Majestic cup match

(IKEA Carnage match)

David Hardy and MacAvoy recived the wildcards from Valerie Stern, who will amke the most of this second opportunity?

Cheap furniture is the props of choice for this match, Hardy and MacAvoy will have to go through IKEA hell to advance.

(Stipulations: furniture from IKEA is brought in around the ring and the way you win is by scoring ten points first, one point for a shot and three points for putting them through something, like a chair or funky table.)

The letters taste dirty in his mouth. He can't quite get his tongue around them. He was never one for tradition. Never one to place any sort of stock in history. History for him was not unlike his current attire. Ripped and stained and its presence felt by a foul stench that constantly followed MacAvoy around. Still. Twisted. Championship. Wrestling. It was a bit shit. And it vaguely reminded him of his half-brother. God he hated his half brother. He sighed. He didn't have much time for his father, Nemesis. That was about the same time that his father had had for him. And the Acid Jackrabbit. The man who'd trained him. He'd not looked Mac Avoy up, even though he knew Mac Avoy was wrestling again, to take part in his new federation. He hadn't been asked to join the FWRFed Revolution. He obviously didnt give a shot about him either.

So why should he care? Why should it mean anything to him that the place that Nem and Acid created died last night. Died, not in a terrible mass of bloody revolution, but in the quiet restrained coldness of coporate boardroom. If there anything he hated more that himself and his history, it was the cleanness with which women like that bitch.........does she have a name....................does he give a crap.....................carved up peoples lives. He ran the knife down his forearm. His hairs bristled as it gently ripped the skin.

Dave Hardy. The name rang a small and unimportant bell somewhere in the dark recesses of Mac's cerebellum. When he thought of Dave Hardy, he thought of one thing.

Stepping Stone.

Any match.

Any stipulation.

Thats what the winner of the stupid competitve enterprise would receive.

ECF was dead.

But ECF could rise again.

ANY MATCH.

ANY STIPULATION.

Did they really realise the pandoras box, the vipers nest they had created with that procalmation.

99 times.

99 times out of 100.

Thats how many times it could go wrong between here and there.

But Mac Avoy is the last ECF Icon left standing.

Mac Avoy placed the knife back down. His crimson juice indiscriminately spread upon its serratted edge.

Scoured down his left forearm.

Three letters.

More than an abbreviation.

A way of life.





E


C


F

David Hardy slid nonchalantly out of the ring as the referee raised Matt Strikmore's hand in victory. The televised cameras didn't show Hardy turn around and applaud the victor, but this angle showed otherwise. Hardy gave Strikmore a thumbs up before using the same thumb to whipe the small trickle of blood from his forhead. Hardy grinned and shook his head as he turned towards the exit and kept walking. He looked down at something in his hand and lazily tossed it to the side.

Then everything stopped.

"There," said a female voice as a hand came onscreen and pointed to the still object on the TV screen, "I thought I saw you toss something aside, what was that?"

Hardy smiled and shrugged, looking away, "beats me..."

"David Hardy!" she said, "was that a razor blade!?"

"Well, I noticed on the big screen that I was looking a little scruffy, so I had to shave," Hardy joked.

"So, that chair shot didn't bust you open?" she asked.

"Lita, it's flat surface, it ain't gonna cut anything open, hun," Hardy snickered.

She shook her head and grinned, hitting him, "Well, excuse me, Mr. So-Great-He-Fixes-His-Own-Matches! Why the hell would you blade in a first blood match!?"

Hardy laughed, "I like that Strikmore guy. He deserved to continue his role. Besides, I already knew I'd be making it to the next round anyway. I struck up a deal with the new commissioner lady."

"Dare I ask the terms of that agreement?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Oh don't you worry, she's much too stiff for anything you probably had in mind. We also came up with this wildcard idea that'll put me up against some loser from the first round. It's pretty much a bye to the next round," explained Hardy.

Lita smiled and looked out the window, "you seem sure of yourself..."

Lita looked out over the ocean on the sunny afternoon. The light bounced off the water, making the world seem to glow, much like she had felt over the past few days. The helicopter soared over the ocean effortlessy and with blinding speed. It was a brand new chopper, top-of-the-line, not even the US military had it's hands on it, so naturally Shadow had a couple of them kicking around.

Hardy glanced over at the smiling woman beside him. The light created an illuminating effect with her fiery red hair as the blew gently around her. It reminded Hardy of a time long ago, a time when he could smile more often. He cleared his throat and looked away.

"I'm not worried about Mac Avoy," Hardy said, "it's nothing I can't handle."

"Naturally," she smirked, "ever met him before?"

"Met him?" Hardy laughed, "hell, I pinned him!"

David Hardy then reached into a bag on the floor and pulled out a video tape. He slid it into the onboard entertainment system and pressed play.


Supreme fires off a couple of stiff right hands as he begins to brawl with HighOne on the floor. Meanwhile in the ring Mac desperately needed the tag that was denied him. Hardy uses the fact that the referee is distracted by the brawl on the floor to grab a chair, throw it to the ground and then he quickly leaps at Mac Avoy catching him around the neck, spinning into a tornado DDT right into the metal chair

*CRACK!!*

Hardy quickly slides the chair out of the ring and then hooks Mac's leg for the pinfall attempt

ONE!!

TWO!!

THREE!!


"You cheater!" Lita shouted at him with a smile.

Hardy used his better judgment to not turn around the "cheater" comment on her. He shrugged, "Maybe, but it's something I'm going to have to do again at the next show."

"Ah yes," she nodded, "you got that stupid Ikea match, right? What the hell is that supposed to be, anyway?"

"A shamelss plug by the looks of it," Hardy grinned, "But the goal is to break a bunch of furniture with your opponent"

Lita rolled her eyes, "Just up your alley, knowing you and breaking things!"

"Yeah, I am a heartbreaker, aren't I?" Hardy snickered.

Lita opened her mouth and was about to speak when suddenly a voice came on over the intercom.

"Pardon me, Mr. Hardy and guest," the voice said, "this is the pilot. We'll be putting the chopper down in a few minutes."

"Thanks," Hardy replied.

"Holy crap!" exclaimed a surprised Lita, "look how big that thing is!"

Hardy smirked, "Yeah, I get that alot... Wait, what?"

Lita pointed to a massive ship cruising on the water, "Don't tell me that's Shadow's boat..."

"That would be the one," nodded Hardy, "hell, that ain't even his biggest one."

"They get bigger than that!?" she asked as her jaw dropped.

Hardy nodded again as the helicopter lowered closer to the giant landing pad on the ship. Hardy's eyes suddenly widened and he turned to Lita with a panicked expression.

"Oh yeah, I guess I should have mentioned this earlier," he coughed, "the guys know I'm bringing a friend, but they don't know that it's you..."

Lita blinked, "Is it bad that it's me?"

"Well," Hardy sighed, "it might be. Especially with Highone since the last time we were all together, and the rest of the guys might not trust an outsider, especially one with a reputation like yours."

"And what is that supposed to mean!?" Lita said, looking a bit upset.

"It means bad things for the both of us if they react the wrong way," Hardy said quietly, "and I don't want to take the chance."

Lita shook her head and sighed, "So what's to be done about this?"

Hardy smiled weakly and dug into his bag. A few seconds later, he pulled out a few items and spoke with a shrill voice "Yeeeeeah, if you could go ahead and wear these for me, that would be greeeaaat, thaaaaanks..."

"You've got to be kidding me..."

***************************************

Shadow stood at the foot of the landing pad with a few staff members behind him. The helicopter came to a stop and several seconds later, David Hardy and his expected guest popped out of the side. Hardy looked over and noticed Shadow, at first looking scared and surprised, then calming down and semi-smiling.

"I trust the flight went smoothly?" Shadow asked as he extended his hand.

Hardy took it and nodded with a smile, "As smooth as Darkness' tongue on Dante's asshole.

Shadow shook his head, "Thanks for the unnecessarily comparison, but I'm glad to hear everything went well. So who's this friend you were so eager to bring on board?"

Shadow looked over the woman at Hardy's side. She was a little over 5-and-a-half feet and must have been around thirty years old. She had long blonde hair, which seemed to sit kind of awkwardly on her head, almost as if it was ready to fall off, like a wig or something. Shadow was about to question it, but didn't want to offend the woman in case she was a cancer patient or something along those lines. He couldn't make out much of her facial features, as she was hidden behind a large pair of sunglasses. They were so big, they might as well have been novelty clown classes.

"Erm..." Hardy mumbles, clearing his throat, "This is... Leela..."

Shadow nodded slowly and extended his hand to her, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Leela."

She took his hand and looked down so he couldn't get a good view of her face, she spoke softly, "Hello..."

Shadow stepped back and was about to direct his staff when he noticed something else about her. She had a rather large, tribal demon tattoo on her right shoulder. At least that's what he thought it looked like. Before he could get a decent look, Hardy threw his coat over her shoulders and smiled.

"Better wear that," Hardy smiled weakly, "It's a little cool out here."

Everyone went silent then as the scorching sun washed over them. The staff, in their shorts and hawaiian shirts glanced at each other as beads of sweat rolled down their faces due to the extreme heat. After a length, awkward silence, somebody cleared their throat.

"Well, Shads, we're both a little tired here," Hardy said dryly, "Do you mind if we retire to our room for a little while?"

Shadow nodded slowly, "Certainly. Will we see you for dinner later?"

"Sure," Hardy said, then looked at ‘Leela', "well maybe... I dunno... we'll see..."

"Alright then, I'll give you your privacy," Shadow responded, "I believe you'll enjoy your rather sizeable suite."

"Ah, Shadow, what would I do without you?" Hardy grinned.

‘Leela' cleared her throat and looked off to the side, obviously starting to sweat excessively.

"Well, we gotta go!" Hardy said nervously, ".... thanks!"

Shadow nodded and looked at his staff, "Take their bags and show them to their room."

The staff quickly jumped back to life and scrambled, grabbing Hardy and ‘Leela's' bags and directing them down the deck. Hardy waved at Shadow and he and his guest scurried away.

"I can't believe I'm doing this!" Lita whispered to Hardy and they walked. She was holding onto her blonde wig so it wouldn't fall off.

"Quite frankly, neither can I..." Hardy mumbled, "thanks..."

"You owe me!" she said as they turned into their suite.

The boat staff dropped their bags on the floor and all hurried out the door. A silence came over the two of them as they looked over the huge suite.

"Whoa..." Hardy gulped.

"It's gigantic," Lita added.

"Look at the bar!" Hardy smiled.

"A jacuzzi!" Lita shook her head in astonishment.

The room was at least twice as big as any hotel room either of them had been in.

"There's only one bed..." Hardy blinked.

The two of them looked at each other, then back at the bed. Another awkward silence filled the room until a loud banging came from behind them. They both spun around and looked at the doorway.

"Yo, Hardz, you in there?" a voice said, "can I come in."

They both knew who was on the other side, someone they knew very well. Lita backed away and scurried into another room.

"Yeah, High-guy," Hardy said nervously, "just a minute."

Suddenly Mac Avoy was the last concern on David Hardy's mind.

5

Soap opera's had never much interested Mac Avoy. When your whole petty existence on this ball of rock had been a tumultueous sea of familial strife, little things like..........

I Love
You Love
He Love
She Love
We Love
They Love
You (plural) Love

............suffer little concentration as part of the machiavellian concerns of a bitter man.

He also hated skanky ho's.



Trash knows trash and he sure as hell recognised her.

4

As the crow flies, the newsest "Super" ASTAR helicopter, Hardy's mode-de-jour of vehicular transport, could hit a directional velocity of 100 mph.



Tracking such a speedy conveyance takes quite a far amount on technique and talent honed by years in the bounty hunting employment stream. Over land it is difficult enough to maintain any sort of line of sight without quite eloborate tracking equipment. Over water, however, it is next to impossible to attain the sort of momentum needed to keep pace with a helicopter. The hopes of finding Hardy through this method was next to impossible.

3

The plume of smoke from his clothes was dense and acrid. His hobo attire only proved to alert people of his presence since his return to the squared circle.



His quick fingers had discounted some name brand apparel to the value of 100%, and soap and a nail brush had begun the arduous task of removing the accumulated filth. This job would take some amount of time more than the bonfire in front of him would to relieve himself physically of his recent past. Mentally, he wasn't sure he was happier in that life than he would be in this.


2

Loyalists were starting to appear from the woodwork. Few in number though they where. Nerds, freaks, undesirables, old school fans and garbage wrestling connesuers though they where. Unlikely bedfellows though they where. One thing had united them in the past and the memory of that fueled them in the present. The appeared in the unexpected places and went by a subtle title.



Bob was part of this foundation.

Bob was also a registered pilot.

Bob rang Mac Avoy before they left with the flightplan and destination.

1

The scabs from his newly scarred arm itched something fierce against the unnatural polyster blend of his new outfit.



He slide beneath the decks quickly.

This was gonna have to be delicate.

Not his natural tendency.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------


The ship yawed violently. Highone crashed violently through the door, smacking into Hardy. Both men roll to the bottom of the suite due to the extreme axis the ship had shifted onto. Both men went crashing through into the next room. The crashed into a strange blonde person,one of the them falling to each side of her. Highone looked at her.

Highone : You?

Highone pulled himself a little higher to look at his erstwhile partner.

Highone : Her?

He pulls himself to his feet and grabs a heavy piece of metal that has come loose.

He takes a swing.

The glass in the window crashes into the water below.

It is followed by three TCW......................eughhhhhhhh................superstars.

--------------------------------------------

Later, they ship is lifted out of the water so it can be repaired in dry dock. They say it was a precisely placed set of explosions which caused her to sink. When questioned how they could be so sure of this, they merely pointed to the hull. The explosion had left a distinctly shaped hole. It was made up of three letters.

E C F

"Everyone alright?"

"Yep"

"Yup"

"Mmhmm"

"Yes..."

"Alright, roll call."

"I can't see shit!"

"Who am I grabbing?"

"DeSean, someone just groped me!"

"What!?"

"Umm, sorry Tiff, that was me... OW! I said it was an accident!"

"That wasn't me, David"

"Dammit, D!"

"Hey I didn't do it either, I don't even know where you are!"

"Then which of you assclowns just smacked me? Ow! What the hell!?"

"Hmph..."

"Hey Hardz, I think your friend is on my lap... and might I add, DAYUM!"

"You damn skippy, hippy! OW!!"

"This is the last time I buy a mini-submarine before the training and instructions are even invented."

"Well, it certainly is cozy."

"Well you get off his lap!"

"Hey! Hey! Watch where you're grabbing dude!"

"I'm trying, man! Oh wait... yeah, there we go... Ow! Enough with the slaps!"

"Then stop being such a Hardy!"

"Who said that?"

"..."

"That was my friend, nevermind her, she's a little slow.... ow? Thank God you stopped tha-OW!"

"Haha! I haven't seen... well, heard you take a beating like that from a woman since Lita had you whipped!"

"Man, I can't believe you really fell for that ho!"

"SSSSSHHHH!!!!"

"Yeah, Hardz, I know you're a fan of the tail, but you would have done anything for her, wassupwitdat!?"

"LALALALALALALALALALA!!!!!"

"Lita's not a whore, those are just rumors... or so I've heard..."

"Yes, she's a very fine lady, moving along!"

"I wasn't even around when that happened, but you could do better man."

"Oh look who's talking!"

"Did that boy just dis me, D!?"

"Ah nevermind, Tiffany, he's just being himself."

"Charming..."

"Not as charming as this bag of northern gree- wait... my grass went down with the ship, what am I grabbi-OW! Not bad. Not bad at all, you're a lucky man, D-Hizzle!"

"Not as lucky as you'd think! HA! You missed me this ti-OW!"

"I think I've found something, just a second."

A few switches could be heard flipping on and off until finally one made a loud clunk. There was more silence for a few moment before a couple lights turned on, illuminating the tiny space. Shadow was at the very front of the mini-submarine in the pilot's chair. Crammed tightly behind them were DeSean Blackwell and Tiffany. Behind them and partially upside down was David Hardy, with his friend ‘Leela' on Highone's lap just behind them. They all made quick adjustments to find proper seating arrangements. There was barely enough room for all of them, and none of them were overly comfortable.

"Well," said Shadow, "at least we now have visual."

"Yeah..." DeSean said, "we can see water in all directions."

"I like what I see," Hardy smiled.

They all turned to notice Hardy seeing himself in a section of reflective metal siding. With a sigh, they all turned back and rolled their eyes.

‘Leela' leaned over to Hardy and whispered, "I don't think I have much of a disguise..."

"What about the skies?" asked Highone from behind them.

Hardy noticed that she had somehow lost her sunglasses and her tattoo was in plain view. Hardy quickly put his arm around her, covering her shoulder with his hand. He pulled her closer to him so that her head was against his chest and she was looking down. Normally, he'd be dreaming about being in a situation like this, but right now pleasure wasn't exactly on his mind.

"Nah, she just said... fries..." Hardy coughed, "I think she's hungry, but for now she's just going to relax. She ain't used to this traumatizing, over-dramatic wrestling stuff... yeah..."

Highone nodded slowly and glanced down at Hardy's hand around her shoulder. His hand was obviously quivering in pain, as his wound prevented him from keeping his palm open for very long, yet he seemed hell bent on holding onto this woman. He narrowed his eyes to try an examine what looked like a tattoo on the girl's shoulder, but his attention was now diverted by slow stream of blood coming from Hardy's hand. David Hardy looked over his shoulder at Highone but quickly looked back forward. He wouldn't maintain eye contact with anyone for the rest of their sub ride.

"Here we go," said Shadow as he held the controls.

The submarine pushed itself forward through the water with tremendous speed.

"Anybody know which way to go?"

*************

Mac Avoy stepped out the water onto the beach. He wasn't quite sure where he was, but as long as he was on dry land, he was happy. His ride back to shore seemed to have bailed on him, so he had to swim his way back to shore. It was a hell of a workout, but in the end it was worth it to send that message. Who knows, maybe he even eliminated some of ECF... err, TCW's biggest problem, Infinity.

Mac pulled his soaked shirt off and tossed it into the warm sand. A few moments later, he dropped onto his back and lied down, staring up the sky. It took a while for him to regain his breath. He wasn't in the same shape that he used to be, and at the moment he was exhausted. But the fact remained that he achieved what he had set out to do, and nobody could take that away from him. Hell, he even had more in store for both the federation and Infinity.

After several minutes, he finally got to his feet and ringed his pants out. With a long exhale and a stretch, he grabbed his shirt and began to walk along the water. Suddenly, a dark object emerged from the water and landed on the beach infront of him. What looked like a small, metallic submarine sat dormant on the beach for nearly a minute, giving Mac a moment to read the side of it.

"S.S.Mart Deep Search?" he said.

Finally the door on the top of the sub opened up and slowly the members of Infinity and a couple ladies popped out. After a few moments of stretching, they all turned around to see Mac Avoy trying to tiptoe away.

"Shit..."

***************

Mac Avoy sat alone in a dark room. All that was in it was the chair he was sitting in, the table infront of him, and the light hanging down from the ceiling. On one of the walls was a mirror, like those interrogation rooms from the movies. After seveal minutes of waiting, the door finally opened, and David Hardy entered, wearing a dark suit.

"Alright, you washed up scum," Hardy said, "I have some questions and I want them answered immediately."

Mac rolled his eyes and looked at him, boredly. Hardy grabbed the light hanging from the ceiling and shined it directly in Mac's face.

"Who is your daddy," Hardy asked, "and what does he do?"

Mac raised an eyebrow and blinked a few times, "Umm... what?"

"I said," Hardy spoke louder, "who is your daddy!? And what does he do!?"

Mac shook his head, "how is this relevant to anything?"

Hardy shrugged, "It's not, but I've always wanted to say it."

"Then what the hell do you want with me?" demanded Mac as he rubbed his wouynded arm.

"Why did you do it?" Hardy said through gritted teeth.

"Do what?" Mac shrugged nonchalantly.

"Don't bullshit me, pops!" Hardy said as he moves the light closer to his Havoc opponent.

"What proof do you have on me?" Mac smirked, "none, I bet."

"Actually..." Hardy shook his head.

He pulled a remorte out of his pocket and pointed it up to a projector. After a few seconds, a light flickered and video projected onto the flat wall. Several different clips showed Mac Avoy creeping through Shadow's ship and planting several little bomb-like devises in various sections. This all led to the capsizing of the boat and the massive "ECF" burned into the sides.

Hardy paused the video and crossed his arm, "How's that for your proof?"

Mac sat silent for a few oments thinksing of some smartass responce but Hardy quicklky continued.

"Not only is it trespassing, but it's also arsony, attmepted murder, and a whole bunch of other weird charges." Hardy said.

"So where the hell is this going?" demanded the annoyed Mac Avoy.

Hardy stuffed the light into Mac's eyes again and shook his head, "You throw your match against me at Havoc and give up this whole ECF vendetta or whatever it is..."

Hardy ejected a tape from the overhead projector and pulled it out.

He continued, "Just stay out of our ship and do the job, and this footage is all yours..."

Mac crossed his arms and stared at the tape that was now sitting on the table. For several moments he simply stared at the tape and drummed his fingers along the table.

"Well!?" Hardy shouted, "give me an answer!"

"Yeesh!" Mac said with a smirk, "What would Lita think of all this aggression.

Hardy's eyes widened and he took a few steps back. He pointed at Mac, "How did you..."

"I could smell her from a mile away," Mac smiled, "so why are you being so secretive of her? It seems you wanted to keep her identity secret. Why is that?"

Hardy turned and stared at the far wall silently. After nearly a minute, he turned back to Mac, "Listen to me, you son of a bitch. I don't know how you know about her, but if you're wise, you won't say anything about her to anybody, hear me?"

Mac pushed his chair back and put his feet up on the table, "well, David, how much is my silence worth to you?"

Mac Avoy smirked and relaxed as he played his bargaining chips. Hardy looked up at the ceiling and shook his head.

"God dammit..."

Blood seems to have a different taste and texture, depending on which part of you it's coming from. Blood from the hand and fingers was certainly darker than what constantly leaked from the forehead of a TCW superstar. The blood from an arm is considerably thinner than that from the chest. And blood making it's way to your mouth from your insides certainly feels much thicker than from anywhere else. Thicker, warmer and more rough. It can choke you with more ease than a serial strangler. So terrible that a blistering hack of the throat to try to relieve some of the madness can feel like heaven. This was something Mac Avoy was learning the hard way.

It's bad enough to be caught outside in a tropical storm, but to be in his state in one was beyond terrible. He struggled up to his hands and knees but could barely keep his balance. A heavy cough erupted from Mac Avoy's throat as a small geyser of blood squirted out of his mouth and onto the drenched pavement. The dark red slowly faded away in the dark water, illuminated by the barely visible moon above. Everything seemed a blur to him as a heavy wind pushed him over onto his back. The rain poured down on him, distorting his vision of the big sign standing over him.

In a normal state, he would have been able to read "Thomas Robinson Stadium" but with his messed up vision fading in and out, what it said was hardly on the top of the list of concerns. Quick images flashed into his head, but only remained for split seconds at a time. Flashes of people like David Hardy, Highone and The Technician standing over him, each brandishing some sort of large blunt object. At least that's what he thought he saw. Everything after his meeting with Hardy in that interrogation room was all just a jumbled mess in his mind.

He reached forward and crawled onto the sidewalk. Everything stung, like he had just been whipped an infinite amount of times. He could feel the rain pour down onto his back, feeling like acid burning his skin. He didn't even notice that he had no shirt and his pants were torn and lacerated. His lower legs were so numb that he couldn't even feel if he had shoes on. All he could focus on was moving forward out of the storm, and to safety. He had the drive, but his body didn't have what it would take. With a crack of thunder, he collapsed again and rolled onto his side. His squinty eyes noticed a symbol on the brick wall before him. It looked like a spray painted "8" with the paint running sideways from it...



His brain couldn't processs what the "8" was for, nor did he care. In a matter of seconds, the brick wall was completely obscured by the extreme rain downfall. It was so heavy that it was literally keeping Mac pinned down on the ground. He let out another groan as his head rested against the cold pavement. His eyes closed on him and he soon passed out, slipping into a merciful mindset away from this pain. He lay there in the storm, the rain pouring down on his back. The rain pouring down on an obsure image carved into his back. The rain poured down on the same "8" that he just saw on the wall before him. The rain splashed the blood away from the massive found to reveal it was more than just an "8"

The sign of Infinity...

That night Mac Avoy learned the hard way who he was dealing with. He made a mistake that he would regret from now until infinity. He received the Stown Treatment, though luckily (or maybe not) for him, he had survived this one. Regardless, the message had been sent and Mac Avoy had just been made an example of what happens when you cross the superpower faction. Across the street, David Hardy grinned and put his foot on the gas pedal. Mission accomplished.

"Don't fuck with Infinity..."