Lucky number twenty-one. Last chapter, Matthew and Randy had the best moment of their lives when they successfully tagged together in their match against Scott Steiner. Plus, Evolution came to be known as a force to be reckoned with when Scott Steiner got his payback for busting Matthew's forehead open. And, after seeing the brothers work well together in the ring, Camilla is now interested in joining them and eventually becoming the WWE Women's Champion. Finally, Matthew patched things up with Eric and the pair are now friends again.

But what goes up must come down. Hope you like this one! Don't forget to review!

Matthew went out running after his conversation with Eric. He convinced Randy and Camilla to join him; a little jog couldn't hurt. Together, they ran laps around the house. Camilla was already tired after the fourth go-around and went inside to fill some water bottles. With Camilla now gone, Randy and Matt decided to goof off and race around the house to see who could jump in the pool first. Randy made it to the pool, but stopped short of jumping in. With Matthew still running at full speed, Randy turned around and back body dropped Matthew into the water. Randy stood outside, high and dry, laughing his ass off. Matthew resurfaced and gave his brother a look.

"... you're an ass, you know that?"

"No, you're just stupid."

Camilla was walking outside, water bottles in hand. She had watched the whole incident from the kitchen window. "Can't you guys act like adults for two seconds?"

"Technically, I'm not an adult yet, so I have an excuse", Matthew called out. "But Randy, on the other hand..."

"I'm only 22 ... come on. We're just trying to catch up on the time we spent apart. You can't blame us for that, right?"

"Well ... I guess not. Just ... don't do it all the time."

"I think you might have to deal with it for a year or two", Randy replied.

"Or when he does something to piss me off", Matt yelled.

"I've done that already ... more than once, even."

"Okay ... when you do something to really piss me off, then."

"Did that too."

"I don't think you're going to win, Matthew", Camilla interjected. "Aren't we gonna start running again? You guys dragged me out here in the first place!"

"Dragged?", Matthew asked. "You volunteered yourself for this. We're just trying to help you get an early start on your training."

A light bulb turned on in Camilla's head. "Is that what you're trying to do? Then both of you get your butts in that ring. I'll show you something I've been wanting to do for a long time."

"Whoa, whoa ... you want to take me on?", Matthew asked in a cocky tone.

"That's right, hotshot. Get in the ring." Camilla strolled over to the ring while Randy and Matthew looked at each other with a confused look on their faces. Matthew climbed out of the pool, took his shirt off, and wringed it out to use to dry himself off. Matt slid into the ring, Camilla getting into Matthew's face.

"Whoa, Camilla ... what the hell got into you?"

"I have to toughen myself up, don't I? I can't let those WWE women get under my skin."

Matthew raised an eyebrow in surprise. "You really want that Women's belt, don't you?"

"As much as you want that Intercontinental one."

"... Alright then. I'll let you have the first shot."

"I'm not going to go easy on you."

Randy was confused. "Wait, wait ... you're not going to hit her, are you, Matt?"

"Hit her? No ... of course not. I don't need to to pin her."

This set Camilla off. "Get on your back then. You'll regret saying that."

Matthew shook his head and did so. He put both hands behind his head, closed his eyes, and lounged in the sun for a bit. He could feel his legs being lifted up in the air, but didn't think anything of it. However, he started to panic when Camilla twisted his legs around one of hers. She flipped Matthew over and sat down, locking in a Sharpshooter on her boyfriend. Randy stood outside the ring with his jaw to the ground while Matthew yelped in pain. He started to drag himself to the bottom rope, but couldn't go far; the pain on his lower back was too great to do anything. Camilla was laughing in amusement. Randy couldn't get over the fact that Camilla was about to make his brother tap out.

Hunter was on the phone in the house, but heard someone screaming outside. He looked out the window at the backyard and saw Matthew trying to wiggle out of a Sharpshooter.

"A Sharpshooter? Where'd Randy learn to do that?"

His thought reversed itself when he looked up to see Camilla, of all people, applying the hold. Meanwhile, Matthew finally couldn't take it anymore. He slammed his palm against the mat repeatedly.

"Okay, alright! You made your point! I give up!"

Camilla finally let go and Randy started a clap. "Wow ... I'm ... I'm impressed." He climbed in the ring and outstretched his hand for Camilla to shake it. She accepted, but immediately tripped up Randy and locked his left arm in between her legs. Camilla then pulled back on Randy's head with both hands, locking in Chris Benoit's Crippler Crossface. Hunter finally made it outside to see Randy tapping out. Camilla got up and started giggling uncontrollably, throwing her arms in the air triumphantly.

"What ... what the hell did you do?", a stunned Hunter asked.

"I just made the two youngest men of Evolution tap out, Hunter. Impressed?"

Hunter looked down at Matthew grabbing at his back and Randy holding his neck in pain to confirm what she was saying. "... very." He was about to get into the ring to congratulate her, but stepped back, not wanting her slap a submission on him. Matt and Randy slowly got to their feet, clutching their back and neck, respectively.

"Where ... how ... who ... what? How did you learn that?", Matthew asked.

"TV. I didn't listen to the 'please don't try this at home' part."

Randy spoke up. "What ... what else do you know?"

"I could show you."

Randy and Matthew quickly slipped out the ring before Camilla could grab either of them again. After shaking her head in laughter, Camilla climbed onto the second turnbuckle and posed just like the brothers did the night before, arms outstretched behind her. The Ortons started to chuckle and, with Hunter, retreated back into the house. Camilla saw this and yelled out ...

"Ladies and gentlemen, your new WWE Women's Champion, Camilla!"

Back in the house, Hunter went to the workout room while Randy and Matthew decided to stay in the living room and watch some television. After Matthew flipped through the channels and settled on watching Wheel of Fortune, the doorbell rang. Randy got up to open it, revealing Eric behind the door.

"Hey, Eric, what's goin' on?"

"Nothin' much, Randy." They shook each other's hands and Eric stepped into the living room. Matthew shot up from the couch and faced down Eric with a look of anger on his face. Both Randy and Eric were a little surprised at Matthew's reaction; they thought the hostility was over with. An awkward silence filled the room while Matthew stared Eric in the eyes. Randy looked down to see Matthew ball his fist and stepped over to restrain him, but stopped when he saw his little brother smile. Eric breathed a sigh of relief and gave his best friend a hug and a slap on the back.

"Glad to have ya back, Matt", Eric said.

"Same here, Eric. Same here. Where have you been staying?"

"I paid for a hotel for a couple of weeks after you kicked me out."

"Go get all your stuff and come back here. You're moving back into the guest house."

"No way! AWESOME, DUDE! ... but ... but what about Hunter? What'll he say?"

"Forget him. A friend is a friend. Never leave them behind." Matthew seemed to remember saying that before. "We'll help you load everything up and get it over here."

"Eric!" They all turned to see Camilla finally coming in from the backyard. She gave him a short hug and erupted in words. "You'll never guess what I did in the ..."

"Okay! Let's get going to your hotel room, shall we?", Matthew interjected, not wanting Camilla to speak of what just occurred.

"Wait, wait ... I want to hear what happened. Go ahead, Camilla."

"I made both Randy and Matthew tap out."

Eric stood wide-eyed at Camilla, then turned slowly to face Matt and Randy, who were trying to avoid making eye contact. "Is ... is this true?", Eric asked with a laugh.

"... yeah ... it is."

"Eric started laughing heartily while Randy and Matthew stood there with dejected looks on their faces. Suddenly, Camilla chopped Eric's legs out from behind, sending Eric to his knees. She then superkicked him in the back, making Eric yelp in pain and fall to his stomach. Camilla finally applied Eric's own Camel Clutch on him while the brothers exploded in laughter. Eric screamed in agony as Camilla tried her hardest to make her tap out count for the day increase by one. Camilla finally felt Eric tap against her thigh, letting go of his neck.

"Strike three, you guys are out!", Camilla exclaimed, her arms in the air in triumph once again.

Matt helped Eric to his feet. "Don't feel bad, man. I got the Sharpshooter and Randy got the Crossface. She's damn good at it and Hunter wants her to train up to become the Women's champ."

Eric, holding his neck, replied, "With holds like that, she'll get to the strap with no trouble."

A deep voice rang out behind them. "What the hell are you doing here, Barringer?"

They all turned around to see Hunter staring Eric straight in the eye with a cold, unforgiving look. "Who invited you back here?"

Matthew stood in front of Eric. "I did. And he's moving back in with us."

"With who's permission?", Hunter asked, growing angrier.

"Mine.", Matthew replied sharply, becoming increasingly irritated. "Do you have a problem with that, Hunter? This is my house, after all."

"Our house", Randy corrected.

Hunter walked up to Matthew and looked down at him in the eye. "I think you're forgetting who the leader of Evolution is, Orton."

"What makes you think he wants to come back to Evolution? Eric had his reasons for leaving, and I respect that. That's doesn't mean he can't be my friend."

"Anyone who isn't with Evolution is an enemy of Evolution." Hunter began raising his voice and tightening a fist.

"Anyone who isn't with Evolution is an enemy of yours, Hunter. You formed Evolution for one reason and one reason only: to keep that World Heavyweight strap on your waist. You never cared about our futures. You were raising us to be your bodyguards and nothing more."

"Take ... that ... back ... right ... now ... Orton."

Randy attempted to salvage the situation and pulled Matthew away from Hunter. "Matt's ... Matt's just a little irate after tapping out to Camilla's Sharpshooter, nothing more."

"He better be, or he'd be out of Evolution just like Barringer."

Eric decided to speak. "Hunter, I may be your enemy, but I have nothing against you at all. You're a legendary wrestler; I just didn't agree with what you were doing with my career. You got me into this business successfully and on a great note, and I appreciate that. However, I want to go into a different direction."

"You're headed on a collision course with Evolution anyway, Barringer. Orton will be the last man standing at No Way Out."

"We'll see about that, Hunter. He knows that I'm not going to go easy on him, and he's said the same to me."

"Wait ... Hunter ...", Matthew interrupted. "I've got an idea. The match at No Way Out. If he wins, Eric is back in Evolution."

Hunter looked at Matthew with a skeptical look. After pondering a bit, Hunter smiled and nodded. "On one condition."

"Name it."

"The match becomes a Last Man Standing match."

Matthew and Eric looked at each other with shocked looks on their faces. Camilla covered her mouth with both hands and Randy was utterly bewildered. "Hunter ... you can't make them do that! That's ... that's just horrible!"

"If Eric wants to get back into Evolution, he'll accept it, Randy." Hunter looked back at Eric and Matthew, who retreated to a corner of the room to discuss things over.

"... what do you want to do?", Eric asked his best friend.

"We accept his condition. I want you back in Evolution."

"Wait ... so are you just going to lay down for me?"

"Are you nuts? Of course not. I want that title just as much as you do. If you deserve to be back in Evolution, you'll knock me out for the ten-count. If not, I'll have that title on my waist."

"But ... I thought you wanted to be friends again."

Matthew sighed. "Randy told me that I needed to separate my professional from my personal life. Outside of the ring, we're best buds and we've got each other's back. But inside that ring, we'll kick the hell out of each other if need be. If you want to be back in Evolution, you'll beat me at No Way Out, but I'm going to try my hardest to win the Intercontinental title."

Eric looked at his friend deep in thought. After a bit, Eric said, "You're gonna be hurtin' after No Way Out then."

Matthew chuckled. "I think we'll both be hurtin'. Last Man Standing matches are brutal."

"No holding back then?"

Matthew shook his head. "No holding back."

The two shook each others hand, then went back to where Randy, Camilla, and Hunter were standing. Randy was arguing with Hunter to try to get the stipulation dropped.

"We'll do it."

Randy stopped talking and spun around to face the friends. "But ..."

"Separate professional and personal lives. Right, Randy?", Matthew asked.

"Well ... yeah ... but ..."

"We understand and we accept your condition, Hunter."

Triple H smiled and returned to the workout room. Camilla was still in shock and tried to convince Matthew to stop.

"Matt, you don't have to do this. You could really hurt each other out there."

"I think it's better like this."

Randy cocked his head at Matthew in confusion. "Better?! How could it be better?!"

"This will be one hell of a test of our friendship, Randy. If we can get through this, it'll prove that this bond is strong as it can be. It'll be a win-win situation. If Eric wins, he'll be back in Evolution. If I win, I'll have both the title and still have my best friend."

Monday night had rolled around again, and Evolution's limo was heading from the hotel to the arena. RAW was in Las Vegas this week, and Triple H had spared no expense to treat the younger members of the stable. The previous night, they had easily racked up a $2,500 bill for dinner. When they got back to the hotel, Matthew and Camilla had spent part of the night looking at the stars again. They fell asleep in each other's arms out on the patio of their suite. When they woke up the next morning, Camilla gave Matthew the longest kiss she ever remembered giving him.

"Ew ... morning breath."

"Matthew!", Camilla yelled back in reply. She punched Matthew in the chest and left to go to shower. Randy walked out onto the patio after Camilla stormed through the door.

"I know our match for tonight."

"Our match? So we're tagging together again?"

"Yeah ... it's a six man elimination tag. You, me, and Hunter against Steiner, Booker T, and Eric."

Matthew's smile was wiped off his face when he heard Eric's name. "Looks like we get a preview of No Way Out tonight."

"We'll be fine. Triple H won't allow us to lose."

Matthew nodded, but looked at the sky. "Hunter made the match."

Randy cocked his head to the side. "What makes you say that?"

"He's testing me ... and my loyalty to Evolution. He knows I want to break off."

Randy knew this as well. "Matt, it's way too early to break off. We've got to go at least a year with everyone."

"A year? Randy, let's do it at WrestleMania. You, me, Eric, and Camilla will form a new group. We'll take out Evolution and stop it in it's tracks."

"That's still too soon." Randy paused and shook his head. "Listen. There will come a time where one of us will get a shot at the World title. When either of us comes out on top, we'll leave. Like you said, Hunter is using us for bodyguards. He'll want whoever wins the title to give it back. We won't let that happen. You, me, Eric, and Camilla will overtake Evolution then."

"That may be years from now, Randy."

"Hunter isn't invincible! He's going to drop the title one of these days. We'll get it and then leave Evolution. You have Dave's respect; maybe we can pull him with us too. Hunter said that we were the future of this business. That's just it: we're the future, not the present. Our time will come, Matt."

"I hope you're right."

Matthew thought about that morning's conversation as the limo pulled into the arena parking lot. Getting out, Matthew saw Eric in the parking garage and waved, getting one in return.

The night passed quickly because the only thing on the mind of Randy and Matthew was tonight's match.

"Tonight will be the night that determines my future in the WWE. Matthew has a hot temper, and secrecy could be easily blown. Hunter might provoke Matthew somehow and bring our plan to light, and we'll be done."

Randy looked over at his little brother and prayed that he would have the sense not to do anything stupid.

"I know something's coming. I have to control my emotions tonight. I'm not going to blow our cover."

Before long, Triple H and both Ortons were standing behind the curtain. Hunter handed a CD to the audio tech and the new Evolution theme song, "Line in the Sand", starting blaring in the arena.

"The following contest is a 6-man elimination tag team match. Making their way to the ring, at a combined weight of 749 pounds, the team of Matthew Orton, Randy Orton, and Triple H ... Evolution!"

Each Orton stood at one side of the stage and posed while Hunter did his signature posing with the water bottle. They walked to the ring behind Hunter, Matthew keeping an eye on what Hunter was doing at all times. Once they got to the ring, another round of poses ensued. Matt and Randy slammed fists together before facing the stage.

The sirens started to blare.

"And introducing their opponents, at a combined weight of 759 pounds, the team of Eric Barringer, Booker T, and Scott Steiner!"

Steiner, Booker, and Eric got into the ring, with Steiner staring down HHH, Booker staring down Randy, and Eric staring down Matthew. In the smallest of voices, Matthew whispered to Eric ... "Watch your back. Hunter has something planned." Eric gave the slightest of nods.

And then, the bell rang.

Is Matthew correct in thinking that this match is a test from Triple H? Will Matthew blow his top and reveal his intentions to the world? Will Matthew and Randy still be in Evolution at the end of RAW?

What happens in the next chapter will define the beginning of the careers of the Orton brothers.

Please read and review. I hope you liked it.

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