Chapter 3~"A Life in the Balance"

	"What the hell do you mean, 'I'm not letting you leave?!'
Kane, give it a rest, would you!?  I want to get out of this smelly locker
room and I want to go to the hotel and get some sleep!" X-Pac de-
manded for about the third time.
	Kane was sitting on the ground in front of the door, still in
his wrestling outfit-and refused to budge.  He had thrown himself in
front of the door when X-Pac and the Outlaws had tried to leave a
minute ago, and wouldn't let them get out.  Seeing as how there wasn't
another door, they had tried asking, telling, and begging him to move,
and even physically moving him (which proved impossible for the three
of them), but he sat there, legs out in front of him and arms crossed,
and shook his head like a child having a temper tantrum.
	"Kane, look, buddy, we've got to go!  I'm tired and I want
to get a rest!" Road Dogg said, trying his shot at getting the big guy
to move.
	"No."  The rebuke was short and barely whispered, but
none the less infuriating for it's simplicity.  Kane shook his head more
firmly, and said, "They're out there."
	"Who's out there?!" Billy demanded, sick and tired of this
mess.
	"My brother's minions."
	That gave them cause to hesitate.  "Mideon and Viscera
and those guys?" X-Pac asked.  "They're out there?"
	"Yes.  Can't...you feel their power?"  To Kane, the
sense was so obvious that it seemed that his three friends ought to
be able to feel it as well.  He tilted his head to one side as they mulled
this over.  Humans are so thick-headed sometimes, he thought.
They never seem to understand when you're doing something for
their own good.  It didn't even occur to Kane to consider that he
himself was now more human than demon...he was so used to being
called a monster and actually being a monster that it came to
him naturally to think of himself as different from the others.
	"We can't, big buddy, but I'll trust those powers of yours
any day," X-Pac said, wincing.  "Do you know what they're after?"
	Kane tilted his head to the other side and reached out with
his mind, trying to discover the purpose that their enemies had.  He
found that their minds were blocked off from him...one of them- probably
Asdamia, since he didn't know her powers yet-had blocked off his
usual pathway into their minds.  Back when he had still been with his
brother, he had learned the "ropes" for getting into all of their minds,
but he now tried those old tactics, and they didn't work.  "No..." he
said finally, as only a slight glimmer of awareness came to him from
the mind of Mideon.  "But it's...got Mideon...upset."
	"Mideon?  He is sort of the most light-hearted of the Under-
taker's crew," Road Dogg said, putting a finger on his chin in thought-
ful contemplation.  "If it's an order from the Undertaker, though, it must
be something really serious to bother him, because that boy is a Taker
fanatic."
	Kane still sat in front of the door, though he didn't figure
that the others would still be trying to get out.  He was there more to
keep the Undertaker's forces out, rather than to keep his friends in-
he knew that if the four of them didn't come out eventually, they would
start trying to bash their way inside.
	"So what the hell are we supposed to do now?!" Billy asked,
running his hand through his hair anxiously.  He didn't like the idea
of being chased around by the Undertaker's goofs, and the thought
of being trapped in this room because they were outside creeped him
out even more.
	Kane thought it over breifly.  He had an idea, but it might
not be so easy to pull off.  No, he knew he could do it...it was just
that he didn't think X-Pac would let him.  Easy enough.  Just don't
tell him.  He stood from where he had been sitting and turned towards
the door.
	"Wait here..." he said, swallowing as the effort again hurt
his throat.  He had been doing a lot more talking today than he was
used to, but words were just far too necessary.
	"What are you gonna do?" X-Pac asked suspiciously.
	"Negotiate.  Lock...the door..."  Kane then flung the door
open and charged out, pulling it shut after him.
	"Negoti-Kane!!"  X-Pac ran towards the door and
started to run out after him, but Road Dogg and Billy grabbed him and
stopped him.  "Let go of me, guys!!  He's out there all by himself, he's
gonna get clobbered!!"
	"Kane knows what he's doing-," Road Dogg said, putting
a full nelson on his friend as he kept struggling.  "Let the man work,
Sean!"
	X-Pac stopped fighting, and stared at the door, gritting his
teeth.  "Damnit...Kane, don't you dare get killed!!" he yelled lamely,
knowing reluctantly that his friends were right.

	Kane stared into the face of the opposition, boldly standing
in front of the door.  Without being too obvious about it, he checked
the clock hanging on the wall.  It was 11:41 p.m.  Though there might
be a few of the others still hanging around, he doubted it.  RAW had
ended at 10:00, and the little "jaw-fest," using Road Dogg's name
for it, had ended nearly a half-hour ago.  The others had almost cer-
tainly all left by now...the four of them had just been too slow in getting
ready to leave.
	"What...do you...want...?" he asked, sizing up the five in
front of him.  There were the Acolytes, Bradshaw and Faarooq (so
odd seeing them back with the Undertaker...), Mideon and Viscera
(the ugliest tag-team I've ever seen, and that includes me and Mankind...),
and little Asdamia...Amber Waltman.  She wasn't wearing the robe
anymore, and instead had on a dark blue shirt with the Undertaker
symbol on it in black, blue jean shorts, and white tennis shoes.  She
was absolutely tiny compared to all of them (at only about 5 feet tall,
she was barely to Kane's chest, and he remembered in the ring when
she had only been about to Big Show's waist), but the aura of energy
she put off was almost as big as his brother's...and reeked of evil as
well.  And yet...there was that sense on her of gentleness, somewhat
familiar...a sense of friend.  He finally realized that it was a sense
of X-Pac...her big brother.  She was thinking about him.
	Not a good sign...they were all thinking about him.
	"We want your buddy X-Pac," Bradshaw said, popping
his knuckles.  "And you can't protect him from us, so don't even bother
trying."
	"Why...him...?"  Kane was getting an increasingly sinking
feeling.
	"We just want to have a little talk with big brother..." Asdamia
said, and Kane cringed when he heard her voice.  "That's all.  He
won't be hurt.  I wouldn't let them hurt my brother, would I?"
	"You...tried...to...hurt...him...earlier..."  At the rate his throat
was going, Kane was going to need his damn voicebox in just a bit...
he was starting to lose what little voice he had.
	"That was just the heat of the moment," she said, her voice
dripping sweetness.  "I've gotten over that, now.  Please, I just want
to see my brother.  And these four-," she motioned at the others around
her, "-Undertaker sent with me as protection.  He thought that there
would be more people here, and decided to take no chances.  Won't
you please just bring Sean out?"
	"No."
	Asdamia smiled and started to move forward.  Kane tensed
warily, but she didn't get very close to him-just close enough to reach
out and put a hand on his arm.  "Pretty please with sugar?"
	Kane was getting angry as well as scared.  The last person
who had talked to him this way had been the Rock, right before a
particularly ugly match...and he recalled having been smacked with
a sledgehammer afterwards.  No, that tone of voice did not bring back
pleasant memories.  He started to say something to her, but speak-
ing had reached the threshold of discomfort for him.  So, he did the
best thing he could think of under the circumstances.
	He reached out with one hand and grabbed Asdamia by
the throat.  She was so light that he could easily lift her with one arm,
and did so, but rather than throwing her to the ground, he chunked
her as hard as he could into Bradshaw, knocking her and the Acolyte
into some chairs and trashcans.  Both were pretty well stunned from
the impact-he wouldn't need to worry about them for a while yet.
	The odds are three to one now, rather than five to one.
Much improved.  He pulled at his glove as the other three charged
in at him, and he reached out, grabbing for a throat but getting Mideon
by the face instead.  Undaunted, he started to lift the man into the
air, but his arms were siezed from either side, and both of his legs were
kicked out from under him.  He hit his back with a hard thud, but the
collision wasn't as bad as it could have been-Viscera and Faarooq
still had hold of his arms.  He started to get up, but Mideon grabbed
him around the waist as he got onto his knees, trying to keep him down.
He struggled, trying to surmise his escape-
	CLANK!!
	Kane found one arm suddenly free as Viscera fell to the
ground with a grunt, and he lashed out immediately, snatching Mideon
by the throat.  There was another CLANK, and Faarooq went down
as well.  Kane stood, and quickly choke-slammed Mideon before anything
else could happen.  He turned his head to see who had rescued him,
and wasn't very surprised when he saw X-Pac, closely followed by
the Outlaws-all of them wielding chairs.
	"Kane..." X-Pac started, his voice heavy with the sound
of impending lecture.
	"No...time..."  Kane reached out and grabbed X-Pac's wrist,
turning and running towards the exit and dragging his friend after him.
Road Dogg and Billy had no choice but to follow him, which they did,
though not before getting a couple more chair shots on the Acolytes-
	"Amber!"  Kane felt X-Pac tug hard, and he slipped himself
free of Kane's grasp.  Kane swirled around to see that X-Pac was going
to where his little sister lay, rubbing her head.  He went after X-Pac,
hoping that he could convince him that it wasn't safe to mess with
her...she was the Undertaker's slave now.  But that nagging voice
of truth in his head reminded him that X-Pac was quick to anger and
slow to answer to reason...his emotions tended to cloud his judgement.
Sighing deeply, Kane went after him, ready for battle.
	"Amber...?"  X-Pac rolled the girl onto her back and touched
her face.  He then did something a little odd-he trailed the fourth finger
of his left hand down the middle of her nose.  "Sis, you okay?  Amber?"
	She moaned and opened her eyes, looking up at him.  "Sean...
Sean, he hurt me..."  She weakly pointed an accusing finger at Kane.
	"It's all right, Amber," X-Pac said, brushing back her bangs.
"He won't do it again, I promise.  He was just defending us..."
	Suddenly, Kane saw movement, and realized that the Acolytes,
Mideon, and Viscera were up-and they were moving towards the Outlaws.
He pointed and tried to warn them, but his wretched voice failed him,
and he only managed a choking cough.  Road Dogg saw his frantic
gesturing and that he was moving towards them fast, though, and
turned his head-just in time to get nailed in the face with a trash can.
He fell back with a cry, hands over his nose, and X-Pac looked towards
him-and Asdamia's weak, faltering little hand shot upwards, slapping
over his face, a cloth of some kind in her hand, covering his mouth
and nose.  X-Pac recoiled, startled, but she hung on to him, pushing
the cloth firmly onto his face.
	"Sean!"  Billy started towards him, but Faarooq stepped
in his way, and brought his own trash can down onto Billy's head.  Now
Kane was left almost alone against five again...and out of the corner
of his eye, he saw Viscera holding X-Pac's arms behind his back as
Asdamia kept pressing the cloth over his face.  That at least gave
him a place to start at.  He turned and lunged at them, grabbing Asdamia
and throwing her over his head.  As the cloth fell from X-Pac's face,
the youth began wheezing and coughing, and Kane caught an un-
mistakable smell-gasoline.
	They're trying to poisen him! he realized with a shock,
as he swung his fist just over X-Pac's head and plowed it into Viscera's
face.  The huge man was forced to release his victim, and X-Pac,
upon being freed, spun around and planted his foot squarely into Viscera's
gut, knocking him back.
	"Whew...thanks, Kane..." X-Pac said slowly.  Though he
seemed all right, Kane saw him stumbling, and his eyes appeared a
little glazed-the fumes had gotten to him somewhat.  Kane shoved
him backwards out of the way as Bradshaw and Faarooq rushed in
at the same time, and met both with a clotheline, knocking them to
the floor.  He then turned and popped Mideon in the eye, then swirled
back around as the Acolytes got to their feet and attacked him.  He
met Faarooq head-on, but Bradshaw got some licks in from behind.
Kane heard grunting, and saw that X-Pac was trying to fight off Viscera-
without a lot of success-and Asdamia was approaching again, looking
P.O.'ed.
	"Sean!" he barked, as he was bogged down on both sides
from the Acolytes' attack.  "Get...out!!"  He waved a hand out and
slapped at Bradshaw, who dodged.  "Take Outlaws...get out!!"
	"I'm not leaving you alone!" X-Pac shot back, doing a spinning-
heel kick on Viscera-but then getting caught in the face with the lid
of a trash can weilded by Mideon.  As soon as X-Pac was down, Asdamia
immediately thrust the cloth into his mouth as well as over his nose,
and X-Pac started to yell and struggle mightily, trying to get away.
	They're just too damn persistant!! Kane thought des-
perately, feeling the Acolytes' constant pummeling on his head as he
staggered and fell to his knees.  What can they possibly want?!
	"Hey!!"  There was another CLANK, and the Acolytes suddenly
stopped their brutal attack, looking at the person with the chair.  Kane
looked up, thinking that Road Dogg and Billy had recovered-but he
was stunned beyond all meaning of the word to see that the steel chair
that had just taken out Viscera was held by none other than Triple-H!!
Hunter...?!  I thought that he hated everybody...
	"Better knock it off, girlie!" came another all-too-familiar voice,
and Kane turned his head the other way to see that the Ninth Wonder
of the World was holding a sledgehammer, and had it above her head,
ready to bring it down on top of Asdamia, who was sitting on X-Pac's
chest to hold him down.  "I don't care if I hit your dumb brother...I just
want to squish you, brat!" Chyna continued, glaring down at Asdamia.
	"Damn!" Kane heard, and looked to see that Mideon was
standing away from the group, wincing and rubbing a spot on top of
his head.  "We can't bump off the little grease-stain now, you guys,"
he said, motioning.  "Come on...we have to retreat...for now."  As the
four others came away, Asdamia left the cloth on X-Pac's face, and
Chyna reached down and swiftly plucked it away, tossing it to one
side.  The five followers of the Undertaker skulked off, cursing bitterly
about what had just transpired.
	Kane slowly got to his feet, wincing at the casualties around
him.  He looked at Billy and Road Dogg, who were both still getting
up from those trash can shots, then went quickly to X-Pac's side, kneeling
next to him and putting a hand on his chest.  "Sean...?" he murmured
quietly, shaking his friend gently.  "Are...you okay?"
	X-Pac didn't answer, he barely moved.  Kane swallowed
a wad of fear that was rising up in his throat, and tried saying his name
again, with the same response.  X-Pac was out cold, and his breath-
ing was shallow and raspy, as though there was damage to his throat.
Kane, fighting back tears, picked up X-Pac and cradled him gently
in his arms, bracing his head up so that he could breath a little easier.
	"Are you okay...?"  Kane looked over at where Road Dogg
was getting to his feet slowly, and saw that Triple-H was helping Billy
get to his feet.  Billy and Road Dogg hadn't realized yet what had hap-
pened, but they would in a minute.
	"Kane?"  He looked back at Chyna, who was looking at
X-Pac's face, real concern showing in her eyes.  "Is Sean all right?"
	Kane swallowed hard again, but his throat was about to
kill him-he couldn't utter another word.  He could only look down at
X-Pac's pale face, and he bit his tongue to keep from crying out in
despair and rage.
	"Holy crap!"  Kane looked morosely over at Billy, and saw
that the Outlaws had just realized who had rescued them.  They were
both staring at Triple-H and Chyna with their eyes almost popping out
of their heads.  "You...you helped us?!" Road Dogg stammered.
	"Duh," came Triple-H's sardonic response.  "You're still
alive, aren't you?"
	"B-b-but...but why?!" Billy asked, putting out both hands
in front of him, palms-up, wanting an explanation.
	"Because I told them to," came another new but familiar
voice, and they all turned to see a tall man with straight blonde hair,
wearing a brown business suit and holding a leather breifcase by his
side.  His handsome face was furrowed with worry as he came closer,
looking with concern at the four beaten wrestlers.
	"Shawn...?!" Road Dogg gasped, blinking and rubbing his
eyes in disbelief.
	"No time to talk," Commissioner Shawn Michaels said, putting
a hand on X-Pac's forehead and frowning.  "Sean needs help bad...
anytime that somebody's breath reeks of gasoline, they should be in
a hospital."  Shawn looked up at Kane, and patted his arm.  "Bring
him out to my limo...we'll get him there as fast as we can.  Also, you
two..." he motioned at Road Dogg and Billy, "...need to come with
us.  Hunter, Chyna, help them out, would you?"
	The two named did as they were told, going to Road Dogg
and Billy and letting them drape their arms over their shoulders.  Chyna
even allowed Road Dogg to lean against her, being still dizzy from
getting creamed with a trash can.
	"Come on, guys," Shawn said, leading the most motley crew
of the WWF down the hallway and out into the arena, towards the
waiting car and towards help.

	Stone Cold and Debra were waiting in the hospital when
the door was flung open, and Kane entered, carrying X-Pac in his
arms like the world's biggest child.  Behind him came Degeneration X,
past and present-Shawn Michaels, Road Dogg, Billy Gunn, Chyna,
and Triple-H.  Road Dogg and Billy were walking under their own power,
but they were limping severely, and Steve could see that they already
had some serious bruises forming on their arms and legs.
	"My goodness..." Debra said, running to Kane and looking
at X-Pac, who was disoriented and looking around as though he didn't
know where he was-which he probably didn't, considering what had
happened.  His eyes were glazed, and he kept muttering incom-
prehensible things...half-words and gibberish that made no sense to
anyone and only upset them all.
	"Over here, big guy," Debra said, leading Kane to the stretcher
and the small knot of doctors and nurses who were waiting.  Kane
laid X-Pac on the stretcher with almost exaggerated care, and the
medical people took off with him, streaking towards the emergency
room.  Kane stared after him, and Debra started to put a comforting
hand on his shoulder, but he shoved her away, into Steve's arms,
without even looking at her.
	"Hey, now, boy!"  Steve started to get mad.  "There's no
reason to be rough-handling her like that-you'd better apologize to
her now!"
	"Don't worry about it, Steve..." Debra said softly.  "He's
hurt...he probably doesn't want anybody trying to get near him right
now."
	"Do you guys need to get checked out, too?" Shawn asked
the Outlaws, who were sitting in a couple of chairs and resting their
wounds.  "You don't look so good..."
	"Cuts and bruises," Road Dogg said glumly, staring at the
floor.  "They'll be healed in a few days."  Billy said nothing, but nodded
his agreement.
	Steve started to look back at Shawn, and caught sight of
Chyna and Triple-H.  He felt his back hair go up, but he fought off
his instinct to instantly jump into his sworn enemy.  After all, he had
rescued the others, and Steve guessed that counted for something
in the book of credibility.  Although they might have just owed Com-
missioner Michaels a favor.
	"What exactly happened, you guys?" Debra asked, sitting
down next to Billy on the hospital couch.  "When we got the call, we
weren't sure if somebody had been killed or what, but we came as
fast as we could, and-,"
	"The Undertaker sent his troops after us," Road Dogg said,
and the others could all hear the barely contained fury in his voice.
"And that damned little girl played with Sean's emotions, and then
she shoved that gas-soaked cloth down his throat!"
	Suddenly, without any warning at all, Kane swirled about
and stalked towards the exit, his fists clenched at his sides.  He slammed
through the doorway and out into the night, stomping across the parking
lot.  "Well, where's he going?" Triple-H asked, as they all stared after
him.
	"To vent, probably," Chyna said quietly, crossing her arms
and looking down at the floor.  "He gets pretty crazy when he's upset
like this, and ever since X-Pac started making him more human, he's
been more careful about being crazy around anyone else."
	"But should we let him go out alone?," Debra asked.  "The
Undertaker might make another play for him, or he could get lost or
be in an accident, or a million other things could happen to him!"
	They all looked at each other, and then at the door.  While
they didn't want anything to happen to someone who was on their
side, and while they were all starting to write new opinions of the Big
Red Machine in their minds...none of them could really convince them-
selves that they wanted to follow him.  Finally, Road Dogg stood up.
	"If Sean was here, he would go after Kane.  I'm going to
do what he would do and go after him-," Road Dogg started to turn,
but his knee suddenly popped, and he slipped to the floor, face tight
with pain.
	"No, you guys need to stay here and get checked out..."
Chyna said, taking a deep breath.  "Kane and I used to be friends...
I'll go after him."  With that, she turned and hurried out of the waiting
room, giving chase to her former companion and hoping severely that
he didn't decide to try to take out his anger on her.