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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, Edge, 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 Hardy took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Only three more days and the nightmare would be over. At the very least now he had Matt fully at his side and he could draw from his older brother's strength once again. He looked over at his brother, walking beside him and, couldn't keep from smiling a little.
The Hardys had tag-teamed in a re-match against Cena and Batista, since they didn't get to finish their first match due to Matt passing out during it. Matt's subsequent blood test had revealed he was clean of any substance that would go against the WWE Wellness policy. The doctors had attributed it to exhaustion and low blood pressure, and they released him from the ER as soon as he was awake.
Strangely enough, even though Jeff had removed the protective symbol from his back to protect Matt, Chiron had not visited his dreams at all. Matt said that the hell keeper had been absent from his sleep as well. Despite finally getting a full night's sleep, this turn had made Jeff extra apprehensive.
What had added to his apprehension was the fact that Taker seemed to be avoiding contact with them, which why it was Kane who had warned them that they must be extra vigilant. Since it was so close to the end of the window period, Chiron had to make his move at kidnapping Jeff soon. Which meant Jeff was not allowed to go anywhere alone, including the bathroom, and someone, usually Matt, had to stand right outside of the bathroom stall while Jeff did his business.
"Three more days…"
"What did you say?" Matt looked over at him. The elder Hardy was already looking a lot less pale than before and the bags under his eyes had started to shrink.
"This is all going to be over in three days." Jeff sighed.
Matt smiled and put an arm around Jeff's shoulders. "That's right."
Just then Teddy Long came over to them. "Matt Hardy, McMahon wants to see you in the office." He glanced over at Jeff and back at Matt. "Alone."
The Hardys exchanged glances. Matt was wary of leaving his little brother alone at this critical time. Jeff luckily spotted Batista and Cena down the hall, talking.
"I'll go talk to John and Dave," Jeff motioned towards the other two wrestlers. "Give me a call when you're done, okay?"
Matt nodded and followed Teddy, while Jeff walked over to join Cena and Batista.
000
Edge groaned as his whole body ached, he and Randy had just had their asses handed to them on a plate by the Brothers of Destruction. It seemed that either Johnathan Coachman or Teddy Long had it in for them.
He was currently playing the recluse and, hiding in a bathroom stall. He had a headache already from the Tombstone Piledriver he had received from the Undertaker, and he knew the locker room chatter would only make it worse.
Edge was distracted from his aches and pains when he heard a great commotion coming from the locker room. There was scuffling and grunting and the slamming of lockers, but just as Edge wondered if he should go investigate the sounds stopped. It suddenly became eerily quite. Edge gulped and almost opened the bathroom stall's door when he heard voices.
He breathed a sigh of relief when he recognized them as Randy Orton and Ken Kennedy. However, there was something odd about them that made Edge hesitate again in opening the stall door. Randy and Kennedy were not speaking English, or any other human language Edge had heard of, and with all the country hopping the WWE did, that was a lot.
The R-rated superstar got up on the toilet seat and peered cautiously over the stall door. Kennedy and Randy looked normal enough at first glance, but then Edge caught their reflection in the bathroom mirror and it told a much more frightening story. In the mirror's reflection, they looked like stereotypical demons from bible stories and movies, with pitch black bodies and horns, bat wings, claws and big gnashing teeth. Also they had tails with a sharp looking spar on the end.
Edge pinched himself to make sure this wasn't some nightmare he was in. Unfortunately it was real. He watched as the monster imitating Kennedy held up a cell phone and spoke in his strange language while the other one chuckled in a sinister way. They were up to something. In the back of his mind Edge wondered what had happened to the real Kennedy and Randy.
He ducked down into the stall again just as the fake Randy turned its head in his direction. He felt a cold shudder run down his spine when he heard the creature's footsteps approaching the stall. The fear he felt even more intense since the stall wasn't locked. He thought about locking it right now, but then they would know for sure he was in there. There was no where to hide, except…
He grabbed on to the metal coat hanger on the back of the door and lifted up his legs just as the false Randy opened the door. Edge silently prayed that his already tired muscles would continue to hold him up, and that the coat hanger would not break off the door
His prayers held out, and after a quick surveillance of the stall both demons left the bathroom completely. Edge, slowly let himself down. He sighed in relief that he was not caught, but now he was trapped and those monsters were sure to come back…
000
When Matt finished with his meeting with Vince McMahon, he was quite alarmed to find that Jeff was not standing with Cena and Batista, like he had left him.
"Guys!" Matt jogged up to them. "Have you seen Jeff?"
"Yeah," Cena shrugged. "He had to run back to the locker room to get his cell phone."
"His cell phone? He didn't have it with him?" Matt looked at them even more panicked.
"Hardy!" the unmistakable voice of the Undertaker rang down the hallway, as he and Kane stalked toward them. "Where's Jeff?"
"He went to the locker room to get his cell phone," Matt answered, and started dialing Jeff's number on his own cell phone.
"You let him go alone?!" Taker snapped, grabbing the front of Matt's shirt.
"You idiot! You were supposed to look after him while we were in our match!" Kane snarled.
"Hey!" Batista managed to separate Matt from Taker. "It's not Matt's fault. He got called to Mr. McMahon's office, and Jeff came over to talk to us, then ran back to get his cell phone. What's the big deal?"
"What's going on, Taker?" Cena raised an eyebrow. Neither he nor Batista had ever seen the Phenom this flustered before.
"Would you guys shut up, I'm trying to reach Jeff!" Matt snapped, caring more about what was happening to Jeff than anything else. Now more than ever, Matt prayed that Jeff would pick up the phone and be okay…
000
Jeff entered the RAW locker room and was relieved to hear the familiar voices of Kennedy, Orton and Shelton Benjamin. It made him feel less bad about not asking Batista and Cena to go with him to get his cell phone, which he had foolishly left in the locker room. At least he wasn't alone.
He walked past Kennedy and Orton, who were talking, and then past Shelton who was lacing up his shoes. Jeff walked around a corner of lockers and spotted his cell phone sitting on the bench near his locker.
As if on cue, when he picked it up it rang. It was Matt.
000
"Jeff, are you alright?" Matt asked with the alarm he still felt when he had returned to find Jeff missing.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Jeff replied in a calm voice to comfort his brother. "I just wanted to grab my cell phone. I thought I had put it in my bag, but I guess I didn't…"
"Jeff! Have you gone brain dead? Why didn't you take someone with you?" Matt snapped out of worry.
"Don't worry, man…" Jeff soothed. He was getting used to these panicked outbursts. "I wouldn't have gone in if no one was here. But Ken, Randy, and Shelton are here, so I'm not alone."
Matt breathed a sigh of relief, "He's not alone; Ken, Randy and Shelton are there."
"Wait, that can't be right, they're over there," Cena pointed to the aforementioned wrestlers, walking towards them down the hallway.
"Hey, guys what's happening?" Shelton greeted them.
"Oh hell…" Taker growled, before taking off towards the locker room, with Kane following close behind.
"Jeff, you need to get out of there now!" Matt shouted into the phone as he followed after Taker and Kane. "It's not the real guys!"
000
Jeff swallowed hard as a cold chill ran up and down his spine. He was alone in a locker room with men who could be Chiron's followers in disguise. He hung up the phone and dashed back toward the locker room's entrance. However, as he turned the corner he saw his escape was blocked by three of Chiron's incubi.
"Um…Oh shit…" Jeff growled. Not knowing what else to do, he chucked his duffel bag at the group and took off towards the other exit.
As he neared it, a black tail lashed out from behind a row of lockers in front of him. The bulk of it slammed into Jeff's chest while the rest rose up and over his shoulder to stick sharp stinger in his back between his shoulder blades. He fell back onto the floor; both his front and his back hurt.
The fourth incubi stalked toward him. Jeff rolled over and grabbed the nearest weapon he could find, a steel chair. The incubi reached for him. Jeff whacked its hand away and, jumping to his feet, he whacked it in the head. The creature staggered backwards into the row of lockers.
Jeff unsteadily made his way toward the exit. The world seemed to be spinning around him and his vision blurred as he reached the door and turned the handle.
It was locked.
"No! NO!" Jeff screamed, desperately trying to force the door open. "Someone! Anyone! HELP!"
Jeff felt his breath catch in his throat when he heard the sounds behind him. The other three incubi had caught up to him. The young Hardy's fist clenched around the chair, turning around, he stood his ground.
"Come on you son of bitches!" Jeff charged toward them.
He struck the first one in the head and the second in the chest. However, the third dodged his attack and punched him in the stomach. Jeff buckled over, but managed to stay on his feet though he was growing dizzier by the second. His body began to shake with the sudden fatigue. Was he just tired from the match, or had the incubi's stinger contained some sort of venom?
Jeff swung the chair blindly out in front of him only to have it grabbed and jerked away. He staggered forward and a black fist crashed into the side of his head. He fell to the floor again, completely reeling from the blow to the head.
He groaned and gazed up in a daze as the four incubi gathered around him.
"Now we have the chosen one…"
"And we did not have trouble with that reaper…"
"Chiron will be pleased…"
Jeff was still dazed barely aware when one of the incubi slung him over its shoulder. "Matt…help…"
However, it was not Matt who came to save him, but the Hardys' old nemesis, Edge.
The R-rated superstar snuck out of the bathroom and grabbed the chair that had been yanked from Jeff's hands and discarded. He ran toward the group of incubi, striking the first one in the back of the head and the second in the face, breaking its front fangs. Swinging the chair wildly, Edge shoved it into the third one, knocking them both down. The fourth, the one carrying Jeff, lashed out with its tail at Edge, striking him in the shoulder. However, though Edge reeled back, he was not deterred. He chucked the chair at the incubi's head. The chair hit its mark and the creature fell backwards, dropping Jeff in the process.
Edge ran over to Jeff and slapped his face a couple of times. "Come on, Jeff, wake up!"
When Jeff opened his eyes, Edge hauled him to his feet and helped him stagger toward the exit.
"I can't believe I just did that!" Edge rasped to himself. "I could have been killed."
"That's the spirit," Jeff said drowsily, the venom from the incubi was really starting to affect him now, and the blow to the head he had received earlier didn't help. "Just like the old Edge, who jumped off ladders like me."
"We can reminisce later over a drink." Edge grinned, before turning serious. "Right now we need to get out of here!"
"We can't get out, the door's locked…" Jeff murmured.
"Shit…" Edge hissed. Switching tactics, he quickly ducked himself and Jeff behind a row of lockers just as the recovered incubi rounded the corner in pursuit of them. For now they had a few seconds of breathing room.
Jeff's head started to droop forward as he grew drowsier and drowsier from the incubi's venom. Edge gave Jeff's hair a sharp tug to wake him up a little.
"Now's not a good time for a nap, Jeff!" Edge whispered, looking for a way out. He spotted a door off to the side of them, most likely it connected to the Smackdown! locker room. Making a break for it was a risky move. If that door was locked too, then they were screwed. However, if they stayed where they were, they were also screwed. Weighing those options, Edge decided to take a chance.
He helped Jeff to his feet and they dashed over to the door as fast as they could. For the moment luck seemed to be on their side as the door was unlocked. However, just as Edge pushed the door open, one of the incubi caught up to them and struck the R-rated superstar in the back of his shoulder.
Edge cringed and fell forward into the other room along with Jeff. He kicked the door closed and managed to stagger to his feet. Now he knew why Jeff was so out of it. He had just been stung and already the world was spinning.
Still, he managed to grab a now barely conscious Jeff and drag him over toward the exit, hoping that it was not locked as well. The incubi burst open the door he and Jeff had just come through, and were quickly closing the distance.
The venom was throwing Edge's equilibrium off and he fell backwards, pulling Jeff on top of him.
"Damn it!" Edge cursed as he tried to reach up and grab the door handle.
The incubi came closer and one of them reached out for Jeff.
Suddenly, door was flung open and in the doorway stood the Undertaker. The incubi hissed and stared, shouting in their strange language at him. The phenom glanced at the incubi sting marks on both Jeff and Edge. He glared back the monsters, before stepping in between them and their target.
Taker growled and, holding up his hand, he pulled out his scythe from thin air. "How about taking on some one from your own dimension?"
Before the Incubi could even think of responding, Taker attacked. With a few slices of his scythe, he quickly dispatched three of the incubi. When the fourth tried to attack him from behind, it was cut in two by a crescent shaped blade on a chain. When the chain was pulled back, the owner was revealed to be Kane.
The bodies and black blood evaporated into thin air. It was as if they had never been there at all. Taker turned to quirk an eyebrow at his little brother.
"Hey, I wanted some real action tonight…" Kane shrugged, which earned him a smirk from his older brother.
Matt came running into the locker room and, looking down at the now completely unconscious Jeff and Edge, he looked back up at Taker and Kane, who glared darkly back at him.
"I hope you're goddamned happy!" Taker snapped at Matt. "Not only did you nearly allow Jeff to get captured, but now you owe your brother's life to Edge!"
Matt stared at Taker opened mouthed. Could this whole situation get any worse…?
000
"Phew" Thanks to Edge, Jeff dodged a bullet that time….But don't think Chiron will give up so easily…