John Skelecoot's Story

Jonathan C. Skelecoot, Governor of the Skelecoots, stepped out of the bar. He was a bit tipsy, still not enough to slur his speech, but caught wind of the arrival of two new figures. The crowd muttered that they never saw anyone like them, though John silently corrected them, they rarely see people who have four limbs only. He nudged his way past the wave of bystanders who knew better not to dabble with new arrivals, past the people who actually noticed the two figures, to address the newcomers.

John was a tall, well-dressed Skelecoot, wearing a dark-maroon tailcoat, below that an aristocratic, patterned vest, dark brown trousers, renaissance boots and a purple bandana. When he grinned, his teeth revealed that they have seen better days, quite a few sticking in directions other than "up" or "down".
"Hello, newcomers! Welcome to the Imagiverse Centre! My apologies if some of us are staring," at this point he shoots a glare behind him, a few bystanders shuffling their feet, looking down. "Some of us haven't come to grips with the fact that we don't know every race and being in the Imagiverse." He turned his gaze at the lady standing next to the mechanical pet booth. "Ah, I see you noticed our companion contraptions. Yes, that's Skelecoot technology, that is! We have kept ourselves busy perfecting our steam technology for.... eeh, I would say almost two-hundred years."
He then turns to the younger sister. "Oh, apologies, I didn't get your names! Can't have new arrivals with no names. What were they again?"

The two sisters turned to face the voice directed towards them. However what they saw was a skeleton, with teeth that seemed to stick out in random directions. He was also wearing some nice clothing despite his bizarre appearance. The skeleton introduced to them to this place, apparently this was was called the Imagiverse Centre of the Imagineverse. That was strange, they never heard of such a name before.

Of course when the skeleton mentioned that people had been staring, they found it odd. Compared to the walking and talking ponies, cube people, and animal people. All they had were wings on their back. Of course the Older sister had them hidden from sight. Soon the skeleton asked for their names and they spoke. "My name is Elyzia. Its nice to meet you." "My name is Valfiel! We are sisters, and we also like music." The two Introduced themselves to the skeleton.

Of course, after they had finished introducing themselves they had a very important question. "Excuse us sir skeleton...do you know how we got here? I do not remember us taking a trip to this Imagiverse." Elyzia questioned.

"Oh, that's right, I forgot to introduce myself! My name's Jonathan C. Skelecoot, Governor of the Skelecoots." He'd then give a small bow. "Although you can just call me John, everyone else do. As of how you got here, I'm unsure myself. You may have encountered a rip in space-time that transported you two here, although that I don't know for sure." John would give them another crooked grin. "Though I am more than welcome to help you figure out how you got here, as well as the world you came from. There's always something new to learn here." He'd beckon for the two to follow him past the crowd. As he turned, the two would notice that, strapped to his back, was a double-barrelled shotgun. The make seemed custom-made, but it looked as if it has been used countless times.
"The Imagiverse is strange in its nature. Since it runs on Imagination, things get.... interesting. Magic is also rather common here, as you would have noticed in a few Alicorns wandering around here." The skeleton would gesture to an equestrian, who had what looked like a unicorn horn. "They are essentially magicians by blood. Say, we also enjoy music, as is apparent in some of the musical automatons that were invented. You wouldn't have heard of Steam Powered Giraffe, would you? They are top-grade mechanical musicians around here."

"A rip in space-time? Its likely that was the reason we arrived here given the state of our world and unusual occurrences happening there. But we appreciate you helping us John." Eliza spoke and gave a small bow as well. The two would then follow the skeleton after he gestured for them to follow, he then said that this world runs on imagination and that magic was common. Valfiel looked at the equestrian who had a unicorn horn, however when the topic turned to music and if they heard of Steam Powered Giraffe she turned to face John. "Sorry, we never heard of such a band. In fact...I don't think we heard any other band besides our own music. I think everyone just focuses on training with their weapons and their magic a little too hard. Can't blame them, monsters and divine entities everywhere. I guess we are just a duo that helps relax a band of people after a long fight with music." She laughed.

John would laugh as well. "Well, this world of yours sounds like ours, in a way. There are always demons and such floating around the Imagiverse, manifestations of vice and such. There's even what you might call a hive within the center of the Galactic System. The Darkness, it's called. Pretty much a capital of demonic entities. And they all fall into four categories, or elements that they represent: Fear, Anger, Despair and Insanity. That's pretty much the Elements of Chaos."
They would arrive at the center of the Centre, a circular venue where portals of different aesthetics, both mechanical and magical, line the circumference. In the middle, a fountain flowed with glistening water, an assortment of strange creatures swimming in the bottom pool of the fountain. On the top, a strange statue of a hand holding its pinky up as if asking the beings above for a sandwich.
"'Ello, Albert," calls John, which was strange, because he was referring to the statue. Suddenly, the statue shuddered, turned its three middle digits towards John and barked, "Good mornin', Jonathan!"
John would turn to the two sisters. "That's Albert, our, ahem, 'town crier'. Don't worry, he's perfectly wholesome. Now, on how we are going to locate your world and send you back, I will have to seek advice from a special someone back in my manor, down in Skeleville. I must inform you that, because of our nature, the Skelecoots' home is located in the Underworld, so you may witness a few... abnormalities on our way."

As John mentioned demons and such, their expression suddenly changed to that of one of sadness and pain. However the two quickly glanced at each other to calm themselves, they had hoped that demons did not exist in this world but sadly they did exist here.

As the group arrived at the center of the Centre, they approached a fountain with a statue on top of it. John would the call out to the statue, the two looked at him strangely, however the statue suddenly came alive and gave a 'Good morning' to John. John soon introduced the statue as Albert the town crier. He also said that he would have to seek advice from a special someone to locate their world. "Thank you very much John, I am not sure if this could help but our world is called Grand Gaia. But as for the few abnormalities I am sure we all can be safe, or we are used to strange sights already." Elyzia spoke before turning to Valfiel. "Yup, no matter what comes at us we are prepared both physically and mentally. We are quite exited to see the sights in Skeleville! So this Underworld has no chance at scaring us!" She spoke enthusiastically.

John would give another crooked grin. "Excellent! It would be a pleasure to have new warriors who are experienced in demon-hunting! Of course, my brother fights demons, as well, so I'm sure it would be a pleasure for him to meet you two." He would approach a strange-looking portal, decorated with skulls and out-stretched skeletal arms that seem to reach out to the two. Within the skeletal frame, there was a blurred image, browns and golden yellows mixed with purples and reds. John would take a few steps closer to the portal before turning to the sisters. "This way to the Underworld Lobby. This is where visitors and returning souls come to enter the infinite depths of the land of the dead. It has grown for many millennia, growing new floors and that. Oh, and before we go in, I must tell you not to be disturbed by the Receptionist; not many beings in the Imagiverse have as many eyes as he does." He would then step into the rippling quicksilver, the image rippling even more upon John's passage. A few skeletal arms in the frame would creak and turn, stretching their digits and beckoning the sisters into the demonic portal.

The sisters looked at the portal, this is where they would go to the Underworld. The name sounded ominious, however seeing this skeleton be so nice to them shook off any doubts they had. Valfiel soon took Elyzia's hand and let out a deep sigh. "Alright sis! Behind this portal lies a whole new world! Home is just around the corner so lets hang in there, I promise to treat you to some desserts when we get home!" She enthusiastically stated. Valfielf and Elyzia soon hopped into the portal remembering John's words, do not be disturbed the the receptionist, he said it had many eyes so it must not be that scary.

The Entrance Lobby, where visitors, returning souls and hapless heroes with string instruments come to enter the world of the dead, was oddly decent. Instead of the expected bones littering the lobby, it was decorated with lush sofas and picture frames depicting the 25 versions of hell (Tartarus, Miseryville, The Abyss, etc.). Ghouls and corpses wander about, a pair sitting next to a gramophone. When the gramophone stopped abruptly, signalling the end of the record from the 1960s, a lock-jawed skeleton wheezed to his partner, "Can you please... flip the record?"
The partner, an oddly youthful-looking lady with hair which seems to think that gravity happened to other people, responded "Can't you do it, love?"
The wizened scrag, with difficulty, lifts his left arm, which begins to shake violently and, due to the skeleton's weakened soul, began to fall apart, from its digits to its shoulder-blade. "Bollocks."
That was as soon as Jonathan entered the room. The strange thing was, when you enter through the open portal, you find yourself opening a set of doors at the end of the portal-way.
The lady turned to her partner. "Language, darling. The loony Governor's here."
Said loony gave the couple a crooked grimace which the denizens of the Underworld have agreed to be his smile. Then he turned to the open doorway and spoke "Here we are, darlings! The Entrance Lobby to the Underworld!" The surrounding corpses gave him a look of perplexity, then a look of shock when they saw a duo of winged ladies enter the Lobby. One skeleton's jaw, quite literally, dropped to the ground. They were even more shocked to think John, of all people, was guiding them here.
The now-one-armed skeleton, who came from a time where manners were well-paid, rasped, "Jonathan, who are these lovely ladies?"
John gave him a wry look. "These ladies are Elyzia and Valfiel. They come from a world called Grand Gaia, and I wish to assist them in returning to their home. Ladies, that there's Arthur," he would point to the three-limbed frame, "He died of more natural causes than the average Victorian corpse." He would then gesture to the skeleton's partner. "And that is Helen. She, ah," he lowers his voice, as not to upset the lady, "Crossed the Jordan when someone poisoned her for her finances."

The sisters would soon enter the Entrance Lobby to the Underworld, and what they saw was far from what they imagined. The Lobby was more neat and decorated instead of some sort of stone like dungeon looking area. Also many of the denizens appeared to be undead and friendly undead at that, a very big difference compared to where they came from. They were more surprised by the state of the Lobby then the denizens that was missing a few pieces of their body.

As the skeleton Arthur greeted them, Elyzia gave a small bow. "Pleased to meet you Arthur. I am Elyzia and thank you for the compliment. Also I am pleased to meet you as well Helen" She replied. Valfiel however gave Arthur and Helen a energetic wave. "Nice to meet you guys! I am Valfiel. I hope we can get along just fine!" She replied with her energetic attitude.

Arthur would nod to them. "A pleasure to meet you two."
John would walk over to a booth at the end of the lobby, its inhabitant regarding him indifferently. If you took a sumo wrestler, fed him purple jelly until he exploded, then stitched his remains back together, along with some spare arms and eyes, you would only get so close as to describing the Receptionist. The creature seemed cramped in the small booth.
"Mornin', Receptionist!" called John.
The Receptionist, due to a lack of proper vocal cords, gave him a grumble.
"... Whatever time it is, anyway. I would like permission to take these ladies to-"
"Grroowwwwllll..."
"A ticket?! I'm the Governor of the Skelecoots, I would gladly let them in without-"
"GRRROOOWWWLLL...."
".... Fine."
John would reach into a pocket in his coat, producing a leather wallet in good condition, if slightly corroding. He would take out several coins, each inscribed, with closer inspection, with a skull on one side, and a pelvis on another. This was probably the undead's version of heads and tails.
"Here you go," muttered John. "10 Skulls."
The Receptionist would, with a smaller arm, take the coins and take them to some unknown area within the booth. The many eyes would look slightly to the left, it's body rippling from the movement of an unseen appendage, before two tickets, each labelled with the name, "SKELEVILLE", would be produced. John would take the tickets and lend them to the sisters. "Here you go. Sorry about the interference, newcomers have to buy a ticket to go anywhere these days."

The sisters looked at the receptionist and were rather surprised by its appearance. It looked like a purple giant that was stitched up after it exploded along with extra limbs and eyes. The sight was disturbing however not disturbing enough for them be to be openly disgusted by it.

John soon began to negotiate with the Receptionist and tried to get them in without a ticked, however it seemed that he lost the argument as handed over ten coins with a skull etched on each of them. The Receptionist would then hand John two tickets and he in return gave them to the sisters. "Thank you very much John, its no problem at all. You are voluntarily helping us reach home. We don't mind any sort of interference." Elyzia spoke up before Valfiel added on to it. "Yeah, Its just a ticket to head to a new area. Its not like we have to wait to get on a train to prevent the end of the world." She chuckled.

"Oh you don't take a train," said John, smiling. "You take an elevator."
He would turn on his heel and head to a pair of large, ornate elevator doors, the top of the frame decorated with an ancient language that reads "Hic in terram mortuum fuerit elevator". He would press a button next to the doors, which do what they were built to do.
"This elevator," announced John, "was built in a way that, no matter how many are actually in the elevator, it is always empty for whoever enters it. Good for supposing traffic."
The group enter the spacious confines of the mystic elevator. Instead of the usual panel containing the buttons to the floors, there is a large wheel with its edge facing the inside of the elevator, countless buttons on its circumference. John would spin the wheel by means of a pair of buttons, each in the shape of an arrow, facing up and the direction John was spinning the wheel currently. He would then press a key labelled "189".
The elevator begins to shudder, making, for no apparent reason, the sound of a locomotive.
John would hold on to a railing. "This tends to go rather fast, so I suggest you hold on!"
The sudden sensation as he says this would be similar to zero gravity, then rapidly reaching negative-one gravity. Grinding and screeching would fill the confines in a cacophony. Lights begin to flicker, the walls suddenly and briefly turning transparent, displaying strange landscapes, filled with red devils, green devils, satyrs, et al. There were the typical magmatic hellholes, and beautiful gardens, and then cities, towns, and then the walls returned from whatever dimension they were previously thrown in.
As they approached floor 189(0), the sounds of hissing steam, the clanging of machinery, and most notably, the occasional "yu fokin' wot? I'll bash ye head in, ya fokin' zounderkite!"

The sisters would soon enter a strange elevator, John explained that the elevator can support plenty of people but it would always appear empty almost like some sort of dimensional elevator or something similar to it. And what was supposed to be a panel for the buttons, it was replaced by some sort of wheel.

They were not going to think to heavily on the contraption, however as the elevator began to shudder and the sound of a locomotive began to sound, Elyzia took hold of one of the railings. Valfiel also took hold of one of the railings. "How fast could this elevator possibly go--Ahhhhhhhh!" She yelled as the elevator suddenly went so fast that gravity seemed to become zero. The walls turned transparent and a horrid grinding noise as the elevator moved. As the elevator approached floor 189, Valfiel stopped yelling and calmed down. "A...heads up....before we enter...would be nice..."She spoke in between breaths as she looked around to make sure the elevator did not move again.

Each area in the Underworld were meant to represent the times they were based in, so their inhabitants would feel, as it were, at home. If that was the case for Skeleville, then the time they came from was rather depressing.
The doors to the elevator opened, revealing another lobby, but this time, it was decorated with brass-framed sofas and paintings of long forgotten figures and scientists, before they pushed up the daisies. One painting showed a tall, handsome man in a labcoat, the framed labelled "Colonel Peter A. Walter I".
John, along with the disorientated sisters, walked out into the lobby, the other occupants of the room glaring at him, aside from a single skeleton, dressed in a gentleman's attire, complete with a monocle, who spread his/its arms as if to embrace the air. His lower jaw stuck out, given the permanent impression of an angler fish. "Jonathan! Fancy meeting you here! I was just on my way to meet an executive at Miseryville."
The governor, extending his hand, would reply, "Well well well. Henry Brindley. I was on my way to assisting these two ladies in returning to their world."
Shaking the bony gentleman, who was dubbed the name Henry, by the hand, Jonathan would turn to the sister. "This is Henry, a lord from Skeleville. He specialises in diplomacy between places in the Underworld. Henry, this is Valfiel and Elyzia, they come from Grand Gaia, according to them, similar to the Imagiverse."
Henry would turn to the sisters. "Is that so? I rarely hear from people from other worlds, let alone worlds in the Imagiverse, although that's possibly because it happens all the time. Allow me to welcome you to Skeleville, the lost remains of the great Victorian era!"

As the elevator doors opened up, Valfiel was quick to leave the elevator. She was dizzy from the sudden ride, although if she was more prepared she would have enjoyed it rather than scream in complete surprise the whole way through. Elyzia however stepped of the elevator and gave her older sister a quick pat on the back. "You were pretty funny back there, but you made it through without passing out. Good on you sis." She spoke with a smile.

Valfiel gave a smile back at Elyzia. "So I was funny back there? Well I am glad I can make you smile. But I am also taking that as an insult!" She chuckled as she began to tickle Elyzia causing her to laugh uncontrollably. As John was greeting Henry, the two played around until they stopped after Elyzia tapped out so the tickling can stop.

As the two dusted themselves off, Henry turned to them and welcomed them to Skeleville. "Thank you for greeting us Henry, I am Elyzia. It is my pleasure to meet you." Elyzia gave a small bow. Valfiel smiled and waved at him. "Hello Henry, my names Valfiel! Nice to meet you!" She greeted.

Henry would bow back. "A pleasure to meet you too! So I hear you're on your way to return to Grand Gaia, where ever that is. I wish you good luck!" John would smile, indicating to the sisters that they were about to move again. And headed to a pair of what looked like mahogany doors. When he places his hands on the doors to push them open, he hesitates and turns to the sisters.
"I almost forgot to mention something. There has been some issues with visitors having some... respiratory issues when entering Skeleville. Due to the lack of requirement of oxygen, we kind of got ahead of ourselves in the industry part in the town, the result causing a nearly toxic atmosphere, which wasn't good for trade. We have developed a solution, involving a few atmosphere converters dotted around the city, turning the acidic gases floating around Skeleville into breathable air. It will take a long while to get the atmosphere to completely safe levels, but as of now the air won't kill you."

At that disconcerting note, he pushed open the doors, revealing a dark city. Buildings surrounded the lobby, which was, from the outside, dressed as a train station. Jonathan was right about one thing; the air had a potent trait to it. The sky, if you could call it that, was eternally a dark yellow, clouds of soot and smoke surrounding the lost city, making it unclear as to whether it was morning, afternoon or any other time. The inhabitants on the town were similar.
There was clearly a form of class system in Skelecoot society. There were the lower class, drunkards and psychopaths, who completely abandoned all morals a long time ago, a few of them giving the sisters a look sheep would encounter before becoming sweaters. There was a middle class, tinkerers and average skeletons, who regarded the duo indifferently. Then there was, in a much smaller quantity, the higher class, aristocrats and gentlemen, who nodded to John and the ladies, a few tipping their hats, bowler and top hat.
There was also, funnily enough, automatons wandering around the area. There were still machines standing on, or more pivoted to, stages, but there were mechanical skeletons, their backs littered with exhaust pipes, some clothed and others bare, revealing the same circular windows seen on the mechanical companions in the Imagiverse Centre. It would seem these shuddering robots were built by the same people, likely the Skelecoots, who built the pets. When a few turned to look at the newcomers, their eyes glowed like searchlights.

John would take a few steps down the stairs to the entrance of the lobby, before a few of the lower class Skelecoots threw things in his general direction, from bottles that smashed on the steps to knifes that just embedded themselves into the stairs. Several cries of "Hey, pooftah, think fast!", ironically coming from corpses with no sense of aim, and "Let me have a go a' 'em two!" were directed at John, the last one, worryingly, however, was directed at the sisters.
"Don't mind them," drawled John. "I get shit thrown at me all the time. Not that it-" A bottle smashes on John's head, but there was little to no effect, simply interrupting his speech. "-- Not that they, apart from that time, hit me." He would then give the assailants a rather questionable hand gesture.

As the doors opened, the duo coughed as they smelled the air. The air was horrid, the skies were a dark yellow and the clouds were made of soot and smoke. The environment was definitely not good for those who still had lungs. They decided to improvise a mask, and digging into their pockets, they pulled out a few pieces of cloth and wrapped it around their faces to block the air. As they looked around they noticed a variety if the different skeletons, some appeared to look at them in a strange way while others in more fancy attire would greet them respectfully. They would also note the machines walking around, they wondered what their use was, maybe it was police robots? Or perhaps they had another function? Whatever the case was it was interesting to see machines.

As the two continued to follow John, before they even got off the stairs of the lobby a few of the lower class looking skeletons began to throw things at John such as bottles and knives. Valfiel held her sisters hand, it looked like she was getting into a passive aggressive stance and was prepared to attack anyone that got near her or her sister, she also had this death glare in her eye. "Don't worry sis...If they try anything I will be sure to protect you. You can count on your big sis to help!" She turned back and gave Elyzia a warm smile and she in return gave a meek smile. Of course, they watched as John got hit on a hit by a flying bottle but due to him being undead, it did not affect him in any physical way besides interrupting his speech. "Do the people hate you in some way John? And why are the people so aggressive? I mean....its not normal to have things thrown at you...and its definitely unnerving to be yelled at by others..." Elyzia spoke however her quiet nature began to make itself known as her voice grew quiet with what was going on.

John would turn to the sisters, with a look that said that this happened all the time. "It comes from being their leader. It's essentially part of the whole "ruling the city" business. There will be some people who would throw things at politicians purely because they're below them. Jealousy doesn't always come to it." He would turn back to the crowd, and, slowly but shockingly, pulls out a strange looking gun. It was obviously made of brass, but there were also parts in it that wouldn't be part of a regular gun. He would point it at an assailant and, displaying a grimace that everyone but the duo would see, pulls the trigger.
A blue streak comets towards the psychotic skeleton and, when it hits him, forms a glowing aura, completely blotting the corpse apart from it's outline, which warps and twists and, to the horror of some including the sisters, screams. There was a kapow, and the aura exploded into a blue mist, revealing, when it dissipated, a creature you would normally find in a swamp with a diet of flies, but less fleshed out than usual.

John would turn to the crowd, which began to shudder, apart from the veterans, who have seen this happen many times before and, therefore, had an expression of exhaustion.
Instead of the expected lecture, John would simper. "It's amazing what a dollop of Innovatium can do. Now let that be a lesson; anyone who throws something at me's gonna end up like that zounderkite."
He would continue walking down the stairs and through the parting crowd, still getting aggressive if apprehensive looks from the now-slightly-smaller lower class Skelecoots. On his way past, he would walk to the skeletal amphibian and step on it, the poor thing producing a croak and then a crunch.
The Skelecoot community knows that there was, unknown by the sisters, a twisted part in John that took pleasure in other people's displeasure. He was a gentleman when meeting newcomers and, more generally, new people, but, given the circumstances and the mood, he would become the Caligula of the Victorian ghost town they lived in. Because of this, the vast majority of the city was careful around John, letting natural selection sort out the ones who weren't. The veterans would give the duo a look that said "You're gonna have an interesting time around him, unfortunately".

As they walk through the labyrinth of houses, the sisters would notice strange sorts of shops and buildings. Jack's Marvellous Clockwork Companions, Alfred's Entirely Custom Clothes, Teh Alcemist's Potion Stor (Some of the shopkeepers didn't have a proper education in their lifetimes), and all forms of stores littered the streets. Then, when they reached a section which was possibly the market, there were crudely-made stalls, their occupants barking, "git chore teeth whit'ners, med aut of real teeth!" and "Have you been thinking of travelling soon? Well get our newest travel accessory straight out of the Agatean Empire in the Discworld! This chest may look like a chest..." etc. etc. In the middle of the market, there was a pole strewed with signs point in every direction, including up and down. On one sign, pointing to a foreboding mansion on the horizon, read "The Copper Sea Port, Skele-Manor, home to the Governor of Skeleville (Xephire watch over him, so he doesn't kill us)"

The sisters gave a knowing nod when John explained why the people hated him. However when he pulled out a strange looking gun Elyzia covered her moth with her hands while Valfiel looked wide eyed at him. He was not going to do what they thought he was going to do. Unfortunately they witnessed John shoot of of the psychopathic skeletons and turned him into some sort of amphibian. At first they thought that was the end however as they continued walking he crushed the poor thing under his foot.

They were horrified and surprised, sure the man may have deserved it but they were not sure he deserved that. Maybe that is another reason the people hated him? But this was none of their business right? They were just travelers from another world, they can't complain to the man that is getting them back home...right? I mean they are all undead so it does not matter if you get crushed. You would still be fine.

As the two thought, they would soon walk through some sort or marketplace with shopkeepers speaking in rather broken English and some advertising their products. however they would soon arrive at the center of this rather busy area and saw a sign which pointed in every direction, on one sign it pointed to a mansion on the horizon. Looks like they found out where they were going next however after witnessing what John did the two remained rather quiet.