Monday night, Raw. The “celebration” is under way and the locker room is packed! Besides me, there’s Benoit, Adam, Amy, the Hardyz, Rob, Matt Hyson, Pete Senerca, Shane Helms, Nora, Ron, and John, plus some others I haven’t seen up close yet. Of course, Ron and John are only here for the beer. Go figure. Now, there’s a cameraman trying to shove his way in through the door. Well, I wish him luck.
      I take my cue and jump up on top of a trunk. “Everyone!” I smirk. “Well, it looks like, once again, Trips came up just a little short.” The group cheers. “Of course, now he wants a rematch, so I figure, why not? I’ll tell ya something, though, I got a feeling trips never even considered a rematch, since he has a tendency to stick with the worst case scenario. I mean, look at who he married!” They cheer again… and that’s when the door actually flies open.
      Paul starts trying to shove his way through the small crowd. “Jericho!”
      “Can’t wait, huh, Trips?” I call out, then jump down off the trunk and meet him nose to… er, huge schnoz! “Well, here I am.”
      “In. The. Ring. Now,” he says, staring me in the eye.
      Creepy, but I return the stare. “Fine with me.”

      …The end of our match, Hebner’s been knocked out (so what else is new?). Now, Trips has a chair, but I don’t notice because I’m a little busy trying to pull myself up off the canvas. I finally get up and his chair connects with my head. Fortunately (or not), it doesn’t knock me out, but stuns me long enough for him to wake Hebner and get the 1-2-3. Goodbye, Undisputed Title, it *hasn’t* been fun.
      A couple of the refs help me backstage, but I wave them off as soon as we’re behind the curtain. I take my sweet time getting back to the locker room.
      I get to it, go in, and find a few of the “party goers” are left.
      Amy hands me an ice pack immediately. “Good match, despite the chair shot.”
      “Thanks,” I say, wincing as the ice pack meets my aching head.
      “Still want to go after those tag belts tomorrow?” Benoit asks.
      I look at him. “Definitely.”
      He looks at me skeptically. “Maybe I ought to ask when your brains aren’t so scrambled.”
      “And that would be when?” I return, then grin. “I’m serious. I want those tag belts. The show’s only half over. There’s plenty of time for out promo still. We can challenge them tonight for SmackDown.”
      “Changing the plans already?” Adam asks. “You’d actually give them time to prepare?”
      “More like time to worry,” I correct.
      “Fine, then,” Benoit agrees. “Say the word and I’m there.”
      “Good,” I say. “We’ll do the promo as soon as the ringing in my ears goes away.” I glance over at Amy, who returns the glance with a look of innocence.

      Later, during Raw…
      Benoit and I find Michael Cole. Benoit grabs the mic from him and hands it to me.
      I shoo him. “Go away, Mitchell.” He leaves. “Alright, so I lost the Undisputed Title. Big deal, but ya know something? Y2J does not like to be without gold. So, Benoit and I are challenging the ‘Ambiguously Gay Duo,’ Billy and Chucky, for a tag team title match on SmackDown. And we want an answer tonight!” I look at Benoit. “Anything you wanna add?” He just glares into the camera. “Guess not. Interview over.” I drop the mic on the nearest trunk and we head back for the locker room.
      We’re almost there when Benoit spots the Duo, with a cameraman. “Here they come.” They walk up to us.
      “So, now, you want a shot at our titles?” Billy asks.
      “I don’t know if these two deserve a shot,” Chuck says.
      “We either get a shot at those belts or we take you out here and now for the fun of it. The choice is yours,” I say.
      Billy and Chucky exchange glances.
      “You’re on,” Billy agrees.
      …And that’s when Trips runs up from behind and clocks me with one of the belts. Benoit starts pounding on him, but the Duo join Trips and all three are beating on Benoit.
      I haul myself up and get into the fray. Trips clips me, then leaves the Duo to pound Benoit, kicking me in the ribs for good measure.
      Uncharacteristically, I cry out because that *hurt*! Remember when my ribs were taped up? Yeah, I’d nearly forgotten, too. Of course, Trips kicks me once more, then leaves. Okay, Paul is taking this *way* too far!
      That’s when I see red… literally. That shot to my head with the belt must have opened me up, so I decide the best thing to do is just lay there.
      A few minutes later, the commotion has died down, so I lift my head slowly to see Benoit sitting against the wall. Oh, sure, he isn’t bleeding!
      I look back down at the floor and notice two pairs of feet in front of me.
      “Atleast he’s conscious this time.” Adam.
      “Man, you weren’t kidding about how uncool all this is.” Rob.
      I upright myself so I’m sitting against the wall. “Very uncool.” I wince.
      Benoit stands and joins them. “This has to end.”
      “I think I have an idea, guys,” I say, then stand, using the wall for support. “Why don’t we wait until next week’s Raw for the tag match. Tomorrow, for SmackDown, the four of us can have a handicap match against the three of them.
      “Cool,” Rob responds. (Does that guy *ever* drop his character?)
      “Excellent,” Adam agrees.
      “Let’s go get you head checked out,” Benoit says, then leads me to the trainer’s room. I’m not sure if it was the idea or that I was still bleeding.

      At the hotel that night… I’m sitting on the bed with my arms folded over my chest. I glare at the others who have invaded my room.
      “Oh, stop pouting! You’re the one who had the idea for the handicap match. We have to prepare, ya know!” Adam says.
      “Pouting is very uncool,” Rob adds.
      I roll my eyes. “Rob, if you don’t drop your RVD character right now, I will *personally* show you how ‘uncool’ something can be.”
      “He’s back to threatening, I think we can finally get somewhere now,” Benoit says. So, I flip him off. “Real mature. How old are you again?” He pauses. “Don’t give me the shoe size thing again either.”
      “Guys,” Amy says, a tone of warning in her voice. “And, Chris?” She looks right at me and Benoit smirks. “If you don’t play nice, some night, when you’re asleep, Jeff will sneak into your room and dye your hair ten different colors.” Jeff grins at me.
      I hold my hands up in surrender. “Fine, fine, I’ll be good.”
      “Back to the match…” Benoit says, “knowing Paul, he’s going to try to change it to his favor.”
      “So, we get Flair to add a stipulation preventing that,” Rob says.
      Adam claps him on his shoulder. “You catch on quick.”
      I bite back a comment and close my eyes…
      Next thing I know, I’m being poked. I open my eyes.
      “We planned out the match. Thanks for letting *us* do it,” Benoit says. “Everyone else left and voted me as the one to wake you.”
      “Why?” I ask. He tosses the notes at me. “Oh.”
      “Just stay out of trouble,” he says, then leaves.
      ’Me? Get in trouble? Nah,’ I think, glaring at the closed door. ’What lovely friends I have.’ I smirk.