Snacks From the Butler's Pantry

I was framed. Now, in prison, I await my sentence. This small, off-the-map village seems so foreign to me. I wonder what kind of cruel justice they deal out in this land. I wait in my small makeshift cell in the village square. I could probably escape, but that would only make me look guilty. I know that if I am given any sort of trial, my innocence will come to light.

My jailer kicks open the door, and pushes me out of the cell. The Marshal is here. He will be transporting me to my real destination. He is dressed strangely. His chest and arms are bare except for the thick leather cords criss-crossing his intimidating muscles. He wears a green and brown leather kilt with a high waist that flares outward above his belly. He looks like some sort of gladiator, and I know this is not someone I would want to see angry.

The marshal grabs me roughly, and unties my hands. He then strips me naked as the mob of villagers cheer rabidly. I can't imagine what punishment awaits me. Whipping? Beating? Maybe they have decided to just hang me right here. The marshal hands me a thick leather kilt to match his own, and then helps me wrap it around myself. I am relieved that I will not have to face this ordeal naked.

He hands me a double bladed knife, like a pair of crude scissors. As soon as I take hold of the hilt, the angry villagers mob me. They beat me savagely. I grip the knife tightly, but refuse to fight back. They will not provoke me into becoming the villain. It stops as suddenly as it began. I look up to see the marshal standing over me. He grabs my hand, and suddenly drives my knife into his own belly. It stops an inch away, repelled as if by a magnetic field. I know that the knife has a mechanism that prevents it from ever coming in contact with a living person. I could not have defended myself if I wanted to. It was only a test to see if I would act violently when provoked. As a reward for passing the first test, the marshal fastens a large metal buckle to the waistband of my kilt.

We walk to the next village, where a mute Korean boy shows us around. It is empty, and people look scared. We soon realize there is a mysterious killer on the loose. I solve the mystery with the help of the young boy, who can read peoples minds, and bring out their hidden strengths. I battle the two thugs responsible in a shallow pool. I easily disarm them, and knee one of them with such force, he shatters into a cloud of splintered glass. The other escapes, and my marshal tracks him to the next town.

In this town, we find out the villain can shapeshift and has taken the form of a woman. She is killing people to feed, absorbing them into her liquid metal body. I face her in a old, run down bathroom. Chipped seafoam green tile, and a claw footed tub. The villain is attacking a woman in the bathtub full of water. The villain melts into a glob of silvery mercury, and pours into the water. The woman screams as the water comes to life around her. Her death throes send out a shock wave that freezes the water to ice, trapping both herself and the villainous liquid-metal-lady. I thaw out the innocent woman to revive her, and then take the frozen block of liquid villain to be destroyed.

The marshal rewards me with a leather strap to wrap around my bicep. I realize that he is not escorting me to prison. This journey is my trial, sentence, and rehabilitation. As we venture across the countryside helping people, I win pieces of the Marshal's uniform. Eventually, I will have a complete uniform, and become a Marshal myself. Then it will be up to me to take over his responsibilities and rehabilitate accused criminals.