SEASON EIGHT

EPISODE 2: DESTINY
PART ONE

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 080300.00. Morale Officer Foley has his work cut out for him. I have a migraine."

    Captain McMahon felt like there was a jackhammer trapped inside his skull. The crew was supposed to make this whole tragedy easier, but instead they were tempting him to initiate the self-destruct sequence.

    "Counselor Snow tells me that friendship counseling for the Hardy brothers and Edge and Christian is a complete failure. I can't believe we're lost in space and those four nitwits are running around this ship engaged in a juvenile war of mischief-making! Worse yet, Officer Foley keeps egging them on!"

    "Speaking of wars, Lt Commander Jericho and my darling daughter Stephie have once again turned Engineering into a bloody battle zone! I know he needs that emotion chip, but we can't afford to lose anymore valuable equipment because of their inability to control their anger!"

    Vince cursed under his breath. He needed them to work well together to send the Titanprize home. To work well together, they needed to verbally and emotionally abuse each other. Unfortunately, this abuse often took the form of throwing expensive and scarce diagnostic tools at each other and busting complex Engineering computers that took hours to repair.

    "They have to stay focused. The key to taking the crew back to Federation space is within my grasp, has been all this time. I will use Russo's evil to do good, and Jericho and Stephanie will help me."

    "Hey you silly son of a bitch!" McMahon's comm badge chirped. "We got some damned starship in orbit around us-shields up, guns down! We're being hailed."

    "Thank you Austin." McMahon cut his Captain's Log short. So it began-their first adventure in the middle of nowhere, their baptism by fire. "I'm on my way."

DR. TAKER'S QUARTERS

    A cold, dark place. Endless night. Behind one shadow was another and so on and so forth. Hiding places  for invisible monsters and demons and tortured souls, a million of their voices swirling together into one point of ominous black light and sound.

    They were angry. Violently so.

    "The universe must be destroyed."

    Damn. Dr. Taker spat into the void that wasn't a void. He didn't need this tonight.

    "The universe must be destroyed. The timeline has been ruined."

    "Timeline?" Dr. Taker laughed. "Ain't no damn timeline been ruined! I cut people up. I don't mess with the past, present, or future."

    "They know." Dr. Piro was smiling, razor sharp teeth seeming to slash the darkness. "You invalidated the passcodes to Stephanie's device and allowed her to live. She was meant to die. You've broken the sacred rules."

    "Rules?" Vamp's presence chilled the dead man, who felt the beginnings of a cold sweat pooling at the back of his neck. "Boy, I should've ripped your punk ass heart out when I had the chance! Let's talk about rules! I looked into a father's eyes and saw a sacrifice I could not allow! I don't regret it."

    But these powers had no heart, no soul, just their chorus of haunting whispers. "You were allowed pass judgement on Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley once. You chose life for her. You are not permitted to judge her twice. The rules have been violated. The timeline has been ruined."

    "I got a few morals left." Dr. Taker said defiantly. "To hell with your timeline!"

    "We do not believe in morals. We believe in the fundamental rules of the time-space continuum. The timeline has been irreversibly damaged. The universe must be destroyed as punishment."

    "Couldn't you just leave well enough alone?" Stephanie emerged from the nothing that was, eyes bright with fury and helplessness. "Why did you save me? If my heart had been shattered by Dr. Piro, the pain would've been intense. But this...." She threw her arms up. "This is a living hell. Every waking moment, every dream I have, there's a clock ticking and swallowing up the fifteen years I have left! I can no longer give myself to the man I love because there's not enough time!"

    "The girl was meant to die. Russo was meant to kill her. The Titanprize should not be here."

    "Russo-"

    "Had Russo triggered the device in my heart, I would've been killed." Stephanie's face was streaked with tears. "Daddy would've lunged at him, precipitating a fatal battle ending with Russo's death due to a phaser blast to the chest." She smiled sadly. "Poetic justice. Justice you denied the crew by saving me."

    "The Titanprize should not be here." The powers seemed the most enraged by having the ship cross some sort of invisible boundary, some line in the sand. "You have sacrificed the many for the life of one. You must now face the consequences of your actions."

    No! Dr. Taker didn't remember flying out of bed, leaning against the cool glass of the window while this now forbidden space flowed by in stellar streaks of light. It had to be some damn trick of Dr. Piro's, some smoke and mirrors he'd used to twist the dead man's brain. Was he capable of such horrors?

    If it weren't some damn magic trick, the universe would convulse terribly in its death throes before it took of all of existence with it.

    I'll be damned if  it ends like that!

    Heck, he thought with a wicked grin. I'm damed enough as it is anyways!

ENSIGN EDGE AND CHRISTIAN'S QUARTERS

    "Dude, put that mirror away!" Edge hissed, elbowing his kid brother in the ribs. "You're totally beautified for this heinous, totally awesome prank!"

    "One of my eyelashes is crooked." Christian said critically, shifting his weight to the other foot. Kneeling down in front of their door, peering out a pencil thin crack in anticipation was sooo totally uncomfortable "Hey what did Lt Bradshaw mean when he offered to sew one of his boots to our ass to shorten the trip?"

    "Well I believe Lt Bradshaw was merely trying to make his beatdown more efficient." Edge explained. "Or else he was being a dork."

    "Totally." Christian nodded. "Chair?"

    "Check." Edge smiled, momentarily blinding his brother with a flash of vivid white. The chair was blue, metal, and blood-stained, a relic from the Titanprize museum and a throwback to Officer Foley's fighting days. Thieving it from under its glass case had been totally cool. "Make-up kit?"

    "Check." Christian unzipped the small leather case and showed Edge the goods. "Hardyz at 3 o'clock!"

    "Sucktitude!" Edge cursed. "It's only Jeffrey!"

    "Matt is so obviously off trying to get to second base with Commander McMahon-Helmsley." Christian said with disgust. "If only he were more attractive, he wouldn't need a righteous skank as a companion."

    "All I need is my mirror!" Edge just shook his head, the idea of dating outside his own reflection completely foreign to him. "Hey kicking Jeff Hardy's ass rules!" He high-fived Christian before sneaking into the corridor and denting the young Aerialian's bright red head with a full force chair shot. There was a crack like a gunshot and Jeff's body hit the ground with a decisive thump. "Whoa."

    "Dude." Christian frowned.

    "Do you think he's.....like.....dead or something?" Edge asked.

    "Well he's not going to his funeral looking like that." Christian whipped out a pair of shears and began attacking Ensign Hardy's wildly colored locks. He paused, looking solemn. "Brother, I don't know if I can go through with this act of singular heinosity! Good hair is like a religion with me. To ruin a single hair on someone's head, even a total square like Jeff Hardy...it's like blasphemy!"

    "Have you been reading the dictionary again, Christian?"

    "Boys, boys, boys!" Morale Officer Mick Foley was shaking his head in mock regret "I don't suppose Jeff accidentally ran his own head into that steel chair did he?"

    "I cannot tell a lie, dude." Christian said earnestly. "I think Ensign Hardy was trying to kill himself. The pressure of having to carry off those fugly skin-tight mesh shirts and cargo pants must've finally broken him. I am so totally traumatized!"

    "Really?" Foley raised an eyebrow. "You mighta had me fooled had you picked a better cover story Blondie! If anything would've provoked Jeff to commit suicide, it's those shoes. Hey-you guys cut his hair?"

    "Uhhhh...." Christian hid the shears behind his back. "Must have fallen out."

    "Doesn't look half bad." Foley started to laugh. "Hey you know those little exhibition matches I book to cheer up the crew?"

    "I sense we're about to scrape the bowels of sucktitude here brother." Edge sighed.

    "Dude I'm way too totally scarred about Jeff's unfortunate suicide to fight tonight." Christian insisted. "And what's this?" He sniffed. "I'm coming down with a cold."

    "No-what you're coming down with is a case of "Please, please Mr. Foley sir don't book me in a match where I become Bradshaw and Farooq's personal bitches!"

    "Come on!" Edge protested. "Can't you see how totally chair-a-licious this was?"

    "What?" Foley shook his head to clear it. "Look, instead of standing around inventing stupid words that I personally don't want to ever hear again, you should be busting your asses in the gym getting ready for your Hardcore Tag Team match vs Farooq and Bradshaw tonight. Move it!"

    Edge and Christian slouched down the corridor. Pranks that backfired soooo did not rule!

    "You alright, sport?"Jeff was staggering to his feet, his eyes crossing as the light caught them.

    "Uhhhh, Lita?"

    "Hey if you think I look as hot as Lita, there must be serious brain damage." Foley was grinning as he propped the young Hardy up. "Just don't try and kiss me on the way to Sickbay okay?"

THE BRIDGE

    "Report!"  McMahon swept onto the bridge, wondering if the taint of Russo would ever go away.

    "It's a Wrestlefleet vessel homie." Ensign 2 Hottie reported from tactical. "Galaxy class."

    "Wrestlefleet?" Vince stared a hole though the viewscreen. Obviously, the boy had danced all his brains away in the Smackdown. The sleek, silver starship gleaming against sparkling black space was like a basic, stripped down version of the Titanprize.

    "Hey, I ain't no phony, homie!" Ensign 2 Hottie said defensively. "It's a Galaxy Class model developed two hundred years ago on Planet Earth. All weapons, shields, and technology are current. They are not discouraging our scans."

    "Oh." McMahon didn't like it. The chances of another Wrestlefleet ship being flung this far into space were so slim they didn't exist. "Does the vessel belong in our time?"

    He prayed the answer was yes. The last time a temporal distortion had opened up near the Titanprize, he'd almost lost his daughter.

    "Aye sir." Ensign Chavo piped up from the Engineering station. "I am reading a quantum signature that matches our string of space-time."

    "Good work Chavo." McMahon nodded at him. Integrating Nytron rebels into the crew had been a calculated risk. Most of his officers were more than vocal in their opposition to consorting with traitors, but no one had a bad word to say about Chavo. Taking a phaser shot for Latino Heat had proven his blood loyalty to this ship and it's crew.

    "You want me to answer this roody-poo hail, jabroni?"

    "Please, Lieutentant Rock."

    "The Rock Says...." He pushed a few buttons. "Just Bring It!"

    Vince cleared his throat. "I am Captain Vincent Ken-"

    "Captain Vincent Kennedy McMahon, honorable and decorated Wrestlefleet hero extraordinaire! I know, I know!" Electric blue eyes snapped with amusement underneath longish golden bangs. Edge and Christian would've been jealous of the other captain's shampoo commercial-quality hair. "It's always the same with you." He mimicked Vince's theatrical tone. "This is Vincent Kennedy McMahon of the WWF TitanPrize-blah blah blah. How about giving me something new to work with?"

    McMahon was boiling. He didn't like mind games that he hadn't orchestrated.  "Have we met?"

    "Have we met?" The blue eyes cut him like lazers. "A thousand times, Captain McMahon! Only this time, you will listen to me!"

ENGINEERING

    "I can't!" Stephanie threw down her lazer scalpel in defeat. "I won't help you do this, Lt Commander Jericho.  I'm sorry."

    Chris sighed. It had been like this all day. "You will do it, sweetie. And better yet? You'll like it. We're under direct orders from Daddy dearest and protocol still stands, even in this godforsaken cosmic hellhole we've found ourselves in. Now suck it up sugar muffin and get cracking!"

    Stephanie glared across the lab table, dark eyes locking with frigid blue orbs. "How would you like a lazer scalpel between your eyes, slimebot?"

    "What's the matter princess?" Jericho asked, twisting a wire between his fingers so hard it snapped. Sometimes he forgot the extent of his own android strength. Yeah, that was it. "Am I keeping little Stephie from another hot date in the Holodeck with Matt Hardy?"

    "Oh boy!" Stephanie put her hands on her hips, the perfect picture of a petulant child on the verge of a tantrum. They had gotten loud and heads had turned, but who cared? Everyday in Engineering had turned into a spectator sport with her and Jericho as the combatants. "Does widdle Chrissie need his pathetic jealousy put to rest? If you must know, Matt is teaching me how to fight okay?"

    "Fight?" Chris roared with laughter. "Oh god Stephanie! What is Hardy teaching you? Advanced techniques in hair-pulling and eye-scratching?"

    "Yeah right you sexist pig!" Stephanie snapped. "Catfighting! Just cross me once and you'll find out!"

    "Oooh I'm shaking." Jericho rolled his eyes. "Get back to work alright. It's bad enough we've lost Ensign Hardy to a concussion; I don't need your prissy little attitude on top of that."

    "Prissy?" Stephanie challenged him. "It's prissy to NOT want to build a quantum explosive? After where the first one got us? Hello!"

    "Captain McMahon seems to think we can open another wormhole if we detonate a quantum explosive inside a black hole of appropriate mass." Chris shrugged. Logically, he could not agree. It was a far-fetched theory at best.

    "Daddy needs to speak to Counselor Snow then." Stephanie grumbled, reluctantly picking up her tri-corder. "Russo's little bomb creating the original wormhole was a million to one shot. The old man has finally gone senile if he thinks we can make the same exact accident happen twice."

    "He just wants to get us home, Steph." Jericho sighed and ran a hand through his long blonde hair. She seemed to find the gesture interesting. Curious. "We're better than Nytron scientists-maybe we can do it."

    "Right Chris." Oh well. Better to go out in a blaze of glory trying to reach earth than fall over dead from a heart attack in 15 years. It was more glamorous anyway. "Can't Benoit the mad scientist do it? He's good at blowing things up."

    "He's working on the energy converter for the explosive with Ensign Crash." Jericho assured her. He frowned. "And what did you mean by that?"

    "Nothing." Stephanie wouldn't meet his eyes. She hadn't told Chris about Benoit's failed attempt on her life and she never would. "Hand me a silicon wafer please."

    "Manners even?" Logic told him that her lack of eye contact and sudden change of subject were evasive.

    Stephanie was keeping secrets from him.

THE BRIDGE

    "What's your name?" Rock asked coldly. "And it does matter what your name is, jabroni!"

    "Last time I believed you referred to me as a candy-ass." The blonde man smiled as golden alarms flashed on the Titanprize bridge. "Yellow alert? How flattering! However, I pose no threat to you. In fact, I can open a gateway to Federation space at will."

    "Really?" McMahon highly doubted it. Blondie seemed more intent on yanking them around like a bunch of puppets on a string. He didn't want his crew used as toys to amuse this intergalactic jack-ass. "Thanks but no thanks. We're working on our own solutions, and I was taught never to take gifts from strangers."

    "Oh yes." The other captain had formed a pyramid with his hands, looking incredibly thoughtful. "Your silly little quantum explosive. I truly do applaud your desperate efforts and worthless endeavours, but I am offering your people a free ride home."

    "It will work" Vince gritted his teeth.

    "It NEVER works!" The man pounded a fist on his console. "How many times do I have to tell you-" He took a deep breath, steadied himself. "My apologies, Captain McMahon. Let me explain. My name is Dr. Sarin. I have access to time travel technology and have repeatedly come back to this moment in history to help you return you to Earth."

    "You're lying!" Captain McMahon spat him. "Wrestlefleet doesn't even have that sort of technology."

    "Wrestlefleet doesn't apply out here does it?" Sarin demanded. "Don't be a fool! Your people crossed a temporal distortion into a parallel universe, did they not? Is there any reason someone in a quadrant of space you didn't even know existed before now can't have temporal technology?"

    "Now wait just a damn minute." Bradshaw removed the cigar from his mouth and stabbed it out on the Security console. "Why did your scrawny punk ass come to rescue us? What's in it for you?"

    Sarin's smile was bleak. "Because if I don't send the Titanprize home within seven days, you will all be responsible for the destruction of the Universe."

ENGINEERING

    "I need a volunteer."

    "Geez Steph." Jericho shook his head. "Soliciting in the workplace? I mean, there's bottom-feeding and then there's scraping underneath the layer that is gutter trash."

    "Go eat a disruptor Chrissie." Stephanie shot back. "I need another Engineering officer to accompany me on an Away Mission. We'll be scouting a wormhole controlled by this Dr. Sarin character, a wormhole which should transport us back to Earth. Scanners show a high degree of stability and no visible traps. Any takers?"

    Stunned silence. A way home? That easy?

    "Jeff?"

    "Oh I don't think so Commander." Ensign Hardy said firmly. "Last time I got shot through a hole in space I came back without my sense of humor."

    "Take him!" Everyone spoke at the same time.

    Jeff pouted.

    "Why are we even trusting this Dr. Sarin." Matt asked with a frown. "He just appears out of nowhere claiming we destroyed the universe? I don't like it."

    "Got any better ideas?" Stephanie sighed. It wasn't the plan she would've chosen either, but it was better than being adrift in the cosmos for all eternity. "Snow consulted with H.E.A.D. and Dr. Sarin doesn't appear to be deceiving us. That's the best I can give right now."

    She turned towards the red-head standing next to the blue pulse of the warp core. "Lita?"

    "Uhhh here's the thing Commander." Lita forced a smile. She knew Jeff especially wasn't going to like her answer. "This is my last day in Engineering. Shane wants me on the bridge-he thinks I would be great at Tactical!"

    "What?" No, Jeff didn't like that answer one bit! It didn't do a damn thing to ease his miserable headache or make up for his goofy haircut.  "Oh Shane definitely wants you in Tactical. He also wants you in the Captain's chair, on the bar in the Smackdown, tied down in a turbolift, and in his bed!"

    "Oh so I'm not good enough to be on the Bridge?" Lita's eyes flashed. "The only way I can get a promotion is because Shane wants to sleep with me? I think you're just afraid your girlfriend will make it to Lieutenant before you do!"

    "I was a Lieutenant!" Jeff yelled back. "But thanks for rubbing salt in the wound!"

    "You know..." Lita was shaking. Controlling her temper always took so much physically. "I'd think you'd be a little more grateful to Shane. He almost bled to death saving me from Dr. Piro's torture chamber! If it wasn't for him I wouldn't be standing here so you could insult me, darling!"

    "Oh I could tell you things about Shane O'Mac that would curl your hair, sweetheart!"

    "Jeff...." Lita's fuse was about to blow sky-high. "I never question your blind loyalty or your....affection for Steph. How dare you even suggest that my relationship with Shane is any different!"

    "Steph is just a slut!" Jeff retorted. "Shane's the devil!"

    "I'm gonna chalk that one up to your concussion, Rainbow." Stephanie said coldly. "I guess you're with me Jericho."

    "Right now, Steph?" Chris complained. "I'm completely fascinated by this lover's quarrel."

    "Don't be." Matt advised him. "Jeff never gets mad about anything. He's just out for some make-up making out on the Garden Deck later."

    "Tattle-tale!" Jeff scowled at him.

    "Oh I got something you can kiss baby." Lita muttered, storming out of Engineering.

    "Rats." He sighed. "Foiled again."

SHUTTLEBAY 6A-SHUTTLECRAFT PEDIGREE

    "Ohhh you're just sooo good pushing those buttons in!" Trish cooed, as she casually inched her slender, flawlessly curved frame closer to the pilot's chair. "Now Hunter...." She tugged modestly at her wisp of a skirt, but not to cover up-oh no. Just so his hooded eyes would wander a little...."How does this work?"

    "Trish...." Hunter didn't even blink. "That's not part of the ship."

    She giggled. "Sorry."

    "You're always sorry." He sighed. "Look, I guess I thought you were serious when you said you wanted to learn how to fly a shuttlecraft. This is a waste of my time."

    "I am serious!" Trish pouted. She didn't understand! He'd walked out on that uppity wife of his days ago! No man in his right mind would pine for the likes of Stephanie McMahon when they could indulge themselves in something a little blonder and sexier! "I'm just trying to cheer you up!"

    "Newsflash honey." Hunter said. "I wasn't cheerful to begin with." He'd taught Stephanie to fly the heck out of shuttle one hot summer day back on Earth. She'd been a quick learner, full of poised, intelligent questions, surprisingly fearless for a spoiled McMahon princess. And the way those big brown eyes had lit up like candles when he'd twirled the craft around in breathtaking 180 degree spirals that almost kissed the earth....

    Those days were over now. He'd seen to that.

    "Someone's coming!" Trish cried out in alarm. "What do we do?"

    "What do we do?" Hunter just shook his head. "We're messing with an off-limits shuttle and you ask what we should do? We hide, you bimbo!"

    Trish gasped as he shoved her into the storage closet that was nestled deep in the heart of the vessel. Well, it was a nice warm cozy space....the possibilites could be endless.....

    "Dr. Taker, I promise that I will employ all three of my I's in order to ensure the success of this mission!" Angle said cheerfully.

    "Boy...." Hunter cringed as he heard spit make contact with the titanium floor. "Shut that stank ass mouth of yours before my fist does it for you! And believe me, you little punk, my five fingers are bound to meet up with my boot halfway down!"

    "Are you suggesting that you'd kick my ass, sir?" Kurt asked, troubled. "That lacks a certain integrity considering that you're a medical professional-"

    "It ain't no damn suggestion!" Taker growled. "You're only on this mission to carry my gear and provide a face to rearrange in case I get in the mood to beat the living hell out of someone."

    "Fair enough."

    "I can't believe you Chrissie." Stephanie was bitching and moaning as usual. Suddenly, Hunter didn't feel so nostalgic. "I try and believe you, but somehow you're able to suspend what little belief I have!"

    "Quite frankly my dear..." Jericho threw his equipment into the shuttle without so much as a hello to Dr. Taker or Ensign Angle. Dr. Taker wasn't one for social niceties and there was something about Kurt that his positronic net found disagreeable. Yeah, that was it. "I have no idea what you're talking about and I don't even really care!"

    "You had no right to ask Benoit-" She sighed angrily and took the co-pilot's seat. "You're so damn nosy!"

    "Don't fret sugar muffin." Jericho snarled back. "He said it was classified!"

    "As far as you are concerned, slimebot...." Stephanie fired up the thrusters. "My whole life is classified!"

    Hunter breathed a sigh of relief. If Jericho found out about Lt Benoit almost murdering Stephanie as part of an assassination plot against the Rock...well he was one clever little android. He's put two and two together and realize the Game had played a very instrumental role in the whole sordid affair.

    And he'd come after Hunter, there was no doubt about that.

    "This is Shuttlecraft Pedigree to the Bridge." Jericho said flatly. "We're ready to launch on your command."

    "Understood Lieutenant Commander." Vince McMahon's voice came over the comm. "Ensign Edge is preparing to open the bay. Ensign Chavo is transmitting the coordinates of the wormhole. Shuttlecraft Pedigree is cleared to fly upon receipt of the data."

    "Aye sir." Chris settled back to wait.

    "And Jericho?"

    Hunter and Trish exchanged nervous glances. It would be highly inappropriate for them to delay the mission by announcing their very unwanted presence in the storage compartment. Once they were on the other side of the wormhole, back on Planet Earth, Wrestlefleet probably wouldn't pay much mind to this little infraction.....

    "Yes Captain?"

    A pause.

    "Good luck."