November 20, 1864 outside of Atlanta, Georgia.
There is a carnival going on despite the fact that Atlanta just recently fell to Union forces. Southerners go to the carnival to lose themselves in the fearsome freaks that wander the grounds and the frightening shows that go on in the big tent.
In the outskirts of the carnival, pale creatures with white hair and filthy claws pick off the unwary carnival goer. They are monsters, adults who came to the carnival and lost their sanity and souls to the horrors within and transformed into mindless creatures that crave human flesh. They have been called wights and while they don’t attack groups of people, they are a danger to those by themselves or in a couple.
Several wights stand outside of the carnival, watching for people walking toward the entrance. A group of six of them look at one another as they see a lone Union soldier walking along the path that leads to the entrance to the carnival. They leap out of their hiding places and surround the lone soldier when he yells.
Soldier: NOW!
Bullets rip through the wights with precise shots, dropping them dead to the ground. The lone soldier is joined by a dozen more as they quickly reload their rifles. More wights come at the sound of the gunshots, eager to avenge their slain companions. They are just as quickly dropped as more Union soldiers spill into the area. More than can be counted with ease before being shot to death. They are joined by Brigadier General Quincy Nunez. He walks through the area in silence, regarding the slain wights.
Quincy Nunez: Good work. Spread out around the carnival. There should be more of them hiding and waiting for their prey. Clear them all out and surround the carnival. I want no freaks to escape this night. You six, come with me. The nightmare of the Krimson Kharnival ends tonight!
Inside the carnival, Armand von Krauss is in a smaller tent while a show goes on in the big tent. Here is where most of the money is made for the carnival, adding to the coffers of the Kharnival. Two warriors fight to the death while rich plantation owners watch on with bloodthirsty eyes while making bets on who will win the day.
Champion Kai takes on a challenger, Keith Grayson. Kai is a former slave, purchased by Armand and set free to join the Kharnival if he so wished. He chose to fight to earn a living. Keith Grayson is the son of a plantation owner from Kentucky. After losing his home to Union soldiers, he and his family have come South. He feels that he can defeat any slave and thus begin to recuperate his family fortune.
Keith kicks Kai in the gut, doubling the larger man over. He brings up his knee into a knee strike to the face of Kai, knocking him backward a few feet. Keith reaches into a boot and pulls out a combat knife that he had hidden there and rushes at Kai for the kill.
Kai sidesteps the clumsy slash of the weapon, grabs Keith by the wrist, turns his arm, and lunges to plunge his own dagger into his belly. Keith’s eyes open wide in shock. He was not expecting to feel much pain since he knew he was superior to his opponent in every way.
Kai steps back and admires his handiwork as Keith drops to his knees and attempts to pull the blade out from his belly, but does not succeed since it hurts so much to try. Kai kicks him in the chin as he tries to pull the blade out, causing Keith to bite through the tip of his tongue. It drops to the ground along with a spurt of blood as Keith lets out a scream of pain.
Keith starts to stand up, but falls back to his knees. He begins to plead for his life with his eyes, but Kai kicks him in the hilt of the blade to force the blade to rip through his back with the handle nearly gone. Keith opens his mouth wide as if to scream one last time, but no sound comes out before he falls dead onto his face.
Armand von Krauss walks over to the center of the tent and raises Kai’s hand in victory. He smirks at the angry faces of the rich plantation owners who bet against Kai as the only reasonable bet.
Armand von Krauss: Do you see the error of your ways? Kai fights for his own fortune and for the fact that right now he can murder all of the white people from the Confederacy that I can put in front of him. They would fight for you if you simply honored their rights as free people!
Armand reaches down and pulls the blade out of Keith’s body and hands it to Kai.
Armand von Krauss: Now it seems that my time in the South is coming to an end as the Union comes calling. Kai won’t enjoy killing Yankees as much as you bigots, but he’ll make due.
A portly old man clears his throat as he lights a cigar. His name is Eduardo Ellis, owner of a large plantation in Southern Georgia.
Edwardo Ellis: Now see here, Armand. You’ve done wiped out all of the money that we done brought to his fight. If you be wanting us to go home and bring more money so we can earn our fortunes back…you had ought be more nice to us.
Armand looks around at the other owners with a predatory grin.
Armand von Krauss: And you have all spent everything you have brought here?
Most of them nod back or murmur “yes”. None of them look happy at being broke or for Armand’s earlier words. Armand places a hand on Kai’s shoulder.
Armand von Krauss: Kill them.
Armand moves to block the exit to the tent as Kai lunges at Eduardo Ellis and slashes open his throat. Armand prevents any from escaping as Kai slaughters everyone else in the room. Armand licks splattered blood off of his lips, the first time he has tasted mortality in a long time. He grins.
Armand von Krauss: I was a bigot once upon a time in my life. I didn’t believe in the words of civilized men until I met Esmeralda.
Armand looks to see Kai looking at him curiously. Armand sighs.
Armand von Krauss: Never trust the word of a Roman Senator. Ever.
Kai nods. Not knowing anything about the Roman Empire or anything going on in Europe at the present time or for centuries before.
A man comes into the tent to stand before Armand. He does not look at Kai, keeping his attention to the carnival owner. He is Lucas Vaugeois, the Ring Master of the carnival. The sound of gunfire can be heard in the distance as the man comes into the tent.
Lucas Vaugeois: Sir! Union soldiers have surrounded the camp and are taking down everyone!
Armand frowns.
Armand von Krauss: We are not a military target! Why would they…let me see to this.
He walks out of the tent to see Union soldiers gunning down his monsters, his freaks.
Armand von Krauss: Noo! You don’t understand the damage you bring about!
That’s when a bullet finds him in the chest and knocks him down. He gets up quickly enough to see the Brigadier General leading six men through the camp, slaughtering everyone they find, guest or worker. The General yells as he fights.
Quincy Nunez: Armand von Krauss! Show yourself!
Armand reaches into the inside pocket of his business suit and pulls out a golden cigarette holder. He draws out a cigarette and uses a wooden match to light it. In the South, many Confederate soldiers paid with a portion of their cigarette rations to be able to watch the show. These were given to Armand and Esmeralda. As he takes in a long drag, he notes with some amusement as smoke escapes the hole in his chest that is quickly closing up.
He shouts to the General.
Armand von Krauss: I am here. Come face me!
General Nunez sees Armand standing outside of a tent and holds up a restraining hand as the six men with him take aim with their rifles.
Quincy Nunez: Hold your fire! Armand, we are here to oversee the death of your carnival of monsters!
Armand von Krauss: Then, you are here to orchestrate the death of your world!
The General frowns in confusion as this is not a response that he had expected to hear. Still, he shakes it off.
Quincy Nunez: Your carnival destroyed my parents when I was young! Up in the North, forty years ago. My parents lost their minds when we went to the carnival. They transformed into monsters that tried to kill me!
Quincy points out an old claw scar that goes down the right side of his face, just missing the eye. Armand squints a little as the General is a good distance away. He smiles in recognition.
Armand von Krauss: Little Quincy Nunez? I saved your life from your parents!
Quincy Nunez: You murdered them! I could have changed them back.
Armand von Krauss: No, Quincy. Once your parents were transformed, they could never transform back. Your parents were gone. Come now. End this war against me. We provide a service that you cannot possibly imagine.
The General shakes his head, grief already in his eyes.
Quincy Nunez: I am the hero here! I will bring down your evil little circus! Open fire!
Armand flicks his cigarette through the air and moves. He is on the first soldier as he takes aim and grabs the rifle from his hands. He buries the butt of the rifle into the man’s face, crushing his skull and killing him instantly. He then takes the rifle and shoots another soldier in the heart before impaling a third with the barrel of the rifle. He grabs another soldier by the head and spins his head around viciously to break his neck. He then shoves his fist through another soldier’s chest to rip out his heart. The final soldier, he rips out half the man’s collarbone and stabs through his head with the bone.
Armand von Krauss turns to the General, covered in the blood of the General’s handpicked soldiers as they fall dead to the ground. The General points his handgun at Armand and opens fire, hitting Armand in the chest with all six shots.
Armand von Krauss stands tall, bleeding black blood from the wounds that are rapidly closing. He smiles.
Armand von Krauss: You’re the hero here. It’s true. You seek vengeance for your fallen parents and for your entrance into the military once you are old enough to lie about your age. Don’t think I don’t know you, General Nunez. I know all of the children transformed by my Kharnival.
Quincy Nunez: I am not a monster!
Armand von Krauss: My Kharnival transforms all who come to it in some way. Adults who cannot handle the reality of the Kharnival become wights. Many children become monsters who join my Kharnival to continue the cycle. You…once a month for three days you shut yourself in. You think that if you do not see the full moon you won’t kill innocents, but you get out and kill anyway. That’s how you killed your fiance.
Quincy Nunez: I AM NO MONSTER!
The General draws a sword and comes at Armand. He slashes at the circus owner, who catches the blade with one hand and strikes it with the other to shatter the metal. He then grabs the General and hurls him nearly fifty feet away.
Armand von Krauss: Show me, Little Quincy. Show me the monster that you have become. Try to make me as afraid of you as your men do. They fear the wolf within, though they do not know you are the source.
Quincy Nunez: No! I will not!
Armand points up to the sky as the clouds part to reveal the full moon.
Armand von Krauss: You had to know what the night was when you attacked my camp. You had to know that the monster would come out.
Quincy looks up at the full moon, the first full moon this month, and seems as though he is in a panic. Armand laughs.
Armand von Krauss: You did not know? Come for me, my monster. See if you provide a challenge!
Quincy looks at the moon and then at Armand with wide eyes.
Quincy Nunez: You want this?
His voice changes as he begins to transform, becoming guttural, and bestial. His frame grows and muscle is added as he rips through his clothing.
Quincy Nunez: You got it!
His mouth elongates into a snout with a mouth full of jagged teeth. His arms and legs lengthen, sprouting claws on the ends of his fingers and toes. He leaps through the air to slash at Armand with both claws, ripping black bloody furrows in his chest. Armand grabs Quincy and lifts him up high into the air before bodyslamming him down to the ground.
Quincy jumps right back up from the ground and slashes one claw across Armand’s face to send blood flying through the air. Armand palm strikes Quincy right in the middle of the chest, sinking in the sternum nearly to his spine. The impact sends Quincy flying back nearly twenty feet where he lands on his feet, the dent in his chest quickly filling back out just as Armand’s wounds heal up as well.
Quincy leaps at Armand and clamps down his jaws on Armand’s shoulder, drawing black blood as his jagged teeth sink into immortal flesh. Armand yells in pain and seizes Quincy by the snout and lower jaw to get him off of his shoulder.
Armand von Krauss: No monster is my equal!
Armand strains and pulls Quincy’s head apart, ripping the top of his head from his lower jaw and both parts from the body. Union soldiers see this act of savagery and begin to retreat. The damage is done and while the Krimson Kharnival will continue on, it will take years to rebuild to its former glory.
Present Day
Armand von Krauss sits in the Observation Deck on his airship. He has a glass of brandy next to him and a smoking Egyptian cigarette in one hand. In his other, he holds a necklace made of werewolf teeth. He takes a drag of the cigarette and blows the smoke into the air.
Armand von Krauss: Eron Hunter, there is always a hero who stands up and thinks that they can stop me. There is always a Brigadier General Quincy Nunez who thinks that they can destroy me. It will not happen, Eron. I am above reproach. In the big picture of things, I am a Saint doing the work of angels. You can only see the small things. You only see the companies ruined by corruption, the lives sacrificed to the greater good.
Quincy Nunez sought revenge against me his entire life. My Kharnival absorbed his parents. Their minds could not contain the horrors of my Kharnival and they went out into the outskirts alone where they became wights and attempted to kill their son. He escaped death with but a scar and spent the rest of his life trying to bring me down. Sherman’s March to the Sea provided him all the cover he needed to take a force out and destroy my Kharnival. He failed.
Armand takes a sip of his brandy and smiles as the warming feeling goes through him.
Armand von Krauss: You are a fighter, Eron. I don’t know what your vendetta might be against me, but you have to know that you will fail. You have to know that by the end of the night, at the end of the match, I will be the one standing over you in victory. I will be the one basking in glory.
Armand flicks ashes onto the floor from his cigarette and chuckles.
Armand von Krauss: After we have our match, I suggest that you know your role. I am the owner of this company and I can make your life a living hell. I can make every one of your matches a potential career-ending match. I can send my henchmen after you every time you think that you might be safe.
However, if you can accept your upcoming defeat, we can work together. We can support one another in times of need and I can put you into matches that will lead to championship opportunities. I can lead you to the most challenging matches of your career that will be the most rewarding victories.
Just understand that I will be defeating you in that steel cage. Once you can accept that loss and move on to cooperation, things will be better for you.