The heavy guitar chords of Triple H's theme music blared from the speakers around the arena, dividing the crowds between cheering from a great wrestler and booing one of the most perfect heels that the business had seen in a long while. His video, a clip show of his famed finisher the 'Pedigree', played from the TitanTron before the broad-shouldered form of the dual champion walked into the entranceway, neck bent as he looked at the ground in a scowl.

The dual champion barely even acknowledged the crowd's reaction to him, focussing on the ring as he walked down the ramp. It only took him a minute or so and soon he was standing on the apron and leaning on the ring cables, finally looking up at the paying audience. He lifted his water bottle to his mouth before throwing it to the people in the first row, who either jumped for the bottle or ducked from the water coming out. Back on the apron the champ was looking at the floor, then up at the crowd in front of him, then raising his arms and spitting out a clear mist, letting the water settle over his body before climbing into the ring and waiting for his opponent.

The loud, thumping beat of HBK's theme emanated from the speakers placed around the stadium, making the crowd scream and shout for the Heart Break Kid. Almost obligingly he strutted out, dancing down the entryway as he always did. Slapping a few more hands from the crowd before sliding into the ring, Shawn Michaels looked at Triple H before spinning around and posing in the ring, his pyrotechnics flaring from tubes duct-taped to the ring behind him. After a few seconds he stood and stripped off his decorative gear, leaving himself clothed in his wrestling tights and boots and facing the dual champion.

The bell rang.

The two competitors circled the ring, looking at each other, waiting for an opening. Each knew the other all too well after their years of companionship, and you could tell by their eyes that each wasn't just concerned about the person in the ring with them. Shawn knew what was coming for him. The dual champ didn't, and neither did the crowd, who were near-silent with expectancy of a match that could be great if no-one interfered.

Soon they locked up, Shawn winning the grapple and placing Hunter in a headlock before being pushed into the ring cables that he rebounded off and ran shoulder-first into the dual champ, knocking him down. Shawn turned to the side, running to another set of ring ropes and jumping over Hunter, who was just getting up, before bouncing off the other side and running back to Helmsley, who used HBK's momentum to pick him up, one hand on his back and one hand on his legs, then spin around and slam him spine-first into the mat. The crowd booed, but HHH stood up and shook his head as if trying to get his brain connected to his head again, then walked off and rested on the turnbuckle as he waited for Shawn to get up.

He didn't want Shawn to get the clear advantage, but he didn't want to get the advantage either, for near-obvious reasons. As the thoughts about who could come out ran through his head he ran towards Shawn and clotheslined him, knocking him back onto the canvas from which he'd just been getting up. Another clothesline followed, then another, then another, before Shawn ducked the fifth and locked his arms around Hunter's waist, throwing the champ back over Shawn's head, back-first into the mat in a German suplex. A little groggy from the clotheslines, Shawn ran to the turnbuckle, looking to get the match over with quickly. He slapped the top of his right leg before stomping on the mat, sending the crowd wild.

The band was tuning up, and Sweet Chin Music was the song they'd be playing.

The crowd clapped along with his stomps, which sped up as HHH stood and slowly turned around towards Shawn. HBK took two side steps towards Hunter then raised his boot, aiming to hit him directly under the chin. The problem was that he'd hit someone else's chin. The referee's.

Almost as soon as the ref's back hit the mat Road Dogg and Raven ran out with chairs, aiming to knock Shawn out, because Triple H was lying on the mat and trying to raise the strength to get up – Shawn had misjudged the German suplex for his own good, landing Haitch on his head instead of his back. Before the two nWo members could hit the ring, however, a gong sounded and the arena went black. Both JayJay and Raven stopped and stared at each other while Shawn grinned expectantly. No-one would try going up against these two when they were together.

"Dead Man Walking..."

The crowd screamed as the sledgehammer-holding Undertaker and his half-brother ran out towards Dogg and Raven, who were busy trying to get the hell out of Dodge. They failed, and got slammed over the head with cold metal for their troubles. Instead of simply dropping the sledgehammers and punching their opponents into submission, however, the new Brothers of Destruction repeatedly attacked the nWo with their weapons, almost certainly breaking ribs. Triple H just stood, gaping at what was happening, while Shawn rested on the turnbuckle and alternated between looking at Haitch and looking at his protection. He didn't even have to worry about Hunter. The Brothers would do it for him.

The two behemoths turned their gazes towards Hunter, whose mouth opened in realization as he put his hands up towards them as if he could fend them off single-handedly. 'Taker and Abel could not have cared less as they advanced upon him, weapons raised. Both were grinning, if not maniacally than in happy expectation of a good beating on somebody who woul-- no, couldn't fight back afterwards. However, both forgot the cardinal rule of sports entertainment: always watch your back.

Someone in a black hooded jumper climbed over the guardrail, grabbing a chair from beside the announcer's table before sliding into the ring and standing behind the Brothers, sizing up a shot. He hit true, slamming Abel's spine with the painted-blue steel and sending the larger brother to his knees before turning his attention to the Undertaker, who had barely turned around before he got a chair into the face for his troubles. The stranger turned back to Abel and laid into him with the chair before slamming the Undertaker a few more times, but he never forgot the rule of wrestling.

Under the pretence of hitting the Undertaker one more time, he dropped the chair and picked up one of the two sledgehammers of the Brothers, turning around and swinging it – into the oncoming form of Shawn Michaels. The Heart Break Kid instantly bent over double, holding his stomach and gasping for breath to replace that which had been knocked out of his lungs by the sledgehammer shot.

The hooded stranger looked at the now-dumbfounded Hunter, sliding the sledgehammer underneath the ropes before flashing a thumbs-up at the dual champion and sliding back out of the ring, pausing only to poke the referee in the ribs with his sneakers in an effort to wake to poor man up. Hunter, meanwhile, pulled Shawn into the middle of the ring, and slumped over him in an effort to appear hurt. The ref, who was just on his feet, had no idea of what had happened (the Brothers had rolled out of the ring) and slapped his hand on the canvas.

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