I am officially computer-less. I had about a fourth of this chapter ready when my trusty PC died on me. My dad, who had abused it along with Pyper in the last few days of its existence by downloading shit I routinely had to clean out, had the gall to tell me that it was entirely my fault. Right...

But enough of my whining. I know I'm way overdue for a chapter, and I don't think I was in form while typing this up on a beat up notebook computer. I resolutely promise to make up for it in the next one, but for now I hope this suffices.

Date Uploaded: 10 November 2004

Chapter 4: Decisions, Choices, Options

"Dinsmore? What possessed you to think that I need your country bumpkin of a nephew to hold one of the most prestigious positions in my circle??" came the roaring from Von Bishop's chambers, quite audible even from where Eugene was making his way up the hall.

The reply to that wasn't half as loud, and as such Eugene didn't catch what his uncle may have said. Despite being as confident as he possibly could be, he did find himself softening his footsteps and pressing his ear cautiously to the door to listen.

"I don't care how good you and his tutor Regal claim he has gotten in the past few months, I need someone with more experience," Lord Helmsly's voice came again, still displeased but now his growling had been kept at a minimum. "Sir Sexton Hardcastle, for example, even if he has the dumbest name I've ever heard on a knight."

"I agree," Lord Richard Flair's voice followed. "Eugene is a boy who has learned to swing a sword in place of a stick, so what? He is not in position to command authority."

"Not until you place him in that position, no," Von Bishop answered. "The boy has potential, and the masses seem to take to him for some reason. His inclusion in your group will boost the public's opinion of you, Lord Helmsly."

"Do you think I care what the commoners think??" Helmsly snapped back, his voice rising again.

Before Eugene could hear any more of the conversation the doors were suddenly yanked open, causing him to careen right into the room. Fortunately he steadied his footing and managed to right himself. In front of him was the massive figure of Sir David Batista with Von Bishop, Flair and Helmsly looking at him from behind the knight.

"Hello, uncle," Eugene said lamely, offering a grin. "I've made my decision."

»»»

Being busted for eavesdropping wasn't on Eugene's plan, but he recovered quickly and gave one of his almost idiotic smiles, immediately mumbling something about coming to a decision. That made Triple H swivel back to eye Bischoff.

"His decision?" he said in a borderline cynical yet still dangerous voice.

"Humor the boy," Bischoff said in a low voice, but Eugene still caught it.

At that Triple H gave a displeased smirk. "This is WWE, Bischoff, not day care. I'm not going to mollycoddle your nephew."

"Try to understand where I'm coming from, Hunter," Bischoff said, placing his words carefully in order not to make an already delicate situation even worse. "As Vince has said in recently he plans on making this company more interactive. The fans will have more of a say in decisions such as matches and possibly even who to keep around."

"I still don't see what this has to do with us accepting Eugene into Evolution," Triple H said, but Eric's comments seem to have piqued his curiosity.

"Face it, Evolution isn't high on the fans' favorites list, despite being possibly the best faction to have come out of this company in years," Bischoff added that last part quickly after menacing stares from Hunter, Flair and Batista. "As such you need a sort of leverage in order to gain the people's vote, so to speak."

"And you think having Eugene around will help that?" Batista spoke up cynically.

By this time Eugene had silently taken a seat on the farthest corner of the couch. He had a feeling from the start that his decision meant jack shit in this deal. If Hunter chose to keep him out he would stay out, and if he decided to let him join he would join, even beating him into it if he didn't actually want to.

But he wanted to. So for once he was rooting for his uncle's smooth talking.

"Bit of a long stretch, don't you think, Eric?" Flair said skeptically.

"Not if you think about it," Bischoff said, smiling and looking a bit more comfortable now. "For some reason the fans seem to really take to Eugene. Having him within the faction would do a lot to boost the public's perception of Evolution."

"And what if they think I'm just manipulating him again?" Triple H said, narrowing his eyes. "That'll jam us even further down than he first were."

"So don't let on that you are," Bischoff said, lowering his voice so much that Eugene had to strain to hear him. "Stage a public apology and formally invite him to join the group. Have his back in his next few matches. It's confuse everyone and score you some very favorable points."

Triple H then said something in subtle tones that Eugene didn't catch at all.

"For as long as it'll benefit Evolution," was Bischoff's reply.

Eugene wondered how long that would be. If the end result of this meeting did go his way and he would be accepted into the faction, he would have to tread very lightly.

Triple H straightened and seemed to regard Bischoff with a mixture of suspicion, wariness and detestation. He then turned and looked at Eugene completely for the first time since the rookie walked into the room. He was regarding him in almost the same way, so Eugene decided against one of his perfunctory smiles, it would work against him in this situation.

Flair, who was sitting in a single couch, gave a barely detectable shrug and Batista, standing by the door, simply cocked his head. Eric tried to look comfortable behind his desk but was failing.

"Fine," Triple H said after what seemed like an eternity. "Next RAW we'll make the announcement formal." He turned to Eugene again. "Guess you're in Evolution now, kid," he said, with a cunning smirk that momentarily made Eugene wonder if this had been the best choice for him.

»»»

"Rumor has it that you're set to take the place of Ryan Orton among Lord Helmsly's ranks," Shelton Benjamin remarked casually, swinging his wooden sword overhead.

"Funny, I thought you wouldn't be one for gossip," Eugene said, equally as nonchalant, retaliating with an upward thrust that cut off his incoming attack.

The two were training in the barracks but owing to the fact that Sir Willem Regal was no where around, they had lightened on attempting to smack each other with practice weapons. Normally this sort of slacking would have had them reprimanded, but the only authority figure in the area happened to be Sir Jericho, who was in the middle of happily loafing around as well.

"Heh, you ought to dodge attacks as well as you dodge questions," Shelton said, parrying Eugene's swing and landing a kick, light but still enough to push the other a few feet away.

Eugene stumbled backwards and rubbed his midsection. "And if I am, you're not going to talk me out of it too, are you?" he said.

Shelton swiped at him and earned a headbutt for his troubles. "You're a big boy now, you can take care of yourself," he teased, backing off.

Eugene was about to reply to that when a cry came not far from them. "Runaway horse! Watch out!!"

He turned to see a mare bearing down on them, possibly spooked to the point of hysteria. Shelton gave him a huge shove and he ended up tumbling into a pile of hay. Spitting straw away he looked up just in time to see Jericho get knocked off his perch and splash right into a trough of water with a yell.

Ryan Orton suddenly turned up near the gate, however, quickly caught hold of the horse's reigns and swung himself on. Within moments he had calmed the animal down and pulled her to a stop.

Eugene watched as onlookers burst into applause and a modest Orton took a small bow. He remembered how just a few weeks ago Ryan Orton was loathed almost as much as Lord Helmsly. He wondered if his situation would sink into reverse in the days to come.

cont'd

I'm also guilty of not keeping up to date with what's going on in WWE. I know Gail Kim and a bunch of stars have been axed, but she, at least, will remain in this fic because it's way too late to change Eugene's love interest, ehehe... But in chapter five expect intrigue, betrayal, lust, and talking monkeys! All right, maybe not the first three, but at least more competent writing. Until then!