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"Vegas. Finally, a little break" Shamrock said as he stepped out of the limo and onto the strip. He took a breath, the cool night air of the desert filling his lungs. He walked closer to the large, brightly light building in front of him. He smiled, and walked in the front door. He walked to the front desk, checking into his Presidental suite. The bellhop took his bags, and the two took the elevator up to the top. Shamrock watched the floor number go higher and higher until the doors opened. The bellhop hurried forward, opening the door with his electronic key.

"Welcome to the Bellagio Mr. Shamrock."

Shamrock handed the boy a 20 and closed the door behind him as he shoved the money into his pocket. Shamrock stood in the foyer of the suite, the marble's coolness radiating through his shoes, chilling him a bit. He walked up to the contemporary table that stood in the middle of the room. On the table sat a gaming card, which he pocketed. He kicked at the floor before pacing around the large suite. He walked into the large master bedroom. He picked up a stack of metal and plastic poker chips sitting on his nighstand. He took them in his hand, and walked out onto the balcony attached to his room. He looked out over the Strip, and he got a sudden idea. He dialed 411, and was redirected quickly.

"Bellagio sports desk."

"Yeah, do you still carry the odds on wrestling?"

"Yeah, you want WWE, TNA, ROH, FWRFed, TCW or LICW?"

"TCW. What are the odds on the Hardy/Shamrock/Tripp match?"

"Hardy 5/2, Tripp 20:1, Shamrock 50:1"

"FIFTY TO ONE!!! That's bullshit!!!"

"I'm sorry sir, Shamrock isn't that good in TCW. Would you like to place a bet?"
"Yeah, I'll bet that because of that last comment you won't have a job tomorrow"

Shamrock flipped the phone shut, and reared back to throw it off the balcony, but he stopped himself halfway through his windup. He looked down at his phone, and then walked back through his hotel room to the elevator. He pushed the down button, got on, and walked off onto the loud casino floor. He made a beeline for the sports desk.

"TCW, Shamrock vs. Tripp vs. Hardy. I put $75,000 on Shamrock"

"Hey, you're that douche that threatened my job. Who the fuck do you think you are, bucko?"

"I'm Willaim Shamrock, dumbass. You should be happy I only threatened your job."

"Is that a th-." Shamrock cut him off, punching him square in the face. The man dropped to the ground behind the desk.

"Like I said......75 thou on Shamrock." Will said, signing and ripping out a check. He lightly tossed it over the counter, where it floated down, landing on the man. He then turned and walked out of the casino and into the desert air.

Shamrock sat in the back of his limo as it crawled up the Strip. He had his brand new iPhone on, and was checking the news while he sipped his Voss water. He glanced up when the limo stopped at a red light, and he noticed a large crowd of mostly teenage girls moving as one up the sidewalk. Shamrock lowered his sunglasses and stared more intently, noticing one of the girls wearing a kind of arm warmer with holes in it. It took Shamrock a moment to remember where he had seen them; David Hardy!

"Pull over. Now!" Shamrock yelled at his driver. The driver followed traffic and eventually got over to the curb. Shamrock opened the door himself, and briskly walked up the sidewalk, covertly trying to catch up to the pack of girls. It took him nearly two blocks, but he eventually made it to the roaming pack of girls. Some of these girls were wearing David Hardy shirts, while some of them held markers and 8x10's. Shamrock noticed the girls grouped around someone, and he began to push through them. He eventually made it to the middle of the circle, and he found who he thought he would. David Hardy stood in the middle of the circle, signing some girl's shirt.

"Mr. Aftershock champion himself, David Hardy" Shamrock said loudly. Hardy stopped signing halfway through his own name, and he looked up at Shamrock.

"William Shamrock. Nice to see you here. Getting ready for our match?"

"Don't give me that shit, Hardy. We both know what's gonna happen later tonight. I'm gonna hit the Money clip on you in the middle of the ring and win your damn title"

Hardy smiled at Shamrock. "Did you forget that there is a third person in our match? And neither of us have any idea who it is."

Shamrock sat at the table, kicking the wobbly leg beneth the table. The officer who had been standing in the hallway entered the room, and sat down opposite Shamrock. The officer was a young, 30something blonde woman.

"Hello there Mr..... Shamrock, William Francis Shamrock. Somebody's Irish, heh?" The officer laughed, and Shamrock rolled his eyes. "So Mr. Shamrock, you're in here for assault....would you care to tell me what happened?" The officer switched from playful to official so quickly that Shamrock almost didn't notice. What he did notice was the officer turn on the tape recorder sitting between them.

"Ok, here's what happened" Shamrock started, sighing. "I was driving in my limo when I saw Hardy walking down the block with his group of admirers. I had the driver pull over, and I went and confronted Mr. Hardy about our match later today. We talked for a moment, and he was verbally abusive before sending his very large security guards after me. Luckily, I persuaded the men to take my side of the argument, and we then re-entered the limo, looking for Mr. Hardy again. We found him, and he abused me again, calling me names I wouldn't repeat in front of a beautiful and self-respecting woman such as yourself." Shamrock paused, looking to see the officer blush. His charm was working. "Anyways, I was admonishing Mr. Hardy for using such harsh language in the prescence of minors, and he hit me in the face! I was shocked, and I must've just switched into my wrestling mode and I hit him back, and the next thing I knew these TV people were filming me being arrested, quite brutally I might add, by your fellow coworkers. I'm just not sure what happened to me." Shamrock wailed, burying his head in his hands. His body shook as he sobbed, and the officer walked next to him and rubbed his shoulder.

"Hey, Mr. Shamrock...Will......it'll be ok. We'll have you're tox screen that we took when you were booked, and if that shows up clean you'll be good to go. And then that nice lady who was in here with you before will take you back to the arena and you can beat that bad Mr. Hardy. In fact, I'd like to be there if possible."

Shamrock's head remained in his hands. He sniffed. "You...You really think it'll be ok?" The woman stood up, and looked down at Will. "Yes, I'm sure it'll be fine. I'm gonna go get those results now, you just have a glass of water." She pushed the pitcher and paper cups to Shamrock. She exited the room, and Shamrock waited a minute before lifting his head up. His face was completely dry, showing no signs of crying. He was going to say something, but noticed that the tape recorder was still on. Instead, he poured himself a glass of the water, and instead of drinking the filthy tap water, he dipped two fingers into the water and ran them down his cheeks under his eyes. He jumped a little when the officer re-entered the room. "Good news Mr. Shamrock, your tox results reveal no drugs in your system. We did detect a little alcohol, but nothing illegal. So you're free to go now." Shamrock stood up, facing the blonde woman. "Thank you so much Mrs........Mrs......" "Napoli" the woman said. "Ms. Erica Napoli" She offered her hand to Shamrock, and he took it, kissing her hand. It was an old-time thing, but the girls all fell for it. "Well, Ms. Napoli, I believe you said something about wanting to see me defeat Mr. Hardy in person. But first, would you mind?" Shamrock nodded towards the tape recorder. The officer took the hint, and pushed the stop button, ending the recording. "Now, what I was saying is, I happen to have a personal box for my match tonight with David Hardy for the TCW Aftershock title. Now, from a strictly appreciative point of view, I'd like to invite you to join me backstage in my private locker room and to thenn enjoy the show from my private box. My only constraint is that I would need you to leave with me right now. What do you say?"

Erica considered a minute, "Well....I do have some extra vacation time. I guess it would be alright. I'll just release you to miss.......Stern, and then I'll go get changed. Thank you so much."

The two of them walked down the halls of the station, and Shamrock was eventually seated next to Valerie Stern in the lobby.

"So Shamrock? Do I have to fire your roid raging ass now?" Stern said, not even turning from her US Weekly. "Actually no, Ms. Stern. I passed all your tests, and I'm leaving to go back to the arena and win the Aftershock title. And as soon as I do, I'm gonna-" Shamrock stopped, as Erica returned, now wearing jeans, a sweatshirt and a ballcap. Shamrock stood up to meet her. "Hello Ms. Napoli. Are you ready to go?" "Yes Mr. Shamrock, and please call me Erica." "Only if you call me William." Shamrock said, standing up and taking her arm. "I'll see you at the arena, Ms. Stern." Shamrock said, and she looked up, seeing Shamrock with the officer, and her jaw dropped. Shamrock and Napoli then left the station, and stepped into Shamrock's waiting limo.