Good and Evil

It was Sara Calaway, Mark's wife and Angel of God. She stood like a statue on the guardrail in the balcony area staring at the god-like war that was raging in the ring between Kane and the Undertaker.

Damian stared angrily at her from the entranceway as another thunderclap shook the arena. "You're too late, Angel!" he shouted to her. "Mark is mine! Soon, Kane will be mine again as well! Stay out of it!"

Sara only moved her eyes to shift her glance from her husband and his brother to the Lord of Hell. The two of them locked eyes and stared at one another intensely. After a little more than a minute, Sara stepped forward off the railing and glided gracefully with her arms outstretched to either side of her to the arena floor, never once breaking eye contact with Damian.

Back in the back area, Aurora moved forward and raised her guard. A look of serious determination marked her face as she sized Tajiri up. "(Are you ready?)" asked Tajiri.

"(I am,)" replied Aurora as she wiped the rest of the blood off of her face and bowed her head respectfully. "(You aren't going to try that yellow mist shit with me are you?)"

"(Maybe,)" responded Tajiri as he returned her bow. "(So long as you don't try that Grip of the Damned bit with me, we'll be fine.)"

"(So you want a pure test of strength and athleticism then?)" asked Aurora as her eyes flashed green and she put up her guard.

"(Please,)" said Tajiri as his eyes flashed blue.

"(You make the first move,)" said Aurora.

"(Ladies first,)" answered Tajiri.

Back in the arena, Sara walked around the ring to approach Damian. No one, not even her husband, who was less than ten feet from her, realized that she was even there. The only person who seemed to know about her presence was Damian. "End this, Damian," ordered Sara once she had reached the other end of the entranceway.

"Like this?" Damian asked as his eyes flashed green and he waved his arm in a grand gesture. Instantly, everyone in the arena, in the back area, and in the ring froze in place. "If you want to speak privately with me, you have but to ask."

Sara frowned and her eyes flashed blue. She didn't like Damian's little display of power. "Let Mark and Kane go!" she ordered.

"Let them go?" asked Damian condescendingly. "How do you mean? Like this?"

With that, Damian waved his arm again and Mark and Kane resumed their battle. Sara turned her head to look at her husband and saw the Undertaker kick Kane in the ribs then back suplex him to the mat. Damian then waved his arm again and Mark and Kane froze in place again. "Is that what you meant?" he asked her.

"You know what I meant," said Sara as her eyes flashed blue in anger.

"Actually I'm rather fond of Mark," said Damian plainly. "I think I'll keep him."

Sara seethed with hate. "Then what will it take?" she asked him, barely containing her anger. "What do you want?"

"You're seriously serious aren't you?" asked Damian in genuine surprise.

"I am," said Sara.

"Make me an offer."

"I have nothing you could want!"

"Well, if you have nothing, then I guess I'll just keep Mark."

"No! Wait! You have something in mind, say it."

"A fight. Plain and simple. You win, you get Mark. And Kane, if you so desire. But if I win, I get you, both brothers, and everyone else here in the arena."

Sara sighed in defeat, knowing full well that she had no choice but to play Damian's game, and that she stood little chance of winning. "Very well," she said.

"Excellent," said Damian with a smile as his eyes flashed green. "Oh, and one more thing."

"What?" asked Sara.

Damian waved his arm and once more Mark and Kane came to life and continued their bout in the ring. "If Mark wins his match before we resolve our little conflict," added Damian. "Then I still win."

"Well if that's how you're going to play," said Sara. "Then if Kane wins, so do I."

"Agreed," said Damian with a smile that showed his elongated lateral and canine teeth. "Though I think the odds are more in my favor."

"We'll see about that," said Sara as she raised her guard and her eyes flashed blue.

"We shall indeed," said Damian as his eyes flashed green. "Think fast, Angel."

In the blink of an eye Damian gestured forth his hand and a swirling green ball of energy leapt from his fingertips straight at Sara. Sara barely had enough time to raise her hands to guard herself from Damian's attack. When the ball of energy hit her hands, Sara's eyes flashed blue and the energy was absorbed into her. Then she gestured out towards Damian and sent his own attack right back at him. Damian's eyes widened in disbelief when he saw Sara do this. Just as the ball was about to strike him, Damian's eyes flashed green and he caught the ball in his left hand. Then he squeezed his hand shut and snuffed out the ball of energy. With a smile, he blew into his hand and green smoke merely wafted away from him. "Tricky, Angel," said Damian.

Back in the back area, Aurora held her hand out to Tajiri in a gesture that indicated she wanted to face-off with him in a battle of reflexes. Tajiri moved closer and put the back of his hand against hers. "(Ready?)" asked Tajiri.

"(Ready,)" replied Aurora. "(Let me know if this tickles.)"

"(Okay,)" said Tajiri as his eyes flashed blue and he punched her in the mouth. "(Nope, it doesn't tickle.)"

Aurora shook her head and worked her tongue along the inside of her mouth. "(Wise-ass!)" she hissed at him as her eyes flashed green.

Tajiri just smiled and put his hand out. "(Again?)" he said as he continued to smile.

"(Again,)" said Aurora as she put the back of her hand to Tajiri's. For a few seconds, the two of them just stared into one another's eyes. Then Tajiri's eyes flashed blue and he went to punch Aurora in the mouth again. However, this time Aurora blocked his strike and went for one of her own that connected right with the side of Tajiri's face. Tajiri backed away and shook his head to clear the haze that Aurora's blow had just caused.

"(Very nice,)" he said as he rubbed the side of his face.

"(Thank you,)" replied Aurora.

"(If we weren't enemies,)" said Tajiri. "(I'd almost think I was in love.)"

"(Thank you again,)" said Aurora with a slight smile. "(Though I think we both know that relationships like this usually end in disaster.)"

Sara moved cautiously forward with her guard up, a look of intensity on her face. Damian just stood there amused, not bothering to put up his guard. Sara was afraid of him, and he planned to fully take advantage of the fact. Once they were within arm's reach of one another, Damian finally put his guard up and winked at her. As he expected, Sara's attention was momentarily drawn to this and he took advantage of the fact by delivering a fierce uppercut to her chin. Sara reeled back from the force of his blow and thudded against the ringside barricade. Damian smiled again and moved forward while Sara just leaned against the barricade slightly dazed. However, before he could get to her, Sara recovered her senses enough to move off of the barricade and put more distance between them. She knew she couldn't' beat Damian in a physical fight, and only wanted to get into a fight with him if she had no other choice.

Back in the ring, the Undertaker clotheslined Kane to the mat and stomped on his head twice. Then he grabbed Kane's head and hauled him back to his feet. Kane responded by giving him a quick jab to the jaw and running towards the ropes. Then he bounded off the ropes and gave the Undertaker a clothesline of his own. The Undertaker went nowhere. Seeing this, Kane ran to the ropes again, bounded off them once more, and delivered another, more powerful, clothesline high on the Undertaker's chest. The Undertaker still went nowhere.

Aurora and Tajiri began their own rapid exchange of attacks and blocks. Despite the fact that both had already been involved in some very serious fighting with other opponents, the two of them moved as though they were still fresh. Finally, Aurora managed to score a solid front kick to Tajiri's midsection, followed up immediately by a back spin-kick with the same foot that connected with the side of Tajiri's face, sending him spinning to the ground. Aurora paused in her attack and just stood over Tajiri in a defensive stance.

Sara continued to backpedal while frantically looking behind her. She seemed fearful of either bumping into something, or someone. Damain, on the other hand, continued to move toward her with a purposeful stride and a wicked smile on his face. "Olly olly oxen free," he said in a playful yet sinister tone as his eyes flashed green. "You're wasting what precious little time you have. Mark and Kane's match won't last forever!"

"Mark?" said Sara in a breathless whisper. "Kane? Yes! That's it!"

The Undertaker began a series of brutal punches to Kane's face and midsection. Kane tried his best to cover up, but the Undertaker's blows still furiously hit home. Kane was slowly backed into the corner by the onslaught. Once his back hit the turnbuckle, the Undertaker grabbed him by the arm and short-arm clotheslined him to the mat.

"Mark!" screamed Sara as she continued to retreat from Damian. "Mark, wake up!"

"He can't hear you, Sara," said Damian coldly. "He can't see you either. In fact, he can't detect you with any of his senses. So give it up."

"It'll be a cold day in Hell before I do that!" shouted Sara.

"Have it your way," said Damian as his eyes flashed green.

Aurora took a couple of steps back as Tajiri got back to his feet, careful not to lower her guard. "(You're learning,)" he said as he winked and gave her a thumbs up.

"(Thank you,)" she replied.

Suddenly, Tajiri's eyes flashed blue and he launched into a furious barrage of punches that Aurora was barely able to defend against, followed quickly by a savage back spin kick that caught Aurora square in the chest. The force of his kick sent her flying backwards, causing her to land hard on the concrete and slide several feet along the ground. "(You're welcome,)" he said with a smile.

Damian increased his pace and soon Sara had to resort to actually running. After playing at trying to keep up with her, Damian disappeared in a green flash and instantly reappeared next to her. "Boo!" he said playfully as his eyes flashed green and he grabbed her by her long blonde hair and yanked her head back forcefully. "Nowhere to run, Angel!"

Sara's eyes flashed blue and she punched Damian solidly in the jaw. Damian's head turned and his grip on her hair barely loosened. "Mark!" she screamed as her eyes flashed blue again. "Mark! Help me!"

In the ring, the Undertaker paused for a moment. Kane saw this and took the opportunity to kick the Undertaker in his exposed midsection to double him up. Then he grabbed the Undertaker by the throat. The Undertaker came to his senses and gave Kane a tremendous uppercut that separated the two of them. Kane somehow recovered first and delivered a powerful clothesline. The blow stunned the Undertaker and Kane picked him up and powerslammed him to the mat. Kane then rolled off of him and lay there, breathing heavily. The Undertaker, on the other hand, did the zombie sit up and looked at Kane. His eyes flashed green.

Aurora got back to her feet with some difficulty. Tajiri's eyes flashed blue and he quickly closed the distance between them. "(You killed my friends,)" he said as his eyes flashed blue again. "(Now I'm going to return the favor.)"

Damian's eyes flashed green and he reared back his free hand. "I'm tired of this pathetic attempt, Angel," he said.

"Mark!" Sara screamed again. "Mark! Come back to me!"

Damian's eyes flashed in anger and he delivered an open palm thrust to Sara's nose, bloodying it and causing Sara to see stars. "Mark is MINE!" he said angrily as his eyes flashed green.

Without any hesitation, Tajiri resumed his barrage before Aurora fully had the chance to recover. Once he had softened her up some more, he delivered a staggering overhand punch that dazed Aurora and her guard dropped. He then took a step back and his eyes flashed blue. Then he jumped into the air, spun around, and came down with a well-placed kick to the side of Aurora's knee. Aurora screamed in pain and she dropped to the ground. "(That was for Gail Kim!)" he shouted as his eyes flashed blue. Then he squatted low and squared off. With a bright blue flash of his eyes, he delivered a side thrust kick to the side of her face that shattered her jaw and sent her face-down onto the concrete. "(That was for Molly Holly!)"

He walked over and grabbed a handful of Aurora's hair and hefted her up to her knees. Aurora was helpless now. "(And these are for me!)" he said as his eyes flashed blue one more time. With a forceful front thrust kick, he sent Aurora straight down onto her back. Then he jumped into the air and came down on her face with a savage axe kick. The bones in her face crumpled and she went still. Tajiri was spent and could barely stay on his feet. "(In another life, we could have been friends and allies.)"

The sounds of chaos down at ringside drifted towards him. From what he could tell, it didn't sound good. He turned to make his way to ringside, but his legs gave out after only a couple of steps. "(It's up to you now, Sara,)" he said, his words barely above a gasped whisper. "(I have faith that you'll see it through to the end. Save us. Save us all.)"

Damian palmed Sara in the nose again, this time savagely breaking it. "You shouldn't have made that bet with me," he said as his eyes flashed green. "Now, I get you all."

Sara coughed and spat blood on Damian's face. "It's not over yet," she said, trying her best to be defiant.

"Admirable," said Damian. "But futile, and pathetic."

Damian's eyes turned a solid bright green as he raised his hand menacingly over Sara's head.

"Mark," said Sara as her eyes weakly turned solid blue. "I love you."

Inside the ring, the Undertaker grabbed Kane's arm and twisted it into an armbar. Then he climbed like a cat up the turnbuckles and began walking along the top rope. Once he got to the middle of the top rope, Mark's eyes flashed blue. He let go of Kane, sailed down towards Damian, and slammed into Damian's back with a fierce double axe handle. Damian dropped to one knee and released his grip on Sara, who fell to the ground.

"No!" said Mark as he stood angrily over Damian. "You can't take her from me!"

Damian smiled as he stood up to face Mark. "You stupid sentimental fool!" he hissed, his eyes still furiously burning green. "I've given you everything you ever wanted in this life! Are you ready to give it all up, for her?"

"All of it," said Mark as his eyes flashed blue. "All of it and more."

With that, he grabbed Damian by the throat, hefted him into the air, and chokeslammed him to the floor. Damian gave a short laugh. Mark then picked Damian up by the hair, scooped him up, and held him upside down, ready to deliver the Tombstone Piledriver. "Kane," he said. "Help me with him."

Kane nodded and climbed to the top turnbuckle. "Mark," said Damian as his eyes faded back to normal. "You win. She can have you. But she won't have you forever. Nothing lasts forever."

"I'll take for now with her than forever with you!" he said as he began to deliver the Tombstone Piledriver. As he did, Kane came off the top turnbuckle and assisted Mark by spiking the Tombstone Piledriver. In an instant, Damian's skull impacted on the floor.

In the blink of an eye, everyone and everything was engulfed in a brilliant green flash.

To be continued…