Disclaimer: You've heard it before.

Wassup? Last time we saw team Cena take on Melina's crew with Jason fighting back from a three-on-one disadvantage to win the match with help from the returning Mara, is that the end of the battle with MNM? Will a new team step up? Let's find out!

Here We Go!

Brotherly Hate-Chapter Forty-Open Challenge

The Cena's and Mara were in a pumped up mood when they arrived in Detroit for Smackdown, the huge victory that Jason had pulled off had him ready to take on the world while John just wanted to fight someone. However, when they looked at the card for the night they saw that they weren't competing, they were just about to go look for Teddy when he approached them.

"Hey there playas! I need to talk to ya".

"Good, cause we wanted to talk to you as well" replied John.

"Well, you can go first".

"How come me and Jason don't have a match tonight?"

"I needed to talk to you about that, ya see, Melina wants her boys to get another shot at the titles, but, you've beaten them on several occasions lately so I made a compromise. Tonight, it's gonna be Melina vs. Mara in a straight up, one-on-one, WRESTLING match!"

"So wait" said Mara. "It's just me and her, no strings attached?"

"That's right, and if Melina wins, then her boys get a shot later on tonight, if you win, then MNM will never have another shot, as long as Jason and John hold the titles!"

Jason grinned. "Cool, no more MNM getting in our way!"

"Only if she wins" said John.

"What do you mean 'if'?" Replied his brother. "You think Melina's got a hope in hell of beating her when there's no-one to back her up?"

"When you put it that way…"

"Then it's settled" said Teddy. "Melina and Mara, one-on-one, tonight".

The GM left, Jason started to head back to the locker room.

"Where ya goin' bro'?" Called John.

"To change into my ring gear".

"But we ain't competing tonight".

"Yeah we are, see after Mara beats Melina we won't have any challengers right? So I was thinking that, starting tonight, we go out there and do some open challenges".

"Open challenges?"

"Yeah, we go out there, offer up a title shot, whoever wants one comes out, we defend the titles, lather, rinse and repeat until we've beaten every single team on this show!"

"That sounds like a good idea, that way we can be in action every week".

"That's my plan in a nutshell John".

"This is just assuming that Mara beats Melina though?"

"John, Mara IS going to beat Melina, so we might as well put our gear on now".

Melina stood in the ring alone, no Mercury or Nitro in her corner, she prided herself on never showing weakness, but on the inside she was terrified. Everything she had done to Daniels was running through her head, deep down she knew she was going to pay for it, but that didn't mean she was going down without a fight. Mara made her way down to the ring to Jason's music, she got in the ring and stared down Melina, the referee called for the bell and Melina jumped out of the ring, she stayed out there and waited for the referee to count her out, Mara was having none of it and went out after her, she chased Melina round the ring but as they got back in was jumped by the manager of MNM.

Melina quickly tried to take advantage, she hammered Mara down and hit a legdrop across the back of her neck, she covered and got a two-count, she picked Mara up and hit a stiff kick to her gut, Mara dropped to her knees and Melina hit another kick round the side of her head, she covered for another two. Mara used the corner to pull herself up, Melina came across and whipped her into the opposite corner but it was reversed, Mara charged but ran into Melina's boot, she tried to follow up with a clothesline but Mara ducked and hit a superkick!

Mara now took control, she picked Melina up and slammed her before going out to the apron, she used to ropes as a catapult and came over, dropping her body across Melina, she picked her up and lifted her up to her shoulders, she walked out to the middle of the ring and hit the F-U! She didn't cover but instead dragged Melina across to one of the corners and hit the BME! She still didn't cover but picked Melina up again and hit the Angels Wings, she finally covered and got the three-count. Mara smirked as she got out of the ring, she had easily defeated Melina and got her payback, she looked back as she left, Melina was being helped up by the ref, a look of pure hatred in her eyes, Mara grinned back at her.

"Now, we're even!"

Jason walked through the backstage area in search of Mara; she had gone back to the women's locker room to change out of her ring gear, that had been almost half an hour ago. He knocked on the door, there was no answer, he waited a moment before pounding the door again, still there was no answer, he frowned then punched the door twice before a very angry Stacy finally opened it.

"WHAT?"

"Took ya long enough didn't it Stacy?"

"I was in the shower alright? Now what do you want?"

"Well, I'd like to know where my girlfriend is if that's not too much trouble".

Stacy sighed. "I don't know where she is".

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"I mean I don't know, she got some message on her phone, seemed to upset her and she left".

"Oh O.K. thanks".

He turned and began wandering around the arena looking for Mara, he eventually found her sitting alone in one of the corridors, she seemed very upset, he held back a moment before deciding to speak.

"You gonna tell me what's up?"

She didn't answer, instead she held out her phone, there was a text message from Christopher, Jason read it aloud to himself.

"Decided to go through with what we talked about, handed it in to Dixie this morning, I'm out, tell that boyfriend of yours he doesn't have to worry about going to TNA anymore. Wait, he quit?"

Mara nodded. "After what Joe did to him he says he can't risk it happening again, he's got a family to care for after all".

"So if he's quit, where's he gonna work?"

"Indies probably, ROH will want to have him there full time, he loves working in Japan, and that 1PW fed in the UK want him as well".

"Damn, I'm sorry".

"Don't be, if anyone should be it's Joe, he's going to pay for what he did".

Jason sat down next to her. "I was gonna ask if you wanted to come out for the open challenge me and John have tonight, but if ya want to stay back here, that's fine".

"No, I'll go out there with you, I'm your manager after all".

John's music hit and the Cena's made their way out to the ring with their title belts in hand, Jason also carried a mic.

"Wassup Detroit? Now tonight marks a turning of the page for John and me, because, for the first time since we won these belts, we don't have to deal with a couple of Hollywood wannabes called MNM, so you can imagine how disappointed we were to find that we would only have a match tonight, if my girlfriend lost to Melina, and gave MNM another shot. However we decided to make a little change to the line-up, so, if there's any team backstage who wants a shot at these titles then come on out and we'll give it to ya, no catches, no secret get-out clauses, just you and us, you beat us, we hand them over, any takers?"

There was a moment of silence before Spanky's music hit and he and Miz came down to the ring, Jason laughed. "I was wondering when you guys would come and have a shot".

Spanky laughed. "I was wondering when you two would give us a shot".

John and Miz got out of the ring leaving Jason and Spanky to kick things off, the two circled each other then Spanky held out his hand, Jason shook it before the two locked up. Jason tried to take control straight away and put on a headlock, Spanky fought out of it and sent him off the ropes but Jason ran through him with a shoulder tackle, he hit the ropes again but Spanky leapfrogged him and caught him with an arm-drag, then another, then hit a single leg dropkick to send Jason outside. John came round and grabbed Jason as he got up.

"What's wrong with ya bro? Just cause you like these guys is no reason to go easy on them!"

"I'm not, they just caught me off guard that's all".

"Don't let it happen again, this was your idea, we better not lose these titles because of it".

Jason frowned and returned to the ring, he locked up with Spanky again and backed him up to the corner, he broke cleanly and whipped Spanky across to the other corner, he followed but Spanky jumped to the middle-rope, back-flipped over Jason and pulled him into a roll up for a two-count. Jason got up looking a little frustrated as Spanky tagged Miz, he came over and locked up with Jason, the two battle for a moment then Miz put on a headlock, Jason tried to run him off the ropes but Miz hit the brakes and kept the hold on, Jason tried to break it again but only got the same result, he tried to lift Miz up for a back suplex but he shifted his weight and rolled through it, still keeping the headlock on, Jason tried for a headscissor but Miz nipped up out of it and hit the ropes, Jason tried to catch him with a powerslam but Miz rolled through into a pin for another two. Jason rolled to his corner and pulled himself up, he went to lock up with Miz again but John aggressively slapped his back to tag himself in, Jason spun round and argued with his brother.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"I've seen enough, your heads not in the game tonight, I'll show you how it's done!"

He went to lock up with Miz but instead booted him in the gut and hit a suplex, Miz retreated to the corner and John followed, Miz got his boot up and charged out of the corner only to receive a powerslam for a two-count, John picked him up and hit another suplex for another two-count, he dragged Miz to the corner and tagged Jason back in.

"Think you can handle him now?"

Jason looked at John quizzically, what had gotten into him? He shrugged it off and got in the ring, they whipped Miz and caught him with a double elbow and a double elbow drop, Jason picked him up and whipped him again, he tried for a clothesline but Miz ducked, he went to hit the ropes but John nailed him in the back, he dropped to his knees, Jason ran forward and hit a big shining wizard, he covered but Spanky broke it up at two, Jason tagged John back in, John lifted Miz up and hit the spinout powerbomb with Jason adding a neckbreaker, John covered but Spanky broke it up again. John backed Miz up into the corner and lifted him up to the top-rope, he followed and tried to hit a superplex but Miz fought out and sent him back down, John stood up but Miz came down with a flipping neckbreaker!

Both men were down and tried to tag their partners, John crawled to the corner and tagged Jason but Miz tagged Spanky! Jason charged him but he ducked a clothesline and hit a leg-lariat, they got back up and he went to kick Jason but the teen caught his foot only to receive an enziguri, John came in but Spanky cut him off and took a page out of his old partner Paul London's playbook by dropkicking John and using the momentum to moonsault onto Jason! He covered, but the teen kicked out. Spanky went to the top-rope and waited for Jason to stand, he went for a cross-body but Jason countered into a powerslam! He covered, but only got two, the teen tried to whip Spanky but it was reversed, he ducked Spanky's elbow, but Miz came off the top with a missile dropkick! Jason bounced back up as the referee tried to get Miz out of the ring, Spanky grabbed Jason and went for sliced bread number two but Jason grabbed the ropes, Spanky landed behind him but before he could do anything John clocked him round the back of his head with the chain! Jason turned to see Spanky on the ground and covered as John held back Miz, the referee counted, and the Cena's retained.

John rolled out of the ring and grabbed the tag title belts, Jason helped Spanky to his feet and held out his hand for a shake, Spanky looked at it and angrily slapped it away!

"I thought we were friends Jason!" He yelled before storming out of the ring, Jason turned a confused look at Miz.

"What was that all about?" He asked, Miz just looked at him in disgust before turning his back on him and leaving the ring as well. John came back in the ring and handed Jason his belt, the teen took and continued to stare after Miz and Spanky with a mixture of confusion and hurt on his face.

Backstage Miz and Spanky were changing back into their casual gear when Jason walked in, they both gave him a look before turning their backs on him.

"Guys, what's this all about? What did I do?"

"Don't play dumb" said Spanky. "You know damn well what you and your brother pulled out there, you had it planned from the beginning!"

"Had what planned from the beginning? What are you talking about?"

"Maybe this will refresh your memory" said Miz flipping on the monitor, Jason watched and felt his jaw drop as he saw John nail Spanky with the chain before he turned round to make the pin.

"Brian" he said slowly using Spanky's real name. "I had no idea he was going to do that, you saw me, I had my back to you the whole time, I swear, I never knew he was gonna hit you with that damn chain".

Spanky looked at the ground. "Alright, I believe you, only because I know you're not the kind of guy who'd lie to my face".

"So we're cool?" Asked Jason holding out his hand, Spanky shook it.

"Yeah, we're cool".

"Miz?"

Miz looked at the hand Jason was offering, he shook it and slapped Jason on the back.

"We'll beat ya next time Jason" he said.

"Maybe" replied the teen. "But then again, my head will be in the game next time".

Miz laughed. "Right, let's hurry up and pack up, I gotta meet Ashley in fifteen minutes".

"Ashley?" Asked Jason. "The girl who won the diva search?"
"The one and only".

"I thought you were going out with Kristal".

"He was" said Spanky. "Until the idiot started pulling pranks".

"It's not my fault the girl had no sense of humour" said Miz. "At least Ashley can take a few jokes and dish 'em out every now and then, besides, she's coming to Smackdown to be our manager".

"Who's taking her place on RAW?"

"Kristal of course, you think Teddy Long's dumb enough to let my girlfriend and my ex-girlfriend be on the same show?"

"Guess not, well enjoy yourself, and I'm sorry about how it went down tonight alright guys?"

"Yeah, forget about it, we'll just get ya back when we get another shot".

Jason laughed and backed out the door, his smile disappeared, he was going to give his brother a piece of his mind.

John had just finished getting changed when Jason walked in. "Hey bro' I got ya a soda…" he trailed off as Jason slapped it out of his hand. "Hey! What's wrong with you?"

"I was just about to ask you the same thing, I just spoke to Spanky and Miz, why did you use the chain?"

"What are you talking about?"

"John, I saw the damn replay? Why did you use it?"

"So I used the chain, big deal, if I didn't we'd have lost the titles".

"That's how little faith you have in me?"

"Kid, your head wasn't on the match, and I don't know about you but I wanna keep these belts".

"So do I, but to use the chain the way you did? You know that's wrong!"

"This from the kid who bashed Undertaker's head in with a crutch? And wanted to nail Shawn with a chair?"

"Those were mistakes John, and they didn't exactly help, I still lost to Shawn and 'Taker' kicked my ass for it!"

"Look bro' using that chain saved our titles, that's what's important…"

"What? Remember what happened at Survivor Series, you used that thing and I had to go through three guys! I almost lost two of my friends tonight, and if I recall, wasn't it that chain that cost me the match against Undertaker?"

"Hey, we agreed not to bring that up again, we said that it made us even for you costing me the title back at Summerslam!"

"Yeah but I thought that you'd have the sense not to use it, you know what, there's no point arguing with you so I'll just ask you instead, don't use the chain again, alright? We don't need it to beat anyone, we have enough skill to do it alone".

John sighed. "Yeah, sure, whatever".

"Cool, I'm goin' in the shower, alright?"

"Yeah".

Jason went through to the shower, John's phone went off.

"Hello?"

"There's the John Cena I remember!"

John quickly went out of the locker room and closed the door, he didn't want Jason to hear the conversation.

"Yeah man, had to happen sooner or later".

"I told ya John, ruthless aggression, about damn time you saw it my way".

"Yeah, the kid's starting to get all noble though, he chewed me out for using the chain".

"He would, the amount of time he's spent with Shawn Michaels would have him do things 'the right way' I'm surprised he hasn't become a born-again Christian yet".

"Yeah well, at the end of the day it's about time the old John Cena came out, I missed doing things my way".

"Any room for the kid with the old John Cena?"

"So long as we hold these tag belts we're gonna team up, but as soon as we lose them I'm going back after the big one, the kid can either accept that, or go it alone, I don't care either way so long as he's got my back when I need it".

"Damn it's good to hear ya talking like that again, I thought you were gone for good".

John laughed. "Well I gotta go, the kid and me are gonna go out to get somethin' to eat".

"Later John".

"Later champ".

John hung up the phone and went back in the locker room, little did he know that Shawn Michaels had been standing a short distance away, and he had heard every word…

End of Chapter
Well there ya go, so much going on, what's got into John? Will Jason have to watch his back? Will Shawn tell Jason what he heard? Who will be the next takers of the open challenge? (Open to suggestions)What does the future hold for 'The Fallen Angel'? Time will tell.

R&R

HOO-RAH!