The universe cracks, the planet halts, the seas rages, the earth rumbles, the city shakes, the people scream, her heart beats as her soul disintegrates, yet in the moment. It all doesn't matter; it doesn't even become part of her perception for even a moment, as the split between reality and fiction has disappeared.
Ivana laughs and says, "This was a rather long dream, wasn't it?"
She quickly uses her curse and takes control of her overflowing hair. Then she condenses individual strands into sharp blades, which she brings towards her neck. Maples activates her legacy on her hand, touches Ivana's head, slowing down her actions, and says, "Hold on girl, this is reality."
"Huh? Don't lie to me!"
Iancu turns to Elia and says, "Everyone, turn and close your eyes, she got this."
Elia walks forward, and Ikaras says, "Why do I need to close my ey-." As her eyes meet his, he feels a hand grab his throat, squeezing it tightly, bringing him to silence. And moments later, his eyes shut from the pain, the tension across his body leaves, and he shakes in fear as he touches his neck, checking for the marks of the grip he thought was over it.
"Turn around as well, if any of you look, I am taking your lives."
As they all follow her instructions with fear, groping their bodies and minds. Elia stands in front of Ivana, and she holds one leg up and puts her hands over her head, making two makeshift bunny ears, then she says, "If you go all softy-wufty right now, I'll neva eva gonna fowgive you, hmph!"
Ivana jumps back, right into Maple's arms, and yells from the bottom of her heart in an overwhelming combination of fear and disgust, causing Maple to say, "You see this? Yeah, that's the terror only reality can ever give someone."
She puts her hands over her eyes and says, "My mind could never conceive of such horrors; this really is not a dream."
Mõõk turns around and then walks over to her, saying, "So will you help us pick our line up?"
She quickly crawls behind the Maple. Extending her long legs over the little girl's body, then says, "Why would you pick me?"
Orb says, "No one else hear is intimately familiar with the playstyle of the Knightmares, along with the abilities of all of us gathered in this room. Mõõk, can't make a decision without the knowledge, and as a super fan, you'd be the best one to do the jump."
Ivana shakes her head no, but Mõõk quickly moves towards her, and with Maple in between them, he says, "Orb explained how much love and support you've given to us Knightmares. In fact, I remember you from the fan meet and greet eighteen years ago."
Her body's function comes to a halt as she says, "You do?"
"Of course, you're Ivana Balint. Back then, we weren't even making it into the top 30 within the league, yet some people just like you kept coming to our meet and greets to raise support."
Mõõk takes hold of his armour, showing a piece of his chest plate for his gear that is a different colour than the rest. "You see this here, is all that remains of our original armour, which was paid for by our first fans. I'd never forget that."
He moves closer, squishing Maple, and grabs Ivana's hands, then says, "You know how much my dream of being a hero to our people means to me, and right now you're one of the only people I can call on to make that true, so will you help me, because Ivana Balint, you're my only hope."
As she stares into his eyes, she quickly becomes enraptured and says, "Of course! Anything for you!"
He smiles and says, "GREAT!"
She quickly turns to Elia and then says, "Would you be my maid of honour?"
"Get a grip."
Full of energy, Mõõk says, "Now let's get to selecting."
-Break-
ΦWalking down a hallway, a member of Bendícon with a little book in his hand and horrible posture that causes him to lean forward like a bent tree, says, "Where did everyone run off to while I was in the toilet?"
In front of him, Dragoste walks down the hallway and says, "You're a member of Bendícon, right?"
He quickly straightens up his back, and quickly takes his two fingers and slides them across his head, then says, "Greetings, Minister."
Laughing, he says, "I told you that you don't need to do such things. Just be casual, you are guests here."
"Sorry about that, but the Madam told us to be respectful or she would rip our heads off."
"Still scary. Though I do wonder why you're here alone? Did you have any complaints with our treatment of you all?"
"No, I was going to those fancy toilets you told us to use early; the food you personally brought made my stomach run. Oh, but it was delicious, make no mistake, it just seems that me eating 90% of it myself probably caused it to move through me poorly."
With a smile, Dragoste says, "Pretty dumb for a man that hails from a clan of doctors."
Embarrassed, he says, "The food was just that good, it seems I got carried away trying to eat all of the food of my brothers and sisters on Terrafide."
"Is the cuisine not to your liking in Molstoria. The nightmares there still have all of the cursed beasts they brought over during the era of Levev?"
"We do, but we don't cook them on the same level as we do here. The nightmare communities in Molstoria and Enotita are better protected and far more integrated into those continents than you guys in Terrafide. We basically lost a whole lot of the skills we had from Blestemate."
Dragoste's hands shake, and it quickly catches the eyes of the man in front of him, causing a fright to move through his body, right before Dragoste lets out tears.
"Is everything ok, minister!?"
"It's all fine. It just makes me happy that it's possible for something like that to be a nightmare's concern. I hope one day that will be the only problem nightmares will be able to speak off. Bye-bye now."
As he walks away, the man takes a deep breath before saying, "How scary. I thought I was going to choke."
Returning my posture to normal, he says, "At least now, I can do what else I came here for."
He runs forward through the area, and by a gift store, he walks forward, and grabs a book before placing an amulet in front of the storekeeper. Walking out of the store, he looks at the book and says, "Now I can finally understand how this game is played. Curse Chess instruction manual here I come!"
He touches the book, and soon a voice starts to emanate from it, and says.
"-CURSED CHESS-
Cursed Chess is the national sport of Blestemate. It's a combination of both mentally and physically taxing situations that force all nightmares who practise pate to push themselves to the limit.
It is played by two teams of 7 people each, who ride in giant manmade machines known as monster trucks, that hold a fully lined up of giant chess pieces. The goal of the sport is to win you're opponent in chess, through the capture or destruction of their king. This is either done by using a ball to strike out the king, or by beating your opponent in chess after 45 minutes have passed from the beginning of the game.
Every piece struck down or moved to a different position by the ball during the match portion of the game is kept in the same position as the chess game starts. Enhancing the strategy needed to win a game. Each team can have one member in the machine who protects the pieces close by; outside of that member, all other teammates are forbidden from touching the machine or the pieces. If this rule is broken, a foul will occur.
Throughout the game, the ball must always hit a different surface every 3 seconds or be without the contact of another person. Failure to do so will result in a foul. Every and all types of weaponry, techuqiunes, legacies, and curses are allowed to be used without restriction, and fatalities are allowed. Though you are only allowed to directly attack people within a 5-meter range of the ball, or the ball itself, if this rule is broken, a foul will occur.
Every 10 minutes, the goalkeeper can move one piece, following the basic rules of chess. No piece has to be moved, but if a piece is successfully moved to a square where one of the opponent's pieces are on, the team that has knocked down the most pieces gets to capture the overlapping pieces when the chess match begins. Every 5 minutes, each team gets one bewitchment point. During this period, a given player can activate bewitchment or advent, if for any reason, it turns off, they can use another point to turn it on again.
Players are allowed to modify their machines however they find fit, but they cannot allow their budget for the machine to exceed a set limit, which is changed each year. Wonderbeasts are not allowed to be used to be fitted for use in the games, and all machines used must be primarily mechanical. If a team is unable to afford a machine, they can borrow a standard one from their regional office. If the ball flies into the crowd, or bursts, or a foul occurs, the ball is considered to be out of play. Both teams are allowed to bring up to 7 substitutes, with the substitution for the goalkeeper being clearly distinguished from the others. A substitution for a player can be called at any time the ball is pushed out of play.
There are many more rules for Cursed chess to advance you're skill and knowledge, which is something that one could never forget. Press the button on the back if you wish to depend on your understanding, but if not, enjoy the game, and I hope you start playing too."
Looking at the book in front of him, he says, "This place is considered uncivilised to a lot of nightmares in Molstoria, but they are far more advanced than we thought. I should go apologise to my ancestors."
-Break-
Location: Distorted Sky player tunnel
Within the player tunnel, the six brothers stretch their bodies as the Distorted Sky machine moves up and down the area. It is a giant bipedal house with fury chicken legs, the roof is feathered, and the windows and doors resemble the facial features of an old lady, with the door elongated, forming a nose. Inside the house lies a chessboard with white and red pieces.
And with her butt resting on the door nose, Žudrė, the goalkeeper and captain of the Distorted Sky, looks at a locket on her chest, which she opens, revealing a man and a nightmare woman in their youth holding their hands together in happiness.
Gynėjas Pink moves over to his sister, and he says, "Are you still thinking about mom?"
"Of course I am, it's a big day for us."
Gynėjas White says, "She probably would be screaming if she saw us playing today. In Blestemate, the heart of all nightmares, they always wanted to be here."
With a smile, Gynėjas Blue says, "The architecture, the people, the weather, she would have loved every moment of it."
Gynėjas Yellow says, "That's why we have a responsibility to make sure this country doesn't fall."
Žudrė, with a sigh, says, "You're right, today we will bring Blamator actions forward, and strike down against those evil, incompetent ministers. The final safe haven for nightmares all across the world exists here, and they're willing to lie on their backs and let it fall. I won't allow it."
Gynėjas Green says, "You're all so uptight all the time. What a bummer."
Yellow says, "You're too relaxed!"
Gynėjas Red says, "We're no longer in chains, everyone, mother and father made sure of that, so keep your spirit up, because we fight to smile, we don't fight to be sad."
Žudrė smiles and says, "You're sounding more like dad every day, red."
"You think?"
"I know you, brat. So let's go crush the Knightmares and save this country!"
As the Zbur yells, they all walk forward, leaving the tunnel, and entering the field, where they are face to face with the Knightmares' new lineup.