Chapter 1
Matt stood in the ring with the microphone in his hand. He drew it to his mouth as the crowd began to boo before he even spoke. The crowd knew that Matt would begin a rant that would burn their ears. He had successfully turned his brother into an obsolete mule and now, they were the tag team champions. Jeff was unrecognizable. His spirit was obviously broken and the fire that once burned in his eyes was now a fixed, deaden stare. Jeff no longer wore his bright colored ring attire or had any color streaks in his hair. Matt was the vocal mouthpiece now, Jeff just followed orders that Matt and Reby set into motion. This was a completely different form of Jeff than the fans had ever seen before. Broken Matt Hardy had transformed Jeff into the obsolete Brother Nero. Matt continued to cut his promo about how Decay would not win the tag team titles from the brothers tonight, or any other night. Matt walked over towards the turnbuckle and released the protective covering from the post as he spoke. Jeff showed no emotion to anything that Matt said. He just stood there looking unconcerned with anything. In reality Jeff, like the fans, just wanted Matt to shut up.
Suddenly,there was a static feedback cutting Matt's microphone off. The crowd began to murmur wondering what was going on. Matt was screaming at Jeff to find out what was going on. Jeff shrugged his shoulders unsure of the reason for the power outage, but appricated the moment of silence from Matt's ranting. The lights cut off as an unknown song began to fill the arena. Lights lit up the stage as a slender figure appeared at the top of the ramp. The crowd began to cheer as a familiar face was now visable. Matt stood in the ring in disbelief as he screamed at Jeff to look away.
The lights came back on in the arena as the figure stood on at the top of the ramp. Her long golden brown hair hung around her face and seemed to glitter as the lights hit it. Jeff stared at her in disbelief as she began walking towards the ring. She smiled as she walked, greeting the fans as she passed. Matt was irate as she walked around the ring and went to the announce table to grab a microphone.
"Brother Nero! Look away! Look away!" he screamed as she climbed into the ring and started approaching the brothers.
She laughed into the microphone as she drew it to her lips. "Matt, you never liked not having control did you?" she laughed.
Matt attempted to talk into the microphone but his wasn't working.
"Yeah, I think we've all heard enough of your mouth for one night." She laughed looking into the crowd. "Am I right?!"
The crowd began to cheer and chant her name. Jeff looked down at the ring. His heart was beating so hard he felt almost in pain. He couldn't look at her face, but her voice pulled at his heart strings. Matt was wild screaming for a working microphone.
"I see you guys are tag team champs again." she said pointing the the belt resting on Matt's shoulder. He beamed as he patted the gold proudly. "You guys were like tag champs years ago too right? Back when we all were together. Before you sabatoged Jeff right?" she asked cooly.
Matt's face was bright red now as she stared at Jeff, who wouldn't make eye contact. She walked closer to Jeff. He was uneasy with her prescence. "Jeff," she said softly. "Jeff Hardy!" she screamed after he refused to make eye contact. "What has he done to you?!" she screamed with pain filling her voice. "You aren't broken, obsolete, a mule, or whatever else this psycho had put into your head!" she screamed pointing at Matt. "Jeff, look at me!" she screamed, tears filling her eyes.
"He won't do anything I don't want him to do." Matt laughed as his microphone was working now. He looked at her with a glare as he smiled at her pain.
"Jeff..." her voice pleaded.
"His name in Brother Nero... and he only listens to me." Matt sneared.
She was getting frustrated. Her voice was starting to crack as she looked at Jeff, the man she had loved for years, as he stood there refusing to look at her. Her face was hot.
"Just run on home, back to whatever rock you crawled from under and never come back." Matt laughed at her as he gestured towards the ramp.
"Jeff, you're not obsolete. You are amazing! You are a champion but your brother is holding you back! He always has! He can't do it on his own so he has you believing these crazy lies so you won't leave him aside. The only championship he can have is the tag titles with you by his side." she screamed. She was standing right in front of him. "Look at me!" she screamed.
Jeff wanted to look at her. He listened to her words. He just couldn't face her.
"Look at me!" she screamed again. When he refused to look in her direction, she slapped him hard across the face.
"I told you..." Matt laughed as he watched Jeff hold his cheek but still hadn't reacted to her at all.
"Matt, you are an evil person! You always have been!" she screamed. "You've always been jealous of baby brother. Everyone loves Jeff! He's a better wrestler, a better person, and a better man than you could ever be and it tears you up inside!" she screamed as she began hitting Matt.
Jeff was holding the bridge of his nose. Her words were ringing in his ears. He looked up as she was pushing Matt.
"Go home!" Matt spat at her.
She turned back towards Jeff, who didn't look away this time. Her electric green eyes caught his and they stared at each other for a few seconds. She smiled. "I love you..." she said softly.
Matt grabbed her arm and pushed her into the turnbuckle. She slammed the post hard and fell to the mat holding her face. Matt signaled Jeff to leave the ring but he didn't budge. He stood, unmoving, looking at her. Her eyes caught his as she began to sit up. Blood was running down her face from hitting the exposed turnbuckle. Jeff felt a fire burning in his chest as he charged his brother and began attacking him. The crowd cheered as Matt ran away from the ring in a fit of rage knowing that his spell on Jeff was broken.
Jeff was screaming at Matt as Matt quickly ran away from the ring. The crowd was cheering as Jeff went towards her and bent down next to her. "I'm sorry..." he whispered as he offered his hand towards her. "Hazel, I love you."
They embraced tightly in the middle of the ring. Jeff leaned down and kissed her on the lips. It felt like it'd been forever since she'd been in his arms. Hazel looked at him after they had broken apart from the kiss. His eyes were sparkling, and had life again. She smiled at him.
"I will always come back for you." she whispered.