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Post by Tug on Aug 22, 2019 18:30:23 GMT -5
Daniel was unsure about how to feel about recent events. Ever since that battle with the Golem and those knights he was becoming unsure of his abilities. Even so, what worried him more was the recent events surrounding the Colorfolk's subjugation of the so called, "Caravan Crew". Since then, he had heard from Paladin Ricketts and information from some of the other Colorfolk about how they were due to receives some of the harshest punishments in the last 3 centuries. Besides the fact he didn't understand why they were receiving such devastating punishments, he couldn't ignore something protruding from his thoughts. A memory that would not subside into his unconsciousness...
The sight of the radiating blood-lust emanating off of Woman in Blue as she carried out the swift defeat of the heavily injured Caravan Crew...
Daniel decided it was time for him to confront the leader about these things...
Daniel soon entered Melody's office and approached the woman's desk...
"Oh hey Daniel, it's rare for you to be visiting me around this time of day, don't you have some papers to grade, the next semester is rapidly approaching?' chuckled Meolday
"Normally that's so, but today there's something on my mind that I need put to rest..." replied Daniel
"Sure, you can come to me for any particular reason, no matter what..." smiled back Melody
"Well... I... I want to know why you enjoyed subduing those people from the Caravan so much..."
Melody's face noticeably soured into grimace
"Daniel... You should know I've been running the Colorfolk for the past 10 years since I inherited this title from my mother... My sole purpose has been to reunite the Prism into one piece again for the betterment of the world. It's a travesty some 'people' sneaked in and got away with all of our shards. I am not going to let some GYPSY FOOL AND HER BAND OF MISFITS GET IN THE WAY OF THIS FACTION'S ULTIMATE GOAL!" calmly then shouted Melody as she slammed her fist into her desk.
During her commotion, a black light glowed from Melody's neck. It seemed to come from a scar that was covered up with makeup, though was running due to her working up a sweat in her rage. The scar was in the shape of an anchor...
After noticing that, Daniel remembered a similar glowing scar he noticed on the Man in Black during the Battle in Gracefield Park, and started to slowly back out of the office and as if his body started to move on his own, he began darting out of the door...
"Wait Daniel! Stop! Everyone! Stop the Man in Blue!"
.....
Daniel ran across the compound, dodging confused Colorfolk as he tried to find an exit. In his hurry, he jumped inside the nearest room and shut the door, as a couple of feet thundered on by down the hallway...
"Quick! I think he went that way!"
Unsure of what he had gotten himself into, he put his hand into his face in worry. Just then, a white light glowed through his hands, and he noticed it coming from a box. He opened the lid and to his shock...
.....
"Woman in Blue! WE can't find the Man in Blue! He's disappeared somehow! Also, the Shards we gathered vanished as well!"
"Then find him! He's a traitor just like that worthless Black Faction! Show him no mercy!"
"Yes Ma'am!"
.....
Daniel was at a loss for words. The people his father had valued so much seemed to be a shell of what he was led to believe they were once. They clashed with his personal beliefs, and he couldn't go to that 'Black Faction' for help since he had seem with his own eyes that they were even worse. He need allies, some people who could protect him, and when he had touched those two shards, a white light flashed and he had disappeared from the compound and arrived outside of a... Bar? It was called the 'Goddess of Drinks' and from what rumors said this led to a place where he could seek such aid... It was as if the shards had awakened a latent desire, no power in him, but it seemed to be a one time use. He entered the establishment, and by some sort of magic, he leaned in and said 'I would like to order the Damoni Special' and he was whisked away into what he could only assume was the so called, 'Magic Underground'. With the knowledge he had learned, he had no idea what was further to come...
.....
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Aug 22, 2019 19:42:38 GMT -5
(EDIT: Please ignore; I’m not satisfied with this post)
As for the Caravam crew, it turns out that “harsh” was a bit of a misleading word... Majika Supremus believed in the firm, but ethical enforcement of the law.
When sent before the High Council, the Caravan crew’s trial only took a matter of hours; despite pleading that their actions were taken “to prevent a war from starting” the High Council was quick to point out that their actions started and escalated a Magic War... even more so, they risked exposing the magic world to the regular world.
The verdict was delivered, but the High Council was surprisingly merciful to an extent
“As this happened in my territory, I shall take responsibility in handing out the verdict” The North American representative began. “Considering that no non-magic’s were harmed and the magic world, it is my decision... to override the one’s death sentence; quite frankly that law needs review to be updated” he said
The caravan crew sighed in relief.
Despite stares from other members of the High Council, High Paladin Thompson didn’t really let it get to him; it was his last term anyway and he would retire in 3 years so he decided to do what he felt was best
“The apprentice shall be given 5 years in Detention Facility 1, accounting for the fact she didn’t do as much damage compared to the rest of you. And the rest of you... 30 years in Detention Facility 3” he declared
“I suppose it is better to be sent to the Sahara than to Siberia” Lauren sighed as the others nodded.
“Take solace In the fact we abolished torture in the 1800s... I only hope this time will be spent making yourselves into better people. This trial is hereby concluded”.
......
Ruth soon found herself in Allgheny National Forest, at Detention Facility 1. Adriana and the others, were in the Sahara Desert. “No point in trying to escape... nothing but sand for 100 miles in every direction” the guards explained as they were escorted to their cells
Meanwhile...
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Aug 22, 2019 21:49:29 GMT -5
Daniel, now alone, found himself screaming in frustration.
“None of this makes ANY SENSE!!!!” He declared in frustration. “How can so many wicked hearted people be in possession of shards in the first place? It doesn’t matter whether or not they have colorfolk blood; yes, they can handle shards, but that does not mean they can wield prism magic; man in gold gave me the whole lecture; the evil influence of the black stuff creates destructive, interfering wavelengths of magic that are counter to prism magic’s Wavelengths; they cancel each other out rendering prism magic useless to the corrupted hearted. There is a reason why there wasn’t a single evil Colorman in the first era after all” he said, thinking back to everything he learned in his time there. “And while we are on the topic of nothing making sense; what the heck has gotten into Melody? She didn’t show so much as a hair of having anything in common with Man In Black the whole time I’ve been there; nothing at all” he said, she always was a good person in their interactions.
“The Colorfolk are supposed to be a force for good, protecting the innocent and defending our home from the forces of evil. Only the humble good who desire to protect others deserve this power- that is what the spirit said. WHAT THE F*** IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?!” He screamed.
“If the colorfolk are not a force for good... then what the hell are we even fighting for? If this power isn’t used for good, then no one deserves to use it at all” Daniel said in determination. “This prism needs to be reunited, so that everyone can be freed from corruption and the Colorfolk can be made whole again. And it it comes down to me to save everyone... so be it!”
It was at that moment when shards began glowing and Daniel felt his power increase exponentially; for in embracing the true purpose of the prism’s power, he had become its most compatible wielder.
After finally calming down, he decided what his next move would be
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Post by Toz76 on Aug 22, 2019 22:26:33 GMT -5
Meanwhile, Woman In Blue had gathered the other leaders of the Blue Faction together.
"Man In Blue has stolen our shards and fled. I believe he is trying to betray us for the Black Faction. We need to stop him while he still can."
"That can't possibly be right." Man In Silver said. "He may be a rookie, but he's got heart. I don't think he'd do that."
"I know it's hard to believe, but it's true." Woman In Blue said. "But he can't have gone far."
"So what do we do?" Woman In Gold asked.
"Well, Woman In Gold, you're the best at hand-to-hand combat. Woman In White, you're an excellent mage. And Man In White, your strategic mind is unmatched. The three of you are the perfect group to find him and recover the shards."
The colorfolk nodded and stood to leave. But Woman In Silver was troubled. She could tell that something odd was going on. So she resolved to track down Man In Blue herself and get his side of the story.
*************
A small group of men and women wheeled their motorcycles off the boat and stood on the shores of New Furness. Their leader, Man In Dark Blue, took his shirt off and felt the night air flowing around his body.
"Alright, gang. American biker gangs are very different beasts, so we need to be prepared."
Man In Dark Blue also had a tattoo of an anchor. It was green and covered most of his left pectoral. This was a normal, nonmagical tattoo that had nothing to do with the curse of the anchor. But it was a rather strange coincidence to be sure.
*****************
Woman In Blue locked herself in her office and pulled out a vial. In the vial was a squirming blue mass.
"I'm losing control..." She muttered as she injected the blue stuff into her veins. "If I can't manage this curse, I'll become a monster no better than Man In Black..."
****************
Silent Night, meanwhile, was heading to the headquarters of the Blue Faction. The Bronze Mage had sent her to acquire a shard. They had plenty, so they wouldn't miss just one, right?
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Post by Tug on Aug 23, 2019 2:13:22 GMT -5
To her chagrin, it was much harder to find than they made it out to be...
.....
Daniel was, to say the least, lost. He knew very little about the Underground, and what he did know wouldn't help him in this situation. As he aimlessly wandered down the street, two people suddenly pulled him into an alleyway. As he was about to yell for help, a black armored gauntlet covered his mouth while a giant spectral hand blocked the entrance, and through the gigantic hand Daniel saw an white armored knight walk on by, as if he was looking for something...
"Sorry fellow, my shard was reacting to yours when you walked by, and since that 'thing' was tailing us, this was the best way we could protect you on short notice..." said the armored knight, revealed to be the familiar Noir Knight, as he unhanded the Man in Blue
"What is that thing?" asked Daniel
"We have no idea, but since you seemed alone, I thought the noble thing a knight should do is protect an honorable fellow such as yourself..." answered Noir Knight as he bowed his head...
"Thank you for saving me then... This seems really random... But I'm kind of on my own and need some help, would you two be willing to lend me your aid in protecting these shards from falling into the wrong hands?" pleaded Daniel
Noir Knight and Ghost Puncher exchanged looks with one another...
"As my code as a Knight I will do everything in my power to aid one who comes to me seeking help... Plus, I have a very old debt I need to settle and this is the perfect opportunity to do so..." replied Noir Knight
Ghost Puncher began rubbing the back of his head and said, "Well, my job kind of ended after we came back from Ordos, but... Since I've kind of fallen into this mess, I guess I'll help you out a little bit longer..."
Noir Knight, well metaphorically, grinned at the Magical Biker's response...
"Alright we'll group back up with my KNUCKLEHEADS at that place you told me to send them too, right Ghost Puncher?"
"Yeah, but I don't think the current residents will be happy with their arrival..."
"Huh?"
.....
"Ray what the hell are a bunch of medieval cosplayers doing in our barn... I mean apartment!" yelled a very Cowboy with a tiny clay golem riding on his shoulder...
"Sorry Vanil, when Noir told me they needed a place to keep their horses, this was the first place to come to mind..." shrugged Ghost Puncher
"Yeah they brought their two horses... AS WELL AS ELEVEN OTHER IDIOTS!" shouted Vanil
"Hey!" yelled the Cavaliers as Jaune and Alexandre tried to help get Castelmore's head unstuck from within the Helado Gang's freezer
"I already live here with five other people, 2 horses, and a golem, 2 more horses and 14 more people is making this place pretty cramped!" growled the head cowboy
"It's fine, we'll be only here a little bit longer, than we'll be out of your hair, alright? I'll buy drinks even?" pleased Ghost Puncher
"Fine, but they better not touch our ice cream, do you know how hard it is for the 6 of us to actually agree on one flavor to share?" grumbled Vanil as Castelmore slyly started hiding the Fudge Brownie he had been beginning to eat...
Daniel, Noir Knight, and Ghost Puncher stood on some hay bales with the KNUCKLEHEADS listening around them, while the Helado Gang listened in from the rafters from the second level of the barn...
"Before we begin, I though you guys were arrested recently, it made the local news? Plus, how did you even get here, you guys are non-magic users?" questioned Daniel
"That's easy, Noir told us the password and we faked our way in with the help from Jaune and some old KNUCKLEHEAD false magic techniques that are great at duping dimwitted sorcerers! Also, we were, but the judge was lenient and gave us six months of community service..." answered Arkwright
"Plus Delia's no longer allowed to be 500 ft near any windmills for the foreseeable future..." laughed Jaune as Rose hit him on the shoulder...
"Ow!"
Daniel coughed and took center stage, "Back on topic, I would like to thank you all for coming and willing to fight to protect my father's and my honor as a Colorman. My former faction has turned away from our true principles, and I feel the Prism is telling me to make my own path, not one sought and fought over for hundreds of years. Our enemies our numerous, two factions of Colorfolk Mages who have been fighting for decades, an entity known as the Prismatic Knight who's power is far greater than anything I've heard of, and other unknown entities that have the last remaining shards... We have three with us currently, and we must protect them from falling into any of the ones I've mentioned hands, if so, it's game over..."
Noir Knight then approached and added, "Right, Ill keep one shard hidden on me, and Daniel will protect the other two. We knights will fight for this man's goal, to settle things between our factions once and for all. Some of us may not make it through this unscathed, but that is the price we pay for taking up this oath. If any of you wish to back out now, I won't hold it against you, so speak now..."
Not a single knight raised their voice or hand...
"Then today, we fight! Fight to protect honor of the only true good left in this world!" yelled Noir Knight to the cheers of the other KNUCKLEHEADS
Ghost Puncher looked up at Vanil who only scoffed in response...
"Alright you lot, let's get moving then!" rallied Ghost Puncher as the knights began arming themselves and readying for the first time for the order in hundreds of years...
As the Knights and Man in Blue left the barn, Ghost Puncher spoke to the Vanil and the Helado Gang once more before departing...
"You didn't want to just use our place, you wanted the gang and I to help out right?" questioned Vanil
"Come on Van, you have nothing else better to do since you all got suspended, plus, I heard that your suspension was because of these Colorfolk guys, so your experience would be rather helpful..." begged Ghost Puncher
"We already got into trouble the last time we got involved with those fools, I'm not risking the safety of my gang again... Those guys were way out of our league..." scowled Vanil
"Fine, suit yourself..." sighed Ghost Puncher as he shut the barn door behind him...
Vanil just looked at the ground in defeat...
"Boss..."
"Don't say a word..."
.....
Delia and Bastille were riding on the Order's two horses, San Juanita and Pierre, as the others encircled Noir Knight, Ghost Puncher, and Man in Blue as a circle of protection as they headed towards the exit of the Magic Underground, but suddenly, the group felt a dangerous presence...
"He's here..." said Noir Knight, clutching his chest, as he drew his blade...
There stood the Prismatic Knight, standing between them and the exit...
"Everyone... TO ARMS!" shouted Arkwright
"TO ARMS!" replied his loyal knights as they all drew their respected weapons...
"Defend Sir Blue and Commander Noir with all your might!" ordered Arkwright as the foot soldiers charged towards the Prismatic Knight while the cavalry and Ghost Puncher stayed back to guard the duo...
Eren went in for a shield bash, but a green knight became a wall in his way, sending him flying back. Ulrich, furious, charged with his pike, but the Prismatic Knight dodged and grabbed the tip of his pike, spinning him around until throwing him into an oncoming Charles.
"I don't have time for insects. I need those shards! Then this nightmare of might can end!" yelled the Prismatic Knight as he dashed towards the guarded duo, but was blocked by Noir Knight once more, crossing blades once again...
"You're in my way. I'm saving you for last!" yelled the Prismatic Knight as he swung his blade once more and sent Noir Knight flying towards Bastille and Pierre
The Knight of the Prism soon grabbed Daniel and raised him up by his neck...
"I'll be taking these..." the Knight said as he reached and grabbed one of the shards
"No... You can't..." moaned Man in Blue
As the Prismatic Knight began reaching for the next shard, loud bangs sounded off as three flaming bullets came hurling towards his head, body, and hand, launching both Daniel and the Shard into the air. A thundering horse drawn cart came leaping out of the distance with Rhum and Rhodes catching the flying Daniel and Vanil grabbing the falling shard while driving the cart and carrying the recently fired gun in his mouth...
"Hold on to your fundaments!" yelled Vanil through gritted teeth as the Helado Gang went barreling off towards the exit...
"NO!!!!!" screamed the Prismatic Knight as a giant spectral fist came slamming into him and sent him flying into a nearby wall...
"Your opponent is me now!" demanded Ghost Puncher, "Noir! Keep the Colorman safe! I'll hold him off for as long as I can!"
Noir Knight soon hopped onto the back of Pierre alongside Bastille and ordered, "You heard the leather wearing fellow! Throw everything you got at that monster! Delia! With us!"
"Soon the three knights on horseback began trotting after the Cowboys as the other KNUCKLEHEADS got up off the ground and rallied themselves, while Alexandre and Castelmore looked knowingly at one another before looking at Jaune...
"Jaune, we've always followed you, but you need to use those powers you unlocked for a greater purpose..." said Alexandre
"And that purpose is to protect that Daniel fellow once again!" added Castelmore as the two soon lifted up their leader in a throwing motion...
"What do you two think you're doing?" panicked Jaune
"Doing what's for the greater good, as a kinght always should..." replied Alexandre
"Looks like for this fight, we'll be going as the Duo de Cavaliers!" laughed Castelmore
"Wait you two! Don't!" shouted Jaune as his cries fell on deaf ears and his best friends tossed him onto the back of the trotting away San Juanita, and he was just able to land properly without falling off...
"You fools..." sniffled Jaune as he readied his flaming sword, "Don't worry Sir Daniel, I'll protect you no matter what!"
"So are you gonna tell me while you just landed on the back of my horse?" questioned Delia
Alexandre and Castelmore readied their weapons and charged towards the currently engaged Prismatic Knight fighting Ghost Puncher
"Today is a good day to die!" yelled Castelmore
"Die for our honor!" added Alexandre as they began to parry the sparkling knight
The Prismatic Knight casually flung them off and said, "Petty bugs, you don't know the true meaning of desire protect one another..."
"I don't think you the meaning, since they sacrificed a useful trump card of theirs so our allies would be better off in the long run..." smugly replied Ghost Puncher as the Prismatic Knight growled in response...
.....
Down the road, the Helado Gang's cart had stopped for a moment to figure out their next move...
"I can't believe I'm still such a sap that I listened to Ray's good for nothing words once more..." sighed Vanil as Dough shook his head in defeat
Noir Knight's crew of himself, Bastille, Delia, Jaune, and the horses soon caught up with the cowboys and hailed them for some planning...
"Well, it seems to be just the 11 of us left, that's not very good odds if I do say so myself..." said Bastille
"Even with the addition of this lot's weaponry, I don't think we can last a fight against any of the players, even if we met them individually... Sir Daniel, you're the most knowledgeable about this out of anyone here, what is your plan of action?" asked Noir Knight
"Don't ask me! I'm just a college history teacher!" shouted Daniel
"Seriously?" said a weirded out C.C. as Coco hit her upside the head
"Ow!"
"Yes, seriously! I'm no leader! I can barely keep my full classes in line!" worried Daniel
"Surely you can come up with some idea?" questioned Bastille
"Maybe he can use some of that history knowledge..." smugly said Rhum as this time C.C. and Coco hit HIM upside the head
"Ow!"
"That's it! If history has taught us anything, is if you can't fight your enemies yourself, have them fight each other!" declared Daniel
"What you mean like, 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'?" asked Jaune
"Or an alliance system?" added Scotch, "What I like World War 1 history, shoot me..."
"No, if we lure out all the major players to a certain location to get the shards we currently have, they'll be so busy fighting against each other we can swoop in and fight them all when they're severely weakened!" replied Daniel
"I see... 'Kick them while they're down' as they say... This may be risky, but it's about the best option we currently got, though Majika Supremus might kick up a fuss, we currently have no other option that could lead to a higher chance of a positive outcome for us..." responded Noir Knight
"Alright, I'll keep a hold of this shard, that Daniel Kid his, and the one the Black Knight's got, so that should lessen the chance of them all falling into a single enemy's hands, alright partners? Let's get this wagon train rolling then, we got a ploy to plan! Hiyah!" rattled Vanil as the group charged on to ready their plan of action, though they failed to notice the sound of roaring motorcycle engines coming up behind them from afar...
.....
Back in the Magic Underground, eight knights laid defeated on the ground surrounding the Prismatic Knight, as he stood holding Ghost Puncher by the neck. When he let go, the Slayer stood for a moment, but then fell to his knees. A few seconds later he fell face down, with his final thought being, 'Noir... Daniel... I'm sorry I couldn't hold him off any longer..', before passing out...
"You pathetic worms... Now you've delayed my fateful reunion even further..." growled the Prismatic Knight as he kicked Ghost Puncher's unconscious body repeatedly...
Just then, robed mages and paladins gathered around the ruckus...
"Stay where you are! Surrender now, and we may show leniency!" shouted a Paladin...
"I don't have time to deal with all of you, and you'll just get in the way so why don't you annoying flies just stay here and be the good little observers like you always are!" shouted the Prismatic Knight as a gigantic flash of pristine white light danced through the air, and when it ended, the Prismatic Knight was gone, but...
"Where did that Knight go! He's a suspect in the Caravan Case?!"
"Sir! the exits to the Magic Underground! THEY'RE GONE!"
"WHAT!"
We're trapped here! It could take days to repair the dimensional magic!"
"Damn that entity! Whatever happens next, it's not going to be good... Not for us, and not for the entire world as a whole!"
With Majika Supremus unwillingly stuck on the sidelines, they were forced to just watch what would go down as one of the greatest incidents in the magical community in the current century...
The War of the Shards had officially begun...
.....
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Post by Toz76 on Aug 23, 2019 13:35:39 GMT -5
Sealing the exits to the magic underground had far-reaching consequences. For the magical community, losing access to the Underground was like losing access to Washington DC, if Washington DC also housed a way to instantly go to every major magical site on earth. The bulk of the leadership of each faction was at their respective bases in the real world- Majika Supremus in Istanbul, the Icetouched in Siberia, et cetera, but without the instant transportation of the Magic Underground, they couldn't effectively communicate with one another, and each faction began blaming one another for the shutdown. The tensions that began to brew that day would have far-reaching consequences, but that's a story for another time.
The citizens within the magic underground were momentarily alarmed, but Paladins Rickets, Fard, and Shid, along with a handful of Icetouched agents and Spirit Speakers, quickly restored order and comforted the populace, assuring them they were working on a solution. Of course, this was easier said than done. High-level magic must be used to interact with other dimensions, so within the pocket dimension, the Magic Underground was trapped until the portals were reactivated. They had a massive stockpile of supplies, and a large portion of the Akademie corner of the Underground was devoted to farmland so they wouldn't go hungry, but in a finite space like the underground, even minute things like oxygen levels were a concern.
As it happened, the only major member of the Magic Underground that was on New Furness at the time, aside from the odd Order Of Gerade representative, was The Optometrist, Fark Devonshire. He had been tracking the Black Faction ever since they raided the crypt back on Ordos, and when the portals to the magic underground shut down he immediately suspected Colorfolk involvement.
"Those "Prism Shards" are the only thing powerful enough to destroy a high-level, sophisticated global teleportation net. I don't know which faction did this, but those shards are too powerful for any of them to be trusted with it."
********
Man In Gold is rather old for a colorperson, at 52. He had been married once, and had a son, Percival. But the rogue magic faction known as the Cult Of The Horned One had killed his wife and son, and since then he had become a broken man. He spent his days tending to the very limited records that the Colorfolk had in their archives, translating them into modern English and keeping them from falling apart.
Woman In Blue had become his closest friend in these dark times, and he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Woman In Blue usually came to him for any advice, but the betrayal of one of their own had caused her to become more of a shut-in. But Man In Gold had dealt with grief before. He figured Woman In Blue just felt betrayed. So he decided to leave her alone.
******************
Man In Silver had gotten quite close to Man In Blue, and he was hit very hard by this betrayal. Man In Silver was trusting to a fault, however, so he didn't question Woman In Blue, another close friend and someone he trusted greatly. So Man In Silver decided to recuse himself from the current conflict, drove home, and decided to spend some time with his wife and kids.
****************
Man In White, Woman In White, and Woman In Gold made their way to Man In Blue's apartment. Each of them were taking the betrayal differently. Man In White was taking it the best. He was famously detached and unemotional. Friendship did not come easy to him, and he had not bonded with Man In Blue. He was a strategist through and through, and all he cared about was helping his leader to the best of his abilities.
Woman In White was also a bit detached, but this had little to do with Man In Blue. Man In Blue was one of the most promising mages she had ever trained, and as the colorfolk's resident expert mage, she was afraid of what Man In Blue could do if he turned rogue. Which is why she trapped his apartment with the most devastating magic traps she knew. She felt a bit bad about it, but if Man In Blue really had turned, she could not be too careful.
Woman In Gold was closer to Man In Blue than most. She remembered the scared young man she had rescued from the Red Warriors. It wasn't that long ago, but it felt like almost a year had gone by. He was so naive, so in awe of the magical world he'd been entered into... it just seemed so strange that he'd turn on them like this. But then again, more than once Woman In Gold's girlfriends had shown their true colors after a few months of dating. Maybe Man In Blue was just an unhealthy relationship for the colorfolk as well. But she couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right...
**************
Woman In Silver, meanwhile, was convinced that Man In Blue was innocent. So she made her way to the college where he taught, hoping to find some clue to where he'd gone. Woman In Silver was also fairly new to the organization, and she had become quite close to Man In Blue. She just couldn't accept that he'd gone rogue like this, not without good reason. And if he had a good reason, she was going to help.
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Post by Tug on Aug 23, 2019 14:36:24 GMT -5
.....
Back with Daniel's group, they were trotting onward trying to figure out a place set up their trap...
"So partner, any idea where this posse is headin'?" asked Vanil as he whipped the reins
"Knowing the sizes of all the players, and wanting to keep civilians out of the struggle... I think we should head Northeast, that part of the island is pretty abandoned, and there's a run down farming community on the outskirts of the Sherwin Forest that should give us plenty of room to take care of all this..." replied Daniel
"Then Sherwin Forest it is! Hiyah!" yelled Vanil as his horses picked up speed, with the KNUCKLEHEADS quickly speeding up right after
"Hey Boss! We've got Bikers on our tail!" shouted Scotch
"Damn! Be ready everyone! We've got company!"
.....
On the northern cliffs of New Furness, the Prismatic Knight sat to himself, gazing longingly out at the sea...
Inside him, however, the Shards were in a frenzy of commotion...
"Order! ORDER! Yes, ever since we lost Second, Eleven, and Thirteen things have been a little hectic, but everything should be gathering just right so we can have our vote..." said the First
"First! I demand you get everything under control, or else I'll take control of this vessel during the next encounter!" shouted Seventh angrily
"Don't you say that Seventh! Am I going to have to talk some sense into you!" yelled Fifth as he readied a fist
"You two! Calm down! We organized this council so we could decide whether or not we want to be what those 'fleshlings' call as whole, or keep our individuality as whole and unique spirits. If we can't get all of the shards approvals, then this campaign will be all for naught. If that happens, we we might as well destroy everything that dare subjugate or use us without our approval first, is that agreed?" spoke First
The other spirits in the room nodded in agreement, as the two spirits in cages hanging above sulked in annoyance at this argument breaking out once again...
"Then we will find our remaining siblings, cast our vote, to be either all as one or all as each other, and if we can't come to a vote, we'll just destroy everything standing in our way. making our decision for us, correct?" smirked First
The other Shard Spirits cheered in unison...
.....
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Aug 24, 2019 12:15:46 GMT -5
The Prismatic Knight remained immobile though; severing the Magic Underground expended most of its magic within and it was decided to rest for a while to recover
“Even if we aren’t alive in the traditional sense... I fear what will happen if we allow a complete depletion of magic” one said as the others nodded in agreement
......
In his plane, a frantic Man In Bright Turquoise was forced to play his hand... as the only true master of Dimensional Magic in the entire 3WSR canon, he found himself working frantically to keep the Magic Underground stable.
“That f***ing idiot of a knight! What the hell was he thinking?!” BT boomed as he tried to keep the MU from collapsing on itself.
“What has happened?” Teacher asked, concerned.
“That Prismatic Knight, which was NEVER meant to exist in the first place, severed the passageways between the MU and the main world. But in doing so he also severed the anchors keeping the dimension stable and now it’s risks collapsing on itself!” BT fumed.
“Then maybe it’s worth the risk of trying to get involved after all” Teacher suggested.
“Are you nuts?! If I break concentration here for even a minute the MU will start collapsing on itself! Ugh... maybe I shouldn’t have sent those books on the subject after all... it’s caused nothing but trouble” BT admitted before going back to his work
......
As for the several dozen other members of the Blue faction, Man In Bole sent along a message that they were to “remain on standby and guard the base” until further notice. The others were confused, but understood that it was necessary for now.
......
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Post by Toz76 on Aug 24, 2019 14:05:21 GMT -5
Man In Dark Blue and his posse were gaining on Man In Blue, the Helados, and the remnants of the KNUCLKEHEADS. As they approached, Man In Dark Blue blasted fire magic at the cart, which the Colidon Stone made to look like normal gunshots.
Noir Knight had the sight of a lich, however, and recognized it for what it was. "Those aren't ordinary bikers! The one in front has a Colidon Stone! It's some sort of magical biker gang!"
"Ooh, I've always wanted to get my hands on some of those..." Vanil cackled.
"We don't have time!" Daniel said. "We need to get out of here!"
******************
High above the island, a massive flying submarine with two mechanical arms floated idly. Inside, a ragtag group of nearly 100 Black Faction colorfolk lounged around, manned machinery, or in Man In Amber Apricot's case swabbed the deck. Shear, who Man In Black had been carrying around this whole time but had now ceased to be useful, was sitting in a holding cell near the engine room.
On the bridge, Man In Black and Woman In Orange discussed strategy.
"We have seven shards, the Prismatic Knight has eleven, so there must be seven more shards unaccounted for." Man In Black noted. "At least a few are probably in the hands of the Blue Faction."
"But the Prismatic Knight is far more dangerous than those jokers." Woman In Orange countered. "I know you hate doing this, but we may need to activate... the rainbow protocol."
"I don't hate doing it, I hate that name. Rainbow protocol? Just call it what it is." Man In Black sighed.
"Well, "teaming up with our mortal enemies the Blue Faction against a greater threat to the shards" doesn't have the same ring to it, you know?"
Man In Black rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'll talk to her."
*****************************
Woman In Blue was halfway through her fifth box of raspberries, the go-to depression food, when she felt her anchor tattoo burning in a familiar way. It wasn't nearly as painful as most of the other signals the tattoo gave off, and it wasn't accompanied by a furious desire to possess the shards, but somehow it was still her least favorite signal because of what it entailed.
Woman In Blue closed her eyes and found herself floating in a strange void. A mass of black and blue slime floated freely through the enclosure, which was filled with an invisible fluid, like water except she could breathe fine- or more accurately didn't need to breathe in this pocket dimension.
Woman In Blue swam down to the bottom, where a massive steel anchor lay in the sand on the metaphorical ocean floor. Man In Black was sitting confidently on the anchor, drinking the black slime through a straw.
"Well well well, we meet again, fellow anchor."
"I still don't understand how you exist..." Woman In Blue muttered.
"Well, while the prism was intact, it accumulated both Blue Stuff for all the noble impulses the colorfolk had, and Black Stuff for all the... impure ones. When the Prism shattered, the Black Stuff and Blue stuff each hijacked a different lineage, making them determined to remake the prism in their own image."
"Yeah, I know that part, but everyone knows that the prism is good. What could possibly make you think you could succeed?" Woman In Blue asked. Behind her, a metaphorical fish shaped like the word "Exposition" swam past.
"Well, that's our true power, isn't it? The anchor curse has its downsides, but if one of us ever holds the restored Prism, we become the only people in the universe save the Prism's creator who can change its nature. You can make it even purer than it was before, and I can free us from the archaic traditions that limited our order from gaining the power it deserved."
"Right, right..." Woman In Blue sighed. She knew all this already, but she couldn't shake the feeling that flooding the Prism with Blue Stuff would be just as bad as what Man In Black wanted. "But that's beside the point. You called me here for a reason?"
"Ah yes." Man In Black swam off the anchor towards her. "See, there's a new enemy out there. It calls itself the Prismatic Knight. It's already gathered 11 shards, and even I can't defeat it without my entire faction at my back. If it gathers all the shards, it'll probably reform the prism according to its own desires, and then neither of us will be free of this curse."
"So you want my help to defeat it?" Woman In Blue asked.
"Precisely. The Prismatic Knight does have a weakness. It stores the shards it steals in a hatch on its chest, and stealing the shards weakens it. With two anchors working together, the Prismatic Knight won't stand a chance."
"I see... but who gets the shards after we defeat the knight?"
"Whoever removes a shard keeps it." Man In Black decided after a moment, reasoning he was powerful enough that he could snag the lion's share of the shards with his tendrils.
"Deal." Woman In Blue decided.
********************
Woman In Silver was walking through the forest when she heard gunshots. Racing to the edge, she saw Man In Blue and his allies careening down an empty road, with bikers right on their tail.
"There's Man In Blue! I need to help him! But I'm an air mage... that probably won't do much good... but I have to try!"
*********************
Majika Supremus prisoners weren't kept in the Magic Underground. Most of the caravan crew, with the notable exception of Ruth were in Detention Facility 3, which was now on high alert due to being cutoff from the Magic Underground. The guards there depended on the underground to supply them in the middle of the Sahara, and without them they weren't sure how long the food and water would last.
This was a huge opportunity for the prisoners. While the jail itself blocked out teleportation, all the prisoners had to do was get someone with teleportation magic outside and they could free virtually every prisoner. Which is how Adriana found herself talking to a barrier mage named Gunthin, a vampire teleporter named Siknorik, a rogue necromancer named Vidarnis, and a burly orc druid named K'vanksh about escaping...
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Aug 24, 2019 16:04:23 GMT -5
But there were still major problems with the idea of escaping:
“The exact location of this place is classified and unknown to mages like us; how could anyone on the outside find this place the “normal” way? And by extension- how can we get a message out?” One pointed out.
“Not to mention with the Curse preventing magic from building up in us, let alone us being able to use it, and only MS paladins can unlock it; even if we get our we won’t last long” said another
“I suddenly understand how ideal a location this prison is in...” Adriana stated in realization.
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Post by Tug on Aug 24, 2019 16:55:28 GMT -5
.....
Back with Daniel's crew, they were trying to make plans for a quick escape and shaking the Dark Blue Bikers off of their tail...
"Alright then, we gotta git there no matter what! Rhum, Scotch and Rhodes! Provide some suppressing fire against those Mages! C.C. and Coco, protect the Blue kid! You Knights, provide aid where you can!" ordered Vanil as he whipped the reins harder
"Boss, should we use the Gat?" questioned Rhodes
"No Rhodes, we brought limited ammo for that monster and we'll need it all for the coming battle... Same goes for your bullets, save as many as you can!" replied Vanil
'He's a good leader when he needs to be...' though Noir Knight to himself, "Alright Vanil we'll do just that... Jaune, help me out!"
"Certainly Commander!" responded Jaune as he readied his sword
"I don't know who these fools are but I'm certain they have some shards! Hand them over and you won't be killed!" shouted Man in Dark Blue as he fired another spell at the escaping group
"Like hell we would! Light 'em up boys!" answered Vanil as the three cowboys fired various types of magical bullets at the approaching bikers. Some fire bullets knocked a few of the Colorfolk off their bikes, while some honey bullets encased the front wheels of a few bikers sending the riders flying with the sudden stop, while a few light bullets blinded a couple riders and one even grazing the fuel tank of one bike, preceding to cause some gas to leak out...
Noir Knight, seeing this with his lich vision, and while the Helado Boys were reloading, shouted, "Jaune! Launch a flaming slash! Now!"
Seeing his chance, with the fire in his eyes igniting his blade, with all his might he sent his attack flying towards the bikers, and as some tried to dodge, the leaking gasoline from the front bike ignited, causing an explosion that sent all the bikers flying off the road and into the surrounding brush. Well, all but one...
Man in Dark Blue, heavily burned and covered in small fires, kept driving after the cart
"I wont be taken down so easily!" Dark Blue shouted as his damaged motorcycle increased its speed
As Helado Gang and KNUCKLEHEADS readied themselves for another attack, a silver blur was rapidly gaining on the Biker, and presumably them, as if it were moving as fast as the wind...
"What in Sam Hell is that?" asked Rhum
Now closer, everyone, including in Dark Blue's rear view mirrors, could see a Silver clad woman running as if she was as fast as the wind, and as Man in Dark BLue turned around to retaliate against the coming interruption, the woman rapidly leaped over him, kicking him in the back of the head seemingly at the speed of sound, knocking him out, then successfully landing in the back of the Helado's cart. Immediately all of the cowboys and knights readied or pointed their weapons at the woman.
"Wait! I come in peace!" frantically yelled Woman in Silver as she raised her hands in surrender
"Woman in Silver?' asked Daniel as he pushed some of the Helado Gang's guns down, "What are you doing here?"
"I... I came to help... Huff... You... Huff... Out... I didn't... Huff... Trust... What Melody... Huff... Said about you... Betraying us... Huff... Man, running... Huff... At the speed of the wind... Huff... Can tire a girl out huh..." huffed Woman in Silver between tired sighs as she caught her breath
"This seems highly suspicious... Someone out of nowhere comes and saves us from our pursuers, and they're from one of the groups painting a target on our backs?" wondered Delia
"Should we trust her Sir Daniel, it is your call..." asked Noir Knight as Woman in Silver pleaded to the younger member
"Well... We need all the allies we can get at the moment so it shouldn't hurt to allow her to join us... But if you guys are still uncertain then keep an eye on her anyway you want..." replied Daniel as the Woman in Silver sighed in relief
"Alright then, on wards to Sherwin Forest! Hiyah!" yelled Vanil as the group carried on their way, no longer with pursuers chasing them down...
.....
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Post by Toz76 on Aug 24, 2019 22:50:57 GMT -5
The group soon reached the forest and set up camp. CC and Rhum began setting up some tents while Woman In Silver and Jaune went to start a fire. Woman In Silver insisted she could do it without magic or help, to Jaune's immense amusement.
Man In Blue, Noir Knight, and Vanil gathered at the edge of the ridge they were camped on and looked out over the farmlands that made up this part of the island. They were right on the edge of the forest, not far from the ocean cliffs, and while it wasn't raining currently, a storm was clearly brewing.
"Well, I seem to have found myself in strange company..." Daniel muttered. "A bunch of cowboys, and some KNUCKLEHEADS... maybe this was a bad idea."
"Well, think about how it's affected us!" Vanil snapped. "We've had so many setbacks lately... ever since poor Minty and Huck got captured... and now we've thrown our lot in on some holy quest for a bunch of glowing rocks."
"Hang on-" Man In Blue interrupted.
"I'm not finished." Vanil snapped. "What's this Noir Knight guy's deal, anyway? You're a f***ing lich! An evil mage who used dark magic to cheat death? Why are you two on the same team?"
"Well, actually, some liches began life as normal voodoo zombies that gained sentience due to-" Noir Knight began, but was cut off.
"I'm putting my ass on the line for you, Man In Blue, and the ass of my posse. I mean the ass of... asses of... forget it. You better not be leading us in the wrong direction." And Vanil stormed off. After a moment's hesitation, Noir Knight did the same. Man In Blue sighed and sat on the ground, burying his head in his hands.
Woman In Silver came up behind Man In Blue. Her pride was a little bruised by Jaune's fire-lighting abilities, but she saw that Man In Blue was stressed and put her hand on his shoulder. "Hey, Daniel, you ok?"
Man In Blue sighed. "What am I doing, Lisa? Did I do the right thing? Or did I overreact?"
Woman In Silver sat down next to him. "Look, I haven't been a colorperson much longer than you- god, that's a mouthful, colorperson. We need a new singular form of colorfolk. Colormage? Um. Anyway. As I was saying. You are one of the nicest, most morally upstanding person I know. I'm sure you can handle this."
"But these people expect me to lead them. I'm not a leader! In the entire multiverse, there's not a single version of this universe where I could lead anyone."
"I'm sure that's not true. I'm sure there's a universe where you are the greatest leader the colorfolk ever had."
Man In Blue rolled his eyes. "And in that universe, trains can talk and you're married to Man In Gold."
Woman In Silver laughed. "Eww!"
Man In Blue sighed. "Seriously though. If I had more shards, maybe I'd stand a chance, but the only way to get a bunch of shards is to destroy the Prismatic Knight, and-"
"Maybe I can help." Said an oddly familiar voice.
"Kendarboo Flickerbee!" Woman In Silver shouted.
The technomage that had helped the Blue Faction time and time again emerged from the forest, accompanied by two other men, a dark-haired light mage and a pale, anxious looking ice mage.
"Me and my companions heard there's been some commotion amongst the colorfolk recently." Kendarboo said. "Perhaps we can help?"
"For a price." The light mage interjected.
"Yes, Lightbender, of course. The colorfolk owe me big time."
"Well, we don't have much, but maybe..." Man In Blue said.
"Oh, don't worry, I'll make it simple. We help you and your companions destroy this "Prismatic Knight" that shut down the Magic Underground. And after we do that, you loan us one shard."
Man In Blue furrowed his brow. "What's the catch?"
"None at all. Icemeister here simply needs a source of power for a magitec device we're experimenting with. We'll just need it for a week or so and then, assuming the world hasn't been destroyed by an evil god or something, we return it." Kendarboo smiled. "I can even recruit a few friends of mine if we need more firepower. What do you say?"
"Well..." Man In Blue looked at Woman In Silver for advice.
"You got this, handsome." Woman In Silver said, smirking.
Man In Blue blushed and turned back to Kendarboo. As the first drops of rain began falling from the sky, he extended his hand. "Welcome to the team."
And in a certain mysterious tower not too far away, the Bronze Mage laughed as his plan got one step closer to completion.
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Post by Tug on Aug 25, 2019 0:58:16 GMT -5
As the sun began to set and plans were made to begin setting off the bait tomorrow, Daniel sat near the campfire thinking about things, about how his only real fight with a victory under his belt was with that Golem and how afterwards he promised to never destroy something with a will of its own ever again, and even though he had no idea where the Prismatic Knight came from, he was unsure if he should break his promise so soon after forging it...
"It's just not right....When I close my eyes I'm still haunted by that golem's crying shouts... No matter the creature I can't allow myself to do that again, it just isn't right. If I'm to hold myself to a moral standard, I can't allow myself to destroy things so easily... I don't know if that's the reason Woman in Blue and Man in Black became the way they are, but I don't want to find out for myself... I don't even think that deal was the right thing to make in the first place... Well, I just hope I'm making the right decisions..." sighed Daniel to himself as the campfire flickered and the night air slowly sunk into their surroundings...
.....
The sun rose upon a new day, and hours went by as 11 o'clock sharp a magical residence from Sherwin Forest was sent across the entire radius of New Furness, every magical being on the island could sense the signal, and many interested parties began to embark towards that location. A signal of Prism magic that alerted every relevant party's attention...
The battle was just about to begin....
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Aug 25, 2019 15:09:23 GMT -5
Daniel was thinking back to the dream he had last night; clearly someone had sensed he was troubled, so he had some special visitors appear before him.
Standing in the middle of a white void, Daniel found himself surrounded by 29 other men in blue robes. He recognized his father, but the others... the others were the ones he had seen in the portraits.
"You're... you're my ancestors" Man In Blue said in realization.
"Yes Daniel; this is every Man In Blue who came before you" Andrew Erdagovern, Daniel's father, explained.
"And of course my grandfather isn't here" Daniel deadpanned up noticing Wallace Erdagovern absent.
"Why are you here?" Daniel asked in confusion.
"You are currently experiencing a moral dilemma and we wanted to help you feel confident in the actions you decide to take" Matthew Erdagovern, the first Man In Blue, explained.
"I... don't know if I can go through with this" Daniel admitted. "How can I destroy Prismatic Knight? It doesn't feel right..." Daniel explained.
"Daniel, Prismatic Knight was never meant to exist; it came to be by a freak accident, nothing less. It's very existence is a threat to the world, not just New Furness" Matthew Erdagovern explained.
"That's right; it is your duty as a sworn protector to stop Prismatic Knight. Like the Spirit, golems and hommunculi, he doesn't have a soul, so he is not alive to begin with. He is not alive Daniel, he is only existing. You will not be killing him... if you destroy him it will prevent a far worse alternative from coming to fruition" Quincy Erdagovern explained.
"But... but he still has a will. Surely having a will means something! It's true he doesn't have a soul but... wait, what do you mean by a far worse alternative?" Daniel asked, confused.
"See for yourself" Declan Erdagovern said, as the white void around them was replaced by a vision of events which could come to pass.
Daniel saw many mages, Colorfolk and non-Colorfolk, lying on the ground unconscious, With a battle scarred Prismatic Knight in the center, surrounded by several mages.
"I only need a few more shards to be whole again... surrender them now and we can avoid this unnecessary conflict" The Knight said.
"You have no idea what you are even doing! We are the rightful custodians of these shards and if you don't cease this now even you won't live to see tomorrow!" Man In Gold warned.
"Your words are meaningless to me... if it is a fight you want, so be it!" Prismatic Knight said, but it was restrained by black tendrills in that moment.
"GIVE...ME... THE SHARDS!!!!" Man In Black warned; he was back in his "feral" state, and, without thinking clearly, had gotten up close and personal with Prismatic Knight and was trying to rip him open.
"If you want the shards so badly, you can join them!" The Knight said, as it swallowed Man In Black like it had Man In Steel. The Knight then went to attack Man In Gold and the others present, but then, it stopped moving.
Suddenly, the Knight found itself involuntarily shooting off lightning magic from within, loose rocks and debris began floating around it, and an intense glow began to encircle him, and it only grew stronger.
"What?! No! This can't be possible!" He screamed, now clearly in agony.
The other mages stood and looked on in confusion, then became terrified when they realized what was about to happen. "Retreat!" A Majika Supremus paladin screamed as everyone began running, but it was not enough. Only those who managed to teleport far enough away were safe.
When the glow began to reach maximum intensity, a catastrophic explosion of indescribable magnitude took place, engulfing all of New Furness and even a good amount of the surrounding seas. Though just an illusion, Daniel felt the intensity of the blast to the point where he felt like he was caught in a powerful wind storm.
"I'll show you the aftermath in the interest of time" Alistair Erdagovern said, as he held his hand up and seemed to fast forward time. After everything was settled, Daniel looked in pure terror. New Furness had been reduced to an island of flat, burned rubble, with the closest areas to the epicenter of the explosion being nothing but a plain of black ash. And in the center of it all... a charred, destroyed set of armor, two deceased mages with severe bodily injuries.... and 25 cracked and damaged shards that were glowing at first... but then faded, looking like little more than powerless glass.
"The output of the explosion was so great... nothing within 40 miles of the epicenter survived" Andrew stated grimly.
"But... but how is this possible?" Daniel asked, confused.
"In its current state, it is true the shards have some leeway in allowing those with too much Black stuff in their hearts to be able to wield Prism magic. But Prismatic Knight had done the unthinkable: he absorbed almost all the shards, plus three souls of those imprisoned within. Because almost all the shards were present together, and in such a magic-rich enviornment, they began the fusion process of their own accord, independent of the spirits that had formed within them. As the Prism returned to its base state, the presence of so much Black Stuff from Man In Black, began a violent chain reaction of incompatible magics clashing with each other. There was nothing he could do to stop it even as an anchor because the Prism wasn't whole just yet, and when the chain reaction reached critical mass... this happened" Matthew Erdagovern explained.
"What was the yield of this explosion?" Daniel said, still taking everything in.
"About 5,000,000 Carranods of magic force" Blake Erdagovern explained.
"Uh... how about non-magic terms?" Daniel said, not recognizing the term.
"About 800 Kilotons of TNT" Andrew added.
"What?! But... but the Little Boy Atomic bomb was only 15 kilotons of TNT!" Daniel said in shock.
"Exactly. Daniel, Prismatic Knight is a larger threat than you have realized. His actions not only threaten to allow the Prism's power to be used for the wrong purpose, but by imprisoning two beings within him, he is committing one of the most heinous acts a mage can do... disregard the Founder's Law" Elias Erdagovern explained.
"The Founder's Law? "magic exists to preserve the free will of man, not to subjugate it"... but what does that have to do with this?" Daniel asked, confused.
"We have been watching from afar Daniel, as we cannot actively take part for obvious reasons. And we have reason to believe that if Prismatic Knight is allowed to continue to exist, the possibility of it going on a purposeless rampage is very great; it will destroy everything in its path for little reason other than to be destructive" Matthew Erdagovern explained.
"Daniel, do you remember the true purpose of The Prism's power? You did say it yourself earlier" Andrew Erdagovern asked.
"The power is meant to be used to protect the innocent, and the land where they live from the forces of evil. And if Prismatic Knight is selfishly trying to horde the shards for its own purposes... then he is straying from the path that the power is meant to follow" Daniel realized. "But wait... that still doesn't explain the founder's law thing" Daniel asked in confusion.
"Prismatic Knight is currently imprisoning two beings within them, despite them having done nothing to warrant such an act. An act I'm sure you remember from observing the Caravan crew fight the Black faction. The Prismatic Knight is so heartless it is willing to take away the will of two beings... an act which cannot go unpunished"
"How dare he disregard the Founder's Law!" Daniel said, now angered. But then it went back to the original point, "but... but how can I justify destroying Prismatic Knight?" Daniel asked, still somewhat conflicted.
"Daniel, having a will doesn't mean that a creature is living. Hommunculi possess the intelligence of small children and can make basic decisions of their own, but it doesn't change the fact that they are not "life" since they do not have souls. Destroying Prismatic Knight is not a hateful act of spite... you are doing it out of mercy. The being "Prismatic Knight" was never intended to exist, and the fact that its existence depends on imprisoning two people who are alive makes Prismatic Knight little more than a parasite. How can you allow something so awful to not just steal the shards for selfish purposes, but imprison two beings who do not deserve it?"
And in that moment, Daniel realized that Prismatic Knight presented a threat so great, that letting it live was a greater evil than destroying him. "I... I think I understand now. I'm not comfortable with it... but if Prismatic Knight must be destroyed to prevent far worse possibilities from coming to fruition, then I will do what needs to be done. Not because I want to, but because I need to for the sake of the world I love and the people in it" Daniel conceeded.
"Killing should be hard, Daniel" Matthew Erdagovern assured. "But you must come to terms with the fact that sometimes, there are threats that are so great, you may be forced to make decisions that look like there is no right answer. Morality is subjective Daniel, there's no denying that...but in the end, it comes down to making that choice that will ensure the safety of others. You are a sworn protector Daniel, and as long as you do not deviate from that path, you will fulfill the mission of The Prism" Matthew assured.
"Thank you, Dad" Daniel said, feeling at least somewhat at ease after this discussion.
"Oh, and one more thing, Dainel" Matthew said as the dream was coming to an end.
"What?" Daniel asked.
"Don't expect us to appear every single time; this was an exception, not the rule. We aren't a team of Deus ex machinas that will appear and resolve all your problems at a moments notice. We will always watch over you, but you must be able to think for yourself as well. We can only reveal so much to you in the short meetings we have... it's up to you now, good luck Daniel" Mathew said, as the dream finally ended and Daniel awoke.
......
As Daniel readied himself, he was forced to come to terms with the grim prospects ahead of him... "If Prismatic Knight needs to be destroyed so worse outcomes can be prevented... then as a sworn defender I must do my duty" he said to himself. "This is an act of mercy, not spite" the message echoed in his memory
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Post by Toz76 on Aug 25, 2019 22:39:07 GMT -5
Man In Blue and Woman In Silver were soaked through as they prepped the area for an attack. But unfortunately for them, the first people to arrive to the battlefield was a trio he knew all too well... Man In White, Woman In White, and Woman In Gold.
"Man In Blue! Woman In Silver! You have betrayed the ideals this organization stands for!" Woman In White yelled. "Surrender now and return those shards!"
"Never!" Man In Blue yelled. "You are being misled! Woman In Blue does not have your best interests at heart!"
"We've all known her much longer than you!" Woman In Gold yelled. "Why should we trust you?"
"This is going nowhere..." Lightbender whined. "When do we get to fight?"
"Patience." Noir Knight said. "Man In Blue knows what he is doing."
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Sept 26, 2019 20:17:18 GMT -5
Man In Blue calmed himself down before continuing with what he was saying. "I saw it for myself... I have reason to believe that Woman In Blue is under the influence of some sort of curse. It's weird, it's like for a brief moment she was like Man In Black, but wasn't like him. I know, I know, it doesn't make any sense, but there was this outburst of hers that was pretty much out of character... and I mean like she never like this whenever we interacted with her, not even once" Man In Blue said.
"It could have just been emotions getting to her? What makes you certain that she's under some sort of influence?" A skeptical Man In White asked
"When she was going on about recent stuff her neck started glowing, like there was some sort of... anchor, I guess? The shape was hard to make out, but..." Daniel began.
"Wait wait wait. She LIED to me? She confided in me that she had it under control!" Woman In White said in disbelief.
"What the... what's going on here? Has Melody been keeping secrets from me?" Man In White asked in shock.
"She... she didn't want anyone to know. Some years ago she confided in me that a curse has been on her for a while, but... but I couldn't make sense of it. It compelled her to get the shards but she wasn't malicious... nothing like Man In Black. Regardless, she said she cleansed the curse from her body. But if she lied about that... what else has she lied about?" Woman In White realized.
"I think there's an even bigger elephant in the room we need to acknowledge. Woman In White, you sense it, right?" Woman In Gold indicated.
Woman In White looked at Man In Blue and after focusing, sensed it. "My goodness, you're right. Daniel has become substantially more powerful since he was last assessed. His levels of magic are... I don't even have a word to describe what happened, it’s quite unusual” she finished in disbelief.
"But... how?" Woman In Gold asked.
"I'm not sure... I just know that after I strengthened my resolve, I felt... different" Man In Blue explained.
"You have embraced the true purpose of the prism, and thus your compatibility with prism magic is getting stronger" Woman In White realized.
"So... what now?" Man In White asked.
“Honestly... I don’t know anymore” Man In Blue said in frustration.
”huh?” Woman In Silver asked in confusion
”Nothing makes sense anymore. People I thought were enemies may not be, people I thought were friends may not be. People who have no use for shards keep pursuing them and now we’re fighting a war over the shards? The colorfolk are supposed to be unified against the forces of evil and protecting enemies innocent, not at odds with one another!” Daniel finished.
”so what do you want to do?” Woman In Silver asked
”the only thing I know for certain...the prism needs to be reunified so these damn anchor curses can be wiped out of existence. The prism needs to be reunited... that’s all I know” he finished
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Post by Toz76 on Sept 28, 2019 11:51:22 GMT -5
"That might not be as easy as you think." Woman In White said.
"What do you mean?" Woman In Gold asked.
"Well, our knowledge of what exactly happened when the Prism was shattered is limited. But my studies of the shards we had suggests that repairing the Prism will purge the evil urges from most of the colorfolk, but have no effect on the Anchors. I don't know why that is, but Man In Black and Woman In Blue may still be an issue even when the Prism is reunified."
"There's got to be a way to help them, though." Man In Blue said.
"Your optimism is admirable, but Woman In White is correct. There's no way to anticipate what will come. We just have to prepare as best we can." Man In White said.
*************
On a hill overlooking the group, four figures stood and watched.
"Should we intervene?" Asked a tall blonde woman.
"Not yet." A well-dressed man looked up from his notes. "Man In Blue doesn't need a Deus Ex Machina. He can do this on his own."
"I think we should still do something." A second, younger man chimed in. "We don't have to destroy the wall just yet, but...
"Dude, I'm totally lost. Let's just see what happens." Replied a man in an Iron Maiden t-shirt.
"Wait, where's-" began the man with the notes.
"Using his writer powers to do unspeakable things. Don't think about it." The woman interjected.
All four of the mysterious figures shuddered in disgust.
*******
Man In Gold burst into Woman In Blue's office.
"Man In White, Woman In White, and Woman In Gold have defected!"
Woman In Blue shot out of her seat. "I'll call Man In Silver. You gather the other Blue Faction members. This mutiny cannot continue."
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Oct 9, 2019 21:36:48 GMT -5
Unfortunately for Woman In Blue, it did.
Woman In White contacted Man In Silver right before Woman In Blue did, and Man In Gold was brought up to date when he reached out to the rest of the membership.
Needless to day, Woman In Blue was in for quite a shock when the Blue faction had assembled at the location. There, the seven she was closest to, as well as the dozens of members of the Blue faction, were all standing together, staring HER down.
"What... what is the meaning of this?! You work for the Blue Faction!" She declared. The next thing she knew, a couple colormen had her restrained in a lightning cage.
"WHAT IN BLAZES IS GOING ON HERE!?" She boomed.
"Woman In Blue" Man In Silver began, as the core group surrounded her, "we have all been brought up to date on your deception, and this has raised doubts to your integrity as a leader. As such, the faction has come together, and cast a vote of no confidence against you; how could you keep something so important from us?" he said, holding back tears.
"I...I didn't mean to! I never really had a problem, and..." Woman In Blue started.
"You expect me to believe that! I don't know who to trust anymore because of you! Everything was going just fine until this happened! How should I believe anything you've told me?!" Man In Blue said, caught somewhere between anger, sadness and confusion.
"But the curse isn't a problem! I swear it!" Woman In Blue said, now getting nervous.
"And you expect us to believe that!? Give me one reason I should believe you!" Woman In White stated.
"Because I'm nothing like Man In Black! I swear on my lineage that the outburst Daniel talked about, that was my first outburst in years! YEARS!!!" She said, as she started shedding tears.
There was silence for a while, everyone caught up in their emotions. At last, a collected Man In Silver stepped forward and announced "She's not lying; I can tell" he assured.
Daniel, realizing that there may have been things he wasn't considering, decided that maybe it was a good idea to give Woman In Blue a chance... but he didn't know how to bring it up. Fortunately, he did not have to- Woman In White beat him to it and confronted Woman In Blue. "Melody, I've known you a while and you are right; that one outburst was rather uncharacteristic of you compared to the rest of my interactions with you. So I feel I speak for all of us when I say we will allow you a chance to speak your side" she said, as Daniel sighed in relief that he didn't have to say anything.
"Tell me this... what makes you different from Man In Black?" Man In Silver asked; he decided it was best to play it cool and asked the question calmly.
"He's on a selfish quest for power! He couldn't give a damn about the shards themselves! He wants the shards for their POWER, not for restoring the Prism, not for reviving the spirit, nothing altruistic to his motives at all! My curse has always been an afterthought at best, it's never influenced my decisions! I told you, didn't I? I want to fulfill the Will of the Spirit; curse or no curse, I want to restore the Prism so the Colorfolk can be restored to their former glory. He allows the curse to dictate his actions, But I dictate my own... I want to do the right thing, not for power, not for glory, but for the sake of the home I love and the people I care about. I want to defend those I hold dear!" She finished.
In that moment, Daniel felt the shards in his custody glow, and not because of anything he did. Woman In Blue was genuine... she was fighting for the sake of others, not a selfish quest for power. And yet... at best the glow was but a fraction of what it should have been. Was she still hiding something? Everything was just so confusing to him now, that there was only one thing he could think of asking. Admittedly, he wasn't sure if it would change anything, but he felt that at this point, it probably would be best to get at least one question in.
"But... are you truly different from Man In Black?" Daniel asked.
"Yes! Remember when he lost all his shards? Because he lets his curse dictate his actions, he was reduced to a feral animal! It may not have been a long period of time, but he lost his sanity when he lost his shards. But not me, I kept my cool when our shards were lost. I didn't go insane or anything else of that nature; sure, I was upset, but no more than any of you were at the time" Woman In Blue explained
"Then that brings us to the outburst Daniel keeps mentioning... what happened?" Woman In Gold asked, trying to put the pieces together.
"I don't know... after the Caravan crew were taken into custody, "something" went off in me... almost as if there was something about those actions that just set the curse off. I can't explain it, but i swear, it's the truth" Melody finished.
Everyone present took in all that had happened. Eventually, a decision had been reached. "There's only one way to be certain that Woman In Blue is genuine here. We need to put her in a position where she isn't calling the shots. Part of the action, yes, but not necessarily leading the charge" Man In White argued.
"In that case, if it will make everyone believe in me again... I willingly cede leadership. I step down as head of the faction" Woman In Blue declared.
With the new status quo in place, Man In Blue took out his shards and looked at them, "Dad... I swear, I will do everything I can to protect the people of this island from what is about to happen" he said to himself. In that moment, the shards began to glow brighter; his power steadily increasing.
At the same time, knew that the alliance with the Black faction would need to be kept for the time being... but at the same time, he knew that he had to keep Man In Black away from the shards, lest the island be destroyed. At the same time though... was this a decision for him to make? He wasn't exactly a well known mage, or credible outside those he interacted with... would anybody be willing to take orders from him?
Perhaps it was best for him to take part in the charge, but not lead it. But the vision his ancestors gave him still haunted him to no end. This was no time to be torn! He knew he had to come to a decision, and soon. But little did he know, just because his power was increasing, this did not mean all his problems were solved...
......
Man In Black was getting himself together, and declared to himself, "No one will stop me in my quest for power! The shards will be mine and I will crush everyone who gets in my way!"
Conversely, at that moment the shards in his possession grew dimmer...
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Post by Toz76 on Oct 10, 2019 18:04:47 GMT -5
With Woman In Blue stepping down, it was time to decide on a successor.
"It should be Man In Blue. He may be fairly new, but clearly he's more powerful than any of us."
"Don't be ridiculous! He has barely any experience. What about Man In Gold? Or Woman In White? Or Man In Silver?"
"We need a leader for the coming battle, and Man In White is our best tactitian."
"But Woman In Gold is the best at combat!"
*********
Meanwhile, in the skies above Ordos, Woman In Orange was flying the Black Faction airship. Man In Black had detected the Prismatic Knight on their scopes.
"The Blue Faction can wait." Man In Black decided. "That monstrosity shouldn't exist, and those shards will be mine..."
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Post by frankthetriviaman on May 12, 2020 19:57:17 GMT -5
Man In Black's shards grew even dimmer as he declared this; but of course he was so blinded by his quest for power, he failed to notice that the more he desired the power, the weaker his connection to it became. And yet, somehow, someway, he was not any weaker than he was earlier. He still remained a force to be reckoned with, but it was as if the Prism's power was being replaced by something else...
......
Man In Blue couldn't take it anymore. What had gotten into the Blue faction? This wasn't like them at all. A Colorman or Colorwoman was supposed to be a Good, humble mage driven by a desire to protect his or her home and the people who live there; and here they were bickering over leadership? How could they allow themselves to stoop to such a level?!
"I can't take it anymore..." Daniel said as he embraced his two shards, "Spirit... help me!" He declared in tears.
"Very well Daniel, but to do so I must borrow your body for a little while" a disembodied voice declared.
"What? Who said that?" Daniel said, looking around, nervous.
"It's me, Daniel. And I am truly sorry for this, but in my current state it is the only way to compensate for the current status of the Prism" the voice continued.
"Wait, what?" Daniel managed to say before his eyes went blank and he entered a sort of trance. The two shards he was holding on to began glowing brightly, as they then began hovering around Daniel. Daniel himself soon began hovering too.
Noir Knight, who was not too far away and watching all of this unfold, suddenly felt the shard in his custody began to shake, and faster than he could react, it flew off of his person and headed straight for Daniel. The three shards, now all glowing of equal brightness, began spinning around him, faster and faster until it was almost as if a solid ring had formed around him.
Man In White was the first to break eye contact from the argument, looking him he was completely at a loss for words.
"Hey! I'm talking to you!" Woman In Gold screamed angrily. Man In White just kept starring. "Jeffrey, you little..."
"Guys, look..." Man In White said, pointing at Daniel. A steady chain reaction soon started as everyone began looking at Daniel. Eventually, the ring around him got smaller and compressed around him, and a fantastic explosion of light took place.
Everyone who looked was blinded, and shielded their eyes. It took a few minutes of eyes rubbing before anyone was able see what had happened. Everyone was startled to say the least; in Daniel's place there seemed to be a humanoid figure, almost composed of light itself. A head and face were discernible, as were fingers on the hand, but there was no distinguishable features... it was as if light itself had taken a form.
"Colorfolk of Ordos... it has been a while" the humanoid said as it began to somewhat hover towards the group.
"Do... do we know you?" Man In Gold asked, confused.
"I should hope so... I'm the reason your powers even exist in the first place" the figure said, its voice clearly not Daniel's.
It was Man In Silver who picked up on it before anyone else, before being the first one to take a knee, "Forgive me, it took a minute to register... noble spirit" he apologized.
"Spirit? YOU'RE the spirit of the prism?" Woman In Silver said in disbelief.
"But... but I thought you split yourself up across the shards or something when you when dormant" Woman In Blue said in confusion.
"That... is a partial truth" The spirit began. "I left a part of myself in each shard so that they could be better located, but the primary essence of my being is here, in the shard guarded by the Man In Blue lineage" The spirit began.
"Wait, THAT'S why the Daniel's grandfather had a shard?" Woman In White asked in confusion.
"Correct; a shard of such importance could not just be left in a random vault somewhere; this shard was guarded by the Progenitor line because of its importance. I only regret I have to borrow Daniel for now in order to fulfill his wish" the spirit said.
"What wish?" Man In Silver asked.
"He was desperate for my help. And upon scanning his memories... I can see why. I am deeply disappointed in you Melody. How could you betray the code of the Colorfolk!?" The spirit declared angrily.
"It's not my fault! Without the safeguards of an intact prism many lines became ambivalent and some outright corrupted. Don't even get me started on the lost lineages!" Woman In Blue defended.
"Yes... I can sense that about 1/3 of the lines are gone; this could be a problem for the ancestral colorfolk but we'll start anew" The spirit noted, "but far more importantly, you should be deeply ashamed of yourself Melody, I blessed your faction as the rightful custodians of the shards and THIS is how I am repaid? How could you let yourself sink so low? You are all supposed to be good, humble mages motivated by a desire to protect your home and the people in it, or have you forgotten that too?" The Spirit asked.
"But spirit, you are just as much to blame for this too! I don't know why you put those anchor curses on me and the Black lines, but those were unnecessary and..." Melody began
"What is this "anchor curse" you speak of?" The spirit asked, confused.
Now everyone was confused. "Didn't... weren't... my line was hijacked by all the blue stuff contained in the prism and his line the black stuff" Woman In Blue pointed out.
"What are you going on about? The Prism contained neither black or blue stuff" The spirit said, causing a collective gasp, and up in the sky, the clouds spelled out "EXPOSITION" as everyone was taken aback.
"What? But... but that's not possible!" Man In Gold insisted, "The Prism accumulated black or blue stuff based on impulses and..." Man In Gold began
"Being cut off from the archives and the telephone effect probably caused a lot of confusion, but stop and think for a moment... if I cursed Woman In Blue, why would I make her faction the rightful custodians of the shards?" The spirit pointed out.
There was a lot of "oh yea's" and "Fair point's" from that.
"Also, how could there have been any black stuff in the prism when it is violently incompatible with prism magic? If I stored even 20 Yernafils of the stuff in here it would cause a thermonuclear explosion" the spirit said.
"He's not wrong" Man In Gold agreed.
"But that goes against everything we know!" Woman In Blue insisted. "When we shattered the prism, it caused an explosion of evil/black stuff, and the anchor curses caused us to splinter and..." she began.
The spirit took everything in, and suddenly looked horrified. "There's only one being capable of what you are telling me" he explained.
"Who?" Woman In Gold asked.
"I didn’t think much of him back then because he never attacked directly- and I am shocked that he has managed to make you all forget him. But the true force behind the black stuff explosion you speak of and the anchor curse is the one behind the Colorfolk's suffering. The one, and only, being capable of corrupting the Colorfolk to such a degree" The spirit said.
"WHO?!" Everyone asked.
The spirit paused before finally admitting "...my other half"
There was a collective gasp before the spirit finally revealed the full story of his origin... a story of two spirits; one of Order, who wanted to see humanity prosper, be free, and allow the best of humanity to flourish. While the other, one of Chaos, became a being of pure malevolence, wanting nothing more than to see the world drown in despair and tyranny... for his own amusement.
"So you see, it is vital that the prism never fall into the wrong hands, for if it were to become a force for chaos, then it would be the end of everything" The Spirit finished.
"Because of the frequencies, right? The frequencies of the Black stuff being so out of sync with the Prism's fundamental frequencies?" Man In Gold asked.
"That is only part of it; the prism must be a force of order, and by extension, good, in order to keep this force of chaos, and by extension, evil, at bay. Otherwise... it will be the end" The Spirit explained.
"But why?" Woman In Silver asked.
"That is not important now; and I must not say too much, if he is near" The spirit stated
"So then, this Spirit of Chaos, he's the one responsible for our darkness?" Woman In Blue asked, trying not to bring up what her conversation with Man In Black suggested; "With all this dumped on us; is it possible that both of us anchors were even more deceived than we realize?" she thought this second part to herself, in terror.
"Almost certainly. For you see, the true enemy of the Colorfolk, the one who I feared would one day return... is the one who can not be named" The spirit finished.
"So he... doesn't have a name?" Woman In Silver asked.
"No... he chose a name so long and unpronounceable that legend says any human that attempts to say his name will be driven mad by it" The Spirit said.
"So he's Polish AND Welsh?" Man In White asked in confusion
.........
On a nearby hill, a dark cloud suddenly manifested and took a humanoid form. "Boo hoo, my boring half, how dare you spoil my fun. Now that the cat is out of the bag how am I supposed to make your lives miserable from the shadows? No matter; for now that I have mastered the very thing that causes humans to embrace the chaos of the world... and I suppose "evil" as humans would call it" and the humanoid manifested black tar-like matter, and began manipulating the black stuff itself as if it were water. "With this power in my grasp, I will create a paradise for chaos, and be entertained for all eternity! But first..." and suddenly, through some sort of viewing window, he began looking at Man In Black.
"Just a little more corruption for you... and then I will finally have something I have always longed for. Indeed, once your heart is fully corrupted, you will become... my pet."
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