The Sketch: The Vengeance of Articulus

The Congress

All of the kiwis seated themselves in the dimly lit room- the main area of the Shoot. It was cylindrical, just like the exterior, and a black carpet lay on the floor. Along the walls, there were ten evenly spaced seats built into the curving wall, with three smaller chairs underneath each one. The room was only the right size for kiwis, and that was how it was meant to be.

In each of the ten tall seats, there sat a Governor. In the Untif Governor's place sat the Ambassador whom Soal had met in Grasmere- the only one left. New Ambassadors and a new Governor would soon be elected. Mervis lounged in his seat with a grin on his beak, as three of his followers (whom he had claimed were Ambassadors earlier) looked up at him from below. The Governor of the Greaters was also the Mayor of Kiwi City, Beak's older brother who was reaching the end of his days, relying on a purple cane to walk. Beneath him were seated the leader of those who had taken refuge in Mount Rock, Gerin (who had been Ambassador for a long time now), the Emperor of a city-kingdom in the Lush Tropics, and the King of another city-kingdom in the Sky City.

Now everyone was seated, and the representatives glanced around at each other in thought for a few moments, until the real Congress began, at eleven o'clock sharp. It was ten fifty-eight.

A loud, clanging bell rang outside, signaling the new hour. The ring drifted into the Shoot through the closed gates, alerting the leaders to begin their discussion.

"It has been a long year," the Hyehow Governor, Sifter, began, "Since our last meeting, which was held private for several reasons. Chaos had been ensuing- Articulus had returned, the mysterious Dark Hands were spreading, the Anakians threatened to return once more, and there was a new Un-Character, who didn't know anything about us yet. So, last year we decided to train the Un-Character Soal for battle, and set off into the Outlands to find ways to stop Articulus." The rest of the kiwis nodded.

"But not everything went as planned," one of the Lusk Ambassadors interrupted. "General Porter, the Voltale captain who fought with Moth so long ago in the first Great War, led Soal across the Outlands. First of all, there was the First Battle of Sunbace. And we were successful against Shadow Hand, though he healed, and we lost many. Then we journeyed across the Sunbace Valley, and then came the Second Battle of Sunbace, in which Porter used his tactics from the past war against the Dark Soldiers. After being cornered, we were saved by Magical Hands, and then we climbed a mountain, up and down, around Meinhaym."

"How do you know all of this?" Mervis impolitely asked, interrupting again.

"Porter himself told me," the Lusk Ambassador replied. "Anyway, Soal broke Meinhaym Dam in order to repel Dark Soldiers, but ended up flooding Meinhaym and washing away Paper Mountain instead, which was some kind of decoy set by an unidentified enemy. We continued, and then there was the Battle of Northern Pronnett. Many were slain, and the Dark Soldiers had some new tricks up their sleeves. But we succeeded eventually, and kept moving towards Flameberg, where the Pure Light Sword lay. Soal accepted the legendary blade, but before he could get quite acquainted with it, there was the horrible Battle of Flameberg. An army of two million Dark Soldiers and Dark Hands attacked and destroyed Flameberg. But against the odds, Porter managed to destroy that army and win a narrow victory. However, Shadow Hand escaped as well, and healed back wherever Articulus may have been then. And Soal realized there were so few soldiers remaining, that after a few more battles, they would be all gone.

"They trekked across the vast Pronnett Plains, stopping to rest at the Robin Stone, and doing so again at the Valley of Ottorot. Then, the army successfully traversed the Shrine Field of Gage, confronting the Anakians, who had a new general, after all. Arkonnus the Terrible was defeated and the kiwis resumed their quest, advancing into Bundred. There was the Battle of Bundred, when Dark-Handed Bowmen worked together to attack the kiwis. But a rainstorm foiled the enemies, and after going through Hart, the kiwis found themselves at Hart beach, where Soal left them to find more troops. Porter and his army of kiwis were chased into the Ruin of Moth by Dark Soldiers, where they then met the Millennium Eaglet, trapped in a jar by Articulus. The Eaglet actually allied with them, for his powers were trapped in the jar, and they all kept moving, towards Scright Glacier. But they were chased out again by Dark troops, and hid along the Bay of Mystic-Scright, where the Anakians had been planning an ambush. Apparently the Anakians had traded in all of their weapons to the Hornhoarders, who arrived just then, but the Hornhoarders did not return them. Instead, out of their boats came Soal and an army of twenty thousand more Untif soldiers." The Untif Ambassador (assuming the role of Governor briefly) beamed. "The Battle of Mystic-Scright was easy, and the Anakians fled, unarmed. Soal was reunited with Porter, and their armies joined together. After that, they went back to the Glacier, but the Eaglet toppled it all, destroying the landscape, the Ruin, and even the magic jar he had been trapped in. The Eaglet escaped and the army kept moving, unsatisfied, as they crossed the Bridge of Frangonyn, pursued by Dark Soldiers. The kiwis used a Bomb Sprite to trick the Soldiers into falling into the Chasm. Porter and the kiwis went down, and salvaged through the loot. There, an Interloper child was possessed by the Dark Light Sword, and treasonous Untifs were encountered. After leaving the Chasm, they met the Scright, where Mervis accepted Soal's offer for the Scright to join the army, and they set off for the final Ruin for clues to destroy Articulus. So far they had had no luck. When they entered the Ruin of Sickle, they found Articulus, and the Battle of the Scright Gardens began, in which that same Interloper used a Century Flute to summon Great Hand back from the dead, and Soal used the glove to destroy Shadow Hand, getting rid of all of the Dark Hands forever. Soal led the army, without Porter, back to the Great Sea, chasing out all of the Dark Soldiers occupying it along the way. The reconstruction process began, and here we are now, right back where we started. Porter is still developing a plan for the army's next movements."

"The Outlands is not our only matter,"  the Greater Governor, Firthten, spoke. "The Great Sea has been in deep trouble for decades now. First, there was the plague. Then there were the Evil Bats. They all seem to have disappeared now thanks to Kiwi, who seems to have affected all of you. Then, there were the fake asteroids, and the mandibeetles, as well as the bats' clones. After that, there was the Cobra Empire. After, the plague returned, and then, when Queen Retna and her sister were rediscovered, the Anakians came back with them- all three of the Anakian leaders. Then, there was the Shadow Eaglet, and the mystery that was Volkien the dragon. Evil has infested the Great Sea almost forever, our safe periods only lasting only months. No one can afford to be in danger here, but it seems that almost every year, Kiwi City is destroyed or invaded by some kind of terror. I even hear that a band of thieves are helping to plan an attack on the Great Sea. They're in the Sky City now, so I hear."

"Suspicious folk, hmm," one of the Lellanor Ambassadors said. "Since the Western Heaps is situated within walking range of the Void, we have always had a somewhat close relationship with a few Greaters. But in the past, Lellanors were killing stray Greaters for sport. The industry has since fallen apart, after Articulus was found and all of our tribes banded together to fight against him. However, some of these other tribes appear slightly hostile as well. Remember that we are all fighting a common enemy, and it is not one of us. We are all on the same side. Clear?"

This kind of division within the kiwis had not happened for quite a long time, in fact, since the plague struck decades ago. Many of the Governors and Ambassadors had been victims of it, and almost no one was left there to attend. The so-called Wacky's Virus had struck again recently, but at a much smaller scale. Somehow, a few of these kiwis noticed something quite unusual, and whispered in their fellow leaders' ears.

Mervis began to twitch nervously, and stood up from his seat. He walked down the steps to the floor, his Ambassadors leaving their places to follow him. This had never happened before, and, worst of all, it was illegal to purposefully evacuate the Shoot in the case of a Congress.

"Mervis! Traitor!"Sifter called as the Scright Governor kept his back to his friends and kept staring at the door.

"I do not understand Lellanors," Mervis said, still turned to the door. "They all live in a stinking pit of trash, making things out of what they scavenge, and ignoring their neighbors. Do you remember what happened to Cornucopia, that selfish man who almost killed himself sporting an Anakian against the one and only Kiwi. I do believe, however, that you have noticed something."

"Noticed what, Mervis? Noticed what!?" a Dyneborean Ambassador yelled. The Governors were becoming especially aggressive now towards their old friend. "The Attack has weakened your senses! You're becoming like that lunatic Swift! Remember the oath you swore to obey, Mervis. What happened to that?! Tell us what mischief you're up to, or we will cast you out from the Order of Kiwis!"

A gasp came out from every kiwi. This had never happened before, and they were certainly getting into terribly rocky ground. Nothing could take Mervis back. He had been corrupted, and there was no turning back now.

"You'll see," Mervis strutted out to the door. One of his Ambassadors equipped a shiny key as the Governors watched with horror. The gate was unlocked, and Mervis pranced through the door, followed by his Ambassadors. He turned around, closed the gates of the Shoot, and locked the door behind him, keeping the keys.

The Congress had ended in chaos, and its time had not yet even come. Now everyone knew what Mervis was doing. But they could not escape from their meeting-place. Since the word would not spread, and Mervis would quietly sneak around every kiwi, no one would be prepared for the subsequent attack.