Note: this is set immediately after "Chapter 26: On the Brink of Hell," at Summerslam.

To recap: As the Storm, Rain, and the Z-Men arrive at the airport, they are escorted to the Staples Center in a limo along with two former CIW wrestlers, Sean "Smoker" Johner and Nate Starr. Both of them seem quite eager to see the Storm kick Rose's ass. At the arena, they find CIW bombshell Deidre "Dee Meaner" Menser awaiting them. When the Storm goes to look at the Cell hanging over the ring, he is met by the enigmatic religious man called Scion. Scion attempts to convince the Storm to not face Rose in the Cell, but upon failing, he wishes the Storm luck, and subtly wishes him victory. Rose, Rhino, and Brick meet mafioso-types Tony Smiles and his pal, Joey, in their locker room. Gap-Tooth Tony and Pal Joey apparently are the only two supporting Rose, as the Californian later meets up with former CIW Champion and ex-Triumvirate member Victor E., who remains angry at Rose for costing him the CIW title and then leaving CIW. Rose, however, tells Victor that he's been planning for Hell in a Cell all along, that everything he was doing in feuding with the Alliance as well as the Storm and the Hardys was calculated to prepare himself for the match. Jennifer Black, another CIW bombshell and former paramour of Rose, slapped the man across the chops and likewise told him she hoped the Storm kicks his ass. In the actual matches, the Z-Men managed to overcome ladder match veterans Edge & Christian to retain their titles, Rain emerged victorious over Lita and Ivory to become Women's Champion again, and Kane wore down Brick and chokeslammed him to win. Rose, furious that Brick had lost, berated him and called him pathetic and worthless before leaving for his showdown with the Storm. In the arena, the CIWers had gathered together to watch the match. Up in the upper tier, Scion and his nemesis Allura shared a brief mutual staredown, as the witch implied she would like to merely let the two destroy each other. Then the arena quieted as the history package detailing the Storm/Rose feud played.

Teaser: Now is the time. An epic confrontation seven years coming. Egos will collide, vengeance will be had, and blood will be spilled. All this and more when the Storm and Billy Rose finally meet for the last time in Hell in a Cell.

Rating: R - for violence and profanity

Disclaimer:  All things WWF are property of Titan Sports.  The characters of Matthew "the Storm" Skinner, Claire "Rain" Whittaker, Billy Rose, Brad "Brick" Dickerson, Roger "Zed" Ziger, and Mike "Zeta" Zahn are completely fictional.  I do incorporate a few traits from existing WWF wrestlers, but for the most part, they're my creations.  The lyrics to Brick's entrance theme and the Storm's were written by myself as well.  (For those who are curious, I title Brick's theme "Breaker" and the Storm's "Force of Nature.") Also, this chapter features more created characters, all from CIW. Any resemblances to existing wrestlers or personas is purely coincidental, or intentional but with no infrigement intended.

SUNDAY: Summerslam, 30 August

The fans were cheering quite loudly as the history package wound down, and now their cheering turned to quiet murmurs as ominous music played, the lights flashing as they shone on the lowering structure of steel called Hell in the Cell. It touched the floor, with no less than three refs around it. One, Tim White, facing the entryway, holding open the door to the Cell. One was inside the Cell, waiting in the ring. Another, Earl Hebner, was waiting in the ring. And the third, Jack Doan, paced near one of the Cell's corners.

Howard Finkel spoke into the house mike. "Ladies and gentlemen, it is now time for the Hell in the Cell Match!" The fans burst into loud cheers.

"How long? How long? How long? How long? -- I said how long? I said how long? I said how long? Until you crack..." The TitanTron lit up with the face of Billy Rose, while "Until You Crack" by the Union Underground played. "Introducing first, from Los Angeles, California!, weighing in at 245 pounds... 'The Mental Elite,' BILLY ROSE!" The cheers immediately turned into boos. Billy Rose himself walked out, wearing black tights with crimson trim on the back. On the legs of his tights was a red rose, with drops of blood trickling down to the knee. He wore his typical loose red overshirt over his bare chest. He looked out at the crowd, then pointedly at the section that seated the CIWers. He smirked in that smug way of his, then raised his hands to the sides, smirking one way, then the other. Then his smirk faded as he looked at the forbidding cage before him. He paced back and forth for a bit, then walked through the open door and rolled into the ring. He posed there again, then frowned as the fans booed at him again. The CIWers shouted abuse at him. Rose turned toward them and gave them an Italian arm-chop.

Rose's music faded out. Then the fans turned their heads to the side of the TitanTron, where they, apparently for the first time, noticed the heavy metal band that had set up there. The local fans started cheering, especially the CIWers. The band was called Cold Steel, and its members had always been big fans of wrestling, and even helped out by composing entrance music for CIW. Cold Steel's drummer started a drum roll that mixed almost perfectly with the rumbling thunder that was on the `Tron, then he crashed the cymbals as the screen flashed with lightning and went dark. The lead singer, a man with shaggy black hair, growled "This is your Storm Warning," in unison with the voice from the screen. The lead guitarist played warbling chords on his axe which again mixed almost perfectly with the siren, and then the drummer smashed his drums as the pyros exploded.

"I'm a Force of Nature, I'm outta control!" the singer roared into the mike, as Matthew Skinner, the Storm, appeared under the screen. "I live in the lightning, let the thunder roll! I kill the sunshine, bring on the rain!" The Storm raised his head and stared forward. It was unclear if he was looking at Rose or at the Cell. "I am the Storm, and I'll bring you the pain!"

"And his opponent," the Fink continued, "from Dallas, Texas, weighing in at 240 pounds... 'The Force of Nature,' THE STORM!" The fans cheered like crazy as the band continued to play. The Storm walked toward the ring, wearing his I am a Force of Nature T-shirt. The fans grew even more excited as they saw he carried a steel chair.

"And the Storm looks quite prepared for this match, King," Jim Ross said to his broadcast partner. "He's getting quite pumped up by the live music of Cold Steel, who perform his entrance music, 'Force of Nature.'"

"He's even got a steel chair with him!" Jerry Lawler wailed. "Oh, Billy, look out!"

The Storm stopped several feet from the door, smirking a bit as Rose paced in the ring. The Texan looked at the chair he held in one hand. He raised it in the air, then lowered it. Then the fans grew puzzled as the Storm wound up and hurled the chair up to land on the roof of the Cell. Rose, who had continued to look smugly confident throughout his nemesis' entrance, looked up at it, then gulped and actually showed some fear. He rolled out of the ring as the Storm strode through the door of the Cell and climbed into the ring. He went to the corner near the CIW section, raised his fist in the air, then did something the California fans had not seen in two years. He thumped his fists on his shoulders, then did it again, only extending his index and little fingers in the traditional "metalhead" sign, then pointed out at the crowd. It was the action that he'd done back in CIW, first as Metalhead Matt, then as "The Survivor" Matthew Skinner. The local fans gave a nostalgia pop as he repeated the gesture and pointed at Cold Steel, then dropped off the ropes and turned to face Rose, who had slid back into the ring.

The two men stared across the ring at each other, the fans continuing to cheer. The Storm calmly removed his sunglasses, folded them, then glanced out at the crowd. Chants of "Storm! Storm! Storm!" were rolling over them. The Storm smirked and glanced back at Rose, who clenched his fists. They held this stalemate for several more moments.

Then, all at once, the Storm threw his sunglasses at Rose. The Californian stepped to the side to avoid them as they flew by his head, and that's when the Force of Nature barreled into him. The Storm shoved him back in the corner and started hitting him with fast right hands, then kicks to the midsection. Rose slumped down a bit, but the Storm pulled him back to his feet and pulled the red overshirt that Rose still wore apart. He snapped his arm across Rose's chest in a vicious chop. "Wooo!" the fans whooped. Another chop, another whoop. A third, then a fourth, fifth, sixth, and then Rose ducked under a swing and the positions were reversed. Rose started pounding back, then grabbed the Storm's forearm, stepped back, and gave an Irish whip. The Storm planted his feet and went for the reversal.

Rose deftly caught the ropes as he came in and swung his legs up and over the Storm's head as he charged after him. Rose landed and immediately sprang into the air, dropkicking the Texan's head straight into the top turnbuckle. As the Storm clutched his forehead, Rose shrugged his overshirt off, but caught the sleeves in his hands. He flipped it over his head, then looped it under the Storm's jaw. The self-proclaimed "Mental Elite" leaned backward as the Storm choked, trying to dislodge Rose, who had pulled himself in tight, using his forearms to block retaliatory elbows.

The Storm finally managed to break it when he pivoted forward at the waist and dropped to his knees. The sudden shift in balance flipped Rose over his shoulders, making the shirt come loose. The Storm quickly tore the shirt from Rose's grasp and threw it out of the ring. He snapped a fist into Rose's forehead, and the Californian had to roll out of the ring to get away. The Storm stood up, then ran toward the opposite ropes. He sprang off them and ran back at Rose, then launched himself in a flying baseball slide dropkick, which connected and sent Rose into the steel mesh.

Rose winced a bit, but as the Storm rolled out of the ring to confront him, the former owner of CIW grabbed the Storm's head and bounced it into the mesh. The Storm staggered back, and Rose did it a second time, then a third time. Then Rose grabbed the Storm's forearm and whipped him into the steel post. The Storm hit it with his head, spun half-way around and fell to the floor.

Rose used the momentary breather to reach under the ring. He produced a steel chair and raised it in the air. Earl Hebner tried to maintain some sense of order, but Rose menaced him with the chair to scare him off. As the Storm got to his knees, Rose wound up and hit him square in the head with the chair. The audience groaned at the sickening whack of impact. The Storm fell face-down onto the floor. The blond-haired man didn't let up, however. He stood over the Storm's body, adjusted his grip on the chair, then spiked its rim into the spine. He did this several more times, grinning maliciously as the Storm rolled onto his side, grimacing at the pain in his back. Rose wound up and swung the chair into the back again, then the arm. The Storm shouted in pain and rolled away, getting to his feet and staggering away, leaning against the steel post as he tried to catch his breath.

Rose just stalked after him and wound up with the chair again. The Storm ducked away, and the chair hit the post with a clang. The Californian dropped the chair as the vibration of steel on steel jarred his hands. The Storm lunged, but Rose just sidestepped and hurled him into the mesh again. The Storm bounced off it and fell to the floor again. Rose picked up the chair and braced it half in the ring and half out of it, between the ropes. Once he was done with this, he went over to the Storm and grabbed his legs. He lifted him up slightly and then fell backwards, catapulting the Storm face-first into the chair and the post behind it. The crowd gave an "Ohhh!" of dismay as the Storm hit it, staggered on his feet for a moment, then flopped to the floor.

Billy Rose laid the chair on the Storm's chest, smiling as he saw blood beginning to ooze out of a cut on his forehead. He stepped up onto the apron, and posed to the crowd, which booed and started a chant of "Bastard! Bastard!" Rose gave them an Italian arm-chop again, then started to jump off the apron to land a double axe-handle to the chair. In mid-air, however, the Storm grabbed the chair and threw it into the Los Angeleno's face. He rolled out of the way as Rose crashed to the floor. The Storm raised a hand to his forehead, looked at the blood that came back, then, to everyone's surprise, actually smiled and licked the blood off his fingers.

Rose got to his hands and knees, picking up the chair as he did so. The Storm advanced, but his opponent spiked the chair into his ribs, causing the Storm to double over as the air was driven from his lungs. Rose wound up and smashed the chair into the back again. The Storm fell to his knees, but as Rose wound up to deliver a third shot, he lunged forward and drove his forearm into Rose's stomach. The "Mental Elite" ooofed and dropped the chair, and the Storm quickly stood up and charged forward, wrapping his arms around Rose's waist and driving him the length of the ring and into the steel mesh.

The Storm stood upright and started pummeling Rose in the face. After a few moments, however, Rose kicked his knee into the Storm's stomach, then drove his face into the mesh, then ground it back and forth before turning him around and ramming him into the steel ring post again. The Storm fell against the ring apron, sprawled out, blood beginning to cover his forehead now. His mouth hung open as he gulped in air. Rose clutched at his back with one hand and held his jaw with the other, then went back to the Storm. He hit him with a forearm to the face, then scooped up the chair again. He turned and swung at the Storm, who dropped to the floor to avoid the chair as it crashed into the ring apron.

Rose just adjusted his grip and smashed it into the Storm's knee. As the former "Survivor" of CIW clutched at his knee in pain, his archnemesis began to focus his chairshots on the legs. Finally, as the Storm struggled to get back up to his feet, Rose clobbered him in the head again, knocking him flat on his back. Rose smirked and positioned the chair to spike it into the knee again. He raised the chair a bit, but then the Storm kicked upwards, connecting with the rim of the chair and carrying the crossbar upward and into Rose's jaw.

Rose gagged and fell down backwards, clutching his throat. The Storm kicked the chair away as he crawled to the apron to pull himself up. Blood was flowing a bit more freely now on his face. His eyes looked cloudy for a moment. As he got to his feet, he flopped around so he leaned back against the apron, staring out at the audience. The fans were making a lot of noise, and then the Storm's eyes became clear. The usual cold intensity of his gray eyes was replaced by something else. A manic energy, and his lips peeled back to reveal an equally manic grin. He shoved himself off the apron, grabbed the steel mesh of the Cell and shook it, yelling at the top of his lungs. He paused to catch his breath, then turned slightly. The manic intensity remained in his eyes as he bellowed, "RRRROOOSE!"

The Californian lifted his head, and a touch of fear flickered across his features. He got to his feet and turned around just as the Storm threw his fist into his face. Rose flailed his arms and staggered backwards. A second punch knocked him further back. A third punch backed him into the steel mesh. The Storm let out a crazy laugh as he closed in and started pistoning his hand in and out of Rose's face. Finally, the Storm stepped back, gave that almost insane grin to the crowd, then grabbed Rose by the shoulders and leaned in close to him.

"Are we having fun yet?" the Storm whispered in his ear. Then he pivoted around and swung Rose face-first into the mesh to the side, near one of the corners of the Cell. He then grabbed Rose by his hair and raked his face back and forth across the mesh, much as Rose had done to him just a minute or so ago.

"My God, King, the Storm's showing us a side of himself we've never seen before," Ross remarked.

"He's lost his mind!" Lawler replied. "Those chairshots must've finally killed one too many brain cells, ohhh my God!" He said in surprise as the Storm pulled Rose back from the mesh, grinned at him, then shoved him back into the mesh face-first.

"Yeah!" the Storm laughed as blood started to ooze from Rose's forehead. "Turn up the juice, Billy boy! We're just gettin' started!"

He pulled Rose back and slammed him into the mesh again. He held him there, licked blood off his upper lip, then cackled again. He started pulling Rose back and shoving him forward again in a rhythm. Before long the fans were counting along. "One! Two! Three! Four! Five! Six! ... Seven! ... Eight! ... Nine!" The Storm pulled Rose back a bit, one hand at the back of his neck, the other holding his tights. The crowd screamed at him, and the Storm pivoted in a complete circle, dragging Rose along with him, then rammed him straight into the mesh. "TEN!" the audience shouted.

Rose fell to his knees, then bounced back to his feet, staggering away, trying to put some distance between himself and the madman pursuing him. He grabbed at the discarded chair and started to pick it up, but the Storm kicked him in the head. Rose fell in a heap, chest heaving. The Force of Nature grinned maniacally at him, then raised a finger. He wagged it back and forth in a no-no-no gesture. He stomped him once in the kidneys, then turned and pulled up the steel stairs. He hefted the stairs, lifted them up, and then turned back to Rose. But when he got within striking distance, Rose was up in a flash, swinging the chair up and into the stairs, which were positioned right in front of the Storm's face. The resounding CRASH echoed throughout the arena, and the Storm's shout of pain was drowned out by the loud "OHHH!" from the audience.

The Storm fell backwards, the stairs clattering off to lie on one arm. Rose was on his feet, swaying a bit but rapidly regaining his sense of direction. He still held the chair in one hand as the other came up to his bloody forehead. Rose wiped his hand back across his scalp, as though brushing his hair out of his face. A red streak was left in his blond hair after he did so. Rose shook his head a bit and then the slack look of disorientation on his face was replaced by a fiery anger. He looked at the fallen Storm, who was groaning and trying to roll onto his side, but without much success.

"You goddamn son of a bitch," Rose muttered. He ran forward and stomped the Storm in the ribs a few times, then set the chair on the apron as he grabbed up the steel stairs. He swung these down into the Storm's ribs, eliciting another groan of pain from him and the audience, then positioned them over his head, lying it there as he picked up the chair again. He climbed up onto the apron, raised the chair in the air. "How d'you like your Storm now?" he shouted out at the crowd. "Not so fucking unstoppable now, is he?!" Then, he gripped the chair with both hands, raised it up, and jumped off the apron as he swung it down into the stairs lying on top of the Storm's head.

There was another resounding CRASH, another loud "OHHH!" and another muffled cry of pain. Rose threw the chair into the ring, not seeing and not caring that it bounced and flew through the ropes to the other side. He grabbed the steps on one side and threw them aside, then lifted them up and tossed them away, making Earl Hebner backpedal to avoid them. The Storm lay in a sprawl, eyes rolled back in his head as Rose kneeled across his chest and started punching him in the temple.

"I'm not just gonna give you Brain Damage, Skinner," Rose snapped in between punches, "I'm literally gonna give you brain damage! No more surviving for you, Metalhead! Just you, lying in a pool of your own blood, while I personally tear you apart!"

He pulled the Storm up and set him on his feet, stepped back a bit, then snap-kicked the Storm in the gut. The Storm doubled over with a weak groan, and Rose hooked his head under one arm. "Brain Damage, baby!" he screamed to the crowd. He swung around to deliver the elbow, but the Storm suddenly reacted, grabbing the arm as it came around and trying to twist it back into a hammerlock. Rose quickly realized the Storm wasn't as out of his senses as he first thought and quickly struggled to get his arm free of the surprisingly strong grip.

Failing to get the hammerlock, the Storm settled instead for a modified armbar, snapping his elbow down into Rose's arm, trying to break his struggle. Rose leaned back into the ring apron to keep the Storm from swinging him forward to hit the hammerlock. Then, as the Storm started to twist the arm back and downward, the Californian thrust his free hand forward and caught him in the eye with a thumb. With a startled shout, the Storm released Rose and rolled into the ring, holding his face.

Rose followed him back in, smirking a bit as the Storm's blood dripped onto the mat. He aimed a stomp and connected, knocking the Storm onto his back. But again, surprisingly, the Force of Nature rolled to his feet and held his hands up to grapple as Rose prepared to move in. The Mental Elite stayed back, blinking through his own blood as the Storm stared at him with half-focused eyes.

Finally, the two locked up in a collar-and-elbow tie-up, and the Storm went for another hammerlock. Just as before, Rose blocked it, leaning back, and again managed to snap a thumb into the Storm's eye. The Texan shouted again, releasing with one hand, his right hand clutching Rose's left, their fingers interlaced. Rose reacted quickly as the Storm blinked to clear his eyes. He swung his left leg up and into the Storm's back, knocking him forward, slipping his foot under the far armpit from behind. Then, Rose gripped the Storm's arm with his free hand, wrenched it upward, pulling the Storm backwards, then kicked his other leg up and into the chest, driving his victim back onto the mat, then locked his feet together in a triangle hold variant, the Deadly Blossom.

The fans started screaming in disbelief as the Storm suddenly came alive again, kicking his legs and flailing his half-free arm about, trying to dislodge his nemesis' legs. The Storm was shouting in pain, hand clenching and unclenching as he tried to free himself, but to no avail. "I'll tear your fucking arm off, you psycho son of a bitch!" Rose shouted, leaning back to wrench in the hold. The Storm continued to scream, then started to pull himself with his hand and his legs toward the ropes. Rose laughed as he caught on. "What you gonna do, huh? Grab the ropes?! This match is anything goes, you moron! I don't have to break the hold!"

But the Storm didn't seem to hear him. As he reached the ropes, he grabbed them with his free hand, then swung his leg over and caught his foot on the apron. Digging it in, he dragged himself to the apron, then tried to roll himself out of the ring. Rose now realized what he was up to and hastily let go before he was caught against the ropes. The Storm hit the floor, groaned in pain and rolled to his feet, clutching his wounded shoulder. Rose pulled himself up with the ropes, snarled, then slid out and started to pursue the Storm. He charged to try and tackle him, but the Storm turned, caught him and pivoted, swinging the both of them back into a corner near the announce position.

The mesh shook as they collided with it, giving a bit as they leaned against it to push off and grapple with each other. Blood was smeared across both their faces, their hands, and their chests. Neither man gave an inch as they tried to gain the upper hand from the collar-and-elbow tie-up. Rose started to push the Storm back, but the Texan shoved back, driving Rose into the mesh again. He reversed their positions and Rose shoved him back into the mesh, trying to press his face back into it. The Force of Nature, however, shoved Rose away, grabbed him by the shoulders and hurled him back into the mesh, then speared him beneath the ribs to keep him there.

As the Californian tried to get some air into his lungs, the Storm went and picked up the steel stairs, hefted them and gauged the distance to Rose. Getting a running start, he charged, then hurled the steps with all the strength he could muster. Rose barely stepped out of the way, and the steel stairs struck the side of the cage with enough force to rip the mesh from the support beam. Both men stopped and stared at the opening in the cage. Then they looked at each other, eyes wide as they tried to figure out what the other was going to do.

Rose reacted first. He lunged to his feet and shoved the mesh out of the way as he tried to escape. The Storm was right behind him, grabbing him by the back of his tights to pull him back over the barricade, driving him to the floor with a forearm smash. The former owner of CIW grimaced and clutched his back, pushing himself away from the crazed Texan with his feet, then staggering upright and trying to run. The Storm turned him around and sent him flying into the timekeeper's table with a hard right hand.

"Oh, yeah, we're getting fucking hardcore now!" the Storm roared to the crowd as Rose tried to regain his senses. "Time to blast a few more brain cells, Billy boy!" He turned back to his archnemesis, reaching for his shoulder to turn him back around.

But as he did so, Billy Rose again showcased why he liked to call himself the "Mental Elite." He whirled around, swinging the ring bell in his hands. The hard wood backing of the bell struck the side of the Storm's head, sending him reeling back into the cage. Rose snarled, grasped the bell with both hands, raised it overhead, then brought it down hard on the Storm's head with a dull thud. The Storm leaned against the steel mesh to stay upright as Rose threw the bell to the ground.

Referee Jack Doan shouted at Rose to show some decency, but the now enraged Californian shoved Doan away with such force that he toppled over the barricade into the crowd. Rose shoved Howard Finkel out of his chair and folded it shut with a snap, raising it upward. The Storm still leaned against the cage, semi-conscious, as Rose advanced with the chair. Winding up, Rose scrambled the Storm's brains with a vile chairshot, sandwiching his head with the mesh and the chair. Such was the force of the blow that the Storm staggered to the side and collapsed against the announce table, rolling around until his arms were draped across the back of it, his bloodied face staring, but not seeing, outward. Rose furiously bashed the chair into the floor a few times, then raised it upwards. Boos descended down upon him.

"Yeah, boo me all you want, you motherfucking, brain-dead, shitty bastards!" Rose screamed to the crowd, then pointedly went over toward the CIW section as the Storm slumped to a sitting position against the announce table, while referee Jack Doan went to check on him. Rose sneered at his former colleagues. "What? Wanna fucking punch me in the jaw?" he snarled at Victor E., who was held back by Smoker and Nate Starr. "Go right ahead, you washed up son of a bitch! Do it and I'll fucking sue your balls off!"

Rose turned back toward the Storm, who was still being tended by Doan. The referee saw him coming and pleaded with him, but Rose shoved him away into the mesh with one hand, grinning a sadistic smile as he looked down at the Storm. Taking his time, the Californian raised his chair up in the air again, turning in a slow circle before facing his opponent again.

All at once, the Storm swung up to his feet, swaying unsteadily a bit. Rose stared in disbelief as the Texan looked around, looking around, but not seeing anything. Then as he turned back to Rose, a crazy smile twisted his mouth. He cocked his head to one side, leaning on one knee to stay upright, then pointed with each index finger, flicking his hands as though shooting a gun. "Bang bang!" the Storm shouted. Rose blinked and stared at him. "Bang bang!" he repeated. "Come on, baby! Hit me again, I fucking dare you!"

Rose shook his head. "You've fucking lost it," he muttered, backing up a step as the Storm, still smiling that Cactus Jack smile, advanced. "You've fucking gone off the deep end... oooof!" That last came as the Storm lunged and planted a toe in the Californian's gut, causing him to drop the chair on the floor. Acting quickly, the Storm grabbed Rose's head under one arm, then used his other arm to pull the other up out of the way, then dropped down, delivering the double-arm DDT onto the steel chair on the floor.

Rose rolled onto his back, seeing stars, as the Storm stood up and did the Cactus Jack gun-shooting into the air. "Bang bang! Cactus Jack, baby!" he shouted again, then went over to the announce table, ripping the top off of it, then pulling the monitors out and tossing them onto the floor, sending J.R. and Jerry Lawler out of the way as he wiped blood off of his forehead, still grinning maniacally at the crowd. He turned back to Rose and pulled him to his feet, dragging him to the table. As the Storm started to climb up on the table, holding Rose by the hair and starting to pull him after him, the Californian regained his senses, snapping his arm up into the Texan's gonads. The Storm groaned and doubled over, nearly falling off the table as he lost his balance.

Rose pushed himself upright, using the table for leverage, then looked around wildly. The Force of Nature was already showing signs of recovery, so CIW's ex-owner turned and grabbed at the mesh, pulling himself up and starting to climb upward. The fans, who had been booing Rose, abruptly started cheering in anticipation. Sure enough, the Storm got back up and snapped his gaze upward to watch as Rose climbed. The manic gleam that had been in his eyes when he'd channeled the legendary Cactus Jack was gone, replaced by burning fury. "RRRROOOOOSE!" he bellowed.

The Storm stomped around the announce tables and grabbed at the mesh, starting to climb after Rose, who pulled himself up to the top of the Cell, quickly making a beeline across the precarious roof toward the steel chair that his enemy had thrown up there at the beginning of the match. Soon enough, the Texan Tornado was on the top as well, advancing on Rose, who was leaning over one of the big support beams on the top of the cage to reach for the steel chair. The Storm struck him in the back of the head with a forearm, sending him toppling over the beam. Rose got to his feet, staggering, and the Storm reached over the beam, grabbed Rose's head, then pulled him down over it, linking his hands under one arm and behind the head in a dragon sleeper, pressing the Californian's back into the steel beam. Rose flailed, and finally the Storm relented, releasing him and slamming his back into the beam before climbing over to go for the chair.

Rose leaned on the beam to catch his breath, then sidestepped as the Storm swung the chair. There was a clang as the chair struck it, and Rose struck swiftly, driving a forearm into the Storm's head, making him drop the chair. The Californian struck again, then a third time in the back, then shoved him over the beam and back toward the edge of the Cell nearest the announce tables. Rose grabbed him by the hair and dragged him toward the edge, then placed him down on the mesh, stomping him to soften him up a bit. "Wake up! It's time to die!" Rose hissed before he put the Storm's head between his legs, then raised his arms to the sides, signaling for the Rose's Thorn.

He executed the gutwrench, holding the Storm in the crucifix position, but then the Texan slipped out and grabbed one of Rose's ankles, stomping on the other and applying the Twister Anklelock. Rose screamed in pain and flailed his arms, trying to get away, his face and arms over the edge, seeking some way to break the submission hold. The Storm turned his bloody face upward and roared as he cinched the hold in. "Come on, you fucking prick bastard! Quit! I'll fucking snap it off! Quit, damn you!"

Down on the floor, what seemed like miles away, all three referees were trying to tell the Storm that he couldn't win the match outside the ring, but their pleas fell on deaf ears. Rose continued to swing his arms in pain, then swung them down and grabbed the mesh of the side of the cage. Holding on tight, he pulled himself forward, freeing his non-locked ankle and pushing himself toward the edge. The Storm refused to let go and was pulled to his feet, then onto his knees, Rose's feet pressed into his chest. "Have a nice trip!" the Californian snarled as he kicked his legs free and locked his feet around the Storm's head, then pulled down, pivoting his body around painfully as he held onto the side of the Cell for dear life, nearly wrenching his fingers out as he pulled the Storm over the edge of the Cell and into empty space.

The Storm turned over in mid-air, coming down with a loud CRASH through the American announce table, the debris laying atop the heap that was his broken body. Rose fell down shortly after, his knees buckling as he hit the floor, then falling atop the Storm's pile. The fans were screaming and chanting "Ho-ly Shit! Ho-ly Shit! Ho-ly Shit!" as the "Mental Elite" painfully got to his feet, raising his arms in the air. "Fuckin' A! Broke his ass in fucking half!" he shouted, then staggered back into the steel mesh.

But Rose wasn't done yet. He started hurling the debris off the Storm's body, grabbing an arm and dragging him out of the wreckage of the table. "Enough is enough!" Jim Ross shouted. "Somebody stop the damn match!" Rose sneered and gave J.R. a middle finger before pulling the Storm legs-first toward the torn-open panel of the Cell's mesh. In a few moments, they were back within the confines of the Hell in a Cell. Rose left the Storm on the floor as he picked up the steel chair inside, tossing it into the ring. The Storm was breathing, but not doing much else as Rose did the same with the steel stairs. Finally, the Californian pulled him to his feet and rolled him into the ring. Leaving the Storm lying on the mat, Rose set up the steps in the ring, then positioned the steel chair on the mat in front of them.

The fans were rallying behind the Storm, cheering like mad. The CIWers were all starting to scream themselves hoarse, even Gap-Tooth Tony and Pal Joey. Victor E. and Smoker started a new chant. "Skinner! Skinner! Skinner!" The nearby fans picked it up and followed suit, and soon it spread throughout the rest of the arena. "SKINNER! SKINNER! SKINNER!" they chanted at the top of their lungs. Rose surveyed all the steel in the ring, smirked through the blood on his face, brushing a bloody hand through his hair, darkening and widening the red streak he'd left there earlier. He turned back to his enemy.

Abruptly, the Storm sat up, like a zombie. His eyes had his usual cold, uncaring gray stare again, and the suddenness of the action halted Rose in his tracks. The Storm turned his head to look at him, then painfully pushed himself to his feet. "SKINNER! SKINNER!" the fans continued to chant as he stared down his archnemesis. Rose couldn't believe his eyes, or his ears. It was a chant he hadn't heard in more than two years, not since that fateful night he'd had Matthew Skinner broken and driven from CIW. The Californian seethed with fury as the Storm raised his hands and beckoned with both of them for him to "bring it on."

Rose snapped and lunged, trading fierce and incredibly stiff blows with the Force of Nature, then abruptly hooked him for a snap suplex. The Storm rolled to his feet, apparently unfazed. The Mental Elite didn't even blink as he booted the Storm in the gut and delivered a second snap suplex. Again, he rolled to his feet, looking more pissed off than in pain. Another kick and another snap suplex. Finally, the Storm showed fatigue, and Rose quickly kicked him again, then grabbed his head, thrust it between his legs. Without wasting time, he hoisted him up and delivered the Rose's Thorn powerbomb.

Rose was slow to get to his feet, all while the fans either booed or took up the "Skinner!" chant again. He staggered, then looked around at the jeering crowd. Sneering, he pulled the Storm to his feet and then up the steel steps set up in the middle of the ring. There, Rose hooked the Storm's head under one arm. He was poised to deliver Brain Damage off the steps and onto the steel chair on the mat. He pivoted, swinging the elbow down, but then the Storm acted, and acted swiftly. His arms came up under Rose's in a full nelson, and then he lifted Rose up and dropped him forward in the Downdraft -- off the steps, and onto the chair.

The Storm shoved himself to his feet and collapsed against the steel steps, breathing heavily. Rose was grimacing pain and clutching the back of his neck in pain from where he'd hit the steel chair. The Storm stood up shakily, pulling Rose up and shoving him back in the corner. He clenched his fist back and measured a stiff right hand, then a second. The exhaustion showed on both men's faces, beneath the blood and sweat. The Storm continued his deliberate pummeling of his archnemesis, and that's when the TitanTron lit up.

"Break it! (Break it!) Break it! (Break it!)" The fans were shocked as Brick limped out of the entryway and came down the aisle. Their shock quickly turned to boos and jeers as the behemoth plodded up to the Cell door. Brick shoved Mike Chioda out of the way and grabbed the door, shaking it, then ripping it open. He held the top ropes with both hands as he braced his foot on the apron and swung himself up onto the apron before stepping over the top rope into the ring. The Storm turned around and stared in shock at Brick, who glared right back, nostrils flaring.

Rose, propped up in the corner, snapped, "Break him, Brick! Break his ass!" The Storm shook his head and backed up a step, but the seven-foot-one monster grabbed him by the throat, leaning forward to growl in his face. Rose shoved himself out and slapped Brick's arm. "Come on, you worthless oaf! I said, break him! Break him! BREAK HIM!"

All at once, Brick's hand left the Storm's throat and snagged Rose's instead. The Californian gagged and flailed his arms in surprise as Brick leaned forward and snarled in his face. "Motherfucking, goddamn prick bastard!" came the deep, volcanic, gravelly voice from the behemoth. With a mighty roar, Brick lifted Rose up in the military press. Swinging him around, he threw him down to the mat in a ferocious Breaker Chokeslam, Rose spasming in pain as the fans cheered. Brick leaned down and pointed a finger in Rose's face. "It all has a system, you fucking son of a bitch," Brick growled before standing and climbing back out of the ring as the Storm circled back around to his fallen opponent.

Sensing the imminent end of the match, the crowd's cheering built as the Storm pulled Rose to his feet. It was clear that although the lights were on, nobody was home as the Storm punched Rose in the head a few times. Finally, he turned and pointed upward. "Lightning!" he screamed hoarsely. He spun back and drove his fist into Rose's gut, then swept him up onto his shoulder. He held there for a moment, then dropped to one knee, piledriving Rose's head to his side in the Southern Lightning Driver. He dropped Rose down, then turned him onto his back, leaned over the body and hooked a leg up. Referee Earl Hebner dutifully slid into the ring and counted the fall. "One! ... Two! ... THREE!" the fans screamed. Hebner called for the bell, and the fans went ballistic as the music of Cold Steel struck back up.

"Here is your winner, THE STORM!" Howard Finkel announced into the mike as Hebner helped the Storm to his feet and raised his arm in the air in triumph. Rose lay on the mat, thoroughly unconscious, in a bloody sprawl as the Cell started to lift back above the ring. Brick climbed back into the ring to help the Storm stand up, but the Force of Nature shrugged him off and rolled out of the ring over to the CIW section. He slapped palms with Victor E., Smoker, Nate Starr, and everyone else in reach, while the audience began another "Skinner! Skinner!" chant.

The Storm limped painfully up the ramp with Brick helping him as Zed, Zeta, Rain, and Stone Cold emerged from the back to congratulate him, hoisting him overhead on their shoulders. "The Storm's done it!" Jim Ross was shouting at ringside. "By God, he's done it! Seven years of anger, frustration, and pain, paid back with interest here tonight, in what has to be the most ungodly Hell in a Cell match I've ever witnessed!"

"Look at Billy Rose!" Jerry Lawler wailed. Referees and EMTs were helping to him to his feet. He was barely conscious, still bleeding and sore. "He doesn't know if he's in southern California or South Carolina! The Storm's broken him down!"

"He had it coming to him!" J.R. retorted. "All of Rose's dirty tricks, all of his evil schemes, all of his treachery, it all came back to bite him in the ass! His most loyal comrade, that monstrosity known as Brick, finally turned on him tonight! The Storm told us it all had a system, and by God, he was right! The Force of Nature outwitted the Mental Elite here tonight!"

Back on the ramp, the Storm had been lowered back to the ramp. Rose was being helped to the back along the side of the ramp. Matthew Skinner walked over to the edge and gave an Italian arm chop, then his two-fingered salute as he was helped past. The fans cheered again as he raised his arms in the air.

After seven years, after winning and losing titles and his career in CIW, after paying his dues, after putting his body on the line night after night, finally, Matthew Skinner -- whether you called him Metalhead Matt, the Survivor, or the Storm -- had finally gotten his revenge on Billy Rose.

-THE END-

Afterword: Well, it took almost eleven months, but I finally did it. My longest fan-fiction ever, coming up to over 800KB in HTML format. I initially conceived "Raging Storm" as I was winding down "Storm Warning," during the midst of the Storm/Jericho feud toward the end of that fic. I wanted to do a WWF fanfic that focused strictly on one feud as opposed to the several that I outlined in "Storm Warning." I needed to come up with someone thoroughly twisted enough to drive the Storm to his limits. That someone turned up as the Californian, the Mental Elite, Billy (fucking) Rose.

I have to admit, this fic turned out to be a lot more work than I initially thought. The two chapters that took the longest to get done were the Fully Loaded chapter (with the 2-out-of-3 falls Street Fight) and this one, the Hell in a Cell chapter. In fact, the Hell in a Cell chapter got so big, as I detailed the outcomes of the Z-Men's, Rain's, and Brick's matches, as well as the interactions with the former CIWers, that I realized I couldn't keep it all in one chapter, or it would just be too long. So I decided to keep my readers in suspense by ending the next-to-last chapter with the Hell in a Cell promo, allowing me time to bang out the Cell match. I certainly hope the wait was worth it to all of you.

By all means, review this fic. At the moment, I do have future plans for my fanfiction, not all of it necessarily WWF-related, so don't expect another Storm fanfiction for a while. If you have a critique, or anything else you'd like to say, drop me a line at jay_winger_2k@hotmail.com.

-=Jay 2K Winger=-
January 1, 2002