CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Finally, SummerSlam had arrived, and all sixteen girls who would be involved in the Championship Battle Royal for the Diva's title were getting ready. In the DEAR locker room, the girls were just finishing up their stretching when Trish spoke up into the near-silent room.
"Catering is chilling our champagne, for when one of our own wins this championship tonight. The moment of triumph is almost at hand." The girls were all standing, now, and looking at Trish, who just smiled a bit. "I realize I've been a bit harsh on you all, but that's only because I want you all to be the very best you can be. Also… Lita and I have been talking, and we have some… incentive, for the woman who wins this title."
Lita nodded, going to grab a metal cashbox, unlocking it and opening it to reveal to the others that inside were bundles upon bundles of $100 bills. The girls all gasped, but Trish wasn't done speaking.
"Inside of that cashbox is fifty thousand dollars, with both Lita and I putting up twenty-five thousand to make that goal, and it will go to the one of us who wins the Diva's Championship tonight. The rule I have for all of you, is that you cannot eliminate a member of DEAR before all of the members of the Diva's Army have been eliminated. And no matter who wins…"
Trish held out her hand to grab Lita's, and smiled, while the other girls looked to meet her eyes, and Lita closed the cashbox. "We're all still a family."
In the Diva's Army locker room, the girls had already finished stretching but now were sitting around in a large circle, some bodyguards leaving the room as they began the huddle.
Natalya stood up and smiled out at all of the girls of the Diva's Army as they turned their attention to watch her. "Only a few months ago, I honestly didn't care much for half of you all, but now, there's no one I'd rather be going into this war with. We aren't just going to war for ourselves, or our pride, and we're not just going for the Diva's Championship. We're fighting for all of the girls who have been taken out because of DEAR during their time here."
Natalya held her hand out in front of her as she stepped in just a bit, closing the circle off. "This is for Beth Phoenix."
Kelly, directly across from Natalya in the circle, put her hand on top of Natalya's and nodded. "This is for Eve."
Michelle stood up. When she put her hand in, Michelle said, "This is for Layla."
Kennedi and Veronica stood up after Michelle had finished speaking, and they put their hands in. "Even though she went home on her own power, this is for Aksana."
"For Melina." AJ said, as she and Kaitlyn put their hands into the circle.
There was a long moment of silence as Tamina remained on the side, before she stood up and took a step in. "Although she didn't really have to leave, and none of us even liked her at all… this is for Maryse."
"This is for the Diva's Army representing us at home." Natalya said, finally, just before the door to the locker room opened, and they all stood in their group, turning to face the door if they weren't.
Alicia, smiling, popped her head through the door, and then her body. She wore a Diva's Army tank top and camouflage shorts, with her leg brace boot on one leg and a black combat boot on the other foot. "It's time for action, ladies."
"Didn't Jazz tell you to stay home and rest?" Kelly asked, crossing her arms.
"While I respect Jazz extremely, there's no way I'm missing SummerSlam for this. If I can't be in the ring, I can at least be here for moral support from the back." Alicia held open her arms for Natalya, the head of the group, and before they all left, Alicia hugged all of them. "Now. I've transferred all of my energies to you, and you all have a little bit of Alicia in you. Good luck out there."
Natalya shoved open the door to the hallway, and off they went. Natalya, Tamina, and Kelly headed the group of girls, with the other five just behind them. Had Jazz been watching them, she would have been proud of how in sync they were in their steps, in their movements generally.
"The following is a Battle Royal for the Diva's Championship."
The crowd cheered wildly. Many of them had come for this match, secondarily to the main event of the night.
Lillian Garcia continued, much to the crowd's surprise, speaking. This time, not announcing Divas who would be performing, but instead, someone else who would be doing a different kind of performance. "Introducing a woman who is well-known around the world, who has won six Grammy awards, eight American Music Awards, twenty-two Billboard music awards, and two BRIT awards. She has sold over 120 million singles worldwide, including the song she is about to sing... Please welcome to SummerSlam, Rihanna!"
Everyone in the crowd screamed as the TitanTron showed Rihanna standing in front of a microphone. The band behind her began to play the opening of "Rockstar 101," which she quickly skipped over to begin the first verse.
"Only thing I'm missin' is a black guitar..."
Then, running out onto the stage, came the girls of DEAR, dressed for the battle royal.
When Rihanna finished the first chorus, she put the microphone back in its stand, and all of the girls did a short dance routine where the second verse would have been. Rihanna went back to the microphone and began to sing again after this, singing the chorus again as the girls of DEAR went down to the ring. When she finished the chorus, Rihanna took a bow and then walked backstage, as the DEAR girls were introduced by Lillian Garcia.
"Representing DEAR, the team of Trish Stratus, Lita, Mickie James, Gail Kim, Victoria, Candice Michelle, Ashley Massaro, and Maria!"
Everyone then turned to the main TitanTron, waiting for the Divas Army. Instead of their regular entrance, there was a video of the Pacific Ocean, the waves rolling up peacefully and calmly onto the shore. And then, a military amphibious landing vehicle drove up out of the water, onto the beach, through the streets of downtown Los Angeles, and then into the STAPLES Center back door. The video ends, and cuts into a live feed as the vehicle pulls up beside the stage, and then stopped. Everyone was cheering wildly, even more wildly than they had be when Lillian announced the match.
After a long moment of anticipation, the door of the vehicle opened, and "Feelin' Me" started to play as the Divas Army emerged from it and ran up to climb onto the ramp. They all smiled, accepting their amazing welcome, and then made their way down to where they belonged.
The ring.
Though the two groups of girls would normally have just lunged at each other, on this night, with all of STAPLES Center cheering, booing, on their feet and freaking out around them… they stayed in place, staring at each other across the ring as the referees got outside to make sure they could call the shots. One of them, the official head referee for the match, motioned for the bell to ring.
Instantaneously, it was a jungle in the ring.
Tamina jumped forward, practically plowing over Maria, in an attempt to get to Trish. Maria slapped her flat across the face, stopping her motion to get to Trish, and instead focusing her attacks on Maria. Maria rebounded off of the ropes when Tamina shoved her back, and then was thrown into the air and dropped hard to the mat with a Samoan Drop.
Maria was quickly pulled back to her feet, and Tamina continued to beat her down while the girls all around them fought valiantly against each other. Finally, with Maria against the ropes, Tamina took one, two, three steps back, and lunged forward for a shoulderblock to get Maria out of the match.
Instead, Maria was out of the way, with Trish standing next to her and looking out of the ring, down on Tamina, who had eliminated herself accidentally. Trish turned back to Maria, slapping her hard across the face and shouting, "Get your head in the game!"
On the opposite side of the ring, just as Maria and Trish were about to get into the brawl again, they saw Veronica and Natalya teaming up to throw Lita over the top rope and to ring side.
"Damn it!" Trish shouted, before running toward Natalya to start fighting.
Maria stood awkwardly for a moment, scanning, before spotting the next open and tough member of the Diva's Army, Michelle McCool, who had just eliminated Mickie James. Mickie slammed her hands down on the mat, and Michelle was brushing off her shoulders, bragging a job well done.
To Maria's right as she ran forward, Victoria threw Kaitlyn through the second and bottom ropes to ringside, where she rolled all the way to the barricade. Kelly was on Victoria once again, and to Maria's left, AJ was pushed off of the top turnbuckle by Gail Kim.
Despite trying to be eliminated by Michelle as well, Maria was saved again-this time, by Gail Kim, who was about to join Nattie and Trish's fighting on the opposite side of the ring when she saw Maria in trouble.
Gail took Maria by the shoulders and looked her in the eye. "Keep yourself in the game, Maria. You could be the next Diva's Champion. Now, go fight somebody."
Maria ran back into the mix as Gail joined Natalya and Trish fighting.
Kennedi and Ashley locked up the second the bell rang, and had been fighting each other the entire time. Finally, Ashley was laying down, under the bottom rope, holding her head from a vicious kick that Kennedi had delivered mere seconds before. Breathing hard, Kennedi ran forward and slid just a little too much, knocking both herself and Ashley out of the ring.
She took Ashley by her blonde hair and slammed her into the commentary table outside of the ring, despite them both being eliminated, and they continued to fight for a moment before security peeled them off of each other and deposited them at the ramp.
Which they proceeded to go up, knocking more blows into each other for a moment until security grabbed them both and escorted them backstage, both of them screaming and fighting and trying to continue their match.
Victoria had knocked Kelly to the ground and was about to pick her up to throw her out of the ring, when Veronica came running over, dealing a hard right hook to Victoria's jaw. The two of them locked up, but quickly, Kelly grabbed Veronica by the top of her shorts and the back of her shirt, and spun her around to throw her into the turnbuckle corner. Veronica was given just a bit too much momentum, and was thrown from the ring.
Candice Michelle came up, trying to help out Victoria after Kelly dealt her a kick to the chest to knock her back. Kelly grabbed Candice by her hair, tilted her head slightly to the side, and then threw her over the top rope as hard as she could. Despite Candice trying to hold on to the top rope for dear life, Kelly grabbed her fingers and peeled them away, shoving her down by her shoulders.
On the opposite side of the ring, Natalya had kicked Trish and Gail back for long enough a moment that Maria had time to approach and go to strike. Instantly, Nattie had her by the arm, twisted it behind her back, and shoved her up to the ropes.
"Your time is up, honey." Natalya said, a huge smile on her face as she lifted Maria over her head in a scooping movement, and then threw her over the top rope. One of Maria's ankles hit a steel step in the fall down, and she rolled up into a ball immediately, holding the hurt ankle as she let out a sob of both relief and extreme pain.
Victoria had Kelly in the turnbuckle corner and was about to kick her square in the jaw, when Michelle grabbed her former friend by the black hair and went to throw her through the top and middle ropes. Victoria held on to the ropes, however, and Trish crossed the ring-Gail and Natalya on the other side of it-to grab Michelle by the hair and throw her over the top rope instead.
The final five women in the Diva's Championship Battle Royal remained in the ring: Victoria, Kelly Kelly, Trish Stratus, Gail Kim, and Natalya.
Natalya had Gail pushed up against the ropes, trying to push her down, but Gail was trying to push Natalya away. Trish, after having eliminated Michelle, ran across the ring and shoved Natalya by the shoulders from the side, pushing her over the top rope. Natalya still had a tight grip on Gail Kim, and didn't let go, taking Gail with her.
Gail looked up at the proclaimed "co-leader" of DEAR, anger flashing through her eyes as she let out a scream into the ring, "What the hell, Trish?!"
Trish leaned up against the ropes, shaking her head. "I'm sorry! I just wanted to get Natalya out! I didn't know she'd take you with her!"
Gail shook her head, holding her probably-bruised shoulder as she walked out of the ringside area after Natalya, who was already gone.
"Trish!"
The brunette Canadian turned around just in time to see Victoria Irish-whipping Kelly her direction. Trish was about to go on the offense and stepped forward, but Kelly went to clothesline her. Just in time, she managed the Ma-Trish, and rolled through it backwards as Kelly ran back to Victoria, who took control, slamming Kelly to the mat with a big boot. Trish crossed the ring to grab Kelly by her now-brown hair and pointed to herself.
"I am what a real brunette looks like!" She shouted, slamming her fist into Kelly's jaw to send her back down to the mat.
In the catering area, every girl who had been eliminated from the Diva's Army team was standing around a monitor, shaking with excitement. A few guys sat around, and in his own locker room, CM Punk watched excitedly.
"Let's go girl!" Alicia shouted at the screen as Kelly jabbed Trish in the eye with a thumb and low-blow kicked Victoria, giving her enough time to get to her feet and try to take back control of the match.
In the DEAR locker room, the girls were also gathered all around their own TV monitor, watching with dread. While it was more likely that they would win, it was down to Victoria and Trish against Kelly, who was managing to regain the upper hand as she attacked Trish, the fresher of the two girls from DEAR.
"Come on, Trish… Come on, Victoria…" Lita said, rubbing the back of her neck as Kelly slammed Trish to the ground and turned her attention back to Victoria. "You've got this."
Kelly took Victoria by the hair and slammed Victoria's face into her raised knee, and then ran, hitting a bulldog before turning her attention to Trish. Little did Kelly know that Victoria was angry now, and Trish was recovered.
Trish was standing just behind Kelly as she turned around, and Victoria was on the opposite side of the ring. Trish ran a moment with Kelly on her arm, and then Irish whipped her into the ropes, dropping down so that Kelly ran over her and toward Victoria, who bent over and was ready to throw her from the ring.
Kelly kicked Victoria in the face when she arrived at the destination, however, and then drop-kicked her over the top rope and to ringside, the crowd going wild. She stepped up to the ropes and looked down on Victoria with a scoff.
"That was for Eve."
Now, the locker rooms and catering area were completely abuzz. Either the winner and the new Diva's Champion would be Trish, or it would be Kelly. There was no option C, no "none of the above" option-it was one or the other. The Diva's Army or DEAR. It was the final moment of truth.
Gail had taken a break to go to the bathroom, promising that the match wouldn't be over anytime soon when she had left. Just as she was about to go back into the DEAR locker room, she felt a hand on her shoulder, and she froze, recognizing it immediately.
"Justin."
She turned around, looking him in the eye as he looked down upon her.
"You did good out there." Justin's voice was almost worried as he spoke to her, and Gail shook her head. "No, really, you-"
"I'm not saying I didn't do well, Justin. I'm saying…" Gail took a long pause in speech, before she finished. "This can't be whatever it is anymore."
"Gail, what are you saying?" Justin went to grab Gail's hand, but she moved hers away and stepped back a bit. "I… I don't get it."
Gail shook her head once again, looking extremely torn as she looked between the placard on the door which said DEAR, and Justin's face. "I… Justin, I love you, but…"
"There's no but to it. I love you, too, Gail."
"No. I love you, but… DEAR is my family. And I can't give up my family."
"Your family?" Justin was incredulous. "DEAR is your family? The girls who have put so many girls out of action that the group of you actually working was cut in half? The girls who would have put you in the hospital, too, had you not joined them?"
"They didn't force me to do anything! They invited me to join them, and I gladly accepted! They knew what I was capable of when the WWE didn't! I just wish you could see that." Gail looked angry through the tears about to fall over her cheeks. "Justin, I love you, but please, you have to understand how good DEAR is to me."
"Oh, I understand. Trust me. I just don't think that Beth, and Eve, and Layla would feel the same." Justin turned around, moving away from Gail as she took a step forward. "Go be with your family. At least they want to be with you." With that, he was moving away even faster, walking quickly in the direction opposite of her
"Justin!" She shouted after him, the tears falling as another hand fell on her shoulder.
Victoria spoke. "Come on, Gail. Let's go in the dressing room."
In that moment, Gail watched the love of her life walk away from her… and not once did he look back at her.
Still in the ring, Kelly and Trish were coming to their last bits of energy and strength. Their muscles felt ridiculously overworked, their minds were running at a mile a minute, and they were both breathing hard.
Come on… I'm down to my last straits. I've got to win this. For Eve.
Kelly shook her head, slapping her cheeks as she sat up and rolled over, onto her knees, and then stood up. Trish stood in front of her, smiling, and Kelly went running toward her, grabbing her by the arm as she went to spin her all the way around and whip her into the turnbuckle. Kelly tried to whip her back into the opposite, but Trish bested her, and whipped her there instead.
Trish ran in, going up into a handstand sort of position at the second rope and then putting her legs in position for the Stratusphere, before Kelly grabbed her and hit her with a Powerbomb. When Kelly bent a bit to follow up, Trish low-blowed Kelly, causing her to drop to the mat, while Trish put her hand into her shirt and revealed a shiny pair of brass knuckles.
Trish went in to deck Kelly across the face as she was standing up, but Kelly caught her by the fist, and fought to pull the knuckles off of Trish's fingers. Finally, after a few punches to Trish, she managed to pull them off and throw them to the mat. Trish scrambled to pick them up, but Kelly tripped her and kicked them from the ring.
Trish retreated backward, toward the ropes the ropes, looking back and forth for something to get her out of Kelly's path, and Kelly ran a few steps forward, shocking Trish back to the ropes.
Kelly ran forward further, hoping to overtake Trish and send her out of the ring, but Trish bent suddenly, picking Kelly up in a basic backdrop, and threw her over the top rope. Kelly took hold of the top rope, feet flailing as she struggled to pull herself back over it.
Trish took no notice of this, however, and instead turned around, motioning at how great she would look with the belt around her waist.
"Come on, Trish! You arrogant, stupid bitch!" Lita was shouting at the monitor. "She's not out yet! Get her out!"
The DEAR locker room was up in arms with anger about this, while the Diva's Army was cheering Kelly on from backstage. "Come on, Kelly!" Alicia had her hands together like she was praying. "You can do this."
"You're not out yet, Kelly." Natalya spoke softly, the catering area now so quiet you could hear a pin drop under their voices.
Kelly had her heels on the apron, and was about to stand up straight, when Trish noticed she was still holding on to the top rope. Trish grabbed Kelly's fingers, trying to pry them from the top rope, when Kelly used her heels to kick her feet up and over the top rope, using her ankles to grab Trish and pull her over the top rope to throw her down as well. Kelly struggled to stand on the apron as Trish sprawled out on the outside mat in front of her, looking up.
"Yes!" The Diva's Army was all screams and cheers as they grabbed each other, hugged, high-fived, and Alicia even shed a tear. Meanwhile, the DEAR locker room was screaming, "No!" and slamming their fists into things.
The two of them were still meeting each other's eyes as Lillian Garcia stood up and proclaimed proudly:
"The winner of this battle royal, and the new WWE Diva's Champion-Kelly Kelly!"
All that time, nearly a year and a half of the slowest publishing ever - sorry about that - is almost over. There's one more chapter, lovelies!