(April 26th 1999, that was the day he knew. That was the day he would look back on everyday after.)
The air in the arena was chilled that night, more so than on a usual Monday night Raw event. It was made that way to add some sort of ambience for the special ceremony between himself and the million dollar princess. The lights had been dimmed to an even lower hue than normal as well so that when the shadowed blue lights indicating his and the ministry of darkness' arrival turned on the whole place would be bathed in a setting straight out of an Edgar Allen Poe poem.
Mark Calloway had to admit that Vince McMahon had put a hell of a lot of thought into the backdrop for this part of the storyline. And as much as he didn't care for the guy he would have to admit that he was impressed by his creative idea. Although the man using his own nineteen year old daughter in the show did seem a bit wrong.
Stephanie McMahon was absolutely nothing like her spot light hungry father. No she was more like her mother who preferred to stay behind the scenes. And she was a hell of a lot smarter than either of her parents gave her credit for.
Mark had never really spent anytime with the woman before Vince suggested adding her into the MOD story. Oh, he had seen her over the years of course. After all he had been with the WWF company since 1990. At twenty five years old he made is debut as a brand new kind of wrestler and his made up image went over with the fans like a huge bang. It was the same night as his debut that he first laid eyes on nine year old Stephanie. At the time Mark had paid no mind to the little girl who ran around backstage listening to the older wrestlers tell her tales of the good old days in the business. No at the time she was just simply the new bosses lil girl.
Then somehow slowly over the last ten years he would find himself seeing the bosses lil girl not just backstage at shows but at signings and board meetings. Whenever he would pass her in a hallway and she smiled at him and whispered a low hello he would very politely nod his head in response. But still he never went out of his way to get to know her. It seemed he never had a reason too.
But that was before Backlash.
That was before the fake kidnapping.
And that was before he had found himself stuck in a hotel room with the woman.
After the whole Backlash event the previous night Mark had found himself rather stuck with Stephanie for a twenty four hour period. That was one aspect of the storyline he hadn't really took into account.
But while being stuck in a two bedrroom suit with her he had actually found himself taking the time to talk to her. Granted of course it had been her instead of him that had started the whole getting to know each other thing. He had simply sat down in the living area planning on watching some late night tv when it became very clear that Stephanie had other ideas.
At first he did not know what to think when she took a seat right across from him and pulled out a deck of cards asking if he preferred five card poker or spades with a slight smile.
It was the smile that got him.
And for some unknown reason he had spent most of the night playing cards with the bosses lil girl, whom by the time dawn broke he realized was not so little anymore.
And standing behind the curtain at the right hand side of the stage watching her being carried out on the giant undertaker symbol he can't seem to stop from thinking how vulnerable she appears. But that like the cold air and dimmed lights just helps with the act.
Taking one last look at the monitor in front of him Mark steps out from behind the curtain and begins walking down the ramp towards the ring as his alter ego The Undertaker. The crowd of fans surrounding the arena scream and shout as the act plays out before their eyes. The shocked gasps when pallbearer begins the ceremony almost causes him to break character and smile. How he manages to keep his cold demeanor in place is a miracle. But he never falters in his act and the show moves on perfectly like planned. The ministry throws Ken Shamrock from the ring after his fake rescue and Mark himself takes the big show down just like they practiced two days earlier. And then he pretends to lose and run away from Stone Cold.
As Stone Cold frees Stephanie from the metal symbol Mark stands behind the curtain once again watching the monitors. Only this time he feels a longing for someone he knows he can never have.