A/N: For the sake of creative license, I have decided to slightly alter the
results of WWE Unforgiven's matches and the following RAW's afterwards. I
think that so far, I've been true to the product as far as I've needed to
be to establish the base for this tale.
Just so ya know! :)
A/N 2: How HOT is Lita knowadays, huh? :) New look, new moves, same bad-ass chick! Check out her autobiography on sale this week!
(BTW, is it just me, or do Coach and Al SNow's announcing make anyone else want to take their finger, drill it through their ears, and swirl it around in their eardrums? God, RAW needs to get JR and King back as soon as possible!)
Chapter 3 - Eyes of Madness
Eric Bischoff sat there in the cushy leather seat of his skybox office and simmered silently as he watched the conclusion of the women's tag team match, clenching his fists and scowling.
Once again, Lita and Trish had defied his edict, once AGAIN the pair of bombshell brawlers had defied all expectations, and once AGAIN, the two had put an exclamation point into what was already turning out to be a horrible night for him. JR and King had pulled out a victory over Coach and Al Snow, despite interference from Chris Jericho, when Rob Van Dam came down, nailed Y2J with a Van Daminator and distracted Coach long enough for JR to roll up the obnoxious puppet-announcer with a School Boy for the win to keep King and JR's jobs on RAW secure. Later, Goldberg would beat his chosen champion, Triple H, for the World HeavyWeight Title and the Dudley Boyz had won their tag team titles back from Le Resistance after another edict from Stone Cold made the handicap tag team table match for the belts.
'DAMN that Austin!', thought Bischoff, as he slammed his glass of expensive Merlot wine onto the table. 'Smart-mouthed, redneck, Texan Rattlesnake son- of-a-bitch! He's screwed me again!'
He KNEW that Austin was probably laughing his ass off at the thought of the look on Bischoff's face now. But especially because of the women's tag team match. Because of the fact that Lita and Trish Stratus, two woman he made no secret about lusting after, one who he fired personally after defying him and spurning his advances and another who rejected him, CHICK-KICKED him in the face and was trying to ALSO end the career of for her actions...had yet AGAIN beaten his girls, Molly Holly and Gail Kim.
And now, he was stuck in a bind. Lita. Lita. LitaLitaLitaLita DAMN her! He had read every single line, inch and detail of that contract, hoping for a subclause, an article, a section, ANYTHING that could give him leverage. He had his lawyers work 'round-the-clock for a loophole that would allow him to rid himself of the fiery diva once-and-for-all. But it turned out that Austin was right. THe contract WAS iron-clad. He couldn't fire Lita, he couldn't suspend her, and if she performed well enough, she would legally be entitled to a women's title shot...and the way that Lita was performing, that was inevitably going to come sooner, rather that later. In addition, the contract she was signed to was quite lengthy and very lucrative, already in the $2 million dollar range, astronomical for a Superstar, led alone for a DIVA, in addition to the promise of high-profile endorsements, hefty bonuses for every title match she won, and a good cut on whatever Lita-related merchandise was sold...and given Lita's popularity, and her new autobiography due out, that was a LOT of money out of Bischoff's pocket.
Both Lita and Trish were now Numbers 1 and 1a, respectively, as far as salary was concerned, among the WWE divas, and were both part of the RAW brand. That meant that Bischoff would have to foot the bill for both of them. Granted, both were bona-fide money makers, but that didn't mean much to Bischoff. He'd have rather them kowtow to his presence, like Gail Kim and Molly Holly, and do his bidding (among other things) than to bring in the money. Instead, both of them had individually defied him and embarrased him. He couldn't get rid of Lita, and now that meant Trish was untouchable as well, because he knew damn well from what he had seen, that together, the two were practically unstoppable. Within the span of a few minutes, they had decimated the Women's champion AND Bischoff's personal favorite Diva like a pair of amateurs from backyard wrestling. He shuddered at the thought of either Trish or Lita, but ESPECIALLY Lita, holding that Women's title belt again. Even though he knew DAMN well that Molly Holly had all the marketability of day-old liverwurst, seeing Trish or Lita as the champion would have meant that once again, the two strong-minded Divas would have shoved his edict, his predictions, his order and his authority right back up his ass, humiliating him once again.
And if there was one thing the sinister, black-hearted co-GM hated more than anything, it was to be humiliated. ESPECIALLY by women.
'Alright, Lita and Trish', he snarled to himself. 'Bask in the moment. Live it. Breathe it. Experience it. Revel in your glorious little victory, my lovelies...because it'll be the LAST time you get to celebrate like that on MY show! And when I'm done with you both, ESPECIALLY you, Lita, you'll be BEGGING me on your knees to end your miserable careers, and only THEN, I'll crush you both in the palms of my OWN hands!'
------------------------------------
Gail Kim sat there in the locker room, wincing as she placed an ice-pack onto her head. The effects of that Litabomb were not something to take lightly.
Molly sat opposite her, clutching her neck painfully. Between the Stratus- fear hurricanrana and the Twist of Fate, her neck and head were on fire from pain.
"DAMN that Lita!", she cursed as she winced painfully clutching her ribs. "Ever since she came back, she's been a pain in my ass!"
'That's a pretty big pain', Gail thought to herself.
"And that little slut Trish Stratus...everything was perfect, I could've finished off that redheaded bitch right there, until Trish stuck her pretty little nose in my business again...ooooh, I hate her. I hate Lita. I hate them both!", she snarled as she grabbed a nearby towel and threw it on the floor.
"Let's just give it up", Gail said, easing back into the icepack. "Maybe we could've taken out Trish before when she had crappy partners, but now with Lita there? She's too good, Molly. And with Trish as a partner, we practically couldn't touch them. And to be honest, I'm not looking forward to getting another Litabomb anytime soon. Two is enough for me. Let's just count our losses and let it go, huh?
Molly looked up at the young Diva with an incredulous look. "LET...it...GO?! And how soon do you think it'll be before Lita and Trish start to challenge for the women's title, Gail? HUH?! They're just maybe a RAW or two away from doing that!"
"Then just go to Bischoff, he'll give you some cover", Gail suggested, non- chalantly.
"Not for long! With Stone Cold Steve Austin and him at odds, Austin would just give a title match to either one of them just to spite Bischoff", Molly fumed. "We have to take them out, and we have to take them out NOW, before they get a shot at MY title!"
Gail looked at her like she had grown two extra heads. "Are you insane?! Maybe you don't remember 'cause you got hit pretty hard, but Lita and Trish just finished handing us our asses out there! I'm not going up against those two again, no way!"
"You're my partner, Gail!", Molly said, anger rising in her voice. "If I'm in trouble, then it's your job to help me out!Do you have ANY idea how far the women's division will fall if either one of those little skanks wins MY title?"
"Sorry, Molly, but, frankly, this isn't my problem", Gail said as she reached for her duffel bag. "I'd love to help you out, really, but if your'e going up against them again and dragging me to take another ass- kicking, then you're on your own this time--"
Her sentence was caught in her throat as Molly leapt across the room in an instant and seized the rookie by the her neck. Molly held the younger Diva's neck in an iron-like death grip, causing Gail to drop her bag and be pinned against the wall, gasping for air.
"On my own, huh?!", Molly growled, a frightening sound emitting from her throat. "Listen up, Kim, and listen good. If I succeed, you succeed. If I go down, I take your pretty little ass WITH me! We're partners, Gail, understand?! That means wherever I go, YOU go! If you walk out on me, I swear that my face will be the LAST thing you EVER see! GOT IT?!"
Gail whimpered and gurgled as Molly's hand squeezed tighter around her throat. Gail looked up with wide eyes into Molly's, seeing all trace of reason, of rational, of sanity vanished. Only the desperate stare of a desperate, crazed woman remained. Gail coughed, panic setting in as everything started to fade black...until at last she uttered a strangled 'Y- yee-ees' from her throat.
" 'Yes' WHAT?!", Molly said,gripping even harder.
Gail gasped desperately for breath, before choking out, "I'll....h-help...y- youuu...pleeease...k-kiilling...m-me..."
Molly held her grip on her throat for a few more seconds, whether to emphasize her point or simply out of sick, deranged pleasure was uncertain, before at last releasing the hold, letting the younger girl slump to the floor, gasping loudly and coughing, her face flushed red and her eyes shut in pain.
Molly knelt down to her partner, suddenly running a hand through Gail's long hair, stroking it gently, a stark contrast to the treatment she dispensed only moments before.
"Oh, Gail", she cooed softly . "I'm so sorry...but you know you shouldn't make me mad like that...bad things happen when you get me mad."
She leaned towards Gail's head, closer to her ear, Molly's lips just barely touching, her breath teasing the upper lobe on Gail's ear. "You'll see...soon, we'll have both Trish AND Lita out of our lives and out of the WWE forever...and we can reshape the women's division as we see fit. There'll be no one to stop us...no one to stop me...but it only works if we're both in...or it doesn't work...You're my secret weapon, Gail..you're the one who's going to help me take out both Trish and Lita once...and for all...."
She planted a kiss above Gail's forehead, making the young Toronto native's eyes fly open in surprise.
"Tomorrow night, Gail...tomorrow night we destroy the X-treme Diva and Miss 'Stratus-faction Guaranteed' once...and for all", Molly chuckled gleefully as she suddenly and abruptly stood up and walked put the door, taking her women's title with her.
Gail stared after her with wide eyes, shaking her head in disbelief. "My God...she's lost her f*cking mind", she whispered in horror.
------------------------------------ POP!
The cork on the champaigne bottle whizzed through the air as Austin let out a celebratory 'whoop!' to punctuate it .
"Now, normally, I'm a beer guy, as y'all would know by now", he explained as he poured the champaigne into glasses for everyone. "But, seeing how this is a momentous occasion, and seeing how I DID find this in Eric's office just lyin' around, I figured, 'Oh, what the hell, Stone Cold? Let the champaigne flow!'"
Lita and Trish applauded and howled as the glasses went around. It seemed that after the show, Lita had more than a few well-wishers coming back to Trish's locker room and greet her. Austin had arranged a little surprise gathering of people at the end of the show. JR, Jerry "the King" Lawler, Terri, Rob Van Dam, the three Dudleyz, Lilian Garcia, Jacqueline and even Goldberg had come to this welcome-back party. It was quite shocking and flattering for Lita to see all these people here to celebrate her in-ring return.
"Lita, I have to tell you, that of all my years in this business, I have never met a woman quite like you before", JR said to the redhead. "After watching you come back from the surgery, the long months of rehab, Bischoff's power trip, you STILL managed to come back...I'm proud of you, Lita. REAL proud. We all are."
"Thanks, Jim", Lita said as she gave him a friendly hug. "That means a lot to me, believe me."
"You done good, Lita. Real good", Jacqueline nodded.
"You showed some guts out there, girl", Rob Van Dam smiled. "Quality stuff."
"Thank you", Lita acknowledged them.
"Here's to Bischoff getting another ulcer, thanks to the two hottest Divas in the WWE today!", BuhBuh Ray Dudley raised his glass high to a loud cheer.
"Testify!", D'von whooped.
"Whoa,whoa,whoa,whoa, hold on a second", Stone Cold said over the top of all those voices. "Seein' as I AM the co-GM of RAW, seein' as how I AM the one who signed Lita back to RAW, and seein' as how both Trish and Lita done whooped Gail and Molly's asses tonight, therefore AGAIN stickin' it to my colleague, Eric Bischoff...I've got four words for ya both..", he said as he looked to Lita and Trish.
Everyone waited in anticipation.
Stone Cold smiled. "I'll Drink To That!" He clanged his glass with both Lita and Trish's glasses.
"YEAH!!", everyone roared in excitement, raising their glasses in a toast to both Trish and Lita.
Trish turned to the gushing redhead. "Feeling good, aren't ya, Li?", she smiled.
"Feeling good would be taking it down a notch", Lita laughed. "I just have to say this to all of you", Lita said directing her address to the whole party. "Thank you. Thank you all for coming here, some of you probably missing out flights for this--"
"Yeah, could you speed it up, Lita, the meter's running on my ride", Terri joked, drawing laughter from the group.
"Anyhoo", Lita laughed back, "Thank you. This means a lot to me, after everything I've gone through to get back here...just to see all of you here right now, happy to see me back, it-it means so much...and I'm grateful, I really am. But there's one person in this room right now, whom I have to thank most of all for everything. She was the first one who called me after my surgery, she was one of the few people I've kept in constant touch with while in rehab, and even after I was fired the first time...and she saved my ass out there tonight, when Molly had it out for me...she's probably one of the best friends I've ever had...so Trish", she said, turning to her best friend with tears in her eyes. "...Thank you so much, QueenBee."
Trish felt tears spring to her own eyes as she pulled Lita into a touching embrace, to the applause of the entire party. "Anytime, Li", she whispered in Lita's ear. "Anytime."
"So, what's next for you guys?", Goldberg asked, his newly-won World Heavyweight Title worn proudly above his shoulder. "Thinking about getting into the hunt for championship gold?"
"We'll see", Lita said, wiping away a stray tear. "Though knowing Molly, she'll be ducking me and Trish, hiding behind Bischoff until she thinks we'll go away."
"Word of advise: Keep hunting her down", Goldberg advised both ladies. "I've tracked Triple H for months, and he ducked behind Bischoff, too...but I stayed on him, I never let him get a moment's rest, and now look what I've got for my efforts", he said, looking down proudly at the giant gold belt on his shoulder.
"Thanks for the advise, Bill", Trish smiled. "We'll keep that in mind."
"Besides", Stone Cold clearred his throat. "Don't forget, Bischoff's not the only GM around here. I'm more than willing to grant either of ya a title shot. Hell, I'll book a Triple Threat or a Fatal Four Way for the Women's title with y'all in in tomorrow night, if ya want."
"Hmmm, thanks but no thanks, Steve", Lita shook her head. "I think I need a few more tune-up matches, just to really shake out the rust, before I get in the hunt for the title again. Besides, I want to earn my shot at it."
"And I think I'll just stick to teaming with Lita for now", Trish added. "I love teaming with her, we've got some catching up to do and besides, after all the time having a bulls-eye on my back, I just want to take a tiny bit of time off from that before I go out for my 5th world title."
"Alright,alright, I respect that", Austin nodded. "That's good thinkin' on both of your parts. Just remember, when either of you want that shot, just head on down to my office and we can work something out."
"Thanks, Steve", Lita smiled warmly at him again.
Austin looked at her wearily. "You're not gonna peck me on the cheek again, are ya? If I start blushin' in front of eerybody, someone's gonna have to get their ass whipped so I can regain my rep."
Lita laughed. "Don't worry. The last thing we need is a drunken Rattlesnake stunning everyone in sight."
"I ain't drunk", Austin said defensively. "I'm...pleasantly buzzed."
Trish and Lita looked at each other and smiled, exchanging an 'Ooo-kay!' glance between them.
"Sure", they both drawled, laughing.
The party noise died down suddenly and without warning when two uninvited guests had walked though the doorway.
Victoria stood at the entrance, a cold glare on her face. Everyone exchanged confused stares between themselves and the psychotic Diva. Dressed in her black spandex bodysuit with spider-web designs, she was, to no surprise, accompanied by her idiot boyfriend, Steven Richards, with his ridiculous pink tights on him, a goofy look on his face, as usual.
Stone Cold glanced at them warily, and then exchanged a look of concern with Trish and Lita.
Trish's eyes widened for a moment, a slight look of apprehension on her face, before she turned serious. It did not escape Lita's notice. She knew all about Victoria and Trish's feud. She sat at home for months watching Trish's war with the beautiful, yet delusional Diva, which was one of the hardest to sit through. She winced to herself as she remembered the chair shot Trish took over the head from Victoria, and the brutal hardcore match at Survivor Series, and the trash can shots and broom stick attacks and chokeholds Trish suffered through in the Chicago Street Fight earlier in the year on RAW. Lita took a step closer to her friend, a protective gesture as Victoria made her way towards the pair.
Sucking in a loud, audible breath, the raven-haired Victoria leaned right into Trish's face, a look of malice, hatred and contempt marred on her otherwise attractive features. It was a look of absolute hatred. Trish stared back, eyes narrowed, defiantly staring back into the demonic eyes of one of her deadliest adversaries.
Then, abruptly, after a few moments, Victoria turned her neck so fast towards Lita's direction, it would have made the onlooking observer have whiplash. For a moment, Lita was surprised, caught offguard by the movement. Victoria took two slow, deliberate steps until she was face to face with the X-treme Diva. Lita's brown eyes locked with Victoria's black ones, an intense stare radiating from the psycho. Victoria's left eye slightly twitched, her stare towards Lita cold and hard like ice. Lita's eyes narrowed, and she stared back at Victoria with a fire in her eyes. She never met the Diva personally, but judging from the way she so violently attacked her best friend for months, Lita knew everything she ever needed to know about this nut-job. The gleam in Lita's eyes, a silent, yet feral spark, almost dared Victoria to make a move.
The entire party held their breath...until Victoria gave a small, twisted smirk to Lita, then strangely backed away, retreating back towards Steven, only two feet from her.
BuhBuh Ray and D'von suddenly stepped in front of the twisted pair, their faces stony and business-like. "Excuse me", BuhBuh Ray said in a quiet, but hard voice. "But can we see your invitation?" "Last I checked, this was a private party", D'von added gruffly.
Steven and Victoria both flashed their sickly smiles before walking backwards out the door, Victoria's eyes locked on both Lita and Trish...but staring hard into Lita's eyes. The look in Victoria's eyes sent a chill up Lita's spine. God, no wonder Trish was so wigged by that woman...Victoria wasn't just acting like she was crazy: she really WAS stone-cold crazy!
After they were gone, Lita turned to Trish, still transfixed on the door.
"You okay, Queenie?", she asked, concern in her eyes.
Trish snapped out of her haze and looked at her best friend. "Huh?...Oh. Oh, yeah, fine, Li...just surprised, is all."
Austin turned to both Lita and Trish and asked the one question on everyone's mind:
"Now WHAT in the blue hell was THAT all about?"
TO BE CONTINUED.... ---------------------------------------------------
Just so ya know! :)
A/N 2: How HOT is Lita knowadays, huh? :) New look, new moves, same bad-ass chick! Check out her autobiography on sale this week!
(BTW, is it just me, or do Coach and Al SNow's announcing make anyone else want to take their finger, drill it through their ears, and swirl it around in their eardrums? God, RAW needs to get JR and King back as soon as possible!)
Chapter 3 - Eyes of Madness
Eric Bischoff sat there in the cushy leather seat of his skybox office and simmered silently as he watched the conclusion of the women's tag team match, clenching his fists and scowling.
Once again, Lita and Trish had defied his edict, once AGAIN the pair of bombshell brawlers had defied all expectations, and once AGAIN, the two had put an exclamation point into what was already turning out to be a horrible night for him. JR and King had pulled out a victory over Coach and Al Snow, despite interference from Chris Jericho, when Rob Van Dam came down, nailed Y2J with a Van Daminator and distracted Coach long enough for JR to roll up the obnoxious puppet-announcer with a School Boy for the win to keep King and JR's jobs on RAW secure. Later, Goldberg would beat his chosen champion, Triple H, for the World HeavyWeight Title and the Dudley Boyz had won their tag team titles back from Le Resistance after another edict from Stone Cold made the handicap tag team table match for the belts.
'DAMN that Austin!', thought Bischoff, as he slammed his glass of expensive Merlot wine onto the table. 'Smart-mouthed, redneck, Texan Rattlesnake son- of-a-bitch! He's screwed me again!'
He KNEW that Austin was probably laughing his ass off at the thought of the look on Bischoff's face now. But especially because of the women's tag team match. Because of the fact that Lita and Trish Stratus, two woman he made no secret about lusting after, one who he fired personally after defying him and spurning his advances and another who rejected him, CHICK-KICKED him in the face and was trying to ALSO end the career of for her actions...had yet AGAIN beaten his girls, Molly Holly and Gail Kim.
And now, he was stuck in a bind. Lita. Lita. LitaLitaLitaLita DAMN her! He had read every single line, inch and detail of that contract, hoping for a subclause, an article, a section, ANYTHING that could give him leverage. He had his lawyers work 'round-the-clock for a loophole that would allow him to rid himself of the fiery diva once-and-for-all. But it turned out that Austin was right. THe contract WAS iron-clad. He couldn't fire Lita, he couldn't suspend her, and if she performed well enough, she would legally be entitled to a women's title shot...and the way that Lita was performing, that was inevitably going to come sooner, rather that later. In addition, the contract she was signed to was quite lengthy and very lucrative, already in the $2 million dollar range, astronomical for a Superstar, led alone for a DIVA, in addition to the promise of high-profile endorsements, hefty bonuses for every title match she won, and a good cut on whatever Lita-related merchandise was sold...and given Lita's popularity, and her new autobiography due out, that was a LOT of money out of Bischoff's pocket.
Both Lita and Trish were now Numbers 1 and 1a, respectively, as far as salary was concerned, among the WWE divas, and were both part of the RAW brand. That meant that Bischoff would have to foot the bill for both of them. Granted, both were bona-fide money makers, but that didn't mean much to Bischoff. He'd have rather them kowtow to his presence, like Gail Kim and Molly Holly, and do his bidding (among other things) than to bring in the money. Instead, both of them had individually defied him and embarrased him. He couldn't get rid of Lita, and now that meant Trish was untouchable as well, because he knew damn well from what he had seen, that together, the two were practically unstoppable. Within the span of a few minutes, they had decimated the Women's champion AND Bischoff's personal favorite Diva like a pair of amateurs from backyard wrestling. He shuddered at the thought of either Trish or Lita, but ESPECIALLY Lita, holding that Women's title belt again. Even though he knew DAMN well that Molly Holly had all the marketability of day-old liverwurst, seeing Trish or Lita as the champion would have meant that once again, the two strong-minded Divas would have shoved his edict, his predictions, his order and his authority right back up his ass, humiliating him once again.
And if there was one thing the sinister, black-hearted co-GM hated more than anything, it was to be humiliated. ESPECIALLY by women.
'Alright, Lita and Trish', he snarled to himself. 'Bask in the moment. Live it. Breathe it. Experience it. Revel in your glorious little victory, my lovelies...because it'll be the LAST time you get to celebrate like that on MY show! And when I'm done with you both, ESPECIALLY you, Lita, you'll be BEGGING me on your knees to end your miserable careers, and only THEN, I'll crush you both in the palms of my OWN hands!'
------------------------------------
Gail Kim sat there in the locker room, wincing as she placed an ice-pack onto her head. The effects of that Litabomb were not something to take lightly.
Molly sat opposite her, clutching her neck painfully. Between the Stratus- fear hurricanrana and the Twist of Fate, her neck and head were on fire from pain.
"DAMN that Lita!", she cursed as she winced painfully clutching her ribs. "Ever since she came back, she's been a pain in my ass!"
'That's a pretty big pain', Gail thought to herself.
"And that little slut Trish Stratus...everything was perfect, I could've finished off that redheaded bitch right there, until Trish stuck her pretty little nose in my business again...ooooh, I hate her. I hate Lita. I hate them both!", she snarled as she grabbed a nearby towel and threw it on the floor.
"Let's just give it up", Gail said, easing back into the icepack. "Maybe we could've taken out Trish before when she had crappy partners, but now with Lita there? She's too good, Molly. And with Trish as a partner, we practically couldn't touch them. And to be honest, I'm not looking forward to getting another Litabomb anytime soon. Two is enough for me. Let's just count our losses and let it go, huh?
Molly looked up at the young Diva with an incredulous look. "LET...it...GO?! And how soon do you think it'll be before Lita and Trish start to challenge for the women's title, Gail? HUH?! They're just maybe a RAW or two away from doing that!"
"Then just go to Bischoff, he'll give you some cover", Gail suggested, non- chalantly.
"Not for long! With Stone Cold Steve Austin and him at odds, Austin would just give a title match to either one of them just to spite Bischoff", Molly fumed. "We have to take them out, and we have to take them out NOW, before they get a shot at MY title!"
Gail looked at her like she had grown two extra heads. "Are you insane?! Maybe you don't remember 'cause you got hit pretty hard, but Lita and Trish just finished handing us our asses out there! I'm not going up against those two again, no way!"
"You're my partner, Gail!", Molly said, anger rising in her voice. "If I'm in trouble, then it's your job to help me out!Do you have ANY idea how far the women's division will fall if either one of those little skanks wins MY title?"
"Sorry, Molly, but, frankly, this isn't my problem", Gail said as she reached for her duffel bag. "I'd love to help you out, really, but if your'e going up against them again and dragging me to take another ass- kicking, then you're on your own this time--"
Her sentence was caught in her throat as Molly leapt across the room in an instant and seized the rookie by the her neck. Molly held the younger Diva's neck in an iron-like death grip, causing Gail to drop her bag and be pinned against the wall, gasping for air.
"On my own, huh?!", Molly growled, a frightening sound emitting from her throat. "Listen up, Kim, and listen good. If I succeed, you succeed. If I go down, I take your pretty little ass WITH me! We're partners, Gail, understand?! That means wherever I go, YOU go! If you walk out on me, I swear that my face will be the LAST thing you EVER see! GOT IT?!"
Gail whimpered and gurgled as Molly's hand squeezed tighter around her throat. Gail looked up with wide eyes into Molly's, seeing all trace of reason, of rational, of sanity vanished. Only the desperate stare of a desperate, crazed woman remained. Gail coughed, panic setting in as everything started to fade black...until at last she uttered a strangled 'Y- yee-ees' from her throat.
" 'Yes' WHAT?!", Molly said,gripping even harder.
Gail gasped desperately for breath, before choking out, "I'll....h-help...y- youuu...pleeease...k-kiilling...m-me..."
Molly held her grip on her throat for a few more seconds, whether to emphasize her point or simply out of sick, deranged pleasure was uncertain, before at last releasing the hold, letting the younger girl slump to the floor, gasping loudly and coughing, her face flushed red and her eyes shut in pain.
Molly knelt down to her partner, suddenly running a hand through Gail's long hair, stroking it gently, a stark contrast to the treatment she dispensed only moments before.
"Oh, Gail", she cooed softly . "I'm so sorry...but you know you shouldn't make me mad like that...bad things happen when you get me mad."
She leaned towards Gail's head, closer to her ear, Molly's lips just barely touching, her breath teasing the upper lobe on Gail's ear. "You'll see...soon, we'll have both Trish AND Lita out of our lives and out of the WWE forever...and we can reshape the women's division as we see fit. There'll be no one to stop us...no one to stop me...but it only works if we're both in...or it doesn't work...You're my secret weapon, Gail..you're the one who's going to help me take out both Trish and Lita once...and for all...."
She planted a kiss above Gail's forehead, making the young Toronto native's eyes fly open in surprise.
"Tomorrow night, Gail...tomorrow night we destroy the X-treme Diva and Miss 'Stratus-faction Guaranteed' once...and for all", Molly chuckled gleefully as she suddenly and abruptly stood up and walked put the door, taking her women's title with her.
Gail stared after her with wide eyes, shaking her head in disbelief. "My God...she's lost her f*cking mind", she whispered in horror.
------------------------------------ POP!
The cork on the champaigne bottle whizzed through the air as Austin let out a celebratory 'whoop!' to punctuate it .
"Now, normally, I'm a beer guy, as y'all would know by now", he explained as he poured the champaigne into glasses for everyone. "But, seeing how this is a momentous occasion, and seeing how I DID find this in Eric's office just lyin' around, I figured, 'Oh, what the hell, Stone Cold? Let the champaigne flow!'"
Lita and Trish applauded and howled as the glasses went around. It seemed that after the show, Lita had more than a few well-wishers coming back to Trish's locker room and greet her. Austin had arranged a little surprise gathering of people at the end of the show. JR, Jerry "the King" Lawler, Terri, Rob Van Dam, the three Dudleyz, Lilian Garcia, Jacqueline and even Goldberg had come to this welcome-back party. It was quite shocking and flattering for Lita to see all these people here to celebrate her in-ring return.
"Lita, I have to tell you, that of all my years in this business, I have never met a woman quite like you before", JR said to the redhead. "After watching you come back from the surgery, the long months of rehab, Bischoff's power trip, you STILL managed to come back...I'm proud of you, Lita. REAL proud. We all are."
"Thanks, Jim", Lita said as she gave him a friendly hug. "That means a lot to me, believe me."
"You done good, Lita. Real good", Jacqueline nodded.
"You showed some guts out there, girl", Rob Van Dam smiled. "Quality stuff."
"Thank you", Lita acknowledged them.
"Here's to Bischoff getting another ulcer, thanks to the two hottest Divas in the WWE today!", BuhBuh Ray Dudley raised his glass high to a loud cheer.
"Testify!", D'von whooped.
"Whoa,whoa,whoa,whoa, hold on a second", Stone Cold said over the top of all those voices. "Seein' as I AM the co-GM of RAW, seein' as how I AM the one who signed Lita back to RAW, and seein' as how both Trish and Lita done whooped Gail and Molly's asses tonight, therefore AGAIN stickin' it to my colleague, Eric Bischoff...I've got four words for ya both..", he said as he looked to Lita and Trish.
Everyone waited in anticipation.
Stone Cold smiled. "I'll Drink To That!" He clanged his glass with both Lita and Trish's glasses.
"YEAH!!", everyone roared in excitement, raising their glasses in a toast to both Trish and Lita.
Trish turned to the gushing redhead. "Feeling good, aren't ya, Li?", she smiled.
"Feeling good would be taking it down a notch", Lita laughed. "I just have to say this to all of you", Lita said directing her address to the whole party. "Thank you. Thank you all for coming here, some of you probably missing out flights for this--"
"Yeah, could you speed it up, Lita, the meter's running on my ride", Terri joked, drawing laughter from the group.
"Anyhoo", Lita laughed back, "Thank you. This means a lot to me, after everything I've gone through to get back here...just to see all of you here right now, happy to see me back, it-it means so much...and I'm grateful, I really am. But there's one person in this room right now, whom I have to thank most of all for everything. She was the first one who called me after my surgery, she was one of the few people I've kept in constant touch with while in rehab, and even after I was fired the first time...and she saved my ass out there tonight, when Molly had it out for me...she's probably one of the best friends I've ever had...so Trish", she said, turning to her best friend with tears in her eyes. "...Thank you so much, QueenBee."
Trish felt tears spring to her own eyes as she pulled Lita into a touching embrace, to the applause of the entire party. "Anytime, Li", she whispered in Lita's ear. "Anytime."
"So, what's next for you guys?", Goldberg asked, his newly-won World Heavyweight Title worn proudly above his shoulder. "Thinking about getting into the hunt for championship gold?"
"We'll see", Lita said, wiping away a stray tear. "Though knowing Molly, she'll be ducking me and Trish, hiding behind Bischoff until she thinks we'll go away."
"Word of advise: Keep hunting her down", Goldberg advised both ladies. "I've tracked Triple H for months, and he ducked behind Bischoff, too...but I stayed on him, I never let him get a moment's rest, and now look what I've got for my efforts", he said, looking down proudly at the giant gold belt on his shoulder.
"Thanks for the advise, Bill", Trish smiled. "We'll keep that in mind."
"Besides", Stone Cold clearred his throat. "Don't forget, Bischoff's not the only GM around here. I'm more than willing to grant either of ya a title shot. Hell, I'll book a Triple Threat or a Fatal Four Way for the Women's title with y'all in in tomorrow night, if ya want."
"Hmmm, thanks but no thanks, Steve", Lita shook her head. "I think I need a few more tune-up matches, just to really shake out the rust, before I get in the hunt for the title again. Besides, I want to earn my shot at it."
"And I think I'll just stick to teaming with Lita for now", Trish added. "I love teaming with her, we've got some catching up to do and besides, after all the time having a bulls-eye on my back, I just want to take a tiny bit of time off from that before I go out for my 5th world title."
"Alright,alright, I respect that", Austin nodded. "That's good thinkin' on both of your parts. Just remember, when either of you want that shot, just head on down to my office and we can work something out."
"Thanks, Steve", Lita smiled warmly at him again.
Austin looked at her wearily. "You're not gonna peck me on the cheek again, are ya? If I start blushin' in front of eerybody, someone's gonna have to get their ass whipped so I can regain my rep."
Lita laughed. "Don't worry. The last thing we need is a drunken Rattlesnake stunning everyone in sight."
"I ain't drunk", Austin said defensively. "I'm...pleasantly buzzed."
Trish and Lita looked at each other and smiled, exchanging an 'Ooo-kay!' glance between them.
"Sure", they both drawled, laughing.
The party noise died down suddenly and without warning when two uninvited guests had walked though the doorway.
Victoria stood at the entrance, a cold glare on her face. Everyone exchanged confused stares between themselves and the psychotic Diva. Dressed in her black spandex bodysuit with spider-web designs, she was, to no surprise, accompanied by her idiot boyfriend, Steven Richards, with his ridiculous pink tights on him, a goofy look on his face, as usual.
Stone Cold glanced at them warily, and then exchanged a look of concern with Trish and Lita.
Trish's eyes widened for a moment, a slight look of apprehension on her face, before she turned serious. It did not escape Lita's notice. She knew all about Victoria and Trish's feud. She sat at home for months watching Trish's war with the beautiful, yet delusional Diva, which was one of the hardest to sit through. She winced to herself as she remembered the chair shot Trish took over the head from Victoria, and the brutal hardcore match at Survivor Series, and the trash can shots and broom stick attacks and chokeholds Trish suffered through in the Chicago Street Fight earlier in the year on RAW. Lita took a step closer to her friend, a protective gesture as Victoria made her way towards the pair.
Sucking in a loud, audible breath, the raven-haired Victoria leaned right into Trish's face, a look of malice, hatred and contempt marred on her otherwise attractive features. It was a look of absolute hatred. Trish stared back, eyes narrowed, defiantly staring back into the demonic eyes of one of her deadliest adversaries.
Then, abruptly, after a few moments, Victoria turned her neck so fast towards Lita's direction, it would have made the onlooking observer have whiplash. For a moment, Lita was surprised, caught offguard by the movement. Victoria took two slow, deliberate steps until she was face to face with the X-treme Diva. Lita's brown eyes locked with Victoria's black ones, an intense stare radiating from the psycho. Victoria's left eye slightly twitched, her stare towards Lita cold and hard like ice. Lita's eyes narrowed, and she stared back at Victoria with a fire in her eyes. She never met the Diva personally, but judging from the way she so violently attacked her best friend for months, Lita knew everything she ever needed to know about this nut-job. The gleam in Lita's eyes, a silent, yet feral spark, almost dared Victoria to make a move.
The entire party held their breath...until Victoria gave a small, twisted smirk to Lita, then strangely backed away, retreating back towards Steven, only two feet from her.
BuhBuh Ray and D'von suddenly stepped in front of the twisted pair, their faces stony and business-like. "Excuse me", BuhBuh Ray said in a quiet, but hard voice. "But can we see your invitation?" "Last I checked, this was a private party", D'von added gruffly.
Steven and Victoria both flashed their sickly smiles before walking backwards out the door, Victoria's eyes locked on both Lita and Trish...but staring hard into Lita's eyes. The look in Victoria's eyes sent a chill up Lita's spine. God, no wonder Trish was so wigged by that woman...Victoria wasn't just acting like she was crazy: she really WAS stone-cold crazy!
After they were gone, Lita turned to Trish, still transfixed on the door.
"You okay, Queenie?", she asked, concern in her eyes.
Trish snapped out of her haze and looked at her best friend. "Huh?...Oh. Oh, yeah, fine, Li...just surprised, is all."
Austin turned to both Lita and Trish and asked the one question on everyone's mind:
"Now WHAT in the blue hell was THAT all about?"
TO BE CONTINUED.... ---------------------------------------------------