood up and calmly flipped Rain over with his boot and squatted to press an arm across her chest. The ref dutifully counted the pin. 1... 2... 3. The Union Underground played as Rose stood up, raising his arm in victory, then calling for a microphone.

"You happy now, Rain? I just gave you Brain Damage, you stupid bitch. Let this be a lesson to you," he snapped, then pointed at the TitanTron, "and every other WWF 'superstar' in the back. I am the Mental Elite. I am smarter than anybody else in the WWF. I have outwitted the Cerebral Assassin himself. I completely destroyed the Alliance. I took your beloved Lone Star apart. I put Stone Cold on the shelf. And I broke the Storm. Nobody is going to stop me! I will be the WWF Champion -- and there's not a damn thing you or anybody else can do about it!" He threw down the mic and started to pace around the ring, sneering at the booing crowd.

The sound of shattering glass filled the arena, followed by aggressive metal guitars, and the fans went crazy as a familiar bald-headed Rattlesnake appeared in the entrance arch. Rose stared at him in surprise as he sprinted down to the ring and charged up to the Californian, knocking him down with a hard lariat, then scooping up the microphone.

"If you want me to open up a can o' whup-ass on this pansy-ass, bottle-blond, yella-bellied prick bastard," Stone Cold Steve Austin demanded, "then gimme a hell yeah!"

"HELL YEAH!"

Austin didn't need any more encouragement. Almost as soon as Rose was back on his feet, Austin began hammering him with right hands, threw him into the ropes and tackled him with a Lou Thesz press, then pistoned his hand into Rose's temple. Austin got up, sprang off the ropes, then flashed a few middle fingers as he dropped his elbow on Rose's sternum. Rose got back up shakily, and had just enough time to register a Stone Cold salute before Austin swiftly booted him in the stomach, turned around, and dropped him in the Stunner. Rose sprang up from the blow and toppled back on the mat, landing in a sprawl, seeing stars as Austin circled the ring, then called for a beer or three as he went to the corner.

While Austin was busy toasting the fans and drenching himself in beer foam, he failed to notice Rose getting to his feet with a furious look on his face. Just as he did turn around, though, Austin didn't have time to react before Rose's arms were suddenly hooked up, and the Californian was flipped up and then dropped down in the Downdraft. Rain stood back up, snarling down at Rose, then gave him an Italian arm chop and the Storm's two-fingered salute. She turned to Austin, nodded at him, then turned to the timekeeper. "Beer me!" she shouted.

Rain caught the tossed can, popped it, then looked at Stone Cold, who looked right back. She raised her can over Rose's prone body, and soon Austin did the same. They toasted each other, spraying foam on Rose in the process, then took a mouthful of beer each before Rain stepped back and rolled out under the ropes, still rubbing her injured shoulder as she walked away.

* * *

Shane, Kurt, and Brick were still busy pounding on the chained-up door to their VIP room when Shane heard something. "Wait, wait!" He held the two back as they heard the distinctive sound of rattling chains. "I think they're unlocking it!"

Brick stood in front of the other two as the doors swung open, and as a result, he was the one who took a one-two chair shot to the face. The big man staggered a bit, and then Zed & Zeta bashed him twice more each before he fell over. Kurt and Shane got similar treatment from the Z-Men, who laughed raucously. "Nice to beat you guys. We should do this again sometime!" Zeta laughed as they left.

"I dunno what 'the system' Skinner has is," Zed remarked, tossing away his chair and plunking an arm about his buddy's shoulders, "but I think I like it!"

-more to come-

Next: Stone Cold has returned with his sights set square on Billy Rose -- but the Storm lurks -- and he's about to make a "Comeback."

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