Raging Storm
Note: this is set the Thursday after "Chapter 15: Brain Damage."
To recap: Billy Rose arrived late to the show, telling Shane McMahon, Kurt Angle, and Brick that his flight was delayed, and he was suddenly approached by process servers, all delivering lawsuits against him from his former employees in CIW. Rain taunted him, and reminded him that should he touch her, he'd be slapped with yet another lawsuit. Brick had a match against Albert, and was attacked by the rest of X-Factor during the match, but the 7'1" behemoth was unfazed and defeated Albert with a Breaker Chokeslam. After taking apart the Alliance (from Chapter 12 of Boulder's "Viper's Revenge"), Rose got an idea of how to deal with Rain. Checking the legal brief of the terms of the lawsuit Rain had prepared, Rose went to Vince McMahon and had him book a match between Rose and Rain. Mick Foley, unable to counter Vince's booking, informed Rain of the match. During the match itself, Rose locked Rain in the Deadly Blossom and wrenched it in. Backstage, Zed & Zeta headed to the ring to stop him, but Edge, Christian, and Rhino stopped them and took them out with steel chairs and a gore. Immediately after that, however, an unseen assailant took out all three Faction members with his own steel chair, and the rest of the Faction found themselves locked in their own VIP room via a chain on the door, preventing them from leaving. Rose finished Rain off with his Brain Damage move -- a reverse Final Cut -- then pinned her and got on the mic to taunt her, saying that he was going to become WWF Champion, and there was not a damn thing she or anyone else could do about it. At that moment, however, Stone Cold Steve Austin made his return and destroyed Rose, culminating with a Stunner, then drank some beer. Rose got back up and was ready to attack, but Rain snared him in the Downdraft, shared a beer with Austin, then left. Backstage, Zed & Zeta unchained the Faction's door, then took out Brick, Angle, and Shane with steel chairs, prompting Zed to say, "I dunno what 'the system' Skinner has is, but I think I like it!"
Teaser: Stone Cold has returned with his sights set square on Billy Rose -- but the Storm lurks -- and he's about to make his return.
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.")
THURSDAY: Smackdown!, 20 July
Mick Foley – the Commish, the Hardcore Legend, he of the toothless grin and wise-cracking lifestyle – looked up as two people stomped up to his "office" in the arena's boiler room. He smiled at them. "Hey, Billy, hey, Brick, what can I do ya for?"
"I'll make it simple, Foley," Billy Rose said. "I want Austin, and I want him tonight. And after that, I want Triple H and his WWF Championship."
"Well, for your first demand, you'll be happy to know that Austin asked the same thing, so you have him tonight... right here in Dallas, Texas!" Foley grinned as the cheap pop echoed through the halls back to the boiler room. "But as for your second, you're in one of the main events at Fully Loaded—" Rose smiled, but Foley went on: "—but it's not for Triple H's WWF title."
Rose's eyes narrowed as he looked at Foley. "What sort of match am I in?"
"It'll all become clear later tonight," Foley promised. "Now, I'd get on back to your buddies and watch out for any Texas Rattlesnakes." He grinned and waved them off with his gavel.
* * *
"Be careful out there, Steve," Rain said as Stone Cold buckled up his leg braces. "You know Brick's going to be coming out there with Rose."
"I could care less about that gigantic son-of-a-bitch," Austin snapped. "`Cuz Rose is the one who put the guy up to it. So I'm gonna stomp a mudhole in his West Coast ass, walk it dry, and then stomp a mudhole in his smug-smiling face!"
"Okay," Rain said. "I can't come to ring-side with you, because I've got some things to take care of. But if anything unusual happens, Austin, don't worry – because it all has a system."
* * *
Edge and Christian lurked around the corridors, lugging steel chairs with them – and a Rhino, of course. They stopped as they reached a door with a 3:16 skull on it, then started snickering. Rhino positioned himself in front of the door and thumped it with a taped-up fist.
"Who is it?" a voice on the other side asked.
Christian chortled to his brother, then said in a high voice, "Candy-gram!" He held his chair ready.
Edge sniggered, but then the voice said, "Oh, good, we've been expecting you."
Edge blinked puzzledly at Christian about that, but then the door opened. Rhino didn't have time to gore anyone as a steel chair cracked him in the head. Rhino went down, seeing stars, and before the Canadian brothers could see who had attacked Rhino, two different people came charging out of the room. Zed and Zeta pasted both of them with steel chairs, knocking them silly, and then Zeta stood over Christian. "We beat you! We beat you! It's—"
"—beautiful!" the Z-Men finished together.
Zed smirked. "We should do this again sometime. In fact, we will!"
"See you on Sunday, Canuckleheads!" Zeta laughed, and the two left the three in a pile on the floor as they removed the 3:16 skull from their door, revealing a different sign underneath – MEN. A Z had been scratched next to it. As the two men from Baltimore went back into their commandeered restroom, a different man stepped out of it, walked over the fallen trio, and swept off down the hall, carrying a duffel bag.
* * *
Shane McMahon and Kurt Angle lounged in the Faction VIP room as Rose and Brick left for ringside. They were set to leave during the match to intercept Rain or anybody else who went to give Austin a hand – such as anybody from the Alliance.
What they didn't see, however, was the same man from the Z-Men's room come up outside their double-doors and slide a pool cue through the handles, then wrap a chain around handles and cue. The man smirked, then continued on his way.
If one had looked closely, one would have read the word UGLY emblazoned in white letters on the black pool cue.
* * *
"The following contest is scheduled for one fall," Tony Chimel announced. "How long? How long? -- I said how long? I said how long? I said how long? Until you crack..." Billy Rose appeared with Brick towering next to him. "Introducing first, being accompanied by Brick, from Los Angeles, California, weighing in at 245 pounds... BILLY ROSE!" Rose posed on the ramp, smirking to the fans in his usual smug way while Brick raised his massive arms in the air.
Rose climbed up on the apron and vaulted over the ropes, removing his red shirt and sunglasses, passing them to a stagehand as Brick stepped over the ropes, then unleashed his usual rafter-shaking roar. Rose leaned back against the ropes and stared at the entrance ramp, awaiting the arrival of his opponent.
The shattering of glass heralded the arrival of the Texas Rattlesnake, and Stone Cold threw off his
Rose tried to go one-on-one with Austin, but the Texan was too aggressive for that. He hammered on Rose with right hands and drove him back into the ropes, then gave him the Irish whip for a hard lariat. Rose got back to his feet and ate some more right hands from Austin, being driven back into the corner, where he finally blocked a swing and raked his hands across Austin's face. Stone Cold staggered away, turning his back, and Rose dashed out of the corner with a chop-block and clipped Austin's legs. Rose put the boots to him, then grabbed a leg and booted him in the knee, working the toe of his boot through the brace.
Rose then stepped forward to stomp on Austin's chest, still maintaining his hold on the leg. Austin writhed, trying to free himself, but Rose wouldn't let that happen. He turned Austin over onto his stomach, hooked Austin's leg in a grapevine, then bridged backward and grabbed Austin's jaw, applying a deathlock. Stone Cold writhed some more, then managed to shake Rose loose some by pushing off the mat and dropping back down. The grapevine was loosened by that, and Austin used that to his advantage, kicking his legs free and forcing Rose to release the hold.
The Californian stood up and hit a gutshot, then hooked Austin up for a vertical suplex. As Austin recovered, Rose held his arm down on the mat and kicked his legs up and brought his knee down into Austin's shoulder. He did it a second time, then pulled Austin up and whipped him into the ropes for a running armbar takedown, further damaging Austin's shoulder. Austin got back up, but Rose now had his arm wrenched and stomped it in. Rose took Austin back down with a short-arm clothesline, then stood up and smirked at the booing fans.
Austin slowly got back to his feet, and Rose swung a knife-edge chop, but Austin ducked it, then booted him in the gut. He turned and grabbed the Californian's head, but Rose shoved him into the ropes, where Brick snared his ankles and dragged him out. The big man cocked back a huge fist – but the ref saw him and told him to put Austin back in the ring. Brick scowled a bit and complied, then went back to his pacing about the ring.
Rose had Austin in the corner and was planting heavy boots to Austin's sternum. He finally dragged Austin up and out of the corner, then shot him into the ropes. Austin retained enough ring presence to try for a clothesline, but Rose had it scouted. He grabbed Austin's arm and dropped backwards, bringing one leg up behind his head, then locking the other one across his twisted arm, shoulder, and chest, locking in the Deadly Blossom. Austin writhed and kicked, then managed to hook his legs on the ropes, forcing Rose to break the hold.
Brick was now at the ramp-side of the ring, watching with his usual forbidding scowl, and the fans started to cheer as two forms ran down the ramp with steel chairs in hand. Zed & Zeta blindsided Brick with chair-shots to the back, and then Zeta threw his down to try a Zetasault. Brick, however, caught him and slammed him to the floor, then stood up and took Zed's hard right straight punch to the jaw, staggering the big man a bit. The ex-boxer traded blows with Brick as they brawled alongside the ramp, away from the ring. Zeta recovered enough from his slam to follow, jumping on Brick from behind. The big man grabbed him by the hair, then threw him in front of him – right into Zed, who fell down. Brick started to turn back to the ring, but Rain jumped off the ramp with a trashcan in her hands and brought it down on Brick's head. She, the Z-Men, and Brick all continued to brawl as they disappeared backstage.
Rose hadn't seen any of this, as he was still busy stomping away on Austin. Finally, he stood Austin up and grabbed his head for Brain Damage. As Rose turned to drop the elbow, however, Austin shoved him into the ropes – knocking the ref out of the ring and knocking him unconscious in the process – and flashed him the Stone Cold salute on the rebound. A boot to the gut, and Austin grabbed his head – but Rose shoved him off into the ropes, then kicked him in the gut and hit the Brain Damage this time. Austin lay senseless on the mat as Rose stood up, smirking and sneering down at the Texas Rattlesnake.
But then the OvalTron lit up. Thunder rumbled ominously on the screen, with flashes of dark clouds and a silhouetted man in a downpour. The man on the screen raised his arms to the sides as the thunder reached a crescendo, and then the lights went out as lightning crashed on the OvalTron.
"This is your Storm Warning," came a disembodied voice.
The fans went crazy as the OvalTron flashed the lightning bolt/exclamation point symbol, a siren blaring. The yellow "lightning" pyros went off, and a familiar face strode out from the smoke, which flickered as though lightning were striking within it. The man known as the Storm walked down the ramp, wearing his old Seek Shelter – The Storm Has Arrived! t-shirt and his black sunglasses. New, hard rap metal music played as the Storm slid into the ring and stood in front of a stunned Rose. The Storm glowered at him from behind his sunglasses, then made a cutting motion at his throat before thrusting his fist downward. More lightning pyros went off above the ring, startling Rose.
"Hello, Billy," was all the Storm said before walloping him with a hard right hand. Rose rocked back, then the Storm unleashed a flurry of right hands to his face before spinning him around and hooking him up for the Downdraft. But the Storm wasn't done. He hauled Rose to his feet, thrust him into the corner, then set him up on the top turnbuckle. The Storm climbed up and lifted Rose onto his shoulder as he ascended to the top rope, then screamed, "Time to go for a ride, Billy!" He lunged forward and hit a big powerslam off the top rope.
Rose lay in a heap, and the Storm turned him onto his back, then dragged Austin's body atop him. He stepped out of the ring, revived the referee, then watched as he counted the 1... 2... 3. Disturbed's music played again as Chimel announced, "Here is your winner... STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN!"
Austin got back up and saw the Storm, who had slid back into the ring. The Texas Rattlesnake blinked in surprise, and the Storm smirked and slapped a proffered palm. Austin turned and called for the beer, but the Storm stopped him and took a microphone.
"Hey, Billy, look at me." Groggily, the semi-conscious Californian did so. "I'm ba-ack," the Storm smirked. "And you wanted to know what the match at Fully Loaded is gonna be, Prick Bastard? Here it is – you and me, one-on-one in a two-out-of-three falls Street Fight." The fans started cheering when they heard this, but the Storm went on: "But that's not all, Billy. Here's the clincher – to score the winning fall, you have be the Last Man Standing." The fans started going crazier. "So cheer up, Billy." The Storm turned and caught a tossed beer, opened it, and plunked it down beside Rose's head. "Have a beer. I'll see you in three days, jackass."
-more to come-
Next: Fully Loaded is here, and the Storm has challenged Billy Rose to a hellacious 2-of-3 Falls Street Fight – but to win, Rose has to be the Last Man Standing. Will one of them be that man, or will they "Kill the Other Guy?"
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.
