"Shawn, what is it you want me to say?"
Though some would think it a rhetorical question, the Undertaker knew that Shawn Michaels understood that he was being completely serious.
What was it the Heartbreak Kid was after?
Shawn had come out here, bold and brash as always, and talked about respect, about making history, about having the guts to talk to a man to his face rather than behind his back...The Undertaker knew all of this. He got it. No one in the WWE knew better than him the ins and outs of challenging a man, of respect someone enough to call them out to their face. As far as he was concerned, he did what he had to do to get Triple H to accept his challenge.
So what in the hell was Shawn Michaels problem?
"What do you want me to say? That you're a...failure? A loser? Or is it that you couldn't get the job done?"
The Undertaker was right in Shawn's face, but he knew the smaller man would not be intimidated so easily.
Of course, he wasn't trying to intimidate the Heartbreak Kid. At least, not yet.
No, he was trying to talk some damn sense into the man; the same man who would be the referee for his match against Hunter.
"I think you need to stop and think," the Deadman continued. "Are you repeating my words, or maybe, just maybe, you're repeating the words chosen for me...by your good friend Triple H."
It wasn't much, but he saw Shawn bite his lip at the harsh accusation, saw the doubt flicker in those ever-defiant blue eyes.
It wasn't much, but it was enough.
"Whatever the case may be," he explained, pacing in a circle around Shawn, noting with a bit of pleasure that the world-wise Heartbreaker didn't take his eyes off him for a second, even turning his entire body in order to follow his movement. "You need to let all of your...little...insecurities—"
Shawn had heard enough.
"What? My...My insecurities?" HBK interrupted, a sardonic smile playing on his lips even though he was angry. "My insecurities?"
Now he was the one circling the Deadman. Now he was the one being watched closely, like a wolf waiting to pounce on his prey the moment it looked away.
"I got news for ya: You're the one who asked for this match! I mean...Are you kidding me? You practically begged for this match!"
The Deadman winced ever-so-slightly at that, still not letting Shawn out of his range of vision. Even though he was smaller than him, even though he knew had had every advantage over Shawn...He couldn't make a move to shut him up.
Because, really, Shawn was just telling the truth, just like he always did.
"That's why last week, I looked at Hunter, and I told him that I know who's going to win."
The Undertaker stared at Shawn for a moment before turning away, biting his lower lip, trying to again regain his composure. As he should have expected, Shawn had rattled him. Shaken him to his core with just a few razor-edged words.
'The bastard always did have a way of getting under my skin,' he thought bitterly, inhaling deeply.
'But I'm going to get under his now too.'
"You know, Shawn," the Undertaker began, voice unusually soft. "So it is. But I think you should know: Whatever happens at Wrestlemania, whether I win, or I should happen to lose, I'm prepared to accept the outcome.
"But what I'm not prepared to accept, is you sticking your ego in this. Our two matches at Wrestlemania...The match last year with Triple H...It's all been destiny. And on April 1st, that destiny will happen. It will be the end of an Era."
He stared hard into Shawn's eyes; he had a point that he needed to get across to the Heartbreak Kid, and he'd be damned if he wasn't going to make him understand.
"You see, what can't happen, win or lose, is for the outcome to not be...pure. And if the outcome isn't pure...I promise you, there will be Hell to pay."
The weight of the threat, the heaviness of the deadly promise was indeed not lost on Shawn.
But he wasn't going to let it get to him. Not after all he's been through.
Because Shawn Michaels knew how to make threats too.
"You know something," Shawn began calmly, not backing down. "You call all this destiny. I look at is as...irony." A slow smile came to the Heartbreak Kid's face, and the Undertaker's green eyes narrowed.
"Isn't it ironic," the Showstopper continued, blue eyes dancing with laughter. "That the guy whose career you ended...could quite possibly be the guy who counts your shoulders to the mat? Isn't it ironic that I'm the guy who could possibly turn you into a loser, turn you into a failure, and show you that you couldn't get it done?
"Isn't it ironic, that I could still be the guy to possibly end the Streak?"
The Undertaker stared straight ahead, past Shawn, past his wicked smile, past the unsettling words. He knew in his heart that Shawn was absolutely right.
After all this time...Shawn Michaels might actually make due on his promise to end the his Streak after all.
A part of the Undertaker wondered if this had somehow all been a part of the Heartbreak Kid's plan...If somehow the man planned this all from the start, as impossible as it all seemed. Surely, things seemed to be falling in place in his favor, rather than either of the two competitors in the actual match!
Still smiling, Shawn started to walk past the Undertaker, a happy spring in his step.
But the Undertaker wasn't letting him go so easily.
The Deadman suddenly and unexpectedly gripped the smaller man's arm nearest him, startling him out of his smug mood and stopping him in his tracks.
'Damned if I let him walk out of here like that.'
The Undertaker turned only slightly, eyes hidden in the shadow of his hood as he looked down at Shawn Michaels. Was that a hint of fear in those defiant blue eyes?
"I will beat Triple H in the Cell," he growled, grip tightening. "The Streak will continue. And I will officially end an Era."
And now the Undertaker roughly pulled Shawn's smaller frame closer to him, their faces so close that he could see the beginnings of panic in the Heartbreak Kid's expression as he towered over him. After all, he knew, Shawn could not have forgotten the very first time he'd pissed the Undertaker off, so long ago.
In fact, many of the scars from that time would never heal.
"But if you don't do the right thing," he threatened, voice low and eyes burning as he leaned in ever closer with each word.
"I will officially. End. You."
Shawn stared, frozen as he looked up into the Undertaker's eyes, again feeling the weight of the threat, the palpable menace coming from the large, dark man in front of him.
Almost instinctively, he pulled away wildly, taking several steps away from the dangerous man in black, heart pounding in his chest.
They stared at one another for a long, tense moment. Shawn could see his death in that stare.
But the stubborn Heartbreak Kid still refused to be intimidated. He absolutely refused to be afraid.
With a shrug of his shoulders, he inhaled, and let the tension leave his stance. He took a few casual steps towards the Undertaker, stood in front of him, and, of all things, gave him a consoling pat on the arm.
Just as Triple H had done when he had first refused the Deadman's challenge.
The irony and significance of the demeaning gesture was not lost on the Undertaker, and for a brief moment, as he turned to watch Shawn Michaels leave the ring, he wondered if he hadn't just made a fatal mistake in threatening the Heartbreak Kid.
Almost as if to confirm the unsettling thought, the moment Shawn turned back to look at him was the same moment that Hunter emerged from the backstage area.
Triple H and Shawn locked eyes for a moment, not saying a word to one another. In unison, they looked up the ramp, at the Undertaker, who stood alone in the ring, and then back to one another.
Giving no indication of his thoughts, Shawn simply exited the arena.
But, as Hunter stood alone on the stage, the Undertaker could very well make out the look on his face, the confidence that now danced in his brown eyes, the slow smile that came to his face.
Maybe his friend hadn't betrayed him after all.
Renewed in hope, Hunter Hearst Helmsley gave the Undertaker the classic DX gesture, in no uncertain terms telling the Deadman to suck it.
Though the Undertaker snarled at the crotch chop, the one green eye that showed under the Deadman's dark hood reflected only worry and trepidation.
His fate, Triple H's fate...All of it was in Shawn Michaels hands.
It was not a comforting reality.
I'm loving this whole storyline so much! I have no idea how things are going to turn out...What a rare and unsettling feeling...
Review? :)