AN: I posted the last chapter when the alerts were down so you may have to back up a chapter to prevent confusion.
February 13, 2012
Monday Night Raw
Punk walked into the arena in San Diego with great trepidation. It was the final Raw before the Elimination Chamber and he was sure that was supposed to mean something to him but the only thing on his mind was the decision that he had left in John's hands. He would know by the end of the night if John's love for him trumped the friendship he had with Ryder. Punk had come to realize during the trip home from the UAE that friendship was all that lay between John and Ryder. John wouldn't have taken him to bed if he was seeing Ryder no matter what gloating Ryder had been throwing his way. He had no idea if Ryder would even be in attendance tonight. On the way to his assigned locker room he was stopped by a road agent that said there would be an Elimination Chamber debate to start off the show. Punk wondered if Laurinaitis had been watching too much C-SPAN to come up with this idea. He was sure that a WWE debate would be far more entertaining than the Republican version of events. He was also informed that he would be facing Miz tonight in the ring. Miz couldn't get a win to save his life these days so he wasn't overly concerned.
He entered the locker room and took a place next to Kofi. Randy was nowhere to be found and John was conspicuously absent. He turned to talk to Kofi who seemed just as mystified as why they were having a debate. He liked dropping a pipe bomb here and there but this seemed moronic even to someone that liked to talk as much as him. He would have to listen to 5 other guys pontificate on how they were going to win in the Chamber. The only person's opinion that he cared about was Kofi's and the only person he actually cared to listen to was Truth. He looked down the row and there was Truth, talking to himself in a corner and that could only promise an entertaining display of insanity. Kofi changed into his full gear while Punk pulled street clothes over his. While these segments usually degenerated into a full out brawl he was so not in the mood tonight and he didn't walk around in suits like some people so could fight easily in any clothing he owned if need be. He and Kofi made their way to the arena entrance to find Ziggler and Vickie waiting alone. Apparently everyone else had already entered the arena. Ziggler smiled and winked at him before he and Vickie entered the arena, followed by Kofi then himself. Punk started laughing when he saw the ring. There were actual podiums. Even though Laurinaitis had managed to get his Interim position back he really had no chance of getting that title changed to permanent if this was the best idea he could come up with. Punk looked across the ring at Jericho who was glaring at each man in turn before his eyes landed on Punk. Jericho smirked at him and he answered Jericho with a smirk of his own. Jericho had called out everyone in the ring last Monday for plagiarizing him in every way possible. There had not been any repetition of that in the UAE and Punk had let it slip from his mind. On the list of things he had to worry about Jericho was not at the top of the list.
They were all standing at their podiums when Raw finally went on the air. They showed the footage of Kane terrorizing Eve and then Kane came on the screen promising that John would embrace hate and then the camera panned over to show the ambulance that was stationed backstage for all their events in case of injury. Kane assured the audience that someone would be taking a ride in that ambulance tonight. He actually hoped that Ryder would be in attendance tonight because if John's decision wasn't in his favor then he would probably lose it and send Ryder out in an ambulance.
Lawler was mediating the debate and started out with him, asking the obvious question of why he thought he would be the last one standing in the Elimination Chamber. Before he could respond Laurinaitis, with Otunga in tow, interrupted him. Punk leaned into the microphone, "Boo!" inciting the fans to boo Laurinaitis even more than they already were. Apparently the only reason Laurinaitis was out there was to kiss the ass of the Board of Directors. Thankfully Laurinaitis left and Punk almost choked on oxygen when Lawler referred to him as "Mr. Punk." That had to be worse than people uninvitingly calling him Phil or when his mother used his whole name which indicated that he had done something that had completely exasperated her. The question came back to him. Punk phrased his answer in 3 parts. The 1st being a promise to the fans that the debate would not end in violence, which basically insured that the debate would, in all probability, end in violence. The 2nd being the reprehensible dirt that Laurinaitis must have on the Board for them to allow Laurinaitis to continue in his present position. He again got to use his favorite insult by referring to Laurinaitis as clown shoes and his newest insult, snickelfritz. While it cracked him up, it seemed lost on most of the fans. Punk thought the newest nickname was very apt. After all, Laurinaitis frequently did things that were just plain wrong, so much so that he could only be mocked and laughed at, trying to set him straight being completely useless. The 3rd a final part being that he was the best wrestler in the world and Punk left it at that.
Lawler turned to Ziggler for a response but all he got was Vickie jumping in front of Ziggler, practically pushing her client out the way, and screeching at the audience. Punk thought for perhaps the 100th time that Ziggler really needed to shake Vickie loose if he ever wanted to gain any type of respect from the fans. Ziggler finally answered the question saying he was better than everyone in the ring, but only calling Punk out by name. Ziggler really had the strangest ideas about flirtation. Then he attacked Truth, saying that he didn't even know what state they were in. Punk turned to Truth who was next to him, eager to hear the insanity that Truth was going to let go. Punk was cracking up laughing in no time when Truth phrased his answer as if he was actually running for public office and his campaign promise was to trade Vickie and Ziggler to Smackdown for Hornswoggle and a box of spiders. Punk had no idea what had happened to Truth in his childhood to incite his obsession with spiders. If Punk thought he could ask and Truth not take a swing at him he would. It was probably quite a story. Truth continued on, calling Lawler "Your Honor" as if he was on the stand. Truth finished off his tour de force with "God Bless Little Jimmy and God Bless the United States of America." Punk put his hand over his heart as if he was about to say the pledge of allegiance, noticing that he was the only one that found Truth's brand of crazy hilarious. There was a serious lack of humor in this debate.
Lawler turned it over to Miz but before he could speak he picked up Ziggler saying, "Look he's scowling, he means business," mocking Miz whose podium was right next to Ziggler's. That didn't really assure that Miz had heard the insult because the sound he liked best was his own voice.
Miz started going on and on about being the main event at the last WrestleMania. Punk tuned him out because the ways the WWE could change over the course of a year was astronomical. You could go from being Champion to being beaten by Hornswoggle in a year's time. Miz took a page from Jericho's playbook and started insulting them all one by one. Punk couldn't do anything but smile when Miz tried to insult him but somehow forgot how the English language works and bumbled some sort of insult. Miz was truly becoming more useless by the day. Punk's attention was grabbed when the buzzer went off repeatedly signaling that Miz had gone over his time. He was pretty sure everyone else had gone over their time as well but whoever was manning the buzzer must have been as bored as he was by Miz's rambling.
Kofi seemed to have taken Miz's insult about being an afterthought very personally. From the looks on everyone in the debate's faces it seemed like they all thought the same way as the Miz. Punk knew they were all in for a surprise at the Elimination Chamber. Punk even started chanting "Kofi" along with the fans. Finally it went to Jericho. Punk was listening but he started looking around the arena, having conversations with the fans in the front row, playing with the tape on his wrists, anything but give his full attention to Jericho. Jericho even went so far as to call him "boy." Punk finally acted like his attention had been caught and denied hearing anything that Jericho had said. Jericho started muttering to himself, the mic wasn't picking it up and Punk couldn't read his lips, but he was damn sure he had pissed Jericho off royally. He dug the knife in deeper when he brought up Jericho's pathetic showing on Dancing with the Stars. Lawler announced Jericho vs. Kofi as the next match but Jericho pushed Kofi out of the way and stood in front of Punk, mouthing off. Punk just held his title up in the air as he watched Kofi take position behind Jericho. Jericho finally turned his attention to Kofi only to get hit by a brutal Trouble in Paradise. Kofi definitely had Jericho's attention who was writhing on the ground and Punk would bet that the rest of the competitors in the Chamber were rethinking their opinion of Kofi as well.
Punk made his way backstage and found Randy sitting in the monitor bay.
"Running late today?"
"No. I went to find John. He requested a private locker room for tonight."
"Why?"
"Apparently Ryder is going to be here tonight."
"Joy," Punk stated sarcastically but in his mind he was feeling anything but amused.
"Listen, John told me what happened in the UAE. You know I'm behind you concerning this Ryder thing but you can't jerk John around like that, it isn't fair."
"I guess John didn't tell you that there's going to be a resolution to this clusterfuck tonight?"
"He did not."
"I gave him until the end of the show. Either he picks me or Ryder. He can't have both."
"You can't either. Where's Ziggler, huh? You usually don't have to look very far to find him haunting your steps."
"I tried to end that but Ziggler doesn't seem to want to let it go."
"If you and John do get back together that's not going to end well for Ziggler."
"It already hasn't. They were seconds away from coming to blows backstage at one of the house shows."
When Punk didn't get an answer from Randy he turned fully to face Randy but he was looking over Punk's shoulder in disgust.
"Excuse Me!"
"Oh hell!"
"I need to talk to you Punk."
"I'm sorry. My quota for shrieking harpies has been filled for the night. You can try again tomorrow."
"We are going to have this conversation whether you want to or not. If you don't get up and follow me into the hallway I'm going to start talking right now and you know how much my voice can carry."
"Punk, please, take her away from here before she starts yelling in my ear," Randy said, shooing them both away with his hands. Punk stood and followed Vickie into the hallway.
"Here, take this," and Vickie held out a room key.
"Uh, thanks but no thanks. My taste doesn't run to scantily clad grandmothers."
"Shut up smart ass, it's to Dolph's room."
"I still don't want it."
"Well you're going to take it. Go to his room tonight…"
"Are you pimping out your clients now?"
"No, I'm trying to get Dolph's obsession with you taken care of before the Elimination Chamber. He's totally distracted and it's all your fault. Take the damn room key and do whatever it is you do so he can get you out of his system. I can't imagine anyone would want to be around you for more than a night anyway."
"I don't think so."
"Take the damn key or I start screaming…" Punk made no move to take the key and Vickie started yelling obscenities.
"Fine, see, I'm taking the key, anything to get you to shut up."
"Fix this or you're going to find yourself with a new stalker," and Vickie huffed and stomped away. Punk returned to the monitor bay and Randy.
"What did the shrew want?"
"She gave me Ziggler's room key so I can have sex with him and end his infatuation with me."
"That's hilarious. Seriously, what did she want?"
Punk's only response was to take the room key out his pocket and hold it up in front of Randy.
"Has she gone completely around the bend? Better yet, have you? Why did you even take the damn thing?"
"Did you hear her screaming from the hallway?"
"Yes."
"Well that wouldn't have stopped unless I took the key."
"Tell me you're not considering…"
"Well, if John chooses Ryder…"
"Give me the fucking thing."
"What? You want to take my place?"
"No. I'm going to stop you from making the stupidest mistake of your life."
"I have no plans to do what Vickie…"
"Punk, give me the key or I'm going to punt you in the head…again."
"Fine. Take the damn thing. I wasn't going to use it anyway."
Punk looked up at the monitors when he heard Jericho's music playing. He had beaten Kofi. The cameras then picked up John in his locker room with Ryder who was spouting off some nonsense about being there for Eve. John showed no sign of backing away from his friendship with Ryder and Punk knew then that he and John were finished. Punk stood up slowly.
"I need to take a walk," Punk said quietly.
"That doesn't mean anything. John probably just doesn't want the cameras around when he gives Ryder the boot."
"Randy, I can tell that you're lying for my benefit, just stop," and Punk walked down the hallway, having no idea where he was going and not caring in the least. He kept walking, hoping that continued motion would stop him from breaking down but he eventually just collapsed in a hallway, far away from where anyone would find him. He slid down the wall and laid his head on his knees, the tears coming freely. John had chosen Ryder over him. Punk had considered the possibility that John might not choose him, but a larger part of him thought John would choose him. After everything that had happened, the good and the bad, how could John just throw it all away? They were in love. It was supposed to last forever. If he had known that this was how it was going to end he would have punched John in the mouth after the first kiss. He wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if John approached him at the next house show and to ask if they could be friends. He wasn't sure how long he stayed there until he heard a deep voice laughing at him. It was Kane.
"Did you know Ryder is in the arena tonight?" Punk forced out. Kane just laughed in his sickening way and kept walking.
Punk knew his match must be coming up soon and wiped his eyes and walked back to the arena entrance. Miz was there already and obviously pissed off.
"Are you afraid to get in the ring with me," Miz asked smarmily.
"What are you talking about?"
"We missed our slot. The girls went on instead of us."
"Are you really that eager for an ass kicking?"
"From the looks of you I don't think you're going to put up much of a fight."
Miz turned out to be completely correct. His performance in the ring was lackluster at best. He still managed to get the win, perfunctorily celebrating and then made his way back up the ramp. Inside he felt like he had been hollowed out. He barely even noticed when his arm was jerked and he was being pulled down the hall.
"Come with me," Eve said while dragging Punk down the hall.
"Where the hell are we going?"
"Just a little espionage."
"I'm not really in the mood to play James Bond."
"Good, because I'm James Bond, you're just Pussy Galore. John told me Zack was in the locker room and wanted to see me. When I was down the hall I saw him leave the room which he wouldn't do unless it was important because he certainly doesn't want to run into Kane again."
Punk and Eve searched the hallways closest to John's dressing room until they heard voices coming from a hallway up ahead. They crouched down and slid between the wall and a large rolling crate. If Punk wasn't in the middle of an emotional crisis he would probably believe this was beneath his dignity. The space was already a tight fit for him but Eve was able to crawl closer due to her smaller size. Punk immediately recognized the voices.
"This is not going to plan at all. You were supposed to get Punk in bed, ruining his and John's relationship forever. John would never take him back if he was damaged goods, but you're not getting anywhere."
"I'm getting closer than you are. The only thing John feels for you is pity. He's still in love with Punk and you haven't gotten any closer to him than you did since before Punk and Cena broke up."
"You're going to follow through on what you promised. You are going to get Punk to fall for you and break his heart, publically if possible."
"No."
"What do you mean, no?"
"If I can get Punk to date me I'm going to keep him."
"That wasn't the plan."
"Screw your fucking plan. I want Punk to be mine and if you do anything to fuck it up I'm going to end you. You think you're injured now, just wait until I get through with you. Punk hates you so much that if I beat you within an inch of your life it would drive him straight into my arms. Actually, that sounds like a perfect plan. Let's see how many bones I could break shall we?"
"You lay a hand on me and I'll go straight to John. He already hates you, that will just drive him over the edge."
"I'll take my chances with Cena; at least I'll have Punk there to tend to my wounds."
"Fine, keep the little bitch if you want to; just keep him away from John."
"That's the plan. This is the last conversation we'll be having. Have fun being John's guilt trip."
Punk saw Ziggler go one way and Ryder roll the other way. Punk stood up, hands clenched by his sides. He tried to follow Ziggler but lost him in the labyrinth of hallways. Punk returned to the monitor bay and looked around furiously but Ziggler was nowhere to be found.
"Where's Randy?"
"He's with the trainers. Bryan snuck up on him from behind and hit him over the back of the head with the belt. They think he might have a concussion," Kofi responded, knowing something else had gone horribly wrong.
"I'm going to find Randy."
"Wait! I think you'll want to see this," Kofi said, pointing at the monitors. Punk looked up to see John fighting in the backstage area with Kane and then John struggling with the closed doors of the ambulance yelling out Eve's name. What the hell had gone down while he was looking for Ziggler? Kane took John down and then entered the cab of the ambulance. John recovered soon enough to catch Eve jumping out the ambulance into John's arms. Punk watched dumbfounded as Eve and John started enthusiastically kissing.
Kofi looked at him, shocked to all hell. Punk just shook his head; this was all just way too far beyond the pale. He didn't even feel any sort of vicious thrill when Ryder caught John and Eve kissing, Ryder being completely humiliated in front of the entire WWE Universe.
"You know what? I don't give a fuck. I don't care if John's straight or gay or bi or in some sickening threesome with Ryder and Eve. They can have him. I have somewhere I need to be."
Punk walked toward the trainer's room and saw John coming toward him. John had the gall to smile at him, dimples and all, Punk just pushed John with all his strength and knocked him to the floor and kept walking.
"Phil, wait! I can explain."
"Have fun with that because I sure as fuck don't want to hear it," and Punk kept walking until he found the trainer's room and entered to find Randy laid out on the table.
"Randy, where's Ziggler's room key?"
"I'm a little busy here Punk."
"Room key, now!"
"Stop yelling, my head feels like it's going to split open."
"Randy, I need that key," Punk said, lowering his voice.
"You can keep asking but I'm not going to tell you."
"You have no idea what happened do you?"
"That sounds ominous."
"The camera caught John and Eve…kissing."
"And John pushed her off, so…"
"He did not push her off; he was a very willing participant."
"What the fuck!" Randy yelled and sat up abruptly and immediately clutched his head. "Fuck me this hurts. I've never really wanted to hear the details of you and John's sex life, but what exactly did you do in the UAE to turn John straight?"
"Oh, ha ha. Randy made a joke."
"Phil…I'm sorry…"
"Don't even. It is funny. It's a goddamn tragicomedy. I'm just the only one not laughing it up. Returning to my earlier request, Ziggler's room key?"
"That's not the answer to this mess."
"Then what is?"
"I have no fucking clue. Don't fuck your life up even more by doing something stupid."
"Fuck my life up more? Is that even possible? You know what; I don't need you to tell me where it is. They're in your pants, in the locker room," Punk turned on his heel leaving the room, hearing Randy calling back to him not to leave. Punk made it to the locker room and found the key in Randy's jean pocket. Punk pulled his street clothes on over his gear and caught a cab, paying the driver extra to step on it. He raced up the stairs to Ziggler's room and slid the card through, unlocking the door.
AN: Don't you just love a cliffhanger? For those of you who want more Punk/Ziggler I just posted a short one shot, short on substance but it has it's appeal.