DCAHall3 Intro + Act I

DISCLAIMER: All characters, events, and locations within this story are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual stuff is, in most cases, entirely unintentional. Mostly.
Except "Bound to a Stream of Consciousness." That's based on a true story.


Welcome, children of the night,
For I have a story for you.
Have you ever wonder what many a fright
Could be experienced by a demented chao, too?

First, we shall listen as our main protagonist
Becomes a victim of the unbelievers.
Listen to his lost tale of strangers in the mist,
And become addicted to the frightful fevers.

Next in our series of fright is the feature presentation.
Lost in the forest of things beyond their dreams,
The heroes of the dark become severed, and whatever destination
For which they were headed is now long gone.. or so it seems.

The final tale is told within the main one...
A tale of three non-A-Life-forms
Finding a deserted house under the night sun
Only to find their own fear transforms.

Hark! For the first tale has more to it than appears.
When you have finished reading it and gotten over any fears...
You may realize it ends strangely. Don't start making theories;
By Rocktober's end, you will have no more queries.

Now, of the feature-length second tale, it is best you take note
Of many hidden things of which I have wrote.
Read it carefully, check each acre twice, analyze all that you can,
And ponder on which of the typos I had intended.MAN

The third tale is fairly straightforward,
Even if the concept of an extra story (in DCAHall) had not previously been heard.
Though the tale is short and the dangers few, the legacy has barely been rode--
The story will continue in the main series' next episode.

Finally, remember all the stories take place in Season Seven.
Hopefully, at least one of the stories will leave you praying to your Heaven.
So watch out for the Operator, keep your eyes on the trees,
Grin and bare my tales, and remember.. all horrors come in threes.

It's time for Halloween.
A rather... DARK Halloween.


Dark Chao Adventures Halloween 2010: Sinister Serials of the Dark



Tale One: The Tale of the Second Chaos Drive (Urban Legends)

The following is the transcript of a recording taken in the Dark Hospital Mental Institution,
The Recording of Patient 3024 Interview (Shadow Ryder).

[The tape begins here.]

["Are you ready to begin the interview, Shadow?"]
Yeah.
["What happened? Why were you sent to this hospital?"]
Well, y'see, I never told anybody how I got the second chaos drive in my travels.
["And the tale of how you got it made people deem you 'insane?'"]
Very.
["Very well. Go ahead."]

This was back when I was doing the Green Journey.....
Our party at the time consisted of Shade and his future self, Dark, Red, and myself.
We had just got through overthrowing Doctor Eggman, who had taken over future Europe.
Heh, come to think of it, we thought THAT adventure was scary at the time...

[Shadow laughs hysterically; lasts about a minute]

Well, we were on the highway... y'know, that highway that Shade traversed after escaping Aperture Science?
It was a really foggy day... and it was around five o clock by then, so the sky was awfully grey.
When I say it was foggy, I MEAN it was foggy. Like... "The Mist" kinda foggy. You couldn't see two feet in front of you.
Granted, two feet is, like, miles for us chao, but I digress.

Our car had broken down, and we knew a Chaos Drive was somewhere on the other side of the highway. Or something.
The Veteran's Committee preferred not to tell us where we were going.
Oh, and we woke up in a small town in America somewhere at around 10 AM. We were given nothing more than a car.
I tell ya, you think car trips are boring around HERE? You've never been out in the country. THAT country.
Things are so dull out there.. not a tree nor creature in sight for MILES. Just grey ground, grey sky, and the road.

Anyway, we were walkin' along for a bit, and Shade was in some heated argument with Red...
Huh? Oh, it was just something about... like, pie, or something. I dunno. I was too focused on the road ahead.
You see, I was looking ahead to see if I could see any obstacles or signs or whatnot.
After a bit of walking, I saw this man... standing in the distance.

He seemed bald, and wore a fancy black business suit with a white undershirt and black tie.
He was also pretty tall. I mean, being such small creatures, anything that's over a foot is tall for us.
But, I mean.. this guy looked a little taller than most humans we'd seen.
He.. he was also pretty damn thin. Like.. more than we're used to.

What's more, he was just.. standing there. In the distance. Looking at us.
I told the others to stop arguing for a second and called for the dude.
"HEY! Buddy! You!" I shouted it just like that.
But... but the man... he was still just standing there. He didn't even glance.

So, I did what any normal person would do; I kept on walkin', planning on talking to him as we pass by.
After all, maybe he just didn't hear me.
So we walked.
And we walked.
And we walked.
And we walked some more.
["Shadow, okay, okay, I get it."]
No. No, you don't. You probably think we walked for a bit, but NO! We... we walked for an HOUR!
[Shadow starts giggling maniacally]
An HOUR!!! We TIMED it!
[Shadow takes a deep breath]
.......


Anyway... after an hour of walking, I thought we probably passed the guy, so I looked behind us. Nothing.
["Well, after an hour of walking, you'd have passed him a long time ago."]
Yeah, you'd THINK that, wouldn't you? Hell, I did.
So I turned back around and got ready to walk some more.
Then I stopped.

I stopped the others, too.
"Hey, guys? Isn't.. isn't that the same guy, up there in front of us?" I said. 'Cause the.. what happened was...
The man was STILL in front of us, STILL the same distance, and STILL just STANDING THERE!
The future Shade said something along the lines of "Hey, ugly!" and threw a rock through the fog.

After that, we all ducked, 'cause we just knew this guy was gonna get mad.
Red peeked up for a second and said, "Uh... guys?"
We looked, and... he was gone.
He had vanished completely. No trace.

["I see... you can go now; I think I--"]
Ho-ho-hold ON there, doc. I'm not finished with my recollection. It doesn't just end there, you know.
["Oh, I see. Very well. Continue, Shadow."]
Thanks.

You see, after he disappeared, the present Shade said it was just the highway playing tricks on us.
After reading the transcript of what went on when Shade was traversing it, I'm not surprised.
Anyway, we resumed walking for a bit. We talked a bit about how weird that occurance was.
I mean, it WAS weird. Freaky. But it'd only get freakier.

Anyway, after a bit more walking, we encountered a building. A small shack. Middle of nowhere, small shack.
Being as tired as we were from the same ol' scenery, we entered it.
Inside was this.. this guy.... this weird, old man. He was doing something by a fireplace when we entered.
I'm not entirely certain what he was doing, but I.. I think he was burning books.
Exactly why he would be burning books in a shack in the middle of nowhere is beyond me, but I digress.

As we stepped across the threshold, he turned and screamed.
["Did he scream anything coherent, or was it just a scream?"]
Now that you mention it... I think it was more of a... hmm... I think he shouted "Operator." I think.
["'Operator?'"]
Yeah, 'Operator.'

He then stopped and said, "Oh, you're only chao... what are you doing out here on the highway? It's much too dangerous."
I explained how we were looking for the chaos drive, and he looked.. he looked sad.
Like he felt sorry for us.
..he...... he felt sorry for us.

"This highway, you really shouldn't be here. It's not safe. Haven't you heard of the sl..." then he quickly shut up.
He ran to the door and looked outside. He then shut the door, turned to us, and said, almost in a whisper,
"Haven't you heard the rumors? Of.. of HIM?" Of course, we hadn't, so we shrugged. He continued.
"They say he only comes when cameras are around. They also say he's only visible when he wants to be."

At this point, the future Shade asked, "What the hell are you talking about?"
The man sighed, walked over to a shelf by a fireplace, grabbed an old, dusty book, and sat down in an armchair.
"Gather around. I may as well tell you.. so you might be prepared."
We approached him, and he began.

"There is a man.. no, not a man. There is.. a...... THING. A thing that looks like a man.
This thing is some kind of monster man, ten feet tall.. with a suit and tie to match.
Well, okay, so some stories place him at ten feet. Others place him at seven, or eight... or even fifteen.
What more, he is awfully slim. You could say he is a very slender man."
At this point, I was beginning to get paranoid.

He continued, "This man.. he was first really reported back in June 10th, 2009. Photographic evidence, and all.
Black-and-white photographs, mind you.. but still. Evidence.
The first photograph was of people being.. escorted away from a building by a tall man.
The description of the photograph was: 'we didn't want to go, we didn't want to kill them, but its persistent silence and outstretched arms horrified and comforted us at the same time...'"
Gotta admit, I got goosebumps by this point.
["Mmm, I can imagine. Continue."]

He went on, "The second photograph was of children playing in a playground. A watermark stamped it with 'City of Stirling Libraries Local Studies Collection.' Normal, right? Yeah, but in the background was a tall man in the shadows.
And his arms....... were.. were.... t..tent..acles.."
You could tell this dude was shaken. He was blankly staring at the page, trying to find the strength to continue.

But he found that strength. "Al..although the first report was in 2009, the photographs of him go back quite a while.
There's a rumor that the cavemen painted pictures of him on the walls, but... I don't buy that. Load of crock, that is.
However, there are many, many, MANY reports of him since June of '09. The reports went up exponentially.
Tales of missing persons, stalkers on the street, and.. and... trees."
["'Trees?'"]
Yeah, he said 'trees.'

I questioned him on this, and he just closed his eyes and clenched his fist.
["Well, generally, trees in psychology and symbolism refer to new life, or just life in general."]
Well, somehow, I don't think he was talking about 'just life in general.'
["Yes, anyway, what happened next?"]
That's the thing...

When he opened his eyes again, he turned pale, stood up, said "Excuse me," and promptly entered a small closet.
He shut the door and locked himself in.
Naturally, we were stumped. I tried following his eyesight, and tried to see what he might have seen that scared him.
I mean, after looking, it was easy to tell he was looking out the window.. but nothing was out there.
["Did you try looking around the exterior of the shack, to see if someone had perhaps walked by the window?"]
Funny you should say that.

I had neglected to mention this up to now, but.. during his story, I.. I just knew someone was walking by the window.
Y'know that feeling you get when you just know someone's right behind you? That's what I felt.
I didn't want to mention that, 'cause.. I thought it was just nerves.
["I want you to mention everything to me, Shadow. This is interesting stuff."]
'Interesting stuff?'
[Shadow chuckles]
["Well... yes. I'm sorry; that was rather unprofessional of me."]
It's alright, doc. I need some laughs, myself, to get me through this story.
["Alright. What happened then?"]

Seeing that nobody was out the window, I knocked on the closet door. I asked him if he saw someone outside the window.
["And?"]
He said, "No." I asked, "Well, if you didn't see a person, why are you so scared?"
Then he said something that I will never forget. Ever.
["Really? And what was that?"]
[Shadow gulps and inhales]
"I did see him."

[At this point, Shadow begins showing signs of anxiety and paranoia. Subject begins perspirating and looking around.]

["......oh, I see."]
Yeah, not a very comforting thing to hear when in a shack in the middle of nowhere.
Dark didn't get it, but Shade and his future self were silent, arms crossed. Red was still thinking things through.
Dark then openly asked, "Wait, what?"
I had to tell him. So I did.

"Dark... if he saw a person.. but he didn't see anyone outside the window..."
Dark got it. He turned white.
We looked around. Red asked, "Where can someone hide in a place like this?"
As we looked for a few minutes, the future Shade was just standing there, patiently waiting for us to stop.
["He knew something you didn't?"]
As a matter of fact.. he did.

Eventually, I stopped in horror, and the future Shade said, "You gettin' it, kid?"
["What did you get?"]
I realized.. I.. I... ah.
[Shadow takes a deep breath]

The others were clueless. Future Shade simply tipped his head towards the only other door in the room.
[".....oh. Right."]
We all slowly turned to face the closet door.
Red quietly mumbled "He's been awfully quiet."

I stepped closer and pressed my ear (area) to the door.
Silence. I said, "Hello?"
We waited.
Waited minutes.
Nothing.
["Did you try opening the door?"]
Yes. Thankfully, it was locked.

After waiting, we turned around and headed for the exit.
As we stepped out of the threshold, there was a voice.
A deep voice.
A quick voice.
"Hello?"
It sounded much like my own.

We all froze. I turned, and said, "Run."
So we ran as far as we could from that place.
We never heard anything about that old man, that shack, or that ghastly urban legend.
Eventually, the highway reached its end in some old town, and I found the chaos drive in a bank.

There. That's it. I'm done. If you wanna call me crazy and lock me up, go right ahead.
[".....you said you turned in that shack. What did you see?"]

[The tape ends there.]



Tale Two: The Tale of the Fourth Chaos Drive (Hide and Seek)


[cut to the Chao World, thirty years in the future]
[Shadow, Shade, Dark, and Red suddenly appear on a hill overlooking a forest]
Red: ...wait, what?
[Shadow holds back some tears, then puts on a bold face]
Shadow: Doesn't matter. C'mon. Let's go. Chaos drives to get, after all.
Shade: Th..that's the spirit, kid. That's the spirit.
Shadow: I wonder where we are now, anyway.
Red: I think ol' whatsisface said something about going to a different location on the Chao World... same time, of course.
Dark: Great. Same stupid Chao World, same stupid future...
Shade: Whoa, Dark, what's wrong? Where's your sense of adventure gone?
Dark: It died as soon as we got here.
Shadow: I feel that. But, look, we've got to keep our game up. Remember EarthBound?
Dark: Y..yes. Why?
Shadow: Remember the tea break? If we're struggling, that means our foe is, too.
Dark: ...
Shadow: We've just got to pull it together. The Veteran's Committee wants us to give up. But will we?
Dark: ..n..no.
Shadow: Of course not! That's exactly what they WANT us to do. So, c'mon, let's put on our game face.
Dark: *sigh* ......you make a good point. I can't keep being so sad and worrying!
Shadow: Hell no, you can't.
Dark: It's like I always say, "worry about it when you have a worrywart on your toe!"
Shade: And don't forget "we'll cross that bridge when Dark burns it."
Dark: You guys really say that?
Red: We most certainly do.
Dark: Wow... I feel like a silly willy video will for worrying over nothing.
Shadow: Well, now... you weren't worrying over nothing. It's the biggest foe we've fought yet.
Shade: Hahaha, eff yeah, it is!
Dark: But.. but then--
Shadow: --But then we're not worrying about it 'cause we're Dark chao.
Shade: Not just ANY Dark chao, Shadow. You're close, though. I'll let you keep running this pep talk.
Shadow: Not just any Dark chao..... ah, yes! We're the main protagonists!
Shade: Bingo.
Shadow: And the main protagonists rarely ever die, at least.. not in DJay's works.
Dark: That.. that's.. that's true.
Red: What more, there's one more important thing of which we'd better take note, guys...
Shadow: And what's that, Red? The fact that Shade's here?
Shade: The fact that Shadow's here?
Red: The date.
Shade+Shadow+Dark: The date?
Shadow: Which would be...?
Red: No idea. But it's still a very important thing to note. We'd better try and find some way of learning the date soon.
Shade: Hmm.. I've not considered that theory, Red. Importance of Dates in Dark Chao Adventures...
Shadow: ...I'm not quite comfortable with this conversation. We're turning too meta for my tastes.
Shade: Don't worry about it. Red and I are just doing some research on the show.
Red: Anyway, we REALLY should try moving from this spot. Let's explore around and find out what's going on.
[they head down the hill into the forest]

Log Entry #1 (Shadow: Last Time, on DCA...)
Um.. I have randomly decided to keep a log for this quest. "I" being Shadow, of course. If the others wanted to, they'd..
probably say so, themselves, or something. Anyway, I realize that (in this transcript of our journey), things aren't
explained too well at this point. I feel the need to mention that we have just acquired our third chaos drive. It was
underwater, in a city called "Euphoria." The written version of the tale is known as "Quinquenquoi." I just saw my father,
Andrew Ryder, probably die.

[cut to the forest; sun is rising (morning time)]
[the chao hike through a few acres of blandness]
[they hear the occasional woodland critter, and birds singing]
Shadow: *sniff* Wow, this is a wonderful forest! Wonderful morning, too.
Red: *yawn* Yeah, I just wish we could have gotten a good night's sleep. We haven't slept since before the Euphoria quest.
Dark: Eah, tell me about it...
Shadow: Don't worry, guys. I'm sure this quest will give us plenty of opportunities to sleep.
Red: Hopefully.
[after a few minutes of trekking, they come across a sudden vista-- rows of huge trees, and I mean HUUUUUGE trees]
[pictures have been etched into them, pictures of stickmen and hearts and.... stuff]
[some of the trees even have huge faces carved into them-- the ones that do have ONLY the face on them, nothing more]
[the huge faces have gaping mouths and boring eyes]
[the chao stand in awe]
Shade: ....well! This is interesting, innit?
Shadow: It seems we cannot continue down this path.
[down in the path between the rows of trees is an even bigger tree]
[this tree has no leaves, and does not happen to have a face etched on it]
[in fact, it does not have anything at all etched onto it]
Red: ...strange.
Shadow: What's up?
Red: This tree... this large one, in the path.. it appears completely untouched. Not a knife or utensil has touched it.
Dark: What's so strange about that?
Shade: Well, for one thing, all these other trees obviously HAVE. And this one seems much older than the others.
Shadow: Maybe it's part of some ritual?
Red: Possibly.
[they stand around for a bit more]
Shadow: ...huh. Hey, guys. There's a faint stone pathway leading over here.
[they follow the stone path back deeper into the forest]
[it leads them down an acre of woods]
[eventually, the path winds a lot and.. curves.. and.. whatnot]
[after a bit of walking down the acre, which I just found out is not even as big as a football field -.-, they find..]
Shadow: A village!
Dark: Maybe there's food?
Shade: You and your food...
Dark: What? I'm hungry!

Log Entry #2 (Shadow: The Village First Impressions)
So after some exploration, we ended up finding this little village, deep in the woods. About five or six buildings, all made
of stone. The whole place seems about as empty as can be. Not a soul. Hell, the buildings look ancient. At least fifty years
old, anyway. Yet, you wanna know the odd part? The number of leaves on the ground here equal the number of people. Yeah, not
a single leaf on the ground. It's all stone. But.. there are plenty of trees around. There are even some trees in the stone
walkway, as decoration.

The first building we checked out seemed to be some sort of chief hut of sorts. Like.. you can just tell it's the kind of
house a village leader would stay in. Fancy trophies of sorts above the fireplace, important ceremonial things cluttered
everywhere... yeah. Upon leaving the building, we found the chief standing in the center of the village, looking at us.
The chief.. how to describe him? He was a chao, of course. Chao World and all. He was wearing animal fur clothes, and a type
of.. tiger hat? I dunno. He was also carrying a cane, as he was pretty old.

Shadow: Um... hello there! My name is Shadow. We are looking for some ch--
Chief: We do not harbour travelers.
Shadow: Well, that's fine; we just want to know if you know where th--
[the chief enters his hut, and tells the others to enter]
Chief: Here. Take it.
[the chief gives Shadow a chaos drive]
Shadow: Wh..what? Really? I can has?
Chief: Please, traveler... take it. This is what you need, right?
Shadow: Well.. yes..
Chief: This is ALL you need?
Shadow: Yeah.
Chief: Then please take it and leave. Go back from where you came. And hurry.

Log Entry #3 (Shadow: Leaving)
So.... we took it. And we left. Well, okay, so just before we left the village, the chief ran to us and told us one last
thing.
"Um.. by any chance, on your way here, did you happen to pass by a row of trees? With faces on them?"
I replied, "Yeah, the aisle with that one tree in the middle of it?"
Then he stared at me in confusion. "What? What tree in the middle of it?"
"It.. it's a huge tree. Bigger than the rest. It has no face or carvings in it, either, nor does it have leaves."
Then he seemed to look pale. Maybe it was just my imagination. He then said to us,
"Does not matter. Just.. go quickly. Do not worry about that aisle of trees. Just go by, and.. don't look at the trees."
He then left us.

So we left. And, just for the heck of it, we ran. No sense in dillying or dallying, right? And when we got to the vista...
We turned and kept running. We didn't look. Nope. Not one peep. After all, the chief had no reason to lie to us. He seemed
trustworthy. So we ran down those acres. We reached the last hill, and.. and...

Oh, we DID look. We did. I'll admit it. When we got to the vista, we chuckled and said, "He's.. probably just trying to scare
us. I mean, you know... coupl'a travelers... perfect bait for a scare. Right?" I mean, it made sense. At the time.
What did we see? Well... actually, it didn't look that different. Thinking about it, I don't think it had really changed
at all.

Back at that last hill... well.. that's the thing. We couldn't find our way out of the forest. It was.. just.. trees.
A neverending sea of trees, as far as the eye can see.

[cut to an acre of woods; nothing but trees everywhere, seeming to go on for miles]
Shadow: Um.. okay. I'm sure we just passed that tree, right there.
Dark: We're birch?
Shadow: No, just--what?
Dark: I mean, lost? Sorry. Got trees on the brain, I guess.
Shadow: Well no, just.. misplaced. We'll find our way out.
Red: ...there goes that tree again.
Shadow: Sheesh, again? Where the heck are we?
Shade: ..listen.
[they stand still for a second and listen closely]
[light rustling is heard]
Shadow: ...I don't hear anything.
Shade: Yeah, but didn't we hear birds and woodland critters earlier?
Shadow: .......DID we?
Red: I'm sure we did, yeah. What happened?
[the rustling stops]
Dark: Pfft, there goes that same tree again.
Shadow: Man, how many times are we going to pass that thing?
Red: I say we should remember its appearance, and use it as some form of landmark.
Shadow: Good idea.

Log Entry #4 (Shadow: Landmark Tree)
This is a tall tree. I mean, REALLY tall. It easily towers over most of the other trees. It's also a sorta slim one.
Looking up at the top, it's got tons of leaves and some branches.. and.. it's a tree.
But, most distinguishable about it, is that it is a considerably dark tree. Easy to spot from the others.

[birds sing again, critters make noises]
Shadow: Good. At least it's not as eerie here anymore.
Shade: Hey kid, isn't that the village, right there?
[they find a side entrance to the village from earlier]
[they enter the chief's hut again; he is there]
Chief: What? You return?
Shadow: Yeah, uh... we.. got lost.
Dark: Knew it.
Chief: 'Lost?' Could you not find the way out?
Shade: That's the thing... no, we couldn't. Maybe we forgot where we came in, or something...
Shadow: It was all trees, as far as we could see.
Chief: Well... welcome to the village, then.
Shadow: I thought travelers were not welcome.
Chief: You are no longer travelers.
Shade: What's THAT supposed to mean?
Chief: ..doesn't matter. You are here on a peculiar day, you know. You might even say we were... expecting you.
Red: What?
Chief: Every year, it seems, on this day... we get travelers exploring the woods.
Shade: You don't say. And what IS today?
Chief: A village tradition.. the eve of the day celebrating old chief Hallow, said to repel evil from our town.
Red: H..Hallow's Eve?
Shade: Aw, jeez, you're not talking about Halloween, are you?
Chief: We call it that, yes.. Hallowe'en.
Shadow: What happens to the travelers exploring the woods each year?
Chief: They spend the night, then leave the next day.
Shadow: Well.. guess we're spending the night here, too.
Chief: That's.. that's fine.
[the chief sets up a room for the chao]
[cut to later on, about.. I dunno, eleven in the morning; the chao are sitting around in the room]
[the room being one of the deserted buildings in the village]
Red: Shadow, are you mad? We can't spend the night here!
Shadow: Why not? We've got the chaos drive. I think this would be a great opportunity for us to take a well-needed rest.
Red: But.. but the date... *yawn* ugh, the date..
[Red curls up on a bed, and closes his eyes]
Red: We.. I..... okay, you make a good point. I guess I'll... worry about the date when I wake up.
Shade: There ya go. Get some rest, guys. But make sure we're all awake by eight, kay?
Shadow: What's happening at eight?
Shade: Well, let's just say that a rest isn't the only thing we've been needing for a while.
Red: *yaaaawwwwwwnnnnn* Man, Shade... if... if I didn't know better, I'd.. say... you're speaking meta to us.
Shade: Heh.. think of it what you will. Just be ready by half-past seven. Go on, guys, rest.
Dark: Ya don't have to tell ME twice.
[Dark hops onto a bed and sleeps]
[when Shadow, too, goes to sleep, Shade leaves the room]

Log Entry #5 (Shade: Research)
Yeah, so.. since I put my name on the title of this entry, that means it's me, Shade, got it? Right. Well.
While the others may want to sleep, I can't keep my eyes shut 'til I've gotten some answers.
This village is way too... vague for my tastes.
The whole business with the surrounding forest doesn't help, either.
I guess what I'm saying is... I'm getting some major danger vibes.

My first line of investigation will pertain to the village chief. I have decided to enter his hut, and ask some questions.
Now, there is something a little odd. In the second Log Entry, upon entering the hut, Shadow mentioned, and I quote...
"Fancy trophies of sorts above the fireplace, important ceremonial things cluttered everywhere... yeah."
Upon MY entering of the hut, I have yet to see any fireplace. However, his statement is justified.
I, too, felt that there was a fireplace in here when I first entered. Hell, I was expecting to see one as I entered just now.

Why in the world would we honestly believe there's a fireplace without seeing one? I shall pursue this question later.

Alright, back to the investigation at hand. The chief is inside his hut, as is expected. He asked how he may help me, and I
explained how I just wanted to take a look around, maybe ask some questions. He gave me permission to do so.
The interior of the hut is otherwise just as Shadow described. Ceremonial ornaments hung on the walls, and some other
random doodads scattered everywhere. Now... there IS a notebook labelled "Forest Off-Limits," but the chief has requested
that I do not look at its contents. Other than that, there really is nothing of note.

I spoke with the chief, and asked him some questions. A transcript is included.

Shade: So, chief, mind if I ask some things?
Chief: Go right ahead.
Shade: First of all, what is this part of the Chao World called?
Chief: This, particularly, is the forest of Sancheria.
Shade: And where on the Chao World is it?
Chief: It's somewhere deep in the Dark Valley.
Shade: That's.. that's.. where?
Chief: Well, the very center of Dark chao activity. Think of.. uh.. New York?
Shade: So the valley is like New York, and this would be...?
Chief: Sancheria is in the direct center of the valley. People don't acknowledge it, though.
Shade: And why don't they?
Chief: Well, people are told that this place is really boring. So there.
Shade: Alright. Moving on, uh.. it's quite a forest out there, huh?
Chief: Indeed. This forest is the pride and joy of Darku.
Shade: Pride and joy that is rarely visited?
Chief: Oh, it.. it used to be visited often. But lately, they've been trying to modernize things with.. technology and stuff.
Shade: So people have been sticking to cities and the like?
Chief: Yes.
Shade: ...you know why we got lost.. don't you?
Chief: ......as a matter of fact, I do. You didn't get lost. The forest did.
Shade: Wait, what? The.. the forest got lost? How...?
Chief: One of the main reasons people don't come here is that.. the people who do.... never come back.
Shade: I see. So let me take a shot in the dark. The forest changes?
Chief: Something like that. When I first met you folk, I had hoped you'd be able to get back in time.
Shade: Of course, we didn't. We.. we kinda looked. At the aisles of trees.
Chief: .......I knew it. It's alright. Everyone does.

The chief looked around, then leaned closer to me.

Chief: Earlier, you mentioned, um... a.. large tree? In the center of the aisle?
Shade: Uh, yeah, we saw a strange tree. It didn't look a thing like any tree we'd seen.
Chief: Could you describe it to me?
Shade: Off the top of my head... it is HUGE. And grey. It has no leaves whatsoever on it. The oddest part, though..
Chief: Mmhmm...?
Shade: It looked like it hadn't ever been touched by chao hands.
Chief: No, the oddest part is that I, in all the years I've been here, have never seen that tree in my life.
Shade: ...yes, that IS odd. That's extremely odd.
Chief: Can you.. can you take me to show me this tree?
Shade: Out.. out into the forest?
Chief: Yes. Can you?
Shade: I.. I suppose so.

So we left the hut and he followed me out to the forest. We walked through the same winding stone path up a couple acres...
There it was. The huge tree. In the middle. Huge, grey, no leaves, untouched. It felt like looking at a big smudge on a
beautiful painting. Not just any smudge, either. A CLASHING smudge.. one that easily stands out, even in the corner of your
eyes. Look away, and you can still feel it nibbling away at the back of your eye. Almost as if.. it's staring at you.

The chief looked downright scared. I don't think he knew what the tree was, though. I think he was simply scared of it.
That tree has that effect on people. Still, he stood there, examining it, giving it every once-over that he could.
Me? I was too busy looking in another direction.

You see, another traveler was out in the woods. I had heard him rustling, turned to see him, and I finally saw him.
It was a chao, although he was looking in the other direction. I only saw his head.
Come to think of it... he didn't have an emotiball. Maybe he was somehow a human?

"Hey, you..." The chief said to me. "You.. didn't happen to.. do anything around here, did you?"

"No, not at all. Why?"

"Because.. there are more trees with faces on them than normal."

I looked for myself, and.. I'm not sure exactly how many more trees had faces, but there were definitely more with them on
now. It was a little freaky, honestly, but.. I mean.. turning around next and not seeing the traveler was even freakier.

The chief then said to me, "..I think we should go back to the village now."

Looking at him again, it was obvious he was creeped out, although I'm not entirely sure why he would be THAT scared, since
knowing him, he's probably seen scarier in his time.

I had may as well mention what the village chief looks like. He's a white chao... although he covers his emotiball with his
ceremonial headdress. He covers much of his body with tribal clothes. I'm fairly certain he's neutral, though.

Anyway, we headed back to the village. On the way back, I'm sure I could hear various rustling noises... probably just the
wildlife, though. Back in the village, the chief entered his hut, and I yawned. Yeah, I stood there and yawned. I was pretty
tired. So I headed into our rooms, climbed into my bed, and fell asleep.

[cut to a clock in the room; it passes from 11:30 AM to 2:15 PM]
[Shade gets up and heads out of the room]
[minutes later, Red wakes up and exits]
[cut to outside, in the village; Red exits the hut and finds Shade standing nearby, looking out at the forest]
Red: Mornin'.
Shade: Huh? Oh, right. ...you mean "afternoon."
Red: Right.
[Red stands next to Shade and looks out into the forest, as well]
Red: What are you looking at?
Shade: Not 'at.' 'For.' I'm looking for someone.
Red: A person?
Shade: I have reason to believe there's another chao out there. Saw him when I checked out the big tree with the chief.
Red: You saw another chao?
Shade: That's what I just said.
Red: What did he look like?
Shade: I... I'm really not that sure. I know.. he was sort of.. pale-ish yellow.
Red: A color you can't quite define?
Shade: Yeah. *looks at Red* You don't believe me, do you?
Red: No, I believe you. We're essentially on an alien planet. Anything could happen.
Shade: Here. *hands Red a notebook* I kept a log of my investigations.
Red: Huh.
[Red reads through Log Entry #5 as Shade keeps looking out]
Red: I gotta say... this is a fancy new system.
Shade: Well, I wanted to keep a log. So what?
Red: I'm speaking metaliterately.
Shade: ...oh, right. Yeah. Guess he's trying to organize the show a little. Make this special scare people.
Red: So you caught on to my earlier Importance of Dates theory?
Shade: It's more of a hypothesis, really. You've got some evidence behind it, after all. Just not recent.
Red: Yeah. He had good reasons for not continuing the trend last year. Reasons he's correcting right now.
Shade: Good point.
Red: Y'know.... it feels kinda weird.... talking about this show as just that-- a show.
Shade: Yeah.
[Shade spots something]
Shade: Hold on.
[Shade stares off in the distance]
Shade: ...got him.
Red: You see him?
Shade: Yeah. On top of that tree over there.
Red: That's the tree we made a landmark out of!
[the camera zooms in on a small, pale-ish yellow head on top of a tall tree]
Shade: I'm.. I'm gonna try to get closer.
[Shade quietly moves into the woods]
Red: Sh.. Shade..!
[Red follows him]

Log Entry #6 (Shade: Closer to the Traveler)
It was a little difficult moving through those woods without making much noise... the guy I was approaching didn't notice
us, though. His back was always turned. He was awfully high up on that tree, though. After a minute or so of walking, Red
said something to me, but I couldn't really hear what he said. I asked him to say it again, and he said, "The Landmark Tree
is THIS way..."

I quietly said, "Well, there's obviously another Landmark Tree, then. C'mon."

We got a little closer, then found a relatively big hole in the ground. A ladder was in it, going down. The hole was just
about big enough for a regular human to fit through, so we could easily fit in there. That wasn't our goal, mind you, but...
when we stopped looking at the hole, the traveler was gone.

[Shade and Red looked around their surroundings]
Shade: Do you see any trace of him? Any clue?
Red: Not a thing.
Shade: What about the tree?
Red: Wh.. what do you mean?
Shade: Do you see the tree he was perched atop?
Red: Wasn't it right over--
[Red looks, but in all directions is nothing but the same woods for miles and miles]
Red: ...where?
Shade: Well, looks like we've got ourselves not only a vanishing wanderer, but a magical tree, as well.
Red: Maybe we were just seeing things?
Shade: Both of us?
Red: If your brain truly believes something...
Shade: *sigh* It's.. it's possible.
Red: Anyway, I think the more important question is-- what's up with this hole in the ground?
Shade: You wanna find out?
Red: Sounds like a plan.

Log Entry #7 (Red: Hole in the Ground)
Shade went down the ladder first, and I followed suit. Heading down it was rather bothersome, actually... the hole was
surprisingly deep, and the further down we climbed, the more the tunnel seemed to get thinner and thinner. Light got scarce,
albeit there was still some sunlight when Shade finally struck solid ground. He made a grunt, and said, "Bottom." I made it
seconds later.

The cavern at the bottom was awe-inspiring. It was an impressively large chamber, with one corner being next to us. The other
walls stretched out for at least a few... well, what we referred to above-ground as "acres." In front of us, there was
an underground pond of sorts. I mean, not too big or anything, but.. it was definitely water that stretched out a few acres.
Oh, I completely neglected to mention.. scattered out along the walls were a series of torches, letting us see.

Other than the pond and the torches, there wasn't much of note from first glance. Still, it was more than impressive.

After a bit of standing in awe, Shade walked towards the pond. When he got there, he reached down and brushed his hand
through the water. And, well.. a few seconds later, he got back up, turned to me, and said, "Let's go."

[the chao climb up the ladder again]
[they head back to their rooms; nothing of importance happens]
[the clock on the wall reads "3:00 PM"]
Shade: I.. I think I'm gonna try to get some more sleep.
Red: Alright. I'll try the same.
[they get back to sleep]
[at 5:45 PM, Dark wakes up]
Dark: Mmm... gotta man.
[Dark gets out of bed and exits the room]
[at 5:58 PM, Shadow wakes up]
[he flips over in bed and looks out the window]
[he sees a chao in the forest, facing away, no visible emotiball, palish-yellow]
[Shadow stares at the chao for a while]
Red: *yawn* Shadow, you awake?
[Shadow flips over to look at Red]
Shadow: Yeah, what's up?
Red: Oh, nothing, just wondering if you were awake, that's all.
[Shadow flips back over, only to find the other chao's head right next to the window (facing away)]
[Shadow yells and falls out of bed]
[Shade is woken up, and he and Red look at Shadow]
Shade: Kid, you alright?
Shadow: The.. I mean...
[Shadow gets up and looks out the window; nothing is there]
Shadow: ....yeah, I'm.. I'm fine. Just a.. bad dream. ....can I trade beds with someone?
Shade: Sleep in Dark's bed, if you want. Speaking of, where is he?
[Dark is still gone]
Red: Maybe he went to the bathroom?
Shadow: Eh, I'll look for him.
[Shadow leaves the room]
[cut to outside the hut; Shadow walks out and sees the Chief]
Chief: Ho, Green One.
Shadow: Ho, Chief.
Chief: What's wrong? You seem as if you are looking for someone.
Shadow: Uh.. yeah, our pal, Dark. He's a regular Dark chao. You know where he went?
Chief: I believe he said he was going to the bathroom.
Shadow: Great, and where's the bathroom?
Chief: Down at the other end of the village.
Shadow: Peculiar place to put a toilet.
Chief: Eh, quit whining.
[Shadow heads down to the other end of the village]

Log Entry #8 (Shadow: The Far End of the Village)
Well, this village is kinda creepy. I mean, I didn't realize it was so large. Why the heck is it so huge for just one little
chao? Surely, he doesn't need all this space. I mean, look at this! The buildings are oddly grey and heavily worn down...
The street is destroyed and littered with rubble... the forest is even starting to grow in the buildings. Tons of vines and
ferns and.. ugh. Freaky.

After a bit of walking, I was able to find a little.. what looks like an outhouse. Small, made of birch, smelly.. yep, it's an
outhouse. I walked up to it and knocked on the front door. "Dark?" I asked if he was there. No answer. So I asked again.
Still nothing. So I did a stupid thing and opened the door. You know what was in there?
Well, actually as soon as I opened the door, I could've sworn I heard someone behind me, so I quickly turned around.

Of course, nobody was there when I turned. So I looked back, and for a split second, there was Dark, covered in blood and
feces, head buried in the toilet. I screamed, but I then realized what I saw was just a figment of my imagination, 'cause
after I blinked, it was empty. So I got myself together, closed the door, and looked around. There was a little rustling
nearby, coming from some random hut.. and good ol' Dark walked on out.

Shadow: Dark!
Dark: Ho, Shadow. What's up?
Shadow: Well.. um.. nothing. We were just looking for you.
Dark: I was only going to the bathroom.
Shadow: But there's an outhouse there.
Dark: Yeah, but there's a TOILET in HERE.
Shadow: ..oh. Okay. You coming back to bed, then?
Dark: Yeah. How much time we got? About two hours?
Shadow: Until eight, yes, although it might help to wake up half an hour earlier.
Dark: Man. I'm fine with an hour and a half's worth of sleep.
Shadow: Good, so.. let's get back to bed.
[Shadow and Dark head back to their room.. place, and go to sleep]
Shade: You found him?
Shadow: Yeah, we're all good. Now let's get to bed.
[they fall asleep once more]
[this time, they finally wake up (finally) at 7:30 PM]
Shade: *yawn* Hey.. hey, guys. Get up.
Shadow: Eah.. what time is it?
Shade: Seven-thirty.
Shadow: ..cool.
Red: Half an hour left, huh?
Dark: I'm going to the bathroom again.
[Dark gets out of bed and heads for the toilet]
Shade: Heh.. hey, Dark, I'm after you!
[Shade follows Dark]
Red: ..don't you need to go?
Shadow: Don't YOU?
Red: Nah. I'm strange like that.
Shadow: Alright.
[they get out of bed, stretch]
Red: ..what did you see?
Shadow: Huh?
Red: Earlier, you saw something out the window, and fell out of bed. What did you see?
Shadow: ..a.. a chao. The back of a chao's head.
Red: Really? ..hm.
Shadow: Don't tell me.. you've seen him, too.
Red: Here. Check this out.
[Red hands Shadow Log Entry #6; he reads through it]
Shadow: Damn. Checks out, alright.
Red: I've been doing some thinking about our little traveler.
Shadow: I have, too. I fear we've both come to the same conclusion.
Red: It's no chao.
Shadow: It's a space station.
Red: Wha?
Shadow: ..just a little joke. Yeah, it's no chao.
Red: .....oh, haha, I get it. *chuckle* That's.. heh. That's pretty good.
Shadow: But yeah, no, we're thinking the exact same thing, right?
Red: About who, or what, our little friend is?
Shadow: Well, I actually don't.. really.. have a clue.
Red: Oh, alright. Well, for the record, I do.
Shadow: You do? Then what is it?
Red: ..I can't tell you. I have a feeling of how this script's gonna play out, and it's not quite time to say it yet.
Shadow: The script?
Red: Yeah. But first, let's see what Shade has planned for us.
Shadow: Right.. I'd quite like to know what'll happen at eight.
Red: On Halloween? I think I can guess.
Shade: So tell me.
[Shade and Dark come back in]
Shade: Tell me, Red. What's your guess?
Red: Uh.. I'm guessing that you're gonna want us to go on some dark, scary adventure.
Shade: And you'd be absolutely correct.
Dark: Really, Shade? We're going on ANOTHER adventure?
Shade: Well, look at it this way-- the Veteran's Committee probably wants us to risk our lives more than once. Tonight.
Shadow: I getcha. So you think doing this will net us another chaos drive.
Shade: That, and we sure as hell ain't sitting out on Halloween again.
Red: Ack. Good argument.
Shade: Right. Now. For Halloween tonight, we're gonna need to all wear a similar subway.
Dark: SUBWAY EAT FRESH
Shade: fffff, sorry 'bout that. Got Subway on the brain, I guess. But we're gonna need to all wear a similar costume.
Shadow: How about we be the guys from Marble Hornets?
Shade: One, there were only, like.. two main characters in that. Two, it's hard to dress up as casual people.
Red: How about the Ghost Busters?
Dark: How about the MYTH Busters?
Shadow: What about The Who?
Red: Yeah, sure, let's wander around town, carrying instruments.
Shade: How about The Beatles?
Red: Same argument.
Shadow: Delta Force, from Gears of War?
Shade: Nah.. me and Dark already did that.
Dark: Wait, what if we're the guys from Marble Hornets.. but specifically, Jay, Alex, Tim, and Birch?
Shade: You mean Brian?
Dark: Yeah!
Shade: ...that could work. I'm not sure what's up with you guys' sudden interest in that, though.
Shadow: Doesn't matter. You guys want to do that?
Red: Sure. I'll be Brian, the unimportant one.
Dark: Sure! I call Tim, or "Masky."
Shade: Eh, why not? I'll be Alex, the main protagonist.
Shadow: Guess that makes me Jay, the narrator.
[Dark puts on a yellow jacket and white mask]
[Red puts on.. boring.. clothes, or whatever]
[Shade puts on a baseball cap and grabs a handheld video camera]
[Shadow simply grabs another video camera]
[they head out the door]
[outside, at 7:45...]
[they go check in on the chief]
Shade: Ho, chief.
Chief: Oh! Ho, boys. What.. ah, you're dressing up. For Hallow's Eve.
Dark: I'm Masky. :3 LEAD ME TO THE ARK.
Chief: *chuckle* Excellent. You guys look pretty convincing... for chao, I mean.
Shadow: You know who we're..?
Chief: Why, yes.. I used to have access to a computer, back in the day. I saw it end, though.
Red: But.. but Marble Hornets started last year. And only just ended Part 1 a little while ago.
Chief: Oh, has it only been that long? It certainly feels like it's been longer than that. I guess it's the forest.
Shade: Who are you?
Chief: Hahahah.. you know me. I'm just head of a little village.. in the forest. I'm the village chief.
Red: Always leader, yet no one to lead.
Chief: Exactly.
Dark: *gasp* Wait...
Chief: Yes, Dark, you always WERE the quickest of the bunch, even if you didn't show it.
Dark: Yeah, you're..! You're REAALLY familiar!
Chief: I'm surprised. Anyway, enough about me. What are you boys doing?
Shade: Right. Well. We're just gonna.....
Chief: Explore the dark, spooky woods? Alone? See what you can find?
Shade: Yes, exactly that.
Shadow: Oh, really? THAT'S what we were gonna do?
Chief: Yes, your leader was gonna get around to telling you that. ..eventually.
[the chief patted Shade on the back]
Chief: You haven't changed a bit, Shade.
Shade: What?
Chief: There are a few things you need to know about the forest before you go and do this.
Shade: Ah, yes. Like?
Chief: There is.... a....
Shade: Let me guess. Another chao out there? A sort of.. palish-orange..ish chao?
Chief: Huh?
Shade: I saw him when we were out in the woods, you and me. He was looking away, though, so I couldn't catch his face.
Chief: Oh, so you saw him. That's.. that's who I was going to mention.
Shade: Yeah, what's.. what's up with him? Me and Red saw him earlier, too, and he was on top of a really tall tree...
[a chill is sent down the chief's spine]
Shade: But when we got closer, he AND the whole tree disappeared.
Chief: Y..... hm. How to explain this? Well... that.. that is no chao.
[Red and Shadow begin to look a little hopeless]
[the chief mulls it over]
Chief: Well.. all you need to know for now is.. if you see him, watch out. Try to pretend you didn't.
[the chao look at each other]
Chief: Okay. Next. That aisle of trees.
Shade: Avoid it?
Chief: Yes!
Shade: At all costs?
Chief: At all costs.
Shadow: What's the deal with that aisle, anyway?
Chief: Doesn't matter. Just avoid it.
Shadow: Fine. What else?
Shade: Wait, I forgot something. Uh.. when Red and I were looking around earlier, we found a.. hole in the ground.
Chief: ..were there bodies around it?
Shade: !!! ..no, actually.. there was a ladder.
Chief: Oh. ..oh. Oh, THAT hole. Heh.. um.. yes, sorry.
Shade: Although this other hole is starting to sound interesting.
Chief: I'll.. um.. well.. if you see dead bodies in a clearing around a hole in the ground... avoid it.
Red: I think you're just trying to give us a list of things to avoid.
Chief: Pretty much, yeah. Now, regarding the hole with the ladder in it...
Shade: Oh, we went down it. May as well tell you.
Chief: ..........and you found..?
Shade: An enormous cavern. There was a pond down there, too, which I dipped my hand in.
Chief: You did WHAT?!
Shade: Yeah.. heh heh... but it.. I mean, it was....
Chief: Not water? Correct. So you left?
Shade: Right after testing the water, yes.
Chief: Good.
Shadow: Any other things for us to steer clear of?
Red: Yeah, I mean, you pretty much just told us not to go North or East.
Chief: Personally, I don't want you boys going ANYWHERE outside of this damn village! Especially not tonight, of all nights!
[pause as the chief calms down]
Chief: But.. but I realize what you're drivin' at. You have to find some way out of here. You have places to go.
Shadow: We can't stay here. The Veteran's Committee.. well, these bad guys.. they.. it's a long story.
Chief: Very well. In that case, I have one last warning for you.
Red: Yes?
Chief: I want you all to listen VERY, VERY, VERY carefully.
Dark: I'm listening!
Chief: I mean this. You have to SERIOUSLY pay CLOSE attention.
Shade: We hear ya!
Chief: Heed my warning. This is vital!
Shadow: Tell us. We're all ears.
Chief: Do.
[pause]
Chief: Not.
[pause]
Chief: Go.
[pause]
Chief: In.
[pause]
Chief: Any.
[pause]
Chief: Houses.
[pause]
Chief: Do not go in any houses. Tell me that.
Shadow: Do not go in any houses!
Shade: Do not go in any houses.
Red: Do not go in any houses.
Dark: DO NOT GO IN ANY HOUSES!
Chief: Do NOT go in any houses. Let's all say that, one last time.
All: Do not go in any houses!
Chief: Now, what won't you be going in?
All: ANY HOUSES!
Chief: And if you see a house, what will you NOT do?
All: GO IN!
Chief: Oh, and.. keep your eyes on the trees. That's all. Okay, you can go.
[the chief hurries the chao out of his hut]
[pause]
Shade: Okay, anybody else REALLY wanna go in a house now?
Dark: Word.
Red: I dunno, guys.. I mean, he DID tell us not to.
Shadow: Red has a point. After all, he must be telling us not to for a VERY good reason.
Shade: Ah, I was only kidding. So, who's gonna write down all the stuff we shouldn't do?
Shadow: I got it.

Entry #9 (Shadow: What We SHOULD NOT Do)
If we value our lives in any form, we should NOT, under any circumstances,
- Follow and/or approach the "other chao."
- Go near that aisle of trees.
- Enter any holes in the ground, whether surrounded by bodies, or with a ladder inside.
- Go in any houses.
- Go in ANY houses.
- Go NEAR any houses.
- Enter any houses.
- Go in any houses.
Oh, and we must make sure to keep our eyes on the trees. That sounds fairly easy, considering we'll be in a forest.

Entry #10 (Shade: Recapping the Day)
We've spent a good several hours getting some long-earned, relaxing rest today. The rest of the day was spent doing a bit of
investigating in and around this little village. So far, we've learned how not just Chao Talk, but pretty much the entire
Chao World is severely screwed up in the head! Other people spying on us, holes in the ground that lead to impressive
caverns, trees that change.. in more ways than one! I think it's safe to say that we are gonna have fun tonight.

Entry #11 (Dark: Looking Forward to This)
MANIt's been a pretty boring day for me. MANI just basically got here, left, got here AGAIN, then slept all day, got up, went to
the toilet, got back in bed, dressed up for Halloween, talked with some old friend, then wrote in a journal! So I can't wait
to go into these spooky woods and get my pants scared off!

Entry #12 (Red: That Stranger...)
I know. I know.. who that stranger is. I'm positive... that I know. I know that Shadow knows, as well. We both.. are certain.
Why else would we recommend the Marble Hornets crew? Although, I think Brian died in that. It was never confirmed. He might
have been. Whatever. All I know is, that man.. that man is.. going to kill us. It's going to be a long night.



[the scene changes to a forest road; a pick-up truck is driving through]
[it's still 8 o' clock]
[inside the truck are Mecha Knuckles, the Tails Doll, and Mephiles]
MK: Right. I think we're nearly there. Mephiles, Doll, remember the plan?
TD: Of course. The chaos drive's ten miles down, in a well protected by the government. Mephiles will distract the guards by doing his impression of Christopher Walken--
[suddenly, Mecha swerves off the road, and they crash]

Tale Three: The Tale of the Fifth Chaos Drive (Wrecked)
(Based on "Nightmare House" by We Create Stuff)

[cut to the side of the road, Mephiles wakes up to find the others up]
Mp: Ugh.. what... what happened?
TD: Numbnuts over here crashed the truck.
Mp: Why the heck did you do THAT?!
MK: There.. there was someone in the street. I didn't want to hit her.
TD: Mecha, you're.. you're MECHA. Running people over is part of your job description.
MK: Yeah, but this was.. she looked young, and emotionally effed-up. I couldn't bring myself..
TD: Well...
[they look to the road, and find it utterly deserted]
TD: Where is she now?
[they continue looking for a while, then look at each other]
Mp: Ah, doesn't matter. What matters is that we've crashed, and we still have ten miles to go.
TD: Great. Just GREAT. Now we have to WALK it.
MK: Wait.. guys, do you see that?
TD: What?
MK: I think it's...
[Mecha heads off into the forest]
MK: Yeah, it's...!
Mp: Hey, wait up!
TD: Butthole! Don't go wandering off!
[they chase after him]
[they come upon a great big house in the middle of the woods]
MK: It is! It's a house!
TD: Get back h--oh, well I'll be damned.
Mp: Looks haunted.
[the bots look at him]
Mp: Um... I... I like haunted houses. I'm not scared or anything.
MK: Maybe these guys can help us out?
[Mecha finds a shed and enters it]
TD: What the heck are you doing?
MK: Just looking.
[he sees an axe on a table]
MK: Jackpot.
[he grabs it and hears a THUD right behind him]
MK: Ah!
[Mephiles had accidentally knocked over a plank of wood]
MK: Freaking... idiot. Don't do that.
Mp: Sorry.
TD: What are you gonna do with an AXE, man?
[Mecha does not answer]
[they leave the shed and go up to the house]
[Mecha knocks on the door]
MK: Hello? Anybody home? Uh.. our car broke down, and we need some help getting to town!
[silence]
Mp: I wonder if anyone's home.
TD: Of COURSE someone's home; the lights are on in there!
Mp: Yeah, but only in that one room.
[Mecha knocks again]
MK: HEY! I know you're in there! OPEN UP!
Mp: Hmm...
[Mephiles wanders off a bit]
MK: What are you doing?
Mp: Well, if you want to get inside...
[Mephiles finds a cellar entrance, and opens it; inside is a small room and a door]
Mp: ..then there is always a way.
MK: Nice thinking. C'mon, you two.
TD: I'm still not even sure why you want to go inside, but okay.
MK: It's simple. These guys must have a car, and I plan on convincing them to let us use it.
[Mecha climbs in]
TD: Eh, fine, wait for me.
[the Doll climbs in, too]
[Mephiles hops in; the floor beneath him breaks and he falls down into a dark storage room]
Mp: Oof!
TD: Idiot.
MK: Hey, man! Don't worry! Just get out of there, and we'll.. we'll catch up!
Mp: Wait!
MK: And one more thing. You might need this more than I do.
[Mecha tosses his axe down]
Mp: Don't leave!
[they enter the door in front of them]
Mp: Aw, man.

DCAHall3 Act II

(Tale Two)
[cut to the cobblestone path.. place, just outside the village]
[oh, and the chao have flashlights. Forgot to mention that.]
Shade: Right. Where are we searching first?
Dark: Perchance we could be searching at yonder entrance, suh?
Shadow: No. Not the entrance. There is no entrance anymore.
Dark: Ya sure? We can't even check?
Red: Something tells me it's best we don't even check.
Shade: Damn, you two are getting paranoid ALREADY? Halloween only just officially started a few minutes ago!
[they start moving forward; Red trails behind]
[oh, one more thing, the sky is currently dark, but not TOO dark; there's still plenty of light]
[sunset finished little under half an hour ago]
Red: Interested in the time.
[not really. Just the lighting. Gotta make this scary. Want to make it scary enough for two years' worth.]
Red: Right, right.. man, you're really upset about missing Halloween last year.
[Doesn't matter. I think you should move on. It's not safe to be out in the woods at night... alone.]
Red: You can't scare me.
[Red stands in wait for a bit]
Red: ...uh.. hey, guys, wait for me!
[Red runs off-screen]

[cut to a new acre of woods, off to the south of the cobblestone path]
Dark: Captain's Log, 729 AD. We're currently wandering around this strange new world, hoping to find some sign of life.
Shadow: ..who are you talking to?
Dark: You! I want you to write this down! This will go in my log.
Shadow: Wha?
Shade: Just... just let him talk.
Dark: We are currently walking around some odd acre of woods, and I want my mommy.
Red: Pfft, we've just barely started.
Dark: Shut up! I don't see YOU doing anything heroic.
Red: Yeah, well that's because I don't HAVE to. I'm Brian, remember? The boring one?
Shadow: He's got a point there. Dark, you're the one who's supposed to be scaring US. You're Masky.
Dark: Well.... shut up.
[they keep walking for a bit]
[they come across a large, fallen tree preventing further walking]
Shade: Damn. We can't keep going down here.
Shadow: What about to the East?
Dark: That guy told us not to go East.
Shadow: *sigh* Fine. What about West, then?
Red: How about we just turn back?
Shade: No way, and be a wuss? Pfft. We're in this for the night.
Red: I.. I.. aw. Okay.
[they start heading to the West, following the fallen tree]
Shadow: This was a really big tree. It goes on for acres!
Shade: Yeah, well, something tells me this forest isn't normal.
Dark: *gulp*
Red: Fellows, if I may attempt to soothe your nerves?
Shade: Try it.
Red: We are on a different planet. Physics, including how big a tree may be, are bound to differ from our accepted norms.
Dark: That.. that helps.
Shade: Red, I'd high-five you but I'm holding a camera.
Red: It's alright. I appreciate it.
[they reach the next acre of woods, and the fallen tree finally reaches its end]
Shade: DAMN, that thing was huge. Now we can go south!
Red: Yes, but why would we WANT to?
Shadow: Maybe THAT'S why.
[they look, and to the west is the traveler from before, still facing away, sitting at the top of a tall tree]
Red: Right, and to the north is the village...
Shade: Yeah, so let's go this way.
[they hurry down to the south, trying not to look at the vague traveler at the top of the tree]
[by the time they head south an acre, they find a small outpost]

Entry #13 (Red: Outpost)
Scattered on the ground are some binoculars, telescopes, astrology books, and... zoology books, I believe. Upon further
examination of the zoology books, the creatures depicted range from bizarre to outright delusional. This is most likely due
to the aforementioned "alien planet norms." These are obviously normal to these people. Still, this outpost is interesting.
I suppose some villagers or other travelers had come out here to observe the local fauna.

[Red tells the others of his thoughts]
[Dark turns to look at the traveler]
Dark: Guys... he's gone.
[the others look, and yes, the traveler HAS gone]
Shadow: Creepy.
Red: He couldn't have gone far, could he?
Shade: It doesn't matter! Let's move on.
[they move past the outpost and head west some more]
[after a while, they hear the distant sound of water, to the south]
Shade: Water, anyone?
Red: Water is always good news. I say go for it.
Shadow: Eh, why not?
Dark: Fine.
[they go on to the south, and an acre away is a river]
[it goes from the west to the east]
Shadow: What is up there, to the west?
Red: It looks like miles and miles of boring woods.
Shadow: And what is down there, in the other direction?
Red: To the east... looks like the same thing.
Shade: Eh, I say we head down the river.
Shadow: Well, you're the only one making decisions so far. Let's do it.
[they head down the river for a couple of acres]
[at one point, the river curves and heads north; they still follow it]
[of course, as it curves, it makes a U-turn and goes back south before finally resuming its eastward course]
[they keep blindly following it, having no other landmarks to follow]
[they keep heading east until eventually, the river grows in size and takes up the entire next few acres]
Shade: Aw, damn. Now what?
Shadow: ...there! What's that, just by the riverside?
[just by the riverside is a large raft]
[Shade looks at the others with a sly grin]
Red: Oh, no way, you're not planning to...?
Shade: C'mon. What other choice do we have?
Shadow: The other choices are turn back, and wander aimlessly through the woods all night.
Red: .....ahhhhh fine. Fine fine fine.
Dark: Let's DO IT!
[they push the raft into the water and climb on]
[they ride the raft down the river for several acres]
[eventually, they reach a big stone wall that the river goes into (like a drain) and ahhh I can't explain stuff]
[basically, the chao have to get off the raft and they do]
Red: Well, that was a rather uneventful raft ride. Now where are we?
Shadow: No idea. Hey, what's this?
[they find a small path heading up a little valley, to the south]
Shadow: Anybody else feel like heading up this path?
Shade: I know I do.
Dark: Rock n' roll!
Red: Well, majority rules.
[they head up the path to the south]

Entry #14 (Shadow: Scruple)
Okay. Okay. I'm a little weirded out now. I swear I just dreamt we were in some dark woods at night. The others say they
had the same dream. But then again, we're wearing our Halloween costumes, so.. was it really a dream?

But we're.. we're in front of a small town. Like, proper town. In a clearing, too. No trees anywhere. And it's daytime.
Like... bright, sunny day. The sign at the front of the town reads "Scruple," which I assume is the name of the town.

What the hell just happened?

[cut to the town of Scruple, at daytime (like.. noon); no trees anywhere in sight]
[our heroes walk into the town, and find it filled with many other chao]
[the other chao continue on as if our heroes weren't there]
[the three look at Shade, who looks at them with confusion]
[Shade stops a passerby]
Shade: Excuse me, ma'am?
Chao: Yes? What is it?
Shade: Um.. where are we?
Chao: Where are you? Why, you're in Scruple!
Shadow: But we were just in Sancheria...
Chao: Sanch..what? Boys, that's just an urban legend. You'd best stop reading those comic books. Haha!
[the chao walks away]
[they walk up to an old well]
Red: Well, THAT'S an old well.
Otherguy: Heh, sure is! And y'know what's at the bottom of this well? A key.
Shade: A key? Really?
Guy: Really. I'll give it to ya.. for a price.
Shade: Wait, what does the key open?
Guy: That's the thing-- we have no idea. It's the spooky key of no unlocking!
Shade: *sigh* Fine, how much?
Guy: Uh.. got any mepsipax?
Shade: What?
Guy: Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter.
Shade: No, no, we'll get you your mepsipax. Just make sure you're ready to give up that key.
Guy: Yeah, yeah.. we'll see.
[they leave the well and look around]
Red: Okay. What the hell is mepsipax, Shade?
Shade: Pepsi Max. Hang on, I'm sure we can find it. Hey, dude?
[Shade pulls over a random person]
Shade: Which way to the nearest store?
Dude: Uh.. it's at the other end of the town.
Shade: Thanks.
[they head to the east end of the town, and enter a store]
[Shade buys some Pepsi Max]
Red: Now where did you get money?
Shade: Deus ex machina. I had some. So what?
[they head back to the well]
Shade: Here's your "mepsipax."
Guy: That ain't no mepsipax! That there is Pepsi Max.
Shade: That's what mepsipax IS, dude.
Guy: It IS? Oh. Well, I'll be damned. Okay, fine.
[the guy hands Shade an old key]
Shade: Thanks.
Guy: Good luck finding out what that's supposed to open! Not even I know!
[they look around a bit]
Shade: Hm. What could this possibly open?
[they find an old building with a lock on the front door]
Shade: ........ah, it's worth a shot.
[the key unlocks the old house]
Shade: Oh. What do you know?
Red: What good would an old house do?
Shade: You never know.
[they look inside and find absolutely nothing of interest]
Shade: ...you still never know!
Shadow: Let's look around a bit more. This town seems a little too good to be true.
[they take a quick look around the town, and find that it is divided into three sections]
[in the northwest is the front end of the town, where most people live and converse and whatnot]
[in the northeast is the back end of the town, where most of the shops are and where some people live]
[in the entire south end is the abandoned section, where only foolish people go-- nobody will explain why, though]
[our heroes head to the entrance to the abandoned section; a large gate blocks entrance]
Guard: Hey! You kids shouldn't be wandering around here!
Shade: Yeah, um.. hello. First of all, I'm twenty-two. Secondly, yeah, why is this section blocked off?
Guard: Too many lives have been lost back here. You'd best turn back.
Shadow: Whoa, whoa, whoa. "Lives have been lost?" Care to elaborate?
Guard: Many years ago, a.. a.. really bad thing happened. Back there. So we gated it up, and nobody's gone back there since.
Red: That's not very progressive.
Guard: Hey, this ain't the kind of thing you can evolve through. It's one of those natural selection, adapt or die things.
Red: Um.. evolution and natural selection aren't mutually exclusive.
Guard: Whatever! I ain't letting anyone through, especially not little strangers like yourselves.
Shade: Alright. That's fair. C'mon, guys.
[Shade leads the others back to the old house]
[he looks around and starts digging through cabinets and drawers]
Dark: Whatcha lookin' for, Shade?
Shade: So far, this whole town has been one big fetch-quest.. like something out of an RPG.
Red: That's an eloquent way of putting it.
Shade: So I figured, the best way to get past a gatekeeper is to find written permission.
[Shade rummages through a drawer and pulls out a small slip of paper]
Shade: And that's just what I found!
[cut back to the gate; our heroes return]
Guard: I see you have come back.
Shade: Yes, hi. See, I had completely forgotten to mention this before, but.. we were sent.
Guard: You were sent?
Shade: Yes. By Her Royal Awesomeness, the lovely Queen of Georg....zerland.
Guard: Her Awesomeness sent you?! No way.
[Shade shows the guard the slip of paper, with a signature on it]
Guard: Her Loveliness, the Queen of Georgzerland... o_o
[the Guard opens the gate]
Guard: Well, I have no idea what Her Awesomeness wants you to do back here, but.. it is not my place to object. Go right in.
Shade: Thanks.
[they enter]
[this back end of the town is deserted, with some burnt down buildings and some buildings covered in vines]
Dark: Shade, I had no idea there WAS a Queen of Georgzerland.
Shade: Shhh. There isn't.
Dark: Oh. ...oh! Nice oneMAN.
Shade: Red, you're observant. Could you observe this place and write it in a log entry?
Red: Sure.

Entry #15 (Red: The Back End of Town)
The backside seems completely different than the rest of the town. Everything's dark around here, whether it's scorched by
some historic fire, or simply shadowed by some taller, eroded building. That's another thing-- EVERYTHING SEEMS ERODED.
By that, I mean that everything appears as if it has been slowly destroyed by water or wind. Sometimes both. All the sounds
of crowds and laughter and machines have all vanished completely, as if we've moved far away from the town. In fact, the
only sound of note is a peculiar hum. A low hum. It sounds like the kind of hum you'd hear from a large supercomputer, or...
something. I have no idea what the hum of a large supercomputer would sound like, okay? It just sounds... large, yet distant.

We checked out the town a little bit further, and looked around the various downed buildings. There really isn't much to see.
However, Dark was able to find a small box. A wooden box. Nothing's in it. Upon further exploration, Shadow discovered one
locked door, and it was the front door to a pretty big building. It looks almost like a factory. Why do I get the feeling
that Shade's right, and this IS just one big fetch quest?

[cut to back in the northeast section of town; the chao have just left the abandoned section]
Shade: So we only found that one locked door, and this box?
Dark: It's a pretty box.
[they find a little girl crying]
Shadow: Hey, what's wrong?
Girl: I.. I'm lost! I can't find my mommy!
Dark: Oh, no! Here, have this box.
Girl: *sniff* Wh...what's this supposed to do?
Dark: Nothing whatsoever. But it's a pretty birch, innit?
Girl: *sniff* Y..yeah, it IS a pretty box! Gee, thanks, mister!
Dark: No problem.
[they walk away]
Dark: It feels nice to help out little children.
[a random person bumps into Dark]
Dark: Ack! Hey, watch where you're going, buddy!
Red: Whoa, Dark! I think he just handed something to you.
Dark: He did?
[Dark takes a look at what he was just given; it is a pineapple]
Dark: Ooh, yummy!
Shadow: How the heck did you not notice that he gave that to you?
Dark: I'm Dark, remember? 8D
Shadow: ...oh, yeah.
[they wander around town again, and check out the northwest section]
Red: Now, realistically, what can we do with a pineapple?
Shade: We can.. feed the poor, or something.
[a poor person walks up to them]
Poor: Please, sir.. I'm so hungry. Do you have any spare food?
Dark: Hey. Listen. Here's my shirt.
Shade: DARK!
Dark: I mean, here's a pineapple. *hands him a pineapple*
Poor: Thank you!
[the poor guy walks away]
Shade: Seriously, dude, you don't even HAVE a shirt. Just that mask.
Dark: ...HOLY CRAP, MAN, I JUST REMEMBERED SOMETHING.
[Dark runs off]
Shadow: D-Dark! Wait for us!
[the other three run off, following him]
[he leads them north, down the valley and out of the town]

[cut to by the end of the river at night, in the forest]
[Dark is running to the north, and the other three are standing around]
[Dark suddenly stops running]
Dark: Whoa. Guys, did I just fall asleep?
Shadow: Better yet, did I?! I'm not even tired!
Shade: Um.. uh.. whoa. Did WE? Wait, Dark, in the dream, you said you remembered something.
Dark: Huh? ..oh, right! Up here!
[Dark leads them to the north of the river]
[Dark leads them to a mask lying on the ground]
Dark: I kinda remember seeing this... when we were out on the river.
Red: What the? It's... a mask?
[the mask is made to look like Solid Snake]
[Red picks up the mask, and tries it on]
Red: ..whoa, everything looks... green.
Shade: It's freaking NIGHT VISION, oh, that's AWESOME!
Red: Hang on, guys.. I see something over there, by the river.
[Red leads them over to the river, and crouches down by the shore]
Red: Hmm...
Shade: Well? What'd you see?
Red: It's... a key!
[Red picks it up]
Red: It's an old, rusty one.
Shadow: Why do I get the feeling that...
Shade: ..it's for the factory-esque building?
Red: Should we check it out?
Shadow: Eh. We need SOMETHING to do.
Shade: The kid's becoming more like me by the minute.
Red: Fine! Let's go.
[they head right back up the valley]

[cut to Scruple, broad daylight, no trees around; the chao are standing around]
Dark: ....okay, that is REALLY cool.
Red: Yeah, I'm pretty sure that was NOT just a dream. I'm still wearing the mask. *takes mask off*
Shade: You still have the key, though, right?
Red: Uh... *checks* ...yeah!
Shade: Sweet. Let's go, then.
[they head through town and to the abandoned section]
[they check out the factory-esque building, and try unlocking it]
[they do]

Entry #16 (Red: Inside the Factory)
Inside the door was, indeed, a factory. There were broken-down conveyor belts and switches and levers... the whole place
smelled of dusky old dust and smelly old smells. The light humming from before was much more pronounced and evident. We
moved on into the factory, and the first thing we see is this long, dark corridor leading to nowhere.

Before anyone says anything, we're already up at the entrance to the hall. I look at Shade, who looks back at me with a
strange expression on his face, as if to say he doesn't know what's going on, but we're gonna find out anyway.

Shadow steps up to the hall, and nobody says a single thing. In fact, we follow him into the hall.

Entry #17 (Shadow: Tenebrosity)
That was even more surreal a dream than the last. Wait, what? I.. WERE we in that factory? In that town? But, no, I swear I
was dreaming.. but I get the feeling the other three were, as well. ...wait. Wait wait wait. Let me just.. describe my
surroundings. Make sure we get this down.

We're in the middle of a large cemetery. The sky is dark.. it seems like half-past eight. Ish. There are clearly some trees
around us, outside the cemetery.. to the south and west. But to the north.. is.. a gigantic factory. And yet... well..
the factory seems twisted. Bizarre. Some lights are turned on, and some aren't. I think I see some other buildings in the
near distance.

A nearby sign reads "Tenebrosity Cemetery."
"Tenebrosity..." I suppose that's the name of this industrial town.

[the chao look at each other]
Shade: ...
Shadow: ...
Dark: ...
Red: ...let's set one thing straight. We were NOT just dreaming.
Shade: ..I have to agree. No matter how much it seems like we were, we weren't.
Red: Right. We seem to be passing through various... lack for a better term, "realities."
Shade: I'd say "Light World and Dark World," but we entered in THIS world, the darker one.
Red: Yes. But either way, the two realities are VERY real. Hence the term "realities."
Shade: Exactly. So! No running off, and no doing crazy ****. Any questions?
Dark: I gotta pee!
Shade: *groan*
Shadow: I.. I think there's a small industrial town over there. There may be a bathroom there.
Shade: Fine. Let's check it out.
[Dark prepares to run]
Shade: Ap! No running off.
[they walk through the cemetery, and to the east]

Entry #18 (Red: Tenebrosity Industrial)
The industrial section of the town is basically.. a backwards L. We entered at the west part, and it turns and goes to the
north. Up there, though, is the factory. It's seriously a HUGE factory. It is bigger than that.. that village in the woods.
The closer we get, the darker and more ominous it seems to get. The lights...

Oh, right, right, the town. Yes. It's a relatively small town. The buildings are deserted and quite small. You can clearly
see the trees behind them.

Speaking of trees, and I'm saying this so the other three will know what I am currently staring at... I can plainly see the
strange traveler from before, um.. sitting above a tree, facing away from us. Always facing away, isn't he? Ah, and I now
remember what the village chief said, about steering clear of all trees. He was wise to tell us that. As this place gets
darker, the trees become more and more indistinguishable. Luckily, we are not in the forest right now. ..where was I?

[rustle]
[Red darts his head to look at a building nearby; he sees a shadow duck behind it]
Red: Guys... I don't like this place. I don't feel safe.
Shade: Ah, where's your sense of adventure? Of DANGER?
Red: Ohhhh, I sense danger, alright.
Shade: You'll get used to it.
Red: But Shade...
Shade: Ooh, guys, look! A door to the factory!
Red: Ohhhhhhhhhhh...
[they head over to the factory door]
Shade: ...aw, it's LOCKED!
Shadow: What a surprise. Hey, I wonder if we can get in through that window that's suspiciously close to the ground?
Red: Ohhhh--wait, how can a window be SUSPICIOUSLY close to the ground? That seems rather normal to me.
Shadow: Eh, when you take it into context, it seems like it was placed there to let us get in.
Red: I get what you're saying, but even then, it would be CONVENIENTLY close to the ground, not "suspiciously."
Shadow: Good point.
[they head to the window and climb through]

Entry #19 (DUNGEON: Tenebrosity Factory)
Shadow: Um, yes, hello... this is a slightly different kind of Log Entry. This is a Dungeon Entry. You see, there are some
pretty crazy places out there, and the Tenebrosity Factory is no exception. It requires some intense concentration on our
parts, and sometimes we just need to.. focus without really making our actions known, script-wise. Sometimes we even have to
split up, and in a huge place like this.. that's pretty likely. Of course, by some weird power that probably has something to
do with the breaking of the fourth wall and meta-writings, we are always able to keep in contact with each other via these
entries. Now, some of the things written in here may be vague. I'm not sure if that's because we're too busy doing stuff to
bother writing full, complicated, eloquent descriptions like this, or if it's to do with the fact that this is supposed to be
a scary script, but either way... you're gonna have to put up with it for a little bit. Sorry!

Red: The room through the window is some kind of office. There's a small desk and a computer.. and.. yeah, it's boring. The
light is on, though, so I'm wondering if there's anyone around?

Shade: Okay, we're at some sort of huge hallway, connecting all the little offices together. Split up?
Shadow: It'd help. We don't want to spend too much time here.
Dark: I'm fine with it!
Red: I'll.. go with Dark.
Dark: Alright.

Dark: Lotta empty offices here. Anyone mind if I steal a computer or two?
Red: Hey, what if people are actually here?
Dark: ...fine...

Shadow: Empty. Empty. Empty. Empty. Empty. Empty. Empty. Empty. Empty. Empty. Empty.

Red: Dark, put that computer down.
Dark: Awwww....

Shadow: Empty. Empty. Empty. Empty. Empty. Empty. Empty. Empty. Em--hello! ...oh. Oh, my.
Red: What? What is it?
Dark: What'd ya find?
Shade: Kid! Kiddo! What's up?
Shadow: Well... I found somebody. Except.. he's dead.
Shade: Now, when you say "somebody..." chao?
Shadow: Yeah, he's a chao.
Red: Are.. are you sure he's dead? You sure he's not just sleeping?
Shadow: The whole room is covered in blood, Red. Blood-red blood, Red.
Red: Urk.
Shade: Alright. So something's happened here. Keep looking, guys. Put your findings on here.

Shadow: The blood's still wet.

Dark: Anybody else feeling kinda weird right now?
Red: You mean fear?
Dark: Kinda.
Red: I'm feeling it.

Shade: Okay, I've reached the end of the corridor. There's a door that presumably leads out into the main factory.
Shadow: Alright, wait up.
Shade: I will. Dark, Red, we're meeting up here.
Red: Gladly.
Dark: Sure.

Shade: Okay. Let's see what's behind door number seventy.

Dark: Jeeze Louise!
Shadow: Crap crap crap crap crap crap... oh.. oh my, ahhh ah.. oh..
Shade: I'm.. I'm..... scared. I am scared.
Red: Since the others are freaking out, I suppose I had may as well write the description for this place. While I must admit,
I'm surprised I didn't freak out, as well.. I suppose that's because I AM freaking out, but in different ways. Doesn't
matter. The description for the main room of the Tenebrosity Factory is as follows.

We stand in a doorway at the southeast bottom floor, staring, eyes wide and mouth agape at the massive room in front of us.
There are vats filled with either cooking oil, blood, or freaking urine for all I care. Either way, the room smells greatly
of all three. There are instruments of torture and cooking around the room, including (but not limited to) a plethora of
meat grinders, a myriad of rotisserie devices, and a large number of assorted doodads that I can only assume are designed to
murder and mass-produce the main line of food produced in this factory.

The main line of food produced in this factory, by the way, is none other than US. I **** you not, there are piles upon piles
of rotting chao corpses attached to the rotisserie devices and being prepared to be dropped into the freaking meat grinders,
and there are multiple conveyor belts covered in what I regret to assume are processed chao meat. What's more, all the lights
are on in this accursed factory, and there is blood scattered all along the walls, and the floor, and the platforms.. and...
ugh, man, I can't take it anymore. I want to get out of here. I want to get out.

Shade: Run. Follow close behind me. Follow. Follow. C'mon. C'MON!
Red: Keep your eyes closed if you have to, ahhh c'mon, don't breathe in too much, Dark!
Dark: It's hard! It's hard not to! Ohhh, urp, it smells so rotten.
Shadow: ..crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap...

Red: Our dashing across the room only got us so far. There seems to be a large.. wall in front of us. No visible form of
entry yet. We're going around it, though.. to the northwest corner of the factory.

Shade: DOOR! DOOR! OPEN! OPEN THE DOOR!

Red: The door opened, luckily. ..well, I SAY "luckily." Now I see maybe we WEREN'T so lucky. I don't think the others have
realized it yet, but the lights are off in this corner of the facility. Although the smells seem to have dissipated.

Dark: Ugh, it's terribly dark in here.
Shade: It's NOT dark, it's.... oh, who am I kidding? It's pretty damn dark in here.
Shadow: I'm gonna reach around and see if I can't find any light switches.
Dark: Heh.... you said "re--"
Shadow: I found something!

...

Oh. That's not a light switch. But then, what IS it? It's all squishy...
Shade: Wait, don't we have flashlights?
Shadow: You and I have our video cameras, and Red has his mask...
Red: Oh, yes. Hang on, let me put the mask o--OHMSRHKSGFSDKO_g sr
Shade: I don't like the sound of that. Was it THAT bad?
Red: Oh... ha, sorry, no, I just thought I saw a HUUUUGE spider, but no. Haha! False alarm.
Shadow: So what do you see?
Red: It's... it's a kitchen.
Shadow: Oh, geez.
Red: But.. but it's clean! It looks spotless. Uh.. let me look around for a light... ah, found one!

Shade: Huh, you're right, it IS spotless! Guess they kept this place clean.
Shadow: Wait, Red, what do you mean, "huge spider?"
Red: It... well... it was nothing. I just...
Shadow: Like, when you reached for the mask?
Red: No, after I had put it on. I saw one.. over there, it went around that corner, to the left.
Dark: Whoa, you could see a spider from all the way over here?
Red: That's the thing.. it was HUGE. Like, the legs were...
Shadow: ...I don't like spiders, Shade.
Shade: I'm sure.. I'm sure he was just.. hallucinating.
Red: It looked... well... I dunno.
Shadow: Just to clarify, EXACTLY what did you see?
Red: Four giant black legs creeping around the corner.
Shadow: Insect-like?
Red: Arachnid-like.
Shadow: Oh, jeez...
Red: Hey, I'm not a big fan of giant spiders, either.
Shade: Wait, let's look at this logically. Why would there be a huge bug in this factory? It seems fully operational.
Red: Yeah, but for one thing, it's an alien planet. Anything can happen. Two, nobody's here. Maybe it ate everyone?
Shadow: SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!!!
Dark: Okay. I'm feeling pretty suicidal. I want to go around the corner.
Shade: Are you sure, Darko?
Dark: Yes. Let me.
Shade: Fine.

Dark: Here goes nothing.

Shadow: There goes the bravest guy I've ever known.
Shade: Dibs on his guitar.

Dark: ..nothing here.

Red: Dark's right. Around the corner is just a small little utility closet-like place.. oh, and a bathroom!
Dark: Eh, I don't need the bathroom anymore.
Red: Okay. There is also a large door leading into whatever that strange wall led to.

Shade: I don't think we have anything else to do. Should we check out that subway?
Red: Subway?
Shade: Did I say "subway?" Hah... fear effs up my words sometimes. I meant.. the door.
Shadow: No way. What if the spider's in there?
Red: You mean, "what if the giant spider opened, fit through, and closed this door?"
Shadow: Hey, you said it yourself! It's an alien planet. Anything can happen.
Shade: Hm, so what'll it be? Wait, let's just check our inventory right now.

-two video cameras (Shade, Shadow)
-one Solid Snake night-vision mask (Red)
-one simple Masky mask (Dark)
-one crowbar (Shade)
-one gravity gun (Shadow)
-one pulse rifle (Red)
-one shotgun (Dark)

Red: Okay, whoa. We've had our old weapons all this time?!
Shade: Uh.. yeah. I dunno if you guys noticed or not, but I've certainly had my crowbar for a while.
Red: There are so many times when we really could have used these...
Shadow: Well, dwell on the past all you want. Just know that we have this stuff now.
Red: Yes. Good point. Okay, I say we head into the door.

Shade: Uh.. Red? Analysis?
Red: Right. So apparently, I'm the analysis guy. ..I'm Slippy.

We stand at the west side of this big, sealed-in room. As soon as we entered, the door slammed shut. Immediately, a strong
scent of blood, gore, and rusty machinery becomes known. I can hear an obvious, loud whirring of machines. Of course, we
can't see a damn thing 'cause this room, like the kitchen before it, is PITCH BLACK. Let me just don my night-vision mask...

Oh, hell no.

Right, so.. first of all, this room is a giant meat grinder. The floor is covered in chopped meats of all varieties. It's
hard to get to the floor without hitting one of the thousands of mini grinders scattered around the walls. Then we get to the
center of the room, where there is a BIG drill-ish device, spinning as fast as possible. No doubt any contact with that would
render anyone useless for the rest of their life.

Then there's THAT.

Hanging from the ceiling, as I did not entirely expect, is a humongous spider. I mean... oh, jeez. That thing.. is... huge.
It doesn't know we're here yet, luckily. It seems to have trapped itself, though, behind the drill. There's no way it can--

Okay, I partially expected that.

It saw us, and managed to slip past the drill RUN RUN RUN!!!

Oh crap it has Dark ahfasi0g

DArk

SHOOT IT
SHOOT IT

Dark: AHFsfisd afjiasd fasf asg asgasgasg asg sjgasdg agh9 gha 9gahs9g asdgs dg fdji0HELP HELP HELP HELP AHH AHHAH
Red: SHOOT IT!
Shade: YOU HAVE THE PULSE RIFLE!
Red: Oh, right.
I was able to shoot the behemoth, and it dropped Dark.

Shade: Dark!
Dark: I'm.. I'm okay!

Red: By the way, we are currently on a scaffolding that circles the room.

Shadow: Okay, it has come to my attention that WE CAN'T SEE WHAT IS GOING ON.
Red: Ack! You're right!
Shade: Red! We're gonna need you to tell us EVERYTHING that happens.
Red: Right! Right.
....
Shade: Like NOW.
Red: Oh!

It's.. sitting there, on the wall directly behind Shade, watching us.

Shade: Did it react to the gunfire?
Dark: Well, it dropped me.
Shade: Hm. I have an idea. Red, fire at it, then when it comes close, Dark, you shoot it with your shotgun.
Dark: Okay. I'm gonna need Red to tell me when, though.
Red: I gotcha.

....

SHOOT!
Dark: Aiee!

Shade: That was quite the roar it just made. Was that a death roar?
Shadow: Sounded more like a battle cry...
Red: ..Shadow! Your gravity gun! I need you to grab one of the grinders scattered along the wall!
Shadow: But...
Red: I suggest you do it NOW, before that.. THING comes at us. 'Cause it's doing that right now.
Shadow: Aaaah!

Red: Right, now fire it.... uh.. to your.. 11 o' clock!
Shadow: AM or PM?
Red: It doesn't matter, just FIRE!
Shadow: Here goes nothing!

Red: Oh, my, that was gruesome.
Shadow: Did I hit it?
Red: Well, no. You just missed.
Shadow: What?
Red: BUT, you freaked it out, and it fell over and into the meat grinder.
Shade: So the stuff we just got covered in...
Red: Don't lick it.
Dark: So, um... now what?
Red: .......just one second.
...
Okay. Let's get out of this room. I need to take this damn mask off.

Shade: There. We're out of that grinder room. What.. whoa, what have you got there?
Red: I found it on the scaffolding. It's a piece of paper with a drawing on it.

The drawing is of a circle. The circle has an X drawn through it. It was drawn with heavy strokes.

Shade: Now, I swear I've seen that symbol somewhere before...
Dark: Yeah, you're right.. it's so familiar!
Shadow: Guys.. can we please just get out of this damn factory first? Speculate later?
Shade: Fine by me.

Shadow: Okay okay okay I hate this room I hate this room
Red: Just close your eyes and stick close tofffffffffffffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuu
Dark: The lights! The lights!
Shade: Oh, for the love of...
The lights just went out.
Alright, did anyone see anything that might have caused the lights to go out?
Dark: I might have.
Shade: What'd you see?
Dark: ..nah, it's nothing.
Shade: No, really, what did you see?
Dark: I kinda maybe saw a man.
Red: A man? What kind of man?
Dark: Birchman.
Red: ..what?
[Dark shakes his head]
Dark: Sorry. He.. was... fancy-lookin'. Like.. he was dressed sorta for a wedding, except NOT for a wedding...
Shadow: Was it a tuxedo, or was it NOT a tuxedo?
Dark: It wasn't a tuxedo, no.. but it sorta looked kinda like a tuxedo! He had a tie.
Shade: Ah, that stuff's not important! His face! What about his face, Dark?
Dark: I..... ah, I didn't catch his face. I just saw him...
Red: Where was he?
Dark: Over at the door we were going to.
Red: ..okay, Shade, may I recommend something? Like.. SERIOUSLY recommend?
Shade: Name it.
Red: Can we... NOT go that way?
Shade: Why not?
Red: Just trust me, I'm getting REALLY bad vibes.
Shadow: Oh yeah? Well, I'M getting really bad vibes from staying in this freaking slaughterhouse in the DARK!
Red: Hang on, let me put my mask on...

ACK.

Shade: You okay, dude? It's a little hard to tell, but I think you went pale.
Red: It's.. fine. Sorry.

I simply saw that man peeking around the corner... -.-;

Yeah, let's just.. not go that way. Okay? Please. Let's not.
Shade: Fine! But can you find us any other ways out?
Red: Uh... hey, what about this front door?
Shadow: There's a front door?
Red: Yeah, right here. Let's try it.


[cut to outside the Tenebrosity Factory; the chao leave through the front door]
[they all gasp for fresh air]
Shadow: Ohhh, we're FINALLY out of that damn place!
Dark: That felt really bad.
Red: I KNEW it was a bad idea to go in there.
Shade: Yeah, but you're the one who saved our lives about a million times.
Red: Well... let's leave the thanking to when we're out of this whole TOWN.
[pause]
Red: Wait.

[cut to the northeast section of Scruple; daytime, busy]
Red: Whoa. That was a little weird.
Shadow: Let's never do that again. Please, I'm sick of Halloween; I wanna go home!
Shade: It'll.. it'll be okay, kid. We're fine. We're alive. I mean, we're surviving, ain't we?
Dark: Red, what's that you've got there?
Red: This? ..huh, that's a good question.
[Red is currently holding a video cassette]
Red: When did I get THIS?
Shade: Ooh, finally, a use for the video cameras!
[Shade takes the cassette and pops it in a camera, then starts it up]

Entry #20 (Shade: The Strange Video Cassette)
It's of the Tenebrosity Factory... of the freaky main room that we all hate. The camera is stationary, showing a good part
of the room, but there are tons of blind spots.

Okay, there are plenty of factory workers. They're all chao, and they're firing up the machines. Are they cooking their
fellow employees, or what? ..oh, wait. They're just cooking, like.. farm animals. ..ah, then some tool comes over and messes
around with the camera, pointing it at people and showing off... and he puts it back down, but tilted a little to the ri--
**** WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?! I swear, there was.. there was a MAN. ..there IS a man. Ah, he was JUST off the camera before..
and.. oh, man, ohhh **** I know him oh **** no way...

..where'd he go?
He's gone! He disappeared!

.....oh. OH. Ah. Ooh. Urk. That's.. ooh, that doesn't look too.. ooh, it's making me cringe. And they RECORDED all of this?

Entry #21 (Red: What Shade is Trying to Say)
I can see now that I'm probably the only one who can speak properly under intense fear. So I shall do that.

The video starts off showing a casual day in the factory, where they slaughter cows and such. Then the camera is moved to the
right to reveal the man that Dark claims to have seen... who, after a minute or so, vanishes. Just as he vanishes, however,
a grinder tilts at juuust the right angle to hit a random passerby. As the chao is shredded to bits, a collection of smaller
grinders that were attached to the original all start falling out of place, as well. As some chao try to stop them, other
grinders and machines catch them, and other chao end up trying to run away but then trip, and... well... yeah, it's not too
pleasant. The tape ends abruptly as a black spider leg appears at the edge of the camera.

Shadow: That.. tape.. was... FREAKY. Somebody, throw it away. Please.
Red: I get the feeling we may need this for later, Shadow.
Shadow: What the hell gives you that feeling?!
Red: Call it a hunch. C'mon, let's get out of here.
Shade: Red, you're lightening up fast.
Red: It's not that. I'm just getting traumatized and want to get through this as fast as possible.
[they move onward, over to the northwest section of town]
Shadow: Ugh, guys, just hang on, okay? Let me catch my breath for a bit...
[Shadow sits under a tree's shade]
Red: Fine, have your rest.
Shade: Guys. That man. What the hell?
Dark: I'm sure I know him...
Shade: I'm 100% positive that I do, too, but I don't remember from where...
Red: Now, hang on. I'm not 100% positive that it's the same man you're remembering.
Shade: Well, what OTHER man could it be?
Red: I dunno, some Chao World equivalent of him!
Shade: Hmm, well, no point wondering over it now. Let's get Shadow and get going.
Red: ...Shadow... wait a minute. SHADOW!
Shadow: Calm down, I'm just over here!
Red: Shadow. Get up. NOW.
Shadow: Oh, what'd I do this time?
Red: Slowly come over here. DON'T turn around.
Shadow: Um... okay.
[he does]
Red: Now, let's all just.. leave the town. Okay? Let's go.
[they slowly leave the town; Red keeps his eye behind them]

[cut back to the Sancheria woods; it's about nine o' clock, and our heroes are gathered around the river]
Red: Huh? Oh, right, right, the woods.. oh, crap.
[Red looks around frantically]
Red: Anything? ...no sign. Okay, I think we're safe for now.
Shadow: Sheesh, Red, calm down! I was just taking a breather.
Red: It's not that; it's what you rested under that got me...
Shade: Relax, man! It was just a tree. They're everywhere, in case you couldn't tell.
Red: Yes, but if you'll remember, there are no trees in Scruple!
[Shade, Dark, and Shadow start to turn pale]

Entry #22 (Shadow: Checking off the Checklist)
If we value our lives in any form, we should NOT, under any circumstances,
- Follow and/or approach the "other chao." (Okay, we've done rather well in this aspect.)
- Go near that aisle of trees. (Went in the other direction. Good.)
- Enter any holes in the ground, whether surrounded by bodies, or with a ladder inside. (Haven't seen any of those yet.)
- Go in any houses. (Uhhh... oh, jeez.)
- Go in ANY houses. (Yeah...)
- Go NEAR any houses. (Ack...)
- Enter any houses. (We.. ah..)
- Go in any houses. (We did not do that one. But.. let's be lenient. We didn't go in any houses here in the forest!)
Oh, and we must make sure to keep our eyes on the trees. That sounds fairly easy, considering we'll be in a forest.

"Keep our eyes on the trees?" For some reason, that's starting to sound more and more relevant.

Entry #23 (Red: A Close Encounter... the First of Many?)
I can't believe Shadow was THAT foolish enough to just waltz on over to that.. that "tree." ****. I can't believe I was that
foolish enough to not realize it sooner! I know now that what we are dealing with is not of Chao World origin. No, the being
we have encountered, and will no doubt encounter much more frequently tonight, is from the deepest and darkest corners of the
internet. I.. I swear, it was just an urban legend! A myth! Although, knowing of this DOES make the fact that we are wearing
the Marble Hornets costumes a little.. funny.

Entry #24 (Shade: From Eight 'til Nine)
So in this hour, we disembarked from the village and went south. We found a small little outpost, and steered clear of that
other traveler. We then followed the river down several acres, and found the odd town of Scruple, which seems to be stuck in
eternal daytime, or another time zone, or something. One fetch quest later, we wound up in the twisted, darker version of
Scruple, the moonlit industrial town of Tenebrosity, home to the world's largest meat processing factory. We spent a good
half hour investigating that accursed factory, killing a giant bug and getting out and whatnot. Then, according to Red, we
just had a close encounter...

..with the Operator.


(Tale Three)
[Mephiles picks up the axe]
[he enters a door in front of him and finds himself in a laundry room; the ground is flooded]
Mp: Great. Now I'm alone, AND my feet are wet.
[he looks around]
Mp: Though I get the feeling only one of those is true.
[this room has three doors: the one he entered from, one off to the side, and one up a flight of stairs]
[he heads up the stairs, only for THOSE to break and for him to end up behind the door off to the side]
Mp: Freakin' old house.
[he stacks some crates in the hole in the staircase and makes it to the door]
[..only to find it locked]
Mp: You have got to be kidding me. NOW what am I supposed to do?
[he spots an oddly-coloured patch of wall to his right]
[he whacks at it with his axe, and it falls apart, revealing a bathroom]
[a man's pair of legs are on the toilet, and his upper body (not attached to the legs) is on the ground]
Mp: Holy sh--
[Mephiles holds back his innards]
Mp: Stay calm. It's just a dead guy. It's like Dreamcatcher.. just without the weasels. Just.. head.. for the door.
[he goes up to the door]
[groaaaaaaaaaaan]
Mp: What was that?
[he turns and sees the man's upper body crawling towards him]
Mp: EEEEEEEEEEEK! *whack whack whack* DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE!
[it dies]
Mp: Oh man. What the frick was up with THAT?
[he leaves the bathroom and finds himself in a small corridor; the light is flickering]
Mp: This place gives me the jibblies--
[a corpse falls from the ceiling]
Mp: !!!
[he creeps around it, then finds an unlocked door]
[the next room has two doors, including the one he came through; it also has three beds]
[he walks toward the other door, only to hear a loud THUMP]
[he turns and sees the first bed on its side]
[THUMP]
[the second bed flies upward, then falls back down]
[THUMP]
[the third does the same]
Mp: What in the worl--
[the lights go out]
Mp: Okay. I admit. I'm getting kinda anxious now.
[he feels around for the door, finds it, and opens it]
[it's another corridor, with lights on but scarce]
[blood is on some walls]
[at the end of the corridor is an open door (on the left)]
[Mephiles peeks inside and sees a living room, complete with TV (showing static)]
Mp: Seems safe enough.
[as soon as he sets foot inside, he sees a young woman in a black dress standing in front of him]
Mp: HOLY ****.
[she only appears for a second before vanishing]
Mp: What the.. what the..?
[he hears another groan, looks to the right, and sees a zombie]
Mp: What the heck?
[he kills it]
Mp: Right. Uh.. let's.. let's look at this room. Carefully.
[there are four doors- the one he entered, one next to the TV, and two open ones leading to closets]
[he tries the door next to the TV, only to find it locked]
Mp: Great. Now what?
[he sees a couch in front of the TV; on the couch is a pistol]
Mp: Eh. Why not? *grabs gun*
[he lies on the couch and stares at the static on the TV]
Mp: ....this is freaking boring. I hope Mecha and the Doll are having more progress than--
[an eye flashes onscreen]
Mp: --I AM, ack! *sits right up*
[then the TV shows a small corridor, and a door]
[the young woman in the black dress is seen slowly walking up the corridor to the door]
[she is shown opening the door, and just standing there]
[simultaneously, the door next to the TV opens (in such a way that the door, itself, blocks the view of what's in the next room)]
Mp: O_O ........do I dare?
[on the TV, the woman remains just standing there]
[Mephiles slowly gets up, then moves towards the door]
[he peeks around it, and sees an empty corridor leading to another door]
Mp: Fr..freaky.
[he goes up to the next door, then hears the previous door slam shut]
Mp: Wha?!
[he hears footsteps approaching him]
[he quickly opens up the next door, finds ANOTHER small corridor leading to a door, and runs in]
[the ground collapses (again), leaving him to fall down into ANOTHER corridor, where he opens ANOTHER door]
Mp: How many times am I gonna fall? I mean, SERIOUSLY?