The President had made the announcement moments ago across multiple platforms about the ceremony to honor the men and women who went into outer space to repair the communication satellite and the Alpha Humans who risked their lives to save them. Prior to that, he had taken his time to contact the guests of honor personally letting them know about the ceremony. In her hotel bedroom, Macey Estrella cycled through the clothes she brought with her in an attempt to pick an outfit to wear the next day. The fact of the President being the individual responsible for the event made the task that much more difficult as Macey knew she needed to look her best. Macey ended up finding an outfit that caught her eye. It was not a dress, but a simple, white formal pant suit. Macey smiled upon seeing it.
"Oh, I remember this old thing." She said to herself. "Last year in the Marines, I wore this." She then thought to herself and began to look through her shoes. "Did I bring… yes!" She pulled out a pair of matching white heels then placed the entire outfit at the front of her closet. Macey then pulled out her phone and looked at the screen as she thought about Sasha and her proposition. What the younger woman offered to her stayed on her mind since she spoke to her, and Macey kept thinking about calling Sasha only to have the thought leave her mind as quick as it came. She then noticed that Rex had texted her the address to the bar and grill where all of them were meeting for food and drinks to celebrate their safe return home and when they would be there. Macey balled up her mouth and decided she would meet them all there. She replied to tell them she would be on her way in a bit then went to her closet to grab her jacket. Macey then dialed Sasha's number. The phone rang twice.
"Hello?" Sasha said on the other line.
"Hey girl." Macey replied. "It's Macey Estrella. You gave me your number earlier today. Are you busy?"
"Oh hey! I wasn't expecting you to actually call me. I was on the lookout for a text or something, but no I'm not busy at all. What's up?"
"Well, I thought about what you told me, that you'd train me to be a wrestler."
"Yeah?" Macey could almost see Sasha's face light up. "Did you want me to train you?"
"I think I do wanna give it a go."
"That's great!"
"I know. I'm gonna try it out and see how it works for me."
"Oh, I hope you love it! Now, it's pretty tough starting out and I won't be taking it easy on you, but I don't think it'll be a huge problem for you since you were in the military. I'll work on the basics with you and, if you really do like it and think you're gonna go all in, I can recommend you to a legit school. One that I went to. You'll learn about choosing a good gimmick for yourself, how to sell to the crowd, all the goodies. Oh, I have a perfect for you already! I bet you could totally pull off that Southern Belle persona." Macey laughed.
"Ya know." She said. "… That's not a bad idea. Sounds like fun, actually. When's a good time to start? Tell me when and where. I'll be there."
"I'll have to get back with you on that." Sasha replied. "I gotta make sure it's okay for you to use the Performance Center, but I promise it'll be soon!"
"Take you time, hun. I'm a patient gal."
"Alright. Well, are you gonna be at the Presidential Ceremony tomorrow?"
"Yup. Got my call a few minutes ago."
"Great. We'll see you there!"
"Wonderful. Take care, love, and thank you again for this."
"No problem! Bye, Macey." Sasha ended the call on her end and Macey put her phone in her jacket pocket. She made her way into the bathroom, grabbed her purse, and made her way out of her hotel room to meet her friends.
Stephanie had instructed Bayley to show Simon Miller around the Safe Haven facility. The two trekked the halls as the younger woman showed her older guest around.
"This here's the library." Bayley said as they approached the large room full of bookshelves. "We've a lot of books here, but we're always looking for new books to add to the collection." She walked Simon around to a small kiosk. "We have virtual books, too. You can hook up a tablet here and download one of them to keep for up to a week. All this is, of course, if you like to read like that. I love reading, so I'm always in here." Simon nodded.
"Good to know." He said to Bayley. As most other Americans who have come in contact with the British, the man's accent threw Bayley off her tracks nearly every time he spoke. The girl clasped her hands together.
"Any questions about anything in the mansion?" She asked. Simon shook his head. "Okay. I'll show you to your room. Luckily, it's not far down the hall." Bayley proceeded to lead Simon out of the library and down the hallway to his room.
"Does everyone have their own room here?" Simon asked Bayley.
"Well, yes and no." She replied. "Everyone has their own room while they're staying here, but only a handful of us actually live here full-time. The rooms on this floor are temporary rooms and the floor above us have the permanent living spaces. Newcomers stay on this floor, then if they want to live here once they are comfortable and in control of their powers, we move them upstairs." Simon nodded. The journalist in him chose to question Bayley further.
"How many people have you all had throughout this place?" He asked.
"Like, since the mansion started this whole thing? I don't know. I do know that Alpha Humans come from all over this side of the country to discover and understand their powers better. Everyone used to come here and all of the rooms were full at one point, but once the McMahons started investing in other facilities across the world, this one got less and less full. Now, only a few of us are here with just about everyone else tying themselves to the facility closest to where they live. You know, like the one you guys have in England." Simon nodded once again, pleased with the answer he received from Bayley.
"Yeah." He said. "It's usually got people in and out of there. Saraya and her parents always have their hands full, it looks like."
"I can only imagine."
"You guys have it a little better than us, though. The McMahons are mainly here, right? I know they visit our facility and the other ones, too, but the HQ is right here. That's why Saraya wanted me to come here, I guess. So I can get help directly from them. To be honest, though, I don't think I need that much help."
"What can you do, Simon?" Bayley started with a bit of curiosity in her tone. Simon slowed his pace down a bit.
"Well." He started. "My body takes electricity and turns into stuff I can use. Like, I can stick a fork in a socket and not get shocked or electrocuted. Instead, my body will hold on to the electricity for a bit and then I can use it." Bayley's eyes widened.
"That's amazing!" She said before stopping at the room Simon was to stay in. She opened the door and allowed him to enter first. "Well, this is your room. Make yourself at home." Simon looked around the room and surveyed it. "It's getting late and I'm sure you're tired and all, so I'll let you unwind. My room is upstairs if you can't sleep. I'll be up reading. Room 52-B." Simon smiled as he sat his things down.
"Thanks." Simon said. "Pamela, was it?"
"Yup. That's me." Bayley waved. "Good night, Simon." With that, she left the man to his room. Simon put his duffel bag on the dresser and began unpacking it, pulling out a small voice recorder and a rather expensive camera instead of clothing. He sat the recorder on the vacant side of the dresser and walked over to the nightstand near his bed and carefully placed the camera on it. Simon then took off the backpack he wore that actually held his clothing and sat it on the floor near the bed, feeling proud of always being able to pack so lightly when it came to traveling. As he unpacked his clothes, he heard a soft yet commanding voice speak from the hallway.
"This used to be my room." Simon turned around to see Cesaro standing in the doorway looking around the room with a small smile on his face.
"Yeah?" Simon replied. "Guess that's why it's still so clean given how you hold yourself." Cesaro shook his head.
"Nah, but that's part of it. It had to be remodeled a few times." Simon nodded.
"Gotcha." He then proceeded to unpack his clothes and store them in the smaller dresser. "Is that why you moved rooms or do you stay here?"
"Oh, I live here." Cesaro took Simon's question as an invitation to enter. He stepped in the room and sat at the desk, turning the chair around to face the other man. "I'm living here because of some family issues." Simon stopped packing his clothes away and looked at Cesaro.
"I'm sorry to hear that, man." Simon said. "I hope it all gets worked out for you soon. Nothing like having a family." As Simon spoke, something in Cesaro's mind shifted his train of thought.
"Right." He said. Then, seemingly out of the blue… "You're a journalist." Simon blinked at the statement.
"Uh, yeah." He answered. "I have been for a while."
"Journalist… photographer… wrestler… you do a lot." Simon raised his eyebrows in slight confusion.
"It's not really a lot for me." Simon replied. "I loved doing it, so it never feels like work. The traveling and opportunities, I could never trade all that in." Simon then laughed. "I gotta say, though, I've been wrestling all this time and I've never been pressed for so much info before. I feel like-"
"One of the people you've interviewed in the past." Simon blinked after Cesaro finished his thought for him. "I know what you're here for. You're here for a story. Right?" The question floored Simon and the man was stuck searching for a response. Cesaro simply smiled at him. "It's okay. I wasn't expecting you to tell me that. I already knew. You're here to get a story from one of us about the mission and because Saraya insisted you come to have Shane and Stephanie help you understand your powers a bit better, you figured you'd use the opportunity to get close and learn as much as you can about us while you're here." Simon shut his eyes, balled up his mouth, and nodded.
"You can read minds then?" Cesaro laughed at the man's accusation.
"I'm just extremely attentive and aware." He responded. "You came here with Saraya and I know how headstrong she is. Surely she coaxed you into coming here instead of staying in England at your facility. Then, you introduced yourself as a Journalist. What Journalist wouldn't want a story straight from the horse's mouth, right? Who wouldn't want to hear about how the WWE went to space and saved their people from certain death?" Simon thought to himself. While he could not recollect every word he had said, he did recall telling the Superstars what he did for a living. He raised his eyebrows, impressed with how attentive Cesaro showed to be.
"I guess I did say all that." He replied. "I introduce myself so much that I guess I forget what I say sometimes." Simon let out an airy laugh then noticed Cesaro had not moved his eyes away from him, making him slightly uncomfortable. Simon spoke again. "Uh, so tell me. You can read minds and stuff, right? I bet it makes plenty of things easier for you." Cesaro's facial features did not alter as he replied in an unusually sultry tone, his eyes not looking away from the man across from him.
"The mind is a place where all our deepest, darkest thoughts go to hide from everyone else." He said. "Some of those thoughts and feelings are things we are not necessarily ready to accept. That's definitely true when we have to deal with others finding out about them. We usually lock all that away until we're ready to handle it, much like a vault. If someone were to… break the code to that vault and see what's in there, well, who knows what that could lead to." Cesaro then leaned forward without taking his eyes off of Simon and smirked. "I can break into that vault of a mind in your head anytime I wanted to and do so much more, but that would be too easy." Simon tried to grasp what the other man just said to him. It almost felt to him as if Cesaro was implying something about him.
"What?" … was all Simon could say in response. Before he could respond again, Cesaro sat back in his seat and spoke.
"If you can wait until tomorrow," He started. "… then you'll have your story, straight from me. You're free to ask me anything you want, as long as you're ready for the answer." Simon blinked and threw his hands up, defeated by the sheer amount Cesaro gave his mind to process.
"Guess I'll have to think about some good questions for ya then." Cesaro stood to his feet and smiled.
"I guess you will." Cesaro said as he made his way towards the door way. The man then turned around and smiled at Simon. "Welcome to the mansion. Sleep well." Cesaro then turned away and left the room without giving Simon a chance to reply, leaving the man dumbfounded and without words to describe the conversation between them. As Cesaro made his way down the hallway headed towards his room, his eyes flashed a faint gold color and he felt his train of thought shift once again.
It had gotten late and the group of Ronda Rousey, her husband Travis, Rex, Eckers, Sarah, Maki, Franklin, and Macey had all ended their night and made their way out of the bar and grill where they chose to meet. They were all laughing as they met outside the bar.
"Dude!" Ronda said to Rex. "You've gotta learn how to hold a fucking taco! That waitress looked so pissed off when you dropped it on her!"
"I didn't do it on purpose!" Rex explained. "It just fell outta my hand while I was drinking my beer!"
"You need both your hands, ya nasty!" Macey said through a fit of laughter. "Didn't you learn the last time?"
"You weren't even around the last time this happened, Chick, so shut up!" Rex's retort only made Macey and everyone else laugh harder.
"So glad you made it out this time, Macey!" Travis said as he grabbed and held on to Ronda's waist.
"Yeah." Franklin added. "Sucks you missed the last outing we had when we were all in town together." Macey smiled.
"I know." She said. "I finally got to finish my stuff and figured I'd come hang with the crew tonight before we all part ways tomorrow evening. Lord, I'm glad I did. I almost forgot how stupid y'all are! Y'all had me dying at that dart board!"
"I know I can't throw, okay?" Maki said. "No need to rub it in."
"Seriously, though." Rex added. "You can do, like, everything except that!" Maki nodded.
"Yeah." She said. "I may not be able to throw darts, Rex, but I can cut you… very proficiently, I might add." Travis raised his hand.
"Alright, alright." He said playfully. "I think we're all ready to head back to the hotel, right?"
"Yeah." Ronda added. "We still have that ceremony to go to tomorrow. Gotta be up and ready for it." Eckers looked at Ronda.
"Especially you, right, L-T-C?" He said to her. "Don't you have some extra stuff to be up for now that you're a.. what, Lieutenant General now?"
"Lieutenant Colonel." Ronda corrected. "And yes, actually. I have to be there by nine to help set up."
"Gross, Babe." Travis said. Ronda shook her head.
"It's fine, Trav. It probably isn't much different from what I did back in Arizona during these events. Put up some stands, set up seating, all that stuff."
"Anyway." Sarah said. "Let's head back to the hotel. I'm actually getting a little tired and I don't wanna fall asleep hauling your drunk asses back." She then looked at Macey. "Are you sure you don't want a ride back to your car? You parked pretty far away." Macey waved the woman off.
"I'll be fine, love." She replied. "My legs work just fine and trust me, it's only a block around the corner. Y'all just get on back safe. Call me or text me when you get there, okay?" Sarah nodded.
"Sure will." She said.
"Bye Macey!" Franklin said as he hopped in the large rental SUV. Macey waved at all of them as they all got in safely. Sarah waved back at her as she drove off, Macey watching the vehicle leave before making her way to her car. She started to hum one of the songs she had heard in the bar as she made her way down the street, but immediately stopped when she heard what sounded a man and a woman talking in a parking lot not too far from her. Neither sounded distinctly distressed, but the woman did sound a bit perturbed. Macey paused a moment and listened in while she carefully made her way to where the voices were coming from.
"Yeah." She heard the woman say. "I think I'll just catch a cab, but thank you." Macey then heard the man speak in a pleading tone.
"Come on, Baby." He said. "The night's still young. I can take you home."
"Yeah, no. I'm fine." Macey was able to see the two in the parking lot and what she saw angered her instantly. The man heard the woman's rejection but did not take it kindly. He grabbed her arm in desperation, garnering a look of fear from her.
"Baby, it's not safe out here by yourself." He said to her as she tried to jerk her arm away.
"Are you kidding!?" The woman yelped. "Let go of me!" She continued to jerk her arm in an attempt to free herself from the man's grip, but he would not let go of her. The couple then heard Macey call out to the man specifically.
"Excuse me!" Macey spoke sternly as she approached the two. "I do believe she said let her go."
"Look, lady." The man said as he brushed Macey off. "We're fine, okay? She's just a little drunk and I'm trying to get her home. Just mind your own business, alright?" Macey glanced over at the woman and saw the pleading look on her face.
"Alright." Macey said. "This is only gonna go one way, but how we get there depends on what you decide to do with this classy little lady right here, right now." Macey boldly walked up to the man as she spoke. "Either you let her go like she asked and we can forget about all this happening or I make you let her go and force you to remember it for years to come. The choice is yours, Boy." The man twisted his face and released his grip on the woman's arm before turning towards Macey.
"I told you to mind your own damn business!" The man shouted as he pointed at her, the smell of alcohol present on his breath. The woman behind him grew weary of his actions.
"Trever, stop!" She shouted at him, only for her plead to fall upon deaf ears. The man known as Trever advanced on Macey and proceeded to reach out and put his hand around her neck.
"You wanna be a hero, huh!?" Trever said as he tightened his grip, unaware that Macey had not flinched. Trever then balled up his fist and swung at Macey's face, his fist hitting her directly in the nose or so it seemed. Trever's facial expression changed when he saw that Macey was not affected by his strike at all. In fact, she managed to catch his fist right before it hit her face. The two then witnessed Macey twist his wrist then grab the other that had a grip around her neck, her hands glowing vibrant flames of yellow and blue. Trever winced and shouted in pain as the woman looked him in the eyes.
"Lord." Macey said to him as she pulled Trever's hand away from her neck. "Y'all always choose the hard way." She then effortlessly lifted the man into the air with one arm and balled up her fist. Trever then raised his hands and began to plead.
"W-wa-wait!" He said in a stutter. "I'll leave, I'll leave!" Macey smiled.
"You gonna catch a cab home?" She asked playfully. Trever nodded fearfully. "Okay." Macey withdrew her energy and dropped the man, letting fall to his knees with a thud. He quickly stood up and began running away, pulling out his phone and dialing for a cab all the while. Macey then looked over at the woman; she was breathing rather heavily and looked as if she had seen the sky fall before her. "You okay, honey?"
"I, uh…" The woman said. "I'm okay. Thank you."
"Sorry about the theatrics. I hope I didn't scare you too much." The woman straightened up and smiled.
"I'm Kaci." She introduced herself.
"I'm Macey." Kaci narrowed her eyes.
"Lacey?" Macey pursed her lips.
"No, sweetheart. Macey. Macey Estrella." Kaci's eyes widened.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Macey." Macey gave the woman a motherly look.
"It's fine, hun." She said. "Common mistake. Well, Kaci. Was that guy, Trever, your ride home?" Kaci nodded with an embarrassed look on her face.
"He kinda was." Macey then wave Kaci over to her.
"I'll give you a ride home, Darling." She said graciously. "I feel like you've had enough for one night." Kaci smiled again.
"I really have." Kaci told Macey as they walked to Macey's car. "Thank you again."
"No need to thank me, Kaci." Macey said. "You needed a bit of help and I couldn't leave you by yourself." Macey then stopped. "Before you ask, yes. I am an Alpha Human."
"I figured as much." Kaci replied. "No offense, but I don't know many people with glowing fists who can pick a man up with one hand and aren't Alpha Human in some way."
"Just wanted to clear the air on that so you aren't scared like you were back there." Kaci nodded.
"It's kinda cool, actually." She said. "I've never met an Alpha Human in person before."
"We're just like everybody else, honey." Macey explained to Kaci. "We can just do a few things some other people can't. That's all."
"I can see that." Kaci then looked at Macey. "Well, I don't think I can thank you enough for helping me back there. I think that's the last time I'm gonna see Trever ever."
"It better be!" Macey snapped back as she opened the door for Kaci to get in. "Nothing's worse than an angry Drunk man, ya hear me?" Kaci grinned.
"Right!" Kaci got in and Macey closed the door behind her before getting in herself, starting the car up, and pulling off into the night traffic.
The morning was early as the Superstars in the Safe Haven mansion prepared for the Presidential ceremony later that day. In their room, John and Nikki finished their formal attires. John stood in the mirror and looked at himself, second guessing his decision to wear a bow tie as he still was unable to properly tie it. Nikki simply looked on with a look of amusement on her face.
"I'm right here, you know." She said to him. "I can tie it for you."
"No." John said. "I need to get this." Nikki could not help but laugh as she stood up and turned him around to face her, John allowing her to do so.
"This… is you choosing to be stubborn and not wear a regular tie." Nikki proceeded to tie the bow for him and turned him back to the mirror so they both could see themselves. "There. You look amazing." John smiled.
"We look amazing." He corrected, warranting a loving kiss on his cheek. "Ready to go downstairs?"
"Yup." Nikki said as she adjusted her dress. "Let's go." John offered his hand and knelt, jokingly letting Nikki out of the room first. She playfully slapped him on the shoulder and stepped out of the room, John following behind her and closing the bedroom door. On their way, they ran into Naomi and Jimmy Uso, both dressed in formal wear. Jimmy bit his lip.
"Damn, baby." He said to Nikki playfully. "Can I take you on a date?" Naomi looked at him.
"Only if I can take John out with you." She said to him. The four laughed at each other.
"Double date?" Nikki said to Naomi.
"Bet!" They made their way down the stairs to join the others and sure enough, nearly everyone attending the ceremony was downstairs in the sitting area waiting for the transportation to arrive.
"Fine of you to join us." Triple H, standing with Stephanie, greeted them as they made their way down. "We're just waiting for the limousines to get here."
"How many are coming?" John asked.
"Enough to hold all of us, I'm assuming." Sami Zayn answered.
"We're still waiting for E and Claudio to come down." Brie added. Naomi looked around and noticed that Big E and Cesaro were indeed the only two missing from the group of Triple H, Stephanie, Shane, Seth, Sasha, Bayley, Noam, Becky, Jey, Roman, Daniel and Brie, Kevin, Sami, Becky, Charlotte, Mojo, Simon, Lana, Rusev and then the four of them. Before long, Big E made his way down the stairs and was greeted by Mojo and Rusev.
"Cleaning up good, my dude!" Mojo said as hugged Big E.
"Yeah, yeah." Big E said with a big grin. "Gotta rep these astronauts over here, ya know. Gotta look my best!"
"Ettore." Shane called out to Big E. "Did you see Claudio up there on your way down?"
"Naw." The man replied. "I passed by his room and the door was still closed. Need me to-" Before Big E could finish, they all heard Cesaro make his way down the stairway.
"I'm here." Cesaro said, knowing the others were waiting for him. "Sorry for the wait. I couldn't find my good shades." He then pointed to his sunglasses.
"You and your sunglasses." John said to Cesaro as he made his way down to join them all.
"I guess now we play the always-fun waiting game." Charlotte said.
"It shouldn't be much longer now." Shane said. Almost as soon as he spoke, the doorbell rung loudly throughout the lobby. Triple H opened the doors to reveal their escorts standing there in wait.
"Good morning, all of you." One escort said as she pointed to the five limousines waiting outside. "The President sends his regards to all of you. The first limousine is for the guests of honor. All others please follow me to the other transports." The woman lead the large group to the following four limousines and the man lead Triple H, Stephanie, Shane and the seven Alpha Humans involved in the space recovery mission to the first limousine. The escorts made sure everyone was seated safely before signaling the drivers to leave, both of them making their way to their own vehicle to follow behind.
At the venue of the ceremony, General Zodrick and Ronda had been running around working with several others to make sure that everything was in place per the President's orders. The seats for all the attendees had been placed on the massive stage and most of the rest of the seating was in place. The camera teams were readying their equipment to broadcast the event and greeters were greeting several guests who opted to arrive early while showing them to their seats. Finally being given a reprieve from the preparation, Ronda stepped behind the stage and took a breath. She then felt Zodrick step next to her.
"You doing alright, Rousey?" He asked her. Ronda nodded.
"I'm fine." She responded. "I mean, it's only been a few days, but busy moments like this make me miss my soldiers back in Arizona. We used to have to put together quick shin-digs like this all the time when the big wigs were supposed to visit us." Zodrick placed his hand on Ronda's shoulder.
"Why don't you take a few days to go back and see them once we're all done here? I didn't give you a chance to say goodbye to them, after all. Don't worry about things here. If I need you, then I'll call you." Ronda nodded.
"Thank you, General." She replied. "I'm going to go check on the podium and see how everything's coming with the decorations." With that, Ronda left Zodrick to his own devices.
An hour had passed and every guest who planned on attending had taken their seats to include the guests of honor, all of whom were sitting in their seats on stage. Everyone was talking amongst themselves when, moments later, Zodrick and Ronda stepped to the podium and Zodrick began to speak.
"Please stand for the President of the United States." Zodrick instructed. Everyone stood to their feet and Zodrick stepped down from the podium. Then, the presidential bodyguards entered onto the stage and the President made his way to the podium holding an official document folder. The audience applauded his presence until the man raised his hand.
"Thank you very much." The President said. "You may all be seated." Everyone did as they were told and the man took a deep breath before beginning his introductory speech.
"What is a hero?" He asked rhetorically. "A hero is someone who is willing to risk their life to protect, to preserve, and to rescue. Some of us are unsung heroes working to preserve our families, our homes, and our loved ones. Some of us risk our lives daily to protect what means the most to us. Then there are those of us who selflessly answer the call of duty and face death without worry or fear. We are all heroes in our own right. Today, I would like for all of you to join me in honoring a special group of heroes who, in the face of danger and inexperience, stood tall and worked together to bring our men and women home from the depths of the unknown."
From within the audience, as the President spoke, Lana noticed that Cesaro had begun sweating and saw him pull out a handkerchief to wipe his face.
"Are you okay, Claudio?" Lana reached out telepathically. Oddly, she got no reply from him. Only after she reached out to him again did she receive a response.
"I'm fine, Catherine." Cesaro responded telepathically before placing the handkerchief back into his blazer pocket. Sami, sitting next to Cesaro, noticed the motion and glanced over at him briefly. Lana blinked then turned her attention back to the President and his speech.
"… on behalf of the WWE… Shane McMahon, Stephanie McMahon-Levesque, and Paul Levesque." Everyone in the audience and on stage clapped as the mentioned trio made their way to the podium, all three of them greeting the President as he stepped down and made way. No one on stage noticed Cesaro shut his eyes and breathe deep; the sound of the applause seemingly disturbed his senses as he hissed slightly. He did not see the underside of his eyelids as he closed his eyes, however. He saw numerous faces swirling around behind a faint imagery of flames. It felt like a nightmare and it made Cesaro open his eyes to see that he was still on stage. He quickly fell in line and continued with the applause as Triple H began to speak into the microphone.
"Thank you all very much." He said. "Thank you for your praise and your gratitude. It truly makes everything we do to better this world worth the sweat, the tears, and the sacrifice. We know any one of you would have done the same thing if given the opportunity, but you trusted us with bringing them home safely and we're honored for the trust. We can only hope that trust and respect will continue to grow as we all do." As Triple H spoke, Cesaro began to hear voices in his head, the thoughts of the many people around him conglomerated in his mind. It became so loud in his ears that he once again shut his eyes out of instinct. Stephanie then felt a strange shift in the air and looked around without turning her head to see if she could find where the feeling stemmed from. Out the corner of her eye, she saw Cesaro adjusting the collar of his shirt. She then Triple H pass by her returning to his seat and turned her attention back to the podium as the President took the stage once again, this time joined by General Zodrick and Ronda Rousey.
"Were it not for the brave Superstars of the WWE," He began. "The men and women up here today would not be with us, but let us not forget the call to duty and fearless work of everyone involved. They all stood tall and did an extraordinary job in keeping us all connected while we work to build unity." The President proceeded to call each one of the Repair Team members up by name, each of them stepping up as their name was called. "Travis Browne. Maki Setomura. Russell Haas. Sarah Caracciolo. Franklin Greene. Jason Eckers. Macey Estrella. Your courage and dedication to the mission will be remembered from this day forward as the glue that held the mission together. Please accept this award celebrating each of your actions in working to connect each and every person in the country in an effort of unity and coming together." Macey and the repair team each stepped up to Zodrick, the man handing each of them a commemorative plaque on behalf of the President and shaking their hand. The audience applauded the celebration, all except Cesaro whom once again slammed his eyes shut in an attempt to mentally quell the voices growing ever louder in his mind. This time, however, his efforts were for naught and his head began to pound causing him physical pain strong enough to make him grab his head.
"Stop…" He said quietly, though not quietly enough for Sami not to hear. The man looked over to Cesaro with worry in his eyes.
"Claudio?" Sami called out with concern. When Cesaro did not answer, Sami immediately reached out to Shane, Stephanie, and Lana telepathically.
"Something's wrong with Claudio!" He shouted in their heads, making all three of them look in the man's direction to see him physically distraught. It was not long until everyone in the audience noticed Cesaro's condition. It was his close friends sitting amongst them, however, who worried the deepest.
"Cat?" Rusev called out to his wife. "Is he okay?" Lana did not answer, her worry not faltering as her gaze was locked on Cesaro. On stage, everyone slowly became aware of the increasingly critical situation and Shane reached out to Cesaro.
"Claudio!" He said. Cesaro did not respond. The bodyguards on stage ran for the President and proceeded to escort him off the stage, causing the audience to begin to panic and leave their seats. "Don't panic!" Charlotte shouted and she and the other superstars in the audience worked to rally them back together. Zodrick all but leapt off stage and aided them as they tried to calm the people. The noise of the crowd only seemed to fuel Cesaro's pain; the voices in his head were the thoughts of everyone in attendance running through his mind. Tears began to run down his face as the brilliant gold and orange energy started pulsing veins underneath his skin.
"Stop!" He shouted aloud at the thoughts flooding his head. That moment, his power unleashed itself in a massive burst of telekinetic energy so strong that blew everyone and everything around him away in its wake. It ripped through the crowd of people and tore through the stage and surrounding buildings, tearing it all to pieces and throwing the unsuspecting crowd in all directions until they all hit the ground. Triple H slowly gathered himself and Cesaro fall to the ground unconscious, his energy depleted after the mysterious outburst. He then looked around and saw what the outburst had done; fires had broken out in several spots, exposed power lines were seen and many people were lying motionless, likely knocked unconscious from either the blast or their fall. It truly looked as if a bomb had been dropped in the immediate area and everyone had been caught in the blast zone. Triple H then heard Stephanie's voice near him.
"Paul." He heard her say faintly. He looked over in her direction and saw that she was still laying on the ground but looked unharmed aside from dirt on her clothing. He stood and ran to her aid, helping her to her feet. She looked around at the aftermath and immediately thought of safety. "We need to help them out of here." Triple H nodded and looked to see who was standing. It was then that he noticed something he had not noticed before. As the smoke began to clear, he saw that there were several injured people amongst them. He began to hear screaming and groaning from people who finally came to realize the magnitude of the situation and felt the panic began to set in. Several feet behind them, Macey stood to her feet. She was physically unharmed but still wore a tormented look on her face as she surveyed her surroundings. Her instincts led her to helping the injured and she ran to the aid of the nearest person to her. She ran to the man and saw that he was bleeding from a wound on his side.
"Are you conscious?" She asked him. The man nodded. "Keep calm, okay? I'm gonna get you some help." She looked around and shouted. "I need some help over here!" Feet beside her, Shane slowly regained consciousness. He carefully sat up as the pain from the fall set in on his body and looked around to see the destroyed scenery. The first person on his mind was Cesaro. He looked for the man and saw him lying lifeless on the floor, but noticed that his arms and face were still riddled with slowly receding veins of energy. A fear set into his mind as he looked at those veins…
