Good versus Evil

Felix FoleyFelix Foley, Promo

My ears are ringing.

“What the fuck just happened?”

I can’t move.

Something heavy weighs on my chest. I try to push it aside, but it won’t budge.

All I can think of… is my failures. It’s funny that, isn’t it? As your life flashes before your eyes, it isn’t your successes or the odds you’ve overcome that stain the inside of your weary mind. It’s the failures.

“H… Help?”

No-one is coming.

I failed again.

Just like my failure to even come close to an OSW World Heavyweight Championship.

Years I’ve been wrestling and not once have I ever put my grubby little mitts upon it. I always thought that doing the right thing and being a good man was a recipe for success. I always believed that one day, by being a good person, I’d get the glory and success that came with it.

But Jasper Redgrave disproves that, doesn’t he?

He’s not buried beneath rubble, gasping for air as the weight of his home crushes him. He’s not scorched from the fire and flame of everything he loved being burned to the ground. No. He’s the World Champion. He has the success I could only ever dream of.

Jasper Redgrave is a bad man. Worse than that, he’s a murderer. He’s evil personified and he truly believes that in Arcadia, evil always wins. I want so badly to argue that. I want so badly to believe he’s wrong, but here I lay beneath tons of concrete, a failure, a nothing, a nobody, and he’s probably led in his comfortable bed at home with that Championship for company.

Meanwhile, I’m struggling to breathe.

Pull it together, Felix.

Come on.

What Jasper Redgrave doesn’t realize is that the only way evil wins is if the good let it. If the good stand down when it arises, if the good back off, if the good refuse to get back up after they’ve been knocked down… only then does evil truly win. Evil doesn’t win by simply existing. Evil wins when Good refuses to fight back.]

“Arrrgghhhh!”

The weight has finally been lifted. I did it. I’m free. I need to take a second. It hurts.

Men like you and Doom can knock me down time and time again. You always have. Tombstone just spent the better part of six months torturing me for fun but when I rose, when good fought evil, do you know who actually won?

It wasn’t Tombstone.

I may be a failure right now. I may be covered in soot, dust and the remnants of my domicile, but the only way evil defeats good is if I led there and died like it wanted me to. I will become OSW World Heavyweight Champion one day. I will not fail forever.

Mom?

Where is she?

 

Fire

Klaus WayKlaus Way, Promo

When people come to my circus, they come to see us put on a show. And boy do I give them one. I have all kinds of freaks behind my curtains. Human freaks, animal freaks, things that fall somewhere in the middle. The whole shebang! What is most important, though, is that they all give it everything they’ve got, and that they all have the ability to WOW that audience. They are the big two asks I demand from those who are in my crew.

When I was younger, I went to see a show with my parents. It wasn’t a big bombastic show like my circus, it was some kind of performance. A play or something. I must have been somewhere around 12 or 13, so I went along with them, and I sat in the crowd, watching intently. The lead actor was a big name in Arcadia, so they said. I’d never seen him before but I’d heard his name a couple of times. He was old, clearly in the twilight of his years, and this showed, BIG TIME.

He muddled his way through the lines, barely remembering what the show was even about, never mind the individual lines, and even when he did get the lines right, there was a big disconnect. The life behind the eyes had gone. He no longer did it because he loved it, he did it because of the credits. He would have failed my big two asks, wouldn’t he? Here he was, phoning it in, quite clearly NOT giving it everything he had got. No fire in his belly.

What about you, Caido? Have you still got that fire in your belly? You’ve been around a long time, travelling Arcadia, putting on these wrestling shows I’ve never seen, but your name has crossed my ears a time or two. You’re in the twilight of your career too, so it really is up to you how this thing goes. All I see when I look at you is that actor. Phoning it in, reading a lifeless script, unable to put anything real in his performance. 

And even if you can drum up a bit of life, a bit of energy, get a rumbling going in that dragon belly of yours, when you come to blast that fireball out, will it WOW that audience? Will it be a majestic arc of reds, oranges and yellows, warming up the entire arena? Or will it just be a vapid puff of smoke, barely affecting anyone, and dissipating within a couple of seconds?

Something tells me it is the latter, after all, if you really still had that fireball left in you, would they really call you the Fallen Dragon? This is where I would usually tell people they should come and see me, and we’ll show you the Way, but I’m sorry El Dragon Caido, but please do NOT come to my circus, I don’t want a beast that can’t perform it’s only trick any more.

That just ain’t the Way.

Gravely renewed purpose

Mighty MightyMighty Mighty, Promo

“I had a dream where I was so close to escaping from ‘The Circus,’ the place that had held me captive for so long. I could see the light as freedom was within reach, but then a dark shadow crept over me. It’s so heavy that it makes me suffocate, but I knew that deep in my gut it wasn’t anyone from ‘The Circus.’ In fact, it was something more sinister. A man that is synonymous with death himself, Tombstone.”

“I froze from where I stood as Tombstone moved closer; his presence is chilling, and the mystique of Tombstone is awe-inspiring. I didn’t see his mouth move, but I could feel the message, and it said, ‘The circus is where you are doomed to be.’ ”

“As the words of Tombstone echo in my head, what he said was nothing but facts. Maybe I shouldn’t ask Red for help anymore; maybe I should just listen to Klaus and be the person that he wants me to be. But then, my heart pounded in my chest, not from fear but from a spark of defiance that I didn’t know that I still had. But as Tombstone was about to ferry me back to the path of ‘The Circus,’ I decided to push back.”

“I told Tombstone that I shall not decide where I’m doomed to be. In fact, nobody can decide anything for me but myself. I put myself in this prediction, and I will break myself out of it, with or without help. With the newfound motivation, I took a step forward. Each step was heavy, but they were my own. But the moment I’m within reach, I throw a punch toward Tombstone, and that’s where I wake up.”

“I was all sweaty, breaths heavy as if I had just stepped out from a fight. At first I thought it was a nightmare, an affirmation that I will never leave this hell, but instead, it left me with clarity. Ever since my loss against Ajax, I was a different man. As each day passes by, I lose every bit of control I have in my life, so it’s time to regain control back. It’s never a matter of how dark the shadow is or how heavy the burden is; I’m the one that gets to choose my own ending.”

“That punch that I threw in my dream—it’s not just any punch; it’s a spark that is much needed to remind me of who I really am, and that is that big old ‘Chunk of Funk’ that loves to dance and be jovial towards others.”

“This week at Warzone is the first step to regaining my freedom, and I’m going to fight for it. Red doesn’t want to help me; that’s fine. I will do it myself, and Tombstone, you are my dance partner for this week. You will be my first obstacle before going after Klause and his goons. Now I have a question: Are you ready to have fun?”

Leverage

RedPromo, Red

“Tell me, Anton… have you ever wondered why some wars are won in silence, without a single shot fired?”

The camera opens at the entrance to Red’s club, beams of purple light sweeping across the large, half-empty space. Slowly, it moves forward, drawing closer to a wooden door marked “Authorized Personnel.” The door creaks open, revealing Red lounging on a leather couch, his fingers counting bills with cold precision, a cigar smoldering in his hand.

On the table where the bills lie, the NXT Level Championship belt rests, gleaming, its presence commanding attention in the quiet darkness.

“Have you ever asked yourself what tool is sharper than a knife? More destructive than a bomb? More lethal than a bullet?
That tool, is called Leverage“.

Beyond the smoke of the cigar, Red’s lips curl into a faint, calculating smile.

“Leverage, is the exquisite art of persuasion, the silent power that bends the will of kings and crumbles the resolve of titans.
It’s the ace up your sleeve, the whispered secret that turns the battlefield before the first shot is fired.
Leverage is not simply about force—it’s about knowing what someone values, what they fear, what they desperately seek to protect.
It’s the invisible chain that binds even the most formidable adversary, a currency far more potent than gold.”

Red shakes his head in revulsion.

“So imagine my surprise, Anton, when a few weeks ago you handed Sunshine the keys to your operation.
Imagine my surprise when you welcomed him and his ‘harmless’ little band of toddlers into your sacred establishment, giving them access to the one thing you truly care about—the place that defines you.
And imagine my disappointment when I learned you chose to win a petty skirmish against Captain Arcadia, only to lose the war to a far more dangerous foe you never saw coming.”

Red looks at the camera with distaste.

“I will never truly understand how someone can be so careful with his food, but so careless with his operation, his business, his future.
I will never fathom how a man who boasts endlessly about his expertise with a knife, was not able to see the enemy sticking one to his throat.”

Red turns his gaze away, eyes flicking to the side, as if he can already see the horizon, the full scope of the situation unfolding before him.
With a tone of absolute decisiveness, he continues.

“This is where we truly differ, Anton.

When I found myself facing the same peril, when my empire was threatened by an enemy who, in his insolence, demanded a share of my success in exchange for peace… when the weight of that decision could unravel everything, this was the path I chose:”

Red lifts the NXT Level title belt, letting it catch the light as he presents it to the camera.

“And what have you done?
You’ve ensured that, when the time comes, the choices will not be yours to make.
They’ll be dictated to you by those who outthink you, outmaneuver you—those who need no blade to carve their destiny.”

Red becomes more alert, more aggressive.

“Only leverage.”

Evil Always Wins

Jasper RedgraveJasper Redgrave, Promo

[An Altar.]

[A group of onlookers file through the door and take their seats within the pews.]

“Ladies and gentlemen..”

[An unknown, yet all so familiar voice booms throughout the altar.]

[The curtain behind the podium parts and the OSW World Champion himself steps out.]

[He’s dawned in a white robe, a heavenly glow accompanying him as he steps up to the podium.]

[A state of confusion spreads through the pews, as this is not the Reverend they had expected..]

“We are gathered here today to learn of a very important lesson.”

“A lesson in life which will surely keep you safe should you heed my warning, but could leave you in a grave sense of peril should you choose to ignore me.”

[A wide smile crossed The Killer King’s face.]

“A few short years ago, a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed young rookie cop entered the doors of Olympus with one thing in mind.”

“He, too, wanted to eradicate evil.”

[Jasper’s tone grows colder with each word.]

“Much like your beloved Reverend, he too, thought that he could single-handed stand up to the evil that courses through the very heart of Arcadia.”

“He spent months infatuated with one man. Everywhere his target went, he followed closely.”

“It became quite the game of cat and mouse, but inevitably, the rookie cop lost and one of his superior’s lives were lost.”

“Fast forward a few months to the grandest stage of them all. Red Snow.”

“The now chief of Arcadia’s police force stands just mere feet away.”

“Forced to watch as his brother’s neck is snapped by the very evil he failed to combat.”

[Jasper extends his arms, his hands being placed on the top corners of the podium as his smile twists into more of an evil grin.]

[Darkness.]

[All of the lights in the altar quickly go out. They’re replaced by dozens of candles.]

[The white garb that Redgrave once wore has seemingly turned black.]

[The heads of those that sat in the pew fall over, lifeless.]

“I am that evil.

“Jackson Cade thought that he could protect Arcadia from the violence that I create.”

“And in turn, he lost everything that he held dear.”

[Jasper’s face turns cold.]

“Are you ready to go down that path, Reverend Graves?”

“There’s no doubt in my mind that you will be there come Warzone, ready for a fight.”

“But this is not the fight you’re looking for.”

[Redgrave steps forward and hops down off the stage he once stood on. He walks through the aisleway amongst the lifeless bodies.]

“One quick snap is all it took for me to turn Jackson’s entire world upside down, and it’s all it’ll take for me to end your life.”

“You may come to Warzone thinking you’ll rid Arcadia of an evil that’s plagued it for so long..”

[Jasper opens the large double doors leading out of the building.]

“But in Arcadia, evil always wins.”

[Redgrave gives a bit of a maniacal laugh as he steps out the doorway, the big double doors swinging slowly to a close behind him.]

[Fade.]

Ending Joke

GrimskullGrimskull, Promo

A desolate alleyway in Arcadia, graffiti on the brick. Grimskull sits on a broken cinder block.

“Hatchet… I’ve known a lot of people like you.

You want to be the one who ends Grimskull.

You think you’re the one who can do it. I see it in your beady little eyes. You believe you’re the one who can break me, split my skull wide open, and scatter my ashes in the gutter.”

Grimskull leans forward.

“But you won’t.

You could drown me in your filth, let your Gathering take their knives to me and dance in my blood. You could suffocate me in your vomit-stained depravity, force my corpse into a shallow grave, like you did the Rijen woman. You could do it a thousand times, Hatchet. A thousand times. And still… I would survive.

Because I am not what you destroy. I am what survives.”

Grimskull tilts his head.

“You’re a scavenger, not a conqueror. You pick at the bones of the weak, you prey on the desperate and the depraved, but I am neither. I am more. You want to break my spirit? You think I still have one? You want to take my hope? Hope is for the living. Hope is for people who think their suffering might one day stop.

I stopped believing in that a long, long time ago.

So what will you do when you realize that I am not afraid? That the violence you wield is nothing but a child’s tantrum to me? That your brutality is just another storm, and I am the mountain it crashes against?

Will you scream? Will you rage? Will you call your Gathering to hold me down and cut me into pieces? Will you look into my hollow sockets and see that no matter what you take from me… I will still be here?

No, Hatchet. You are not my executioner. You are a sideshow.

You put on a good act, I’ll give you that. But you’re small.

You have ambition, but no vision. You think you can carve out an empire from the filth, but you’ll never be more than a rat king in the sewer.

And me? I am Conquest. I am what remains when everything else burns to the ground.”

Grimskull lowers his head in contemplation.

“You think I fear the Gathering? I’ve fought worse. You think I fear you? I’ve bled under the hands of men greater than you, and I’m still here. You think you can break me? You cannot break what is already dead.

A slow, joyless chuckle escapes him.

“And that’s the joke, isn’t it, Hatchet? You’re a killer who can’t kill me. A monster whose teeth will break against my bones. A man who wants to leave his mark, but all you’ll find is a void that swallows it whole.”

He rises, the cinder block crumbling beneath him.

“When it’s over, when your hands are shaking, when the Gathering stands in stunned silence because they’ve never seen their leader fail like this before… when the blood dries and the laughter dies, you will understand.

That I do not end.

You do.

Choose Life, Eat Chocolate

Mr. SunshineMr. Sunshine, Promo

The scene before us is a massacre.

Dark splatters from wall to wall. Not of blood, but chocolate.

Wrappers strewn about, ripped to shreds.

In the centre of the massacre lies a dog, whimpering.

Mister Sunshine kneels beside the dog.

“They say nothing can extinguish a light that shines from within.”

“That even when there’s nothing else to hold onto, the human spirit will cling to life.”

“When given a choice, who would ever choose death?”

“Our light must shine, Sunbeams, because life isn’t simply a game that is played until it’s over. There’s more to live for.”

He reaches forth, stroking the dog’s coat slowly. A smile forms on his face.

Rex, you greedy little mongrel you. You’ve gotten into all the Valentine’s Day chocolate for the Sunshine Club! Don’t you know that chocolate is deadly for dogs?”

Why? If you know that it’s going to kill you, would you eat it all anyway?”

“Why choose death, when there is so much to live for, Rexxy boy?”

“Choose life! Let your sun shine!

The Dog’s eyes begin to fade. Sunshine holds his head up.

“Some choices are final. Once you sit on that Ferryman’s boat, the journey is one way.”

The dog, blinks and looks up at Sunshine with disapproving eyes…

“That’s right, he’s a Valkyrie now. Who would willingly choose to be the Valkyrie of death? One who chooses, like death is a sick lottery.”

“Gravedigger does. He’d rather exist for an eternity serving death than truly live for a fleeting moment. An eternity of shackled power, where no matter what you achieve for death, you’re nobody in life.”

The Dog coughs, wheezing. Sunshine shushes him gently.

“You have a choice, Rexxy boy. Choose to live each moment as if it’s your last, then death has no power over you.”

“I’d rather go out in a blaze of sunshine. When I’ve smiled my last smile and sung my last ditty, I will know that I truly lived – not just existed.”

Sunshine picks up a heart-shaped block of chocolate from the floor and thrusts it into the Dog’s mouth.

“Choose to eat the chocolate, Rex. Enjoy your life, right up to the last moment. Go out with a smile on your face. Be your own master of death.”

“The consequences for a dog eating this much chocolate are simple…”

Rex closes his eyes again.

Sleep my friend…”

Sunshine looks up, smiling.

“Choices have consequences, Gravedigger, my Sunbeam.”

“You take what you think is yours to take. A wife, a boat… an eternity of servitude. It’s all empty. Nothing can come close to the feeling of truly living. The heart beating in your chest knowing that every moment may be your last.”

“You will never feel that, and it leaves you empty… Without a light to shine.”

He stands, the lifeless body of the dog at his feet. A tear rolls down his cheek.

“The sun will continue to shine in Arcadia as long as people choose to live life, and the Ferryman’s boat is rowed by an imposter who wants to merely exist forever.”

Blood and Canvas

Reverend Ezekiel GravesEzekiel Graves, Promo

{Reverend Ezekiel Graves sits before a blank canvas, a brush dipped in deep crimson resting between his fingers. He does not look at the camera immediately his gaze lingers on the untouched surface, as if weighing its worth before the first stroke.}

“Jasper Redgrave. An artist in the basest sense of the word. You see beauty in suffering. You call it creation. You dip your hands into the blood of the fallen, smear it across your so-called canvas, and claim it to be art. But tell me what is the difference between an artist and a butcher when all they know is the color red?”

{He lifts the brush, letting the red pigment drip onto the canvas, each drop staining the purity of the white surface. His tone remains steady, unwavering, but there’s something behind his eyes, something deeper, something colder.}

“You believe yourself a visionary. A creator. But creation is not destruction wrapped in aesthetics. A man who only knows how to tear down will never build anything of worth. You are no architect, no sculptor of fate you are a vulture, circling what is already decayed, feeding on what is already broken.”

{Graves places the brush down, his fingers tightening into a fist as he finally turns his head to face the camera, his voice carrying the weight of certainty.}

“I have walked through the fire, Redgrave. I have been swallowed by the earth, buried beneath its weight, only to rise again. My hands do not tremble. My faith does not waver. You think yourself a force of nature, but you have never stood before the storm of the Almighty.”

{A gust of wind rattles the old wooden shutters, but Graves does not flinch. He leans forward, his presence filling the room like an unshakable force.}

“This is not your gallery. This is not your stage. You are stepping into something beyond your understanding, where the price of arrogance is not admiration but ruin. There is no masterpiece waiting for you here, Jasper. Only judgment.”

{He picks up the canvas, now splattered with red, and tilts it toward the candlelight. The flickering glow makes the stains seem alive, shifting in the dimness. He stares at it, then lets it fall, the frame cracking as it hits the floor.}

“You call yourself an artist, brushing death onto the canvas with a careless hand. But when this is done, you will come to know a shade far darker a color not of mere blood, but of judgment, of wrath, of a reckoning ordained by the Almighty Himself.” 

{Graves exhales, slow and measured, before leaning back into the shadow. The candle flickers. The screen fades to black.}

Do The Job

GravediggerGravedigger, Promo

Two men wanted to get a boy to do a job for them. A simple job. The problem was that the job they wanted the boy to do was dangerous. It came with an unenviable risk that didn’t affect the men as much as it did the safety of the child they planned to send into harm’s way.

The boy didn’t wanna go. There was nothing they could pay him to make him change his mind. He knew that walking into danger like that was paramount to suicide and what do credits mean to the dead? If you ain’t alive, you can’t spend em.

The first man argued that he could get the boy to do what they wanted. All he’d need to do is be nice. “I’ll kill him with kindness” he said. So, he bought the starving boy food and drink. He gave him a place to stay and a kind shoulder to lean on. He drew the boy into a false sense of security and made him believe they were friends. The boy, in such a short time and starved of affection came to dote on the man.

But when the man asked him nicely to do the simple job, the boy refused.

The second man argued that he could get the boy to do what they wanted. All he’d need to do is make the boy more scared of him than he was of doing the job. So, he beat that boy to within an inch of his life until he was so afraid that he’d end it, that he thought doing the job was paramount to a chance of survival.

Scared out of his wits, the boy did the job.

I remember those days as if they were yesterday, Sunshine. I remember the warmth in my belly of the hot food and the knuckles of his fist hitting my face. I remember what it felt to be lured into a false sense of security with kindness. It felt safe. It felt like I could refuse to do what was asked of me because I had protection… love.

But when I was being beaten, that protection wasn’t there. When I was being beaten, I knew that if I didn’t agree to do the job, I’d get killed. I knew that my only chance of survival was to escape that beating and take my chances on doing what was asked of me.

Two very different methods resulted in two very different outcomes.

And I learned a life lesson that you’ve apparently yet to learn.

Nice guys finish last.

I’m not a nice guy, Mister Sunshine. I’m not a nice guy and I don’t finish last. You can’t kill me with kindness and we both know you’re not capable of the level of violence it’ll take to make sure my shoulders stay pinned to that canvas and I do the job.

That means that on Warzone, only one us gets his way and for the other, it’s the end of the road.

And you should never fear the end, Mister Sunshine.

The end is where we meet….

And I send you on your way.

Promise

HatchetHatchet, Promo

“You ever realize how fuckin’ fragile a promise actually is?”

“Shit’s made outta glass with how easy it is to break.”

“Lemme give you a lil insight.”

“I once had a bitch ass chemist named Nox offer me a lil deal, right? I go out of my way to beat the piss outta Destructo Bitch and his dead ass dad, and in return I get a nice, fat payout. Pretty easy shit.”

“Except, when I went to get my money? This mother fucker refused to pay. Nah, more than that, that fuck face poisoned me. Took that promise, broke it in his grubby little hands, and shoved it right back in my god damn face. By the time I got outta that fuckin’ office I was shit outta credits with a week long hangover.”

“But, shit, it’s a learnin’ experience.”

“Because now I know, don’t I? Words ain’t worth dick. Contracts ain’t worth the paper they’re printed on.”

“And your boy Hatchet? He ain’t takin’ shit at face value. Because promises can break, contracts can be torn.”

“All it took me was one bad deal to learn that.”

“It raises the question, though, Grim. If it it only took one broken promise for me to learn… Then why the fuck are you still so god damn stupid?”

“Now, I ain’t gonna say I’ve been watchin’ you, not with that fucked up face. But I heard, man. I heard about every last promise you clung onto, and I also heard about how every last one of those promises blew up in your face.”

“Vision was the first, right? Ya boy Vincent said you were his best friend, he promised to be by your side… And next thing you know he broke that shit in your face. Turned it to glass and shredded off your skin until you were left a changed man. He killed the man you were and you were just ganna refuse to learn?”

“Apokalypsis was next, right? Promised you to see the other side of that big door, promised to be by your side until the very end! Or until they decided they wanted to save themselves more than they wanted to be your friend. Shit, Nox was there to make sure they broke the promise in style, wasn’t he?”

“Even now, you stand by Muerte’s side all because he promised he was trying? You have his word he’ll do better?”

“You must be retarded.”

“Lemme lay it out for you, Skull Fuck. What sets us apart is what we took away. You’re so fuckin’ gullible that you’ll believe anything someone says to you even if every promise, every oath, ended with you sufferin’.”

“And I learned my lesson.”

“But since you didn’t, lemme give you some more promises for me to break.”

“I promise I won’t kick the shit outta you.”

“I promise I won’t curbstomp your teeth in.”

“And most of all? I promise, from the bottom of my fucked up lil heart…”

“You, and everyone you know, ain’t gonna get downed by the clown.”