"O…kay, so those two are obviously pissing each other off," Brittney said staring intently in Matt's departure direction.
"Yeah, and it's not good," Shawn added frowning. "Whatever it is, I hope they solve the issue before tonight's match. Conflict going into a match—never a good thing."
"Dad my feet hurt. I'm ready to go sit down now," Michael griped.
"Oh sorry son. Yeah…" Shawn looked at his watch, "you guys should get seated. Matt and Jeff's match will start in about ten minutes. I need to go find Hunter anyway. Michael, behave for Kim alright?" he asked kneeling down to give his son a hug.
"No problem dad. You know I like Miss Kim," he grinned.
"Okay, I'll see you two after my match," he said winking at Kim before leaving. She laughed before leading Michael through the crowd of technicians to their seats in the arena.
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Matt found Jeff standing behind the curtain, waiting for their entrance music minutes before their match.
"Man, where the hell have you been?" Matt demanded. "I have been looking all over this stadium for you!"
"I went to check on something," he replied. He was now pacing and seemed to be worried about something.
"Whoa bro, get your head out of your ass. Whatever it is you need to let it go before we go out there. People have paid lots of money to see us and we need to give them 110 or nothing at all."
"Whatever man," he said shrugging Matt off. Matt gritted his teeth as he grabbed his younger brother and pinned him against the side of the wall.
"Dammit Matt! Put me down!" he growled.
"Tell me what the hell has got you so worked up all of a sudden?" he asked.
"Fine," he grunted as Matt loosened his grip. "It's Melina."
"What do you mean 'it's Melina'? What has she done to you?"
"Nothing."
"Then what's the…?"
"She's going to tell Nitro that she doesn't want him anymore."
"When?"
"Tonight…after our match," he added quickly.
"Well whatever. Don't worry about it. That's their business and…"
"It's my business now…since she's…leaving him for me." Matt stared at his brother, the anger now boiling up inside of him.
"Jeff, what the fuck man? Are you out of your damn mind? She was engaged! Can't you…?"
"I'M SORRY MAN BUT IT JUST HAPPENED ALRIGHT! CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND? IT'S NOT LIKE…It's not like I planned on falling for her and you told me yourself a while back that she had a thing for me. Well the cat's finally out of the bag. She told me the other night when I took her to dinner that she liked me. She also told me that Nitro…has changed and I get the feeling I know the extent of his 'changing'," he added angrily. He punched the wall before turning to face his brother.
"Remember that night you stopped that Derek guy from hurting Brittney?"
"Yeah but…wait a sec…you don't think Nitro and Mercury are…"
"Her jaw is swollen Matt. I saw it a while ago. She tried to feed me some bullshit story about tussling with Mickey, but Mickey's not even on the card to wrestle this year."
"Oh damn man…that's…but I mean, we can't do anything about it right now," Matt exclaimed.
"Yeah, I know, but now that I've told you then you'll understand if I accidentally…"
"Jeff we can't…we have to be careful. You know we are responsible for each other in these matches. The ladder match…this is no time for games man. Somebody could get seriously injured."
"I'll do my best but I am making no promises." Matt was about to respond but their music hit. "Showtime big bro," Jeff said grinning. Matt sighed before stepping out from behind the curtain. Whatever happens I'll just have to deal with the outcome.
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Matt and Jeff ran out from behind the curtain to a tumultuous applause from the sold out crowd. It was show time and the fans were clearly pumped. They entered the ring as Lillian Garcia announced them as "Team Extreme" and cut a few poses for the fans to take pics. Seconds later their applause was drowned out by the boos as Mercury and Nitro, cooperatively known as MNM made their way down the ramp. Jeff could feel his face burning as he glared angrily as the smiling Nitro. Melina was escorting them both and she did not look happy at all. It seems that she had fixed her hair to cover up that swollen jaw. Don't worry sweetie. He won't hurt you anymore once I'm done telling him off later tonight. Matt shot Jeff a worried look before bracing themselves for their match.
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"Wow. This match is starting to get really intense," Brittney said and she was right. Ever since the bell sounded, the Hardyz had been putting a beating on MNM.
"Yeah, and I thought all my friends said wrestling was fake. That looks like it hurts!" Michael exclaimed as he watched Nitro put Jeff through a table.
"Ouch! Jeff's going to be feeling that in the morning," Brittney shouted. It was getting harder and harder to hear what each other was saying, for the crowd was now shouting madly for the Hardyz. Nothing unexpected Kim thought before turning her attention back to the ring.
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Jeff laid there motionless for a second before pushing Nitro off of him. The bastard.
"Get the hell off of me," he said to Nitro. Nitro rolled over off of the broken pieces of table before standing and running at Jeff with a clothesline. Jeff ducked it causing Nitro to run into another standing latter.
"What the hell?" he shouted. "You were supposed to…"
"Shut up Nitro before I really make a mistake."
"Hey man what's your fucking problem? You've been making mistakes all night. It's not like you."
"Put your hands on Melina again and I'll hurt you for real," Jeff shouted before crawling back into the ring to climb the ladder. Nitro quickly followed knocking Jeff back onto the mat before climbing on top, pounding him with unclenched fists. The ref immediately broke it up as Matt came running and knocking Nitro over the ropes once more. He leaned over to check on his brother.
"You alright?" he whispered.
"I'm going to hurt him," he shouted.
"No, Jeff get it together. We're almost done." He helped his brother up just as Mercury ran at the two of them with the twenty-foot ladder.
"Son…of…a…bitch," Matt groaned. "What the hell did he do that for?" he asked rolling outside the ring. Jeff laid there in the middle of the ring and watched as Mercury and Nitro set up the ladders for the famous see saw technique. Jeff quickly rolled outside the ring before they could spot him.
"Matt, they're setting up the ladders for our move…"
"I got you. I'll go this way and you…"
"I'm on it," Jeff nodded. He ran back into the ring and ducked another clothesline from Nitro. He kicked Nitro in the groin before setting him up for the twist of fate. He landed it nicely as Mercury ran at him from behind. He fell down only to watch as Matt grabbed Mercury from behind. Matt quickly climbed the top rope and the crowd went nuts. Jeff rolled Mercury onto the bottom ladder and Matt did the Hardy cry. Right when he jumped Mercury sat up and the ladder hit him right in the eye. His left eye started gushing blood and Jeff watch in horror as Nitro came at Matt from behind and hit him with a chair. This ends now. Jeff grabbed the chair and hit Nitro in the head. Nitro fell backwards onto Mercury as Jeff climbed the top rope and swantoned them both. He watched as a beaten and bruised Matt climbed the ladder to retrieve the World Tag Team titles. The crowd erupted into a thunderous applause as the Hardyz music hit. Jeff watched as a stretcher came to carry Mercury out of the arena. Jeff was about to go and see if he was alright when a left hook landed on his jaw. He turned to see Nitro glaring angrily at him.
"You two did that on purpose," he shouted. "You will pay for that you son of a bitch," he cried running at Jeff. The referee grabbed Nitro holding him back as Melina climbed into the ring to help restrain him.
"Nitro, please don't…"
"Shut up!" he shouted slapping her in the face. Jeff immediately reacted by running at Nitro and spearing him in the stomach. He began to pound Nitro in the face, bursting his nose as he beat him.
"Jeff! Stop! Please!" Melina shouted. Jeff stopped as a pair of hands grabbed him from behind. He looked up to see Matt pulling him away from Nitro.
"Let's go man. We'll deal with it later." Jeff glared at Nitro once more before letting his brother lead him away from Nitro. He looked back at Melina, motioning for her to come. She shot Nitro a pleading look before exiting the ring with the two Hardy brothers at her side.