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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.
000It was the night of the Great America Bash.
Jeff tapped his foot nervously, while he shoveled another handful of skittles into his mouth. He was on his third bag of the sweet candy, sure the sugar was going to make him hyper, but at the same time the sweet taste of the candy was helping to calm his anxious nerves.
To be honest he was terrified of what may happen that night. This was the last night for Chiron to come after him before the window period for the Seventh Layer of hell to be open. Now it was not a matter of if Chiron's minions will come after him, but when. After his last experience with the incubi, Jeff did not want to end up in their grasp; he didn't want his body to become a vehicle for some demon.
Maria was on his right, holding his hand, while Matt was on his left, reminding him every thirty seconds that when the sun rose this nightmare would finally be over. Shannon Moore was sitting next to Matt, looking ready to beat up anyone who even looked at Jeff funny. Matt hadn't told the Prince of Punk the full details, just that some guys were after Jeff and he needed some protection.
It was some comfort to Jeff that there were others, looking after him as well. There were Undertaker and Kane of course, but he also had Batista, Rey Mysterio, Edge, Randy Orton, and John Cena, watching his back. Even though the other men didn't quite understand or believe what was going on, they knew one of their fellow wrestlers was in trouble, so they would step up to protect him.
Jeff breathed a small sigh of relief at that thought. He saw Matt glance up at the clock. It was time for their match. Jeff stood up and Maria gave him a kiss on the cheek for good luck.
The two brothers walked side by side to the entrance tunnel where their fellow competitors were waiting as well. Taker came over to them.
"Remember, Jeff, always stay where we can see you," Taker said in a low voice.
Jeff nodded. A few seconds later, Rated-RKO's theme music hit and Randy and Edge headed out into the arena. Kane went out after them, with the Hardys going out next. Jeff took in deep breath as their theme music came on and after a light push from Matt, he ran out into the arena.
The cheers from the crowd might have been more of a comfort to Jeff if he hadn't had the nagging fear in the back of his mind that one of those fans could be an incubus in disguise.
Jeff's heart was pounding the entire time he waited in the ring, while Batista, Cena and finally The Undertaker made their entrances.
However, when everyone arrived in the ring, they realized there were no refs in the ring. Just as everyone began to wonder what was going on, the crowd went wild as DX's music hit. Sure enough, Triple H and Shawn Michaels came down the entrance ramp, dressed in referee uniforms with big green DX letters spray painted across the back and front.
The two picked up a couple of mics and got into the ring.
"All right now listen up!" Shawn Michaels started on the mic.
"We don't care who you are," Triple H continued. "We don't care if you're the The Champ, The Animal, The Legend Killer, or The R-rated Superstar, or The Big Red Machine, or Team Extreme or The Phenom, Deadman, Big Evil, American Badass, Lord of Darkness, and The--"
Triple H stopped when he pretended to forget Taker's last and most obvious title, "The Undertaker."
"What's his other name?" Hunter scratched his head in over exaggerated confusion.
"I know he's got one more," Shawn scratched his head as well.
The audience quickly got the joke and were all laughing. Meanwhile, Taker's eyes rolled back into his head for a moment, before he stepped into the ring and grabbed Shawn's wrist with the microphone in it.
"Undertaker," that was all the dead man said in a dark voice, before calmly heading back to his corner.
"That's it, I knew we were missing one," Triple H chuckled along with HBK. "He has more names than me."
"Now where were we? Oh yeah," Shawn got back on the mic. "If you guys don't like our rules…"
"Then we've got two words for you," Hunter jumped back in on their famous catchphrase, and the audience joined along.
"SUCK IT!"
000
Jeff leaned on the turnbuckle to catch his breath. He looked out and saw the large brawl outside the ring was still going on. Kane had just thrown John Cena into the steel steps, Matt had bashed Randy's head into the guard rail, and J.R. and Jerry Lawler had scrambled to get out of the way of Batista and Taker, going at it near the announcer table.
On top of that it seemed that neither Triple H nor HBK had a mind to put a stop to it as long as no one tried to run away, or grabbed a weapon from under the ring. In other words, the refs were enjoying the brawl as much as the audience was.
Shawn was in the ring with Jeff and Edge who actually the legal men in, only they could make the pin on each other for the win.
As much as he disliked Edge, the young Hardy was tempted to just take the fall and let him win. Then the match and the night would be over. Jeff was so exhausted going through this ordeal, he wanted nothing more than to go back to the hotel and hide in Taker and Kane's room so he could be protected from Chiron by them and sleep until the sun came up.
However, what he decided didn't matter as Edge took advantage of Jeff stalling to catch his breath, and as soon as the younger Hardy turned around, he was speared by the R-rated Superstar, and sent crashing to the ground.
When Jeff opened his eyes he gazed in horror at the sight over Edge's shoulder. There stood Chiron and his incubi, bearing down on him. Jeff screamed and pushed Edge off him. He ran to the other end of the ring in terror, stopping only when he hit the turnbuckle. The impact was enough to knock him out of his panicked state for the moment. He turned around and saw that Chiron and his incubi were no longer there. Had it been a hallucination?
He blinked several times, trying to clear his vision of sweat and panic. Someone was slowly walking toward him, it looked like Edge, but the shape kept shifting and, blurring. It became Chiron again. It reached out to him. Now Jeff was trapped in a corner with no where to go. Instead of panic he felt anger; he wasn't going to be a victim anymore. He charged toward Chiron and speared the demon just as Edge had done to him only minutes before.
However, when they hit the ground, Chiron seemed to turn into Edge. Just as Jeff realized his mistake, his wrestling instincts took over and he covered Edge for a pin. Shawn got down to do the three count. Just as HBK's fist hit the canvas or the third time, the whole arena went black.
The Undertaker felt his blood run cold as the lights suddenly went out. At first the audience cheered, until they remembered that the Undertaker was already at ringside. The cheers became silent, rising to a buzz of curious whispers as to what was happening.
Taker found the ring apron in the darkness and climbed into the ring just as the lights came on. Jeff and Edge were and Michaels was laid out unconscious in the middle of the ring.
"Shawn! Shawn!" Taker shook Michaels until he opened his eyes. "What happened?"
"I'm not sure," The Heartbreak kid answered groggily, while he rubbed his aching head. "It came from behind. I was down before I even knew there was a struggle."
At that moment, Matt climbed into the ring. "What's happened? Where's Jeff?"
Taker felt his words catch in his throat, how could he tell Matt that Chiron had stolen his little brother right out from under their noses?
000
Edge woke up to the cold feel of stone below his body. He opened his eyes and saw he was lying on the floor at the foot of some stairs leading up to an alter, in a room where everything was made of stone. To his left and right were hooded figures, staring intently at the altar, chanting in voices that sounded eerily like the ones the incubi had before. He looked on in terror as five of the incubi placed Jeff carefully on the altar.
One of the incubi raised his arms toward the large metal door in front of them and yelled in his mysterious language at the door. Pulling out a dagger from his robe, he raised Jeff's hand. Edge winced a little inwardly as the incubi ran the dagger across Jeff's palm. The young Hardy's blood flowed readily forth.
The incubi called out another incantation and slowly Jeff sat up. However, even though his eyes were open, Jeff didn't seem awake, like he was in a trance. He slid off the altar and robotically made his way toward the door. He raised his bloodied hand and placed it on the door.
On impulse Edge jumped to his feet and dashed up the stairs. He jumped up on to the altar and leaped toward Jeff. Grabbing the back of the younger Hardy's shirt, he jerked him away from the door. They both hit the floor hard and it seemed to be enough to snap Jeff out of his trance.
"What the hell?" the younger Hardy rasped, shaking his head to clear it.
"That's just about where you were going!" Edge snapped, more out of anxiousness than anger.
"Huh?" Jeff looked up at the door in front of him; the door was covered in intricate carvings of demons and symbols that matched Chiron's tattoo on Jeff's abdomen. His heart leapt into his throat from fear. "A Seventh Gate… Ow," Jeff looked down at his cut up hand. "What happened to my hand?"
"Them."
Both Edge and Jeff jumped to their feet and spun to face the incubi behind them. However the dark robed creatures made no move to approach them.
"Now what…?" Jeff hissed to Edge.
"I don't know, I didn't think that far ahead…" The R-rated superstar hissed back.
"My kingdom for a ladder…" Jeff muttered under his breath, taking a few steps back.
"Careful!" Edge panicked. "Don't get too close to the door!"
Jeff turned and looked at the door. He could see the small stain of blood his hand left before. Then to their horror, the blood stain seemed to be absorbed into the door, until it was gone completely.
Suddenly, one of the symbols began to glow and the demon sculpture came alive. It reached out and grabbed Jeff's arm, pulling him toward the door. The young Hardy dug in and tried to get his arm free from the demon's grasp, but to no avail. Edge grabbed Jeff's other arm in an attempt to pull Jeff free, but More hands reach out from the door and jerked Jeff away, slamming him into the door.
Edge could do nothing else, but watch in horror as the door, like metallic quicksand pulled Jeff Hardy completely into its dark clutches…
000
Oh dear Chiron finally got his hands on poor Jeff… Can Taker and the others possibly save him…? On top of that poor Edge finds himself in a rough spot as well….