User blog:Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter/The Story of a Minifigure: Strange Odd Shadow The Rewrite Chapter 5

Chapter 5: On the Block Yard Property



“Oh brick I hate this”, Shadow mumbled under his breath.

He had now gotten the hang of piloting a rocket more or less -and the automatically chosen route did help- since the last time he'd flown one when escaping the Venture Explorer, but he still couldn't get used to the nauseating feeling rocket flight caused him. He was afraid he might throw up any moment now.

Shadow tried to concentrate on the stars around him instead of his upset stomach, but it did not seem to be very effective. However, as he looked around he noticed something out of the norm. Among the bright white, sometimes bluish or reddish, dots that were the stars some purple ones seemed to be hovering in space as well. They were mainly in front of them.

“Hey guys, what are those?” Shadow spoke to a comm. designed to contact nearby rockets.

“Oh no. Space Maelstrom. I hate Space Maelstrom”, Platinum's voice was heard coming from the comm..

“Space Maelstrom? What's that?”.

“It's some kind of Maelstrom essence in space. It's jelly-like in form and I'm not really sure if it's alive or not. If you attack it, it will only split in smaller bits”, Quantum explained.

“If it touches anything it will corrode it. The best strategy against it is to avoid it at all costs. Certainly do not let it surround you”, Platinum continued.

As they approached the purple 'things', Shadow saw that they indeed looked like purple jelly. Lots of them. Moving slowly through space.

Although the rockets' course was automated, they allowed freedom in movement if the pilot required so. As soon as one stopped steering their rocket a particular direction, the rocket's autopilot would kick in again. Still, when they finally inevitably entered the Space Maelstrom cloud, Shadow discovered that they weren't that easy to avoid. Being everywhere around him and giving him little space to manoeuver his rocket, even when slowed down, it looked like its abrupt moves would soon lead him right on some Space Maelstrom. However, he dramatically managed to avoid them the last moment. Suddenly, he wished he had practiced more piloting a rocket.

Suddenly, Shadow realised he couldn't see his friends' rockets anymore. He looked back and saw that some of the purple jelly-like substance had attached itself to their rockets. Smoke was coming out of them before it dissipated due to the lack of pressure.

“Guys, are you okay?” he asked through the comm..

“We'll manage. Hopefully”, Quantum replied. “You should continue or you'll get some of this goo as well. We'll follow when we can”.

Shadow moved on, but not without worriedly looking back at his friends. He had his own troubles to worry about, though. With terror, he soon realised that the Space Maelstrom didn't just move randomly, but that they were attracted by nearby objects. Slowly perhaps, but ever closer to closing all his ways out.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">The young man was worried he would not get out alive. And then all of a sudden as if by miracle, the Space Maelstrom just ended. He looked over his shoulder and saw he'd left the cloud behind. He was so relieved he almost forgot his friends' problem. He let the rocket follow its designated course, though. That reminded him of his destination and that reminded him of the reason he was going there. He hoped he wouldn't get a second near-death experience that day. But still that was infinitely better than an actual death experience.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">A few minutes later, he approached a chunk of earth hovering in space. It was a lot smaller than the Avant Gardens one or Yorkanton City. He'd seen more of these around while flying with his rocket. He supposed those were the Block Yard properties he'd heard of.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">The rocket landed in a smaller area of the planet chunk. Shadow got out of it and saw a minifigure in a Faction Grunt's gear tapping his foot nearby.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“You're late”, he said while Shadow picked up his rocket which had once again shrinked to toy size.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“I'm sorry, my friends and I had an encounter with Space Maelstrom. Wait. Late for what?”.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“There are Spider Queens all over the Block Yard system and Nexus-Forcers arriving constantly to fight them and I need to be everywhere to tell everyone what to do. I can't spend more than a couple of minutes with each property”, the man sighed. “I'm not getting paid enough for this”.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“So, you're Vance Bulwark?”.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“That's the name. And you're the one who's going to defeat that Spider Queen over there”.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">The part of the chunk they were standing on led to a wider area and sure enough a monster akin to a Spiderling only to much greater proportions was standing there. As he saw it, Shadow's eyebrows first shot up in shock and then frowned in anger. Shadow remembered this creature. He'd seen it before. Back in Yorkanton City. Loss and pain were all it had brought with it.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">Before he knew what he was doing, Shadow charged at the beast yelling a warcry as he did so.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“Hey dude! Wait up, you forgot to borrow your gear!” Bulwark shouted, but was ignored.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">The Spider Queen turned to face the insect that was annoying it. Shadow swung his ice saw to hit the Spider Queen on the leg. He continued to do so, but the Maelstrom Being retaliated, shooting Maelstrom fireballs with its shoulder cannon. Shadow tried to avoid them as best he could, but he wasn't that swift and they were homing, so most of them hit him.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">Shadow activated his shield's force field which would give him a few seconds before the Spider Queen's attacks got him again. He continued to hit the huge Spider's legs again and again, not being able to reach any higher. A few more fireballs came his way, but they were absorbed by the force field just before it flickered and faded.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">Shadow attacked with his ice saw using all the power he had, but it did not find its target. The Spider Queen had reared up and its front legs were in the air for a moment. Then they came down and hit Shadow on the head. He was knocked back and fell on his back.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">Giving the Maelstrom creature a good look from a distance for the first time, Shadow realised that it seemed smaller than he remembered. Could it be a smaller version of what he'd faced in the past? No matter the case, he had to face it now, even though he was now regretting charging so foolishly with no proper gear.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">The minifigure got up just as a fireball scorched the grass next to him. Shadow jumped back to the fight, but the Maelstrom monster attacked him relentlessly. The young man blocked some of the fireballs with his shield, but eventually he got tired and injuried, his armour damaged. Strange Odd Shadow did the only thing left to do. He jumped behind one of the boulders that surrounded them.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">The Spider Queen couldn't reach him there, but it attacked the boulder instead. Shadow was sweating. The boulder behind him was shaking and beginning to crack. He cursed. Would this be the end? Did he have the courage to get out of his hiding spot and face it honourably or would smashing find him cowardly?

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">Time was up. The boulder shook one last time and then it smashed to pieces. However, something that felt liquid but not exactly was released out of it and as it touched his neck and back, Shadow felt his wounds healing. He looked down and saw that his armour was half-repaired as well.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">Whatever that substance inside the boulder was it was Imagination-related for sure. Shadow didn't know how it'd gotten there, but apparently the Maelstrom had not been able to touch it, even though the Spider Queen's influence had infected the whole place.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">Shadow ducked away from that spot. He'd thought for too long and now there was a scorch mark at the rocks in front of which his head previously was. He turned to face the Spider Queen and smiled. This time he had an idea. And he had confidence. He charged back at the beast and fought it with a new-found strength. Soon, however, it brought its legs up in the air again and then down. He jumped out of the way to avoid getting knocked down. The Queen then jumped on higher ground and out of Shadow's field of view.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">Was the fight over? Had the beast retreated and Shadow gained victory? No, that couldn't be. The Maelstromling seemed to be able to still hold a lot longer. Then, Shadow saw the Spiderlings. Two of them had dug out of the ground and were heading for him. They shot two Maelstrom blasts at him, but Shadow dodged one and blocked the other with his shield while he approached them. Once near them, Shadow began to hit them time after time. They returned the favour with a few leg jabs and trapping his own leg in web.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">Despite that, Shadow continued and the first Spiderling smashed, sooner than he'd expected. Perhaps, those were a weaker kind than the one he'd faced before. It didn't take him too long to finish the other one.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">Yet, he found himself needing to heal and repair his armour anew. He pulled his leg, but it seemed to be stuck. The young man searched his backpack for consumables in panic; the Spider Queen or its minions could come back any moment and he wasn't ready to face them. He found some Armour Polish and healing cherries and he quickly applied the former on his armour and swallowed the cherries.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">As he did so, he heard something heavy landing behind him and the ground vibrated faintly. Shadow began to pull his leg again. The sound of repeated fireball cannon shots came from behind and a moment later he felt several fireballs hitting him. It hurt. A lot. But on the bright side, the fireballs pushed him away releasing him from the web.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">Although he'd just used a bunch of consumables, Shadow rushed behind another boulder. This time he did not wait for the Queen to smash it, but hit it himself. After some attacks from both sides, the boulder was reduced to pieces and its inner Imagination substance helped Shadow recover.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">As soon as Shadow was on sight again, a second wave of fireballs came, but the minifigure activated his force field again and hid behind his shield. That protected him from the most part and Shadow then struck back.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">He continued in that same pattern until the Spider Queen retreated again and two more Spiderlings appeared. He fought them as best he could, but he was getting tired; it was a kind of tiredness that did not go away when he ate consumables or used the replenishing substance of the boulders.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">Once the Spiderlings were out of the way, Shadow looked around for the Spider Queen and hoped this wouldn't continue for too long yet.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">''Man, acting without thinking first is exhausting. I should refrain from doing so in the future'', he thought.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">The big spider returned and Shadow noticed it didn't look so healthy anymore -for a Maelstrom being that is. Perhaps, there was still hope for ending that battle without dying, yet.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">Shadow and the monster charged at each other. The man struck as hard as he could, trying not to care about the several fireballs hitting him. Indeed, he continued to swing his ice saw even though his armour was failing fast. Then, he realised that he wasn't being attacked anymore. He looked up and saw that the Spider Queen was shooting its cannons upwards.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“What is this? A video game?” Shadow asked nobody in particular, while he moved away from the Queen in a hurry.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">As he predicted, fireballs began to rain from above exploding on the ground. Most of them landed near the spider monster, so Shadow was able to avoid most of the explosions. However, one fireball exploded just next to him and knocked him down. He had to finish this quick or it could end very badly. But he'd need some new trick for that. He made for the closest boulder, but the Queen released another wave of fireballs, two of which hit him and caused him to collapse.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">''Think Shadow, think. What can you use against it? ''And then it hit him. But of course. How could he not have thought of it before? While fighting in Avant Gardens, he'd acquired a couple of firecrackers which were Nexus Force minor explosives. He'd stashed them in his backpack for some special occasion, but he realised this was a special occasion.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">The Spider Queen was approaching, so he quickly put his hand inside his backpack. He fiddled inside it for a bit and then finally found them. He tossed the first one at its face and when it exploded the Spider Queen was taken aback. Some of its eyes blinked in annoyance, while others did not open again. Shadow launched the other one as well and its explosion caused the beast to stagger. This was his chance!

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">Shadow shot up with a new rash of energy, jumped and brought his ice saw down on the Queen's face with all he'd got. It was the final blow. The Spider Queen collapsed lifelessly on the ground. As soon as it did, the dark clouds above them began to disperse.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">He heard footsteps from behind and saw Bulwark approaching. He was holding some light blue glowing sphere. He released the sphere in the air and a strong light came out of it. The light became a flash and then went out. Shadow blinked twice and then noticed that most signs of Maelstrom had been erased from the small chunk of Crux.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“Wow! That was impressive work you did there. I think the Sentinels would certainly welcome you in their ranks. Though next time, you'd better not forget your gear”, he said.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“You're still here?” Shadow was aghast.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“Yeah...”.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“You mean you were watching all this time and did not think to help me at all?!” Shadow exclaimed angrily.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“Well, at first I thought there was not much point to it. You'd quickly smash and rebuild and then I'd give you the gear to actually have a chance. But when you didn't get smashed, I was interested in seeing if you could actually pull it off”.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“All this time I could have rebuilt!? I thought I was fighting for my life!”.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“Oh no. I installed a Short-Term Rebuilding Generator as soon as I got here. You were never in real danger. Well, unless you kept smashing for hours. I would have explained everything if you hadn't charged like a maniac. Now, let's get down to business. We must use Imagination to push back the Maelstrom. That's why the Nexus Force offers the worlds recruits free to them as their properties and encourages them to build their homes there. It's also sensible, considering they invited all these people to join the fight against Maelstrom without any better options for their accommodation”.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“So, wait this place is mine? And I can build whatever I want?”.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“That's the idea. If of course you decide to claim it”.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">Shadow smiled for a moment looking at the empty green land, but then he turned back to Bulwark.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“Wait! My friends were having trouble with Space Maelstrom some distance away from here. How can we help them?”.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“Relax, man. If they had been unable to get out of the situation themselves I'm sure I would have received a distress signal. None came, though”.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“Oh you think so? That's good”.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“Look. I need to go now. I'm still busy and I've stalled here for too long. You wait here and I'm sure your friends will arrive sooner or later. If you decide to claim the property, I've placed a console near the launch pad, you can do it there”.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“Okay. Goodbye”, he did not look at Bulwark leave; he was nervously gazing at the empty space that was to be owned by him very soon; he needed to do something to distract himself.

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">

<p align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter (talk)***---***Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter (talk)

<p align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">It turned out that Vance Bulwark was right. It was about half an hour later when Quantum and Platinum reached the property. Their rockets had certainly seen better days, but the two of them were mostly untouched.

<p align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“Well, thank brick that's over”, Platinum said while stretching his legs and arms. “I'm telling you. This Space Maelstrom attacks are getting worse”.

<p align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“I don't know about that, but I certainly hope we won't be facing any more of these in the near future. Getting Space Maelstrom out of your engine is no fun process”.

<p align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“I know! I just lived through it, Captain Obvious”.

<p align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“Whoa! What is that?” Quantum exclaimed, having for the first time looked at their surroundings.

<p align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“What do y- Oh, I see what you mean”, Platinum saw it, too.

<p align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">A gigantic blue capital F was towering over them in the wider area of the property.

<p align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“Did Shadow build that? How long were we in that Space Maelstrom Cloud?” Platinum asked.

<p align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“He must have. This is the Block Yard he was heading to. And I don't imagine the Maelstrom has taken to building... Fs lately. Maybe we should just ask him. I imagine he won't have left”.

<p align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">The pair of them walked towards the huge F. On closer inspection, they noticed a door at the bottom of the structure as well as Shadow himself standing on the lower horizontal 'line' of the letter -it wasn't really a line, a rectangular parallelepiped rather. He seemed to be placing, removing and replacing bricks in parts of the F that were not quite finished, but he wasn't wearing his Thinking Cap.

<p align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“Hey Shadow!” Quantum shouted. “What is this?”.

<p align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“Oh hey guys!”, Shadow noticed them and a few bricks fell before they could be placed correctly. “I'm glad you're alive! Are you okay? I was really worried!”.

<p align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“Get down here and we can talk without screaming our lungs out!” Platinum responded. “But yeah, we're okay!”.

<p align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“Coming!” Shadow entered the F, through an unnoticed door and disappeared for a while before he came out of the other door below.

<p align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“Guys, I'm really glad to see you. I fought the Spider Queen residing here, but didn't know what happened to you!”.

<p align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“Nevermind that”, Platinum spoke. “What is this thing?”.

<p align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“That's my F-Tower. It's only the outer shell for now, didn't have time to work on the interior yet besides the stairs”, Shadow explained matter-of-factly.

<p align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“Didn't have time? Shadow! How did you build this so fast? And wait! You're not even wearing a Thinking Cap!” Quantum was amazed.

<p align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“Why? Can't you guys build without a cap? I lost mine along with some more stuff while escaping Venture Explorer”, Shadow looked at them curiously.

<p align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“Only small quickbuilds and those are usually fragile. This is not supposed to be possible!”.

<p align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“I don't know. It just comes naturally to me. I didn't realise Thinking Caps were that important. I wonder what more I could do wearing it”.

<p align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“But Shadow. I still don't get it”, Platinum interjected. “Why an F?”.

<p align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“Oh, yeah. Back in Yorkanton City, some friends and I formed a team to fight the Maelstrom when no one else would. We called it the FFFFF Team. F is after Figor, which means Imagination in the First Builders' Language. It doesn't really stand for something specific, but it can mean whatever you want”.

<p align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“First Builders' Language?”.

<p align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“FFF- What sort of name is that?”.

<p align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“Yeah, it seems a bit silly to me as well nowadays, but it's too late. I'm already attached to it”.

<p align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“First Builders' Language?”.

<p align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“But where did you get all the bricks for that? No one can collect so many so soon”.

<p align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“I had most before I arrived here. I like to be well-stocked in bricks”.

<p align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“You speak the First bricking Builders' Language? I thought they were an unconfirmed myth. How is it that you even know words of their language?”.

<p align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“Myth? No. People are just uneducated about them and forget the actual history. If you look for them, remnants of their civilisation are everywhere. And if one gets the right books in their hands, they may learn their language”.

<p align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“I've got to say I'm surprised. You seemed like a pretty normal person up until now. You know, besides the super power thing”.

<p align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“Perhaps. Perhaps I diiid”, Shadow yawned. “You know I am beginning to feel the exhaustion from fighting a huge four-legged Spider. Want to build some beds and call it a day?”.

<p align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">

<p align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter (talk)***---***Wiz Ardon, the Peculiar Enchanter (talk)

<p align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">

<p align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“He's an interesting minifigure that Shadow fellow. You should have had me spy on him sooner. He seems like a very able builder”, a minifigure in black, barely visible in the dim-lit room, spoke to a man sitting on a throne.

<p align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal">“Yes. He reminds me of the Builders of Olde”, the man, darker than anything else in the room with glowing red facial characteristics, replied. “And that is exactly why we must corrupt him soon. Left unattended, he might grow to compare with them. But when taken to our side, he shall make a great new recruit”. ..