| Part XVI |
| When they got to the arena, Alex went with Paul to his dressing room. They were both waiting for him and Kane to be told the outcome of the match. About the middle of the show, Alex was putting on her �bride� outfit when Shane came to the door. �Vince�s ready to see you.� He informed Paul. Paul turned to Alex, �Well, now for the big moment.� He picked up the belt and heading toward the door, he held out his hand. �Why don�t you go and wait with the other ladies. I don�t want you waiting here alone. I�ll find you before the match.� She nodded, grabbed her veil, and walked with him down the hall. When they got to Kane�s door, Kane walked out and he and Paul left for Vince�s office. When Alex walked into the dressing room she saw Kanike sitting with 'Taker after his match. �Hey! What�s up?� she asked. �Well, they wanted to make sure you didn�t freak out, so they asked me to be an understudy.� She replied jokingly, walking over to Alex. Alex laughed and hugged her. �Well, I think I can manage to hold it together, but maybe we can still all go down.� It was decided that Kanike would take Storm�s normal corner and Storm would stand at the end of the aisle in front of the ring. On the monitors, the last match was ending and JR and The King were covering the highlights. As they finished they started the footage of the feud history for the title match. The ladies walked out the door to see Kane and Paul coming from opposite directions. Alex walked over to Paul to find out the outcome. As she approached he shook his head. �I�m not telling you.� �What!? Why?� She demanded. �Kane and I decided it would be best. He�s not telling them either,� gesturing toward the other ladies, �so don�t try to pump them for information.� He added, taking her hands, �All I want you to do is to go out there, and react the way you�re supposed to.� �Wait, what does that mean? Don�t play riddle games, just tell me.� She insisted. �Alex, just react the way you�re suppose to. The way your heart tells you to.� Paul emphasized. ~~*~~ The ramp pyros went off and Kane�s music started. The brides stepped through the curtain two at a time; Alex and IceWolf, then LaShana and Kanike. Kane stepped through the curtain with Storm at his side. As the brides reached the ring, they walked around to their corners. Storm stood at the end of the aisle as Kane stood on the apron then went over the top rope to get in the ring. Kane raised his arms and lit the corners. When they exploded the brides lifted their arms slowly to raise the lights. As Paul�s music started, Storm made her way around the ring. As Storm reached Alex�s corner, she could feel Alex�s nerves jumping, she turned to look at her. �Are you going to be all right? *I don�t know. Something�s going to happen. She predicted. Before Storm could ask her to clarify, Paul was in the ring. Storm continued around the ring past LaShana to stand at the end of the aisle again. As the match progressed, Alex noticed that a few shots looked unplanned. Once, Kane was sent reeling over the top rope, between LaShana and Alex. As Paul stepped out of the ring, instead of going after Kane, Paul moved menacing toward Alex. She stood her ground and raised her head in defiance. Alex was grateful for her veil, as it hid the confused look on her face. She couldn�t figure out why Paul was coming toward her. Before he could get within arms reach Kane hit him from behind. Alex moved to keep from being caught in the middle. She jumped onto the barricade, as Kane threw Paul into the ring steps. When Kane threw Paul back in the ring he stopped to look at her. Before he could ask, she replied. *Don�t worry about us! Concentrate on the match! She got off the barricade when both men were back in the ring. As Kane slung Paul across to the corner, Paul reversed it and followed him in. Paul pounded on Kane for a few minutes until the ref broke them up. When Kane got out of the corner, Alex saw blood coming down from under the mask. �What the hell?� she murmured under her breath, stepping closer to the ring. Before she got any further she felt a hand on her shoulder, which whipped her around. She saw X-Pac, and as he stepped back to deliver a spinning heel kick, Alex dropped to one knee and lowered her head. She pulled off her veil as she looked up. X-Pac�s kick went high and as he landed, she low blowed him. When he grabbed his crotch, Alex pushed him so that his head hit the barricade. Alex was fighting with him until 2 refs who had come down pulled her off. They helped X-Pac to the back as Alex rose to her feet and looked around the ring. All of DX had come through the crowd, and each had a bride in the corner. She turned to LaShana who was dealing with RoadDogg. He had both her hands by the wrist and they were struggling. Before Alex could move to help, LaShana jerked one hand free and backhanded him. She followed it up with an elbow to the stomach. Roadie went down and LaShana started kicking him until 2 more refs came down. Alex saw that Triple H had Kanike. As he tried to back her into the corner she showed him she wasn�t the least bit intimidated. She pushed back and was in his face yelling at him when she decided just to be done with it. Alex grinned madly when it only took one shot to put Triple H down. �JR, these ladies are fighting with DX! And they�re winning!!� �Well, King they told everybody that there would be NO interference.� JR added. �These ladies are certainly showing that they�re very beautiful but VERY dangerous.� �Stop struggling, would ya.� Alex turned at the sound of Billy Gunn�s voice, who had IceWolf and was trying to put her over his shoulder. IceWolf broke Billy�s grip on her and punched him in the stomach, sending Billy backwards, losing his balance. Billy struggled to keep his balance but IceWolf continued to fight with him until it took 2 more refs to pull her off. All this happened in a matter of minutes. The audience was torn. They didn�t know whether to watch the match in the ring or watch DX vs. the brides. After the refs had removed DX, the ladies looked to find Storm still near the entrance. The only member of DX that hadn�t come down was Stephanie and Storm awaited her arrival. Stephanie stalked toward Storm, and the brides moved to back her up. �Stay in your corners. I can deal with her. Alex moved back to her corner and was almost unable to control her laughter. For all her bravado, it only took Storm pushing her once for Stephanie to land on her butt. She scrambled on the floor, trying to get away from Storm, who was following her up the aisle, yelling at her. Steph finally got to her feet and ran to the back. Storm walked back toward the ring, smiling smugly. When Storm got about five feet from the ring, Alex saw movement coming down the aisle. *Behind you!! She warned Storm. Storm turned around to see Tori coming at her. Storm raised her hands and when Tori got within arms reach grabbed her hands and dropped to the floor. Storm used Tori�s momentum to toss her over near the ring. As both women scrambled to get up, Alex saw Tori�s face. �Something not right.� Alex thought as she and LaShana were running toward Storm. They saw Tori leap toward Storm and tackle her. Kanike and IceWolf were coming around the ring from the other side. Storm and Tori were exchanging punches on the ground in the aisle by the time the ladies reached them. Storm had managed to get to her feet, and kick Tori before she could get up. Tori rolled toward the ring, and Alex noticed Kane was paying attention to what was going on. *Pay attention to the match! We got this. She insisted. Tori stalked back toward Storm but Storm didn�t wait for her to reach her. Storm reached and grabbed Tori by the back of the head, grabbing a handful of hair. While Tori struggled to retain her balance, Storm punched her across the face knocking her down. Coming from the back all the refs and arena security finally made it to ringside. They grabbed Tori and half dragged/half carried her to the back. As the ladies went back to their corners, they observed the action in the ring; Kane was on the defensive. Paul had taken control and was working Kane over in the corner. Kane punched his way out, and then went for a boot to the face, which Paul caught. Kane went for the inseguire, which connected to knock Paul down. Kane signaled for the tombstone, as the audience rose to their feet cheering. Kane got the tombstone and the 3 count to become the world champion. The brides got up on the apron at their corners and Storm got on the front; all cheering madly. Alex was cheering on the outside because she WAS happy Kane was finally getting another title reign. But her heart was heavy because it came at Paul�s expense. Kane walked around the ring with the belt as Paul was being pushed out of the ring by the ref. It took all of Alex�s self-control not to run to his side. The refs pulled him backstage, as he continued to make threats. As she stood on her corner Alex breathed a sigh of relief that it was finally over. Kane stepped over the top rope and the brides jumped down from their corners. With Storm on his arm, and the belt over his shoulder, Kane walked back down the aisle, and the ladies followed behind them. As she stepped through the curtain she saw 'Taker, Kane and the ladies all celebrating. She looked around trying to find Paul. She felt a hand on her arm and it whirled her around. �What the hell was that?� X-Pac demanded to know. �You tell me!� she snapped jerking loose. �What the hell was DX doing down there?� �Paul told us we were supposed to come down and pull you girls from ringside.� X-Pac stated, surprised at her reaction. �He said you guys knew. Why did you struggle? I wouldn�t have hurt you.� �Paul told you?� she asked, confused. �I thought Vince runs the main event? Why would you listen to Paul?� she asked. Before he could answer, she took his face in her hands and turned it. She saw a long ugly scratch across his cheek. �I don�t remember scratching you?� she stated. �You didn�t. That crazy bitch did!� He exclaimed, pointing. Off to the side, she saw Tori with Vince. He looked to be reading her the riot act, and only stopped when city police showed up. �When I got backstage, she was screaming that we hadn�t done our job. Before she ran out to attack Storm, she hit me.� X-Pac explained. �Vince fired her last week. She�s being booked for assault.� He continued. �What?! Why?� Alex asked, her hands dropping from his face. X-Pac grabbed her hand, surprised by her shocked look, �She�s been making threats against Storm and you girls. Didn�t you know?� He asked. Alex turned to see that Kane and 'Taker were explaining the situation to the other ladies. When she started to turn back around to ask X-Pac another question, she felt his hand break from hers. She turn to see Paul had pushed him out of the way. �Hey! Are you okay?� she asked. He grabbed her arm, not answering, and pulled her into an empty room. �Let go of me!� she demanded, jerking her arm away. �What�s wrong with you? Why did you send DX down?� �They were supposed to take you guys from ringside, to distract Kane. Why didn�t you go?� Paul demanded angrily Alex laughed, �Did you honestly think that I or the others wouldn�t defend ourselves? Or couldn�t? That part of us isn�t a gimmick.� She backs up a few steps with her hand on her hip. The smile slid off her face when she felt Paul�s anger. �What�s wrong? I thought you knew Kane would win? I thought that�s what you meant earlier?� Paul picked up a chair and threw it across the room. �Why didn�t you go when they came for you?� he screamed angrily. Alex felt a chill run through her; Paul had never been this angry with her before. �What are you so pissed off about?� she asked, regaining composure. �Even if I had gone with X-Pac, the other ladies wouldn�t have left. Our job at ringside -the whole reason we�re out there- is to prevent outside interference. We�re not there as eye-candy.� She snapped. Paul started pacing the room and muttering under his breath. �You were supposed to be gone. You were supposed to leave her out there alone. Tori would come down and fight with Storm, Kane would get distracted and that would be it.� �Wait! How did you know Tori would be here? Vince fired her. She wasn�t even supposed to be here tonight.� Alex demanded. �How did you know she would jump Storm?� Paul stalked toward her and was inches from her face. �You were suppose to be gone, you should have left!� He growled dangerously. It took all her strength but she pushed him away, even then he only moved a few feet. �But I guess I always knew you�d never leave your precious Kane.� He spat. �What the hell are you rambling about? Why did YOU send DX down? Why were you trying to get rid of us?� the realization starting to dawn on her. �Vince decided Kane would win the title, but you tried to change the ending.� She concluded. �Why?� she demanded. �I should have known you loved him more than me.� He continued, ignoring her questions. �Right now I don�t even like you.� She informed him. Alex walked out the door and turned her head looking for Kane and 'Taker. She saw them talking to Vince. She saw 'Taker�s expression turning quite angry, obviously figuring out what Paul had done. Alex started to walk over to them. When Paul grabbed her arm, she gasped in surprise. �I should have known you were useless. I counted on Kane�s affection for you girls. You were supposed to go.� He gritted bitterly. �You fucking bastard!� She screamed. �You used me! Damn you.� She yelled, pushing him. She reached back to hit him. Unfortunately she was only able to graze his jaw. Before she could try again, she felt arms grabbing her. She struggled to see Storm and the other girls trying desperately to hold her back. �What are you doing?� She screamed. �Let go of me!� �You�ll only get hurt.� Storm informed her. �Look!� IceWolf instructed her. Alex looked to see Kane and 'Taker standing before Paul. �You were warned.� Was all 'Taker said. In the split-second that Alex blinked, all she then saw was Kane and 'Taker all over Paul. It took Steve, Jim, and all of DX to pull them off Paul. The refs pulled Paul to First Aid as Steve, Jim and DX got Kane and 'Taker back to the dressing room. The ladies followed behind them, their arms around Alex. When she entered the dressing room Alex saw that 'Taker had a busted lip and Kane�s left knuckles were split and bleeding. She also saw that his eye was cut. She realized that�s where the blood had come from during the match. Storm went to Kane as one of the doctors tended to both his injuries. She held his hand while the doctor cleaned it. Kanike was walking toward 'Taker when he noticed DX. �What the hell are you guys doing in here?!� he demanded with Kanike trying to hold him. �Hey man! We didn�t know. Paul said he had cleared it with Vince. And that the girls knew we would be down.� Triple H explained. *They�re telling the truth. Alex told Kane and 'Taker as they turned to her. DX looked on in confusion as Alex explained in silence to Kane and 'Taker. *Paul told them to go down. Neither they nor Vince knew. �We know better than to mess with the girls.� Jesse continued, unsure why everyone had stop speaking. �Besides having to answer to their boyfriends,� Triple H explained, gesturing around the room, �they more than demonstrated they can take care of themselves." Triple H now gestured to the black eye that was quite evident on his face. 'Taker nodded and all the guys shook hands with DX. DX left to find Vince to straighten things with him. While Kanike and Storm fussed over 'Taker and Kane, Alex sat silently in a chair. IceWolf, LaShana, Jim and Steve were talking amongst themselves. LaShana and IceWolf were assuring them that they were fine and that Billy and RoadDogg had not hurt them. Steve ran the back of his hand across LaShana�s cheek and held her close. Jim put his arms around IceWolf�s waist to pull her close and she laid her head on his chest. Jim rubbed his chin over her head. The intimacy of it all made Alex�s heart hurt and she had to turn away. Before anyone could direct their attention back to Alex, she slipped out of the room. After a few minutes, 'Taker noticed she was gone. ~Where did she go? He asked trying to stand up. Kanike pushed him back down. �If you don�t sit still . . .� she warned. �Leave her.� Storm replied, looking at Kane. �She needs to be alone.� �He really hurt her.� IceWolf added softly. |