[The scene goes blank after whatever it was you were watching. For a few moments, all that precedes what you just viewed is a blank screen. Suddenly, the following words appear on screen:

A MODERN NOSTRADAMUS

They stay there for a few moments more before slowly fading out. Then the lights slowly come on in a darkened newsroom, with only the small amount of light created by scattered overhead lamps to reveal the surroundings of the room; Marcus Gaines sits leaning on a plain white desk staring into the camera serenely. His hands folded neatly across the face of it, the camera slowly zooms in on him till the scene is close up. He holds the smile for a moment, then tilts his head forward to peer into the camera lens.] 

Gaines: Ahh. Who knows how many times this promo has aired already this evening. I've managed to set this promo to a continuous loop, that will take over the airwaves until the GWA tech boys figure out how to fix it. This could be your first time hearing what I have to say, or your fiftieth, either way it doesn't matter, you'll get another chance to listen to me right after this one. Don't bother changing the station, I've taken over all of GWAtv™; Meaning no one can hope to broadcast through this signal until it's appropriately fixed.

[He swivels in his chair a ways, pushing it back and bringing his feet up onto the top of the desk where he rests them comfortably. He leans back farther in the chair, resting his head on the palms of his hands, but still allowing the camera full view of his face.]

Gaines: You see, I have some things on my mind that I just have to air out. I've found myself confronted with visions of what I can only classify as the future, and thusly... I feel the need to tell specific people what I've seen in store for them. I guess I have things to say that I wanted some people in particular to see, hear, and understand so that they couldn't ever say I didn't warn them. So to those specific people... watch, listen and learn, dig?

Johnny Storm... you gave me a wakeup call at the Pay Per View... one that I owe you for to this day, and now you've given me another one on this last Insurrection. Every point you made to me as you interestingly enough...

[He holds up his hand with the bandaged finger that used to have all five fingernails intact, and smilingly waves it back and forth, turning from front to back, displaying both sides of the hand.] 

Gaines: ...Took my fingernail, was very well justified. Our match Storm? It was poetry. As ashamed as I am to say it... you are more my equal than my enemy. And more my friend than my equal, even if you don't see it that way. We fought to our limits and then some, pushing each other to see how far it was we were both willing to go. Which I see now from my own perspective was much farther than I had originally expected. You were right when you said I'd come to respect you through that match. You earned my respect much easier than anyone else ever could... Because in fighting you, I felt as if I were fighting a brother, someone I felt a certain kinship with. Like it or not Storm, you and I are connected in so many ways that neither of us can completely comprehend them, that's how far down it can go with you and I. That's why I can easily say I expected more from you. Maybe I expected too much? We'll see. 

As you stared at me on Insurrection, readying yourself more than me for what you had planned with that bamboo shoot; You said to me; 

Johnny Storm: What...You think I'd let you get off. You're the one I'm disappointed in the most. You were supposed to be my revitalization. You were supposed to come at me with hate and malicious contempt. You were supposed to be formed into my friend.. the guy who pushes me to my limit. And almost....almost Marcus...you were. But when these three men appeared, you just became another bitch. You see...I never needed the Brotherhood to get the job done. I will never need the MOV. I can handle this shit by myself...and hearing your laughter within my head as someone else did your dirty work.....well quite frankly it made me sick thinking you and I could go anywhere. Go the distance with each other like me and my other friends. You...at that moment...became just like the rest of the fucking following sheep in the GWA. At that moment...you didn't become a has been....you became a never was!

Gaines: You're right on all accounts there Johnny... In every way you said was the way it was "supposed" to be. But I can easily say the same for you, Storm. You were supposed to be above petty personal attacks that I know you realize do nothing more than display your lack of creativity. I mean, Rayge suffers from lack of creativity, him I can understand; He's simply watched one too many Ryken and Chris Damm videos to do any better than he has. But you, Johnny Storm. You and I were supposed to share a common mindset. You were supposed to realize that you could never get at me simply by taking a fingernail, just like you could never truly get at the Chosen by making an attack that would be forgotten after the smoke had totally cleared. I'm sure you're aware that even now the Chosen plot your downfall along with the MOV's. Even now they're probably plotting some new way to get at you that shows the might they think they have; And maybe you set it all in motion on purpose. Maybe you can still redeem yourself in my eyes by making something much bigger out of that attack. Personally, I'd hope you had included me in that attack simply because of what happened after Anguish. In fact I'd expect it... but really, Storm I'm praying to the god of skinny punks that you didn't hope to phase me by taking a fingernail that will grow back in a few week's time. I'd hope you'd think a lot more of me than that.

Storm, you were supposed to see past stables, past Chosen and MOV and realize something you should know well enough by now: Business is business no matter how many ways you dissect it. I joined with the Chosen because I thought it would further my career. I'm not ashamed to say I was wrong. Chosen, in retrospect isn't all that special. This is something that everyone knows won't last any longer than another month or two. I know you know it... and from what I do know of you, you're a smart man. Smart enough to keep the right people on your good side. But unluckily for you, you wrecked a budding friendship over a stable. A god damn stable, Storm. Had you just not been so short-sighted you would have seen what I did for what it really was; A business decision. You've made them in the past... so why is it so hard for you to identify one when it's so clearly evident? Honestly, Storm... I can react to what you did in one of two ways... but I won't. There's only one way to deal with someone who backstabs before there's anything to fuss over, and that's to return everything they've done tenfold. Like Moses, I could simply say I'll curse you with seven plagues, and let their effect wear you down to nothing... but since patience waved bye-bye to you long ago, that would be too long of a lesson for you to fully comprehend. I'll simply make one prediction for you that should be short and sweet so that nothing bright and shiny distracts you before I manage to get it out of my mouth. 

[Marcus takes his feet off the counter, and leans closer into the camera lens. His face a mask of total seriousness and severity rolled into one.]

Gaines: Here's my prediction for you Storm. I am going to make you and Scarlett feel more alone than you have ever felt in your entire life. You'll grow to envy hobos in the park simply because they have entire flocks of birds to feed and keep company. And in the end, you'll hate me more than you've hated anyone else in your life. I'll be the one you'll associate with pure evil after it's all said and done. 

[He stares into the camera a moment longer, than sits back comfortably, totally losing his seriousness in the process.] 

Gaines: Chosen. 

[He smiled aimlessly looking around the room for a moment.]

Gaines: Every last one of you need to hear this, excluding Anton Rayge, who gets his little warning right afterward... I can easy correlate you to losing a possible ally in Johnny Storm. But I won't. Storm made his own choice and now he has to live with it, so will you. I can also easily say that it was your collective faults that cost me the Gladiator Title. I mean... I could say that the hard work I spent plotting and planning your rise to fame took time away from training and mental preparation that was needed for a match of that caliber. But I won't. Why? Because I did nothing to build you, and I'll do nothing to end you. I'll just sit idly by as you make more and more pathetic attempts to take the MOV down a notch or two, then laugh as you simply crumble like a cookie after soaking too long in milk. In the end, this stable war you've developed with the MOV will end not with a bang, but with a whimper. You'll blow the roof off the pay per view most likely, even winning the final match ever involving the two stables... but after that. Poof. You'll be gone, broken apart and separated. Why take on a whole cluster of f*cknuts when I can wait for you all to go your separate ways. Like a lion culling out the weak and infirm, I'll take out the weakest, on up to the strongest until you all wished the Chosen, as a whole was still around to protect you. Think about that when you retaliate on the MOV, gentlemen. What you do now will cement how your treated afterward by all the toes you step on. And one wrong step, and later on you might not like where you've landed. 

Chosen, I'm asking you to do what I'd expect of you... make some attack on me. Make an "example" out of me. Beat on me as the collective cowards that you are. And when I get back up, as I have after countless beatings at the hand's of men and women who are far more talented than the likes of any of you, I may very well show each of you what true originality and foresight is. What you all don't seem to get, is you can beat on any one in this federation, and it would be no different than what goes in twenty-five percent of the matches that take place night-in and night-out except with a bit more brutality. You've all got to get the last word in, and you don't seem to comprehend that the last word is always death. 

Kenjin, you I can say I respect... you're a man bred to fight, born to be a warrior... but I respect you in fighting talents alone. Because what you make up in fighting skill and talent, you lack in intelligence. IN fact, I can easily say, if I could never beat you in the wrestling ring, I can always outdo you in a battle of wits. Too bad it may never come to that, however. Ashram, what in god's name were you trying to prove by hanging T.Q. Smooth the way that you did? That was like punching someone in the dark... anyone can knock someone out and hang them over a roadway or what have you. Why not bide your time, see what makes this man tick, then take it away from him? You disappoint me. 

Chris Cane... You are the one I've dealt with the most, and that isn't saying much. As a fellow Canadian, I say, show me what you can do. Not how well you can tag along. I tagged along with the Chosen because I wanted to see where it would go... I've learned what I wanted to, now I'm through with it... you? Will you figure out that the Chosen gets you nowhere? You've led a fine career, one to be admired... but your execution needs work. You couldn't finish the job on Lost Worlds, and for that you've lost any and all respect I may have had for you. No offense to Lost of course. You I have nothing to say, you're nothing more than a little bug that has no use whatsoever other than to annoy people... think about that.

Triple S. The "Shadow" hmm? You, I've fought alongside, and in doing so, I've learned all I need to know. You seem to have modeled yourself after the famous comic book hero "the Shadow"... what a poor excuse for a gimmick. And don't mince words, it is a gimmick. I see right through you, Shane; You couldn't conceal your true intentions if you hid in a cave and didn't come out for fifty years. You want nothing more than to make it big by taking the route that so many have, and go after the biggest champ in the federation. This stable feud you have going, is nothing more than political posturing. It gives you an excuse to go after the top "dawg" and earn respect along the way. Had you entered the way so many others have with just having a match, you wouldn't be half as far along as you are now. Make sure those you fight alongside with realize that after this little spat the Chosen and MOV are having, none of them will be any better off than they were before it all started. And you? You'll probably be holding your first title while their trying to pick up the pieces of the crumbled Chosen. Very clever, Shane.  Very clever, indeed. 

[Marcus blinks a few times until the camera turns to another angle, and Marcus conversely turns his head to look into the camera, like you'd see at a real news report.]

Gaines: Anton Rayge.... 

[Marcus slumps back in the chair, scratching his forehead in the process. He fidgets a second, then sits back up straight.] 

Gaines: I'm going into our match on Wednesday with a conflict of interest on my hands. I'm sitting here with two things weighing in on either side of me, and as I tape this right now, I'm still not completely sure which is the right one because my all-seeing eye seems to falter on me when something like this comes around... Anton, if I go into this match going all out... it's sure to bruise an ego that sorely needs to be stroked. So bear in mind Anton, what I say even now comes out only half-heartedly. For I fear that breaking you down anymore, could cause your downfall. Rayge, as much as you keep up the same exterior all the time of the patient killer, the "assassin"... you can't deny what I saw in your eye's last Wednesday as Johnny Storm looked at me and said all the things you wish he'd say to you. I know how you think, and I understand your motivation a little better than most, Anton. Watching you grow, and change... I was there the night you first entered the GWA and lost to Reina Saiaki. I watched as your seven foot... that's right SEVEN FOOT frame toppled under the might of the disgraceful kick. I've seen how you look at Ryken and Reina... and even Damm to some extent I suppose. You idolize them don't you Anton? And really, they're all fine people to look up to. And I can see you've even slowly taken on a more Rykenesque form as you evolve in your tenure in the GWA. There's nothing wrong with hero worship, Anton. It's what helps make men out of boys in a lot of cases. But too much can be unhealthy. When you look in the mirror you have to face the facts. You are not Ryken. You will never be Ryken. In fact, any achievements you come across in your career will probably always be overshadowed by the specter of a man who has done more in the GWA in a month, than you have in a year. Me? I've fought Ryken and lost, and I can honestly say I'm not only a better person, but a better wrestler because of it. Can you? Can you even say you've fought the person you obviously revere so much? Can you say that you had the opportunity to distinguish the man from the myth? I'll leave that question open for you.

Anton, though you'll never admit it... but part of your reason for being is because of Ryken. He's the person that has set a very high standard for you. Or so you think, way deep down in the deepest depths of your heart. In all honesty, you've set a standard for yourself to live up to, which is a great thing. But it's influenced by this man who is light years ahead of you in both talent, and intelligence. You've shot higher than the moon on this one, Anton and it's only going to cause you to crash horribly. At times, it seems almost as if you demand respect simply because of what you've accomplished in your career, and what a career it is I must say... Why, looking over your list of titles I can't even sneeze at it. In comparison, I'd be classified as a newbie if we had a scale and weighed nothing but titles all day to compare rank and talent and all that. Let's face facts, Anton. There are two things keeping you from the place you covet so much: Heart. And Fate.

Titles, Anton? Titles are nothing if you don't have the heart to back them up. That's why Johnny Storm looks at me with respect and not you. Because I fought him with every ounce of being and then some, and in that I showed him I have the heart to beat him. Storm knows as well as I do you're only as good as the heart that beats in your chest. If it only beats sometimes, you're not half the man you think you are. But if it beats all the time, if every day that you wake up you feel that light thumping constantly beating inside of you, you can become the man you so want to be. It took several big fights to truly show me what I was made of. You? I'm not sure if you've even had those yet. And if you have, you probably never looked at them as chance to prove yourself. And why should you, Anton? You've already got the titles to back up the talent, right? Why prove yourself? Well I'll tell you why. Because in my eyes, and quite possibly Johnny Storm's... you just aren't at the level that you could be. Look at who you've beaten to get every one of those titles on that list, Anton and tell me if they pushed you to your limits and then some? If you said they had, then it's obvious you aren't at the level you think you are unless those people were particularly special. Until you can stand eye to eye with Johnny Storm and Ryken, Anton... you can say you have talent, but that's it. 

That covers heart, next is Fate...

[He looks around the room blankly for a moment thinking over his points, then focuses back on the camera.]

Anton, I look at you and I see a lot of my former self. I see a young man who is letting his fate be decided for him without ever realizing it. It hurts to realize it doesn't it, Anton? It's like a cancer that ever so slowly eats you down to nothing, until all that's left is a shadow of your former self... dragging you down to deepest pits of your own soul. And who knows... maybe after our match you'll hit rock bottom and start to learn from your mistakes and finally make that leap from your everyday stardom, which is something you enjoy, to your uncommon superstardom; Where Johnny Storm sits comfortably. But right now, the harsh lesson you must learn, Anton, is your letting your fate get sealed by the three people that shouldn't be doing so.

Your fate is being sealed by Steven Fury everyday you allow that egotistical "king" of GWA to make your matches for you. You have to make the enemies and let him cross the t's and dot the i's. Not the other way around. In fact Anton, you could have challenged, fought and even possibly beaten Johnny Storm long ago had you taken your chance when it was there for you, and in that feat, you'd have assured yourself the pedestal you're after. But what you don't seem to realize, is Steven Fury isn't interested in seeing how high you can climb up fame's ladder. He's interested in M.J. Francis, and Steven Fury, himself. And until you get that through you're thick skull, you will continue to be a victim of fate, not a user of the tool.

The second person you're letting decide your fate, you ask? Johnny Storm, Anton. Your future is nothing but a toy for Storm's amusement, there to play with whenever Storm wants to get his mind off the important things. Just look at yourself, now Anton. You're whole career since the fall of the brotherhood has revolved around seeing Storm pay for what he did. That's fair and square in my book, an eye for an eye is one of the best recipes for life that I know of. I can at least in some respects understand how Storm could control your fate. The Brotherhood... your life's work destroyed in a matter of backstabbing seconds by someone you called a close friend. I know that you put most of your resources behind the Brotherhood of Agony, trying to make it some sort of contender for the Circle. But right there was your downfall, Anton. Setting such lofty goals can only set you up for failure. The circle is something that took the better half of what could only be at LEAST four years to create. I doubt any of the members ever truly thought it was going to grow into what it has... and therein lies the true tragedy of your loss. You gave Storm the means to decimate you. You showed him the opening, he only had to wait to take it. So don't blame him for doing what he does best... blame yourself, Rayge. What I would have done in your place, and this is just a suggestion... I would have reacted totally differently to the Brotherhood falling apart, letting Storm think it was going to come off without a hitch, and then bam, hit him when he least suspects with something a little more devastating than a punch in the nose. Or anything else you've done to him something that would slow him down and give me the edge. And let's be honest, though being branded or having a broken nose or whatever you want does hurt, they all heal. The brand you gave him will only serve as a reminder on how he beat Anton Rayge. I'm not going to tell you how he's already beaten you, you have to figure that out on your own. But trust me, he's won against you already 

And the third person? It's yourself, Anton. The thing that separates humans from animals are choices. We, as humans can decide how we react to different obstacles placed before us, while for animals it's all instinct, kill or be killed; Winning by attrition. That's why nothing an animal can do will ever surprise me... and it's getting like that for humans, at least in my view.  I haven't seen a single attack occur on any card that I couldn't have seen coming, Anton. It's so predictable... break the mold... I'm begging you Anton. I see so much in you that you're wasting. 

But all in all... this was all but a lesson for you Anton Rayge. It will all change when we lock eyes with one another on Wednesday. I'm not going to play nice and try help you to realize your mistakes like I've done here. I'm going to do my best to cause you to make some more. It won't be hard... if I know you like I think I do... none of what I have said will phase you.. you'll call it stupidity and falsehoods. But I advise you to look within yourself as I have... for me... I don't want to hurt someone I pity. Unless it's to put you out of your misery... and I'll decide on that when I see you in the ring, make no mistakes. One of us walks out of the ring the victor. And if I have to... I will make it so you never make the mistakes you have again. Just say the word and I'll put you out of your misery before you ruin what could be a good life... So go ahead Anton Rayge. Surprise me and win on Wednesday. I dare you to. 

[Marcus stares intently into the camera screen as it begins to crackle and fade out... after a few moments, the screen is black, until again, the words:

 A MODERN NOSTRADAMUS

Flash on the screen, and the promo begins again.]