[Marcus surveyed the group of kindergarteners before him, sitting high on an orange plastic chair with a book resting in his lap. How had he gotten here? He wasn't really sure. But apparently, he was to be the guest story reader for this afternoon's kindergarten class. The little faces all peered at him expectantly, all sitting cross-legged with a tiny carton of milk in their small track pant covered laps.]

[The startling sound of a woman's voice rang out from behind him causing him to jump in his seat. Turning around and seeing a stocky middle-aged woman standing nearby smiling over the children with her hands clasped together.]

Teacher: Class, please say hello to mister... [She pauses to look at a sheet of paper behind her.] Gan-ez.

[Marcus raises a finger to protest the first ever mispronunciation of his name but is quickly interrupted by the entire class saying hello to him in unison.]

Teacher: Mister Gan-ez is here to read us all a story! So everyone be sure to pay extra attention to him while he tells you the story, ok?

[Without waiting for the class to give their approval, she turns around and hurries out the door closing it shut behind her. Marcus spins around in his chair to once again face the small children. As they look on expectantly, it suddenly dawns on Marcus that he in fact doesn't have any story to read to the children. Time for quick planning.]

Gaines: Okayyy, well. The story I'm going to tell you takes place in the faaaaar away future. Right on our planet...

!----------------!

February 27, 2032

One of the last remaining churches left on Earth.

Pastor: Marcus Gaines was a... [Clears his throat.] kind man. He was a... good soul.

[The pastor looked over the audience seated in the wooden pulpits, all eyes solemnly glued on him as he casually smiled over the crowd, then adjusted his reading glasses to plow into more of the eulogy.]

Pastor: Marcus led an unsavory childhood through the eyes of most, including god. Riddled with mental instabilities, Marcus injured people out of impulse, and felt no remorse afterward.

[The pastor studied the audience closely as he paused in mid sentance for dramatic effect. A look of bewilderment set upon his otherwise stone cold expression. His flowing white robes coursed through the air with every jerk or twitch of his body, candlelight gleaming off his shiny spectacles, and in turn glaring into the audience causing not just one to cast his or her gaze away.]

Pastor: But god isn't without forgiveness. And just as god can forgive even the most hardened criminals, he can too forgive Marcus Gaines for his sins. For god granted Marcus the gift of athleticism, and oh what a gift it was.

[The smile that had been forming upon the pastor's face slowly recedes until a visible grimace comes upon him, and his face turns solemn.]

Pastor: It turned out that Marcus could easily be heralded as a master of several of the fighting arts, or "martial arts". And use these skills Marcus did, and use them well, he most certainly did. For it was in the Gladiator Wrestling Assosciation that Marcus began his legendary rise to fame!

[The same as most pastors, this one had the uncanny ability to make his entire audience become entranced with whatever it was he was saying simply through his gestures and the inflection in his voice. As the people stared wide-eyed at the greying old man, he reveled in the attention brought on by his parishoners.]

Pastor: Marcus, had already proven himself a gifted athlete in martial arts training with the now deceased Tetsuo Kagutagaki, but the wrestling proved to be Marcus' high point, the crowning jewel in a long list of astonishing acomplishments the likes of which the world had never seen before, or perhaps will ever again.

[The pastor paused, letting his words sink in as deep as they could into the minds of the people below in the pulpits.]

Pastor: Marcus was indeed surprising in his first match in the Gladiator circuit. But it wasn't until he took part in a match between himself and... [The pastor pauses and takes a closer look at the sheet of paper resting atop his lecterne.] Juventud "The Icicle" Stryker, when Marcus finally came into his own. Of course folks that probably isn't his real name, for certain wrestler's whose career was less than stellar there aren't very many good records kept about them.

[The pastor raises his hands high in the air with a joyous look smeared across his face, the sunlight glimmering through the stainglass windows shining through the spaces in between his fingers, casting eerie figures along the marble church floor.]

Pastor: My friends, in most wrestling events, it's the usual fare for the wrestlers to match each other evenly, blow for blow. But this match was truly lop-sided. Never before has one amazingly skilled wrestler been pitted against... a being of such sheer uselessness. Juventud "The Icicle" Stryker tried his best to fight off the onslaught unleashed by Marcus that night, but his attempts proved meaningless, just like the rest have.

!----------------!

[As Marcus inhaled a deep breath to tell more of the story he was telling to these pint-sized kindergarteners, a little boy in the middle row raised his hand and blurted out loudly.]

Little Boy: Waaaait a second. This isn't The Cat in the Hat!

[Marcus stops to look at the child who so persistently spoke up, he scowls callously, then scoffs loudly for the whole room to hear.]

Gaines: Listen, are YOU reading the story? Do YOU know how the Cat in the Hat goes? [Pauses briefly.] Didn't think so. So just sit down, and shut up, there is going to be a quiz on this tomorrow.

[Marcus shoots an angry glare at the boy before getting his happy face on once again for the rest of the children.]

Gaines: Now, may I continue with the story without anyone else ruining the experience for the rest of us?

[He surveys the children's faces, then exhales deeply.]

Gaines: Thank you.

!----------------!

Pastor: Yes, there has never been a worse sight than the look of Juventud "The Icicle" Stryker once he had pinned and had lost his title, the... [Pauses to read of his sheet of paper resting on the lecterne.] Maximus title. Which, soon Marcus held for quite a long title reign before realizing his holding onto the title was unfair to the other... [Clears his throat.] competitors. Unfortunately for Juventud, this wasn't the only fight he had with Marcus. The two met in the ring once more, where once again, poor Juventud was again brought crashing down by the awesome might of Marcus Gaines.

[The pastor clenches his fists together, as he wipes a phony tear from the corner of his eye.]

Pastor: And now, to read a short eulogy for his deceased father, please welcome young Kaleb Gaines.

[The crowd applauds, with that soft applause you only hear at funerals when it is necessary. A young blonde-haired boy stepped up onto the riser overlooking the audience, and slowly unfolded a crumpled piece of stationary containing his eulogy for Marcus.]

Kaleb: My father was undoubtedly, and unequivocably the best wrestler ever to set foot in the GWA wrestling ring. I remember my dad taking me to the arena, just to see him fight some guy named [Squints carefully at his handwriting on the note paper.] Jimmy Jackobson, or maybe it was Joey, I forget which.

[The boy pauses to wipe a tear from his cheek as his head falls back and looks up into the high arching ceiling of the church.]

Kaleb: [Speaking with a broken voice.] I'll never forget the sheer poetry that was my dad in the ring. I will never forget how flawlessly he defeated everyone he ever fought. From Ryken to Chris Dame, er Damm sorry. My dad fought them all with grace a poise, and it taught me that whenever overwhelming odds aren't in my corner, I have to kick someone's a**. Thanks dad.

[The crowd stood up and applauded young Kaleb Gaines loudly, some with tears in their eyes, others with satisfied grins. But all seemed truly happy to have been present to hear Kaleb's words.]

!----------------!

Teacher: [Gasps loudly.] MISTER GAN-EZ! You can't use that kind of language around these impressionable children? What kind of story are you reading to them?!

[Marcus spun abruptly in his chair to greet the fuming face of the kindergarten teacher. Without being able to utter a single word, Marcus felt a sharp pain in his left ear, right where the kindergarten teacher was furiously digging her fingernails into the skin, Marcus got up as she tugged at his now throbbing ear, and was abruptly thrown out of the classroom, left to walk home thinking about his match on Insurrection.]