"NOOOOOOO!" Paul Heyman cried in anguish. The powerful magic that Kane had invoked had worked, and walking towards the ring and Brock Lesnar was none other than the almighty Undertaker!
Lawrence Knight stood back in awe. So THIS was the man who had destroyed his mother at Wrestlemania. He looked at Felix Cena-Orton, who looked determined. The Undertaker had looked briefly at Lawrence, but now was fully focused on destroying Brock.
Brock meanwhile looked ropeable. He knew he was in big trouble – the Undertaker in front of him was not the weary old Undertaker that he had defeated so many years ago. This was the Undertaker in his prime, at his most dangerous. He was so powerful, that the only real threats to him were Lawrence and his brothers.
Back at the Barrett Manor, Star was cuddled up to Bad News Barrett, and they were both watching intently. As much as Star wanted to slaughter CM Punk and the entire Nexus, she knew that if she truly wanted the threat to be gone that peace had to be negotiated. Continuing the fight only prolonged the threat to the innocent. The Undertaker had to win, because there was no way Brock would agree to peace.
"You okay Lucky?" Bad News asked softly.
"Yeah." Star lied. Bad News kissed her forehead. "If the Undertaker wins and we finally eliminate the threat...does that mean the nightmares go away?"
"You know the answer to that better than I do Lucky." Bad News looked at her sternly. "You know there's nothing on this planet that can erase what happened."
"You're not making me feel better." Star mumbled.
"I'm not going to lie to you." Bad News replied shortly. "I'm not going to give you false hope."
Star buried her face in his chest.
"You're never going to forget. You'll be going along fine and the memories will pop up at inopportune moments for the rest of your life. I can't change that." Bad News hated saying it, but it had to be said. "All I can do is be here for you. NOTHING will stop me from doing that."
Star peeked up at him.
"W-w-who a-are you?"
"I'm Wade. Wade Barrett. And I'm your new best friend."
"I love you Wade." Star buried her face in his chest again, remembering the first time she'd heard his name.
"I love you too Lucky." Bad News ruffled her hair in the way he'd always done.
The Undertaker was in the ring now, glaring at Brock. He remembered, and he wasn't going to forgive in a hurry. Brock was pacing up and down frantically.
"I'm the Head of the Clan. I'm the Head of Clan." He repeated over and over again. The Undertaker remained silent, focused.
Silence fell around the arena. The only thing anyone could hear was Brock almost pleading. "I'm the Head of Clan. I'm the Head of Clan."
Then the bell rang to start the match.
The Undertaker went on a full assault, for as the old saying goes, "Do NOT make the Undertaker mad." Trust me, the Deadman was FURIOUS. Brock did his best to weather the storm, but the Undertaker was relentless with this strikes.
"This is beautiful." Lawrence admired the carnage from the stage.
"I really worry about you sometimes." Felix raised an eyebrow at him.
Suddenly Brock realized he had nothing to lose. He tackled the Undertaker to the mat and mounted him, pummeling him with strikes of his own. He then got up and picked the Undertaker up for a slam.
"Not good." Motor worried.
"Pfft." Was the response from Team Hell No.
Star watched the television set. She watched the Undertaker and Brock Lesnar trade blows. She knew the Undertaker was toying with him, after all, he'd done it to her.
The Undertaker was merciless. Star tried every counterattack she could think of, but nothing could stop the Phenom. She could hear someone screaming her name, but she couldn't afford to look around and see who it was.
Finally, there was only one thing for it. Star was bruised, battered, broken, but not finished yet. She opened her eyes wide and glared directly into the Deadmans eyes. She felt the familiar pain as she activated Puppet Eyes, she felt the blood run down her face, joining the blood from the cut on her lip.
The Undertaker stopped. For a hopeful split second, Star had thought she had finally won. That she had the all-powerful Phenom under her control.
Then the illusion was shattered. The Undertaker picked the foolish girl up by her collar and slapped her – hard.
She shuddered at the memory, even though she'd faced the Undertaker since then and defeated him easily.
To be fair, it was your own fault you lost. Star smiled to herself. A diet of only honey for months and you expected to be as strong as you were before?
"What are YOU smirking at Missy?" Bad News nudged her.
"Memories." Star replied.
Brock knew he couldn't win fairly. It was time to play dirty. He looked at Paul Heyman and nodded.
"Keep your eyes open." Kane growled, sensing trouble.
Lawrence Knight activated his Future Eyes.
"DAMN!" He growled.
"What?" Felix asked.
"He's going to knock out the referee. The Undertaker HAS to get out of the ring or he's done for and everything we've fought for has been for nothing!" Lawrence rubbed his sore eyes.
"Brother!" Kane cried. "Get out of the ring!"
The Undertaker shoved Brock aside, and glared at Lawrence. For one terrible second, it seemed like the Undertakers pride would stop him from taking the advice of the Misneach.
Then he rolled out of the ring, taking a moment to take out Paul Heyman.
"Nice shot." AJ approved. "Fat jerk."
Brock looked horrified. There was his last chance to cheat and win! There was no point knocking out the referee now, there was no Heyman to help him!
"You tried, and you failed, to lead the Phenom Clan."
Brock froze as the Undertaker spoke to him. He turned to face the Deadman, sweating.
"You allowed former leeches to hurt the Clan. You weakened alliances with the other Clans. You have left the Clan in worse state than I left it to you." The Undertaker continued in his cold, hard voice. "I cannot forget. I cannot forgive. I will take my Clan back until a true leader comes to take my place, for that is the promise I made when I gave my life to lead this Clan.
And you? You WILL...
REST.
IN.
PEACE!"
It happened in a blur of agony for Brock. Old School. Snake Eyes. A Chokeslam. The Last Ride. Finally, a Tombstone Piledriver.
The Undertaker had reclaimed the Phenom Clan, and now it was time for peace.
Lawrence grinned at Randy Orton, who smirked back. Daniel Bryan, Kane, and AJ Lee hugged each other tightly. Felix put a hand on Motors shoulder. John Cena looked like he needed a Bex and a lie down.
The Undertaker looked at the group, and nodded. Kane grinned, and took AJ by the hand.
"Kane?" She asked. "Daniel?"
Daniel pushed her. "Go on."
The group headed down to where the Undertaker stood. Randy and Felix helped AJ into the ring.
The Undertaker nodded. AJ was forced to kneel before him with her back to him.
"I need a Viper, a Misneach, a Barrett and a Grey Goat." He said plainly.
"I'm your Viper." Randy said.
"I'm the Grey Goat." Daniel added.
"I'm both Misneach and Barrett." Lawrence stepped forward.
The Undertaker nodded. Randy and Daniel stood on one side of him, while Lawrence stood to the other. They put their hands on the Undertakers shoulders, and he put his hands on AJs back. She yelped with pain, then she shuddered.
Malachite?
I'M FREE! FREE TO DESTROY ALL THAT IS GOOD AND WONDERFUL IN THIS WORLD! FREE TO INFLICT TERROR ON ALL WHO OPPOSE ME! FREE! FREEEEEEEEEEE!
Well, it's good to see nearly thirty years of being sealed away hasn't changed you one bit. Dork.
AJ felt strength return to her as her demon, Malachite, was freed from the Excommunication Seal.
"And now Team Hell No is back together!" Randy grinned. "And I don't have to put up with your bullshit anymore."
"But Randy!" Kane pretended to look hurt.
"You're one of us!" Daniel pretended to sound hurt.
Randy tried to back away, but AJ blocked his path.
"Forever and ever!" She held out her arms for a hug.
"No. No! NOOOOOOOOOO!" Randy cried as the three members of Team Hell No hugged him. The Undertaker looked disgusted while Lawrence, Felix and John laughed.
Back at the Barrett Manor, Star got up off the sofa and walked to one of the windows that looked out over the Barrett Woods.
"Peace. Finally." She sighed.
"Yes, well, it was bound to happen sooner or later." Bad News stretched out. "It's gonna be boring though."
"Git." Star smirked. She noticed something out of the corner of her eye. "Hmm. Your oldest son is running up the path."
Wade Barrett Jr. had just gotten back from Radaxian where he had been at a function with Esmerelda and Treelo. He looked horrified.
"What's the matter son, you look like the world is about to end!" Bad News offered his son a beer, which the younger man declined.
"Mum, I'm afraid I've got some bad news!" Wade panted. "There's not going to be peace."
"Why not?" Star looked confused.
"Because Hazard just named Stu as the new Head of Clan Misneach!" Wade wailed.
Star groaned as Bad News hit his head on the table.
–
Thankfully, Stu Sanders was still quite scared of his mother, who impressed heavily upon him the need to behave. Star was surprised at how well he took her advice.
"It just goes to show." She chuckled with her husband later that night. "That boy is really growing up. He'll be a fine Head of Clan, now that he's given up making silly plans."
The Unholy Trio took care of the Misneach Clan for many, many years, and were considered to be one of the best things that had ever happened to Radaxian Village.
Lawrence Knight and Felix Cena-Orton were soon married, much to the happiness of Star and the horror of Bad News Barrett. The pair decided to live on the coast of Spain near a Viper colony, and they were very happy together. Felix never took the Viper Trials, much to the dismay of Randy Orton, saying that he wasn't ever going to risk being Head of the Viper Clan.
That ended up being Motor Punk, who threw himself into life as a member of the Viper Clan wholeheartedly. He did so well at the Viper Trials, putting himself through utter hell, that it would have been a travesty not to make him the Head of Clan. As soon as he was put in charge, Motor began sorting out the last of the leeches, and putting good, solid plans in place to make sure that leeches never became a problem again. He even issued an official apology to the Misneach Clan for chasing them out of Ireland.
Wade Barrett Jr. never Imprinted on Esmerelda, which he came to regret when, after bearing him two more sons, she died of Clan Fever. Treelo never blamed her father for what happened, but Wade would forever blame himself for the death of the woman he loved most. Stu Sanders really stepped up in the uncle department, for all three children were Misneaches, and though the children often longed for their mother, they knew that Uncle Stu would always be there to look after them, and Uncle Lawrence would always open his home up for the holidays.
Bad News Barrett never quite got over his jealousy of John Cena – which was probably a good thing, as John Cena had never really gotten over his love for Star. Both Star and Randy Orton found the whole thing amusing, and family dinners were always interesting when the pair were often forced to sit next to each other.
Star never stopped having nightmares, but Bad News never stopped standing by her (or killing people for cash) so that soon the nightmares didn't bother her at all.
"Thanks Wade." She smiled at her husband one night at a family gathering.
"Whatever Lucky." Bad News grumped, not happy at all that he had to sit next to John Cena again!
And here I thought this was going to be one of those fics I never finished and just left hanging! Yay me!