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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
Eddie drove the low-rider to the west end of Purgatory until they came to a wall of black and purple smoke.
"Just keep going, it won't bite," Owen grinned.
"You sure, ese?" Eddie looked at the younger Hart brother.
Owen nodded confidently. Latino Heat took a deep breath and drove right through the smoke. On the other side, they ended up in a long dark hallway, with walls made of black marble and a ceiling made of water. Eddie parked in front of the great door at the other end.
"Where are we?" Jeff whispered, looking in at his surroundings in awe and apprehension.
"The hall of Judgment," Owen said, getting out of the car.
A shiver ran up and down the young Hardy's spine. "Nice…"
"Well come on, let's get this over with for you," Owen motioned for Jeff to follow.
"Can I come too?" Eddie asked. He was eager to get an idea of what his own judgment would be like. "I could be a character witness or something."
"Sorry, Latino Heat, no non-judged souls allowed," Owen said apologetically.
Eddie snapped his fingers. "It was worth a shot."
"Thanks for everything, Eddie." Jeff waved.
"No problem ese, and if you get back to your body, remember, 'Viva La Raza.'"
And with that Latino Heat got back into his low-rider and drove back through the smoke.
When Eddie was out of sight, Owen waved a hand and the huge doors in front of them opened to reveal a round room of white marble. In sharp contrast to the dark hallway, it was light, and the ceiling was made of blue tropical looking water, it even had colorful fish swimming about in it. The seats like juror boxes were full of angels and demons all talking amongst each other. In the center chair sat the grim and in the middle of the floor stood The Undertaker.
The sight of Mark Calaway was a comforting one to Jeff. At least he wasn't going to have to go through this completely alone.
"This is bullshit!" Taker yelled at the jury. "You're just stalling because you simply don't want to deal with this problem; you're all waiting for Jeff's body to die so it will be decided for you."
"That is enough!" Grim called out. His gaze fell upon the door, as everyone quieted down and followed his gaze, all focusing down on Jeff in the doorway.
Owen patted Jeff on the back before he spread his wings and flew up to his seat in the jury box.
Taker smirked a little and motioned for the young Hardy to come to the middle of the room with him.
Jeff hurried over to where he was standing. "Taker... What's going on? Why are you here?" he whispered.
"They're trying to decide whether to send you back to your body or not." Taker said quietly. "I'm here because I'm your lawyer."
"Yeah?" Jeff grinned a little, knowing Taker had his back. "Cool..."
"Don't look too happy," Taker turned somber again. "They could decide not to let you go back or your body dies while we're here."
Jeff's face fell. "My body could die?"
Taker nodded gravely, but offered Jeff some hope. "It's not over yet, they wouldn't be going through this if it was already dead, plus medical science seems to be working miracles at keeping comatose people alive. Now all we have to do is convince them that you should go back, that you will do something worthwhile in the world if you are given another chance."
Jeff swallowed hard and nodded nervously.
"This man did not deserve his fate," Taker called out to the jury. "He has yet to live out his life time. It was cut short unnaturally by a hell keeper, a spirit of the afterlife. Jeff was merely an innocent victim targeted by this demon. You say to return him is a crime against nature? His death was a crime against nature through no fault of his own."
This started another wave of whispers from the angels and demons.
"What is the point?" One of the angels spoke. "We have seen the history of this man, he lives a reckless lifestyle. He may be back here tomorrow. Be it a broken neck or an overdose of something."
Taker winced and whispered, "I was worried they'd bring that up."
"But I've been clean for a while now!" Jeff called out in his defense. "I don't intend to go down that path again. If not for myself than for my family and friends, and besides, I could just as easily trip down a flight of stairs and break my neck."
"Fair point," said a demon in the jury box. "But what more do you have to offer to the world with your parlor tricks?"
"Far beyond that," Taker stepped up in Jeff's defense again. "Jeff Hardy has inspired many thousands who watch him do his 'parlor tricks' as you call them. He inspires them to rise up and be greater than what they thought they were, to be daring in what they do, to work through whatever pain is going on in their lives, be it mental or physical, and that it's never too late to get back on to the right path when you have strayed from it."
"Yeah, exist to inspire," Jeff uttered to the famous motto of the Hardy Boyz.
"Pretty words that don't mean much," the demon said, unmoved by Taker's speech, however other's around him seemed to be taking it more to heart.
"They do if they are true!" Taker snapped back.
"Prove it!" the demon demanded.
"Enough!" Grim bellowed. "I won't have this turn into a meaningless argument. The human's life hangs in the balance."
"Then send him back before it dies," Taker persisted.
"We want to hear more from the mortal." Grim turned his attentions back to Jeff. "What do you plan on doing with your life if you got a second chance, Jeff Hardy?"
Jeff gulped and took another deep breath. "Do what other people do. Just live. There are many more things I want to do before I die. I want to be a World Champion, I want people to look up to me and rise above their troubles, because if I could do then they could do it too. I have so many more sculptures I want to create. I want people to remember me and speak my name with admiration long after I'm gone. I want my own family with children and grandchildren. I want to…" He remembered the word his mother said to him before. "To die a happy old man peacefully in my sleep with lots of children and grandchildren around me, after leading a long and full life. Doesn't everyone want that deep down?"
A thoughtful hush hung in the courtroom like a thick blanket. It was broken only when Grim stood up. "Reaper Calaway, Jeff Hardy, we have heard your case, now we shall have to deliberate further. You will wait outside until the decision has been made."
Taker nodded and ushered Jeff out the door.
"That's it?" Jeff asked when they were outside and the door had closed. "That's all they needed to hear?"
"Yup." Taker said simply. "It wasn't just your words they were listening to. They were studying your soul. Every shift of your eyes, every turn of your head, every expression that crossed your face, the tone of your voice, the inflection on the words; all indications of an honest soul or a deceitful one."
"Oh man…" Jeff wearily slid down the wall into a sitting position and pulled his knees into his chest. "I didn't even think about all that stuff."
"Don't worry about it, you did all right, you said your peace," Taker said, patting the top of Jeff's head. "In fact it was better that you weren't thinking about the subtleties, if you had they would have picked up on that and then you would look like you were hiding something. You were honest and true, and that's the best way to go."
Jeff nodded, taking some comfort in Taker's words. Then he realized he had failed to thank the Phenom for all he had done. "Taker?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for having my back through all of this, man," Jeff smiled wearily, looking up at the Deadman. "I probably would have completely choked in there if you hadn't been there."
"Well, I did what I thought I had to do, nothing more." Taker waved it off.
Jeff knew better, but decided not to press further.
"How long do you think it'll take?" Jeff asked as he rested his head on his knees again.
"For your sake, not too long," Taker said somberly.
Jeff swallowed hard. "Do I really have a time limit?"
"You could say that. They may send you back, but if your body dies before you get there, you'll end up right back here." Taker said gravely. "Hopefully going through Limbo first this time."
"Limbo?" Jeff asked, trying to get his mind off the other worrisome words Take had just said. "Is that like Purgatory?"
"This is one of the reapers' main jobs, severing the soul from the body," Taker explained. "If you had died normally you would have come through Limbo. All souls come through there, either when their body dies, or when they go there and then are sent back in the case of a near-death experience, or for whatever reason the soul gets scared and leaves the body."
"Gets scared? Your soul leaves your body if you get scared?"
"It has to be really traumatic. Cases like a coma, a catatonic or vegetative state are usually the result of the soul leaving the body after a traumatic experience. Usually in the vegetative state case the body is so damaged the soul doesn't want to go back in it and the body slowly dies."
"Mmh-hmm," Jeff murmured taking it all in slowly, but didn't find he had much interest in it. All he wanted to do was get back to life, to Matt, to Maria.
"Though in some cases like yours, since you didn't go through Limbo, since you went to Hell and then to Purgatory, your body and your soul have been separating from each other on their own. And being in Hell accelerated this process," Taker said gravely. "You're a special case since you were sent straight to Hell through the door and you saw Purgatory as well. You saw the afterlife, that's the real reason they don't want to send you back."
That caught Jeff's attention. "So in my case...What does that mean?"
"And if a soul has been out of the body too long and it tries to get back in, it's too much of a shock for the body and the heart stops, and you will end up right back here..."
"Oh... Then it doesn't look good for me does it…?" Jeff murmured, feeling his heart sink at the prospect of never seeing Matt or Maria ever again. He did not even get a chance get to say good-bye…
000
What will the court decision be…? Will Jeff get another chance at life?