Proper MD2: Cassadaigua 2–0 Chromatika
Goals: None.
Starting XI (4-2-3-1): Ria; McBee - de Aea - Will - Ilya; Montague - Armageddon; Victoriane - Mora - Conrad; Andisori (C).
Substitutes: Damjana -> Ilya ('52), Friedman -> de Aea ('74), Gail -> Mora ('82)
Projected Lineup vs. Turori: Ria; McBee - de Aea - Will - Damjana; Montague - Armageddon; Victoriane - Mora - Dragana; Andisori (C).
Jillian Nier, Football Correspondent
Part 21: The Bomb
Part 22: The Speech & The Confrontation
Galileo Galilei
Press Conference Hall
Capitol Building
Chromatik City, Chromatika
Material Plane
‘Easy, Alina, Easy.’
The First Premier of Chromatika steadied herself thirty seconds before the most important press conference of her career. A course of action had been agreed upon the previous evening; The Enlightened had double checked their math ten times to make sure that the conversion between iterations in the plane of the Enlightened and the seconds on Chromatika would align with no problems.
Her security had been precise and to the point, combing over the area four times to make sure there was no way that the Checkers Party at the behest of Ven- no, The Enlightened - could interfere. No, for a while now, she had known that the next move in this game would be hers, and she was finally ready to make her play.
Keira Andisori’s acquaintances had located the bomb that The Three were going to use to reset the timeline and the matter around Chromatika. It was being monitored remotely to see what was happening, and according to the readings that only The Skilled could understand, it was set to go off in about a half hour. “It needs to be right before the bomb is about to go off,” he had explained, “That we make our move. When it enters the last time period, the bomb will not obey any failsafe commands that The Three have instilled into it to make it explode any faster. Basically, they will only be able to wait. Once we pull off this endeavor, we will be able to have enough power to phase the bomb to our realm and dispose of it ourselves here.”
The pit in her stomach clenched even tighter at the thought of that bomb. If they were unsuccessful, all this would’ve been for naught. They would’ve been reduced to playthings of a cosmic race, a symbol of the very system that they had fought to overcome - except this time with The Three playing the role of the Golds, Silvers, and Bronzes of the Chromatik Party system and the rest of Chromatika playing the role of the Light Reds.
‘Over my dead body,’ resolved Alina. She checked her watch again.
‘It’s time.’
///
The Palace of A Thousand Suns
Astral Plane
Sounds of clattering heels filled the marble stone floors of the hallowed hall as The Scheming paced. She looked nervous, for lack of a better word. The Split sat motionless in his seat, while The Stalwart scowled openly at the sounds filling the chamber.
“The bomb has entered the last thirty minutes,” stated The Stalwart with an edge in his tone, “It is irreversible now. In a blink of an eye, that wretched nation will be reset, and we will not make the same mistake again.”
The Split nodded, and was about to continue when -
“The Keeper sends her regards!” exclaimed The Hope, emerging from the fall wall. The Skilled and she had successfully infiltrated the Palace once again, noting how easy the endeavor was due to the arrogance of The Three. The fact that The Three had been vulnerable all this time, with their safety blanket being the very ignorance of their people, filled both The Hope and The Skilled with the righteous rage and zealous fervor needed to complete this task.
‘One-eighth of an iteration remaining,’ The Hope reminded herself.
The Three rose up as one, flanking each other in an isosceles triangle, their hands stretching out toward the invaders. A black chain and a white spear appeared out of The Split’s hands, The Stalwart’s skin grew as tough as rock, and The Scheming became translucent, The Three getting ready for battle.
“Do you really think,” laughed The Scheming, “That a castaway who gained free will due to random chaos and one Enlightened that we chose to send down to the material plane will have any chance against us? You must be delusional!”
‘One-sixteenth of an iteration remaining,’ The Skilled counted in his head.
“Even if we fail, others will see the discrepancies and irregularities that we have followed!” exclaimed The Hope, speaking rather loudly to keep The Three occupied, “The truth will always prevail!”
A sinister grin came across The Split’s face.
“Truth is relevant, dear Sister,” he hissed, “And almost always, determined by the victors.” He started to advance slowly toward The Hope, brandishing his weapons.
The Hope raised her hand, and a gleaming white shield appeared on her left arm.
‘One-thirty second of an iteration remaining. It’s up to you now, Alina.’
///
Press Conference Hall
Capitol Building
Chromatik City, Chromatika
Material Plane
“… are thankful to the dignitaries visiting our nations for their continued support in our endeavor to have a proper and fair election for the very first time in our nation’s history.”
Alina Krasnikova took a breath as the assembled crowd gave her a moderate applause after her opening statement. She looked at her watch once more, and noting the second hand, continued.
“However, while the methods of the assailant who assaulted Ms. Lubabalo and the people who hired him must be brought into question, we have discovered a far more sinister plot while committing to the investigation of those matters. I must regretfully inform you, my fellow Chromatiks, that we have been deceived this entire time.
We believed that The Chromatik Party was to blame for the class-based caste system that was thrust upon us for too long in the past. Then, uncovering that thread, we discovered the enigmatic figure of Venom to be responsible. We thought that this Venom was the true villain behind the operation, a being who had solely messed up our country and set it back centuries in terms of cultural advancement.
However, we were deceived.”
As Alina paused for dramatic effect and to get a sense about the room, one could hear a pin drop. Not a single sound could be heard except for the breathing of those around her and her clear, cold voice as she went on:
“As Chromatika has played in the World Cup, we have learned about not only the countries of Atlantian Oceania and other regions like Rushmore and Esportiva; we have also learned about nations in space like Drawkland, far-off lands like Zwangzug, and more importantly to this matter, countries that exist in different planes like The Holy Empire.
Why is this important? Because we learned the horrible truth: Chromatika’s problems have stemmed from an extraplanar race of angelic beings who call themselves The Enlightened. Specifically, their leaders, a triumvirate known as The Three, have taken it upon themselves to use their powers - a single thought shared between the three of them in their hivemind society - to take control over their people and use the happenings of our nation to serve as a distraction while they wreaked havoc.
You see, Chromatiks, young and old, male or female, Rainbow Party or Checkers Party - none of the things in our country would’ve happened if The Three hadn’t implanted their desire to rule into our nation and caused The Chromatik Party to appear - the people in the Party being twisted by their malice and menace to think and believe in the ideals that they did.
Who among you is without fault when it comes to dealing with other people? What causes people to be kind toward one another when they are feeling antagonistic? It is hope; it is compassion; it is the ability to relate to each other. Have those be taken away from you by an alien being of great power, and no wonder The Chromatik Party was able to do the things that they did to us.
Open your eyes, Chromatiks! Currently, there are two of these Enlightened in their home plane trying to deal with the triumvirate that has enslaved their entire people. These Enlightened tell me that by having our people come to terms with the lies that they’ve been told, their people will be able to see the truth for themselves as well. Our greatest enemy wasn’t ourselves; they lay beyond this realm!” She stopped, holding her left fist high above her head.
‘I hope that was enough,’ she admitted to herself, ‘Because without your part, this also won’t last very long…’
///
The Palace of A Thousand Suns
Astral Plane
The Hope’s shield was slowly diminishing under the attacks of The Split. She could feel her strength waning - it would only be a few more hits now until her strength was overcome, and she would be released into The Empty.
That was when a peculiar feeling washed over her. A mental voice joined her link, and then another, and another.
“How dare they break one of our foremost commandments! They must be punished!” exclaimed the voice of one agitated The Brave.
“You and your compatriot will remain heroes for the rest of our plane’s existence! We must put these traitors away at once!” stated The Historian very excitedly.
A multitude of voices joined the link surrounding The Hope and The Skilled, and though The Enlightened’s ability to share power between each other relied on close proximity, the sheer volume of the voices joining them filled The Hope with such strength that her radiance returned hundredfold.
The Three were momentarily stunned by the sheer brilliance of The Hope; even The Skilled looked upon her with awe.
“By the power that is within me bestowed upon the multitude of The Enlightened who have chosen to believe me,” she stated firmly with power, “And by the truth that has come from The Skilled that you put away unfairly,” she took a moment to nod at The Skilled, “And by the millions of souls in the material plane from the nation known as Chromatika whom you’ve been a puppeteer of and profited off of for far too long…
I, The Hope, sentence The Three of you to roam the nothing for all eternity, not being able to truly pass on, but not being able to return. May your beings be washed of all that caused you to rebel until you become The Enlightened once more and pass onto the beyond.”
With that, she outstretched her right hand, and a single beam of pure energy and light streamed from it, hitting The Three in turn. With three high-pitched screams, they were simply… gone.
One snap of the fingers, and the antiessence bomb returned to the Astral Plane. Another snap, and it simply vanished - now property of The Combustible, an Enlightened who specialized in explosives.
Turning around to The Skilled, The Hope let out a sigh of relief as the multitude of voices slowly left her consciousness, making sure to take their time to not overwhelm her with their sudden departure.
For the first time since his exile, The Skilled smiled, for he was finally home.
///
Press Conference Hall
Capitol Building
Chromatik City, Chromatika
Material Plane
As the silence after her words stretched on for twenty seconds, Alina could see some nervous mutterings and murmurs from the crowd before her.
‘C’mon, now, don’t forget about us,’ she thought, tapping her wristwatch.
Then, as promised, a single ray of sunshine shone through the stained-glass window from the west, and she knew that they were all right.
“I implore each and every Chromatik to look into their convictions and morals and ask themselves what they believe in. Are we a people who are past forgiving others? If so, then we are a lost people. No, only by working together and accepting each other’s flaws in judgment for what they were and striving to not repeat them again can we truly become a better nation.”
She paused for dramatic effect.
“Now, as proof to my naysayers that what I’ve stated is true… I present to you The Enlightened that saved Chromatika: My friend, The Hope!”
In a flash of brilliant light, The Hope appeared in her Enlightened glory, wings outstretched. She wasn’t alone - next to her were two people that had been gone for a long time - Jordan Lawless and Trenn Rien.
Pandemonium ensued. An extraplanar angel had just revealed herself to the Chromatik public. Trenn Rien was a popular footballer in his playing days, and still had a good following. Jordan Lawless was the best sportswriter for The Rebel. The two missing men had been the talking point of the media for months, people wondering if they were really dead.
Meanwhile, on the Astral Plane, The Enlightened decided on a unanimous vote to sever the link. As a telepathic race, they would always be able to talk to each other and influence each other to a point even without a hivemind; however, they decided that individuality was a risk worth taking compared to the atrocities that were committed by The Three.
In Chromatika, The Checkers Party changed their platform drastically, and this change from radical extremism to more of a conservative take on the policies put forth by The Rainbow Party actually won them more followers than less. Kerri Wyse Aart even joked that the events of Alina’s press conference had lost her some votes, but she was so very glad that she had.
The election was scheduled for the fifth day of the eleventh month, and history - for once - moved onto its new era for Chromatika, unmitigated and unchanged.