I apologize for the lateness of the chapter; I had some problems with it. All right, a whole bunch of problems, and as such I hope the ending isn't as weak as I think it is. Oh, and I think it's only fair to warn you that I SUCK at writing matches. So prepare for one of the worst fic bouts ever. Also, this ending, not to mention this fic, is what I wish would actually happen, and obviously not what is actually happening. With WWE's penchant for ignoring fans and talent, it'll probably be a cold day in hell before anything remotely similar happens. Well, with that said, on with the chapter.

Date Uploaded: 09 August 2005

Part 06 - It All Comes Together

"… And from San Bernardino, California, Victoria!" Lillian was announcing as the five-women battle royal was getting underway.

Both Alexis and Angel were already in the ring, eager and waiting for the others to come out. Trish was seated in the corner beside Lillian's chair to watch the match and personally hand the belt over to the victor. Victoria had barely swung into the ring when her music was replaced by 'Walk Idiot Walk' and Christy Hemme appeared at the top of the ramp, bobbing up and down like she normally did. "And from Temecula, California, the 2004 Diva Search winner, Christy Hemme!"

Christy got into the ring and immediately accosted the other three with dirty looks. Victoria merely smiled menacingly in return, Angel scowled back at her and Alexis ignored her altogether.

'Lovefurypassionenergy' hit and Lita came strutting out, and unfortunately was not alone. "And from Sanford, North Carolina, being accompanied by Edge?" Lillian seemed confused. "Lita!"

The happy couple continued down their way, and Angel gave both Victoria and Alexis a faintly horrified stare. Victoria pursed her lips as Lita got into the ring and Edge remained outside, leering at the other girls. Unbeknownst to any of them backstage in the lounge Stephanie gave an irritated sigh and picked up her mobile for another call.

Back in the ring the referee held up the Women's title over his head before handing it back to Trish. The bell was then rung and the match was on.

»»»

In the back Jonathan Coachman, now reasonably cleaner after a quick shower and a change, knocked on Eric Bischoff's office door. After a short moment it was answered by a curt, "What is it?"

"It's Coach, Mr. Bischoff," Coach said, wondering why on earth the door was locked. "Listen, can I see you for a moment? The Diva Search contestants are all complaining that the agreement they signed has been violated by what's been happening this past week."

After another short moment Bischoff said, "That can wait."

"But Eric…"

"What?" the voice this time was irritated, prompt.

"I thought you were as concerned by all this as I am, and why is this door locked?" Coach asked in bewilderment.

"I'm busy," was the answer. And again after a short pause Bischoff said, "Can we talk about this some other time?"

"But it's really important—"

"Coach," Eric barked, startling him. Then his voice mellowed. "Now is not a good time." Pause. "I don't want to be disturbed."

Coach cocked an eyebrow. This was highly unusual. But then again, that was unmistakably Eric's voice.

Suddenly a distinctly more feminine voice said, "Should I go?"

"Candace," Bischoff's voice sounded oddly authoritative here. "No, stay," he then said hastily.

Ah, suddenly Coach understood. He stepped back and looked around. "Don't worry, Eric, I'll make sure you're left alone," he whispered conspiratorially, obviously having been asked by Bischoff to cover for him in the past with other indiscretions. He made a small hand gesture towards the door and left.

Inside the office Azrael let out a relieved sigh. On Eric's desk she had hooked up Pyper's laptop to his computer speakers. She had opened a folder that baffling had sound files of Bischoff talking, all cut from various videos over the years. Apparently Pyper used them over the phone and such for blackmail, and it undoubtedly came in handy now. A quick call to Stephanie asking her to have someone deliver a message that Candace had the night off helped too.

Azrael leaned back in Bischoff's chair and browsed through other folders with similar content, including voices of Triple H, Stone Cold, Vince McMahon, Teddy Long and the Undertaker, rendered useless now considering he was back in his old Dead Man persona and no longer talked. Not surprisingly enough there was a rather full folder labeled 'Chrissie'. After a moment Azrael grinned and then picked up the phone.

»»»

Victoria and Angel started it off. They circled each other for a while and then locked up, Victoria getting the upper hand and scoring a snapmare. Angel was back up easily, though, but ran into a sidewalk slam. Victoria went for a pin but Angel kicked out. Lita then thumped Victoria on the back and tagged herself in.

"Victoria doesn't look happy about that," JR said at commentary. "Lita's trying to capitalize on whatever damage she's already done to Angel."

Lita lifted Angel up by the hair, garnering her a warning from the referee. She hit a somewhat messy snap suplex on Angel and then went to mouth off to the referee, giving Edge the opportunity to help out by choking Angel. This raised an angry cry from Alexis and surprisingly Christy.

"What the… what does Edge think he's doing?" JR demanded angrily.

"He's choking out Angel!" King said. "I know he's out there to help his girl, but that's going a little too far, especially on someone as pretty… eh?" King was stopped halfway as a crewmember came up and handed him a note.

Victoria jumped down from her post and smacked Edge on back of his head, making him let go more out of surprise than pain. "Listen, Edge, fuck off!" Victoria snapped at him, making those who could hear her cheer louder. Pyper, O-Gee and Juice were suspiciously not in their seats at this point.

Edge's response was the grab her in a headlock. "What was that? And why exactly do you think I should take orders from YOU?"

"Hey, let her go!" Christy yelled, as by this time Alexis also started to move over.

This potentially bad scene didn't last long, as Victoria nailed Edge between the legs. Some guys in the front row made a simultaneous grunt of shared pain, which spread as the scene was showed on the Titantron. Edge had no time to recuperate as the next moment somebody emerged from the crowd and clobbered him from behind. Matt Hardy, on what was to become one of his infinite 'crash' appearances on RAW, soon drove Edge backstage, officials right after him.

"Edge!" Lita screamed from the ring, watching as her boyfriend ran off. "You're supposed to stay here and—oomph!" she was cut off when Alexis, who had been tagged by a now recuperating Angel, knocked her from behind.

Alexis threw the redhead to the ropes who then rebounded and countered with a headscissors takedown. Lita then tried to roll her up for a pin, which Alexis reversed, which Lita also reversed, and Alexis reversed another time before the two of them broke it up. Lita then tried for a spear but was caught with a knee smash to the face and then a spinning heel kick that brought her down.

"Beautiful maneuver by Alexis Laree," JR said.

"Lita's got to be feeling the pressure now that she's lost backup," King said in an oddly subdued voice. "Alexis is no stiff in the ring, and now Angel and Victoria have shaken the stars out of their heads, plus there's the still fresh Christy not yet having her turn."

JR gave him a suspicious look. "Hey King, a women's match has been going on in the ring for nearly five minutes now and you've yet to say the word 'puppies' or make any suggestive remarks about the ladies. Doesn't seem like you."

King made a nervous clearing of his throat. "Ehrm, let's chalk it up to an off day and leave it at that."

JR frowned and peeked at the note that was slipped to King earlier. It said, 'King, a little memo; please refrain from making lewd comments and chauvinistic remarks during the women's battle royal. If you do you'll be in so much trouble the divorce proceedings with your former wives would look like a picnic. – Stephanie.' JR shook his head. Well, that explained things.

Lita, who had been kicked around the ring for a while by Alexis, rolled out for a moment, trying to regain her bearings and stretching the rules. Alexis scowled and made motions for her to get back in the ring, but then she suddenly stopped and grinned, pointing towards the ramp. On her guard, Lita turned around and promptly gave a scream as Kane stalked out, a dangerous smile on his face. Lita immediately bolted, Kane following her as she jumped the barrier and ran off through the crowd. The referee soon counted her out.

"And Lita is out of the competition!" JR announced. "Four women are left; who will hold the title by tonight? We'll find out, after the break!"

»»»

While this was a taping, it was still being held for the benefit of a television audience, so there was a momentary lull. Nothing much happened by way of the match, where Alexis and Victoria traded a few calculated blows, but backstage was a different matter.

As mentioned earlier Pyper, O-Gee and Juice were once again out of their seats. Exactly where they were no one was sure, but right before the break an incident happened that could only have Pyper's touch on it. The eight Diva Search contestants were all in the women's locker room, washing themselves off after the food-flinging episode of earlier. A couple of things then happened in succession; the lights went off, the water stopped and the girls were left naked, in the dark and stumbling out of the shower area for clothes that were no longer there. To make matters worse, the door was locked, the sprinklers went off, and a thick liquid began to splatter around the pitch-black area. All eight of them promptly freaked, unsure of what it was. They would soon find out it was actually paint, but that wouldn't happen for another couple of hours.

Oh sure they kicked up a hell of a racket. They screamed for help, banged stuff against the walls and tried to make themselves heard. Unfortunately for them the only person who could hear them was tied up himself; Eric Bischoff was in the storage area beside the locker room, trying to yank his mobile phone out of his pocket. He succeeded, but before he could fumble with it with his bound hands it emitted an ominous beep and died. The battery had run out. If Eric had been able to speak he would have no doubt belted a volley of obscenities at the inanimate object.

So why weren't he and the women heard? Ivory's doing. She roped the area off and spread rumors that there had been a gas leak there and authorities were checking up on it; no one should enter to prevent a possible fire. Needless to say crewmembers, stars and anybody else milling in the back gave said place a wide berth.

»»»

But back to the match. At the ring Victoria tossed Alexis towards a corner and motioned for her to get back up. Alexis began to haul herself up using the ropes, but stopped when Christy Hemme slapped her on the back and tagged herself in. The redhead then slipped through the ropes to face off against Victoria.

Alexis shook her head. "Hey, if she wants what's coming to her so bad…" she shrugged and got in the corner.

Victoria gave a nasty smirk. "Oh really, Christy, don't you think you should stand back and wait until we wear each other out so that you get somewhat of a chance at the title?"

"Mock me all you like, Victoria," Christy shot back. "I've taken you down in the past and I can do it again."

"Sweetie, I hate to break it to you," Victoria said as they circled each other, "but the only reason you thought you had the upper hand back then was because I was ordered you make you look good. Like Trish before that, and Molly before that. I have no such orders now, and neither do Alexis and Angel."

Christy's eyes widened as something finally clicked. "So this WAS a setup! That girl Azrael lied, you were all in it, you put this all together—!" that was as far as she got before Victoria rushed her and lifted her up on her shoulders, scoring a spinning flapjack.

Christy rolled away, but Victoria tagged in Angel, who quickly ran over and applied a half Boston crab. Christy, to her credit, made it to the ropes, but Angel yanked her away and slammed her heavily back to the mat. She dragged the redhead over to Alexis' corner and tagged her in. Alexis Irish-whipped Christy to the opposite corner and set her up for a superplex on the second rope, hitting it perfectly.

JR winced at the impact. "These girls sure are taking it to Christy Hemme. Christy's shown a lot of resiliency in her past matches, but a three-on-one assault like this can wear anybody down."

Alexis tagged in Victoria, who hit a standing moonsault on Christy before applying a leg scissor hold. Christy gave a scream and quickly tapped out, forcing the ref to call the submission.

"Christy's out! Talk about complete decimation; they didn't give her a single chance, JR!" King said.

Christy was groaning in pain as she rolled out of the ring. She looked up to see Victoria and Angel immediately get back into the action in the middle of the ring, not sparing her another glance. She got the point, all right; she was nowhere in their caliber and thus, with their message across, they could care less about her. She limped off towards the back.

"This match bites; none of the clothes are coming off!" one of the fans at ringside complained.

"Hey Christy, Christy, take your top off!" his friend hooted.

They were immediately victim to two large glasses of lemonade upturned on their heads. Pyper, Juice and O-Gee were back from whatever they had done backstage, also fresh from the refreshment stands as well. "You want to say that again, jackass?" Pyper yelled.

"Let's wrap this up," Victoria said in the ring, glancing out of the corner of her eye where Pyper and Juice were once again making a small scene.

"Right," Angel nodded. She dashed forward, attempting a flying forearm, only Victoria caught her in a spinning slam that had her seeing stars for a moment. She fortunately kicked out of the pin attempt that followed.

Victoria tried a DDT, but Angel reversed it into a waistlock suplex. Angel climbed the turnbuckle for a 450 splash, but Victoria got her knees up. A Widow's Peak later and Angel had been rolled up for the three count. It was down to two.

Alexis immediately shot out of her corner and went for a roll-up, but Victoria kicked out. Victoria mounted some offensive by hitting a clothesline and then applying a chicken wing to Alexis. Alexis clawed her way over to the ropes though, and held on with her free arm, Victoria utilizing the five count and letting go before she could get disqualified. Playing to her heel status, she choked Alexis on the ropes and then dragged her to the middle of the ring, laying on an armbar.

"I have to say it has been some quality wrestling in this match," JR said at the commentary table. "It's been a while since a decent women's bout has been aired."

"Not really, there was that lingerie pillow fight last—" King stopped when JR tapped the note. "Oh, right, yeah, I agree wholeheartedly with you, JR."

Alexis, crying out from the submission hold, managed to roll right over Victoria and mercifully touched the ropes with her foot. Victoria let go, but as she bent over to pick up Alexis the latter hit her with an open palm thrust that sent her stumbling backwards. Alexis kicked her in the midsection, and then hit the Laree DDT. She wearily went for the pin. One… two…

"She's got it!" JR yelled. "Aleixs Laree has survived four other women to win the Women's Title in this highly unusual match!"

Alexis got to her feet as the referee grabbed her wrist and held it up, the crowd cheering. Pyper and Juice had forgotten their squabble with the fans in front of them momentarily in order to root for her as well, along with O-Gee. Trish slipped into the ring and handed the belt to Alexis with a smile.

Victoria got out of the ring holding her head with one hand. She watched as Alexis held the belt up in the air, a beaming smile on her face. She simply gave a subdued smile of her own and proceeded towards the back as well, the fans applauding her as she went. Backstage Ivory, Azrael and Stephanie watched from their respective rooms.

Azrael's phone rang. She picked it up. "Hello?"

"Mission was a success," Victoria said to her, apparently having gotten backstage already.

"Yes it was," Azrael said, watching Alexis celebrate by means of the TV set in Bischoff's office. "But you do know that it's far from over, right?"

"Of course. But at least we've paved the way to a reform, so to speak. Thanks, Azzie, I'll let you get back to canceling your credit cards and tracking down your French stud now."

"Add Cabana Boy to the bunch; I have a few plans for him. See you, Victoria."

»»»

Epilogue (Of sorts…)

Christy Hemme was shipped off for some proper training at Ohio Valley Wrestling, with strict orders to release her back to the main roster only when she mastered moves other than the sunset and monkey flip, and learned how to take a fall properly. Bookers expect to see her back within the space of a year in the very least.

Maria Kanellis was ordered to either become a competent interviewer or a competent airhead, as she had been quite inept at either and John Cena could no longer carry the interviews for her. Ivory suggested a few shots in the head borne of a couple of wrestling matches. They seemed to do the trick; Maria became ditzier than ever. Smarks couldn't quite tell if this was a good thing or a bad thing.

Eric Bischoff was not a happy camper once he was discovered in the storage room, almost two days later. He attempted to file charges against the nine women who put him there, but was soon wrapped up in squelching rumors that he had been having an illicit affair with former Diva Search candidate Candace Michelle. Candace, for her part, had since jumped to Smackdown!

After the damaging effects of Pyper, O-Gee and Juice's plans on the last bunch of Diva Search contestants, the wretched contest was never held again. Although disappointed at having lost fodder to torment, Pyper nonetheless is still keeping herself busy pissing off the likes of Triple H, Kurt Angle, Carlito Caribbean Cool and scaring Chris Jericho and John Cena with her fan girly tendencies.

Speaking of Chris Jericho, he has since canceled his various credit cards and changed phone numbers after seventeen boxes of beer, a solid hundred boxes of pizza and bizarrely two crates of live chickens were delivered to him. While he has never been able to quite prove who pranked him, the note saying, 'Enjoy, – Amara' has given him a good idea of who to blame.

Showing that WWE will offer a contract to anybody off the streets, Azrael was asked if she was interested in a managing stint. Horrified at becoming one of the useless divas she abhorred, Azrael chucked the offer at the window, forgetting once again the mold had not quite hardened on the glass and thus dislodging and breaking it for the third time.

Lita, as far as one knows, is still keeping considerable distance from Kane, assuming their ride in the ambulance didn't do enough damage. Edge has lost it and become paranoid, claiming to see Matt Hardy jumping out at him from every angle at every moment of the day. His brother Christian signed his papers to admit him into an insane asylum.

Alexis Laree held the Women's Championship for four months before losing it to Victoria in a long stretch of impressive matches and feuds that also involved a recovered Trish Stratus and Angel Williams. With Stephanie pushing to beef up the women's roster, it is assumed that women's wrestling will enjoy a healthy push throughout the next few years.

Well, only time will tell.

END