It was the same, just like he left it. Even though he'd been gone for a few months, about three, it was still the same RAW, with a few new additions. Austin, for one, he thought, opening the glass door in a smooth manner. He was back where he belonged. He didn't need NWA anymore. He didn't need Vince Russo anymore. But he needed RAW. Here, he could do whatever he wanted, kick ass whenever he pleased. It was, truly, a beautiful thing. And as he walked down the hall to the locker room, Raven felt the same feeling he had last May. The feeling that he was home, where he thrived to exist. He had missed that feeling.
The locker room was a banter of noise and nervousness, wrestlers grim-faced, preparing for their match. Raven just waltzed in, and things sort of got quiet for a split second. Then Raven kept walking and things returned to normal. He walked to his locker and sat, calm and collective. His old friend, Bradshaw, and his former business associate, Jonathan "The Coach" Coachman, walked over. "Hey Shaw, Coach. Can I help you at all?" "You sly, sumbitch'. You convinced Vince to let you back?" "Hey, he told me to come back. Said I could continue my masterpiece, Shaw. How could I refuse?" "...Say no?" Coach decided to step in. "Raven, you're scheduled for a HeAT appearance-" Raven quickly stood, startling Coach. "I'm not...going back to that hell. I'm on RAW only, nothing more." Coach nervously nodded. "I'll...just go talk to the guys...officials, I mean." Coach ran off, leaving Bradshaw smiling and Raven scowling. "Shaw, its people like that who infuriate me. That make me just want to break everyone's fingers. Corporate assholes and asskissers. Damn suck-ups always dirtying up the business. Anyways, Shaw, must go. I'm not scheduled for a match until next week, so I'll see you later." Raven left the locker room, leaving a smiling Bradshaw.
Raven walked down the halls, checking things out, seeing how they had changed. He saw a few new faces and a few familiar ones. They all looked welcome enough. When they heard his stories, they wouldn't be so welcome. He passed Pat Patterson, Arn Anderson, and Jerry "The King" Lawler talking. Lawler saw Raven, and his eyes got wider. Raven shot him a furious look before continuing down the hallway. He came to a door, with the name "Eric Bischoff" on it. He smiled and opened it. Inside was a stressed out, slightly gray haired man, who looked older than ever. "Hello Eric." Eric Bischoff looked up, the obvious strain in his eyes. "How's life...or should I say...Austin treating you?" "Like something he found in the toilet. This guy's making me feel as old as Father Time. Disobeying, raising hell, making ruckuses. This wasn't what I expected." "Heh...Wasn't what Vince McMahon expected when he signed him to the WWE a while back." Eric smiled. "Yeah, I remember that. Watching those tapes brings me some good laughs." Eric's face returned to is stressful look. "Raven, go out there and get to know the crew again. They might have missed you. Oh, glad you grew your hair back out and braided it. That was a good look for you."
Raven left the office. He looked down the hall to see a small trail of beer cans. He knew where they led, but decided to follow anyways. He found at the end of the trail a drunken Steve Austin standing on top of a crate, fending off security. "What? I said back the hell up! What? I said give me some damn room!" "Mr. Austin, please stop this nonsense. You have no right to harass people by cursing at the top of your lungs asking for more beer." "I have my damn rights, AND I WANT MORE GODDAMN BEER!" The security chief flinched. Raven smiled and said,"Come down, Austin. You're doing nothing but making beer farther." Austin finally noticed Raven, and frowned before coming down. The security tried to help him. "Get off me. I don't need your help." Austin slid off and security parted ways as Raven approached. "What, Tweety? Was stupid independent wrestling not good enough for you?" "In a way, yes. So, you just came back?" "Why the hell do you care? I have things to do." Austin gulped down his beer, threw it against the wall and left, with Raven staring after him. Austin stumbled a bit, banged his knee on a crate and yelped, but made it to his suite.
Raven was mildly amused. Austin certainly didn't change. But he wondered about two other people: Tommy Dreamer and Steven Richards. Surely, something had happened to one of them, if not both. And they were said to be his only "true" friends. He decided to take a little walk to the locker room, where Dreamer would surely be. On his way, he ran into and irate Chris Jericho, who had been told he was a "sucker". Then into a jive-talking Booker T, followed by Rob Van Dam, Jeff Hardy and Shawn Michaels, and finally Christian, who was just outside of the locker room. "Hello, Chris." Christian turned, and his eyes got as wide as saucers. "R...Raven? I mean...Ravennnn...Wha.....What brings you back to RAW?" Christian said in a nervous voice. "Nothing much, really. At least nothing you need to know." "Al...Alright, that's cool." Raven passed him and entered the locker room. Secluded in a corner was Tommy Dreamer. Raven immediately made his way over to Tommy. "Hello, Tom." Dreamer looked up, his eyes squinting. "What the hell do you want, Raven?" "Nothing you can give me. I just wanted to say...hello." "Well, you said it. Now get the hell outta here." "Tommy, Tommy, Tommy...Have you not learned to be polite to your superiors? I have clearly accomplished more then you. I believe I deserve some resp-" "You deserve a shot to the mouth, you piece of shit!" Raven's smile quickly turned into a frown. Suddenly, he lashed out, his fingers finding Tommy's temples, and he squeezed as hard as he could. Tommy started to yell, but Raven silenced him by squeezing harder. "Now, now, Tommy. Haven't we learned to watch our mouth? I was hoping you had gotten rid of that habit. Apparently, you need some breaking in." Raven slammed his knee into Dreamer's gut, and Tommy collapsed, gasping and holding his head. "Hopefully, that will teach you something."
Raven walked out of the room, his anger fading. He mentally kicked himself for losing control. Then he looked in search of Steven. He kept on looking, but didn't find anything. He stopped a janitor, who said he didn't know. He kept on looking and asked a technician, who said he was on right now, in a match. Raven rushed to the nearest T.V. and watched. Steven was moving with same grace he had before, an almost old school wrestling match. Finally, He won with a StevieT, as J.R. called it. Then he saw someone else. Someone...who looked very...brutal. That someone started beating down onto Steven's opponent, finally stopping. When she raised her head to the camera, Raven frowned. The woman was...disturbingly attractive. He immediately felt his old feelings come back. J.R. called her "Victoria". Raven could think of no better name. But she had his black heart beating.
The locker room was a banter of noise and nervousness, wrestlers grim-faced, preparing for their match. Raven just waltzed in, and things sort of got quiet for a split second. Then Raven kept walking and things returned to normal. He walked to his locker and sat, calm and collective. His old friend, Bradshaw, and his former business associate, Jonathan "The Coach" Coachman, walked over. "Hey Shaw, Coach. Can I help you at all?" "You sly, sumbitch'. You convinced Vince to let you back?" "Hey, he told me to come back. Said I could continue my masterpiece, Shaw. How could I refuse?" "...Say no?" Coach decided to step in. "Raven, you're scheduled for a HeAT appearance-" Raven quickly stood, startling Coach. "I'm not...going back to that hell. I'm on RAW only, nothing more." Coach nervously nodded. "I'll...just go talk to the guys...officials, I mean." Coach ran off, leaving Bradshaw smiling and Raven scowling. "Shaw, its people like that who infuriate me. That make me just want to break everyone's fingers. Corporate assholes and asskissers. Damn suck-ups always dirtying up the business. Anyways, Shaw, must go. I'm not scheduled for a match until next week, so I'll see you later." Raven left the locker room, leaving a smiling Bradshaw.
Raven walked down the halls, checking things out, seeing how they had changed. He saw a few new faces and a few familiar ones. They all looked welcome enough. When they heard his stories, they wouldn't be so welcome. He passed Pat Patterson, Arn Anderson, and Jerry "The King" Lawler talking. Lawler saw Raven, and his eyes got wider. Raven shot him a furious look before continuing down the hallway. He came to a door, with the name "Eric Bischoff" on it. He smiled and opened it. Inside was a stressed out, slightly gray haired man, who looked older than ever. "Hello Eric." Eric Bischoff looked up, the obvious strain in his eyes. "How's life...or should I say...Austin treating you?" "Like something he found in the toilet. This guy's making me feel as old as Father Time. Disobeying, raising hell, making ruckuses. This wasn't what I expected." "Heh...Wasn't what Vince McMahon expected when he signed him to the WWE a while back." Eric smiled. "Yeah, I remember that. Watching those tapes brings me some good laughs." Eric's face returned to is stressful look. "Raven, go out there and get to know the crew again. They might have missed you. Oh, glad you grew your hair back out and braided it. That was a good look for you."
Raven left the office. He looked down the hall to see a small trail of beer cans. He knew where they led, but decided to follow anyways. He found at the end of the trail a drunken Steve Austin standing on top of a crate, fending off security. "What? I said back the hell up! What? I said give me some damn room!" "Mr. Austin, please stop this nonsense. You have no right to harass people by cursing at the top of your lungs asking for more beer." "I have my damn rights, AND I WANT MORE GODDAMN BEER!" The security chief flinched. Raven smiled and said,"Come down, Austin. You're doing nothing but making beer farther." Austin finally noticed Raven, and frowned before coming down. The security tried to help him. "Get off me. I don't need your help." Austin slid off and security parted ways as Raven approached. "What, Tweety? Was stupid independent wrestling not good enough for you?" "In a way, yes. So, you just came back?" "Why the hell do you care? I have things to do." Austin gulped down his beer, threw it against the wall and left, with Raven staring after him. Austin stumbled a bit, banged his knee on a crate and yelped, but made it to his suite.
Raven was mildly amused. Austin certainly didn't change. But he wondered about two other people: Tommy Dreamer and Steven Richards. Surely, something had happened to one of them, if not both. And they were said to be his only "true" friends. He decided to take a little walk to the locker room, where Dreamer would surely be. On his way, he ran into and irate Chris Jericho, who had been told he was a "sucker". Then into a jive-talking Booker T, followed by Rob Van Dam, Jeff Hardy and Shawn Michaels, and finally Christian, who was just outside of the locker room. "Hello, Chris." Christian turned, and his eyes got as wide as saucers. "R...Raven? I mean...Ravennnn...Wha.....What brings you back to RAW?" Christian said in a nervous voice. "Nothing much, really. At least nothing you need to know." "Al...Alright, that's cool." Raven passed him and entered the locker room. Secluded in a corner was Tommy Dreamer. Raven immediately made his way over to Tommy. "Hello, Tom." Dreamer looked up, his eyes squinting. "What the hell do you want, Raven?" "Nothing you can give me. I just wanted to say...hello." "Well, you said it. Now get the hell outta here." "Tommy, Tommy, Tommy...Have you not learned to be polite to your superiors? I have clearly accomplished more then you. I believe I deserve some resp-" "You deserve a shot to the mouth, you piece of shit!" Raven's smile quickly turned into a frown. Suddenly, he lashed out, his fingers finding Tommy's temples, and he squeezed as hard as he could. Tommy started to yell, but Raven silenced him by squeezing harder. "Now, now, Tommy. Haven't we learned to watch our mouth? I was hoping you had gotten rid of that habit. Apparently, you need some breaking in." Raven slammed his knee into Dreamer's gut, and Tommy collapsed, gasping and holding his head. "Hopefully, that will teach you something."
Raven walked out of the room, his anger fading. He mentally kicked himself for losing control. Then he looked in search of Steven. He kept on looking, but didn't find anything. He stopped a janitor, who said he didn't know. He kept on looking and asked a technician, who said he was on right now, in a match. Raven rushed to the nearest T.V. and watched. Steven was moving with same grace he had before, an almost old school wrestling match. Finally, He won with a StevieT, as J.R. called it. Then he saw someone else. Someone...who looked very...brutal. That someone started beating down onto Steven's opponent, finally stopping. When she raised her head to the camera, Raven frowned. The woman was...disturbingly attractive. He immediately felt his old feelings come back. J.R. called her "Victoria". Raven could think of no better name. But she had his black heart beating.