Masked

Chapter 8

            Stephanie McMahon whipped her head to look backward, where Faith was holding off Evolution, just barely, and only thanks to the strikes she landed from the bar in her hands.  The brunette looked over the mess of superstars, looking for Kat, Chyna, Melody, Danielle, and Rose.  Rose, Kat, and Danielle were in a protective half-circle around the base of the stairs. 

            Nibbling on the inside of her lip, Stephanie tried to think of a way out, when a small whisper made her stop.  "Hey!  Stephanie!"  She turned wildly, looking for the voice.  IT sure wasn't one of the wrestlers trying to get to her-they wouldn't say her name so quietly.  "Down here!"

            Stephanie, with a small glance at Faith who had somehow managed to push Flair over the railing, looked over to the right side of the railing.  Most of the wrestlers were trying to get to her using the left side, and hadn't bothered with the other.  She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Rob Van Dam, Jeff Hardy, Shawn Michaels, and Kevin Nash gathered.  Shawn and Kevin, however, quickly joined the fray on behalf of Stephanie's protectors. 

            "Jump," Jeff commanded, and she looked at him, judging the distance from the top of the railing to the bottom to be about 10 or 15 feet. 

            "What?" she asked, her eyes widening. 

            A loud cry of pain caused her to turn.  Faith was kneeled over on the stairs, grabbing at her stomach, coughing up blood.  Stephanie's eyes were locked with Hunter's as he raised his arms.  Her blood ran could as she realized that he had a sledgehammer. 

            Not caring about the risk much more, she climbed up onto the railing.  Hunter roared and ran towards her, grabbing for her.  She leaned forward, and pushed off just a little bit from the rail.  He managed to grab her ankle, and she yelped in pain, the combined motion of him pulling back and her going forward doing wonders for her ankle.  Blood rushing to her head, she frantically tried to kick him, but he leaned out of the way. 

            Suddenly, he let go, and she went careening into the ground.  The fall came faster than she thought it would be.  She reached up, folding her hands behind her neck and trying to curl into a ball to prepare her for the fall. 

            Her legs hit the ground, but Rob caught the rest of her before she fell.  Wobbly, she stood, wincing at the pain in her foot.  Dimly, she noticed his arm hadn't left her waist. 

            "You okay?" he asked, concern evident, "Can you walk?"  Pale at the pain, but determined, she nodded, and then paused.

            "I can't just…leave them there," she told them, dropping her head.  Jeff squeezed her shoulder lightly in reassurance.

            "Don't worry," he said with a light smile, "We've got reinforcements coming."  She nodded, breathed thanks, and hobbled after him, leaning on Rob for balance.  For a moment, they were left unbothered and unnoticed, until they rounded the corner. 

            Rene Dupree blindsided RVD with a steel chair.  Stephanie fell to the side, clenching her teeth.  Jeff turned around.  Rob Conway and Sylvan G began to double-team him as Rene approached Stephanie.

            Her eyes skittered over the hallway, looking for a weapon of some sort.  Rene grabbed her by the hair and slammed her head into the wall.  She closed her eyes for a spilt second, trying to push out the pounding in her head, and opened them to focus again.  As Rene reached down, she clasped her hands around his head and brought his chin crashing down into her head.  Using the wall for support, she slid up it as Rene stumbled back.  Hands braced on the black storage cases next to her; she held her weight up and kicked Rene swiftly in the jaw with her good foot.

            RVD had gotten up, his movements punctuated by winces of pain as he pushed Rob Conway into the wall.  With Rob's added help, Jeff was able to put away Sylvan.  Stephanie pushed herself away from the cases and limped.  Her face contorted in pain as she pushed onto her other foot, breaking her speed up to a jogging sprint. 

            "Steph!" she jerked her head up to face the end of the hallway, and just about cried with relief at the sight of Kurt Angle and Edge.  They met her halfway, looping her arms around their necks and just about hauling her off to the parking lot. 

            Stephanie jerked her arms away from them and almost toppled over, if it hadn't been for Edge, who caught her just in time.  "I'm not going," she told them firmly, trying to stand. 

            Kurt stared at her incredulously as she stood, trying to hide the pain that had gathered on her face.  "What do you mean, 'I'm not going'?"

            "I'm not going to leave this arena, Kurt," she said firmly, meeting his eyes, "And that's final."

            "If you're thinking about going back into that match-"

            "I'm not thinking about it.  It's already been decided, Kurt.  I'm going to stay, and I'm not going to miss my match."  When he just stared at her, she added earnestly yet calmly, "I have to do this, Kurt.  I have to win."

            "And what if you don't?" Kurt snapped in reply.  "You've got a broken ankle, a badly sprained one at the least."

            "You don't know that," she responded heatedly. 

            He stepped closer, "I break people's ankles for a living, Steph."

            She looked up at him, her jaw clenching.  "Kurt, maybe it is, maybe it's not.  I'm still going to do this match, and whatever you say isn't going to stop me."

            "Leave it alone, Kurt," Edge broke in quietly, "She won't listen to what you or anyone else says." 

            Kurt sighed, but nodded.  "I guess…  Be careful out there, okay Steph?"

            She nodded, "I will," and added with a small smile, "Thanks."

            "I'll wait for you in the hall when your match is over," Edge started, but Stephanie cut him off.

            "I appreciate the offer, Edge, I really do, but no.  I'm going to stay…the whole night." 

            Edge gave a small smile, "I guess there's nothing I can do about it, huh?" 

            "You got that right," Stephanie said proudly, testing her ankle as she eased weight onto it. 

            "We'll wait for you behind the curtains," Kurt announced, "and take you back to the Smackdown hotel."

            "Kurt that isn't ne-"

            "And there's nothing you can do about that," Kurt interrupted. 

            Stephanie smiled lightly.  "Thanks," she murmured, and started to walk off. 

            "Be careful, Steph!" Kurt and Edge called after her.  She nodded, looking ahead as her group of now-masked bodyguards approached.  Vaguely, she noticed that there were only four of them. 

            "Faith, Chyna, Kat, and Rose are getting checked out," one explained.  "We had to drag them there."

            Stephanie nodded, and proceeded to walk toward the curtains, leaving a worried Edge and Kurt behind.  The four guards spilt one on each side on her as they walked, the cameramen trying to get a clip of them eagerly.

            -                       *                      -                       *                      -                       *

            Eric Bischoff smiled evilly as he looked at the monitor, rubbing his palms together despite the burning feeling it produced.  He was finally going to get his revenge on Stephanie.  She had avoided his traps with luck, but tonight…  Tonight, he was living up to his promise.

            Tonight, Stephanie McMahon wouldn't be able to walk out of the arena.