A NEW HOLLY?

RAW IS WAR, JANUARY 22ND, 2001

The next night, Angel drove her hire car to the Cajun Dome, where she found Matt Hardy and Lita already in the locker room.

"Yeah, maybe," Matt was saying. "But I still think I could’ve won it if I didn’t have to baby-sit my kid brother." He looked up warily from tying his boots, having heard someone enter. "Oh, hey, Angel. I thought you were Jeff."

Lita spun around and grinned at her cousin. "Ange! How’s your head?"

Angel absently fingered the plaster over her left eyebrow. "Doing better. Where is Jeff?"

Matt bent down and started on his other boot. "You know what? I really don’t give a crap."

At that moment the door flew open and Jeff stormed in. He stopped about three feet away, dumped his sports bag and eyed them accusingly.

"Thanks so much for the ride, guys."

Matt looked up and feigned innocence. "I thought you were riding with Angel."

Angel looked worried from one to the other. "I would’ve…"

Jeff stopped her with a raised hand. "It’s okay. I know. You’re not the jerk here. He is."

Matt slowly rose to his feet. "Care to repeat that, punk?"

"What? You got hearing problems now?" Jeff balled his fists as they advanced on each other.

"I’ll be able to hear my fist hitting your face just fine."

"Oh, really?"

"Cut it out!" Lita stepped up between them the second before they came to blows. "I mean it, you guys. You’re supposed to be a team." Matt and Jeff backed off but continued to glare at each other over Lita’s head. "You guys have a match against the Acolytes tonight. They already beat you on Smackdown and after you eliminated Faarooq last night, do you really think they’re going to go easy on you? You have to be partners, a hundred per cent."

Matt looked down at Lita, then back at Jeff, before nodding slowly. He held out his hands, fingers curled under. Still staring intensely, Jeff shrugged and touched fists with his brother. Without another word, he picked up his sports bag and retreated to another part of the locker room to get ready. Matt watched him for a few seconds, then turned back to his second boot. Lita stepped over to where Angel was standing.

"I don’t know what’s gotten into them lately," she sighed, shaking her head.

Angel smiled comfortingly. "They’re brothers, Li."

"Yeah, I suppose. Still, I have a bad feeling about tonight. We have the Acolytes again and they’re so big you never know what might happen, especially with Matt and Jeff not on the same page. I mean, you already got hit once."

Angel raised her eyebrows. "You want me to stay back here tonight?"

"Is that cool?"

Angel nodded. "Yeah, sure. I’ll go find out who’s facing RTC tonight, let them know I’m not going anywhere."

"Okay. But be careful. There are all kinds of crazy people lurking around here."

"I will. Good luck, Lita," she finished, eyeing Matt and Jeff.

"You too."

Angel started off.

"Oh, Ange? I think it’s the Hollys. You might want to check that out first."

Angel smiled. "Thanks. See you."

* * * *

In the ring, Matt and Jeff’s war went from bad to worse as Jeff pulled blind tags and Matt stepped out of the Poetry in Motion. Eventually they forgot who was legal man, allowing Faarooq to use his Dominator and pin Jeff for the win. Lita had no end of trouble keeping her friends from battling each other on the way back to the locker room. But by then, Angel was long gone. She’d entered another room to find three blondes. The shorter of the two men was giving the woman a pep talk while the other man paced restlessly.

"…But don’t you worry about it, Moll. You deserve that title. And you know why?"

"Why, cousin Crash?"

"Because you’re a Holly."

"That’s right. And tonight I’m going to beat that little weasel and then…" She looked up and saw that she and her cousins weren’t alone. "Can we help y’all with something?"

"I take it that you’re the Holly cousins?" Angel asked.

Just then a hand shot through the air and grabbed her around the throat. Angel felt herself being lifted off her feet as the pacer glared menacingly. "Who the hell wants to know?"

Angel spluttered and writhed as the female cousin got to her feet and shoved the guy who was holding Angel. "Hardcore, let her down. She weren’t doin’ no harm."

Hardcore lowered Angel to her feet and released her. She warily touched her neck. "I don’t want to cause any trouble."

The small blonde woman smiled. "No, it’s fine. He’s just sore ‘cause he doesn’t have a match tonight." She stuck out her hand. "I’m Molly Holly and these here are my cousins Hardcore and Crash. You’re the girl who’s been hanging around Lita and those Hardys, right? I like them. They’re good people. Kind of crazy though."

Angel stared at her. Just who were the crazy ones? "Right. I’m Angel Torres."

Molly beamed. "See, Hardcore? We’re all friends now. What brings you here, Angel?"

"I heard you have a title shot against Ivory tonight."

"That’s right, I do. And you know what? Not only will I beat her, I’ll also teach her how to shut that big fat mouth of hers."

Angel smiled. "I bet you will. Anyway, I came here to offer my services. I don’t know if you saw what that Steven Richards did to me last week, but let me just say that if you’re against RTC you’re fine with me. If you need a valet, anything at all, I’m your man…so to speak."

Molly smiled. "Well, Crash was going to be my escort but the more the merrier, that’s what I always say."

"Great." Angel smiled back, then examined the Hollys’ outfits. "Hey Crash, do you know where I can find one of those shirts?"

* * * *

After entering the ring, Ivory continued to explain exactly how immoral Chyna was.

Backstage and listening to her, Angel felt sick to her stomach. She narrowed her eyes and handed Molly a microphone.

"Kick her ass."

Molly grinned. "This is going to be great!"

Together, Angel, Molly and Crash started out to the ring as the Hollys’ entrance music played. Ivory looked down to see who’d interrupted her speech.

Molly stood in the center of the platform, flanked on one side by Crash and on the other by Angel. The two of them were dressed similarly in WWF Attitude tops, but Angels had been changed into a tank top and was tied above her belly button. Together, she and Crash looked like Molly’s small but tough bodyguards.

As Molly spoke, Angel looked up into the ring and her eyes locked with Steven Richards’. He returned her glare, knowing exactly who she was.

Before Angel even knew it, the Holly cousins had started to run down the ramp and she had to sprint in order to keep up. She and Crash saw Molly safely into the ring as Steven climbed out.

"Go Molly," Angel murmured as her new friend started working on Ivory’s arm.

She felt a tap on her shoulder and heard Crash whisper. "Look over there." Her gaze traveled to where he was pointing and found that Richards was on the move.

"Here’s what I think we should do," Crash continued.

Angel listened to him and nodded. Crouching down, she traveled quickly around the ring.

The second Steven Richards tried to interfere, Crash pulled him down from the apron. Angel grabbed him from behind as Crash punched him over and over.

"How do you like that, you bastard?" Angel sneered in his ear. But Steven was stronger than he looked and she was having trouble keeping her grip. As Crash wound up for about his tenth punch, Richards broke free and ducked, causing Crash to connect with Angel’s jaw. Luckily, her back was already pressed against the ring so she didn’t fall.

"Oh man, sorry," Crash said. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Angel replied, clutching her jaw and trying to shake her daze.

"Where’d he get to?" Crash asked, but by the time they had their answer it was too late. Steven had already climbed the apron and pushed Molly from the turnbuckle, causing her to tumble to the canvas. Ivory somehow got the cover and the pinfall, remaining the Women’s Champion. Crash and Angel raced after Richards but he quickly grabbed Ivory and they made their escape. Angel watched with the Hollys from inside the ring, shaking her head.

"What happened, you guys?" Molly asked. "I thought you were going to stop the screwjob."

Angel shrugged. "I knew Richards was a slimy bastard, I just didn’t know just how slippery he was as well. We’ll get them next time."

Molly grinned. "You bet."

The three of them started up the ramp.

"Sorry about your face, Angel," Crash said. "It wouldn’t have happened if he’d just held still while I hit him."

"It’s okay, Crash. It’s not your fault. And he’ll pay, don’t worry about that."