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Chapter 6
The belt's second tube now showed a double snakehead on its stopper, with the marble 2 shrunken inside. Mr. Grimness found himself standing next to a cold stone wall in the Count's castle. He recognized the cold gray bricks forming the wall behind him, for there was a black bat logo on the wall close to the area's entrance behind where he stood. Yes, this was the ghostly gallery where the Count kept the portraits of his noble ancestors. Sections of the long-spanning wall were interrupted by semicircular windowholes, covered by aged brown shutters. The shutters opened and closed on their own, as if moved by the incorporial wind, lending a sense of creepyness to the corridor. Now Edward knew why the Count liked this particular area of the castle, what with the chilled night air blowing in through the sometimes opening shutters.
Was it really that late? Mr. Grimness hadn't noticed the passing of time after starting on his mission, but the hours did indeed fly away during the first two legs of his race to recover the master's precious marble numbers. Then again, for some reason, it seemed as if the nighttime world had taken this particular portion of the castle into its secret society, clinging to the edges of the outer wall and blanketing the horizon in its inky sea where a few shining stars were still visible in the distance.
Mr. Grimness began his trek across the blood red carpeted floor of the corridor, mindful of any little traps that may happen to come his way. Soon enough, he felt an unnatural stare peering at him from each painting he neared. These were the Count von Count's family members, and yet, he couldn't shake the feeling they were watching him making sure he didn't break his promise to their digitmaniac descendant. "It's probably nothing" Edward muttered to himself, but then the shutters started opening. And that's when he noticed the Bat-Orbs had returned. They flew overhead dropping their payload, coming in in greater numbers now than before from the outer nocturnal shell. These little hazards were easily dodged or destroyed, not so the other inhabitants of the corridor. Here were the little critters known as DeadHeads, owing to their resemblance to walking headstones. The little ghouls had that familiar stone marker in lue of heads, along with gray-brownish gloves, walking upright on their gray-brownish bootlike feet. These guys lay dormant along the carpet's path. They only rose from the ground as Edward approached. That was when they were vulnerable to shots from the trusted cannon of our hero, though marching straight to their doom. More Bat-Orbs kept flying in through the window spaces, delaying Edward's forward progress, but he made it to the short set of steps granting him access to the next section.
This part of the corridor, at a higher level than the one before it, still had the same red carpeting and the eerie stares from the paintings behind him. Mr. Grimness still had to fend off some Deadheads while walking towards his ultimate goal. There were still bats flying into the hallway through the windows, but these were different than the ones before. Ghost Bats made their presence known, throwing out a short-linked chain from their translucent wings from time to time. Another obstacle to contend with were the Axe Knights, standing in between every other post after a window and portrait of the vampires of yore. Empty suits of armor stayed where they were, hidden in the darkness of the cold wall's niches. These particular knights had an ancient axe in the clutch of their greased gauntlets, ready to swing down upon unsuspecting passers-by. And what was worse, the carpet sections moved slowly onwards, as if they were connected to each other in a conveyor belt spanning the length of the floor. The axes were easy enough to avoid, just a jump backwards and then time another jump to move from one section of the carpet to the next. At the end of the path, the last set of steps were accessible to reach another portion of the gallery.
Gearing up for combat, Mr. Grimness used these enemies to replenish the ebb and flow of his bat-blaster's readout. Deadheads weren't a bother, and the Axe Knights kept missing their mark. One last batch of bats were swooping down through the narrow walkway now, Moon Bats. These little bats had their head and wings sticking out of a corpulent silver yellow sphere, raining down a momentary moonbeam at random targets. When the ride was over, Edward reached the creaking door and prepared himself for the next boss battle. Thanks to the bats, his meter had been filled up to the brim.
Once inside, the soft violins he had been hearing throughout the halls picked up a little and Edward's attention was directed to two white pillars standing solemnly on both sides of the room. "Well, now what" was his question, quickly answered by a voice that came from nowhere in particular. "mmm, nice night for a spook, isn't it?" was the next line he heard from Phantom-3. This glamorous ghoul had soft grayish skin, concealed from sight by her midnight black cloak. She had a full head of blackened gray hair hanging down near her face, glowing pink eyes, a female's face, and a spooky smile. Her arms were long and slender, pointed by her coal gray fingernails. The cloak ended in a skirt flapping in the wind entering the room from the open shutters, and was that... her bare gleaming gray leg? Surely, this was another Counting Creature that Edward could learn to like. But then the fight started and all bets were off.
Phantom-3 uttered her lines: "See you later" and with that she disappeared. Edward was dumbfounded, she was just here and now... He heard her voice call out "Boo!" and felt the blast of candle light hit him squarely in the sides. Doubling over, Edward almost fell to the ground but he knew what to do. "Bat-Vision Off. There, now we're back to an even playing field, we're both as blind as bats in the dark."
He quietly moved over to his position behind the prominent pillars, waiting for the fright moment. Pressing the button with the double snakehead, he was armed and ready to pounce. Relying on his instincts, he tried to sense when Phantom-3 was near to him so he could get the jump on her. The open shutters were the clue he needed, lifting her skirt as she passed by revealing that gleaming leg of hers. "Double Serpent Strike!" yelled Edward and quickly slammed down upon the ghoul with the force of the two snake fangs at the tips of both his cannon and staff. This went on for a while, shifting from pillar to pillar, until the spook couldn't continue and her leg was the only visible remains on the floor near the windy window. Of course, due to the nature of his eyesight, Edward hadn't noticed the battle had ended. It wasn't until a storm cloud glided to where he was and let the marble number 3 fall into his hands did he know that it was over.
The belt's second tube now showed a double snakehead on its stopper, with the marble 2 shrunken inside. Mr. Grimness found himself standing next to a cold stone wall in the Count's castle. He recognized the cold gray bricks forming the wall behind him, for there was a black bat logo on the wall close to the area's entrance behind where he stood. Yes, this was the ghostly gallery where the Count kept the portraits of his noble ancestors. Sections of the long-spanning wall were interrupted by semicircular windowholes, covered by aged brown shutters. The shutters opened and closed on their own, as if moved by the incorporial wind, lending a sense of creepyness to the corridor. Now Edward knew why the Count liked this particular area of the castle, what with the chilled night air blowing in through the sometimes opening shutters.
Was it really that late? Mr. Grimness hadn't noticed the passing of time after starting on his mission, but the hours did indeed fly away during the first two legs of his race to recover the master's precious marble numbers. Then again, for some reason, it seemed as if the nighttime world had taken this particular portion of the castle into its secret society, clinging to the edges of the outer wall and blanketing the horizon in its inky sea where a few shining stars were still visible in the distance.
Mr. Grimness began his trek across the blood red carpeted floor of the corridor, mindful of any little traps that may happen to come his way. Soon enough, he felt an unnatural stare peering at him from each painting he neared. These were the Count von Count's family members, and yet, he couldn't shake the feeling they were watching him making sure he didn't break his promise to their digitmaniac descendant. "It's probably nothing" Edward muttered to himself, but then the shutters started opening. And that's when he noticed the Bat-Orbs had returned. They flew overhead dropping their payload, coming in in greater numbers now than before from the outer nocturnal shell. These little hazards were easily dodged or destroyed, not so the other inhabitants of the corridor. Here were the little critters known as DeadHeads, owing to their resemblance to walking headstones. The little ghouls had that familiar stone marker in lue of heads, along with gray-brownish gloves, walking upright on their gray-brownish bootlike feet. These guys lay dormant along the carpet's path. They only rose from the ground as Edward approached. That was when they were vulnerable to shots from the trusted cannon of our hero, though marching straight to their doom. More Bat-Orbs kept flying in through the window spaces, delaying Edward's forward progress, but he made it to the short set of steps granting him access to the next section.
This part of the corridor, at a higher level than the one before it, still had the same red carpeting and the eerie stares from the paintings behind him. Mr. Grimness still had to fend off some Deadheads while walking towards his ultimate goal. There were still bats flying into the hallway through the windows, but these were different than the ones before. Ghost Bats made their presence known, throwing out a short-linked chain from their translucent wings from time to time. Another obstacle to contend with were the Axe Knights, standing in between every other post after a window and portrait of the vampires of yore. Empty suits of armor stayed where they were, hidden in the darkness of the cold wall's niches. These particular knights had an ancient axe in the clutch of their greased gauntlets, ready to swing down upon unsuspecting passers-by. And what was worse, the carpet sections moved slowly onwards, as if they were connected to each other in a conveyor belt spanning the length of the floor. The axes were easy enough to avoid, just a jump backwards and then time another jump to move from one section of the carpet to the next. At the end of the path, the last set of steps were accessible to reach another portion of the gallery.
Gearing up for combat, Mr. Grimness used these enemies to replenish the ebb and flow of his bat-blaster's readout. Deadheads weren't a bother, and the Axe Knights kept missing their mark. One last batch of bats were swooping down through the narrow walkway now, Moon Bats. These little bats had their head and wings sticking out of a corpulent silver yellow sphere, raining down a momentary moonbeam at random targets. When the ride was over, Edward reached the creaking door and prepared himself for the next boss battle. Thanks to the bats, his meter had been filled up to the brim.
Once inside, the soft violins he had been hearing throughout the halls picked up a little and Edward's attention was directed to two white pillars standing solemnly on both sides of the room. "Well, now what" was his question, quickly answered by a voice that came from nowhere in particular. "mmm, nice night for a spook, isn't it?" was the next line he heard from Phantom-3. This glamorous ghoul had soft grayish skin, concealed from sight by her midnight black cloak. She had a full head of blackened gray hair hanging down near her face, glowing pink eyes, a female's face, and a spooky smile. Her arms were long and slender, pointed by her coal gray fingernails. The cloak ended in a skirt flapping in the wind entering the room from the open shutters, and was that... her bare gleaming gray leg? Surely, this was another Counting Creature that Edward could learn to like. But then the fight started and all bets were off.
Phantom-3 uttered her lines: "See you later" and with that she disappeared. Edward was dumbfounded, she was just here and now... He heard her voice call out "Boo!" and felt the blast of candle light hit him squarely in the sides. Doubling over, Edward almost fell to the ground but he knew what to do. "Bat-Vision Off. There, now we're back to an even playing field, we're both as blind as bats in the dark."
He quietly moved over to his position behind the prominent pillars, waiting for the fright moment. Pressing the button with the double snakehead, he was armed and ready to pounce. Relying on his instincts, he tried to sense when Phantom-3 was near to him so he could get the jump on her. The open shutters were the clue he needed, lifting her skirt as she passed by revealing that gleaming leg of hers. "Double Serpent Strike!" yelled Edward and quickly slammed down upon the ghoul with the force of the two snake fangs at the tips of both his cannon and staff. This went on for a while, shifting from pillar to pillar, until the spook couldn't continue and her leg was the only visible remains on the floor near the windy window. Of course, due to the nature of his eyesight, Edward hadn't noticed the battle had ended. It wasn't until a storm cloud glided to where he was and let the marble number 3 fall into his hands did he know that it was over.
