Chapter 2 - The BadGirls Return
Sunday, September 21st, UNFORGIVEN 2003
Molly Holly ranted and raved as she paced her locker room up and down, the WWE Women's Title nestled round her waist. She had been on the edge ever since Monday when Lita came back to RAW and spoiled her plans to kill Trish Stratus's career once and for all. Her neck still smarted from that Twist of Fate she recieved. AS well as the DDT.
Molly knew Lita was strong, after all, she fought her before, but it was as if she had gotten twice as strong. Twice as fast. She barely had enough time to see her coming before Lita started wailing on her and Gail Kim . The redhead had taken them BOTH down without getting hit even once. And now she was back. And sooner or later, Lita would get that shot at the Women's title. HER title!
"I can't BELIEVE the nerve of that...red-headed, trashy....BIMBO, Lita!", she fumed to Gail, who sat in a chair, lacing up her boots. "Who in the HELL does she think she is, anyway?! She had NO right to come down there and interfere with OUR business! And now Stone Cold Steve Austin gives her a brand new contract? Lita doesn't deserve to be in the same ring as me! Hell, Lita doesn't even belong in the same BUILDING as me!"
"What's the big deal?", shrugged Gail. "We've beaten Trish when she's had different partners before, what's another dumb Diva to crush?"
Molly whirled on Gail, stalking over and seizing the smaller girl by the throat and shoving her against the wall. Gail gasped in fright as she felt the breath in her being choked out, and the look in Molly's crazed brown eyes could kill.
"Did that LitaBomb you got hit with last Monday jar loose the screws in your pretty little head?", Molly hissed. "This isn't just another dumb Diva, Gail! This...is Lita! Team Xtreme-Lita! The Lita that's gone toe-to- toe with Chyna and Jazz and taken them both to their limits! The Lita that beat my mentor, Dean Malenko! The Lita that held the Women's title for 6 months on her first reign! The Lita that's been trained by the Hardyz, Rey Mysterio and legendary luchadors from around the world! She's fast, strong, agile, and she can fly through the air like a DAMNED CRANE! She can pin you in a heartbeat before you draw a breath! She's a dangerous human being...And YOU'RE not taking her SERIOUSLY!"
Molly released her grasp on Gail, leaving the panting and wheezing beauty staring at her, wide-eyed. "I thought you said she didn't belong in the same ring as you", Gail winced.
Molly's ears reddened, realizing that she just contradicted herself. "She doesn't!", Molly pulled an about-face and resumed her pacing. "I'm Molly Holly, the Women's Champion! Of course Lita doesn't belong in the same ring as me. Neither does 'Trish Stratus'." She dragged out that name in a whiny, contemptous voice. "And tonight, we're going to prove it. We're going to take out both Trish Stratus AND Lita in the same ring at the same time! Gail, give me a range of what to target."
Molly was referring to Gail's expertise as a kinesiologist, her major when she studied in Canada. She knew all about the various parts and ligaments of the human body. But more importantly, as Molly noted, if used correctly, that knowledge could be used to hurt the human body.
"Well, Trish's neck and back should still be sore after our attacks the last few weeks, so we can go with that, but...", she trailed off.
"But what?", Molly demanded, folding her arms across her chest.
"I don't know about Lita. If she's been medically cleared, that means there's nothing wrong with her physically. That surgery she went through has been known to heal bones stronger and faster. And even if she did have a weakness, I don't see how we'll be able to exploit it. She moves too damn fast."
"DAMN IT!", Molly yelled as she grabbed a nearby water bottle and hurled it the length of the locker room. She started pacing furiously. "There has to be a weakness. Something! There is a weakness and I won't stop until I find it!"
She whirled and headed out the door, slamming it shut behind her .
Gail shook her head. "She's so tense and irritable.......maybe she should hit the gym and drop those extra pounds."
------------------------------
Trish whistled happily to herself as she walk down the hallway. Things had taken such an upturn in her life, especially since Lita had returned to RAW. Now she felt like the giant bulls-eye on her back wasn't so visible anymore.
She had her best friend, and perhaps the greatest female wrestler of their generation, Lita, back in the saddle and ready to team with her. Why shouldn't she feel giddy?
She stopped by the soda machine to get a pair of bottled waters for them. Upon entering her dressing room, which Lita was sharing, she found Lita intensely wailing on a punching bag, her eyes narrowed in concentration.
Trish stared, mezmerized at the display. Lita was moving so quickly, so gracefully, so fluidly, it was as if she were dancing. And yet, the heavy 'THUMP!'s on the punching bag made clear Lita's power and ferocity. It was a marvel to Trish to see how someone as strong as Lita was physically could look so deceptively beautiful, and yet, almost average looking .Like the girl next door type.........that is, if the girl next door was a hard-rock lovin', x-treme sportin', jabroni-beatin', magazine-cover gracin', bad ass chick.
The racy redhead had a pair of headphones on, heavy-metal rock music blasting away at maximum volume as she continued her fast-paced workout. Trish recognized the music as Sevendust, the band that made the theme for this year's Unforgiven PPV, titled 'Enemy'. She had heard the music enough on the RAW promos to recognize it.
After a few more moments, Lita ceased her workout, grasping the bag to a stop. She took a few deep breaths before she turned around. At the sight of Trish, she almost jumped up, startled.
"Geez, Trish, make a little noise when you enter, will ya?", Lita shook her head, smiling.
"I would've, but I doubt you'd have heard me anyway with that music blowing out what's left of your eardrums", Trish stuck her tongue out playfully. She tossed Lita a bottle of water, which Lita caught effortlessly with one hand.
"Hey, better not use up all that energy, firecracker", Trish smirked as she casually leaned against her dresser. "We got a big match tonight. No use spending all that energy before going out there to whip Molly and Gail's asses."
"I'm not worried", Lita sighed as she sat down on the floor, indian-style. "I've got a ton of pent-up energy. If anything, I'm just nervous about the crowd response to me after so long. I've been away for awhile, so--"
"Li, they're gonna go nuts", Trish assured her with a smile. "They missed you almost as much as I did."
"I'm just glad you're here with me, QueenBee", Lita smiled up at her best friend. "That definitely takes a lot of the butterflies away."
"Hey, don't mention it, Li", Trish waved it off. "After you saved my ass last week? Psst, it's the least I could do. Besides, we're girls, right?"
"Ryde or Die, QueenBee", Lita winked at her.
"So", Trish said as she casually went to do some leg stretches. "We've got another half-hour before our match starts. What'cha want to do?"
Lita stared up at the blonde, thoughtfully. "I've got an idea", she said. "Come on, sit down."
Trish furrowed her brow in slight confusion. "Umm....okay." She sat down opposite Lita, Indian-style.
"What are we doing?", she asked the redhead.
"I want to show you a new training technique I learned while I've been away", Lita explained. "It's like an intense form of meditation."
Trish cocked her head sideways slightly. "You never told me you were into that reflective stuff."
"I wasn't", Lita said. "But a very famous Japanese Luchador taught me a few things when I went hiking in Mexico a few months back."
"You met a Japanese guy in Mexico?", Trish raised an eyebrow. "That's hard to swallow."
"Hey, I didn't ask questions, so long as he trained me, okay?", Lita shrugged. "Hand me that other MP3 Player on my bag, will you?"
Trish tossed Lita the MP3 Player. Upon catching it, the redhead popped it open and inserted a new music CD. She handed it back to Trish.
"Put it on", Lita instructed her.
Shrugging, Trish did so, placing the headphoens slightly over her ears. "Oookay...so now what?", Trish asked, puzzled.
"Let me explain how this works", Lita said. "The guy...some long, drawn out name, I can't remember...he explained to me that the best way to win anything is through use of your own inner power. In people, that power is called emotion. The problem is, emotions run so wild and make us so unpredictable that often those emotions can be turned and used against us, hindering us, clouding our judgement. But, a long time ago, centuries before, these mountain men up in the Northern Hills of Japan came up with a technique to use emotion and sound and focus it into something powerful. It takes a while to get it right, but once mastered, it can turn every emotion in your body, your love, your anger, your hate, your joy, your pain, anything...into a conductor of power in you. You can bottle it up, focus it, and at the right time when you need it, let it out and explode it. Set it loose. It gives your body added fire and energy to go when you need it."
Trish scruntched her eyebrows. "So this guy said that feelings are like fuel to us?"
Lita nodded. "Exactly. Trish, you're about to step into the ring with two women who hate you, who tried to end your career, maybe even your life last week. You have a long history with Molly and enough with Gail Kim to count. Somewhere in you, there's a waterwell of anger waiting to let loose. I'm going to teach you how to focus all of that rage and turn it into a positive. A strength."
Trish nodded, eagerly listening.
"First, hit the 'Play' Button on the MP3", Lita instructed. Instantly, the first chords to Sevendust's 'Enemy' started blaring. Lita hit her MP3 as soon as Trish hit hers so that the two would be in perfect sync. After having done so, Lita slipped her hands into Trish's, softly holding them. It was a way for her to guide Trish through her first session, a reassuring gesture.
Lita continued, "Now, concentrate. Close your eyes...think back to all the times you've ever been hurt. All the times that Molly and Gail assaulted you, beat on you....every drop of pain you felt, every bit of helplessness, every ounce of raw frustration and anger...remember....remember the anguish you felt?...of being alone?...of facing week after week of beatings?...the smile on Bischoff's face when he saw you go down in a heap..."
***Step up to me step up to me ***You wanna be a big time player its not to be
Trish shut her eyes and squeezed them hard. She remembered, all right. Those moments had been burned forever in her memory. The pain of each blow, of each boot to the stomach, of every double-DDT...the anger of being defenseless against a two-on-one assault, of not finding a partner strong enuogh to back her up, if she was ever fortunate enough to HAVE a partner...
***Look at all the snide ass actin like a wise ass ***I'll f*ck up your face, and you'll never look back
The hurt echoed by each of her screams, her gasps, the hurt of being ultimately alone on RAW, of having no true friend to help, to lend a healing hand, or a shoulder to cry on whenever things got so out of hand that she cried herself to sleep on those sore, lonely nights...
***So when you fall to the ground and finally get back to reality, ***Looking around, ***So tell me how does it feel to be the enemy
.....the frustration of dealing with a vindictive and perverted General Manager in Bischoff, who booked her into impossible match situations, whose behavior towards her bordered on sexual harassment, who constantly held her away from the Women's title picture just because he could...
***Step up to me, step up to me ***Step up to me, step up to me ***you wanna be a big time player its not to be
....the anguish of being separated from her best friend for so long, or from her other friends, Jeff Hardy, Torrie Wilson and others, either by separation of shows or by leaving the business altogether...the humiliation she was forced to pass at the hands of vindictave, canniving individuals like Bischoff, like Vince McMahon, like Victoria and Steven Richards, like Teddy Long and Jazz...
***look at your name, look at your face ***funny you're a loser with only yourself to blame
.....she could still see that creepy, sleazy smile on Bischoff's face when he pinned her to the mat in that 'One-Night-Stand' match he set up for her the night after Backlash, when he almost forced her to spend some 'quality time' with him in his hotel room...or the ultimate insult, when he told Trish point blank to her face after she asked for a title shot that nobody cared about women's wrestling....
***Catch ya f*cking hand now, standing on a stand now, ***Wanna be like me 'cause I'm real so you steal on your way to fame
Lita felt the blonde's grip shift and clench hard. She studied Trish's face and saw an expression of bubbling anger as the 4-time women's champ sat there, her eyes still shut. Lita shut her own eyes, feeling Trish's own anger and using it to kindle her own, added to her own thoughts...the broken neck...the painful rehabilitation process...Bischoff's humiliating public firing of her in April...the long, hard months of uncertainty...
***Never gonna be never gonna see ***Your name on the lights you can always dream what your gonna be ***Clean up my sh*t...sucker (unemployment)
.....the rage and fustration of watching her best friend Trish getting her ass kicked week after week by whatever reigning Bitch-of-the-Week stepped in, and not being able to lift a damned finger to stop it...
***So when you fall to the ground and finally get back to reality, ***Looking around, ***So tell me how does it feel to be the enemy
***So when you fall to the ground and finally get back to reality, ***Looking around, ***So tell me how does it feel to be the enemy
...losing her friend Jeff Hardy to life's twists and turns and the horrible breakup with her jerk boyfriend Matt Hardy while still in rehab...the rumors that she was finished with wrestling...the idea that she would never again see the Women's title...
***(Step) ***Step up to me ***Step up to me ***(Step)
The music pumped in both of their ears, the lyrics and beat of the song fueling their rage. With every note, every chord, every word sung, their raw, undiluted anger intensified within them into a pure rage.
***So when you fall to the ground and finally get back to reality, ***Looking around, ***So tell me how does it feel to be the enemy
"Can you feel it?", Lita asked, her eyes still shut. "Feel how your rage, your hurt, your anger is starting to grow, to breathe?..."
Trish shuddered as the powerful wave of emotion grew and expanded withing her. She could feel it. Solidifying, molding, shaping, until it wasn't simply an intangible, but real and raw and corporeal inside of her; as if another living being had taken form in her own body.
***So when you fall to the ground and finally get back to reality, ***Looking around, ***So tell me how does it feel to be the enemy
"Oh, God", she breathed, small beads of perspiration starting to form on her forehead, the intensity of each passing moment almost too much to bear.
"Don't fight it, Trish", Lita gently said. "Embrace it. That bond is the source of both your finest and worst moments...you've always felt it, even when you didn't know what it was...it's in you...lying in wait for you all this time, until you could finally reach out and grab it."
***(Your the enemy) ***Step up to me (What)
Trish's breathing intensified as she felt her own strain to keep control on herself. She had never experienced anything as intense on a spiritual level or emotional level as this. It felt as if she were trying to put out a fire with her own hands; like their was a reactor core in her heart that was about to explode and destroy her from within at any given moment...
"Grab it, Trish", Lita said, her voice remaining calm and soothing, despite the beads of perspiration forming on her own forehead. "Don't be afraid of it...this is your power...it belongs to you...and you to it...grab it..."
Trish felt herself on some level moving closer to this power within her, felt herself come even closer to it, feeling the heat, the searing intensity off her own rage, closer until she thought her insides would melt, until her hands would become but putty under the heat...
***Step up to me(what)
"Grab it", Lita said again.
Trish felt herself extend towards it, gravitating towards this irresistable bond of power, of rage and anger...
"Grab it."
Until at last, she reached out and seized that power by the throat, ignoring the blinding pain, ignoring every nerve ending in her body screaming at her to release it. For the first few moments, she winced in pain, gasping as she felt herself connecting with this strange force, this power that had lay dormant inside her for so long...
***Step up to me step up to me ***You wanna be a big time player its not to be!
And then...nothing.
It was as if everything had suddenly cut to black, the fire beneath her hands, the burning pain, everything...gone.
"Open your eyes, Trish", Lita's voice softly instructed.
When the blonde's hazel eyes fluttered open, Lita's eyes were staring right back into them. Lita noted the difference in the gaze in her best friend's eyes. Almost a dangerous glow emitted from them, an aura of bottled rage, like a time bomb. just waiting to explode, and yet, a calmness and levity about them. Almost like a guise to hide what truly lay beneath.
It was the same gaze Lita always got after her meditation sessions.
"You okay?", she asked, her voice calm but with a note of concern.
Trish nodded, almost stoically, a very un-Trish-like response.
"What you're feeling right now", Lita explained, "it's normal. Your first time's always the most intense. It'll get easier with practice. Within time, you'll be able to harness all that energy without any sideeffects, no pain, no change of self."
"I feel...I feel different", Trish said, looking down at her hands. "Stronger, I dunno."
"It's the inner power", Lita said, smiling slightly. "It's all the raw anger, the pain, the hurt, the hatred, the love, everything you ever felt that drove you nuts...solidified into one. By embracing it, you accepted it as part of who you are, Trish. That strength you're feeling....it was always there. It just needed to be woken up."
A knock on their door was followed by a muffled voice saying, "3 minutes, Ladies. You're up next."
Trish and Lita exchanged glances with each other.
"You sure you're up for this?", Lita asked.
Trish smirked. "Shouldn't I be asking YOU that same question?"
"Shouldn't you know what my response would be?", Lita smirked back.
The women both nodded and flashed dangerously sparkling smiles.
"Hells yeah", they both said simultaneously, before they stood up and walked out of the dressing room, primed, pumped, and ready to take out some ruthless agression on Molly Holly and Gail Kim.
------------------------
WWE Unforgiven : Lita & Trish Stratus vs. Molly Holly and Gail Kim
Trish stood outside the ring, poised and ready for action. Her theme music was blaring all over the Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvannia, the site of Unforgiven, darkened except for a few pink lights strobing around as part of her light show entrance. She saw Gail Kim and Molly Holly standing pat in the ring with smug looks on their faces, no doubt licking their chops to get ahold of her again.
'Good, let them', Trish thought to herself, smiling back dangerously. 'Boy, are they in for a nasty little surprise...once my girl gets here. '
Then, Lita's theme music hit, at which the fans went nuts over. The lights dimmed and purple and blue strobe lights started flashing furiously. And finally, the woman of the hour came out, rocking out on her own theme music. The instant Lita came through the curtain, the crowd stood on its feet in a thunderous standing ovation.
"This is special, folks", JR announced from the broadcast position. "And here comes a very special young woman! After months of rehabilitaion, the surgery, the broken vertebrae in her neck, being fired by Bischoff last April, we are witnessing the return of the X-treme Diva, one of the most popular Superstars in the history of this business! We are witnessing the return...of Lita!"
"She's back, JR!", King enthusiastically said. "And so are her puppies!"
Trish smiled to herself as she noted the faces of Gail and Molly, upon laying eyes on Lita walking down the rampway, fall from ones of smug confidence to ones of uncertainty and...was that fear in their eyes? Well, why not? Hell, she wouldn't want to face Lita AND herself at the same time if she were them.
Lita fed off the electricity of the crowd, sucking in every moment, burning it into her memory. It had been a long time since she had been able to walk down this aisle to do what she loved to do, and now, after all the drama, after all the pain and disappointment, 17 long months out of her life, she was finally walking down to the ring once again. It was one of those surreal moments that one wishes they could live again and again, without pause, forever.
Her eyes connected with Trish's, a silent understanding between the two passing in that gaze.
"Ready?", Trish smiled at her, burning with anticipation of entering that ring.
"Ryde or die", Lita winked back, holding out her handsymbol towards Trish.
"BadGirls 4 life", Trish said, pounding Lita's fist in that same handsymbol, their secret handshake.
And with that, the two most dominant Divas in the history of the WWE slid into the ring in a heartbeat. The roar of the crowd upon seeing them pose atop the turnbuckles officially confirmed what they already knew: the BadGirls were back.
Of course, Gail and Molly tried to get the upperhand with a sneak attack on them in the early going of the match. But Lita's strength and Trish's quickness overturned that strategy quickly, and soon, both Gail and Molly found themselves being whipped into the turnbuckle and being the double victim of a Poetry-In-Motion clothesline, vintage Team X-treme.
Gail and Molly tried to regroup on the outside, to collect their thoughts. Lita and Trish exchanged knowing glances between them, and simultaneously hit a pair of baseball slides onto the pair of vindictive Divas, knocking them down face first on the outside.
Trish smiled as she saw Lita's eyes glowing with joy. She could tell that her best friend was truly enjoying this. And she was very glad that she was. After all she had to go through just to get back in the ring, she deserved to be back, and to be having fun while at it made her comeback even better.
Molly Holly hopped into the ring, incensed and embarrased at Lita and Trish's clever move. 'This red-headed bitch is ruining EVERYTHING!', she thought, angrily. After screaming at Lita, who cockily dared her to come closer, the Women's champion shoved Lita with as much strength as she could muster.
Lita barely moved two feet, however, the result of those intense body workout over the last few months, and was smiling mishievously.
"Ooo-Kay! You want some, Molly? Come on, let's go!", the redheaded beauty smirked as she closed the gap between her and Molly quickly. But Molly, upon seeing the dangerous look in Lita's eyes, panicked and tagged in a stunned (and apprehensive) Gail to take the beating for her. Lita stared at Molly, and back to Trish, incredulously, as if to say with her eyes, 'Did she just punk out on me?' Trish shrugged and rolled her eyes in response, as if to answer back, 'Did you expect anything less from Molly Holly?' Shrugging, Lita turned her attention to Gail, motioning with her hand for the rookie Diva to take her best shot.
Gail was overmatched and undersized against Lita, who easily tossed the smaller girl around like a salad. After hitting a suplex, Lita nimbly used a hand-spring, a-la The Rock, to get back to her feet, drawing 'OOH!'s and 'AAH!'s from the crowd. She saw Trish practically begging her to tag in, her eyes burning with excitement. Smiling, Lita quickly made the tag and the 4-time Women's champion was all over Gail Kim, hitting her with everything from chops to punches to a nasty Chick Kick right to the face. But Molly broke up the cuont with a well placed elbow to Trish's head.
Then, the double-team strategy started. Gail would lure Trish into a corner, where Molly would be lying in wait, then the twisted pair would start double-teaming the blonde bombshell. Lita made the stupid mistake of trying to help, which would only distract the referee into loking the other way while Gail and Molly continued to work over Trish.
Trish winced in pain as she slowly made her way to the ropes. She knew that that bitch Molly had come up with the idea of working over her neck and back. It was a well-laid plan. She had to make a tag to Lita before her back gave out, and she knew it. But Gail and Molly continously dragged her back to the center of the ring for more punishment.
At last, Trish finally fought out of a Gail Kim missed dropkick and managed to crawl her way over to Lita, extending her hand desperately. When the tag was made, Lita jumped in, letting loose with every thing she had. Her inner power was fully unleashed as she took down both Molly and Gail with a pair of crunching clotheslines. She took down Gail with an incredible Bicycle Kick maneuver she had perfected when she was training, then she tackled Molly with a Monkey Flip-turned-Knuckle press, wailing on the woman who had orchestrated the attacks on her best friend for weeks with unbridled aggression.
Sensing Gail's presense nearby, Lita whipped around and clotheslined Gail again, before picking her up and setting up the rookie for her newest move, the Litabomb. One hard powerbomb later, Gail was out cold on the mat. Lita smiled to herself as she stood tall over her opponent, admiring the effectiveness of her new move, which she had spent much time fine-tuning.
However, that was her mistake, as Molly came from behind with a clubbing blow to her neck. Lita instantly crumbled to her knees, wincing in pain as she let out a loud groan from the impact. Her neck started flaring with unreal pain and she felt her focus start to blur. Trish gasped as she saw her friend go down quickly, fearing the worst had happened: that Molly's blow had reaggravated Lita's neck injury.
"LI!", she called out. "Are you okay?!"
Sensing the opportunity, Molly smiled evilly as she climbed the top rope, looking to finish off the meddling redhead once and for all with a Molly-Go- Round, as Lita still was down on her knees, clutching her neck.
Trish watched this from her corner, and felt her fear for her friend's safety melt away into black anger. Molly did that on purpose. She knew she did. She wasn't just trying to beat Lita...she was trying to end her career!
Just like she almost did to Trish.
'Nobody....messes....with MY....BEST....FRIEND!', the thought exploded in her brain.
Trish felt her own inner power, her seething, burning hatred for Molly Holly explode inside her as she leapt over the ropes in blinding speed, making a beeline for Molly, who never saw the blonde coming. Molly gasped in surprise as she felt Trish's powerful legs clamp onto her head, as the 4- time Women's Champion used every ounce of power she had to send the reigning Women's champion head-over-heels with a loud BOOM! onto the mat, a victim of the Stratus-fear, the upside-down turnbuckle hurricanrana Trish had successfully used in the past.
By then, Lita had successfully made it to her feet. Seeing Molly writhing in pain on the ground, she looked up at Trish with a stunned expression on her face.
"What? Couldn't let you have ALL the fun, Li", Trish shrugged impishly.
Lita smiled. "Thanks, QueenBee. Good looking out."
Without another word, Lita grabbed a dazed and groggy Molly Holly, who had stumbled onto her feet, from behind and hit her with a reverse Twist of Fate, immobilizing the canniving Women's Champion.
Trish kicked Gail's prone body out of the ring as added insurance, and stood guard over Molly's body, in case she tried to move.
"You know what's coming now, don't you?", Lita asked Trish, who nodded.
"Go on, get up there...bring it home for us, Li", she smiled.
Lita smiled back as she ascended the top turnbuckle, to the delight of the crowd, who knew exactly what was coming next.
"Oh, baby! How long has it been since we've seen this from Lita, JR?", King yelped with excitement.
"Oh, my God! Is she gonna--Lita is fearless!", JR yelled incredulously.
'Come on, Lita, you've done this before, like, a thousand times', Lita thought to herself as she readied her body for flight, her stomach twisting in knots and her neck aching with pain. 'Just like ridin' a bike, right? Just like ridin' a bike--'
And then, her body flew effortlessly through the air, connecting hard on Molly with a WHAM!
"Lita with a Lita-sault! The cover--1,2,3, that's all! Lita has just pinned the Women's Champion!", JR yelled from his announcer spot.
Lita barely registered the ring of the bell and her own theme music above the roar of the crowd, as Trish picked up her friend gently, but with such enthusiasm.
"YOU DID IT!", she squealed in delight.
"No...WE did it, QueenBee", Lita shook her head and smiled.
"The winners of this bout....the team of Trish Stratus and LITA!", Lilian Garcia announced to the roaring approval of over 16,000 screaming fans.
"It's official...Welcome back, Li!", Trish beamed as she pulled her best friend into a tight hug. Lita hugged back almost as tightly, before wincing.
"Trish...Trish, ease up a little, before you crush my ribs", Lita laughed.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Li! Are you okay?", Trish asked, concern filing her eyes.
"Fine, I'm fine, QueenBee", Lita shrugged it off. "My mouth is all busted up and my neck hurts like a bitch, but...it was worth it", Lita trailed off as she raised hers and Trish's hands up in victory to a cheering crowd.
"Come on, let's get out of here", Trish said, looking back at the unconscious bodies of Molly Holly and Gail Kim. "Let the janitors worry about picking up the trash around here", she spat.
Lita arched her eyebrows, laughing. "Me-oww! When did YOU get such a sharp pair of claws?"
"Right about the time those bitches tried to end my career AND break my best friend's neck again", Trish said, scowling after them.
"They can't hurt you anymore", Lita reminded her as the duo walked down the rampway. "It's over, Queenie. WE won, THEY lost. Let it go."
"I'll never it go", Trish shook her head. "I hope we broke something of theirs, tonight."
Lita laughed it off. "Come on, tigress. Let's go grab a bite."
"What a combination these two make!", JR gushed. "Can you imagine the impact these two are going to make, how the women's division is going to shake up with these two lovely ladies side-by side? Two of the most popular women's champions in WWE history together?"
"The Diva of X-treme and a 100% Stratusfaction-guaranteed, 4 time Women's Champion? Together?? Just imagine the possibilites, JR!", King was practically drooling.
"I don't know what possibilities YOU'RE imagining, King", JR shook his head, smiling. "But the fact of the matter is this: Lita is back! She is back! And she's better than ever! And she has Trish Stratus walking side-by- side with her! Molly Holly's days as Women's Champion, Molly and Gail's days of being at the top, are perhaps about to come to a crashing, abrupt end! And neither Molly, Gail and perhaps even Eric Bischoff are going to be happy about that!"
The camera closed in on Molly's face, still unconscious in the center of the ring, and on Gail Kim's limp form outside the ring.
"You said it, JR!", King said. "Molly, you might want to consider sleeping with that belt from now on, because your days as Women's Champion are numbered, and it's only a matter of time before one of these two LOVELY ladies takes that title away from you! Lita's BACK! Woo-hoo!!"
The two best friends posed at the entrance way one more time, to the roar of the fans chanting "Lita! Lita!" and "Let's Go Trish!" at the same time.
"Welcome home, Li", she whispered to the redhead, smiling.
Lita felt the emotion of the moment overtake her as her eyes glistened.
"It's good to BE home", she grinned, before acknowledging the crowd one more time and leaving to the back, her best friend by her side.
Indeed, the BadGirls were back...and neither Molly Holly nor Eric Bischoff were going to be pleased.
To Be Continued....
Sunday, September 21st, UNFORGIVEN 2003
Molly Holly ranted and raved as she paced her locker room up and down, the WWE Women's Title nestled round her waist. She had been on the edge ever since Monday when Lita came back to RAW and spoiled her plans to kill Trish Stratus's career once and for all. Her neck still smarted from that Twist of Fate she recieved. AS well as the DDT.
Molly knew Lita was strong, after all, she fought her before, but it was as if she had gotten twice as strong. Twice as fast. She barely had enough time to see her coming before Lita started wailing on her and Gail Kim . The redhead had taken them BOTH down without getting hit even once. And now she was back. And sooner or later, Lita would get that shot at the Women's title. HER title!
"I can't BELIEVE the nerve of that...red-headed, trashy....BIMBO, Lita!", she fumed to Gail, who sat in a chair, lacing up her boots. "Who in the HELL does she think she is, anyway?! She had NO right to come down there and interfere with OUR business! And now Stone Cold Steve Austin gives her a brand new contract? Lita doesn't deserve to be in the same ring as me! Hell, Lita doesn't even belong in the same BUILDING as me!"
"What's the big deal?", shrugged Gail. "We've beaten Trish when she's had different partners before, what's another dumb Diva to crush?"
Molly whirled on Gail, stalking over and seizing the smaller girl by the throat and shoving her against the wall. Gail gasped in fright as she felt the breath in her being choked out, and the look in Molly's crazed brown eyes could kill.
"Did that LitaBomb you got hit with last Monday jar loose the screws in your pretty little head?", Molly hissed. "This isn't just another dumb Diva, Gail! This...is Lita! Team Xtreme-Lita! The Lita that's gone toe-to- toe with Chyna and Jazz and taken them both to their limits! The Lita that beat my mentor, Dean Malenko! The Lita that held the Women's title for 6 months on her first reign! The Lita that's been trained by the Hardyz, Rey Mysterio and legendary luchadors from around the world! She's fast, strong, agile, and she can fly through the air like a DAMNED CRANE! She can pin you in a heartbeat before you draw a breath! She's a dangerous human being...And YOU'RE not taking her SERIOUSLY!"
Molly released her grasp on Gail, leaving the panting and wheezing beauty staring at her, wide-eyed. "I thought you said she didn't belong in the same ring as you", Gail winced.
Molly's ears reddened, realizing that she just contradicted herself. "She doesn't!", Molly pulled an about-face and resumed her pacing. "I'm Molly Holly, the Women's Champion! Of course Lita doesn't belong in the same ring as me. Neither does 'Trish Stratus'." She dragged out that name in a whiny, contemptous voice. "And tonight, we're going to prove it. We're going to take out both Trish Stratus AND Lita in the same ring at the same time! Gail, give me a range of what to target."
Molly was referring to Gail's expertise as a kinesiologist, her major when she studied in Canada. She knew all about the various parts and ligaments of the human body. But more importantly, as Molly noted, if used correctly, that knowledge could be used to hurt the human body.
"Well, Trish's neck and back should still be sore after our attacks the last few weeks, so we can go with that, but...", she trailed off.
"But what?", Molly demanded, folding her arms across her chest.
"I don't know about Lita. If she's been medically cleared, that means there's nothing wrong with her physically. That surgery she went through has been known to heal bones stronger and faster. And even if she did have a weakness, I don't see how we'll be able to exploit it. She moves too damn fast."
"DAMN IT!", Molly yelled as she grabbed a nearby water bottle and hurled it the length of the locker room. She started pacing furiously. "There has to be a weakness. Something! There is a weakness and I won't stop until I find it!"
She whirled and headed out the door, slamming it shut behind her .
Gail shook her head. "She's so tense and irritable.......maybe she should hit the gym and drop those extra pounds."
------------------------------
Trish whistled happily to herself as she walk down the hallway. Things had taken such an upturn in her life, especially since Lita had returned to RAW. Now she felt like the giant bulls-eye on her back wasn't so visible anymore.
She had her best friend, and perhaps the greatest female wrestler of their generation, Lita, back in the saddle and ready to team with her. Why shouldn't she feel giddy?
She stopped by the soda machine to get a pair of bottled waters for them. Upon entering her dressing room, which Lita was sharing, she found Lita intensely wailing on a punching bag, her eyes narrowed in concentration.
Trish stared, mezmerized at the display. Lita was moving so quickly, so gracefully, so fluidly, it was as if she were dancing. And yet, the heavy 'THUMP!'s on the punching bag made clear Lita's power and ferocity. It was a marvel to Trish to see how someone as strong as Lita was physically could look so deceptively beautiful, and yet, almost average looking .Like the girl next door type.........that is, if the girl next door was a hard-rock lovin', x-treme sportin', jabroni-beatin', magazine-cover gracin', bad ass chick.
The racy redhead had a pair of headphones on, heavy-metal rock music blasting away at maximum volume as she continued her fast-paced workout. Trish recognized the music as Sevendust, the band that made the theme for this year's Unforgiven PPV, titled 'Enemy'. She had heard the music enough on the RAW promos to recognize it.
After a few more moments, Lita ceased her workout, grasping the bag to a stop. She took a few deep breaths before she turned around. At the sight of Trish, she almost jumped up, startled.
"Geez, Trish, make a little noise when you enter, will ya?", Lita shook her head, smiling.
"I would've, but I doubt you'd have heard me anyway with that music blowing out what's left of your eardrums", Trish stuck her tongue out playfully. She tossed Lita a bottle of water, which Lita caught effortlessly with one hand.
"Hey, better not use up all that energy, firecracker", Trish smirked as she casually leaned against her dresser. "We got a big match tonight. No use spending all that energy before going out there to whip Molly and Gail's asses."
"I'm not worried", Lita sighed as she sat down on the floor, indian-style. "I've got a ton of pent-up energy. If anything, I'm just nervous about the crowd response to me after so long. I've been away for awhile, so--"
"Li, they're gonna go nuts", Trish assured her with a smile. "They missed you almost as much as I did."
"I'm just glad you're here with me, QueenBee", Lita smiled up at her best friend. "That definitely takes a lot of the butterflies away."
"Hey, don't mention it, Li", Trish waved it off. "After you saved my ass last week? Psst, it's the least I could do. Besides, we're girls, right?"
"Ryde or Die, QueenBee", Lita winked at her.
"So", Trish said as she casually went to do some leg stretches. "We've got another half-hour before our match starts. What'cha want to do?"
Lita stared up at the blonde, thoughtfully. "I've got an idea", she said. "Come on, sit down."
Trish furrowed her brow in slight confusion. "Umm....okay." She sat down opposite Lita, Indian-style.
"What are we doing?", she asked the redhead.
"I want to show you a new training technique I learned while I've been away", Lita explained. "It's like an intense form of meditation."
Trish cocked her head sideways slightly. "You never told me you were into that reflective stuff."
"I wasn't", Lita said. "But a very famous Japanese Luchador taught me a few things when I went hiking in Mexico a few months back."
"You met a Japanese guy in Mexico?", Trish raised an eyebrow. "That's hard to swallow."
"Hey, I didn't ask questions, so long as he trained me, okay?", Lita shrugged. "Hand me that other MP3 Player on my bag, will you?"
Trish tossed Lita the MP3 Player. Upon catching it, the redhead popped it open and inserted a new music CD. She handed it back to Trish.
"Put it on", Lita instructed her.
Shrugging, Trish did so, placing the headphoens slightly over her ears. "Oookay...so now what?", Trish asked, puzzled.
"Let me explain how this works", Lita said. "The guy...some long, drawn out name, I can't remember...he explained to me that the best way to win anything is through use of your own inner power. In people, that power is called emotion. The problem is, emotions run so wild and make us so unpredictable that often those emotions can be turned and used against us, hindering us, clouding our judgement. But, a long time ago, centuries before, these mountain men up in the Northern Hills of Japan came up with a technique to use emotion and sound and focus it into something powerful. It takes a while to get it right, but once mastered, it can turn every emotion in your body, your love, your anger, your hate, your joy, your pain, anything...into a conductor of power in you. You can bottle it up, focus it, and at the right time when you need it, let it out and explode it. Set it loose. It gives your body added fire and energy to go when you need it."
Trish scruntched her eyebrows. "So this guy said that feelings are like fuel to us?"
Lita nodded. "Exactly. Trish, you're about to step into the ring with two women who hate you, who tried to end your career, maybe even your life last week. You have a long history with Molly and enough with Gail Kim to count. Somewhere in you, there's a waterwell of anger waiting to let loose. I'm going to teach you how to focus all of that rage and turn it into a positive. A strength."
Trish nodded, eagerly listening.
"First, hit the 'Play' Button on the MP3", Lita instructed. Instantly, the first chords to Sevendust's 'Enemy' started blaring. Lita hit her MP3 as soon as Trish hit hers so that the two would be in perfect sync. After having done so, Lita slipped her hands into Trish's, softly holding them. It was a way for her to guide Trish through her first session, a reassuring gesture.
Lita continued, "Now, concentrate. Close your eyes...think back to all the times you've ever been hurt. All the times that Molly and Gail assaulted you, beat on you....every drop of pain you felt, every bit of helplessness, every ounce of raw frustration and anger...remember....remember the anguish you felt?...of being alone?...of facing week after week of beatings?...the smile on Bischoff's face when he saw you go down in a heap..."
***Step up to me step up to me ***You wanna be a big time player its not to be
Trish shut her eyes and squeezed them hard. She remembered, all right. Those moments had been burned forever in her memory. The pain of each blow, of each boot to the stomach, of every double-DDT...the anger of being defenseless against a two-on-one assault, of not finding a partner strong enuogh to back her up, if she was ever fortunate enough to HAVE a partner...
***Look at all the snide ass actin like a wise ass ***I'll f*ck up your face, and you'll never look back
The hurt echoed by each of her screams, her gasps, the hurt of being ultimately alone on RAW, of having no true friend to help, to lend a healing hand, or a shoulder to cry on whenever things got so out of hand that she cried herself to sleep on those sore, lonely nights...
***So when you fall to the ground and finally get back to reality, ***Looking around, ***So tell me how does it feel to be the enemy
.....the frustration of dealing with a vindictive and perverted General Manager in Bischoff, who booked her into impossible match situations, whose behavior towards her bordered on sexual harassment, who constantly held her away from the Women's title picture just because he could...
***Step up to me, step up to me ***Step up to me, step up to me ***you wanna be a big time player its not to be
....the anguish of being separated from her best friend for so long, or from her other friends, Jeff Hardy, Torrie Wilson and others, either by separation of shows or by leaving the business altogether...the humiliation she was forced to pass at the hands of vindictave, canniving individuals like Bischoff, like Vince McMahon, like Victoria and Steven Richards, like Teddy Long and Jazz...
***look at your name, look at your face ***funny you're a loser with only yourself to blame
.....she could still see that creepy, sleazy smile on Bischoff's face when he pinned her to the mat in that 'One-Night-Stand' match he set up for her the night after Backlash, when he almost forced her to spend some 'quality time' with him in his hotel room...or the ultimate insult, when he told Trish point blank to her face after she asked for a title shot that nobody cared about women's wrestling....
***Catch ya f*cking hand now, standing on a stand now, ***Wanna be like me 'cause I'm real so you steal on your way to fame
Lita felt the blonde's grip shift and clench hard. She studied Trish's face and saw an expression of bubbling anger as the 4-time women's champ sat there, her eyes still shut. Lita shut her own eyes, feeling Trish's own anger and using it to kindle her own, added to her own thoughts...the broken neck...the painful rehabilitation process...Bischoff's humiliating public firing of her in April...the long, hard months of uncertainty...
***Never gonna be never gonna see ***Your name on the lights you can always dream what your gonna be ***Clean up my sh*t...sucker (unemployment)
.....the rage and fustration of watching her best friend Trish getting her ass kicked week after week by whatever reigning Bitch-of-the-Week stepped in, and not being able to lift a damned finger to stop it...
***So when you fall to the ground and finally get back to reality, ***Looking around, ***So tell me how does it feel to be the enemy
***So when you fall to the ground and finally get back to reality, ***Looking around, ***So tell me how does it feel to be the enemy
...losing her friend Jeff Hardy to life's twists and turns and the horrible breakup with her jerk boyfriend Matt Hardy while still in rehab...the rumors that she was finished with wrestling...the idea that she would never again see the Women's title...
***(Step) ***Step up to me ***Step up to me ***(Step)
The music pumped in both of their ears, the lyrics and beat of the song fueling their rage. With every note, every chord, every word sung, their raw, undiluted anger intensified within them into a pure rage.
***So when you fall to the ground and finally get back to reality, ***Looking around, ***So tell me how does it feel to be the enemy
"Can you feel it?", Lita asked, her eyes still shut. "Feel how your rage, your hurt, your anger is starting to grow, to breathe?..."
Trish shuddered as the powerful wave of emotion grew and expanded withing her. She could feel it. Solidifying, molding, shaping, until it wasn't simply an intangible, but real and raw and corporeal inside of her; as if another living being had taken form in her own body.
***So when you fall to the ground and finally get back to reality, ***Looking around, ***So tell me how does it feel to be the enemy
"Oh, God", she breathed, small beads of perspiration starting to form on her forehead, the intensity of each passing moment almost too much to bear.
"Don't fight it, Trish", Lita gently said. "Embrace it. That bond is the source of both your finest and worst moments...you've always felt it, even when you didn't know what it was...it's in you...lying in wait for you all this time, until you could finally reach out and grab it."
***(Your the enemy) ***Step up to me (What)
Trish's breathing intensified as she felt her own strain to keep control on herself. She had never experienced anything as intense on a spiritual level or emotional level as this. It felt as if she were trying to put out a fire with her own hands; like their was a reactor core in her heart that was about to explode and destroy her from within at any given moment...
"Grab it, Trish", Lita said, her voice remaining calm and soothing, despite the beads of perspiration forming on her own forehead. "Don't be afraid of it...this is your power...it belongs to you...and you to it...grab it..."
Trish felt herself on some level moving closer to this power within her, felt herself come even closer to it, feeling the heat, the searing intensity off her own rage, closer until she thought her insides would melt, until her hands would become but putty under the heat...
***Step up to me(what)
"Grab it", Lita said again.
Trish felt herself extend towards it, gravitating towards this irresistable bond of power, of rage and anger...
"Grab it."
Until at last, she reached out and seized that power by the throat, ignoring the blinding pain, ignoring every nerve ending in her body screaming at her to release it. For the first few moments, she winced in pain, gasping as she felt herself connecting with this strange force, this power that had lay dormant inside her for so long...
***Step up to me step up to me ***You wanna be a big time player its not to be!
And then...nothing.
It was as if everything had suddenly cut to black, the fire beneath her hands, the burning pain, everything...gone.
"Open your eyes, Trish", Lita's voice softly instructed.
When the blonde's hazel eyes fluttered open, Lita's eyes were staring right back into them. Lita noted the difference in the gaze in her best friend's eyes. Almost a dangerous glow emitted from them, an aura of bottled rage, like a time bomb. just waiting to explode, and yet, a calmness and levity about them. Almost like a guise to hide what truly lay beneath.
It was the same gaze Lita always got after her meditation sessions.
"You okay?", she asked, her voice calm but with a note of concern.
Trish nodded, almost stoically, a very un-Trish-like response.
"What you're feeling right now", Lita explained, "it's normal. Your first time's always the most intense. It'll get easier with practice. Within time, you'll be able to harness all that energy without any sideeffects, no pain, no change of self."
"I feel...I feel different", Trish said, looking down at her hands. "Stronger, I dunno."
"It's the inner power", Lita said, smiling slightly. "It's all the raw anger, the pain, the hurt, the hatred, the love, everything you ever felt that drove you nuts...solidified into one. By embracing it, you accepted it as part of who you are, Trish. That strength you're feeling....it was always there. It just needed to be woken up."
A knock on their door was followed by a muffled voice saying, "3 minutes, Ladies. You're up next."
Trish and Lita exchanged glances with each other.
"You sure you're up for this?", Lita asked.
Trish smirked. "Shouldn't I be asking YOU that same question?"
"Shouldn't you know what my response would be?", Lita smirked back.
The women both nodded and flashed dangerously sparkling smiles.
"Hells yeah", they both said simultaneously, before they stood up and walked out of the dressing room, primed, pumped, and ready to take out some ruthless agression on Molly Holly and Gail Kim.
------------------------
WWE Unforgiven : Lita & Trish Stratus vs. Molly Holly and Gail Kim
Trish stood outside the ring, poised and ready for action. Her theme music was blaring all over the Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvannia, the site of Unforgiven, darkened except for a few pink lights strobing around as part of her light show entrance. She saw Gail Kim and Molly Holly standing pat in the ring with smug looks on their faces, no doubt licking their chops to get ahold of her again.
'Good, let them', Trish thought to herself, smiling back dangerously. 'Boy, are they in for a nasty little surprise...once my girl gets here. '
Then, Lita's theme music hit, at which the fans went nuts over. The lights dimmed and purple and blue strobe lights started flashing furiously. And finally, the woman of the hour came out, rocking out on her own theme music. The instant Lita came through the curtain, the crowd stood on its feet in a thunderous standing ovation.
"This is special, folks", JR announced from the broadcast position. "And here comes a very special young woman! After months of rehabilitaion, the surgery, the broken vertebrae in her neck, being fired by Bischoff last April, we are witnessing the return of the X-treme Diva, one of the most popular Superstars in the history of this business! We are witnessing the return...of Lita!"
"She's back, JR!", King enthusiastically said. "And so are her puppies!"
Trish smiled to herself as she noted the faces of Gail and Molly, upon laying eyes on Lita walking down the rampway, fall from ones of smug confidence to ones of uncertainty and...was that fear in their eyes? Well, why not? Hell, she wouldn't want to face Lita AND herself at the same time if she were them.
Lita fed off the electricity of the crowd, sucking in every moment, burning it into her memory. It had been a long time since she had been able to walk down this aisle to do what she loved to do, and now, after all the drama, after all the pain and disappointment, 17 long months out of her life, she was finally walking down to the ring once again. It was one of those surreal moments that one wishes they could live again and again, without pause, forever.
Her eyes connected with Trish's, a silent understanding between the two passing in that gaze.
"Ready?", Trish smiled at her, burning with anticipation of entering that ring.
"Ryde or die", Lita winked back, holding out her handsymbol towards Trish.
"BadGirls 4 life", Trish said, pounding Lita's fist in that same handsymbol, their secret handshake.
And with that, the two most dominant Divas in the history of the WWE slid into the ring in a heartbeat. The roar of the crowd upon seeing them pose atop the turnbuckles officially confirmed what they already knew: the BadGirls were back.
Of course, Gail and Molly tried to get the upperhand with a sneak attack on them in the early going of the match. But Lita's strength and Trish's quickness overturned that strategy quickly, and soon, both Gail and Molly found themselves being whipped into the turnbuckle and being the double victim of a Poetry-In-Motion clothesline, vintage Team X-treme.
Gail and Molly tried to regroup on the outside, to collect their thoughts. Lita and Trish exchanged knowing glances between them, and simultaneously hit a pair of baseball slides onto the pair of vindictive Divas, knocking them down face first on the outside.
Trish smiled as she saw Lita's eyes glowing with joy. She could tell that her best friend was truly enjoying this. And she was very glad that she was. After all she had to go through just to get back in the ring, she deserved to be back, and to be having fun while at it made her comeback even better.
Molly Holly hopped into the ring, incensed and embarrased at Lita and Trish's clever move. 'This red-headed bitch is ruining EVERYTHING!', she thought, angrily. After screaming at Lita, who cockily dared her to come closer, the Women's champion shoved Lita with as much strength as she could muster.
Lita barely moved two feet, however, the result of those intense body workout over the last few months, and was smiling mishievously.
"Ooo-Kay! You want some, Molly? Come on, let's go!", the redheaded beauty smirked as she closed the gap between her and Molly quickly. But Molly, upon seeing the dangerous look in Lita's eyes, panicked and tagged in a stunned (and apprehensive) Gail to take the beating for her. Lita stared at Molly, and back to Trish, incredulously, as if to say with her eyes, 'Did she just punk out on me?' Trish shrugged and rolled her eyes in response, as if to answer back, 'Did you expect anything less from Molly Holly?' Shrugging, Lita turned her attention to Gail, motioning with her hand for the rookie Diva to take her best shot.
Gail was overmatched and undersized against Lita, who easily tossed the smaller girl around like a salad. After hitting a suplex, Lita nimbly used a hand-spring, a-la The Rock, to get back to her feet, drawing 'OOH!'s and 'AAH!'s from the crowd. She saw Trish practically begging her to tag in, her eyes burning with excitement. Smiling, Lita quickly made the tag and the 4-time Women's champion was all over Gail Kim, hitting her with everything from chops to punches to a nasty Chick Kick right to the face. But Molly broke up the cuont with a well placed elbow to Trish's head.
Then, the double-team strategy started. Gail would lure Trish into a corner, where Molly would be lying in wait, then the twisted pair would start double-teaming the blonde bombshell. Lita made the stupid mistake of trying to help, which would only distract the referee into loking the other way while Gail and Molly continued to work over Trish.
Trish winced in pain as she slowly made her way to the ropes. She knew that that bitch Molly had come up with the idea of working over her neck and back. It was a well-laid plan. She had to make a tag to Lita before her back gave out, and she knew it. But Gail and Molly continously dragged her back to the center of the ring for more punishment.
At last, Trish finally fought out of a Gail Kim missed dropkick and managed to crawl her way over to Lita, extending her hand desperately. When the tag was made, Lita jumped in, letting loose with every thing she had. Her inner power was fully unleashed as she took down both Molly and Gail with a pair of crunching clotheslines. She took down Gail with an incredible Bicycle Kick maneuver she had perfected when she was training, then she tackled Molly with a Monkey Flip-turned-Knuckle press, wailing on the woman who had orchestrated the attacks on her best friend for weeks with unbridled aggression.
Sensing Gail's presense nearby, Lita whipped around and clotheslined Gail again, before picking her up and setting up the rookie for her newest move, the Litabomb. One hard powerbomb later, Gail was out cold on the mat. Lita smiled to herself as she stood tall over her opponent, admiring the effectiveness of her new move, which she had spent much time fine-tuning.
However, that was her mistake, as Molly came from behind with a clubbing blow to her neck. Lita instantly crumbled to her knees, wincing in pain as she let out a loud groan from the impact. Her neck started flaring with unreal pain and she felt her focus start to blur. Trish gasped as she saw her friend go down quickly, fearing the worst had happened: that Molly's blow had reaggravated Lita's neck injury.
"LI!", she called out. "Are you okay?!"
Sensing the opportunity, Molly smiled evilly as she climbed the top rope, looking to finish off the meddling redhead once and for all with a Molly-Go- Round, as Lita still was down on her knees, clutching her neck.
Trish watched this from her corner, and felt her fear for her friend's safety melt away into black anger. Molly did that on purpose. She knew she did. She wasn't just trying to beat Lita...she was trying to end her career!
Just like she almost did to Trish.
'Nobody....messes....with MY....BEST....FRIEND!', the thought exploded in her brain.
Trish felt her own inner power, her seething, burning hatred for Molly Holly explode inside her as she leapt over the ropes in blinding speed, making a beeline for Molly, who never saw the blonde coming. Molly gasped in surprise as she felt Trish's powerful legs clamp onto her head, as the 4- time Women's Champion used every ounce of power she had to send the reigning Women's champion head-over-heels with a loud BOOM! onto the mat, a victim of the Stratus-fear, the upside-down turnbuckle hurricanrana Trish had successfully used in the past.
By then, Lita had successfully made it to her feet. Seeing Molly writhing in pain on the ground, she looked up at Trish with a stunned expression on her face.
"What? Couldn't let you have ALL the fun, Li", Trish shrugged impishly.
Lita smiled. "Thanks, QueenBee. Good looking out."
Without another word, Lita grabbed a dazed and groggy Molly Holly, who had stumbled onto her feet, from behind and hit her with a reverse Twist of Fate, immobilizing the canniving Women's Champion.
Trish kicked Gail's prone body out of the ring as added insurance, and stood guard over Molly's body, in case she tried to move.
"You know what's coming now, don't you?", Lita asked Trish, who nodded.
"Go on, get up there...bring it home for us, Li", she smiled.
Lita smiled back as she ascended the top turnbuckle, to the delight of the crowd, who knew exactly what was coming next.
"Oh, baby! How long has it been since we've seen this from Lita, JR?", King yelped with excitement.
"Oh, my God! Is she gonna--Lita is fearless!", JR yelled incredulously.
'Come on, Lita, you've done this before, like, a thousand times', Lita thought to herself as she readied her body for flight, her stomach twisting in knots and her neck aching with pain. 'Just like ridin' a bike, right? Just like ridin' a bike--'
And then, her body flew effortlessly through the air, connecting hard on Molly with a WHAM!
"Lita with a Lita-sault! The cover--1,2,3, that's all! Lita has just pinned the Women's Champion!", JR yelled from his announcer spot.
Lita barely registered the ring of the bell and her own theme music above the roar of the crowd, as Trish picked up her friend gently, but with such enthusiasm.
"YOU DID IT!", she squealed in delight.
"No...WE did it, QueenBee", Lita shook her head and smiled.
"The winners of this bout....the team of Trish Stratus and LITA!", Lilian Garcia announced to the roaring approval of over 16,000 screaming fans.
"It's official...Welcome back, Li!", Trish beamed as she pulled her best friend into a tight hug. Lita hugged back almost as tightly, before wincing.
"Trish...Trish, ease up a little, before you crush my ribs", Lita laughed.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Li! Are you okay?", Trish asked, concern filing her eyes.
"Fine, I'm fine, QueenBee", Lita shrugged it off. "My mouth is all busted up and my neck hurts like a bitch, but...it was worth it", Lita trailed off as she raised hers and Trish's hands up in victory to a cheering crowd.
"Come on, let's get out of here", Trish said, looking back at the unconscious bodies of Molly Holly and Gail Kim. "Let the janitors worry about picking up the trash around here", she spat.
Lita arched her eyebrows, laughing. "Me-oww! When did YOU get such a sharp pair of claws?"
"Right about the time those bitches tried to end my career AND break my best friend's neck again", Trish said, scowling after them.
"They can't hurt you anymore", Lita reminded her as the duo walked down the rampway. "It's over, Queenie. WE won, THEY lost. Let it go."
"I'll never it go", Trish shook her head. "I hope we broke something of theirs, tonight."
Lita laughed it off. "Come on, tigress. Let's go grab a bite."
"What a combination these two make!", JR gushed. "Can you imagine the impact these two are going to make, how the women's division is going to shake up with these two lovely ladies side-by side? Two of the most popular women's champions in WWE history together?"
"The Diva of X-treme and a 100% Stratusfaction-guaranteed, 4 time Women's Champion? Together?? Just imagine the possibilites, JR!", King was practically drooling.
"I don't know what possibilities YOU'RE imagining, King", JR shook his head, smiling. "But the fact of the matter is this: Lita is back! She is back! And she's better than ever! And she has Trish Stratus walking side-by- side with her! Molly Holly's days as Women's Champion, Molly and Gail's days of being at the top, are perhaps about to come to a crashing, abrupt end! And neither Molly, Gail and perhaps even Eric Bischoff are going to be happy about that!"
The camera closed in on Molly's face, still unconscious in the center of the ring, and on Gail Kim's limp form outside the ring.
"You said it, JR!", King said. "Molly, you might want to consider sleeping with that belt from now on, because your days as Women's Champion are numbered, and it's only a matter of time before one of these two LOVELY ladies takes that title away from you! Lita's BACK! Woo-hoo!!"
The two best friends posed at the entrance way one more time, to the roar of the fans chanting "Lita! Lita!" and "Let's Go Trish!" at the same time.
"Welcome home, Li", she whispered to the redhead, smiling.
Lita felt the emotion of the moment overtake her as her eyes glistened.
"It's good to BE home", she grinned, before acknowledging the crowd one more time and leaving to the back, her best friend by her side.
Indeed, the BadGirls were back...and neither Molly Holly nor Eric Bischoff were going to be pleased.
To Be Continued....