The Unmasking of Rex Red and Wolf McBlue
By: PernDragonrider (with major help from psav2005)
Disclaimer: See first chapter.
Note: I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to psav2005 for offering his assistance should I need it. Kudos accompanied by massive amounts of bowing and scraping at his feet. Without him this chapter would have never been written. Psav2005 stepped up to the plate when Ghost Zero disappeared and provided the information I desperately needed to continue with this tale. Any mistakes on what goes on with the characters from the wrestling world are mine alone. ENJOY! REMEMBER TO CAST YOUR VOTE as well as sending a review! Now on with the tale…
Chapter Seven
"Ladies and Gentlemen!" The announcer's voiced boomed over the sound system and almost completely drowned out the loud music that signaled the start of the event to the crowd and the fans watching on pay-per-view from home. "Let's get ready to RUMMMMBLEEEE!"
The crowd started cheering in earnest then. Rocky was looking around and he spotted a young woman sitting in the next section over. Her enthusiasm and excitement were obvious as she was almost bouncing completely out of her seat. "She's a looker." Rocky thought with a smile and then he took a second more appraising glance at her. Petite, with short wavy brown hair, blue eyes that fairly crackled with excitement, pale skin with a dusting of freckles and wearing blue jean flares with a tank top, covered by a red and black varsity jacket. "Wow! I'm definitely interested. I wonder if there's anyway I could manage to get her phone number and if she's local or from out of town." Rocky was drawn from his musings as Justin slapped his arm to get his attention. "What?" Rocky almost yelled at Justin because of the noise from the crowd and the music.
"Isn't this exciting!" Justin shouted, almost permanently deafening Rocky in the process since he'd screamed right into Rocky's ear.
"Yeah, it is." Rocky said with a smile for Justin's enthusiasm even as he shook his head to stop the ringing in his ear that Justin's close scream had caused. Rocky looked back at the ring and smiled slightly as he caught the still energetic movements from the girl he'd noticed moments before. "I'll be right back, Justin." Rocky said loudly as he rose and made his way up the aisle that was right next to him. I'm going for something to drink; want anything?"
"Not right now, Rocky, thanks." Justin yelled distractedly.
Rocky walked away and up the aisle to where the food vendors were located. He smiled as he got his drink and then purposely walked back down the wrong entrance to get to his seat. "Maybe I can at least find out her name and possibly score her phone number if I pretend I'm lost." Rocky thought with a smile as he sauntered back down the wrong aisle. When he reached the bottom of the aisle he looked around in pretend confusion and it just so happened that the girl he was slightly interested in was sitting in the same seat he was one section over.
"Excuse me miss." Rocky said with a small smile on his face. "I believe that you're in my seat."
"What?" The girl looked up at Rocky with confusion in her eyes. "This is my seat."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I think I got lost after getting my drink. I'm Rocky, Rocky DeSantos." Rocky replied, as his smile got wider and brighter. "Maybe I can at least get her name out of this."
"I'm Jessica Black." She replied with a smile. "He's not bad looking; but I'll bet he's married or something."
"I apologize, Jessica Black." Rocky answered with a playful yet serious tone of voice. "I just saw my friends all sitting in the next section over. I guess I did get lost."
"No problems." Jessica replied with a bright smile. "But the first match is coming up. You should really go and take your seat. Maybe I'll find you afterwards and we can have a chat."
"I'll make sure to wait by the entrance." Rocky said with a smile as he sauntered over to his seat just in time for the announcer to enter the ring and start working up the crowd for the first match of the night; Torrie versus Trish.
"Smooth, Rocko." Adam said with a smile as Rocky sat back down in his seat. "However by the looks you were getting from Aisha; you're in deep trouble my friend."
"I think you're reading more into Aisha's expression than is there, Adam." Rocky said without knowing that his face reflected the hope his heart was feeling. "You know that Sha and I have been friends since we were in elementary school. She's never given any indication that she's interested in me as date material."
"WOW!" Zack said as he caught his first glimpse of the two women making their way to the ring. "Jason didn't say this was going to have anything to do with babes like that!"
"That's Torrie and Trish." Tommy answered from where he sat between Adam and Tanya. "They're definitely built and I wouldn't mind taking one of them out for a night of fun and more."
"Be nice, Tommy!" Trini said from her place sitting on Adam's left. "Don't start something like that now."
"What?" Tommy asked as he attempted to school his features and voice into an expression of innocence. "I can't look and appreciate?"
"Neanderthal." Kimberly said under her breath as she shot Tommy and angry glare.
"Easy there girlfriend." Aisha said calmly and then as she looked up she made eye contact with Kat's mischievous twinkle. "He's a guy. He's gonna look no matter what we say or do; just toss out some comments and whistles at the guys in the following matches. That'll teach him."
"What and miss the chance to needle him about ogling women when we're sitting not ten feet from him?" Kat said with a faked tone of innocence in her voice. "Not on your life, Aisha. Besides I saw the death glare you gave Rocky when he was talking to that girl in the next section over. You need to tell him how you feel, girl. He's denser than Tommy is when it comes to stuff like that."
"Tommy's not dense." Kimberly said sternly even though her eyes twinkled with merriment. "He's just sort of lost when it comes to knowing when someone likes him."
"WOW!" Justin said as he and Adam were the only two really paying attention to what was going on in the ring. "Trish needs to hit Torrie with one of her finishers before Torrie winds up taking her down with those dirty moves of hers. Besides, Tommy's right I wouldn't mind scoring a date with either of them."
"Slow down, Justin." Adam responded with a smile. "First, both of them are way too old for you. Secondly, they'll get the match done when they're ready to end it. You need to calm down before you bounce out of your seat and join them in the ring. You're practically buzzing."
Rocky had been paying attention to the match; however Adam's words distracted him and he leaned forward and looked down the line of his seated friends and teammates. He met Aisha's eyes and was shocked to see anger flare just before she looked away. "Oh, now what." Rocky mumbled.
"Trish WON!" Justin screamed almost deafening Rocky and Tommy both with his happy shout.
Trish had finally maneuvered Torrie into the corner and took her out with her signature-ending move the Stratusfaction. Trish had used a combination by using the Stratusphere followed quickly by a kick to Torrie's head and then she put Torrie in a head-lock, bounced off the second rope, and bulldogged her into the mat; face first. Trish pinned Torrie for the three count and jumped up once she was declared the winner.
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Once backstage, Trish and Torrie practically flew into the locker room where Jason and Billy and the other male wrestlers were in various stages of undress.
"You never said your friends were gorgeous!" Trish accused the stunned and shocked Billy that was also blushing bright red because the only thing between his modesty and nudity was a small blue hand towel.
"I'm unsure as to why you are accusing and accosting me." Billy responded quietly and with a deep blush starting to spread over his entire body.
"They're absolutely freaking drop dead gorgeous!" Torrie complained even as she smiled and handed Billy a larger towel to wrap around himself. "You and Jason both kept that info from us. Just wait until we get our hands on Stephanie too. The guy with the short spiky hair is so totally mine."
"Back off, Torrie!" Jason said as he sauntered out of the shower wearing nothing but a smile. Trish squeaked and threw a towel at Jason as the other guys all started laughing even harder than they had been. "Just what are you two doing in our locker room?"
"Coming to strangle you and Billy." Torrie said as she turned her anger on Jason. "You didn't tell us that your friends are drop dead gorgeous, all of them; including the women. No wonder you two never date any of the lady wrestlers. With gorgeous babes like that as friends; you don't need us."
"First off, Torrie." Jason said with some venom and anger seeping into his voice. "Drop the spoiled brat act; you aren't in front of the cameras now. Secondly, Bill and I have known most of those ladies since grade school. Now, get the hell out until Bill and I can get decently dressed!" The anger in Jason's voice disappeared completely to be replaced by the deadly calm and stern bark of his leadership voice when he ordered them out of the room. Trish and Torrie both were surprised when they immediately obeyed and practically bolted from the room followed by the raucous laughter of the rest of their male co-workers.
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Rocky and Tommy were attempting to get the hearing back in their right and left ears, respectively, when Mark Henry's theme song, "It's Sexual Baby", started playing and Mark made his way to the ring accompanied by Mae. Kimberly's ears perked up at the mention of Mark's name and she just happened to turn her head and see Mark and Mae exchange what appeared to be a passionate kiss.
"Ew! Gross!" Kimberly squeaked as she hid behind her hands. "I had no idea he was into older women."
"Huh?" Trini and Kat both asked as Aisha just giggled.
"Nothing and I am NOT looking at or saying anything else for the rest of the night." Kimberly said barely controlling her stomach that was trying to turn over at what she'd seen; even as her face paled, she quickly hid her face behind her hands and purposely looked down at her feet.
Aisha and Kat chuckled and then turned to see what Tommy, Zack and the others were doing. They met Trini's amused gaze over Kim's predicament and the three just smiled wider.
The match between Mark Henry and Big Show seemed to Kimberly to go on forever. She was beginning to get a sore neck from looking down at her feet and wanted nothing more than to look back at the action that was going on. When the match was finally over with Big Show winning with a choke-slam. Kimberly sighed in relief and risked a glance to see Mae seeming to comfort Mark as they walked back up the ramp and away from the ring.
"You can look up now, Kim." Trini said quietly from where she sat next to Adam. "He and his paramour are gone backstage again."
"Trini!" Kimberly cried in shock and then she just smiled at her long-time friend. "Yeah well, you have to admit it was just a tiny bit on the gross side."
"I don't have to admit anything." Trini said with a smile at her long-time best friend.
The girls all had a good laugh while the guys looked on with varying degrees of ignorance of the total conversation showing on their faces. Only Zack had a smile on his face that showed he knew at least a little of what was going on while Rocky, Adam, Justin, and Tommy were totally clueless and just had differing expression of wonder showing over the girls laughter.
Adam and Zack were just starting to get out of their seats and go get drinks for everyone when a loud burst of music, very familiar to Adam, startled both of them. Adam smiled and just motioned Zack to sit back down. "This is going to be so absolutely crazy that you won't believe it, Zack." Adam said as he raised his voice where Zack could hear him over the blaring music.
"What's going on?" Zack asked in confusion as he sat back down in his chair. "I thought we were going for drinks."
"After this match we will." Adam said with smile. "The Hardy Boys are coming up for a tag-team match. I don't want to miss this. Besides Rex and Wolf; these two are my absolute favorite wrestlers."
"Fine, but if the girls start getting ticked; I'm going to send them to you." Zack said with a sigh as he made himself comfortable and waited for the match to start.
Zack didn't have long to wait as the fireworks show for the Dudley Boy's lit up the arena with their brightness. Zack relaxed and couldn't see what Rocky, Adam, Justin, nor Tommy saw in this stuff. Yeah the girls were gorgeous and built; but after being the first black Power Ranger he's not really impressed very much with the muscles or the fighting abilities of anyone he'd seen so far. "Jason could take down half of these guys without morphing and the girls, please; Kimberly or Trini could kick their rears all over Angel Grove without breaking a nail or getting their hair messed up."
Zack relaxed back in his seat and was just going to close his eyes when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He looked back at the ring and gasped in shock to see a huge aluminum ladder erected in the center of the ring. "What the HELL is that for?" Zack thought and then gulped in surprise as one of the other team started pulling out what looked to be banquet tables from under the fabric covering the underside of the ring.
"Adam?" Zack asked as he leaned forward and reached over Trini to tug on Adam's shirtsleeve.
"What's up?" Adam answered as he too leaned forward.
"What the hell is going on?" Zack answered and then gasped in shock as Devon Dudley pulled down Jeff Hardy off the ladder. He winced in pain for both men.
"Oh, this?" Adam said with a smile as he saw Zack wince. "This is just a normal Hardy Boys match, Zack. I told you this would be crazy."
"Yeah, but you didn't say suicidal." Zack mumbled and Adam smiled and went back to watching the match with an excited yet intense expression gracing his face. "These guys are absolutely insane. I thought Goldar and Rita's monstesr were bitches to fight against; but these guys make them seem like they're actually sane."
Zack continued to watch his expression switching between awe and winces of pain as Matt and Lita, Matt's girlfriend, held Bubba Ray Dudley across one of the banquet tables. He gasped in complete shock when Jeff Hardy came flying off the ladder with a somersaulting flip and landed on the man on the table. He was only vaguely aware of Justin and Adam's simultaneous cry of "Swanton-bomb, COOL!"
Zack watched until the match ended with the Hardy Boys smashing not only Bubba Ray and Devon Dudley through two of the tables the Dudley Boys had set up around the outside of ring, but they also slammed Spike Dudley, their 'half-brother' through one too. The craziness finally ended when Matt Hardy hit the 'Twist of Fate' on Devon Dudley and won the match. Zack shook his head in disbelief as he and Adam started up the aisle to get the drinks for everyone.
"Adam?" Zack questioned once they were standing in line to place their orders.
"Yeah?" Adam replied with a smile. He thought he knew what Zack was going to ask and was absolutely stunned by Zack's next question.
"What the heck do you think made Jason believe that Trini, Aisha, Kimberly, Kat, and me would enjoy coming to this tonight?" Zack asked and smiled as Adam's smile fell. "You, Tommy, Rocky, Justin, and even Tanya seem to be enjoying yourselves immensely; yet the rest of are sitting here totally lost. I mean I think I heard Kimberly and Kat talking about Tommy during that match but I couldn't hear exactly what they said."
"I don't know, Zack." Adam said with a serious expression on his face. "Tommy keeps insisting that everything that's happening tonight is a set-up; but I didn't have any idea that the five of you were anywhere near LA before we pulled up in the limo earlier tonight."
"That's what I'm talking about." Zack said as he and Adam took a step forward in the long line. "Jason goes flying off to a meeting in Las Vegas and leaves the five of us with free run of his house; but he forgets, conveniently, to get or give us codes so we can go out and explore while he's gone. That's not like the Jason I know. Plus we get a phone call from him earlier today telling us that a huge dinner, on him, is being delivered to the house cause we're going to have company for our night's entertainment. He doesn't tell us that our 'company' was going to be you guys driven up by Carlos in that big ass huge limo from whatever this "Ranger Space" place is."
Adam starts to reply and is caught off guard when the server behind the counter asks for his order. Adam gives his order and then moves so that Zack can add his order two. Both men carefully balance the drinks for their other eight friends and themselves as they maneuver through the crowd and back to their seats. They return to their seats just in time to see Mick Foley clobber Test over the head with a metal folding chair while the referee is lying in the ring knocked out. Test staggered over to the ropes near where they were sitting and then turned quickly around and stopped Mick's charging attack with the now dented chair with a well-timed leg raise that had Mick running into Test's size extra, extra large booted foot to the face. Justin was practically jumping out of his seat and booing Test fiercely when Adam grabbed his arm and forced the younger man back into his seat.
"Justin!" Tommy says with a sharp tone that sounded suspiciously like his old command voice. "Test could break you in half without thinking twice about it. Watch what you're saying before you piss him off. I really don't want to get creamed trying to keep you in one piece, again."
"Aw, you take all the fun out of everything all the time, Tommy." Justin pouted and then just as quickly jumped up and started booing Test very loudly again. "Kill him MICK!" Justin screamed and was not surprised when Tanya, Rocky, Adam, and Tommy jerked him back into his seat.
Everyone in the row with Justin knew that Mick had heard Justin's comment when he picked up the chair and again clocked Test upside the head with an unexpected blow. Tommy cringed while Justin screamed his delight that Mick was beating the crap out of Test with any weapon he could get his hands on.
"You do realize that we're going backstage after this is over with; don't you, Justin?" Tanya asked between her gasps for air, as she was laughing so hard she was almost crying. "You're going to have to face the man you just wanted Mick to kill and ask for his autograph, you know."
"I know." Justin said with a smile and a feigned innocent expression that didn't quite reach the devilish gleam in his eyes. "Test won't hold it against me, I hope. Anyway I can always play dumb and pretend that Rocky or Tommy was the one doing the yelling. They take punishment better than I would."
During their short conversation, another referee had taken the place of the unconscious one and Mick managed to pin Test to win the match. However, Test made sure to exit the ring on the side where Justin was sitting and he just stood and glowered down at Justin while Tommy, Adam, and all the others tensed and prepared to defend their youngest teammate from his own reckless actions and words.
Finally the tension was too much for Justin and he looked up into Test's angry scowl; asking very innocently, "What did you expect; you're the heel after all and next to Rex Red, Mick's my favorite wrestler."
"Next time; don't give Foley the idea to kill me! He doesn't need any help with twisted ideas." Test said and watched as the others around the young man visibly relaxed as he smiled slightly and walked away.
Tommy waited until Test was far enough away and then he jerked Justin almost over the top of a completely shocked Adam. "You are not to make any more comments for the rest of the night, Justin. You just got the last of your luck for today. One more like that and I'm going to tear you apart or let the next wrestler you piss off tear you apart. Understand me?"
"You will do no such thing, Thomas Oliver." Kimberly said from where she was walking by with Trini and Aisha as they were headed to the restroom. "Leave Justin alone and let him have fun. That man wasn't going to do anything to Justin other than try to intimidate him. Justin handled himself just fine. Leave him alone and let him enjoy the show!"
Tommy started to snap back at Kimberly in anger and then he looked at her face and saw that she meant business. It also didn't help that Aisha and Trini were both glaring angrily at him too. "Aw, Kim. You know I was teasing him." Tommy tried to adopt an innocent expression and failed miserably. He jumped in shock when Tanya punched him in the shoulder and it wasn't a gentle punch either.
"Stop it!" Tanya said as she punched Tommy's shoulder as hard as she could from her seated position. "I'm going with Kimberly, Trini, and Aisha. One hair is misplaced on Justin's head when I get back and you are going to be sleeping in the back yard with the dog!" Tanya jumped up and joined the other three women as they walked away leaving a laughing Kat, Zack, Adam, Rocky, and Justin along with a sputtering Tommy behind them.
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While the action was going off out front, Billy and Jason were working on a few tricky moves with Triple H and Hulk Hogan. They had just taken a break when a laughing Mick Foley came into the locker room followed by an equally happy Test.
"God, Jason!" Mick said as he collapsed onto the bench next to Jason with a sigh. "That young kid that's with your friends tonight really cheesed off Test and your friends."
"What happened?" Billy asked as he looked up from where he and Hogan were still working on a tricky hold.
"He screamed out "KILL HIM MICK!" At the top of his lungs and I proceeded to give a fan his wish. Test left the ring on their side and just stood there glaring at him in anger. I thought Test was going to get his ass kicked for real by the looks on the other's faces."
"Nah, just trying to scare the kid a little bit." Test said with a smile as he collapsed on the bench across from where Jason and Mick were sitting. "I'll give the kid credit. He didn't even flinch; although I did think the guys with the red t-shirts, the spiky hair and the one on the very end, were going to tear me apart if I so much as touched him."
"Possibly, Drew." Jason said with a smile. "However I think you'd have been surprised when the three women in yellow and the two in pink took you apart instead.
"Possible, Jason?" Billy questioned with a smile in Test's direction. "Make that an absolute certainty. Kimberly, Trini, and Aisha are protective of Justin; however Tanya and Kat are worse than the first three put together when it comes to anything to do with that young man."
"I know, Bill." Jason said with a smile. "Do they look like they're having a good time, Mick?" Jason's voice changed into a worried tone and the smile on his face dropped into a concerned frown.
"I think the ladies are enjoying looking at all the good looking guys tonight; while the guys are enjoying the matches more." Mick said with a serious smile. "Maybe you should have sent the ladies to the club like you'd planned in the first place."
"Negative!" Billy said quickly and so forcefully that all of the other wrestlers in the room were shocked at his vehemence. "The attendance of our female associates is required to keep Jason and myself protected from reprisals from the men until we are prepared to face them subsequent to the conclusion of this evening's performance."
"You think they'd attack you?" Matt Hardy asked in stunned shock. "Why?"
"Well, lets see." Jason said with a smile again starting to grace his handsome face. "One they have no idea what Bill and I do for a living these days. Two, they don't even know that Bill is around me; let alone sharing a house with me. Three, two of our best friends are going to take off our masks tonight and look into the faces of the last two people on Earth that they'd expected to see. Four, Tommy's always had a temper so he's really the only one I'm worried about. Five, Adam's wife is the only one that's in on the gag; however I think Justin suspects or knows that someone he's met or knows is under the masks from his comments at the Ranger Space a week ago. Do I have to keep going?"
"Suffice to say that we might not be acting when asking for your help in detaining our upset and possibly very angry friends tonight." Billy said calming down his big words once he'd had time to lose the instant anger that had jumped up with Mick's comment. "I apologize for my anger earlier, Mick. But the presence of the women will allow our male friends to remain somewhat calm and not actually kill Jason or I before they have a chance to think about what they're doing. Tommy, Adam, Rocky, and Justin all possess at least one or two black belts, if not more by now. While Zack is a formidable fighter in his own right. Kimberly, Kat, and Tanya are good in a fight; however Trini and Aisha both are accomplished martial artists as well."
"How are you going to be able to take all of them on in the ring then?" Shane asked with concern showing in his voice. "Stephanie and I only agreed to this cause you said you'd only be 'play fighting' with them."
"Well," Jason said with a devilish gleam in his eye and his smile changing into something between a smirk and an angry scowl. "For your information, Shane, I've fought all of them at one time or another and there's not one of them that can take me unless they gang up on me. Tommy and I are evenly matched in martial arts skills and the only one that would even give me a seconds pause would be Aisha and that's simply because I'm not sure how much of her Ninjitsu training she's kept up with."
"You sound like you've known them a long time." Hogan said as he stopped Shane's very obvious angry words by cutting in unexpectedly. "By the way, that club you took us all to last week was amazing. I can't believe you managed to get actual Power Rangers to work there. How did you manage that?"
"Grew up in Angel Grove." Jason said with a smile for Terry's interruption. "When I got the idea for a place that honored the heroes that protected our town for years; I approached a couple of them with the idea and they agreed to come and work there. They really liked my idea of a place where people could come and look at the old uniforms and stuff while having a place to dance, play games, and just hang out."
"Actually, Jason patterned the club along the lines of an adult version of the place all of us called our second home while in high school, The Angel Grove Youth Center, Gym, and Ernie's Juice Bar was our hang out since middle school." Billy said with a smug sounding tone of voice. "That's also where Tommy, Adam, Rocky, Trini, and Jason instructed me and others in the martial arts too."
"You still haven't said how you're going to keep your 'friends' from killing you in my wrestling ring." Shane said with a gruff tone of voice, but the anger had disappeared and was now replaced with some trepidation and concern.
"I don't believe any of them would actually kill either Jason or myself." Billy said with a smile. "Look Shane, they're going to be feeling a plethora of emotions at the same time when we're unmasked before them. Everyone reacts differently depending on which emotion is the strongest at the time. With having the gals here with the guys, they'll have the time to help them see reason. The only one that will still be pissed by the time they actually get backstage and see us will be Tommy. Jason is a very capable and accomplished martial artist and he can hold his own against anyone."
"Shane," Jason said his eyes crinkling with a smile that was slowly spreading across his face. "Don't sweat it, man. The worse that's going to happen is that Bill and I walk out of here with a few more bruises than normal. Neither Tommy nor any of the others would ever do anything to permanently injure, maim, or disfigure either of us. We've known these people for years and some of them we grew up with. We helped each other during the monster attacks Angel Grove has become famous for and we helped others out too. We're good to go on this and if I wasn't sure about how my friends would react to this situation; I'd have never forced Vince into going along with this by threatening to use the clause in our contacts that let Billy and I walk away at anytime. Relax and just enjoy watching the show after the show."
"You threatened Vince with using that clause, Jason?" Billy asked as his own shock and surprise showed clearly on his face.
"Yeah, sorry Bro. It was the only way he'd agree to letting anyone other than another wrestler take off the masks." Jason replied blushing slightly in chagrin.
"Okay," Shane said with laughter in his voice, as the others looked at Jason in stunned silence. "Now I know why Dad stayed home, back East, and put all this onto Stephanie and me. You'd better be right about this Jason or you might find yourself without a job. However, something tells me that you and Bill both don't need to do this for the money or for the attention from the fans. I know I'd miss seeing your ugly mugs around all the time and I'm sure your other co-workers would too."
The locker room erupted in a chorus of gruff "Hell yeah we'd miss them", along with various other affirmations of Shane's words. Shane just smiled and walked out of the locker room shaking his head at how easily Jason had gotten his father's capitulation for tonight's stunt during the show and afterwards too. "There is just something about the two of them that convinces you to trust them and that they'll manage to do what they say every time. Maybe that's why Dad backed down when Jason threatened to use that clause; anyone else would have been out on their asses so fast they'd not have time to blink."
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While the conversations were going on backstage, the audience was getting a break while everything was being prepared for the next match up. This was going to be a cage match between Undertaker and Edge. Everything was quickly prepared and the cage was slowly lowering down and covering the ring.
"Oh my god!" Kimberly said in surprise as she saw one of the referees that were approaching the slowly lowering cage. "Is that BULK?"
Aisha, Kat, and all the others turned at Kimberly's loud exclamation of surprise. "Wow! That is Bulk." Trini gave a small gasp of surprise as she confirmed Kimberly's guess.
"How the heck did he get a job working for the WWF?" Tommy asked in some shock, as Bulk never even looked in their direction.
"HEY! MONKEY MAN!" Justin jumped up and screamed out waving frantically in Bulk's direction. Bulk looked up and then smiled slightly at Justin's antics and his smile grew wider as Tommy, Rocky, and Adam frantically grabbed Justin and shoved him back into his seat.
"Keep it down, Justin!" Tommy growled his warning. "You'll give away our identities if you don't. Bulk doesn't remember us being there when he and Skull got turned back to normal!"
Bulk just continued to smile until the other referee that was with him said something and then he snapped his attention back to what he was doing. The only indication he gave that he even saw his old school mates sitting across the large ring from him was a quick wave of his hand that could have been meant for them or for his co-worker.
Once the cage was fully lowered and the two wrestlers had taken their places inside, Bulk never looked back at the group his eyes were trained on the action in the ring and his duties for tonight. "Jason got me this gig and I really needed the work. He said he might have a lead on a permanent position at some club here in LA too. I can't afford to lose this. Maybe I can get a chance to talk with Tommy and the others later on. If not Jason asked me meet him at his house tomorrow. From the address he's doing really well for himself." Bulk's thoughts ran through the back of his mind as he concentrated on what his duties were for the night.
Zack was sitting there watching the two wrestlers in the ring when he winced in pain because it looked as if the one wrestler, Edge, had just punched the other one in a sensitive area below the belt. "Ouch." Zack said and Adam chuckled because Zack wasn't the only male wincing from the cheap shot Edge took when Undertaker (Taker) was distracted by the referee.
The match went back and forth between Edge and Taker with both men seeming to get the upper hand over the other at various times. Rocky was cheering loudly for both of them and then it was his turn to almost deafen Justin when Undertaker won the match with his famous "Last Ride" powerbomb and then followed up with the three-count pin to beat Edge.
"Yeah! You show him Taker!" Rocky screamed in delight as Taker pinned Edge for the win. "American Bad-Ass is right!"
Adam and Tommy both smiled as Rocky's screams washed over them. Justin was furiously rubbing his ears and trying to get his hearing back after Rocky had yelled so loudly. "Sometimes being the same height as the others are is a total bitch now." Justin thought as he tried, in vain, to stop his ears from ringing.
Justin was still trying to get his ears to stop ringing when the cage was again secured high above the ring. He didn't see the expectant look that was now covering Kimberly's face when the announcer was calling out the participants in the next match. Tommy however caught a glimpse of her face when she slid forward in her seat and a large happy smile graced her face. "I didn't think Kimberly would go in for wrestling. She always griped when Jason, Billy, and I wanted to watch it during our movie nights."
Kane had already made his way to the ring and the usual explosions of fire from the corners of the ring had gone off. He was standing and waiting as Kurt Angle's theme music started and the former Olympic Gold Medalist in Wrestling strutted his way down the ramp from back stage. Instead of walking directly to the steps and entering the ring, Kurt detoured around the ring even as the fans were screaming in delight and others were chanting, "YOU SUCK!"
Tommy was one of the people screaming "You Suck!" He was therefore totally shocked when a small feminine hand made contact with the side of his head.
"Kurt Angle does not SUCK!" Kimberly almost screamed in Tommy's face. "He's one of the nicest people I've ever met and if you say that again, Thomas Oliver; I'm going to shut you up permanently!"
"But…" Tommy started to defend himself and tell Kimberly that he was only doing it because The Rock had started that not long after Angle had become a wrestler. Unfortunately for Tommy, he didn't get the chance because a deep male voice called out, "KIMBERLY HART! Oh, my god I never thought I see you after the Olympics!"
Just seconds after the voice made the statement; Kimberly disappeared from in front of Tommy with a whoop of delight as Kurt Angle picked her up into a crushing bear hug. Tommy frowned deeply as Kimberly's happy laughter and words seemed to pierce deep into his still stunned brain and now hurting heart.
"It's so good to see you too, Kurt." Kimberly's happy tone of voice was something that stuck a nerve in Tommy and he scowled darkly up into Kurt Angle's laughing eyes.
"Where are you sitting, gorgeous?" Kurt asked with a happy laugh as he sat Kimberly gently back onto her feet.
"Right at the end of this row, Kurt." Kim responded with a laugh and pointed to the empty seat that was at the other end of the row. "I just got up to shut up someone I thought was a decent person cause he was screaming you sucked. That's not nice."
"But expected, Kimmy." Kurt laughed and extended his arm for Kimberly to take as he gallantly escorted her back to her seat like a perfect gentleman. "This match is for you, gorgeous and talented one. Just wait and see." Kurt walked away before Kimberly could respond and blushed as Aisha and Kat both just winked at her.
Kurt quickly jumped into the ring and almost ripped the microphone out of the announcer's hand before it could be offered to him. "Now, now ladies and jerks!" Kurt started saying seriously, even as his face still bore a very bright and happy smile. "We've got another Olympic Gold Medalist in the building tonight. This lady can do wonders with her body when she's performing. If you catch my drift, guys? Please give a warm welcome to Olympic Gymnast Kimberly Hart! This young lady took three gold medals in the same Olympic Games I won my own treasured gold medals in. Put a spot light on her guys, she's in the front row right over here." Kurt pointed to where Kimberly was sitting with a semi-stunned look gracing her face. When the spotlight hit here she stood, smiled brightly with a quick wave to the audience, and quickly sat back down. When the spotlight left her she blushed furiously, which caused everyone but the now furious Tommy to chuckle.
"This match tonight is dedicated to a fellow Olympic Gold Medalist. This one's for you, Kimmy." Kurt concluded his spiel and casually tossed the microphone back to the announcer without even checking to see if the man managed to grab it before it clocked him upside the head.
This was the first match that Kimberly had made any comments on for the entire night and the rest of her friends were sitting in gape-mouthed shock as she practically bounced in her seat cheering for Kurt and booing Kane when he had the upper hand.
"What's gotten in to HER?" Tommy groused angrily. "She's quiet all night long and now it's like she's actually interested in wrestling. Okay, where's the real Kimberly and which bad guy has sent a really, really awful clone as a replacement?"
"Hey, just because you're jealous, don't bitch at us." Rocky said off-handedly even as he quickly moved to avoid the inevitable slap or punch from Tommy's direction. "I wouldn't blame Kim for being excited to see a fellow Olympian so shut up and let me enjoy the match, Mr. Jealous, ex-boyfriend incarnate!"
"I am NOT JEALOUS!" Tommy roared as he lunged to punch Rocky over the top of Justin.
"You are so jealous that you're turning your first signature color, Tommy." Tanya said as she laid a restraining hand on her shoulder. "Quit making an ass out of yourself and calm down. You can discuss this with Kimberly, like a person, later on tonight after the show."
Tommy slouched back into his seat and continued to pout and scowl darkly at Kimberly for the rest of the match. He was really seething mad by the time Kurt won the match by using a combination of his finishers on Kane. First Angle managed to get the much taller man into a position to use his Angle Slam. How he managed to hold Kane on his shoulders and lift him up to slam him to the floor of the ring was something Tommy didn't even want to think about. Just after using the Angle Slam on Kane, Kurt proceeded to drop down and force Kane to submit the match to him with his Ankle Lock submission hold.
Kimberly was bouncing and cheering so loudly that Kat and Aisha needed to cover their ears and even Zack was wincing at the high-pitched squeals of delight Kimberly was vocalizing. What surprised everyone was that she actually managed to get louder and higher squeals of delight to come out of her throat when Kurt was declared the winner of the match. Kimberly was all smiles when Kurt blew her a kiss before he exited the ring and she returned the gesture happily. This only made Tommy angrier and his eyes were almost glowing like they did when he was the Evil Green Ranger. Trini smiled and looked between the two even as Kat, Aisha, Tanya, Zack, Rocky, Justin, and Adam did the same thing. Their eyes all met and they smiled at each other with the knowledge that Tommy was at least still interested in Kimberly.
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A/N: Okay folks, there chapter 7 of this tale for you. I hope you enjoy this one as much as I enjoyed writing it out for you. Please send a review and let me know how I'm doing. Also, please remember to cast your vote as to whether or not Jason and Billy will be staying in wrestling or leaving. Massive kudos and thanks to psav2005 for all his help with the wrestling parts of this; any mistakes in that are my own and not his.
Thanks and have a great weekend and to those in the states. Happy 4th of July to ya! May the Power Protect You! Pern!