Guest: Derecho The scene opened up in a dimly lit location. There were two director’s chairs which hosts Donny Layne on the left side of your screen and Derecho on the right side. Between them was a small table with a couple of glasses of water. Behind them the “Fast Layne” logo served as a backdrop. Donny Layne opened up the segment with a greeting. “Derecho. This is the first time you and I have spoken in this manner. Thank you for coming here to The Fast Layne. The first thing we’d all like to know is why did you accept Damien Lee’s offer to go after Aran Thompson?” Derecho let out a sigh.. as if he’s told this story a million times before. “Donny… I had a feeling this would be the first question and as usual… I was right. You see.. it was last year at Thieves Honor… I was the jOlt World Heavyweight Champion. I competed in that Thieves Honor match and I lasted until the very end. It came down to me and Aran Thompson and Aran got lucky. He defeated me for MY world championship. That would have been fine had he left well enough alone, but it wasn’t. He had to go one step further.” Donny cleared his throat. “You’re referring to when Aran Thompson told the world that you had… well… passed on.” Said Donny. Derecho gritted his teeth and clenched his fist. He took a deep breath and relaxed.. something that’s usually uncharacteristic for the self-proclaimed King of Hell. “Yes… After losing the Underground Championship and the World Champion in the span of a month and a half… I needed to clear my head. I took a vacation and went “off the grid”. I come back and I find out that people are sobbing.. my family is broken down into tears.. everyone thinks that I had died… all because Aran Thompson wanted to symbolize that my era in jOlt had come to an end. He wanted to symbolize the fact that he was the champion now and the days of Derecho running roughshod over everyone had concluded and that this new era with him on top had begun.. him and his Black Faction… but it’s funny how things turn out. Black Faction is now just The Faction. His little sidekick Landon Stevens kicked him to the curb and it caused him to have some sort of revelation. The man was hated more than I was and yet.. one single epiphany changed everything. Funny because the same happened to me.” Donny stopped being so defensive. It was odd for him to have a civilized conversation with Derecho. Surprised at this, Donny dug deeper. “That’s true. There was a time that you embraced the fans. Something you hadn’t done in almost a decade. Aran Thompson was the most hated man in jOlt and you were actually loved by everyone.. but things flipped again. The two of you had an epiphany and the fans reversed their opinions on the two of you. What happened?” asked Donny “That’s simple, Donny” said Derecho. “I lost my Underground Championship because I had lost my mind. Then I had this epiphany and I won the world championship. When I heard the crowd, I embraced them.. but I realized that they were my weakness. Putting my trust in people’s opinions of me cost me the world championship. It cost me a chance at it too in our rematch at Cataclysm. I was still too soft. I was a shell of my former self. The King of Hell that ripped this roster apart and brought it to its knees was no more and that was my downfall. I had learned to cast aside those who cared and The King of Hell was restored to his former glory. I even defeated Omega to become Underground Champion for the second time. While Pietro Geist picked a perfect spot and got lucky, it doesn’t change the fact that I can take back that title any damn time I want because I have proven that after beating Sylo… after beating Omega… I am a monster slayer… and in order to slay a monster, you need to be one yourself. That is why next Sunday.. at this year’s Thieves Honor… Aran Thompson will be lucky if he’s able to walk out under his own power. When I recall what happened a year ago… it serves as my fuel. My determination to put an end to this once and for all. Sometimes it’s something as simple as a grudge that has gone unpunished. That’s the case in this situation.. and that’s why I have accepted Damien Lee’s offer. It’s win/win in my eyes. Damien Lee gets rid of Aran Thompson, and I will rip Aran Thompson limb from limb and leave him in a heap of his own blood next Sunday as I get my ultimate revenge.” Donny Layne decided to press the issue further. “Next Sunday at Thieves Honor, the match between you and Aran Thompson will be contested with Underground Rules in play. The only experience Aran Thompson has with this was your Falls Count Anywhere match from Cataclysm last year. What is going through your mind for next Sunday?” asked Layne. “You know.. you’re right. Aran Thompson reminds me of myself from a while back. A very sound technical wrestler who isn’t afraid to take risks, but I learned that can only carry you so far. As you recall… I tried to defend the Underground Championship using my technical wrestling skill and it worked. I defeated every single person in front of me, but sooner or later, people turned against me. So I gave them what they all wanted. I gave them blood.. I gave them destruction.. and I left a trail of bodies in my wake. I’ve been Underground Champion twice. Aran Thompson has been in one match that could be considered part of the Underground. I live and breathe chaos and destruction. I am the breaker of worlds. Indomitable. Inevitable. Aran Thompson has zero chance of success against someone like me. I am not weak-minded like I was back at Cataclysm. My mind is clear… focused… and what’s running through it right now when I think of Aran Thompson is the stuff that nightmares could only dream of being made of. At Thieves Honor.. it will be Aran Thompson’s final night in jOlt Wrestling because after I’m done with him… Citizen, Rune Winters, Ninja K, Sylo, Tyke, Jason Rau… all of them and what I did to them will pale in comparison to what will be in store for Aran Thompson.” “One final question”, said Layne. “Last week on iNtense… you talked about influence. What did you mean, exactly by that?” Derecho cracked a trademarked sinister grin. “Influence is power. I truly believe that after I render Aran Thompson useless as a functioning human being… it’s going to influence him. I’m sure people are familiar with the saying.. you either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain… while not in its literal sense, it can be applied to Aran Thompson. Either Aran Thompson will die next Sunday at Thieves Honor.. or he will return a changed me… influenced by my words… influenced by my actions. Perhaps Aran Thompson will embrace The Underground. Perhaps it will make him a shell of his former self. My goal at Thieves Honor is to not only completely and utterly destroy Aran Thompson, but my goal is to change him as a man for the rest of his life. He deserves nothing less for the suffering he put me through.” Layne felt confident enough at this point to extend his hand to Derecho. “I want to thank you for your time, Derecho. It was a plea….” Derecho stood up before Layne could finish. He glared at Layne as if he were staring a hole right through him. “Keep your hand to yourself. I don’t need your gratitude. If you really want to show your gratitude, you’ll keep your mouth shut and walk away…. Now. Layne quickly retracted his hand and got up. He scampered off screen as Derecho simply stood there. He took one final look at the camera. “I said it last week and I will say again. Aran Thompson… know this. I have already won. You just don’t know it yet.” Derecho grinned and then walked off as well. The scene faded to black.