The Counter-Invasion
By: Jay Winger

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

Teaser: 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.

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. Lyrics from "Defy You" by Offspring are used without permission.

Previously: Rose and Vince booked matches and discussed the Alliance. The Storm arrived with Brick and Scion, only to discover that Brick had rejoined CIW, prompting The Storm to start ranting at him. Rain finally gets them all to calm down. Rose did commentary as The Gemini def. Lance Storm & Justin Credible with a Twin Terror Bomb and the G-Force Combo. The Storm spoke with Victor E backstage, before they were both jumped by Raven and Rhyno, who Gored both men. Then Booker T showed up and delivered a Book End to The Storm on a shipping pallet. Scion took The Storm's place in his tag match. Kurt Angle & Scion def. Triple H & Booker T after The Storm returned and attacked the Alliance members to enable the win. During the match, Big Show and Brick chased off Shane McMahon from ringside. After the match, The Storm taunted Booker and told him he'd see him at the Rumble.

Chapter 9: It's All About the Rumble

Raw: January 20

Victor E. was pacing around the garage area when Rose's limo pulled up. The former CIW Champion did not look happy. Neither did Rose when he got out of the limo with Jenny Black in tow. "What's the idea, making my match with Kanyon a tag match?" Victor demanded.

"It wasn't my idea!" Rose snapped. "Shane and Heyman decided to revoke your U.S. Title match and booked this stupid tag-team match instead. And Regal OK'd it without clearing it with me."

"Smoker's not too happy either," Victor reported. "He was looking forward to having the night off so he could hang out with the Z's and Dee."

"Yeah, well, that's too bad for Smoker," Rose said. "Where's Skinner?"

"He's holed up with Stone Cold and the APA right now. Lotsa luck to the Alliance to try and get in there."

* * *

As it happened, Shawn Stasiak and Tommy Dreamer were trying to do just that. They each had steel chairs as they approached the door with the Austin 3:16 skull on it. They peered in through the crack to see that The Storm and Bradshaw had their backs to the door. The two Alliance wrestlers prepared to shove open the door and attack, but a hand tapped them on the shoulder.

Stasiak and Dreamer turned around to see the hooded form of Scion standing there. "That would be very unwise," he said simply in his grave voice.

"What're you gonna do to stop us, huh?" Dreamer asked. He swung his chair toward Scion. The mysterious figure just fluidly dodged aside and snapped his palm into the ECW stalwart's forehead. He grunted and staggered back into the wall as Scion snatched the chair away and threw it aside. Scion blocked a retaliatory swing from Dreamer and leveled him with a right cross.

Stasiak raised his chair back to bludgeon the hooded man, but his chair struck something hard behind him as he did so. He turned to see Brick, blinking a bit and rubbing his head where the chair had hit. Stasiak blinked and prepared to attack again, but Scion spoke again. "Oh, no, don't do that. If you hit him, you'll just make him mad."

That turned out to be a moot point, as Brick just smashed his fist into the chair, and thus back into Stasiak's face. The man once known as Meat hit the ground hard, chair falling on top of him. Brick shook out his fingers a bit. There was a pause, then The Storm stuck his head out in the hall. He looked at Scion and Brick, then down at Dreamer and Stasiak. "Everything okay out here?"

"All is well," Scion said, bowing his head.

"Yeah, what he said," Brick added.

Matthew Skinner nodded, then ducked back into the locker room. "False alarm," he told Austin and the APA as he sat back down.

* * *

Victor E. and Smoker were in the midst of a tag-team match against DDP and Kanyon later that night. Victor started out in the match, making quick work of Kanyon, then of Page before tagging in Smoker. The husky-voiced veteran started doing well against Kanyon when he was tagged in, but soon enough the Alliance members got the upper hand, wearing down Smoker and keeping him isolated, dissecting him, putting their focus on his ribs.

"Kanyon is showing why he's the Alliance's MVP right here," Paul Heyman said at ringside. "He's putting all his attacks into Smoker's ribs, taking full advantage of the fact that his opponent is a habitual smoker. He's exploiting Smoker's diminished lung capacity."

Kanyon went for the super Rocker Drop in the corner, but the North Carolinian managed to beale him out into the middle of the ring before falling to the mat himself. Victor started clapping his hands, trying to urge Smoker to make the tag, as Kanyon crawled toward his own corner. Smoker, however, was slow to get up, and as a result, DDP got tagged in and quickly started sizing his opponent up for a Diamond Cutter.

Smoker pulled himself up in the neutral corner, then started to turn around. Page grabbed his head, but Smoker held onto the top rope, causing the stalker to hit the mat, then leapt toward his corner. He slapped hands with Victor, and the crowd gave a decent pop as the last CIW Champion barreled into the ring and kicked Page in the head for a quick DDT. Kanyon rushed the ring, and Victor quickly caught him for a tilt-a-whirl powerslam.

The Californian stomped on Page a bit, then started to set him up for a superplex when Kanyon hit a Russian leg sweep on him. Smoker had recovered enough to deliver a Cactus clothesline to the so-called MVP, taking both himself and Kanyon out of the ring. In the ring, DDP started to stalk Victor for the Diamond Cutter again, but the CIWer shoved him into the ropes, then swiftly started to set the villainous Jersey Boy up for the Victory Slam. Once he hit the flapjack-like manuever, Victor did something else. He twisted DDP's leg in a deathlock-like hold, then stretched the leg back as he caught Page with an STF variant.

Jim Ross, consulting his notes from Billy Rose, crowed, "And Victor's got DDP locked in the Jaws of Defeat! The pain must be excruciating!"

"NO!" Heyman screamed. "NO! Come on, Page, get to the ropes! Get to the ropes!!"

But DDP was too far away. Victor clamped the hold in tighter, and with a scream of pain, the Jersey Stalker tapped the mat. Referee Mike Sparks called for the bell as "Defy You" by the Offspring -- the CIW theme -- started playing. Victor left the hold in for a few more seconds, then released him. Sparks raised the CIWer's hand in the air, as Victor smiled and flashed a V-for-victory hand-sign, then the CIW hand-sign. He turned around to leave, but Rhyno had jumped out of the crowd and into the ring. As soon as the Californian faced him, Rhyno folded him in half with his finisher. "GORE! GORE! GORE!" Heyman exulted.

Rhyno stood up and thumped his chest, screaming, "Who's da man?!" before rolling out of the ring and retreating up the ramp with Kanyon and Page as Smoker went to check on Victor E.

* * *

Michael Cole ran into Victor and Smoker backstage as they returned. "Victor, after what just happened in the ring, I wanted to ask what your feelings--"

Victor snatched the mike from him suddenly, speaking in between the sharp breaths he was taking. "Rhyno -- thinks he's so -- big, does he? -- Well, we'll see -- how big he is -- after I kick his ass -- at the Royal Rumble."

He handed the mike back to Cole, who started speaking again, "But Victor, will you be physically ready to face Rhyno? Twice in the past two weeks you've been Gored by him, and--"

Cole was once again interrupted, as out of nowhere, Rhyno showed up again, Goring Victor to the floor as Raven broke a 2x4 across Smoker's back to keep him down. Cole started to run off, but Rhyno stopped him and took the mike, speaking in his distinctive gravelly voice. "You want me at the Rumble, Vic? I got no problem with that."

Raven took the mike from him and added, "And in the meantime, I'd be careful not to get in the path of a charging Rhyno, Vic."

* * *

"The following six-man tag is scheduled for one fall." The sound of a bomb whistling through the air sounded before pyros exploded at the top of the stage. The Dudleys emerged, carrying a table between them, with Stacy Keibler lying down on top of it.
"Introducing first, representing the Alliance and being accompanied by Stacy Keibler, at a combined weight of 515 pounds... Bubba Ray, D-Von... THE DUDLEY BOYZ!" Stacy's "litter" was set down at the bottom of the ramp, and she slid off the table and stepped up the stairs and into the ring, flashing her incredibly long legs as she did so. The Dudleys posed in the corners, flashing the 3-D sign before whipping off their glasses.

"Can you dig it, sucka?" demanded a gruff voice from the TitanTron. Music played as Booker T. came out, wearing his black trunks with the white design. He shook his head a bit before raising his arms in the air, pyros exploding behind him. He got a faraway look in his eyes as he walked to the ring. "And their tag-team partner, representing the Alliance, weighing in at 250 pounds... BOOKER T!" Booker stepped into the ring and faced the ramp, crouching in wait.

"We... are... ALIVE!" preceded the opening drums of "Song 2." The Z-Men emerged after a few moments alongside Dee Meaner, wearing their championship belts proudly. Zed wore a CIW T-Shirt over his usual sleeve-less shirt, while Zeta wore his CIW T-Shirt under his Z-Men jacket. Dee wore her usual attire, but she wore a headband with the CIW logo on it. "And their opponents, first, representing CIW and being accompanied by Dee Meaner, at a combined weight of 460 pounds... they are the World Wrestling Federation Tag Team Champions... ZED & ZETA!"

Zed, Zeta, and Dee halted at the bottom of the ramp, while Booker and the Dudleys taunted them from the inside. The Z-Men just shook their heads as they passed their belts to the stagehand. Zed removed his T-Shirt and tapped his fists together in readiness, while Zeta removed his jacket and adjusted his knit cap. Dee just bounced back and forth on her feet. "Come on, Z's, get in here and fight!" Bubba Ray shouted at them.

But Zed and Zeta were not budging. Soon enough, the opening thunder roll of their partner hit, and the fans popped. Lightning crashed and the lights went out, as the voice whispered, "This is your Storm Warning." Cold Steel's music roared up as the theatrical smoke billowed and flashed from within. A form started to walk out through the smoke, but as it dissipated, it became clear it was not Matthew Skinner. It was Rain. She just grinned and pointed out at the ring.

Booker blinked and turned around, just in time to see The Storm, who had entered through the crowd, barrel into the ring. Skinner took the WCWer down with a forearm smash, then gave D-Von a back elbow that sent him through the ropes to the outside. Zed grabbed Bubba's ankles and dragged him under the bottom rope as The Storm started pounding on Booker T. while the two tag teams brawled on the outside, Zeta fighting with D-Von and Zed with Bubba.

The Storm shot Booker into the ropes, then hit him with a front dropkick that took him to the outside. Zeta and D-Von slid into the ring and picked up their brawl again, with the small Z-Man holding the upper hand in the early going. When Zeta went to whip D-Von into the corner, however, the Dudley Boy reversed it and hit him on the rebound with a reverse elbow. The two partners waited impatiently in their corners as D-Von started stomping on Zeta. Booker reversed a whip by Skinner and sent the Force of Nature into the steel stairs knees-first, causing The Storm to flip over them.

As D-Von stood Zeta up, the Z-Man with the blue-streaked hair punched him in the jaw a couple of times, then went to kick him in the gut. D-Von caught the foot, smirking, but Zeta followed up with an enzuigiri, then lunged to tag in Zed, who nailed D-Von with a fist, then followed through and knocked Bubba off the apron. He turned to do the same to Booker T, but the five-time WCW Champion caught his head and dropped off the apron, snapping his jaw into the ropes. The hotshot sent Zed stumbling back into a strong reverse DDT from D-Von.

Bubba had recovered and tagged in to drop an elbow on Zed's sternum. He stood up and did it a second time. He stood up a third time, mocked the CIW hand-sign, shouting, "Innovate this!" before dropping a double axe-handle on Zed's chest. He hooked a leg for a two-count. Standing back up, Bubba laid in a few stomps to Zed's ear as he got back to his feet. As the ex-boxer staggered, Bubba turned around and punched Skinner in the face. Referee Tim White stopped him from lunging in to retaliate, and the distraction allowed Bubba Ray to scoop slam Zed for D-Von's flying headbutt to the groin.

D-Von slapped his hands to mimic a tag, kicking Zed in the face a few times before tagging in Bubba again. Bubba stomped him a few times, then prepared to give him a Bubba Bomb. Zed countered, turned around, then swiftly hooked the Dudley Boy and drove him to the mat in the Z-Slam. Both men were down for a few moments, but Zed managed to crawl over and tag in The Storm. The Force of Nature charged into the ring, knocking down Bubba, then D-Von as he got in the ring. He continued his momentum, grabbed Booker and hauled him over the top rope into the ring.

As he got back to his feet, Matthew Skinner grabbed him by the hair and started punching him in the face. He stopped after a moment, then pointed upward. "Lightning!" he shouted. The fans cheered as he punched the former five-time WCW Champion in the stomach, then swept him up onto his shoulder in preparation for the Southern Lightning Driver. Booker, however, slid free and took The Storm down with a spinning heel kick. He went for a cover, but only got two.

The Z-Men had stormed the ring as well, brawling with the Dudleys. Zeta dropkicked Bubba out of the ring, then prepared to help deliver the Z-D to D-Von. Zed hoisted D-Von up, Zeta prepared to spring off the ropes, but Bubba grabbed his ankles and dragged him out of the ring. He hurled him head-first into the steel stairs, even as his half-brother raked Zed's eyes. Free of the ex-boxer's grip, D-Von whipped him into the ropes and caught him by the legs, carrying him upward. Bubba slid back into the ring and was in position just in time to deliver the Dudley Death Drop.

Tim White was checking on Zeta, and thus he didn't see the low-blow Booker gave The Storm as he tried to give Booker T the Downdraft. Groaning, Skinner turned around, just in time for the Dudleys to grab him for a 3-D of his own. Booker hooked a leg as the nefarious Dudleys called White back into the ring to count the pinfall. 1... 2... 3!

"Booker T pinned The Storm!" Heyman crowed. "The former five-time WCW Champion now holds a pinfall victory over the current WCW Champion! Ha ha ha ha!"

Meanwhile, the Dudleys pulled a table out from under the ring and set it up in the corner. They dragged the semi-conscious Zeta into the ring, with D-Von handing him to Bubba Ray as he rolled Zed on top of the table. Bubba hitched himself up so he sat on the top-rope, then sat Zeta on his shoulders as D-Von held Zed in place. The heavier Dudley Boy stood up and powerbombed Zeta through the table and thus into Zed. D-Von did his victory dance as Bubba stood in a daze.

Booker T was standing over The Storm, taking trash, holding up five fingers in his face. "See that? Five-time, sucka, five-time WCW Champion!" He dropped to one knee, staring at his hand, then did the spinaroonie, standing as his music played triumphantly.

"It's all on this Sunday at the Royal Rumble!" J.R. shouted.

-more to come-

Next: Billy Rose gets a challenge of his own for the Rumble as The Storm gets more and more vicious closer to the PPV.

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
April 6, 2002