I must warn you...the new chapter is a bit dark, and forms the first part of the Doombreed's Servants invasion...Enjoy:
Chapter X
Saphire woke up in the Legendary Order's headquarter with a massive headache. Trying to take in her surroundings, all she could see were some blurry figures, which were vaguely humanoid, at least most of them. The headache wasn't kind enough to let her focus though. It took some minutes, before she started making out the voices of the people who spoke, instead of the oddly blurry sound she was constantly hearing before:
Doombreed's Servant: Ok, do we have any idea how it was done? And by whom?
Doombreed's Servant: Not a clue. The last thing I remember is going to sleep and then waking up here.
Saphire: What's going on?
Doombreed's Servant: Well, at least you are awake. That's the good news. If you are one of us at least
Saph started seeing more clearly now. However, the sight of the order was now verging on being labeled as "horrifying". There were chains, spikes and other torture tools hanging from the ceiling, menacingly swinging in circles, in spite of the lack of wind, or any other current in the room. The ground did not seem safe either. Traps laid everywhere. Spikes and planted swords, bear traps and mines. Even a large Iron Maiden Sarcophagus laid open on the wall.
But the most disturbing change was the alteration of the portraits decorating the walls. All of Legend's portraits were replaced by degenerate versions of themselves. One could swear the beings on the portraits seemed to change stance when not looked at, as if eternally teasing the members with theatrical tricks, constantly laughing. Taunting them with portrayals of torture victims. Frighteningly accurate portrayals. Dancing around, clawing, whipping each other. Tearing their own eyes out in a disgusting parody of what seemed to be the members' grim fate.
The chandeliers above had long been cracked and were barely even hanging, rocking left and right with such a force, it was a miracle they hadn't come crashing down already.
Looking out the window, things appeared even worse. The sky had turned dark red, a massive storm tearing everything apart, as if the whole planet was suffering.
Saph could swear she saw birds flying backwards. Crows. Crows with two heads and bright red menacing eyes. One even seemed to look directly at her, before it kept flying backwards, away.
The thunderstorm could be heard raging. It was probably what woke her up in the first place. But looking out the window, she noticed that the thunderstorm appeared to be moving closer to them, as if signaling their impending doom.
It was a member's voice which brought her back to reality, if this nightmarish hellscape could be called that:
Doombreed's Servant: So, what do we do?
As Saph turned around, she noticed something different about the rest of the members. First of all, almost all of them were present, a very rare sight.
However the most terrifying change, the one that has never been spoken of again, was regarding the appearance of the members themselves.
Every one of them had a clown mask which covered their entire face. A laughing portrayal of their older selves, yet another twisted mockery of their situation, the masks appeared to be glued or otherwise somehow attached to their faces, as from the looks of it, each of them had attempted multiple times to get them off.
Moreover, everyone wore black robes, and appeared to be chained on to their chairs. Saphire checked to see if that was the case with her as well, and sadly, it was.
Saphire: Ok, calm down. Do we have any idea who did this?
A servant coughed and pointed onto the sign over Saph's chair. It appeared the same, except now the name "Saphire24" had been changed with "Doombreed's Servant".
Looking around, Saph saw that the same sign was over every other chair. Even the members' clothes (well, except ChapZ and Gogo obviously) were changed to black robes with a red trim, mimicking Doom's own moderator garments.
Doombreed's Servant: The torture devices and the scenery can't mean anything good for us. What are we going to do?
As if to answer his question, a voice spoke made an announcement through the voice channel. A deep, dark voice.
Doom: Hello Legendaries. I want to play a game.
Saph: Doom!?
Doom continued, ignoring Saph:
Doom: Thanks to the modern miracle called cyanoacrylate chemical family and an education by the greatest schizophrenic, each one of you is now wearing a stone clown mask. Your task is to discover everyone else's identity.
With these words, multiple doors all around the table opened, leading outside the main room, where the roundtable was.
Doom: Each one of you is free to take one of all the possible paths, but each path can only be taken by one individual. You will face a lot of traps, monsters and other obstacles on your way.
As if to encourage the victims of Doom's game to seek out their freedom, the chains that mercilessly bound them to their chairs were cut off.
Saph: Doom why are you doing this?
Doom: But should you reach the end of the road, you will be granted your freedom.
Doombreed's Servant: DOOM!
Doom: Oh and you might want to decide quickly,...
Doombreed's Servant: Doom! Stop it!
Doom:...because the storm outside will not be quite so kind to you.
The voice channel was abruptly turned off after this. The silence that followed Doom's words however was quickly broken by a chaos.
Doombreed's Servant: We gotta do something!
Doombreed's Servant: Well duh Sherlock Holmes!
Doombreed's Servant: You dare talk to me like that!? How do we know you didn't collaborate with Doom to get us where we are?
Doombreed's Servant: Alright Guys stop it!
Doombreed's Servant: Oh my god I am so scared! What are we going to do?
Doombreed's Servant: Isn't that what we are discussing all this time!?
Doombreed's Servant: What are you trying to prove? That I have sided with Doombreed?
Doombreed's Servant: YES!
Doombreed's Servant: I wouldn't be here, wearing this stupid clown mask, WONDERING WHAT TO DO NEXT if I was!
Saphire: Alright Guys! Just....STOP!
It worked...everyone turned around and looked at Saph, even though they didn't know it actually was Saph.
Saphire: Listen. Each one of us has to take a path. With enough focus, we may be able to overcome all the obstacles, Doom said that it is possible!
However the other members didn't share Saph's enthousiasm.
Doombreed's Servant: I think this room is safer...
Doombreed's Servant: I'd rather stay here.
Doombreed's Servant: If i didn't have that urgent appointment with the doctor in 10 minutes...
Saph let a sigh of disbelief. To think that any room was safe in this twisted game was, well, not to know Doom, she realized. But being the hero of the order, it meant she had to once again rescue everyone else. They were all relying on her.
Saph talked to herself in an attempt to focus...she needed all the concentration she could muster in a situation like this. Thinking out loud made it possible for her to better take in all the surroundings, notice everything that could be of use:
Saph: Ok...think. Doom must have left a clue.
Looking around, she realized that Doom got too far with gluing the stone masks on everyone's faces. Even ChapZ had a stone mask stuck onto him, despite the fact that his size and Olympic-sized swimming pool left no doubt about his true identity.
Next, she noticed that there was a total of 20 doors, paths leading to unknown rooms outside the main hall, where the roundtable was. Each door was directly behind each Chair in the roundtable, meaning that it was supposed to be used by the member sitting in the respective seat.
Saph glanced at her door. But as she was about to get up, a thought crossed her mind...and thus, she knew!
Without hesitation, she got up and started moving towards one of the doors.
Doombreed's Servant: Hey. Where are you going?
Saph: Someone has to rescue us from this game. I have a plan. Hang on.
And with these words, she moved decisively towards the door behind helpo's (!) seat in the roundtable.
