The scene fades in to see Smoke Man in an almost empty room - save for a bed and rusty old television. He is directly in front of the camera, behind him is a one-way mirror. His smirking with his hands in his hoodie pockets, dead at the camera. He stands there for a couple of seconds, before throwing his arms up to his side and full-on smiling with pearly-white teeth and the whites glaring out of his eyes.

Welp, this is it then. My not-so-long-awaited promo for my First Round Match in the Lethal Lottery. Done in the city Police Department under the watchful eye-

Smoke half turns and points his hand to the one-way mirror.

-of the San Diego Police Force.

He turns back around, slapping the previously outstretched hands together and locking the fingers.

So, for those of you know don't know, the big-bad-boss-man Shane sent me to jail over my actions toward Matt Ward last Wednesday. Despite how un-phased Matt seemed after the whole fiasco. What would Gilmour call it... no selling? Ah whatever, I don't want to start picking on Pete for no reason. Not quite as fun. Still fucking fun might I add but--

He shakes his head to force the train of thought to derail.

Anyway. I'm not exactly one to be super cryptic and shit during my trash talks so I'll get right to the point. This Warfare, as a team captain I lead my team into their chance at the Lethal Lottery Tournament. The team I had toiled over in creating, comprising of Shawn Steele, Kimmy-K, and Eli James IV - along with myself of course. Needless to say, I am very pleased with my team, and I'm glad I 'wound up' with every member I have done. It's impossible to even underestimate my confidence going into the matches.

And then I saw the match card.

Smoke blows out a quick gust of air out of his mouth, in such a way that causes his hair to fly up as he does.

It'd be a damn lie to say I'm not worried about my opponents. Team Payne, ladies and gentlemen: with Tri Bute, Dean McGovern, and Juan Madison. Everyone's favourite to win, apparently, if there's anything to go by. But here's the thing I want to know:

Smoke swings his arms back out wide.

Why? Why them in particular?

I've been thinking about it for a long time now, nearly a whole week in fact, and I've come to one conclusion. People are putting their chips - placing their odds - on the team that has the 'rookie sensation' Juan Madison. Call me a guy looking for a reason, call me whatever you want, but think about it. And I mean really think about it.

Had Juan been on my team, the whole situation would be reversed. It would be Juan taking pot-shots at Payne's group and defending ours, instead of the whole thing he has going right now. He'd probably be defending me on my method of winning last week as 'thinking' on my toes or something. And that's the beauty of it all.

The thing about the Lethal Lottery is that we don't have to like each other. We don't have to buddy-buddy up with our 'comrades' to win. If we want it bad enough, well take it whatever the cost, and that's all that matters. I'm not going to stand here and talk about my group like we've been best friends for life, and how we're better than you because we're more in-sync or some shit. Remember that as captains, we pick who we felt would help us win. We picked the guys we thought would make the job that much easier, not the people we thought of as our friends.

Back during the drawings, did Hunter Payne end up with any of his fellow Brotherhood members? You could say that's simply the luck of the draw, that he just so happened to not have picked his stablemates. But let's remember how that ended...

Oh yeah, with Hunter being Chokeslammed to the mat by Duke. And then Hunter quickly shook it off and was back to being Joy's bitch and laying down for Matt Lennox - his last remaining shred of masculinity saved by the new Co-GM of Madness in the end. Whadda-guy, huh? In front of his hometown no less.

Damn.

But here's the really interesting part to play in all of this, and all you spectators and analysts and fans or what-the-fuck-ever may want to listen closely to this.

Smoke leans in a little on the camera. His voice drops in volume a fair amount but is still easily heard.

If you pay real close attention to the Lethal Lottery drawings, you'll notice something:

I got my first pick before Payne did.

Smoke stands straight.

Do you get that? My pick was called out before Payne's.

Now what's important to know about that is that given the circumstances, had I wanted Juan Madison over Eli James, I would have gotten him before Payne had been able to - in conjunction with the XWF rules and what not. So all of this moaning, trash talk, whatever you want to call it, is just that:

Trash talk.

There is no jealousy. No annoyance at my team selection. Just trash talk.

Smoke shakes his head and looks at the floor. He glances at the camera for a split second, and afterwards he turns to the one-way mirror, viewing his own reflection regardless of whoever stands on the opposite side. He stands straight with his hands behind his back.

I chose Eli James IV over Juan Madison and there's a reason. Ooh boy is there a reason.

He looks at the camera through the reflection.

And you'll know why soon enough.

Smoke quickly turns and walks too quick for the camera to follow completely. He walks over to the bed and jumps on back-first, causing the springs to creak. He lets out a belated sigh of relief.

For now though, I'm fine with just waiting here until the time comes because I'm ready.

He picks the TV remote up on his bed and points it at the screen, resting his elbow on the mattress as he does. He keeps his look on the camera, however.

And Kimmy, Eli, Shawn. I hope you are too.

He turns his head to the telly and presses a button on the remote. He drops it and leans back, watching the distant sounds of The Powerpuff Girls.

God I hope you are.

He says under his breath as the camera fades.