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Summary: Jeff Hardy has been chosen to be the human host that would allow the demon keeper of the seventh layer of hell to enter the realm of Earth. In fighting for his life Jeff has some unexpected allies. Featuring: Matt Hardy, Undertaker, Kane, Batista, Umaga, John Cena, Ashley, Maria, Edge...
NOTE: This fic is written with the assumption, that Jeff and Umaga are still on RAW, and Matt, Kane, the Boogeyman and the Undertaker are still on Smackdown, and that Undertaker is still the World Heavyweight Champion and Matt and Jeff are still the Tag-Team Champions.
000
Jeff yawned as he opened his eyes, and looked at the clock next to his bed. The red digits said eight o' clock, though he couldn't remember when he had fallen asleep. Slowly the memories of the previous night resurfaced. He frowned as he remembered the horrible torture Chiron had put him through, and when Umaga and the Boogeyman had painted that vile smelling stuff on his back. A the same time he distantly wondered what the new symbol on his back looked like.
The young Hardy winced as he slowly sat up, his abdominal muscles were still sore, but no worse than after a hard day at the gym. He stretched then combed his fingers through his hair hair, idly debating on whether to braid it or not and what color he should try today. His mind was doing everything it could to avoid thinking about the current situation, by thinking about things that used to be of great importance to him.
Even though Chiron did not invade his dreams again and he had slept easy the rest of the night, after passing out during the ritual, he felt strangely drained.
Jeff snapped out of his reverie when he heard activity coming from the bathroom. A few seconds later Matt emerged, pinning his wet hair back, wearing only track pants and a towel over his shoulders.
"Hey, good morning," the elder Hardy greeted his little brother and sat down on the bed next to him. "How are you doing? Sleep any better?"
"Yeah, pretty good," Jeff murmured. After I passed out...
"No dreams about Chiron?"
Jeff shook his head.
"Then Umaga and the Boogeyman's stuff must be working then." Matt smiled until he saw the continued sullen and tired expression on Jeff's face. "That's good, right?"
"Yeah." Jeff rubbed his eyes. "I'm sorry, Matt; I'm just not myself today. I don't know, I just feel like a motorbike runin' on fumes, that just finally hit the wall."
Matt patted Jeff on the back, all the while trying to think up something to cheer his brother up. "Hey, since we've got a couple of free days, if you're up to it, how about you and me spending the day just getting lost in Dallas and doing random shit?"
Jeff smiled slightly and nodded. "Yeah, I'd like that."
Twenty minutes later the brothers were ready to head out, when there was a loud knock on their door. Matt opened the door to find the Undertaker standing there.
"Jeff," Taker said, pushing past Matt as if he were not even there, indicating the message was for Jeff and Jeff alone. "Pack your things up; we're going on a road trip."
"We...we are?" Jeff blinked, caught completely off guard.
"Yes, we need to be able to summon the Grim directly. And we need to go to a specific place to do that," Taker explained quickly, before turning, and heading out the door. "Meet me in the lobby in thirty minutes, and don't be late."
Jeff stood there open-mouthed for a moment. He slowly lowered his head. "Looks like, 'getting lost in Dallas' is out."
Matt looked away with an equally sullen face.
"I'd better get ready," Jeff murmured, putting his duffel bag on the bed, before going into the bathroom to collect his toothbrush and tooth paste and other toiletry items. He didn't even bother to wonder what Taker had in store for him, he knew better than to question what the Phenom was up to, even in his own mind.
After few moments, Matt came to the bathroom door. "Well hopefully Taker won't keep you too long, and you'll be back before I have to go with Smackdown to Mississippi." He was clearly doing his best to keep a smile plastered on his face, even though he shared his brother's disappointment at not being able to just go out and have some fun time.
"Who knows..." the younger Hardy said dully as he slipped past Matt into the main room and put his Ziploc bag of items into his duffel bag. He was far too tired and depressed to be optimistic.
Matt opened his mouth to say something, anything, to make his brother cheer up, but he just couldn't find the words. He hadn't seen his brother this down in a long time, and it frightened him, as he didn't want his little brother going down that spiral again.
The brothers remained in the awkward silence for a long time, while Jeff bustled about getting his things together, and Matt remained by the bathroom door debating on whether or not to offer some help.
By the time Matt found his voice again, Jeff was slinging his duffle bag over his shoulder and heading for the door.
"Want me to come with you?" Matt asked, his words taking on the double meaning of both accompanying Jeff down to the lobby and possibly on the road trip if Jeff really wanted him to go whether Taker liked it or not.
Jeff sighed and answered with equal ambiguity, "If you want to."
After a moment's pause, the two brothers exited the hotel room and headed down into the lobby. Upon entering the lobby, they found the Undertaker was not there yet, so they settled down on one of the cushioned benches and waited.
Uncomfortable silence was a rarity between the Hardy brothers, but it seemed to be cutting their throats today, leaving them with few words if any at all. In order to keep his mind off the situation at least for a little while, Matt allowed his mind to wonder. He began idly identifying the various breeds of dogs accompanying the various people around the lobby. One West Highland White terrier particularly reminded him of his own dog Lucas.
Matt's thoughts were interrupted when he felt a sudden weight on his shoulder. He turned his head slightly and saw Jeff was using his shoulder as a pillow. Jeff had not done that in years, at least not in public anyway.
The elder Hardy rested a hand on his little brother's head. "What's the matter, Jeff?"
"I don't know..." Jeff whispered. "I think I'm just demoralized. Last night Maria came over."
"Maria? What's so bad about that?"
"Nothing. We hung out for a bit and I was just starting to calm down and relax and have a little fun." Jeff smiled a little at thoughts of Maria, before frowning. "And then Chiron comes along and tortures me, and makes me feel like I've been impaled thought stomach with a spike. And then Taker and the guys show up and do their little ritual thing. Well let's just say it put a big damper on the evening for me and Maria."
"That sucks." Matt patted Jeff on the head. Just then his cell phone rang.
"Hello? Oh, hey. Ashley," Matt answered with all the cheerfulness he could scrounge together. "Look, I can't talk at the moment, but..."
Matt paused when he got a rather odd request from his girlfriend. "Okay...I'll ask him."
Jeff lifted his head with some interest at the word "him".
"Um," Matt grinned looking very amused at the situation. "Ashley says hi, and says that Maria asked her if she could ask me to ask you, for your cell phone number."
"What?" Jeff looked genuinely surprised as he took the cell phone. "Hello? It's Jeff. Huh, I didn't know she wanted it...All right...It's 555-6426."
After Ashley took down the number and thanked Jeff the younger hardy handed the phone back to Matt.
"Ash, Unfortunately I gotta go. I'll talk to you later okay? Bye-bye, hon." Matt hung up the phone, and smiled at Jeff. "So you and Maria, huh? When did this all happen?"
Jeff shrugged. "I don't know, some time last night, I think it was about when we kissed the first time, and she slipped me some tongue."
"Did she now?" Matt grinned, his interest piqued.
Jeff shrugged again. "Yeah, one minute we were talking about my drawings, and the next we were lip-locked."
"Yeah? Anything else?" Matt wobbled his eyebrows suggestively.
"Nah, nothing that serious," Jeff shook his head. "Though she did give me a massage..." He trailed off.
"Nice..." Matt's grin widened and patted his brother on the back. "That's my baby brother, the heartbreak Hardy."
Jeff rolled his eyes. "Sorry, Matt, I'm not into the usual jokes today."
"Sorry..." Matt sighed. "I tried."
The elder Hardy put an arm around his little brother's shoulders. "So you think you might see her again?"
"Yeah, I hope so," Jeff leaned his head back to look up at the ceiling. "I hope the incident didn't scare her off."
"If it had, I don't think she would have put so much effort into getting your phone number," Matt smirked.
Jeff's eyes widened a little. He let out an amused snort, and a small smile crept across his lips. "Yeah, I guess you're right."
Just then an elevator across the lobby from them opened and the Undertaker stepped out. Both Hardys stood up as the Phenom approached. Taker's expression hardened when his eyes fell on Matt.
"I just need Jeff," the Phenom stated coldly.
Matt nodded, trying to remain casual under the Deadman's icy stare. "I know, I just came down to hang out until you came."
"Then let's go," Taker motioned for Jeff follow.
Jeff followed obediently, but so did Matt. In truth, with everything that had been going on the last few weeks the elder Hardy didn't know when he might see his brother again, so he wanted to hang around until the last possible second.
The Hardys followed the Undertaker outside the hotel and into the parking lot where his car was. Taker opened the back door and threw his bag inside on the seat. Jeff, not knowing what else to do, followed suit.
While Taker got into the driver's seat, Matt pulled Jeff into a quick hug.
"Call me along the way if you can," Matt murmured into Jeff's shoulder. "Stay safe, little bro'."
"I will," Jeff assured him, as he pulled away. "You have some fun with Ashley tonight, okay?"
Matt smiled. "Will do."
With that, Jeff opened the car door and got into the passenger's seat. The Undertaker said nothing about the little display of affection between the Hardys, instead choosing just to turn on the engine without a word.
Jeff gave a slight wave to Matt as Taker pulled out of the parking space. The younger Hardy did not take his eyes off his older brother until the Undertaker turned a corner and Matt was completely out of sight.
000
Traveling with the Undertaker was not as a bad as Jeff Hardy thought it would be. At first the silence between the two had been awkward. At least for Jeff it was, until he remembered that silence was all about who the Undertaker was, and as such Jeff was not obligated in the least to try and start a conversation. With that realization the silence became much more relaxed, and just well, silent.
Silent except for the radio. Jeff was very surprised, when instead of hearing the heavy sounds of Metallica blasting over the speakers after Taker insert the CD, he heard the bluesy tones of B.B. King and his guitar. The music was strangely soothing, and as Jeff was already exhausted from accumulated sleep deprivation, the stress of all that had been going on, the physical stamina he had to keep up for his job in the WWE, not to mention his depressive mood wasn't helping things at all, his eyelids started to droop.
Jeff didn't remember dozing off; he just became suddenly aware that someone was shaking him. He opened his eyes and found the source of the shaking was the Undertaker. The young Hardy made a quick glance at their surroundings and found they were parked at a gas station.
"If you need to go to the bathroom or anything, do it now. This is our last stop until we reach our destination," The Undertaker said, though his voice seemed considerably less cold than it was at the hotel. In fact his whole manner seemed more relaxed and less icy.
Jeff got out of the car and stretched, he'd slept in an awkward position, so it made his muscles extra stiff.
"Want anything from the mini-mart?" Jeff asked.
"Nah, I'll be in myself after I fill the tank."
Jeff nodded and headed into the mini-mart. After a trip to the bathroom, the young Hardy went about picking up some road trip essentials. Two corn dogs, Dasani water and of course a bag skittles.
Jeff spotted Taker talking with the man at the cash register - who reminded Jeff a lot of his dad - while he paid for the gas and his own snack selection. Dasani water, beef jerky, Doritos, and...snickers?
Who would have thought...? Jeff chuckled to himself. He tried not to eaves drop on the conversation, but it was hard not to listen in.
"So who's the kid with you, Mark?" the cashier chuckled. "Sow a few wild oats somewhere?"
To Jeff's shock the Undertaker grinned and even chuckled a little bit along with the cashier. "Nah, he's one of my WWE co-workers."
"Oh, yeah? Which one? Not that guy who tried to steal the championship from you..."
"No, it's not." Taker growled at the memory of Edge.
"Oh good, I was afraid I was going to have to get out my shot gun."
The young Hardy nearly fell over when he saw the Undertaker laughing with the cashier. Jeff went back to studying the candy bars, when the two men turned to look at him.
"Wait a minute, is that the weird one with crazy hair who likes to jump off ladders?" The cashier studied Jeff a little more.
"Yup. That's Jeff Hardy."
"Ooh. Hey, could I get a couple of autographs, my two girls are absolutely in love with him." The man rolled his eyes.
"I think I can convince him. Hey, Hardy!"
Jeff nearly jumped when Taker called out his name. "Yeah?"
"Think you could autograph a couple of things for the daughters of my good friend here?" Taker motioned to the cashier.
"Sure!" Jeff came over to the counter. "Need a picture? I think I have a few in the..."
"No, no my kids gave me plenty of them, just in case Mark brings any of his WWE associates by one his way home."
"Murray..." Taker said in a darker tone, than he had been using. "Just give him the damn pictures."
"You know the next time I come around here again," Jeff chuckled, as he signed the pictures. "I promise I'll bring my brother Matt along so he can sign stuff too. Then your girls'll have the complete set."
"That'd be great; I know my girls would love it." The cashier took the now signed photographs back. "Thanks a lot. And the snacks are on me."
"Thanks!" Jeff grinned as Taker ushered him out of the mini-mart.
"Nice guy, you two friends?" Jeff asked getting into the car.
"Yeah," Taker answered shortly.
Jeff sighed, steeling himself to finally ask a question that had been bugging him all day. "Um...Taker where are we going?"
"You'll see. It's not far from here." Taker drove the car out of the parking lot and back onto the road.
"That's good," Jeff said, taking a sip from his water bottle.
The young Hardy thought about prying further, but then decided against it. The Undertaker was in a relatively good mood and Jeff thought it best to not break it by annoying him with questions.
"It's so green," Jeff murmured to himself, as he gazed out the car window.
"Not all of Texas is a desert."
Jeff was a little startled at the response, mostly because he hadn't expected answer. "Yeah? Sweet. You know it's kind of nice to go some place new, without my job or Chiron hanging over my head."
"Well, I had wanted to do this later, but with the incident last night, it's best we do it sooner, while we're still in Texas," Taker said, his voice even and its usual coldness almost completely absent.
"You know best," Jeff said, feeling a lot less irritated at having been dragged away from a day of possible fun with his brother. Quite the contrary, the new scenery of the road trip had already lifted his spirits considerably, at least for the moment.
After a half an hour Taker pulled off the main highway onto a dirt road that lead into a forested area. Jeff had jus broken into his pack of skittles, and was currently crunching on two green ones and three red ones.
"How can you eat that crap? It's almost pure sugar and food coloring." Taker glanced over at the skittle munching Hardy.
Jeff swallowed the skittles and grinned. "It's all about tasting the rainbow man."
Instead of casting an icy glare, the Undertaker just rolled his eyes. Even more surprisingly, a slightly amused smirk crossed his face. Jeff wondered what had put the Phenom in such a good mood that it made him seem almost like a normal human being.
The young Hardy soon discovered why when they pulled up to an impressive, rustic looking house, set on a beautiful ranch.
"Whose place is this?" Jeff raised an eyebrow. With the way the Undertaker had been so serious when he announced the road trip, saying that they needed to contact Grim directly, the young Hardy had expected them to drive to a graveyard or a cathedral.
"It's mine," Taker said, parking the car.
"Nice, um...no offense to your home or anything..." Jeff said picking his words carefully. "Why are we here?"
"So we can contact Grim directly," Taker answered simply.
"Oh, right..." Jeff decided for the sake of his health to just accept that answer. Taker's good mood could change on a dime.
Taker opened the door and the two walked into a lovely main room with a stone fireplace. The southwestern theme of the room was interrupted by toys scattered all over the place.
"Oh, Chasey, Chasey, Chasey," Taker shook his head and knelt down to pick up a toy.
As if on cue a small form appeared from around a corner. Dashing past Jeff, it proceeded to jump on the unsuspecting Undertaker's back. The Phenom lost his balance and fell over, with his attacker on top of him.
It took every ounce of self control Jeff had to not laugh, as the little girl sat up proudly on the Deadman's chest.
"I win! I pinned you, Daddy," the girl announced excitedly.
"You sure did, Chasey, one, two, three." Taker grinned at his five year old daughter.
"I get the big belt now!" She chirped, and getting off her dad, and running over to pick-up a toy version of her father's World Heavyweight Championship belt.
Even though Chasey held the belt over her head with both hands like John Cena, she stuck out her tongue just like her father did when he won a match.
"Okay, now that is cute," Jeff chuckled.
In the joy of seeing her dad, Chasey had not even noticed Jeff's presence until that moment. She suddenly became shy and dropped the belt to run over and partially hide herself behind her father's leg.
"Chasey, this is one of my friends from work. This is Jeff Hardy." At his daughter's confused expression Taker elaborated, "The guy with the funny hair, who jumps off ladders."
Instantly an expression of recognition, surprise, and delight crossed the little girl's face. "You jumped off the ladder at 'Mania."
"Yeah," Jeff chuckled. "Ladders and I make a pretty good team."
"Chasey, Where's your momma?" Taker finally got to his feet and patted his daughter on the head.
"In the bathroom with Gracie," the little girl replied.
"Not anymore," The Undertaker's wife, Sara, entered the room carrying their younger daughter, Gracie.
"Good to see you again, darlin'." Taker went up and kissed his wife on the lips and took Gracie from her arms. "Sara, I'm sure you know Jeff Hardy."
"Hi," Jeff smiled, shaking hands with the former WWE diva.
"Oh, I know you," Sara smiled back. "You're the guy who jumps off ladders and drop-kicked my husband into a puddle of vomit back in 2002."
Jeff immediately blushed bright red.
"Oh yeah..." Taker glared at the young Hardy. "I'd almost forgotten about that."
"I swear I've grown up a bit since then," Jeff held up his hands defensively. "I was kind of in a bad place in general back in those days. I'm sure you've all heard about my...um...problems."
"Well, as long you don't display those said problems in front of my kids, you're welcome here," Sara said.
"You can be sure I won't." Jeff nodded.
"And don't worry, I promise my husband won't tombstone you anywhere in or around this house," Sara assured Jeff, much to the young Hardy's relief.
Taker snapped his fingers in mock disappointment. "She's got me on a short leash."
Jeff could not suppress a chuckle, and was surprised to find Taker and Sara chuckling along with him.
"All right, enough of the finer things," Taker said, handing Gracie back over to Sara. "Down to business, come on, Jeff."
"Can I come too?" Chasey tugged on her father's pant leg.
"Afraid not, baby doll, this is man to man talk." Taker patted her head, and grinned. "When I'm done you can tell me about everything you've been doing."
"Okay!" Chasey chirped and went back to playing with her toys.
"You still want to do a barbeque tonight?" Sara asked.
Taker nodded. "Yeah, this shouldn't take too long." He motioned for Jeff to follow
Jeff obediently followed Taker down a short hallway that lead into a study room. The room was filled with books, but more noticeably, on the walls hung the costumes representing the various incarnations the Undertaker had taken in the WWE.
While Jeff looked curiously at the different costumes, Taker pulled a large black box down off the mantle piece over the fireplace. He opened the box to reveal a long staff with a large scythe on the end.
"Hey, old friend." Taker pulled the scythe out. "Haven't had to use you in real life for a while."
"Wow, they still make those things?" Jeff asked, gazing in astonishment at the weapon.
"Only for reapers," Taker answered as he tapped the wall of the fireplace with the tip of the scythe three times.
Jeff's eyes widened in amazement as the fireplace opened forward like a door to reveal a spiraling staircase downwards.
"Now I'm impressed..." the younger Hardy murmured.
"You ain't seen nothing yet," Taker said, heading down the stairs, with Jeff following automatically.
At the bottom of the stairs, The Undertaker hit the ground twice with the bottom of the staff. The floor lit up, soft white light illuminating the symbols etched into it. The light revealed a large stone cavern.
Taker walked out and stopped just before the middle of the room and touched the scythe to the center symbol. The floor opened up to reveal a square pool of clear blue water.
Jeff looked around the place a little apprehensively. "So this is where we're going to talk to Grim?"
"Yes."
"What do I need to do?"
"Get in the water."
Jeff was a little taken aback by that request. "May I ask why?"
"Water. Essential to sustaining life, yet has the power to take it away," Taker said. "It's the greatest link between earth and the afterlife."
"Okay..." the young Hardy said slowly, still uncomfortable with the idea."So what's going to happen when I get in the water?"
"It will allow a mortal to travel to limbo, where you can talk to Grim," Taker stated.
"You're coming with me right?" Jeff looked at Taker nervously.
"Of course," Taker snapped. "Like I would let you go alone and embarrass me in front of my boss."
It took Jeff a few moments to realize Taker was trying to be funny. Jeff grinned and began untying his shoes. He ended up stripping down to his pants, and no further. He didn't exactly feel comfortable with the idea of stripping down to his underwear in front of Taker.
Jeff looked over and saw Taker had not removed any of his clothing. The young Hardy found it odd that the Deadman wanted to jump into the water with all his clothes on, but then who was Jeff to question the Phenom.
Jeff strode over to the pool and took a deep breath. "Well, here goes nothing..."
He jumped in. However Jeff had not anticipated how cold the water would be. The shock almost knocked him out. It felt like a thousand knives stabbing him all over. It was the kind paralyzingly cold water that made your ankles hurt if you stood in it for only two minutes.
Automatically he began to swim back up toward the surface, only to find the surface was no longer there. He opened his eyes only to find he was staring at a stone roof instead of the open surface and fresh air. He frantically looked around for another way out, but quickly discovered he seemed to be encased in an underwater cavern and his air was running out.
His lungs were starting to burn from the need for fresh air. He had to find a way out and fast. Jeff glanced down below him and to his shock he saw rippling water at the bottom as if it were the surface. Had he gotten turned around when he jumped in?
The adrenaline pumping through his body from his lungs screaming for air gave him the strength to swim toward the rippling water, despite the water paralyzing his muscles with cold. Finally he breached the floor of rippling water, only to fall onto a very hard surface. However, there was one good point, he was out of the water and he could breathe.
After his breathing slowed down to a semi-normal rate, he finally began to get to his feet. Which turned out to be easier said than done. His limbs shook dangerously, from the cold and fatigue. He almost fell over when a strong hand caught his arm and pulled him completely to his feet. It was the Undertaker.
Jeff briefly looked at his surroundings. He was in a room that seemed to be made entirely of smooth black marble. Columns grew out of the floor and arched to hold up a ceiling of rippling water. The room was lit by candles of blue flame; however, there was complete darkness behind the columns and behind where he and Taker stood.
The Undertaker looked different. He was no longer wearing his black vest and jeans and the Jack Daniels bandana. Instead, he had on the western hat and the trench coat from his Phenom look, but underneath the coat he wore his "Lord of Darkness" outfit. Though thing that really struck Jeff as strange was the fact that the Undertaker was completely dry, instead of drenched and chilled to the bone like the young Hardy was.
"What the hell was that?" Jeff asked between pants.
"I'll tell you later." Taker answered shortly, looking straight ahead at a figure, who was sitting in a stone chair in between the candles.
Jeff followed Taker's gaze, and stopped breathing for a few seconds.
In front of them was the Grim Reaper.
000
Author's Note:
Ah, the plot thickens! Jeff is standing before the Grim Reaper and he learn more about Chiron and the curse upon him, that is if Jeff doesn't die hypothermia first...