We click play on the video and as we do, a small loading icon appears in the middle of the blank screen, turning slowly as the video buffers for a moment before fading out as the video finally begins to play. And now that it's playing, the first thing we see is none other than Supreme Championship Wrestling star and member of the Helms Dynasty himself, Jason Helms, standing in what we know to be the home-office inside of his home in Aurora, just outside of New Orleans. He stands in the middle of the shot wearing dark blue jeans and a charcoal coloured t-shirt with what appears to be a caricature of Sigmund Freud sat in a chair with a pen and notepad on the front. Above and below the caricature are the words “So, Tell Me About Your Obsession With Holes” in bright red comic sans font, to add to the childishness of the shade the shirt is designed to throw. Jason nods his head down at the font, brushing some lint from the front of it, grinning the whole time before he finally throws his arms out in a welcoming gesture to those watching, once he’s happy that ample time has been given for people to get a good look at what he’s wearing. As he does so, a date stamp appears in the bottom left corner of the screen, which reads [04.17.2020]. Lowering his arms again, Jason slips his hands into the pockets of his jeans before finally beginning to speak. “Sup ass-clowns?” he asks, his now-customary opening greeting to his fans and the fans of SCW in general. “And before I go any further, I guess I should apologise for the costume for this thing being somewhat less flamboyant than the last time I filmed one of these things… I know this is a bit of a letdown after my portrayal of the Mad Hatter in my last video, but as you saw on Breakdown, I just can’t seem to keep that hat on my head for long. Hope whoever caught that thing is enjoying the shit out of it right now, instead of sticking it on eBay, but hey, money talks I guess, so you do you, whoever the fuck you are! Just know that Levi was not happy that I skimmed that thing into the crowd, so if you are selling it for a quick buck, I hope you spend the cash on something fun, otherwise the lecture I got afterwards really wouldn’t have been worth it! And hey, how cool was it to see Levi back in an SCW ring again, huh?! I know he hasn’t been around all that much since the fall of the Wonderland the first time around, but he really was an integral part of the group back then, and unlike some, I don’t forget about those who mattered at the mere drop of a… aha… hat. Shame I couldn’t drag Beardyboy out there with me too, but he’s a road agent now and I’m not sure Sasha would appreciate another SCW employee picking sides like certain people in the back. CoughSpiritcough, no names mentioned of course…” he says with a grin, and only the merest hint of an eye roll. “Between you guys and me though, I nearly bust out another costume for today’s production… even bought a mask to wear, but when the thing turned up, you couldn’t really tell who the fuck it was meant to be. Damn chinese manufacturing, huh? So Sigmund Helms or Jason Freud wasn’t to be. I mean, I guess I could have just grown out my own beard a little and tied back my hair, but you know what they say about hindsight being twenty-twenty and all that. I had plans for it, but it just didn’t translate; was gonna have a blowup doll dressed as Gio laid out on the couch, asking questions about his mother, the whole shtick but it just wasn’t meant to be… another time maybe…” 

Jason smirks to himself as he takes his left hand from his jeans pocket to point at his shirt. “So instead, we’ve got this thing,” he says, turning around to show the back of the shirt which features more text in the same red comic sans that says “And What Is It With You And Rabbits?”. After a moment, Jason turns back around to the camera, still smirking. “Maybe it’s not quite got the same impact as dressing up and doing a whole bit… but it does get the same message across, and the best part is that you can own one too, on sale on Sunday at the arena and online for one day only. And just to add a nice cherry on top of the icing, the cut of the profits that would normally have come to me is instead going to Mental Health America as a donation, with the hope that their outreach and community programs can save someone from truly spiralling down the same sort of fucking rabbit hole that Giovanni Aries didn’t just fall into, but too a fucking big running jump down… just like I hope to ensure he does again on Sunday right here in Louisiana! But that just begs the question, how the hell does a Wonderland match work in a state that has no deserts to start the thing off in? Like, I remember the Wonderland match from Retribution in twenty eighteen and that shit started miles from the arena in the middle of nowhere didn’t it? Gio and Judas The First duking it out at some campsite out in the Texas desert, beating the piss out of one another… and I’m sure I don’t have to remind our wonderful production team where that ended up, do I? Let’s just say that Hitachi may have proven to make some wonderful toys for adults but what they don’t make are decent weapons when brawling through a shop that normally wouldn’t be allowed anywhere near an SCW television screen and leave it there… but as I said, it does beg the question where the fuck we begin our little bout of fun and frovility, Gio. In the bayou maybe? In a swamp? Shit, if it comes to it, how about I just throw out the invitation to start it right here in my house?!” he says, gesturing to the room around him. “Sure, it’s the other side of the river from the Smoothie Center, and it may be a good eleven miles away from where we’d need to go so the NEW Judas can dump you down the rabbit hole just like Judas The First did two years ago, but I’m nothing if not welcoming bro, and I can safely say that I’ll lay out all the stops to make sure you enjoy your stay here in my place! No? Well, you can’t say I didn’t offer… would have laid on a wonderful spread worthy of The Wonderland and the Lizard EMPIRE alike, plenty of food, drink, weapons to beat each other senseless with… but no, maybe you’re right. This is your party this time, isn’t it bro? We did my think a couple weeks ago in the New Jersey street fight, this is your wheelhouse this time. I’m gonna be visiting the wonderland, aren’t I dude? Just as Ace Marshall was going to do two years ago. Just as you’ve promised to rid this company of the Lizard King for years, just as you’ve promised to rid this place of me for the last month… broken fucking promises at every god damn turn, Gio, at every god damn turn! Jesus, it’s a miracle that those fucking chuckleheads Alice and Cain have stuck around as long as they have, if your leadership skills are anything like your threats!” 

Jason shakes his head and takes a deep breath, letting it out as a sigh. “Let me ask you a question though Gio, and I want you to consider this one carefuly before you answer, okay? Are you happy with what you’ve done until now?” he asks, tilting his head to one side slightly, as if waiting for an answer before finally continuing to speak again. “I want you to consider that… are you happy with everything you’ve done to this point, knowing that all you’ve managed to do is turn on someone who once called you friend. You’ve said each week, after every fight, that you’re disappointed that the Helms legacy continues to live on… so what have you achieved? We’re balls-deep into this blood war between us bro, three matches in already with the forth and final installment to come this weekend… but where has it gotten you, huh? Have you left me bloodied? My brother and friend the same? Sure. And the Wonderland have a couple victories behind them too, thanks to me the first time and then Lucas… but even then, who was it that ended up backing up, trying to escape? Was it the brave soldiers of the Wonderland that stall tall each time or were those same soldiers nothing but cheese eating surrender monkeys?! Three matches bro! Three matches, two of them technically victories for you and yet each and every time, it was you and those minions of yours that howled like scolded dog’s as you backed off with your tails tucked between your legs while we stood tall regardless of all that you bastards did! And last time, you entered our world… and got your asses kicked! Maybe this week, when I finally get my hands on just you… for as long as your acolytes stay out of the picture I guess… maybe I get my ass handed to me. Maybe I’m the one who tumbles down the rabbit hole and you feel like you got your hollow little victory over me, that it gives some bragging rights or you can spout some nonsense about how right you were about Jason Helms, but I can guarantee this… the legacy will still live on Gio, because if you think I’m gonna let a rat bastard like you keep me or my family’s legacy down, you’ve got another thing coming!” he shouts at the camera, his nostrils flaring in anger as his breathing grows heavier. Taking a few deep breaths, trying to bring himself back down to an even keel, Jason brushes his hair from his face and turns away from the camera for a moment before re-taking his position, his breathing still a little heavy but his demeanour under control at least. “You can beat me on Sunday bro, you can beat me to a pulp and throw me into that hole on that pretty little stage that’s purpose built to placate your own ego, but in the end, I’ve already won, because the thing you want more than a victory is total victory and you’re not ever going to get that Gio. In all of my time in SCW, the only person that’s been able to keep me down for more than one night is me, when I blew my own knee out hopping down from the apron… how’s it feel to know that I fucked myself up worse than you’ve done in three attempts now, huh?!”

“And all of this just because you have a chip on your shoulder, too… that’s the saddest part about all of this bro, because none of this had to happen. None of it had to come to this if it wasn’t for you getting saltier than the dead see about my supposed abandoning of you,” he says, shaking his head. “Do I honestly look like the kind of guy that abandons people, bro?!” he asks. And if injured innocence was currency then Jason’s face was his fortune in that moment in time, he appeared crushed at the insinuation. “I told you last time bro, to accept someone for who they are doesn’t automatically equate to converting to their every belief! Fuck, if that was the case, I’d be running around standing stones at midnight in my birthday suit chanting some sacred script to appease whatever gods were listening… but I don’t need to believe in the same thing as Amy to be able to love her, just like I didn’t need to believe in what you believe in to call you brother, before you decided that I was the NEW Judas… which is fucking hilarious given you’re the backstabbing dirty little bastard that turned on me, but hey, who cares about facts and the truth when you can spin a narrative to suit your own ends, right? Because that’s all you’ve done up to now bro, you’ve crafted your own truth inside of that fucked up head of yours, to the point where I’m sure you believe it yourself, but other than Ames and Adams, do you think anybody else does?! You’re the victim, you’re the persecuted, the wronged, and the rest of us are just evil, or lizard followers, sinners… seriously bro, the fuck is wrong with you, huh? Like have you actually heard yourself? Some of the shit you come out with isn’t just a little weird, it’s off the scale batshit crazy! I almost wish I believed in some of the stuff that Amy does, because at least that way I’d be able to explain it; your birthstone is clearly crystal fucking meth… but alas, I’ve got to go with less colourful, more normal explanations, in that you’re high off of the smell of your own importance and have an ego that’s writing cheques that you can’t fucking cash!” he says, glaring down the lens again. “I hope you were paying attention on Breakdown though Gio, not just to the fact that the famed trio of Jason, Levi and the GOAT Goat made their triumphant return, not to the fact that we have plenty of t-shirts and Goat plushies left to sell, new t-shirts coming out all the time, no, I’m not talking any of that… I’m talking about how this Judas has one goal and one goal only on Sunday night. I’m going to get you to EMBRACE REALITY! I’m going to force you to open your goddamn eyes and see the world for how it really is, the true, raw, ugly reality of life that the rest of us experience, rather than through the rose-tinted spectacles that turn it into some Lewis Carroll wannabe land where we’re fighting Lizards, giant slothes, mole people, or any of the bullshit that people used to laugh with you about before they saw you for what you were… a lunatic with dreams of grandeur and a desire to be the centre of attention so bad that he creates his own world to live in just so he can be the fucking saviour of it!” 

The truth was that Jason wasn’t sure, he didn’t think anyone was truly sure how much of his own B.S Gio believed in. He could believe every word he said as if it was the Gospel according to Aries, or he could know full well that he was blowing smoke up everyone’s ass to create a web of lies that did nothing but bring attention to himself… but it didn’t really matter to Jason one way or the other; either Giovanni Aries was insane, or he was a money-making genius that somehow managed to make money while condemning capitalism at the same time. Either way, he knew one thing for sure: Jason may not believe in anything Gio said, but he did believe in himself, and that was all that mattered. “Two weeks ago Gio, you talked about how I reached a fork in the road and that I almost made the right choice,” Jason started up again, knowing that the time for talk was almost over now, that all that was left for was him to finish up and then wait for Sunday where action would take over. “You told me I almost got the intersection decision right, that I almost chose the path where the destinations were limitless, but that I chickened out and ran back… well, I may not like the wording, I may disagree with your reasoning, but you’re right, I did turn back. But not because of the reasons you claim, not because it wasn’t filled with recognition or because it wasn’t paved with gold… I turned back because I realised you were leading us down the yellow brick road to disaster! You claim the destinations were endless, but what was really happening was that you were dragging us with no direction! You didn’t know what the fuck was to come, yet expected us to believe in you without hesitation! To trust you to know what was right for us, that you knew where we were, where we were heading and what we would find, yet you had less of a fucking clue than any of us… and now you’re dragging Alice and Cain down that same path with you, only they’re blindly willing to follow you down that yellow brick road in search of a brain or a heart, some courage, whatever the fuck it is they want, because they think you know what you’re doing and believe every bullshit lie you peddle them! But I didn’t! I wasn’t going to be another sheep in your flock and you couldn’t stand that, so you abandoned me… you said as much yourself, you hypocritical shitbag! But I know where I’m headed…” he says, nodding his head for emphasis. “You may not know what your destination is Gio, but I know where mine is. I’m going to The Wonderland to slay you in your own Kingdom! And it won’t be for the might of the Lizard EMPIRE this time, it won’t be for the Lizard King or the Helms Legacy, the fans of this company or any of the people you’ve attacked in your ‘moral’ crusade to force SCW to Embrace The Wonderland… it’ll be for me! Because after Sunday bro, I’m done with you Gio, I’m done giving you the time of day, done humouring you. I am who I am, Gio, the choices I’ve made are my own and the things I’ve said and done were mine to own, your approval isn’t needed or fucking wanted! So save your breath… don’t bother with the subtweets or the false prophecies, don’t bother with the criticisms or the promises, none of it matters; On Sunday, we meet in my backyard but on your terms, and when the night is over, whether I throw you in that hole or you throw me in, I’ll know I’ve still won, because your words and actions won’t have made a damn bit of difference… because I’m stronger than you ever believed me to be bro, and that’s why you’re lashing out now, because you couldn’t control me like you hoped, so instead I pay the consequences for your failures! Well, get used to it… because Sunday night, your failure will crash down around you, regardless of the result, just like a bullet shatters glass. One shot… and Wonderland comes crashing down… with a great, big,” he says, bringing his hand up to form a finger pistol, which he points at the camera before ‘firing’. “Bang!” he ends, bring the ‘pistol’ to his mouth to blow the fictional smoke away, and as he lowers his hand, the final frame freezes and dims, as the replay button appears in the middle of the screen.