Chapter 1: First Steps

A storm closing in. A final survivor. A bright light. A disappearance. A reappearance.

This same cycle had happened many times before. At first, snapshots began making their way through. These snapshots of Jones and his comrades at first started with basic changes; a change in clothing color, perhaps. Then came the more drastic changes as each snapshot was added to the island. Sometimes Jones saw himself as a chef, sometimes a skull man (which he was personally very fond of.), a cyber-cowboy, and even an elf. He saw disco versions of Headhunter and Spitfire, a gingerbread Banshee, and somehow a bunch of them had turned into professional skiers. But for whatever reason the person who had undergone the most drastic snapshots was Ramirez, who had become a winter assassin, a fully body painted zombie, but most notably what Jones' department had come to call 'Brite Bomber", a snapshot of Ramirez with bright pink hair who wore a navy blue spandex bomber outfit topped with a ripped Rainbow Unicorn shirt. And she had been the second person to leave the loop after Raider. By now months had gone by since Raider first escaped, and by now the Island had gained a lot of inhabitants.

"I am the terror of Wailing Woods! All shall know of me; All shall fear me! I, the Black Knight, am your DOOM!"

There he stood, a knight in shining dark armor, blade held high, with his compatriot Red Knight at his side. There they stood in front of the Wailing Woods lodges, ready to ransack and burn them to the ground.

"He's back at it again, isn't he."

"Yep"

"So what's the plan? Stealth?"

"Sure. As soon as you take off that stupid shirt."

"Hell no! It completes the look!"

"It's ripped halfway down!"

"It's part of the aesthetic!"

Aaaaand they were back at it again. Unbelievable. He'd only been here about two weeks, and yet every single day these two would go on and on and on about that rainbow shirt.

"It's too bright!"

"It's unique!"

Never a dull moment with these two. The two in question were Raider and Brite, as they took to calling themselves. That was a common theme around here: no one could remember what their names were, or if they even had one, so they improvised a new nickname. And, well, his outfit really made coming up with a nickname very easy.

"Skully, you like my shirt, right?"

It was Skull Trooper, actually. He just didn't have the patience to correct it.

Now here was the problem: agree with Brite, and risk the wrath of Raider, or, disagree and sleep outside for the next few days. They didn't even live in the same house, and yet she still found a way last time.

"Y'know, here's an idea, how about we focus on mister black and scary over there?"

"He's right", Raider agreed, thankfully. "I'll sneak around and wait to sabotage the knight, Brite'll sneak behind them and take out the red one, and Skully'll draw the knight away."

"Why me?!'

"Because in every Knight's kingdom there's always a court jester."

"* you."

And with that it was time to make their moves. Brite snuck around an Raider took the long way towards the lodges. That left Skull Trooper to go up and say,

"HEY THERE, WIMP!"

The Black Knight turned his head. It worked.

"YEAH! I'M LOOKING AT YA! TO GET TO THE WOODS YOU'VE GOTTA GO THROUGH ME!"

"YOU DARE, HEATHEN! I WILL SHOW YOU TRUE FEAR!"

He's ticked off, that's good. What's not so good is the fact that he's charging. How's he running so fast in that?

"You shall meet my blade, scoundrel!"

Time to start running. "We've already met! His name's Lenny!"

Skull spared a look back just in time to see the Red Knight being subdued by Brite. One down, one to go. And arguably the worst one.

"You shall not escape my wrath! I will feast upon the meat ripped straight from your bones!"

There was where Raider was hiding, on the rooftop coming up. Time to slow down.

"Boy, do I love some cannibalism. You are human under that, right?"

Still charging, but now the sword was pointed straight forward, as if he were jousting. Well, time for the part he dreaded. With that, Skull Trooper stopped.

"If you want it so badly, then I give up."

SHNK!

The blade went straight through Skull's body, piercing everything, and was pulled out just as fast. Skull fell to his knees with the Black Knight standing menacingly over him.

"Do you feel death overcoming you, clown? Is the darkness coming over yo…there is no blood! What devilry is this?!"

"You should take the name 'Skull Trooper' more literally my friend."

In the midst of the Knight's confusion Raider took the opportunity to jump off the roof and tackle the Knight, then jabbed him in the throat to keep him down. It was quite a spectacle.

"You alright, Skully?"

"Never better. Always feels weird against my ribs though."

Skull Trooper held open the flaps of his jacket that had been pierced, showing nothing but bones underneath.

"Human face but skeleton body. Comes out handy. But what now?

"They've been humiliated. Someone like him will just lay low for a while, probably go into a crisis cause of you. Good work."

Looking out to the distance he saw Brite dragging the Red Knight over to them.

"Tie them up and leave them here. I'm sure they'll free themselves eventually", Raider commanded. "Time to head back home."

Home was Salty Springs, a brand new suburban town that had been built towards the center of the Island. The more people that ended up on the Island, the less living space there became from the preexisting housing like Pleasant Park, thus came the need to create something new. As more people came, the Island was slowly becoming a functional society. Near the northwest some had built a place called Tomato Town, the home of all things pizza. Construction had even started on what was to be called the centerpiece of the Island, a massive city called Tilted Towers (The residents of the Island only felt it to be right to continue with the alliteration).

It was a beautiful sight to see, Raider thought as she walked along. Unfortunately there were no major modes of transportation, so travelling was done the old-fashioned way. But there remained the feeling of emptiness inside of her, some desire left unfulfilled, some yearning for more. It was a feeling that had been building up for months now, ever since she was the first to arrive on the Island. She had no memory of anything before her arrival, and she noticed that she hadn't aged a day since. The thought of spending what she assumed to be eternity here came to be a terrifying thought. So far she had walked the entire circumference of the Island, and from everything she could tell, there was land anywhere else, except for mountains reaching up to the stars hundreds of miles away across open water. But Raider wanted out, simple as that. Tonight she'd start her quest.

A knock at the door and there was Brite. So far out of anyone she'd met, Brite had been her closest ally and friend. She hoped that Brite would understand, seeing as how there were only so many people across the Island.

"So you're saying your leaving our team?"

Raider was afraid this'd be the outcome.

"Listen, I do understand, but-"

"No, you listen! We were some of the first to arrive here, you, Skully and I. We have a duty to try and at least keep it on the straight and narrow! You have a heart for order, judging on how you hate my shirt. The Black Knight won't be the only troublemaker, and we need someone to keep that order, and that's you."

"But I don't want to stay here. Sure, there'll be more troublemakers, but that's when you'll have to find more people. There's more good people out there than not. I don't know why, but I have this feeling inside, like a piece of me was ripped out and hidden, and I think whatever it was came before I got here. I need to find that piece of myself again, even if that means finding a way off this island."

Brite looked solemn, but Raider knew that she understood. They'd had these past few months to connect, and Raider would be sad to part, but it had to be done.

"Listen, it's a small island. I'm sure I'll run into you eventually. For now, though, I need to go out on my own."

"…I understand."

It was settled. They left off on good terms, and Raider took only what she could carry. She would find a way off this island, one way or another. She'd find a way to reconnect with what she'd lost.

The shelter offered little reprieve from the onslaught of rain pouring down, but the Black Knight did not care. He had been humiliated, bound, and left in the dirt because of some form of devilish witchcraft! A man of bone? What would be next? This loss of his dignity and pride could not stand. He would not let it.

"So do you have a description? Something I could work with?"

"Two women, one man, if he should be called such. One women ambushed me before I could see, one women snuck up on my sister-in-arms, wearing a bright outift with a unicorn of myth, and the man. The man wore garb that resembled a skeleton, with a face painted to match. But underneath he is exactly what his outfit suggests: a man with no flesh. How do you propose to be rid of him?"

"Well, the women I can deal with. Since I only have the rainbow description I'll start with her, and she'll give away the other. The man, you said, had a body of bone?"

"Indeed."

"But not his face. You said he had painted it as a skeleton, but not that it was. If his head his still humanlike, then that's how to do it. Aim for the head."

"And I have your assurance they will both be delivered to me?"

"Badly hurt, maybe, but it'll be done."

"In a perfect world I would never consort with the likes of one like you. But times are desperate. Bring them to me alive at Haunted Hills, and you will get your compensation."

"Compensation? An added bonus. I do this for the thrill of the game. You'll have your troublemakers, I'll have my fun. It's a win-win-lose, for them at least." And with that he walked off.

A mysterious man, he was. The Knight had only just witnessed his appearance unto the island through a tear in the sky, but he saw a means to an end through him. He called himself The Reaper, and the Knight hoped that the man would live up to his name.