1The house like structure seemed to be no bigger than the size of a small chapel of sorts. It was only one story with a slightly elevated roof. There was one strong tightly locked door and no windows. Truly, it was an odd looking, but the purpose behind it was even more strange.
"It can alter the atmosphere completely." Edge stared at the ground, Chris Jericho looked up. "The gravity, the weather conditions, terrain, everything." He looked up at Ric Flair. "How did you ever come around this?"
"Well." Flair looked at Chyna and then back at Edge. "As you know, Chyna was not too far from the explosion when it accord. But she received no physical powers." Edge nodded. "She was gifted with the incredible talent of an awesome mind. It's unbelievable, she pumped this out like it was nothing more of a model airplane. Of course I lent a hand because I had the natural resources, but this is mainly her doing, not mine."
"So." Edge turned to the beaming Chyna, he smirked. "I guess you're more of a help than you thought."
"Yea." She winked. "I just couldn't stand by and do nothing this whole time. Rocky must be stopped before the world suffers at his hands. And I know with this you'll be able to train enough in order to stop him."
Jericho looked at his watch, "So, how long do they have left?"
"It's only been an hour Chris, relax. They've still got a long way to go in there." Chris Benoit looked over at the door.
From outside it seemed still and calm, but inside...
The wind was icy as thunder roared and bolts of lightning flashed through the dark cloudy night sky. The gravity was set at ten times normal gravity. Eddie Guererro flew in the air, dodging the pelting rain, now turned to hail by the dropping temperatures. The huge bolts flew at the Super Star as he dodged the falling ice blocks, he shot beams back at the bolts to diffuse them. This training was intense, no human being could withstand it for a second, but Eddie was no normal human being, he was a Super Star and no matter what, if it nearly killed him, he would surpass Edge's power. Inside the shelter in the corner of the training chamber there was a large bed by the bathroom, on the other side was a small refrigerator and a microwave. Jeff Hardy sat on the bed as he watched Eddie in the rigorous training. They'd been in here for a month and Jeff still wasn't able to keep up with him. Sure, he'd mastered being a Super Star, but after that, Eddie seemed to deject him and continue his training solo. Now Jeff wondered if he forgot all about him in order to focus solely on surpassing Edge, or did Eddie see that Jeff was no match to ward off The Rock no matter what? Jeff looked up and stood up angrily facing Eddie's direction. A bolt of thunder hit the ground, exploding into a raging inferno as the gravity changed to eleven.
Back outside, in the real world in real time, things were slow. Two hours crawled slowly by, marking that they had been in training for about a month. If they were to stay in for the entire day, a year would have passed. Chris Jericho paced around outside, growing impatient. Chris Benoit stood away from everyone, he was in a state of meditation, preparing his body for the year ahead. Edge was on his cell phone, most likely with a worried Lita once again. Flair eyed his watch and then turned over to see Oolong pestering Chyna for a sip of her soda. Everything seemed so mellow and slow as they waited for the next turn in the chamber.
"What's that!" Jericho whirled around, causing Benoit to open his eyes.
"What are they doing here?" He growled.
"Who?" Edge hung up his cell phone. RVD, Crash and Rey Mysterio were flying towards them with Nidia and The Big Show in tow.
"Those fools, why are they coming here now, leading that duo here?" Benoit growled and threw down his title, ready for a fight.
"No wait." Edge stopped him by raising a hand. He looked up at them. "No, no I don't think they're hear to fight."
Jericho blinked over at him, "Then, what could they want here?"
"We'll see, I guess." Flair squinted out at them as the five wrestlers landed before the confused bunch.
"Hey guys." RVD waved as Puar appeared from behind his shoulder.
"Be you're surprised to see us, eh?" Crash smirked.
"Yea." Jericho nodded. "I'll say."
"What are you doing here?" Benoit asked Mysterio.
"It's ok, they've joined us."
"They what?" Edge shook his head, did he hear right?
"Yes." Big Show took a step forward. "Nidia and I realized that we're both fighting for the same cause. So why fight each other?"
Nidia nodded in agreement, "If we focus on teaming up together, we can take him out."
"But why help us, I mean, I thought you hated us." Jericho pointed out.
"No, Regal had some stupid plan for us to follow. Once we bailed on him, we were free agents, so to speak." Nidia explained.
"So what's going on here then?" Rey asked Flair.
"Jeff and Eddie are in their training session right now. After him will be either Benoit or Jericho and Edge."
"Can we go in?" Crash asked.
Flair shook his head, "I'm afraid we won't be able to. Not only will the device itself not hold up, but time is also of the essence."
Edge snapped, "That's right. We've only got a few days, the showdown is this Friday."
Jericho counted on his fingers, "Wednesday, Thursday, Fri… wait, Benoit, if you go after us, you won't have enough time to train!"
Edge smirked down at him, "Don't worry about Benoit, he's a tough guy. Besides, I don't think we'll have to use up our full time."
Jericho turned and blinked over at him, "What, really? Are you that sure of your technique?"
Edge just wore his signature smile, "You'll see, you just leave everything to me."
"Oh." Jericho was confused again. "Ok, then."
"He's right Chris." Benoit agreed. "Just don't worry about it."
It was late into the afternoon, almost evening, the boredom had settled in deeply. Flair had gone into his house to busy himself with work, Chyna had tagged along not soon after. Nidia and Crash were talking while Crash and RVD sparred. Puar and Oolong were running off playing and Big Show had nothing to do so he kept an eye on him. Benoit had finished his pre training ritual of meditation and looked over at Edge who was staring out into the sunset over the hilly horizon.
"Benoit?" Edge's voice caused him to pay more attention. "Do you think, he'll be ok?"
Benoit looked down at Jericho who had fallen asleep by his side, he knew that's who he was talking about. "He will be fine."
"Lita and I were talking earlier, about stuff. Chris is really dependent on us for a lot of things, Lita babies him like a mother and I'm his mentor. If something were to happen to me…. If Chris can't do it, he could get in serious trouble out there. Lita said herself, Jericho still isn't at full capacity, he's still weak with illness." Edge looked up at him. "Benoit, I don't want to risk Chris. We're closer than most brothers. I know he can do it, he has the power, but, the sickness is too risky to take into jeopardy."
"Edge, I know Chris feels the same way." Benoit sat down beside him and stared out into the setting sun. "Chris knows how much you pressure him, he wants to be good to make you happy, to live up to your expectations. He also knows he's not at full level, that the sickness is flowing within his body. But still he tries, he's very headstrong and stubborn, so I know he won't give up. It's not in his nature to quit, he will meet the expectation if it's the end of him."
"I know that too. And that also got me thinking. He's so determined and willing to please that he will go out to battle, and even if he knows he's not ready, he'll fight even if it kills him. If that happens and he defeats Rocky like that, how can I live, with that on my shoulders?" Edge sighs and sets his chin on his knees. "I was gone with Chris first got sick and the attack on you all happened. You have no idea how bad I felt knowing I was enjoying myself away on vacation while you all were in a suffering battle. I knew Chris was sick, I knew he still would fight, and I was scared Benoit, I was scared I was going to come home and find him dead, I really was. The whole time on the plane ride back, I had that thought in the back of my mind, I was debating how I could possibly live with myself if I came back to find him in a coffin, to find my friends in suffering because I was selfish enough to take time off at a time like this."
"You didn't know, none of us did." Benoit stood up. "Listen to yourself Champ, I know you have your sympathetic emotions but snap out of it!" He slapped Edge across the face. "Will you stop putting the blame on you? You think that just because you're the champion that makes you our leader! You think that all of this is your fault, well it's not, it's a mere coincidence! Nobody can predict the future Edge, things that happen are set in fate, it's nobody's fault."
"He's right, you know." They turned around to see an oddly familiar looking young man. "Even though I have the power of foresight, not even my predictions came to pass." Jeff. "You have the power to change the future of how things are set to be, not even I know what will happen, all I do know is if we do nothing, the world will be something terrible."
Edge stood up, "Jeff, you… look so…"
"Well, it has been a year." Jeff blushed. His hair was a ratty mess and so much longer it had to be tied back into a ponytail. His multi colored hair had faded and was mostly a dark brown green.
"And, Eddie?" Benoit spoke up.
Jeff smirked, "I wouldn't speak much of it."
They looked past him to see Eddie in his Super Star state. He looked so much buffer, they could sense the increase in energy, but it wasn't very much. They realized that he had failed to achieve his accomplishment of surpassing the Super Star state. Benoit wondered if it was even possible.
Edge nudged Jericho, he groaned and awoke, "Wake up Chris, come on, its our turn."
Jericho yawned and looked around, "Now? But it's nightfall."
"Yes, but the sooner we get our training done, the sooner Benoit can train, and that means the sooner we're ready to face The Rock. Now come on." Edge helped him up and they walked over towards the chamber. He stopped and turned as Flair rushed out. "See ya in a year!"