Episode 48 : Who Have I Betrayed Now?!

Skeleton General Skull Kaiser
(The Dark)

Skull Kaiser, formerly one of Samhain's greatest generals, stages a rebellion against impossible odds. The fate of countless worlds rests upon his ability to protect the Loss Queen and beat back her assailants. Along the way he is forced to fight old friends and make new allies...

Episode 48 : Who Have I Betrayed Now?!

The episode opens with Skull Kaiser roughly searching through the office he was sitting in at the end of the previous episode. He is looking for something that will give him some clue as to who he was or shed more light on his dream/vision of mundane life here. The dream has become faded and vague and he can remember little of it. He becomes more and more frustrated, unable to find anything pertinent and smashes the desk in two. He appeals to the unseen woman who's been tormenting him, shouting demands for answers, but there is only silence. He erupts into fresh bouts of shouting and does not hear the sound of a music box beginning to play.

The music box fades to the whisper of an as yet unheard male voice, repeating over and over again, "traitor". Skull Kaiser calms down a bit as he becomes aware of the voice, he spins around and around, trying to determine its source, but there's no one around. Skull Kaiser repeats the word, confused, and the other voice booms out, shaking the walls with its volume, saying that he (Skull Kaiser) is a traitor. Skull Kaiser once again demands to know what's real and what's fantasy, when is he awake and when is he dreaming? The voice rattles the walls again with its volume, it's incredulous that Skull Kaiser in particular should think that the current state of the world is merely a dream. Skull Kaiser doesn't know what the voice is referring to, or how he's responsible, but the voice assures him he is responsible. Blue light begins to flicker from a corner of the room and Skull Kaiser, dive-rolls out of the way as a thin line of blue light lances past him. He wasn't fast enough however. As he grabs hold of his wounded arm with his other hand, blood spills through his fingers. Skull Kaiser becomes angry and demands to know who is assailant is. The voice laughs and asks if he's forgotten. Skull Kaiser, at the end of his rope with his inability to remember, shouts out that of course he does not remember. The voice snickers and says that perhaps a little cat-and-mouse will remind him. Another thin line of blue light grazes Skull Kaiser's left temple drawing more blood. Skull Kaiser quickly gets to his feet and eyes the room carefully, trying his best to determine the source of the next attack. There is a flash from another part of the room and Skull Kaiser leaps but collapses on landing. His left leg was hit and there's a long cut all the way down the top of his thigh. More blue light begins to flicker in the middle of the room now and Skull Kaiser attempts to back away, dragging himself along the floor, toward the wall.

A figure begins to take shape where the light started and it glides toward Skull Kaiser until he's faced with the ragged and torn figure of the Ghost King. The upper right part of his head is missing and looks as though it was literally torn away, with shredded ends left behind and waving in a slight breeze. He says to Skull Kaiser, "Do you remember me now, Shields?" Skull Kaiser only shakes his head. The Ghost King says something about drastic measures and moves to reach down towards Skull Kaiser who throws a fax machine at his assailant. From the still-remaining third eye in the Ghost King's forhead, the thin blue beam shoots out, carving the fax to smaller and smaller pieces that fall harmlessly to the floor. The Ghost King's hands take hold of Skull Kaiser's neck and raise him off the ground so that his feet are almost a foot off the floor. Skull Kaiser is amazed at the strength in the hands about his throat, then he marvels as he finds his own hands pass right through every part of the Ghost King—how can he touch Skull Kaiser if Skull Kaiser can't touch him?!

The Ghost King is laughing evilly, telling Shields (he always calls him Shields, not Skull Kaiser) to look into his eyes, the ones he has left anyway. Then he shouts out, "Dementia!" The Ghost King's 2 eyes shine brighter and brighter and a wind seems to blow harder and harder at Skull Kaiser, who succeeds in turning his head a bit, but he cannot take his eyes off of the Ghost King's. Skull Kaiser's face is twisted into a horrible grimace and he begins to mutter, "this technique... this technique" before simply losing it to pure, terrified screaming and the screen brightens and brightens to white.

The light fades and Richard Shields is sitting at his desk again snapping out of a reverie with a look of shock on his face as Jennifer enters the room calling his name. He tells her that he's had the most amazing nightmare conceivable. She jokes at first, saying maybe he should set an appointment with himself for treatment. He tells her that something's not right about today and apologizes to her again for being unable to keep their lunch plans. He starts to try to explain himself, but then stops himself. She asks him what happened this morning with Gordon, but he's silent. She tells him that he must stand up for himself where Gordon is concerned and he looks her square in the eye and asks her if that includes matters that include her. She's surprised by this and has no answer as the episode closes.

To Be Continued...