Chapter 13: The Last Step
Hotel in Georgia: 8:45pm:
Ric Flair had been through quite a bit within the past week and hopefully, nothing else would come of what happened several days ago. He set down his bags on the hotel's lobby floor as he pulled out his ID to show to the desk clerk.
"Room for one, please?" Ric said as he handed over his ID card. The woman standing right before him had brown eyes and bright red hair. 'So darn tempting,' he thought as he watched her slide the card into the data base in the computer scanner, 'I have seen all these beautiful women and none of them are charmed by my hansom good looks. What is this world coming to?'
"Your room is number 235, have a nice night." The woman replied with a smile on her face. Ric just smiled back.
"You too, ma'am." He said as he winked at her and walked toward the flight of stairs. He hadn't noticed it, but the woman had winked right back at him during his departure. He ran up the stairs and toward his hotel room door. The numbers were strangely crooked and gold plated. Usually they were silver plated and remained upright. Maybe this was just an older hotel room, he thought as he slid his room key through the lock. Once inside the door frame, he could tell something was a miss. There was a strange scent to the room, an order if you will that he couldn't necessarily place. Thinking it was his own imagination, he sighed and walked into the main bedroom, and that was when he nearly had a heart attack, seeing the man who was standing right before him, inside of his hotel room! "Kurt…..what are you doing in here? How did you get in here?" He asked as his face grew blanched.
"Ric…please don't call the cops, because I am here to do you a favor…." Kurt approached him ever so slowly and continued talking. "Ric, please, I am doing you a favor…..you should be feel lucky and thankful right now that you're not dead! But if you don't cooperate with me, you may be." Kurt kept his voice calm and reassured. Ric put up his fists and stood defensively against the wall leading to the door.
"How did you get in here? What do you want?"
"Ric, I will explain myself shortly, but for right now, I need you to listen to me. I have been sent here to get rid of you….you do as I say, and I won't have to do so. Don't do what I tell you, and you'll be seeing the hospital room again, if not the inside of your own coffin. So please just listen to me!" Kurt almost shouted as he remained standing still. Feeling this was his chance to remain unscathed and thinking Kurt might be talking seriously, Ric put his hands down by his sides and surrendered.
"Ok, Kurt, what is it that you want. Just please, don't threaten my life, and it will be ok. Now just tell me, what do you want from me?"
"I won't threaten your life if you don't make me. What I want from you is just your full cooperation for the time being….the rest will come later. As for now, just do as I say and everything will work out the way it's supposed to." Kurt pulled out a thick rope he had taken to the hotel with him and showed it to the Nature Boy, who's face was pale as paper. "You see this?" He motioned to the rope in his hand.
"Yes." Ric responded with a shaky voice.
"Just let me do what I have to do, and you will remain alive to see another match!" Kurt said as he lengthened the rope within his hands and crept behind Ric, who was standing still.
"What are you doing? You going to rape me or something, because let me tell you something, boy, my door doesn't swing that WAY! WHOOO!" Ric practically shouted. Kurt looked around scared and nervous.
"Just do as I say…" Kurt whispered into Ric's left ear, "and you will live to see another day. Just shut the hell up and do as I tell you to!" Kurt then wrapped the rope tightly around the Nature Boy's neck and began to strangle him. Ric began to struggle, until the rope tightened, and everything around him faded to black…..
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Raw Headquarters, 11 pm:
Vince had just finished a phone conference with Paul Heyman concerning the ECW PPV. It was so damn stressful to be the head honcho of the number one wrestling company in the world to date. He pondered into thought, when he heard his office phone ring.
"Yes," Vince said abruptly.
"It's a done deal; Shawn is the only one left we have to worry about." Hunter exclaimed over the line. Vince was feeling rather doubtful, but hoping for the best of news, he listened in.
"Oh really, how is that so? It is official, the kid's gone?"
"Yes, no word on the kid's whereabouts whatsoever, and not only that, but Kurt has done his deed in getting rid of any evidence pointing back to me and/or Steph, so he can now officially jump ship, right?"
"Yes, he can. So everything is taken care of, I see. Nice job Hunter, so therefore, you deserve a reward, how does a title shot at Wrestle Mania 22 sound?" a smile crept across the demented man's features.
"Wow, really? That would be wonderful. Thanks Vince, you're the best!" Hunter said cheerfully. Vince's smile grew; he knew he would like that. He ended the conversation quickly, due to another employee walking through his office door. "Hey listen, I'll have to get back to you." He hung up the phone and stared at the man right before him. "Why if it isn't for Marty Jennety! How may I be of service?"
"How does giving me a job sound? I really need this right about now. I'm in some legal trouble, and I desperately need the money." Vince glanced the man in an up and down motion, and came up with a sly plan. Not trying to raise suspicion, he decided to end the silence that filled the room.
"Oh, is that so? Ok, well, I'm sorry for your trouble, but I'll tell you what I will do. You know I'm a fair man, how about some time after this weekend's Pay per View; I will talk to creative in order to come up with something for you? How does that sound?"
"Sounds great!" Marty responded with a smile on his face, "can't wait until then. You will give me a call, won't you?"
"Sure will, Marty." He shook the former Rocker's hand with glee.
"Ok, I look forward to it. See you around, Vince." Marty said as he exited the room in a hurry. Vince watched the man slip out and then smiled to himself; he had just come up with yet another phase to his already proven plan.
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Hotel in Georgia: 12 am:
"That's it, easy does it…." Kurt said as he lowered Ric slowly upon the hard wooden floor of the hotel room. Ric was out cold, and he knew it. Now it was time to make it official what had been "done" with Ric. He went through his full gym bag and pulled out his cell phone in order to make the determining phone call. "Yes, Hunter, it's done."
"What do you mean, it's already done? You finished him?" Hunter asked.
"Yea…..and to prove it, I am going to be sending the photos via fax. Need me to do anything else?"
"No…..and just to let you know, you better send those photos to me ASAP, got it?"
"Ok, Hunter, one question, do I still get my switch over to Smack Down or have you screwed me over?"
"I haven't screwed over shit. You know your contract is about to expire completely, and I already talked to Vince; it's a done deal. Just send me those photos by day break and you'll be all set. The championship belt is all yours." Kurt smiled; his plan had worked after all.
"Ok, will do. Thanks, and trust me, I don't think you will regret it."
"Sure I won't Kurt," Hunter said quickly, "I am sure I won't. Nice job…..now get rid of the body and get the hell out of there!" He said as he hung up on him. Kurt clicked his phone off and went back over to where Ric's unconscious body remained. Hunter hadn't known it, but he didn't necessarily kill Ric, but rather strangled him to unconsciousness. The rope marks still remained around his neck, and that is just the way Kurt needed it to be. He needed to make it look like he had finished the job off completely. He grabbed the camera he had in his pocket and proceeded to take a bunch of photographs of his "handy work". Once ten shots had been taken, he put the camera away and crouched down beside Ric Flair. Only one thing concerned the Olympic Gold Medalist, and that was once Ric would awaken, how he was going to explain himself. Quickly, he grabbed a glass of ice cold water and splashed it on the Nature Boy's face. "Come on, Ric, time to go."
"What? What is going on? Where am I?"
"Don't worry Ric, you're with me, and trust me, nobody is going to be hurting you any time soon…." Kurt reassured the 16 time World Champ as he helped him back up on his feet. "Now it's on to phase two…"
"What do you mean," Ric struggled as he coughed from the strangulation, "phase two? You nearly killed me, you son of a bitch!"
"I know, but listen; Hunter is the one who hired me, ok? Now all I need you to do is to lie low for a few weeks. Let this entire thing fly over." He then saw Ric's face grow weary with shock.
"Hunter? HUNTER hired you to-to kill me? But why? What have I done to him?"
"I honestly don't know how all of this started. All I do know is that it has to do with this storyline thing between Shawn and Vince. And I somehow ended up in the middle of it. It was to honestly save the both of us, ok? Now just follow me, and I will show you the way out of here."
"Oh god! First you try to kill me, and now you are expecting me to trust you to lead me out of here? No way! You might try to actually kill me this time!" Kurt looked at the hotel room clock: 12:15am. Five more hours to go.
"Ric we don't have much time, I have to make this look like a murder, ok? Now just follow me!"
"But why me? How the hell did you get into my hotel room?"
"Let's just put it this way-it is so nice to know certain people, come on," he motioned as he pushed Ric toward the door, "either you trust me or the both of us end up dead, it's your choice." Ric hesitated for a few moments, before walking forward.
"Ok, but all I have to say is, you better have a damn good explanation for this!" Ric growled as he headed for the door.
"Oh trust me, I will have one alright…..just you wait and see…..come on, out we go." Kurt demanded as he pulled out his camera and closed the hotel room door behind them both.
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Monday Afternoon: in the Arena: 4:46pm:
Hunter leaned against the wall as he put away his cell phone quickly. The deed had been done, and he had the photos to prove such. He pulled out the envelope filled with the images of a dead Ric Flair lying on his hotel room floor, with strangulation marks around his neck. Hunter just couldn't get over it; Kurt had for once done what he was told to do. Remarkable, he thought. Now as he looked down at the photos, Stephanie came up behind him, causing him to spook.
"Ahh! Honey, hey….." he said as he kissed her on the cheek.
"Hey, so we all set?" She then looked down at the photos. "OOOHHH, I see we had some fun last night….the Nature boy….why him?"
"He had it coming to him, trust me." He noticed how her face went pale. "What is something wrong?"
"Hunter, are you sure that everything is OK?" He caught Stephanie's drift immediately.
"Yea, about that, no word has been heard on his damn son, trust me, his son is gone….forever."
"Ok, that's good to hear….because you know how my father can get." They kissed once more in celebration.
"Yes, I do. Stephanie, one more thing that needs to be done for this thing to be over…."
"And what would that be?"
"Vince just has to finish off the job for good. We finished our part….now lets go celebrate, how about it?"
"Hmmm, sounds nice. But first I need to go settle some stuff with dad and Shane, you know, so I know what to put in the storyline for next week. I'll be right back." She said, letting Hunter's hand go. He remained standing up against the wall, just thankful that they had nothing to worry about; or did they? Little did he know it, someone had been listening in on his entire conversation. Right outside the doorway of his locker room, stood none other than Chris Masters. Although Chris had yet to realize completely what he had just ease dropped upon, he knew that Shawn would have to know what all had been said. Vince was obviously planning something for him, and Chris was destined to spoil it for him. Chris had been in a feud with the Show Stopper as of recent, but that didn't mean that he hated the guy. In fact, he rather appreciated him for all his dedication and hard work to get him to main event status. Had it not been for Shawn, Chris may not even be having a job right now. He felt that he had to make it up to him, so quietly; he headed off in the main locker room's direction.
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The Arena: 7:40pm:
Shawn ushered his son through the locker room door and set his stuff down upon the one bench edge that was closest to him; this would have to do for a hide out for his son until the taping was over. He knew whoever was after him would want his son as well. And since he couldn't still trust anybody to take on his son full time, Cameron was going to have to be with him for the remainder of the week. He was about to get changed when in came Chris Masters.
"Hey, Shawn," Chris said, practically out of breath, "listen; I think we need to talk." Chris then looked down to see none other than Shawn's son, Cameron, and from the sounds of what he had heard just earlier that afternoon, that couldn't be good.
"Chris, yea sure, what about? If this is about the storyline-.."
"Uh, no it's not….its about him." He responded as he pointed down to the little kid looking up at them both. Knowing he wasn't going to like whatever it was that the Masterpiece had to say, he told his kid to remain inside of his locker room while he followed Chris outside.
"Come on, Chris, what is it?" the Icon beckoned.
"You know, I have been looking around this arena for you several hours now, where have you been?"
"Hey, I can't help it that traffic around here stinks, alright? So just spill it….what is it that you need to tell me?" Chris was hesitant to reveal, but after a couple of moments, he finally began to speak his mind. He told him about the conversation between Hunter and Stephanie that he had overheard. "What? You mean to tell me that Hunter is in on this-AND STEPHANIE too? Oh my gosh…I can't believe this!" Shawn rubbed the temple of his forehead with his left hand in disbelief as Chris stood there; trying to make sense of what he had supposedly stumbled upon.
"What are you talking about?" Like as if Chris didn't know? Oh man, how Shawn could have screamed out loud right there and then; this was all too much to take at once. He now knew for sure, it must have been the two of them that murdered his wife. Oh, they were so going to pay! Finally thinking it over for a few moments, his attention flashed right back to Chris once again.
"Listen alright? My wife was murdered, and my son was knocked unconscious, and Chris, you HAVE to promise me you won't tell a single soul, but by the sounds of it, I don't think that they know he's still alive! So do me a favor, will you guard Cameron tonight with your life while I am out there? Please, I beg of you, because if something happened to him-…" Chris stopped him from speaking another word; obviously the man was on the verge of tears.
"Shawn, it's ok, I will, I promise….alright? Here, just get ready for tonight and let me know if you need anything and I will watch over him for you. Just let me know when you are done and I will remain in here for the remainder of the night, ok?" Shawn slowly nodded his head and walked back into his dressing room; this was going to be a long night….
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Monday Night Raw: Georgia State University: 9:00pm:
The fireworks and pyro went off and the show was underway. Vince stood in his office, preparing for yet another week of his favorite show. The opening match went alright from his point of view-although the crowd was dead silent through most of it. He didn't seem to mind though-this was his company, and he liked watching the divas; it made him feel aroused to a certain extent just watching them in those tight ass outfits. He was enjoying himself, until Linda came barging into the room.
"Vince, are we all set tonight?" Linda questioned standing between the door and wall.
"Yes, honey, we are. You look concerned, why?"
"I was wondering, looking at this mess between Shawn and you, are you sure that this is you know-just a storyline?" Trying to hide the truth for Vince was rather easy, so he simply grinned at the question.
"Honey," Vince said, caressing her shoulders from behind, "of course it is….why would it be any different? You know the fans just love to see this thing unfold before their very eyes…." Vince said, reassuringly. Linda turned around, catching the Chairman off guard.
"Look, Vince, I think you should really be less harsh with Shawn right now, because you've heard about what has happened to his wife, haven't you?" Damn it! Don't tell me it's gotten out already? Vince couldn't help but think.
"Uh, no, I haven't, why? What's happened? Is she alright?"
"No, Vince, she's dead." Linda responded with a sudden shaky tone in her voice. "You haven't been watching the news, have you?" Linda walked a few feet from her husband, while trying to keep her cool.
"Why, no I haven't been, oh no…..I am so sorry…..when did she pass on?" He asked remorsefully.
"Sometime this past weekend. It was reported that she had a single bullet wound to her temple, possibly a murder charge might be in store for whoever did it. Isn't that a shame…..poor Shawn; being all alone like that. I feel so sorry for him. He loved his wife more than anything." Linda couldn't help but notice how her husband had become so quiet all of a sudden; did he have something to hide?
"I know he did, honey. He spoke so fondly of her all the time. Maybe he working a match tonight might be a good way to get his mind off of things temporarily. You know, keep him busy." He knew she wasn't going to buy into the idea, but hell, it was worth a shot. As long as she never knew.
"Honey, I don't think that would be such a good idea," she said as she looked back into his eyes, "his wife just got killed…..certainly there can be another way around it?" She could tell by the look in his eyes, something was a miss, but she was troubled by the fact she didn't know what that thing was.
"Well, the fans need to see the continuation to this storyline, you know? I'll think of something." He watched her walk out the door and silently cursed to himself; the world was discovering his devious plan against Shawn Michaels. He'd be damned! He'd be damned straight to hell!
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Later On that Night: 10:15pm:
"Chris," Shawn called out to him after getting into his leather chaps and chained shirt, "I'm ready to go…..just stay in here and watch over him for me please?" He asked as he tugged his son along into the showering portion of his locker room.
"Sure thing man," Chris said as he brushed the towel in his hand over his damp hair, "and oh, you might want to stay in the other locker room for the remainder of the night, Vince might come looking for you." Chris had a good point, and he knew all too well by now that Stephanie and her husband, if Vince saw his son with him and told them about his finding, would be after his son if they weren't already. He nervously gave him the agreeing nod of the head and walked out the door, leaving Chris Masters and his one and only son behind.
"…..He is the Heart Break Kid, Shawn Michaels!" Lillian called out as his music blared through the arena. He had to keep his mind focused, he kept reminding himself repeatedly. He had to act as if nothing was wrong. The match went smoothly, and he had beaten his opponent to a bloody pulp. It was after the match that had ruined his relief of a clear victory however. He went into the boys' locker room, just as he and Chris had planned, to take a shower of his own. His thoughts went from being on his deceased wife, all the way over to Ric Flair, strangely. His eyes welled with tears when the name Rebecca entered his conscious-he just simply couldn't let that memory of her lying on the floor like that go. Hunter and Stephanie were going to be paying dearly, and he'd be darned if it wasn't going to happen the next time he saw either one of them. He washed his face with the spouting water from the shower head as the thought of Ric Flair came to mind. What had happened to that man? He hadn't heard from him in quite a while. And yet he was supposed to be out of the hospital by now, wasn't he? Oh, maybe he just needed an extra day to recuperate; but even Shawn knew, that wasn't like the Nature Boy, to take off of work like that-he loved it here. This was probably why he couldn't stop thinking to himself about the old guy. Finally, with the shower shut off, he made his way over to the bench and began dabbing his face with the freshly dry towel; that was when he heard footsteps making their way towards him inside the room. When he looked up, it turned out to be none other than Vince McMahon, like as if he couldn't make his night even worse than it already was!
"Hey, Shawn….." Vince said as he sat down in a chair directly in front of the Icon. "I was just saying that you must be one lucky son of a bitch! I mean, I have heard of rabbits being pulled out of hats before but god damn! Your luck will run out…believe me."
"Vince, why are you doing this to me? Look," Shawn inquired as he put his hands on top of Vince's, "if this is about me telling you to move on, then I'm sorry. But how about you do whatever it is that makes you happy-alright?"
"Makes me happy? You know what, Shawn, you have a good point there…in fact, that is exactly what I'll do! I was thinking, you know, how about we go to turn back the clock some five, ten, twenty years even. Come on, Shawn what do you say? Let's have those all night parties and let's go back to a time when things were about sex, drugs and rock and roll! Come on, join me, Shawn….and my cause, what do you say?" Shawn glared at him with disgust in his face- Is that what he wants? Is this what it was all about? Or was it? He didn't want to go back to his old ways-he was happy and content or was happy and content the way his life had been around the present time. There was no way in hell that he was going back. And he wasn't about to hesitate telling Vince how he felt.
"No, never," Shawn said in response to his boss's question. The camera kept rolling, although Shawn had wished it wouldn't. He watched as his boss's face turned from being pleased, to being almost in a sick like state. Just what had gone wrong with this man?
"Fine, you want to be that way. I'll tell you what; you know how I've been telling you that your luck will run out? Well guess what, at this Sunday's Royal Rumble, it will do just that! Just you wait and see…." Vince snapped out of his chair and walked out of the room with Michaels glaring behind him; my luck will run out? He had news for Vince and everyone else-it already had! The cameras followed Vince out the door and finally for what seemed to be the first time all night, Shawn was finally alone in the locker room. He couldn't handle being there any longer, so he picked up his bags, got completely dressed, and headed back to his own locker room; where Chris and Cameron were still waiting for his return.
"Cameron, Chris?" Shawn said quietly as he entered his locker room. He was greeted by Chris's voice calling out to him from the shower compartment of the room.
"Yea, Shawn, over here!" Shawn walked over and saw him and Cameron playing checkers, or what he assumed was checkers. "He-ha-ha! Man, you beat me again!" Chris said to Cameron.
"King me!" Cameron let out with glee as Chris picked up another checker piece, his last one in fact.
"Oh, alright…..you win!" Chris sighed.
"Yay! I beat the masterpiece! Hurray! Daddy!" He ran up to his father. Shawn bent down to scoop his son up into his arms. It was such a relief to feel his son's gentle arms grasping around his neck.
"So, we all set and ready to go?" He asked his son.
"Yup! All set!" Shawn then gave a grateful glance toward Chris.
"Thank you so much for watching him. I owe you one."
"Yea, well, what you owe me is another win." Chris said, jokingly. Shawn reassured him that he would think about that and out the door they went; but not before Chris called after them.
"Hey, Shawn….you know, maybe I should walk with you…." Shawn got his drift and took him on his offer. Five minutes later, as they walked toward the exit doors, Shawn spotted Hunter and Stephanie walking the opposite direction of him. Gritting his teeth tighter than ever, Shawn approached the couple apprehensively.
"Hey, Hunter…mind if we talk?" Shawn said with emotion foiling in his voice. When he saw the shocked and scared look on both of their faces, he knew he wasn't supposed to be there, finding him with Stephanie; especially so soon after the murder of his wife after all.
"Uh, yea, Shawn…what's going on?" Hunter's and Stephanie's face went pale….an ultimate sign of guilt, Shawn thought.
"Oh, I'll tell you what's going on?" Shawn said as he clinched his fists together in anger. "You happen to know anything about my wife's murder? Like anything at all?"
"Uh, yea," Hunter said as he and his wife shared some nervous glances back and forth, "we have. And we're terribly sorry for your loss, Shawn…if there is anything we can do for you…"
"Oh there is something you can do for me," Shawn thought for a second, "you know she was beaten to death, right?"
"No she wasn't," Hunter admittingly said, "she was shot in the head!" Chris watched on as Shawn moved closer to the both of them.
"That is exactly my point!" Shawn pointed out. "There is no way that you all would have known that without actually being there on the scene, is there?" Shawn then saw both of them switch quick glances before Stephanie ran the opposite direction and Hunter chased after her. Shawn quickened his pace, and grabbed Hunter around his arm. "Oh no you don't! GET OVER HERE YOU BASTARD! YOU ARE SO GOING TO PAY!" with that, Shawn started wailing on Hunter, he blacked out temporarily, so he couldn't remember all that he had done or all that had happened. All he could hear was Chris trying to grab Cameron and hold him back while Shawn kept punching and kicking the crap out of his former best friend. Shawn kept at it until his fists were covered in blood, and it wasn't his blood either. But it was the blood of Hunter that covered his hands. Realizing that Hunter was completely out, Shawn stopped swinging and just stood over him, looking back at his blood covered hands and down at Hunter's bloody gashed in face. Nothing could have felt better right at that moment in time. The only thing that would bring more satisfaction to the Icon would be if he could actually end the life of his wife's murderer. Suddenly, he set out to do just that and continued kicking and punching some more; until Chris came up behind him and tried to pull him back. "You killing Son of a BITCH! You are going to pay! Let go of me!" He cried out to Chris, who was still behind him. And without thinking, he elbowed Chris, sending him to his knees in gasping pain for a few minutes; allowing Shawn to run back up to Hunter's still body and kick it once more. Stephanie then called for security and both Shawn and his son were escorted out of the building; leaving the mess behind them.
"It's ok….shhh….it's ok…calm down Cameron, calm down." Shawn said, hugging his son to comfort him. He wished he could have ended it all for Hunter right when he had the chance, but thinking of his good Christian nature, he had been glad in a sense that he hadn't; there would be other days that Hunter could get his.
"Damn, you did a number on him in there," a voice said from behind. Shawn got up to see who it was, and of course, it was Chris Masters.
"I'm sorry you had to see that-I..."
"No don't be…..I don't blame you for being so frustrated….but don't worry…..Hunter will get what he has coming to him…." Chris stood there and watched Shawn hug his son some more.
"I certainly hope so…." Shawn said in return, "I certainly do hope so…."
Author's Note: So there is the end to chapter 13. I finally got it finished! Sorry I haven't updated in so long….my mind has been on a writer's block as of recent; but hopefully I will be able to continue here soon. Tell me what you think….the more feedback I get for this story, the better. I am really thinking of where to take this one…..and I'm still rethinking the ending. I also know that the speech that was shown on Raw wasn't actually the same as in this chapter so please forgive me-this is fiction after all. Well, hope you all have enjoyed!