Chapter 9: Return
January 1 and March 14, 2004

January 1, 2004

At the birth of the New Year, Pandora was heading to a party at a warehouse dressed in a tight leather cat-suit, based on a character she once saw in a semi-old human movie. Lacti was not thrilled by the outfit but knew she could not say anything since Pandora decided to stay home instead of moving out. Pandora stayed home since she could live there for free but she kept that to herself.

On the way, her wings shuddered. She smiled, recognizing that feeling, and headed towards the gate. Sure enough, Undertaker was there, back in his demon form, with the biker soul next to him. Pandora stayed hidden and watched as he looked at the soul. "Satisfied?"

The biker nodded. "Yeah…thanks for the storm. Those idiots didn't know what hit them."

Undertaker nodded. "Time to uphold your end of the bargain."

The biker smiled. "Yes…and thanks for these past few years. They've been a blast."

Undertaker nodded and touched the biker's forehead. He closed his eyes and was lowered into the ground. Pandora watched with interest. She figured that souls went to a different part of Hell but she did not know that it was underground. If so, why did Undertaker not want her to watch? To Pandora, this was not a big deal. Once the biker was gone, Undertaker said, "You can come out." Pandora froze. He knew she was there? Once again, he told her, "You can come out."

Pandora revealed herself and took off her mask. "Hey."

Undertaker looked at Pandora. "What are you doing here?"

Pandora shrugged. "I was going to a party…and I saw you." She looked down and fiddled with her mask. "Um…welcome back. You've been gone…a while."

Undertaker blinked at her. "Yes. We both held up our end of the bargain."

Pandora nodded; at least the biker got his revenge on whoever rigged his motorcycle. She asked, "Is what you did to his soul…what you do to all the damned souls?"

Undertaker shook his head. "He was a special case because he was bound to me all these years."

Pandora nodded. "So what do you do with the others?" Undertaker did not answer so Pandora changed the subject. "It sucks…that Kane buried you again. You should get back at him."

Undertaker went up to her and made her look at him. "I am not the same demon you knew…high priestess."

Pandora blushed a little. "I know…and I've accepted that…when you came to your senses about the Corporate Ministry." Undertaker nodded once and let go of her chin. She then said, "But, if I may…it always seems like you've been…going easy on your little brother. It's only when he's pushed you so far that you really punish him. Why is that?"

Undertaker looked at her in secret surprise. "You noticed that."

Pandora shrugged. "I've watched you closely over these years."

Undertaker turned. "Walk with me." The party out of her head, Pandora dropped her mask and walked by Undertaker's side as he talked. "You know the main reason why Kane hates me."

Pandora nodded. "He's the only survivor of the funeral home fire…the fire you used to get split blood."

Undertaker nodded. "And you know that he looked up to me." Pandora nodded, having seen Bearer's revelation of Undertaker's past in Hell's archives. "I did not plan on him surviving."

Pandora knew that he spoke the truth. "So how did he survive?"

"I can only guess that a demon took pity on him and gave him demonic powers…but they came at a price."

Pandora looked at Undertaker. "What do you mean?"

"His powers helped him…and damaged him." Seeing Pandora's confused look, Undertaker explained: "His powers healed his physical scars but damaged his soul and mind. The more he healed, the more insane he became."

Pandora suddenly understood. When Kane was unmasked, he had no scars…but became more dangerous than ever; he demonstrated that many times, the most frightening example being when he set Jim Ross on fire after an interview. She shivered in fear, remembering. "Why would that demon give him such powers?"

Undertaker shook his head. "All I know…is that those powers were obvious to me. Like that demon…I took pity on my little brother."

Pandora sighed sharply. "But there comes a time when you need to fight back. You've done it before." Seeing Undertaker silently agree, she grinned. "Good. So when will you attack him?"

Undertaker stopped and looked at her. "Not for a while."

Pandora rolled her eyes. "Come on. He deserves to be punished by you."

Undertaker agreed. "And he will…but by my terms."

Pandora tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

All Undertaker said was "You will see."

March 14, 2004

Undertaker took his time with coming back. But he messed with Kane's mind with mental games. The first was at that year's Royal Rumble; Kane was so frightened and distracted by the bells and video, he was eliminated. For some time after that, Undertaker continued to play mind games with Kane; the more Kane tried to ignore the games and say that his brother was dead, the more persistent the games became. Finally, Kane had to admit that Undertaker was out there somewhere when his older brother sent him a casket with a familiar urn inside. After destroying the casket, he then challenged his brother to a match at Wrestlemania, where he would destroy his winning streak. Undertaker answered by making the ring float.

That night, Pandora watched Wrestlemania XX with Lacti. She enjoyed the show but she was getting impatient. Lacti noticed this and smirked. "You like Kane that much?" She laughed as Pandora gagged; she knew her daughter hated the vicious demon, especially after his insanity was unleashed when he was unmasked. She did not know that Pandora also hated Kane because of what Kane did to Undertaker with the buried alive match. Lacti also did not know that Pandora was genuinely afraid of Kane. Almost as if on cue, Kane came out to the ring. Pandora hissed a little at him, resulting in Lacti gently smacking her arm. "Watch it."

Pandora glared at Lacti. "I can't help it. The guy is disturbed and takes pleasure in that."

Lacti had to agree with Pandora as Kane started to get ready for the match, still trying to convince himself that his brother would not show up. But he was not prepared for what happened next. When the lights went out, everyone heard two, loud words: "OOOHH YYYEEESSS!"

Pandora's jaw dropped as her head lifted in surprise. Even without her watching wrestling, she knew that voice…from her past. "No way…"

Sure enough, Paul Bearer led ten druids to the ring, the druids making the same melody Pandora heard when she first saw Undertaker all those years ago. Pandora covered her mouth in shock; she was not expecting him. The druids each had a flamed torch and remained on the ramp. They then made their troches almost touch each other as Bearer verbally disowned the stunned Kane. The bell then tolled, making Pandora's wings twitch. She felt the familiar wave of power pass through her body. Through the flames, a figure was there that made Pandora and Lacti's eyes widen.

It was the Undertaker…back in his demonized form. Kane freaked out at the sight of his brother. Undertaker headed to the ring, making the druids lift the torches enough to let him pass. His appearance was mesmerizing to everyone but Kane. When Undertaker came to the ring, Pandora's eyes became white with Undertaker. She did not realize that it happened but Lacti noticed. "Pandora?"

Pandora looked at Lacti, her eyes back to normal. "What?"

Lacti saw her eyes were normal again and shook her head. "Nothing."

They looked back at the screen, seeing that Kane was still freaking out in disbelief. He started to believe that the Undertaker was a delusion, a trick his damaged mind created. But he realized that his brother was truly back when Undertaker viciously attacked him, making Pandora cheer. "Get him!"

Lacti watched in silence. She would always dislike Undertaker but she did like to watch him battle, especially when his opponent was his brother. The match was vicious, with Undertaker attacking out of revenge and Kane battling both his brother and his shattered sanity. The match went back and forth until Kane gave Undertaker a chokeslam. Thinking he had won, Kane laughed in his insanity, making Pandora growl viciously. Lacti was surprised by how emotional Pandora was with this match. But Kane and Pandora were rendered silent by Undertaker sitting up and fighting back. Deciding enough was enough, Undertaker gave Kane both a chokeslam and a tombstone piledriver. Pandora stood up in excitement and cheered. Lacti looked at Pandora. "Pandora…calm down."

Pandora grinned. "How can I? Undertaker's back…and back in his normal state! Ooh, I gotta call Hornesta!" She wanted to call the twins but Lock and Shock moved away once they stopped aging and Pandora lost touch with them. She started to leave when Lacti said, "There's one more match."

Pandora shook her head. "I saw all I wanted to see."

She raced upstairs to chat with her friend just as Venom entered the house. "What's all the excitement?"

Lacti looked up from the couch. "We just watched Undertaker and Kane battle."

Venom nodded. "Ah…now it makes sense. Nice to see that she's a big fan of Undertaker. Ironic, huh?" Lacti just glared at him.