"Dominic? Dominic...?"

Eyes snapping open suddenly, the body of the man shooting upwards onto his feet in a surprised reflex as he seemed quite alert for a person who'd just awoken from a two hour nap.

"ACK!"

Michelle Davis, head interviewer for the NLCW, jumping backwards into the wall out of fright from the sudden action of Dominic Pericolo, who instantly was by her side to make sure she hadn't hurt herself. He had been taken so off-guard by her sudden intrusion on his 'waking up process', for lack of a better term... he never meant to get her hurt.

"Are you alright?" asked Dominic, helping Michelle up from her seated position against the wall.

"Yeah, it's fine... I'm sorry things took so long, but we're ready now."

Dominic smiled, nodding his head as Michelle then nonchalantly led him into the room, where tons of lighting equipment hung from the ceiling, cameras all fixated on the one spot in the middle of the room where a little stage had been built for the interview. Michelle, trying to play off having been startled into damn near wetting herself as she walked past her co-workers, who all nodded and clapped for Dominic, glad to see him having made it there just fine.

"Look who's finally back..." muttered one co-worker to the other, a smirk on their face.

Dominic stepped up onto the stage beside Michelle Davis, who made her way over to one of the two large, cushioned recliners placed upon it. She pulled out some of her question cards to go over them as she did so, but suddenly felt the hand of Dominic Pericolo on her own, bringing her attention over to him as he shook his head at her, smiling slightly.

"No questions... just let me explain my silence to everyone, okay? I know what to say... because it's desperately needed to be said for a long time now, and it's only taken me until now to finally realize that."

Michelle Davis looked confused, glancing down at her cards and then back up at Dominic, before sighing in exhasperation and tossing the cards to the side. She sat down in the recliner and looked towards the cameramen as Dominic sat down beside her, waiting for the cue to begin.

A voice behind one of the many cameras called out to the two, alerting the other cameramen to get into perfect harmony with him or else lag behind in their filming, "Alright Michelle, we'll start in five... four... three... two... one..... ACTION!"

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to a special interview edition of NLCW programming! For those of you watching at home right now, I have right beside me at this moment none other then the NLCW's own World Heavyweight Champion... Dominic Pericolo!"

The cameras panned over to Dominic, who smiled over at Michelle and nodded his head to her, saying in return to her, "Thank you", before sitting back into the recliner to get more comfortable.

"Now Dominic, for the past two Avulsions you've been completely missing from the show, leaving many to question just what exactly is your motivation for missing out on everything lately? Why have you been seemingly in hiding ever since JLR announced what the match would be at Rising Sun?"

A deep breath, taken into the lungs to ensure the calm to take control over the nervousness trying to creep into his body. Dominic looked towards the camera, taking a few moments to gather his thoughts before finally beginning to speak, all cameras now fixed on him.

"When... JLR announced the match, I honestly felt as though I stood no chance of making it out of the thing with my career. I allowed the fear of losing everything... my dreams, my livelihood, or even my life... get in the way of the determination you've all known me so well for. I'll admit it right here and now to the people all around the world watching this: I am the NLCW World Heavyweight Champion, the wrestler who represents the biggest name in wrestling today... and I was afraid to go into the main event this Sunday and defend my strap against Bucky Skyler and Shane Perry."

A pause, as Dominic reached beside the chair to pick up one of the bottled waters set there for him. He took off the cap and took a gulp of the water to clear his throat, closing his eyes briefly to think his next words once again continuing onward.

"But not anymore. No... I've realized that there's no way I can afford to be afraid of this match, much less afraid of my opposition. If I allow fear to push me back as it had these past two weeks... then I might as well not even show up for the PPV, because there would be absolutely no way I would ever make it out of that match whatsoever. Yet for the past few days, I've been going through the neccesary changes in order to fight off this fear... and I finally did it."

His words, flowing out like water from his lips as he no longer wasted time on collecting his thoughts, simply going with what his heart was telling him to say, knowing that, in the end, it would certainly get the message across best of all.

"Even champions can be afraid, but they learn to break through that and move on. I've moved on now... and I won't let that effect me. You hear me, Perry? I know you'll want to abuse that bit of information, that Dominic Pericolo was afraid of stepping into this Sunday's match. Yet I HAVE moved on, and there WON'T be a psycological advantage for anyone going into this thing. Together, we walk in equals fighting for the grandest prize in the history of this great business and sport. So, since we'll be getting to know each other so well in this match... I find it appropriate to address the both of you with a few things I've been meaning to say to you both for quite some time now."

Dominic sat up in his seat, looking towards the camera with a grim look on his face as he knew that what he was going to say may make both men only wish to hurt him more come Sunday.

In a way, he liked that... it made things all the more challenging.

"First up is you, Perry. You claim to have busted your balls more then anyone else in the NLCW-- and maybe you're right. You've moved from the LCW to the NLCW, and then from the bottom to top in a rate much faster then anyone ever predicted from you. You've lost to me twice before, and you've improved ever since our last encounter. Yet look at how you act, Perry... and tell me, does it scream champion to the world? Tell me something, mister 'Mack Daddy of Sugar Smacking', will you be able to walk right up to all of your future opponents with this title and have them take you seriously when you scream in their face about how strong your pimp hand is? You can smack as many bitches as you want, Perry... but it won't ever do you a lick of good against me. An amazing wrestler, an amazing challenger, and an amazing jackass: that's all that you are, Perry... and unless you change that attitude of yours, that's all you'll ever be. Come Sunday, when your ass steps into that ring... I want to see exactly what you'll have in store for me. I want to see how you'll handle yourself when the time comes to prove all this shit you're throwing in the air true, and I stop you dead in your God damn tracks."

Dominic ran a hand through his hair, the determination building in him as he then shifted gears over to the second of his two opponents, a smirk playing across his features.

"Then there's you, Skyler... the Enigma. The Savior of the NLCW. The man who, when we first faced off, was blaming the fans for all of his failures just as I once did. I'm glad to see that you made your little turnaround there, Buck... but for some reason, I don't see how you can call yourself a savior. When the NLCW needed you most, you failed to save it, leaving it on others like myself to lift the company above the problem childs keeping it lagging behind. You've left a legacy that won't easily be forgotten here, Buck... but you're still no savior. You may call yourself one as often as you want, but it doesn't make it any more right. Besides, what the NLCW needs right now isn't a savior, Bucky... it's a hero. It's a champion. It's a man who will stay true to who he really is for the world and never let the power, fame or fortune block the life he lives from them. I'll be the first to admit that over time I've made many mistakes, and have done all I can to repent for them... but to these fans? I might as well be flawless. You see, mister 'savior'... when these fans called for your help, you were more focused on revenge on the disgraced former champion of the NLCW. Your own personal agenda was what fueled you in that match... not saving the NLCW. You claimed to be there to bring the NLCW free from Durst's grasp, but all along the main priority still read 'revenge'. To me, Bucky... that doesn't represent a savior: that represents just another wrestler looking for a bit of payback. Me? I'm here to accomplish my dreams and give these people exactly what they deserve... I won't ever let personal grudges override that again. So come Sunday? When we meet in that ring? Don't expect to be saving anyone except yourself, Bucky... because I'm coming to stomp your ass into the mat, and keep what's mine out of yours and Perry's hands."

No more words to be said, no more comments on the two men who would bring everything they possibly had to the table on Sunday... nothing left to say except goodbye.

Or, perhaps, something of a similar nature.

"To my fans... I'm sorry. I'm sorry for letting all that fear keep me from giving you guys what I owed you all. This Sunday, I plan on making it all up in the best way I possibly can... and you can rest assured that I'm not going to let it happen to me again. To Shane Perry, I'd polish that pimp hand of yours as much as you can, and to Bucky Skyler, I'd practice helping something when it doesn't need saving, because trying to save it anyway is only going to damn it when you screw everything up."

The message has been delivered, and the journey to the truth has finally reached it's end...

Yet the journey through Dominic's NLCW career?

Why... it's only just beginning.

.fin.