Chapter 7 - Clash of the Champions I

Chapter 7 – Clash of the Champions I

Special shout-out to The Carters, as this is where Dustin and Barry break up. And, as Wikipedia has confirmed, they actually did break up at the Clash of the Champions for the reason described here. Well, the part about Ricky Steamboat. I’m pretty sure it had nothing to do with a love triangle.

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The first match pitting 2 Cold Scorpio and Marcus Alexander Bagwell versus the team of Steve Austin and Brian Pillman [The Hollywood Blondes!] was a short one that ended with a DQ victory for Marcus and Scorpio. "Flyin" Brian Pillman hit Marc over th ehead with the belt, and then rammed his skull into the ringpost. Scorpio, fearing a concussion, brought him, carried him actually (he was out cold) to the nurse on duty, Angelica Kerris.

She helped Scorpio put him on the cot. "Will he be OK" he asked. "He'll be fine, Scorpio."

Angel grabbed the smelling salts and wove them under his nose briefly. He awoke instantly. Angel kept him from jolting upright.

"Do you feel dizzy or nauseas?" she asked, getting her optic light. [optic light? that sounds like Cyclops' mutant power. PS - let me tell you how close I was to writing X-Men fanfic. Very close. I had stories in my head, but they never made it to paper. We're all winners on that front, folks]

"No, but my head is killing me."

"Look at me." she said shinign the light into his eyes to check for dialation. They looked fine. She checked otu his heart and blood pressure. Normal. "How is your vision?"

"Fine."

"What day is it?"

"Wednesday."

"Where does it hurt the most?"

He pointed to a large bump on his head, hiddend by masses of dark hair. Angel got an ice pack and a couple of aspirin [look at that medical training! just like my school nurse!]

"Keep this up there until the ice melts, by then the swelling should have gone down, if it hasn't come back to me. Take more aspirin if the pain starts to bother you."

"Angel, can we talk." asked Marc. Scorpio excused himself, saying he had stuff to take care of.

"I don't have much to say to you, Marcus." She said frostily.

"But I have so much to say to you, Angel. I need to explain."

"Like what, Marcus. What could possibly need explaining?" [maybe he needs to explain that going on one date with somebody and not even getting to second base doesn't imply exclusivity]

"Oh Angel, I'm so sorry."

"You're sorry? Marcus, you broke my heart! I loved you and you were cheating on me with Missy Hyatt. How can you explain that?"

"I don't know, Angel. I never wanted this to happen, I loved you too. I'm sorry."

"Sorry isn't good enough, Marcus. Nothing is. You hurt me and I'll never forget that. Now I've got work to do, okay?"

"Yeah, Ok." he left and they both ahde tears streaming down their faces.

Angel pulled herself together and cleaned up. She was terribly nervous. The next match was Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham versus Ricky Steamboat and Shane Douglas. It was for Dustin and Barry's titles.

The match went smoothly until Ricky Steamboat was hit in the groin. Dustin refused to pin his friend for the victory. Barry was seething. He forced a tag to Dustin and further impaired Steamboat with some inverted atomic drops. Dustin tried in vain to stop him. Then to Barry's dismay and everyone's surprise, Ricky rolled up Barry for the three count and the tag titles. Shaen helped Ricky into the stretcher and angel fowarded Ricky to a hospital because there was nothing she could do for him. [what about an icepack and some aspirin?]

Meanwhile, Barry and Dustin got into a fight. Barry threw the first punch. Dustin tried to defend himself, but he didn't want to fight Barry, his longtime best friend. Barry superplexed Dustin off of the top rope, then rammed him into the steel pole head first several times. Finall, Barry spat on him and walked away.

Dustin was out cold and put on a stretcher, but by the time he got to Angel, who had seen the whole horrible event on her TV screen, he came around. He trid to get up, but Angel pushed him back down.

"Where's Ricky? Is he OK?"

"He'll be fine, Dustin. Now you've got to relax so I can check you out, OK?"

"Okay" he said reluctantly. ...

[I seriously had to cut some of this out. She basically takes a page to bandage his head and put iodine on his cuts. It's hideously boring. Trust me. Then Angel sits next to him on the cot and closes the door, thus ignoring any other medical duties that might come up for the rest of the night, in case Dustin needs to talk. And cry. Are you ready for the most egregiously egregious crying yet? Take a deep breath ...]

"I don't think I want to talk about this right now. Please don't take any offense. Can I just stay here with you for a while?"

"Sure, Dustin. I'll always be here for you. Stay as long as you need."

"Thanks, Ang." His voice was so soft, so sad. Angel felt tears brimming in her eyes. Dustin drew in a long, choppy breath, and he knew that he was going to cry. He didn't mind because Angel always made him feel comfortable. He loved her so much. He didn't know if he'd be able to cry in front of Sting, or even the Steiners. He loved them too, but she had a kind of magic over him [hurl], kind of like Barry used to have [huh?]. Oh god. Barry.

Angel felt his shoulders begin to shake. She put both arms around him. He sobbed quietly. Angel tightened her hold on him. A tear slid down her cheek. A few minutes later, he was ready to talk. He wiped his eyes and blew his nose [a key plot point, no doubt], and started his story.

"What you saw tonight was bad enough, the story is worse. Barry was even more upset that I told him that I was going to propose to Alex."

"You're what?"

"Tomorrow night I'm going to ask Alexandra York to be my wife."

"Congratulations! That's wonderful!"

"Thanks Ang. I just wish Barry felt the same way." He kissed her lightly, and thanked her again, then left, saying he needed to think, with tears still streaming.

This has been one of the saddest days of my life, thoguht Angel. It just has to get better. She was wrong.


NOTES:

1) Pfft, Angel and Dustin so need to get it on. They're both blonde and like crying and hugging. What else do you need for a healthy relationship?

2) Speaking of healthy relationships, RIP Angel and Marcus. How could it have possibly failed? He loved her all along! Shoot. Kind of makes you cynical about all relationships, eh? If it didn't work for them, how will any of us ever find love?

Coming up next ...

What else can possibly happen to break Angel's heart tonight? How about one more blonde guy crying in her office? Bonus: Angel mentions her cookies. Super Bonus: I mention Scott "Flash" Norton ... wow, that's old school. Tune in next time for ... Chapter 8 - Clash of the Champions II