A/N: And Ducky, if you're reading this, I wanna say that I'm receiving ur emails but I cant reply to them! I keep on getting mailer demons on ur AOL address! I'll keep in touch through the author notes here okay? Thanks. And MANY thankses to all of u who took the time out of ur schedule to review on the last chapter! Thanks! As a response to ME and Not You, hey well afer reading ur words I had like only one thing in mind: Did he meet Matt or any of the wrestlers after that? U said he couldn't get any autographs but did he MEET with the gang? Just curious! Okay so I'll stop blabbin' so that u guys can read (and review) tonight's show (it IS a house-show, so its less drama and more of an on-screen look at the night)

Chapter 18

"4:35" Matt told her the exact time his clock read, "20 minutes to landing." He sat beside Amy at the window line of the bowing 747 flight that was heading towards the great city known as New York.

"You better get going and fix your hair if you still want to?" Matt asked, looking away from his watch to briefly gaze at Amy who was cuddled against his arm, leaning on it for the small 30-minute nap she just woke up from. But to a response, Amy Dumas, the WWE Woman's Champion, only yawned to him and replaced herself back on to the seat, properly.

"Yeah . . . yeah, you're right. I'll be back in a sec 'kay?"

"Right." Matt confirmed, and accepted the small kiss she gently placed on his lips before squeezing over him with her purse, heading towards the vacant laboratories at the further side of the flight.

After finishing the weird breakfast-encounter back at Memphis Tennessee, Jericho and Trish left for their own flight to NY as scheduled. Jay's flight was with them but apparently the cruiserweighter was snoozing a few lanes behind the Hardcore Champ. Matt tried to ignore it the millionth time to get some sleep for his own, but the damn noise just had too much vibration in volume since Matt was sitting at the outer-side of the two-seated line. First Class yes, he and Amy were the only title-holding wrestlers of the RAW brand in this flight, and that was the reason they had that special care, but Jay . . . poor Jay, why the hell did he get a first-class ticket? Thought Matt, maybe of his whining, his complains were the only thing that were letting him GO somewhere!

"Whining," Matt laughed to his own, listening to the ongoing snore, "Yeah I'll bet." But onto more important issues, it was then Matt came to the thought that Amy still hadn't told him what she wanted. He was eager to know what it was, what did she want to tell him? The way she was 'ignoring' the matter seemed as if it wasn't as important as Matt was thinking it'd be. 'I think I should just let her say it herself and not push it through. What ever.' The connections in his head then shifted to the case of his own brother and Jericho. He was acting like an ass a few hours back, like a complete JACKASS, though Jericho deserved to be beaten, Matt couldn't just beat him up with out the proof of guilt. And what if Jericho was right? What if it was Matt's own fault that his brother was brutalized? He knew that the storyline wasn't his idea, but maybe . . . just maybe, this slight part of wrestling was showcasing the truth? A REAL bounty on his head? A bounty on Matt's head? Could Evolution do that? They could, since the likes of Wrestling Legend Ric Flair was with them, but . . . it was very unlike of someone to just beat someone else for a reason so small . . . maybe . . . just maybe, higher things were to be at stake. You can never trust Eric Bischoff OR Evolution, you can never trust your enemies, and Matt knew that just perfectly.

The rest of the day went by without a 'scene', nothing unusual. Matt and Amy arrived at NY sometime in the afternoon, they checked in with the hotel they were staying for the next 2 days and continued the rest of the night practicing to keep their stances ready and in shape for the weeks to come. Matt spent most of his time in the hotel-gym, flexing up his muscles for tomorrow's challenge and all in all, thinking of all the things that were happening in his life. Amy didn't see Trish or Jericho any time soon, she worked with Matt for a while, practicing the hurricanrana and Lita-Bomb on some dummies, soon enough it was none other than Stacy Keibler who came over to take Amy out for a little bit of shopping done while they were in town. Normally the blonde was not much of a friend with her, but she insisted, and Matt insisted she takes a time out from the work.

Everything turned out perfect, quiet normal as the lives of WWE wrestlers could be, at the end of the night, as thought, both of them were too tired to talk or have some love-making done. They fell asleep and hoped for a better day that was approaching on Wednesday, the 7th of January 2004.

~ WWE New York, NYC at the heart of Manhattan ~

"WELCOME to a special House-Show of WWE RAW! I am Jim Ross along side Jerry 'The King' Lawler and we welcome you to our live House-Show on the first week of 2004 ladies and gentlemen!" JR's voice was actually spoken through a microphone for the live-audience to hear their commentary. This was a House-Show, for those who doesn't know what it means, a House-Show is never televised, it's performed only for the people who made it through the ticket-lines to come here at the arena to witness a WWE show being made. But that also means that any additional segments are to be done in the ring and not backstage. That is the sweet glory of a WWE House-Show, and tonight it is the privilege of the talented superstars of RAW to wrestle in the ring in front of the New York audience.

"Our main event tonight is with HBK Shawn Michaels going one-on-one against the Big Red Monster Kane!" We could hear King's announcement as he spoke.

"Indeed it is King, but also tonight we have a line up of number-one-contender matches, first taking place with The Hurricane and Christian for the contender-spot this Friday against the current Intercontinental Champion: Randy Orton." JR completed,

"Oh yeah, but lets not forget about the prestigious Hardcore Championship the Sensei of Mattitude holds JR!"

"Of course not, Test and Booker T will also collide for Friday's Hardcore Championship, now that will be an exciting match to go through King. Both Test and Booker's abilities in the ring are some what of an equal. We'll have to see how that goes."

"You got that right JR, and then there's my favorite the NY-Style-Bras and Panties match! Woo hoo! The super-hot Trish Stratus against the lovely Miss Jackey!"

"Well if that's the way you wanna say it King, then be my guest. Afterwards the second-headlined match of the evening is with none other than the Dudley Boyz taking in a, shall I say 'forced', team of Chris Jericho and MATT HARDY! I just don't understand why these two were teaming up, but that's the general manager's decision."

The run-down of the match-card ended with the start of the national anthem sang by Lillian Garcia, straightly following the first match of the night: The Hurricane vs. Christian, a number one contender match for the Intercontinental Championship this Friday. The match started with the booing peers of the crowd directed towards the former champion while he entered with the music.

~ Off-screen, backstage ~

"—She's signing autographs with Stacy, Cena and Mysterio Junior, you know about that right?" Matt had just arrived at the arena, he haven't even went to his dresser when Trish bumped into him.

"Oh . . . yeah! Ha, I must've forgotten about that. So when's she coming?" The young blonde hesitantly asked the older Hardy about her best friend's schedule, she couldn't talk with Amy last night when they arrived at NY, nor could Trish even call Jeff for the last 2 days!

"Ah . . . yeah, I think Amez is coming in an hour or so. At least that's what she told me! Hold on there okay? And if you need anything I'll be right over there at my locker room." His finger pointed over at the door that was labeled 'Matt Hardy – Hardcore Champion' The labels were getting better each week, those were some of the good-stuff about holding a title. "Alright, well when Amy DOES arrive could you PLEASE bring her to me or just tell her I'll be waiting for her or something?" He could see the frustration in Trish's eyes, plus the desperate sighs that came from her.

"Alrighty, I'll do that . . ." Matt paused, "Trish?"

"Hm?"

"Is there anything goin on that's bothering you or something?" He needed to ask, for the sake of all the relationships Trish and Matt had. The closest of she being his girlfriend's best friend, then the ex of his younger brother, the brother-sister bond they had, Matt cared for the Canadian girl like he would to the sister he never had. The least he could do is ask her why the long faces.

"No, no. Just a girl-thing," She told him, "I just need to see Amy is all, you go ahead do your thing and good luck on your match with Chris!"

'Chris.' The mentioning of his name just gave Matt the not-so-distant memory, damn him, he thought, Jericho's words never really got away from Matt's head after that 'conversation'. He had points, but more over, Jericho wasn't a good guy, there was a vibe about him that no body considered a good one. Why did Trish even hooked up with him was beyond Matt. It was just something about Jericho he, or anyone else in the Hardy-Clan for that matter, who liked about the man. But now, he was part of their every day life, he was part of Trish's life, so in a way, Matt had to strain his anger, if anything would get wrong, Matt just didn't want to make the first move. Of course, if Jericho WAS behind Jeff's accident, then first move of last move, Matt would just tear that S.O.B apart. But before all that, before Jericho, the only guys who stood in the way, who dared to cross the line, was Evolution. And even though Matt wasn't sure of what to do with those jackasses, he just knew that they too would soon get what they deserve. Come RAW that Monday Night, Evolution would get their piece of eXtreme-Mattitude.

But back to reality he wasn't beating any one; Matt was just talking to Trish Stratus. "Ah . . . yeah, good luck on yours too." Was all he said to conclude her of the small encounter with the blonde girl, Matt watched while she walked away after a wave to her side of the arena, most likely the girl's locker room. Matt shook his head and proceeded on towards his own room, but from the left corner of his eyes, the Mattitude Sensei caught a glimpse of Sheriff Austin walking down the large boiler-like backstage area. And where there was a lawman, there was sure to be a broken rule.

~ On Stage ~

The ring was being invaded by the two cruiserweights battling for ONE 3counted pin, The Hurricane Helms dove from the stretched ropes and came 'flying' with a clothesline to crash against Christian's collarbone. Slamming him against the mat while the Green-Superhero did his pose for the photo-taking audience. That reminded Jay even from his spinning head, the 'Flash-Photography' storyline, one of his favorites! (Remember from 2001?) Of course, this was NO time for flashbacks as he had a match to win. The Hurricane pulled him off from the mat and shot a huge leg to his stomach, making the poor guy double over in pain while the Hurricane used his Hurri-Powers to stretch against the ropes yet again and come back with a more devastating shot. This time, in the form of a jumping-tornado-DDT. Jay fell head-first in the mat with the crowd cheering for the pain he received, ouch, tough crowd, The Hurricane went to the top rope and came down with a Frog-Splash-Type of fall to make Christian think his ribs were broken. He held his shoulders to the ground and hoped for a good pin-fall for the win of a match and the contender-spot for the Intercontinental Title 2 days later. As if life was that easy,

'1!' The ref started the count,

'2!' His hands went up and almost came back to touch the ground for the third and final time BUT Jay kicked out! Shoving his shoulder to keep himself alive in the competition.

"God DAMN!" He could warily hear Shane cursing, "You were supposed to stay down man!"

"hEy! I'm AllSO in the CONTesT." The poor guy could barely spit out, he almost sounded like a drunk Homer Simpson when he was pulled up by his 'friend'. "ChokeSlam time!" And that sounded more terrifying when you know you could lose your chance at the big-goal!

When The Hurricane's hands slapped on across Christian's throat, he was screaming for a get away, but his brain gave him no control and total numbness for the first few seconds, a tornado DDT hurts more than it looks like. Jay's right arm was shoved over Shane's shoulder, but that was all he needed to quickly counter the move, Christian bumped his elbow on the painted-superhero's head and broke free of his hold. He then gained momentum by kicking Helms just above the groan, the same way he just did to him. The ref saw this as a legal move, at least until no body was hit in the berries, Christian quickly slid to Hurricane's back and locked up for his finisher which really made people do a little bit of cheering. God only knew for who they were cheering, but cheering was good enough for the red-tight-wearing former champ. Christian did what his critiques thought he couldn't do, and nailed in the Un-Prettier, crashing the green-superhero to the mat HARD. Finishers hurt more at the end.

Jay rolled the guy up for the cover, and gained the three counts for the victory! '1' '2' '3! Ring the bell!' Emerging, all he could do was cry, cry for what he just accomplished! He defeated The Hurricane and got a shot at the Intercontinental Title this FRIDAY NIGHT!!! What could be happier for a guy like him? He was almost going to the top of the hill once more, at least in his dreams.

~ Backstage ~

"That rotten two-timer!" Steve Austin's mouth was, in some ways, more brutal than his punishments as the sheriff.

"What happened?" Matt Hardy stood beside the bald man and listened to what he had to say, most likely, they were both is search for one group of people: Evolution.

"Oh don't even make me START Matt! That was Flair I just hooked up with, he was supposed to sign the contracts for Evolution's title-matches next week! And now he says he won't be here until Friday! That son of a, I could just crap on him my SOUL would be more in peace!"

Evolution always acted as if they own the place, mostly Ric Flair, it was as if Triple H was his son and Vince McMahon was his in-law. "I just hate those guys Matt, especially Flair. They're always late on shows, they always make excuses for numerous shit reasons involving the McMahons, I just want this guy to see just how stupid things can be. JUST FOR ONE FREAKIN NIGHT I want em here ON TIME! But do they? Oh no, they come in late, acts as if they own the place, and jabbers off to hell knows where. And Bischoff doesn't do nothin about that either! Damn it, Matt, I want you to do something about this guys, you want to whup their ass and I want to SEE you whup their ass!" And that was exactly what Matt wanted to hear.

"That's what I wanted Steve, I want a damn match with Evolution, don't care if it's a Handicapped or not I just want a damn revenge!" Hardy yelled at him,

"I KNOW what you want! But I can't GIVE you the match Matt, Eric's the one making all the matches. DAMN the world!"

Matt could only sigh. He just wanted to nail Evolution bad. "Well, cant you do the storylines or something?"

"Look Matt, I'm doin what I can. Like I said, I WANT to see you whupping their ass!"

Matt shook his head at the mutual problem both of them were in, and it had the involvement of Evolution. Somebody had to do something about these maniacs, thought Matt, just a little bruise on them to remember that there are more powerful people than them. Yes, Matt proved some what of it by keeping the Hardcore Title, the same title he was holding across his shoulder the whole time, but he wanted Evolution to suffer the same suffering they placed upon others. Story lines or not, they were just pure insane and wanted havoc everywhere. Matt heard about their life-style: Hookers, drunken nights in the nightclubs, they were living the lives of crazed men with power and money and hungered want for sex in every single place they went. "Assholes," The Hardy Boy slowly whispered.

~ On Stage ~

A few minutes had passed since Christian went backstage celebrating his victory over Hurricane, most of the people back there, including Matt, were now in their respective dressing-rooms, preparing for matches or just plain warming up to get the rushed adrenaline feeling in their sets. But back on stage, after a 20-minute break for the audience to freshen up for the next match, everyone came back to their numbered seats and waited for Lillian Garcia's announcement of the upcoming bout. The singer had the schedule to come to NY for the WWE Originals signing so she was our ring-announcer of the evening, replacing 'The Fink' for one night. "Ladies and gentlemen," She started, "The following contest is scheduled for one fall and it is a special number-one-contender's match for the Hardcore Title, unlike other matches it is highlighted that this match does in fact have Disqualification-Rules despite being a Hardcore-Title-Contender match." Some of the crowd members where heard BOOING at this! But the show was to go on and quickly we were introduced to Test, who came with even more boos, and Booker T.

A match worth watching, which was also being watched by the Hardcore Champion backstage, came closely to so many great 2-counted-pinfalls. It was as if none of the competitors could level with each other and so did the match continued for more than 10 minutes. Booker T at last came for the scissorskick with a roaring crowd, but as he went to the ropes to deliver this famous move, Test recovered and hit his Big-Boot right across the jaw of the Booker man! But yet again, only scored a 2 count.

He was frustrated now, yelling at the referee and all, but that only resulted with Booker getting a recovery slightly and pulling in for a sneaky roll-up pin! Former Smackdown referee Mike Coda slid in for the count, he was close to the southwest turnbuckle as he wanted to get a full look on Test's hands reaching for the bottom rope, but it wasn't near it. '1!' The ref started to slap away, '2!!' Only moments away from a shot at the Hardcore title!!! BUT, as always, there was a but, at the last count of '3', Test never kicked out. The four-sides of the steel poles exploded with Kane's Flame! Vibrating the ring and breaking The Ref's count! Booker let go of Test's body and went in to look at the guest who stood near the titan-trons: The Monster known as Kane. As a sneaky-revenge of this quick moment, Test pulled Booker's body and slammed in a confusing roll-up-pin to which HE was supposed to be a victim. And as an uncertain twist of fate, Booker T lost the match and Test got the 3 counts AND a shot at Matt Hardy Version 1's title next Friday! Just like his old Un-American teammate Christian. The world was full of surprises.

(To Be Continued From This Very Night!)

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A/N: Okay, okay! It was short and pointless (no wait! It wasn't pointless!) I was kinda off-timed with all this . . . sorry guys, for the last time I think I'll say sorry, I'm having a big week here! It'll sound like an excuse. Sorry for that. I just have to be more responsible I know, next update is on Monday (6days) and as a sneak-peak, I'm thinking about Jeff FINALLY calling Trish and telling her about his feelings. Lets see if she lets him the same . . .

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