SEASON EIGHT

EPISODE 10: HIDE AND SEEK
PART TWO

By: X_C

 SPACE: THE FINAL FRONTIER. THESE ARE THE VOYAGES OF THE WWF TITANPRIZE. IT'S MISSION: TO EXPLORE AND ENTERTAIN NEW SOCIETIES AND NEW CIVILIZATIONS.  TO BOLDLY GO WHERE NO WRESTLER HAS GONE BEFORE!

TITANPRIZE CREW:

Captain Vince McMahon
First Officer, Commander Shane McMahon
Chief Engineer, Commander Stephanie McMahon
Chief of Chiefs, Commander Linda McMahon
Chief of Security, Commander Kane
Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Taker
Diagnostics Officer, Lieutenant Commander Jericho
Tactical Officer, Lieutenant Commander Austin
Transporter Chief, Lieutenant Commander Debra McMichael
Communications Officer, Lieutenant Rock
Counselor Al Snow (assisted by H.E.A.D.)

... And many more!

WWF TITANPRIZE-CAPTAIN'S READY ROOM

    "Captain's Log, Stardate 082400.00. My daughter is missing. My precious angel Stephanie has disappeared into thin air and I cannot spare the time to look for her. My first duty is to the ship and the crew, as both will cease to exist if the planet of Aurora-12 continues to drain energy from the warp core. A fatal core explosion is imminent and will take place in five hours unless we find a way to disengage the mysterious tractor beam."

    McMahon washed down his bitter loss with a glass of water and continued.

    "Ensign Chyna in Security has been given the solemn task of locating Stephanie and apprehending the piece of human garbage who stabbed Matt and Jeff Hardy. All other personnel are dedicated to freeing the Titanprize from Aurora-12's death grip. I am very concerned about Lt. Commander Jericho, who seems to have his priorities dangerously screwed up."

    Vince pondered the robot's bizarre, emotionally charged behavior. He knew his little girl and Ensign Matt Hardy had combined their respective sklls and constructed a new set of feelings for the Y2J Unit. But McMahon wasn't a fool. There was no way this side of Jupiter that their homemade emotion chip could possibly match the original model for complexity and quality.

    "Lt Commander Chris Jericho, my best engineer, doesn't seem to give a damn about saving the warp core. In fact, he seems downright obsessed with with one mission and one mission only."

    McMahon paused.

    "Finding Stephanie."

THE SMACKDOWN

    "It's true, it's true." Angle nodded at Hunter as they sulked over two mugs of synthehol at the bar.

    "It is true." Helmsley agreed. "Divorce was the best damn thing that ever happened to me. If Steph wants to go off and play the spin the bottle with her android lover or that rainbow freak, she's more than welcome to do it!"

    "It turns out that in a weak moment where I lacked integrity, I may have spread an untruth." Kurt said hesitantly. "As it happens, the virtuous Stephanie didn't steal Jeff Hardy's innocence like a thief in the night. My apologies."

    Hunter thought about punching the Olympic idiot in the nose, but shrugged the urge off. He'd need something to keep him amused later. "Hey, doesn't matter if it's Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy, a jerk like you, or Chris Jericho. Once a slut, always a slut. I'm just glad I washed my hands of the dirty who-"

    "Please Ensign." Kurt flushed. "Mind your integrity!"

    "Excuse me Jerky One and Jerky Two." Jericho tapped them both on the shoulder. Chyna had already bawled him out for improperly questioning the Hardyz, but his fierce android persistence wouldn't allow him to quit. "A minute of your time?"

    "You just took it." Hunter didn't turn around. "Now buzz off, creep."

    Angle wrinkled up his perfect Olympic nose. "How awful. You may be capable of intelligence and intensity, but as a machine you have no capability for integrity."

    "How's about I add a fourth I to your list Kirk?" Jericho's teeth were bared in a predatory scowl. "As in I am going to shove my boot so far up your Olympic ass you'll be able to tell me what flavor my shoe polish is?"

    "You had a question, sir?" Kurt asked politely. Helmsley sighed loudly.

    "Matt and Jeff Hardy were both run through with Aerialian daggers in Engineering ten hours ago." Chris reported blandly. "Both were attacked from behind and neither saw the stabber. The intent of the criminal was clear - he wanted both young men to die."

    "Too bad." Hunter shrugged his broad shoulders. "Cry me a river."

    "Let me know if they croak." Angle said cheerfully. "I'll send flowers."

    "They'll live." Jericho said coldly. "Where were you ten hours ago, Ensign Angel? I mean, besides with your nose stitched to Trip's behind?"

    "Guess if I had my nose there, I have an alibi." Kurt pointed out.

    So Angle was a bit of a smart mouth, eh? "How about you Trip?"

    "It just so happens I was at the helm of the Titanprize, scumbag." Helmsley drained his beer. "Now can a man enjoy his beer in peace, or do I need to go find my sledgehammer?"

    "Stephanie is missing." The look of shock on both their ugly faces was too genuine. Neither of these losers had the first clue about where Princess was stashed. Too bad really. He was looking forward to breaking their kneecaps in a spirited effort to learn the truth. "Lieutenants Bradshaw and Farooq have determined that she was kidnapped shortly after the Hardyz were assaulted."

    "Kidnapped?" Hunter exploded off his stool, landing nose to nose with the Y2J Unit. Chris didn't bat a single synthetic eyelash. "My wife was stolen by some maniac and I gotta wait ten hours for a jack-ass like you to tell me? When I get my hands on the son of a bitch who took her, he will pray to god he was never born!"

    "Ex-wife." Jericho said sweetly.

    "No thanks to you!" Helmsley was about to raise his fist when Chyna intervened, restraining his muscular arm with a firm hand. "Just let me have one punch, Chyna! Let me bash that arrogant titanium smirk in!"

    "Not today." Chyna shook her head. "What the hell are you doing, Chris? I asked you to back off! This is an official investigation, not your own personal quest for justice. I know you can be logical, Chris, and the logical thing for you to do right now is apply your talents in Engineering and step out of my way. Let me find her."

    Jericho took a deep breath as he absorbed her words like stinging slaps to the face. Oh yes, he could indeed be logical. He was running on nothing but pure logic right now. This need, this desire to find Princess didn't gel with the worthless emotion chip lying dead underneath his fingernail. Maybe a minor subroutine in his positronic net was damaged and a diagnostic was required. Maybe he was getting so good at pretending he had feelings that he was simply getting carried away....

    Chyna steered him away from Hunter and Kurt's prying eyes. "I understand, Chris. You're worried sick about her. No matter how much you try and scam me, I know you care for Stephanie in ways that you're not exactly comfortable with. But if the ship is dead cause the legendary Jericho wasn't there to save it, what does Steph's fate matter then?"

    Jericho's expression faded to neutral. "Message received, loud and clear. I won't stand in your way. I apologize for violating protocol."

    Chyna smiled. Funny... Chris usually denied caring about Stephanie...

ENSIGN HELMSLEY'S AND ANGLE'S QUARTERS

    "It's true, it's true." Angle said solemnly.

    "What's true, dude?" Christian made a beeline for the mirror. "We totally didn't say anything."

    "Uhhhhh..." Angle thought for a moment as the doors sealed shut behind them. "Was I talking out loud again?"

    "Unfortunately." Edge replied. "But we'll invite you to partake in some totally chairalicious action with us anyways. We haven't properly introduced Matt Hardy's head to Mr. Steel Chair yet."

    "Oh my." Kurt was at the replicator, ordering up a nice, healthy, pure glass of milk. Pure like the virtuous Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley. He had to hide a smirk. "Haven't you heard? Matthew and Jeffrey were stabbed in Engineering several hours ago. I'm afraid we'll have to perform the inevitable beatdown later."

    "What?" Christian spluttered, adjusting his over-sized turquoise sunglasses so the light caught them just right, giving him the aura of a cool and untouchable rock star.  "Why... that's like, that's so totally like, that is TOTALLY LACKING COOLNESS! I don't know whether to call it heinosity or sucktitude!"

    "Little buddy." Edge scowled. "When someone robs us of the chance to put a dent in the Hardyz heads, it is what we in the business call a totally heinous swerve!"

    "SO not swervealicious." Christian shook his head.

    "Kurt!" Edge gasped, his eyes drawn to the medals around the Olympian's neck like they were magnets. "I...I am like so totally inspired right now! This is like an epiphany! I am feeling totally epiphanous right now!"

    "Have my three I's finally changed your life?" Kurt asked hopefully.

    "You can shove your three I's!" Edge declared, pulling one of the golden discs away from Angle's neck. He slipped it around his own. "It is a miracle of cosmetic divinity! The glow of this gold magnifies the fair luster of my hair to the millionth degree!. Gold medals rule!"

    "Whoa!" Christian murmured as he high-fived his brother. "Have you like discovered religiosity or something?"

    "I'm my own religiosity little buddy." Edge seemed captivated by the image staring back at him in the mirror. "If only I could step outside myself and worship my own totally awesome beauty!"

    "As much I would like to engage in further frivolities, I must be on my way." Kurt told them. "It's obviously up to your Olympic ensign to rescue the fair maiden Stephanie."

    "With all due respect, Ensign Angle." Christian said scornfully. "You couldn't find your way out of a wet paper bag."

    "Yes, but I could find myself an Olympic Lieutenant if I manage to shag the Captain's little girl." Angle said bluntly, letting the smirk free at last. "And what that plan lacks in integrity, it more than makes up for with intelligence."

    "Whoa!" Edge gazed at him admiringly. "Cheapening oneself with loveless intimacy to get a promotion totally rules!"

    "Totally." Angle smiled and nodded.

    "Dude, it's my job to smile and nod after something clever is said." Christian scolded him.

    "Come on Christian." Edge said. "It's time to pursue our glamorous movie careers and once again become the adoring object of people's flash photography. We're trying out for the Dudleyz new film, We Got Wood."

    "Ummm now might be a good time to employ my third I, intelligence." Kurt frowned at them. "I don't think that's a real movie. I think it's just an excuse for Buh Buh to powerbomb you through a table and laugh about it."

    "You see that, Christian?" Edge sighed. "You get just one glorious moment of fame and all the little people become jealous and catty. Well meow to you too, Ensign Angle!"

    Kurt rolled his eyes as the doors swooshed closed behind the Cocky Kanatians. He might've already hung them up by their toenails had they not proven to be so useful in distracting those pathetic Hardy boy scouts. Matt and Jeff, in their misguided loyalty towards precious Stephie, could endanger his plans to snuggle up to the influential commander....

    "Hey!" Kurt gasped and writhed as his medals were yanked tight against his overly suntanned neck, his throat straining to suck in air as the noose crushed his windpipe. "My....god......have....you....no.....integrity?"

    His Olympic knees buckled and the edges of reality were shadowed in darkness. Was that a white light, or merely his gold reflecting back at him?

    "Russo!" Helmsley wasn't surprised. As a rebel, he'd seen too damn much evil rise from the dead to bat an eyelash at the Nytron slime's appearance. Someone with as black a heart as Vince couldn't be held by a meager forcefield. "You scumbag! Where's my wife?"

    His fingers flexed as they reached for his prized sledgehammer. His body jerked backwards, every muscle, every nerve ripped with pain as the fire from a Resian disruptor coursed through his rugged frame. Paralysis was too merciful to hope for as the weapon he'd given to Stephanie so long ago ate his senses alive....

    "Don't worry Hunter." Russo laughed, spit on Helmsley. "What a joke - Hunter," His lips curled back in a sneer. "A man half your size has you writhing in agony... you're not the predator, you're the damn prey!"

    Hunter groaned. He didn't care about the humiliation or the way his muscles seized against the scorching hot radiation. He only cared that this murderous psycho had Stephanie....

    "Relax loser." Russo smiled, holstered the powerful weapon. "You'll live, just like Kurt, just like Matt and Jeff. And once you've all recovered, you can play a little game, Game! You can have a scavenger hunt and bet on who can find the most pieces of your beautiful wife scattered throughout the Titanprize."

    It was so amusing, seeing this helpless man's eyes snap with impotent rage.

    "That is, if there's anything left of her when I'm done...."

JEFFRIES TUBES 56AC

    Another horrible crawlspace, another stifling pocket of the ship that could become her tomb.

    Stephanie didn't remember coming here, but then reality flooded back to her with less and less clarity now. The delicate skin of her throat felt like hot, dry desert sand that needed an ocean of liquid to wash it away. Cold, sickly, feverish sweat dripped down her face, clouded her already blurring eyes. Her blood sugar had plunged so low that the world around her seemed to tremble instead of her own weakening body.

    It was then that she heard Bishoff slithering through the ductwork, and it was the first time that a devil had ever looked like an angel before.

    "I'm sorry it took so long." He was always apologetic, always sorry. "Here." He loosened her bonds just enough so her shaky hands could grip the glass of water. It was lukewarm but tasted like a Greenwich spring to her parched throat. "I didn't want Culinary Officer Rikishi to catch me in the kitchen and back that ass up on me."

    Stephanie managed a small smile. "I don't blame you. Do you have... food?"

    Eric offered her some Aerialian chocolate and Kanatian candies. "These will keep your sugar up, but they're not too healthy."

    "I don't care." Stephanie didn't care about talking with her mouth full either. If only Etiquette Officer Richards could see her know... she'd give him something to censor! "Look Eric, I've been good. I didn't scream or try to escape while you were off scraping up some nourishment for me. I think you should take me to Matt and Jeff now."

    Bishoff frowned. "No Stephanie. It's more dangerous than ever. Russo has attacked Kurt Angle and Hunter as well. He's trying to massacre everyone who could protect you."

    "Oh god." Stephanie whispered, closing her eyes. "Hunter...."

    "Hunter will survive his disruptor blast." Eric said, giving her an odd look. "As Angle will survive being brutally choked with his own gold medals."

    Stephanie snickered cruelly.

    "I don't see how this is amusing." Bishoff was disappointed in this one...but of course the poor thing could have no earthly idea of what Russo wanted to do to her...with her...after all, Stephanie was human and most normal humans didn't have fantasies like the Nytron tyrant did....."Don't you see?" he asked earnestly. "First he cuts up your prized Aerialians and then he brutalizes your husband and your... friend. He's trying to lure you to Sickbay by wounding the ones you love."

    The sweet chocolate went sour in her mouth. Bishoff was right. Russo knew she had a weakness for all those men. God...what would he do to Jericho?

    "I can't hide here forever. Once the ship is secure and out of danger from Aurora-12, these tubes will be flooded with security looking for me."

    "I will stop Russo long before that."

    She shivered and trusted completely in that vow.

SICKBAY

    "What the hell are you staring at, boy?" Hunter didn't need the attitude, not now, not ever. Especially not while his pain receptors were still so angry about the disruptor blast he'd received from Vince Russo. The fire in his muscles had dulled to a slow, steady burn that somehow couldn't melt the cold ball of fear in his stomach.

    Where was Russo holding his wife? Was she hurting right now?

    Ex-wife. He had to keep reminding himself of that. The marriage was over, though he couldn't bring himself to take a share of the blame.

    Hunter, though, could blame that sneaky little creep Jeff Hardy. He could also take a lazer scalpel to the freak's beady eyes if he didn't wise up and point them in some other direction. "You got a problem?"

    "Uhhh yeah, actually I do. Could you move your nose to the right a little? It's blocking my view of that whole entire wall."

    "You little bastard!" Hunter would've shot across the room like a rocket had he not seen Kane's black-gloved hand twitch on the trigger of his phaser. It probably wasn't the slickest idea in the universe to draw Farooq and Bradshaw away from their card table and half-finished beers either. "You just keep pushing me, Hardy, just keep pushing me, cause dammit, I would be all too happy to push you back!"

    "I'm shaking."

    Lita and Shane looked up from the tactical padds they were going over together. Well, Jeff had pushed his luck, going without a severe beating from a fellow crewmember for more than 24 hours. He was about due.

    "You better shake like a damn leaf." Hunter smiled coldly. "You're gonna pay in spades for taking my wife to bed. I'll make getting your throat cut look like a damn pleasure cruise!"

    "Ensign Helmsley, show a little integrity please." Kurt sighed, which was difficult considering his badly bruised neck. "I told you that Jeff and Stephanie never-"

    Hunter silenced the Olympian with a murderous glare. Of course he knew Stephanie wouldn't touch the little puke with a ten foot pole, but he didn't know what else to do with the fear and anxiety twisting his gut, the regrets and remorse that nagged at his brain. He let it all fuel his rage, a rage he would've been happy to unleash on the rainbow-haired Aerialian scum smirking on the other side of Sickbay.

    "It's alright, Kurt." Jeff assured him. "What can I say, Hunter? There were just some things that Stephanie could get out of my flexible Aerialian body that you couldn't offer. Don't be upset - doesn't make you any less of a man."

    "Son of a bi-" Ensign Hardy snickered as Commander Kane and Dr. Taker restrained a red-faced Hunter.

    Lita's mouth fell open. Did Jeff actually think it was humorous to joke about going to bed with Stephanie? Did he honestly believe it was sensitive and in good taste to do it in front of her?

    "Stop it Jeff!" Matt hissed. Lord, why did his brother always have to start something he couldn't finish? He didn't need this right now, not when he still couldn't hobble out of his bio-bed without crutches and a strong hypospray. "If he had gotten loose, he would've killed you on the spot. You can't handle someone like Hunter."

"I wonder how hard you'd be laughing if I got a piece of your woman?" Hunter sneered at him. "How about that Jeff? How about I drag Lita into the Jeffries Tubes one night and have my way with her? She's probably ready for a real man right now anyways."

    "You're dead." Now it was Hunter having a chuckle while Chyna held Ensign Hardy back.

    "There you go, Angle." Hunter elbowed his roommate. "You can mentor Jeff Hardy, King of the Thirty Year Old Virgins In Training."

    "Don't know if I happened to tell you boys this." Bradshaw calmly removed a cigar from his mouth. "But there's enough cold boot leather here for each one of your asses. Just a little something for you all to think about."

    Dr. Taker welcomed the uneasy silence that followed. Chyna had set a nice for trap for Russo, but it sure as hell wouldn't work if all these damn human emotions were boiling so close to the surface. Wasn't worth it to use these officers as bait if they killed each other off....

    "You better be right, Chyna." Shane's icy voice cut through the silence. "My sister better turn up alive."

    "She will." The Ninth Wonder of the Universe's intuition had been sharpened by years of Degenerate rebel training. Steph was alive, frightened and terrified, but very much alive. If Russo had the poor girl in his clutches, he'd be forcing the ship to listen to her screams by now. "I'd stake my career on it, Commander. Better yet, my life."

    Taker knew that was a safe bet. When he'd been called to Engineering by a scared sick Ensign Crash and seen the rivers of Aerialian blood flowing, he'd been ready to call the time of death and prepare two caskets. Stephanie didn't have the stomach for carnage he did, couldn't turn her heart on and off like the dead man was capable of doing. Seeing  two men she loved like brothers violently slashed had traumatized her enough to force her into some godforsaken hiding place.

    The dark doctor knew in his gut that Stephanie would be drawn here, that she somehow knew all the people she loved were in Sickbay. She cared too much to turn away. Stephanie would come for Matt and Jeff and Hunter and Shane and Lita... maybe Kurt.

    Russo would follow. And Russo would find out why most feared the immortal Dr. Taker more than hell itself....

    Kane narrowed his eyes at his brother, felt his stomach turn. So the good doctor was setting a clever and elaborate trap for the maniacal and murderous Russo! How utterly mericful! A disease like Russo had to be eradicated entirely, wiped from the face of existence....

    Perhaps the invincible dead man didn't understand evil as well as he thought.

    Kane understood all too well about the demons and monsters that stirred inside a man. Watching his brother calmly allow the devil incarnate to stalk the ship and an innocent girl was awakening the monster that slept in his mind.....

ENGINEERING

    "Report, Ensign Guerrero." Jericho was tired, oh so tired and overrun by fatigue. Sixty minutes were all that stood between the Titanprize and oblivion, and all he could do was stare and push buttons as the warp core flared and flickered in the grip of the Aurorian tractor beam.

    Of course, techinally he couldn't be worn out. Androids didn't sleep or rest. Technically, he couldn't be experiencing emotional fatigue, but he was genuinely drained thanks to worrying about Princess and the attack on the ship. His positronic net was rigged to handle thousands of complex calculations all at once, but Stephanie's fate kept tracking through his circuits like a feedback loop.

    Technically... hell technically didn't matter anymore. He had to face that. The emotion chip under his fingernail was far more dead than even Dr. Taker and yet he was obsessed with it, obsessed with his own very human reactions to things that shouldn't affect him at all.

    "....show you this slide, sir." Latino Heat held a bio-slide on the tips of his fingers. "I think you'll find it fascinating."

    "Explain."

    "The tractor beam is composed of organic life forms." Eddie told him. "You might say it's alive."

    "Alive?" Jericho frowned. "You're saying it's an energy-based alien life form?"

    "Exactly." Guerrero nodded. "Ultrasonic scans by Lt Benoit show that the beam's point of origin is in the core of Aurora-12. There's an enormous amount of similar energy there and from it's shape and size, I'd have to say it's one large radioactive creature."

    "Hold on." Jericho paused. "What you're saying is that Aurora-12 is the alien, and it's ticked off with us?"

    "I don't know about ticked off." Eddie smiled. "I'd say it's feeding itself and our warp core is the main course. Other scans of the planet's surface indicate the wreckage of several craft, which means this has happened before and no one's survived."

    "Intriguing." Chris murmurmed. "An alien composed of radiation and mysterious energy buried inside a rocky planet that feeds on plasma and matter. It obviously has holographic capabilities, since it lured us in. It also has incredible gravitational pull since the Titanprize can't break away."

    "Benoit's tests indicate that Aurora-12 needs to process plasma to stay alive." Eddie went on. "The more it drains from our engines, the more powerful and poisonous the radiation beneath the surface. Lt Rock is not able to communicate with the creature, and he's guessing its too highly evolved for us to comprehend."

    "Yeah well, Rocky is about as evolved as an amoeba." Jericho muttered. "But he's probably right."

    "I'd say Aurora-12 is clearly hostile." Guerrero hesitated for a split second, but then decided the fate of the Titanprize had to come before his own anxiety. Making recommendations to an officer as superior as Jericho could be very intimidating. "It uses illusions and deceit to draw us into orbit. It traps us and then absorbs our energy without hailing us or offering anything in return. It shows no concern for our safety. Several other ships have already been destroyed, indicating that Aurora-12 values no life but its own."

    "Agreed." Jericho nodded. "It's us or them. We've got fifty-three minutes and counting to make sure this alien never eats another starship alive."

JEFFRIES TUBE 66M

    "I thought I could trust you!"

    Stephanie whimpered as she felt the cold of the metal hatch bite into her back. She had forgotten that Eric was a Houdinian and could move with a speed and agility that would make lightning envious.

    She'd been so close too, so close to being free of all this madness. The Jeffries Tubes were choking the life out of her, shrinking with each passing second, filling her with an almost feverish claustrophobia that Counselor Snow would never be able to cure.....

    "I can't take it anymore." Stephanie hoped the tears sparkling in her eyes would soften the panic glowing in his. "If I don't see that Jeff and Matt and Hunter are alive, I'll go crazy! What if something's happened to Shane or Daddy or Lita?" She blinked. "Oh and Kurt of course."

    "Russo won't kill them." Bishoff seemed saddened by her inability to comprehend a madman's sickness. "He wants them to suffer through your torture. He wants an audience for it. And he needs them as bait, so you'll walk into his trap. That's what you're doing you know - giving yourself to him, committing suicide."

    Stephanie gazed at the hatch behind her. Just a few inches of thick steel between her and her friends.....but she could hear them. There was a faint "it's true, it's true" and a not so faint "Jeff you're an idiot", which meant he had lived to annoy another day. She took a deep breath.

    "At least let me go assist Jericho. If my calculations are correct, the ship will be exploding in twenty-four minutes."

    Eric was hesitating. She could see it in the blood red light that streamed through the tubes, alarms to notify the crew that death was close at hand. "Russo will go after Lt Commander Jericho last. I cannot allow you to be there when it happens!"

    "If we're all dead, your worries about Russo are irrelevant!" Stephanie said impatiently. "Look, Chrissie is one heck of an officer, but even a well-designed android can't save a ship alone. He needs me to-- Eric?"

    Time and space had frozen where he stood. Bishoff was like a statue, the only life showing in the crazy terror shining behind his eyes. "No...."

    "Pretty, pretty princess." Russo cooed. He gently carressed her soft white throat with the crimson tip of an Aerialian dagger. "I can't wait to hear you scream for me. I promise, I'll be so good to you before I kill you."

    Stephanie dared not swallow, lest the razor sharp blade slash her skin. Woozy, she wondered if it was Jeff's blood or Matt's blood on the knife.

    "Come on, Russo!" Bishoff's fear slowly gave way to rage. No more, no more of this...this trying to build himself into a puppetmaster and tyrant by crushing the smaller and weaker. No more trying to wash away his own inferiority with the blood of the innocent. No, Russo would not be allowed to play his hideous game anymore. "Be a man! For once in your pathetic life, be a man! Do you think you'll prove how high and mighty you are by slaughtering a scared little girl? All it proves is that you're too damn afraid of Vince McMahon to attack him face to face!"

    "Oh Eric cares about you." Stephanie had to swallow the bile in her throat as Russo whispered in her ear. "Wait til you see how much I care about you, sweetheart."

    "Eric never hurt me."

    "You're protecting her?" Russo laughed wildly. "You moron! Do you think McMahon is gonna give you freedom and a pat on the back for this?"

    "I'll never be free." Bishoff said grimly. "Not as long as you're alive. Come on Russo, let that poor girl go and let's finish this. If I gotta die to end the nightmares then I'll damn well do it. But killing her won't get to McMahon, won't get to all those people who love her. It'll just make them hungry, hungry for you to suffer a thousand times worse than you make her suffer now."

    "Screw you, Bishoff!"

    Stephanie screamed as the knife twitched and slipped inside her, the blade crushing her nerve cells until they exploded with pain. She couldn't see anything but the blinding pain. .....

    "Run Stephanie!"

    Run? A bright blue light streamed over her head, singing her hair. My phaser! Eric had her phaser and was firing it at Russo. Russo was yelling in agony.

    "Run!"

    Eric sounded hysterical so she slithered faster, each inch dragging the spasms of pain out longer and longer. The tunnel surely went on forever, plunging deeper and deeper into darkness as time slowed more and more....

    And then there was a bright light.....

ENGINEERING

    "Chris!"

    "Steph! My god...."

    She fell into his waiting, open arms beneath the Jeffries Tube hatch. "I-I'm alright. Just tell me how you're going to save the warp core."

    "You're bleeding!" Her uniform was smeared with the thick streaks of scarlet fluid and dirt. "Did Russo cut you?"

    There was an edge to his voice. Stephanie decided not to mention the way Russo had experly slashed at the base of her spine, causing the maximum amount of pain to blossom through her veins. "It's Matt and Jeff's blood mostly. How can I help?"

    "Steph...."

    "Dammit Chris! The Titanprize is about to be vaporized! Stop screwing around give me answers! That's an order!"

    "Aye sir." Funny....she didn't seem so commanding with her body limp in his arms and her head buried against the soft warm fabric of his uniform. She was shaking, biting down on her lip so hard it bled freely. Princess was in physical agony and not even shedding a tear.

    He was impressed. "Aurora-12 is alive, Commander. It's feeding off the plasma and matter in our warp core. It suckered us into orbit by projecting a sophisticated holographic image onto our sensors, making us believe we'd found a planet similar to ones back in Federation space. The alien is possibly empathic and definitely superintelligent. It is hostile and will kill us if we allow it to drain our engines anymore."

    "I see." She pulled away, making him feel curiously empty.

    "Warning. Fifteen minutes to massive warp core failure. All crew must evacuate. Warning. Fifteen minutes to-"

    The computer's sugar-coated monotone blandly warned them of their impending doom.

    "Options?" Stephanie demanded.

    "Only one, sir." Jericho replied. "We send a concentrated stream of anti-matter into the tractor beam. It will mix with the matter and plasma to render the beam highly unstable. There will be a fatal explosion of incredible proportions once the anti-matter reaches the core of the planet."

    "That will destroy the entire world." Stephanie frowned. Typically Wrestlefleet tried to avoid such bloody solutions.

    "There's no other way." Chris said quietly. He'd been programmed to believe the same.

    "I'm preparing to fire anti-matter through the missile bays." Guerrero reported. "It will strike the deflector dish and target the tractor beam. Once the planet absorbs enough, it will detonate. Ensign Christian is standing by at the helm to launch the Titanprize into warp once the fatal chain reaction begins."

    Stephanie nodded. "Fire at will, Ensign."

    "You wench!" Stephanie screamed bloody murder even before she saw Russo drag himself into Engineering, the chest of his prisoner's jumpsuit singed with black ash from Eric's phaser fire. His face was white, eyes bulging with bloodlust and insanity as he raised a Resian disruptor set to kill and pointed it's fiery tip at her own rapidly beating heart. "Why did you make him do that? You're like, like some sort of evil witch with this black magic and you've got all these stupid fools falling at your feet, falling under your wicked spell!"

    Stephanie gulped. Russo must've killed Bishoff and stalked her through the Jeffries Tubes. She'd been possessed by such mind-numbing agony it hadn't even occured to her that the sicko could escape....

    "I can't take it anymore sweet, sweet Stephanie." Russo was sweating out his madness. "The curse ends tonight. It has to."

    Fantastic. He'd spent his time in the brig developing a bizarre obsession for the Captain's daughter. No wonder Eric had been so bent on shielding her from this man.....she owed Bishoff the one thing he'd asked for: never to reveal his existence to anyone.

    "Dear god." Jericho stepped in front of Stephanie and stood face to face with a man so far over the edge there was no pulling him back. "You won't take her, Russo. I'll see you in hell first."

    "Hell?" He laughed until tears ran down his face. "Hell is knowing McMahon beat me at my own game, turned my people against me, made them hate me! Hell is knowing I could destroy him by killing his slut daughter and never being able to get my hands around her beautiful throat..."

    "Put the disruptor down before someone is forced to kill you, Russo." Chris spoke rationally. His cool android logic was the only thing preventing him from shattering protocol and tearing Russo into a million little pieces. "Cause trust me, Vinnie Mac would love to shoot your worthless corpse into outer space to drift for eternity. Wouldn't want McMahon to get his own way again, would you?"

    "Don't try and play head games with me, robot!" Russo snarled. "You're just a piece of metallic crap who's got no idea what's twisting in my brain right now! Oh but it will come across loud and clear when you watch me enjoy your precious little princess!"

    "Well, well, well, ain't monkey crap just turning up in the funniest places." Lt Rock had a plasma rifle ready to discharge white hot energy into Russo's prison-starved body. "When I say Know Your Role, jabroni, it's a matter of life and death. Don't make me bring it!"

    Stephanie almost sobbed with relief. She'd never enjoyed Rocky's catchphrases until this one blissful moment. Heck, she'd probably never enjoy them again, but for now.....

    Russo heard several more clicks; they roared in his ears, louder than the screeching red alert or the erratic pulse of the tortured warp core. Those damn Hardyz, that Olympic twit, and the Game lined the Engineering promenade above him, plasma rifles sighted on his heart. Most fearsome of all was Bradshaw and Farooq, who'd stepped off the turbolift wielding lead pipes and baseball bats, cigars dangling casually from their mouth like delivering  a good old-fashioned ass-kicking was just as natural as getting out of bed in the morning.

    No. He wouldn't let it all end in misery and defeat again. He wouldn't let McMahon's people rip away his pride again!

    "Get your dirty panties down!" Rock speared Stephanie to the ground as blistering disruptor fire spread havoc through Jericho's positronic net, his no-selling titanium shielding Commander McMahon-Helmsley from the lethal radiation.

    "Ummm...thanks I guess." Stephanie groaned and pulled herself off of Rock's 500 credit uniform. Maybe she hadn't sold that spear properly, or perhaps like the rest of Lt Rock's fighting techniques, it simply didn't hurt. At any rate, she was able to sit up easily and without agony now. "Oh god, Jericho!"

    "He's alright." Matt was already kneeling beside the android, plasma rifle left abandoned on the floor. "His positronic net just needs a few minute to absorb the energy before it dissipates. They don't call it no-selling  titanium for nothing Steph."

    She sighed with relief.  Stephanie sure didn't need to worry about Russo anymore.

    "Brutal huh?" Jeff nodded at the action in front of them. "I guess that's how Bradshaw and Farooq recruit their personal bitches now."

    "I guess." She was just so happy to be in her Engineering, with her crew, her friends, that she forgot to remind her beloved Ensign Hardy that he was, indeed, an idiot.

THE BRIDGE

    "Congratulations Lt Commander Rock." Stephanie smiled through gritted teeth as she pinned the gleaming gold star to his spiffy new 600 credit uniform. She couldn't hold it in dammit! "You freaking, flaming, glory-hogging phony!"

    No one heard of course. With Etiquette Officer Richards frowning sternly over the proceedings, she decided to deliver that personal message in a whisper. Steven didn't scare her, but she sure didn't need the irritation.

    "Pardon me you dirty piece of Greenwich streetwalking trash." Rock raised an eyebrow and punctuated the taunting gesture with a smirk. "Do you like whispering in the Great One's ear?"

    Stephanie cleared her throat. "Acting on behalf of Captain McMahon, I officially promote Lieutenant Rock to the rank of Lieutenant Commander, as is fitting an officer of his courage, sacrifice, and honor. Now pardon me while I go throw up."

    There was polite applause and mindless chanting for the new Lt Commander as Stephanie leaned against the Engineering console and sighed. It made her so depressed, having to give the Rock another push, but Daddy was busy "interrogating" Russo. "Jericho saved my life, not that lazy, two-bit, catchphrase-spitting wimp."

    "Cheer up Steph." Jeff couldn't take his eyes off tactical, where Lita was chatting pleasantly with First Officer Weasel Boy, no doubt just to punish him. Sure, he'd made a few tasteless jokes about sleeping with Stephanie, but they were only jokes for pete's sake. Okay, maybe he'd been slightly out of line taunting Hunter with an affair that had never happened, but being a smart-ass was in Jeff's blood! Lita was supposed to love him faults and all!

    "Cheer up?" Stephanie muttered. "Right, well, I shouldn't be shocked now should I? Lt Rock has always polished his own career by leeching off other people's hard work. Someone else takes care of the technical little details and then he swoops in and steals their thunder. God I hate him!"

    "Don't fight it Steph. No one can truly hate the Rock."

    "Oh yeah?" Stephanie raised an eyebrow of her own. "Hey have you ever thought of legally changing your name to Idiot?"

    "Hey," Jeff grinned. "You ever thought of legally changing your name to Mrs. Jericho?"

    "A shame that Aerialian dagger missed your vocal cords by a mere inch." Stephanie commented.

    Jeff just smiled.

    "Why if it isn't my good friend, Stephanie." Kurt was beaming at her, his dorky little smirk as bright as his gold. "Shall we celebrate Lt Rock's good fortune in the Smackdown?"

    "Excellent choice, Kurt." Jeff told him. "I hear it's no cover charge for virgins tonight."

    Angle frowned. "Please Stephanie. We should get you away from this crude element."

    "Oh yes you definitely should." Stephanie gave Ensign Hardy a haughty look as she marched off on Kurt's arm.

    Jeff just rolled his eyes and wondered how long it would be before he and Matt had to rescue their painfully naive commander from the clutches of the All-American Creep.....