(Summary/Disclaimers: See Chapter 1)

Chapter 8: Breaking The Habit

M-Chat:

MissHardyUK: I don't like the way Matt looks.

JMos20: He doesn't look happy.

Falcon360189: Happy? He looks sick! The guy's got bags the size of small foreign countries under his eyes.

Dariachick: Kelz and I noticed he looked kinda out of it when we went to that signing. And he wore that stupid collar!

Falcon360189: Have you noticed that he hasn't come on to the site to explain what's going on? From what Tamran said, even she and Kirby are in the dark!

ncredhead01: Don't shoot me but, what if it isn't an angle?

MissHardyUK: What? You're kidding right?

ncredhead01: Come on! Think about it? Why would Matt be wearing that collar thingy out in public if it was just a prop?

JMos20: I see what you're saying, but that would be low, even for the WWE.

Dariachick: Nothing's too low for the WWE. (angry)

Flashback: Backstage and Matt's dressing room:

Hurricane and Rosey flinch when the door slams hard in their faces.

"What the f…" Hurricane says, all the more confused at how his best friend is acting.

"You don't think that thing around his neck is real?" Rosey asks.

"God, I hope not!" Hurricane replies. "That would be really fucked up. I'd kick Vince's ass personally for ever agreeing to do something so stupid."

"HEY! What are you two doing back here?"

Hurricane and Rosey quick turn to see Edge approaching.

"We should be asking you the same thing, Stilts." Hurricane says as he crosses his arms. "Come to rub it in Matt's face that you stole his girl?"

"I didn't steal her." Edge says in an egotistical tone. " She moved on to something better than Hardly boy."

So pissed off with his attitude, Hurricane throws a right hook at Edge's face. However Edge sides steps and the punch connects with air.

"Weak.." Edge conveys through laughter.

Rosey grabs his partner before he could take another swing. "He's not worth it." he utters to the green haired superhero.

" You better hope that I don't see you in the parking lot asshole!" Hurricane shouts as he is dragged off by Rosey.

Edge watches them until they disappear down the hall and around the corner.

"Watch the door."

Two black clad figures appear next to him. He turns the doorknob, but when he finds that the door is locked he removes a key from his pocket then unlocks it.

Matt jumps to his feet when he hears the door opening. His body tenses up and he glowers at his unwanted visitor.

"Hey buddy! What's up?" Edge announces. He makes sure to close and lock the door.

Out of nowhere, he's jumped on by an infuriated Matt. Matt wraps his hands around his neck and slowly squeezes. Edge gags as his air supply shrinks. He reaches into his pocket then…

The collar glows a bright blue. Matt howls in pain as his body is attacked by electric currents. Edge quickly pushes Matt way from him then gets to his feet.

"I own your ass, Matty boy. In more ways than one." he growls out as he takes a small black box out of his pocket. On it is a read switch along with a dial. The dial goes up to 10. Right now the dial is 3.

"Was your buddy Shane in here? Did you go dumb and tell him anything?" He asks as he turns the dial up to 5. More current is sent through Matt's body.

"NOOO!" Matt grunts out in agony.

"I'm sorry. What was that?" Edge turns it up to 6. He looks down at his ex-friend's quivering body.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

He flicks the switch off. Smoke can actually be seen coming off the collar. "The Boss told me not to leave this on for too long. We don't want to actually kill you. After all, we still need to keep your mob of fan girls in line."

Matt makes a weak grab at Edge's leg. He only laughs as he moves it away. So worn out from the shock that he passes out just as Edge opens the door.

Flashback. Backstage. Same night. After the Edge/Matt segment:

Lita couldn't believe what she was seeing on the monitor. She blinks back a few tears as Matt twitches in pain and Edge enjoys it. What was this accomplishing? Bringing Matt and Edge into the same angle is crazy! Besides, wasn't Matt just brought in to control his fans? She thinks about the collar. The pain looked too real for just an angle. But that's how it's supposed to look right? Convincing enough to get the audience's attention?

She looks away from the monitor just in time to see Edge walking toward her. She walks away from the monitor to approach him.

"Can we talk somewhere private?" she asks him.

Together, they walk to his private dressing room.

"Did you see that?" he asks excitedly as he holds up the collar remote. A big bright grin spreads across his face. "With this I pretty much rule the world."

Lita's eyes are focused on the remote. "Does that actually work?"

He shrugs as he eyes the device in his hand. "I don't know really. They gave it to me and told me to flip the switch." He places his finger on the red switch.

"That's okay!" Lita says as she takes the remote away just before he flips the switch. "I mean, I don't need a demo. I saw enough tonight." She smiles sweetly at him.

Edge smiles back. "Relax. It's not real."

"I don't think getting involved in this angle with Matt was a good idea."

"I don't understand."

"Edge…Adam, getting involved is only dragging out our issues further." Lita nervously runs her fingers through her long red locks. " This will only hurt you AND me in the end."

"Don't you mean for you and Matt?" he says sarcastically.

A gasp escapes between Lita's lips. She couldn't believe he said that!

"What does that suppose to mean?" she questions.

"You still have feelings for him do you?"

She is speechless to him. Does she?

"Remember it takes two to tango and you wanted this as much as I did." He cackles coldly as he strokes her chin lightly. "A far as he's concerned, both of us can burn in hell…you broke his heart, Amy girl. But let's face it, you upgraded to a real man." He leans over then whispers in her ear. "At night you're singing my song all night long. Not his. Don't forget."

Edge walks away, leaving a very stunned Lita in his wake.

Phone call between Tamran and Kirby:

Tamran: Please say you've talked to Matt?

Kirby: No. I was going to ask you the same thing.

Tamran: People are starting to ask questions. Jeff tried to get to him, but they gave him a hassle because he's an ex-employee or some crap like that. (rolls eyes) And Matt hasn't called him back. It's like he's cut himself off from everybody.

Kirby: That angle's makes him look like hell. I still can't believe he agreed to do this shit just to get back into the WWE. I know he loved to be there but damn!

Tamran: (sighs) And who's bright idea was it to give Edge the "key" to Matt's collar? If they think that will shut up people and going with the storyline here, this is only to be more painful for Matt.

Kirby: You think Matt's talked to Amy?

Tamran: Probably, but I doubt it. (Looks out the window. Mumbles out loud.) Hasn't this guy found his way yet?

Kirby: What guy?

Tamran: This black Hummer's been driving around here for the past few days.

Kirby: Black Hummer? A Black H2 with a chrome grill?

Tamran: Yeah? Why?

Kirby: (walks out onto his balcony then looks over the rail) I'm looking at a Black Hummer.

Tamran: Gotta be coincidence.

Kirby: Coincidental to have started seeing these things not too long after Matt disappeared?

Tamran: (thinks) You know? Come to think of it, you're right Kirby! I'm going to put you on hold for a minute.

Kirby: Okay.

(Tamran places Kirby on hold to make a call to Jeff and Beth's)

Phone call between Tamran and Beth:

Beth: Hello?

Tamran: Hey Beth! How are you?

Beth: Tamran! Hi! I'm fine and yourself? How's Scott and Shawn?

Tamran: We all doing fine. I have a question to ask…have you or Jeff noticed any strange cars hanging around your house? Like a black H2 Hummer with a chrome grill?

Beth: (thinks for a moment) Well, Jeff did say that he did see a black Hummer a few days ago. The reason I remember is he kept going on and on about how he would paint it if he had one or something like that. Why? What's going on?

Tamran: I'm not sure but I think you, me and Kirby have watchers on our tails. Do me a big favor, hon. If you or Jeff see that Hummer, call the police!

Beth: (sounding nervous) I will.

Tamran: I'll call you later to check on you okay? When Jeff gets back have him call me or Kirby.

Beth: Okay.

Phone call between Tamran and Kirby:

Tamran: Okay I'm back. Looks like Jeff and Beth have a Hummer after them too.

Kirby: Crap! Forget this! I'm calling the police.

Tamran: I'm right there with you.

A meeting. Time? Place:

Person A: Matt had visitors backstage. Hurricane and Rosey.

Person J: The Tag Champions. Hmmm. Isn't Helms' like his best friend or something?

Person A: Yeah. Matt said that he didn't say anything to him, but he was probably bluffing just to get away from the collar.

Person J: We can't take any chances. We got to send out a message to Hardy that this isn't some game.

(numbers dialed. Phone rings 3 times before being answered)

Person J: (on the phone) Listen up. We have a potential problem and I need you to take care of it…….Not now idiot! In the ring!….Yeah, you and what's-his-face are going to get a No DQ Tag Team title match against Hurricane and Rosey…..Yeah, yeah. Thank me after you win. And you better win or else.

(call ends)

Person A: We got that solved, but we have another problem too.

Person J: Ah yes, Ms Dumas.

Person A: She's already been spotted talking to Matt. She even came to me talking about him.

Person J: (thinks) She's already hurt, so we can't do anything there. We can't fire her or Vince will have my head. …….I got it! If we can't really beat the fans, we'll join them.

Person A: I don't get it.

Person J: You will soon.

An Arena in Florida for Raw. During the day:

Hundreds of fans waited near the entrance to the arena to get a glimpse of their favorite WWE Raw superstars. Among them are members Ben (B1 & Only) and his girlfriend Mandy (Mandy I Am), Jon (Dv8me), and Groovy6998. Each person is wearing an orange THMcom wristband. They easily spotted one another in the crowd and decided to hang out. Besides wanting to see a good show, they also want to know if what is being said about Matt is true. While they wait, they talk.

"I'm just going to straight up ask him." Jon declares. "He hasn't been on the board in forever. He disappeared and didn't tell no body. And now he's on TV wearing a dog collar that fries him. Inquirin' minds wanna know!"

"And what if you find out that it's all an angle?" Ben asks. "What will you then?"

"I'd probably kick his ass for havin' us all worried about him."

"Yeah, you do that." Groovy adds then hands him a quarter. "Here's your $.25 in case you end up in the big house."

"Me in the big house?" Jon flexes the muscles in his arms. "I'm a Mattitude soldier. They can't touch me!"

Mandy adds. " You're right. They can't."

"Thank you!"

"It's kind of hard to get a grip on a skid mark on the sidewalk."

Jon looks at Mandy in shock as the others laugh.

"Oh relax!" Ben says as he puts Jon in a playful headlock.

"Hey isn't that Matt Hardy?" someone near the group announces.

Ben lets go of Jon. Along with Mandy and Groovy, the guys see Matt approaching the entrance. And he's not alone. With him are Antonio and Romeo aka The Heart Throbs. A dark scowl forms on Jon's face when he sees the much talked about collar around Matt's neck.

"Hey Matt! What's going on?" he shouts at the Sensei of Mattitude. "You don't like us no more? What's up the dog collar?"

Matt stops in his tracks. He slowly turns his pain stricken stare in the direction of the person's voice.

"I haven't forgotten you. I'm doing this for you." He says in his head.

Mandy can't help but stare in awe. She can't believe how bad he looks. His skin looks dead, almost pale. His hair is pulled back in a messy ponytail. He looks as if he hasn't slept in days.

"Damn…" Groovy whispers. "He really does look like he's been thru hell. You can't fake that."

"Shut up loser!" Antonio yells at Jon. He then turns to Matt. "Keep moving Hardy…" His growl snaps Matt out of his trance.

The crowd boos and hisses at the Heart Throbs. Romeo violently grabs Matt's arm and practically drag him into the arena.

"What the hell?" Ben exclaims.

After the talent meeting:

"Lita, we need to talk."

Johnny Ace holds Lita and Edge after the meeting. Lita looks warily at Edge. Edge, however, doesn't even give his girlfriend a glance. His attention is all on Ace.

"I've already talked to Kane and Edge about this." Ace beings. "You're going to turn heel and join Edge."

"What?" Lita gasps in shock. "But…why?"

"Come on babe. The fans hate you right now anyway. Might as well go with the flow." Edge comments with a cocky grin.

"We can't ignore the tide. We all know Vince needs to make money." Johnny Ace adds.

Lita eyes both her boss and her boyfriend with uncertainty. Could they actually condone using something so personal to make money? Could she? And what about Matt?

"I'm not sure. I don't know if Edge and I should be seen together. Especially on TV." She replies.

Edge's boisterous laugh causes her to jump. He reaches his arm around her waist. He digs his fingers into the side of her stomach so hard that she softly grunts in pain.

"She's okay with it, Mr. Laurinaitis. Don't worry. We'll pull it off tonight." he says.

After Johnny Ace walks off, Edge turns a baneful eye on Lita. "You better straighten up, Amy." he hisses at her.

She forcefully shoves Edge away then grabs her side. "What the hell was that for?"

"Your feelings for Matt are clouding your judgment. You keep thinking like that and you could end up unemployed, never to wrestle again."

"It's not even like that!" she spits at him. "If you weren't so busy trying to get into Laurinaitis' ass you would see that this storyline he's doing is wrong not only for Matt but for you as well. You see how people are treating us! Do you not know or do you not care!"

Edge sneers and looks down at her with resentment. "Or maybe it's safer for us to go with the flow and not end up like Matt."

Lita blinks a couple of times, a little taken aback at his statement.

"So don't stand there and act like you know me, Amy Dumas. You don't!"

For the second time, Edge walks away leaving a stunned Lita behind.

M-Chat during the Heart Throbs/Hurricane & Rosey match :

Blackmonsangel: Can someone again tell me why the Heart Throbs deserved a Tag Title match? A no DQ match at that!

Xipe: They kissed a lot of ass? I don't know! (confused)

Sambodhi: I think the gimmick is what's pissing off a lot of people.

DKat1976: Well they're doing a good job in that department. (angry)

TDragon316: You can't get too upset with these guys. It's not like the Tag Team division is overflowing with good tag teams right now.

Blackmonsangel: And who's fault is that? If it isn't centered around Triple H, then Vince and his yes men are not going to put much effort into it.

DKat1976: I know! Just look at the women's division.

Sambodhi: Oh please. Let's not bring that up. Poor Trish and Victoria. To be surrounded by bimbos (sad)

Xipe: uh oh…Steel chairs. not good.

DKat1976:…the hell?

In the ring on Raw :

Antonio tosses Hurricane out the ring. The superhero hits the mat outside with a splat. He and his partner can now focus on a disoriented Rosey.

Hurricane and Rosey had been on the defensive since the match started. It's like the Heart Throbs are intentionally trying to hurt them! First off, they didn't even knowthis match was set up until the talent meeting and second didn't catch up with the Heart Throbs until 10 minutes before the match to work things out. Hurricane slowly moves toward the apron then uses it to pull himself into the ring. He comes in just in time to see that both Antonio and Romeo have steel chairs and are about to pull an E & C move: The con-chair-to. Hurricane gets to his feet, then bounces himself into the rope. When he comes off the ropes, he's able to run and push Rosey out of the way just as the chairs start to swing. Unfortunately he took the full force of the blows. He was out before his body hit the mat!

M-Chat :

Xipe: Holy….ouch!

Hardykat has entered the M-Chat

Hardykat: Dayum! Did you see that?

DKat1976: See it? I felt it!

TDragon316: Crap! The Heart Throbs are now the new Tag Champions. Say good bye to the tag team division. (rolls eyes)

Hardykat: OMG! It's Matt!

In the arena at Raw :

The Heart Throbs' celebration is cut short as the crowd explodes into cheers as Matt Hardy runs down the ramp toward the ring then slides in. He attacks Antonio first then his partner Romeo. Matt then grabs one of the steel chairs, ready to take out who recovers first. Antonio is the first to his feet. Matt lifts the chair; ready to swing when all of a sudden the painful electric currents from the collar ravage his body. He immediately drops to the mat, writhing and moaning in pain. The Heart Throbs take the opportunity to kick and punch the fallen Hardy Boy. The attending crowd turns rabid with its disapproval.

M-Chat :

Hardykat: WTF! Ain't somebody gonna go down there to help him? He's getting beat down for no reason!

MissHardyUK: (cry)

Corazon de leon : come on! this is overkill!

TDragon316: …………

In the arena at Raw :

Thankfully the collar had been turned off, but Matt's so weak from it and the beating he's getting from the new tag champs that he's barely coherent. Romeo lifts him up to his feet and holds him up while Antonio continues to slap and yell at him.

"Come on!" Jon yells from the crowd. "Enough already! He's already out!"

Ben, Mandy and Groovy, boo along with the crowd.

Backstage :

Lita grabs the first thing that she sees: a black steel chair. She's only 10 feet from the entrance into the arena when she is suddenly grabbed then pinned to the wall.

"Let me go!" she shouts trying to get free.

"You can't go out there!" Edge shouts back. "You could get hurt!"

"I don't care!" Lita exclaims! "Look what they're doing to Matt! He needs help!"

"So you're going to go out there on an already bad knee with a steel chair and start swinging for the fences?"

Lita stops the struggle. A loud clanging noise is heard when the chair hits the floor. The angry mask on the red haired diva's face however doesn't disappear. Referees run past the couple toward the ring to stop the carnage.

"You can't help him. He doesn't want it. And you going out there could have messed it up for both of us."

Lita breaks out of his grip then walks away.

M-Chat :

Lori: (roll eyes) Refs to the rescue

JMos20: Took them long enough.

Hardykat: this is f'ed up.

Em-Ah: You people need to chill. It's just a story line.

Lori: So you're saying that it's alright to electrify someone on live TV?

Em-Ah: I'm just saying you people are taking this thing way too seriously.

MikeMAN: you people? what's that suppose to mean?

NineTails: Now their calling for EMTs.

panthers20 has entered the M-Chat

Melody has entered the M-Chat

Melody: Poor Matt! (cry)

Panthers20: I just turned on raw. What happened to Matt?

Hardykat: He got attacked by the Heart Throbs.

Panthers20: WHAT?

Emily has entered the M-Chat

Emily: (mad:) I bet Edge turned on his collar because he went out to help his friend.

Em-Ah: why are you guys blaming this on edge? Learn how to separate fact from fiction! IT'S A STORYLINE matt's not hurt for real.

Panthers20: if it's a story line, then why does matt look like crap when fans meet him? Usually matt look all clean and stuff, but now? So everybody that has seen matt or talked to him is lying.

Em-Ah: I'm not saying that! What I'm saying is that you can't blame edge And lita for everything that happens to matt. Besides if matt hadn't been such a cry baby and told the world he probably won't be going through this dram anyway.

Em-Ah: you wanted him back into the wwe and he is so what's the problem?

Hardykat: he's stuck in a stupid ass angle pretty much about the reason he got fired in the first place!

sleepingdahlia has entered the M-Chat

sleeping dahlia: Am I the only one here not liking where this is going?

JMos20: Nope you're not.

Melody: I don't like it either.

dariachick has entered the M-Chat

Em-Ah: if matt kept his mouth shut then he wouldn't have gotten fired. If people didn't start those chants then the wwe wouldn't have had to create said angle and re-hire matt. Matt's not a saint so stop making him out to be one.

Dariachick: If Edge and Lita hadn't slept around behind Matt, none of this would have gotten started. So guess who's the blame?

Em-Ah: (roll) People make mistakes. Get over it! You people need to stop acting like you know what it's like to be in matt's place or that you know him. And FYI: Edge and Lita didn't do anything. It was Adam and Amy.

Nine Tails: Why is it that I only see you, Em-Ah, when there's something to cause a potential argument on this board?

Nine-Tails: I'm all for discussion, but you seem to ignore any of the other threads and discussions in here (the Matt pics thread, threads about artwork, or any of the 'fun' threads), and home straight in on the ones where you can try and cause an argument?

Hardykat: At this point in time we're sharing the exact same thought. Thank You.

Dariachick: I'm just here to post and share the mutual love for Matt and my friends. Yes, I support Matt, yes I'm anti-WWE, and yes, I do chant if I do catch a glimpse of WWE programming. I'm not ashamed to admit it. In fact, I'm proud of it!

Dariachick: You can say all the things you want to say about me and the other MF'ers here on the board. Nothing will ever stop me from posting and showing my undying support for Matt and his fans

Hardykat: you are so not making friends today

Em-Ah: Sorry I don't have the time to sit here all day and post "daTasss awesome! he's sooo hoooOOOottt!" over and over and post in every thread so I have a post count over 1645234546456.

Em-Ah: And sorry some of you can't handle my opinions because it differs from yours.

Hardykat: you know! People like you are what's wrong with this whole situation. There is a fine line between constructive criticism and being an all out bitch. Guess what I'm thinking you are? MF'ers wouldn't need to be on the defensive if trolls wouldn't come to our board and cause trouble.

Em-Ah: I'm not here causing trouble! I'm a Matt Hardy fan too, but I just don't agree with his decisions. If I say something about it, I'm labeled a troublemaker or a troll.

Tamran: okay that's enough! It's simple….don't like it...don't have to be here...don't know why some of you are anyway..

Tamran: you say you support matt..but like nine tails said you never post in the threads with out trying to cause problems...but whatever.

Tamran: stop with the trouble making...really! got a problem? you PM me about it!

Em-Ah: (roll eyes) Such love for double standards.

Hardykat: (mad) Em, shut up! Not another word from you for the rest of the night!

Nine Tails: LOL

Dkat1976: (shock)

Corazon de leon : (applauds) :lol:

Em-Ah has left the M-Chat

Hardykat: Sorry Tamran. Sorry everybody, but she was pissing me off.

Lori: I wish there was something we could do to help Matt.

JMos20: as if the WWE listens to us anymore.

Dariachick: We need to start an invasion! Show the WWE that we're not gonna take crap from them any more.

Hardykat: you know daria? That sounds like a damn good idea.

Dariachick: it is?

DKat1976:Uh oh Cee. What are you thinking?

Hardykat: (evil smile) I think it's time we went in and saved our sensei