The Counter-Invasion
By: Jay Winger

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

Teaser: The Storm has finally snapped and has begun unleashing his rage on the Alliance. Paul Heyman was first. Will Shane be next?

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: Lance Storm & The Hurricane def. Hardyz, then the Z-Men showed up after the match to get retribution for the attack the preceding Monday. Backstage, Rain told Coach that she wasn't sure what was going on in The Storm's head, but that she was going to get answers. Rain v. Ivory ended in a "no contest" after Rhyno & Test came out and attacked her again, hospitalizing her. As she left for the hospital, The Storm arrived at the arena and started going berserk at seeing Rain hurt. Before he could leave with her, however, Shane McMahon shrewdly told him not to leave since he might have a match that night. That pissed off The Storm, who had to be restrained from hurting Shane. Chris Jericho def. Booker T, but got attacked after the match. Backstage, Stone Cold was interviewed by Coach, and cut another "What?" promo on Jericho and then Triple H. Kurt Angle took exception to Austin's belief that he would face Triple H at No Way Out and started to get irritated at the "What?" chants. Fortunately, WWF Commissioner Regal defused the situation by informing the two men that they had matches signed for No Way Out -- Austin against Triple H for the WWF Title and Angle against Jericho for the Wrestlemania WWF Title-shot. Then, The Storm hit the ring and demanded Test come out to face punishment for attacking Rain. (Rhyno had been sent away earlier.) Paul Heyman came out instead and ignored The Storm's threats to tell him, in essence, give up the WCW Title or face more attacks like this. When The Storm refused, Heyman started talking about what Rhyno would do to him at the PPV, only to be abruptly attacked by The Storm, who hit him in the throat with his title belt, then put him in a choke-hold variant of the Necksnapper, nearly killing him. Finally, referees and Alliance members came out, causing The Storm to break the hold and apparently mark Shane as his next target.

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

Chapter 20: The Lunatic Fringe of Matthew Skinner

Monday: Raw, February 17

The fans were cheering like crazy as the opening pyros finished and the lights came up on 30,000 screaming fans, many bearing signs. At ringside, Jim Ross was seated at the announce table alone, Paul Heyman's seat conspicuously absent. "We welcome you to another edition of WWF Raw, less than a week away from No Way Out on Pay-Per-View! We come to you live from the Fleet Center in Boston, Massachusetts, with over 30,000 fans, and what a main event we have in store for you tonight, folks: the Game, Triple H, and Booker T will take on Kurt Angle and Chris Jericho in a big tag team match!"

J.R. looked up as the camera focused on him. "As you can see, ladies and gentlemen, Paul Heyman is not here tonight, as he is still recuperating from the vicious attack he received from The Storm last week on Smackdown! I have no like for Heyman, but even this was going a bit too far." The TitanTron lit up with a video, showing Matthew Skinner's attack on Heyman -- first striking him in the throat with his WCW Title belt, hitting him again with his bare hand in the throat, then locking on a choke-hold variation of the Necksnapper. "Paul Heyman is still recovering from that attack by The Storm, which leaves me without a broadcast partner tonight, and--"

He trailed off as the TitanTron lit up with the CIW logo as it played "Defy You" by the Offspring. The fans started cheering as Billy Rose emerged in his usual red shirt over a CIW T-Shirt. Beside him was a sandy-haired man with a full beard in a gray shirt under a black blazer. This man carried a bundle of papers in one hand. Rose smirked and waved to the cheering crowd, which started chanting, "C-I-W! C-I-W!" J.R. spoke, "Billy Rose on his way out here with some person I've never seen before... looks like they're going to address the crowd."

Sure enough, Rose and his companion hit the ring, with the CIW leader taking a microphone. He smirked and raised his free hand in the CIW hand-sign before waiting out the chants. "Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for that fabulous ovation!" That got another round of applause. "A lot of you are probably wondering what I'm doing out here. Well, I'm here to address that empty chair next to good ol' J.R."

He nodded to Ross, then faced the crowd again. "What happened last Thursday was regretable. While it couldn't have happened to a better person, even I didn't want to see The Storm snap like he did. I understand probably better than anyone what Matthew Skinner can be like when he's royally pissed off. And royally pissed off is what he was on Smackdown! when he attacked Paul E. Dangerously Obnoxious."

Rose paused a moment, then smirked. "However, I am a businessman, and as a businessman, I look for opportunities, and when I heard that Paulie wasn't going to be here tonight, I saw one. I took it upon myself to bring in somebody to replace Paulie at the announce table." He gestured to the sandy-haired man with him in the ring. "Ladies and gentlemen, permit me to introduce to you Mr. Jim Pickett, the voice of CIW for its entire history. I'm sure he'll be more than adequate to fill the space left by Paulie's considerable ass."

Pickett smiled and waved to the cheering crowd, turned and shook Rose's hand, then stepped out of the ring and over to the announce desk, setting down his notes as he put on the headset. "Hey there, J.R., Jim Pickett, pleased to meet you." He shook J.R.'s hand, but stopped before he sat down in Heyman's chair. He turned to the timekeeper and accepted an aerosol can of disinfectant. He sprayed down the chair, then sat down. "Sorry about that."

"It's quite all right, Jim," J.R. said, hiding his amusement.

Pickett grinned. "Jim and Jim at ringside. God, the Internet's gonna have a field day with that one." He nodded and sketched a salute toward Rose, who nodded back and left up the ramp. "Just call me 'Pick.' It's great to be back in this business, J.R. I'm looking forward to doing this on a more permanent basis once the WWF and CIW put the Alliance out of business."

* * *

A six-man tag started off the night, with Zed, Zeta and Jeff Hardy facing off against the Dudleys and Lance Storm. Both Matt Hardy and The Hurricane were being kept backstage to prevent interference in the match. During the match, it was announced that at No Way Out, there would be a Four Corners Elimination Match for the WWF Tag Team Titles, with the Dudleys defending against the Z-Men, the Hardys, and Lance Storm & The Hurricane.

During the six-man tag, the WWF/CIW team started off strong, working over Bubba Ray Dudley and Lance alternately until Zeta got isolated when D-Von hit a cheap shot before getting the tag. This started off a large amount of momentum for the Alliance team, with the Dudleys slowly picking apart the smaller Z-Man before tagging in Lance, who put his focus on Zeta's leg in preparation for the Maple Leaf.

When Zeta crawled to the ropes during the submission, Lance tagged in D-Von, who whipped him into the corner. Zeta showed enough presence of mind to block the follow-up with a back elbow, then hoist himself to the top rope for a Zetasault. Both men were down, crawling to their corners to make the tags. Zeta tagged in Zed, while D-Von tagged Bubba Ray. The ex-boxer hit the ring and started throwing out hard right hands to every Alliance member in sight.

Finally, Zed nailed Bubba with the Z-Slam, then looked up to the eager Jeff Hardy. Zed looked to the crowd and pointed at Jeff. "You want him?" he shouted to an enormous pop. He stepped over and tagged the young daredevil, who climbed to the top rope and sprang off in the Swanton Bomb. Zed started over to D-Von to finish him off, but then Lance Storm slipped back in the ring, spinning him around to crack him in the jaw with a superkick, knocking him over the top rope. Zeta sped into the ring and caught Lance with a flying crossbody that took them both over the top rope. (At commentary, Pickett accurately called this a "Cactus Clothesline," impressing J.R.)

Zeta's little stunt distracted the referee, who was on the outside, trying to break up the brawl between Lance and Zeta, while Jeff tried to get his attention. Bubba Ray got up behind him, then grabbed him to hit the Bubba Bomb. D-Von called the ref into the ring for the three-count and the pinfall. The Alliance wasn't done yet, however. D-Von attacked Zeta from behind and rolled him into the ring, following to whip him into the ropes, catching him on the rebound to carry him back into Bubba's waiting hands for the 3-D.

Outside the ring, Zed got up and drilled Lance with a Jawbuster, then grabbed a steel chair. He stormed the ring, chasing off the Dudleys, who collected Lance and their tag titles, retreating up the ramp, where they linked up with The Hurricane and stared down the angry Z-Man in the ring, who threw aside his chair, then stooped to check on his partner.

* * *

Backstage, Matthew Skinner walked in from the garage, forehead still bandaged, and apparently travelling light, as the only things he carried were his WCW Title and the ugly-stick. He started walking through the halls, face as unreadable as ever behind his black sunglasses. The half-smirk on his lips, however, broadcast the message, "I'm insane, I've got a baseball bat, and somebody's gonna get their ass kicked." Many of the stagehands backed out of his way as he headed toward the Alliance part of the arena.

As he got there, however, he found Hugh Morrus and Chavo Guerrero in his way. "Hey, just the guy we've been looking for!" Morrus proclaimed. "We gotta kick your ass for what you did to Paul last week."

The Storm gave no indication that he'd heard them, or even that he was acknowledging their existence until they blocked his path. "Hey, not so fast, dick-wad," Morrus said, pushing him back. "You got a beating coming to ya!"

Now Skinner reacted. He dropped his belt, swung his bat up, and smashed Morrus in the face with it. He pivoted, drove it into the side of Chavo's head, then swung back to the larger WCWer and started pummeling him like mad before dropping the bat and grabbing Morrus by the shirt. He turned and threw him head-first into a set of steel poles, which clanged noisily to the floor atop the Laughing Man. The Storm turned back to Chavo, kicked his hand away from the ugly-stick, then stomped him a few times before pulling him up and pinning him to the wall.

The Storm gave the former Lt. Loco a few good shakes before asking him, "Where's Shane McMahon's dressing room?"

"I'm not gonna tell you--" Chavo tried to say.

"You don't seem to grasp the concept here, burrito breath," Skinner snapped. "You're gonna tell me where Shane's dressing room is, or you're going to be sharing a hospital room with Paul Heyman. Where's Shane's room?"

"I told you, I'm not--" But the young Guerrero got no further before The Storm adjusted his grip, grabbing him by the face, pulling his head back from the wall, then shoving it back into the wall with a dull thud. He repeated this a few times, then hurled Chavo to the floor, stomped on his knee twice, then picked up his ugly-stick and his title belt.

The Storm gave them a brief look before leaving, saying, "Fine, I'll find it myself."

* * *

J.R. was looking uncomfortable. "I tell you, Pick, The Storm has become one dangerous, dangerous man."

"You're not familiar with his time in CIW," Pickett replied. "I've seen him like this before, and believe me, if the rumors I've heard are true, then we are all in very serious trouble."

"What rumors are those?" J.R. asked, but before Pickett could reply, the TitanTron lit up for the next match. "Christian! CHRISTIAN! At last you are on your OOOOOWN!" Rock music played as golden sparks rained from the overhead lighting structure and fountained from the stage, finally stopping to reveal Christian standing on the stage, arms spread and his arrogant little smirk plastered across his face.

"The following contest is scheduled for one fall. Introducing first, from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, weighing in at 215 pounds... CHRISTIAN!" Christian hit the ring and climbed up on the ropes, rolling his shoulders forward, then jerking his thumbs back to his chest, laughing as the operatic rock theme continued. He removed his crazy-ass sunglasses and smoothed his hair back as he faced the ramp.

Oriental music started playing as Tajiri came out on the ramp, accompanied by his inexplicable new valet, the Alliance diva Torrie Wilson. Tajiri was smiling and conversing with Torrie in his rapid-fire Japanese, while she smiled and nodded. "And his opponent, from Japan, being accompanied by Torrie Wilson, weighing in at 205 pounds... TAJIRI!"

Christian attacked Tajiri from behind as the Japanese wrestler tried to get a kiss from Torrie. He started pummeling on the smaller man before sending him into the opposite corner, where Tajiri blocked the follow-up with an elbow. The Japanese Buzzsaw fired back with a a knife-edge chop, then a slap to the chest, taking Christian into the adjacent corner, where the "deranged maestro" reversed positions, returning the slap to the chest and the chop, then pausing to pose to the crowd. When he turned back, Tajiri was ready and nailed him with a stiff superkick.

Christian fought out of a side headlock, but his hiptoss was blocked by Tajiri, who punched him in the stomach, then flipped over his head. The Canadian was ready, however, and powerbombed him in mid-move. Frustrated, the treacherous Christian started stomping on the Japanese Buzzsaw before slapping on a headlock, then punching him in the face while he had him there. ("Christian's trying to whoop the head off of Tajiri," Pickett remarked at ringside.) He went for a pin after hitting a backbreaker, but only got two. Tajiri tried a shot to the abdomen, then landed a second, then came off the ropes, but ran into his opponent's knee. Christian then grabbed him in the reverse DDT position and dropped him back onto the knee in a backbreaker.

Christian added insult to injury by kicking Tajiri between the shoulderblades as the smaller man sat on the mat. He then followed up by hitting a clothesline to Tajiri, flattening him for a two-count. With a sneer, the deranged maestro choked the Japanese grappler on the second rope, laughing as Torrie pleaded with him to stop. At a four-count from the ref, Christian finally stopped, pulling Tajiri up by the hair, ignoring some punches from the smaller man. He elbowed him in the head, whipped him into the corner, only to meet Tajiri's boot as he came in for the follow-up. He turned around and ducked a clothesline from Tajiri, but the Buzzsaw was waiting as he turned back around for a stiff back kick to the jaw. Tajiri came off the ropes and hit a headscissors takedown.

Now Tajiri whipped Christian into the ropes, ducked his head, only to get kicked back to his feet by the Canadian. Now Christian whipped him to the ropes, but Tajiri did a handspring en route, bounced his legs off the ropes, and flipped back with an elbow to Christian's jaw. Tajiri made his first cover of the match, but only got a two-count. A whip to the corner was reversed by Christian, but as he charged in after him, Tajiri slipped up out of the way and quickly tied Christian into the Tarantula for four seconds before referee Charles Robinson broke it up. Christiand ducked a roundhouse kick, looked for his reverse DDT, but Tajiri slipped free, dropped to the mat and kicked upward into Christian's face.

Another kick to the head by Tajiri set Christian up perfectly for the Buzzsaw Kick finish, but the Canadian wanted no part of that, sliding out of the ring instead. Tajiri followed, but his opponent was waiting, and popped him in the face. Frustrated now, Christian grabbed a steel chair, but Torrie ran over to plead with him, shielding Tajiri. Sneering, Christian raised the chair anyway, and abruptly Tajiri shoved Torrie aside, spewing the blinding Green Mist at Christian -- who sidestepped it, causing Charles Robinson to take the Mist full in the face. Tajiri was now wide open for a chairshot from Christian as the blinded referee called for a disqualification. Christian now rolled Tajiri into the ring as he grabbed a second chair, softening him up with a second chairshot before setting him up for the One-Man Conchairto.

That's when the fans started cheering like mad. Not because of Christian's evil behavior, but because none other than Edge had hopped the barricade, spearing Christian in the side and firing off numerous stiff right hands to his brother as referees chargted out to try and pull him off. Christian quickly escaped and retreated up the ramp as the refs held a furious Edge at bay. Edge flashed a toothy, eager grin as Christian stared at him in shock. "See you on Sunday," Edge mouthed as his brother left.

* * *

Backstage, The Storm's hunt for Shane McMahon continued. He stalked through the halls of the Alliance's section of the arena, checking locker rooms left and right. Before long, he was stopped again by Chuck Palumbo, Sean O'Haire, and Shawn Stasiak. "Lookee what we got here," O'Haire snarled. "It's a little lost idiot."

Skinner just tilted his head to one side. "Well, lookee what we got here," he mocked, "it's the Perfect Jobbers. Outta my way."

Instead of doing that, Palumbo and O'Haire charged as Skinner dropped his belt. Palumbo got an ugly-stick to the face, and then The Storm brawled with O'Haire for a moment before throwing him aside. Stasiak charged then, only to get punched in the nose. He turned back to O'Haire, got a kick in the midsection, but fought off O'Haire with a well-placed bat swing to the solar plexus. That done, he grabbed him by the hair, then smashed his face into his knee before throwing him into the wall. Stasiak moved forward, taking his hands off his bloody nose, only to get punched in the nose again.

Now Palumbo was back up, only to get beat back to the floor by the ugly-stick. The Storm grinned as he held the baseball bat with both hands and started beating a rhythm on the "Main Event's" head. "I've - been workin' - on the - rail - road!" he sang in between swings. "All - the live - long day!" He looked up as Stasiak pulled his hands off his broken nose, then feinted at him. Stasiak yelped in fear, spun around to run, and ran smack into the corner of the wall, knocking himself unconscious.

The Storm stood over him, then muttered a curse. "Damn. I should've left one of them conscious. Still have to find Shane's room." He shrugged and retrieved his WCW Title belt where he'd dropped it, then continued on his way.

* * *

A second six-man tag was on the card, this one pitting the Gemini Twins and Kane against DDP, Kanyon, and Raven. As with the previous one, the extra men (in this case, Undertaker and Tommy Dreamer) were barred from ringside. This match was mostly dominated by the WWF/CIW team, with Castor, Pollux, and Kane having their way with Kanyon, until he managed to tag in Page at the same time Cas tagged Kane. Page promptly put on the brakes, begging off from the Big Red Machine, who grabbed him by the throat and gave him a big chokeslam, only to get jumped by Raven after the attack.

Kane grabbed him by the throat as well, then looked at the Gemini, who had stepped into the ring and were asking for him. The masked man obliged, throwing him to Pollux, who whipped Raven to the ropes, then picked him up on the rebound, pivoting and joining with Castor, who helped his twin brother drive Raven to the mat with the Twin Terror Bomb. Kanyon then got up and distracted the Twins, who took him out of the ring as Kane made the cover on Page to win the match.

During the course of all this, J.R. and Pickett announced that at No Way Out, Undertaker & Kane would defend their WCW Tag Titles in another Four Corners Elimination Match, against the Gemini, DDP & Kanyon, and Dreamer & Raven.

* * *

In the Alliance VIP room, Shane McMahon was pacing back and forth, nervously looking at the television monitor, which showed The Storm prowling the halls, looking for the Boy Wonder. Shane turned to Stephanie and Hunter. "Are you sure you took the sign off our door?"

"Yes, Shane, it's right here," Steph replied, tapping the placard on the coffee table. "Don't worry. Even if he manages to find this room, Hunter is here. He can fight him off for you!" She said this confidently, while her husband looked a tad reluctant.

"Or at least long enough for you to get outta here, Shane-O," Triple H amended. "Skinner doesn't want me. He wants to get at you, not me. Besides, we got a buncha guys guarding the room two doors down."

"What good are they gonna do me there?!" Shane demanded.

"Look, if they guard this room, then that just tells Skinner 'Yo, I'm in here.' By guarding that room, he'll go there and not here," the Game explained. "And when we hear him fighting with those guys, you can slip out and get to the car."

Almost as soon as he said this, there came a lot of shouting and yelling from the hallway. They looked at the monitor, where they could see Matthew Skinner in the midst of brawling his way through the Alliance members guarding the empty room. Steph and Triple H stood up. "Go now, Shane!" Stephanie hissed as Shane peeked out in the hall. He broke into a run, heading away from the fight and toward the garage.

* * *

Shane reached the garage in record time, where his limo -- with the "WCW 1" vanity license plate -- was idling. He ran toward the door. "Come on, come on, let's go!" He grabbed the handle, pulled, and blinked in surprise as it refused to open. "Hey, come on, open the door!" He tugged again, but it still did not open. Glancing back over his shoulder worriedly, he ran around to the other door, but it too was locked. He sneered and pounded on the side of the limo. "This isn't funny! Open up!"

He pulled on the door handle again, then tried the other door again. He went over to the driver's window, which was tinted. He knocked on the window. "Open the freaking door!" The window rolled down, and Shane stepped in front of it to yell at the driver, obscuring the person inside from the camera. "Look, I've had enough of -- who're you? You're not my driver."

Shane then yelped in surprise as the fake driver grabbed his head and pulled it in through the open window. His angry shouts turned into a choking sound as the window rolled back up on his neck, trapping him in the window. He banged on the windows and door, trying to get loose. His choked and muffled shouts came out through the partially open window. "Lemme go!"

"Well, well, well, what have we here?" came The Storm's voice. Shane tensed and tried harder to get loose. The Storm smirked. "A little stuck, are we? Let's see if I can't fix that." He walked over and swung his ugly-stick into Shane's back, getting a choked shout. He did it a second time, then tapped on the window. "Turn him loose."

The window rolled down and Shane tumbled out, one hand clutching his back, the other his bruised throat. The Storm dropped his bat and his title belt, picked Shane up and threw him into the side of the limo. He punched him across the face a few times, then in the stomach, then grabbed him, swung him about, and threw his head through the window of the door to the back of the limo. Glass shattered and littered the ground. The Storm pulled him out, examining Shane's now bloody face. He smirked and grabbed jaw, pulling him close to snarl in his face.

"You brought this on yourself, Shane-O," Skinner growled. "You picked the wrong person to piss off. You think you know what pain is, Shane? I will show you what agony really is."

He dragged Shane around the limo and climbed up on the trunk, then up to the roof, pulling Shane up after him. Once there, he pulled Shane in front of him, then hooked him and gave him the Downdraft. Shane gave a weak cry, convulsing as Skinner rolled him down onto the hood of the limo before jumping off himself, retrieving his belt and bat. He went to the driver's door and opened it, tossing in his gear. Whoever had been sitting there was gone, having moved to the passenger's seat, where they couldn't be seen by the camera.

The Storm leaned out the open window. "Time to go for a ride, Shane-O!" He shifted the limo into drive and sped forward, with Shane barely holding on for his life. Ahead of the car was a stack of boxes. A couple of feet before impact, The Storm slammed on the brakes, sending Shane flying off into the boxes, which fell atop him. The Storm stepped out of the limo for a moment, smirking and removing his sunglasses as he looked at Shane's legs, which were sticking out from under the pile of boxes.

"Remember this moment, Shane," he said in a quiet, menacing voice. "Remember how I could've killed you tonight. Payback's a bitch, ain't it?" He stepped back into the limo, shut the door, then backed up, turned around, and drove out of the garage. The camera watched the car leave, then ran back and faded out on Shane's unmoving legs.

-more to come-

Next: Three days until No Way Out. The Storm has hospitalized Paul Heyman and Shane McMahon. What does he have in store for the Helmsleys?

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
August 26, 2002