As nighttime came around once again, the Undertaker rushed along the rooftops of the city, his only fixation being his destination and his mission.
He had very little in the way of leads, and even less information on his new opponent. He needed to find someone with answers. However, since the original Mankind was dead, the Undertaker would not able to ask him about his protégé. But there was someone who had been closely associated with Mankind who would know something. The idea of going to this man for help did not appeal to the Undertaker at all, but he was out of options and out of time. Whatever this new Mankind was planning, it was going to do down soon, and the Undertaker was determined to put a stop to it before it resulted in the loss of innocent life. That meant going to one of the few very people with more knowledge than him regarding Mankind.
That meant going to Paul Bearer…
…and beating some answers out of him.
To say that the history between the Undertaker and Bearer was horrific would be a major understatement. The Undertaker hated Paul Bearer with everything that he was. There were few people on this Earth who had taken more from him (and Mark) than Bearer, and if the Undertaker had his way, Paul would be festering in an unmarked grave in the middle of the desert.
But Bearer had employed a time-honored tactic in order to save his own ass. He had hidden in plain sight. He had made himself a public figure, known to just about everyone in the city.
Paul Bearer has become a businessman, owning and running several business, both large and small, both legal and illicit, and was a huge name in the city. He was featured in magazines and newspapers, but no one had a single clue as to his true nature. No one except the Undertaker, that is. Only the Undertaker knew of the blood on Paul Bearer's hands. Only the Undertaker the nature of Paul's most heinous crimes, and they paled in comparison to any human's worst imaginings. Paul deserved a punishment far worse than death, and it pained the Undertaker that he was not able to administer it.
For doing so would bring all kinds if unwanted attention down on the Undertaker, attention that he could not afford nor endure. So until he could find a way to get Bearer out of the public spotlight, he would have to allow him to keep his pathetic life.
As it stood, now Bearer could prove himself useful. At least now there was some reason for Bearer to be alive.
The Undertaker was nearing Paul Bearer's casino the Golden Urn, where he was throwing a huge gala in order to keep his benevolent business image. All the Undertaker needed to do was get Bearer alone, and he would force whatever answers Bearer had out of him. Painfully, if need be.
The thought of "having" to torture Bearer brought a rare smile to the Undertaker's lips.
'Taker landed on the roof of the casino, then made his way down through one of the air vents. He punched his way through the first air duct he came to, and then leapt down into a long hallway. The Undertaker quickly made his way to Paul Bearer's office. He knew the layout well, as he had been here multiple times to confront Bearer on any number of his criminal activities. If he was lucky, Bearer would already be in his office. If he wasn't, then he would have to wait for him. And if he was really unlucky, then Bearer would have security with him, which would necessitate a lot of noise. And a lot of attention.
The Undertaker was almost to Bearer's office, keeping a watch on any security guards that might be roaming the halls. On such an important occasion, most of the security would be downstairs protecting Bearer, with only a few of them guarding the rest of the building. The Undertaker would be able to easily dispatch the guards upstairs, but if Bearer alerted the heavier security, 'Taker was going to have a major fight on his hands.
The Undertaker crept around the corner leading to Bearer's office, watching as a security guard strolled away from the double doors, walking down to the opposite side of the hall. The Undertaker waited for the guard to drop out of sight before he sprinted to the doors and entered Bearer's office. It was empty, so the Undertaker went to the desk and turned on to the security feed on Bearer's computer. He now had access to all the cameras in the building, including the ones in the main lobby, where Bearer was shaking hands with the city's political figures and celebrities. The Undertaker could make out the two bodyguards shadowing him, and there were several more bodyguards in various places around the room.
The Undertaker hit a button on the intercom next to Bearer's computer, and saw one of Bearer's bodyguards to touch his earpiece.
"What is it?" a gruff voice barked from the intercom.
"We have a situation in the upstairs office" the Undertaker responded, taking care to raise his voice a bit so as to keep his recognizable baritone from the guard's attention. "We need Mr. Bearer to come upstairs. It's a personal matter."
"What kind of matter? Mr. Bearer is busy."
"Trust me, Mr. Bearer will want to handle this personally. It concerns an "old friend" of his."
"What kind of "friend"?" the guard asked.
"Just tell him to get up here. He needs to handle this himself."
"Fine. I'll ask him."
The Undertaker watches as the bodyguard touched Bearer on the shoulder, and the two exchanged words. Bearer made a motion with his hands, then two of the bodyguards headed upstairs, while Bearer's bodyguards stayed with him. The Undertaker turned off the computer, then made got himself out of sight as the two guards entered the office and searched around.
"I don't see anyo…" one of the guards started. Then the Undertaker grabbed him from behind and slammed him into the wall. The other guards went to raise his firearm, but the Undertaker was too fast. In an instant, he had crosses the room, wrenched the gun out of the guard's grasp, then grasped his throat. With his other hand, the Undertaker held the guard's gun to his head.
"Tell Bearer to get his ass up here! NOW!" the Undertaker barked.
The guard fumbled for his earpiece. "T-t-t-elll B-b-bearer to…"
"Keep that stammer out of your voice!" the Undertaker yelled.
"Tell Bearer he needs to get up here, right now."
"Alright, he's on his way. But this had better be good. This is an important function" the downstairs bodyguard responded.
The guard clicked off his earpiece, and then the Undertaker knocked him out.
He could now hear the footsteps as more of the bodyguards headed upstairs. The Undertaker turned on the computer again to make sure that Bearer was with them. Bearer was in the middle of a four-guard entourage that was quickly making its way to the office. The Undertaker rushed to the doors, making it just as the guards reached it. He yanked open the doors, grabbed Paul Bearer by the shirt, and threw him back into the office before the guards had time to register that there was an intruder. The Undertaker slammed the doors shut, then wrapped his chain around the handles to keep the doors closed. He could hear the guards banging on the doors, barking orders into their earpieces as he made his way back to the terrified Bearer, who was frantically scurrying away from the Undertaker.
The Undertaker picked up Bearer by his shirt and lifted him up. Bearer tried to speak, but the Undertaker cut him off.
"Someone tried to take me out a couple of days ago, someone dressed like Foley! What do you know?" the Undertaker yelled.
"I don't know what you're talking…" Bearer started.
"Don't lie to me! What do you know?"
"I swear, I don't know…"
The Undertaker slammed Paul Bearer into his desk.
"I'm going to ask you one last time! WHAT? DO? YOU? KNOW?"
The Undertaker could see the terror in Bearer's eyes as he finally caved in.
"Someone came to me a couple months ago!" he squealed. "He asked me to sell him all of Foley's old stuff. His mask, his costume, his weapons, all of it. He had money! Lots of it!"
"Go on!" the Undertaker demanded.
"He wanted information about Mankind. Told me he was going to take you out! Once and for all! How could I not!"
The Undertaker suddenly noticed that Bearer's fear was now gone. It had now been replaced by sheer evil as Bearer continued to rant. Laughing maniacally.
"I even sold him some of my new ones! I didn't know what I was going to do when you killed Foley. After all, he was my weapon against you. But then, he appeared. He was the answer to my prayers!"
"Who was? What was his name? What does he want with me?" the Undertaker demanded, but Bearer continued his rant as if he had not heard him.
"He was all too eager to replace Foley as my weapon! He hated you as much as Foley did, as much as I do. Hell, maybe even more! I taught him all the tricks! I taught him all the plans! I gave him all the notes! He's every bit the maniac that Foley was! He'll succeed where Foley failed! He will deliver us the end of the Undertaker!"
"A NAME, BEARER! I WANT A NAME! WHO IS HE?" the Undertaker bellowed, as he heard the guards banging against the doors, trying to break the doors down. It sounded as though they were close to succeeding.
"It doesn't matter what his name is!" Bearer screeched. "You'll get to meet him soon enough! After all, he knows everything about you!"
"GODDAMN IT, BEARER! HIS NAME!"
The guards were about to breach the door. The Undertaker didn't have a lot of time.
"Oh, he knows all about you, Calaway! He knows your enemies! He knows your powers! He knows your life!"
"What! You didn't…" the Undertaker started, but deep in his soul, he already knew…
"Ohhh, yes! He knows where you work! He knows where you live! He knows about you little girlfriend, Mar…"
SMASH!
The bodyguards had made it through the doors and were now opening fire on the Undertaker.
The Undertaker launched Paul Bearer into the incoming guards and made his way to the big windows overlooking the city. As he smashed through them, he could hear Bearer scream one last thing amidst the hail of gunfire.
"He will kill you, Deadman! Copeland will succeed where Foley failed! He will kill you!"
That was the last statement ringing in the Undertaker's ears as he sailed out the window and down to the streets below. The guards were still firing as the Undertaker spread his cape and began to glide the rest of the way down, hearing the bullets whizzing past him as he sailed like a giant bad through the midst of skyscrapers.
Soon, he couldn't hear the bullets anymore.
All he could hear were the last statements that Paul Bearer had said to him.
The Undertaker now realized that he was in a lot more trouble than he had earlier believed…
TO BE CONTINUED…
