Chapter 1 – The signs.
The Undertaker had known for some time the day would come, he just didn't think it would have happened as soon as it did. Yet, nonetheless it wasn't shocking to him when Kane finally struck him down and left him in a state of rest, what troubled the Undertaker the fact that Kane had exceeded him so quickly. He wasn't able to come to terms with it at first. However accepted the fact that his younger brother was sick and tired of his shadow.
"You have no idea what you've done little brother" Taker muttered to himself one night. "You have opened the gates of hell, and not even I can help you through them"
Taker's comments didn't go unnoticed when he heard someone enter the locker room. His guard went up as Taker turned and nearly came to blows with Matt Hardy.
Hardy's hands went up in an instant as he explained he wasn't there to cause trouble. Slowly, the Undertaker backed down until he came to rest on a near by bench. "What's happened to you?" Matt asked. It would bring one onto thin ice with the Undertaker should they question his state of mind or lack there of. However the Undertaker looked up at Matt.
"You tell me, you got a little brother of your own"
Matt sat down next to the Deadman, a moment he never would have expected, Matt Hardy had a common interest with the Undertaker. "I have never seen Kane like this, not even when he and I came to blows. He's changed ever since he won the title. But the question remains is why now of all times?"
Taker knew what Matt meant, why strike out of all the other time he could have. But he knew, he knew too damn well. "Kane wasn't out to prove anything to anyone but me. Anyone could come out and strike me after a match or a feud I laid to rest, but he figured it would prove to not only himself, but others that he could take me down without someone else doing the dirty work for him"
Matt nodded his head. "Out to prove his worth. But how is he doing everything that you normally do?"
Taker fell silent to the question. He knew, but Hardy wasn't ready to learn the truth. Not to mention, who is to say Matt wouldn't be tempted by the darkside? He had been before, yet his life in the shadows didn't last long. "Another time Hardy Boy, but for now. I have to make plans for Kane. He has no idea what he has stepped into, and I don't even think I can get him out of it, even if he wants my help down the road"
"What do you mean by that? What exactly has Kane done to best you at your own game?"
Taker turned to Matt. His eyes locked onto the Hardy Boy as he said very slowly. "Kane has become me. A deadman walking"