Chapter 8

The COO of the WWE Triple H paced back and forth in his office fervently, thinking a thousand thoughts a second at a mile a minute. These past couple of days, it seemed as if the Authority's power had shifted a bit and now these young, upcoming and hungry superstars were starting to steal the spotlight from right under them. He took a moment to think about the tragedy that was WrestleMania, at least from his personal perspective.

Daniel Bryan was the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Hunter couldn't believe it all. 8 months of trying to keep Daniel Bryan away from the title and in the end, all his efforts were wasted, on the grandest stage of them all. Not only that, but he practically beat all three members of Evolution, and that was what hurt him the most.

Then there was the Shield, the ragtag band of rebels he thought he had control of under his thumb, but boy was he certainly wrong. The black-clad trio rebelled against he and the Authority, crushing Kane and the Outlaws at WrestleMania. The following night on Raw, they cost Triple H a shot at winning the WWE World title when they showed up to save Bryan from a beatdown at the hands of Randy Orton, Kane, and Batista.

To top it all off, Triple H took one of the most vicious spears he had ever felt at the hands of one Roman Reigns. The powerhouse of the Shield, Hunter knew he was the one that delivered the heaviest blows of the group and was always called upon to go for the kill to help the Shield win their matches or get them out of a pinch. This was the same guy who Hunter offered into his fold to join the Authority because he saw the most potential in him. Instead of joining Hunter, Roman turned his offer down, angering the Game that much more.

He wasn't about to take flack from anybody, least of all, the guy who had the nerves to put his hands on a company official. He was the Cerebral Assassin, the guy who was always one step ahead of his competition. He would find a way to break the Shield and break Roman Reigns, and make him pay for his sins.

Without warning, Hunter's door slammed wide open and both Randy Orton and Batista came storming in with angry scowls on their face abound. "Hunter, I demand to know what the hell is going on here, and more importantly, when am I going to get my title match?!" Randy shouted, slamming his fists on the desk. The ire of the Viper was fervent, but it didn't faze the Game one bit.

"You'll get it when I say you get it," Hunter calmly said, before turning his attention to Batista. "Got anything you wanna say to me while we're at it Big Dave?" he asked, a trollish grin on his face. "Yeah, I got something to say to you Hunter. You clearly don't know how the hell you're supposed to run a business. I come back and I see you behind a desk with a suit looking like a corporate stooge, and you've made this loser Randall here your face of the company-"

"Hey hey! You're just gonna have to deal with the fact that he likes me better than you! DEAL WITH IT!" Randy shouted, quirking his eyebrows in an angry fashion to taunt Batista. "You're funny Randy. You're just mad because I always was the better Evolution member. Hell, none of you can beat me! The only reason he made you champion was because I wasn't here! You're the biggest corporate suckup I have ever seen," Batista responded, prompting Randy to attempt an RKO, but Batista reversed it, sending Randy flying over the desk onto Triple H.

"DEAL WITH THAT!" Batista yelled, popping his pecs to mock the Viper. Randy immediately got ready to recoil and strike back, but Hunter grabbed him from behind and threw him into the Animal, downing both volatile men. "Enough! Both of you! I don't have time to deal with your crap, your incessant whining, and whatever else you wanna cry about! This is why I wanted to make myself champion to begin with!" Hunter scolded, before straightening his tie out once more.

Hunter directed his attention back towards his former Evolution teammates and shook his head. "Look, both of you are going to get your rematches with Bryan in due time, but for right now we need to focus on taking out the bigger threat right now, and that's both Bryan and his little rebel group, the Shield. We take them out the picture; you'll get that much closer to what you truly want. Got it? Remember, when Evolution is on the same page, we're unbeatable."

The Game put his hand down in the middle, waiting for Batista and Randy to put their hands in the middle as well. The Animal huffed to himself, before reluctantly putting his hand in the middle, and Randy followed suit. "Good to know we're on the same page then," Hunter claimed, while crossing his fingers behind his back.

With the door wide open once more, Vickie Guerrero waltzed her way in, with a slightly sinister smile on her face. This woman had been out to get AJ for the longest, and when she had finally lost the title to new Diva Paige, Vickie felt as if she wanted to jump into the sky and explode like it was the 4th of July.

"Excuse me, Mr. Helmsley, you know that I'm going to be leaving the company soon, but I didn't want to leave without giving you a parting gift that will benefit you in the long run," Vickie politely said. "Like I said, corporate suckup," Batista commented, but Vickie ignored him. "It involves AJ Lee and Roman Reigns."

"I'm not worried about AJ Vickie. If you have some useful information about Roman though, I'll take it," Hunter said, staring Vickie down and making her tremble just a little bit. "Well sir, I think they might be having an affair, and I have photographic proof to solidify my theory," she said, reaching into her purse and handing him the photos.

Hunter glanced through the photos pondering; he saw photos of them laughing together backstage, and the one where AJ found herself wrapped around the Samoan powerhouse. "Now that's interesting," Hunter said, and he let a slight grin cross his features. "I'll keep this in mind...for future reference. Thanks Vickie," he said, and Vickie quickly nodded, running out of the office. Randy shook his head, laughing at the nerves of Vickie before staring the Game back in the face.

"You mean, that punk is the reason AJ's boyfriend keeps coming after me? I'm going to destroy him!" Batista roared, as Hunter put the photos into his briefcase for later. "It's been a late night guys. Get out my office. You didn't even win tonight's SmackDown main event and you showed fear against the Shield and Bryan. I mean, you even left my Director of Operations high and dry. So if they want war, then we'll give them a war. See you both Monday," Hunter said, picking up his belongings and departing the office.


The powerhouse Roman Reigns took a look at his surroundings around him, whiffing the air. It definitely smelt like crawfish, crab, and other various types of bayou foods and seafood. That's what it always smelt like whenever the WWE paid a trip down south to New Orleans. Not that he was complaining; he always enjoyed different atmospheres and cultures. Variety is the spice of life, after all.

Roman had gotten a variety of events that transpired over the past week, and he honestly didn't know what to expect next. He had closed the door on AJ, at least he thought, and had speared the COO of the company, Triple H. While his Shield brothers Dean and Seth were pigging out in the chef's kitchen along with other Superstars and Divas, Roman sat on the skylit roof of the building, peering down on the city below. This symbolized where he one day wanted to be: on top of the WWE mountain and the face of the company. He believed it was something that every guy had to work hard for, and earn. After all, if you're not aiming for #1, then what were you doing here?

The roof to the top opened up and Roman looked to see Renee Young of all people emerge from the hotel. Her hair was very tussled, and the wind made it blow even more. Roman slightly grinned; it looked great for her but nothing could top his long Samoan hair. After all, he had seen extreme Shield fangirls come to the shows and actually try to cut a lock of it off before security apprehended them. Gotta love the WWE Universe.

Renee made her way towards the powerful Samoan, taking a seat next to him as she sipped on her drink, mixed in with a bit of cocktail. "Hey Roman, how's it hanging?" she asked, with a smile. Roman simply shrugged, and continued to stare out into the city. "I see your hair got messed with," he said lowly, prompting Renee to make a sad face and start poking him in the arm.

"That's a pretty awesome tattoo Roman. Care to tell me what it means?" Renee asked, a curious gaze on her face. Roman raised an eyebrow at her, pondering for a moment. "Are you recording this for Backstage Fallout?" She giggled and shook her head no. "Alright, well it means family, honor, and warrior. Where I come from, all three of those are all equally the most important thing that matters." He flexed it slightly, not meaning to show off, but well, okay just to show it off.

"I see you've got some of your cousin the Rock's signature charisma. Or cockiness if that's what you really want to call it. Reminds me of his segments with Lillian from back in the day," she snickered, taking another sip of her drink. Roman tilted his head back for a moment, before rotating to stare back at Renee with a rare, goofy grin on his face.

"So, since you're comparing us to Rock and Lilian from back in the day? I guess that means you want to try some-" Renee beat him to the punch. "Strudel!" she said, bursting into a fit of laughter as her drink fell out of her hand and off the edge of the building. "Hey you said it, not me," Roman countered, taking in the humor of the situation as well.

"That's adorable Roman. Adorably hilarious," she said, catching her breath before staring at him once more. 'A girl could get lost in your eyes or you period,' she thought to herself. Roman smirked, already knowing exactly what she may have been thinking. "Baby girl, if you want to touch my face, nobody's stopping you," he said, turning up the charm a bit.

"Umm I wasn't uh...well I mean…" Renee staggered with her words, nervously ricocheting out unpronouncable syllables. She nervously brushed her gold blonde hair back behind her ears trying to look the other way, but Roman gently tilted her head back so that they were face to face. "Hey now, I don't bite. I do roar though," he said, with a grin and leaned into her lips.
Just as they were about to lock, the entrance to the roof exploded and Dean came crashing onto the roof sprawling and gasping for air like he just had a panic attack. "What's your deal man?" Roman asked Dean, inwardly angry for ruining yet another moment for him. "Where have you been man?! Somebody let a live alligator loose into the hotel! That thing almost ate me, but luckily I escaped," the unmethodical Ambrose said, trying to shake himself back into reality.

"Where's Seth?" Roman asked. Right on cue, Seth emerged from the entrance, a ticked off look on his face as he looked at Dean. "Why the hell did you leave me down there to fend for myself?! I would have gotten eaten if John Cena hadn't manhandled that ugly gator," Seth said, his breathing coming to a regular pace again. After Dean shrugged, Seth flicked him off and looked towards Roman and Renee. "Am I interrupting something?" he asked.

Unaware, Renee didn't realize Roman had his arm coiled around her waist with her arms around his large frame as well. Jumping away rather quickly, she kicked off her heels and jetted towards the exit, leaving Seth without an answer. "You guys have horrible timing," Roman quipped, prompting Dean to respond, who was still breathing heavily from his encounter with the alligator.

"S-s-screw ya-you Roman," he said, as he collapsed in front of them. "If only Emma could see this right now. Your little girlfriend would love this," Seth retorted, pulling out his phone and recording the crazy Ambrose. Roman adjusted his vest, keeping his hands clutched to it. Staring across the street at the top of another hotel was the just as sadistic AJ, who had a curious gaze plastered upon her face with her head cocked on the right.

Roman stared her down as well; AJ was still somewhere in his head, and although some parts of him did miss what they were building, she was engaged now and was bound to soon marry CM Punk. That's just the way it had to be.

Confused mind, bursting hearts, and lost souls.

Thanks for reading everybody! I do want to take a moment to pay tribute to the Ultimate Warrior who recently passed. Thank you Warrior for all your contributions and memories you left us with during your storied career. Your career is forever immortalized and you deserve your place in the Hall of Fame that you have. Rest in peace.

Leave a review and don't forget to stay tuned for the next chapter!
-Ronnie