Warning: Before you proceed, just keep in mind that English is NOT my mother language. So there will certainly be mistakes in this text. Yet, I'm eager to improve, so if you see some corrections to make, don't hesitate to contact me :-)

Background Music: As the atmosphere from a music can influence our mood and the way we write, here's the song that was playing in loops while I was writing this: CFO$ - « New Day Coming ». It's the WWE Superstars show theme. … just in case you too want to put yourself in the same atmosphere before reading ;)

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WORTHY OF NEW NEXUS

Chapter 2 – Monday, bloody Monday

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Sunday 2011.01.24 – 10:30 pm

Wade was starting to feel his lungs screaming and his muscles sore. The match was lasting way too long. He knew he should have won already. CM Punk had perhaps a lot of wrestling experience in the independent circuit, but himself was a true warrior; someone used to critical situations where what you could lose in the end wasn't just the match, but your life. So every time the man who had stolen his Nexus group had tried to pin him on the mat, Wade had escaped. Easily first, but now it was becoming more and more difficult.

Wade knew he had made the classical rookie mistake: give everything you have in the first minutes of the match. But it was because he didn't trust their guest referee. John Cena. The man had been part of his NEXUS group, quite unwillingly Wade could admit, but the Brit had hoped that after some time spent with the former NXT rookies, John would understand the bigger picture, and get along with everyone. But Cena had been hostile since day one; he didn't even understand that every time Wade had sent him on a "stupid errant", it was so that he wouldn't be part of their darkest actions, and wouldn't be hated like they were.

So he didn't trust their referee tonight. And after he pinned CM Punk and realized John Cena was nowhere around to count, he knew his suspicions had been right. John was outside of the ring, taking pictures with fans or signing autographs instead of doing his job. Wade strode to the ropes and shouted at him. Cena received the Worst Actor Award for his performance in "Oops! I'm sorry, I forgot!". He climbed back in the ring, still apologizing to Wade with big innocent eyes and a slightly goofy smile. Behind the Cenation leader, Wade saw CM Punk going back on his feet, staggering a little. The Brit clenched his jaws: he'd have to redo it all over again. But before he walked pass John in order to reach CM Punk, something behind his opponent caught his attention.

He saw Heath Slater sliding in the ring, still in his New Nexus gears; the youth had probably hid under the ring during the commotion at the beginning of the match. But what really caught Wade's eyes was the steel pipe the One Man Rock Band was holding in his right hand.

Two against one. This didn't sound good at all. Even if the use of a weapon would get Punk and the New Nexus disqualified, himself would probably end up in some hospital while his diminished team would have to face the rest of the roster in the Battle Royal. Maybe CM Punk didn't want just to ensure his place as New Nexus leader; maybe he wanted to make sure that the former leader would never come back. Maybe he wanted to end Wade's career once and for all.

Wade tried to warn Cena of the intrusion in the ring, and the imminent danger, but Cena refused to turn around and check. Wade initially thought that Cena was suspecting a ruse from his former tormentor, but another idea crossed his mind.

'What if Cena was part of the conspiracy?'

After all, this could explain his sabotaging attitude since the beginning of the match, and not just some old grudge against his former – forced – leader. Wade brought his gaze back to the two New Nexuses and noticed something. CM Punk wasn't paying attention to Heath – maybe because he was expecting him there - but the One Man Rock Band wasn't looking at anyone. His head was slightly lowered and his eyes were as empty as when The Corre and The New Nexus had faced earlier tonight. His face was expressionless, but his body language was telling another story. His right hand was clenched so tightly around the steel pipe that his knuckles were white. As if he was trying to gather his courage. As if he didn't want to be there.

As if he was seeing his life flashing before his eyes…

Wade braced himself for the upcoming brawl, ready to jump out of the ring at the first sign of hostility towards him. But before he could do anything, Heath stepped towards CM Punk and with a swift movement almost too quick for human eyes, he slammed the steel pipe into the back of his leader's head. Wade saw Punk falling on the mat almost in slow motion while the WWE Universe was cheering for this surprising action. Probably seconds away from welcoming Slater as the new babyface.

Many thoughts were flashing through the Brit's brain. Was it a setup to get him disqualified? If Punk was attacked – regardless who was the attacker – the referee could consider that the interference was there to help Wade, and gets him disqualified. Maybe CM Punk had ordered Heath to attack him, in case the tables would turn against him; much like what John had done to Wade when he was facing Orton not so long ago. Unless…

Unless Drew and Zeke had finally succeeded in talking with Heath before the match, and persuaded him to leave the New Nexus and join The Corre. This attack could be Heath sending a clear message to CM Punk before quitting the black-and-golden army.

But one way or another, as soon as Cena would turn and see CM Punk on the mat, holding the back of his head, and Heath still standing with a weapon in his hand, Wade would lose the match; and so would The Corre.

This whole analysis took only two seconds for Wade's brain to process, but before he could start talking to Cena to keep him busy, hoping that Heath would retreat and hide again, the One Man Rock Band made one step forward to stand over CM Punk. His eyes were fully alive now. And burning. A mask of fury appeared on his face as he raised his right hand again, and slammed the pipe full force on CM Punk's head.

Wade could only stare, eyes wide open and mouth agape, as a particularly sickening sound made his mind go blank. The crowd was still cheering, excited by the show in front of them; only those ring-side heard the same thing as Wade and became suddenly silent.

That silence quickly expanded like a circular wave, as Heath raised the steel pipe and hit again; and again.

And again.

Cena had turned after the second hit, and was as paralyzed as Wade. But even if he had leaped forward and tackled Heath, there was nothing that could have been done to save Punk. Wade had forgotten how fast Heath could move when he wanted. And here, he looked like in total rage. Suddenly, some liquid was thrown on the youth's face and for an instant, Wade held onto hope that some fan had tossed a soda can in the middle of the ring. But the color was wrong. Too red.

For a brief instant, Wade thought this was just a nightmare. This couldn't be the reality. Heath was one of the nicest persons he knew. Always smiling, full of energy, a bit naive at some point – Wade had initially misunderstood that for stupidity – perhaps quick to anger when push came to shove, but always knowing the limits not to pass. This had to be a nightmare.

A scream of terror was heard somewhere in the crowd, quickly followed by many others. People had apparently woken up faster than him.

Chaos erupted quickly in the arena; the cameras were stopped, but while several people were running towards the exits, most had grabbed their cell-phones. So often exposed as they were to violence on TV – fictions or news report – they had apparently developed a resistance to shock; and new reflexes: with technology always progressing, alongside the development of social networks, filming and broadcasting wasn't just the capacity of an elite few anymore. Long gone was the time where a deadly incident due to a wrestler coming from the ceiling with the wrong cable and crashing head first in the ring, had a reduced impact due to the fact no image had ever been seen by people outside of the arena that fateful night.

Tonight, Heath Slater and CM Punk were about to enter History books in a way none had probably ever wanted when they started in this business. Fans in the audience were probably already connecting their phone to their twitter account, or ready to Tout some memorable 15 seconds video. Wade's body felt as heavy as lead, but he was trying to force himself to move, in order to reach Heath and change History while he might still have the possibility, make him stop before it was too late. Yet, the youth stood up on his own, breathing rapidly and looking down at CM Punk with dark eyes. After two seconds, he seemed to remember something, and tore his Nexus armband from his right arm, tossing it onto the beaten man.

'Don't look at the armband… Don't look at the armband…!'

But Wade's eyes seemed to have a mind of their own. And what they caught was more than just the yellow and black piece of tissue. The Brit felt bile climbing its way to his throat, and he closed his eyes tightly; hoping to wake up when he would open them again.

Except that his vision was still occupied by his ginger friend, standing above his leader, blood splattered all over his face, shirt, arms, and on the steel pipe he was still holding in his right hand. Like in a trance, Wade stepped toward Heath, but felt a pair of strong arms stopping him before he realized that – even if they were enemies – Cena had the uncontrollable reflex to protect anyone from danger.

Because from Cena's point of view, Heath was the personified danger now. He had shown unpredictable reactions on several occasions in the past; who knows, his rage could come back in a blink of an eye. The original referee Scott Armstrong was the first to join them in the ring. He cautiously arrived from behind and grabbed Heath's wrist, ready to wrestle the pipe out of the youth hand, but he didn't have to. Heath just let go and the pipe fell to the blood soaked mat of the ring, rolling against CM Punk's arm, at the end of which some fingers were still spasmodically twitching.

Heath didn't move. He was now as silent as a cigar store Indian, but a lot more eerie. His eyes had settled on a far corner of the arena. They were eyes that didn't see anything from the real world anymore. His previous mask of hatred was now replaced by a blank expression. Yet, Wade knew Heath enough to be able to read a veil of sadness there.

Encouraged by his lack of reaction, some security guards climbed into the ring, and one of them – a big Samoan guy with long black hair – speared Heath to the ground, the other guards tackling him a couple of seconds later. From their point of view, the One Man Rock Band was dangerous and had to be quickly immobilized. Even if he wasn't reacting now, it didn't mean he wouldn't come back to life in a second; the guards had to protect themselves too. Two medics dressed in black slid under the first rope, into the ring and went to check on CM Punk. Barrett had earlier glimpsed the open skull and visible brain –a vision he would never forget – he knew that there was nothing they could do, except praying for a miracle. The horrified look on their face told Wade he had guessed right.

Armstrong listened to something in his earpiece, then walked towards Cena and Barrett. He had to shout to cover the deafening sound around them, told them to move away, to return to the locker room. Wade resisted; he didn't want to abandon Heath. But two other guards joined Armstrong, and John started to pull him away. It wasn't a request, it was an order. Around them, chaos had erupted in the crowd as all of them had now realized it wasn't a work. The last in-ring view Wade got from his unresisting former team mate was his face now pressed on the mat as the guards were tying his wrist in his back. Red hair masking most of his face. Except for his eyes.

His brown, empty eyes.

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TO BE CONTINUED

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Remember when I told you to pay a particular attention to the date and time of chapters ? ;^)

On a sad note: I am closing the story "RENEGADE". When I wrote chapter 1, it could work as a one-shot, but you guys asked for a continuation and in fact, I had a lot of chapters in mind, with characters development and twisted plots, covering 21 months of existence in WWE, and finishing with a huge conclusion on WrestleMania XXX. But since after many warnings on several fics and on my profile, people still don't take the time to leave me a note (not only for "Renegade", but for ALL of my in-progress fics) to say if they liked/disliked/have-questions/comments, while they take plenty of time to comment on PWP porns, it means my WWE-related stories don't interest anybody anymore, and I'm clearly losing my time. There will be one more chapter for RENEGADE, with a new - abrupt – ending, and a lot of deaths. I liked that story… but you guys put me in a Game of Thrones mood.