Warning: Before you proceed, let me remind you 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 :-)

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RISE ABOVE HATE

Chapter One – The Last Man Standing

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Scottrade Center - St. Louis, Missouri. - January 29th, 2012.

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Everything had been so fine so far.

Wade had lifted Sheamus on his shoulders with the firm intention of wastelanding him over the top rope and getting rid of him in this so long awaited Royal Rumble. He had just made ONE mistake: forgetting about Randy Orton.

Oh, he shouldn't have blamed himself too much: the viper had faked his half-KO state extremely well, lying on the mat, just waiting for the most appropriate moment to strike. And Wade with Sheamus's weight on his shoulder had his guard off, and was completely opened for a few seconds. Enough for Orton to go into action. As fast as the lightning, Orton had jumped in the air, caught Wade's face in his hands, and in the same smooth movement, had RKOed both the Brit and the Irishman. But he then neglected Sheamus in order to give his whole and undying attention his sworn enemy, remembering the pain he had suffered when he had quickly learned how to fly over steel stairs some weeks ago. He was willing to share his experience with Wade, and make him unable to wrestle for a long time, if not permanently. But first, his nemesis would travel through unexplored lands of pain.

Orton rolled Barrett with his foot so that the Brit would lie on his back, and then without any warning, he violently smashed his right foot on Wade's right wrist. Despite the crowd's cheer, Wade heard a bone breaking sound before he ever felt the pain. His howl was drowned in the ovation from the audience, fully behind Orton. The viper looked up in the air, as if he was listening to some inner voices, then he smiled. A smile that bode nothing good for his fallen opponent. He should have thrown Barrett over the top rope, but this was not enough. He had an unquenched thirst for revenge, and he had just begun. He walked to the other side of Barrett and in a swift movement, he jumped in the air and smashed his foot against Wade's left ankle. The resulting scream of agony was like music to his ears and his ferocious smile grew bigger.

As he was walking to Wade's right leg, Orton carefully kept an eye on Sheamus. The Irishman was slowly coming back to his senses. Oh, he wouldn't probably help Barrett, and would most gladly eat popcorns, watching Orton finishing his "amputation" dance with a punt in Barrett's skull. But you might never know. It was every man for himself, here. Alliances were short, and friendships were forgotten. Maybe Sheamus would realize that Barrett wasn't in the picture anymore and would rather attack Orton while he was busy, trying to eliminate first the strongest remaining opponent of the three.

And that's the mistake Orton did. Thinking they were only three left.

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Earlier in the match, as they had reached the critical number of 17 men in the same ring, Heath Slater had quickly estimated his chances of winning, and saw that they were extremely slim. Especially since Sheamus, Justin and Hornswoggle were apparently out for his blood. Every times he was trying to get rid of one, the other two would interfere and try to send him over the top rope. He had managed to evade from the three first attacks, but he knew there wouldn't be a fourth chance for him. So when they became so many in the ring that it was a total commotion and his opponents were busy now with other wrestlers, he checked all the possibilities and found only one solution: What Santino Marella had done during the previous year's edition of the Royal Rumble. Except that he had already decided that HE would succeed.

In the global chaos, he let himself slip under the first rope after making sure that Scott Armstrong, one of the referees, was witnessing his action. He then quickly hid under the ring after screaming a couple of "shut up!" to the WWE fans who were trying to warn the other wrestlers about his maneuver. And since then, he had stayed there, between the packs of water, the various weapons that would most probably be used in John Cena's match versus Kane, and the ring heavy structure itself. The dust was occasionally making him cough, and the metallic and slightly sulfured aroma in this closed environment was assaulting his nose, but his highest concern was that the ring wouldn't collapsed on him. Thanks God, Big Show and Mark Henry were scheduled in another match. But if a Tech crew mistake had happened once, it could happen another time…

With his hands on his ears against the deafening noise coming from above - and amplified in this sounding space that was the underworld of the ring - he had tried to pay a close attention and guessed how many wrestlers were left in the ring. Usually, the sudden cheers or boos from the crowd helped him to understand when someone, Heel or Face, had been eliminated from the rumble.

He was wondering if he should rise from his hidden place when there would only be two left. But he wasn't sure how the two survivors would appreciate his "cowardly" tactics. Maybe those two opponents – whoever they would be – would temporary forget about their "relationship problems" and ally against him, before going back into business.

No, another idea was coming in his mind: maybe he should wait for the music theme of the so-called winner to start, and attack from behind while that idiot of a man was celebrating. Total humiliation. Total Victory. The One Man Rock Band would become the last man standing in this year's Royal Rumble.

But his resolves vanished as he heard Wade's scream of agony. He knew the man all too well to be able to differentiate a faked scream from a real suffering. For a moment, a knot of anxiety twisted in his stomach. There surely had been an unexpected incident in the ring. His first reflex was to leave his hiding place and check for his friend, but he reminded himself that if Wade was indeed hurt, his opponent or the referees would quickly take the measures to avoid any further injuries. Himself wouldn't be of a great help. So despite his worries and instinct, he remained under the ring.

But as the second agonizing howl was heard after another blow, Heath knew that there was a problem, and he forgot about his former tactical decision. Since NXT, he had grown a liking on Wade. They had become real friends during NEXUS, and Wade had turned to be one of his closest friends during their time in THE CORRE, almost like a brother. And since Justin had decided to become his enemy, Heath was now considering Wade as his best friend. No matter how many times Wade publically treated him like the dumbest human being on Earth, Heath knew this was just Wade's twisted way of showing his affection.

So he wouldn't stay arm crossed while his best friend was obviously being tortured, and he quickly crawled from under of the ring, barely noticing that the strange sulfur aroma had started to increase in his hiding place.

It was actually a very good thing he had left.

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TO BE CONTINUED.

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Thanks for your reviews everyone :)

So you like creepy atmospheres and chilling stories, apparently?

Fasten your seatbelt and behave! :D