Episode 03 : Beware the Embrace of Eternity

Skeleton General Skull Kaiser
(Halloween Empire)

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 03 : Beware the Embrace of Eternity

Skull Kaiser confidently makes his way through the Loss Tower, dispatching straggling soldiers and ordering his own to secure various floors. He makes his way to the throne room where he knocks the doors off their hinges. The Loss Queen, Champagne, is very petite, with jet black hair and very pale, white skin—she's beautiful. Her totem is the butterfly and gossamer wings flutter at her back. She seems inordinately calm and offers Skull Kaiser the opportunity to give up his violent intent. She tries to reason with him, explaining the danger to countless worlds if Samhain should gain control of the Tower. Skull Kaiser apologizes to her, sorry that circumstances aren't different, but he has his orders. While Samhain's agenda is not his concern, effecting it is. He apologizes again and tries to attack her. Without moving, she defends herself with unseen forces. He tries again and again, but is beaten back each time. Champagne tells him his attacks are futile, to give up and be forgiven, but Skull Kaiser is tenacious and proud of his abilities. She sees the inevitability of his fate and on his final attack, she powers up, and, to his great surprise, defeats him utterly. We cut to Samhain's Root Palace, as Samhain becomes instantly aware of Skull Kaiser's defeat. He summons Bone Reaper, presents him with the Ivory Scythe, and orders him to make for the Skeleton Territory immediately to complete the job Skull Kaiser started. Bone Reaper sets off as ordered and gloats at Skull Kaiser's defeat. He's been cheated out of his rightful position as the Skeleton General long enough.

To Be Continued...

Episode 02 : Extinguish the Light of Freedom

Skeleton General Skull Kaiser
(Halloween Empire)

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 02 : Extinguish the Light of Freedom

Atop Gran Mid's head, Skull Kaiser stands and shouts orders to his skeleton troops as they tear through the last remnants of the Loss Queen's army. As they rise a hill, they are nearly blinded by the bright light that shines from behind the Loss Tower, but they have arrived and Skull Kaiser's army has taken few casualties. At the base of the Tower, Skull Kaiser is about to give Gran Mid the order to breathe its fire when a loud voice orders a halt. The speaker's command is obeyed and all look around to see who could be so bold. A man comes from the front gate of the Tower and issues Skull Kaiser a challenge. He is Agrippa, the Loss Queen's personal bodyguard. His totem is the tick and after going through a transformation pose, he looks it. Skull Kaiser tells him to give up, that the time is past for last stands, but Agrippa begins to destroy skeleton soldiers with ease and abandon. Once again, Skull Kaiser is about to give Gran Mid the order to breathe fire, but again, Agrippa interrupts. This time, he uses his powerful special attack, the Tabehoudai, which causes a sphere of light to grow out from him. Every soldier caught in its range turns to dust. Gran Mid barely manages to lurch out of the way. Now, Skull Kaiser and Agrippa square off and exchange blows until Skull Kaiser gets the upper hand and is able to deliver the first Kaiser Claw of the series! With the last real line of defense gone, Skull Kaiser orders his troops into the Tower.

To Be Continued...

Episode 01 : Prelude to the End

Skeleton General Skull Kaiser
(Halloween Empire)

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 01 : Prelude to the End

The episode opens with Skull Kaiser facing a video screen where Samhain congratulates him on his efforts against the Loss Queen (this is one of the few times we see Skull Kaiser not wearing his helmet!). Skull Kaiser explains that he and his Skeleton Army are ready to advance upon the Loss Tower and that reinforcements won't be necessary, which forces a grimace from Bone Reaper who stands behind Samhain in attendance. The exchange fades to the background as the narrator treats us to an introduction of the four generals of Samhain’s Halloween Empire. We get a look at each and a brief description accompanied by some vital statistics like height, weight, blood type, that kind of thing. We are then given a bit of history of this world which used to enjoy eternal spring until Samhain and the Undead Vine arrived. Through his and his armies' efforts, this world has been cast into darkness. Once the narrator is done, we get a tour of Skull Kaiser's castle and an internal monologue by the man himself. His outlook on the impending battle is mixed, but there is a sense of finality as he views his troops readying their gear. When he thinks of the Loss Queen there seems to be something he's unwilling to mention even to himself. He checks on his mount, Gran Mid, a giant skeleton snake, and then goes to rally his troops, raising them to raucous fervor with an expertly delivered speech.

To Be Continued...

Revive! Legendary Hero!

I’ve written before about how Skull Kaiser evolved into Jav Holson and the Approaching Infinity series, but wanted to devote a little more time and space to the Skeleton General in his first incarnation. Part of my reason for doing this is to sort of close the loop on the idea I had so long ago. It all started with a now-defunct website at sphosting.com and an attempted hoax to pass Skeleton General Skull Kaiser off as an actual rubber-monster-of-the-week Japanese TV show. The hoax is/was a bust, but for posterity’s sake, it would be nice to give the “series” a (hopefully) lasting presence on the internet.

Starting this month, I’m going to start posting an episode (summary) a day until I get through all of the original content written between 2000 and 2002. These summaries went through various revisions over time—like giving characters actual names and not just superhero names—even while the website was up (until 2003, I think), but what will follow (or precede, depending on when you read this) is the very first iteration of what ultimately became Approaching Infinity.

What you’ll notice—and what I realized when I decided to write an actual novel—is that I’d started in the middle of the story, with what ended up being Approaching Infinity Book 5. Of course, to tell a proper story, I needed to go back and start at the beginning. In hindsight, I’m really glad I didn’t give up with such a monumental task still ahead of me. The story needed to be told. Or at least, I needed to tell it.

Before continuing, though, a couple of disclaimers:

1. The title of this blog entry was stolen/borrowed from the first episode of Saint Seiya, whose episode titling aesthetic I tried to reproduce for Skeleton General Skull Kaiser.

2. The picture of Skull Kaiser, which will grace each episode post, was stolen/borrowed (and later doctored) from a cosplayer’s awesome Wahhaman costume, which can be found here.

Endless Road: Progress Report 3

King Yellow: Endless Road
15,400 words

Back on track this month. Would have liked to have made up for the last two months as well, but it didn’t happen. I’m happy with my progress so far, though.

Happy Holidays!

Endless Road: Progress Report 2

King Yellow: Endless Road
3,800 words

Still off to a slow start, but it's progress nonetheless. Woot!