THE CAGE
Part Eleven – Mark's House
*Disclaimer – this story is completely a work of fiction. All characters are owned by the WWF or are creations of the author. No infringement intended. Any likeness to characters or incidents described is purely coincidental.
"I didn't know Mark had a rose garden."
"Shut up Jeff."
The trio of Jeff Hardy, his brother Matt Hardy, and Matt's girlfriend Amy Dumas, cautiously walked up to the front steps of the Calloway house. It was one o'clock in the morning, the suburban block had an eerie calm to it, with the occassional dog barking. Matt looked nervously behind his shoulder as he rapped softly on the front door.
"Matt, you gotta knock louder than that. He's never gonna hear you."
Matt gave his younger brother a stern, 'shut-the-hell-up' look. Still, he did knock louder the second time. A light flickered on in the living room, showing the shadow of someone very large coming to the front door. The door opened a crack; a very tired looking Mark peered through.
"What the hell is this?"
Matt found the courage to speak up first. "Look, Mark, we really got to talk to you man."
Mark didn't even flinch. Matt looked back at Jeff and Amy who collectively shrugged. Gulping down his insecurity, Matt turned to face Mark in the eye once again.
"Could we maybe talk about this inside?"
Mark sighed and growled at the same time under his breath. The door closed, then opened wide for the three to step inside. Amy quietly said thanks and gave her best charming smile. Mark glared at her. Amy scuttled inside and stood behind Matt. Mark motioned to the sofa and all three immediately sat down, realizing only too late that the sofa was made for two, not three. Amy's arms were squished to her sides, and Jeff and Matt's hips were wedged to the sides of the couch. Not daring to move without Mark's approval, the three sat obediantly.
"Now, what the hell could be so important that you woke me and my wife up at one o'clock on a Tuesday night?"
They looked at each other, silently debating who would be the first to talk. Matt spoke. "Well, we found something out, and we thought you might be the best person to talk to." He paused, unsure of how to start his next sentence. "Okay, um, Kane isn't Glen."
Everyone in the room looked confusedly at Matt, who stuttered along. "I mean, well, okay, you remember that whole match? You know, the uh, oh you know. Yeah, of course you do. Well, that wasn't Kane. It was someone else, but it wasn't Kane, I mean, it wasn't Glen. It was someone pretending to be Glen, or Kane, or…whoever. Look, Glen was set up."
Mark sat back in his chair, one hand stroking his goatee in thought. "So what you're telling me is that Glen didn't do any of that shit that night?"
All three nodded in unison. "Basically, yeah." Matt said.
"And you know this because?"
Matt pointed to Jeff. "Jeff."
Jeff looked Mark in the eye. "It's on the tape. If you don't believe me, watch it yourself. The guy in the tape, Kane, he's got a tattoo on his neck."
Mark nodded. "And Glen don't got a tattoo." Mark thought about this for a second then stared at the three. "So what do you want with me?"
They weren't expecting this response. "Well, um, we kind of thought, that, you know…" Matt prompted Taker to come up with the answer himself.
"What? I would save the day? Because I was the only one that believed that something was up from the start, and no one else did? Now you think that because you've discovered some deep, magical truth, that I'm just gonna jump on a white horse, kick the crap out of the bad guys and make everything go back to normal? Well I got news for you punks. Life ain't a fairy tale. Glen ain't got no future. And if you value your life, you'll just keep your mouth shut and go on with life like it was all peachy from the start."
They could all feel their shoulders droop. "But, Mark, he was your friend." Matt reasoned.
Mark grimaced. "Still is, kid." He got up and went over to the bar. Pulling the lid off his scotch, he poured himself a small glass.
Jeff got off the couch and walked cautiously over to Mark. "We can't just ignore this. We've got to get to the bottom of this. What if we're next?"
Mark turned to him, his expression incredulous. "What if we're next? Newsflash Rainbow Bright, we are next. Come on, you didn't honestly expect your career in the WWF would last forever. You didn't honestly think you were that valuable. Nothing in this job lasts forever kid."
Jeff looked defeated. He looked as though he were about to turn and give up, when he looked Mark in the eye again. "I don't wanna end up like Glen. I don't want Glen to live the rest of his life like he is. And if you had any sort of backbone in you, you wouldn't either."
Matt and Amy's eyes both widened at Jeff's remark. Mark gripped his glass so hard he almost shattered it. Jeff stood his ground. Suddenly Mark started laughing.
"You got a pair on you, don't you? Okay kid, so you're gonna bring the WWF to it's knees. You're gonna need proof."
"We got the tape. The whole world has the tape." Amy pointed out.
"Big deal. Why did they switch the two? That's your biggest question. And to do that, you gotta get in on the inside."
Jeff shrugged. "I can do that."
Mark laughed again. "Yeah, you and what army?"
Jeff turned towards the couch. Then he looked back at Mark, pleading with his eyes.
Mark growled under his breath and set his glass down on the bar. He shook his head, trying to shake the insane thoughts that were going through it. Finally, he succumbed to them. He looked at all three of these kids, one by one. They all had so much potential, but so much more to lose. But they had guts.
"Alright."
Relief washed over them like a tidal wave. Jeff smiled earnestly at Mark. "Thanks."
Mark shook his head. "You're gonna wish you were still asleep."