Maze of Darkness

The Count

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Huh... A BTTF PS3 game? I'm unfamiliar with that. The two games I know/remember are the NES games based on BTTF 1 and the other which is a combination of BTTF 2 & 3. Whenever we played the latter, we'd just plug in the password Thefluxcapicatoristhepower to bypass the BTTF 2 half of the game and end up straight in the second half based on the third movie instead.

I'm intrigued by the way you flesh out the Labyrinth universe, there's always some subtle nuance brought out that hadn't been thought of previously. Hope for more when it's ready.
 

RedPiggy

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Here's a playlist on youtube for the entire 4 episodes of the game
here
Christopher Lloyd is in it, though Marty is played by some guy, forget his name, but it's creepy just how accurate he is. In the last episode, though, Michael J. Fox does cameo.

I haven't quit this story, but events at work might lead me to a promotion to hospital educator, which will increase my project load quite a bit. I really hope I get it. *fingers crossed* It just might take longer to get chapters up, is all. :smile:
 

The Count

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Unfortunately, I'm having to watch it from the beginning for a second time because it stopped for some reason at the point where Marty crashes into the one-winged goddess statue when trying to rescue his grandpa.

Couple of things though...
I'm thinking Edna Strictland is in on Kid Tannen's plot. Why? Because Marty introduced himself to her as Sunny Crockett, yet she calls him Mr. Corleon when Marty introduced himself as Michael Corleon to 1931 Emmet.
The line about Mario Bros., the Italians and their worthwhile contributions. Yes, especially their plumbing skills.
I wonder if Hobo Joe's grandfather got invited to those regular end-of-month meetings.

Will keep watching for the rest of the game as it plays out.

And I hope you get that promotion also. :smile:
 

RedPiggy

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“I told you, lil’ froggie baby, ain’t got no time for you today,” rang a deep male voice from inside a dark room, lit only occasionally by flickering lights.

“It’s just a little search mission. What’s the harm?” asked the croaking, shrill voice. As its owner stepped into the room, however, he found himself flung back through the small musty lobby of the shop, dolls and masks of various African designs shuddering against the wall. Under the light of a candlelit chandelier, the speaker was a three-foot tall warty toad, dressed in gaudy fashions, with a broad-brimmed hat adorned with a single purple feather. He grumbled as he stood up, dusting himself off, reaching into a coat pocket and dangling a small bag in front of the darkened room, smiling maliciously as it jingled.

Suddenly a tall, pencil-thin dark-skinned man appeared from the room, dressed in a black suit with long coat tails. His eyes were piercing, as though he could look deep into your heart and soul. “I’m listenin’.”

The large talking toad nodded. “First thing’s first – I’m a toad, not a stupid, slimy frog. Second, here’s enough gold to get you that thing you always wanted.”

The man chuckled. “How could you possibly know what I want?”

“Let’s just say I’m used to feeling as you do,” the toad replied coolly. “I know what it’s like to see elegant debutantes pass you by, to see arrogant souls make your family beg for the right not to die that day.”

The man grit his teeth, his neck pulsing with a seething anger.

The toad grinned, hopping up onto a table. “Just a quick search through the realms of darkness, a little ‘shadow’ operation. Nothing too complicated – just looking for a boy.”

The man huffed and turned his back on the toad. “Got plenty dem down in N’Awlins. Take your pick.”

The toad raised a single finger. “Don’t go dismissing my idea just yet. This has got to be played real quiet-like. You don’t want us to show our cards just yet, right? I mean, we gotta --.”

The toad found himself hovering in the air, struggling to get free. The man was in the doorway, but his shadow was nearly choking the amphibian to death. “You assume jus’ ‘cause I get you outta Mama Odie’s lil’ swamp trap, Ah’m jus’ s’posed to help ‘Good Ol’ Wandah McMooch’ as though we were the best of friends?”

“Y-yes, ‘friends on the other side’ and all that,” Wander groaned, trying to free his scrawny neck, his thick long legs flailing in the air. “Don’t limit your alliances, Facilier – think of your soul!”

Facilier’s shadow dropped McMooch and sighed, hanging his head. “You lookin’ for someone real specific?”

McMooch limped over to a small table and sat on a stool. “There’s a world called the Enchanted Forest. Guy over there by the name of Rumplestilskin. Fool traded his own kid for darkness.”

Facilier sat down at the same table and laid a deck of cards on it. “Sounds like your kinda friend.”

McMooch chuckled and brushed him off. “No no no – a mammal who looks reptilian – it gives me the shivers. My own mother would sell me off. It’s a family tradition!” He stared at the man, his voice turning deadly serious. “But there’s a bounty quickly going up for this kid of his, and I want him first. That means I gotta find him first.”

“And that’s where I come in,” Facilier offered, beginning to cut the deck.

“It can’t be Underground magic and it can’t be magic from the Enchanted Forest. Anything like that will set off huge warning bells across the magical worlds. I need – I need someone into something no one’s really likely to think of.”

Facilier nodded. “The cards will tell the past, the present – the future as well. If that boy’s to be found, my cards will give you exactly what you need.”

Facilier drew the first card. “The Fool – kid’s got great potential, but a bad direction an’ it’s all over.”

He drew another card. “The Hanged Man – kid’s fortunes inverted. Got on a journey, got all turned around. Wanted his way up, only to find himself down.

Another card plopped onto the table. “The High Priestess,” Facilier intoned, “means the kid’s gonna have to talk to someone –.”

“Thanks,” Wander declared, standing up.

“The readin’s not done,” Facilier noted with irritation.

“It is for me!” Wander shot back. “The kid’s not in this world. Not yet, anyway. Worst yet – I’m willin’ to bet ten whole dollars the identity of that Priestess, and I’m not gonna let her win, not this time!”

With a whoosh, Wander was gone.

Facilier seethed, but glanced at the table, where a small bag lay.

He smiled. He’d be able to get that talisman after all.
 

The Count

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Can I say I knew it was Facilier? And Princess and the Frog is due up next week on ABC Family, along with a stop at Notre Dame first. Spooking of N’Awlins, me and my best friend "might" be heading there come April 2014. Nothing's set in tombstones yet but I've got a few culinary places to hit there.

Really liked how you worked in Facilier's dialogue and signature lines in his dealings with the toad. Excited to read how this progresses, post when you've got more.
 

RedPiggy

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Well, Ed, if you've seen Princess and the Frog ... it's basically still just those same scenes but with modern technology, LOL. All throughout the movie, I'm like, "I've been there, and there, and there ..."

"Down in New Orleans" is a fairly accurate song, particularly if you're in the French Quarter. I also recommend their zoo and aquarium. You'll be listening to music a lot, as the city pretty much has its own soundtrack, LOL.

To GopherCoffee: Yeah, I remember the writers saying they ended up hating Wander McMooch, like he didn't really fit in the Fraggles' world. However, I give him cameos in my Labyrinth fics because I think he fits in that realm better. This is the last of a second trilogy, the first being the Comeback King Saga. There are also lots of spinoff stories in my ficverse. You can find them in that library index. I feel totally vindicated in merging Labyrinth with Fraggle Rock because in Return to Labyrinth, Uncle Matt makes a cameo during a ball at Jareth's castle. I've been keeping only to Henson properties (Dinosaurs being a kinda-sorta thing, as Disney owned it too), but this is the first fic where I've specifically added Disney properties, though it's the Once Upon a Time universe from ABC, which I positively ADORE.

Except Facilier, to my knowledge, isn't in it. But, dang it, he'd make such a great addition. If you can have Jafar in Wonderland, you can bring in Facilier. :smile:
 

The Count

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Jafar... In Wonderland? As what... The snake that made the Pigeon shout 'SERPENT!!!' when it saw a giant Alice grasping at the eggs in its nest in the Caterpillar's garden?

Haven't seen Princess and The Frog yet... French Quarter, check. Music soundtrack, check. Skull talisman, check.
BTW: I find it funny that Facilier's bio at the Disney Wiki intimates he might be the lovechild of Captain Hook and Cruella DeVil. *Amused to read how the fans spin that potential little ship.

Worth noting is that Facilier's the third Disney villain who can have his shadow act as a separate entity from himself, commanded into doing his bidding; the others are Ayam Aghoul and Oogie Boogie.

:batty: How do you know this stuff?
Me: Gotta know it if I want to keep my Underworld Lord title/status.

*Leaves muffins for Kelly to share, or cinnabuns if you prefer those better.
:insatiable: Me go get some benyaes instead.
 

RedPiggy

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Wow, Cruella and Hook? WEIRD combo.

I'm thinking of making him more than a one-shot cameo, but I have a better relative in mind...

"I'm a royal myself on my mother's side" -- Facilier
 

The Count

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Good, I looks forward to reading it. *Continues delving into various bestiaries at the master vampire's library for inspirations.
 

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It was 3PM in a nice suburban New York neighborhood. The lawns were immaculate. The skies cloudlessly brightened the day. It was a perfect neighborhood.

Sarah, a tall, skinny brunette, ran home from high school, panting. Her gray and white sheepdog Merlin met her at the door, jumping up and down and barking wildly, his tail wagging vigorously.

She passed her father and her stepmother as they happily watched a movie on their brand new TV, dashing up the stairs to her bedroom. Her phone was ringing. “Tamara,” she said as she picked up the phone, “I mean, I just got home.”

“I thought we were going to the movies tonight,” Tamara replied.
“I can’t,” Sarah told her wistfully. “I have to babysit.”

“Aren’t your parents at home? Make them watch the kid.”

Sarah sighed, rubbing her temples. “You don’t get it – they’re always at home until I want to do something. Then, magically, they have important things to do.”

There was a long pause. “There’s no such thing as magic, Sarah – your parents are just lazy.”

Sarah stared into her mirror atop her dresser. “Tamara --.”

“No, you gotta stand up for yourself, girl. Quit relying on your parents!”

“You don’t understand,” Sarah replied, her voice wavering, as she stared at a picture of her biological mother smiling next to a very handsome actor.

“I don’t understand what, Sarah?” Tamara groused. “I don’t understand what it’s like to have to do for myself? Grannie always tells me wishin’ ain’t never done no good for nobody. You gotta get up and do what you need to do!”

Sarah’s lip quivered. “I thought your grandmother said she always wished for her own restaurant and she got it – all because she wished on a star.”

Tamara groaned. “That was in the twenties, Sarah,” she noted bitterly.

“So?”

“You know what the year 1929 means?”

“No.”

“Jesus – you gotta stop skipping US history class. My point is that magic always comes with a price – and nothing hurt my grandmother more than watching that price eat away at her hopes and dreams. I take care of my grandmother because she’s exhausted from all the work she’s done. Your family sits on their butts, raking in dough they don’t deserve --.”

“Wait, this is a race thing? Since when have I ever treated you like crap?”

There was a long pause. Finally, Tamara’s bitter voice continued in a low tone, “Just you wait, Sarah – the time’s coming when the world pays for abandoning its own.”

With that, she hung up.

“Is everything alright in there?” asked her father from out in the hallway.

“Everything’s fine,” Sarah replied, wiping her eyes.


Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Tamara hung up the phone and entered the room where her grandmother was sleeping. It was a small room, clean, but no-frills. There was a monitor near her bed and a clipboard with her medical information written on it.

Her grandmother wasn’t really her grandmother, just some nice old lady who took her in when she found herself scrounging around a New York neighborhood one day. She kept telling Tamara stories of falling in love down in the Deep South, back when things were much worse and much better, depending on your point of view. She and her Prince Charming stayed in the bayou for several years, even keeping animal friends and running a famous restaurant, but then everything changed when the Stock Market crashed. It took a long time for the French Quarter to feel the hit, but eventually economic shockwaves spread everywhere.

Now, her grandmother lived in a nursing home, her bills paid for by the money left by her long-gone husband. She always tried to smile when reminiscing, but she lost her father in WWI and her husband in the middle of WWII, and Tamara could sense she sometimes regretted the magical past she believed she had.

Her phone rang again. It wasn’t Sarah. It was them. She listened to her instructions and sighed.

Sarah wasn’t going to be happy.
 
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