Disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

Part Fifty-Four

Kelly was getting her match against Maria.

The match wouldn't be on SummerSlam... The pay per view card was already full of other matches, and the divas were being relegated to a pre-show battle royal. Truthfully, Eve wouldn't have minded being there for the battle royal and taking part in it, mainly because she knew that she, Kelly, and Melina would have had a chance to go after Maria... Which could be part of the reason she was being held back from being at SummerSlam, because she actually felt like she would be ready. The bruises were mostly faded, disappearing as the days went by, and the pain in her ribs was pretty much gone. But she was still going to be stuck at home when SummerSlam finally came around... Which was only a few more days from now. Jeff Hardy was cleared to compete... Had actually competed the last week, and he would be competing again tonight. In fact, it seemed that the Hardy brothers really had buried the hatchet... After Matt had counted the pin a couple of weeks before to ensure that Jeff retained, he'd ended up coming out to help his brother the following week when Jeff had been outnumbered. And now? Well, this week, he would be teaming up with Matt Hardy and John Morrison to take on the Hart Dynasty... and CM Punk. Punk wasn't overly thrilled with teaming up with the guys from the Hart Dynasty, but it was still a chance to get his hands on Jeff again before SummerSlam, so he was taking it... But the truth was, that wasn't the SmackDown match that Eve was most interested in that night. No, the match she was most interested in was Kelly vs. Maria.

In truth, neither Kelly nor Maria was the most skilled of wrestlers... Kelly was the first to admit that she still had a lot to learn. She hadn't had any training when she'd come to the WWE, seeing as how she'd just been seen as arm candy for her rather large boyfriend Mike Knox... And yeah, Eve really did not understand her friend's taste in men sometimes. Although Kelly had only been nineteen at the time, and how many young women dated guys that they later regretted when they were that age (or older, actually?) Whatever. That wasn't the point. The point was that Kelly was finally getting her match against Maria... A chance to make the older woman pay for the attack that had happened almost two months ago now. The company had actually hyped the match - advertising it on both RAW a few days before and on the WWE's website - and when she'd talked to Kelly, she'd been both thrilled and a little freaked out by the fact that the match was actually being promoted. But really, Kelly had just wanted a fair shot at revenge... A chance to go after Maria that she hadn't had so far. After all, Teddy Long had declared that the two women weren't allowed to touch each other shortly after Kelly had made her return... After a little incident in the divas' locker room at a live event the weekend after Kelly's initial return, actually. But now? Now the 'no contact' rule was out the window, and Kelly was going to get the chance for retribution that she deserved.

Hopefully.

As the show came back from commercial break, Eve leaned forward, scooting to the edge of the couch cushion, the woman relieved to note that the pain in her ribs was gone. Sometimes she still felt a little bit of a pull, likely from moving in ways she hadn't been able to for awhile, the muscles no longer used to the motion, but all in all... She felt fine. Healed. More than ready to be back... Even though she wouldn't be allowed to come back for another seven days. She actually had a little countdown going on, a chart she'd printed out on her computer. A little silly, a little juvenile, but it gave her a great deal of satisfaction to mark off another day at the end of each night. It kind of paled in comparison to the satisfaction she would feel when Kelly got the win over Maria, though...

"Come on, Kels," the young woman muttered, leaning forward a little more as her friend's music began to play over the sound system. Kelly, who was usually all smiles, came out with a far more serious expression on her face... Thought she did respond to the cheers of the crowd, acknowledging them and the way they were so obviously rooting for her.

Quickly, the blonde girl made her way toward the ring and climbed inside, the smile she'd given to the crowd falling from her face again as she prepared herself for the match. Eve rolled her eyes at the commentators' stating that this wasn't going to be a five-star classic because, really, who expected it to be? Kelly and Maria weren't the greatest wrestlers in the women's division, but they couldn't stand each other, and that emotion, the chance for Kelly to get payback... Well, that was more important at the moment than a perfect fisherman's suplex.

Shaking her head a little, Eve pushed the commentators' words out of her mind - really, who wanted to listen to Michael Cole anyway - the woman instead focusing on what was actually happening on the screen... A frown marring her expression as she watched the recap of what had led to this match... Maria's unprovoked attack on Kelly a couple of months before, which had been caught on a surveillance camera in the arena, followed by clips of Eve's own match against Maria... Then the attack Maria had perpetrated on her... Eve couldn't help but wince at the sight of her own attack, almost able to feel the blows again, and she shook her head as she caught sight of the horror on Punk's face as he saw what was happening. Strange, really, that no one had seemed to notice or comment on that, but she hadn't heard a word about Punk's reaction to what had happened to her. The clips of that then went to the night of Kelly's return, when she had attacked Maria at ringside, then the video switched to more security camera footage - this time of what had happened when the altercation in the diva's locker room a couple nights after Kelly's return had spilled into the hallway. There was no footage of what had happened in the actual locker room.

King, of course, was ever so disappointed about that, and he made his wishes for footage from inside the divas locker room very, very clear.

"Pervert," Eve muttered with a shake of her head, scooting a little closer to the edge of the couch again as the picture switched from the security footage to what was actually happening in the ring once more. Maria's music was playing now, the woman walking out and playing to the crowd like she usually did... Like she somehow thought that people would still cheer her despite the fact that she'd put two people that she'd once claimed were her friends on the injured list. It just went to show how deluded Maria really was... She'd thought that attacking Kelly and Eve would make Jeff Hardy happy or something, and that it was all right because of that, but the chorus of boos from the crowd made it very apparent that wasn't the case. Of course, if things went the way she planned - which Eve had to admit, they really hadn't so far - Maria wouldn't be the only woman being booed soon. Once she made it clear that she was with CM Punk, Eve knew that the fans would turn against her as well... But Eve didn't care about that. All she cared about was finally getting away from Jeff Hardy once and for all and instead being alongside Punk, who she knew actually gave a damn about her.

Shaking her head slightly, Eve forced herself to focus on the television screen again... A frown marring her expression as she realized something. Both Maria and Kelly were now in the ring, the two divas glaring at one another... But there was no referee out there. Typically, the referee was in the ring before the first wrestler even got out there, but not this time. Instead, Kelly and Maria were both standing there, the two women circling each other, each one obviously looking for the best manner of attack, but there was no one there to count the three if someone went for the pinfall.

"What in the world?" Eve muttered, her brow furrowing as Teddy Long stepped out onto the stage, the General Manager of SmackDown drawing the two divas' attention - as well was the attention of the fans - to himself. Still frowning, Eve listened as Teddy talked about what had been shown on the big screen during the video to promote the match, the man declaring that they needed a special referee for this one, and that he'd found just the person... As she listened, Eve's stomach clenched at the sudden worry that Jeff Hardy would be the referee. It was unlikely, seeing as he was in a six-man tag later that night, but there was still the possibility. But if Teddy was worried about her even being at SummerSlam given her connection to Jeff Hardy and the animosity between him and Punk (even if he didn't need to be worried because Punk would never hurt her), well... She couldn't really see him putting Jeff as the referee for a match, just in case Punk might come out there and attack Jeff again. And she was right. Jeff wasn't the guy assigned to be special guest referee in this one.

Dolph Ziggler was.

Maria and Kelly both looked shocked as the man came down the aisle dressed in referee's stripes, and the wrestler sent a smirk his ex-girlfriend's way as he climbed into the ring. Grinning, he gestured to the shirt he wore, then called for the bell, stepping back and nodding at the women, signalling to them that the match had started... Well, it was really less of a 'match' and more of a 'fight'.

Neither woman was trying to be technical, and it was pretty clear that Dolph wasn't bothering enforcing too many of the rules. Oh, sure, he made Maria let go when Kelly was in the ropes, but he didn't seem all that concerned when Kelly used the ropes to choke Maria. Lawler was complaining that Dolph was being unfair, but Eve only heard that as so much background noise, instead scooting a little closer and watching the two women as they fought, smiling slightly as Kelly landed a vicious slap to Maria's face... The move hard enough to knock the older woman down. After that, Kelly straddled Maria's prone body, grabbing her by the hair and slamming her head into the mat over and over again... Until Dolph finally decided that enough was enough and pulled the blonde off her opponent. Eve thought maybe he was going to play a little bit more by the rules after that, but that wasn't true... Instead, he seemed to be giving Kelly advice, which led to the blonde kicking Maria a few times, then yanking her up by the hair and flinging her around. Finally, after a few minutes of Kelly getting to break virtually all the rules and Dolph Ziggler not stopping her, he gestured for her to end it, and the blonde did so, easily pinning Maria for the three-count... He didn't even have to do a fast count, because Maria was a little out of it by then. Well, more so than usual. After the match, Dolph raised Kelly's hand in victory, and Eve smiled as she sat back, glad that her friend had managed to get the revenge she'd deserved...

Even if she'd had a little help to do it.