In the Faction VIP room, there was some understandable disbelief at what they'd just witnessed. Shane stared at the monitor. "That guy's even more resilient than me. When I fell off the TitanTron, it took me more than a month to feel up to ring action -- and even then, I wound up getting three Stunners from Austin before I could fully heal."
Kurt spoke up, "Well, it was your fault for trying to lie to him about Blackman being the guy who ran him down." Shane shot him a look that told him to shut up, but Kurt didn't notice.
Edge and Christian, meanwhile, were just laughing. "Oh, man, does he think they even stand a chance against all five of us? We're so totally gonna dish out some pain-osity!" Christian laughed.
Rhino grinned and squeezed his wrist. "Yeah, and I'll finally get a chance to Gore that girl."
The door crashed open at that moment, and Brick appeared. He looked around the room, saw them all there, then grunted and ducked under the door frame. He started for his usual seat in the corner, passing Kurt as he did so. He stopped for a moment and gazed down at him, then dropped his bag next to his chair and seated himself. The chair creaked under his size.
"Brick," Shane said, "get ready." Brick grunted a question. "`Cuz the Storm's back." Brick's eyes lit up. "Yeah. He's challenged all five of you guys to a handicap match against himself, Rain, and Zed and Zeta. Think you can handle it?" Brick grunted an affirmative.
"Yeah," Kurt muttered to Rhino, "but can he handle it without screwing up again?"
Brick glowered at Kurt then, but the Olympian, once again, failed to notice.
* * *
"The following contest is a 5-on-4 Handicap Match and is scheduled for one fall," Tony Chimel announced.
"Song 2" started up, and Zed & Zeta ran out, sliding into the ring and posing for the crowd with their Tag Title belts. "First, from Baltimore, Maryland, at a combined weight of 475 pounds, they are the World Wrestling Federation Tag Team Champions... ZED & ZETA!" They passed their titles out to the timekeeper as Zeta removed his jacket and adjusted his cap, brushing his blue-streaked hair out of his eyes.
The thunder rumbled up as lightning flickered on the OvalTron, and then the lights went out. "This is your Storm Warning." The rap metal music of "Force of Nature" blared to life as the lightning pyros went off, and the Storm appeared on the ramp, along with Rain. They started for the ring. "And their tag team partners, from Dallas, Texas, the team of Rain and the 2002 King of the Ring... THE STORM!"
The Storm simply went to the corner as he entered the ring, standing on the second rope and staring out at the audience, then raised his arms to the sides and screamed a war-cry as he juiced himself up. He hopped down and removed his sunglasses, facing the ramp. Rain did the same.
The patriotic horns of "Medal" played, and Kurt Angle came out, not bothering to wave to the crowd as he stared at his opponents. He stopped halfway down the ramp and raised his hands to the sides as his fourth-of-July pyros went off behind him. He stopped at the bottom of ramp and stared up at Zed and Zeta, who were at the ropes, beckoning him forward. "And their opponents, first, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, weighing in at 220 pounds... KURT ANGLE!"
Next a tone played, and a female voice whispered, "You think you know me..." Edge and Christian appeared next, both wearing "crazy-ass" sunglasses. They stopped next to Angle and looked up at the assembled wrestlers in the ring. "And his tag team partners, from Toronto, Ontario, at a combined weight of 455 pounds... CHRISTIAN & EDGE!" Low, aggressive-sounding music played next, and clips of Rhino Goring various people played on the screen. Moments later, the man-beast himself came out, wearing his black singlet with red lettering. "And from Detroit, Michigan, weighing in at 280 pounds... RHINO!" Rhino joined the others at the bottom of the ramp.
There was a pause before the next video flared to life. "Break it! (Break it!) Break it! (Break it!)" Hard, metal music played over clips of Brick decimating his opponents. "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!" Brick appeared in the entryway, wearing his Do Not Taunt shirt. "And from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, weighing in at 350 pounds... BRICK!" He plodded down the ramp, muscled his way through the assembled Faction members at the bottom, climbing up on the apron. Zed and Zeta immediately lunged at him with right hands, which served to only annoy the monstrous Brick, who piefaced both away before stepping over the top rope and into the ring. Angle, Edge, Christian, and Rhino quickly followed.
Referee Mike Chioda soon had to give up all pretense of trying to keep order as the Faction and the four "renegades" tore into each other. Brick and Kurt Angle both went after the Storm, who managed to evade Brick's inital attack and slugged Kurt in the face. Edge and Christian descended on the Z-Men, who went toe-to-toe with them and fought all over the ring. Rhino, meanwhile, had his sights set squarely on Rain, who kept dodging his attacks.
Zed uppercut Christian, sending him toppling over the top rope, then helped Zeta dump Edge through the ropes as well. They quickly turned and double-punched Angle in the face, knocking him down. Rhino charged at Rain, who sidestepped him and sent him running shoulder-first into the corner. The man-beast groaned and rolled out of the ring as Rain joined the Z-Men and the Storm in quadruple-teaming Brick. The big man roared ferociously and threw them off of him, grabbing Zeta and hauling him in for a monstrous short-arm clothesline. The rest retreated to their corner as Brick deposited Zeta in a neutral corner, where he methodically started beating on him. He whipped Zeta across the ring, charging in behind him for an avalanche, but Zeta managed to throw his feet up, kicking Brick in the jaw. Zeta hitched himself up to the top rope as Brick staggered away, checking his mouth for cuts. The behemoth turned around as Zeta launched himself in a top-rope Zetasault, but Brick just caught him in midair and slammed him down to the mat.
Brick grunted and started to pick Zeta back up to continue the assault, but he was too close to the Faction's corner. Christian blind-tagged himself in, and started hammering on Zeta with right hands. Brick glared at him for a moment, then got on the apron. Christian hooked the small Z-Man in the inverted DDT position and dropped him down onto his knee in a backbreaker. Zeta convulsed and clutched at his back as the Canadian stomped on him. Christian pulled Zeta to his feet, tagged Edge, and exposed his ribs for a shot from his brother. Edge continued the beating, sending Zeta into the neutral corner and following for a clothesline, but he again managed to counter with an elbow, then hitched himself to the second rope, diving out as soon as Edge turned around, catching him on the hip, and swinging around in a school boy roll-up. The ref got to two before Edge kicked out. Zeta, feeling the effects of the beating, started to go for his corner, but Edge grabbed his ankle. Zeta hopped and turned around, then hit an enzuigiri to the back of Edge's head, lunged, and tagged in Zed.
The ex-boxer charged in a clothesline, taking down Edge, then Christian, who ran in as well. Zed continued his momentum and slugged Rhino, then Angle. As he turned to Brick, however, the giant grabbed him by the head and swung his cranium down into Zed's, knocking him over. Edge groggily made the tag to Angle, who gleefully went to work on Zed, eventually slamming him by the neutral corner. The Olympian stood up and went "Whoo!" before climbing in the corner. He seemed poised for a moonsault, but Zed got up and yanked Angle's feet to the sides, crotching him, then pulling them back together and pulling Angle down into the so-called "Tree of Woe" position. Zed kicked him a few times, then tagged in Rain.
Rain kicked at Angle some more, then re-secured his legs into the Tree of Woe before kicking again. She contemplated him for a moment, then climbed onto the apron, up to the top of the post and looked down at Angle, who wearily looked back up at her. She smirked, then jumped down in a double-stomp, right onto his exposed gonads. Angle's feet came free and he fell to the mat, doubled over in pain. She taunted him and beckoned for him to stand back up, then turned to the hostile corner to see Rhino stepping through the ropes. She quickly turned and tagged in the Storm.
The fans went crazy as the Storm ran in, clotheslining Rhino before he could lower his head for the Gore, then hitting an armdrag on Angle as he got to his feet. The gold-medalist was close to his corner and tagged Brick, who stepped into the ring. Abruptly, the other three "renegades" charged the ring and an all-out brawl began. The referee again washed his hands of everything.
Edge and Christian slipped off the apron and got two steel chairs from ringside, bringing them in and depositing them in the corner as they worked over Zed and Zeta. Angle and Brick double-teamed the Storm again, as Rhino finally managed to land some blows on Rain. The man-beast backed up for his big move as Angle hooked the Storm on the leg and under the arm.
Kurt swung the Storm up for an Angle Slam, but the Force of Nature rolled out of it, landing on his feet. Brick quickly aimed a big boot at him, but the Storm ducked, and the blow smashed into Angle, who staggered backwards from the hit. He blundered in front of Rain, and as a result, it was he who got Gored instead of her. Rhino blinked in surprise as he stood back up, and Zed abruptly grabbed him and shoved him into Zeta, who fell to the mat. The man-beast hardly had time to blink as the vile con-chair-to that Edge & Christian were aiming at Zeta connected with him instead. Christian turned and got a Jawbuster for his trouble, and Zeta quickly hopped up and hit a spinning heel kick to Edge's face even as Zed swept his legs out.
Brick, meanwhile, had managed to grab the Storm by the throat. He hoisted him overhead, poised for the Breaker Chokeslam, and as he turned in place, he faced one of the corners, and Rain launched out with a missile dropkick. It connected with Brick's face, and he fell down, the Storm landing on top of him. Mike Chioda dropped to the mat and counted. 1... 2... 3!
The fans were a bit surprised at the entire sequence of events, but they popped as the Storm rolled off of Brick and out of the ring with Rain. The Z-Men quickly joined them as they retreated up the ramp. Brick sat up and glared after them, while Angle, Christian, and Rhino lay on the mat in various states of consciousness. Edge, the only one who hadn't taken a big move, stared at them, then at Brick, then at the departing "renegades" before clapping a hand to his forehead in frustration.
* * *
Shane McMahon had his face in his hands in the VIP room, shaking his head in disbelief. He moaned. How embarassing for the whole Faction to lose to four people. And how embarassing still to see that Brick had screwed up again.
His cell phone rang. Sighing, Shane picked it up. "Shane-O Mac," he answered.
"What the hell did I just see?" came an eerily calm voice on the other end.
Shane blinked and lowered his other hand from his face. "Billy?"
"What the hell did I just see?!" Billy Rose shouted on the other end of the line.
"Now, calm down, Billy, I know it looks bad--"
"Looks bad? It is bad, Shane! You let Skinner lure you right into a trap! He had to have planned this. I know it. And now I have you to thank for royally screwing things up."
"I can talk to Foley, have him book a punishment match for Brick--"
"No. Let me handle that. You just worry about damage control. Keep things from falling apart till I get back. The doctors say I should be fit for ring action by Monday."
"You'll be at Raw, then?"
"Count on it. And tell Kurt to keep his card free. I've got a plan to put Skinner in his place for sure. Restrict his options, that sort of thing."
"Sounds good. Talk to you on Monday, then."
Shane and Rose both hung up, and the McMahon heir sighed as he heard loud, bickering voices approaching the door. He had his work cut out for him.
-more to come-
Next: Billy Rose returns to Raw to seek his revenge on the Storm, who has to resort to "Brutal Measures."
Afterword:
