Chris stared at them. And these people were his friends. He didn�t even want to know what was going through the mind of Vince McMahon right now.
�No, I did not defect.� He said. �God, I don�t even know what the hell happened out there! One minute I�m on my back, the next minute I�m the WCW champion.�
�There were a few important minutes in between there.� Jeff said.
�Damn.� Chris cursed as he kicked his bag against a locker and then slammed his fist against it. �I can�t believe this happened.� He stared at the belt he held with disgust in his eyes before throwing it on a table that held an open pizza box. He mumbled something to them and then grabbed his gear bag, before stalking off towards the showers.
Lita looked at the gang seated around the locker area. �I wonder why Steph did that?�
�I think the real question is, what does she want?� Matt asked, sliding his arm around Lita�s bare waist.
Trish looks at them with a sad smile. �It�s simple. She wants Chris.�
Chris stayed in the shower as long as he could, waiting until the hot water ran cold. He then took his time getting dressed, throwing on a pair of tight light blue jeans and a plain black tee shirt. He was hoping that the others took the hint and headed to the hotel without them. He sighed gratefully when he came out into an empty locker room. His belt was gone too. He could only hope that a crewmember took it, assuming that a wrestler forgot it. That�s happened in the past. Steve Austin forgot the WWF championship belt and Rob Van Dam left the hardcore title behind a few times.
He reached for his jacket and threw it on. He didn�t dry his hair and the cold air was giving him a chill. Usually he would take it but tonight he just wasn�t in the mood. He wanted to go back to his hotel room and sulk while watching Gilligan's Island on Nick at Nite.
He pulled his locker door open and headed down to the private parking area for the wrestlers, noticing there was only a few cars left in the lot, and one limo. That wasn�t a good sign.
�If you would just listen to me.� Stephanie said exasperated.
�You�re crazy.� Shane said. �Austin is going nuts and I�m the one that has to deal with him. He�s telling everyone that you�re a traitor, a traitor, Steph. Do you comprehend what that means?�
�I do, but��
�No, no, no, no buts.� Shane said. �Stone Cold keeps saying that you helped the WWF win the WCW title. He doesn�t see it the other way around.�
She rolled her eyes. �You need to stop worrying about this. I can handle Steve.�
�Oh yeah, you can handle Steve.� Shane snorted. �If I don�t get Austin to calm down you�re going to be the one with a problem on their hands, not me. I said find a solution to get the title back in our hands, not give it to Y2J.�
Chris stepped out of the shadows and glared at the two of them.
�Junior, you can tell Austin that if he wants the WCW championship he�s going to have to go through me. I didn�t ask, nor did I want the Princess� help. She has a habit of sticking her nose in places where it doesn�t belong.�
He threw her a nasty glare as he stormed off, leaving Stephanie scoffing with her hands on her hips. She turned around and smiled at her brother.
�He�s weak right now. He feels horrible that I helped him, the billion dollar princess.� She laughed out loud and clasped her hands together. �Now let me tell you my plan, it�ll make Steve real happy.�
Chris headed to his hotel room more depressed than he was when he got out of the shower. He couldn�t get over the referee counting to three and him being declared the new WCW champion. He didn�t know how to deal with the fact that Stephanie was the reason he was that champion.
He hated her.
He despised her.
She helped him become a champion.
He cursed again as he opened his door and stared right at the image that he was trying to remove from his head. The belt was clean and sitting on his bed, beckoning him. He groaned as he shut the door with a loud bang. The Hardy�s must�ve cleaned the pizza bits off the belt and brought it here with them. Exactly what he didn�t want.
�I thought you�d want it here.� Lita said as she leaned against the adjacent doorway that led to the room she shared with Matt and Jeff.
�No you didn�t.� Chris said as he picked up the belt. �You want me to accept it and I can�t do that Lita.�
She moved away from the door and sat next to him on the bed. �You deserve this Chris. You earned your shot. You earned the belt.�
�No, I didn�t.� He groaned tossing the belt behind him. �I got this by cheating. By cheating with someone I hate!�
�Fine, ok, then do a rematch. No cheating, no one at ring side.� Lita said. �Prove to everyone that you can beat The Rock.�
Chris didn�t answer her. He just stared at his hands, wondering how he even got into this mess. He hated the woman and this was obviously her payback.
Lita got up and headed back to the room she just came out of.
�You might not want that belt, Chris.� She said softly. �But you don�t want to give it up either.� She then turned around and walked back into her room, closing the door quietly behind her.
Chris turned around and looked at the belt, shaking his head. He knew that he was going to have to fight for the belt tomorrow anyway. It was Raw, a big night, and Stephanie still had something up her sleeve.
�We are live on Raw, Monday night October 22nd, 2001, welcome everyone, I�m J.R. Paul Heyman is sitting next to me. I can�t believe with happened last night. Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley helped Chris Jericho, Y2J, win the WCW championship belt, leaving The Rock, screwed, screwed out of retaining the title.�
�Oh, come on J.R. You saw the footage. Stephanie was merely protecting herself from being abused by The Rock. He was chasing her outside of the ring.� Paul said.
J.R. looked at him. �You don�t know why she did it either, do you?�
The two stopped when Stephanie�s theme music went off and she appeared at the ramp with her brother Shane. She smiled as she walked down toward the ring in a leather outfit, her hair curly and frizzed, looking the shrewd businesswoman that she was.
�Maybe, we�ll have some kind of reason, some kind of explanation as to what happened last night.� J.R. said.
�Would you shut up and let the woman speak?� Paul asked. �Geesh.�
�I know, I know, there are a lot of questions about last night.� Stephanie smiled as she faced the crowd, drowning them out by talking loudly. �Some people thought I had lost my mind. They asked me �Why�d you do it, Steph? Why help Chris Jericho win the WCW championship? Are you back with WWF?�� She laughed. �Let me answer those for you. �No, I would never go back to the WWF ever again. I helped Chris Jericho for my own reasons and before I get into those lets do a recap of what happened at No Mercy, shall we? Roll the footage!�
The footage was played of No Mercy from the night before. It showed Stephanie picking up the WCW belt and hitting The Rock right in the face with it, then Jericho pinned him and became the new WCW champion. It showed Stephanie handing him the belt and then holding his hand up.
�Don�t worry, your precious little Y2J is still a part of the WWF and I still hate him with everything that I am.� Stephanie said. �That is way��
She stooped when glass broke and Stone Cold Steve Austin headed down the ramp with his wife Debra in tow, an angry look on his face.
Shane looked at Stephanie wondering why they didn�t discuss this with Austin backstage so he didn�t come out looking like he was going to kill someone.
�Now Steve.� Stephanie said. �I heard you were upset about last night�s results in the WCW championship match and I want you to know that I am fully behind ECW and fully behind WCW, ready to take charge and follow you in leading the Alliance.�
He looked at her warily, itching to get his hands on a microphone to tell her how he really felt about her but he waited, knowing that she was planning something for this evening. Debra stood behind him, glaring at Stephanie, not liking any other woman near her husband.
�That�s why I want you to look up on that screen right there.� Stephanie said with a big smile. �Go ahead, look up.�
�Jericho.� William Regal said walking into Chris Jericho�s locker room.
Chris moved away from the television and stared at William Regal. He knew he was in there to announce that there was going to be a match tonight and he knew that Stephanie was down in the middle of the ring watching.
�Make it fast, I�m busy Regal.�
William Regal eyed Jericho curiously. No snappy comments, nothing bad said against Stephanie. He didn�t seem like his regular self tonight. He shoved it off and prepared to deliver the match that Stephanie had asked for.
�The main event match for this evening will be a no disqualification, no holds bar, cage match against Stone Cold Steve Austin for the WCW championship title.� William Regal said with a smirk. �Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley requested that match and the papers have already been signed.�
Chris Jericho�s eyes narrowed. It all made sense. Stephanie wanted him to win the belt because if it were between him and The Rock, Steve Austin would have a better chance against Y2J. He smirked. If he was going down, he was going down fighting.
�Now you see, Regal.� Chris said. �It only seems fair that Stone Cold Psycho would put his title on the line, unless he�s afraid to lose it to Y2J.�
The crow burst into applause and Steve Austin started pacing back and forth in front of the ring. Shane whispered something to Stephanie and she nodded, handing the microphone to Steve.
�You little son of a bitch.� Steve said. �I�ll put my belt on the line. I�ll be glad to be both champions and then everyone could follow my leadership.�
�You�d lead us right to clown college.� Chris Jericho said. �I�ll see you in the ring later.� His face turned into a scowl as he grabbed his things, preparing himself for the match.
�One more thing.� William Regal said, causing Chris to turn before heading into the showers.
He looked back at the man, wondering what else he could say that would cause this night to get any worse.
�There will also be a special guest referee.�
Chris sighed. That was it, he thought as he pushed the door open towards the showers. The last thing he heard as he headed in was Stephanie on the microphone.
�I hope you enjoyed the belt while you had it, Jericho.� She laughed.
He had no energy, nothing left, to turn around and even say, trash bag ho.
