The match between the Dead Man and Abel had been going for five minutes when the lights in the arena dimmed, both competitors turning their attention from each other to the TitanTron, where any good entertainee would expect to see something happen after a "black-out". They were rewarded.
"I think I'm cute..."
The crowd went wild as the Heart Break Kid, Shawn Michaels, came out in the spots of light that were gyrating around the ramp and in the ring - especially on the two nonplussed half-brothers, who were watching Shawn with the sort of expression that suggested a fair deal of pain if he even tried to touch either one of them. HBK, however, was oblivious to both of them, dancing down the ramp to his music ("I got the walk – I got the talk") and slapping hands with the crowd, who were clamouring to the guardrails in an attempt to touch the legend.
When he finally reached ringside, however, he didn't slide into the ring. Instead he walked around the side, grabbing a microphone from one of the assistants by the announcer's table and looking up at the two competitors before climbing onto the apron. The brothers inside raised their hands, taking a few steps backwards to let him know that they'd at least let him in the ring before they tried to destroy him for stopping their match.
"Yeah, yeah, I know, I know... I shouldn't have come out here and interfered in your match." Instead of directing his words to the brothers, Shawn spoke into the microphone, letting the crowd listen in to the conversation. The two brothers didn't seem to care too much about what he was saying, anyway. "But, I have a favour to ask."
That caught the brothers (and the crowd) off-guard. The Undertaker and Abel looked at each other uncertainly before turning back to Shawn, who was grinning and chewing some gum carelessly.
"Yeah, a favour. You see, there's a certain match going on next week that I have a fair amount of interest in... Hell, what am I saying, if I win, I rule this damn show!" His grin widened as the crowd cheered – as much as they appreciated the talents of the nWo, no-one in the crowd would cheer for the world's biggest heels against a face like Shawn. "So... Seeing as how we all know what's going to happen to me if things stay the way they are," the crowd gave off a mixture of cheering and booing at this comment, "I'd like some protection against a certain team. Now, now, I know I could just hire the A.P.A, but..." the crowd cheered again: the A.P.A, or Acolyte Protection Agency, was a muscle-for-hire business for WWF stars. "Let's face it: 'Taker, you're the one who brought them into business."
The Undertaker grinned, running a gloved hand through his black hair before stroking his short beard thoughtfully. Back in the '90s, in his days as the true Dead Man, he'd had a Ministry of Darkness who had pretty much covered his matches. Then, it had just been Farooq and Bradshaw (the two A.P.A members), and then it had just been him against the heels on the Smackdown! roster.
"So, what do you say? You guys feel like a bit of action on Raw?" Shawn grinned, eyes flicking up to the deserted nWo box. "Well?"
