His heart was silent...

The man...

His chest no longer rose and fell. The Dim Mak had managed to put him down, and coming from an expert martial artist it was no surprise. Cain was...dead?[/i]

The man that...

The camera slowly panned around a somber scene. The windows were covered with black silk in what appeared to be a funeral parlor. The strangest thing was the fact that there were corpses arranged around a coffin, dressed in mourning clothes.

The man that death...

Thump thump.

Thump thump.

Faster and faster his pulse beat, stronger and stronger.

Top view of the casket, we saw Cain. He laid there motionless and finally...

The man that death forgot.

His eyes popped open, glowing red for a moment before going to their normal brown color and he sat up like the undead. Camera view changed to a side view as Cain slowly turned his gaze toward the camera, lips curling upwards into a sinister grin.

"I...can never die."

"I've been shot. I've been stabbed. I've even taken the legendary Dim Mak maneuver, and a day later, my heart resumes beating. Like I said, I can never die. My evil? It is eternal. My life is eternal as well. All this from a professional wrestler, and not since the Undertaker has such power been exhibited. I do admit that it is a vulgar display of power but you see the truth is often vulgar, man."


Of course none of the posed corpses spoke. They were all Cain victims, each one ripped open and heartless. From the blood on Cain's chin, you knew what happened. He sprung out of the casket, very easily landing on his feet.

"Madness, a fitting battle ground for the Messiah of Pain . I can't necessarily be myself in such a pg thirteen emvironment. I'll tell you this though, Cainaanites. Your Messiah of Pain is a beast the likes of Brock Lesnar when he is at his fullest. The ONLY way you beat me is if you can survive me, and Luna Hightower did."

"Jack...did."

"Impressive to say the least, but neither is out of the woods yet. However, I will allow them to live and breathe if only for a few weeks longer. My sights are set on a new target now; have been since that fated night when he foolishly decided to lay hands on The King of Killers."

He hadn't forgotten. Perhaps his new target had THOUGHT he had forgotten but unfortunately for this person the Messiah of Pain never forgot transgressions against him. Trespasses were burned into his psyche and slid back to the back like old magazines in a book shop.

He approached a nearby pedastal in the pulpit, looking sharp in his red and black funeral tuxedo.

"This is not a funeral for me. Oh no, it never was and never will be. The eternal monster that is Cain can never be truly forgotten or defeated."

"Lucius Fyre, I remember you. I remember you very well. We've faced one another before. Time and time again, I have proven my superiority over you yet you choose to come back like a sick puppy who drinks anti freeze. You taste the pain I can inflict upon you, and it tastes sweet so you want more. You made the idiotic decision to attack me and cost me a match."

He shrugged his large shoulders.

"Did you think I'd forgotten? Maybe you did. Maybe you thought about your actions and knew what would come your way afterwards. Maybe you pissed your pants, MAYBE....just..."

"Maybe..."

"...maybe you've fooled yourself into actually believing that I would just let you survive..." he chuckled, eyes flashing. "...oh hoho, how wrong you were because I never forget those who trespass against me. I never forgive, because I am not the Prince of Peace. I am the King of Killers."

The camera faded then panned across the parlor, flames exploding behind the Messiah of Pain as he spoke.

"Your time, Lucius Fyre, it belongs to me. It belonged to me the moment you decided to lay hands upon a God. You were just borrowing it, and come Monday Night I will be collecting it back with interest."

"Did you see my match with that mortal Luna Hightower? Did you see me decimate her? Did you watch as I shed the blood of Vincent Lane? Did you sew me damned near kill Sebastian Duke? He BARELY beat me. Morbid Angel batted his eyebrow at me, and damned near lost his fabled undefeated "streak". But lose or win, they could never destroy me. You think I lost because Luna HHightower was better than me? No. I wanted you to actually see me die, only to rise from the dead to challenge you."

"Understand this, Lucius. This. Is. Your. Last. Chance."

"Your destruction is nearing with every second. I hope you understand what you've gotten yourself into."

---

The smell of sweat snuck into his nostrils as he looked around the old high school gym, dressed in his sneakers, black adidas shorts, and sparring gloves. The man he held in the camel clutch screamed out in pain as he wrenched back on the hold, his vertebrae crushing a disc in his lower back.

Oh my, how he struggled and screamed. The more he struggled against the incredible strength of Cain Arkham, the more pressure the Beast applied. Finally, Vincent Arkham barked a command at his cruel son.

"Release him, Cain! You are on Madness this week, you cannot kill him!"

Cain tested his father's authority and pulled back harder, his sparring partner fading. Darkness had overcome the unfortunate young man...he passed out. Cain finally face planted his "toy" roughly. He stood, his figure dwarfing the other five men surround the ring. Cain bared his fangs as he sneered.

"Which one of you pussies shat himself!?"

"I smell a lot of shit, son! I think they all did! All except that one?"

The Messiah of Pain shoved the latest victim out of the ring with his foot, then juked from foot to foot, rolling his shoulders. If you looked at Cain before and compared him to before his latest near death experience, you'd see that he'd increased in mass. The scary thing was, he was still agile. He jumped into the group of sparring partners, who were all checking on the last "toy".

"Who's next? Come on with it now!"

Angered by the lack of attention they were paying him as he needed a new "play thing", Cain grabbed a young man by the hair and lifted him into a fireman's carry. The other students gasped as Cain slung the man's body, in an F5, into the steel ring post.

The man's "best friend" charged The Beast, who in his heightened awareness ducked a clothesline and nearly took his head off with Das Boot! Cain grabbed the groggy sparring partner in a rear waistlock and threw his weight backward, folding him in half.

Cain grinned evilly.

"Oops. I broke another one...no...two."

"You always did break your toys, my boy. You seem to be in top form, however. I would say that nearly dying has increased your strength tenfold, but we don't have the Human Diagnostics Machine here now."

"Pfft. That thing?"

"I know you hate it, Cain, but we must keep up with your stats. After all, how else would we know how you were progressing? We need the perfect warrior. A flawless predator."

Cain smirked rather confidently.

"I do believe that my track record speaks for itself, father. Did you see what I did to Lane? I damned near killed the man, and I actually like him. Just imagine what I'll do to Lucius Fyre? I will murder him!"

Vincent Arkham matched his "creation's" smirk, their eyes almost identical.

"You can't do that, my son. This is the pussy "show" after all. But you CAN hurt him. Really really badly, as a matter of fact. I would expect nothing less!"

Just then, the unstable Cain cupped the back of a paramedic's head, and "pitched" him face first into a ringpost. The scary thing? He didn't do it for training this time. Oh no, he did it for fun. Just for the hell of it. After all, he was a walking machine of destruction and it was his nature.

Cain didn't stop there though. He stormed over to a very large framed man, who TRIED to fight back, but instead got double undertook duplexed into the ring apron. Not a good situation to be in. Cain? He was a monster, and he was primed and ready for Lucius Fyre.

He grinned as he looked over at his proud father, uttering two words.

"I'm hungry."

Man can't train on an empty stomach, can he now?

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