A/N: Wow! I didn't expect this story to have so many reviews, and I'm so glad it did! 3 more days of school!! Anyway, hope you like this chapter!! Review!!
Disclaimer/Summary: 1st chapter.
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Tears of Tomorrow
Part III
Stephanie McMahon strutted along the top of the ramp, not daring to walk to the body-filled ring. She gave a sarcastic-filled smile to the brunette that had stopped stumbling up the ramp, and her grin widened, if possible, when she saw the damage that Artemis had inflicted upon her face. Stephanie chuckled, and then raised the mike to her mouth, waiting for the crowd to quiet.
She surveyed the ring quickly before making her decisions, "Next week," she said, straight to the point as ever, "On Smackdown next week, we're going to have a 6 person tag-team inter-gender match. It will be Rey Mysterio, the Cruiserweight Champion, Isabella, and Artemis versus Matt Hardy, Sara Lee, and Tyra," she announced. Stephanie thought a moment, and a wicked grin came to her face, "In a no-disqualification match." Matt, who had rolled out of the ring, found the strength to look up at her, an odd look on his face that was quickly replaced by a smile. He knew that Crash and Shannon would help him out in the match if he needed it.
Seeing the look on the former Cruiserweight Champion's face, Stephanie added a match quickly, "And…" she paused for a second, thinking, "Crash and Shannon in a handicapped match versus the Undertaker."
Matt's smile fell. How could she do that?? He was Matt Hardy, Version 1! She couldn't just do this to him!! Matt tried to stand, but ended up back on the floor. Stephanie smirked at him before turning on her heel and disappearing into the back.
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Isabella gave Rey and Artemis a small, nervous smile as they waited in front of the curtains. She nervously played with the fabric of her pine green top as they waited for the commercial break to end. The top she was wearing was thick at the edges – the bottom was an inch about her belly button – and then it went in a diagonal line to the center of her chest. It didn't repeat the same thing in the back, however.
"Good luck, mi hermana," Rey said casually. Isabella smiled. Since her parent's death, she and Rey had became like brother and sister, meeting each other through his wife. Isabella repeated a good luck back to him, deciding not to tease him on his light pink outfit for tonight.
Artemis watched them both, continuing as she had throughout the conversation they had been holding. She didn't say a word unless it referred to the match, and it was short and cold at that. She was wearing black flared pants with deep red flames at the bottom – the same color as her hair – and a halter top that matched, along with black fingerless gloves. Artemis was keeping a careful eye out for Tyra, Matt, and Sara Lee, seeing as how they hadn't come out to the curtains yet, and it was probably for the better.
After what seemed like eternity to the three wrestlers, they started to walk out together to Rey's music. As Artemis reached the ring and went in, she felt a predatory sense creeping up her spine. She smiled wickedly. This was * her * yard now.
A few seconds later, Matt Hardy's theme song began to beat through the speakers. Matt sauntered down the ring to thousands of boos. Tyra followed him closely behind. She was wearing form-hugging back pants that dipped down in the front and back. She was also wearing a tight white tube top with white and black fringes. Sara Lee traveled behind them, going by her nickname "Skye", in sky blue pants and a matching tied top.
Artemis narrowed her eyes at the three, looking for advantages. She noticed the black knee brace on Skye's knee, and mentally tucked the thought away.
Matt stood up first, motioning Skye and Tyra backwards. Artemis and Isabella went behind the ropes willingly as they cheered on Rey. Matt and Rey went at each other viciously. Matt pounded on Rey, furious for losing last week. This time, Rey's injuries crippled him less, and he was able to fight back more than last week. Soon, both men were down, and struggling toward their partners. Matt leapt up at the last second and slapped Skye's hand. Rey tagged Isabella in.
Skye leapt out of the ropes, matching Isabella's crouching position. Unlike Isabella, she'd never been in the ring before, so the springy mat beneath her black boots was awkward. All awkwardness, however, was forgotten when she and Isabella started to grapple in the middle of the ring. Skye gritted her teeth, pushing her boots behind her so she could push stronger. Finally, she was able to ram Isabella into a corner, shifting her grip so her hands were clutching Isabella's back and that her shoulder was pressing against her stomach. Isabella jerked when Skye's shoulder dug into her stomach, her back crashing against the turnbuckle. Skye regained her balance quickly. She ran forward, leaping in the air about a foot away from Isabella. Skye pressed her weight onto her right foot, slammed it against her opponent's chest, and used her momentum to flip backwards, landing crouched on her feet, only to dash forward and deliver a vicious spear. Isabella, still feeling the impact on her chest and stomach, stumbled forward. Skye crouched down, grabbed Isabella's head, and flipped her over her hurting shoulder. Skye crawled forward to pin Isabella.
"1…2," Isabella shimmed out of Skye's grip, crawling toward her teammates, but Skye grabbed her foot and pulled her backwards. Isabella turned and cracked her shoe into Skye's face, sending her stumbling backwards. She stood up before Skye had a chance to recover and delivered a spinning roundhouse kick, sending both of them to the ground. Skye lay on the mat for a moment before starting to crawl toward her teammates. She reached out a desperate hand, and Matt slapped it. Meanwhile, Isabella had tagged in Artemis.
Artemis stepped into the ring. She stood up next to Matt, who tried to intimidate her without succeeding. Artemis delivered him a swift uppercut to his jaw when he started to talk trash. Matt responded with a right hook. The two traded punches, until Artemis's back was at the ropes. Matt pushed her to the other side. He bent down, ready to lift Artemis up on return. The redhead, however, had different things in mind. As she returned, she performed a low dropkick, slamming her feet into his head. Once she hit the ground, Artemis sprung up once again. Artemis looked over at Tyra, an evil grin passing her face. She ducked the punch from Matt and tossed him straight into Tyra, his back hitting her. The ref signaled that it was a tag. Tyra gaped for a second, her mouth open.
"Clearly Tyra wasn't planning on getting into the ring tonight," mused Cole from ringside.
"And especially in the ring with Artemis. Remember what happened last week? Artemis must be aching for revenge, Cole…"
Artemis stalked over to Tyra, grabbing her hair and flipping her over the ropes and into the ring. Tyra skidded for a foot, and then tried to jump back to her team. Artemis, however, caught her by the throat, dragging her to the center of the ring. The crowd cheered as Artemis gathered her strength and lifted Tyra up by her neck. Artemis smiled as she watched Tyra's expression.
"Watch out!" Isabella cried from the apron, dashing through the ropes, but she was too late. Matt slammed the blue steel chair into Artemis's back. Isabella ran to him, but dropped to the mat right before she reached him. She then kicked the chair that had been held loosely at hip level straight into Matt, who stumbled backward into the ropes, his head sticking out slightly. Skye leapt through the ropes, meeting the now-standing Isabella with a flying clothesline. Through the mess of bodies, Rey ran to the other side of the ring and delivered the 6-1-9.
Skye straddled Isabella, slamming her fists into Isabella's face until Isabella reversed so that she was on top, choking Skye. Tyra grasped the chair that had recently slapped into Matt's face, and walked over to the prone Artemis. She raised the chair above her head and brought it crashing down on Artemis's left arm. Artemis let out a sharp cry of pain, and grasped her shoulder. Tyra looked at the mess in the ring, still holding the vibrating chair in both hands firmly. She saw Rey standing up, his back to her. Tyra walked up, shouting at him to get him to turn. When he did, Tyra slammed the end of the chair straight into his leg, right where it had been injured previously.
Isabella stood up, picking up Skye quickly. With excellent precision, she delivered a DDT to her, sending her flipping on her head. Isabella leapt to her feet as she saw Tyra hit Rey with the chair. She crouched down, waiting for Tyra to turn around. When she did, Isabella ran and speared her. Tyra had yanked up the chair just as Isabella delivered the move, sending the blonde's shoulder cracking into the steel. Slowly, Artemis, still clutching her left arm tightly to her body in pain, draped her other arm over Tyra's motionless body.
"1…2…" the ref counted as he slapped. Matt, still somewhat uncoordinated from the 6-1-9, had grabbed Artemis's hair tightly and yanked her to her stumbling feet. For a moment, he talked trash, and then delivered a Twist of Fate. Just as Matt stood up once again, Rey limped over to meet him once again. Isabella, holding her right arm that had met the steel during her spear, slowly crawled to the turnbuckle. As Skye stumbled up, Isabella leapt off and dropkicked her. For a moment, the ring shook with silence. Isabella slowly crawled, draping one arm over Skye.
"1…2…" the ref counted once again, but somehow, Skye was able to kick out. Isabella groaned, lying facing the roof of the building for a second. The burning spotlights burned into her sweating, aching body as she lay there, waiting for the strength to continue.
Skye turned on her shoulder, breathing heavily, the breath still knocked out of her because of Isabella's dropkick. The blond slowly pushed herself to her feet, using the ropes to steady her. Artemis, her body lying on the edge of the apron, looked over at the motionless bodies of Rey and Matt near the steps, a discarded steel chair near them. The redheaded Diva slowly rolled into the center of the ring, standing up.
Tyra moaned and pushed herself so her back was to the bottom turnbuckle. She saw through dizzy vision Skye and Isabella slowly struggling to her feet. The brunette was clutching at her ribs as she stood up weakly, and inadvertently stumbled to the center of the ring, where Artemis was standing. Artemis jabbed her elbow straight into the stomach of her opponent, grabbing her wrist as she did it and pulling her downward. And then as fast as she possibly could, she kicked straight up at her chin with a full extension kick.
"My God, Tazz, was that a Slashing Viper?" Cole asked, astounded.
Tyra's neck snapped backward, and she fell to the mat. Artemis staggered to her knees for a second, before turning around to face Skye and Isabella, and then decided that they were better off on their own. Artemis placed her foot squarely on Tyra's chest, pushing her down to the mat.
"1…2…3!!" the bell sounded, signifying the end of the match. Artemis glanced over to ringside when she heard a particularly bone-smashing crash. The redhead saw the disfigured steps, and Rey lying sprawled on them. Artemis slid out of the ring, grabbing two Singapore canes from underneath the ring. She twirled them as she walked toward Matt, getting used to the feel of them. Matt ran forward, a rather stupid mistake on his part. Artemis turned her back to him and thrust the cane in her right backward into his stomach, whirled around, and performed a roundhouse kick over the cane. The ref screamed down at her from the ring.
"The match is over! Stop!" he cried. Artemis looked down at Matt, who lay face up on the padded floor. She tossed a cane aside and pressed one tip to Matt's stomach. Artemis leapt, pressed one foot against the apron, pushed off, and hung in the air, making her body parallel to the cane before swinging so her feet landed on the barrier. She felt the fans' fingers brushing against her, but wasted no time in performing a moonsault onto Matt.
Skye grappled with Isabella quickly, shoving her into the turnbuckle. Once she was there, Skye slowly crawled to the top. Isabella grabbed Skye's head before she was ready and Isabella fell to the mat, her legs spread apart. Skye, however, flipped forward and skidded across the canvas, landing near Tyra, who was still clutching her neck in pain. Isabella stood up, dragging Skye up by her ponytail. She shoved her opponent's head between her knees, egging on the cheering fans, before lifting Skye up on her shoulders. Isabella immediately felt gravity rip at her as she staggered. A moment later, she used what was left of her strength to slam Skye to the mat. Isabella fell to her hands and knees as her vision spun.
Artemis leaned against the apron of the ring, holding her stomach and left shoulder. Her gray eyes looked at the fans as she quickly regained her breath. Finally, she slipped back into the ring to find Isabella, sitting against the rope, beads of sweat rolling down her slick face.
"Good job," Isabella managed a smile as she pressed her hand to her forehead.
"You too," Artemis smiled back, the deafening roars of the crowd coming back to her as she extended her hand. Isabella took it and stood up, and watched as Rey reentered the ring. Isabella grabbed one of Rey's hands and one of Artemis's and raised them in victory as Smackdown slowly drew to a commercial break.
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A/N: Wow! So many reviews! Thank you guys so much times infinity!! And if it's not too much trouble, please continue to review and please check out my other wrestling stories, mainly "Dangerous Business". Review!! Please and Thank you!
--LittleKnux2008--
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