The Counter-Invasion
By: Jay Winger

Timeline Note: This chapter picks up the Monday after the last one.

Teaser: CIW has arrived in the WWF. Feuds are struck up as the WWF/CIW Coalition takes on the WCW/ECW Alliance.

Rating: R - for violence and profanity

Disclaimer: All things WWF and WCW are property of WWFE, Inc. All things ECW are property of whomever the frell owns ECW. All things CIW are property of me. The characters of "The Storm" Matthew Skinner, Claire "Rain" Whittaker, Billy Rose, Brad "Brick" Dickerson, the band Cold Steel, et al. are also my property. Please ask before you use them. Viper, Rattler, Soul, Cobra, Python, and all other creations of Boulder are his property and are used with his permission.

Previously: The Storm arrived at the arena in a foul mood and chewed out the Z-Men when he discovered they had also rejoined CIW. Rose chortled over the prospects for CIW in their matches, then approached The Storm to ask him to come back to CIW. The Storm emphatically rejected the idea. Kurt Angle & Victor E. def. Triple H & Rhyno with the Angle Slam and Victory Slam (pumphandle into a fireman's carry into a flapjack). Paul Heyman then approached The Storm and offered him a place in the Alliance. The Storm replied to that by reminding Heyman that when he left CIW, he was immediately rejected by WCW, and ECW didn't want him because he was one of those "backyard wrestler" types from the California circuits. He then told Heyman to go to hell, and beat him up a bit before heading to the ring for his match. In the main event, The Storm def. Booker T to become the new WCW Champion, after interference from Shane McMahon and Rain & Brick.

Chapter 7: Carrying a Torch

Raw: January 13

A black stretch limo pulled into the arena, bearing the wCw logo on a vanity plate. Four unhappy people stepped out of it. One was Triple H, one was his wife Stephanie, one was his brother-in-law Shane, and one was a bruise-sporting Paul E. Heyman. They were all quite upset at the Alliance's record from Smackdown. The Hurricane had lost to Nate Starr when the CIWer hit his Super Starr Press finisher again. Triple H and Rhyno had lost to Kurt Angle and Victor E. And worst of all, they had lost the WCW title to Matthew Skinner.

Heyman rubbed at his bruised head, then winced. This earned a dry chuckle from the other side of the garage. They all turned to see Billy Rose and three other men leaning against the Californian's limo. One of the men had dark red hair and a pointed goatee. He was smoking a cigarette. A smaller man in a neat tailored suit with a white-on-white tie was just running the fingers of one hand against the fingers of the other, smiling a gap-toothed grin. The remaining man was taller than all three of the others, sporting a black mop of hair on the top of his otherwise shaved head. He just watched with a blank expression.

"Nice shiner there, Paulie," Rose remarked. "What happened? Did Beulah slap you when you asked for free sex again?"

"Shut up!" Heyman snapped.

"Just thought I'd let you know," Rose said, "that Commissioner Regal has left Smoker, Tony Smiles, and his pal, Joey, here open for booking. Smoker wants a singles match against someone from the Alliance, and Tony and Joey would like a tag match."

"Why should we accomodate?" Shane demanded. "For your information, many of our people are going to be busy tonight with other concerns."

Rose shrugged. "Your perogative. But I'd be wary about going after Matthew Skinner." The Alliance ringleaders stopped and turned to him. The CIW leader smiled. "Did I neglect to mention? Skinner may not be a member of CIW, but his roots do lie there, and we protect our kin. So if you try to cause trouble, be prepared to face dire consequences."

"You could say," Smoker spoke up in his prematurely aged voice, "that we're still carrying a torch for him." He grinned as he turned his lighter over in his hands. He produced a pack of Marlboros from his pocket and stuck a cigarette in his mouth, which he then lit with the Zippo in his hand.

* * *

At the top of the show, the smoke from the pyros started to disperse throughout the arena as the theme for Raw faded out, replaced by, "Here comes the Money! (Here we go. Money talks!) Here comes the Money... money money money..." The fans' cheering quickly turned to boos as Shane McMahon came out, accompanied by Booker T. The former heir to the WWF entered the ring along with the former WCW Champion, frowns on their faces. Shane took a microphone and said, "Who in the hell does Matthew Skinner think he is?!" More boos for that. "Last Thursday night was a sad day for the wrestling industry, because a man like Booker T., a champion amongst champions, a five-time -- count `em, one, two, three, four, five-time WCW Champion -- was robbed, that's right I said robbed, of his title by the man who calls himself The Storm!"

The two men in the ring scowled as the fans started to chant, "Skinner! Skinner! Skinner!" Shane went on. "It makes me sick to think that the WCW Championship of the World is now around the waist of a psychotic, unbalanced, highly dangerous man like Matthew Skinner. That is why, tonight, in this very ring, live here on Raw, I am hereby ordering The Storm to give Booker T. his contractually obliged rematch for the WCW title, and we will once again have a champion to be proud of!!"

The fans booed heavily as Booker T. stared at his right hand, head convulsing. Those jeers turned to cheers then as the music of Cold Steel started up. Pyros exploded as "Force of Nature" played. Striding out of the smoke came The Storm, wearing his I am a Force of Nature T-Shirt and his new title belt around his waist. He carried a microphone of his own. He turned his head and basked in the "Skinner!" chant before saying, "Cut the music!" He stared at the two men in the ring, then said, "A champion to be proud of? Forgive me, Shane, but Booker T. is not someone to be proud of -- he's an embarassment!"

He paced a bit on the stage. "Let's just look at how he lost this fine gold belt I now have in my possession. You, Shane, had just clobbered me with a steel chair -- directly in front of the referee, too. If the ref hadn't been Nick Patrick, I'd be surprised you got away with it, but then, ol' Nick does have vision problems worse than Mr. Magoo. So I'm seein' stars on the mat, all Booker has to do is cover me for the pin. But instead, this sucka in the ring with you sees something fascinating on his hand." Skinner raised his free hand and imitated Booker's gimmick, convulsing his head. "Now I don't know what his hand said, but apparently it tells him to do that idiotic dance instead of retaining his title. So I took it upon myself to take Booker down a peg or three and lock him in the Necksnapper and make him tap out like the sucka he is."

Booker T. looked furious and started quivering with fury as he squeezed the top rope. The Storm paused and removed the belt from around his waist and held it in one hand, looking at it as he spoke again, "See, Shane, this title used to be a sacred object in our industry. This, the WCW Title, also holds the legacy of the men who held the NWA title. I say used to be, because more recently, this belt's proud heritage was tarnished. It used to be when I thought about this title, I remembered the great wrestlers who held it. Men like Lou Thesz. Men like Ricky Steamboat, Terry Funk, Harley Race, and the best champion to ever hold this belt, The Man, woooo!, Ric by God Flair!" The fans cheered loudly at the mention of Flair's name and gave a woooo! of their own.

Skinner then looked up at Shane. "But now when I look at this belt, I think of the guys who have cheapened it. Guys like Dim-watt Dull-ass Page. Guys who don't even wrestle! You have one of the men from the corporate office, and worse yet, David Arquette." The fans booed as he shook his head. "You also have Mister T somewhere in there," he said negligently, waving a hand toward Booker.

Booker grabbed Shane's mike. "Mister T?!" He scowled. "You didn't say that." He turned to Shane. "Tell me he did not just say that!"

The Storm smirked. "Oh, that's right, you're not Mister T, `cuz he still wears ten pounds of gold." His expression sobered. "You see, Shane, now the belt belongs on someone who actually deserves it. Someone who has spent eight years of his life giving his blood, his sweat, his life in front of rabid, bloodthirsty fans, wrestling in California, in Japan, and finally right here in the World Wrestling Federation! I can think of no one better to give this title meaning again than someone who was more than qualified to join the WCW, but was rejected by the powers that be. Now I have proved that I could have passed muster with the old WCW, by claiming its championship."

"Give me one good reason not to strip you of that title right now!!" Shane demanded.

"You do, and I'll come down to that ring and tear you apart," the Force of Nature said blandly. The tone of his voice suggested that it would be no difficult task for him to do so, and the owner of WCW knew that The Storm was quite capable of doing so.

"Why don't you step in this ring and say that, sucka?!" Booker T. demanded.

Matthew Skinner looked at him, then calmly strode down the ramp and toward the ring. WCW's owner and ex-champion both advanced to the ropes, but the new WCW Champion did not immediately roll into the ring. Instead, he walked past it and toward the timekeeper's table. He pushed aside Lillian Garcia and reached behind the table, coming up with the ugly-stick. The fans cheered as he turned and started up the stairs toward the ring. Booker and Shane both backed up and circled to Skinner's sides as he dropped the belt in the corner.

Booker spread his feet into a ready stance, gauging his opponent, then lunged... toward the belt. The Storm quickly turned and clobbered him with the ugly-stick, leaving him open for a double axe-handle to the back from Shane. Skinner turned around, unfazed and swung the stick at Shane. The young McMahon backed out of the ring rapidly, edging toward the title belt in the corner, but he was cut off when Skinner scooped it up and put it on his shoulder.

"Force of Nature" played as Booker rolled out of the ring and retreated with Shane, glaring back at the man who had taken their title from them.

* * *

"I can't believe that son of a bitch has our championship!" Shane griped back in the Alliance VIP Room. "How could this have happened?"

"It doesn't matter how it happened," Triple H said. "What matters is how we get it back."

"Yeah!" Booker T. said. "I'll get that sucka tonight! Get him in the ring, WHAM! Give him the scissor kick, the spinaroonie, and 1, 2, 3! Get my title BACK!"

"Right, because while Skinner may hold the title, he has now way of standing up to a one, two, three, four, five-time WCW Champion!"

"Gonna make it six-time tonight!" Booker retorted. He grinned. "Can you dig that?"

"I can dig it," the Game said mildly. He turned to Diamond Dallas Page, who was in the room with them. "You've got that guy Smoker later tonight. Can you handle him?"

"Please," DDP replied, "I fearlessly stalked the Undertaker's wife, and you ask if I can handle some chain-smoker? I'm the Master of the Diamond Cutter. He'll never see it coming."

Triple H nodded, then looked to the other two men in the room with them. "Lance, Mike, you two have those other two CIW guys -- Tony and his pal, Joey. I want you to kick their asses. And I mean in a bad way."

"Not a problem," Lance Storm replied, "these CIW people seem to think this is all a big joke, well they'll be sorely mistaken when they have to contend with myself and Mike Awesome."

"Good," Shane said. "See that you win."

* * *

Not long after, moderately-harsh music played as two Alliance members walked to the ring. Lance Storm wore black tights with silver trim on the legs, while Mike Awesome wore black trunks with a red Awesome emblazoned across the black. "The following tag-team contest is scheduled for one fall. Introducing first, from the Alliance, at a combined weight of 520 pounds... MIKE AWESOME and LANCE STORM!"

The two members of what was once called Team Canada hit the ring, and Lance took a microphone. He stood in the middle of the ring, raised the mike, and pointed out at the crowd. "I'd like to be serious for a minute," he said sternly. The fans jeered at him. "It's come to my attention that the people who work for CIW think of the Alliance as a big joke. Well nothing could be further from the truth. The fact of the matter is the Alliance is far superior to CIW, and although they may win the few odd matches here and there, the Alliance will win the war, and end this ridiculous counter-invasion."

He looked ready to continue, but the TitanTron lit up with the music of Offspring and a spinning CIW logo. "We... are... ALIVE!" and then switched over and started playing what the fans soon realized was a sort of rock version of the theme to The Godfather. Two men stepped out onto the stage. One wore a gray sleeveless shirt and loose wrestling pants, black with red lines up the legs. The other wore dark leather pants and a dark tanktop. "And their opponents, from CIW, at a combined weight of 515 pounds... TONY SMILES and PAL JOEY!"

Tony, the smaller of the two, smiled his gap-toothed smile and spoke into a microphone. "Hey, Lancey boy," he said with a slight mafioso accent, "I don't think of the Alliance as a joke. Me and my pal, Joey, we'd never think of the Alliance as something to laugh at." Lance and Awesome nodded appreciatively until Tony Smiles continued, "As something to be ashamed about, yes, but never something to laugh at." Joey grinned and nodded before the two of them strode to the ring.

* * *

Backstage, the majority of the CIW wrestlers had congregated in their locker room, while a few of them -- Nate Starr, Dee Meaner, and Smoker -- had joined the Z-Men in their commandeered restroom. A monitor was set up and they had lugged some chairs into the room to watch as Gap-Tooth Tony and Joey fought the two Alliance members. In the end, Mike Awesome managed to isolate Tony as Lance distracted Joey, allowing Awesome to hit the Awesome Bomb to Tony for the win. After the match, though, Pal Joey grabbed Lance and hit him with a Baldo Bomb variant, which according to J.R. (who had notes given to him by Billy Rose) was called the Cleaver. Then Joey punked out Mike, enabling Tony to get back up, stomp his foot, then deliver an HBK-like superkick to the towering Awesome. After hitting the move, Tony pumped a fist in the air, yelling, "Yes Indeed!" which incidentally was what he called the superkick.

Smoker grinned. "Glad they kicked ass, and glad they lost," he said. "I never really liked Tony and his pal, Joey, all that much, but being as we're all on the same side, I didn't wanna say anything."

"You got DDP later," Zeta said. "Ready to kick his fucking ass?"

"You know it, Zait," Smoker replied. He extinguished the smoldering cigarette in his hand. "You think Matthew's gonna need any help tonight in his rematch?"

"Probably," Zed replied. "Knowin' the Mac Sibs, they'll play dirty. But Storm'll kick our asses if we try to help him."

Smoker stood. "Gotta go. Talk to ya'll later."

* * *

"BANG!! Yo, it's me, it's me, it's D.D.P." Rock music played over green-tinted videos of the self-proclaimed King of Badda-Bing as he walked out onto the stage. "The following contest is scheduled for one fall. Introducing first, representing the Alliance, from the Jersey shore, weighing in at 235 pounds... DIAMOND DALLAS PAGE!" The fans booed heavily as DDP raised his hands in the air, forming a diamond shape with his thumbs and forefingers, then yelling sharply as he snapped his hands down, pyros exploding behind him. He walked down to the ring. He wore his airbrushed vest, which said BANG MAN on the back. He flashed the diamond sign again in the center of the ring, then snapped it down again in time with the "BANG!!" in his music.

His music faded out and again Offspring played with the CIW logo spinning. "We... are... ALIVE!" The music switched to Billy Rose's music as the man himself walked out and over to the announce table. Heyman sneered as the Californian seated himself at the third headset. "Nice bruise, Paulie," Rose said.

"Shut up," Paul E. growled.

The Offspring snippet played again, and then switched to again, to a quiet guitar strumming, with the click of a lighter being opened. A flame slowly lit the screen. Smoker strode out onto the stage, calmly lighting a cigarette and taking a long drag. He pulled his cig from his mouth, lifted it in the air, then suddenly threw it down to the stage, flame pyros exploding around him, as voices screamed, "Now you're playing with FI-I-IRE!" The music roared up as Smoker snarled a vicious grin, smoke coming from his nostrils and his mouth. "FI-I-IRE!" "And his opponent, representing CIW, from Raleigh, North Carolina, weighing in at 253 pounds... SMOKER!"

Smoker wore a red and black sleeveless shirt which had a fire-theme to it, as did his wrestling tights and boots. The outfit seemed to borrow some from Kane's outfit, but not entirely. Smoker wore his dark red hair back in a ponytail, and had fingerless gloves on his hands. He charged down the ramp and into the ring, where he quickly started trading punches with Page. Soon enough, Smoker managed to whip Page into the ropes and clobbered him with a stiff clothesline.

"I have to say, Paulie," Rose remarked, "DDP doesn't stand a chance against Smoker. Smoker's one of the more vicious people on the CIW roster, and let's face it, he may have been smoking cigarettes since he was ten, but he's still quick and athletic. You have to be impressed by that."

"I'll be impressed if DDP wins just to shut you up," Heyman snapped.

The Carolinian was busy pummeling Page in the corner, then whipped him across the ring and followed up with a turnbuckle clothesline. He pulled him out and went for a whip off the ropes, but DDP reversed it and swung a clothesline, which Smoker ducked. On the rebound, DDP aimed a kick to the gut. Smoker caught it, shook his head, and spun Page around. The Jersey native, however, came out of the spin with a lariat and took him down.

Now the momentum had shifted and Page started working over Smoker. He put his focus on Smoker's chest and stomach, trying to wind him. Heyman laughed. "It looks to me like Smoker's getting the wind knocked out of him. He's got diminished lung capacity, after all!"

"You'd be surprised," Rose replied.

DDP whipped Smoker into the ropes and looked for the Diamond Cutter, but Smoker grabbed his arms as he prepared to drop and twisted Page to the mat, locking on an armbar. He relented after a few moments, then whipped Page to the ropes, kicked him in the gut, and prepared to deliver a powerbomb. DDP blocked the gutwrench, however, and turned it into a back body drop. This began another stretch with the ex-Jersey Triad member in control.

Once again, DDP went for the Diamond Cutter, but Smoker blocked it again, turning Page around and kicking him in the gut. He clubbed Page in the back a few times, then grabbed his head and ran at the corner. He jumped and pushed off the turnbuckle, flipped up over DDP's head, turned over in mid-air, and came down in a harsh neckbreaker. "And that's the Burn Out!" Rose shouted at commentary. "Cigarette smoker or no, that's a very athletic move, and you have to admit that's impressive, Paulie."

Heyman was roaring, "What's wrong with the referee! He was using the ropes for leverage!"

"What's wrong with that?" Rose said smugly. "Your wreslters do it all the time. What do you call that move Kanyon does from the top rope?"

"Legal!" Heyman said. "It was our referees who officiated those matches! They didn't see anything wrong with it!"

"And neither did the WWF referee," Rose pointed out. "So shut your cakehole, Paulie."

Smoker sat up with a grin as DDP lay senseless on the mat, then got up and pulled DDP to his feet. He put his head between his knees, then looked out at the crowd. He held up one hand and mimed flicking a lighter. Then he made a fist and jammed it downward. He stooped, executed the gutwrench, then pivoted around and slammed DDP to the mat with a falling powerbomb. "Powerbomb!" J.R. called.

"The House Burner!" Rose corrected. "That, my friends, is the House Burner powerbomb!" He grinned at Heyman as Smoker calmly rolled over into a cover, hooking a leg. 1... 2... 3! Smoker's music began playing again as the Carolinain stood up, withdrawing a pack of cigarettes and his lighter from his pocket. He put a cig in his mouth, then calmly lit up and took a long drag. The cigarette dangled from his lips as his hand was raised in victory, then left the ring up the ramp.

"Well, Paulie," Rose said as he stood up, "it was nice seeing your guys get their asses kicked again. We should do this again sometime." He laughed and removed his headset, leaving up the ramp after Smoker.

* * *

Matthew Skinner was pacing at the guerrilla position, wearing his GeT SeT To GeT WReCKeD T-Shirt and holding his WCW title belt in his hand when he walked up to him. The Storm's mouth tightened into a bit of a frown as he looked at Vince McMahon. The billionaire held up his hands. "Easy, Skinner, I come in peace."

"What do you want, Vince?"

"I just want you to know that I'm behind you one hundred percent," Vince replied. "Your holding the WCW title is a major victory for us, and we need to hold onto it as long as we can."

"Don't worry, Vince," The Storm said, "I don't intend to lose it."

"I know," McMahon said. "I'll make sure that my son Shane doesn't get involved, and also that nobody else interferes either."

"I don't need your help, Vince," Skinner said bluntly. "But thanks for the offer."

* * *

During The Storm's match, he had things well in control, in spite of Shane McMahon's liberal interference. Finally, about half-way through the match, Brick came charging down the ramp, making a beeline for the WCW Owner, chasing him out through the crowd. This caused Booker T. to get distracted from his stomping of The Storm, turning to shout after the retreating forms of Brick and Shane.

Skinner rolled to his feet and came up behind Booker, hooking his arms from behind in a full nelson, pulling him back from the ropes, then dropping him in the Downdraft. He went for the cover, but suddenly someone else pulled him from the ring. It was Triple H, who walloped him with a right hand. The Game set to work stomping on him, but then someone else pulled him away from The Storm. It was Kurt Angle. The Olympian brawled with Helmsley, fighting him up the ramp as the referee called for the bell, awarding the disqualification to The Storm.

The Storm got up and quickly evaded an attempted chair attack from Booker T., pummeling in retaliation and swiping the chair from him. He cracked the former five-time WCW Champion in the spine with the chair, causing him to quickly backpedal up the ramp as a swarm of referees came down to separate the two. The Storm rolled back into the ring, where he reclaimed his belt and held it aloft. "This belt belongs to me, ya moron!" he shouted at Booker. "Me! It's mine!"

On the top of the ramp, Angle had snared Triple H in the Angle Lock submission, yelling and wrenching it in as referees tried to pull him off of the WWF Champion. More referees were holding back Booker T., who was trying to rush the ring to attack the man who had taken his championship. The Storm beckoned him on, laying the WCW belt on the mat, pointing at it, then at himself. He raised his arm in the air, drawing huge cheers as the show went off the air.

-more to come-

Next: The stage starts to get set for the Royal Rumble as a couple of big-name feuds escalate, and CIW continues to carve its way through the Alliance.

If you have any ideas for possible feuds/relationships for any of my characters, drop me a line at jay_winger_2k@hotmail.com.

-=Jay 2K Winger=-
Live and Almost Legal
February 25, 2002