The Trikonia Mission
With such an urgent distress call, we immediately began our journey through time and space and arrived in a matter of minutes at our destination. Trikonia was just below. Initial scans indicate that it is a planet very similar to Venus in our solar system in many ways.
However, unlike Venus, Trikonia seems to have an atmosphere that would support an Earth-like environment. Though hot all over the surface like the Tropics back on Earth, the thick cloud cover prevents most of the light from going all the way through to the surface. There are many varied signs of life all over the surface. The flora and fauna of this strange world all appear to be in motion near the origin point of the message. There seems to be a battle going on. Although there were no signs of technology in the usual sense there appears to be a very advanced and sophisticated civilization on the planet below. The original point of the message has the appearance of an ancient Mayan stepped pyramid.
At the top of the pyramid was a glowing energy crystal, which seems to be the source of the transmission.
We needed a bit more information. Unfortunately, Chris has never been here before either. All we could do is plan an expedition to find out what's going on here.
We teleported down to the planet's surface, close to the pyramid, but just out of sight from the battle. The pyramid was nowhere to be seen and there wasn't any battles raging.
Wolf: "Um, where is the pyramid? And why isn't there any battle going on here?"
Spike: "Uh, guys, look at the chronometer."
We looked at our chronometers and to our surprise, they all said that it was the year 6763, not 7263. Somehow we had traveled back in time 500 years!
Wolf's Bane: "That's not all, my scanners indicate the ruins of a civilization, not a current one!"
Warhead: "And we are on the opposite side of the planet from the pyramid!"
Awesome George: "My magic is working backwards!!!"
Spike: "And not all of my powers are functioning correctly."
Dark Wolf: "I'd say that this planet is somehow responsible for our current predicament."
BK: "I cannot contact Chris telepathically."
WarHead: "So we're trapped here, 500 years in this planet's past and no way to get off this rock?!"
BK: "So it would seem."
We had no choice but to start walking towards the general direction of the last known coordinates of the pyramid. Hopefully, we wont have any oceans to cross, because the scanners on board the ship couldn't pinpoint landmasses and oceans because of some sort of interference. As we slowly made our journey eastwards, we came across a strange rock formation. Suddenly, it came to life and began to attack us! We were virtually defenseless against it, so we did like anyone else would do. We ran away as fast as we could!
Once we were safely away from it, we resumed our trek across the wilderness.
Hours later we came to the foothills and a mountain chain. Several hours later we came to a cave. It would be darker soon as the planet's night time would begin. So we trudged into the mouth of the cave, fully intending to make camp there. A few more hours pass as we make camp for the night. Suddenly, out of the darkness, comes a terrible roaring, screeching, howling (all at once), unearthly kind of sound. Whatever it was, it was getting closer by the minute. And there it was, in the opening of one of the cave tunnels. As it begins to attack, we all run out of the cave and into the night.
We are virtually defenseless again. We need some sort of weapon as we cannot continue to run away from things that attack us. Our magic runs backwards. Our powers are almost useless. and our technology is inadequate for defending ourselves. As we ventured into the night, we came across some ruins. As we began to explore the ruins, we came across an old armory. Inside, we found these:
They seem to help our magic to work right, as well as some of our powers. They're a kind of a crystal weapon. And they can emit a beam of some sort of energy that can obliterate an opponent! We weren't defenseless anymore!
The Long Journey
As the days turn into weeks, and weeks into months, and months into years, we continued on our long journey to the coordinates of the pyramid. We've met many of the people that live here on this world, and battled many strange creatures here as well. We've crossed many mountains and valleys, forded every stream and river we came across, and now we face a huge ocean. Nearby is a little coastal village.
Kind of picturesque. A really charming little village from the looks of it. Reminds me of a picture I saw back on Earth. So, we decided to enter the village. From our previous encounters of this planet's inhabitants, we've learned to be careful. While some are friendly, others can be down right hostile to strangers. Especially since we're obviously not one of the locals. And each region seems to have it's own set of customs. So misunderstandings can happen quite frequently between various regions.
"Who are you? And why are you here?" one of the villagers demanded. "No one comes to Rimmörk Klo."
"We are strangers here. We only want to find a way to cross the ocean to the land on the other side."
"And why does no one come here?" we asked.
"Because Rimmörk Klo does not welcome strangers!" he said in a raised voice. "There's land on the other side?" he asked much more quietly.
"Yes, but it is a long way from here, and we need to find a way to cross over to it."
In a hushed tone, almost a whisper, he said, "I knew it! Unfortunately, to cross the Svarta Vattenorg, one would need a miracle! There are many strange things in those waters, and the storms...."
"All attempts to sail the Svarta Vattenorg have ended in disaster. Every ship we've launched was sunk by one thing or another."
"So there's no way to cross?"
"Didn't say that exactly. I knew of one that claimed to have sailed across to the land on the other side, but that's the stuff of legends and tall tales." he said with a wink.
He motioned us to follow him and he led us to a cave with a underground lake. And there on the dock was an old sailboat. The ship was huge!
"I am one of the few people that even knows it's here," he said. "It's been here for over 100 years, and it looks like it hasn't aged a day!"
"Has anyone tried to sail her?" asked Dark Wolf.
"No one knows how to make her go," he said sadly.
"We'd like to give it a shot," said Black Knight.
"But there is only 7 of you. It would take at least 100 men to row it out into the open so the wind would catch in the sails."
"You said that no one has been able to make her go. So if you had 100 or more men on board already, you should have been able to make her go."
"It wont leave here!"
"You say that as though she had a mind of her own."
"Yes, it does."
We all went on board this curious ship. There was something mystical about her. We could all sense the magic bound in her. And our crystal weapons were all glowing very brightly.
"The one you said went across the ocean, did he know magic by any chance?"
"Not sure. No one ever really knew him," he said. "Your weapons started glowing the moment we came on board."
"Yes, they are glowing. I think it's because of the magic bound up in this ship."
Suddenly, we all see something materialize right in front of us, towards one end of the ship.
"Who are you, and why have you disturbed me?" demanded the apparition.
"We are strangers here, and only seek a way to cross the ocean to the land on the other side."
"You are not from this world," it stated.
"No, we are not. We've traveled a long ways from our world to your world. We were only answering a distress call. But somehow we got trapped here in this time period. The distress call was from about 475 years from now."
The villager was shocked to hear this, as we hadn't told him everything, until now.
"Why do you seek to go to the other side?" asked the apparition.
"Because the origin of the distress call was centered around a large glowing crystal at the top of a pyramid in the middle of the other land mass."
"I can take you across, but one of you will have to become a part of this ship, just as I did."
"So that's why he disappeared," whispered the villager.
"Yes, that is why I disappeared. And so must you, Lilla Människan."
"Me? Why me?' asked the villager. In our haste, we'd forgotten to ask the villager's name.
"Because you know too much, and I can't let anyone else know of this ship's existence. And besides, someone must make the sacrifice in order for the Svart Klang to have the power to fly across again."
"Fly?!" we all said in unison.
"Yes, how else could we get there without being sunk by the creatures below?"
"Ok then. I will make the sacrifice," said Lilla.
And with that, both began to glow brightly... and then they were gone. The oars came out and the ship was moving towards the opening in the cave where the ocean came into the cave. Once we were out in the open, the ship began to fly into the air above the water!
We couldn't help but recall hearing all those stories about the Flying Dutchman.
The Long Fight Across The Ocean
After a very long several months and many storms, we came to the midpoint of our journey across the Svarta Vattenorg (their way of saying "Dark Waters"). We could all tell that another storm was brewing. But this one seemed much more intense than any of the previous storms. The "Captain" (the one that appeared to us before we began our voyage near the village of Rimmörk Klo ,Dark Claw, informed us that a borkana (their word for hurricane) was brewing. The island of the Död Odjuret (Death Beast) was just nearby. The Död Odjuret was sure to come out with the borkana a brew'n. We had no idea what this Död Odjuret was, or why the Captain was even worried. But we were certainly going to find out, and soon.
After several hours, the winds were extremely strong. The sea was churning. The waves, very high. The rain, torrential. Then suddenly, we heard it. Then we saw it. When we saw it, it reminded us of those old Japanese monster movies, because it looked like Ghidorah! We had no time to ponder all of this, because it was attacking!
The whole ship began to glow with an eerie green glow. And then it leaped from the ship to the monster! This happened numerous times. But the monster kept coming and attacking. We raised our crystal weapons and fired at it, but it didn't seem to phase it in the very least. Normally, this would obliterate most things we aim them at, but not this thing!
Then, with a concentrated effort between us and the ship, we launched what we thought was our final assault on the beast. The green glow, along with our crystal weapons, what superpowers we could muster, plus our must devastating spell, and the stupid thing was still alive!!!!!
It attacked again and again. It was relentless. Death Beast was a very good name for it. We were at a loss for words. We couldn't understand why nothing even phased it. Then the Captain spoke, "The Död Odjuret is impervious to all of our attempts to stop it, let alone, destroy it. But it does have one weakness."
"What's that?" we all asked.
"It can drown in the water," he said. At the top of his voice, he said, "Batten down the hatches! Drop the sails!" Then to us he said, "Go below the decks, quickly, and then you will see!"
As we went below, the sails dropped and the hatch shut and locked behind us. Then, with the creature following us, we plunged into the depths of the sea. When we popped up again, we could see through the portholes that the thing was in the water, and sinking fast! Try as it might, it could not stop sinking! It was too heavy! Suddenly, we were attacked from below!
"It's the Hav Djur!" exclaimed the Captain. "Raise the sails and fly aloft!"
We were in the air again. And with that, the rest of the voyage was, for the most part, uneventful. Except for that one little incident with the Fligandin Odjur (the Flying Beast). This took place about 3/4 of our journey across the Svarta Vattenorg.
First we heard it, then we saw it. We took care of it with one blast from our crystal weapons! "Ok, that was easy!" exclaimed Dark Wolf.
Then it multiplied from the pieces!
"Ok, maybe not so easy," said Wolf's Bane.
So, we cast a spell to obliterate all the pieces, as we trained our crystal weapons on each one. This seemed to work, until the particles started to generate new Fligandin Odjur!!!! Then, the Captain spoke, "Foolish outlanders! The Fligandin Odjur can only be destroyed by Faith!"
"Um... faith in what?"
"Faith in the Glödanden Sten, which you seek!"
He was obviously referring to the glowing crystal at the top of the pyramid. Questions, questions. Always more questions in our minds about this strange world. We had heard this name before, but never quite like this! It had to refer to the glowing crystal on top of the stepped pyramid that we saw from Chris. We all joined hands, and telepathically searched for the crystal on top of the pyramid. When we found it, we were surprised at hearing a familiar voice!
It was Chris!
She just barely remembered us, but she was in her embryo stage. This is where she came from, but she didn't remember it!!! The file transfer from the alternate time line had gone back this far, but somehow, she had forgotten her origins by the time we met her. We linked with her and filled in all of the blanks that we could. And the link also provided the info we needed in our current predicament.
We had what we needed to defeat the Fligandin Odjur (which looked a lot like a flying spaghetti monster!) With our hands still held together, we chanted the spell to obliterate all traces of the monster. It worked! And all of them disappeared! The rest of our trip was fairly uneventful, except for a few storms, which we were able to go through.
**************************************************
Upon arrival at our destination, the land mass was huge! But the ship kept on flying... It flew us to the center of the continent, where the pyramid was!!
When it landed, the Captain said, "Now you can be reunited with you friend!"
We all wondered at how he knew!
**************************************************
475 years later, a thriving, advanced civilization can be found. All regions are now united under the benevolent control of Chris and the Dark Wolves (or Mörka Vargar as we were called). It has been an era of peace. In all this time, we have never once heard anyone mention the Gramleks, or even hinted at what they could possibly be. Suddenly, we were attacked by a variety of plant and animal creatures that we'd never seen before.
"The Gramleks are attacking! The Gramleks are attacking!" went the cry throughout the planet.
Time Loop # 425!
With Lucifer's direct intervention, we were unable to continue to help Cap and his friends. Suddenly, we got an urgent message from someone in the Andromeda Galaxy, from a planet called Trikonia, circa 7263.
"We are in grave danger! Request assistance immediately. The Gramleks are atta...."
We teleported down to the planet's surface, close to the pyramid, but just out of sight from the battle, so we supposed. The pyramid was nowhere to be seen, and there weren't any battles raging.
Wolf: "Um, where is the pyramid? And why isn't there any battles going on here?"
Spike: "Uh, guys, look at the chronometer."
We looked at our chronometers and to our surprise, they all said that it was the year 6763, not 7263. Somehow we had traveled back in time 500 years!
Wolf's Bane: "That's not all, my scanners indicate the ruins of a civilization, not a current one!"
Warhead: "And we are on the opposite side of the planet from the pyramid!"
Awesome George: "My magic is working backwards!!!"
Spike: "And not all of my powers are functioning correctly."
Dark Wolf: "I'd say that this planet is somehow responsible for our current predicament."
BK: "I cannot contact Chris telepathically."
WarHead: "So we're trapped here, 500 years in this planet's past and no way to get off this rock?!"
BK: "So it would seem."
We had no choice but to start walking towards the general direction of the last known coordinates of the pyramid. Hopefully, we wont have any oceans to cross, because the scanners on board the ship couldn't pinpoint landmasses and oceans because of some sort of interference.
As we slowly made our journey eastwards, we came across a strange rock formation.
Suddenly, it came to life and began to attack us!
We were virtually defenseless against it, so we did like anyone else would do. We ran away as fast as we could!
Once we were safely away from it, we resumed our trek across the wilderness.
Hours latter, we came to the foothills and a mountain chain. Several hours latter, we came to a cave. It would be darker soon as the planet's night time would begin. So we trudged into the mouth of the cave, fully intending to make camp there. A few more hours pass as we make camp for the night.
Suddenly, out of the darkness, comes a terrible roaring, screeching, howling (all at once), unearthly kind of sound. Whatever it was, it was getting closer by the minute. And there it was, in the opening of one of the cave tunnels. As it begins to attack, we all run out of the cave and into the night.
We are virtually defenseless again. We need some sort of weapon as we cannot continue to run away from things that attack us. Our magic runs backwards. Our powers are almost useless. and our technology is inadequate for defending ourselves.
As we ventured into the night, we came across some ruins. As we began to explore the ruins, we came across an old armory. Inside, we found these:
They seem to help our magic to work right, as well as some of our powers. They're a kind of a crystal weapon. And they can emit a beam of some sort of energy that can obliterate an opponent! We weren't defenseless anymore!
As the days turn into weeks, and weeks into months, and months into years, we continued on our long journey to the coordinates of the pyramid. We've met many of the people that live here on this world, and battled many strange creatures here as well. We've crossed many mountains and valleys, forded every stream and river we came across, and now we face a huge ocean. Nearby is a little coastal village.
Kind of picturesque. A really charming little village from the looks of it. Reminds me of a picture I saw back on Earth.
So, we decided to enter the village. From our previous encounters of this planet's inhabitants, we've learned to be careful. While some are friendly, others can be down right hostile to strangers. Especially since we're obviously not one of the locals. And each region seems to have it's own set of customs. So misunderstandings can happen quite frequently between various regions.
"Who are you? And why are you here?" one of the villagers demanded. "No one comes to Rimmörk Klo."
"We are strangers here. We only want to find a way to cross the ocean to the land on the other side."
"And why does no one come here?" we asked.
"Because Rimmörk Klo does not welcome strangers!" he said in a raised voice. "There's land on the other side?" he asked much more quietly.
"Yes, but it is a long way from here, and we need to find a way to cross over to it."
In a hushed tone, almost a whisper, he said, "I knew it! Unfortunately, to cross the Svarta Vattenorg, one would need a miracle! There are many strange things in those waters, and the storms...."
"All attempts to sail the Svarta Vattenorg have ended in disaster. Every ship we've launched was sunk by one thing or another."
"So there's no way to cross?"
"Didn't say that exactly. I knew of one that claimed to have sailed across to the land on the other side, but that's the stuff of legends and tall tales." he said with a wink.
He motioned us to follow him....
He led us to a cave with a underground lake. And there on the dock was an old sailboat. The ship was huge!
"I am one of the few people that even knows it's here," he said. "It's been here for over 100 years, and it looks like it hasn't aged a day!"
"Has anyone tried to sail her?" asked Dark Wolf.
"No one knows how to make her go," he said sadly.
"We'd like to give it a shot," said Black Knight.
"But there is only 7 of you. It would take at least 100 men to row it out into the open so the wind would catch in the sails."
"You said that no one has been able to make her go. So if you had 100 or more men on board already, you should have been able to make her go."
"It wont leave here!"
"You say that as though she had a mind of her own."
"Yes, it does."
We all went on board this curious ship. There was something mystical about her. We could all sense the magic bound in her. And our crystal weapons were all glowing very brightly.
"The one you said went across the ocean, did he know magic by any chance?"
"Not sure. No one ever really knew him," he said. "Your weapons started glowing the moment we came on board."
"Yes, they are glowing. I think it's because of the magic bound up in this ship."
Suddenly, we all see something materialize right in front of us, towards one end of the ship.
"Who are you, and why have you disturbed me?" demanded the apparition.
"We are strangers here, and only seek a way to cross the ocean to the land on the other side."
"You are not from this world," it stated.
"No, we are not. We've traveled a long ways from our world to your world. We were only answering a distress call. But somehow we got trapped here in this time period. The distress call was from about 475 years from now."
The villager was shocked to hear this, as we hadn't told him everything, until now.
"Why do you seek to go to the other side?" asked the apparition.
"Because the origin of the distress call was centered around a large glowing crystal at the top of a pyramid in the middle of the other land mass."
"I can take you across, but one of you will have to become a part of this ship, just as I did."
"So that's why he disappeared," whispered the villager.
"Yes, that is why I disappeared. And so must you, Lilla Människan."
"Me? Why me?' asked the villager. In our haste, we'd forgotten to ask the villager's name.
"Because you know too much, and I can't let anyone else know of this ship's existence. And besides, someone must make the sacrifice in order for the Svart Klang to have the power to fly across again."
"Fly?!" we all said in unison.
"Yes, how else could we get there without being sunk by the creatures below?"
"Ok then. I will make the sacrifice," said Lilla.
And with that, both began to glow brightly... and then they were gone.
The oars came out and the ship was moving towards the opening in the cave where the ocean came into the cave. Once we were out in the open, the ship began to fly into the air above the water!
There wasn't a one of us that couldn't help but recall hearing all those stories about the Flying Dutchman.
It was THEN, that they all realized that all of this had happened before!
"Time Loop?", asked one of them.
"Yes. I believe it t'is," said Black Knight. "Now the tricky part. How to get out!"
Time Loop # 30526
"Ok, this is getting very old, very quickly!"
Time Loop # 500026
"We've tried everything, but to no avail."
Time Loop # 600046
"Ok. this is getting extremely annoying now!"
Time Loop # 100,042,635
"I think we're missing something here," said Black Knight. "What did Lucifer do to us?"
"Chris, show us the replay!"
"Dark energy forms in the circle of Christian Wolfs onboard Chris. As it solidifies their chants are disrupted."
Earlier that day: "Lucifer was watching the proceedings from his office when the monitors went blank.
"Hmm, I detect the work of the lovely Ms. Stein," he murmurs. Pressing the intercom button he summons two mages and a tech team.
"Get this video feed up and running, or else you will all be having a very bad day," Lucifer says through a threatening smile. As the technicians worked to restore the security feed through a backup server, the mages approached.
"Mr. Smith, Sir...we are detecting...some type of magic in the building from an outside source," the one named Tremaine stammered. "It seems as though someone is attempting to erect a protective spell around the intruders."
"You don't say?" Lucifer answers. He calms his mind and reaches out, searching for the source of the spell. Stretching...reaching...THERE.
Lucifer chuckles. "Oh my, what a pleasant surprise. The Christian dogs and their glassy spaceship are sticking their noses into my business."
Lucifer opens a desk drawer and reaches inside, he pulls out a note pad labeled "to do" list.
1) Corrupt Cap
2) Foment Unrest in the Balkans...again
3) Desert Storm III hahah
4) Torment Bucky, Bucky and Ms. Stein
5) Figure out DVR on satellite dish
6) Israel + Hamas = Fun Times!
7) Deal With Christian Werewolves
There!! At the bottom...
"Well, I suppose I can move them up the list," Lucifer thinks. He absorbs magic power from the two mages, instantly killing them. Augmented with their puny skills, Lucifer creates a blocking spell to pierce the protective bubble before it can encircle the interlopers.
"That should take care of the problem," Lucifer says.
Almost as an afterthought, Lucifer sends a wave of dark energy directly at the crystalline ship. "That should give the hounds something to occupy their time...and perhaps that delicate little ship will develop a crack or two. Wouldn't that be terrible?"
Lucifer's final move is to create a shield around the warehouse, ensuring there will be no more outside interference.He scribbles a note on the list...something about finding a "permanent" solution for the werewolves and their ship.
But that must wait for another day...at that moment the monitors flash to life. The technicians have restored the security feed, lucky for them.
Lucifer folds his hands behind his back. He sends his thoughts to the magic-users preparing to face the invaders. "Here is a special summoning spell you can use specifically for my buddy Private Avenger," as he implants the arcane knowledge into the mind of one of his more talented pupils. "I'm sure he'll enjoy the surprise."
Lucifer smiles. This should be good..."
"Very interesting. Very interesting indeed!" exclaimed Black Knight.
The Dark Wolves began to chant a spell to reveal all of the damage done by Lucifer's Dark Energy attack.
Once revealed, Chris began repairing everything that she could. but, it was not enough. There were a few Time Circuits that she couldn't repair. They would need to be repaired manually. This was determined to be the cause of the time loop.
There was one who has heard the telepathic calls of the trapped Werewolves. Jace Beleren the Mindsculptor, planeswalker of infamous genius has been traveling the universe since the return of the humans from Ice Ray Academy as well as the Inkling searching for traces of Zerocurew the Dracolich and Lloth, the Drow Spiderqueen. He is well aware of the conflicts that have led them to this point and has visualized a plan that will not only benefit them but help stop the spread of an old evil too. He travels aboard the ship and peaceably greets the famous crew. "While none of you have ever met me before, I have followed your exploits for many months. There are few half humans as well known in SHC as you and I am here to help you out. You can subject me to any tests you wish if you doubt my good will, I can sense you have mistrust for me because I was a friend of the one once known as Chad Rockwell/ Errtu the Traitorous Balor."
"Well, I don't know how famous we are, but we are glad for any assistance you can give us," said Black Knight. "It would appear that Lucifer's attack on us has damaged some of Chris' time circuits. And this has been determined to be the cause of the time loop we have been trapped in. Chris has been able to repair most of the damage done to her but the time circuits have to be repaired manually. And we lack some of the knowledge and expertise necessary to complete the repairs."
"The ability to travel through time is something I have not yet mastered effortlessly," Jace said to the Dark Wolves. "Because of this I am not yet able to return to the past, or bring others from the past. However I do have a fellow planeswalker who has studied this longer then I ever have. I will use my magic to plot a course in Chris's navigational computers to the planet he can be found residing at. Planet I say, even though the term "plane" would be more appropriate." Within a few minutes the course was set and soon the ship and those aboard were on their way.
During our voyage there, Black Knight took a look at the damaged time circuits and asked Chris if there was any way to repair them.
"We don't have the materials on board, neither can they be found on the planet where the distress call originates from," said Chris.
"Well, hopefully Jace's friend can help us somehow."
In a few hours, the ship arrives in orbit. Jace sends a message to his friend Karn the only known artificially created planeswalker. "Karn, this is Jace. I have brought with me some freedom fighters to help you and the leonin reclaim Mirrodin from the Phyrexians. However I will need you to meet them first."
A few minutes later, a huge metallic figure appears aboard the ship. "Jace... it has been a few decades since you or other non Dominarian 'walkers visited my world of Mirrodin," it speaks in a slow booming voice to the werewolf crew. "Up until this last year I would have not allowed any newcomers access to this home I created with my magic and spark because I had been infected by the corrosion and evil of the race that has almost entirely claimed here as their own. My name is Karn and I am a golem brought alive by the 'walker Urza. If I can be of any assistance to you I will if only you can help me and Jace to cleanse my world of the evil from within."
"Hello, my name is Black Knight.The crystalline ship you are on, calls herself Chris. She's a living machine of sorts, crystal based. A being called Lucifer sent his dark energy on board and damaged Chris's time circuits, which put us in a time loop when we answered a distress call from a planet in the Andromeda galaxy. It turns out this this was Chris's homeworld, but she was in her infant state at the time as a small glowing crystal on top of a stepped pyramid. And we had been sent 500 years into the planet's past from the point in the future that we had originally arrived at. You see, Chris is not only a spaceship, she's also a time-ship."
"Chris informs us that we didn't have the materials on board to repair her time circuits, but hopefully, we can find them here. Once they have been repaired, we can end the time loop that we have been trapped in on her home planet," said Dark Wolf. "Oh, and my name is Dark Wolf."
"And we'd be glad to help you in any way that we can," we all told our new friends.
"Oh, I think that we should all finish introducing ourselves. My name is Spike. Nice to met you."
"And of course I'm called Dark Wolf. Pleasure to meet you."
Karn is silent for a few minutes. Jace is unsure what his friend is thinking. Finally Karn speaks. "I was just conferring with Chris here concerning the records on his construction and this being named Lucifer. The metal in question he requires can only be found in Mirrodin's core. It is a dangerous place because that is where the monstrosities that now plague here came from.
Jace grimaces. "Karn, it will take both of us combining our magic to shield this brave group of heroes." Turning to Black Knight and the others he explains. "The Phyrexians carry with them a type of infection that zombifies those they come in contact with and makes them contagious. Think of it like SHC's zombies in metal like Astronikus's drones and you will get a basic idea how powerful they are."
"We aren't your run-of-the-mill werewolves. We're telepathic, have superpowers, and can do some magic of our own. Oh, and I'm called Wolf." He said with a smile.
"Well if Chris needs some material from a very dangerous place here, then we'll get it for her. And I'm Wolf's Bane."
"Perhaps it's possible to combine all of our magic to protect us while we travel there and back. Of course you guys' magic may be different than ours. Don't know if they would be compatible or not. By the way, I'm Awesome George. At you service."
"Wolves with magic and superpowers hmmm?" Karn says in reply. "Truly the universe has changed a whole lot in the past 200 years or so since I left my planet. But I shall grant to you whatever upgrades you require in terms of weapons or armor here for I happen to be an artificer."
"We're actually quite a unique little group of werewolves, even back on Earth. And we can change at will. And any improvements to our weapons and armor would help a lot," said Black Knight. "For some reason, we still have the Crystal Weapons from Chris's home planet that we found. Usually, they disappear when the loop starts again. This time seems to be different somehow. Of course none of this has happened before either. Perhaps they can be useful here as they enhance both our magic and our superpowers."
After Black Knight finishes talking, Karn smiles. "Well far be it from me to delay you any more then is required. All of you and Jace, I invite you into my workshop." Opening up a magical gateway into the Aether between dimensions, he walks in and for miles around are different pieces of unknown metals and weapons and armor that the werewolves can see. "Here on Mirrodin, artifacts play a big role for my people," Karn explains. "I have been working hard to help upgrade the Resistance's equipment since the lone human who could resist the infectious nature of the Phyresis contagion was snatched away some months ago. Feel free to look around and see if any of this can be of usage to you." He also uses his magic to bring them warm food to eat and new clothing too and yes even Chris can fit inside.
Our crystal weapons had been glowing ever since we came here to Mirrodin. And now, here in this place, they glowed very brightly from all of the magic in this place on Mirrodin. There were armor and weapons of all kinds here as far as the eye could see.
After what seemed like hours, we came across some very unique crystal armor, swords, and shields.
They were very beautiful, and seemed to fit us perfectly. They also seemed to augment and enhance our powers and magic in much the same way the crystal weapons do.
"These are cool!" exclaimed Wolf and WarHead.
"We all seem to like these very well," said Dark wolf. Everyone agreed.
"And thanks for the food and new clothes," said Wolf's Bane. Everyone nodded in agreement.
"You know, I had an interesting thought," said Black Knight. "I'm wondering if the crystal weapons we found on Trikonia were made by the same people or person that made these. They all seem to be a set. They even all glow the same way and with the same intensity."
"An interesting question," said Spike.
"So you have discovered the Legacy collection," Karn says to the Dark Wolves. "A very long time ago it was collected by my creator Urza Planeswalker following his first encounters with the Phyrexian horde. He had hoped to someday use these artifacts of great power to fully defeat the Lord of Phyrexia and at one time I was part of this collection. However even the best laid plans can be ruined and in this case though Yawgmoth was destroyed, no one was ever aware that the heartstone Urza used to awaken me and give me life was corrupted with their oil and that is how Phyrexians came to Mirrodin. For hundreds of years I have used my goodly powers to keep their infection from spreading onward but my powers are reaching their limit."
Jace explains ""You see, Karn only has left Mirrodin twice since he created it. It was after the Phyrexian Invasion of Dominaria was finally repelled and he realized he was a planeswalker in the aftermath of that terrible struggle. Karn knew that he needed a place of solitude to learn what he could of his powers and carry on the legacy of his creator. Mirrodin was created as a test of Karn's power and he left a guardian to watch over it while he left to continue his task of safeguarding Dominaria from other threats. What he never knew until way later was that this guardian, whom I shall refer henceforth to as Memnarch, had become corrupted by the oil. He used its power to create a barrier around the world and for thousands of Mirrodin years ruled as a god. This barrier was so powerful Karn was unable to return to Mirrodin and was trapped in an exile to the Aether between the planes or worlds of the universe."
"Memnarch used his powers to collect beings from Dominaria and brought them to Mirrodin as sort of a twisted scientific experiment and ruled as their god. Only the Trolls knew how to stop him but their power was far from enough and due to their reclusive natures the other races distrusted them. A few hundred years ago an elf named Glissa was born. The trolls immediately knew she was the one they had long awaited to help free Mirrodin from Memnarch but unfortunately so did he too. He sent his machine hordes to wipe out her village. There were few survivors that tragic day."
"Glissa swore revenge and began the journey that ended with Memnarch's destruction. She traveled all over the outer world of Mirrodin meeting the different tribes that made up society here. Eventually she discovered that Mirrodin was actually hollow and figured out in her own thoughts that the core was where Memnarch resided. Furious, he used his powers over artifacts to cause great natural disasters to stop her and her companions when his armies couldn't defeat her. Eventually though, she used a powerful artifact weapon and was able to fully destroy him. But the caused an even greater calamity none were prepared for because upon his death, all but the newest generation of Mirrodins were sent back to Dominaria. In one brief moment they lost their history and everything that made them a society and wars sprang up between the surviving races as they fought to see who would rule Mirrodin. That is when the long dormant Phyrexians struck."
""You see, during his exile Karn returned to Dominaria many times to look over and see how society had survived after the invasion was defeated there. On his travels he met a fiery haired young woman named Jeska (forerunner of Jenna Firemage) and saw that she had the magical power or "spark" to become a powerful planeswalker like himself. Karn brought her from Dominaria with him on his first visit there and for the remainder of his exile tutored her until she was nearly as strong as him."
"A few years ago a great upheaval shook the Multiverse as we call it or as you call it the universe. For millennium unknown to even the planeswalkers themselves, their great magic and constant battles between themselves and the Phyrexians resulted in Dominaria being the focus of a series of time loops like the one I found you in. It was theorized by one of the few walkers to survive the Invasion that if these were not repaired quickly the whole universe was doomed. Similar to when Angela Volden traveled through time to save Super Hero City from past threats turned future menaces, Teferi recruited the last of the planeswalkers of his generation and before him too. He had discovered that in order to patch these "time rifts" each 'walker had to give up their spark. The reason behind this is because due to a lack of magical regeneration, Dominaria no longer had any magic on its plane and being then the center of the Multiverse if it could not be rejuvenated with the return of magic life on all planets was doomed. Karn was chosen for this important mission to travel back in time because only he was powerful enough at time magic to close the rift on the isle of the Tolarian Academy where for hundreds of years before the invasion Urza and his mortal companion wizards and female magic users had been creating the plans to repel the invasion when it came. In fact, that is actually where Karn was created and brought to life and where all the pieces of the Legacy were collected at once found. It should come as no surprise that when the Phyrexians struck, this was one of their first conquests. Thousands died that day and the only reason more didn't was the great sage Barin used the last of his life's blood to sacrifice himself to destroy the hordes on the isle he had called home for many hundreds of years. It became a living pyre in remembrance of his short lived child Hanna who was among the first killed by the plagues manufactured by the Phyrexians."
"That spell saved the day but it caused a huge time loop that Karn personally took upon himself to restore. He used up much of his powers to do so, but at a great cost. In the aftermath, the seal was broken allowing the Phyrexians that had long been waiting to begin infiltrating Mirrodin from inside out and Karn returned there to stop them. He did not succeed and for a few centuries he was their literal prisoner within the core until he was revived a few years ago."
Karn resumed the end of the history lesson. "Black Knight, you and your companions have within you loyalty, honesty and goodness I have not sensed in mortals in a very long time. If the Legacy collection can help you out then I shall give it to you freely."
"Wow! That's quite a story!," exclaimed WarHead. The others all agreed.
"We'll do our best to help you. Our journey then will have a twofold purpose as we go to get the materials we need to repair Chris's time circuits. And Chris says that she'll do whatever she can to help as well," added Black Knight.
"How so?" asked Jace and Karn, in unison.
"She can make herself smaller and go with us," said Black Knight. "She's much bigger on the inside anyway. And she told me that she can analyze the Phyrexian Oil - without touching it or needing a sample. Chris thinks that she might be able to come up with a cure for it. Let us all hope so, because that would make things a whole lot easier. Especially if we could spread the cure instead of having to kill everything on sight down there."
"If you can find a way to cure my people and my planet I would be in your debt forever," Karn says solemnly. Using his magic, he displays a map of Mirrodin both inside the planet's surface and above to.
"The enemy has divided itself into five separate factions. The Tangle is where they have started experiments to turn the wildlife into horrible mockery type abominations. Along the Quicksilver Sea, heavy pollution from their wartime factories has caused massive inland flooding and horrible pollution. In the Kuldotha chain of mountains, earthquakes from destruction of mana tubes within the core are causing tectonic instability. In the Razor Fields, the leonin who have not turned traitor have been forced into concentration camps and are being hunted for sport and in the huge swamp, the Nim are being grown massively as plague carriers. While these forces may seem combined, they each have specific inner dissensions I have pinpointed. Stealth and inner sabotage and espionage will be what we need to fully turn them at each other's throats so to speak. "
"However beware for there are three generals who aid the Phyrexian praetors/generals. The first one is the evil planeswalker Tezzeret. He is no Phyrexian recruit, but was sent here by the evil dragon planeswalker Nicol Bolas and in fact was one of my personal captors. In some ways his skills as an artificer are even greater then mine but he is totally scrupulous and without any morals. The second personage to beware of is Glissa herself. I have received horrible confirmation that she returned here with the Phyrexians but as an ugly zombified form of her once beautiful self. She is a ruthless hunter of all that lives and takes particular sport on feeding on the slain elves of her former race after she kills them and can also use her magic to bring destroyed artifacts back to life. Her touch is pure death so be careful. Because she is so feared, she has been renamed "Glissa the Traitor." The last general was once a human warlord named Geth who sought power to command his own army of ravenous zombie Nim. He was supposedly killed before Memnarch was destroyed, but apparently he resurrected himself using his dark powers of necromancy and the Phyrexians enhanced him with a metallic body. He is the one raising the NIm in vast numbers because the swamp his stronghold is in is deadly to all non undead."
"On the 'Bright Side'", said Wolf, "Chris said that she could find a cure for the Phyrexian Oil that contaminates everything. Unfortunately, if she can't, we are in for a lot of trouble."
"Agreed," said Dark Wolf, and many of the others.
"But, we do have the Legacy Collection now," said others. "Maybe that will help us if Chris can't."
"Also agreed," said Black Knight. "Hopefully, Chris CAN find a cure, but if not, WE WILL fight our way to the center of Mirrodin and find what we are looking for. And help our new friends, Jace and Karn, to cleanse this plane of Mirrodin of the infection along the way! If we can! If we can't, we WILL die in the process!"
All pledge their support to what Black Knight has said.
So begins our journey to the center of Mirrodin!
Jace wanted to lead the expedition immediately, but Karn knew that was not a good idea. "Get all the rest you deserve," he said to Black Knight and his fellow werewolves. "Despite the fact Mirrodin has five moons, until you truly know the nature of my planet and of the Phyrexians you will have to travel by daylight so as not to be the victim of their evil snares and traps to capture the raw meat they usually eat."
Jace took Karn aside for a few moments of privacy in a tiny pocket dimension as the others relaxed. "I've found Melinda." he said simply. "That was the task you assigned me when I tricked Zerocurew the Dracolich in the past into becoming "his" bodyguard. It turns out all along she was actually the biological sister of Chad Rockwell now known as The Inkling." Jace then proceeded to fully update Karn on all the events since Chad and his siblings came to Super Hero City with their arcane school. "So you see, I was wrong to have doubted you when you told me things were not at all what they seemed to be. The Inkling has his powers and memories back, Jenna's bloodcurse has been cured, Zerocurew Lloth and Jacob have not been heard from and Chad Hansen-Ricks still has not been located yet."
Karn thinks over this all carefully. "You say that The Angelic Rogue turned Jenna into her own avatar during the battle when the call went to all the surviving 'walkers but me?" "That is correct Karn," he replied. "I sense a darker conspiracy then anything we ever faced with Yawgmoth. This Lucifer and Sin, I have reason to believe they may know the whereabouts of Chad Hansen-Ricks. If the third child of Jeska is not found soon, there will be worse calamities then the Nemesis Star to hit Earth.
"I see," Jace said simply. "You mean The Abyss will return?" "Yes my friend," Karn said simply. "Without the Bloodstone Foundry to seal it away, The Abyss presents a constant dire threat to the safety of Earth and Superhero City. While I may not be able to travel with you back there once our work here is finished, I believe I know someone who would be more then eager to help out. Squee! I know you are hiding nearby. Please come out." A short goblin with a bright intelligence in its eyes crawls out from under some rusted artifacts there in the dimension. Jace's eyes widen in complete shock. "Karn you didn't!" "Jace, I never granted Squee immortality since he already was possessed of an extremely powerful rate of magic regeneration. Even as the cabin boy still during the Invasion, to often we thought him dead but he always came back to life. Even Yawgmoth himself was unable to slay him and he would be a perfect spy to help your friends out here on Mirrodin too."
To the Center of Mirrodin!
The Dark Wolves begin their adventure to the center of Mirodin, along with a few allies. Squee, the goblin, joins them on their quest. Chris shrinks her outside dimensions to about 2 feet across. There was much fighting on our journey to the center of Mirodin.
Finally, at long last, Chis has analysed the Phyrexian Oil. The results show that the only cure is the Bloodstone Foundry, which, unfortunately, CAN cause everyone that comes in contact with this to become evil. She also postulated that the Bloodstone Foundry could also possibly seal a rift (or an "Abyss"), near the Earth.... And she says that the Bloodstone Foundry lies at the very center of Mirodin! And we have to go there!
Chris provides us with a bit more information on the Bloodstone Foundry.
"Made out of crystallized ever boiling human blood it continually pumps out a regenerating evil mist that surrounds all who use it in an aura of never-ending wickedness. Side effects of misuse can include the following: massive psychic or physical trauma as you use it longer, hallucinations, feelings of grandeur and immortality and a small chance of instant death from arcane forces. It can restore the powers of any who were once evil back to their full prime, even if they might have lost memories. All that is required is to have a corrupted longing to do only evil., which the miss use of this item can produce."
It was last seen on Earth, near SHC. The real mystery, how did it get here?
Also, how would one use it to cure the effects of the Phyrexian Oil?
Time will only tell.
"I recognize the foundry well," Karn says to the werewolves after seeing the data on it. "Too well in fact. It was once my artificial heart but somehow when I was revived it was sent to Earth. From what Jace has told me, Sin could very well be a reincarnation of the dreaded Yawgmoth but if he is then he has dramatically stopped using machines to do his dirty work. As for him reclaiming it, as Yawgmoth in his once former human life, the human artificer was purely insane. He was originally a doctor but he began doing experiments intended to fully wipe out disease and sickness. That was truly the one good thing because after that he started a campaign to try to create a race that no longer suffered from any pain. From that sprang the genocidal Phyrexians and they almost wiped out Dominarias as the surviving humans banded with goblins, elves, dwarves and even minotaurs to stop his rise to power. I had hoped with the end of the Invasion when he was reporetedly destroyed the threat was gone forever but I was deadly mistaken."
"When I gained my spark, I had no way of knowing that my heart was no longer producing the energy required to power my then golem form as an artificial machine but instead it began filling me with the Phyrexian Oil that you have seen the dreadful effects of. I surmise that when Memnarch was defeated, the foundry was sent to Earth and once there Sin used his powers to make it begin pumping actual blood instead of oil. This would be critical to his final humanlike transformation as Jace has told me for it seems to have boosted his powers one million fold. But as to how it returned back to Mirrodin I truly have no idea unless he somehow learned I was no longer a Phyrexian prisoner here and intends to corrupt me again!"
Meanwhile inside the core of Mirrodin, the three mentioned generals discuss their plots... "My master is well pleased with the fact that this planet will be his new home after the disaster that prevented him from ruling Alara," Tezzeret said to Glissa and Geth. "But he has issues with the praetors so willing to kill off their own armies rather then work together to fully conquer this planet. He sent me a message saying if they do not stop fighting he might send them to a pathetic desolate piece of space dirt its inhabitants call Earth. There they would be stripped of all their powers and memories and left to survive with no knowledge of who they are. It would be fitting I suppose since according to him he already sent the children of that dangerous walker Jeska there the same way."
"He may be all powerful," Glissa hissed. "But even Nicol Bolas himself has proven he is even less an immortal then our fallen lord Yawgmoth. After all, didn't he recruit you to help bring forth the Maelstrom in thev Alara Galaxy in hopes it would restore his fading magical powers and restore his spark? But instead he was defeated by a very young cat walker. Pathetic that the so-called hunter has become prey. Perhaps he should be replaced."
"You two should stop your squawking and get over here," Geth said. "We have bigger problems since Karn escaped us and you both are worried about a similar being only one of us has ever met? Sensors attached to beasts on the surface have shown that this planet has new arrivals. Glissa they appear to be... talking wolves."
This momentarily startles the once legendary hero turned villainous traitor. and she goes to examine the report Geth is reading "That is very interesting Geth. Some sort of evolutionary leap? But wait they have no metallic implants and they walk like regular beings and not like beasts. I have never heard of anything like this before."
Tezzeret joins them and his eyes light up in surprise. "I had heard stories long ago from my master of humans who suffered the curse of lycanthropy. According to him they were called werewolves. We must be careful indeed for they have the strength of wolves and the intelligence of humans."
A Slight Detour: The Darksteel Juggernaut!
As we made our journey to Mirrodin's Core, we all both saw and heard something odd about this one particular area of the wall of the lacuna we were following. (A lacuna is a gap, or opening from the surface leading to the Core - there are 5 such lacunae, one from each landmass, so we have been told.) The area was huge! And it hummed! And there was a very faint glow about it.
Chris told us that there was something huge encased deep within. Further scans revealed it to be the last of the Darksteel Juggernauts! Apparently, the Darksteel Juggernauts were artifact creatures made of Darksteel - a magical indestructible material found on Mirrodin. It is black in color and has characteristic golden streaks of energy surrounding it. But the Phyrexians feared them and created a gigantic hole in Mirrodin's outer crust, causing whatever was on the surface to plummet into the fiery furnace beneath. A Darksteel Foundry, that is!
Darksteel Juggernauts are known to be both unstoppable and immovable!
And there was one encased deep within this one section of the wall!
The glowing area was slowly getting brighter, and the humming (or should I say drilling) sound was getting louder!
We attempted to make contact with it telepathically, but it didn't respond. When we entered it's mind, we did understand that it had heard us. It simply chose not to respond. We really didn't want to have to fight this thing, but we were hoping that it might help us defeat the Phyrexians.
Slowly, steadily, it got closer to us. Then, it finally broke free of it's prison. We did learn that it had been buried so deep that it took many long years to free itself!
And now it stands before us!
... To be continued!
As the artifact creature broke free, Karn told the others to stay back. "I will try to rewire its command matrix," he said. "If I can, there is a good chance it will want to help us out." Using his magic, Karn delved inside the memories of the juggernaut. Jace translated what he saw.
"Fiery explosions wracking sea earth and sky. The others gone. Their defenses corrupted by the Oil, they went mad and charged into the QuickSilver Sea trying to wash it out before they became infected. But too late, once inside spread to all the centers of intelligence within and those that did not become trapped in the sea turned into this.
"Beware.... beware the myr. They brought this infection upon us as sent by their evil new masters. Once they were the minor servants of Mirrodin after He Who Became God was our ruler, but with his demise they were among the first to be corrupted. It spread like a virus as the contagion grew more powerful among our ranks of artifacts given life before it turned on the less mechanical among biological organisms like yourselves. Others of your kind if uncorrupted could help even though I feel my creator's presence burning brightly inside me. Mirrodin must be freed of its oppressors!"
Karn by then had found the matrix. He explained that depending on how powerful an artifact creature was on Mirrodin, the greater its intelligence. The races that were able to talk with each other did not treat the artifacts as slaves but more as their equals. So when the Phyrexians emerged with their evil abominations that were once machines like this but corrupted beyond reasoning by the oil and generations of constant evolution, the wisdom of the race leaders was that those who were not warriors were to research the effects of theoil and help out the healers and artificers to develop artifacts able to fight the enemy. The others went so far as to begin destroying contaminated artifacts after it became clear the oil was resistant to magic, fire and physical destructions of those it came in contact with.
With Karn's help, the massive Juggernaut was now on our side! It wanted more than anything to help drive out the Phyrexian invaders, after witnessing all the chaos and destruction they caused, and the horrible effects of the oil.
As we slowly made our way towards the center of the Core, new sights and dangers await us.
And a variety of Myr:
"Well," thought Wolf's Bane, "This has certainly been a very exciting journey so far. First, we meet a very large Crystalline spaceship named Chris, who's also telepathic. And she can also travel through time as well as space! We see many new sights and places. And then Lucifer pops up with a hidden explosion of Dark Energy and damages Chris, locking us into a time loop on a rescue mission to a planet in the Andromeda Galaxy called Trikonia. Which turns out to be Chris's homeworld. We meet many new people there, through the 500 years of that planet's history we were trapped in. And now this new adventure with Jace in a place called Mirrodin. Lot's of battles here too. Still need to find the materials to fix Chris's time circuits so we can end the time loop for good, and still help the Trikonians with that Gramlek invasion. And we still need to help Jace and Karn get rid of the Phyrexians, find the Bloodstone Foundry, figure out how to use it to cure the effects of the Phyrexian Oil - and I still have to help take care of these stupid cubs! Gee, a girl's work is never done."
"Hey, I heard that!" said Wolf to Wolf's Bane telepathically. "And who are you calling a stupid cub?"
"Eavesdropping again Wolf?" sent Wolf's Bane back.
"Ok, you caught me. We got anything to eat, I'm starving!"
"Sorry, but we didn't bring anything with us. Besides, you're always hungry." "Cubs!", she thought.
"I heard that!"
"Oh bother!"
"Ok," said Dark Wolf,"if we all get too hungry, we can just simply pop inside Chris and eat in peace there. It's too risky to try to eat out here. And besides, Chris'll let us know when we're in danger."
"Yeah, and she's much bigger on the inside anyway, even though she shrunk herself down to come with us here. And there's always plenty of food in there!"
"It has been a pretty long journey already. Since we left the surface, we haven't had much rest or eaten anything at all. It would probably be a good idea if we took turns "popping" inside Chris. Maybe 2 or 3 at a time. There should always be someone out here at all times."
"Ok everyone," said Black Knight, "I think Spike came up with a good idea. I know, we didn't have this luxury back on Trikonia, but since Chris is here with us, she can provide a safe place to eat an take short sleep breaks in, when needed."
"'Cat Naps' you mean," replied WarHead with a wink and a smile.
"Well, I didn't want to quite put it that way..." said Black Knight, trailing off. Changing the subject, "Why don't we let Awesome George, Wolf, and the Mother Hen, er.. um... Wolf's Bane go first."
"'Mother Hen'!" exclaimed Wolf's Bane. After calming down a bit, she said, "Well, I guess the Cubs and I can go first." And then she realized what she said and how she said it, and immediately teleported on board Chris.
We all couldn't help but chuckle a bit at the predicament she had just put herself in.
"I think that WarHead and I will go next after they return," said Dark Wolf. "Oh, and Squee, you can come with any of us if you like. I know that you've never been inside Chris before."
(OOC: We thought it would be good to have a little levity before plunging into more of the serious stuff. And give a little bit more insight to each of the characters in the process. )
The goblin was quite a bit curious about the wolves. "Dat fine but sure no eat Squee?" He asked in his exotic accent. "Me no taste good and live off bugs. Mmm delicious." He had never before encountered talking wolves but wolves themselves he had faced many times when he was back on Dominaria with Karn during their adventures in Rath finding the last pieces of the Legacy and fighting the Invasion.
Karn laughed. "You'll have to forgive my old friend here. He has always talked this funny since he was the cabin boy on our flying ship that was no where as advanced mechanically as Chris but for magically advanced instead.",
"Don't worry Squee, we wont eat you," Black Knight said reassuringly. "I know that you aren't used to seeing advances in technology like we are. If you'd like to just simply go on board to look around, that would be fine. Just stay near the others so you don't get lost."
"Me get lost in floating crystal?"
"Yes, Squee. She's bigger on the inside, and you don't shrink!" added Dark Wolf.
"Oh haha. Dat funny. Squee understand sarcasm well. Been long time since he trickster." Before he could say anything else, Karn gave him a stern glance. "Squee no one on Mirrodin but me and now these guests knows of your existence. It is highly important you listen as if Gerrard himself gave you commands so long ago." The goblin immediately gave a ridiculous military salute. "Dat good Karn. Me was looking forward to more exercise. Immortality like mine can be downright boring!"
"Squee, it wasn't meant as sarcasm, " Black Knight said. "Chris really is bigger on the inside. No shrinking IS necessary! Perhaps you don't truly understand advances in technology. I do know that you understand advanced Magic. So think of this as a small space, outside, but a big space inside! It would be considered Magic to you. That is why we would like for you to stay with Wolf's Bane, Wolf, and Awesome George while you are inside the pretty floating crystal that we call Chris, so you don't get lost. Of course that is what she calls herself!"
"Me still no understand how one can get lost inside pretty little floating crystal."
"You will!" said Wolf. "Want to see for yourself?"
""Ok, me go with you."
"Then join hands with us, and we will take you inside," said Awesome George.
So the three join hands and are teleported on board Chris.
They arrive in the control room.
"Oooo! Bigger!"
"You haven't seen the rest of Chris yet!" said Wolf.
"What are these?" asked Squee, referring to the buttons on the control panel.
"Those are called buttons," said Awesome George. "No, not the kind the you have on your shirt, um, tunic. These are pressed down and do different things. Some of which you and I will not like, s