The Counter-Invasion
By: Jay Winger

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

Teaser: No Way Out draws closer and closer as The Storm begins to strike out at anything that approaches him -- friend and foe alike. How much more can one man take?

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: Shane McMahon announced that The Storm will have to defend the WCW Title in every single match he has, and if he should retain it until No Way Out, he will have to defend it against Rhyno. Victor E def. Christian in Christian's hometown of Toronto to retain the U.S. Title. The Storm, being interviewed by Michael Cole, made it clear that he would do whatever he had to do to keep the WCW Title, and then warned Shane not to push him too far. Edge tried to console his almost catatonic brother on the loss, but Lance Storm showed up and started talking smack about Toronto and losers, prompting Edge to put Lance in his place prior to their match. Edge def. Lance Storm to retain the Intercontinental Title, and was aided by Christian when Lance continued the assault after the match. However, then Christian turned on his brother and bashed him with the chair repeatedly, shouting that "You did this to me! ... It's all your fault!" before putting Edge's head on a chair on the mat, laying his belt across his head, then delivering a vile One-Man Conchairto. Rob Van Dam def. The Storm via Disqualification when Billy Rose interfered on The Storm's behalf. In spite of RVD's vast arsenal of moves, The Storm continued to kick out and get back up, showcasing a wicked manic side previously only seen in his Hell in a Cell match. Rhyno got involved by jumping out of the crowd and delivering another Gore, prompting Billy Rose to run out with a chair and take out Rhyno. Rose then helped The Storm into the ring, but prevented RVD from capitalizing on it by attacking with the steel chair, causing the DQ. After the match, all three Alliance members attacked Rose, only to be chased off by the chair-swinging Storm, who then turned on Rose, knocking him out with the chair and warning him not to get involved ever again.

FYI: List of Champions: WWF - Triple H; Intercontinental - Edge; European - Eddie Guerrero; Hardcore - Rob Van Dam; Light-Heavyweight - X-Pac; WWF Tag Team - Dudley Boyz; Women's - Rain; WCW - The Storm; U.S. - Victor E; Cruiserweight - Billy Kidman; WCW Tag Team - Undertaker & Kane

Chapter 17: Contents Under Pressure

Thursday: Smackdown, February 6

For the second show in a row, the WWF emanated from Toronto, Ontario in Canada. After the curtain-jerker match, which featured Nate Starr teaming up with Tajiri against The Hurricane and Chavo Guerrero (Tajiri and Starr got the win after a Buzzsaw Kick and Starr's new "Supernova" DDT -- which he pulled out when Chavo went for a powerbomb, but Starr swung his legs off his shoulders to one side, grabbed the head and dropped him in a DDT), the fans started buzzing and cheering as the CIW bumper played, followed by the opening music of "Until You Crack" by the Union Underground. Soon enough, Billy Rose emerged, wearing the CIW T-Shirt under his usual red shirt, being accompanied to the ring by Jenny Black. By the time the two of them hit the ring, there were chants of "C-I-W!" in the crowd.

Rose took a microphone and paced in the ring, rubbing at his forehead where he'd been hit with a steel chair the preceding Monday on Raw. He then looked up, "Last Monday night, Matthew Skinner hit me in the head with a steel chair." The fans initially cheered at the mention of the WCW Champion, but half of those turned to boos at the mentioning of the chair-shot. The Californian shook his head. "Part of me probably deserved it, but the fact is I ran out there on Monday to do help accomplish CIW's goal in this Invasion. And that is to level the playing field." He spread his arm. "Not only did The Storm have to fight Rob Van Dam--" pops for both men's names, "--but also at ringside where Rhyno--" boos, "--and Shane McMahon." The boos turned massive at Shane-O's name. "I'm proud of the fact that he managed to get back up and send all three of them packing, but a little peeved that he decided to reward my help by blasting me in the face with a chair. But being as we're on the same side, I'll let bygones be bygones and let it slide.

"Shane," Rose said after a pause, "if you hate the fact that The Storm holds the WCW Title, that's fine. But I will not stand by and just let you stack the deck against him like that. In short, if you insist on having run-ins or interference, then you'll have to deal with not just me, but all of CIW." More cheering. "Now, unfortunately for you, Shane-O," he said, walking to the ropes facing the TitanTron, "you won't get a chance to have The Storm put his title on the line tonight, since Mr. McMahon has already booked him in a tag-team match tonight with Kurt Angle against Triple H and Rhyno. And just in case you're getting any ideas, Shane, I'm going to be watching right by the ramp, and I'm going to have Brick with me. I will brook no interference."

"Here comes the Money! (Here we go - Money talks.) Here comes the Money..." The fans started booing heavily as Shane and Stephanie appeared at the top of the ramp. The jeering continued as they walked down the ramp to the ring, as the fans alternately chanted "Shane's a pussy!" or "Slut!" Shane took a mike as he joined the two CIWers in the ring. The Boy Wonder glared at the crowd for a moment, then turned to Rose. "Who the hell do you think you are?" he demanded. "You think you can just waltz in here, get all buddy-buddy with my old man and just start throwing edicts around? Who do you think you are?"

"I'll tell you who I am, Shane-O," Rose said, poking him in the chest. "I'm the guy that kicked your ass at the Rumble. I'm the guy who had things all figured out back in the Faction before you went and let it all fall to pieces. You wanna know who I am? I'm Billy Fucking Rose! I am the Mental Elite, the leader of CIW!"

"Is that supposed to impress me?" Shane snapped. "You say that like it means something. CIW is nothing, it's just a bunch of wannabes with a prick bastard for a leader."

Rose shoved Shane back and pointed a finger at him. "You watch what you say to me about my company. Just because we didn't have a big, fat, billionaire backer or a national cable TV deal doesn't make us wannabes. Let me remind you that five of our guys became superstars in the WWF before the Invasion." Rose raised his hand and counted them off on his fingers. "Brick, Zed, Zeta, myself, and The Storm -- Matthew Skinner!" The fans cheers grew with each name mentioned. Rose poked Shane in the chest again. "Don't confuse exposure with greatness. Let's not forget that your company made the enormous blunder of putting its World Title on the waist of David Arquette. Just because he had the belt doesn't make him great."

Abruptly, Stephanie shoved her way between the two, pushing Rose back and taking Shane's mike. "Hey! You can't put your hands on my brother like that! This is Shane McMahon, the Owner of WCW, the co-owner of the Alliance!" Her shrill voice enunciated the words and set everyone's nerves on end. Now Steph was poking Rose in the chest. "You might've gotten lucky against him once, but my brother is a gladiator! He can kick your ass any day of the week!"

And now suddenly Jenny Black pushed between the Billion-Dollar Princess and the Mental Elite. Rose's personal assistant deftly plucked the mike from her boss' hand and faced Steph. "Stephanie, do us all a favor and stop talking for a moment. It's giving everyone a headache." ("Amen," remarked Michael Cole at ringside.) Jenny continued, "Now, you've all talked for quite long enough. If you don't have anything important to say, kindly stop wasting our time and -- as the saying goes -- go screw yourselves."

Stephanie looked shocked, and this allowed Shane to take the mike from her before she could offer a rebuttal, much to everyone's relief. He smirked confidently. "Oh, I do have something to add." Shane turned to Jenny. "Since you seem to be so anxious to stand up for your boss, and since my baby sister, Stephanie, seems to be so anxious to stand up for me, I propose we have ourselves a little match between the two of you." Stephanie nodded a bit eagerly, while Jenny raised her eyebrows, then smiled and nodded in agreement.

Then Shane smirked quite wickedly. "Billy, you said that I won't have a chance to make Matthew Skinner put his title on the line tonight? You're wrong. I said he was going to defend his belt in every single match he has, and that's just what he's going to do." Seeing the surprised look on Rose's face, Shane continued, "Tonight, in that tag-team main event, The Storm will put his WCW Championship up for grabs, with the title being awarded to the man who gets the pinfall. This means we could either see The Storm retain his title, we could see a new WCW Champion in Rhyno, we could see a new Unified World Champion in Triple H, or--" here Shane smirked again, "--we could have a new WCW Champion in Kurt Angle."

Rose looked shocked. He looked at Shane. "You're going to award the title to whoever gets the pin?"

"That's right."

The Californian looked at him for a long, long moment, then walked up to him, raising the mike to his mouth. He stared him in the eyes. "You have no idea what you're about to unleash." With that said, he dropped the mike, parted the ropes for Jenny, then left up the ramp, staring at the ring where Shane and Stephanie watched them leave confusedly.

* * *

The fans perked up and started cheering a bit as the TitanTron played familiar music. "You think you know me..." But those cheers soon turned to a mixture of boos as they saw that the video only featured one man, and then moreso as that one man showed up on the stage. It was Christian, looking much more in control than he had been on Raw. He entered the ring and took a microphone. He looked around at the fans, some of whom had signs that said Why Christian Why?

He shook his head and spoke. "You know last night...was one of the greatest nights of my life!" He smiled a bit. "I mean, I haven't felt that good since I moved to Florida and officially became a US citizen...eh?" His smile turned into a malicioius smirk. "But it seems lately--" He broke off as the fans started chanting "Asshole! Asshole!" at him. "--but it seems lately I've been living in denial. Yeah, I heard all the talk. Jealousy. Bitterness. Resentment. And last night, it hit me. All the talk is true!"

The fans murmurred a bit at that, wondering if it was possible he was going to admit his guilt. But then Christian dashed those hopes. "My brother Edge has been jealous, bitter, and resentful of me my whole life!" The fans jeered, but Christian kept speaking. "Think about it for a minute. It's always been Edge... and Christian. E&C." The smirk turned into a cruel sneer. "Edge and his BROTHER! Well why do you always get to go first, Edge, huh? What makes you so damn special!? What have you ever done?!" The spark of rage passed and Christian smiled again. "Well I'm special. Me! I know I'm special!" He paused for a moment, not even noticing as the fans chanted "You suck!" at him. "I've always been there for you, Edge... always."

Now the rage started to come back. "But where were you for me last Monday night, huh? Huh? I coulda been the U.S. Champion! And you were nowhere to be found... why? Why?" Now the malicious smirk came back. "Because it woulda killed you. It would have eaten you alive to see your brother walking around with singles gold." The smirk turned into a sneer. "You made me do this, Edge. This is your fault. But it all comes back." Again the fans chanted "Asshole!" at him, but he ignored them. "Edge... you and the people of this city deserve each other. Because you're all selfish! You're all so damn selfish! Why are you so selfish, huh!? Well I don't need you, Edge."

The fans, sick of hearing him defame their hometown, started chanting "You suck!" at him again. "I don't need you, Edge...not for anything. Not even for a Conchairto. I proved that last Monday. You have nothing that I need..." And now he smiled at last. "But you do have something that I want - the Intercontinental Title! That's why at No Way Out, Edge... I'm gonna take your Intercontinental Title... the same way you always took the spotlight from me, every chance that you got. And it will be mine..." His face had a dreamy look on it. "It's perfect. Singles gold. And you know, Edge... just like our song, I think I know you. But as last Monday night proved...you so don't... know... me."

* * *

A black Honda Civic pulled into the garage, and Matthew Skinner climbed out. A bandage adorned his forehead, where he'd been busted open time and again in recent weeks. As usual, his eyes were hidden beneath his sunglasses, and his expression told most anybody who was in front of him to stay out of his way. He got his duffel bag and his WCW Championship belt out from the backseat. The belt still bore a discolored spot from where it had been stained with Diamond Dallas Page's blood.

Silently, he walked toward his locker room, not even noticing the WWF and CIW wrestlers stepping out of his way as he did so. When he reached his locker room, however, he found Billy Rose waiting for him. The CIW mastermind stood up and faced him. The Storm gave him one look, then turned to put his stuff down, saying, "You have ten seconds to get out of my dressing room."

"About Monday night--" Rose began.

"One, two, three--"

"--I don't know what's wrong with your head these days, but I'm on your side--"

"--four, five, six--"

"--so try to at least not hit me in the head with any more steel chairs--"

"--seven, eight, nine--"

"Dammit, are you even listening to me?!"

"--ten." The Storm swung around and grabbed Rose by the shirt front, gave him a quick punch to the jaw, then threw him out into the hall, slamming the door behind him. He paused, looked up and saw the cameraman shaking a bit with fear. Skinner jerked a thumb at the door. "You too. Out." The cameraman hastily did so.

* * *

"The following women's contest is scheduled for one fall."

"We... are... ALIVE!" The CIW theme -- "Defy You" by the Offspring -- continued to play as Jenny Black emerged on the ramp, with Brick accompanying her. The CIW "girl Friday" was wearing flared pants with leather stringwork along the outseams. She wore a sleeveless CIW T-Shirt as well. "Introducing first, representing CIW and being accompanied by Brick, from Los Angeles, California... JENNY BLACK!"

Jenny stepped into the ring as Brick prowled around the ringside area. She raised her arms in the air, smiling a bit, then faced the ramp. The CIW music trailed off, replaced by the ECW theme, "This is Extreme!" Out came Stephanie, wearing an uninteresting outfit (albeit one that showed off her curves), but she had backup as well, in the form of Test. "And her opponent, representing the Alliance, being accompanied by Test, from Greenwich, Connecticut... she is the Owner of ECW... STEPHANIE McMAHON-HELMSLEY!"

Test took up a station at the other side of the ring from Brick, who kept his beady little eyes on the turncoat. For his part, Test looked both at him, then scoped the curves of both women in the ring. Stephanie seemed utterly confident, believing Jenny to be just another shrinking violet. She was about to be proven wrong.

The two locked up, and Jenny promptly snapped on a headlock, then a takedown, keeping Steph on the mat and maintaining the headlock. Finally she let go and backed off as Stephanie backed away into a corner, suddenly realizing she had her work cut out for her. Test went over to her corner and encouraged her to go back and try again.

Stephanie hesitantly stepped back out into the ring, but slapped Jenny instead of locking up. Jenny blinked and dished out a forearm. Then a second, backing Stephanie into the corner with a third. She then went for a boot choke, before throwing Steph face-first to the mat. Jenny smirked and raised her hands in the air, flashing the CIW hand-sign. The fans popped and began a "C-I-W!" chant.

Jenny went for a pin, but the Billion-Dollar Princess managed to squeak a shoulder up. As Jenny got up to argue the pin, Stephanie rolled her up and started to put her feet on the ropes for leverage. Brick was right there, however, and shoved her feet off the ropes. The referee saw him and angrily warned him not to do that again. As Stephanie ran away from Jenny, who got back up and rolled her up for another nearfall, Test ran around the side of the ring and aimed a Boot to the Head at the 7'1" behemoth. Brick was staggered by the strike, but roared and grabbed Test by the throat, lifting him up for a Breaker Chokeslam.

This action distracted the referee, who missed Jenny scooping Stephanie up and delivering a variant of the Michinoku Driver -- which she called simply the Black Driver -- to the ECW Owner. She went for the cover, but referee Mike Chioda was still distracted by Brick, who delivered his big move on the floor. Jenny looked back and stood up to shout for Chioda to pay attention. This allowed Stephanie to recover and quickly roll Jenny up, grabbing a handful of her opponent's waistline for illegal leverage. Chioda turned back just in time to see the pin, but not the tight-grab. 1... Brick looked up and quickly climbed onto the apron, 2.... Brick stepped into the ring, 3! Steph quickly slid out of the ring as the angry Breaker-Man ran over, snarling as he checked on Jenny, who was fine, but furious at the cheating tactics employed by the Billion-Dollar Princess.

Test, clutching his neck and back, ran over to his erstwhile fiancee and retreated up the ramp with her. Stephanie gave one of her "triumphant" sneers as she did so.

* * *

In the arena cafeteria, Zed and Zeta were getting themselves something to drink. "What'cha thinkin', pod?" Zeta asked his burly buddy.

"I'm thinkin' we oughta go to Commissioner Besmirched," Zed replied, "and get our contractually-obliged rematch for the Tag Titles."

"Sounds like a good plan, Zed-Head," the smaller Z-Man said.

They started to turn around, and found themselves looking at Lance Storm. The stoic Canadian fixed them with a glare. "Well, well, well, two more of the WWF's ridiculous so-called superstars." Lance looked Zeta over, paying particular attention to his somewhat unorthodox style of dress. "Showing off with nonconformist clothing and offbeat shenanigans."

Zeta stared at Lance as though examining some new species of spore mold. "By Jove, Rog, my boy," he said, affecting a very fake British accent, "look! It's a rare Canadian bore-us-allus! And still ripe and snooze-inducing!"

"Crikey!" Zed quipped in a similar phony accent, this one apparently borrowing from the Crocodile Hunter. "You do realize this `ere's one of the most dainjerous bores in the world! Watch out, it could put'cha t' sleep at any moment! Dainja! Dainja!"

Both of the jocular Z-Men were momentarily silenced when someone made a "Whoooosh!" sound. Someone leapt in from the side, assuming a superheroic hands-on-hips pose. It was none other than the Alliance's self-proclaimed superhero, The Hurricane. "By the cape and cowl of Batman!" the masked cruiserweight declared. "What have we here? Two vile villains seeking to insult your reputation, Citizen Storm?" He pointed a finger at the Z-Men. "Beware, nefarious ne'er-do-wells, for I--" he suddenly struck his trademark pose, "--The Hurricane!--" and returned to standing, finger pointed, "--have seen your dastardly deeds, your foul feats of villainy, your audacious acts -- wassapwitdat?!"

Zed looked more bemused than intimidated by The Hurricane's posturing. He leaned forward and poked his own finger into the superhero's chest. "I dunno what sorta hurri-weed you been smokin', boy, but me and Zait got bigger fish to fry than you two wanna-bes. So why don't you go bore the paint off the walls, Lancey, and why don't you go read one of your comic books, Hurri-chump."

The Z-Men pushed by to try and leave, but Lance Storm had decided to take action. He grabbed a tray of food off the catering table and dumped the food on the floor. He then cracked Zed over the skull with it. The ex-boxer grunted and staggered as The Hurricane swung a "hurri-fist" at Zeta. The smaller Z-Man blocked and started fighting with the so-called superhero.

Zed spun around and caught the tray as Lance swung it again, wrenching it from his hands and bashing him in the face with it. As the Canadian wobbled, Zed grabbed him by the front of his ECW T-Shirt and hurled him over the catering table into the wall. Zeta kicked The Hurricane in the stomach, pulled his cape over his face, then threw him across a table and into a bunch of chairs.

Both men finished their respective parts and turned to survey each other's handiwork. Zeta grinned and pointed at Zed with both forefingers. "You the man!"

Zed shook his head and returned the gesture. "No, you the man!"

"No, you the man!" "No, you the man!"

The two walked off, repeating those words at each other, leaving the two Alliance stars behind them.

* * *

Rain was late arriving at the arena, and thus she arrived at her boyfriend's locker room to find the Acolytes and Brick standing outside the locked door. Bradshaw was pounding on it. "Come on, Skinner! We just wanna help you get nice and hammered before you go out and whup somebody's ass!" There was no reply.

"Come on, man!" Faarooq called. "Don't make us have to get Brick to knock down the door." Still no reply.

"What's going on?" Rain asked.

"Matthew has been in his locker room since he got here," came the distinctively grave voice of Scion, who appeared behind Rain. She turned to look at him with a questioning glance. "He threw out Mr. Rose and a cameraman."

Rain sighed a bit and knocked on the door. "Matthew? Matthew, come on, open this door."

Surprisingly, this seemed to work. The door opened, and The Storm stepped into the hallway, wearing his Seek Shelter T-Shirt and a bandage on his forehead. He carried his WCW Championship belt in his hand. He gave them all a brief glance. "My match is up next," he said flatly, then shoved his way through the A.P.A. and headed toward the gorilla position.

Rain started to go after him, but Scion laid a hand on her shoulder. "It would be best not to get involved right now. Matthew needs to face his demons by himself."

* * *

"The following tag-team contest is scheduled for one fall. In this match, the person who scores the fall wins the WCW Championship!"

The fans booed as the low, aggressive music of Rhyno filled the arena. The Man-Beast walked out, wearing red-on-black tights tonight. He thumped his chest and bellowed, "Who's da man!?" as he came to the ring. "Introducing first, representing the Alliance, from Detroit, Michigan, weighing in at 280 pounds... RHYNO!"

Rhyno got in the ring and glared at the crowd from the turnbuckles as his music faded, replaced by the music of Motörhead. "It's time to play the Game..." The booing intensified for the leader of the Alliance, Triple H, who wore his WWF Championship around his waist as he came out by himself, Stephanie staying back in the Alliance VIP Room to avoid the stalking Brick and Jenny Black. Helmsley did his usual entrance schtick before turning to talk strategy with Rhyno. "And his tag-team partner, also representing the Alliance, from Greenwich, Connecticut, weighing in at 247 pounds... he is the World Wrestling Federation Champion... TRIPLE H!"

Soon the Game's music faded out, replaced by the patriotic horns of "Medal." The fans cheered as their Olympic Hero came out and posed for his Fourth-of-July-type fireworks. Kurt Angle stopped at the bottom of the ramp. "And their opponents, first, representing the WWF, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, weighing in at 225 pounds... KURT ANGLE!"

Angle waited for his partner before entering, ignoring the taunts and beckonings of the two Alliance superstars in the ring. Before long, Angle's music cut off, replaced by drum roll of thunder and a cymbal crash of lightning. The lights went out. "This is your Storm Warning!" The lights came up as Cold Steel played. The Storm appeared at the top of the ramp, face in shadow as he held his title belt in one hand. "And his tag-team partner, also representing the WWF, from Dallas, Texas, weighing in at 240 pounds... he is the WCW Champion... Matthew Skinner, THE STORM!"

The Storm stalked down the ramp and circled the ring one way as Angle went the other. Skinner passed his title to the referee, nodded to Angle, then rushed the ring, making a beeline for Rhyno as Angle went for Hunter. The four men started brawling before Skinner took the last ECW Champion outside and threw him face-first into the ring post. He applied a few stomps as Triple H took down Angle with a hard clothesline and went for a quick cover. Skinner looked up, then reached into the ring and grabbed the Game's ankle, pulling him off of Angle to break the count.

The Storm tried to continue the assault, but Rhyno grabbed his leg, distracting him as Angle recovered and quickly grabbed Hunter's ankle for an Angle Lock. Unfortunately for Angle (and fortunately for Skinner), Triple H was too close to the ropes and he grabbed them quickly. He clamped on the hold for four more seconds before releasing him and starting to hammer at his back with forearms.

Finally, Angle pulled Triple H away from the ropes and delivered a German Suplex to him, then maintained the waistlock to deliver a second, then a third. Before Angle could go for four, however, Rhyno stepped into the ring, distracting the ref and allowing the WWF Champion to snap his leg back into Angle's gonads. The Game then broke the waistlock and knocked the Olympian down with a strong right hand. He pulled him over to the corner and tagged in Rhyno proper, and the Man-Beast set to work picking apart Angle.

Rhyno took the WWFer over to the neutral corner and walloped him with a few right hands before stomping him to the mat. He then dragged Angle over to the hostile corner again, pulling him up and choking him for several seconds before the referee stopped him. As Mike Chioda lectured Rhyno, Triple H beat on Angle behind his back, then relented as Rhyno turned back to Angle and chicken-winged his arm over the top rope, wrenching it and stretching it.

Chioda stopped him from doing this, so Rhyno simply started punching Angle in the shoulder. After a moment, he delivered a belly-to-belly slam on Angle, chicken-winging the arm as he did so to further injure it. He went for a cover. 1... 2... and The Storm dashed in and kicked Rhyno in the head to break the pin. Chioda made him step back outside the ropes, but quickly turned around as Angle rolled up Rhyno for a pin. 1... 2... and The Storm again slid in and broke the pin.

Angle got up and angrily exchanged words with him. "What the heck are you doing?!"

"It's my fucking belt!" Skinner snapped at him, gesturing around his waist. "Do whatever the hell you want to them, but you are not getting my fucking belt!"

Angle shouted, "What the heck are you talking about? I'm just--" but he got no further as Rhyno attacked him, knocking him into The Storm and sending him falling off the apron. The Man-Beast then whipped Angle into the hostile corner and quickly speared him in the ribs. He then tagged in Triple H, who picked up the assault on Angle's arm, hitting a hiptoss, then locking on a reverse armbar, taking Angle to the mat face-down. The Game then dropped elbows onto his shoulder, dissecting him.

After a moment, Triple H flipped him over to go for a pin, but The Storm pulled Chioda out of position to break the count as he climbed back on the apron. The Game glared at the WCW Champion, who glared hatefully back. He turned back to Angle, who was struggling to get to hsi feet. As Triple H moved in for the kill, however, Angle slipped his arms around him, then flipped him backwards in a belly-to-belly overhead suplex. The fans popped as Angle did so, but the Olympic Hero was worn out and didn't get back up right away. The Game crawled toward his corner as Angle did the same, and both men made a hot tag almost simultaneously.

The fans cheered as The Storm lunged into the ring, knocking down Rhyno with a stiff forearm smash, then grabbing Triple H and throwing him through the ropes to the outside. The Force of Nature turned around and shouted in pain as Rhyno slapped on a bearhug, trying to weaken The Storm's injured ribs, but Skinner raked his hands across the Man-Beast's face to break the hold. He grabbed Rhyno in a half-nelson, then prepared to deliver that deadly snap suplex, but Rhyno grabbed the ropes and swung his elbow back at The Storm's head.

The WCW Champion, however, was not so easily dissuaded from his attack. He ducked under the swing, grabbed Rhyno by the armpits and dropped backwards, flinging him in a belly-to-belly throw. He started to turn to continue the assault, but Triple H grabbed his ankle from the outside. The Storm turned to take a swing at him, but when he turned around, Rhyno was already on his feet and charging. He plowed into The Storm with full force in the Gore.

He went for a cover, but The Storm got his foot on the ropes. Angle slid out of the ring to brawl with Triple H, finally rolling over the announce table and scaring the commentators from their seats. Rhyno stood up to argue with Chioda, but The Storm surprised him and caught him in the Downdraft. He quickly went and folded Rhyno over for a pin, and while Chioda was busy checking the shoulders and counting, the Force of Nature put his feet up on the ropes. 1... 2... 3!

The fans were a bit surprised by Matthew Skinner's tactics, but they cheered anyway as he rolled from the ring and grabbed his title belt. He swung about and blasted Triple H across the forehead as he got up from behind the announce table, then pivoted and hit Rhyno with it as he charged to get some revenge. He chased away Chioda and the timekeeper, then whirled around as someone laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Whoa! It's me, easy!" Angle said, stepping backwards hastily. The Storm looked not-quite-sane as he looked at the Olympian, then just dropped his title belt on his shoulder and raised Angle's hand before heading up the ramp.

It was becoming more and more clear that The Storm was slowly sliding down a spiral into madness, but nobody dared to try and stop him. He was too dangerous.

-more to come-

Next: The Storm continues his downward spiral as the Alliance continues to pull out all the stops.

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=-
July 18, 2002