Saturday, December 1, 2018

Endless Road: Progress Report 15

King Yellow: Endless Road
64,100 words

It may not look like much, but I did manage to get past my writer’s block. A huge, months-long chunk of nothing melted away by a few encouraging words. Pretty neat. In any case, the book really is nearing completion. It may be a bit on the short side (ironic, given its title), but it will be what it will be.

In other news, I’m taking steps to make my short stories free for download. Some of them can already be found on Smashwords (and soon to be elsewhere via their distribution channels). Eventually, they should be free from Amazon.com as well.

Happy Holidays!

Thursday, November 1, 2018

Endless Road: Progress Report 14

King Yellow: Endless Road
61,300 words

All these posts are starting to (?) sound the same. Anyway, a little more progress—always good— and I don't want to cry wolf, but I think I might be in a position to start really pushing through to the end.

Monday, October 1, 2018

Endless Road: Progress Report 13

King Yellow: Endless Road
57,500 words

Some progress, but not much. Still creeping towards the end.

Saturday, September 1, 2018

Endless Road: Progress Report 12

King Yellow: Endless Road
55,500 words

Added relevant material from Approaching Infinity Book 6. I'd originally intended to include this, changed my mind, then changed it back. Though it's just a casual and incomplete view of the end of the AI series, I wanted to make the King Yellow books as stand-alone as possible. Anyway, satisfied with the choice. Might take a little revision of the material to make it more relevant to King Yellow, but that shouldn't pose too much a of a problem.

Also reworked a few things and made some general edits. Getting there!

Wednesday, August 1, 2018

Endless Road: Progress Report 11

King Yellow: Endless Road
37,600 words

Okay, even though the word count this time around might not reflect it, I'm back on track. I've spent the last few days going through the story addressing some things I'd been meaning to, getting set to fill in some holes and push through towards the end. It still may be a bit slow-going, but we'll get there. I promise. Thanks for sticking around!

Sunday, July 1, 2018

Endless Road: Progress Report 10

King Yellow: Endless Road
36,000 words

Well, I've come a little ways out of my writing funk, I guess. Not a lot of progress, but some, and there should be more on the way. I haven't given up and hope you haven't either!

Friday, June 1, 2018

Endless Road: Progress Report 9

King Yellow: Endless Road
34,200 words

Sigh. Still no further progress. Maybe that will change in June. Hopefully that will change in June.

Tuesday, May 1, 2018

Endless Road: Progress Report 8

King Yellow: Endless Road
34,200 words

Still on hiatus for the time being. Hope to come out of it soon, but can't make any promises just yet.

Sunday, April 1, 2018

Endless Road: Progress Report 7

King Yellow: Endless Road
34,200 words

No progress last month. Unfortunately, I am going on hiatus for a bit. I don't know for how long, but still hope to have the book out by year's end. Bear with me.

Oh, and...

Happy Easter!

Thursday, March 1, 2018

Endless Road: Progress Report 6

King Yellow: Endless Road
34,200 words

This was a slow month. The next few may be slow as well. Bear with me.

Friday, February 2, 2018

Free! February 2-6!

From February 2nd through 6th, the first two books of the Approaching Infinity series and all of my short stories will be free for download at Amazon.com.

Thursday, February 1, 2018

Endless Road: Progress Report 5

King Yellow: Endless Road
31,400 words

Not a great month, but not a bad one either—just shy of my monthly goal. Had a bit of writer's block, which took some time to overcome, but overcome it I did! Woot!

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Last Words

Jennifer, please forgive me. If there’s anything left of you, please forgive me.

I don’t imagine I have much time, so I shall attempt to be brief. I may have only moments before some wandering denizen of this infernal house happens along and re-inspires the hunger for savagery that has clouded my reason for untold hours. That I am at all lucid right now shocks me, considering my circumstances, and I must apologize for the crude medium I’ve been forced to use; I have a quill, some paper, but only my own spilled blood for ink, and that I have in abundance.

I was the favored student of one Professor Gordon at the university, though I’ve only recently come to realize the damnation such favoritism could mean. He is a professor of abnormal psychology with an unhealthy interest in the occult. He invited my fiancée and me to this house, ostensibly for dinner, but his true purpose was far more sinister. Had I any inkling of the experiment to which he wished to subject us, I would have taken Jennifer and gotten as far away from this place as possible. Of course, it seems ridiculous to make such statements now; there was no way to know and wishful thinking is profitless.

The house itself is a monstrosity, nestled securely within the thickly wooded hills of a stretch of forgotten Massachusetts countryside. It is the professor’s hereditary estate and only he and the cruel ghosts of his ancestors know all the horrors perpetrated here; for surely God Himself would have intervened long ago had He the faintest notion of what goes on within these walls. But this is knowledge I learned at a dreadful cost; when Jennifer and I first saw it, we were entranced with the place. The drive was long and we were pleased to have arrived, just beating the onset of a terrific storm, which proceeded to paint the place into an ominous, yet intriguing picture: It looked for all the world like the archetypal haunted house. We were both very amused by our singular reaction, for our field of study had done much to expel such mythical concepts: Haunted houses, we both knew, existed solely in the realm of popular entertainment. I know better now.

We were greeted at the door by the butler, a strange little fellow whose features eluded me for the shadows, and whose voice was a tittering wheeze. He escorted us to the library where we found Professor Gordon. The Professor bragged of his arcane books and spoke always in a conspiratorial manner as if there were others present in the room who were keyed in to the hidden significance of his words. Jennifer was clearly perplexed, and I could offer no explanation since his demeanor seemed so different from that exhibited in the lecture hall, but it entertained her greatly and she did her best to accommodate him. As I look back, there was the clear air of madness about him: His eyes shone with mirth, but it was a sadistic kind of mirth as I was soon to realize. At the time, I thought it was the brandy in him.

After a fashion, the butler announced that dinner was ready, and at his words, the Professor nearly shuddered with pleasure. Jennifer and I shared a look of confusion as we moved into the dining room. The Professor remained at the head of the table straining with inexplicable anticipation as he told us to sit where we would. The conversation at dinner was much like that in the library, though now the Professor became more intense. He asked me my goals, both professional and personal, and asked the same of Jennifer. He seemed to find great irony in the confluence of our career paths, explained himself with a chuckle, and continued in silence with his meal. The food was appetizing but unidentifiable and it appeared to differ by plate.

Eventually, the Professor became intrigued with the clock and said, “Tick tock,” as the hour struck nine. Just then, there came throughout the house a resounding clamor that I later realized was the sound of countless bolts being shot and bars falling before the windows. The Professor put down his utensils and became more cordial again. He asked us about the food, taking special interest in Jennifer’s opinion. In a sick parody of response, she began to convulse slowly but with great force. As I attempted to voice my concern I found the sound of my own voice a strange and unfamiliar thing. My limbs had grown heavy and the room began to spiral: I could not move.

The professor’s face took on a nightmarish quality as he cackled and spat. “You, my good Richard, have merely been drugged,” he said. “She, on the other hand, has partaken of a very special dish. One that is sure to change her life.” He laughed anew at his own macabre humor. He stood up and backed out of the room. “I’ll open the house to you in a little while, but first, I’ll give you some time to be reacquainted.” With that, he exited and locked the door behind him.

At first I feared for her health. She seemed wracked with unutterable agony but then it became clear that something else was happening. I could do nothing but watch my poor, lovely Jennifer undergo a hideous bodily transformation, the details of which I am loathe to pen. For the first time now, I began to fear for my own safety and not hers. The thing she had become stared and sniffed and dashed the china from the table. It leapt before me and sank both claw and fang deep into my breast. My head was astir and I felt the pressure of her clinch, but because of the narcotic, pain was something far, far away. I watched with understandably mixed emotions as my life-blood rushed down my front and sullied the chops of what had once been my fiancée.

In my prison of flesh I became aware of the beating of my own heart as it began to drown out all other sounds. It slowed and slowed until I was aware of nothing else. I would be dead soon. Or so I thought. It would have been so simple had that been the case. My dinner plate, gaudy and large like the rest, exploded suddenly and without provocation. The shattered remains revealed something odd that I could not help but focus on as I began to slip into darkness. It looked rather like a face; a mask really, wrought in fine, stippled ivory, which somehow had been baked into the plate.

My next recollection was of waking up alone in the dining room except for several bloodied forms strewn about the floor and upon the table. The door was flung wide and there was the sound of activity beyond, something scrabbling down the hallway. All was dark, but I was able to see fairly well, which I cannot really explain except that it must be some property of the mask that I found affixed to my face and which is still there now. The noise from the hall grew louder and something entered the room. It wasn’t altogether human, nor was it purely animal, but some ungodly combination of the two.

As it crossed the threshold, my will abandoned me and was replaced with indescribable fury. My vision immediately became a thing filtered through blood-soaked gauze, and my body began to move of its own accord. I was as a passenger on a train unable to affect my own course, and I watched as my fists struck with precision and unmitigated violence. My knuckles were soon slick and red and that incited me all the more. It was then that I heard the voice in my head. First I took it for lunacy, then I knew the truth: It was the voice of the mask.

“My price is blood, my product is power,” it whispered.

“I am dying and I am to do it insane,” I thought.

“My price is blood, my product is power,” it repeated.

“My delusions are insistent,” I thought.

And then it said something that made me think I might be hearing the voice of another and not that of my own madness. It said in its horrible whisper, “Blood is blood,” and I began to comprehend its meaning.

I was dimly aware now of my fists rending flesh, tearing at organs, and shattering brainpans; indeed the dining room was a gory mire and blood flowed in rivulets. The room had filled with hideous hybrid creatures and I seemed to be a staunch nemesis to each and every one. A whispered laugh echoed in my head as reason faded into the now familiar and intrusive lust for carnage.

I can only remember flashes of particularly abhorrent actions I witnessed myself perform—and I am strangely unmoved by them now in my sobriety. When the last heart besides my own stopped beating and nothing more entered the dining room, a semblance of coherent thought returned to me. I found myself panting as I climbed clumsily over masses of broken and unholy corpses. The mask spoke again.

“Power is satisfaction, is it not?”

It laughed at my attempt to deny this.

“Who are you?” I said aloud.

“Look in the mirror,” it whispered in my head, and then it laughed all the harder when I couldn’t bring myself to do this.

“You are my jailor,” I whimpered.

“Perhaps. But I am also your liberator and savior. Do you not live and breathe?”

“Yes, but for how long and for what purpose?”

“As long as there’s blood, and you have already guessed it.”

“To pit two obscene powers against one another and the two of them against the dangers of this house? Do you answer to the Professor?” I said.

“I answer first to blood, then to you. You wish to kill him.”

I tried to protest, but it plumbed the depths of my own mind far better than I ever could.

“The Professor is clever, but there is a larger threat which my design will not allow to go unchecked,” it said.

“Jennifer.”

“Yes, though she as you knew her is gone. . . Mostly.”

I would say that we struck a bargain, but I know that really this was just my dawning acceptance of a course I could not alter. The mask requires blood, and I require the mask for survival or the wounds I had incurred would finally take their toll as they are beginning to now. I also realized that the mask was not so alien. It looked into my psyche and extracted what it needed. I was capable of the things it helped or made me do, it merely acted as a focusing lens and continues to do so, but for how much longer I cannot say.

What troubles me is how thin the wall is to rabid, animal violence: I nearly crave it now if only to keep myself alive—and alive for what? Justice, I suppose. Or maybe it’s better to call it what it is: Revenge.

I found Jennifer and we fought. I have few and fragmented memories of our exchange. What remains of her is across the room before the bookcase. I do not know what to feel. I have killed a monster, a monster which sought to kill me, but which was once the love of my life. My victory, while far from complete, is perhaps tenuous: One of her blows left the mask with a long crack and it has grown silent for a time. I go now in the hopes that the mask is still hungry, that blood is its balm for all things, for I intend to satiate it, if at all possible, with all that remains in this wicked, wicked house.

Richard Shields

March 3, 1918



I wrote Last Words in 2001. It is three things in one:
  1. it's a piece of video game fanfiction
  2. it's a dubious homage to H.P. Lovecraft
  3. it's the origin of Richard Shields and, along with Skeleton General Skull Kaiser, the origin of the Approaching Infinity series
It's been fun and interesting revisiting these pieces. I suppose doing so was long overdue, but here it all is. This fittingly-titled post will be the last its kind for the foreseeable future. Progress Reports will continue as scheduled, on the 1st of every month. Let me know your thoughts on this short story and Skeleton General Skull Kaiser.

Thanks for reading!

Monday, January 22, 2018

Episode 53 : There Is No Asylum

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 53 : There Is No Asylum

The episode opens with Shields busy trying to shoulder the door to his padded cell open. He stops for a moment, backs away and tries to loosen the grip of the straitjacket by shaking his body, pulling one arm as hard and fast as he can then the other, back and forth, over and over again. There is a brief ripping sound and he stops with a crafty grin on his face—he looks pretty crazed at the moment—but the arms have loosened slightly and he seems pleased with this. But the sounds of screaming come from the halls again, and he becomes concerned. He hears a woman cry out and he whispers Jennifer's name to himself. He again sets about butting the door open with his shoulder and after several tries, what looks like a black cloud gathers around him and the door bursts outward with one final blow.

As he stumbles through the doorway, he notes that the lights are low, that they're on the emergency generators. He as much as ignores the fact that the sleeves of his strait jacket have come completely free. The halls are empty, though there should be nurses and orderlies all over the place. He walks cautiously down the hall, paranoid of every noise he hears. There are screams and moans coming from all sides, but nowhere particularly near. He decides to head back to the offices, and as he goes, he begins to see blood smeared on the floor and walls. He sees things wrapped up in formerly white sheets, now soaked with blood. Focusing his eyes in the dark, Shields sees one of these things still moving, but it's too small to be a whole person. It's wrapped in more bloody sheets and attempting to drag itself with gnarled and twisted arms, reaching out from under the sheet to get past a swinging door along the hall. Focusing even more, Shields can see one hand raise up a dirty syringe and jam it into its other arm, fumbling to force whatever fluid is there into the remains of its body. There is a strange repetitive noise coming from beyond the swinging door and many moans can be heard on the other side. Shields allows the little thing to scurry far enough a way and then, taking a gulp, pushes the swinging door in.

The room is a mess, a desk is overturned, there is debris all over the floor. Also, a giant is sitting on an indistinct pile of something (something characterized by occasional movement and horrible inhuman moans) with his back to the door and he's working at something. He's bent over pulling at two opposite ends and that's the source of the repetitive, wrenching sound, with each pull there is a louder and louder grunt. From the right side, we can see that the giant is tugging on a pair of legs, somewhat indistinct in the darkness. There is a snap and the giant separates the two halves. He pushes the left-side half away and picks up the right-side half and carefully walks them to the wall where there are many like pairs standing up. We can see that there are things sticking out all over the giant's body, like fat, sparsely distributed quills. The giant bends down, and while holding the legs with his left arm, he removes the shoes. This posture turns the giant around somewhat, and he becomes aware of a presence at the door. Shields stands horrified as the thing looks at him, turning its head with animal curiosity. Its head is completely wrapped in gauze and so faceless. Shields can see that by the dress, this person must have been a patient and judging by his fixation, it seems to be Mr. Sabotini, but with the face covered he can't be sure. Evidence pointed to it being Sabotini, but Sabotini was never that big an individual. This man was fairly bursting out of his clothes. It's clear that there's no human reason left in the giant and then the brute's head drops as he notices Shields's shoes. Shields looks down and understands all too well. Sabotini looks up and Shields, with fear plain on his face, turns to bolt down the hall. Sabotini leaps over the obstacles in the room and gives chase. Shields runs and tries to beat back his fear. He asks himself if he's dreaming. Can this really be happening? Can he believe anything he sees anymore? His hallucinations are becoming more constant than his reality.

As he's running, Shields notes that the main exit to the care wing is just ahead and as he begins to feel the least bit relieved, he trips in the dark.

When he opens his eyes, he's looking at a twisted face frozen in a permanent, silent scream. Shields lets out with a very audible scream of his own and scurries back against the wall as best he can since his arms are still in the long, loose sleeves of the strait jacket. He sees that the floor here is littered with stiff corpses, all twisted into strange shapes. Then he notices an exact duplicate of the giant he was running from piling up twisted bodies before the exit doors. It's arranging bodies, creating some kind of sculpture, twisting bits here, curling things there, sort of like a non-functional gate, or maybe it's just trying to plug up the exit the best way it can (but it really thinks it's being artistic). It turns its head and looks at Shields with the same animal curiosity the other did. Now it's clear that the "quills" are countless syringes sticking out all over his body. The other giant can be heard approaching and its pace seems to have slowed. Shields stands up, laughing hysterically, saying that he gives up, if he's gone crazy, or the world's gone crazy, or some combination of the two, it doesn't matter anymore. None of this can be real, so why not play along. He says this as he shrugs out of the husk of the strait jacket and the other giant comes into view.

Season 3 : END (CANCELLED)

Sunday, January 21, 2018

Episode 52 : Breaking Point

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 52 : Breaking Point

Richard Shields is tossing and turning in his bed, having a nightmare.

We cut to an image of the horrific Gordon we saw in the dream sequence from episode 50. He's standing some ways away from Shields and Jennifer. Shields looks down and sees that he's holding onto Jennifer's arm. Everything is black except for the figures. Gordon says he's giving Shields a head start to his destiny and smiles that evil, sharp smile. Shields rallies Jennifer, and the two start running away from the laughter that seems to fill the blackness completely. They're running and running and eventually, they tear through a black curtain into a lush jungle. Shields finds himself alone, the jungle teams with life and the deafening sounds produced it. Through the noise, a regular pattern emerges like a speeding heartbeat, fueled by anxiety. Shields continues through the jungle and he becomes more frantic and desperate until he stops abruptly at a clearing. Here the heartbeat sound is loudest, fastest, and most insistent. He looks all around then focuses in on something that blended in with the scenery too well before. There is what looks like a loaf of tofu mostly caked with dark brown, moist dirt. It's about the size of large football and it pulsates with the sound of the heartbeat. Over the noise, we can hear Shields whisper to himself, "Strauss," (it's the very thing Strauss described at the beginning of episode 51). Then Shields looks slowly and deliberately to his right where Strauss is standing, shaking his head sorrowfully. Strauss is handcuffed and surrounded by a bright, yellow corona and says, "This one is yours."

Shields sits bolt upright in bed clenching his hand to his mouth to stifle a scream. He's sweating and breathing heavily and notes that it's 5 am. We cut to the still-dark streets and Shields is walking away from 2 slumped figures in the shadows, shaking blood from his fists. He finds the Columbia Building in the skyline and for a moment thinks he sees something on a grand scale coming from the building, it looks almost like a sea anemone's tentacles waving in the ocean, but again, on a grand scale. The tentacles seem to be issuing out of the building and some even approach him, one comes very close and almost grazes his cheek, it is animate and acts playfully as if intelligent, but as he steps to avoid it and watch it it fades and disappears. He starts to walk off again and he curses Strauss in his head. He points out that his life, though boring, was pretty normal before Strauss entered into it. He's beginning to resent Strauss. He thinks Strauss knows more about what's going on than he's telling and he's being selfish about keeping the knowledge to himself. While lost in his reverie, a familiar man (the dapper one in the black suit from episode 51) steps from the shadows and says that Shields has an interesting hobby. He nods back over Shields's shoulder to the two prone figures. Shields just glowers and tries to continue forward. With his hands in his pockets, the man steps with his right foot, locking it around Shields's right foot, then leans forward, casually knocking Shields to his butt on the ground. Shields becomes enraged and demands to know what this man's problem is. He simply tells Shields that he's noisy and as Shields looks, a strange, swirling aura surrounds the man and Shields mutters that he feels sick, and as he's passing out, the man says, "Of course you do. But you're almost ready."

We cut to Shields waking up to near darkness. Gordon's face appears overhead and his smile is not at all genuine. Gordon asks Shields how he's feeling and before Shields can answer, Gordon continues saying that Shields did the right thing by checking himself in and by telling him about his fights, his dreams, and his hallucinations. We zoom out and realize as Shields does that he's slumped up against a padded wall, wrapped up in a straitjacket. Shields is beside himself with shocked confusion, but gathers his composure. Gordon goes on about stress and the awkward situation Jennifer has put them all in. Shields doesn't believe any of what Gordon says and he tells him that while he doesn't know what to believe anymore since his senses seem to betray him at random, Gordon is still the last person he'd open up to. Gordon, sighs and says that Shields's case is far more advanced than he would have guessed. This morning Shields must have had a brief moment of lucidity, but now he's in denial and still delusional. Shields reiterates that even if he is going crazy or if he's already there, that Gordon is the last person he wants help from. Gordon becomes somewhat grave and tells Shields to be careful talking that way to the person who holds his future in his hands. Shields laughs out loud and asks if that's supposed to be new, like his smart new jacket. There is the sound of muffled screaming from somewhere else inside the building and Gordon's attention is immediately drawn away. Shields ignores it and continues saying that Gordon always seemed to like keeping him in his pocket, that in the earlier years, they had a good reciprocal relationship, but Gordon grew accustomed to keeping Shields under his thumb. Gordon looks off rather nostalgically and still preoccupied with the sounds of screaming, saying, "Yes, it was always so... easy. But that old potential future of yours pales compared to this new one." Now Shields becomes somewhat grave and wants to know what the hell Gordon's talking about, demanding for him to drop all pretense. But Gordon is completely preoccupied now, constantly looking towards the door until he finally says he has some things to attend to, leaving Shields alone in the padded cell. Shields gets up and stands in the middle of the room for a moment, breathing heavier and heavier until he shouts out Gordon's name three times, each louder and more vehement than the time before and then the episode closes.

To Be Continued...

Saturday, January 20, 2018

Episode 51 : Fear of Convergence

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 51 : Fear of Convergence

Richard Shields is interviewing Strauss, asking him to describe something he already described to Dr. Gordon. Strauss does. It's the image of some alien, living thing that he thinks is a part of himself, the part that he cannot fathom. He describes it as looking like a log (for firewood, not for cabins) caked with rotting bark and old, dark green moss, but its insides are soft and white, like a loaf of tofu (!) so that it quivers, giving it the appearance of being both delicate and alive. Somehow, Strauss says, it's malignant. They discuss Strauss's preoccupation with wanting to do something important, but that his life has been rather uneventful in that respect. This information hits Shields very hard as he remembers Gordon's words about how Shields and Strauss seemed similar. They talk about guilt and how Strauss is struggling since he knows he should feel guilty but doesn't. He's been having other dreams where a ghost has been telling him that he'd done the right thing killing those 6 people. Strauss says that something is wrong with the Columbia Building. He asks if Shields visited it as he suggested. Shields repeats Strauss's question.

We cut to the following events as Shields provides a detached voice over that doesn't touch on any of the weirdness he encountered as he went to meet Gordon at the Columbia Building. We see Shields walking downtown when he becomes intrigued first by a woman who seems to look at him oddly. She's dressed in tattered tights, and layers of earth-toned clothing that seems like it may have been very colorful a long time ago. She's got an old, gray mink (complete with claws and a head) on her shoulders. He follows her into a department store and instantly loses sight of her. He looks around and sees a rat wriggle down an aisle. Then he sees another and another, and other small animals seem to have infested the place. The air in the store is hazy and dirty and all the people inside are hunched over, holding their stomachs or mouths, some collapse, some vomit, some merely convulse sickly. Terror is evident on Shields's face then everything suddenly looks normal. He sees the woman, who smiles at him, and he leaves the department store. He focuses on the height of the Columbia Building, which marks his destination and continues toward it. As he goes, a man in a sharp black suit falls into step beside him. He's wearing sunglasses, his hair is slicked back, and there's a diminutive lotus in his lapel that stands in contrast to his dark suit. Shields begins to feel a little self-conscious and finally the man speaks to him without turning. He says that it's a beautiful day, then leans a bit towards Shields and says to follow him, that he knows a short cut. This is of course completely unexpected, but Shields, with a look of confusion on his face, decides to follow the man. They turn down an alley, the man in the black suit taking the lead, and follow what seems an impossible maze of countless deserted alleys. The man's lead increases until he he turns a corner before Shields and once Shields rounds the same corner, the man is gone. But, Shields instantly covers his mouth and nose with his hands and nearly vomits for the horrible stench. He looks around him and the walls of the buildings are running, as if they've been coated with swamp-like putrefaction. Only, it isn't covering the walls, the walls themselves are rotting, wet and fetid. Shields spins around and sees that this condition is true of all the walls around him, they're pouring down into the alley. He turns again to the alley's exit and sees the Columbia Building right in front of him, but it's not whole anymore—there's a giant bean stalk (the Undead Vine, actually) that's destroyed most of the building and there is a what seems to be a haze of spores all throughout the air.

Shields drops his hands from his face to gape in awe, and just as he is about to scream, there's a flash and everything is back to normal. The Columbia Building is intact, the walls around him aren't rotting, there is however the faint trace of the stench of putrefaction. He walks out of the alleyway to meet Gordon who's already standing outside the building. Shields's voice-over continues explaining that Gordon actually witnessed Strauss's murders, and he gave Shields an enthusiastically detailed account.

Shields becomes quiet for a bit and Strauss says that Shields saw something at the Columbia Building, too. Shields becomes angry and demands to know what he's supposed to have seen besides a cleaned-up crime scene narrated by an eyewitness. Shields brings up the question of guilt again and Strauss says that he wants to feel guilty but he can't. Even though he was out of his senses at the time, Strauss clearly remembers believing those 6 people to be evil, that they had to die. Shields is incredulous and questions this, going back to the ordinary career Strauss has had, asking him if this wasn't just some kind of fantasy to try to create meaning in his life. Strauss bows his head and, almost tearfully, says he doesn't know.

To Be Continued...

Friday, January 19, 2018

Episode 50 : Kings, Queens, and Pawns

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 50 : Kings, Queens, and Pawns

The episode opens with Shields reporting as requested to Gordon. Gordon takes a moment to size Shields up and finally commends him on his performance the last week: he's improved 100%. Gordon also makes a jab about Shields's success maintaining propriety around Jennifer, which makes Shields rather uncomfortable. Gordon changes the subject immediately and says that he's going to reward Shields by giving him a special assignment. Because of their close association with the police department, Gordon has taken advantage of a policy loophole and "acquired" a rather special patient for them. He asks Shields if he's heard about the cop who went crazy downtown last week and killed 6 innocent people for no apparent reason. Shields nods then asks with incredulity if Gordon intends on housing the cop here. Gordon nods, smiling. He explains that while they haven't had any live-ins for some time, they do have the facilities for it. At first Gordon had to call in some favors, but then it became clear that bringing the patient to their facility would ease some budgetary issues within other departments. Shields ends their conversation by saying that things should get pretty interesting.

We cut to a hallway with the sun (visually) blaring through the window. A man in a straitjacket is fighting wildly against a number of orderlies as Shields demands to know why the patient hasn't been sedated. One of the orderlies insists that he has been and his moment of distraction costs him as he takes a kick to the stomach. More orderlies arrive, and finally the patient is held down by 5 or 6 men. Shields takes a syringe from one of the orderlies and gives the patient a shot.

We cut again to a dark room where all we can see is two men sitting in straight-backed, wooden chairs, facing one another. One of them is Shields, the other is the patient, Leo Strauss, still wearing his straitjacket. Shields comments on his calmness and Strauss smiles, saying that the sun isn't shining in here. Shields asks Strauss to tell him about the afternoon last week and Strauss, well-spoken, well-mannered, and as calmly as can be expected of anyone, proceeds to.

He describes how he was walking downtown, approaching the Columbia Building. He thought that a cloud had passed before the sun and it caused him to look up into the sky. There were no clouds to speak of and seeing the sun seemed to light his brain on fire. He says that there was something else, something indescribable, but even at Shields's prompting he won't say what it is (we can see in the flashback however, that it's the Undead Vine that's basically wrecked the Columbia Building, though in the flashback, no one else seems to notice). He says that the fire in his mind seemed to grow and grow and he felt more and more agitated until a group of people came out of the Columbia Building and he attacked them savagely with his bare hands. The people he attacked were all very pale and seemed to shamble about, not well able to defend themselves at all, and obviously not prepared for a mad police officer. Strauss explains that he felt compelled to kill those people, that, in some fashion, killing them would ease the swirling chaos in his head fueled by the momentary glimpse of the sun. He finishes his story saying that that's all he knows, that he wishes he had a real answer for why he did what he did.

We cut to Shields who's holding his coat over his shoulder. He appears to be staring at something listlessly while going over his new patient's case in his head. He wonders if Strauss's condition could be authentic. Strauss was so lucid during the interview, and yet so violently crazed before getting a second dose of sedative. Shields's thoughts trail off and we pan back to see that he's watching Jennifer in the office, though he himself is unobserved by her. He sighs deeply and leaves work for the day and as we pan back further we see Gordon with a cruel smile on his face watching Shields watch Jennifer.

We cut to darkness; all we hear is a cruel and deliberate laugh. Jennifer suddenly appears, her clothes are disshevled, her hair is a mess, she appears frightened. She's running from something. She looks like she's screaming but no sound is coming out of her mouth. All we hear is the laughter. Then we hear Shields's voice telling Jennifer to run as the figure of Dr. Gordon appears behind her. Gordon is laughing and his laughter grows louder and louder and echoes. Gordon is walking slowly towards Jennifer who looks like she's trying to run/swim/fight through molasses, like she's caught in some slow motion trap, trying to get away from Gordon. The color of Gordon's face changes, becomes pale and almost orange, and his mouth sharpens at the corners and takes on an almost cartoonish appearance—much like the carved, jagged smile of a jack-o'-lantern. We continue to hear Shields's voice just slightly above the laughter, begging, pleading for Jennifer to run and escape, but Gordon is just about upon her, and as he reaches out to touch her, Shields awakens springing up in his bed. After calming down, he laughs and chides himself for having a silly dream like that. Of course he's going to see Gordon as a monster getting in his way.

We cut to Shields making his way downtown to his office. As he walks, he gives us a voice over telling us that in spite of the circumstances, he'd hoped things could have been different with Jennifer. She was the first person in as long as he could remember that he had been interested in. She made him remember what it felt like to be alive, to be a part of the human race. He laughs at his own naiveté, for thinking that it could have worked. This time, he assures himself, fate, or at least poor timing, was completely to blame.

We cut to him arriving in his office where he looks up distractedly to see that Jennifer is staring at him angrily with hands on hips. She says they have to talk and he motions for her to go into his office. She demands that he talk to her, tell her what's going on, he answers her simply by saying he's already told her that Gordon made it clear. She says that's not good enough. He looks at her incredulously and points out that Gordon is not only his boss but her husband (!). She looks down sheepishly, staring at her fidgeting fingers. She is clearly upset and wants to say something, she stammers out, "But... but..." She tells him that he's very important to her, that circumstances are awkward but... He looks at her sympathetically and finishes for her, saying that she can't or won't change her circumstances. She insists that it's not that simple. Shields sighs heavily and stares at her for a moment. He tells her that her feelings for him are flattering but also frustrating—he's not in any position to change anything. He apologizes to her and says that maybe it's better they stop what ever was starting to develop. Then he catches himself and apologizes, saying that he's been too presumptuous, but before Jennifer can refute him, Gordon walks in with a large, fake smile on his face. He interrupts without hesitation, saying he'd like to discuss the Strauss case.

Gordon and Shields are walking down a dim hallway, discussing Strauss's condition, disclosing that, strangely, whenever Strauss is in the presence of the shining sun, he seems to lose his reason and fall into a savage, animalistic state. His body becomes so pumped with adrenaline that it takes several men and doses of sedatives just to restrain him. He won't be let out of his straitjacket any time soon. When kept in the dark, though, and after sunset, he appears to be in complete possession of his senses, his reason, and so on. Shields makes the comment that Strauss is kind of like a werewolf, only affected by the sun instead of the full moon. The discussion comes to a lull and Shields thanks Gordon for the opportunity to work with Strauss, the case is interesting and a nice change to the normal routine. Gordon chuckles (a little too similarly to the way he did in the opening nightmare) and after a moment, he composes himself and says that he's been watching Shields, noticing things, old patterns and new tendencies coming together into an interesting collage. He asks Shields how a certain neighborhood is after dark, commenting that it's generally thought of as rather dangerous.

As Gordon talks, we see a vignette of Shields beating the crap out of a would-be mugger in an alleyway.

We cut back and Shields looks a little concerned that Gordon may know about his recent fights. Gordon says that he thinks he sees something similar in both Strauss and Shields, that if anyone can get at what's wrong with Strauss, it's Shields. Shields looks a little disconcerted by this but Gordon continues and tells Sheilds that he's doing a pretty good job staying away from Jennifer, but to keep up the effort. Then he turns to Shields and says that he hasn't touched is wife in years, that she'll have nothing to do with him, but that appearances are important to both of them. Also, Gordon likes the power he's able to wield over Shields and he makes this clear. He reminds Shields of all that he's done for him and that any sort of betrayal would force Gordon to ruin Shield's career. Gordon's mood becomes instantly lighter and he turns to leave Shields, saying he's famished. As he turns, Shields sees but dismisses what looks like a twisted stem with some leaves on it sticking out of the back of Gordon's head.

To Be Continued...

Thursday, January 18, 2018

Episode 49 : Fate or Choice?

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 49 : Fate or Choice?

Richard Shields is sitting at his desk reading over numerous interview notes and becoming more and more frustrated. His case load has increased and the nature of his work is rather depressing. Patients contemplating suicide, contemplating murder or some other violence. Nobody in the scope of his work is happy, nobody seems well, nobody seems willing to blame him or herself, it's always the fault of some other outside agent. On the other hand, there were some who were willing to take responsibility for their actions, but the one in particular that came to mind was a man who claimed to be the King of Mars defeated in his invasion attempt by a boy and his stuffed rabbit—clearly delusional. And yet, there were circumstances beyond anyone's control that brought about otherwise unexpected reactions, which brought out the worst in people (and possibly the best, but Shields's line of work didn't much expose him to the latter sort). These ruminations brought about the thinking that had begun to haunt him lately. He'd had a revelation that the world was in fact what you made it, but now he was having second thoughts and he wondered if he were having those because he was just too weak to take control. He didn't have an answer, but he was growing more despondent and more desperate—it all seemed useless.

We cut to a flashback of the end of the previous episode, continuing on where Jennifer tentatively asks what Gordon said to Shields about her. He tells her that he's to stop socializing with her and reduce his participation in their relationship to business-only. She is flustered by this and says that Gordon can't say that. Shields just looks at her incredulously before saying that if there's anyone who has a right, it's Gordon. Then he says that he didn't realize that he was so obvious. Once again, Jennifer looks a little shocked and then she blushes furiously before clumsily backing out of the room.

We cut back to regular time. Shields is looking out the window at the sunset. He collects his coat to leave for the day and goes looking for Gordon to report. Not finding him, he finds out from one of the pool secretaries that Gordon left mid-morning and hadn't come back all day. With that, Shields shrugs and takes his leave of the office.

We cut to Shields sitting in a dark, somewhat crowded bar, sipping at a drink and looking rather sullen. A boisterous man stumbles by with some friends and almost knocks Shields from his stool. The drunk stops and turns to Shields asks him what his problem is, shoving like that. Shields narrows his eyes with incredulity and simply says with disgust, "Excuse me? Oh yes, that's right, I saw you coming and made sure to put my stool in your way." The stools are all sunk into the concrete floor, which makes this all the more ridiculous. As he turns back to the bar, he tells the man he's drunk, to try to find his way home without hurting anyone and sleep it off. The drunk lets his friends continue on, grabs Shields by the shoulder, wheels him around, and slugs him in the face. As Shields reels from the punch, we go into slow motion where his expression of shock and confusion transforms immediately to rage. He slams his back against the bar, wipes a trickle of blood from his nose, and as he looks at the blood on his hand, he bares his clenched teeth and leaps for the drunk. Shields inadvertently blocks another punch thrown by the drunk as he grabs a handful of hair on the side of the drunk's head to steady it for a nasty, bloody, nose-crunching punch from his right fist. Blood and, indeed, a number of teeth, erupt from the drunk's face as he goes down, his eyes rolling up white into his head. Shields is hunkered over from just having delivered the blow; he's panting and looks a lot like an animal. His eyes track upwards to the drunk's friends who decide not to make an issue of this. They reach down for their friend and cart him off through the crowd and the noise. Shields stands up, composes himself, and looks at his hands disbelievingly. Did he just do that? He's shocked and at first disgusted, but then a slight smile creases his lips as he pays for his drink, takes his coat, and leaves.

To Be Continued...

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

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...

Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Episode 47 : This Is Who I Am

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 47 : This Is Who I Am

The episode opens with a view of a thriving city under a clear blue, late summer sky. The streets are noisy with activity—cars and pedestrians alike commuting to work, people going about their business. The voice we know to belong to Skull Kaiser introduces himself as Richard Shields, tells us he is a state-employed psychologist and begins to describe his bitter-sweet, if not melancholy, view on life. He confesses that he's just realized that all his life he's unconsciously aimed to be nothing more than average and he's achieved just that. The weight of the realization is beginning to take its toll, however. He can't sleep at night, he's becoming more and more withdrawn, and his interest in human relationships is beginning to dwindle. For a long time, he says, he thought life dealt people their circumstances and they had little power to affect their own fates. As he goes, we continue to view different parts of the city. We see a mugging take place, we see the faces of those on their daily commute, and despite the apparent affluence of the city, few seem happy here, especially when taken with the tone of Richard Shields's voice over. He now realizes that, to be truly happy, he must take steps to effect and ensure that happiness. He sees that, throughout his life, he's made choices that have put him exactly where he is. He has no one to blame but himself. He wonders if at age 30 he can undo a lifetime of sabotage and forge a new life for himself, though he doesn't sound terribly hopeful.

We follow Richard Shields, dressed in a modest suit, into his office (this is the same office we saw in the previous episode, but it's clearly prior to when the all the destruction took place). He greets and is greeted by various people in the office as he moves past the reception area. He knocks at Dr. Gordon's door before entering. Dr. Gordon, about 20 years Shields's senior, begins to chastise Shields much like a child who isn't living up to a parent's expectations. Shields takes it all silently, nodding and vowing to do a better job. The view of the two shifts so that we can see that Gordon can see out the window past Shields. Gordon starts to wrap it all up, saying that there's one more thing, but there is a flash upon the lenses of Gordon's glasses and he stutters. We can see as we zoom in on the reflection in Gordon's glasses that a building has just been run through from above and all but destroyed. Gordon makes no mention of this, there is no sound or movement to signify that it's really happening; Shields is completely oblivious to it; Gordon's left eye simply twitches beneath the lens absorbing it all. Shields wonders what's made Gordon pause and prompts him to continue. The dust settles somewhat in the reflection and we can see the vague outline of the Undead Vine. Dr. Gordon takes off his glasses and rubs his eyes as if he's tired and smiles, saying that Shields's relationship in the office with Jennifer is inappropriate and that he needs to curtail his interaction with her. Shields stammers, unable to say anything in response and bows his head with a forced nod, his face furiously red with embarrassment.

Shields steps out of Gordon's office, closing the door behind him and stands just before it with his head still bowed. He wonders to himself if in fact people AREN'T in control of their own fates. A woman's voice begins to intrude upon his thoughts, as if from very far away. It's repeating a question that eventually brings him out of his reverie and almost shocks him. Jennifer is standing before him, asking if he remembers. His look of confusion and near-shock cause her to remind him of their plans for lunch. Shields questions himself first as to why her inquiry should seem like deja vu and more, why it should set his nerves off so. He recovers and tells her that he won't be able to meet her after all. Now she looks confused and a little concerned, but Shields puts her off and says that he's very busy. She accepts this, though can clearly tell that something isn't right.

We cut to Shields sitting at his desk with his face in his hands. He flip flops between thinking himself a victim of fate and that he must have some control over it. The faint sound of a music box can be heard and the light begins to fade.

The room is once again in its post-holocaust state and Richard Shields/Skull Kaiser is sitting at the desk once again wearing only a pair of tattered pants. He shudders as he becomes aware of the change. He asks himself if that was a dream, complaining that some things seemed so clear at the time, but now details were growing indistinct. He becomes frustrated and shouts out to the voice, demanding to know if that was a dream or if this is a dream. He's answered with the familiar taunting laugh. After getting the laughter out of her system, she tells him simply that she's helped him answer a burning question and that he should be grateful. He responds by saying that he doesn't know what's real and what's imagined. She answers him, saying that of course that's the case, because she's a professional. He asks a solemn and confused, "What?" And she breaks into laughter anew as the episode closes.

To Be Continued...

Monday, January 15, 2018

Episode 46 : Haunted Planet

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 46 : Haunted Planet

Skull Kaiser is fighting the shapes and shadows that threatened him in the previous episode—or rather, he's trying to. He is becoming exhausted and he finally guesses that the things attacking him aren't real. He shrugs off a few last "attacks" from the shadowy opponents and shouts to the unseen woman, telling her that he's had enough of her phantoms. The woman laughs in response and assures him that they aren't her phantoms but his, and continues mockingly, telling him she isn't surprised he's able to defend himself so well against his own memories since he's done such a fine job of burying them. That coupled with the fact that he's such a formidable fighter, has made her job rather easy since as long as he can defend himself he cannot/will not face his greatest fear. And as long as that's the case she'll be bored, but he'll remain prisoner here on this haunted planet. Skull Kaiser concludes that his freedom is contingent on regaining his memory and the voice rewards him with a halfhearted, "perhaps". Almost forgetting the voice now and wondering how to accomplish this goal, Skull Kaiser looks around him trying to find something to inspire the beginning of his search and as his eyes fall upon one particular wrecked building, the voice whispers before fading out, that maybe he should start there. He stares at the building for a moment longer realizing that it must be the same one he came out of when he had the hallucination in episode 42 and then sets off towards it.

As he walks down the broken street, whispers and muffled voices can be heard and the light shifts erratically between night day. It's as if the street is crowded with unseen ghosts and Skull Kaiser does his best to keep his nerve up and not be distracted by the strange noise. As he reaches the front doors to the building he's going to, he's overwhelmed by the sound of a voice specifically addressing him, wishing him good morning.

There is a weird stretching/echo effect on the voice and the time flashes to and remains daylight. He looks through the glass door and sees a man dressed in a suit smiling at him and for a brief moment. Skull Kaiser can see things as they must have been before the catastrophe struck. In the daylight everything is whole and the street is crowded with people and automobiles. The vision fades but seems to hit Skull Kaiser in the head like an actual brick. After gathering himself and a moment of surveying the again-broken cityscape, he enters the building.

As he proceeds down the halls, he continues to hear snatches of distorted voices and the scene flickers between the dark, wrecked version of the building to a well-lit, occupied version of it, but the flashes are few and never last long enough to distinguish anything. He turns constantly to the sound of voices that seem to hail him and he has to steady himself more than once. As he goes, Skull Kaiser begins to think some of this might be familiar.

He arrives at one particular office and he stops. He turns in a circle looking around and a distorted female voice asks him if he remembers. It repeats three or four times over the course of which the voice changes to another woman's. Skull Kaiser turns to see a woman standing behind him, he gasps and recognizes her as Champagne! But it's not Champagne. It looks exactly like her, but she's wearing the clothes normal to this place and Skull Kaiser begins to stammer for a moment, acknowledging that it's not Champagne, but... Jennifer. Then she disappears leaving Skull Kaiser confused and shaken. Who is that woman if she's not Champagne? There is something so normal and right and familiar about her that he begins to wonder if Champagne isn't some exotic dream based upon this very real woman. He begins to question reality. He's had his notions of reality challenged lately in his dream of defeating the Halloween Empire, could the 8 Hells also be a dream? Is this just another dream? Is he approaching consciousness, is this just the only acceptable route his brain can concoct? Or is it just the opposite? Is he slowly approaching oblivion, by degrees of isolation? This lengthy self-doubt soliloquy is accompanied by a nice montage recapping most of the events of the last two series visually until Skull Kaiser works himself up into an anguished frenzy, where he shouts at the top of his lungs, "Who am I?!" as the episode closes.

To Be Continued...

Sunday, January 14, 2018

Episode 45 : Into the Dark

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 45 : Into the Dark

The episode opens with Skull Kaiser flying through starry space. He notes that he's getting closer to his destination and will be able to aid the Loss Queen very soon now and is in good spirits about this. As he continues, a light begins to shine just before him. Also, though very faintly, he can hear the haunting, minor-key tune of a music box. At first, the light is small and dim but as he approaches, it gets larger and brighter until it takes on the appearance of a gigantic, slowly-opening, spectral eye. The tune gets ever louder as he approaches until it's almost deafening and since Skull Kaiser cannot change his course, he raises his arms to block his face as he passes through the eye, the act of which causes him to cry out in pain. A disembodied (male) laugh echoes at his plight.

Skull Kaiser awakens upon broken asphalt. Concrete debris is strewn about. He's not wearing the Kaiser Bones, only a pair of ragged pants. He's not alone. Before he can even get his bearings, his attention is seized more than once by hidden things scrabbling in the darkness, unseen but threatening. Skull Kaiser notices as we pan out that he's on the outer edge of the crater left by the Undead Vine as we saw it in his flashback/hallucination in episode 42. He cranes his neck in a vain attempt to see the vine's origin and get his mind around its shear size. He gawks, unable to articulate a coherent thought. Then, after a moment of gasping, he shouts out at the top of his lungs, a long, protracted, "Why!?" Skull Kaiser drops his arms and bows his head in defeat. He looks at his hands and finds it difficult to summon Ghost Light to them, only small sparks crackle about his fingers. But then he wonders what good power would be anyway on an essentially empty, unknown world. Once again he's imprisoned and seemingly at the mercy of fate. He wonders why this should make him feel so particularly bad and questions his current ability to think straight. He surveys the blasted cityscape and once again wonders how this place relates to him, why it makes him feel uneasy. What was the significance of that vision he had? Was that really him, maddened with violence and out of control, killing with artless abandon?

The music box tune starts up softly again and, as Skull Kaiser whirls around unsuccessfully trying to determine its origin, cruel female laughter begins to accompany the music. Finally, the female voice, mockingly sweet, asks, "Do you remember?" Skull Kaiser only asks who it is that's addressing him. The voice continues, "Of course you don't remember. Not yet. To remember would be your worst nightmare. We can't have that all at once. No, that's to be a slow, enjoyable process and we've only just begun." She goes on telling him that he has only to survive the night, then after a pause, she laughs musically and adds that the night here never ends. Her laughter trails off and the music box fades eventually as well.

Skull Kaiser calms down slightly and accurately deduces that he's been caught in Samhain's trap. He wonders which of Samhain's agents has the power to conjure the world he's been cast into and while he thinks he might know, he just can't get hold of the memory. Now the shadows, black on dark, seem to lengthen and close in on Skull Kaiser and he readies himself for a fight. Something leaps past him leaving a cut along his cheek. He's momentarily surprised but then narrows his eyes with resolve. He won't give up. He's been through Hell and Samhain will not stop him, not here and not now. He vows anew to aid the Loss Queen no matter the cost. He shouts furiously to the shadows, inviting all that lie within to come at him. Several vague but menacing shapes respond affirmatively and move to pounce as the episode freeze-frames to an end.

To Be Continued...

Saturday, January 13, 2018

Episode 44 : Please Wait! I'm On My Way!

Skeleton General Skull Kaiser
(In Hell)

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 44 : Please Wait! I'm On My Way!

The episode opens with Skull Kaiser standing opposite Heiliger on a new fighting ring. Behind Heiliger we see the massive Sword Tree, it's as big as a skyscraper and it's composed entirely of swords suspended in the air (and mobile). Heiliger commends Skull Kaiser on his progress and identifies himself as the final gatekeeper. Skull Kaiser is momentarily surprised, but then realizes that he shouldn't be. Heiliger tells Skull Kaiser that he's never truly been guilty of wickedness which is what he punishes here. He is guilty of horrible crimes, but it was more a product of his profession and what led to it than any intrinsic evil. We get a little montage of what happens to the wicked when they try to pass the Sword Tree and see that, even if they make progress through the Tree, eventually the swords pierce them. For the particularly strong, Heiliger must step in. Though Skull Kaiser isn't really wicked, they still have to fight. With that, Heiliger immediately shoots Skull Kaiser with the Bright Cannon, (a wide shaft of pure light as big around as, and that shoots from, his head) hitting him square in the face and sending him literally head over heals. Skull Kaiser rises, rubbing his helmeted face and chuckles.

We cut to Samhain who bows extravagantly to Champagne. He tells her that soon she'll be able to retire and live a life of leisure. She scoffs and insists that this Tower is hers and he'll never possess it. With a look from Samhain, Pythagoras begins powering up the Singularity Punch. Again, Champagne scoffs and says that she's aware of this one's power, but she's unconcerned. Pythagoras is incredulous and lists off countless atrocities he's committed and how he's crushed enemies far less delicate than her. She rises into the air, her eyes become blue lights, and she begins exhaling a deafening wail. As she rises, she spins 360 degrees an her colors change to gray and black, her butterfly wings, too, readjust to appear to be those of a moth. Now on the back of her wings we can clearly see the markings of a death's head. Once turned all the way back around, she looks primal and even a little wicked. She holds out her right palm and cries out, "Ghost Light Finale!". A searing beam of blue light shoots out to meet Pythagoras's Singularity Punch. But, wherever the beam touches the air, there appears to be something akin to a nuclear reaction until the whole, vast chamber is alight with massive explosions.

We cut back to Skull Kaiser and Heiliger, now engaged in melee. Heiliger is only using his arms to block and attacking with kicks. The two seem pretty evenly matched and Skull Kaiser wonders why he seems able to anticipate Heiliger's moves. He believes that if he weren't able to do so, that the fight would be decidedly more one-sided. As if reading his mind, Heiliger asks him if he hasn't guessed the reason yet and he reminds Skull Kaiser that, while rare, soul echoes exist everywhere. They continue fighting and Heiliger kicks Skull Kaiser far enough away so that he can use his Bright Cannon. Skull Kaiser negates each shot of the Bright Cannon with the Kaiser Beam until Heiliger decides to step things up. He tells Skull Kaiser to prepare for his most powerful technique, the Seiryoku Tensou! Heiliger holds his hands out before him, almost as if he's preparing for the Kaiser Claw! He brings his hands forcefully to one side, twisting them just like the Kaiser Claw, and Skull Kaiser feels his neck wanting to snap. In an instant, he realizes that this attack is, indeed, just like the Kaiser Claw only Heiliger doesn't need to make contact. Skull Kaiser realizes that he must go with the force of the attack and is able to ease the pressure off his neck. He is hurtling towards Heiliger like a leaf on the wind and along the way, he gains control of himself and performs the Ghost Kaiser.

Skull Kaiser lands and almost immediately, the image of Lord Enma appears before him, congratulating him on a job well-done. Heiliger stirs and stands up in the background. Lord Enma continues and tells Skull Kaiser that he is no longer fettered by life and death, but those are things that are kept in check by the safety of the Loss Tower. He'll have to hurry. Heiliger wishes him well and Skull Kaiser flies off (!) safely navigating through the Sword Tree.

We cut back to the blasted foyer of the Loss Tower. Part of Samhain's face is broken in, Luft Schloss is holding her shoulder and bleeding from a number of cuts, Pythagoras reattaches his severed right arm and flexes those fingers, i alone appears unhurt. Samhain thanks i for his protection. The passage leading further into the Loss Tower is completely melted over and they all marvel at that. Samhain suddenly becomes aware of Skull Kaiser's freedom from Hell and tells i and Luft Schloss to make ready as they'd planned. Pythagoras laughs and the episode closes.

Season 2 : END

Friday, January 12, 2018

Episode 43 : Resurrected Technique! Ghost Kaiser!

Skeleton General Skull Kaiser
(In Hell)

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 43 : Resurrected Technique! Ghost Kaiser!

Skull Kaiser is down on his hands and knees, panting and asking himself what he just experienced. He wonders if he could actually have been that wild man. Apparently reading Skull Kaiser's mind, Shinzan laughs out loud, and says of course it was him. He mocks Skull Kaiser, telling him that that was the first time that violence became his solution to all things, and the first time that Samhain took notice of him. Skull Kaiser grips his head in both hands and shakes it violently. He clears his senses as best as possible and stands up, saying that he doesn't doubt Shinzan in the slightest, but he isn't finished yet and he has a mission to complete. Shinzan is incredulous, but Skull Kaiser continues, telling the gatekeeper that he knows one technique that no one can stand against. Shinzan nods with curiosity and interest.

We cut to the interior of the Loss Tower where Agrippa, Merlot, and Phantasma King (who's clearly not a prisoner, but an ally) are giving a hasty report to the Loss Queen of how dire the situation is. They are interrupted by what seems like an earthquake. Agrippa tells everyone to seek safety in the secret depths of the Tower while he goes to take care of the situation. He arrives at the main gates and attempts to bolster them just in time to have them crash in on him. He gets up and sees the outstretched fist of Pythagoras and marvels at his power. Pythagoras steps forward, relaxing, and as the dust clears, we can see 4 other figures behind him. Agrippa recognizes Samhain and Gear Binder, but not the Unicorn-styled man who's just punched in the gates, or the little haloed figure with a lens for a face, or the giant, chalk-skinned woman. Swallowing his doubt, Agrippa makes a joke about how Samhain needed to go and fetch reinforcements when he thought he had the whole thing won. Gear Binder steps forward, suddenly realizing that Agrippa has somehow stolen the power of the Titan Star. He's incensed by this and fires the Clockwork Beam at Agrippa. Agrippa ducks and rushes Gear Binder, giving him a savage uppercut which almost cleans Gear Binder's head from from his shoulders. The head falls limply to one side and it's clearly devoid of any life. Agrippa is back where he started almost instantly and Samhain chuckles, saying only, "Interesting." Agrippa shrugs. He says the Creation Cogs should prove to be an adequate source of fuel for the Inversion Gun, and then Gear Binder's body is locked under a neon star-in-circle, which lights up on the ground at his feet. The energy from the Creation Cogs rises up into the air and then a beam of intense energy comes right back down parallel to it and blows the foyer to hell. Samhain and the rest go flying but appear unhurt. Agrippa isn't reassured by this and he's taken totally by surprise as Pythagoras does a Gravity Well attack on him. A crater forms beneath Agrippa and he looks as though he's being crushed by a great, invisible weight. Pythagoras releases the pressure and Agrippa springs back up like an accordion, then collapses on his own, hurt and confused. He struggles to get up and hears i say that Gear Binder was rather frail after all, so they shouldn't be surprised. Samhain asks if i will be able to figure out the Tower's secrets and i assures him he will. Pythagoras starts to move towards Agrippa as the latter tries to scuttle away. The Loss Queen arrives to interrupt, almost ignoring the situation, telling Agrippa that it's time for him to return to his duties in the Tower, and to leave the guests to her.

We cut back to Skull Kaiser who is powering up his Ghost Light. He tells Shinzan that he doesn't feel that he's above punishment for what he's done wrong, but he simply must win here. Shinzan is growing impatient and tells Skull Kaiser that if he has a technique to use, then he'd better get on with it. Skull Kaiser nods and thinks to himself that, while he's used this technique before, it was in a dream. Still, it is familiar to him and he wonders why he's never tried it since discovering his Ghost Light. His Ghost Light explodes and Skull Kaiser shimmers as if he's not entirely solid. He tells Shinzan that this will be his first defeat and it's the end for him. Skull Kaiser shouts out, "Ghost Kaiser!" and he moves like a streak towards Shinzan. He reaches his hands into Shinzan's face, twists them deftly, and his whole form continues on in a streak past the spike-studded giant until he lands in a crouch beyond him. Skull Kaiser's path lights up with golden, electrical fire, that follows him to his final position and the force of the fire knocks Shinzan down. Skull Kaiser stands up with a strange, tangible light between his hands. He opens his hands freeing the light and thanks Shinzan for the opportunity to fight, then turns to Heiliger, who is standing by. Heiliger nods with a solemn smile.

To Be Continued...

Thursday, January 11, 2018

Episode 42 : Glimpsing the Dark

Skeleton General Skull Kaiser
(In Hell)

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 42 : Glimpsing the Dark

The episode opens with chaotic flashes of a violent scene. There are screams and there appears to be a lot of blood everywhere. After a number of confusing flashes, we see a man in tattered pants and no shirt flailing his arms wildly, attacking numerous people, all dressed in business suits and the like, who go down with single blows. The man's body appears to be painted white and his facial features have been darkened with soot or something to give his face the appearance of a skull. Behind him there is a huge, gray-green mass of sinewy vegetable matter—the Undead Vine. As the man continues, he rears his head back in uncontrollable laughter. As the camera zooms in on his face, we can see that this man is Skull Kaiser. The zoom continues, obscuring the view; there's a flash and we fade to dark.

Suddenly, in the dark we can see Skull Kaiser standing alone. He looks at his hands and sees that he's not wearing the Kaiser Bones. In fact, he's just wearing a pair of tattered pants. His body, though not painted white, is covered in scars, and he checks himself either for injury or to make sure he's really there. The light adjusts a little and we can see the interior of the room Skull Kaiser is in. He is incredulous, though, thinking he recognizes this place. Then he realizes that this is the asylum he was in after being knocked out by Phantasma King. He questions himself as to what this means, what this place is, and how/if it figures into his past. The asylum appears to be abandoned now and looks as though it's been looted or there were some violent struggles.

We cut to Agrippa and Merlot who is supporting Phantasma King. They're all intrigued by the blaze created by Agrippa's Inversion Gun; Merlot and Phantasma King seem a little in awe or fear of Agrippa. There is a loud noise from the horizon and the ground shakes, causing everyone's attention to shift. Phantasma King says that the Root Palace has unwound by now and surely that was the sound of it's approach. The light of the Loss Tower has sufficiently faded now for the Undead Vine to come near. Phantasma King reminds them that Gear Binder remains, and while they shouldn't expect trouble from Dust Pharaoh, Samhain had sent for additional agents, so they should return to the Loss Tower as soon as possible.

We cut back to Skull Kaiser who has wandered through some darkened hallways and finds his way to the exit. He pushes through the cracked double glass doors into the gray-black night of a destroyed city: high rise buildings are toppled, cars are smashed and overturned, rubble is everywhere, and the streets are dotted with craters, large and small. Skull Kaiser is shocked by this sight and is confused. He's been party to this kind of destruction before so why should this particular city make him so terribly uncomfortable? His gaze focuses on something, something large that he traces up into the sky. The camera shifts then moves around so his head no longer blocks our view and we see the Undead Vine sunk down in the middle of the city where the damage is the worst. He grasps his head and screams and we cut to flashes again of the crazy, painted man laughing like a maniac at the mayhem he's caused.

This image fades out to Skull Kaiser back in the present, pinned against the wall of Needle Mountain. He convulses violently and drops down to the ring on one knee. Shinzan, who was standing idly with his arms folded across his chest, drops his arms in surprise. He steps forward with a chuckle and asks if there's a little fight left in Skull Kaiser after all.

To Be Continued...

Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Episode 41 : Behold, Titan Agrippa!

Skeleton General Skull Kaiser
(In Hell)

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 41 : Behold, Titan Agrippa!

The episode opens with the camera slowly panning across Skull Kaiser at an odd angle, then we get a similar view of Shinzan. They seem to be regarding each other, calculating the best strategy to use and the best moment to strike. Skull Kaiser is the first to attack. Deciding to lead this time with Ghost Light, he blasts Shinzan with the Kaiser Beam. There is a big explosion, but Shinzan comes through the blast merely smoking and otherwise unaffected. The 2nd Gatekeeper snickers an uppercuts Skull Kaiser, doubling him over, and causing a spray of blood to shoot from the mouth of the Kaiser Bones—a first! Then Shinzan proceeds to use Skull Kaiser for a punching bag. Each time Shinzan hits, it's especially punishing since every part of him is heavy, metal, and sharp. Skull Kaiser makes an attempt to grab at specific spikes, and after several failed attempts due to the beating Shinzan is handing out, he's finally able to break off one spike, but it was a great effort. Not only that, but the broken spike didn't seem to have any effect. Skull Kaiser begins to seriously doubt his ability to defeat this gatekeeper. What strategy could he possibly use against an opponent whose every touch causes a new wound or aggravates an old one? He looks into what amounts to Shinzan's face, a tangle of sharp points, and thinks he sees a weakness buried deep within and safely behind the metal brambles. He laughs to himself and urges himself forward as he has nothing to lose. He starts defending himself better, catching Shinzan's blows and turning them back so they don't draw blood, but Skull Kaiser can't seem to make an attack. This continues for some time until he's finally able to make an attack; he attempts a Kaiser Claw, but as he approaches, the spikes that make up Shinzan's face stretch out in all directions and pierce both Skull Kaiser's hands, his face and his chest. Shinzan back-fists Skull Kaiser away then follows him in the air and uppercuts him into the interior wall of needle mountain, mashing him between the spikes there and his big, sharp, knotty fist. Blood jets from countless wounds and Skull Kaiser remains pinned while Shinzan lands back down on the fighting ring.

We cut to Gran Lej, standing up and casting aside its metal shield. It appears to stare at the burning hulk of what remains of Gran Mal, but turns to regard a voice from behind. Agrippa says that Phantasma King is their prisoner, that Kali Dharma and Titan Foiler are dead, to submit and give up the Relic Cords or be destroyed. Nou Wire snorts and moves quickly to attack with Gran Lej. Merlot steps into view and performs the Phantom Army which pushes Gran Leg back, off balance, and destroys a number of surface Puppet Soldiers. Agrippa looks carefully at Gran Lej and a neon circle with a five-pointed star within appears in the center of Gran Lej's chest. Agrippa launches into the air, straight for the target, pierces Gran Lej's breast, and tackles Nou Wire, tearing him out of Gran Lej through its back. Several strands of the Relic Cords snap as Agrippa and Nou Wire continue through the air, at which point Gran Lej collapses upon itself and the Puppet Soldiers scramble to reorient themselves. Nou Wire attempts to separate himself from Agrippa by performing the Wheel Kick. He strikes with both feet and succeeds in freeing himself, but he's chipped both feet in the process. The two fall back to the ground and Nou Wire is shocked at how ineffective his kick was—the reports on Agrippa MUST have been inaccurate. Agrippa lands within the throng of Puppet Soldiers where he wades through them as if they were trash. Nou Wire begins to notice Agrippa's silver coloring, then he thinks he remembers seeing the image of the Titan Star on Agrippa's breast. Nou Wire is incredulous, but shudders at the possible implications. Agrippa can sense Nou Wire's dawning awareness and asks him if he's figured it out, if he realizes he's now dealing with Titan Agrippa! Agrippa begins to laugh hysterically as countless Puppet Soldiers become rooted to the ground by red neon stars-in-circles. More and more soldiers are incapacitated in this way and it becomes clear that their energy is rising up to a common point in the sky. Agrippa shouts out, "This is the end for you! Titan Star: Inversion Gun!!" All the collected energy up in the sky glows and swells, then shoots down in one concentrated beam focusing down on Nou Wire, vaporizing him and the Relic Cords.

To Be Continued...

Tuesday, January 9, 2018

Episode 40 : On the Needle's Point—Guilty!

Skeleton General Skull Kaiser
(In Hell)

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 40 : On the Needle's Point—Guilty!

Skull Kaiser struggles to get up while Oketsu continues to smolder, essentially dead. He staggers to his feet and then is supported by Heiliger. Heiliger congratulates him and asks him how he feels. Remarkably, Skull Kaiser begins to swell with Ghost Light, returning to 100% in a matter of moments. Oketsu, too, now appears healed and he rises. Heiliger explains that in all his previous trials, Skull Kaiser never needed Lord Enma's boon, but time is of the essance and Skull Kaiser has two last challenges. Oketsu comes over to shake Skull Kaiser's hand and congratulate him. Skull Kaiser thanks him and Heiliger ushers him off to meet Shinzan who is not far off.

We cut to Nou Wire inside a dark cockpit surrounded by floating video screens. Through one, we can see Merlot down on one knee.

We cut to an exterior view of Merlot, indeed down on one knee and panting at Gran Lej's feet. They're very close to Gran Mal's destroyed leg and she appears to be exhausted and wounded, at least superficially, from fighting Gran Lej all by herself. Both notice some flashes coming from where Gran Mal's engine room would be. Inside the cockpit, Nou Wire notices an abnormal energy buildup and realizes that Gran Mal is going to explode. Gran Lej leaves Merlot and quickly tears a piece of Gran Mal's damaged leg free, then makes a hasty retreat. Merlot stares in astonishment not at all sure about what's happening. There's another flash from Gran Mal and Merlot is swept away, screaming. Gran Lej turns to face Gran Mal once more and quickly raises the sheet of metal up to shield itself as it digs in for the blast. We see a silver streak pass Gran Lej just as the light and flames from the explosion engulf the Gran.

We cut back to Skull Kaiser meeting Shinzan. Shinzan is a solid metal frame with bundles of spikes making up his "musculature". They're deep inside Needle Mountain, and Shinzan explains that he is in truth the heart of the mountain, a living part of it. He explains that those guilty of excessive violence are cast down onto the mountain. For those strong enough to survive the trauma, Shinzan awaits: he is indestructible and violence personified. Shinzan tells Skull Kaiser that violence was unknown to him before Samhain, that in fact, he was was a peaceful, thinking man, filled with compassion, but he was brought to the breaking point and Samhain offered a new way to express the rage that then characterized him. Violence became Skull Kaiser's solution to everything, and he became quite the expert at it. But here in Hell, Shinzan is the embodiment of violence and no one has bested him at his profession. While the other gates of Hell have had various keepers, Shinzan remains as the only original gatekeeper since Hell formed out of chaos. He tells Skull Kaiser that there is potentially no lesson to learn here, that if he can exceed Shinzan in violence and win that way, then so be it. In fact, Skull Kaiser has little alternative. He tells Skull Kaiser not to underestimate technique, though. Artless displays of brute force are primitive at best. Art and technique make a lesser man more, a weaker man strong. Hope and passion put him closer to the divine. No matter what happens, though, Skull Kaiser will be punished brutally for all the sins of his long, bloody past. Success or failure are almost secondary since the horrible punishment is what will be featured here.

To Be Continued...