NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: WHEW! It's about time I got to this chapter! Just so much happening at work and at home that it's not funny!
BTW, you'll be interested to know that my OC's are gonna be more prominent in the next series. Anna's foster parents will make an appearance, and they'll have a new foster kid who's gonna be semi-prominent in An Army Of Angels (COUGH *Extreme Rules* COUGH).
DISCLAIMERS: Please see the previous chapters.
Chapter Ten
DAN-IEL BRY-AN! *clap-clap-clap-clap-clap*
DAN-IEL BRY-AN! *clap-clap-clap-clap-clap*
DAN-IEL BRY-AN! *clap-clap-clap-clap-clap*
Lost.
Yeah, the most over superstar on the roster was taken out by yours truly at the Royal Rumble in Pittsburgh.
The dirt sheet writers had the nerve to call me a demonic cult leader. That made me laugh. If they only knew the truth about what I do, they'd be eating their words.
I didn't need to do anything else to punish Daniel for his duplicity after the Royal Rumble. Karma did it for me. Sure the little Billy Goat Gruff won that big shiny championship belt at Wrestlemania 30, but he would later undergo neck surgery which would force him to relinquish it.
Later, it would go to a selfish part-time guy whose name is not important at the moment.
But that didn't matter. What matters is that after I dispatched of Daniel Bryan, I found my next target.
Yeah. The man who took out Damien Sandow so that he could keep his spot. The WWE's cash cow. The fakest of all fake heroes.
John Cena.
My family and I were gonna change the world. But before I set my sights on Cena, I had some housekeeping to do...
~~~ANGEL~~~
15,715 fans erupted into cheers as Daniel made his way to the ring to kick off the Royal Rumble broadcast. The gigantic Yes! chant that accompanied Daniel as he bounded down the aisle was almost deafening.
He had the entire arena at his feet, but it wouldn't last long.
The lights turned off abruptly, and Bray appeared, flanked by Erick and Luke. As Bray lit his lantern and announced his presence, one of the color commentators complained that the Wyatt's arrival was a buzzkill. Michael Cole provided viewers at home the Cliff Notes version of the Bryan/Wyatt saga as Bray and his "sons" made their way to the ring.
Like a big, angry cat, Bray stalked slowly around the ring as the fans began to chant for Daniel. The WWE's perennial underdog soaked up the chants like he was a giant sponge, but Bray ignored them like the background noise they should have been. He stepped into the ring and locked eyes briefly with his now nemesis before gazing up at the ceiling and uttering the 23rd Psalm.
He ended his prayer with an "Amen," right at the opening bell. Daniel stared at him like he'd lost his mind.
Bray was unfazed. "You try to make a fool out of me?!" he snarled before he and Daniel locked up.
The two brawled fiercely with each other before Bray staggered Daniel into the corner with a headbutt. He bounced Daniel off the ropes and then leveled him with a shoulder block that ran the turncoat over like a freight train. As Daniel's head bounced off the canvas, Bray glared down at him.
"You'll receive no mercy from me," he announced, before following up with a series of stomps, including one right on Daniel's hand. Daniel attempted a comeback with some punches and a high knee that connected almost by accident. Bray crashed to the canvas, holding his left leg in pain. He suspected that he'd pulled a hamstring.
The crowd was super-hot as Daniel drove his knee into Bray's solar plexus multiple times. From his place at ringside, Luke called Daniel an ugly goat, which distracted Daniel long enough for Bray to regain the upper hand. He tossed Daniel into the ropes and attempted a clothesline, but Daniel ducked out of the way and dove through the ropes to deliver a suicide dive to Luke. The crowd shouted their approval, and Erick rushed over to administer some punishment of his own.
The referee saw the potential disaster unfolding and shouted at Erick to step aside. When Luke tried to intervene, the ref decided to send both of them back to the locker room. The situation looked volatile until Bray stepped out of the ring to confront his "sons."
"I don't need you to fight this war for me, Luke!" he exclaimed. "I'm fighting for all of us. You, Erick, and Jay. Go back."
Luke interjected. "But-"
Bray cut him off, and then drew closer. "If we get counted out or disqualified, we'll never recover. Now go!"
Erick and Luke left, albeit reluctantly.
Once they were gone, Bray returned to the ring and focused his attentions back on Daniel. As Bray's "sons" headed to the back, Daniel suddenly threw caution to the wind and leaped over the ropes to deliver a splash to Bray. He tossed the big man back into the ring like he was a bag of trash and hit a series of kicks, before scaling the ropes to deliver a huge crossbody for a two-count. A hard series of kicks to Bray's leg staggered the big man, and Daniel had him reeling.
Or so he thought. Daniel tried an Irish whip, which was easily reversed. Thinking on his feet, he put his boots up and caught Bray in the face. He tried to climb up top again, but Bray anticipated the move and, in a gesture of disgust, knife-chopped Daniel hard enough to send him tumbling to the outside.
A sly smile tweaked briefly across Bray's face as he climbed out of the ring. Daniel had struck his head on the steel steps.
Bray staggered towards the announcer's table and made a face at the commentators before he charged Daniel. Daniel saw his nemesis thunder towards him and managed to roll out of the way. Unable to stop his momentum, Bray tumbled over the steel steps and landed in a dazed heap, clutching his injured leg. A lesser opponent would have stayed out, but Bray was not a lesser opponent. He managed to shake the cobwebs off before he staggered back to the ring. He had to use the ring ropes to haul himself up and through.
Daniel was waiting for him. He kicked Bray's leg out from under him and delivered several more kicks and undercuts to the fallen patriarch. By the time he stopped to catch a breather, Bray was lying in the middle of the ring and writhing in agony.
Daniel glared down at his fallen nemesis. "You're not so tough without your boys, are you?" he snarled, before twisting Bray's injured leg into a submission move. "Who's gonna save you now?"
Bray howled as white hot pain spiked through his leg like a lightning bolt. Daniel continued his assault, yanking Bray's head up by the hair and twisting his arms behind his back. Bray was twisted up like a pretzel as Daniel kicked him in the head. Bray managed to reach inside and came back up with fire. an attempted pin, a kickout, a roundhouse right, a shoulder block and a headbutt, and Bray was back in control. Daniel however, fired back quickly with kicks to Bray's hurt leg. He tangled the leg up in the ropes and dropkicked the leg. Bray slid to the canvas, dazed.
Staying on the attack, Daniel grabbed Bray by the hair and positioned him so that Bray was standing (albeit barely) on the apron. He and Bray traded suplex attempts on the apron. It was a stalemate which ended when Bray got Daniel over the ropes. But instead of Daniel flying out of the ring and onto the floor like he'd hoped. Daniel landed on the apron. The two of them traded blows on the apron which was interrupted when Bray caught Daniel in the solar plexus with a hard knee. Daniel doubled over, and Bray leaped off the apron and onto the floor, slamming Daniel's face into the apron on the way down.
Stunned, Daniel rolled out onto the floor, while Bray paused to catch his breath.
Bray delivered a few stomps and rolled Daniel back into the ring and delivering a suplex that tossed Daniel halfway across the canvas. He slapped a vicious chinlock on the traitor to continue his punishment. Daniel managed to fight his way out, but before he could gain a head full of steam, Bray launched him to the outside. He slithered outside and wedged Daniel's head up against the ringpost before going to town with a series of brutal looking elbows.
He slithered back in and sat across from his fallen nemesis. "Isn't this what you came for, Daniel?" he taunted, before climbing back to his feet. "Didn't you wanna fight?"
Head pounding and ears ringing, Daniel rolled out of the ring… just in time to receive a vicious Senton from the Wyatt's patriarch.
Bray shook his head. "I tried telling him," he said, more to himself than to the audience. He sensed the animosity from the audience and glared at a group of hecklers. "Why didn't you help him?" he demanded. "Why didn't you help him?!"
"You suck, Wyatt!" one of the hecklers fired back.
Bray climbed to his feet, throwing the hecklers a look that could break glass. "Who are you to insult me? Why didn't you help him?!"
He rolled Daniel back into the ring and hooked a leg before attempting a pin. He only got a two count before Daniel kicked out.
"Don't be such a fool, Daniel!" he exclaimed, circling his nemesis the way sharks circled a life raft. "Don't be such a fool! I gave you the world!" Bray continued before he slingshot Daniel's neck into the second rope and followed it up with a neck crank. "I gave you the world, Daniel!"
Daniel fought out of the hold, but his head of steam was once again cut short by a vicious Rock Bottom. Daniel bounced off the canvas and Bray calmly made his way to the corner diagonal from him. He hung briefly from the ropes, then dropped to the canvas and pushed himself up with his hands and approached Daniel with a spider walk. From Daniel's perspective, it looked like Bray was a giant spider on the ceiling, a visual that unnerved him as he struggled to his feet. Then just as quickly as he pushed himself up, Bray flipped back around and splashed Daniel before tossing him face first to the mat.
Bray glared down at him. "Beg!" he shouted, before he attempted another pin. Daniel kicked out once again.
Another chin lock by Bray, and Daniel elbowed his way out. Bray scoop-slammed him back onto the mat, but Daniel got out the way of an elbow drop. the defensive move created a bit of separation, and a chance for Daniel to get his wits back.
Daniel suddenly felt a second wind, and then he went to town with kicks. A drop toe hold by Daniel sent Bray face first into the turnbuckle. As the audience shouted in approval Daniel nailed Bray with another series of kicks that met their mark. He then set Bray up on the turnbuckle and launched the big man across the ring with a hurricanrana! Bray crashed hard onto the mat, but the daring move only resulted in a two count as Bray got a shoulder up.
Both men struggled to their feet, each of them frustrated at their inability to put the other away.
A chant of This is awesome! went up from the enthusiastic crowd as the fight continued. Daniel with a couple of kicks to Bray's chin, an uppercut, and an Irish whip that was reversed, sending Daniel into the corner. Daniel backflipped out of the way as Bray rushed him. He ran the ropes and ducked a clothesline before Bray laid him out with a vicious shoulder tackle. Bray used his own body as a weapon as he laid the traitor out, but the move left him momentarily stunned. Luckily, he had gotten the better of the collision, as Daniel was still laid out. But, his own pin attempt resulted in a two-count as well.
Bray attempted a suplex but Daniel was able to recover quickly and pulled the ring ropes down, a move that sent Bray to the outside. Daniel capitalized with a tornado DDT off the apron that brought the crowd to its feet. Bray writhed on the arena floor, his mouth bleeding. He'd bitten his lip on the way down.
The big man staggered back to his feet, and Daniel struck him with a running dropkick into the barrier.
Daniel continued his onslaught. He tossed a disoriented Bray back into the ring and then hit a missile dropkick off the top rope. Daniel managed a kip-up back to his feet and grinned. It looked like victory was just a running knee away, and he couldn't help but smile. He paraded around the ring for a moment, drinking in the Yes! Yes! Yes! chants that were going up.
Bray had managed to climb to his knees, but Daniel was ready. He softened the big man up with a couple of kicks that took him back to the mat. Another two count because he could. Bray wobbled his way into a corner after the kickout. You're just a bunch of hot air and pretty words, Daniel thought. Without your sons, you're just like us. You bleed and breathe and fall like everyone else. The entire world's gonna see just what a fake you really are, Bray Wyatt.
And I can hardly wait.
The crowd noise was almost ridiculous as Daniel got up once more and prepared for the running knee. He launched himself out of the corner across from Bray. One running knee met its mark.
Yes!
Then another.
Yes!
Victory was at hand as he prepared for a third one...
Or so he thought.
At the last second, Bray rushed Daniel like he'd been fired out of a cannon, slamming into the perennial underdog with a hellacious lariat that sent Daniel spinning to the mat. The vicious collision nearly took Daniel out of his boots.
Bray threw himself on top of the fallen traitor, but the move had merited only a two-count.
He was undaunted, however. Bray picked Daniel up like he was nothing and attempted Sister Abigail, but Daniel proved to be impossible to stop and countered with a rollup for two. Like a snake, Daniel slithered around and locked in the Yes! Lock but Bray bit Daniel's hand to escape.
Seriously?! Daniel thought as Bray wrestled him down to the mat and whaled away with a few rights. Daniel wasn't gonna go away, but neither was Bray. Failure was not an option for either combatant.
"Get up, Daniel!" Bray snarled, picking Daniel up by the hair and tossing him into the corner.
Bray set up Daniel on the top rope, and the two of them exchanged headbutts and punches. The thought of a superplex crossed Bray's mind, but it crossed back out as Daniel shoved him back to the canvas and hit a headbutt/splash. Daniel overshot it, but at this point of the game, it didn't matter. He stumbled to his feet and tried for another running knee but Bray wisely rolled to the outside to escape. No matter; Daniel struck Bray with two dropkicks using the ropes to spring him back in. He went for a suicide dive through the ropes, but Bray was waiting.
The big man caught Daniel in midair and kissed him on the forehead. "Nice try," he whispered before he countered with a Sister Abigail into the barrier!
Daniel dropped like a sack of potatoes, and the crowd broke into a loud, expletive-laden chant that expressed their disbelief. Another chant of This is awesome! went up from the crowd as Bray tossed his now half-conscious opponent back into the ring.
He gazed up at the ceiling. "Follow the buzzards!" he exclaimed. "Change is now!"
And with those words, Bray kissed Daniel on the forehead and knocked him to the canvas with Sister Abigail again. Daniel put up no more resistance; he was out cold. A wicked grin flickered across Bray's face as the referee delivered a three count.
The crowd response was somewhat mixed as Bray climbed to his knees and held his arms out in a cross-like pose. He heard none of it. All he could feel was a sense of relief and vindication. He felt like his world had finally been set right again.
As he basked in the feeling of justice, Erick and Luke hurried down the aisle to celebrate. Ignoring Daniel's unconscious form, they helped Bray to his feet.
"We're proud of you," Luke smiled, as he and Erick accompanied Bray out of the ring and back to their locker room. This victory was an example of why they chose to rally around and support him. Bray didn't need them to fight this battle. Tonight, he'd fought for Luke, Erick, Jay, the rest of his family, and more importantly, the cause. He'd beaten Daniel and was now ready to change the world. He'd made good on his word.
Once they were all safely sequestered, Bray turned to his sons. A tired but genuine smile lit up his face. "The fight's not over, boys. We're gonna change the world. And we're just getting started…"
THE END
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: YAAY! I'M DONE! This series is finished, but the story ain't over! Like Bray said, we're just getting started.
Now, fair warning… if you're a John Cena fan, I would advise you to check out now. I'm not a Cena fan (Cena the character, NOT the person, there's a difference), and in this upcoming series, he's gonna be my butt monkey/scapegoat/guy you love to hate, and the biggest reason why Bray and his boys are going to war.
The titles are as follows:
An Army Of Angels, Book One: War Room
An Army Of Angels, Book Two: Battle Lines
An Army Of Angels, Book Three: D-Day
And if you hated how the Wyatt/Cena feud ended, you're gonna like this series.
DON'T FORGET! REVIEWS = LOVE