New Look
Chris waited till Ric left before telling Nancy and Perry what he planned. Ric had been adamant about not wanting to know anything. "I know what I'm going to do now."
"Are you going back to Ashley Glen." Nancy asked as she was throwing away the trash from the party.
"No way. But I am going to need a new look. They won't be expecting me to be hiding in plain sight."
"That's crazy. They'll see through any disguise especially Dean. Unless you are moving to Europe or something."
"No here's fine but I'll need hair dye, glasses with clear lenses, change in hairstyle, pierced ear..."
"Pierced ear?" Eddy asked coming into the room. "That'll confuse them if anything does."
"Chris with that look just where are you going?" Nancy asked. Chris didn't say anything. "Chris where?"
Realization seemed to dawn on Perry. "Chris you wouldn't. Please say Jacksonville isn't your destination."
"Chris I can get you to Smackdown just stay away from RAW!" Eddy begged. "You don't want to be anywhere near there."
"Look it's just something I need to do. I can't stay hiding forever. They are eventually going to find me. Can we do this look or not?"
***
Monday night
Eddy and Perry had warned him that they checked the fans before they entered the arena. There had been several Smackdown wrestlers that had tried to come help and had been spotted. Eddy said he had been one of the ones who had tried. He said a silent prayer that the disguise was good enough.
He looked again in the rearview mirror at his hair. It had been spiked and bleached blond. His glasses, with plastic lenses, weren't too bad looking. He still had to get used to the hoop in his ear though. It still amazed him that only 48 hours ago he thought he was 65 and now he looked like he was in his late 20s.
Here goes nothing he thought as he got out of the car and walked to the entrance of Jacksonville Coliseum. His son had insisted that to be a fan you had to bring signs. So he had with him three. One that said: The End is Near. A second that said We Need a Hero, which had been Tatem's idea. And the third said Four Horsemen Used to Stand For Greatness.
It was the moment of truth. He thought as he stood in line to go into the arena. He saw the security guard was the head one. He tried to act normal as the security guard looked at him closely and only confiscated the sign that said Four Horsemen Used to Stand For Greatness. He was told to go in. He was relieved.
He couldn't even look at Austin as he walked by. Some fans jeered him. One threw a piece of paper on the ground right in front of Austin who picked it up. Benoit walked up to the fan and said in a low voice "Have some respect."
"Hey man he's the janitor."
"No he's just someone who was forced out." And he looked at Austin whose eyes seemed to register something. Chris walked away quickly. Austin had said the same thing to him once.
Chris found his seat. He made sure he was on the side that the camera didn't catch and far enough back that he could really blend in. He shivered slightly at the dark feel that being back at RAW brought.
He looked at the signs. He saw some on the other side that said Benoit Scares Bischoff, Welcome back Chris Benoit. Huh? He wondered. They couldn't possibly know he was here.
"What's with all the Benoit signs?" Chris asked the kid next to him.
"You haven't heard? It's all over the Internet that Benoit was at his son's birthday party."
Oh shit! Chris thought. He wondered if he could get out of there. Wait he needed to see what was going on. So he sat back and watched. He didn't pay attention to the dark matches. Nothing really interesting happened during them.
RAW started and there was a surprise right away. Ross was gone. Cyrus had replaced him. Lawler was there but so was Heyman. That was a difference all right. Before he left/escaped the commentating team was Heyman, Lawler, and Ross. He wondered what other surprises there were waiting for him.
The Horsemen's music hit which caused him to cringe. It was a mix of the last Four Horsemen music and Eminem had written a song for it. He never did like the music they used. All of the Horsemen came out. There was a traitor chant directed towards Dean. He was still trying to remember why.
Eric was the first one to talk. "As most of you know Chris Benoit has been seen very recently. And I bet he's watching the show somewhere so this is directed to him. Nancy can say whatever she wants Chris but we know that you were there and Dean was pretty sure you were in the closet. So since you are watching we'll bring out our surprise."
What is going on? Chris wondered. The fans were yelling and booing. First Dean and now Shane Douglas? He and Shane had made amends almost two years ago. Though it did make sense to him.
Shane grabbed the mic from Bischoff. "Nothing personal Chris. You know how much I hate the WWE. Come back because we know you do too."
"He's hiding. Iceman scared him away." Bischoff said with a laugh. "But we'll find you Chris! You can't hide forever."
"Don't know why they want Benoit back so bad." He heard someone say from behind him. "It's not like he actually did anything to help them."
"Well you know how it is. Keep your friends close and your enemy's closer. You know HHH hates Benoit. Chris is better off outside of the group." Someone else said.
He had known that HHH hated him. Hunter hadn't been shy about it. He knew just as everyone else did. He was nothing but a pawn to them. How he had wished he had known that before agreeing to be a member.
He didn't really see why he had been warned to stay away. There wasn't much of a difference of the show. Just Ross being replaced. But that wasn't a problem. He was surprised Bischoff hadn't done it sooner.
Suddenly the lights flicked off. That was new. Someone was pushing him forward. He tried to stop but he was being pushed forward. He didn't know why or by whom but he was heading towards the ring.
The lights came on and he was in the ring. He tried to act nonchalant but he was scared. Had they found out who he was? Had the security guard figured it out? Had Austin ratted him out? All those questions went through his head.
"Lucky winner of be a Horsemen for a night."
Oh no. No no no no! This was his worst nightmare come true. Bischoff didn't realize it, at least he didn't think he did, but he just got his wish.
"What's your name?" Bischoff asked him.
He tried to keep his Canadian accent out of his voice. "Harold Martin."
"And you are from?" Bischoff asked.
"Jacksonville." He could wing a southern accent if need be.
"Okay fine. Now on with the show."
I am so dead if they figure it out. Chris thought as he put on the Horsemen T-shirt. Not the same kind he wore when he was a member it said Horsemen in Training. Cute Bischoff. He wanted to run but knew that would bring unwanted attention upon him.
He half listened as Bischoff rattled on a list of matches for the show. There weren't any new wrestlers to WWE since he left, well except for Douglas. He followed them out of the ring. He put as much distance as possible between himself and Dean and Shane.
"Bischoff we've got a problem!" One of the security guards yelled.
Chris looked up curiously to see Chavo being held back by a few security guards. He could hear him yelling, "I bought a ticket!"
Chris took the opportunity to slip out the door. He went straight to the parking lot. He wasn't quite surprised to see Eddy waiting for him. "Chris what's wrong with you? Why did you go into the ring?" Eddy demanded right away.
"Well they didn't exactly give me much of a choice. I had no idea what was going on."
"Oh yeah you wouldn't have known about the be a Horsemen for a night. Sorry man. Come on let's go."
"Go where?"
"You'll see when we get there. Follow me. There's something you really need to know. Oh and Chris get rid of that T-shirt before we get there."
"Gladly." Chris took off the T-shirt and threw it in the garbage. "What do we do with my car?"
"Chavo will come get it. He has a set of the keys. He'll probably be thrown out of there soon."
"Where are we going?" Chris repeated as they got into Eddy's truck.
"You'll see."
Chris waited till Ric left before telling Nancy and Perry what he planned. Ric had been adamant about not wanting to know anything. "I know what I'm going to do now."
"Are you going back to Ashley Glen." Nancy asked as she was throwing away the trash from the party.
"No way. But I am going to need a new look. They won't be expecting me to be hiding in plain sight."
"That's crazy. They'll see through any disguise especially Dean. Unless you are moving to Europe or something."
"No here's fine but I'll need hair dye, glasses with clear lenses, change in hairstyle, pierced ear..."
"Pierced ear?" Eddy asked coming into the room. "That'll confuse them if anything does."
"Chris with that look just where are you going?" Nancy asked. Chris didn't say anything. "Chris where?"
Realization seemed to dawn on Perry. "Chris you wouldn't. Please say Jacksonville isn't your destination."
"Chris I can get you to Smackdown just stay away from RAW!" Eddy begged. "You don't want to be anywhere near there."
"Look it's just something I need to do. I can't stay hiding forever. They are eventually going to find me. Can we do this look or not?"
***
Monday night
Eddy and Perry had warned him that they checked the fans before they entered the arena. There had been several Smackdown wrestlers that had tried to come help and had been spotted. Eddy said he had been one of the ones who had tried. He said a silent prayer that the disguise was good enough.
He looked again in the rearview mirror at his hair. It had been spiked and bleached blond. His glasses, with plastic lenses, weren't too bad looking. He still had to get used to the hoop in his ear though. It still amazed him that only 48 hours ago he thought he was 65 and now he looked like he was in his late 20s.
Here goes nothing he thought as he got out of the car and walked to the entrance of Jacksonville Coliseum. His son had insisted that to be a fan you had to bring signs. So he had with him three. One that said: The End is Near. A second that said We Need a Hero, which had been Tatem's idea. And the third said Four Horsemen Used to Stand For Greatness.
It was the moment of truth. He thought as he stood in line to go into the arena. He saw the security guard was the head one. He tried to act normal as the security guard looked at him closely and only confiscated the sign that said Four Horsemen Used to Stand For Greatness. He was told to go in. He was relieved.
He couldn't even look at Austin as he walked by. Some fans jeered him. One threw a piece of paper on the ground right in front of Austin who picked it up. Benoit walked up to the fan and said in a low voice "Have some respect."
"Hey man he's the janitor."
"No he's just someone who was forced out." And he looked at Austin whose eyes seemed to register something. Chris walked away quickly. Austin had said the same thing to him once.
Chris found his seat. He made sure he was on the side that the camera didn't catch and far enough back that he could really blend in. He shivered slightly at the dark feel that being back at RAW brought.
He looked at the signs. He saw some on the other side that said Benoit Scares Bischoff, Welcome back Chris Benoit. Huh? He wondered. They couldn't possibly know he was here.
"What's with all the Benoit signs?" Chris asked the kid next to him.
"You haven't heard? It's all over the Internet that Benoit was at his son's birthday party."
Oh shit! Chris thought. He wondered if he could get out of there. Wait he needed to see what was going on. So he sat back and watched. He didn't pay attention to the dark matches. Nothing really interesting happened during them.
RAW started and there was a surprise right away. Ross was gone. Cyrus had replaced him. Lawler was there but so was Heyman. That was a difference all right. Before he left/escaped the commentating team was Heyman, Lawler, and Ross. He wondered what other surprises there were waiting for him.
The Horsemen's music hit which caused him to cringe. It was a mix of the last Four Horsemen music and Eminem had written a song for it. He never did like the music they used. All of the Horsemen came out. There was a traitor chant directed towards Dean. He was still trying to remember why.
Eric was the first one to talk. "As most of you know Chris Benoit has been seen very recently. And I bet he's watching the show somewhere so this is directed to him. Nancy can say whatever she wants Chris but we know that you were there and Dean was pretty sure you were in the closet. So since you are watching we'll bring out our surprise."
What is going on? Chris wondered. The fans were yelling and booing. First Dean and now Shane Douglas? He and Shane had made amends almost two years ago. Though it did make sense to him.
Shane grabbed the mic from Bischoff. "Nothing personal Chris. You know how much I hate the WWE. Come back because we know you do too."
"He's hiding. Iceman scared him away." Bischoff said with a laugh. "But we'll find you Chris! You can't hide forever."
"Don't know why they want Benoit back so bad." He heard someone say from behind him. "It's not like he actually did anything to help them."
"Well you know how it is. Keep your friends close and your enemy's closer. You know HHH hates Benoit. Chris is better off outside of the group." Someone else said.
He had known that HHH hated him. Hunter hadn't been shy about it. He knew just as everyone else did. He was nothing but a pawn to them. How he had wished he had known that before agreeing to be a member.
He didn't really see why he had been warned to stay away. There wasn't much of a difference of the show. Just Ross being replaced. But that wasn't a problem. He was surprised Bischoff hadn't done it sooner.
Suddenly the lights flicked off. That was new. Someone was pushing him forward. He tried to stop but he was being pushed forward. He didn't know why or by whom but he was heading towards the ring.
The lights came on and he was in the ring. He tried to act nonchalant but he was scared. Had they found out who he was? Had the security guard figured it out? Had Austin ratted him out? All those questions went through his head.
"Lucky winner of be a Horsemen for a night."
Oh no. No no no no! This was his worst nightmare come true. Bischoff didn't realize it, at least he didn't think he did, but he just got his wish.
"What's your name?" Bischoff asked him.
He tried to keep his Canadian accent out of his voice. "Harold Martin."
"And you are from?" Bischoff asked.
"Jacksonville." He could wing a southern accent if need be.
"Okay fine. Now on with the show."
I am so dead if they figure it out. Chris thought as he put on the Horsemen T-shirt. Not the same kind he wore when he was a member it said Horsemen in Training. Cute Bischoff. He wanted to run but knew that would bring unwanted attention upon him.
He half listened as Bischoff rattled on a list of matches for the show. There weren't any new wrestlers to WWE since he left, well except for Douglas. He followed them out of the ring. He put as much distance as possible between himself and Dean and Shane.
"Bischoff we've got a problem!" One of the security guards yelled.
Chris looked up curiously to see Chavo being held back by a few security guards. He could hear him yelling, "I bought a ticket!"
Chris took the opportunity to slip out the door. He went straight to the parking lot. He wasn't quite surprised to see Eddy waiting for him. "Chris what's wrong with you? Why did you go into the ring?" Eddy demanded right away.
"Well they didn't exactly give me much of a choice. I had no idea what was going on."
"Oh yeah you wouldn't have known about the be a Horsemen for a night. Sorry man. Come on let's go."
"Go where?"
"You'll see when we get there. Follow me. There's something you really need to know. Oh and Chris get rid of that T-shirt before we get there."
"Gladly." Chris took off the T-shirt and threw it in the garbage. "What do we do with my car?"
"Chavo will come get it. He has a set of the keys. He'll probably be thrown out of there soon."
"Where are we going?" Chris repeated as they got into Eddy's truck.
"You'll see."