Samus's Theatre (pt. 3): A Turn for the Worse

And here's the trek into the Magmoor Caverns, which will lead up to Phendrana. Our mysterious newcomer will have his fine introduction, but what are his intentions?

Contrary to common belief, light and dark are not inherently good and evil, respectively…

Light and dark are morally blind, not bound by the perceptions of societies…

In fact, there do exist evil souls of light and good souls of darkness…

The true harmony of nature and order lies within the balance between the two forces…

When one side is threatened with the possibility of total annihilation, the universal system reacts accordingly to restore stability…

The winning side will be punished…

The losing side is then restored…

"Oh, silly me," the man sighed. "I should introduce myself first. The name's Johan Eriksson, and I'm here to examine the ecosystem of Tallon IV for my independent studies. What brings you interesting fellows here?"

"We're on an important mission to obtain a piece of the Staff of Björn, a powerful artifact that can banish an evil entity known as the Svärtad Orm," Samus replied. "Are you familiar with either?"

The young man, now identified as Johan, paused for a few seconds. During this period of silence, some of the Smashers noticed an unusual facial expression in the form of a small smirk; why he was even showing off a smile to begin with was not yet clear to them, and they certainly had not the time to figure out the reason when he finally spoke.

"I think I may have heard of it somewhere, but where…? Oh, where? Gotta get my memory jogging here…" A minute soon passed, resulting in one hot-tempered Smasher losing his patience.

"Well?" Wolf snarled lowly. "Are you gonna give us the answer or not?"

Johan shrugged his shoulders slightly. "Oh, never you mind. I'm probably just getting the staff confused with something else, but hey. At least the people from the other side of the hidden screen might have better knowledge of the so-called Staff of Björn."

"The other side of the what now?" Fox asked in a flabbergasted manner. He was unsure as to what the mysterious man meant by "the other side of the screen". Was he losing himself for a moment, or was it that…?

"Okay, forget that I said that. Now, you guys said that you were looking for the staff, right? Would you mind if I decided to tag along?"

"You don't look like the kind of person who would wreak havoc upon us," Snake commented, lighting up another cigarette as he spoke. "If that's what you want, then you're more than welcome to join."

But Wolf was not ready to immediately accept the mysterious man. There was something about him that struck the lupine as odd, but he could not pinpoint the source of suspicion. "Excuse me, Snake, but how can we be certain that this guy ain't gonna pull some tricks on us? For all we know, he could easily be working for the freaking Lords, who seem more dangerous than your average Subspace freak."

"How ironic, Wolf," Fox muttered nonchalantly. "When we first started, you said that the robed cultists didn't look too tough, and now you're admitting to how deadly they can be? Y'know, just like last time? Guess you aren't as confident as you usually are."

Wolf gritted his teeth so tightly that there was no room for gaps between both rows. "Piss off, McCloud! I ain't the one who got scared when the damn Beetle jumped out of the ground!"

"Pika-" Pikachu started, but its voice fell on deaf ears when Fox quickly made the decision to retaliate.

"Oh, you are so full of shit, Wolf! I bet you were nervous about the Beetle, and I can assure you that the Lords also provoke fear in your mind! And tell me this: which one is worse, a fucking bug or a group of murderous snake-worshippers?"

"Pikachu!" the Mouse Pokémon chirped again. Fox, unable to keep his focus, harshly twisted his head to face the small creature.

"Stay out of this, Pikachu! Now, as I was saying, which one do you think is worse? Pick one."

"I don't have to answer your question, Foxy. Now, you better keep your mouth shut before I have to-"

BOOM!

The loud explosion echoed throughout the chamber and nearly made certain ears bleed. A portion of the far wall became cracked from the force of a powerful missile, launched at high speeds from Samus's signature weapon. The other Smashers and Johan could tell that she was responsible for the blast because of, in large part, the smoke that ascended from the Arm Cannon.

"Get a hold of yourselves," the Chozo-taught huntress hissed in a low tone. "If you two can't put your damn feud aside, I'll personally make sure that at least one of you is having a Super Missile for a snack. I know you hate the living hell out of each other, but it would be much better if you directed your anger towards the group that is out to revive the Svärtad Orm."

"I second Samus's notion," Meta Knight sighed, lowering his sword as he spoke. "Internal conflict will only weaken our efforts to defeat the Lords."

"Okay, I'll just try to ignore Wolf until we return to the Smash Mansion…" Fox, now stepping onto the transport, muttered with a hint of suppressed anger. His lupine rival said nothing, instead barely releasing a small growl. As soon as all other party members and Johan were on the circular platform, Samus stepped onto the hologram. Just like before, a low rumble was the only sound clearly heard by perceptive ears; the loudness of such was so great that it muted whatever additional sound might have been produced, be it Pikachu scratching its ears or Meta Knight gently twirling Galaxia with one hand. Johan let loose a small smirk that was unnoticed by the Smashers, which could have been interpreted as unfitting for a situation as serious as preventing the Svärtad Orm's revival. The transport's stop at the bottom of the shaft was marked by a room remarkably similar in architecture to the Chozo Ruins, but only Samus, at least per her own knowledge since the full extent of Johan's exploration was currently unknown, knew that such an appearance was concealing the true danger that resided within this subterranean area. Passing up a molten doorway, the group encountered a massive drop into the hallway below.

"Watch your step," Samus muttered before leaping down. Meta Knight safely floated towards the bottom thanks to his cape, but most of the others were forced to use the shifting platforms to avoid any injury. Johan simply leaped down, and his landing was marked by no damage whatsoever, much to the bewilderment of the Smashers.

"Woah, hold on there," Fox chirped, being the first to notice the lack of bruising and broken bones. "How did you…?"

"Relax, furball," the mysterious man interrupted. "It's a… little secret ability that I have with me. What is it, you may ask? Oh, it's better left untold, although some people may know it… particularly the unseen ones."

"What do you mean by-" Snake grunted, but the soldier restrained himself in time. Johan was just fooling around with bizarre statements, he believed, and maybe they were best left ignored. "I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that last part."

"Pika-pi," Pikachu concurred. Leading the others into a warm-looking hallway of sorts, the mouse-like Pokémon noticed a quick increase in temperature and grounded holes that exhumed sweat-inducing steam from a fiery source somewhere beneath the floor. Going back to one of Samus's earlier comments about Magmoor, it realized that this area was supposed to be extremely hot to where unshielded beings would be fried in a matter of seconds. But while the current hallway was certainly becoming warmer than the entirely of the Chozo Ruins, Pikachu was not experiencing any adverse effects… yet. It was safe to assume that the zone of lethality was somewhere up ahead. Following a left turn and then a right one, it and the rest of the group encountered the first true sign of Magmoor's hellish heat: a lava pit with a stone platform in the center. Worth noting was a strange, greenish-colored light at the far end, something that Samus did not witness during her initial mission on Tallon.

"I'm guessing this is where the portal is at, right?" Snake questioned.

"I would have to believe so," Samus replied. "For obvious reasons, I doubt that the Lords would place it any further into the caverns. Johan, have you seen this portal before?"

"I have, dear madam," the young man replied. "While exploring this place, I noticed some fellows in dark robes planning to head into Phendrana by using it. From what I could understand, I believe they were looking for a piece of a magical staff…

"Woah, back up there, buddy," Fox interjected. "You must be referring to the Orm's Lords, y'know, the guys that we're fighting against. They're searching for the Staff of Björn's pieces so they can revive an evil creature called the Svärtad Orm. If they succeed… Well, you can figure out what will happen next."

Johan's face contorted into a face of what could be interpreted as worry, though some of the beaten Smashers, particularly Wolf and Meta Knight, felt that the expression was too forced to be natural. "Sounds awful! Well, we better get a move on and stop those crazies before it's too late!"

I don't believe he is worried as he is making himself out to be, the mysterious denizen of Dream Land pondered to himself. As the group approached the portal, Wolf expressed a similar thought inside his own mental space.

That face don't fool me, he internally grunted. He's up to something for certain, and if he tries to attack us…

"How does this thing open up?" Samus asked. As her hand gently touched the sealed portal, the light flicked erratically and even disappeared for a good three seconds until the tampering stopped. Snake and Fox also allowed the ghost of curiosity to momentarily possess them for a few seconds straight, but their actions wielded nothing of true significance. The portal proved to be an unmovable glass barrier that was as secured as a secret base…

Vwoooooo…

…until Johan reached out and executed his move. Much to the shock of the Smashers, the portal expanded into a circular pathway composed entirely of mysterious magic; it was also realized that there was also a blurred image of an icy place, assumed by most of the Smashers to be Phendrana. A low hum rang throughout the room and mixed in with Magmoor's own noises to create a quiet yet haunting atmosphere.

"Pikachu?" Pikachu gasped. "Pika-pi?"

"You're right," Johan sighed. "I wonder why this weird thing doesn't work when you guys touch it. But what the heck, let's keep going, shall we?"

"Pika." Thinking nothing else of the strange event, it and its allies stepped into the portal. As soon as they did so…

WHOOOOOOOO…

"…!" Olimar gasped. With Samus's gunship no longer there to protect him or the others, he could feel opposing and unnatural forces literally pushing and pulling him in every direction possible. His head was rattled in an unspeakably violent manner, which led to his vision being distorted severely. A mess of colors was all that he could witness. His stab wound now felt it was being ripped open, and out of every agonizing thing he had experienced back in his native dimension, that was saying a lot. On top of that, there was a loud noise that harbored the potential to shatter eardrums; his helmet was ineffective at shielding his ears. The three friendly Pikmin were clinging onto his bloodied suit, desperately avoiding separation from their leader and friend. As the others were also experiencing unpleasant forces, the portal's violent nature begged the question:

Why must it be so violent?

OOOOOOO-WHAM!

The sudden impact with the snowy ground of Phendrana knocked the Hocotatian clean off his train of thought and back into reality. Following a short moment in the flow of time where he struggled to lift his head, he and most of the others came to realize their first exposure to the icy region covering a portion of Tallon IV's space. Chilling waters flowed gently across the depressed portions of the ground and divided the dry land into segments that varied with size and shape. A few stone pillars extended several meters into the air, and all soon surpassed a nearby stone platform in height; said platform also harbored a doorway that was left untouched by the Lords. Off to the Hocotatian's left was a short trail at the base of a platform-dotted wall, complete with a small doorway at the end. At the far end was an ancient Chozo temple, still standing after many years of abandonment.

"I wonder where exactly the piece is at," Samus puffed under her breath. To her, nothing seemed to have changed since her last trip to this place, and if it were not for the Lords rearing to ugly heads into this place, this fact would have extended further into the more obscure parts of icy Phendrana.

"Where to, chief?" Wolf asked, having overheard the bounty hunter's last comment. "You said that the piece would be around this frozen wasteland. Besides, I'm starting to freakin' freeze to death."

Samus remained silent for a few seconds. With no exact location in mind, and with Lillian assumed to be currently incapacitated, the only lifeline available was a stroke of dumb luck. Such an option was not necessarily easy or comforting, but it had to be taken as soon as possible. "Since Lillian gave us no exact location, we'll just have to take our chances. Let's start with the Chozo temple over there. If the piece is not inside, then we must execute a full search across the entire region."

"I hope we do all that quickly, 'cause this cold weather ain't good for my fur," Fox moaned. The stroll over to the temple was a short one, marked by a simple walk towards an elevated wall, which was passed over by each character's gravity-defying abilities. Johan utilized a featureless form of levitation to reach the door's height, but this was unnoticed by the Smashers. The door leading into the interior was untouched, never exposed to extreme heat like the ones in the Chozo Ruins, but instead left to remain permanently chilled. Upon absorbing the charged energy from Samus's shot, a hallway blessed and cursed with the winter spirit's breath was shown in full view; apart from the usual properties, the only noteworthy thing was the presence of a Scatter Bombu: an energy-based creature that was vulnerable only to electrical overload. The Bombu drifted back and forth within the hallway's middle section, and closer inspection revealed electrical tendrils that would form around it upon being approached.

"One moment," Samus sighed. Switching over to the electrical Wave Beam, she fired off a small barrage of shots that caused the target on the receiving end to explode and then dissipate into thin air. With nothing else in the way, the Smashers and Johan pressed on until they eventually reached the main portion of the temple.

"Pikachu…" the Mouse Pokémon quietly gasped. To say that the interior was an example of beauty and mystery was very close to being an understatement; the ancient architecture was set up in a way that appeared majestic yet delicate, something that could only been witnessed in few other buildings with a special design; one of the few examples that the Pokémon could remember was the Smash Mansion. The ice, clear as ever, only enhanced the soft allure of the walls despite being an unnecessary addition in the first place. As the group approached the tall chamber leading into the upper floor, it was noticed that a small hole in the ceiling allowed some snow to coat the floor with a thin layer. A statue resembling a member of the bird-like Chozo was also present; its hands held up an object that was similar in form to a plate.

"Well, going up again?" Johan chirped playfully. As he floated all the way up to the upper floor, the two rival mercenaries followed his lead by engaging their respective flight maneuvers. Pikachu bounced off a pillar of frozen water before utilizing Quick Attack. Meta Knight ascended with his wings, although his earlier injuries made this process painful. With the help of a few platforms, the remaining three Smashers scaled the pillar the old-fashioned way. Another Chozo statue stood at the top, but this one was only a mere child compared to the last. Due to its lower half being intentionally excluded from the design, its height was only half of what the first statue offered, if not slightly less than that amount. No plate was present, only open hands that came together to imitate an offering. Underneath the statue was a frozen fountain with a small hole at the base's frontal portion.

"These cold temperatures remind me of Alaska," Snake commented as he lit up another cigarette. "But they also bring back memories of a... certain incident within that place."

"What happened in this "Alaska" that you speak of?" Johan curiously asked, his Scandinavian accent still noticeable.

"Let's just say that a certain terrorist-related event took place there, and had I not been there to stop it, my world certainly would have been in deep trouble."

"Really? And would you mind giving me more pizazz to your description?"

"Um, Snake prefers not to talk about the event with too many details," Fox chirped. After Olimar nodded in agreement with the statement, the group proceeded to enter the doorway off to the right, only to be confronted with another pathway that was accessible by a small hole. This one was slightly larger than its now-decimated counterpart in the Chozo Ruins, which could allow some of the smaller Smashers to pass through with no problem in the slightest.

"Aside from the Morph Ball, it looks like Pikachu and Olimar can fit inside this hole," Meta Knight sighed.

"But how are the rest of us gonna get in, MK?" Wolf grunted. He grinded his claws together as he spoke in a blunt manner. "We're too big to fit into that stinkin' hole."

"I got a little surprise for you fellows," Johan answered, disregarding the fact that the question was not directed at him. "As soon as the little ones and… Madam, you're Samus, right?"

"I am," the huntress answered.

"Gotcha. Now, as soon as Samus and the little ones go through, I'll be able to take the rest of you with one of my abilities."

"Whatever you say, Johan," Snake grunted. "Just don't be pulling any tricks on us." Samus, now in her Morph Ball form, rolled into the narrow pathway to the chamber ahead, with Pikachu and Olimar accompanying her. Olimar's helmet sustained a few scratches from the stone walls, but his progress was otherwise smooth. Pikachu kept its tail tucked in, but doing so resulted in the bolt-shaped extension of its body getting zapped, not by lightning but by pain from earlier injuries. Meanwhile, Johan wrapped his arms around the remaining Smashers before utilizing his ability to teleport.

Voop! Voop!

"Well, that was quick," Fox sighed with a slight but forced smirk. When the untouched doorway nearby was passed, all were introduced, or reintroduced in Samus's case, to the ice-filled Chapel of the Elders. Excluding the stony corners, the floor was mostly frozen water containing immobilized animal remains. While it was difficult to notice because of the ice's coloring, the bottom of the former water pool appeared to be uneven and jaded. Up ahead was a cave-like area that Samus recognized as the resting place of a deadly Sheegoth, widely regarded as Phendrana's ultimate predator. Another property worth noting was the presence of a small pedestal at the far end of the room; Samus remembered it as the spot where she reobtained her Wave Beam after she lost it during an off-mission accident following the first Zebes incident. Like the main portion of the interior, this area was filled with a frozen beauty that had the potential of deceiving passerby into forgetting the dangers of cold weather.

However, the Smashers were certainly not gullible enough to be ensnared by the allure. Their minds were focused on one thing alone: the still-hidden staff piece.

"I really hope the piece is here," Snake mumbled. "If not, then we're just giving the Lords more time to find it without any interference on our part. Plus, as much I can handle it, the cold isn't all that healthy."

"Yeah, no kidding," Wolf snarled. "Let's just hurry up and do our job before you-know-what happens."

"Let's try tunneling through the frozen pool," Samus suggested. "As far as I'm concerned, I have never seen a piece of an ancient artifact out here, but I think we may find it inside the ice." Switching over to the Plasma Beam, she began her assault on the ice. The shots that soared out of the Arm Cannon were essentially flaming dragons that harbored the power to nullify even the strongest of coldness, and they were not alone in their attempts to thaw out the frozen pool. Blaster shots from Fox and Wolf, Iron Tail bursts from Pikachu, sword swings from Meta Knight, and a few grenades from Snake provided their share of ferociousness as well. Eventually, the entire block ice was mostly cleared out from the pool, leaving behind a floor altered long ago by an unknown but powerful force of nature. But…

"What in the…?!" a wide-eyed Wolf moaned. His teeth were bared as his frustration reached fever pitch, a considerably common trait for someone of his personality. "The freakin' piece ain't inside this frozen craphole! Great. That's just great. We've wasted all of our time for nothing, no staff piece, no-"

"Wait a second," Samus interrupted. In front of her was a message written in the ancient Chozo language. Much of it was faded from years of watery erosion and some ice damage, but it was still undoubtedly the work of the bird-people. "I found a piece of Chozo lore here. I'm a little surprised I hadn't seen this in my previous trip, but I'll scan it right now. It might take some time, however."

"Pikachu," Pikachu squeaked. "Pika-pi." As it and the others waited, nothing interesting happened at all. This was probably going to be a very boring wait, the Pokémon pondered to itself, and if that was the case, then warming up would be much helpful for the sake of health. Leaping onto one of the room's corners, it proceeded to cuddle up so that its body heat could at least delay the onset of hypothermia. The cold ground was less chilling than the snow itself, although it was still powerful enough to chill the Mouse Pokémon's bones. Seconds transformed into a minute, then another… and another. Still no progress.

But then, something unusual began to unravel inside Pikachu's body. A very faint stomach-related sensation was gripping its digestive tract, the exact cause of which was unknown at the current moment. It was likely that Kirby's food had a certain ingredient that harbored the potential to create nasty stomach reactions, and to be fair, certain other Smashers had experienced such reactions before. But this… This felt different, for a lack of better words. The Pokémon attempted to ignore this sensation to focus on drowning in its own heat, but such a sensation only grew stronger with the passage of time. Meanwhile, all other Smashers except for Samus and Snake also began to feel strange.

"Hey, maybe I'm just going crazy, but I think something's gripping my stomach tightly," Fox muttered.

"You're… You're right, Fox," Wolf agreed, albeit reluctantly. "Maybe Kirby's breakfast is doing this. I swear, if my stomach explodes, that damn puffball is going to have a lot to answer for."

"Okay, I have a full translation ready, and it appears that the message has something to do with the staff piece and Svärtad Orm," the huntress interjected. "It reads as follows…"

We have been visited by a strange group of people who claim to be from a dimension separate from ours. Unknown still is their exact origin, but their intent was clear as the untainted skies of our home. They requested us to guard a piece of a foreign artifact known as the Staff of Björn, a weapon used to seal away the demonic Svärtad Orm. It seems that they were referring to the very same entity that ravaged our home for years before finally facing defeat at the hands of a heroic warrior. Now that the holy staff has been broken into five pieces to prevent evil forces from obtaining its raw power, the mysterious people are seeking to hide them in locations unknown to said forces.

As beings who prefer peace, we shall accept the request of guarding the piece with our lives. Whilst we stand, there shall not be another incident involving the cursed serpent, lest we perish under its veil of darkness. We can only hope that the time does not come when we must fight to keep the stability of the universe intact, but there is no guarantee of that.

"Ugh…!" Meta Knight grunted in a loud tone of voice. His body was now crippled by severe pain, and his head felt like it was going to violently explode. As his legs gave out, he realized in horror that he was not the only one suffering from the horrible turn of events; most of the other Smashers, whose hearts were beating irregularly, also collapsed from the sheer agony involved. Even worse, Johan seemed to be smirking in delight.

"What the hell?" Snake gasped.

"So, the poison's finally getting to ya, eh?" the mysterious man chirped lightly. "Well, I was expecting it to kill you off earlier, but maybe I should've given my bugs more juice in their stingers… Doesn't matter now, you're still screwed."

"Are you…?!" Samus growled. Wasting no time at all, she fired a missile set to aim in on Johan's position, but before it could even touch a skin cell on him, he teleported right behind the two healthy Smashers and gave them a very unpleasant surprise.

BZZZZZZZZZ!

"AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGHH!" Snake yelled. Words could not describe the severity of his pain from the electrical current coursing through his body. Samus could also be heard screaming over the loud buzzing piercing his ears. The others, now deaf, numb, and almost blinded by blurry vision, could only watch on in horror as they slowly became incapacitated.

"Pika…." Pikachu croaked in a weak voice.

"Help…" Olimar moaned. His Pikmin remained close to him as he slowly started to die.

"Oh, shit…" Wolf coughed. As tough as the ruthless mercenary was, even he could no longer support himself for another minute, resulting in his collapse to the cold floor. Before blacking out, the last image presented to him was the sight of Samus and Snake falling unconscious from a painful dose of electricity….

"Yep, you can say that I am a Lord," Johan chuckled, "And a special one at that. Now, I could just leave you here to die, but that would be no fun at all, right? Instead, I'm gonna give you a special surprise when you wake up…"

"Captain Eriksson," a distant Lord called via telepathy, "We have scouted Phendrana's Edge like you requested."

"Have you found anything, no?"

"Underneath the cold lake is the staff piece's resting place. We shall bring it to you as soon as possible."

Johan's smirk widened upon hearing the good news. "Great work, fellows! Now, we shall head back to the repurposed Glacier One, and I will bring a few surprise guests as well."

"As you wish, Captain." As soon as the channel was closed, and after the Pikmin were easily beaten by a small blast of ice, the now-hostile captain proceeded to conjured a green energy field around the defeated Smashers and himself, which then teleported all souls out of the sacred place…

Later, an hour before midnight…

I am a bit nervous, Lillian pondered to herself. Right now, she was inside one of the Smash Mansion's many washrooms, with this one being set on the western part of the fourth floor. I just cannot help but believe that the Smashers are coming closer to discovering the terrifying truth. If they do find out, they will most certainly turn against me… I can only pray that fate will allow forgiveness from the Smashers…

With nothing else to do, she twisted one of the shower knobs to allow a rain of hot water to fall. She proceeded to remove her flowing clothes, but not before stepping behind the shower curtain, just a few centimeters away from the water, for the sake of privacy. Warmth, far removed from the freezing atmosphere of winter, bathed her delicate body, which was saying a lot when considering how cold the area around the Smash Mansion was during the winter nights. After a minute came to pass, she stared down at her abdominal area, which was marked by an angry scar stretched horizontally across the middle. This was one of the many things that the Smashers were not aware of yet, but to the maiden herself, it brought back the haunting memory of her most recent encounter with the Orm's Lords. And it was a battle that nearly resulted in her death.

"I am not sure how much more of this war I can take…" she sighed.

After her bath, which lasted for nearly a sixth of an hour, young Lillian proceeded to dry herself with a clean towel before placing her clothes back on, starting with her white undergarments. Strolling back into the empty hallways of the mansion, she eventually reached the couch where she had previously slept. Before she prepared to sleep, her mind decided to check up on Samus's group. Seven heart-shaped lights visible only to her entered existence, but upon closer examination...

"What?" the maiden gasped. Five of the lights were a dark red, with the remaining two assuming an orange color instead. Something terrible had happened to Samus's group, but what exactly was it...

"I will inform Master Hand about this tomorrow," she whispered. Her mind and body growing increasingly weary, the maiden dispelled the lights and proceeded to fall asleep within minutes. But then…

"Lillian... Lillian… You will fail…"

"…?" the woman gasped quietly, forcing herself awake in the process. She analyzed the area to search for anyone who might be playing a cruel trick on her, but no evidence of such was noticed. Besides that, there were very few other people currently inhabiting the building, all of them unconscious at the current moment. Even if they were awake, it was very unlikely that they would have some motivation to torment her in a twisted manner.

"I hope I can continue the rest of my sleep uninterrupted," she weakly muttered, falling back into a deep sleep in the few minutes that followed…

Pi… ka…

-Pikachu

I am terribly sorry for the massive delay. I had no online connection for more than a full month, especially since I have been going through a recent transition between homes.

Well, Johan's got something for the dying Smashers, but how horrible will it be? Also, what exactly happened to Lillian that caused her to receive a huge scar on her torso? One can only guess…