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Flashback
Smackdown July 25th, 2002
One week after Vengeance
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"Hey. sweet thing", Jericho smiled as he walked into Stephanie's office. Stephanie quickly put her paperwork down and stood up, her eyes brightening at the sight of her boyfriend.
"CHRIS!", she exclaimed, as she leaped right into his arms. They exchanged a soft kiss before breaking apart.
"Missed you last night", Jericho said softly, his hands roaming down her back. She was wearing one of her black business power suits with the white shirt underneath, which he always found sexy.
"I know", Stephanie sighed, her arms still around his neck. "I had to take care of some unfinished paperwork, plus review the footage from Bischoff's RAW show."
Jericho's eyes darkened at the mention of his old WCW boss's name. "Yeah, how is that jackass? Floundering towards failure again, I hope?"
Stephanie sighed, breaking off their hug. "Actually, no. I just received word a while ago that he's going to steal some of my roster talent tonight. He's going to want to retaliate soon for me stealing Brock Lesnar from RAW right in front of him last Monday night."
Jericho chuckled. "Yeah, that was kinda funny. Did you see him screaming at you 'I'll KNOCK YOU OUT! I WILL KNOCK YOU OUT!'? God, the last time I saw a shade of red like that, Kane was still wrestling."
Stephanie smiled at the thought. "Yeah, but this is serious. Chris, I want to beat this creep at his own game. I HAVE to. If I don't, it'll be a matter of time before he takes over this company and drives my family out of this business."
Chris nodded. "People talk about the nWo being poison? Bischoff's worse than poison. He's like cyanide mixed with acid! But I don't think you can beat him at his own game, though."
Stephanie looked at him, surprised by his comments. "Gee, thanks a lot, Chris. Some supportive boyfriend YOU are..."
"What I meant", Chris explained. "Is that you're not like Bischoff. He's a slimeball and a total piece of garbage. You're different. You actually care about this business. You see that your wrestlers are real people, not chess pieces or property that belong to you." He took his girlfriend's hand. "Hey, listen.Pretty soon, Eric Bischoff's cheap tricks are gonna wear thin. They always do. Just like in WCW. All the other guys will realize that, and they'll be knocking on your door, BEGGING to come and join Stephanie McMahon's Smackdown brand."
Stephanie lowered her eyes. "He's already got Triple H."
"Because YOU asked him and Shawn to join RAW, remember?", Chris said gently. "You wanted someone there to give Eric a hard time, and you did it. Those two are the biggest pains in the ass NOT named Chris Jericho in this business."
"But maybe we could have used Hunter and Shawn on Smackdown instead", Stephanie sighed. "And besides, what if they can't throw Bischoff like I wanted them to? What if losing Triple H weakens my card?"
"We can live without Triple H", he assured her. "Yeah, losing him to RAW hurt, but we can make due without him. We've still got the Rock, Hollywood Hulk Hogan, Edge, Brock Lesnar and as much as I hate to admit it, Kurt Angle...and oh, yeah. Yours truly, Y2J. Plus, isn't Rey Mysterio coming tonight? We'll make due just fine.Better than fine. We've got the upper hand now."
"Still", Stephanie pressed, looking pensative. "It's not enough. I need someone who can actually break into his operation. Someone who has his ear, someone he can share his secrets with...someone he trusts."
"OH, you mean a mole?", Chris asked. "Very clever. Got anyone in mind?",
Stephanie grinned slightly, averting her eyes from him. "Actually, yeah...but you're not going to like it."
Jericho frowned slightly. "Who?"
Stephanie looked back at him, giving him a pointed look.
Chris's eyes widened in horror and his mouth formed a small 'o' as he realized what Stephanie had in mind. "Oh...I....He...NO! No way! Absolutely not! I refuse--"
"Oh, come on, Chris", Stephanie said in her most appeasing voice. "You said you wanted to help, right? Well, this is your big chance!"
"I meant to do it by entertaining more, wrestling harder, all that stuff!", Jericho said.
"But you'd be perfect for it", Stephanie insisted. "With your heel status and main-event star power, you'd have Bischoff eating out of your hand."
"Stephanie, you know I love you, but I refuse to work for ERIC BISCHOFF!", Jericho protested. "That man held me down back in WCW. Every time I wanted higher profile matches, against guys like Hogan or Goldberg, he'd say, 'Kid, you're just not, eh, prime-time material', or 'You're too small to be a WCW World Champion'. Here's my chance to shove it up his ass for all those times he held me down, and you want me to jump to RAW so I can kiss his ASS?!"
"I want you to go to RAW because YOU might be the only hope we have of finally taking Eric Bischoff out of wrestling forever!", Stephanie shot back. "You said that you love me, Chris. But if you really do, then you'll do this for me, because there's nothing more important for this company than getting Bischoff the hell out of it!"
"That's not fair!", Jericho angrily said. "You can't use our relationship as leverage for me to do what you want me to do!"
"You think this is easy for me to ask you?", Stephanie said, her eyes intense. "Do you know how long I've been thinking about this? Trying to reason with myself? Try hard NOT to lose you? Find another guy to do it? I can't! The Rock's too valuable to lose, Hogan and Bischoff despise each other, I just signed Edge and Brock Lesnar to exclusive contracts and Bischoff doesn't trust Triple H enough yet to start letting him in on his secrets!"
"Oh, I get it, so I'm the expendable one, is that it?", Chris shot back."No one else wanted the job, so let's send good old Y2J to take one for the team, huh?"
"Damn it, Chris, you are NOT expendable!", Stephanie screamed. "You mean more to me than you could possibly imagine! Not just as a superstar, but as someone I can trust, someone I can depend on...you really think I want to lose that?"
"Then why me?"
"Because there just isn't anyone else", Stephanie said softly, trying hard to not break down and cry. "God. I wish there was, but there just isn't anyone else.and if you don't help me, that means Bischoff wins. And we all lose."
She broke off, turning her back to him. She didn't want to cry, she hated that. But she felt as if she had to use all her strength to keep her from doing just that. Besides, she knew that Chris hated to see her cry, and she didn't want to make him feel any more guilty than he had to.
Jericho came behind her and turned her around. "Oh, baby, I'm sorry", he said tenderly as he cupped her face to his. "You know I can't stand to see you like that. Look, I..I know ho much beating this asshole means to you.it just.threw me for a loop, is all."
Stephanie shook her head. "No, Chris. It was wrong of me to ask you this. I know how you feel about Eric Bischoff.and it's okay if you don't want to do it. I won't be mad, I'll.just have to figure something else out-"
"I'll do it", he said abruptly.
Stephanie looked at him with wide blue eyes. "Wh-What?"
Chris sighed. "I'll do it. I'll go to RAW. I'll even leave right now, if you want."
At that, Stephanie looked like she was going to burst into tears again. "I- I don't know, Chris. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea-"
"It's a perfect idea, and you know it", Jericho reasoned softly with her. "Even if I do hate his stinking guts, I'll swallow some pride, get chummy with that little prick if it means getting Smackdown as the Number 1 show on WWE programming."
"You know exactly what I'm asking you to do?", Stephanie tentatively asked him.
Jericho nodded.
"And you know that it's going to involve you doing some things that you may not want to do?", she asked him again.
Sighing, Jericho nodded. "I understand."
Stephanie gave a small sigh of her own. "Okay, then.but before I give you the details I want to ask you.you do know that after tonight, we're not going to be seeing quite as much of each other as we'd like, right? We're talking strictly pay-per-views, weekend meets, emergency phone calls, that's it."
Jericho sadly nodded. "Yeah.I know. But if you're willing to risk that much to put Bischoff down, then so am I."
"Oh, Chris", she softly said as she pulled him into a deep embrace. She squeezed him for all he was worth, knowing that this would probably be one of the few occasions she'd be getting to do that. He knew it too, but tried to block that thought out. For if they realized that, then they'd probably have held on forever.
Breaking apart, Stephanie gave another small sigh. "Okay.here's the plan."
TO be CONTINUED.
"Hey. sweet thing", Jericho smiled as he walked into Stephanie's office. Stephanie quickly put her paperwork down and stood up, her eyes brightening at the sight of her boyfriend.
"CHRIS!", she exclaimed, as she leaped right into his arms. They exchanged a soft kiss before breaking apart.
"Missed you last night", Jericho said softly, his hands roaming down her back. She was wearing one of her black business power suits with the white shirt underneath, which he always found sexy.
"I know", Stephanie sighed, her arms still around his neck. "I had to take care of some unfinished paperwork, plus review the footage from Bischoff's RAW show."
Jericho's eyes darkened at the mention of his old WCW boss's name. "Yeah, how is that jackass? Floundering towards failure again, I hope?"
Stephanie sighed, breaking off their hug. "Actually, no. I just received word a while ago that he's going to steal some of my roster talent tonight. He's going to want to retaliate soon for me stealing Brock Lesnar from RAW right in front of him last Monday night."
Jericho chuckled. "Yeah, that was kinda funny. Did you see him screaming at you 'I'll KNOCK YOU OUT! I WILL KNOCK YOU OUT!'? God, the last time I saw a shade of red like that, Kane was still wrestling."
Stephanie smiled at the thought. "Yeah, but this is serious. Chris, I want to beat this creep at his own game. I HAVE to. If I don't, it'll be a matter of time before he takes over this company and drives my family out of this business."
Chris nodded. "People talk about the nWo being poison? Bischoff's worse than poison. He's like cyanide mixed with acid! But I don't think you can beat him at his own game, though."
Stephanie looked at him, surprised by his comments. "Gee, thanks a lot, Chris. Some supportive boyfriend YOU are..."
"What I meant", Chris explained. "Is that you're not like Bischoff. He's a slimeball and a total piece of garbage. You're different. You actually care about this business. You see that your wrestlers are real people, not chess pieces or property that belong to you." He took his girlfriend's hand. "Hey, listen.Pretty soon, Eric Bischoff's cheap tricks are gonna wear thin. They always do. Just like in WCW. All the other guys will realize that, and they'll be knocking on your door, BEGGING to come and join Stephanie McMahon's Smackdown brand."
Stephanie lowered her eyes. "He's already got Triple H."
"Because YOU asked him and Shawn to join RAW, remember?", Chris said gently. "You wanted someone there to give Eric a hard time, and you did it. Those two are the biggest pains in the ass NOT named Chris Jericho in this business."
"But maybe we could have used Hunter and Shawn on Smackdown instead", Stephanie sighed. "And besides, what if they can't throw Bischoff like I wanted them to? What if losing Triple H weakens my card?"
"We can live without Triple H", he assured her. "Yeah, losing him to RAW hurt, but we can make due without him. We've still got the Rock, Hollywood Hulk Hogan, Edge, Brock Lesnar and as much as I hate to admit it, Kurt Angle...and oh, yeah. Yours truly, Y2J. Plus, isn't Rey Mysterio coming tonight? We'll make due just fine.Better than fine. We've got the upper hand now."
"Still", Stephanie pressed, looking pensative. "It's not enough. I need someone who can actually break into his operation. Someone who has his ear, someone he can share his secrets with...someone he trusts."
"OH, you mean a mole?", Chris asked. "Very clever. Got anyone in mind?",
Stephanie grinned slightly, averting her eyes from him. "Actually, yeah...but you're not going to like it."
Jericho frowned slightly. "Who?"
Stephanie looked back at him, giving him a pointed look.
Chris's eyes widened in horror and his mouth formed a small 'o' as he realized what Stephanie had in mind. "Oh...I....He...NO! No way! Absolutely not! I refuse--"
"Oh, come on, Chris", Stephanie said in her most appeasing voice. "You said you wanted to help, right? Well, this is your big chance!"
"I meant to do it by entertaining more, wrestling harder, all that stuff!", Jericho said.
"But you'd be perfect for it", Stephanie insisted. "With your heel status and main-event star power, you'd have Bischoff eating out of your hand."
"Stephanie, you know I love you, but I refuse to work for ERIC BISCHOFF!", Jericho protested. "That man held me down back in WCW. Every time I wanted higher profile matches, against guys like Hogan or Goldberg, he'd say, 'Kid, you're just not, eh, prime-time material', or 'You're too small to be a WCW World Champion'. Here's my chance to shove it up his ass for all those times he held me down, and you want me to jump to RAW so I can kiss his ASS?!"
"I want you to go to RAW because YOU might be the only hope we have of finally taking Eric Bischoff out of wrestling forever!", Stephanie shot back. "You said that you love me, Chris. But if you really do, then you'll do this for me, because there's nothing more important for this company than getting Bischoff the hell out of it!"
"That's not fair!", Jericho angrily said. "You can't use our relationship as leverage for me to do what you want me to do!"
"You think this is easy for me to ask you?", Stephanie said, her eyes intense. "Do you know how long I've been thinking about this? Trying to reason with myself? Try hard NOT to lose you? Find another guy to do it? I can't! The Rock's too valuable to lose, Hogan and Bischoff despise each other, I just signed Edge and Brock Lesnar to exclusive contracts and Bischoff doesn't trust Triple H enough yet to start letting him in on his secrets!"
"Oh, I get it, so I'm the expendable one, is that it?", Chris shot back."No one else wanted the job, so let's send good old Y2J to take one for the team, huh?"
"Damn it, Chris, you are NOT expendable!", Stephanie screamed. "You mean more to me than you could possibly imagine! Not just as a superstar, but as someone I can trust, someone I can depend on...you really think I want to lose that?"
"Then why me?"
"Because there just isn't anyone else", Stephanie said softly, trying hard to not break down and cry. "God. I wish there was, but there just isn't anyone else.and if you don't help me, that means Bischoff wins. And we all lose."
She broke off, turning her back to him. She didn't want to cry, she hated that. But she felt as if she had to use all her strength to keep her from doing just that. Besides, she knew that Chris hated to see her cry, and she didn't want to make him feel any more guilty than he had to.
Jericho came behind her and turned her around. "Oh, baby, I'm sorry", he said tenderly as he cupped her face to his. "You know I can't stand to see you like that. Look, I..I know ho much beating this asshole means to you.it just.threw me for a loop, is all."
Stephanie shook her head. "No, Chris. It was wrong of me to ask you this. I know how you feel about Eric Bischoff.and it's okay if you don't want to do it. I won't be mad, I'll.just have to figure something else out-"
"I'll do it", he said abruptly.
Stephanie looked at him with wide blue eyes. "Wh-What?"
Chris sighed. "I'll do it. I'll go to RAW. I'll even leave right now, if you want."
At that, Stephanie looked like she was going to burst into tears again. "I- I don't know, Chris. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea-"
"It's a perfect idea, and you know it", Jericho reasoned softly with her. "Even if I do hate his stinking guts, I'll swallow some pride, get chummy with that little prick if it means getting Smackdown as the Number 1 show on WWE programming."
"You know exactly what I'm asking you to do?", Stephanie tentatively asked him.
Jericho nodded.
"And you know that it's going to involve you doing some things that you may not want to do?", she asked him again.
Sighing, Jericho nodded. "I understand."
Stephanie gave a small sigh of her own. "Okay, then.but before I give you the details I want to ask you.you do know that after tonight, we're not going to be seeing quite as much of each other as we'd like, right? We're talking strictly pay-per-views, weekend meets, emergency phone calls, that's it."
Jericho sadly nodded. "Yeah.I know. But if you're willing to risk that much to put Bischoff down, then so am I."
"Oh, Chris", she softly said as she pulled him into a deep embrace. She squeezed him for all he was worth, knowing that this would probably be one of the few occasions she'd be getting to do that. He knew it too, but tried to block that thought out. For if they realized that, then they'd probably have held on forever.
Breaking apart, Stephanie gave another small sigh. "Okay.here's the plan."
TO be CONTINUED.