Chapter Text
Tombstone, Arizona. The Wild West was a significant part of the Southern part of North America, but this town had something special. Members of the McMahon family, generation after generation, had ruled this town and were highly feared and respected. After Vincent James and Vincent Kennedy McMahon, the new Sheriff was the younger, yet responsible and soft-spoken Shane McMahon. His sister Stephanie lived in the town as well, that too as the Mayor, married to a redeemed criminal named Paul Levesque, whom Shane had grown to really accept as family.
Yet it shouldn't be surprising that the town could be a headache for Shane. Outlaws and Hitmen had at one point exceeded the jail capacity. Rowdy incidents were quite common, and boy was it chaotic. Today however, had gone quite unremarkable for the Sheriff. With evening setting in, he decided to relax at the place where the aforementioned rowdy incidents and chaos were in an overwhelming majority - the Bar.
"Yo, sheriff!" The Barkeep, Dean Ambrose waved, as the two slapped hands and held them in a handshake. "So, how's the day going?"
"Nothing really of note," Shane said. "It's kinda peaceful it seems."
"Hmmm, yeah that's true. Oh, by the way, your deputy was here."
"Seth?"
"Yep. Said there's an issue with two of the prisoners, the jailkeeper informed him like around an hour ago. Couldn't find you, so decided to lemme know."
"Prisoners?"
"Yeah. He didn't tell me who though."
"Alright thanks Dean." Shane turned around and went to the prison. After a good pleasant walk with cool winds, which Shane was unintentionally and obviously oblivious to, he reached there. The jailkeeper greeted him, and Shane greeted him back.
"It's the same two guys," he said. Shane didn't need further elaboration as to who those 'same two guys' were.
"Oh God.." He said after a sigh, as he walked in, unhappiness covering his face when the two came in view.
"Goddamnit Dwayne, what the hell?"
One of the outlaws was the charismatic Dwayne Johnson, known and feared in local circles as The Rock, and the other, the ambigous, anti-authority, scofflaw named Steve Austin, nicknamed Stone Cold for his beer baths and other chaotic don't-trust-nobody activities, who was even more feared and known than The Rock.
"Well Sheriff The Rock says that Stone Cold Steve Austin needs to stay in his damn limits before messing with The Great One!" Dwayne had some blood on his cheek and clear signs of being punched and having been in a brawl, while Austin's injuries had been more so internally to his bones, but a tiny, yet wholly visible speck of blood was there near his lips too.
"Shut the hell up Mr. Know Your Role! You know Sheriff you really had to think more about releasing this jackass into the streets," Austin retaliated. "Keep your filthy hands away from me you Brahma bull from the nearby rotting farmhouse!"
"Alright, that's it!" Shane yelled. Sighing again, this time in worry, he rubbed his face in a facepalm variation before speaking. "I had released you guys like what, 4 days back, after that little stunt you pulled at the bar by brawling with the beer bottles and smashing them on each other like maniacs. What do I have to do to knock some sense into you?"
"It's Austin's fault Sheriff!"
"Whatever the hell you mean you piece of trash!"
"SHUT UP!" Shane silenced them both. He huffed, before saying, "Look, I'm absolutely sick of you two going at it all the time. I'm keeping you locked in for a week. If you don't cause any chaos, I'll let you out. But, if you pull off another crap stunt like you did in the bar, you're going in for a long time."
"Ugh.. alright Sheriff, whatever you say," Austin resigned.
"Yes, whatever you say."
A sense of realisation hit the two. "Did you just agree with me?" Austin asked.
Shane sighed in relief and rolled his eyes. "Atleast something nice happened," he said, before leaving.
--
A show was being held in the Town Theatre. The plays used to be typical Cowboy style, yet always enthralled the audience. Shane decided to go for some fun. Stephanie and Paul were going to be there too. He had not seen them too often since their marriage and when their kids were born.
After Shane met up with his sister and brother-in-law, they had fun watching the show. The actors on stage relived a legendary story of the town's greatest cowboy. The cowboy had faced 5 outlaws on horses alone, led by a despicable bandit named John Bradshaw Layfield and his own 'deputy' named Paul Wight, and without suffering a single gunshot, defeated and humiliated them all, sending them packing, thus starting his rise as the most heroic figure in Tombstone. Revered and respected, yet even corny to provide some fun, he quickly cemented himself as the strongest hero in all of Tombstone. Yet, one day, he disappeared during a fight, and since then, never returned.
After the show was over, which had received a huge round of applause. As the couple and the Sheriff exchanged goodbyes and parted ways, Shane sighed, when he stopped at his eyes falling on an old poster featuring the aforementioned hero.
He ruefully smiled, before sadly walking away.
--
The town of Tombstone had had many stories - the heroic acts of that long-disappeared yet never-forgotten man, the respect garnered by the McMahons, and the welcome reception to Paul Levesque's redemption from the bandit nicknamed 'Triple H' to a great husband and a wonderful father. Yet, there was also another, and this one is the most mythical and up-to-the-name stuff.
Legends spoke of a supernatural being with a cowboy hat, who is only seen in the dark, nearby in a dark, spooky place. The man had been seen for more than a century, and yet his face hasn't changed since he was supposedly in his 50s. His cold, frightening glares traumatised people; yet one day, when a monster named The Fiend had tried to attack a family, this mythical mortician attacked him and sent him packing after a beating which traumatised The Fiend, who retreated. After that, the family looked on in awe and fear of this mysterious person, who looked at them with a more human expression, before swiftly turning away and disappearing. Some days later, horrified people said that they had witnessed this figure bury The Fiend to his death.
Since then, the people of Tombstone labelled this supernatural being with an apt name which struck fear into every soul that stood in front of it - The Undertaker.