The dark has always been a place where man hides his deepest fears, where the lost souls drift about without purpose and where those who think they have the power to control their own destiny find that they have in fact been watched by something far more powerful. Tonight somewhere deep within the Shadow Lands Estates an ancient gathering is taking place. The grounds of the Dark Shadow Wrestling Asylum are unnervingly still, the air thick with fog which blankets the deserted paths and the gnarled, skeletal branches of the dead trees which claw at the night sky. Ravens are circling overhead, their cries piercing the silence as four figures emerge from the gloom to stand around an ancient stone altar. These are no ordinary folk and they have not come together to discuss the outcome of another wrestling match. They are the Shadow Club and tonight their focus is upon two unfortunate souls who have simply stumbled into their world.

In front of the altar is 'The White Shadow' Samael Leviathan in his customary white robes, the long coat of the robe billowing in the cold night air. He is intently staring at a number of photographs which have been laid out across the stone. Beside him is 'The Marionette' Carol Doll, her pale face partially hidden by her dark hair as she quietly plays with a small wooden puppet on a number of strings. Shadow Enchanter and Shadow Caller are almost completely lost in the gloom around them, only becoming visible when a flicker of candlelight catches their faces.

Samael takes the first photograph very slowly, studies Mick Brandon's face and allows a very unpleasant smile to spread across his lips.

"The White Shadow" Samael Leviathan: "Mick Brandon. A man who used to think the streets of South Side Chicago had taught him everything he needed to know about how to survive. A gangster, a criminal, a man who'd spent his life in the middle of the violence, the intimidation and the constant threat of death. You learned how to survive amongst the wolves, didn't you Mick? You learned that you could buy loyalty with fear and that you could command the respect of another man with your fists. At some point though you decided you wanted to be something else. You wanted to get out. You wanted to be more than the animal the streets had made you."

Samael puts the photo back on the altar and shakes his head in disappointment.

Samael Leviathan: "And what the hell happened, Mick? You've failed. You've escaped one prison only to walk straight into another. You went from the gangs of Chicago to the Eternal Grove, thinking that in the Eternal Grove you'd find the salvation you were so desperately in search of. So Mick, what has the Eternal Grove actually given you? Has it erased all you've done? Has it wiped the blood from your hands? Has it put all the voices of those who remember the man you used to be into silence? Of course not. It's simply convinced you that your chains are beautiful."

Carol Doll starts to chuckle as she lifts the wooden puppet up towards the photo of Mick Brandon and pulls at the strings until the arms of the puppet are pulled rather awkwardly behind it.

"The Marionette" Carol Doll: "Look at him Samael, another little marionette thinking he can dance without someone pulling his strings. The streets, the Grove... poor little Mick never learned how to live without someone telling him who he was supposed to be."

Shadow Caller comes slowly out of the dark, eyes locked on the photograph.

Shadow Caller: "Chicago taught him how to fight. The Eternal Grove taught him how to kneel. We shall teach him how to obey."

Samael nods and then reaches for the second photo. The Tarrasque is huge in that one as well, a massive muscular creature looking right back at you.

Samael Leviathan: "And then there's the Tarrasque. Such a physical specimen of strength. A mountain of muscle, a monster who could easily crush an ordinary man under his feet. A creature which should be absolutely terrifying to anyone who found themselves in his presence. Yet despite all that strength, all that power, all the fear that he's supposed to inspire, this great beast has simply become a pet."

Shadow Enchanter comes round from behind the altar with that damn grin of his and clearly is enjoying every minute of the interview.

'Satan's Whisper' Shadow Enchanter: "A pet trained to respond to the voice of Vespertine. Quite the joke really. A creature capable of mauling an entire army reduced to a quivering mess on his knees by nothing more than a woman's promises and pleasures. She speaks softly into his ear, dishing out all manner of affection and temptation and he is completely at her mercy. He follows her about like a starving animal, waiting for his next reward."

Shadow Enchanter comes up to the photograph and runs a finger very slowly along Tarrasque's face.

Shadow Enchanter: "Tarrasque, what would happen if Vespertine stopped giving you what you wanted? Would you still protect her? Would you still do her bidding? Or would the monster in you finally wake up and realise that you've simply been a weapon she's kept on hand all this time, to be used when she needs to destroy someone?"

A sudden gust of wind extinguishes several of the candles around the altar. Carol Doll stops laughing and turns to the Shadow Enchanter. Her puppet hangs lifeless in her hand.

Carol Doll: "Maybe we ought to take away his little pretty mistress. Maybe then we'll find out if there's actually a monster under all that muscle."

Samael raises one hand, silencing the others as he lays the two photographs side by side.

Samael Leviathan: "Vespertine. The woman who thinks she can control a monster. The woman who thinks her influence over the Tarrasque makes her a threat. Let me tell you something about power, my dear. There's a difference between playing on someone's desires and actually commanding them through absolute devotion. You offer them pleasure, you offer them promises, you offer them rewards because you're genuinely terrified of what will happen when your monster realises he no longer needs you. I offer my followers something far more powerful. Purpose. Belonging. The absolute certainty that the dark will never forsake those who give themselves to it."

Samael turns to the Shadow Enchanter and the Shadow Caller, looking at the two men who will be the Shadow Club's representatives on War Zone.

Samael Leviathan: "Those two aren't with me because I've promised them money, women or any of the other trappings of earthly life. They're with me because they know what we are. We are not some bunch of strays down at the base of a dying tree. We are the darkness that was there before your precious Grove ever grew. When your trees have all died, when your flowers have all turned to ash and your little paradise has been completely consumed by the ground, the Shadow Club will still be there."

Shadow Caller reaches into the dark and pulls out a handful of dead leaves which it then allows to drift slowly across the stone altar.

Shadow Caller: "Every forest eventually dies. Every tree eventually falls. Every living thing eventually comes back to the earth. Shadows don't die with the forest. They just go somewhere else."

Shadow Enchanter starts to pace round the altar, very slowly and deliberately, glancing over at the tag team match about to start.

Shadow Enchanter: "War Zone. Season Five, Episode Eight. Tarrasque and Mick Brandon versus Shadow Enchanter and Shadow Caller. Two men who think they've got something to prove against two men who have nothing to lose. Mick you're going to discover that all those years of fighting on the streets of Chicago are absolutely worthless when you're standing across the ring from something you can't intimidate. You can throw your punches, you can use every trick you've ever learned on the streets of Chicago to try and show that you're still the dangerous man you were. Every time I knock you down I'll get back up. Every time you think you've got me I'll just smile. Every time you reach out to your partner for help you're going to be asking yourself whether that monster is actually coming to save you or whether he's finally decided you're not worth saving."

Shadow Caller moves with his partner, his voice deep and cutting through the night.

Shadow Caller: "And Tarrasque, your strength will do you no good. You may be able to lift a man up over your head and break his body against the canvas, but you can't crush something that has already accepted suffering. You can't frighten men who have spent their lives walking alongside death. You can't just obliterate a shadow because you're strong enough to destroy the thing that's casting it."

Shadow Enchanter turns to his partner, gives a nod and carries on.

Shadow Enchanter: "Listen, this isn't going to be some run of the mill tag match. We're not going in there to just get another win. We're going in there to take something from each of you. From Mick we're going to take that false sense of redemption he's found in the Eternal Grove. From Tarrasque we're going to take the illusion that Vespertine is the most powerful force in your life. When the two of you are lying on that canvas looking up at the lights in the arena you're going to wake up and realise that everything you thought you knew about yourselves was just another well crafted lie."

Samael watches his followers with satisfaction and then walks to the edge of the altar. He looks out over the grounds which are shrouded in fog, the distant outline of the Asylum barely visible through the mist and darkness.

Samael Leviathan: "Know something about the Shadow Club. We don't need to go out and destroy every enemy that comes our way. Sometimes destruction is a waste. Sometimes a broken man can be mended and made into something better. Sometimes a monster just needs to be made to see who he truly owes his allegiance to. And sometimes the greatest victory of all is not in seeing your enemies fall but in seeing them rise again under your banner."

Carol Doll starts to move her puppet again, getting it to kneel on the stone altar between the two photographs.

Carol Doll: "Two little puppets. Two little strings. I wonder how long it will be before they start dancing for us."

Samael looks over at Carol and gives a very quiet chuckle before turning back towards the camera.

Samael Leviathan: "Mick Brandon, I know what you're after. You're after forgiveness. You're after acceptance. You're after someone who will look past the criminal you were and see the man you so desperately want to be. The Eternal Grove can't give you that, because they've never really understood the darkness in you. They want you to just go and bury it all, to pretend that the violence and the hate that was your life for so long were just bad mistakes. We would never ask you to deny who you are. We would just teach you to accept it."

Samael takes Mick's photo and puts it under one of the burning candles.

Samael Leviathan: "And Tarrasque, you magnificent fool, I almost pity you. You've been given the most incredible physical strength, yet you've given yourself over to a woman who knows precisely what to exploit. Vespertine may think she owns you, but ownership based on temptation is a very thin reed. What happens when someone offers you something even more potent than pleasure? What happens when someone shows you that you were never meant to be some submissive beast of a man's, but rather something altogether more fearsome?"

Shadow Enchanter comes over to Samael and takes the Tarrasque photograph from his hand.

Shadow Enchanter: "I want him looking straight into my eyes when we meet in that ring. I want him to know that I'm not in the least bit afraid of him. Let him charge across the canvas like a mad animal. Let him throw me into the turnbuckles, slam me into the ropes and use every scrap of strength that Vespertine has convinced him he's got. The longer that match goes on the more he'll get frustrated and when frustration takes over discipline that's when the Shadow Club takes over."

Shadow Caller comes forward and is standing right alongside his partner.

Shadow Caller: "We'll divide them. We'll isolate them. We'll force Mick Brandon to face up to the violence he thought he'd left behind and we'll force Tarrasque to realise that sheer brute force is of no use without direction. Every failed assault will erode their confidence. Every broken alliance will undermine the hold of the Eternal Grove. By the time the final bell rings they'll know that their true enemy wasn't the one standing across the ring. It was the one standing right beside them."

The camera slowly circles the altar as the fog thickens. There's a cry from a raven somewhere in the distance, then the sound of dozens of others joining in from the trees around. Samael raises both hands and his voice grows ever louder as he delivers his final message.

Samael Leviathan: "VESPERTINE! Listen right now because I'm only going to say this once. You're not up against another woman trying to grab the attention of your precious monster. You're not up against some desperate individual trying to take your influence. You're up against Samael Leviathan. A man who's spent his life studying the weaknesses of man and using those weaknesses as tools of power. You use desire to keep the Tarrasque in your pocket. I use understanding to earn loyalty. You provide temporary gratification. I provide an eternal purpose. And when your monster starts to question the voice that's been telling him what to do, when Mick Brandon starts to remember the darkness you've tried so hard to suppress, you'll see just how little influence you actually have."

Carol Doll walks by Samael, holding her puppet right in front of the camera.

Carol Doll: "Don't you worry, Vespertine. We'll look after your boys absolutely. I'll make sure their strings don't get all knotted up."

A rather sinister smile crosses Samael's face as he puts one hand on Carol's shoulder.

Samael Leviathan: "You see Vespertine, the difference between us is absolutely simple. You're frightened of losing control. I've never had that fear at all. The Shadow Club people know that darkness isn't a prison. It's a home. Eventually every lost soul finds its way home."

Shadow Enchanter snatches both photos off the altar and holds them above the burning candles. The edges start to char as the flames slowly eat the images of Mick Brandon and Tarrasque.

Shadow Enchanter: "At War Zone the Eternal Grove will find out what happens when its roots go too deep into forbidden ground. Mick Brandon, Tarrasque, bring your violence, bring your strength and bring every scrap of loyalty you think you owe Vespertine. Because when you're facing Shadow Caller and me we're going to take away everything that makes you think you're free."

Shadow Caller takes the burning photos and drops them into a shallow metal bowl, watching as the flames eat them up.

Shadow Caller: "It starts with the fear. Then comes the suffering. Then comes the silence. And in that silence you will hear us calling."

Samael slowly turns away from the altar, his white robes dissolving into the thickening fog as Carol Doll follows close on his heels. Shadow Enchanter and Shadow Caller remain standing by the burning photographs, watching the final bits of paper turn to ash. The wind suddenly picks up and the ashes are blown skyward in a swirling cloud, like hundreds of tiny black insects. For a few moments neither of the two men moves. Then Shadow Enchanter lifts his head and looks straight into the camera.

Shadow Enchanter: "Mick Brandon. Tarrasque. Your mistress may think she's got the reins on your future, she has absolutely no idea what's coming to you. When this is all over, when your bodies are in tatters and your self confidence completely broken, we'll give you something the Eternal Grove can never have. A place where your most vile instincts aren't weaknesses but strengths. A place where monsters aren't chained. A place where the forgotten are embraced, the damned are honoured and the lost are finally given a raison d'etre."

Shadow Caller slowly puts a hand on his partner's shoulder and says one last thing.

Shadow Caller: "The Grove will fall. Its roots will rot. Its mistress will weep. And its warriors will belong to the shadows."

From somewhere beyond the fog Samael's voice is echoing across the estate, his words ringing out through the dark as if the entire Shadow Lands has started to speak.

Samael Leviathan: "At War Zone, Season Five, Episode Eight this is not just a battle between two tag teams. This is the start of a metamorphosis. Vespertine thinks she's sending two warriors into the fray to uphold the honour of the Eternal Grove. What she doesn't realise is that she may be sending us two future disciples. When the final bell has rung and Mick Brandon and Tarrasque have finally come to terms with the darkness that resides within them they will find out that the Shadow Club have been waiting for them all along."

The flames in the metal bowl simply go out, the altar is completely dark. The camera catches one last image of Shadow Enchanter and Shadow Caller standing still as scores of crows descend on the trees all around. A low, sinister whisper starts up, gradually building in volume until it's as if it's coming from all around at once.

The Shadow Club: 'You can't escape what you were born to be.'

The screen goes completely black, just the sound of Samael Leviathan's horrible laughter. One final message then appears.

THE ETERNAL GROVE MAY OWN THEIR LOYALTY...

BUT THE SHADOW CLUB SHALL CLAIM THEIR SOULS.