Fantendo - Mansion/Story Mode

This is the chapter-by-chapter story mode of Fantendo - Mansion.

Prologue

The story begins with a view of a gigantic tower on a patch of land, with a very visible storm occurring around it. We see someone peering out on a balcony that is seemingly on the highest floor. It is revealed to be Dare, gazing out at the storm occurring.

A serpent-like creature approaches Dare from behind, clearing his threat loudly.

Serpent: Ssir?

Dare: If you're trying to make yourself sound more like a snake with the S's, you're gonna need to take a hint from an actual snake.

Serpent: Well, my apologies, sir. But I have a message from your...ah, your partner.

Dare turns to the serpent slightly.

Dare: That being?

The serpent pulls out a scroll from his back pocket.

Serpent: Here, sir.

Dare takes the scroll and reads it quickly.

Dare: This is a list of the people they want me to bring here?

Serpent: I'd assume, sir.

Dare reads it over again, and hands it back to the serpent.

Dare: Giare.

Giare: Sssir?

Dare looks at Giare with annoyance and sighs, who quickly realizes his mistake and puts his hands up in protest.

Giare: Look, you already know that's base inssstinct for me—

Dare: If we could both ignore that...I'll need you to do a little bit more work involving projections if you don't mind.

Giare: Even if I did mind, I wouldn't have a choice...

Dare: Touché.

Dare looks back out to the storming area. Giare pulls the scroll out of his back pocket and reads it over.

Giare: Sir, if I may ask, is there a particular reason you are making this choice? I'm sure S-Sir Aktoz may not approve of this...

Dare smirks.

Dare: I've done this before and I'm sure I'll do this again in the future. Aktoz knows me too well, he'll see this as mostly harmless stuff to try and see who's "up for the fight".

Giare seems at a loss for words for a brief moment before speaking again.

Giare: Are...are you sssure—u-uh, sure—about doing this, sir? Think about the consequences if this goes wrong...

The smirk disappears from Dare's face as the storm ends, though the sky is left dark, as the camera dooms out to show the tower on a floating piece of land in a seemingly unearthly dimension. It then fades to black, but not before one last thing is said.

Dare: What Aktoz doesn't know won't hurt him.

---

Meanwhile, Unten is shown sleeping. He wakes up in a large metal room.

Unten: Urgh...

Unten sits up, rubbing his head. He looks around, but there is nothing except a door, which, oddly, looks like it was left ajar.

Unten: What the...

He gets up, stretches, and pushes the door open to a long corridor with candles lighting the way. Unten sighs and starts walking.

Unten: This better be a dream...

Unten, after a while, reaches the end of the corridor, which ends with another door. Unten pushes it open to see another room, with a cloaked figure on the other side.

Unten: Um...hey.

The cloaked figure doesn't move, it's gaze transfixed on the Beorn.

Unten: Uh...do you, uh, know what this place is?

The cloaked figure shrugs.

Unten: Well...do you know a way out?

The figure steps aside. There's a doorway behind it.

Unten: Oh. Thanks.

Unten slowly walks to the doorway. When he sees it, there is nothing but blackness everywhere, with a small metallic ledge near the door being the only tangible thing there. Unten, confused, turns towards the figure again.

Unten: Uh...how do I...

Before he finishes, however, the figure uses a gloved hand and pushes Unten off. He falls down the black void, memories flashing by; Chief Dongorio's death, Zeon exploding with an escape pod flying away, and several Beorns in a sewer, being crushed and consumed by a savage beast...and during all this, he hears his name, yelled over and over like a horrific chant...the memories soon turn into Doomulus Grime, then The Threat, who lunges towards Unten.

???: Unten!

Unten wakes up with a start, gasping for breath. He turns and sees none other than Rachel at his side, a worried look on her face. Leah's sitting a few feet away, arms crossed.

Rachel: Hey. You alright?

Unten wipes the sweat from his brow, making brief eye contact with Leah, before dropping his gaze immediately.

Unten: Y-Yeah.

Rachel: Well, you may want to get up. We've got a problem.

Leah: Yeah, about time you got up! You've been sleeping ever since we got here! Would you like to explain the hell is going on?

Unten rubs his eyes, unaware of what's happening, his mind still on the nightmare.

Unten: What're you guys talking about? I don't-

Unten pauses, realizing where he is: a completely unfamiliar area, looking like a living room to a villa. He's resting on an armchair, with several sofas surrounding, and a fireplace heating the area. A carpet is on the floor, and the room is connected by several doorways.

Unten: ...wait, where are we?

Rachel: Your guess is as good as mine. Feels kind of like the labyrinth but...

Unten: ...nicer?

Rachel shrugs.

Unten: Hey...who else is here?

Leah sighs.

Leah: Metals, Strafe, PalmMan. No one else. We sent those three in a separate group to see if we could find anyone else.

Rachel: Yeah, we all just woke up in a giant kitchen. This house is huge, this is the fourth living room we've found.

Unten stretches and gets up.

Unten: And no one else is here?

Leah: Nope. No sign of anyone.

Leah goes back to pouting in her chair. Unten turns to Rachel.

Unten: Let me guess, X-Ray?

Rachel: Probably.

Leah: More like definitely. Where the hell is she? Kinda weird that us six wakes up here and no one else is to be found.

Unten doesn't reply, but glances at one of the doorways.

Unten: Well, we should probably find the others, try and figure out what's happening.

As Unten says this, footsteps come from the doorway opposite of the one Unten's glancing at. The three turn to find Strafe and PalmMan, followed by an exhausted Sakeena.

Strafe: Unten!

Unten smiles weakly at the three. Sakeena flops down on a sofa.

Sakeena: Sorry, I c-can't keep up with these guys...we've been running up and down stairways for the past hour...

Leah: Suck it up, Metals. We've got other things to worry about.

PalmMan: Like?

Leah glares at PalmMan, who recoils.

Leah: What do you think, palm-for-brains? What about finding X-Ray, huh?

Rachel: You aren't the only one who's worried about that, dude.

Sakeena: Yeah, and what about everyone else? I doubt it should be just us six, I thought some other people would be here, even if X-Ray was here.

Strafe: Who'd you expect?

Strafe sits down on the sofa next to Sakeena.

Sakeena: I dunno...Volt, probably? Reese? Aurora? Maybe DragonMan?

PalmMan sulks.

PalmMan: Yeah...DragonMan...

Unten sighs and walks towards a doorway.

Leah: Wait, where the hell are you going?

Unten: To find an exit and get out of this stupid place.

Rachel: Well, I hate to break it to you, but there isn't one.

Unten pauses.

Unten: What, no front doors? Trapdoors? Portals?

Strafe: We haven't even found a window, much less an exit to this place.

Unten flops back into an armchair.

Unten: Well, what else do we do?

Sakeena: Good question. We should try looking for more people, maybe, we haven't checked the basement yet.

Unten: There's a basement? How big is this place, anyways?

Rachel is about to answer where there is the sound of clanging of metal, followed by a scream, coming from one of the doorways. Leah, who's spent most of the time sulking in an armchair, immediately perks up.

Leah: What the—HEY! X-RAY!

Leah bursts out of her chair and sprints down the stairway where the noise came from.

Unten: Hey, wait, Le—damnit. She's already gone.

Rachel: We better follow.

Everyone else gets up and goes down the same stairway.

---

MISSION: CHASE AFTER LEAH
Make sure she doesn't murder anyone that isn't X-Ray.

Playable: Unten, Strafe, Sakeena, Rachel, PalmMan

---

Unten and the others come to a screeching halt in a kitchen-like room; Leah is already at X-Ray's side, making sure she isn't hurt. A furry green creature lying facedown is a few feet away, with several pots and pans scattered on the floor; it looks like the creature slammed right into a cabinet filled with the pots.

X-Ray: Leah, stop worrying, I'm fine—wait, Leah, they're here!

Leah takes one glance at her friends, who are gaping at the creature. She turns to the creature, before continuing to check to see if X-Ray is hurt.

Unten: So, who's your friend?

X-Ray: That's a good question. He and I were kind of teleported here as I was going to Rachel's apartment, I thought Leah would be there...

X-Ray's voice drifts off. As this happens, the green creature starts stirring.

???: ...urgh...

The creature slowly gets up, revealing his face. He's revealed to be a cat-like creature, sporting a red collar, with a golden bell attached. He stares at the other seven in bewilderment.

Lucky: Wait, who the h—

Leah immediately grabs him by the collar and slams him into a wall, putting a needle to his throat.

Lucky: —a-ACK!

X-Ray: Leah!

Leah: Alright, greenie, you better start talking before I give you a shot.

Lucky starts shaking, clearly terrified of Leah.

Lucky: A-A-About w-what!?

Leah: Start telling me where the fuck we are!

Lucky: I d-don't know! L-Let me g-go!

X-Ray: Leah, stop!

Leah drops the cat, who slowly sinks into a curled-up position as he hides his horrified face in his knees.

Rachel: Great, now you scared him.

Lucky: I-I am not scared!! I'm j-just cold!

As Lucky continues to shake, now weeping, Unten nervously approaches him.

Unten: Hey...look, I'm not gonna hurt you, just calm down for a second.

The cat looks at Unten for a moment before hiding his face again.

Unten: Alright, can you start with your name?

Finally, Lucky resolves to show his face again, though he stays curled up against the wall, eyeing Leah nervously.

Lucky: ...i-it's Lucky....

Strafe: ...your name is Lucky?

X-Ray: Was that you who crashed and sent all the pots everywhere?

Lucky nods.

Lucky: I-Ironic thing is that I'm literally the most u-unlucky cat on the planet.

Strafe: Well, do you have an idea where we are?

Lucky: Not a c-clue. I was asleep at my house when I just kind of got here. I s-saw her...

Lucky gestures towards X-Ray. Leah glares at him.

Lucky: ...u-uh, yeah, I saw her, she was unconscious. I tried running to get help, and I...kinda ran facefirst into a cabinet.

Leah snorts, though everyone else ignores it.

Rachel: This doesn't happen to you often, does it?

Lucky: All the time.

Rachel: Ouch.

Unten helps Lucky up, who is still shaking a little bit.

Unten: Well, whatever happened before, we're still a bit confused on this whole thing. Same thing happened to us...

Leah: Minus you throwing yourself into a cabinet.

Strafe: Thanks for that, by the way, you helped us find X-Ray. Leah over here was shitting herself trying to find her.

X-Ray giggles at Strafe's comment, while Lucky flushes in embarrassment and Leah silently makes a death threat towards Strafe.

Unten: Well, yeah, we all woke up here and have no idea how to get out.

???: Hey! Unten, is that you?

Everyone glances towards the doorway: Reese has just appeared in it, closely followed by Volt.

Sakeena: Oh, hey, guys!

Rachel: Did you guys wake up in a room with no memory of how you got here, too?

Volt and Reese glance at each-other, before Volt answers.

Volt: Well, yeah, but...

Reese: It wasn't just us.

Everyone gives Reese a quizzical look.

Sakeena: What do you—

Reese: Just...follow us. It's hard to explain.

Reese goes the other way, as Volt, Unten, Lucky, and the others follow suit. They continue through several rooms before they stop in a massive living room, where about a dozen sofas are arranged in a circle, all around a fireplace. The room is connected to another small kitchen. But that isn't what catches everyone's eye.

Leah: What the...

Lucky: Woah.

Unten: How did...?

Many other people sit in the sofas, most of which cheer upon seeing Unten, Leah, and the others enter the room. Among them, Unten recognizes several from the resort; he catches sight of, Syi, Fera, Aurora, Aran, and Melissa. Also noticeable is Iron Mask, Scarlet, Thorn, and 3.14. Most of them sit in sofas, or one of the few armchairs, while others pace the room nervously.

Unten: Uh, Volt, what...?

Volt: Everyone else woke up in here. You guys woke up in separate rooms?

Unten: I woke up alone in another living room, X-Ray and Lucky over here in a smaller kitchen, and I guess the others with me woke up in the same room.

Unten looks around the room: he spots two F.A.N.T. agents, recognizable as Alena Carter and Jake Skett, scanning the room and talking quietly to each-other. He also spots what looks like a cyborg-esque male, who begins talking with PalmMan as the latter sits down with him. A white cartoony-looking cat is conversing with a flustered-looking Lucky, while Aurora and Fera are huddled in a corner on one of the sofas. A nervous-looking black ghost is on the other side, trying to avoid the two girls. Cura, a friend from the Resort, waves towards Unten, who reluctantly waves back. Unten, distracted by the sheer amount of guests, is brought down back to Earth when he hears his name.

???: Unten!

Unten turns and sees an alien glancing nervously around her while walking towards him.

Unten: Oh, hi, Quartz.

Quartz: Unten, what's going on? Why is everyone here?

Unten: Um...look, help me get everyone to be quiet. We all need to put some pieces together if we want to get out of here.

---

A few minutes later, Unten stands in front of everyone else, who are all perched on different sofas; the only exception are Lucky, who perched himself on a small stool, eager to keep his distance from all of the strangers.

Unten: Alright, look...we all woke up here in different rooms of this huge mansion place, and none of us have any memories of coming here?

A murmur goes through the room, though everyone seems to have no memory of arriving at the mansion.

Unten: Okay, so...we're all stuck here, and there's no exit...

Leah: Yeah, yeah, we get it, that fucking sucks. Get to the point.

Unten—along with several others—glares at Leah, who leans back, smirking.

Unten: Look, point is..we need to figure this out together. As, you know, a team. Most of us know each other from past events, if any of you were in the labyrinth or the resort, while others...

Unten gestures towards Lucky, who blushes and avoids the stares of several people who only now noticed his presence.

Unten: ...are basically completely new to all of this. That doesn't matter, though: whether we're best friends, worst enemies, or complete strangers, we need to work together to figure this out, put the puzzle pieces together. We all know we aren't just trapped here for no reason—

???: Thanks for stating the obvious, Unten.

Unten, along with everyone else, turns around and sees a showstage has appeared out of nowhere in the space that was the kitchen. On the showstage is an orange deity-looking creature with a sly smirk on his face.

Dare: Well, that got more attention then I thought it would.

Rachel: Hey, aren't you one of The Fan's helpers? What're you doing here?

Dare: I would've guessed you assumed the worse, that I trapped you here, but if that's not what your reaction is...

Unten: Wait, wait, you trapped us here?

Dare: Not necessarily. I'm just helping out the higher force who did trap you.

Leah glares at Dare, suspicious.

Fera: Wait, why did you trap us here in the first place? I don't understand, aren't you someone who helps the good guys?

Dare: It's an on-and-off thing, but let's not beat around the bush. Better explain to you why you all are stuck here.

A spotlight appears out of nowhere and shines on Dare.

Dare: As most of you know, many of the people here are banded together to fight a goddess who has waged war with The Fan and The Enemy, two god brothers who created this universe, the goddess being known as The Threat. This is a project I'm conducting where I've gathered heroes from all over the corners of this universe to put them through a stimulated series of trials to see if they are truly "ready" to take on The Threat's massive army. That is why all of you are here in my pocket dimension, The Risk Sanctuary, in order to be those who take part in the experiment.

A hurricane of questions breaks the deafening silence, which Dare shuts up quickly.

Dare: As I was saying....I've gathered you all here in a place called Manoir de la Nuit. This mansion is gargantuan; this labyrinth of rooms is considered one floor! Each floor contains different challenges that must be overcomes by each person here. Fail and you have to start over. It's a process that must be done over and over until you succeed. At the final floor, the 100th, you will face off against none other then me, as a final test.

Leah: Wait, wait, lemme get this straight: you trapped us all in this hellhole of a dimension just to use us as guinea pigs for your own experiment?

Dare: I don't like to refer to it in such a negative matter...but yes. Every tenth floor is followed up by a checkpoint and rest area, by the way, and food is provided on floors at random intervals, so you don't starve to death.

Rachel: Wait, does The Fan know you're doing this? He wouldn't approve of this, I know it...

Dare: What Aktoz doesn't know won't hurt him. Oh, and, by the way, it's not like you can just fail over and over on purpose just to get a free exit pass. Believe me, it won't work. Just try it. I dare you.

A snicker can be heard from the crowd of people following the pun.

Dare: With that said, I'll be keeping track of each of your progress. You can leave this area by going through the cosmic doorway.

Dare beckons towards a magically-appearing doorway that appears suddenly in a nearby wall.

Dare: I wish all of you the best of luck on this. Oh, and there's sandwiches in the fridge.

Dare—alongside the entire showstage—disappears in a puff of smoke.

---

There is silence for a few moments, as Leah slowly crosses to the reassembled kitchen area. She opens the fridge, and she's surprised to find about 50 sandwiches stacked in it, alongside a few cases of bottled water.

Leah: Well, the bastard didn't lie about the sandwiches. Looks like they're all chicken and cheese, though. And—oh, fuck me, water bottles.

Leah starts tossing the food to everyone in the room, only pausing to laugh when she knocks Lucky of his stool with a poorly thrown bottle of water. Unten, still in shock from the revelation, goes and sits on a sofa with Sakeena and Strafe.

Unten: Jeez, can't believe that that Dare guy is behind this...

Sakeena: I dunno, he doesn't seem like he's powerful enough to have created all of this.

Strafe: You never know with deities when it comes to powers. I mean, I'm a demigod and I'm pretty sure I don't have any god-like powers.

Sakeena: Still...

Unten: Something's bugging me, though...

Sakeena and Strafe pause their debate and turn to Unten.

Strafe: What?

Unten shifts uncomfortably in his seat.

Unten: How do The Fan and The Enemy not know about us?

Strafe and Sakeena contemplate the question for a moment.

Strafe: I'm guessing they probably do know. I'd assume they either don't know the culprit, like with the labyrinth...

Sakeena: ...or they DO know Dare is involved, and they have no way to get to us, like with the resort.

Unten: I mean, this feels different from the resort, though. At the resort, the person guarding us was someone with an equal amount of power to the other gods and goddess. Not to mention those damn Beorn Androids were making sure they didn't come close to saving us.

Unten pauses to catch a sandwich thrown at his way, and to duck at an oncoming water bottle.

Sakeena: I dunno, this Dare guy seems pretty unpredictable. Who knows what he did to conceal or protect this place. Or both.

Strafe shrugs, continuing to eat.

Strafe: Well, for now, let's give ourselves a half hour to eat before we go.

Unten: I'm okay with that.

Unten pauses, than takes a bite out of his sandwich.

---

A half hour later, the many people, with their lunch finished and with water bottles at hand, are gathered around the newly appeared doorway. Sakeena opens the door, leading to a small corridor, as she leads everyone down it. Unten trails behind everyone else, next to Lucky.

Unten: Hey. You ok?

Lucky jumps, having not seen Unten before.

Lucky: What?! Oh, uh, y-yeah. I'm fine. Just...kinda overwhelming how all of these people are here all of the sudden...and some of them are being friendly to me.

Unten gives Lucky a confused look as they continue on.

Unten: What're you talking about?

Lucky: Well, u-uh, most of the time I was kinda i-ignored back at my hometown. I thought I'd be kind of an outcast h-here, mostly because I'm a cat.

Unten: Dude, don't worry. In case you haven't realized, also among us is a Beorn, a Sparkling, a ghost, another cat, and several robots. There's really no problem with people who aren't completely human.

Lucky sighs.

Lucky: Yeah, I guess you're right. It's just kind of a new thing, p-people actually not treating me like the odd one out. For example, do you know that w-white cat?

Unten glances upward at the white cat in front of him. He couldn't see his face, but he was talking excitedly to Volt.

Unten: Who, Scratch? I don't know the guy too well, but he's a very positive person generally.

Lucky: Yeah, he tried talking to m-me earlier, introduced himself and all that...I like the guy, actually, he's pretty nice...

Unten: Good for you, but we've got other things to worry about right now, from the looks of it.

Lucky tries to respond, but stops alongside Unten when the entire group seems to have stopped at another door.

Unten: What the....hey, Sakeena! What's going on!

Sakeena runs over to Unten.

Sakeena: Looks like we're about to go to Floor 1. Get this: we have to get there through a freaking zipline.

Lucky: What?!

Unten: You're kidding. We better get moving.

Unten glances out the doorway after moving past everyone, to find a single zipline leading into a multicolored abyss, with a couple dozen coat hangers in the corner.

Unten: Coat hangers?

Sakeena: I guess we're using them to go down the zipline. I can't find any ropes or something like that.

Unten shrugs and starts passing out the coat hangers.

---

When everyone has one coat hanger, Unten takes one himself and lines everyone up to go on it. He ends up last in line, behind a glum-looking PalmMan.

Unten: Hey, what's wrong.

PalmMan: DragonMan.

Unten: Huh?

Unten looks confused for a second before realizing.

Unten: Oh, yeah, he isn't here, is he.

PalmMan: I can't find him anywhere. Hasn't popped up at all in this stupid place. He must be worried sick, if none so us are anywhere...

Unten: Look, either he's safe at home, or he's going to be here soon. Nothing to worry about, he'll be fine.

PalmMan goes down the zipline after giving Unten a worried look, as Unten notices that Lucky is still standing by the zipline, quivering, even though he was one of the first people on line.

Lucky: S-S-Sorry, y-you go ahead of m-me....last time I was on a zipline, it ended with me f-falling 100 feet and breaking a paw...

Unten sighed and helped Lucky up again.

Unten: Look, if you want to get out of here, then you're gonna have to suck it up and do it.

Lucky gulps, grasping his coat hanger, before swallowing.

Lucky: Y-you're right. I need to do this.

Lucky, all too eagerly, brings his coat hanger on the zipline, as he hurtles down the large zipline area, screaming his head off. Unten quickly follows, as the two go down the rainbow-colored abyss to what should be their first challenge...

Chapter 1: Shapeshifter

Part 1: The First Floor

Unten continues down the zipline, seemingly reaching the end. However, only now does he realize that the zipline branches out into several paths; from the looks of it, everyone ended up with one of the several paths. He realizes this as he hurtles down one, watching the faint outline of Lucky fly the opposite direction.

Unten: Shit.

Finally, the coat hanger breaks just as the zipline ends, causing Unten to fall facefirst on the ground.

Unten: I already said I need to work on that landing more...

Leah: Is talking to yourself a side-effect of brain damage, or did you just not realize I'm here?

Upon hearing Leah's voice, Unten jumps up, alarmed. Taking a better look at the group, he recognizes Leah, Sakeena, the scarecrow from the resort he remembered as Syi, a cyborg-looking guy who's sitting against a nearby wall, and the giddy-looking white cat Lucky was talking to previously.

Unten: Would've been nice to know everyone went down different paths.

Sakeena: Yeah, I didn't even notice when I went.

Syi: Weren't you first, though?

Sakeena shrugs as Unten looks at his surroundings. All of them are in a black room, with a door on one wall, and a sign reading, "Floor 1: The Basics".

Sakeena: Well, whatever this is, looks like we're at our first floor.

Leah: We can all read, thanks.

Cyborg: Well, we better get on with this first floor, whether everyone else is here or not.

Leah pushes the door open, as Sakeena, Syi, Unten, the cat, and the cyborg leave.

Unten: Wait, who are you, anyways? I don't recall seeing you anywhere.

Data: The name's Data. Some other people call me Daniel.

Unten: Unten.

Data: Well, nice to meet you, Unten. Gotta admit, I never thought I'd see the day I'd introduce myself to a walking teddy bear.

Unten: Very funny, Mr. Cyborg.

Data smirks.

Data: Touché. What about him, though? He's not exactly your average stray cat, is he?

Unten looks at who Data is referring to; the white, cartoony-looking cat ahead of everyone else, humming absentmindedly to himself.

Unten: Yeah, well, no one knows who the guy is.

Data: Dunno if now's a good time to meet and greet, actually, looks like we're fully into our first trial.

The six characters enter a small room with wooden walls. Several platforms surround the room, and it seems very dark, with only small candles acting as a light source. The ceiling has a large hatch on it.

Scratch: Oh, jeez! I can't even see my own paws in here!

Sakeena: I can see them just fine, actually.

Scratch: Okay, that was a bit of an exaggeration. But that doesn't matter, it's just really, really dark in here!

Leah: No shit, Purrlock. Whatever it is, looks like we have to get up these damn platforms if we wanna get anywhere.

Immediately, Scratch scampers up to the first platform.

Scratch: Hey, this isn't too ha—

He doesn't finish this sentence, as he immediately slips off and falls facefirst back onto the ground.

Scratch: *muffled* Don't worry, I'm good!

Unten: How do you slip off of that so quickly?

Scratch: Just feel the platform's floors, it feels almost like ice.

Unten places an arm on the platform; sure enough, it feels incredibly slippery and moist.

Unten: Well, he's right. Platforms feel like they've been waxed.

Data: Damn. Well, we better tread lightly.

Suddenly, a large creak cracks through the air, startling the six. They all look up to see the hatch has opened, and a large swarm of insect-like robotic creatures start crawling out, landing on the floor and clasping their pincers menacingly.

Unten: Oh, fuck! Everyone, get to the exit, quick!

Syi: How?! We can barely climb up on a platform without slipping, and these insect things don't look like they're all warm and cuddly.

Scratch: Looks like we're gonna have to fight our way through!

Data: Dude, do you even having anything to fight with? Unless you have some magical powers or something?

Scratch: Well, I can do...

Scratch briefly morphs into Goku, who fires a large energy blast at one of the insects. The blast explodes, destroying about a dozen of the insects in one fell swoop. Scratch then transforms back.

Scratch: ...that.

Data: ...holy shit.

Unten: Guys! Let's go!

Unten takes out Imperium from his cloak as Leah pulls out her needle finger. The six charge at the swarm of insects surrounding them.

---

FLOOR 1 OBJECTIVE
Kill all of the insects while working your way to the exit.

Playable:

---

As the last of the insects shrivel and die, Unten leads everyone safely to the exit.

Unten: Everyone good? No one injured?

There are a few murmurs of "no". Unten exhales in relief.

Unten: Good. By the way, Scratch, how did you do that energy blast thing?

Scratch's head turns to Unten.

Scratch: I dunno! Just kind of...

Scratch mimics shooting a laser from his hands in an overly dramatic way, complete with sound effects. Leah rolls her eyes at this, while Sakeena tries to hold back laughter.

Syi: Well, we finally escaped from those insect...thing.

Data: Yeah, if that's what we're facing on Floor 1...

Leah: ...then God knows what other shit is gonna get tossed at us.

Unten: Well, let's not worry about that too much. We better keep on going.

Scratch: Roger that!

Scratch salutes Unten, before he runs ahead of everyone else down a new corridor. Unten sighs and runs after him, with the other four closely behind.

Part 2: Dara

Unten and co. enter another room: it's filled with machinery, and small metal hooks jutting out of walls over bottomless pits.

Unten: Whoa. What is this place?

Data: Judging from the hooks...I'd guess it's a puzzle-based room.

Scratch: Puzzles? Like the type where you fit two weirdly-shaped cardboard pieces together to form a picture?

Data: Well, I guess that's a half-decent way to put it...we gotta put some pieces together to try and solve this thing.

Sure enough, there is a passcode lock to what seems like the exit door.

Leah: Damnit. I don't wanna waste my clean brain power and hard-earned time on figuring out a number code.

Syi: Better stop complaining, then, because we need to find a way out of here.

Sakeena: Let's get working, then!

With Leah still grumbling, the six start huddling to discuss what to do.

---

FLOOR 2 OBJECTIVE
Explore the machinery room to figure out what the door passcode is.

Playable:

---

Unten types in the newly found passcode into the pad. It beeps briefly before swinging open.

Syi: See? That wasn't too hard.

Leah: That's a good 20 minutes of my brain functioning I'll never get back.

Data: Well, let's stop complaining and keep going. We've already finished two floors.

---

Meanwhile at Kolob, The Fan is pacing the meeting room anxiously. Immediately, The Enemy and Palutena enter.

The Enemy: Aktoz? You called.

The Fan looks up.

The Fan: Yes. We've got a problem.

The Enemy looks from Palutena to his brother, surprised.

Palutena: What? Is it...her?

The Fan: No. Unten, Rachel, Leah, Strafe...they're all gone.

The Enemy: Wait, all of them?

The Fan: I can't find most of the people we have on Earth at all. Volt, Thorn, Aurora, Fera...they've all just...

Palutena: ...vanished? This seems kind of similar to the Labyrinth, doesn't it?

The Fan sighs.

The Fan: Yeah, well, I thought it could be the same person, but...

The Enemy: What is it?

The Fan: I haven't heard from Dare in days. Weeks, even. He must've done something. I don't know what, and I don't know how, but...

The Enemy: Wait, is this such a big deal? Dare's done this type of thing before, capturing heroes and putting them through overly complicated trials...

Palutena: Now that I think of it, this is a very Dare-like thing to do.

The Fan sighs again.

The Fan: But...why so many people? And wouldn't he at least answer me when I need him? Something feels off with this...

Palutena: Alright, well, this isn't a big deal. We can just go to the Risk Sanctuary...

The Fan: That's the other thing. I don't know how he did it, but...he sealed off any entrance to the Risk Sanctuary completely.

This gets The Enemy's attention.

The Enemy: Wait, what? How, he's not a powerful enough deity to create a barrier that strong...

The Fan: It should be impossible. The only way that could happen is if The Threat is manipulating him, or he just went onto her side, which is...

Palutena: ...completely unlikely? I must agree, even Dare knows she is not to be trusted.

The Enemy: We need to figure something out. There has to be someone we can go to...

Palutena: Someone like The Gypsy? I don't know, she doesn't really associate herself with this battle as much as we do...

The Fan: There has to be someone. Someone who can break those powerful barriers, or—

Palutena: Wait.

The Fan pauses, and the two brothers face Palutena.

Palutena: I...I remember something now. There's someone who I heard about from The Gypsy, she has the power to manipulate portals.

The Fan: So...she can destroy the barrier?

Palutena: I'd assume she has the power to, yes. Where she is, though...

The Enemy: Find The Gypsy, find out more information on this person. Her name?

Palutena: It's...Zellen, I think. Yes, Zellen.

The Fan: Perfect. We need to go.

---

Unten and co. continue down an oddly-lighted corridor.

Leah: Hey, do any of you have any idea where the others are?

Unten: Who, like Strafe and Rachel and everyone? No, they all went down different paths to ours on the zipline.

Leah: Do you think they're doing the same challenges as us?

Unten contemplates for a moment before answering.

Unten: Probably. I mean, what else would they be doing? Waiting at a five-star hotel while we bust our butts running from insects or solving puzzles?

Leah: Sarcasm is not your forté, my blue friend. Better keep going, looks like we have another floor coming up.

Sure enough, the six are approaching a room reading "Floor 3".

Unten: Great. What's next?

A huge glass labyrinth awaits them. The walls are see-through, but it seems almost impossible to navigate the maze.

Data: Oh, Jesus, now we have a maze?

Scratch: Well, this shouldn't be too big of a deal, we can just break through.

Scratch attempts to punch through a glass wall. The wall bounces his fist off of it, resulting in him getting punched by his own fist and falling over.

Scratch: Okay...m-maybe we shouldn't do that...

Syi: Thanks for demonstrating?

Sakeena: Guys, check this out...

Unten glances over at what Sakeena is referring to—a wooden sign hanging above the door they came through, reading in crude handwriting, "Don't Stay Too Long! (You're Gonna Regret It!)

Syi: Great, now they're rushing us?

Scratch: Well, let's take Mr. Sign's advice to heart. Who knows, maybe we'll get a reward for going quickly enough.

Leah: It'll be more of a reward if you shut up and get on with the maze.

Scratch goes ahead, feeling his way through the maze. Unten does the same, feeling his way through it, though he accidentally seperates herself from Scratch. Soon, everyone is navigating the maze, but in a different direction. After a while, Unten and Leah end up running into a small room with a glass wall on it, and a chair leaning in the corner.

Leah: Well, shit.

Unten: Well, uh, let's go through your way again. We can probably figure it out from ther—

Unten cuts himself off when he realizes someone is on the other side of the glass wall.

Unten: Whoa, whoa! Hold on, someone's...on the other side of this!

Leah: Wait, lemme see...

The two gaze at the person in a fetal position on the floor in the separated area. The person is a red-haired human with basic-looking clothing, including a t-shirt and sneakers.

Leah: What the fuck. Is she...even alive?

Unten: I...I dunno...

Unten tries tapping the glass, the glass bouncing as he taps it. The girl sits up, apparently having fallen asleep, and notices the two on the other side. She stands up immediately and runs over to the glass, pressing her face and hands against it.

Unten: Hey! Can you hear me!

The girl nods, smiling.

Unten: Uh, are you okay?

The girl shrugs.

Unten: Can you tell us your name?

The girl hesitates, before breathing on the glass. It fogs up quickly. She quickly draws on it with her finger, spelling out the words, "My Name is Dara."

Leah: Hey, Dara, speaking would be a bit easier.

Dara breathes on the glass again and writes, "I can't. I'm mute." She adds a frowny face next to the word, "mute".

Unten: Wait, you can't speak? Do you just communicate with writing on paper or something?

Dara nods. Leah raises an eyebrow.

Unten: Okay, well, look, how did you get trapped in there? Is there any way out?

Dara starts to answer, but a loud rumbling cracks through the air, startling the three. Through the glass, Unten sees the ceiling is caving in on the floor, starting with at the entrance area.

Leah: Oh, fuck me!! Unten, come on, we need to go!

Unten: Hold on! Dara, is there any way we can get you out?!

Dara shakes her head sadly, but she soon points frantically at the chair in the corner, mimicking slamming it against the glass.

Unten: Got it! Wait one second, Leah!

Leah: Hurry the fuck up, then!

Unten takes the chair, heaving it over to Dara's glass wall, before beginning to hit it with the chair. After about four swings, the glass shatters into a million pieces. Dara scrambles out and hops on Unten's back.

Unten: Wait, what the...sigh, fine! Let's go!

Unten, Dara, and Leah scramble out of the room as the glass ceiling's pieces start raining down on where Dara's enclosing was.

---

FLOOR 3 OBJECTIVE
Escape the glass maze...QUICKLY!

Playable Characters:

---

If Unten and/or Leah reach the end of the maze within 90 seconds, the glass shower will stop, as they run right into a worried-looking Sakeena, with the other three behind her. Sakeena gasps in surprise upon seeing the three newcomers and runs to hug Unten.

Unten: Whoa! Sakeena, calm down, I'm fine...

Sakeena: Jesus Christ! I thought you were dead!

Leah: Nice to see you too?

Sakeena looks up at Leah, then sighs.

Sakeena: Okay, you too.

Sakeena embraces Leah, who looks annoyed but doesn't fight her off. Everyone's attention goes to the nervous-looking Dara.

Sakeena: Wait, who's that?

Unten: Oh, uh, this is Dara. She can't really speak, she's sort of mute. We found her in the maze.

Sakeena: Oh, uh, hi, Dara.

Dara holds up a finger, signaling everyone to wait, before pulling out a notebook and a pen, and scrawling in it the word, "hi!", complete with a smiley face next to it.

Unten: Huh. Guess that works. C'mon, we need to keep going.

Leah: Wait, wait, Little Miss Noisemaker is coming with us, too?

Dara rolls her eyes at Leah's remark, while Unten stops to think for a moment.

Unten: Well...we can't just leave her here...

Leah: Sigh...fine, she can stay. For now.

Dara jumps up in glee and goes ahead of everyone else at full sprint. The others scramble after her towards their next trial.

Part 3: Hordes

Somewhere else in the mansion, a different group of people are working their way through their version of the Floor 3 trial, which appears to be climbing a large mountain. In this group, there is Rachel, Reese, Lucky, Amaia, Aurora, and PalmMan.

Rachel grabs for another rock jutting out of the large landscape, pulling herself up.

Rachel: Jesus...we have to suffer through 97 more of these...

Amaia: Don't give up now. We're almost at the top, look.

Rachel: Not all of us.

She gestures below her, and Amaia glances that way. About 15 feet below Rachel is Lucky, struggling to pull himself onto a ice-covered ledge.

Amaia: Hey! Green cat guy! You okay?

Lucky: I-I'm fi—

The ledge breaks in half, and Lucky falls another twenty feet, only barely grabbing onto a jutting out rock.

Lucky: Ooookay...maybe n-not...

Rachel: Hey, hang on, I'll help you...

Amaia: Well, you go do that. I'm making it to the top.

Amaia continues her ascent, while Rachel hops down a few ledges, reaching her hand out for Lucky to grab. He gratefully latches on, and Rachel pulls him back up to the ledge she is on.

Lucky: H-ha...thanks...

Rachel: You alright? That was a pretty rough fall...

Lucky brushes a few rocks off of his fur.

Lucky: Eh, not really...I-I've had worse...

Rachel reaches for another ledge, pulling herself up.

Rachel: Well, that sucks. Let's get to the top quickly, the sooner we continue, the better.

Lucky reaches out to the same ledge, only to cry out in shock.

Rachel: What? What's wrong?!

A large rumbling sound cracks through the air. From a distance, Rachel sees Aurora, Amaia, PalmMan, and Reese flinging themselves down the mountain, as a barrage of rocks comes barreling down the mountain.

Rachel: Shiiiiit.

Lucky: C'mon! L-let's get outta here!

More TBA

Chapter 2: Clockwork

The heroes fight a few creatures, but one of them strikes a particular chord in someone.

Chapter 3: Scratch the Surface

The true capabilities of the mansion's reality-warping powers are shown.

Chapter 4: Unwanted Help

Leah and X-Ray get some help they didn't think they needed.

Chapter 5: Halfway Mark

Dare crosses to another universe and puts his plan into further action.

Chapter 6: Trials

Some familiar terrain.

Chapter 7: Undead

Too far.

Chapter 8: Seperation Anxiety

Everyone is left on their own.

Chapter 9: Communication

Rachel finds a way to communicate with someone outside of the mansion.

Chapter 10: Gods

The brothers try to intervene.

Chapter 11: Gauntlet

Shadows of past faces come back to haunt our heroes.

Chapter 12: PARADOX.

The finale.