If there was a "new" building in this city it would be the building known as Corps Quarters. The skyscraper reached into the darkest depths of the skies, overtowering most of the older buildings that were long abandoned from warfare. Of course no one questioned where the funding of this monstrosity came from. No one dared questioned the Corps. The building was the finest that security could offer. Laser turetts, Alarm systems. Death traps...etc. Then again, no one was ever stupid enough to even bother breaking into this building. The reason why hid behind the building itself.

The Corps were an organization that formed due to the numerous assassinations of public officials. When it was realized that anyone who tried to rise to high power, and reclaim the governement into a Republic, or Democracy, they were found mysteriously dead in less than a few weeks. The Corps job until then, was to oversee law and order until a permanent goverment could be established. The Corps were the people to talk to when you wanted cops, a bounty hunter, or their specialty: a Tracker.

Cross looked up at the building, holding one of the arms of the unconscious Eugene, while Cat held the other. Cross frowned. She despised this place, and tenatively stroked a pendant she wore, under her uniform. Cross was here as young as she remembered. She was trained as a child to be a tracker, and a tracker is all the life she knew, yet, she is eagerly waiting for the day she would fill her purse and move up to the next sector to be free of this job.

Cat kicked at the dirt, as she repositioned Eugene's arm around her shoulder. She looked at Cross, noticing she was doing her routine habit of touching her pendant. Cat as well as Cross remembered little of her past life. She too was trained since childhood. Cross was her only friend and confidant she ever had.

Cross turned to look at Cat and gave her a nod, and  walked up to the door. Cat opened her palm at the interface at the front of the door. A bell chimmed and the doors slid open allowing both Cat and Cross in.

Undertaker grunted, backstage in the locker room, resisting the temptation to rub his sore legs. He had company and didn't want to show weakness. The match had gone well, and he received a decent heel heat tonight, against Steve Austin. Farooq, Bradshaw, and Paul Bearer were standing nearby. Most of the other wrestlers had chosen to stay away from his group, and he preferred it that way.  Mideon and Viscera were busy scowring around the building trying to recruit more for Undertaker's faction. They had tried the Brood but, the Brood had broken free. So Undertaker had put them on scouting duty until they could find a suitable replacement.

Undertaker, had a hidden talent, and that was to be able to see into people's being and the power of suggestion. Sometimes he was empathatic, but it took a lot of concentration. He had hidden this talent, since its discovery, in his teen years. When he was sold around, he was first purchased by another wrestling organization known as WCW. The organization only saw his potential as a ring boy. He was burdened with the responsibility with assembling rings.  It was Vince McMahon, who saw the young child assembling the rings, and inquired into purchasing the youth. After the transaction was made,  McMahon couldn't deny the potential the young man had, and noticed his dark aura. It was Vince who convinced him to take upon the persona of the Undertaker.

Undertaker was reluctant at first and remembered the first day he came out he was in near tears, since McMahon had decided to use his past family history as part of the act. Soon after he was accepted, his moods became more and more darker, and one night, instead of the hat and trenchcoat, he came out to a much darker outfit and proclaimed himself the Lord of Darkness. It was then he was able to master his powers of suggestion, and convinced McMahon to go back and bring his brother Kane into the WWF.

Undertaker glanced around and noticed Paul Bearer grinning, knowing that he was going to get a good cut of the prize money earned at the match tonight. The Undertaker pulled out his bag and tossed some chips at Paul Bearer.
Bearer winced, but then greedily dropped down to his knees and picked up the coins around him.

Farooq and Bradshaw were stifling laughter at Bearer's antics. When the Undertaker shot all of them looks, each one of them straightened themselves and their faces turned serious. As they stood rigid, Undertaker, pulled on a black shirt and tied back his dark auburn hair. He debated briefly having them around, and finally decided.

"You may go tonight, your services are not needed." Farooq, Bradshaw and Paul Bearer blinked in surprised at first then quickly made their ways out the door.

Undertaker could not shake a feeling he had earlier tonight, something important was to happen soon and he wanted to be alone to ponder it.

Cross giggled hysterically at the TV, munching on potato chips, and leaving a mess on the floor. Cat frowned and move her way around the apartment pushing aside Cross' dirty clothes.  The apartment is what was best to call the place, but it was more of a bunk. There was a small shower, fridge and kitchen in the back. Their beds were next to the TV, which  Cat found rather loud at the moment, as she turned to grab the romote and turned it down.

"Hey!" Cross protested, as she got up to turn up the volume again.

"Why do you watch that stuff, it is all fake!" The TV was blaring a match from WWF. Al Snow was jumping around with his head and another wrestler, Mankind was coming up behind him with a dirty sock. The Mankind character was wearing a leather mask. Cat briefly glanced at the TV again, and laughed. She had to admit it was funny to watch them on the screen.

"It's not fake..." Cross started...

"...it's coreographed...I know." Cat sighed, and gave up on guerilla remote warfare. She picked up a book and pencil and opened it up. After all, she had her own ways of entertaining herself. She began sketch lightly in her sketchbook. She frowned briefly after making a few errors in her work, and erased.

"Cat," Cross said softly, her auburn hair pulled back into a ponytail, "you think we'll ever make it out here?" Cross was watching one of her favorites, the Undertaker preform on the screen. A strange look washed over her face suddenly.

"I hope so, I don't think I can stand being here much longer, and if we run away we both know we're fucked." Cat looked up at her friend, then noticed the look on her face. "Cross? What's wrong?"

Cross shuddered, it wasn't like Cross to be so serious. She picked up the remote and turned down the noise.

"Hmm...I dunno, I just got this strange feeling...like I'm not gonna make it." Cross huddled up in a ball, and chewed pensively at the remaining chip. "I always kinda wondered about my past life, you know when I was a kid. I well...found...umm forget it." Cross went silent.

Huh, what's got into her?  Cat thought "Of course you're gonna make it. We're inseperable" she winked. Cat felt awkward, it was usually Cross cheering Cat up. Cross got up and walked over to where Cat was drawing. Cross always felt Cat was talented, but of course she was too modest to admit it. Cross smiled looking at the piece Cat was working on. It was a winged angellic female. Something Cat normally doesn't draw, but it was still breathtaking nonetheless.

"Hey, can you pass me that bottle right next to you?" Cat trying to change the subject, and was relieved that her artwork was cheering up her friend. Cross bent over to pick up the bottle, but her foot slipped and crashed into the table.

"Whoops!" Cross said sliding and reached onto the table to gain her footing. In the process, the table went upwards and a bottle of red ink rolled over, then crashed against Cross, and it abruptly shattered to both women's surprise. Cat immediatley got up and went over to help her friend stained in the ink. Then stopped. The ink staining her friend made her look like she was horribly mutilated. Cat gasped.

Cross regained her composure, and saw Cat's face pale. "Hey, it's ok!" Cross said, wiping ink from her face and neck, "I'll go clean it up!" she scurried off to the bathroom the doors sliding behind her.

Cat looked down at the mess and began to clean up, she tried to shake the image of her friend, and tried to make her brain spin it into something amusing. Cat reached over to her sketchbook, with the angel picture she was working on.

"Hmm...I dunno, I just got this strange feeling...like I'm not gonna make it." her friend's word echoed in her head.

Nonsen...Cat started to think but immediately stopped when she looked at the angel picture.

The Angel was stained in ink, and Cross's blood.
 
 

© 1999 Harumi Kijima