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"Hey, you!"
Aggravated, the man sitting at catering looked up. He rolled his eyes at the owner of the voice.
"That's right, Mr. Rated R Superstar," CM Punk sputtered, "I'm talking to you." He inched closer to the other man, no amusement present on his face as he was all business at the immediate moment.
"What the hell do you want, Punk?"
"I want you - in the ring," the straightedger said.
Edge scoffed, letting out a near fit of laughter. He could barely believe his ears.
"What is this, a joke?" he asked. He was practically overcome by his laughing.
Punk stared at him with hardened brown eyes, then shook his head.
"Don't you wish. You insulted my girlfriend. That made her upset... and when she's upset, I'm upset. And I fully intend on rectifying that little problem," the dark-haired man insisted.
Edge stopped laughing long enough to stare at the younger man. He eyed him up and down, not hiding his disdain.
"You're actually serious!"
"Damn right I am. No one talks to my girl like that and gets away with it." Punk cracked his knuckles for emphasis.
The former four-time World Champion stared at him, his face depicting the amusement he felt.
"Well, this is all such a sickening display of bravery," he said, and then the gleeful tone left his voice, "but I don't see your little girlfriend around." He smirked. "I would've thought you would do this in front of her."
"I don't see yours, either," Punk countered. "Where is she, under the table, servicing you?" This time, it was his turn to smirk.
Edge's green eyes widened with rage.
"Don't you dare talk about Maryse!"
"Hey, a spade's a spade. But back on the original topic... You and me - in the ring next week on my show, ECW."
The blond man shook his head as he glared at the other man.
"You're making a huge mistake, Punk... I hope you realize that." When the dark-haired man said nothing to that, the Rated R Superstar went on. "I don't believe this... You're actually serious about challenging me - me!" He eyed Punk up and down, sizing him up. When the man had said something about it out in the hallway earlier, he'd thought it was just tough talk, to impress his chick.
"Damn right... And you know I can hurt you."
The former World Champion chuckled again, finding this all amusing. Picking up his water bottle and plate, he rose from the table. Without a word, he dumped the latter into the wastebasket, then faced the dark-haired man with a smirk.
"Like I said, you step in the ring with me, you're making a mistake. Come to think of it," he snarled, his expression growing hard and serious, "you've already made one. No little punk like you is gonna get in my face without paying the consequences. I'll see you out there next week, all right."
After an intense staredown between the two, Edge finally stepped away, leaving catering.
Punk stood there another moment or so, his jaw set, hands clenched into fists. He would have gone in the ring right then and there to teach that smug bastard a lesson, but there was no more room on the card for another match.
"CM!" a voice suddenly called as he heard her running into the room. It was of course Ashley.
He met her blue eyes, and she appeared relieved. She grabbed hold of his hand, tugging it a little.
"I was looking for you," she told him. "What's wrong? Why do you look like that?" She was sure she already knew the answer but didn't want to believe her boyfriend had gotten into a confrontation with Edge.
"It's nothing, Ash," he said, slipping an arm around her. "I just got myself a match for next week's ECW, that's all." A smile returned to his face, but the pretty blonde frowned.
"Please tell me it's not against Edge."
Punk faced her fully. He didn't understand her attitude. Did she not have faith in him?
"Why?" he questioned as they made their way out of the room. "Don't you think I can beat him? Ashley, your boyfriend's pretty damn tough, and you have to realize-"
He cut off his words as a fit of shouting sounded a little farther down the hallway. Vickie Guerrero was screaming at the top of her lungs - at Maryse. The statuesque French-Canadian blonde was mocking her, making talk gestures with her right hand, laughing all the while.
"You bitch! You homewrecking whore!" With those words - wham! - the SmackDown General Manager reared back, slapping the taller, younger and much prettier woman across the face. There was so much force behind the blow that Maryse actually fell to the arena floor. Edge suddenly ran over from a bit farther down the hallway to attend to his girlfriend as his former fiancee fled.
Punk turned back to his girlfriend.
"You see that?" he pointed with a grin. "He's got too much drama going on in his life right now. That's why
I've got the edge in our match - no pun intended, of course." He winked, and Ashley couldn't help but smile.