Nitro sat down in his dressing room, still applying the icepack to his face. He was grateful that the Con-chair-to went to plan and that Edge was careful, despite the fact the match was brutal and Rated RKO definitely wanted to show him what main-eventing was. Ashley knocked on the door and came in.
"Sorry, didn't catch her in time" she said to Nitro. She was, of course talking about the mysterious Danielle, the girl from Nitro's past.
"Don't worry about it, the night's over and I'm going back to the hotel, I'm exhausted" Nitro said, wearily.
"Ok, well if you need anything you have my number"
"Thanks, will keep that in mind" Nitro said as Ashley left and with that he packed his things up and left for his hotel.
The next day Nitro awoke to the phone ringing, he rolled over and answered it in a tired groggy voice.
"Hello"
"Hello, Johnny it's Vince"
"Oh, hello sir, what can I do for you" Nitro said, all of a sudden, knowing he needed to be awake for this phone call
"Well, I need you to get down for the SmackDown tapings tonight, Mercury's got a match and I want you involved"
"Yes, of course, I'll be there" Nitro assured Mr McMahon
"Thank you, when you arrive I want you and Joey to come to my office"
"Right, Ok, I'll see you then"
"Thank you, goodbye" Vince said and rung off
More thoughts were going through Nitro's head, the chair shot from the night before still stung slightly and he hadn't slept well because of it and now he was needed on SmackDown. Was this for a match or just a run in, or just to be there? All these questions were being spun around in his head, confused he got out of bed and got up.
He pulled up outside the arena where SmackDown was being taped and went to find Mercury. He walked up to his dressing room and knocked on it and came in. There in front of him was not only Mercury but Danielle was talking and laughing about with him.
"What's going on?" Nitro asked
"Oh nothing, we're just catching up" Mercury said casually
"Well we need to talk business, did Vince contact you" Nitro replied flatly
"Yes he did, all in good time" Mercury replied, just as casually. By this point Nitro was getting very annoyed as he wanted to find out what was happening tonight
"For goodness sake Joey, pull yourself together, we need to see Vince, and you" he turned his head and glared at Danielle "get out and leave me alone, I don't know what you're doing here, nor do I care, now leave, we have business to attend to"
"Fine, fine, I'm going" Danielle said, but once again as she walked past Nitro on the way out, she whispered "but I am so sorry" and with that she left the room, leaving Nitro puzzled and Mercury glaring at him.
"You never relax these days do you, she was only talking, catching up" Mercury shot at Nitro
"Well, that's great but you know my history with her isn't exactly all rosy, what's she doing here anyway?"
"I don't know, she just came in and said she was visiting, anyway you're right, we need to speak to Vince, let's go"
They both left the dressing room and knocked on Vince McMahon's door.
"Come in" said Vince from inside and both men walked into the room "do sit down" Vince said politely and they all took a seat. "Right, this Sunday at Wrestlemania I want you two in a match one on one where the loser leaves WWE, and Nitro, you are to win" Nitro looked stunned
"Sorry, does this mean Joey is leaving the company" Nitro asked looking over at Mercury
"I am not able to discuss reasons with other people on the roster, Joey is leaving and he knows, you are to pin him at Wrestlemania, that is all you need to know" Vince said firmly, in a tone that Nitro knew meant don't bother enquiring. "As for tonight however, you are both to be in a tag team match, Johnny you will team with Chris Benoit and Joey will team with MVP. The end result will be Johnny pinning Joey, which will fuel the match for Sunday. Joey, you will claim that Johnny cannot beat you one on one and if he does you will leave the company, do you understand?"
"Yes sir" Mercury said and with that they were dismissed.
Once outside Nitro turned to Mercury and said.
"Ok, what's going on, why are you leaving?"
"I'm not really able to talk about it but I didn't pass a wellness test, don't ask anything else" Mercury replied and walked off quickly to his dressing room.
Nitro stood still, still trying to take in what was going on, he'd faced Chris Benoit in a six man tag before, back at No Way Out, but never teamed with him, and Joey leaving? That would be weird. Just then, in the distance he saw Danielle, wondering what she was doing Nitro hid and to his amazement she walked down the corridor to Nitro's locker room where she posted a note through the door, kissing her hand and touching the door she left and carried on walking. Nitro quickly went into his locker room and read the note, after reading it he sat down, more confused than before. He wasn't sure but he knew this Sunday at Mania could be the end of his career if he wasn't careful. He pondered over the note and re-read it to himself? What did it mean and what should he do about it? He wondered whether to go to Vince, but decided against it. For the third time he read the note, this time aloud to see if it would make any sense.