Disclaimer: I absolutely positively own none of the characters used in this story. They belong to Vince McMahon, the WWE, or themselves. No profit is made from this story; it is strictly fictional and strictly for fun!
Chris came thru the door with a smile on his face. He had just convinced Vince to move the Highlight Reel to the beginning of the show. He knew that to be a fact. He also knew that Vince was going to try and take her at the beginning of the show. He had Trish and Christian scheduled, which really sucked. Chris knew then that Vince was taking every pre-caution to catch her alone.
With a smile, he looked at Stephanie. She looked at him and he just melted. He hoped she never found out what kind of effect that could have on him. If she did, Lord only knew what she would be able to make him do. "Highlight Reel first, as promised."
"Nice job Jericho only as your business manager, I should have been the one to handle that," Stephanie said with a smirk on her face. She loved the way he looked at her with a smile on his face. She hoped he never found out how much he affected her; she could be in a lot of trouble.
"Normally, I would agree with you but tonight, you need to remember that I'm the boss," Chris said rather smugly with folding his arms in front of his chest. There was nothing else more fun that picking on Stephanie. It was fun before they started dating and now, it seemed to be even more fun.
"Oh really?" Stephanie asked with a gleam in her eyes. "Well, I guess that I will just have to quit being your manager." She knew he wouldn't let her quit. It was only an excuse to get him a little fired up. Besides, the whole situation with her father was under control now. There was nothing to be afraid of.
"I don't think so Princess," Chris said pulling her into his arms. He kissed her softly on the lips and then looked into her eyes. "You've got to stick it out. I've got a 'No-Quit' clause in my contract on the both of us."
Stephanie busted out laughing and hugged him hard. She didn't know what she did to deserve this handsome, sexy guy but she sure did love the fact that he was hers. "I swear, if I really wanted to, I could find a way out of that contract but I think I'll stay and see how things go. We'll take it from there."
Shane walked down the hall with a smile. He knew that he had a serious 'ace' in the hole. There was no way that anybody could see this one coming. It was going to take his father out and hard, but there wasn't anything he could do about that. His father had made his bed; now, he had to lay in it.
He quickly walked down the hallway and saw his father heading towards him. He could see that crazed look in his eyes from where he was standing. He was curious to see how his father would act around him. He quickened the pace and saw his father turn to leave. "Dad!"
Vince turned around to see his son coming towards him. "What could he possibly want?" he asked himself before smiling at Shane. "Shane, when did you get here?"
"Just now," Shane said with a small smile on his face. "I've got some new layouts for you to look at for the website. Have you got a minute?"
Vince immediately looked antsy. "No, not right at the moment. Can you give me about, oh I don't know," he said looking down at his watch. "About an hour?"
"Sure dad, take all the time you need. I'll find you later," Shane said with a smile. He patted his father on his shoulder before walking off in the opposite direction. He now had a time frame. "It's time for you to go down dad."
Hunter sat there in the locker room looking cockier than ever. He knew that by having Stephanie at his side, it was only a matter of time before he got his belt back from Benoit. "Everything that I have ever dreamed of is getting ready to come true Dave."
"I know," Dave said with a small smile. He couldn't help but be amused by the man, just a little. Hunter didn't know what was really going to happen, but Dave did. "Man, I wish I knew how you were going to feel later, when you're at the top of the mountain, looking down on all of us little peasants."
"You're not a peasant, my friend," Hunter said with a wink. He was lying his ass off and he knew it, but he had found that buttering someone up before sticking the knife in his back, well, it made things smoother. "You're my right-hand man. You'll be right by my side on top of that mountain, looking down at the ones who don't deserve to breath our air."
"Sounds good to me," Dave said with an evil smile. He knew that this was going to be the sweetest moment in his life. Sitting there, knowing that Hunter thought it was all going his way, was worth its weight in gold. To watch Hunter finally have to pay for all of his mistakes and evil ways, that was priceless.
Ric walked out of Vince's office with a panicked look on his face. He knew what he was supposed to do, but he didn't know how he was going to do it. He had to be careful. He didn't want this all blowing up in his face.
"Man, I wish this night was over with," Ric said while looking for Evolution's locker room. He shook his head and rolled his neck. "Come on Nature Boy, get a hold of yourself. It's showtime!" he muttered as he walked into the door. "There my boys are! WOOOOO! Are you ready for tonight, big man?"
"You know it Natch," Hunter said with a grin. "Sit down, have a drink, relax a little." Hunter happened to look down at his watch. "Look, I've got to go over a few minor details. I'll be back in a few minutes." He quickly strode out the door without a glance back; Ric was there now, he knew what to do.
Ric looked at Batista while Batista looked at Ric. Each man was wondering what the other was actually thinking about the situation. Ric's smile slowly faded off of his face as he turned away from Dave and made a drink. He took a sip, noting his hand shaking a bit. He quickly downed the drink, poured another one, and sat down.
Batista knew something wasn't quite right with Ric. Ric had shut down the second Hunter walked out of the locker room. Something was bothering Ric and it was showing. He sat down across from Ric. "Hey man, you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Ric said with a small smile. "I didn't sleep too well last night. I'm just tired."
Batista looked at him and saw that Ric had spoken the truth. There were dark circles under his eyes and his eyes looked bloodshot. "Man, are you sure you don't need to lie down?"
"No, I'll be fine. I just need to go see Susie and let her cover up my long night," Ric said with a wink. He downed his drink and sat the glass on the table. "I'll be back in a few."
"Okay man," Batista said with his eyes narrowing on Ric as he walked out of the motel room. Something wasn't right and he couldn't put his fingers on it. It was something in Ric's eyes that made him wonder if he was having second thoughts about the whole thing.
He quickly stood up and paced while thinking. Ric didn't need to do this. The man was a legend in his own right. Why should he do anything to help Hunter? He stood there, staring at the glass that Ric had been drinking out of. He knew he had to do something, but what?
Randy walked down the hallway with a swagger in his step. Noticing Hunter come his way, he couldn't help but smirk at him. The big nosed dumb ass didn't have a clue that he was getting ready to come crashing down, face first, into rock hard cement.
Hunter's eyes narrowed, as he got closer to Randy. There was something in the kid's eyes tonight. A part of that was arrogance, which was nothing new, but there was something else. It was a look that Hunter had never seen before. Unable to stop himself, he asked, "What the hell has got you so happy?"
Randy looked at Hunter and smiled. He straightened out his jacket a bit, savoring in the fact that Hunter was dying to know and he wasn't going to tell him anything really. Well, actually it was better, cause he knew that Hunter was going down. "You know Hunter, I'm just happy that I am not in Evolution any more. I'm just happy that, unlike you, I've got friends."
"Friends?" Hunter asked with a life. "You've got no friends here Orton."
"Oh really, well, maybe I don't. At least I don't have to listen to your ass whine, bitch, and moan about how you deserve to be the World Champion," Randy said with a wink. "See you around loser." After saying that, Randy quickly turned and walked back up the hall, whistling as he did.
"Little punk ass, I ought tobeat the shit out of him," Hunter said watching him walk down the hall, without a care in the world. He then smiled an evil smile. Orton would pay once he had Stephanie. Everything would be better when he had Stephanie. With that thought, he rushed off to find Vince.
"Okay so what do we do?" Christian asked with his arm around Trish. Chris had just told them that the Highlight Reel would be first. He just wanted to make sure that everything went as planned.
"Well, considering that you two are my guests, you will be with me," Chris said with a slight smile on his face. He knew that Christian was getting ready to panic and quickly held up his hand. "Don't worry; we've got it covered."
"Are you sure?" Trish asked with concern on her face. She wasn't expecting to have to be away from Stephanie. A little shiver of fear went up her back for just a second. Shaking it off, she listened to what Chris had to say.
"Randy and Dave are in with us. We've got everything covered," Chris said with a smirk. He winked at them and smiled. "Hell, we might even throw in a few surprises in there before we are done."
Christian looked at Chris and smiled. He knew what he was thinking and he totally agreed. "Well, if we can vote on a 'few surprises in there', I'm voting, 'Yes'," he said with a smirk.
"Just like I knew you would be my friend," Chris said holding his hand out and shaking Christian's hand. "Just like I knew you would be."
Shane was standing there quietly in the corner, watching as his father and Hunter were talking. He knew exactly what they were discussing, could hear every word, and had to smile. He made sure to get to his father's office about 15 minutes before the hour was scheduled.
Shane hadn't worked around his father all these years, without learning a few tricks of the trade. It always seemed to pay off big time by just keeping quiet. After seeing the long curtain in the corner, he couldn't help but smile. He had all the patience in the world, when it came to his baby sister.
"Okay, so you know you are sending Ric to her with a note, from me? I've already discussed that with him," Vince asked quietly.
"Yeah, you discussed it with me on the phone last night," Hunter said with a look of total confidence on his face. With Vince on one side and Stephanie on the other, he was going to rule the wrestling world. He would be on top at all times, just as he should be, and he just couldn't see how anything else could be any better.
"Don't forget to send out the note right after the Highlight Reel starts. With Trish and Christian as his guests tonight, Stephanie will be all alone," Vince said with a knowing look. He had everything planned out perfectly. Nothing could go wrong.
"Well, I had better get going," Hunter said standing up. He stuck out his hand and looked at Vince. He shook hands with him, firmly squeezing his hand in the process. "It's been an absolute pleasure working with you. I can't wait to learn more from you."
Maybe the future of the company was standing right there in front of him. Turning his head sideways, he couldn't help but think that this was the man to run his company. His son was so stupid that he couldn't even remember to keep an appointment. "You know, I can't wait to show you the ropes around here. I need somebody who can be firm with the talent, " He stood up and walked over beside of him. "You know, you could be the answer to my of my problems. You just might be what the WWE needs."
"Oh, I know I am Vince," Hunter said with a smug look. Finally, after all of this time, he would be on top of the mountain, just as he should be. Just as he should have been years ago, he knew there was nothing but good times ahead. "I've told you that time and time again thru the years just how damn good I am. Maybe now you will start believing it."
"Well, I've got to get out to the Gorilla position. Besides, we've got plenty of things to do and a short time to do it in." Vince said holding his arm out. "After you."
Hunter quickly turned and opened the door, turning back to Vince for just a second. "You won't be sorry."
"I have a feeling that you are right about that," Vince said following him out the door.
Shane stood there smiling while dialing Chris' cell phone. Putting the phone to his ear, he was actually humming. He couldn't wait to see this all explode in his father's face. He had an almost giddy tone to his voice. "Hey Chris, what are you doing?"
"Getting ready to head out to the ring. What's up with you?" Chris asked looking at Stephanie. He could tell from Shane's voice that he was in a really good mood. He knew something. Maybe it was the 'chirpy' factor in his voice.
"I just overhead a conversation between Hunter and my father. Vince is going to send a note for Stephanie to meet him, just to talk. Ric will be bringing it and it will be done during the Highlight Reel," Shane said in a sing-song like voice. Finally he was going to teach his father that one, he knew exactly what he was doing when it came to business. Two, he could do an even better job than he did. Three, he was his son; he just had a heart.
"Okay, I've got to go make a quick call. Thanks Shane," Chris hung up the phone quickly. He knew he had only one way of throwing a monkey in the plans. Actually he had several but there was only one mind that came to mind. He called Randy.
"Talk to me," Randy said with a pounding heart. He knew it was Chris; there was only one reason why he would call him. He knew what time it was going to happen.
"I need for you to come to the dressing room and stay with Stephanie. Ric is going to bring her a note from her father, during the Highlight Reel," Chris said smiling at Stephanie. She was safe now. She had no clue how many traps and elements of surprise were out there helping them. He only wished he had the time to tell her all about it. "Trish and Christian will be on the show. Besides, I think that will be a nice little swerve on their plan."
"Element of surprise, I like it," Randy said with a cocky grin. It was time; time to play the game and whoop his ass. He was more than ready. Imaging how good it was going to be looking down on Hunter, he said smoothly, "I'm on my way."
Randy quickly turned and decided that now was a good time to call Dave. He quickly pressed his number and smiled. This was just what Dave needed to know. He now knew exactly what he could do to prevent this and bury Hunter in the process.
"Hello," Dave said walking to the opposite side of the room as he answered his phone. There was anybody in the room with him but this way, if they did walk in, they wouldn't really hear him. "What's up?"
"Ric is supposed to be bringing Stephanie a note. She'll get it during the Highlight Reel cause Trish and Christian are on the show," Randy said with a smile.
"Sweet, I got your back," Dave said with a smile. He heard voices and quickly wrapped it up. "I've got to go." He quickly hung up the phone and put it in his jacket pocked before Hunter opened the door, followed by Ric.
"Hey big man, you ready?" Hunter asked with a grin and a swagger. He walked over to Dave with his chest stuck out so far that he looked like a peacock strutting his flowers. "Tonight is Evolution's night to rule the wrestling world."
"Let's do it," Dave said slipping his glasses on. He knew that Hunter would think it was his cockiness rubbing off on him. Truth was he didn't know if he could hide the giddiness in his eyes. Hunter was finally going to get what was coming to him. The best part was that he didn't have a clue in the world what was getting ready to happen.
A/N: Man, I am so mean leaving it like this! LOL! Don't worry folks, it only gets better from here. I promise! Now, leave me a review.