Part Seventeen
Lita took in her surroundings, figuring her next shot at escape would be when whoever Bischoff had called showed up with the car at
the docks. Looking around, she quickly saw her choices would be limited. She could try to get past the docks to the outside area,
but that would mean getting through Bischoff and this mystery person. That probably wouldn't be successful without a weapon of
some sort. She could go back the way they came, through the labyrinth of hallways. If she could remember which way was what,
that would work. Of course at the time, she was more concerned with getting away from Bischoff than memorizing her path. Looking around again, she noticed the steel ladder and steps directly behind her. Where did those lead? Her eyes followed the ladder as it connected to steps to a catwalk of sorts above them. It seemed to be a steel walk suspended above them, probably used by maintenance personnel or as a fire escape or something. She couldn't see where it led to. Hmm, she thought, that could be an option.
She was brought back to the current situation when a late model four door sedan pulled into the loading area. There appeared to be two
people inside the car. Quickly, she was jerked to her feet by Bischoff and led out into the open area. "Not so tight," she slapped at the man as he pulled her towards the car. She lunged to get away, but that just caused Bischoff to secure her around the waist, and half-carry her towards the car.
"Well, I see you brought a guest," the driver said, getting out of the car. Lita felt her heart sink to her feet as she recognized the
voice. Stopping her struggle momentarily, she looked directly into the eyes of Hunter Hearst Helmsley. Hunter was joined at his side
by his current manager, Ric Flair.
"Yeah, I'll explain later, guys, but for now, Lita comes with us."
"I don't get it, boss. Why we need the girl?" Ric asked.
"She and her little friends have some documents I need back," he answered moving his unwilling captive towards the car. "We can use
her to get them back."
Hunter nodded. "Toss her in the back." He chuckled then, and walked up to Lita invading her personal space. He looked her up and
down, then settled on her eyes. "Unless you think we should put her in the trunk. I've tangled with this wildcat before." He tapped
her lightly on the nose for emphasis.
Lita shot daggers at Hunter as she defiantly held her ground. Inside though, she was terrified. There was no way she could escape
the three of them. She was severely outnumbered. She kept up her icy exterior, returning Hunter's stare. "Bite me, Hunter."
"Anything you want, baby. Maybe later though. We gotta go now." Hunter stepped aside, allowing Bischoff to push Lita towards the
back passenger door of the car. Hunter walked to the front driver's side, while Flair entered the car on the passenger side.
"Hey, Bischoff, you looking for us?" the loud voice of Matt Hardy interrupted their progress as he and Jeff tore around the corner and
was running hard for the group at the end of the arena.
"Let her go, bastards," Jeff snarled, lunging himself towards the car. Hunter and Ric leapt out of the car and in a flash were trading blows with the Hardys.
Bischoff had thrown Lita into the backseat when the Hardys made their presence known. Seeing the opportunity, Lita used Bischoff's
distraction to her advantage. Using both legs, Lita planted her feet on Eric's chest and pushed him backwards, landing on his backside. She scrambled out of the seat and out the door, runningfor the nearest safety. Assessing the situation, she figured the best way to go would be up. She ran for the steel ladder, climbing it quickly to the steel stairs which would lead to the catwalk.
Bischoff was up and after her instantly. "Come back here, Lita!" he snarled. Leaping up, he hoisted himself up the ladder and began
climbing the stairs after her. He was only a few feet behind her.
Lita's heart raced. She knew she was slower than she normally would be, given her limited strength and recovery. She'd been working
hard, but still wasn't as quick as she use to be. This was proving to be a small plus for Bischoff. Go, go, go she willed her legs to carry her up the stairs faster. She used her arm strength on the rails for additional support and to spur her along. Finally, she reached the top, pausing just a moment to catch her breath, afraid her rubbery legs would betray her. She leaned just a second on the rail and looked behind her. Damn! He's still coming. She took off again, running along the steel catwalk floor. The floor was made in an open pattern, meaning there were small open slats behind each joist, allowing her to look down to the concrete floor so far below. She willed herself not to look down and ran hard for any type of exit point.
On the floor
Matt was fighting Flair with everything in him, trading blow for blow. His body was tired and hurting, but there was no way he could
give up now. They'd found Lita and he wasn't about to let her slip away again. He wasn't sure exactly where she was at the moment, he
knew she'd made a run for it. Flair wasn't exactly giving him the chance to stop and look around.
On the other side of the car, Jeff was taking a beating from "The Game". Hunter was manhandling the younger Hardy, given he was much larger than him. Hunter picked Jeff up and beat him in the face then dropped him to the floor. Using his agility, Jeff swept his
legs under the larger man's, effectively dropping him onto his back on the floor. Quick as a cat, he was on him, giving back to him the
beating Hunter had been giving him earlier. He looked up suddenlywhen he heard a thunderous crash. He couldn't see, partly because
he'd been busted open and blood was dripping in his eyes. He hoped the crash hadn't been caused by Matt being tossed into the storage
trunks. His pause was enough to give Hunter a chance to gain the upper hand, and the two refocused on their fight once again.
"Ugh," Matt groaned as he climbed slowly to his knees. The wind had been knocked out of him as Flair had pushed him unmercilessly into the equipment trunks. Man, but did that hurt. He felt a burning sensation in his ribs and chest. Great, he thought, two or three
cracked ribs. Looking over at Flair, he noticed the older man getting to his feet slowly, catching his own breath. Matt began to
push the trunks out of his way, intent on getting upright again and attacking Flair again before he could set in on Jeff. A metallic glint caught his eye behind a trunk. Pushing it away, it was if someone had given him the golden scepter; for there lay a perfectly good folding chair. Matt grabbed the new weapon and rose to his feet, intending to put an end to this madness now.
On the catwalk
Lita heard the loud crash, the sound reverberated on the cement walls and echoed off the ceiling tiles. She paused, looking over the rail for a glimpse of what had happened. She saw her ex-boyfriend laying in a heap amongst a pile of broken and scattered trunks. Flair was a few feet away, bent over and breathing hard. "Matt! NO! Please, be ok. Are you alright?" she cried.
"Too late for him, Lita!" shouted Bischoff. He'd reached the top of the stairs and was stalking her menacingly.
His presence got her attention, and she whipped her head around and gasped. "No!" she cried and took off running again. But her trek
was short-lived; she rounded a corner and within twenty feet reached the end of the road. The catwalk had been blocked off, the path turned into a storage area for lighting equipment and other assorted boxes. Lita attempted to move one of the boxes in an attempt to get past the road block. Unfortunately, the box was way to heavy for her to even budge. "No, no, no" she screamed in frustration, kicking the obtrusive object for emphasis.
"Ah, I see we've reached the end of the yellow brick road, haven't we?" Bischoff said, standing cockily a few feet away.
On the floor
"Crack!"
Flair fell to the floor unconscious as Matt stood over his limp body. The chair had done what it was supposed to, taking the former
World Champion down and putting him out.
"Nighty, night, Ric," Matt gloated. "See you in a little while". Matt stepped over his body and locked eyes with his brother, who was
currently trading punches with Hunter. Hunter's back was to Matt.
"Give … up… now… Hunter," Jeff seethed. "Or .. else..." He was out of breath.
"Or what, freak? You gonna hurt me? Keep trying," Hunter grunted back.
"Ok, don't say I didn't warn you," Jeff said, and ducked an oncoming punch.He spun around and bolted behind Hunter. Hunter turned
around, just in time to see Jeff standing behind his brother, who held a steel chair above his head. He had a very pissed-off look on
his face.
"Crack!"
On the catwalk
"Don't come near me, Bischoff," Lita said, holding her hand out as if to stop him from approaching. He took slow, purposeful steps
towards her speaking with spite as he went.
"Or what? You gonna tell on me? You've already tried that, bitch." He took another couple steps closer.
"I'm warning you, Eric. Stop now. You don't want to mess with me." She moved away from him as far as she could, bracing herself
against the edge of the railing. She had literally no where else to go. Her mind raced. It was fight vs. flight and her option for flight had disappeared. Lita steeled herself to fight if she had to.
"Oh, but Lita. I do want to mess with you. You have become a major pain in my side. And I intend to end the pain." With that, he
bolted towards Lita.
Lita screamed as Eric rushed at her. She wasn't sure if it was her natural instincts, an adrenaline rush, or all her wrestling training that kicked in, but she went on autopilot. Eric rushed her, his arms raised, intending on grasping her around her neck and choking her. Before he could get a grasp on her, Lita countered. As he ran at her, she used his momentum, reaching down to his waist, planting
her feet and lifting him up and over her shoulder, tossing him into the air. It was a move she'd used on her in-ring opponents many
times in the past. Eric waved frantically as his body left the safety of the catwalk. He plummeted over the edge of the catwalk, a
pile of trunks and boxes splintering into hundreds of pieces as he landed on them below. Lita clasped a trembling hand over her mouth
as she looked at his body lying in a heap below, unmoving. She couldn't believe what had just happened. Her legs then finally gave
in, and she crumbled to the steel catwalk in a heap, tears streaming down her face.
TBC...