After 7/10/09 Smackdown

Phil rubbed the back of his neck and winced in pain. Even though his match with Khali hadn't been that long, taking the Punjabi Plunge was just not fun at all. Jeff probably got a kick out of seeing that, he thought as gathered up all his stuff and put them in his duffel bag. Oh well, it doesn't matter anyway. I'm ending this shit at Night of Champions. The little bitch can whine and bitch about how I'm faking my eye injury all he wants. Once I beat him, it won't matter what I did or didn't do. I'm going to keep my title and he can fuck off and overdose for all I care.

He was just about to leave his locker room when Chris Jericho of all people came barging in. "What the hell do you want?" he asked immediately.

Chris smirked at him. "I want to talk to you."

"If you want a shot at my title, you'll need to get in line along with everyone else.

"When I decide I want a shot at your title, I will take it whenever I choose too. And that is not why I am here right now."

Phil got up to his feet and got right in Chris's face. "So why are you here then?"

"I came to talk to you about Jeff."

Phil raised his eyebrows. "Why the fuck would you give a damn about Jeff? Don't tell me you're about to scold me for taking advantage of poor baby Hardy."

Chris smirked. "Oh no, I wouldn't do that. Personally, I think your strategy was brilliant. It's what I would have done. But you crossed a line you shouldn't have tonight. I saw Jeff's eyes when you started bringing up his past mistakes. I haven't seen that look in his eyes for a long time."

"Is that supposed to scare me?" Phil asked. He was still confused about the point of this conversation. "I thought you were a big believer in telling the truth. Don't tell me you're becoming the hypocrite you claim to despise."

The smirk disappeared of Chris's face. "I'm not trying to be a hypocrite. I'm just here to inform you of something you may not be aware of."

"And what would that be?"

"Do you ever wonder why Jeff isn't mauled by the rest of the locker room? You know, with that gorgeous face, those pretty little hips and that slutty little dance he does every time he goes out to the ring?"

Phil shrugged. "No, not really. Men really aren't my type Jericho."

Chris rolled his eyes. "Yeah right. I saw the way you looked at Kingston when you two were tag champs."

"Kofi and I are just friends."

"I think you're looking for the past tense there Punkie. From what I hear, Kofi isn't entirely happy with what you've been doing these past few weeks."

Phil scowled. He knew Chris was right and that was what sucked. Nobody was really happy with what he had done back at Extreme Rules, and the people who had claimed they had understood stopped being so understanding when he kicked the referee at The Bash. It seemed like no matter where he went, everyone was against him. And for what? Doing what the contract gave him the right to do? Going to any lengths to keep the belt he had worked so hard for. "Can you just get to your point Chris? I would like to get back to my hotel room sometime tonight."

Chris grinned, enjoying Phil's frustration. "My point is, nobody truly messes with Jeff because he's Hunter and Mark's boy. Those two broke him in years ago and they taught him how to play the game very well. They protect him from anyone bigger and badder than he is, and taught him all sorts of nasty tricks he can use on whoever wants."

"So what does that have to do with me?" Phil asked. "Is that supposed to scare me? Because in case you didn't know, during my short run in TNA, I aligned myself with Raven for a brief period of time."

Chris snorted. "And do you think that brief time gave you an insight of how to play mind games? Please, Raven probably didn't teach you a fourth of what he knows. And now that you've taken the liberty of making this so personal, Jeff's going to take this to a whole new level."

"Again, I say so what?" Phil said defiantly. "Let him try to play his fucking little games. I'm not scared of him." He picked up his bag and tossed it over his shoulder. "You got anything else you want to talk to me about?"

Chris shook his head. "Nope. It's obvious you don't want to listen to me. Obviously, you're going to have to learn your lesson the hard way."

Phil felt a slight chill go through him but he shook it off and left the room. He didn't really take Chris's warning seriously. Jeff wasn't going to do a damn thing to him. He wouldn't let his future opponent do anything to him. Sure he knew that Hunter and Mark were great at the whole mind game thing, but Jeff never struck him as the type to have the patience for that. In his mind, he believed if Jeff tried to fuck would him, he would just come up short, like he always did.

Little did he know that he was as wrong a person could possibly get in that assessment.

XXXXXXXXXX

"That was not nice Jericho. You could have spoiled everything with that little stunt."

Chris, who was still in Phil's dressing room, jumped about a foot in the air as Jeff jumped down from the ceiling rafter. "Holy shit balls," he said in disbelief. "You were up there the entire time?"

Jeff nodded. "I was going to have some fun with my little Punk right here, but somebody named Chris Jericho came in and started trying to put little Phil on guard."

Chris took a step back. He had known Jeff long enough to know when the younger man was in one of his moods, and tonight he was in the mood of all moods. "Hey, I only did it because I knew he wouldn't believe me. I just want to be able to say "I told you so" later on when you're done with him."

Jeff rolled his eyes and began to advance towards Chris. "You know what Chrissy? I think you're full of shit. Then again, you've always been full of shit, so that's nothing new." He smirked as he got Chris trapped up against the wall. "I should punish you for that little fucking stunt."

Chris kept eye contact as best as he could. He didn't like the fact that Jeff Hardy of all people was intimidating him, but that definitely was the case at the moment. "But that will cut in with your time with Phil," he pointed out. "And you don't want that."

Jeff nodded. "You're right. I don't want that." He patted Chris on the cheek. "I guess today's your lucky day…unless I tell Hunter about what you tried to do." He laughed at the look on Chris's face and then left the room. Phil had no idea what was in store for him tonight.