The room in which they sit is poorly lit, and scantily furnished.  The walls are solid concrete, and not a single drop of paint or shred of wallpaper decorates them.  The ceiling is low and bare, aside from a single lamp which dangles from it by a silver chain.  The lamp itself is drab and plain, simply a glowing bulb under a metal dome.  It hovers over a long, rectangular table made of wood, and at either end of this table there is an uncomfortable metal chair.  Seated in these two chairs are two men, mentioned earlier as "they."  One is the HCW's leading reporter Matt Madison.  The other is the HWA Champion, Creature.

Two items serve as a centerpiece for the table, between the two men.  One, located to the left, is small and cylindrical, bearing a bulky, pale cap.  It is a bottle of pills, but it is full.  Almost none of the contents have been taken.  The other is much larger, and shines dully in the dim light.  It consits of gold and leather, and one a huge center plate reads "HWA World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion."

One of the men, Creature, has his back to a wall, and sits across from Madison, who has his back to the door.  The portal into the room is a plain wooden door, high and strong, with a vent at the bottom, a tarnished brass knob towards the center, and a small, frosted window at the top.  It leads outside into a complex known as the HCW Studios in New York City, New York, where most of the interviews, vignettes, and shows are edited.  Madison himself chose this location, because he knew that he not only could get Creature there, but could keep him there.  His past few interviews didn't go so well when Creature controlled the locale of the inquiry.

On the subject of Madison- he wears a generic black turtle neck, a light, grey jacket, his glasses, and some fine, dark slacks.  His hair is combed back, and he is clean shaven.  In his manicured hands he clutches a pad with questions written down, and a blue pen.  Opposite him rests Creature, whose face is adorn in his trademark mask.  Creature wears a black leather jacket over an offiicial HCW Creature tanktop.  His hands are sheathed in black, fingerless gloves as per usual, and his lower body is concealed in smoot, leather pants.  Upon his feet he wears black boots.

Madison adjusts his glasses and glances down at his pad.  He then looks up at Creature, who stares straight forward at the door.

Matt: So...would you like something to drink while we wait?

Creature shakes his head no.

Matt: Alright.

Matt checks the gold watch strapped around his right wrist, and wonders inside where Daniel Taylor, the son of HCW Senior Camera Man William Taylor, is.  He was instructed to shoot this interview, and is late.  Madison sighs.

Matt: Sorry about the poor lighting in here.  This room is usually used for-

Creature: (interrupting) I don't care.

Matt applies a false grin to his face and nods.

Matt: I see.

Madison slowly reaches up to his neck with his index and middle fingers and adjusts his turtle neck.  He then points to the bottle of pills on the table.

Matt: Have you been doing alright, with the pills and all?

Creature tilts his head and snorts.

Creature: I haven't found the need to take those damnable drugs since...Loaded.

A look of surprise comes across Madison's face.

Matt: Not since Loaded, really?  So your title loss didn't both you?  That's great news.

Creature slams a fist down on the table hard, shaking it.

Creature: My title loss?  No.  It was Blitz's title loss.  Not mine.  I haven't been pinned since HCW was resurrected.

Matt nods several times, in rapid secession.

Matt: That is true.  Yep.  That's true.

At this moment, the door flies open, and light pours in from the bright corridors outside.  A tall, lanky, young man with dark blonde hair steps into the room and slowly closes the door behind him.  He wears a white tanktop with a red HCW logo at the center, a black leather belt, and some faded blue jeans.  Over his shoulder he carries a large, fifteen hundred dollar camera.  Madison rotates in his chair to face the man.

Matt: Where the hell have you been?

Madison raises his right arm and taps his watch.

Matt: You are SO late.

The man shrugs and unshoulders his camera.  He begins to set things up while answering Matt.  Meanwhile, Creature looks on, his face expressionless.

Daniel: I don't know.  I had to get my equipment, and then I was talkin' with one of the girls.  Sorry, dude.

Madison snorts with disgust, then grins.

Matt: Ah...just don't do it again.  Now, are you ready?

Madison looks at Daniel when asking the question, then turns to Creature and raises his eyebrows.  Creature simply stares at him, but Taylor answers.

Daniel: Yeah, let's do this.

Taylor reshoulders the heavy piece of equipment, and begins to record.  A little red light springs to life atop the camera, and Madison makes himself more comfortable in his seat, then commences with the interview.

Matt: First things first, Creature.  Just what do you think about the Lost Soulz, and the match this past Loaded?

Creature: What do I think?  Hawke and Maniac are competent, I suppose.

Matt peers at Creature.

Matt: Competent?  You suppose?  You say this about two men who defeated you and Inphino Blitz at the last show for the HCW Tag Team Titles?

Creature sighs and turns his head away for a moment, gather his thoughts.  He then returns his gaze back on Madison.

Creature: Technically, they did not defeat ME.  Technically, I did not lose.  Technically, I watched on as Inphino Blitz lost the HCW Tag Team Titles for us, thanks to his stupid Shooting Five Star move.

Matt: I see.  But you still are no longer one half of the HCW Tag Team Champions.  So tell me- if you wanted, you and Blitz certainly could get a shot at the Tag Team Titles, even before the Mercers, seeing as you two are the former champions.

Creature snorts.

Creature: I have no desire to reign as an HCW Tag Team Champion again, anytime soon.  Especially not with Inphino Blitz.  Matt- do you see those pills?

Creature motions towards the bottle of pills at the center of the table.  Matt nods.

Matt: Yes.

Creature: There are two reasons why I took them.  Complicated.  And Inphino Blitz!

Matt: What!?  I thought you two were allies!  I thought-

Creature: (interrupted) Shut your mouth.  You know nothing!  Teamming with Inphino Blitz was like rotting in hell.  Every day, I had to put up with his garbage.  He drove me insane.

Matt: So then...you must have talked about him at the psychiatrist.  What happened?

Creature: Ha!  I've told all I will ever tell you of that encounter.  The simple truth is that I hate Inphino Blitz, and I am proud of it.  And now, the burden has been lifted.  I no longer am forced to team with him to remain a champion.  Sure, no one likes to lose, except maybe Jeo.  But now that the dust has settled and the smoke has cleared, I can take my title "loss" for what it was- liberation.  Blitz never understood me.  Blitz never knew me.  But in coming weeks, I promise you this- he will find out more about me than he ever dreamt of knowing.  He will feel my pain.  He will feel my torment.  He will feel my insanity.  And at HCW Unleashed, oh yes, hell yes, my rage will be unleashed upon that dirty son of a bitch, a rage that has built since Born Again!  I will beat him from pillar to post and back again for an hour straight, and when that dreadful sixty minutes is over, he will bow down before me and know me as his god.

Matt looks down at the table, stunned.

Matt: I...I don't believe this.

Creature: Believe it.  And know this- these pills...

Creature reaches forth and grabs up the bottle of pills.

Creature:  These pills are of no use to me anymore!

With a great anger, Creature casts the pills aside, hurling them into the concrete wall with such force that the container shatters, and pills fly everywhere.

Creature: But don't get me wrong- while I have no want to gain vengeance on the Soulz with Blitz, I will have revenge on them some day indeed.  Maniac and Cobra Hawke...they can and did get the job done as a team.  But when the time is right, when Blitz lies defeated and I am the unified HCW/HWA World Heavyweight Champion, I will seek the Soulz out, and I shall split them apart, exposing them as the weak individuals that they are.  Because when they are all alone, that's when the paranoia will set in.  That's when they will realize that when they took my Tag Title from me, they fucked themselves.  And that's when I will crush them one by one and throw them into the wind!

Madison nods gently and glances out of the corner of his eye at the spherical, pale pills scattered on the ground.

Matt: Creature...on January 10th, several days from now, you will square of against the reigning HCW Continental Champion Michael Mercer.  I'm sure you have thoughts on that.

Creature adjusts his position in his chair and grins a bit.

Creature: Of course.  I have thoughts on anything named "Mercer."  So let's start from the top, shall we.  Let's start with Slayer.

A look of surprise crosses Madison's face.

Matt: Slayer?  Chris Mercer is retired.

Creature shrugs.

Creature: It makes no difference to me.  He could be dead for all I care.  In fact, I'd prefer it.  The fact here is that I go way back with the Mercers, starting with Christopher.  When I first arrived in HCW, he was the man to beat- he was the HCW Champ.  I, in fact, didn't have much to do with him in the beginning at all.  It was after the Pay-Per-View, Lord of the Ring, that he first became a part of my life.  You may remember that I had at the time, and still have to this day, a vendetta against Wolverine.  And so I took it upon myself not to roll over and die like Wolve would have liked, but instead to fight back and involve myself with his business, with his matches.  That included his matches with the man called Slayer.  It was me who cost Wolverine the HCW Title, and it was Slayer who chokeslammed my rookie ass through a steel cell.  It seemed that from that point on, it was Slayer who I was more concerned with.

Matt nods and tilts his head, listening intently.

Creature: For the first time, I battled Slayer.  It was in the opening round of the tournament for the HCW World Heavyweight Title.  It was a casket match.  It was my second casket match of the night.

Matt: I remember.

Creature: I first took on Shocker, and I defeated him.  And then later that same night, in the main event, I went one on one with Chris Mercer.  He chokeslammed me through a casket.  But I came back.  He gave me the Big Boot, but I came back.  He threw me all over the damned arena, but by God, I kept coming back, and then it happened.  The Abyss into the casket, the lid closes, the bell rings.  No one believed it.  Creature had defeated Chris Mercer, and he had done it CLEAN.  No interference, nothing.  I was the better man.  And I would remain that way forever.

Matt: What about HCW Fuck Authority?  Didn't he gain a measure of revenge on you there?

Creature snorts.

Creature: Hell no he did not.  I beat the hell out of him, he beat the hell out of me.

Matt: He walked out Continental Champion, however.

Creature: That's right.  But did I lose a title?  No.  Did he pin me?  No.  Hell no he never pinned me, he never beat me, Mercer couldn't touch me.  And when I got the HCW Title and he realized that there was no one in the WORLD who could take it from me, he "retired."  Hmph.  Good rediance, bitch.

Matt: Wow.  What would you do if he ever came back?

Creature throws his head back with laughter, then looks directly into the camera atop Daniel Taylor's shoulder.

Creature: I'd put him in another casket.  For good.

Creature pauses and looks back at Matt, who feeds him another question.

Matt: I see, but...what about Michael?

Creature smirks.

Creature: Oh, I haven't forgotten about that stuck up little prick, not by a long shot.  Michael Mercer, the HCW Continental Champion, and the King of the Cliche`s.

Matt: King of the Cliche`s?  Why do you call him that?

Creature: Because in case you haven't noticed, tired, worn out phrases make up ninety-nine percent of what that dirty bastard spews forth.  But that's okay, because to him, it is all about what's in the ring.  To him, his "promos" are just time killers.  He doesn't mean a word of what he says.  But me...what say, I fucking mean.  When I say that I would kill Slayer if he dared show his face in MY HCW, then I fucking mean it.  And when I promise to not only defeat, to not only utterly obliterate, but also to totally humiliate that little hack Michael Mercer on January 10th, I fucking mean it.  Now I do realize that while his words may be empty and bland, his ring work is not.  He is a skilled competitor.  He is the HCW Continental Champion, and he has won his past five matches.  That's more than I can say for myself.  And it would be a lie to tell you that I am not looking forward to stepping through the ropes and into the squared circle with him.

Matt: Oh really?

Creature: Oh really?  Oh really?  Yes, damn it.

Creature stares back into the camera, so that his words go directly to Michael Mercer.

Creature: Young Michael...you can talk useless shit with the best of them.  You know more cliche`s than anyone in HCW.  But unlike everyone else in HCW, you are the man I feel that can give me, as you might say, a "run for my money."  If you are anything like your uncle, than our match at Loaded will be an instant classic, and one hell of a fight.  But I'm not going to suck up to you.  I'm not going to waste my time praising you, and telling you how great you are, and how win, loss, or draw, it will be an honor to face you, or any of that other bullshit.  I'm not Jeo, or Rage.  I'm Creature.  I'm the HWA Champion.  I'm the one man your uncle could never beat.  So going into this match, I want you to keep that in mind.  I'm the man in HCW now.  I took your uncle's spot.  I tarnished the Mercer name like no one has ever done before.  In the past, I was the underdog when I took on Slayer.  But now...you are.  Now you have the most to gain from a win.  So Mikey, little Mikey...I'm going to ask you to keep your stupid ass cliche`s to yourself and to leave your cocky attitude with your fired whore.  On January 10th, I want a fight, the kind of fight that I can get from no one else in HCW.  I want you to bring your game face, and I want you to give me your all.  Show me that you are worthy of carrying on the Mercer name.  And I'll show you why your uncle is scared to come back and face me.

Madison repositions his glasses on his face and goes to speak, but is cut off by Creature, who continues to rant into the camera.

Creature: The match, Michael, is being billed as a bout in which "Two Champions Collide."  Two champions, indeed.  I have no problem with that.  But the match is also being promoted as two equals squaring off in an epic clash that can't be missed.  Two equals?  I do have a problem with that.  As I said before Mikey, going in, it is you who has something to prove.  It is you who must prove you can beat me, just as I had to prove I could beat Slayer.  We are not equals, not by a long shot, and our title reigns speak volumes about that fact.  You- the HCW Continental Champion.  You have battled such talent as Rage and Zev Sanesca.  In fact, that is just about all you have done.  But me- I took on four men, in one night.  In one match.  Or have you already forgotten about that?  Have you already forgotten that it was me who defeated not just Jeo, but Maniac, Wolverine, and Complicated all in one outing?  Michael- I beat them all.  You had trouble getting past Sanesca, hell, he holds a victory over you!  We are not equals.  I am your superior.  And that is why I will expect a fight out of you the likes of which HCW has never seen.  If you don't give me something special, if you don't put forth that extra effort, than I will smash you beneath my right boot, and nudge your remains out of the ring with my left.  I'm the Master of the Abyss, I'm the HWA Champion, the first and only.  So Mikey- bring the talent that earned you the Continental strap, not your cliche`s.

Creature places both gloved hands on the table and pushes himself out of his chair, which tips backwards and slams hard on the concrete floor,e achoing throughout the bare room.  Daniel Taylor zooms in on the masked visage of Creature, who breathes heavily and stares into the camera with a great deal of intensity.

Creature: Mercer...I not only expect a response from you when you see this, I DEMAND IT.  I will be totally merciless on the 10th, and I want no games from you.  I would be lying to say I haven't waited for this match, because I have since you should your ugly mug in HCW.  Michael...you may not realize it now, but after the 10th you will know it for sure- Your Future is Dim....ask your uncle about the rest.

Creature reaches forward and grabs the HWA Title from the table, then storms around the left side of the table and places the palm of his gloved hand over the lens of the camera.

Creature: This interview is over!

He shoves Taylor out of the way and exits the room as Madison jumps to his feet.  Madison turns and looks at Daniel, who has stopped filming.

Matt: Holy crap.