Rebel kept her return quiet. She didn't want Randy Orton to know she was coming back, she didn't want anyone to make any sudden or stupid moves in case her return went badly. And she had to face it, returns had gone badly in the past. On her friend Tori's advice, she picked the end of Extreme Rules to come back. It had taken some convincing, but Rebel saw the logic in her friend's argument eventually. She had wanted to come back as soon as possible, and kick the living crap out of Randy and his cohorts, more to satisfy her need to kick the living daylights out of something after what her mother had pulled. A phone call to Tori for advice had given her time to think and some clarity on the situation. And admittedly, her friend was right. Coming back at the end of a pay per view would be a way to ensure she was in top condition, and her enemies would be in bad, if not terrible condition by the end of the main event. And the main event was a doozy by all accounts. The main event was a three on three street fight.
All evening, she had been snuck from place to place, waiting in Steph and Hunter's limo for the ok to go change. No one knew she was there, she was invisible. And Steph and Hunter had ensured it was kept that way. As the six men duked it out in the ring, Rebel had arrived backstage. She watched the screen somewhat nervously, but mostly just ready to go out and cause some damage. Steph was well versed in this, and took the baseball bat from Rebel's hands.
"You can wait till RAW tomorrow if you prefer," Stephanie said, throwing it to the floor and picking up something else. There was a smile from the older woman as she handed Rebel a fire extinguisher. Rebel grinned her trademark evil grin in response, and got the extinguisher in to a comfortable grip.
"It ends here. If I let them wait till tomorrow, they will have had time to recover from tonight."
"I just hope this thing with you and Randy ends soon." Steph said as Rebel pulled down a black mask over her face.
"So do I, Steph. But I don't think Randy wants it to end. The more he can tear me down, the better he feels about himself. Which quite honestly, is pretty pathetic, y'know?"
"Believe me, I agree. But surely he can't hold a grudge for that long? Right?" Steph asked, frowning as she did so.
"I think you already know the answer to that one, Steph. After all you've worked with him far longer than I have. Besides. It makes for great TV, right?" Rebel added, before coming out and heading down the ramp.
First in her path, and dispatched quickly, was Fandango. A blow to the head with the fire extinguisher meant he was down for the count. Rusev had turned at this point, so Rebel blasted him with the spray from the extinguisher, before delivering a superkick to make Shawn Michaels proud. She then grabbed a chair and whacked him with it, knocking him to the floor too. Slipping in the ring where Randy Orton was kicking the living crap out of Dean, she then began to return the favour by pelting him with the chair, knocking him to the floor and rendering him useless. Dean watched on in shock as Rebel went to work, before she gestured to him to pin Randy Orton. Scrambling to do so, Dean kept his eye on Rebel, not knowing who it was, before having his pinfall counted to three and releasing the beaten wrestler beneath him. He shoved Orton to the edge of the ring and stood up quickly, warily keeping an eye on the stranger as he or she began to applaud. As the referee announced Dean, Roman and Seth the winners, Dean was joined by his brothers inside the ring. Rebel was still masked, and decided to milk it a little more by putting out her fist in the iconic gesture of The Shield. Seth looked at her with a puzzled glance, Roman gave a small smile as if he had figured her out, but Dean was none the wiser, his forehead showing his frown of confusion. It was now Rebel chose to reveal herself, slowly peeling off the mask, and revelling in the cheers and screams of delight. As her mask hit the floor, her hand was joined by three other fists, and she turned to look at the shocked face of Randy Orton peering over the apron.
"I can't believe you didn't say anything."
"I could kill you right now, you know that?"
"I missed you guys too." Rebel laughed as they sat around a crowded table in a nearby bar. "But if I'd said I was coming back, someone would have spilt the beans. It was important I keep it quiet."
"So…you're back to stay now?" Dean asked.
"I am. So. Catch me up. What's been happening, who's been causing issues, get me up to speed here. I've got a holiday coming up with Tori, I need to know what I can get away with before she comes." Rebel said, leaning back in her seat and listening to all the information the boys had to share.
It seemed that Randy's persuasions were wearing a little thin on Rusev and Fandango and in turn Rosa and Lana. Rebel heard how the five had been arguing in the hotel corridor two days before Extreme Rules, and how it had taken Randy a lot of reassurance that Rebel wasn't returning to get them to comply and stick with him. Dean theorised her return would drive an even deeper wedge in the usually solid group, and when they headed back to the hotel after enjoying a few drinks to celebrate her return they were witness to just that.
"Look, the happy family isn't so happy right now!" Seth exclaimed, elbowing Rebel in the ribs a little as he pointed them out. Rusev was red in the face, Randy Orton was sporting what looked like a lovely red slap mark, and Lana was clearly either upset or angry, Rebel couldn't tell which. There was laughter from the four as they passed them, causing the five arguing to cast looks of disgust and hatred their way.
"Damn I've missed you guys." Rebel said with a smile as she leant against the wall next to the lift.
"And we've missed you. Hasn't been the same without you verbally abusing one of us." Seth said.
"Asshole." Rebel laughed. Seth grinned like an idiot.
"So your mom…what are you going to do?" Roman asked.
"I don't bloody know. I know what I'd like to do, but apparently murder is frowned upon." She said with a shrug of her shoulders, causing laughter from them.
"You think she's going to turn up at a show again?" Dean asked as the lift reached their floor.
"No idea. I'm moving ASAP, she knows where I live and there's no guarantee that she doesn't have keys. So I need to find somewhere I can up sticks to. My stuffs already set up in storage, so she can't get to any of it while I'm on the road, and I've hired security as well. I'm taking no chances." Rebel replied.
"Can't say I blame you after Wrestlemania." Seth said, shaking his head at the memory.
"So, what's it like in your neighbourhoods? Free of psycho mothers?" Rebel asked as they walked in to the lift.
"I'm pretty sure Dean's neighbourhood is fairly quiet," Roman said, leaning against the back of the lift as he waited for his friends to enter and the door to close. He didn't miss the glare Dean shot him as Rebel hit the button for their floor.
"Sounds promising." Rebel replied, looking at her fingernails rather than at Dean at that moment in time. She knew all too well what Roman was implying. "But I'd need to check out the area first."
"Well, why don't you arrange a few viewings, and then you can always crash at Dean's while you check them out." Seth not too slyly suggested. Both Rebel and Dean gave the man a look that could kill, not that either of them knew it.
"Well…yeah I mean…you're free to come crash at mine…hell even if you need to get outta your house soon cause of Mother Nutbag, you're welcome."
Her return to the ring seemed to have shocked Randy in to not doing much more than a few accusations of her being a female canine, and Rebel was glad. She hoped and prayed that it was all over and done with. Her feeling was shared by Roman, Dean and Seth, and unbeknown to her the vast majority of the roster. For a lot of them, it was purely the case that they didn't want to get involved, and risk their own careers. Which Rebel couldn't fault them for. The ways that Randy had attempted to take her out would no doubt have knocked some of the fresh from injury or older roster members out for a while. So, two weeks after her return, she was surprised when she found her match that evening would be her against Rusev.
"Ummm…I don't get it. Surely I've had enough fights against these guys lately?" Rebel asked as she met with Hunter to discuss it.
"I know. I know. But…well…your feud with Randy Orton and his cronies have really got the numbers coming in, and well…" Hunter looked at her sheepishly.
"Best for business, I know. We want the numbers, means we get more shows, yadda yadda." Rebel rolled her eyes at the thought of having to keep fighting Randy and his cronies, but at the same time she understood. If their feud was a big draw for the crowds at the moment, that's what the crowds would want to see. Even if she was sick of it. Talk rambled from this to her reason for returning, Hunter swearing and shaking his head when he heard what her mother had done. He too had been under the impression the woman had been deported. As Steph came in to the office, Rebel looked at her phone and noticed the time, informing Hunter she needed to get ready for the evening. Steph watched her leave with a look of concern on her face.
"Did you tell her?" She asked as the door closed behind the wrestler. Hunter shook his head and slumped back down in his chair, a hand running over his hair and wishing for the thousandth time he had never cut his hair so short. "Hunter, she's going to go ballistic if you don't tell her soon. She's already got plans for that time, she's not going to like having to change them."
"I know, Steph. I know. But…I just couldn't do it. Not yet. I think I owe her to let her prove she can still hang with the guys in the ring since coming back, y'know?" he replied as his wife came over to sit next to him.
"Because you told her no so many times in the past, and can't help thinking that if you'd said yes to some other pay per view, she wouldn't be in this mess?" Stephanie asked gently. Hunter nodded. "You need to tell her. And soon. Because if Randy gets his way, and finds out she doesn't know, he's going to make her life hell." Hunter looked at the missive from Vince that sat on the desk in front of him, and pinched the bridge of his nose, fingers clearing the corners of his eyes of any sleeping dust as he did so.
"It's all because of him anyway. Because Randy has made her prove herself time and time again by having this…vendetta against her. And as fucked up as it is, that's the exact reason Vince wants her there."
It's been a while since i was able to settle to continueing this, so I apologise for the lengthy delay! Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Zelks