Chapter 14

Stephanie rushed to the control room. She had been passing by a monitor and saw the footage of Trish and her friends.

"Did it go out live?" she asked.

"What little there was, yeah," Sam said proudly. "Don't worry. I sent Terri to do the follow-up."

"Oh god," Stephanie said.

ooOoo

The orb was ricocheting all over like a pinball. So far it had knocked over Edge, Gunn and Wesley. The rest ducked behind whatever cover they could find.

"I thought you said it was the size of a ping pong ball," Gunn said and cursed as it headed toward him again. There was a high-pitched humming that began to grow louder.

"It's normally small, but it's been feeding emotions since it was stolen," Wesley explained from his hiding place behind a packing crate. "It's in the final stages before it goes critical. We have to contain it."

"Good plan, boss. Any idea how?" Cordelia asked sarcastically then squeaked as the orb hit a pillar two feet away.

Thoughts raced through Trish's mind when she spotted the large casket use in the Kane/Triple H match the previous night. She climbed on top of a heavy equipment case for a better look. "It's crazy, but it just might work," she muttered then shouted, "Bubba, open the casket. Jeff, if the orb comes your way, send it towards me."

Jeff shot her a puzzled look from the other side of the room then swung his mace like a baseball bat as the orb came at him. He connected, and the impact sent vibrations up his arms.

The orb squealed in protest as it was sent hurtling toward Trish. She waited for just the right moment then jumped kicking the orb with a side volley that would have made her university soccer coach proud.

The orb spun toward Bubba. As it hit the raised lid, the wrestler slammed the casket closed trapping it inside. The mystical ball went ballistic, and Angel ran to the other side to help keep it contained.

"Wesley, the spell," Giles said as he went to his sister.

Wesley took out a small pouch from his pocket then nodded to Bubba and Angel. The men opened the casket, and the orb shot up.

"Freosan!" Wesley commanded freezing it for a moment. He flung the pouch at the orb. Upon impact, it released a fine gold powder, and Wesley recited the incantation in a loud voice, "Abscedere Quo Salus!"

The orb vibrated rapidly in place. The darkness within it swirled and dissipated leaving behind a whiteness so bright it was almost blinding. It began to shrink until it reached its normal size then imploded with a soft ping.

"Is it over?" Edge asked looking around them.

"Yes, it's over," Wesley said visibly relieved.

The clicking of high heels rushing to the scene distracted them. A petite and extremely curvaceous blond with a microphone followed closely by a cameraman turned the corner. Giles and his friends quietly walked to a far wall trying to remain unnoticed.

"Did we miss it?" she demanded.

"Miss what, Terri?" Trish asked innocently.

"Don't give me that," she said in annoyance. "The feed from Ted's camera went out live, and Sam sent me to do the follow-up. You guys ready to go?"

One look at her friends' panic-stricken faces told Trish she would have to take the lead. "We're ready."

ooOoo

"I'm here with Trish Stratus, Bubba Dudley, Jeff Hardy and Edge," Terri said in her interviewer voice. "Moments ago, we saw some very strange footage of a fight. What can you tell us about it?"

"Well, Terri, there were some hoodlums trying to steal some equipment, but we stopped them," Trish explained.

"You appeared to be fighting monsters," Terri said.

"Yes, they were dressed rather unusually," Trish agreed. "I guess some people love Halloween a little too much. I think they might have been high on drugs, which of course is just wrong as I'm sure you'd agree. So remember kids, don't do drugs."

Trish flashed a bright smile, and her friends followed her example. Edge even gave a thumbs up as a bewildered Terri signed off.

ooOoo

"Don't do drugs?" Gunn repeated in confusion.

"Whenever I checked the Sunnydale Press website, they always attributed any weird disturbance to gangs hopped up on drugs. I figured it might work here," Trish shrugged.

"I guess we'll have to wait to find out," Angel said.

"Well, don't worry about the videotape footage," Stephanie said coming up to the heroes of the day. "I 'accidentally' erased the copy in the control room. The only other copies will be those made by VCRs of fans at home."

"But what if the footage gets on the Internet?" Cordelia asked.

"I saw what was aired. It was dark, fuzzy and jerky. Even if it gets on the Net, no one from the WWE will comment on it so it'll drive the fans crazy," Stephanie said with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. "It'll become an urban myth. Trust me."

ooOoo

Author's technological note: Remember, this story is still set back in the early 2000s when VCRs were still commonly used.