*Disclaimer: The people involved in this promo are actors and were in no real danger. The severe and intense “torture” victims signed a waiver and were treated appropriately by medical professionals after. But the following contents may shock and disturb you...reader discretion is advised.*
“...even Hell can get comfortable once you’ve settled in…”
So here now we stand...two titans in the blistering lights of avarice and decadence.
And there’s really only one question you need to ask yourself before you lace those pretty little boots up one more time, David.
Are...you...happy?
Look around you...just LOOK at how you’ve prospered! A beautiful wife...a throng of adoring fans...a thriving industry!
...and your daughter.
...tell me David...what will she do? What will she do when she has to watch your skin peeled like string cheese from your muscles...what will she do when she sees the white of your skull exposed for the vultures to feast? Will she cry for you? Will she shun you in embarrassment?
...I’m going to make her watch...David. I’m going to make her see...every ounce of hope...every drop of persistence...every fleeting zephyr of rebellion leave your eyes! YOU WILL...SUBMIT...TO THE INEVITABLE!!!
I...AM INEVITABLE!!!
Shhhhh shh shh...don’t you cry little one...it will all be over soon…
...Uncle Levi promises.
-Scene-
“Sorrow...sank deep inside my blood…
All the ones around me I cared for and most of all I loved…
But I can’t see myself that way!!!
Please don’t forget me…
...or cry when I’m away”
(The scene flashes to life in the middle of the woods as we hear faint creepy music playing as we see giant circus tents set up in a clearing just up ahead...but something seems off...there is a large building flanking the main tent as the camera walks through the twisted metal spiked awning entryway of The Darkest Carnival. Fire blasts continuously illuminating all the freaks in their unnatural habitats. We see a completely tattooed voodoo shaman with a forked tongue licking the face of the fattest bearded lady you’ve ever seen. We see vile clowns with mascara running down their faces taunting a small aboriginie wearing a spiked dog collar chained to a post. We see a woman standing on an altar wearing a gleaming white wedding dress as an army of contortionists twist themselves violently around her...she is hyperventilating as soon a pencil thin man wearing a top hat approaches with a torch...he is a fire breather. As she finally shrieks, he blows the flames into the pillar as the camera quickly moves on to show an extremely large, muscular man wrestling with a bear as a leather-clad female caresses a scarred pit bull who is barking like Hell at the cameraman who we also hear freaking out as suddenly a woman shrieks at the top of her lungs and the front flap of the main tent flashes open revealing...The Reverend Synister. Leaning on a cane topped with a skull...the Devil flashing in his eyes...this heretic...this false prophet.
...or was he?)
Reverend Synister: Ohhh...my children!!! I am...EVER so glad to see you! NOW! I hope your trip wasn’t TOO awful taxing...I have SO many adventures for us to behold! Come, COME! Let me show you my greatest creation!!!
(Syn leads us to the building as he turns with an evil grin into the camera as he opens the door and ushers us in with his cane...the building seems to be home to multiple rooms. We hear nothing but blood-curdling screams...as Syn happily cackles and leads the camera to the first room where we look inside. There is a man...strapped to a table...with a buzzsaw swinging like a pendulum over his head. He is thrashing wildly. Syn claps happily.)
Reverend Synister: Of course we would never want to HARM anybody...right? But the fear...when you look into a man’s eyes...and you see nothing but pure...unadulterated fear...you see who he truly is. Pain...and fear...THAT...is the key to understanding humanity!!! Come...COME! I’ve so much more to show you!!!
(Syn leads us to the next room...we see a pedestal in the center of the room...a very SMALL circumferenced pedestal and standing on it trying to keep her balance is a frightened young woman in bloodied scrubs...she is crying...because the entire floor of the room is covered inch by inch with snakes as spiders crawl on the walls and ceiling.)
Woman: PLEASE...SOMEBODY HELP ME!
Syn: *high pitched cackling mockery* SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!
(Syn almost dances towards the next one as he throws out his cane to stop everyone’s movement before turning to the camera.)
Syn: These were child's play...what you will see from here on...may shock you. But I can’t take credit for it! Oh no! See these next few? Were the work of my protege’...and I COULD NOT be prouder! Look! LOOK!
(We slowly look into the next room...a shirtless man lies on a rack as we see a freak in an executioner’s mask swoop in holding a thrashing rat as he places it on the man’s abdomen and a bucket quickly placed over it. We see another freak click a butane torch to life and hold it to the top of the bucket as the man thrashes as the rat presumably begins digging to try and escape.)
Syn: ...isn’t that MARVELOUS!!!
Man: I YIELD!!! I YIELD...MASTER!!!
(Syn gets a look of absolute rapture on his face as he knocks on the door...the man’s will had finally broken and he was to join the ranks of the Darkest Carnival.)
Syn: HAPPY DAY INDEED! Don’t you SEE, my children! It’s so...much EASIER...to SUCCUMB! NOW. Come...we have one final stop...and I think THIS one...might be my favorite.
(We go to the last chamber...and climb a staircase as the only window is a metal grated skylight... where two men surround a table, walking the room looking for any means of escape. Suddenly, a figure rises from a knelt position next to Syn...as they reach to their left...and turn a faucet...water suddenly bursts into a downward facing pipe filling the room as both men begin to struggle...the room is filling up quickly!)
Man: Oh God! I can’t swim!!! HELP! HELP US!!!
(It’s not long...before the room is almost full...as the men reach the grate and claw as viciously as they can, reaching their desperate hands through the grate grasping for anything they can find!)
Man: PLEASE GOD...PLEASE...SAVE US!!!
(The figure next to Syn turns and takes off his hood...revealing himself to be The Iceman Levi Russow. Who kneels down and takes the man’s hand.)
Levi Russow: Don’t worry. I have you.
Man: Oh thank God! Thank you! Help, turn the water off!
Levi Russow: ...No.
Man: Wh-WHAT!?
Levi Russow: Keep your eyes on mine...it’ll be over soon.
(Levi continues holding the now thrashing man’s hand as the water starts to overflow out of the room...Levi is leering down into the abyss locking eyes with the man...but it’s not long before the hand goes limp...Levi lets go...it slowly sinks out of the picture. Levi turns the faucet off.)
Levi Russow: ...drain the room.
(Suddenly all the water cyclones it’s way down a newly opened drain in the middle of the room...it empties quickly as two freaks enter.)
Levi Russow: Resuscitate…
Syn: Resuscitate?
Levi Russow: ...rinse...and repeat.
(Syn absolutely loses his shit when Levi says this...this maniacal bastard is going to drown them over and over again, bringing them to the point of death and then giving them life once more!)
Syn: Come...my child...it is time to deliver your message.
-The Bonfire-
(Levi stands solemn with his hands crossed in front of him and his eyes cast to the night sky...as the Reverend Synister paces back and forth like a feral lion in front of him exciting a mass of freaks surrounding a massive bonfire.)
Syn: MY CHILDREN!!!...I have BROUGHT YOU...the FINAL PIECE OF THE PUZZLE!
(Syn turns and bows to Levi as the freaks go wild.)
Syn: Look at him in all his splendor...bask in his glory! My once most vicious adversary...come to see the light!!! OH HAPPY DAY INDEED!!! AND NOW...WE SHALL RECLAIM WHAT IS OURS...NOW...WE LIVE...FOREVER!!!
(The freaks get even louder and more disturbing as the dogs bark and Levi takes a deep breath.)
Syn: And now...my children...I give you...YOUR KING!!!
(Syn floats out of the way as Levi exhales lowering his head...as his eyes shoot open.)
Levi Russow: ...I want the head...of David Shane.
(The freaks let out a sort of guttural war cry.)
Levi Russow: I want the BLOOD...of ELIZABETH MADISON!!!
(The freaks let out the guttural war cry again.)
Levi Russow: But hear me now and understand deep...you are not to touch...my bastard.
(The freaks quiet as Syn chuckles to himself...Levi’s demeanor grows colder.)
Levi Russow: My own blood...but it will be spilt in time. He WILL answer for his transgressions! I WILL HAVE...HIS LIFE!!!
(The freaks let out the guttural war cry again.)
Levi Russow: But first!...I finish what I started. First I END the caricature...that David Shane has become.
(Levi kneels by the fire as his demeanor grows even darker somehow...he gets lost in his own memories for a moment.)
Levi Russow: We were kids. We were still wet behind the ears and didn’t know any better...weren’t we Dave. Me and you...hand picked to stand beside the original Icon of PWSi...Duke Russell looked both of us and Eddie Lopez in the face and he said “You three...are the future of this company.” And look where we are...Eddie and I are Hall of Famers. Eddie rode off into the sunset...left his legacy in that firecracker Gracie. Eddie did it all right. Me? I don’t know when to hang up the boots...I thought I was done...I was perfectly happy training the next generation. Yeah...I tried to revive PWS...and it failed. It failed because Star jumped ship, it FAILED...because a man I once called my FRIEND...SHOWED himself to be the REAL snake in the grass that went behind my back and undermined my legacy!
...you made a fool of me, David...that’s strike one.
(Levi stands up and runs his fingers through his hair.)
Levi Russow: And my mind I just...I hear things that haven’t been said, I FEEL things that humans aren’t supposed to process I AM...CHANGED. See something, something, something...SOMETHING in me snapped David and I don’t...I don’t throw around words like “unstable” very often, but give a call to those punk bitch fascists over at OCW and they’ll tell you...I’m MORE than a little unstable! THINK about this David! THINK about what you’ve seen me do! There is NOTHING...that I won’t do to YOU...OR to ME.
(Levi taps the side of his head starting to pace frantically.)
Levi Russow: I’m not coming...for your blood, I already got that. I’m not coming for a title...my halls are full. I’m not even coming for retribution...that’s a fallacy in and of itself. What I WANT, David...is your WEASELLY LITTLE HEAD...ON A STICK!!! You wanna, you wanna, you wanna play? Okay, Davey-boy WE’LL FUCKING. PLAY!!!
(Levi is pulling at his own hair frantically now obviously having an episode the likes of which hasn’t been seen...since the last time he went off the deep end and almost killed everybody.)
Levi Russow: Hey man, y’know...I GET it. I GET you people taking your cheap shots, trying to make your name at my expense. Hell, I’d have done the SAME. THING. But you played with fire and you had the BALLS...to think you weren’t gonna get burned? Bella? You sucker punch me with a chair...you make me taste my own blood...and then you run for the hills and boast to anyone that’ll listen with that mentally deficient dwarf you call a boyfriend throwing his little threats? Did you think I was just gonna go away? Did you think with one little chair shot you were gonna WIN this war!? See your mom...betrayal aside...was absolutely right. You SHOULD have ran. You should have put me in your rear view mirror and floored it the Hell outta dodge but’cha DIDN’T did you?
(Levi kicks the fire causing the flames to roar higher as he’s quite visibly losing his ever loving shit now.)
Levi Russow: ...I...I helped raise you...I watched you grow...you SAVED me...and now you’ve grown and you’ve got this CHIP on your shoulder...you think people don’t take you SERIOUSLY...as if that’s somehow MY fault? You got in the head...of my best student, Miles Kasey...and you fucked him up mentally. You guilt tripped Jack to the point he threw together a last minute tour to get AWAY from you. You threw a tantrum and ran away to FRANCE because you couldn’t DEAL with your life not working out t he way you thought! And so you pick ME? ME to make you famous!?
...kid...you’ve WATCHED me kill...closer people...for less.
(Syn touches Levi’s shoulder and whispers something in his ear.)
Levi Russow: You are right...Brother Syn...I musn’t lose focus. See all of that aside...the attention-starved bitch and her paste-eating boytoy got a taste first hand. And David Shane...watched every...red...second of it. Allow me a moment to tell you a story, David.
“One of these days…
It won’t be long…
You’ll call my name…
And I’ll be gone…
Fare thee well...ohhhh honey…
...Fare...thee well…”
Levi Russow: God...brags to the Devil...about his follower’s virtue. The man’s name was Job...he was rich...many fertile lands, ten children, a doting wife...and Satan contends that the only reason Job is “upright” and “blameless” is because God has blessed him so abundantly. So God accepts the challenge and allows Satan to do his worst, short of killing Job himself.
...in one day...natural disasters and thieving marauders kill his sheep...his servants...and all ten of his children.
Levi Russow: But as grief stricken as he was...Job PROFESSED his love for the Lord! “The Lord giveth...and the Lord taketh away”...and how was he rewarded? He let Satan cover Job in terrible skin sores. His wife begged him to renounce the Lord! His friends...who once thought him good and virtuous...turned on him at the drop of the hat and said he must be being PUNISHED for whatever sins he committed! He lost...everything...he began to lose his mind, he began questioning everything he believed! And what did God do in repayment?
...he intervened and told him to be brave…
Levi Russow: And then...trying to act as if nothing had happened...he gave Job twice as much land, a remarkably long life...and new children. Do you believe that? Just…”hey man, sorry I iced your kids, uhh...here’s different ones. Just forget about the others.” and I gotta say...they might call me The Iceman but THAT...THAT is the coldest shit I’VE ever heard.
...God let Satan beat the shit out of this guy who was minding his own business...just to step in at the end and say “hahaha just kidding”
Levi Russow: Now you’re wondering to yourself, “what does that have to do with me”? Maybe nothing...maybe EVERYTHING...you see David. YOU...are a LOT like Job. You keep your head on straight, you fight for what’s right, you have untold riches and a beautiful family!
...but you will call me the Lord...because I’m ripping it all from you…
Levi Russow: I am going to break you down, David Shane...I am going to spill...EVERY ounce of your blood I can until you are on the brink of death...and then? I’m going to intervene! I’M going...to SAVE you! See I FORGIVE you for stealing the company from me! I FORGIVE you for backing that disease infested whore and banning me from a company that boasted the GREATEST TALENT IN THE WORLD...but no Russows allowed. And you carried her title. You shined it up and held it up high for the WHOLE WORLD to see! And you beat your chest and you called yourself the BEST in the WORLD! But DAVID SHANE...you have NEVER...BEATEN...ME!!!
...this...pestilence...I bring to your doorstep...is a GIFT, David.
Levi Russow: See once I’ve broken you...once you are completely dead inside...I will take your hand and I will lift you up! I will REBUILD you! The Reverend Synister has shown me the WAY and I UNDERSTAND...my DESTINY now! I thought I was put here to DESTROY PWS...no no no! PWS is a GIFT to the world! What I’M here to do...is PURIFY it! You’ll see David...in time...you will see...but for now...rest easy...take heart...hug your family a little tighter…
...because THIS...is REALLY...going...to hurt.
(Levi wipes his face and wanders off as Syn cackles madly as the camera pans up to show the full moon in the sky and we fade to black hearing nothing but Syn’s cackling.)
-Songs Used-
“Hospital For Souls” by Bring Me The Horizon
“I Won’t See You Tonight pt. 1” by Avenged Sevenfold
“Fare Thee Well (Dink’s Song)” cover by Rob Benedict
