Crimson and White: Bound by Fear
Chapter 1
Bubbles soared through the Townsville skies, intent on her task. Mojo Jojo had already put one visiting hero out of commission, and their town needed its true heroes again. This time she had to go it alone.
Hovering above the rooftops, the sun at her back, Bubbles surveyed the scene outside the bank. Mojo crouched in front of one of his Robo Jojos, piling bags of money into an open compartment.
Bubbles dove, wanting to stop him while he was still vulnerable, before he climbed into his latest technological monstrosity. She drew close, and Mojo stood and spun on his heel, pointing some sort of gun at her.
Did something tip him off? Had it been a shadow? A reflection? Would she have made that mistake if Blossom were guiding her?
She was too close. She tried to swerve as a bolt of white-hot flame flew out of the gun. She twisted in the air, trying to dodge.
A line of pain stretched from the bridge of her nose through her right eye. A searing heat felt like it burned her to the core. An explosion of agony erupted in her head, and for a time it was all she knew. Carried by her momentum, she tore up pavement as she rolled along, coming to a stop when she cracked the wall of a nearby office building.
Mojo gathered up his bags as Bubbles rolled and writhed on the sidewalk, her peals of suffering filling the empty streets, echoing from the structures that towered over them. It was as if the city had gone quiet to allow those cries to be set loose uncontested. These were not the screams of a fallen hero, but of a suffering child.
Careful to avoid looking in her direction, his blank expression seeming a little stiff, Mojo closed the hatch and took flight, leaving her to squirm and scream in solitude.
Suffering from injury and loss, Bubbles questions her resolve and her beliefs. She finds comfort and strength in a new friendship with Princess, but will it be enough? When a super-powered serial killer debuts in Townsville, he sets his sights on villains and unworthy heroes alike. Bubbles must find new strength, but can she do so without sacrificing the most important parts of herself?
Crimson and White is the third entry of a study in horror—the Ladder series. Crimson and White is mostly able to stand alone, although new readers are encouraged to at least read the previous story, Unstrung. They are, of course, welcome to start at the beginning with Ladder as well. Crimson and White is followed by Project Rebreather and Ashes from Ashes.
Each story in the series examines a different form of horror. Horror does not always inspire fright, nor does it always try. Crimson and White focuses on desperation and the horror of fear itself. It also showcases the more violent aspects of horror, but the focus remains on the horrors within.
Other stories in the series examine horror from other perspectives. Each has a different focus and a different "feel." However, they all continue the same story line, and they were all written with the assistance of mood-setting music.
These stories list a musical accompaniment that is entirely optional, but which the reader is welcome to follow. Although not a crossover with Silent Hill, its music and music inspired by it includes some of the most beautiful, haunting melodies this author has heard. Readers who have taken the time to find these albums and songs (many freely and legally available online) have expressed happiness at the impact it had on their reading.
I personally dislike reading certain things, and try to avoid writing them. Well-established characters acting out-of-character without good reason or explanation. Grittiness and death as an alternative to telling a story. It's up to you, dear reader, to judge my eventual success or failure in these regards.
Suggested listening, presented in the order they are used:
01 - Tight Chains - No Way Out (Ashes of Bitterness)
02 - Death of the Butterfly (Endless Delusions)
03 - Lonesome Walk (Letters from Condemned Worlds)
04 - Uncertain Sympathy (Letters from Condemned Worlds)
05 - Awaken (Letters from Condemned Worlds)
06 - Midnight Corridors (Broken Notes Intermission Vol 1)
07 - Servants of Fear (Endless Delusions)
08 - Tears of Angels (Broken Notes Sanitorium Vol 2)
09 - Lunarium (Endless Delusions)
10 - Happy Little Monster (Letters from Condemned Worlds)
11 - Muse (Silent Hill Fan Soundtrack)
12 - Two Evils (Silent Hill 4 Limited Edition)
13 - Repentance (Ashes of Bitterness)
14 - Palliative Solutions (The Art of Dying)
15 - Sundown (Endless Delusions)
16 - In Memoriam (The Art of Dying)
17 - Late Night Walk (The Art of Dying)
18 - The Crimson Nights (Essentia)
19 - Drowned Memories (Essentia)
20 - Loneliness By Your Side (Essentia)
21 - Alternative (Endless Delusions)
22 - Surface Tension (Silent Hill 3 Unreleased)
23 - Triptych (Endless Delusions)
24 - The Art of Dying (The Art of Dying)
25 - Haunted - Unknown Floor (Ashes of Bitterness)
26 - In the Dark (Letters from Condemned Worlds)
27 - Erratic Shapes (Essentia)
28 - The Fog, Part II (Broken Notes Sanatorium Vol 2)
29 - Cold Blood - Theme of Josh (Silent Hill 5)
30 - Stairway to Heaven (Broken Notes Unreleased)