A/N: Well hey everyone; hope ya all enjoy this chappie.-Rei
Going' through this life on my own made me as cold as a stone, I'm a ship going under- Weight of the world by Saliva
'Life is good', Abeebah mused with a sigh into the living pillow that she was currently snuggled against. Life in the World Wrestling Federation was by no means easy, but the uneasy truce between the brothers of the night had certainly taken a load off her shoulders. Generally, both siblings by some unsaid agreement avoided each other at work, and tried to get along outside of it. Her siblings were safe and happy and their' boss was miserable. And in the eldest horseman's book it didn't get much better than that.
Massive bare arms wrapped around her waist, one webbed with random patches of scars and the other unmarred. 'This can't last you know.' Abeebah glanced over her shoulder at the pale face of the younger of her two 'husbands'. Idly she wondered what it would be like to hear Glen's voice aloud. Shaking her head the first lady of the horsemen bestowed a kiss on the big man's chin. 'I know.' The big red machine had yet to cut ties with Bearer despite his brother's efforts. The fact that Kane and Undertaker were scheduled to fight for the number one contender-ship of the WWF world championship didn't help either.
There wasn't anything that any of them could do about it, especially if they didn't want McMahon getting suspicious. 'Not that he isn't suspicious already.' wryly she turned her thoughts back to her bond mates. Abeebah doubted that the brothers even 'wanted' to do anything about it. The darkest horseman abruptly stopped herself from adding some rather colorful adjectives, in conjunction to present and absent company. However if the rasping laughter in the back of her mind was anything to go by she hadn't succeeded.
'You worry for nothing.' Kane informed her, 'if you and Brandon managed it, Taker and I will be able to as well.' Sighing, the first lady didn't call attention the fact that Kane hadn't even called his brother by his name. She wasn't going to argue now, not when things were at least somewhat peaceful. The big red machine pulled her even closer to his large frame, kissing her throat contently when he sensed her thoughts quieted. It was one of the few almost nonexistent nights that they both had off, so Kane wanted to enjoy the few times he could be with Abeebah physically. "B-b-b-b-r-r-i-i-n-n-g!" Abeebah glared at the telephone on her nightstand, even as she picked up the receiver.
"Speak." The darkest horseman was in no mood to mince words. "Morte, we have a problem." Now alert, Abeebah intently listened to her youngest sibling tell her what was wrong. Kane didn't need to hear what Lue said, to know his bond mate's mood had shifted for the worse. Abeebah's usually bland features were now alight with barely repressed fury, her languid repose now gone, and in its place a tense readiness that bespoke of Abeebah's agitation. "I'll be there as soon as I can, stall." Abruptly the eldest horseman hung up the phone with a quiet growl.
Evan looked down at the phone in his hand with a sigh. Abeebah wasn't happy and no one could blame her. McMahon had stepped in it again, only this time the businessman had gotten the eldest Johns into a situation even she couldn't wriggle out of. Just minutes before, Vince had announced that Morte was to participate in a tag match against Undertaker and Kane. And if she didn't participate not only would her partner have to fight alone, she would be suspended. And right now, the horsemen couldn't afford anymore enemies, let alone someone Morte left the tender mercies of the brothers of the night.
Ignoring the camera focused on his every move Evan snarled silently before replacing the phone to its cradle. Not for the first time Evan wondered if Vince had a death wish. The tycoon had unknowingly disturbed Abeebah's quiet time with Kane. Though she'd never admit it out loud Abeebah enjoyed those quiet moments. Brandon, Delia, and Evan had no doubt that Kane liked her company as well. Thankfully though, no one besides the Johns' and the Calloways knew about it. Vince would have no trouble in using the connection against either group of siblings. Evan glanced at his sister's new tag team partner, "Morte is on her way."
Stone Cold Steve Austin sat back against an open locker, a beer in hand. The redneck looked unconcerned of the three siblings effectively surrounding him. Yet, each of them were more than aware of the discreet looks that he kept shooting around every once in a while. "How mad is she?" Delia regarded her younger brother through lowered lashes. Cocking his head Evan took a seat on the bench, carefully keeping Stone Cold within his sights. "She's… only, mildly agitated." Brandon raised an eyebrow, "Good, I don't think any of us would survive it if Morte was having one of those days."
"Now wha cha'll worry'n bout, it's my ass dat's on da line." Belligerent as always the rattlesnake cast accusing looks at all of them. "Hell, I don't know if it's Stone Cold, against, Undertaker and Kane, or, if it's, Stone Cold against, Undertaker, Kane, and Morte." Brandon ignored the unsaid threat that wrung clear in Austin's tone of voice. Abeebah could take care of herself and the redneck had every right to be angry. The blue eyed wrestler narrowed his belligerent orbs. "You ear' me boy?"
Brandon bared his teeth, "turn down the tude', I ain't got nothing against cha, but save the drama for ya momma." Unrelenting Stone Cold got right into Guerra's face, and was a little surprised that he was, in fact slightly taller than the muscle bound boy. "Now ye list- Swiftly Viluppo interceded, placing herself between her brother and Stone Cold, "no, you listen." She growled as her elder brother moved back easily. "You accuse ma blood without even know'n em' and for yo' information, you off limits, tonight you be Morte's tag partner."
In her fury, Delia's speech patterns reverted to their' South West Philly roots, having the girl sounding like the Latina she partially was. Uncaring that the person he was getting into the face of was a woman, Austin growled down at her, "meaning wot?" Baring her teeth the most vicious diva to every grace the WWF locker room glared right back. "Meaning, dat dis is strictly business, no bullshit'n or loyalties involved, otherwise mi chica be step'n off somebody's ass." Her voice held a wealth of warning. Their' eldest sibling wouldn't forgive any of them if Stone Cold was unfit to fight in their' match. Viluppo backed away doing her best to ignore the intruders in the horsemen's locker room. They could only hope that Abeebah got there soon.
Undertaker easily hid in the shadows, away from the prying eyes and invasive ears of his fellow employees. They all thought that he had gone to find his brother. They had to go up against his best friend and Stone Cold after all. He held back a snort, if only they knew. A twitching smirk forced its way on his usually dower countenance. No one even suspected that it wasn't the deadman who fallen for the first lady of the horsemen, well in 'that' kind of way. He was sure that Kane was smitten. Hell, the big man's thoughts practically bent toward the little lady whose chill matched his own.
And as hard as Kane fallen, Morte didn't love his brother back. Taker could feel it across their' link loud and clear. The darkest Johns had the emotional range of a gnat. And even though he and his brother had taught Abeebah passion, she still didn't understand it, didn't feel the need for it. It wasn't simply seeing emotions as a weakness as he himself did, Abeebah just didn't emote all that much. What took years of discipline for him, came naturally for her. It was no fault of Morte's but for Kane's sake deadman secretly hoped she'd try. 'And who knows?' He thought, 'maybe it'll stick.' Taker seriously doubted it but even he could dream once in a while.
'Taker,' the phenom sighed as Kane's voice whisper against his skin. 'Morte tell you what is going on?' The ensuing silence is a contemplative one. Then, 'I'll be there.' It didn't sound remotely as threatening as the younger Calloway meant it to. The red haired man held back his automatic need to reach out for his brother. Kane still didn't want anything to do with him. The frustration was only a mild twinge in the back of his mind, even as Kane's fiery presence faded into the background. "Sometimes I hate my life."
Much later during the show, Kane and Morte arrived separately at the arena, meeting up with their' respective partners. While the big red machine found that he could at least be civil with his brother, Abeebah could barely tolerate the bionic redneck. Abrasive, Stone Cold was on her case the moment he met her. To the blue eyed man, Abeebah was a liability. Not only was she a woman partner against the Undertaker and Kane, but she was the friend of said deadman. The same deadman that wanted to take the World Wrestling Federation title from him.
Scathingly, the darkest horseman informed him that Taker didn't need her help in gaining the title, and that she wanted to be to be his partner even less than he did. Stone Cold smiled back, baring all his teeth. Abeebah glared right back through the eyes of her mask. It was an ongoing battle to talk strategy with the man without insult after insult injecting itself in their' conversation but they managed. And when it came time to enter the squared circle Morte and Austin were at the very least on the same page. Neither of them wanted this pairing, but seeing as they didn't have a choice this point was mote.
Kane stood eye to eye with his brother in the center of the ring, raising his arms in accordance to his signature entrance. His older sibling's continual proximity now did little to bother him, no matter how many times Kane tried to work up the energy to be agitated. Idly he mused that he now understood why their' fellow bond mate had fought what came naturally for the two estranged brothers. His arms came down with a thunderous roar and heat of the pyros warming his skin.
A chorus of Chellos immediately followed, the lights transforming from the fiery red of his entrance to the arctic blue of Morte's. And as the somber melody of Apocalyptica's song, Hope, began the darkest horseman stepped onto the top of the ramp. Undertaker twitched, he could feel her agitation increase another increment at the very sight of them together, shoulder to shoulder. 'She does not want to fight us, especially with Austin as a partner.' His younger brother informed him. Sharp amusement stabbed across their' link, 'and if Brandon was her partner?' An involuntary smile tugged Glen's masked lips. It wasn't hard for either of them to imagine Abeebah challenging them with her younger brother at her side.
As the brothers continued their' imaginings, the horsemen's first lady approached the ring. She made no move to enter, merely watching them from just outside the squared circle even as the sound of shattering glass filled the arena. Morte didn't bother to look back as Stone Cold came strutting down the ramp. He easily passed his partner, entering the ring and going to the closest turnbuckle. Hauling himself up to the second rope Austin posed for the cameras. Getting down the bionic redneck went to do the same thing at the other corners.
"Welcome back everyone, this is your host Jim Ross alongside Jerry "the king" Lawler reporting from Knoxville Arena for tonight's main event." JR watched as Morte pulled herself up onto the apron, even as Kane took up the opposite corner. King smiled smugly at his co-anchor, "McMahon really outdid himself this time Ross, Stone Cold and Morte against the brothers of the night." The Oklahoma cowboy fought back a grimace. Vince had outdone himself alright, in sheer nerve and audacity.
"Vince seems bound and determined to put this young lady in some very potentially explosive situations." JR mused aloud. His coacher looked vaguely incredulous, "potentially explosive? He put her in the same ring as Undertaker, Kane, and Austin, that's all but placing the lit stick of dynamite in her hand." The WWF's senior anchor didn't disagree, but only distantly acknowledge his agreement as the two senior members of each of the tag teams started to circle each other. Absently he noted aloud that Stone Cold was avoiding locking up with the deadman.
However, JR couldn't help but glance between the two inactive members in this match. Both Kane and Morte stood in the exact same way. Their' stances were relaxed, arms idly leaned up against the ropes, masked faces tilted in the exact same angle as they watched their' partners fight. Ross couldn't help but shiver, the mirroring mannerism the two were unknowingly displaying was disturbingly similar to the off chance displays Kane and Undertaker did.
Grappling with Taker, Austin immediately kneed the larger man in the gut, and punched him in the face. The green eyed menace retaliated, returning his punch with just as much force. For a moment the rattlesnake was stunned and taking advantage of this Undertaker punched him again. The Demon of Death Valley didn't stop, until he had Stone Cold stumbling back into a corner. And even as he fell, Undertaker was on him, stomping away in a fit of rage that the deadman rarely displayed.
The referee counted to four causing the irate Phenom to abruptly turning on him. The little man scrambled back, knowing that Taker wasn't above hitting an official, forfeiting the match be damned. Austin used his momentary distraction to his advantage, using the ropes to lever himself into an upright position. And just as Undertaker turned to confront Stone Cold once more, the bald headed man kicked his opponent in the gut. He then grabbed deadman by the back of his neck and shoved him into the corner that the Phenom had him in just moments ago.
It was Austin's turn to stomp on the Undertaker, all but ignoring the ref as he tried to pull him away from his opponent. Finally the official was able to pull him away from Taker, allowing the Demon of Death Valley to turn the tables once again. The match went on, balance constantly shifting in and out the two combatants' favor. Finally Kane got tired of waiting for his brother to become tired and tagged himself in. The deadman scowled at his younger sibling but let him take his place in the ring. Austin was tired but refused to tag in Morte, knowing full well she would lose. The eldest horseman didn't mind in the least.
As the big red machine fought Austin, it proved that though Kane was just as dominate as his brother, that the rattlesnake was as much of a challenge for him as he did for Taker. But time seemed to be on the big man's side as the longer the match went on, the more tired Stone Cold became. Shamelessly Kane took advantage of this. He beat on the little bald man with the same fierce intensity that he was now famous for and Stone Cold was barely able to defend himself.
But as powerful as Kane was, Stone Cold was faster by default. So when the younger of the Calloway brothers went to grab Austin by the throat, he kicked Kane in the gut and turning around, proceeded to give the big man a Stone Cold Stunner. The audience roared as both men went down. Kane was effectively stunned while Austin was too exhausted to press his advantage. Their' respective partners watched from outside the ring, one pacing the apron like a caged animal and the other coolly watching the two with masked apathy.
However it seemed that even as tired he might be Stone Cold still had the presence of mind to get up once the referee started to count to ten. Staggering to his feet, the bionic redneck managed to stumble to Morte's corner abruptly tagging the girl in. Not knowing whether the rattlesnake did it out of spite or he was just too beat up to even know what he just did, Morte still entered the ring. However at the same time Kane unsurprisingly managed to sit up. The big man unthinkingly tagged in his brother, forcing Undertaker and Morte into the match up against each other. And though the crowd was pleased, they were not.
They squared off, neither sure of exactly how to approach the other. Taker had no inclination of hurting his 'friend' and Morte had no inclination of getting hurt. She had no illusions of who would win in a straight up fight. "Well here it is folks, are these former partners, friends even, going to fight each other?" King was all but salivating at the sight of Undertaker's frame dwarfing over the younger and most assuredly female wrestler. Cheering with the rest of the crowd when they finally locked up, the former king of the ring watched in eagerness as Morte was easily pushed back.
"And more importantly King, what effect will this match have on their' relationship after the fact." JR asked his partner wisely. They all watched under baited breath as the darkest horseman easily fell under her friend's bulk, but used his own momentum to send the deadman flying. Immediately she rolled to her feet, attacking Undertaker even as he landed with a painful grunt. She kicked at his kidneys, going for the most vulnerable spot that she could reach, and doing so repeatedly. Abeebah had told him once she would show no mercy and she wasn't about to go back on her word now. Not even as the stinging shots penetrated the veil, they both by mutual agreement deliberately placed between their' link.
Suddenly Taker grabbed her foot, yanking her down by her ankle. Using the same ankle as leverage he drove his other elbow into her knee, causing Morte to hiss in pain. It was all she could do to fight the instinct to pull at Undertaker's hair. Bringing her other leg around the red head's throat, Morte brought her leg down hard as she could across his neck as many times as she could manage. Abruptly Taker rolled over, reversing the hold into the ankle lock. Again the darkest horseman countered, doing an inverted enzuigiri out of desperation.
It only staggered him slightly. Yet it was enough time for Morte to make use of one of her more extreme maneuvers. Quickly taking a half step back, the horseman's first lady took a running leap, bringing her knee up so that it would be level with Taker's chin, and her elbow up so that it would thrust down directly on the crown of his head. A jolt of pure agony jolted shot down the Phenom's spine as the unorthodox move connected, and without preamble Taker dropped. And Abeebah nearly fell with him as the pain all but overwhelmed the veil blocking their' link.
She could even feel Kane pause as she went for the pin. "What the hell was that?!" JR was hollering at the innovative if slightly insane move. King's mouth hung agape with shock as the WWF fans cheered with an unrelenting bloodlust. "I'm thinking this is exactly why both the Undertaker and Kane listen to her." He said finally breaking out of his silence. Kane seemed to snap out of his stupor and all but scrambled into the ring.
Morte didn't pay attention as her partner went to intercept the chrisom demon, didn't blink when the referee began to count, and nearly squealed girlishly when she was practically thrown off Undertaker. Bouncing off the ropes, Morte was back on the deadman even as he was getting back to his feet. JR winced in sympathy as she put Taker in a sleeper hold only to be thrown off. Taker went after her fist raised and his temper well passed its boiling point.
Meanwhile Stone Cold and Kane were exchanging blows nearby. The rattlesnake even managed to clothesline the big red machine over the top rope. Knowing better than to give the big man time to recover, the bionic redneck followed him out, striking with all the passion and temper that earned him his serpent nickname. However once again Kane proved to all that were watching that he could take more than the beating Austin was dishing out. Quickly overtaking the smaller man, Kane whipped Austin into the ring post. The bald headed wrestler was knocked for a loop.
Getting a 'weapon' crossed the big man's mind but he thought better of it, as he returned to his designated corner. And while Stone Cold done for the count; Morte was getting the stuffing beat out of her. All the eldest horseman could do was cover up as best as she could, and desperately try to think through the pain that was being inflicted on her. Finally the referee was able to get Taker to back off long enough for Morte to gain her feet. Shoving the official out of the way, Deadman swung his fist the full brunt of his weight backing the punch aimed at Morte's masked face. However the darkest horseman used his momentum against him.
Ducking under the fist that was on a collision course with her head, the masked woman raised her knee high into Undertaker's gut, driving the air from his lungs. Her forward momentum stopped, Morte once again used her elbow, only this time bringing it down with a crushing force to the back of his neck. Again he went down, this time face first into the mat. Landing precariously on her feet, Morte followed her initial hit with a driving knee to the back of Taker's head. The spectators groaned in sympathy, and all three bondmates nearly whimpered in unison.
There was no blocking out that particular move. Dropping into another pin, Morte breathed a sigh of relief when the referee managed to get the three count this time. She was unaware of Austin once again running interference against Kane. All she could concentrate on as she crawled to her feet was the fact that it was over. Even JR's "OH Gods!" echoing over the canopy of cheers and her entrance music seemed distant compared to her relief. Hauling herself up with the help of the ropes, Abeebah looked up and was confronted by golden skin and a pair of sky blue eyes.
Her partner extended his hand in an offer to help her upright. For a long moment the young woman just looked at him. She didn't trust him, nor this 'truce' but she had no intention of insulting the champion especially when she had as many enemies as she had. So Abeebah took his hand and wasn't in the least bit shocked when she felt the boot connect with her stomach, setting her up perfectly for the stunner. Abeebah closed her eyes expecting to be stunned. And yet when nothing happened she opened her eyes and he eyes were level with a black clad chest.
Almost hesitantly tilting her head back, the eldest horseman looked Undertaker in the eye. Rolling emotions flickered through his acid green eyes. Then again she didn't need to look into his eyes to know what he was feeling as he gazed down at her. But Abeebah dare not look away. Fury, pain, pride, and the briefest flickers of affection ghosted across her skin. The crowd waiting on baited breath to see what deadman was going to do. None of the surrounding spectators expected him to simply leave. Watching him go, an amused smile flickered across Abeebah's lips.