OOC: Thanks to Miles & Ben for this, and you for reading it.

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The locker room was eerily quiet as EBWF Warfare went off the air and the production crew began to load up the trucks and pack up the arena. Usually crowning a new EBWF Champion meant a short celebration for that man, a congratulations of sorts, but no such party would take place tonight. Just a little less than four weeks before Wrestlemania and the locker room sat stunned, the black shirts to the talent sat scratching their heads, the murmurs and whispers, the glares at poor Chad Patton as he came to the back, his referee shirt sticky with sweat. The count had been quick. It looked like Punk had kicked out. He should have kicked out. His shoulder was up just after the three, and arguably Patton could have called it two, but he’d rang the bell and given the EBWF World Championship to Christian causing Punk to and the EBWF Crowd in Phoenix, Arizona to completely lose it. Punk wasn’t faring too well now as he came backstage still in his wrestling gear, silently accepting a CM Punk branded hooded sweatshirt that he immediately put on. He also took a bottle of water and poured some of it over his head before drinking the rest and stomping through the backstage area wordlessly to collect his things. Chad Patton was wise to get the hell out of his way, and Punk even took two steps past him, but couldn’t keep going, try as he might. He looked the referee in the face and spat venom.

CM Punk: That wasn’t the finish.

Chat Patton: That was the finish I was given at curtain, sir.

CM Punk: My fuckin’ shoulder was up. That count was supposed to be close, but it was supposed to be THREE! On what planet can you possibly think that Jason Reso is supposed to be going to Wrestle fuckin’ mania right now.... Did I wake up in EBWF 2006?!

Chad Patton: You need to take this up with Steph and Jericho, Punk. This was the finish...

CM Punk: Don’t give me that bullshit!

People were starting to gather around them because Punk was getting loud. Patton really had been doing his job, but watching the tape back it was definitely questionable as to whether Punk had kicked out in time or not. A strong argument could be made that he had, and the look on Christian’s face as he was declared winner was even further indication that he hadn’t expected to leave with his new accessory. Punk’s breath was coming rapidly. He didn’t know how long it had been there but he felt a feminine hand on his chest, a familiar voice breaking the fog that was the rage in his head.

Jessica Rushing: Let’s go get on the bus. Let’s calm down. Let’s sleep on it. You’ll talk to them tomorrow.

CM Punk: About what? Talk to them about what?

Jessica Rushing: Baby, you’re not mad at him. Com’on. Don’t do this here. Don’t put this out there.

She felt his breathing becoming more regular, and he turned from Patton without a word, feeling the eyes of his colleagues and co-workers on him as he sneered and took her wrist, hellbent on getting his bags and getting to the refuge of his bus. The sooner he got the hell out of Arizona, the better. The hallway was more private than the common area which was just fine with him, as he stomped toward his locker room.

CM Punk: This isn’t about losing. You know this isn’t about losing.

Jessica Rushing: They don’t.

CM Punk: I don’t care what they think.

He went into the locker room, still mad, collected both of their already packed bags, and took her wrist again, leading her down the hallway hurriedly, cursing when he turned the corner finding Edward Kaufman, Kurt Schneider and Chris Jericho near the exit door, talking. In his mind though, they were blocking it, probably waiting for him. Punk glared at Chris; Chris looked back at him, trying his best to remain calm.

Chris Jericho: Listen, Phil... I’m sorry about the misunderstanding out there. There was obviously a communication error somewhere along the line, because Chad called the right finish out there, and clearly you weren’t aware that the finish had changed.

CM Punk: Chad called the... right... I watched the replay on my way back up the ramp, Chris. Jay didn’t know he was winning that God damn match, look at his face. Don’t sit here and...

Jessica Rushing: Phil...

Her hand was back on his chest. His was exhaling out of his mouth again. The irritation plain on his face. Chris continued to remain calm in an attempt to diffuse the tension, unaware that his nonchalant manner was making Punk angrier.

Chris Jericho: You wanna know the truth? Jay was one of the only people that did know he was winning that match. The plan was to keep it a secret; I didn’t want anyone apart from you, him and Chad to know so that the dirtsheets couldn’t get wind of the finish. I know you don’t like it, but that match was my curveball. It’s left things wide open for Mania. I wanted the fans to feel like anything can happen in the EBWF, and Jay’s win achieved that. It wasn’t about you. You should know me well enough by now to know that I would never intentionally screw you.

CM Punk: No, you’d just screw the entire wrestling world out CM Punk versus Dean Ambrose at the biggest pay per view of the year when you, a wrestling purest, want to see that match. Why?

Chris Jericho: Who said that match was off the table? We still have three more shows before Mania. Anything can happen... that was the point. Now the way I see it, the best thing you can do right now is take Jess’ advice, and leave. Me, Ed and Kurt were just about to hold a board meeting to gage the reaction to tonight’s swerve, and make the final decision on what happens over the next four weeks. So go home, calm down, and come and see me in St Louis in a few days. We can talk in my office and I promise, I’ll make sure you know exactly what we have planned for you between now and Wrestlemania. No more curveballs.

CM Punk: Who said...that... you expect me to believe that making me... I’ve given you my body for the last 5 weeks. I killed myself with Raven two weeks in a row. I could hardly fucking walk that third week. And these two, they don’t know... so go to your meeting, and wear your suit, and act like you forgot if you want... but you’re going to let me finish. You have nothing to gain by making me a five time EBWF world champion. Just like you had nothing to gain by making Christian an 8 time EBWF world champion tonight. And I don’t believe that was the plan for a second Chris, because the two of you were tied at 7...weren’t ya?

Jessica Rushing: Phil....

CM Punk: And isn’t the magic number... 9? It’s really all you have left to do.

Those words stung. But Jericho just stood there and took it.

Chris Jericho: Are you done?

CM Punk: The irony is that all he wanted was to be you, because you were so much better than him at everything. And now, you are him, and you can’t even do it half right.

Chris wanted to tell Punk to keep references to Wes’ out of his disgusting mouth, but let him continue.

CM Punk: It’s not about losing, Chris. It’s that 5 other guys should have gone over me tonight. That. was bad. TV. And now. I’m done.

Punk walked past Chris, Jessica and his bags in tow to make his exit, seemingly content that he at least got the final word. As soon as Punk had left, Chris’ expression changed. His face hardened and his tone became aggressive.

Chris Jericho: Find Steph. Now.

Neither Edward nor Kurt knew if Chris was talking to them, but they both took his words as an order and quickly scurried off to find Stephanie McMahon. Chris followed. She was already in the conference room with a very on edge Lynne McClinton. Jessica had been dismissed for obvious reasons, and feeling a slight conflict of interest Nicole Orton had recused herself. When Ed located her, he notified Chris immediately, which sent the interim CEO to the makeshift boardroom and his temporary personal assistant excused herself, leaving the room not even bothering to make up an excuse as she closed the door to leave the two of them alone.

Stephanie McMahon: I’ve known you since I was a girl and I don’t think I’ve ever seen that look on your face.

Chris Jericho: That’s probably because I’ve never considered killing you before.

Stephanie almost laughed, but Chris’ expression was so stern that she wasn’t sure whether or not he was joking. She remained silent and couldn’t help but flinch as Chris raised his voice.

Chris Jericho: What. The FUCK. Was that? I just spent five minutes trying to convince Phil that I had planned that clusterfuck of a finish... I justified it by telling him it was a fucking curveball. I don’t even like baseball! So you’d better stop stalling and explain yourself, because the sooner you’re done, the sooner I can start cleaning up your motherfucking mess.

Stephanie knew Chris well enough to know that it was unnatural for him to curse with such frequency.

Stephanie McMahon: That was called action! That was called decision making! That was called interest inducing. Past meets present. EBWF past meets EBWF now. You don’t seem to mind it when the EBWF past being featured is you.

Chris Jericho: Are you fucking kidding me? I’ve wrestled two matches since I was made interim CEO, both of which were designed to put other people over. We talked about me wrestling Ambrose after the Rumble, and we all agreed that having him beat me at Fallout was the perfect way to give him momentum going into Mania. We were setting him up for Punk, so the two of them could give the world a five star Wrestlemania main event. And then four weeks before the biggest pay-per-view of the year, you decide to undermine me and go behind my back to set up a match that no one wants to see? Leaving me to take the fall? Wes warned me that you were a fucking bitch, but this a whole new low even for you.

Stephanie McMahon: I did you a favor! CM Punk main events Wrestlemania and he is DONE with this company. In the same year we lost Brian Kendrick, Cody Rhodes, Torrie Wilson and Velvet Sky? I don’t think so!

Chris Jericho: You really are fucking stupid, aren’t you? If Punk main events Wrestlemania this year, it will give him a taste for it. I guarantee you as soon as his match is over, Punk will be envisaging main eventing Mania for a second year running. He’s probably going to be Wrestler of the Year for the second year in a row the night before. He’s not done yet... not even close. Or at least, he wasn’t. After that stunt you just pulled, I’d be surprised if he isn’t planning his exit as we speak. You fucked up big time, Steph. It’s no wonder Vince is happy to have you here instead of in Stamford; the further away you are from him, the less damage you can do.

Her mouth fell open to reply but a sharp knock came to the door and opened without anyone inviting it to. Kurt and Lynne returned, and Shane McMahon was with them now. One of the head referees was too, and one of the lead producers in the production truck. Edward came in last, pushing a cart with a 27” iMac that he began plugged into the wall.

Stephanie McMahon: What are we watching?

Chris Jericho: Oh God.

Lynne McClinton: Mr. Ikeda would prefer to video conference now rather than wait until the morning.

Though Chris knew that Wes was about to tear him a new one, he couldn’t help but smirk a little. He turned to Steph and spoke quietly to her.

Chris Jericho: If you thought I was pissed...

It didn’t take any time for the large screen to come alive and the room to be connected to Wes at his home in St. Louis via Skype. It was nearly 9pm on the west coast and nearing 11 in Wes’ central time zone. Jericho and Lynne were quite used to the look of him since the shooting in October, and while he had managed a couple of good PR photos to put out there to placate the press, live and in the flesh Wes was thin, tired and currently angry. His cheeks were slightly sunken, his eyes hollow with fatigue and something else that those who didn’t know him couldn’t place. He looked into the camera, addressing no one in particular.

Wes Ikeda: What. was. that?

Jericho couldn’t help but notice the way Lynne sat back with a sort of smug satisfaction in knowing she was the only one in the room who could take no credit for anything that happened on television. She simply took orders and cleaned up messes when they were made. Wes’ anger could not be directed at her.

Wes Ikeda: Someone start talking, and when you do it had better be the truth, because I know that he. is not that fucking stupid.

The pronoun he was in reference to Chris. That was a relief. As the rest of the people in the room avoided eye contact with each other, Chris looked directly at Stephanie.

Chris Jericho: Why don’t you tell him how you took “action”, Steph?

Wes Ikeda: Why don’t you. tell me. how you lost control? How did that...? How the fuck did that just happen? HOW DID THAT JUST HAPPEN? Where is CM Punk? What are we doing to fix this with him?

Wes rubbed his temples slightly and gave an exasperated sigh.

Wes Ikeda: Someone start talking about damage control or I swear to God...

Lynne was taking notes. Serious notes.

Wes Ikeda: We want to take the belt off of Punk...fine. But him?! HIM? I can name five guys who shoulda been pushed to the moon before him! We want the internet believing Chris Jericho is booking this shit show!?

Chris Jericho: Well I could tell the internet that Steph went behind my back and told Chad to change the finish... but we both know it’s better for me to take the heat.

Chris hated Stephanie for putting him in this position, and he glared at her.

Chris Jericho: We can fix this, Wes. I wish it hadn’t happened to begin with...

He glared at Stephanie once more.

Chris Jericho: ...But we can fix this. We have three more shows before WrestleMania, and maybe it will be for the wrong reasons, but I predict we’ll have a spike in ratings next week. Everyone is going to tune in because everyone is going to want to know whether or not Christian is going to main event WrestleMania. Next week’s Warfare is our “damage control”, because next week is when people will either regain interest or lose it altogether.

Wes Ikeda: THEY SHOULD HAVE NEVER LOST IT IN THE FIRST GOD DAMN PLACE.

Wes was right. Chris knew he was right, but he didn’t take too kindly to being yelled at for something that wasn’t his fault. He stood up from the table and shouted back at Wes.

Chris Jericho: YOU’RE DAMN RIGHT THEY SHOULDN’T HAVE. But what the FUCK was I supposed to do, Wes? I told Punk he was going over. I told Christian Punk was going over. I told Chad Punk was going over. Then at the last minute when I was in my office, watching the match from there, this BITCH that YOU hired goes to Chad and tells him to change the finish. As far as I know, the only people that knew were Chad and Steph. I was blindsided, and then I had to lie to Phil’s face to clean up her shit. Don’t you think I’m every bit as pissed off as you are?

Wes Ikeda: Maybe if you weren’t such a pushover your staff would fear you enough to not go behind your back and fuck you.

Chris Jericho: Fuck you, Wes. I’ve spent the last five months practically living in St Louis, barely sleeping and seeing my family less than when I was working WWE’s fucked up schedu...

Lynne cut Jericho off before he got another word out and cleared her throat, lifting her hand. Wes roared.

Wes Ikeda: EVERYONE OUT!

They were glad of it too. Stephanie especially. Kurt, Ed, Shane, Steph and Lynne left the room, leaving the glowing iMac and Chris Jericho alone in bitter silence that was finally broken after Wes drew a deep, labored breath, returning the hand to his temple and rubbing it slowly. His heavy eyes closed.

Wes Ikeda: She does not run that show. You run that show. If you want to be pissed off that I’m pissed off, and hold every thing that you’ve done for me for the past five months over my head that’s fine.

Chris Jericho: I don’t. But nor do I want to be insulted by you in front of the board. It took me time to win them over, but I have them under control. Our little argument just now probably set me back a long way, because you reminded them that I’m the interim CEO. And that’s fine, because God knows I don’t want this job permanently, but as long as I have it I’m going to do the best damn job I can.

Wes Ikeda: Chris, they are afraid of me. They are complacent. And they want something easy. They do not believe that Ambrose and Punk will be easy, in fact that believe that will be quite difficult to market. And from a purist perspective they’re right, but I’ll pay $50 to see it. Stop caring about winning them over, and start caring about making them take the hard road. Ed and Kurt are work horses, but they’ll take the easy way until someone leads them to drink.

Chris Jericho: You didn’t let me finish. If I’m going to keep the board under control, I need to be able to do it without your interference. You have every right to tear me to pieces over what happened tonight... but unless you’re ready to take the reins again, you shouldn’t have done it in front of the board. You undermined me. But, like I said before, I can fix this. And the first thing I want to do is fire Steph, because that would fix a whole lot more. We both know that regardless of how “complacent” the board are, no one else except her would have pulled a stunt like that. And if I can fire her for what she did, that will make sure that none of them even think about screwing me over.

Wes stared at him silently for a moment, and then shook his head. His words careful.

Wes Ikeda: Brother, let me be very clear. First of all, don’t you ever purport to tell me when I can and cannot be involved in the operations of my company when you know damn well that so much of what is mine is out of my hands right now. Second, I’ve sat back and watch you do things your way for months now, and I haven’t interfered at all. I didn’t interfere until you HAD lost control. But, you’re right. I handled it wrong.

He almost said he was sorry, but that was as much of an apology as Chris was going to get.

Chris Jericho: Thank you. I have two questions for you right now. Firstly... do I have your approval to fire Steph, or would you prefer me to deal with this differently? Secondly. if I do have your approval, what do I need to do to fire her? I’m still a little naive about what I can and can’t do as CEO, but I’m smart enough to know that firing a board member isn’t as simple as firing talent.

Wes Ikeda: Firing her basically means she goes back and takes at least six months of story boarding to Vince. Honestly, I’m more concerned about making Punk happy right now. You just... you want me to trust you to fix this? Because, I want to have him over to dinner and personally apologize. And I’d really like to not have to take it that far.

Chris Jericho: I can fix it. I just need to figure out a way to do it without telling him the truth. He’s as angry as you would expect right now, but I’m sure once he’s calmed down I’ll be able to talk him around. He confronted me after the show, and I’ll admit I could have handled it better, but like I said before, I was blindsided. The best excuse I could come up with to cover my ass was to tell him the match was designed to shock... I don’t think he bought it. But I’ll give him a few days and then I’ll talk to him. I’ll make sure he knows it was nothing personal and I’ll give him a rematch next week. That’s the only option I have apart from selling out Steph and undermining the entire board.

Wes Ikeda: It was quick thinking on your feet, but he didn’t buy it because it wasn’t shocking. It was just... stupefying. Not to mention that Jason couldn’t have possibly sold it any worse.

Wes laughed.

Wes Ikeda: I didn’t ask you for this. You can walk away.

Chris Jericho: I can’t, and won’t. The strange part is, as stressed as this job makes me... I enjoy it. It’s a Catch-22, but I guess you already know that.

Wes Ikeda: Meet with Richard, have him look over Stephanie’s contract, maybe he can find a way that what she did tonight was in breach.

Chris Jericho: Maybe. Either way, I’m telling Steph that if she tries anything like this again, I’ll fire her without a moment’s hesitation.

Wes Ikeda: Chris, it’s not that easy. Believe me, it isn’t. There’s WWE to consider, and her contract. A very litigious battle could go on for years between Ikeda and McMahon and sometimes it’s just easier humor her.

Chris Jericho: I didn’t say I was going to fire her... I said I’d tell her I will. That’s the best way I can think of keeping her under control. If that won’t work, I’ll find another way. Because there’s no way I’m letting that bitch put me in this position again.

Wes ikeda: She embarrassed you. And I made it worse. I’m...

He almost did it again.

Wes Ikeda: Sure you won’t let her do it again.

Chris Jericho: Damn straight.

Wes Ikeda: Do not let CM Punk walk away from EBWF. Not yet. Not before I get back.

Chris Jericho: I have no intention of letting him walk away. I’ll handle it. He might not like me very much right now, but unlike Adam and Randy, he respects me. And he’s a professional. I’ll work it out with Punk.

Wes Ikeda: Punk doesn’t have to be happy. He just needs to be comfortable. And you made your bed with Randy. Last I knew, Adam has no problem with you though. First rule as CEO, don’t make problems where there are none. Randy had no idea you thought he was a pestilent child until you told him so. Secret? I think it hurt his feelings. Now he’s throwing a tantrum. Adam has always respected you. Don’t make him guilty by association. Lord knows if that rule applies, the whole world over would hate you just because of me, yeah?

Chris Jericho: Good point.

Wes shook his head, and sighed.

Wes Ikeda: Well, CEO Jericho, as main stockholder in your company I look forward to tuning into Warfare next week. I hope my head will not explode at its conclusion.

Chris Jericho: I’ll arrange for Steph to accidentally end up in Mexico. We’ll be fine.

Wes Ikeda: You know, I thought, I... was certain I had arranged for a gift to make your life easier to arrive tonight before the show. It’s a shame it didn’t arrive. I guess.... it’s not coming.

Chris Jericho: What’s my gift?

Wes Ikeda: It’d be too cruel to tell you now. I’ll keep working on it. Goodnight, Chris. Thank you, for all your doing. For my company. For my boy. For me.

Chris Jericho: If I had to do it all again, I’d do it all without a second thought. I know you would do the same for me, so there’s no need to thank me.

Wes Ikeda: I would. And I’d throw it in your face when I was mad.

He smirked, and without another word he pushed a button on his end the screen went black disconnecting their call. Chris sat silently. The sounds of the arena around him, humming to a low drone as things were being backed up and the EBWF machine began to roll itself on to the next town. He plotted his next move. He would watch the tape of the end of the match, and then make an EBWF.net exclusive that Christian would defend the EBWF Championship against Punk at Warfare in a rematch. Then he would meet with the board and a discussion would take place. He was enjoying the moment by himself, and realizing he couldn’t quite remember what city he was going to next when his thoughts were interrupted by a loud, firm knock on the door. He stood up from his seated position as the door opened, confronted with a man he hadn’t seen in several weeks. A man he’d never quite known whether or not was friend or foe. But a man who stood in front of him with a knowing grin that Chris had seen several times before and said the only words that needed to be said in that moment.

Triple H: I’ve brought you a leash for your bitch problem.

And then he pushed the door open a little bit further, and the gift Wes had been talking about was behind him.

Joanie Helmsley: Sorry, I’m late. I was at the hotel, having not quite made up my mind when I saw the end of the show and... need a hand old friend?

Chris Jericho: Now more than ever.

Chris moved towards them and shook Hunter’s hand, then greeted Joanie with a warm hug.

Joanie Helmsley: Well, Wes has offered me my job back. And I will reluctantly take it, as long as you understand that I will be doing it to your standards, to your orders, with the intention of finally, destroying. her.

Triple H: She always did hold a grudge.

Joanie Helmsley: She did herself in tonight.

Chris Jericho: She did me in too. And then Wes yelled at me in front of the board and... we resolved it, but he wouldn’t let me fire her. But that’s okay, because having you here is better.

For the first time in over an hour, Chris smiled.

Joanie Helmsley: We can’t out and out fire her. Not yet. But once I start doing most of her job, and she knows less about the long term goals of the company. She’ll become expendable.

Chris Jericho: That day can’t come quickly enough. Welcome back, Joanie. You’ve been missed.

Joanie Helmsley: And you’re plotting like a suit already. I always knew you had a little evil in ya. Want to go get a coffee and go to Anaheim?

Jericho nodded. 15 years he had known this woman, through a lot, through her good stuff, through her bad stuff. 14 years ago they’d even been co-intercontinental champions together and tore up the road. She could hang with anyone of the boys, and give it as good as she got. Wes was a good gift giver. Jericho needed a shoulder, and Wes had delivered. And while it wasn’t clear where Hunter stood with the company, or if the short term contract that had afforded him a match against Punk at Christmas Eve of Destruction was going to expire with Hunter going back to Texas to retire happily, what mattered was this Helmsley. This Helmsley who knew how to run the production truck. Who knew how to run the camera crew, the script, the storyboard. This woman scared the piss out of referees and if someone whispered something about a match finish someone would have double, triple checked with her. No. Stephanie would get away with nothing like this again.

Joanie Helmsley: It’s good to be home, Chris.

Chris smiled and squeezed Joanie’s arm, then followed her and Hunter out of the conference room. As the three of them made their way out of the arena, Chris breathed a sigh of relief to himself. Two hours earlier when Warfare had ended, Chris had felt like the world was closing in around him. Now, though there was still a lot to be done, he felt much better. It felt like the everything was going to be okay and with one of his oldest friends in his corner, suddenly the world seemed like a much brighter place. Chris pulled out his phone to scroll through his text messages, and opened up a new one to Wes. The message was simple.

Rest well my friend. Your gift arrived.

I have to agree with Holly. This was amazing! :ugeek:

I was as surprised as Punk was when I saw the home page! XD But yeah, I left my mark, a "screwjob" is still a mark xD