Angel's Light VII


The Undertaker's screams of protest were drowned out by the roar of the accompanying explosion. A flash of red light blinded all three of them. When it had died down, Molly rapidly blinked her eyes to clear them of the spots that were dancing in front of her. The first sight that greeted her when her vision had finally cleared was Kane, standing tall next to the table on which he had been kept prisoner...or what remained of it at least. The explosion of the destroyed stone had made little more than a large pile of splinters of the thick wooden table.

"Kane..." Molly breathed in wonder, happy beyond words to see the man she loved alive and free again. Kane looked up at her when she called his name and smiled. He started to take a step towards her...then his body collapsed.

"Kane!" Molly screamed, rushing to his side and feeling relief wash over her when she saw that he was still alive and already moving to get back up.

"Hey, Angel," Kane greeted her as she moved to help him stand.

"Don't you 'hey Angel' me," she scolded him, tears coming to her eyes at Kane's greeting. "Do you have any IDEA how worried I've been about you? When we get back home you are in BIG trouble mister!"

Molly saw Kane tense, a look of hatred coming over his features as he looked past her. Turning around, she was not surprised to see the Undertaker towering over she and Kane. Molly watched in horror-induced paralysis as Taker's blade sped towards them. Then she was flying to the side, as Kane gave a mighty heave and pushed her out of the sword's path as he rolled away in the other direction. The Undertaker's sword cut into the ground where they had been sitting a fraction of a second earlier.

Kane rapidly got to his feet, a blade of his own appearing in his hand. "You're not the only one with powers here," he reminded his brother.

"Don't make me laugh, Kane," the Undertaker chuckled darkly. As he spoke their surroundings suddenly shifted. The room of flames disappeared, and Kane and the Undertaker stood instead on a roughly circular pillar of earth that looked to be about twenty feet in diameter. Surrounding it on all sides was a fiery pit of magma leaving Molly and Mideon watching the battle through air wavering with the intense heat. "You couldn't have beaten me when you were healthy! Now that the Soul Stone has left you weak you don't have a chance!"

"We'll see about that," Kane replied, moving into a ready position to await the Undertaker's move. He didn't have to wait long. With an inarticulate growl Taker attacked, the hilt of his sword next to his head while the blade itself was pointed unerringly towards Kane.

Kane parried the blow and, with surprising grace, spun around, his sword carving a deadly arc towards Taker's chest. Moving quickly, the Undertaker got his sword into position and blocked the move, then struck Kane in the head with a vicious elbow.

Kane stumbled backwards, giving Taker the space he needed to reset his stance. Kane also reassumed his ready position, and the two giants stood contemplating each other.

"I hope you don't expect to beat me with pitiful moves like that," the Undertaker taunted. "Face it, Kane, it's hopeless. If you give up now, I'll make your end quick."

"If you really didn't think that I could beat you, you wouldn't be trying to get me to surrender," Kane replied, trying to instill in his voice a confidence that he didn't feel.

The Undertaker, however, could sense Kane's deception, and gave his younger brother an evil, knowing smile before he once again attacked. Taker ran at Kane as he had before, but this time, when he got within striking distance, he suddenly brought his sword down, aiming his swing for Kane's stomach.

Barely in time did Kane get his swords in position to block the blow. With Kane now on the defensive, the Undertaker pressed his advantage, his sword nothing more than a blur as he aimed lighting-quick strikes for Kane's neck, chest, stomach, anywhere he saw an opening in Kane's defenses. Kane was too busy protecting himself to even think about mounting any attacks of his own. Time and again he brought his sword to bear just in time to prevent Taker from hitting his target. It was obvious that Kane was quickly tiring, however.

Finally Kane's fatigue caught up with his. The Undertaker made a swing for Kane's Upper arm, which Kane moved to block. But the move had been a feint, and Taker spun around, changing the direction of his swing.

Rather then swinging completely around to attack Kane's other side, as Kane had been expecting, the Undertaker stopped halfway, with his back to Kane, and quickly stabbed his swords at Kane's heart.

Seeing the move too late, Kane moved desperately to parry the blow. He could not move quite fast enough, though he did manage to force the strike slightly off target. Rather than piercing his heart, as the Undertaker had intended, the sword instead cut deeply into Kane's shoulder.

The Undertaker wrenched his blade around, and Kane gasped in pain as he helplessly dropped his sword. With a predatory grin Taker yanked his sword out of Kane's shoulder, the barbs on the blade ripping out chunks of flesh as it was removed.

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"No!" Molly yelled to Mideon. "We've got to help Kane!"

"Good idea," he replied, "but how?"

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Woozy with pain, Kane fell down on to one knee.

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"You said this was a dream world, where everything was ruled by the mind," Molly began, a desperate plan forming in her head.

"Yes, so?" Mideon asked, confused.

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The Undertaker lifted his gruesome blade in preparation for the blow that would finally end his little brother's troublesome existence.

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"So if that's the case," Molly said, her brow furrowing in concentration, "then maybe...just maybe..."

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"Goodbye, my dear brother," the Undertaker laughed at the helpless rage in Kane's eyes. "Don't worry about Molly, I'll take good care of her." Then he brought the sword down, its thirsty blade heading straight for Kane's neck...

...only to fall harmlessly out of the Undertaker's grasp when a crossbow bolt impaled his hand.

Turning, the Undertaker saw Molly Holly, a determined glare on her face and a crossbow in her hands. "You little bitch!" he snarled in fury as he pulled the shaft from his hand. "I'll make you pay for that. Before I am done you will be screaming for mercy...begging me to kill you. I will visit pain upon your body, the likes of which...urk..."

The Undertaker's rank was cut off with a gurgle, and the tip of Kane's recovered sword slid out from his chest. Still shaky, but somehow standing, Kane removed the sword from Taker's body as the older man turned back to face him again.

"It's over, brother," Kane firmly announced.

"Never!" Taker cried in denial, blood speckling his lips as he struggled for breath. With a strength born of hatred he lunged at Kane, determined to push him into the lava below. "If I must die...you will come...with me," the Undertaker rasped, ignoring the pain as Kane's sword once again pierced his chest as Kane tried to protect himself. The Undertaker grabbed onto Kane, and pulled them both off their earthen turret.

"No!" Molly screamed in horror as she watched the man she loved disappear from her sight. She ran to the edge of the magma-filled chasm and looked down. Seeing a burning hang disappearing into the molten liquid, she was momentarily filled with incredible despair...until she noticed the form hanging precariously from a rocky outcropping in the wall.

"Kane, you're alright!" she cried in happiness.

"Remind me...to check your...definition of alright," Kane replied, the strain of holding himself above the magma apparent in his voice.

"We have to get over there and help him," Molly said to Mideon, as she realized that Kane wouldn't be able to hold on much longer.

"Already on it," he told her, his eyes narrowed in thought. Suddenly a bridge shimmered into being before them, spanning the gap separating them from Kane.

They both hurried across, Mideon pulling a rope from thin air as he ran. When they arrived above where Kane hung, Mideon lowered one end of the rope down to Kane. Together the three of them managed to pull Kane up and back onto solid ground. He didn't even have time to catch his breath before he was tackled by a small blonde blur.

Molly kissed Kane passionately for several minutes, causing Mideon to turn his back, an embarrassed blush on his face. Finally breaking the kiss, Molly looked at Kane with tears in her eyes, "Oh, Kane," she said, her voice wavering with emotion, "I never thought I'd see you awake again. I've been so worried..."

"Shh," Kane told her, holding her tightly to him, one hand on the small of her back, the other in her hair. "It's going to be alright. I am going to be fine thanks to you," he said as he placed a gentle kiss on the top of her head.

"It's Mideon you should be thanking," Molly sniffled, looking up as the other man looked back at her in surprise. "He is the one who brought me here, and he fought the Undertaker while I tried to free you."

"I was just trying to make up for past mistakes," Mideon replied, obviously uncomfortable with Molly's praise. Looking at Kane, he continued, "I helped to hurt you when I was a part of the Ministry. I am sorry."

"Mideon," Kane replied, "you helped to protect Molly and save my life. Even if you hadn't, I understand better than most the extent of my brother's evil powers. I never held anything against you from the time he controlled you."

"Sorry to interrupt," Molly spoke up, still holding onto Kane tightly, "but can we get out of here?"

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Molly opened her eyes to find herself back in Kane's hospital room. She looked first to Kane's still motionless form on the bed, then turned towards Mideon when she heard him groaning as he came to. She walked over to the man's side and placed a careful hand on his shoulder.

"Mideon," she said, "are you ok?"

"Yes, I'm fine," he said. "How are you feeling?"

"I would be a lot better if Kane would wake up," she told him with concern.

"He's not waking up yet?" Mideon asked, surprised.

"No," she answered.

"Hmm," Mideon mumbled, thinking. "I'm going to find a nurse or doctor to check on him, you stay here just in case."

So saying, Mideon left the room. Molly sat back down in the chair next to Kane's bed and grasped his large hand. Still he lay there, unresponsive.

"Please, Kane," Molly pleaded, bowing her head under the weight of her emotions, "come back to me. I don't know what I'd do without you. Please...wake up. I love you so much..."

"I love you too," Kane's voice answered her.

Molly looked up in shock to find herself eye-to-eye with Kane. "You're awake!" she shouted, feeling her heart swell with joy.

"Is it that obvious?" Kane chuckled, an amused gleam in his eyes.

"Oh, you..." Molly laughed in response. She finally felt the stress and despair that she had felt since Kane had first fallen into the coma fade away. Not able to find the words to express what she was feeling, Molly instead leaned over the bed and seized Kane's lips in a furious kiss, reveling in the physical reassurance that he was alive and well.

"In here, Doctor," Mideon's voice entered the room as he opened the door to escort a doctor into the room. When Mideon's sight fell on the two lovers, locked in their kiss, he pulled back out quickly, closing the door behind him. "Actually, why don't we check back with them in a few minutes," he suggested to the confused doctor.

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Nearly an hour later the doctor checked back in on Kane, surprised to find that he was awake and apparently unharmed. As the hospital staff still had no idea what had caused him to go into a coma in the first place they decided to keep him overnight for observation. Kane chaffed at the delay in getting out of the hospital, a place he was never terribly fond of, but could do nothing to change their minds.

The next day Molly arrived bright and early to take him home. They packed up all of the personal belongings that Kane had in the room, which didn't amount to much, and happily made their way to the nurses' station to check Kane out. After filling out all the necessary forms they turned and, hand-in-hand, left the building.

As they left the morning news, playing on a radio in the nurses' station, followed them, "...and in other news today, the WWF sports entertainer Mark Calloway, also known as the Undertaker, was found dead in his hotel room today by one of the WWF staff members. At the present time doctors have been unable to pinpoint what caused Mr. Calloway's death..."