Happy Blog Day Everyone
As you can tell from the extended title, I'm proud to announce that Phantom Dawn is back! Finally got my act together long enough to continue the story. I'll talk more about it in it's own section, as it's not the only bit of writing I've been doing.
I've finally completed the final chapter of Daemon Soul 2. It's finished, it's done it's 100% settled...apart from the epilogue. Then there's the edits...At least I'm a step closer than I was last week. I've also made a lot more notes about the next version of the draft, will they hinder or help? Suppose we'll find out soon enough once I write this final part.
Before we get to the Phantom Dawn, let's check in with Brennan and Riz, and their 130th strip...
The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz
Promised something sort of special last week, and I think I've sort of delivered on it. The Rabbit came out a lot better than I expected it, Brennan not as much. If you don't recognise the bunny surrounded by the bones of its kills, and you love absurdist comedy, please check out Monty Python and the Holy Grail. You'll be glad you did. Nee!
This was a fun comic to do, though the limitations of my colour selections shown through a bit more (all colours are one of eleven different colouring pencils as I've still not learned how to do this digitally yet), but it is what it is. Funny to think that we're running down to 150 though.
Short Diversions: Phantom Dawn- Memories of a Rose Chapter 10
Been a hot minute since Phantom Dawn last graced this blog. In essence, this chapter shouldn't have taken that long as I'd already covered the bare bones of it in comic form. I just had to transcribe that and the chapter would be in the bag.
Things didn't quite work out that however, as regular readers of this blog will know. Depression can appear like a bolt from the blue and then leave at a moments notice. My will to do this chapter up and left me till recently. It was also not so straight forward as I strove to give Rose more to do than just stand there looking pretty. Part of this can be seen where she tries to reach out to both Kurz and Mason to stop the fight. That'll be important for future groundwork that comic readers got a glimpse of. Though, Rose will have a lot more to do in the forthcoming chapters as Finch makes a reappearance...
For a refresher, Kurz is confronting Mason and his men, who are trying to force our heroes out of time. The good guys don't know Mason’s true motivation for this and just assume its because he’s a bully basically. Kurz has also told Rose to stay out of it and leave it all to him. Is this a wise move, or will it come back to bite him. Please read on to find out!
Phantom Dawn Chapter Index
Chapter 10
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Chapter 10: One Sided Fight
Kurz looked unfazed as he stared down the barrels of the guns that were now pointed at him. He started walking towards them, playing with the rope in his hands as he did so.
“Aren’t you going to get them to shoot me? I mean, that is what guns are for isn’t it? To take other people’s lives?”
This Kurze seemed a different person to the one that Rose had just met. While he’d been serious then, what he was saying carried a different weight.
“Let me help you!” Rose shouted.
Internally, Mason flinched a bit when he heard that, he didn’t want to have to deal with her if he could help it, and even getting rid of Kurz would improve the situation.
“Look, just turn around and give up, you’ve got no chance here. I’d hate for your old man to have to bury someone else,” Mason didn’t know why he chose to say those words, he regretted it almost as soon as they left his mouth. He’d wanted to sound intimidating but hadn’t thought any further than that. Kurz proved his regret instantly when he started running towards the guns instead of away from them.
“Open fire you idiots! You can’t let him get close to you!” Mason winced. The three that had volunteered to help him had been lured by the prospect using the weapons, and while there had been no issues with using them on inanimate objects, a flesh and blood person was giving them concern. It was that very concern that allowed Kurz to get in close to them, and by that time, even when they found their own resolve to fire those terrible weapons it was too little, too late.
As the first guner went to squeeze the trigger, Kurz was already close enough to throw the end of the rope around the barrel, closing the loop. With relative ease, Kurz pulled the gun out of the guy’s hands and swung it right into the face of the second, shattering the visor and knocking the man out cold.
In this simple act, there was now only one of them left with a weapon, and he was already moving to deal with him, still with the gun stuck in the end of his rope, Kurz spun and tossed the weapon at the last armed man standing. This fellow had already opened fire in a haphazard fashion, being unable to hit anything, let alone the gun that knocked him down with a loud crack. The first gunner, not wanting to be laid out like his friends, turned tail and fled the scene, running past a stunned Mason.
“Aw yeah! That’s our Kurz!” Si yelled out, he’d now deemed it safe enough to stick his head out of the window. “Show these losers who’s boss!”
“Empty building eh?” Mason said. “If you had just left already then we wouldn’t be forced to do this!”
“Forced to do this? You’re the one who started all this. Taking everyone’s money from them to pay Finch’s tithe. You could have walked away anytime! Instead you’ve chosen to ally yourself with a murderer!” Kurz swung the rope around faster and faster. His eyes were already locked on to Mason, and he was certain that the fight wasn’t going to play out as last time.
Rose still didn’t feel good leaving everything to Kurz, but she was curious about what they were saying. It felt to her that neither were being fully open about things, keeping secrets when they weren’t needed at this junction. Why was Mason forced to do this? Where was Kurz’s sense of justice coming from?
“Kurz?” she called out, wanting to point out that there was little reason to continue. Mason had lost his backup, and the numbers were now in Kurz’s favour, assuming he chose to invoke them. As it was, he was more than happy for Rose and the others to stay out of it. To him, it was his fight, and his alone.
“Just stay where you are Rose, I’ve got a good handle on things. This jackass isn’t going to be much of a bother for much longer.”
Seeing as she wasn’t getting any headway with him, Rose turned to Mason. There was still something about the way he was acting that irked her, making her question things. She hoped that he might see reason, even if she herself didn’t know what that reason was at this point.
“Mason? If I can call you that, please stop this fight. Your friends have been beaten. We can talk about whatever issues you have,” she said sweetly, and while Kurz brushed her off, Mason was all ears, if only for how her voice sounded to them.
“To hear an angel calling my name is sweet indeed,” he said with a smile, forgetting where he was for the moment. His response did remind Rose why she felt uncomfortable with him earlier. “Alas, I can’t walk away to be with you, I have to do this! Prepare yourself for the end, Kurz!” Mason darted forward, going for one of the guns that was lying on the ground.
Kurz did nothing to stop this, instead, his face showed no emotion, he was just watching, and waiting for the right moment.
“No! Don’t do it! Please!” Rose had reached her limit, and was prepared to throw herself into the middle of their fight, but she felt a hand on her shoulder, and she turned to see that Neal had made his way to her.
“I know what you’re feeling, but we have to let Kurz do this. My grandson has been through a lot of things, he feels like he has a lot to prove.”
“Are you saying we shouldn’t do anything? What if he gets hurt?”
“While he’s winning, we leave him be. Only when he’s in danger should we act.”
Rose didn’t understand the reasoning, all she saw was that someone needed help, and something in her head urged her to do something. Still, she’d decided to trust Neal’s judgment, even in the scant time she’d spent with Neal, she could tell she’d listen.
“Have faith in Kurz, he’ll show you his worth, don’t worry about Mason’s health either, Kurz is no murderer.”
“Look,” Mason said gleefully. “You wasted all your time, and now I’ve got a gun, and I’m aiming it at you! What are you going to do with that silly rope of yours now?” He aimed the gun squarely at Kurz’s face, putting his finger on the trigger, making it clear that he was going to pull it at the next possible chance. “We’re done here, Kurz! Now, take your friends and get out of town! Let me be the hero here!” The last part was so quiet, Rose was sure that she was the only one who heard it..
Kurz, unfettered, started walking towards his foe, swinging his rope around.
“If you’re ready then, just shoot me already! Come on!” he shouted.
“God damn you!” Mason fumbled with the gun, and that was all Kurz needed as he went from a slow walk, to a faster sprint, throwing the rope around the gun, and yanking it out of his hand just like he did to the first assailant, he used the rope to bring it to his own waiting hands.
“And what are you going to do with that?” Mason asked, aware of how drastic the tables had been turned.
“I’m just going to do this.” Kurz made it look like he was going to open fire on Mason, but at the last second, pulled the ammo clip out of it, letting the bullets spill to the floor. “I really don’t like guns, can’t you tell? He then dropped the gun to his side, waiting with some satisfaction as it landed with a thud.
“You idiot…” Mason started trembling. “You god damn idiot!” he raged, running at Mason. “This wasn’t supposed to turn out like this!”
“It was only ever going to turn out like this,” Kurz corrected him. “Just me and you now, let’s settle this!”
With no fear, Kurz stared down the oncoming Mason, who was running at him as fast as he could.
I’ll prove it to you, Rose. I don’t need anyone to fight my battles. I’m going to claim victory!
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Next Chapter (not finished yet).
That's all for this week, hopefully this is the restart of the fortnightly schedule for Phantom Dawn. Also have my fingers crossed that I can report back next week that Daemon Soul 2 is complete.
Till next time...
Keep on writing.
Peter James Martin
Quick Links
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Daemon Soul Awakening- Amazon, books2read
