Chapter 3 Act 1: All Hail Count Bleck
Blumiere burst through the wood, the wind at his feet. There she was! There was Timpani! Timpani sat in the wood, just where they had both been before. She looked as though she were waiting for something.
“Timpani!” cried Blumiere.
“Blumiere!” Timpani cried as she ran to him, clutching to him crying.
Blumiere blushed violently, but held her and tried to calm her. “What’s wrong?” Blumiere asked.
Tears fell down Timpani’s face, faster than the rain overhead. “…Your father… He wishes to kill me! And now my father and mother, they wish to kill you!”
War… death… sorrow… pain… and all shall begin again…
Suddenly lightning crackled through the sky, splitting a nearby tree. Timpani screamed and burrowed her face in Blumiere’s chest. Blumiere held her close and watched as the army broke the gate and entered the castle. “…Timpani… Let us go.”
Timpani looked up at Blumiere with tear-filled eyes. “What?”
“Let us go… far away… to a land where we can be together and none can stop us…”
Timpani cried
more and more as she held onto Blumiere tighter. “… Yes… yes… Take me away…
Please… take me away…”
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The Count growled as he burst into the room where the Dark Prognosticus was held. Quickly he grabbed the book, tucked it into his robe, and ran out the door into the rain. This ends now!
The Count stood on the balcony and held the book up in the air. “DARKNESS GIVE ME A GIFT! DESTROY THE GIRL WHO STARTED THIS! KILL HER NOW, I DON’T CARE HOW! SEND HER AWAY, TO LIVE ANOTHER DAY!”
The pages of the book began to turn and a black vortex shot from the book into the clouds above. Rays of purple light showered down upon the town and castle. The Dark Prognosticus… was awake…
A bolt of purple energy shot from the clouds and struck the wood…
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Timpani was practically laying on Blumiere. He had been holding her when a bolt of lightning had struck again, scaring her. She had pushed onto him and knocked him to the ground.
The two of them lay there, looking deep into each other’s eyes. They couldn’t feel the rest of the world, only each other. Timpani looked so… beautiful, so… pure, so…
“TIMPANI! LOOK OUT!” cried Blumiere as he thrust her off of him, jumping up to block a downpour of purple energy that had been hurtling straight for her, to kill her…
Timpani screamed. “BLUMIERE!”
Blumiere cried out in pain as he absorbed the dark energy from the purple ray. He then fell to the ground in a heap, leaving Timpani unprotected.
Timpani ran to his side and began to shake him, trying to wake him up. “BLUMIERE! NO! PLEASE! WAKE UP! BLUMIERE!”
In the distance there was a dark laugh as thousands of screams were heard. Another bolt of the dark energy hurtled toward Timpani, and this one had no one else to strike. It hit her, hard, and sent her to the ground screaming in pain.
As if by reflex Blumiere woke up, filled with pain, and rolled over to Timpani’s side. He lay at her side, his hand slid into hers and he looked her deep in the eyes.
“Timpani…” Tears trailed down Blumiere’s face, each one falling on Timpani.
“… Blumiere…”
A dark cloud engulfed Timpani, leaving only her head exposed from the darkness. Timpani raised her hand to Blumiere’s cheek and placed it there.
Blumiere cried, and leaned down toward Timpani…
Another scream and bellow was heard from the castle.
The two friends, Timpani and Blumiere, were now… kissing…
But as they kissed it did not last long, for Timpani began to feel a weak feeling fill her and the cloud engulfed her all the way.
“T-TIMPANI! NO!”
The last words that Blumiere heard from her were three words, three words that would haunt him forever.
“…. I love you…”
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Filled with anger, Blumiere burst into the throne room of the castle. His father stood on the balcony, the Dark Prognosticus in his hands.
“Father!” Blumiere bellowed down the hall.
The Count turned to Blumiere and snickered. “So have you given up yet, Son?”
“Father! YOU KILLED HER!” Blumiere yelled, running at his father.
The Count suddenly burst into a mass of shadow and moved to the right, reforming. Blumiere almost fell off the balcony. The Count swung his fist around and struck Blumiere, sending him to the floor of the throne room.
“I have had enough of your disobedience! I’m going to get rid of these stupid thoughts of yours! The girl is gone! Forget her!”
“NEVER!” Blumiere ran at his father again. This time the Count stepped to the side. His son tripped and fell.
“See… Weak… This is what love does to you!”
Blumiere jumped up and punched his father, right in the nose. The Count screamed, stumbled backward, and fell toward the ground. He was now hanging by the end of his cape from the balcony. Blumiere picked up the Dark Prognosticus from where his father dropped it and stood over his father.
“… NO! Blumiere, don’t! I only used the spells in the front of the book! She is not dead, merely lost in the many worlds!”
Blumiere opened the book and a dark wind surrounded him. His face distorted, his mind twisted, his hat and cape grew longer, his eyes became sharper. He glared at his father, grabbed the monocle from his father’s face, placed it on his own, took his cane, and lifted up the book.
“Then go join her, Count of Variado!”
“BLUMIERE, NO!”
Blumiere turned away from his father, but glared over his shoulder.
“… No… I am not Blumiere…. He is dead…”
The Count looked at Blumiere in shock.
“… My name is Count Bleck, and you would do well to remember it!”
Bleck took his cane and stabbed it down onto his father’s cape, pulled, and ripped it away. His father fell, just as he had done, all the way… down… down… down… thud…
Bleck opened his cape around him and read the first page of the book. “Darkness… Void! Chaos! Destroy the Pure Hearts! Kill this world! For I am Count Bleck, wielder of the Dark Prognosticus! DESTROYER OF WORLDS! BLEH HEH HEH HEH HEH BLECK!”
A large, dark tornado engulfed Count Bleck and stretched upward into the sky. It touched the storm overhead and the storm died away. In its place was a large black hole, a hole filled with dark purple energy.
“DARK PROGNOSTICUS! DESTROY ALL WORLDS!”
The large hole overhead stretched far and wide, everything it touched fell and died. Count Bleck simple teleported away…
But the land he had known… his father… Timpani’s mother and father…
Each one died
at the hands of The Evil Count Bleck…
Chapter 3 Act 2: A Sorrowful Count Bleck
The winds had died here… as had everything… Nothing existed here… this land of shadow.
The entire land was nothing, all that was there was a small patch of burnt grass and a lone tree. But in this land of nothing… was something.
Slowly a small figure spun into life, beside him floated a book. The man gripped his hat and cane with ivory-gloved hands, as slowly he moved toward the lone tree.
“… Bleh heh… So… I am free from him… How grand freedom feels… ” said Blumiere… no… Count Bleck.
The book beside
him floated forward and floated onto the ground. A burst of wind shot by
and the book opened to the last chapter. Bleck moved forward and looked
at the book. “… Destroy all worlds? ... Yes… Destroyer of worlds… So tell
me, just how am I to destroy all worlds?”
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Timpani suddenly tripped, falling down to her knees. Tears streamed down her face.
“BLUMIERE! WHERE ARE YOU?! WHERE ARE YOU?! I NEED YOU! PLEASE! I NEED YOU!”
Pulling herself along, she stumbled down the road. A large house was seen nearby. “… A house! A HOUSE! HELLOOOO! HELP! PLEASE! HELP!”
Timpani ran toward the house with all her strength, but she was so weak… She fell upon the door… and felt a black cloak of death cover her…
Timpani was alone… lost… and dying…
The door opened slowly and a man stepped out. Suddenly jumping backward, he ran inside, then emerged again. He used his magic to pick up Timpani and take her to a large door to the south. The door opened and a man in a blue robe with a long moustache emerged.
“By the love of… Bestovius! Who is this?!” cried the man in blue.
“I know not, Merlon, but we must help her!”
Merlon and Bestovius
took the girl and carried her through the door, a door as red as love…
as red as the love for Blumiere that Timpani had… and just as pure… for
she… was pure of heart…
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Merlon paced back and forth as the girl lay in a bed at the inn. The mistress of the inn stood behind Merlon. “Master Merlon… how is she?” the woman asked slowly.
“… I know not… but we must help… She is quite ill… I want you to go and ready some soup for her. Scurry!”
The woman ran outside, down the street, into an elevator, and into a large diner. She ran to the table and spoke to another woman behind the counter. “Saffron! You will not believe what happened! There is a girl in my inn, and she needs food! Master Merlon demands it!”
Saffron jumped back and grabbed her pots and pans. “Leave it to me, shug, you just keep the young’n going until I get there!”
The mistress ran away, back into the elevator, and back into the inn.
The entire town was standing outside the door. No more than a moment latter Saffron burst through the door and ran over to Merlon. “Master Merlon, where is the poor thing?”
“There! Please, we must do something… She looks so frail… ”
As Saffron forced down some soup, Merlon walked outside and greeted the inhabitants of the town. “Everyone please… calm down… ”
“Master Merlon, what’s going on?!”
“Who is this girl?”
“Why is Saffron in such a hurry?”
“Why are you in such a huff?”
“What’s going on?”
Merlon heard all these things at the same time and suddenly bellowed, louder than all the shouts, making the whole town shake with his voice. “SILENCE!”
Everyone jumped and shut up in turn.
“Now… Would everyone please return to their homes… Everything is fine… ”
Everyone turned away and walked back to their homes. Everyone except a young girl. She wore a yellow dress with white polka dots, and had long hair that was put into two ponytails. “Merlon, what’s going on?” the girl asked in a sweet voice.
“Ah, Mimi… Do not worry, my dear… All is well… You should return to your home, wouldn’t want your mother and father to worry. Run along,” Merlon said as he shooed her away.
Mimi frowned and walked away, toward the gate out of town.
… Merlon… What
is it?
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“An evil king and a woman pure of heart must merge at the altar, and the Chaos Heart will be born… ” said the book aloud.
“… Yes… Destroy all worlds… Yes… I will do it… They took away my Timpani… And so I will take them away… ”
A cloud of sorrow hung over the Count as he looked out upon his land, a large land filled with nothing. “Black and empty… just like my heart… ”Tears fell down the Count’s face as he stood looking up at the sky.
“HEAR ME, WORLDS! FOR I AM BLECK! DESTROYER OF LOVE AND PEACE! ALL WORLDS ARE TO BE DESTORYED, FOR ALL ARE IMPURE! ALL ARE HORRID! ALL ARE DESTRUCTIVE! And all…”
The Count trailed away as he began to weep again. “…took away my Timpani…”
The Dark Prognosticus seemed to smile. It had a way to use its power, it had its puppet. And it was now content... For soon… all worlds would be as nothing…
“I AM COUNT BLECK! I AM THE LORD OF DARKNESS! I WILL DEVOUR ALL WORLDS AND THEY WILL ALL FEEL THE PAIN IN MY HEART!”
Nothing responded to the Count… nothing… All that was near was a bat…
A small bat that
hung from the tree… and begged for a friend…
Chapter 3 Act 3: The Search for Timpani
The Count sat alone under the tree, reading the Dark Prognosticus. Each page filled him with sorrow, for each page reminded him of Timpani. No matter what he did, he couldn’t get her out of his mind. The Count stood and walked toward a small patch of burnt grass.
“… Alone… again… All alone… ”
The Dark Prognosticus floated over to the Count’s side and began to flutter about. “What do you want?” the Count asked as the book looked at him.
“… You can change this world, you know… ” said a dark voice, one that the Count guessed belonged to the book.
“What?”
“This world… it’s a blank canvas… Use your powers to change it! Make it your world!”
Count Bleck smiled. His own world… Peace… love… a world without war… a world of peace…
The Count lifted his cane and drew a mountain to the east, and to his surprise a mountain popped right up where he put it!
The Count began drawing all sorts of things into his world. Trees, rivers, mountains, and then he drew a large, grand castle that stretched as high as the sky above… There was just one problem… everything was black and white…
Count Bleck sighed, sat down, and admired his work. The mountains were perfect, the river was grand, and the castle was gothic. Everything was black and white, dead like his heart.
But the Count turned toward the book once more and spoke to it. “Dark Prognosticus… can you show me Timpani?”
The book shook from side to side. “Alas I cannot, I can only show things that I can locate… ”
Count Bleck sighed and stood. He admired his world as he began to think.
Where could Timpani be…?
Suddenly he had a thought and grabbed the book with both hands. “I want you to teach me how to go between dimensions and worlds! I MUST FIND TIMPANI!”
The book seemed to grin. “Very well… ” it said as a cloud of dark energy engulfed the book and the Count.
Overhead a small
bat flew, watching the event, and then it left and flew away into the castle.
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Merlon sat at the edge of his seat. The girl was no more, in her place was a Pixl… a butterfly…
The mistress of the inn stood next to Merlon and sighed. “… So… do you think she will last?”
Merlon chuckled and looked at the mistress before picking up the butterfly and leaving. “She shall be fine… once she wakes… ”
Merlon took the small Pixl to his home and lay her down on a table to rest. After a long moment the Pixl stirred and fluttered lightly into the air. “… Hello there.” Merlon said to the Pixl.
“… Hi… Where am I?”
Merlon bowed to the Pixl.
“My name is Merlon, my dear, and this is the town of Flipside… ”
The Pixl smiled and looked around. “… Who am I?” she asked after a moment.
Merlon wiped his
brow and sat back in his chair. “… Oh my…”
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“It’s no use! Your stupid powers don’t work!” Bleck cried as he threw the book at the wall. The book bounced off the wall before it even hit it, a barrier having shot up around it. The book then ascended into the air.
“It is not I that am having problems with the simplest magic spell, Count Bleck.”
Count Bleck glared at the book and threw his cane at it. “SHUT UP!”
Bleck sighed and fell into his chair. He felt weak, tired, and lonely. “Book… please… Just grant me some way to find Timpani… ”
The book seemed to think for a moment before it spoke again. “Very well… Tell me where you want to go and I will take you there.”
Bleck jumped up and ran to the book. “Take me somewhere green, where the plants and people are all happy! Timpani loved to see people happy!”
The book suddenly dissipated, and the Count along with it, but they also took another… a small little bat.
The Count stood in a large swamp-like area, but it was beautiful in the setting sun. He glanced around, searching for any sign of people. That was when he saw a large mansion up the road. Count Bleck flipped again, his own way of teleporting, and flipped back in front of the large mansion. The Count knocked on the large door and a woman opened it.
“Hello my dear, you seem to have fear? Can I help?”
Count Bleck tipped his hat and smiled at the woman. “Hello Madame… I’m searching for a woman, she wears a blue dress and has long, blond-brown hair, her name is Timpani… Have you seen such a girl?”
The woman chuckled. “Why yes I have, my dear.”
Count Bleck almost collapsed from excitement, but he merely smiled at the woman. “Where, if I may be so blunt?”
“In my crystal ball, of course. How she wants to be yours, she is hurt and lies in wait of you, she is quite scared and hopes for you.”
Count Bleck grew angry from the woman’s rhyming. “WHERE IS SHE?!” Bleck cried as he began to take a much more fearful tone with the woman.
The woman stepped backward. “… Fear not, she is safe… ”
“I WANT TO KNOW WHERE! TELL ME!” Count Bleck bellowed, each word making the entire house seem to shake.
“… Darkness has taken hold of you.… I can cure it if you should ask.”
“TELL ME WHERE SHE IS!”
The book floated above the doorway; it spoke in a hushed voice to the count. “Let us go… She doesn’t know… ”
The Count cursed as he walked away. Once again he flipped away, searching for Timpani again.
Green fields and flowers surrounded them as they flipped into a new world. Trees filled with color stood tall, flowers smiled at the sun, and water pattered along the rocks. “Where are we?” Bleck asked the book.
“Lineland… ” the book said plainly.
Bleck walked toward a large house that he saw to his right and knocked on the door. A man opened the door and smiled at Bleck. “Hello sir, may I help you? You seem troubled.”
“I am quite… Have you seen a woman in a blue dress with blond-brown hair?”
The man thought for a long moment… “… Why yes… I believe so… ”
“Where?”
“… I’m sorry… but I’m afraid she is dead… ”
The man shut the door. Count Bleck stepped backward and fell onto the ground.
Tears streamed down his face, Timpani was dead… gone from all worlds… He was alone… forever…
Hate and sorrow choked the Count, he growled as he stood and shook his cane into the air.
“ALL WORLDS WILL BE DESTROYED! FOR YOU HAVE KILLED HER, BELLOWED COUNT BLECK!”