Standard Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters used in this story (hmm...the art of voodoo...this book looks interesting). They are owned by the WWF. I am making no money from this little piece of drivel. There is no need for a lawsuit.
Lost Brother III
Five more days and five more nights...along with five more nightmares...passed. Kane's funeral service and burial came and went, and those who attended were shocked to see the state the Undertaker was in. Sunglasses covered his eyes, but they couldn't hide the weariness that radiated from him. When he spoke it was in a low, dead voice, nothing at all like the powerful, confident Texan drawl they were used to. Mick Foley once again tried to offer his help to the Undertaker, but once again found himself turned down. As far as the Undertaker was concerned he didn't deserve anyone's help.
He had killed his brother.
He deserved to suffer alone.
Finally, on the thirteenth day since Kane's death, the Undertaker decided it was time to give up. The nightmares weren't leaving him any peace, not that he deserved any. He had killed his brother, and it was time to make amends. Making a brief stop at a pawnshop to make a purchase, Taker went to the cemetery where Kane was buried. Not once on the way did he see the man who followed him, nor notice when said man pulled a cell phone out of his camouflaged jacket and made a short call.
************************************************
Kane looked up as Hunter entered the room that housed his prison. In the thirteen days that Kane had been held captive, Hunter had been the only other person he had seen after that first shocking discussion when Vince McMahon and Steve Austin had also been present. Since then it had always been Hunter who had brought Kane his food and water. Kane was actually grateful for this, as he found Hunter a much preferable companion to either the insane McMahon or the sadistic Austin, who had taken no trouble to try and hide the delight he was getting from tormenting the Undertaker. And, while Kane had been unsuccessful in his attempts to convince Hunter that he should leave Vince's faction, he had gotten him to grudgingly answer his questions of the outside world. And Kane, desperate for information about his brother, was thankful for small favors.
Kane felt dread hit him as he saw the very troubled look on Hunter's face. "What's wrong?" he asked, hoping that Hunter wasn't coming to tell him that the Undertaker was dead.
HHH stared at Kane for a long time, looking deep into Kane's eyes as if trying to find answers to unknown questions there. Then he sighed and shook his head, throwing something at Kane. Looking down, Kane realized that it was the keys to his cell. He quickly took them and unlocked the door, moving slightly unsteadily as his cell hadn't been large enough for him to properly exercise his muscles.
"Hunter," Kane prompted, looking at the man before him in confusion.
"I can't do it," HHH told him, self-disgust in his voice. "I had everybody, myself included, convinced that I was a bastard who would do anything to get to the top...put when push came to shove I can't bring myself to help kill the Undertaker."
"And that's a bad thing?" Kane asked, surprised that Hunter seemed disappointed with himself for the decision he had made.
"Depends on your point of view," HHH replied, a wry grin on his face.
"Hunter," Kane said, trying to make Hunter see reason, "Vince is crazy. You know that. It's one thing to beat a guy up, even injure him, to get him out of the way so you can get to the top...but flat out killing him?"
"Yeah, I know," HHH told Kane, then look back up into Kane's face. "Come on, you big retard," he said, "We've got an annoying asshole to save."
************************************************
When Taker finally reached the cemetery he slowly walked over to his brother's tombstone, moving like a man twice his age.
He heard a car pull up, but didn't turn to look, assuming it was just someone else visiting a friend or family member. His shadow, however, extricated himself from behind the tree he had standing near and walked over to the vehicle. The driver's window came down, and Vince listened with an evil grin growing on his face as he heard Austin's report.
The grin on his face soon turned to a look of anger, as he noticed another car rapidly approaching. "What the hell?" he asked, recognizing it as one of his own.
The Undertaker, however, remained oblivious to it all. Staring at Kane's tombstone, he felt the despair once more overcoming him. It was time to end it. Pulling the revolver he had purchased out of his duster pocket, he told the unforgiving stone before him, "I'm sorry, Kane. I hope with my death your spirit can finally rest." So saying, he put the gun to his head and prepared to pull the trigger.
Vince had momentarily turned his attention away from the newly arrived car, not wanting to miss his final moment of triumph. Thus he did not see Kane, weak from his captivity and being supported by HHH, get out of the vehicle and move rapidly towards the Undertaker. Vince did, however, hear Kane when he called out in desperation to the Undertaker, "Mark, NO!"
Vince heard, and so did the Undertaker. Vince watched in horror as the Undertaker slowly lowered the gun and turned towards Kane. Growling in rage, McMahon reached into the glove compartment of his car and pulled out a revolver of his own and made his way to the grave.
The Undertaker, meanwhile, merely stared as he watched what had to be the ghost of Kane approaching. //But why, if his brother was a ghost, did he look like shit? // a small portion of Taker's brain asked himself, //And since when did a ghost need support to stand up?//
Then, without even realizing it, Taker began moving towards Kane, until the two were only about twenty-five feet apart. Then he stopped, afraid to get any closer, to find that he had gone mad and was merely hallucinating.
"Mark," Kane called to him, "It's me. I'm alive...I'm alive."
"Kane?" the Undertaker asked quietly as the gun fell from his grasp, the despair in his voice making even Hunter's heart ache.
"Yes, Mark," Kane replied. "I swear to you, I'm alive. That body in the car, it wasn't me."
"It wasn't you," Taker repeated dumbly, still not quite certain that he could risk believing. Almost against his will, he slowly started moving towards Kane again, this time more slowly. A bullet striking the ground just in front of his feet pulled him up short, however.
"That far enough," Vince told him before turning to Hunter. "You traitor," he spat at HHH, quickly aiming his gun and firing a single shot at the blond. Kane, realizing what Vince was planning, was already dropping to the ground, pulling HHH with him, but the bullet still ripped through HHH just above his chest.
Kane, knowing that Vince would finish Hunter of if he realized his wound hadn't been fatal, yet at least, whispered, "Play dead," as he pretended to check for a pulse.
"Who's playing," HHH murmured through clenched teeth, then blacked out as the pain of his wound overcame him.
Kane, reassured by the steady pulse that beat under his fingers, looked up at Vince then and said, "He deserved better than that you bastard," hoping all the while that someone had heard the gunshot and would call the police.
"That was more than he ever deserved," Vince replied, "He thought he could play with the big boys, but it appears 'the Game' wasn't quite the man we all thought he was."
//No, he wasn't // thought Kane, thinking of how the man he had always considered an asshole had risked his career and his life to help Kane.
"Such is the fate of all who dare to betray Vincent McMahon," Vince gloated, turning his gun onto the Undertaker. "And such will be your fate, my former Lord of Darkness. But first..." he began, suddenly turning the gun on Austin, who stood off to his right, "I think it's time to clean up some loose ends."
"What do you mean, you son-of-a-bitch?" Austin demanded, not liking the turn things had taken.
"To quote you Austin, 'Don't trust anybody'," Vince replied, "I can't risk you deciding to go to the police, or trying to blackmail me later when it suits your purpose. No, I'm afraid my friend that this is where our partnership ends." So saying, Vince fired the gun, hitting Austin between the eyes. The body of the former Rattlesnake fell in a heap on the ground. Vince gazed at it smugly for a second, then turned back to the Undertaker. "Now to finish things," Vince said.
Taker still didn't understand what was going on. His dead brother was now apparently alive again, and the owner of the WWF, Taker's own boss, had just killed HHH and Steve Austin and was now threatening to kill him. Confusion and shock froze him in place, and he could merely watch as McMahon prepared to fire.
Then a shot rang out, and the Undertaker closed his eyes, expecting to feel the pain of a bullet ripping through his body. Needless to say he was very surprised when no pain was forthcoming. Opening his eyes, he watched in shock as Vince moved his free hand up to touch the red spot on his chest that was rapidly increasing in size. His gun fell out of his now lax hand and he dropped onto the ground, a look of shock on his face as he stared at Kane, still sitting on the ground, and Taker's discarded revolver that was now grasped in Kane's right hand.
The Undertaker, following Vince's gaze, also saw Kane sitting there, and suddenly was able to move again. "Kane," he choked out, moving quickly to his brother's side and dropping down on his knees. He enveloped Kane in a hug, proving to himself that Kane was there, alive and whole, and tears streamed from his tightly closed eyes.
"It's alright, Mark," Kane told the Undertaker, "I'm here. It wasn't me in the car. It was never me. I'm here. I'm alive." This last he repeated several times until the Undertaker quieted. Then Kane began to rise, and Taker quickly moved to help him up.
"Kane...why?" the Undertaker began, still incredibly confused.
Kane sighed, wobbling slightly as the adrenaline that had fueled his strength disappeared. The Undertaker immediately wrapped his arm around his brother, steadying him and at the same time reassuring himself once again that Kane really was alive and not some figment of his madness.
"It's a very long, troubling story, Mark," Kane told him, glancing at his own tombstone and then just as quickly looking away. "For now, I'll just say that McMahon went insane, and got lost in the world of the WWF. He truly believed that when you left the Ministry you turned your back on him, and he wanted to punish you for that."
"What?!" Taker cried, not believing that something as small as a story line had initiated the whole terrible affair.
"Exactly," Kane replied wryly, then looked down at the lifeless form of the former owner of the WWF. "You were right, Vince," he said, "You never will see the inside of a jail cell."
As the wailing of police sirens drew near, thankfully someone had indeed heard the multiple gunshots and had called the authorities, the brothers waited, standing silently side-by-side.
Lost Brother III
Five more days and five more nights...along with five more nightmares...passed. Kane's funeral service and burial came and went, and those who attended were shocked to see the state the Undertaker was in. Sunglasses covered his eyes, but they couldn't hide the weariness that radiated from him. When he spoke it was in a low, dead voice, nothing at all like the powerful, confident Texan drawl they were used to. Mick Foley once again tried to offer his help to the Undertaker, but once again found himself turned down. As far as the Undertaker was concerned he didn't deserve anyone's help.
He had killed his brother.
He deserved to suffer alone.
Finally, on the thirteenth day since Kane's death, the Undertaker decided it was time to give up. The nightmares weren't leaving him any peace, not that he deserved any. He had killed his brother, and it was time to make amends. Making a brief stop at a pawnshop to make a purchase, Taker went to the cemetery where Kane was buried. Not once on the way did he see the man who followed him, nor notice when said man pulled a cell phone out of his camouflaged jacket and made a short call.
************************************************
Kane looked up as Hunter entered the room that housed his prison. In the thirteen days that Kane had been held captive, Hunter had been the only other person he had seen after that first shocking discussion when Vince McMahon and Steve Austin had also been present. Since then it had always been Hunter who had brought Kane his food and water. Kane was actually grateful for this, as he found Hunter a much preferable companion to either the insane McMahon or the sadistic Austin, who had taken no trouble to try and hide the delight he was getting from tormenting the Undertaker. And, while Kane had been unsuccessful in his attempts to convince Hunter that he should leave Vince's faction, he had gotten him to grudgingly answer his questions of the outside world. And Kane, desperate for information about his brother, was thankful for small favors.
Kane felt dread hit him as he saw the very troubled look on Hunter's face. "What's wrong?" he asked, hoping that Hunter wasn't coming to tell him that the Undertaker was dead.
HHH stared at Kane for a long time, looking deep into Kane's eyes as if trying to find answers to unknown questions there. Then he sighed and shook his head, throwing something at Kane. Looking down, Kane realized that it was the keys to his cell. He quickly took them and unlocked the door, moving slightly unsteadily as his cell hadn't been large enough for him to properly exercise his muscles.
"Hunter," Kane prompted, looking at the man before him in confusion.
"I can't do it," HHH told him, self-disgust in his voice. "I had everybody, myself included, convinced that I was a bastard who would do anything to get to the top...put when push came to shove I can't bring myself to help kill the Undertaker."
"And that's a bad thing?" Kane asked, surprised that Hunter seemed disappointed with himself for the decision he had made.
"Depends on your point of view," HHH replied, a wry grin on his face.
"Hunter," Kane said, trying to make Hunter see reason, "Vince is crazy. You know that. It's one thing to beat a guy up, even injure him, to get him out of the way so you can get to the top...but flat out killing him?"
"Yeah, I know," HHH told Kane, then look back up into Kane's face. "Come on, you big retard," he said, "We've got an annoying asshole to save."
************************************************
When Taker finally reached the cemetery he slowly walked over to his brother's tombstone, moving like a man twice his age.
He heard a car pull up, but didn't turn to look, assuming it was just someone else visiting a friend or family member. His shadow, however, extricated himself from behind the tree he had standing near and walked over to the vehicle. The driver's window came down, and Vince listened with an evil grin growing on his face as he heard Austin's report.
The grin on his face soon turned to a look of anger, as he noticed another car rapidly approaching. "What the hell?" he asked, recognizing it as one of his own.
The Undertaker, however, remained oblivious to it all. Staring at Kane's tombstone, he felt the despair once more overcoming him. It was time to end it. Pulling the revolver he had purchased out of his duster pocket, he told the unforgiving stone before him, "I'm sorry, Kane. I hope with my death your spirit can finally rest." So saying, he put the gun to his head and prepared to pull the trigger.
Vince had momentarily turned his attention away from the newly arrived car, not wanting to miss his final moment of triumph. Thus he did not see Kane, weak from his captivity and being supported by HHH, get out of the vehicle and move rapidly towards the Undertaker. Vince did, however, hear Kane when he called out in desperation to the Undertaker, "Mark, NO!"
Vince heard, and so did the Undertaker. Vince watched in horror as the Undertaker slowly lowered the gun and turned towards Kane. Growling in rage, McMahon reached into the glove compartment of his car and pulled out a revolver of his own and made his way to the grave.
The Undertaker, meanwhile, merely stared as he watched what had to be the ghost of Kane approaching. //But why, if his brother was a ghost, did he look like shit? // a small portion of Taker's brain asked himself, //And since when did a ghost need support to stand up?//
Then, without even realizing it, Taker began moving towards Kane, until the two were only about twenty-five feet apart. Then he stopped, afraid to get any closer, to find that he had gone mad and was merely hallucinating.
"Mark," Kane called to him, "It's me. I'm alive...I'm alive."
"Kane?" the Undertaker asked quietly as the gun fell from his grasp, the despair in his voice making even Hunter's heart ache.
"Yes, Mark," Kane replied. "I swear to you, I'm alive. That body in the car, it wasn't me."
"It wasn't you," Taker repeated dumbly, still not quite certain that he could risk believing. Almost against his will, he slowly started moving towards Kane again, this time more slowly. A bullet striking the ground just in front of his feet pulled him up short, however.
"That far enough," Vince told him before turning to Hunter. "You traitor," he spat at HHH, quickly aiming his gun and firing a single shot at the blond. Kane, realizing what Vince was planning, was already dropping to the ground, pulling HHH with him, but the bullet still ripped through HHH just above his chest.
Kane, knowing that Vince would finish Hunter of if he realized his wound hadn't been fatal, yet at least, whispered, "Play dead," as he pretended to check for a pulse.
"Who's playing," HHH murmured through clenched teeth, then blacked out as the pain of his wound overcame him.
Kane, reassured by the steady pulse that beat under his fingers, looked up at Vince then and said, "He deserved better than that you bastard," hoping all the while that someone had heard the gunshot and would call the police.
"That was more than he ever deserved," Vince replied, "He thought he could play with the big boys, but it appears 'the Game' wasn't quite the man we all thought he was."
//No, he wasn't // thought Kane, thinking of how the man he had always considered an asshole had risked his career and his life to help Kane.
"Such is the fate of all who dare to betray Vincent McMahon," Vince gloated, turning his gun onto the Undertaker. "And such will be your fate, my former Lord of Darkness. But first..." he began, suddenly turning the gun on Austin, who stood off to his right, "I think it's time to clean up some loose ends."
"What do you mean, you son-of-a-bitch?" Austin demanded, not liking the turn things had taken.
"To quote you Austin, 'Don't trust anybody'," Vince replied, "I can't risk you deciding to go to the police, or trying to blackmail me later when it suits your purpose. No, I'm afraid my friend that this is where our partnership ends." So saying, Vince fired the gun, hitting Austin between the eyes. The body of the former Rattlesnake fell in a heap on the ground. Vince gazed at it smugly for a second, then turned back to the Undertaker. "Now to finish things," Vince said.
Taker still didn't understand what was going on. His dead brother was now apparently alive again, and the owner of the WWF, Taker's own boss, had just killed HHH and Steve Austin and was now threatening to kill him. Confusion and shock froze him in place, and he could merely watch as McMahon prepared to fire.
Then a shot rang out, and the Undertaker closed his eyes, expecting to feel the pain of a bullet ripping through his body. Needless to say he was very surprised when no pain was forthcoming. Opening his eyes, he watched in shock as Vince moved his free hand up to touch the red spot on his chest that was rapidly increasing in size. His gun fell out of his now lax hand and he dropped onto the ground, a look of shock on his face as he stared at Kane, still sitting on the ground, and Taker's discarded revolver that was now grasped in Kane's right hand.
The Undertaker, following Vince's gaze, also saw Kane sitting there, and suddenly was able to move again. "Kane," he choked out, moving quickly to his brother's side and dropping down on his knees. He enveloped Kane in a hug, proving to himself that Kane was there, alive and whole, and tears streamed from his tightly closed eyes.
"It's alright, Mark," Kane told the Undertaker, "I'm here. It wasn't me in the car. It was never me. I'm here. I'm alive." This last he repeated several times until the Undertaker quieted. Then Kane began to rise, and Taker quickly moved to help him up.
"Kane...why?" the Undertaker began, still incredibly confused.
Kane sighed, wobbling slightly as the adrenaline that had fueled his strength disappeared. The Undertaker immediately wrapped his arm around his brother, steadying him and at the same time reassuring himself once again that Kane really was alive and not some figment of his madness.
"It's a very long, troubling story, Mark," Kane told him, glancing at his own tombstone and then just as quickly looking away. "For now, I'll just say that McMahon went insane, and got lost in the world of the WWF. He truly believed that when you left the Ministry you turned your back on him, and he wanted to punish you for that."
"What?!" Taker cried, not believing that something as small as a story line had initiated the whole terrible affair.
"Exactly," Kane replied wryly, then looked down at the lifeless form of the former owner of the WWF. "You were right, Vince," he said, "You never will see the inside of a jail cell."
As the wailing of police sirens drew near, thankfully someone had indeed heard the multiple gunshots and had called the authorities, the brothers waited, standing silently side-by-side.