This chapter has been edited.
First, we'll join Evolution as they return to the hotel after Sunday night. A quick nap and we're at Monday Night RAW. John and Matt look to be in the clear, but winning their match tonight will secure them a spot in the tournament final at Backlash. Can they pull it off? Also, Bischoff makes two big announcements: one announcing a match at Backlash and another that may shake up the very foundation of the WWE. What will it be?!
Matt breathed a sigh of relief as he walked out of the Evolution locker room, bag in hand. All was going right: he and John were 3-0 in the tournament, Triple H was on his last two weeks as World Heavyweight Champion, and soon enough, all four titles would be in the hands of Evolution. The group, holding their things, walked out of the arena towards the hotel; it was close enough to save the trouble of loading everything in the limo. As they approached the front door, Cena initiated conversation with Matt.
"Is your head okay?"
"Yeah. It's fine now. That week of Camilla badgering me about it paid off, I guess."
"See?" pointed out Camilla. "I told you!"
"Alright. Alright. I admit it. You were right. Now can you let me worry about the matches?"
"Sure. Besides, I've got one of my own to worry about."
"What? Where did you hear this? Bischoff hasn't said anything yet."
"Oh, come on. Nothing a little espionage can handle", Camilla said with a smirk on her face.
"You spied on Bischoff?"
"I didn't exactly spy on him … I just hid outside his office and listened in to what he has planned for tomorrow."
"Yeah?" said a deep voice behind them. "What else does Bischoff have in store for us?"
"Well, you'll like this, Dave. You're supposed to go up against Kevin Nash."
Dave raised an eyebrow. "Really, now? Well, it's about time I get a match. Finally time to prove myself."
"You two …" Camilla said nodding over to John and Matt, "… are facing the Dudleys."
"We already knew that", Matt answered.
"What about me?" Randy asked as they stepped into the elevator.
"I didn't know how to react when I heard this one. You will be in a handicap match tomorrow."
Randy's face sunk.
"…but you're gonna be the one with the partner."
"What?"
"Eric. You and Eric are going up against Triple H."
Randy's face lit up brighter than any member of Evolution had ever seen before. He started going nuts, jumping around in the elevator. As they reached their floor, Randy leaped out and nearly hit the wall. He pounded fists with Dave, John, and Matt, then ran to his room. Matt could hear shouts and yelling coming from down the hallway.
"I think he's happy."
"No duh", replied Cena. He walked off to his own room and Batista did the same, walking off in the opposite direction. Matt and Camilla walked over to their room, where Randy was jumping on the bed.
"Dude, you don't know how happy I am right now! I finally get to get my hands on Triple H!"
"Okay now, kid", Matt said in a mock teacher-like voice. "Calm down. Take your medication. You don't want to waste all your energy."
Randy finally stopped bouncing around as Matt and Camilla climbed into bed together. The older brother calmed down and landed back first down on his own bed, putting his hands behind his back and smiling.
"You better kick his ass for me tomorrow. Soften him up for after Backlash."
"No doubt, bro. I'll have him down on the mat. R. K. O."
Matt smiled just as Camilla wrapped her arm around him.
"And you'll have the Dudleys on the mat, right?"
"M. K. O."
They gave each other a kiss before nodding off for the night.
"1, 2, 3!"
"Here are your winners and the new World Tag Team Champions, John Cena and Matthew Orton!"
Matt lifted the belt the referee gave him into the air. To him, this meant even more than the Intercontinental title. Surviving to the end of the Royal Rumble was a great accomplishment, but winning every single match in the tournament rather easily and proving that he and John were the best tag team on RAW meant more. Only one thing really could mean more to him. Not the Intercontinental title … not the World Heavyweight title … but winning the Tag titles with Randy one day …
Cena slapped him on the back; Matt turned around and embraced his tag team partner, holding his belt high. The ref stepped between Orton and Cena and raised their arms. Matt tugged it away and stepped to the turnbuckle and posed. While doing so, Batista, Randy, and Camilla came down to the ring to celebrate. Once everyone was in the ring, Matt stepped off the turnbuckle and turned around.
Only to be met with a belt in the face.
Cena had slammed his belt against Matt's head in full view of Dave, Randy, and Camilla. After falling to the floor, Orton felt blood trickle down his forehead. He could hear feet shuffle around in the ring and assumed Randy and Dave were beating the hell out of Cena. Still dizzy, Matt felt himself being picked up. He saw Randy's face through the blood dripping over his eyes. However, he also saw Cena smiling.
"What … the hell?"
A sudden RKO brought Matt back down to the ground. Matt's neck impacted on Randy's arm and his forehead slammed against the mat. Nearly knocked out, Matt felt himself being picked up again. Batista was handling him this time, putting Matt in the position for a Batista Bomb. The lights were fuzzy and every fan in the crowd seemed to blend together as Matt was lifted up and slammed down hard.
Holding on to only a shred of consciousness, Matt looked up to see Camilla standing over his body. She took the Women's Championship and held it high, getting boos from the crowd, before bringing it down hard on Matt's forehead.
"Matt! Oh my god! Matt, wake up!"
Opening his eyes slowly, Matt looked up to see Camilla and Randy standing over him.
"Dude, you took a nasty fall off the bed. You hit your forehead against the nightstand. You okay?" Randy asked.
Looking around, Matt found himself on the floor of the hotel room. He pulled himself up to his feet, despite having an intense headache. The shock of both the fall and what he had just experienced … or what he thought he had just experienced … was still permeating through him. Without saying anything, Matt went to the bathroom and doused his face with water. Upon closer inspection, Matt noticed a large red mark in the spot where he hit his head.
"That's the place I got hit with the belt…"
"Hey … you alright?" Randy walked in and checked on his brother.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just took a little bit of a fall, that's it."
"You were talking in your sleep once you hit the ground. Was it …"
"Yes."
"What happened to me this time?" Randy remembered the last incident of this happening back at home.
"Nothing happened to you. It happened to me this time. Cena and I had just won the Tag titles, but after I stepped down from the turnbuckle, he whacked me in the head with his belt. You gave me an RKO. Batista gave me a Batista Bomb. Camilla whacked me in the head with her belt. That's when I woke up."
"Matt, I would never …"
"I know. I know you wouldn't. This still bugs me though."
"Why should it? It's only a dream."
Matt took a deep breath. "The only reason I suggested that we oust Triple H was because of that first dream."
Randy chuckled. "What? What do you mean?"
"I didn't want the events of that dream happening. So I changed the circumstances."
"Did you really believe that could ever happen? The events of a dream coming true?" Randy asked, thinking he might be in some cheesy movie or story.
"Yes." Matt pierced Randy with a serious look. "Hunter would have … well, I've gone through this conversation with you a thousand times before. You know why I did it. Now you know the whole story."
"Well … what are you going to do about this one then? Kick Cena out?"
"No. I'm not going to do anything. Cena's too much of a friend for me to disappoint him in any way. Besides, if he pulls something, you'll be there, right?"
Randy smiled and nodded his head. "Come on. Let's head to the arena and get an early start on warming up."
The brothers walked out of the bathroom to find Camilla ready to go. After a quick change, Randy dashed out of the room, racing Matt down to the lobby. Randy closed the elevator before Matt could make it, sending the younger brother down the stairs in an effort to get to the bottom first. Camilla rolled her eyes as she stayed at the elevator, pressing the button to wait for another car. Meanwhile, Batista and Cena walked down the hall to meet Camilla.
"Where are the boys?" asked Dave.
"Making idiots of themselves racing down to the arena."
"Really?" spouted Cena. He took off down the stairs as well.
Shaking her head and laughing, Camilla spoke to Dave. "Sometimes, I think you and I are the only mature ones here."
Dave laughed as the elevator door opened. Eventually, after a slow morning walk, even getting breakfast at McDonalds, Dave and Camilla arrived at the arena. Arriving at the locker room, they found Randy and Matt collapsed on the ground, out of breath. Cena was laying down on the bench, out of breath as well.
"Have fun, kids?" Dave asked.
"I … I won …", Matt said, gasping for air.
"Bullcrap … I got here first!" Randy retorted.
"Alright already! Just shut up and have a biscuit!" Camilla tossed one each to John, Matt, and Randy. It served as a good energy boost to the boys, and soon all of them were on their feet. Cena walked over to Matt and slapped him on the back. Matt spun around in caution, remembering what happened in the dream.
"Ready for tonight?"
"After this, just one more team to plow through."
"Get your gear on so we can go warm up in the ring."
Cena turned his back to Matt and dug around in his bag. For a split second, Matt thought of grabbing Randy's title belt and hitting Cena in the back of the head.
"No … it was just a dream. It's not going to happen. It better not."
Eric Bischoff's music rang throughout the arena as RAW kicked off for the night. As usual, the fans gave him a lengthy round of boos.
"You know, I think you people would appreciate me after all that I've done for RAW! And you'll be more appreciative after I say that the Intercontinental title will be defended at Backlash! We'll have our champion, Randy Orton, face a deserving challenger, Eric Barringer!"
The crowd was pleasantly surprised and applauded. Backstage, Randy smiled, knowing that Eric deserved a match like this.
"Wait! Wait, I'm not done! I'm nowhere near done! That may have been a big announcement, but I've got another that trumps it tenfold! Mr. McMahon has informed me that, on the RAW after Backlash, superstars from both brands will be here on Monday night. For what? For the 2003 WWE DRAFT!"
Matt's heart sank. The draft could shake up the rosters of both brands. More importantly, it could separate him from Randy or Camilla. As Bischoff reminded the crowd, champions aren't immune to the draft, meaning that titles could be taken or brought to a brand. Evolution looked at each other with caution.
Batista reassured the team. "We're not going to worry about that right now. It'll shake our focus. What we need to worry right now as the task at hand. Camilla, you defend your title tonight. Randy, take down Triple H. Matt and John, one more win and you guys are in the finals. Me … Nash is mine tonight."
Everyone nodded and Evolution's tag team sprung up; their match would be first on tonight's card. Matt followed Cena to the entrance ramp; his attention would not only be on Bubba Ray and D-Von, but also on John. Evolution's music played and they stepped onto the stage together to a major roar of cheers, although the crowd seemed divided. The Dudleys were well liked, and the pair concluded that the fans could provide some valuable added momentum for either pair. Matt and D-Von were to start out for their respective teams.
The bell rang, and D-Von put his hand in the air, signaling for a test of strength. Reluctantly, Matt locked hands; however, D-Von kicked Matt in the gut. The crowd started to boo as D-Von dragged Matt to one corner and started stomping on him repeatedly. It took the five-count from the ref to finally give Matt a little bit of a breather. D-Von whipped Matt to the turnbuckle and bent down for a back body drop. Orton jumped over D-Von, who was still bent over. While on the rebound, Matt dropped D-Von with a bulldog.
"Time to try some new moves."
Matt put D-Von's head under his arm and grabbed his leg, just like for the MKO. However, Matt lifted the Dudley up and over with a Fisherman's suplex. Bubba Ray managed to slap D-Von's hand on the way down, making him the legal man. Matt received another stomp in the gut, letting go of D-Von. Bubba Ray picked Orton up and sent him flying chest first into the turnbuckle. Matt turned around only to receive a spear from his opponent.
"1, 2, …"
Orton managed to kick out. D-Von was begging for a tag, but Matt gained a second wind and managed to keep Bubba Ray from dragging him over there. Orton put Bubba Ray in a bear hug, then tossed him overhead with a belly-to-belly suplex. Gaining some momentum, Matt picked Bubba Ray up and put him in the powerbomb position. However, hoping to piss off Triple H, Matt hooked the arms and executed the Pedigree. Batista, Randy, and Camilla smiled backstage as Cena was tagged in. Both men whipped Bubba Ray, but Cena picked him up for an FU. D-Von rushed in to aid Bubba Ray, but Orton caught him and lifted him up in the same manner.
"Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Shut up, you didn't say something like this last week with the Five Knuckle Shuffle!"
John shrugged and both him and Orton performed simultaneous FUs on the Dudleys. They both went for the cover at the same time.
"1, 2, 3!"
"Here are your winners, Matth…"
The ring announcer was interrupted when Triple H rushed down to the ring and started to wail on John. Matthew tried to help, but was thrown over the top rope by the Game. Hunter pulled Cena to his feet and set him up for the Pedigree. It only took a second for Cena's face to get rammed down into the mat, knocking him out cold. Orton had climbed back into the ring, only to be immediately attacked by Triple H. Hunter set Matt up for the Pedigree as well, and Orton was laid out in a manner of seconds. Triple H stood in the middle of the ring. As he looked out to the audience, they started to cheer. Hunter finally felt like he had regained the respect he deserved as World Heavyweight Champion.
Then someone tapped him on the shoulder.
Bubba Ray and D-Von were up now, and the Dudleys started to take Triple H apart. After D-Von had distracted Hunter, Bubba Ray hit the Bubba Bomb. The fans knew it was coming.
"D-VON! GET THE TABLES!"
The immense reaction from the fans caused Orton to stir, and he saw Hunter laying on the ground. D-Von was sliding a table in from outside. Bubba Ray saw Matt starting to get up and facilitated the process, getting Matt to his feet. After a quick word, a groggy Orton took to the turnbuckle while the Dudleys set up for the 3D. Finally getting his head together, Matt saw Bubba Ray look over to his direction. Matt nodded and the Dudleys waited for Hunter to get up. With one swift motion, D-Von lifted the Game up and Bubba Ray brought him down through the table. Orton sized the situation up, waited for Bubba Ray to move, and launched himself in the air, hitting his Somersault Leg Drop on Triple H.
After getting up, Matt shook the hands of each of his opponents as a sign of respect. Orton then dashed over to Cena, who was now just coming to.
"Dude, can you hear me?"
Cena looked at him blankly, nodding ever so slightly. Matt lifted Cena onto his shoulders and climbed out of the ring carefully. He walked up the ramp and went straight to the trainer's room. Randy, Dave, and Camilla were running, trying to catch up with him. Dave took Cena from Matt, and Randy caught his little brother, who was having trouble standing.
"Matt, sit down. You doing that leg drop was a complete mistake."
"If you had the chance to put Hunter out after he almost knocks you out and knocks out your friend, you would have taken it."
"I can't argue with that."
Dave walked out of the trainer's room with a frustrated look on his face.
"Well?" asked Matt.
"He's got a bad concussion. You've probably got a smaller one."
Matt's eyes sunk to the ground. "How long does the …"
"As long as he takes it easy this week, he'll be ready for next Monday."
Randy, Camilla, and Matt all breathed a sigh of relief after hearing the news. They all heard Trish Stratus' music start to play.
"Dammit. I have to go out there", Camilla declared.
"I'm not leaving his side, Camilla. Go on", Randy replied.
She nodded and ran back to the Evolution locker room to get her belt. Dave, Randy, and Matt all walked back into the trainer's room to see Cena sitting up, groggy.
"Did … did we win?"
"He doesn't remember … Yeah. We're in the finals for sure", Matt answered.
"Good …" Cena tried to get up, but had to be caught by Batista. Matt walked out of the room, obviously mad. Randy followed.
"What's wrong with you?"
"If I had never did the Pedigree, John wouldn't have a concussion. This is all my fault."
"John's going to be fine. I'm sure you didn't want him to get knocked out like he did, but it happened. You take it and move on. Why did you do that anyway?"
"I wanted to provoke Hunter so I could get my hands on him. I guess it worked. I didn't anticipate him throwing me out of the ring first thing though."
"Matt …" A voice came from the room. Both Ortons hurried back in.
"… we did good out there, bro", John weakly said with a smile on his face. Matt knew that there wasn't any hostility between the two, which he had feared from the dream he had earlier. Cena gave Orton a high five and helped the rapper back to the locker room with Dave and Randy close behind. Upon arriving, they found Camilla snacking on an orange.
"Shouldn't you be out in the ring?" Matt asked.
"Nope. Match is over", Camilla replied confidently, a giant smile on her face and the belt by her side.
"You won already?!"
"Tripped her up, locked in the Sharpshooter … end of story."
"Remind me never to face you in the ring." Matt looked around for a second and, finding his duffel bag, grabbed his wallet. "Anyone want something to drink?"
After taking the orders, Matt stumbled out into the hallway towards a vending machine. Randy followed his brother, a smirk on his face.
"You know, you think he would learn by now."
Randy wrapped his arm around Matt's neck, squeezing the life out of his brother yet again. Matt felt the familiar dizziness and loss of hearing, but decided to get out of the hold at any cost. He lifted a leg up quickly, catching Randy where it hurt. The older Orton moaned out in pain and let go of his brother, falling to the ground. Regaining his composure, Matt went over to the vending machine and got the drinks. Going back to Randy still on the floor, Matt dropped his brother's root beer directly on his stomach.
"You won't mess with me anymore, huh?"
"That ... that wasn't fair. You cheated, goddammit!"
"There's no rules outside the ring. You know that."
"No. No cheating", Randy replied, getting to his feet. "We fight just like we would in the ring."
Matt shrugged. "Fair enough. I'll beat you whenever you so desire."
"You haven't beat me yet. And you never will."
Matt shook his head and shook his own root beer behind his back. Surprising his brother, Matt aimed the can at Randy and root beer sprayed all over the older Orton.
"You little ... come here!"
Will John's injury affect next week's match on RAW? Will Randy and Eric be able to get the revenge they want for Hunter attacking Matt? And what of Batista and Nash?
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