Once we hit the Top 10, the other writers and myself decided to try a different approach to the normal format. Being that Lynx and Atikon were two enemies that must be stopped, we decided to have the remaining characters band together and actually work toward this common goal. The two villains weren't just going to stand around and wait to be caught however, so we turned the island they were on, Perfidia into a maze of sorts, where the voters not only had to vote on who they should kill, but which sections of the island they wished to search. Read on for further rules, as it will make more sense.
For every round, please cast a vote for one character to Kill. You cannot vote to Kill Lynx or Atikon. In order to finally catch these two, you must choose two grids per round to be searched on the island. If the correct grids are guessed and one of the two is there, they will automatically be captured and killed that round. Otherwise, the other character with the most Kill votes will die either by accident, by Lynx's minions that now roam the island, or through Atikon's illusions.
Perfidia is divided into 12 sections, each with unique features. Think of it like a clock, with 12 at the top and 6 at the bottom.
Perfidia Sections:
Section 1: Cliffs into the ocean, a river runs through this area.
Section 2: The river ends in an enormous waterfall into the ocean.
Section 3: Dense Tropical Forest.
Section 4: Marsh.
Section 5: Lake with small tributaries emptying into it.
Section 6: Ruins of an ancient civilization; the location of the Totem the contestants saw when they arrived.
Section 7: Mostly wide beaches.
Section 8: Tropical undergrowth.
Section 9: Grasslands.
Section 10: Rolling hills covered with pine forests.
Section 11: Rocky, mountainous area.
Section 12: Home to a large dormant volcano, the source of the river that runs through 1 and falls in 2.
The campsite is smack-dab in the middle of Perfidia.
Team Alpha:
Norris (captain)
Leena
Orlha
Riddel
Team Beta:
Harle (captain)
Irenes
Miki
Nikki
The two sections with the most votes will be searched. Team Alpha takes the higher number section and Team Beta takes the lower. Each team can search one section per round and they can move to any other section next round or stay put. Two teams cannot be in the same section in the same round. When a team is down to only one member, that member will join the other team and form Team Omega, which has the same movement restrictions as Alpha and Beta.
Lynx's movement is limited to two certain adjacent sections; he cannot go past those two sections. Lynx can move only one section per round and he may choose to remain in his current position. Atikon, on the other hand, is considerably more free. He also moves only one section per turn, but he has access to the whole island. Atikon may move one section to his left, right, or travel directly across the map. For example, if Atikon is in Section 9, he can move to Sections 8, 10, or 3. It may help to picture his movement options in the shape of the letter T. Atikon may also choose to remain in his current position.
When Lynx or Atikon leave a section, they leave behind footprints that last for one round, and the enemy is nearby if a team stumbles upon footprints when it enters a new area. After one round has passed, the footprints disappear. Pay attention to the footprints and the enemies' movement patterns to find them. This format will remain until either Lynx and Atikon are found or all the other characters are eliminated.
Top Ten Format Introduction
"Iz monsieur certain we must do zis?" asked Harle.
"I'm afraid so, Harle," replied Norris. "You said you heard it from Steena herself. We need to find Lynx and Serge. I for one haven't trusted Lynx ever since we arrived on this cursed island. Serge, or Atikon as he now calls himself, is a threat both to himself and all of us. We don't really have choice." The soldier then checked the rounds left in his assortment of guns.
"How do you know Steena wasn't possessed?" wondered Leena, tears welling in her eyes. "Lynx I know is bad...but Serge...? I just don't know if I can bring myself to hurt him..."
Miki then place her arm on the village girl's shoulder, comforting her. "What does your heart tell you?" she asked. "I want to believe Serge is the same just as much as the rest of you. I also want to believe Steena was under a spell again and not telling us the truth. But I just know this isn't the case."
"Yeah, Miki and I will help out any way we can," said Nikki, his voice filled with determination. "We may not be the strongest or the best magic-users here, but if there's one thing I've learned throughout my travels with the Magical Dreamers, it's that 'If there's a will, there's a way'."
"So what's the plan then?" mused Orlha. "The sooner we find those two, the sooner we can insure our safety on this island."
"We're going to split into two teams," answered Norris. "Team 'Alpha' will consist of myself, Orlha, Riddel, and Leena. Team 'Beta' will be Harle, Nikki, Miki, and Irenes. I'll be the team leader for my group. Harle, you'll be the team leader for 'Beta' as you're probably the most familiar with this island from your time as a messenger."
"Everyone should be on their guard, though," warned Riddel. "I can feel Serge's evil emanating from all around. He is trying to cloud our minds even as we sit here and discuss our plan of action."
"Da," agreed Irenes. "Monsters also roam dist island. Dey look like cats. Herr Lynx must have sent dem."
"Every corner iz danger," expanded Harle. "But ze two must be stopped."
"OK, so we're all in agreement," said Norris. "Here Harle, you take this." Norris then produced a strange device out of his survival pack. It was a small, rectangular black box with a wire of some sort coming out of it.
"What iz zis for?" the jester mused, as she looked the object over.
"It's a standard-issue Porre military communication device," replied Norris. "It's called a 'walkie-talkie'. Just push in that button there when you need to reach my device. I'll hear your voice and we can have a conversation. The power supply is good for a little under two weeks. Should be plenty of juice for what we need, though."
"Wonders never cease to amaze," remarked Riddel.
"And this island is probably just teeming with hiding spots," said Nikki. "I wouldn't be surprised if there were secret entranceways and underground tunnels all over the place. We'll have to make sure we search everything extremely carefully."
"Leave no stone unturned," added Orlha.
"Enough blabbering," said Norris, sternly. "Alright, everyone, are we ready to move out?!"
"Yes," everyone answered in unison.
"Lynx will be stopped," said Harle. "And Zerge must be healed. Either that or killed. 'Eaven 'elp us if we fail." The two teams then split up and went to search different areas of the island.
By: Daredevil3181
Round 36 – Norris (K), Grids: 6 and 7
"Where am I?" Riddel was in a foreign place. Surrounding her on all sides were black skyscrapers, reaching high into the sky. Riddel had to crane her neck back to see the tops of them. The buildings were made of metal, but they did not shine, as it was too dark out for any reflection. With no windows, they resembled giant dusty metallic blocks. The lady took her eyes off the tops of the metal mammoths and searched for a sun. There was no sun in sight, only gray sky and black clouds of smoke.
Riddel turned her attention to ground level and looked around her. People in brown rags were slowly walking past her, some carrying heavy loads on hunched backs, some carrying boxes, none carrying smiles. Most did not pay attention to the odd girl with the colorful hair and dress, though some of the more curious ones, mostly young children, paused to gaze at her with wonder, before they were reprimanded by a floating machine for being off task. The floating machines appeared to the supervisors of these people, giving orders left and right, and telling everyone to walk faster.
The Lady of Viper Manor approached a nearby man with a large bulging sac slung over his shoulder, "Excuse me, sir? What is this place?" The man ignored her and walked past the confused Riddel. Not giving up, she tried the one behind him. "Ma'am? Could you please tell me where I am?" No answer there, either.
With a sigh, Riddel continued walking down the smooth paved street until she saw an elderly man walk into one of the drab buildings. She followed him to the door, but was frozen in her tracks by a profusion of beeps and whistles. "Stop right there! Where are your working clothes? Tell me your ID!"
Riddel turned around to find one of those floating machines behind her with a flashing light atop it. "ID? I do not know about any ID..."
"You refuse to cooperate? If you do not tell me your ID this instant, I will be forced to bring you to our god!"
Riddel tried to compose herself and explain her situation. "I am sorry! I do not know my ID! I am not from this place and I just want to know where I am!"
"Then I will have to arrest you! Stand still!" The lady did as she was told and the supervising device shot out two rings tied to thin steel cables. The rings fastened themselves around the lady's tiny wrists. "You are being taken to our god in the Mother Building. Move it!" Riddel started walking in the direction the machine indicated, filled with both curiosity and dread.
Marching down the street, Riddel gazed to the dreary sky and thought about her fate. 'What is this god like? Will I be executed? Where are my friends?' On that last thought, her eyes widened and she spoke aloud. "What?! Guile? Is that you...?"
In the sky, a translucent image of the aforementioned mage's face looked back at her. Through his mask, his violet eyes had a look of determination, concentration, and hope. His mouth quivered, begging to speak, but unable to. "Guile! Are you all right? What are you trying to tell me? What is this place?!" The image wavered and flickered and then faded away.
"Who are you speaking to? Be quiet and walk! The Mother Building is ahead!" The supervisor barked, or beeped, rather, at the bewildered lady continued her march, now worried more than ever.
Soon enough, the two came upon a monstrosity of a building. Taking up several blocks, it was very wide, and it stretched high into the atmosphere. Like the other buildings, it was also metallic, but this building exuded such an intimidating cold that Riddel broke into a sweat in apprehension. The machine floated in front of her. "This is the Mother Building. Before we enter, there are a few procedures I must brief you on first."
Swallowing and nodding, the lady replied, "Alright."
"First of all......Riddel! Wake up! Riddel!" The machine floated to her shoulder and started to shake it. "Please, wake up! Riddel!"
With a start and a gasp, the lady sat up, breathing hard. She put a hand to her chest and steadied her nerves. "Are you okay, Riddel?" The lady in question looked up and saw the worried eyes of Norris, Leena, and Orlha. Norris took his hand off of her shoulder and reached for his canteen. "Here, you need to drink. It will calm you down. It was only a nightmare."
"Thank you, Norris." She took a few sips and put the canteen down. "It wasn't only a nightmare. That could not have been it. It was a message—no, a warning."
"A warning about what?" inquired Leena, who was kneeling to Riddel's left. She wiped the sweat from the lady's forehead with a cool cloth.
"We must stop Atikon...at any cost. We just cannot allow him to win!" Riddel pleaded.
"Do not worry about that, Riddel. We WILL find Atikon and we WILL kill him. That is certain," Norris reassured her with confidence.
"Help me stand, please?" Riddel held up her hand to Orlha, who took it and pulled her to her feet. "Thank you, Orlha."
"Are you sure you are fit to walk?" Orlha worried.
"Yes. We must continue. We cannot afford to lose anymore time." Riddel gathered her things and packed them up. "Is everyone ready?"
"Wait just a minute. Let me contact the others and check up on them." Norris reached into his hip pouch and pulled out his walkie-talkie. He pressed a button and spoke, "Harle, can you hear me? Any luck so far?"
"Non," was Harle's reply. "We have not found anyt'ing yet. We are in ze wooded area near ze totem we saw so long ago...How about you?"
"Negative here, too. We are headed for the beaches. I will contact you as soon as we find something."
By that time the sun hung directly overhead and the heat had reached its maximum. Finally, Team Alpha felt a refreshing cool breeze on their faces, signifying their closeness to the beach. For as far as the eye could see, there were beaches. Seemingly extending forever on both sides, the extensive sandy beach brought a welcome relief to the tropical shrubs and bugs they had been trekking through previously.
Norris put his hand above his eyes to shield the bright sun and looked around him. "I don't think we will find anybody here, but we may find some clues."
"Yeah, like some footprints. Let's search the ground carefully." Orlha added. She went ahead of the others onto the sand and the other girls followed her. Norris brought up the rear.
"Hey! Look! Bunny rabbits!" Leena exclaimed, momentarily brought out of her gloom at the cute sight.
"What are bunny rabbits doing here?" Orlha wondered. Sure enough, four black bunny rabbits were hopping around near them, sniffing the sand and the air.
Norris watched them warily. His eyes followed one rabbit hopping towards Leena. "What?! What was that?" In the blink of an eye, the rabbit's shadow briefly grew much larger and shrank back down just as quickly. "No...This doesn't add up at all...Leena, everyone, get away from those rabbits!"
Orlha looked at Norris with confusion. "Norris, they're just rabbits. What's the big deal?" The soldier approached the four rabbits and, with caution, reached out his hand to one of them. Again, in a flash, the shadow enlarged from a cute figure to a horrendous one . The others started doing the same, and more frequently, until the rabbits themselves changed. Instinctively, Norris drew his gun and fired at the nearest one, killing it instantly. On the ground now lay a dead Shadow Cat, a black beast with yellow glowing eyes and a yellow tipped head and tail. It was one of Lynx's minions. The other three rabbits were now Shadow Cats, and they prepared to pounce on Norris.
Leena couldn't believe her eyes. Norris just shot a poor cute bunny rabbit! "Norris!! What is the matter with you?! Why did you just shoot that little bunny rabbit?!" Her eyes teared up at the blood soaked black rabbit on the red sand and she moved toward it.
"No!! Leena, do not come any closer!" Norris shoved the Arni girl back just as the cats pounced. They tore into his left leg, his right arm, and his stomach, sending bloody streams down his body. "Damn! They are all over me!" He kicked the one on his leg to the ground and punched the one latched onto his abdomen with his free arm. The Porre commander took his gun in his left hand and shot the one that injured his leg until it stopped moving.
The three girls watched in horror as their team leader was shooting down the rabbits. "Norris! Snap out of it! Now is not the time to hunt!" Orlha pleaded.
"They are harmless rabbits!" Lenna cried out.
"Wait. Stop, Orlha, Leena. This isn't right...Norris is bleeding!" Riddel observed. Indeed, the girls saw blood dripping off the soldier onto the increasingly red colored sand. Suddenly, the rabbits flickered out of view and hideous black Shadow Cats took their place! "We have been fooled by an illusion. Hurry, we must help Norris!" The three girls raced towards their friend, who was still fighting the last cat.
Norris punched with all his might at the cat clamped onto his waist until it fell to the ground, revealing Norris' stomach as a bloody mess. The commander sank to his knees and clutched his stomach with his left hand, his right hand reclaiming the gun. Slowly, he raised the gun, taking careful aim at the beast, which pounced at him again. When he pulled the trigger, a massive yellow ball charged up and flew at the cat, exploding upon impact in a yellow brilliance of light. The last of the Shadow Cats collapsed to the ground, dead. Norris imitated the move and completely fell down, as well.
"Norris!!" The girls reached him too late. They were unable to assist their friend fight the demons.
Riddel closed her eyes and executed a healing spell. A white light enveloped the commander, but it had no effect. The wounds continued to spill blood at an alarming rate. "Riddel...don't waste your elements. I am mortally wounded."
"Oh, Norris! We're so sorry...We should have known." Leena kneeled down next to the fallen soldier and the others followed suit.
"It was not your fault...the illusion blocked the truth from your eyes." Norris' vision was starting to fail, but he knew their heads were bowed in shame. "Hey...pick up your heads. Don't give up, soldiers! You have a mission...to get those bastards Atikon and Lynx...Don't let my death be in vain!"
"Do not worry about that, Norris. We WILL find Atikon and we WILL kill him. That is certain." Riddel spoke the familiar lines.
"We wouldn't dream of letting your death be in vain, Norris," sobbed Leena. "We will avenge you and everyone else who has died!"
"Norris," Orlha began. "You are a true soldier and you fought a noble battle. It was an honor to fight by your side." She shook the dying man's hand.
"Thank you...all...I know you will not let me down...I believe...in you..." Norris ended his last words and entered eternal rest.
With the sun low in the magnificent red and purple sky and the ocean shimmering and glistening in the light, it was a beautiful sight. Three figures stood around a mound in the earth, silhouetted against the colorful light. Three arms were raised to their respective heads, with the hands straight and firm against the forehead. After a brief moment, the three figures walked away from the mound and away from the beach with their heads held high, continuing their great search.
By: TenkoStar17
Round 37 – Nikki (K), Grids: 4 and 12
Harle, Irenes, Nikki and Miki were looking around the marsh for any signs of Lynx or Atikon.
"Look!" exclaimed Miki. "There are footsteps!"
Harle looked at the ground closely. "Zey may be an illusion. Atikon iz not stupide."
"Ya," said Irenes. "Dis may be a trap."
"But ze footprints appear to be realite," said Harle. "Moi will contact ze others."
Harle pulled out her walkie-talkie and punched a few buttons. "Orlha? Are vous there?"
"This is Orlha speaking, Harle, did you find anything?"
"Oui. There are footsteps on ze ground near ze marsh. Someone was here. Zis iz no illusion."
"Riddel thinks someone was near the volcano," said Orlha. "There are no footsteps, as the rock is too hard, but someone was definitely here.
"Interesting," said Harle. "Zey must be around here somewhere. I will contact you later."
"Harle, I can't find Nikki!" yelled Miki. "Where are you Nikki?"
Help!" screamed a voice that seemed to come out of nowhere. The voice belonged to Nikki.
"Where are you Nikki?" yelled Miki, looking around the marsh.
"Run towards my voice," said Nikki. "I can't come to you."
Miki started to run in the direction of Nikki's voice.
"Miki, no!" exclaimed Irenes, who pointed at something.
"What is it Irenes? I don't see anything," Miki stated.
"I see it too," said Harle. "Miki, look closely."
Miki looked in the direction Nikki's voice had come from. She could see Nikki, well, at least the last little bit of him that wasn't covered by the quicksand.
"Nikki!" Miki ran over to the edge of the quicksand
"I love you...." Nikki said before the quicksand finally consumed him.
Tears streamed down Miki's eyes. The man she loved was gone, and she couldn't even save him. "I love you too Nikki...." she said.
Meanwhile, Orlha, Leena, and Riddel were still looking around the volcano.
"We need more clues," said Orlha. "We must stop Lynx and Atikon."
"I found something!" exclaimed Leena. "Come quick!" The other two ladies ran up to where Leena was searching. There, at the base of the volcano, was a hidden passage.
"That's interesting," said Orlha. "I wonder if anything is in there..."
By: Alanna82