An Alliance Dissolved: A Prelude

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Capital League…
Stamford…
McMahon Residence…
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    A large, burly man with graying hair paced about the communications room, standing before the monitor.  A large screen that took up most of the wall blinked to life, revealing a beautiful woman with neon-blue skin and lavender armor. 

    “Mr. McMahon?” the Video Girl Upgrade asked, “Did you want to contact someone?” 

    “Yes, D69” Vince growled, “Get me in contact with Dixie Carter of the Ocean League.  I need to talk to her.” 

    The Video Girl Upgrade bowed.  “Yes, Mr. McMahon.” 

    The VGU vanished, the monitor flickering as she sent out a signal across the ‘net to Mt. Coronet City, the VGU there receiving it and sending a message to her mistress.  The petit woman frowned, tapping her foot nervously as she debated internally what to do. 

    Finally, she sighed, giving up, and decided to just tell him, having her own VGU open the connection, but only an audio one, and to send a message to four others stating simply “It’s time.” 

    “Hello Vince,” Dixie said. 

    Vince blinked, staring at the AUDIO ONLY screen on the monitor.  “Dixie.  What the fuck is this?  Why only audio?” 

    Dixie sighed, running a hand through her long brown hair.  “Because I really don’t have the desire to look at you right now.  We have a problem, Vince.” 

    Vince frowned.  “What, then?  You know you can talk to me about anything, Dix,” he said. 

    “…I appreciate what you’ve done for me since my daughter was killed.  But this is too important.  It needs everyone here.” 

    Vince stared at the screen warily.  “By everyone…”

    “I mean Teddy, Eric, Paul, and Russo,” Dixie said.

    Vince chuckled nervously.  “Uh oh.  Am I in trouble?” he teased.

    “Yes,” she said, stunning Vince into silence. 

    Vince blinked, staring at her.  “What’s this about, Dix?”

    “It’s about Chronos, Mac Daddy,” said Russo, the smug, arrogant face of the WAPL’s representative in the Blood League.

    Vince scowled.  The Chronos Organization was the longtime enemy of Vince McMahon.  They were supporters of Vince’s father’s regime, which was so anti-Pokégirl that it made Amethyst and Indigo look like they adored Pokégirls.  After Vince and his allies had overthrown and killed his father, Vince needed to make an alliance with Sanctuary just to keep his father’s old allies, two of which had gone on to form Chronos, from taking over in his father’s place. 

    The worst part about Chronos is that they were actually competent. Unlike the vast majority of Teams out there, they were organized, efficient, and seemingly untraceable.  No one had been able to find them.  All that was known is that their leaders, the husband and wife team of Erik Lensherr and Maria Kintobor, were brilliant strategists, who had never suffered a clear defeat in all the years of their war with the McMahons.  They ran two front teams, Team Galactic in Capital and Team Aqua in Ocean.  Chronos’s goal was nothing less than the utter destruction of the Capital League and all those associated with them. 

    Soon after came Teddy Long’s face, the bald-headed black man’s vaguely cuddly demeanor clouded by sadness.  After that was Eric Bischoff, the white-haired man’s normally mischievous expression dead serious.  Finally came the last, Paul Heyman.  His vaguely potato-shaped face was set in an uneasy frown. 

    Vince’s eye twitched.  He gulped hard, forcing himself to calm down.  “What the hell is this?  What’s going on?!” 

    “Vince…” Eric started, “…Ah hell, this just doesn’t feel right.” 

    “Eric…  What’s all this about?” 

    “It’s about Team Aqua, Vince.  Or rather, the Chronos Organization.  YOUR ENEMIES,” Dixie said.

    Russo shook his head.  “You know what they almost did to the Blood League, Mac Daddy.  You know what they did to Dixie’s daughter, to an entire FARM ISLAND.” 

    Vince growled.  “I would like to take this time to point out that the Team Magma incident was ninety percent YOUR FAULT, Russo!”

    “Not.  The.  Point.  Vince,” Dixie said. 

    “They’ve already made inroads into two other Leagues, Vince,” Teddy said, “We gotta think about our own people.” 
   
    Vince shook his head.  “This is insane,” he said, “What are you talking about?” 

    Paul frowned.  He looked like he wanted to say something, but shook his head and keep silent.  Eric spoke up instead.  “We’re talking about the complete and total dissolution of the World Alliance of Pokégirl Leagues.”

    Vince’s blood ran cold.  “What… No…” he said, shaking his head. 

    Dixie’s voice was angry.  “It’s you they want, Vince.  Not us.  They’ve already nearly taken an entire League.  It was LUCK that we were able to get away at all, and only because of the fact that the idiots managed to get Jenova and Zalera’s attention that we were able to drive them out.  On top of that, my daughter was killed when they SANK ONE OF THE FARM ISLANDS IN OCEAN.  An entire island of food supply was SUNK.  GONE FOREVER.” 

    “You can’t blame that on me!” Vince snarled, “NONE OF US knew what they were doing until it was far too late to act!”

    “It’s more than that, Vince,” Eric said, “Paul and I have discovered evidence that Chronos is starting to establish territory in our Leagues.  After everything they’ve done, all the atrocities they’ve committed, we can’t risk them trying to do the same to our own leagues.”

    “Guys… Don’t do this!  We can beat them!  We CAN!  We defeated my father, overthrew his terrorism.” 

    Paul spoke up finally.  “Nature abhors a vacuum, Vince.  Your father was gone, and as bad as he was something worse showed up.  How do you know someone worse that Chronos wouldn’t show up after they were gone?” 

    “This is quitter talk.  You can’t do this to me.  NOT AFTER EVERYTHING WE’VE BEEN THROUGH!” Vince said, visibly panicking now. 

    “I’m sorry, Vince,” Teddy said.

    “I’m not!” Russo almost sang.

    “Shut.  Up.  Russo,” chorused Teddy, Eric, Vince, Paul, and Dixie.

    There was a long moment of silence, Vince just staring into the eyes of his longtime friends, his mind blanking at this sudden betrayal. 

    “Please…” Vince said, his voice soft and meek, “Don’t do this… I need you guys…” 

    Finally, Eric shook his head.  “I’m sorry Vince,” he said, “It'll take a couple weeks to work out all the political ramifications, but for all intents and purposes, the WAPL is no more."

    “Shipments of food will continue,” Dixie said, “It’s just that it will not be under the banner of the WAPL.  We cannot afford the political association.” 

    “Goodbye, Vince,” Teddy said, “It was both an honor and a pleasure to work with you.” 

    The monitors shut off, leaving Vince in the darkened room, staring numbly at the screen.  His fists were tightly clenched and shaking violently, his teeth grating as his fury rose higher and higher, until…

    “FUCK!!!” he screamed, throwing a heavy book at the monitor, which just bounced off, “FUCK FUCK FUCK!!!”  Vince rampaged around the room, throwing whatever he could get his hands on.  His frustration was boiling over, the combination of losing the WAPL and other frustrations that had occurred up to this point making him loose his composure.  D69, worried, retracted her lifedisk into the computer, just in case Vince’s temper tantrum got fierce enough to actually damage something important. 

    Vince, after several minutes of smashing whatever he could get his hands on, collapsed in the center of the room, panting heavily. 

    D69 reappeared on the monitor, giving her employer a worried look.  She was worried herself.  Chronos had been making dangerous headway into Capital League territory, and Vince had been hoping for help from the rest of the WAPL.  To have the WAPL suddenly stop existing…

    “Sir?” the VGU asked, “Is there anything I can do?” 

    Vince sat there for a moment, sighing.  “No, Dee… Just be good to your Tamer tonight, all right?  Withdraw to your primary lifedisk.” 

    The VGU bit her lip.  “Sir, you have an incoming call…”

    Vince groaned softly, and went over to his desk.  “From who?”

    “Gendo Giovanni, sir.  He said he had an appointment?”

    Vince’s head thumped down to his desk.  “Oh great… Let him through,” Vince sighed.

    “Yes sir,” D69 said.

    Gendo’s image appeared on the wall-sized monitor.  He looked around, smirking.  “Bad day?”

    “Make it quick, Gendo,” Vince said.

    Gendo nodded.  “It seems there’s no need for the usual scathing banter between us, then,” he said, chuckling, “I’ll come right to the point: This is about inter-League import taxes…”

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Much Later…
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    Two figures came into the room.  One was a slender woman clad in black, her face weathered with age, black streaks in her graying hair.  A glowing tattoo was on her face.  The other was a tall, wiry man in black khaki pants and a black dress shirt. 

    The slender woman frowned upon seeing Vince laying his head down on his desk, muttering under his breath. 

    “Okay.  I don’t need my second sight to know what something very bad happened today,” she said, “What, precisely, happened?” 

    Vince looked up, blinking.  “Oh, hello Linda, hello Shane,” Vince said to his wife and son, “Giovanni’s demanding higher import/export taxes.  Oh!  And the WAPL just disbanded.”

    Linda and Shane traded shocked looks.  “W-WHAT!?” Shane said, “They… The entire alliance?”

    Vince nodded.  “Chronos staking out territory in the North got them all spooked, apparently.  They’re worried about their own Leagues being invaded and backed out.” 

    Shane swore violently.  “Damn it, they were your friends!  This is flat out betrayal!”

    Linda shook her head.  “No,” she said sadly, “They had their reasons.  We just have to be ready to deal with things on our own now.” 

    Shane scowled.  “Mom, we all know how dangerous Chronos is.  We need back up of some kind.  The Legendaries are unreliable and no offense, but Sanctuary gives me the creeps.” 

    Linda shook her head.  “None taken.  I have NEVER trusted Sanctuary, even after I became a Sanctuary Goth myself.” 

    Vince sighed.  “Is there anything else?  I really need some time alone to think about our next move…” 

    Linda smiled weakly.  “Unfortunately, there is something.  Professor Stroak has requested Shane’s presence in supervising something important.” 

    Shane shook his head angrily and then sighed.  “Yeah.  He wouldn’t go into details, but I think it involved evolution stones.  I wanted to drop in and let you know what I was doing before I left.”

    “Joy,” Vince muttered, “Anything else?”

    “The Kunos want us to stop by their Ranch in Indigo.  I’ve already cleared the flight manifests,” Linda said, “I think they want to talk about selling evolution stones and e-medals through Titan Taming Inc.” 

    Vince frowned.  “You know how I feel about them, Linda.” 

    Linda shrugged.  “It couldn’t hurt just to go see them.  Also, I think we should bring Stephanie and Triple H with us.” 

    Vince blinked, and scowled.  “You sense something?” 

    Linda shook her head, frowning.  “Something just feels… off… Like a major event is about to happen.  I cannot see it fully… I’d feel better if we had Triple H’s powerful harem with us, as well as Stephanie’s magics to bolster my own.  Plus, I feel like Shane’s mission and our own are related somehow…” 

    Vince frowned.  “…All right.  Contact Steph and Trips, tell them their vacation is off.  We might as well do this.  No sense in hiding from whatever’s coming.  Shane?  Good luck on your trip, and be careful.  Stroak’s all right, but he’s a bit of a kook.  ” 

    Shane snickered.  “A bit?  You’re feeling generous today?”

    Vince rolled his eyes, and stood up to start reorganizing his desk.  “If nothing else, I really don’t feel my week could get any worse.” 

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Ocean League…
Mt. Coronet Island…
Dixie Carter’s Office…
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    Dixie stared at the monitor for several minutes.  She then removed a small crystal from her desk.  She locked all her doors and concentrated, the crystal glowing as it contacted its counterpart far away. 

    The crystal began glowing, showing a shadowy, cloaked image. 

    “It’s done.  There’s still political things to take care of before it’s official, but for all relevant intents and purposes, the WAPL is finished,” she said.

    The cloaked figure nodded.  “Good, Mrs. Carter, good… You’ve done well,” she said.

    “I don’t like this,” Dixie said, “Vince has been good to me.  When my daughter was killed and Team Aqua sunk the farm island she was on, he was one of the first that supported me.” 

    “Sometimes we must do things that weigh on our conscience, Mrs. Carter,” said the voice, distorted by the magic of the sphere, “Vince McMahon’s attention must remain fully focused on Chronos while my own operations are put into place.  Which reminds me… Will any of the others give us trouble?” 

    “Russo most likely won’t.  He’s been on bad terms with Vince ever since the Team Magma incident that nearly cost us the Blood League.  Teddy is devoted to the protection of White Lotus and will keep to that place.  He feared the consequences of Chronos making inroads to White Lotus the most.  Eric and Paul we’ll probably have to watch.  Eric and Vince have been friends the longest, and Paul… He’s wily enough and nuts enough that he might still be an issue.  Both of them were very unhappy about this, but I managed to convince them to go along with this for now.” 

    “Hnh… Well, if all goes as planned, by the time my plans are complete, it won’t matter,” the cloaked woman said. 

    “And you’ll keep your end of the bargain?” Dixie asked. 

    “Of course, my dear,” the cloaked woman said, “I will give you an Ebony Stone.  Once you become one of us, you will be able to take vengeance for your lost daughter.  You’ll be able to make ALL of those who dare put themselves above you pay for your pain.” 

    Dixie looked over at the picture of her daughter, and smiled wanly.  “That would be nice… That would be SO nice…” She turned back to the crystal.  “I thank you, my lady Valiant.” 

THE BEGINNING…